#ghost gets trapped in some kind of net

[theywhowriteandknowthings]

Not me head cannoning a fantasy AU for TF141 where reader is an elf/fae that they’re tasked with finding and bringing back from the deep forest.

Each of them find her but each time they’re so charmed/enamoured they leave her there.

Eventually they each come back “on mission” and reader gives them gifts/evidence that they “almost got her this time”.

They eventually realise they’ve all been doing this, each falling in love with this elf/fae over time.

They kill the Lord who set the bounty and live happily ever after with the elf/fae. (And maybe free the land of the tyranny of the Lord? Idk…)

#tf 141 #tf 141 x reader #fantasy au #cod fantasy au #simon ghost riley #john price #captain john price #john soap mactavish #kyle gaz garrick #vi chats shit #but seriously like defeating each of them with different methods #soap gets seduced #Gaz is outsmarted in a game of logic #price gets his ass handed to him #ghost gets trapped in some kind of net #I dunno

[bonefall]

Sorry, I'm a fucking idiot but what's Shadowsight's relationship with the Dakr Forest Peeps??? Somehow Don't know how to search properly 😭😭😭

OH dw djrhddj it's kind of an inside joke that just sorta happened based on this one scene

Here, I am handing you a bouquet of WIP material.

PREVIOUS CONTEXT:

In BB, Bristlefrost dies VERY early on. She is executed publically by the Impostor. She is a ghost for most of TBC.

Shadowsight has epilepsy, and since his birth in Heartstar's Rise, has had a really bad relationship with death and the idea of needing to "make his life worth it."

He's struck by lightning in early TBC, giving him a glowing blue scar that lights up his ear like radio antennae. This is a "gift" from Ashfur, essentially making Shadowsight a prophet-level interpreter. VERY powerful gift.

All Dark Forest residents manifest a "Land Mar" in the forest. An evil magic place based on the worst moment of their lives. If you live here long enough that it becomes home, you get one.

Anyway, cut ahead to the wip in question where the joke comes from;

Confronting the Impostor in the Dark Forest

Like canon, it is decided that Ashfur needs to be dealt with. He's escaped into the Dark Forest and it's not known what's happened with StarClan.

They just know that Ashfur is FREAKISHLY powerful and it's not known why. StarClan warriors can do many wonderful things, but possession? Calling down a lightning bolt to make a blessing?

The Clans are more concerned about StarClan than the dark forest though, and not super willing to stick their necks out to fight for... Hell. Or the soul of Bramblestar.

But Squirrelflight, in spite of EVERYTHING, argues passionately that they NEED to save her ex-mate. No man left behind means him too.

But I'm not sure if I'm going to have Shadowsight leave and re-enter the DF this time around, to go fetch these reinforcements, because I have a better idea.

So INSTEAD of escaping as Rootspring gets captured, Shadowsight also gets trapped. He's able to avoid capture, but injured, and not knowing how he's going to save everyone without reinforcements.

He manages to drag himself away where he finds a cave. It's the land mar of Ravenwing, the unfairly damned Cleric of ThunderClan... and he intentionally never seeks visitors. He has no idea what's going on out there with Ashfur. Man literally lives under a rock.

But Shadowsight is a young lad and he's injured. He needs help, so, he brings him deep into his cave to patch him up. That's where they have a little chat.

It's about expectations. What people want from you, vs the right thing to do. Ravenwing interpreted a sign from StarClan incorrectly, and three children died because of him. He thought he was doing what they wanted... but even if they did, it was an AWFUL thing to want.

And so he regrets it deeply. Even if it WAS their will, he should have had the spine to stand against it.

And then the subject turns around to Ashfur, Shadowsight sharing how he listened to him because he was a StarClan warrior, even against his instincts, how he feels responsible for this mess.

And yet.. how good it felt. How terrified he is that even if he beats him, he'll go back to living without him. Ashfur makes him special, this GIFT makes him special.

And how will anyone ever forgive him? So many people are dead because of him. Cousin Strikestone is dead because of him. All he ever wanted to do was be useful, but now his life is a net negative.

I plan to trim this down to be shorter and more "focused," but I do want to try and set up Shadowsight's feelings before the Final Battle in some other way.

Anyway, Ravenwing reveals that the Special Power of his Land Mar is that HE can send omens from the comfort of his own cave, very easily. With the power of his Land Mar and the Gift that Shadowsight still has, they're able to send a message to the Mortal Plane.

"STUCK IN DARK FOREST ASHFUR BAD SEND HELP"

I think it'll work better than the several chapters of arguing canon gave us, widely considered to be super frustrating. Just let Shadowsight see the "best hits" from Ravenwing's cave, like Squirrelflight’s Speech.

If I don't use the Land Mar idea, then Rootspring will break out of jail with the help of Hawkfrost's half-ghost and go get help.

Anyway. The joke

Shadowsight keeps getting put in the path of demons who aren't evil and angels who aren't good

So based on the Ravenwing Scene (which I've mentioned before but without much detail iirc) it just became a joke that people like talking to Shadowsight lmao

He'll take 2 steps and a new demon is like "oh i need to protect this boy"

Or suddenly traumadump on him

Or both

#better bones au #BB!TBC #BB!Shadowsight #BB!Ravenwing

[elbiotipo]

Another thing I think it's virtually impossible is the concept of virtual "copies" or "uploading". Human consciousness is defined by constantly changing electrical impulses and chemical concentrations in the brain, and not only in the brain, but probably also in the rest of the body (the spine and muscular memory, for starters, and who know what the fuck is going in the gut nerves), as we're learning more and more. There is simply no way I can think of where you could translate that biological activity into computer language, that is electrical impulses on a computer on the broadest of terms.

Extremely optimistic and naive transhumanists thought that once we decoded the DNA that makes up a brain, we could just replicate it on a computer. You can't. It's not the genes that make the anatomical structure, not even the genes that make up the behavior between neurons. It's the entire regulation between neurotransmitters, the connections between neurons, the concentrations of neurochemicals, which is in constant flux. And all those come from a living brain that is part of a living organism. You can't just make "a brain" and make it conscious, it's part of an organism (in fact, there are some experiments that make up independent brain tissue to understand punctual behaviors, but they are a bit above my current knowledge and those brain tissues are not conscious in a way we understand)

What's more important is that if you wanted to read and translate that "data" into electronic data, even assuming such a translation is possible, you would have to get inside the cells and their connections. This is impossible in the sense that there are not any known non-invasive methods to actually see what's going on there, optics and chemical marking and more just end up destroying the tissue eventually. And you know, destroying brain tissue kills you. So you can't go sit in a machine that just uploads you to a computer.

I guess a computer could make a simulation of you based on your brain data, but it wouldn't be you, would it? It would be a digital ghost based on you, you will be already dead. The entire transhumanist concept of copies being "you" has always been complete nonsense to me no matter how it's explained.

There's lots of "singularity" transhumanist kinda science fiction that assumes this is just as easy as putting the software (the mind) into another kind of hardware (a computer/the net) and you become inmortal. It's really not, and I doubt it's possible at all. You're not "a mind trapped on a body". Your body IS you. Your brain IS you and your body too.

Could for example, an individual be increasingly connected to an artificial body where it's hard to tell where the biological consciousness begins and ends? Ah, that's an interesting question.

#cosas mias #science fiction #I'm not talking about souls here because that's a whole other debate #but I also think a soul is something that emerges or is given from a conscious material body #so yes a 'virtual copy' of you would have a soul just not YOUR soul #but that depends on my own beliefs

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC WRITING PROMPT #4

✦

Just a Shade

Vlad blasts Phantom with a new invention of his without any warning. What it does is it siphons away his ectoplasm and weakens Phantom to the point it reverses his powers, but not in the way you think. Instead of needing to concentrate to be intangible/invisible, he has to concentrate to stay tangible/visible and trying exhaustes him to a dangerous amount. Like, almost passing out and fading away entirely kind of dangerous. Like this, he's like ghosts you see in some movies, he can't touch or move objects more than an inch, plus add in he can't speak other than some ominous noises. In other words, he's stuck. For who knows how long.

The Justice League haven't heard from Phantom for a while, but they just think he's probably more busy on his home terf and can't spare any time. That's fine. Everyone keeps going about their business as usual. Even more time passes and the Justice League are getting suspicious over Phantom's absence and are worried.

They go looking for him and come to find out that they've been receiving multiple messages and calls from Team Phantom that were blocked/jammed, asking if they've seen the missing ghost and that he never came home however long ago. JL asks Team Phantom when was they heard from him and what was he doing at the time. They tell JL that he was last seen fighting one of his rogues, Plasmius, but that they haven't seen the evil ghost for a while either and that the other rogues were acting strangely.

The JL go to Amity Park with the proper precautions, and find a hoard of angry ghosts swarming the mayor's home, but they're being blocked from entering by a ghost shield. The JL cautiously asked some of the ghosts what was going on and they reply that the man hiding behind the ghost shield has harmed and stolen their Prince. The JL decide to pass through and break down the door to the house.

The house is eerily quiet as they search for the resident. They find Vlad curled up on the floor in one of the corners of the lab absolutely beside himself. His face is splotchy red, bags under bloodshot eyes, and hair in disarray. His usually well kept suit is dirty and torn. He rocks back and forth mumbling, "I didn't mean to. Never wanted to end him. Never. Never." Vlad thinks he killed Danny all the way dead, so his mental state is in shambles.

He's terrified once he sees the JL there. He went through all the trouble of jamming any correspondence between them and Amity Park in fear of them taking retribution for offing one of their members, unintentional or not. The JL are furious and grief stricken for the loss of the young ghost. That is until Superman picks up on the faint sound of something clicking and a sound similar to harsh wind hitting bare branches. He brings it to the other's attention and they start searching for the noise when Batman recognizes the clicks as code.

They find a pen on the table next to a messy handwritten note, the words rushed and staggered as if the writer kept being interrupted. The note read:

"Help. Trapped. Need portal. Far Frozen. To weak to open myself."

The JL are confused until they see Phantom's form flicker in and out of focus like a film reel. He looks terribly gaunt and exhausted to the point of almost collapsing. The JL get to work opening the portal with the help of a frantic Vlad, securing a ghost net to carry Phantom in like a stretcher, and booting up a map of the Ghost Zone to get to the Far Frozen. The JL decide to send the three leaders, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. With Phantom secured in the net and all three ready to go, they step into the portal.

✦

I'm kinda reminded of that fic where Danny is stuck in-between dimensions because of his parents so he decides to haunt the Watchtower to get the Justice League's help. Not trying to copy anything I swear. I woke up with this idea on the brain.

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #danny is ghost prince until 18 #possible redemption arc for vlad #the justice league still wanna punch him in the face #protective justice league #missing phantom #writing prompt #prompt #dp x dc prompt #sleepy-writes-stuff

[birues]

3, 8, 16 + 28 for both tuana and kallig?

3- How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

Kallig: With time she came to show her genuine emotions around the people she absolutely trusts. Throughout the main storyline, while she was truly losing herself to the ghosts, she knew she didn’t have the luxury to stonewall everything. Also, there’s the promise she made to Ashara to be open and true with her, and Andronikos, knowing her since her first mission as an apprentice knows her too well to see through her bullshit. All of that trust, started to fall apart after SoR when she started spiralling down.

But to the other people outside of her core crew? Absolutely not. She is a master manipulator who understands the weight of emotions all too well. Emotions are mostly a tool for her to wield, nothing more. Unless she deems the other party worthy, of course. Like Theron, for example.

Tuana: Oh, she has issues with this. She’s good at concealing her emotions due to her upbringing as a daughter of the magistrate in an invaded country. And she dons it as an armor when she deems it necessary. Or when she is trauma-repressing. There was one person she was completely open with and that was Haurchefant. She’s very genuine with her affection for her friends and loved ones, though. And I think her genuine negative emotions, especially despair and anger show either when she thinks she can deal with the consequences or when she’s truly cracking at the seams like she was on Elpis. 

8- How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Kallig: Kallig tends to use the phrase with Theron pretty often after KOTFE. It’s a testament to not taking what they have granted. Before, though? Uh oh. Not happening. She says platonic “I love you” to Ashara as well since they’re practically siblings. But I only spoke of the genuine ones. Other than that? She derisively uses the phrase.

Tuana: Exceedingly rare. Even in life and death situations she just… doesn’t. There are other ways to express how much she cares, she finds “I love you” a little bit… unclimatic. You know how it is with theatre kids.

16- What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

Gigi I congratulate you again for asking the funniest question ever lgkgjhfhlkj 

Kallig: There are like… five sith lords inside her head. Valkorion is the WORST. Apart from that, she can see and speak with any ghost with ease. 

Tuana: we have… a list. Mothercrystal, voidsent avatar, Ardbert, Midgardsomnr, occasionally she hears Emet-Selch’s voice in her dreams post SHB… I haven’t decided if DRK will be added to her canon but it will be very hilarious if I do. She has a whole council there.

28- What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

Kallig: for this question, context matters A LOT. Kallig is the sort of person who will say anything to weave her net to trap you. She is rarely forthcoming with her actual agenda and even in personal relationships with the people she’s close to… she tends to… be cryptic sometimes. What she actually wants also changes drastically with time. First, she wants to escape, then to survive, then to take what is hers, then to take the empire and redeem it as its empress. Then her whole objective is to defeat Zakuul and get rid of Valkorion. And now, she would say, she just wants some peace and quiet. And to some extent, it would be true but she likes wielding power a little too much so…

Tuana: What she wants is for the mortifying horrors to leave her alone. She’s been through so much since… idk she was seven. And especially after SHB and EW she genuinely wants to rest, heal, reflect, take some breath, and do some adventuring for adventuring’s sake only. But she will never gonna be forthcoming about how much she was hurt and traumatized by everything. People can take a guess, yes. But she is very good at keeping the facade until it finally becomes too much. 

