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starswornoaths · 3 years

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Prompt 1: Foster

The polycule finds themselves in the company of a stray kitten that Estinien fetched from a back alley from who-knows-where.

And they're going to rehome her. No, really, honest. They're not keeping her, or anything lol

Word count: 1,900

~*~

A rare rainy day off in Ishgard— on a rarer day off, no less— had left Serella happily cuddled up in bed, under the blankets. Joined by her betrothed, and their beloved Violet, what time wasn’t spent idly dozing, was a warm, floating haze of hands and lips brushing idly where they found skin. Though they were swathed in the overcast, pale light that spilled in through the curtains, its chill was far from them, the roaring hearth, gilding the gloom where it collided, its warmth reaching beyond its light. The perfect picture of coziness.

Which was why she was particularly miffed, when their dearest Estinien stumbled in through the door, soaked to the bone, and holding his bundled up jacket to his chest: it meant that she had to get up, to investigate.

As Estinien caught his breath from sprinting in the pouring rain, his paramours all collectively, if sluggishly, opted to disentangle themselves from the blankets enough to see what on earth had made him bluster in so.

Aymeric was the first to rise from their little nest of blankets, ambling over gamely. Serella wasn’t far behind, though stilled when she heard him melt over whatever it was that Estinien had bundled into his coat.

An animal, then.

Sure enough, she neared just in time for Aymeric to reach a hand out, and be met with a sooty paw reaching up to curl its little bean toes around his index finger. He cooed again, and his posture melted further toward the bundle—ah, it was a cat, then.

“Hello, little love,” Aymeric greeted, his voice turned sing-song, and pitched a few notes higher, as it always did when he greeted an animal.

Already, Serella knew this was trouble.

All the more, when Hyana gasped as she scrambled to free herself from bed fully, hissing and cursing as a blanket stuck stubbornly to the pointed ridges at the end of her tail. Freeing herself, she stumbled over eagerly, completely blowing past Serella as she did.

After giving the two of them a few more moments to coo, she and Estinien passed a look between them, and silently agreed that it was time to be the responsible ones. For a change.

“Alright, alright, what do we have here, then?” Serella called, gently nudging them away to give the little creature some breathing room.

“Creature” almost seemed an apt description for the cat nestled within Estinien’s coat: covered in rain water and mud, it was almost impossible to tell what the cat’s true fur color was. It trembled, even pressed against Estinien’s chest—must still be cold. Those large eyes squinted up at her, as the little kitten sniffed and sneezed at her proffered hand. The cat’s shivering made its purr sound tinny, like it rattled the poor thing’s lungs just to do it.

“A bath first, before we do anything else, I think.” She said aloud.

With a breath to steel herself, Serella accepted the bundle of cat and coat in her arms, when Estinien relented to her. Despite the shivering, and the wetness of its fur, the kitten felt warm against her chest, when it immediately snuggled up to her body warmth. Reminding herself that they already had two dogs and a cat—two cats, technically, if she counted Duchess back at Borel Manor—Serella rounded the corner out of their bedroom, and into the bathroom.

Her polycule trailed in on her heels. It was hard not to liken them to a gaggle of Scholasticate kids, all crowding around the door to watch. It warmed her, how even the most standoffish of her loves couldn’t resist the draw of a cute animal.

The bathtub would be too massive, for the little kit—the sink suited just fine. Hyana was kind enough to fetch their bottle of feline shampoo, and set it on the counter for her.

As she let the water run to get a bit warmer, Serella lifted the kitten, gently, to hold it—her, Serella realized, with a glance—at eye level.

“You won’t like me for this,” she warned the kitten. “But that’s alright, it’s only temporary.”

The kitten squirmed, and licked the tip of her nose. Ignoring the way her insides turned to softened butter, Serella dutifully set to work, carefully bathing the kitten.

Unsurprisingly, the water was, at first, most unwelcome, and the cat had no scruples with voicing her complaint and trying to clamor out of the sink. For such a small thing, her wailing meows of discontent were rather loud—good. That meant her lungs were healthy. Once the warmth of the water sunk into her skin, however, she relented, somewhat, though instead sat in the shallow, warm water, and vibrated from the intensity of her disgruntled, rumbling meows.

It was hard not to liken her to a rat, watching her quake with the effort of vocalizing her displeasure. With each careful massage of Serella’s fingers into the kitten’s fur to wash away the grime, however, her true coat began to shine through.

As it turned out, her fur was still mostly black—save for her white capped paws, and her underbelly, all the way up to her chin. All downy soft, thin fur, in a sleek coat. Once she’d gotten a chance to dry out, under the careful ministrations of Aymeric drying her down with the softest, fluffiest towel he could find, she was actually a rather beautiful cat.

When she still shivered, as she finished drying, Aymeric would brook no negotiation, and immediately bundled himself—and her—back in bed, with the blankets. It seemed to be exactly where she wanted to be, as she promptly loafed herself upon his chest, and shook with her purrs.

“We need a name for her,” he said, not taking his eyes off the little kit, as her eyes began to drift shut.

“Absolutely not.” Serella tutted. “It isn’t responsible for us to take in another cat—here, or Borel Manor—and no, she doesn’t look ready to be a road companion, before you even entertain suggesting it.”

“Act like you don’t want to keep her.” Estinien scoffed. “You didn’t even ask me how I’d found her—you do that, when you do something I don’t like. You ask questions.”

“She’s a stray, you found her, and brought her here. What else is there to know?” Serella huffed, and even to her, she sounded a touch defensive.

“We can’t just turn her out after a bath, either, though.” Hyana argued, in the gentlest tone Serella had ever heard from her, as she snuggled up to Aymeric’s side to offer her hand to the kit. “She’ll have to stay for a while.”

“Until we can responsibly rehome her, of course.” Aymeric hastily added on, unconvincingly.

Serella wrinkled her nose when Estinien made a noise of agreement, even as the both of them also crawled in bed.

Once they had hemmed him in on all sides, Aymeric piped up, “But we have to call her something, in the meantime.”

When Estinien reached out to pet her, both of her paws shot out, to wrap around his hand. Her claws pricked at his skin, as she tried to force his hand over to her head. He snorted.

“Krile, perhaps? The little snot seems keen on getting her claws in me.” He grumbled, with no real venom behind his words; he hadn’t even taken his hand back.

Alas, he had already been lost to this kitten’s wiles, it seemed. Probably was, the moment he found her.

“I’ll tell Krile.” Hyana replied in that same, cooing voice, not even deigning to look at Estinien, as the kitten wriggled across the broad expanse of Aymeric’s chest, to bump her forehead against Hyana’s.

It was fascinating, watching how all three of them—powerful, stalwart warriors, all—had turned to puddles under the might of this singular kitten’s cuteness. Danuja, Vardr, and Rhalgr were already getting jealous, she realized, when she felt their collective, agitated curiosity on the fringes of her focus.

“Menphina,” she suggested, before she could stop herself. When all present turned to look at her, she elaborated, with a wry twist of her lips, “She’s certainly charmed all of you enough to warrant it.”

“…Menphina.” Hyana tried again, speaking it to the kit instead. At the curious mrr the cat trilled in response, Hyana nodded. “She likes it. It’s settled, then.”

When the weather improves, I’ll put up signs, she resolved to herself, just as the kitten laid her paw atop Serella’s hand, over Aymeric’s heart.

To her credit, she did. But the problems that trickled in after that came threefold: there was little demand for a beautiful runt, all the more of an indeterminable breed of cat. What demand there was, was often in the interest of Menphina being a “practice pet,” for a child. Fearful that that would translate to unsupervised children treating her like a toy, until she was injured, Serella would be the first—and firmest—to rebuke such offers. Add to all of that, the kitten’s propensity for extended bursts of high energy, that demanded that she be played with, ruled her out for any of the elderly candidates that applied, looking for a calm housecat.

To say that she had no success finding a suitable home for Menphina, would be a gross understatement.

Every time, she would come home, and Menphina would have to crawl out of the collective fur of Vardr and Rhalgr, just to trill up at her in greeting. And every time, Serella would have to scoop her up, and tell her how sorry she was, that it wasn’t meant to be, for that applicant.

“There will be others,” Serella reassured her, every time.

A few moons down the line saw Menphina still very much fostered in their care—to the point, that she was tucked close, huddled in the bend of Serella’s knees, as she’d curled up on the couch with a book. She’d fallen into a sort of pleasant lull, where her focus was on her book, though she could still pick up on Aymeric and Hyana chatting amicably in the kitchen.

At the mention of the date, in the midst of their conversation, Serella’s ear perked; she couldn’t recall the exact date, that Estinien had hauled this scrawny little kit in from the cold, but as she looked down at Menphina again, now filled out on good food and loving attention, she realized, with dismay, that she had not been strong enough.

“You were never a foster cat, were you?” She grumbled accusingly at Menphina.

The kitten looked up at the sound of her voice, and gave a questioning mrr?

As though she didn’t know what she had done. Smiling wryly, Serella gave her affectionate scritches between her ears.

“No, I suppose you never were, at that.”

Taking this as an invitation, Menphina unfurled herself with a long stretch that morphed into a yawn, and scampered up Serella’s hip, and settled in on the curve of her side, as though it was just for her.

Groaning, Serella let her head hit the back of the couch, as she finally admitted her defeat loud enough for the household to hear: “We’re keeping the cat.”

Amidst the giddy celebrating, she swore she distinctly heard the clink of coin being exchanged—they’d gone and taken bets, on how long it would take for her to crack.

Gremlins. Hellions, all of them. Hers. How she loved them, as they were—Menphina included.

#ffxivwrite2021 #ffxiv #Aymeric de Borel #Estinien Wyrmblood #Hyana Geriel #Serella Arcbane #unstoppable forces and immovable objects #featuring: catte #'I'll be the responsible one and say we're not adopting her' Serella said. like a liar.

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heliianth · 2 years

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i would like to hear about your au! you mentioned that it was a superhero? au i believe.

hello hi ty yes and no on the superhero part its a bit weird. ok. preface this is admittedly mostly not based on the actual dsmp storyline. everything is under the cut because its LONGGGG read at your own risk

So we start somewhere in the year 2800 (we're going scifi baby), we're still on earth <- sounds redundant to clarify but i wanted to since so many aus take place on an SMP-equivalent. the main setting is a fictional American megacity which I havent named yet L. a full out WWIII happened in this future, which caused a massive nuclear war. comic book science dictates that huge amounts of high tech radiation nukes = superpowers. u see where im headed. huge swaths of people were caught up in the fallout and found themselves with superhuman abilities the government would later label as virtues, but since these were from an unstable source their actual utility and longevity were also unstable, and could stick around for a only few generations or literal centuries. the American government imposed laws which sought to regulate civilian use of these powers (your classic dystopian surveillance stuff). this caused massive protests to break out nationwide, which the government couldn't crack down upon effectively because. superpowers yk?

THAT was a block of text woo-ee ok heres another one. America started the Virtue Authority and Legal Union of Evolution (VALUE) which carried on R&D from after WWIII. In order to conduct the research, the government tried to "equalize" things by imposing alternative regulations on those without virtues for "safety reasons," putting the blame on any superpower accidents on those without the means to avoid them. VALUE would be used to try and restore virtues in a family line if they disappeared, eventually dipping it's toes into simulating them artificially by reactivating dormant genes with radiation. unfortunately for America, these experiments would only further heighten unrest because of their high mortality rate and the dubious state of whether people were actually volunteering. so the organization would be redirected towards the purpose of keeping "national peace."

THIS IS WHERE STUFF THAT ACTUALLY EFFECTS our little guys come in. Alrighty. VALUE, in order to meet the American government's demand for policing and enforcement, started drafting their virtued people for those purposes. by the year 2850 (sorry LOL), the demands would escalate to the point where entire academies were developed for teaching virtued people to basically be weapons for the government to use to ensure control. the stakes kept escalating, spreading outside of America, and VALUE's (which is now an American branch of a global organization with the same purpose) simulated virtues using already existing people weren't cutting it. a new branch of VALUE, the Eden Program, utilized the virtue academies to start what would later be essentially a eugenicist effort to create more test subjects via being born into their custody. By 2900, the Eden Program, which had branched out into selectively breeding for certain virtues, would be perfected to the point where it's subjects (units) were genetically controlled down to their appearance. If you're familiar with the mcu, these are basically reflavored winter soldiers LMAO. conversely, a scattered group of freedom fighters (could be considered terrorists depending on whos side youre on) called the Arc continue to resist against everything going on.

alright ok phew are we still following? now to get onto actual people we recognize.

The Eden Program started Project Convergence, which organized the Academies in response to the Arc growing in popularity, and tried to play god with their already stupid-evil genetic programs. The reality-warping virtues that were simulated by Project Convergence ended up being extremely unstable and dangerous to both the units born into the project and the researchers and staff involved. Dream (woof woof!), current day (2950s), is the only living survivor of Project Convergence, because he was the only one who held out long enough for stabilizing technology to develop.

Sapnap and Punz are the main other familiar faces involved in Project Covergence, but not as units. Sapnap was brought in as a different "class," sort of like a support dog but as a little brother. Eden thought if Dream could develop an emotional connection, he would live through the programming Project Convergence demanded (they were right because the power of love conquers all <3), and Punz comes in later after Dream and Sapnap are enrolled in a virtue academy with BBH as an instructor, during which George (a non-virtued student prodigy in technological development working for the British branch of VALUE) would be assigned to keep Dream's stabilizing technology up to date. COMMENCE FRIENDSHIP

Techno was a part of the Eden Project before Project Convergence was started, but intervention in the form of an Arc raid, lead by Phil (hello!) on the academy he attended disrupted his programming and he found himself tentatively going with them after Phil showed him kindness that contradicted the propaganda he was fed. Techno's later allegiance and involvement in the Arc movement is a big deal politically and optically, because the Eden Program units are built different (to underexaggerate LOL) compared to those with natural virtues, and having one on your side is an absolute win. Wilbur and Tommy are born into the Arc movement a while afterwards, though Wilbur stops wanting to be involved after an altercation that kills Kritsin (sorry mumza :c) and he's got some eldest daughter syndrome going on surrounding Tommy.

we are nearing the end of how much i've thought this au through (its relatively plotless most of what i've got is backstory. dog frisbee meme NO PLOT ONLY CONCEPT). ok. hang on a little bit longer.

George is pulled away from his usual job working on combat technology for Sapnap Punz and Dream to contribute to a possible breakthrough on old Project Convergence research. Sapnap goes with him as his Endurance Class (if i explain the different classes that were selectively bred for i will be here all day just tell me if you want them ill make a different post). The research facility is subsequently infiltrated and arson-ed by the Arc (Phil is present at this one), and the Eden Program, not wanting anyone to get away with the research, disables all methods of escape from the inside. So SNF are trapped. George finds an elevator panel and starts hurriedly taking it apart, trying to recalibrate it so they can escape, while Sapnap protects him from the fire. the Arc, seeking escalation and a way into the building, fries the electricity, which causes all of the lines to overload and explode, one of which directly in George's face. through sheer force of will and lots of pain tolerance Sapnap manages to get both of them out and into a hospital, where they say George will probably have trouble seeing for the rest of his life (for all the fancy tech they have, they cannot restore sight). Dream, who up to now has kind of only gone where the government has pointed him to, has his anger at the Arc deliberately used as a tool to send him on a warpath. and of course Eden isn't going to tell him that they were the ones who locked his friends in.

The Arc gets wiped on the floor, and eventually they're forced to send Techno into the field to protect themselves and their men, as the only person able to stand up to another Eden Program unit, but Eden pulls an unstable Dream back before they can confront each other physically, not wanting to see the fallout. After all that massacre is done, Punz (who is basically a bloodhound) finds evidence corroborating the story Techno told Dream on the field (that Eden locked George and Sapnap in deliberately, intending for them to die in the Arc's explosion so there would be no witnesses of the research they were doing in the facility), and Dream has to levy all the weight he's got as the only Convergence Class to keep both of them alive when Sapnap privately corroborates the story as well. Convinced enough by Eden's disregard for his friends, Dream reaches out to neither Phil nor Techno to extend a hesitant offer of neutral allegiance, but to Tommy and Wilbur, who Punz had sniffed out on the search for Phil. Dream states that Phil and Techno would probably never accept their little group, and isn't too keen on being on friendly terms with them either after what Phil did to his friends. Tommy, who knows all about the Eden Program both through getting in trouble with enforcement and due to simple wonder, immediately writes back without Wilbur's knowledge (and gets an earful for it, but it's too late), telling Dream that they've got his back and they have a healer if he'd like to get Sapnap and George out of the danger zone.

OKAY were all caught up on what my brain has thinked up minus details and worldbuilding (like the inventory system, weapons, virtue classes bred for in Eden, particular character roles, etc) I can provide along with clarification if anyone is curious ^w^ so yes, kind of a superhero au, kind of not.

#virtue au #<- that is the tag im using for this #it may get used more than once it may not who knows

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binniesthighs · 3 years

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hello stranger | reader x changbin |

a/n: this chapter is one that is very special to me and really echoes a lot of the same feelings that I’ve experienced through the years. writing this chapter felt really healing for me, as I hope maybe it can to you who might’ve felt the same. Because of this, please read the warnings below and read what you feel comfortable with! Remember that no matter who you are, or what you’ve gone through you absolutely deserve love!!

