#what's going to happen on that camping trip or whatever it is?? XD

[lazzarella]

Klao and Warich really said we're here to look pretty, stir up drama, and devour each other, and you know what? Zero complaints from me

[destinygoldenstar]

☀️Everyone In The Final Four Has Cold Blood☀️ - Total Drama Viewer Reacts to Disventure Camp Season 1 Episode 12 “Trials & Trip-ulations ”

Heyo!

Y'all probably thought I dropped the show after last episode.

No. I was just busy with life. That's why this took awhile to come out.

Final Four. Home Stretch.

I think I only like one of the four. XD

But that's usually how it is with Total Drama. That's why I'm never really bothered with none of my favs being here. The only time I was actually bothered with it was in Total Drama Action, but like, the reason there was because Harold and Lindsay genuinely would've made for well written finalists, while all the other options were ASS. Beth was a very unlikeable floater who did nothing all season, Courtney was a ruthless villain so it was obvious she wouldn't win, Owen was a finalist last season and was only there to be a mole, and Duncan was... well, Duncan. I like Duncan as a character, but not as a finalist. At least with how it was handled in that season.

So I fully expect the villains of these things to make it far, and the messy characters to make it far because... it's Total DRAMA. It's not Total FRIENDSHIP. This ain't My Little Pony.

I CAME HERE FOR DRAMA, DAMMIT.

As long as I can understand what the writers are going for with their Final Fours, I don't really care about Elimination Order. That's not a factor of 'bad writing', at least for me. I only hate it when it's blatantly obvious the writers didn't know what they were doing with their choices.

I don't think that's the case here. I called Ellie. I called Fiore. I predicted that. Alec and Miriam are a SHOCK. I thought Alec was gonna be an early boot. And Miriam completely went under my radar. But I DEFINITELY do not hate that she's still here.

So yeah, I think Elimination Order is a pretty overrated criticism for Total Drama. That’s just my opinion.

So yeah... let's see what happens in this Penultimate Episode.

WAIT.

OMG.

LOOK.

THERE'S A HEART CARVING ON THE WALL❤️😭

Guys.

Guys.

Episode 10 is not canon. Okay? That was some leftover recycled content from the Beta that OddNations accidentally put in that playlist. That's Beta content. The remake is canon. That episode is not canon. It is not official. Tom and Jake are FINE. They're FINE. THEY WORKED THINGS OUT. THEY'RE OKAY. THEY'RE HAPPY TOGETHER AND WORKING THROUGH THEIR ISSUES TOGETHER. NOTHING HAPPENED BETWEEN THEM. THEY'RE AT THE MOTEL RIGHT NOW CUDDLING AND BEING HAPPY AND ORDERING CHINESE FOOD.

THEY ARE FINE. NOTHING HAPPENED. ALRIGHT?!?!?!?!

Goddammit, they're not even here anymore. What am I even saying?

But I swear to god, whether it's this season or Season 3. It better end with Jake and Tom getting that Chinese Date.

I will FLIP OUT if that's actually what happens.

"Is it food?"

"No, better, it's letters from home!"

"Oh. Eh."

XD

Honestly, I'm not surprised she had that reaction.

Whoever Fiore's parents are, um... they should be in jail. That's all I'll say.

MIRIAM IS A CAT PERSON?!

10/10. Best character. She better win.

Its probably not plausible, but you know, I can hope.

Oh...

Oh that's sad...

Her son has a pride pin. Wow. No wonder her and Jake got along.

"I got a letter from my dad saying how proud he is. And... three unpaid bills. If my father's letter didn't motivate me to win, this definitely will."

GIRL.

You ALMOST make me feel bad for you.

ALMOST. I'm still mad about the death threat you gave Jake.

"Wow. You're faster than I thought."

"I mostly skimmed it. Don't act like you don't do it too when you find a book boring."

Damn.

Her family life is THAT bad.

"You really hate them, don't you?"

"No, I'm just not interested. I'm sure it's from my parents, blaming themselves for my behaviors like there's really something wrong with me. Anyway, I don't care. In a few days I'll be a millionaire and I'll have several slaves to do whatever I want."

UM-

Um... I don't want to be THAT person Fiore, but...

There IS something wrong with you.

I'm sorry, but age doesn't convince me of anything. You are an awful, psychopathic human being, and you should be put behind bars.

"She opened her feelings about us... it turns out that maybe, by trying so many times to stay together, I've only been hurting her."

"I hate to say I told you so."

I mean that was always gonna happen, right?

I mean Alec isn't a character that interests ME personally, and that's a complete me thing. But from what we've heard, he MIGHT be a shit family guy.

Not as bad as Peter Griffin, but you know what I mean.

"Regardless of whether I win or not, I'll move when I get back. Away from my wife. I now realize that the love in our marriage was lost a long time ago."

That's probably a good idea.

I mean, I'm a lot younger than this man. I'm not married. And my current relationship is actually WONDERFUL THANK YOU VERY MUCH. So, I can't really comment on this cause I can't relate to it.

Good for him though... I guess...

"You know, if you want to pay those bills, we have to vote Alec out."

THANK YOU.

HOW MANY EPISODES DID THAT TAKE FOR YOU TO REALIZE THAT ALEC CAN'T BE TRUSTED?!

"Don't worry, no matter what, I'm not voting for you tonight."

That's gotta be a lie.

Miriam, you gotta avenge Tom and Jake. You can't spare her.

"We can try to flip Fiore to our side."

HOW 'BOUT NO?!

I JUST REALIZED MIRIAM'S THE ONLY TEAL TEAM CHARACTER LEFT.

The Merge started with, what, FIVE of them, and now in the Final Four there's only ONE?! THAT'S CRAZY

I mean Ellie swapped to Teal that one episode, but you know what I mean. She originated from Purple, so whether or not she counts is debatable.

"Today's challenge will be played in pairs."

Oh how lovely.

Miriam is screwed.

"The teams will be random."

Oh boy. Here we go.

WELL DAMN. MIRIAM IS SCREWED.

Goodbye to all the nice characters. Nice knowing all of ya.

A villain is winning this season.

"I'm stuck working with Alec... again."

At least you're FORCED to this time. I can accept that.

"You guys gotta cliff dive into the area below!"

TOTAL DRAMA REFERENCE.

THE MOST ICONIC FIRST CHALLENGE OF THAT SHOW EVER.

*Gets a... suggestive ad*

Okay. YouTube. Why? I-I can't even talk about that without getting flagged. Stop it.

An ad like that is allowed on YouTube, and yet people get demonetized for saying the F word.

Aaaaaaaannnnnnddd you both are gonna feel that in the morning.

Not as bad as what happened to Harold though.

AIN'T NO WAY

OH MY GOD

AIN'T NO WAY

That's awesome.

10/10 reference. Love that.

Oh come on Miriam. I thought you had good aim.

Imagine if there were sharks here like in the Total Drama one.

"This is the only time in my life I will gladly commit child murder."

I DID give Miriam slay pass, so you know, she's just using it.

Blame ME for the child abuse in this episode. I'm the one who gave her the slay pass.

Technically I gave it to Jake, but he's not here anymore and HE gave it to Miriam, so...

"UGH, how I hate that *BLEEP*"

Oh god...

I WILL say, the swearing is inconsistent in this show.

In Total Drama, ALL swearing is censored.

With the exception of the 'uncensored' version of the show, the version I watch, where they can say 'shut up' or 'crap' or 'boobies', which I would argue are not even that bad. ALL severe swearing of Total Drama is censored.

In this show, it's NOT all censored. They've said stuff like 'asshole' 'shit' 'goddamn' 'bitch' and even 'fuck' a couple times. Very casually mind you. And like, anyone who's been in middle school can get used to that language so it doesn't mind me. (I actually don't use that language out loud in real life, it's just text that I have no problem using it.) But then you have Grett's F bomb censored in her elimination, and you have this being censored.

I get it, YouTube, pain in the ass regulations. But it's because of that a moment like this does not hit NEARLY as hard as, say, Lindsay cussing out Heather.

Yes her swearing is censored, but that's also what makes it catch you off guard, it's funnier, and it's EASILY one of the most iconic moments of the entire show.

I'm just saying, if you're gonna swear, SWEAR.

If you're not gonna swear, at least make the censorship consistent.

(Digital Circus is a WONDERFUL example of how to do this right)

OH GOD THAT WAS A HEAD SLAM

I want to say I feel bad for the six year old getting abused, but...

I don't.

"I'm not saying I called it, but Trevor, you owe me five dollars."

That's ANOTHER Total Drama reference.

In their penultimate episode of the first season, Chris and Chef made a bet on who would barf first from the dares the campers were doing.

That's a smaller detail people probably don't remember. But I DID.

I'm not a Total Drama expert. I don't know everything about this show. BUT. I DARE YOU to tell me with a straight face, brutally honest, that you legit found THIS reference to TD on your first viewing of this episode.

YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T.

I AM AN ACE AT THE TOTAL DRAMA KNOWLEDGE TEST.

YES I AM CURRENTLY BRAGGING, WHAT'RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!

*Patreons*

We're not even halfway through the episode, holy shit we are in for it with this one.

Oh the cafeteria is built! Wow!

They're definitely using this in Season 2.

(You guys want me to watch Season 2? Cause I can do that)

"Do you think she could be persuaded?"

Uh, how do I put that? You betrayed her, say, THREE TIMES?

That's a no.

"Of course. It'd be easier to beat a little girl like you than Miriam in the finale."

"TCH. THANKS DUDE. THAT REALLY MAKES ME FEEL GOOD ABOUT MYSELF."

Fiore, you're worse than an old lady, how does that feel?

"Ellie, you have to stop winning these challenges."

"Uh... thanks, I'll just throw I guess."

"If you win, you'll go straight to the final with Alec. Think about your chances of winning against him versus with me or Fiore."

Yeah, that's a really good point...

Miriam's still gonna beat your ass in the finale, but still.

She's gonna slay Ellie SO HARD and it's gonna be SO EMBARASSING.

"I don't think she wants to go to the final with Alec knowing that she will lose."

Yeah.

I'm telling you, Fiore does not give a SHIT about Alec. She'll ditch him in a heartbeat.

I say that like I didn't see last episode...

Maybe she does care. But she'll still ditch him.

"I promise."

*Oreo ad*

I guess they're sharing Oreos with this promise.

W-what?

What am I watching right now??

"No Trevor that's not dancing you're having a seizure."

XD

"But dancing is a great way to relieve some stress and to have some fun, according to my horoscope it's the best way to express your feelings!"

Honestly, facts, as someone who uses Just Dance to workout.

That won Trevor some points for me.

"We spent years trying to have our own reality show and now our dream is finally a-a reality haha, see what I did there?"

Is this trying to make me care about these hosts?

It's too little too late, but I'll take it.

"No more wildlife so we can film in different areas without the activists getting all up in a bunch."

YOU ARE MURDERERS. I DO NOT FORGIVE YOU.

Even CHIRS MCLEAN, THE FATHER OF ALL SOCIOPATHIC HOSTS, ISN'T A MURDERER.

Though he has attempted multiple times.

"Dude, we've already lost three cameramen to the grizzly bears alone."

Is there REALLY no other solution to your problem?

FENCES? ZOOS? Anything??

"WE don't need to do it. Jensen will."

OH THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Oh fire making. That's a Survivor thing, right?

I'm surprised Total Drama didn't do this.

I guess this sabotage is allowed. Okay.

I've seen worse cases in Total Drama, I guess.

Fiore just keeps getting SLAMMED.

And I do not feel bad for her AT ALL.

SHE JUST THROWS THE CHILD XD

Miriam, you are AWESOME.

"That hurt!"

"We won!"

Miriam is cold blooded, OMG

EVERYONE in this Final Four is cold blooded.

Oh it's that sound effect...

Should I put the 'Keep Reading' label here then????

I'm gonna do it.

"You and I can also work together to become the final two after that."

GODDAMN. MIRIAM, YOU'RE COLD.

Okay, this is DEFINATELY a Survivor thing.

"You cannot grab the top with your hands and your feet must be on the line."

Oh. Okay. I was gonna say 'just wrap your feet around the pole' but you can't do that.

"Sounds easy."

"For you, yes, cause you're small."

But she's a child, wouldn't that make her less capable of endurance than Ellie and Alec?

How are you already slipping? We just started!

I say that like I would do better. I probably wouldn't.

NO MIRIAM

"You're much lighter than me. Do you think you can last longer?"

Oh you're not slipping and trusting Ellie, are you?

You're a dumbass.

"But unfortunately, I can't have us winning this."

YOU DUMBASS.

Does Ellie have my forgiveness for this???

Um...

That's a debate. First you apologize for the death threat. THEN we'll talk.

"What if they can't agree?"

"In that case, you and Ellie would go to one last challenge to decide who gets eliminated."

Oh really?

Is that what we're gonna do?

...or is Fiore gonna ditch Alec's ass? Did I call it?

"I choose Ellie. And I won't change my mind."

Okay.

"Well... I..."

Moment of truth.

She's gonna ditch him.

"Alec... I really liked you, and that's dangerous, because feelings are for weak people."

OH.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH.

"I vote to take Ellie to the final."

I. FUCKING. CALLED IT.

😂

GET FUCKED, ALEC!!!!! GET! FUCKED!!!!!

"But after all I've done?! I protected you this whole game! I helped you win the zombie apocalypse challenge, saved your life in the cave, covered up your plans so no one would suspect you're a PSYCHOPATH, and you STILL eliminate me?!"

THAT'S ON YOU, YOU DUMBASS.

WHY WOULD YOU TRUST HER?!?! SHE'S A PSYCHOPATH! YOU KNEW THIS. YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN IT COMING.

"Yes, thanks for all that, but I don't need you anymore."

👏😂👏

SHE DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU.

WHAT DID I SAY?!

Yeah, she cares about literally nobody.

She WILL ditch these guys on the bus the moment she has the chance.

And she's gonna show no remorse doing it.

And when that happens I'm gonna be HOWLING.

WELL HERE I AM.

SHE DITCHED HIM, NO REMORSE, AND I AM HOWLING.

AWOOOOOOOOOOOO

I CALLED THIS.

"Oh come on Alec, out of everybody, you're the last one who should be talking about feeling betrayed."

GET. HIS. ASS.

"This doesn't concern you. Keep it to yourself, Ellie."

You betrayed her three times. She DOES get a right to say that!

See, THIS is a good moment of Ellie ROASTING someone who fucking DESERVES IT.

"Your parents were right about you. You are a mistake."

"Oh. I know. And I don't care. Oh, and I bet you'd know a lot about making mistakes."

AWOOOOOOOOOOOO

I do not feel bad for Alec at all. Let's be real. HE DESERVED THIS.

YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE PUT YOUR FATE IN THE HANDS OF THIS PSYCHOPATHIC CHILD. THAT IS ON YOU.

GOODBYE, SIR.

🎉FINAL THREE!!!🎉

We're really going the TD Reboot route with this, huh?

It's an ALL WOMEN finale, too! That is a TREAT.

Total Drama never had an all women finale. They had ONE finale with both finalists being boys, i.e Revenge of the Island. But NO all women finale.

Okay, that was the episode.

GOOD LORD, THAT ENDING FELT GOOD.

I'm sorry, but after FOUR eliminations with three of them being my favs and the previous two eliminations BREAKING ME and DEPRESSING ME respectively, I NEEDED THIS.

I NEEDED A BOOT THAT WAS STRAIGHT UP SATISFYING.

I don't hate Alec or anything, he's just not one of my favs. I feel like I've reacted to his scenes the least of the Merge characters.

I think my take on his is Objective vs Subjective.

Objective he's a good character with a somewhat compelling character motive of his family, and a nice dynamic with Fiore. Plus he's one of the few characters to not be so overdramatic. So I can see how that would appeal to some people. (Idk how many Alec Stans there are)

Subjectively I just don't find him as interesting as some of the others. One reason being I can't relate to his story and struggles, which is completely personal as I've never been through any of that. Second, I'm just personally more invested in characters with more emotional range to them. In Total Drama, I expect characters to be, well, full of drama. So the messier more dramatic characters catch my eye more than someone who stays away from a lot of the drama.

But I can also see how people who hate the drama would like Alec. (Why you watching Total DRAMA if you hate drama then? Not shaming, just asking)

He's a nice character. But for me, he's a dirty backstabber, he's an assistant to a psychopath, he's implied to be horrible to his family, so yeah, FUCK HIM, GOODBYE.

