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loremaster · 11 months

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CHAPTER 1 - Man Door Hand Nail Fur Door (Comic)

...aka the Zilara manifesto.

(tw: strangulation, suggestive themes) BOBA AU MASTERPOST: [link]

Yakou tells Yuma to go to the hotel and corral all the other detectives who have been sleeping soundly in the nice fancy rooms over there. Yuma, who got 3 hours of sleep on Yakou's creaky couch, says "Okay, sure thing, Dad." ((side note - wouldn't the train detectives have had rooms reserved at the hotel? Couldn't Yuma have had one of those?))

Instead of agreeing to meet up, they all send poor little Kokohead around the city doing side quests.

Pucci wants to know if Kanai Ward has any good symphonies; recordings of classical music are all well and good, but it's no substitute for the acoustics of a live concert hall. Closest thing Yuma can find is Aetheria Academy's chamber orchestra program. Musicians in Kanai Ward used to be part of a larger regional symphonic orchestra, but since Amaterasu locked off the city, they've had to resort to busking. Pucci seems disappointed, but resigns herself to checking out the high school girls' next concert anyway.

Aphex is cruisin' for a bruisin'. He spotted some suspicious movement in one of the districts on his radar (drug deals?), but every time he goes to check it out, he can't find out which people in the crowd are the suspicious ones. They must be afraid of Aphex's intimidating appearance, so Yuma goes in his stead to grill the people hanging around the square. Turns out they weren't dealing drugs, they were passing around anti-Amaterasu propaganda. They beg Yuma not to tell Aphex. Yuma goes back to the hotel to tell Aphex... who thinks anti-fascist action is cool, actually, so no need to do anything about those guys.

Melami wants to know about the local fashion scene, and is very curious about the dronebrellas she's seen around Kanai Ward. She sends Yuma to see what the big deal about them is, and once there, he gets roped into a long winding sales pitch for technology he can't afford. He relays as much of this as he can remember back to Melami, but once she hears they only come in one color, she decides she's not interested. What's the point if you can't customize it? Just get a regular umbrella. Or a rain coat. That's a much better way to show off your personality! Yuma tries not to scream about how much time he just wasted.

Zange shows Yuma a picture he took (with his mind) of a specific location in Kanai Ward, but can't quite remember where it was. Yuma has to go on a scavenger hunt to find the place that matches the picture and tell Zange how to get there. Zange assigns Yuma a numerical score based on how long it took him complete the quest (which is always too slow). This will be a repeatable quest/minigame with different locations every time.

As Yuma is about to leave the hotel, Zilch stops him. He offers a more formal introduction (since, you know, they didn't actually meet aboard the train) and volunteers (insists) to accompany the poor useless trainee as a senior detective, to show him how it's done.

Zilch has four animal companions with him at the moment: three caged mice and a dog named Bosch.

He doesn't seem to treat them very kindly, though. He isn't careful handling the mice's cage, and he orders Bosch around like one would speak to Alexa.

Anyway, Zilch and Yuma go look for the last remaining detective, Halara Nightmare. Canon ensues.

They run into The Boy and accept the quest to investigate the Nail Man murders. Halara needs some convincing.

At the church, Zilch makes a new friend, or so he thinks.

Zilch tactlessly asks the nun if her ears are natural or not, and starts bragging about how well his own surgery went. For the ears and tail, that is. The Nun doesn't like Zilch's attitude one bit. She watches him use his mice for spying and gets freaked out. The nun threatens to kill Zilch but he doesn't think she's serious.

Zilch says that he didn’t expect there to be a Metal Fox Church here, of all places. Yuma asks him to elaborate, and he says they’re a denomination that exists elsewhere in the world. The church near where he grew up was much larger and more spectacular than this one. The Metal Fox is a deity known for its fortitude and cunning, that offers protection from “hunters,” or persecution of any kind. Zilch doesn’t seem to believe in its teachings at all. #atheistpride

Meanwhile, the dog, Bosch, sniffs around and seems agitated by something. He can place the smells of all the church NPCs around the scene, but there's something else, too. Zilch barks the order - literally - for Bosch to track whichever scent doesn't belong, and the dog goes off on a solo mission.

Zilch has a plan to catch the Nail Man red-handed, but he won't tell what it is yet. He needs to prepare some stuff. So in the meantime, Yuma and Halara hold hands at several different crime scenes.

While Shinigami keeps blabbing about stripping detectives, Halara fucks off to who knows where and Yuma returns to the church to meet with Zilch. Zilch leads Yuma to the nearby woods and reveals his master plan to lure out the Nail Man by taking a doll with a slip of paper on it to the forest, and writing the name of someone for the Nail Man to kill...

"Yuma Kokohead," of course.

Yuma is terrified of being used as bait, but Zilch promises he'll intervene before the Nail Man can actually kill him, it'll be fine. So Yuma the pushover gets tied to a tree...

Halara unmasks the cloaked figure to reveal the priest of the Metal Fox Church, as they suspected. The priest begs for mercy - he was only trying to protect the people of Kanai Ward by purging it of corruption (and letting an innocent man take the fall for it)...!

Yuma thinks he might not have to rely on Shinigami's powers this time, but then...

Bosch leads them back to the church where Seth and his Peacekeepers are threatening Yakou.

And with that… it’s Mystery Labyrinth time!

Zilch’s voice is back to normal inside the Labyrinth. He seems oddly relaxed around Shinigami - because he insists this is not real and actually a dream. #atheist4lyfe

Yuma deduces that Zilch's name was written in the woods by the nun. She witnessed Zilch’s mistreatment of his animal companions and tactless assholery - but the thing that pushed it into murder territory was actually her recognizing the crest of the Alexander family on his fur coat. The full truth comes to light - the Alexanders have been known for generations as prolific trophy hunters. They “live alongside nature,” sure, but it’s a heavily controlled and subdued “nature.” This is antithetical to everything the Metal Fox Church stands for, so the nun, devout to her faith, believed Zilch to be an invasive threat to their way of life, and the peace of Kanai Ward.

And, since this revelation is taking place in the Mystery Labyrinth, of COURSE she gets a cool Mystery Phantom.

The gang also, like, solves the actual mystery.

Then once they find all the evidence they unmask the true culprit and his copycat, and the Priest's and Worshipper's souls are reaped.

Zilch is horrified. Somehow he didn't expect this was actually going to affect reality. Shinigami assures him that he won't remember any of the Mystery Labyrinth anyway, so...

Aaaaand eventually they do leave the Labyrinth. Halara is back to their usual steely exterior.

The masked priest in front of them drops to the floor dead. A scream from the church can be heard, presumably because the worshipper has just done the same. They go to check it out.

Then… Yomi shows up. He intimidates the group and doesn’t seem to deem any of the detectives worth his attention… until he notices Zilch.

Shinigami wonders if he recognized the Alexander family crest... but Yuma makes the connection and realizes Yomi might have had some sort of connection to the impostor on the train. That's pretty scary to think about. Was this the guy who tried to kill off all the Master Detectives coming into Kanai Ward? He seems dangerous...

Good thing Yomi has a devoted right hand to play around with. In front of everyone.

But anyway, regarding the Nail Man situation, Yomi decides to throw Seth under the bus, and punish him accordingly.

Bye Seth! Or should I say... Steve. :noes:

After his near-death experience, Zilch has a change of heart and decides he doesn't need a fur coat after all (seeing as it almost got him killed). Halara accepts it as payment for their services solving the case.... at least Zilch's half of it - Yuma still owes them a small fortune.

And with that the day is saved. Yuma plays a bit of baseball. Halara has a comfy new bed for their beloved strays. And Zilch... has a lot to think about.

-----

HELLO BOBA FANS!!! Thanks for your patience waiting for this update! I hope you can tell I've been working on this very hard (in between assignments for cartoon college)! The post didn't even fit all the images I made for this chapter - I'll be sure to post the other ones separately. At some point.

This chapter was an interesting challenge to write, trying to hammer down Zilch's character - how to make him distinct from his impersonator, but similar enough to lend credit to the impersonator. It took a while but I think I've finally landed on a solid backstory. I'll be posting more about him in the next installment of Boba AU - Zilch's Gumshoe Gabs. Then after that will be Chapter 2! Super excited to rub my gay little hands all over that one.

If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading! If you liked this, then please... I beg of you... draw me some Zilara ;_;

BOBA AU MASTERPOST: [link]

#rain code #master detective archives #mdarc #yuma kokohead #halara nightmare #zilch alexander #boba au #zilara #abcd art #edited to retitle rq

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ramblingoak · 1 year

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The Cardinal’s Bride, Chapter 4: There’s Something About Mary

~ A Romantic Adventure in the Old West: After being forced into a marriage with Mr. Saltarian by your father you are sent west to his estate in Nevada. Along the way you end up meeting one of the cowboys you have always fantasized about... ~

~~ Please visit The Outlaw Brides Masterpost to catch up and read more stories from this world ~~

Thank you to @tasty-ribz for the wanted poster! Lots of other amazing people have done fanart of Cowboy Copia so please go check it out: @meowsaidmissy (1 / 2), @snail-shell2335 here, @vahvco here, @ghulehgwen here, @rabidghoul here, @nocterish here and from valkyrieinpink on twitter. Also a huge thank you to @kissingghouls for aggressively holding my hand and letting me scream at her about cowboys.

Cardinal Copia x Female Reader: au, slow burn, romance, Copia in chaps, adventure, violence, Mary being a little shit, NSFW, 18+ only MDNI, 5,400 words

Mary didn’t like to think of themselves as a bad guy.

Living out here in the West was hard and not for everyone. You needed to be adaptable, willing to do things you might not be comfortable with. Mary had certainly done plenty of things they’d rather not think about, things they definitely couldn’t write home about (not that they were doing that anyway). But living out here afforded people freedoms they wouldn’t have elsewhere in the States and if there was one thing Mary liked it was the freedom to be themselves. Something they never had back home in Chicago, despite it being a larger city in the Midwest. Still full of the same stuffy, ignorant people that had a chokehold on much of the rest of the country.

Mary didn’t mind getting their hands dirty every now and then. Usually they stuck with random jobs like bringing home someone's wayward daughter (or wayward son). Every now and then they would take a job hunting down an outlaw of some sort, those usually paid pretty well. Mary never really worried too much about coming up against whatever idiot had pissed off the local sheriff enough to warrant hiring outside help. There were a lot of things Mary was good at and gunslinging was definitely one of them. It was probably the one fond memory they had of their life back in Chicago. Mary’s father had been an avid gun collector and he had been insistent on teaching Mary how to clean, handle and shoot every one he owned.

So when it came to gunfights, Mary wasn’t worried. They had only run across a few people that matched their skill and thankfully two of them stayed put in Nevada. The other was easy enough to avoid, The Cardinal and his Ghouls were never shy about their whereabouts. Mary found that their life was easier the further they stayed away from Cardinal Copia.

Mary didn’t think Copia was a bad guy exactly, certainly not as bad as his reputation would lead you to believe. But Mary and Copia tended to butt heads whenever they were around each other. It’s possible this went back to Mary allegedly staying the night with a girl Copia had favored back at The Ministry. It was also possible this had happened multiple times, but how was Mary supposed to keep track of Copia’s bedmates? Maybe if he stuck around for more than a few weeks before running off to cause trouble he’d have an easier time keeping someone’s interest.

The only thing Mary knew Copia was interested in was revenge and it was revenge against one particular person. That’s why Copia and his buddies ran amok throughout the West so much. It was why they spent so much time attacking stagecoaches and trains. For as long as Mary had known Copia they understood that the man only had one goal and that was destroying the life of who Mary was currently sitting across from.

“Mary Goore, thank you so much for coming.” Mary glanced back at the two men by the door of the office. The same two men that had tracked Mary down in California and insisted they attend a meeting with Saltarian. Normally in a situation like that Mary might’ve just shot them both and moved on, but everyone knew that Saltarian had a long reach and plenty of hired guns. Also plenty of money to hire more.

“Well I was promised some money just to show up so it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.” Saltarian chuckled, but Mary didn’t sense any humor behind it.

“Of course Mr. Goore, I’m a man of my word. You’ll be compensated for your troubles.” He continued to stare at Mary for a moment before glancing up at the men by the door and nodding his head towards them. Mary tensed when he heard them move but they left the room quickly. “Now, let’s get down to business. I’m looking for a man of your talents Mr. Goore. You have a reputation for finding wayward souls, do you not?”

“I suppose you could say that, yeah.” Mary shifted uncomfortably in their seat as Saltarian just stared at them. It was an assessing stare and it reminded Mary too much of how their father would look at them.

“No need to be modest, I’ve done my research. I had to for this job offer I have. There’s little room for error and I don’t enjoy it when people make mistakes. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying” Mary took a deep breath and wished he’d shot those two goons after all. “You gonna tell me what the job is or are you gonna wax poetic about my skills some more?” This was the wrong guy to be a smart ass too, but Mary couldn’t help it. They also couldn’t help but flinch when Saltarian straightened in his seat and narrowed his eyes at them.

Shit.

“You’re right Mr. Goore. My apologies. I’m not sure if you’ve taken the time to read any newspapers in the last month, but I recently became engaged.” Saltarian paused then and Mary mumbled a ‘congratulations’ which the man politely nodded at. He lifted a paper off his table and held it out so Mary could take it. “She’s a lovely girl from a decent family, although her father’s business skills leave much to be desired.”

Mary looked down at the paper and saw a sketch of a pretty girl, a girl that definitely deserved much better than marrying a guy like Saltarian. They looked back up as the man continued on.

“She’s from the Midwest, much like yourself, Mr. Goore.” When Mary raised an eyebrow Saltarian just smiled. “As I said, I’ve done my research.”

“Do you need me to escort her out here? Or has she already run off?” Mary flinched again and really, if there was one place Mary needed to not run their mouth in this was it. Thankfully Saltarian seemed more amused than anything.

“I do expect you to collect her, Mr. Goore. That much is true. But at this point you would be too late to collect her from her home in St. Louis.” Saltarian reached down and lifted up another paper to hold out for Mary and when they grabbed it and saw the face staring up from it Mary couldn’t stop the groan from escaping.

The Cardinal was glaring up at him from a wanted poster. Fuck.

“Has he taken an interest in your girl?” Mary wouldn’t put it past Copia, looking at the sketch of her face she was certainly his type.

“Cardinal Copia has always taken an interest in my affairs Mr. Goore, this will be no different. The man has been getting more bold in his assaults on myself and my associates. I think it’s expected he will make an attempt at kidnapping my future bride.” Saltarian took back the pictures when Mary passed them over.

“So then what’s the plan? I mean, I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, but even I can’t take on The Cardinal and those Ghouls of his alone.” Saltarian didn’t respond at first, he just stood up and made his way over to a large map on the wall.

“My men will be taking the usual route from St. Louis and I expect The Cardinal to make a move somewhere in western Missouri or when they get to Kansas.” Mary watched as Saltarian traced a route along the map with his finger. The man wasn’t wrong, Mary would expect Copia to make a move around there as well.

“If I leave now I could probably intercept them when they hit Colorado.” Mary got up to stand with Saltarian at the map. The man wasn’t very intimidating physically but Mary kept a hand on their gun belt regardless.

