#The Snake in the Mountains the Girl from the Village | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ninapi · 8 months

Text

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

┊┊┊✧ ⁺ ⁺╚══ Depths of Fate ╝

Premise: Sanemi goes out of his way to take care of a sick young woman who captivated his heart since their first time seeing each other. A love like this wasn't possible for a man like him, or so he thought, fate has many faces and he would end up seeing them all up close.

Word Count: 5708

Note: This was requested by the lovely @yourlocalangie, hope this meets your expectations! 👀❤️

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The demon corps had very strict rules.

Train hard, take care of your own body the same way as you do of your sword, prioritize always saving civilians at all costs.

In normal circumstances this is easy enough, for a pillar though, everything was twice as hard.

Training was more intense, the injuries received during battles worse, deeper, healing wasn’t always as quick, and they had to keep fighting regardless of how bad they were feeling. Missions were harder, longer, more dangerous.

Not everyone could be a pillar, that was certain.

Sanemi had been in an awfully long mission as of recent, new cuts gained for his collection, two in his right arm, one across his back side, one of them getting badly infected as he had rolled on dirt more than once fighting the horde of demons he was sent out to kill.

Overall, the situation wasn’t ideal, he hadn’t slept for days now, eating was a commodity not everyone had among their ranks on severe missions.

This one was particularly tough, a cluster of demons had been eating off children in a secluded village up a mountain, reports had been filed many times, but the corps were always eliminated by them before any could return to the headquarters, hence, a pillar was sent out to deal with the threat. Though, even when they suspected it was more than one demon, finding over ten of them feeding on a young child was unexpected, to say the least.

He managed to kill them all but one, the sneaky little bastard slithered away into some bushes, his shapeshifting nature turning him into a snake-like figure.

The night was long, he lost sight of his target and he knew very well what that meant, if he didn’t catch him by nightfall, someone else would lose their life.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Consumed by an unknown illness, you were taken by your parents to an asylum up ‘the sacred mountain’, the air was pure over there and the accommodations were designed to help those in need of constant medical attention.

As sad as that was, you were very well taken care off. The girls there were all nice to you and even if you were the only young woman among the patients in the facility, you didn’t feel out of place.

As for the illness itself, it was clear to everyone it had to do with your lungs as you would have heavy coughing fits, blood making its way out in the process more than once, though, nobody around knew how to fight it or make you feel better. The fresh air of the mountain did help with your breathing, and even if you were always too tired to get up from your bed, you had good days where you could go out and take in the beautiful scenery, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Today was one of those days, sunset time was approaching, and the breeze seemed delightful from your window.

Gathering all your strength, you managed to pad your way out to the gardens. It was indeed a beautiful day, even though you wished you could do more on a day like this, you were content enough with enjoying such a nice peaceful view.

The elderly had been already taken back inside to the safety of their rooms, so it was just you and nature, sometimes you just needed this, a quiet time to accept fate.

Fate wasn’t really kind to you as you’ve noticed over the years. Majority of your friends were now married, mothers even, yet you had to be locked up a mountain, away from people your age, away from your family and friends. Future looked more than grim for you and just being able to enjoy one more day was enough to be thankful for.

The sun had finally set, a blanket of dark shades of blue mixing up with purples as the twinkling of endless stars graced the horizon. You were about to head back into your room when a strong breeze took you by surprise, your shawl flying away in the distance. Running wasn’t an option for you, even walking took way too much energy out of you, but you had to get it back. Your mother had knit it just for you and honestly your own life could be at risk without it, the warmth emanating from it would always keep you warm at night, without it you probably wouldn’t be here by now.

So you made your way into the forest, wanting to retrieve your lost source of warmth. It was dark, scary. You’ve never wandered this far into the mountain; the foliage was so dense not even the moonlight dared to shine your way.

But there it was, hanging from a branch a bit too tall for your small weak body. Climbing the tree of course was out of the question, so you did your best to look for a fallen branch and try to retrieve it that way.

That was until something hard tackled you to the ground.

“Out of my fucking way, woman! Don’t you see you’re about to be eaten by that beast???” a very wild looking, yet handsome man, remained on top of you, heavy muscle pressing against your own chest, you could feel his ragged breath caressing the span of your face as he looked around in a frantic manner.

“A beast? I didn’t see any beast, sir.”

“Well, that’s because your fucking blind! It was about to bite your ankle, one of his bites and you’d be dead in a second.” panic took over your facial expression, death had always been a friend to you, always waiting to receive you in his cold arms, yet it’s never felt this close before.

Something moved to your side, behind some bushes, alerting the both of you. “Stay down.” you just nodded, hiding behind the tree that still held your favorite garment.

The man used some type of crazy wind technique to lure the pray out of his hidden spot by the bushes, the fight was intense, you couldn’t see clearly, and the sound of the man’s breath kept getting louder, he was tired, that much was clear.

Something grabbed you from behind, making you scream your lungs out. Sanemi was on you in a second, cutting his head off before it was too late. Even if you saw his head fly away, you could still feel the death grip of his claws on your arms, making it even harder for you to breath, another of your attacks coming right your way, blood sputtering out of your mouth alerting the pillar.

“Did he bite you somewhere? Let me see?” he was going around you lifting your garments up without consent, desperately looking for some remnants of a wound. “I don’t see anything, tell me, where does it hurt?” he was holding you now by your shoulders, shaking you as to stop your coughing fit. He was by no means a doctor and you looked awfully weak.

“For fuck sakes woman, stop coughing and talk to me!” he was losing his cool, something rather easy for him these days, yet still pretty aggravating. Since your coughing wouldn’t stop, he went back to check for wounds. There was nothing on your back, he needed to check your chest, see if maybe the demon had injected venom into you near your lungs. But you were still a woman and he, even if everyone thinks of him as a beast with no manners, was still a gentleman.

“I’m going to open this ok? I need to make sure you weren’t bitten.” his tone of voice was softer now, your lack of objection giving him authorization to proceed. He lowered your kimono just enough to check for any signs of blood, doing his best to keep you covered, though, his eyes couldn’t help themselves from wondering into your marvelous looking, round plush assets; his ears turning crimson by the minute.

But the only blood he found was coming from your mouth, could it be possible you were poisoned by the creature? It wouldn’t be surprising, this one was hard to kill, smarter than the majority he’d encountered in the past.

The coughing fit seemingly came to an end, one of your hands reaching for one of his shoulders, doing all you could to keep your body from collapsing. “Don’t worry, sir. This has nothing to do with the beast, I’m sick, you see. This happens every day. I just need to rest for a little while.” Understanding, Sanemi gathered you in his arms, letting your head rest against his muscly chest, ready to leave the forest and take you to a safer place.

“Excuse me, is it too much to ask of you to get the shawl hanging from that tree? I followed it all the way here, that’s what got me caught in this unfortunate situation.” he just nodded, extending one of his hands and grabbing it without exertion, making you gasp in surprise at how easy it was for him to retrieve it.

He draped it over you and carried you back to the asylum, the lights coming from it illuminating your path. Now that the darkness of the forest had been left behind, you could see how handsome the man that saved your life actually was. You noticed how strong he was earlier, but his face was softer than you imagined, his eyelashes the prettiest you’ve ever seen, taking your breath away.

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re staring…”

“Oh, sorry, I just…your eyes are very pretty.” grumbling, messy blushing Sanemi set you down on the porch of what look like one of the rooms, it was the only one with the sliding door open, the only one without the lights on, he assumed it was yours, and he was correct.

“Thank you for saving my life. I didn’t even notice I was in danger, without your help I wouldn’t be-“ a choked sob mixed in with more coughing startled the young man, his hand reaching your back to rub it clumsily. He’s never been good with people, but he remembered one night Genya had caught a bad flu, their mother coming to rub the cough away from his back being one of the only memories he had of the time his brother was still a baby.

It did help, your fit being significantly shorter this time, no blood could be seen this time, thankfully. “Thank you, I’m ok now.” the implications of your statement made him realize his hand was still on your back, making him jump a feet away from you, embarrassed.

“Is it always like this? The coughing I mean?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, it’s not contagious.”

“I wasn’t worrying about that, idiot. What is it that you have? Seems tough.”

“Nobody seems to know what the problem with my lungs is.” he didn’t know what to say to that, for some reason sadness made its way up his chest, he didn’t know this woman, why was he so affected by her condition?

Helpless women were his weakness.

“Well get better alright. I gotta go back now.” you gave him the softest smile he’s seen in his entire life, the stars reflecting on your beautiful large eyes, the moon accentuating the beauty of your features even more. He hadn’t notice until that moment how pretty you actually were, how even if your lips were still all bloodied, your smile was beyond perfect. With a small wave of your shaky hand, you bid him goodbye before sending him his way.

A night to remember for more than one reason.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sanemi has been back from his endless mission for two days now, he slept for seventeen hours straight after his briefing and was now ready to go back to his training sessions.

Random thoughts of a certain smiling beauty filling his entire day, landing him a blow to the head by his fellow pillar friend.

Iguro was speechless, this had been the third time in a row he managed to hit him, this never happens, Sanemi wasn’t one to let an occurrence like this repeat itself, definitely not in the same day, something was off…

“Can you stop being an idiot and tell me what’s gotten you all distracted? This is very unlike you, it’s not fun in the slightest, I might as well train with a noob recruit, it would give me a better fight.”

“Ugh…” plopping onto the dirt flooring of the snake residence, he sighed, his head hanging low. “I have a lot of things in my head, that’s all…”

“YOU, Shinazugawa Sanemi, the wind pillar, has a lot of things in his head? You gotta be kidding me… who are you???”

“This isn’t fucking funny, ok? I know this is not like me at all, but I don’t know how to deal with it…”

“How to deal with what?” his fellow pillar was now sitting on the ground beside him, his snake companion as curious as he was decided to slither its way to Sanemi’s leg in an intrigued questioning manner.

“The other night, on my previous mission, I met someone, and I guess I’m worried for her well being that’s all…”

“HER well being? I see…” grumbling louder this time, he buried his face on his hands, shielding himself from the questioning gaze of his friend.

“You don’t SEE shit, OK?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, you’re worried about her, why don’t you go and check on her? Don’t know what has you this worried but that should at least help you regain your concentration.” he was right, it was as easy as just going up that mountain again, it’s completely normal to check on someone you saved their life recently, right? Yup, totally normal.

Without replying, he just got up, determination shown on his face as he made his way out of the snake residence training grounds.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Saying you were surprised when a tuft of white peeked through your window was an understatement.

Seeing it from the outside was actually quite hilarious.

He’s been sneaking around the property for a good thirty minutes, going from tree to tree, hiding behind planters and luring in shadowy areas looking for the perfect moment to visit.

He could see you from far away, it seemed like you were receiving some sort of treatment, so he didn’t want to interrupt or agitate you even more.

Once the lady nurse in charge left your room and you picked up a book, he deemed it safe enough to make himself known.

“Yo, you busy?” his deep low voice startled you away from your romance novel, his eyes were darting anywhere but your face and the tip of his ears glowed in the sunshine.

“Oh, Hi! I was just reading to pass the time. Did you leave something behind that night, or-?” he just shook his head, suddenly very self-aware of what he’s done.

“I just, well you seemed like you were having a rough time, I was wondering if you were ok, that’s all…” his tough guy demeanor from the other night was nowhere to be seen, he looked nervous, his face flushing darker as time went by, an adorable sight really.

“You’re very considerate, thank you for checking on me. I’m doing just fine, same as always at least.” there it was, the smile that hunts his dreams, all for him to see once more, even when he thought he would never see it again.

“I saw that woman pinching your arm…what was that about?”

“Oh well just routine checkups, they need to make sure I’m not getting worse.” sitting up, you made some space for him to sit, taking him by surprise. He didn’t expect this would take this long, he just wanted to make sure you were fine and go back to his training, not an afternoon tea get-together; yet he followed your lead hoping over your window and sitting by your side.

“Is it? Getting worse?” his voice was full of sorrow, somehow you could see ghosts of his past reflecting on his beautiful eyes, the eyes of someone who’s lost someone dear.

“Not that I know of.” his features lit up at your words, one of his hands reaching for one of his pockets. “I got some ohagi on my way here… I don’t know if you like it or if you can even eat sweets, but… we can share it if you’d like.” he was grumbling his words out, uncomfortable in his own skin, why was he acting this way? He wouldn’t share his sweets with anyone, not even with his siblings when he was younger.

“I love ohagi!” your excitement filled expression was just so pure, so full of innocence, it made him smile, a rare sight, but a wonderful one.

Sharing sweets and talking about everything and nothing at the same time, hours went by, the moonlight soon filtering through your window.

“Shinazugawa-san, it’s already so late. Are you sure this is fine? Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, killing beasts?” the look of confusion in his face when he saw how dark it was outside made you chuckle. He hadn’t even realized it was this late, you did only due to the need to reach for a candle to continue delighting on his handsome face, otherwise you wouldn’t have either.

“Oh crap, I was supposed to go back to training.” he got up, going out of the window in a matter of seconds. Before he could be out of reach you yelled after him with all your strength, “Will you…ever come again…?”

He just smiled at you before disappearing into the darkness.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When he arrived back at the wind residence, Iguro was waiting for him by the entrance, a cup of tea in one hand, his snake on the other, an annoyed expression displayed just for him to see. “Whatever happened to our training?”

“Ugh, I…was busy.”

Iguro just sighed, getting up to dust his hakama away, “So you don’t wanna tell me about it. Fine, is not like I care about your love life, just don’t leave me hanging like that ever again or I will chop one of your ears off and feed it to Kaburamaru.”

“L-lov- what..” the startled pillar was left on his own, complex thoughts filling his brain. He thought visiting you would put an end to his delirious state, but it did quite the opposite, especially now after hearing Iguro spat nonsense.

It’s not like he was allowed to have a love life, he was the wind pillar, the second strongest among the ranks. His mission was to end with the entire demon race, it wasn’t like he had time to mingle with a sickly girl, even if that girl was the cutest, most interesting one he’s ever met.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sanemi avoided visiting you for well over a month, it was hard at first, but a few missions were assigned to his division, and he’d been busy over the past weeks, making it easier to ignore. In his last mission though, he got a particularly nasty blow to his head, forcing him to visit the butterfly state.

When he arrived, his pillar comrade was tending one of the lesser rank members of the corps, he had an awful coughing fit and that got his attention. “Take this tea twice a day, it will make breathing easier and eventually stop the cough completely.” the young boy took the little bag from her hand, running off as soon as he saw who was waiting to be tended by the door.

“Shinazugawa, that’s a very deep cut you have there. What’s been happening to you lately? I didn’t know you were this weak.” that had to sting for sure, he hated being seen as weak, but he had nothing to say that could help him getting out of this situation, he was acting like a weak low life and he knew it, yet there was nothing he could do to take you out of his head.

“Kocho, is that tea you gave that boy something you could share with me?” ignoring her statement completely, he went straight to business.

“Do you have a cold?” he just shook his head, his face was so serious she didn’t want to mess with him further, “Well I certainly can, but what do you need it for?”

