#wait I should tag this as spoilers uhhh

[fruitybashir]

"slow burn but also they're having sex the whole time" is such a mood haha, I'll be honest I did not see the friends with benefits twist coming and I am living for it! Such stupid stupid boys (affectionate)

haha yeah i was wondering how many people were gonna be surprised by that twist :D

i purposely didnt put it in the tag from the start so i could start adding stuff as it is happening each chapter instead of giving everything thats planned away from the beginning 😗😚

[mylittleredgirl]

there are many good reasons not to see avatar but if you DO see avatar definitely see the 3D version. the entire movie is effects. same movie as the first one just underwater now. also if you are wearing 3D glasses it is less obvious that you will cry like seven times.

[catgirlkirigiri]

FIRST SHINY OF THE DLC!!!! Random but I do have the charm :3 I was just going off the path to get some pokémon for my dex and BOOM pink squirrel

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 16

Howdy folks,

I went into a state of psychosis this week and read a truly absurd amount of fics... again. I don't even know where I'm finding the time, truly, but here we are. I didn't spend as much time keeping up with the WIPs I'm reading, so honestly that's probably it. Also I had a lil monsterfucking moment one day this week. I'll highlight those green so if you want to avoid reading the summaries/thots on those they're easy to spot.

You can find my Spreadsheet here and all my previous recs here! Do feel free to tag me in your works and I will happily give them a look and most likely you'll see them here the next week!

Recs below the behind the scenes Joel!

SNAFU - a Frankie series by @theywhowriteandknowthings

The Triple Frontier boys as Shifters!!! This honestly makes so much sense? Like they work SO well with this dynamic. I adore Pope and Reader's bond like right out of the gate. What I really, really fucking loved though was Reader and Frankie, of course. I love how they characterized him and I really love the way that Frankie and reader bonded over time. Frankie being grumpy is so fun lol. A lot of the little details in this fic are what really make it good, ya know? The pack dynamics, the bonding moments, the badass reader, reader's uhhh issue (spoiler, I think, so I'll be quiet here) but yeah. Just. Wonderful. Can't wait for more.

only daddy that'll walk the line - a Joel one shot by @millerscoffee

So this request was sent to two different blogs and I read them both and loved them both. I read this one first. I really fucking loved Reader's dynamic with Joel in this. Joel is such a dick lmao. I thought the situation with reader's dad was done well and I also loved the hinting at Joel's trauma. And of course... the smut. God that was hot. Joel is so fucking dominant. The spitting? please. and Reader keeping up the brat thing just really fucking makes it. She needed Daddy Joel to make her behave lmao. SO GOOD

Little Bee - a Joel one shot by @atticrissfinch

And this is the other version of this request that I read. I related to the specifc brand of Daddy Issues in this one lmao. Dad who doesn't want you so you look for a protective older man (why am I like this). I loved the way reader antagonized Joel in this. The denture comment is hilarious. The bee motif is fuckin great, also. I like that Joel kind of initiates things in the mess hall. The smut is so god damn hot man. Like jesus fucking christ. And then the post nut clarity really made me giggle. "should not have done that" PLS

Closer - a Joel series by @beardedjoel

Hot neighbor!joel!! This is a smut marathon style fic with a good bit of feelings. The smut is sooooo good!! I really liked her friend Sofia too. I'm about halfway through this and I can't wait to see how reader and joel's relationship develops!

Rises the Moon - a Joel one shot by @psychedelic-ink

(monsterfucking, but you're the monster! also monster is being used very loosely here) mermaid reader x lighthouse operator joel!!! I really enjoyed this. The mermaid reader was super interesting. I wanted to know more about her background, honestly. And the way poor lonely Joel so desperately wanted to care for her UGH. It was seriously lovely. I also really liked how reader didn't commit to like... giving up being a mermaid for him (even just once a month), and he didn't ask her to. The ending is really lovely. (And the smut is hot idc if I couldn't quite imagine how it worked, it was perfect).

Playing with fire - a Joel one shot by @beskarandblasters

Super hot smutty lil dad's best friend one shot. I love when Joel gets all pissy. Makes me want to tease him even more lmao

Cupid's Chokehold - a Din one shot by @deathwife

I haven't read a body swap fic before and I must say the dynamic with it being Din, so reader can't see his face even though it's her face, and also the smut was just like... really good. I was fascinated the whole time + the smut was hot as hell. It's really fun to read it from the perspective of the dick owner lmao. I really adored their relationship and just overall thought this was lovely. Reader calls Din "Djarin" so if you're like me and marrying Din would give you an awful name (Din Gin....), you're not alone. <3

I think i know - a Joel one shot by @pascalisbaby

OMG Reader's sister is so mean in this she fucking deserves Joel cheating on her. Yes this is Sister's Husband!Joel. And yes it's really fucking hot. Reader is a menace to fucking society in this prancing around half naked and seducing a married man and I support every second of it. I know what Joel said at the end but I think he'll be back for more....

close your eyes, pay the price for your paradise - a Joel/Tommy series by @ozarkthedog

Raider (?) Tommy and Joel are so fucking hot. Read the warnings on this one kids, it's gonna be a rough one. Nothing happens in this part though, really. Basically you're stranded on the road (post outbreak / pre tess) and Joel and Tommy roll up in their truck and take you to their cabin.

a day in the filth - a Joel one shot by @toxicanonymity

This is pure filth, as the title implies. It would seem you're Joel's little sex toy, essentially. Brat tamer!Daddy!Joel. There's a lot going on here and it is all unreasonably hot.

Bodily Exchange - a Pero Tovar one shot by @absurdthirst

I finally caved a read a mafia fic and somehow it wasn't Joel. I really loved how much of a fucking dick Tovar was and how bratty reader was. The end was so much sweeter than expected, which was a nice surprise. Such a filthy fic with a sweet happy ending!

New York or Nowhere - a Joel series by @beskarandblasters

BODEGA JOEL!!! I love when you're trying to help your friend come up with a fic based on a very specific request and somehow you come up with a completely different fic altogether. New York transplant Joel owns Beldro's Deli. You think he's really hot but your friends think he's a creep. I personally think if he's a little bit of a creep that just makes it better, but then again I'm a little insane <3

Shiver and Shake - a Joel one shot by @multiversed-daydreamer

I have ADHD and literally do the thing where I have thought spirals during sex. I loved this take on that experience and mean ol dom Joel being there to bring your focus back where it belongs (on him). Super fucking hot ugh. And it was their first TLOU fic and I thought the QZ Joel characterization was spot on <3

Roads - a Joel series by @milla-frenchy

Baby's first fic!! So you grew up with Tommy, best friends and all that. You get to know Joel as an adult and there's a spark right away. The first installment here takes place 3 years before present day, after Joel breaks your heart and you literally move to get away from him. The promise of so much angst has me salivating almost as much as the really hot smut.

Promise - an Ezra one shot by @criticallyacclaimedstranger

MONSTERFUCKING! I had a little binge this week.. you'll see. Anyway Ezra is a literal actual dragon in this with a big ol dragon dick and everything. This fic includes so many wild ass kinks I simply do not (or did not know I?) have. And yet I still loved it. Thought it was super fucking hot. I really liked the imagery of the castle and the bedroom. Also the end was kind of sweet?

Common Courtesies - a Din one shot by @juletheghoul

More monsterfucking -- demon!din! I fucking love Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen in general. Mr. Darcy is one of the literary loves of my life. This little Pride and Prejudice-esque Demon!Din fic hit every mark. I loved it so much. Din is so charming and mysterious and sexy ugh. I would marry him in a heartbeat.

Solum - a Dave York one shot by @ezrasbirdie

You guessed it! Monsterfucking. Demon!Dave York!!! I really enjoyed the blending of the movie plot with the demon arc! It was so well done!! Dave was super sexy in this ugh. I too feel a strange pull toward extremely dangerous men covered in blood. Reader gets me. I am her. She is me. Demon!Dave can take me as his little human sex toy any day, idc. I also kind of loved that he was so sweet on Carol in this? Like usually in Dave fics he kinda hates her or cheats on her or she's his ex, but in this one the whole catalyst was keeping her and his girls safe. Very sweet.

Sell My Soul For You - a Marcus P one shot by @absurdthirst

--monsterfucking-- Marcus is so sweet. So sweet that Reader is getting a little aggravated he can't be a less sweet in bed. (Girl have you tried like... talking to him about it?) Anyway, sweet, impulsive, reckless Marcus finds out you feel this way via buttdial and does he like... work on it with you and slowly learn to be better? No. He goes out and sells his soul to a demon to be a better Dom. Idiot. He's cute tho, so I'll let it slide. The smut is super fucking unreasonably hot, of course.

Bad Moon Rising - a Jack series by @wardenparker

--werewolf!Jack-- This fic is actually so fucking sweet!! So part one, Reader doesn't know Jack is a werewolf and he just kinda shows up on her ranch and they hit it off immediately. There's lots of lovely animal references and stuff and it's all really hot. I love the plot too!! this is not just werewolf porn! Shit is incredible! I love the characterization. But anyway if you're not into monsterfucking just read part one. Part two tho... oh boy. Full on werewolf sex. And reader has a kink for it! She's just like me fr.