“Ah Mr. Goore, you need to think like The Cardinal for a moment. He likes to believe he’s clever so rather than take the direct route to that casino his brother owns he’ll go south and head through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.”

“Ok fine, but what am I supposed to do when I meet up with them? We’re not exactly friends so he ain’t gonna be very happy to see me, especially if he’s kidnapped your girl.” Saltarian smiled and made his way over to a small bar in the corner, pouring himself a glass of whiskey before he went back over to sit behind his desk. Mary stayed put and leaned against the wall. Having the door to the office at their back was not something they were comfortable with any longer.

“Once it’s decided exactly which route The Cardinal will take, my men will gather in one of the numerous abandoned mining towns that are scattered around the area and it will be your job to lead him and his Ghouls there.” Saltarian took a sip of his whiskey and then set it back down on his desk. Mary couldn’t help but notice it landed right on the picture of his bride.

“What about the girl?”

“I expect either The Cardinal will drag her along to the ambush or she’ll stay behind with one or two of his men. Either way all you have to do at that point is grab her and bring her to me.”

“Hopefully he doesn’t drag her to the ambush, I’d hate for her to get caught in some crossfire.”

“Mr. Goore I want to make one thing clear, while I’m hiring you specifically to collect my future wife, if she's between you and Cardinal Copia I expect you to take the shot.” Mary knew they probably looked like an idiot standing there with their mouth open, but that last comment was not what they expected.

“What are you going to tell this poor girl’s parents if she ends up getting hurt? Or worse?” Mary pushed off from the wall and walked over to stand in front of the desk. “Look, The Cardinal has a one track mind when it comes to you, everyone knows that, but he wouldn’t do anything to hurt an innocent girl. Or even a not so innocent one.”

“If she ends up hurt, or worse, it will be something easy to lay at Cardinal Copia’s feet.” Saltarian took another sip and gave Mary a smile that made their skin crawl. “There are plenty of pretty girls in the world, Mr. Goore, I don’t plan on wasting my time mourning this one.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The Cardinal had almost kissed you.

That was the singular thought going through your mind right now. It had started to sink in while he and this Mary person bickered. You weren’t sure how they knew each other yet, or if they were friends or enemies. Really the only thing you could think about was The Cardinal’s face as he had leaned closer to yours.

He had a surprising amount of freckles.

Ok, no you couldn’t think of those. Or of how green his one eye was and how the white one wasn’t as frightening as you thought up close. The black around his eyes had faded but you knew he usually reapplied it after breakfast. Same with the black on his upper lip. Would that have rubbed off onto yours if you had kissed each other?

What would the kiss have been like if Mary hadn’t interrupted you? Your parents barely touched let alone kiss so the few you’d seen shared between them were just quick pecks. Certainly nothing like the ones you had dreamed of between you and The Cardinal. Just thinking of some of those made your cheeks warm.

You yelped and clapped your hand over your mouth when the man you’d been thinking about suddenly squeezed your waist. Mary had an eyebrow raised at you and you didn’t need to look up into The Cardinal’s face to know he was doing the same thing. They seemed to be waiting for you to say something and you felt your blush deepen thinking back on what had been distracting you.

“I’m sorry, what?” You dug your elbow back into The Cardinal’s gut when he squeezed you again.

“No need to apologize, Darlin’. Just wanted to know your name.” When you told Mary they smiled at you and repeated it while leaning against a tree. “Well now that’s awfully pretty, don’t hear that one around these parts much.”

The Cardinal growled a little and you shivered when you felt it against your back. Something about Mary was putting him on edge and honestly you felt the same. They reminded you of some of the men that would attend business meetings with your Father at home. Men that seemed to say one thing but mean something else. Men that usually had an ulterior motive for everything they said and did. Mary was definitely hiding something and you knew that if you were picking up on it The Cardinal definitely was.

Which would probably explain all the squeezing and growling.

Why did he have to touch you so much? You tried to scoot forward a little in the saddle so your back wasn’t resting against him but his arm kept you in place. You grabbed at his hand and tried to pry his fingers off of you but they just dug in tighter and the sensation made you squeal and push back against him even more. It was your turn to growl but all he did was chuckle lowly in your ear.

“Well aren’t you two lovebirds precious!” You glared at Mary, but they just tipped their hat up and grinned at you. “Shame I wasn’t invited to the wedding.”

“There wasn’t a wedding.” The Cardinal’s mouth was still close to your ear and you absolutely refused to feel anything other than annoyance as his breath tickled your skin. Mary whistled a little tune and ambled over to their horse, pulling themselves up onto the saddle with ease. They adjusted their gun belt and coat then looked back over your way, you could see the teasing glint in their eyes and you prepared yourself for another stupid comment.

“Did you have her Daddy hot on your heels? Probably didn’t take too kindly to his daughter falling for an outlaw.” Mary threw a wink your way, but you just glared at them in return.

“Non sono affari tuoi, Goore.” You could feel The Cardinal getting more and more tense against your back, it seemed less and less likely these two were friends.

“Yeah I suppose you’re right, it’s none of my business.” Mary started patting their coat pockets and eventually reached inside their coat. It was your turn to tense when the hand around your waist quickly moved to his revolver, but you both relaxed when Mary’s hand reappeared with a cigarette and a match rather than a weapon.

“What are you doing out here?” The Cardinal had moved his hand off of his gun and brought it to rest at your waist once more. You bit your lip to keep yourself from making a sound as he gave you a little squeeze. It was embarrassing how the smallest of touches from him made you feel. What was worse is Mary’s eyes seemed to pick up every little thing The Cardinal was doing to you and every little reaction you had to them.

“Oh you know, just wandering around. Looking for the odd job.” The Cardinal snorted behind you and skimmed his hand back across your stomach to hold you more firmly. He pulled on the reins with his other hand and steered Brizio back towards the prairie with Mary following not far behind.

“Last I heard you were in California, hard to believe you ran out of things to do out there.” It was Mary’s turn to tense up and you might have missed it if you hadn't been around The Cardinal and his Ghouls the last week or so. You had been getting good at picking up on their body language towards each other. “Or did you run out of people to do?”

“Aww Cardinal, are you sayin’ I’m easy?” The Cardinal snorted again and you felt him relax a bit when Mary laughed in return. “Well you aren’t far from the truth, mostly I was just bored. So I wandered a bit through Nevada, then Arizona. Was making my way through New Mexico when lucky me, I ran into you.”

“Yes, how lucky.” Now you snorted, because the deadpan voice The Cardinal used was one you hadn’t really heard from him before. Regardless of Mary’s motivations at least they were bringing out some new aspects of your Cardinal. No, not your Cardinal. The Cardinal. Where had that thought come from?

“But seriously, how’d you crazy kids meet? No offense, Sweet Cheeks, but you’re not exactly dressed for traveling on horseback.” You had made your way out of the woods and back into the prairie, but The Cardinal pulled up on the reins and stopped right at the edge. Mary stopped their horse as well, close enough you could reach out and touch them.

“What does it matter to you, Goore?” The Cardinal had tensed up again at your back, his arm around your waist tightening.

“Oh it doesn’t really, but last time I saw you there was a different pretty girl in your lap.” You flinched but you couldn’t say if it was at the thought of The Cardinal holding someone else like this or at the vicious sounding Italian word that he spit out at Mary. Unfortunately Mary didn’t seem to get the hint they should shut up so they kept prattling on, “When was that, a few months ago? Anyway, that girl you were kissing at The Ministry was a looker, you think she still works there?”

You clenched your teeth and prayed Mary would just shut up. The Cardinal wasn’t yours and you should not be jealous hearing about him with other women. Of course he had been with others! What had Sunshine said? The Cardinal had a type. The cities out here were probably full of the women he normally went for. Just another reason for you to get your head out of the clouds and stop dreaming about him.

Mary must have picked up on your souring mood because they didn’t say anything for a moment, The Cardinal was silent as well. You wished that he would just start back for camp again, you needed to put some distance between him. Having him hold you like this was making it hard to think.

“You pregnant, Sweet Cheeks?”

“Excuse me?” Your indignant question was nearly drowned out by The Cardinal’s sudden laughter. You shoved your elbow back into his gut and he groaned before muttering ‘sorry’ into your ear.

“What? I’m just trying to figure out how he landed a girl like you.” Mary put his cigarette out on the handle of one of his guns and flicked it out into the grass. You decided you’d been silent long enough during this conversation and straightened up to answer them.

“For your information The Cardinal and his Ghouls rescued me from a group of outlaws that attacked my stagecoach back in Oklahoma. They’ve agreed to take me to my original destination.” A small smile appeared on your face when you felt The Cardinal’s hand give you a little squeeze.

“Well, isn't that kind of him? Damn Cardinal, you’ve sure changed your ways since I last saw you.” Mary turned to look at you both with a devious smirk on their face, “Did you find Jesus?”

In just a few seconds The Cardinal burst into action, letting you go and reaching over to grab Mary roughly at his shoulders. You yelped and leaned over, clinging to Brizio’s neck to try and stay out of the way. Mary was trying to fight back, but The Cardinal had taken them by surprise and pulled them roughly off of their horse. You could hear Mary groaning as soon as they landed on the ground.

The Cardinal straightened back up behind you and slipped both of his hands around your waist to pull you back against him. In the next moment he had gripped Brizio’s reins and spurred the horse into action, taking off back across the prairie towards camp. When his arm went back around your waist you couldn’t help but hold onto it with your hands, but soon you had to bring one back up to cover your mouth.

Laughter had started to bubble out of you and it wasn’t long before The Cardinal joined in. You assumed Mary would be getting up to follow you shortly and it wasn’t long before you could hear hoofbeats getting closer behind you. The Cardinal didn’t seem concerned, he just continued to steer Brizio closer to camp. You were curious as to how the Ghouls would react to Mary’s presence, hopefully they got along better with Mary than The Cardinal did.

Judging by Dewdrop’s shouting as you came back to camp you were wrong.

“What in the fuck are they doing here?”

“Aww I missed you too Dewdrop.” Mountain held an arm out and stopped the smaller man from launching at Mary. “Sunshine, my queen! You’re looking as beautiful as ever!”

It was Aether that stopped Sunshine, Swiss stepping in to lend a hand when she was still able to make progress towards Mary.

“Mary won’t be staying long. Sunshine!” She had managed to shove Swiss away and pull one of her knives out but stopped after The Cardinal shouted at her. Mary definitely wasn’t helping things, they had gotten off their horse and started blowing kisses Sunshine’s way. She took a few steps towards them again but The Cardinal said something in Italian causing her to growl and spin away to stalk off towards the woods, Dewdrop hot on her heels.

You felt his hands squeeze your waist briefly before he swung off of Brizio. He took a moment to watch Mary interact with Aether before turning and holding his hands up for you to take. You tried to be elegant about it but there wasn’t much you could do with how big your skirts were. He moved his hands to your waist and you settled yours on his shoulders as he practically lifted you off and onto the ground next to him.

For a moment it felt like you were both in your own little world, his hands were still gently holding you and he had you boxed in between him and Brizio. You glanced around briefly but it seemed like everyone else was preoccupied with Mary’s arrival. When he reached a hand up to tuck some of your hair back behind your ear you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift closed for a moment.

“That was quick thinking back there, Principessa,” You opened your eyes to look up at him and he gave you a small smile. “I’m impressed.”

You shrugged and looked back down to the ground, “It didn’t seem like you trusted them, so I figured I shouldn’t tell them the truth.”

“Which is what?” He brought a hand up to your chin and gently tilted your head back up so he could meet your gaze.

“That you’ve kidnapped me and you’re holding me for ransom.” The Cardinal chuckled briefly before letting you go and taking a step back.

“Ah yes, that.” You saw him flex his hand briefly and he glanced back towards camp for a moment before continuing, “Be careful around Mary. Stay close.”

“So you and Mary aren’t friends.” He chuckled again and shook his head.

“Mary would be friends with anyone for the right price.”

“Aww Cardinal, that hurts my feelings.” In an instant The Cardinal had grabbed your hand and yanked you behind him. You couldn’t help but let out a small yelp as he tightly squeezed your hand in his.

“Satan’s dick, Goore.” He made a move towards Mary but they immediately held their hands up and walked back towards camp. When Mary was out of earshot The Cardinal turned and started to let go of your hand, but he stopped when he saw you wince. “Ah, Principessa. Mi dispiace, are you ok?”

You nodded but couldn’t help but wince again when he brought your hand up and held it against his chest. “It’s ok Cardinal, I’m fine.” Your mouth fell open when he pulled your hand up further and placed a quick kiss on the back before dropping it and nodding his head towards camp.

“Bene, let’s go get some breakfast, eh?” He turned and started making his way towards the others, but for a moment you were frozen in place. The feeling of his lips against your skin was still there like a brand. You looked down at your hand almost expecting to see a mark, but there was nothing. A whistle made you look up to see him waiting for you with a familiar smirk on his face.

The bastard knew what he was doing.

Despite Mary’s presence, breakfast was relatively uneventful. They made small talk with Aether and Swiss but most everyone else was quiet. The Cardinal didn’t eat much and you couldn’t bring yourself to eat much either. Having Mary here was making you more and more nervous as the morning stretched on. Maybe The Cardinal was rubbing off on you, but it was a feeling you couldn’t shake.

It was obvious you weren’t the only ones who were suspicious of Mary’s motives. Dewdrop and Sunshine had wandered back over but all they had done was glare at Mary. Sunshine had dropped another knife into your lap and you gave her a soft smile before shoving it into your pocket with the other one. You weren’t sure you’d be able to use them if the need arose, but if she felt like you needed them you weren’t going to say no.

As breakfast wound down Mary pulled out another cigarette and you couldn’t help but sigh. How long were they planning on sticking around? You hated how on edge everyone was and you couldn’t help but worry that Mary was here to take you to Saltarian. It would be near impossible for them to take down The Cardinal and his Ghouls but you didn’t want to see anyone hurt. Even Dewdrop had grown on you a little bit despite the fact that he still growled at you if you got too close to him.

“So Sweet Cheeks, where did you say you were headed again?”

“She didn’t.” Mary smiled around their cigarette at The Cardinal’s response, not even looking his way and keeping their eyes on you.

“Right, right. Well I was just thinking that I could take her wherever she’s headed. Save you all the hassle of babysitting.”

“That’s not going to happen, Goore.” The Cardinal stood up and stalked over to Mary before continuing, “It’s time for you to go.”

“Ok, ok. I can tell when I’m not wanted.” Mary flicked their cigarette into the dying fire and stood up. “Oh and just a warning, I’d be careful if you’re heading west.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Ran across some of Saltarian’s goons setting up shop in an empty mining town about an hour from here.” You and everyone else in the camp froze at Mary’s words. It didn’t take long for The Cardinal to burst into action though, he closed the distance between him and Mary and clenched his fists in the front of Mary’s coat.

“Stronzo! You didn’t think this was something you should’ve shared earlier?” Mary laughed and that just enraged The Cardinal more. Aether and Mountain rushed over to try and separate them, but everyone else had their hands on their weapons and were staying put.