#tysm bestie ily <3333 #tuana tag #kallig tag #i have tired warrior and batshit dark lord of the sith and #im very normal abt them i promise

[trashlie]

hey it's the same anon as last time ^^ i'll try to stop by your inbox more often when i have the time and some thoughts to share. discussing these things is fun and you make such great points about the characters and the story. i'll be signing these asks with lil anon (like lil buddy 😼) so you know it's me. and good to hear! i hope you continue to get better 🥰

i get why you're invested in kousuke's story. he is, objectively, a really interesting character. it's unfortunate that people disregard him, bc understanding him is a key part of understanding the story. and understanding him doesn't necessarily mean having sympathy/empathy for him. like on a personal level i can't stand him and want to smack him with a broom lmao but as a reader/observer it's interesting to try and understand his motivations/actions, if that makes sense 🤞

oh yeah you're completely right about kou getting worse as the story progresses. his recent development has felt like watching a car crash in slow motion - tragic, but fascinating and you can't look away. if ily was a less interesting story, a character like kousuke (typical rich asshole with some redeeming qualities) would have had significant growth by now. but that would be such a cliché, right?

and sometimes i do wonder if kousuke is doomed by the narrative, or if he eventually will be able to break free from... himself, essentially. the thing is, kousuke's is trapped. in order to grow and change, he needs to separate himself from the hiraharas/this fake reality that's been constructed from him, and see his situation from a different perspective. but in order to even want to change, he needs to grow as a character first. which he cannot do as long as he's involved with the family. it's like a snake eating its own tail. nothing/no one has been able to get through to him yet, so i guess there needs to be an outside force (maybe a revelation) that breaks him out of this cycle, shatters the very foundation of his fake reality, or maybe removes his safety net. and i really wonder what's that going to be. like... even though christmas is coming up in the ily universe, i doubt he'll be visited by the ghosts of the present, past, and yet to come and then all of a sudden he's a gentler, kinder man the next day lmaooo idk what do you think it'll be that's going to push him towards (positive) change? i think it's undeniable that kousuke needs to crash and burn first, and then maybe he can build himself up from the ground. i really do hope that's what's going to happen eventually! he is (mostly) a victim of his upbringing/environment, so it'd be nice to see him make steps towards growth/healing/being his own person. either way we're still so far from anything like this happening so who knows.

re: nol and fear - wow i didn't make the connection that nol is also driven by his fears, but you're absolutely right. i saw him as someone mostly controlled by self-loathing/self-destructiveness/low self-esteem, but these feelings are ultimately rooted in his fears. thanks for pointing that out. such an interesting parallel between the brothers.

all the ways the brothers are two completely different people with similar issues are endlessly fascinating to me (i just love me a complex siblings dynamic). you mentioned that neither of them have that family relationship with their parents at this point, and i agree. however, i think it's important to keep in mind that a key factor in nol and kousuke being such different people are that their early days were completely different.

nol had a very loving mother who shaped him during his most critical years of development (ages 0 to 5). and i actually believe nol got his best qualities (kind, caring, generous, brave, funny, etc) and morals from nessa, not rand. also, the hiraharas hadn't poisoned him yet. the layers of pain and trauma came later. on the other hand, kousuke received a completely different version of care and was taught a number of really negative traits - that his wealth and name make him better than other people, that his family doesn't function like others do and that that's normal, that he shouldn't feel guilty taking advantage of people and situations, that he deserves to have everything he wants, that his sole purpose is to inherit the company, and - as you said - that love as a reward, rather than something he's inherently deserving of. no wonder nol was/is such a threat to him - he's competition, and there can only be one winner. how can this boy, a 'mistake', have received this "reward" (=rand's love (nol hasn't actually received it but kousuke thinks he did)) so easily, when he didn't do anything to deserve it? that can only mean that nol is better, that kousuke is in his shadow, somehow inferior. and that just contradicts kousuke's entire worldview. idk it's just. much to think about.

oh wow i wrote so much, sorry about that. btw feel free to copypaste this in a separate post under a cut so it doesn't take up too much space if you feel like it, i wouldn't mind! have a good weekend 💗 - lil anon

Lil' Anon, I love it, perfect! Hehe!!!

You are SO right about Kousuke, too, in that you don't have to love a character to enjoy them. In-verse I would not get along with Kousuke or even want anything to do with him lol. He frustrates me a LOT - but right, you can understand WHY a character is frustrating. You can become invested while knowing you would absolutely fight them lol. The thing about compelling characters is that, for the most part, they are the drivers of plot and story and if they aren't a character worth investing in, you run the risk of caricatures of antagonists, villains who fall flat and cartoonish. ILY certainly borrows from the truth that everyone is going through something, no matter who they are. That doesn't always validate what they do, but as far as a story and PLOT goes, it makes everything far more interesting. That's the main thing I want people to come away with, not just as far as ILY goes but media in general. Because it's fiction, there is no harm in enjoying an antagonist. Your plot and story wouldn't be as enjoyable if they WEREN'T compelling or intriguing. When I say Kou has become a character I'm very invested in, it doesn't mean I approve of the things he does. In fact, I root for him BECAUSE I want to see him grow, because I want to see if he ever takes the reigns on his life and comes to much-needed realizations.

Because you are right - there is a big chance that Kousuke IS doomed by the narrative. I've talked about this re: Alyssa before, too, in that just as in real life, there's a chance he may never come to the terms he needs to. He may never find his way out of his safety spots, may never try to leave what is safe and secure. That's what's so important about acknowledging how fear drives him - if he cannot overcome that fear of being uncomfortable, of facing disappointment, of being outside what he finds safe and secure, then he really can't make the changes he needs to. He won't have the opportunity to see himself in a way that might give him the perspective he needs. In general, growth requires courage. If we want to grow, we have to face scenarios that bring us discomfort, that maybe make us fall apart, in order for us to learn just how much we can take, just how much we can overcome. But Kousuke has never really been in that kind of position. He's had everything handed to him, whether or not he wants it to be.

I really like the analogy that it's like a snake eating its own tail; I think that really sums up the vicious cycle and why we've not seen him wake up to reality, why things seem to go in one ear and out the other.

Over on reddit I've been talking to someone a lot about Kousuke, too, and a thought we share is that not only does Kousuke need that crash and burn - I think everyone is in agreement about that! - but maybe something that can be a wake up call for him is his career. They made some really great points, too, I'll link to their response here, but we know that Kousuke isn't truly happy in his life and career. To him, we endure uncomfortable situations, or one's that aren't fun because that's life. We don't live in an ideal world, we have to do whatever we can to get by. But Kousuke literally could have his pick of anything in the world, couldn't he? At some point, when does he realize he's unfulfilled? The whole purpose of his career trajectory was to earn Rand's affection. At what point does he realize it isn't going to happen - if he's not already at that realization? At what point does the empty, hollowness set in? When does he realize he doesn't feel fulfilled because none of this was for HIM, this doesn't mean anything to him without Rand acknowledging him? And suppose he does get that acknowledgement. Then what? The quest is over, there's no higher goals, nothing more to achieve. Oh, sure, he can go on to be the CEO as he was born to. But would it MEAN anything to him?

I'm thinking - or hoping? - that this might be the kind of thing that gives him the wake up call. That there is no point in his life that brings him joy - except maybe eating sweets lol. But that can only be a catalyst. You're right in that a big need is for him to get away from his family, for him to exist outside of their reach, to lose that safety net.

I have a couple thoughts in this regard. Whatever Yujing is working on - likely an expose - syncs up with Shinae's graduation and Nol's release from prison. It clearly has to do with the Hiraharas - and this means Kousuke, as well. When she found out Nol had pleaded guilty, she'd been looking at an old article about Nol attacking Kousuke, which we've seen may not be what we thought it was at all, that perhaps it was Kousuke who attacked and Yui blamed Nol. There's also that incident Kousuke is so DESPERATE to hide, something Yujing knows about. It seems likely that this expose, this piece, is something that could taint the Hirahara name. Even if Kousuke was not involved in other aspects, this would end up affecting him, because a major part of his identity is that he is the Heir, so what happens if his identity is that he's the Heir of a dirty family? If it becomes known that he is not the ideal gentleman bachelor he's been made out to be? Is that enough to make him step back and see his family - especially his safety net Yui - in a new light?

There's also my favorite crack theory, that Kousuke is not Rand's son. Now, again, I don't necessarily think I believe in this as much as I enjoy exploring it, but there's been a number of little moments that feel like they could be foreshadowing - or red herrings lol. Suppose it was true, Rand isn't actually Kousuke's father. Aside from the fact that he's spent his whole life trying to earn love from this man, I think it would also be detrimental in that he'd finally have to face the unsavory parts of Yui that he tries to ignore or deny. The one pillar in his life having lied to him and egged him on to chase after this pipedream, reassured him that if he's good enough, he'd be acknowledged. Wouldn't that shatter him? Again, I'm not so sure if this is likely - it kind of feels overdramatic, but then again, the deeper we delve into the story, the more those kinds of dramatics start to feel normal.

At any rate, yes, I think he needs a wake up call that will make him see his family for what they are, make him see himself in a different light. And that's just the beginning! I really look forward to our big timeskip to see where we find Kousuke, if he's yet in a place where he can start making these changes to himself, if he's got a security network to push him to make those changes (and if he cares enough to do it lol).

Also yes, yes, very good points about Nol! Nol and Kousuke are definitely foils in that Nol had the kind of nurturing, affectionate childhood that Kousuke lacked. We've seen instances of Nol surrounded by peers his own age and we might be able to assume that, aside from being teased for having such a long name, maybe he actually got along with them? But also, because of the teasing incident, Nol had that safe space in his mother - Nessa comforted him and gave him a nickname to make up for the teasing. We've never once see Kousuke receive such affection, and I just always think about that little flashback where he's in the bush watching Nessa dote on Nol and then Yui appears before him without eyes. It's such a cold relationship, it doesn't feel like it was nurturing. She goes through the motions of being a mother, certainly, but that's the thing - the difference between mother and mom. Nol had a mom, Kousuke had a mother. And we can see that even when Nol was driven by fear, even when he was trying to distance himself, he couldn't help but indulge in those traits his mother passed on to him. He started to care about the friendships that weren't supposed to matter because he's such an empathetic person. He understands loneliness so well, how could he help but reach out to people he thought needed help? But Kousuke never developed those kinds of skills or traits. How is he meant to empathize with or understand people he was literally raised to see himself apart from. They're not like him, they are Other. Literally a formative foundation of the way he views the world!

Light and shadow plays such a role in the ILY universe. Nol is literally in the shadows, but Kousuke thinks that its him who is in the shadow cast by Nol, that he cannot let Nol shine, lest it drown out his own light. I think that really sums up the root of their relationship and their issues: Nol didn't so much want to shine as much as just share that spot with Kousuke. I think at some point he gave up trying to earn Rand's favor and instead sought out Kousuke who was in the same boat as him. But Kousuke thinks only one of them can be in the light and if it's not him, that means it's Nol - Nol who is so undeserving who hasn't put in the same effort as him. Isn't that funny? Kousuke literally was born into privilege, knows he is afforded things most others never will be, knows that he has things others could work for their whole lives and never possess. But he thinks it's Nol who has earned something without making any effort. The irony of it, man.

Don't feel bad about how much you wrote hehehe! I.... also cannot hold back when it comes to anything ILY so I'm delighted to receive equally long messages haha! Looking forward to more fun conversation with you, Lil Anon! And thank you for the well wishes! I'm going to try to make myself do more painting today! Fingers crossed (I am not doing the best job at taking care of myself this week lol I'm hoping some painting will help!)

#ILY Brainrot #I Love Yoo #Lil Anon #Kousuke Hirahara #Nol #Nolan Oliver T. Lochlainn #it's funny how like.... Kousuke has been such a focus of all my brainrot posts lately LMAO #i promise that when I jot down my 218 thoughts it will be about OTHER STUFF #.....but also like... still really on a similar tangent so LMAOOOOOO #IT IS WHAT IT IS MAN #THIS IS THE ARC I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR #THIS IS ALL OF THE STUFF I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DIG INTO #Kousuke really IS a slow motion car wreck i can't look away from

[jin-zixun]

MDZS Rereading - Chapter 3 (Part One) - The Prideful (Arrogance 6-10)

Manhua Chapters 13-who knows this is a Part 1 now

Should I do this in character as Jin Zixun? I'm not going to do that.

Hey it's our good friend 'yeah pretty much'

"Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but miss his sword, which was most likely now hanging on some major clan leader’s wall as a trophy."

"If an ordinary clan—one without generations of accumulated reputation to stand on—wanted to join the higher ranks and become famous, wanted to gain prestige and respect among the cultivation world, then they had to show tangible achievements. Only when they hunted down ruthless monsters or disaster-bringing malicious fiends did their words gain any weight."

Yeah, what am I adding that for? No reason, nothing much.

Can I use it to defend (and by defend I mean implicate in several murders probably) Moling Su Sect like way later on? Maybe.

This is here because it's cute. A+ commentary, no notes

Wei Wuxian being an edgy boy.

"It didn’t sound fake—even though nine times out of ten, cries for help in the wild were evil spirits out causing mischief, luring the ignorant into a trap. Wei Wuxian, however, was thrilled.

