#i know it's a pose from the step brothers poster

[moonlitdark]

📷 jsinprops

The way this is giving prom photo

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

WOMANIZER

Pairing: Mor x Illyrian!Reader

Warnings: girls just being horny for one another, consider reader kinda like Satine from Moulin Rouge, or even like the mata hari

Words:2767

Summary: For shits and giggles, Mor accompanies the Shadowsinger and General to see one of the Day Court’s famous showhouses. It’s said that the most beautiful temptress with Illyrian wings dances for the wealthy.

*I know in SJM's universe the words 'man' and 'woman' aren't used to describe fae genders but for the sake of this story, I'm going to push that fact aside since I really like the title name :)

*doesn't really follow any canonical timeline

*This is my first time writing for ACOTAR so please be kind

Mor stares at the finely painted poster depicting a curvaceous female with bat-like wings trailing behind her. She wonders if the painter exaggerated her beauty or if it how the female truly was.

Either way she thought it would be amusing to go along with Cassian’s suggestion.

He’d heard talk all over the Day Courts of the performer known as the Temptress with Wings. Illyrians weren’t necessarily big celebrities in Prythian. They chose to stay in their mountains and commit themselves to savagery. The Temptress was different. Or so that’s what Cassian heard.

Unfortunately Azriel wasn’t as willing as a companion. He put up with his brother dragging him by the shirtsleeve and the stares that were being shot their way.

Chuckling to herself, Mor shakes her head. Those two could act like petulant children sometimes.

She picks up her pace to catch up with them and holds up three tickets. “They’ll turn the two of you away if you go in there looking like you kidnapped Az. Plus you need your tickets.”

Outside stained glass doors, decorated with warm oranges and reds to imitate the nature of the night’s performance. While Mor had been doubtful about this adventure, all was swept under the rug when the trio steps through the grand entrance of the showhouse the Den.

A wave of anticipation starts to thrum against her pulse. Her brown eyes round in awe.

Every sense is held captive, a mesmerizing fusion of opulence and seduction is rolled out in front of her. Of course, only in Helion's domain would there be such splendor; a haven where temptation was shamelessly displayed for all to see. Bathed in a soft, golden glow, the walls are adorned with tapestries depicting other performers that had resided there at one point in time. They were stitched in poses of passion and desire.

Cassian and Azriel too are captivated by all around them yet the other attendees go about their business, waiting for the show to begin so that they may entertain the main hall.

Mor picked up on the heavy scent in the air of exotic perfumes mingling with a small instrumental band that played on a smaller dais. Their intoxicating melody floated through the air to mingle with the perfume.

"Every corner of this place is a masterpiece." Azriel murmurs, the first thing any of them has said since entering. Az cranes his neck up to check out the ceiling. Crystal chandeliers cascade from the top, multi colored lights cast a dazzling stained glass affect on the marble floor beneath them (much like the front windows).

Releasing a low whistle, Cassian puts his hands in his pockets. He looked and felt a little out of place. His frame was already large without his wings carefully tucked in. Even the rugged charm of his face couldn't compare to the polished beauty of the other guests. This didn't stop him from shooting Mor an excited smile.

As the doors to the show hall were still closed, they wade through others to get to the bar that was filled to the brim of every alcoholic drink Prythian had to offer.

Subtly, Mor listens in on a few conversations going around her.

"I didn't think an Illyrian could be graceful. (y/n) is really something else." A well dressed male comments with a toothy grin. "It's near impossible to book a private meeting with her though."

His companion groans. "I know. You'd have to be as wealthy as the high lord to get into contact with her."

Off to her other side, a woman complains to her friend "Such a backwards people shouldn't be let into our society." She scoffs and uses her fan to cool herself off as the room was growing warm with so many bodies pressed together.

Her friend disagreed. "Now I don't know about other Illyrians, but she doesn't seem to be like them. I hear her father was a high fae and once he heard about the wing clipping he took his daughter out of there and raised her among us."

That knowledge didn't make (y/n) anymore endearing to the first female. "So she's a mongrel then."

Mor keeps her face smooth, concealing the nasty look she wanted to shoot toward the cynical female. But many would think the same.

Azriel, as was his job, had been absentmindedly listening as well to the flow of different conversations. His own brow twitched at catching the mongrel remark. "Yet here she is paying good money to watch a mongrel perform." He grits out under his breath.

Tossing his drink back, Cass keeps the mood light by saying "Hey it's (y/n) whose having the last laugh. With this crowd, she'll be raking in all that gold by the end of the night."

True.

The reception room, while large, was bursting at the seams with males and females alike. There would be quite a lot of money to count come closing. Wealth was something this (y/n) was not lacking in.

Finally, several sets of double doors swing open, welcoming everyone into the actual show room that was no less elegant. The flow of the crowd is calm like a river as people spill into the show room, going to their respective seats and tables. Balcony seating had dining tables available for those who wanted to eat and watch the performance without disturbing the audience.

They take their respective seats, eyes falling upon the empty stage with titillation.

Once everyone is seated, a hush descends as the lights of the stage are lit and a symphony of sound, color and movements dazzles them. Out steps the most beautiful creature Mor had ever laid eyes on. (y/n) is adorned in an elaborate costume (much like the one she wears on the poster) that leaves little to the imagination. Gold adorned her wrists and ankles as well as the delicate structure of her neck. Her wings trail behind her and move in a perfect, fluid harmony as her hands flutter; inviting the crowd to the forbidden pleasures that would unravel on stage. The skirt she wore was of the faintest lavender hue and dangled with tinkling bells as she danced.

Everyone held their breath.

The way she moved with her wings, unperturbed by their existence and even utilizing them in her act.

And then she sang.

The audience had already been a sea of enraptured faces, but the moment she parted her lips, no one stood a chance at concentrating on anything else but her. The most heavenly voice she had ever heard resonated through the showhouse, filling every empty corner with its ethereal beauty. Divinity was woven into the fabric of her vocal cords as (y/n) crooned. It wrapped around the hearts of not just Mor, but also her companions who sat dumbstruck.

(y/n)'s voice was magic itself. Lyrics that spill from her paint vivid images and evoked emotions she had never experienced before. Something like this, Mor was sure, could heal wounds, mend broken hearts and ignite hope within the darkest of souls.

Every cruel memory that made up Mor's past vanished. Meaningless.

Her wings, which she spread out to fan behind her, shimmer against the multicolored lights of the stage. Fluttering gently along with her swaying body.

There was a moment where she could have sworn she caught (y/n)'s teasing eyes. That a fleeting smile graced (y/n)'s lips when she spotted Mor. But the moment vanished just as soon as it had happened making Mor doubtful about the exchange. Still, even that bit of attention from her had Mor drawn in deeper.

How long had they all been held captive by (y/n)? Mor wasn't sure.

Only when the music ended at (y/n) walked off stage did people leap to their feet in thunderous applause and roars for an encore.

Mor, Az and Cass simply sit there in awe.

It had taken a lot of strength for the trio to peel themselves out of their seats and go back out into reality. They felt dazzed and lost but grateful for experiencing such a show.

"Aren't you glad I dragged you here?" Cassian jokes as they go back out into the reception hall to grab one more drink before leaving.

Azriel shakes his head but he had a smile on his face. "Don't push it."

Mor chuckles but a tap on her shoulder as her straightening her back to address whoever had tapped her.

"You've been requested an audience by (y/n)."

Cassian and Azriel gawk, a little jealous that Mor had been chosen specifically.

Hesitantly she follows the usher before telling the boys she would catch up with them later.

Down one corridor were secret alcoves, covered by velvet curtains. An incredibly intimate warmth runs up Mor's neck as the usher pulls back one curtain to reveal (y/n) among dozens of bouquets and boxes with glittering jewels. She'd looked bored before Mor was introduced. Her (e/c) eyes came to life and she beckons Mor to come in.

The usher leaves the two alone as Mor makes her way through the throng of strong smelling flowers.

"I must admit, it's quite the honor to have the Night Court's most trusted advisors watching me perform." Her voice is of the finest skill as she purrs, patting the spot next to her on the love seat. She no longer wore her costume, but a lightweight robe that still revealed every curve of her body.

Mor smiles, forcing her heart to get a grip. "The honor was our's. I've. . . We've never seen an Illyrian like you before. Not one that can move or sing like that. You were magnificent." She watches intently as (y/n) grabs a bottle from a tub of ice and hands Mor a long stemmed glass.

"I doubt Illyrians would ever even entertain the idea of performing for high fae." (y/n) rolls her eyes. "My father took me back once to the mountains where my mother's people live. That much was enough for me."

Pursing her lips, Mor nods. The words of the woman in the reception hall are repeated in her head.

Mor could see the pointed tips of (y/n)'s ears, the only sign that she was only half-Illyrian. Much like Rhysand's. Up close, Mor could even see a spattering of freckles on the bridge of (y/n)'s nose. Mor was distracted by the halflings beauty as (y/n) chattered away.

"-and when I saw you. Mother above." (y/n) laughed out. "I'm sure everyone tells you that you have to be the most beautiful female in the entire known world. I almost forgot the words of the song and my footing."

Cheeks flushing, Mor smiles for she was thinking the same about (y/n). "It means a lot more coming from you. We heard your praises while waiting for the show to start." Alcohol is definitely warming her up and making her tongue loose. This wouldn't be the first time Mor had courted a female, but this would be the first time she has met her match in a potential partner.

"Yes, I'm sure you heard more than praises out there." Unconsciously, (y/n)'s shoulder leans against Mor's arm as both get comfortable with one another. This is not an unwelcome contact for Mor as the mere touch has a blaze engulfing the Morrigan. "No doubt you heard how I entertain rich males and bleed them dry."

"Have you ever invited Helion back here?" Mor takes a sip. Certainly the high lord with a high libido would not have let this treat go unsavored. Helion didn't seem like one put off by Illyrian wings considering he has asked for a four way that including Az and Cassian.

She nods. "Oh of course. He is the most generous of my patrons. But you can imagine he doesn't stop by often. What with being the high lord, he has more things on his mind than a pretty singer."

But (y/n) wasn't just a singer. That much Mor was sure about. If (y/n) had it in mind, she could be a sorceress and wield the most powerful magic. Her voice had influenced all in the room. Imagine that kind of power on the battlefield.

One could view Mor's that's as her trying to come up with a reason for the Illyrian singer to stay with her when she'd inevitably go back to Velaris. (y/n) could be useful to Rhysand but Helion would loathe to have such a renowned performer leave his court.

As bottles were emptied, Mor and (y/n) grew more comfortable around one another to where Mor had her legs drapped over (y/n)'s thighs while she ran a perfectly manicured hand along the length. This send shivers through Mor.

They spoke about everything under the sun from war to art to even Mor's upbringing in the Court of Nightmares. She couldn't bring herself to mention everything that transpired with her family and Eris. Maybe. . . Maybe some other time. But the mood was light and Mor didn't want to ruin it. Not when (y/n) was tracing intricate designs on Mor's thigh. Damn was it waking up every nerve on her skin and even more so it lit a needy sensation between her legs.

In the back of her mind, Mor reminds herself that this is what (y/n) did for a living. Of course not even Mor could refuse such seduction.

(Y/n) had not mentioned anything along the lines of payment as she genuinely seemed to want to be in Mor’s presence. At such ease with Mor’s shapely legs draped over her. Electric tingles sent chills up her arms when a finely shaped nail ever so gently scrapes along her skin. Her huge bat wings didn’t even appear to be in the way, the hung off over the back of the loveseat.

Illyrian wings were so sensitive. That was what the male part of the inner circle said. If Mor were to ghost her fingers along the leathery skin of (y/n)’s wings she wondered if the singer would mind. She’d never touched Cassian’s or Azriel’s and definitely not Rhysand’s.

So mesmerized, she missed the way a pair of dark eyes admiring the contours of her face, the pair of full lips painted in a alluring poppy red.

She likes the blonde’s appreciative gaze on her wings. They had escaped the plague of scars and deformity like many Illyrian women had due to the grotesque tradition of wing clipping. It wasn’t flattery that made (y/n) praise Mor’s beauty. When she saw Mor in the crowd, well, she knew she wouldn’t be having any other visitors that night. Perhaps not for a while depending how long Mor planned to stay in the court. Growing weary of the groveling of men, not even their money made up for what (y/n) had to put up with. They always wanted more than what she would give them. All the males (maybe except for Helion) were greedy. The few women she'd had in the past were more agreeable lovers. But females were often intimidated by (y/n) and tend to lean on being resentful toward her for her charms.

Not Mor though. She knew Rhysand's trusted advisor would not see her as a threat but a companion.

A heady fragrance of perfume and with the taste of intoxicating drinks in their system heightened their senses and emboldened there desires.

Before Mor could come to a conclusion on if she would brush her fingertips against (y/n)'s wings, the singer coaxed Mor's face to turn to face her with gentle fingers. She leaned closer and brushed her lips against Mor's. From that simple contact, a jolt went through the blonde. Tender and passionate became the exchange. Sound coming from outside of their intimate cocoon faded away leaving just the two of them in their own little world.

Countless kisses were shared that Mor began to lose track of the count and time for that matter. Hands flutter and grope at anything they could get ahold of. Never had Mor felt so complete before and so lost.

Her heart burned with the knowledge that their paths would cross again. How, she didn't know. But she'd be damned if this would be their one and only night together. If required, she would go to Rhys and tell him of her desire to have (y/n) by her side and perhaps he could come to an agreement with Helion to relinquish the beloved singer.

Finally pulling away with bruised and swollen lips, (y/n) smiled at her as if having the same thoughts.

They would meet again. Both females would make sure of that.

[w-i-s-e]

Avatar 3 Theory - Spider will become a member of the Metkayina clan in Avatar 3

I was looking at the character poster for Spider (seen below), and I noticed something about it.

Not only was it clear from this photo that this was taken with an older Jack Champion (Spider's actor) than appeared in The Way of Water, but there are a range of other differences from the way that Spider looked in the film (seen below)

These are:

He has an extra strip on his forehead in the image on the left.

He has more beads in his hair in the image on the left

He has a blue body stripe across his cheek in the image on the right, and it is no longer there in the image on the left.

He is wearing either a bone

and finally, he is wearing the body garment in the image on the left that we see Metkayina males wear (as seen in the images below).

