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ad0rechuu · 4 months

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FROM STORM TO SUNRISE. ━━ JYH & SMG

prompts / plot. ━━━━━ you and your boyfriend yunho wake up to find your other boyfriend mingi no where to be found

part of the secret santa event. ━━━━━ fem! foreigner!reader x boyfriends! jeong yunho & song mingi , domestic fluff / slight angst (?) / an attempt at humor / soulmate au , staring: yn, yunho, mingi, mrs yang (oc) & an unnamed baker + cashier , tw: mentions of food, metaphorical storms and tornadoes and yn is basically panicking most of the time , wc: 1421 , notes: no pronouns used but fem reader + foreigner part not mentioned and yunho & mingi aren’t soulmates but this is all because of the prequel, also i imagined the town from hometown cha cha cha for this fic !

[ to @justhere4kpop aka nadia . . . ] happy holidays (and merry christmas if you celebrate) nadia! i was your secret santa, did you have any idea? either way i have to start by apologizing i was planning a much larger fic but than a bunch of things in my personal life came crashing down so i decided to continue writing the other fic (the prequel to this one) later which means you will get two gifts ! i know the writing is terrible with this one but if you liked this someone how it’s a nice surprise for both of us! i hope you have a wonderful day and i love you mwah <3

[ listening to . . . ] Dreamy Day by Ateez

masterlist | credits to @ari-shipping-stuff for being my beta reader / writer <33

WARM RAYS OF SUNSHINE SHONE GENTLY THROUGH THE LARGE WINDOW, ALLOWING YOU TO WAKE UP IN PEACE.

You slowly opened your eyes while you stretched your arms up from underneath the blankets, a smile making its way onto your face as you felt the arm draped over your stomach move you closer in his tight grip.

Turning, you met your boyfriend’s squinting eyes. Clearly, he'd just woken up too. He dropped his head in the crook of your neck and placed a kiss underneath your shirt on your bare shoulder— a silent good morning.

You'd just woken up and you already felt giddy. You moved your hand to the mattress next to you, searching for your other boyfriend’s warm body.

Your eyes opened fully, head snapping to his usual side of the bed when you realize he wasn't there. A small storm of worry brewed in your chest as you nudged your present partner, who seemed close to going back to dreamland.

He whined a bit and it took every bone in your body not to coo at him. You managed to get over your cuteness aggression enough to ask.

“Yunho, honey, where is Mingi?”

He was the early bird in your relationship after all. If anyone would know, it would be Yunho.

To your surprise, he didn't.

“I don’t know? Maybe in the kitchen? Bathroom?” He slurred, clearly not feeling the same sense of urgency as you yet.

“M’kay. I’m gonna look for Mingi. I’ll be right back.” You ruffled his already messy hair before removing yourself from his comfortable grip. The movement only caused more whining from the sleepy giant.

Yunho heard you make your way through the apartment. Your bare feet making a rhythm of soft steps on the linoleum floor, and your groggy but comforting morning voice called out Mingi’s name over and over again.

Your voice got more and more nervous with each call of his name ringing out with no response.

When you walked back into the bedroom, Yunho was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his phone in his hands. He gave you a worried look, the gravity of the situation finally catching up with him.

“Nothing?” He asked.

You fell back on the bed with a sigh as you shook your head no, racking your brain for where your boyfriend could possibly be at nine in the morning on the weekend. You felt Yunho reach over and gently push some hair out your face in an attempt to calm you down.

“I tried texting him but I got no answer either.”

Just as you were about to respond, a sharp feeling washed over you, knocking the wind out of your lungs.

You knew what that feeling meant. It only happened when your soulmate was experiencing a strong emotion. It could range from heartbreaking sadness to mind boggling happiness to excruciating pain.

You jumped up, clutching the arm that has Mingi’s soulmate mark on it. Your eyes met Yunho's.

“I think Mingi is in trouble!”

SADLY, A SOULMATE BOND did not include a GPS. At least, that was not the kind you were blessed with. That would have saved you the trouble of walking aimlessly through the town in your pajamas and winter coats.

Due to Yunho not being Mingi’s soulmate and your soulmate mark being basically sharing skin with Mingi, you were no further than when you left the house half an hour ago.

Yunho wrapped his arm around your shoulders, rubbing it in an attempt to shield you from the cold morning weather on the island. It was a sweet gesture. The growing panic heated your cheeks more then enough, but you appreciated the comfort of it nonetheless.

He stopped his brisk pace for a second and looked at you like a lightbulb went off in his head.

“Have you tried writing to him?” He asked.

You responded immediately by looking through your pockets for a pen or a marker, or anything that could stain your skin, but to no avail.

Yunho had the same luck. But he pointed you to the closest store, and without any words needed, the two of you rushed into the building, probably giving the poor cashier a heart attack.

“Excuse me, do you have a pen or something I could borrow? It’s an emergency!” You panted as her face contorted in confusion. She reached over next to her and handed you a pen anyway.

Before you could, Yunho quickly but gently raised your sleeve up, baring your arm for you. Despite the pressure, it made you want to giggle like a school girl. You kept your lovey-dovey feelings to yourself and began to write.

‘Song Mingi, where the hell are you?’

Normally, whenever you’d write something on your body and vice versa (left side for Mingi, and right for Yunho), the receiving party could felt a tingling sensation even before reading the message. You hoped with all your being that Mingi received that sensation right then too.

After staring at your arm for five minutes, you began to feel your heart speed up even more when you heard Yunho gasp from next to you as the letters you previously wrote where erased.

Finally, you felt the storm that had turned into a tornado in your heart calm down a bit, and the letters you wrote were replaced by messy yet familiar handwriting revealing Mingi’s location.

THERE HE WAS.

Through the display window of the bakery, you and Yunho saw him.

Mingi clutched a colorful box while one of the village elders, Mrs. Yang, pulled on the other side. Both seemed to be in an intense battle as the baker behind the counter watched the two awkwardly.

The closer you got, the more it hit you; the sharp feeling you felt wasn’t sadness, anger, or pain— it was his sheer competitiveness.

Yunho held the door open and both of you stepped through with the sound of the bell signaling your arrival. The baker gave you a friendly nod, but neither Mingi nor Mrs. Yang seemed to notice you, still too fixated on arguing over what you now saw was a beautifully decorated cake.

“Song Mingi!” Your voice resounded through the store as you crossed your arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

The man in question immediately forgot about the cake and trailed towards you like a puppy. He looked at you and Yunho with big eyes full of confusion.

“Baby, what're you doing here? Gosh, both of you are wearing pajamas, aren’t you way too cold?” He asked, cradling your face in his hands.

He tossed Yunho a judgmental look as if suspecting he was the reason you guys were here.

The older man flicked Mingi’s forehead before shaking his head. “Don’t look at me like that. None of this would’ve happened if you knew how to answer your phone or leave a note.”

“Yeah, we were so worried something happened.” You grabbed his attention along with one of the hands that was still on your cheek.

Mingi looked down sheepishly, his cheeks slightly reddening.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You said you were craving cake yesterday so I wanted to surprise you and Yunho with cake as breakfast in bed.” He pointed behind him, doing a double take as the cake he was just ready to risk his life for was long gone.

A heartbroken expression made its way onto his face. He looked at the baker, who only chuckled.

“I’m sorry, man. You snooze you lose.”

The baker pointed outside, where Mrs. Yang was gleefully walking away from the bakery with the precious cake in her hands.

Yunho let out a boisterous laugh, clutching his stomach as you patted the pouting boy’s cheek. Though that wasn't to say you weren't trying to reign your own laughter in as well.

“It’s okay, Ming! It’s the thought that counts.”

After a couple more minutes of comforting Mingi about his lost battle, he finally agreed to get another sweet pastry (which Yunho demanded to choose as compensation for everything).

As you three walked out of the store, you didn’t feel a storm or a tornado brewing in your chest. You felt a lovely calm wash over you as both of your boyfriends linked hands with you, one carrying the box with a well-deserved red velvet cake in it on the way home.

All the worry was replaced in no time with a warm domestic sunrise growing in your heart, and you knew exactly who were to blame for that.

networks. @cromernet @wonderlandnet

notes. again i did the gen tag list on hopes and prayers so i hope i have it right, please tell me if u want to be removed or added

taglist. @yuyusuyu @seonghwaddict @tocupid @leo-seonghwa @aestheticsluut @mrowwww @i-luvsang @cybrsan @kodzumo @gyumibear @nyukyujs @a1sh1teruu | send me an ask to be added to the general obey me or kpop taglist (or both ofc)

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a-shoebox-named-meap · 10 months

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aight. have some nimona canon divergence AU fic ideas because i’m no writer but i AM going insane

as a huge fan of canon divergence AUs where One Small Decision Changes Everything™ i can’t stop thinking about little bits and pieces from the nimona movie like:

what if the squire had shown ambrosius the video (ohh a fic like this would be Delicious) (mm ambrosius x squire tag team) (ballister’s two biggest fans) (this might be one of my favorite ideas so far) (lots of potential here i feel like)

now there have been a lot of people asking “let’s feel some ANGST what if real ambrosius had walked into the director’s office before nimona” but i will take that and raise you: what if ambrosius had walked in while nimona was doing her thing in the director’s office. perhaps around the time when the director stabbed fake!ambrosius. please consider. may the chaos ensue

ballister had noticed his sword-laser-cannon powering up and moved it away from the queen but it hit something else! or someOne else! (or it killed the queen anyway but still hit somebody else in the process) (oh gods what if it took off his own arm) (or even ambrosius’s—) (can you imagine the kinda twist that would occur if he took off ambrosius’s arm by accident and ballister not resting until he found out who the real culprit is skdjdjdjdjddj) (oh but wait let me make this WORSE what if he hit ambrosius instead of the queen ((don’t worry ambrosius is wearing armor, he doesn’t die he’s just,,, gravely injured?)) and ballister, even if he still gets framed for it, will stop at nothing to find out who did this to ambrosius) (now incorporate nimona into that storyline and hoohoohoo) (i’m rubbing my hands together like a maniacal fruit fly right now)

what if they had uploaded the squire’s video when they got it huh. what then. back it up to the cloud. or just TEXT it to ambrosius you Fool. you absolute Buffoon. (but perhaps this seemingly obvious course of action results in some unexpectedly dire consequences oh no—)

“ooh… nemesis.” “nemesis?” at which point nimona and ballister get stuck in the closet, nimona reveals her shapeshifting abilities, and oh, screw it, if ballister’s situation with his arm-chopping nemesis is really so cOmPLiCAteD then maybe since they’re breaking out of jail anyway they might as well kidnap ambrosius while they’re at it. aka the au where nimona breaks ballister out of jail and she takes ambrosius with them. (i am FEASTING on the possibilities of this one)

let’s take todd’s suspicion and blame directed towards ambrosius (“why didn’t you tell us ballister was working with whales?”) and dial that up to 100. slowly, though, not too fast, it’s gotta build momentum. let’s breed some mistrust in ambrosius. let’s see people refusing to let ambrosius lead the manhunt for ballister on account of their close relationship. let’s see people turn their backs on him thinking he was a conspirator. let’s see ambrosius losing the public’s favor. let’s see ambrosius starting to feel some doubt when he’s alone in his room — let’s see ambrosius wondering what if people are actually as wrong about ballister as he knows they are about ambrosius himself. (what if everybody hates ambrosius too—)

this one is not nearly as straightforward a canon divergence but ponder this: the director noticed the squire was there in the locker room (?) that day and swapped out the swords after the squire had left. or maybe she swapped it out before the squire was ever there. the squire never knew the director had been there. there was no video evidence. now what? up to you >:)

ok hear me out. the squire is a #1 ballister fan right. the squire is probably very careful with the swords and armor he handles. the squire is probably intimately familiar with the swords and other various weaponry and armaments of the institution. the squire is probably very familiar with ballister’s in particular. when ballister first picked up his swapped-out sword he noticed something was off about it, but what if — WHAT IF — the squire had noticed something was off about it first. now of course there’s Possibility #1 where he sees the director swap the sword, and then he checks out the sword and feels that something is wrong with it etc etc (or maybe he mistakes the sword change for an equipment upgrade) BUT now let’s combine this with the previous bullet point for Possibility #2 where the squire DIDN’T see the director swap the sword but he DID notice something was off about the sword before ballister did and actually investigated it. would he discover the hidden weapon, or not? if he did would he bring it to ballister’s attention? ambrosius’s? the director’s? what if he caught the hidden weapon but didn’t mention it and then the queen died and the squire was left fully believing ballister killed the queen (ballister knows mechanics, you’ve seen his arm, it’s plausible he built the weapon into his sword himself) and then ballister and nimona kidnapped him and interrogated him and ballister and the squire were left spiderman meme-ing each other like *points* “i thought YOU were behind all this!” and now the squire is an unwilling sidekick dragged into this by nimona and ballister to figure out who the real culprit is and there’s ACTION and ADVENTURE and COMEDY and it’s absolutely metal—

the squire really feels like a lynchpin in this story is all i’m sayin

if you can’t tell i’m also a fan of happy endings. in my brain most of these canon divergences result in a similar happy ending as the movie. except maybe faster (not always). which i enjoy because i’m sappy and silly anyway thank you and goodnight

#nimona #nimona fanfic #nimona fic #nimona netflix #nimona au #ballister boldheart #ballister blackheart #ambrosius goldenloin #nimona spoilers #nimona squire #nimona director #i don’t write fic but for the fic writers out there (i appreciate you all dearly) pls accept my humble offerings #i’m sure i’ll have more ideas later #my head is spinning #meap posts #nimona stuff

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captainkirkk · 8 months

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✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

Harry Potter

The Ordeal of Being Known by louisfake

When Auror Potter is anonymously cursed with silence by being forced to hide his own voice inside his mind, there's unfortunately only one person in the country with the qualifications to fix it: Certified and Licensed Healer Legilimens, Draco Malfoy, specialist in Mind Curses and Afflictions. It's obviously a terrible idea, a disaster waiting to happen, but Draco's never been able to back down from a challenge... especially from Potter.