Part 5

Pairing: self insert, female reader x seo changbin, female reader x han jisung

Genre: strangers to lovers, fluff, smut, angst

Tags: (of this part) college au, rapper!changbin, rapper!jisung, establishedfwb!jisung, artist!reader, skz side characters, bestfriend!chan, bestfriend!felix, explicit language, HARD angst to FLUFFY fluff, mentions of alcohol, fingering (f receiving), squirting, dry humping, nipple play, protected sex, fluffy sex, cockwarming

CWs: implications of jealousy and possession (past), non-con pressure, fist fighting, quite a bit of blood, bruises, and other wounds, mentions of a scar, mentions of past toxic relationship, mentions of nausea, mentions of low self worth and self deprecating habits

Word count: 8.7k (grab a blanket, your plushie, some fuzzy socks...also I promise no other chapter will be this long LOL)

Chapters

-Two years ago, and some change-

Tonight was different. It could have been for a number of reasons. Maybe it was the way that he held onto your hand tighter than he usually did. You swayed your body next to his like you thought that you should have been doing. If you hadn’t you would have looked out of place. He hated when you looked out of place. The skimpy dress you had worn that night was just for him. You thought that he would like the way that the straps barely clung to your shoulders and the way that it was snug against your curves.

He was watchful. Silent. You had known him to be a generally loud and gregarious person. He had many friends. Many of his friends you really did like; but, there were others that you had liked less...the friends with wandering and judging eyes.

“Why her?” They would ask.

“You could do better.” They would whisper in his ear when they thought that you couldn’t hear.

“Isn’t she...boring?”

“Not boring when I’ve got her alone.”

The club was full of people; a suffocating amount. Bodies thrashed up against eachother in all their sweating heat. Shiny polyester and the tulle ruffles of shirts scratched against your skin in passing. Under the line of sight, no one could see where hands might reach or creep in the dark corners of that room. With the music blasting, no one could hearo f the sinful desires whispered from ear to ear.

“Don’t you want to get outta here?” He had craned down to give you his message.

“W-why don’t we just dance? I like this song.”

“But we’ve been here for so long.” His hand gripped tight on your arm. “Really. Let’s get out of here.”

“But--”

“Let’s bounce. I don’t wanna be here any more. Let’s go have fun somewhere else.”

Fear rose in your throat. His tone had changed to the one that you had been trying to keep at bay for weeks.

“Baby, I’m having fun!” You tugged back at your arm which he hadn’t released. Your brain worked quickly, and you did what you thought would’ve been distracting enough. You kissed him.

Hard and fast you shoved your tongue down his throat in ways that you only would do when it had been the two of you alone. The music was loud. No one could hear the way he forced a moan into your mouth. Your hands wove deeply into his hair that was swathed in that cologne of his that was dizzying. It was saltwater and cinnamon.

Your body pressed up flat against his chest and, as expected, he threw his arms back around you and kissed back with the same fervency that you tried to drench him in.

Your words were breathless. “Can we...stay?”

“Baby, how can you say that when you kissed me like that? God, if I could screw you right here and now...”

His friends had been watching. Or pretending not to watch. It was no lie that their eyes had been peeping from the corners.

“Let’s get some more drinks then? Hm? Maybe later we can head back to your--”

“--NO! I want you now.” His words were violent, and his hands starved in his feverish way, yet still, he sucked his devilish smile into your neck. “Baby, please.”

Just a few more drinks. That was all that it would take. Just a few more drinks and he would be a stumbling mess. He would forget his name and you and then he wouldn’t be able to take you anywhere. You loathed yourself for feeling that way, but it was the only solution you could think of.

“Let’s go out back. No one walks down that alley, you know so.”

A nervous laugh slipped off of your lips. “I-I know, but--it’s so cold outside, it’s snowing an-and it won’t be comfortable--”

“--I don’t need comfortable, I just need you.”

Lazily, his eyes met with one of his friendsand he flicked his finger to beckon him over. “You. Come with us. We’re gonna need someone to watch the door.”

His friend scoffed and shoved his glass into the hands of a stranger. “Fine. What are you gonna pay me back with?”

“I dunno, I’ll think of that later.”

Your arm wiggled, a slight attempt to free yourself of his grasp. “Babe, babe, come on. I-it’s risky, an-and--”

“--And what?!”

“I-I don’t...I don’t...”

“Babe I thought you liked it when we did risky stuff? Remember last week? The bathroom? You liked that didn’t you?”

“That-that was different.”

Above your heads the speakers boomed with a bass drop that you could feel vibrate in your chest. Strobe lights of dozens of different colors blinded your vision. Your head panged with a pain that must’ve been the alcohol, but with each passing second, you felt more and more lightheaded. Air just barely escaped from your lungs and your lungs felt like dead weight.

His voice had been muffled. Your feet started taking steps that didn’t feel like they were their own. He used his body mass to part the sea of bodies, drawing you farther and farther away from it all. The two men chuckled as you neared the back of the building where the haze from the stage seemed to accumulate.

“Stand right at this door and don’t let anyone get out from it. Don’t leave until we come back in.”

His friend rolled his eyes, then took out his showy looking pen to take a long drag. He blew it into the other man’s face. “Have fun you two.”

The cold winter air stung at your dry lungs. You realized then that you had forgotten your coat inside. Under your feet, flaky and white snow had mixed in potholes which had filled with iridescent oil. Together, the only thing that you could think of in that moment was how the two colors and mixed. In no way where they similar: one, black and slick, the other soft and pure. They made no sense.

“Ohhhh...Baby.”

His breath was hot and it steamed in the air like some kind of deadly and wispy poison. His hands were big. Much bigger than yours, and they seemed to wrap you all up in them. They were magnets to your hips which fell into them with ease. He must’ve been cold too you figured: goosebumps formed on his arms where the falling snow fell on them.

“You’re all mine. No one else’s. Don’t you ever forget that. Tell me. Who’s baby are you?”

“Y-yours.” Your voice trembled.

“That’s right.”

His freezing hands swept up both sides of your face and you prayed that he couldn’t feel the tears stream from your eyes to his fingers. All at once, you felt nauseous, you felt sick, shame, rage, embarrassment and fear. With the adrenaline pumping in your ears, you did something even you didn’t expect.

“S-stop.”

His mouth continued lapping over yours, even your words which you repeated,

“Stop!”

“Baby, we’re just getting started!” Frigid fingers crept up your shirt to your bare skin.

“I SAID STOP!”

You had bitten his lip, and the metallic taste of his blood dripped onto your lip.

“You bitch!” He stumbled, then wiped the blood to his finger.

Hot tears fell freely, and your body shook: perhaps it was the cold, or your fright, but it shook every part of you.

“What the fuck?!” He rose his hand in the air, “Who the fuck to you think--”

“--HEY!”

A voice echoed down the alley and bounced off the brick walls. He was a black outline, but it was undoubtedly him who had shouted. He was still, but all at once he started running, sprinting towards you and you cowered to the snow.

“Don’t you fucking--”

The other man ran right up to the both of you. He was shorter, but crashed into the other taller man with a fist raised. He nearly had to jump a little, but he had knocked him square in the face with a horrible fleshy sounding thud.

He finished his sentence, “-Don’t you fucking touch her!”

The shorter man rubbed at his knuckles which had bloodied quickly. Your boyfriend had slipped on the ice a few steps back, falling to the ground clumsily and wetting it from the blood dripping from his mouth and nose. He laughed incredulously.

“You pack quite a punch for a little guy don’t you? Well, you picked the wrong fight--”

He rose to his feet with fists raised, then took a swing at the other man. He was agile, and ducked with ease, then twisted around the taller’s body to punch into his ribs. Still he didn’t miss each punch, and your boyfriend landed hits to his face as well. The stranger fell to the ground this time, groaning out and splashing into the cotton snow. While he was down, the taller man kicked into his sides.

“How do you like that? Huh??? You have no FUCKING RIGHT. This is between me and my girlfriend, so, fuck. off.”

The stranger spat blood to the white snow. “A-actually, I did have a right.”

“What was that??” He kicked harder.

“You-you were going to hit her? Weren’t you? Who the hell hits their girlfriend?”

In one motion, the shorter man was back up on his feet, stumbling, but still swinging. He was weaker, but still punched into the taller man’s sides relentlessly. The two men sparred, and you felt frozen. It was as if you weren’t even breathing.

Stop. Stop. Stop. Your thoughts rang, but your voice couldn’t muster it.

“You’re the fucking--” Punch. “--Scum--” Punch. “--Of the--” Punch. “--Earth.”

Your boyfriend’s eyes had become bloodshot red. In a mix of furious arms, he had scraped his wristwatch against the other man who cried out with a horrible sounding whimper, and then a flash of red started to flow down his arm.

Your dress had soaked through with the freezing cold water and you had nearly buried your eyes into your arms. Never had you felt so small, so helpless.

“HEY! What’s going on down here?”

A flash of blue and red lights lit up the pitch black alley.

“What’s going on??”

The policeman’s voice buzzed over the loudspeaker on his car.

The shorter man was a crumple on the ground and he hissed out with pain from his teeth. His arm quivered with pain from the gash that had been pressed into it. By contrast, the peaceful snow fell lightly onto his body and got tangled into his curled, dark hair. Your boyfriend; you hadn’t even seen him turn to sprint down the opposite side of the alley.

Regardless, the stranger still managed, “Ar-are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

Your dry and tear-stained cheeks crinkled. “N-no. He didn’t.”

“T-that’s good. Listen, I-I need to go. I can’t afford for them to take me. Ask them to help you and take you home.

The clink of the policeman’s keys on his hip jingled as he neared.

“I’m sorry I have to run.” He stumbled to his feet. For a few seconds, you could see his eyes under the flickering yellow streetlight. They weren’t brown or black, but some kind of dark stormy grey.

He went running down the alley, as fast as he could manage with a limp to his leg and his dripping arm creating a trail behind him.

As he ran, he left behind him a scent, foreign in the winter air. You couldn’t name it exactly, but you had guessed at least for then, it might’ve been something like rosemary and cedarwood.

╚ ——————————————— ╝

2am, and you felt euphoric. Like a fucking cloud. Even though it was typical, there really were no other words that could describe it.

Felix and Chan bumped their hips against yours while they danced in the rhythm of the song that the DJ had played. Both of their bright smiles were utterly adorable, and the three of you doubled over in your laughter at each other’s terribly awkward dance moves. Chan made his best attempt at the robot, and Felix busted out some of his favorite internet dances. You rose your hand to the side of your face as if to say I don’t know them. Felix’s tiny hands interlaced into yours and you danced with him too while Chan mimed throwing dollar bills into the air.

“How much longer?” You yelled over the music until it scratched your throat.

“I don’t know! I didn’t get a chance to look at the line up!” Chan’s body bumped up against others in the crowd while he tried to check is phone. “It’s fine! I’m sure he should be coming on soon!”

You couldn’t remember the last time that you had been to a show that wasn’t to see Jisung. It was strange thinking about all of the things you used to worry about when you had gone to see him in the past: was your outfit sexy enough, had you remembered to put on your lip gloss...you’d even worry over stupid shit like if you had missed any spot on your legs while shaving.

None of those worries filled you now. The clothes that you had put on in your haste made little sense, and were a bit warm in the room where sweat practically dripped from the walls. You had even left your apartment in such a hurry--you had been working on a new piece from a spark of inspiration during midday.

“He said that he was going near the end I think!!” You informed your friends.

Chan did a little excited dance. You didn’t know if he was more thrilled over the fact that he was there or how you had promised to introduce him to Changbin after the show.

The lights shifted, turning from pink to blue, and the music faded too. Your beating heart slowed as the atmosphere changed and Felix clawed back onto your arm.

“Oh my God!!! I think that it’s gonna be him!!!” Chan nearly leapt into the air.

It was frightening how familiar it all felt; you felt as if you had been transported right to that first night, the night that you had met him and the night that he had entranced you up on that stage. Everything in the room darkened, and the smoke slithered onto the stage. Everyone had quieted with their focus narrowing on the empty expanse that had been set up all for him.

To the side of the stage, the announcer chuckled into the mic, “Ladies and Gents, as you know him...SPEAR B!”

Music erupted like a crack of lighting over the speakers and was so sudden that nearly everyone in the crowd jumped out of their skin. The spotlights flooded the stage in a blinding white light, and before your eyes could process it, he had thrown himself to centerstage with some kind of magic or trick of the eye. It was so confusing, all you could do was stand in shock.

Rapid fire lyrics flew off his tongue with lightspeed, and he carried himself around the stage with as much regality as a king. His hooded eyes held nothing but concentration at each of his words, and he threw his arms around with emphasis so you could hang onto every single syllable. He shone under the lights where he had adorned himself in his favorite array of silver and crystal jewelry: his trademark chain around his neck blinked like diamonds. Every curve of the muscles on his thick arms and thighs tensed and the vein on the side of his neck flared as he spoke. With a bite to his lip and an indulgent smile, he owned very single part of his own world.

He was fucking mesmerizing.

Felix and Chan were wildly flapping their bodies around and thrashing their heads along with every other body in the crowd, but you had stood still. It was unbelievable that you had been close to him. All your memories of him holding you softly in his arms, planting kisses into every tender inch of your skin seemed so far away, but so close. He couldn’t have been the same person.

Your heart swelled with a pain. It might’ve been warning, precautionary, or fearful. Or, it might’ve been warm, intoxicated, infatuated. Your own mind couldn’t comprehend it.

Over the hundreds of eyes in the crowd, somehow, he had found yours, and it was just as that first night had been. He was so massive, so crushing. His confidence was something so addictive and his gaze so thick that you felt as if it was crushing. Still, there was one thing that was different about it now.

He knew you. He wasn’t just some stranger.

He knew your ins and outs, he knew your fears, the way that you would shy away from him or how you would lean into him closer. After that one meeting, you had encompassed everything that he could imagine, as he did for you.

You had started as strangers, but now you couldn’t even imagine a time when you weren’t.

He had broken his composure for mere seconds to smile at you. It was a simple: I see you. And you see me.

It was cliché. Fucking cheesy as hell. God, it was sugary sweet and rotten; a phrase you hadn’t said in a year or more. But, with the dozens of other girls screaming it in that room, bumping with bodies and bass ringing, condensation on the walls and music louder than your own voice, you joined the cacophony. Even if he couldn’t hear you screamed the words with your whole chest:

“I FUCKING LOVE YOU SEO CHANGBIN!”

╚ ——————————————— ╝

The music had subsided, and the stage lit to normal as the stagehands switched around the arrangement for the next act. You and your two friends were out of breath and exhausted. Sweat beaded on all of your brows and you felt it dripping down your back as well. The three of you stood laughing out in your euphoria: it as a high like none other.

“Damn. Why do I really want ice cream right now?” Felix huffed out his laugher and slung Chan under his arm. “Doesn’t that sound like a really good idea?”

Chan whipped the damp strands of hair from his eyes. “That does sound like a really good idea. But...you think any places will be open?”

With surprised glances, the three of you burst out hysterically.

You wiped an exhilarated tear from your eye, “We’d have to go to the store.”

Somehow, it was the funniest thing that you could have said and Felix and Chan held their sides in their laughter.

“Do-do you think that Changbin would want to come with us?” Felix helped fix your sweater which had become a bit ajar on your frame.

“I don’t see why not.”

Chan did another adorable little dance. “Holy hell. I can ask him about his process!!!.” He scooped you up into a tight hug. “This is so exciting!!!!!”

“Just don’t...scare him away.” You patted into Chan’s hair with adoration.

“He should be back out any minute right? He said he would come looking for you?”

You nodded, feeling your heart start to race at the prospect. You hadn’t felt this giddy about the attention in a while--not at least, attention that had been given to you without a condition.

Behind your little group, you felt a tug on your wrist, then your cheeks swelled with warmth.

“Chang--”

“--Holy fuck! You actually came!!”

Jisung’s eyes lit up and an inhumanely wide smile spread across his face.

“...Jisung--”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it, you actually came! Shit, I really thought that after we talked the other day that--”

Chan ripped Jisung’s grip from your wrist. “You better cut that out.” Once as giddy as he was before, his expression had turned deadly serious.

“What are you doing here?” Felix pushed you slightly behind him.

“Performing? This is my show too. I’m on in thirty. You’re here to see me too?”

“Like hell we are.” Chan rolled his eyes.

Jisung chose to ignore him, bringing his attention back to you.

“B-baby, thank you so much for coming, and for giving me another chance--”

“--Another chance? Y/n, what is he talking about?” Felix asked, then both of your friends eyes were on yours.

A knot formed back up in your throat with your decisions that you had let hang since you had las spoken to Jisung. You thought you had been clear enough to him, and you had told your friends you had thought that you had ended it.

Chan huffed out an authoritative sigh, “We’re leaving. Come on,” he wrapped an arm around both you and Felix. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“No! Wait! Y/n don’t leave! Let-let’s talk about this, y-you never let me see you any more, I’ve been missing you...missing you like crazy,” His grip reached out to you once more, pulling your whole arm closer to him with a pain that panged in your shoulder. “--since you’re here...let’s just talk this out okay?”

