#if any of my followers feel like they're trapped or stuck

[brittscafe]

Hi there!

Can I request bleach men finding out along the grape vine that s/o likes them. But like add some spice ✨ by this I mean, maybe the men can over hear s/o thirsting for them. Or anything else, please be free to do anything.

Characters (in order of importance): Byakuya, Shunsui, ichigo, Jushiro, Toshiro.

(If this is too many please remove characters starting from the back).

hiiii! ohhh?? spice??? My fav, ofc <3 <3 I loveddd writing all of these for each character, but I think my fav was Shunsui's!! Let me know your fav <3

Byakuya: He's heard plenty of rumors before and he's never really believed them. He's not one to care for rumors, nor believe them. But, he has heard a lot of rumors in the Soul Society that peak his interest.

It takes a lot to catch Byakuya's attention and certainly have. He plans on catching your attention in a bold way.

You're walking along the dirt road of the soul society, the sun beaming down on your face. Byakuya's standing the corner, eyes on you.

He loves the way that the sun gleams onto your face, heightening your pretty features. Byakuya steps out from the corner and a tiny gasp escapes your chest as he pops out from nowhere.

He towers over you with his tall, slender figure.

"Y/n, come here," he beckons you with a deep voice and your heart drops down to your feet.

"Um...ok," you mumble out, following him back to his estate. The cherry blossoms are flowing around in the air, so soft and light. Your eyes are stuck on them, almost trapped in a trance.

"I think of you like a blossom petal. Delicate and so pretty," his voice is soft and romantic.

Who knew Byakuya could be such a romantic?

Your eyes widen as he reaches out and tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear. God, you're falling in love with him.

"What?" you blurt out, furrowing your eyebrows together. Why is he all of sudden talking to you like this? It doesn't make any sense.

"I've heard you speak of the cherry blossoms in my estate. I've also heard you say how you would like to rip off my ropes and kiss me from bottom to top," his voice is stern, but has a hint of amusement in it.

Your eyes widen and your stomach twists into uneasy knots. Your knees feel like they're gonna buckle underneath you. Face planting in front of Byakuya would be 10 times less embarrassing right now.

"Oh my god! I didn't think you would ever catch wind of that. I am so embarrassed!" you raise your voice, hiding your face in the palm of your hands.

Byakuya lets out a tiny chuckle, it's so quiet you wouldn't have noticed it if there was a cricket chirping.

"How about I take you out first? I suggest a date first, then we could get the tearing off my ropes later. After all...I am a gentleman."

There is no way Byakuya Kuchiki is suggesting that the two of you go on a date right now.

You slowly lift your head up from your hands, embarrassment written all over your face. Byakuya gazes into your eyes and you're finding it hard to even speak.

Your palms are sweaty, but your body is excited. Your heart is thudding, but it's ecstatic with joy.

"Ok," is all you can whisper out. Byakuya nods his head and starts to walk away.

You stand there, dazed, confused, but happy. You now have a date with Captain Kuchiki.

Shunsui: You're sitting beside your friend in the bar, gushing about Shunsui, not realizing that he had walked in and taken a seat right beside you and was listening you gush about him.

"I mean, come on, who doesn't like Captain Kyoraku? Have you seen how big his muscles are?!" you giggle out, throwing your head back and your friend's eyes widen at the figure behind you.

"So...you like my muscles then?" a familiar, raspy voice speaks up from behind you. You don't even notice that Shunsui nudges your shoulder as he speaks to you as your heart sinks down into your feet.

Your eyes widen and you stare at your friend in total awe. You slowly turn to face Shunsui, palms sweaty as you try to only imagine what is going to happen next.

Shunsui wears a playfully grin across his face, white teeth winking at you. Your face heats up and you slowly bring your hands up to your face, covering it with pure embarrassment.

Shunsui chuckles lightly and slowly reaches out to you. He can't help feeling so attracted to you, eyes glistening in the bar setting. His large hand grabs both of yours, causing your body to tingle.

He gently pulls your hands away from your face, not letting go of them. Your eyes meet his and Shunsui cups your cheek with his other hand.

You furrow your eyebrows for a minute, not having enough time to react to anything. Shunsui pulls your face towards his, closing his eyes and pressing his lips against yours.

A gasp leaves your friends lips, loud enough to echo throughout the whole bar.

Your heart pounds against your chest as his lips melt into yours. You can feel his beard against your chin and mouth, tickling it. Shunsui slowly pulls away from your lips and opens his eyes, glancing up at you.

His gaze is hot, making you feel like your body is on fire. He smiles widely before standing up and walking out of the bar. You can hear your friend giggling behind you.

"What just happened?" you mumble out, pressing a finger to burning lips, seeming to want more...

Ichigo: School is full of gossip and rumors traveling along the grapevine. It's hard to tell what rumor is a lie or the truth these days at Karakura high.

Ichigo likes to learn about all the new gossip, but he will never comment on anything like that. He likes to stand in the corner, arms crossed and leaning against the wall as he takes in all the new information.

"I mean didn't you hear that y/n likes Ichigo?" a girl scoffs out. He cocks an eyebrow with interest, tuning into the new gossip session.

"Please, like they would ever have a chance with him," another girl rolls her eyes with annoyance.

That smug smirk on his face slowly fades into a face of shock. His eyebrows are furrowed and he wishes he could sink into the wall he's leaning against.

He slowly brings his hand up to his jaw, rubbing it. Ichigo thinks you're so sweet, nice, and genuine. You always help him when he's behind on work and you're super cute, honestly his heart tinges a little for you.

Ichigo glances out into the hallway and there you are, walking down the hallway, heading to the group of girls.

What horrible timing.

You're staying close to the wall, trying to avoid the rather large crowd of girls by the lockers.

"Hey Y/n! Isn't it true that you like Kurosaki?" a girl calls out to you and your stomach twists into knots. You glance over at her, at a lost for words.

"Oh, come on! Just tell the truth, it doesn't matter anyways. It's not like you have a chance with him," a girl comments, glaring you up and down.

You're taken aback by their mean words and demeanor. It strikes you in the heart and your throat starts to become raspy and burn a bit, tears welling up in your eyes.

Ichigo breath hitches in his throat as he watches your face drop. He hated seeing that.

"Oh my god, there is no way. They're crying about it," a girl giggles out and the rest of the girls break out into laughter. You sink down into your figure and start to rush off.

Ichigo pushes himself off the wall and steps in front of you, blocking your path. You gaze up at him, teary eyed and cheeks burning.

The group of girls are staring at Ichigo and you. He wants them to see this. It's gonna be burned in their little minds.

Ichigo's hand grab onto your waist and pull you closer. Suddenly, he dips his head down and captures your lips with his. Your eyes widen and scan Ichigo's face as his warm lips are pressed against yours.

Your body relaxes and you lean into his touch, closing your gasp. You hear the group of girls gasp loudly behind you and start whispering, but you could care less about them right now.

Ichigo slowly pulls away from the kiss, the two of you opening your eyes and meeting each other's gaze.

"Come on," Ichigo gestures with his head, holding out his hand for you to grab. You glance down at his hand then back at the girls, standing there in utter shock.

Your lips are warm and tingling from the kiss. You gaze back at Ichigo and take his hand, allowing him to take you away.

Jushiro: He's one to soak in all the new gossip spreading around the Soul Society. Never speaking up, just smiling politely and nodding his head, retaining all the information in his head.

Although, there's one rumor that catches his attention. He raises his eyebrows with interest as he hears that you might have a crush on him.

"Wait, what? How did you come across this information?" Jushiro steps into the conversation. Rangiku laughs a little bit, throwing her head back.

"Well, she told me, Captain. All of us know, right, Hanataro?" Rangiku asks, nudging his shoulder. Hanatora's eyes widen and he gulps, glancing over at you behind his shoulder.

"It is true, Captain Ukitake. In fact, if you want to ask y/n, they are right behind us," he gulps out, lowering his head with shame. Rangiku snaps her head over to you standing behind them, a dazed look across your face.

"Oh my gosh, y/n! I am so sorry, but I think I hear Captain Hitsugaya calling my name. Gotta go, bye!" Rangiku quickly takes off with Hanatora scrambling behind her.

You stare at Jushiro, heart racing against your chest. Now, he knows everything. It's like you're standing naked right in front of him, with no where to run.

Jushiro clears his throat and smiles warmly at you. You're surprised at his actions, thinking he would act indifferent to you.

"You shouldn't really listen to them spreading rumors around like that," he plays it off, crossing his arms and slowly walking up to you.

You gulp and slowly nod your head. "Yeah, I know," you lower your gaze to the ground, slightly embarrassed of the events that just happened.

Jushiro steps closer to you, reaching out his hand and cupping your face. Your eyes widen and your heart skips a beat. You slowly lift your gaze from the ground up into Jushiro's soft eyes.

Your body is getting warmer as his hand rests on your cheek, thumb caressing your skin. He shoots you a warm smile and then tilts his head.

"See you around, y/n," his voice is husk and gentle. His hand falls back down to his side and he walks past you, cologne whisking in the air as you're left in shock.

Toshiro: You're helping Rangiku out with some paperowrk that Captain Hitsugaya assigned her. You scribble with the pen on the paper, putting it into another pile.

"Gosh, Captain Hitsugaya is so lame for making me do all this paperwork," Rangiku complains, hunching over in her seat.

"What? I think Captain Hitsugaya is super cool! He's really sweet when you get to know him," you shrug your shoulders.

"Trust me, he's super boring and strict. Makes me do paperwork all day," Rangiku groans out, rolling her eyes with annoyance.

"Come on, Rangiku. He can't be that bad. He's a really good person with a good soul," you comment and Rangiku leans in closer, narrowing her eyes.

"Sounds like someone has a crush," she giggles out and your eyes widen.

