My writing blog | home to my AUs and incorrect quotes that only make sense in said AUs | fandoms I'm currently writing fics for are atla, toh, princeless, and good omens/the addams family | Ao3: IndigoMontoya
Holding a tiny green creature in his arms, Pok can only stare down in wonder. The baby yawns, stretches his tiny fists out, flicks an absurdly large, soft ear, and half-opens his huge, dark eyes. Pok offers his fingertip as the fists curl back towards his child- his child!- and Riz latches on immediately, bringing Pok's hand to his mouth to drool on.
The joy welling in Pok's chest grows too large to contain and he angles his body towards his wife, even as he refuses to tear his gaze away from his son. "Sklonda. Sklonda, I think he likes me."
"Of course he does, Pok." He can hear the smile in her voice. In his peripheral she reaches for him and he sits next to her, careful not to disturb Riz as he sinks into the bed.
He leans into Sklonda's arm when she wraps it around his shoulder and rests his head on hers. Her head on his shoulder is a familiar, comforting weight. Riz's tiny body in his arms is unfamiliar, but no less incredible for it. He already has hair, downy and dark and just as perfect as the rest of him. He has another mission in a few weeks but for now he's just here, with his family. His son.
Pok shifts closer to Sklonda. Her striking yellow eyes blink open, as captivating as they were when they first met. The corners of his mouth pull up into what he knows is a dopey grin. "Go back to sleep, love. I've got you."
Sklonda smiles back even as her eyes flutter closed. "Sing something?"
Pok humms, pretending to think it over, as if he didn't start hunting down goblin lullabies months ago. Sklonda snuggles closer as he begins to sing. "If you are caught on the mountaintop, I will be there, I will protect you. If you are carried off by a roc, I will find you, I will bring you home. If a landslide threatens to knock you down, I will be there, I will protect you. If you are trapped underneath of a cave-in, I will lift the mountain off you, I will bring you home."
anyways i just love the way kpop demon hunters stayed true to its roots in korean/asian culture, especially around the core theme of community vs individualism
the fact that it's not a single chosen one but a group of three
the fact that the honmoon is not powered by the hunters themselves but by the energy and love of the fans
the fact that gwi-ma turns people into demons by promising that he is the only one who can help them when he is in fact reliant on his army of demons to collect souls for him
the fact that "your idol" is about surrendering yourself to a single higher power while "golden" is about soaring to new heights together
the fact that gwi-ma preys on people's individual insecurities and shame to get inside their heads while rumi, mira, and zoey set them free in the end by encouraging them to embrace their differences and reminding them that they're not alone
the fact that you can see the audience cheering individually and even pushing into each other to get closer to the stage during "your idol"
while they're linking arms and cheering together and hugging during "what it feels like"
i have not seen the live action lilo and stitch but it feels like that movie sits on the opposite end of the spectrum from kpop demon hunters as a case study for how to tell a story in way that is culturally authentic and still resonates with a broader audience
and i think given that the core theme of the movie is all about community over individualism, the ending, particularly as it relates to rumi and jinu's budding romance, is really the perfect culmination of that broader theme
rumi and jinu's connection has all the hallmarks of that all-encompassing, all-consuming, borderline co-dependent first love where you keep your relationship a secret and sneak out of the house to meet up and feel like the other person is the ONLY person who really gets you
i'm the only one who can understand you, i'm the only one who will love you is the kind of thing that sounds romantic when you're 16 until you get older and realize how toxic it actually is and i love that the movie counters that in "what it sounds like" with rumi realizing that she had that love and support all along from her girls, and later, from the fans who continue to cheer them on through their comeback
it's about connection and sisterhood and love and sharing your fears and lifting each other up and becoming stronger and better together
and as compelling as i found rumi/jinu and as much as i would like to see their relationship explored more in a sequel/series, i just really love that this movie, which is clearly targeted at young women, ends on the message that romantic love is not the end all be all, that friendship is just as important if not more so than a romantic partner, that single women can lead successful, fulfilling lives, that true happiness and freedom start from within
it's crazy that this message still seems revolutionary in 2025 but given the current state of the world, it feels more necessary than ever
It never could've lasted, he supposes. Their goals are fundamentally misaligned, drawing them inexorably away from each other. From the very moment they met, they were doomed.