Features fuzzy cartoon slippers, devious house elves, 90s music, and lots—LOTS—of memories. Ron is annoyingly hot, Hermione sees right through you, Harry is a powerful idiot, and Draco is a reclusive masochist that would buy an entire city if it would make a kid happy. (And Pansy is "5'2, I wanna dance with you, and I'm sophisticated fun.")

Super Mario Bros

Cooking Mama (Luigi)! by Little_RedHots_Riding_Hood

Luigi was having a perfectly peaceful stroll through the Toad Market - the sun was shining, he'd just found a lovely handmade blanket, and was on his way to the bakery before heading back to his and Mario's home.

Only... what was that sniffling noise from that dark, scary alleyway?

Of all the creatures he was expecting to find, the littlest prince of the Koopa Kingdom certainly wasn't it.

Star Wars

the tiger is out by elumish

Wolffe looks like he’s regretting having a second Jedi with them.

Cryp-Tim by PrinceJakeFireCake

"The cons of dating Tim Drake were innumerous. For one, he was almost impossible to photograph, and so none of Kon’s friends at school actually believed he existed. His family was scary, horrifying really, and all of them seemed to find joy in making Tim regret ever being born. And Tim had charmed Ma and Pa Kent so thoroughly, they had ditched their shovel talk to instead coo at him and offer him pie and compliment him for fixing their tractor, so Kon was at a disadvantage when it came to intimidating someone with his family.”

Kon and Tim date. It goes pretty well, all things considered.

Tim Has a Hero Worship-y Crush on Every Robin Ever by PrinceJakeFireCake

"Tim as an adult was bad enough, Tim with no filter as a child was too much to be around."

Cork Board Contingencies by PrinceJakeFireCake

If you don’t use a cork board to obsessively plan contingencies for every possible way a date with your best friend can go, how can you go on a date at all?

Excerpt: “Are you free next Saturday?” Tim asked, pretty sure that Kon’s jumble of words was agreement that he wanted to date Tim.

“Maybe!” Kon exclaimed.

“Cool,” Tim commented, taking another sip of his drugged grape soda (“Dammit, Tim,” he mentally told himself. “Do not give in! Buy new grape soda! Stop drinking the drugged grape soda! I’ve shotgunned another can of drugged grape soda, haven’t I? Dammit, that makes five!”) then saying, “That gives me just enough time to pass out for fifty-two hours and plan our first date."

Immunology by JustGettingBy

Hypothetically speaking. Could a hybrid creature become suddenly not viable? Like say it survives being an embryo, makes it through growing up, and then just one day… stops? the text from Kon reads.

Tim’s heart spikes up through his ribs. Kon. What’s happening?

(OR Kon gets the flu. It becomes Tim's problem.)

Change of Plans by PrinceJakeFireCake

"Who’s your friend, Tim?” the voice asked.

Jason hissed. This was his baby! Not his friend!

“Sorry, sorry,” the voice hastened to apologize. “I mean, who’s your parent, Tim?”

AKA, who has the time to be a murderous crime/drug lord when there are kittens to adopt

Motion Blur by sElkieNight60

At Damian's school art showcase, Bruce realizes he needs to help Tim reframe their relationship.

#my posts #weekly fic round up #dc recs #sw recs #hp recs #misc recs #fic recs #yes there is a bowuigi fic on here #but the found family is so good

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zarvasace · 3 months

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Fic Rec List

AO3 is holding a Feedback Fest for International Fanworks Day! So, in no particular order, here are 10 fics from my bookmarks that I recommend. :) Most of these fics are by stellar authors, but the list is for individual fics. I recommend checking out the authors as well.

EDIT: fandom code. LU = Linked Universe. FS = Four Swords

Dawn of the Fourth by @lazuliquetzal - (LU, complete) A fic that's on plenty of rec lists, I'm sure! The mastery of plot, character, and language itself is top-tier. This has a mystery-ish plot filled with twists and turns that hold up very very well on rereads! The tension remains taut the whole time, but it isn't too stressful. There are some particular images from this one that have stuck with me since I read it.

Threats and Theatrics by htruona - (LU, complete) This one makes me laugh. A lot. Vio is too dramatic for his own good, and I adore the idea that they might just keep fake blood on them for stuff like this.

A Guide to Living (Again) by @cerame (LU, complete) - Also one that I'm sure is not unfamiliar to a lot of people! It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Shadow, and it was so so much fun to see these other opposite-Links coming around, too. This is just overall a very good time.

Awake, Sweet Prince by @vagueandominousvibes - (FS, complete) There's a lot by Kahl I adore, she's an excellent writer with a wonderful handle on world and words, and this one in particular is one of my favorites. I love slightly spooky fae and this is definitely high on my list.

Count to Nine by @tess-aka-fishy (LU, complete) - One of my top fluff and humor fics. Everyone is in-character in the best way possible, being chaotic but not necessarily on purpose. It's awesome.

It's Dangerous to Go Alone by @hey-adora (FS, complete) - Among the many standout works by Sam, this one is an excellent one to recommend thanks to the showcase of her particular brand of humor, the fun, adventure-y plot, canon-extension worldbuilding, and of course the focus on Vio and Shadow being awful as always.

Keep Your Face to the Sun by Ageofavalon (LU, complete) - This one is a wonderful little fic with, surprise surprise, a focus on Shadow. This one just feels cozy, and I've reread it a lot. I particularly enjoy the way that they adopt him into the LU Chain :)

Take a Number, Any Number by @cluelessmoose (LU, complete) - An outstanding Four whump fic that recently got a very satisfying second chapter. It uses a lot of my favorite whump tropes. The imagery and particular use of words makes this a delight to read.

Soft Glows by @youmixxx (FS, incomplete) - Breaking my hesitant rule of "only complete fics allowed" to rec this fantastic Green/Blue modern college AU story. The attention to detail in this fic is unbelievable—and I mean detail in-text in descriptions and narrative, as well as behind-the-scenes details like consistent schedules. It's beautiful. Don't let the word count intimidate you because it flies by in a haze of glory.

Draw a Circle Around Your Grief by @lattewritesthings (LU, complete) - Dramatic, horrific, bitter, hurt-no-comfort—BUT in a way that doesn't leave you hanging on a thread. It's tragic but the resolution is satisfying anyway. The images are striking and the emotions are potent.

#fic rec #ifd2024

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charincharge · 1 month

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I Don't Want To Wait, sixty-seven

rowaelin high school bff au masterlist

AN: WHOOPS, I disappeared for two years. (Legit the last chapter was posted in May 2022!). But I’m back and have written… a lot of the rest of this fic, so we’re just going to post weekly (or even twice weekly!) until we’re finished. And I hope you’re still out there, anyone, to enjoy it. Quick recap for a previously on IDWTW. Aelin and Rowan had sex! It was great. Then they walked in on Rhoe and her dance teacher Petrah having sex, which was NOT great. Aelin never wants to go back to dance again. We returned to school. Senior second semester is going great. Busy for Aelin, who is still trying to work her butt off re: APs and grades. Less busy for Rowan, who is already recruited to college for lacrosse. Aelin and Lys had a huge falling out, but have slowly rekindled their friendship now that Lys is sober and working on her shit. Elide and Manon came out! They’re running as homecoming queens! Dorian and Chaol haven’t DTRed and are taking a break. Last we left off, Aelin texted someone to help retrieve her lacrosse hoodie from the dance studio after hours. But who? Keep reading to find out. Also, I have been gone for so long that I have NO idea who is still in the fandom or reading Rowaelin fic. Please reblog to spread the word! Taglist doesn't seem to possible anymore, so please share! Love you all and missed you all. Comment, message, meme, gif, whatever. Let’s go, team.

Aelin watched with wide eyes as Lys lowered into a crouch and removed a bobby pin from her hair. When she’d texted her friend to help with her mission, she hadn’t realized that Lysandra was a bona-fide expert at breaking and entering.

“It got boring in rehab,” Lys said with a small shrug, as if that explained her masterful lock-picking.

“Good to know,” Aelin said, chewing her thumb nervous and glancing over her shoulder at Rowan, who waited patiently in the jeep — aka, their getaway car. She didn’t think they’d actually need one, but this whole thing was such a thing, she figured it was probably safest to have a getaway car. What if the cops were called about the break-in, and they had to run?

Aelin almost chuckled at the thought of Orynth’s elderly Police Chief trying to run after them, but it hadn’t stopped her from telling Lys to dress all in black and meet them at the dance studio at eight. Luckily, Rhoe was at the station overnight, so he couldn’t see their ridiculous antics. But, after all, this mission was serious. She tried to refocus on Lys, who was finagling with a pin in the lock, taking her sweet time. A rush of panic ran through Aelin. What if they got caught? What if this got put on her permanent record? What if they got arrested?

BZZZZ. Aelin’s phone vibrated in her hand, making her jump with surprise.

“Gods,” she muttered under her breath, causing Lys to chuckle under her breath.

“Tell your buzzard not to worry, we’re almost there,” she said, twisting the pin again in a different direction. Aelin sighed at the reassurance. She knew that Rowan had to be feeling her nerves as well. Although maybe not quite as much. She wasn’t usually concerned about being a rule follower, but every step of the way had made her feel more and more stressed out. Which might have to do more with her overbearing boyfriend watching their every move than anything else. Couldn’t he just sit there and look cute and not worry? She looked at his text and shook her head. She should have known it’d be impossible. He was the biggest worry wart of them all.

Are you sure no one’s in the studio? It looks like the lights are on upstairs. Rowan texted from the front seat, his view of the studio probably better than theirs. But Aelin had spent too many years of her life at this studio. Despite her churning stomach, she knew they were fine.

Last class ended an hour ago. They always leave the lights on for the cleaning staff, but they get Fridays off, so they’re on until Saturday morning. It was part of my class schedule to turn the lights off. We’re good.

She looked over her shoulder after sending the text, and watched as Rowan threw a thumbs up in her direction. She couldn’t help but laugh at how silly he looked in his oversized black hoodie with the hood up. Despite completely disapproving of her decision, he showed up ready for the assignment at hand.

“Tadaaa,” Lys sang out quietly as the lock clicked open, the door popping ajar.

“Honestly, when I asked you to help me break into the dance studio, I figured we’d be throwing a rock into a window or something,” Aelin whispered, even though there was absolutely no reason to whisper at all. Aelin had timed it purposefully, so she wouldn’t have to run into … anyone. Okay, she really didn’t want to have to talk to Petrah. She’d avoided the studio (and Petrah) for so many weeks following the revelation that she’d been involved with her dad, and she had no intention of breaking that now. So, they’d had no choice but to break into the studio under the cover of darkness.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Lys said. “The door upstairs has a lock, too, right?”