“I didn’t think it mattered! You were the one being cagey about where you were going.” Mary stumbled backwards as The Cardinal shoved him away. You watched as he stood there seething over what Mary had hidden from him. What they had hidden from all of you. When you looked down at your hands you found they were shaking.

Was this it? Was this where you were to be rescued and taken on to Saltarian? You clenched your fists and took a few deep breaths to try and stay calm. This should be something you wanted, you should want to be rescued. To find your way safely to your future husband and away from the hands of these outlaws.

You closed your eyes and took another steadying breath and then looked back over to The Cardinal. He had turned away from Mary, leaving Aether and Mountain to keep an eye on them. The Cardinal was looking right at you, his mismatched eyes capturing your gaze and you couldn’t bring yourself to look away. All you could think about was how it felt when he touched you, how it felt when he had kissed your hand. His gaze wasn’t wavering and you found yourself thinking of one more thing…

You didn’t want to go.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Copia had known they were heading into a trap.

It had been obvious and it pissed him off to no end. Mary had a terrible poker face and Copia knew from the minute they had stumbled upon him in the woods it wasn’t an accident. What Copia didn’t know yet was why Mary had led them into the trap to begin with. It was too early for word of the ransom to get to Saltarian, to get to anyone really. Rain and Mountain had hired someone to take the note directly to the bastard’s home in Nevada and there was no way they were there by now.

So what was Mary’s game here? It wasn’t like them to come up with schemes like this on their own, the only thing that motivated Mary was money. A lot of money. Copia had spent most of the morning trying to sort out who might’ve been the one to hire Goore and whoever else had been waiting in this damned ghost town. It wasn’t really something that mattered in the grand scheme of things, but focusing on it helped keep Copia’s mind off of you.

He shouldn’t have tried to kiss you.

He really had no excuse. Or at least he was trying to convince himself he had no excuse. Things had definitely felt different now that he knew you weren’t marrying Saltarian by choice. Finding that out had motivated him to tell you of his own reasoning behind his actions. Copia wasn’t one to open up about anything, to anyone. Yet that night by the campfire found him telling you things he’d never shared with anyone before.

There was just something about you he couldn’t shake. Maybe it was how even when he knew you had been scared out of your mind you still didn’t back down. How you hadn’t hesitated to come after him when his teasing had gone too far. Or go after anyone else for that matter, Dewdrop was still whining about the bite you had given him. But Copia had to be honest with himself and admit that from the moment he had met your eyes as he rode up on the stagecoach he had felt something.

That feeling was coursing through his veins as the bullets hit the overturned wagon he was hiding behind. He had to get out of here, he had to get his friends out of here. Copia refused to be taken out in this shit hole because of whatever dumb fucking deal Mary had made. He was so close to finishing what he had started years ago. To what Saltarian had started. This wasn’t going to be how things ended for him.

Copia looked back towards the road they came in on when he heard hoofbeats racing off and was met with the sight of Mary heading back the way they came. Copia growled and took a moment to collect himself. He thought back to his days in the abbey, to his days when he was an actual Cardinal. A prayer to Lucifer started to fall from his lips as he reloaded his guns with the last of his bullets and he took a steadying breath. He wasn’t going to let Mary take you.

He wasn’t going to let you go.

Go to Chapter 5: Copia

If you'd like to be added/removed from the tag list (or if I accidentally left your name off) of this fic or any of my others please leave a comment or send me a dm! Thank you 💙

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#my fics #my writing #the cardinal's bride #cowboy copia #Cardinal copia x female reader #copia x female reader #cardinal copia fanfiction #copia fanfiction #the band ghost fanfiction #ghost fanfiction #cardinal copia #copia

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imaginary-things-nothing-else · 1 month

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Masterpost of Finished Fanfics, Current WIPs and Future WIPs

Everything listed here is a (mostly) fully formed story with at least some kind of plot going on. I have many, many story concepts in my head that could turn into actual stories, but for the moment, these are the fully formed ones that are most prominently bopping around in my head.

Current Work in Progress (CWIP) = The story I am currently posting or working on as my main wip.

Future Work in Progress (FWIP) = The story I hope to work on next.

I will be separating these by fandom under the cut.

Dadneto/XMCU

1. Pictures In My Head [Currently being updated weekly]: Erik arrives at the school for the first time since he left after X-Men Apocalypse. Peter struggles with becoming comfortable around his father and with the idea of telling him that he’s his son. Also there’s a new Brotherhood that’s formed in the meantime. 2. We don’t talk about Erik (FWIP): Loosely based on Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” song. Not a songfic. It takes a look at Peter and Wanda and their relationship with the concept of their father when they were young. Featuring a much bigger Maximoff family with uncles, aunts and cousins. 3. Untitled Dadneto fanfics: Three different fanfics, each focusing on Peter, Wanda and Lorna and their relationships with Erik. Set in the far future where Peter is married to Crystal and Luna is 5 years old. 4. you’re the one I wanna go through time with (CrySilver Romance): A prequel to the above three fanfics focusing on Peter and Crystal’s relationship going from their initial meetings to their marriage and having Luna. It also includes Wanda’s introduction into the XMCU. (Disclaimer: Crystal is much different than her comic book counterpart, and Wanda is not MCU Wanda, she is my own character more based of her comics version.) 5. Untitled Lorna and Peter fanfic: When Lorna shows up at the mansion revealing that Erik is her father, Peter is shocked to find someone in the same situation as him and is glad to have a sister again. Will Lorna be able to convince him to also come clean to Erik? Focuses a lot on Lorna and Peter’s relationship. Wanda is dead rip 6. Untitled First Class AU: What if Erik knew about Peter and Wanda and had to babysit them for a day at the mansion while the X-Men are training in First Class? 7. Father and Son: A Dadneto Anthology: This is just a bunch of Dadneto reveals. I have so many different ideas for reveals and I figured I could just put them all in one place since not all of them have turned into fully fledged fanfics.

Miraculous Ladybug

1. The Color of Your Eyes [COMPLETED]: Marinette writes a letter about her date with Adrien to Chat Noir late at night. A songfic. Originally posted on my main blog. 2. A Kitten for Chat Noir: Chat Noir feels lonely and finds himself bonding with an abandoned kitten one snowy night. 3. 20 Questions: Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to reveal their identities and start by playing 20 questions.

Marvel Comics

I do have another sideblog @just-a-local-lunatic where I will be posting most of these first since that is my Marvel Comics sideblog, but I will be reblogging them here.

1. Untitled FrankLuna series: All of the fics listed below are part of this story. Basically it is a long series that will follow Franklin Richards and Luna Maximoff and how they develop and fall in love. 2. Kidnapped...Again [COMPLETED]: Franklin Richards and Luna Maximoff get kidnapped...again. Posted originally on my FrankLuna sideblog. 3. Of Siblings and Sea Monsters: When the Fantastic Four are taken by a sea monster, Franklin and Valeria must enlist the help of Namor the Sub-Mariner. 4. Home Alone: Franklin, Valeria and the Future Foundation get left home alone. Disaster strikes. Obviously. 5. Of Latveria and Libraries: Franklin and his first crush, Sara Jessen, do a school report on Latverian history.

Miscellaneous

1. burning stars: A Narnia/Silver Chair fanfic about Prince Rilian adjusting to life after being rescued by Jill and Eustace and learning how to live and love again. 2. Untitled Jeyna fanfic: A story where Reyna fights Death to get Jason back from the Underworld based on the concepts of myth of Alcestis. 3. Untitled Post TROS Reylo fanfic : Rey goes on a long quest to find a way to bring Ben Solo, the other half of her soul, back to life. Along the way she makes new friends and runs into old ones. Not a retcon of The Rise of Skywalker, mainly canon compliant. 4. In Which Megan Comes To Ingary: Set in the Howl’s Moving Castle book universe and set after the third book, House of Many Ways. About Megan and Howl’s relationship, their past and their future as siblings. Also a bit of mystery around who their father was.

Side Note:

I also have a writing account on Instagram where I write my original stories if you’re interested. Here is a link for it. And here is a link to my AO3.

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

So if there is a certain story you’d like to ask me about or that you’d like me to write next, please use the ask box! I would love to hear from you!

With all that done, currently, I am in the process of posting pictures in my head and working on drafting We Don’t Talk About Erik.

#masterpost #masterlist #my writing #writing ideas #wips #wip #writing #writing masterpost #ask #ask me anything #ask box #pinned post #talk to me about my fics #please i want to talk about themmmmm #ughhh

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shygirl4991 · 8 months

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MASTERPOST

Welcome Welcome Let me introduce myself Name:Shay Age: Local Adult that screams about gays Pronouns: They/them I write a lot of fics so click right there to see them all Fic List

I am the creator of Coffee N Bomb AU BREWING ROMANCE

@lizaluvsthis did the amazing designs for the au and pretty much all the arts! SMG4 SMG3

Cafe AU Info

Confused on who owns the AU click here Not Canon Short Glowing Stars

Shadow Vision

An AU created By @b-r-i-n-g-x written by me with the collab help of @lizaluvsthis @merp0515

Fic link 100 follows! by Lizaluvthis Official Blog for Shadow Vision My interest Video games i love playing all kinds mostly RPG's

SMG4 (Glitch to but mostly SMG4) Amphibia The Owl House Infinity Train FNAF (i dont play the games enjoy the lore) Escape the Night DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) Pokemon (still new to it) Homestuck

i have a twitter with the same name along with wattpad and AO3! you are free to do art of my fics just give me credit and make sure to share with me so i can share my excitement and love! Talking to me

im all for chatting in DMs and being friends just dont go to far and show respect! Dont be dirty or flirty towards me trust me i get that way to much, im super friendly so im always down to chat about things especially SMG4 stuff!

SMG3 color text theory SMG4 color text theory

Q&A for Split into Threes

Splits AU new look Pan Trio New Look SMG4 CEO OF RIZZ REACTION

Thoughts on Adware

MY SONA!

Liko's from SV VA claim Aster VA claim

#shygirl4991 #masterpost #redid

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granat-sof · 1 month

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Minerscales Cyber AU masterpost!!!!

TW// thoghts about death

Have a nice read!!!

Lucky is a promising athlete at the top of his career. Like many others he possesses dozens of body augmentations, such as adjustments to his stamina, a special eye with crazy accuracy, head plates to protect his head from concussion. And the most notable thing - his arm. Not many athletes agree to form partnership with big companies that provide augmentations, but Lucky agreed and got a robotic arm, describes as one of the best options on the market. And Lucky is not willing to stop there. He's planning to upgrade more and more of himself, feeling like his humanity is completely unnecessary, it's weak and doesn't help him realize his true potential.

But his intense workouts and crazy work performance lead to perfectly capable arm being destroyed beyond repair, leading him to the Middlesea Hospital, a special facility that combines both healthcare and augmentation repair.

Lucky's failure led to all of his contracts being canceled, he was even refused in being provided with another arm, since his stunt almost made a really bad reputation for the company. Instead Lucky is painted in a bad light, as an irresponsible and arrogant prick that doesn't utilize delicate tech properly. Which is true to some degree, at least the last part. Lucky clearly believed that an augmented arm has no limits, but it was a mistake from his part.

And Lucky meets another patient at the hospital. Miner.

Miner is. Just a miner. He's from a distant desert region, filled with nomads. He belongs to one of the few groups, that uses human force to mine, mostly because of low budget. For that very same reason Miner possess really bad almost handmade heart implant. His heart was failing him and he had to come up with something quick. With all of his money and help of his siblings he managed to obtain an augmentation from a local master. But shortly after, it started failing him too and he came to the Middlesea Hospital by Hailey's advice to get his implant hopefully fixed.

Lucky and Miner start exercising together after Lucky complains that his regular arm may never be as good as a robotic arm. And Lucky shares his overall problem. Eventually even gets officially kicked out of the team. Lucky loses the whole point of his life and has to rebuild it from scratch. And Miner is there for him! And they bond! Lucky really shows all of his worry about his self worth, his inability to achieve anything without his enhancements. And he starts training the hospital team too.

Edega suggests Lucky a great offer with a new experimental prosthetic arm, the one that won't break even with all of the pressure that an ambitious athlete is willing to put on it. But Lucky feels conflicted... He can afford it, but he's not entirely sure if that's how he wants to move on with his life.

As for Miner, he cannot afford a better heart implant and is just sure that he may not live for long and wants to enjoy his life, and help as many people as he can. Except that he may be eager to help Lucky way more than others, for some reason. He's not too willing to talk about his own situation though.

Miner just. Doesn't really want anyone to see his heart acting out. He's legitimately afraid someone is gonna see him drop dead. The least thing he wants is someone witnessing it and freaking out. Especially kids. And especially Lucky. He doesn't really feel fine even with dying in the doctor's arms. He's scared of getting really close with Lucky, because then it would just make it harder for both of them. He's 100% sure there is no future for him specifically. There's no place for him in Lucky's future. At first he tries to just isolate himself from anyone because he legitimately thinks he may die at any second. But when Lucky sees him looking like he's in pain and grabbing his shirt he's not calm until that man is at the doctor's office feeling better. And after this, Miner really really doesn't want anyone to know about how delicate his situation is and wants to hide it from Lucky. Doesn't want to mention the part where he can die. But a slip up from Ian makes it clearer and Lucky gets into a full protection mode. Just forcing this man to speak. And being absolutely crushed knowing his dear friend or even more than that is legitimately prepared to die. He never saw anyone feel that desperate. He... Doesn't want to just leave it at that. He found a way better forcing drive than success - human bonds and this bond with Miner specifically.

He makes a decision. He tells Miner that he has a future, and Lucky's own future definitely includes him. And gives a huge amount of money, he could've spent on a crazy new arm, to Miner's new heart implant, leaving the man in complete shock. And eternal gratitude. He's so grateful he kisses Lucky on the cheek (and they both prefer not to talk about it).

Lucky is preparing to have his new arm, meant for average use. And Miner is preparing for his operation. He is incredibly scared and freaked out by it. Human augmentations actually seem really scary to him when it’s him getting them. But Lucky wants to pay back the eternal kindness Miner had towards him and just genuinely wants him to feel better, so he's there with him the entire time. Up until the moment of his operation.

They end up having their procedures at the same time. Lucky is done pretty quickly and left to sit there and feel worried for his friend.

He is the first person to visit him once Miner is allowed to have visitors.

Their romance escalates from there since what they've been through together brought them really close. Lucky still gets to feel slightly conflicted and hesitant, but Miner starts it himself with giving Lucky a proper kiss as a thank you for his care and generosity.

Miner has to recover and do some tests. And Lucky is there, helping him like a coach and making him healthy and well again. His new implant seems a bit too small, but it doesn't cause any irregularities, so he's free to leave the hospital with Lucky!

And they do end up having a future together, trying to build their lives from scratch and not make it go as bad as it did previously.

#rd cyber au #miner scales #lucky rhythm doctor #lucky jonronero #maximo lucky jonronero #miner rhythm doctor #fanon #minerscales

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captaincryolicious · 2 years

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✧ two make a team

03. it always goes like this

✧ scaramouche x gn!reader pokémon au series

✧ summary: you've hated each other for as long as you can remember, and you want nothing to do with the male you despise so much. but then you suddenly have to work together to achieve the goal you both chase. can you put the rivalry aside and make it happen? or will the hatred you share get the best of you?

