#maybe this will magically force productivity out of me

[jacksprostate]

struck with inspiration as if i dont have a lot of shit to do irl that's way more important,

[coloursofaparadox]

i finally got my adhd med dosage worked out and also for like the first time since upping the dosage actually managed to take it consistently long enough for it to actually kick in over the last few weeks and god damn. that shit is magic.

[raubtierfuetterung]

I hate being a girl

[iambilliejeanok]

Hi! I'd like to request a heacanon for Sasuke, Gaara and Neji if that's alright? I'd love to see you write them react to their s/o walk in on them taking a shower naked and just casually invite themselves taking a shower with the boys?

You got it babe! Let’s replace Neji with Shikamaru💗

Warnings: 18+, NSFW AND SFW, darcyphillia

Sasuke

SFW

Sasuke is well aware of the madness that goes on in that little head of yours, so he prepares himself for anything at all times. Walking in on him in the shower might not bother him too much, but randomly deciding to join in and shower too? He might be slightly annoyed, but that annoyance doesn’t last too long as soon as you splash water on his face as you proceed to reach for your soap.

He has accustomed himself to having zero personal space in the time that he’s known you, the beginning being a little unusual to him, maybe extremely unusual, but overtime he’s grown to depend on your presence. Sasuke always takes advantage of his situations, especially if it involves you being in personal space, so before you even get to scrubbing yourself down, the bottle of his favorite shampoo magically appears right in front of your face. Mind you, this is your shampoo. And yes he has his own, but he “only feels special and clean with your products”. Gasping, you shift your head to take a look at him, eyeing him up and down, “How dare you”, you say, “Well, you’re here, so do me the favour, or what’s the point?, he questions. “What the fuck Sasuke, how about a “Oh babe you know I really enjoy having you wash my hair, please help me out, I’ll wash yours too””, you say, Sasuke unable to hold in a chuckle at your weak imitation of his voice. But you remain serious, and when he notices that he gets serious too, the two of you simply staring at each other. Sasuke finally speaks, “Baby, you know I love having you wash my hair, please be a good girl?”, he says as though he’s bored, making you gasp once again. “Please?”, he pouts. “Fuck you”, you say, grabbing the shampoo from his hand, “That’s my girl”, he says before turning around, to allow you to work your magic.

NSFW

If you want to shower with him, then baby, you’re going to shower with him. There’s just something about the feel of your fingers gently scratching his scalp that sends signals to his peepee, so as soon as you’re done he’s definitely in the mood to “wash” you, immediately reaching for your loofah and body wash, lathering it up faster than you can question him.

You’re also a blushy mess because he’s incredibly sexy under all that steam and water, his dark eyes droopy from how relaxing the hair wash was, licking his lips while holding eye contact, making you look elsewhere, trying not to melt under his stare. Lifting your chin up with his fingers, you seriously can no longer hide your blush, making him lick those pretty lips of his once again, forcing you to gulp unconsciously. “Turn around”, he says, his voice deep, low and you know he’s about to rock your world, quickly obeying him to face the fogged up glass. He wastes no time, immediately wrapping his arms around you, pulling you close to him, your naked, wet body pressed right against his, the feel of his erection pressing against your lower back arousing you all the more. “Let’s get you all cleaned up yeah”, he whispers in your ear, goosebumps now decorating your skin from how sinister those words sound with that voice of his. “Okay”, you squeak, mentally slapping yourself for giving in so easy. You’re supposed to be a bit of tease, but here you are, submitting for no reason at all. Cupping your breasts, Sasuke begins tweaking one of your nipples, nibbling your neck as he gently scrubs your torso, pulling back at the sound of a gasp. Gently, he lifts your arm up, washing your armpit and gently placing it down before doing the same on the other side. He so gentle with his touches you slowly grow tired, but the occasional nibble and random dirty talk keep you wide awake.

Forcing his knee between your thighs, you part your legs for him like the obedient little girl you’ve been up until now. “Tch, dirty, dirty girl”, he whispers in your ear at the fell of how goey you already were from your arousal. “Sasuke…”, you gasp as he slowly rubs your clit in circles with the pads of his middle and ring finger, licking a trail up your neck to your ear only to lightly bite your earlobe. “Sasuke!”, you softly moan, surprised with how overwhelmed you already are. Moving his hand away he reaches for the shower head, pulling it off the wall to bring it down between your legs. “Thank you for washing my hair babe, I’ll make sure to leave you extra clean”, he whispers again, spreading your lips apart with one hand to expose your clit to the high pressure, warm water shooting out the shower head.

He will decide when you’re clean enough to relieve you from this torture.

Gaara

SFW

I mean its no surprise to Gaara. He loves you so much and can’t handle being away from you for too long. He also walks in on your showers regularly to join you, and actually prefers taking his showers with you. He never intends to get sexual with you, he just loves being near you, conversing about his plans, or how his day went…not that he wont get sexual hehehe…

Gaara is way too clingy for his own good, not that you mind though, because it does somewhat benefit you. Barging in his shower time might actually make his day, immediately wrapping his arms around you, softly laughing at your sudden intrusion. Never letting go of you, he wants to help you wash your body, he ALWAYS helps you wash and you must say, he does a great job at keeping you clean. He’s so adorable and excited to have you in his company that you can’t help but assist him yourself, although he does have a bit of a routine, which you can handle of course. It really makes him feel extra special when you take care of him just how he prefers it.

He will really talk your ears off in there, so be prepared if you want to invite yourself in. Wrapping his arms around you and snuggling into your neck, occasionally planting kisses there is what’s happening for the remainder if the shower, until the water gets cold, so hopefully you don’t have low iron issues. Sometimes you’ll join him late in the night after a long day just so he can wash you and hold you in his arms like this. He’s happy to have you fall asleep in his arms while you’re standing, since you’re so sweet and calm when he helps you out and into your clothes. Not that he can’t handle the hyper version of his princess who loves jumping on him and playfully wacking him with towels as he hets himself ready. The difference is just nice sometimes.

NSFW

He’s not much a fan of shower sex, if anything, he finds it quite overrated and has already expressed his disdain towards it. He just finds it really unsexy. The shower is for showering…or maybe its being wet while at it that kind of pisses him off. He certainly wont be able to enjoy his nut covered in water. Sometimes the water gets cold too and it throws the whole mood off, but meet him outside the shower hehehehe, that’s something he can work out. He’s quite sensual about how he moisturizes you and loves it when you moisturize him too. Rub your body against his while you’re at it please…and a little oral never hurts anyone right.

Your hands on him put him in such a trans, he can’t help the erection he gets at the feel of your soft hands rubbing him down, the warmth of the cream against his skin adding towards the sensation of it all. Closing his eyes and using his hands to lean against the counter, you tend to use this opportunity to have a little fun yourself, licking your lips and swallowing to the thought of tasting him, softly whispering his name out to ask for permission, “Gaaraaa….”, his eyes opening ever so slowly, a split second of confusion on his face making you softly giggle before he finds you on your knees. “Hmm”, he says, clearing his throat, “Yeah?”, he speaks, intoxicated with the spell of relaxation you have him under. Rubbing his hard tummy to silently communicate your desire he licks his bottom lip, pulling your shower cap off to start playing with your hair, gathering it all in one hand before leaning back again, eager for whatever it was you were trying to do to him and without wasting another second, you impatiently wrap your lips around the tip of him, circling your tongue around him to taste the precum you’d been eyeing for the past minute. “Woah”, he softly chuckles at your eagerness, tugging your hair to pull you off of him, making you pout disappointedly. “Slowly baby, don’t be greedy”, he teases, leaning back again.

Letting the greedy little demon inside of you take over, you give his balls a kiss, darting your tongue out flat, to lick a trail up from the base of his cock to the tip, collecting all the precum around his tip and licking his urethra, you were already drooling over how he tasted, withdrawing your tongue to savor as much of it as you could before diving in once again, lapping his urethra to make sure you got it all, swirling your tongue over the tip before wrapping your lips around him, sucking him to your hearts content. You had even forgotten what he had said a minute ago, moaning ever so sweetly as you swallowed more of him, greedily taking more until you felt him touch your uvula, keeping him there for as long as you could, quickly jerking your head back to harshly suck in a breath of air. Your clit throbbed, your knees slightly rising as you squeezed your thighs together,a soft moan escaping your lips before you wrapped them around him again, taking him as deep as you could again, just like he taught you. Taking note of your constant shifting he knew you were enjoying this a little too much, biting his lip to stifle his own noises, wondering if he should take over.

Carefully, he separated you from him, his desire to relieve you of your arousal greater than this. “Gaara?”, you softly whimper, looking up at him in frustration, but he before you could complainhe quickly lifts you up, placing you on the counter and spreading your legs. “Gaaraaa, I wasn’t finished!”, you moan as he immediately gets to stroking your vuvlva with his tongue, softly sucking your clitoris and letting go with a pop, never breaking eye contact. “I promise you’ll have your turn right after me okay babe?”

Shikamaru

SFW

Shikamaru simply does not have the energy to react to these kind of surprises. He’s most comfortable around you than anyone else, so this is the most vulnerable he can be period. “Y/n?”, he nonchalantly acknowledges your presence, dramatically covering his chest with his arms, watching you stand right in front of him to get some of that warm water on you. “Please, babe I’ve already seen those pretty nips Shika! The waters too hot!”, you whine. “Excuse me ma’am?”, he finally speaks, lifting an eyebrow. “Yes my love”, you say, trying to remain casual in hopes that Shika wouldn’t kick you out. You’ve always wanted to shower with him, turning around to look at him, his long, black hair clinging to his face and shoulders. “Babe… what exactly do you think you’re doing?”, “Well what else would I be doing in the shower Shika? Pass me my loofah over there hun”.

Eventually he accepts your presence, simply standing there, observing the way you begin scrubbing yourself. “So babe, what about me then?”, he asks, his first time ever showing with you filled with lots of expectations. “Come here”, you giggle, pulling him closer, your bodies pressing against each other as you begin scrubbing him too. The feeling of your soapy, bare tits rubbing his abdomen is a sensation he’s new to, slightly blushing as you begin rinsing him. He might actually like this…or maybe not, he’s undecided, waiting to see where this goes. Spreading his butt-cheeks apart, you begin washing in between them, trying to hide the smile spreading across your face from how he couldn’t stop blushing. This is intimate. Very intimate. But he kind of likes it, you love him this much? Now he wants to return the favor, to prove that he loves you just as much of course.

He actually doesn’t like being wet for too long, so as soon as the two of you are all cleaned up, he’s turning the water off and reaching for the towels. He’s a little meticulous about how he handles his business during shower time so you follow his lead as you’ve always done to avoid any judgmental stares.

NSFW

After a nice hot shower though, he’s so relaxed, he wants nothing but to lay down with you, reaching his hand up your dress/shirt, cupping your boob in his hand as he casually nibbles on you neck. “Shika! Omg”, you whine, irritated as you try to put on a movie, his large hands groping and grabbing you everywhere, forcing you onto the inside of the couch while lifting up your shirt, too strong for you to stop with merely your hands. “You interrupted my shower…so now I’m gonna interrupt your movie”, and he’s on you, relieved to finally have your nipple in his mouth as he starts sucking, and you just have to lay there, staring at the ceiling, completely annoyed as Shika softly sucks and bites, grazing your nipple with his teeth and sucking. Two minutes into it, you were so sensitive, barely able to control your needy whimpers and moans. You couldn’t handle it any longer, an orgasm not far from happening, but it hurt so much you weren’t sure if you could hold out any longer. And his body squishing yours against the couch meant you couldn’t move much, so you began tugging on his thick hair, Shika getting the message, moving on to terrorize your untouched nipple, that orgasm quickly gaining on you. A minute or so passes and Shika can feel you slightly shiver beneath him, the continuous, uncontrolled moans and whimpers he heard telling him you were really feeling good. Wondering how long you could handle this, he didn’t stop when you started tugging on his hair again, your pussy aching with how good you felt. Every time he nibbled on your poor nip you softly screamed, your hand now pulling on his shirt, the other pushing his forehead back.

“Shika! Oh my god”, you breathlessly whimper, struggling to gain any control as his hand now slipped down your undies, quickly finding you clit, removing his hand and spitting on his fingers to place them right back between your legs, massaging your clit in sloppy circles. “Shika pleaseee! Fuck!’, you whine, the pain on your nipple now unbearable as tears stung your eyes. “Shika Shikaaaa!”, you scream, your lover finally letting go of your poor nipple, bringing up to quickly cup your breast. “Tch baby, you’re ruining my fun”, he says softly, his warm breath against your face as his fingers continue his work. “Wait, you’re crying, aww baby, I’m sorry don’t cry, hey look at me”, he says, your teary eyes sparkling with the cutest pout on your face. “Shika that really hurt”, you sniff, burying your face in his neck, absolutely refusing to look at him. “Ahhhh!”, you moan aloud, Shika slowly shoving his middle finger inside of you, removing the hand you had on your boob to grab his muscles bicep. Nudging your face with his, he tries to get your attention, “Yeah, maybe I was being a little too mean…please forgive me?”, he asks ever so sweetly, the tone of his voice convincing, and the pleasure of his finger stroking your walls didn’t help the grudge you meant to hold against him for making you cry.

[boytumms]

I’d would be pretty cute to see preggy fig nearing his due date, just a small guy who’s ready to pop :)

Oh he’s ready to pop alright

Some of my thoughts/world building on fairy pregnancy below :)

I’ve actually been thinking about how fairy pregnancies should work for my little world, I kinda like the idea of fairies having eggs tbh. Idk if anyone remembers from a while back I had some prompts about fairies producing mana pearls/eggs as a by product and I really liked that idea. All fairies can produce these mana eggs if they don’t use enough of the mana they produce, it’s normally just the result of not actively using their magic, but they can decide to grow an egg and have it fertilized by another fairy, which would then develop into a baby.

One to three eggs would be normal, but it could be possible to have much more if a fairy was forced to build up enough mana. Once the eggs are ready, they’re laid and the babies hatch a few days later. If a fairy isn’t able to give birth quickly enough, the eggs may hatch inside their belly and they’d have to give birth to live offspring. While the babies might be easier push out, the hatching process and the broken egg shells coming out with the babies would be extremely painful and could seriously injure the fairy or even be fatal for them.

I also think fairy pregnancies would be super short compared to humans, maybe one or two months? I haven’t really decided yet. Also haven’t thought much about fairy lifespans or aging, not sure if they should have shorter lifespans and age to maturity very quickly (small creature, short life?), or maybe they could be “immortal” in the sense that they can’t die of old age but can be killed by something else and age to maturity a little slower (high mana might mean long life/immortal?).

Let me know what you guys think! It would be fun to hear some other ideas :)

[eobe]

Captain Rex 💙

The one and only 🙌 I'm getting more and more into focussing on eyes and emotions in my art and I'm not gonna do something against that 👀 I love to stare in eyes, I love the feeling of it, I want to do more and I want to share. 🎶 Follow me down 🎶 🫠

This wasn't planned like so many of my current artworks. And actions. And thoughts. I’m feeling like out of the world at the moment – maybe because of all the portals the life gives me to decide if I should dare to go through 🚪💫

Haha 😂 From television to conscience ramble in under one parsec! 🪐 But this is legit, because what is it, letting us stay and drown in tales? Our own growth, the desire to process and progress is natural, so our nature attracts what our mind and soul needs to do so. Finding pictures, comparisons and related feelings to carry on in life. That’s the magic in a nutshell, isn’t it 😌 

Marni said „DO IT DO IT“ (in exactement those capital letters, thank you so much for the dopamine 🤩) and so here’s Captain Rex 🤷‍♀️ Somehow out of my wrist into Procreate before I could even gasp and again I have to see, there are moments where I’m only a pen on a surface bifrœsting art into this world 🖊️🌈

Is the Captain embarrassed? He is. Here (<-) you can see why. Not my fault, I was just staring, enjoying the show 😁🙌 But it's more. There is also some weight in here. He's on duty, he doesn't know if he's allowed to let go even for one second. Ah, my heart 💔

So, Rex came out of the beautiful art and inspiration CHAOS (I love chaos, it’s creativity soil) started by @ghostymarni, @lonewolflupe and @jetii and I saw it, felt it and I surrendered blissfully and hands up the incoming ORM ✨ (do you know what orm is? It’s basically a link to the ultimate creativity force from Walter Moers’ Zamonia universe, especially ‚The City of Dreaming Books‘) and I didn’t had any choice I just had to do this. golden. glance. in a slightly blushing face full of contradictory emotions and drowned in my own art the second time yesterday 😱 

Enjoy a closer look into golden embarrassment Oh Captain my Captain 👀:

Before Rex invited himself I was actually already done from another unplanned uninvited clone 🙈 What is the whole brainrot doing to me and I love it

My little drawing Padawan self already owling (flying, fluting, screeching, being artist crazy inspiration orm drunken 100% getting on my husband's and my cats' nerves) 🦉 in the woods because of him (<-) ignoring my yesterday's initial drawing plans with his whole intimidating attitude!