Next episode is the finale, so we're almost done with the season! Yay!

Ellie and Fiore, I called as finalists since the Merge.

Fiore's the villain, so of course she'd be a threat in the finale.

I would maybe have considered the idea of her being fourth like what the TD Reboot did. BUT the TD Reboot had another character that was willing to play dirty in Julia's place, and Alec's got NOTHING on Bowie, sorry not sorry. (Bowie's my favorite TD Reboot character)

Ellie, I called since the Merge. Compelling motive to want to win. She had Gwen energy. Well, Gwen energy but much dirtier with some of her tactics. Some tactics I hate, but that's subjective. I can see her winning, honestly. I said this before. She screams 'winner' energy.

Miriam is a SHOCK. I... WOW.

I never hated Miriam, but she definitely grew on me after Episode 5. I see Ellie winning but I'm personally on Miriam's side. She's just a sweet, sassy, capable, and wholesome lady with some great dynamics with other characters.

Idk why, but Miriam never screamed 'finalist' for me. She was always under my radar in terms of the thought of 'who could win this'.

BUT, I will say, I DEFINATELY DO NOT HATE THIS.

Miriam is a good finalist choice.

Anyway, idk if this will get any attention because of the Season 3 finale, but hey, I can continue these if you guys seem interested and entertained by them.

[pray4saint]

HEYOOO!!

general sfw dating gnf hcs?? maybeeeee a little bit of fluff? i’m in a very fluffy mood xD

thank you! 🤗

moving in w bf!george hcs

masterlist & descrip. pg. 13+. girlfriend!reader. fluff.

a/n. yeah noah ofc 🤭 (i apologise for it being so late i went camping w my cousin & i'm writing on 6 inconsistent hours of sleep + a redbull) also this started as basic hcs and turned very specific hc list but still i like it

when you're in public and he gets nervous – despite how much he told you he probably wouldn't be super into pda – he wraps his arms around you and tucks his head into your neck because it grounds him

bf george who insists that despite the fact that you're dating, you still need to go on actual dates together AND lets you pick everything when it comes to it

”d'you wanna do dinner, dancing, arcade, bowling, carnival?..” you ask, and your boyfriend shrugs, making you sigh. ”whatever you want lovey.” ”george i pick every single time, why can't you?” ”because i want you to be happy with our dates.” and as annoying as it is, you can't help how it warms your heart and how thoughtful he is.

george also invites you to every streaming/youtube event, and is 100% prepared for if you say yes or no

if it's a yes, he gets all excited and helps you pack, reminding you of a few essentials you tend to forget and while you're there he'll spend more time backstage with you or try to leave a little early to sightsee with you

if you tell him no, he understands and leaves you with a few of his hoodies, kisses you goodbye before he leaves, always finds a way to mention you on stage and ALWAYS brings back a souvenir from his trip for you

also around the six month mark of your relationship he asked dream n sap how they'd feel if he asked you to move in with him

of course they didn't mind, you were well liked by both of his roommates and he assured them that if you said yes that you'd sleep with him in his room

the only concern his friends had – mostly sapnap had – was what the situation would be with, and i quote 'how much fucking' you guys would be doing in the house, and he responded quite simply 'we're not you sapnap, we're not absolute horndogs.' (although who knows, maybe you are, maybe he lied)

still, george waited until you'd been dating for nine months to ask you to move in

”lovey, i uh, gotta ask you something.” you were walking back to his car from a bowling date, it was late and it was dark. ”go on.” he stopped walking, and you turned to face him. ”do you want to move in with me?” he gave you a small smile and you could see his hands tensing up. ”do your roommates know about this?” you faked concern but still he nodded, yes. you wrapped your arms around his neck, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. ”yeah, course i do georgie.”

that mf went home with the goofiest grin on his face that night, and absolutely would not shut up about it for a week before you actually moved in / it made sapnap n dream rethink their life choices

still even after he asked you, you guys had a serious talk about it all, if he'd be willing to make space in his room for some of your things and of course he was, if he'd be willing to let you use his office once in awhile when you were sick so you could work from home and obviously he agreed

”holy shit what happened in here?” sapnap had peeked into george's room when he heard you and george laughing like little kids just to see you two trying to move your nightstands in to replace his. ”george i don't know if you know this but your room has been y/n-ified.” he joked, and george only laughs while you removed your hands from the table and grabbed a throw pillow from his bed, firing it at sap's head. sap ran out, shutting the door behind him.

the most noticed thing though that changed was when he streamed, chat noticed how there were some extra objects floating around the room that were clearly not his, sapnap's or dream's

sapnap tweeted about it later saying 'guys it's more than george's office- the entire house is filled with y/n's shit'

pray4saint© do not copy, translate or repost my work without my express permission.

[piracytheorist]

Has any one asked you about Becky? Or Master Henderson aka Mr. Elegant?

Becky:

First impression: Oh she looks like such a good friend I hope she won't end up being a liar.

Impression now: SHE'S BEST FRIEND MATERIAL SHE HAS NO BUSINESS BEING SO SWEET T_T

Favorite moment: When she accepts the sheep key ring and then both her and Anya have forgotten they went shopping to impress Damian. They spent such a good time together and that all that mattered <3

Idea for a story: Camping trip with the Forgers! Dunno what could happen but I'd like to see her unleash her kid energy while camping out with Anya.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think she "ships" Anya with Damian. I think she's just very into romance and she thinks that Anya likes Damian for whatever reason, so she just wants to help her experience this romance thing.

Favorite relationship: Anya bestie! It's so sweet to see their friendship grow, see them bond and experience things together. Endo didn't have to make Becky so sweet and caring for Anya, but he did and I am so thankful for that.

Favorite headcanon: She hosts slumber parties every once in a while for her and Anya. Anya is impressed every time by her family's wealth (though she's not jealous).

Master Henderson:

First impression: He's so funny, why are so many characters in this show so funny XD

Impression now: Though he seems a little conservative, I wish I had more teachers like him when I was at school.

Favorite moment: When he punches Master Asshole Swan. Very elegant indeed.

Idea for a story: Uhhh idk I can't come up with something XD

Unpopular opinion: He seems a bit conservative, particularly in the understanding of the different ways students learn, like he thinks only one method fits all. Not surprising for the era he lives in (and considering how he was taught to teach some 45 years ago when he was studying) but honestly he's so much better than the average teacher today.

Favorite relationship: Honestly, I'd like to see him interact more with Loid. He seems to have a big bias towards him and at the same time be so on edge with how badly Anya is doing at school (something that Loid can relate to, lol) and he has a lot of values that Loid respects so I'd like to see how their dynamic can go.

Favorite headcanon: He's gay. Ostania doesn't look like it's accepting of anything other than strict cishetero- and amato-normativity, so he's not open about it (though he has accepted it for himself) and one of the reasons he's dedicated to teaching is so that he can pass on some self-acceptance and maybe, hopefully, tolerance, to the future generations.

Send me a character!

[dbphantom]

for the fic thing, numbers 4, 20, 33

Ah thank you!!

The fic writer questions post

I'm sorry in advance, this got really long, so I had to switch to desktop halfway through to format it so it wasn't just a big block of text 😅 Like... I'm sorry. Genuinely, I am really sorry.

4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?

I'm going to do Alkali [ffxv H2O AU] because it's the one I'm currently knee-deep in. I hope that's alright! Truth be told I'm proud of a ton of tiny details in that fic, but my favorite is the change in what fire represents as the fic goes on to parallel Ignis's feelings about himself and the others. It's one of my favorite little descriptions to 'hide' throughout while I'm writing because there's just so much you can do with it.

Fire is dangerous, but it can also represent safety and home. Also it looks beautiful and provides comfort, but if you get too close it will burn you. Something something masquerading as light and leaving only blackened ash something something. Lux Et Umbrae or whatever. Generic stuff. You know. It's enrichment for me though, so I have fun with it.

I think the point where his view on it begins to pivot for the better is after the diner scene with the TV when him and Noct have a chat at camp that night, because Noct is the light of my fucking life surprisingly good at saying awkwardly nice things. Like, okay, he's actually awful at it, but the sentiment is there. Also fire is actually really important in the backstory fic [hang on, I'm getting ahead of myself-] and there's a similar evolution in its meaning for Celor [Ignis's uncle] as well, though his development with it is a bit more straightforward and... Obvious? I guess XD

If you want something a bit more silly, I've hidden exactly 7 H2O: Just Add Water and 2 Aquamarine references in the parts I've written out so far. And 3 Ariel references in Ardyn's dialogue. Oh, you poor unfortunate soul...

20. If you wrote a prequel to [insert fic], what would it involve?

CELOR. cough. I technically have one fully planned [chapters and all], the catch is I actually have to finish the current fic first and oh boy. This backstory fic is technically split into 2 parts. Celor B.B [before baby] and Celor A.B [after baby]. <- I wish I were kidding, but that's how it's split in my brain. It's a lot of years!

Before is the whole 'King Regis and his sluts the gang go on that funky little road trip during the war' thing, which basically establishes Celor as a character, the Scientias in relation to the royal family, and his relationships with the other OGs [Old Guys]. Basically, it goes into detail of what happened in Altissia that caused Weskham to get injured and how the other guys found out about Celor.

It also details the events of that one throwaway dlc? Like some dude showed up in Insomnia? Idk, it was so weird. U might not remember it [joking. Episode Ardyn, M.E 734]. Celor wasn't there for the main event, so he doesn't! He was off working with Drautos to evacuate civilians and stuff. Which kinda starts off their whole one-sided rivalry because Drautos sees some stuff and is like '🤔' about it. Celor is... well, to put it nicely, an oblivious idiot and doesn't even realize, so Titus is snooping around and everyone in the Citadel is like 'dude stop' except for the guy he's actually investigating. I also believe that Drautos has pretty much always been working with the empire. It's not specified when, but you don't become high commander of an army overnight [stares down Ravus]... Just kinda weird that he had time to pull that while also captaining the Kingsglaive, so I think he's always been allied with the Imperials. I digress.

After this attack is over the kids are all born (or cloned, lol) [basically... give it like 2 years and everyone exists] and we enter the A.B era where Celor proves just how bad of a parental figure he can be. For the record, I don't normally like killing off parents in fics too often but, well, Ignis doesn't have any mentioned in canon, so it feels weird to just have them suddenly exist in present-day... Celor is already toeing the line of being a full-fledged OC because there are TWO LINES in the audio story Parting Ways where Ignis's uncle speaks and then I did ALL OF THIS with him. 😮‍💨

Anyway, Ignis's parents' names are Julia Scientia and Harry [who married into House Scientia and took the name]. I named Julia for one of the OG mermaids in H2O, who likely had Rikki's power, and Harry for Rita's fiance in Mako Mermaids who ISN'T a total jerkface, thank you, Karl, you fuckboy- his sole existence made me distrust Karl MM so hard my first time through lol. Anyway, given their names you can probably guess their stories, but also they both die at the end. As parents do when you're discussing protagonist backstories [stares in Aulea].

Julia is the identical twin of Celor [yes, I'm implying he's transgender, do you think their parents named her Julia and him CELOR? Hell no, that's a transmasc name if I've ever picked one-] and Ignis takes after her, and therefore looks a lot like Celor (a lot of people confuse him as being Celor's son). That's why, in chapter 1 of Alkali, Ignis is standing there musing if the mermaid-looking daemon Noct killed in the arcade game would've looked like him. It's not explained why he thinks that in the text, but there you go. Reasons! Oh, also, Julia and Harry are killed by a mob for suspicion of housing a daemon after Julia is discovered, leaving their house burning to the ground and Celor returning with a 2 year old to... that... [seriously, the civilians in this universe are kind of hardcore and not in a good way...].

Celor takes Ignis back to the Citadel after a lot of [kinda superficial because pretty much everyone knows what happened] questioning and Regis (who is also actively mourning his fucking wife and raising a newborn) is like "whatcha got there, bud" and Celor's like "trauma" and Regis just nods and lets it happen. Not... not actually, but that's basically how it goes. Dude gets it. By god bahamut does he get it. Clarus is working overtime so hard to help them both learn how to be a dad. Anyway, you can imagine Celor's surprise when Ignis comes into his magic and it turns out to be temperature control. AKA this kid can now light stuff on fire whenever he wants. Even more bad when it's emotionally-tied. Celor and Cor, uh, put a lid on that ticking time bomb real quick. Just, fully shoved it in the shoe box and wrapped it in 7 layers of duct tape and buried it in the woods. It's not still ticking. IT'S NOT. [It is. :(]

To make things... a little more clear, Celor isn't a bad parent, he's doing his best, but also he's absent-minded and kinda paranoid about keeping the secret after what happened to his sister. Which, you know, a very valid reaction, but also causes him and Ignis to argue a lot over it, especially regarding Noct, especially after the whole Marilith thing. Celor actually argued against Ignis becoming Noct's advisor at all, but Clarus eventually pushed him into it because the kid's gotta live his life at some point, you know? [You might notice some parallels between Clarus and Gladio throughout, because they tend to be the voice of reason :V (most of the time lol)]. But yeah, after the whole Marilith thing, while Noct and Regis are in Tenebrae, Ignis and Celor get into a huge fight about who gets to know about the secret, Celor takes Ignis to the Lux Et Umbrae museum exhibit to make things up to his nerd of a nephew, and I get to loredump about Solheim and how merpeople came to be under Leviathan :) Of course the museum is a little... off... on the details given they view merpeople as a legend about variants of darkness daemons, but still. Shapeshifters show up on full moon nights to steal the bodies of your loved ones and make you one of them, blah, blah. Celor explains it better from what he knows, and Ignis learns about their connection to Leviathan.

Which, oops! Because this kid is pretty determined and he near immediately formulates a plan to summon Leviathan and bargain with her to become 'normal'. Hence the necklace. Which, yeah! Iggy's skull necklace is an important part of Alkali. I don't really bring up too often until they reach Altissia. See, the bargain ended up working... for about a month, until Leviathan intentionally meddled with the set rules to get what she wants (as you do when you're a jealous, vengeful god that also wants your other god friend to, you know, NOT nuke the entire planet). Because Ignis even bargained with her in the first place, and due to the rules she set, he basically gives up his half of the bargain to 'save' Noct's life (it was not actually in danger... parallels!) and still has to pay Leviathan back for her half. The necklace is his reminder of that. A literal chain around his neck. Anyway during this whole thing, oops, Drautos sees some stuff and is like '??????' and passes this info on over to Ardyn who is like '👀👀 interesting...' because, you know, he's an immortal bitch with memories from tons of people and also literally Ifrit. Who was there when Leviathan made merpeople because she was jealous. Jealous and vengeful. Not a good combo... But, yeah, Ardyn easily puts two-and-two together. So, when the Titan roadtrip caravan scene happens in Alkali, it should make a bit more sense. It didn't really NEED explaining, because it's Ardyn, but hey. I did. Bite me.

[And, YES, technically Leviathan was sleeping at this time, but it's more of a dream-state of her being summoned than actually her. I... didn't exactly want 7-8 year old Ignis summoning a literal, very miffed god in the middle of Insomnia's bay. If you know the first ever scene of the water dragon appearing in Mako Mermaids, it's something like that. Water and moonlight and rancid vibes. That's actually another plot point in Alkali, because when they're in Altissia Leviathan wants to wake up on her own terms, so she's trying to get Ignis to the Altar of the Tide Mother to wake her up permanently with his blood. Hey... it comes full circle... ... I should write an offshoot of this where it actually works and angst happens. Hmmm...]

Anyway, things happen after that pretty much as written in Alkali already, though this backstory fic would also cover the fall of Insomnia from Celor's perspective and his death :( It's funny because throughout this, Celor goes from loathing fire, seeing it as the brutal destructive force, to seeing it as hope and joy as seen through the eyes of kid Ignis learning his magic [contrast that to how Ignis views his own magic after training lol], and then after Ignis leaves Insomnia, fire goes back to being this awful uncaring force of nature that ends up getting Celor killed. Well, okay, it was mostly Drautos. But fire played a big part in it. And that's Celor's story. Pathetic merman uncle.

33. If you write chaptered fics, what’s your ideal chapter length to write? Is it different from your ideal chapter length to read?