The eviler the better! It had better be evil enough!"

"He was in need of a band of tyrannical ghost generals to do his bidding, so he, too, decided to head to that “Rice Mountain” to try his luck. If there was one that proved useful, he’d capture it for his own use."

Ok but why though? What actually is your plan going forward here? I get that it's probably because best boy Wen Ning is actually here, but like he says he's already captured a few low level ghosts? I don't think he's joking? I feel like Padme in that meme.

Oh hey it's Jin Ling. Mr. Extremely Young and Incredibly Rich, according to Wei Wuxian.

I have nothing to say here, just more of a 'have you seen him? Now you have!' sort of situation going on.

I'm sure much has been said about how and whether since he's with the Jiang Clan here, it's actually Jiang Cheng who is super rich now. So I won't bother to say it. Canon Sugar Daddy Jiang Wanyin. See, I said nothing. Nothing was said.

"An immortal-binding net was already considerably expensive, and he’d still set up over four hundred of them in one go. As expected of the Jin Clan of Lanling—an even slightly smaller clan would have been reduced to poverty and ruin."

"...the Jin Clan of Lanling now led the clans and sects; the head of their clan was even respectfully addressed as “Cultivation Chief.”"

What was wrong with 'Chief Cultivator'. Was it overly incorrect? It conveys the same information, but if I dare to say it, it does not convey the same vibes. Were the vibes wrong all this time? Should it be Cultivation Chief? ...I don't want it to be.

"Could it be that Mo Xuanyu’s father was not some random small-time clan leader but the infamous Jin Guangshan?!"

I guess Mo Xuanyu didn't mention that in his notes? That's kind of funny tbh.

"Of his many illegitimate children, only one had been outstanding enough to be recognized and taken back, and that was the current family head of the Jin Clan of Lanling, Jin Guangyao."

A-Yao!!! Yeah! Glad Wei Wuxian kept up with all the hot gossip while he was dead. Like enough to know this next part:

But not enough to know about like. Jin Ling. Like what kind of priorities do you have here, buddy?

"Furthermore, even the way Jin Guangshan died was an embarrassment. Old, but fully confident he was still robust, he’d fooled around with a bunch of women at once in order to challenge himself. However, he unfortunately overestimated his vitality and died during the orgy. This was simply too embarrassing to speak of, so the Jin Clan of Lanling unanimously declared that the old sect leader had passed due to overexertion, and the rest of the clans, in tacit understanding, all pretended not to know the full truth of the statement. In any case, that was the real reason for his infamy."

"Wei Wuxian felt he had a responsibility to humiliate the boy back."

No, uh, you really don't. You don't have to. (WWX: No I'm gonna)

"So, he countered, “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”"

"I'm his Uncle" iconic. Like. Top Iconic moments list? So far, this one right here.

Jiang Cheng more like... Damn

Wow there sure a lot of these this chapter. Suibian, Ghost Generals, Widower Wangji... I'm sure there's some I missed.

eh lan zhan is alright too if you're into that kind of thing.

"Furthermore, no matter how thoroughly Lan Wangji was praised as an unrivaled rare beauty, nothing could help the fact that he looked profoundly embittered, as if he had lost his wife."

"Jiang Cheng was exceptionally handsome, but he was still a little inferior to the one standing before him"

No comments. No notes. I don't even know why I...

"Well see Jiang Cheng, on my hotness rating scale, you're just a little bit behind Lan Zhan, but you're still exceptionally handsome so-- Wait where are you going? Jiang Cheng? Jiang Cheng?"

(Yes I know the hotness rating scale is canon)

"Lan Jingyi was the blunt and outspoken sort. “Isn’t Sect Leader Jiang here too?”

Jiang Cheng replied coldly, “Tsk. An elder is speaking, who are you to interrupt? The Lan Clan of Gusu pride themselves on being a clan of etiquette. This is what disciples are being taught?”"

Things that make you go 'hmm' (but maybe that's just because you can't make any other noise)

"This silence spell was what the Lan clan used to punish its disciples.

Wei Wuxian had fallen victim to this little trick on many occasions. While it was not complex magic by any stretch of the imagination, only those of the Lan family could undo the spell. If one attempted to speak by brute force, then either their lips would be torn to shreds by the effort or they’d lose their voice for days. The penitent one had to keep their mouth shut and self-reflect in silence until the punishment period was over."

"He had originally come to assist Jin Ling: the boy was fifteen this year, the age to make his debut and fight for experience with the juniors from other clans. Jiang Cheng had reviewed the options carefully before deciding on Mount Dafan as the hunting ground. He had then set up nets everywhere and scared off all the other cultivators, making it so difficult for them to move that they’d be forced to back off—all so Jin Ling would emerge the winner without anyone fighting him for the title."

Oh. Oh buddy. That's. That's just. No. Don't uh... Don't do any of this. Oh god this is so misguided-but-well-intentioned I'm--

"While over four hundred immortal-binding nets were extremely expensive, the price was nothing to the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng."

And yes, the answer to that question is yes, Jiang Cheng is big dick sugar daddy with all the cash money one could want.

Ok let's break up this next one...

"Ever since the decline of the Nie Clan of Qinghe,"

Number One, couldn't happen to a better clan. Alright, I'll try not to bully the Nie too much today!

"of the current three great clans, the Jin Clan of Lanling and the Lan Clan of Gusu had always been close due to the strong personal friendship shared by their clan leaders."

Number Two, this is such gals being pals energy. Jiang Cheng at the sect leader meetings like 'wow those guys are such good friends.' Like buddy. Come on.

"Jiang Cheng ruled the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng alone, so it could have been said that he was in a state of isolation."

Number Three. Oh.

"Lan Wangji’s guqin (also named Wangji)"

ok this was just kind of funny to me, just the way it's written.

I don't know Jingyi he just had a whole long ass exposition, but I guess you didn't get to read that part.

"After they had gone, Lan Jingyi posed a general question: “Why is Sect Leader Jiang like that?!”"

"His voice was deep and captivating. If one stood close, it would make the heart flutter."

lmao Wei Wuxian is like back to life for a day and he's down this bad. Heartbreaking.

I feel more like I'm just recapping here at this point, but what else is there to say? I mean we all want to be the edgy ironically detached necromancer, but even the edgy ironically detached necromancer can't be that.

"There were so many disciples in the Jin Clan of Lanling that he’d genuinely never imagined he might run into Jin Ling. Had he known, he would never have mocked Jin Ling with that comment of his, “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” If anyone else had said that to Jin Ling, Wei Wuxian would’ve taught that person what “a loose tongue spells trouble” meant. But the tongue that said it had been his own.

After a moment of standing in silence, Wei Wuxian raised his hand and slapped himself across the face."

Honestly, this I feel like needs to have a part two. It's just too long at this point. I think this is about the halfway point of the chapter. And this post is like. Really long.

"He had truly thought his heart was made of stone. But humans were no stalks of grass, not unfeeling, and in the end, he was human after all."

#mdzs #mdzs reread #mdzs spoilers #not qinghe nie friendly #just adding that on as a basic tag now lmao #more memes than usual #a lot of heavily trodden discussion topics here

[hanatsuki-esperanza]

Lady Blackskull and Lord Wyvernwind, a Hades and Persephone story

Alrighty, let's go...

In the general mythos of Greek mythology, there exists the gods that reside in each corner of the world and represent different aspects, some of which being "life," "death," "hospitality," and "forge." But what mortals don't know is that the gods aren't actually immortal; they can be killed by other gods, empowered heroes, or devils, or they can choose to age and pass on.

Wyvernwind is the one of these gods, specifically one of the four wind gods that exist in the four corners of the world, and as the second-in-line for the throne, Bronte (as he's known to the mortals) (more commonly known as Dorian among the divine host) was never set to inherit the title/position, as it would go to his brother first. He was known to wander from land to land with his instruments in various mortal disguises, playing music for whoever would hear him.

Down in the underworld, Queen-Consort Delilah has been trying to lock down her step-daughter (divinely known as Adrienne) (private name Laudna), who wanders the depths of the deadplanes, making friends with the ghosts and listening to their stories and doing her best to avoid the palace and her stepmother. She hears mortals talk about a kind, attentive man named Dorian who played beautiful music that would ease their last moments. She began to become curious about this mortal man and wondered when he would arrive in her domain.

Shortly after Delilah married Laudna's father, she placed a curse on the bloodline that would slowly sap away their lives, leaving them as frail husks that would be easily killed. Delilah killed the King (nothing has ever been proven) but she realized that in casting the curse, she inevitably caused her own life to be tied to the life of the Blackskull bloodline (yes, Laudna gets a cool last name, the haters can pry it from my cold, dead hands). If the last Blackskull died, Delilah would perish. Thus, Delilah began setting up suitors for Laudna, who was not interested in any of them. Fearing that Laudna would one day wither away into nothing, thus killing Delilah, the Queen-Consort set her eyes on the world above to find a suitable "mate" for her step-daughter, and found Bronte resting. Trapping the young divine in a cold net and dragging him into the underworld, Bronte could only cry once for help before the earth engulfed him.

Laudna, naturally, is not amused with this when she walks into dinner and finds out what happened.

"Delilah, put him back at once."

"Sorry dear one, mother knows best."

"You're not even my mother!"

Dorian, naturally, is also not amused to be in this situation, even with all the family drama going on and keeps trying to find a way out of the underworld. He has little success because villains like Anders and Ripley are preventing his escape. Laudna *would* have helped him if she knew what was going on, but she entered a stance of "I won't see him or pay attention to him, so Delilah will have to put him back. There's no way she can get away with kidnapping a god...right?"

This goes on for a little while under Laudna happens to pass by Dorian's chambers one night as he's playing his instruments, and becomes intrigued. Eventually, they get to talking, and develop a tentative friendship.

"You play quite well, Lord Bronte."

"Just Bronte is fine, Adrienne."

Their friendship grows as time passes, with Laudna showing Dorian different parts of the underworld (with an escort, of course, to make sure Dorian doesn't run off) and him coming to appreciate the different aspects of the underworld. He's not a fan of the eternal damnation area, but eh, there are unsavory parts of the above-world (as he slowly begins to refer to it) as well. Laudna reveals that she doesn't remember ever going above, and Dorian promises to take her one day.

It's all going well, until one day...

"Hold on...there's someone in your room."

"What, how can you tell?"

"I'm still a Blackskull, this is our domain," *Laudna rolls up her sleeves*, "and I'm going to teach them a lesson."

She opens the door, and-

"Dorian!"

"Orym?!"

"Dorian?!" Laudna repeated in confusion, eyes swinging between the tattooed halfling and the man she had come to consider a friend.

When Dorian had been captured by Delilah and cried for help, the breeze, ever a servant of the wind gods, had carried the message to Dorian's closest friend, a young war god who served as the protector for the Zephrah goddess. Orym had enlisted the help of a skilled beastman named Chetney, and they tracked down the place where Dorian had disappeared to. Entering the underworld, Orym had bravely dodged ghosts, ghouls, and suspicious watchmen while trying to find a lead as to where his friend was. A friendly attendant named Fresh Cut Grass gave him a tip, and he made his way into the castle.

"I'm here to break you out of here!"

"It's not as bad down here as the elders make it out to be Orym, and Adrienne is, she's very nice."

"So does this mean the wedding's still on then?"

"WHAT?"

Delilah, deciding that enough was enough, decided to set up a wedding ceremony and invite many of the gods to ward off rumors of foul play and black magic.

Dorian and Laudna panic a bit, especially when Orym reveals that the wedding is in 3 days. There is much panicking, but Orym helps calm them down to make a plan. The nature behind Delilah's rise to Queen-Consort is suspicious to the Zephrah, so he'll do some digging to find out if there's anything that can be used against her. Dorian and Laudna try to plan, and realize that neither of them have used their divine abilities to the fullest before. Dorian had incredible magic based around songs used for healing and protection, while Laudna could harness the full might of the underworld to launch devastating attacks.

"So...your real name is Dorian?"

"Yeah...we never traded names before, but the circumstances weren't good..."

"No, I like it, it...fits you."

"Thank you."

"My name is Laudna."

"It's beautiful."

"It was my mother's. My real mother, not Delilah. I think she would have liked you."

"O-oh, well..."

"You wouldn't happen to have any connection to the mortal bard Dorian, do you?"

"Well, about that..."

Day of the wedding comes, Delilah strolls into Laudna's room and reveals she caught an interesting intruder poking around the library, and asks if Laudna knows anything. A Deception check is rolled, NAT1. Delilah, sensing blood, casually remarks that it would be a shame if anything were to happen to him, especially if something happens on Laudna's big day. Laudna sends a message to Dorian, who takes the news about as well as one might imagine.

As she is being prepared for her wedding by Ripley, Laudna finds a book in her dresser, one with devilish script on it. Managing to send Ripley away for a brief spell Laudna reads it, finding necrotic spells and rituals to weaken gods, summon devils, and many other dark things. Orym had found it in the library and slipped it into Laudna's room before returning to the library to look for more. Laudna managed to inform Dorian of her findings before Ripley returned, and took the unhappy couple to the wedding grounds, where death flowers weakly bloomed and a divine host was waiting for their arrival. Dorian saw Cyrus in the crowd, along with other familiar faces, but he had no way of conveying the truth of what was happening or what was about to occur...

 "As Queen of the Underworld," Delilah began, holding her hands aloft.

"Queen-Consort," Dorian mumbled under his breath. Delilah missed it, but Laudna didn't.