The music in the room grew louder once more, and the next act entered the stage with the announcer’s enthusiastic voice. The lights flashed out, and suddenly all of your bodies were bathed in red, pink, and blue light.

Another memory, from another night, flashed before your eyes. He held onto your arm tighter than he usually did. His incessant eyes pleaded over to yours like he had countless times before.

“Jisung, stop.”

“I-I just don’t understand! Let’s not do this here! Can’t we go somewhere private where the two of us can talk? Baby--”

Another hand grasped at your opposite arm, then it snuck around your waist.

“--What the hell do you think you’re doing to her?”

Changbin pulled you into his chest with a force that knocked the wind out of your lungs, then he immediately inspected the arm where the other had grabbed you so tightly.

“Did he hurt you? Let me see.”

Chan and Felix’s eyes widened in their shock.

Jisung pushed himself closer. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing Changbin? Don’t get involved in this, it doesn’t concern you.”

“Actually, yes, it does.”

Everything was unfolding before your eyes, and you felt faint. All the secrets, lies, the way that you had entangled yourself in it all, was crushing you like vines with thorns. Your fear bit bile in your throat, and you couldn’t decide if you felt strong enough to run.

Before you could say anything about it, Changbin pulled you out from the crowd, faster than your wobbling legs could handle. He was furious, you could tell, but he tried his best not to let it seep over to you. Changbin muttered curses under his breath, but pushed forward, past the dancing bodies, past the stage, past the maze of speakers and other sound equipment in the back.

“Let’s just get out of here okay?” His fingers dug into your waist.

Behind you, Felix and Chan shoved their way a few paces behind, ultimately getting caught in the web of people moving this way and that. Not far behind them, was Jisung thrashing with all his might to catch up.

With your heartbeat in your ears, words started spilling out from your mouth:

“Changbin, I didn’t tell you--I-I still haven’t told you, but you need to know before--”

Changbin swung the back door to the venue and it slammed behind you with a metallic clang. It was nearly blizzarding outside, but he didn’t seem to care at all. Rather, he pulled you back into his chest to hug you tightly. He was desperate in the way that he hung onto your body; like he was trying to suck the very life from you.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you? I’m so sorry I couldn’t get there sooner. He’s a fucking dick, I won’t let him touch you again, I promise.”

Your nose clogged immediately, and your sobs came out choked and full of utter fear.

I’m going to loose him. I’ll lose him. He’ll hate me. He’ll let go, and never come back.

“Chang-Changbin...Jisung, he was--”

“Beautiful, why are you crying? Stop, stop, it’s okay.” He soothed you, wiping the tears from your cheeks that got muddled with snow. He too had snow clinging to his eyelashes and his hair that was also strung with sweat.

The back door swung open with another startling clank, and Jisung threw himself out of it with Felix and Chan holding him back by the arms.

“HE DOESN’T EVEN FUCKING KNOW HER!” Jisung screeched, then tore free of both of your friends.

He lunged himself at Changbin who had seconds to respond. He turned his back to shield you with his body, and Jisung clawed with an animalistic energy.

“HE DOESN’T FUCKING KNOW HER!” Jisung had been sobbing too, then swung a haphazard fist to Changbin’s back.

Felix and Chan came rushing to catch you as you fell into their arms, then Changbin swiftly turned to return the hit.

“Me?? You’re fucking crazy!!” He dodged another hit. “What the hell do you know about her?? Huh? YOU don’t know a thing about her!!”

Jisung wiped his eyes then threw another lazy punch. “What are you talking about???”

The two men stood still, both of them turning to turning to look at you with heaving chests. In your friends arms you trembled, and your worst nightmares unfolded right in front of your face. Your body fell to the ground, and the snow seeped into your clothes, just as it did on that night so long ago.

“Holy shit.” Jisung grabbed both sides of his head in his realization. “She fucking played us. SHE FUCKING PLAYED ME.”

Changbin cast his eyes away from you, just as he had when he had barely known a thing about you. He wouldn’t give you the pleasure.

“You were fucking her too, weren’t you?” Jisung laughed out like a madman. “So that’s what she’s been doing this whole time I haven’t seen her. She’s been fucking you and--”

Changbin’s fist rose, and it came crashing into the side of Jisung’s face so suddenly that you and your friends jumped from how fast he had done it.

He said nothing, but proceeded to raise his fist again, then sent it right back into the soft of Jisung’s cheek before he had a minute to respond to the first. Jisung whimpered, then spat blood out of his mouth. His tears had returned, but this time, they were infused in his own anger. The two boys steadied their stance, looking into each other’s eyes with lethal rage. Jisung attacked back with a yell that echoed through the alley, and he too landed punches to Changbin’s sides in sharp hooks. Changbin then grabbed the other man’s shirt collar, pulling him close, then knocking him back with red and bloody fists.

The two boys scuffled and slipped in the snow which had slicked on the ground to make each of their steps clumsy. Jisung sobbed through each of his punches, whereas Changbin held his teeth shut with a grit, merely grunting as he swung more and more. Your own tears blurred your vision, and your chest felt tight; nearly like it was about to burst. Your friends clung to your body just as tight, hushing to you and yelling at the boys to stop, but their voices sounded distant and faint.

Jisung landed punch to Changbin’s eye which split the skin there on his eyebrow. Changbin returned the favor in the same spot, creating the same effect. With crackled lips they swore at eachother, and you could only make out one phrase from Changbin’s mouth:

“Don’t you. Fucking. Touch her.”

The door swung, “Changbin?”

Minho hugged his coat around himself, only to jump out of his skin at the scene in front of him. He dodged two of Jisung’s swings as he clambered over to his roommate to hold him back. He was nearly two seconds late: with a roar, the two boys landed terrible blows at eachother, knocking them both to the ground.

“‘Bin--stop, STOP!” Minho wrapped his arms around his friend.

Just as he did, two other boys exited from the venue: one of them tall with long black hair and the other with hair as white as the snow.

“Fuck you.” Jisung growled dizzily, and his two friends swooped in to help him back to his feet. They too looked furious, but Jisung waved them off groggily. “Don’t w-waste your fucking time. Y-you--” He pointed directly at Changbin. “D-don’t waste your time...on her. I-I’m such a fucking fool.”

“Sung, let’s get out of here.” Jisung’s tall friend urged him. “Anyone on that street could’ve called the cops.”

Minho held Changbin up then looked to you and your startled friends eyes seriously. “We need to leave too.”

“We need to get him to a hospital.” Felix’s voice cracked.

“You think that he can afford a bill? N-no. We can’t do that. I’ll explain later...he’ll be fine. He’s done this to himself before. Idiot.” Minho slugged his roommates arm over his shoulder and Chan rushed to grab the other.

Your legs shook when Felix helped you to your feet. Any second, you thought they would give out. Thick strands of blood and saliva caught on Changbin’s lip. Seeing him like that made you feel even sicker. It was all your fault.

“M-My place is close-by. We can go there.” You locked eyes with Minho.

“Okay. We’ll go there.”

╚ ——————————————— ╝

Your hands trembled violently once you brought your key to your lock. They burned with the cold, and were wet from how you had clawed at the snow.

“Here, let me.” Felix gently offered.

Your apartment was an absolute wreck. Tiny as it was, you had managed to make a mess of it all with art supplies, dirty dishes, hundreds of sticky notes with reminders and textbooks. As you entered, you swept everything to the side with your feet.

“W-what do we do?” Chan’s own fingers had turned pink from the cold where he held Changbin: head slumped and blinking hazily, then shivering furiously--the action thus making him groan out in pain.

“He-he’s freezing. There’s blood...” You fell from Felix’s arms. “I-I have to help him.” Once more, tears welled in your eyes. “We need to get him warm. Get him in the shower and clean him off.”

“Okay. Where’s the bathroom?”

You guided the group of boys down your hall where it became a group effort to remove him of his soaked clothes. Your pants had also been soaked through, but that didn’t even phase you; not when blood stained his mouth. He slumped his body over into four pairs of arms.

“I can take it from here.” You closed the door behind yourself.

Just as you did, you caught Chan’s surprised and widened eyes after Minho had leaned back from his ear. “He’s the son of WHO?”

You shimmied your own clothes off, ignoring your own shivering as you held him up. The act itself was difficult, and you had given up when it came to your undergarments. It didn’t matter much, so you left them on, along with his. All you wanted was to get the blood off of him--you couldn’t bear to see it.

The warm water on your skin felt unreal: a blanket of warmth to dissolve away the chill that clung to your body. It was as if you were defrosting: melting away the illness, the poison, the doubt and the fear. For a moment, you let yourself think that it was that simple.

“Y/n”

At your feet, the water turned from clear to pink.

“What is it?” You hushed above the sound of the shower, and Changbin rested his forehead on your shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? You shouldn’t be sorry...I’m the one that should be.”

“N-no.” He coughed, “I feel so sorry.”

“Changbin--”

“--Why him? Why him when he would treat y-you like shit? I-I know how he is.”

“I-I don’t know...”

It was a funny thing crying in the shower. It was somewhat like you weren’t crying at all with how your tears mixed with the stream.

He sniffled, “I-I’m not mad at you. I mean...I was, but...I just don’t understand.”

“Please, be mad at me. Be fucking furious. T-this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have lied. I shouldn’t have kept it a secret--”

Changbin chuckled, then rose his head, lips bloodied, one eye squinted, with a smile on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re holding me back. I didn’t have to do it this time.”

At first, you didn’t know what it meant. But then, you realized. You had been clinging on to him for dear life: your arms completely wrapped around him, even now when he was standing on his own.

“I thought that I gave a damn since it was him--it made me so fucking mad that it was him but...”

“...What?”

“Fuck me, but...I love you.”

You shook your head vehemently, tears crossing with the warm trickle of water. “N-no, you don’t.”

He chuckled once more, “I think I’d know if I did or didn’t.”

“Don’t say that.” Your chest shook.

“Why?”

“B-because you don’t mean it. You can’t love me.”

“Why not?”

His hands, bruised and pink cupped both sides of your face.

“Someone like me...You can’t fucking love me.”

“What? You’re not making any sense. Y/n, I think I’ve fucking loved you since the first night that I met you, and you can’t stop me from loving you. Listen, you don’t even have to love me back for now, but can you at least accept how I feel for you?”

How was it you had been able to scream it before, but couldn’t find the words now?

Heated steam filled up your shower, and dripped from the walls. His skin too dipped with drops of that water. You thought to yourself how the blood and the water mixed, the two colors didn’t work together at all. Why was all you could think of colors?

“Okay?” He asked.

Your own hands took to his soft cheeks, where you brushed away any streaks of red you could see there.

You closed your yes after, succumbing to the feeling that the water brought you: melting, fading, dissolving, just like the way that watercolors blended from one to the other on a page. You felt Changbin press his forehead into yours.

“I-I think that I love you too--but--I’m so scared. So fucking scared.”

He let out a relieved “oh” then pressed his lips gently into yours. Each kiss after the other was more and more careful. He poured his whole being into your quivering lips.

“Please don’t be scared. Don’t be scared of me. I swear that I won’t hurt you, I never want to. I mean it. Please don’t run from me.”

Here you were, worrying that he was the one to run from you. You felt pathetic thinking how patient he had been with you, how much he had put up with, and what he had just done, all for you.

He kissed more “pleases” into your mouth, then drew you flush against his chest.

You held onto him tighter. “Do you mean it?”

He nodded, then craned his neck to fill your mouth with more of his answers, and it did feel like the way that watercolors faded into one another.

╚ ——————————————— ╝

“Will he be okay?”

Felix, Chan, you, and Minho sat on your couch with mugs warming your hands. In the past half hour or so, none of you had said much.

Minho sighed. “He will be. He just needs to rest now. I’ll take him to the clinic tomorrow, see if anything is wrong. Knowing him...thick skulled asshole...” He scoffed with a smirk, “--He’s fine.”

“T-that’s good.” Chan took a sip. “He fell asleep?”

“Right after we got out of the shower. Lucky I stole some of Chan’s joggers back then. I put him in my bed and he was out like a light. Didn’t say that anything else hurt.”

In unison, the four of you took another anxious sip.

“He can stay here tonight? If that’s okay with you?” Minho asked.

“Yeah. That’s fine. I don’t think he wants to move wither.”

Felix looked about himself awkwardly. “Wellll I think that we should get going then. Y/n, call us if you need anything?”

“Mmhm.”

A silence filled the air.

“Y/n, did you know?” Chan blurted out.

“Me? Know what?”

Minho shot the other man a deadly glare, then cleared his throat. “Bin’s dad is some high ranking politian. Someone so high that we’d know his name: that’s how he explained it to me. He left his whole life with them to rap. If he had gotten caught tonight, in the alley or some hospital with his real name, it would’ve been all over the news. He’s been trying his best to be invisible since high school...doesn’t want to tarnish the family reputation or something, even though they practically hate him....I don’t get it. They basically disowned him after he said he wanted to do rapping, not like he minded though. His surname isn’t even Seo.”

“Do you know what it is? His surname?”

“He’s never told me and I never asked.”

Another silence fell over your group.

“...He never told me.” You watched the steam of your tea.

“And I didn’t tell you either, alright? This stays between us.”

Felix mocked a zip over his lips.

“Guess I’ll have to ask him about him about his artistic process another time then, hm?” Chan cracked his sarcasm with an airy laugh.

“Guess so.” You tried your best to laugh back. “Thank you for tonight. All of you.” You met each boys eyes and each of them nodded in understanding.

Felix clapped his friend’s back. “Let’s head out.”

╚ ——————————————— ╝

One light was left on in your room: the strand of pink string lights that you hung over the wall your bed was against. The rest of your room was cluttered as well with clothes strewn about and your backpack contents scattered all across the floor. From your tiny and aged window, snow had accumulated in the corners, and further, the yellow and red lights of the city sparkled. Just as you were about to pull the plug for the lights, Changbin groaned out groggily.

“Wait...what are you doing?”

“Turning off the lights. I’m going to go to sleep too now. I wanna give you some space. I’ll go over on the couch.”

“No!” He roused himself, “No. Don’t do that. Can you...stay in here?”

“Sleep with you?”

“If you want? I wouldn’t mind.” He smirked, ever cocky. Nothing took that from him. “Two bodies are warmer than one.”

“Bin...”

His smile really was just a bit too cute.

“Mm. I like it when you call me that.” He reached out his arm to tempt you in. “Please? Come on.”

You toyed with his forearm, shaking it a little like you were throwing a tantrum. “Do I have to?”

“Hey! We just had a fuckin’ moment! I just bore my frickin’ heart for you.”

“I’m just teasing. I will.”

Right by his wrist, a puffy scar caught your eye, and you wondered if you had missed cleaning one of his wounds. You turned his arm over, revealing the gnarly scar: a stripe, about 3 inches long running parallel to his arm.

“What’s this?” You studied it further.

“Oh. That. Don’t get mad, but, tonight’s fight wasn’t my first. Some fucker with a watch or a bracelet or something tore the shit outta my arm this one time.” He inspected it himself, “It’s my battle scar. I’m kinda proud of it. If I hadn’t stepped in, who knows what he would’ve done to his girlfriend? There’s a special place in hell for guys like him.”

Stormy grey eyes.

Rosemary and cedarwood.

You thought you had cried all the tears that would’ve been possible that night. Blurred memories, the ones that you had tried so desperately to forget came flooding over you. How you hadn’t known...was beyond you.

“Hey...” Changbin scooched back up to wipe your tears. “Tears again? What’s wrong?” His thumbs wiped them away. “You can tell me?”

“It-it was you??”

“Me? Me what?”

“On that night, in the alley when it was snowing, I-I was alone and he...”

Changbin’s eyes too blew out, then his own tears gathered in the corners. “Holy shit...that was you too?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god.”

Instinctually, he threw his arms around you, back into his scent that was just as clear as the real first night you had met him. Together, you both turned into babbling, sniffling messes.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Your voice shook. “I’ve always wanted to thank you. I-I can’t believe--”

“--Come here.”

Changbin swept you off your feet and wrapped all of his limbs around your body where he had pulled you into the bed, finally sweeping the covers over top of both your bodies with a kiss to your forehead.

“You’ve gone though so much. Fuck, I don’t know how you’ve done it.”

Your own hands snaked around his body. “Bin...”

“We’re kind of impossible aren’t we? All those years ago, and now...”

“Thank you.” You kissed into his mouth, silencing him something much sweeter than your secrets.

His body shifted, and he returned with his own kisses, each one slow and careful. He twisted his body to lean slightly over you, wincing at the pain that it caused him.

“Fuck. That hurt.” He sighed with a tiny pout, “But, I don’t want to stop kissing you.”

You bit a little smile into his lips. “Don’t push yourself.”

“What? I can’t help it.”

This time, you pushed him back to swiftly cast your legs on either side of his hips to straddle him. “This better?”

He hummed out a happy yes, reaching down to pull your lips into his again. Like it always had been, you could’ve kissed him like this for ages, and time would slip into nothingness: a mere construct undefinable. Outside, the world was still dark and cold, but inside, the heat of your two bodies mingling banished it all away.

