Kiss (part 2)

*kicks down door* Have I ever mentioned that my gremlin brain came up with an explanation for why the characters treat Lucis like a continent when the map is so weird and so oddly small in proportions, even when taking into account the (large) part of it we can’t go?

Because gremlin brain did that.

Admittedly partly inspired by a throwaway line in the fic Nocturne but like-

War of the Astrals.

Big deal.

Bahamut alone made a HUGE rift in the continent that stretches for miles and is probably like- roughly grand canyon sized.

So here we have the god of fire, and the god of the SEA among others, all duking it out prior to Bahamut carving his rift and “killing” Ifrit and like-

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A VOLCANO ERUPTS. I mean the big ones. The Krakatoas and Santorini’s of the world.

STUFF SINKS.

Sure it’s just an island in RL but when you have EMBODIMENTS OF THOSE FORCES OF NATURE all trying to kill each other then STUFF WILL REALLY SINK.

So gremlin brain was like: what if the reason the map is weird is because it IS really that small. What if Lucis is roughly the size of a really large RL ISLAND while Niflheim/Tenebrae’s continent is MAYBE Australia sized at absolute most and the reason nobody bats an eye is because the rest of the continents SUNK WHEN SOLHEIM FELL. Leviathan threw hands so hard with Ifrit while Titan was busy stopping a meteor or something that a huge swathe of land just- sunk. Straight up. Galahd probably used to be a freaking mountain range before the oceans rose up so high they almost drowned and Ramuh had to stop spamming lightning long enough to hastily save what would later become the islands (and oh look a reason for the Galahdians to revere Ramuh as their patron astral, he saved them from the wrath of the burning sea).

So the survivors of solheim, when they were picking up the pieces, would have known that a ton of land was lost, but its still all the land they have left, so they keep calling it the “continent” and then over time people just forget that continent used to mean anything larger than what they currently have, and that’s why the characters are like “it’s a whole world out there” and we the players are like “why map so small?????”

It would also explain why Ravatogh takes up such a large chunk of the map? Like- volcanos can be Tol, so the ocean didn’t manage to swallow it up.

Am I making any sense? It made sense in my head.

Honestly this has probably already occurred to a lot of people in this fandom but it finally occurred to me like- a month ago and I finally got around to sharing so there.

United in Grief

Damian Wayne gets caught by the press while sneaking away and hanging out in civilian clothing with Red Hood and Bruce finding out they know each other isn’t even his biggest problem. his biggest problem is that the interviewer asked what his connection is to the crime lord and why they have on camera the guy calling Damian ‘habibi’, and, panicking about whether or not Bruce seeing this interview could leak Jason’s identity, to throw him off the trail Damian said that Red Hood is his parent.

Interviewer: wait. but… i thought that Bruce Wayne was your biological father?

Damian, panicking even more because both Jason and Bruce would kill him if people thought that Brucie Wayne was the Red Hood’s identity: what, don’t you support trans people? Hood was my mother.

Jason only finds out what Damian did when after a week of confusedly nodding at the trans pride pins people kept wearing and pointing out to him on the street, and Damian refusing to look him in the eye, Nightwing shows up during patrol crying laughing about how Bruce Wayne got asked during a gala about his secret affair with a crime lord and held his champagne glass so tightly it exploded in his hands.

Bruce, on the other hand, got sent the interview clip by Tim halfway through breakfast, whereupon hearing the audio start Damian climbed out the nearest window to get away. after a slightly paranoid text to Talia about whether or not she was in Gotham wearing a face covering helmet every night, be proceeds to freak the fuck out. he has no idea who the Red Hood is, or how Damian knows him. He also has no clue that Red Hood knows HIS identity, and fully plans on showing up to Wayne events in the helmet to antagonise Bruce by stealing food and demanding they talk about the ‘custody arrangements’ of their son. all he knows is that Damian broke a window in his haste to Not Explain Anything, and that Dick and Tim are wheezing hysterically on the other side of the house.

Phantom Manor

Danny had been through a lot. He’d been half-killed in a lab accident, gained ghost powers, and then been chased through the multiverse by a government that would’ve loved to dissect him like a frog in eighth-grade biology. So when the portal spat him out into this dimension—one packed with capes, cowls, metas, and aliens—he figured he’d finally caught a break.

No GIW agents. No Fenton parents shouting about ectoplasmic anomalies. No Skulker showing up to hunt him down in the middle of English class. Just... peace.

Well, almost.

The major snag? He was homeless. Again.

No ID, no money, and the last place he tried to haunt had been a warehouse with exactly three raccoons who did not appreciate his presence. He couldn’t go back to school, didn’t know how to get a job, and sleeping on rooftops got old fast, even for a ghost boy.

That was when Danny heard the most ridiculously useful rumor ever: Billionaire Bruce Wayne had a habit of adopting black-haired, blue-eyed children like it was a competitive sport.

And Danny? Well, he had black hair and blue eyes... at least half the time.

Good enough for government work.

So one night, in the dead of moonlight, Danny phased through the locked gates, passed the high-tech security system, and slipped straight into Wayne Manor. The place was huge, quiet, and oddly comfortable despite its bat-themed overtones. He didn’t even try to sneak around like a spy—he just floated through until he found an empty bedroom with a made bed, thick curtains, and a view of the garden.