Funny how that doesn't make it hurt any less.
Rogier blinks the spots out of his vision just in time to dodge to the side. In the next moment he's got a spell off, three blue blades glowing above his head.
Darian pulls up short just outside the trigger range, audibly seething. "You lied to me."
"Not lied, exactly." Rogier edges backward. If he's careful... "I just... avoided subjects that might lead to conflict."
Darian steps forward decisively, once again at the edge of his trigger range. Rats. "You told me we could work together."
"Haven't we?" Rogier defends. "We've both benefitted from our relationship."
Darian shakes his head. "How long have you been working with her, Rogier? Was all of it a lie?"
Rogier almost drops his spell. "Of course not! Mine and Fia's goals simply happen to be temporarily aligned. I'm doing her a favor, that's it."
"How can I believe that? How can I trust you if you don't tell me the truth?"
Rogier stiffens at the anguish in Darian- in D's voice. Drops his own voice into something low and cold. "Maybe you shouldn't."
Dari- D recoils. It's a small advantage, but Rogier is lighter and faster, with no heavy armor to slow him. He's off like a shot, towards the forest where he can disappear in moments, avoiding marionette soldiers and giant crayfish and his now-ex-lover alike.
Dar- D splashes after him, slower and louder, falling behind. "Rogier! Rogier, come back here!"
Rogier has never been good at listening. He keeps going till the sound of splashing fades behind him, till he hits land, till he's far enough into the forest to pull himself up into a tree, find a sturdy branch, and call it his bed for the next few hours.
It's fine. He was fine traveling on his own before he met Dari-D, and he'll be fine now. D will be fine too- probably better off with no spellsword dragging him into trouble he didn't ask for. Or maybe he'll find a new companion. Someone cooperative and perfectly lovely who's just as sickeningly devoted to the Golden Order as he is and they'll live happily ever after hunting down Those Who Live In Death and weeding deathroot without ever asking questions about why or whether Those Who Live In Death really deserve it. Surely he'll be happier like that.
And Rogier, of course, will be happier not tied down to anyone. He'll go back to his itinerate lifestyle, drifting from place to place and bed to bed with nary a care for the consequences of his actions. It'll be better for both Dar- just D, not Darian- and himself.
Funny how that doesn't make it hurt any less.
---
song: fool by cavetown
i am such a fool to keep on chasing after nothing great
you are such a fool to keep pretending that you're loving me
Ghost ships that are sailing without a crew, decks full of chests and crates just ready to be stolen by salvage crews.
The crates are just baby mimic ships. You bring them on board your vessel and while everyone is sleeping they eat the crew. One of the mimics then merges with the wood of the ship and it becomes a new mimic vessel, one that can glide into its home port with no resistance.
Yes the crew are gone but there is treasure to be had and the port workers board the ship and hauls all these treasure chests and crates onto land and bring them to the bar where they can be guarded until they work out what to do with it all. The bar itself is the hull of an old ship thats been dragged onto land and has a handy brig they can lock them all up in.
The party arrives in town from the sea in their own ship, needing to resupply, but the town is strangely empty. There's plenty of ships on the water, though they never get close enough for them to see aboard.
One of the party is looking to shore with a spyglass and swears they saw some sort of crab skuttle away down a side street but they're not sure.
They dock at the port, stepping ashore to try and find anyone they can purchase supplies from but the place is a ghost town. Strange, because while it is early morning there should be some people out and about, even in a remote little town like this.
After exploring for a bit they head into the local bar, the shelves still fully stocked with premium alcohol and what looks like several crates of fresh supplies in the back room. Heading up into the living quarters above the bar they find a diary written by the barkeep and there's definitely something strange going on with the town.
First the rat problem the town had been dealing with cleared up seemingly overnight, then the local drunkards started going missing (absconded with one of the chests full of jewels leaving the brig in the bar unlocked). Then pets. Then children.
