#hear me out: his scar was originally from like a sword or something but when he first developed his cool cybernetic redstone eye

[ethosiab]

Redshtone eye

#nics art #hear me out: his scar was originally from like a sword or something but when he first developed his cool cybernetic redstone eye #etho tested it out on himself meaning he may have gotten a liiiittle bit of redstone poisoning that made it scar a lot worse #yk before he stabalised it and worked on a final version #ethoslab #ethoslab fanart #hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanart #one day i will get a better phone and my traditional drawings will look better in post because of it #today is not that day

[star-girl69]

Apocalypse

Clarisse La Rue x Fem!Demigod!Reader

—-

synopsis: a day of capture the flag, and clarisse finds out you’re ashamed of your scars.

a/n: love love love love love also from this ask

Apocalypse - Cigarettes After Sex

warnings: shitty ending but IDC!!!!!!!, hurt/comfort, more hurt/comfort, god i need to be put down, insecure y/n, scars and all that stuff, possessive clarisse, protective clarisse, soft clarisse, probs ooc clarisse, yeah, swearing, mentions of food, mac n’ cheese is y/n’s fav but you can just pretend if you’re a weirdo and don’t like mac n’ cheese, tell me if i missed anything!!

—-

“I don’t get it,” he laughs. “How can you be a daughter of Aphrodite and still have those ugly scars all over you?”

You pretend like you don’t hear him, leaning your head back against the tree, staring up at the blue sky through the gaps.

Him and his two friends have been teasing you the entire 20 minutes you’ve been tied up to this tree, captured by the blue team.

That was horribly embarrassing, but you were doing your best to ignore it- instead doing your best to pray to whatever God would listen that Clarisse would win for the red team.

It’s just plain stupid. He’s been saying the same thing over and over again for 20 minutes- can he at least come up with something original?

Besides, you don’t see where he gets off from this. It’s not like you give any reaction, or even look at him. The most you give him is the occasional squeeze of your hands- imagining his neck under them.

“Maybe she’s forsaken you,” he hums, kicking at your limp leg.

You finally look up at him. You’re sitting on the ground, arms at your sides, back pressed to the tree and rope digging tightly into your chest.

“Maybe your mother gave up on you after the second scar,” he says, staring straight into your eyes. “And then you’ve just gotten uglier and uglier ever since.”

You have scars all over your body. Clarisse has them too, and she shows them off proudly, a dramatic story for each one. You have a horrible memory, so you don’t remember all of them- but the tiny one on your jawline is from you accidentally tripping with scissors in your hand as a kid.

Clarisse had laughed hysterically when you told her about that one, pulling you closer when you pouted, saying something about how she was going to carry all scissors for you in the future.

The one on your collarbone is from sparring gone awry. Clarisse likes to kiss that one- it’s silvery smooth, she says some bullshit about how it feels like your lips.

The big one on your arm is from some clawed monster getting a bit too close to you- slashing at your arm and leaving a permanent tattoo of your failure to kill the monster. Or at least successfully run away.

Then, there’s all the tiny ones you can’t remember.

The boy, you seriously don’t even know his name, looks at you. There’s fire in his eyes, he wants a fight, but you won’t give him one. Especially not when your stomach squeezes inside of you in a way that makes you feel like you might throw up.

The conch mercifully blows, even as you feel sick- you don’t want to let his words effect you. But you just can’t help it.

He gives you an odd look, like he’s contemplating just leaving you out there- but eventually releases you. You stand up, dusting yourself off, grabbing your sword from where it was discarded on the ground.

“Good game!” you say, smiling brightly, but you can’t even pretend to be nice to him, so it tapers off into a laugh. He glares at you, but you’re already jogging through the woods, eager to see Clarisse again.

—-

The blue flag waves proudly above a sea of orange camp t-shirts and red helmets, so you smile widely and skip down to the beach. Your team has formed this huge pit of people, everyone congratulating each other, shouting and celebrating. You stick your sword in the sand as you head into it- one person on your mind.

“Clarisse!” you shout, heading straight towards the middle. “Clarisse!”

She actually rips apart two people hugging to meet you.

“Baby!” she says, even when the two people give her dirty looks, pushing past them and into your arms. “We won!” she giggles, kissing your cheek.

“I know,” you smile, digging your face into her neck. She holds you there for just a moment, hand on the back of your head, relishing in the feeling of her girlfriend running to her after a long day.

“Are you tired?” she fusses, squeezing your waist. “What happened? Did you get hurt? I knew I should have made you stay with me-”

“No, Clar,” you laugh, taking your face out of the hiding spot that is her neck and pressing your noses together. “I got captured,” you sigh.

Her fingers wind through your hair.

She scans the crowd, like she might just beat up any random member of the blue team.

“If they don’t learn to not fucking touch you I am going to make them learn.”

“Guard dog,” you tease her.

“And?” she says, leaning down to kiss the scar she loves kissing, right at the beginning of your collarbone. It makes you freeze. “You love it,” she mumbles against your skin.

You can’t think of an answer.

When you stay silent, she looks up at you, confusion in her face.

“What? You look… sad. Did something happen? What aren’t you telling me?”

“N-nothing,” you breathe, because it’s just embarrassing to know you let his words get to you like this.

“You can tell me anything,” she says, searching your eyes.

“I know.”

The conch blows, making you jump at the sudden loud noise. “Lunch!” someone shouts, and Clarisse settles for just grabbing your hand, walking with you back to camp.

—-

You stop by your cabins first, taking off your armor and switching into clean camp shirts. You hesitate for a second, but eventually put on a thin long-sleeved shirt under the orange.

You take extra care in reapplying your makeup, making sure to cover the scar on your collarbone and your jaw, and once everything is as covered as it’s gonna get you set out.

Clarisse is waiting for you outside the Aphrodite cabin, smiling as you open the door, applying lipstick with one hand. She grabs your hand and helps you down the steps, admiring the way you’re so intensely focused on getting the perfect lip, even without a mirror.

It’s not like you have to try very hard, but still.

“I don’t mind waiting a second longer,” she says, bringing you closer by the waist as you tube the lipstick and stick it in your pocket.

“You’re a hungry demon after capture the flag.”

“Yeah,” she says, not really trying to deny it.

You smile and lean against her, pressing a short kiss to your lips.

“Oh, do I look pretty now?” she asks, rubbing in the lipstick that came off onto her lips.

“Always,” you smile.

Her eyes focus in on the green sleeves pulled up to your wrists.

“It’s, like, 100 degrees, baby. You’re gonna boil.”

You frown and shake your head. “No, it’s not that bad. I’m cold.”

She looks at you oddly, but seems to begrudgingly accept it, hand against your forehead as she brushes your hair back. You make it into the buffet style line for lunch, grabbing plates, Clarisse quickly piling hers with a cheeseburger and a hot dog, making you laugh.

“You’re so hungry, all the time,” you mutter when she gives you a dirty look.

“I work out all the time,” she glares. She flexes her arm. “All of this takes a lot of work.”

You stare at her muscles peeking out from just under her sleeves, biting your lip as you quickly look away. She smiles brightly.

“Uh huh, that’s what I thought. You love these muscles, don’t judge me.”

You make your way down the line, scanning the trays of food.

“Ooh,” Clarisse coos, “They have your fave, pretty thing.”