Aelin nodded. Annoyingly, there were three doors they had to break open — the building door, the door to the second floor, and then the dance studio entrance. Thank god Aelin had her locker key, so that wasn’t a worry.

“So, why are we doing this again?” Lys asked as they trudged up the long stairwell to the second floor. She tried not to flinch as the rubber-covered stairs squeaked beneath her shoes. “Not that I’m not happy to help,” she continued. “I just thought that you started dancing again and loved it?”

“Ugh,” Aelin groaned. “I did.” Aelin paused for a beat too long, causing Lys to flip her dark curls over her shoulder to get a better look at Aelin.

“But?”

“It’s…complicated,” Aelin sighed as Lys crouched down in front of the second floor door.

“Well, this is going to take a minute,” Lys laughed. “Tell me.” Aelin was going to refute again when Lys’s voice changed, softer. “Unless you don’t want to…”

Aelin nearly smacked herself. She’d thought this would be a ridiculous, fun (and pretty low-stakes) way to hang out with Lys again, and here she was totally ruining it by keeping things to herself again.

“No, it’s not like that,” Aelin reassured her as she continued to work on the lock. “It’s just… horrifying.”

“Well now you can’t not tell me,” Lys snickered, but Aelin recognized the slight trepidation in her friend’s green eyes. Still nervous to push things. Aelin bit the bullet and let it out in a whoosh.

“Oh my GOD.” Lys’s nose crinkled, and she fell to her knees completely as her shoulders shook with laughter as Aelin told her story. “I mean, we all knew Rhoe fucked,” Lys cackled, causing Aelin to smack her friend’s knee.

“EW! That is my dad,” she said, fake heaving.

“He’s a hot, hot firefighter daddy, though,” Lys said, her eyebrows wiggling.

“I swear to god I will vomit straight on you.”

Aelin tried to be serious, but Lysandra’s smile pushed them both over the edge into a fit of giggles. They laughed and laughed, releasing the tension that had been hovering around them like a thick blanket all night, officially removing all traces of formality. Unable to help herself, Aelin reached out for her friend’s hand, squeezing her fingers gently and was relieved as Lys squeezed back. They weren’t healed, per se, but they were healing, and that was the most that Aelin could really ask for right now.

Taking a breath and wiping the remnant tracks of tears from her cheeks, Lys pushed herself back up to her knees. “Second lock?”

“Speaking of my family…” Aelin started nervously, but forged on, curious. “How’s Aedion doing?”

To her credit, Lys didn’t even lose pace as she unlocked the next door with ease.

“I know you want me to reply with something equally scandalous, but there’s nothing going on between me and Aedion,” Lys replied succinctly. “We’re friends.”

“Okay,” Aelin said, not completely convinced, but chose to respect her boundaries and believe her words.

The pair fell into an awkward silence as they headed down the hall toward the studio door. Just one last lock to get through — and then she’d never have to return to this place. A part of her heart panged at that thought, that she’d be leaving Orynth and this studio behind and not really getting to say goodbye to it. But running into Petrah was NOT an option.

“Hey, isn’t this the studio?” Lys asked of a propped open door, a gentle music wafting from inside. Aelin’s stomach sank. Had someone stayed late tonight practicing? It was a plus that they wouldn’t have to break into yet another door, but she really didn’t want to risk running into anyone. “I thought you said it was closed.”

At the same time, the pair noticed the schedule on the door, showing the company’s new rehearsal schedule. Their rehearsals now went until nine on Friday night, meaning that Aelin had shown up in the middle of a packed studio, instead of an empty one. And one where Petrah would surely be. She contemplated turning right around, but Lys had already opened the door too far, leading them into the studio lobby where the company was on break, milling around and refilling their water bottles.

And at the front desk, Petrah’s eyes widened with surprise upon seeing her. “Aelin!”

She should have guessed breaking in had been too easy. Had the doors even been locked? She knew Lysandra had gotten through them too quickly! Grumbling, she stepped out of the shadow and into the lobby toward Petrah. She couldn’t run away anymore, so she had no choice but to say hello to the woman who she’d been studiously avoiding for weeks. And by the look on Petrah’s face, she knew it, too.

“I’ll go grab your jersey,” Lys whispered, leaving her to fend for herself. “See you downstairs!”

“Traitor,” Aelin mumbled under her breath as Lysandra all but ran into the locker room, excusing herself from the awkward conversation that surely lay ahead. She wanted to run, but her feet were stuck, watching Petrah approach nervously.

“Aelin,” she said again, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you….” But Aelin cut her off.

“I don’t want to talk about it!” she said, ready to slap her hands over her ears, lest Petrah talk about her dad in any less than completely formal way.

Petrah’s deep pink lips curled up on one side in amusement, but Aelin watched as she took another deep breath and shook off whatever she’d been about to say. Instead, she watched as her smile fell into a wistful expression. “We’ve missed seeing you around here,” Petrah said.

Aelin’s eyes shot to the open doorway of the studio where the company practiced, all jetes and pirouettes and well-supported port de bras. She had missed dancing. She really had just gotten back into it when she let it fall away. Petrah must have seen her expression because she smiled faintly and let her delicate hand fall to Aelin’s shoulder.

“You could join the class. Dance it out,” Petrah suggested.

Aelin couldn’t tear her eyes away from the dancers. She watched the emotion pour from them. That is what she needed. But as Lysandra held up her jersey and trailed down the stairs in the periphery of her vision, Aelin shook her head.

“I can’t tonight.”

“I understand that it might be strange to spend time with me after what you overheard…” Petrah trailed off as blood pooled in her cheeks, filling her usual pale complexion with a deep blush. “It was completely casual. It’s only happened a handful of times, and we both know it’s not serious. I’m not trying to replace your mother, or anything like that, it’s just… an occasional stress release, and oh my god, I am sorry I didn’t mean to say any of that.” Aelin cringed at the words. She wanted to stop Petrah, but the woman couldn’t be stopped even if she wanted to. “Please don’t give up dance because of this,” Petrah pleaded. “You have such a gift, Aelin, and I would be filled with regret for the rest of my life if I knew I was the cause of you walking away from it.”

Aelin took a breath, the comforting scent of chalk and worn leather infiltrating her senses and calming her down as she figured out what to reply to Petrah. Of course she wanted to dance still. It was undeniable, the way her body pulled her toward the studio, the way a sense of calm settled through her despite her initial discomfort upon seeing Petrah. She thought about her lack of free time and her constantly building stress as the semester went on and how badly she wished she could just dance it out. That release of emotion centered her, and she knew that she was feeling off kilter without it. Making time for dance had improved her life drastically — it'd kept her sane as the rest of her semester spiraled out of control — and she wanted it back. So, so badly.

She was on the verge of agreeing to join the practice when there was a crash and loud shriek from the studio. When the shriek morphed into a choked sob, a churning nausea overwhelmed Aelin. She watched as Petrah’s face morphed into one of horror as she sprinted into the studio. Sure enough, one of the dancers was on the floor, cradling her ankle, cheeks red and involuntary tears dripping down her skin, while another dancer attempted to help her stand. The girl hissed, crying out in pain and sat down again.

“Call an ambulance,” someone ordered, and suddenly there was a frenzy, a rush of dancers looking on in terror at the injury in front of them. Aelin stood with her back against the wall, not wanting to be in the way, slinking out of sight while so much was going on. It felt like a sign from the universe that Aelin shouldn’t even think about wasting her time with dancing. Like the gods warned her that she had way too much going on to even consider it.

With Petrah distracted, Aelin slipped out, trying to gain control of her waging feelings. She slid into the backseat next to Lys, her mind reeling and unable to get the image of the crying dancer out of her head. So caught up in her own thoughts, she didn’t even hear Rowan call out to her, until red and blue flashed behind them. He swung his head over her shoulder, his mouth agape in horror as he stared at his unusually quiet girlfriend.

“Ace, what did you do? Are those the cops?!”

Aelin shook her head, the horrible feeling of nausea persisting in her gut as Rowan drove away from the studio.

. . .

It had been days since Aelin had received a text from an unknown number, and she still hadn’t decided what she was going to do.

I thought you should know we’re holding an emergency dance company audition this Tuesday at 5pm. Please come, Aelin.

Aelin chewed her sandwich thoughtfully as she pulled up the text again. The audition was merely hours away, but she was still on the fence.

“You still haven’t made up your mind?” Lysandra asked, glancing at Aelin’s phone screen. Her former — maybe current — friend had started joining them at the lunch table in the last few days since their late night break in, continuing to heal and thaw what had broken between them.

“I keep telling her to pro con list,” Rowan said, letting his fingers trail across the back of her neck and kneading the tight muscles there with his strong grasp.

“Mmmm,” Aelin mumbled, leaning further into his touch. “Con. Time spent without you.”

“Pro, something to do while I’m at lacrosse practice,” he countered as his fingers massaged a particularly tender part of her neck. She angled her head so he could have better access, but he took it as an invitation to let his head drop to her bare skin and press his lips against it, causing her body to light up. As she leaned toward him with another light moan, Dorian slammed his tray down on the table with a loud thwack.

“Get a room or get outta here,” he complained, tossing a fry at the still-intertwined pair.

“Someone’s got their panties in a bunch,” Aelin laughed as she tossed the fry back at the offender.

“My panties are perfectly smooth, thank you very much,” Dorian quipped. “Some of us would just prefer not to bear witness to your foreplay.”

“Pro,” Rowan whispered into Aelin’s ear, his lips ghosting against the tickling skin there. “I really love watching you dance.”

“Pro,” Aelin whispered back. “Increased stamina, muscle strength, and flexibility.”

Aelin glanced up at Rowan, who was already staring back at her with a fiery intensity. Her eyes glanced down at his mouth, which was curled into a satisfied smirk. His throat bobbed with a slow swallow, surely thinking of all the way those fitness benefits could be put to good use. She leaned in slightly, her lips a hairs breadth away from his when another fry hit her cheek. Aelin whipped her head around, rubbing at the salty spot where the food had made contact with her face.

Dorian was the picture of innocence, eyes wide as he chewed his own fry.

“Con,” Lys interjected. “Increased horniness.”

“Literally didn’t think that was possible,” Dorian said with a snort. “So, what are we pro-conning?” he asked, popping another fry into his mouth.

“Orynth Dance Company is having an emergency audition after an injury, and Aelin was personally invited to try out,” Lysandra explained.

“But I don’t really have the time,” Aelin started. “It would require actual rehearsal time. Like, a lot of nights. Not just an hour long class. Plus, I’d have to see Petrah every day. And I have to knock this last semester’s grades out of the park if I want to even think about getting a scholarship anywhere, plus I have a million AP exams to study for coming up, and that’s not even considering keeping up with hospital volunteering and going to your games and having any kind of semblance of a social life and…” she trailed off, her stomach finally settling as she came to the conclusion she knew she was going to come to all along. “I can’t join the dance company.”

Rowan frowned and reached for her hand. “Are you sure, Ace?” His hand wrapped around hers in a comforting squeeze, and she knew he was asking seriously. “We could make it work. I could help you study, we could bring out your color-coded schedule again to make sure we could fit everything in.”

“I know,” Aelin sighed, squeezing back. “But, I’m sure.”

But as the afternoon ticked by, Aelin couldn’t ignore the swirling feeling of guilt trying to pull her under. She was so distracted by the approaching time that she completely zoned out through all of AP Lit, startling when the period ended and Dorian poked her side.

And as five PM approached closer and closer, she found herself growing more agitated and even snapping at Rowan at one point. It wasn’t his fault; he had to head off to lacrosse practice, but Aelin had found herself so worked up that she had thought maybe he’d want to help release some tension.

“I’ll come right over after practice,” Rowan promised as he twined his hands around her waist.

“But you’ll be all sweaty and gross,” Aelin replied with a frown.

“I thought you liked when I get sweaty,” he laughed, nuzzling his nose into her hair. Aelin sighed, knowing she was being petulant, but she couldn’t get out of her own head.

“Only when I’m the one doing it!”

She tried to push him away, but Rowan’s grasp on her was iron-clad, too tight for her to even think about prying him off her. “Ace,” he lowered his voice. “I would love nothing more than to skip practice and be with you, but you know this is the only thing I need to do this semester to keep my place at Wendlyn.”

“Because Wendlyn’s more important than me?”