“By the way, I wanted to tell you that I think that your art is beautiful.” Changbin broke momentarily, then pointed to your unframed paintings stuck to the walls with painters tape. “I’ve never seen anything like them. I don’t know why you keep them hidden here. The world should see them.”

“Trying to get into my pants now? Who told you to say that?”

From your string lights, his whole being was bathed in a soft pink light.

“No one. But I mean it...you know, if I wasn’t debilitated, who knows what I would do to you right now.”

“Woooow, you talk such big game.”

He shot you a teasing glance. “I’ll fucking do it, fuck my probably broken-or- bruised ribs.”

“No! Don’t do that.” You chuckled. “Don’t hurt yourself.” With a newfound confidence, you lowered your body to hover your lips over his own. “What if I go easy on you....nice and slow? Didn’t you say once that you liked to take things slow?”

His eyes darkened as he mimicked your tone. “Anything as long as it’s with you.” After, his hands swept all the way down your back, lightly brushing up the fabric of your sleep-shirt, then to kneed into your ass. “Will you let me love you tonight?”

“Will you let me love you back?”

“Yes.”

You shoved your hips down into his, grinding as purposefully as you could over his half-hard dick and shivering at the sensation over your clit. Both of your bodies trembled at the action. Under the cotton sheets and down comforter, there was nothing that could have felt cozier against the bare skin of your arms, and the way that his fingertips traced scribbles into your back.

In seconds, he had pulled your shirt off your head, kissing little moans into your mouth once his hands had found your breasts. All the while, you kept your hips moving, reveling in the way that with each thrust of your hips you had felt yourself get wetter. He pulled and tweaked at your nipples which hardened them instantly, and you bowed down to kiss him on all the places where he didn’t know he had needed the attention: on the tip of his nose, in the corners of his mouth, over that scar on his chin, fluttering over his bruised eyelid, overtop the Band-Aid above his eyebrow, giving care to all the little scrapes on his cheeks.

He had keened his hips upwards, now properly hardened from your friction against him. Even just like this, his length felt heavenly. With a careful prompt, he guided your torso upward, granting his mouth better access of your perky nipples which he took into his mouth greedily. Even greedier hands cascaded down your stomach to your boyshorts where he pulled at the elastic. After, he ghosted his touch over the thin fabric separating him from touching your clit. The sensation nearly sent you topping over, but rather you grabbed at the iron headboard to your bed to steady yourself. Changbin blew his words over your nipples with a cool air.

“Can I?”

“Do you even need to ask?” You chuckled out.

“Of course I do.” He hooked two fingers to help you shake the fabric off your legs. “I always do.”

First, he pulled you down into his lips; a distraction, then he coaxed his digits into your folds. You hadn’t known how embarrassingly wet you had become, but that was nothing compared to the reality of it. The sounds of your slick coating his fingers was loud enough to make you giggle, and for him to return it.

“That excited huh?” His index finger rubbed faint circles around your clit.

“W-what about it?”

“I just think that its cute.” He removed his hand to show you the way that your arousal strung around his fingers. “‘So wet for me, aren’t you angel?”

“Mmhm.” Your hips did their own helpless dance over the pads of his fingers once he had brought them back down. “S-shit.”

A wicked smile spread over his face as he indulged in you more. Back and forth, he traced around your swollen clit, then down to your entrance, barely giving you any contact at all.

“Remember our first night? Hmm? Remember what I did to you? ...I could do it again...”

“B-Bin...” You gasped out his name at the thought.

His tongue slicked over your bottom lip, “Would you like that?” His index and middle finger swept even rougher swipes over your clit which sent you mewling back on his tongue.

“Yes? Or no? Use your words Beautiful.”

That intense feeling, that unreal feeling...you would’ve been lying if you had said you hadn’t dreamed of it.

“...yes. I want you to.”

“Okay my love. Just relax. Lean on me if you have to, okay?”

“It won’t hurt you?”

“No. Not at all.”

With your quivering thighs, his hand dipped back down and toyed with the heat of your folds and angrily sensitive clit. Your choked moans muffled into the crook of his neck where you had buried your face. Every single touch of his made your body feel as if it was aflame. Relentlessly, he switched from circling to stopping, every once and a while slipping a couple fingers to stretch out your entrance. He wouldn’t grant it to you fully yet, but his curved digits teased at your g-spot for only seconds at a time.

In his ears, you filled them with “more, more, more’s” and little whimpers of “deeper, deeper, please, deeper.”

“More? Is that what you want?”

He winced terribly at the action, but he pushed you off from on top of him till you were flat on your back, screwing his fingers into you deeply.

“I’ll give you as much as you want.” He kissed the words to your collarbones.

All at once, his pace was renewed, and his fingers curved up sharply inside of your pussy to simulate your g-spot as roughly and quickly as he could. In his skill he gave your clit attention with his flattened thumb. The overwhelming feeling built in your core and inched closer second by second. Your control over your body slipped past you, and you fell completely into the feeling.

You came with a uncontrollable shake of your whole body, and a release of pressure that made you into a moaning mess--that of which you didn’t need to be careful of if you had been too loud or not. Freely, you convulsed with that indescribable feeing, and your liquids wetted both your thighs and the fringes of the sheets which Changbin just barely removed from your body.

“Fuck. Fuck.”

In his adoration, the man above you proudly chuckled at your body still quivering with aftershocks.

“Think you can take a little more after that? Take your time angel.”

Your head spun, but it did so only for a moment. As you came down, Changbin kissed one, two, three, little kisses into your shoulder while he admired the way that your body shook.

You nodded, laughing at the fact that you really did have no idea what time it was, nor could you even guess.

“Do you have--”

“--Dresser. O-over there.” A weak finger of yours pointed to your side table.

A series of grunts slipped out of him, but he rolled himself over to take a condom from the strand and take care of it himself. He hid is tiny embarrassed smirk once he laid down.

“Angel, I-I think that you’ll have to--”

“--I know.”

Back to your origional position, you aligned your entrance against his length which was still as red and hardened as ever.

“Nice and slow right?”

With one hand, you guided his dick into your velvet walls.

“Oh shit.” Changbin pulled at your lip with is teeth upon the first roll of your hips. “Just like that. Just...like that.”

It was beautiful, the way that he felt inside you. It had hurt a bit the first time, but now, it was different. The way that he filled you up was perfection: you were perfect for him, and he was for you.

“D-don’t stop.” He pleaded while he scraped his nails down your back.

To think, the one who had told you he didn’t say “please” was now at your mercy. It took everything you had not to let it go to your head.

He angled his hips upward, pushing himself even deeper, and you nearly lost your composure at the feeling. Your core tightened again, and you let yourself grind over him, not stopping once.

“F-fuck. Bin, ah! Shit--”

“Don’t stop, don’t stop.” Became his breathless mantra. “Y-you fuck me so good angel.”

Clambering lips came colliding and you rode out your orgasm on his dick fiercely, connecting your mouth with his so he could feel every little bit of the pleasure that he gave you. He did the same, spilling his euphoric “ah ah’s” all over your lips and eventually to your neck where he sucked carelessly upon his own orgasm. You milked every last bit of him from his throbbing erection until he shook and begged you to stop his overstimulation.

Perhaps because you were tired, or you craved the feeling, but not a bone in your body wanted to move.

“Can we stay like this...for a while?”

Changbin kissed his answer back to you.

“For as long as you like.”

Yes, the both of you had turned to sweating messes, and the scent of sex hung heavy around the both of you. Of course, it smelled just a little like rosemary and cedarwood. Wrapped up in one another like this, there was no telling where you began and he ended.

Until the sun peaked at the horizon, he filled you to the brim with his “I love you’s” anywhere that he could manage: into the palms of your hands, into the love bites he had painted onto your chest, onto your ears which he nibbled, and, into your sleepy eyes which had held his for as long as you could, until the allure of sleep drew both of them closed.

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boku-no-obsessedwiththisshow · 3 years

Text

red on red, nothing on everything - world maps

Hello hello! Welcome to the first reveal of the world of red on red, nothing on everything, my ongoing Kacchako A/B/O fantasy fanfiction. Last chapter, I asked readers if they wanted a map of the world to help visualize things, and one (1) whole person said yes, which was all the excuse I needed to clean up my already half-made maps and post ‘em.

If you’re not reading the fic, none of what’s below will make sense. But if you’re sticking around for shits and giggles anyway, all the better - hope you enjoy! ;)

I conceptualized the world long before I made any drawings, but I have little artistic skill so I wanted a software or online tool that could make really detailed, highly customizable maps. I found and used this really cool fantasy map generator for the base; it’s probably the most complicated, but also the most effective, worldbuilding tool I’ve ever come across; and while it’s not perfect, it has some really powerful functionality especially for the physical characteristics of maps. In addition, for my own clarity I added modifications, including the colouring and political delineations of the different regions, in FireAlpaca on my own by working on top of the baseline from the map generator.

PLEASE CLICK THE PICTURES FOR BETTER QUALITY.

Map #1 - Big Picture, “The Land”

This world of this story does not have a name (at least not yet; I’m not sure it ever will). There are different regions that have been referred to in the story. Clans, essentially noble families, have settled down and split the territories by grouping themselves according to bloodlines. There are multiple clans within a given bloodline region; some are made up of fewer, like Lightning, while others, like Dawn, have numerous clans. The current regions of the world include: Fire, Ice, Wind, Dawn, Stone, Lightning Dust, and Twilight Bloodlines.

Black lines indicate bloodline borders; dark grey lines indicate a current clan border; light grey lines indicate former clan borders (for clans that do not exist at present); finally, red lines indicate the current borders of No Man’s Land, the disputed region in which outlaws and bandits thrive.

No Man’s Land stretches all the way from the north to the south, and forms the border region between the two groupings of allies in this world: Dust, led by King Shigaraki, allied with Lightning, Twilight, and Stone; and Fire, led by Todoroki Clan, (much more loosely) allied with Ice, Wind, and as of the current story moment, potentially Dawn.

The scale in the bottom indicates what two hundred miles is like on the map, but to be quite honest I might have changed this in the meantime and I’m really not sure if it’s accurate anymore.

I’ve been approximating The Land as a whole to be about the same size as the US state of Texas.

Now, zooming in somewhat where the action takes place.

Map #2 - Major Clans

These are all of the clans that have so far been named in the story. From west to east:

Fire - Todoroki Clan; Dawn - Utsushimi, Jirou, Yamada, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu Clans; Lightning - Kaminari, Tesura Clans; Stone - Kirishima, Imasuji Clans; Dust - Shigaraki Clan.

(Not Pictured is Twilight - Chisaki Clan; but it is visible in the first map in dark purple in the south-east, next to its allies in lilac).

Capital letters indicate that that clan is the Master Clan of that particular bloodline. These clans are considered the most powerful and important, and act as leaders (or in worse cases, controllers) for the rest. At the moment, Todoroki Clan is the Master Clan of the Fire Bloodline; Kaminari Clan for Lightning; Imasuji Clan for Stone; and Shigaraki Clan for dust. (Chisaki Clan for Twilight, but it doesn’t fit on this map). Dawn is a splintered region and has no clear Master Clan.

Getting a bit closer, we can also see that No Man’s Land eats much more into the territory of Shigaraki-allied regions than it does into the territory of his enemies. Lightning and Stone in particular have large swathes of disputed territory.

Next, looking at the relief.

Map #3 - Major Locations and Natural Features

Starting with the major locations, we can find the cities/towns that have so far been named in the story.

Starting in the west: Musutafu, the capital and seat of power of Todoroki Clan, the location of Castle Endeavour; Aichi, the largest city in Jirou Clan; Rozaryu, the largest city in Uraraka Clan; Shizuoka, the largest city in Yaoyorozu Clan. The Midoriya home sits on the border between Yaoyorozu and Uraraka Clans, and neither really knows to which the cottage belongs. Esuha is the largest city and capital of Kirishima Clan; Gunga is this for Kaminari Clan. Kamino (now destroyed), the city where the Bakugou Summer Estate was located. Deika, the capital and seat of power of Shigaraki Clan, where King Shigaraki and his Blackwitch reside in their castle.

Datsugoku is the capital of Imasuji Clan. It has been referred to in the story, but has not been named (you get a freebie if you’re reading this). The name is literally just Japanese for Muscular’s second villain name (Jailbreaker); I picked it because the man has no named notable locations associated with him and I got a little desperate. Plus it sounds kind of cool. Pretend it doesn’t mean anything in the context of the story lol.

In addition to these major cities, on the map we can see the shitty town in the south of Dawn where Katsuki and his pack first spy the undercover caravan that they end up ambushing in Chapter 1. It is located in Yamada Clan, and as mentioned in the most recent chapter (7), it is where Hawks intercepted Aizawa as well. We can also see the seedy town in Tesura Clan that was mentioned in Chapter 6; this is where Dabi missed a contract, but ended up having a wonderful evening with a barmaid and bartender who skipped out on their work to get in his pants.

The mountains are also labelled on the map. Yes, all of these names are taken from canon DnD material. They sound cool and that’s all that matters.

The majority of our action so far takes place in the Storm Horns, which curve around in Lightning territory. The three overpasses are also labelled; the eastern and western ones are well-known, while the central is not. In addition to these, several other mountain ranges are mentioned in the most recent chapter. In the far north we have the Spine of the World. Both that range and the Sword Mountains in Stone extend beyond what is visible on the map. The Star Mounts are also present in the mid-eastern region of Dust, and the Greypeaks and Cloud Peaks are in the south, going through Lightning, part of Dust, and Twilight.

Finally, I thought it might be useful to take a look at where the characters have moved thus far.

Map #4 - Major Locations and Character Movement

I’ve split this into different sections, as labelled on the map. It might be a bit hard to see, but click for better quality.

Part 1 (white) - Ochaco travels from Rozaryu to Musutafu for her wedding to Shouto, a trip of just over 200 miles, escorted by Aizawa and a caravan of Todoroki Clan fighters. She passes through Aichi (Jirou Clan) and several other Dawn Clans.

Part 2 (red) - The Todoroki caravan is intercepted around the halfway point with a night ambush by Shigaraki fighters. Ochaco is taken. They swing south and end up in the shitty town in the south of Dawn (Yamada Clan), where katsuki and his pack spot them. This is roughly 130 miles.

Part 3 (red and white) - Katsuki and his pack move ahead on the road, crossing into Lightning Territory (Kaminari Clan) to set up an ambush for the Shigaraki caravan. It’s about 30 miles of travel, which is also traversed shortly after by the Shigaraki caravan itself. The ambush goes well, they take the caravan, and move.

Part 4 (white) - Katsuki and the pack discover Ochaco in the caravan. They decide to move up the mountains for added safety, stopping halfway up the Storm Horns. This is roughly another 30 miles, part of which is mountainous ascent. They interrogate Ochaco, and at that point Imasuji Gouto and his warriors attack.

Part 5 (dashed red) - After surviving the attack and spending some time separated on the mountainside, Katsuki and Ochaco meet and agree to travel together to follow the pack. Katsuki proposes they take the central overpass, move very quickly and cut the pack off on the road they will take back to Datsugoku (labeled as Planned Ambush). This would be approximately 60 miles.

Part 6 (dashed cyan) - The path Katsuki deduces Imasuji will take. Imasuji will double back, take the eastern overpass, and head straight north to Datsugoku, allowing Katsuki and Ochaco to ambush them on the way if all goes according to plan.

Of course, all does not go according to plan.

And that’s it! I had a lot of fun worldbuilding for this story, almost as much as doing the actual writing, and I’m glad I got to share even a part of it with you guys. My ask box is always open to answer any questions about it!

And of course (ha!), you can find red on red, nothing on everything right here on AO3.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! :)

#my writing #nothing on everything tag #kacchako #kacchako a/b/o #kacchako fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha

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strangerays · 3 years

Text

Nothing in Particular Update #3

About seven months and I finished the first draft at 93k!

I always imagined how it would feel to finish a first draft (I’ve been writing novels “seriously” since about 2017) and now that I’ve finally done it, I can say it’s a better feeling than I imagined! Telling my friends and family (and even my doctor, who was really quite excited about it) was an amazing amazing thing. I’m generally pretty nervous to tell people about my work, but I had a really positive reaction. Honestly all of it has me on a creative high (not sure I’m coming down from that any time soon lol).

I’m going back for my last year of school in two days, which means I’m not going to have as much time as I did to write all summer. This is okay, because I’m actually going to take an entire month off of writing! I’m really burnt out - don’t want to start editing a story that’s so near to me if I don’t feel ready. I’ll talk more about editing when the time comes!

In a lot of ways, I found that my life mimicked my art. I think for a lot of people, it tends to be the other way around, but this story did a lot to heal me.

Going to hop right into excerpts now! I’m not going to explain much this far into the story because I would like to try to publish this story (FAR in the future) so I apologize for that! Also, I stopped naming most of the chapters until I go back and edit because there are just SO MANY and I didn’t have the time to stop and think of cool names. Anyways... enjoy!!