And this was so much more intense, because I accidentally listened to this song and now I set it on continuous loop to savor and drown in the energy surrounding me in these days ✨ For me and my current cinematic mood quite fitting for both artworks.

My personal ALT text mission (1 additional ALT-Text for a previous artwork with each new art posting!): 

Another clone Captain. Absolutely not insecure 😏

Taglist: @eclec-tech @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte

[sl-vega]

0.1; retired theater kids-(y/n's squad)

project: love liason! - a scaramouche smau

y/n:

hopelessly in love with childe (has been since freshman year) you are on fairly good terms with him, (even if half of your interactions play out in your head rather than reality)

(ridiculously) hopeful romantic

you were the one who started your friend group after you met everyone else in a drama camp during eighth grade (hence the name retired theater kids)

the "responsible" friend (even though the general consensus is that lynette and navia are the actual responsible ones)

mona:

your best friend and scara's academic "rival". having been forced to have tons of classes together in the past two years, mona and him have been pretty cut throat when it comes to them competing with each other

mona finds him insufferable, and has vented to you about him on numerous occasions, even though you've never even met the guy

super into astrology and zodiacs

she's well known around campus for having scary accurate predictions

"that wasn't on your 2024 bingo card? well it was on MINE."

furina:

president of the drama club at your school, and is often put in charge of directing all of the drama club's shows

she used to be a semi-popular child actress that frequently appeared in famous kids shows, but she took a break recently to focus more on her directing career

was essentially a guarantee for any lead in school productions when she was younger

absolute drama queen

navia frequently keeps her up to date with all the latest gossip so she's a real treat to talk to

lyney:

lynette's older twin brother, and a part time magician for kids birthday parties

one of the girls

also a member of the drama club

both an actor and member of the stage crew as he helps with special effects for productions as well

wants to continue working in the film industry after high school

bounces around as a freelance worker instead of being tied down to a specific gig despite having many offers from several places

says that if he waits the salary offers will get higher

lynette:

lyney's younger twin sister and part time magic assistant

her brother often jokes that she ditched him, but she just preferred to explore her own interests outside of lyney's career

member of both the drama club and science club

unlike lyney she only helps with behind the scenes work

most notably special effects, but she's more interested in the scientific aspect of making it work

navia:

DEFINITION of an fbi friend

knows everything about everyone, does loyalty tests on people's boyfriend's sometimes if they pay her

picks up crazy amounts of info, and has a shit ton of connections to tons of people and places

doesn't disclose how she finds out all of this

the type of friend that can find someone only by their first initial

give her a single piece of info and BOOM

she has their full legal name, all their social media accounts, the location of the grocery store they frequent, and their parent's Facebook pages

currently in a situation ship with chlorinde

additional notes:

profiles are out!

not much I wanna say but yeah :D

i'll try my best to do frequent updates

if you wanna be tagged just send me an ask/comment!

𝜗𝜚 SYNOPSIS: you're head over heels in love with childe, and scaramouche is (begrudingly) smitten with his "rival" mona. and, by sheer divine coincidence, you both happen to be the best friends of each other's objects of affection, so you strike a deal with each other. if scaramouche helps you ask out childe, you'll set him up with mona. so with the annual spring formal right around the corner, the two of you vow to be each other's wingmans so you can end your junior year on a high note (and maybe even kick off your senior year with a new relationship!). between, scheming, planning, and researching, you and scaramouche find yourselves developing a new relationship via helping each other out. now the real question is whether this friendship will remain as a pure platonic bond, or blossom into something more?

< PREV ll MASTERLIST ll NEXT >

🎀 - taglist!;

@agaygothicmushroom, @035814, @freyao7, @sketcheeee, @tsukimara, @shyentsmissingink, @justpeachyteastea, @aries-afk, @lxkeeeee, @sakiimeo, @sugxryratz, @shutingstar, @lalaloveallmydays, @bellflower1257, @haruumei, @kichiyosh1, @littlemisssatanist, @dee-zbignuts, @candyescapism, @crimxeorcremeexistspeacefully

[nanamis-bigtie]

lucid love

↬ kinktober 2024 x voting event | round 1

cw: fantasy elements in modern setting, smut, sexual dreams, fictional stimulants, reader with a vagina, BDSM & dark themes present in some rounds, aged up characters available as options in some votings, further warnings vary by story summary: lucid love! the latest fashion on the eropotion market and the absolute must have of everyone you know! a collection of potions providing realistic and vivid erotic dreams has gone viral and become almost unavailable in regular sale. a little potionary in the red-light district is your last hope for finally getting a taste of the most wanted product this october a/n: happy kinktober y'all! little birds chirped you wanted more voting events 💅 this time the game will be a little simpler - you will know characters and know what to expect from each option. i can't promise though it will be easier to choose 🤭 voting and more details at the end of post!

It's so…average. Looks like any other potionary.

It takes you aback at first. You've expected something rather extraordinary, befitting a building located in the red-light district—instead, you're standing in front of a shop that could be easily mistaken for a pharmacy. You even take a double look at Google Maps. The address checks, so does the neon magenta potionist emblem, neatly slotted between signs hung over sex shops, massage parlors and love hotels all around. 

The door is heavy and announces your arrival with an old school bell. Potionary is more spacious than you assumed from the window display, almost soundproof, replacing the street noise with soft jazz music. There's a distinct sweet vanilla smell in the air; you inhale deep, your confusion and uncertainty in no time replaced with relaxation. A simple sensory stimulant, a popular booster trick used in almost all shops nowadays. 

Woman behind the counter peels eyes off a book and stubs her cigarette into a pocket ashtray. She's really pretty despite dark circles under her eyes and intimidating aura surrounding her. At the first glance you know she's not someone to mess with, even if short and petite; she must be a mage, and not just an average amateur mage you can usually meet in potion shops, but a true magic master, maybe even the head behind this business.

The name tag on her white coat doesn't ring any bells, though. Shoko Ieiri. Vibrant, easy to remember.

"Welcome." Her voice is dry, and she speaks a little too silent, forcing you to lean towards her over the counter. "What can I interest you with today?"

Hangover treatment, sexual potency boosters, aphrodisiacs, soft hallucinogens—this is the usual merchandise sold in potionaries from the red-light areas. But you're looking for something else, something you're not even sure if it's currently offered. You tried in three different shops already, three times sold out & no idea when the delivery is coming. Demand is huge, the factory can't follow the appetite of customers, and the prices from the private sellers break records on amazon. 

"Do you maybe have—" 

Half of the sentence in, Shoko's face turns from disinterested to mildly curious. She coils a strand of hair around her finger and smiles, "Lucid Love, right?"

As you nod, she presses a button under the counter. In no time another woman peeks out the backroom, bows at you awkwardly.

"Take the register for me." She moves to the back, then motions you to enring the counter. "And you, come with me."

There's another room, protected by a code lock, small and cluttered. Scents and music don't sneak here, space is filled with shadows and shelves, packed to the brim with boxes and folders. Shoko maneuvers through this labyrinth with ease, leading you to an armchair hidden in a cozy corner. Table lamp provides more light, there's a plate with complimentary cookies and an instant potion kettle, an older, almost vintage, model.

"You're in luck, I'm in good contact with the main designer, so I got a hold on quite an interesting stash extra." Shoko turns the kettle on for you. Waters inside swirls and bubbles, turning from clear to violet within seconds.

"Is the price also…extra?"

"Whom do you take me for?" She laughs. "This is a legal business; I can't sell it above the price tag."

You're handed a mug with the company logo, "It's herbs, dried fruits and a splash of relaxing solution. Clean and organic. Treat yourself."

Drink is sweet, floral and hot—but not hot enough to burn your tongue. When you lean to pour yourself more, you spot a fatigued leaflet folded and hooked under the kettle. 

You peel it out for a closer look.

"Will it be to go or—" Shoko watches you intently. Not until then you realized that the armchair can be spread and morphed into a makeshift bed. 

"Oh, no, I'll test it at my own place."

She doesn't say anything, just leaves you to your own thoughts, to fumble in one of the shelves behind your back. 

"Have you ever tried Lucid Love? Or a similar hallucinogen?" A sudden question makes you flinch. Silence and a tasty, relaxing drink have dulled your senses and let your mind drift away.

"No, never." Potions influencing dreams haven't really grasped your interest before Lucid Love became viral. It wasn't the first of its kind, but it grew in popularity so fast and gathered so many ecstatic reviews that you just couldn't stop the seed of curiosity from growing. You still fought quite long against it, but once you gathered enough spare funds for treats and nights started growing longer and colder… Temptation has become too unbearable to resist.

"Any special interests? Fetishes?" The clatter of boxes and folders move towards left and Shoko's gaze meets yours when you look over your shoulder. 

"None that I can think of now."

"Since it's your first time—" She eventually pulls a thick binder out. "—I'd recommend something simple and well-tried."

She flicks the pages over too fast for you to follow but you recognize the familiar pattern of Lucid Love label and logo. You take a closer look once she finally stops; the folder is full of leaflets describing offered dream scenarios, varying in colors and content warning symbols.

"Those are from last year, the second released collection." Shoko hands you the chosen three. "100% positive reviews. I tested a few from this line myself, they do hit the spot."

Even the paper is magically derived, soft and velvety in your fingers, promising the softest and most pleasant sensations. It takes you a while to focus on text instead. As much as it's tempting to buy all three of them, knowing the tricks of magic stimulants, you took only as much cash as needed for only one.

It may be a difficult choice—but it needs to be made. 

There are 45 prompt & character(s) combos divided into 15 votings, 3 options to choose from per each round. Option with the highest number of votes wins.

This way, you will choose 15 kinktober fics: one shots on shorter (below 2k words) side. Themes vary, from very vanilla, through kink and fetishes, towards dark content and monsterfucking. Everyone will (hopefully) find something for themself 😤

Prompts were selected from my private drafts and are partially pre-written, so I hope I can keep the ~24h per fic tempo, however I don't promise anything. My goal is to fit everything in October, stretching it no further than half of November - but only time will show!

If you don't want to miss fic posting time and next votings, you can ask to be added to a tag list! I'll try to keep more or less the same time of publication (so, 3pm CET) but I can't promise I will always fit there.

Before you ask - I'm not sure if all of the losing options will be eventually written. Some of them for sure, since I've been itching for working with them for a while now, but I often abandon drafts for no reason. So, again, no promises. It's better to fight hard for your favorite option, agenda and voting suasion is encouraged ;)

i'm super excited for this kinktober! and i hope y'all will enjoy the ride the same 🤭

[atlasofthestaars]

[MK X READER] New Era - Chapter .016

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NOTE:

Not much to say here but, I hope you guys enjoy this one! Still trying to get back in the groove of updating quicker, but with college life comes more responsibilities I'm afraid haha. I think in this chapter there will be something some of you guys have been waiting for a while now :)!

FROM THE EYES OF SOMEONE WHO DOES SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT

“You don’t have to do this with me.”

“I don’t mind.” You replied, not even bothering to look up from the recount of events you were writing. You felt Sonya Blade’s gaze bore into you. From how intense it felt, you understood why she was so respected in her field. If she had magic powers, you would have guessed she would have had magic beams that shoot from her eyes. 

Even without looking at her, you could tell she had a concerned look on her face. One that you’ve experienced plenty of times lately, not just from her either. While touched, you were feeling horrible lately about it all. “I’d have to do this eventually, I expect, plus I would feel awful leaving you to do this alone.”

It was the day after the showdown with Shao Khan. Well, to say the day after was rather misleading. It was just barely midnight, the new day having just barely rolled in. And here you were, sitting in a Special Forces office with your friend, Sonya Blade, writing up a report of events that had gone down the day of the whole affair.

You hadn’t eaten, slept, or even bathed. You still wore the tattered clothes, all scratched and messy from being tossed around. Dried blood still stuck to you like glue. But that was by choice. You didn’t want to spend a moment too long by yourself to let your thoughts creep in about what happened in the last twenty four hours. You suppressed a shiver at the idea.

If you were going to be forced to think about it, you’d rather do it doing something productive, and not by yourself.

You didn’t want to even think about what would happen if you let whatever happened truly soak in.

“You sure you don’t want to go back with Raiden?” Sonya inquired, her words carrying a sense of caution. It was odd to hear from the usually bold and blunt woman, but it was charming to hear her be empathetic towards you. You set down your pen, setting it aside. You had a feeling this would be a talking break.

“No, I can contact Lord Raiden myself whenever we’re done here.” You said, lifting your gaze to meet her eyes. The concerned look you had imagined to be on her face felt like an understatement now. The usually guarded, professional woman felt like an open book. Or maybe, you’ve gotten better at reading her after the couple of years you’ve gotten to know her for.

You weren’t ready to face Raiden yet. You weren’t sure why, but the thought of facing the thunder god made your stomach churn. You felt guilt at just the thought of having to look at him. So many people had died, many people you might have been able to save if you had just stayed behind. 

“You should really rest.” The blonde urged, her eyes scanning you. You held back a small pitiful laugh. The woman in front of you was a workaholic, it was strange to hear her tell you that. And yet, from the way she looked at you, you could tell you looked like an utter wreck. Your fingers brushed your cheek, and you wondered silently just whose blood was on your fingertips.

“I wish I could, Lieutenant.” You replied. You just noticed how exhausted your voice sounded. It was like you had dragged yourself out of the darkest pits of the netherrealm, which probably wasn’t too far off. Your fingers drummed on the wood of the desk, trying to fill the silence of the room. Your eyes looked around before you settled them back onto Sonya. “Can I just be honest for a moment?”

“Anytime.” She reassured you. You saw her straighten out her back, making her perfect posture just that more pristine. Your eyes seemed to drill into your own, as if she was trying to reach into your soul. You couldn’t imagine how intimidating she’d look if she were to be interrogating someone. 

“I don’t think I can rest until I know that our friends are avenged.” You admitted. Even with your admission, the weight on your shoulders didn’t lighten. If anything, it felt like it got a bit heavier, as if the weight of your ambitions had finally settled in. Sonya nodded, though the concerned look on her face did not change. “I don’t know how, but I know there’s some way to honor their deaths.”

“That sounds honorable, and I completely understand.” Sonya began, her words slow and deliberate. You knew from the way she spoke, she completely understood. She never talked about it too much, but she had alluded before to you that she had been tracking down some asshole because her partner had died. You looked at her, and you saw her hesitate. “You shouldn’t let your life be dictated by something like that though.”

Even as she said it, you knew she felt awful for being a hypocrite. 

“I know you speak from a place of kindness and experience, Sonya.” You said. You leaned forward, resting your weight on your forearms. “But I don’t know if I can heed your words.” A sigh left your lips, and you felt your shoulders slump forward. Exhaustion was clawing at you, threatening to drag you down. “I have to at least avenge Kung Lao and Liu Kang. I know Shao Khan’s dead, but I would feel so useless if I couldn’t avenge both of their deaths.”

“You think Shao Khan killed Liu Kang?” Sonya inquired. You saw her eyes widen slightly, and she shifted a bit in her own seat. You lifted an eyebrow, uncertain why she would ask that sort of thing. You nodded solemnly. 