He claimed it.

No one said anything.

So Danny just... stayed.

Danny didn’t mean to con anyone. It’s just that no one noticed him. He figured maybe there were already so many black-haired, blue-eyed kids around here that adding one more didn’t even make a blip on the radar. And since Jack and Maddie Fenton may not have taught their kids about interdimensional politics, they did make sure their kids had proper manners.

So, the first time he ate in the massive kitchen, he washed the dishes afterward. Alfred showed up just as Danny was drying the last fork, his sharp eyes watching from the doorway.

“...I see Master Grayson’s taste in midnight snacks has rubbed off on someone,” Alfred remarked.

Danny froze. “Uh—yeah. Sorry. Just thought I’d clean up after myself.”

The butler narrowed his eyes. Then nodded. “A rare instinct in this household. Continue.”

And from then on, it became a routine.

Danny helped in the kitchen. He helped clean the manor. He weeded the garden (phasing out any actual creepy-crawlies). He carried laundry baskets. He repaired a broken picture frame. When one of the Batmobiles needed a patch-up job on a fin, Danny phased into the engine and fixed it from the inside out while humming along to an old Ghostbusters theme remix.

Alfred was absolutely delighted with the newest, polite, respectful, and hard-working “Wayne.” Even if he had no earthly clue when exactly this young man had joined the family.

It took a few weeks before anyone realized something was off.

“Alfred,” Bruce said over breakfast one morning, “why is there an unfamiliar teenage boy pressure-washing the back patio with what looks like... green plasma?”

Alfred sipped his tea without looking up. “That’s Master Daniel. He’s been most helpful.”

“…We don’t have a Master Daniel.”

Alfred finally looked up, deadpan. “Master Bruce, I have tolerated you bringing home orphans like stray cats in the rain. The boy helps clean. He gardens. He fixed the coffee machine. I will not be chasing him out. Adopt him, give him a room, or be quiet about it.”

Bruce blinked. “...Fair.”

Meanwhile, Danny was just glad he hadn’t been blasted with a Batarang on sight.

He had a bed, food, quiet (well, relatively), and access to the Wayne library’s wi-fi. He was pretty sure Damian glared at him more than necessary and that Jason kept trying to figure out if Danny was secretly a zombie, but otherwise?

He was kind of fitting in.

At least until someone walked in on him halfway intangible while reaching through the fridge for leftover pie.

“…Master Daniel,” Alfred said from behind him, entirely unshaken. “If you are going to help with the silverware later, do remember to phase after you wash your hands.”

Danny, still half inside the fridge, stared.

“…Yes, sir.”

And thus, somehow, without anyone signing a single form or asking too many questions, Danny Fenton became the most ghostly Wayne sibling yet.

And honestly?

He was kinda cool with that.

DP x DC prompt where Bruce and Tim go to investigate Amity Park, with Jason in tow, all suited up. They’ve heard a strange claim about “ghosts” there, and trying to research the town revealed a concerning government presence and tampered records.

The moment they enter the town, the ectoplasm in the air starts rapidly filtering out the corrupted ectoplasm in Jason’s system and strengthening his underdeveloped core (kinda like To Join the Whispers). Jason doesn’t tell Bruce or Tim at first since he’s kind of freaking out about how the Pit is responding to the town. Then Jason’s arm goes through a table and they don’t really have any idea what is happening and are now all freaking out about it. Danny sees this happen and immediately recognizes the same sudden, uncontrollable power displays he had after the Accident. 

Danny is extremely torn because he wants to help (a new halfa?? or something close enough??? and he’s a vigilante???? hell yeah), but he’s also Terrified of Batman going anywhere near his fucking house. So he introduces himself as Phantom and tries his best to steer them away from FentonWorks while also trying to help talk Red Hood through everything and dump a lot of ghost facts on them. Going to see Frostbite is extremely tempting, but Danny’s pretty sure he can handle this. Pretty sure. (He does Not want Batman near the portal, since it means being in his gd house, and he doubts he can get Red Hood there without Batman following.)

Keep reading

hibari is a cutie

Fox Sister

there is a farmer who has a beautiful and strong wife, and she bears him three beautiful and strong sons. the eldest is of soft voice and hard temper, and his name is jae-shin. the second is quick to anger and yells too much, but is quick to forgive, and his name is ki-tae. the third is of even temper and soft voice, and his name is min-woo.

the farmer loves his family very much, but he feels as if it’s incomplete. he loves his sons, but he desperately wants a little girl to call his own. he prays and prays, asking for a little girl. he doesn’t care if she’s not like his other children, if she is weak or ugly, he vows to love her just the same no matter what.

his prayers are answered, and nine months later his wife gives birth to a baby girl. but she’s not weak, and she’s not ugly. she’s every bit as strong and beautiful as her brothers.

they call her yeon-saeng.