Um, well. If the above showed you anything, I tend to write a lot... Sorry about that. I would say 20ish chapters is normally what I plan, but then everything goes off the rails. I intended for Alkali to be about 15 chapters, then it hit 20, then 30, now we're at 67 in planning and counting. Now if only I could actually write it all XD

And no, I love all kinds of fic!! One-shots, multi-chapters... So long as the premise is good, I'm here for it. I won't guarantee I remember to finish all the fics I start reading, but the chapter length has never held me back on starting them before. I just have a bad memory and never check my bookmarks :( Which I should do more often!!! Maybe I will do so tonight...

Anyway, thank you so much for letting me ramble about this! I really appreciate it, I'm always itching to talk about the stuff that lurks in my brain. 💙💙 I owe you one.

[belleta]

The Forest - Part One

Consists: Supernatural, SKZ as different SN creatures, adventure, romance, drama, action, ......still trying to figure out all the details....lol XD

"Come on Y/N!", I was racing around the house. Trying to make sure I had everything for this trip. "Omg Y/N, let's GO~!" I swear to the universe she's going to thank me later. " I'm coming child!" I screamed back. Alrighty I just need my retainer. I bounded up the stairs and glided down the hallway with my cotton socks. Bursting into my room, I quickly scanned it for the sparkly emerald case. I caught sight of it out of the corner of my eye, "Boom!" I ran forward and snatched it off my windowsill. While leaping for my door, I paused and turned back to what I call my sanctuary. Call me paranoid but I'm kinda afraid of camping in the middle of the woods. Ever since I watched "The Blair Witch Project", I've been creeped.

It doesn't help that Jazzy forced us to watch the film, previous to this morning. I was drifting in the fairy floss clouds of my mind when a loud honk poured water on them. I sucked in a breath, blowing raspberries. Padding back over to my bedside, I grabbed my Ice Bear plushie. Giving it a quick squeeze and finally deciding that he's coming with me. Galloping back through the house, I made it out, locked the door and hopped in the back seat like a spring rabbit. "What took you so long?" I gazed up through my fringe at my girl bestie Jazmine. She had long beautiful honey blonde hair, and a mousy nose. Her blue eyes were alike with pebbles under a lake, with cheeks connected by a dash of light freckles. "I swear I just aged waiting for you" and Danny, our guy bestie. I've been best friends with Danny, since 3rd grade. Jazzy moved over during the 5th grade. All three of us have been with each other through thick and thin. Daniel was Hawaiian Japanese descent, had perfect colorful nails and absolutely gorgeous eye makeup. We were all dressed in casual, comfy clothes for the trip. Jazmine, or Jazzy as people call her, as the oldest. She was driving Danny's dad's truck. It was spacious and definitely was fit for the environment. Danny, second eldest was in shotgun and I, being the "baby", was in the back. "I was just making sure I have everything." The two rolled their eyes. Danny looked back at me "Girl, you need to chill. We've got everything and more" the boy stated. "I know, I know.....I'm just paranoid, you know.....being in the woods for a week" I looked down at my feet and played with my fingers to cover my embarressedness. "Awww, is the baby scared", Jazzy giggled, imitating a child. I swatted at her, "Let's just...finally go" I grumbled, reaching inside my bag to pull out my headphones. "Fine" they answered teasingly. While Jazzy was pulling out, I fastened myself and slid my headphones on. Bluetoothing them and unlocking my phone, I scrolled through my YouTube Music playlist finding the one named 'Bell Mix'. After that, I went back to the truffula trees and fairy floss. Just listening to my music and thinking about things. There were a couple times, where I thought I might get sick, but I had remembered my motion sickness bracelets. In your face! It's better to set out a little later, rather than having our vehicle reeking of my insides. 2 or 3 hours went by, or something. I'm not really sure, my brain doesn't really have a sense of time when I'm inside of it. We stopped to use the bathroom, get food and fuel at a gas station, maybe 2 hours away from the forest. "Can I, can I, can I, can I PLEASE?!?" I had been begging Jazzy to let me buy a bag of Haribo for 10 minutes now, and she was starting to break. I'm very persuasive as you find out, and I happen to be a very prominent weakness to many throughout my life. She finally gave in and I bounced away to the candy isle with glee and happily picked out a bag, promising to share. Jazzy just rolled her eyes and paid for our things. We trotted back to the car and continued our journey. It was nearing the end of 2pm when we finally arrived at the edge of the forest. It's lushes were absolutely perfectly splendid. The road continued for a hot minute, until it gave away to dirt and rocks. We didn't want to stray too far from the dirt road, so we slowly kept moving in until I suddenly exclaimed at the sight of a pretty little clearing. It had a few little bushes marking the edges, thick but soft looking grass, and a little dirt patch at one side that should be perfect for a firepit. We pulled over to take a look around, flattening a few bushes in the process. As soon as the truck came to a stop I shoved the door open and sprung down onto the flourishing forest floor. The first thing I did was take a deep breath to soak in the sweet scent of the untouched earth. I reached up, stretching and cracking a few of my bones in the process. Then I raced through the trees and undergrowth, toward the beautiful glade. It felt so nice to get away from civilization, I had always loved

getting away like this. Being able to recharge away from annoying people and sounds, my fears of the night were long forgotten. I was two steps away from the grass when I suddenly tripped over something. Tumbling forward and scratching my cheek. I landed on my face, but on the bright side it was luckily with no rocks around. The dirt however spared me at nothing, crawling into my fresh scrapes, was a sharp and quick stinging as I grabbed my face. "Seriously Y/N, we haven't even completely left the car yet and you've already managed to hurt yourself" Jazzy declared. Danny chimed in, "Did you hurt yourself at all?". Quickly inspecting myself, I responded "Yes, a tiny bit on my cheek, hands and knees", I could hear them muttering to themselves about how reckless I was sometimes. They started toward me and as I waited for them to catch up, I decided to look around and figure out where to put things for these next few days. While ogling the decently wide stretch that was conveniently shielded by a mighty sugar maple. I thought I saw something in the undergrowth a few meters away from me. I grabbed my glasses and narrowed my eyes, but right when I thought I saw whatever it was, two flashes shot in the opposite direction between the ferns and disappeared. They were kinda hidden but I could sorta make out one of the shapes was darker and slightly bigger. The other was a little bit easier but still was difficult, it was kinda brown, or maybe reddish? At that moment I felt two hands on my shoulders, "Let me see", it was Jazzy. She inspected my injury. "It'll be fine, just wash it off", "Okie-Dokie-Artichokie", she laughed and ruffled my hair. I gazed back at where I saw the two shapes but not even the bushes were still moving. "Hey!" I cocked my head back to the voice "Can you help me?" Danny was struggling to unpack from the back. "Sure thing Danny-O" I quickly stood up, maybe a little too quick. My vision went funny and I almost stumbled. "Oh my god Y/N! Be careful!" Jazzy scolded, "My bad!" I was a little all over the place at the moment. Finally we were on this trip! I mean, I waited 6 months for this and it's finally here! I'm not all childish, I'm actually very 4D. I'm just really excited okay? I more carefully walked back to the truck, where Danny was struggling to keep ahold of what appeared to be the tent. Over the course of the next hour and a half we set up everything. Goofing around and laughing. Danny had been pulling too hard on our sleeping bags, to wedge them out of the trunk. And had accidentally fallen onto the slightly wet dirt, causing a very prominent brown streak across his gray sweatpants and sky blue tie dye hoodie. I was currently on my way to find the stream that is supposably close by, with a screenshot of google maps and a compass. Service wasn't exactly a 5 star out here, but I didn't mind too much. I brought a portable WiFi router with me, so if Jason Vorhees just decided to pull one, we could call for help. Every so often I would hang a wooden heart ornament on one of the tree's branches, so if this was the correct way then we would never get lost. Also so that I didn't get lost right now. I had been making these last night, for these exact reasons. I swear only dumb people don't mark their surroundings, this is one of the main reasons why people disappear and are never found or get lost. There are no traces of where they've been, like these fruit loops really-...... After about another 20 meters I started hearing the sounds of water. It became louder and louder really quickly. Is there a waterfall here? I pondered, while quickening my pace with curiosity. 35 seconds later I came across a thinning in the trees and beyond a clear water stream. I finally broke out of the shelter provided from the thick leaves, the sun kissed my skin with it's warm touch. I looked around and sure enough, there was a small waterfall that looked straight out of a fairytale. It had multiple uneven levels, with smoothed boulders everywhere. And to top it all off, it had little water plants scattered around it. Absolutely

beautiful.... I scanned around and spotted a few giant boulders poking into the stream. I carefully picked my way over to them, clutching onto Danny's muddy clothes. Hopping onto the sunlight warmed stones, I positioned myself perfectly so that I could reach the water but wouldn't fall in. I reached into my pocket for my zip lock of natural soap, of course I didn't want to hurt this literally untouched land. I leaned down to dunk the fabric into the stream's crystal-like water and kneaded the brown smudge. It was decently cold, just perfect for a stream. I turned back to the small bag with a green bar wrapped with brown paper and a little herb decoration. I unzipped it and reached for a tiny hand towel I brought with me so that I would have a better grip on the soap, even if I got wet. After dunking the clothes in I took the bar of soap and swiped it all over. I dipped it into the water once to help the bubble come, then I started aggressively rubbing it. Once the outfit was foaming with suds, I slapped it into the brook. Holding onto the sleeve I rub it harshly all over to get the stains out. It was relatively still easy because the events of cause were only moments before. I was starting to disappear into my thoughts, getting deeper and deeper and deeper....... And just then a crash and from the trees, followed by snarls and barks. I was so lost in my thought that this jolted me into the canal. The water suddenly became ice cold, my scream had been washed away. A surge of water filled my lungs from the way my mouth was open to yelp. I could still hear the sounds of fighting every so often, when I would surface. My head was hurting, my skin was stinging and my lungs were screaming. Someone.....please help..... It was hurting so much, I was trying not to panic. So I could find the surface and get back to shore. I would break through it's crisp arctic clutches every so often and would cry out for help but then get cut off by the now frosty darkness. I was giving up to the stream and submitting to the coldness. Letting it swallow me whole. I was numb, I couldn't feel my body being thrown around anymore, Is this how my story ends? No! I don't want to! I still have things to do! I need to graduate, and find my passion! I need to find a man who will love me as much as I do! I need to birth young and care for them! I want to grow old with my partner happily! I can't die yet! I just can't! But it was just so cold. I had stopped moving violently, so I guess I had been poured into a lake or something. I didn't care anymore. My blood felt frozen, I couldn't even bend a finger. That's when I felt a force near me, it parted the waters. Moving me in a different direction with its power. Then not long after I felt something grab hold of me in an awkward way. I was starting to be pulled into another direction, as the water streamed around, parting to let me and whatever that was saving me through. Then I broke through the surface and that was the last thing I felt before slipping into a comfy unconsciousness.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Okay but I have this very specific head canon that Eli and Demetri liked to have sleepovers in a tent in the back yard? And maybe this was like their safe space where the could open up and didn’t need to pretend? Like they had to keep things bottled up at school at sometimes it was hard to tell each other stuff even at school or at home with their parents hanging around, and since pretty much most of the year is warm in California, they liked to set up a tent of Friday nights and just get to relax and be themselves and tell each other secrets and talk about everything?

I’M LITERALLY SO UPSET I WROTE A LONG-ASS ANSWER FOR THIS AND TUMBLR DELETED IT

Time to type it AGAIN I guess

But I really??? LOVE this idea??? And can totally see it??? Like these two nerds would DEFINITELY pitch a tent in Demetri’s backyard and pretend they were camping and tell spooky spooky ghost stories XD I imagine when they were a bit younger they liked to play “haunted camping trip,” where they’d pretend Demetri’s backyard was the woods and it was overrun with space monsters, goblins, demons, or the like XD And I can see them feeling like they couldn’t fully let loose with their moms around--maybe they didn’t want their moms to overhear their conversations and realize how bad the bullying at school actually was??? I mean hey, we all saw what happened when Eli’s mom realized and tried to interfere, and it did NOT end well. But tucked away in their little tent, they can talk about the hell that is their lives at school in all its gory details--probably bringing snacks to gorge on as well, to eat all their woes away in junk food.

And sometimes, after a really bad week, Eli needs to have a crying session--and Demetri is always there for him to hug it out if he needs to. And hey, maybe hugging your totally platonic bro for that long is a liiiittle gay, but what happens in the tent stays in the tent. No one outside their tent needs to know that they’re doing slightly gay-related activities, or activities that could be perceived as such XD After an exceptionally shitty week, or after waking up from an especially nasty nightmare, Eli is authorized to crawl into Demetri’s sleeping bag and sleep in there. They Don’t Talk About This outside the tent.

I have a headcanon that when the boys are 11-12ish, they go on a trip to Big Bear together--Demetri’s or Eli’s family takes them, either works--and they stay in a cabin. One night, after all the adults are asleep, Eli convinces Demetri to sneak out and go stargazing with him, and Demetri agrees only if they haul a bunch of blankets outside with them so they don’t both freeze to death XD (I mean, if signing up for Cobra Kai is anything to go by, Eli has a history of talking Demetri into things he wouldn’t normally go for XD) As soon as Demetri looks up at the sky, he gets unironically just as excited as Eli--after all, the boy’s only ever known light pollution-choked LA, and he’s never seen that many stars in his goddamn life. They lay down on the blankets together, and Demetri immediately starts rambling about astronomy and theorizing about whether all the stars and planets out there could be anything like the ones in Star Wars or Star Trek. And Eli turns and just looks at him--his face glowing with excitement, his mouth moving a thousand miles an hour, his hands frantically gesturing like he’s trying to paint an entire damn mural of whatever he’s talking about. And Eli feels something so soft and light stir in his chest, like being here, under the stars with Demetri, is the happiest he’s ever been. And in that moment, Eli suddenly gets the impulse to reach over and lace his fingers with Demetri’s, to lean over and press their mouths together. He pushes it away, dismissing it as nothing--but he knows it isn’t.

Flash forward to the summer before college, after Demetri and Eli have been training in the combined dojo for a while now and the fateful All Valley Tournament is behind them. Their families take them on another trip to Big Bear together, as a graduation gift of sorts. One night, Demetri knocks on the door to Eli’s room with an armful of cabin blankets and a shit-eating grin on his face. He gestures outside and says “For old time’s sake?”

Once they’re lying down together again, Demetri, predictably, starts talking about Star Wars--although now, to Eli’s delight and amusement, he’s incorporated in how cool he thinks light saber duels would look if the Jedi incorporated karate in. At some point, without thinking, Eli just suddenly blurts out “You know, last time we did this, I wanted to kiss you.” There’s a pause, and Eli’s just like Oh god, I fucked up, I fucked up, I should NOT have said that out loud but then Demetri just turns and gives him this soft little smile and says “What’s stopping you now?”

And Eli just GRABS him and pulls him in and GOES TO TOWN because GODDAMN has he waited too fucking long for this and also because if he doesn’t then Demetri WILL NOT SHUT UP the entire night long.

[sizhuyu]

I’m not sure if you do platonic relationships since I can’t find any in the rules. I want to request a male reader who was the older brother of Wei Ying and treated him the kindness and love he deserves but then got killed by the Wens during his reign as the Yiling Patriarch. Then the reader reincarnates into a man who has very identical features from his past body. So the reader goes on a journey to find their younger brother and eventually the reader does find Wei Ying again. Also when the reader reunites with Wei Ying they have this emotional reunion of seeing each other again!

Long overdue request!! And yes I could try this.. And I love thissss! So here is to your request! ( longest fic I have ever written.. )

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ I Finally Found you Brother ☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

You and Wei Wuxian always had a strong relationship. You both were adopted by Jiang Fengmian and studied in Gusu together with Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang. Had been quite the troublemakers. You always thought your brother had developed a liking towards Lan Wangji and you. Of course helped them get together but your brother had no clue... Thankfully Lan Wangji took the hint and tried his best to show your clueless brother... THAT HE LIKES HIM. "A-Xian! How is it with Lan er-gongzi?~" You say to him but.. "Oh it was so boring! He doesn't talk or whatever! But the perfect target for pranks!" You were dumbfounded on how clueless your own brother is toward Lan Wangji's feelings. You feel bad for the boy to be honest.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ When Jiang Cheng lost his core☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

Your brother pleaded Wen Qing to transfer his golden core to jiang Cheng but you interfered and offered yours instead.