“Of course he did, who else would? I’m certain you saw it too. You and Johnny both arrived on the rooftop before me.” You reminded her. “When I got there, he was dead already” You felt yourself tremble, the guilt within yourself threatening to spew out of you. “By the gods, if I had been a little faster, maybe, just maybe I would have been able to save him.”

You knew you weren’t just talking about Liu Kang.

“Hey.” The lieutenant spoke up, snapping you out of it before you could possibly spiral. Her eyes scanned you again, a torn expression on her face. She then stared deeply into your eyes. Her mouth opened, then she hesitated. Whatever she was about to say, you could never guess as she then proceeded to cringe before she got the words out. “Did…did you talk to Raiden about any of this?”

“No.” You admitted. And you weren’t planning to. You knew the god would disapprove of your plan, and you weren’t letting him change your mind. While you knew Liu Kang held some resentment towards the thunder god before he died, you didn’t. But you did feel like, perhaps, some decisions that you could make would be best without his influence. “I’m not going to tell him either.”

“I see.” Sonya said, her tone now awkward. There was a tension in the room, one that you couldn’t quite identify the reason behind. You looked back down at the report, trying to distract yourself amidst the silence that lingered in the air. “Hey, how about we just finish these reports up then head to bed, how does that sound?”

“I…” You began. The thought of going to bed, all alone with the memories of what had just happened, nearly sent a shiver down your back. You couldn’t suppress the goosebumps that covered your skin. But still, you couldn’t deny the fact that sleep did sound pleasing. You weren’t certain if you could stay awake for much longer. “I think that sounds fine.”

“Good, let’s wrap it up, I think we both need the rest.” Sonya nodded. She picked up her pen with a bit of renewed vigor. Then she paused and looked at you. “And hey,” She said your name, “if you ever need to talk about all this with someone, I’m here for you, okay?”

For what felt like the first time in forever, you smiled.

“Okay.”

Waking up this time was not dramatic like before, but it was not quite calm either.

Your eyes slowly opened, as if you were trapped within honey. You lifted a hand over your chest, your fingertips touching where your heart lay. It ached dully, as if remembering the memory along with you and was reminded of the pain of losing those you once cared for. All that left your lips for a moment was a forlorn sigh.

Your mind lingered on the blonde that had been so prominent in your last memory. Sonya Blade. This was the first time she had been prominent in your visions. She was not a foreign person to you, you remembered her as the ex wife…or wife, you weren’t quite sure. Not to mention, she had appeared at the tournament as well as the rooftop confrontation.

You rolled over to the side of the bed, staring at the ground. She was one of the few you had remembered but seemed not to be present in this world you now lived in. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to recall other people you haven’t seen yet, assuming they even existed. 

Nightwolf, Jackson Briggs, Fujin…several other names drifted in and out of your head.

Why have you not met them? This question buried itself in the back of your mind. It was always a question you’ve asked yourself. Some of the names you’ve had these questions about you’ve met, but it was odd these people who seemed to become more and more dominant in your memories seemed to be missing.

Was there a reason for that? Did these people even exist at all? Or were they replaced or missing, just like…

You felt your chest ache again without even finishing your thought. You pressed your hand to it, as if it would help soothe the pain. All it did though was allow you to feel the slow rhythmic thuds of your heart. You were still alive and kicking, that was for certain.

“No use lingering on it.” You muttered to yourself. It didn’t sound confident. Instead, it sounded almost defeated. Still, you took in stride and forced yourself out of bed. You didn’t have the time to think about all that and go through the heart ache. You took pause for a moment, your body recognizing the irony of the situation before your brain did.

You sounded just like your past self.

You let out a small chuckle, shaking your head. Some things never change, do they? You fought back the sinking feeling in your stomach and continued on with your morning routine. Like you said, it was best not to think about it, even despite what your gut told you.

By the time you walked outside your door, you heard the familiar sound of heels. You looked up to see the confident stride of Kitana. Her posture was even more pristine than usual.  Yet there was something off. You glanced at her face, and for a moment you saw an undertone of guilt on her face even with her head held high. The moment her eyes locked with yours, that guilt was hidden away as if it were not there in the first place.

“Good morning.” The princess greeted, the professional looking smile placed on her lips. You felt your eyebrows furrow, and for a moment you considered asking what was wrong. Then, in the next you reconsidered. Not only were you barely acquaintances, she was royalty. Any words close to asking her of her troubles died on your tongue. 

“Good morning.” You returned her greeting, wiping away your concern. Her eyes scanned your face, and for a moment, you wondered if she was going to question the look on your face. But instead she simply nodded and walked towards you, waiting patiently for you to join her side. “Today we are watching the match in the Hanging Gardens, correct?” 

“Indeed.” She confirmed, glancing at you. 

“Oh, your sister, Princess Mileena is fighting today.” You said aloud, eyes widening. A small smile spread on your face, wondering how it would be like to see the princess in action. You glanced over, and caught the sight of Kitana’s eyes widened a bit. Her smile turned a bit strained, much to your confusion. She hesitantly nodded.

“Yes she is.” She told you. Yet there was a tone to her voice that made your eyebrows raise. It was barely perceptible, the way her voice hesitated. But still, from your memories, you caught onto the subtleties within her voice. Maybe you were closer to her in your past life than you thought. Either way, it was not the same here so you could not ask. But there was definitely something off with how short her responses were.

“I’ll enjoy watching the fight, I cannot say I’ve ever seen royalty fight before. In Earthrealm, there isn’t much royalty left there, and if there is, not many, if at all, fight like Outworlders do.” You informed the princess. She nodded, seeming vaguely aware of that fact already. “Do you fight and spar often with others?”

“We spar and train often.” Kitana replied, her shoulders rolling back slight to make her perfect posture impossibly more pristine. “As for actually fighting, we only do so when necessary.” You supposed that made sense, after all, why would one need to fight unless necessary? Then again, she could always be lying to save face. After all, why would a princess disclose her empire in a state of distress?

Then again, Outworld wasn’t always subtle about its fighting habits before, maybe it was the same here. You remembered the state that the Outworld you once knew was in. It was…odd to think this world held the same name as the more bloodier version of it. Then again, from what you recalled, this world seemed more similar to Edenia.

What did happen to Edenia anyways in this world? You weren’t certain if that was taboo to ask. After all, in the past world, it had been conquered and merged. Would asking it be rude? You glanced over to the princess, noting her attitude. She seemed to be in her head about something, even if she was doing well at attempting to conceal it. You supposed it would be for the best to not ask right now.

Maybe you could ask Liu Kang about it.

“Do you and your sister spar often?” You asked, keeping up with your questions to show interest and civility. Kitana pursed her lips, pondering over your question for a bit. After a moment, she nodded. 

“We do, occasionally.” The princess replied. There was another pause, considering her words carefully once more. You didn’t try and question it much. Perhaps she was simply erring on the side of caution. You were a friend of Raiden’s. Maybe she thought you were trying to get more information on her sister to give Raiden some last minute tips. “We tend to spar more with the Umgadi more than anything.”

”I was not aware that they sparred with you on top of protecting the royal palace.” You said, glancing over to an Umgadi guard that was further down the hall. Upon reflection, the Umgadi reminded you a bit of the Lin Kuei, but only in the vaguest sense. Still, it was nice to make a mental connection to something from home.

”The Umgadi are responsible for plenty of things.” Kitana replied. One of her hands gestured to the guard down the hall you had been previously looking at. “Guarding the palace, sparring with us, making sure everything runs smoothly and properly. Being an umgadi is a lot of pressure but it is an honorable job.”

Ah, now it definitely reminded you of the Lin Kuei.

”I respect them for that.” You nodded, sending the guard you passed by a grateful smile. She returned that small smile for a few moments before returning to a more stoic look. “Your Umgadi reminds me of a clan back in Earthrealm.” You told her. “I will say though, that clan is not composed entirely of women.”

”A shame.” The princess said, and for a moment, you could detect genuine pity in her tone. Her mouth opened, probably to ask a question, but then the both of you arrived outside in the hanging gardens. You spied a little farther off was all three of the thrones of the royal family. You rose your eyebrows, wondering if the princess would sit down before the fight, but you chose to not question it. It was probably put there out of respect. “It seems we are here.” Kitana said, her shoulders relaxing just a touch. Her eyes met yours before nodding. “Enjoy the match.”

And with that, she walked off,

“Glad to see you here early as usual.” You commented, walking up to Raiden, Kung Lao, and Liu Kang. You watched as the champion let out a embarassed chuckle, his cheeks flushing for a moment. You smiled at him, trying to reassure him after your little joke. “No need to look so clammy, I was simply joking.” You told him. 

“I know.” Raiden said, avoiding eye contact with you for a few moments before he managed to wrangle his eyes to focus on you. Despite this, his face was still a little pink. On top of it all, a small sheepish smile was placed on his lips. You stared at it, admiring it for a moment. It was a nice sight. “I can hardly believe I’m going to fight a princess.”

”You mean you’re going to win against a princess.” Kung Lao spoke up, walking over to put himself right by your side. He flashed you a grin, crossing his arms as usual. He tilted his head to his friend. The confidence Kung Lao displayed was akin to someone who was going to partake in the fight rather than watch it. You watched as Raiden’s grin grew, seeming to absorb the positive feedback from both of you. 

“Indeed, you are ready for this match.” Liu Kang reassured Raiden. The champion nodded. “Princess Mileena is very skilled, but we have provided you with the information necessary for the tide to be in your favor.” You nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with the god’s words. You couldn’t have put it any better yourself. 

“You’ve taken down five others before today, Raiden.” You told him, displaying your hand out to show him with your fingers the amount. “All of them were skilled in their own right. Do not treat this match any differently simply because you are to spar with royalty. Just focus on yourself and your own techniques and you’ll be fine.”

”I will do my best.” Raiden told you all, looking around. You felt better seeing a more confident man in front of you. Not only for the sake of the world, but it was nice to just see the man understand that he was indeed strong in his own right. It was a far cry from the beginnings of your lessons. It was heartwarming really.

Time passed, and you all discussed tactics and techniques to keep Raiden focused on the match ahead. You were only interrupted when Johnny Cage strode in and let out a low whistle and commented how this would be the perfect place to shoot an action scene, or even a romantic walk at night. 

”All I’m saying is that people would kill for this type of place to shoot at. It’s the perfect set.” The actor said. He held his hands out, creating a box to frame the area. “Just look at that bench, perfect place to hold an important scene. That’d be the money shot right there.” You held in a chuckle, seeing the very bench you and the princess had been sitting on for a few nights now. 

“Good luck, I doubt you’d be able to ever let a film crew here.” Kenshi commented, his arms crossing. He shook his head, letting out a dismissive sigh at the mere idea of Johnny even attempting to negotiate with the Empress to let them film here. You had to agree, the idea was rather farfetched.

”Oh they will, once I turn on the Cage charm.” Johnny boasted, grinning wickedly as he continued to survey the area with a careful gaze as if he were planning out the scenes he would shoot here. Which he probably was, given how he was muttering under his breath. You supposed you could respect his ambition to keep on the consistent grind.

Then, a little after that, the Empress arrived.

It was odd seeing her flanks empty of the sisters. But even without her daughters, the confidence and nobility she exuded caught your attention. She strode through the crowd before sitting upon her throne. You watched carefully, your eyebrows knitting as you watched her walk in alone. Where was Kitana? You had see her earlier, so he absence didn’t quite make sense to you.

You tried to brush those thoughts away as Sindel settled down comfortably for a moment, scanning the area before landing her eyes on Raiden. You stood at attention by Liu Kang’s side, ushering the others to stand with the others.

“You continue to surprise, Raiden.” Sindel complimented, her posture as perfect as Kitana’s was earlier. “Among others, you have defeated Kotal, Motaro, and Sheeva. Only two fights remain.” There was the smallest of pauses before she continued. “Are you ready, Earthrealmer?” There was a gleam of confidence within her eyes that seemed to have been revived.

”I am, Your Majesty.” Raiden said, his confidence from before still not faltering despite the renewed vigor. 

“Then next you will face my daughter…” You heard the familiar clacking of heels. Your eyebrows furrowed as you turned to look at the source of the noise. “Kitana.” Bewildered beyond measure, you watched as the princess you weren’t expecting walked in. Two folded up fans were gripped in her fists as a mask adorned her face.

Had you not been so perplexed, you would have caught on earlier how similar her walking in with such ferocity looked. But alas, you were too caught up in your thoughts. Why was Kitana going to fight? Was this a trick from Outworld to try and trip up Raiden? Thoughts like this pervaded your mind as the little clues you had brushed aside fell into place.

Mileena’s discomfort at the mention of a match, not to mention her whole general attitude last night along with Kitana’s strange dance around the mention of her sister fighting Raiden seemed to stick out like a sore thumb in your memories. You almost felt foolish for not seeing it earlier.

Had Sindel intended to intentionally swap out Kitana for Mileena to gain the upper hand? That would certainly explain why the elder sister was upset last night, but still, the mere idea of that felt…scandalous. You fixtated your eyes on the Empress as Liu Kang, who was a little more lost than you were, stepped up in between the would be fighters.

”Your Majesty, this is unprecedented.” Liu Kang spoke, his words slow. It was as if he were trying to find the right words to voice his confusion without trying to display distaste at the current events. “Raiden’s next opponent should be your heir.” He gestured to the throne beside Sindel where Mileena usually sat.

”Mileena is unavailable.” The Empress replied smoothly. She seemed unphased by the events and by Liu Kang’s reaction. You supposed that came with the experience of leading an empire for so many years. “She’s away on pressing imperial business.” 

You felt your gut stir, as if to tell you that the Empress was lying. And honestly, you weren’t sure whether to believe your gut or not. You swallowed, trying to reason out the situation with what you knew. Maybe that was why the two had been acting so suspiciously? After all, it must be frustrating to be sent away so quickly before an important fight. And if it really was so urgent, it made sense that the heir would take care of it.

Still, your gut twisted and turned.

”But I have not prepared him to battle Kitana.” Liu Kang pushed back, pointing out the unfairness in the situation. You glanced at the masked princess who was holding Raiden’s gaze. From what you remembered, the two had very different fighting styles in your past life, which probably was true for this world. It made sense for Liu Kang to worry over it.

”He’s already demonstrated great skill.” Sindel replied, her voice and posture displaying jus how nonchalant she was over the whole thing. And yet, there was a quality to the way she spoke that caught your attention. It was like a challenge in her voice, like her scoffing and asking if Raiden was not as skilled as has shown if he couldn’t defeat a surprise. It was almost like an insult hidden behind a compliment. “Can he not improvise?”

”Do not worry, I can do this.” You heard the champion reassure the god who had been shaking his head. You were caught off guard, and soon found yourself smiling. The god nodded, accepting the courage Raiden displayed. It was good that even when Liu Kang showed doubt, Raiden was able to steel himself and push ahead.

”I will be no easier to fight than my sister, Earthrealmer.” Kitana boasted, walking back an appropriate distance. You watched as the fire god approached and stood by your side. You shot him a sympathetic glance. Traces of confusion still displayed on his face. You placed a hand on Liu Kang’s bicep and leaned over to whisper to him. 

“He’ll be fine.” You told him, squeezing his bicep for a moment. Then, a moment later, you found yourself pinching the skin there. He may not be Kung Lao you once knew and understand the gesture, but it was something small you wanted to do. You watched as Liu Kang’s expression relaxed and he nodded, now trying to focus on the match. 

“I suffer under no delusion, Your Highness.” Raiden replied, his voice devoid of any cockiness like the princess displayed. Instead, it was serious, taking her seriously just as he did for all of his other opponents. You admired the way he was able to lock in, mind focused entirely on the goal.

”I will win this fight.” Kitana said, making a promise. “For her, my Empress, and all of Outworld.” She took a step forward, before taking one step back into a fighting stance. There was a “sching!” as the blades of her fans brushed against each other, revealing the awe inspiring war fans she wielded. 