"I hold the authority to join souls in everlasting matrimony. Do you, Princess Adrienne Blackskull, and you, Prince Bronte Wyvernwind, join yourselves together to continue to Blackskull bloodline and bring a new era to the underworld?"

"Um, no."

And all chaos breaks loose, resulting in a huge fight as devils swarm the area, Chetney arrives with the rest of BH (having been led to the spot by the original Bell himself (in ghost form), Orym getting broken out by a spectral Imogen and Will, gods fighting for survival, and a huge 2-v-1 of Dorian and Laudna against Delilah.

"You can't possibly win, Delilah!"

"Oh dear daughter, I've been winning ever since I married your father!"

"Since you murdered him!"

"What difference does it make?"

Laudna gets a killing shot lined up on Delilah, but before she can fire it-

"Un, un, un, dear, I wouldn't do that."

"Laudna-!"

Delilah had a knife against Dorian's throat, using him as a shield. Laudna could take her shot, but it would cost her the closest friend she had.

"As queen, you have to make hard choices sometimes." Delilah scolded her step-daughter, knife pressed lightly but firmly against the wind god's artery. The death goddess grit her teeth, necrotic energy bubbling and hissing in her palms, eager to find a home in the devil-born's gut.

"Laudna...it's okay." Dorian said, their eyes meeting.

"Hostages don't talk!" Delilah snapped, her fingers twitching enough that the blade dug into Dorian's throat, a trickle of purple blood dripping down to stain his shirt.

"I'm only a secondson, and you'll be queen one day. An amazing queen."

"SHUT UP!" Delilah screamed, digging her knife in further.

"You're kind, creative, incredible, you want what's best for your people. Not like her."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Delilah's voice cracked and shattered, and in response the windows of the building exploded. Laudna's shot flew true, crushing Delilah's skull and knocking her away from Dorian. But the damage was done.

"No, no, no, no!" Laudna tore strips of her ruined wedding dress into bandages, pressing them against the gash that Delilah had torn out of Dorian's throat as one last, cruel act against Laudna. "I can make it better, I can-"

"Laudna..." lapis eyes met obsidian, "it's okay...death...it's natural, even for us..."

"NO!"

"Go to the surface...plant a tree for me...? See the world...live..."

And he died, his body growing as still and cold as the corpses that littered the underworld.

But Laudna refused to accept it. She was now queen, and captured the soul of Dorian Wyvernwind in her arms, flowers blooming in her hair and all around her as she wove divine magic into the form of her closest friend, who could perhaps be the one she loved most of all. But she was a young goddess, forced into the title of Blackskull too soon, and she could only restore Dorian to a half life. For half the year he could walk the above-world, our world, and for the other half he must return to the underworld.

 And that, my listeners, is why the winds turn cold and unforgiving during the year, because Death has reclaimed her husband, who eventually accepted her proposal and married her for real after many years of flirtations, pining, angst, and frustrated ghosts who had to watch them dance around each other.

#critical role #macabre melody #macabremelody #dorian storm #laudna #dorian x laudna #Greek Mythology #hades and persephone #so the macabre melody fandom inspired me #word vomit #hanatsuki esperanza

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

The Adventures of Elena Temple: Definitive Edition

by GrimTalin

Price (US): $4.99 (Free demo available)

Included In: Bundle for Racial Equality and Justice

Genre: Platformer

Pitch: A two-button exploratory platformer, presented as if it's a re-release of a monochromatic Mac game.

My expectations: I've already played quite a bit of this. I completed at least one of the three dungeons. By design, it's rather basic, but its puzzle design, platforming challenges, and light exploration successfully scratch their respective itches.

Review:

Elena jumps, Elena shoots, and most of all, Elena dies. Spikes, scorpions, darts, sawblades, ghosts—death stalks her at every turn. And her gun? It only holds two bullets. It’s less useful as a weapon than it is as a way to break open clay pots and push distant buttons. Which leaves the jump. The fixed-height jump. Ceiling spikes are a problem for an adventurer who can’t help launching into every jump with the same gusto.

My GIFs do a stinky job of illustrating the points from my written review. Apparently I only thought to capture video in relatively easy rooms. My focus was elsewhere when I was dying 15 times in a row on a single jump.

Yesterday’s review (Adventures of a Radish) was critical of fixed-height jumping and perfect air control. I stand by that. Those actions have no place in a Mario clone. The Adventures of Elena Temple is a different kind of game. Every trap on every screen is meticulously designed around its protagonist’s limitations. There are some button-pushing, teleporter-sequence, conspicuous--wall-shooting puzzles, but it’s the platforming itself that most often makes one stop and think. If those arrows fire at that interval, in that sequence, and the platforms above the spiky floor appear or disappear every time I jump, then how the heck do I reach that coin

It’s a nasty, brutal game, and it knows it. It taunts because it knows you can overcome. Catharsis feels gooooood.

+ Every element on every screen has been placed with intention and care. + Elena's limited moveset can be understood in seconds. It's difficult to master, but the controls are reliable enough that every death feels fair. + Snagging every collectible isn't necessary, but thanks to rewarding puzzles and a helpful map, 100% completion feels like an attainable goal. I wanted to tick every box, and I did. + Speedrun stats, unlockable cheats and tweaks (infinite ammo, double-jumps, limited lives), and Achievements.

– Holy smokes, I just want to get to the other side of this room. Can you please stop murdering me for two seconds? – Falling down a hole with no way back up except to make an eight-screen trek is annoying. – The whole "play ports of this classic game" gimmick could go. Aside from a palette swap, the game is exactly the same on every platform, and the palettes don't make much sense. Why not use CGA cyan and magenta for the DOS PC? I guess I can accept Mac-resolution, 1-bit graphics on the 8-bit Game Boy, but why is it black on green? Go look at a Game Boy. I promise, you'll never spot a pure black pixel? And what is the point of telling me there's a Game Boy Advance port if it's still using same monochromatic art? Why would I want to play on a minuscule screen?

🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍

Bottom Line: The Adventures of Elena Temple isn't really from the '80s, but if it were, it would be remembered fondly. You modern kids with your skateboards and your Superman movies probably won't understand why anyone would choose this over that dancing game you play with your Net friends. (I want to say Fortnight? I know it's not Mine Craft. Can someone tell me what Road Blocks is? Thx! :) :) ) If you're an old people who would would risk a thousand impaling deaths for a shiny coin, you could do a lot worse.

#JakeReviewsTwitch is a series of daily game reviews. You can learn more here. You can also browse past reviews...

• By name • By rating • By genre

#JakeReviewsItch #Computer Games #Video Games #Itch.io #Reviews #Indie Games #The Adventures of Elena Temple: Definitive Edition #GrimTalin #Neo-Retro #Mac #Exploratory Platformer #Puzzle Platformer #One-hit kills

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

Okay, everyone knows how Batman has had several crossovers with Scooby-Doo, so I propose this: Daphne is actually Wes's cousin and the only one who entertains his theories- assuming this is post-Zombie Island/Witch's Ghost where she actually encountered supernatural creatures.

that is so freaking intriguing, because even with the paranormal confirmed the scooby gang would still be trying to unmask the ghosts. But as characters they're actually capable of nuanced thought (unlike most hartman characters) and would probably recognize that even if danny is a human with a ghost persona, he's just a kid trying his best and that the real villains are his parents who unleashed the ghosts on the town and vlad who is just 100% a villain in a 'mask'. i could see them telling wes to chill out because he's taking his obsession with publicly unmasking danny too far. there's a big difference between wearing a mask to protect yourself and wearing a mask defraud tourists. at the end of the day danny is just a kid.

the tricky bit is if they confront danny's parents because lets be real, they've done a lot wrong. hapless and naive as they are they have done a lot of damage, and i'm pretty sure the gang could get some charges to stick. which is a problem for danny and would probably lead him to doing something stupid to protect his family. could lead to some misunderstandings and messes before everything is all sorted.

random other things:

- somehow shaggy and scooby end up in the ghost zone at some point. have a spooky terrible time but also meet some important ghosts

- scooby and cujo friendship. probably with scooby initially afraid of cujo's monster form but coming around by the end of the story

- literally anyone in amity would fall into one of fred's trap. not just villains. not just ghosts. anyone. all the characters in danny phantom would manage to get tangled up in the big net somehow. no one is immune

- velma and jazz get along so well that i'm kinda shipping it.

- velma goes off an ectobiology research binge.

- shaggy, scooby, and jack end up going on friendly food binges together. scooby and shaggy would absolutely ear ghost wieners if cornered

- sam keeps coming up with creative insults towards fred's posh upper-class style and just white kid everything (fully judging him on his appearance) but fred finds in strangely endearing and amusing. he is himbo-ing his way through whats meant to be cutting insults. the only thing he's sensitive about is his ascot

- daphne absolutely has cool older sister vibes. and she's cool and chill and ready to give advice but she is not taking any of sam's judgey shit. she is also trying very hard to let a flirting tucker down easy.

- i could tucker and shaggy and scooby commiserating over the wild scary shit they encounter

-i feel like danny spends entirely too much time feeling paranoid as shit to really get close to the gang. it's more a 'we're cool' at the end of the story kind of thing. i feel the gang are genuinely quite concerned about him and do put him in contact with some of their friends in the legitimately paranormal community. give him a number to call if he ever needs help. that kinda thing.

idk there are a lot of fun ways this can shake out - Hestia

#dpjl #dannyphantom #scooby doo #hestiawrites

[lexosaurus]

Birthmark

Phic Phight oneshot for @datawyrms: Danny Phantom's jumpsuit is hiding a secret he'd rather not reveal to anyone.

---

“Shit,” Valerie cursed, deactivating her hoverboard and gently placing the figure on the ground. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Bright green liquid soaked the ghost’s body, dripping off his waist and painting the grass in a steady stream. It was ectoplasm, something inhuman and twisted, and yet when Valerie looked down, all she saw was how closely it resembled blood. 

She raised a shaking hand and attempted to brush away some of the green on her suit. But she looked more green than red at this point and all she could think of was how much ectoplasm was outside the ghost’s body. 

It was too much.

They’d been ambushed after a ghost fight, the Guys in White having caught them in one of their special nets. Valerie had tried to yell out that she wasn’t a ghost, she was human, but it was no use. They zapped the net, and her vision was shrouded in darkness.

The next thing she knew, she was in a van, trapped with her biggest rival in Amity Park. Phantom was awake, but he didn’t know how long they’d been in the van for. Hours passed before the van stopped at last. But at that point, they had a plan.

As soon as an operative opened the back, Valerie was on him. She knocked him out, stole his gun, and bolted.

Apparently, Phantom wasn’t so useless without his powers either. By some miracle, he managed to find a way to remove his inhibitor collar and take flight.

But that was when all hell broke loose. Right as he’d paused to free Valerie from her inhibitors, someone landed a shot on him.

And he fell.

Valerie didn’t have time to think. She just grabbed his body, activated her hoverboard, and flew, not sure where she was going but unwilling to stop until she was sure she’d lost the agents. 

“Fuck.” She threw off her helmet and looked down at Phantom’s unconscious form. There was a hole in the stomach of his suit, and ectoplasm bubbled and sparkled in the harsh sun.

He was going to die, Valerie realized. What happened when a ghost died? Could they even die? 

“Stay with me,” she whispered.

She shoved a hand in her belt for her emergency supplies, but her glove was too slippery, and her hand trembled too much. She couldn’t do this. She ripped off her glove and tried again, trying to ignore the way the ectoplasm trickled between her fingers.

She had a bit of gauze, a tube of instant clot powder, a few butterfly clips, and a few large bandages. It wasn’t much, but it would have to work.

Because the alternative…

She set the supplies down and turned back to the unconscious ghost. His glow was almost nonexistent, and for the first time she could see his face clearly. All the grooves of skin, his pores, the individual hairs on his eyelashes and eyebrows. He had freckles. That tiny, human detail Valerie would have thought impossible for a ghost. 

Even the more humanoid ghosts always had some slight haze to them, something that just made them more like a realistic doll than a person. But not Phantom. If it weren’t for the white hair and ectoplasm, she would have thought him to be just a regular teenager.

“Stay with me.” 

She needed to take his jumpsuit off. Could she even do that? Was it attached to him? Would taking it off just hurt him more?

For a moment, Valerie knelt there frozen, unsure of what to do. She felt lightheaded, dizzy, nauseous. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of burnt battery acid and lime, and she could only stare as the Phantom’s face slowly grew paler and paler.

She pinched herself. “Snap out of it.” She’d dealt with worse, this was just a ghost. A ghost that she didn’t even like. A ghost that she’d spent the last two years chasing out of Amity Park.

She could do this.

Grabbing her swiss army knife out of her belt, she began carefully slicing through the fabric. Her damp hands were immediately filled with green goo, and for a moment she panicked, thinking that her fears were correct and that the jumpsuit acted like a second skin for Phantom.

But then she saw a black t-shirt peeking out underneath the jumpsuit, and she realized with a shaky breath of relief that the suit simply melted if it wasn’t attached to the host.

Of course, that made sense. She’d seen Plasmius rip off his cape before and it had dissolved in thin air. How could she have forgotten?

She made quick work with removing the jumpsuit, and had started on the undershirt as well when Phantom groaned.

She froze, unable to move the slightest muscle, as she watched Phantom’s drunk green eyes slowly flutter to life. 

“Don’...” he slurred.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. “You’re hurt, I’m sorry.”

She tried to resume cutting his shirt, but he lazily swatted her hand away. “Don’...”

“Phantom, stop. I need to get this off you.”

“Stop...”