✧ content utc | prev | masterpost | next

Today’s weather wasn’t all that nice, despite it being midsummer. Though the sun was still shining against the backdrop of the vast sky, it was partially cloudy and more often than not was the sun obscured from view, dropping shadows over Hearthome City. The temperature was pretty low in comparison to the days prior, which was mostly because of the wind that pulled through the streets. It caught your hair and set the surrounding trees and shrubs to rustle frantically, and you made your way to the local store with an irritated frown. You strongly disliked windy days, hated the way the not-so-gentle breeze toyed with your clothes and made you feel cold all over.

You preferred staying inside, but you had so many things to do. You had to buy new pokéballs and potions at the poké mart since you were almost out of those, you had to train your pokémon – especially now that you signed up for an official tournament, you had to pick some berries for your pokémon – maybe go on a hunt to find Lycanroc’s favorite berry, to apologize for the experiment with Collei’s self-made snack. All with all, there were quite some things on your to-do list and the sooner you got them done, the sooner you could go inside again.

Your visit to the mart was brief; you got what you needed and left again, the bag you carried on your back a little heavier now that it contained multiple pokéballs and various potions. You pondered for a moment. Bring your new-bought items home first or go straight to the surrounding wildlands to pick some berries? The weight you felt on your shoulders simplified your decision, and you made a quick stop at your house and dropped the stuff right behind the front door before heading out again.

Armed with a basket instead of your backpack, you released Lucario from his pokéball to have him help you pick berries. With your companion by your side, you left the city and ventured into the surrounding greenlands, making your way to where you usually picked your berries. The wind was still blowing all around you, and you pursed your lips in annoyance. Oh, the things you did for your beloved pokémon. Conquering the wind you hated so much just to get them their favorite berries.

You just had to fill the basket to the brim and then you’d stick around to have some training rounds with your pokémon right there in the greenfields. Maybe you’d encounter some interesting wild pokémon as well, something that would make your trip pretty much rewarding. All sorts of pokémon hid in the tall grass, so who knew what you would run into?

Suddenly, Lucario came to a halt. You kept walking for a few steps before you noticed, but you too halted and turned around to face the canine pokémon.

“What’s the matter, Lucario?” you questioned.

He narrowed his ruby eyes at you, shaking his head and pointing his paw into the direction of a few trees that obscured the berry shrubs from your view. Lucario was giving you a warning, but you had no idea what he meant. It was as if he was asking you not to go to the berry shrubs, which confused you. Lucario was strong. No matter what it was that he was warning you for, it was nothing the two of you couldn’t take on.

“Can I just check it out?” you asked, curiosity getting the best of you.

The pokémon almost rolled his eyes at you, but he gave you a curt nod regardless. You approached the trees, hiding behind one of the trunks that gave you a good view on the berry shrubs. At first you saw nothing out of the ordinary, but then your heart stilled when you laid eyes on a familiar figure.

Kunikuzushi was there.

From the looks of it, he was there with the same goal as you; picking berries for his pokémon. Speaking of his pokémon, he had them all released from their pokéball and they darted around him happily. You saw his entire team gathered around their trainer. There were Haunter and Mimikyu, his ghost companions. Torracat was dozing off in the sparse rays of sunshine that occasionally filtered through the deck of clouds. Minun was helping your rival pick berries and Absol was just standing there, as if he had no interest in the others’ activities.

And then there was the sixth pokémon of his team.

Smiling happily, his Oddish sat atop his head, settled comfortably between strands of violet hair that were pushed in every direction under the wind’s velocity. The little pokémon kicked her feet happily every time Kunikuzushi held up a small berry piece for her to eat, only to struggle to keep her balance on his head right after.

He turned around to hand a berry to Absol, and you caught a glimpse of his face. He looked so carefree in that very moment, the harsh mask he often wore dissolved for a major part. You couldn’t deny the fact that your heart skipped a beat, but you blamed it on the surprise of seeing him like that. You only ever saw him with a nasty scowl on his features, and this was something entirely different.

A small aww fell off your lips unwillingly, and you only noticed the small sound of awe when Lucario gave you a look. You quickly shook a head in a frantic manner. No no no! That didn’t really happen! Okay, yes, the Oddish on top of his head was adorable but his stupid face had to ruin the picture. No way in Hell you would ever call Kunikuzushi adorable. Your pokémon totally misunderstood.

You couldn’t stand to watch any longer, pushing yourself away from the tree and stepping into the small clearing. Absol was the first to notice you, and he made a sound to alert his trainer.

“Leave some berries for me, will you?” you said icily as Kunikuzushi turned around.

The stone mask instantly returned when his violet eyes found you. The male glowered at you, his entire carefree demeanor vanishing like snow underneath the sun. Even his Oddish’ smile faltered, alerted by the sudden shift in the mood of her trainer. You walked closer, ignoring the way Absol gave you a warning look. Next to you, Lucario took his bone. Much like you and Kunikuzushi, Absol and Lucario had their own rivalry going on.

“Go look somewhere else,” Kunikuzushi replied. “I’m here now and I don’t want you around.”

“This is a public area, you dipshit. You have no right to send me away,” you spat, scrunching up your nose. “Though I also don’t want you around.”

“Then leave,” your rival shrugged. “It’s that easy.”

“Want to battle it out? The loser has to leave,” you suggested, your hand already flying to your belt.

“No thanks, just let me pick berries in peace for damn once,” Kunikuzushi scowled, kicking his foot against the basket on the grass softly. “Or is that too much to ask?”

“It isn’t,” you growled. “Just leave a few berries for me, then. Or I’ll have to walk for another thirty minutes to reach the next spot.”

“Do I look like I care?” the male asked. “Go walk for thirty minutes and leave me alone.”

You let out a shaky breath, thrumming with frustration and irritation. The wind had already brought a bad mood upon you, and this was making it many times worse. You absolutely hated his arrogant guts. Why was he being so difficult when all you asked was for him to leave a few berries behind? It was no big deal at all, and he was probably acting up only to taunt you. You knew you shouldn’t fall for it, but at the same time you couldn’t really help it. So often did he lay out bait, and you always bit.

“I’ll have Lucario whack you a concussion with his bone,” you threatened, but Kunikuzushi only snorted.

“He won’t,” he simply said.

You glanced at Lucario, and the pokémon gave you a very clear and meaningful look in return. He’s right, I won’t, it said. You thoroughly wondered, whose side was he on? Okay, he was just beyond done with the petty rivalry you two had going on and refused to partake in it, but the least he could do was help you out, right? You silently weighed your options. It was widely frowned upon to use a pokémon’s move against humans so as much as you would’ve loved to thunderbolt the heck out him, you decided not to do so. But that left you with very little to do, aside from surrender and leave.

How humiliating.

“Look, Y/N,” he said, speaking your name as if it was poison to him. The wind threw his bangs as curtains afore his violet gaze, and he looked at you darkly. “You’re everywhere. You’re there when I train my pokémon, you’re there when I stock up on supplies in the store, you’re there when I pick berries outside of town, and now you even signed up for the same tournament. You’re around whenever I do as much as breathe and I hate it.”

“You’re not all that special,” you sneered. “I have the same problem as you.”

“Then you should know all too well how much of a pain you are to me,” Kunikuzushi spat. “Do something good for once and leave me alone.”

That was the final straw. Pursing your lips, you shot him your hardest glare you could muster before whirling around and leaving the clearing behind. You felt your heart hammering in your chest in sheer anger and frustration as you stomped away. Tears stung in the corners of your eyes, but you refused to release them. You weren’t going to cry because of that asshole, and not even tears or pure anger were allowed. Nothing happened, you were used to having him treat you like that and you treated him in the same way. But sometimes it kind of got to you, and this seemed to be one of those moments.

Lucario softly patted your arm, and you flashed him a weak smile.

On the inside you were boiling with unkempt emotions, all sorts of negativity and hatred swirling around like the stormy wind that blew through the wildlands. Despite your unwillingness, your feet dragged you along the sandy path away from Hearthome City. As much as you didn’t feel like going on a thirty-minute walk to obtain some berries, you also didn’t want to disappoint your pokémon. With the wind tousling your hair, you embarked on your trip, your every step rigid with annoyance.

You felt humiliated and upset, but you channeled all those feelings into one thing; determination. Kunikuzushi was going down in the tournament. You felt bad for Aether and Collei, who would be dragged into your mess, but it was as it was. You had to beat your rival, no matter what.

✧ taglist (send in an ask to be added/removed)

@nao-cchi @kunikame @anqxlluv @elysiasbae @yumirisan @sakiimeo @shizunxie @theglowfly @g0re-h0und @snowfinches @d-a-r-k-s-w-a-n @frzenhans

#genshin impact #scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #genshin impact scaramouche #kunikuzushi #genshin impact kunikuzushi #kunikuzushi x reader #the wanderer #scaramouche imagine #scaramouche imagines #kunikuzushi imagines #kunikuzushi imagine #two make a team

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skyedancer2006 · 2 months

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Corroded Balance AU Masterpost

Links

AU Playlist (Spotify Link)

Intro Post + First design drafts

CB!“Kieran” Ref Sheet

Artfight Attack by @/ofowlsdinosaursanddragons!

Artfight Attack by @/mooflettes!

Art: “Kieran” and Carmine

About The AU

The land of Kitakami is home to a shrine dedicated to a duo of deities: Ogerpon and Dokutaro.

Ogerpon is a symbol of growth and life to the people, while Dokutaro is seen soley as rot and death. The two form a balance, and a cycle of natural rebirth, but most people only see them at the surface level, with Ogerpon being good and Dokutaro being evil.

Carmine and Kieran’s family have taken care of the shrine for generations, and when two daughters children were born to the family, each was trained to take the role of shrine maidens.

The elder sister, Carmine, mainly looked after Ogerpon’s section of the shrine, leading to the locals seeing her in a much better light than her younger sister brother, Kiki Kieran, who cared for Dokutaro’s section.

Contained within the shrine were an orange and a peach tree, grown side by side and winding into each other, appearing almost as one. Stories said that the fruits contained a fraction of the respective deities’ powers, and that eating it would grant those powers to a mortal, but at a heavy price. Part of Kieran and Carmine’s roles were keeping people away from the tree, resulting in both of them having ready access to the sacred fruits.

Kieran was treated poorly by many of the locals, and over the years his resentment for his role, the shrine, and by extension his sister, grew.

Dokutaro could sense Kieran’s agitation, and being greatly upset with the hundreds of years of being seen as evil, reached out to him with a proposition. Take one of the sacred fruits and let himself become a temporary vessel, so Dokutaro could teach the people a lesson. Kieran accepted, not knowing the deity’s plan to take violent revenge on the people, rather than just clearing the misunderstandings.

Dokutaro took complete control of Kierans body when he ate the peach, intending for him to be a temporary vessel. However, they overestimated the strength of a mortal mind and body, leading to Kieran essentially dying in the process, and his body warping greatly under the strain. Dokutaro regrets this outcome, as they did respect Kieran, but sees it as a necessary sacrifice.

Carmine and some visitors to the shrine witnessed what happened to Kieran and were horrified. The visitors wanted to kill the evil, while Carmine tried to defend her brother.

In the end it didn’t matter as Dokutaro, using Kieran’s body, proceeded to destroy the shrine and kill as many of the visitors as they could in their revenge quest; not truly caring if they killed innocents as well as those who disrespected them.

Carmine could only watch in horror as what used to be her brother destroyed everything they cared about. She fled from Mossui town, and Kitakami as a whole, taking time to recover before she started trying to find a way to save her brother, unknowing that it was an impossible task.

This leads Carmine to make a deal with Ogerpon, since the deity of growth also wants to quell her counterpart. Thus begins Carmine learning to use Ogerpon’s abilities, and eventually having to face Dokutaro many times in her quest to stop him and free Kieran.

The rest of the story is still a WIP.

Extra Lore

Kieran is transmasc and GNC in this AU; he was fine with the shrine maiden attire, but not the title.

Most legendary and mythical Pokémon take the role of a deity or other important figure (eg. Keldeo being a famous heroic mortal and the Regis being protector golems). The exceptions are the man-made ones like Mewtwo and Genesect (minus Magearna, who represents human civilization and advancement), and the Ultra Beasts.

I am debating making this a larger connected universe, but don’t really have much motivation to do so xd

Fun Fact: this AU was heavily inspired by the Undertale AU, Dreamtale, in both story and designs.

Gallery

#had this sitting in my drafts for a while and never posted it lol #will be updated as I make more posts #pokemon #pokemon au #corroded balance AU #masterpost #au masterpost

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papillon82fluttersby · 1 year

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Famous Five Art Nostalgia #12 – Part 1

Introductory post

Masterpost

🌊🎟️🐴 Five Go Down to the Sea – Le Club des Cinq au bord de la mer

Original publication date: 1953 (UK), 1959 (France)

(Original cover by Aldo de Amicis, 1959)

Whereas most of the illustrations for the first edition of the FF series were divided between two artists (first Simone Baudouin, then Jeanne Hives), this book stands out for having a different illustrator: Aldo de Amicis. Sadly, this guy follows the trend initiated by Baudouin and also swaps Dick and Julian’s hair colour. Sigh.

~~~~~~

Plot summary (adapted from Wikipedia):

Siblings Julian, Dick and Anne, and their cousin Georgina 'George' and her dog, Timmy, spend a holiday at a coastal farm in Cornwall.

(On the train to Treamannon [Trémanoir])

There, they are nicely welcomed and hosted by the garrulous Mrs Penruthlan [Mme Penlan] and her enormous husband, whose monosyllabic utterances they find incomprehensible and quite funny. The children encounter a young boy named Yan (Jan) [Yan (Jean)], as well as a group of travelling entertainers called the Barnies [les Barnies].

(Young Yan is exceedingly curious about the Five, but also very skittish)

(George picks up a leaflet promoting the Barnies’ upcoming shown)

The children learn that long ago, villainous locals would shine a light on stormy nights to direct ships onto rocks to wreck them, and the vessels would be smashed and their cargoes washed ashore and stolen. Julian and Dick discover a light is again being shone at night, so the children set out to solve the mystery.

(Right after seeing the mysterious light being shone at night, the boys cannot wait to tell the girls their discovery)

The Five put their investigations on hold when the Barnies arrive at the farm, as they spend the day helping the Penruthlans clean up the barn and prepare the feast preceding the show. After the show, Dick and Julian get into a bit of mischief when they nab a horse costume and get stuck inside due to a malfunctioning zip.

(Clopper [Clopinant] the hilariously funny (pretend) horse is the highlight of any Barnie show)

(Julian and Dick examine Clopper’s head up close)

Resuming their investigations, the Five visit the tower from which the light was shone, but they get locked up in a cellar and told by the smugglers that they had come at an 'awkward time.' Yan, who had secretly followed the Five, helps them escape through the Secret Way, a path used by the Wreckers of old. They go back to Mrs Penruthlan, in the misbelief that Mr Penruthlan is in league with the smugglers. When the Five and Yan discover that Mr Penruthlan is actually with the police and find out that his consistent "aahs", "ooohs" and "ocks" are because he didn't have his false teeth in, the Five quickly warm up to him.

(After following Yan through the Secret Way, the children realise that the passage ends up in a shed at the farm)

After joining forces with Mr Penruthlan, the Five discover that the 'Guv'nor' of the Barnies actually is the exchanger of the goods the smugglers stole from the wrecked ships. Mr Penruthlan discovers a white package containing smuggled drugs inside Clopper, and in the end, after calling the police, Mr Penruthlan guffaws and hands Clopper over to Julian and Dick, and wishes them luck with it.

Bonus:

(Now what I want to know, is *what* did Dick and Julian do with that horse costume after this book?!)