“I think you need a snack,” Rowan laughed, but Aelin didn’t find that funny at all.

“Sorry my blood sugar problems are amusing to you,” she said, stiffening within his grasp. She felt Rowan sigh deeply and watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose and scrunched his brows up the way she loved so much.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “You know that’s not—”

“I know,” Aelin replied quickly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

Rowan raised a single brow as if to tell her he knew exactly what had gotten into her, and so did she.

“It’s not even four yet,” Rowan said. “You could still go.”

But Aelin was nothing if not resolute. She’d made up her mind, and it was completely logical. And she was sticking to it. No, she’d head home and, yes, get a snack, and dig into her lit homework. Maybe Dorian would be willing to give her his notes from the class, seeing as she couldn’t remember a single thing that was discussed earlier.

She forced a smile and shrugged her shoulders back. “Nope, you were right. I need a snack. I’ll head to Maeve’s and see what she’s got for me.”

Rowan grimaced. “She closed for the afternoon, actually, while they put in a new stove, but she should be reopened by the time I’m out of practice.” Aelin shivered as Rowan let his fingers trail in small circles up and down her back. “Why don’t I stop there on my way to your place after practice? Cheeseburger and brownies?”

“And then orgasms?” Aelin asked, causing a loud snort to erupt from Rowan.

“You want to have sex after cheeseburger and brownies? That feels dangerous.”

“Well, we could have sex first, but reheated cheeseburgers are pretty garbage,” Aelin replied, loving the soft smile that appeared on Rowan’s face. It was the one solely reserved for her. When she was being particularly ridiculous or annoying, it was like he couldn’t help but love her more, and the small curve of his lips let her know that.

“You’re right. Cheeseburgers first,” he paused. “Then sex, then brownies?”

“Deal,” Aelin said as she reached her hand out to shake his. But he instead grasped it in his and brought it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles lightly.

“I love you,” he said.

And though Aelin wanted to roll her eyes, she took a moment to relish the fact that her best friend in the whole world loved her. And would do anything to make her smile. In fact, he’d succeeded in getting her too distracted to think about the auditions and…

As soon as she thought about them, her smile faded again.

“Just go,” he whispered, but Aelin shook her head.

“Have a good practice. See you in a few hours.”

She kissed him and sent him off, hoping to pour herself into her studies. But even with her book open, Aelin digested none of what she was reading. She kept looking at the clock, distracted. Even as it passed five pm, knowing that she was missing the auditions, she still couldn’t focus. And her mood started to plummet.

It plummeted even further as she received a text from Rowan saying that their coach needed him to stay behind for a bit after practice and that he’d be later than anticipated.

She tried to read more, and when that didn’t work, she attempted to do some math equations, but she couldn’t get her brain to work. She knew what she needed. And it was to dance it out. Despite everything, that was still her best coping mechanism. When a second text from Rowan came in, apologizing for being even later, Aelin had had enough. She couldn’t just sit here and wallow. Instead, she wrote a note for whoever would get home first – her dad, Lorcan, or Rowan — and began walking.

She didn’t even know where she was walking until she ended up at the dance studio. It was unlocked, but empty. She couldn’t remember if there had been an end time to the auditions, but it seemed completely deserted. No one was sitting at the front desk, and the lights were eerily dim. This is what she’d expected to walk into last week when she’d stolen back her lacrosse hoodie, and she was even more annoyed about it somehow.

Instead of focusing on that, though, she went straight for the first open studio and turned the lights on. The fluorescent bulbs overhead flickered on, illuminating the wooden floors beneath with a warm yellow glow. She toed her sneakers off and padded barefoot to the corner of the studio where the massive (and ancient) stereo system was stored. She pulled her phone out and connected it, pulling up one of the old playlists Rowan had made for her and closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her. Her feet took off, working in sync with the rhythm reverberating through the bare floor. Next, her arms spread, stretching out and shaking off the stress of the last few weeks.

For the first time, she really let herself feel it. The worrying and wondering what the future would hold. She knew Rowan was destined for Wendlyn, but she had no idea what she would do if she didn’t get in, too. He’d assured her that they’d stay together and figure it out, but who really stays with their high school boyfriend? She knew they weren’t like everyone else – they were special – but it didn’t stop her from thinking about it and wondering. When it came down to it, that’s why she really couldn’t bring herself to audition today. She couldn’t risk spending less time with Rowan, not if this was the last few weeks of their relationship.

Whoa. Where did that thought come from?

She ignored the small tear that pooled in the corner of her eye, letting it drip down her cheek as she spun in time with the music. How could she doubt her and Rowan’s relationship after all this time? She knew in her soul that they were destined to be together. She couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t wake up and see him every day. But there had been a small slice of fear since they first kissed, and it had ebbed and flowed with each passing day until it was now a gaping chasm in the pit of her stomach. The idea that she could end up elsewhere without Rowan was a real, actual problem. And the timeframe was closing in on them. What if this was the end of them? How would she ever recover?

Her hands reached overhead and then she let her body collapse to the floor in a graceful fall, letting go over the overwhelming sensations of fear that had been swirling and threatening to paralyze her. She arched her back and her neck released, the tension that Rowan had tried to knead attempting to relax and letting gravity pull her down, down, down.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Rowan. She did. More than anything. She just didn’t trust this world. She didn’t trust that everything would work out the way it was supposed to. I mean, just look at her dad. He’d thought he’d found the love of his life, and she walked away like it was nothing. Walked away from Aelin.

She didn’t want to cling to Rowan, to be the girl who changed her whole life just to be with a guy. She wasn’t that person. No. She was Aelin fucking Galathynius, and she could live life fully on her own. But she wanted to be with Rowan. Wanted the whole package. Saw their life together. And wanted more than anything for it to become a reality. But what if that future disappeared? What if it was cut short? What if they drifted apart. What if they tried to do long distance? Last summer while he was at camp was only two months and it was pure torture. It caused a rift so big between them that she wasn’t sure they’d overcome it. And yes, of course they did. But… to do it again? And for four years?

Her emotions threatened to choke her as she continued to dance out her frustrations, stomping and spinning and leaping, hoping against all hopes that the answers to her anxieties would appear if she could only dance long enough. She left every feeling, every worry, every gnawing anxiety on the dance floor, letting it tumble out through her moving limbs.

She didn’t know how long she’d been dancing when she opened her eyes again and refocused at herself in the mirror. She didn’t recognize the girl she saw there. She may not have come up with any answers, but she felt better. Raw, red eyed, red cheeked, and breathing hard, Aelin felt totally exposed. Which is why she nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice cut through the silence, over her harsh exhale.

“Practice starts next week.”

The director of the company stood in the darkened doorway of the studio, arms crossed and lips pursed in thoughtful approval.

“Oh, I wasn’t—”

“I know you weren’t,” she said with a formal smile. “But we’d still love to have you. If you want.”

It wasn’t necessarily the answer she had hoped to reach, but something about this moment felt like the universe trying to reassure her. That things do work out the way they’re supposed to.

“Yeah?” she asked, feeling somewhat hopeful.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” she said.

A wide smile crossed the director’s face. “Welcome to the Orynth Dance Company,” she congratulated her.

Aelin didn’t know what had overcome her, but she couldn’t help but run over to her and throw her sweaty arms around her neck in a giant hug.

“Thank you.”

Right on cue, Aelin’s phone buzzed with another incoming text.

Cheeseburgers en route. See you soon. Xx

. . .

As anticipated, the cheeseburgers were exactly what Aelin needed to rejuvenate herself, but Rowan was totally right that there was no way to be sexy after housing a half pound of meat and cheese.

“I’m so stuffed,” she said, patting her extremely full stomach.

Rowan snorted. “Why don’t we take a post-dinner break and watch something?”

“Only if it’s Housewives!” Lorcan shouted from the kitchen where he was cooking dinner for him and Rhoe, who were properly affronted that Rowan hadn’t brought them cheeseburgers, as well.

Aelin sighed and chuckled softly as she let herself slump over onto Rowan, who was already pulling up Housewives onto the television.

“You are such an enabler,” Aelin laughed.

“It’s easier than dealing with him being pouty,” Rowan smartly replied.

Aelin was about to agree when they were interrupted by an unusual ring tone.

“I’m sorry,” Rowan said, sitting up suddenly. “Is that your… home phone?”

Aelin genuinely couldn’t remember the last time that had rung. Usually she and her dad were both contacted on their cells. They really just had a home line because it was part of their internet package. She couldn’t even remember who had that number.

“Uh, phone’s for you Aelin?” Lorcan shouted from the kitchen.

Even weirder?

“Who the hell would be calling this late on a Tuesday?” Aelin whispered. Rowan’s brow lifted.

“Why don’t you go see?”

Curious, Aelin pried herself off the couch and headed to the kitchen where Lorcan was standing with a spatula in one hand and the phone in the other.

“Who is it?” she whispered.

Lorcan shrugged, simply shoving the phone forward. Helpful.

Aelin cradled the phone against her ear and took a deep breath. “Hello?”

“Hello!” A deep voice rang out over the phone. “Is this Miss Aelin Galathynius?”

“Um,” she cleared her throat. “Yes?”

“Excellent!” the voice boomed, causing her to pull the phone away from her ear slightly. “My name is Xavier Forul, and I’m a local alum of Wendlyn University. I’d love to have you in for an interview some time in the near future. Whenever you’re available! I know you’re a busy senior with a lot on her plate.”

Aelin’s heart took off, beating faster as his words unfolded.

“Interview?”

“Yes,” he continued. “It’s my favorite part of the process. As a former Wendlyn man myself, I get to sit down and speak with young promising applicants to see what their goals and ambitions might be and how they might become part of the Wendlyn world.”

Aelin glanced at the silver-headed mop peeking out above the couch and exhaled slowly. This was it. The universe reassuring her. She felt it with every fiber of her being. She could dance, she could nail her classes this semester, and she’d get into Wendlyn and be with Rowan.

“Wow, thank you so much for reaching out,” Aelin began, her autopilot pilot voice taking over. “I’d love to meet with you.”

As Xavier explained the details of the interview, Aelin’s hope buoyed. She’d been waiting for a sign from the universe, something to tell her that she and Rowan were going to work out and be fine. If a personalized phone call on a landline that hadn’t rung in more months than she could count, inviting her into the home of a University alum wasn’t a sign, she didn’t know what was. And Aelin began to hope for the first time that everything was going to actually work out.

~*~

#idwtw #idwtw au #rowaelin #rowaelin fan fic #rowaelin fic #tog fanfic #throne of glass #rowan x aelin #she's backkkk #i stg i'm finishing this fic #no fic left unfinished

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junggunz · 10 months

Text

WANT U ft. samuel seo | 🔞

summary: you finally call it quits for real after realizing your relationship with samuel was too turbulent to handle in the long run. but even after breaking up, it seems like you don't want to completely remove him from your life.

wc: 3.2k

an: killing two birds with one stone. part two of my silly little song fic series. i forgot when it was requested tbh but i had an anon who wanted a scenario that included reader being pressed against a wall aka 壁ドン lol i hope you don't mind i picked samuel over gun- anywho here's the playlist that goes with this series.

"Been waiting for so long to finally be strong but here you are."

It had been several months since the two of you split yet Samuel was sending you texts every so often to see what you were up to; almost as if he was checking to see if the heart he broke was still shattered on the floor where he left it.

The peak low point of your breakup was when he would drunk text and call you every weekend, insisting that he regrets his actions. Unsure if he meant it or if he was just talking out of his ass, you still gave him the time of day because you were just as fucked in the head as Samuel; you honestly liked the idea of him missing you and begging you for clemency even though you knew you wouldn’t take him back.

All of the vehement screaming matches. Fits of jealousy from both of you. Playing the blame game. Giving each other the cold shoulder rather than apologizing. And the worst part of it all was that the two of you could never see eye to eye long enough to be able to work through these trivial things. Every single petty argument just had to turn into an exchange of obscenities and questioning the other’s intelligence. Though the relationship was highly volatile, there was a mutual understanding that you both cared about one another and held some deep rooted insecurities; but that excuse wouldn’t cut it if you two were to be together for the long run.

As much as you wanted things to work out, you couldn’t beg Samuel to change. You were too busy trying to sort out your own emotional baggage; the last thing you wanted to do was try to get someone else to realize the error in their ways if they wouldn’t even listen to you or always remained taciturn during conversations and made you feel like you were talking to yourself.