“Someone I know has weak lungs and coughs constantly. Just thought that might help.” she nodded, grabbing a small pouch to dump in it some of her herbal concoctions, “Is it chronic then?”

“I think so.” she added something extra to the mix, measuring a few other ingredients, “I don’t know what this friend of yours has, but chronic coughing it’s usually a bad sign. I will add a few extra things to it just to combat underlying conditions that might be causing this.” A bad sign? You did look pretty weak when he saw you the first time, but never expected your sickness to be that serious.

Shinobu’s interest in the situation grew as his expression turned grim, she’s never seen so many expressions on this man’s face, he’s always angry or…well that’s it really, just angry all the time. “Is this person someone I know? Maybe I could go take a look and give an appropriate dose?” he took the pouch from her hand roughly, his regular frown returning to his face in an instant.

“Not really. Thanks though, I will deliver it right away.” she was certain she lost her mind, even if it was for a quarter of a second, she could swear she saw Shinazugawa Sanemi smile tenderly at the medicine pouch, but of course, that was impossible, she was just probably overworking herself as usual.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The wind pillar was a simple minded man, always knew what to do, how to get out of situations easily, yet this time around he was at a lost for words.

Not only had he been nervous all the way from the butterfly state to your room up that desolated mountain, but you were deliberately ignoring him.

You turned on your side the moment he peeked through your window, a visible pout adoring your rosy lips.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Is this the way to treat someone who goes out of his way to see you?” you just scoffed, pulling your blanket over your head to hide you completely away from his sight.

Without asking for permission, he skipped into your room, sitting by your feet, “(Y/N) stop being a shithead, I brought something for you.” he was poking one of your feet through the soft material of the covers, getting no response whatsoever from you.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me. If you don’t want to see me then I shouldn’t have bothered worrying about your stupid ass, I’ll just go then. Drink the content of the damn pouch I’m going to leave here, it will help you get better…” he was about to get up when one of your hands reached for his wrist, still hidden under your covers. “You’re the one who don’t wanna see me…I waited every day for you to come, for days…weeks even…” your voice was barely above a whisper, sadness lacing your every word.

“I was busy.” scoffing, you let go of his hand, retrieving back to your safe place, though he was faster, grabbing your hand a bit too rough, causing your blanket to fall from your face.

“I was busy ok? I mean it…” you knew he was saying the truth yet it felt like he was hiding something away from you.

“That’s it? You were busy?”

“Well what the fuck were you expecting? Me telling you I can’t get you out of my head? That I’ve been overworking myself past my limits just so I wouldn’t think of your stupid pretty smile or the sound of your laughter? How I have to lie to all the people around me because I can’t possibly tell them what it’s actually going on?” you just blinked at him, twice. “Well I wasn’t expecting to hear that much, but yes, that’s better.” your cute giggles made him blush, realization kicking him on the face.

“I-I was-it was a joke!”

“No it wasn’t. And I’m glad it isn’t…I’ve been the same way…thinking you didn’t want to see me ever again and even trying to come up with a plan to leave this place and find you, but then again all I knew was your name….can’t possibly find someone just with that…” you were the one blushing now, Sanemi’s hand still very attached to your own.

“Such an idiot.” his words were harsh but the soft smile he was giving you made up for it pretty quickly.

“So like I was saying, take this twice a day. I work with this girl who’s a doctor of some sort, very good at what she does. She recommended this to help with your breathing and could eventually get rid of the coughing problem.” he caught you pouting once more, a deep sigh leaving his lips, “What is it now?”

“Is that woman doctor…pretty?” your eyes turned glassy, your quivering pout making him laugh, you were being ridiculous but he was all in for it, “Not as pretty as you.” and that was all it took to break the spell that had you mad at him, chuckles and light bantered could be heard all the way from the garden coming from your room.

He was supposed to stay for just a few minutes and the moon greeted him on his way home once again.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Visiting you became part of his every day, even if he had to miss every other day due to missions or pillar meetings, you knew now of his schedule and he would constantly update it for you in his visits.

Iguro and Shinobu were pleased to see his normal self returning, yet he couldn’t fool them completely.

His sour face was softer lately, his surviving skills were also sharper, no new injuries reported in a while, the change was positive, but very much intriguing.

“Where are you going? Aren’t you staying to train the new guys?”

“Himejima-San is covering for me. I have something to do.” this caused Iguro and Shinobu to exchange knowing glances, they didn’t really get along, but the cause called for backups.

“Oh, so it’s visiting the girlfriend day, I see.”

“The sick girl, I presume?”

“So she’s sick? That’s why he was so worried, makes sense…”

“Can you both fucking stop?” he was trying his best to hide his flushed face, he’s been doing his best to keep this entire thing a secret, why were they suddenly so interested in his personal life?

“I can give her a visit if you’d like. Is my tea working for her? Any other symptoms?” this distracted Sanemi; just what she wanted, “She has a hard time breathing at night so she hasn’t been sleeping well, do you have anything that could help with that.” and that easily, he fell in their trap.

“So your girlfriend has troubles sleeping at night…I see. Does she turn and toss a lot or cries out while she’s asleep?”

“She does, is that also because of her sickness?”

“So you’ve already shared a night together. I see, things were farther along than I suspected…” this snapped him back to reality, noticing Shinobu’s red face trying to contain her laughter while Kaburamaru was blushing hiding behind his master’s hair.

“You damn pieces of shit! You dare trick me with something this serious? I fucking hate you, you two are the worse….” feeling bad for her actions, Shinobu reached the sulking man, placing another small pouch in his hand. “Tell her to add this powder to the last cup of tea of the night, it will help her sleep better.” her smile was one of understanding, the apology being well received.

Iguro wasn’t one to apologize for his antics, yet he could see the distress caused on his friend’s face and hit a bit too close home. Truth is, he’s the only one that hears him out when drunk-crying about Kanroji, he’s the only person he could consider his friend besides Kaburamaru. “I’ll cover you with Himejima-san. Go.” his apology could be heard loud and clear, he felt grateful for having those around him, even when they were all a pain in the ass.

Though, when he arrived at your window, you were nowhere to be seen.

He waited for a good hour until you were carried back into your room by two male nurses. Your condition seemed to have worsen overnight, your face pale, eyes closed. You looked almost like a corpse, sudden images of his half eaten siblings invading his thoughts.

As soon as you were left alone, he made his way into your room, one of his hands cradling your cold face, “(Y/N) baby…” his hushed whispers made you open your eyes, you thought it was all in your head, but he was actually there in front of you. “Nemi…” your voice was so raw, it was heartbreaking.

“What happened? Rough night?” to this you just gave him a tiny nod, your eyes closing on their own, exhausted.

“It’s fine baby, sleep. I brought you some medicine that will help you have a nice rest. Would you like some now?” his gentle caresses and words made you smile. He’s always so rough and bad mouthed, you loved how soft he could get when worried about you.

After taking the meds provided by Shinobu you fell asleep fast, he stayed by your side for as long as he could making sure you had a peaceful rest, you looked so tired and weak, it was a scary thought, but what if the next time he comes visit you, you’re no longer here?

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Even when his purpose was to visit you daily without exceptions, doom fell upon the corps.

Muzan’s final battle came a bit too fast, he wasn’t even able to let you know what was going on.

To make it all worse, he ended up so injured that he was unconscious for the longest time.

Waking up after said battle was devastating though, realization of his baby brother’s demise hurt even more than the hundreds of wounds littering his body.

Once it was ok for him to leave the butterfly’s state ward he was in, the first thing he did was climb up the mountain he dreaded so much to climb.

He wanted to see you, with all his heart. But he wouldn’t be able to take it if you weren’t there now, if you had to leave this world all on your own he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, not after losing his entire family to demon kind, he just couldn’t lose the only ray of hope in his life.

Life can play nasty tricks when you least expect it; you weren’t in your room, panic cursing through his veins. He was about to burst when he heard a familiar laughter, his favorite one, the one he’s been dying to hear since he woke up.

You were watering the plants in the garden, helping one of your nurses. You look way better than he’s ever seen you, relief making his heart calm down a notch.

The moment your eyes met, the hose was discarded as you ran his way, wrapping your arms around his neck as soon as you threw yourself at him, “Nemi! I thought something bad had happened to you…I was so worried…” your face was now buried on his neck, your tears tickling his skin on their way down.

“Something bad did happen…” this made you look up at him, checking for injuries. There were a few new scars present but that was normal for him. “What happened love?”

“Remember I told you about my stupid brother following me around like a puppy?”

“Yeah I remember how happy that made you feel.” your giggles made him smile, he can’t really deceive you, you see through all his bullshit clearly.

“He was killed in my last mission…I…I couldn’t save him….” tears were clouding his vision, your lips reaching over to place a soft kiss to his lips in a comforting manner. “You tried, that’s all that matters. I’m sure he knows it, my love.” his arms came to wrap around you tightly, quiet tears soaking your garments as you rubbed his back lovingly, the same way he did for you the first time you met.

“Thank you for coming back to me in one piece, Nemi.”

“Thanks for waiting for me…and getting better...I was so scared I would be too late...” sharing a kiss like no other before, fate had giving both of you another chance.

Another chance to live, another chance to love and be loved.

Fate was uncertain for the both of you, the mark was still an unknown gray area, he didn’t know how long he had left, and same was for you, your sickness could take you away anytime soon, but thanks to his love and care you were slowly getting better.

Fate had many faces to show him as well, and love was one of them.

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

Masterlist

#kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #demon slayer fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #demon slayer x you #demon slayer x y/n #demon slayer x female reader #demon slayer hashira #wind hashira #wind pillar #shinazugawa sanemi #sanemi x y/n #sanemi x you #sanemi x reader #fluff #sanemi fluff #kimetsu no yaiba sanemi

76 notes · View notes

aveegrex · 2 years

Text

ASURA MAKI X READER

glorious deity of war, lustful and six-handed, how sweetly can you ruin an aspiring girl?

aveegrex kinktober masterlist

genre: smut pairing: asura! maki x f!reader word count: 0,9k cw: overstim, edging, fingering, pussy slapping, heavy knife play, heavy blood play, kinda sadism, pain kink, knifes used as sex toys, body markings (hickeys and light pricks), bondage, mean dom! maki

author's note: so I wasn't going for a very accurate asura, using it more so to represent a battle-driven deity with six hands. reader here is a striving swordsmaiden that seeks divine guidance, and is very much in favor of whatever maki's doing with her.

“Aww, don’t tell me that’s all you’ve got”

Another shudder runs through your tense limbs. She’s been going at it for what seems like ages, coaxing you closer and closer to the sweet release only to steal the pleasure when it’s mere seconds away. You’d plead again if it wasn’t for her fingers stuffing your mouth so deliciously full, forcing you to communicate in whines and moans alone.

Her hands are everywhere, running across your sweating body strong and skillful. No, that’s definitely not what you envisioned when the elders at the village told you how hard it is to seek her guidance at the art of sword.

You thought she’d make you slice up boulders, or dodge her attacks with a tight blindfold across your face. Certain moves repeated in thousands, that’s what your mind prepared you for when you decided to climb the damned mountain to her retreat.

But, as she said, to be honored by her guidance, one must be stripped of all remaining honor first. And here you are, wrists rubbed raw with coarse ropes, body flush and trembling of her ministrations, cheeks damp of tears, and your core crying to the floor of how deep her fingers reach within you.

A cold drag of metal pushes you back towards reality, and you hiss, restraints creaking into the dimly lit hall.

“Watch, mortal” Maki’s breath fluttering against your ear. “Watch, or we’ll start over once again”

It takes all your remaining restraint to pull your head upright and make your lidded eyes focus on the reflection. Oh, she’s done you dirty. There are nips everywhere, from your throat to your thighs, left by her unrelenting dagger. Hickeys bloom across your chest, and here’s your cunt, bare and raw of how much slapping and sweet intrusion it’s endured.

Her dagger comes dangerously close, mere inches away from your enlarged folds, freezing metal making your hole clench around nothing. A muffled “please” and she slaps you again, another dagger at your throat threatening to prick yet virgin skin.

“No, no, mortal” she chuckles from behind, sharp teeth nibbling at your earlobe as her fingers snake inside you, picking up the perfect angle right away. “A warrior is no beggar, right? You’ll take everything I give you, and you’ll thank me for it”

Fuck her and her sultry voice, fuck her and her six hands unraveling you so quickly into a blabbering perverted mess of blood and cum, draining you of all your juices. For hours on end she’d mix the pain and pleasure in your mind, slitting a tiny cut somewhere sensitive every time her thumb at your clit would curl your toes. Blood shines maroon under the lights of myriad candles, smeared across your tits and stomach by the teasing hands.

It’s all at once, it’s all too much, it’s not enough. Maddened and aroused, you try to rebel once again, hips bucking up towards her intoxicating touch, only for it to ghost away. Her fingertips hover above your twitching cunt, so close you cling onto each atom of air they push your way, the most indecent moan rumbling through your chest.

A slap, a prick, and a strained gasp as her free hand tightens around your neck. “Sshhh, sshhh, you dirty maid” she cooes into your nape, the flat of her blade pressed tight against your heated folds. “We haven’t even gotten to the hilt yet”

Your eyes blow wide and you tremble, sight darting down to the dagger. Its blunt smooth elongated handle, curved just right and damp of blood and slick, now shines like something many would kill to mount and ride. She rotates the weapon with a quick flick to her wrist, the hilt now running along your folds in an all too promising way, and you keen towards it, hole twitching desperately to have something fill it.

“Patience, mortal” the round tip presses against your clit, forcing a gasp out of you. “You’ll get to meet my knife so intimately. An honor!”

And she laughs, two hands cupping your breasts in sync with another slap to your tortured core.

Your body buzzes, nerves electrified and wrecked into a lustful mush. “Open up” you feel her fingers finally freeing your mouth, and it hangs agape, tongue lolling out obediently. Your glossy eyes barely make out how she slashes the inside of her palm, the divine blood dripping down to the marble floor, and it’s only natural you catch every drop, throat bobbing at each gulp.

“Drink, swallow all, maid” her heated whisper attacks your mind once again, and you feel the ivory handle finally filling you up. Each swallow syncs with a thrust, more and more, deeper and deeper, the stingy metal of her blood staining your mind with lewd. Blood and bliss thirsty, you rock your hips to welcome the hilt deeper, being filled from both sides to the brim.

“Now I’ll only have you befriend all my other weapons, dear” she chuckles into your blissed out mind. “And this cunt will have many allies, right?”

MDNI, reblogs and comments are welcome, this is a very self-idulgent piece and I intend to only get more perverted

taglist: @hoohoohope @justanothernpcartist @the-b-u-n-n-y to join the taglist, please leave a comment on my kinktober masterlist or dm me (remember u have to have ur age in bio)

147 notes · View notes

oh-its-souichi · 2 years

Text

Marry

Sakuna Ryomen X Reader

Warning- violence, forced marriage, the works, bad grammar/spelling probably??