Then, the match begun. 

Kitana’s movements were elegant, it was like she was dancing more than she was dueling. It was almost like watching a hawk. Graceful, swift, but had deadly precision. The control she had over the fans she wielded along with the bits of magic she must surely have was beautiful to witness. Almost effortlessly, you watched as she would sometimes gain the upper hand and juggle your champion in the air, hit after hit with her fans and kicks.

For a moment, you were worried. Raiden seemed unable to adapt, being bewildered by the strange manner Kitana would throw out her fans, and not to mention the way she would use the air to her advantage much more than any of the others he had fought against. It was as if she thrived up there.

Still, even as he was battered and bruised, the man pushed through. He matched her movements, aiming to move as quickly as she was. He also threw in some of his own projectiles into the mix, deterring her from simply zoning him out from an advantageous position. Had you been an outsider watching this, you would have never guessed that Raiden was merely improvising these techniques against the surprise contender. It was honestly quite impressive. 

After seeing the man turn the tide, you were not surprised to see him finally topple the princess. This feat had been much more earned, as both of them seemed exhausted after the fight. Between moments of heaving breaths, Raiden looked down at the princess before nodding and smiling respectfully to her.

“You fight well, princess.” He commended, a weary, but kind smile upon his lips. Pushing herself off the ground, Kitana looked up at her opponent. For a moment, there was a frustrated look as she took some deep breaths of her own. Despite her mask, she was still very expressive. You looked at the mask adorning her face, remembering how she used to wear it long ago,

“As do you, Earthrealmer.” Kitana replied, sharing the same respect Raiden had shown her. Her gaze scanned the man, assessing him one last time. “Surprisingly so.” She added on, a hint of reluctance and shock in her tone. It was as if despite being beat, she still could not understand how the Earthrealm champion had bested her.

“Excellent match.” Sindel praised, though there was a hint of strain within her voice. Both of the competitors turned their attention to the empress. You gaze focused in on her as well. Her displeasure at the outcome of the match as well hidden, but you could still see it. It was in the way her knuckles grew bone white despite supposedly being folded neatly within her lap. Her jaw was set as she smiled at the two. 

While you weren’t certain still whether Sindel had intentionally swapped the princesses, you could see that she was not all too happy that Raiden had managed to improvise his way through the match. Your eyes darted back to the electric wielder. Had Mileena still been here to fight him, would he have fared as well as he did against Kitana?

“Tomorrow, young champion, you will face your final opponent.” She declared, looking up at the sky for a moment. “Then afterwards we shall hold a celebration. A festival, dedicated to whomever emerges victorious, whether it be Earthrealm or Outworld. We shall meet back out here for your final match.” The empress instructed, before swiftly walking off. You observed how the thrones were hauled back to the grand hall before a pinch on your bicep snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Finally today we get to hang out.” Kung Lao piped up, sending you a grin on the sly side. Your eyebrows rose. At first, you focused on the pinch. You caught yourself holding your breath, a wave of nostalgia and grief washing over you. You were perplexed on how he remembered the pinch, but then you remembered that he was probably mimicking the action you had done to him previously. “Oh don’t look so blue, it’s an honor hanging out with me.”

“When did we agree to hang out?” You asked, pushing away the thoughts of the old Kung Lao who your brain yearned for. Almost instantly, you regretted your words. His smile faltered, dropping. It was as if someone had kicked a puppy. Instantly, you put on a smile and placed a reassuring hand on his bicep, returning the pinch. “I was joking.” You quickly said. “I’d love to hang out with you.”

“Good.” Kung Lao replied, the glee returning to him. It was as if he hadn’t been affected by your question earlier at all. You weren’t sure if he had been acting or not, but you felt better seeing his smile. “I saw a lot of good food by the pier, I want to try them with you.” The former farmhand told you, beginning to lead the way to Sun Do. 

“As long as we get to go around looking for one last gift.” You piped up, following him to the way to the city. Kung Lao looked back, a small look of surprise on his face. 

“I thought you had been out yesterday with Kenshi to find the last gift?” Kung Lao asked. His eyes darted behind you, most likely gazing at where the others were before his eyes settled on you again. “By all means, I don’t mind. I know I have perfect taste.” He shot you a grin, making you chuckle and shake your head at his antics.

“I had been, and yes, I did find a gift. But I wanted to get something else too.” You informed the man with the razor hat. At this admission, his interest was piqued. He leaned over to you, his voice dropping to a whisper as if you were swapping a secret.

“Oh really now?” Kung Lao spoke, his voice dripping with excitement. A gleam was in his eye, and you spotted his dimples become more prominent as his smile grew. Your lips pursed as you observed them, you weren’t certain how to feel about even the little details like dimples being the same between the two worlds. “Well, if it’s a gift for me you can just tell me now, I don’t mind.”

“It’s not a gift for you, it’s a gift for Lord Liu Kang.” You told Kung Lao. You watched as his lips pursed into a pout. A disappointed look crossed his face, though this one was more playful than the last time. “Don’t worry, I already got your gift for you.” A look of surprise, as if he wasn’t actually expecting a gift, appeared on his face. You let out another laugh and picked up the pace, walking a bit faster as the man paused.

“Wait, really?” He asked, perking up as he made a light jog to catch up to you. You simply sent him a small smile, watching him think over your words. “What is it? When am I going to get it?” Kung Lao asked, his questions firing off like rapid fire. 

“I already ruined the surprise by telling you that I got you one.” You said, pointing at Kung Lao as you walked side by side down the road. “I think I have the right to keep the rest of it as a surprise, no?” The man hummed, head tilting upwards as he contemplated his words. Then he looked back at you with a mischievous look.

“I guess you do, but that won’t stop me from wildly guessing what you did get me.” Kung Lao pointed out. You nodded, letting out another laugh. You supposed that would be fair enough. It wasn’t as if you could stop his curiosity anyways. 

The rest of the walk was filled with light chatter. With Kung Lao, it always felt as if you could talk with him for hours on end. You tried not to linger on that fact that it felt like you were talking to an old friend. You had to stop that train of thought, after all, this man in front of you wasn’t…your Kung Lao. It was someone else, even if they were all too similar.

For a bit of the day, both you and Kung Lao roamed around the docks. The air was filled with the scent of street food. It made your mouth water as you took in a deep breath. Glancing over to your companion, you swore you even spotted the man drooling. You found yourselves hopping around the area, tasting and taking food as you pleased.

“This is amazing.” Kung Lao said, seeming to be lost in bliss as he indulged in the fried foods. You couldn’t help but agree. There was something special about this food, and it wasn’t just how cheap it was for the quality. As you let the taste melt onto your tongue, you couldn’t help but ponder over the seasonings within the dish. Did these type of seasonings exist back in Earthrealm? Or only here. “You think you could recreate this?”

“Maybe.” You said, still mulling over the unique taste it held. “They have different spices here, so it might be hard to recreate it one to one in terms of flavor.” You blinked in surprise as a bit of food was held in front of your face. Leaning back a bit, you shot a look of confusion towards Kung Lao as he brought the food closer to you.

“Try it!” He encouraged, a wide grin on his face. You looked between the man and the morsel of food, trying to work out what to do. Then, you leaned forward and ate the food from his fingers. You savored it, nodding as you closed your eyes and contemplated the flavors. A small hum left your lips. That was good. As you opened your eyes, confusingly enough, you were met with Kung Lao being…slightly flustered?

“Are you good?”

“Hm?” Kung Lao said, snapping out of his little daze. His cheeks were still dusted light with a bit of pink as he let out a laugh. “Yes! I’m fine.” He told you, though there was still that little tone to his voice that you couldn’t quite pin down. You rose your eyebrows, but shrugged. “Would you make me some of this food?”

“If I figure it out, sure.” You told him, finding it hard to say no to the hopeful look he sent you. You grinned at him, a slightly wicked look in your eye. “You know, you do still owe me for losing that bet.” You couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh at the pout he sent your way. “Did you think I would forget, Kung Lao?”

“Maybe.” He mumbled, looking away from you with a faux innocent look. You sent him a narrowed gaze, shaking your head. “I promise I’ll hold up to our agreement.” He said, putting a hand on his heart, an earnest grin on his face. You smiled and pinched his bicep. 

“Good, because otherwise if you don’t, I’ll make sure to talk to the monks about making your training regiment harder. And that’s on top of what I plan on making you do.” You informed him, a sly smirk on your lips. “But if you remind me, I think I’ll consider lessening your punishment.” 

The both of you toured the area for a bit longer until you passed a store selling fabrics. You took pause as you walked past it, at first dismissing it. Then, a familiar shade of red caught your eye. You wandered over, feeling compelled to inspect it. Picking it up gently, you marveled at the fabric. 

It was nothing special, to be honest. It was just a very vibrant red headband. And yet, as you held it in your hands, you felt emotional over it. You slowly rubbed the quality material between your fingers, a small smile on your lips. You felt Kung Lao’s presence beside you, and nearly jumped upon remembering that he was here. 

“You’re planning on giving Lord Liu Kang a headband?” Your companion inquired. He squinted at it, processing the piece of fabric you were holding. 

“I know it’s a simple gift, but it just…speaks to me.” You explained, returning your gaze back down to the headband. It was nearly uncanny how close it looked to the red headband that your friend would always wear. Ever since you remembered the accessory, you’ve missed seeing the man in it. You’ve never brought it up though, since you it was a little odd. “What do you think? Is it a silly gift?”

“No.” Kung Lao said, and you were a little surprised at the certainty in his voice. You looked up and over to him. On his face was a determined look, as if nothing could convince him that this was a bad idea. You were comforted by the look. “I think it’s the perfect gift actually, good find.”

You stared at Kung Lao for a few more moments. Your heart squeezed at the idea that this Kung Lao agreed with the headband fitting just so well for Liu Kang. For a moment, you were tempted to ask him why he thought so. Was it just the idea that Liu Kang would look good in red? Or was it…something else? And yet, despite your longing, you restrained yourself. You didn’t want to seem so…silly.

“Yeah, I think I will get this.” You agreed. You walked up to the naknadan who was manning the shop. You were delighted to see you had some money left over. Maybe you could keep it, as a reminder of your travels here. You took the headband, and folded it neatly, tucking it away. You felt proud of yourself, feeling accomplished for finding all the gifts you wanted for your friends. 

After a bit more wandering around the city with Kung Lao, you both eventually return back to the palace. You weren’t certain if you were going to go to dinner after a day full of tasting food, but you might for the sake of being with your friends. 

Before you could walk up the stairs into the palace, you stopped. You grabbed Kung Lao’s hand, stopping him in his tracks as well. You noted his hand, and how it still was as soft as it was when you had felt it when you had shook his hand. The former farmhand turned around, sending you a curious look, though there was a bit of a blush on his face.

You weren’t certain why seeing that pink hue on his cheeks was so pleasing to you.

“I just wanted to thank you for accompanying me today.” You said, smiling at him. You felt your hand squeeze his, though you didn’t consciously think about squeezing his hand. “I had a lot of fun going around and trying food with you. Sorry it took so long for me to have some time to hang out with you. I hope today was worth it.” 

“It was fun.” Kung Lao replied, a grin on his lips now. It was lopsided, as usual. You couldn’t help the little sigh that left your lips. “If you really want to make up for it, you could always forget about our little bet-” He noted the little glare you sent his way, and his smile grew. “Kidding! Kidding! But if you did want to make up for it, I would not be opposed to hanging out with you more often.”

“I would not be opposed to that idea either.” You replied. You stood there for a moment more, before you turned to go grab one of the ring boxes from your bag. You turned, inspecting the boxes more to see if you grabbed the right one before you held it out to the man. “Here, the gift for you, like I told you earlier.” 

Kung Lao plucked the box out of your outstretched hand. Almost hesitantly, he let go of your hand so he could open the box with his other hand. You watched as surprise overcame his features as he inspected the ring with the pink gem was sitting in the center of the box. He glanced back and forth between you and the ring. A soft look was on his face as he placed it on.

“I like it.” He said, admiring the ring as it adjusted to fit perfectly upon his. “I see it matches yours too. Now we’re doubly matching.” Kung Lao pointed out, pointing between both the rings and the dragon motifs you both had. A smile that was a little smug appeared on his lips. “Why pink though? Not that I mind.”

“We’re all going to match soon, it was a ring set.” You explained. looking down to the little ring that you had on your hand. “And yes, the necklace you gave me…” You paused, grabbing the necklace to feel it, “it honestly did inspire me, so thank you. As for pink, well…” You trailed off, thinking back. 

For a while now, you’ve associated Kung Lao with cherry blossoms. At first, it was because of how often you saw the petals fall near him at the Wu Shi. It was almost as if he was a magnet for them. But now, with you memories, it only seemed right. Much like many other things, it seemed to be a constant between your lives.

“I think it just fits. It’s the pink of cherry blossoms, which I think are very fitting for you, you always seem to be covered in those petals.” You answered, looking into Kung Lao’s eyes. Another softer look appeared on his face as he heard your explanation. 

“I think it fits too.” Kung Lao admitted, glancing back down to the ring on his hand. A grin spread across his face before he grabbed your hand. “Now let’s go, I don’t want to miss dinner.” His tone was dripping with excitement, despite how much you both had eaten earlier. You nearly stumbled to keep up with his quick pace, but you let out a small laugh as you tightened your grip onto his hand to adjust yourself.

Never change, Kung Lao.

Tonight was an especially beautiful night in the garden. 

The stars seemed to shine a little brighter. The skies seemed to be a little more vibrant, the bits of the purple sky swirling with the dark colors of the night sky. Not a cloud was in sight to block any bit of the view on display for tonight. It was like looking at a piece of art, just for you.

You sighed as you sat alone on the bench in the Hanging Gardens. You weren’t even certain why you were out here. Princess Mileena was out on imperial duties…supposedly. She probably wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. You supposed that you didn’t need her in order to appreciate the garden, but you also couldn’t deny it felt awfully lonely out here without someone to accompany you.

You weren’t sure how you caught the movement while looking up at the sky, but you spotted someone out of the corner of your eye. At first, you perked up. Maybe she was back early and sought your presence here. But as you turned, the figure you saw walking around the gardens was not the princess you were expecting. No, it was someone else.

In fact, it was someone you didn’t even recognize.

A man walked through the gardens. He held himself with grace, an air of elegance surrounded him. His hair, long and neatly tied, cascaded down and fell down his shoulders. A small smile appeared on his lips as he toured the area. You spotted a gleam of gold, and looking down, you saw a golden amulet with a large red gem in the center hanging off his belt. 

As you inspect the stranger, your eyes locked with his. A look of faint surprise appeared on his face, before a smile replaced it. He strode over, and for a moment you felt awkward. You hoped you didn’t leave a bad first impression on this man.

“Hello there.” The man said, stopping a little bit away from you. One of his hands gestured to the spot next to you. “Are you waiting on someone?” He asked, his voice smooth just like honey was. You glanced at the spot, thinking of the princess for a moment, before shaking your head. Gracefully, he sat beside you. “I don’t think we’ve met, to whom do I have the pleasure?”

“We haven’t met.” You confirmed, nodding. You told him your name, eyes scanning the man up and down. No matter how much you inspected him, you could not glean anything from him. If anything, the slight buzzing in your head almost seemed to quell around him. Your lips pursed. Seems you’ve never met this man before in your previous life. “I’m just here for the tournament. I’m from Earthrealm, actually, I’m accompanying Lord Liu Kang and his companions.”

“Oh, the tournament. I had nearly forgotten about that.” The man said, his hands neatly folding in his lap. “I have been so awfully busy carrying out requests for the Empress, I have not had the time to observe. In fact, I’ve only come back tonight just to gather some materials before I go back to my laboratory. A shame, I would have loved to watch.”

“It has been rather exciting, our champion has nearly won all of the matches so far.” You said, trying not to outwardly brag to this stranger. You paused, thinking to the words he said. “You said you had a laboratory, are you a sorcerer, or a mage of some sort?” You asked, thinking back to how Rain had a laboratory of sorts within the Imperial Academy.