Desultory attempts at dating around later on and trying to take your mind off of Samuel prove to be futile as you find yourself feeling more hollow than usual. Perhaps you weren’t as healed as you thought; craving the emotional intensity Samuel pursued you with from the start couldn’t have possibly been healthy.

Even with all the stupid fights you got into, he never failed to make you feel wanted. And on top of that, the make up sex was good enough to make you forget why you argued in the first place.

“Isn’t that your ex?” Your friend whispers to you while your little clique was out at a tiny little pub, enjoying some soju and various drinking foods.

“The joke was funny the first couple times, but it’s getting old now.” You say dismissively with a small laugh— but you find your bleary eyes darting around anyway— to verify whether or not she was taking advantage of the fact you were drunk and trying to mess with your head.

But lo and behold, you spot him at a table by himself. It was inevitable that you would run into him at least once given how small the city seemed sometimes. What’s more surprising is how he doesn’t have any company to share the gold colored tin kettle presumably filled with makgeolli and the few bottles of soju in front of him.

You recognize the sullen expression he wears on his face as the look of contemplation. Conflicting emotions start to argue for a spot in your mind. One part of you was pleased to see him looking so miserable; the other feeling the urge to comfort him since enough time had passed for you to forget you said you hated him.

Though you know very well that if you approached him now, there was a fifty-fifty chance of you getting into an argument with him; you can’t help yourself when you abandon the table you sat at with your friends to fill the empty seat across from Samuel. You had consumed enough alcohol to be able to dismiss this as a drunken mistake; but you know exactly what you’re doing.

“Sammy, you shouldn’t be drinking like this by yourself.” You call to him, your tone coming out more affectionate than you intended. But, oh well—you could blame it on the alcohol if he called you out for it.

Lifting his eyes to look at you sitting before him, his face doesn’t light up the same way it used to whenever you would speak to him. Right after your breakup, he always appeared just fine when he showed up to your doorstep drunk out of his mind. It seemed that now, the realization that things were actually over had kicked in and drained all life from his face.

“It’s not your place to be concerned about what I’m up to.” He tells you somberly, averting his gaze to the half empty bowl of makgeolli in front of him and reaching for the kettle to refill it.

“You used to be really adamant about trying to talk to me. I’m giving you the chance now and you’re gonna be cold to me?” You ask, feigning offense and pouting slightly.

“It’s loud as hell in here. If you wanna talk, we can talk somewhere else.” Samuel replies, swiftly standing up from the metal chair then making his way over to your side of the table to grab you by the arm; lifting you up from your seat and dragging you off to who knows where. Stumbling haphazardly behind him, you find yourself outside in the dimly lit alley between the pub and the business next to it.

“Why are you talking to me now? Could you sense that things were going to shit for me or something?” The sharpness in Samuel’s voice alone was enough to make you flinch.

When paired with him glaring at you as he backs you up against the wall, caging you in his arms, it has your body instinctively shrinking from how intimidating his demeanor is. But you’re not actually scared of him. Not in the least bit. His tall height and all that ink covered muscle means nothing to you when you know how frail his ego is. If you really wanted to, you could devastate him with just a couple words.

“Oh, so you can bug me for months on end when I’m trying to get over you but I can’t return the favor?” You scoff with a slight roll of your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest. “I just happened to see you tonight and wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Weren’t you the one who said you hated me and wished I got launched off into space?” He retorts with a dry laugh. “You’re so—”

“I know what I said and I meant it in that moment. Now, things are a little different because I’ve calmed down.” You cut him off, knowing very well that it was one of his pet peeves.

Jaw clenching in frustration from how easily you get under his skin, Samuel bangs his fist against the wall behind you to relieve some of the agitation boiling up within him. You could practically see the steam coming out of his ears from how agitated he was getting. If you had been someone else, you would have gotten a full ashtray to the face or a swift kick in the gut. However, as the soft spot he had for you hadn’t completely faded away, he can’t bring himself to tell you off for the minor infraction. Even with him knowing that you interrupted him on purpose.

“What are you trying to accomplish right now? Pissing me off? Making up with me? What do you want?” Samuel fires off, voice rough and impatient as he stares at you; his eyes trailing from your face down the familiar silhouette of your body.

“If you look at me like that, you’re gonna make me think about other things.” You tell him, a stupefied giggle falling past your lips while you gaze up suggestively at him.

Samuel’s eyes shoot right back up to look at your face, the ditzy smile on your face telling him all that he needs to know about where your head is. Hands slipping from the walls, they land on your shoulders to press you firmly against the structure behind you.

“Yeah? Have you been thinking about how no one is gonna be able to fuck you like I can?” He asks, voice dropping to a whisper as he leans in to whisper in your ear. “Because I think that’s the only reason why you would speak to me again.”

The truth is harsh and it sounds even more brutal when Samuel says it out loud. Knowing you too well, there’s no reason for you to lie to him unless you want to get into a verbal altercation with him and sour your currently elated mood.

“Please? Just for old time’s sake.” You plead him cutely, batting your lashes at him while your fingers skitter along the hem of his pants. “I haven’t slept with anyone since we broke up.” You confess, knowing that the admission would at least tempt him into giving in.

Mulling over your words for a bit, Samuel’s eyes bore into yours. He’s uncertain. He doesn’t know if he would be able to feel satisfied with just one more night with you. He’s always been easily enticed by you; with the addition of alcohol gently fogging his judgment, that feeling is magnified at least a hundred times. Self restraint is usually something Samuel doesn’t struggle with. But the memory of how wet and warm your body felt around him has his control wavering.

All it takes to get to him is you making the first move, closing the distance between your faces until he meets you halfway; pressing his lips against yours. Hands crawling up the sides of your neck, Samuel cups your face roughly; the pads of his fingers digging into your cheek. Behind each kiss there’s a shared sense of hunger and perhaps even longing. Soft lips slotted between yours, every suckle and nip makes your body buzz in desire. Remnants of alcohol linger on Samuel’s tongue as the tip slips past your open mouth while you’re moaning wantonly. So drunk on the taste of him, all your inhibitions leave you; not even bothering to double check if your current location was secluded enough for you to be carelessly reaching under your skirt to slip off your panties. It's a muscle memory thing for you when you sneakily tuck the flimsy fabric into Samuel’s pocket.

His hands trail down your figure slowly as if trying to get familiar with every dip and curve—but Samuel knew himself well enough to know that you made yourself a permanent home in his memories. As his palm smoothes over the slope of your ass, the absence of a pantyline beneath the thin material of your skirt causes him to pull away from you. Looking at you curiously, he’s met by a cheeky grin as your smaller hand guides him under your clothes to feel the pent up sexual frustration that’s spilling out of you now. With how obscenely wet you are, Samuel feels barely any resistance when he dips two of his fingers into your heat. Feeling just how riled up you’ve gotten just from kissing devours the last morsel of patience Samuel has before he’s hastily undoing his pants and lowering them just enough to pull his cock out, eliminating the remaining space between your bodies and swiping the tip along your folds.

“You missed this, didn’t you?” He taunts, tapping the head of his cock against your swollen clit. “You wanted me so bad that you’re letting me fuck you in this dingey alley.” He laughs mockingly, eliciting a small mewl from you as you buck your hips up against his.

“Don’t tease…” You murmur softly, sneaking a glance at him out of fear you would fall for him all over again. Bracing yourself for what was to come, you loop your arms around his neck, gazing between your bodies as you’re entranced by the sight of your arousal thoroughly coating him.

Muttering something under his breath that goes unheard by you due to the sound of your heart thudding against your chest, Samuel’s hands latch on to your thighs; wrapping them around his hips before he pushes forward into you. Chest tightening, he grits his teeth as the tip of his cock dips past your tight entrance; the unforgettable warmth consuming him and filling him with the sense of being home. The sudden intrusion has you gasping in surprise, but the pain laced pleasure is so intoxicating, you find yourself trying to take more of his length inside of your needy little hole. Even as tears well up in your eyes, clinging to your eyelashes, it doesn’t stop the shaky plead to be fucked from tumbling past your lips.

No build up. No more condescending comments. Samuel wastes no time thrusting into you animalistically, his full balls slapping against your ass. At this point, the only thing he has in mind is releasing months of frustration on to you as he continues to fuck you with the intention of making you regret breaking up with him. Head falling back with a slew of vulgarities, your wet walls clamp around his size; your cunt refusing to relinquish its vice grip on him. It only fuels him to go harder, grunting as he ruts into you so harshly that you have to cling on to him and lock your ankles around his lower back out of fear of losing connection.

Some semblance of coherence slips back into your system when you feel the bumpy texture of the wall starting to make your back ache and you try to keep your noises to a minimum. But nevermind the discomfort of the rough surface of the wall beneath you rubbing up against you. It hurts more to know that Samuel wouldn’t be going home with you after this. All you can do for now is bask in the moment; feeling every inch of him filling you up and hitting every good spot just the way you like it.

“What am I gonna do with you? Why don’t you get that you’re made for me?” Samuel growls into your ear, hips continuing to buck into you aggressively with sharp, precise thrusts into your gummy walls that make your cunt gush more arousal. “So…fucking perfect for me.” He rasps out in a shaky voice, the blunt tips of his nails dig into the meat of your thigh as he continues to slam into you.

It’s not right, but the possessive talk has you squeezing around him. Your guts twisting in excitement as his thick length works your sopping pussy, thrusting into you at spine-breaking pace. Whimpering from how hard he was squeezing your thigh, you could feel his fingertips leaving their marks on your skin.

“P—please, don’t stop.” You croak, letting your head fall forward onto Samuel’s shoulder; making the mistake of burying your face into his shirt and getting yourself drunk on the smell of him. Once you realize what you’ve done, you pull away again with a small sniffle. It wasn’t abnormal for tears of pleasure to stream down your face whenever you had sex with Samuel, but in this context, there was a high chance that the tears were provoked by some other emotion.

“Oh, baby. You should know I don’t plan on stopping until I make this tight little pussy cum all over me.” He tells you, his breath tickling the side of your face before he presses a gentle kiss on your temple that contrasts starkly against the manner his hips move.

It’s so unbearably hot between your bodies, even under the cool night air. It only contributes to how lightheaded you feel as you feel your climaxing building. Samuel’s eyes happen to glance down below to your point of connection and he sees the white ring of cream you’ve oh so adoringly left around the base of his cock. A wave of satisfaction washes over him upon seeing the mess you’ve made. And he’s even more pleased when he feels your walls pulsing around him, signifying you’re about extremely close to orgasming.

“Look at me.” He commands you sternly, movements unfaltering. When you don’t heed to his demand, he delivers extra rough snaps of his hips into you. “Look. At. Me.” He repeats, each syllable punctuated by the ruthless thrusts.

Reluctantly meeting his eyes, his expression is softer than the last time you looked at him. Behind all the carnal lust, it’s impossible to miss the affection lingering in his irises and so many different emotions overcome you at once. It feels like there’s a disconnect between your mind and body—your head is scrambling to find out what’s going on while your body is tensing up, euphoria slowly taking over as bright colors decorate the edges of your vision.

“Ohhh—fuck!” You yelp, feeling an orgasm strong enough to render you brainless ripping through your body. Trembling in his arms and gazing at him like he was your God, the telltale signs of your climax had always made the veins in his cock throb like crazy.

“See? If you weren’t made for me, how come just looking at me is enough to make you cum?” Samuel murmurs against your mouth, kissing you softly and relishing in the salacious moans you emit between licks across the seam of your lips.

Now able to chase after his high, he searches for it in the deepest part of your pulsating walls. Despite your sensitive pussy trying to hold him in place, he thrusts into you almost violently; his thick size spreading you open and imprinting its shape into the slick walls. As Samuel fucks you through your orgasm, rearranging your insides as he pleases, your mind is long gone and ventured off into space. You may have been brought to orgasm from looking at him, but the sight of you in your post orgasm haze was what brings Samuel to his finish. A guttural groan rumbles in his throat as his thrusts become sloppy and vicious before hot white ropes of his seed paint your insides. Holding himself deep within you, he fills the deepest part of you and your body milks out every last drop eagerly.

Taking a few silent moments to even out your breathing, the two of you eventually part; your legs unwinding themselves from Samuel’s body before you hastily pull down your skirt and he fixes his pants. The tension between the both of you is so thick, you think you should at least say ‘goodbye’ or something to cut through it but the words get caught in your throat. Seeing that Samuel had already moved to lean on the very wall you were just fucking against and was lighting up a cigarette let you know that he had nothing to say either.