“I gotta do this,” she said, tearing his t-shirt. “It’s just a shirt.”

“S’ugly,” he mumbled, his eyes rolling back. His head lolled to the side, and he was out again.

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be—” 

Her voice cut off, and she sucked in a breath. Tattooed on Phantom’s skin were glowing lightning figures that branched from his shoulder, snaking around his chest and stomach as if they were alive.

Valerie had never seen anything like it before, and she could have dismissed them as just ectoplasmic tattoos. But from Phantom’s reaction, she had a sneaking suspicion that these were something much more serious. Much more personal.

Something that she didn’t have time to think about right now. Something that was getting covered by ectoplasm, something that was losing its bleak glow as the aura around Phantom faded to nothing.

Time was up. She needed to act now.

Ripping off the packaging, Valerie got to work.

---

The sky was clear, glittering with thousands of stars. It was one of those rare nights where the milky way was visible, arcing the sky with its brilliance. 

Valerie had never been one to care about nature. Growing up rich in the city, her focus was always materialistic. She just wanted to fit in with the other girls, so she’d been more than willing to follow along with their hobbies and model her life after their trends.

Nature? Space? Stars? She never gave them a second thought.

Until her life was turned upside down, that was. Suddenly, Valerie went from hardly spending time outside to now soaring through the sky every night, weather be damned. It didn’t take long for her to appreciate the beauty of a clear, warm, night sky.

She landed on top of a building and collapsed her hoverboard. It had been quiet thus far, with only a few ambient blob ghosts roaming around a warehouse. Although at the beginning of her ghost hunting career, Valerie had spent each night painstakingly capturing every ghost in sight, she’d grown since then. She wasn’t so angry, so vengeful now.

And aside from being completely harmless, even Valerie had to admit there was something almost cute about the tiny bulbs of ecto energy.

Her suit dinged, signaling a ghost nearby, and Valerie groaned. There really was no rest for the weary, it seemed.

She raised her radar watch to her eyes to see a familiar ecto signature reading pop up in the corner.

One that was heading towards her.

Shit.

She hadn’t seen Phantom since that day. He’d been avoiding her. And maybe a few months ago she wanted him to avoid her, but now...

That day had changed her.

It was terrifying the way the government had so easily lumped her in with the ghosts just because they detected ectoplasmic readings from her suit. She woke up not knowing where she was, where she was going, if she’d ever see her father again.

Part of Valerie had insisted that once they saw her without her helmet, they’d call her dad and drive her back. It would have all been a big misunderstanding.

But a different part of her, one deep down inside, knew she was just lying to herself.

The government operated the way she did when she first started ghost hunting. All black and white, no room for grey. Ghost were evil and all ectoplasm needed to be destroyed. Period.

After she patched Phantom up in that grassy field, she flew and flew until she stumbled across a nearby town. She hid Phantom in a warehouse and sat with him for hours, forcing herself to stay away and stand guard in case the GiW found them. 

He didn’t wake up until the next morning, taking one look between Valerie and his exposed torso before panic struck his features and he simply disappeared. Before Valerie could gather her wits to hunt his ungrateful ass down and kill him again, he reappeared, suit intact, and began leading their way back to Amity on instinct alone.

Phantom refused to look her in the eye for the entire trip home. And when they finally got to Valerie’s apartment, left her with a “get some sleep” before disappearing once again.

Her watch buzzed lightly against her skin, signaling that he was close. Valerie leaned back, waiting. Seeing if he’d actually come to her, or if he’d bail and pull the vanishing act he was so famous for.

But then he appeared. Right in front of her. His glow was vibrant against the night sky, covering his body in a shimmery aura. His acidic green eyes glistened in the dark.

He really looked no worse for wear after his injury. That kind of hit would have landed Valerie in the hospital. And yet, Phantom was back the next day, full of bright smiles and puns for the people of Amity.

She wondered how often this kind of thing happened to him. Just how many times had he been nearly slaughtered only to pop back into the public eye pretending like nothing happened?

He gave her an awkward wave. “Hey, Red.” 

“Phantom.” She greeted cooly.

Just because lately she’d been seeing Phantom as someone who didn’t have an inherently evil Obsession didn’t mean that she liked him. At best, he was cocky, arrogant. At worst, he’d dumped her back at her apartment and left her by herself after the complete shit show that was their kidnapping.

So yeah, maybe she was a little bitter. Sue her.

“Uh, do you mind if I…” He gestured to the roof.

She pretended to mull his proposition over, watching as his ghostly tail flickered in anxiety.

He was ready to bolt, and she didn’t blame him. They’d never really talked before.

“Do what you want. I don’t feel like fighting tonight,” she finally conceded.

Relief spread across Phantom’s features, and Valerie was once again reminded of how human he was. She once thought that ghosts couldn’t feel any emotions. While it was doubtless that the way they experienced emotions was different than how humans did, there was just no way that Phantom was able to nail all those tiny details so accurately. Even if he was one of the more powerful ghosts out there, it would have been near impossible to mimic the full range of human emotion so quickly and precisely.

He settled down next to her, his tail morphing into legs positioned criss-crossed against the concrete. He turned to her, rubbing the back of his neck.

Valerie said nothing, just allowing the blanket of awkwardness to settle over the pair. If he wanted to say something, he could say it. Valerie wasn’t going to hand-hold him through a conversation.

When the tension was reaching the point of unbearable, Phantom finally broke the silence. “It’s a nice night.”

“Sure is.”

“I haven’t—uh, seen any ghosts. Tonight, I mean. Like outside. Or inside, too. Uh...it’s a quiet night. Ghost free. Well, except for me, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

He ran a gloved hand through his white hair. “Not that I’m really complaining. It’s kinda nice to have a break for a change.”

Valerie grunted in agreement, even though she was sure Phantom was lying through his teeth. Ghosts lived for their Obsessions, and Phantom was no different. She knew that deep down, he reveled in ghost hunting even more than any human ever could.

The duo was lapsed back into another tense silence, one that Valerie didn’t try to break. She didn’t understand what his goal was with the petty chatter. Did he think they were suddenly friends now? After he discarded her back at her apartment like she was a used rag and disappeared without a hint of remorse?

After she carried him hundreds of miles away from the Guys in White compound, bandaged his wounds, and then stayed up all night just to make sure he was safe?

She could have left him there. She could have been home before her father had woken up the next morning in a panic because his daughter was nowhere to be found. She could have avoided the phone call to the police, the missing child report, the whole mess that had followed.

And he couldn’t have even been bothered to say thank you afterward. Just dumped her and left.

So if he thought she was going to help him out now, he had another thing coming.

“How have...um, how have you been? Since…”

“Fine.” She said. “My dad’s been better.”

He winced. “Yeah…”

“Not that you care.”

He jolted up, turning around to face her. “What?”

“You know what I’m talking about, spook.”

“I thought we were over the whole ‘spook’ thing,” he said, his face twisting in annoyance.

“And I thought you were over being an inconsiderate jerk. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Listen, Val—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Okay, Red. Listen, I’m sorry. Okay? I got freaked out that you—you saw…” He let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry you got caught up in my problems, I’m sorry they thought you were a ghost, and I just...yeah.”

Valerie sat there for a moment, glaring out at the night’s sky. “It was a big mess, you know.”

“I know.”

“The police were involved and everything.”

“I heard.”

“And you know the worst part? I couldn’t even tell them the truth.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I got kidnapped by my own government and I couldn’t even tell my dad. I had to lie and say I got lost while out on a nature hike. How stupid is that? I nearly got killed by the freaking government and I haven’t been able to say a damn thing to anyone.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was quiet.

“Yeah, well…” Valerie swallowed the lump in her throat. “You know. Hazard of the job, I guess. Still would have been nice if you hadn’t just left on me. After everything.”

Phantom lowered his head, allowing the white strands of hair to cover his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It was a dick move.”

“It was.”

“I just wanna know why.”

He looked up, startled. “Why? Why you were captured, or—”

“Why the silent treatment? Was it because I saw those glowing lightning tattoos under your jumpsuit?”

He flinched back as if he’d been struck, his body lifting to hover over the cement. He stared at her open mouthed, as if he didn’t think she’d even dare to mention it.

But Valerie couldn’t find it in her to be joyous at his hurt expression. “Seriously? You were mad about that? Like I care about what you put on your body.”

“No, no.” Despite looking like he wanted to take flight, he managed to lower himself back onto the roof. “No, they’re...it’s complicated.” 

“Oh, wonderful,” she said sardonically. “So let me get this straight, ghost boy. I save your ass from the government, pull an all-nighter guarding your lifeless body in a warehouse, and the best you can give me is an it’s complicated? Thanks a lot. It really makes me feel better.”

“No, it’s…” He trailed off, rubbing a hand over his face. His eyebrows were pinched and he looked almost sick. When he finally spoke, his voice was small. “They’re not tattoos.”

“Oh? What, an unlucky birthmark?”

He didn’t respond.

Valerie turned to him, realization hitting her with full force. Unable to keep the surprise out of her voice, she said, “Really? That’s it?”

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. His eyes were distant, far away. Lost in some other world.

He’d been electrocuted. Struck to death by lightning, or something similar. And now it was branded on him, as some twisted reminder of the ugly creature that extended its spindly claws and ripped his humanity from his body.

“Damn.” Valerie blew out a breath. “Of all the ways to go, huh?”

“I—Yeah…”

She couldn’t help herself. “Do all ghosts have one?”

“No.”

Valerie didn’t know if that made it better or worse. Questions swirled through her brain, but she bit her tongue. She didn’t know much about ghost culture, but she was fairly certain that there was a taboo against asking ghosts about their deaths.

So she stayed silent, pretending to focus back on the stars but stealing glances to the teenage ghost beside her. His brows had furrowed, as if he were having an internal war. Whatever it was, Valerie didn’t pry. Even if her curiosity burned brighter with each passing moment.

Finally, he sighed, dropping his forehead into his knees. “It’s fine,” he said, though his voice sounded anything but. “You can ask.”

She hesitated for a brief moment before relenting. “Why do you have a mark?”

“They’re called Lichtenberg figures,” he explained. “They just happen. If the shock is bad enough. But they, uh, are supposed to fade in a few days. You know, if you’re...human.”

“But yours didn’t.”

“No, mine didn’t.” He raised his head, opening his mouth slightly, before slamming it shut.

This was unmarked territory she was stepping into. Hell, she doubted even the Fentons had ever talked to a ghost about their death before.

“Do you remember it?” she tried.

“Yeah.” 

That surprised her. She’d read some of the Fenton’s papers, and even they were uncertain of how much a ghost remembered about their death. 

The question must have shown on her face because Phantom added, “Not everyone does. I think...I think it has to do on their power level. And, uh, how old they are. I think some of the more ancient ghosts just kinda...forget. But I don’t know much. We don’t really talk about it.”

“Oh.”

Phantom nodded, staring down at his gloves. He sighed, and then started pulling one of them off.

Valerie froze, her eyes locking onto the movement. She’d never seen Phantom remove them before, and frankly she wasn’t even sure if they could be removed.

The glove left his skin and dissolved into ectoplasm, splashing onto the concrete roof. And there, left on his otherworldly skin, were the cobwebs of the lightning scar that covered his torso. It was brighter, glowing with more precision than Valerie remembered from before. 

He pushed his sleeve up to his elbow, revealing more of the Lichtenberg figure. It traveled up his wrist, spiraling throughout his arm before it disappeared into his suit. The branches were thin, glowing with the same ectoplasmic energy that ran through the ghost’s core.

Valerie didn’t know what to say. Here Phantom was, her biggest rival in Amity Park, revealing his creation, the moment that turned him into what he was today.

“It was an accident.” He finally spoke. “I was being stupid, I don’t know. My friends and I were fooling around with this...this machinery, I guess, that we knew we weren’t supposed to be near. I grabbed a malfunctioning piece of equipment—I didn’t realize it was plugged in—and that...was it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well…” Phantom pushed his sleeve back down. He closed his eyes, willing the glove to  materialize back onto his hand. He looked at her and offered a feeble smirk. “Teenagers, am I right?”

Valerie forced a polite smile in return, hoping it didn’t look too pained. 

He cleared his throat. “But, you know,” he said, allowing some of that familiar cocky energy back into his voice. “It’s in the past now. I’m over it.”

Valerie doubted that much. After all, he was still a ghost.

“I mean, I get to do really cool things now. Like helping people. Protecting the town. You can’t exactly do that as a human.” He froze, his eyes flickering to her. “I mean, aside from you. You’re great at it!”

Valerie flipped him off. “Whatever, ghost boy.”

“No, I’m serious! You’re really good as a ghost hunter.”

“I know I’m good! I don’t need your flattery to give me self-esteem.” Her voice sobered. “But really, Phantom. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

He frowned, and looked up at the sky. The brilliance of the stars reflected on his form, giving his body an almost ethereal presence. 

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

---

Thanks for reading!

#danny phantom #phic phight #my writing #birthmark

[writer-akihiko]

TW First year students x fem! MC who's secretly a demon princess, who will they react to her powers when they found her in her demon form?

First Years + DemonPrincess!MC

I had fun with this prompt in general, and I hope I made some fun scenarios that you like!

Warnings: Bullying from other students and hurtful words, Epel is censored because Vil doesn't allow it

Sebek Zigvolt

He forgot to give you back your notebook from class, so he had to go in the evening

If Sebek remembered correctly, in his 'I'm A Good Boyfriend' notebook, you said you usually rested in the evening

"YN, I'm here to deliver your notebook!-"

"Go away Sebek!"

He was appalled. You've never scolded him in such a way before!