“I am.” The stranger replied. The smile on his lips grew slightly as he nodded. “I have the pleasure of being part of the royal court. As much of a privilege it is, it is labor intensive at times, I must admit.” He scanned you, looking up and down. “You sounded quite excited about that prospect, are you interested in magic?”

“I suppose I am.” You admitted. You lifted your hand, shifting it to display a webbed frog hand. “Though I’m from Earthrealm, I have some magic of my own. Back there, we don’t really have magic schools, it’s more commonly thought of as a myth there.” A small hum left the man’s lips as he nodded along. His hands locked in on your limb as it displayed the little feat of magic. If you weren’t mistaken, it almost seemed like he was quite impressed with the little display. 

“Fascinating.” The stranger said, a tone in his voice you couldn’t quite place. Admiration, perhaps? That was the closest thing you could think of. “You can shapeshift, that’s your magic?” He asked, double checking your abilities with you. You blinked, nodding as you changed your hand once more, this time into a horse’s hoof. “Just animals, or are you capable of shifting into humanoids as well?”

“Just animals, I think. I’ve never really tried to transform into another humanoid, really.” You told him. You transformed your arm back, taking some time to mull over his question. You’ve never really…thought about humanoid transformation. Your magic was instinctual, so you’ve never really put much thought into it.

Was it possible? You’d have to explore that idea later.

“I think I’ve heard of you.” The man said. You blinked in surprise, furrowung your eyebrows as you looked at the man suspiciously. You doubted you have too much of a reputation to have random strangers hear of you before. “My colleague, Rain, has mentioned you before, I believe?” He said. You blinked, before you remembered.

Hadn’t Rain mentioned a sorcerer with talents like yours?

“Oh, Rain?” You said, repeating the name. The man nodded. “Ah, you must be the court sorcerer he mentioned!” You told him, a smile now across your features. You tried to think of his name, but found yourself coming up short. Ah, he had been interrupted before he said the name, didn’t he? You sent him an awkward smile. “Sorry, I don’t think he mentioned your name, what was it?”

“My name is Shang Tsung.” The sorcerer said, his smile growing more as he nodded. From the corner of your eye, you swore your saw the red gem in his amulet gleam for just a moment as he introduced himself. Must be the moonlight reflecting off. “It is an honor to meet you.”

“It is an honor to meet you too, Shang Tsung.” You said. The name rolled easily off your tongue. You folded your hands on your lap. “Would you do me a favor?” You asked, tilting your head as you looked at the man. His eyebrows rose, but the charismatic, polite look remained on his face as he nodded. “Could you tell me about magic? I love to hear about it.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

And that night, you think you made a new friend.

tagged - @bonezisded @lollipopin @simpxinnie @zhivaxo @koisuko

[lelliefant]

If you want to know why the Loki fandom has drifted away, just look at what Disney/Marvel did to him.

He was incredibly powerful—they made him weak and helpless.

He was smarter than everyone else—they made him a fool.

He was a prince—they made him a corporate office drone. They literally put him in a cubicle.

Loki was an alien—they made him an ordinary guy.

He was flamboyant and colorful—they put him in beige. They actually made him act as if he was excited to wear a beige uniform.

The real Loki would never have tolerated a uniform of any sort, much less something so bland. He was never a soldier or a cog in the wheel. Loki is the piston.

Loki was a deeply wounded, angst-driven son with complex motivations—Disney made him an uncaring narcissist who suddenly sees the error of his ways (in one episode) and has a total personality swipe.

Loki was iconoclastic—they made him ordinary.

They took the most interesting and volatile character in the MCU and warped him into an Everyman role, and somehow everyone bought it. Apparently because they used the same actor with the same face—?

Really think about it. If another actor had started playing Loki for the series, they couldn’t have pulled it off. Series Loki is not the same character as Loki from Thor 1, Avengers 1, and Thor 2. He’s as different as the moviemakers in charge of the productions are. (The directors of Avengers 1 and Thor 2, Joss Whedon and Alan Taylor, simply had the grace and humility to take their cue from the original vision of Kenneth Branagh.)

If you don’t actually pay attention to Loki’s character, motivations, logical action, or his history, and you’re only interested in being entertained, I guess it doesn’t matter. This is just a superhero movie character, so who cares if they turned him inside out to conform with a simpler, less challenging archetype?

He’s their property, after all. They can use him however they want to. If they want to chew him up and spit him out as a naive, lovelorn mensch because that’s the Disney protagonist formula, they can and will. If they want to put him into a buddy-cop procedural, as if he were an ordinary human person whose shtick is a magic kit, they can.

A lot of you who are constantly defending the Loki Series are not really thinking about it. Maybe you’re just happy he has a show to his name. Maybe you don’t care; you just want more “content.” Maybe you don’t want someone spoiling your fun.

Maybe you think you’re being the loyal crowd by “defending” Loki. You’re not seeing that Disney did worse than kill him off—they unmade him. They put the God of Mischief into a blender with the Disney formula, audience response data, standard storytelling tropes, a limited range of plot lines, and a great deal of money, and out came this golem with Loki’s face on it.

You might revile me for saying all this because that’s easier than facing the truth or questioning the Powers That Be. There will always be people who can’t tolerate having their beliefs challenged.

I have seen nastiness on this hellsite toward people who question and protest what the majority accepts—but that’s just a reflection of the real world. It’s never going to work out well for those of us who see things differently and who don’t shut up about it. So, why do we keep annoying everyone with our dissenting opinions?

In my case it’s because I actually do care about Loki. I care enough to tell the unpopular truth, as I see it. Because, to me, Loki isn’t just an MCU character. He is representation.

He was a survivor of abuse and scapegoating by his own family. He was an outsider who defied convention and took on great challenges, despite everyone in his world trying to push him down. He shirked the role he was forced to play and chose to define himself instead. He saw the hate and scorn directed at him from all sides and laughed.

He struck out on his own into the unknown—which is incredibly hard to do, even if you had been given the support to believe in yourself.

The Loki Series did get one thing right: Loki is a survivor. He’s survived misinterpretations before, and he will survive Disneyfication. Maybe the public will tolerate a warped mischaracterization of him for a while before they lose interest, but the God of Mischief prevails. Thor1 Loki will always be there, smirking triumphantly from the shadows.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

This post by @vacationship has me thinking and others will disagree with me and that's okay.

I'll briefly take off my shipping glasses for a second. Some people are still debating the issue of "pushing" in the context of Sydney and Carmy based on the trailer. Personally, I support the idea of pushing if it's obvious that two people have feelings for each other and one of them is holding back due to fear. At least pushing the other person for clarity and honesty is okay.

I see the push that Molly, Chris, and Carmy are talking about as one of us is too scared to jump off this cliff into the unknown, but someone has to push and try this shit out.

It just wasn't with the right girl.

Claire's push was fine when she asked for Carmy's phone number. Her experience is that she waited in her last relationship, and nothing happened, so she wanted to go for it again. Also, maybe she was told by Mikey and Richie how much Carmy liked her, and it just confused her a bit, and she also knew that Carmy was really shy so she wanted to push him.

However I'll admit that the chasing his number is another thing, but she also cleaned it up by giving him another chance and asking him if he really didn't want her to have his number.

Now is the story purposefully asking if the guy did this it would be a different story? Or is storer right, there's always the pusher in relationships?

Anyway, perhaps there was a part of Carmy, although a small one, that has always wanted Mikey's approval and did want a relationship with Claire. It seems like Carmy, who tends to be avoidant, might need some encouragement when it comes to dating. Dating can be scary for him, especially because he's used to working a lot and doesn't have much of a social life. He also tends to expect the worst, even when good things like relationships happen.

Now Carmy says to Sydney, "So you can push me, and I can push you." That's a necessary dynamic for both Carmy and Sydney since they tend to avoid. Carmy pushes Sydney when he tells her to say more and her trying to avoid him won't work for their partnership.

I notice that Carmy is often encouraging Sydney to be more open and to deepen their relationship. I think it would be better if Carmy takes the initiative in pushing for this so that people don't wrongly assume that Sydney is the only one with a major crush on Carmy and it was her fault that he didnt pursue anything with Claire. Carmy should show that he is willing to pursue. It's also good for his character growth, so he's not letting things happen. This time, he wants and chases for good things.

In creative partnerships, it's important to be able to push each other to achieve the best results. This mutual push for perfection can lead to pure magic. I've witnessed this dynamic in the kitchen when working with others to create the perfect dish. Competition can be a joyful and productive force when the goal is to bring out the best in one another. When I was acting, I thrived on pushing my scene partner to fully engage and be present in our work, and I loved it when I found that scene partner to do the same to me.

But looking at both creativity and relationship-wise, it seems that pushing is necessary for both Sydney and Carmy's growth. This is a bit scattered, but hopefully, it's clear enough.

[waterydream]

SEASON 40'S UPCOMING PRODIGY...

assets by @/shakingparadigm

Deemed a defective product of GLO-II, 373640 was sold at an auction house to Guardian Miaumi  on Ùî´Ô塂 ¾Ë°í ÀÖ.

Mill is soft-spoken, calm, and extremely imaginative for a pet human. He often tells stories of the worlds outside Anakt Garden to those who listen, magical ones that seem to spawn from his childhood years in isolation. He seems kindhearted - made of soft outlines. He speaks in vivid metaphors and phrases at times, rendering him a bit difficult to understand.

Furthermore, he’s been said to be extremely observant, capable of mastering the smallest of things with ease. It’s said he always has his eyes on the things of his interest. His achievements in musical and creative pursuits have labeled him a prodigy. Some consider him to be the very first human storyteller [1].

As a result of these achievements, Mill has been advanced to the 40th season of Alien Stage before his time. 

The 40th Season of Alien Stage includes a strong array of stars . . .

Quiet breaths echo in the empty room,

“It’s too soon…” 

He shifts, his fingers sliding between strands of well-maintained dyed hair, kept in the way they’ve always been to maintain an image he’s been forced to build since he was a child.

“It's.. too soon....”

The words are strangled out between a gasp for air, ending in a pained whisper. 

The truth loomed over his shoulders, heavy. The collar around his neck feeling hot enough to burn, his breaths so small he curled forward as if to coax the last bit of air he could into his open maw. 

He laughed, it made him shake,

or maybe he trembled.

Airy,

desperate,

“When they don't even care to...”  (Why me?)

He gazed upon the face of his younger self and could imagine blood pooling in his stomach and making its way up his throat. His hand flew to his mouth, his eyes narrowing and blurring the image.

They know.

All the time he’s spent learning, hoarding items, determining the exits, the cameras, they know theyknow theyknowtheyknow - and now they’re sending him early to —

The depths of his eyes are inky, black, temperamental swirls of the ocean's depths threatening to spill over. He felt it wash over him and it felt cold. He grasped at his shoulders, fingers curling into his black cardigan.

Oh,

He gasped out a quiet, withheld sob,

He wishes he could find that ‘warmth’ he craves.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Protector | Water Borne

Protector is so good and if it's not too much trouble could I ask for another chapter with Virgil's first kiss to one or more of The Five? Pretty please? (It's okay if you don't want to - no pressure!) – twoalpacas

Could you write some Roman angst that takes place in a merperson au? Whether Roman is a merperson or a human who meets merpeople would be up to you. – monkeythefander

Read on Ao3 Protector Masterlist

Warnings: ptsd, implied/reference drowning/brainwashing

Pairings: dlampr

Word Count: 5043

Virgil doesn't even give himself the time to sigh when his well explodes and Remus scrambles out of it, dripping wet and covered in something he's not going to try to name. Instead, he makes himself move his hand away from his dagger and stand up.

"What's happened?"

"Come with me," Remus barks, grabbing his wrist—

"You're coming with us," the guard snarls, ale heavy on his breath outweighing the stench of blood, "you'll be dealt with the way all traitors are—"

Virgil's hand creeps back toward the dagger and he sets his jaw. "Remus. Let go of me."

"What the fuck are you doing? We have to go, now!"

"Remus."

Everything in him screams to get out of this situation, diffuse, excuse, find some way to leave the angry magic user without making things any worse, but this is Remus. Remus, who after realizing that maybe grabbing his wrist wasn't the best idea in the world—which, you think?—stops and glares at Virgil.

"We have to go," he says again through gritted teeth, "come on."

It's like parenting a child, Virgil realizes with no small amount of hysteria, forcing himself to take a deep breath and let his arm go slack in Remus's grip. "Remus. Explain to me what's going on."

Remus's jaw works and he squeezes Virgil's wrist tighter. "Roman needs help. You need to help him."

"What's happened to Roman?"

"Didn't you hear me? He needs help!"

"I understand that Roman needs help, but if you tell me what sort of help he needs, then I can be better prepared to offer that sort of help."

Careful, his instincts warn, don't agree to anything yet. But he hasn't. He's just offered up the logical explanation that being more informed begets more productive assistance. Only then does he realize that Remus's breathing is still way too heavy and his eyes are so wide he can see the whites all the way around.

"Remus," he says, quieter now, "you made it to me. I'm here, I'm listening. It would be helpful if you explained to me what's going on with Roman."

Remus stares at him for a long moment before the mania finally begins to fade from his gaze. He takes another shuddering breath and his grip on Virgil's wrist loosens. "Someone fucked up a transformation spell. Ro got hit by it. He needs—he needs help."

A bolt of something cold races down Virgil's spine. He's survived this long by being wary enough not to get in between the fights of magic users. He's not about to let himself just get willingly dragged into one, but he's not sure how he can safely refuse Remus when he's just about feral and still holding onto Virgil.

"I'm not sure I'm the best source of help for a magical issue," he says as carefully as he can, "I don't know enough about spells or how to fix them—"

"That's not what I want you for!" Remus stamps his foot—it really is like parenting—"I want you to help Roman!"

"I don't understand."

Remus bears his teeth and for a moment, Virgil worries that the dagger at his side might be the last thing he ever holds in his own two hands, but then the man just deflates. He's almost rushing to get his arms under Remus's shoulders, quickly redirecting his collapse onto the nearby stool instead of the freshly-planted flowers. He squats down, letting Remus keep a hold of him, angling himself so he can see his face.

"Hey," he say softly, "hey, buddy, talk to me. What's going on? What does Roman need help with?"

Remus's lip wobbles. "He's so scared, Virgil. He's scared!"

"What's scaring him?"

"We need to fix it. We don't—we can't—we have to go and he can't do anything and he—you have to help him."

Virgil's chest clenches. He's not any more inclined to get in the middle of a fight between magic users than he was a few minutes ago, but he is more upset that Remus is so visibly torn up over it. He forces himself to stay aware for just a little longer.

"Is Roman physically hurt? Does he need me to patch him up the way I helped Janus?"

Remus shakes his head.

"Is there a mental element to the spell that's affecting his perception or emotions?"

"Sort of."

"Okay. Are you expecting me to be a part of magically resolving the process, or is my role something non-magical?"

Remus's brow wrinkles. "Why would I come to you if I needed someone else to cast magic for me?"

"Well, that's why I'm confused, buddy."

He shakes his head, another shower of droplets hitting Virgil's shoulders. "Roman needs help. He doesn't need more magic."

"Let me see if I understand, then: Roman got hit by a spell that went wrong. He's scared. You want me to help—like, keep him calm or be less scared while you figure out how to magically fix things?"

"Yes," Remus says, a touch of impatience back in his tone, "I thought that was obvious."

"Just wanted to make it explicit," Virgil mutters, scowling when Remus's brows pump up and down suggestively, "good to see you're fine enough to do that."

"Oh, I'll show you what I'm fine enough for." He giggles when Virgil rolls his eyes, sobering a moment later. "I don't—I don't know what to offer as payment. I'm not—Lolo normally does that."

"We could do what we did last time," Virgil's offering before he realizes what he's saying, "you could offer me something in collateral before the actual payment itself is agreed upon."

"I don't have a yathrylx."

"What else do you have to offer?"

Remus's mouth twitches and works back and forth a few times before he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a small stone. He holds it out insistently and Virgil hesitantly extends his hand. It drops into his waiting palm.