(Here is the link to the original masterpost!)

text: Rays of gold curled to the ground, primordial and shy as the fire reeds on the cusps of shallow pool around the bay outside of Mothouse combed them to fine sparkles. I remembered the way Lonan kneeled on the edges of this pool. He never dove in – just blinked slowly as he watched crabs and minnows chase each other in a swirl of sand. I could not resist the water. I’d made it a part of me. My hair was longer then; down to my elbows, fading from dark red to orange and white, soaked always. Lonan let me borrow his shirts when I forgot to bring my own. They hung from my waist, too big for me, and I was warm even as the breeze rocked us inside.

text: The sky was never blue in Point Blink. At least, I couldn’t remember the last time the clouds hadn’t given way to a dark gray mist. Jude was here. I was out of place. I was floating – watching slender, underfed pines wave in the breeze behind houses on the water before they disappeared underneath furls of cloud. Bursts of warm light shone in windows on the bay, like hungry eyes watching for a storm. A group of kids our age chaffed on a rocky expanse, their heads popping over pockets of darkness when they laughed. Froths of cloud stretched across the sky, moving the ground with it. Long stretches of trees and islands far on the other side of our small pocket of ocean looked more like large freight ships. Lights glittered and beamed on the roads and highways that belonged to the city. Pink was starting to show over the horizon. Lonan was on the other side. Somewhere.

text:

Jude sucked her lips in and flopped onto her stomach so she could see the blue below her feet. Her dark curls draped over her ears and hid her nose.

“I can’t see the bottom of the ocean.” She cupped her fingers with the other hand. “See where the water fades to white and back again? The endless tide. Why do people say the ocean is blue?”

I leaned forward. She was right. Blue ocean climbed up the side of the cliffs and turned the rocks a dark gray; ate the erosion as if from a plate. I’d never had the ocean explained to me that way before.

“I think I like it that way,” I said.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was at the bottom of Point Blink.

text:

She smiled weakly. “It’s okay. This is just guesswork. Patchwork.”

I wanted to apologize again, but I had a strong guess that it might make her annoyed with me. “It’s kind of like… I’m just waiting for the next bad thing to happen.”

She wrinkled her nose and eyebrows, scrunched up her little face. “That’s dumb.”

“I think it’s a smart way to live.” Sometimes it felt like worry was the only thing that kept me alive. It wasn’t dumb at all.

“You’re going to be fine though. We’re going to be fine. If something bad happens, we’ll deal with it. Don’t let it eat you.”

There was wisdom in what this seventeen-year-old girl on my bed had offered me. I caught it like a gold coin. Before I could reply with anything, she launched into another question. I didn’t want to think much about change anyways.

text:

“Oh. Wow. That’s like, next year.” I sort of laughed.

“A year can be a long time,” Lonan said with a wince. “What do you think?”

I sighed through my nose and leaned back with him. The sun was going down. Sometimes, my life felt less like a golden hourglass and more like a stopwatch with a broken face.

“For once, I think I agree with your mom.”

Lonan just stared at me, with something like awe.

“I think you should do what you want,” I said.

“Ray,” Lonan started.

“No,” I interrupted him. “It’s not about me. She’s stopped you from doing anything and everything you’ve wanted to for the last four years, so when you go to college, you’ve got to separate yourself from this place.” I pointed to him. “You’re allowed to do this.”

text:

Maybe I was just being strange. Lonan was my best friend. It didn’t help that there was a little bit of him in everything – the tide pools, the echo of shells, my broken camera.

Soon, we stood in the center of the field. A breeze whispered through the cattails, fanning against our knees. Ellis loped behind me as I stepped in and out of tire tracks under the cloudless sun. She wasn’t much different than Jude. Her footsteps crunched excitedly behind mine, excited at the prospect of an unprecedented adventure. I’d missed those.

Lonan said he didn’t like to walk in fields because the wind tricked him into thinking that someone was behind him. Every brisk of his heel was a trick of the mind. Sometimes I felt the same way, like I might be haunted.

text:

The ageless water begged me closer, frizzed my hair and swathed my arms in a sweet, familiar scent. I remembered galloping down to the shore with a childhood friend in one May. Soft piano accompanied croaky lyrics from someone’s radio when we fell chest-first into the water. Static erupted in my head. There had been nothing new for me in Point Blink for so long that I’d forgotten what it was like to float. Grass turned into pebbles, and I heard Ellis’ footsteps soften to the beat of the sand. Our eyes crumbled the shells that walled the long expanse of dark sand where waves rolled in. We leaned over like two swans, crunching shells beneath our feet, displaying shells to one another, naming the ones we recognized, and when I looked out at the horizon, I saw blue.

Red plastic cups, cigarettes, and even some broken glass stuck out through the sand as we made our way further down the shoreline, as if someone had thrown a party. My brow furrowed. Maybe this part of the beach wasn’t so abandoned after all.

Between the spit of the waves and dry sand lay some sort of book. Sand trickled out of the pages and onto my shoes when I swept it out of line of an oncoming wave. Ellis was beside me in moments. Shells tolled under her shoes.

*Warning for mention of blood (fake blood and fake knife!!) this takes place on Halloween haha*

text:

Jude held the container in her palm, kneeled down so we were shoulder to shoulder. Her eyes fixed on the knife in my neck, mine on her hands, then her focused expression. Her fingers tipped my chin up, cold on my skin. I tried not to move. Suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about Dad, or Raven, or Lonan. I only let Jude in – this girl who had come out of nowhere and wrecked me, saved me. And she didn’t know any of that. I didn’t owe anything to her, but I needed her. She kept us afloat when I couldn’t even keep myself above water. Her fingers painted blood over the center of my throat, our breath quiet on each other’s cheeks. She held my shoulder as she set back.

“Absolutely feral,” she said.

text:

“Point Blink is all I have. It’s where I am, what I am.” My throat was tight. “It’s all I’ve known. I am happy with my life. And I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to throw all of that away so we can dig up answers. I want to stay.”

Jude sat there for a moment. I think Florian and Ellis had turned to look at us, because when we went silent, I could no longer heat their hushed whispers, only the sound of water as it rose and rose and rose. I wondered if it would rain.

Jude sat up on her hands, then her knees, then she stood over me.

“Is that what you honestly believe?”

Tears bubbled in her eyes. Blood streaked down her cheeks. I’d been so focused on not crying, I had missed when she started to.

“Point Blink is just the same as anywhere,” she said. The words sat somewhere above her inside her chest, weak and frail, as though they’d been realized a long time ago.

I’d stared into her eyes until they disappeared. She grabbed onto a branch above her and quietly swung herself around a corner. Her footsteps echoed until they dissolved into waves and birds and frogs and left me in the dark.

#10

*Warning for strong language!*

text:

“Why didn’t you tell me how you’d been feeling?” he asked after a few moments of silence. It was beginning to stretch uncomfortably.

“I know I don’t deserve to know,” he added, “but you’ve always put me first.”

I picked at the wood that peeled from the fence.

“I just want you to be okay,” Lonan croaked. “Please tell me what to do.”

Even when we were together, we still worried about each other. It wasn’t always that way. Maybe that was my fault. I didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I mumbled into the crisp, red air. “To be fair, I didn’t know it like I know now for a long time. I think sometimes I got the same way as a kid. Now I have a name for it, and I still don’t know if it feels right.” I sighed. “I guess… I guess I just thought that was how things were supposed to be. I thought I was only the humming low and the high.”

“Of course that’s not how you’re fucking supposed to be.”

I coughed on a laugh, wiped away a new set of tears. On the rare occasion that Lonan did swear, he sounded much like he was doing it for the first time.

I hadn’t fully realized what I’d said before Lonan’s hand was around my arm. He pulled me close to his chest. I felt smaller than him; warm and safe. I exhaled and sunk into him, didn’t allow anything else in. I’d almost forgotten what that felt like.

“You’re funny and smart and better than a lot of people.”

And... that wraps up all of my excerpts for the time being! I really enjoyed writing the last four chapters of this book. Of course they aren’t perfect. A lot of the book needs improvement. There are entire characters who are flat and plot lines I just forgot about! Come October, I plan to get back into my edits/rewrite the story.

Really quick before I finish writing this:

I just wanted to thank everyone who read about my story and showed genuine interest in the characters. Had I not received all of this love from people in real life and online, I might never have finished this draft at all. When I started this story, my mental health was really quite bad. (I’m doing a whole lot better these days!!) I guess you could say the idea started as more of a journal entry. All of these characters are like little parts of me coming together to help the main character, and I think there’s something really special about that.

Thank you so much! Good luck on all your creative endeavors! It pays off in the end, I promise :)

tag list (ask to be +/-); @wannabeauthorzofija @a-completely-normal-writer @baguettethebooklover @corkytheguar @writeherewaiting @cryptid-s-wips @kingsinking @author-a-holmes

#my little note at the end says it all haha #thank you so so much for reading!#I still can't believe I finished this book on five hours of sleep

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genshin-djinn · 3 years

Text

Genshin Impact Chapter 1 Act 3: A Reaction.

Chapter 1 Act 3 is what took my experience with this game from “good game” to “masterpiece”.

THIS POST CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS FOR GENSHIN IMPACT CHAPTER 1: ACT 3

Genshin Impact has some problems— actually, it has a shit ton of problems. But during the fight against hordes of Fatui, with the Adepti channeling their abilities through my gang, flying through them as Oz, decimating them with Diluc— I just thought, this is the best time I’ve had in a mobile game in my life.

This game might not be perfect now— it’s only a quarter of the way done if we’re counting Karenri’ah. But it will be a fucking masterpiece once it’s all out. If this is the level of quality we’re getting for our archon quests, this game is going to be an amazing time on story alone.

KEQING

I love Keqing with all my heart. If she were alive today she would be a socialist here to topple the ruling 1%. When ningguang asked Aether who they trusted more, her or Keqing, I hit the Keqing button as fast as possible.

I think one of my favorite things about Keqing is that she’s so completely honest, which is unusual for a Liyue politician. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll speak out against it. If she thinks something else should be happening, she’ll make it happen. She can probably be deceitful at times, but in general she’s straightforwards in that she wants a government for the people and by the people.

I can’t wait for her story quest!

NINGGUANG

pretty.... voice pretty....

Ningguang is cool. Her JP voice is very pretty, like she could do ASMR videos online or smth. One thing I decidedly did not like about Ningguang is how her personality just ???? flips? In the middle of the quest, for no reason other than “because plot”.

It’s established that Ningguang cares about two things more than anything— the Jade palace and Mora. Why, then, would she destroy the Jade palace for the sake of Liyue? I get that she’s a good person at heart at all, but I want to see more of her indecision, her brain saying “mora” and her heart saying “Liyue”. The way she just flips on a dime isn’t really strange but it does contradict with her preexisting characterization.

Childe’s Boss Fight!

The section of this quest from Childe’s fight to the Adepti + Qixing battle is just nonstop adrenaline.

Childe is IMO a lot more fun than Dvalin (sorry Dvalin). I’m at WL5 and have a tendency to play fast and loose with important mechanics like.... dodging, for example.... and Childe’s Mask Electro form ended up destroying my team. I killed him with Guoba because everyone else besides Xiangling was dead. I

Another thing I really enjoy about Childe’s boss fight is that in the irrationalities of Childe as a character, it actually makes sense. Genshin is decent at making weekly bosses logical excursions— Andrius wants you to get stronger, Dvalin��s weekly fight is ~~all a dream~~; but tbh sometimes the weekly bosses don’t make sense. Andrius wants to train us, not murder us! How does dvalin, a dream slash memory that doesn’t exist, manage to knock someone out?

Childe as a weekly boss actually makes perfect sense. He’s an adrenaline junkie addicted to the thrill of fighting people— to put this in modern AU terms, he’s the guy who’s first in line to ride the rollercoaster that failed all of its health and safety checks. Childe wants to befriend the Traveler entirely because they’re stronger than him, so that he can fight them over and over again until he’s the strongest. Of course, this will never happen, because the Traveler is the MC and therefore is stronger than all others. However, in this way Childe being a repeatable boss makes 100% perfect sense— he actually wants to fight the Traveler again and again and again.

The one question I have about Childe is how in the living feck are the Fatui letting him join the Traveler and fight for them *against the Fatui*??? I think this might be touched on in Childe’s Story quest, which I’ll do in a bit, but like????? They let him keep his delusion and just walk over to Aether like “aight fam I’m on your team now”? How?

Jade Chamber/ Guizhong Ballista vs Sea Monster Fight!!

Basically, all my charged adrenaline from nearly dying to Childe just came to a head in this one huge fantastic fight.

And Xiao :)

I absolutely loved seeing the Adepti and the Qixing work together. This fight was probably my favorite fight in the whole game— the music was amazing (soundtrack where), the graphics were so nice, the adepti were so feckin cool, using everyone’s abilities was n I ce. My adrenaline was reaching its highest point at this fight and it was just perfect. It was just so fecking fun after days of WL5 pain, having to pop like five ultimates to kill one hillichurl, to be able to just demolish swathes of enemies with Fischl and Diluc, run around like a madman thanks to Xiao, have infinite health idr who did that for me but bless them, just absolutely destroy.

Ever since I hit WL5 I haven’t been able to really just go insane during a fight and stop caring about HP/ when to use skills/ dodging and this have me that opportunity.

Zhongli’s Deal

*punches Zhongli across the room with the power of being the player character* I love this man so much.

Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli. I AM VERY ANGRY AT HOW THE PLOT RESOLVED HIS STORYLINE. But it also makes a lot of sense. And I think, for once, Zhongli should be allowed to be selfish.

Because choosing to leave Liyue was a bit selfish. He’s leaving the country that adores him, loves him, gives him shit for free; to its own devices and then to a completely unknown fate once the new Geo Archon becomes god and takes over. But he made a frankly fantastic plan and can now leave the country, for now, in peace.

I was absolutely delighted to see Zhongli in Morax form. Making deals with La Signora, being a complete and utter puppet master who set this entire situation up and played Childe like a kazoo; but just like his dear friend Venti, I think Zhongli is happier when he’s just Zhongli, the eccentric mortal. He seems so much happier and so much more relaxed when he’s forgetting about mora and eating dinner with Aether and Paimon. Rex Lapis might have just put Liyue through the wringer, but he can now put down his 3000- year long reign and just be the happy, eccentric Zhongli.

Zhongli’s little bit of insecurity over being a “bourgeois parasite” makes perfect sense now— he doesn’t want to be seen as Morax, a superfluous god who’s using his name to get whatever he wants from the humans he watches over.

But also the part of my brain that feeds off lore nEEDS to KNOW what Zhongli got from Tsaritsa. What could be worth a gnosis? His own happiness isn’t enough— Tsaritsa is likely going to use his gnosis to try and destroy Liyue. What could be worth that?

My main thought would be either “someone’s protection” or “another gnosis”, but I don’t think the latter is possible. The former could be possible but doesn’t really make sense either— a) whose protection is worth putting an entire country, much less the world, in danger and b) the Fatui are out to kill everyone who isn’t Fatui, so they won’t agree to spare a major player in the war to come like that. Brain go brrr.

I’m very hyped for Zhongli’s story quest, which I think is coming with his banner on Dec 1, when Childe’s banner ends. I really hope that Zhongli visits Mondstadt and chills with Venti for a while, but anything with this guy would be fine lol.

LORE

We got a lot of lore this update and I am delighted by it.

Firstly, we get a tiny hint of how Visions are bestowed— “if a person shows true strength of will at a desperate and fateful moment in their life, the gods will look upon them with favor.” Vague but more than we had before.

Next we got some neat lore about Inazuma— firstly, that it’s led by a god named Baal and secondly that it steals everyone’s visions. I’m very hyped to visit because guess what fam aether doesn’t have a vision.

Final Thoughts

In case you can’t tell from my insane ramblings, I loved Chapter 1 Act 3 and I absolutely cannot wait to play through Childe’s story quest and Chapter 2 and beyond.

The Prologue in Mondstadt set the stage for Genshin. We started out in a fantasy environment with a fantasy tale of an immortal bard and a dragon. Mondstadt was an excellent introduction to the world of Genshin.

And now? We’re starting to build on that. Chapter 1 brings us another story of another god and their relationship with the country they watch over. Liyue is much less of a traditional fantasy setting and takes the darkness we saw in Mondstadt— a friendship ruined by manipulation and suffering— and build on it. Now we don’t just see the Fatui more often but we also see more of the Treasure Hoarders and the way both groups kidnap and experiment on humans.

Mond started to introduce us to the Fatui, but Liyue is where they really start bringing continuous plot relevance. Inversely, we saw much more of the Abyss Order in Mondstadt than we did in Liyue. I’m extremely disappointed we didn’t see any more of the Princess this chapter, but it makes sense given that Chapter 1 was really more about the Fatui than the Abyss Order.

All I’m trying to say is the Liyue arc was an excellent continuation to the stage Mondstadt’s arc set. Now, we’re on to the world of the Eternal Shogun, Baal! I’m really excited to meet new characters and experience new stories of Inazuma, but I hope we’ll continue to see Mondstadt and Liyue in the future. Mondstadt is likely going to be the most “boring” of the countries we experience, cuz it’s just so classically fantasy- themed, but it will always be the first country we explored in this world.