With how many times you told him you never wanted to speak to him, this should have satiated you; but when you make your way back to the bar to rejoin your friends, the itch to unblock Samuel’s number on your phone starts to nag at you.

#lookism x reader #lookism smut #samuel seo x reader #samuel seo smut #samuel seo scenarios #junggunz.txt

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bigfan-fanfic · 1 year

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A Dragon Denied (Raihan x Male Reader)

Requested by @jayfeather965 for Ooh. What about a short fic detailing raihains numerous flirtations and attempts to ask of a cute Arcanine trainer who is sweet but clueless about relationships (AKA me if I was in the Pokémon world)

Raihan likes to tease you about how long it took for you two to get together.

Not for lack of his trying - it's just that you're kinda... clueless.

I mean, how do you not understand it when he slides into your DMs?

Or when he repeatedly asks you out only for you to not immediately assume it's a date.

Other men would have given up after hearing how good a friend they are, but not Raihan.

The problem is that he really just doesn't know how to get through to you.

He's a pretty intense and flirty guy when he's focused on someone, so he just has no idea how you can miss these things.

The gift baskets with heart-shaped cards don't get through to you.

The Living Arrangements (a squad of Flabebe that can be hired out to dance for someone and put on a beautiful and aromatic show) sent to your door don't work either.

The texts, the slightly risque pictures (he sends you a couple of clips of him toweling off after a match shirtless and in compression shorts with a cheeky mention that he hopes you don't sell the clip to the fan sites - to which you responded that you would never)

He likes to show off for you, and flirt, and find excuses to remove his shirt or show his Pokemon, but then when you keep on cluelessly misunderstanding his intentions...

he realizes the way to your heart.

He already enjoyed your Arcanine but now shows it more affection.

He helps you brush and detangle Arcanine's fur, and clip its claws.

He gifts you specialized stuff, like a self-warmed dog bed for Arcanine to enjoy, and charcoal Poke treats.

He invites you on outings that you can bring Arcanine out of its Poke Ball for, and interact with his team.

But you surprise him yet again.

Because seeing how sweet he is with Arcanine, how much he cares, has finally clued you in to the possibility of the relationship.

And when you tentatively ask him on a date, you're pretty sure you hear him whisper,

"finally"

#raihan x male reader #male reader #reader #pokemon x reader #pokemon x male reader #headcanons #pokemon headcanons

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xiakeponz · 1 year

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for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦（1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎（2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟（1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长（1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.

#cnovel #mdzs #cdrama #chinese diaspora #danmei #not a lot of jinyong wuxia shows here so people who have opinions please chime in!#whew that was more than i thought #music could do with another post #but i dont know too much about my dads music i was just a 2000s cpop nerd #also this doesnt cover movies either #please no lan qiren watching friends #this breaks me out of my immersion immediately unless there was a specific reason why shufu is watching friends #not even sure how to tag this #late 2000s you could pretty much stream and download stuff i think i did that for bbjx when it came out #even tho my parents hated The Internet i managed #feel free to add more to this in a post or tags or whatever

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bidisasterevankinard · 6 months

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weekend wip game

tagged by @hoodie-buck @hippolotamus @pirrusstuff @callmenewbie @thewolvesof1998 @wikiangela @jesuisici33

as I'm late tagging anyone who wants to do it

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more)

it's too many so wips I wrote/brainstormed about recently:

you rule my heart (I am your royal slave) or King Eddie/Lord Buckley

bra fic (or Buck in bra and too into it Eddie)

girl dad Buck and ped Eddie

Vegas fic

street dancer Eddie/firefighter Buck or dance my way to your heart

exes to lovers

florist Buck/tattoo master Eddie

sometimes it takes a baby (or platonic baby making)

after 6s where Eddie is stupid and insecure

enemies to lovers singers

Buck wears skirts

Eddie has a cousin

Buck wooed by a guy

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

—Vegas wip (11061) and enemies to lovers (11460)

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

—prev too(I guess enemies to lovers) or street dancer Eddie

4. Which WIP is your favorite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

—hmm I love all because of the different reasons but royal au, enemies to lovers and street dancer Eddie funny because of the new aus and kind of new possibilities for out boys and exploring them.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

—hmmm I think it is Buck wears skirts well cause I have some insecurities about it

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

—Vegas fic cause I need to reedit this fic a lot and it has different narrator changes in the text and too many repetitions of the lines and yeah i need to reread it even

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

—IDK

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

—All the wips I abonded or ideas i never started (they love in my files)

9. Which WIP has your favorite OC? Tell us about them?

—i don't have a lot OC but my favs are Danny from wooing Buck. cause he's sweet and really likes Buck and wants to treat him right hoe Buck deserves. And Alex Diaz aka Eddie's little menace cousin. I love him cause he's funny and smart and knows what to do to make his stupid cousin admit his feelings

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

—hmm probably royal au or bra fic. But I have some ideas which are probably will win

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

—Buck sold his life 1000000%%%%%

12. Which WIP has the best characterization (in your humble opinion)?

—hmmmmmm Vegas or exes to lovers. or after 6s

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

—probably royal or vegas

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

—all ? But Enemies to lovers wins because of the work with editing and with music

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

—Enemies to lovers cause it's going to be biggest work I will publish. With the most amount of work done and cause it's an au

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

—day dram yes. really dreaming not really.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that that your other fics don't?

—two fics i have are dark. especially one of them. and it contains psychological disease

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humor?

—hmmm Vegas i guess

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

—not now

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs

—I have some secret kinky fics and dark fics

#buddie #tag game

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brydeswhale · 1 year

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My Giant Anti-Jonsa Hate Post, AKA why a person might not ship Jonsa other than hating Sansa :P

I'm warning you ahead of time, this is mostly me rambling. I'm not smart. Lots of smart people you can read, go read them.

So, I've noticed this tendency amongst some Jonsa shippers to sort of dismiss any criticism as Sansa-hate. Sometimes they are actually correct, some people only read ASOIAF in order to see Jon as a typical hero and any female character as simply the reward Jon gets for being a hero, which is so weird. There is a similar feeling that the biggest reward a female character can get is Jon's dick, so, um, yeah.

Having said that, I have a lot of reasons not to ship Sansa with Jon outside of how my ego feeds into my reading. I have read pics with them as the pairing, tbh, if you're a Sansa fan you kind of get pulled into it just because it's so hard to find ANY fics where Sansa gets treated decently that I just treat Jon in those fics as an original character.

I will now list my non-jonsa feels, in no particular order.

I do not believe the text supports it.

A lot of smart people have dug through the text and pointed to what they believe are clues. I'm not going to go through all of these because some of them are, IMO, a reach so far that the proponents have hired a gibbon to do the reaching.

One of those that kind of makes me super perplexed is the whole Jonnel/Sansa thing. Shippers will point to that as some kind of sign that their ship will sail, but honestly, I do not think so. Or at least, I hope it's not a portent of Jonsa.

Jonnel Stark and his plot line with the original Sansa seem to have more in common with the modern story of Alys Karstark and her flight from her uncle and cousin, who attempted to usurp her claim to Karhold by forcibly marrying her.

That is to say, it's a dark, sad story, made all the worse by the fact that Sansa eventually died, and she and Jonnel never had issue. In fact, Jonnel didn't have kids with his second wife, either. Possibly divine punishment for usurping and marrying his niece, IMO.

Most of the other "Jonsa" foreshadowing, I'm sorry to say, seems similar to that, basically. Either it's a sort of retelling of a completely different event happening in the present, or it's a sort of a weird, long reach. Like the idea that the comet is meant to foreshadow Jonsa, which is, honestly, so weird it's laughable, or pointing to times that Jon has complimented Sansa's looks. Some people even try to fit the Bael the Bard story to Jonsa.

It doesn't seem to fit with the how the text treats incest, in my opinion.

Much is made of the show's revelation that Jon and Sansa, despite being raised as and considering each other siblings, are biologically cousins, what with the revelation that Rhaegar kidnapped a teenaged Lyanna Stark and murdered her through reproductive abuse. For a lot of people this makes the incestuous aspect of the text "not count"(which is annoying for other reasons I will discuss later).

I just don't think "they're actually cousins" really works here, either, though.

GRRM sort of seems to use incest as kind of a shorthand for corruption. The Targaryens are the main example, their inbreeding a symbol of their incapacity as humans, and Craster is a giant screaming red flag but there are other incestuous marriages that seem to operate as symbols for the people involved, most notably the elder Lannister and Stark marriages.

The marriage of Tywin Lannister is an interesting sort of backdrop for the Lannister family as a whole. Joanna is often regarded, in both fandom and the series itself, as a sort of softening influence, a better version of Cersei, the true queen of Casterly Rocks, whose relationship with Tywin was very normal and healthy.

However, when examining Tywin Lannister's serious case of narcissism, I find it very unlikely that he would be capable of anything resembling normal in a marriage. It seems likely to me that his love of Joanna was more likely based on the same thing Cersei and Jaime's relationship was based on, AKA a damaged, narcissistic monstrosity. The marriage, IMO, was based on the fact that Tywin was attempting to emulate the elitist principles of the Targaryens. Only a Lannister could match a Lannister, in other words.

Then we examine the children of this incestuous union. I don't think its a coincidence that Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion are as fucked up as they are. The example they have of a relationship is fucked up and incestuous, so it wasn't surprising that the twins emulated it. And Tyrion being Tyrion is also not shocking. Joanna may have demanded a place for him, but how much of that was motivated by love, and how much by a similar narcissism to Tywin and Cersei's, the idea of the child as the extension of the self.

But, @brydeswhale , I hear you say, because I have audio processing disorder, what about the Starks?

Well, tbh, I'm pretty sure the Lyarra/Rickard thing being incestuous was an afterthought, another way to mirror the Lannisters, but I do not think they're intended to be an example of incest done right. Rickard had some pretty weird obsessions of his own, if certain people are to be believed, and Lyarra is a near non-entity.

And while their kids seem to be, well, less fucked up than the Lannisters, it's still worth noting that two of the four are dead, of the two survivors, one dedicated himself to ensuring his family's full isolation from the rest of the country and the other joined a penal colony full of slave soldiers dedicated to what amounts to a border patrol that, whatever its origins, seems intent on enforcing an economic and cultural barrier to a random set of ethnic groups beyond the Wall, so good job there.

And even when Brandon and Lyanna were alive, well, no fault to Lyanna, she seems like a good kid, but Brandon was apparently an antagonistic dick and, well, he doesn't seem to have been very respectful of women.

Incest almost seems like a code in GRRM for "something is very wrong here and it won't end well, even for the innocents" and I just don't see him choosing to go against that.

As an incest survivor, the lightness with which the Jonsa fandom treats that aspect of it is messed up.

I don't tend to talk too much about my past as a CSA survivor, but yeah, there is it is. It kind of weirds me out, DOESN'T trigger me, just weirds me out, how casually the ASOIAF fandom treats incest bc, um, yeah, its not really casual. I feel like GRRM treats it with a great deal of gravitas, but fandom kind of skips over it, which is weird.

The "Real" siblings stance is obnoxious

There exists, within fandom, a tendency to devalue families outside the biological family.

It's not specific to ASOIAF, don't get me wrong. It's the same thing that had people giggling over Thor's defensive "he's adopted" or talking about which Robin is "the real son". It also lends itself to pairing in those fandoms based on those same ideas. It's not incest, after all, if they're not really related?

This might seem like small potatoes to some people, but the problem with this is that it's also a problem outside fandom, and it's something I've dealt with my entire life.

See, my family also isn't "real" according to this rule.

I have foster siblings, step siblings, half siblings, so on and so forth. I have siblings I'm almost completely alienated from, siblings I love more than life itself, and siblings who are ex-siblings, pining for the fjords, kicked the bucket, bought the farm, blah, blah, blah.

So to hear people talk about how Jon and Sansa aren't real siblings because of the complexity of how their relationship came to be, how close they are, whether or not the moon was full when they met, is actually kind of hurtful.

It tells me something about the people using this trope and what they subconsciously think of my family. How "real" we are to them, and how much we matter. It kind of makes me think we don't really matter, that because we don't share DNA, we don't count.