~

yeon-saeng is smarter and stronger than her brothers, than her parents, but she doesn’t say anything, never points it out, because she loves them dearly and would never want to hurt them.

yeon-saeng is ten years old when the hunger grows to be too much to ignore. she’s hungry constantly, and they are not a rich family, but her mother gives her all the food she asks for with a smile, pats her hands and kisses her cheeks and says nothing of the strain her eternal appetite puts on their household.

but no matter how much she eats, she’s never full. it’s not what she craves.

she is ten years old, and it’s the night of the full moon when she sneaks into the barn. she knows what she wants, what she needs, but she hesitates even now. she wishes there was another way, but she knows if she doesn’t eat, then she’ll die. she doesn’t’ want to die.

she kills the cow, and eats its liver, bites into its heart, and her hunger is sated.

the next morning, the cow is found, and her father says it looks like a fox did it.

yeon-saeng burns with shame, and says nothing.

~

she doesn’t have to eat every night, if she did then they would run out of cows and her family would go hungry. she doesn’t want them to go hungry, and she does not want to die, so she waits. she waits until her stomach is bloated with hunger and she feels ravenous with it, half mad with it, then sneaks out under the night of the full moon to kill another cow. for now, she does not need too many, can go months between feeding so long as she pushed herself.

she’s changing. her nails are sharper, more pointed, and her hair gleams red in sunlight. she doesn’t think she’s a little girl. she doesn’t even think she’s truly her parents’ daughter.

but the thought is too heartbreaking to contemplate, so she doesn’t.

~

the father worries after his livestock, and the fox he can’t seem to catch. he sends jae-shin to hide in the barn and keep a look out, to kill whatever is killing their cows.

jae-shin waits, and he hides, and he watches his sister kill the cow and eat its liver and heart. her hands become claws, her hair turns red, and fangs sprout from her mouth. she’s a fox demon forced to into human shape, an abomination to humans and demons alike. he’s horrified, and afraid, but he can’t bring himself to kill her.

she is his sister.

the next day, he tells his father everything. he says they have to do something, that she’s a monster, that soon she’ll hurt them.

jae-shin could not bring himself to kill her. but he still believes she should be killed.

the farmer is furious that his son could say such horrible things about his beloved daughter. he says that jae-shin must have fallen asleep, and had a bad dream, that he speaks of madness. but jae-shin will not back down, and eventually the farmer throws his son from the house, saying never to darken their doorstep again, that any son that could speak of killing family is no son of his.

yeon-saeng pleads on her brother’s behalf. she can’t risk telling them the truth, she should be happy it is jae-shin who is tossed aside and not her. but she loves her brother. he is mean and surly, quiet in his misery, but he let her ride on his shoulder when she was little and taught her to tame a horse and let her huddle into his side when she became frightened by thunder storms. she does not want him to go.

but father will not listen, and jae-shin is forced to go.

a few months, and another dead cow later, he sends ki-tae to the barn, to find what is killing the cows and to kill whatever animal it is. ki-tae is terrified of falling asleep and being thrown out like his elder brother, so he stays wide awake and vigilant the whole night.

he sees what jae-shin saw – his little sister half transforming into a fox demon, and killing and eating a cow’s heart and liver. he’s not afraid. he’s furious. he is quick to anger over small things, but this is not a small thing. yeon-saeng allowed their father to kick out their brother, even what he told the truth. she said nothing as he left them, when she could have saved him. she did nothing.

he sneaks back to the house and wakes his father, bidding him to come to the barn quickly. but when he returns, yeon-saeng is gone. the cow is there dead, it’s liver and heart gone, but his sister is nowhere to be found. he runs back into the house, his father at his heels, and finds yeon-saeng fast asleep in bed. he pulls her from her bed onto the floor. she cries out in pain, and his father pushes him against the wall, furious. ki-tae yells at her, says to tell father what she did, calls her a monster with all the disgust he can muster.

yeon-saeng pulls her knees to her chest, crying, and for a single moment ki-tae feels a stab or remorse. but she is a monster, and his father must know. they all have to know. how long before she kills one of them?

father is just as furious with him as he was with jae-shin. again, yeon-saeng pleads for brother, begging her father to let him stay. no matter his temper, ki-tae is always kind in those small moments, in the quiet lulls between his anger he has bandaged her scraped knees and braided her hair, and he would roll her rice into the shape of a snake when she was little and would grow stubborn and refuse to eat. she loves him, and she doesn’t want him to go.

but father will not listen, and ki-tae is forced to go.

a few more months, and another dead cow later, father sends min-woo to spend the night in the barn, to find out what is killing the cows, and to kill whatever it is. he sits, and waits, and sees what his brothers saw. he sees yeon-saeng kill the cow, and eat its heart and liver.

he does nothing at all.

the next morning, he tells his father that he didn’t see anything. whatever is killing the cows was too quick for him. father wants to be angry that min-woo failed, but he’s secretly relieved that at least his youngest son, so calm and even tempered, hasn’t been affected by the madness that had taken his eldest sons, and resigns himself to the lost livestock.

it is not ideal, but it’s not crippling them, not killing them.