"What?! No way!" you reply back, raising your voice slightly. She leans back in the chair and has a smug smirk on her face.

"Sureeee," she chuckles out, shaking her head in disbelief. You scoff and chew on your bottom lip.

"Maybe just a little," you admit.

"Whatever. Moral of the story is that Toshiro is super lame for this," she sighs out.

"Now, Rangiku, I don't think that's quite true," Toshiro's voice rings out and Rangiku's head perks up. She chuckles nervously and pushes the chair back.

"I have to leave now, but good luck!" she quickly scrambles off, leaving you and Toshiro. You turn your head and see Toshiro walking towards you.

"Guess you heard her call you lame, huh?" you ask, letting out a tiny chuckle as Toshiro sits down across from you. He nods his head, a slight smile on his face.

"Sure did. Also heard everything else the two of you were discussing, but no worries. I also think you're super cool," Toshiro speaks with a hoarse voice.

You lift your eyes up from the paperwork and across the desk at Toshiro, gulping. Your heart flatters as his foot gentle taps yours and he smiles at you.

You clear your throat and nod your head, resuming the paperwork as Toshiro keeps you company.

Captain Hitsugaya thinks it's very cute that you have a crush on him.

[nawoken]

   Yes, because I got bullied by both of the games I played so... I'm here to rambling some stuff that has been stuck inside my head since forever.

How about... Reader with cute aggression, especially for those small, fluffy creatures, like... cats! (Ơ w Ơ).

You can't help squeezing, kissing, and biting (lightly) those cuties. Yes, you have Grim, but he won't let you pet him since you're too much, his words.

And TWST boys that by some accident, maybe from alchemy class or their clumsiness. They, unfortunately, have turned into those mischievous creatures.

   You don't know that. You just walking around, minding your own business or headmage supposed to be business. Then, you saw it, a cat with the fluffiest fur and cutest eyes you've ever seen run by. And you know, you've fallen in love :)))

   TWST boys, now in cat body don't know that they're in danger, roaming around freely with the hope that someone they know will realize and help them.

   Oh, is that our calm and kind prefect? Surely, they can help our poor boy, right? No! They're deadly WRONG!!!

   The next thing our boy knows after approaching prefect is that he's trapped in your embrace, being kissed, squeezed, and petted while you compliment him on how smooth and healthy his fur looks.

   Damn it, prefect! He is not an actual cat, can’t you see it?! The answer is… No, you can’t. You’re busy admiring his cuteness.

   He is struggling, embarrassed by your doing. Some of them might feel ashamed since it feels like he is taking advantage of you… or the other way around, some just aren’t used to being pampered. But, the worst thing is… prefect, please don’t rub your face on his stomach! Mmraooo!!! :’)))))

   After a while, you finally stop, he sighs out of relief, … but why do you look at him like that? D..do you finally realize that he is not a cat?

   You stared at the poor creature in your hand, thinking. And, this made him concerned, what are you planning to do?

   Before he can do anything, you chomp on his face, more specifically, his muzzle … Yes, you do it without your teeth. But... YOU BITE HIM!!! ON HIS FACE!!! C...CAN THIS COUNT AS A KISS?!

He is panicked and stunned while you're in heaven. This might be the sweetest cat you've ever seen, he doesn't even bite or scratch you when you do all this to him.

Suddenly, pink smoke emitted from the cat, and with a "pop" sound, it turned into a human. Not to mention, you know him. Is it a good or bad thing? You don't know, the only thing you know is... you're DOOM!

You should know that this is a magical world, so you can't just hug any stray cat on the street, it can be anyone, not to say this is your crush. But you got tricked! By those sparkling eyes! And those fluffy ears! And now you can die from embarrassment.

Now, you're the one who panics while he just stands there, not knowing what to do or to say. The cure for this potion, it's a true love kiss. (Another version of the "The Princess and the Frog" potion but instead of a kiss from the princess, it's a true love kiss, why not? :))))

You two end up looking at each other for a whole minute before he decides to speak up but are cut off by you. "Please, just forget everything, this is so messed up of me, I promise I will try to make it up to you somehow, but please just erase that shameful thing I have done from your mind!" (QAQ)