It is this, along with the tattoo seen on his arm in this photo (seen below) from an article in EMPIRE Magazine of a scene that did not appear in the second movie, that I realised something...

....I think that Spider either before the start of the movie or during the movie will go through the Metkayina version of Iknimaya.

Iknimaya for the Metkayina is described on the Avatar Wiki to be "...[several] coming-of-age rituals..." which include "...taming a Skimwing and various tests with the members' tulkun spirit brother/sister". It is then stated that after the individual completes the trials "...the member is considered an adult and receives a special article of clothing, their first tattoo, and three beads for their songcord (reference for the Wiki can be found at the bottom of the post).

Given that not only is Spider 16 and might be 17 by movie three, poses a tattoo, the body garment given to males that pass Iknimaya and a selection of beads through his hair, it is clear to see that, in some shape or form, Spider was able to complete the Metkayina version of Iknimaya to some capacity.

Though it would be important to mention that he wouldn't be able to complete trials a few of the trials like taming a Skimwing or gaining a Tulkun spirit brother, as he is human and thus lacks a queue to do so with.

My idea is this, either during the first act of the film or just be its event it is revealed that Spider has been trying to pass the trials of Iknimaya to not only be seen as not only one of the people but also a na'vi and possibly prove himself to others like Neytiri. Yet, due to him being human, he is unable to complete all the trials he is given and so fails in his goal, maybe this also causes further hurt to his relationship with Neytiri (idk). So, knowing that the RDA can give him an Avatar body that would allow him to not only complete the trials but also be seen as one of the family, he goes to them hoping that in exchange for information or something else, they will give him an Avatar body. Not only would this make sense for the next step in his character arc, but it also might have already been teased in the image seen below, which can be found in the same EMPIRE article as the image above. This would be his story for the third and possibly fourth movies.

But anyway, what do you think? Do you think this might be accurate or not?

References:

Avatar Wiki - Iknimaya, Link: https://james-camerons-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Iknimaya

[starsfic]

Reaching Out

Summary: A few hours before the mutation, Yoshi and Draxum try to talk things out. It doesn't go well.

Ko-Fi

-_-

Hamato Kouki opened the door to his townhouse and nearly slammed it back close. 

Only a hand, gripping the door, stopped him. “What are you doing here?” he said, glaring at his brother-in-law. Sure, maybe it was a little harsh, but harshness was justified, considering he had heard crying from Yoshi’s bedroom.

“What has your brother told you?” Baron Draxum rumbled back.

Kouki released the door to cross his arms. “Not much,” he admitted. Barely three hours ago, Yoshi had come knocking with the turtle tank and visible red in his eyes. It was the second time since he had started seeing Draxum and the first since they had gotten married. “Just that you guys had a fight, and he wanted to sleep over until you both calmed down and could talk.”

Draxum stared at him, and Kuoki resisted a shudder. It wasn’t the first time he felt like Draxum stared at him like he was nothing more than a specimen to dissect. He had always been uneasy around the baron, but he seemed like a saint compared to Big Mama.

Now, he wondered if he was wrong.

“...I am here to talk,” Draxum’s rumble made him blink. He could see those eyes narrow behind his mask. “Are you going to stand in my way?”

“Is now really a good time?” It was said on instinct. “I mean, you made Yoshi cry with whatever your fight was about.” Yoshi rarely cried, not even when times were lean, and Kouki doubted that he could protect him from hunger and cold, much less the Foot. To have him crying now, on the night his nephews were supposed to be created, suggested things had gotten bad between them. “I really think you should wait until tomorrow.”

Draxum’s cold gaze had briefly softened at the mention of Yoshi crying. “I’m aware that it is most likely too soon,” the baron rumbled. “However, I want to talk. Not just for us, but for our children.”

Kouki stared at him for a second longer, internally debating what to do. On one hand, he was eager to be an uncle. On the other hand, he was a protective big brother with an in-law he had never really liked. It felt like both parts of him, both parts of his family, were yanking his heart one way or the other. Finally, one part won out. “Okay,” he sighed. “Come inside. I’ll talk to Yoshi.” He held up a hand before Draxum could step inside. “If he says no, you have to wait until tomorrow. Deal?” He held out a hand.

“Deal.” Draxum simply stepped past him to stand in the living room. He didn’t sit or anything. He just stood there with arms crossed. If Kouki didn’t know better, Draxum would’ve made a very convincing statue. Excluding those eyes. Those eyes bore into his skin.

“Okay.” Kouki closed the door with a sigh. The fact that Draxum hadn’t just shoved his way in and marched upstairs was progress. He marched past his brother-in-law, trying to ignore the intense stare, and headed up the stairs.

The hallway was decorated with pictures, both of him and Yoshi, framed movie posters, and Yoshi’s art. Kouki glanced at the pictures and came to a pause at one. Here, a week after Tang Shen had found them, kid Yoshi posed in a cute tuxedo, his grin wide and chubby-cheeked. Kouki found himself sighing at the image before continuing his march down the hall.

Hopefully, he was doing the right thing.

He came to a stop at Yoshi’s door. He didn’t hear anything. Still, he knocked. “Yoshi-kun?” 

“The door’s open.”

He opened the door and stepped inside, being careful to close the door behind him. Yoshi had cleared his desk of any art supplies to set up the turtle tank. He glanced over his shoulder at him, holding tweezers full of some kind of sponge. The redness had faded from his eyes, just a tad, but some pinkness lingered. A tired smile spread across his face. “Hey.”

“Hey. Uh, Draxum’s here.”

Yoshi blinked. “Excuse me?”

“He’s here. He said he wanted to talk. I said I would ask you-” Regret hit like a truck. He should’ve sent Draxum away. Hell, he didn’t even know what their fight had been about. “I said I would ask you. He’s downstairs. If you don’t want to, I made him agree to leave-”

“I want to talk to him.”

Kouki blinked. “You do?”

Yoshi nodded. “It’s been long enough.”

“It's been three hours.”

“It's been long enough. We’ve had time to cool down.” Yoshi handed him the tweezers. “Could you stay here with the boys? Leonardo’s hungry, so I'm trying to feed him.”

“Sure.” Kouki waited until Yoshi was at the door. “Let me know if you need backup.”

“Thanks.”

The door shut behind him.

Kouki turned to the four turtle tanks. The hawksbill dubbed Leonardo stared at him, or at least the sponge. He and the box turtle had gotten a little bigger since Yoshi had saved them. The leatherback was way bigger now, to the point that Kouki was tempted to get another tank for him.

Hopefully, they wouldn't need the tank.

It would probably be fine. Yoshi had his ways to soothe and calm Draxum. Things would probably be a little messy at first, but it would be fine.

He was sure of it.

-_-

Yoshi closed the door and collapsed against it, glad Kouki was distracted with the turtles. His children. His and Draxum’s children.

Draxum.

Gods, Draxum.

His first instinct was to flee, just grab the turtles and his brother and maybe Tang Shen, and run. Except Draxum was persistent and would chase after him to the ends of the earth. Especially if it meant that his plans succeeded.

His plans to destroy humanity. His plans to use Yoshi to create super soldiers and have their sons, those little turtles floating in the tank, lead the charge. It was fucked up.

Worse of all, Yoshi couldn’t say he was surprised.

His love had a hatred for humanity, excluding a few he liked (basically just Yoshi and, by extension, Tang Shen and Kouki). He knew he had trauma from the wars that raged long before Yoshi was born, based on the nights when he would be awoken by Draxum’s nightmares or wake up to an empty bed. He often spoke of the injustice of the yokai being forced underground by ancient agreements and forced into hiding if they dared to go to the surface. Yoshi had nodded in agreement, voicing his agreement for the injustice.

But this? Taking over a world that had no knowledge of the yokai? Using children, their children to spill blood? Yoshi couldn’t handle that idea.

Yoshi’s hand reached up to fiddle with his wedding band, a lovely sapphire ring that had been in Draxum’s clan for centuries. But there was a chance. Draxum could be reasoned with, under all his passion and determination. He loved Yoshi and allowed him to speak on matters that honestly didn’t concern him. Yoshi took a deep breath and steeled himself before heading down the hallway. This time would be no different. He was sure of it.

Draxum stood downstairs, as Kouki said. He looked like a statue, carved handsomely and standing so still, excluding his eyes. Those eyes warmed when they met his. Draxum relaxed his stance, dropping his crossed arms. “Yoshi,” he said.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, suddenly feeling ridiculously small. It was like the first time he had tried to confess his feelings to the baron, half out of his mind with blood loss while the other man tried to stitch him up. He knew Draxum didn’t mean it, but it was still there. Yoshi took a deep breath and straightened up. “Draxum.”

There was a pause, and then Draxum raised an arm. Yoshi didn’t pause to come over at that sight, more than willing to accept affection when Draxum offered. He wrapped his arms around his husband’s broad body, sighing into it. “I missed you.”

“We’ve only been apart for a few hours.”

“Yeah, so?” Draxum made a soft noise above his head, a mix of a chuckle and a huff. Yoshi smiled at the noise, pulling away to allow him a look. There was no visible mark from the vase he had thrown at him during their fight. Still. "I'm sorry for throwing that vase at you."

"I forgive you. I apologize for the way I worded things," Draxum didn't look apologetic, but Yoshi was willing that was based on the mask. "I should have considered how you would have reacted."

Okay. Yoshi took in a deep breath, held it, and released it. "Were you planning on telling me?" he asked quietly, staring at Draxum's chest in order to avoid those piercing eyes. "Or were you going to keep me in the dark until you couldn't hide it anymore?"

"I was going to tell you, eventually." Draxum squeezed him tighter. "I did not want to disturb you with thoughts of the future. But, I promise, I would have told you before the first attack."

...the first attack.

"...you already have that planned?"

"I must," Draxum's voice was a low rumble, and if this was any other day, Yoshi would be soothed. "I worried about telling you this, but there's a prophecy."

Wait. Oh no. No, no, no…

"Something will come in the future and threaten all yokai," Draxum's grip was tight, too tight. "It has to be humans. It's the only thing that makes sense-"

"NO!" Yoshi yanked away hard enough that Draxum stumbled back, eyes wide. He reached forward, cupping his husband's face as he tried for a smile, even as it felt too wide. "No, no, believe me, it isn't. The threat is gone. I made sure of it."

He and Kouki had made sure of it their first few weeks in New York. They had taken the pieces that they had been able to get away with and hid them everywhere they could think of. Tang Shen had been a great source of help.

Draxum didn't seem reassured. He leaned back, looking concerned as if Yoshi had started speaking in tongues. "You... made sure of it?" He nodded, feeling more like a bobblehead. Draxum reached forward, voice concerned. "Yoshi, you're confused. I think you need to lie down."

"Oh, fuck you," Yoshi yanked away from the hand on his forehead, suddenly and fiercely angry. Questions about their relationship were starting to bubble back up. "I know you have a history, I understand that I will never ever be able to understand it fully." He was like his father, speaking of a war that had continued on for years for their clan even when the yokai retreated. "But that does not mean every human has to suffer for it!"

"Yoshi-"

"Look, I..." Yoshi sighed, reaching up and rubbing his temple. "I can't explain it. Maybe in the future." He pushed past Draxum, heading up the stairs. "We'll talk tomorrow once I'm calmed down."

He should've known Draxum wouldn't leave it like that. 

A hand grabbed his wrist. Yoshi turned, ready to snarl at Draxum, only to feel something slam into his face. He stumbled back, his face aching from the blow, only to feel the hands that had been gently wrapped around him just a few minutes ago dig into his hair, hard enough that he cried out.

His head slammed into the wall, and the world went dark.

-_-

He wished that it did not have to be like this.

Yoshi's lovely face was scrunched up, his cheek throbbing with an angry red handprint. As Draxum scooped him up, cupping his head, he felt something wet and sticky meet his fingers. He rarely winced at violence, but now he winced.

It was different with someone you loved.

"How dare-" He looked up in time to dodge an enraged punch from Kouki. He must've heard the noise. "DARE YOU-!" Draxum dodged another punch, managing to get Yoshi over his shoulder. With him out of the way, it was all too easy to grab Kouki's wrist and send him flying right into the glass table in the center of the living room. Kouki's enraged yell died out as suddenly as it started.

Draxum stepped over the glass to eye his brother-in-law, various cuts and bruises staining his form. Ah. Based on the faint rise and fall of his chest, he was still alive. Draxum snapped his finger, sending some vines around the man, tying him up before picking him up. There was no need to have him running loose, trying to fulfill the Hamato legacy of yokai-killing.

With the Hamato brothers out of the way, Draxum was free to go after his true prize.

His steps were quiet as he headed upstairs and down the hall. Yoshi's door opened without a creak, allowing him entry.

And there, nestled safely in their tank, were four baby turtles.

Draxum picked up the tank as a portal opened. There was no time to waste. He needed to have things ready before Yoshi woke up.

Once the turtles were mutated, he would need to train them. Hopefully, he would have time to make his husband understand. Once he did, things would be perfect.

The yokai would have the surface and he would have his family.

[unfriedough]

‘Ember Island’- Zuko x (Waterbender)female!reader

Masterlist <3

An: so, this took forever, and for that I’m sorry! I’ve been super busy and this piece was really difficult to write (i couldn’t think of how they portrayed YN badly) , so I’m sorry if it’s not up to standard :( (PS: Being a bender is only mentioned like once, so you could totally be whatever bender you want !)

Thank you for the request though! I’m very grateful for you! ❤️‍🩹

Summary:

@ilovegirlsgeneration

“So an already established relationship with Zu, and it's the day of the Ember Island Play. Reader thought it would be cool and then woops the play basically makes them look like a terrible person and they freak out and Zuko is there to comfort them!”

I changed it slightly so keep the summary as a rough outline :)

Warnings: I don’t think there’s any, let me know if there are though!

You sat next to Katara on the step in front of the fire nation’s royal family beach resort, observing the avatar and his mentor (more commonly known as Zuko) train tirelessly. Toph laid down on the opposite side of Katara, a relaxed pose adorned by the young earthbender. Not too long after, the teens training bowed to each other, Zuko stretching his arms as he walked off.

“Doesn't it seem weird that we’re hiding from the firelord in his own house?” the waterbender said, looking around the overgrown building walls.