She scoops probably the biggest portion of mac n’ cheese you’ve ever seen in your life, slapping it onto your plate with a smile.

You gape at the now almost empty tray, remembering the still long line behind you. Hopefully there’s another one somewhere.

“Clarisse, we should save some for everyone else.”

She seems actually confused by that statement.

“Uh, yeah, no. My girl gets the best.”

“Clarisse-” but you’ve reached the end of the line and she heads off to a table. You follow her, begrudgingly, because you really do covet this mac n’ cheese like it’s ambrosia.

—-

By the time the night rolls around, you’ve retreated into the blankets of your bed, feeling much safer completely covered up. You’re supposed to be going to the bonfire- all of your siblings have come over and bugged you at least once about going, but you’ve refused them all.

Finally, all of your siblings leave in their pretty but revealing outfits- after today, you don’t think you could ever wear something like that again.

The door to your cabin creaks open.

“Y/N?”

You make a mumbled sound in the back of your throat that’s supposed to resemble “I’m here” but Clarisse is already walking over to you and pulling the blanket off of you.

“Silena told me you were staying back. Why?”

You pull the blanket back up over yourself.

“I’m jus’ tired.”

“Okay…” she says, sitting down on the bed. She puts her warm hand to your forehead. “Are you sick? Do you have a headache?”

“No, Clar, I’m fine.”

“I’m confused,” she huffs. “You love the bonfires. Something is obviously wrong, why won’t you tell me?”

“I’m just tired, Clarisse, that’s all.”

“Fine,” she says. “I can be tired too.”

She kicks off her shoes and climbs into bed with you, under the blankets, chest pressed against your back.

“I’m not good at this. You know that,” she sighs after a second. “And I wish I was. But I do know something’s wrong. And I really don’t know for the life of me what it is, but I really want to know. I really want to help you.”

She traces her fingertips up and down your arms, tracing over the silvery scar from the monster- and you involuntarily jerk away.

“Oh,” she says. She’s painfully observant. She notices everything. She notices you pulling away when she touches your scars. “Your scars.”

Tears well in your eyes before you can stop them.

“W-when I got captured, this boy kept teasing me. And I tried not to let it bother me, I tried not to give him a reaction… but I just- what if I’m not worthy of my mother anymore? It’s embarrassing. I know. But I…”

“Who the fuck said that to you?”

She sits up, eyes blazing, like she can just imagine it and whoever hurt you will suddenly feel her wrath.

You turn around so you’re facing her, laughing.

“I don’t even know his stupid name,” you mutter.

She looks down at you, at the tears spilling from your pretty eyes.

“I’ll kill him later,” she mumbles, settling back down and kissing the corner of your cheek. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, baby. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’ve never met your mother, of course, so I can say that without getting us both struck down by doves, or something.”

You swat her chest.

“I’ll kill you with doves, watch me.”

She hums. “Probably. Okay, stop. You’re getting me off topic.”

You roll your eyes.

“I’m not good with my words,” she whispers. “But I hope I show you everyday that you are the only woman I have eyes for. This is, like, really embarrassing… but I’ve planned out our entire lives together. We’re gonna go to to college in Arizona by my mom, we’ll have an apartment off-campus, and after we graduate we’ll get married. I really wanna be married to you. And I don’t care if that’s cheesy, I just really want you to look at the ring I’ll give you and be able to feel all my love. Besides, if you ever want to get away from me, it’ll be a hell of a lot harder.”

“I would never wanna get away from you, Clar,” you smile. “It’s not embarrassing. I wanna go to college in Arizona. I wanna marry you.”

“Good, because you didn’t really have a choice,” she smiles.

“And you’re plenty good with your words.”

“Yeah… okay, I guess. But let me show you, too.”

“What does that even-”

She shuts you up by kissing your lips.

“I love your lips. I love how soft they are, and how they feel so perfect against me.”

She kisses your cheek.

“I like your cheeks for the same reasons.”

Your temple, your forehead, your nose.

“Same reasons,” she smiles.

Finally she ends up at your jawline. She rubs over the scar, taking concealer and foundation with the pad of her thumb.

“And I love this scar. It looks kind of like a C, so everyone knows you’re mine.”

“Freak,” you huff, and she doesn’t have to say it. You both know you love it.

She kisses your neck and talks about how she loves the way you get mad at her for leaving hickeys, the dedication you pour into covering them up before you eventually decide it’s too much effort and let them show.

She kisses the scar on your collarbone.

“I like putting my head here, right under your chin. I can feel your pulse. I can hear you swallow, too, which is weird but also soothing.”

She kisses from your shoulder and down to your arm, skimming past the scar. She kisses the back of your hand and your fingertips.

“I love it when you braid my hair, or just put your hands in my hair for… other reasons.”

“Freak,” you mumble again. “You’re just obsessed with kissing me.”

“True,” she hums, kissing back up to your scar. “I don’t have anything poetic to say about this one. It’s just fucking badass. I mean, you got it when you were 12- you survived what most have been something truly monstrous to leave a scar like this, and that’s all you get? Most of the kids here would have died. Even the ones our age. And you escaped when you were only 12.”

You smile like a lovesick fool. The apocalypse could be going on outside, and you would just be here with Clarisse.

“In conclusion, your beauty is actually life changing. I mean, have you seen me? I become a total softie, just for you. And it’s all because I like seeing that pretty smile on your gorgeous face. But you frown pretty, too, which I didn’t even know was possible- so I win either way.”

You smile and put your hand on her face, kissing her softly.

“Thank you, Clar. For always taking care of me, and reassuring me…”

“It’s quite literally my job,” she smiles. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.”

“You don’t even trust me, Little Miss Makes-My-Plate-For-Me.”

She laughs and presses her head under your chin, her hair tickling your skin, pressing a kiss to your scar.

“It’s my job,” she smiles. “As your girlfriend and future wife.”

“I love you, Clarisse,” you whisper, a secret just for the two of you. Nothing can have you here. No pain, no suffering.

“I love you too,” she says. “I love you so much, my beautiful, beautiful girl.”

—-

the kid who bullied you walking around with a big ass scar on his cheek the next day 😍😍😍😍😍 no….. no clarisse did not cut him with her spear….. ofc not….

—-

taglist:

@lvrue @t-wylia @laughingcheese037 @kroumi @urdeadpoet @colezb @rey26 @harmzilla @elliewilliamsbae @amberfreemansburntface @kyuupidwrites @neverwaakeme-up @shark1008 @liballer @heyimadison @nvirskies @pnsteblnme @mar2ss @restellsss @ravisinghs-wife @marsconer @evangelinexo @randomhoex @luvrrish

#clarisse la rue #clarisse la rue x reader #clarisse la rue x y/n #clarisse la rue x you #pjo tv show #pjo x reader

[sheepfish03]

Here is my part of @shepscapades​ ‘s character design challenge! I went with drawing non-life-series hermits as red lifers.

originally I just did Welsknight, but I was on a roll so I added Xb as well, and,,, you can’t separate Xb from Keralis so he’s here too, being his,,, lovely self (wow look at that eldritch horror K propaganda)

(Below the cut I’ve added individual shots of them all without the gradient layer I used as shading here, and I talk a wee bit about the designs etc.)