Then you ran off, left him there with bewildered expression.

~~~~♡♡♡~~~

That's longer than I expected :'D

But, yeah, this has been stuck inside my head for too long, finally it can appear under the sunlight...

You know, I want to make a request for that idea. I've followed so many good TWST writers. But, well I'm shy and don't really sure how to, so I just keep it in.

The idea for this post is... I have a cat, she's been suffering from my cute aggression. Ehe, poor her, but she never bites me when I'm chomping on her muzzle. So sweet of her.

But yeah, I can't stop laughing when I think about TWST boy turning into a cat and being chomped on. That must be terrifying for him, but they still tried their best to not scratch you, their dear prefect. Except: Riddle, it's just his reflection, and he feels regret right after. And maybe Leona? Or, he just shows his claw to threaten you but doesn't actually do it.

Nom nom :3

MY ANGEL!!!

[triptuckers]

capture the flag - leo valdez

Request: nope Pairing:  leo valdez x apollo!reader Summary:  during capture the flag, no one gets stuck in leo's traps and he wants to find out why Warnings:  none Word count:  800 A/N: this has been sitting in my drafts for a while and now that I'm back in my pjo era time to finish it! enjoy :)

capture the flag is always fun. it's a nice way for people to train together while it feels like a game. even though sometimes people get too competitive.

it gives leo the chance to litter the forest with traps, and to test new inventions. of course, he could test them in the bunker or on his friends. but this is the real deal. no one knows where the traps are, how many there are. it's the perfect conditions to test them.

he's made a new batch of them but for some reason none of the traps work.

whenever he goes to check on them, they're all disabled. no one's activated them, or he would have found a fellow camper near one.

and leo is absolutely sure he activated them. they didn't blow up so there's nothing wrong with them.

and yet they're disabled.

rather than trying to capture the flag, he decides to hide in the bushes near one of his traps to see what - or who - is disabling them.

he listens to the sounds of the woods around him and pulls stuff out of his tool bel two mindlessly build little machines.

after a while, he spots movement out of the corner of his eye.

whoever it is moves quietly and gracefully. so definitely not an ares kid, leo concludes.

the person slowly walks over to leo's trap, careful where they put their feet down on the forrest floor.

leo watches as they walk around the trap, examining it. he shifts to get a better look at who it is.

he frowns slightly. he would have expected someone from the hermes cabin. maybe piper because he's spent a lot of time trying to explain his machines to her.

but he didn't expect it to be a daughter of apollo.

to be fair, leo thought the apollo cabin didn't know anything about traps or machines in general. their skills were mostly archery, medicine and music. not traps built by a hephaestus kid.

leo's eyes follow your hand movements as you carefully prod around the trap. surely you wouldn't be able to- and you disabled it.

smiling to yourself, you straighten your back and us your foot to slide the now useless trap aside.

when you turn around, you hear leaves rustle behind you.

instinctively, you knock an arrow on your bow and turn on your heel.

you are met by leo, who is frantically waving his hands in front of his face.

'don't shoot, don't shoot! I come in peace!' he yells.

you lower your bow. 'leo! gods, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!'

'that's alright.' says leo, lowering his hands. 'I was the one hiding behind you.'

you frown. 'why were you hiding anyway? usually you like to be in the middle of the action.' you say.

'can't help the fact people start fighting over me wherever I go.' says leo, making you chuckle.

'yeah, right, valdez. as if anyone could come near you with the amount of traps you're setting.' you say.

'speaking of which.' says leo, walking over to his trap and picking it up to examine it. 'how did you know where the kill switch was on this?'

you shrug. 'that's a tactical secret I can't reveal.' you say. 'for future capture the flag purposes.'

'or you just got lucky.'

'23 times?'

'yeah, that seems unlikely.'

you smile. 'there's a window in the roof of bunker nine.' you say. 'it's actually a two way mirror. it doesn't let any light through. gives me a perfect view of your workspace, though.'

'so the tactical secret is spying.' says leo.

'can't win if you don't play a little dirty every now and then. plus it's cool to see all the stuff you create.'

you shoulder your bow. 'good luck activating all of the traps again.' you say. 'I need to get back to my cabin.'

you start to walk toward the noise your fellow campers are making, to see if your team is winning and how you can help.

'hey!'

you turn around to see leo is still standing in the clearing with the trap in his hands.

'if you want to, I could show you how to make these? then you will be able to do more than just disable them.' he says.

you smile at him, you've always liked leo.

but you are surprised, you know leo is kind of protective of bunker 9 and usually only Hephaestus kids go inside. it must be a huge deal for someone from another cabin to be invited into the bunker.

and Leo wants you here.

'sure.' you say. 'I'd like that. but first we have to steal your flag.'

'oh no, you won't.' says leo.

with one last smile, you disappear into the woods, leaving leo to reactivate his trap before coming after you.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rulesHere’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Marit/Max

[bird-inacage]

The Heart Killers EP1: Kant & Bison's Desire for Agency

I recently wrote a post around Kant being the vehicle for Bison's freedom, but I'm spotting a bigger theme that these two lovebirds share in common. Both feel stripped of their agency, their ability to dictate their lives freely on their own terms and by their own ideals and desires.

For that reason, they're respectively struggling with where they are versus where they want to be, as factors beyond their control currently inhibit that from being attainable.

"I've cleared my name of car theft. My hands are so damn clean now." Kant is keen to put his past behind him, however Captain Chris has him cornered under the threat of re-opening his previous felonies and possible jail time, dangling custody of his brother as a bargaining chip. "If you get this done for me, not only will your criminal record be swept away, I'll wipe it clean." "If you go to jail, who'd take care of your brother?" Leaving Kant with no choice but to begrudgingly concede.

Bison feels similarly trapped by a life he didn't choose, clearly eager at any opportunity to 'clock off'. "I do what I have to do. Now I want to do what I want to. Can't I just live a little?" "If being hitmen makes it so hard to live, shouldn't we just quit?" "I don't want to kill people for a living my whole life... I just want to live my life." He just wants to enjoy a normal life - to have fun, to be frivolous, to embrace being an ordinary 24 year old.

TOGETHER WE BREAK FREE

Their relationship serves as temporary relief or escape from the situations they both find themselves in. Bison finds Kant's company a break from routine and monotony, a welcome distraction in between killing and working at the burger bar (neither of which he chose for himself). Dating Kant is an insight into the joys of life he fears missing out on. 'When I'm with you, I'm not a killer, I'm just a boy'.

By some poetic irony, Kant's mission to instrument Bison's capture would grant him access to the freedom he is seeking - allowing him and his brother to truly start afresh. There will absolutely be more backstory to come as to why Kant wants this so badly, that he’s willing to throw so much in. Dating Bison may begin as a means to an end, but Kant does find himself falling in love - despite his objective.

Once everything is out in the open, I do think they'll aid one another in acquiring the agency they each so desperately desire. No one can better understand how it feels to be trapped than someone who is also fighting against the bars of their own cage.

OVERCOMING YOUR RESTRAINTS

On their first date, Kant shares the following with Bison: “Would you believe me if I told you that I'm afraid of the ocean? Something happened when I was a kid. I almost drowned. Now I'm still afraid of it." One could argue that we don't know if Kant's admission is true, but I don't see any reason for him to lie about this specifically.

This promptly takes me back to this moment from the trailer, which has prominently stuck in my mind. I still get the impression that they are working together here when Kant jumps in. If Bison was on the offensive, I don't think he'd be as stationary or calm. Maybe he's performing under someone's watchful eye, or his gun is aimed at something out of shot, or they're practicing for a specific stunt.

Whatever the context, this scene now has considerably more weight. The fact that Kant jumps in whilst his hands are bound, when he has a fear of drowning is an indication of putting his complete trust in Bison (who is adept at swimming), to rescue him if needs be. The implication here being that Bison may quite literally, mentally and symbolically free Kant from his restraints, helping him to overcome what he’s most afraid of.

BDSM: THE PLEASURE OF CONTROL

Funnily enough, this duo's exploration of BDSM even aligns with their shared desire for agency. From the few snippets we’ve been shown, Bison likes being the one in control. Your partner consents to be at your mercy, affording you the power to enact pleasure and/or pain. And there’s a heady thrill in being handed such control. (It's also worth noting the inherent power play in taking a life, but whether Bison derives any pleasure from this, I'm not 100% sure. Kant also knows Bison is capable of killing, so letting him dominate actually says a tonne). During their one night stand, Bison even quips, "you're not doing this solo, you know," which teases that he's no passive participant. This seems to be Bison's philosophy on life overall (and the root of his dissatisfaction), that he's not one to sit back and watch his life pass him by.

Kant seems happy to indulge Bison in taking the reins. Having his agency taken away during acts of passion, but on his terms is noticeably different to feeling forcibly pushed - because you've chosen how and who you forfeit that agency to. This is partly why I suspect Kant actually gives Bison permission to tie him up in that boat scene (above), for the greater purposes of a mission or task they have agreed to help each other achieve.

You can keep tabs on bird-inacage’s BL meta directory for my other long-form posts around The Heart Killers, which I’ll be updating in real time as the show airs.

[dragonnan]

Saturday Sherlock Fic Recs

Gathered from my bookmarks :)

It's Not The Violin by copperbadge - M Somewhere between Alejandro and the fistfight, John Watson became someone Sherlock Holmes would kill for.

Sound of Silence by SailorChibi - G Sherlock returns from the dead but nothing is like it was. He doesn't speak and John doesn't understand, not until an encounter with the Yard explains the depths of Sherlock's trauma.

Lost for Words by awanderingbard - M Sherlock is assaulted by an unknown assailant while John is away at a medical conference, leaving him with a severe brain injury. While his intellect and personality are intact, he's lost the use of his right-side limbs and his ability to speak freely. John suddenly finds himself as the main source of support, and possibly a caregiver, to a flatmate who is struggling to do the things he loves most. And Sherlock Holmes has never been the best of patients.

Following On by in_in_in_in_in_in - G ‘Well,’ says Sherlock, throwing the empty bottle down into the foot well. ‘I did think I was going to die.’

‘You thought you were going to die?’ Donovan chokes out. ‘I knew you were a freak, but are you really so self-centred? I thought he was supposed to be your friend, and instead of worrying about him you’re worrying about yourself? Did you push him in front of you or something?’

When something happens to John, Sherlock doesn't understand why everyone's so surprised that he was worried for his own life.

Flinch by Salr323 - G "We hated him."

Oubliette by CherryBlossomTide - T After a traumatic incident, Sherlock becomes trapped in the darkest part of his Mind Palace. The only thing that can still reach him is the sound of John's voice.