“I told you, my father hasn’t come here since our family was actually happy,” Zuko replied from his spot on the barren fountain, wiping the sweat off of his body with a rag, “And that was a long time ago. It’s the last place anyone would think to look for us.”

You smiled at the firebender, drinking in his appearance - you should watch him train more often. Your moment of serenity (and rather shameless staring) was interrupted when Sokka and Suki joined you guys, the boy holding a scroll in his hands. 

“You guys are not gonna believe this! There’s a play about us,” he said, smugly.

-

“We were just in town and we found this poster,” Suki signalled with her hands, and Sokka opened the scroll wide, revealing a poorly drawn (and semi inaccurate) depiction of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko in the background - along with some writing which you struggled to read due to the distance.

“We were just in town and we found this poster,” Suki signalled with her hands, and Sokka opened the scroll wide, revealing a poorly drawn (and semi inaccurate) depiction of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko in the background - along with some writing which you struggled to read due to the distance.

“We were just in town and we found this poster,” Suki signalled with her hands, and Sokka opened the scroll wide, revealing a poorly drawn (and semi inaccurate) depiction of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko in the background - along with some writing which you struggled to read due to the distance.

“What? How is that possible?” Katara moved to get a better angle, icy blue eyes blown wide.

Toph neared the group too, meanwhile you went and stood next to Zuko.

“Listen to this: ‘The boy in the iceberg’ is a new production from acclaimed playwright pu wang ten. He scattered the globe gathering information on the avatar. From the icy south pole to the heart of ba sing se. The sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage.”

Your eyebrows furrowed once he reached the sources, how did they even know your team has spoken to these people?

“Brought you by the critically-acclaimed Ember island players.” Suki read the fine print outloud.

Zuko visibly cringed, groaning, “My mother used to take us to see them! They butchered ‘love amongst the dragons’ every year.”

The group stared at the annoyed bender for a second, before the waterbender turned to her brother, “Sokka, do you really think it’s a good idea to attend a play about ourselves?”

He replied, eccentrically, “C’mon, a day at the theatre? This is the kind of wacky, time wasting nonsense I’ve been missing!”

“What do you guys think?” Suki asked.

Zuko looked up to you from his spot, waiting for you to voice your opinion, “I mean, why not? It does seem pretty fun.”

“If you say so.” Katara replied.

“Sure,” Toph shrugged.

“I guess so.” Zuko smiled at you, imagining a romantic time at the theatre together.

“Get a room.” Toph fake gagged, sensing your heart beats.

“You can’t even see us!” you yelled back playfully.

The group had a good laugh at that, Toph still claiming it’s gross.

Shortly after the sun took its leave, and the moon settled between the fluffy clouds, you all made your way to the play. The walk there was peaceful, the sounds of grasshoppers filling your ears. Zuko took it as an opportunity to hold your hand, which you took, gratefully. He didn’t always initiate PDA, so it was definitely a surprise. Once your hands interlocked, he looked at you, a blush illuminating his face. You bumped him with your hips, wordlessly asking him “Why are you shy, stupid?” at which he stuck his tongue out at you. 

Upon arriving, you all clammered inside, getting past the herd of people just barely in time for the beginning. The curtains were still shut as you all chose your seats. Toph took a corner seat, followed by Katara right by her. Aang sat next to the waterbender, a grin on his face. You and Zuko took the seats on the higher level, sitting on the outer edge since the other couple took the inner one. Once comfortable, Zuko wrapped an arm around you, pulling you closer to his body.

“Comfy?”

“Yeah.” you pecked his cheek, eliciting a chuckle from him, which shook your body, causing you to laugh too.

“Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section? My feet can’t see a thing from up here!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell your feet what’s happening.” Katara assured Toph.

Just then, the lights dimmed, and the curtains began to open. You drummed your hands on your thighs in anticipation. Zuko smiled at your childlike excitement. 

On the screen, awfully recreated versions of Sokka and Katara appeared, rowing a boat. Sokka quickly stood, pointing to him and Katara excitedly. Unfortunately, he bumped into Zuko by accident, who bumped into your head.

Your boyfriend gasped, cupping your head, “Sorry, Sokka bumped into me.”

“Don’t worry about it, it didn’t even hurt.”

He looked at you with a saddened expression, and you squeezed his hand in return.

“I’m starving!” you heard Sokka’s knock-off shout, the crowd erupting into hysterics.

The water tired siblings looked at one another in complete shock and annoyance.

“Is food the only thing on your mind?”

“Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind, and into my mouth. I’m starving!” 

“This is pathetic, my jokes are way funnier than this!”

You turned to Zuko, smiling, “Okay why was that actually funny. I didn’t expect him to say that.”

“That was far from funny.”

You gasped, clutching your heart. Just before you spoke, Toph began, laughing: “I think he’s got you pegged!”

“Every day, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, and yet, none appears.” Katara’s actor said, emotionally. “Still, we cannot give up hope, for hope is all we have! And we must never relinquish it, even,” she fell, sobbing. “Even to our dying breath!”

You looked back at Katara, “Well, that’s just silly. I don’t sound like that.”

Sokka and Suki were struggling to conceal their laughter, meanwhile Zuko just smirked, finding it funny. You covered your mouth with your hands, giggles escaping against your will.

“Oh man! This writer’s a genius!”

Suddenly, the screening darkened, and a blinding beam of light clouded your vision. You brought up your fingers to cover your eyes, only slightly helping you see.

“It appears to be someone frozen in ice. Perhaps for 100 years!”

You facepalmed, “No one would just guess that.”

Zuko shrugged, “I mean, I guessed it was the avatar then, and I was aware he was gone for 100 years.”

“Yeah, but they weren't.”

“Fair enough.”

“But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?”

Aang excitedly leaned forward, practically vibrating at the excitement of his soon to be appearance.

“Waterbend! Ha-Ya!” Katara groaned at this, that’s not even how bending works!

After the actress made a choppy hand motion, the ice broke in half, smoke continuously oozing out. Just then, a lady in a bald cap emerged, winking comically. Aang did a double take, convinced his eyes were deceiving him.

“Who are you, frozen boy?”

The avatar’s actress giggled, “I’m the avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun!”

“Wait, is that a woman playing me?”

You couldn’t help but notice the smile on your boyfriend’s features, raising a brow at his lack of compassion.

You jumped as a sudden beast popped up behind them, Zuko laughing at your reaction. Appa’s theatrical recreation was appalling, much like the play itself. You furrowed your brows as the creature made loud noises and jumped around.

“An airbender,” the waterbender’s performer exclaimed, “My heart is so full of hope that it’s making me tear-bend,”

“That’s a thing?” you asked your fellow waterbender, who shook her head in annoyance, barely hearing you over the sounds of the false sobs.

“My stomach is so empty that it’s making me tear-bend.” he also fell weeping, “I need meat!”

Aang’s stag player gasped, pointing somewhere in the distance, “But wait, Is that a platter of meaty dumpling?”

The avatar’s face was priceless, his head leaning on the safety bar.

“Oh! Where? Where?”

The performer laughed, an extremely fake sounding laugh, “Did I mention that I’m an incurable prankster?”

The crowd erupted into a, yet again, hysterical laughter, at a quite literally anti-funny punch line.

“Aren’t jokes meant to be funny?” Zuko whispered, jokingly confused.

You giggled, nodding at his comment.

“I don’t do that! That’s not what I’m like,” the young avatar said, exasperated, “And I’m not a woman!”

Toph snickered, “Oh! They nailed you twinkle-toes!”

Aang frowned.

Just then, a boat with an old fellow and a younger one with a high ponytail appeared sailing on a fire nation boat. 

“Prince Zuko, you must try this cake.”

“I don’t have time to stuff my face, I must capture the avatar to regain my honour!”

Zuko winced, not enjoying this outside perspective of him.

“Well, while you do that, maybe I’ll capture another slice.” he ate loudly, the chewing noises loud and gross.

“You sicken me!”

Zuko folded his arms, “They make me look totally stiff and humourless.”

Katara, from her spot, replied, “Actually, I think that actor’s pretty spot on.”

“How could you say that?!” The actor for uncle Iroh’s voice boomed, “Let’s forget about the avatar and get massages.”

“How could you say that?!” ‘zuko’ responded loudly.

You giggled at your lover’s defeated face.

For a while, you lost focus on the play, but apparently, during that period, Aang found momo, Suki and Sokka met, they met king bumi, the trio was surrounded by pirates (because Katara stole a scroll).

Then there was that scene where the blue spirit saves Aang, which Zuko seemed uncomfortable watching, And of course then there was that whole Jet incident. Honestly, it was getting boring waiting for yourself to be introduced.

After many, many, more events, the intermission started.

“So far, the intermission is the best part of the play.” you shrugged, agreeing with the firebender.

“Apparently, the playwright thinks I’m an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time.”

“Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics.” you giggled at the kyoshi warrior’s response.

“I know!”

“At Least the Sokka actor kinda looks like you, the woman playing the avatar doesn’t resemble me at all.” looks like he was taking this personally.

“I don’t know. You are more in touch with your feminine side than most other guys.”

He groaned, looking as if he was about to start a fight.

“Relax, Aang. They’re not accurate portrayals. It’s not like I’m a preachy crybaby who can’t resist giving over emotional speeches about hope all the time.”

Everyone started in silence, “What?” Katara asked.

“Yeah, that’s not you at all.” The avatar said, half heartedly.

“Listen friends, it is obvious the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you’re seeing up there is the truth.”

Just then, the call for reentering beckoned you all to go back to finish this atrocity. Your hands interlocked with Zuko’s as you walked, bodies even closer together this time around.

“Well here we are in the Earth Kingdom.”

“I’d better have a look around to see if I can find an earth bending teacher.” ‘Aang’ flew around. 

“This is it! This must be where I come in!”

“I flew all over town, but I couldn't find a single earth bending master!”

“Here it comes!” toph yelped.

“You can’t find an earth bending master in the sky, you have to look underground.”

Everyone erupted into hysterics, Toph still in shock.

“Who are you?”

“My name’s Toph, because it sounds like tough, and that’s just what I am.”

“Wait a minute, I sound like a guy. A really buff guy”

“Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn’t it.”

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t have cast it any other way. At least it’s not a flying bald lady.”

Aang looked as if he was about to blow a fuse.

The actors had more talk with the Toph player, ending in him screaming for some reason.

You sat up straight again once you realised this should be when you come in.

“Your turn, Yn.” Sokka said, laughing.

The false gang were walking around some shops, exactly when you came in. Or, were supposed to. You furrowed your brows as the scene played out, and yet, you weren’t even there. 

Katara looked at you, trying to get a feel for your mood - yet you were unreadable. Without a warning, you got up, Zuko’s arm falling down into the empty seat. You walked out before anyone could say anything to stop you, this was beyond humiliating. It wasn't a bad portrayal, it was worse - you weren’t even recognised as a member of the team. You sighed, arms crossed as you walked out onto the beach, soles of your shoes dipping in the clean sands of the Ember Island beach. Your face felt warm, a contrast to the freezing cold weather. Tears pricked your eyes as you recapped the thoughts, Am I that irrelevant? Boring? Why’d they cut me out? Immersed in your thoughts, you hadn’t felt the hot tears stream down your flushed cheeks. You were embarrassed, belittled, and excluded. Does everyone see you as an outsider to the gang? You huffed, roughly wiping the waterworks that never quite seemed to stop. 

“Yn!” you heard a familiar voice call.

You shook your head, picking up the pace.

“Can you please talk to me?” Zuko called again, exasperated and clearly stressed.

You stopped walking, a pout on your face as he caught up. He stood behind you and lightly grabbed your arm, turning you to face him. Immediately, the firebender’s face softened, his calloused hands reaching up to wipe your tears. You leaned your  face into his palm, and he pecked your cheek. You let out a deep breath, pushing yourself into his arms.

“What’s wrong darling?”

You shook your head ‘no’, “It’s not a big deal. Just being dramatic.” you let out a forced laugh at the end.

He knew you to be the type of person to respect others feelings, no matter how miniscule. But when it came to yourself, you always invalidated your own emotions, it hurt him to see you be so careless with yourself.

“It’s not dramatic if you're upset,” he spoke intently.

You sighed loudly, shutting your eyes, contemplating what to say -or actually, how to say it, “It- It’s like I’m not respected, or or even important enough to be recognised. I feel left out.”

He paused, waiting to see if you would continue, but you mistook his silence as judgement, and immediately pushed yourself away. “I know it isn’t as bad as anyone else’s it’s stupid but it’s like-” 

“It’s not stupid. And it’s pretty bad.” he cut you off. “You are respected, at least in our group. Clearly the playwright made a mistake not including the funniest, prettiest,” he teased, stepping to you and pinching your sides, causing you to squirm. “Most amazing member.” Zuko kissed you quickly, more of a peck really.

You laughed, pulling him into a deeper, more passionate kiss, hands tangling in his messy hair. You rested your forehead on his, lips separating. 

“I love you,” his cheeks glew a crimson red, making you snicker.

“I love you too,” 

An: I really want to bite Zuko’s nose

[sergeantsporks]

Vee getting into Cosmic Frontiers while everyone else is in the demon realm so she’ll have something to talk with her mom and brother about when they get back!!!

“Okay, okay, okay. Camila is officially on vacation, and Luz has been excused from school absences for the same, the car has been towed and returned, and no one is the wiser.” Vee chewed on the tip of her pen. “What else? I guess I could do something around the house? It would probably be a nice surprise for Camila to come home to a nice clean house.”

Vee gathered up stray Halloween bits and bobs, tucking them back into their box. Extra teeth, old trick or treat buckets—anything pumpkin shaped went into the bin. Vee tugged at her own sweater. Well. Maybe not everything pumpkin shaped.

She shoved the box to the basement steps, then thumped up the stairs to Luz’s room. She surveyed the cots and sleeping bags, and the miscellaneous clothes strewn about.

What if things go badly?

What if they come back still needing a place to stay?

No. She couldn’t think like that. They’d succeed. And maybe they’d come back for a sleepover, but for now… Vee rolled up the sleeping bags and collapsed the cots. Best case scenario planning. She scooped up the clothes, dumping them in a hamper and piling the sleeping bags on top. She grabbed the hamper under one arm, the cots under the other, and went right back down the stairs. First, to the laundry room, to separate the clothes she’d gathered. She’d have to check the basement before she put on a wash, though.