Some general notes include:

originally I intended for Wels to be working for Ren during 3rd life, but then I was plagued by visions so this is actually set on an original life series season I’ve been calling wanted life (pspsps come closer,,, ask me about this I swear I’ll be normal and not abandon all my current projects to develop a fic or something)

All three of them are an allied, their base Is in a snowy mountain (which is why Wels and Xb have the fur collars) I don’t know what their alliance is called but I’ll figure it out probably

Wels went red first, due to some unfortunate luck regarding the gimmick of this made up season, and had been red for a while before eventually Keralis also joins him on the reds. Xb is the last to turn, and in fact survives on so long that by that time Wels has already lost his last remaining life.

Here’s Wels! My pride and joy! I really wanted to do him because it’d be a great excuse of designing some armor again, without having to chain myself into having to do that for every life series member when I eventually draw them

Originally, to make him seem more intimidating, I was going to put him in a massive suit of armor, but after gathering my references I realized it might be hard to make work with my,,, centaur design for him (You can’t put all that heavy shit on a horse I’m pretty sure!) So instead I just, gave him an different suit of armor than I usually do. If you’re wondering what might be up with all the eye imagery, It’s,,, mostly because I couldn’t figure out anything better to put there so I gave him all the eye imagery I couldn’t give Keralis on account of him being,,, naked.

The really fun part about his design though,,, is his big-ass anime sword! If you can’t tell I was heavily referencing a few genshin impact weapons for this. When he’s green/yellow the eye is closed and only opens when he gets to red.

Xb! He’s a shark. And he has a bow.

I don’t have much to say of him since I was mostly just winging everything here,,, He’s a shark because I like them, he has a bow because hes good with them. the bow looks like that because I wanted it to vaguely look like the same Genshin esque bullshit that Wels’s sword does.

I did give him black eyeliner,,, I,,, can’t remember why I did that but hey it’s there.

Okay so Keralis,,, all red-life-skins, exist on a spectrum, idk what the spectrum is but for reference Skizz’s limited life skin and Rendog’s 3rd life skin are on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

While I would have loved to draw Keralis all badass and stuff,,, I knew in my heart that he would be the kind of guy to,,, you know,,, follow in the footsteps of Scar and Skizz

HOWEVER to make him a little creepy I figured I could tap into those sweet sweet eldritch horror allegations

“But Sheep!” I hear you asking, “Isn’t their base in a snowy mountain, wont he get cold.” He will, and he does. You underestimate how far he’ll go for a bit. (Also it’s a fantastic opportunity for him to steal Xb’s hoodies!)

also a bonus meme I doodled as soon as I realized... the situation

transcript since it’s my handwriting: Has to draw Keralis as a “half naked red-life” instead of a “badass red-life”

Too long, didn’t read, I’m happy for you tho or I’m sorry that happened

#Welsknight #xbcrafted #keralis #hermitcraft #hermitcraft fanart #trafficblr #ShepsHermitDesign23 #sheepfish draws #I KNOW I WAS SUPPOSED TO FINISH HERMITADAY TODAY BUT I GOT SO MUCH BRAINROT OVER THIS I HAD TO OK #wait i should probably tag this for... future sorting purposes #wanted life AU #there #btw I named the file K and his wisconsin babygirls... if you even care /j #I will definitely draw the again in the future... I already have at least one (1) silly comic idea for them :3 #also hey peep my sona in the readmore You haven't seen it yet :D #anywayz team zit up tomorrow!! #<- i say with sooo much certainty i prooooomise i'll do it i sweeear (skitters off to draw Wels and Xb in create...)

[maximwtf]

“Dragon fire memories.”

                   Thranduil x elven warrior reader

words: 1746

google docs pages: 3

warnings: description of a dragon fire scar forming, arguing, that's it I assume?

opening: you’re coming back from an adventure you went on against the rules. Thranduil has closed the kingdom so no one would be able to enter or leave. You come back with some scars, waiting to see Thranduil’s reaction to your arival.

AN// reader can be any gender! I wanted to write something for a Dragon breath scar and for the life of me I couldn’t think of anything, and this is the result :”D Did come up with something short though !

Not proof read!!

         “Dragon fire memories.”

You looked around you, while also making sure your horse was going in the right direction. The woods had begun to close in on you, making you sure of the fact that you had arrived back in mirkwood. Now all you had to do was make your way back to the entrance of the kingdom, and hopefully they would still let you in. You had left without any permission after you had heard that Thranduil was going to close up the whole place, so that no one would be able to enter nor leave the kingdom because of the threats that he had heard about outside. You didn't agree with Thranduil on most things, but especially the way he wanted to cave himself in his kingdom and leave others without help when he clearly was able to help if he just wished to do so. You had taken it as your own adventure to go and see where the orcs were going when the group of dwarfs had escaped. You thought you could have helped, but it had turned out that the thing was much bigger than you had originally imagined. 

You saw the spiderwebs that had spread even further in the forest since the last time you had been here, and your little adventure hadn’t even been that long. Did Thranduil still not understand what kind of danger was coming even his way if he just decided to distance himself from everyone? You shook your head and sighed. It wasn’t long until you’d be back and then you’d see if he had changed his mind while you had been gone.

Keeping your hand on the pommel of the sword just in case spiders were around, you rode forward. You pulled back on the reins slightly and quietly worded out ‘whoa’. The horse stopped just before the entrance. Before entering, you took a few looks around, and from what you could see you couldn’t see any guards just yet. With a hum, you took a better hold of the reins and tapped your calves on the horse’s sides, getting it to start walking forward again. After entering, it didn’t take long for the guards to spot you and start swarming around you. Refusing to get down from your horse, you tried to reason with the almost mute guards by telling them that you had to speak to Thranduil. In reality, that was one of the last things you wanted to do.

to your misfortune, you heard someone call off the guards and they listened immediately, going back in line and then to their guard posts.  You turned to look at the staircase nearest to you, seeing Thranduil walk towards you. You could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t pleased and you weren’t going to hear anything nice about your little trip.”Get off the horse and come with me.” Was all he said to you and you knew better than to start arguing with him now. You got off the horse smoothly, handing the reins to one of the guards so they could take it to the stables. 

You followed Thranduil to his throne room, and quietly waited as he got everyone out of there for a moment. You stood still as he walked in front of you and began to talk. “Do you have any idea what disobeying rules like this will cause?” His voice was stern, and his expression wasn’t giving you any ease. You chose to not answer him and let him keep talking. “Do you understand that the option of banishing you is on the table?” His voice was becoming more filled with anger, but you still stood your ground and didn’t reply. “You don’t seem to have anything against that. Running away and refusing to defend yourself.” He kept talking, only becoming more angered by your silence. “You seem like you want to get banished!” He turned his back to you as he said that. That was not what you wanted, but it was what you had expected to hear when you had left. But even though that, you were getting mad at him for talking to you like this. “I want to stay!” You barked back at him. “And I don’t understand why you refuse to help anyone even if you are capable of doing so? Do you see the image of yourself you are putting out there? Digging yourself in here like a dwarf!” You continued, stepping closer to him.