A Cure for the Final Problem by Saasan - T (Warning for Character Death) As far as Sherlock knows, he's back in rehab, but something is amiss. Why won't John come visit him?

The Holiday by Scriblit - M (Warning for offscreen noncon) A month following an horrific, sadistic attack during a case, Sherlock is still physically incapacitated and emotionally damaged. A holiday is suggested, but even stuck out in the middle of nowhere, he and John happen upon a case that could make Sherlock begin to feel like his old self again - or could kill him.

Paying Back by Dayja - M Some men do not appreciate Sherlock's handling of their cases. They decide to pay him back.

Harmless Things by J_Baillier - M This is definitely not how John had imagined their Saturday night.

It takes John Watson to save your life. by Sparkypip - T A series of One shots where John saves Sherlock's life in so many ways. Will be updated sporadically as and when I get any time to write. As always I like my characters hurt, so plenty of angst, H/C, whump and bromance.

Seek Out The Unworthy by squire - T Set after the events of His Last Vow - but this time, the plane carrying Sherlock off to Eastern Europe never turned around, and John's life is very different as a result.

Hopeless Wanderer by Cyane (orphan_account) - Not Rated Mycroft wakes up in a cold, dark, cliche. Normally this would be fine, except this time, his captors were smart/stupid enough to drag Sherlock into this.

And they're going to be there for a while, until his agents and Scotland Yard figures out where they are.

This would be a hell of a lot easier if Mycroft wasn't blindfolded, tied up, and forced to listen to Sherlock's screams.

Redemption by sgam76 - G The reappearance of James Moriarty means an initial reprieve for Sherlock Holmes. But the consequences of that reappearance put not just the Holmes boys, but most of the world, at risk. An emerging threat in Eastern Europe brings visions of the plagues of the Middle Ages--but that's the least dangerous part.

English as a Foreign Language by standbygo - G Sherlock is not quite right after Mycroft pulls him out of Serbia.

When Your Belly's in the Trench by Morgan_Stuart - T The next time that door opens, John Watson will kill the person on the other side.

The Least of All Possible Mistakes by rageprufrock - M If ever a people deserved tasering, it’s Holmeses.

Define Vulnerability by TheGracefulBlueCat - T Shortly after Sherlock's return John realises something is very wrong with his friend. He, Greg and Mycroft try to help Sherlock as he falls deeper and deeper into the abyss called PTSD. But Sherlock is not ready to allow anyone in, but then the events of the current case cause him to hit bottom hard.

Into the Gloaming by Vulpesmellifera - M She lays the sage bundle down in one of his seashells, avoiding the label. How he loved cataloging natural items. That sharp mind of his so naturally tended to the sciences, and she’d taken great joy in encouraging him all his life. All the first thirteen years of it. The last year has been entirely different.

His hand lies just outside the white comforter. When she touches it, the chill of his skin sends a shiver down her spine. His lips move, his voice as soft as dead, dry leaves.

“What’s that, love?” she says.

“In the trees,” he says, his eyes still closed. “Is it John there in the trees? I think he’s waiting for me.”

Viola turns her gaze out the window and to the closest tree, a resplendent cherry in the throes of autumn. In the branches there, for just a second, she thinks she sees it: a black bird, feathers gleaming in the sun.

Learning the Heart by Calais_Reno - T An android tries to understand love and grief.

The Ancillus's Tale by Chryse - E (Warnings for noncon and MPREG) Once Sherlock’s body had been his alone. He was free to treat it with great care or none at all; to live on cigarettes and coffee and cocaine and then sleep it all off for days on end. He was free to stay in and sleep alone or to go to clubs and choose someone to touch him, mark him with nails and teeth or to kiss him with sweetness and care, according to his whim. Every part of it had been his decision. No more. Now he was property of the Crown, tagged and marked like one of the King’s deer, to be bred like one of his horses.

[theaceace]

I know that canonically (show-wise, at least) St Hilarion's worked to cover up Charles' death, and nothing was ever really done about the disappearance of Edwin and the other boys, but even so, do you think the school has a reputation for being haunted??

I'm imagining Niko following various ghost-hunter groups online, especially when the agency doesn't have many cases going on, and occasionally the boys will mirror hop over to an interesting-sounding location, and they'll even get a real case as a result

So when she tells them that one of the teams is planning to investigate St Hilarion's (either it's been closed for a while or they have special permission to go during the summer holidays), Edwin and Charles steel themselves and decide to go, in case there are other ghosts there that need help ('can't imagine a worse place to be trapped for the rest of my afterlife' says Charles, who has been to literal hell. Edwin, who spent 70 years in literal hell, agrees)

So they go, with Niko and Crystal as moral/emotional support, except when they get there they realise they've fucked up and are there on the same day/night as the ghost hunters. They could come back some other time, but what if there really are ghosts here that are suffering? No one wants to take that chance, so Crystal uses her powers to convince them that she and Niko are there for work experience, or are friends of a friend, or are here to replace one of the tech guys who called in sick

Both Charles and Edwin are tense and uncomfortable returning to the place they died - Edwin had gone there after he escaped Hell because he didn't know where else to go, but they've built themselves a home now with the agency. This isn't like before, when it was the closest place to familiar he could find. Charles, meanwhile, feels colder and colder the longer they're there - his hair is wet, there are bruises flaring and spreading, and a faint rattle in his chest that would have become pneumonia if he'd lived long enough

But they need to be sure there aren't any other lost ghosts stuck here that need their help crossing over, so they keep going

(maybe, as a consequence of a door to hell being opened in the school, there are unusual happenings, maybe there's still a place where the line between earth and hell is very thin, maybe there's some fragment of a demon left behind, and they can do something about it)

Anyway, the most important thing is that Charles, either accidentally or in a fit of pique at the whole situation, knocks something over just as one of the paranormal investigators is asking for spirits to make their presence known. In fact, this happens repeatedly - the boys move things, change things around, their presence is detected somehow with the equipment. Crystal and Niko are doing their best to distract the team and ruin as much of the footage as possible, and at least once the boys do something on purpose, maybe because someone is being a creep to the girls (and yes, they both know that Crystal and Niko are more than capable of taking care of themselves, but this way scares the asshole more and is also funnier), and then also to fuck with their readings

Anyway, it's coming to the end of the night, the problem has been identified, and whaddaya knows, of course it's in the attic where they both died. This is fine, why wouldn't it be fine. They get started, draw some (invisible, ghostly) runes and start working their magic when, of course, the paranormal investigators turn up, because this is thought to be the most 'active' area of the school, and the body of a schoolboy was found here in the 80s

Yeah, they try to contact 'any of the boys who disappeared in 1916' and Charles. It would be fine if they weren't so irritatingly loud, Edwin's trying to concentrate, and Charles is now shivering and dripping wet, but they managed to ignore the team right up until they start speculating that Charles was killed by one of the angry spirits from 1916

At which point, Charles - half visible, clearly enraged, looking very much like the half-drowned and frozen kid he was, like a proper ghost - tells them to fuck off already before they get hurt, they don't understand anything, and how dare they give a shit now when it's too late

Which is, of course, the exact moment Edwin finishes the spell, and causes some sort of a magical rebound that fritzes the cameras for a second, throws furniture around, and knocks them all flying. When the cameras start up again, they catch Edwin kneeling by Charles, holding his hand, and softly telling him that it's ok, it's over, they can go now. Charles sniffs and smiles and knocks their foreheads together and says yeah, let's get out of here, and together they fade from view

The investigators think this means gay love can pierce the veil of death and save the day that now that the truth of their story is known the ghosts have moved on, and it's all thanks to them! How beautiful, how wonderful, how affirming! Perhaps one of the boys from 1916 tried to help Charles, and when that didn't work, they both stayed to try and protect other people from these violent spirits, and now their unfinished business is finished! It's so tragic and touching story

Charles and Edwin, who are putting their tools back in the backpack, roll their eyes and smile at each other

On the way out, Charles swipes the memory cards from the cameras, Edwin inscribes a couple of sneaky runes on various pieces of equipment to fuck with it, and Crystal uses her powers to make sure they all remember a couple of details differently, so later they won't be able to agree on a bunch of stuff

The episode they were trying to make can't be released, their social media posts about the experience are full of details that don't match up, and fans are bitterly disappointed

Crystal and Niko watch the footage Charles stole with Jenny and the Night Nurse back at the agency. Jenny turns it into a drinking game. Charles does a dramatic reading of the posts with added commentary while Edwin pretends he's not laughing. They buy t-shirts of the paranormal investigators and wear them ironically. They leave anonymous comments

Just. The dead boy detectives having to work around ghost hunters, in a world where ghosts definitely, tangibly exist

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Omg hey I woul like to request something ! Ken x Reader (male, if possible) where the reader teaches Ken about the real world and they're also very in love. Thank you very much !

When Ken returned to the Real World again, he had a vision similar to Barbie's--realizing his owner was nearby.

Instead of a child....it's you, an adult who (like Gloria) inadvertently projected your own insecurities onto him while looking at an unboxed Beach Ken doll in your attic.

When you were younger, you really wanted to play with it unlike other boys who had action figures and nerf guns...but you were sorta shamed into keeping it boxed, as your parents said it would be more "valuable" one day.

Similarly..Ken had been stuck in a box all his life, trapped in the role of Barbie's accessory until recently.

So there's an instant connection when you two meet.

To make a long story short, you're like "ohhh hey I guess I kinda fucked up your mental stability, bro...you wanna come over and we can talk about it, man-to-man?"

He was very eager to go with you and learn more about your world beyond all the patriarchy and toxic masculinity.

You tell him about using your "male privilege" for good, and one defining example was when a random woman taps him on the shoulder, looking terrified and almost in tears.

"H-Hi, um..this is gonna sound really awkward but can you two pretend to be my friends for a second? This guy has been following me-"

"Of course." You reassure her, before looking to the confused Ken and telling him to go along with it.

The creepy guy comes along and backs off when he sees you two standing there protecting this lady, and once he's gone, she thanks you with hugs before leaving.

"I think I did a good job." Ken turns to you for validation, eyes shimmering. "Was that good, [y/n]? I mean playing pretend is all I've ever done so-"

"Yep. You did great." You chuckle, patting his shoulder. "I'm glad she thought you were a safe person to approach."

He nods and is giddy the whole way back home, especially when you get into your car and show him the different mechanisms, with him clinging to every detail.