Kudzu - an Ezra one shot by @beskarberry

--weird alien hybrid ezra-- I have lots of emotions about this fic. First of all, read the warnings. They're extensive and they're there for good reason. I love a good horror fic, which is kind of what this felt like? Like the weird tension and unknowing and the freaky way Ez is talking and that arm. I was thoroughly freaked out (and I love that!!). There were so many clever and interesting things going on in this fic AHHHH, Oh and the ending is just like super sweet and wonderful and so good? The end balances out the kind of horrific nature of the rest of the fic. Also if any of that sounds insulting I really don't mean it that way, I promise. I went in to it expecting to be freaked out and it delivered so well.

Yes Father - a Joel series by @chloeangelic

Your boring catholic husband doesn't fuck you right and you really want to leave him, so Father Joel helps you satisfy your needs so you don't destroy your marriage and go to hell. I love blasphemy. It's hot idc. I think my favorite thing about it is Father Joel randomly admonishing you for foul language and taking the lord's name in vain while he's literally got some part of his body buried in yours. I giggled. I really adore this. It was super fun and super hot.

Pillow Talk - a Joel one shot by @theboredinsomniac

Joel is soooo the jealous type. This fic is basically y'all having an adult conversation about him being an insecure jealous little bitch and it's got the most adorable ending.

Born to Run - a Marcus Pike series by @whataperfectwasteoftime

Penny's Marcus is just perfect. Every damn time. Unless I'm mistaken, this was her first Marcus fic? I was in the mood for a sweet multichapter thing with some hot smut and I was sooooo not disappointed by this. I'm on chapter 8 now, so about halfway through. Marcus is so sweet and precious and still impulsive as ever, but unlike Theresa, reader is right there with him. I really adore that this fic takes place in KY (and it really captures the vibe of Kentucky too) since I'm from there! I very much do not relate to the fact that reader is a marathon runner, but that's okay. I think it's really cool and I love the way they meet and that Marcus isn't fully a white knight? She can take care of herself. Super fucking cute fic ugh. Oh yeah and the smut is to die for jesus christ Marcus is hot.

----------------------

Happy Reading!

[selkymaiden]

mina and ❓🧩 ???!!?! MEIN GOTT i would love to learn more heh heh 🕵️‍♂️😈

OUGH. The noise I made. 🧍‍♂️

I will put a read more because I'm so sorry Naomi, I'm so sorry I'm about to go ham.

Also, love how you used a puzzle piece. Very good you are truly the detective here!!! 🔎🔎🔎

But Mina is my Private Investigator or Detective in the DC universe. Originally she was made as a side character for Sophie to have friends outside the Rogue gallery. But my friend had her own DC oc, India 💖, so I was like okay lemme expand on Mina so she has more of her own personality and storyline than just being a side character. So I started to tailor-make her more for the Arkham series of games instead of Gotham. But again I just mash up stuff like I did with Sophie since it's so easy with comic book lore. I mean... DC does it to themselves just like Marvel lakfjwelkrj But I say that because uhhhhh wait idk if you've played the Arkham series games? I'm so sorry if you have not and seen spoilers every single day on my blog. But like the last game in the series makes it left open-ended Batman died and I'm like 'nah son' he does not die. So basically I do what I want as we all should so we can enjoy our fucking uhhhhhh little blorbos.

BUT the pun on her name is A. Query. Full name: Aemilia Wilhelmina "Mina" Query. Cuz I wanted someone for the Riddler LMAO just for the fucking canon character again. And at first, I toyed with Oh uh Echo and Query are henchpeople The Riddler has used but I didn't want a henchperson oc. But I love henchpeople ocs though! Ngl I read a lot of spicy riddler x reader where the reader is a henchperson, but I didn't want that for my oc but that's because I'm a terrible person and just want all my gorls OP. Also, Arkham Riddler is so fucking insufferable but I can't not have Mina fuck him!!!

So yeah Mina and Eddie get it on!!! You don't understand Naomi I made a stupid ass moodboard for them when it was slow at work and I had nothing better to do.

They are the tag: xo. lovefool

If you don't read all this I understand but thank you so much for asking and being interested! It's a good exercise to just get my lore out about her instead of just thinking it lmaooooo

Uhhh but she's a Private Investigator, licensed, she actually does not work or care for the GCPD and has a chip on her shoulder with them. So she likes to take cases from their departments and solve them before their people. But she's not taking on murder stuff, even though she could, no she's more into solving, which she has solved, a lot of missing persons and then cheating cases. LMAO she's like that fucking cheaters show and will bust people's asses for money. But she's very good at what she does and would probably be an asset if she did work for GCPD but she only really respects Gordon and Barbara there. Instead, she's fine with what she has, she's not ambitious but does like to stick her nose into things just to be knowing. Tying with Sophie she gets away with things someone on the 'side of the law' should not be able to do cuz she'll run to Sophie for protection. And she's not a bribe person I guess also? She's neutral in Gotham or does her best. She picks and chooses her battles.

So with her and the Riddler though for the longest time they never actually met in person. Instead, she's come upon his radio frequency before. After that, they talk and eventually flirt over the radio, phone, text, email, internet whatever, just anything but in person. She's a novelty item to Edward when Batman isn't paying attention to him basically. It's cuz she's solved his puzzles and riddles before so she's not just some little idiot running around Gotham. Still not as smart as him or even worthwhile other than to pass the time! But his attitude of him thinking himself smarter than everyone and being so degrading to her wears on her but instead of being 'ok bye' her ass actually starts a grudge. So she starts to make it a point to be better than him! And like the last straw is when he sets up his little challenges for Batman but it's a total coincidence, it interrupts a case she's been on for months and ruins everything. So her ass goes through the whole trouble of solving a series of riddles and puzzles meant for Batman. She went out of her way to find them all and solve them so she can confront the Riddler finally. Him getting pinged thinking it's Batman gets all excited but when he goes to confront it's Mina. He flips out just "Wtf wtf wtf you cheated! you didn't solve these! Why are you here??" but jokes on him she did it. ANYWAYS IM SORRY ITS SO LONG BUT SHORT STORY INSTEAD OF FIGHTING HIM LIKE SHE INTENDED SHE TAKES ONE LOOK AT HIS FUCKING WET BITCH PATHETIC ASS AND THEY GET IT ON. like tension but not the kind of tension he's used to where he just gets his face smashed in with the Dark Knight instead she uses her mouth on him *wink wonk* it's about the sexual tension babeeyyyyy !!!

also here is a moodboard just for Mina. She's the oc. wilhelmina

[hopetorun]

rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better or who are just your friends who you always tag on these things wait who said that. i was tagged by @msmargaretmurry

last song: i paused spotify in the middle of what if i love you by gatlin when i got home to go get an ice cream cone from the mr softee truck and haven't played anything since

last show: like others i am assuming this means music show so: same as @msmargaretmurry, i saw vienna teng at a tiny venue last saturday! she was great! she's so much fun to see live! we were sitting SO close!

currently watching: at this exact moment as i am typing this response i am watching game 5 of panthers-bruins but in terms of fictional serialized programs i am making my way through the marvelous mrs maisel (currently nearing the end of season 2). i've also watched the first few episodes of season 3 of ted lasso and should catch up before the spoilers get catastrophic, lol

currently reading: the member of the wedding by carson mccullers for book club and thirteenth house by sharon shinn.

current obsession: i mean. I MEAN. it's the elder rat brother himself. and honestly a good thing, considering how much money i spent on jerseys back in february! the ratthew madness still has me. leon, to a lesser but still notable extent. (b, you're so right about that chatfic i am also obsessed with it) an assortment of other things i am very into these days: spinach artichoke dip, the smoky cheddar we got last week, the pommeau at the cidery, the national parks' new album, working on my braided rug since the end is kind of almost in sight

tagging: uhhh hopefully none of you have already been tagged @eponymiad @peakvincent @pirlonoir @nonimaginaryfriend @riahchan @markcat @iniquiticity

[h138143]

Something from “Betrayer’s Flight”, just uhhh what I imagine to have happened during the confrontation with Tristian.

He tried so hard to remain calm and give answers…

Not sure if I want to tag this aside from it being a spoiler but we’ll see.

—

And he waited. He couldn’t see anymore, so he wasn’t able to check Yleis’s expression. She did not sound exactly happy earlier, but he realized that he didn’t want to think about this.

Stop the train of thought. Let the one who should decide make that decision, and live with it—he could sense Harrim with her party, perhaps in his place, but during the exchange between him and their Baroness, no one else spoke a word.

Tristian held his breath.

Then there were footsteps. Maybe they’re leaving. He should be glad that they didn’t kill him, shouldn’t he? There is no country on Golarion in which a ruler tolerates a traitor.

Then he was pulled into a hug, with a deep sigh, and, “Let’s go home, alright? You must be tired.”