"Are you serious?! You both are insane! The process is painful and almost unbearable! You won't survive!" Says Wen Qing to the both of you.

"Well... What about 50%? Jiang Cheng needs a golden core more than I do."

"Ge..." Wei Wuxian tears up

"F-FINE!" Wen Qing and you have developed a strong friendship but she was against this crazy idea but you insisted.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ When you transferred your golden core ☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

You felt so much pain during the process... But you don't regret it at all. Jiang Cheng was tricked into meeting Baoshan Sanren. Wei Wuxian cried during the process of seeing you in pain. When you were done, you went down the mountain and saw a little bi- I Mean! Wen Chao. "Oh? The older Wei is here? What a coincidence!" Wen Chao just laughs as you held in your pain "Wen Zhuliu! Melt his core!" You start running but Wen Zhuliu caught you "Oh? Trying to run away?? COWARD!" Wang Lingjiao just laughs with Wen Chao "I hear a drunk dog and a bratty hyena." you say to them "Oh hohoho so thats-" Wen Chao was interrupted by you as you said "What are you now? Santa Claus?" You insult him "You little.." Wang Lingjiao kicks you in your stomach. And since you don't have your golden core, and not to mention.. You just got through the procedure of pain. "Bring him with us." Wen Chao orders Wen zhuliu to carry you by your arm as they land on.. "The burial mounds?!" You exclaim as they laugh like animals. "Nobody has come here, and nobody ever survived! Your dead!" Wen Chao grabs your messed up hair and whispered one last thing to you "Burn in hell Wei Y/N." As he threw you down.

When you woke up you saw lots and lots of resentful energy dancing around you calling your name. You didn't know you were already absorbing the resentful energy. With this new found power, you can take revenge on the Wens.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ Battle between Lan, jiang and Wens☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

You arrived quite late you must say. Your brother was badly wounded and in shock you died.. And so was the others.. "Looks like it's my turn." You say before putting your Dizi to your lips and play a menacing tune. "Who's that?" Jiang Cheng asks as he and the others stare at the figure with red eyes and and long robes. The dead bodies emerge with new life and the others ready their stances as the zombies rush at the Wen's

You stop playing the flute when it was just Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu left.. "W-who are you?!" Wen Chao crawls back at your presence "Oh? Don't remember me?" He recognized your voice... "Wei Y/N?!.. How.. You died!!" He shouted in horror as you are standing before him as you laugh. "Took you awhile to remember." Wen Chao being the coward he is calls for Wen Zhuliu. You grab his arm and twist it "What a loyal dog we have here!" You shout "Y-You-" After realizing who he is facing with... "That's right! It's me, Wei Y/N." they all gasp as you announce your presence. “Y/N-ge?! They said you were dead!” Wei Wuxian shouts “They were right, I did die but in the same time I did not.” Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were absolutely relived you were safe. “Wen Chao.. You evil son of a gun. You will pay!” You played your flute rapidly and Wang Lingjiao’s corpse lunges at Wen Chao. “Help me! Wen Zhuliu!!” He cries “His name must taste good in your mouth hm? How about..” You ordered Wang Lingjiao to stop as you cut of his tongue “That will make you shut up.” You also broke Wen Chao’s and Wen Zhuliu’s golden core. You then ordered Wang Lingjiao to attack him once more. “Ge! Stop this!” Your younger brother screams but you didn’t listen. Your brother may be shamless and carefree but now.. He didn’t want this. Jiang Cheng on the other hand laughs like a maniac as other watch in horror. You collect the remaining resentful energy and walked to your little brothers. "A-Cheng, a-Xian, long time no see. Did you miss me?" You smile and the green fire died and corpses fell to the ground. "Ge.." Wei Wuxian's tears began to flow again as he jumped to your arms "Don't leave ever again! Got that?! DON'T." Jiang Cheng says as he joins the hug while you rub their backs to comfort them.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ First meet in Wen refugee camp for Wen's ☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ ( No, a-Yuan belongs to Wangxian and it shall stay that way. Instead I take place because I want in on the fun )

You meet Wen Qing again when you stroll around Yunmeng "Wei-gongzi!! Help me!" She shouts as you run to help her "Wen Qing! What happened?!" You ask as her face was all scrunched up and dirt and soot covered her face "W-Wen Ning! Grandma Wen! Uncle four..." Tears roll down her face as she says almost every name of the Wen's who are in danger "They all might die! Please help us!" She pleads with you as you agree to help her and when she showed you exactly what she meant.. The people at this point you could compare them to a skeleton ( Sorry if I offended people ). The Jin's were ruthless.. They were whipping some elderly women and some they made them trip and fall. And mind you but it was a cold and rainy night they might catch a cold! "Stop!" You say as the Jins pause for a minute "Or what? Wei Y/N... You can't kill us!" The audacity of some of the people.. "Grandma!!" You hear from the other side and you see a grandma protecting a little girl as one of the Jins raise their sword at them "Die in hell!!" he says as you run to block him from hurting the 2 "People like you hurt the innocent, they did nothing during the war! What makes you have the right to make them suffer!?" You shout at them "Their Wen dogs that's why!" One of them shouts and other agree. This time nobody stopped you from protecting all the Wens in Qiongqi path.. "Wen Ning!" Wen Qing shouts as she found her brother while you help the other Wen's stand up "Wen Ning!.." He was dead. No heartbeat, no movement.. You were too late. But not really to late, the resentful energy was absorbed by Wen Ning and he came back to life! "Wen Ning!" Wen Qing shout but he didn't listen "Wen Qionglin!" You shout at him and he stops. "W-Wei... Gongzi.." He says as he regains his conscious. "Wen Qing, everyone. We will go to Yling since Yunmeng is out of the question. We can stay there." You announce as they nod. "Ge! What are you doing!?" Wei Wuxian shouts from above "Wei Y/N! What are you planning?!" Jin bast- I mean! Jin Guangshan shouts at you, clearly mad about the whole situation of his slaves leaving him. "A-Xian, a-Cheng.. I'm sorry.." and you left them breaking your promise.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ In Yling where you all settled in ☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

"Y/N-ge!" Wen Xiaoyue shouts as she jumps to your arms "Woah! You're getting heavier!" You laugh "Are you saying I'm fat?.." Xiaoyue's big smile turned into a small pout accompanied with tears in her eyes "No! No! It's a good thing!" And you wipe her tears. "Y/N-ge! There are some people outside the barriers one looks like Y/N-ge and there was 2 other boys. Should I get them?" You immediately knew who who she was talking about.. "Yes, bring them here. I'll be waiting!"

Xiaoyue runs quite fast since she ate too much sugar.. She brings down every barrier with no sweat "Hi!" She finally brings down the last barrier "Really? So the cultivation world is scared of a mere child?" Jiang Cheng looks at Lan Wangji "Hmph!" She kicks jiang Cheng where it hurts =D ( *Not* Sorry Jiang Cheng ) "Watch your mouth purple man." * Que the purple guy xd * "My name is Wen Xiaoyue!" She smiles at them "Follow me to Y/N-ge!" They follow Xiaoyue and Wei Wuxian carries Jiang cheng ( because I kick hard in real life too ) as they reach you "Y/N-ge!!" She hugs you again "Hi guys! And what happened to Jiang Cheng?.." You ask your brother "That brat kicked me in my-" Jiang Cheng was interrupted when Xiaoyue gave him a death glare with a evil smile "basically she kicked him where it hurt the most." Lan Wangji said while Wei Wuxian laughs "She kicks hard right? I am proud to say Jiang Cheng is the 4rth victim of Xiaoyue." You smirk at finally someone felt your paino "Anyways.. Why are you here?" You say as you carry Xiaoyue in your arms "Oh we wanted to check up on you ge!" Wei Wuxian says to you with a smile as you all begin to talk on what happened and Xiaoyue jumps down from your arms "I will go play with a-Yuan!" ( Wen Yuan eats quite long and Xiaoyue eats fast okay? ) You nod and continue with your conversation with your brothers and brother-to-be.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ Fall of the Yling Laozu ( burial mounds siege )☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

During the start of the siege even after Wen Qing and Wen Ning and others sacrificed themselves they still are after you.. "A-Yue! A-Yuan!" You call as the 2 children ( not siblings ) "Y/N-ge!" They cry "Why did everyone leave?" Wen Yuan asks you and you feel their foreheads "You guys have fever!" You say at them "It was cold at night.." Xiaoyue answers. You sigh and give them medicine and food, you hear shouting outside "Shoot.." You tell the children to hide and so they did as you go outside "Why are you here?" You ask the people "We are here to kill you!" A young cultivator says. You laugh as the battle commences. "A-Yuan let's go!" Xiaoyue cries "Mn.." He grabs her hand and they went outside all the barriers "Xiaoyue?! What are you doing?" Wei Wuxian asks them "Y/N-ge is fighting with some people and we hear metal.. Help him please!" Xiaoyue begs Wei Wuxian "Lan Zhan, Carry the both of them back to Gusu or Yunmeng. Make sure they are safe." Lan Zhan nods and carries them both back to Gusu.

"Ge! stop it!" Wei Wuxian joins in the battle "A-Y/N! Enough!" Yanli joins in "JIe?! What are you doing here?!" Jiang Cheng asks her "Is it bad I want to protect my family from further harm?" She asks Jiang Cheng "Ge! Xiaoyue and a-Yuan is scared! They need you! Snap out of it!" Wei Wuxian shouts "Shut up Wei Wuxian! Wei Y/N is out of control! I told you he couldn't handle it!!" Jin Guangshan bursts out "No one talks to my brother that way!" You play the flute and Wei Wuxian runs to you Yanli follows but you called Wen Ning at the wrong time... "Wei Wuxian!!!" Jiang Cheng and Yanli shout out "A-Xian!" You run up to your brother "Ge.. I'm fine-" He coughs out blood "No your not.." Tears run down your face "Enough ge.. Stop it.." Wei Wuxian still coughing blood says to you "Okay.." You stop the fight and a cultivator swings his sword high "Die Yling laozu!" You block it with your Dizi. "Shut up.." You say to him as you kill him. "Bandage a-Xian, jie.. Please.." She does and Jiang Cheng and Yanli goes to the physician. "A-Xian is hurt badly.. A-Xian.." You say bringing your hand to your hair "Ha..Haha... Damn you all!!" you say and your last words were "I'm sorry, a-Cheng, Jie, a-Yue, a-Yuan.. I have to leave you." You fall down until your body wasn't found... "Ge.. Why did you leave?..." Wei Wuxian asks himself

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ Ressurection ☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

( me and a-Yuan remember each other but not everything else but we have some flashbacks when we see something familiar or we hear something about the Yling laozu )

ages :

Sizhui, Xiaoyue, Jingyi, Zizhen : 16

Jin Ling : 14

Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Jin Zixuan, Nie Huaisang : 37

Yanli, Xichen, Mingjue : 38-42(?)

Mo Xuanyu : 21

You woke up in a shed with white and red rouge on your face "What-" A foot stomps on your temple "Hmph! How dare you tell on me?! Lunatic!" You hear a sh- I mean! a 'LoVeLy' voice "Yea! How dare you tell on the young master!" A another voice chimes in "Your just a damn bastard!" Young master Mo says to you “Ha.. Do you know who you just kicked down?” You say to him as you slap him “T-this isn’t over! Mo Xuanyu! You will pay!!” The servant shouts and you grin to yourself “My, my! He’s weak as hell!” You look down to the floor and see the sacrifice ritual written in human blood, tailsmans on the floor, some rogue in the floor for no reason. “Oh?” You say as you look at your arm “Looks like I can’t leave yet hm?” You ride on the donkey and ride to Mo manor

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆ Meeting you again ☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

“And so I would like you to please ged rid of the evil spirts trying to kill our people at night, esteemed cultivators.” Lady Mo asks the 3 juniors. “Don’t worry miss, as long as all of you stay inside and not touch or bring any of the flags. All of you will be saved.” Xiaoyue speaks to the Lady Mo and sips a cup of tea “Yes, like what Xiaoyue said. Everyone should stay inside for the night while the 3 of us work on excorsing the spirits.” Sizhui adds. ( they don’t remeber everyone but they remember each other okay? Refering to Xiaoyue and Sizhui. I wanted to tag along since I can’t let you have all the fun now can I? ) Wei Y/N ( you ) listened to their conversation. At night everyone went to sleep but not everyone.. Young master Mo was one of the hard-headed people stayed up and got one of the flags from the flag formation “Haha.. Mo Xuanyu.. You will die tonight!” He announces, but you were already outside “Hm? This guy is the real lunatic.. Those Lans already warned you.” You cross your arms. Young master Mo fell to the ground absorbing the resentful energy “Oh no..” You say as Xiaoyue turns her head at the noise and sees... “Mo-gongzi! Please stay inside-“ She was interrupted when the man lunges to her. “Sizhui I will deal with this.” She says as she brings out her sword “I’m sorry Mo-gongzi.. But you didn’t listen.” As she pushes forward “Be careful Yuyu!” Sizhui tells her. “Your finished.” As she freezes him with a single strike “You still cease to amaze me when you freeze opponents Xiaoyue.” Jingyi tells her “Thanks and..” She walks up to where you hid “What are you doing?” You scream causing everyone to wake up “Mo Xuanyu! What is the meaning-“ Lady Mo gasps as she saw her (trashy) son “My son!” She cries and calls his name “You! You couldn’t even protect a child!” She points at Xiaoyue whose name seems familiar.. “Child? He was like... 17? Perhaps? Ans he’s a ‘child’ despite his age he acts like a 3 year old.” You tell her and Jingyi just tries to hold his laugh. You hear the wind rustle and push Lady Mo away. “What are you doing?!” She tells you and she sees the servant already going to choke her “Everyone! Stay inside!” Sizhui tells them as they do as what they are told, afraid for their lives. You hear the sound of a Dizi and a flute combined “This must be..” The 3 look up “Hanguang-jun! Senior-Wei!” They run to the pair “How was the mission?” He pats their heads “Good, but 2 people died in the latter.” Jingyi reports “Wait..” Your younger brother spots the sleeves of the corpses “It’s right ( or left ) arm is missing..” He examines the corpse “Check if anybody else is outside, they might be possesed by the spirit.” At just at the moment he said that, Lady Mo attacked him but Lan Wangji blocked her struming the strings of the Guqin “Are you okay Wei Ying?” Wei Wuxian nods at the man which is.. Lan Wangji?! You take a look around to see if you can escape but Xiaoyue found you again.. “Mo-gongzi, I thought we told you to stay inside.” She says to you and the 2 older men stare at you “Ge..” Wei Wuxian’s tears began to form “It’s me a-Xian.” You open your arms wide to hug your little brother “We thought you died..” He tells you “I was summoned, I’m happy to see you again a-Xian.” The both of you cried in each others arms until the next morning you had alot on your plate to catch up on.. “You remember Lan Zhan right? And Lan Xichen? I married Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng is in a relationship with Xichen!” He announces as you spit your tea out “Really?! Congrats!” You say to them “Oh and.. a-Yue! A-Yuan! Come over here!” The 2 of them walked towards you “Introduce yourselves.” Lan Wangji tells them “Lan Yuki, used to be Wen Yuki courtesy name Lan Xiaoyue.” She bows “Lan Yuan, used to be Wen Yuan courtesy name Lan Sizhui.” He too bows to you “A-Yuan.. A-Yue..” The memories start to flow to your brain as you remembered the 2 and what had happened “We missed you, Y/N-ge.” You tear up seeing the children you took in all grown up “I missed you guys too..” And the both of them and Wei Wuxian hugs you while tearing up again

[ahiddenpath]

What do you think of Tri?

Oof, you're going right for it! xD I'll toss this under the cut, as my understanding is that this is kind of a hot button issue. I can't really tag it as Tri positivity or negativity, as I think Tri is a mixed bag, so I guess be ready for both if you read on, but skewed towards negative.

Basically, I think Tri had some interesting ideas, but was executed poorly.

I love the idea of the National Data Processing Bureau and the strained human/digimon relationship. I loooove the concept of the Chosen being stuck between several forces (the general populace and authorities being against them on earth, Yggdrasil wanting to destroy earth and humans, Homeostasis wanting to restore the Digital World at the cost of Meicoomon, the partner digimon, and the Chosen). The Chosen taking a stand against the force that helped choose and guide them? Nice, interesting.

