Here there be fandoms

Ugh, this one killed me in the best way 😭 I decided to go WangXian because I have a buttload of touch starved Sheith coming out in the next few months, and then…it sort of ran away on me…

This is going to be part of a larger modern music AU inspired very loosely by August Rush. It all works out in the end, I promise ❤️

*

Lan Wangji is used to his sleep being interrupted by Wei Wuxian in one way or another. The way his nightmares caused him to cry out was disturbing, he was disturbing when his hands scrabbled on the hard ground outside camping as children, and he’s disturbing now as his ragged breathing puffs warm down the line of Lan Wangji’s spine. 

Forever’s come and gone since the last time they were together in the same city, same house, same room. 

Never like now, in the same bed. 

Wei Wuxian’s fingers twitch against Lan Wangji’s back, delicate as a butterfly’s wings as he whimpers, “Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan~”

Lan Wangji holds still under the warmth of their blanket. He’d meant to go back to his hotel room after the show, to fall into the arms of sleep instead of the arms of a man he’d never quite forgotten, and this…hearing his name like this, so broken, terrifies him. 

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian says again, and it’s a broken keening as he curls forward to rest his forehead against Lan Wangji’s nape. He’ll accept the disturbance this time–it’s painfully obvious he’s caused one in Wei Wuxian with his absence.

Reaching a hand back, he rests it on Wei Wuxian’s bare hip in hopes of calming him. He’s not ready to face him yet, isn’t ready to look at the face that’s haunted him through the years he’s been gone. 

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian says again after several minutes of relative quiet, and there’s no sleep in his voice anymore, only an exhausted question. The trembling in his body ceases as Lan Wangji’s thumb rubs a gentle circle over the hip bone that’s entirely too prominent. “I was dreaming.”

Lan Wangji nods.

“You left me again, as you always do.“

There’s a pause, one that holds Lan Wangji’s consideration of breaking his own code and lying, but he didn’t come here for that. He came here because Wei Wuxian had looked so haunted when he saw him on stage, like he’d seen a monster, both beautiful and terrible. 

He nods again, because he’s promised himself enough running is enough.

"Is he leaving again?” Wei Wuxian asks, the feigned lightness in the question grating. His forehead creases against Lan Wangji’s neck, his fingers curling at the base of his spine before he begins to pull back, as though Lan Wangji is going to be angry that he’s seeking out that simple intimacy. “It’s okay, I guess. Lan Wangji’s always given me attention when he’s able.” His exhale shudders out of him and he nearly rocks the frame of his bed with the force before Lan Wangji’s hand tightens against his hip. “You can, if you want. I won’t stop you.”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji murmurs. “You know why I left.”

Delicate flautist’s hands itch toward him, then splay out over the small of his back as Wei Wuxian moves closer with a bitten off whimper. “I could’ve gone too,” he says. 

“And then you said you’d make your own way,” Lan Wangji says. “You promised me.”

On the thin mattress in the middle of a shitty apartment, Wei Wuxian chokes out an admission. “I lied.”

Lan Wangji’s blood runs cold, sluggish through his veins in the eternity it takes for him to roll over and face the other man. He skims his knuckles over the pale skin of Wei Wuxian’s arm, then up to his shoulder and neck before he’s cradling a ruddy cheek in his hand and watching a crystalline tear arc toward his palm. 

“I didn’t know I had at first, Lan Zhan, I promise,” Wei Wuxian whispers. “I just wanted what was best for you. You couldn’t have the best with me.” Skin rasps over skin as Lan Wangji reaches for the water with his thumb, but Wei Wuxian pushes the hand away entirely and curls into himself. “It’s too much,” he breathes, but then clutches at Lan Wangji’s arm again. “You’re real.”

“What else would I be?”

Wei Wuxian does his best to muster a pout, and he’d have hit the mark if it weren’t for the all-too-real way his chin quivers. “Sometimes the drugs made me think you were here,” he says, “but you never were. I’d reach and reach and find nothing.” His fingers whisper over the skin of Lan Wangji’s chest, caressing it like it’s something precious, and Lan Wangji feels himself crack open under the warmth of the blanket and the sun and the touch. “I wished for years and years, but you weren’t ever here. I almost forgot what it’s like to touch another person.”

“Like this?” Lan Wangji asks, hoping he’ll continue the sentence.

“At all.” Wei Wuxian hangs his head between them and lets out a tremulous sigh. “I didn’t want to touch anyone who wasn’t you, and then no one loved me enough to try.”

“They’re fools,” Lan Wangji says. He leans his forehead against Wei Wuxian’s, holding himself back from brushing his lips over the year tracks. “I never should have left.”

I hope you don’t mind a little ice skating competition AU. I know very little about ice skating, so pardon any errors. I tried to do a little research for this. I’ve also never seen YOI, so this isn’t meant to be an AU of that in case it comes across that way on accident. Thank you for the prompt! 

Taakitz Ice Skating AU, Teen 

Part 1

Taako heads for the rink for a little late night solo practice to find that it’s currently occupied. He’s about to go off—he’d specifically asked Davenport to hold the rink open after hours for him. There’s a competition in two days, and he needs to make sure he nails that last triple axel and cinch the championship for the fourth year in a row. But he hesitates as the figure on the ice draws his outstretched arms inward to launch into a graceful quad jump that could very well put his own to shame. If not for the little wobble on the landing.

Keith presses his fingers into his thigh, into the soulmark that had bloomed there back when he still wore Garrison orange instead of red paladin armor. Back then the mark, a stalking lioness, had been a pale lavender, shaded in greys.

(The first time he saw it was in the shower after a sparring session with Shiro. He’d thought it a bruise at first.)