Linzi rolled her eyes. Nok-nok stood there, completely not understanding what’s happening in front of him. Ekun pretended to be occupied with his long bow. Jubilost was jotting down things in his notebook. Harrim sighed heavily.

Yleis didn’t look back at any of them. She just held her wounded priest, close.

“…I will never be able to thank you fully.” He said after a long moment.

“Don’t mention it,” she said, her voice coming from somewhere close to his heart.



[aphelea]

I posted 2,551 times in 2022

That's 2,332 more posts than 2021!

898 posts created (35%)

1,653 posts reblogged (65%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gay-otlc

@aphelea

@camelspit

@when-wax-wings-melt

@gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss

I tagged 1,827 of my posts in 2022

Only 28% of my posts had no tags

#august rambles - 235 posts

#asks behind masks - 188 posts

#kotlc - 125 posts

#top hat gerald - 100 posts

#toh spoilers - 34 posts

#stellarlune spoilers - 32 posts

#lord of lesbians - 28 posts

#august's writing! - 21 posts

#the superhero au - 18 posts

#tma spoilers - 17 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#like. there's this rock and there's this guy—oh why's he a rock? uhhh he eats this powder—no not that kind of powder—anyway he's a rebel—

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

you heard it here first folks they/them users are nameless faceless entities out to get people

256 notes - Posted June 3, 2022

#4

actually i think more talentless elves should just pretend to be empaths. since the council has no way of verifying it, really. i just think it would be funny

268 notes - Posted August 12, 2022

#3

i would once again like to bring this passage to the attention of the kotlc fandom:

i don't want to say that quinlin describes alden like a wattpad love interest but i'm going to say it anyway

269 notes - Posted January 7, 2022

#2

what do y'all think of my canva skills. am i good enough for current ya authors yet

336 notes - Posted September 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

can't wait until the tumblrinas discover that "i like your shoelaces" "thanks, i stole them from the president" is actually a quote from goncharov (1973) and not their own creation

1,399 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mothwingedmyths]

Okay I looked through my TOH screenshots for ideas for things to draw to celebrate and I really like these two

I don't know if I'm going to redraw both or not or if I'm going to redraw them at all but either way I think both of these could fit very well

Although I do still need to rewatch the entire show to prepare for season three so uhhh

[curiosity-killed]

Lang Qianqiu deserves more love goddammit: a post, unfortunately

This brought to you by the wonderful @veliseraptor & @/yuer on Twitter but also mostly out of spite and the fact that it’s preventing me from writing a very dumb poke-the-bear post abt the entire weird social media culture around The Minors

As always ✨SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE✨

So first off: when I hit the scene where lqq confronts xl and screams “I will never be like you” I sat up in bed, did a little shimmy of delight, and hissed “fuck yes” at like 2 AM so. Now you have a preview of wtf this train wreck will be

1 ) lqq is a good character

We don’t get a ton of time with lqq because tgcf is 87 side characters running across stage with The Most Interesting Concept constantly one-upping each other before vanishing. But what we do get is, I think, enough to make a pretty compelling story: Lang Qianqiu is a kind and generous prince who is also the sole survivor of the bloody massacre of his entire family, committed by the people dearest to him (both in his belief that Gusohi Fangxin did it and in the reality of An Le’s involvement), who goes on to peacefully lead his fractious nation into a peaceful reign before he ascends as a powerful enough (aka beloved and worshipped enough) god to be ranked among the top heavenly generals. That’s like. Pretty fucking classic protagonist vibes right there.

And, as usual with mxtx’s characters, we get a lot more than this lovely little backstory. In his interactions in canon, lqq is capable of great grief and anger; he is willing to sacrifice himself if it means avenging his murdered family; and he simultaneously holds both great hatred and great respect for his old teacher. And, of course, he winds up raising and taking care of his enemy’s son which shows a remarkable depth of compassion and emotional messiness that I find terribly compelling. He struggles with a simplistic view of justice that is supported by lies told to “protect” him and that is uprooted by the truth and forces him to try to make sense of the world without the guardrails that others installed around him (looking at you mister fangxin sir).

Also I’m stealing my own tweets bc I’m Right but:

*pulls up single barstool to lqq is a good character table* I think it’s interesting & Says Things abt the continued relationship btwn lqq & xl that lqq *didn’t* recognize xl, implying that he left fangxin’s mask in place even when he went to kill him

Like here is the man who killed his family & best friend, who left him abandoned in bloodshed on his 17th bday—& here is also the man who saved his life, who taught him, who lqq looked up to & wanted to be like

Even when lqq *does* recognize xl, he still has so much respect for him paired with that hatred that it’s honestly rlly tragic? Like man. There’s so much grief in lqq’s repeated demands for a duel & insisting it’s fine if xl kills him as long as he doesn’t hold back

*pats lqq pompom* this bb is so sad. And so much more like his teacher than either of them seem to realize or necessarily want

Despite being a pretty minor character, lqq gets a lot of complexity and nuance! Look at this child trying to be grown up while desperately turning to his old master for guidance and “the truth”! Look at him! Be sad!!

2 ) lqq is an excellent parallel to xl

Okay stealing my own tweet again don’t look at me I yell the same shit everywhere

Xl didn’t want lqq to become like him (self-sacrificing, vengeful, alone) but lqq not only became alone, chasing vengeance, & willing to sacrifice himself for revenge—he also became kind, open-minded, & remorseful!! & he still clearly respects xl @ novel end 🙃🙃

We all know hc’s “they’re not very alike at all” and yeah sure baby go support your man but narratively, there’s a lot of importance given to cycles, parallels, and foils in mxtx’s writing and most explicitly (compared to mdzs, haven’t read svss) in tgcf. For example, *gestures at beefleaf, gestures at Xianle Trio vs Wuyogn Crew, gestures at Xie Lian & Jun Wu’s whole uh. Deal.* And while I’d argue xl and lqq are part of a triumvirate rather than a pair, we’re not including mister three-face in this conversation so just looking at xl and lqq:

Both adored and sheltered crown princes

Both taught by a guoshi who was seeking to prevent the repetition of their own tragedies and in their efforts, lied/omitted information and failed to protect their charge from tragedy

Both were betrayed* by their closest friends

Both are the last living members of their respective royal families

Both caught the interest of supernatural beings from a young age

Etc etc I’m getting v bored and distracted writing this so moving on

Most importantly to me, we have their betrayal by a very close and adored mentor and how they react. The confrontation I mention at the start of this shitshow is really imo one of the most important scenes in the novel because it a) illustrates the differences in xl and Jun Wu and b) sort of gives you a preview of how xl ultimately wins

So a) Jun Wu and Xie Lian both take a talented, marked-for ascension young prince under their wing. Jun Wu sees himself in the boy and obsesses over shaping him into Jun Wu’s own image in the belief that this will make him the perfect heir. Jun Wu pushes his chosen heir into situations where Xie Lian is repeatedly harmed in an effort to show that the common people are fickle and cruel and don’t deserve his compassion and care.

Meanwhile, Xie Lian is reluctantly roped into mentoring his prince due to his inability to stand aside when he feels he could do something to prevent hurt or injustice befalling another (simultaneously his great strength and great weakness! God I love him). Xie Lian tries to teach his student to believe in and care for the common people and not to sacrifice himself (see: flashback convo re:taking the force of the sword strike into his own body).

When Xie Lian refuses to bend in the shape Jun Wu demands, Jun Wu bashes his head into the wall. When Lang Qianqiu cries “I will never be like you!”, Xie Lian laughs and says “Good!”.

B) this of course feeds directly into foreshadowing! Like Lang Qianqiu’s bold words, xl ultimately refuses to become like his mentor and remains defiant even when it would stop him from being hurt. Xl beats lqq and says so what if I tricked you, so what if I lied, I still won. Naturally, xl beats Jun Wu not through standard swordplay but by using a trick he learned while forced to busk and wander the earth alone and unlucky for centuries.

…okay so I have fully forgotten what I was actually saying here! Anyway!

Like Xie Lian, Lang Qianqiu spends a time consumed with the need for vengeance, hunting his enemy and rejecting the heavens. And like Xie Lian, he winds up caring for his enemy’s “son” and trying to both comfort him and maintain what’s left of Qi Rong’s life force despite having previously been hellbent on destroying him—bc he sees the impact it has on another person. In the end, he even gives a gift to Xie Lian—his mentor, his role model, and the one who killed his father—that was once given to him as a symbol of unexpected kindness. Sound familiar?

But, importantly, and contradictory to what I have been yelling abt but whatever it’s 12:30 am, Lang Qianqiu is not a direct mirror of Xie Lian but a closing of a vital loop in the story. Lqq is very similar to xl (I will die on this hill!! Only I won’t bc I’m stronger than y’all and will keep swinging these pots and pans) but bc xl tries to do better and keep lqq from suffering the way xl has, lqq is able to have a gentler and more optimistic path forward. He’s proof that even a small act of kindness or even kindness to only one person still matters and has a ripple effect that can’t be seen when you’re in the middle of it—a thread started with xl giving the coral pearl to Lang Ying and closed with Lang Qianqiu returning the pearl to Xie Lian.