~~~~~~

Cover art through the ages:

(Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list; sometimes the dates are difficult to pinpoint; and I have purposefully not included editions that re-used similar cover art, with differences only in layout and font style.)

(Original cover art by Aldo de Amicis, Hachette, 1963 – dark-haired Julian has a nicely-developed chest 😏, while Dick seems uncharacteristically coy and wary of water 🤨)

(Famous Five and the Big, Huge, Ginormous Beach Ball (at least Timmy gets to enjoy the shade!) – Jeanne Hives, Hachette, 1966)

(Watery fun! Jean Sidobre, Hachette, 1972)

(More watery fun! J.P. Morvan, France Loisirs, 1977)

(Yet more watery fun, because why stop a good thing? Umberto Nonna, Edito Service, 1981)

(Anne and Dick seem awfully tanned back there – remember to put on sunscreen! Jean Sidobre, Hachette, 1984)

(A pretty scenic view courtesy of Paul Gillon, France Loisirs, 1996, based on earlier art from 1992)

(Trapped in the cellar! on top of the tower?? Wtf 😩 – Frédéric Rébéna, Hachette, 2007)

(Okay, I don’t love Auren’s art but I admit that this cover does make me want to go on a trip to the seaside 😎 – Hachette, 2019)

~~~~~~

That's all for today, thanks for reading!

#papillon82 reads #famous five art nostalgia #famous five #le club des cinq #illustrations #aldo de amicis #enid blyton

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chi-chi-chimera · 2 years

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Fic Ideas (free to a good home)

Long masterpost of various plot bunnies and fic ideas I’ve had over the years, for various fandoms. Pick them up if you’re interested.

Note: the formating on this only works if you go to my blog itself, not on dashboard.

TRANSFORMERS:

Human town AU, in the 80s. Mining town where the mines have since closed. Shockwave owned the mine and was in with the government, secretly mining uranium. Outliers = shockwave sponsored children’s ward at hospital for all these kids turning up with cancer. Megatron was a miner, now running for a government position (state governor). Shady deals with local gangs. Beating up gangsters. Running Overlord out of town.

Empurata Optimus. Caught by Sentinel Prime during the time when he’s running with the outliers. Make an example of him like they did with Shockwave. Mnemosurgery to make him ‘Lawful’. However following the letter of the law and their government conflicts and he is able to break through the mental block. Alpha Trion gets him the Matrix. Joins the Decepticons. MegOp.

Starscream gets to be happy and learn he can win by actually making things better for people. Wheeljack helps. People stop being mean to him and he gets over his trauma.

Rung remembers he’s Primus from the beginning and tries to stop the war.

RIVERS OF LONDON:

Role reversal AU, somewhat based on sixthlight’s ‘Changes of Perspective’:

the Folly/Little Crocodiles being the mainstream and Nightingale being the ‘faceless man’. Similar background with Ettersberg happening differently, Folly still being around, Chorley et al joining in the traditional way and getting up to all sorts of unethical things. Lesley POV at least at first - she goes to murder squad, peter goes to case progression. Peter ghost hunting, meets nightingale, but no transfer as nightingale isn’t police. Learning magic in secret - Lesley is aware something’s up but reckons peter is trying to keep his new posh bf secret. Different jobs mean they see less of each other anyway. Lesley partly caught up in Punch thing tho not as pretty polly - sees Folly magic during Chelsea riots and is selected as police liaison. Picks up magic similarly to canon, so they are forced to train her.

Magic still a well kept secret - rich, important people know, general public less so.

Time advances. Lesley and Chorley get on/work well together. Slowly inducted into Dark Side of Folly, human experimentation, unethical magic, right-wing bigot attitudes a la canon. Drifting further apart from Peter, who is moving slowly up his own side of the career ladder. Seems outwardly to have lost some of his drive/ambition, but this is because of split attention between police and wizardry.

Nightingale left Folly after war with David Mellenby to retire - soured by war. David kept on with scientific assessment of magic, ended up recruiting some students, associating more deeply with demimonde, was deemed to be a threat by the Folly and died suddenly and inexplicably - murdered, but that can’t be proved. David had been keeping enough of all this from Thomas that he wasn’t targeted by Folly at same time - also some fear of Nightingale’s power. Subsequently Thomas withdrew from the world even more, and then the anti-aging started to happen, and he dropped off the Folly’s radar (or, Folly tried to kill him, he escaped, and faked his own death?)

Nightingale running an ‘underground railroad’ for victims of the Folly - chimeras, fae and the like

Nightingale trying to amass enough power to take down the Folly’s wards, hence various ritual things as per Faceless Man, and eventually coming to the Folly’s attention once more, though they don’t know who he is

Nightingale doesn’t want outward war with Folly because of collateral damage to demi-monde, they keep trying to force a confrontation, even though lots of fear of his level of power/speculation about still being alive and how

Base of operations - family property, but might not have been able to legally inherit it? False identity from the Rivers, owes them a favour - possibly paying that back by running the demimonde safehouse.

Some kind of Dresden Files casefic crossover

Magnus Archives crossover:

has Chorley been working toward an Entity ritual this whole time? The Lonely was trying to get Nightingale during the time he was the Last Bastion of English Magic. Newtonian magic and the genius locii as something unconnected to the 14 - not everything is lovecraftian horror, but the Archives tend not to run into nice things.

Black Library is full of ‘Leitner’ books

halley/raynier and newton were friends - the Dark has been concealing knowledge of the Dread Powers from Newtonian wizards for a long time

It starts with a book Peter finds at the goblin market, one which has strange signare and which Nightingale takes from him very quickly before it can get its teeth into him too much

Peter and Arcane Architecture - robert smirke et al

Sometime mid season 4/2018 but pre apocalypse, enough for trauma-hungry archivist and peter has a lot of trauma

STAR WARS:

Twin Sunrise universe rewrite of the ST:

Ben Solo has been having dreams of the desert for as long as he can remember. It’s hot and dry and he is always hungry. The sand is a graveyard of Imperial vessels, remnants of the civil war. He has told his parents about his dreams, but none of them have any idea what they mean. Then one night there are voices in the dream. Voices upon voices, screaming at him.

Ben has been training with his mother and uncle in the ways of the Force along with other children who had previously been destined to be Inquisitors

Hux Palpatine is growing up alongside him, with some strength in the Force but not enough to have been a Republic Jedi. He and Ben are tentative boyfriends.

Rey is a wage-slave in the desert of Jakku and she’s had a running commentary in her head for as long as she can remember, going on about the Sith and her Destiny.

The ST but Finn is the main character and it’s about brainwashed stormtroopers and the political state of the galaxy makes sense.

Maul trains Grogu AU:

Maul is the one who comes for Grogu on Tython and he gets there before Luke does.

Luke arrives too late and is very confused.

Time Travel Vader AU:

Vader gets sent physically back in time, suit and all, and runs around the galaxy fucking shit up, threatening his younger self, pining over Padme, keen on killing Palpatine etc.

The Jedi think he’s some ancient Sith Lord from the Old Empire who has been in carbonite this whole time or something.

Purge Trooper Cody! Au:

That one tumblr post basically.

ATLA:

Ozai is ‘helping’ AU:

Ursa fails to assassinate Azulon, and is killed. Ozai flees the palace before he is imprisoned and executed, and ends up having to leave the Fire Nation after he is proclaimed a traitor.

Being too open with his firebending in the Earth Kingdom is… troublesome. Killing is fine, but even Ozai can’t take on entire Earth regiments. He resolves to be more sneaky.

Still refuses to use bladed weapons, just martial arts forms.

The ‘Red Dragon’ spirit - Ozai is rather enjoying having the freedom to hunt and murder people occasionally on his travels and have it blamed on a fire spirit. It’s how he de-stresses.

Some years later Ozai is no closer to finding a way to kill his father and his brother and reclaim the throne. He is aware his children were adopted officially by Iroh. After Aang wakes up, he spends longer in the South Pole before leaving to travel north with Katara and Sokka. They run into Ozai on Kyoshi Island, who immediately sees this as an opportunity.

Ozai doesn’t intend to win forgiveness by capturing the Avatar, but given that he is an official traitor to the Fire Lord, why doesn’t that make him one of the ‘good guys’? - not that he tells them all the details about why he’s a traitor/ The Avatar and his two water barbari… friends could surely benefit from some adult supervision/protection, yes? And the Avatar will eventually need a firebending teacher.

Ozai is really enjoying manipulating these children - more than he should considering its beneath his dignity - but the longer he travels with them the more he hates their damn childishness. He has to find time to go and… ‘relieve his stress’. After a while the tales of the Red Dragon spirit reach Aang’s ears, and he’s horrified that such an evil spirit seems to be following him - he will have to find it and deal with it! That… doesn’t really work.

“I’ll save you from the pirates!” Murders everyone.

FMA/ATLA crossover:

Ed and Roy Mustang get caught up in some human transmutation kookyness and sent through the Gate to the ATLA world. Alchemy doesn’t really work there, but Truth is able to align them to bending elements - Roy to Fire and Ed to Earth. They pop out somewhere in the Earth Kingdom and spend some time getting the lay of the land and working out what they can do now.

Unfortunately they figure out the bending before figuring out the political situation, and Mustang firebends in front of Earth soldiers. The pair are taken captive.

This is the same Earth unit that ends up capturing Iroh - when Zuko comes for him, they all escape together.

Mustang tells people Ed is his son without an understanding of the implications of a firebender with an earthbending kid. This doesn’t go over well with the Earth soldiers.

Ed and Roy have to get to somewhere spiritual in order to get back home, so end up travelling with Zuko for a while. They know they’re only getting one side of the story of the war, and Mustang isn’t going to risk making any moral judgements about any side.

CRITICAL ROLE:

Established relationship complicated by ep 97:

Caleb and Essek started up a relationship before the revelation that he was behind stealing the beacons in S02E97. Lots of guilt feelings pre-97 from Essek. Caleb trying to figure out how he feels about Them after it. Forgiveness and coming back together by the time of Aeor and the endgame.

Time travel AU:

Something bad happens with Trent after Aeor etc and Essek travels back in time to meet the Mighty Nein and try and eliminate Trent before it gets to that point.

Who is this mysterious drow wizard adventurer? Essek falls back on Secrets and doesn’t tell them who he is or even that he knows them. Just poses as a regular adventurer who shares their goals. Weird tension with Caleb and Molly, but he doesn’t know much is safe to explain, and doesn’t want to jeopardize the relationship that ought to build between the Caleb and Essek of his own timeline.

Perhaps he looks slightly different as well from injuries sustained in final fights. Still has the eye tattoo as a memento of Cognousa - previously it had no power left, but here and now…

Initially Mighty Nein POV reacting to this stranger. Drips and drabs of Essek POV.

Scourger/Evil!AU:

Loyal weapon Bren escorts his Master Trent to meet with the Shadowhand who is delivering the beacons for a research project. He is very curious about said research, but that isn’t what he is For. He is For Killing Traitors.

Essek starts to get concerned about the lack of research feedback and knowledge sharing from the Assembly. He starts to reach out for answers but keeps being rebuffed. Bren is sent to warn him off, reminding him of mutually assured destruction but also that he has much more to lose than they do. Once in Essek’s tower though, Bren is caught off-guard by the drow’s dunamancy and is knocked out or otherwise imprisoned.

Conversation. Both find themselves intrigued by the other. Bren wants Trent dead and sees Essek as an opportunity. Essek wants a way to know what the Empire knows about the beacons. They decide to work together.

Secret meetings in between their other responsibilities. Sharing magic. Trading Beacon research for dunamancy knowledge. Impressed by each other’s ruthless ambition. Intellectual attraction becomes physical attraction.

Then the attempt to steal the beacons back and the Mighty Nein’s involvement (called something else now because no Caleb. Chaos Crew?)

Professor Caleb:

Students in his transmutation class at the solstryce academy trying to figure out what his deal is, and why he has so many boyfriends - a new one every few months!

Other volstrucker AU:

Volstrucker Caleb AU where he and his team attack and kidnap the Shadowhand... not knowing that his brother Verin is friends with a mercenary group called The Mighty Nein who immediately start hunting their asses to get his asshole brother back as a favor to their friend.

AU where the hot boi the M9 are friends with is an echo knight panicking about his evil brother getting nabbed and said evil brother is just being a BITCH to Bren, Astrid, and Eodwulf the whole time. Volstrucker trio torment.

MDZS:

XiYao Dark post-canon AU:

LXC takes JGY back to Cloud Recesses and imprisons him in the jingshi in knowing mirror of his father’s actions. JGY has core sealed and house is warded. Plus knows all allies are dead. LXC being driven darker and darker by grief. Relationship goes back to being sexual - maybe JGY is trying to manipulate him but he tells himself he won’t be caught by that, but also wants him so much still. Lots of twisted emotions and no happy ending.

The juniors thoughts on LWJ and (to them) MoXuanyu being in a relationship. Speculation re: replacing WWX given the physical similarities. // LWJ has actually been fucking lots of demonic cultivators in the 13 years.

What if Baxia shipped NieYao!AU. Sabers have the ability to discern truthfulness via blood?

LSZ feeling guilty about being in love with three people (JL LJY, Ouyang) when real Lans are only meant to have one true love.

No-one survives the burial mounds - WWX dies there when he’s dropped in. WWX came back wrong trope. JC noticing little things are off. Genuine evil. LWJ too much in love to let himself see it.

Murder twink basement crew shenanigans. Perhaps Xue Yang brings his new boyfriends home to meet the family?

Jin Ling grapples with the legacy of his uncle and complicated/ambivalent feelings towards him

Wangxian Evil!Ghost AU, inspired by that one fic:

Lan Wangji makes contact with a spirit when playing Inquiry. Trying to get it to move on, but this proves difficult. Talking builds a relationship. Wei Ying introduces himself by that name. Everything seems normal enough.

Little details about WWX’s life start to strike LWJ as odd, but he is reassured by WWX each time.

WWX persuades LWJ to travel to the Burial Mounds. They talk about the history of the place - centuries ago the founder of demonic cultivation the Yiling Patriarch ruled the area and eventually died there. WWX “huh, sounds cool, no i don’t recognise that story why’d you ask ha ha”.

Once inside the Burial Mounds WWX reveals that he is indeed the Yiling Laozu and manifests as an evil ghost.

LWJ realises. He fucked up!

LXC goes after his brother but its already too late. He’s been killed and is stuck as a ghost by WWX’s side forever!

Reincarnation Wangxian AU, inspired by that comic:

Modern times but the Xianxia past is real. WWX is currently alive and reincarnated, living as a historian. He moves to Gusu for research purposes.