(He panicked a bit upon realizing that it was a burgeoning soulmark, that it was confirmation of his suspicion that these feelings were something more than a simple crush.)

(He spared a quick thought of thanks that his mark is somewhere easily hidden. He makes sure to work out in leggings instead of shorts and that’s that.)

Now, the lioness is a vivid purple, lined with black, and he knows the strength of the colors reflects the way his own feelings towards Shiro have grown and deepened.

(He’d wondered, back when it appeared, why a lioness and why those colors. It makes sense now, with Shiro in the black lion, face bathed in her purple light.)

(Keith’s never been on good terms with the idea of fate, not with the hand life has repeatedly dealt him, and he rebels against the thought that all of this was meant to happen like this.)

Right now, he watches Shiro laugh with Hunk about something across the room and digs his fingers into his soulmark because he can’t walk over and press them against warm skin or cool metal.

(Keith can’t help but wonder if there’s a splash of vivid red, brighter than blood, on someone’s skin, or if it’s still a washed-out shade.)

no, they are PROVIDING you a platform. for your content. as a service to you.

please, please, please learn how the internet works.

the companies that WANT you on the platform are the companies that are SELLING YOU TO ADVERTISERS.

*Facebook* wants you on their platform. *Tumblr* wants you on their platform. *FF.net* wants you on their platform. You are Facebook’s product. Facebook is not a service to you. It is an incentive for you to give them eyes and data to sell. And the second your eyes and data stop being profitable they will toss you under the bus.

22. in a rush of adrenaline - allurance

Allura saw the beam coming. She saw it coming, and yet she couldn’t do anything. It was either get hit or abandon the village to its fate. No choice at all, really. She had been prepared to put her life on the line from day one. She was ready.

She wasn’t ready for the red blur jumping in front of her to intercept the beam.

She wasn’t ready for the bloodcurdling scream that followed - in Lance’s voice. Lance’s scream. 

She wasn’t ready for how Red dropped to the ground, heavy and lifeless.

“Lance!”

Allura was out of her chair before she could even think about it. Vaguely, she was aware that it was a bad idea - the ion cannon was still out there and they would need as many lions as possible to destroy it. But all she could see was Lance motionless in his seat, his face pale and hands hanging uselessly between his legs.

“Not again, not again, not again,” Allura whispered. She hurried towards Blue’s jaw, not patient enough to wait for her to reach the ground. Instead, she activated her jetpack and jumped out. 

Somewhere over the static in her ears, she could hear Keith giving out orders. Was he aware of what had just happened? Was he trying to protect them? Or was he angry that they weren’t responding? Either way, Allura couldn’t focus on that, she had to check on Lance. She had to find a way inside Red. Her hands were shaking as she placed them on Red’s jaw.

“Please, Red, I have to see him, I can’t- he needs to be okay-” As if in agreement, Red’s jaw opened the tiniest bit. It was enough for Allura to force her way inside, hoping with every fiber of her being that this wouldn’t be a repeat of what happened on Omega Shield. She wouldn’t be able to handle seeing him like that again. And what if she was too late this time, what if there wasn’t even a drop of his quintessence left-

“Please.” She wasn’t sure who she was pleading with. 

The ticks it took to open the door to Red’s cockpit felt like an eternity. Red couldn’t open them anymore, so Allura had to do it herself. She slipped two times before she managed to get a solid grip and pried the metal apart. 

Silence greeted her.

“Lance?” she asked quietly.

Nothing. 

Her heart dropped to her stomach as she ran towards the chair with tears already stinging in her eyes. Why did he do this? Why did he always have to be so self-sacrificing? Why couldn’t he just - why couldn’t he just let her do her part and protect himself-

The moment she caught sight of the lifeless body in the chair, she knew that this was another sight she would never be able to forget. Lance’s head was rolled to the side, his arms draped over his lap. Both of his knees were pointed inwards, making it seem as if he had collapsed on his seat and then promptly passed out. It wasn’t a comfortable position, it wasn’t natural. 

“Lance…” 

Allura fell to her knees as she reached out for him. Their suits were covering their skin, she couldn’t tell if he was cold or not. She couldn’t tell if he was alive or not.

Squeezing her eyes together, she reached for her magic. He couldn’t be dead. She wouldn’t allow him to be dead. Not after everything they had been through together-

“‘llura?” a weak voice said.

Allura’s eyes snapped back open and they found Lance’s face, her heart beating wildly. Had she imagined that?

“‘llura? ‘s that you?” 

Her breath caught in her throat. She definitely hadn’t imagined that. Lance was blinking his eyes open, moving his limbs slowly as if he was having troubles controlling them. 

“Lance,” she choked out, unable to look away from him. She could feel tears threatening to spill over but paid them no mind. Lance was here, Lance was okay. He was alive. 

When Lance caught sight of her, a weak smile stretched over his face. “Hey, Princess. Long time no see.”

It was as if his voice snapped something in her. Lance with his dumb, dumb jokes. Lance with his reckless actions and encouraging words and soft expressions and warm heart-

Allura had kissed him before she realized what she was going to do. Lance made a noise against her lips, but pressed back before she could pull away. The tears were spilling over now, freely running down her cheeks, but she paid them no mind. They weren’t important. Nothing was important but Lance, here, safe. She tugged his helmet off without interrupting the kiss just to get even closer. 

It was Lance who finally pulled away, his eyebrows furrowed in sorrow as he brushed a hand against her cheek. “Hey. Hey, no. Why are you crying?”

Allura was speechless. She shook her head a few times, trying to regain her voice, before settling for a hug. Lance tentatively hugged her back, his grip still so much weaker than usual.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered fiercely. 

For a while, there was silence. Then Lance leaned his head against hers.