So I have no idea if any of this is coherent or compelling but I meant to be asleep two hours ago and the points are:

A) Lang Qianqiu is good actually

B) parallels!!!

C) look ive already started another wip about Lang Qianqiu and Xie Lian and I didn’t want this but no one else wrote it so now I have to so pls just accept this as a warning

*sort of air quotes around this for Xie Lian bc frankly Mu Qing was right & Xie Lian kicked feng xin out BUT on the other hand, it was experienced as a betrayal and we also again have all of Jun Wu’s shit so it evens out

[ziracona]

Book 3 of Infinity Train has some of the best character writing and nuance of any cartoon I’ve seen. I hope you’re enjoying it if you haven’t finished it already

Just finished it! It was really good. Very intense, but way less sad than I was afraid. Hope the characters still with uncertain fates have things turn out okay (and the author gets to do the rest of the seasons).

[elecman108]

So I’ve played through two of three house options (and I hear there’s one for the Church of Seros as well) in Fire Emblem Three Houses and...

MAN.

DID I NOT EXPECT THAT FROM THE ROUTE I HAD SELECTED.

[adarlingmess]

Ugnayan

Summary:

Filipino word, noun: connection between persons, groups, countries, etc.

A collection of works detailing a manananggal clan’s relations with the Treses, and their allies.

II: Bad Habits

Summary: After disrupting one of House of Arko’s operations, one of the Kambal meets up with their informant.

Words: 4540

Characters: Basilio, Crispin, Sabina (OC), Alexandra Trese (mentioned only), Ammie (mentioned only), Reyna Manananggal (mentioned only), Dominic Villaceran (mentioned only), Mama Grande (mentioned only)

Relationships: Basilio/Original Female Character

Language: English, with a few Filipino words and phrases sprinkled in.

Rating: 16+

Warnings: Strong language, violence, mentions of abortion, references to human trafficking + sexual trafficking, sexual themes

Author’s Notes:

I am: back on my bullshit again

People were looking for a part 2 so have more Basilio x OC stuff. Spoiler warning for Verdugo: Takutan because this story heavily references its lore and events! The comics are known to be darker in tone, and so is this fic, so heed the warnings above. No Taglish version this time, Darling niyo pagod na 😩

This was supposed to be a simple job.

Get in, rough up House of Arko’s operation while Bossing is paying them a visit in their mansion, get out, and watch as Bossing confronts them about it at the next social gathering they’ll host.

But nothing was ever simple about the aswang, right?

Now there’s a huge one trying to eat Basilio alive.

“Damn it, Basilio. Your recklessness is a bad habit that’ll bite us in the ass later!” his older brother berates him.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! Now might be the right time to call for backup kuya,” he strains, attempting to pull the  magubat’s jaw apart with his superhuman strength. His fingers slip from the drool and it almost bites his hands off.

Crispin’s busy with a horde of mailap, taking turns in taking pot shots from him in the shadows. “We should’ve taken a page from Carlos’ book and brought palm fronds. Who should we call?”

“What about Maliksi?” Basilio suggests.

“What’s one tikbalang to all these aswangs? We need something bigger, maybe a higante to take on that magubat!”

“Gago, a higante can’t get here as fast as a tikbalang!” Basilio snaps.

“Mas gago ka! What about that playmate of ours from when we were kids, y’know, the one that tipped Bossing off about this whole trafficking operation anyway? Think she can fly her way here?” Crispin growls, shooting down a mailap who was foolish enough to ambush the more cautious twin from above.

Ah, yes. Sabina.

Boyish, intimidating, hard to figure out- but still hot enough to flirt with, despite being aswang; that’s how Basilio would describe her. This Sab was a far cry from the Sabina Marie he once knew years ago, the one who used to wear an all-girl Catholic school uniform, shyly shared her snacks and books with him, and kissed him farewell when her mama told her she’ll not be coming with her to meetings with the lakan anymore.

A few days after they caught up with each other, she turned up at the Diabolical not too long ago with a flash drive for Alex’s eyes only. She didn’t even breathe a word to him, much less look at his direction, but Basilio could only surmise that it’s his fault.

“Sabina? Well, manananggals who follow the queen can shoot. It’s- ungh- worth the shot!” Basilio answers back, straining as he gets swatted to the side with one gigantic claw. “You make the call, my hands are full!”

“Give me your phone, I don’t have her Facespace.”

Basilio looks down from several feet, and gives his brother a sheepish smile. “Uhhh, okay, but she’s been seenzoning me.”

From behind his mask, Crispin frowns. “What did you do?”

“She might’ve seen me tagged in Ammie’s story when I was supposed to watch her gig. I got there when her set was ending, and she was pissed.”

Grumbling, Crispin takes his frustrations off on a mabangis charging towards him, a flurry of bullets raining upon its body. “What did Bossing say about getting personal with informants?”

“What? It’s Sab. She’s-”

“An aswang who might have an ulterior motive in helping us. Tangina Basilio, think with your head sometimes! The one between your shoulders!”

Distracted, Basilio failed to stop the jaws of the magubat from closing in on him. As quickly as his reflexes allow, he tosses his brother his phone.

“Just call already! Tell her it’s an emergency.”

The older Kambal flies up and extends his free hand to catch it. Crispin launches Basilio’s Facespace app and begins to search for their informant. He found her under the name Sab Evasco. Crispin pretended not to see the string of messages Basilio left for her, all left on read.

Her phone rings. One time. Two times. Three times. Crispin dials again. Twice. Thrice.

Someone picks up. He puts the call on the loudspeaker.

There’s someone strumming a guitar in the background, accompanied by a drumset’s cymbals. They come to a halt and Crispin hears a frustrated woman’s voice from the other end of the line.

“Ulol gago, fuck you Basilio, you can tell me if you’d rather go on Starbreaks coffee dates with a wind girl than watch me play.  I’m a grown woman, I can handle a simple ‘no’. I’m not in the mood for your games! Now fuck off, I don’t want to hear from you. I have a gig to practice for.”

Basilio cringes as he listens to Sabina’s tirade. Crispin guns a charging mabangis down, and his mask dematerializes for a brief moment, just enough for him to mouth to his brother “Gago ka talaga.”

“Sabina, it’s Crispin. We could use some backup here. We’re being swarmed by aswang.”

The sound of a guitar being unceremoniously dropped and the mad shuffle to catch it can be heard from Sabina’s line, followed by quick footsteps. Sabina talks again, calmer this time. “What? Couldn’t Basilio get his own ass on the phone and tell me himself?”

With an exasperated expression, Crispin turns on the camera, and points the phone at Basilio, who’s caught between the magubat’s jaws. “He said you were ignoring him, and he can’t get on the phone right now, as you can see.”

The Kambal heard her fumbling with more equipment, which sounded like a guitar case being zipped up and carried. A brief argument with her bandmates follows, then Sabina talks again.

“I’ll be there. Stay on the line.”

Now they wait.

As much as Crispin wanted to help his little brother, his hands were full with the wave after wave of aswang coming after them. They’re relentless. This is their food supply the Kambal are cutting off, after all.

“Any luck with Sab?” Basilio asks, attempting to shoot the roof of the mabangis’ mouth.

The bullets barely penetrate the thick membrane. He’ll need to transform the Armas Infinitum into a more powerful weapon to lobotomize the gigantic aswang, but seeing how he’s separated from his twin, it’s impossible at the moment.

“She said she’s on the way. She’s still on the phone. Here!”

Crispin throws the phone back to Basilio, who catches it with one hand, while his other arm continues to struggle with the magubat trying to swallow him whole. He tucks it in his breast pocket, and he jumps near the row of the magubat’s front teeth, prying it open with both arms.

Through the aswangs’ growls, Basilio could faintly hear a woman cursing and the jingling of keys from the other side of the line.

“Hey Sab! It’s Basilio. Sorry again about missing your gig.”

“Shut up and hang tight. If I didn’t care for you at all...” Sabina snaps. Basilio could barely make out the words Sabina was saying due to the wind and sound of traffic. “I’m on my way.”

“Ngh, can’t you come any sooner? I heard that aswang intestines are nasty.” Basilio pauses, realizing his mistake. “No offense.”

“I said zip it. Isn’t it enough that I went out of hiding and agreed to be Trese’s informant? Now I have to be your backup too?”

“Working with Bossing has its risks. We made that clear, princess.”

“Don’t call me that.”

There’s more turbulence and wind from Sabina’s line. If Basilio guessed, she’s now flying to the scene. The Kambal’s struggle with the aswang continued until they heard their informant’s voice through the speakers again.

“Big bad war demigods can’t handle a single fucking magubat?” Sabina deadpans, the turbulence and noise no longer accompanying her voice. “Open the fucker’s mouth wide. Make sure he’s facing east.”

“Kuya! She’s in the area, help me pry the jaws open!” the younger Kambal shouts to his older brother, who dodges a leaping mailap and quickly flies up to his aid.

“What’s the plan?” Crispin asks, and Basilio shrugs.

“I don’t know, she just asked me to do it!”