But there are a lot of problems. Even the most basic story telling cohesion is a mess. There is a time when the scene shifts from day to night in an instant (Saikai). There are times when the internal rules suddenly change without explanation (electronics are said to malfunction around distortions in Saikai, but Koushiro talks to Mimi on the phone during a distortion in Ketsui while a reporter broadcasts the fight by a distortion live from a helicopter). And none of this is "it is not cohesive with the bajillion episodes and movies that preceded it" stuff; these are internal issues within Tri itself.

In my opinion, there are enormous pacing issues (extremely slow pace until the last act, with the main villain Yggdrasil info dumping their motive in a few sentences towards the end of Shoshitsu) and issues with the Chosen ignoring leads and problems mounting around them to engage in fluffy stuff like... onsen trips, culture festivals, ghost stories, and drawn out conversations about... well, mostly about avoiding actually saying anything to each other, with the occasional actual conversation.

Oh, and I'm not saying Tri shouldn't have fluff. Fans love that, in general. My position, though, is that you need to allocate enough time to your plot first, and in my opinion, Tri failed to do so.

And obviously, the treatment of the 02 crew is terrible, as was the lack of reaction to apparently "destroying" V-mon and Wormmon in Ketsui. There's really no way to adequately explain why the Chosen failed to react to those issues (or had slight reactions delayed a few days/weeks/months? I'm unclear on the timeline, but Hikari and Takeru should have noticed that Daisuke and Miyako weren't at school right away).

I've heard folks try to defend various... unpopular aspects of Tri by saying things like... I dunno, "you don't understand this type of Japanese story structure," or "the Chosen trust that the 02 kids can take care of themselves," or "you don't get the philosophy behind it." And everyone is entitled to their opinion/interpretation, but, um.

There's a difference between offering information on whatever type of story structure someone thinks Tri has and the potential philosophy behind it and telling folks that they simply lack the knowledge/intelligence/reference point to appreciate a series of animated films. And historically, the Chosen are supportive and quick to help one another, while also believing in each other. The older kids give the 02 crew room to do their thing in 02, but when one of them gets stuck (Hikari is locked in the Digital World city), or when the kids needed real world support (Taichi, Yamato, and Koushiro go camping to cover their absence), they... they help, same day, right away. Same thing for Jyou, who dropped his test to help the kids when they were stuck underwater.

Even with all of that, there were moments that made Tri worth it for me. For example, Yamato and Gabumon talking about their future, and how Gabumon will always be beside him and supporting him, that shit got me dude ;_; There were some powerful emotional highs in Tri, and a lot of moments to enjoy. They were just... connected to a roughshod plot that couldn't support them.

BUT! Do you know what happens when I enjoy aspects of canon, but want to change some things? FANFIC, THAT'S WHAT! So that's a huge bonus for this gal!

I don't have any strong feelings about Tri one way or the other; I think I'm pretty dispassionate about saying, "I liked this, I didn't like that." So I don't mind discussing and exploring it. While it released, admittedly, I was more emotional, but I firmly believe that fandom is a place to have fun. If something about it bothers me, I make adjustments and/or step away as needed.

So, whatever your stance on Tri, please take care of yourself! And thank you for the ask, hopefully I didn't ruffle too many feathers, lol!

[chizyk]

Death is only the beginning

MarcoAce Week 2019, promt “Monsters”;

@marcoaceweek AO3 “ “Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him. ”

Heavily inspired by the movies “The Mummy” (1999) and “The Mummy Returns” (2001). 

Mummy AU, Modern AU; Rating: T (just in case);  Italics = speach in ancient Egyptian.

A bit late for this promt, but better late than never xD. Enjoy <3

“’It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book,’ he said.” Ace kept ranting under his breath, mocking his brother, Sabo, as he ran through the corridors of the ancient Egyptian city that had been believed to be lost for several millennia. The situation that they had gotten themselves into was out of this world, even by their standards. If he were to tell it to anyone, they would, no doubt, think he was insane. It’s something you’d expect to see on TV or read in a book – in the fantasy section, mind you. He still hoped that this was just a dream, or maybe he actually went insane and they hadn’t brought a cursed mummy back to life!

“For fucks sake!” he cursed as he rounded the corner of the long passageway, only to find yet another dead end. The place was like a maze, hieroglyphs doing very little in giving him directions at all.

He remembered reading about Hamunaptra in his ancient Egypt classes at his university, and how the modern historians and Egyptologists regarded it as nothing more than a myth. But when Luffy returned from one of his crazy trips with his friends and actually brought back an artifact that contained a map of the location of the city, it lit a fire in Ace, one bigger than ever before. He had an intense feeling that he simply must go and see it with his very own eyes.

He loved ancient Egypt, had done ever since he was a child; but it wasn’t just a random fascination, there was something else, something that he didn’t share with a lot of people.

He’d had dreams that he couldn’t explain ever since he was as young as four. Dreams so vivid and real, that at that age he could not separate the dreams from reality. And he had known it wasn’t just childish imagination, but no one could explain it. As Ace grew older he started to have visions, just like his dreams, only while he was awake. They got him into plenty of awkward situations, but that had been when he finally knew there was a lot more to it. They weren’t just random dreams he was having, or some crazy paranoia or delusion. He wasn’t crazy. These dreams and visions had continuation – the same place, same people. It was like a puzzle, piecing everything together piece by piece. He had vivid visions of two men, both tall and strong. One of them was older and looked like a pharaoh, judging by his attire and authority that he displayed. The other was also of high importance but of lesser stature; Ace believed he was either the pharaoh’s adviser or a high priest.

As for himself… he had thought he was a servant, but as he grew older and went into puberty, some of his visions started to get some sexual undertones and later became downright explicit, involving both the pharaoh and the high priest. He never knew their names – they rarely talked in his dreams – and he was able to understand parts of it only when he started to study and learn ancient Egyptian.

From what he could tell and puzzle together, both his dreams and information found in his research and studies of their societal norms and customs from back in the day, he was most likely a concubine of the pharaoh, but was having an affair with the high priest. The forbidden love scenario.

He tried to find historical records of the people he saw and managed to trace only the pharaoh – Akhenaten. He wasn’t the most popular ruler – as a matter of fact, finding information on him was almost impossible and what information he did manage to get on him was very limited and brief. All Ace could find out was that he ruled for approximately 20 years, but wasn’t loved very much by his people.

He believed his visions and dreams were memories. Memories of his past life. He read many articles about reincarnation and perhaps he would’ve been skeptical in other circumstances, but he couldn’t ignore everything that had happened to him. The possibility of ever being able to find more clues on what he saw in his dreams and what it meant was what drove Ace to go into studying ancient Egypt in the first place.

When they received full funding for the expedition to find the city he was beyond excited. He felt like he was about to discover something important not just historically, but personally. For some reason he always believed that City of the Dead was not just a myth, and perhaps his past life had a connection to that place.

It was risky to go out and wander around the desert to find it, but when they did, it was far greater than whatever they imagined they would find. It was magnificent! Most of the buildings were, shockingly, still intact and in good condition. Simply extraordinary. The moment Ace set foot on the grounds he felt as if he were…home. As if he was where he was supposed to be.

But now he was regretting ever thinking that coming here was a good idea. Discovering Hamunaptra was possibly the biggest historical discovery made in recent years, but they had fucked up. They had fucked up and now everyone was fucked along with them!

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He knew something was off the moment they stepped foot in that unmarked tomb under the statue of Anubis. He tried to brush it off –he was so, so excited, after all – but when they found the sarcophagus with a mummy still decomposing in it, Ace felt the feeling return tenfold, especially after seeing all the writings and warnings across his burial place.

He knew he shouldn’t have let Sabo open the Book of the Dead, let alone read from it. He had a bad feeling about that too, yet he couldn’t place his finger on it, simply knowing that nothing good would come of it. Yet he still let them do it, let them convince him that he was being silly and superstitious. Now they were stuck here, separated from one another, in the chaos and panic that unfolded at the camp when they discovered an empty sarcophagus and dead bodies of their two colleagues who looked like they had been mummified alive. And it turned out that now they had a rogue undead mummy risen from the grave, killing everyone in sight and apparently bringing its curse upon the world.

Ace rounded another corner and cursed under his breath again as he faced another dead end. Unfortunately, though, he couldn’t stop in time and ran straight into the wall and hit his shoulder, but instead of just bouncing painfully back the wall moved on the impact sent Ace to the other side of it.

He barely managed to regain his footing rather ungracefully, almost landing on his face. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and when he turned his head towards it he wished he hadn’t done, because the sight that greeted him chilled his blood.

There, right before him, stood the newly awakened mummy, holding Alex, his colleague, by the throat and literally sucking the life out of him. He watched horrified as in mere seconds the mummy dried his colleague’s body to skin and bones, rejuvenating his own rotting bones and muscle tissues in the process. The sight was grotesque. Ace had seen many unpleasant things in his life – he and his brothers had a knack for getting themselves into trouble more often than not – however, this was something else.

Disgust and horror gripped Ace’s body as he watched his colleague being killed. He tried to move back, pushing the wall behind him, trying to make it open back up, but this time it was not having it, appearing to be a one-way entry. Just his luck to be stuck alone with a life-sucking mummy!

He looked around frantically, panicking internally and searching for an escape. His back pressed against the wall in futile attempt to make it move, even if he knew damn well it wouldn’t.

“Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him. Ace wasn’t a feeble man in any shape or form. He knew how to fight and defend himself and could land a pretty good punch on guys who were several times bigger than him, however he wasn’t stupid and knew how to pick his battles. This was beyond him, and he had no chance.

As the creature continued to move towards him, he began to feel more and more claustrophobic. He had an urge to wail out of frustration like a wounded animal backed into a corner. He tried to move away from the creature as far as he could, sliding along the wall before he was stuck in a corner with the creature looming over him, no escape in sight. The mummy blocked his path, not that he thought he had a chance to begin with. He felt his legs going weak. He only experienced that kind of fear only one time before in his life. After the fire broke out in their house, Sabo had got badly burned and needed surgery on one side of his body. He almost died that day and the thought of losing Sabo or Luffy was unbearable for Ace. At least he hoped that they would be able to escape the city before the creature got its hands on them. Better him than them.

The mummy stopped right before him and when it reached out its bony arm towards him Ace turned away and shut his eyes, knowing what was about to happen and not wanting to witness it. He’d rather imagine the faces of his brothers before he died.

However, instead of being gripped by the throat and life being sucked out of him like he expected, he felt cold and slightly moist fingers brush against his cheek. He involuntarily jumped at the contact. The touch was gentle and completely out of place. A shiver went down his spine as Ace felt those fingers slide along his jaw and down his neck. It made him think that maybe it liked to play with its victims before killing them, which made the whole situation even worse – he’d rather die fast and be done with it.

His nerves were tingling; he could still physically feel the mummy’s fingers on his skin even as it moved on to gently brush the stray lock of his curly hair behind his ear. His eyes shot open as it gently but firmly gripped him by the chin, forcing him to look it in the eye.

Whatever he had expected to see, it wasn’t that.

“Do not fear me.” it said in ancient Egyptian, it’s voice was gruff and raspy. It spoke slowly as if it was trying out its vocal cords that were probably not in the best of shape, judging by the state of its body.

Obviously, what it said did very little at calming Ace down; all it did was make him confused. What did it want from him if not to kill him?

“W-what… do you want?” he could read ancient Egyptian with no problem, but it was one thing to work with ancient texts and hieroglyphs and quite other to work an actual conversation in a dead language. Everything that was happening didn’t make sense!

He got even more confused when he saw the features on its face softening. It’s gaze, even with hollow sockets and rotten flesh, read sad and full of longing as it stared at him.

“You,” it said simply, making the little hairs on the back of Ace’s neck stand.

“Why don’t you kill me, then?” He knew he probably shouldn’t be so bold, but beating around the bush was never his thing, despite how many times it had gotten him in trouble in the past.

“I do not wish to harm you, Ankhreshet.” It attempted to pull its mouth into something akin to a smile, although it only succeeded in making Ace feel even more uncomfortable and disturbed, and he didn’t like where it was going at all.

Gentle touches and those looks. Ace knew those looks. That was how one looks at the person they love. Ace wasn’t an idiot; he was able to connect the dots and realize that this mummy was confusing him for someone else.

“I-I’m not who you think I am,” he said quietly, not being able to look into its face. That was probably a nail in his coffin of his own doing. Perhaps he had seen too many horror movies to know that this sort of thing never went down well with evil spirits and alike. To his surprise, which shouldn’t even be a surprise, considering he shouldn’t be judging this like a cheesy horror movie, the creature smiled again (or at least attempted to) and this time leaned in so close that their faces were mere inches apart.

“Aren’t you?”  Ace’s breath caught in his throat and before he could retaliate, the creature grabbed him around the waist. He gasped and stared in complete shock as everything around him started to transform before his very eyes. The walls around him changed from dusty and faded to become new as if just built and freshly painted. The corridors were brighter and everything around him had more color. It didn’t look like a dig that was abandoned for several thousand years, it looked as if they were sent back in time.

But most importantly the mummy in front of him shifted from decomposing flesh to a man from his visions! The tall, blond high priest with the weird hairstyle that he saw in his dreams was right before him, and all Ace could do was stare in astonishment.

“You…” was all he could say, still in shock. He must be dreaming, surely. This just couldn’t be happening. But it looked and felt real – he could feel the man’s arms around his waist, but they didn’t feel cold or moist anymore, as they had been moments ago. They felt warm, human. The man smiled again as he lifted one hand to cup Ace’s cheek and gently brush his thumb along his cheekbone. The look in his eyes made Ace’s legs go weak, but this time it wasn’t with fear.

This man has plagued his dreams ever since he was a teenager. He would never admit it to anyone, but he even jerked off to those dreams when he was awake. He felt disgusted every time he would wake up from a dream where similar scenarios would play out with the pharaoh. Even if he knew it wasn’t actually happening, it still made him feel violated and dirty. He would spend at least hour and a half in the shower afterwards, trying to scrub the invisible hands off him.

But with this man…he relished those dreams. Every look, every touch… just thinking about it would make Ace hot all over. He had never met a man in his life that could actually make him feel like this man could. He knew it was ridiculous; he’d had multiple failed relationships simply because they couldn’t fill the void that his visions had created. Every single man he dated just wasn’t enough to make him forget and it was absurd, he knew it, to be in love with a man he saw in his visions.

“Stay with me.” and by god Ace wished he could. The man being a cursed mummy be damned; all Ace could think about was having those full lips on his and those big, strong hands roaming his body, making him tremble with want like they did in his dreams.

As if reading his mind, the man leaned down and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Simple, just lips pressed together and nothing more, yet Ace could feel a spark of electricity going through his body. He wanted more. He grabbed the man by his face and angled their mouths so he could deepen the kiss. He licked over the man’s lower lip before pulling at it with his teeth gently, earning a deep, throaty growl from the man. Without warning the man plunged his tongue into Ace’s mouth, making Ace moan and part his lips, giving the blond man access to lick and map his mouth as he pleased. And Ace didn’t mind in the slightest. He threw his hands around the man’s neck, bringing their bodies even closer. He moaned again as he felt those large arms on his waist moving downwards towards his hips and squeezing them firmly.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

They both jumped as they broke apart to look in the direction where the shout came from, only to see Sabo and Luffy both looking terrified and shocked. That brought Ace back to reality, breaking the spell that he was under and remembering what was actually happening. The mummy roared at his brothers, ready to advance at them, but Ace intercepted it, getting in its way and grabbing it by the shoulders.

“Nay, I’ll stay with you! Just don’t hurt them.” He pleaded, looking into its eyes. “Please.”

“What the hell are you doing, Ace? Get away from it!” He could feel Sabo’s furious gaze on his back, no doubt angry and scared that he has gotten himself into more trouble already.

“It’s fine Sabo, just go!” he pleaded with his brother, hoping he’d listen.

He didn’t.

“What do you mean, ‘it’s fine’? What the hell is this?” Ace couldn’t blame him really – he would’ve reacted the same if either of them were in his place – but as their big brother it was his duty to protect them.

“Yeah, we ain’t going anywhere without you, Ace. And I’m ready to fight that damn mummy!” Of course he was! Luffy just had to chime in his own two cents; it didn’t help that both of his brothers were extremely stubborn and overprotective, just like he was. It was beyond frustrating.