"I would like to know what this is."

"It's a star-diamond calyx." Virgil just raises his eyebrow. "It's a really powerful magical ingredient, okay? It's used in resurrection spells."

"…Remus, you're carrying an ingredient for a resurrection spell."

"We didn't know if Ro was gonna make it," Remus says, his voice choking up again, "we—we needed to be prepared."

"But Roman is stable now."

"Yeah. He's—he's okay for now. He's just really scared, Virgil, we can't—we can't leave him alone but the rest of us have to go and—" he sniffles— "and I can't just leave him."

Something foreign settles in his gut, then, at the realization that Remus—and by extension, the others—trust him enough to be there, to help, to protect them. They're fucking magic users, they're ten times deadlier than he is at his best at their worst, and still they trust him to do this.

"I will take the star-diamond calyx as collateral for keeping Roman calm," he makes himself say, "until adequate payment is decided."

"Can we go now?"

"I will gather my things."

***

His second trip through a portal is no more impressive than his first, but the arrival destination is…enough to make him pause.

He's no stranger to wild and fantastical places. His way of life practically necessitates that he ventures to half a dozen far-flung and perilous places every single year. And yet, sometimes even he has to take a second just to breathe in the scenery.

Remus's portal brings them to the very edge of a tall sloping cave, crystalline walls leading up, up, up to a bright light source in the middle of the ceiling. The more he looks at it, the more it shifts, facets of complex gemstones sending small motes of light scattering down the walls to reflect off the clear surface of the pool at the edges of the cliffs. Small flowering bushes and trees grow along the edges of the water. Tiny birds and other creatures flit about in the spaces between the blooms, gathering or pollinating or something—most of them look like the harmless varieties that are common close to the edges of the Draymack River, but he'll double check. A soft purple mist rolls through the upper air, the light exposing glittering particles as it passes through.

"Oh, you found him," he hears, and he turns to see the others hurrying toward them from the shoreline. Patton rushes up first, almost barreling into him before skidding to a stop. "Did Remus explain everything?"

He summarizes, watching their faces to see if Remus left out anything especially pertinent, but all he sees is grim resignation and worry. "I would like to know if there's anything else important I'm missing before you leave, as well as the dangers posed to me in this location."

"There isn't anything here that's going to hurt you." Janus gestures to the wildlife. "The pixies and mephits are harmless and as long as you don't destroy any of the flowers, they'll ignore you completely."

"And the air?"

"Spell mist."

Ah. That would explain why they brought Roman here; the inherent abjurative nature of the cavern would dampen any lingering magic and restrict the spell to its current form without risk of evolution.

Shit, Bonnie really has been rubbing off on me. Though he makes a mental note to send her and the Aspen Witch some form of token.

"Roman's in the water," Logan says, interrupting his train of thought, "the spell didn't manage to transform him completely, but in its halfway state he's still more comfortable breathing water than air. And the good news is he didn't get any more of the bespelling gifts so you'll be—"

"The what?"

Logan pauses, looking at him in confusion, before he turns to glare at Remus. Remus shrugs, looking as unrepentant as ever—Virgil doesn't know how he feels about that fact that it just makes him feel fond—before Logan sighs.

"The transformation spell's made Roman turn into part mer."

Ah.

Well.

This does complicate things and is definitely something Remus should have told him. Would he have refused outright? Probably not—and that's something he's going to worry about later, thank you very much—but he would've brought way more precautions if he'd known the scared and upset magic user he's supposed to be keeping calm is part mer.

"You said he didn't get any more bespelling gifts?"

"No. He's still—he's still got his magic, so he's capable of it, but he'll need to—it's not an innate instinct the way it is for most full mers." Patton glances over his shoulder as soft splashing sounds come from the water. "And it's still Roman, so he's gonna recognize you."

Yeah, I'm not sure if that's gonna work in my favor or not. "How long do you anticipate being gone for?"

"A few hours. Not more. But we need all of us to get the right ingredients and we can't leave Roman alone for that long. There's a risk his emotions could trigger his own magic and it would mix with the spell and—"

He holds up a hand. He doesn't need to know about the details. "I understand."

"We can negotiate payment when Roman is back to normal," Logan says with an earnestness that he can't just write off, "we give you our word."

What is the world coming to, where Virgil's willing to take the word of a magic user when he's about to do something as dangerous as this? But it's the world he's in, and he nods and confirms the details before Remus gives his shoulder a tight squeeze.

"I know I don't need to say this," he says, voice oddly calm, "but don't hurt Roman."

"I will do my best not to cause Roman physical harm."

"No." Remus fixes him with a look. "You won't hurt Roman."

His throat runs dry, but the others are looking at him, and he can't do anything else but nod. Remus looks at him for a moment longer before his fingers twitch and he wraps his arms tightly around him in a fierce hug. Virgil tenses and Remus doesn't hold on for long.

"We'll be back," Janus says, loud enough to be heard over the splashing, and then there's a flash of light as another portal opens.

Virgil takes a deep breath and heads down toward the water.

Sure enough, there in the shallows, is a mer. He makes himself stop and confirm that if—if—Roman tries to pull him in, he has ways of getting out of it that won't cause Roman any permanent damage. Then he carefully crouches near the edge of the water and clears his throat.

"Roman?"

The water ripples. Slowly, the mer's head—Roman's head, and isn't that fucking weird, that he can still tell it's Roman—lifts up out of the water just enough for Virgil to see his eyes. They're blown wide, inhumanly black, the sclera reflecting the lights as though they were pools of their own—

He snaps himself back. Bespelling gifts. He's out of practice but not that much.

"Hey, buddy," he says, careful to keep his voice as neutral as possible, "I heard about what happened."

The feathery fins near Roman's ears flatten against the side of his head, water rippling around them. A long streak of red thrashes beneath the surface, his tail, most likely, and there's another low noise of rocks sliding against each other before Roman looks up at him again.

"Yeah. Sounds like it wasn't fun." Shit, what the fuck am I supposed to talk about. "Good news is the others seem to know exactly what to do, so—what?"

Roman glares at him and splashes again. He jabs a finger toward the shore.

"No, they're not here right now, they left to go somewhere." Roman nods. "Which means…?"

Roman rolls his eyes and his tail thrashes again. Virgil wracks his brain for something that might be close to whatever the hell Roman's trying to get him to understand. Okay, so the thing that he said that wasn't right was that they knew exactly what to do, so…

"You don't think they know what they're going to do?"

Roman nods, settling a little bit as the water stops frothing. His fins ripple slightly as the spines along his crest flatten in a way that seems almost petulant.

"Why not?" Roman gestures toward the shore again. "Because they're not here? But wouldn't they have to leave anyway if they knew what they were doing, to get whatever they needed to…"

He trails off as his eyes widen. Then he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"And they didn't say where that was or what they were getting, which means they probably don't know specifics enough to do that."

Roman's tail swishes. Virgil has the sudden urge to reach down and splash a bit of water back at him, but quickly decides that no, he's not about to do that, because that's a terrifically stupid idea, even by his standards. He settles for easing further down onto the shore. Something twitches in his chest as he takes in how much Roman is simultaneously trying to push himself closer and hold himself away.

"They left you very quickly," he says, trying his best to make the observation gentle.

Roman makes a low clicking trill, the water nearest his throat vibrating slightly with it. He picks up a rock and clutches it tightly in his claws.

"That's a cool rock." Roman holds it up for him to see. "Yeah, bud, it's cool. Oh—oh, you're giving it to me?"

Roman holds it out insistently. Virgil carefully frees a handkerchief and lays it over the palm of his hand, slowly moving to meet him. His gut reminds him that letting his hand get close to a mer is not the best thing to do, his brain cautions him to flip his hand so Roman would grab the handkerchief first if he does try to pull him in, and his heart knows that this is Roman.

And he's not going to think about that last one too much for right now.

"It's a really cool rock," he says again, cradling it in the handkerchief, "thank you for giving it to me."

Roman's tail happily smacks the water, sending up a shower of glistening droplets. Virgil runs his thumb over the edge of the rock, feeling the rough texture.

"…Roman?" The mer chirps. "Do you know why they left so quickly?"

Roman's shoulders slump and his fins flutter as he nods. He holds a hand over his chest, rubbing in slow circles, gesturing between himself and Virgil. Then he points to the shore and makes a fist, miming an explosion.

"You—they left because they didn't want the magic affecting you to get worse?" Roman nods. "Because…their magic would make it worse?"

He shakes his head. He puts his head under the water and large bubbles appear.

"Uh—"

He rolls his eyes and comes back up, miming taking an exaggerated breath while pointing to Virgil.

"They want me to help keep you calm, yeah. Oh—are you saying they left because them trying to figure things out here would stress you out more?" Roman gives a happy little trill and spins around in the water. Virgil laughs in surprise, shaking his head at Roman's child-like glee. "Never thought you'd be so happy about not being stressed."

Roman stops then and gives him a look that makes him burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay, point taken." He holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm happy I'm not making you more stressed."

That seems to do the trick. Roman relaxes back into the water, tail moving lazily back and forth. Virgil settles into a quiet pause, the gentle buzz of activity from the nearby bushes filling the air with soft chirpings and the fluttering of miniature wings. He finds himself tracing Roman's features, seeing where the smooth scales meet the soaked brown hair still mostly covering his head. Parts of him are red and angry, nothing like the smooth meeting of Janus's scales with the unblemished skin. His mouth thins. He hadn't even given a thought to how painful this might be for Roman.

Roman trills in question and he realizes he's reaching out again. He should stop. He should sit back. But this is Roman, and Roman is hurting, and so he swallows and keeps reaching.

Roman leans up out of the water, his hands down in the silt, letting Virgil brush his fingers gently over a patch of rough and reddened skin. Roman's breathing hitches slightly. He does it again, trying to move his hair away from it, and Roman lets out a small keen. He keeps going, warm fingers stroking back and forth over the raw skin, just trying to keep everything soft, slow, gentle and tender.

He should start keeping a tally of how many things he does that he swore he'd never be foolish enough to do, shouldn't he?

Roman, for the most part, seems to be falling into a light doze under his ministrations. His head dips lower and lower, until it's pillowed in the waves lapping gently along the silt. Virgil shifts to carding his fingers through his hair, avoiding the base of the spines as he goes. Every so often, a soft clicking pattern comes from his throat, fins fluttering as he does.

"Hey," Virgil says softly after a good deal of time has passed, "I dunno if it's a good idea for you to fall asleep out here, buddy."

Roman snuffles but begins to push himself up. He's much closer now. He can almost see himself in the dark sclera. Roman looks at him for a moment longer before flipping around and diving into the water.

Virgil blinks. That was…sudden. Did he cross some invisible line? His expertise with mers typically comes in the form of hey let's not fucking mess with that, not…whatever affection he was just showing Roman. His expertise also doesn't typically come with openly showing affection to any magic user, but that ship's sailed a long, long time ago, he's just now realizing, and he's not sure what he's going to—

Oh.

Roman's back.

Roman bursts from the water with a shower of sparkling droplets, his hands cupping something to his chest. There are bright spots of color on his cheeks, his spines standing out sharply from his head. Virgil frowns, going to shift back to a crouch when Roman opens his hands.

His breath catches.

He might actually have stopped breathing. He's not sure.

What he is sure of is that Roman is holding a tessarae cluster.

Virgil prides himself on knowing just enough about magic to know what not to do and what to stay the fuck away from. But when you do what he does for long enough, certainly as long as he has, you pick a few things up. Like what ingredients for spells are the most common, which ones are the most expensive, and which ones have nearly limitless uses if someone has the proper magic. You also learn about things that even magic users covet—those tend to be the ones he stays the fuck away from, since getting in the middle of magic turf wars is not high on his list of things he wants to do.

So, when Roman offers him something that he's seen entire swaths of magic users go full scorched-earth over, he thinks he can be forgiven for taking a second to just go what the actual fuck?

He should leave. He should figure out the politest way to get the fuck out of this situation. He should do a lot of things right now.

He shouldn't reach forward to cup his hands under Roman's, nor should he look up like he can't believe this is happening right now. He shouldn't be thinking of how much it means that Roman is offering this to him, not when it's so priceless to anyone but him, and not the fact that this might explain why exactly the Five are so powerful.

And he definitely shouldn't be distracted enough to be caught off-guard by a crack of the portal reopening.

He whirls around, hand on his dagger, only belatedly realizing that not only is it the rest of the Five coming toward him, he's put his back to a mer in the water. But he does realize them, and so he relaxes, turns back, and tries to smile at Roman, say it's alright, the rest of them are back and they can fix this, but there's a quiet hurt in Roman's expression that robs him of any words.

"Roro! We got it!" Remus's skidding halt throws up a lot of silt the makes Roman wince. "We'll have you back to normal in no time!"

"Thank you for being here," Logan says quietly as the rest of them swarm the beach, Roman quickly holding the tessarae cluster to his chest again, "I know we should discuss payment, but if you'd be willing to wait a little longer while we attempt to—"

"Yeah," he says gruffly, "help Roman first."

Logan blinks. "A-alright. It's, well, it's not quite safe for you to be here while we do this, so could we—"

Virgil makes eye contact with Roman one more time, trying to make him understand that any offense he may have just caused wasn't his intention, he swears, but Roman's eyes are too busy darting around at the others and he swallows the lump in his throat. "Yeah. I'll wait for discussion of payment and said payment in exchange for keeping Roman calm at my home."

"Thank you again, Virgil," Logan says as he walks him back to the portal, "really."

Virgil just nods and steps through.

***

"Virgil?"

Virgil stands, dusting off his knees as Roman approaches the edge of his garden. "Hey. You're looking more as I expected."

Roman laughs, but he glances down, a light pink dusting his cheeks. "Yeah, well, perhaps I've learned my lesson about…certain things."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"No, no, I know, I just…" He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That wasn't how I intended that to go."

Virgil frowns, stashing the trowel in its place on his belt and walking closer. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I figured that you'd be there to, you know, keep an eye on me, stop me from hurting myself, but—" he huffs— "I think I underestimated how much the spell would affect my instincts."

"How so?"

Roman eyes him warily, eyes darting to the door. "Could we do this inside? I don't—having a conversation out here—"

Virgil hesitates. He doesn't truly have an issue with inviting Roman into his home, but there is an outstanding issue of payment that has him erring on the side of caution. "I would like to discuss payment, if possible, before a conversation about instincts."

Roman's shoulders tense a little bit, but he nods. "The two aren't unrelated but…yes, yeah, we can do this first."

He reaches toward a satchel tucked over his shoulder. Virgil makes sure his gloves are securely fastened as he walks closer.

"They talked me out of offering the cluster," Roman mumbles as he pulls out a small pouch, "which I can explain inside, but this is—these are ardenti charms. Protective charms that will create temporary auras around you in unfamiliar places that should grant you some level of understanding about where you are."

"Elemental? Social?"

"Elemental, mostly. You'll gain any knowledge about the geography, terrain, that sort of thing."

"What cost?"

"What? No, Virgil, this is—this is your payment—"

"What cost would it be to me to wear them?"

"Oh. Uh, I'm not sure. For magic users, it's typically not much of anything, it just sort of…blends in with the other magic we might have going, but Logan thinks that it wouldn't be anything more than wearing a basic protection charm." Virgil raises an eyebrow. "Just because it's simultaneously drawing on your magic at the same time, and since you don't have any, then it's just using the small amount in the charm already."

"I see." He holds his hand out and accepts the pouch. "I accept the pouch of ardenti charms in exchange for keeping you calm."

Roman's cheeks flush. "Why do you have to say it like that?"

"Why do I have to explicitly state the terms of my contracts? You know better than that," he scolds lightly, chuckling when Roman glares at him and raising his hands. "I'm teasing,"

Roman pouts, only to frown when Virgil reaches for another pouch. "What are you doing?"

"Returning your collateral."

"Keep it."

"What? Why would I keep it? One, it's collateral, and two, I think you'd have better use for a resurrection spell ingredient than I will."