~

yeon-saeng loves min-woo, but misses her eldest brothers terribly. on the surface, min-woo is nicer, he’s never made fun of her or gotten mud on her clothes, never yelled that she was too young to play with him. he never seeks her out, but always welcomes her when she comes to him.

he’s not as mean as their elder brothers, but he’s not as nice either.  

yeon-saeng is thirteen the first time she eats a cow’s liver and heart, and still feels the gnawing pains of hunger. she keeps eating, desperate, because this is her only option. she eats the rest of the internal organs, the muscle, all of it. she keeps eating until the red of dawn beats against the barn doors. she’s covered in blood, more fox than girl, and there’s nothing left of the cow but bones.

she’s still hungry.

~

she hopes it’s a fluke, a mistake. she waits, to see if time will make her full, but it’s just the opposite. her whole body aches with hunger, her limbs grow sluggish and heavy. she sleeps the day away, hoping it will help, that she’ll wake up feeling normal, but it doesn’t work.

her parents fret over her, and her brother watches her with calm, even eyes that give away nothing at all. the days pass, and she seems to flip, instead of becoming weaker, she becomes stronger. her body fills with a frantic, desperate energy to feed, and she huddles under the blankets, afraid to let her family see her. she can’t get her claws or teeth to go away, her hair is bright red. she looks like a fox, and nothing she does makes it go away.

late at night, her hunger becomes too much, and she snaps. she’s outside her parent’s door when she realizes what she was about to do, her hand just about to slide open their door.

she’s so certain that a single human heart could sate her hunger.

yeon-saeng runs. it’s painful to walk away, she can smell them, smell her brother down the hall, and her mouth waters. she’s so hungry. but she forces herself to walk away and runs to the barn.

she kills half their heard that night, gobbling up hearts and livers in a frenzy. she slaughters the next cow while the previous one’s warm, wet heart is still in her hand.

it’s not quite daybreak, and she’s not hungry anymore. she’s not quite satisfied, but the ravenous yearning deep in her gut is gone.

it’s a devastating loss. her father will struggle to survive now that half his cows are dead. and what’s worse is this – she cannot stay. she will either eat the other half, and leave them penniless to starve, or she will give in to her urges, and kill them herself. she’s selfish, but not that selfish. she loves her family too much to do this to them.

when the sun rises into the sky, she’s gone.

~

her hair never goes back to black. it’s a permanent dark orange, and her nails are too sharp, and her teeth a little too long. but she almost looks like a person, as long as no one looks too closely.

the first few years are the hardest. she wanders through towns, too young to do any real work, but sometimes a kind innkeep would let her clean tables in exchange for a room. other times, she sneaks into barns and sleeps among the warm, dry hay.

she has to eat, and she has to eat often. small animals don’t satisfy her, she tries chickens and rabbits, even sheep don’t sate her hunger. cows and boars will do, and horses probably would too, but she’s reluctant to test her theory. partially because killing a horse will certainly garner more attention than she wants. but also because, well, she likes horses. she thinks they have kind eyes, and she’ll sooner eat a horse than she will a human, but would prefer to have neither, honestly.

she misses rice cakes. they were her favorite as a child, but now they taste like ashes in her mouth.

when possible, she hunts for he own food in the forest, searching out wild board to feed herself with. but sometimes that’s not possible, and when that happens she sneaks away to a pasture and kills a cow. they always say it looks like a fox attack.

she doesn’t want people to go hungry because of her, to suffer because of her, so she doesn’t stay in one town for long. she moves around constantly, killing and stealing the livestock of farmers she needs to live, trying to keep her head down and not cause trouble.

she still craves human hearts more than anything else. but as long as she keeps herself well fed it’s … well, not easy to ignore it, but manageable.

she’s managing.

~

yeon-saeng is sixteen, and it’s much easier. people hire her to serve drinks in restaurants now, will hire her to smile at customers now.

she still doesn’t look quiet human, but people never seem to notice that.

she’s beautiful. they don’t know what she is, they don’t care, all they care for is her pretty face. she always smiles with her mouth closed so they don’t see her teeth, but that’s okay. things are easier now.

she is sixteen when she makes a friend.

it’s not one she expected to make, if she ever thought she’d have one. she keeps everyone way, women are nice to her and men want her, but she rejects them all, keeping to herself and offering them nothing more than her close-lipped smile.

she’s a monster. those around her risk one day being eaten by her, and the pain of that potential loss stops her whenever she fees the urge to reach out to someone. she thinks of her parents often, of her brothers. she hopes they’re happy. sometimes she hopes they’ve forgotten her, but she’s still a selfish girl, and the thought that not one person cares for her cuts like a knife.

but one person does come to care for her.

his name is bou, and he’s a monk. he is plain, and nondescript, but there are not many buddhist monks, and he stands out, somehow, with his calm face and plain grey robes. he follows her from town to town, and at first she thinks it is a coincidence, that maybe they are simply traveling in the same direction. but soon it’s too much to be a coincidence, and she can only think of one reason a monk would have for following her. he must know what she is, and be here to kill her.

she does not want to die.

yeon-saeng corners him, nails and claws out, eyes blazing red, and says she will not die easily, says that she does not want to kill him, but she will to preserve her own life.