Back then, LWJ died from the thirty-three strokes and wasn’t around to see WWX reincarnated. That’s why he’s been haunting Cloud Recesses as a ghost for so long. WWX was brought back by Mo Xuanyu, but wasn’t able to avoid detection with LWJ to protect him. JC tracked him down and that was a whole… situation. JGY framed him for the arm thing and the cultivation world demanded his death.

NHS ended up going after JGY in a totally unsubtle way and just… ended up assassinating him. It caused another war and all the major sects were caught up in it. Nie Clan ended up destroyed. Tumultuous period. Bad ending all round.

WWX is haunted by LWJ’s ghost. Magic is real???

IDK romance and historical discovery. WWX gets several published papers out of this.

Yiling patriarch/evil overlord trope:

Many years ago the yiling patriarch ruled the yiling wei sect and did necromancy shit. Sects got together to bring him down and defeated/killed him. A backlash curse from his death created the Burial Mounds.

In the ‘present’, LWJ is doing normal Lan things. How modern do we want to go?

Somehow the yiling patriarch has returned!

Wangxian meetcute.

Rebuilding the yiling wei? Chilling and doing necromancy things? Enrolling in university to see how far the studies of necromancy have come since his day? Revenge? World domination?

#fanfiction #plot bunnies #mdzs #the untamed #rivers of london #transformers #atla #fma:b #star wars #critical role #tma

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daechwitatamic · 2 years

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Chapter 1: Interesting Spider Facts || KTH

(banner by @itaeewon)

Title: What Was Hidden (Masterpost)

Rating: explicit, minors DNI pls

Genre: college!au, angst, eventual smut, strangers -> friends -> lovers -> idiots -> lovers

Pairings: Taehyung x female reader, MYG x OC

Summary: This is how it all starts: Taehyung is flunking Western Lit. You’re assigned to tutor him. His paper on Strindberg’s The Ghost Sonata could pass or fail him for the semester. As you and Taehyung slowly become friends, then more, you learn that there’s a lot more to him than you originally assumed. Together, you navigate your own experiences with the play’s themes: one’s “true self” versus one’s “shown self”, darkness behind the facade, and how people can be quite literally haunted - and it has nothing to do with ghosts.

In which your best friend from home visits you on campus and you fall hard for over Taehyung down some stairs.

Chapter Warnings: language, recreational drinking

Word Count: 5k

I saw the sun and thought I saw

what was hidden

The Ghost Sonata | Scene III August Strindberg

Chapter 1 - Interesting Spider Facts

Saturday, November 3rd

The train comes in with a roar, the force of the air almost making you take a step further back from the tracks. As it slows to a stop, you fix your hair, which got blown all to hell by the train’s passing.

People start coming down the stairs, making their way slowly towards the parking lot, or towards where you’re standing on the paved trail that leads back to your college campus. You eye each of them, searching for a familiar face. A very specific familiar face.

You recognize her shirt before she’s close enough for you to see her face; you should - you bought her that shirt last Christmas. You wave an arm as she comes closer, and once she spots you her steps speed up in excitement.

It’s early November, and your best friend from home is visiting you on campus for the first time ever. It’s your third year, and she’s never come before now – between her own classes, and the distance, it just always worked out better to see each other when you went back to your parents’ house each time campus closed for a break.

You’re happy to see her, of course, but you’re also beyond excited to welcome her into your little world here, to show off the places you like to go, introduce her to the friends you’ve made in your time here.

You hug each other, ignoring her little rolling suitcase on the pavement beside you.

“It’s a bit of a walk back,” you warn her, starting to head back down the trail. “And then we have to sign you in as a visitor at the security place.”

You chat as you walk, and she fills you in on what’s been happening back in your hometown. You kick at small piles of fallen leaves as you walk; autumn is well underway and the trees that line the paved trail are nearly all bare. The crunching beneath your feet is oddly satisfying, and you realize you’ve been tuning Nina out to focus on stepping on crispy looking leaves.

“Sorry, what?” you ask when you notice she’s stopped talking and is looking at you sideways, clearly annoyed.

“I was saying that Erin told me there’s a party tonight?” she repeats, not hiding her annoyance at all.

Things have been a little weird with you and Nina lately, which is part of why you were excited to have her visit. You were hoping to rekindle how you used to be – you’d been best friends since middle school, with a ton of history between the two of you. You had a lot of love for each other, but things had definitely been strained recently.

It had started back in the spring, when you’d broken up with your last boyfriend, Davis. Your mom always said when it rains, it pours by which she meant bad shit likes to happen all at once. That had been your spring – you’d broken up with Davis, things got weird with Nina, and you’d lost your part-time job at a local bookstore when it went under and had to close.

Always in threes, you noticed.

In the seven months since all of that, you’d gotten mostly back on your feet. You’d dated here and there over the summer, trying to get over Davis. It was… a process. You’d also gotten a new part-time job through school, tutoring. Right now, early in the semester, the students who signed up were doing so voluntarily so the workload was pretty light. You knew, though, that after first semester grades went out you’d be assigned students to tutor if they were on official academic probation. That just left Nina as the final problem to be solved.

And you are doing a crackerjack job of it.

“I just love that you and Erin are so tight,” you mutter.

Nina rolls her eyes at you. “I’m sorry you two have your shit,” she says flatly, sounding not sorry at all, “but I was friends with her before that went down. Anyway, she said there’s a party tonight at -.”

“I know where it’s at,” you grumble, kicking more leaves. “I was already planning on us going. Not that I want to, now that I know she’s going.”

Nina rolls her eyes even harder, throwing in a dramatic grimace. “You need to move on from that.”

You say nothing, pressing your lips tight together. Conversations with Nina tend to turn into arguments, especially when the topic of Erin and Davis comes up.

“Anyway,” you say finally, after you walk in silence for a few more minutes, “we’re going to the party. My roommates are coming too.”

“Cool,” she chirps, happy again. “I brought like three outfits, you can help me choose. Are we thinking slutty? Classy slutty? Lounge slutty?”

“I’m noticing a theme,” you deadpan, and she laughs. It feels like old times, for a second. “I mean, it’s a frat party. I think you’re safe with any of the above.”

You sign Nina in as an overnight guest at the security station on campus and then lead her to your dorm. The sun is low behind you, despite it being only around 5 pm, as you swipe your school ID card through the card reader to gain access to your building.

“Oh good,” one of your roommates says as you open your door upstairs. “We were about to order pizza.”

You’re in a triple, which means three of you girls in one room; while this is not always ideal, the three of you do get your own bathroom. That makes it worth it, in your opinion. The other suckers have to share with the whole hall.

The roommate you get along with best, Kiko, is sitting on her bed, her laptop open in front of her. Your other roommate, Bridget, is sitting at her desk, leaning forward towards her light-up mirror, eyeliner in hand.

“This is my friend from home, Nina,” you say, gesturing back as Nina comes through the door with her tiny suitcase. “This is Kiko, and Bridget. You can put your stuff by the bottom bunk, it’s mine.”

Nina rolls her suitcase over as you and Kiko begin discussing toppings.

Two hours later, you’re crumpling up an empty pizza box. Behind you, Bridget pours vodka and juice into plastic cups as Kiko fiddles with her Bluetooth speaker to get the pregame tunes started.

“What time do you want to head over?” you ask the room at large. You run a hand through your hair, silently trying to determine if it needs a shampoo before the party.

“Ten? Ten thirty?” Bridget suggests. She’s sort of running the show – the frat guys are her friends, not yours. “Jin told me nine, so I feel like that’s an appropriate level of fashionably late.”

Kiko meets your eyes from her bed and you match her face quickly. Neither of you is huge on the party scene, honestly, and sometimes you both just can’t with Bridget’s nonsense.

“Is the party on campus?” Nina asks, from where she’s laying sideways across your bottom bunk, red solo cup in hand. Her long curls cascade over the side of the bed.

“No, Seokjin has a place off-campus,” Bridget tells her. “It’s not technically a frat house, but it kind of is.”

Nina looks at you, but it’s Kiko who speaks up to explain. “It’s not an official Greek-life frat house, through the school,” she says. “We have those. But Jin rents this house off campus – he’s had the lease the last two years - and all the guys who room with him are in his frat too.”

“Hopefully one of the younger guys can snag the lease next year,” Bridget muses. “After Jin graduates? I would hate to start having to party on campus again and deal with the fucking Campo.”

“Campus police,” you translate automatically for Nina’s sake.

A little bit later, Kiko makes her way into the bathroom, where you’re pressed up close to the mirror, trying to get your eyeliner even.

“How early am I allowed to bail?” she asks you under her breath.

You laugh a little. Normally you two stick together, and if one of you wants to leave early you go together. You’re not sure you can pull an early disappearing act while Nina’s with you.

“You can bail as soon as you want to,” you tell her seriously. “But I have to stay tonight. You’re on your own.”

You lower your voice, not wanting to be heard over the music playing out in the room. “And Nina told me that Erin is going, which means Davis is going. If there was ever a night I wanted to bail… believe me… it’s tonight.”

Kiko meets your eyes in the mirror, her mouth making a tiny little frown. “Are you going to be okay?”

Erin, who – yes – has been friends with Nina a long time, is the girl Davis cheated with back in the spring. Well, before that, probably. The spring was just when you found out.

You and Davis had decided to go to the same college back when you were still together, obviously. You regret it big time, now that you have to see him all over campus.

You’re a tiny bit tempted to tell Nina to go to the fucking party without you.

“Yeah,” you sigh. “It’s one night. I’ll just try to stay in a different room than them.”

“Maybe you’ll meet someone,” she says hopefully, leaning against the doorframe behind you. You give up on your eyeliner and untwist the top of your mascara.

“I’d rather not,” you say flatly. “Frankly, everyone on this campus with a penis can go fuck themselves.”

“That is not the right attitude!” Bridget hollers from the other room.

Nina comes to stand next to Kiko. You’re feeling a little trapped, with the two of them blocking the whole door.

“How long are you going to stay on this I hate men crusade?” Nina asks.

You want to point out that she has barely heard your crusading, as it were, since she was decidedly uninterested in listening to you rant back when you’d caught Davis and Erin. You knew she was in an awkward position, being friends with both you and Erin. You understood. But it had sucked anyway, not being able to talk to your best friend as you went through that.

“Until someone proves to me that I’m wrong,” you say, capping the mascara and taking a step back from the mirror.

“She says that,” Bridget says, coming to join the little party in the doorway, “but watch her tonight. Any guy that tries to talk to her, she’ll castrate. Verbally. You can’t say prove me wrong and then refuse to let anyone try, Y/N.”

“I can and I will,” you say lightly. “Now I need more vodka, so all of you scooch.”

It’s about a 20 minute walk to the house, which on a frigid November night is no joke.

“I should have had more to drink,” Kiko says solemnly. “So that I wouldn’t feel the cold.”

“We’re almost there,” Bridget tells her, pointing. “They’re at the end of that block.”

The music is deafening even from the street outside the house, and you have no idea how they don’t have the police there already. The neighbors must all be deaf… or other college kids. Bridget leads the way, opening the front door. The music goes from deafening to whatever the next step up might be. You resist the urge to cover your ears, but you adjust to it as you follow Bridget through the living room. It’s packed with bodies, but she’s been partying here long enough that she knows her way around.

You’ve been to parties here a handful of times, but not since becoming Bridget’s roommate in September. The fact that she’s friends with these guys is an interesting coincidence. You’re not sure you’ve even ever met Jin, but he and Bridget are on a first-name basis, apparently.

She leads you off to the staircase on the right, and up. It’s quieter upstairs, and she opens the first door in the unlit hallway.

“Coats,” she says, and you all toss your jackets towards the already mountainous pile on top of the bed.

Downstairs again, you have to fight your way through the packed living room to the kitchen, where the liquor and mixers are lining the countertops. Even though you pregamed, you hardly feel it at all, and you’re perfectly willing when Bridget suggests you all start with a shot.

“The guys are downstairs,” she informs you, after checking her phone. “We should go say hello.”

“Why?” Kiko mutters in your ear, and you smile at her. Nina is looking around eagerly, and for a second you wish you could feel like she does – like everybody you see is a new opportunity, a fresh start, a hopeful possibility. You used to feel that way, before Davis decided you weren’t worth his time, and that you were too stupid to catch him.

After you’ve all mixed yourselves drinks, Bridget leads you back through the jungle in the living room, steering you all left towards a door you’d never know was there. She opens it, and it leads down a dark, narrow staircase.

It’s not quite as loud in the basement, which means you can talk without screaming directly into each other’s ears. There are a few beer pong tables in the middle, and some couches shoved in a U in the back.

Bridget leads you to the opposite corner behind the pong tables. You recognize a few people in the group that’s crowded together back there – you’ve seen them here at parties, and a few of them around campus.

Bridget squeals and throws her arms around the neck of one of the taller guys, somehow managing not to spill her drink.

“Hello, gorgeous,” she cries, and you fight back an eye roll. You like Bridget, really. She’s just… her.

“Hello yourself,” he tells her, and you wonder if he knows her name or if to him she’s just another cute girl who comes to his parties.

She introduces the rest of you girls, and Jin rattles off the names of the guys around him, but you aren’t listening. You don’t care. You have zero interest in talking to any of these dudes.

After a few minutes, Nina takes your hand and pulls you to play beer pong with her. You’re not amazing at it – hand-eye coordination was never your forte – but she’s great, and you hold your spot at the table for longer than you thought you would. When you finally lose, you look around the room, searching for your friends. Jin’s crew is still lording over their corner of the basement, but you don’t see Jin himself anymore. You don’t see Bridget either – suspicious – but Kiko is still there, talking to a blond guy, so you head back that way, tugging Nina behind you by her sleeve.

She tugs you back, leaning close to tell you, “I’m going up to make a new drink.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” you ask, shouting.

She shakes her head, then points questioningly at your cup. You still have half of what you mixed earlier, since you’ve been drinking beer at the pong table for the better part of an hour. You shake your head no, and point at Kiko. “I’ll wait for you with Kiko!” you call to her, and she waves as she heads towards the stairs.

