i love my Guys²

im ghost!! im a writer, currently almost exclusively for the mk fandom- you may have also seen me in the cod fandom!! i've only gotten back into writing for fandom/fun since 2022, but it's been really fun :)

my inbox is always open!! and im down to hear about silly au ideas or even just fun character head canons for any mk character!!

no longer on hiatus?? ☀️ i've accepted that i will always have a lot going on, so im just going to try and write between all of that like i have been and we'll see what i post i guess 💖

hey!! if you like what i do and feel like helping support my writing i have a ko-fi!! (link)

i also have a BLUESKY now (ghostherlig.bsky.social)!! i haven't used it too too much, but i try to post when i remember it exists 😅

expect me here more too!! i'll probably be leaving more wips, lil head canon posts, and probably longer thoughts here as well!!

i also wanted to say feel free to download my fics!! as long as they aren't being posted/used for profit, feel free to do what you'd like with them!!

<333

looking for smth a little more specific? here are some tags!!

swap!au

and in john's religion, weddings are meant to be ceremonies where others witness an exchange of vows, promises, and/or poems, but in the heat of battle or eventually on the road, both of them promise to be there, to have each other's backs, to stay at their sides, witnessed by fellow travelers and inn keepers...

"weddings" for taka are more like farewells, gatherings of people to wave off the latest couple and wish them well on their new life together.. every time they leave a town, it's like a little wedding, john and taka leaving together to continue their lives in the next new place...

marriage proposals in john's religion often look like poems written for the purpose of expressing love and/or admiration, often performed in private if they're especially intimate... and taka, who's language is so naturally flowery and poetic, tells him constantly when they're alone how much he admires john's passion and drive for life and his ideals...

just the two of them constantly doing these little things that feel so natural to one, but so intimate and foreign to the other.. john who loves to be physically close to taka all the time, bumping shoulders or reaching for his hand, dragging him around or sitting too close or even sharing a bed-- and taka unable to tell john that in his religion and culture, touching like that is just so inappropriate and is supposed to be saved for when it's just the two people alone.. like not even family or close friends are allowed to see intimacy like that in any form-- or taka who prefers to verbally give john praise and closeness, bc that's more natural to him.. telling john all the time how brave and strong and driven he is, how kind and caring and selfless he tries to be, and even if sometimes taka says it with the slightest hint of a dig, john cant help but be so flustered and affected bc language and prose like that is reserved for weddings and honeymoons, add on top of that that taka reserves it for when they're alone, or will get close enough and speak low enough that only john can hear? yeah they're idiots

both of them clueless to the others plight, only finding out if or when they meet someone in either religion/culture who sees the behavior and calls them out on it or politely corrects the other-- taka speaking so highly of john to another monk or cleric of john's religion, only to be looked at with such scandalized expressions... john and taka meeting another high elf on the road only for them to pull john aside and ask if he and taka are married bc john just isnt ever more than a foot from taka if he can help it 💀 and then, of course, both of them talking about it realizing ah.. i've been flirting with you on accident this entire time. bc both were very sheltered or very firm in their beliefs and knew no outside perspective...

john, vincidcated: ive been saying this for years!

get that man on wattpad NOW

It’s always so sad and so beautiful to see how their lives intertwine and how loss shapes the immortal character

Even worse when the near-immortal is killed during the human’s lifetime by something they never saw coming, and the human has to grieve and try to understand the near-immortal’s culture and how their people deal with loss.

Apply that to John and Taka…

:(

THANK YOU FOR THIS I'VE BEEN STEWING ON THEM FOR DAYS NOW... especially in my own little homebrew world bc it gets so complicated-- i could do a whole like, set of posts about it at this point now that im actively revamping it, but i digress

high elf taka, who comes from a society where death is really only faced in battle and after years and years and years go by, where procreation isn't prioritized bc so often so many people have time, where life moves at a snail's pace and it's accepted that not everyone will be at the same level at the same time, everyone getting into really really niche and specific things because they have the time and can dedicate so much of it to just one thing... compared to john, who is not only human but was born in a monastery and believes in a religion that is way more fast paced and is all about seeing the world and meeting as many people as possible and making the world a better place in your lifetime, which means touching as many hearts and traveling as many places as you possibly can in however many years you can dedicate to it, and it breaks me because they fall in love but dont ever quite say it, dont ever quite reach the point that they're open about it...