she’s already thinking that if she does kill him, she’ll have to tear out his heart and liver and grind it into the dirt so she does not eat them. once she starts eating humans, she doesn’t know if she could stop, and to leave them whole would be a temptation she would be unable to refuse.

he looks at her, unflinching, and tells her a story. he happened upon two brothers not long ago, with very strange histories. born into near-poverty, they were separated as teenagers and led remarkable lives. the eldest was adopted into a noble family and became one of the hwarang, the refined and cultured warriors who live on the edges of the country. the younger became the assistant to a yangban, the high level civil servants of the country. both now had prestigious positions rarely achieved by nobility. they happened to pass each other on the street one day just a few short months ago, both visiting a city they were not from, and recognized each other instantly.

they cried to find each other again, and it is here when bou overheard them talking while at a tavern. they spoke of their sister, who killed their cows and devoured their hearts and livers, and was the reason they’d been thrown from their homes. they spoke of their sister, who was not their sister by blood, but a demon sent from the heavens, for some misdeed none of them knew of. they spoke of their sister, who they knew to be a monster, and who they could not face. they spoke of their sister, who they loved in spite of everything, to this very day.  

bou intended to find her, and kill her, to rid the world of her evil. but he finds her, and finds that she is not evil. that she is kind, and hurting, and alone, and trying so desperately to do no harm, to be a good person in a world that does not have enough good people.

a demon she may be, but a monster she is not.

yeon-saeng is sobbing by the end of this, stepping away from him. bou has decided that she is the best kind of person, and that he would like to follow her, to travel with her, if she will allow it. she tries to refuse, says she will put him in danger, but bou does not listen.

she doesn’t have to let him be her friend. but he will follow her wherever she goes, so she might as well make this easier on both of them. she does not give in until he makes her a promise – if she ever does become a monster, he’ll kill her himself. when she cannot trust herself, she can trust him.

bou and yeon-saeng travel together, and although she worries constantly, yeon-saeng never harms him. years pass, and she grows stronger, she leans even further into her demon powers.

she is at least part kumiho, part nine tailed demon, and there are certain skills that come with that. with bou and his holy powers by her side, she feels comfortable exploring them for the first time. if she ever goes too far, bou will stop her.

she is a young woman when bou convinces her to seek out her family, to try and make amends with them. she cannot yet face her eldest brothers, whose lives she forced off course so dramatically, but agrees to try and visit her parents and youngest elder brother at home.

when she arrives, there are no cows in the pasture, and she worries. the house looks worn, and it feels empty. she knocks on the door, fear and worry making her shake, and it is only bou’s presence at her back that steadies her.

but the door opens, and it’s her brother, min-woo. he’s older, of course, but he looks healthy, looks fine. he’s startled to see her, but welcomes her inside like nothing has changed, like she hasn’t been missing for a decade. he doesn’t move to embrace her, and she holds herself back, uncertain. he tells her she has good timing, because he has invited their elder brothers home.

min-woo tells her that their parents have died, and she’s nearly bowled over in her grief. but he implores her to stay, says that now they can be a family once more. yeon-saeng agrees because she doesn’t know what else to do, her kind mother and father who loved her so very much are dead, and even though she hasn’t seen them in years their loss is just as devastating. min-woo comforts her, tells her they were simply old, and these things happen. she doesn’t think they were that old, but what does she know, she hasn’t been there for years.

she agrees, and min-woo tells her he has nothing to feed her and her companion, but she doesn’t mind. pretending to enjoy rice that tastes like dirt is a waste on both of them, and bou has endured much worse than a night’s sleep on an empty stomach. min-woo does offer them water, which they accept. it doesn’t taste clean, but both are too polite to say anything about it.

so they settle down, and bou falls asleep at her back, like he always does, and she eventually falls into a fitful sleep, thoughts of her dead parents and her living brothers chasing around her head.

when she awakes, everything has somehow gotten even worse.

she’s tied up, and she twists to see bou is as well, wide-eyed and with a gag in his mouth. min-woo sits in front of them, a cruel twist to his mouth she’s never seen before. her head is foggy, and it takes her a moment to process everything. the water must have been drugged.

he tells them their timing is perfect. he’d nearly run out of their parents’ flesh to eat, and so had invited their elder brothers home, intent on killing them and eating them. but eating her flesh, consuming the heart of a kumiho, will sustain him so much longer than mere humans would.

she looks at him in horror, not understanding. she asks if he was born a demon too, if he’s like her, but he laughs at her. he is just a human, but if he eats her maybe he will be something more.

min-woo takes a hunk of something folded in butcher paper and unwraps it, and in the center is a heart. the scent hits her nose all at once, and she knows it’s a human heart.

that it’s her father’s heart.

he’s been saving this for himself, but the stronger she is when he kills and eats her, the stronger she will make him. he holds it to her mouth, and parts of her wants it, it’s not fresh but it hasn’t gone bad, has been kept frozen and recently defrosted by the smell, and her mouth is already watering. she lives with a constant low-level hunger, but now it’s out in full force, begging her to bite into the heart her brother is holding to her lips.

she closes her mouth and shakes her head, turning away from it. this isn’t right. it’s not fair. she asks why, asks if it was because they ran out of food, was there truly nothing else for him to eat?