 As you ‘yelled’ at him your face began to change, the skin from your cheekbone all the way to your jawline started to form holes incarved into your face, the edges of the holes showing clear burn marks from the dragon breath that caused all this. The scar went all the way up to your left eye, half of it being burnt as well and the eye itself being a blurry mix of white with your original eye color because of that. Some parts of the scar reached your lips on the left side as well, making the left side of your lips burnt too. 

After your rant, Thranduil had turned around, prepared to make sure you wouldn’t have those opinions anymore. He wanted to make sure you knew he had his reasons for every action he made concerning his role as the king. Though that he didn’t have time to say, as he saw the scars that had formed on your face which made him pause almost completely. “What happened to you?” He asked, you firstly noting that his voice had calmed down a whole lot.You lifted your palm against your face, feeling the scar you had gotten when you met the dragon. Thranduil saw you lift up your hand,and saw the same scarring on your hand as well, most likely from you trying to protect your face with the hand. “You haven’t even had a healer look at these. You know better.” His voice got more stern again, almost as if he was mad at you for getting hurt. “Nothing you should be worried about.” You muttered before raising your gaze up to Thranduil. He could now fully see the scar on your face, see the damage it had done to you as it had once done to him as well. “I know how to take care of these on my own.” You spat back at him. He didn’t reply to you for a moment, partly because he didn’t know what to say, but also because he wasn’t sure what to do. The plan of banishing you felt too rough now that he knew about the scars you had gotten. He was aware of the pain you must have felt, since he had felt it once as well, and he still had a scar to remind him of the past.

He took a step closer to you, inspecting the scar with his gaze. “You had plenty of time to do something in order to heal this on your way back. Why didn’t you?” He asked coldly. You stared at his eyes for a moment silently. You didn’t want to tell him that he was right, and when you were coming back, you couldn’t remember almost anything you had been taught about healing, thus it seemed like the scar had just been left like this. No lie Thranduil would believe came to your mind, meaning you had to give in. “I didn’t know how.” You ended up saying quietly, still keeping your eyes on him to see his reaction that never came. “So it seems I was correct.” He hummed as a sign of a small victory for himself. “You do need to see a healer. I don’t dare to banish you from these halls when you’re like this.” He continued, putting his palm against your cheek that had the scar, though careful enough not to hurt you on accident. “You see now why I told everyone not to leave.” His voice had become calmer, you noticed, as he lifted your head up a little with his hand. You didn’t dare to say anything, and in the silence you felt the scar start to disappear and slowly your face turned back to normal, just like you had seen his face do a couple times. You saw Thranduil open his eyes, and look at you again. “Go and see a healer, I can’t help you any more than that.” He then said, nodding as a sign that you could go. You furrowed your brows slightly, in confusion as to why he decided to change his mind about the banishing. You had questions for him, but you didn’t dare to ask him. He seemed to have forgiven you in his own way.

You turned to walk away, but before you could exist you heard Thranduil speak up one last time. “Do not pull a trick like that again. You already got away from banishing once.” He hummed, then turning around to pour himself a drink. You didn’t reply, only nodded, even though you knew he couldn’t see it since he had his back turned to you. With that, you exited the throne room, walking slowly away to find a healer who could help you. You thought about asking Thranduil about healing, and by doing that you could heal the scars yourself so no one else would have to see them. Though now you didn’t dare to ask him anything. You had just dodged being banished from the whole area, and you wanted to give him room to cool down. You had known him long enough to know that even though he may have looked calm at the end of the conversation, he wasn’t. You didn’t know how he felt, but you knew he wasn’t as cool about this as he seemed. 

#lord of the rings #lotr #the hobbit #thranduil #thranduil the hobbit #thranduil lord of the rings #thranduil lotr #x reader #lord of the rings x reader #lotr x reader #the hobbit x reader #thranduil x reader #lotr thranduil #fanfic #fanfiction #lotr fanfic #lotr fanfiction #x reader fanfic #x reader fanfiction #thranduil fanfic #thranduil oropherion #thranduil oropherion x reader

[watcher-servant]

Rusted Arc dialouge lines

This took way longer than it should've, but I did it.

Side note: His 3rd Ascension is a reference to Ragna from Ragna Crimson & Guider to the eternal edge from Granblue fantasy. He is a 3 star servant coming from an event.

Also, the Witch of the Holy Night Collab is coming out for FGO, and Aoko and Soujuurou look amazing. It also applies to Alice as well, but Alice and Aoko take the cake on NPs for the event.

Summoning (pre event): Greerings, I am the rusted knight, guardian of the Ever after. What's that, a fairytale, I see so you have servants connected to stories. Well then master, what story are you trying to tell?

Summoning (post event): Well, didn't think I see you again. Glad to see you again, Master of Chaldea. Since you helped me, it makes sense I do so in return. So master what will you have this freelance knight do?

Level up 1: Oh, I felt a change, it's almost like some chains have been lifted.

Level up 2: Mastery is a journey that almost never ends. I wonder what step is this?

Level up 3: Seems I reached a new step in my journey. Don't worry I'll always be of help when you need me.

1st Ascension: This form, never thought I see this face again. I guess proper introductions are in order. My original name is Jaune Arc. Though at this point it may not mean much to anyone.

2nd ascension: Hmm no changes huh? Well that's fine, though I didn't expect to return to my 19 year old self. Though it is nice Juniper recognize me instantly.

3rd Ascension: This...what is this apperance? These scars, my hair, and yet the strangest thing is, I feel so close to my aura. I think I reached a new understanding.

4th ascension: So, this is my limit as a Pretender. It's not bad, for a time I only accepted the role as the Rusted Knight just so I can survive. Though now, I owe a lot to the original guardian, if it wasn't for them. I shudder who or what I could've become.

Battle start 1: Despite the apperance, I'm tougher than you think?

Battle start 2: Now then what plan, would work on them?

Battle start 3: Which would you prefer, sword, fist, kick or a headbutt from a stampeding animal?

Battle start 4: Let's see what I can create?

Skill 1: *drinks from a cup* Thank you *hands it to a genial gem*

Skill 2: Think you can get past my shield?

Skill 3: Focus...*Quick burst of aura*

Skill 4: Gotta remember the basics.

Attack select 1: Got it

Attack select 2: Understood

Attack select: Grit your teeth

Noble phantasm select 1: As my decree of the rusted knight

Noble phantasm select 2: So shall we hear a quick tale?

Noble phantasm select 3: Looks like we reached a crucial point.

Noble phantasm select 4: A new chapter is about to begin

Extra attack 1: Go Juniper!

Extra attack 2: Get ready to fly

Extra attack 3: I'll mow you down

Extra attack 4: Now fall!

Noble phantasm 1: After all the leasons she learned, and the friends she made and lost. Who has she become? The leaves in the tress rustle on the wind. There was one question. Who are you? [Ever After]!

Noble Phantasm 2: I hope your next journey is more kind to you. [Ever After]

Noble phantasm 3: Everyone one is in place don't worry I'll patch you right up. [Aura Amp]

Noble phantasm 4: I got your back just leave the defense to me. [Aura Amp]

Damage from phantasm: I won't fall not yet!

Defeated 1: So...this is where my journey ends

Defeated 2: Finally I can rest...I leave the rest to you.

Battle finish 1: Looks like we made it.

Battle finish 2: *Sigh* that took more than I thought

Battle finish 3: Just like that job is done.