These life lessons you're teaching him, however, made him think back to the "Kendom"...and he admits to trying to reinvent patriarchy there and feels ashamed of how he treated the Barbies.

He didn't think he'd open up this quickly to you, considering he never had any "manly" talks with other Kens (besides beach-offs).

But besides you being his owner, there's something about you that just made him feel...secure enough to do so. Like he could tell you anything.

You listen and reassure him that acknowledging his mistakes was a great first step to unlearning those toxic mindsets.

With all of that finally hashed out, you decide to show him the simple pleasures of the real world. Like cooking, watching TV, playing video games, etc.

Just mundane things you regularly do, with Ken picking up on some of your habits/routines as well as having some independence of his own.

You two grow closer as a result over the next few weeks, and you began falling for him and his humor and his charming smiles-

Yeah, you're 100% smitten for this doll who crossed worlds to meet you.

But you're not sure if he felt (or even could feel) the same way, since he was made to love Barbie and was...clearly still getting over his "breakup" with her. So you left it be.

That changes when you show him some emotional movie where the lead male characters showed vulnerability (ie Good Will Hunting or Brokeback Mountain) and he unconsciously holds your hand as he stares at the screen, tears staining his cheeks.

While the credits roll, your heart melts as he looks at you with those pretty blue eyes, his watery smile persistent.

"Th-Thanks for showing me this, [y/n].."

"Of course, Ken. Now you know that us guys don't always have to pretend to be tough. We're allowed to have feelings." You rub your thumb across his knuckles, a sweet gesture which makes him blush.

On the subject of feelings, he realizes that the ones he has for you are...leaning more into romance than "bromance" (yeah you taught him that term and it's part of his vocabulary now).

He becomes uncharacteristically quiet when you ask him what's on his mind, before he leans in to kiss you on the cheek. Purely on impulse.

You're both flustered at what happened, yet he panics internally when you don't say anything, trying to get up to leave so you didn't see him cry over the stupid decision he made-

"Ken, it's okay." You take his hands, convincing him to sit back down. "I had no idea you swung that way, but I'm...actually glad."

"Glad? Y-You're not...mad or anything?" He sniffles.

"Of course not. I....was planning to come out of the closet sooner or later. I just didn't know when or how to bring it up, but....I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, thank god."

"So...does this makes us boyfriend and g....boyfriend?"

"If you want it to be, sure. I wouldn't mind a handsome doll being the love of my life." You wink.

Ken mirrors your smile, relieved to know you reciprocated his feelings.

Then he gets stumped on something and his eyebrows furrow.

"Wait...what closet were you talking about?"

Oh boy.

You just chuckle and give him a kiss on the lips.

Falling in love with a Ken doll from Barbieland certainly wasn't on your bucket list....

But you're perfectly content with that.

[formulapookie]

19 "Can I hold your hand?" and rosquez please if you'd like < 3

It's cold, really cold right now, the storm has made a mess outside, the communications are cut off and they're stuck in a stupid house in the mountains far from every kind of human connection.

Vale has been trying to make the phone work for one hour now without any kind of success.

Pecco, Franky and Diggia are in another house, a bit far from this one.

Vale would like to know what the fuck went through Ducati's head to make them all go there for the PR shit.

Him. And Marquez. In the mountains.

He hasn't spoke to the spaniard yet, he thought Pecco was the one in the house currently, and he needed to ask a question, but when Marc had come downstairs the storm had begun and none of them could be freed from the other's presence.

Marc is shivering he notices, despite wearing a comfortable hoodie he's clearly cold, and for another stupid reason they don't have been given blankets to stay there.

He debates whether to do this or not, maybe he could let Marc freeze and it would be over like this.

He ultimately decides not to commit homicide and removes his own hoodie, passing it to Marc.

"No no I'm ok I'm not cold"

"You're shivering"

"I - it's not the cold"

"Then what is it? Enlighten me"

"Why you have to be an asshole?"

"You're giving stupid answers"

"I. I'm scared of the storm. I fear we'll be blocked here forever if it doesn't stop. I don't like to feel trapped"

It strikes Vale now.

How despite having grown Marc is still somehow a kid. Scared of a storm. Scared of being caged.

"You're scared of the storm"

"Don't joke about it Vale"

"I'm not joking it's just. Doesn't seem like you"

"Yeah and what would you know about what seems like me? WE haven't spoken in God knows how long"

"Well I do remember you liked how I made coffee because it was tastier than the one you had home"

Marc stops his pacing around, and looks deeply into Vale's eyes. Almost grazing his soul.

"I remember you're scared of wasps and for some reason not of bees"

"They're different and wasps are cruel, bees are not"

"Mh if you think so"

While the temperature between them seems to be warming the one in the house is rapidly dropping, and Vale tries to light up the chimney.

"Billion dollar man knows how to light up a chimney? I'm impressed"

"Allora, I'm not an idiot Marc eh, I know how to do things"

And Marc agrees. He also would agree to the fact Vale looks hot while doing them.

The heat provided from the wood burning is not much, but it's something, and Marc goes to sit directly in front of it, behind an imaginary line Vale traced not to make him burn.

He's in the kitchen meanwhile, making something, and the storm is not hinting to an end, it rather seems to be increasing in force and dimension.

And it's scary.

Marc feels more and more like he's going to die in there, but can't tell Vale.

He already told him he's scared, he can't tell him he fears he'll die trapped in here now.

He smells coffee, and before he realizes there's a cup in front of him.

"no sugar right? You are on a diet I suppose"

"Yeah no sugar. I mean we're all on a diet"

"Have you seen one of my riders following it after podiums?"

"No"

"There you go. You instead I never see you take something from the buffet"

"You look at me?"

"You and Pecco share a team. I see you doing stuff, I don't look"

At a particularly harsh blow of wind and snow against the window Marc winches, and his hertbeat can be heard in the whole house.

He feels so stupid right now, weak even, he's scared of the storm like a child.

He feels Vale scooting closer to him, and turns around in surprise but Vale is quicker.

"Can I hold your hand? So you are less scared"

And it's extremely stupid on both their parts, it seems like they're stupid teenagers who don't know how to talk to one another.

"Yeah"

They stay silent in fact, Vale just draws small circles on Marc's hand, slowly helping him relax, and eventually drift to sleep.

Vale doesn't know quite well what to do.

He's just offered to hold his hand and now Marc has fallen asleep with their hands tangled together. He looks cute tho.

No.

No no no let's not. Let's not dive into that right now.

But he truly looks ethereal.

His lines, the one that come up when he's awake and in pain and PR acting all day disappear.

He looks younger than he is, way younger than the 32 year old man he should see at his side.

He doesn't remove his hand from the hold. He could, but he doesn't.

He'll do it in the morning. Yeah. He'll wake up first and he will break the hold and never speak of this to anyone.

How he held Marc's hand during a storm because he was scared.

The morning after he does not wake first.

The other boys manage to make their way to the hut where the two of them were staying, and had basically broken in, since none of the two answered.

"I'm telling you guys, they killed each other"

"They're just sleeping pecco don't worry"

"You don't know anything Diggia they could have seriously killed each other"

"Or" there came Franky, who honestly was just fed up with the shenanigans between the two men. "They fucked"

"Ah shut up Franky"

They walk around the hut for a bit until they end up near the chimney, breath held by all three of them.

Marc is hugging Vale like a koala, none of them awake yet, the wood now turned to ash but still it's warm around the two.

Vale has got an arm around Marc's body, keeping him tight against him, and their hands are close.

Still in a hold, presumably from the day before Pecco supposes, as the three of them make their way back out to their own hut.

"Well that was close to my bet I'd say"

"I'm never gonna forget boss with Marquez now"

"Oh trust me Diggia you have seen nothing"

Vale wakes when Pecco shuts the door a bit too harshly, realising the position they both are in.

He should stop holding Marc's hand now right?

Right.

He'll do it later. When Marc is awake.

Maybe.

[i3utterflyeffect]

Hi! I'm new here but im really interested in the selkie sticks au. Can you resume and explain it to me please?

oh absolutely!!! selkie sticks is one of my favorites but you could probably already tell judging by how incessantly i post about it lol

so the summary is that selkies are not humans who can become seals in this au, but instead they're sticks who can become cursors!

after the events of AVA 1, c!Alan becomes trapped in his computer as a cursor. what he doesn't know at this point is that he's actually a selkie!

usually the progression of selkie growth goes from stick -> fluffy stick (in the shape of some sort of clothing) -> stick sheds coat, and that coat can be used to become a cursor, but since c!Alan is kind of a freak of nature he goes from cursor -> fluffy cursor -> stick with coat!

anyway throughout AVA 2 and 3, he's stuck as a cursor and none the wiser to his status as a selkie! however, he does make The Chosen One and The Dark Lord! they end up inheriting the selkie status. Chosen's coat is obviously kept away from them by Alan, though, and both Chosen and Dark's coats are destroyed too much to be actually used in AVA 3.

After AVA 3, Alan at some point sheds his coat, turning into a mostly just very confused stick, and while he's on the desktop, he ends up accidentally drawing SC! SC is also a baby for no reason other than I wanted to. anyway he's forced to go into the outernet because he has no idea how to raise a stick, and ends up living there in hopes that SC can at least be somewhat normal! SC is also a selkie though so normal is relative--

he does end up meeting king very early on and it splits into two AUs where Gold either survives (because Alan turns into a cursor to break open the minecraft machine) or dies, but for clarity's sake i'm going over the one where gold dies! King and Alan end up losing contact with each other after that point :(

but anyway! Chosen eventually ends up finding out that Alan is in the outernet after finding him caught up in the crossfire with SC after a fight with Dark, and they end up kind of following him around just to make sure he's not hurting SC! Alan does eventually find out, but ends up being okay with this because. like. yeah he was kind of terrible to them, that's fair enough

he also ends up adopting the color gang (much to Chosen's disbelief) and just raising the group in general as the closest thing to normal kids as he can manage, and Chosen ends up babysitting a lot and growing very attached to their little siblings! they don't tell Dark about any of this though because. you know. Alan.

this ends up kind of blowing up in their face when Dark ends up finding out about them anyway and trying to kill Alan, which is equivalent to the showdown!! it happens when SC and the CG are a lot younger so even though Dark doesn't end up attacking the kids SC still exhausts themself pretty badly healing Alan and taking Dark out. I don't think Dark dies in this AU, partially because SC is weaker, but no one finds that out for a while--

(Also! Dark uses the virus to make a faux coat basically since their old one is damaged too badly, but this pretty badly hurts them as well :3c)

anyway! Alan basically takes Chosen in under his wing after that since they're still pretty badly devastated by the loss of Dark, and also Alan feels just generally horrible about everything. he ends up using what's left of Dark's original coat (as well as a few pieces of his own coat) to repair Chosen's coat as a gift for them, and generally things are pretty peaceful after that up until AVA 6!