Before Crispin could question Basilio, a shot rings throughout the building, and the magubat collapses. The Kambal let go of the heavy jaws and flew away, watching the near-twenty foot aswang crush a few of its regular-sized kind. Upon closer inspection, a bullet has torn its way through the roof of its mouth. It’s a clean shot. The magubat isn’t regenerating, much to the Kambal’s surprise.

It’s a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.

“That’s for trying to eat my brother,” Crispin spits, kicking the dead aswang’s head.

Soon, more of the aswang started dropping like flies, too. Razed by bullets from an unknown assailant, the House of Arko aswangs started to panic.

“Wait a minute, I know manananggals who follow the queen can shoot, but Sabina is a sniper? Do you know about this, Bas?” Crispin exclaims, tearing his eyes away from the dead magubat to face yet another wave of mabangis.

“No! Damn, she’s using special bullets too. Where’d she get those?” Basilio mutters. A mailap attempts an ambush attack, and before he could react, Basilio watches it get shot mid-air as it attempts to jump him.

“You’re mine,” Sabina hisses, her voice crackling through Basilio’s phone speaker, smooth through the static.

Her emphasis on the word “mine” made goosebumps ripple through Basilio’s arm.

“Hot. Could you say that again?”

What he got instead was a groan. “Fuck, don’t distract me Basilio. I’m not here for fun.”

“You seem to be having fun shooting House of Arko’s minions though.”

“Fair. You two better look for the hostages. I have a bone to pick with this lot.”

The Kambal looks at each other, and nods. Glass shatters as they fly out the building’s windows, to the upper floors. After taking care of the guards, they saw them. Men and women in cages, all naked, and herded like livestock. 

“Please, help us,” one of them whimpers, crawling to the front of the cage and grabbing Crispin by the arm. She’s dirty, and her belly is swollen. Basilio turned on the lights and they saw it clear as day: most of these women are pregnant. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

House of Arko farms their food, breeding humans like livestock, and harvesting fetuses from them.

Sirens are blaring outside, both from police cars and ambulances, waiting for the hostages to be rescued.

All is well, or so they thought.

“Fuck!”

The cry came from their informant’s line.

“Everything alright?” Basilio asks her after fishing his phone out of his breast pocket.

“There are a few of them who found my vantage point. They’re heading towards my position.”

“Get out of there already, the hostages are secure.”

“They saw me. I can’t let them report back to Mama Grande and her sons that a manananggal is helping you. Suspicion would fall on my clan.”

Crispin nudges his younger brother. “I’ll handle the hostages and wait for Bossing. You make sure our informant’s alright.”

“Way ahead of you kuya,” Basilio replies, taking his guns out and flying out the window.

Under the pale moonlight and the city’s lights, Basilio spots a group of aswang scaling a dilapidated building east of him. On the rooftop, he sees it. Wings black as night, flattened against the concrete. Sabina lies prone and is aiming her scoped hunting rifle downwards, picking off the advancing horde one by one.

“Time to play.” The demigod rushes in and makes bullets rain on the hostiles.

He takes out a mabangis approaching their sniper from her blind spot. Those who didn’t die from being shot fell to their death, regeneration halted either by his or Sabina’s doing.

Basilio descends on the rooftop, and he walks his way towards the manananggal. His mask dematerialized, and the wind tousled his long hair. Just to be safe, he kept a pistol in one hand.

Across him, Sabina takes out her wireless earbuds and puts them away. Then, she slings her rifle on her shoulder, safety on. With her wings, she crawled towards his direction, like how a bat would move. Then, uses her wings’ sharp claws to plant herself on the concrete, a feat regular bats couldn’t do.

“Thanks for the help, Sab. About that gig…”

Before any more words could come out of his mouth, Sabina holds up her forefinger and presses it against his lips. “Shh. No more apologizing about the missed gig. Just make up for it. You owe me.”

Basilio nods, smiling at her. He watches as Sabina fishes out a box of cigarettes and a lighter from her vest. She’s wearing a black, long-sleeved polo shirt underneath it, and its sleeves are rolled up. Her shirt was unbuttoned just enough for him to catch a glimpse of lace peeking through. For all her boyish, edgy posturing, her choice of underclothes is girlier than what Basilio expected.

It almost makes him want to unwrap her like a Christmas present, but he’ll keep that thought to himself.

“Nice outfit. You were rehearsing in that?”

“We had a presentation for a class. No time to get changed. Now there’s a hole in the back, so I might as well wear this more often on future operations,” Sabina replies, placing a stick of Marlborough Reds between her lips.

“I’m in the mood for a smoke and maybe a chat,” she continues. “Join me?”

Basilio nods.

“How did you know about House of Arko’s human trafficking thing, anway?”

“Believe it or not, it was a hunch,” Sabina explains, black fingernails scratching the sparkwheel several times. “Ugh, fucking lighter dying on me again. I just had it refilled… must be the wind,” she growls.

Basilio couldn’t help but chuckle at her frustration. “A hunch?”

“Hmm… maybe hunch isn’t the right word. It’s an educated guess. Mama Grande loved serving boiled fetuses to her house guests, correct?”

Basilio nods, waiting for Sabina to continue her explanation.

“I suppose that it’s my place to judge if their mothers didn’t want to raise them… I’m a manananggal, for fuck’s sake. But there’s one red flag House of Arko failed to hide. From what I can tell, those fetuses are around five to eight months old.”

Sabina’s lighter finally lit up, and with a triumphant laugh, she lit her cigarette. Then, she carries on with her explanation.

“Most abortions happen during the first three months of pregnancy. It’s rare to see expecting parents get rid of them that late.”

“So? What does that have to do with the whole thing?”

“House of Arko serving older fetuses could mean one of two things: either all, and I mean all of the abortions they performed are from those who are truly in need of one that late, or they’re getting them from another source, possibly an illicit one. They don’t have the most benevolent reputation, so my intuition tells me it was the latter. So, I paid the place a visit and recorded what I could. I guess I should be thankful that your bossing found that blurry video trustworthy enough,” Sabina concluded, watching as the victims were clothed and herded into ambulances.

Dumbfounded, Basilio scratches his head. “Wow. Glad you’re on our side. How did you know that three month thing anyway?”

“Research and personal accounts.” Sabina’s response is clipped. Cold. Abrupt. It only raised more questions than answers.

“Personal accounts? You’ve met people who got them?”

There’s a flash of regret in Sabina’s eyes; regret that she opened her mouth and let him know more than needed. She cuts him off. “I can’t put my informants’ identities in jeopardy either now, can I?”

Per his older twin’s advice, Basilio’s finally using the head between his shoulders. “No offense, but you’re a manananggal. Y’know, known for eating babies? Hearing that from you is suspicious.”

“Yes, I am,” Sabina says through gritted teeth, glaring at him. “I can assure you, I’m following the accords and I’m not exploiting loopholes like what House of Arko is doing. I’ll reveal everything in due time.”

“Alright, keep your secrets. For now.”

A tense silence has befallen them.

“So- '' the manananggal blows a cloud of smoke away from Basilio, “-is this going to be a regular thing? Because if it is, I might finally quit smoking. Nicotine makes my hands shaky. Can’t risk accidentally shooting your ass.” She pauses, looking at him in jest. “ I’d rather do that intentionally.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Sabina Marie,” Basilio retorts, clutching his chest in mock pain.

They share a laugh over it, the mood lightening up.

Basilio looks in the distance, taking in the view of the cityscape. “Maybe you should quit. Singers shouldn’t be smoking in the first place.”

“The tar helps me belt out raspy screams, but yeah, you’re right,” Sabina chuckles.

“So, when is this next gig?”

“Next week. In Ilocos Norte. All the way up in House of Arko’s ancestral home.”

“Should I take that info to Bossing?”

“Yep. It’s open to the supernatural public anyway, so it's not like I’m giving you top secret info. Even the wind tribe is invited, despite their bad blood with my clan. Hopefully things won’t get physical. Most of my sisters are still bitter over how they blew us away when my mom- I mean, Inang Reyna decided to side against the Treses.”

So that explains some things.

“I dunno, maybe I should bring Ammie so I can watch the two of you in a catfight.”

Sabina elbows him in the chest, hard.

“Not funny at all, Basilio. I don’t even know her personally! It’s you I was pissed at.”

Now he grabs his chest in genuine pain as he croaks out an apology. “Sorry.”

“Whatever. Bring whoever the hell you want, just keep your distance from me when you decide to go. Even my father’s going to be there. I need to be on my best behavior.”

The demigod turns to their aswang informant, interest piqued. She’s divulging a lot of information. Perhaps he can sway her to spill more secrets.

“Didn’t know that the Reyna Manananggal had a king.”

“Oh, no. She’s not the type to share her power with a man.” Sabina pauses to take another hit of her cigarette. “I meant my biological father. Villaceran.”

Now that was unexpected.

“You drop bombshell after bombshell whenever we meet. Tomas Dominic Villaceran’s your old man?”

“Look at me. I’m almost the splitting image of the guy. If there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s inheriting his good looks.”

Basilio grins. “Can’t deny that. Most of the manananggal kuya Crispin and I encountered look...”