“No, guys, you don’t understand—” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as he was grabbed around the waist again. The second he looked into the mummy’s eyes the world went black and he slipped into oblivion.

Before anyone could react, the mummy picked Ace up bridal style, engulfed them both in sand and disappeared, leaving two distraught and horrified brothers behind.

The creature walked slowly through the dusty corridors of an empty temple, gently cradling the body in its arms. It laid Ace down onto the ritual table with the same reverence, softly brushing his cheek with its fingers.

________________________________________________________________

“I am willing to be a monster and set the world ablaze, if it means we’ll be together again, my love,” it rasped as it watched Ace sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of his predicament and what the future held for him.

[szopenhauer]

Have you ever tried to walk on a moving vehicle and fallen over?: I didn’t fall When was the last time you were a passenger in a car and sat in the back?: I always sit in the back

What is the longest your hair has ever been?: to my butt Who does the grocery shopping in your household?: we all do but me and dad most often What is the best thing you’ve ever bought at a thrift shop?: I bought so many things! Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport?: not applicable Do you watch The Simpsons regularly?: I don’t but I like this show anyway :) Did you ever go to summer camp when you were younger?: twice Do you know anyone who is fluent in a second tongue?: me Have you ever been pressured into doing drugs? Did you say yes or no?: I said no

When you were younger, did you have a swing set or a playhouse in your backyard? had a swing Do you burn incense? I heard it causes cancer :(

Does being in love make you nervous? yep Have you ever been so quiet that nobody noticed that you were there? from what I remember Did you ever stop having feelings for someone and then started having those feelings again for them? yeah Do you stay home when you are sick or do you still go out? stay home What’s your relationship with the person you last texted? we’re datinh Have you had more than 3 gfs at the same time? nooo Are you in a good mood right now? sigh... Have you kissed someone with braces? I have XD Who’s your favorite redhead? real, celeb or character?

How do you feel about being in the house alone? cool When was the last time you burnt your mouth from eating something too hot? it happens often as I don’t feel it being hot most of the time :( Do you prefer instrumental songs or ones with lyrics? lyrics Do you have any old friends who you still kinda speak to but it’s awkward? sigh...  When was the last time you used a quote from a movie in real life? today? Do you forget things easily? depends/some

Would/Do you like having brown eyes? maybe Do you spend a lot of time on the internet? too much Have you bought anyone a Christmas gift? not yet

What is one of your favorite compliments to recieve? compliments are awkward :x Do you compliment other random people? rarely What do you use Facebook for? texting mostly Do you love cartoons? some are nice Do you paint your own nails? I did

Describe your style in one word. comfy Describe your current personality in one or two words. complicated Are you afraid of child birth/pregnancy? it’s one of the reasons why I don’t want any kids What are you favorite bottoms to wear? leggings or pajama pants Do you like dresses? not really Do you eat cake with a spoon or a fork? tiny fork but spoon is fine as well What is your favorite sex position? ;) I'm not a fan of sex What color will you paint your nails next? black if any Are you afraid of ghosts/hauntings? kinda What is your favorite game to play with family/friends? board games and/or car racing games with dad What is your beer of choice? I don’t drink beer Do you like glitter? could say so Have you ever owned a Ouija board? hell no Do you like to text? it seems If you had to be an animal for Halloween, what would it be? bat, cat or wolf (eventually a raccoon but it’s not a Halloween related animal) Do you have more dry skin or oily skin? mixed

Name something that starts with the first letter of your first name. zoo Name something that starts with the first letter of your middle name? - And your lastname. chicken Would you spend 20 dollars on a candle? no way What is the goriest thing you’ve seen in real life? hmm... Twilight or Harry Potter? HP Would you rather be a vampire or a mermaid? vampire P.E or Math? Math or Science? dunno What do you do when someone is really rude to you in public? hard to tell Do you argue with your significant other a lot? we don’t argue  Have you ever had a really painful breakup? they were painful to me What do you like to write with? my hands lmfao Do you prefer to be pale or tan? Don’t say in between. pale What is your favorite thing about Christmas? decorations and gifts but also spending time with my parents Do you prefer white or black electronics? black A stranger comes up to you and gives you a big hug, what do you do? :o Do your eyes tear up when you’re nervous? might Apples or Bananas? apples Water or Milk? water Would you milk a cow given the chance? it’s weird Where do you shop for your underwear? I don’t have a fav place to do that

Do you feel more comfortable sleeping in your own bed or in a hotel bed? my own 

Do you prefer to travel by plane, car, or boat? car

Who is your favorite travel buddy? dad

What’s the best souvenir you have ever purchased? can’t choose

What’s your favorite book to read during a long ride? I don’t read while travelling

What’s the most entertaining story you have about getting lost? me and my father been talking so loud that someone on the street just stopped by and told us where the place we’re looking for is ^^”

What was the most expensive trip you have ever taken? ask my family

Which songs are on your travel playlist? whatever

Which travel blogs do you follow? none

Do you complain when you are bored, or look for something to do? I’m never bored so I don’t complain about it

Do other people’s complaints ever get on your nerves? some/depends

How did you develop your specific taste in music? can’t explain that 

If you drink coffee, how do you like it (with cream, black, etc)? I don’t drink coffee

Did your parents sign you up for things like piano lessons and ballet? no and now I’m a loser

What is your favorite children’s song? Kokoszeczka

Are you good at telling jokes? I am

Other than gas, what do you frequently purchase at a gas station? I don’t purchase anything there

Ten years ago, did you think that this was how the world would turn out? ...

Ever think you might be better off living in a different time period? yup

Do you walk regularly? not regularly but often

If you could have the answer to one question, what question would that be? personal

Do you like any bands from other countries? obvi, most of those I like aren’t from Poland, I don’t like polish music 

When was the last time you mailed a handwritten letter? years ago

Do you still receive Christmas cards? my mom does

Do you know anyone who is really hard to please? sadly

What gets you through the day? I wonder myself

If you found out your bf/gf was homosexual, how would you react? I know she is - elseway we wouldn’t date (ok, she could be bi, I know)

If you are homosexual, and you find out your bf/gf is straight, then what? we break up 

Have you ever sung karaoke? What songs? Was it fun? it was Ich troje song *embarassed*

Have you called anyone today? What did you talk about? not today

Do you drive around the neighborhood to look at lights around Xmas? I like to look but I don’t ride around just for that

Why are so many single people bitter on Valentine’s Day? because they’re lonely and because this day is fake 

What is one tradition you hate participating in? personal

Have you made a fool of yourself today? probably

When was the last time you did something for someone else? recently

Do you let other people choose the radio stations in your car? but I don’t have a car 

Would you say that you are an accepting and openminded person? am not

Have you ever been convinced to try something you didn’t want to do? I have been

When was the last time you cheated–at anything? last time I used motherlode in The sims 4 game?

When you are mad at someone, how do you show them? depends

When was the last time you felt you had a reality check? blergh

Have you ever felt out of touch with reality? dissociation, derealisation, depersonalisation etc.

Have you ever had a tooth pulled? not since I was a kid

How long do you you usually chew a stick of gum? didn’t check the timing

Was there any teacher that made life living hell for you? it wasn’t THAT bad but it wasn’t good 

How about any student(s)? I’ve been bullied if it’s what you’re asking me about - still could be much worse

When was the last time you felt overwhelmed? 24/7

Do you have any coffee mugs with funny pictures/sayings? Did I just rolled my eyes out loud 

Describe something strange that you own? where should I start...

Do you think graffiti is a valid form of artistic expression? I don’t approve of it when it vandalizes property

Are you afraid to walk places at night if you are alone? I’m a petite woman so...

What do you think of people who are shy? hard to keep contact with them

Have you ever gone through a time when you had no friends? How did you deal with it? not counting my family - last several years - I was ok with it as I’m a loner, homebody, introvert

What is something that shouldn’t bother you, but does anyway? fuck off!

Has any food ever made you sick to the point where you’d be afraid to try it again? that happened more than once already

Can you hear traffic right now? I don’t hear anything :3

Have you taken a painkiller today? no

Have you had a nap today? neither

Are you currently in a relationship? If so, do you think it will last? don’t feed my paranoia...

Do you have a hyphenate name or know anyone with one? (eg. Carter-Brown) my sister

Do you take your Christmas decorations down before or after New Years? after

Have you made a large purchase today? I didn’t buy anything today, it’s Sunday

Have you ever used a leaf blower? we don’t own one, we’re not rich

You see someone running around naked in the street. Your reaction? if it’s neighbor’s kid that’s no surprise

Has someone close to you died of murder? no one close to me but still a family member of some sort

Would you ever have sex with the last person you texted? done

Do you abbreviate when you text? that’s lazy of me, I know

Is anyone in the room on the phone right now? I’m playing a game

[bookenders]

Happy Storyteller Saturday! Let's say your whole cast goes on a camping trip. What activities would everyone be found doing? Who would be obsessing over trying to find a wifi signal on their phone? (I feel like the latter is Oz solely so he can work, am I right? XD) What happens when it inevitably starts to downpour?

Storyteller Saturday!

@quilloftheclouds​, these poor fools on a camping trip would be a true comedy of errors. I had way too much fun with this one.

I’ve never been camping before (I am not a big naturey person) but here’s my best guess at what would go on!

Allow me to get narrative for a mo’. This is a whole thing for these folks. 

Loooong answer incoming!

It’s a beautiful sunny day, and Car 1 has arrived at the campsite. Out step Oz, Gemma, Mel, and Harry. Car 2 arrives shortly after and Mary, Treena, Jill, and Fred get out and follow the others.

Car 1′s trip: Oz insisted on driving and Harry barely fought him about it. He and Gemma are in the front seats, Mel and Harry are in the back. If Harry sat up front, she’d annoy Oz so much that he’d kick her out halfway there. Gemma is at least a little more subdued, except when she tries to change the music from classic rock and Oz threatens to turn the car around if she doesn’t stop. Mel and Harry chat in the back seat, Harry doing most of the talking. Every so often someone asks Mel a question she doesn’t want to answer and then the whole car gets a little awkward after whatever she chooses to respond with, since no one knows what to say about that. Gemma usuallly rescues the car from awkward silences by pestering Oz.

Car 2′s trip: Jill is not allowed to drive, so Treena takes the wheel. Jill is in the passenger seat, Mary and Fred are in the back. Mary and Fred talk the whole way up since they’re besties. Treena and Jill sing along to the radio and try to get the back seat to join in.

Once they set up the campsite, Oz, Harry, and Treena doing most of the work, everyone does their own thing for a bit.

Gemma drags Mel on a quick hike around the area to look at plants, even though she already knows what grows there. Mel goes along willingly to make Gemma happy.

Harry sets up all cooking tools and takes stock of the coolers. Snacks are a free-for-all unless Harry is standing by the food, in which case she gives you what she wants to give you and you accept it.

Fred double checks his bags and confirms he forgot his pajamas and an extra pair of socks. He borrows one of Oz’s four extra pairs.

Mary finds a quiet place to sit and pulls out her sketchbook.

Treena thinks about catching up to Gemma and Mel but settles on finding a comfy place to sit and reading until she gets bored. She’s the one who is constantly secretly checking for wifi. 

Jill is also walking around with her phone in the air because she didn’t pay for Spotify. She’s also the one who is the most inappropriately dressed for camping and hiking and general outdoorsy-ness. Eventually she gives up and starts singing herself until someone joins in or tells her to shush.

Oz tries to teach Fred how to pitch a tent and start a fire. Mary watches nervously from where she’s drawing. The kicker: Oz learned how from Gemma. He’s a city boy who found out he likes camping, so Gemma volunteered to help him look like he knows what he’s doing. 

Jill keeps a bucket of water at the ready.

When Gemma and Mel come back, Oz offers to teach Mel and Fred at the same time, but Mel laughs and says she already knows whatever he has to teach her. Oz gets a little salty until Jill makes a dumb inappropriate joke and Harry ruffles his hair.

Other things that totally happen:

Fred accidentally kicks a tent pole and sends it crashing down on Gemma, who is inside changing into her warm pajamas. She shrieks and some birds fly out of nearby trees.

Mel hits a fish when skipping rocks in the little steam nearby. Woops.

Jill gets bored and pulls an inflatable beach ball out of her backpack. After about 5 minutes, it gets impaled on a high tree branch. RIP. 

The Ladies, Gemma, and Mel play flashlight tag while Oz sits out and Fred watches, recording the whole thing on his phone. Gemma trips and gets a face full of dirt. Mel piggy-backs her back to the fire to check for injuries. (She’s totally fine and makes a lot of terrible doctor puns while Mel pokes at her face and elbows and knees.)

Mary’s marshmallow falls into the fire. Fred’s marshmallow falls into the fire. Jill’s marshmallow falls into the fire. Gemma laughs until her stick shakes too much and her marshmallow falls into the fire. 

With this group, campfire songs and stories are absolutely amazing. Jill has the funniest ones, Treena has the coolest ones, Oz has the shortest ones (Harry jumps in every so often to keep them interesting), Gemma has the most wholesome ones, and Mel has some weird ones that everyone loves. Mary and Harry tell ghost stories. Fred asks the most questions and keeps the stories going for as long as he can. The ones they’ve all heard before are excessively embellished for Mel’s sake. 

Song-wise, Mel and Treena teach everyone a few folk songs (Fred picks them up the fastest). Everyone teaches Mel some popular songs, too. Gemma spends way too long trying to get Oz to sing Miley Cyrus, Jill and Harry joining in.

Mel shares some of her animal knowledge when they find a raccoon and she holds it like a cat. Everyone freaks out about rabies, but Mel just laughs. After confirming it is not infested with disease, Gemma pets it. 

Mel also finds a porcupine and teaches Jill how to pick one up. This is when Oz throws up his hands and returns to camp, Harry cackling behind him.

Gemma takes the opportunity to teach everyone a little natural medicine on a group hike. Mel assists. It’s adorable, like a Science Museum tour for kids. Everyone has a great time.

In the event of the inevitable downpour:

(because, let’s be real, this would totally happen to these poor fools.)

Oz immediately stamps out the fire.

Fred, Mary, and Harry shriek and rush to their tents. Jill basks in the rain for a moment before flinging her hair out of her face and hustling to her own. Treena brings any water-sensitive things into her tent as soon as it starts.

The tent situation: Harry and Mary in one, Jill and Gemma in one, Oz shares with Fred (which is hilarious to me), and Treena and Mel share one. Guess who assigned tents to a group of adults like a 4th grade teacher? (It was Oz.)

Gemma and Mel don’t really care about the rain (and they each have a second pair of PJs because Gemma made sure they were prepared), so they stay out and make sure nothing’s gonna be damaged. They may have a moment before Oz shouts at them to get inside before they get sick. 

Treena and Jill agreed earlier in the car that Jill and Mel would switch tents, calling themselves the word’s chillest wingwomen. Sorry, not sorry, Oz. Let the ladies have some alone time on this “vacation.”

Mel totally sneaks out and sits in the rain for a few minutes to meditate.

Harry sets a bucket outside to catch rainwater. She doesn’t have any real reason for doing this. She just wants to see how much rain she can get in a bucket. Fred makes a bet with her on how full it’ll be when the rain stops, then suddenly everyone is betting on the bucket of water. Gemma and Mary win in a tie.

[clockworkspider]

you got me into this rabbit hole so; yu/huang/wang for the domestic meme!!!!

I love them so much I am so glad you’re joining me. I’ll assume they went together after retirement cause who has the time otherwise? XD

Who’s more dominant:Dominant is such a vague word to use outside of dom/sub relationships... Generally, Huang Shaotian takes the initiative, because he’s got the highest energy level. Wang JieXi makes the call, cause he’s the pickiest. Yu WenZhou is easygoing, and tend to go along with whatever, which is why when he does have a suggestion/opinion they’ll always go along with whatever he wants so who’s the true dom here??? Huh? 

Who’s the cuddler:Shaotian likes to cling but moves too much for cuddling. WenZhou likes the gesture, but will probably shift away after a few minutes. JieXi puts up with the temporary invasion of personal space, knowing they’ll probably move away in a few minutes. 

Who’s the big spoon/little spoon:3 people are a lot of limbs, so it’s probably more comfortable for everyone if there isn’t any spooning. Plus ShaoTian will probably slap you in his sleep. Though sometimes WenZhou will be big spoon for JieXi. 