He quickly fished out his notebook, and he flipped to a page where Lilia had lectured him on what to do when you were feeling down

"Here it is…" He muttered

He barged in your door, breaking down the rickety door, "YN! I am here to comfort you!"

"S-Sebek?!"

He almost dropped the notebook. He was surprised at you appearance, as he saw horns on your head, as well as tattoos on your skin that he's never seen before

"YN… You're…"

You sighed. "Yes Sebek, I'm a dem-"

"You're a Fae! Like me!"

Before he got too excited, you settled him down and explained your appearance

He felt ashamed of himself for his initial behaviour when you explained that you were a princess. He doesn't really mind that you're a demon, in fact, he understands you more as people of his world usually misunderstands Fae-kind

In general, he's quite amazed anytime you demonstrate your powers

He lowkey wants to see you and Waka-sama have a showdown with magic, but his heart knows it'd hurt to see you in danger

Ace Trappola

He got held back by Professor Crewel due to some argument he got in with Grim

He asked around if anyone else saw you, but much to his shock, he found you surrounded by some other students. Again

He wanted to pummel their faces in, but now looking at you, you seemed calm…

In the blink of an eye, a net of dark magic appeared underneath the students, trapping them at their ankles

Ace had his mouth open as horns and wings similar to the colour of your hair started growing from you. What freaked him out more was that the wings weren't made of feathers… They looked ripped apart and made of the same magic he couldn't identify

"A-Ace!"

Upon seeing your boyfriend, you flung the students away into the Garden with your magic. Someone would find them later…

"U-Um… This…" You got embarrassed, feeling shy in your demon form

"THAT WAS SO COOL!"

Ace then pestered you to tell him where you learnt such magic, although he might've accidentally grabbed your horns the wrong way

He listened carefully, since it caused you such discomfort when he touched your horns

He didn't think you'd be a princess…

"Wait… Does this mean you have a demon father?"

You nodded your head. "But my brother's the Demon King at the moment… Why?"

"I need to mentally prepare myself if your demon family want to kill me since I want to propose to you after graduation…"

Deuce Spade

You and Deuce were nervous, since it was a magical mana exam. It would dictate certain classes you'd be able to take next semester…

You were the last to go, and your boyfriend cheerfully waved at you as he gave a thumbs up. He must've passed the test…

You had to remind yourself to control your mana, otherwise you'd have some explaining to do

As you let the teacher examine you, you couldn't help but notice that there was some kind of barrier around the orb you were practicing with

As you removed the barrier, you realised that it was a trap by the teacher!...

You couldn't help but pour your normal amount of magic into the orb, which, put on a show around the students as they marvelled at the dark magic

"Well," Principal Crowley announced, after you were done with your examination. "You'd best be coming with me."

After a long talk with Crowley, you were surprised that Deuce and Grim were at the door, eavesdropping at your conversation

"I overheard… I was worried about you…" He admitted

Deuce however, was quite curious about your appearance, so after his and your dinner, you allowed him to see you shift into your demon form

He did ask if it hurt, to which you shook your head

He admired your wings and your bigger, claw-like hands as you felt heat in your cheeks by the way he was intensely staring at you

"Y-You're adorable…"

Even though you towered Deuce's height in your demon form, it didn't stop him from giving you your usual goodnight kiss on the forehead

Jack Howl

He always wanted to show off his skills to you, so he invited you to a practice match against the Diasomnia dorm

He was against the first years of the dorm, so you silently cheered for Jack

As you were continuously impressed by Jack's speed, you couldn't help but notice a strand of magic tagged on him…

Your magical vision traced it to one of the students on the opposite team, who was passively reciting a spell to jinx Jack's next move

There was only the seniors… So it should be fine to stop that student this once…

You were too slow, as the spell had already whizzed through the field. You could still stop it from hitting Jack!...

You felt everyone's gaze on you as you interrupted the spell. Knowing that your appearance had changed, you shied away

Some students ran away, but Jack didn't. He picked you up, horns, feathers and demonic body parts, all of it and embraced you

"Hey! Stop looking at my girlfriend like she's a monster!" He growled

The seniors quickly punished the student causing tricks on the field, but some were still weary of you

Jack put you down, kissing your forehead. "Thank you precious for saving me there."

Eventually, you had to explain to the teachers what you were

Some dorm leaders grew afraid of you, but Jack didn't care. You were still his precious girlfriend

So what if you both were seen as monsters? He thought. The big bad wolf and the terrifying demon princess could live in peace and quiet, in their own space in the forest…

Jack thinks the whole thing is cool, but he is a little jealous that your magical abilities are so much better than his. You tell him he makes up for it in his physical strength

Epel Felmier

You and Epel were taking a stroll, on the way to the field for the MagiShift club

You promised to cheer him on, and you decided it would be a cheeky way to take some photos with your Ghost Camera

You comfortably sat next to Jack as you got ready to take some photos

Unfortunately, you weren't sure of the exact details, but a student decided it was a perfect opportunity to set off a prank near you and Jack

You weren't exactly in control of your own powers, so the impact caused you to scream and lose control of your appearance

The other students screamed in turned, seeing a 'monster' transform in front of them

Epel saw the prank beforehand, but he couldn't run fast enough to get to you

He couldn't think straight, he just had to make sure you were alright. So when he overheard the students yelling at you, he threatened them

Everyone was freaking out at your changing body, since your skin had different markings, almost like carvings etched into it and a pool of dark magic flooded below you

"I-I'm sorry I-" You tried to apologise, but others constantly berated you

"She's a freak! Someone seal her away!"

Epel couldn't stop himself from whacking the student who said that on the head

The other seniors managed to calm the students down, sending them away

You briefly explained everything to Epel, repeating your apologies to him

"Don't aplogise YN. Those idiots don't understand."

Epel, in all honesty, didn't care if you were a demon princess or a human or a fairy

Whoever got in the way of your relationship on the other hand, he'd pick a fight with them even though you were the one who could easily clean the fight up

"Hey YN, don't listen to em. They don't know how cool you are. As long as I'm the one you love, I'm okay with anything."

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst first years #sebek x reader #epel x reader #deuce x reader #jack howl x reader #ace trappola #ace trappola x reader #sebek zigvolt #epel felmier #deuce spade #jack howl #twst jack howl #twst epel felmier #twst sebek zigvolt #twst deuce spade #twst ace trappola

[akatsuki-shin]

Thinking about this HuaLian drawings by STARember... 😳

Young sailor Hong-er had just joined a pirate crew. On his very first sail, there was a storm and he was thrown off the ship. His crewmates couldn't pick him up and everyone, including he himself, thought that he was about to drown to death.

As he was dragged down by the rapid current, Hong-er suddenly felt someone - or something - pulled him up. His consciousness was fading, but he could still see, before his sight went dark, that it was a beautiful mermaid with gentle dark eyes and long black hair, a contrast to his fair skin.

Once the storm passed, his crewmates found Hong-er stranded, but safe, on a nest of big coral reefs - to which they could finally send a small boat to pick him up. They were astonished and asked him how he survived. Hong-er wasn't sure if he should tell them about the mermaid who saved him, so he only said that he was lucky to have gotten a hold of some floating plank, which he used to stay afloat until he reached these rocky areas and climbed to safety.

During that time and age, superstitions were common, people often believed legends and myths as truths to be sought. Some years later, there were rumors saying that the mermaids hid an abundance of rare treasures that they had amassed from the sinking ships. If one could bring back this treasure trove, it would be equivalent to all the wealth the world could offer, and one would live blanketed in riches down to their seventh generations.

As mermaids were generally seen as the enemies of sailors who often seduced men on the sea to crash their ship and drown them to death, many people began to get on board with it and the rumors itself grew wilder and wilder by the day.

Some said that eating a mermaid's flesh could grant one with immense power and immortality, some also said when mermaids were taken out of the water, they would turn into extremely beautiful women - and really, which men wouldn't love to have beautiful women by their side?  

In any case, it did not take long for these hearsays to become obsession and thus, a widespread mermaid hunt began. People started to race one another, fighting and killing off each other to fulfill this baseless ambition.

The pirate crew that Hong-er was part of certainly wasn't an exception. He saw with his own eyes how his crew mates devised various traps to lure the unaware sea creatures, catching them heartlessly as if they were merely going on a fishing trip.

No matter how much he disagreed in his heart, Hong-er, who was still just a young man and a mere lackey, couldn't do anything to stop them. He could only swallow down his grief and disgust whenever he saw his crewmates killing off the pitiful half human, half fish creatures, blocking off his ears in frustration so that he would not hear their heartrending screams and cries when these barbaric pirates killed them off one by one when the mermaids refused to talk and lead them the said secret treasure trove.

That is, until one day, he saw a familiar face amongst the mermaids that his crewmates had captured.

Even if many years had passed, there was never a time when Hong-er did not remember that stormy night when he thought his life was about to be swallowed down by the raging sea, when that certain figure swam against the mighty current to pull his helpless body out of death's embrace.

It was that very same mermaid who saved him that day. The moment he saw this creature being caught and was about to be subjected to the same torture the previous mermaids had undergone, his eyes went dark and he attacked his own crewmates, attempting to release all of the captured mermaids back into the sea.

Nobody would've thought that this skinny little lackey, whom they had been ordering around the ship like some slave, could be so vicious. He injured a great number of the pirates, tore off the massive nets huddling all of these mermaids, and urged them all to jump back into the sea.

But of course, this action was not without consequence. Not only did he suffer major injuries from battling dozens of his crewmates all by himself, losing an eye in the process, Hong-er was then branded a traitor. They beat him up until he could no longer move or speak, then tied him up to a huge rock. Just like that, the bloodied Hong-er was thrown off the ship to his death, this time for sure.

Yet there was no hint of regret on his face. In fact, Hong-er felt very much at peace. Even if it was only for a brief moment, he could meet his beautiful savior once more and pay him back in full. Closing his eyes, a smile appeared on his lips. He prayed in his heart for the kind mermaid to be able to live freely and happily with his people in the vast ocean, unrestrained by the greed of humans.

He had no idea that from the distance, a familiar shadow was swimming towards his sinking body.

The merfolks treasure trove was a big issue and remained so for quite some time, but for the men of the sea, there would always be new legends, new myths for them to gossip about while drinking in the taverns, to fight each other off while sailing on the ships. Rumors came and went like the changing of seasons, but it was not until ten years later that an alarming story began to spread among the seamen.

On the high seas, whenever the mermaids started singing, a "Ghost Ship" would appear quietly through the fog and mist, approaching unsuspecting ships with all of its otherworldly magnificence. The crewmates weren't rough and dirty pirates, but men and women so beautiful they looked like fairies instead of humans, as if it was not a ship that was sailing, but a palace instead. The captain of the ship was a gallant young man dressed in red, a rare, peculiar scimitar hanging on his waist. It was said that he had only one eye, and he was known by the name Hua Cheng. Beside him, there would always be an extremely beautiful person donned in white, and the two were never seen to be apart.

But who could testify how accurate these descriptions were? Everything was a mere hearsay, for every single ship who came too close to the Ghost Ship, bewitched by its glory, would disappear without a trace. Were they sunken? Were they eaten? Were they spirited away to the ghost realm? Nobody knows. This Hua Cheng and his Ghost Ship were like a harbinger of death disguised as gold and flowers.

Hence a warning was soon spread amongst the seafarers, "If you hear the mermaids' singing, turn around and never look back, for it means the Ghost Ship is sailing nearby, and those who laid their eyes on Hua Cheng and his beautiful companion in white would never live to tell the tales."

As for whether the merfolks really did hide a treasure trove equivalent to all the wealth in the world, or whether their blood could grant power and immortality, or whether they could turn into the most beautiful people out of water, who knows? Maybe skinny little Hong-er had a clue, but unfortunately he was no longer a creature of this world.

#tian guan ci fu #heaven officials blessing #tgcf #HuaLian #Hua Cheng #Xie Lian #Hua Lian Pirate AU #mo xiang tong xiu #mxtx #STARember

[pitch-pearl-void]

Danny claims Phantom is his boyfriend to save him from his parents’ operation table, but Jack and Maddie won't make it that easy for them

Phantom passed out beneath the electrifying force of a ghost net, frightened and angry and hurt, so when he woke up, the howl that had been trapped in his chest burst free. He screamed, using all the power he could force through his vocal cords. His ghostly wail. Panicked shouting erupted. Someone yelled about a sedative. Phantom yelled louder, fear making him desperate. 

If they knocked him out again before he had a chance to escape--

A warm body fell over him, chest to chest, core to heart. "Phantom, stop!"

The power Phantom had been channeling into his throat recoiled, cancelled itself out. His scream, absent of any real power, became that of a frightened teenager, and, embarrassingly, when he stopped screaming, it turned into a sob.

"It's okay," the human--Danny--said. He stroked warm fingers through Phantom's hair. "It's okay." Quieter then, whispered quickly into his ear, Danny added, "I have a plan."

Phantom's mind was too frazzled to make any sense of what that could mean, but if Danny was there...Phantom couldn't destroy whatever lab he was in without killing his friend in the process. Lashing out against the ones that had hurt him was no longer an option.

"Danny," Phantom gasped, his voice raw, slightly scratchy. Phantom turned his head until his cheek could press against Danny's, stealing a moment's guilty pleasure. To his surprise, Danny didn't pull away. 

In fact, he pressed closer and turned his head toward Phantom in return. Phantom felt Danny's lips brush against his cheek, and he was so startled he almost missed those lips moving as Danny urgently whispered, "Play along."