so it's john, once they're first adventure is all said and done, committing to being a nomad and traveling the world as much as he can, and taka, his ever dutiful partner, paladin, and friend, following along for as many years as he can and putting his own life and goals on hold because he has time... watching john decay in real time, watching him age and slow down after years and years, and loving him anyway, even as john scoffs and jokes abt taka hasnt aged a day, about how it's a bad look to have someone so young be so strangely sweet to an old man like him, but taka just smiles so softly and reminds john that he is hundreds of years older than he is... and ofc john just snickers and calls him a cradle snatcher, his loose tongue even worse in his old age 😭 and eventually, taka saying his final goodbyes, unsure what to do with the loss bc it's a rarity for him to ever have to face it all, let alone so early in his mind... taka spending what little time he could looking into some sort of life elixir, something to give john even just a little more time, but every corner turned up blank... taka, for the first time in his life, giving up after john dies bc there is no reason for him to keep looking.... taka unable to move on, keeping a piece of john with him as long as he can, whether that's one of his shawls, or a set of beads, a brand of any kind that proves that he was john's at one point, that he was alive and around and meant something...

or god the horrible awful inverse of john losing taka to something, after thinking he has and being promised the rest of his god damn life with taka... watching him fall in battle, unable to save him, or even unable to see him a final time.... john forced to deal with the unbearable empty space that taka would leave, a constant in his life that he always knew he could never live without once he had it... taka's death being the thing to tarnish john's once indomitable spirit, the one thing that made john, if even for only a little while, sort of give up... but of course, john knows taka would want him to move on and so he does.... i do think even though john knows it's a bad idea, he would try and travel to taka's home city, even though it's forbidden to enter unless you were born there, and would try to learn as much as he could if he was ever let in.... or even john grieving taka in his own way within the traditions of his own religion, preserving taka's presence in his life as much as he can and carrying him with him.... good god they are so horrifically attached and devoted to each other it's quite literally awful and horrible

oh but now it has me thinking of a fantasy wedding for them.. trying to mix their traditions or just having two separate weddings bc it's too complicated/opposite 💀 but that's a whole other post bc i have to think abt what kind of wedding traditions/ceremonies would be apart of that, LOL

cut to them trying to work together, john constantly chasing taka for a semblance of community, something taka knows very little of.. john asking personal questions in search of knowledge and friendship, something that to taka is rude and near sacrilegious, and john encouraging taka to try new things or stray from his set path, and taka who takes that as a personal offense/dig on his life choice when all john wants is to expand his viewpoint... taka helping john hone in on detail and persistence, teaching him efficiency in place of patience and waiting for the universe to intervene, letting him wander freely but always making sure he commits to their chosen path/goals... john getting taka to open up a bit more, itching to know more about his very private, secretive religion, and taka who loves reading john like a book, flipping through his open pages and learning a new, more human-based religion focused on sharing knowledge and spreading ideals...

Them being able to just be comfortable with each other once their time at the Wu Shi is over.

Johnny even helping Kung Lao by being a wingman when he’s finally ready to talk to Raiden about his feelings :(

Kung Lao suffering as third wheel with Johnny and Kenshi

they get so much closer :( i do think, hilariously, it really boosts their morale 💀

and wingman johnny!! by god, that man sets up kung lao for dunks SO well and SO often, it's like a supernatural talent-- half the time raiden doesnt see it coming bc johnny pulls it out of NOWHERE-- but lao actually being really sweet and as much as johnny sets him up i do think lao also does plenty to woo raiden on his own, especially bc i think kung lao knows that raiden usually prefers a more subtle, personal approach so he knows that lao is serious...

i do love johnny and kung lao fuck buddies at wu shi--

my personal favorite take is that they both end up getting closer bc they both sort of fall behind in training, kung lao's arrogance and johnny's ego constantly preventing them from actually retaining anything or paying attention bc they already think they're the best-- so they sort of end up doing extra training together for a little while, and ofc johnny is gonna take the opportunity to mess with the pretty farm boy, so he's teasing kung lao and ofc it spins into if kung lao has a girl waiting back home and lao sort of scoffs and is like "all the girls back home want me" but johnny knows that specific brand of arrogance bc he used to be that specific brand of arrogant so he's like "..got any boys back home?" and lao knows he's been clocked so he's like "haha, not back home--" and johnny very quickly puts together OH SHIT YOU MEAN RAIDEN

but kung lao kick starts the fwb situation bc i do think he asks johnny abt sex (specifically between two men) and johnny has to put his foot down and be like "im not a poet or an instructor, im an actor, the best way i can show you is by doing" and lao very quickly jumps on that bc he's a hands on learner anyway 💀 i do think they're very casual about it, but also very secretive-- like they never tell anyone that they're hooking up and johnny is good about delaying his arrival or making it very casual when he and kung lao show up somewhere together, but they also are the most comfortable around each other physically bc they've already been wayyyy closer to each other 😭

in my mind this is also pushing forty johnny and mid twenties kung lao, but johnny is actively trying to get lao to take the lead bc "raiden's a pushover and works too hard already, it'll be nice for you to take the lead" but in actuality johnny is just tired of doing everything on his own 💀 lao also very eagerly takes the reigns bc he wants to improve his skills in the bedroom and he does really love how johnny let's his mouth run amok with praise... johnny's building a service top for raiden brick by brick /j