When you reach Jin’s little group and Kiko, she barely turns to acknowledge you, so engrossed in her conversation with the grumpy looking blond.

Well, cool. Now you have no one to talk to until Nina gets back – and knowing Nina, as you have for an entire decade, she’ll probably get swept up in conversation upstairs and never come back for you.

“You need to use your hips more,” a voice says, very close to you, and you startle.

“Excuse me?” you say, raising an eyebrow.

The speaker is most definitely one of Jin’s crew – you recognize him from other parties, and you think you might have shared a class freshman year – but you don’t know his name. He’s tall, practically towering over you (and you’re in heels!), and his dark hair settles in pretty waves just above his eyeline. You determinedly do not notice his jawline, the intensity of his gaze, the sexy cock of his eyebrow. You definitely don’t notice the cute-ass freckle on the end of his nose. Or the one on his bottom lip. You’re not looking at his lips.

You’re not.

Damn. He looks like a god. You hate him immediately.

“When you play pong,” he explains. “You have great hips – use them to box out your opponent.”

You look at him, blown away by the audacity. “Seriously? The first thing you ever say to me in your life, and it’s about my ass?”

He frowns, and you can’t tell if it’s playful or if he means it. “I didn’t say anything about your ass,” he points out.

“Tread carefully, Taehyung,” Bridget says, appearing out of fucking nowhere, slinging an arm over your shoulders. “Y/N doesn’t like to leave survivors these days.”

You give him – Taehyung, apparently - a level stare, hoping he’ll listen and back off. Instead, he licks his lips and then fights a smile as he says, “Is this like a black widow thing? I’m pretty sure they mate first.”

Your jaw drops. “You did not just fucking say that to me,” you say, voice low and dangerous even to your own ears.

He holds up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m just giving interesting spider facts. No need to get upset.”

“I’m done with this conversation,” you say flatly, and you cut your eyes at him as you turn to go. “Enjoy your night.”

“Wait, are you actually mad?” he asks, suddenly puzzled. Besides him, Bridget laughs, used to the way you chew up and spit guys out lately. “We were just flirting!”

“You might be flirting,” you counter. “Not me. I need to go find my friend.”

“She’s upstairs with her tongue in Hoseok’s mouth,” Bridget tells you, and you very nearly spit your drink all over Taehyung, which honestly would serve him right.

“Sounds like your friend has the right idea,” Taehyung says offhandedly, and you firmly turn your back to him, absolutely over it. He wants you to box out your opponents? You’ll start right now.

Beside you, Kiko tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and smiles shyly, still talking with the same guy. You catch Bridget’s eye and raise your eyebrow. She pulls out her phone and starts tapping away. When you feel your pocket buzz, you know it’s her.

[12:42 AM] Briiiiig: IKR!!!!

[12:43 AM] Briiiiig: that’s jin’s bro yoongi and I have NEVER SEEN HIM CHAT UP A GIRL

[12:43 AM] Briiiiig: THIS IS AMAZING

You smile, and type a message to Kiko - “Get it girl!!!!!!!!!!” You know she won’t see it until later - she’s so into this conversation, she probably doesn’t remember that phones even exist. “This is getting boring,” Bridget says to the group at large. “Does anyone have a party trick to share?”

“I can lick my elbow,” one of the guys, who sports a sleeve of tattoos and a few facial piercings says. The guys all boo him.

“I have a great party trick, but the pay-off is a little delayed,” Taehyung says, very seriously. “I can predict the weather - it’s going to rain like hell tomorrow.”

“My phone knows that trick too,” you say flatly, pulling it out and swiping over to the weather app. “And it says tomorrow will be warm and sunny.”

Taehyung levels a look at you, his earlier playfulness fading. “I’ll put money on it.”

You roll your eyes, over it and him. You choose not to answer, instead eyeing your empty cup. You head upstairs with two missions in mind – one, to detangle Nina from whichever poor soul is Hoseok, and two, to mix a new drink.

Maybe not in that order. You stop in the kitchen, eyeing the different liquors and mixers and trying to decide what sounds good. You’re settling on more vodka and juice when you feel someone come up next to you. You glance over to find Taehyung looking at you, brows furrowed.

“Oh my god,” you utter, completely exasperated. “Why are you following me?”

His frown deepens. “I feel like I actually pissed you off downstairs.”

“You did,” you tell him, eyes wide with disbelief. “So go away, please!”

“No, wait,” he says, reaching out a hand as if that will settle you down. “I wanted to apologize. Sometimes when I drink, dumb shit just comes out of my mouth without my brain’s permission. I wasn’t trying to be… disrespectful, or gross. But I think I was. I’m sorry.”

You hear absolutely none of this. You feel like you have tunnel vision: the whole party shrinking down, the kitchen fading, your pulse roaring in your ears louder than the music, as you spot Davis and Erin out in the living room, laughing with Nina and some skinny guy.

Davis looks great – all tan from playing soccer all summer, probably, his hair a little longer than the last time you saw him. You’re suddenly remembering how it felt to be tucked up against him, his arm around your shoulders, his laugh reverberating against you as you held on tight. But it isn’t you glued to his side, it’s Erin, her arm around his middle as she wobbles on strappy heels. Your heart is hammering in your chest.

“Okay?” Taehyung is asking you as you come back into your body. He’s looking at you intently. You’re suddenly so nauseous that you’re not sure you can make it to a bathroom.

“Sure,” you say, even though you have no idea what he’d been talking about. “Whatever. I need some air.”

You have to pass Davis, Erin, and Nina in order to get outside, but there’s nothing you can do about that. You walk quickly, eyes on the ground, shouldering people out of the way as you head for the front door.

You’re better the instant you pull your first drag of cold November air into your lungs. You take the stone steps slowly, stopping at the bottom and dropping to sit on the final stair. You rest your elbows on your knees and press your forehead into your hands, eyes screwed shut, trying to just breathe and steady yourself. Fucking Davis and fucking Erin and fucking disloyal Nina.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket and you pull it out, starting to feel the cold night air on your bare fingers.

[1:24 AM] Nina 💕: did u just go outside?

[1:24 AM] Nina💕: girl it’s cold! come back in

[1:25 AM] You: let me know when ur done talking to that piece of garbage and I’ll consider it

[1:27 AM] Nina💕: 🙄

You don’t answer this one. You’re calmer now, the quiet and the cold air doing wonders for your nerves. You lean back against the steps, feeling the cold seep in through your jeans, your fingers starting to sting. The clouds that pressed down on you and Nina earlier in the day as you’d walked the paved trail are gone now, and you can see stars clear and bright. You make out a few constellations idly, and hunt for the moon, which is hanging barely above the treeline. It’s a sliver tonight, barely there at all.

You wish you could talk to someone - anyone - about Davis. If you were about two shots drunker and another girl had come out here, you’d probably tell the whole damn story. Kiko would listen, you’re sure, but you hate unloading on her - especially because she isn’t a big sharer herself. You don’t like that it feels one-sided when you open up. Bridget would care, in a very Bridget way, but it would undoubtedly end in advice that had to do with getting someone else’s dick, and you just aren’t there right now. And Nina… well, Nina is inside laughing it up with the asshole in question, so there goes that.

You’re starting to wish you’d brought your coat. Once you’re cold enough you rise, heading back up the way you came.

Luckily, the group you had to pass on your way out have either disbanded or relocated, because you make it through the living room without seeing anyone you recognize. You make your way back to the basement door, ready to navigate the dark stairs.

Halfway down the stairs, you hit something solid and lose your balance completely, letting out a shriek. You tumble sideways, around the obstruction, and a hand closes roughly around your elbow, pulling you back. The sudden change of direction stops you from careening further down the steps, but it also jerks your cup out of your hand, and it splashes as it bounces down the steps. You twist, off-balance, and land on your ass two stairs down from where you tripped. You’re shocked that you didn’t break a heel… or a bone. The hand is still tight on your elbow, stopping you from sliding any further.

For a minute, you just sit there in shock, trying to figure out what happened.

“Ow,” you say finally, once you’re sure you aren’t going to fall down more stairs. “What the fuck.”

“You’re welcome,” a voice says, low, and of course it’s fucking Taehyung.

“Why are you sitting on the stairs in the dark?” you hiss, completely losing your shit. “I almost died!”

“I missed a step and hurt my ankle,” he says, voice still low. “I tried to warn you I was here – I guess you didn’t hear me.”

“I guess I didn’t,” you echo. His hand is still on your elbow, holding tight, as if you might still slide down the rest of the stairs. It’s too dark on the staircase to see his face clearly. Now you feel kind of like a jerk. You didn’t know he was hurt, you just thought he picked a bad spot to hang out. “I didn’t kick you or anything, did I?”

“No,” he says. “Are you okay?”

When you tell him you are, he finally lets go of your elbow, his fingers brushing the top of your arm lightly as it falls away from his grasp. You stare at each other in silence through the dark.

“Thanks for the save,” you say, feeling a little awkward. You’ve been pretty mean to him tonight, and you are fully aware of it. “Quick reflexes.”

You get to your feet unsteadily, eyeing your spilled drink on the steps below you. “How hurt are you?” you ask. “Can you make it down?”

He’s quiet for a second, and you actually feel a twinge of concern. Gross.

“I’m not sure,” he says finally, voice laced with defeat. “Do you mind going downstairs and getting Jimin? Please?”

“Yeah,” you say quietly. “I can do that.”

You make your way down the rest of the stairs, casting a glance over your shoulder at the bottom. You can barely make out his form, halfway up, a shadow just barely moving against the dark.

You approach Bridget and Jin, who are still talking with the same group of guys. No Nina in sight.

“Hey,” you say to Jin. “I’m looking for Jimin?”

“That’s me,” a guy to your left says, looking at you quizzically.

“Taehyung asked me to get you,” you explain, turning to him. “He’s sitting on the stairs back there, trying to trip people in the dark. He says he hurt his ankle.”

“Oh shit,” Jimin says, immediately putting his cup down on a nearby table and hurrying towards the stairs. The guy that Kiko’s been talking to all night – Yoongi – follows him at a clip. This seems like a bit of an over-reaction to you, but it isn’t your problem. You did what you were asked, and now you’re off the hook.

Kiko turns to you, face flushed, clearly fighting a smile. “Hi,” she says sheepishly. “How’s your night going?”

You laugh. “Not as good as yours, apparently,” you tease. “I can’t wait to hear about it later. Has anyone seen Nina? She was upstairs before, but I lost her.”

Bridget says, “She’s probably still with Hoseok somewhere. Hey, the couches are empty, anyone want to play Kings?”

Nina shows up a little bit later, the aforementioned Hoseok nowhere to be seen. She perches on the arm of the couch near you, watching as you all finish the round.

“Want to go soon?” she asks. “It’s almost three.”

“Sure,” you say easily. “Kiko? Bridg? You feel like heading back?”

Bridget isn’t thrilled, but she’s outvoted three-to-one, so you all head upstairs to find your coats and start the walk back. You don’t see any of the guys upstairs, or your ex. Thank goodness.

Back at the dorm, the four of you vie for mirror space as you scrub your faces with makeup remover. Kiko’s done first, slipping under her comforter and letting out a series of happy noises. Bridget climbs to her top bunk, and Nina slides into the bottom bunk that belongs to you. You rummage in the mini-fridge and pass everyone a cold water bottle before turning the overhead lights off. Bridget turns an old, nostalgic cartoon movie on the tv as you slide into bed besides Nina.

You drink sips of water, sort of watching the movie through half-closed eyes. You fall asleep, feet tangled with your best friend’s as they have been thousands of times since your childhood, before the opening credits can even finish.

Thank you so much for being here! I appreciate every single like, reblog, comment, ask, or DM!

A thank you, as always, to my fabulous beta @kookstempo 😘😘😘 love u little one!

#taehyung x reader #taehyung fic #dailydaegu #college au #taehyung angst #taehyung fanfic #bts fic #bts fanfic #friends to lovers #slow burn #non idol au #fic: what was hidden

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ryuki-draws · 1 year

Text

@sillyarbiterdragon that's a good question! And you're also very right about it being hard to find the beginning (or to even find ANYTHING, the search on Tumblr is a league of its own), so that's why I compiled the

✨ Local Trains AU Masterpost ✨

where I hopefully covered everything important to the AU in chronological order of the story. I'll update the post everytime something new gets posted.

Enjoy all your train needs! :D

#local trains au #though I'm not sure what's better #making it a pinned post or putting a link in blog description #let me know what works better #I'm a sole desktop user I refuse to have Tumblr on my phone so I cannot check how things work there haha oops #do custom pages still work on mobile?#because if they do I could just move the whole masterpost there

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justplainwhump · 2 years

Note

In the pet!Dany AU, where is her father in this? Or bodyguards (though they’re not necessarily reliable protection for her, I know)? @gottawhump

Deal

Have a little drabble in reply, and if you ever have more questions, lmk! It's just, Frankie being Frankie.

Set in the BBU, contains discussion of future noncon, planned kidnapping.

[Making Angel Masterpost]

"I want to fuck her," the muscular man sitting across from them at a small table in some run down fast food joint said, and Alex Nadler just raised an eyebrow.

"Please, elaborate?"

"When she's done," Mueller explained. "Like, when she's all brainwashed and cute and horny. I mean that's what you're doing with all your treatment, right? When she's done, I want to see her, and I want to fuck her."

"Training," Alex corrected, while they jotted down a note. "That's the term. Not treatment." Despite their best efforts, Alex couldn't keep their eyebrows down or their head from slightly shaking. They knew that their face was an open book. And sometimes, people just confused them. They'd offered Frankie Mueller a serious compensation, a new identity, a job at a WRU facility overseas to start a new life.

And the selling point in the end was, what Alex had written down as 'pre-sales product demo'.

"Sure," Alex said with what they hoped was a nonchalant tilt of their head. The client would hate it. Even before anything had gone down, even while Danielle Hammond still went about her daily life unsuspecting, Barlow had a clause in the contract to get a detailed report on whoever got to be intimate with her. But there wasn't another choice. They needed inside help, if they didn't want Hammond's farther to interfere with the operation. "We can make that happen."

Mueller leaned back on his chair. "It's not like, instead of all the other stuff, right? It's just an add on."

"Of course."

"And that identity needs to be waterproof. Stuart is relentless." Mueller grimaced, before he added. "That fucker."

"With your help, we'll make sure Stuart Hammond looks in all the wrong places. Do you know the Somervilles' operation?"

"Ian?" Mueller nodded, as he grabbed his soda and took a long sip. "That who you want to go down for it? Stuart is going to obliterate him for messing with Dany."

Alex nodded. "That is the desired outcome."

"Cool. And we're going to be... dead? Like, in the story?"