This is the series Im rewriting

It was something of a sick joke that brought you together. A forced marriage for some sacrifical reason that will save the village... blah blah blah. You didnt listen to any of the reasons the elders of the village spewed out at you. You sat on the wooden floor staring at them, your father silently weeped in the background, the only family you had.

"We will bring you to his temple and after that you are forbidden to come back. If you try to escape him, hell will rage down on our people, YOUR people" the old man said "remember that"

You were scared, tremmbling internally but you kept your head held high, if it wasnt for your sake then your fathers. He had begged and pleeded with the elder but they shooed him away until finally you dropped your hand on his shoulder and smiled. "It will be okay" you whispered and his eyes hardened.

As you took a carriage to the mountain top you still saw the look in his eyes. The gazes diamond quality cutting into you easily. Alone in the carriage you allowed yourself to be scared, sobbing neatly to yourself fighting the urge to jump out of the moving carriage and be with your father again. Even if it was just for a moment, a quick hug before they executed you, a traitor to the village.

As the carrage tremmbled to a hault you quickly composed yourself. You had heard of Ryomen Sakuna, heard of what he had done to his other girls, his other wives in the temple ontop of the mountain. The doors swung open and you were ushered out by a boy from your village. It seemed as soon as your feet touched the ground they were flying back down the mountain. Repelled by the stench of the place. You were left in the dark the lowly lit temple stalked behind you.

The air around you was heavy and dark. Though there was no one around you- you felt a presence seething and evil enfolding you, haunting you, like a ghost in your bedroom. You heart lurched up in your throat and you bowed your head trying to contain your tremmbling.

"Who are you?" A dark voice boomed behind you. It made you jolt and screech, it was inhuman for a moment until you saw its owner. Flaming pink hair and a stance so unnaturally powerful your voice stuttered... for a second at least. " My name is y/n from the Gojo clan down below the mountain." You said confidently. Sakuna eyed you, lapping his fox eyes up and down your body. He stepped down the wooden stairs, a smug look on his face. "That dosent explain why you are here" You tremmbled as he closed the distance between the two of you, his aura was uncomfortable like panting hot breathe. It suffocated you.

He was standing in front of you now, hoovering over you. He hooked a sharp fingernail underneath your chin and brought your eyes to his. "I-I'm your wife." You faultered and he scoffed. "Not so brave now" he whispered. His eyes calmly studied your face, quiet, the forest and it creautres seemingly silencing their activities to make your experience as awful as possible. The silence drilled into your skull, a sticky panic ebbed and flowed in your chest. You wanted to dry heave, throw up and gasp for air. Claw at his face and roll down the mountain. Maybe a fluffy bear would take mercy on you, finding himself a nice snack in the woods.

"Youre scared" Sakuna seethed in your ear, like a snake his tone pestering you like a fly. "You should be" he spoke lowly.

You didnt react just froze there as he slithered around you, toying with you.

You gathered what pathetic, small bits of strength you had left. "Im not" you whispered turning your head away from him. Sakuna was taken back but the sharp toothed grin quickly returned to his mouth. He inched his face closer to yours "you not?" He said almost mockingly.

You took a deep breathe in, gathering your nerves like broken glass from the floor. You gently cupped your hands around his face and smiled. "Because you are my husband" you said softly. His eyes widened and you felt your hands slapped away.

Your life as one of Sakuna's wives started that night. He didnt say a word to you, just led you into the tenple and then disapeared. A young female servant rushed to meet you and led you to your room. She gave you blankets and a change of clothes, giving you a brief tour of your immediate area. "Dont leave this hallway" she warned before scurring away.

You didnt sleep that night, just rolled around in your blankets and silently cried.

The next morning you would be met by the same servent that had helped you. She ushered you out of bed and helped you get dressed. She drapped a pink and white kimono over your body and tied it tightly in the back. Fussing to herself. "To the vanity" she mummbled pointing to the large vanity that sat on the far left wall of your room.

She did your hair there, pinning it up and decorating it with flower broaches and dangling white string.

She powdered your face and applied a modest of blush and mascara.

When she stepped out of your way you didnt recognize yourself. You stared in shock at your reflection. "Our Lord Sakuna likes his wife to be as flowers." She stepped in front of you and knelt down dropping her eyes to yours. They were dark and melting like honey. "Dont wilt" she said tapping you on the nose.

You blinked in suprise, silent to her words. She smiled at you popping back up and turning her back to you. "Please follow me for breakfast" she said simply.

...

Living in the temple gave you migranes.

Pouding headaches that came on when you were about to fall asleep at night. They plagued you for the first three wekks of your new life. In that time you never saw Sakuna, just you servant and sometimes a peek of the other wives in the garden in the center of court yard. They were beautiful and graceful like swans, light and airy. Their long sleeves and their proper smiles. You would be entranced by then when you walked by the window looking out, you felt like a different class, a rat amongst butterflies. Sakuna was never out with them. One morning while getting ready you cautiously asked your attendent why he never came around. "Lord Sakuna doesnt like his wives. He prefers not to be around them" you nodded and played with the fabric of your sleeve. 'Then why was I taken from my village' you thought feeling pissed.

Those feelings of anger and frustration boiled within you, staining every part of you. Every hour you spent in your room, every second you walked up and down the same hallway ate at you. The same thought repeating in your mind 'why am I here then? Why am I here?'

More days passed, more weeks. Finally one day you and the rest of the girls were brought to an area of the temple you had never been before. It was a wide open room, with dark wood floors and dark wood walls. It was truly beautiful. The dark brown mingling with the bright red of the woods edges.

You were absolutely captivated at the craftsmanship. Until Sakuna walked in.

Your eyes snapped to his hulking presence, his horrific body exuding an aura you thought could only be had in tales. It was so extraordinaryly evil you thought it unreal.

He was wearing a robe that was loosley fitting blue pants, his upper body fully exposed. He was muscular, each one of his four arms, his torso a weapon in its own right. You felt a jolt through you body and you felt so terribly terrified.

His many eyes looked over all the other girl, their intent undetectible. "Line up ladies" he said and a snarl of a smile played on his lips. Some of the other wives threw the others to the ground trying to get a spot at the front of the row. You however stayed at the end hoping to stay undetected, just like you were holed up in your room.

Sakuna watched everyone fall in line stepping pleased to see the sheer volume of women he had. "21 of you now?" He mused, you felt frightened to the fact you were the one at the end of thag 20. That he acknowledged your presence here at the temple. "Seems Ive gotten ahead of myself, you see I dont possibly have the need for 21 wives." He smiled and the air went stale. The rummbling of everyones anxiety shocked the air, the unrest made your teeth chatter.

"Shut the doors please" he said and a looming feeling came over you. You dont know why but you locked your eyes directly in front of you, not daring to move or look away. There were screams beside you, horrible squelchs and the scuffle of feet. You heard women pleading and a laugh so revolting it sounded like annihilation.

You blocked it out, letting the sounds suround you but not enter your ears, you didnt want them to touch you. In fear that the closer the screams got to you meant the closer you were to echoing them.

Eventually though he would step into your view covered in blood, tremmbling with joy. He hooked a sharp black fingernail under your chin and tilted your head up. Your eyes swallowed by his. "My wife" he grinned and you remained silent allowing his eyes to look you over, pick you apart.

"Hmm" he hummed curiously pulling out the pin that held your hair up, watching as your hair cascaded down your shoulder. The softness of the gesture shocked you, especially with the remaining scream of the dying women bleeding out on the floor.

In all he would kill 16 of his wives, shooing you and the others back to your part of the temple, shaking and clinging to eachother. "Am I really alive" "why has he done it" a few of them whispered once out of Sakunas range. You paced behind them wishing you could cling to someones arm as well. Wishing to feel the body heat of another human being. But the four girl had already found their half, you were the odd one out, the one at the end of the 20.

....

"Sakuna has requested you" your maid said popping suddenly into your room. You were groggy from sleep, thinking it was a dream. "He wants to see me?" You asked and your maid nodded. "Yes. Now get up. He dosent like to be left waiting."

She rushed you along your morning routine. Fussing at you while she combed your hair. "You need to brush your hair more and sleep in a braid. Look at all these knots" you said ripping the brush through your hair. You smiled sheepishly tears pricking at the corner of you eyes.

She did this most mornings, you didnt mind. Today though the pressure seemed to be on. She spent extra time on your hair and makeup. Your dress seeming a bit more fancy then usual as well. She straightened out your kimono and stood up brushing her hair back. "You will have breakfast with our lord" she sighed. Her eyes wandered behind her, checking for something and when that something wasnt found she stepped closer to you, lowering her voice. "If you want to survive you need to do exactly as I say and dont mutter a word to the others." She whispered, her eyes raised to yours and you hesitated at their intensity. You nodded and she continued. "This is the final countdown. Our lord is finally looking to settle. Thats why he massacred the others." You knitted your eyebrows in confusion. "Hes looking to settle?" You questioned lowly and she sighed again. "Lord Sakuna will finally settle with one wife. This is his process of elimination, the final stretch. I never thought it would happen, theres been so many women, so many bodies.." she said trailing off her eyes turning blank and for a second seemed to be remembering something. "Until you came here and things changed. Maybe its just a coincidence... its probably a coincidence." She eyed you dangerously now. "If you want to live you need to do everything I say. You have to get him to choose you." She said and you nodded feeling your heart rate pick up. "I will mold you into his perfect wife."

On your walk together to Sakuna she explainrd that Sakuna preferred quiet girls. "He likes girls that will bow to him but do not mistake that he prefers docile girls. He like a stubborn streak just not to stubborn. Be neat and composed. Hes looking for a queen, be worthy of that crown." You nodded feeling like a nervous wreck. Your hands were sweating and your stomach churned, for a second you thought maybe it would be best to fall short of his expectations, let him execute you and release you from this bird cage but you thought of your father and thought better of it.

She led you down the hallway and back into the beautiful dark wood room, the room he ravaged the other girls, the ones he didnt want. There was no stains on the floor, the sound and the smell were gone, like it was a dream. The girls missing presence reminded you that is was not.

...

#sakuna x reader #sakuna ryomen x reader #jujutsu kaisen sakuna #sakuna ryomen #jjk sakuna

259 notes · View notes

cloudjumpervalka · 1 month

Text

really surprised i haven't posted these?

the first is a lineup of my apprentice for the arcana game in their various outfits. they have since become a big inspiration for my new book project

the second is a lineup of all my ttrpg characters over the years. more info about them below (this is so long i apologize but i love my blorbos)

Dagny - half wood elf druid. he lives alone in a swamp after running away from home. he doesn't much care for people after growing up in a toxic environment. he dedicates himself to preserving the wildlife he's found solace in. Notably has a pet seagull named Gordon and a coral snake named Alton

Beryl Frozenfire (ft. Sapphire Frozenfire) - mountain dwarf barbarian. beryl and sapphire grew up as siblings born into a wealthy mining family (all of their family is named after blue gemstones) beryl grew up more interested in fighting to protect her home while sapphire grew up interested in becoming a powerful wizard. they grew up as the best of friends but long story short, beryl accidentally kills sapphire during a raid on her family's mine. beryl leaves her family home to atone for this, only to return years later with her new traveling party against her wishes. while saving her family's mine which had fell apart after the disappearance of their two children, she finds herself now magically attached to an ax holding the angry soul of her dead sister.

Morgana Thales - dusk elf death cleric. (yes i used Mor for a like month long side campaign i dont remember the exact details but bear with me) morgana loses her wife in a raid against their village. she then makes a deal with the followers of (i dont remember the deity oops but i think?? it was Shar?) to resurrect her wife in exchange of her service

Jullian - fey eladrin bard. he plays the hurdy gurdy. he's a traveling musician that relies on his constant traveling to refrain from forming any good relationships. (and honestly i've tried playing him in two different campaigns but i just can't rp as him lmao so me leaving those campaigns early is very in character actually)

Nanjo - human... doomed superhero... "vape ghost". she was born with powers that allow her to turn her body into vapor to "teleport" (similar to reaper/moira ovw) however every time that she uses her powers, she loses a part of her physical body. she currently does not have either of her arms intact, instead she moves her hands around with clouds of vapor she forms to create "smoky arms". she does not want people to know she is essentially disintegrating for multiple reasons. but the main reason is she is a retired jpop idol. it was too hard to keep her secret on stage so she left her other two group members to be a duo. while she cannot continue performing on stage, she uses her abilities in a modified cosplay of her favorite idol to fight crime

Olive Alberich - android on the run from being disassembled. she was built as a product of a corrupt company. she was purchased by a wealthy family that used her to act as a nanny for their child. she acted essentially as the kid's sole caretaker as well as her homeschool teacher as she had infinite knowledge in her head. one day the kid asks to do a science experiment as her homework for the day, but things go wrong and results in the kid dying from a explosion/fire that burns down that wing of the mansion. this event triggers an empathy chip in olive's brain that was not meant to be installed. olive distraught in that moment can recall her years raising this kid in new light while watching her body burn. her owners after seeing olive's new attitude, call for her recall as they believe she intentionally killed their child. she believes this is unjust and is now on the run. she has since acquired a new "cool girl" look by cutting her hair, changing her wardrobe, and replacing one of her eyes. if anyone asks, she's human

the last one is cheating because its beryl again but from when i tried bringing her back for a new campaign that was abandoned quickly lol

#witchart #the arcana game #jasper #dnd #ttrpg #oc #original character #dagny #beryl #morgana #jullian #nanjo #olive

6 notes · View notes

fantomcomics · 10 months

Text

What’s Out This Week? 7/19

We’ll see y’all at our Live Zine Reading on the 22nd!

Big Game #1 (of 5) - Mark Millar & Pepe Larraz The comics event of the summer is here! Okay, this is so top secret we can't even show you the main cover because it spoils something MASSIVE. Just trust us when we say that this is going to be the comic book event of 2023-and it's NOT what you're expecting. Does the crossover really go that wide? Yes, it does. BIG GAME pulls together KICK-ASS, KINGSMAN, NEMESIS, THE MAGIC ORDER, and ALL the Millarworld franchises in one special event!

The Bomb: The Weapon That Changed The World GN - Laurent-Frederic Bollee, Didier Alcante & Denis Rodier

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 in the morning, an explosive charge of more than 15 kilotons fell on the city of Hiroshima. Tens of thousands of people were pulverized, and everything within four square miles was instantly destroyed. A deluge of flames and ash had just caused Japan's greatest trauma and changed the course of modern warfare and life on Earth forever. The world was horrified by the existence of the bomb-the first weapon of mass destruction. But how could such an appalling tool be invented? In The Bomb, Didier Alcante, Laurent-Frédéric Bollée, and Denis Rodier have created an exhaustive and definitive work of nonfiction that details the stories of the unsung players as well as the remarkable men and women who are at the crux of its history and the events that followed.

Doom Breaker GN Vol 1 - Blue-Deep

Zephyr is the last human fighting evil in a world abandoned by the gods. After being slain by Tartarus, the Demon Lord, all of humanity seems lost. However, much to the sinister amusement of the gods, Zephyr is reincarnated to save humanity and avenge those he loves. Can Zephyr finally have his revenge against Tartarus and save the woman he loves, or is he doomed to repeat the past?