Phantom pried his eyes open. "What?"

Jack appeared above them. Phantom tensed as the man's hardened eyes met his. Those dark blue eyes softened as they slid to his son, however. "Okay, Danny." Jack clamped a large hand over Danny's shoulder. "You made your point."

Danny slowly lifted himself off Phantom. 

Phantom wanted to protest or at least wrap his arms around Danny to stop him--an impossible desire since there was something pinning his wrists to the examination table--but one look at Jack's wary face warned Phantom not to press his luck. Phantom reluctantly endured the loss of Danny's body heat and the comfort he had offered as a shield between Phantom and Danny's parents. 

Before he could feel too abandoned, however, Danny's hand grabbed Phantom's and squeezed. Phantom fought against the urge to widen his eyes.

"Play along" Danny had said. Danny wanted Phantom to follow his lead, and right now, that apparently meant...holding hands. 

To test that theory, Phantom spread his fingers apart. Danny's fingers slotted into the resulting gap and folded over the back of Phantom's hand. Phantom could feel his cheeks getting cold, and he desperately hoped he wasn't blushing in front of Danny's parents. 

"So that's it?" Danny asked, his tone somehow conveying wariness and hope at the same time. "You'll let him go?"

Maddie sighed. Phantom heard her footsteps, and he turned his head to watch her approach. He couldn't see her eyes since, unlike Jack, she had pulled her hood up, but the straight, thin line of her lips gave Phantom the impression she was unhappy about something. 

"With restrictions," she said. She pressed a button on the side of the table, and the force holding Phantom's wrists and ankles to the table vanished. He sat up quickly--too quickly for the ghost hunters because they flinched back--and scooted closer to Danny, holding tight to the human's hand. The hunters watched him, waiting, but when Phantom didn't move any farther or try to fly away, they exchanged frowns with each other. 

"Restrictions?" Danny asked.

In answer, Maddie held out a metal bracelet. Like the Fenton Thermos, the seems along the metal sheet were green, filled with ectoplasm that ran along the circular design. "To suppress his powers."

Phantom wrinkled his nose and glared at the device. Why she was handing it to Danny instead of clamping it over Phantom's wrist herself, prior to letting him go, Phantom didn't understand, but if they were expecting Danny to put that on him, they were in for a surprise. 

Indeed, Danny accepted the device but didn't clamp it to Phantom's wrist. "Can we go now?" he asked.

Maddie's lips pressed even tighter together. 

Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We'll be talking about this more in the morning, young man."

"Right." Danny stepped away from the table and tugged on Phantom's arm, urging him to follow. "Looking forward to it."

Phantom didn't trust his legs to support him, so, even though the ghost hunters were watching him with narrowed eyes and frowning lips, Phantom levitated off the table and floated after Danny. Danny was walking fast, faster than Phantom could fly at the moment, but Phantom had no complaints about the speed even though Danny was dragging him through the air. He glanced warily behind them. Jack and Maddie were still watching them...but they weren't following and they hadn't pulled out an antighost device. 

Danny trotted up the stairs, cutting off Phantom's view.

Just as well, Phantom thought, shivering. 

That he had woken up in one piece after the hunters who swore to tear him apart had finally captured him was surprise enough, but that they were letting him go? And in their son's company? With no supervision?

They were halfway through the living room when the question finally burst free of Phantom's control. "What did you tell them?"

Danny glanced at him over his shoulder, met Phantom's eyes, before jerking his head back around. His pace didn't slow. "I, uh...Once we get to my room. I can fill you in then." 

Although Phantom could no longer see Danny's face, the back of the human's neck and the tips of his ears had darkened to a suspicious pink color.

He's blushing, Phantom realized. He glanced down at their still clasped hands and felt his own blush, much colder and greener than the human variety, flood his cheeks. 

He stopped floating after Danny but didn't let go of his hand, forcing Danny to jerk to a halt. "Danny..." he said, voice low, "what did you tell them?"

Danny hunched his shoulders and ducked his head. Phantom floated around to his front, but Danny turned his head away. "I...they, uh, they were going to experiment on you, and I, um, I might have panicked. A little."

"Okay..." Phantom urged, speaking gently, "I'm not ungrateful, Danny. You probably saved my life! Well, afterlife. But how did you convince them to stop? They've been threatening to tear me apart pretty much since I arrived in your dimension." 

Danny glanced at Phantom from the corner of his eye. "Promise you uh..." Danny winced and pinched his eyes closed. "Promise you won't get mad?"

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "I promise."

Danny breathed in deeply. "Itoldthemweweredating."

As garbled as the words were, Phantom heard the last one all-too clearly. His levitation cancelled out and he dropped to the floor. As he had expected, his legs collapsed under him and he fell forward, into Danny. Danny let go of Phantom's hand and wrapped his arms around Phantom's shoulders, supporting him as Phantom clung to his shirt. 

"D-dating?" Phantom gasped. "We're dating?"

Had he missed something? Wasn't there a...process? He was sure kissing would have been involved at some point. A confession of feelings at the very least.

"No!" Danny said hurriedly. "Well...uh, kind of? My parents think we are so we have to pretend, but...it's just pretend. Don't freak out!"

"Oh." Did he sound too disappointed? Hopefully all Danny heard was his confusion and not Phantom's rising hope shattering on the floor. He shifted his feet, eager to pull away from Danny, but his legs weren't as steady as he would like. He managed to stand on his own only by virtue of holding onto Danny's shirt. "And they were okay with that?"

Danny wrinkled his nose. He started to pull his arms away, stopped, and settled them around Phantom's shoulders again as a loose hug. 

Phantom felt a swooping sensation in his stomach. 

"Not so much 'okay' as..." Danny bit his lip as he thought, trying to put Jack's and Maddie's reactions into words. "I don't know...They're letting me get away with it, but I think they might be testing us."

"Testing us?"

Danny removed one arm from his loose embrace and held up the cuff Maddie had given him between them. Phantom flinched back, almost pulling out of Danny's hug. 

Almost. 

Danny glared at the device, as distrustful as Phantom. "If you're still here tomorrow morning, with this suppressing your powers, then they'll know we're serious about being in a relationship. If you're not...they'll start hunting you again. And...I'm not sure I could stop them a second time."

Phantom shivered. He had been strapped to their examination table once already. If Danny hadn't been there...he didn't want to think about it. "Without my powers," he said slowly, "I will be helpless. I will have to trust you to keep me safe and them to keep their word."

Danny nodded unhappily. 

Phantom eyed the device. 

On one hand, he didn't trust the Fenton adults. They had never shown him an ounce of kindness or understanding. They had been willing to electrocute him into unconsciousness and strap him to a table without any consideration for him as a person. Who knew what else they had planned to do with him once he was in their clutches.

On the other hand...he wanted to earn their respect. He wanted to work with them to protect the town from ghosts, he wanted their help understanding his own powers, he wanted to no longer fear them. The cuff and Danny's offer represented a chance wherein things could get better if he just had the courage.

And...fake though it would be, the idea of dating Danny even for the sake of his safety appealed to him greatly. Just holding his hand had made Phantom's soul soar. What more would Danny allow to maintain the illusion of a relationship? 

Cuddling? 

Kissing?

Phantom's cheeks frosted and he quickly pushed the thought aside. Danny was only doing it to protect him. Phantom didn't want to take advantage of Danny's kindness, no matter how tempting. Bad enough he would be going into the fake relationship with secret feelings for Danny, he didn't need to make things worse for Danny by asking for a kiss in front of his parents.

Even if Phantom's daydreams of such a thing were deeply thrilling...

He couldn't pass up this chance. A chance to prove himself to the ghost hunters and date their son? At the same time? He had to take it. It was everything he wanted, what he had dreamed about every time he flew past Fenton Works.

Phantom sighed and reached for the cuff. 

Instead of handing it to him, Danny jerked it closer to his chest, his eyes wide. "Phantom?"

"The benefits outweigh the risks, don't you think?" Phantom whispered. "I can't pass up this chance." Instead of reaching for the cuff again, Phantom turned his hand over, holding out his palm. "Just keep me safe. I trust you."

Danny searched his expression, but Phantom's resolve was strong, held in place as much by his attraction to Danny as by his desire to be accepted by the Fentons. Danny's shoulders slumped. Reluctantly, he placed the cuff in Phantom's hand. 

"If anything happens to you because of this--" Danny began, only to cut himself off. He grimaced. "Phantom..."

Phantom glanced up from the cuff and smiled reassuringly at Danny. "I'll be fine. Just watch, by this time next week, you will actually be in love with me and your parents will declare me part of the family!"

Before Danny had a chance to respond, Phantom snapped the cuff shut. 

Pain exploded inside him. He screamed, falling to his knees. Danny dropped to the floor beside him, calling his name. He held onto Phantom's arms and stared anxiously at his face, beautiful blue eyes wide and frightened.

"I'm fine," Phantom gasped, staring into those eyes. "I'm fine. It's just. Rebound. I was. I was healing myself. The energy I was using started burning. But I'm fine. I'm fine."

So long as he didn't use his powers. 

Apparently, the cuff didn't so much suppress his powers as make using them painful. That was good, because if his or Danny's life was ever truly in danger, Phantom could still save them. 

It was bad because...it felt a little like a shock collar. 

Phantom cringed. Shivered. 

Before he could say anything else, Danny wrapped his arms around Phantom's neck and hugged him tight. Phantom froze for a moment, stunned. Danny had never hugged him before. Not like that.

We're supposed to be dating, he reminded himself. Hugging is part of the package.

Phantom's stomach swooped again. He slipped his own arms around Danny's waist before Danny could get any ideas about pulling away too soon and returned the tight embrace, turning his head so he could press his face against Danny's neck. It was a little awkward, what with the way they were both sitting on their knees, forced to lean forward to maintain the hug, but Phantom didn't think he could convince Danny to climb onto his lap just yet. 

For that matter, if Phantom tried climbing onto Danny's, the human might squeak and retreat in a flustered panic. 

 "You sure you're okay?" Danny whispered. 

"Yes." Phantom felt Danny shiver in his arms, likely due to Phantom's speaking the word against his neck, but Phantom couldn't bear to leave the warmth of his embrace yet. "I'll tell you more once you get to your room." He hesitated. "I can't heal or use more powers anymore, though. Can you..."

"Carry you?"

"Yes."

"Yeah." Danny broke the embrace but didn't go far. He shifted around Phantom until he was pressed against his side, one arm wrapping around his shoulders. "Lean back," he instructed. "I have to get your legs."

Phantom leaned backward, delighted to feel Danny's arm catching him, holding him. He untucked his legs from under himself, and as soon as his knees were in position, Danny slid his arm under them.

"Ready?" Danny asked. 

Phantom nodded.

It was strange to be lifted by someone else rather than by his own powers, but as Phantom found himself cradled in Danny's arms, held securely against his chest, he couldn't resist smiling. He had wondered what it would feel like. 

Danny climbed to his feet--an unsteady movement that prompted Phantom to wrap an arm around Danny's neck--and looked toward the staircase. "This might get a little awkward," he warned. 

Phantom laid his head on Danny's shoulder and let out a quiet breath. "Yeah," he agreed. The staircase was narrow, but Phantom suspected Danny's strength was about to be tested as well. "Take your time. No hurry here."

Danny snorted. "Right. You just rest, I'll do all the hard work."

"For once."

Danny laughed. "Who just saved your life?"

"My boyfriend."

Danny cleared his throat, a blush coloring his cheeks again. “Yeah. Right. I’ll just…” He walked toward the staircase, his eyes carefully avoiding Phantom’s. “I guess I should...get used to to being called that.” His blush worsened. “Your boyfriend. Oh man…”

“It was your idea,” Phantom reminded him mercilessly. He closed his eyes and tried to keep his smile from looking too besotted. He suspected he would regret the ruse later, once his feelings felt thoroughly played, but for now it was enough to feel Danny’s arms around him as he carried him up the stairs, safe and with the potential of turning the Fentons from enemies to allies within reach. 

#Phantom and Danny as different people #Danny Phantom #Danny Fenton #pitch pearl #pitchpearl #fake date au

[huanglaoshu]

I saw this post from @spaceshipoftheseus (and others) about "how is Wei Wuxian the head disciple as a teenager" (where are the adults?) and went off on an exploratory tangent about which words in Chinese mean "disciple."

Organized by parts of the book I found them in:

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi's group of disciples who go to Mo Village are referred to as 姑苏蓝民长大的子弟, that is, "Gusu Lan's 子弟", disciples. When talking about Lan Jingyi alone, prior to introducing him, he is referred to as 那名弟子, "that 弟子", disciple.

The group are also referred to as 少年 (approximately "teenagers" as opposed to Jiang Cheng who is 青年 or a middle aged person who would be 中年) and also 小辈 (xiao3bei4), which I think the translators chose to translate as "juniors".

I mention this mostly because it's similar to the word 前辈 (qian2bei4), i.e. what Sizhui calls Wei Wuxian, ("Mo-qianbei") and it's kind of cute. ("little generation") Other related words are 后辈 (juniors) and 长辈 (seniors). 长辈 gets used when Jiang Cheng chastises Lan Jingyi for speaking to him on behalf of Lan Wangji at Dafan (the 长辈 are talking, why are you opening your mouth), which forces Sizhui to address Jin Ling when Lan Wangji continues to refuse to talk.

Uhhh... tangents, wheee!

子弟 = zi3di4 = a group of disciples

弟子 = di4zi3 = one particular disciple

Moving on to Dafan!