The barkeep tells tales of strange and beautiful jewelery boxes starting to appear around town, take one home and you go missing after a week. Shipments of livestock end up with one or two of the herd missing as they rest overnight in the shipping yards, then one night the entire lot of them are gone without a trace.
Citizens are terrified, no one is out on the streets after dark but its not stopping the disappearances. The barkeep thinks they're cursed, those chests were found on an empty ship after all perhaps the same thing happened to the crew. He wants to toss them into the bay and be done with it all but thats the final entry.
When the party goes to check the brig the chests are still there, but strangely there are more of them than what he mentioned in the diary. They shut the door to the brig and block it off with some of the crates lying around, planning on comeing back to take a better look later.
As the sun starts setting outside they finally come across someone in the town and they're frantic, telling them to hurry and follow them because its not safe once it gets dark out. Leading them through the town they take them to the only stone building in this port full of buildings made of old ship planks and lets them know whats going on.
There are a few survivors, all of them worse for wear and at least one of them only recently missing an arm due to some sort of monster attack. They know what's happening in the town and its bad.
A mimic infestation. Any box or barrel or chest could be one of them, hell, some of the better fed ones are now taking the form of sheds and false doorways in an effort to trick people into coming inside. Merging with the wood of the buildings in order to increase their size and sell their disguises better.
The largest ones have taken over the ships in the port and are now patrolling the bay, stopping people from leaving by blocking the mouth once their prey has entered the town.
The party was lucky, most of them are asleep during the day pretending to be inanimate objects and come out to hunt at night. They need to get out of here. They need to rescue these people. Then they need to burn this cursed town to the ground before the infestation spreads further.
Luckily there's a bar full of alcohol perfect for making some molotov cocktails.
The sun is setting quickly though, and they have two choices. Make a run for the ship now and maybe get caught outside with the survivors or stay inside the stone building overnight and risk their ship getting infected as it sits docked in the harbor.
Either way they'll have a big fight ahead of them, herding the survivors onto the ship while killing mimics looking for a snack before booking it towards the bar.
They gather sacks full of bottles and rags and toss the first flames into the bar itself on the way out, throwing a few more to really get the flames going as they get back onto their ship and make plans to torch the infected fishing vessels on the way out of the bay.
They werent expecting to be chased though.
The bar, itself an old ship, creaks to life while starting to burn. Screeching in rage as it unfolds giant crab-like legs to pull itself along the piers and into the water of the bay to extinguish the flames.
for the last one i don’t just mean oh the author inadvertently wrote in gay subtext or whatever i’m talking about media as a cultural artifact which can reveal a ton about societal norms, biases, ideals, etc. it’s all about positionality and an unexamined positionality is often the most revealing of all
Ya'll be like "Shang was having a bi freak out, realizing he was into Ping". NO HE WASN'T. He already knew he was into men. His bisexual freak out was when he realized Ping was Mulan and hey maybe he's into girls too whatdoya know?
Legit you think a bi man who has always been in such a male-dominated space like the army hadn't already figured out that he liked men? Come oooonnnn... It's women he has rarely had contact with and has no idea how to talk to or flirt with (you fight good) I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL.
ppl don’t like to imagine bi ppl coming to terms with being bi after identifying as gay bc they think that’s a downgrade lol. That’s why there’s like 100000 stories about cishets realizing they were bi and like 2 of gay ppl realizing they were bi.
I'd like to request drunk partners meme for the WIP Wednesday game please.
I ended up not writing any more but I think it's finished so here
---
"Fiiiiiig," Fabian slurs, leaning towards her and landing on her shoulder. "I have a secret."
Fig stares back at him, eyes blown wide. "What is it?"
"You gotta promise you won't tell anybody. Especially Riz."
"I can't." Fig pouts. "I've gotta tell Ayda. I tell her everything."
Fabian considers this for a moment, slumping further. "Well. As long as you only tell Ayda."
Fig nods. "Only Ayda. Cause she's perfect and smart and beautiful and she won't tell anybody either."
"Okay." Fabian pushes himself up, solemnly looking Fig in the eyes. "I have a crush on Riz," he says. "Like a really big one. I think maybe I'm in love with him."