“Hideous, I know,” Sabina says outright. “You still haven’t seen that side of me, so don’t be too quick to judge my sisters.”

Basilio treads carefully, knowing that he might be prying on a sensitive subject. “So, about Villaceran…”

“I’d rather not talk about him. Our relationship is… strained.”

Giving her a sympathetic, understanding look, Basilio nods. “Right. Never mind.”

Another interval of silence passes between them. This time, it’s a little somber.

“So, does this party have a dress code?”

“Yeah. Filipiniana. Wear a barong. It’s one of those pretentious events that attempts to make House of Arko more appealing to the masses or whatever. Manipulative assholes.”

“You can just refuse to go, Sab.”

“I could, but being Trese’s mole among the aswang means I have to attend clan activities to supply more information. That also means attending every single party those Arko fucks throw.”

“You really hate House of Arko, huh?”

Looking towards his direction to meet his gaze, Sabina’s eyes are filled with a sea of emotions. Hatred, indignation, and something Basilio couldn’t quite place.

“Why wouldn’t I? Mama Grande raised boys who can’t take no for an answer. The Arko brothers have no respect for us manananggal. As if we weren’t fetishized enough in Manong Karma’s stupid aswang dating book...”

Sabina clears her throat and calms herself down. Bad blood between aswang clans could mean war. Basilio knows he should take that to the boss. His gears are turning tonight. He asks Sabina questions that could risk her support.

“Is that why you agreed to be an informant? You wanna bring House of Arko down? Then what, your clan will fill the space they’ll leave?”

“What? No, I have no desire for power, not like how Mama Grande or my own mother does anyway. My personal gripes with them aside, the House of Arko wants to ‘unite the aswang under one banner’ with no respect to the other clans’ autonomy and customs.”

“So you wanna protect your clan?”

“That’s one of the reasons, yes. Mama Grande’s been trying to play kumare with mom- I mean Inang Reyna-” This is the second time Sabina slipped and called her mom. She clears her throat and composes herself. “And I need to stop that. Inang Reyna already made the mistake of going against the Accords once. Allying with the House of Arko will ruin us further.”

Basilio leans in closer. “And what are your other reasons?”

Sabina looks at him for a few, quiet seconds, and looks away. “I’ll reveal them-”

“In due time. Yeah, yeah, I can take that as an answer. So, making you sing in that event is a result of them being magkumare?”

A defeated laugh bubbles from Sabina’s chest. “You got it.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t invite sirena to sing.”

Sabina rolls her eyes and tosses the butt of her expended cigarette on the concrete. Basilio took it upon himself to crush the embers under his heel, seeing how her lower half is hidden someplace else.

“Oh please, this is House of Arko we’re talking about, Bas. They believe aswang are superior. Letting them shine would take away the spotlight from the aswang. Mama Grande asked for me from Inang Reyna so they can gloat that even aswang can make better singers than the famed sirena. Ugh, I doubt my singing style even matches the performance they want from me.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of performance are they going for?” he asks her.

“Now that’s another secret. You have to show up to find out,” she hums in response.

Turning away from him, Sabina checks how many sticks are left in the box. Two. She takes one and lights it up.

“Screw it, I’m going cold turkey. I guess this will be my final box. Maybe for tonight. Maybe forever.”

“Then maybe you should stop with the stick you’re smoking and throw the last one away,” Basilio suggests.

“Are you mad? That’s a waste of money!”

“Still counting your blessings even with your mama’s wealth huh?”

“Old habits die hard.”

Sabina blows smoke away from Basilio’s direction. The wind made it waft to his face anyway, and she mumbles a quick apology. He shrugs it off. Not like the adverse effects of secondhand smoke affected him anyway. Hank smoked and was polite enough to turn away too, but Basilio can still smell it. He didn’t mind it. Still, Hank had told him and Crispin that it was a tough habit to break, so he never touched a cigarette.

Not until now.

Basilio takes the box from Sabina and picks up the last stick with his lips. Then, he inches closer to her.

Ironically, in an attempt to help an old friend quit her smoking habit, Basilio engages in it himself.

Little did he know, a new bad habit was forming between him and the little lady before him.

“I’ll make sure it won’t go to waste then. Light me.”

Sabina raises an eyebrow. “Just don’t start at all. Give it back.”

“One smoke isn’t going to get me hooked, princess.”

Brows knitted together, Sabina chastises him. “Take it from me, bad habits start with just one little taste, Bas.”

“One little taste never hurts anyone...”

“One little taste could leave you wanting for more.”

Basilio can feel himself getting hot under the collar. He’d never thought an aswang of all creatures could make him feel all bothered, yet there he was, getting turned on by her choice of words.

“Princess, are we still talking about cigarettes, or something else?”

Hearing his question, Sabina exhales sharply through her nose, cheeks dusted pink. “Maybe both. Whatever. Come here.”

Black fingernails scratched at the sparkwheel. Sparks were flying, but there was no flame. The cigarette remained unlit.

“Well, it looks like fate isn’t letting you smoke, so better just give me the damn cigarette back, Basilio.”

With a sly look, Basilio closes in on her, and presses the end of his cigarette to the embers at the end of hers, linking them together.

To his surprise, Sabina is neither backing away nor babbling defensively like she usually does whenever he gets close. Instead, she presses her chest to his, a challenging look in her half-lidded eyes. She wasn’t wearing her glasses like usual, giving Basilio an unobstructed view of her heated gaze. Was it bloodlust or desire? Either way, it got his blood pumping.

“You’re chattier than usual tonight,” Basilio comments. “Bolder too. I like that.”

In the form she’s in now, Sabina’s eyes glowed an eerie white, and aside from the wings sprouting from her back, little horns sprouted from her scalp, the root concealed by her crown of short, wavy hair. Basilio didn’t pay mind to her dangling guts, instead, his eyes were transfixed on that cute little lace bra again.

Through the layers of cloth between them, he can feel her heart beating. Basilio faintly remembers the taste of human and sigbin hearts.

Now, what does aswang heart taste like?

A dark part of his psyche- perhaps from being Datu Talagbusao’s son- wanted to tear it out of her chest and eat it to find out.

Basilio felt the urge to taste all the battles she fought through her blood, and possess her heart in a way no other person can.

The memory of seeing his father tasting his mother’s blood inserts itself in the present, and the fear of turning into the monster he was is enough for him to shake that thought away.

Basilio tries to focus on something else.

His eyes wander to Sabina’s mouth. He might’ve imagined something else between her dark lips, in place of the cigarette. Something bigger.

Something of his.

Sabina’s been pliable tonight. Perhaps he’ll push his luck with her one last time.

“So, any plans tonight, dear princess?”

“Unless you intend to treat me like one, don’t call me that.”

“I’m done with work, so if you want me to make good on that and make up for my mistake…”

Giggling, Sabina flies a few feet away from him. The black wings on her back are translucent against the pale moonlight. They almost looked like a dark shade of red.

“Go tell your brother about the information I gave you for now, then meet up with me afterwards. I hid my lower half in an alleyway behind that motel,” she tells him, pointing to the building’s direction.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll get to rearrange my guts. Literally and figuratively.” Sabina continues, a naughty smirk blooming on her lips.

Taken aback by the pun, Basilio laughs. “I didn’t think you were capable of dirty jokes.”

“You should know by now that I’m full of secrets and surprises.”

Grinning darkly, Basilio finishes the rest of his cigarette as he watches her fly away.

“And I’ll uncover them all, dear princess.”

Translations:

ulol - crazy; Filipino profanity

gago/gaga - foolish or stupid; Filipino profanity

tangina - contraction of putang ina, lit. whore mother. Used as an expression to express irritation, anger, or astonishment

Inang Reyna - lit. Queen Mother.

mare/kumare - derived from the Spanish word madre/comadre; kumare a reciprocal appellation for the godmother or for the child's mother. In a more modern and colloquial context, it’s used to refer to a female friend. Magkumare means women who are friends with each other.

Filipiniana - Philippine related book and non-book material

barong - also known as Barong Tagalog. An embroidered long-sleeved formal shirt for men and a national dress of the Philippines.

[limitlessgojo]

Blood Bound: Red Strings of Fate (Ch 3)

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Descriptions of Blood

Previous Chapter: The Rebirth

Next Chapter: Cherry Blossom Storm

Tags: Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Taglist: @lessie-oxj, @rizzo-nero, @whoreuc

Notes: If you want to be tagged for every update, please mention it in the comments below ty.

Chapter 3: What's Your Ideal Type?

Todo senpai looked you over and was seemingly checking you out thoroughly. ‘Are all the seniors like this here?!’ You wondered.

You tried to hide behind Noritoshi senpai who put a hand over you protectively. His sleeve was wide enough to block out your entire body from view. At this, Todo’s eyebrow raised. Oh? Noritoshi's interested in a cute girl?

“I’m sorry senpai, what do you mean by that question?” you asked, thinking that you just misheard him. "Exactly what I meant. Who is your type?"

"Todo" Noritoshi said in warning. There was a dark edge to his voice and his entire body tensed as he prepared to fight.