After Inazuma (if I had to take a shot in the dark, inazuma’s arc will take from December 23 to maybe March or April) we’ll go to Sumeru, which I am really extremely hyped for because it sounds extremely different from Mond and Liyue and we’ll meet Cyno and possibly even Collei! (just me extrapolating lol). I can’t wait to see where Genshin Impact goes story- wise, because its first major update has brought so much to the table.

#genshin impact #genshin spoilers #gi spoilers

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kilesplaysthings · 4 years

Text

Halloween in Cradle!

Let’s imagine Halloween is a holiday that was introduced in Cradle by the first Alice and the people decide to let celebrations coincide with the harvest festivals like the “Land of Reason” does. How would "Alice” spend it with the boys?

(first time doing an IkeRev thing! some characters’ stuff will be shorter since I don’t know much about them yet! Put in a Read More since it’s LONG lol)

Lancelot:

It’s become a tradition that the rich and elite of Cradle attend an evening Halloween masquerade ball. The ball is only lit by candlelight and everyone dresses in black for an added spooky elegance. Red wine is served and haunting, but elegant music is played for dancing

Lancelot, of course, attends and invites you to be his partner. It’s the first and only time you’ll see him in black (you know, being that he’s the King of the Red Army) and he looks absolutely regal in his black suit, cloak and full mask with gold trim.

As the two of you dance and enjoy the evening, he explains the traditions of this party. It seems that the Central Quarter’s ballroom is, in fact, haunted by the ghost of a woman in white. She died a tragic death on Halloween night; people found her amidst the dancing, sprawled at the foot of the grand staircase, swathed in her pure white dress. As such, everyone who attends dresses in black to be sure that they can spot her before someone is “spirited away.” Red wine is served because it was her favorite drink and her favorite music is played to let her know she is welcome.

As he tells you this and the two of you continue to spin around, you think you catch a glimpse of white out of the corner of your eye. Lancelot squeezes your hand at the look of apprehension in your eyes and smiles at you, pulling you closer.

“Don’t worry,” he whispers. “I’ll make sure no ghost spirits you away tonight.”

Ray:

Halloween for Ray is busy just like any other day, but he’s always willing to help decorate the barracks to make them spooky!

Both armies like to have fun with the public and open parts of the barracks up for visitors for a fun spooky evening with games and fun haunts.

Insists on plenty of black cats everywhere.

Black cats are not bad luck. They’re good luck and ensure that Halloween will be fun and safe! (that’s the legend he’s determined to spread). Is not ashamed to wear black cat ears for the night either lol

He’s the head of security for the autumn and Halloween festivals that happen in the neutral Central quarter’s town square and the two of you walk around together having fun as he oversees the safety of everyone.

After the fun is over and the night is winding down, he’s happy to cuddle with you by the fire with a cup of warm apple cider - most likely with a black cat or two snuggled on your laps.

Jonah:

Not much of a Halloween person, tbh thinks it’s too childish

thinks the sweets are too much of Edgar’s type, not his own

the morning of, however, he invites you to a nearby café for brunch to show what delicious autumn delicacies they have

is happy to tell you about the different things he and Luka would get up to on Halloween when they were kids.

the two of you laugh over the stories he tells when he “defended” little Luka from a person dressed up in a ghost costume when they went guising as kids. Won’t admit that he ever got scared, (though he did)

Sirius:

This time of year is one of his favorites, because it means lots of autumnal baked goods that he can make!

Pumpkin pies, pumpkin cake rolls, pumpkin doughnuts, apple pies, apple crisp, pumpkin apple crisp! You name it, he’ll bake it.

It’s his baked goods that are always around for any harvest or Halloween festival

While he’s cool with Halloween, he does prefer the harvest aspect of he month more, mainly because he likes autumn decorations

Will invite you to help carve pumpkins with him. Or rake leaves. He’s actually quite good at carving and makes some fantastic faces and designs! And expect some fun leaf shenanigans with Chutney involved too

the two of you like take a walk together on the nearby trails to admire the beautiful autumn colors before the harvest dinner.

Edgar:

To your surprise, he quite likes Halloween

Mainly because he gets to scare and prank people and no one can judge him for it this time. Also CANDY

You can bet this guy has TONS of candy everywhere

Is ready to go out guising like all the kids do for the candy, even though Jonah keeps berating him for being too old

“You don’t even have a costume!!!” “I do so have a costume. I’m going as a Red Army soldier.”

Can also carve pumpkins quite well. makes some scary faces on them

Since he’s forbidden to go guising, takes the next best thing, which is to take you around the Halloween festival in search of treats to buy and win

Is a pro at all the games. Takes GREAT pleasure in the dunking booth, and is a great shot at it

“Here, Alice. I won this special candy just for you. Don’t eat it just yet. Let’s wait till we’re alone. Then we can share them, together~”

Luka:

Like his brother, is just meh about Halloween

But he enjoys the harvest festivals

Invites Alice to join him in going to one that’s on a farm just outside of the city. Together the two of you have a blast! Going on hayrides, looking at the different pumpkins in the pumpkin patch - and picking some out for later Halloween decorations - as well as picking out the juiciest apples for later baking and sampling some delicious apple cider

You pick out matching scarves with him at the farm’s shop that sells hand-knitted clothing perfect for fall days like this one and wear them for the rest of the day

You can be sure that harvest time means some delicious food made by Luka, as he gets along with the farmers who offer him their best produce

The nights are colder, so he makes sure he warms up a cup of tea for you before you both snuggle down together for bed.

“Going to the farm with you was so much fun. Let’s make it a tradition to go together every year!”

Kyle:

This time of year, our boy is on the lookout for colds. He’s prepared for visitors coming far and wide seeking treatments for them and has his office well stocked with medicine and herbs to help treat coughs and sore throats

He can get into the Halloween spirit too and decorates his office with a sort of “mad doctor” vibe to it. hOw OrIginAL

You can be sure he offers every kid that comes to him a Halloween treat when they leave his office (he’s a doctor, not a dentist lol)

basically Halloween is a chill day for him with just a flavor of spookiness.

likes to chill at Dalim’s bar in the evening for a quieter Halloween night

Fenrir:

This boy does NOT do Halloween!!

He’ll do anything to avoid celebrating it. Too busy with work! Gotta train! Has guard duty at the barracks! He has DESK WORK to take care of!

The other officers admittedly like to prank him this time of year because of it and it never fails to work

He’s touched when your make him his favorite meal to comfort him after a prank got him good

he tells you that his dislike of the holiday and his fear of ghosts both started when he was kid. his family threw a big Halloween party one night and late in the evening, when everyone was sitting together telling ghost stories, there was a banging in one of the rooms upstairs and the fire went out suddenly, leaving them all in the dark. People said it was a ghost coming to visit them. for a boy of only six, he said that night stuck with him for years and he still remembers how scared he was.

you’re touched by this rare moment of vulnerability from him and promise that from now on, each year, you’ll have your own “un-Halloween” celebration together

Zero:

He likes the idea of guising but knows he’s too old for it

Instead, he enjoys participating in the Central Quarter’s Halloween festival

He helps the local candy maker in his booth and the two of them make candy for people to buy during the festival

is not above dressing to get in the spirit of the night

Makes you your own special candy when you visit him in the booth

you share a candy apple together when he gets time off and can walk around the festival with you

Seth:

Ultimate Halloween prankster of the Black Army.

Has been the chief scarer of Fenrir but never goes too overboard -just enough

Halloween is in part about dressing up in costume, so you can be sure he’ll want to dress Alice up in every princess, witch or vampiress costume he can get his hands on

matching costumes is a win-win situation for him. his favorite is vampire and vampire bride. will get into character for it too

“careful Alice, I just might bite that pretty neck of yours if you keep acting so adorably~”

Loki:

Will 100% want to go guising with you

dresses up in a black hoodie with cat ears. “Look! I’m a black cat!”

the two of you hop around the villages together, you in a white sheet as a ghost, and him as a black cat, carrying sacks to get candy

back at the house, the two of you will sort out your booty together and trade treats, offering some to Harr if he wants any.

the night will end with bobbing for apples, some spooky games and tales and Harr admonishing you both not to eat too much candy before bed

you both may or may not decide to play a fun, innocent prank on Harr later on in the night

Harr:

For Halloween, you and Harr decide to take it easy. Maybe eat a big dinner with some celebratory cake and play some games together at the house

but then Loki comes up with a daring idea: late night exploring in the Old Ruins that lie deep in the Forbidden Forest

the idea is kinda scary, but also thrilling! Plus, Loki reasons, they’ll be with Harr, so there won’t be any danger

Harr (secretly pleased that he’s trusted so much) finally agrees.

The Old Ruins are rumored to be haunted, Loki says, as the three of you creep in. The door makes a painfully loud creaking noise as he tugs it open

Armed with a lamp fueled by magic crystals, Harr leads the way in as the other two huddle around him. the building is dark, decrepit, and quite dangerous in some places as the walls and upper floors are caving in.

“We shouldn’t stay here too long,” Harr warns, worried about the instability of the place. A sound is heard in a nearby room adjacent to the foyer.

“Let’s check it out!” Loki suggests and he heads in the direction of the noise.

You don’t find anything but continue to hear noises, noises that seem to be coming from the upper floors...

After a while of exploring, Harr suddenly decides to put his foot down. “Let’s go. Now.” He tells you.

You both don’t argue against the tone in his voice and head back to the house, Loki excitedly talking about their adventure. As he does, Harr takes your hand and holds it tightly.

“I’m sorry we had to leave so suddenly, but while you both were looking around, I saw someone watching us from above on the third floor. The last thing I ever want is putting you in harm’s way. Stay with me tonight so I know you’re safe.”

Blanc:

He can remember when the first Alice introduced Halloween to Cradle. In fact, he helped in forming the traditions of the holiday to what they are today.

He organizes and is in charge of the Halloween festival alongside with Dean. He also likes to host a costume party in the Garden, free for anyone who wants to attend

He dresses up as a white rabbit knight hOW OrIginAL

Cliched costume aside, he looks cute so it’s all good

You are his special guest and he ensures that your first dance of the night is with him

Oliver:

His favorite part about this holiday is the costumes

He makes lots of costumes and items for kids who want a super cool look for Halloween

in his kid form, he reluctantly agrees to an early afternoon of guising with you, but insists on wearing a mask he made for himself so no one knows it’s him

don’t be surprised if he pulls some pranks on you throughout the day to get back at you for making him do that in his kid form

never goes to Blanc’s costume party. prefers to join Kyle at Dalim’s bar instead for a more laid back celebration

Dean:

Teams up with Blanc in organizing the Halloween festival

Is a huge folklorist and can tell you all sorts of weird and creepy stories about Cradle’s history

owns a whole library about it, actually

being a teacher, he does fun things throughout the day for his students to get them in the Halloween spirit

his students put on a play for the Halloween festival that is usually about some Cradle folklore

He’s a good storyteller, so be prepared with a blanket and some hot cocoa when you both sit by a fire and share ghost stories

Dalim/Dum:

Halloween or not, the bar’s gonna be running. Doesn’t mean he can’t get in the spirit of things, though

decorates the place with candles and fog and all

keeps things quiet for those who want a calmer holiday

concocts special drinks for the occasion. Kyle’s favorite is the White Lady, based on the ghost that haunts Central Quarter’s ballroom

Will keep visitors entertained with weird and creepy stories that he’s heard from customers over the years

Mousse:

Halloween is just another day for him

Candy is whatever. He’d rather be given cheese. Prefers harvest festivals since there is cheese in abundance.

has to attend the different public gatherings as a Cradle official

ghosts don’t scare him. doesn’t believe any of the legends to be true

likes to drink warm cider and will fall asleep in front of the fire if he’s at a party

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qtlibehsun · 3 years

Text

imprisonment [part one]

pairing: quackity x gn!reader [angst]

summary: your boyfriend is a criminal, you had no idea, and now he’s being thrown in prison

warnings: cursing, physical violence against reader and quackity

word count: 1.2k

a.n: hi everyone! i’m back again lol. i’ve been feeling really unmotivated lately and i haven’t been liking what i’ve been posting lately but i wanted to get something out, so here it is ig. not very good but it sets up for the next two parts. hope you like it :)

The sun was quite possibly in the worst place, you had concluded. No matter whether you crouched to tend to the crops or stand to stretch your cramping knees, it was right there. Right, fucking, there.

You audibly groaned and decided to give the carrots you were watering a break, situating yourself on a stool, as you increasingly became interested in the volume of rich soil under your fingernails.

Your thoughts were invaded with him.

When was he coming home?

Was he okay? God I miss him.

You missed his warmth, his smile, his laugh. His stupid hats.

However it had only been since this morning, when you sent him off with a chaste kiss on the cheek, him retorting with ‘that’s not a proper kiss,.’ You couldn’t help but let the heaviness in your heart from longing consume you and leave a wretchedness in your day.

You retired into the comfort of your shared cabin, the evening breeze slowly becoming too chill for your liking. You occupied yourself with chopping a collection of vegetables for a soup, whilst fantasising that he was just upstairs in your room. A noxious habit bred from detachment issues perhaps, but one that left your lover with a gleaming smile and a swell in his heart.

You were interrupted from your love hankering thoughts to the door being thrown open, cabin rattling.

You nearly squealed from excitement, he was home, but you kept your cool and focused on the task at hand.

Cutting those carrots paysanne style.

Two slender arms wrapped around your middle; a gathering of kisses being placed against your neck.

“Hey, my love,” he had mumbled, voice croaky with exhaustion.

“Hey Alex.” You turned to place your lips against his, the butterflies that erupted never ceasing to fade, only persistently growing with each new time your lips met.

He bounced on the balls of his feet, bringing you with him. “What are we chowing on tonight?”

“Just soup. I could barely get any work done in the garden today. My mind was just so preoccupied with things. Had me zoning out without even realising.” A laugh rumbled against your back, Alex nuzzling his nose into the corner where your neck met your shoulder.

“It’s because you missed my handsome face, isn’t it?”

“No way!” Yes way.

It took you longer to wipe down the table after dinner concluded then it did to cook the actual meal. Alex insisting that he held your hand during the entirety of your meal never got old, but it did make it increasingly difficult to eat with one hand.

After blowing out the candle, you slid into your shared bed, the pastel-yellow winged man instantaneously taking position as big spoon. You wished him goodnight, as he responded with a ‘goodnight mi vida.’

And just like that your consciousness had slipped from you, chest blooming with love and admiration for the man placed behind you.

It was almost terrifying, to the two of you. Just how in love you were with each other. Your world was in the palm of his hands, one inch of movement or pressure, and destruction could occur. However, the intense brown of his eyes, and the sparkle they held, was worth the risk of any merciless, bad phenomenon happening two your relationship.

However, you were not prepared for this.

No. Nothing could prepare you for what was about to happen.

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

Alex awoke to your scream.

Your bloodcurdling scream of pain followed by a smash that sounded like glass.

Springing out of bed, clothes dishevelled and not even stopping to put a hat on his head, he bounded for the stairs, adrenalin pumping in his head, making him dizzy from fear.

What had got to you? Who found you?

He jumped the last few stairs and was immediately met with two masked men, standing over your crumpled body on the floor, blood gushing from a new wound settled in your hairline.

Swathed with rage Alex stormed over and punched one of the men in the face. Nonetheless both individuals were considerably taller than him, taking him to the ground, hands behind his back.

“Hey what’re you doing with them?” Keep your fucking hands off the-,”

A sharp searing pain in his cheek, a split in the skin from a now blood coated ring caused his sentence to stop.

Alex went to wriggle out of their grasp, to escape and bring you into his arms. To wipe away the tears away and hold you forever. Whisper to you how he would never ever let anything, or anybody hurt you again.

Oh, how those words would do nothing.

“Beat him till he loses conscious,” A man with a low, monotone voice ordered.

“Wait no!” You had screamed but it was futile.

Blow after blow had Alex grunting and groaning in pain. Black particles had started to swarm his vision but all he could think about was you.

Please don’t hurt them. Leave them alone. They did nothing. You want me. Me. Not Them. Leave them please, I love them.

“Fucking hell it’s not working, just break his fucking wings.” White hot searing pain erupted from the two wings on his back. He screeched and cried with every twist and crack he felt in them.

“God please no stop! I’m sorry please! Fucking fuckers please god get the fuck off me.” He swung and wriggled through every last ounce of strength he had, but it wasn’t enough. The darkness slowly began to engulf him, his limbs heavy, and with one last whisper of your name he slipped into the abyss.

Please let them be okay. I’ll do anything. Please.

You felt like your voice was going to give out. The pain settling at the top of your forehead turned into a dull ache from the over-bearing agony you felt emotionally as you saw your lover. So tranquil on the floor, eyelids shut, his back rising with unsteady breaths. Two daffodil wings bent at uneven angles, feathers hanging by string to the bone, scattered on the floor.

“What did he do? Why did you do that?”

The taller of the two turned to you, fists caked with your boyfriend’s blood.

“Quackity will be thrown in prison at dawn tomorrow for the crimes he has committed against this land.”

A lump lurched in your throat. He hadn’t done anything. Had he?