Fig nods solemnly. "AYDA! FABIAN LIKES RIZ!!"
"Shhh! You gotta tell her quiet!" Fabian whispers, louder than regular talking.
"Sorry," Fig whispers back, just as loud. "Ayda! Fabian likes Riz!"
"Really?" Ayda says from directly across the table. "I had no idea."
"That was good," Adaine says next to her. "You've gotten a lot better at sarcasm."
Ayda doesn't smile, but she tilts her chin up. "Thank you."
Fabian stares at Riz forlornly. "The Ball, why are you all the way over there?"
"Where else should I be?"
"Right here. Next to me."
"Maybe you should be here next to me."
"It's so far away though."
Riz sighs, taking pity on his boyfriend, and slips underneath the table. There's barely time for Fabian to gasp in horror before he reappears, climbing into the seat next to him.
"The Ball!" Fabian says, delighted. "You're here!" He reaches for Riz, pulling him halfway into his lap. "I love you."
"Hey!" Fig cries. "You said it was a secret!"
"It's my secret so I can tell him."
"Fine." Fig narrows her eyes. "Riz, how did you get over here? I need to get over there."
"I crawled under the table," Riz says. "But you should really get out and– oh, never mind."
After bumping into the table legs twice and swearing loudly and creatively for half a minute, Fig finally wriggles up in between Adaine and Ayda. She glances between them, eyes huge. "Hey, Fabian? Can I tell Adaine too? I didn't say it before cause we're not dating, but she's also perfect and I wanna tell her."
Behind Fig's back, Ayda and Adaine exchange glances. Fabian squints at Fig. "Fine. She can't tell Riz though."
"She won't!"
"Fig?" Ayda says before she can yell about Fabian liking Riz again. "If you want to date Adaine as well I'd be happy to have a talk about it. She's one of my best friends and very attractive and Jawbone said dating more than one person is perfectly normal as long as you all know and consent. However, you will need to be sober."
Adaine, who has been turning steadily more pink as Ayda talks, speaks up. "I mean, I'd certainly be willing to date one or both of you. I don't know that I'd want it to be romantic, but a queerplatonic relationship would be lovely."
Fig looks between the two of them, eyes growing impossibly huger. "I can have… two girlfriends?"
"I don't see why not." Ayda looks at Adaine. "Especially if I can as well."
"Yeah!" Adaine pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. "I mean, let's talk about this when we're all sober, but yeah, that sounds great."
Crows normally walk. This one seems to have both legs working, so he’s not hopping out of necessity, he’s doing it for fun. Corvids can sometimes be seen doing things like this for no evident reason other than enjoyment.
For WIP Wednesday game, I'd like to request: "you gave her your sweater (you like her better) "
Thanks for the ask! Here is a sad Aelwyn
A part of Aelwyn had known, even when Fabian gave her his letterman, that he didn't mean it. They were drunk, and she can't remember enough to be sure but she thinks she asked him for it. But she'd wanted him to– had wanted someone to care about her intensely, in a way that wasn't complicated by years of cruelty and betrayal.
And, sure, she shouldn't have rubbed it in Riz's face, shouldn't have gotten possessive and jealous, but she had reason to! Fabian has never looked at her the way he looks at Riz, and it's not fair. It's not fair that Fabian is- was- dating her but is in love with Riz, and it's not fair that he's too much of an idiot to know it, and it's not fair that she can't blame him because she doesn't love herself either.
"No. No, no, absolutely not." Chaddick says. "Why would you even want to do that?"
"Do what?" Nicolas asks, turning towards them.
Chaddick shakes his head. "It's too horrible. I can't say it."
"It is not horrible," Tedros says. "It's a romantic gesture. It's polite."
"Tedros. I love you. I would follow you to the ends of the earth. But I will not help you with THAT."
Tedros sits back. "Fine, then. If you won't help me write a poem for Agatha, will you help me with something else? All of you?"
Tristan shrugs. Nicolas nods his assent. Chaddick sighs. "As long as it doesn't involve rhymes."