Frontera GN - Julio Anta & Jacoby Salcedo

As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert that will take him from Mexico to the United States. That is until he's caught by the Border Patrol only moments after sneaking across the fence in the dead of night. Escaping their clutches comes at a price, and lost in the desert without a guide or water, Mateo is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat that is sure to arrive come sunrise. With the odds stacked against him, his one chance at survival may be putting his trust in something, or rather someone, that he isn't even sure exists. If you'd asked him if ghosts were real before he found himself face-to-face with one, Mateo wouldn't have even considered it. But now, confronted with the nearly undeniable presence of Guillermo, he's having second thoughts. As his journey stretches on, Mateo will have to decide exactly what and who he's willing to sacrifice to find home.

The Great Snake’s Bride GN Vol 1 - Fushiashikumo

For 500 years, a giant snake god has lived in the ancient mountain. Miyo, an unlucky young woman from the nearby village, has been offered as a tribute: she is to be the snake's bride. Miyo always feared that the enormous talking snake would devour her whole, but once she's taken in by the god, he treats her like a wife rather than a meal. His flicking tongue vibrates through gentle words, his powerful slithering body wraps around hers in an embrace. This god is kinder than his monstrous form implies, and Miyo thinks she could learn to appreciate the non-human form his love takes. What does it truly mean to be the bride of a beast?

Heart Eyes Complete Series TP - Dennis Hopeless & Victor Ibáñez

Sanity-eating monsters ended humanity. The unlucky few who survived now hide in the cracks of a broken world. And yet somehow, beneath the graveyard that used to be San Antonio, Rico met Lupe, the girl of his dreams. But how did she get here? And why is she smiling? No one survives out in the street. No one smiles where the monsters lurk.

Homicide GN Part 1 - Philippe Squarzoni & David Simon

Homicide, the celebrated true crime-book from the creator of HBO's The Wire, is reenvisioned in this first volume of a gritty, cinematic graphic novel duology. In 1988, journalist David Simon was given unprecedented access to the Baltimore Police Department's homicide unit. Over the next twelve months, he shadowed detectives as they took on a slew of killings in a city where killings were common. Only the most heinous cases stood out-chief amongst them, the rape and murder of eleven-year-old Latonya Wallace. Originally published in 1991, Simon's Homicide became the basis for the acclaimed television show Homicide: Life on the Streets and inspired HBO's The Wire. Now, this true-crime classic is reimagined as a gritty two-part graphic novel series.

Imitation GN Vol 1 - Kyoung-Ran Park

As a member of the obscure idol group "Tea Party," Ma-Ha dreams of becoming a big star one day. Little did she know that she'd go viral so soon...by embarrassing herself in a popular talk show! But as the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity...right?

Impact Winter: Rook One-Shot - Travis Beacham & Andrea Milana

Hundreds of years before a comet hit Earth and created a cold, dark world ruled by vampires... A wandering Roman centurion saved a woman from being sacrificed by druids. Honor bound to return Fionnuir to her homeland, Rook embarked on a journey across ancient Britain, where all manner of human and inhuman creatures dwelled...but none more dangerous than the demon he'd sworn himself to.

Lovesick TP - Luana Vecchio

"Nature has a kind of innocent cruelty, while man... Why can't man's cruelty be called innocent?" In one of the most lurid corners of the dark web, subscribers pay a high price to be maimed, tortured, and killed by ruthless and irresistible dominatrix DOMINO. This is what they call love in the LOVESICK CLUB. But as Domino faces emerging threats and mounting pressure from a needy audience, what price will she have to pay for success in this literally cutthroat world? And what will she have to become to survive? LUANA VECCHIO invites you into a digital underworld of blood and neon to explore the limits of consent, love, and idolatry in one of the most erotic and extreme stories in recent years!

Marvel Comics: A Manga Tribute GN

Experience a fresh take on the Marvel Universe with this collection of stunning illustrations from over twenty exceptional Japanese artists, including Yasuhiro Nightow, Akira Himekawa, Peach Momoko, Yusuke Murata, and Yoshitaka Amano. Marvel Comics: A Manga Tribute explores Marvel's rich and enduring legacy as a pop-culture phenomenon by paying homage to its most iconic characters and beloved stories. The book features a range of unique artwork, collected for the first time, celebrating characters from across the multiverse. A must-have for fans of Marvel Comics and Japanese art alike!

Mika & The Howler GN - Agata Loth-Igaciuk, Berenika Kolomycka & Crank!

Meet Mika! Mika is a young explorer who faces familiar-yet-not-fully known objects and obstacles around her house. Today's newest challenge? The "howler" that roams her living room and hallways sucking up dust bunnies and even her socks! But the howler isn't as dangerous as it appears, and young Mika is soon brave enough to face it. The first in the series of books for the youngest comics readers, enjoy the sweet, simple, and delightful Mika and the Howler.

Misfit Mansion GN - Kay Davault

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends meets Hilda and the Troll in this spooky and sweet middle grade graphic novel about a monster girl who sneaks out of her foster home and into a human town in search of a forever family but finds more than she bargained for. Despite her monstrous appearance, Iris has never felt like she belongs in a mansion filled with kelpies and gorgons and unicorns. She longs to find a family. Unfortunately, she and her housemates are trapped in a "foster home for horrors" run by former paranormal investigator Mr. Halloway. So, when a human boy named Mathias breaks the house's sealing spell, Iris and her companions are set free upon the town of Dead End Springs. What Iris doesn't know is that Mathias is also a paranormal hunter (the kind who seeks to capture and destroy the horrors), or that there are other dangers ahead. As Iris searches for a home, she makes human friends, explores a brand-new world... and stumbles upon a dark secret that Halloway has kept locked in the basement of the house. Will this long-slumbering mystery destroy the family Iris so desperately seeks?

Offshore Lightning GN - Saito Nazuna

Nazuna Saito began making comics late. She was in her forties when she submitted a story to a major Japanese publishing house and won an award for newcomers. Offshore Lightning collects Saito's early work as well as two recent graphic novellas "In Captivity" (2012) and "Solitary Death Building" (2015), both focused on aging and death.

Pool Boys #1 - Josh Trujillo & Josh Cornillon

Pool Boys welcomes you to the interdimensional Solitaire Resort. This steamy romance focuses on found love, fleeting connections, and the fun we have along the way. Featuring pinups by Sina Grace, Luciano Vecchio, Jacoby Saucedo, and more, with a cover by David Talaski.

Project Arca: Into The Dark Labyrinth HC - Romain Bennasaya & Joan Urgell

In the not-too-distant future, the planet Earth has been destroyed, its orbit withering and its citizens desperate to escape to the stars. The solution? The Arca, massive vessels bound for the distant promised land of Leonis. When the passengers of Arca III awaken from their long intergalactic journey, they realize they're not in Leonis. Not only that, their journey has taken much longer than the planned two hundred years, and has landed them in a starless, seemingly endless place. Eric Rives, the ship's second-in-command, and his partner Jia Tang are sent on an exploratory mission to investigate the dark labyrinth that surrounds them... but what they find is beyond belief.

Scrapper #1 (of 6) - Cliff Bleszinksi, Alex De Campi, Sandy Jarrell & Juan Ferreyra Blade Runner-style action mixes with big emotions as stray dog Scrapper and his buddy Tank fight for justice against the totalitarian forces of a post-apocalyptic domed city. But when the fight comes to his home, Scrapper will face losing what's most important to him-and gain a terrifying truth in the process. (Don't worry, Mom. The dog doesn't die.)

Star Wars Inquisitor: Rise Of The Red Blade - Delilah S Dawson

When the Jedi Order falls, the Inquisitors rise.. From the aftermath of Order 66 comes a new group of former Jedi, each with their own reason to serve the Empire under Darth Vader. Among them is Iskat, who survived the destruction of her old Order to claim a new destiny in the Force. Iskat joins the Inquisitors in the hope of uncovering her hidden past that the Jedi refused to share with her.

Video Game Of The Year SC - Jordan Minor & Dan Ryckert

Pong. The Legend of Zelda. Final Fantasy VII. Rock Band. Fortnite. Animal Crossing: New Horizons. For each of the 40 years of video game history, there is a defining game, a game that captured the zeitgeist and left a legacy for all games that followed. Through a series of entertaining, informative, and opinionated critical essays, author and tech journalist Jordan Minor investigates, in chronological order, the innovative, genre-bending, and earth-shattering games from 1977 through 2022. Minor explores development stories, critical reception, and legacy, and also looks at how gaming intersects with and eventually influences society at large while reveling in how uniquely and delightfully bizarre even the most famous games tend to be.

Wanted 20th Anniversary Edition #1 - Mark Millar & J. G. Jones Celebrate 20 years of Millarworld this month with this special gold-logo edition of the comic that started it all, featuring the reprinted first issue of WANTED itself alongside exclusive interviews, sketches, and behind-the-scenes material! Learn how WANTED went from the page to the screen in record time and set a course for not only the Angelina Jolie movie, but the Netflix empire that came after.

Whatcha snagging this week?

12 notes · View notes

moononmyfloor · 5 days

Text

A Rec and Appreciation post for a Bilibili FMV I found for The Spirealm :)

IMPORTANT: Contains spoilers for all the way through to the show! You've been warned!

Link to the edit: You don't need an account to watch things on Bilibili, but if you do, remember to give it a thumbs up! 💕

The song used and will be discussed by me in relation to the clips of the drama used in the fmv is 人间不值得 (The Human Realm is Not Worth It) by 黄诗扶 (Huáng Shīfú).

Disclaimer: 1. I'm not Chinese by any means, I only happen to be a student who loves this song very very much for its nuances and symbolism and it always makes me so happy to see a fandom I like has gotten an edit to this song. This post is an attempt to get more like-minded people to appreciate it! All the translations are from here where you can read even deeper to the lyrics and learn the background of the song. 2. I will be posting screenshots from the edit that correspond significantly to the song lyrics for those who'd like some help with noticing the parallels. Again, and obviously, this means SPOILERS! Don't proceed if you don't want to be spoiled. I won't be sharing gifs nor clips from the edit because that'd be straight up reposting and I don't want to do that, and a single screenshot may not be sufficient for you to understand what's happening in the scene unless you've seen the show/fmv.

Without further ado!

渡口爱上深山, 薄雪中意晚莲 -A Crossing Ferry falls for Deep Mountain, Thin Layer of Snow likes Evening Lotus

A ferry transportation wouldn't be done in an area with deep mountains, it requires a flat and calm body of water. Lotuses don't bloom in the snow-falling season. Aka this means two things that are star-crossed. Hence: 🥲

夕阳熬红双眼想等来晨钟聊聊天- Setting sun waits till its eyes turned red, hoping it can chat with morning bell Again, the setting sun cannot meet the morning bell. The vidder has used a scene of Ruan Lanzhu sitting with his eyes closed on a bench, waiting for Jiushi- it's not that specific so I'm not including a screenshot.

心上人在梅边柳边偏不在身边- Person on heart is by plum or willow, but not by (the person singing the song)

A Hongloumeng reference to say that your beloved is not by you but elsewhere, see the link above for more details. -A scene of Jiushi patting Lanzhu's shoulder and going away for a door challenge while Lanzhu stands agonized-

小白蛇浇��临安许仙却没带伞- Little white snake is drenched in the rain of Lin An, but Xu Xian forgets to bring an umbrella

From the legend of White Snake and Xu Xian, they meet on a rainy day and Xu Xian gives White Snake an umbrella. Here, the lyrics say he forgot aka things didn't happen the way they should've.

-The clip chosen for this line is more happy because they both got to use the umbrella hehe-

少女压坏秋千书生十年落选- Young girl crushes the swing, scholar fails at exams for ten years

A little girl on a swing and a scholar who passes the exams are nice things to imagine, but the lyrics say the contrary happened. The edit shows scenes from the case of the bullied school girl and the classmate who betrayed her, who both had their youths ruined. :(

命运总是挑挑拣拣诸事不成全- Fate is always picky and things just can’t be fulfilled

-Scenes from the first case (snow village), not using screenshots because the line itself isn't very specifc and therefore neither is the scene-

小和尚没化到缘又路过烧鸭店- Little monk doesn’t get offerings, then happens to walk by a roasted duck shop

Describes a situation where your life sucks and then some more.

-The scene of the little beggar fainting from the Child trafficking case put in contradiction with the scene of Jiushi enjoying skewers with Xiong Qi.-

The chorus:

拈杯酒眯着眼说专心看人间- Pinching a cup of wine and squinting eyes, saying (I/you/whoever) is looking at the human real with full concentration

The song is advising you to take a cup of wine, let go and just observe the world around you. Scenes of Lanzhu and Jiushi having swigs/sips of drinks is followed by them happily gazing up at New Year fireworks. It's pretty self explanatory.

看长安建安与潘安都想沾一沾- (seeing) Chang’an Jian An and Pan’An, wanting to touch them all

Chang'an was an ancient Chinese capital, Jian'an was a literaty gathering, Pan'an was a historical man who was famous for his beauty and loyalty to his wife (the character Liu Xueyi's was modelled upon for the recently aired drama In Blossoms🤭) aka these three things are unrelated except for rhyming. So it's basically like saying "You want this, you want that too" and to just chill and embrace it all; your mortal desires and sorrows.

The scenes used are from the night street celebrations from the Child trafficking case, and are not specific to the line except for that the aesthetics match that of Chang'an night scenary in Tang dynasty period dramas. (And maybe Jiushi staring at Li Dongyuan's handsome face refers to the Pan'an part heh)

神仙掐指算此去少圆满- Gods making predictions, this trip shall lead to little fulfillment 得来失聚了散千万莫求全- Losing what has been found, parting after reunion, don’t try to aim for perfection at all

Means that sometimes gains and loses just cannot be helped.

-Scenes of Li Dongyuan's last moments- 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

借泥炉烧碗饭在檐上种炊烟- Borrowing earth stove to make meal, planting cooking smoke on the top of the eave

-cooking scenes from the show, self-explanotory-

管小寒大寒与心寒都来暖一暖- No matter if it’s Small Cold, Big Cold, Or heart cold, all come over and warm up

Xiao Han and Da Han are two of the wintry solar terms of traditional Chinese calendar. Heart Cold is; well, having lost hope and being unhappy. The song tells you to get together and warm yourself up whether your coldness is external or internal.

好提胆闯人海再叩风月关- So that you can build up the courage and venture into the crowd, knocking on the door of profanity (of life) Now this line may look simple but is really iconic to the show. It means to build up your guts [lit:gallbladder] (through the power of the warmth from forming bonds as mentioned above), so you can go out and enjoy all the beautiful romantic things in life, and bravely knock on the doors (HA) of each levels of life as you go. The scenes used are Lanzhu and Jiushi marching into door challenges, them sitting and enjoying quiet moments together, and DOORS. Bejeezus...