The man picked up on your confused state and barely answered your unspoken question.

“Your boyfriend here has been caught with a multitude of delinquencies that will serve him a life in jail.”

“Like what?” You had snapped.

“Drug dealing. Identity theft. Attempted murder.”

Had that been why he never brought you into town with him? He was a criminal.

Sensing your steps towards Alex the two men picked him up and shoved you back onto the floor.

“If you have half a brain you’ll stay here. We’ll deal from him from now on.”

And with that you let them take him away, the door slamming like it had later last night when he come home.

And as the dawns sun peaked through the slightly ajar curtains you whispered under your breath.

I’ll see you again, my love.

#mcyt #mcyt quackity #quackity #quackityhq #mcyt quackityhq #quackity x reader #quackityxreader #quackityhq x reader #quackityhqxreader #quackity imagine #quackityhq imagine #quackity scenario #quackityhq scenario #quackity angst #mcyt angst

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writing-the-end · 3 years

Text

LoL Chapter 38- Potions

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

Redland, the capitol city of magic, where the hermits hope to gather the supplies they need if they hope to survive the Hangman’s Playground. While Etho and Stress are gathering potions, they meet unlikely allies- with closer ties than they expect.

______________________________

Redland stretches to the sky, the quirky nature of magic on full show even in the architecture of the city. Towers peaked with rotund pinnacles, painted bright and distinctive colors. All levels of the city are full of the bright, baubled roofs. The main street and busy sections of the city are perfectly manicured, hedges with vibrant flowers and verdant greens, but when the hermits look down calm alleys and quiet streets, nature has settled against the brickwork and grown between the cobble, nature filling in with it’s own eccentric accents.

The hermits wander through the city, an eclectic town full of wandering walkways, silent speakeasies, and unique universities. The schools of magic sit across from each other, students of offensive magic having lunch with students studying performance arcana. Bright banners wave in the breeze. Shops are full of any and every kind of item, a bazaar of the magic and mundane. Some shops boast large inventories, enchantments made enmasse and sold to large crowds- glamors were a favorite. Others host the antique and unique. No rhyme or reason what they hold, useless lamps next to powerful staffs.

TFC turns to Xisuma. “Can you divvy up the gold? We can cover more ground finding supplies for our mission if we separate.”

“What I wouldn’t give for that sky kid’s magic right now.” Xisuma sighs, digging out the gold and handing it off to various groups of hermits.

Stress and Etho glance at one another. “I think we’re gonna look for some potions firstly. If we go to the alchemy academy, I’m absolutely positive we’ll find somethin’.”

“And if not, we can… convince a student to help us get what we want.” Etho pats his back, feeling his kusarigama tucked in his light, silent material.

“Don’t forget to ask about the ingredients!” BDubs shouts as the two walk away, towards the bright green and yellow tower that holds the school of potion brewing. “Silvershade is not the same as Shadesilver!”

Stress shakes her head, and challenges Etho to a footrace through the city. He accepts with a grin, and they take off down the main avenue. She laughs, feeling a sense of freedom in how strong the magic is in the city. Redland embodies everything magic is. It’s natural, it's eclectic, it’s bright, it’s unique. And every flower blooming in between the cobblestones, every shop full of mysterious wares and magical amulets, is full of that spirit.

She turns her head, calling back to Etho from over her shoulder. “I’m gonna win, try an’ catch me!”

From beneath the midnight blue mask that covers Etho’s nose and lips, a coy grin appears. He’s given Stress the lead, only to shock his friend when he wins. His mismatched eyes glimmer with mischief, and he turns. Running straight into a tree.

Straight into a tree’s shadow. He leaves the plane of existence, and skids on his feet as he enters the shadow realm. Grey, calming mist dances through shadows, and his feet tapping through puddles of water across the floor. In all the time he’s spent in this realm, he can never truly understand it. He doesn’t know why it’s so misty, impossible to see more than a few meters in front of him. Or where the mist comes from, dancing in the darkness. Why it’s damp, like a rain had just occurred. He’s never seen it rain here. He also has no clue why it smells funky in here. Like a wayward explosion matched with rotten fish. Is there even anything more than a puddle around here?

No matter. Etho’s winning this race. He takes off in the direction he and Stress were running, feeling himself pass through buildings, hedges, even people in the other realm. It’s a tingly feeling in his belly. Once he’s sure he’s made it to the alchemy school, he casts his magic, tossing it in front of him to reenter the mortal realm.

He passes right through it. He stumbles and crashes to the floor, not so ninja-like. “Dammit, no not now!”

There’s no discernable shadows for him to jump through. The sun must be tucked behind a cloud. Too big a swath of darkness for him to use, too general. He paces, tossing a circle with every turn of his heels, running through each time. He did this to beat Stress, being a badass and a bastard. He specializes in that delicate balance of the two. But instead, he’s stuck in the stinky shadow realm, and worse he lost the footrace.

His spell casts again, but when he walks through this time, he’s met by the blinding bright light of the sun. And Stress’s gleeful cackle. “You cheated! None of that magical stuff!”

“What does it matter, it didn’t work.” He states, but he’s smiling all the same. Etho runs his hand over his white hair, tugging it away from his face so he can see the alchemy tower in full. “Should we check the shops first? What are we even looking for?”

“Queen Erlea said we’re gonna need some healing potions and deterrents for the forest. I can assume mental and emotional potions are in that category.” Stress counts along the street full of potion shops, before spinning around and letting fate decide where they search first. A bright green shop, the window filled with potted plants and chaotic cats. Stress squeals at the sight of the kittens and bolts to the shop. Etho follows behind, grabbing the door before it can slam back to it’s jamb, without disturbing the sunbathing felines.

They peruse this store. And the next. And the next. Finding healing potions was easy, and with Etho’s aggressive bartering they’re even discounted. Bottles of bright pink liquid, bundles of travel sized form- gummy chews easy to pop into one’s mouth-, and tiny tinctures full of potent life saving potions.

But no matter what store they enter, how many times they ask or persuade, no one sells mental potions. Some say they’re pseudomagic, others that they’re too hard to create. And after being kicked out of another alchemy shop, Stress and Etho are sitting on the sidewalk, bouncing ideas across each other.

“Maybe we don’t need them? Maybe the others will find supplies that can do the job?” Etho offers.

“Or perhaps we can search Joe’s library to find something else.” Stress flops back, ignoring how she blocks the sidewalk as she stares up at the sky. “Where can we get mental barrier potions but Redland?”

“Why not try making them ourselves?” Etho looks over, gazing at the Alchemy tower. “I bet that school has every book, ingredient, and setup ever invented. We’re clever and smart, we’re hermits after all. If no one makes them, we’ll make them ourselves.”

Stress reclines up to her elbows, squinting her eyes. “Yer right, Etho. Think you can get us into one of them potion rooms of the school?”

“Do I think I can? I know I can.” Etho snickers. They walk through the open doors of the school, bustling past students young and old, human or kipling or insectia or even bacca, boy or girl or otherwise. Etho pulls down his mask to fit in with the crowd, though his hair always sticks out. Stress keeps close to him, glancing around the halls. For a second, she swears she sees someone looking at her, but she ducks her head and keeps moving. They turn a cornerl, following the signs for potion labs. Listening for one room to be empty. Etho stops at the doorway of one. Closes his eyes, and walks through a shadow.

But he returns from where he entered. “No, no it’s all dark in there! Why don’t they have anything boiling, any lamps or anything! What kind of lab is this?”

“My lab, and what do you plan to do with my laboratory?” A strong, clear voice cuts through both hermits like a knife, and they both freeze. Maybe if they don’t move, the voice will move on. But instead, another voice rises up.

“You’re hermits, are you not?” A younger, sharp voice drawls. “I was told about you. Didn’t expect two of you bitches to be sneakin’ into my professor’s lab.”

Etho makes a bolt for the nearest shadow, but he passes right through the shadow and back into light. Stumbling down the hall, he’s dragged back to the professor and student combo, while Stress is turned around to face them. Etho taps his fingers. “We were just… looking around! Trying to find the bathrooms.”

The student looks up at the professor, eyebrows rising from a serious face. He nods, clasping his hands behind his back. The student grins, tucks a lock of black hair behind an elongated ear, and snaps her fingers.

“We’re sneakin’ inta the lab to make potions!” Stress claps her hand over her mouth. She didn’t mean to say that. Why did she say that? “No one makes what we need to enter the Forest of Memories!”

“The Forest of Memories? Red said you were batshit crazy, but that…” Etho picks up his head, vaguely recognizing the name.

“Well, you could have just asked for my keys.” Sylaeus shrugs, producing a ring full of mismatched keys and dangling chains. “Selene, be a dear and get these two my Encyclopedia of Potions. I’ll start up the burners.”

Shock registers on both hermits faces, but Selene dutifully saunters down the hall, turning and entering a large door in the passage. Stress walks into the lab, admiring the collection of jars, half finished potions, and ingredients kept in the room. But Etho no longer has the inclination to enter. “Why are you helping us? We just tried to break into your lab.”

“If you need a potion that badly that you would try to break into my office, you must need it for good reason. Adventuring into the Forest of Memories is one hell of a reason at that.” Sylaeus ignites a flame beneath a long, complicated series of funnels, tubes, and flasks. He tempers the flame, fire glimmering of his intense gaze. “Besides, it means I get to teach more about potions.”

Selene returns with the book, hefting a tome as large as her torso and twice as thick. “So what the hell kind of potions are you guys going to make?”

“Potions that will negate our fears and dampen the effects of the forest?” Stress tries her best to repeat what Queen Erlea suggested. “Maybe some repel potions as well?”

The long eared mage hauls open the book, flipping through the pages with intense, glaring eyes. She stops, turning it around for Etho and Stress to see. “You had to request the most difficult potions to fucking make. It’s a damn good thing I spent the past month gathering more than enough supplies for you to use.”

And with the guidance of Sylaeus and his student, Etho and Stress get to work. The careful art of alchemy came naturally to both hermits- Stress’s attention to detail let her see exactly when the right shade of amber for the potion appeared, while Etho’s perceptive training and patience guide him through finding just the right mixture of Silvershade and shadesilver. Even Sylaeus complimented his new students on their fine work.

“While we’re waiting for the mixture to cool, would either of you like a drink?” She waves her hand, and four cups appear before them. The professor grins, swiping a drink and guzzling the never ending cup down.

“My student’s finest mixture.” Sylaeus grins, patting his apprentice on the top of her fluffy, long mane of hair.

“Is it a healing potion?” Etho questions. “Or maybe a stamina potion?”

“Lemonade. Sip sip bitch.” Selene retorts, deadpanned.

“Miss Selene, are you a multi-mage? You used telekinesis to drag Etho back before, but now you used summoning magic.” Stress takes a drink, shocked to watch that her cup is never ending. “A-and some kind of spatial magic?”

“Selene here is my best student for more reasons than one. Not only can she brew better potions than even master alchemists, but she also spent years studying magic until she gained power of her own.” Sylaeus sees the confusion on the two’s face, and lets Selene fill them in.

“I was born without magic.” She states. “It’s rare, but it happens. I wasn’t ready to give up on myself yet. I spent days and nights, studying every book I could get my hands on, watching the other kids use their magic. With enough time and dedication, I found the power within myself. Whatever magic I study, I can create.”

Stress has tears welling in her eyes by the time the story is over. “What a lovely tale, an’ look at you now! All that persistence and never givin’ up paid off!”

“I’m sure Selene could have lived her life without magic, or have chosen a darker route to gain power. But it’s her own magic, and she’s a proud S-Class wizard!” Sylaeus beams like a father, a teacher proud of his student.

The potion behind them starts to rapidly shift colors, and all four descend upon it to add the last ingredient- prismarine shards shed from a guardian. Etho wonders where Selene got such a prized ingredient, something most kiplings aren’t willing to part with.

In a puff of smoke, the potion stabilizes. Selene corks the bottle, writing in scrawling handwriting of it’s intention, and hands it off to Stress. She also guides them out, an orb of soft white light guiding them down the halls of the academy.

Etho’s reminded of one other person who had seemingly unlimited types of magic. “You know… Magistrate Dolios claims to be a multi-mage, but his magic is a lot like yours.”

“Watch it, asshole.” Selene growls, opening the door and letting them out of the Alchemy tower. “I think we both know that the magistrate lies about everything. Perhaps that includes how he got his magic.”

#hermitcraft #light of lairyon #lol #hermitcraft au #hermitcraft fanfic #wizard hermits #wizard au #wizard etho #wizard stress #wizard selene #wizard xiumsa #ethoslab #stressmonster #xisuma

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drwcn · 4 years

Note

CQL Ladies Appreciation Hour, sister edition: Can I say I absolutely *adore* Jiang Yanli's relationship with Wei Wuxian? I mean, the whole Yunmeng Trio speaks to my found family loving heart, but those two in particular... It's so rare to have an adopted brother-sister pair that isn't at risk of some weird romantic subplot (or maybe I just watch the wrong dramas lol), and here they're allowed to be *siblings* and tender with each other with no ambiguity. It's wonderful. Jiang Yanli is best.

Thank you for your prompt! :)

exam went to shits so i need a distraction that’s nice. So here it is, Yanli as a head of her family on Wei Ying’s his wedding day. Maybe not what you were thinking of, but I wanted to show off Jiang Yanli’s importance as the woman who pretty much raised Wei Wuxian in a ceremonial way. :)

///

“The grooms are coming, the groom are coming!”

A throng of novice Yunmeng Jiang disciples announced as their feet pitter-pattered up the steps to the main hall. Behind them, novice Gusu Lan disciples were hot on their heels, grinning excitedly despite the fact they were breaking several sect rules.

This was not your usual Gusu wedding.

Cloud Recesses was splendid in red. In the courtyard of Songfeng Shuiyue Pavilion, guests gathered in anticipations. At the hollering of young disciples, heads turned towards their direction where around the bend of the path a parade of disciples, two lines of purple and two lines white, could be seen making its way towards the outer entrance. At the front, leading the entourage side by side were the groomsmen Lan Xichen and Jiang Wanyin, their robes proudly displaying their clans but brightened by their matching red accessories. The two figures of interest, swathed in crimson and protected at the center of the procession, marched amidst the music and cheers towards the ceremony that awaited them.

Behind his brother, Lan Zhan sneaked a glance at the man who was to be his husband, so utterly beautiful under the warm golden sun. Wei Ying’s eyes turned crescent by his mirthful smile when they met his, and Lan Zhan had to steady his breath. Patience. Remember your teachings. But what man could remember Gusu’s 4000 clan rules on his wedding day?

When the wedding company arrived before Songfeng Shuiyue, all music ceased, and a hushed quiet fell over the crowd.

Taking measured careful steps, Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng crossed the threshold one foot at a time. Today, they were not Sect Master of Gusu Lan nor Sandu Shengshou. Today they were just groomsmen, brothers of two lucky young men about to be joined together in matrimony. Hands clasped together in deference, they bowed.

“The grooms have come to pay respect to the elders and head of family of Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan.”

When the idea of marriage had been initially brought up, how the wedding was to be done became a hotly debated topic amongst the elders of both clans, as neither could agree which side was to be （娶） qu and which to be（嫁） jia. In the end, having convinced Grand Master Lan, Sect Master Jiang Yanli proposed a modified ceremony which would satisfy the traditions of both families. Now, seated within Gusu’s sacred pavilion, the elders of Yunmeng Jiang lined one side of the room, while the elders of Gusu Lan lined the other. Today marked not only the beginning of a marriage, but the beginning of an alliance between two great sects which had never been so intimately bound before. All eyes were on the two young grooms without whom none of this could have been possible.

Side by side, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian approached Jiang Yanli and Lan Qiren seated in equal positions of distinction at the center front, with only a small table separating them in between. Behind them, on an altar which had been erected for this special occasion rested four ancestral plaques - Cangse Sanren, Wei Changze, Lan Qirong*, Qiu Baiti* - none of whom could be present in person. May their spirits watch over their children and bless them on this holy day.

Back in his room when he’d been getting ready, Wei Wuxian had desperately told himself he would not cry, but seeing his shijie now, holding him in her gentle gaze shining with dignified approval and joy, Wei Wuxian could not help the tears welling in his eyes.

Jiang Yanli was magnificent in embroidered indigo silk, like a midnight sky adorned with lilac clouds. Today her hair was gather up by her most formal headdress, silver pieces curled and shaped into lotus petals with pearls pinned into place like seeds. Nodding, she gave him a reassuring smile.

Lan Xichen cleared his throat and declared for all to hear, “First Bow, to Heaven and Earth!”

And so it began.

When the three bows were complete, the groomsmen carried cups of tea to the grooms. Lan Zhan picked up his from Jiang Cheng’s outstretched tray and presented it to Jiang Yanli with his head bowed.

“Zhang-jie (长姐), please accept this cup of tea from your new brother.”

Wei Wuxian watched as his sister smiled at his new husband and took hold of the cup, downing the tea elegantly behind the wide expanse of her sleeve.