i haven't completely figured out what happens yet (i mean. kind of obvious since the arc itself isn't over) but i do know Vic ends up most likely stealing Alan's coat!

Vic is a very weird middle point between selkie and not-- they have fur, but never ended up shedding, and can use Alan's coat to transform!

anyway a few notes about the au:

a selkie giving someone their coat is more of an expression of trust than anything romantic! it's just essentially saying 'hey i trust you', the equivalent of a cat showing their belly. giving someone their coat can also be something they do to comfort someone who's going through something as it's a comforting thing for them!

selkies aren't a well-known legend in the outernet and typically someone would default to going 'oh, that's a human' before going 'oh, that's a selkie' if they saw a cursor!

alan can regrow his coat if it's destroyed; the others cannot

purple is a selkie because it's fun, i said so, and also getting hit with the Minecraft Beam fucked them up a little bit

SC thinks of King as something similar to an uncle! purple has a similar view of Alan since he helped them cope with becoming a selkie

cursor!alan is ridiculously big even for a selkie. he's actually taller than king in this form. i need you to know how scary he is to literally any stick who isn't a selkie he's so so so big

No one except MAYBE Agent (and Vic themself obv) knows that Vic is partially selkie.

[autisticlalna]

Stuck in Limbo: a follow-up

this was originally gonna be a reblog of the original Stuck in Limbo explanation post but then it got long and went on a tangent. for the love of god please help me

so... about Limbo.

or, a bit more specifically, about Olm.

this is part of Olm's backstory in Avid Adventures. as you can see from the timestamp, we've known about this for a few months now, but i've kinda filed it away as something to keep an eye out for future AA episodes.

and then Avid's episode 12 dropped, and among the rampant speculation and analysis was a single message that simultaneously tied things together and flipped them on its head:

to summarize: Limbo is where Olm was born, and where Olm was supposed to never leave. they completely consumed it, leaving nothing but emptiness and themself, until someone made the mistake of opening a portal into Limbo and setting them free upon the rest of the universe.

cc!Avid confirmed already that Olm has been toying with sbk!Avid and that the "laws of Incendium" that required Avid to kill the Dark Lord and be banished to Limbo were made up (as explained in the original post), but this fully locks it in. Olm dunked Avid into their home universe for safekeeping and left him to wander for a thousand years until making the deal.

this raises questions. is Avid trapped? Olm was trapped until they were freed by an external force, and they were able to send out part of Avid. are they lying again, or is it actually impossible to escape Limbo without outside intervention? how are people (besides Avid, who was put there on purpose) falling into Limbo "problematic", and what is Olm trying to hide? i'm... gonna have to get into that in another post, i think.

because speaking of tying Avid Adventures and Skyblock Kingdoms together, though, there's one last way for Avid to completely blindside us with a single message.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE HELP ME

for further context: for the first 7 episodes of Avid Adventures, Avid was an enderman.

it wasn't until he broke Olm's curse on Vilethorn that something changed:

"We beat Vilethorn, we cured Rosewood, the mansion is back and beautiful! But something feels... different. Like, when I was down there, I feel like when I cured the curse, something... changed in me too. Like a piece of me... was left behind. And I... can't seem to put my finger on it."

but... that's not the end of it. Avid Adventures has two storylines: the Light Path, where you fight against Olm, and the Dark Path, where you join him instead. that clip is from the Light Path, but when Avid tests out Vilethorn's Dark Path, something strange happens:

"I'm not gonna lie, I feel... kinda bad. If I were to play my own map... I don't think I would do Dark Path. So... This one's for you evil people, I guess! Well at least it can't get any worse, let's get on outta here, looks like we completed the Curse of Vilethorn, and... what's in the reward bag. Oh, gosh. Is it Usim's head? Now I feel even worse! I mean-- [annoyed] Oh, gosh. Enderman again. Well, you guys, it looks like I'm gonna have to run Vilethorn as a good guy in order to get set back to normal, but I will take care of that off camera."

so the implication here is that Avid's humanity is directly tied to Olm's curse, somehow. but... why would that happen in Limbo? it's very brief and happens while Olm is yanking out the soul chunk that becomes sbk!Avid, and honestly i figured it was just a general indication of Olm's influence seeing as that's also their eye color while they're possessing their current vessel:

but... maybe that's the same thing. firstly because Olm's eyes changed during that same scene to what can be assumed to be their "original" eye color based off of what we've seen in AA, but also because we've seen what happens when Olm assumes direct control over our lovable adventurer.

Avid: What-- What-- Uh-- Hello? Who- who put all the blocks here?! Olm: You did. Avid: I put... I did this?! Olm: Yes. Avid: What-- I don't-- remember-- Olm: And you did well. Now... Make. The. Boss. Avid: Uh, guys... Something feels, uh... diff- different. Olm: Don't let them know. Avid: Okay, uh, let's... [cheerful] And guys--!

i don't know what this means for the part of Avid still in Limbo, but it's probably not anything good.

this was going to be a footnote with the main part of the post being "yeah so uh Limbo is Olm's home dimension. what the heck" but uh. the implications are implications-ing and i'm gonna lose it.

(...it is at this point that i reveal that i helped make the half-enderman skin because the entire "aa!Avid was an enderman" thing lives in my head rent-free. and then that skin got actually used.)

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi, i think i have sent this ask before, but I can't find it on your profile and I'm not sure now if I have actually sent it or not (if youre not answering for a reason or have posted it already and I can't find it, I am sorry for sending it again)

What would happen in a scenario where a child suddenly falls into post-Saeran-AE!Choi twins and MC's life? Maybe a kid (perhaps a girl? Saeran would be such a girl dad) who was in the Minteye and knows Saeran, or a kid who magically appeared on their doorstep, perhaps a lost third (half) sibling. I'd enjoy anything, if theyre not MC's and Saeran's biological kid and they meet when the kid is already above toddler age (I'm thinking around 6-12).

Thank you so much and have a great day!

Mint Eye didn't take in young children as far as we're aware. They target people who feel like they're at their wit's end, the lowest of the low, looking for a place that will accept them when the world won't do that. At worst, some of the victims are likely young adults, barely able to call themselves adults at all, considering Saeran was roughly 18-19 when Rika whisked him away from the cathedral. So, any idea of that nature is not remotely plausible to me.

The number of members in Mint Eye can be anywhere from triple to quadruple digits depending on the timeline you're in. There are more of them in Casual and Deep Story, whereas there's a smaller number in Another Story because she's still in the process of building the cult to the place it would be if MC hadn't been directly brought to Mint Eye. As far as the identities of the victims, like I said, you can assume the victims are across the board.

My assumption has always been a huge pool of people from the ages of 18-60, both in members and in people Rika has employed to help her run the damn place. Rika doesn't discriminate, she just... wants people who would follow her to hell so she'll never have to be afraid of people abandoning her for not being an "angel". Most of the people she's brought into Mint Eye come from the pool of those that she's encountered while volunteering and doing work for the RFA.

There is no common denominator between believers except "societal outcast" and "preys on the vulnerable". Either you're helping Rika hold people down because she asked for your muscles, creating the elixir at her side since she couldn't do that alone, or you're someone stuck in Mint Eye's system and can't get out now that you're trapped. It's... not a pretty picture.

Now, we've never had confirmation of this outside of assumptions and bare minimum game data, but it's widely assumed in the fandom that Saeyoung and Saeran have half-siblings. I don't believe that they have siblings that were fathered similarly to them, however. We are all familiar with how much Saejoong detests the "stain" both of his sons bring to his "picture-perfect family man" identity.

It's implied that he had a fling with Mother Choi somewhere near the start of his career in politics. We sincerely don't know the who, what, where, when, or why of it but we do know he wasn't deep enough into his career where he considered this a problem he couldn't just throw money at. He threw money at Mother Choi to keep her quiet, but he also had enough means behind him to have people follow her around just in case she slipped up and he could get rid of her and the boys.

It's hard to assume a lot of details here, but what I can say is he's not the kind of man to repeat something he considers a "mistake". I have assumed from the start that he married someone who fit the lifestyle of his career choice, a woman of status and means, who was willing to bow her head and have children with him to ensure her means of success as well. He isn't the kind of man who marries for love, we can tell that from how he scoffs at Saeran and MC in the RAE.

So, I think he has a marriage of convenience that works for him and his official wife. People assume he's a nice, orderly family man and it helps the bullshit he's trying to sell. He likely has one or two children he considers his as well. These children are younger than Saeran and Saeyoung, but as to how much younger, I don't know for sure. I would assume the oldest they could be would be younger than them by a few years, so think (14-17.)

I've considered how Saeran and Saeyoung would feel about those kids in the past. Saeyoung wanting nothing to do with them because they may be sympathetic to Saejoong. He doesn't hate them, but he can't risk being around anyone who might see Saejoong as a man who deserves anything but hatred. Saeran wanting to understand him to find closure is one thing, but he doesn't want to risk being told that Saejoong was a "good father" by someone who will never understand what he and Saeran suffered.

Saeran is far more willing to open the door to his half-siblings because he can stomach certain things his brother can't. He knows they experienced a different trauma from him, and he wants to be there for him if they want to be there for him. Saeyoung wants the door closed because he feels nothing but hatred for Saejoong, but Saeran is willing to crack open that door for other victims. It doesn't make one twin "better" than the other, it just shows they have a very different mentality on peace of mind. Good for them for establishing boundaries.

However, considering what I just mentioned about the kids Saejoong considers "legitimate"—I think they'll be okay as long as their mother isn't an entirely bad person, too. I don't know if the mother would be okay with the twins interacting with them, or if she would ever let the group interact in any capacity. I can't imagine these kids would end up in Saeran or Saeyoung's care, that's for sure! It's nothing on these boys, but they just earned established identities, and deserve time to exist freely on their own. No court would shove these kids at them.

However, I will say out of these scenarios, Saeran or MC can stumble across a child in a difficult situation. He already mentioned that he wouldn't mind adopting or fostering in the future if that's something you would be interested in! So, of course, if you want to imagine this outcome, you've got canon to back you up here. Saeran comes across as a girl dad, but even if he had a son, he would be the best boy dad, too!

I'd say there would need to be more specifics to say what would or wouldn't happen, but I assure you Saeran and MC would make the most wonderful parents together. Saeran sneaks them extra scoops of ice cream after dinner, MC pretends not to see that, Saeran gives them every blanket in the house to make a fort, and MC brings all the pillows so it's comfort, and so forth. There's no bad outcome here.