Bond lv 1: Oh is there something you need master. Or did you come to pet Juniper?

Bond lv 2: Despite me bearing this title, there was another knight in the Ever After. The best way to describe them would be...my mentor

Bond lv 3: Won't lie I feel really out of place here. There's so many heroes around...if I was my child self. I know he would ask for a autograph...or to train them.

Bond lv 4: What? Surprised I can play guitar? I'll be honest it's been so long I didn't think I could. Guess the muscle memory remained after so long

Bond lv 5: Didn't think I reached a place Ike this. I won't lie I'm surprised I was actually summoned as a servant. Trust when I say I wasn't anyone worth remembering...though most likely it was my connection to my mentor that I ever reached here. To be honest there's probably more deserving from my world that should be here...yet here I am.

Dialogue 1: Oh hello master, you mind helping me brush Juniper? Trying to get some of this loose fur.

Dialogue 2: The master servant contract. To think you manage to hold so many, I think that speaks volumes to kind of person you are.

Dialogue 3: To think I can use and mold my aura like this. The possibilities I can do...let's try test them out master.

Dialogue 4 (Child servants): Hmm what's that? You wanna ride Juniper, I don't mind and pretty sure she doesn't mind either. You guys gotta take turns though at least 2 at a time.

Dialogue 5 (Jeanne D' Arc): Hmm there's something about her...that just makes me feel odd. It doesn't help she looks like one of my sisters. Plus her name as well...an ancestor maybe. Huh? Oh uh...it's nothing.

Dialouge 6 (Jeanne Alter): Oh its...wait somethings off. Jeanne Alter? Hmm so there are servants with counterparts. Something tells me she's really caring, despite her attitude.

Dialogue 7 (Voyager): Hmm to think I meet the original Voyager servant. So far there's only 2 of us, but I think we found good company in our current classes. Seems even Juniper took a liking to you.

Dialogue 8 (Deck of heroes reference): It's strange, I swear it was my first time fighting along side them. Yet I could feel I can trust them. A lingering trust...can't be right.

Dialogue 9 (Tamamo no Mae): Hmm, Hmm huh oh Tamamo no mae right? No, it's uh, it's nothing. No, wait, what are you? HEY!?! OH ohhhhhh

Dialogue 10 (Oberon): Fairy King Oberon or Vortigern? Either way, you wouldn't be the first liar I've been around. As you're the first pretender I'll give respect, but that doesn't mean I'll fall for your lies. Dealing with a certain cat was more than enough

Dialogue 11 (Hephaestion): Pyr...no sorry about that. You reminded me of a old comrade from long ago. It's nice to meet you Hephaestion...quick question you mind a spar?

Dialogue 12 (Tlaloc): Wait you embody a city? That's pretty cool...though a part of me is worried if the Ever After takes a servant form. No wait...the blacksmith is the closest I can think of.

Dialouge 13 (Alessandro): The grand scam artist. I'm not interested in any of your tricks

Dialouge 14 (Lady Avalon): Hmm..Lady Avalon? It's a pleasure to meet you though and if you don't mind me asking...what is Avalon like?

Dialouge 15 (Mordred): Oh its you Mordred, something you need? A sparring partner...alright then.

Dialogue 16 (Atalanta or Atalanta Alter): Oh Atalanta, I believe it's my day to watch over the kids. Don't worry me and Juniper will watch them.

Dialogue 17 (Diarmuid): Seems that curse of yours is still causing you trouble? If you want I think we can seal it for a moment. Oh it seems that's that needed. I wonder how different you fight with swords

Dialogue 18 (Medusa): Hmm, think Pegasus and Juniper might get along. I think they would and it seems she likes you as well.

Dialogue 19 (Medea): I think I see why you were hesitant with me for a while. Jason is...a bit of work. Though something tells me there's more to him

Dialogue 20 (Emiya assassin): Kiritsugu...it took some time but it looks like you find some light again. Even got a family as well.

Dialogue 21 (Frankenstein): Oh hello Fran, is there something you need. Alright I don't mind you tying my hair...no full bows though.

Dialogue 22 ( Edmond Dantes or Count of MC): It's good to see you again Lord Count. I can tell despite the change of scenery your act of guardian is still strong. If you don't mind, I want to have a chat when you have the time.

Something you like: Hmm good question, beside Juniper being on this list. I do enjoy a nice meal with people and maybe be it around campfire. That is a idea though, a nice camping trip.

Something you hate: The merciless pursuit of power...getting innocent folks involved and hurt in the exploits. Another I can't forgive...is a fallen maiden, who doesn't deserve any mercy.

About the holy grail: If I was younger I would've made a wish with the Grail. Though with my experience now...there's always a cost when using such powers.

During an Event: Sounds like something big is going on. Wanna go see what's that about?

Birthday: Your birthday? Have you already told somebody it's today? Know what, follow me. I think it's time to show how fast Juniper can run.

#rwby #jaune arc #fate servants #fate grand order #crossover au #rusted knight #Pretender servant #the rusted knight

[sarawritestories]

1000 Followers WIP Part 2

For the Second Part of Sharing some of my original work Along with a fun little Mood Board. This is My Original Pirate Story that I'm working on. You can find it below the cut

Allow me to introduce Alana Carter and Captain Zayn Cinderhell

The vibrant colors of the waterfall, a stark difference from where we went a week before. Letting the sun kiss my skin and hearing the insects and birds flying. "It's beautiful," I whispered as Zayn approached.

A loud thud drew my attention away from the sun to Zayn who had removed his sword from his hip. His shirt was the next thing he discarded. Scars of various sizes faded white, a distinct contrast to his sun kissed skin. My eyes raked over his muscled body, he pulled the tie from his hair the black locks, covering the sliver of gray on the sides. I turned to look back out at the water.

"Treasure?" Zayn questioned his deep voice like a siren call to me. I took a deep breath as I could hear him approach.

Taking off my boots I stepped into the lake letting the cold water hit my calves. Closing my eyes I listened for his footsteps, the warmth of his body heat cocooned me, the smell of ocean breeze and jasmine overwhelm my senses. I opened my eyes to find my hands hovering over my waist, "May I?"

I nodded my head words drying up in my throat. The small breeze kissing my mid drift as Zayn bunched my shirt slowly lifting up past my stomach my arms creating a barrier. "Lift up your arms, Alana." his voice not that of a captain but something more.

Uncrossing my arms and raising them above my head. With ease he hoisted the tunic off my body and tossed it aside. The warmth of his body near mine made me self-conscious covering my bare chest and my exposed stomach. Aware that my body carried more weight than the athletic build of his.

I closed my eyes as his hands traced my arms grasping lightly on my wrists pulling them away from my body as his lips touched the crux of my ear, "Don't hide from me, Treasure." His lips brushing my cheek, with a sharp intake of breath I laid my head on his shoulder, my eyes fluttering shut.

His hands intertwined with mine as he began to trail our hands traced every curve, and stretch mark. "Let me tell you something," His lips moved down to my neck, pressing featherlight kisses down to my shoulder. "Every scar, every stretch mark, and every curve, tells a story." he paused as our hands reached my hips and above my stomach. He pulled me flush against his chest, "Your story." I opened my eyes and met his gaze. His green eyes glanced down at my lips and back up at me.