Vee rolled the sleeping bags down the basement steps, then carried the box of Halloween stuff, then another trip for the cots and the hamper. The blankets from the couch went into the hamper. So did the T-shirts that someone—okay, who was she kidding, that Hunter had neatly folded and stacked to the side of the couch.

Vee knelt down to roll up Hunter’s sleeping bag, but stopped just before she started to fold it.

Where was Hunter going to go? Maybe he’d stay with Gus, but he didn’t have a home anymore. Maybe he’d come back. In which case, maybe he should get a cot, instead of sleeping on the floor all of the time. That couldn’t be good for his back.

Vee snapped the cot out to its full size, lifting Hunter’s sleeping bag up. Something tumbled out of it, landing on her foot with a solid thump.

“OW!” Vee jumped up and down on one foot, holding the other. “What the—” she tossed the sleeping bag to the cot and picked up the thing that had fallen on her foot. A book. The same book Hunter had been toting around, Cosmic Frontier.

“Huh.”

Come to think of it, they had said they’d found it down here. And Camila had acted awfully cagey about it. Vee opened the door to the closet within the basement—what a weird concept—and a fake gun, tricked out with lights and whistled, tumbled out. Vee picked it up, turning it over.

Property of Star Captain Camila Noceda read the handle.

“Huh.”

Vee rummaged through the closet, digging through comic books, posters, and a photo album filled with pictures of Camila in full costume and posing with other cosplayers. Some of them were signed by names Camila didn’t recognize, and one, which had its own whole page and was framed with golden foil, was signed with the same name as the author of the book.

“Wow,” Vee mused out loud, “She was really into this. So were Hunter and Gus. Maybe it really is just that good?”

Vee retreated back to the couch, opening the book to the first page. “I supposed I could see what all the fuss is about.”

Star Date… I don’t know anymore. According to O’Bailey, the wormhole we were caught in may have moved us through time as well as space. It could be that we have lost everyone we loved, and that the universe as we know it has changed irreversibly. Our homes might not even exist anymore. Still, I have to believe there’s a way back.

My last weekly report was before the wormhole. I don’t know if these logs will be read by command anymore, or if our whole system is now obsolete, but still, as the captain, I must record what happened. So. One week ago…

Vee mouthed along to the words as she read. She already knew from Hunter that O’Bailey was a clone from an enemy planet—relatable—but she’d underestimated just how many character dynamics and plotlines this book had. Every character introduced had their own backstories and their own difficulties, all of them weaving together to form one complex web of narratives. Even things she thought were a one-off came back later, or were somehow important.

Vee thumped back up the stairs, grabbing sticky notes and a pen. She started writing notes; characters, things that came back, noting foreshadowing, and misleads. The book started to fill up with little yellow tabs.

“Yeah, okay,” she told Hunter’s empty cot, “I’ll give you this one. For a book written in the nineties, it’s surprisingly relevant. Maybe Luz and Amity were right, too, and I should read Azura.”

Vee rummaged around in Luz’s room until she found a blank sketchbook and a set of colored pencils.

We forever love and protect our crew, she wrote, carefully spacing out each letter and imitating the script on the cover of the book, Whoever and whatever we are, we will always be family. Through supernovas, and solar flares, this we always swear.

“Through anything,” Vee whispered. She folded up the paper and tucked it into the front cover of the photo album. She padded softly down the hallway, her footsteps turning to a slither halfway down. She pushed open Camila’s door with a creak, setting the album down on the nightstand. “Whoever and whatever we are.”

Vee tidied up Camila’s books, gathering them into one neat stack. “Stay safe,” she whispered to the air, “Come back home soon. All of you.”

[sad-brunnettee]

Eddie x Mexican/Latina!reader where Eddie finally graduated and her family throws him a big graduation party.

This is so adorable!!!

Enjoy :)

Word count: 1,306

—-

It all started when Eddie called you one day after school. You were doing some homework that your college professors left you. Groaning you got up and we’re about to head down and pick up the phone. You stopped in your tracks when you heard your mom pick it up.

After a few seconds she told you to go for the phone . You were a bit annoyed at whoever decided to interrupt your concentration. You finally reached your mom who only held the phone towards you with a teasing smile.

It was then that you felt your change of attitude, you knew who it was just by the look on her face.

“Hello?” You spoke while walking as far as the cord would let you. It was your attempt of getting some privacy but you noticed that your mom lowered the volume of the music that was playing.

“I did it!” He screamed and you could hear the smile on his face.

You laughed at his enthusiasm thinking it had something to do with D&D.

“I’m graduating, I told you this would be my year.” After hearing that you couldn’t help but let out a happy scream while bouncing on your toes. You praised him, telling him how proud you were

Once you both hung up you ran to your mom to tell her the good news. Of course she had to make a few phone calls and let everyone know. Claiming your aunts and uncles should also get invited for the celebration.

There were still some days left for graduation but you still had some homework to finish. Running up to your room you did as much as you could in order to have some free time to help with the preparation. Not just that by you also wanted to spend some time with your boyfriend after the party.

Knowing that other families will also be buying graduation decorations you went with your mom to the store and bought napkins, hats, confetti and anything else that ensured you’d have the best to celebrate.

Your dad had also went to the store with some of your uncles with the promise of buying some non-alcoholic drink. Of course you and your mom knew this wouldn’t be possible. You chose some juices for the little ones, water bottles and sodas.

Next thing you know, it was graduation day. You would go with your siblings to the ceremony. While your mom and everyone else added some final touches to the food and decorations.

In order to get good seats you had to be there early. As you got there you noticed a couple of cars parked giving you plenty of choices to choose from. You walked inside followed by your siblings and sat near the front, you wanted to get the best view. Your mom made some posters and your brothers were holding them in their hands. Meanwhile, you had your Polaroid camera ready to start shooting pictures.

You made sure to save a seat for his uncle who had to step out in order to have a quick smoke.

As the graduates started marching you kept on looking for a certain boy. It was then that you saw him walking in front of some of his friends. He kept on looking around and you were sure he was looking for you as well.

“Eddie!” You screamed, trying to get your voice to be heard over the loud music.

He heard you nonetheless and looked at you with that smile that made you fall in love with him all over again.

You raised your camera up and he posed. Putting up a thumbs up while his other hand was pointing at his graduation cap. You were glad that at that moment they stopped moving in line, this allowed you take a clear picture with no blurs.

As they all took a seat you couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t that many graduates. Which made sense why graduation was so early.

Eddie’s uncle finally came back and you told him where Eddie was sitting.

The speech was just as boring as any other and it was hard to not doze off. Eddie must’ve noticed because whenever you caught his eyes he would make funny faces or mouth you something.

Finally they would call the names of the graduates and when it was Eddie’s turn you and your brothers cheered loudly. Once again you lifted up your Polaroid to take another picture.

As the rest of the students were called you sat down and tapped your foot on the beat up floor. Hoping that time would speed up.

“He’s really lucky to have you, I can see how much you love him. I’m glad you could make it.” His uncle spoke while looking forward. For a moment you thought you imagined it, he usually isn’t much of a talker compared to his nephew.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And you meant it. You could’ve been doing who knows what and you’d still set it aside just so you could be here.

When the ceremony ended all students threw the graduation caps in the air but not Eddie. He ran to where you guys were to engulf you in a kiss. Of course you weren’t complaining but you were a bit embarrassed doing that in front of your siblings. They would never let you live that down.

“I’m hungry, can we go now?” Your younger brother pulled on your shirt. While still holding onto the poster he was forced to carry.

You turned to face Eddie “come on, let’s go to your party.”

Looking back to make sure nothing was left behind you walked out. You could hear his uncle, Wayne, giving Eddie a pat on the shoulder while congratulating him for his success.

You all got in your cars and drive to your house. It was now 5:00 and you were sure that almost everyone will be there already. You weren’t sure how many family members were invited but you were sure the party would last a long time.

Luckily, you managed to find a parking space near your house. Eddie and his uncle didn’t park too far behind you. As you all walked towards your house you walked hand in hand with Eddie forming small circles on his hand with your thumb.

The music was loud you were sure you’d go deaf but taking a look on Eddie’s face he seemed to be the happiest he’s ever been. You weren’t sure what his relationship was with his parents but something told you nobody has ever done something like this for him before.

The party was held in your backyard, balloons were everywhere, your aunts were all sitting on the same table gossiping and your dad and uncles were drinking beer. The music coming from your dad’s Sharp VZ-2500, seemed to be playing music only they wanted to hear.

It was then that your mom saw you guys walking in that she started cheering which caused everyone’s attention to turn to you. They all did the same as well and you heard some claps and whistles.

Letting go of his hand you also started clapping, Eddie’s eyes were looking everywhere just trying to take everything in. As he noticed that the cheering wasn’t going away he did a little bow which caused some laughter to erupt before everyone turned their attention back to what they were doing.

Your uncle was in charge of the food and decided on making carne asada, classic. Some of your aunts contributed by bringing: guacamole, pico de gallo and desserts.

To end the night, some of your tias took turns dancing with Eddie and teaching him new dance moves. Seems that his charm worked on everyone in your family, not just you.

[epiicaricacy-arts]

(reblogs appreciated 🫶)

and this is my girlfriend. everyday she comes home from work and i’ve done the cooking and the cleaning and i kiss the very ground she walks on. if she gets mad at me i just straight up die.

process discussion utc

it’s the matching one to my lyney drawing 👍

as much as i like the lyney drawing, i have a lot of problems with it, namely the anatomy and how flat all the shapes felt.

the problem is specifically around the pelvis and i think it’s cause he wears a skin tight suit and i didn’t want to have to draw..

well you know what i mean.

it’s gonna be a problem i’ll have to find a solution to somehow 😭

so, for this lynette piece, my focus was to make sure the shapes felt more 3-dimensional and had actual depth to them, taking care to specifically target the torso area so she didn’t just look like a flat shape

i also wanted to make sure i actually rendered the latex properly 😭 i don’t know why it didn’t really register to me that that’s what the material is in lyney’s drawing, but i took the extra time to make it shiny!!

these two drawings have been a lot of experiment with strong shadows and light simultaneously, and i think in those areas i’ve definitely improved!

i wanna talk about the composition of this piece since i had a lot of thoughts when making it

similar to lyney’s, i went through many iterations of the composition, most of which aren’t shown in this post. however unlike his, i had more restrictions in mind when deciding the pose and angle.

i wanted to accurately portray lynette’s personality with her pose, but i also wanted to push it a bit to add more movement to the piece, since i felt lyney’s was a bit stiff in comparison to the thumbnail. i wanted to make sure the energy in the thumbnail translated to the final piece, and i think i did pretty well?

however, i had 2 rules in mind when trying to create said thumbnail:

1) avoid making anything too similar to her splash art

2) avoid posing her in such a way it could be read as sexualization

my problem with drawing girls is always that i want to keep pushing their poses as far as i can, but i stopped to ask myself why when drawing lynette. well, thinking back to media such as Marvel posters and other female character splash arts (both genshin and non-genshin) it’s usually to show off her body..

but since i’ve been surrounded by art like that all my life, that became my instinct. it was natural because that’s what my brain pulled from previous media i’ve seen before.

i almost went with the backward angle for this drawing (as seen by the bigger iteration in the 2nd image) but after considering lynette’s design and the proper anatomy to complete said sketch, i scrapped it.

and of course, not all drawings of female characters are inherently sexual, but given the type of media i was drawing for, it would most certainly be read that way

i wanted lynette’s drawing to mirror lyney’s, but to also be able to function as a standalone piece. lynette, of course, exists outside of her job/her connection with her brother, so i tried to portray that individuality while also acknowledging their similarities (e.g the round framing shape, stepping out of the background, the cat companion)

in the initial iteration (left), her left hand is almost covering her face. lynette’s role is a “low-profile magic assistant,” so i thought having her try to hide her face would be an accurate portrayal.

however, i decided to go with the second iteration (right), in which she’s using her hand to direct attention towards the cat as she uncovers it with the cloth. as a magician in the spotlight, trying to hide herself away would be redundant, and it would be more professional to divert the audiences gaze rather than hope it isn’t on her.

both a storytelling element and another bit of framing!

i chose to have her other hand behind her back since

1) the composition would be too crowded if it was more visible

2) back to the “hiding away” idea, having her arm visible would just be another piece to potentially have attention on rather than the actual trick. her eyes are also looking down towards the cat rather than at the camera, unlike in lyney’s piece. the attention is all on him, she simply serves to help divert it

and yeah!! that’s all i have to say for this piece. i like writing these discussions, and i’m glad people like reading them! it’s nice to have a place to write about my thoughts behind a drawing, so as long as people are enjoying them, i’ll keep talking 👍

thank you for reading!! 🫶🫶

[lover-girl-estxx]

Picture!

Nate diaz x reader both 21

Fluff

"you hungry back there?" I asked my five year old son Abel from the front seat "very!" "k". We were driving my from San Diego Zoo it was about five and we were hungry and tired. We got out, he held my hand as we walked in "just the two of you?" the hostess asked "yeah!". I sat looking at the menu "you know what you want?" I asked him "i don't know" he put his head on his hands, he tilled his head to the side "your so cute!" i smiled and rubbed the side of his head "mom! stop!" " you sop". "Mom?" "yeah bubba" I looked up he climbed down from his bunch to mine "what/" i asked "look over at that table" i look over to the next table to see the Diaz brothers THE DIAZ BROTHERS, they're are me and my boys favorite fighters. We had shirts,hats, hoodies, posters and watched every fight. Being a single mom you had to do what you had to do, I grew up with my brother fighting and training so I picked up and thing or two. So when I needed money for me and him I would fight.

"is that them?!" he asked " yeah!" I smiled "can I ask for a picture?" he asked a huge smile on his face "umm-" "please! please! pleaseeeee!" "yes go but ask nicely" "okay I will" he jumped out of the bunch. He put his little hands behind his back and walked up to they're table "um i'm sorry to bother you but..." he looked back at me I smiled and nodded "could we take a picture together" both the brothers smiled "of course!" Nick said, Abel looked over to me and gave me a thumbs up I smiled and stood up. "hi.." I smiled "hi" Nate said "this your sister?" he asked Abel "she's my mom" Abel smiled. they all posed and I toke they're photo "thank you guys so much sorry to bother you guys" i said and smiled "don't even worry about it! not a bother at all!" Nick said.