[theamazingdigitalmarchingband]

COME ONE, COME ALL!!! You’re Invited To See The BEST BAND In The WHOLE Digital Realm!

Welcome to the Amazing Digital Marching Band!!! I, your conductor Caine, have gathered the VERY BEST musicians in ALL THE LAND to give you the most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, mind-bending marching band you've ever laid your eyes AND ears upon! Don't be afraid and come on in! Diddle around with your favorite woodwinds, scream loud and proud with the brass, and keep perfect time and tempo with the percussion gang! I guarantee you, this band will be the best in all of the digital land, and you will NOT be disappointed by the marvels these hard-working individuals pull off! So get your instruments, get your drill, and get set! Rehearsal is about to begin, my friends! I salute to all a wonderful time here in this beautiful, musical, inescapable world!

Signed with a Salute, Caine, Head Drum Major

The Amazing Digital Marching Band, sometimes abbreviated as TADMB, is an Alternative Universe to the independently animated series "The Amazing Digital Circus". This alternate universe takes on the question of "What would it be like to be stuck in a never-ending cycle of marching and concert seasons?" as well as "What would band practice in complete virtual reality be like?" To be put more simply, each main character found within "The Amazing Digital Circus" is assigned a different role that are typically shown in a high school/collegiate marching band. These roles are as follows:

-Caine: Head Drum Major -Pomni: (Assistant) Drum Major -Ragatha: Flute (Woodwinds) -Jax: Trumpet (Brass) -Gangle: Color Guard -Zooble: Marching Snare (Battery) -Kinger: Gong And Bass Drum (Pit/Auxiliary)

Each character takes on a different piece that helps make a marching band full. One cannot exist without the other. Within this AU, the characters are shown going through the typical struggles, hardships, and perseverance that marching band members have to go through, but also shows the much more positive side of marching band: the community, the trust, and the lifelong friends.

This AU might even involve more than just marching band, leaking out into the daily lives that the characters live within the digital world they're trapped in, other interests they have besides music, and also possibly incorporating the fact that this AU takes heavy inspiration from high school marching bands by adding in elements of high school life, such as other "classes" the band members might be taking.

GENERAL ASK BOX RULES!

Do YOU have any questions for our talented performers? Any burning confusion that you want to confess? Than look no further than the BAND BOX! This is where you can gain information about the band, as well as some of the students within it! Just click "Ask The Band Members!", type in your question (anons are welcome!), and send it in to get an answer from our folks! However, there are some rules that you must follow in order to place a note in the Band Box! This is an EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT after all, so please follow these rules our students have curated: -NO NSFW. None of the characters are comfortable answering questions like that and neither are...they. The person that created us. The one almighty. I wonder what they look like... -NO SHIP ASKS! As our creator has told me to state, "They encourage shipping of any of the characters/pairings you enjoy, as long as its not problematic! No ships are canon within this AU because they encourage enjoyers of all Digital Circus ships to enjoy shipping their favorite characters together without discourse! So please don't ask about any ships, but feel free to make your own ship content for this AU!" -NO OFFENSIVE ASKS. This encompasses basically everything on a basic DNI list, such as homo/trans/enby/xenogenderphobia, hate against any religion, xenophobia, misogyny, racism, sexism, discrimination, ableism, etc. Hate towards any characters/hate asks are also not permitted. -All in all please be kind and think about what you're typing before you send it! Our creator is currently very busy and is in the home stretch school-wise, so answers to asks may take bit of time! Please be patient!

The band members are excited to meet you and answer your questions! Once again, welcome to the Official Ask Blog for The Amazing Digital Marching Band!!!

Note From THE CREATOR :O

Hello! Welcome to my very first ask blog! I have never run an ask blog before, so I’m looking forward to this experience! I hope you all enjoy the content I create for this blog as much as I enjoy creating it! March on, March strong! -Mod Hino

A POLL???

Yes, my lovely little readers! That is correct! A POLL!!! If you have been so courteous to read this post all the way down here, YOU get to choose which character of "The Amazing Digital Marching Band" cast will get a fully-fledged reference sheet first! The poll will ask a week, and then I will start on the character that has the most votes! So choose wisely!

[cheyennsblog]

Chapter 3 of "Ravenbrooks kids"

Today is the day...the investigations begins..all of them are inside Cheyenne's house cause their parents weren't home until tomorrow Damon say "Sooo...does everybody has the stuffs needed..?" Everyone nods yes except Browny who seem..in the moon or just tired Cheyenne think and say.."Can we make some modifications..?" Damon says "Of course.." Cheyenne smile and say "Y'all goes in the house to investigate...except me...and Browny.." Browny seem confused and Damon also but he nod and say "Okay." After everything is done the rest of the group go at Peterson's house...

Cheyenne say.."Browny...i know you don't seem feeling well today..do..you...wanna talk about it..?" Browny sigh and say "Well...the truth is that ever since we moved here...my family and i started having headaches..I don't know what they're doing now..but I don't feel like going home sometimes..it's pretty hard to see them ever since I've been it's so sudden really...first my parents now there is some sort of meaning in this town...? I don't really know perhaps we do some...researchs.." Cheyenne smiles and say "Ohh have you done...some...specific nightmares once...?" Browny eyes widen and say "Nightmares..? I do nightmares everyday !! It's somehow confusing cause I had a baseball bat...in my dreams I've lost it and now it's gone in real life too !!.." Cheyenne think and say "Do you sees it in your nightmares..?" Browny nods yes "And whenever I trap it some shadows like creatures try on catching me.." Browny think and say "Cheyenne...I need you to knock me out...I need to go in my dream and catch my bat.." Cheyenne smile and say "Knock out you say..?" Browny nods and he then turn seeing Cheyenne with a shovel "WAIT I DID'NT FINISH EXPL-" Cheyenne hits his head harshly and say "Hope he doesn't die...or have concussion.." They pick him up and pause him on a bed while turning on the Talkie walkie and listen to any signs...

Yavuz gulp and says "Soo...this is it ?" Lacey , Melanie , Charlie and Damon were there..Charlie nods "This is it." Damon smile evily and picks up a rock and throws it at Mr Peterson window Lacey say "HUHH WHAT ?!" Yavuz yell "HE WILL KNOW WE WERE HERE IF YOU BREAK WINDOWS" Damon enter by one of the breaked window and say "Anyway huh." The others follow him inside the window...and goes in his house Yavuz start to cough."Its smells bad here..like..like shit.." Melanie smell the air and said "Don't worry it might be just mold." Charlie agree with Melanie "Yeah maybe just old mold." Lacey look around and say "Now we gotta find the keys of the basement." Damon goes looks inside a closet but just see some newspapers and take them "Its Papers about Dejan , Aaron and Mya's missing stuffs." Yavuz "That means it's prooves of the situation." Damon answer "Yeah kinda...let's search some more.."

On Browny's side.."Duh..I wasn't done explaining but anyway now I am here..right ?" Browny was awake in a dim lighted room he gets up and opens the door and see a supernatural creature...his jaw drops as he say "What the frick?!" He close the door and slowly goes search stuffs in the room and find bear traps he smile and picks them...he then open the door and goes in another direction after putting some beartraps for in case the creature will try attacking him it will get stuck Browny walks and see his bat he smile and say "There it is.." He smile and say "Alright..I'm making this quick !!" He beat up a door with his bat to open it as he see the supernatural creature that talks in a glitched voice "H3y..!! Y0u can't d8 th4t !! Th5ts Che6ting !!.." Browny goes in a attack position and say "Neither of you or anyone should be talking...it's my nightmare !!" The creature was shocked as Browny attack it with his bat while it scream saying "444AAARRHHHGHHHH YO6 C7N'T D0 TH1S!!!" it fades away while melting.. he break the door and see a girl standing she drops a weird item on the floor and fade away..as she giggles..Browny approach it and he feels like the floor is trembling..."Arhhggh..this is feeling like bullshit..I have to grab this thing.." He approach the purple thing slowly as he feels more and more headache as he approach it..he grab it and then...he faint...

Lacey is with Yavuz in the hallway she then see some paints and looks at them."WOW...if he did this he's a great painter..or the person who did is is also very tale-" She looks and see that Yavuz is not here anymore "Oh..shit..Yavuz ?" She think that she shouldn't be screaming so she just sing slowly as she dance since she listen to music with her headphones...on the other side Melanie and Charlie are looking at Mr Peterson who's asleep on the couch..in a Cameras room..Melanie feel silly and approach Mr Peterson saying "Adopt me please." She then laugh slowly as Charlie too and Mr Peterson makes grunts noises in his sleep like he's gonna wake up...Charlie's jaws open and he take Melanie's arms to hide in a closet as Mr Peterson get up waking up and look around grunting...he gets up and says "I better be hallucination..grr.." He goes on his office to look at the cameras..Melanie tries not to laugh nervously as she and her brother hide in the closet..Mr Peterson see Lacey on the camera dancing and he just stare at the screen and then shake his head."I gotta not watch her dance..grr...I just have to make her go away or kidnapp her.." Melanie and Charlie look at each other as he say kidnaping her Charlie said "He's a kidnapper ?!" Melanie whisper "BRO he kidnapped his own kids what did you think ? Mr Peterson went out the room to look after Lacey...as he walk he sees Damon switching items as Damon say "Uhh...Hey neighbor uh...we...we where making new decorations in your house cause...it's ugly..?" Yavuz was next to Damon his jaw wide as he say "Shit we are cooked." Mr Peterson grunts and start to run after them..Yavuz and Damon scream as they run down the stairs...and goes inside the house to go in the backyard...unfortunately Mr Peterson saw them going in the backyard and continues chasing them..Yavuz saw a grave and say "HELP IM HIS OLD FRIEND..HE WOULD NEVER BURRY SOMEONE WOULD HE ?!" Damon says "HES A FRICKING KILLER AHHH" both run back infront of Cheyenne's house and sighs that is a bit away as they stay on the curb for a moment..Mr Peterson goes back to his house and see Lacey searching stuffs in the kitchen as she dance a bit listening to music she then turn and see Mr Peterson before saying "Nahh...what the frick bro ? ....why ya starring at.." she then realize he will chase her as she shout "AHHHHH SHIT SHIT DAMN FUCK BITCH DAMNIT STUPID ASS AHHHHHH" She run as Mr Peterson chase her Melanie is in the way with Charlie who scream and run away Melanie yell "NUH HUH BITCH !!" AS she yell too...and run away out of the house...they all go infront of Cheyenne's house..."Damn I'm thirsty..." Says Charlie..Melanie say "We will go inside eat a bit Cheyenne will cook something because they make cooking." As all of them enter the house and goes in the living room to rest..Cheyenne is talking with Browny who waked up..

"I have those glasses..maybe it will help..?" Browny take them and put them on and look into a mirror.."Yeah..we can't see them.."