兜兜转转八十一难我们走着看- Around and around through 81 tribulations, we shall see how it goes Another cleverly utilized line. 81 tribulations are what the main characters underwent in Journey to the West in order to bring the Buddhist texts, and if you've finished Spirealm, you know the 12 doors are inspired by the 12 links in the Law of Dependent Origin of Buddhist philosophy. In simpler words, the 12 links are the reasons for your mundane sorrows, longings and confusion, and 81 tribulations are the hardships you undergo because of them. The core scene used is Jiushi completing the 12 doors of the game, followed by the friend gang badass-strutting into the case scenes, fitting for the part "let's see how it goes".

竹马去寻竹马青梅意兴阑珊- Bamboo horse goes searching for bamboo horse, blue plum feels discouraged

Now this is my FAVORITE line 😆 I always love to see what the vidders do with this part when this song is used on a BL edit. This comes from the famous poem line, “郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅”:” boy comes on a bamboo horse, circling around the bed and playing with plum branch”. It refers to boys and girls who are meant to be each others' since childhood. But sometimes, the bamboo horse (boy) doesn't go for a blue plum (girl), and will seek another bamboo horse instead, yeah? The scenes chosen are first Lanzhu and Jiushi, chased after by Li Dongyuan, leaving behind the exasperated Zhuang Rujiao 😂 Our poor lil blue plum!

伯牙琴弦摔断叔夜刚绝交山巨源- Bo Ya breaks the string on his Qin, Shu Ye breaks off from Shan Juyuan

This line is about two legendary friendships, in the first pairing Bo Ya broke his Qin after his friend's death because nobody could appreciate his playing better than his friend, and the latter pairing broke up because of diff ideals.

The scenes used are when Jiushi and his ex bff used to be together, and broke up later.

知己半路就散结发总另结新欢- Good friends part half-way, spouses marry someone else

-Yixie crying holding Qianli, the nurse whose lover betrayed her in the sanatorium arc-

小情侣恰好遇见喜鹊没来上班- Young couples who happen to meet when the magpies are not on duty

Refers to the Chinese fairytale Magpie Bridge where magpies helped the couple meet once every year, and without magpies they wouldn't get even that chance.

The scenes used are: 🥺

长生岂能如愿古稀尚靠垂怜- How can longevity be fulfilled, it depends on heaven’s mercy to live to one’s 70s

Jeebus, have I mentioned this vidder is a GENIUS? The corresponding scene used is the big baddie of the show standing tall and playing almighty, and the happiness of our good guys is at his mercy, followed by the scene of 50 Years Later HUHU

老病倒比莺莺燕燕多陪二十年- The Old and the sick somehow gets 20 more years than the happy young couple

LOL the vidder knows how to be a troll, too. As the song says "Old and sick gets to live", Chen Fei and the lady friend (I don't even rem her name) who couldn't have been more background charactery if they tried, and they got to move onwards with their lives in peace while "happy, young" Zaozao and Dongyuan didn't 😔

小嫦娥偷吃灵药却反而羡人间- Chang’e takes magical elixir, yet feels jealous of the human realm

The moon goddess, who enjoys longevity but is full of regrets about the life she left behind.

-Zaozao, who is finally under the spotlight she always deserved, but... *bawls harder*

The chorus from before repeats, that tells you to have a drink, chill and look at this world, not care so much about this and that, to not push yourself too hard because it isn't worth it, have a meal with your loved ones to chase away the cold instead, build up the courage to endure the beauty and challenges (DOORS) of the life.

Complimentary scenes follow:

人生在世不称意呀失眠或失恋- Living in this realm is often unsatisfying, losing sleep or losing love

-For "unsatisfying" part, past-and-present scenes of the son and mother from the Triplet case, for "Losing Sleep" part Lanzhu staring at sleeping Jiushi on the same bed and then the chocolate scene, the younger sister's confession being rejected in the Sister Drum case and the Lady in the Rain for "Losing Love" part.-

只劝你来把个盏侃呀么侃大山- (I) suggest you drink (the wine) up, then have a nice long chat

-The scene where Lanzhu wordlessly empties the can after Dongyuan's incident, followed by memories of when they were eating and chatting together, and also those of Qianli's 🤧

The final part:

喝完大酒撑条船说今生不靠岸- After a big drink go ride on a boat, saying never to dock till the end of this life 去天涯海角浪个遍失意当尝鲜 -To the edge of the horizon and corners of the sea, taking disappointment as fresh experiences

-Scenes of Lanzhu and Jiushi together, braving the challenges-

这一路手握剑身侧有千帆- Holding a sword on the way, with thousands of sails passing by

-The girl from the school bullying case, now grown bright and confident, wielding a sword (that was SUCH a great moment! You go, darling!), followed by the now-regretless Door Ghosts smiling happily in the last episode.-

时不时回头看看百味是人间- From time to time, turn around and look, hundreds of tastes makes up the human realm

-Lanzhu looking back at Jiushi for one last time, Jiushi looking back before entering a door- *sniffles

Followed by happy montages of all their friends, and Chestnut.

时不时也睡个懒觉醒来多加餐- From time to time, sleep in, and eat an extra meal when (you) wake up

-A scene of Lanzhu tucked in cozily, Jiushi stretching awake from a sleep, well into daytime, and for the "Extra Meal" part, that giant drumstick platter Lanzhu and Rujiao made Dongyuan get for them 😁.-

AAAnd DONE! Phew, that gotta be one of the longest posts I've made in one sitting. If you are still here, thank you so much for your patience and attention, I hope you enjoyed this brilliant fmv meta! Don't forget to give the vidder the love they much deserve, and read up the AveX link for more thorough understanding of the song itself.

Toodles for now!

More posts by me

#the spirealm #kaleidoscope of death #bilibili edits #fmv rec #song appreciation #the spirealm spoilers #the spirealm fmv #The Human Realm is Not Worth It #人间不值得 #黄诗扶 #Huáng Shīfú

5 notes · View notes

ndfan3 · 1 year

Text

Nancy peered cautiously over the rocky rise behind which she was hiding. Car doors slammed and urgent male voices emanated from the mysterious white robed figures as they called to each other. The girl detective was too far away from the group to recognise the voices or to make out what they were saying. She pulled her knee length coat tightly around her and wished George and Bess were with her instead of keeping lookout at Red Gate Farm, as she watched the cloaked and hooded party disappear towards the base of the mountain. But she soon remembered she was not alone: a soft “mmmph, mmmph,” sounded behind her. Nancy looked over her shoulder at the sad figure of Al Snead, whom she had surprised as he hurried on foot to the rendezvous, close to her hiding place, and had overpowered after a short struggle. The girl sleuth had opportunistically tied up and gagged the elderly man with her spare pantyhose, the belt to her dress and his own tie. After remaining silent, as Nancy had sternly instructed him for some time, the retired village shopkeeper and sometime member of the Black Snake Colony was now groaning softly and pathetically from behind his gag.

Nancy had seized and bound the man simply to stop him giving her surveillance away, but she now glanced at the robes Mr Snead had been carrying, discarded in an untidy heap next to the captive after their one sided fight. She realised she could get much closer to this sinister gang she was convinced were a front for money laundering if she took the man’s place - after all they were about the same height and build. The young detective rolled Snead onto his side and retied his wrists behind him with the nylons, more tightly this time, checked his ankles were secured and tightened his gag. “You try and get some sleep here while I’m gone, Mr Snead,” the girl told the whimpering prisoner gently as she picked up his robes, “I assure you, your friends won’t miss you!”

My interpretation of the story behind this cover to Froken Detektiv, Og Slangekolonien (trans. “The Black Snake Colony”), the Danish language version of The Secret of Red Gate Farm, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #6 (1931 and 1961)

#nancy drew #adventures #mystery #girl detective tying up bad guy #female dominance #Nancy Drew captures the villain #male prisoner

11 notes · View notes

thelightningthatjumpsbetween · 11 months

Text

Twenty Five

RE8 | Wintersberg | Romance, Slow Burn | Action, Sci-Fi

Sequel of Winters and the Beast, a Resident Evil: Village Story

Table Of Contents

Ethan drank deeply from the patera, cringing at the thickness of the liquid–what the HELL was it? It was like wine, but more viscous; he passed the golden plate to Eva. Moments later he leaned forward as if dizzy, and then simply vanished. She drank, perhaps a bit too eagerly, enjoying the strangeness of the liquid, suddenly feeling tipsy. Eva just had time to pass the patera to a startled Donna before she toppled backward into nothingness, disappearing from the room.

Eva fell almost instantly to the ground and paused, grunting as she rolled over onto her stomach. It was night, and nearby, a fire crackled. The air smelled of smoke. She stared at the dark earth beneath her, feeling as if she had been here before. Then she heard another grunt from nearby; Ethan was on his back several feet away, and rolled onto his side to face her. The two exchanged a glance before the taller man glanced over the ledge toward the fire.

The ceremony site. They were in the middle of the large clearing where the Kings’ statues stood imposingly behind a large bonfire and seemingly, a ceremony. The black void of sky and the random drips of void around the scene signaled that they were deep within the stratums, far away from anything current. It was familiar; Ethan had witnessed several of these memories while trying to prepare for Eva’s return. But this was different–they were not witnesses, watching a scene play out from afar. They were here . Inside a memory.

“You think Miranda’s anywhere around here?” Ethan looked dubiously at the large crowd of very ornately-dressed people from another time, their horses, their open tabled feast along the edge of the mountain.

Eva listened, sensing. After a pause, she unsteadily clambered to her feet. “No. She is not here.”

“Where, uh, is, here?”

“It would appear….” Eva sniffed the air, immediately recognizing the scents that traced through it. She closed her eyes, hearing the myriad night sounds around them–birds, animals, crackling fire, chatter in a long forgotten language. One very obvious scent, feeling, sound, snaked its way into her mind. “We are in Godric’s memory. I wonder, what will he show us?”

“Does that mean we’re…invisible?”

“We will probably not be noticed, unless by he.”

Ethan stood, rubbing his palms on his pants, seeming eager to have something else to focus on besides his own pain. The pair carefully picked their way down the short hill and edged along the clearing’s wall, hidden in shadows cast by tall, dancing flames. Eva was mesmerized by the earthly, extravagant colors of the clothing. Men and women danced, drank…it was a veritable party.

Ethan grabbed her by the shoulder and pointed. “Look!”

There were musicians on a strange little makeshift stage, standing and attempting to play instruments neither Eva or Ethan had ever seen, except in paintings or tapestries. In front of the musicians were dancers. Whether they danced for entertainment or pleasure was not clear; it was a strange sight. But behind the stage was seated a row of several very well-dressed people, most wearing exquisite headwear such as circlets or crowns. On one side of this row was a familiar, towering figure. His long hair was down, his eyes glimmered with mirth, and firelight danced across his smiling face.

He was beckoning to someone. Eva was busy scanning the rest of the people on the row, recognizing some of the historical figures from their poorly-painted likenesses in the castle. There was a raven-haired man clearly descended from Cesare, and the teenage girl who sat several chairs from Godric was a younger sibling of his; she would go on to carry their lineage through another few generations of monarchy. Godric himself had disappeared from all history documents save for those the Duke got his hands on.

Ethan spoke excitedly again as an unfamiliar figure weaved past the dancers and drinkers to sit beside Godric. “I know him! I’ve seen sketches. That’s the nobleman. The one who–”

“--wrote about being trapped, after arrival?”

“He was infected,” Ethan nodded, surveying the man as if he knew him intimately. Then again, he essentially did. “Back then…according to the documents, the spores were in the air, if anyone spent too much time in the village they were considered, uh….blessed…” he scoffed, “and unable to leave. He was supposed to talk to, well, Godric I guess, about a way to escape, but if he did he never wrote anything down about it.”

“Where was he from?”

“I can’t remember,” Ethan admitted, “He traveled a lot, I do remember that.”

The nobleman from Ethan’s documents was only sketches, pencil and paper, until now. In the flesh, he was so colorful, so full of life. He was medium height and built rather thick, more like a knight than a scrawny nobleman Ethan had always envisioned. Like most of the other men he had a beard, but his was shockingly red, and rust hair peeked out dramatically from his woolen hood. His hair was nowhere near as long as Godric’s, but the man’s cinnamon strands fell into his brow as he took his seat. He had a heart shaped face; a line of worry seemed permanently etched between his sparse brows.

He was very handsome. Ethan realized that the self-portraits were accurate, but did not convey either the handsomeness, or the very intense look of anxiety that the man actually displayed. He looked upset, and as if he wanted to stay hidden. Ethan knew from the writings that the group had been rather forcibly welcomed into the village, but since this outsider was a scholar, he was given very esteemed tasks and even a home–hardly a beggar. Then again, being forced into the village wasn’t something to take pride in, as Ethan knew.

After Godric welcomed him with a very hard clap on the back, (“Those hurt,” noted Ethan to Eva,) the nobleman attempted to right himself. With a smile, Godric yanked back on the woolen hood, exposing the man’s face. This obviously embarrassed the other, and his brows lowered dramatically. The pair began speaking in low tones. The eyes of the nobleman danced around the crowd as if suspicious. Godric simply stared at the other, unwaveringly.

Ethan glanced at Eva expectantly, and she tiptoed closer. Not only was she focusing on the language and trying to piece together everything said, but she had to filter through the other noises. At first she listened silently with eyes closed, but then she began translating.

“He says…something about the…Council not allowing the exception..? Oh, for this man to leave. Godric tried to tell them to let him go back home. Now he is saying,” she paused, then smiled knowingly. “He tells him not to despair, he will keep trying. He will…defy them if he must? Oh!”

Her voice became loud; she shushed herself, and Ethan raised an eyebrow. Eva’s cheeks turned pink. “They are lovers! No one knows. They are speaking in a code of some kind.”

“No way.” Ethan’s usually very serious expression blossomed into a stupid grin.

“Way,” Eva responded with excitement. She put her hair behind her ear, hoping to listen for more, but the scene suddenly flickered out of view, as if the fire had died completely.

In front of them stood the familiar door, the door of the ancient church.

They exchanged another glance before Ethan stepped in front, pushing the double doors apart.

Godric was lounging on his seat as usual, stroking his beard. His cheerful face brightened upon seeing the two, and his smile was full of the newly shared secret. Ethan realized how relieved he was to see the strangely charismatic, powerful man, and this time his legs carried him swiftly across the stone floor. Godric stood to meet him, and this time the crushing hug could not be tight enough. Ethan again felt like a teddy bear as he was lifted, but he took a strange kind of solace when all of the air was crushed from his lungs and his face was forced against the other’s chest.

Godric set him down and put a heavy, large hand on Ethan’s cheek; it was so large it nearly enveloped the whole side of the blond’s face. His eye contact was intense, and would have been terrifying if he was not so concerned and genuinely sad as he gazed into the hazel eyes. “I am sorry.”

“Th-thank you,” Ethan choked, unsure why he was tearing up again. He’d just been distracted from his sorrows a moment ago, but now they threatened to implode while being shown simple warmth and kindness from this man. He wasn’t sure if Godric actually spoke, or if he only heard his former words in his head.