" can I see the picture?" Abel asked "yeah!" I handed him my phone "we have to put this up in my room! i'm going to show everybody! I can't wait" " it is for sure going in your room honey!". We had ate I was still looking over to they're table every now and again, Abel fell asleep in his booth. I paid then went to get up "excuse me?" I turn and see Nate "yeah?" "do you live around here?" "um about 45 from here in Oceanside why?" "i just wanted to see if you wanted to get drinks or something tonight" "I would love too! if you want to come to me city we could" "i could meet you in your city" he smirked i smiled "let me give you my number" he handed me his phone "8?" "8".

I was on my way to the bar he wanted to meet me at. "glad you really came!" he said "you didn't think I would came? "i thought you might have been joking" "no your to pretty to joke about" i smiled. We had drinks and talked "you smoke pot right?" I asked he nodded and laugh "you want to go smoke?" he laughed again "yes!". "you want to go the the beach?" I asked "yeah that sounds good !" while we walked he held my hand. We sat on the sand passing a joint back and fourth "how old is your son?" he asked " he's five, his names Abel" "Abel? that's a cool name" "thanks" I smiled "so he's into MMA" "yeah we both are. I've been trying to get him into classes but they're to much for me right now. I try and teach him some stuff but i'm his mom he doesn't listen to me" he laughed "your into fighting?" "yeah I trained alot when I was little and after I had him when I need money" "You've fought?" "i still do from time to time" "don't mean to over step but...his dad shouldn't be letting you do that" "his dad moved to Texas two months before he was born and we don't talk" "sorry to hear that" "we've been fine without him" "sorry to ruin the mood" I laughed "you didn't it's fine i'm having a great time".

"ever been to Stockton?" he asked "no wouldn't mind going though" "i'll have to show you around some time" I nodded "what?" he asked looking over to me "well I have a feeling you don't want a relationship out of this date" "why do you say that?" "you live seven hours from here and starting a UFC career and i have a five year old" "that's why they have cars,UFC has nothing to do with it and Abel doesn't bother me at all" "so you want another date?" "I would very much yeah!" he smiled "okay!" I smiled back.

A/n: will be 1-2 more parts

[plushiepunk]

Plushie Restoration: Elmo and Winter

HELP I deleted the draft on accident so now I have to start over

Ahem

Recently I got some older Build a Bears off of eBay and decided to restore them!

Elmo is from the 2004 Sesame Street collab and stands at 19" tall!

Winter is from the A Friend Fur All Seasons 2007 collection and is 14"

Under the cut is the whole process I went through both for posterity and in case anyone wanted a step by step guide on restoring build a bears :)

Here are there before pictures!! They didn't smell bad which was a pleasant surprise; Winter did have a bit of an "old basement" smell but that came off in the wash so they both smelled a bit like soap

As you can see they're not in bad shape, just well loved over the last 17-20 years

First order of business was to unstuff them so they didn't get waterlogged in the wash! I used my seam ripper on their back stitches and found their original hearts, find a friend ID tags, and Elmo had a sound chip in him!

I wish I had a way to restore the sound chip, but since it's literally 20 years old I'll settle for keeping it as a memento

Ta da! Fluffless!

As for the washing process, I did a gentle cycle with a deep fill and All Free and Clear detergent

Insert the funny spin cycle photo

The drying process had a bit of trial and error: I eventually put them on the shoe rack so they wouldn't bang around in the wash (Elmo has big plastic eyes so this posed a very loud issue)

I set it to a 50 minute timed dry on the lowest heat setting and checked on them every ten minutes or so. I also found that you have to rotate them on the shoe rack so they dry evenly

Winter was dryer than Elmo a lot quicker, but after they were both only a little damp I took them out and got to brushing

I cleaned a wire dog brush and went against the grain until they were super fluffy again!

As you can see Elmo had a lot more debris than Winter!

After this I hung them up on hangers so they could dry the rest of the way overnight

The next day it was off to build a bear! I actually work there so my experience/process will likely be a bit different than the average person, but I'll still let you know both what I did and what you would likely do!

I added a sound chip to Winter and placed both their original hearts and a new one in them so they could be extra loved!

After they were stuffed (I like mine pretty firm), I closed them up with a ladder stitch and a kiss!

And there they are!! Fully restored build a bear friends. This was such a fun process and I'd honestly love to try it again with new friends sometime!

And here they are at their big brother BeeGee's birthday party. I guess it's their birthday now too!!

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

HALESTORM's LZZY HALE Doesn't Rule Out Solo Album: 'It's Gonna Happen'

In a new interview with Sweden's RockSverige, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale was asked whether she thinks there will ever be a solo album from her. "There might," she responded. "My guys in the band are actually begging me to do that. They're the ones going, 'Hey, you can do a solo album so we can have some time off?'

"I have a lot of songs that are very much… If you're thinking of Stevie Nicks's 'Bella Donna'… You can hear when you're listening to FLEETWOOD MAC and when you're listening to Stevie Nicks's solo records where her voice is in the band," she explained. "FLEETWOOD MAC would not be the same without her, but you can really accentuate that corner of the world of the band.

"I feel like if I were to do a solo record, which I have plenty of songs that have never seen the light of day that I could choose from, you would definitely be able to hear what my specific influence is on the band.

"Yeah, absolutely, I think it most likely will be in the future," Lzzy said about the idea of making a solo album. "Whether it's my decision or the guys are, like, 'You just go!' Either way, it's gonna happen."

This past June, Lzzy was asked during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" if her bandmates have expressed any reservations about the fact that she alone appears on the covers of HALESTORM's last two studio albums, 2018's "Vicious" and 2022's "Back From The Dead". She responded: "To be completely honest, it's been their idea. For these past few albums, it has not even been brought up by me. It ends up settling in there, and then all of a sudden the guys are, like, 'Yeah, just put Lzzy's face on the cover.' [Laughs] Like, 'Seriously, guys?' And they're, like, 'Yeah, we're fine.' They're not necessarily the most thrilled — well, maybe my brother [HALESTORM drummer Arejay Hale]; he's thrilled to do anything — but they're not the most thrilled to do the photoshoot thing and have their faces and do poses and stuff like that; it's something that I enjoy doing. So they throw that stuff at me all the time. And it goes the same thing with music videos. They're, like, 'Can we just put Lzzy here and do that? Or do we have to do this? Or can we just play our instruments?'

"My bandmates have been so supportive, almost to the point that it's annoying," Lzzy explained. "They're just my allies. They know me better, I think, than most of my own family does at this point. And it's funny to kind of let them — or not 'let them,' but have them want to kind of push me out there, which, obviously, I'm up for the challenge. But there's always the second conversation, like, 'Are you guys sure? We could just do something really crazy.' [And they're, like,], 'No, this is great. We want it to look like a movie poster.' [Laughs] That kind of conversation. And I'm, like, 'All right. Fine. I'll do it.' … They've never had a weird ego about any of that stuff, which is weird. I'm, like, waiting for the shoe to drop here. But we've been here for a long time.

"If any of them ever — and this is just personally for me — if any of them ever raises concerns about that, obviously there'll be an adjustment and a conversation, and it's fine by me," Hale added. "It's just whatever makes everybody comfortable. I've never dictated what anybody wears, what anybody does. We all do this stuff together, just like we always have been."

Two and a half years ago, Lzzy admitted to Kerrang! magazine that there have been times in the past when she been frustrated with being the chief focal point in HALESTORM.

"Every step of the way we're fighting to be ourselves, and to be the best four pillars of this band we can be. In the past we've had people try to pit us against each other, like telling me I should lose the rest of the band and go solo, or that my brother wasn't good enough. We understand that if one of the four goes, it's no longer HALESTORM anymore. That's another reason I love playing live, because we're all there representing ourselves, individually and as a collective, without backing tracks or trickery."

HALESTORM has grown from a childhood dream of siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale into one of the most celebrated rock bands of the last two decades. Their latest album, "Back From The Dead", spawned two No. 1 hits, including title single, "a biting but cathartic howler about overcoming all obstacles" according to Rolling Stone. "Back From The Dead" is the follow up to 2018's "Vicious", which earned HALESTORM their second Grammy nomination, for "Best Rock Performance" for the song "Uncomfortable", the band's fourth No. 1 at rock radio, and led Loudwire to name HALESTORM "Rock Artist Of The Decade" in 2019. Rounded out by guitarist Joe Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith, HALESTORM's music has surpassed a billion streams, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper and Joan Jett.

[jongseongsnudes]

two.

warning; 😔😔. 1.6k words.

masterlist.

“i’m glad you two are getting along,” mr park says in his fatherly tone, his hand gently patting at your back, “more media has just arrived so go and take a few pictures together.”

you politely nod and glance over to sunghoon who was standing there with a big smile on his face. seeing him smiling was an odd sight for you but you’ve come to know just how good of an actor he was when it came to the public eye. people saw him as the perfect poster boy of a good son, someone so respectful and listens well to his father. but you unfortunately knew the real him behind closed doors, the real him who laughs at people for being lower class than him, the him who didn’t give a shit about anyone else but himself.

that was true park sunghoon.

“shall we, baby sister?” your brother’s sweet voice knocks you out of your daze to see him offering his arm. you hesitantly grab onto him and allow him to lead you towards the photographers.

it was an important night for mr park, something about his company signing with another huge business and being his new stepdaughter meant you had to attend. of course alongside your step brother, arm in arm.

“that gown is beautiful,” sunghoon says underneath his breath, his eyes blatantly ogling your long gown like you had noticed him doing several times tonight, “it must’ve costed at least $10,000 of daddy’s money right?”

“i- i’m not sure. he gifted it to me yesterday for this event.”

cameras begin to flash furiously once you and sunghoon appear at the little makeshift red carpet area, the bright lights almost blinding you. it felt so entirely weird for you, having never been to such an extravagant event before in your life and now even having to pose in front of the media for the world to see.

“what i’m trying to say is that,” he suddenly says quietly, just loud enough for you to hear, his eyes still trained on the cameras ahead, “if you think you can become some beautiful swan just because of these beautiful clothes, you’re dreaming. you’re nothing but an ugly duckling in disguise.”

you gulp down the lump in your throat at his words, your eyes glancing at the man. he smiles down at you sweetly, like any older brother should, and for a moment there, you manage to forget the real him. to people watching, you both must’ve looked like the closest pair of siblings, so affectionate and so loving towards each other. 

you wanted to cry, who wouldn’t after hearing such a thing but you know you can’t. at least not in front of all these people and especially not in front of your mum who was watching from the side, oblivious to the real relationship between you and her wonderful step son.

gripping tightly onto the side of your long gown, you manage to turn back to the cameras without allowing a single tear to fall. 

“how are you two getting along?” one photographer suddenly asks as another chimes in, “must be weird suddenly having a sibling right?”

“not at all, she’s the perfect little sister. i couldn’t have wished for anyone else.”

everyone in the room awws at his words and you just nod along with the crowd, trying hard not to let his words from before affect you too much. in fact, a part of you was slowly becoming immune to his harsh words and cold personality. living with him for the past week had taught you a thing or two about ways to manage park sunghoon.

just ignore.

after your little act in front of the cameras, sunghoon leads you back to your designated table before disappearing into the crowd with some beautiful girls, leaving you entirely alone. your eyes scan the room, the view of everyone in their expensive outfits, drinking over priced champagne while conversing about their successful lives really made you feel more of an outcast than you already were. maybe sunghoon’s words from earlier weren’t all that wrong after all.

that you were just an ugly duckling in disguise.

“what they all say about park sunghoon’s sister is true after all,” a sudden deep voice has your head perked up to see a rather handsome man smiling at you. “may i join you?”

“sure... but what do they all say about me?”

“that you’re breath taking.”

your cheeks immediately flush a darker shade the moment those words leave his lips. you’ve only had a few people compliment you in your life but never from someone as handsome as this man and you didn’t know how to react.

“so why are you alone? where is your cocky brother?” 

“i’m not sure-”

“probably sucking some girl’s face off in the back room,” he chuckles out loudly, making you slightly frown because although you don’t have a good relationship with sunghoon, he was still your brother. the man is now leaning into you a little too much for your liking, his hand even daring enough to grasp onto your bare shoulder as he laughed to his own words.

“that’s my seat, choi,” you suddenly hear sunghoon’s voice from behind and you glance back to really see him there, his face evidently grim. “your seat is back there near the bins, rightfully where you belong.”

you awkwardly watch as the two men share an intense stare down before choi scoffs and stands up.

“i’ll see you around beautiful,” the man takes a hold of your hand and brings it up towards his lips, kissing it, “remember my name, beomgyu. choi beomgyu.”

with one last wink, beomgyu finally walks off, leaving you alone with your fuming stepbrother, who had just sat down in the seat beside you.

“i wouldn’t bother falling in love with anyone if i was you,” sunghoon chuckles to himself, his hand swirling the champagne glass around, “eventually, dad will use you as an offering to one of his business partners anyways. you won’t even have a say.”

“... you mean like an arranged marriage?”

“yes, my baby sister. so i advise you to stay away from beomgyu. dad doesn’t like the chois much anyways.”

you don’t bother to respond to him and focus onto the champagne glass on the table. personally, you don’t enjoy the taste of alcohol much but with how intense the night had been, you decide to gulp down the entire contents in your almost full glass. 

and then another glass.

and another.

before you knew it, you had drank a total of four full glasses in record time. your mind was spinning at this point, the view in front of you suddenly much blurrier than before and you immediately begin to regret drinking at all. 

“enough,” your brother’s voice suddenly rings in your ear, reminding you that he had been next to you the entire time. “are you trying to embarrass me in front of all these people?”

just ignore. just ignore. just ignore.

without a word, you get up and manage to walk a straight line past the party guests and right out of the function centre without tripping. your name was called here and there but you knew if you didn’t leave, your body might just give up from all the alcohol and pass out in the middle of the event.

you definitely didn’t want to wake up to a picture of you passed out drunk in the newspaper tomorrow morning.