Tedros leans forward again, a grin curling the edges of his mouth. "Wonderful. I need all of you to help me break into Agatha's castle. It's traditional in her kingdom to attempt to assassinate your betrothed, and doing it yourself is the best way to show you really care."
"WHAT?!?!" Chaddick shrieks.
Tristan raises an eyebrow. "I'm in, I guess. But I don't want to actually kill anyone."
Tedros waves him off. "We're not going to actually kill anyone, except maybe some magical constructs. We're just going to try to. They're going to stop us."
"'They'?"
"Agatha's guards. And any magical wards she has up," Tedros says. "Ideally we'll get through those to her room and I'll be able to steal something that I can return to her the next time we meet. That shows that I can provide for her, however dishonestly."
"Why would you want to provide for her dishonestly."
"Are you sure you don't want us to try to kill him?" Hester asks. "It would be so much fun."
"And respectful," Anadil says. "Very respectful."
"Do you honestly think he'd be able to beat you?"
Hester shrugs. "If he can't defend himself he can't protect you."
"He deserves to die," Anadil adds, fiddling with her bracelet.
Agatha raises an eyebrow, calling a dancing flame to her hand. "You know I can protect myself. And I don't want him to die."
"He still deserves to. You deserve better."
"Enough!" Agatha leans back in her chair, motioning toward the door. "Reaper and I have work to do."
For a moment, no one moves.
"Is it more poetry?" Dot whispers loudly. "Can I stay? I can help."
Agatha's glower intensifies. Her fingers twitch, making the flame leap higher.
"Whatever," Hester mutters, finally getting to her feet. "Come on, let's go find Sophie." In the doorway, she scowls at Agatha over her shoulder. "When you need him dead, you know where to find us."
Agatha waits till Hester and Anadil are solidly out the door, then grabs Dot's arm before she can leave. "You can come back if you bring flowers and whatever. Nice, sunny ones."
Not long after they pitch camp, Kasef leaves his tent to find King Viren's son, Soren, waiting outside.
"Can I… help you?" Kasef asks, trying to make it clear that he hopes the answer is no. He has things to do. Sword training and general exercises to stay in shape and prepare for the coming battle.
Soren grins. "I was just wondering if you wanted to spar?"
Oh. That's… surprisingly helpful. "Sure," Kasef says cautiously. "I was just on my way to work out. We can spar after I warm up."
"Sounds great!" Soren falls into step beside him. "I found a good clearing just over that way, if you want somewhere that's not in the middle of everything."
Kasef changes course, heading in the indicated direction. "Thank you."
It only takes a couple minutes for them to reach the clearing. It's maybe twenty meters across, covered in grass and surrounded by deciduous trees. There's a fallen tree stretched across it, cutting it in two, and a few smaller branches scattered around.
"Alright then, I'll just warm up and then—" Kasef turns and his voice goes up an octave. "What are you doing?"
"Taking my armor off, duh." Soren unfastens the last strap of his breastplate, letting it fall into his hands, and leans it against a tree, next to, Kasef notes, a few other pieces of his armor.
"Why?"
"So it'll be a fair fight." Soren unbuckles one of his wrist guards. His shoulder pads are already on the ground. "If I'm wearing armor and you're not, I can just run into you, maybe punch you a couple times. You'd probably be able to move faster, but I wouldn't need to hit you much to take you out and if you lost your sword you wouldn't be able to do anything to me."
Soren puts the wrist guard next to the tree. His undershirt is clinging to his chest. His arm flexes as he reaches over to unfasten the other one. Kasef swallows. "Ah. That makes sense."
"Yup."
Kasef watches as Soren bends down to unbuckle his leg guards. He's facing away from Kasef so he can drop each piece of armor into the pile easily as he takes it off.
Soren glances between his legs at him. "Hey, you good? You look kind of peaky."
"I'm fine!" Kasef looks away. He manages not to look back till Soren says "Okay, ready!"
After warming up, they get into position several feet away from each other.
"Whenever you're ready, Your Highness," Soren says, raising his sword.