As the others rest...Lacey say "WHAT THE FRICK DID YOU GUYS HEAR THAT ?! SOMEONE SAID "YOUR IN DANGER" ?!" Damon frowned and say "Whata-HELP...SOMEONE SAID "WRONG PATH.." The others got some weird words in there head too as Cheyenne and Browny did too...they both go down as they heared that too "Did you guys just hear that..?!" Said Cheyenne all of them nods yes Yavuz says "Yes!! I don't know who the hell said that but it's feels like a ghost." Cheyenne laugh and said "Might be my ghost detectors still on ?!" Cheyenne looks at their ghost detectors and say "They're off.." Browny say "the girl voice..She said wrong Path!! Maybe she's trying to convince us NOT saving the childs in the basement but WE CANT LET THEM DIE IN THERE !!" Cheyenne agree and say "We should save them and then we are done with Peterson...we will investigate only on stuffs because it would save people's.." Lacey say "Hey shortie..why you were glasses..?" Browny is angered at shortie nickname but say "Well...my eyes are not eyeing.." He remove his glasses as his eyes have been both turned one purple and the other yellow but glowing.."Cheyenne as a green eye and blue eye but it's natural...BUT WHY THE FUCK MY EYES ARE LIKE THIS ?!" Lacey's Jaw drops and says "Whata fuck.." Cheyenne say "You should go see a doctor maybe..?" Browny yell "NO NO NO...imma keep them hidden.." He puts on the sunglasses and says.."Well...it's almost night we should eat.." Charlie's stomach growls "Yeah I'm hungry.." Cheyenne says "No problem!! I'll make something.." after some time Cheyenne prepared spaghetti with a cream sauce and chopped beef meat..they putted it in plates with Orange juice for everyone.."MMHHH THIS TASTE SOO GOOD.." Yavuz says Melanie also "THIS HAS A LIGHTER GARLIC TASTE I LOVE GARLIC STUFFS." All of them enjoy the dinner as Cheyenne says "I love my cooking too prob the best quality I have hehe.." They eated the food around a table while talking about plans to open Mr Peterson's basement...

[my-mom-named-me-duck]

ducks rants part three wooooooo or part four idfk I don't think anyone will read this I'm just putting it out there to see if anyone can relate

Im fucking tired man im stuck in an endless cycle of being too young to be friends with adults but being to weird for most kids my age and im sick of it because adults assume im an adult by the way i look and act despite the fact im 15 and as soon as they find out my age they're suddenly uninterested in being my friend.

Having to raise a fucking 30 year old woman while dealing with multiple pedophilic relationships at age 12 ages you man.

My last therapist was shocked at how self aware I am and how tired of the world I sound.

Apparently I act like a 40 year old man that realizes no matter what he'll never achieve his dreams by working a dead end job and is stuck in the workforce until he's literally too old to enjoy not having to work.

I'm trapped with the knowledge of the world but not the respect that tends to come with it.

I'm 15 and i already know so many vile things i wish i could have the ignorance that most teens have i wish i was able to feel invincible and on top of the world instead of knowing i'll probably be working a full time job way into my 70s just to afford a shithole apartment.

I wanna be out there making obvious mistakes and memories and go out with friends and do dumb shit like snorting pixie sticks or drinking at parties but instead i'm here trying to plan out how i'll survive once i'm 18 because the only way i'll manage to live is by working 20 hour shifts just to make enough for rent and food let alone anything else.

Im panicked for the future because politics are fucking ruining the world polution is getting worse and i probably have an entire damn barbie worth of plastic in my blood.

The world is ending and I'm forced to watch as the adults around me panic about elections and running out of retirement money.

The world is crumbling and I wish I could go back to being blissfully ignorant.

I know too much about politics i know too much about sex i know too much about emotions i know too much about the economy but not enough to benefit me in any way all i know is that were all fucking screwed and i have no one to vent to about it because i make adults uncomfortable and most my age dont understand the issues to the extent I need them to.

Maybe I should follow in my great great grandfather's footsteps and get a lobotomy like holy shit.

And don't read this and think I think I'm so smart. I know i'm not. i know im an idiot on a lot of things i'm not writing this as a “sigh i'm too smart and no one understands me!” i'm writing this as a way to cope with my loneliness and we're all gonna die mentality i'm trying to fix it but its hard 

ima go rock back and forth while listening to music and imagining fantasy scenes because I can and you cant stop me

[toastedjeans]

I can finally properly introduce my AU (hopefully tumblr doesn't mess up the formatting)

Amazing Digital Cryptids!!

In this AU, the human world is inhabited by cryptids, and humans are determined to hunt them down for profit or publicity. But since these creatures are so elusive, they have to find a way to locate them first. And that's where our first character comes in.

More info below

Caine

Caine is a creature specifically bred by humans to help them seek out other cryptids. His bowtie has a hidden camera so they can follow him around and capture footage. But Caine isn't aware of any of this at all. Some cryptids (like Kaufmo and Queenie) notice how human attacks get more frequent after Caine came around, and figure out he's basically a spy. So they start to bury underground and get extremely hostile towards anything and everything (this is this AUs version of abstraction). But Caine just likes to get to know other creatures, and fly around and cuddle Kinger

Kinger

Kinger is a giant centipede-like creature, and he is very friendly, gentle and curious. Most other cryptids are intimidated by him at first, but only because of his sheer size. He enjoys crawling through the woods and watching all the different critters. The fluff around his neck and on his back is incredibly soft, and the other cryptids like cuddling into it. Kinger doesn't mind, and even enjoys it, but sometimes he forgets when others are laying on him and gets startled. It was originally his and Caine's idea to stick together, and over time, other creatures start to join their little group.

Zooble

Zooble is basically a shape shifting creature, but they're cursed to never have matching limbs or wings. Because of their appearance, they're avoided by other creatures, so they're a loner and don't care about anyone. But they soon open up when they join the group.

Gangle

Gangle is a shy snake cat thing. She becomes closest and most comfortable with Zooble, but also often hides in Kinger's fluff, mostly from Jax. She can coil up like a snake and often loafs like a cat. She's suspicious of any creature that joins their group at first, but comes around to them eventually. Even if Jax keeps bullying her.

Ragatha

Ragatha acts as the moral support of the group, trying to keep everyone together. She's friendly, and is always there to comfort others. The scars and stitches all around her body are from attacks from other creatures, or even human traps. I like to believe Kinger and Caine found her injured and healed her up, and she stuck around since then. The snakes on her head are very curious and affectionate, they don't bite and they're not venomous. I feel like she used to be afraid of Kinger at first (seeing that he's a centipede), but became used to him quickly.

Jax

Oh boy, Jax. I couldn't think of much for him so he's basically a Jackalope / Wolpertinger. Just that his limbs are really long, and i gave him a seemingly endless pouch where he stores various things and food. Basically cartoon character logic. He likes bullying and scaring others for fun, especially Gangle and Kinger because of their reactions. I accidentally made him more horror AU looking, but oh well.

Pomni

Pomni is a human who recently got turned into a cryptid, hence why she's still wearing clothes. She is understandably confused, and wants to return to her life and humanity, but she can't. Some creatures see her as a threat, and humans would hunt her down, and she doesn't know what to do. And that's when she comes across the group, who take her in. She becomes most comfortable with Ragatha, who keeps her spirits up during this strange and confusing time.

[tj-dragonblade]

*knock knock knock* ❄️☃️🎄 Asking for 24 for the Spotify Wrapped!!!

24 - Dance With the Dragon by Dark Sarah

Congratulations, you've landed on one of the songs that's officially on my list of Songs That Would Make Great Dreamling Fics (That I'll Never Write)! Based entirely on the video linked above and the story that it's part of, this would be a fantasy AU where the vibes are 'Labyrinth meets Alice in Wonderland' with hints of Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and Hades and Persephone sprinkled over for flavor.

The basic idea is that Hob is trapped in some alternate reality and trying to collect a key from each realm he passes through to be able to get back to his own reality. No idea at this juncture what the first realm/key would be - maybe something with the fae, maybe hell, idk. The second realm is Dream's. Do I want to keep to the source and make him a dragon who lost his wings for hubris and arrogance and got banished from the 'upper world' to rule this dark 'underworld'? Maybe, but that's also very Lucifer-ish. So maybe I'd blend in something closer to his canon. In any case. Hob tries to sneak into Dream's castle, get the key, sneak out. He does not succeed and is taken before Dream. There is antagonistic chemistry. There is sneering haughty-in-my-superiority taunting and 'let's be reasonable' demands. There is at least one challenge set, there is Hob as a 'guest' of Dream's until he completes the challenge ('So I'm a prisoner, then.' 'Oh no, you may leave any time you like, but you will gain no key until you complete my challenge.' 'But what good is leaving without the key, when I'll just be stuck here forever??' 'I fail to see how that is my problem'), there is continued verbal fencing and sparring and building UST as Hob struggles with the challenge, there is an elaborate ball (masquerade?) held, there is a waltz charged with so much tension and raging attraction it's a wonder the room doesn't spontaneously combust. There is at least one moment of 'Oh no under different circumstances this could be More™️' and genuine understanding/connection between them. In the end, Hob finally succeeds at the challenge, earns the key and departs on a note of uneasy flirtation - Dream bowing and kissing his hand in farewell as he acknowledges his defeat, lingering intense smirky eye-contact as Hob goes, that kind of thing.

Potentially this can go on, if I continue the thread of the source storyline but lean on Dream's canon for details. Perhaps collecting the three keys would give him the means to restore Orpheus/free Orpheus/something to do with Orpheus, and he's never had the means to collect the other two keys on his own, but now that Hob has collected the first and second, if Dream accompanies him while he collects the third, they can both use the keys to achieve their ends - Hob to go back to his own world and Dream to restore Orpheus. So Dream leaves Lucienne in charge of the realm and follows after Hob, catches up to him, proposes they cooperate etc; they quest for the third key and finally resolve that UST in the process. When they get the third key, and present it to let's say the Fates, they're told they cannot both claim reward - and they put the choice to Dream, his lover or his son. Let Hob go back to his world/his regular life, or be 'selfish' and choose to cash in for his own goal instead. It could end here with Dream choosing to let Hob go, which could be passing a test by the Fates and as reward for passing he still gets to save/restore Orpheus. Or, the longer and angstier version, he chooses Orpheus and thereby casts Hob into yet another alternate realm, and the next leg of the story is Dream's quest to find Hob again and seek his forgiveness, and find a way to get him home. Hob can't exactly fault Dream for choosing his son over this outsider human that he's started sleeping with, but it still hurts, still feels on some level like betrayal, and while he might like to freely offer forgiveness it's more plausible that there will have to be some earning done. Eventually of course they reconcile and find a way to get Hob home and then of course establish a means by which they can continue to cross worlds to see each other.

Anyway this is far more a mental exercise in mapping one story to another and seeing where they might translate than it is a viable fic idea; it's far too grand in scope and not nearly detailed enough for me to realistically take it on. Mostly I just want the enemies-to-lovers fraught-with-tension ballroom dancing scene.

Spotify Wrapped Askmeme Post