“beautiful!”

your head whips around at the familiar voice you had heard earlier to see choi beomgyu making his way over to you in the empty lobby.

“wow someone’s had a little too much to drink,” he laughs amusingly at you, his hands reaching out to grab your arm, “let me take you home.”

you were about to decline the offer when your brother suddenly steps in between you and beomgyu, shielding you behind his tall frame. “don’t touch her with your dirty hands choi.”

“i was just offering to take her home-”

“that’s not something for you to worry about. go worry about your father’s failing business if you have so much spare time,” sunghoon’s threatening voice was enough to make the slightly tipsy you scared, so you couldn’t imagine how beomgyu felt to be on the receiving end.

if looks could really kill then you’re sure sunghoon would’ve been dead by the way beomgyu was glaring at him. but knowing your brother, of course he’d laugh because to him, beomgyu was no where near his level. just like you.

you watch as the other male storms off while sunghoon turns around to look down at you, his face unpleased.

“do you just let anyone touch you?”

“stop it, sunghoon.”

“is it because he has money? of course it is, you’re just a gold digger after all. like your mum-”

“i said stop it!” you scream with everything in you, tears almost immediately forming in your eyes again, “i have never complained about you being so mean to me. i don’t even hate you for the awful things you’ve said to me but this is too much. you can call me anything you want but i won’t allow you to say such things about my mum!”

you don’t know if it was the alcohol in you but you felt brave, brave enough to go back against park sunghoon. for a moment there, you swear you notice his expression go from the usual cocky one to one of regret, his eyes sympathetic and glossy like you’ve never seen before. but maybe you were just seeing things.

not wanting to further the conversation, you turn to leave but of course the stupid you just had to trip over your long gown. your eyes instinctively close, bracing yourself for the awful impact with the hard ground but someone’s arm around your waist thankfully prevents you from falling.

before your body gave out entirely, your eyes manage to catch a glimpse of that familiar head of platinum hair.

park sunghoon.

end.

taglist; @wony6ung @jeonjungkookkk @j4yluvr @soobsbby @astra-line @drunkanddazedalways @shine-your-light @02zprotector ​ @yabukkura @sonmil @byunhoebaek @artgukkx @nowrosesaredead @lhsng @abdiitcryy @hwasatiny @uuvjungwon @dehydratedami

- @jongseongsnudes

[lordtraco-fanfics]

Call Ended

(also posted on AO3) What if Ingo returned but to an empty home? What if it's his turn to search for Emmet? Thankfully he has a friend, practically a sister, to help.

"I'm scared and I'm tired. They say to just… talk to you. To let you go. But I don't want to. You're not gone, Ingo. You're not. I'd know. I'd… I'd know if you were dead."

Ingo paused the video and immediately regretted it. The barely illuminated face staring back at him was distorted in such anguish. Any attempt at keeping a smile was lost as the final word was said.

The video didn't tell Ingo who this other person was that missed him so much, and he debated whether or not to watch more to find out. Nothing else in the home really said anything. A video file called "to ingo" on an unlocked laptop had seemed the best place to start… but Ingo found it so hard to watch.

But he was strong. He could do this.

As he watched, the anguish slowly drained from the familiar face. In the span of two breaths, the smile was back in place. "We are twins. I am Emmet. You are Ingo. You are not gone. But the truth is that you are not here."

"I'm here." Ingo said aloud to the video as if it could hear. As if Emmet could hear.

"I can't do it anymore, Ingo. If you're watching this-" the laughter that followed his words were stingingly empty. "Ahah! As if you would! This is verrrrry dumb. Hah, well, Elesa has your pokemon, Ingo. And mine. I'm done living with this truth."

Ingo didn't wait for the video to end. His legs carried him by instinct alone to where he knew this Elesa to be. Even if the name brought to mind neither face nor memory, his destination was set.

He knocked loudly, belatedly hoping that he had followed the right tramline.

"Emmet, what-" A lady answered, blinking up at him as if fighting away sleep.

"I am looking for an Elesa. Please direct me to the correct station."

As if seeing a ghost, she stepped back. "Ingo?"

"Yes-"

She threw her arms around him, causing him to tense up. He didn't- no, he did know her. But the how or why escaped him. "You're home!"

"Ma'am I regret to inform you, but my memories are gone." Even as he said it, however, he found himself returning the hug gently. It was as familiar as the poses he took to when battling.

"They-what?" She pulled away slowly to look at him with tearful eyes. It made him look to the ground so as not to see the tears come. "But. You know this place?"

"I know my destination, but recognize none of my fellow commuters." He tipped his hat down, "My apologies."

"Ingo, only apologize if you're dead! Otherwise get in here, I've gotta call your brother."

Ingo stepped into the lavish apartment, feeling no familiarity with the decor or layout. A quick glance at some posters on the wall told him that he was in fact in the home of Elesa. A gym leader, yes, a trainer one aspires to overcome.

"Well, that worked just as well as every other time." Elesa said with annoyance creeping into her tone. She returned to the living room carrying a small box.

"What are these?"

"Emmet left all the pokemon with me, both his and yours."

"What! That's unsafe!"

"I told him that, but you know how he is!"

Ingo flinched at the casual remark, a sinking feeling in his gut. He should. He should know how Emmet is, what his twin is like. He should recognize the stranger before him right now, but he didn't-couldn't!

"Ingo… the amnesia, does it…" It was like she didn't want to complete the thought or know the answer.

"I only know Emmet is my twin brother… from a video he left on his computer. I didn't even remember his name."

There was trust there. A trust and a friendship strong enough that Ingo could feel his barriers and safety measures falling away. Tears that were held at bay by the thought of a stranger seeing now came freely. His heart knew he could trust Elesa, even if his mind was still catching up.

She was so strong. She might not tower over him as Zisu once did, but her resolve to keep him supported as he sobbed felt all the same. Even as his trembling made him want to collapse, Elesa was as unyielding as the pillars in Celestica.

He knew all too well that even pillars could crumble under time and pressure, but for now, she was a wall to lean on. A place to catch his breath. A familiar station. Not home, but somewhere close.

"Breathe with me, ok?" He heard her words and listened, syncing with her deep breaths until the world was a little less overwhelming.

Thinking back to the video, Ingo wondered if she was used to comforting his twin in the same manner. The practiced precision of it made the theory likely. That was comforting.

As were the small sounds of pokemon coming out of their pokeballs. It soon became a group hug with many, many participants. He felt his heart warm in a way it never had in Hisui.

…

"I am Emil. Nice to meet you!" The worker piped up the second the door opened, giving a big grin. He then returned to stocking the shelves by the register as if the encounter never took place.

He didn't notice when a young teen made their way over to his side.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like someone famous?"

"Yes!" Emil yelped his response, half in surprise. Crafty kid had caught him with a Quick Attack! Verrry effective.

No, that was wrong, normal type moves weren't super effective against any typing at all. It had caught him by surprise, perhaps more of an Astonish. That would be super effective since he did feel like a ghost of his former-

"Are you a famous trainer?" The kid's words shook Emil out of his thoughts.

"Nope! But you look like one in the making." He pointed at the pokeball at the kid's hip.

"That's too boring, I'm going to be a Coordinator and win pokemon contests! They're more strategic!"

Emil was extremely glad when the kid's mom called them away. More strategic, his a-

"Sir, could you help me find the max potions?"

"Right this way!" Emil got back on track, leading the other customer towards the healing section.

…

"How could he just disappear?!"

Elesa couldn't hold back a laugh. "Sorry, sorry! Apricots and oran berries, but you're saying the exact same thing he did over and over. He'd definitely say 'you're one to talk!'"

"Well I didn't choose to disappear! You're telling me he gave you our pokemon and implied he was leaving and just did?"

"Yeah, pretty much." She shrugged, "He promised to check in once a month so I'd know he was alive, but that's it."

"How long until he calls?"

"It's usually around the middle of the month. I'd expect tomorrow."

"When he calls, may I answer?"

"I don't-" for the first time, Elesa wouldn't return his gaze. She gripped the side of her short coat almost defensively. For the first time since he'd arrived, she seemed vulnerable.

It was his turn to return the favor. "Hey, it's alright if the answer is no."

"No." She said firmly, looking at him again almost apologetically. "No, I'm sorry, but I need to hear his voice."

"You two are close-"

"Us three." She corrected with a sad smile. "I was the unofficial third triplet just so Emmet wouldn't be the youngest."

A warmth settled into Ingo's heart with the realization. The small assumption he'd been talking to his twin's girlfriend was finally quelled. He wasn't overstepping any lines, this was normal.

"Sister." Ingo said, the word feeling so right. It incorporated the friendship, the trust, the closeness, the bond that was right there before him.

She hugged him again, just a quick embrace this time without tears. "Brother."

"You lost us both!" Ingo said suddenly with a force he hadn't meant to use. He moved his arms as he spoke, exchanging some of the volume for the motion. "I forgot, so I didn't know I lost anyone. Emmet lost a twin and chose to leave you behind. You didn't get a choice in losing us both."

She nodded simply, wiping a stray tear as she kept a neutral face. "It hurt to lose him too, but I understand his reasoning. Not a single thing he did here failed to remind him of your absence."

"Where did he go?"

"He refuses to say. He claims he's happy but never gives any details. I can't tell if he's lying by voice alone." She wiped at her eyes more in frustration. "He only ever calls from payphones. He's too good at covering his tracks."

"It's going to be alright."

"He's not going to believe me, Ingo. What if we lose him for good?"

"We won't."

……

Emmet tossed off his work uniform and his nametag, feeling like himself again. It was rather annoying. It was easier being Emil, the mild mannered grocery clerk.

But of course the slightest talk of pokemon battling tugged his true self forward. It was his passion! It was everything to him! The strategy, the excitement, the endless combinations with-

No.

No, he was Emil. His passion was supplying the little town with food and health products. He had no pokemon, he had no interest in battles.

Emil liked the gossip from the old man that stopped by on Tuesdays. He liked seeing what strange things the kids down the road pooled their money for each weekend. He liked holding sales and smiling at his neighbors and occasionally rigging the toy section to dump all the sports balls if jostled at all.

Emil enjoyed his little apartment. It was cozy and dark with no pictures or decor. He enjoyed his simple wardrobe, just t-shirts and jeans. Nobody could make him dress formal. He didn't-Emil didn't like dressing formal. Emil didn't like coats.

Emil liked walking softly. Emil liked keeping his hair long. Emil liked putting it into a bun or braiding it. Emil didn't like wearing hats.

Emil didn't like that he was crying. He didn't like that his old self made him feel so bad.

His old Xtranceiver rang with a call in the other room, shaking him a little. Normally she didn't call when it was so close to their monthly check-in. Emil wondered if she was alright.

It had long since stopped hurting to let it ring. The noise was just a reminder that his sister was thinking of him. His sister. She was the only unifying thing between Emmet and Emil. Both were proud of her and loved her dearly.

He sent presents when he could afford it, and terrible joke cards when he couldn't. Always through anonymous channels, of course, she wasn't supposed to find him. With him out of sight, it'd be easier for her to forget about Ing-

NO!

Emmet grumbled low, slapping his forehead. He needed food and sleep. Tomorrow he'd call Elesa, find that she was ok, and go back to normal.

Scratch that, he just needed sleep. The sooner he slept, the sooner everything could go back to normal.

…

Ingo wasn't sure why Elesa was so adamant about him not sleeping on the floor. He kinda preferred it if he was honest, reminded of cuddling up with Sneasler and her young in the caves of Hisui. But Elesa wasn't having it, so he ended up on the couch. A very fluffy couch. So soft…

…

Emil awoke the next morning very hungry. That really wouldn't do, he knew how much worse he felt when his train ran on fumes. That was a safety hazard!

He quickly got himself some cereal, looking over the small town's newspaper. Some local kids had just graduated, that was neat. The rest was a lot of news about pokemon, which he skimmed over. The job section had an opening for a daycare worker that had his heart skipping a beat.

Maybe? Emil let the mask slip just a tad, as if to get Emmet's perspective. He'd always been the one that bred pokemon for the best moves. That wasn't something his- that was something wholly his own.

The memory of a frowning face and dark clothing hugging a pokemon egg flashed through his mind unbidden. For a moment he grasped for it, trying to see the details that simply weren't there. Emmet couldn't recall how long his hair had been. He couldn't remember if that had been before or after the time they got their ears pierced in their teens. It had been Ingo's idea when Emmet had found really cool train track earrings.

Emil was gentler with himself today. It was the day he'd call Elesa, so yeah, of course she'd remind him of Ingo. But wasn't it progress that he couldn't recall his twin's face?

As he made his way to the bathroom, Emil beamed at himself. Between his long black hair, the lack of sideburns, and the couple asymmetrical piercings on his nose and eyebrows, nothing looked the same. Well, maybe the eyes, but his glasses hid those well enough.

So he indulged in a monochromatic look for old time's sake. A bright white elastic to hold back his hair, a striped white and black tee, and some nice white jeans pulled the look together. Emil laughed at himself in the mirror, thinking he looked like a discount cosplay of the Subway Boss Emmet.

Emil made his merry way downstairs, trailing an excited hand along the familiar wall. It helped to keep his legs from marching.

"Ah, Emil, good morning! Will you be needing my phone?"

"Good morning! Yes, thank you." Emil smiled at his friend. The guilt of using the frequent traveller's phone to hide his location had long since faded. "Your long distance calling plan is a life saver!"

"I keep telling you, they're not expensive." The response was playful, as this was an old argument that was routine at this point. His friend gave him their phone and returned to messing with their pokedex.

Emil typed in the number he knew by heart.

…

"He's calling!"

"How do you know it's-"

"SHHHH" Elesa shushed him loudly, picking up her Xtransciever quickly. No video showed on her screen, which she expected. "Emmet?"

"I am Emmet! It is good to hear you!"

"Yeah. Yeah it is." Her voice was so soft, relief evident in every level. She noticed Ingo waving at her, distantly. "Emmet can I- I have to tell you-"

"Hm? Elesa are you alright?"

"No. You need to come home, it's… you were right, ok?" She held a hand over her mouth, trying not to cry. But the other hand, the one with the Xtransciever, shot out to Ingo.

"Elesa, what are you-"

"Emmet, please come home. I'm not dead." Ingo spoke into the machine loud enough that he was sure his brother would not mishear him.