Sorrow will find you.

Godric seemed to realize the very thin thread that held Ethan at this moment, and he pulled him into another hug. Ethan did cry this time, and as he sobbed into the impossibly large torso he said regretfully, “I…I wasn’t supposed to come here just to cry.”

Godric chuckled at this and rocked the blond effortlessly. “You may cry.”

So he did, for several minutes. Godric’s chin was on the blond’s head and he continued the quiet, gentle rocking as he met Eva’s eyes. She was staring at Ethan with a saddened look, but Godric winked at her, and she managed a smirk. Finally Ethan caught his breath, enough to pull away from the tree of a man, and he allowed Godric to steer him to the familiar seat.

After Godric forced him down to sit, he did the same to Eva, steering her onto the bench–she issued a light, “Oh!” when he pushed her to a sitting position. Then the King who seemed so eager to neglect his throne sat in between the two blonds, draping his long, heavy arms over their shoulders.

Ethan exhaled. “So tell me about–what the hell is that?”

The empty bench across from them was covered in dark char marks and tiny little handprints. They were mostly scribbles, childish. Godric chuckled, “Your girl. Some hours ago. She decorated for me.”

“Rose came here? Alone?”

Godric shrugged. “She is strong.”

“Oh my god.” Ethan massaged his temple, and he felt the large hand of Godric squeezing the top of his head playfully, as if teasing him. Ethan shot him a faux-aggravated look, and got a head pat instead. The blond didn’t even try to argue anymore. Godric was staring intensely at him, and Ethan felt compelled to ask his original question.

“Tell us about–”

“My dove,” he heaved a sigh, his usually jovial expression dimming a bit. Ethan thought back to the redheaded man and his very expressive eyebrows.

“Dove?”

“Colm,” Godric nodded, staring past the darkness that enveloped his small space. “My dove.” Now he exhaled, as if he’d been waiting to get that name off his chest. Eva and Ethan both looked expectantly at him, and Eva finally reached out and petted the long chestnut hair.

Ethan knew the look on Godric’s face. “What happened?”

Godric tsked and shook his head. “He wanted to leave. Was not his home.”

“And you didn’t try to…” Ethan fumbled his words, thinking of Karl. “...make him stay?”

The black brows rose and the humored glare was focused directly on Ethan. “No.”

“But where did he go, if he left?” Eva questioned, “He has no records elsewhere.”

Godric shrugged. “I was gone, after.” He gestured, very much like Karl, almost knocking Ethan in the face with his elbow. Godric seemed agitated, and he consoled himself with petting the hair of both of the blonds. They stared at him, equally mesmerized and confused.

“Gone?” Eva’s tone was sad, compassionate. “You mean…”

“You were put here, weren’t you,” Ethan said, his eyes lighting up in a sort of disbelief. “You were imprisoned, or, or something?”

Godric made a chopping motion at his own neck, miming the gesture comically. Ethan’s jaw dropped. “Could not die. Could only be banished. Destroyed my body anyway.”

“Oh!” from Eva. “You found the Purifying Crystal, didn’t you?”

He grinned mischievously, and she tossed an explanation to Ethan, her braids now frizzy and loose from the top of her head thanks to the petting. Ethan’s hair was similarly standing on end. “There were many crystals that this…er…religion, used in their rituals, but the most powerful, they kept hidden, did they not?”

“Yes.”

“I’m guessing one of them is the one Miranda is trying to get back after using it to make Rose…how she is,” Ethan said, not liking where this was going.

“Yes.”

“But one crystal was called the Purifying Crystal,” Eva went on excitedly. “It became a bit of a Holy Grail. Firstly because it could, well, purify…it could remove any unwanted side effects from being…well…what we are, Ethan. It made beings more human.”

He raised an eyebrow, thinking of the mirror image. Unwanted side effects, huh.

“But it was used in the resurrection ceremonies, which were rare. The reason I say Holy Grail is that, like the Grail, this…disappeared at some point in far away history. It has never been seen since, and fell into legend. My mother tested out many artifacts, thinking it disguised, but she never found it. She would even now give anything to have it, yes.”

Eva looked skeptically at the grinning man next to her. “ You took it?”

“I tried asking, they said no,” he shrugged. They all laughed at this, but then Ethan’s smile was replaced by a rather sorrowful expression.

“They punished you for stealing it, to help someone you loved?”

“That…yes…. and punished for a man’s love,” Godric said with a frown. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. “Was told my life, you are strong! Big! Get a family. Get a Queen. Heirs. Baaahhh.”

“Not the queen-having type,” Ethan quipped, but Eva raised an eyebrow.

“More than that, if the texts are correct.” She looked at Godric with a new curiosity. “You were…?”

“No one,” Godric said with a wave of his hand. Ethan pondered on this, wondering if it meant that the King was asexual, and the other man seemed to agree with this silent question, nodding his head. “I had feelings for no one. Only friends! My whole life. Teachers, doctors, priests, called to help.” He laughed uproariously. “Trainings! For how to…” he gestured with a displeased face.

“Ew,” Ethan said, which made Godric laugh loudly again. The merry sound was short-lived. Large patches of black were slinking past their vision, appearing over the stained glass windows. All three turned to survey the room. Soon the black strands would cover the door.

The blond stared at this in silence, and then turned back to the King. “So you helped your lover, the first, ONLY, lover you ever had, escape this place, and you got put in some kind of…mold, prison? For it? That’s why you can manifest after so many years, your mind is protected by being here? But you can’t go anywhere else. You’re stuck in here.”

Godric had been nodding at first, but he frowned and said thoughtfully, “My mind is protected because I remember.”

“Remember what?”

“To grieve. Remember what I told you?”

Ethan, for once, was spellbound by the eye contact and couldn’t look away. In a small, meek voice, he recited, “Anger and…and love.”

Godric nodded approvingly. “Keep feeling it.” He twirled Ethan’s hair. “You need it too.”

“How cruel of them,” Eva said in an unusually unhappy tone; she looked rather distraught. Godric was still petting her hair, but now he pulled her in more closely for a hug, planting a kiss on her disheveled head. “Thank you.”

“Is there something we can do?” she began, “Some way to….to…”

“Need a Queen,” he said sadly, and her face fell. “And then, only maybe . It would be difficult.”

Ethan was frowning deeply, and he barely registered any of this conversation. Godric caught onto this and pulled the blond’s gaze away from the doors. “What is it?”

“I just.” Ethan chuffed. “I don’t understand why he would leave you, or let you do something that would get you in so much trouble…I get that he was forced to be here, but if he loved you–”

“He did not know.” Godric shrugged. “I did not say. He was to send letters, maybe come back. He sent one letter, and our secret was found. Maybe he sent other letters, I was not there to see them. But.” He sighed, hugging the pair close. “Now you know.”

“This is awful, I’m so sorry,” Ethan blurted out, and when he met the intense gaze this time his eyes were brimming with tears. “I wanted to learn about you, but this…You’re here, all alone, punished for–how many centuries?--and we can’t do anything about it? Just because of another stupid crystal, and the stupid village? I can’t. I can’t–”

Godric was almost giggling at watching Ethan get riled up. He poked him in the shoulder. “I thought you are to learn to let go.”

“Yeah but….not about this!---About–I….”

“You make me more real,” the other man commented, finally pulling his arms in and staring at his hands. He no longer looked translucent, as he had at their first meeting. He turned the hands over as if showing them off. “You come, speak, I feel you, I remember more.” His smile was lopsided. “It is not so bad. I remember good things.”

Ethan was still staring skeptically, and Godric tipped his head back again. His oddly colored eyes closed. “I remember old things now. How he could sing. He could play. And he wrote always, always made art. He was very gentle. Curious. Always learning. Reading. Taught me to read. So good to touch, so soft.”

Godric opened one eye and nudged Ethan.

“Sharing sorrows helps with healing.”

Abruptly he put his palms on their backs, pushing them up and away from the bench.

“Go, my friends.”

“Thank you,” Eva said in a still-somber tone, “So much, for sharing this with us. You are an extraordinary being. I promise; we will right the wrongs of my mother, and of everyone who hurt you.”

He lifted her up as if she were a houseplant in a vase, pinning her arms, and planted a kiss on her forehead. Then Godric hugged Eva tenderly, whispering something to her in her own language. She reluctantly moved toward the door, waiting for Ethan.

Godric’s smile was different when he turned to Ethan; he had shared the source of his deepest wound, the blond realized as his lungs were forcibly collapsed again in a hug. They felt closer. The crushing feelings of loneliness that Ethan felt while ‘reading’ the other’s memories made sense now. That feeling permeated the air as they prepared to leave. Ethan squeezed Godric’s hand one last time before stepping toward the door.

“Thank you,” he repeated Eva’s statement.

“Remember, awaken–”

“I know, I know, I will…Moreau,” Ethan said in the irritated tone that made Karl chuckle and Godric roar with laughter. This time, Ethan didn’t even flinch when Godric’s lips moved to his cheek, pressing into the soft flesh. And this time, Godric very gently held Ethan’s other cheek while doing so. He patted the blond’s cheek after, his good-humored expression returning. When he plopped into the throne lazily, Godric held up a hand. “Oh! The drink…” he spun a finger around his head.

“Lie down.”

“Great,” Ethan commented sarcastically as they tipped into the blackness beyond what Ethan now knew was a prison.

#ethan winters #karl heisenberg #wintersberg

2 notes · View notes

imeuryale · 2 years

Photo

【 𝔢𝔲𝔯𝔶𝔞𝔩𝔢 * 𝔞 𝔤𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔬𝔫 𝔰𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪 】 ...&... valentina ignacio, twenty-seven, 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔭𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔯 𝔳𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔤𝔢 with the corn snake 𝔰𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔷𝔞𝔯, making her living at cedar & stone as a manager. ...&... the reincarnation of the gorgon sister euryale, a mythical serpentine monster with a scream that can reduce stone to dust. ...&... ❝𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐧; 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞. ❞ → biography, quick details on deity and muse found via this link.

𝔬𝔬𝔠; meet valentina, a hp nerd who’s still mad about not getting a letter to hogwarts. the vibe? val is the girl who is not here for your petty bs, but is always logging info & ready uno reverse card your ass. as for me, i’m chaotic cady and i’m excited to be here, drop an IM ! click under the break for some details, a summary + ideas for wcs, plots, etc.

【 𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔞 * 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶 】 ...&...

visually; 5ft 6inches, ribcage length chocolate brown hair, deep green eyes, handful of facial freckles, double-pierced ears, long black eyelashes, manicured nails tipped with deep violet. physically; wide hips, strong legs, toned and slightly muscled upper body, slightly calloused hands from climbing, one noticeable scar; 2/3inches long and vertical, located on the back of her right leg from an injury sustained during a fall, thin shoulders, long arms and fingers.

family & coming to aus; she is the black sheep of her family, the only girl and has never felt at home in her home. it wasn’t a bad home, but it just wasn’t hers. she came to australia on a student visa, completed her studies in fashion and fine arts, and eventually applied for a citizenship which was granted. val hasn’t spoken to her family in nearly a decade, she has been living on the mainland of queensland and visiting/vacationing the island for the last six years. her home & pet; she lives alone in white poplar village and prefers it that way, she is a renter and owns a single pet; he is a corn snake named ‘salazar’ - (40inches long, 600g) - whom enjoys reclining on her at home, and occasional trips out and about.

...&... other, extra, trivia; she drives a sports motorbike, but generally walks around as the island is so small, she tends to wear lady gaga’s black ‘fame’ as her perfume and is meticulous in her appearance, she is ambidextrous, she is very protectively-private, she has mild depression and sees a therapist regularly, she gets a small tattoo every time she feels her depression taking hold as a way to break the cycle, she has six so far —

tattoo details; all hers are monochrome and 2D styled, minimalist styled & only a few fingers wide (the largest being the words (4, 5) due to length).

a snake on her inner right wrist.

a deathly hallows symbol on her left ankle.

the evening star behind her left ear.

the word ‘silence’ in small capitals on her mid-top right thigh.

the word ‘scream’ on her left ribcage in small capitals.

a small outline of a mountain range on the top of her spine, covered by her hair usually.

【 𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔞 * 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱 & 𝔭𝔩𝔬𝔱 】 ...&...

𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔵, 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔢𝔰 ( @psychcpomp ) ; just– let it go; over the course of the six years she’s be on and off the island, she and your muse have slept together in a sort of fling. but it’s a fling that happened every time val visited, feelings became involved and there was a huge fight, in which val raised her voice and your muse experienced the sensation of her power to imbue emotion into her ‘screams.’ → they used to see each other prior to alex and lux dating, the fight came about when alex told val they couldn’t keep seeing each other & val raised her voice at him, saying that they couldn’t break up because they were never dating. they haven’t been in contact, and val has been avoiding him since. that was almost two years ago.

𝔪𝔶𝔰𝔥𝔞, 𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔰 ( @agrrotera ) ; so... come here often?; val climbs many of the rock and cliff faces, especially the ruins and around, and your muse (for *insert reason here*) also frequents the place and has for a long time too. they haven’t formally spoken or properly interacted, but it’s to the point that if one doesn’t show up at the usual time, the other is genuinely worried. it’s a little awkward, because it’s been so long an no one’s broken the ice, but that’ll change soon! → more details coming!

a kiss with a fist; this is an explosive, almost toxic relationship highly inspired and driven by deity conflict - (use existing lore, or just have opposite types of deity myths we can build on) - but your muse and val are still very drawn to each other as people regardless, even if they keep coming to loggerheads. basically, it’s a case of mortal v. deity, and only one will win out in the end. right? → contact me and lets plot out the details, masc pref but open to femme, twenty-seven or above!

b!tch, are you wearing a snake?!; the origins come from your muse spotting val somewhere sunbathing with salazar coiled loosely around her neck. he is a corn snake, so a small common pet snake & at a distance he may have looked like a necklace. your muse was shocked, and then became curious how val came to handle snakes so well, etc.

【 𝔳𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔞 * 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 】 ...&...

tiffany valentine, childs play/chuckie: her entire vibe, really, throughout the franchise. both tiff and euryale are considered murderous woman, with a strong attraction to death. intensely loyal to those she loves, but easily disposes, uses and manipulates those who she doesn’t. they have a signature ‘weapon’ in tiffany’s nail file and euryale’s screaming. both easily disappointed, terribly violent, and unforgiving when angered.

elle woods, legally blonde: the scene where she delivers the iconic ‘what, like it’s hard?’ upon reuniting with her ex at harvard. the scene where, after being passive aggressively insulted again, she decides to show her ex just how valuable she is, and absolutely slays it. the scene where she the scene where she stands up to her professor for being inappropriate, willing to walk away rather than be undervalued again.

skank!quinn fabray, glee: the scene where she casually flicks her cigarette on the piano and sets it on fire. the scene where she walks down the hallway with her pink her for the first time. the scene where she has a showdown with mr. shue and gets, first, a reality check... but then also verbal abuse.