"Answer me. Or else I'll beat you." He smirked and ripped off his jacket.

You stared agape and clung onto Noritoshi's spread arm sleeves. "Eh? EHHH?! I don't want anyone to get hurt. But I don't want to say something so personal to a stranger."

"Todo Aoi. 16 years old. I like tall girls with big cute butts. My favorite idol is Takada-chan. Call me Todo Senpai. Pleasure to meet you. Now we are friends." He grinned maniacally.

You shook your head in a daze. This man is insane. "I guess I can tell you… but only when the both of us are alone."

Noritoshi looked at you affronted and slightly offended. Why would you leave him out of it?! "Ah as much as possible I don't like telling people such things, because I'm a bit of a private person. But since Todou senpai also shared his type of girl, I feel like I can share my ideal man." You reasoned, seeing how Noritoshi senpai felt left out.

"Fine with me. Let's go outside the building then." Todou smirked.

Alarm bells were ringing in Noritoshi's head. Last year, back when he first met Todo, he got beat into a pulp for not answering said question.

He stood protectively over you, blocking you from Todo's view and said, "No. You'll just end up hurting her."

"Tch, don't get in my way Kamo. You're always such a huge pain in the ass. You never even answered my question and it's been a year. I'm pretty sure you have a boring ideal type." Todo huffed out.

"I'll beat you up then." Todo grinned as Noritoshi made no moves to leave your side.

Todo rushed forward, ready to hit Noritoshi, while Noritoshi held onto a blood bag to defend himself. But you moved the fastest. You quickly stood in front of Noritoshi, moving past him silently, and held out a single hand.

Todo froze. Literally. He couldn't move his hands, arms, legs. He can't activate his cursed technique like this, and you knew it. The use of hand movement is a very significant part of Jujutsu Techniques.

Your technique gave you an edge above the rest, making you very effective at combat against other Jujutsu sorcerers. Which is why an esper as capable as you only appears once in every 200 years in your family.

Noritoshi stood impressed. Your cursed energy output was very steady. "Todo senpai. I'm so sorry and pardon me for immobilising you, but let's take this outside and leave Noritoshi senpai out of it."

With a snap of your fingers, you released him from your technique and he staggered to the ground. His muscles felt all tight and painful.

You turned to Noritoshi. "Noritoshi senpai, it's okay. I'm quite capable at defense. He won't be able to reach me." You confidently stated with a smile. "Are you okay?" You checked on him.

He gave a slight scoff, "I should be the one asking you that! This man here is dangerous…. And he also happens to be a classmate of mine." Noritoshi sighed out.

Todo grunted. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. Cmon lets go outside and just answer my question already."

"After you Todo senpai." You motioned, then followed him outside. As soon as you were a certain distance from Noritoshi, you activated a cubical barrier which blocked off sound.

Todo looked impressed. "You're a first year?! At this level? Color me amazed little girl."

You were unamused. "I'm not a little girl. I'm currently 15 years old and my ideal type is a guy who is at least a head taller than me. Black hair. Cute sleepy eyes. Nice big hands. Someone who may come off as cool or detached to others but is warm with me. The gap Moe is the most important part." By the end of it you were rambling.

Todo looked at you with a knowing glint. "Big hands? That's all?" You flushed thinking about abs and pecs. "Ahh uhmm, the other things aren't really ….. appropriate for me to say??"

"Don't hold back. I won't tell anyone else and I don’t judge. I just want to size you up. You can know a person just based on their fetishes."

Fetishes?! "Uhhh… a nice set of abs… and pecs…. But he doesn't have to be too muscular, I like a fit guy who is on the slender and graceful side…."

"Do you realize that Kamo fits your ideal type?!" He howled out with laughter. "SHHHH TODO SENPAI SHUSHH". You screeched, momentarily forgetting that you had a barrier up.

"Wait … Does he have nice abs?! Oh man I'm not gonna be able to get that image out of my mind now…" You groaned.

"You have good taste. Finally, someone who has a decent fetish, Tsuchi Chan." Todo grinned down at you. He patted you on the shoulder. "Good luck with him. He's as dense as they come. I'm also still looking forward to sparring with you."

"I-im not interested in Noritoshi Senpai!" You huffed out with red cheeks. "Please don't assume things." You were in denial. And Todo senpai knew it.

"I don't think that's how it works, Tsuchi Chan." He was still laughing at you.

You harrumphed. "Also why are you so interested in sparring with me anyways?"

"You have a lot of cursed energy. Way more than anyone else here in Kyoto Jujutsu High. I sensed that and with my brilliant IQ of 135000, I am assuming you would be a powerful opponent. Which was why I felt like I wanted to battle you." Todo said truthfully.

Oh. That's nice. "Well I hope to do so also when we have training together." You clapped your hands and the barrier fell apart.

Noritoshi rushed over to you and hovered his hands over you. You turned to him with one hand up, "I'm all good. It's all good Noritoshi senpai." You smiled up at him.

He scanned your eyes before nodding and face darkening when he turned back to Todo, who was staring at him intently. "Are you done interrogating her Todo?"

"It wasn't so much interrogation as it was a good chat hey?" He smiled at you. You tilted your head in a meh kind of way and stood to hold onto Noritoshi's sleeve. "It was okay, but it's still weird to ask people about their fetishes after meeting them for the first time."

Noritoshi's heart fluttered when you took hold of the edges of his sleeve.

"So, are you going to tell us who's your type Kamo?" Todo asked.

Your heart skipped a beat as you let go of the sleeve as you took a step backwards. "Uhhh I'm not sure if I'm supposed to intrude on this convo..."

"Someone who I can trust. Someone honest and who will stay by my side for a long time." He said coolly. You drank in his words, forever etching them into your memory.

Trustworthy. Honest. Loyal.

"Boooooring. You’re a boring person Kamo." Todo yawned and stretched. "Only Tsuchi Chan is interesting so far. Everyone else has shitty taste."

Noritoshi looked over at you curiously, but you pointedly avoided his gaze. "Todo senpai it's a secret between us you promised." You pouted.

But he only waved his hand, "I'm not that much of a bad sport. A secret will stay a secret, and it's safe with me."

You nodded and sighed in relief.

"So are you both out on a date right now? I've been meaning to ask." Todo senpai smiled.

Evil. He is evil. You and Noritoshi both flushed bright red and stammered out, "No no no."

"I was showing her around the campus."

"Noritoshi senpai is kind enough to bring me around campus."

"Hmmmm… then would you mind if I join the two of you?" Todo asked.

"Yes we do mind. I'd prefer it if it was only the two of us." Noritoshi irritably spoke. He just wasn't in the mood to deal with Todo right now.

You quickly whipped your head to face him in surprise. He jolted at your movement, and his face softened when your eyes met. "Of course if you don't mind or want him to tag along he can. I just want to help you familiarise yourself with the campus.”

You stammered out something ineligible but you were saved by Todo senpai.

“I was only kidding. Takada chan has a live stream in 10 minutes and that is way more important. Enjoy your not-date around campus.” Todo called out with a wave of his hand as he turned back to the dorms.

“What on earth just happened?” you laughed out loud as you and Noritoshi made your way to the classrooms. He shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about it anymore.”

Feel free to ask me anything if you have any questions about the fic and the characters. I will answer as long as it won't be a major spoiler^^/ 💜Mon

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

[botwstoriesandsuch]

I recently read Shades of blue after you rwcommended it and Oh My God was it worth it. That was beautiful and amazing and do you have any other recommendations?

✨MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED✨

AAAAAA I’m so glad you read it!!! Honestly I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me for recs for awhile because I have.........a few...

Miscellaneous ships here, not just Revalink but the first lot are

- Pinesong by @a-perplexing-puzzle D-Do I even need to explain myself more??? I talk about this fic every other day of the week..... it’s just great vibes....soft and fluffy and angsty just *chef’s kiss* two gay boys searching through their old memories to remember how gay they are 

- Shades of Blue by @unapologetically-asexual OK I know original anon just said they read this but for you idiots that haven’t read it yet....uhhhh get on that. Nothing I could say would really advertise this fic better than this post

- somebody’s always looking (nothing’s quite as sweet) by @kouzaires One of my FAV Coffee shop AU’s for botw....so sof......so tender...........so warrmmmmm.............they characters are written so well.....just love it...a lot

- Broken Spirits by @legendoftoad It’s just AAAAAAAAAA??!!? My boys are hurting and the malice for half of it is frickin doing things to my boy and then of course you got your PTSD themes meddled in there and hnnnnnnnnnnhhhhhghgh my hurt/comfort itch is sufficiently scratched go read

- Linger On by ICanFlyHigher [idk if they have a tumblr] Ok I actually haven’t finished this fic yet but it’s been recommended time and time again so I’ve been reading this in my spare time I’m on like Chapter 12 or 13 I think but I can say with CERTAINTY that the writing is fantastic and tender moments are off the charts and my boys are so precious and also the Yiga are actually cool in this so that’s nice