Two beats of silence accompanied the words. It was as if time stood still. Ingo thought to say more, but a small sound cut him off.

Call Ended

[thesunshinebunny]

Hello first ask, reaction of the vice leaders to an fem!reader dancing erotically/sexy? i really liked the ask you did with the leaders!

Of course honey! If you want to read the first one with the leaders, I'll leave it here. All characters are +18 and for obvious reasons Ortho is out of this order.

Cater/Jack/Floyd/Epel/Sebek/silver reaction

Smooooooch

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

Trey

Positions – Ariana Grande 

Late at night, everyone enjoying the comfort of their bed, sound asleep ... and here you were, in the middle between the lounge and the kitchen of Heartslabyul, with the music at medium volume and moving your hips as if there would not be a tomorrow.

You took advantage that everyone was peacefully asleep and snoring to practice a quiet choreography.

Well...not everyone.

Trey had gotten up for a glass of water when he found you in the middle of the kitchen, wearing only your panties and a T-shirt long enough to cover your upper thighs.

The way you moved your hips, revealing the fine dark red fabric of your panties shining comfortably against your skin, made Trey's mind take off.

“Cookin 'in the kitchen and I'm in the bedroom” That's it, Trey stopped holding back.

Before you could finish, you felt a pair of hands wrap around your waist and lift you off the floor, ending up on the counter.

You let out a gasp as lips fell on yours and your hands drew you toward your attacker's body.

“Trey ... next time give me a warning”

You gave him a light blow on the shoulder, but the man in front of you didn’t react conventionally, he grabbed your hand which was still resting on his shoulder and brought it towards his crotch, making you notice how hard he was.

“Maybe you should give me a warning before dancing that way in a public place and the way you are dressed”

Let's say… you two kept dancing for a few more minutes until Riddle showed up for a glass of milk.

You ended up scaring the little one for life.

Ruggie

Animals – Maroon 5 

Ruggie was tired after a long day of work, not just from his duties but also Leona's. He entered his room with a heavy step and fell on his bed, in which you were already waiting for him cross-legged.

"Long day?"

Ruggie just nod and settle on the bed, hoping to reach your legs, lie on them, and sleep until the next day.

"I have something that might make you feel better"

You crawled out of bed and for some reason the hyena didn't know, you went to his closet and grabbed one of his dorm shirts.

You went to the bathroom, Ruggie assumed to change, and you came out with your cell phone in hand and dressed to be eaten. The shirt barely covered your upper part, revealing the curvature of your breasts, apart from posing on your thighs.

If you weren’t about to playing some music, Ruggie was willing to jump up to you and eat you right there.

It was worth the wait. When you started moving, Ruggie's first thought was how lucky he was to have you. He was enjoying your fun, seeing you happy dancing for him even if it was at the comfort of his room.

When your steps became more lewd, he couldn't help how tight his pants were. He was completely hard and with each step, his limit was about to run out.

When you were done, hips on Ruggie's, he pulled you close to his crotch, your cunt well positioned over it and pulsing for some more friction.

Fuck the sleep, Ruggie spent the whole night pounding you in every possible position until your bodies were nothing more than a bundle of heat and wet fluids. You ended up destroyed.

The Savannaclaw students wondered all night the source of the high-pitched, savage howls.

Jade

Call Out My Name – The Weeknd 

It was closing time at Monstro Lounge. Tables already set, Azul closing the VIP room, Floyd closing the box and Jade cleaning a few glasses and plates from the bar.

For your, you were waiting for this moment. From time to time Azul would let you practice your choreographies on stage in exchange for a much lower monetary payment than those of Pomefiore had given you.

When the trio were distracted, each with their tasks, you ran out of the room where you were changing, put your cell phone on the speakers, and positioned yourself without hesitation on stage.

Hearing the beginning of the music, the three of them turned around to enjoy the show for a while, but they weren't prepared to see you in men's sleep shorts and one of the dorm’s shirts.

"Ara Ara ~ what a view more...appetizing"

Jade placed a chair in front of where you were dancing and gazed at you as if you were the most beautiful pearl in the entire sea.

Floyd had a wicked grin on his face and Azul was red as tomato.

The other eel was about to open his big mouth and approach where his brother was, but Azul grabbed his collar and dragged him out of the Monstro Lounge.

"I want the place clean when you finish"

The comment didn’t go unnoticed by either of you, but you didn’t care.

When you finished dancing, Jade already had his hands on your waist and his lips and teeth on yours.

Floyd was very clever and left posters outside the door and in the hallway warning of the heated scene that was about to take place.

Jamil

River – Bishop 

There was a small dance competition between a few students from Scarabia and Pomefiore, including Heartslabyul, and Jamil took a break from his responsibilities to participate.

In his excitement, he told you about the competition a few hours before it happened and left you to go practice. Bad move

The last few participants had already done their best, but Jamil had taken the best steps; he was about to win. But before the winner was dictated, you showed up, dressed in gym shorts, a sports bra and one of Jamil’s sleeveless hoodie.

Everyone's jaws dropped.

Your eyes never left Jamil's unless the choreography needed a spin. Your figure was powerless in the middle of the pseudo dance floor and while your steps were exceptional, no one could move a muscle. They were mesmerized, their eyes glued to your figure...and Jamil didn't like that.

He didn't like to see how the skin on your legs was exposed. He didn't like to see your butt become the main attraction, much less when you moved it so erotically. He didn't like to see your hair move with your body and outline your face.

You ended up winning the competition unanimously. Everyone applauded your performance, some asked if you could teach them to dance so freely.

Jamil was jealous, smoke was coming out of his ears and at any moment he was going to explode.

You turned your head to where he was and gave him a wink and one of your most malicious smiles. That was the limit.

Jamil grabbed your hand and led you to the closest cleaning closet.

"If you want to put on a show, then we are going to put on one so that everyone can hear it"

No one dared walk past the closet from the first floor next to the alchemy classroom for two hours.

Rook

Horns – Bryce Foz 

You were watching a dance rehearsal in the Pomefiore dance hall. Sitting in a corner without disturbing anyone, cross-legged, you watched Rook from afar and gave him little appraisals and signs of success every time he turned to see you.

When the rehearsal ended, and the students were dating one by one, you were alone with Rook. You gave him a bottle of water and a towel to dry off.

"You worked really hard, you deserve a break" and the blonde took it to heart.

He left the rehearsal room for a moment to change his clothes and then walk you to your dorm. In that little silence and tranquility, you began to walk around the room, looking at your body in the mirror and how it moved when you took a turn.

With that, an idea came to mind.

You grabbed your cell phone and put on a random song. You stood in the middle of the room, always looking into the mirror, and began to move from one side to the other, waiting for the music to hit at the right moment.

And it was at that moment that Rook entered.

Your steps left him stunned. The way you hit the ground, the way your hips moved in the air and your legs rose.

It was one of the most beautiful things he had seen in a long time.

Your figure, now standing, met Rook's. You both looked at each other through the mirror and you couldn't help but smile in embarrassment. You kept dancing even with a few sloppy steps until you stopped to look at him.

"Oh no no, don't stop for me, you dance very well"

You felt Rook's piercing gaze on your body for the remainder of the choreography and it wasn't until you were done that he moved behind you to turn you around and onto his chest.

"Ma amour, you are one of the most beautiful creatures this hunter could find"

His bare hands roamed your waist and hips, lifting your shirt slightly and savoring your burning skin with his fingers.

"Now let me hunt you down properly"

Lilia

Lights Down Low – Bei Maejor 

Classes were over and you were waiting for the light music club to get together to watch them practice. Mostly to see Lilia have fun playing the guitar, then to really listen to the music… uh, yeah, we can put that aside.

The boys hadn’t arrived so you had the club room to yourself and you took the opportunity to leave your backpack and free yourself from your school uniform, leaving with a shirt and shorts.

Seeing the minutes kept passing and no one had deigned to appear, you put music on your cell phone to fill the void. Your playlist reached a song of your favorites and you couldn't help but move to the beat of it.

You made sure the room door was closed, avoiding unwanted glances, and started dancing without any worries.

You should have remembered that some students are magical creatures and can appear in the room without even knocking on the door… just Lilia’s case.

Our fairy remained face down with his happy and mocking face so characteristic and observed your way of relaxing and how you let yourself be carried away.

Lilia wasn't going to deny that he was fascinated by your steps and… by your rear guard *wink wonk*

"The club became much more interesting"

You turned around scared to hear his voice so close to your ear. The bastard had approached without making any noise.

He put his hands on your shoulders and pulled you closer to him. His lips rested on your nose, your eyes, the corner of your lips and your ears.

"Tell me ... would you mind giving me a private show in my room?"

His fang pinked the skin of your ear, sending a chill down your spine.

Before you could answer, you were already in his room, back on his bed and his toothy smile as the only sight.

[sketching-shark]

LMK fandom: Oh, what do we do about this guy who has nothing but hurt Xiaotian, tried to replace Sun Wukong and his crew, hurt Tripitaka and ordered servants to cannibalize a monkey? Oh I know! We’ll turn him into our little meow meow~ he’s so innocent and Sun Wukong is obviously the villain!

What doesn’t help is this idea is perpetuated by multiple fan fic writers and artists for some reason. Especially some aus they make that turn SWK into a bastard for the sake of the story rather than considering cultural context and thinking they should be respectful.

And almost everyone lets them get away with it just because the art or fanfic is good and they get so popular that no one can point what is actually wrong without feeling like they’re going to get attacked.

I'm starting to feel like my blog is the one anons go to specifically to vent their frustrations about the Six Eared Macaque in his lego monkey show form & the associated fandom lmao. But I guess this makes sense, as I’ve had fun quasi-dragging him before & will in fact use this anon submission as an opportunity to have my own, to put it academically, bitch fest about not just this fandom's favorite protagonist-traumatizing meow meow, but about the way villains are often treated in not just fanon, but increasingly in canon works as well. But same policy as with the last anon; I'll post my opinions below the cut, and as fandoms love to say, don’t like don't read if you don't want to see me dunking on the six eared simian & common fandom tendencies towards villains.

Oh man I would say where would you even begin with this but anon you’ve pretty much started yourself with my main gripe with a lot of ways that the Six-Eared Macaque is portrayed in fandom; there seems to be this unspoken agreement that his acts of violence towards Sun Wukong, Qi Xioatian, and Qi Xioatian’s loved ones are either to be framed as somewhat or totally justified, to be immediately forgiven/excused, or to simply & completely be ignored. Like friends maybe this is just me not seeing the proper posts but while the fandom is inundated with art and fanfics of Macaque as a generally decent individual & a true member of team good guy, I have yet to see one person address the fact that this monkey literally kidnapped & mind-controlled Xiaotian’s best friend and father figures & forced them to brutalize Xiaotian while ol’ Six Ear looked on and laughed (X_X). Like this kind of fandom villain treatment is definitely not something that’s solely at work for Monkie Kid, but it is kind of nutty how fandoms will swing between yelling that people should be allowed to like villains without even mild critique, and then will just flat-out not address the villainous behavior, and will even bend over backwards to frame even characters who committed genocide as just poor innocent widdle victims who need a hug. At its worst, I’ve even seen tons of people in a fandom get really angry at other people who don’t like a villain, and will even start accusing those people of hating real-life mentally disabled or abused individuals all because they don’t like the fandom’s favorite literal war criminal. The Monkie Kid fandom is FAR more chill & better than a lot of other fandoms I’ve come across in that regard, but that is an exceedingly low bar, & the tendency to woobify certain kinds of villains-- as with Macaque and the extreme emphasis on his bad boy/sad boy thing--is very much at work.  

 I’ve also talked before about a kind of monoculturalization of certain character interpretations and story beats in fandoms, and one of the more popular ones that seems to be applied to Macaque a lot is the “hero actually bad, villain actually good” cliche, as observable from the general fandom assumption that Mr. Six-Ears he wasn’t even slightly lying or remembering things through a rose-tinted or skewed lens when he gave his version of his and Sun Wukong’s past. Like at this point it seems the possibility that people WILL NOT even consider is that Sun Wukong never did & still doesn't care that much about the Six Eared Macaque (in JTTW they weren’t sworn brothers & in Monkie Kid the only thing the monkey king really said to Macaque before attacking him was a pretty contemptuous "Aren't you ever going to get sick of living under my shadow?," & responds to his "beloved friend" getting blown up with "You did good, bud" to Qi Xiaotian, who did the exploding), or that their original fight may in fact have mostly been instigated by Macaque. After all, to repeat what this anon summarized & what I've said before about their original JTTW context (& in an example of the things that do feel like it's often lost in translation) is that the Six Ear Macaque was a villain not just because he beat up the Tang Monk, but because he wanted to take over Sun Wukong's entire life and identity so he could have all that glory, prestige, and power for himself. To quote the macaque himself from the Anthony C. Yu translation, "I struck the T'ang monk and I took the luggage...precisely because I want to go to the West all by myself to ask Buddha for the scriptures. When I deliver them to the Land of the East, it will be my success and no one else's. Those people of the South Jambudvipa Continent will honor me then as their patriarch and my fame will last for all posterity." And in order to do this, the Six Eared Macaque had apparently made Sun Wukong's "little ones," his monkey family, his captives through either trickery or force, and gotten a number of them to take on the appearance of Tang Sanzang and the other pilgrims. It's also made clear that in very direct contrast to Sun Wukong, he doesn't care about these monkeys beyond how they might serve him. In fact, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey posing as him the Six Eared Macaque not only all but immediately replaces him with another, but also "told his little ones to have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines." So this monkey is not only willing to risk the lives of a lot of other monkeys for his own personal benefit, but is also a literal cannibal. And yes yes, I know a lot of people have argued that Monkie Kid shouldn't be considered a direct sequel to JTTW & that's fair enough (for example, Sun Wukong probably shouldn't be smashing anyone into a meat patty in a children's cartoon lol). And of course, it needs to be noted that there are a buttload of really out there & really cursed pieces of media based on JTTW & that were created in China. Yet the above description is the oft-ignored in the west original facet of the Six Eared Macaque's character. And it is this selfishness, entitlement, and treatment of other individuals as tools for his own self-serving ends  that is, from where I’m standing, still very much present in Monkie Kid. Like besides repeatedly going out of his way to physically and psychologically traumatize Xioatian, with the last episode Macaque seemed to be going right back to his manipulative ways. I’ve seen people frame their last conversation as Macaque softening to Xioatian a little bit, but personally that read a lot more like that common tactic among abusers where even after they’ve hurt you they’ll dangle something you want or need over your head (in Macaque’s case, the promise of desperately needed training and information about a serious looming threat), with the implication that you’ll only get it if you do what they want you to, such as, in this case, Xioatian going back to Macaque as his student even after having been so terribly hurt by this monkey, which would give Macaque power over Xiaotian and probably Sun Wukong as a result. And it is this violence and manipulation that it seems the fandom at large has tacitly decided shouldn’t even be addressed, instead leaning more towards a (and this is an exaggeration) “Six-Eared Macaque my poor meow meow Sun Wukong has always been bad & has always been wrong about literally everything” reading. 