Speaking of Sizhui talking to Jin Ling, he says, hey don't you realize putting up a zillion nets is trapping 其他家族的修士? i.e. other family/clan's 修士, i.e. cultivators

The person who runs up to Jiang Cheng to report that all the nets have been destroyed is referred to as a 客卿

The person who runs up to Jiang Cheng in the tea house to report that shit's going down on this Dafan night hunt is referred to as a 门生

Su She is a 门生 when he is with the Lan Sect, and the people who show up to the Mingshi when the ghost arm is attacking people are 蓝家子弟与门生 (the 子弟 and 门生 of the Lan family/clan)

修士 = xiu1shi4 = cultivator (when cultivators are talking about each other)

客卿 = ke4qing1 = "archaic: person from one feudal state serving in the court of another" the first character is "guest" and the second can be a term for an official, or what an emperor might call his subjects

门生 = men2sheng1 = disciple

Other words!

When Wei Wuxian goes down to the cold springs to spy on Lan Wangji, the translation notes that female cultivators have a different part of Cloud Recesses, so there aren't a lot of guards in this section. The word that got translated as female cultivators is: 仙子们 (plural) (仙子 would be singular)(仙子 is the dog Fairy's name).

Mo-furen, when addressing the Lans, calls them 仙师

The waiter who recounts the tale of the Yueyang Chang massacre calls the cultivators 修仙

仙子 = xian1zi3 = female deity or celestial being

仙师 = xian1shi1 = the character for immortal/celestial being + the character for teacher or master

修仙 = xiu1xian1 = the dictionary says this is a verb "to cultivate to attain immortality" but it acted more like a noun in the text

Is there any conclusion?

Not really. I've mostly been noticing that a large variety of words are being used to describe people's positions in the sects, and got prodded/inspired to write down which ones were being used where. I haven't gotten to detailed descriptions of the Jiang sect yet, which is what the inspiration post was asking about, so don't really have answers to that. It's possible that you graduate from "disciple" to "cultivator" at some point, so being head "disciple" as a teenager makes sense? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#fun language facts #ehhh not exactly facts #disorganized language babbling #reading mdzs in chinese

[im-feelin-sick]

I wrote a thing 👉👈. non-s*xual shibari/rope-play devnny, though I’d still say it’s NS/FW and k*nky. cw for casual su*cical ideation, disassociation, torture/murder mentions, and a touch of blood. y’know, the usual jthm stuff. 18 and over only, please

The first time Devi asked him for this, she wouldn’t look him in the eyes- uncharacteristically shy and vulnerable. Nny agreed to it without hesitation, of course. If Devi wanted anything from him, he would give it to her. Every last scrap of his ugly meat, damned soul, and broken mind already belonged to her anyway, although Nny could never understand why anyone would want those. He was the leftover smear on the universe’s underwear, when it forgot to wipe after taking a giant stinking shit.

Devi wanted him regardless. She gave him rules and procedures for this kind of thing. Safety precautions, which Nny knew were pointless. If the glass already shattered across the floor, sweeping up a couple jagged pieces wouldn’t keep any of the others from ripping open feet. But Devi cared, against all odds, so she dug at him until he spat out safewords and limits for her.

He wore his clothes, and Devi wore long, polyester gloves thin enough to give her clever fingers all of their dexterity, but thick enough that the fabric felt cold and nothing like sticky skin when she brushed against him. Devi coiled him up with cords in shades of black, grey, red, violet, navy. Her designs started simple. Crosses and loops around his arms that pulled his sharp shoulders back. Snug stripes over his knees and ankles, binding him so he could only writhe like a worm drying out on cement.

The more they did this, the more confident Devi got in her knots. She was an artist, after all. The patterns of rope over him grew into complex designs, and Nny became a sculpture for her. He imagined no better fate for himself. Devi was so painfully, frustratingly gentle with him when she bound him, showering him with praise when he held still for her or contorted to whatever shape she demanded. She never pulled the knots too tight, or wrapped the cords around his neck, though if she took the breath from him, that would be an exquisite way to kick the bucket.

On occasion, he absolutely lost his complete shit inside of the ropes. Too tight, too much, too still! As if Nny was some kind of animal, which he was, every wretched human creature was, he frothed at the mouth and screamed. He tried to rip off any cord he reached with his teeth, so that he could burst free and chew her open until he tasted her ghost. Nothing would trap him! Nothing could control him! His mind blinded himself with the humiliation of this, of being reduced to a flopping fish in a net.

At Nny’s own request, she left him tied up when he had his fits. Devi kept scissors and knives to cut him free, in case of emergency, but neither of them wanted to find out what he’d try if she let him loose like that. She just let him work himself out until he calmed down, and then after the ropes came off, she fussed over him, and they went out to go get burritos or watch a movie or something. Aftercare, she called it- another unnecessary precaution in Nny’s eyes, but one he wouldn’t argue. Any burrito was always good, and any time spent with Devi was even better. Plus, he suspected the aftercare part was just as much for her sake as it was for his.

The rage happened only a couple or so times. Most of the time, Devi’s ropes sent him into a bliss- the kind he only found in the stars or particularly good commercials. She tied him down to the Earth, and kept his addled brain from floating away from him. Nny asked once what she got out of all this. Devi admitted, after some prying, that she enjoyed the power over him, and that maybe, *just maybe*, she was a little bit sadistic. That answer brought a huge grin to Nny’s face. But Devi exploded his mind when she added that Nny was beautiful, and it pleased her to give him the peace he so rarely experienced. Devi rather liked having control, and Nny, after a mental struggle, enjoyed letting her have it, so the arrangement worked very well for both of them.

Tonight, they decided to take it a step further.

Nny’s own flesh disgusted him. He hated the way his joints bulged through his thin skin, or how he couldn’t stop the oils and sweats from leaking out of his own traitorous pores. Everyone looked ugly on the inside, and when Nny peered into the mirror, he saw his own ghoulish skeleton and organs, swimming in all the sins he committed. Out of all of the insides he ever saw, his were the most hideous. He rarely took off his own clothes, committed to the layers that hid him from himself.

Devi wanted them peeled off, so she could wrap the ropes around him naked. This, in Nny’s not-so-humble opinion, was an idea worse than that time he tried to put someone’s sliced off arms back on with duct tape. But he would give Devi anything she wanted, and he heard that it was healthy for one to break out of their comfort zone. So, now Nny kneeled on the floor, bare as a peeled banana, for Devi to scrutinize like a virus under a microscope. It put him so far out of his comfort zone that it made him want to crawl back to Hell, or even Heaven.

Devi stepped into the room as soon as he announced that he was ready for her. She looked ethereal, he thought, but he thought that every time he saw her. Divine, lovely and pale as the moon, his merciful green-eyed goddess of death. He worshipped her by stripping down for her, gifting her his putrid heart for her to weigh on her scale, and then doubtlessly throw away for the crocodiles. Nny bowed his head in shame.

“You’re beautiful,” Devi told him, in a breathless, earnest tone devoid of her usual dry sarcasm, and Nny felt as weightless and free as a feather. The sound of her tugging on her gloves elicited some kind of Pavlovian response out of him, and his head snapped back up. Devi smiled at him. Her gaze wandered over his form, before she stepped closer to him with the silk rope in her hands. It was white tonight. She’d never used white rope on him, and it looked so clean and pure to him, like undisturbed snow. He didn’t want his footprints on it.

When she was inches away from him, she asked “What’s the safeword?”

“Taco Bell!” Nny told her, somewhat annoyed.

“Color?” The questions were Devi’s way of telling him she was about to start, and Nny’s next answer came out so impatiently and frustrated, that she lifted one of her eyebrows.

“Green! Holy fuck, it’s green! Just go already!”

Devi snickered, and knelt down to wrap the rope around his chest and make the first knot. She looped it over him, again and again, and at first it looked chaotic to him. Strands across strands, messy, like old cobwebs trapping his body. Devi made him look more like an insect, he thought with grim amusement, and that made her a spider catching him in her web. He might very well be in love with her for that.

The design made itself more clear as Devi pulled the cords taunt against him, and constructed symmetrical white shapes against his tan skin. Nny stared at his own chest, and it didn’t make him want to vomit for once. Nothing she created could sicken him. Nny let out a long, shaky breath.

“Devi….” he whined.

“Attaboy. You’re doing great. Lift up your arms for me, and press your forearms together, ” Devi murmured, and Nny whimpered and obeyed. She manipulated his limbs into the exact position she wanted, and then tied them into place.

His legs came next, calves trapped against thighs with knot after knot. Nny wondered how he could simultaneously be so folded up and stretched out all at once. He used to contort his victims like this- drag them into impossible shapes and torture them like that, but it never looked nearly as pretty as Devi made it. She could hurt him so easily like this. What stopped her from skinning him and crawling even deeper into him, until she saw the same truth as him? That even though he somehow tricked her into calling him beautiful, beauty was so fucking shallow! Everyone looked ugly on the inside! And he was the filthiest of them all!

Nny hyperventilated, and his eyes bulged as he pushed so hard against the ropes that static crept into the edges of his vision. Devi called out his name from somewhere, but it sounded distant, underwater. She must be drowning. He was drowning! Wallowing so deep in his own misery, that it filled his lungs and choked him out. This was no rage that overtook him, but an icy cold panic that shot through his entire body until it numbed him.

Devi must have sensed something different, less dangerous about this particular freak-out, because she approached him with a pocketknife. Nny heard someone else with his own distorted voice screaming at her to stop, and to never let him free. She backed off, and yes, yes! She was going to let him die like this! Going to let him struggle to death and decay in her ropes!

He dipped his head to look back at the ropes on his chest, and watched them slowly turn red. Oh. Blood. She must have stabbed him at some point, and he got so worked up he never even felt it. Smart and kind of her, because he wasn’t really the sort of person who should be alive, and he’d much rather bleed out painfully over a long period of time than just starve. Oh, his Devi. Generous even when she murdered him.

Nny wasn’t really sure what happened after the blood loss made his vision go black.

When his coherent thoughts did begin to trickle back, he realized he’d been staring at the ceiling for quite some time, seeing faces and creatures in the nonsense patterns of plaster. His joints ached, having been frozen in place for so long, and lying on his back, ropes and the floor dug into his back. Nny smelled pennies and blood, and then he smelled chamomile and honey, and turned his head to the side.

Devi sat calmly in a chair, reading a book, with two steaming mugs on a table next to her.

“How long has it been?” Nny asked, certain he’d been slowly dying for days.

“About twenty minutes,” she answered, and she carried that forced calmness to her voice that she got when she tried to cover up her own annoyance, or fear. In this case, it was a mix of both. Ah, hold on, so he’d never been stabbed. Right. Devi would never do that to him, except in self-defense, and the ropes rendered him harmless even in his worst state.

“Sorry,” Nny said. “That was very rude of me, especially when things were going so wonderfully. Did you get to finish your design?”

“No. But it’s fine.” Devi was warming up again. She wouldn’t push him to let her finish her work on him, even if it disappointed her.

Nny wriggled his torso. “I’d like you to.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“Please, Devi? Please?”

“. . . fine. Color?”

“Green!”

“You’re shit at actually using those safewords like you’re supposed to. We’re going to talk about that later.”

Regardless, Devi set her book down, using the dust jacket to save her place, and crossed the room to him again. At some point, Nny had fallen over, so she lifted him back upright and into place.

“Wait,” Nny said. “Wait, I want you to take your gloves off.”

“Are you sure?” Devi’s eyes narrowed. “We’re already pushing it. That sounds like a bad idea. Worse than that time you tried to fix that bust pipe with duct tape.”

Nny wanted to feel her fingers push against his ugly skin. He wanted her to leave her fingerprints on him, to leave a piece of her with him after the rope marks went away, and he wanted her to find all of the secrets that his fucked up head kept away from even himself. She made him pathetic enough to beg.

“Please? I want it.”

Devi let out a long, shuddering sigh, and Nny’s heart slammed against his ribcage. Ohhhh. She wanted it too. She wanted to touch him. She was holding herself back from it.

“Yeah, um. Okay. I mean, yes. Gloves are coming off… now.” She tugged at their snug fit until they slid off, and anticipation paralyzed Nny more than the ropes ever would. The gloves dropped to the floor, and Devi picked up the loose end of the rope, and began to tie knots again. She started out with so much caution, and the each time her fingers brushed against his bare skin, goosebumps prickled across Nny’s body. Most of the groundwork had already set itself into place over his skin, so she really only had details left. When she finished, Nny was truly, delightfully immobile, save for his head, his toes, and his fingers. He wiggled them experimentally, and relished in the way his muscles burned, forced into position. Devi stood back to admire him. To admire! Him! And what she did to him!

She took a few pictures, artwork for their own eyes later, before returning to Nny, and dropping to her knees so their eyes were level with each other. Neither of them said anything, but Devi lifted a hand and hovered it near his face. When Nny made no protest, she cupped his cheek, and he pushed back into her touch.

“You’re so warm.” Devi sounded surprised as she spoke, as if she hadn’t expected it.

“Yes, well. Contrary to what others may say about me, I regret to inform you that I am, in fact, still human. Despite my best efforts.”

Devi snorted, and Nny laughed along for a moment, until he began to tremble and cry like a blubbery baby, overwhelmed with all of it. The rope sessions often ended with him crying.

“C’mon.” Devi stroked his face a few more precious times, before starting to untie him. “Let’s get you out of these, and then let’s go get you something to eat, yeah?”

#jthm #devi d #devnny #nny #johnny the homicidal maniac #no beta and I kinda just brain-vomited this without too much focus on structure or anything like that #so be nice #nsfw/