he says business was fine. they had plenty to eat. he just wanted to eat them, he just wanted to kill and eat human flesh, says he wanted to become stronger, and this seemed like the easiest way to do it.

this is incomprehensible to yeon-saeng, who has struggled against the gnawing in her stomach her whole life. she could break the ropes, could break min-woo. she’s a kumiho. her power is so far beyond min-woo’s that it’s laughable.

but guilt and grief swallow her. maybe the true reason she was born into her family was not divine punishment, maybe she was meant to protect them, to keep them safe. maybe her true purpose was to protect her beloved parents from min-woo, and she has failed. her parents are dead, her brother is a monster, and she has failed at the one thing she supposed to do.

she has no reason to live. once min-woo eats her, he will have no need of bou, her friend will be fine. she won’t eat her father’s heart, even now, at the end, but she can’t seem to muster the will to defend herself.

bou is screaming through his gag, surely begging her to do something, but she can’t move, too numb to do anything at all. min-woo gets tired of trying to force her to eat the heart, and lifts up a knife, moving to slit her throat.

before he gets the chance, a blade is shoved through his chest and out his mouth, killing him instantly. yeon-saeng looks up, wide eyed.

min-woo slides off the blade, revealing the man holding it. it is her eldest brother, jae-shin. her second eldest brother ki-tae is at his side. they’re older too, more steady, firmer than she remembers them being. she bows her head, waiting for her own death blow, but it doesn’t come.

instead ki-tae throws his arms around her, her eldest brother doing the same. they heard everything, they know everything. they cry as they hold her, apologies falling from their lips. she is their sister, and they love her, and they’re sorry they ever doubted her.

they could never bring themselves to hurt her, but did not hesitate to cut down min-woo. maybe deep down they’d always known who the true monster was.

jae-shin cuts her free, and does the same for bou. yeon-saeng is shaking in ki-tae’s arms still, but jae-shin pulls her forward and cups her face in his hands, kisses her forehead and tells her he’s sorry, that if he hadn’t acted so rashly so long ago maybe none of this would have happened.

yeon-saeng won’t accept their apologies, instead offering her own for letting their father throw them out when they only spoke the truth, for remaining silent in the face of their banishment.

their parents are dead, killed by their brother, who has been killed by jae-shin. they are as broken as ever, but the three of them are together once more, are willing and eager to rebuild their relationship. they all made mistakes, but all are willing to forgive.

bou is furious with yeon-saeng for freezing, for doing nothing to save herself. but he’s pulled between his anger and his worry that now she has her brothers back, she won’t need him anymore. but she knows him just as well as he knows her, so she assuages his worries and apologizes for freezing, says she won’t do it again. she tells bou that he’s her best friend, and she never wants him to leave.

so now this incredibly strange group is traveling together, roaming the country – a short tempered yangban’s assistant, a charming hwarang warrior, a buddhist monk, and a kumiho.

together, they do their best to figure out the extent of yeon-saeng’s powers, and try to leave everywhere they go a little better, a little less broken.

they succeed.

read more retold fairytales here

Cousins, Clones and Conning the Family

Family Reunion AU, where cousins Maddie and Clark try to smuggle their clone children into the family reunion that happens every 5 years and pretend they've been there the whole time.

Spoiler alert, one of them does significantly better than the other. Mainly Kid POV, and also on AO3! Multichapter. ===

The problem with big family reunions, Danny thinks, is how utterly fucking lost Danny is all the gosh dang time.

"Well now, you're Maddie's son now ain'tcha? How old is you now?" The woman standing before him guffaws, ruffling his hair. He lets it, trying desperately to remember the speadsheet Jazz created for the family and (obviously) failing to recall this woman's name.

Agatha? Selene? Riri? No, Aunt Riri is over there—

"Yes ma'am," Danny smiles up at the unnamed aunt, accent going a little twangy like it always does at these functions, "I'll be hittin' 17 in a coupl'a months or so."

"My, my, you youngin's sure grow like weeds!" The aunt coos, gesturing to a height by her hip, "You used to be this tall last time I saw ya, betcha don't r'member me now do ya?"

It's a trap. If he says he doesn't remember, which is expected at reunions such as these that happen every 5 years or longer, she'll start going on and on about the stories she has of the family. Danny would have to stand here and demure and laugh at these cousins he doesn't really remember too well, but know enough to know that she's gotten them all mixed up.

"Pshaw," Danny doesn't react when a whisper breathes the answer into his ear, "I'd never forget a pretty lady like you, Aunt Helena!"

It works like a charm.

The second he's out of her clutches, he feels around for a cold spot. There, trailing just behind him, is Ellie. She's not invisible anymore, so he tucks her under his arm and bee-lines it towards the metaphorical kid's table.

"Thanks, Ellie. Weren't you supposed to stay with Dad?" Danny leads them around, trying to avoid any other mishaps. "Did Jazz send you?"

"She made me flashcards!" Ellie smirks up at him, ignoring his other question and pulling a corner of an index card out from the palm of her hand. She's always been better than him at manipulating the ecto in her body, for obvious reasons. Danny's not bitter about it at all.