Also:

Jon is one of my least favourite characters and Sansa can do better.

To Be VERY VERY clear:

I'm not saying don't ship them, don't read it, etc, etc. If you want to, it's up to you. Like I said, I read it sometimes, just because it's so ubiquitous. I have plenty of pairings that other people might hate, or think are immoral, etc. These are just my feelings, tbh.

I just think dismissing all criticism or even plain distaste for this ship down to not liking one character or another, or whatever, is kind of messed up. There are lots of valid reasons not to like a ship, and it's worth considering all of them.

#anti-jonsa #anti jonsa #sansa stark #asoiaf #game of thrones

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thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai · 7 months

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I'm SO late for preptober this year! I have less than 18 days left to read through my 165k wip of my YOI fic "In Love and War" and skim over my outline to re-familiarise myself with this fic the point that I'll be able to continue writing where I stopped last December. That's ridiculously little time that won't allow me to do any major editing (I will leave comments in the text for that), and that's basically my fault as I thought that participating in two fandom events during the months I traditionally spend with preparations would be a splendid idea.

But anyway, I'm thrilled because this NaNoWriMo, I will finally continue writing the fic that will become the third instalment of my "A dream too large to bear alone"-series in case I ever finish posting the first one, followed by posting the entire second one. Last year, I stopped at the beginning of the next figure skating season (those above-mentioned 165k are entirely Viktuuri off-season shenanigans, yes this is fic is going to be a monster), which means that the best part aka Yuuri and Viktor turning from husbands to rivals on the ice, including all the dirty and dramatic details of that development, is yet to come, and I'm so stoked for that! By the way, that's all I'm going to say about the plot at this point.

I might or might not post snippets and delete these within hours as I'm too self-conscious about the ugliness of poorly revised drafts and ripped-out-of-context quotes.

This will be my tenth consecutive NaNoWriMo. It's hard to believe that I've engaged in that madness so often now. I will have two weeks off in November and I will use them to write as manically as possible and enjoy myself while pulling through the darkest month of the year. December will be early enough to be exhausted.

#writing #fanfiction #yuri on ice #nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #preptober #ADTLTBAverse

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zgvlt · 2 years

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Anonymous asked: [answering like this due to ask length hihi hope u don't mind]

[referring to this post (again hehe y'all are so big brained)]

This got really long, sorry about that, but to summarize it all in one go. Cater with emojis as his partner's nickname in contacts to make it easier to find and special, while one-sided rivalry with Kalim/Idia/Vil/Leona/Sebek/The twins, and classic rivals with Cater/Jack/Deuce/Ace/etc (extra, Azul/Riddle/Jamil and Trey too would be cute for this trope)! And Vil having his fan club's name be the opposite of Neige's, while reader is "Jack of All Trades/Wild Cards" or "Black Swan".

[ask and answer continued below]

I think Cater would put his partner's name in emoji, while everyone's name beside for certain people. Like just simple heart emojis because he wants to be able to respond to his partner as fast as possible, and whenever he needs to text them, he'll be able to easily find them even if he has loads of contacts in his phone because they're the only ones that stand out (and because they're special just like that <3)

Rivals to lovers, good taste!! and imagine one-sided rivalry because that genuinely would have loads of dynamics going on omg. Imagine having one-sided rivalry with...

Kalim; he doesn't understand why you see him as your rival even if you're both from merchant families that's at odds, but he thinks you're pretty neat

Idia is just tired, scared, but at the same time smug because how bold of you to want to outdo him when he's called a genius and is the housewarden of Ignihyde for a reason, but oh wait, you actually are just beginning to sound like those outdated Tsunderes except you're pretty cute... what?

Vil admires your dedication, but he doesn't see you as a worthy rival yet, though he does look forward to seeing your growth. (He does feel a little annoyed yet at the same time touched too).

Please leave Leona alone. Truly touching words, really, but no. Actually, he takes it back, don't start looking at Malleus now as your rival, you...

(Also Sebek with another fae that serves Malleus too, or Floyd/Jade being amused with a reader that was in middle school with them, who couldn't forget how they lost against them for battle of the bands and sees one of the twins as their rival).

And for some not so one-sided rivalry? Magicam rivals with Cater, both of you keep going up and above against each other for a while now until it finally comes to a tie, both of you are barely gaining followers anymore (and recently couples are the rage nowadays, so Cater comes with an interesting proposal/jk). Other ones would be Jack, Deuce, and maybe, Ace; imagine both of you in middle school were trying to outdo each other on who can do the most magic tricks aka trying to be cooler than the other and did some ridiculous stunts too because hey, that's cool before!! And now you both get embarrassed when you see each other.

And fanclub names? Honestly, no idea. But "Fairest one" is something I could see for Vil, though a name contrasting the name of Neige's fan club would be a really interesting to see and maybe, "Jack of All Trades", or "The Black Swan" for the reader. (Black Swan has a pretty meaning to it).

Anon, honey, I need your brain YOU'VE GIVEN ME SO MANY IDEAS THIS IS SO!!! Everything I've asked for!! YOU'RE A GENIUS! I REALLY like Wild Cards actually 🥺 and and and you straight up gave me literally headcanons/story prompts for the rivals to lovers one i'm giving you like the biggest platonic smooch or hug or hi five right now

if i ever write those out i'm dedicating the fics/scenarios/whatever to you 😽💘💗💗💓

#—nathyask #—anonnie #—banathyaqueue #anon ur brain is so massive thank you for lending me some braincells #im tempted to write most of those honestly wow #the ideas are so cute and the potential humor that could come out of it is up my alley

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myevilmouse · 2 years

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Hi!!!😘😊

1, 16, 42 for the Fanfiction Writing Asks, if I may...

Have a nice day!!!☺

Oh these are such fun questions @ele-millennial-weirdo!!! Thank you so much.

1:Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

I try to go for it as soon as the ideas strike, because as I’m sure many other authors can testify, it’s all too easy to forget that perfect line of dialogue that popped into your head in the car or ideal phrasing from the shower (aka my sensory deprivation chamber). Often when I’m in prime ficcing mode, I’ll jump out of the shower and be like “honey don’t talk to me I have to get this down” and my husband just grins and watches me drip my way across the house to the laptop.

However, sometimes, particularly I’ve noticed for more complicated storylines (not just the smut, in other words), I tend to “daydream” about possibilities for a more extended period of time. Still, in my opinion, it’s dangerous/tempting fate to wait too long to get those daydreams down on the page. Which leads to the next question!

16. Do you write by hand, on your phone, or on your laptop?

Always always always on the laptop. I adore my laptop. It’s an HP 360 Spectre and it’s light, tiny, and tough.

Writing by hand would HURT and writing on my phone would quite probably drive me insane. I hate even texting and if it weren’t for predictive text, I never would.

42. What’s your favorite title that you’ve come up with?

*rapidly goes to scan all 84 titles*

God this is HARD. I’m pretty proud of most of my titles and picking a favorite is more difficult than I thought it would be… there are some I like for sentimental reasons (like Corrupted Cake being named after something my nephew said)

I guess after much thought I’m going to go with Kinetic Countermeasures , my first fuck or die fic. I really had fun with the titles of the chapters too, as I used actual terms for steps in taking kinetic countermeasures that fit the flow of the story. And I’m going to put Infectious here as a close second for the same reason: the titles of the chapters are the actual life cycle/progression of a virus and yet they somehow describe the story so perfectly. I don’t always name chapters but I like the poetry of making them tie in when possible. Thank you for these super interesting asks!

#fandom friends #asks #i like asks #thryce #fuck or die #fanfic #myfic #fanfic is for fun #my thoughts #on ficcing

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streetlights-was-taken · 1 year

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🚗: world building notes (2021 version)

as of this writing, I have not started on the draft for life in the rearview, although I've been conceptualizing it on and off for a few years. the most I had was this summary:

"Venti… I think we just solved The Anniversary Problem™ with a demon summoning ritual."

Lumine figures that it’s just a natural consequence of being childhood friends, but she knows that her familiarity with Venti runs much deeper in ways she couldn’t explain. But third-and-fourth-wheeling on her brother’s wedding planning with his fiancé just might! After all, what better way to look back fondly on their relationship than with a perfectly normal road trip through some of the country’s most romantic weekend getaways?

Featuring: snow cabin tours, wedding cake testing, skydiving hazards, meteorology, aliens, deciphering a witch’s ancient heirloom, and an innocent attempt to wake the old gods of Mondstadt. You know, for science.

but since the purpose of this blog is to document my writing journey, I figured I should post my notes from two years ago.

whether the fic ends up following my notes is something we'll just have to see. if it goes off in a new direction, I think it will be cool to at least see the differences from then and now.

aside from the formatting and some rephrasing, everything posted here below the cut is an exact copy-paste from before, which you can tell because the text won't be in lowercase anymore lol. text in orange will serve as commentary from present me as I was formatting this.

notes: life in the rearview (2021)

Here are my world building notes for life in the rear view (it’s always sunny in mondstadt)! I wanted to keep this documented somewhere so I can look back on my writing process, and it might help me as a guide for future fics, if applicable. (thank god my past self is meticulous about this. finding all these notes have been a godsend for kickstarting the writing process).

I tried to connect as much in-game references and lore as I could, though errors are bound to happen. I would also like to note that this was written during version 1.6 so that’s the most updated lore I knew at the time.

I wrote my world building notes before writing the fic as a sort of guide for myself. The notes tackle six main topics:

Reincarnation (and witches)

Modern Mondstadt (and Venti)

Albedo (and Klee)

The Twins

Paimon

Applied Phlebotinum (aka "modern science")

So if you’re interested in reading, feel free to just skip to the topic you want to read about because this document is already way too long as it is.

i. Reincarnation (and witches)

Reincarnation: It seems to me that there are recurring themes in genshin when it comes to the repurposing of past memories/souls (to what extent, we don’t know yet in canon). I knew I wanted to write a modern AU + reincarnation AU + amateur historian AU, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted the characters to be rebirthed (new lifetime, same characters but with memories possibly, temporarily locked) or reincarnated (new lifetime, new characters based on old souls but they’re basically new/separate individuals from their past selves).

I knew I wanted some characters to not be reincarnated though (Albedo, Klee, the witches, any “outsiders” of Teyvat). From there, I reasoned out that characters would need to be reincarnated instead of rebirthed. They aren’t an extension of an old soul in a new lifetime. They are a new version of themselves in a new era; essentially, individuals different from their past, although who they were in the past will largely shape the foundation of their being. From what I understand, this seems more in line with how reincarnation works in gnosticism (if you haven’t ascended by the time you reach the end of your mortal life, you get a do over). (reading this now in the present, this is also close to the idea of samsara and how nahida is a new incarnation of the irminsul's avatar, rather than being an extension of greater lord rukkhadevata. past me, you were totally on the right track.)

In this AU, reincarnation is one of the “fundamental laws” of Teyvat, and the only way to escape reincarnation is to ascend, to be an outsider (twins, Alice), or to become an "anomaly" of Teyvat (Albedo). In the game, ascension is handled through Celestia. In this AU, which is of modern Teyvat, it’s through the witches of Hexenzirkel.

Quick Timeline: Traveler Lumine does what she does in canon. At the end of the game, she is able to control the “loom of fate” and “reweave the threads of all fate” (whatever this means). The details aren’t really that important; what’s important are the consequences.

So in this AU, after the divine war, Lumine (traveler) and Aether (abyss twin) remove the false sky, constellations, visions, anything that holds people back from truly forging their own destinies. There is no “fate” as written by Celestia/stars/whatever. There is no longer “Celestia” as we currently know them in game. However, I think the triquetra symbolizes the loop of abyss/teyvat/heavens and is another fundamental symbol of cycles. It’s another law of Teyvat, so something has to replace Celestia in the loop — for this AU, it's the Hexenzirkel witches (more on this below).

Humanity starts anew and moves into a godless era where the seven archons no longer reign. Around 1000 years after this, the twins basically retire alongside the archons and instead of leaving Teyvat for another world, they decide to make Teyvat their new home. However, Teyvat has its own laws and the twins are “outsiders” of Teyvat. To truly become part of Teyvat and retire at the same time, they integrate themselves into the world through reincarnation.