Roman chews on his lip, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Virgil's chest twists. He's never seen Roman look this unsure about anything—he's not sure he likes it. "Can we go inside now?"

Virgil nods, gesturing over his shoulder. Roman follows him up the steps into the cabin, lingering just over Virgil's shoulder as he takes off his gloves and places them in the basket near the door. He takes down two mugs and prepares a simple tea, settling them on the table as Roman sits uneasily.

"You're upset," he observes softly, "have I done something to offend you?"

"No, Virgil, you've been perfect."

He balks slightly at the words. A ghost of Roman's typical smirk touches the corners of his mouth before it fades again.

"I—so how much do you know about mers?"

"Not much."

"So you don't—you don't know what mating habits are for them."

"No," Virgil says slowly, and Roman nods, still not looking at him, "why?"

"Well, we—um—oh, for crying out loud, Virgil, we practically did them."

Pause. Stop. What?

"Offering to be a protector during a time of need. Expressing concern over one's school or communal family situation. Accepting gifts. Physical touch." Roman scrubs his hand over his face. "And then I decided to go and offer you a tessarae cluster."

Virgil swallows, sitting forward. "Roman, I'm not going to pretend I understand magic like this or mer instincts, but I—I'm not going to hold anything against you, okay? If that's what you're worried about."

Roman finally looks at him, something playing over his features before he slowly stands up. Virgil watches as he walks around the corner of the table, his hand on its edge, before he kneels down and looks up at him.

"Uh—"

"Please," Roman whispers, "don't freak out."

Which is a great thing to say in order to make Virgil freak out quite quickly, but then Roman's leaning up and closing his eyes and—

Soft lips meet his.

Oh.

Oh.

It's a soft kiss, a terribly soft and chaste thing, and it's over before Virgil can fully realize what's happening, but then Roman is looking at him with a tender affection that makes his head grow fuzzy and the only thing he can think of it—

"You overheard Bonnie and the Aspen Witch," he murmurs, "didn't you?"

"Perhaps. Though I would never attempt to make this a form of payment," Roman murmurs back, "I'd run up a debt to you so great I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"Is that right?"

"If you'd let me, yes, I would kiss you until you could afford any favor from me, or the rest of us, for this lifetime and any other." Roman swallows, eyes flicking back and forth. "And—oh, they might kill me for this, but I think they would do the same."

"Well, then it's a good thing I've got an ingredient for resurrection spells, isn't it?"

Roman laughs, a small and breathless thing. "Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes, you may."

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[the-shiftshop]

Changes Happen All The Time. You're Just Aren't Aware Of It

"Here's a long transformation story to keep up with my debt." - Uncle Lee

--

Finally, graduation. Ron and Paul had finally finished college and it was time for the childhood friends to come back to their home town. The two were unseparable every since childhood. Until they were college, they both went to the same university, taking the same course, living in the same dorm room.

On this day, it's was time to bring all their stuff back home. Paul is already done with his, with Ron driving him back and forth, so this time, it was Paul's time to help Ron bring all his stuff back.

"Eyes on the road, man. I swear you're going off the road" Paul tapped his buddy as he continue fidgeting with his phone.

Paul is your averarage college senior. Although wanting to build muscles, his studies get in the way, making him stay on an average build. Not too skinny, yet not that fat. Although his studies matter so much, he never backs down from adventures especially when it's with Ron.

"Yeah, well. We're basically in a deserted area. No cars, no buildings, and frankly, I don't think I'll hit something either way." Ron argued, still listening to Paul and makes sure the van is on he right lane.

Ron on the other hand can be mistaken for a stereotypical jock bro if only he's not known for being one of the top notchers in the university, and also maybe because of his rectangular glasses. He is lean with muscle and he lives showing off both his brain and brawn. He has an average amount of body hair on his face, chest, arms, and legs, which most of the time were kept trimmed.

Both had been long good friend despite differences especially with preferences. A very inseparable pair.

"I'm honestly kinda thirsty. Think we can find some place to buy drinks around here?" Ron followed, eyeing for any buildings in the horizon.

"I bet not." Paul answered. "I can find you some water from the back if you want."

"Naw.. We already drank them all. Thought we only had two of our own bottles." Ron replied.

"Alright, let's see..." Paul went to his map app and scanned for any shop the map app, and sure enough one suddenly appeared.

Paul could've sworn that wasn't there before, but eh, it's probably just because we didn't zoom in enough.

"Here's one, just a few more kilometers away." Paul showed Ron.

Ron drove to the location of the said shop and lo and behold, there was one shop just along the road in the middle of nowhere.

They parked on the edge of the road in front of the shop, turned the van off and went out together. As Paul checked the condition of their van, Ron walked near the store.

"Hey, I'll go ask for some water. You can wait for me out here" Paul said.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just check if we're still good here." Ron replied, tapping on the van's hot wheels.

As Paul walked near the shop, he started to feel all tingly and weird. As if he's entering a separate dimension of some sort through a force field. A large sign is placed just above the wooden door.

"The Shift Shop" Paul read.

Without anymore hesitation, Paul proceeds and marvelled at the view of the inside.

Through he wooden door, it wasn't like anything from the outside. It felt like one of the shops you see in your favorite fantasy movies. There were areas with sparkling contraptions, a flying phoenix roaming the store, small fireworks exploding in different colors, it all looked magical.

Paul closed the door and proceeded deeper. It may seem magical, but there were shelves displaying products as if it's Walmart. Paul saw food, hygiene products, electronics, dairy, snacks, and anything you may imagine. There was even an area for clothes and accessories. Paul was too much in awe that he forgot what he came in for.

Soon, he reached the counter. A bell on top of it rang automatically to acknowledge his presence and to notify the owner that a visitor had come by, almost too automatic to look like it has a life of its own.

"Just a moment!" Paul heard a deep voice coming from behind the curtain across the other side of the counter, although he swear the voice spoke of a different language, probably Korean, yet somehow he understood it automatically.

The bell rang again, rushing the man to come out as soon as possible. "Told you, Bell, to wait for a moment! I'm... you know what nevermind." The man spoke again and Paul confirmed it was Korean, yet he understood.

The man finally walked out of the curtain, and Paul gasped at the fair skinned Asian hunk wearing a thick-framed glasses. He was topless with a messy wet hair, wearing only a long beige dress pants, buckled with a black belt.

"Apologies, but my bell is always so eager to have me come and greet my visitors. I just finished taking a bath and, yeah I guess it's evident." The man spoke, this time in English. As he finish speaking, he wears the white plain shirt he was holding, "Welcome to the Shift Shop. I'm guessing this is your first time?"

"Y-Yeah. It's honestly... amazing here." Paul managed to mutter.

"Thanks, that's centuries of good work." The man chuckled, "I'm the owner of the shop, Timotheo Lee, or you can just call me Uncle Lee."

"Uncle?" Paul chuckled. The man does not look like he's old enough to be his uncle, nor be anyone's uncle anyway. He seem to be just around 25, and those youthful muscle and smooth skin did all the talking. "Is that a pen name or something?"

"Oh, I'm not kidding about the century thing. I'm older than what you think." Uncle Lee smirked.

"Really?" Paul didn't bother lengthening the discussion about his age. The shop itself already seemed so unreal. The man could even be a older than how many centuries he guess. Instead, his eyes roamed around the room.

Uncle Lee chuckled once more and moved closer to her customer. "Seems like you're looking for something, I mean you proceeded deeper into my shop. You're thirsty for something magical, aren't you?"

Paul laughed. "I'm honestly just 'thirsty' thirsty" He replied, "But something magical doesn't seem like a bad idea."

Uncle Lee tapped on his bell "Jules!" He called out and suddenly a short nerdy suited up staff appeared from thin air.

"S-Sir!" Jules replied, stuttering.

"Guide our new visitor to some areas he might fancy" Uncle Lee winked at Jules.

Jules seemed to almost melt just by his boss's wink. He made a soft 'aww' right after the man did so. "Y-Yes, sir!" Jules gave a salute and invited Paul to some part of the shop.

---

Paul had roamed around longer than he expected. He tried a bunch of testers and witnessed different kinds of magic while in the store, all of which Jules let Paul try on him.

There were fruits that turn people older or younger. There were gadgets that help you fulfil your wishes. There were literally a lot to see, but soon enough Paul stopped by a certain product that catched his eyes.

"A jade necklace?" Paul asked.

"Oh, not just any jade necklace" Jules said in a deep rumbling voice. Throughout all the testing, Jules ended up with a body of a 40 year old body builder with dog ears and tails that matches his white hair. "It's the Necklace of Names."

"Necklace of Names?" Paul repeated.

"Necklace of Names" Jules repeated back. "It's supposed to make the wearer able to change whoever he calls in a different name, and the other person will never know the changes!" Jules exclaimed. "Let's have this for an example: I'm wearing the necklace and I called you by any name aside from your actual name, for instance, I called you 'gramps'. You'll turn into a grandpa version of yourself!" Jules explained. "Or if I call you by a name of a famous actor, or someone I know, that'll automatically change you to that person. It's honestly best if you an try it yourself."

Jules takes the necklace and brought it to Paul's hand.

"And the person I change won't notice a thing?" Paul asked for confirmation while looking at the green pendant the necklace has.

"They certainly wont and their mind and personality will also adapt," Jules answered. "And in most cases, reality also adjusts, but you still have to be careful".

"If it's magic, bet it has some sort of consequences once I started using this, no? I mean just like in the movies" Paul asked

Jules nodded "Exactly." He said, "But if you wanna try it on just like what you did to the other products, don't worry, we had the consequence feature turned off when it's just for testing. But for this specific bad boy..." Jules tapped on he necklace. "I honestly don't think you'll consider it a consequence. Bet you'll even like it. I can tell you what it is unless you like surprises."

"Surprises, huh." Paul looked at the necklce and back to Jules "Yeah, I'm up for surprises. I'll figure it out on my own"

"Great! So a keeper?" Jules smiled.

"A keeper."

Paul was convinced already and didn't even have to try it on Jules. They walked back to the counter and paid.

"Mhmm. The Necklace of Names." Uncle Lee sang. "You have a great taste." He looked at me and back at the necklace. "That would be a dollar."

A dollar? That's so cheap for this quality and he expected more. Paul brought his wallet from his pocket and pulled out 2 dollars and placed it on the counter.

"This shouldn't be just a dollar. It even looks expensive." Paul remarked.

"Oh, Paul. It's alright. It really is just a dollar." Uncle Lee nodded and adjusted his glasses. "This shop does not really run from profit. This exchange is merely just like signing a contract by barter." He continued. "I prefer to know you're enjoying the magic than earning money from the magic."

Paul stared at Uncle Lee and his eyes lit it.

"And you know, I choose my customers well. I know you'll do great with our items." Paul smiled.

"Thank you." Paul smiled by the compliment. He's starting to understand why Jules reacts all shy around him.

"Anyways, I'll keep the other dollar. You best be on your way to your trip, and you, Jules..." Uncle Lee trailed off, looking at the silver fox hunk Jules had turned into. "Let's come to the back. I have to do something with that thick ass of yours" He winked at Jules and then waved goodbye to Paul. "Take care, Paul."

---

Paul left the store with a smile. He really had paid for the necklace with just a dollar. He decided to put it on and walked back to the van.

There was Ron, now holding 2 big bottles of water he got somewhere.

"Dude, where did you go? What took you so long?" Ron has his eyebrow furrowed, all while taking a drink from his water.

"Ah! Right. I forgot to buy-"

"Already did that, man. I was looking for you inside the store and you weren't there. Where did you go?" Ron asked again.

"I was inside the sh-" Paul turned back to look at the shop, but gasped at what he saw.

The shop was different now. Gone with the big signage and the wooden door. It turned into a regular off-the-road convenience store. Paul kept his mouth shut and looked back to Ron.

"Let's get back on the road. It's getting dark." Ron commanded and they both went back in the van.

---

It has been a few minutes and they've finally reached a populated area, and Paul still couldn't stop thinking about what happened. It was obviously not any hallucination since the necklace he bought is still hanging on his neck. Nevertheless, he'd want to try the necklace out, but to whom?

"You're unusually quiet. What's up?" Ron snapped Paul back to reality. "We passed by a lot of interesting sights earlier and you didn't even reacted like how you would."

"Nothing. Just thinking." Paul excused.

"Whatever it is, I ain't the type to just let my buddy stay silent throughout the drive. Whatchu wanna do?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, really." Paul replied, "Don't worry about it."

"Naww. C'mon." Ron then chuckled. "You know I'm not that type to pretend like I ain't seeing you're out of your usual mood."

It's really hard for Ron to endure that, and as much as he can, he tends to joke around just to make Paul laugh. And as for Paul, those damn words. It always was what reminds him of things he can never let go.

Paul always had a big crush on his childhood friend. Although he never had trully opened up to Ron about it because of the fear of losing his friend. Because of that, he always had to push those thoughts away to preserve their friendship, yet it's really hard when your friend is all affectionate like this.

"You wanna jerk off?" Ron smirked.

"What? No! Where did that come from?" Paul jumped from his seat. His heart beating too fast.

"Come on~ My bestfriend just needs a little bit of release~" Ron teased. He was joking. Paul knows that. It always had been a joke. "I'll stroke that dick if I were you. It's just the two of us anyway."

"Oh, shut up, Ron!" Paul laughed.

"What? If you don't want to, I'll stroke it for you." Ron giggled, jokingly placing a hand on Paul's thigh, immitating some stereotypical dumb jock asking for some bro time with his buddy.

"Stop that, you horny dumb jock-" Paul eye's widened as he finish his sentence. He snapped his head back to Ron as Ron suddenly groaned.

The van started to slow down until they stopped on the side of the road. Paul's eyes widened as he realized what he had just done. Ron was changing. The necklace was doing its job.

"U-Urgh..." Ron groaned as he stretched his body, his hand still on Paul's thigh, which was now massaging it. "Fuck, bro..."

Bro. Ron was turning into a "Horny Dumb Jock" he just called him.

Ron's muscles started to morph itself, changing his build in one way or another. His body hair started to disappear to look like they're cleanly shaven away. Tattoos apeared around his body, and he can feel it. The muted pain of tattoo needles crawled around his body, but it wasn't really that painful to him. It was pleasurable. Ron started to move his other hand around his body, feeling every skin. Pinching his nipple through his t-shirt, then feeling his abs inside, then moving it to paw his growing hard on. All the while his other had was roaming around Paul's thigh. Ron's clothes started to change. His shirt darkened and shifted to a tanktop, loose enough to show his chest. His glasses disappeared, and a cap formed on his head. His eyebrows furrowed harder as his old memories gets replaced by new ones. He's a horny dumb jock. He spend all his day fucking, masturbating, and jocking out. All the knowledge of a top notcher disappeared. His memories with Paul did not disappear, though some parts like their dynamics, their hobbies together, changed. Soon enough, Ron finished changing, physically and mentally.

"Fuck, bro. I really..." The newly jockified Ron groaned. "I really need to bust one out. I..."

Paul was left speechless. He did it. He accidentally used the necklace on Ron. He doesn't know how to feel about this, but there he stared at his childhood friend-slash-crush.

Ron moved his hand back to his crotch, pawing at his hard on that seemed to have grown than its original size. His other hand, still on Paul's thigh, squeeze it.

Paul was turned on and don't know why. He noticed his cock also hard in his pants, and Ron, squeezing his thigh, is making it more arousing.

"I need to... urgh.... jerk off." Ron grunted, like it is very urgent for him to release. "C-Can I?" Ron looked at Paul.

They stared at each other. Paul felt his heart beat faster than ever. At some point Paul wants to join Ron, but he's trying all his best not to.

"R-Ron...nnie" Paul tried to call on Ron, but for some reason, he called him Ronnie. He never called him that, but it seems automatic.

It was the necklace's work. Each change also gives the other person a new name. This is to have it easy for the owner to turn the other person back to their original body. And for this instance, Ron had just turned into a horny jock named Ronnie.

"Y-Yeah, go on. I-I don't mind, R-Ronnie." Paul stuttered.