"Damn, all I got was a presentation." Danny grumbles. Jazz and Dad somehow know every single one of their family members, which is ludicrous when even Mom doesn't know despite it being her side of the family.

He still can't really believe how big his family actually is, but he supposes that's natural. He only sees them once every couple of years, the only relative they see even on a remotely regular basis is Aunt Alicia, who has no kids and refuses (rightfully so) to remarry.

Danny's fine with that, he gets the best of both worlds after all. Cozy holiday stays with Aunt Alicia and he has places to stay all over the country if he really needs it, no questions asked.

Plus, crazy as they can be, these reunions have always felt like a big country festival for Danny.

"She likes me better." Ellie snickers, tugging him back to avoid Uncle Charlie's drunken stumbling.

"Everyone likes you better," Danny rolls his eyes, pushing Ellie's head down and ducking to avoid a stray kid's toy flying overhead, "I like you better."

As if somehow knowing Danny's being self deprecating again, Jazz shows up to smack him on the head. "I like both of you equally in special ways."

Danny makes a disgruntled noise, grumbling as he rubs his head, "Mooooom, Jazz is therapizing me again!"

Even though he was only half joking, Mom does show up specifically to laugh at him. "Honey, your father and I love all our children equally!"

"It's a secret," Dad says from behind Jazz, kids climbing all over him, "But Ellie's the favorite!"

"Jack!" Mom yells at the same time Jazz screams, "Dad!"

Ellie dissolves into giggles, making everyone but Dad helplessly laugh. It's good to see Ellie laugh, she does it a lot but it still doesn't feel like it's enough. Danny picks her up, giggling mess and all, and tosses her at Dad.

She lands, as expected, straight into the pile of children who scream and accept her easily.

"Nice." Jazz chuckles, this time patting him gently on his head in approval. Danny shrugs, dusting his hands off and heading back towards salvation: the food.

He and Jazz mingle a bit, exchanging greetings and school updates with the Aunts and Uncles they occasionally bump into, making their way slowly through and keeping an eye out for the other cousins.

Eventually, Jazz gets nabbed by Cousin Dermot just as Danny reaches the table, tossing a pig-in-a-blanket into his mouth and chewing with glee. The locals of the family usually something potluck style—and though Dad's genes are strong and the Fentons can't cook, the bulk of the Walker family definitely can.

In fact—Great Aunt Martha said she was going to bring some mini pies right?

Danny spies a pile of them in the middle of the large table and reaches for one, only to bump into the spikes of black fingerless gloves.

The gloves are, of course, attached to someone else.

It's a boy, around Danny's age, in a spiked leather jacket (matching the gloves) and white tee shirt with ripped jeans. He's got the tiniest John Lennon sunglasses and piercings everywhere—it makes Danny squint at him, with how much the sun keeps catching on everything—the spikes, the piercings, the metal arms of the sunglasses, is this dude also wearing lipgloss?

Danny's not judging, a guy can appreciate proper hydration to avoid chapped lips or even just for the aesthetic, but it doesn't help with the glare.

"Sorry, my bad." Right, okay, city slicker then. Not that Danny's much of a country boy or anything. "Did my spikes get you?"

Maybe Cousin Jenny brought a plus one? Danny eyes the guys jeans—they look tight. Was Cousin Mark into guys? Is this dude a guy or possibly a masculine girl? Ack. Stupid sun frying his brain.

"It's okay," Danny says, blinking away and tossing mini pie to the other person. "Aunt Martha's pies are worth the minor injury. You comin' in with one of the cousins?"

"Uh, yeah." Citypunk looks at Danny nervously, "I mean, I am one of the cousins." The guy bites his lips, shrugging, "Uh, one of the Kents, actually. Ma's real proud of the pies."

Danny blinks.

"…You're not Jon." Danny says, very carefully and slowly.

"…No…" Stranger Danger draws his vowels out, "I'm Conner. His, uh, older brother? Can't blame ya for being confused though!"

"…You can't." Danny agrees, because out of the two them, Danny definitely isn't to blame for the confusion.

"Yeah, lots of cousins, and all," Curiouser and Curiouser beams at Danny, shrugging and rubbing the back of his neck, "Plus, I know Jon's more sociable at these things."

"Right, he really is rambunctious, that guy." Danny nods, as if that's the problem, and not the fact that Danny knows every single cousin his age. Big as his family might be, Danny's generation came out the smallest. Cousin Jenny and Cousin Mark are the only two his age.

With Ellie and Jazz each being four years younger and older than Danny, and the other cousins being well beyond those ages in gaps, there is no way this guy is a cousin.

"Don't worry," Punk'd laughs self deprecatingly, "I know he's the favorite. even if Mom won't admit it."

Danny feels a vein throb in his right temple.

He's unsure if he should slowly back away or get up in the guy's face. It's just—now that Danny thinks about it, if wedding crashing is a thing, does that mean family reunion crashing is a thing too?

What's the protocol here? Should he fight this guy for having the audacity to use Great Aunt Martha's name in vein?

Wait, no, that's Jesus.

Is Great Aunt Martha Catholic? ...Is that the one with Jesus, or was that Christianity?