‘ester coleman’, orphan, very slight: the scene where she tells her adoptive brother, who just shot and injured a pigeon with his paintball gun, to put the bird out of it’s misery with a rock rather than leave it to stave and freeze. the scene where she goes after a girl who bullied, assaulted and humiliated her at school and made it look like an accident.

chel, the road to el dorado: basically any scene where she is manipulating the whole game for her benefit whilst looking cute, innocent and being unbelievably charming. the scene where she confronts the boys in the palace about their con and blackmails them into an allegiance. the scene where she tricks miguel into leaving and having a good day, so she can be alone with undistracted tulio.

#eternal! intro #snake mention tw #estranged family tw #mental health tw #depression tw #verbal abuse tw #(note; mentions not descriptions !)

12 notes · View notes

aka-indulgence · 1 year

Note

Funny I just found your ao3 and love your work. Especially the snake in the mountains, the girl from the village. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Awww thanks so much for reading! ^^ hope youre excited for more snake husband in the future!

#tsitm #inbox #kinda makes me wanna answer asks #aka doodle

144 notes · View notes

red-riding-wood · 1 year

Text

Heroes - Chapter 6

Chpt. 1 , Masterlist , Chpt 7

Pairing: Sgt. Elias Grodin x Female OC (Alexis Ryder)

Fandoms: Platoon (1986), Cherry (2021)

WARNINGS: I'm just going to put down a blanket for the entire book/all chapters: graphic depictions of violence and gore, torture, explicit sexual content, attempted sexual assault, language, marijuana use

The next day, we were back in the fray, far from the errant dance and song and cheer of the Underworld.

Captain Harris had sent us to capture a nearby Taliban village, though he allowed us nearly forty-eight hours of preparation; we were to set up a camp, about three or four klicks out. That would allow us plenty of time to assess our situation and target before our ambush, and make sure we’d readjusted to the harsh terrain and elements of the mountains. Many of us had been sitting on our asses in med-bay for two weeks.

Weed thankfully lacked the headaches and nausea of a hangover, but I couldn’t say that it hadn’t taken a little extra willpower to drag myself from my bunk this morning. Each limb weighed heavy with lethargy, not only from the after-effects of the plant but also the sleep that the Underworld had so wonderfully stolen from me.

But at least the air here was less hot than Kandahar; it felt like a trip to the damn Himalayas after two weeks of sweating out in the desert heat. And I was much fonder of the smells of the forest than I was the reek of litter and cheap food from the markets.

I pulled the bore snake – the long, spindly rope that we used to clean our rifles – down through the upper receiver of my gun, listening to King jabber on about gossip in the platoon. Though I’d only met him last night, I knew that Cherry trusted him, and his demeanor was jovial, warm – harmless, in comparison to Barnes’ crew.

“Y’know that Wolfe, man, I heard he’s here to finish a degree in college,” King snorted, as he wiped down the bolt of his rifle with a rag. “And this pussy thinks he can tell us grunts what to do with those shiny badges of his that don’t mean jack shit.”

I remained silent, merely listening to what King had to say as I drew the bore snake through my gun. Wolfe was one of the few people here I didn’t have anything against, which meant that I’d only open my mouth about him if I found myself around company like Bunny or Barnes – people who I knew could plaster my brains to the nearest tree if I got on their bad side.

“What are we talking about?” Taylor asked as he came up to sit by us on the fallen log we’d made a temporary home.

“About people King thinks are a pussy because they went to college,” I said, casting my new friend a bit of a sly grin.

King froze, and turned a betrayed look to me. “That ain’t what I said, little girl.”

“’Little girl’? Is that a demotion from ‘little lady’?” I said, the line of my mouth twitching upward.

“Someone seems to be in a better mood today,” Taylor commented, picking unenthusiastically at the contents of his MRE.

“What does that mean?” I asked him, peeling my attention from King and focusing it on my squad-mate.

Taylor smirked at me around the bite he’d taken out of his bread, his mouth too full to answer, so I turned again back to King, tucking my bore rope away as I awaited on him to explain.

He was smirking, too.

“Means that you and a certain sergeant might’ve had more fun than all us Heads combined last night,” King spoke around a white, toothy grin.

I felt stupid for not realizing sooner that they’d tease me about what had happened last night, how close and personal I’d gotten with Elias. A heat suffused my cheeks, and I swallowed a knot of anxiety in my throat.

I’d been trying to repress the memory of the doped-up, starry-eyed soldier, not because I regretted it, but because it was dangerous; to become involved with another GI was one thing, but Elias? The man who Barnes never shut up about being a pain in his ass? It was probably the worst idea since frosted tips.

“Who, Elias?” I scoffed, feigning ignorance. “Nothing happened. I was just stoned-to-fuck. That’s all that was.”

A deep, throaty chuckle resonated from King, and he said, “Honey, I ain’t never seen dope make a girl look at a man quite like that.”

My cheeks must’ve flushed brighter, and I looked down at the parts of the M-4 that I’d disassembled while we’d talked, fumbling to remove the bolt from its power group. I’d done this hundreds of times, but my nervousness from the subject was practically impairing me.

King sighed, and flopped out a hand so that I would pass over the bolt carrier.

“I’m fine,” I said, and managed to free it; he passed me a rag, however, which I accepted, hoping he didn’t notice how my fingers trembled slightly around its fabric. “Elias is… nice, I guess, but I’d rather not end up with a court-martial.”

King shrugged, nodding as he loaded a magazine into his rifle. “Fair dues, but I still think you’re spewin’ horse-shit. Reminds me, that O’Neill keeps goin’ ‘round sayin’ he fucked ya back at base.”

My lip curled into a bit of a disgusted line, though I focused mainly on wiping the carbon from my bolt.

“’Course I knew that was also a load of horse-shit. So does everyone in the platoon, so I think you’re safe there, lil’ lady. I also don’t think he realizes that if that were true, you could court-martial his ass six ways to Sunday.”

That finally stirred the faint remnants of laughter from my chest, my lip curling upwards again. As crude as King was, he always seemed to lighten every mood.

“How ‘bout you, Taylor? Got any tail back at base?” King directed his attention to the man across from me, and I was relieved to have the conversation shifted from Elias. But I was only half-present as I listened to them talk. The other half of my mind was back in the Underworld, remembering how warm Elias’ touch had felt against me, even through the fabric of my uniform, and how every molecule of my being had seemed to communicate that I wanted to taste him, devour him.

I considered myself to be a fairly logical person, and even I couldn’t lie to myself that I had developed an attraction to the blue-eyed sergeant. I wiped away at the carbon of the bolt a little more absently, for my thoughts were now carrying me through dangerous yet thrilling fantasies, and I hadn’t noticed that the faintest of smiles had graced my lips as I became lost in my own reverie.

“Ryder!” It was the unmistakable shout of Barnes, and my smile dissipated as I snapped myself to attention.

The way the sergeant strode toward me, I thought for a moment that he might actually kill me.

“Can you clean that gun any fuckin’ faster? There ain’t no loitering on my watch,” Barnes said to me, eyes shooting icy sparks.

“Yes, sir,” I murmured. “I’m sorry, sir.”

The sergeant grabbed the bolt from my hands, and jammed it back into the carrier, along with the firing and cam pins. He did so with frightening speed, knowing where every piece went by heart without so much as breaking my gaze, and within a mere moment, the gun was reassembled, loaded with a mag he’d snatched from my rucksack, and held in front of him as he nodded me off the log.

“I’d like to speak with you. Let’s go, Ryder.”

I swallowed my rapidly-rebuilding anxiety, and cast a glance to King and Taylor as I stood from the log. Sympathy glimmered in their eyes, but not even they dared say shit to Barnes.

Barnes led me maybe twenty or so yards from camp, just out of eyesight, and with each step we took against the forest floor, my heart beat a little quicker in my chest. I was unarmed; he still held my gun, his own slung over his shoulder, and he was taking me somewhere private. Nothing about this situation seemed to add up in my favour.

When he stopped, turning to face me, I nearly jumped back, but stopped myself, digging the toes of my boots into the earth.

The click of a safety snapped through the otherwise silent air, and I was staring down the barrel of my own issued M-4.

In the past twenty-four hours, I’d had two of my sergeants aim a gun at me. Only one of them, however, I feared might actually pull the trigger.

“Do you know why I needed to talk to you?” Barnes asked, lips tugging at the map of scar tissue that sullied the right half of his face.

“No, sir,” I said quickly, obediently.

Cold, blue eyes narrowed slightly, as if he wasn’t convinced, but he lowered the rifle, and continued to speak, “Rumours been goin’ ‘round about you fuckin’ around with one of the sergeants.”

Ice flooded my veins, imbued perhaps by that stare that bored so intensely into mine.

I waited a moment for him to continue, to elaborate on the situation, but it was clear he was awaiting my turn to speak, so I said, “If this is about O’Neill, sir, nothing happened.”

Barnes snorted, and said, “I ain’t gotta be a goddamn rocket scientist to figure that one ain’t true. Fucker’s got a mouth on him bigger than that dense skull o’ his. I’m talkin’ ‘bout Elias.”

And the breath was stolen from my lungs, a weight dropping on them like a building. I swallowed back that anxiety, and rushed to defend myself, “That’s not true either, sir. I – “

“I don’t fuckin’ care if you fucked him or not, Ryder. That ain’t where my concern lies. You want to be a fucking whore ‘round here, that’s your choice. Let military justice have its way with you. What I don’t want is you jeopardizin’ any o’ my soldiers, ya hear? Elias is bad fuckin’ news, Ryder. He’s a goddamn crusader, thinks he’s Jesus fuckin’ Christ or somethin’. I’ve seen the way he gets in peoples’ heads, had good men die ‘cause of it. As your superior, it’s my job to make sure you keep your head in the game, that you understand who’s really in charge ‘round here, that you don’t end up as a statistic in a goddamn casualty report, ‘cause out here, reality is, you can’t let your judgment get all clouded by hippie talk, now.”

Barnes took another virulent step towards me, but I stood my ground, despite every fiber of my being screaming at me to make distance, tugging at each muscle and tendon and begging to show weakness.

“I am reality,” Barnes growled at me, my gun turned now to the sky, but still no less threatening. “And I’m tellin’ you that if you don’t get your shit together, Ryder, and focus on your goddamn mission, reality’s gonna eat you alive and shit you out.

“I know you snuck off with them potheads. Sal saw you and the rich kid leavin’ the bunks last night. And I know what Elias and them get up to. Now, I’m gonna ask you this one time, Ryder: do you wanna end up dead, or do you wanna be a goddamn soldier?”

I couldn’t hide the way my jaw trembled now, the way I stared up at him with eyes widened by terror. I was certain he could hear my heart slamming against my ribcage, could smell the fear that radiated from me, the sweat that had gathered thick beneath my uniform.

“I’m a soldier,” I uttered past the fifty-tons of ice in my throat.

“Wise choice,” he said, and shoved my gun back into my hands with such an aggression that nearly sent me stumbling over. My fingers grasped frantically for a proper hold on the weapon.

“And I’m warnin’ you,” he said, leaning closer, so close that I could actually smell the tincture of beer on his breath. “Stay away from Elias.”

I nodded, and breathed, “Yes, sir.”

But when he’d left, and I was standing there, paralyzed, amid the softly-fluttering leaves and the low, mournful howl of the wind through the trees, I could only breathe; I couldn’t walk, run, or even hold my weapon right. It fell limp at my side, my still-trembling fingers curled around its hand-guard.

This was exactly what I had been afraid of, why I had allowed myself to become one of Barnes’ goons, why I had so adamantly kept my distance from the sergeant of Two Alpha, despite a yearning, a human part of me that sought a bond. I couldn’t be human in this place; I had to be a soldier, like Barnes said. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less, because my survival depended on it. This wasn’t war anymore; there was no honour in what I was doing, in the men and women and children I was killing. My only objective was to survive. I should’ve known that from the very start.

And I knew now why my father never told me about the things he saw on the battlefield, why he never talked about his years in service. Why he never, ever once said that I should follow in his footsteps, suggested that I serve my country.

Would he have looked at me now, and pitied me? Or would he have been ashamed of me?

Moisture was gathering in my eyes, and I blinked it away, blinking against a blurred canvas of greenery, blinking against the sight of a figure emerging from its labyrinth.

For a moment, I thought it might’ve been Barnes, coming back to yell at me to make myself busy, or perhaps to put a bullet through my skull.

But instead, it was the last person I wanted to see, and the only person I wanted to see. Elias.

My paralysis broke so that I could hastily wipe my tears on the sleeve of my uniform, and hoist my gun back into a ready-position.

Bright blue eyes met mine with a smile, and he said, “Hey, sweetheart. King told me you wanted to talk to me ‘bout somethin’?”

Of course. Leave it to King to try and play Cupid in times of war. I scoffed, and shook my head, eyes travelling to the forest floor so he wouldn’t see that I’d been on the verge of crying.

“No, King’s just being King,” I said, and began to turn my shoulder. “I’m just about to uh… go give my uniform a wash. Went through some poison ivy, I think.”

“Well, uh… I don’t mean to sound bold, but I could give you a hand with that…” Elias said, and I swallowed, a slight glimmer of desire emerging in the pit of my twisting stomach.

“I mean…” he said. “… Poison ivy’s a bitch, and I know how to deal with it. I could help ya out. Cherry went through some on our last deployment.”

“I’d just like some privacy,” I told him, still refusing to look at him, even though I could see his shoulder and those wild, tawny locks emerging in my peripheral. Something inside me broke when I uttered those words; that desire in my stomach fizzled out, because I had dropped the rubble of my heart on it, despite every instinct in my body, despite the human part of me that wanted to tell him that I never went through any poison ivy, but that I still wanted him to come with me, to comfort my soul in this lonely forest and maybe even…

I halted that thought in its tracks. I couldn’t let myself fantasize anymore about the blue-eyed soldier.

I heard him falter slightly in his stride, likely out of shock at the coldness of my tone, but only for a moment; boots landed softly again against the bed of leaves and twigs, catching up with me.

“Everythin’ all right, sweetheart?” he asked, tone softening. I didn’t like it; he was too human, too kind. It only made it harder for me to say what I needed to next.

At last, I spun on my heel, and I stared at those bright, blue eyes from a layer of ice that might’ve rivalled Barnes, melting slightly at the edges, forming unshed tears that I hoped to God didn’t spill.

“Elias,” I hissed. “I need you to leave me alone. I need to focus on the mission, on being a soldier.” My voice was coming out shaky, weak. I didn’t want to admit to him that I was afraid of Barnes, even though he already knew it. I didn’t want it to be spoken, didn’t want my weakness to become reality.

Hurt passed only briefly through the pretty blues of his eyes, and something pierced my heart, so I looked away again.

“I can’t do that with you around,” I breathed, and swallowed back the virulent tide that rose to my throat.

“Sweetheart – “

“Don’t call me that,” I cut him off, because that was a dangerous word – dangerously saccharine, dangerously tempting. I couldn’t be cold to someone so invitingly warm, couldn’t be a monster to someone so refreshingly human.