He pulled away and released my hands the warmth instantly vanishing from my body. I turned slowly to face him, forcing my hands to stay at my sides. His lips turned upward has he looked me from head to toe, "A beautiful story it tells, Alana. Don't ever feel like you have to hide it, especially from me." His grin fell into a tight line causing my spine to straighten.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he leaned in, thumb grazing my cheeks wiping away stray tears I didn't know had fallen.

"I did not mean to make you upset," Zayn let his hand linger on my cheek.

I shook my head leaning into his hand, "you didn't," taking that same hand from face and gave him a smile, "just never had anyone say such lovely things about my body. Thank you, Zayn." I kissed his knuckles, "I almost miss when we spent most of our time arguing."

Zayn laughed and the sound was beautiful and the sound was whimsical and light, "I'm sure we will find many more things to argue about." He glanced at my lips once more.

"Zayn?" My voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes?"

"Kiss me."

He cupped my face in his callous hands, "With pleasure," He crashed his lips against mine.

#aspiring author #wip #original character #original story #my novel #novel idea #pirates #pirate romance

[eego0]

You know I love hearing your opinions on MCD stuff.

Thoughts on Shad?

Correlations between Shad/Irene and their relationship vs Aphmau/Aaron?

Opinions on Shad and his relationship with his daughter Alina?

Conflicts in Aaron over his past family (Lily and Jacob, I believe?) and his relationship with Aphmau?

This one is for a potential future fic, depending on the opinions of the rest of aphblr on my most recent poll: If Aaron ever asked Aphmau to marry him in MCD, would the stone in the ring be red or light lavender?

Sorry to ambush you with all these questions, but I couldn't help it. Take whatever time you need to answer <3

1. FUckkkkk Shad is SUCH a good character. Like he’s THE embodiment of a villain. Hero gone bad. And as much as I hate how he used Aaron’s body not only for a physical form but for his voice to manipulate Aphmau, it was brilliant and it added to how fucked he is. He’s like a top 5 favorite Aphmau character for me.

2. The characters having these powerful past lives and becoming powerful reincarnations is interesting in of itself, but even more interesting when you see how similar they act and their similar storylines. (How much do we want to bet that Irene also woke up in the middle of nowhere and suddenly had a conscious? Or would that be pushing the bounds of this time loop too far.). Irene makes a playful atmosphere when battling with Shad. Aphmau and Aaron’s relationship is serious to the naked eye but has an underlying playfulness, if that makes sense. Irene and Aphmau are both nonchalant, playful, extroverted, but most importantly, willing to help anyone who needs it even at the expense of their own mental and physical health. With Shad and Aaron, they both face a situation that leaves them scarred, distrusting, and angry. They solve everything by making others feel similar hurt, or as Aaron says, he solved everything with his sword. The difference is that Aaron found someone to make him a gentle and full being again, but Shad stayed consumed by his rage and continued to hurt others. Aaron changed, Shad got worse.

3. I honestly don’t know. Everyone seems to believe that Shad had a deep love for his daughter, showing when Irene turned her into a relic, but not only do we not really know anything about WHY she was turned into a relic, I just can’t place my finger on why Shad seemed so upset. “That’s his daughter too!” Is the argument but in mcd, Shad only focused on Alina being the keeper of his relic. He actually dehumanized her so much that he called her “my relic”. The only times he called her Alina was when he was attempting to manipulate Aphmau into telling him when Alina was. Maybe he could understand that Alina meant something to Aphmau in a way that didn’t connect to her holding a relic, but I don’t really think he cared about her in any other way. This is a controversial topic in the Aphmau community tho and I haven’t watched in awhile so feel free to educate me if you know more

4. There doesn’t seem to be much conflict about Aaron’s past family besides confronting his grief and allowing himself to love again. I would say that maybe Aphmau felt like she was competing against Lily for Aaron’s love but Aphmau was more mature than that. Aaron loved Aphmau separately from his late wife. Aaron loved Lilith separately from Jacob, so any conflict was likely internal.

5. OKAY. THIS QUESTION. I LOVE POTENTIAL FANFIC QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT GIVES ME INSPIRATION OF MY OWN <333 So personally I think he’d give Aphmau a light lavender ring. He knows she’d love the color and she’d love to wear it. I was originally going to say red so that she could always have a reminder of him with her but theres nothing more telling of the love someone has for their partner than picking a special accessory out in their favorite color. BONUS PIECE THO, a garnet ring to say “Lilith Garnet brought us together in a way no other situation or person could’ve”

TYSM FOR ALL OF THE QUESTIONS MWAH MWAH MWAH! I HOPE MY ANSWERS WERE HELPFUL! I’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SAME QUESTIONS AS WELL!

#minecraft diaries #aphmau #mcd aphmau #mcd #aphblr #aphmau mcd #mcd aaron #mystreet #aarmau

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Is it ok to ask your opinion about concepts for Twst? Like for example Royal Sword Academy Dorms? Assuming they are based off the Disney Protagonist opposite of the Great Seven. What would each dorm represent?

I don’t mind if anyone wants to hear my thoughts on anything TWST. It’d be a fun way to fill up space between writing, especially since I don’t have the same amount of free time as I used to dedicate to doing full pieces.

These are my ideas for RSA’s Great Seven equivalents (assuming that they borrow from the same Disney properties as NRC’s G7):

Girl from Another World (Alice) — Pragmatism

“It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”

Despite being thrusted from her world into a realm of nonsense, the Girl continuously attempted to inject logic to explain the strange phenomena around her. Her pragmatism sought her through to the very end, and to her eventual escape.

King of Beasts I know that’s technically the same title as Scar but just run with it for now 😂 (Mufasa?? Simba??)— Courage

“I’m only brave when I have to be. Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.”

The King maintained the delicate balance of life, protecting his people and his land from forces that may threaten to tear it down. Demonstrating great courage in battle, he gave his own life to save his one and only son.

If Simba instead of Mufasa: The King fled from his duties at a young age, burdened by a heavy past. He returned when his people needed him most and reclaimed the Pridelands, ushering the savanna into a bright and prosperous future.

Mermaid Princess (Ariel) — Curiousity

“Look at this trove, treasures untold! How many wonders can one cavern hold?”

Not satisfied with life under the sea, the Mermaid Princess collected trinkets and tokens from the world above. Driven by curiosity and a lust for learning, she would trade her voice for legs to explore that mysterious new realm.

Diamond in the Rough (Aladdin) — Wit (or Honesty??)

“They’re quick, but I’m much faster.”

A low-born street rat, he used his sharp wits and resourcefulness to survive. The Diamond would later charm his way to the castle, outsmarting the various advisors of the Sultan and winning the hand of a princess.

If Honesty is the dorm virtue: The Diamond pretended to be a prince to capture a princess’s heart. He would come to learn the error of his ways, confessing his true origins as a low-born street rat without a coin to his name. His heart held its weight in gold, making him a prince in spirit.

Runaway Princess (Snow White) — Kindness

“Come on, perk up. Won’t you smile for me?”

Chased out of her home and revoked of her right to the throne, the Runaway Princess remained sweet in spite of it all. She took refuge in the forest and found new friends, continuing to return even the most vitriolic of word and actions with only kindness.

Demigod in the Stars (Hercules) — Determination

“I can go the distance.”