What’s their favorite non-sexual activity: Do I need to say it?

Who uses all the hot water:I’d like to think WenZhou and JieXi are responsible/frugal/environmentally concerned people, and hot water is expensive. ShaoTian does the military camp quick shower. XD

Most trivial thing they fight over: Okra

Who does most of the cleaning: Theoretically, they take turns. But Wang JieXi is the clean one so he always ends up finding some leftover cleaning after ShaoTian’s turn. They try... 

What has a season pass on their dvr/Who controls the netflix queue: ha ha their team’s finance probably has the season pass... NetFlix queue is mostly ShaoTian, but they all just play whatever. Most of the time they’re either gaming or chatting or eating at the same time, or all the above, so the show is just background noise. 

Who calls up the super/landlord when the heat’s not working:  Yu WenZhou’s persuasion points are maxed out. But god help the landlord if ShaoTian got to the phone first. 

Who leaves their stuff around:Mostly Shaotian. 

Who remembers to buy the milk: Whoever happens to take a trip to the supermarket... I mean they have phones they can text. 

Who remembers anniversaries:  Honestly being team captains and having a job with irregular hours there’s so many events to remember. That’s why WenZhou and JieXi got calendars and ShaoTian got WenZhou... 

Who cooks normally:Wang JieXi. Being named after a herb means you gotta at least make an attempt to eat healthy. The Teams got cafeterias. 

How often do they fight:Yu WenZhou was the team captain for the China national team... an all-star team full of the biggest personalities in the league. Blue Rain was the most harmonious team. Wang JieXi was a dad!captain who lead a bunch of younger tinier herbs. Fight?? Fight????? (They do throw casual insult and joke fight a lot, though.)

What do they do when they’re away from each other: Considering that Tiny Herb is in City B, and Blue Rain is in City G, they’re probably away more often than together. 

Nicknames for each other: See canon, Big Eye Wang, Molass Hand, Chatterbox, HuangShao (Young Master Huang)WenZhou calls ShaoTian by first name only, and people already accept that. He only calls JieXi by first-name-only in private. ShaoTian never stopped calling WenZhou captain even after they retire, but calls him WenZhou when it’s intimate. He calls Wang JieXi “Jessica” when he wants to get hit. Wang JieXi rarely use the “first name only” basis. And it always strikes unexpectedly! (Picture ShaoTian’s shock every time.) He started using “WenZhou” first. Shaotian: “You called him WenZhou!!! You dropped the last name!!” WenZhou: “Shh don’t ruin this moment, ShaoTian.” When he first called ShaoTian via first-name-only basis ShaoTian was like “ew”. “Yu WenZhou calls you ShaoTian all the time.” “Yeah but he’s my captain.” “I thought we’re dating.” “But your face!” “Wait ‘til you see your own face.” “OW, OW, DON’T HIT MY FACE! WENZHOU! BACK ME UP! THIS IS AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP!”

Who is more likely to pay for dinner: JieXi and WenZhou use to do the passive-aggressive fighting for the bill thing when they were still team captains, and Shaotian would pay but he’s not about to fight his own captain for the bill. Now they take turns cause it’s less trouble. 

Who steals the covers at night: No one. For sleep quality, ShaoTian mostly sleeps on another bed. 

What would they get each other for gifts:WenZhou would note down whenever ShaoTian or JieXi mention they want something and get it when he sees it/it’s on sale. It’s much more pragmatic than gifts for the occasion. JieXi would just take them out for dinner... but like at a fancier place. ShaoTian is more likely to gift by action/praises instead of objects, if you know what I mean ; ) (It means he had praised The Unflappable Yu WenZhou into hiding in embarrassment.)

Who kissed who first:I’d like to think WenZhou and ShaoTian kissed JieXi consecutively. 

Who made the first move:ShaoTian and WenZhou were probably already together when they asked JieXi out. And really, it really just started with “hey come hang out with us” and then a long series of gentle casual teasing until ShaoTian went TMI about their sex life and things somehow developed from there??? 

Who remembers things: They probably all do. ShaoTian will say he forget things. He’s probably lying. 

Who started the relationship:Between WenZhou and ShaoTian, ShaoTian. Between the two of them and JieXi, well, they planned it together. 

Who cusses more: Who almost got fined for it back in the league?

What would they do if the other one was hurt:Get the band-aid or call an ambulance... Emotionally, though... WenZhou will go into conflict-resolution mode and console you and talk you through next steps and action plans. JieXi does the same thing, but will make more direct suggestions, in contrast to WenZhou who will ask more leading questions and prompt you to figure it out yourself. Shaotian: “WHO WAS IT? I WILL PHYSICALLY GO FIGHT THEM FOR YOU.” 

Who is the dirty talker:

A head canon:JieXi had a lot of doubt about this... polyamory thing... But he was having a quarter-life crisis after retiring and getting back to school, and was just looking for some direction/change in his life. WenZhou and ShaoTian asked him to try it out, and he thought it was going to be a casual/temporary thing. And then they didn’t really stop seeing each other and at some point, they’ll have to make some serious considerations. 

[faintlyof]

dr tiktok and dr google making me research POTS a bit >>

i mean, i wouldn’t say that omg i definitely have POTS, but i really don’t think it’s normal the barf/get extremely nauseous/get so light-headed and dizzy i have to sit down/pass out after being a little too warm a little too long. ツ

like it’s been like this since i was little. i can literally name every time its happened cuz i actively avoid to things that may make me hot like that.

first one i remember, camping at an rv park when i was like 7 or 8. my family all went in the hot tub, so i did too (yeah i was probably a bit too young anyways but what happened next surprised everyone! xD) but i ended up getting out of the tub after about 2 minutes because i started to feel nauseous. proceeded to spend the rest of the night vomiting. ツ actively avoided hot water for a while. it was also around this time that we had to write diaries for school and in one of my entries i had drawn a picture of a frowny me at a doctor saying “I‘m sick” and the diary entry was something like “I love water! It’s really good! But I don’t like drinking hot water. It makes my tummy hurt.” so yeah, there’s that too.

in high school, my choir went on a trip for a competition, so i was probably 16 or 17. a bunch of the girls wanted to go in the hot tub, so i kind of reluctantly followed them. sat in the hot tub for about a minute before telling my friends i wanted to swim in the pool instead, but actually, i was starting to get that cold sensation of nausea ツ went back to avoiding hot water

at my first job in japan, so i was probably around 23 or so, after many students harped on how awesome it is to take baths, i decided to very very carefully try to take a bath. i drank a big glass of cool water before, filled the tub with lukewarm water and left the bathroom door open so it wouldnt get too hot in the room. sat there for the most stressful 5 minutes of my life. mostly felt anxious i would be barfing for hours, but didnt actually feel too bad. stayed sitting in the tub and let the water drain out around me and only when the tub was nearly empty, i stood up. immediately my vision went grey around the edges and i felt faint and then i passed the fuck out. ツ went back to avoiding hot water but now also avoiding warm water. xD

and the most recent time, which doesnt actually involve water for once! yippee! got on the train to go to work in winter. it had snowed recently and it was quite cold, so i was wearing my winter coat and scarf and the train had the heaters going. maybe a minute or so after the doors closed and we started moving, i began feeling that cold, creeping overheating neasea feeling. i was already standing, so i leaned against the frame of the door so when the door opened, the cool air would hit me and toughed it out, slightly untying my scarf and unbuttoning my coat. when i arrived at my station, i was so light headed, i literally threw myself onto a bench on the platform and took off my scarf and coat and literally just chilled in a short sleeve shirt for like 5 minutes until i felt well enough to go up the stairs and get to work. ツ literally terrified all winter every winter that this will happen again because i do not want to be the person who passes out on the train.

then in general, when i try exercising, i get really sweaty and shaky like really fast. i can do like a low impact cardio workout for like 10 minutes max before i start to get shaky and start feeling a bit queasy. and omg if im watching a funny movie or talking to a friend and getting excited or laughing a lot, my lips go kind of numb and prickly and i cant really control them?? a bit in the fingertips as well. i dont know if thats related but laughing/being excited/whatever is kind of an intense activity soooo

so yeah, that’s why i’m curious about this whole POTS thing cuz the it gets worse in heat thing is a symptom that ive heard about pretty frequently.

or maybe im just weird. xD anyways, 10 minute lukewarm shower life v(n.n;)

[fangroyal]

WIP Meme

Okay, so hear me out, but I’m gonna start by giving a big thank you to @doubleappled​ for this one. You said you were tagging anyone who hadn’t gotten around to doing this yet, and I happen to be one of those, so I took that message to heart. Haha! I’d secretly been wanting someone to tag me in this for awhile, but it hadn’t happened yet, and I finally decided fuck it, I’m just gonna do it myself. I’ve not written in months because of this weird illness I’ve been dealing with, and I’ve been wanting to go through my WIP to kind of...try to get myself back into it? So here goes.

The Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

Now here’s another thing. I don’t have a single WIP folder. I have MANY, all split up into different categories. So I’m gonna list them as such.

Harry Potter

(Untitled Broship 01) and (02) - some dumb Draco & Pansy ideas I had like three years ago

(Untitled Krumwood) - What it says on the tin. I think I was gonna do this for some comment kink type fest awhile ago and just....never....did???

Pride - back when I used to be obsessed with Oliver/Draco. x’D I was planning on incorporating some Ginsy as well. Basically, I’d gotten super inspired by a picture similar to this one (can’t find the original now), and fell in love with idea of them hooking up at a wizarding pride parade, covered in rainbow paint/chalk/whatever.

Harry Potter > Requests

Jersey - So you all know, I name any request type WIP docs after the requester. Just a way to help me remember. Anyway, this is for my Draise fake dating fic The Wedding Date, which I’d originally started writing..........a year and a half ago..........for the amazing Jersey’s (aka @kevinsnowday​) bday in 2017. I managed to post chapter one on her bday just fine, and then......never.....got around.....to the rest........Sorry, boo. ^^’ I really, really want to get back to this one eventually.

Harry Potter > Requests > Gay!Draco Challenge > Round 2

kreeblimsabs - Another really old one I want to get back to, my god.....I got this request a fucking year ago this very week, I think........This was from, as the folder names say, round two of my Gay!Draco Challenge. kreeblimsabs (who I’m not sure if they’re still on Tumblr, it won’t let me tag them for some reason) requested I write them a Dron drabble inspired by my favorite Disney song. Well, I’m gonna tell you all now...my favorite Disney song happens to be Hellfire from Hunchback of Notre Dame. So yeah. Haha! The ONLY reason I haven’t written this yet is because that’s such a dark and iconic song, that I wanted to do it when the mood really struck me, which unfortunately hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully someday!

Harry Potter > A Weasel and His Ferret (my Dron exclusive folder ‘cause I’m obsessed, get it? Haha! x’DDD)

(Unnamed Dron 01), (02), (03), and (04) - some random little snippets I always keep around, either to throw into another fic at some point, or to build up into their own

An Unconventional Marriage - GUYS, listen! LISTEN. I have been wanting to write this idea for YEEEAAARRRSSSS. YEARS I TELL YOU!! I think I was still in fucking college when I came up with this, and I’ve never been able to work it out. This is my idea for a Drastoria fake marriage type deal, where they’re the bestest of best friends who decide they’re gonna play the game both their families want by marrying each other, but they’re gonna stay just friends...while fucking whoever they hell they want on the down low. Obviously culminating in Dron on the Draco side of it. I want it. I need it. I CRAVE IT. I hope I actually do it someday.

Because Blaise Zabini Is An Asshole - inspired by this Tumblr post

Chocolate and Sass - A quick little oneshot idea of them meeting as little little kids, no prejudice between them, sharing a chocolate frog. Cut to them fucking, drunk on chocolate liquor as adults. Yeah. I know. But I thought it’d be fun.

I Want To Warm Her Heart - Inspired by one of my favorite White Stripes songs, I Want to be the Boy to Warm your Mother’s Heart, which has always made me think of Dron. Ron’s experiences with a very...icy (*cough*homophobic*cough*) Narcissa over the course of his relationship with Draco.

Like Fathers, Like Sons - A mid hook up Ron and Draco (post divorce, no infidelity here) walking in on a mid hook up Scorpius and Hugo.

Support - Oh my god, you guys, this one is annnnnciiiieeennnttt. I’m pretty sure I started writing it directly after my very first fic posted to AO3, like holy shit. The title is a redemption for me on a fic I wrote at 15 (which still exists on FFN, and also just so happened to be a Dron as well, but please don’t bother looking it up, haha). Lucius was assassinated in Azkaban post-war, and there’s a death threat out on Draco. Auror!Ron is assigned as his body guard during the weeks surrounding the investigation and his father’s funeral.

The Measure Of It All - a crack fic about Ron’s huge cock

TLC - Equally as ancient. Draco’s a masseuse. Ron goes to get a massage, surprised to discover who it’s with. Smut ensues. Enough said.

What Happens In Muggle London - sequel to my fic What Happens In The Forbidden Forest, in which eighth year sneaking out to go clubbing in - you guessed it - Muggle London fuckery ensues

A Match Made In Hogwarts - a multi chapter post-war matchmaker will-they-won’t-they

A Very Fine Line - the second thing I ever posted to AO3, and will probably never finish

Keeping The Faith - That time I really wanted to do a wizarding version of Jones Town.......Don’t look at me........

One Week - I remember nothing of this other than that they were going to be Auror partners, and it was going to be a challenge to myself to see how many cliches I could fit into one fic. Haha.

Switching Sides - What if Draco ended up defecting and becoming a part of the Camping Extravaganza of Deathly Hallows.........Yuuuuup.

Wishful Thinking - Can you believe I’d at one time planned on adding three more chapters to this fic? Yeah, me neither...

19 Days

(Untitled ChengYi) - Yeah, I don’t know either.

It’s Exactly What You Think - sequel to my fic It’s Not What You Think, in which I’d intended for some actual Tianshan to happen

Who I’ve Been Waiting For - I’m so out of the loop with writing for this fandom these days, I don’t fucking know...All I remember is this is supposed to be when they’re adults and Jian Yi returns. Zhengxi’s been hooking up with He Tian in the meantime. They were gonna turn into a poly thing at some point. I don’t fucking know, you guys.

Batman

(Untitled Jaydick) - What it says on the tin. Post Arkham Knight angst, reuniting, and smut.

JTHM (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac)

You Make Me Sick -  Yooouuuuu guuuuyyyyysssssss!! You have no idea how badly I want to write thiiiiiisssssssss!!!! WHERE MY DISCIPLINE AT, LIKE GODDAMN. The title is a play on the Devi spin off comic, I Feel Sick. (I hope you JTHM fans out there got that, ‘cause I’m super proud of it, haha.) IF I EVER FUCKING WRITE IT, this is gonna be a Nny/Squee, but....not really. ;) Basically, the idea is that Squee kind of....discovered his sexuality? Because of Nny??? And grew into a very gay, very pain centric, confused young adult with a major crush on his old next door neighbor. Has had numerous torrid love affairs because of this that never ever ended well. It’ll start with him seeing Nny for the first time again in, like, twenty years and going into a spiral over it.

South Park

The Walking Conformists - GUUUYYYYSSSSS. Sorry to keep “guys”ing you, haha, but this. THIIIIISSSSSSSSSS. If i ever buckle down and WRITE THIS BITCH, I swear it’ll be my holy fucking grail. At least to me. CuRed. Goth kids. Road trips. Zombies. What more could you want?! I’m happy to discuss privately with any one of you who’s interested, because it’s way too much to put here, and this post is long enough as it is.

What We’ve Got - sequel to my fic What We Can’t Have

(Rockstar!Michael) - What it says on the tin. CuRed, obviously.

(Untitled Religious Boys) - Bradley/Gary Harrison. Sexual discovery. Yaaassss.

Everybody Knows - CuRed where everybody thinks they’re already dating, and of course I mean everybody knows they’re meant for each other but Michael and Pete ;)

Nobody Needs To Know - Another old as fuck WIP inspired by the SADDEST SONG IN THE WORLD from the musical The Last Five Years. If you know anything about that musical and this song, you can guess what this fic would be about. Michael cheating on Pete with Firkle. Adults all! No chan here, bitches, you know me, c’mon.