And while it is the case that I am not Chinese and feel that as such it would be best left to someone who actually comes from that background to provide more context into how common interpretations of the Six Eared Macaque from China may clash really badly with the stuff the western fandom creates, it also must be noted that, as much as we all want to have fun in fandom & in spite of all the out-there versions of JTTW from China, we westerners should recognize that there is a very long and very ugly history of western countries stripping other cultures’ important religious and literary works for parts & mashing them into their own thing while implying or even insisting that what they present provides a true understanding of the original piece. And while I trust most individuals in regards to Monkie Kid are able to step back and think “this is a lego cartoon and not a set guide for how I should understand JTTW” (especially given the insistence that JTTW and Monkie Kid should be considered there own separate works) there does nevertheless seem to be something of a tendency to take the conclusions people come to, for example, about Sun Wukong’s characteristic in his lego form & then assume that’s just reflective to Sun Wukong as a totality. I imagine a good portion of this is due to people not reading JTTW & especially to not having easy access to solid information or answers about JTTW’s many different facets (like geez awhile ago I was trying to get a clear answer on what is considered the most accurate translation of the names of Sun Wukong’s six sworn brothers & got like 5 different responses lmao), but that tendency to take a western fandom interpretation & run with it instead of doing any background research or questioning said interpretation is still very much at play. As such, & as made prominent in the way people have been interpreting the dynamic between Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque in the lego monkey show, tbh it does seem kind of shitty for western creators & audience to sometimes go really out of their way to ignore all of this original cultural & narrative context for the sake of Angst (TM) in Macaque's favor, demonizing Sun Wukong, and shipping the monkey king with his evil twin (X_X).

And speaking of which, even beyond the potential inherent creepiness & revulsion that can be inspired by this specific ship given common interpretations of the og classic's original meaning (again, it's my understanding, given both summaries of translated Chinese academic texts I've been kindly provided with, my own reading of the Anthony C. Yu translation of JTTW, & vents from a number of Chinese people I've seen on this site, that the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China as having originated from Sun Wukong himself as a living embodiment of his worst traits, hence why only Buddha can tell the difference between them & why the monkey king is much more slow to violence after he kills the macaque), I'd argue that in the face of all the uwu poor widdle meow meow portrayals lego show Macaque is, especially if you include JTTW's events, still in the role of “Sun Wukong but worse” as he is very much a violent & selfish creep. Like he was basically running around in JTTW wearing a Sun Wukong fursuit, but there he had the sole reason of wanting to replace Sun Wukong wholesale so he could have all the good things in the monkey king's life without actually having to work as hard for them. But if you combine that with Macaque now claiming that he used to be best friend with Sun Wukong in his pre-journey days (something that's made funny from a JTTW context given that that status actually belongs to the Demon Bull King lol), his original violence has now blown into this centuries long and really unhealthy obsession with the monkey king. Like he's apparently gone from wanting to literally be Sun Wukong to being so obsessed with getting revenge on Sun Wukong that he's got basically nothing else going on in his life. Like he's only appeared in two episodes but...does he have any friends? Any family? A career or even a hobby that DOESN'T center the monkey king? Anything at all outside of his "get revenge on and/or kill Sun Wukong/use his successor as my personal punching bag” thing? Like dude! That is extremely creepy and extremely bad for everyone all around! As I’ve said before, this seeming refusal to see beyond the past or to do something that doesn’t involve Sun Wukong in some capacity is a trait that makes Macaque an interesting and somewhat tragic villain--he even seems to be working as Sun Wukong’s reflection in a mirror darkly, with lego show Sun Wukong pretty clearly not being able to heal from his own past which is hinted to be defined by one loss after another, and with Monkie Kid even kind of having these two characters somewhat follow their JTTW characterizations in that in the latter half of the journey Sun Wukong often gets sad & starts crying in the face of what seems insurmountable odds (& Monkie Kid Sun Wukong does seem to be hiding some serious depression behind a cheerful facade), whereas the Six-Eared Macaque retains a worse version of Sun Wukong’s pre-journey characteristic of getting pissed and lashing out if things don’t go his way--but it’s also what would make any current friendship or romantic relationship between these monkeys horrific. Although to be fair even the fandom seems to recognize this in an unconscious way, in that a lot of the art & fanfic seems to swing erratically between them kissing & screaming at each other in yet another example of bog-standard fandom adulation of romanticized toxic relationships lol.  

At the end of the day, of course, this is nothing new. You'll find versions of this dynamic across a ton of fandoms and now even canonical work. And as such, I can only look at this kind of popularized relationship dynamic with a kind of resigned weariness whenever it pops up, & my frustrated question with the popularity of this kind of pairing is the exact same one that I have for a multitude of blatantly toxic villain/hero ships, given common fandom discourse & the tendency to either ignore or justify the villain's actions & demonize the hero: if you're THAT convinced that everything is the hero's fault, if you believe THAT much that the hero is the one in the wrong for the villain's pain and their subsequent actions, then why are you so set on them not only becoming a romantic pair, but framing this get-together as a good thing? Like I know we contain multitudes but that's waaay too many contradictions for me to wrap my head around. And it definitely doesn’t help that one branch of underlying reasoning behind this kind of pairing seems to be the ever-present “you break it, you fix it” mentality, where the assumption is that if you’re in a failing, abusive, and/or generally toxic relationship (platonically or romantically), if you put in enough time and effort & attempts to compromise, you’ll be able to restore/have the relationship you dreamed of, even with someone who hurt you really badly. And this assumption isn’t limited to fandom: I’d even argue that it’s everywhere in the culture, hence why a lot of people feel like they “failed” if they have to get a divorce or make the choice to leave an unhealthy friendship. Personally, I feel like people could really benefit from more stories about how it is not only the case that the people you hurt don’t owe you their forgiveness & you can still become a better and happier person without the one you hurt in your life, & that while it can be really hard it can also be a good thing to leave a relationship, even if it’s one that once meant a lot to you. 

  But in all honestly, from my own perspective this kind of pairing is starting to read far less like enemies to lovers and far more like a horrible fantasy where you can pull whatever shit you want, even on the people you "love," & never be held accountable for your terrible behavior or even have to consider that maybe you were in the wrong. It's another facet that makes me larf every time I see people insist that fandom is an inherently "transformative" or "progressive" form of storytelling like friends you are literally just taking status quo toxic monogamy & rebranding it as somehow beneficial & romantic (X_X).

But as to anon’s last frustration, it is hard to know what is the appropriate response with this kind of thing...like for my own part I’m keeping my frustrations to my blog & now increasingly to posts that you would have to click on the “read more” button to see what I have to say, but I totally get the hesitation to give even a mild critique to big names in a fandom. Like I've now seen it happen repeatedly where someone who has a big name in a fandom will make something that's kind of shitty for one reason or another, someone will message them with some version of "hey, that's kind of shitty, you shouldn't do that," and the typical response is either to blatantly ignore the issue completely, or more popularly to make a giant crying circus that seems deliberately geared towards stoking emotions on both sides of the, for example, fiction does/doesn't affect reality issue so that something that didn't even have to be that big a deal gets blown out of all proportion, with the big name often framing what often started out as a very mild critique into a long crying jag about how the initial response to their kind of shitty thing was so mean/cruel and they're just a poor innocent & that YOU'RE the true racist/sexist/bigot etc. if you don't agree with their opinion. It must of course be noted that there have also been numerous instances of people taking it too far the other way & sending not just big names but smaller creators literal deaths threats over stuff like innocuous ships which like holy hell bells people that’s a horrible thing to do. But for the big names at least, the end result of all this fighting is usually that once the dust has settled they have more attention/fame/money/power in the fandom than before, and with anyone who might have a problem with their stuff feeling afraid to voice their opinion lest they be swarmed by that person's fans. In that way fandom does often seem to increasingly be geared towards presenting an “official” fandom perspective about various facets of a piece of media instead of allowing for a multitude of interpretations, and with criticism, no matter its shape or form or how genuinely warranted it may be, being hounded out of existence. I feel like a lot of this could be made less bad if there wasn’t this constant assumption & even drive to think that a different interpretation of or criticism of your favorite work of fiction or your fanwork isn’t a direct claim that you are a thoroughly loathsome individual (& maybe also if people cultivated an enjoyment of learning things about important works from a culture outside their own, even if what you learn clashes with your own initial understandings), but I guess we’ll see if that ever happens. 

So these are my general thinks about the Six Eared Macaque’s current fandom meow meow status & some of my bigger gripes with fandom tendencies as a whole. I stand by my idea that the most interesting & beneficial route for Macaque moving forward would be a kind of “redemption without forgiveness from the ones you hurt” arc--as I think was done pretty excellently with the character Grace in Infinity Train--and if for no other reason than gosh dern this monkey really needs to cultivate some sort of identity beyond his “Sun Wukong but worse” persona. 

[five-rivers]

I really loved your last prompt fill, Reflection. I can't even describe what emotions it made me feel. Now I'm really curious about a twin au, something set on the other side of the mirror so to speak. I'd love to see your take on something like that.

If you told the Fenton twins they enabled each other, Danny would tell you that's what twins were for, and Andy would say at least they weren't as bad as their parents.

Although the veracity of the first statement was questionable, the second was certainly true. This is why space and astronomy related paraphernalia was limited to the twins' room and pranks only happened a few times a year, while the elder Fentons' ghost hunting gear infested the entire building and spilled out into the yard and a few select public places around town and ghost hunting was a year-round endeavor.

The Fenton children usually responded by doing their best to ignore everything related to ghosts. Usually. Today, that had been a little bit difficult. Today was the day of their parents' greatest triumph!

Except it wasn't. The portal-

"Andy, are you narrating this?"

"So what if I am?" He adjusted the camera to zoom in on his brother's disgruntled face. "You want to go to space, I want to make movies about space. And you've got to admit, the lab does look like the set of a cool SF show."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Sure, except the fake science projects on a set aren't going to come explode on you-"

"Well, actually-"

"That's the exception, not the rule-"

"But it still happened!"

"Ugh, you're impossible. What time is it?"

"According to the camera clock... one fourty-six in the morning."

Danny laughed. "Are you ever going to switch it so it's right?"

"Signs point to no. Hey, I have an idea. I dare you to go in and check it out~"

"Um. No. I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not dying for your home movie. I'm going to go wait for Sam and Tucker upstairs."

"Come on!" called Andy after Danny. "I'll go with you if you're scared!"

The lab door shut.

"Tch," grumbled Andy. "Whatever." He thumbed the power switch.

.

"And here's the boring lab full of stuff that doesn't work!" said Danny loudly, spreading his hands in presentation. "Can we go back upstairs now?"

"Boring? Just look at all this tech! This would make a great set for a TV show," said Tucker.

"See? See?" said Andy, excitedly. "That's what I said, too. We really are true friends."

"Think your parents would let us use it for an amateur film?" asked Tucker.

"Maybe if they ever 'gave up the ghost,'" said Danny, with air quotes. "Which they aren't. Ever."

"I don't know, Danny, they seemed pretty down after the portal didn't work."

They turned towards the dark, empty hole in the wall.

"Yeah..." said Danny. "They did look kind of sad..."

"Maybe you guys can do something with it," said Sam, adjusting her camera settings to take a picture.

"Sam," complained Andy fiddling with his camera, "stop it, you're messing with my camera brightness..."

Sam stuck out her tongue.

"What do you think we could do?"

"I don't know," said Sam. "Didn't you guys find some wiring issue with that other thing they made? Something silly they overlooked or something?"

"Yeah, that was ages ago and way simpler than this," said Danny.

"I don't know, I think she has a point," said Andy.

"Dare you two to go in," said Sam.

"True frien- Wait, two?"

"Yeah, two heads are better than one. And make for a cooler picture. We could make, like, movie poster mockups or something. Plus, Danny, haven't you ever wondered if there really is another world over there? You could be like an astronaut."

"Ooh, yeah, good point," said Andy. "Do you think we should wear the hazmat?"

"Do I think we should wear protective gear while messing with dangerous lab equipment?"

"Good point, but I was talking about for the picture," said Andy, walking over to the cabinet. "Which one of these is yours and which is mine?"

"Doesn't matter, they're identical," said Danny, leaning over his shoulder and pulling one out. He let it unfold. "I changed my mind, you can have the one with Dad's face."

"It's just a sticker, weirdo." Andy pulled it off. "Ugh, one second... Do you ever wish you had another set of arms...?" He put the camera down.

.

Andy turned the camera back on. "Okay, here we go! Into the portal! To the stars!"

"Or the Ghost Zone, according to Mom and Dad."

"Yep, yep, go on, explore the supposed doorway to the afterlife," said Sam.

"That isn't very sci-fi of you, Sam," said Tucker. He was promptly elbowed.

"Give me some poses!" she said, snapping pictures.

"I thought we were supposed to be looking for what's wrong with the portal," said Danny.

"Come on, it isn't as if you believe in ghosts anyway," said Andy, nudging Danny.

Danny, scowling, took a step away from him and tripped on a wire. He caught himself on the wall and-

Click.

.

"The rest of the video is completely fried," said Tucker. "Should we keep it, or...?"

"Delete it," said Danny.

"Keep it," said Andy.

"I'm getting some mixed messages here," said Tucker.

"I think," said Andy, "that it would be a good idea to have a way to prove we are who we say we are."

"And it has nothing to do with wanting to preserve your camera work?"

"I wouldn't say nothing."