Then from a velvet cloth resting on the table, Jiang Yanli picked up a silver bell, the bell of clarity of Yunmeng. “Wangji,” she addressed him firmly. “From this day till your last day, you shall be of Yunmeng Jiang. I gift you with this bell, may it protect you and show you the light in your darkest moments.”

Then, she bent and leaned down to loop the ties of the bell around his belt. With her this close, only Lan Zhan himself and Wei Ying kneeling beside him could hear her gently whisper,

“Please take care of my A-Xian, Wangji, as I’m sure he will take care of you.”

Lan Wangji nodded stiffly in response, looking as overwhelmed by the day and as close to tears as Wei Wuxian already was. (Not to mention, he saw Jiang Cheng make a quick swipe at his eyes when he thought no one was looking.)

Then it was Wei Wuxian’s turn.

Tearing his eyes away from his shijie, he focused on the man directly in front of him who he was soon to call shufu. Lan Qiren had never liked him, but hopefully his acceptance of this marriage meant that his opinions were starting to change.

Picking up his cup of tea from Lan Xichen, Wei Wuxian presented it to Lan Qiren. “Shufu, please accept this cup of tea from your new nephew.”

Lan Qiren did not have any words of comfort or wisdom, but he accepted the tea with dignity and said, “From this day till your last day, you are of Gusu Lan.” He held a short white ribbon in his hand, not enough to tie around the head, but enough for the wrist. “This ribbon is a piece of your husband’s. Now, it is yours, as he is yours.”

“Thank you, shufu.” Wei Wuxian bowed and quickly made a dab at his damned leaking eyeballs.

He barely noticed when Jiang Cheng’s voice rang out with the last call, “礼毕!” (Conclusion of Ceremony).

“Elders, honoured guests, please proceed to the banquet hall. Meals and beverages have been prepared. Tonight, Gusu and Yunmeng and our dear friends shall celebrate!” Ever the magnanimous host, Lan Xichen led the way for the wedding party.

Jiang Cheng, not as quite charming but grew up as the heir of the clan, also played his part guiding the guests to their designation. As he left, pulled along by Nie Huaisang and his other brother-in-law Jin Zixuan, he tossed one last glance over his shoulder, just in time to see his sister take Wei Wuxian’s hand.

“Silly boy, why do you cry?”

“I-I am just s-so glad and - and happy.” Wei Wuxian blushed and sniffled, a tad bit embarrassed. Thank heavens he didn’t make this scene in front of the elders.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan took his other hand, but his eyes were red and glassy too.

“There, there, you two,” Jiang Yanli lifted their chins and dabbed their tear streaks with her handkerchief. “War heroes or not, I see you are still children. Do not cry anymore, or your eyes will be puffy and you will not be pretty for your new husband later tonight. Do you not think so, Grand Master Lan?”

Lan Qiren harrumphed, the tips of his ears turning pink.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian exchanged incredulous looks. Did their sister just…just…?????

“Oh there now,” teased Yanli with a laugh. “Not even a smile on such a happy day, Grand Master Lan? Not even on my account?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot all be blessed with your amiable personality, Sect Master Jiang,” replied Lan Qiren as he stood.

But Yanli paid his grumpiness no mind. “Perhaps a couple of drinks shall soon fix that. Sect Leader Lan explicitly told me alcohol is not forbidden for weddings.” She stood as well, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles in her robe. “After you, Grand Master.”

Then with a mischievous side glance to the newlyweds, she said, “Well, what are you two still kneeling there for? Are you not joining us at the banquet and skipping straight to the -”

“Of course - of course not - c’mon Lan Zhan, let’s go!”

“Mn.”

Jiang Yanli laughed.

All was well.

—

Zhang-jie (长姐) - formal way of saying ‘older sister’.

Lan Qirong [蓝启容]

Qiu Baiti [邱百瑅]

My own hc names for LWJ’s parents

#cql #the untamed #wangxian #jiang yanli #wei wuxian #lan wangji #sect leader jiang #older sister yanli being fucking awesome #cql ficlet #corie fics

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stetervault · 5 years

Note

hey cywscross! any longfics (like at least 30k+ long) you can recommend? old or new is fine but like something multichaptered (and preferably complete) would be great! thanks!

Wow, 30k, you’re obviously settling in for a fic marathon lol. I can name you some, mostly Steter with a few Stetopher/Steterek:

Under the Songbird’s Wing by mia6363

Captivity easily destroys the will of escape. It can break the fiercest of animal. It can strip the most regal man and woman down to nothing but animal needs.

Captivity can, if met with unwavering determination, shape a person into something unimaginable.

Stiles is sixteen when he’s captured. Stiles’s first thought is, “I won’t die here.”

love me lights out by veterization

Stiles and Peter get snowed in together. (Or: what happens when you accept phone calls from people you haven’t spoken to in over five years.)

come find me by Areiton

“You want me,” he says, stubbornly sure and you consider him.

“Yes,” you agree, because you are not a good man, and you are not accustomed to denying yourself what you want. “And it doesn’t matter because I am saying no.”

You touch his hand, and he jerks, wide eyed as you lean into him, and breath into his ear. “If you still feel this way, come find me in ten years.”

Til Death by Bunnywest

“How long do we have to find him someone?” Stiles asks.“Two weeks,” says Derek, eyebrows pulling down even further. The fierceness of his expression tells Stiles just how concerned he is.“He marries, or he goes to the camps. And you know what your father told us,” Scott reminds her.The camps……aren’t camps.Peter either finds a wife, or he dies.

Rabbit verse by Bunnywest (series, complete)

Peter loves to hunt. Stiles is his (too willing )prey.

as you are by veterization

Stiles runs straight into a tree and suddenly, things are… different. Namely, he’s in a world where Peter Hale is his boyfriend.

Uncle Peter Doesn’t Date by Mellow (SweetCandy) (wip series, but each part so far is complete)

“Oh don’t lie, you love it.” Peter purred and winked at his newest arm candy, who spluttered for a few seconds, before blushing like a 16 year old virgin. Considering how young he looked Laura wouldn’t be surprised if he was actually 16.“Shut up Peter!” Bambi squeaked, still flushing and averting Laura’s eyes. “Well, anyways, I’m,”‘Bambi’.“Stiles. Stiles Stilinski, pleasure to meet you- again.” Stiles smiled sheepishly, obviously nervous.Stiles Stilinski. Definitely a stripper then.

Or: Laura was prepared for whatever piece of armcandy her uncle had decided to show up with, what she hadn’t been prepared for was Stiles Stilinski…her uncle’s boyfriend.

Rewriting the future by Synesthetic

Two days before their planned bonding, alpha Derek Hale runs away with his secret beta girlfriend, leaving Stiles heartbroken. With the demands of his omega physiology forcing him to bond with someone before his first heat, Derek’s uncle Peter steps in and offers a solution.

To Save Them All by Goldenpetal13

AU, FutureFic/Re do of Season 1, Something happens, something bad, and Stiles finds a way to go back in time to change the past and save them all, to give them a future. He finds the way back and then swaps places with Scott and he gets bitten by Peter instead. Now he has to change the events that where set in motion after that event and maybe, just maybe they’ll all get to live.

Empathy, Empathy, Put Yourself in the Place of Me by twothumbsandnostakeincanon (series, complete)

Peter was suspicious.

Just generally, as a person. He always assumed his fellow man had impure motives until they proved otherwise, and then he still kept an eye out.

But at this particular moment, he was specifically suspicious of Derek’s new girlfriend.

He’s not the only one.

Bone Deep by ShippersList (28k+ but complete)

A body in the woods, a mate, and a long-awaited revenge.

Peter had no idea how his life would change when he followed the strange pull in his chest.

Get Off (Me) by KouriArashi

Stiles hates being left behind with Peter while the pack is fighting monsters, because he never knows exactly what Peter will get up to.

Love What is Behind You by KouriArashi

Basically what it says on the label. Hunger Games type fusion. Stiles doing way better than anyone anticipates. Peter finds him intriguing. Ruthless, devious assholes working together to ruin bad guys, as the Steter ship is meant to be.

Whatever Works by KouriArashi (Steter + Sterek)

The problem with having your soulmate’s first words to you tattooed on your arm is knowing your whole life that you’re fated to be with a jerk. It’s enough to make Stiles want to date other people … which is how he winds up dating his soulmate’s nephew.

Call My Name by KouriArashi

After moving to Beacon Hills, Stiles starts having recurring dreams of a man in some kind of prison, who needs his help. Things get so bad that he ends up in Eichen House, where he finds out that the man is real.

Sympathy for the Devil by KouriArashi

Stiles gets a job as a hospital orderly and finds himself becoming strangely attached to the catatonic man on the long-term care ward, and finds out that there’s a lot more to Peter Hale than there seems…

Devil of Mercy by KouriArashi

Peter’s heard people talk about what it felt like when they saw their mate for the first time, from those who actually believe in the mystical bullshit. Like a magnet, like gravity. Peter just feels… sharply curious.

Begging Me To Open Up My Mouth by Green

In a world where the supernatural is known, Peter still has to stick out. He can’t just be a werewolf, he has to be a sub, too. He can handle the stupidity from his classmates, he doesn’t even care about that, but Talia not understanding what he needs because werewolf subs are so rare?

Yeah. That he could do without.

***

Stiles is a Spark, freelance Emissary, and a Dom, in that order. He likes it that way. The freedom of it, the ability to travel and learn. He’s not ready to settle down.

But he maybe considers lingering when someone catches his eye.

Of Werewolves and Tentacles by Guede (Steterek)

Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall, childhood best friends who were separated, now reunite to get to know each other again. Since Scott’s a werewolf and Stiles is a new graduate of Miskatonic University (which is proving strangely attractive to Peter-Hale-shaped werewolves), they’ve got quite a bit to catch up on.

Bittersweet Creek by Guede

When Stiles finally steps off the westward trail to California, he’s the last of his pack. He starts building a den, but then he finds a dying man next to a burnt-down house and it turns out he’s not really much of a settler, after all.

Cats and Dogs by Guede

Stiles is a were-cat. He likes to lie around in the sun, insists on poking into everything, viciously defends his territory and is always judging you. His best friend is Scott, a werewolf, he’s dating Peter, another werewolf, and he enjoys terrorizing Peter’s nephew Derek.

Oh, and John and Chris are were-cats too. Basically, everybody’s some kind of were and I make a lot of cheap jokes about cat and dog stereotypes.

The Time Travel Grammar Book by Guede

The story that was supposed to be about time-travel, but is really a stealth AU of the first two seasons where Talia’s a struggling single mom, Peter’s the eponymous teen wolf, and Stiles, Scott and Lydia…are time travelers (so that part’s not totally inaccurate).

Open Wounds by Guede

Talia got out of the fire with Peter, but everyone else died. Years later, they’re still struggling with injuries, but they’ve at least settled in with oddball werewolf Stiles. And then other werewolves start showing up. Familiar ones.

Movement in Alpha Major by Guede

Peter Hale, thirty-four, shady but successful human lawyer, knocks on his nephew Derek’s door one night because he’s just been bitten by a werewolf. Somehow, this ends up being a lot more awkward than one would expect.

The Sphinx of Beacon Hills by Guede (Stetopher)

Stiles is a sphinx, and he’s winging his way to visit his buddy Scott when a storm drops him in Beacon Hills, the craziest, crankiest, coldest place ever. And somehow, he ends up with a bunch of werewolves.

Note: Bestiality warning is because the version of sphinx here is lion-shaped from waist down, and I don’t know how else to tag that.

Werewolf How-To by Guede (Steterek)

Being a sex mage with a magical knotting cock (and a profitable land revitalization business, thank you) doesn’t mean that Stiles needs to hook up with werewolves. It just kind of happens that way.

Intemperance by Guede (Stetopherek)

Stiles is the one who gets pulled back to Beacon Hills by a murder.

Sustainable Management by Guede (Steterek)

An alternate universe where werewolves and other supernatural creatures aren’t just integrated, but are so deeply embedded that they’re considered part of the natural ecosystem.

In other words, Stiles and his father work for a U.S. Forest Service that’s way different from the one here, if only because it involves many more secret-agent hijinks.

Strays by DiscontentedWinter (Stetopher)

In a Beacon Hills that’s been destroyed by a war between humans and werewolves, Stiles Stilinski does what he has to in order to survive.

Sanctuary by DiscontentedWinter

The Hale Wolf Sanctuary isn’t just for wolves.

It turns out it’s for Stilinskis as well.

Infinite Space by DiscontentedWinter

Stiles needs Peter’s expertise to help stop the latest threat to Beacon Hills.And, as the pack falls apart around him, he might even need Peter for more than that.

Save Me by DiscontentedWinter

Peter is the Alpha.He’s nobody’s savior.Not his pack’s. Not his town’s. And not that kid’s.But sometimes salvation goes both ways.

You Had Me at Canapes by LadyArinn

Stiles doesn’t mean to sneak into the Hale wedding, and he certainly doesn’t mean to have cliche coat-room sex with the bride’s uncle, but what had happened, happened, and it wasn’t like he could just leave. At least, not until he got to have some of that cake.

Naughty Hookers (Swathed in Wool) by pprfaith (wip series, but main parts are complete)

Stiles is happy with his store, his hobbies, his friends. Peter’s just trying to figure out how to raise his nieces and nephew without fucking them up too badly.

Paths cross.

Sing to Me, Oh so Sweetly by lavenderlotion

“Can I get a story, Mama?” Stiles asked.

“What type of story do you want to hear, darling?” his mama asked, sitting on the edge of his bed and playing with Stiles’ hair. He liked it when she did that.

“I wanna hear about the magic woman!” Stiles demanded, doing his best to keep still.

“You always wanna hear about the magic woman,” Mama told him. “Well, alright. Do you want me to start from the beginning?”

“Well, duh,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. The beginning was always the best part.

“Once upon a time, there was a young girl with skin as white as the moon and eyes as bright as the sun.”

Breathing You In by lavenderlotion (29k+, 1 chapter, but complete)

“Good morning, kiddo,” his dad said, and the words hurt.

All Stiles wanted to do was step forward and let his dad hug him, allow his father to give him comfort. His father’s hugs had always been all-encompassing, the way he would fold himself around Stiles and hold him as tightly as he could.

Stiles stepped around him, careful not to let foreign skin touch anything that was special to him.

Anything he loved.

Just Don’t Leave Me by lavenderlotion

Stiles had no idea it could happen. Really, he hadn’t. But it did and he had to deal with the fallout, alone. And, and after everything with Scott, and Derek, that was a daunting task. At least, he had his dad, god was he thankful he had his dad, but - but he couldn’t say he didn’t wish he had Peter, too.

Proposing To Strangers by moonstalker24

At the end of a strained relationship, crime novelist Stiles chooses to hide from the world inside a bar with far too many motorcycles outside it for comfort. Here he’ll meet the man of his dreams, eat food and propose marriage, all within the first five minutes.

Peter doesn’t know who this kid is, but he’s cute and looks like he could use a break. So he feeds him. He’s not expecting a marriage proposal, but with what comes after, he doesn’t really mind.

Worn Out Shoes by moonstalker24

When the dead rise, and the world comes to an end, the McCall Pack must learn to live in this new world, or die in the attempt. This is the story of the end, and of the year that follows.

The Choice by moonstalker24

“You will be changed, Goscislaw Genim Stilinski. From your bones you will be changed.”“How.”“That we cannot tell you… That is the price.”

He’s made the deal, now he only has fifteen minutes to make a choice and either save or condemn them all. Fifteen minutes and then Stiles will have to live with the consequences.

Every step of the way by Pirotess666

Hurt, pain, suffering. TORTURE. Peter felt it all while he was in Eichen House.And after he got out? All those memories of what happened there were threatening to drive him insane.The only thing that helped? Being with Stiles.And Stiles just couldn’t stop himself from helping Peter.

Bite Down by EclipseWing (27k+ but complete)

In which Stiles is forced to survive the zombie apocalypse with a sociopathic murdering werewolf for company.

Surviving Peter and the Zombie Apocalypse by Nopennamesleft

Its the end of the world and Stiles has run out of luck. He saves a werewolf from certain death. Will they begin to rely on each other to survive or will the wolf just eat Stiles for a midnight snack?

Do You Like to Hurt? (Then Hurt Me) by taylorpotato

Stiles shows up at Peter’s apartment, drunk and horny. Peter almost does the right thing—before it all deteriorates into a voyeuristic power game and Stiles has a mind-shattering orgasm. Things snowball from there. Takes place after Season Three (with consequent canon divergence).

Out Of The East, Never See The Sun Rise by neglectedtuesday (24k+ but complete)

In the beginning, there are three absolutes.

One. Stiles is a god, forged of starlight and collapsing galaxies and he is eternal.

Two. Peter is human, fragile bone and viscous blood and he is temporary.

Three. Stiles and Peter are in love; love that claws its way inside one’s heart like fish hooks; all encompassing love that is beautiful but dangerous.

Stiles is a god. Peter is human. They love each other.

Three absolutes.

The World That Is Not Ours by Ragga (wip series but first three parts are done)

About a boy and his monster, or a monster and his boy.

#teen wolf #steter #stetopher #steterek #stetopherek #fanfic rec #stiles stilinski #peter hale #chris argent #derek hale #ask #anonymous #rec list

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