Wait, Danny, you knuckle head, Uncle Clark was adopted. Conner could be adopted too! Even though he looks exactly like that Uncle Clark when he was younger…

"Is this your first time at a reunion?" Danny ventures, "We only have 'em—"

"Every 5 years, yeah." Conner huffs, "Nah, I just used to hide with Ma in the kitchens."

Okay, clearly Great Aunt Martha isn't in on this, because Danny used to hide with Great Aunt Martha in the kitchens. Danny's about to lose his shit on this guy—or maybe sic Ellie on him. Whichever is worse.

"Oh yeah? That's must have been cozy." Danny grits out, taking a deep breath so his eyes don't flash.

"Yeah, it was!" Conner beams shyly. though all Danny sees is a smug smirk. "She's real nice-like, I'm sure you know. Real lucky to have her for a Grandma."

"Real lucky." Danny agrees, because Great Aunt Martha really was one of the better Great Aunts. Though most of the Walker Kin were hardy and tough, in that badass kind of way. Mom really liked Great Aunt Martha's lessons on bull wranglin' back when they were younger. "Speakin' of, she ain't here?"

"Nah," Conner makes a sad little pout. "She hadta stop by Auntie Agatha's for an emergency. She left two days ago, so she's runnin' a little behind. Cl—Dad went to go pick her up."

Danny squints at the possible imposter. That sounded like he was going to call Uncle Clark by his name, which makes things confusing for Danny. Guy will call Aunt Lois Mom but he won't call Uncle Clark Dad easily?  Maybe he's a kid Aunt Lois had before marrying Uncle Clark? But Aunt Lois would never hide a kid, and Great Aunt Martha would never let her treat a kid like that. That's not even taking into account that this kid looks way too much like Uncle Clark for it to be a fucking coincidence. Plus, Danny knew about Aunt Aggie's emergency and how she might not be making it to this year's reunion—this gives Conner's story credibility.

But Danny knows that the best way to lie is with truths, even if the truths are confusing.

So what the hell is going on? Is Clockwork fucking with him? Did an alternate timeline get switched with his?

It wouldn't be the first time, but Clockwork at least had the decency to let him know at least.

"What the—" Danny blinks, as Conner picks up a very familiar, eye-searingly green colored post it note that was stuck to the plate under a mini pie. "Is this yours?"

"Yeah," Danny huffs. taking the note and rolling his eyes as lies roll off his tongue, "Sorry, y'know how it goes with Jazz."

"Oh, yeah." And Danny has to give it Conner, he at least rolls with the punches real quick, "I heard about it but didn't ever uh, see it in action."

"Really?" Danny feigns surprise, head pulsing in irritation at the words all is as it should be written in purple pen. There's no mocking smiley face, but Danny feels it in the ink anyway. "Thought she got all the cousins at the last reunion."

Conner chuckles nervously, "Oh, yeah—Guess I'm just, easy to miss you know?"

"Uh huh…" Danny eyes the guy and his piercings and very distinct style, from the tip of his clearly styled hair and needlessly ostentatious big black studded boots. "…Right."

Conner laughs, wincing. "These're new. High school debut."

"…You're a freshman?" Danny tilts his head, squinting.

"Junior." Conner automatically corrects, before stiffening. "…I just wanted to reinvent myself for Junior Prom."

"Right." Danny repeats, drawing out the vowels and finally giving up. He can tell Conner already knows what Danny is going to ask, and is trying to exit this conversation post-haste.

Fortunately for Conner and unfortunately for Danny, Jazz comes barreling in, almost knocking the former out in the process as she grips the latter's biceps tightly with her eyes wide and nervous.

Unfortunately for Conner and fortunately for Danny, though the look in Jazz's eyes thoroughly distracts the latter and gives the former a window to escape, Jazz's hissed out words end up keeping Conner rooted to the floor.

"Baby Jon has powers!" Jazz hisses as she moves Danny away from the possible imposter a couple feet. Even though she says it low enough for only Danny to hear, Conner's wide eyes as he whips his gaze towards them suggests that Jon's not the only one with powers.

And then words actually register along with that thought.

Danny hisses out the first thing he thinks of. "Since when?? I thought he took after Aunt Lois!"

"Since now," Jazz gruffs, switching her grip to drag Danny away, "and I need you to do something about it!"

"What?" Danny doesn't struggle, going along even as he eyes Conner who seems to be following them at a distance. "Why?"

Jazz pushes him towards the kid's area, rushing out a frantic "He's in the bounce house with Ellie!"

Danny freezes, or tries to even as Jazz keeps tugging him along, before shaking off her hand and booking it towards the bounce house.

Once the bounce house (a castle) comes into view, Danny clocks several things in succession:

One: Ellie and Jon are thankfully the only ones in the bounce house right now.

Two: Ellie and Jon are laughing, and through the mesh Danny can see Ellie watching Jon jump way too high to be considered normal.

And three: The bounce house is about to fucking tip over.

There's a gaggle of Aunts herding the younger cousins towards the food that's dense enough for cover, but sparse enough for Danny to dash through.

Between one blink and the next, he disappears.

Bunny AU for Cryptid :3