A celestial being born into the human realm, he became a hero through his own merits. With great physical strength and even greater strength of character, the Demigod ventured into the Underworld and defied death itself.

Slumbering Beauty (Aurora) — Hope

"They say if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true."

She often dreamt of the day of her destiny, unsure of when or how it would arrive to her. Even when a sleeping curse consumed her, the Beauty held on to the hope that her dreams would come true.

A better tomorrow awaits.

*insert NRC boys gagging about the virtues promoted at RSA here*

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #RSA #twst theories #twisted wonderland theories #twst theory #twisted wonderland theory #notes from the writing raven #admittedly I haven’t watched Sleeping Beauty so I totallt bullshitted that one 😂

[3mutantsinatrenchcoat]

It takes a village to raise a family part 6

Part 5 , part 7

The amazing rural au is by @angelpuns

These next few parts will be from the exact same day starting at dawn to dusk, if it's formatted wonky I had to segment the original because it reached the word limit

Uhhh content warning! For a brief few paragraphs about the battlefield of war from the perspective of someone who has never seen one before!

There is barely any Splinter/Yoshi in this because like I said it was originally all in one piece so I'm sorryyyyy,

It had been years since I met a tired scarred human. We started as strangers, to neighbors..then to what I would like to say friends and family. Though I'm not completely sure how he sees it.

... however, today would be much different than the rest.

I remember I dreamt I was standing in a field, the skys a shade of orange and green, smoke all around. The ground was covered in trash and trees in splinters and bits.

I remember hearing loud noises, I couldn't describe it but every sound that was made buried fear into the pit of my stomach. I could hear people screaming all around, shouts of anger, of pain, of mourning, names screamed out in desperation.

The air smelt burnt, like the air itself was dying, looking around did nothing. That was until I turned to face my friend, Splinter. Dressed in clothes I've never seen him wear, holding something I've never seen before. It was made of wood, but not like any branch I ever seen. He held it with two hands, holding it forward with a look I never seen in his eyes.

It was as if everything went silent, then there was the whistle and a rock fell at my feet. I only had enough time to look down at it before the rock split into many pieces, as if a dramatic child who fell just realized he scrapped his knee.

I remember how bright it was when I shot up out of my sleep, I remember the burning in my throat before my husband slid into the room, dressed up in a button up, sleeves rolled just how I liked them, and those damned pants he hated so much. I remember seeing the look in his eyes as he cupped my face, asking or begging if I was hurt.

"i-im...I'm okay-..I'm okay-" when I blinked I could feel the tears rolling down my face, touching them with my hands and only then did I realize what i was doing.

"was it another one of those spells?.." his thumbs wiped the tears from my eyes, his hands were warm. "It's been a while since you had one of those..."

I shook my head, looking at him and I could tell there was fear in his eyes. He knew it was a bad one.

"you are not a bad omen dear..you were given a gift..." His voice was soft and soothing, the way his hands ran up the back of my head, I could feel the cracks and calluses in his fingers.

"you know they are never shown to me unless they are bad..." My voice was no louder than a whisper, but I could tell it stung him not a bit duller than a sharpened sword.

"what about the time with the harvest festival? That one wasn't bad" he was trying to make me feel better, but he never knows the truth of how bad it truly is.

"why are you wearing those pants-" I couldn't help but laugh when i asked, he couldn't help but laugh as well. "You hate those pants-" I gave him a smile, he didn't seem to press any further.

To my surprise he made breakfast, I slept in. He made my favorite, two eggs, runny, over rice. It was something quick and easy to make, especially since prices have gone up it was also decently cheap.

He poured the milk, pulled out my chair, sat across our small wooden table.

He reached across and held my hand, flinching when a splinter snagged his arm. He was never the best in wooden craft, but he was decent in others. Our table was washed up drift wood that splinter helped me drag home.

After we ate we left to the porch, we couldn't afford the market stall this week so I settled on my rocking chair with a batch of fabric and a needle and got to work. Meanwhile my husband was cutting up wood for the fire tonight, every chance he got he tried to show off how big and strong he was, and I tried to pretend to ignore him, but that smile on his face always made me feel all warm inside.

He retired his work after he whistled in my direction and showed off the muscle in one of his arms, putting a hand on the log, only the log slipped under the weight and he went down with it.

"you are such a dork" I smiled as he walked up the steps, his shoulders slumped as he rubbed his face, grabbing the scruff of his chin I left him a kiss on the bruise. "All better?"

He smiled the same way he did when he tried to ask for my hand the first time we met, a smile with all his teeth, one ear flopped to the side and the other sticking straight up.

I held up the fabric, placing it in his hand. "I made you something" I couldn't help but squeak in excitement. There is something about loving someone for as long as we have, that you would think the spark would die down but it never did. The feeling of excitement giving him gifts knowing his reaction was one of pure joy..that never goes away.

He unfolded it, as careful as he could as if it was glass. "You finished it?" He whipped his head up, clasping the fabric around his neck and over his shoulders.

"well, since you are gone for so long every day I figured you would need a new cloak...to keep you warm" I pulled at my fingers as nervously as I could, though I knew he would love it there was always that voice.

He smiled wider if that was even possible and scooped me out the chair, swinging us around as if we were dancing. "I will cherish it forever! There won't be a single tear! Not a speck of dirt!" And when the spinning ended, it ended with a kiss.

By lunch we sat on the couch, him reading a book while I varnished his leather gloves and his knife holster. It needed to be cleaned. His legs ended up in my lap and before long I ended up in his, using his stomach as my working table while he layed on the couch.

He was never a fan of the shirt anyway, but he still pouted when some of it got on his shirt, giving me a pout that the only remedy being a kiss on the nose.

"don't forget we have dinner over at Splinter's tonight" he spoke, closing the book slightly. I stopped what I was doing, the process only took a few seconds before I looked up at him "is that why you wore those pants?"

He burst into laughter, I could only join. His laugh was infectious, and one I would never want to let go.

#rise au #rottmnt rural au #rural au #ruralau #grandpa flint #cw war mention #tw war mention #it takes a village to raise a family

[atherix]

👀

(yes it me purp anon)

Hi Purp Anon!

So you get something from the ORIGINAL Midnight document <3

It's not the full scene because it's part MAJOR spoilers and part completely obsolete so <3 but here's a section of the scene. It had taken place about halfway through the original document so it is way in the past now lol

--

Grian had so hoped the Purists would have left well enough alone.

Of course, he figures he should have known. Reports came in every other week of Vampires; ashes found scattered across the floors of their homes, their companions- Natural and Supernatural alike- lying dead around them.

Tensions are rising, yet even through it all Grian had dared to hope after they fought him and almost killed Scar they would have left Mumbo well enough alone.

Purist Covens are being busted every other day, it feels like, but there seems to always be more, which Mumbo doesn’t seem surprised about. 

Yet here we are, Grian thinks, the holy bow thrumming with magic that he’d almost forgotten the feel of, with how quiet the Purists hanging around Boatem have been.

He knows they’ve probably reorganized. They’ve probably prepared. 

But this time it’s just him and Mumbo, no Scar, and Grian has no intention of calling the Sorcerer-Elf in to face the same Vampire who put a poisoned knife four inches into his chest.