So I turned again, shouldering my way through a cluster of tightly-woven branches. Some scraped against my cheeks, splitting the flesh and leaving metallic beads against their bark. But the sting was nothing in comparison to the agony that raged in my soul.

#fanfiction #elias grodin #platoon #platoon 1986 #my writing #sgt. elias #oc: alexis #there's smut in this story i'm just not saying where because spoilers but you've been warned #mdni #heroes

4 notes · View notes

little-mouse-gardens · 2 years

Text

fictober day 2 "nobody warned you about me"

Fictober day 2

Fiction

Based on a random idea had a few months back and i am debating if should make this into a actual story or just keep it as a concept

@fictober-eventPrompt - “nobody warned you about me”

“What little halfling? Nobody warned you about me?”

“Yes…I just wasn’t expecting to find you here today...great leviathan”

Bluebell might as well be honest with the giant serpent since this would be the only way she could even get the information she needed.

it was true that despite all of the stories she was told as a young girl. No one didn’t even mention the great serpent Longwei would be hidden within a water flower cave.

The goat monster halfling had traveled 500 miles across Oswa to get here, leaving the role of leader to her friends in order to make an offering in the hopes of receiving guidance from the goddess dewi, the goddess of travel and knowledge.

She needed guidance to stop the cruel dark elven lord Darius, who had been slowly taking over parts of the kingdom of cedras.

he was getting closer and closer to her, and She couldn't risk losing her home, family and friends. She loved them and would do anything to protect them.

Even willing to travel at least 500 miles through wild monster infested jungle and rugged terrain to beg the gods for answers.

However, nothing could have prepared her to be faced to face, with the moon-scaled serpent Longwei. Guardian of the gods and goddess's shrines and the enemy to all leviathans.

“I- '' bluebell trembled, hazel eyes filled with fear as she tried to keep herself from shaking as she bowed her head to him

“g-great Longwei. I am so sorry for my intrusion. I was not properly informed that you live in this cave. I have traveled 500 miles across the land and have come here to make an offering to the goddess dewi in search of answers to a problem me and my village is facing. I hope you can forgive me"

There was silence for a moment. As if the giant was silently trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth, which scared Bluebell more than anything else. The serpent, according to stories and texts, had the power to see a person's true intentions. Which meant that anybody who entered the shrine when he happened to be there, would be judged by him.

Which made her terrified that he may devour her for possibly hiding something from him. Even though she was telling the truth.

A moment later the serpent let out a soft hiss. His coils relaxed as he resettled himself around the huge tree in the center of the cave. Allowing bluebell to stop shaking like a leaf and let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I can sense that you have come with pure & noble intentions” he hissed, bluebells small goat ears pricking up at the sound of stone scraping “I will guide you to the inner shrine, in exchange for a small payment”

Bluebell followed his great blue eyes to extra satchel goods she had brought with her just in case she lost the materials for her offering.

Specifically, to the bundled grilled squid and lemper accompanied with rice. which She had wrapped up in banana leaves to keep them fresh earlier that morning for the hike up the mountain.

“Oh yes of course! Thank you so much!” bluebell exclaimed, carefully grabbing the bundle out of her satchel, bowing to the snake as she placed it in front of him and recomposed herself

“Here you go great leviathan, an offering of lemper, grilled squid and rice to thank you for letting me into the temple”

Bluebell silently thanked the god and goddess of mercy that she didn’t get eaten by him. Watching as the giant quartz scaled snake consume the meal she made within seconds. A few seconds later hiss of satisfaction echoed through the chamber as he gave her a nod of approval. Clearly pleased with offering as he turned to lead her through the huge stone arch leading downward towards the shrine.

“You have impressed me doe eyed halfling” he replied, slithering over towards the temple's archway. Looking behind him to see if she was following

“Follow me. Make sure to remove your shoes before entering and speak your peace to the guardians to pass through and remember to tell the absolute truth " He hissed, motioning with his head towards the two stone leopards that sat above the arch.

Bluebell nodded, removing her shoes at the archway and gazing up to the moss-covered guardians and called out to them.

“Leopard guardians of the arch.! My name is bluebell and i have come here to make an offering to the goddess dewi to find a way to save my village!”

After a brief moment of silence, bluebell watched with amazement as the once stone statues began to move. Glowing green eyes gazing at her as they seemed to nod at something unseen in the archway.

“The barrier is removed” Longwei hissed, slithering through the archway “follow me”

Bluebell nodded. Hurrying after Longwei with the satchel of supplies she needed to make her offering.

Dozens of paintings lined the walls leading towards the shrine. Most depicting the legends and stories she was told when she was little.

Scenes of dewi outwitting the god of war and fire by turning into the three people he knew best. Another scene of dewi taking down the barbaric frost orc chief nahig after he kidnapped her daughter and so many more beautifully painted onto the stone walls.

It amazed bluebell to see it all, taking every detail around her as they finally reached the shrine.

A circular room surrounded by dozens of green tinted mums and white, blue speckled orchids; flowers sacred to dewi. Small fae lights floated around the room, mostly around the statues of leopards and cranes, her sacred animals. Finally, in the center of the room where the sun shined through the most, there was an altar.

The altar was lined with dozens of glowing flowers and in the center was a statue. A statue of dewi. She had emerald green eyes and wore glasses. She had long black hair pulled back into a braid by dozens of orchids and mums.

She wore a beautiful long gold and green dress which depicted owls and leopards and a white shawl around her shoulders. And finally in her hands, was a large book.

A book that contained the contents of all the knowledge of this world and the other realms. Dewi would give the people who worshiped her or made offerings to advice for their problems from this book that would be the exact solution.

This was why bluebell had traveled so far to get to this cave. This was her mission. To seek answers from dewi so that she can keep her village safe.

“I must take my leave now” Longwei hissed softly, looking back at bluebell one last time as he slithered back up the stairs “I will be awaiting your departure at the entrance...I wish you luck, brave halfling” he called back, the sounds of slithering slowly getting fainter as he disappeared up the stairs.

“Ok” bluebell said to herself, taking a deep breath in “your friends and family are counting on me…I've come this far and I’m not going to let them down now”

With as much courage as she could muster. Bluebell entered the temple. Her footsteps echoing and gently disturbing the shallow pool of water as she sat down on her knees and began setting up her offering.

The essentials for presenting an offering to any god or goddess in cedras were the same.

Lighting incense to invite the deity in, the deities specific tarot card to specifically request their presence and a crystal to prevent evil entities from interrupting any conversations between the gods and the person speaking to them.

Bluebell brought the incense and placed them at the four corners of the altar, the high priestess card was now placed at the right side of the statue, and the Black tourmaline on the left to ward off any local demons that would try and interrupt their conversation

However, offerings vary from deity to deity. Some deities accepted offerings compared to others, but it was generally accepted the offer needed to be abundant to please them and the dewi was no exception to this.

Bluebell began placing her offering on the altar, which consisted of the following.

longans, coconuts, bananas, and durians. Fruits that she was often depicted gathering or eating and well known to bring health and prosperity according to arcanian locals.

Foods that were sacred to her were sweet rice cake balls, moon shaped egg yolk cakes, steamed rice cakes in colors of green and yellow, banh tet, and leopard buns. Which were all foods she enjoyed according to legend.

Her sacred flowers, green tinted mums, blue speckled orchids, and the leopard hibiscus which surrounded and laid in the center of the offering.

With all of this laid out on a plate for dewi, bluebell could only hope that the goddess would like it.

She could only hope the goddess would help her.

Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Great and wise dewi of travelers and scholars” she spoke softly, ears flicking and hair blowing slightly from a small breeze blowing past her.

“I request your advice…my village is in the path of a dangerous army who will-” bluebell quivered, feeling tears stinging her eyes as the images of her friends and family flashed in her mind. “Who will kill them if someone doesn’t do something…if i don’t do something”

Bluebell could hear the faint sounds of someone seating themselves beside her as she continued to speak

“I don’t ask much from you. I only wish for a way to keep my friends and family safe.i love them too much to lose them” bluebell quivered, a single tear rolling down her cheek at the thought of her family and friends being killed.

Hoping beyond anything else that she would receive some sort of miracle.

There was silence for a brief moment. A silence that was so close to making her lose hope.

Until a gentle yet firm voice broke the silence.

‘Your noble and selfless wishes move me young blood. Thousands have come here, and Few have come here wishing for a way to help others’

Bluebell paused when the voice came from beside her. Her heart swelling with anticipation as she heard the distinct sound of pages flipping.

‘Go to the elven prince anba. Make him help you Seek out the kujang of Mardin. Once you find it, you must prepare yourself to kill Darius’

Bluebell could already feel herself crying. Tears of joy and relief running down her cheeks as she realized there was still hope. There was still hoped to save her friends and family

“Thank your greatness- t-thank you so much” bluebell choked out, her eyes still closed as she felt a gentle hand wipe away her tears and tuck a piece of her brown curly hair behind her ear.

‘Go young blood’ the voice whispered, the figure getting up from the ground and walking away from her ‘go and save your people. I will be your guide’

Bluebell opened her eyes again. Surprised to find the offering gone and, in its place, lay a map. Which detailed a direct route to the southern kingdom of the elves.

Newfound hope and confidence stirred in the halfling as she put the map in her satchel. Bowing one last time to the altar before rushing out of the shrine and up the stairs.

Now determined to get the southern kingdom no matter what.

#fictober22 #fiction #writing #writing community #original

2 notes · View notes

victorious-villain · 2 years

Text

God of White Mountain

Chapter 3

Words: 1255

Iguro Obanai didn’t get paid enough for this shit. A man had reported his group of buddies missing and demanded something to be done. Now this had been a common occurrence however, nasty groups or even demons seemed to drop off the face of the earth when around this damned Shiro Mountain. Not that he cared, but since it was a mission he now had to care. Shinpuru village was really the only place he cared to look. Being the village nearest to the seldom known Shiro mountain it was the best shot at finding and slaying the demon that resided there. So with a low snarl he obeyed his kasugai crow and headed off. The whole deal with Tanjiro and his demon sister weighed heavily on his mind, sour thoughts ran through his head as he pushed more power into his legs quickening his pace. He was met at Shinpuru village by the man who had submitted the report, a ragged looking man who reeked of old sake and sweat, and was instantly bombarded with insults.

“What the hell took ya so damned long?! Incompetent slayers think they’re all special. Bullshit I tell ya. What are you doing just standing there? Find them, you braindead moron! Fucks sake what scu-”. The man was cut off by Obanai’s glare.

“Shut your mouth drunkard, Now, explain what happened and I’ll be well on my way to finding your little friends.” With that the man answered what he could of the pillar’s questions. Obanai, finding he truly knew nothing, asked around town of the mens’ whereabouts. The town’s treasurer -a rather tall and lanky male with short cut brown hair and an easy smile- approached the newcomer, and answered his questions; telling him what had transpired a mere week earlier. From the ruffians’ pillaging to the dear girl Akira, who had prayed to their God and saved them all. Obanai raised a brow when he had started the story, looking for the said pillaging however nothing was destroyed in any way, nothing was out of order in the slightest in fact. However, the longer that the man spoke, the more Obanai scowled ‘Demon.’ Nodding to the man’s story, he asked where he could find the girl Akira.

There was a slight knock at the door and Akira’s mother rushed to open it. Standing before her was the town treasurer followed by a shorter male -chin length black hair with unevenly cut bangs, heterochromia eyes, a wrapped lower face wearing a striped haori and a small white snake wrapped loosely around his throat- the treasurer, Dan, smiled and introduced his companion with soft spoken words.

“This is Iguro Obanai, the Serpent Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. He wishes to see Akira and speak with her about what happened last week” The woman nodded, turning to Obanai and gesturing him inside with a slight bow.

“I will fetch her from her room for you, please wait a moment.” Obanai nodded and took a seat on the tatami mats near the kotatsu. Moments after he became comfortable, a soft padding of footsteps brought his attention to the girl who had just entered. Akira sat across from the man, giving a slight bow which he returned.

“You wish to know about that night?” Akira questioned. Obanai nodded

“Yes, what happened when you prayed to your so-called god? That night was there anything that caught your attention? Did you see, hear or even smell anything odd?” She gave a small laugh and Obanai couldn’t help but frown at the ten-year-old.

“When one prays to our god, it is a one way communication. We humans do not get a direct response from our god, we request and thank, then leave; whatever our God does is of their own choice but often in our favor and encompassing our request. As for your other questions, I was asleep within ten minutes of retiring to my quarters and woke in the morning. By that time, the men were gone, our crops restored, and new materials for repairs waiting to be used.” Akira spoke so surely Obanai would have suspected her of benign the demon had she not been sitting in a patch of sun without so much as a single burn appearing and full human features staring back at him. Obanai paused again before deciding to dig further.

“If this God lives on the mountain, is there any way I can venture to said God?”

“As long as one does not wish to harm the mountain and has a good soul they can venture upon the mountain as they wish. Be warned, those with evil intentions do not return.” Akira’s mother spoke. Akira nodded to this and spoke before Obanai had the chance

“If you wish, I can take you up the mountain side. But I will not lead you further than the white line.”

“White line?” Obanai questioned. Akira’s mother spoke again.

“Where the mountain goes from lush greenery to a white wonderland. Life remains plentiful but what grows there is white. From plants to animals, in fact, it has been seen that if you release a creature above the white line they will become white as well. It is a consuming purity, one only a God can maintain.” Obanai frowned at this, ‘All white?’ He thought. ‘This has to be the work of a demon.’ Obanai faced Akira again

“Be my guide to the mountain, I will go past the white line whether you guide me or not. I have business with your so-called God.” At this statement Obanai stood and looked to Akira, “Let’s go, I want to be above the white line before sunset.” Akira nodded before heaving a sigh and waving to her mother.

Obanai silently trailed behind the girl as she walked through the town. Weaving through the small market and up to the base of the mountain to what looked to be a small shrine. Akira beckoned Obanai into the pristine shrine, a consuming white occupying every surface and object. Akira bowed to the altar where a staff resided before speaking in a polite tone,

“Kami of Shiro Mountain, I bring to you Iguro Obanai the Serpent Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. I request that he has safe travels for he will venture above the white line in search of you. Please protect him for he has not harmed any member of our village and seems to be of good intentions. Thank you Kami-sama” The girl stood and brushed her knees, ridding them of any non-existent dust that had clung to the fabric of her long skirt. She then turned to Obanai and spoke again “We are ready.” With that she left the shrine and walked further up the mountain path. Obanai was on guard, this place was quite beautiful however with the presence of the so-called God on the mountain he was on edge. Akira stopped and Obanai snapped his eyes ahead, a line of white was in front of them. Neither the foliage, nor path had changed with the exception of the pristine white color that dominated everything in sight. Obanai frowned, ‘The sheer amount of white is almost suffocating, it's like the shrine all over again.’Akira turned to Obanai and spoke again, “This is where I leave you, I look forward to seeing your safe return.” and with those words she left, padding back down the mountain to the village.

Obanai looked forward and sighed, he definitely wasn’t paid enough for this shit.

3 notes · View notes