"Yes. Daughter of local crime lord and her loyal bodyguard, tragically killed after a kidnapping gone horribly wrong." Alex handed him a USB drive. "I want you to plug this into her computer. Has to be unlocked, apart from that, there's nothing you have to do but wait five minutes."

The device vanished in Mueller's pocket. "Can do. Anything else?"

"We'll need some items from her home. Small things. A colleague will be in touch with you."

"Cool," Mueller said again, and got up from the chair. "Guess I'm going to go enjoy the last days of my life, then." He pulled out his phone and when they caught a glance at the screen, Alex' eyebrow shot up again.

The person on the wallpaper was very familiar to them right now. Danielle Hammond, in Mueller's arm, grinning into the camera in front of some scenic waterfall.

Mueller seemed to have noted Alex' gaze. "Don't worry," he said, while he slipped the phone back into his pocket. "I'm not attached. She's a bitch. She had it coming. I'll deliver her."

Yep. People were deeply unsettling to Alex.

Mueller leaned in. "And then, you'll break her."

Alex winced. "We don't call it that."

Mueller didn't listen or care. "And then I'll..." He made a slow, obscene gesture and chuckled. "Yeah. Can't wait."

He rapped his knuckles on the table, before he sauntered off, calling over his shoulder. "Pleasure making business with you."

Alex stared past him for a while, until they gathered their documents and settled the bill. There was a lot of work ahead of them.

#bbu #future pet whump #wru #angels story #frankie #alex nadler #noncon implied

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violintrees · 2 years

Text

Chp 3: The Fugitives

Official report from the DPD

Link to IZ DBH Au Masterpost

Plain Text under the cut

NOVEMBER 6

2038 AT 6:43AM, A IRK200 WAS REPORTED MISSING AFTER HAVING ASSULTED ITS OWNER. REVIEWED FOOTAGE OF LOCAL SURVELIEANCE REVEALED IT HAD FLED ALONG THE 43 DOWNTOWN BUS LINE UNTIL ITS FINAL STOP AT 3AM. OFFICERS ARRIVED AT THE SCENE AT 8:30AM AND QUESTIONED THE LOCAL POPULATION FOR WITNESSES. IT WAS SUSPECTED TO HAVE STOLEN CLOTHES FROM A CUSTOMER OF THE SPINNYSPINSPIN DRYCLEANERS AND STOLEN WIRE CUTTERS FROM THE NEARBY QUIK MART.

DETECTIVES DIB MEMBRANE AND THE IRK800 SENT BY CYBERLIFE NAMED ZIM ARRIVED AT 11:14AM TO ASSIST. IN AN ABANDONED HOUSE ACROSS THE BLOCK, ZIM FOUND THE ANDROID AND IT BEGAN TO FLEE WITH THE KIDNAPEE IN TOW. THE DETECTIVES GAVE CHASE BUT LOST THEM AS THEY CROSSED THE I94. THEIR FACIAL PROFILE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO SUSPECT TRACKING TO FIND THEM AGAIN.

Supplementary account by Dib Membrane:

SO UNSUPRISINGLY CYBERLIFE’S ANDROID DID NOT FUCKING LISTEN TO ME (EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY ASSIGNED AS PARTNERS). HE JUMPED THE FENCE AND BEGAN TO CHASE THE ANDROID AND CHILD ACROSS I-94, WHICH HAS SPEEDS OF UP TO 120MPH MIND YOU. LUCKILY NONE OF THE PARTIES PRESENT WERE DESTROYED. I LOST SIGHT OF THE IRK200 AND CHILD WHEN IT PASSED THE FENCING ON THE OTHER SIDE. ZIM GOT STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY FOR A LITTLE BIT BEFORE RUNNING ACROSS THE ROAD. AGAIN.

WE QUESTIONED THE OTHER ANDROID PRESENT IN THE ABANDONED HOUSE BUT HAD NO CASE TO REMOVE HIM IT. WE DISCOVERED SOME INTERESTING INFO FOR THE ONGOING DEFECTIVE ANDROIDS CASE.

Supplementary account by IRK800 registered Zim.

AFTER ARRIVING TO THE FENCE SEPARATING THE ALLEY FROM THE FREEWAY, THE DIB DETECTIVE WAS OBSTRUCTING ME FROM ACCOMPLISHING MY MISSION. HE HELD ONTO MY SHOULDER AND TOLD ME NOT TO CROSS THE HIGHWAY AND THAT IT WAS TOO DANGEROUS AND NOT WORTH IT. HE SEEMED STRESSED AND UPSET WHEN I WENT ANYWAYS. AFTER FAILING TO CAPTURE THE DEFECTIVE DUE TO THE UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT AND TRYING TO STAY A LITTLE SAFER AND “NOT DIE” AS PER THE DIB’S REQUEST, I RETURNED SAFELY BUT STILL GOT YELLED AT BY THE DIB. HE HAS NOT BEEN TRAINED TO KNOW MY FULL CAPABILITIES AND HOW MUCH THEY SURPASS HIM. I WILL MAKE SURE TO MAKE CLEAR MY SUPERIORITY ON ASSIGNMENTS IN THE FUTURE.

NOTE FROM RECORDS KEEPER:

PLEASE KEEP ALL SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES RELEVANT TO THE CASE AND NOT ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CO-WORKERS. THANKS

#iz dbh au #invader zim #iz #iz au #invader zim au

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whumblr · 4 years

Text

Home is where the hurt is - Masterpost

“Jay, I don’t mind you busting your ass, but it’s 7pm. I’m about to close up, come on. Don’t you have anyone waiting for you at home?” His boss winked at him.

I do, probably, that’s the point, Jay thought bitterly.

Home is where the hurt is - Completed

What if recapture meant being held captive in your own home?

That’s how it feels for Jay at least. Sure, he’s allowed to ‘live his life’ and go to work, but at what cost? He has to thread carefully, hide every bruise, and when the clock hits 5pm and everyone’s happy to go home, Jay is an anxious mess mainly worried about what’s waiting for him at home that evening.

Main characters

Jay Fawcett (31)

Working as a reporter at a local newspaper. Loves his job, loves his colleagues. Definitely doesn’t want them to catch wind of what’s been happening to him, so he does what he can to hide his injuries. It’s too dangerous if people were to find out. Sarcastic little shit until he pushes too far and fear sets in.

Zayne Dougall (34)

Small fry in a local crime gang with big plans. Blames a certain meddling reporter for ruining things. Even though he practically held him captive for the entire week and he couldn’t have done a thing. Now passes his time by terrorizing and pretty much stalking an increasingly frustrated Jay, but dabbles in new plans behind the scenes.

Characters and faceclaims

Chapters

AO3

Introductions:

1 - Intruder 2 - Consequences 3 - After hours 4 - Love in an elevator

'Recapture’:

5 - Flashbacks 6 - Keep quiet 7 - First visit

X - Let’s hang out sometime (Whumptober drabble) 8 - Hiding 9 - Spicy 10 - Training

Bonding weekend

11 - Whisked away 12 - Ch-ch-chains 13 - Paper cuts 14 - Smoke screen 15 - Manners 16 - Stressed 16.5 - ‘Cause I have other things to fill my time 17 - Day off

Office shenanigans

18. Smack talk 18.5 - Wakey wakey 19 - Bargaining 19.5 - Bday 20 - Laced 21 - Good vibrations 22 - Snapped 23 - Company first aid

When the past catches up

24 - Why me? 25 - Snoop 26 - Remember? 27 - In and out 28 - Name-dropping 29 - Wednesday 30 - Bad no-good day 31 - Loose ends 32 - Pay day

Mood swings

33 - DIY 34 - Interview 35 - Post-interview 36 - Broken pieces 37 - Banter 37.5 - Laura

Common enemy

38 - Cards on the table 39 - Truth 40 - Falling into step 41 - Bottled up 42 - Working together 43 - Study group

Breaking

44 - Back to business 45 - Thingy 46 - And they were... 47 - Weak man’s defence 48 - Show me 49 - Closing time 50 - Antagonising

Back to where it started

51 - Reminiscent 52 - Turned tables 53 - Long-time wish? 54 - Desperation 55 - Breaking news 56 - Epilogue

Drabbles

X - Talk (Continuation of 23 - Company first aid) X - New shirt X - Creative mind X - Attention X - Play (continuation of Attention) X - Drive X - Smokey bandit X - Freedom (post epilogue) X - Return of the smokey bandit (final arc) X - Sweet dreams X - Evening out X - Easter day X - Tying the knot X - Lessons learned X - Friendly advice (follow up to Lessons learned) X - Everything (aftermath final chapter) X - Morning rituals X - Eager X - GTFO X - In plain sight X - Hooligans X - Sleeping beauty X - For birds (continuation of Sleeping beauty) X - Broken night (continuation) X - Tempting fate (continuation) X - Lenient (Continuation/ alt bad ending) X - Worth it (follow up to bad ending) X - What’s cooking (FLUFF) X - Untouchable X - Random acts of kindness X - Duct tape X - Weapon X - Executioner (Follow up) X - Smoke break X - Presents X - Cycle of abuse X - Between dreams and reality X - Cheap entertainment X - A terrible price (AU) X - Agonising (Zayne whump) X - Public enemies (Public whump :3) X - Relive (aftermath) X - Checking it twice (xmas drabble) X - Jaybird screaming in the dead of night X - Zip zip X - Where else to go X - Infection

The Dennis Whump files

X - Interference X - Their respective roles

#home is where the hurt is #whump masterpost

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t7-01 · 4 years

Text

what’s up everybody here’s clone dad jango au part three, sorry for the excessive length in advance! masterpost here

jango and the boys set to fixing up the old farmhouse. it’s not easy work, but it’s necessary if they’re to have a base of operations. jango knows that tyrannus won’t let his decision slide for long, either, so he needs to get the home in working order so that he can do something about it.

at the moment, there’s only three bedrooms: the master where his birth parents slept, the one his sister had, and the one he used as a very young boy. all of them have been untouched, relics of a time long past.

“someone really liked dire-cats,” 54 points out upon inspecting jango’s old room, where there are a couple of dire-cat plushies and doodles of them all over the wall. it was one of those childhood phases that just happened to last longer than any other, and considering how close it had existed to death watch’s attack, jango had forgotten about it it entirely.

“here,” he says, picking up one of the stuffed dire-cats and giving it to boba, who is currently fussing in 36’s arms. “something for when i’m not around.”

“what do you mean ‘not around?’” 36 asks suspiciously, himself, 54, and keeli watching him with narrowed eyes. jango sighs.

“running away will not solve our problems - they’ll only follow us wherever we go,” jango says. “i’m going to take care of things to ensure that does not happen.”

“how?” the boys ask at the same time. jango flashes them a dark grin as boba chews at the paw of the plush.

“by being the thing that follows.”

the boys divide themselves, four in his sister’s old room, three in his own. they find and wash off the old crib jango once used, and pad it with linens for boba. jango digs out a few still-working repulsor lifts and attaches one to boba’s crib. “take turns keeping him with you at night, when i’m gone,” he instructs the boys. boba’s a needy baby - it’s hardly fair for one room to take the brunt of his nighttime fits.

his parents’ room feels like a tomb, even though he knows this isn’t where they died. sparsely decorated and homey, the master bedroom feels too small for him to take for himself. he has half a mind to give it to the boys and sleep in the living room, but he strips the mattress and replaces the threadbare sheets anyway.

it’s about halfway through repairs when the fetts finally get a visit from the local law. jango nearly stomps out of the house with blasters drawn when he spots klona and vereen with the two mandalorians waiting to greet him, and decides to act a little less violently.

“stay inside,” he instructs. he knows full well the boys will find some way to sneak out after him, so he adds “and protect boba.” for good measure.

“su cuy'gar, fett,” vereen says easily. “su cuy'gar, min,” jango replies, hand resting easily near his blaster and eyes trained on the newcomers. a man and a woman, if he had to wager a guess, who keep their helmets on, unlike the elderly couple. jango feels naked without the armor, but concord dawn is hotter than he remembers, and it’s not conducive to overhauling a house.

“our daughter, jilia, and her husband, vreau,” says klona almost disinterestedly, gesturing to the couple in matching green armor. jilia crosses her arms, and vreau draws himself up to full height. great. territorial locals. there’s a shuffling sound behind klona and vereen, and vereen bends down.

“and our grandsons!” vereen says happily, picking up a boy of boba’s age and gesturing for a toddler to come forward as she puts her hand on his shoulder. “this is torren, and the little one’s arlo.” vreau stiffens a little, angled towards the boys, but jilia’s posture doesn’t change, her eyes locked on jango.

jango recognizes this for what it is - a show of peace. knowing him to be a father himself, klona and vereen are no doubt certain he’d not fire on a family. shows what they know. more importantly to jango, however, is that they clearly are hesitant to fire on a house full of children.

“congratulations,” jango says to the elderly couple, and vereen beams as she bounces arlo, who giggles happily. even klona offers a small smile before returning to her usual look of annoyance.

"thank you," jilia says shortly, even though she’s almost certainly aware jango was not speaking to her. her voice is clipped and aggravated, much like klona, though klona is rarely armed to the teeth. "what are you doing on concord dawn?" jango frowns.

"raising my sons in my family home. is this against the law?" jango asks tersely. he hears a cough that sounds a lot like a covered laugh to his right - so some of the boys have made their way outside already.

“young men who share the same face?” jilia asks suspiciously, and vereen has the decency to look sheepish. klona clearly doesn’t give a shit. “you call them your sons?”

“yes,” jango says tightly, fingers flexing. the man, vreau, picks up on the movement and stiffens even further.

“fine then, you’re here with your family,” says jilia, sounding as though she doesn’t believe a word of what she’s saying. “i don’t care. but concord dawn has barely recovered from death watch’s vengeance, and that was when you were off bounty hunting. if you intend to cause problems with those monsters again, i’ll have no choice but to ask you to leave.” she says it in a way that indicates she will not be asking.

so death watch attacked again. that was news to jango - apparently klona and vereen’s summation of his time away had not been all-encompassing. the whole thing is stupid, in jango’s opinion. obviously he isn’t going looking for death watch, and they obviously don’t care if he’s planetside or not. before he can even voice any of this, however, klona speaks up.

“he’s mand’alor, jil’ika,” klona says, and for the first time jilia seems to physically react - leave it to parents to embarrass you with pet names. “this is his home. you cannot remove him.”

“he’s not mand’alor anymore,” jilia bites out at the same time that jango says “i’m not your mand’alor.” klona merely rolls her eyes.

“cui ogir'olar,” klona says impatiently. “kyr'tsad n’ulu.” things are tense for a few quiet moments.

“i can’t help you fight them,” jango says. he could, but he’s got enough to deal with without starting a war with the remainder of vizla’s cult. klona shakes her head at him.

“you may have to, if you wish to protect your sons,” she says simply. “we’ll stand alongside you, when you do.” jilia makes an indignant sound, but klona merely crouches and scoops the toddler up into her arms, and she and vereen turn away, the conversation apparently finished. jilia points a finger at him.

“whatever trouble you’re in, fett, don’t bring it here,” jilia says harshly. “we’ll fight off death watch for concord dawn. otherwise you’re on your own.” jilia strides away after her mothers, her husband close on her tail. jango exhales, and so do several other voices.

“i thought i said to protect boba,” he says tiredly as the boys pop out of the figurative woodwork.

“rex has him. boba likes him best anyway,” 24 says simply. he’s joined by all but rex and keeli as he comes to stand before jango. “do we have to kill them?” jango almost laughs.

“no,” not yet anyway. jango doesn’t think he could handle adopting two more parentless children. “boba needs another boy his age. we’ll keep them alive.”

“what’s death watch?” asks 10 darkly, always the most serious, always the most doubtful. jango sighs.

“get inside, and i’ll tell you.”

sorry this was so long. i’m thinking maybe i should just make this into a fic but god i’m too lazy to do real writing for this. like i said i’ll probably post a bunch of accompanying one-shots. anyway this is shaping up to be a real beast of a story, so um, thanks for coming along so far?

mando’a (including from previous posts that i forgot to include!)

ad’ika - kid/sweetheart (affectionate name for a child)

kaminii - kaminoans

su cuy'gar - hello (“you’re still alive”)

jil’ika - ika is a diminutive suffix, so little jilia

cui ogir'olar - it’s irrelevant

kyr'tsad - death watch

n’ulu - doesn’t care

FIRST - previous - next

#gonna start a band called jango and the boys #what kind of music would they play? idk why but i’m thinking something along the lines of herb alpert and the tijuana brass #jango fett #captain rex #captain keeli #clone dad jango au

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