The First Step - CuRed. Holding hands on the school bus. Will be the purest thing I’ve ever written if I ever finish it. It’s a drabble, and I swear to you it’s, like, two paragraphs from being done, and I’ve just never gotten down to it.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I have a lot of WIP...Don’t have anything in my Fests/Challenges folders at the moment, because it’s, uh, been awhile, heh heh.

I’m gonna tag my love, @violetbehaviour​, because I think we’re the only two left who haven’t been tagged for this. xD But if any of you reading this are like me, and haven’t been tagged yet but really really want to be, please consider this me tagging you!

[queen-scribbles]

Unforeseen Consequences

@pillarspromptsweekly #41: Machine. Neither Tavi nor Emiri fit quite right for this prompt, so you get my wizard, Adela. Seeing as she’s basically orlan!Dagna she’s definitely curious enough to go poking at machinery she doesn’t fully understand and invite consequences on herself. xD 

There were some things better left alone. No one knew that better than Adela. A lifetime of research and a healthy amount of experimenting had drilled that truth into her skull. Some things could be poked and prodded til the stars fell from the sky, others it was best to do what you needed with them and leave it at that.

And even with that knowledge, she couldn’t resist poking a bit at the Engwithan machine in the depths of Clîaban Rilag. She’d been too disoriented and concerned about the new voices in her head at Cilant Lîs for it to even occur to her, and Teir Nowneth had been creepy enough none of them had wanted to delay, and once broken there hadn’t been much to learn from that machine. All of which served to ratchet her curiosity to near-unbearable heights.

Even the jarring disorientation of another Watcher vision, triggered by stepping too close to the ashen figure standing vigil near the massive machine, couldn’t dissuade her. If anything, she was relieved Watching the machine’s activation hadn’t somehow turned it off. It still hummed with energy as she approached, purple light and a low hum vibrating in her back teeth a reassurance she hadn’t lost this chance. The machine was covered in runes, some of which she could read, thanks to Icantha, others a complete mystery. And, of course, some were so high even an aumaua would have trouble reading them, let alone an orlan.

Damn my height, Adela groused silently, biting her lip and glaring at the machine. “Kana, can you give me a boost?”

“I can,” he replied slowly, and she heard his footsteps behind her, “but are you sure that’s wise? We don’t know what these machines do.”

“That’s the point,” she countered, leaning back to flash him an engaging smile. “I wanna figure out what they do, and I can’t do that without a closer look.”

“Isn’t knowing they can... control or contain souls enough?” Aloth spoke up, fingers worrying the edges of his grimoire.

“No, that just makes me more curious,” Adela said with a laugh, her own fingers toying with the end of her braid. “How do they manipulate soul energy, why bother in the first place, is there a way to undo it, where do they go when caught, ‘cause they certainly aren’t here? Just give me fifteen minutes to look at it, and then we can leave.”

“Heard that before, Adi,” Sagani laughed. “How ‘bout we start with ten, you’ll wind up sayin’ five more minutes anyway, so it’ll work out even.”

“Deal.” She turned back to Kana. “About that boost?”

“If you’re serious...” He shrugged off his pack and crouched down.

“As a bîaŵac,” Adela said cheerfully as she climbed up to his shoulders. Once Kana had straightened and steadied himself, she stood, careful to distribute her weight evenly and cause him the least discomfort possible. “Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble,” Kana chuckled. “I’ve had much heavier things on my shoulders.”

“For the sake of my dignity, please refrain from listing them,” she replied drolly, already scanning the runes with eager eyes. One bit was just out of sight, and as she leaned forward to follow them, her center of balance shifted. Without thinking, she moved to steady herself against the machine, and barely registered the disconcertingly cool warmth of adra and copper before the world went white. 

>>><<<

She woke with a headache and the taste of copper in her mouth. Her eyes felt too heavy to open at first, but after a few heartbeats Adela forced them to cooperate.

Stars. There were stars. And she could hear the wind rustling through the trees and the crackle of a campfire, if dimly. When did we move outdoors? Adela wondered vaguely, shifting to rub at her headache. Her arm felt heavy, too, but at least it didn’t take as much focus to make it do what she wanted. The blanket covering her fell away as she moved, and she took the opportunity to start levering herself upright.

The silhouette sitting nearby shifted hastily to rest a hand on her shoulder.  “Easy,” it said with Aloth’s voice, but Adela barely heard him over the ringing in her ears.

Narrowed eyes, dark with anger and alcohol both. “You’re a blazin’ disappointment, boy.”

The shred of memory was gone almost as fast as it came, but Adela still flinched away from Aloth’s touch, fingers digging into her hair as her ears twitched sharply backward. That wasn’t on purpose, what the Hel? She took a shaky breath before looking up to find Aloth watching her.

“Are you alright, Adela?” he asked, brow furrowed in obvious concern. “You were out long enough to give us quite a scare.”

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, lying through her teeth as she rubbed her temples. The ringing in her ears had diminished slightly but was still there, as was the coppery taste in her mouth. And apparently her Watcher abilities were a tad haywire. “Is Kana alright?”

Aloth nodded, tucking his hair behind one ear. “He’s fine. Got a bit of a jolt when you... did whatever you did-”

“I just touched it,” Adela said defensively. She hugged her knees into her chest. Gods, the infernal ringing wasn’t going away.

“-but there don’t seem to be lasting side effects for him,” Aloth finished, politely disregarding her outburst. “We were more worried about you; it’s been almost six hours with barely more than a twitch.”

She forced a grin. ”Is that why you’re camped by my bedside? Worried about me?”

He shrugged. “Yes. We’ve taken turns. This was somehow worse than watching your nightmares.”

“Because at least then I wake up, even if it takes some work?” she filled in, and Aloth nodded. “Well, I’m sorry to have put you all through that, and I’ll do my best to never let it happen again.”

“That would be appreciated,” he said with a smile. “It took the first hour to convince Kana it wasn’t his fault.”

Adela winced. “That long? He didn’t do anything beyond give me a boost, and even that I asked for.” She pushed to her feet, fought a brief battle to keep her balance, and looked toward the main campfire. “I’ll talk to him.” Maybe the persistent ringing in her ears would fade if she distracted herself.

“That would help a great deal, I believe,” Aloth said. “It’s one thing to hear it from the rest of us, another to hear it from you.” He stood as well, and followed her over to the rest of their group.

Their relieved expressions were touching, and she accepted the round of sentiments to the same before settling in next to Kana. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

He chuckled, perhaps a little sheepish. “I could say the same to you, my friend. You had me worried I’d hastened your trip back to the Wheel.”

Adela shook her head. “Nothing of the sort, Kana. It wasn’t your fault in the slightest, just my own carelessness.” She cast an appraising look at her friend. “Which I am very glad to hear didn’t cause any lasting damage to you.”

“No, no, nothing of the sort,” Kana assured her. “Just a faint ringing in my ears that’s mostly faded by now.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” she smiled. For more reasons than one. “It would be a shame to rob Eora of such a passionate historian.” She reached over to pat his hand-

The sun glittered off the waves and spray, the scent of salt almost as overwhemling as the joy at a new horizon to explore.

“Adela?” When she blinked and looked up at him, Kana was watching her with the same concern Aloth had a few minutes prior. “Are you certain you’re alright? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

You aren’t far wrong, she thought, even as she nodded. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

With Aloth it could have been a fluke, their emotions close to the surface and her knowing about Iselmyr. But she’d never Watched Kana’s soul. There was no familiarity to be drawn upon. Which meant she was very much not fine; that machine had done something to amplify or alter her Watcher abilities. The coppery taste grew stronger as that sank in, and she noticed that all her companions seemed.... blurry in the firelight, as if she was seeing them and the hazy remnants of a past life or two.

Adela cleared her throat and pushed to her feet once more. “Ironic as it may sound, I think I need some rest. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Hope you feel better,” Edér called after her.

She paused long enough to nod her thanks. Me, too. Maybe, if she was extremely lucky, the symptoms would prove temporary and be gone by morning.

>>><<<

She was not extremely lucky. If anything, all of it was worse. Except the headache. That was gone. But the ringing in her ears, the coppery taste, the visions, all of it was worse. Sagani got within three feet of her at breakfast, and Adela was swamped with a wave of homesickness so strong she could barely breathe.

This was not a tenable situation, she acknowledged grimly to herself when Aloth sat next to her and she’d swear she heard a whisper of Iselmyr’s brogue, even though he hadn’t opened his mouth. But it was when Pallegina passed behind them, trailing a susurration of expletives in mingled Vailian and Engwithan that Adela finally snapped.

“This is so much worse than the first time,” she muttered, grip white-knuckle tight on the apple she was eating.

Aloth looked over, having half-caught the comment. “Beg pardon?”

Adela repeated herself, loud enough they could all hear. “I’m not alright, this is even worse than the first time. My ears are still ringing, I can’t stop tasting copper, which is ruining perfectly good food, and I keep seeing spirits and past lives without even wanting to, and I can’t take it!” She took a breath to calm herself. “It was all there last night, but I was hoping it would clear up with sleep. Which it didn’t do.”

“Who could we even ask about potential cures?” Kana frowned in concern. “This isn’t some run of the mill ailment.”

“Lady Webb, perhaps?” Aloth suggested. “We have to speak with her anyway.”

“And she does seem to know quite a lot,” Pallegina seconded. “Particularly about the Leaden Key and those machines, ac?”

Adela nodded. “A good suggestion. If that fails, Icantha might know something. She’s extensively studied the history of the machines, and knows at least some of the language used to activate them.”

“Don’t see her much carin’ about helpin’ you,” Edér chipped in. 

“We can still ask,” Sagani shrugged. “Maybe appeal to her professional pride...”

Adela snorted. “She certainly has plenty of that.” As plans went, both were light on details. But it was better than nothing. Having some thread of hope for a cure would keep her from going crazy, at least. “Whatever we do, we’ll need to go back to Defiance Bay.”

“Soon as we’re done eatin’,” Edér promised, and Adela couldn’t really deny that.

Rather than deal with the randomly intrusive flashes from various souls, she retreated far enough for relative peace and prayed they would find an answer of some kind in Defiance Bay.

>>><<<

Lady Webb did not have an answer. At least, not one Adela wanted to hear.

“I’ve never encountered any sort of condition like this, nor read of it happening,” she shook her head. “One of the difficulties in dealing with the Leaden Key; their secrecy does not lend itself to written records.” She pursed her lips in thought. “You say you touched it, Watcher?”

Adela nodded, mentally pushing against the scraps of emotion filtering in from everyone else in the room. “Just briefly, but that was enough. And I didn’t recognize the rune I touched, so I”ve no idea if it’s any special significance.”

“It likely is,” said Lady Webb. “But you would need to talk to someone knowledgeable about that language to know the exact importance.”

Adela sighed. Hope Icantha’s in a sharing mood. “Alright. Thank you for the advice, at least. I’ll return when I’m ready to attend the animancy hearings.” The ringing in her ears, which had waxed and waned as they traveled, was getting steadily--if slowly--louder, and she wanted, needed, to make it stop. Or that would drive her mad before her Awakened soul got the chance.

>>><<<

Icantha was still occupying the same house as before, which was good. The spirits of Heritage Hill’s dead were a loud bunch with Adela’s Watcher sense so keen. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if the woman wasn’t there. Curled up in a ball and wept, probably.

As it was, Icantha’s flat, dark eyes showed a marked lack of interest in her visitor, the contrast between then and the pallor of her skin more pronounced than Adela remembered. “Watcher,” she said, lacking any sort of emotion or inflection. She inclined her head with a bare modicum of curiosity.

“Icantha,” Adela replied with a nod. Everything about the scholar-turned-fampyr unnerved her, but she was desperate. “I need your help.”

Icantha just stared at her, silently, and Adela reflected she couldn’t blame her companions for wanting to wait outside.

Taking the woman’s silence as permission to continue, Adela succinctly relayed what had happened and the lingering effects. “I know you’re one of the foremost scholars on Engwithan lore, and I was wondering if you might have any ideas.”

Smirking now, Icantha further inclined her head. “I might. But I’d be wanting something in return.” She glanced toward the window, Edér and Kana’s shadows just visible through the dusty panes. “One of your friends, for instance.”

“Why the blazes would I agree to that?!” Adela snapped, crossing her arms as she stood defensively between Icantha and the door.

“Because you don’t get something for nothing, Watcher, that’s not how the world works,” Icantha shot back briskly. “And I consumed the last of my... stockpile yesterday. I’ll need essence before too long.  I could lay in wait and snare a workman or justiciar before the hunger gets too strong, but why bother when you’re here now and want something from me, again, I might add?”

The ceaseless ringing and increasing tide of soul whispers made thinking on her feet a challenge. “Because any justiciar--or workman brave enough to come to Heritage Hill, for that matter--will be wary, and likely put up a fight.” Adela squared her shoulders and stared the sallow woman down. “Do you really want that to be how you’re remembered? Not as a legendary scholar or one of the few who actually knows ancient Engwithan. Just a fampyr, one more undead threat slain in the purging of Heritage Hill. No one will care about any of your accomplishments then. And you know it.” The coppery taste swelled, and she fought the urge to spit. “You’re looking to leverage my need into a bargaining chip so you don’t have to run that risk, because you know there aren’t good odds of it ending in your favor. I wouldn’t sacrifice a complete stranger for my sanity, let alone one of my friends!”

“Your point, Watcher? Even assuming you were correct in your assessment, it’s still favor for favor.”

“My point,” said Adela, ears twitching down and back in irritation, “is that we stand on far more even footing than you’re claiming. Also a very firm no on sacrificing any kith’s life, even if it costs me my sanity.” Terrifying as the vision of Maerwald’s fate dancing in her head was, the guilt of that trade would be worse. “Especially since I know it’s only a temporary stopping measure.”

The disinterest fell away from Icantha’s face and she snarled,” You’re a well-read little rat, aren’t you?”

Adela’s fur ruffled, but she swallowed the sharp comeback. “Extremely well-read, yes. Enough to know the inevitable fate of all fampyrs. No matter how shrewd and careful. So it shouldn’t surprise you that I don’t want a life on my conscience for what’s simply a delaying tactic.The best I’m willing to give you is I will not tell anyone you’re here.”

Icantha stared at her for a long moment, eyes narrowing. “Swear it.”

The pitch of the ringing shifted higher and Adela’s whole head twitched sideways with her ear. “I swear.”  

Icantha nodded brusquely and rummaged in a cabinet for a scrap of parchment and a charcoal stub. “The rune you touched. What did it look like?”

To the best of her memory, Adela sketched the symbol on the parchment. Icantha nodded almost knowingly, muttered somethign about security measures before she placed her fingers against Adela’s temples, and spoke a few words in Engwithan. She paused for a few heartbeats, then repeated them and stepped back.

The copper taste vanished immediately, and while the ringing was still there, it had faded a lot. “Thank you,” Adela said, ears flicking with gratitude. “I’ll keep my end.”

“See that you do,” Icantha growled, and turned back to her work in a clear dismissal.

Adela shrugged and left, a relieved grin spreading across her features when she didn’t catch so much as a whisper from any of her friends’ souls. “Well, that’s done.”

“So easily?” Aloth raised an eyebrow. “Given our first encounter, that’s more than a touch surprising.”

“Well, first she wanted to eat one of you,” Adela replied with a grin. “But I talked her out of that, made her see reason, and promised not to tell anyone she’s here.”

His eyebrow arched higher as they walked away from the house. “You’re not going to tell anyone there’s still a fampyr in this district?”

“I gave her my word,” she said, grin playing about her lips. “I didn’t, however, promise not to suggest the guards sweep the district again because I got a creepy feeling like I was being watched.”

Edér chuckled. “You’re real good with the loopholes, Adi.”

Adela winked. “Grow up the middle child of seven, loopholes are your best friend.” Kana laughed and she shot him a knowing grin. “Loopholes and technicalities. Never promised one of you wouldn’t mention her, either. Normally I’m happy to be a woman of my word, but given the nature of fampyrs and the danger she’ll eventually, inevitably pose, I can bend my morals a little. For the greater good.” She sighed happily. The ringing had faded almost completely.  “Let’s get going, we have a lot to do.”

As they walked, Adela could still pick up a deep sense of relief from the others that went beyond facial expressions or body language. But she didn’t chase the fragments. After all, some things were better left alone.