- Learning Flight by homewardbound This is just *chefs kiss* *standing ovation* *throws confetti in the air* quality quality Revalink. Just a delicious chocolate cake of botw and Revalink. You got your mysterious Revali waking up 105 years later batter, and your angsty PTSD gay boys duo chocolate chips, and then you can chuck in some engaging sideplot elements as a few tall tiers, and then the cake is all whipped up with the wooden spoon of subtextual writing just mmmm delicious. and ALSO I betaed a thing that is gonna happen and let me tell you shit is gonna happen like VERY IMPORTANT SUPER COOL plot twists be happening so you better read it 

- Conversations After The End Of The World by @bismuthllie Ok this one’s a oneshot but I always go back and read it because...idk it just strums my heart strings a lot...I’ve said Pinesong was my first big Revalink fic I’ce read, but this was like...my first, first piece of Revalink content I read ever so...yeah <3 ....and also the art for this comic is fantastic too even thought it gives me the emotions......hahaha ok Revali it’s time to stop being dead

- I See You Swimming In The Sky by @unavoidablekoishi OK OK I know my logic isn’t the best considering it’s the only Revali/Mipha fic I’ve read, but god dammit it’s the best Revpha fic I’ve ever read I still need to catch up cause I’m like 3 chapters behind but this fic CONVERTED me ok, miphvali went from a “huh yeah the art is nice I can kinda see it” to “THAT FISH IS SIMPING FOR THE BIRD 24/7 AND THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER″ This is some *claps* GOOD. SHIT. Ok? *slaps roof of fic* This bad boy can fit so much charming characterization and interaction (and also has made me scream both happily and not happily on several occasions)

- Guardian of The Wilds by @no-themes-just-memes in which I constantly miscall it “Guardian of the Wild” because I’m stupid This isn’t so much a ship fic but it’s so cool Link is a spirit, Urbosa and Zelda’s mom are a thing, Zelda is HERE and she is AMAZING like no spoilers but holy shit Zelda is here and slaying in more ways than one and riding Satori and hhnnnnhhhhhhhh it’s all about those ~plot twists~ and tone changes ya know? very very very nice...

- Firebird by @paellaplease Oh no, it’s Kip’s obligatory Firebird gush whoopsie poopsie who would have guessed surely not me. This is just my standard for Oc ship content now it’s so good I am gay for one fire girl Maiya is my spirit animal and I just wanna cup her in my hands softly even though I know she would probably burn me for it but it would totally be worth it. The writing is just superb and I am also gay for great imagery and action which this is chalk full of so go read it 

Ok it’s actually 2am right now and I still need to finish a bunch of AP work so I’m just gonna speed run the rest of these recs

@echogekkos writes such cute and soft Miphlink fics that are on my top tier list like this one and oh crap this post made me realize Healing Touch updated crap there are so many things I need to read and catch up on anyways want more miphlink angst? BOOM read the inspiration for eternity by Merakkli and oh what’s that? You want deep lore that was custom made with lots of hot ocs in a fic that spans way beyond BOTW welp here’s Hyrule Bound a universe entirely created by @themisadventurescrew which is yet another fic series that I am behind on crap but oh shit @kittmoon has started a chapter fic called Jaded Seas recently so you should go read that but also all of their oneshots are great as well so you should follow them and did I mention that everyone I’ve tagged are people you should follow because yeah anyhow here’s a crackfic about Goron children that had me shaking out of either fear or confusion for a few days by @angsttronaut ok moving on @thatsnotzelda writes beautifully just take a look at this angsty Revalink thing and also bambambambam you’ve been ambushed by @hatenostorms @going-fancognito @ashrel @lizards-writing-blog so now go request some from them because I said so they’re great also uhhh @idiotic-canadian and @moonchildrenn [Pins_and_Patches on ao3] hate happiness but that’s ok because I get to be emotionally wrecked by their angst and whump hurray! wait fUCK I completely forgot to rec this earlier but my first Zelpha fic was this gorgeous Coffeeshop AU by @theseventhsage called Dreaming of Coffee and Love so go read that *flipping through entire history of ao3* let’s see let’s see... All of the Rito Chronicles by  sturms_sun_shattered is great, and this Teba/Harth one is also a fav and oh CRAP my zelink content is just everything by @fatefulfaerie because it’s just *throws colorful streamers in the air* pretty and I love their writing welp I’m about to collapse lets just end it off with the z’s like @zzariyo and @zeawesomebirdie on ao3  they are some pretty radical french fries if i do say so myself and and ok ok read this other Zelpha coffee au which is also by @kouzaires and this Modern au also by @unavoidablekoishi ok that’s all I can remember right now bye 

[godmademewithoutarms]

MLB KNY Au Umbrella Scene

Notes: uhhh so there is a spoiler character mentioned in here but he's also in the first season. I'm just gonna tell you who he is without spoilers so you can enjoy if you are an anime only! Kaigaku is the one who threw a peach at Zenitsu's head in Zen's backstory! Let me know if you think I should still tag spoilers or not! : )

Warnings: swearing because Inosuke, bullying, injuries, implied horniness but like implied enough to be seen as just a simple crush (because I'd feel weird if I went into detail) (gross). Let me know if it need any other warnings that I missed : )

Characters: Inosuke Hashibira, Zenitsu Agatsuma, random bully with no name, mentioned Kaigaku, mentioned Tanjirou Kamado

(This was made a 4am-6am so if you see a mistake pretend it's not there I will fix it eventually)

Zenitsu looked out the window at the thunderstorm from outside. Of course it was pouring down rain on the one day Kaigaku gets sick and has to stay home. He zoned out for the rest of class, thinking about how him of all people was chosen to be Ladybug. He wasn't strong enough nor did he have the leadership skills required for the job.

But Oyakata-sama saw something in him. Something in him that not even Zenitsu could find. He also saw something in that dumb cat too…

He had spaced out for so long he didn't even realize class was dismissed until Tanjirou waved a hand in front of his face. Tanjirou being a good friend, asked him what was wrong but Zenitsu just brushed him off. Oyakata-sama told him to keep his identity secret to everyone including his partner or there'd be consequences. He wasn't sure how much damage a sickly, bedridden, blind man could do but he certainly wasn't trying to find out.

As soon as he exited the warm school building and entered the freezing cold rain and thunder his least favorite person found him. He never really got to know the kid's name considering how every time they ran into each other Zenitsu was left beaten and bruised. On the days that it was extra gruesome, he'd sneak in through the back and hope Kaigaku wouldn't catch him again.

“Oi punk I thought I told you to stay out of my line of sight.” Mystery kid got closer and closer until Zenitsu was backed up into the school’s entrance.

“I mean we go to the same school, it's kind of hard.” He nervously rambled, looking for a way out. The nameless kid didn't like his word choice as he punched Zenitsu in the face. That one would leave a black eye for sure.

He was about to throw another punch at a now crying Zenitsu until the school door next to them slammed open. “What the fuck are you doing?” Inosuke snarled. Zenitsu couldn't help but notice how beautiful he looked with a green knit scarf wrapped around his neck and a plain green umbrella in hand, both matching the green in his eyes.

He involuntarily blushed, not going unnoticed by Inosuke. When did he start feeling like this towards him? When did he start feeling this way about boys in general? However there's no time to question your sexuality when your bully practically has you in a chokehold so Zenitsu lets the thought drift away as his airways close up.

Inosuke grabbed the other kid's hand and gently but still with force removed it from Zenitsu’s neck. Inosuke stared the bully down and he did it right back. “I said, what the fuck are you doing.” He said much darker than last time. Maybe he had caught Kaigaku’s sickness and didn't know it because he felt a lot hotter than he was a second ago. Not only that but Inosuke looked hotter.

“What's it to you? Mind your own business pretty boy!”

‘Pretty boy?’ Zenitsu thought, face painfully contorting with confusion.

“Nah." He huffed before shoving their classmate down the stairs, startling him enough to make him run away. “Man, what a coward!” Inosuke snorted and turned towards Zenitsu, making his heart race and body flush a slight shade of pink. “You alright dude? Your clothes are soaked.”

“Does that matter? Thank you for saving me! You really didn't have to do that.” He jumped at the clap of thunder.

“I did anyway.” Inosuke shrugged, not seeing it as a big deal. He had been itching for a fight, today was his lucky day. He was gonna mention how Zenitsu was shivering but his dad’s assistant pulled up in front of the school.

He sighed as he accepted his fate and dragged his feet to the car before stopping and turning right back to the shivering boy. He tugged off his scarf and wrapped it around Zenitsu. “You need these more than me.” He shoved the umbrella into his hand and- smiled?

Inosuke kissed a lovestruck Zenitsu on the cheek before turning back to the car that was impatiently waiting on him. “Thank you! I'll give them back to you tomorrow, I promise!” he called to the boy

“I don't doubt it” Inosuke lazily waved goodbye with his back still turned. Before he knew it, Inosuke was gone, leaving Zenitsu with two borrowed items and some feelings to sort out.

If Zenitsu walked into his home with a blackened eye, a stupidly wide grin, and two things that were not his own that was nobody’s business but his.