Hexenzirkel House: So the question of reincarnating gods and mystical beings in a modern world begs the question of: "well, what about their parents? what about their true forms?" And I just did not want to deal with that, so I made the witches of Hexenzirkel take care of them lol. At least they'll be able to address any of the kids' more… peculiar upbringing needs, and anything that needs handwaving can easily be done so by the witches of Hexenzirkel.

This brings us to the question of, “well what about Mona?”

I really love the idea of Mona becoming a respected mage, so I’ve decided she’s one of the few people, like Albedo, who knows what’s going on. In fact, since she’s part of the Hexenzirkel and a resident of Mondstadt (though in canon we don’t know yet where she hails from). I thought it would be cool if she was the one who can answer Lumine’s questions about Paimon and Venti’s questions about the winds in the fic. We also know that she talks with Albedo and Klee a lot, which is convenient for this fic. (wow, even during v1.6 I was already on the almonaklee camp)

Okay so what about this thing I mentioned earlier about Hexenzirkel replacing Celestia? So since the witches explore the Irminsul trees and are probably the closest to the “truth of the world” (whatever that is), we can just assume they found a way to preserve history/memories/selves in better ways than Teyvat can, and this can be thought of as another form of “ascension”.

This isn’t really explored deeply in the fic so I didn’t bother working out the details of this lol. Suffice to say, the witches (and Klee) represent the future.

ii. Mondstadt (and Venti)

Mondstadt: I know that in-game, it doesn't take long to walk from Stormbearer Point to Dragonspine, but I see that as a game thing. I think you would still need a car to get around when teleport waypoints don't exist anymore.

I also think that Mondstadt has the potential to actually retain its religion the most out of the seven nations, simply because Venti wasn't such an involved god (unlike Zhongli who literally faked his death in front of his people in order to retire). Diluc also mentions in the prologue that in-game Mondstadt hasn’t seen the anemo archon in a thousand years, and yet look how devoted his people are. I think that, to some extent, that applies to modern Mondstadt still, so the air of mystery and magic remains. Mondstadt is also a romantic nation that will probably find the idea of a wind god very poetic, so even if there aren't a lot of believers, belief in the anemo archon will still persist in the city's culture and literature even as the rest of the world embraces the godless era.

Venti and Meteorology: Why did I make him a meteorologist instead of an artist when he’s usually seen as a character who is into poems and music? Well, meteorology is the study of atmospheric phenomena and how it affects weather. I wanted to relate Venti to the winds, and I also wanted to give a nod to how Mondstadt has had a history of storms and blizzards (e.g. pre-Decarabian era, Dragonspine) but in-game it’s now just a very idyllic, peaceful land. There’s even an NPC in Stormbearer Point that says her whole family used to watch for storms but there haven’t been any since Barbatos came. Interestingly, Venti’s ascension material is the Hurricane Seed from the anemo hypostasis.

I think Venti’s first love has always been Mondstadt, and one of his first acts as an archon was "[shattering] the ice and snow and [splitting] the mountains with a divine wind." Mondstadt's greatest mystery in modern times is its flattened mountain ranges and curiously good weather (which, ironically, were his own doing) so I felt that him going into meteorology would be an interesting way for him to connect with his past. To work out his more playful side, I think Venti would love the thrill of being a professional storm chaser, so I inserted the Eye of the Storm into the fic plot, although it looks much much different in this AU than in-game.

Adding meteorology into the fic begs the question of, "well, how does weather/science work now, from a modern scholar’s perspective?" I talk more about the nitty gritty of the world and it’s science in part VI!

Alternatives: I also considered making Venti a youtube vlogger, a music producer, songwriter, a historian, and whatever is Mondstadt's equivalent to an English Lit major (Mondstadtian Lit?). Ultimately, I ended up with meteorologist because it fits my fic agenda (always own your agenda) and I haven’t really seen it done before. (If you have, please share with me! I would love to see more meteorologist!Venti)

iii. Albedo (and Klee)

Albedo: Albedo's mechanical arm is inspired from his battle animation. He usually rotates his wrist when you use his elemental skill, and he also rotates his shoulder when you use his burst. There is currently no in-game explanation for this yet (AFAIK). Maybe it’s related to him being an artificial human made of chalk, or maybe some other lore. In any case, in this AU something happened to that arm in the past. so now he has a mechanical arm! Maybe he could have recreated his arm with alchemy, idk, but I don't think he'd mind having a mechanical limb tbh. Albedo also symbolizes bridging of the past and future in the fic, so I wanted him to have a conversation piece about it.

Klee: Klee, on the other hand, represents the future. As the daughter of Alice, I decided to categorize her as an "outsider" although in-game she does seem to bend to Teyvat’s laws (Mona can see her constellation, for example, while she couldn’t see the Traveler’s). We’re just gonna ignore that lol.

I’m gonna reuse this idea in another fic (specifically, the planned epilogue for long live the long life), but I absolutely love the idea of Klee becoming a traveler of worlds just like her mother. Also, with her being from "a race blessed with longevity" (elves?) I’ve decided she and Alice are "practically immortal" — they aren’t but they can live long enough anyway. Since she doesn’t reincarnate, she still remembers the past just like Albedo and Mona.

iv. The Twins

Traveler and Abyss: I ultimately decided to make Lumine the former traveler because that meant happier venlumi memories and that would give more weight to the scene where they summon Paimon. Aether as the former abyss prince also gives us a fun albether dynamic to play around with!

Memories: Originally, I thought of making Aether remember from the beginning, but then it's kinda sad if a five-year-old remembered about a divine war. I also thought of making him remember at a certain age. But him discovering his past by meeting Albedo gives them more reason to actually establish a relationship. Meanwhile, I thought it would be funny to make Lumine become a devoted follower of the anemo archon because she just naturally gravitates to anything Venti-related.

Since they both "integrated" into Teyvat through reincarnation, the laws of Teyvat now apply to them. But that doesn’t prevent them from becoming travelers of worlds again — it just means they have to work hard to get to that point again. Though probably not that hard, considering how they already have the witches by their side.

v. Paimon (and fairytales)

Paimon and Dainsleif: Obviously we don't know what will happen at the end of the game, and Paimon's role in the story is still unclear. But there's some parallels between the two in-game so I decided to make the two of them take turns watching over Teyvat. I also couldn't figure out how to fit Paimon into a reincarnation AU tbh because she's… a small, cute fairy. I really have a hard time imagining her as anything else!! Anyway, if Venti can take his hunded-year naps in-game, why not Paimon as well?

(this section is pretty short. I think I planned to expand on this in the future, but I never ended up doing it. but basically, my plot for this was that lumine found a book about summoning demons. she and venti try it, and they summon paimon and dain. this is fine, because albether wanted to wake them up anyway to invite them to their wedding lol)

vi. Applied Phlebotinum (aka "modern science")

All the research and nitty gritty details I need for the fic. Teyvat's modern science incorporates what they consider as "fundamental" while removing the "fairytales" of gods from the narrative. This definitely led to some pseudoscience-as-science Applied Phlebotinum tropes, but I think it works out for the purposes of the fic.

Sky: Since there is no longer a fake sky, modern Teyvat now sees the "true stars" and a completely different sky than before. This means that sky maps from the past are no longer valid for navigation, but they could be important clues for wannabe historians. The moon, however, is an actual corpse from the past (if we’re to believe the three moon sisters lore) so it still stays as a full moon.

Ley Lines and Elements: Ley lines, and by extension elements, are fundamental things in the game, whereas most other things are emergent, so I didn’t remove them from this AU. Since the witches of Hexenzirkel conduct investigations of the Irminsul trees and have the secret knowledge of the world that an average Teyvatian aren’t privy to (see part I), they would be the highest order scholars. This also means that, with the right tools, one can still harness the elements. But how could they without visions?

Fauna and Technology: The game archive implies that 1) slimes, hypostases, whopperflowers, regisivines, eye of storms, and crystalflies are all products of concentrated elemental energy; 2) crystalfly cores can "absorb elemental energy that have escaped into the atmosphere."

After the divine war, the ley lines are no longer in disarray which means most of the dangerous monsters are gone or rarely seen. Only small slimes and the occasional whopperflowers remain. To achieve balance and make sure ley lines are not concentrated or clogged again, the witches have turned to filling every inch of Teyvat with crystalflies as a natural "element filter." When they die out, the crystal cores (which we use in-game to transmute condensed resin and portable waypoints) should have concentrated elemental energy which they can use for technology. The game archive implies that the people of Teyvat were already on their way to using slimes as elemental conduits to progress technology too (e.g. cryo slimes as a cooler, electro slimes to power things, etc.)

Alchemy: in this AU, alchemy is the manipulation of ley lines and the memories/elements/time within it. Some parts of alchemy is incorporated into modern science, to the extent where they can make use of slimes and crystal cores for convenient transmutations. But since modern Teyvat has entered an era that wants to keep the ley lines balanced, the art of khemia is, for the most part, forgotten and forbidden. Albedo still messes around with it sometimes though, but the witches are keeping an eye on him.

We then come to the problem of portable waypoints. It’s a transmutable object that we can use crystal cores for, so why have cars? But it’s stated in the game that it’s something only vision-bearers can use. Since no one has visions anymore in this AU (with some exceptions), waypoints are not needed and we can still use cars for road trips :D

Modern Artifacts: Genshin loves the concept of "memories live on in objects and you can build yourself up with the memories of the past." We see this in ores and weapons, artifacts having stories, the crown of insight, etc. In this AU, this concept ties back to the fundamental laws of reincarnation (or transmigration) and ley lines.

Modern Teyvat has no need for battle weapons though, so memories of the past will have to be stored in new vessels in order to be passed on. The twins inadvertently collected a bunch of these artifacts over time.

Weather: Based on the dialogue with Lawrence (guard in front of Mondstadt gate) and Venn (storm watcher in Stormbearer Point), it’s heavily implied that the good weather of Mondstadt is thanks to Barbatos. But what happens when Barbatos is no longer around, or when humanity moves to a godless era? I think the Thousand Winds would still take care of Mondstadt, but the weather wouldn’t be as gentle as they always have been. Probably nothing catastrophic, but there would be more natural storms and rain than before.

Stormbearer Point is where Mondstadtians used to watch for storms, so that’s also where the meteorology center of Mondstadt is located. For the most part, I based Mondstadt’s weather on Germany and the UK (see links below).

Side note: I see the Thousand Winds as something similar to an anemo version of the lochfolk. So while they collectively have elemental power, individually they are all just threads of the wind. Endora wasn’t that powerful even after the end of the event, just more eloquent. And Venti himself, once a thread of the Thousand Winds, was just a small wisp before he became an archon.

As for Dragonspine, the Skyfrost Nail no longer works (because Celestia is gone) and Durin has basically become one with the mountain. But there are still lingering effects of their presence in the environment. Dragonspine used to be a verdant, livable mountain before the fall of Sal Vind; in modern Teyvat, I mixed the past and the in-game present so that Dragonspine is now a livable snow mountain (no more sheer cold!). This is mostly to push my agenda of having snow cabin scenes and to have Albedo and Dragonspine be one of the surviving connections to the past. This also means some wonky elemental stuff usually happens in Dragonspine.

Geography: A civilization that progresses and prospers will have a larger population. Mondstadt is still a small nation compared to the other seven, but they definitely branched out from just having one city nation in a lake and two countryside villages (Springvale, Dawn Winery). Dadaupa Gorge and the area around Dawn Winery have expanded to have more residential areas and small villages. (past me had no idea dornman port was a thing. present me now does, and I actually remember now that there's still a huge chunk of mondstadt that we haven't seen but was from the beta game leaks. there's still the dark castle in the northeast).

Gliding: since we now have cars, gliding is now a recreational hobby and extreme sport. As a result, there are less gliders now than before, but it sure makes money for tourism. Mondstadt is also the global gliding center of Teyvat and usually hosts gliding competitions with competitors across the seven nations. You need a gliding license to buy gliders.

Tourism: What’s a road trip without tourist traps? Some of the notable Mondstadt getaways:

bungee jumping/gliding in Starsnatch Cliff (must have a gliding license to use the gliders)

historical tours in Stormterror’s Lair (they kept the name since it attracts more tourists than if they called it "Old Mondstadt")

snow cabins in Dragonspine (amazing view of Sal Terrae and Mondstadt)

picnics in Windrise (make it a big park centered around Vennessa’s Tree?)

wine tasting in Dawn Winery (they also help plan weddings and have DIY wine-making lessons for enthusiasts)

#appendix #fic: life in the rearview

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