Kasef takes a deep breath, dropping into his own fighting stance. A breeze ruffles Soren's flaxen hair. With one more breath, Kasef lunges, thrusting at Soren's ribcage. Soren deflects his sword to one side, stepping the other way at the same time, and strikes at Kasef's arm. Kasef barely dodges.
Kasef strikes at Soren's leg. Soren blocks him. He strikes at Soren's hand. Soren dodges and strikes at his sword arm. He leaps away. Soren follows him, smirking, and strikes at his stomach. Kasef blocks, then jumps back, onto a fallen tree. He rains fast, furious blows down on Soren, who parries as fast as Kasef strikes.
Then, Soren strikes back twice, hitting Kasef's sword hand to weaken his grip, then sending his sword flying across the field. He smirks at Kasef and begins to relax.
Kasef leaps at him, grabbing the hilt of his sword. He wrests the sword away, then, before he can get a good grip on it, Soren slaps it out of his hand. He dives for it, but Soren kicks it away, sending it to the edge of the clearing.
Kasef rises to his feet slowly, inching in the direction of the sword. Soren is still in a battle-ready crouch, and is keeping time with his pace towards the sword, but slowly moving in front of him.
"What are you planning?" Kasef asks, narrowing his eyes.
Soren, once again, smirks. "This." And tackles Kasef to the ground.
Kasef immediately rolls them over, elbows Soren in the side, and leaps to his feet. "Ah. Hand-to-hand combat."
Soren flips to his feet. "Yup."
Kasef steps to the side, beginning to circle Soren. Soren copies him.
Soren lunges at him. He catches Soren's arms and begins to grapple.
This isn't going well. Soren is stronger than him. He'll have to resort to other techniques. He kicks at Soren's knees, forcing him to step back to dodge, but keeps a tight grip on his arms so he stays within kicking range. When Soren shoves him away, he tucks and rolls backwards to absorb the force.
Soren follows him, clearly meaning to tackle him before he recovers. Kasef rolls to the side, then leaps up and tackles him. Soren stumbles backward, tripping over the log behind him, and they land with Kasef on top.
"Not so tough now, are you, Crownguard," Kasef says. He's pinning Soren, with his forearm against his throat holding him to the ground. His other hand is holding one of Soren's arms down. One of his knees is on the ground next to Soren, and the other is between Soren's legs.
Soren grabs Kasef's arm with his free hand. He smirks.
"Why are you–"
Soren rolls hard to one side, flipping them over. He adjusts his grip so he's pinning Kasef's arm over his head. Kasef releases Soren's arm and reaches up. Soren grabs his arm with his newly freed hand and pins it back to the ground. He's heavier than Kasef, Kasef is pretty sure, dense with muscle.
Muscle which Kasef can feel– they're pressed together more firmly than when he was the one on top, and there's only a couple thin layers of fabric separating their bodies. Soren shifts, causing his leg to rub against Kasef's.
Soren's hair, the pale yellow of straw but so much softer looking, is falling into his face. His breath ghosts across Kasef's cheek. "Not so tough now, are you, Your Highness."
Kasef watches his face as he talks. He's very, very close. Kasef's face and body are getting hot– which is just because he has a hot person on top of him, of course! Wait, no, not hot. Warm! Just very warm. And it's a warm, sunny day.
The sunlight on Soren's hair makes it look like he has a bright halo around his head. He's flushed, too– from the exercise, no doubt, and the warmth of the day. He smells like clean sweat and leather.
He has freckles, very pale ones. On his cheeks, and a few on his nose. Kasef could almost swear he leans a tiny bit closer. He's never been close enough to see Soren's eyes this well before. They're not just blue, they have thin rings of grey around the outside edges. He's centimetres away.
And then he's gone, walking over to where his sword landed in the dirt. It takes Kasef a moment to catch his breath and sit up, during which Soren picks up the other sword.
"Kasef," he says, as Soren drops the swords next to his armor.
Soren looks back at him with confusion. "What?"
"Call me Kasef."
Soren beams at that, his smile brighter than the sun. "Kasef it is then."
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
annaxmalina
theartofmadeline
titsay