"Yeah... No homo, bro, alright?" Ronnie said while pulling down on his shorts, revealing his hard cock. "Fuck..."

Paul stared at Ronnie as he jerked off. Ronnie still carressing Paul's thigh as he do so. "Yeah... No homo..." Paul repeated, staring at Ronnie's cock.

It was his first time seeing Ronnie's cock after years. Although it seems like this version of Ron has a bigger dick than the original.

The van was filled with loud sensual moans. Paul watched Ronnie's pecs bounce as he stroke his cock. Ronnie looks so hot when his face contort everytime he finds his own pleasure spots. Soon enough, Ronnie was near.

"F-Fuck, bro. I'm gonna-" Ronnie stroke faster, and he gripped harder on Paul's thigh. "I'm gonna cum!"

Ronnie came loads of cum all over his shirt, some of them landing on his cap, almost making a big mess on his van.

"O-Oh... Shit.... That feels sooo good." Ronnie limps down, taking deep breaths as he chuckle and looked back to Paul. Ronnie removed his shirt and used it to wipe all his cum off his body and his cap, and Paul had a good look on his hunky body. Ronnie noticed and smirked.

"You seem like you're hard too, bro." Ronnie eyed Paul's cock, which Paul hid on cue. "Naw, bro. You know we can be this comfortable to each other." Ronnie smiled at him. "Want me to help you out?" He asked, moving one hand back to his knee, moving up to his thigh

Paul's eyes widened. "N-No. I'm alright, Ronnie."

"You sure? You can always say No Homo anyway?" Ronnie's face gave a mild frown. "I told you if anything to make my bro happy, I'll do it."

"I-It's fine."

"Aight, suit yourself."

And they continued their drive with Ronnie, shirtless, and Paul's cock, hard.

---

The rest of the drive gave Paul the opportunity to experiment on his friend. In the last 30 minutes, Paul decided to experiment more. Ron had turned into a dad, a freshman, a foreigner, and other stuff Paul managed to trigger as they converse. Satisfied and almost near their destination, Paul reverted Ron back to his original body just by calling him again in his real nickname "Ron".

Upon arriving at Ron's house, Paul could've sworn Ron had been stealing glances from him more than usual. While they we're fixing stuff, it's often for Paul to find out Ron is lost in deep thoughts. He had caught Ron staring at him, sometimes adjusting the collar of his shirt, and even his underwear.

By sunset, they are almost finished putting everything in place in Ron's room. Both Paul and Ron were left sweaty due to carrying a bunch of stuff from the van to the house.

"I gotta take a quick break." Ron said as he took his shirt off and dropped them on the side. "Could you bring the last box in?" Ron asked Paul as he sat on the chair.

"Yes, sir" Paul answered.

"Damn, that could be another trigger. " He tought to himself.

What he called him as a little vague. Ron could turn either a very well respected dad, or his professor, or someone that can dominate him in bed. As he looked back to where Ron was sitting, there he saw the new man.

Before the new Ron could speak, Paul's eyes widened and hurried himself out the room and grabbed the last remaining box. His friend, his crush, turned into one heck of a dreamboat.

Reaching the living room, Paul came to he box. It was a big box that should be carried by two people, but Paul managed to carry it himself. Although struggling, he carried it to the room.

It was hard for Paul to carry the box in while walking forward, so Paul had to turn his back and walk backwards into the door frame.

"Excuse me, this thing's heav-" Paul exclaimed as he struggled.

"Wait, lemme take care of-"

The new Ron said in a soft deep voice as he rushed to Paul's aid, but before he managed to do so, Paul tripped.

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed and ran to catch Paul, only to fall too and both of them and the box on the floor, Paul lying on top of Ron.

"You okay, kid?" Ron asked, holding onto Paul.

"Sorry, sir." Paul replied.

Paul felt something on his back, growing hard. He heard Ron clear his throat, and so he looked up to see Paul, blushing.

"S-Sir, I can feel your..."

"S-Sorry!" Ron pushed Paul off his body and slid up to sit. "I-I..."

Paul sat down to face Ron. He can see Ron's huge cock straining against his gray shorts, just enough for Paul to get hard himself too. They stared at each other's cocks then to each other's eyes. Then in one quick movement, they were kissing.

Paul broke the kiss, shying away from his indirect confession. "F-Fuck. I'm sorry." He said. "That was very impulsive."

"It's alright." Ron said, still looking at Paul's eyes. He smiled and grabbed Paul's hand and guided it to his chest.

"S-Sir..." Paul's eyes widened.

"It's fine, Paul. I want this too."

Paul melted as Ron spoke in his deep sensual voice. It was a very reassuring but sexy baritone voice coming out from the mouth of this sexy hunk his friend had turned into

"Can I?" Ron motioned to move closer.

Paul nodded and welcomed Ron. Ron slided closer to Paul and started feeling his body s he kiss him on the neck. Paul shivered as Ron finds every pleasure spots in his body. Ron took Paul's shirt off and kissed his chest, coming to a nipple. All the effort of hiding how he liked his bestfriend broke down. It was just he and him enjoying the moment.

"A-Ah!" Paul moaned. "That feels so good."

"You like that?" Ron's eyes gleamed as he ask.

"Yes, sir." Paul nodded, putting both of his hands on Ron's face.

"Call me, Russel. Paul." He requested. "I'm not your teacher anymore"

Russel. That's Ron's name in this body of a hunk. So happened that he is his professor. Former, actually. Russel was doing a great job in making Paul feel good. Both of their cocks are basically stone hard and Paul had been wanting release even before they arrived to Russel's home. Russel pulled Paul's shorts off and marveled at the cock in front of his face.

"Wow, you have a big cock..." Russel said which made Paul chuckle.

"You think? Yours is even bigger." Paul stroked Russel's cock through his shorts and made him groan.

Russel took his shorts off too, finally letting Paul see this thick hairy cock. Paul grabbed on Russel's balls and played with it before stroking his cock again.

Russel moved closer to Paul's cock. "Can I...?" Russel asked.

"Please." Paul pulled Russel's head to his cock.

Russel went straight in, sucking Paul with all his might. The room once again was filled with mostly Paul's moans. His former childhood friend, now a hunky former professor is sucking his cock so eagerly. He's almost near and he's practically begging for release.

"Sir... Russel, I'm gonna."

"Not yet." Russel stood up and carried Paul onto the bed, sitting.

Paul expected that they'll fuck. He stared at Russel's thick hard cock and shivered at the thought of how painful can it be to have that in his ass.

"W-Wait. I can't take you. You're too big!" Paul pushed on Russel.

"Who said you're the one who's gonna be fucked? Russel grinned.

Paul's eyes once again widened as Russel climed onto his cock and sat on it. Without any hesitation, Russel pushed his ass down to Paul's cock.

"A...urgh!" Both of then groaning in pleasure

"You feel so good..." Russel whimpered.

"Y-You're so tight!" Paul moaned.

Russel groaned louder as Paul pushed and hat hit his prostate. "A-Ah! Sh..." Russel then moved, riding on Paul's cock.

It was too much to handle for Paul. The hunky professor is riding his cock. He's fucking a hunk. He then motioned to kiss Russel once more as they move. Paul holds onto Russel's cock as he strokes him. Paul lied down and Russel followed. He brought his feet onto he bed and started humping Russel himself.

"I-I'm close!" Russel exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah?" Paul smirked.

"Ah... Ah! I'm gonna cum!" Russel moaned hard.

"Cum for me, Russel!"

Soon, Russel came all his load onto Paul. Some hitting his face. Paul didn't stop thrusting his cock in Russel. He went faster and soon...

"I... I'm gonna cum too..." Paul said.

Russel moved and licked Paul's nipple, driving Paul insane.

"Y-Yeah! More! I'm gonna cum!"

Paul moaned and finally, he released into Russel's ass. They moved for one more kiss, and once they broke, they chuckled at each other.

Paul pulled out. Both panting and grasping for air.

"So..." Paul trailed off

"So...?" Russel followed

Paul paused or a moment. The power he got from the Necklace of Names was great. It seemed like he almost live in every fantasy he can think of, but then again, what about his friend Ron?

He looked at Russel. This was Russel, his former professor in this new reality. He may have been his friend a moment ago, but it was all Russel who made a move on him.

It was Ron who he liked, not the dumb horny jock, Ronnie, and most certainly despite being a fantasy-brought-to-life, not this hunky professor, Russel. Paul got lost in that thought. What could even happen if he revert Ron back?

"Uhm... Wanna take a shower with me?" Russel asked, bringing his hand to Paul.

"Yeah, sure."

---

They proceeded to the shower. Russel went in first, testing the temperature, then offering his hand to Paul to guide him in. Russel washed off the cum on of their bodies, then he opened up for a big warm bear hug.

Paul stuck his face in between Russel's chests, still thinking about earlier. Trying to muster up his courage, he asked.

"Do you like me?"

Russel cleared his throat. "Well... I hope it wouldn't be weird to tell you I like you since I am your professor, no? Well... Former."

"No, I meant..." Paul stopped for a moment, then looked up to Russel's eyes, trying all his best to look for Ron in this deep brown eyes. "Do you like me, Ron?"

Russel began to shrink back down. His muscles lessening and his age going back to 22. He's back to Ron, just the regular old Ron.

"I.... I like you, Paul. I really do." Ron's cheeks flushed red, still hugging his friend. "I mean... I always had this feelings for so long... I just didn't think..."

"I like you back?" Paul continued. "I also had this for a very long time too..."

They smiled.

"Ron." Paul called out once again. "I don't know how to phrase this properly, but..."

In his mind, he had kissed Russel, but that was not trully Ron, it was just right to ask one more time, right?

"Can I kiss you?" Paul reached up to Ron's cheeks.

Ron didn't hesitate. He smiled and brought Paul into his lips.

Yet another round for Paul, but it's real this time.

[snackugaki]

idk man, softshells are vicious

*continues screaming below the cut*

ololololollollolooll— the peepaw multiverse tried to infect me with a sad, embattled f!Leo but my body ended up forcing it to mutate because while I love a good soul-crushing angst premise, I’m a comedy and rule of cool girl at heart. and like... war feels like constant sorrow, grief, unending violence and fighting but... it isn’t, there’s lulls and quiet moments and your siblings don’t stop being siblings even then, especially then

and to clarify, all that weird shit the kids might have heard about Next Mutation, love triangles, Donnie and Venus fighting etc. take it from me, someone who was the target tv demographic when it was first airing, it wasn’t that bad. it was bad because it was just really bad children’s television during 90s Turtlemania. Just real corny shit (affectionate). Fighting dragons with a widow’s peak to rival Vegeta’s, vampires who look like if Betty Page and Prince Adam made a baby in the lycra section of Hustler Hollywood, just terrible fun with 90s children’s tv production values.

however when I rewatched the show as an adult (after finding my soul when it cringed out of my body and across 293740293751 dimensions), one of my takeaways was Donnie and Vee absolutely were BFFs, it’s fun it’s silly and goddamnit I am a little tired of tech vs magic, why not tech and magic? a bitch loves a good team up with unlikely partners is what I’m saying. IDW Donnie and Venus shaping up to look like best buddies too, maybe, hopefully, wishing. but if any iteration was gonna have the besties/worsties dynamic, i’d feel like it’d be Rise.

...

i need you all to understand that Donnie is not running around naked in my future au, it’s just I started sketching before I realized I’d have to design a future!Donnie.

... i mean I was going to for the fun but I just really needed this out of my brain first. so like... pretend he’s wearing something cool pls, thnks.

[vague-mintyboy]

I am rewatching Misfits and Magic in preparation for the new season, and I am determined to figure out the exact date when The wizarding world of Misfits and Magic (WWMM for short) cut off technologically. I mean like Brennan keep saying, everything is technology so at some point the world was contemporary. So I will be keeping track of specific technology that stands out. I will update this post as I watch.

I will not count technologies an individual may have as some wizards are shown to have family etc in the NAMP world. This is a list of the wildly accepted technology.

So far no travel technology canonically described (in no real order)

Notable known technology

- Velocipede bicycles

Invented June 12, 1818.

So far this is the most recent date we can get. This specific type of hike also comes up in episode 2 so it isn’t a one-off from a more open-minded character. Dr. Boodle even implies that the school offers students complementary velocipedes in episode 2, so this technology is not considered out of place in the WWMM

- Tobacco pipe

While pipes in general can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, English Pipes do not become popularized until the late 1500s with the colonization/subsequent genocide of Indigenous Americans. This is when Tobacco in particular gets pairs with Pipes as it is native to the Americas.

- Parchment

Invented in Pergamum, 1500 BC.

However, it is not popular in England until seemingly 1500 CE, so this date keeps coming up.

- Indoor plumbing for water but not toilets

(so far unclear if that includes sinks or a water pump or what)

I knew this was going to give me trouble. Also TW a lot of literal shit talk.

Plumbing in general can be dated back to the Neolithic period but Aabria does say they have water pipes. If we are assuming these pipes are iron, and the typical shape then this would date to 1455

However, we can get more specific as the use of toilets/plumbing integrated gives us a cut off date. While again there are examples of various cultures using water to clean their versions of toilets, the flushing toilet is not invented until 1775.

This creates a problem. As shown Velocipedes were not invented at 1818. However, this could mean than instead of a single cut-off date, the transition to seclusion was slightly more gradual. As the lack of toilets seems to me more systematically in-forced (while velocipedes are easier to integrate) I am confident to say that by 1775 the wizarding world began to close itself off but had not fully done so. It also makes sense for typical public toilets/latrines not to be integrated into wizarding society as those are unhygienic and so a magical solution would be warranted, and that would still fit the contemporary needs. Furthermore the idea of pooping somewhere and then cleaning it matches with the social etiquette of latrines (versus just magicing away the waste pre-actual pooping.) this shows that socially pre-1755 the wizarding board was contemporary with medieval Europe.

- Pushbroom

Evan’s broom is specifically called a pushbroom. The pushbroom’s patent was filed in 1950! However, I could attribute this to the broom shop owner being particularly connected to the outside world? Or maybe it is just an older broom that looks similar to a pushbroom so Evan calls it that.

- Mop

Traditional mops (not just rags) seems to appear by the late 15th century for ships, and the idea is popular in association with more general cleaning by the 1840s.

- toffee

Toffee first becomes a word for candy around 1843. However, this was a general word for taffy-like candy. English toffee seems to be often dated to from around 1890s but that date is unreliable. https://www.etymonline.com/word/toffee

- Tea

Tea does not arrive in Europe until the 1600s from China. At the start, tea was still consumed like Chinese tea (no milk or sugar, etc). England then takes over the industry in 1858 with the government taking over the East India Company / relying on colonized India for tea production instead of China. However, this didn’t really affect popular culture / tea consumption habits until the 1900s and then really boomed in WWII.

I do admit that a handful of savvy more-modern Wizards could have taken tea’s popularity and broke into the untapped Wizard Market. However, even then you’d expect to see some sort of cultural difference (like how McDonald’s in different countries all have different menus, etc).

Notable technology not known about

- Nukes

We know definitively that nukes are not generally known about, so the WWMM is definitely completely closed off by 1945 bc even if there was slight connection people would know. Even if the WWMM closed after because of nukes people would know.

- Radio

Repeatedly radio is confirmed to be foreign. Radios were invented in 1899, and audio transmissions were then added in 1906.

Conclusion so far:

The WWMM was relatively contemporary with NAMP Britain through the 1500s. However, by 1755 WWMM began to close itself off. At least, architecture stopped being updated with modern plumbing which reflects a larger systematic shift. However, there was still a steady exchange of ideas through the 1840s, as tea, velocipedes, toffee, and modern mops all are treated as everyday items. However, by 1906 major technological trends went unnoticed, and certainly by 1945 the WWMM was completely cut off from world-wide news.

I feel like it is likely that by 1906 the WWMM stagnated completely and looked relatively the same to season 1’s world.

Currently, my theory is the political strife leading up to WWI, likely before the actual war, lead to the intellectual closure of the WWMM. However I will repost/update this with any new info. Also feel free to add your own insights.