Blondie is smirking from where she stands, silver curls blowing in the wind. Lightning flashes over the sea. It’s the middle of the day and the clouds are dark enough that Grian can barely see, an artificial night without the illusion of stars casting light over them. The sea is crashing on the shore, the waves larger than Grian has seen in the nearly two years he’s now lived in Boatem. Rain pours down in random spurts, almost sideways in the incredible gusts.

“A storm is coming off the sea,” he remembers Scar telling them just a few days ago when he called. “Be careful. Hurricanes don’t usually hit this far north but when they do, they’re bad.”

Grian blinks the water out of his eyes. He’s grounded by the water in his wings.

We aren’t even supposed to be out here, Grian thinks miserably. Because they weren’t. They had heard a commotion, they let their guard down and came out, worried that someone might have been caught outside during the storm. They had stepped off the porch to call out and now they are surrounded, blocked off from the manor, and Grian only has his bow- his bow, useless in wind this strong. 

We should have left Boatem like everyone else.

Grian didn’t know better. He’s never been in the middle of a hurricane before, and Mumbo has never seen one this bad hit Boatem before. The wooden houses at the base of the mountain are creaking in the wind, unsecured shutters flapping wildly. Windows are boarded up and everyone had evacuated when the black clouds were on the horizon.

Water plasters Grian’s hair to his forehead and cheeks and neck. Mumbo, standing right next to him, isn’t faring much better with his longer locks.

“Well well well,” Blondie cackles and Grian is almost jealous of how she seems completely unaffected by the water, as if a barrier surrounds and protects her from the icy drops.

(Literally icy- Grian realizes there’s hail mixed in with the rain, no larger than a Human’s pinkie-nail. He tightens his own talons around his bow, but he knows it’s useless. He left his sword on the table, the dagger in his personal room.)

“Looks like we caught you at a bad time,” Blondie says smugly. “With your ‘Sorcerer’ out of the way, I suppose this will be much easier.”

“Oh please, I killed every Vampire that came close to me, without help,” Grian scoffs, glaring at Blondie.

She leers. “Right. With a blade. But now we’re in the winds of a hurricane and all you have is a bow- and you can’t fly... Birdie.”

Grian snarls and starts forward but Mumbo catches his arm, stopping him before he can make a stupid mistake. “Keep your head,” Mumbo hisses, too quiet for the Vampires to hear over the wind. “Stay sharp.”

A Vampire to their right leaps forward and Mumbo whirls around, his form twisting with the shadows bending to his will, and when he slashes a dagger Grian hadn’t realized he was holding the Vampire falls, dust before it hits the ground.

“What’s that?!” Grian yelps, eyes trained on the blade. It’s not the one Grian bought at the festival.

The hilt is pure black.

The blade is silver and chiseled with runes that Grian has become very familiar with, but that’s not my dagger.

(Where did Mumbo, a literal Vampire, get a holy dagger of his own?)

“Watch out!” Mumbo calls and Grian jerks back. Claws swipe the air where his face had been seconds before and Grian strikes, swinging forward with the silver arrow in his hand.

It tears through something and Grian can feel blood splatter on his arm before being washed away in the torrential rain. The Vampire shrieks but he knows it’s not dead- it was a glancing blow, painful but not lethal.

He practically dances out of the way as another of the horde strikes. Shadows are rising up around them and Grian doesn’t notice until it’s pushing him out of the way of another Vampire that he didn’t see that the shadows are taking physical forms.

They lash out and Grian moves, counting the seconds between the gusts of wind and the downpour of rain and hail. He can feel it.

His wings are drenched and cold. His clothes are sticking to him unpleasantly and his hair is in his eyes. He can barely make out Mumbo, fighting Vampires that Grian knows are stronger than him- stronger, because Mumbo used to be Human and these Vampires, these truly ancient Vampires, never have been. 

Even still, Grian knows they can’t give up.

Why do they want to kill Mumbo so badly?

This has to be deeper than Mumbo being a Turned, he thinks. Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe they really are just that twisted, twisted enough that anyone less than purely Vampire needs to be destroyed.

(He wonders if such attacks are taking place all over the continent.)

Something rips across his chest- claws, he thinks, the sweater taking the brunt of the attack. Blood beads from the shallow cuts left under the tears in his shirt but it’s washed away in the rain, cold and stinging against the open wound. He breathes in sharply- coughs, as water lodges in his throat- and darts away, through the rain.

He jumps up onto the stone wall lining the walkway and whirls around, eyes searching the battle.

Lightning flashes bright and for a moment he can see everything.

He raises his bow, counts the gusts, keeps track of Mumbo, waits for the next flash of lightning-

The arrow flies in the light, a moment between gusts, and the wind pulls it straight towards Grian’s mark. 

(When Grian aims his bow, he doesn’t miss.)

Blondie sees the arrow coming and, without even a second thought, faster than Grian could even keep track of she moves and the arrow embeds itself into the back of the Vampire who was behind her.

It shrieks as the arrow begins to burn it and it turns to dust, washed away by the rain before Grian can even curse.

And then Blondie is in front of him, a manic smile on her face and her hand raised up high, claws sharper than Grian’s own talons, and Mumbo cries out his name as the demon in front of Grian brings her claws down faster than Grian could ever hope to move.

The world slows down.

(It doesn’t. He thinks it does. He feels like he can see everything that’s ever happened.)

He expects the sound of claws ripping flesh, for pain to burst forth for a split second before his life ends in a bloody, gruesome mess on the manor’s front lawn.

A light shimmers blue. Claws hit a solid wall.

Blondie shrieks. Har claws shatter and she’s blasted backwards.

Grian stares at the barrier- it casts a light over the battlefield. Mumbo is running for Grian, eyes wide and afraid, and what’s left of Blondie’s horde- just a handful, now, between Grian’s lucky wild swings and Mumbo’s shadows- runs to her aid.

Mumbo is bleeding, Grian notices. He’s bleeding, too, but that matters so much less-

Barrier.

He looks around wildly, seeking out any sign of Scar- but no, he realizes, it can’t be Scar, Scar’s magic is gold, not blue, Grian doesn’t know who has blue magic-

#ask #ask game #Midnight Series #spoilers #<- but less so than the last one #this was relatively early in the story- like before the mumscarian was established #and is mostly obsolete now #but! I still enjoy it #so here ya go <3

[omgkalyppso]

is it obnoxious to ask for all answers at once for étoile?

It isn't obnoxious for you to ask at all! But it's obnoxious for me to answer! Everyone's just going to have to cope! akjsdfjkahsdf Thank you for the ask!

1.Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision?

Étoile Ienith (they/he) was a Devotion Paladin for all of Act 1. In Act 2 at level 8 they became an Oathbreaker Paladin. They're a high elf who was adopted by a drow and a human werewolf in the Earthfast Mountains at 4 years old. If their birth parent(s) were from somewhere else before then, they don't remember, and it isn't really relevant to them. They aren't a Dark Urge at the moment, but when I play a Dark Urge oc next, then I might incorporate pieces or the whole thing into my headcanons for them.

It was an easy decision. I've had early access for almost the full three years and even before Paladin was an option (played as a Fighter) I knew that's what Étoile was going to be. I wondered for ages whether they'd be able to Lay On Hands heal Astarion or if they'd hurt him: in tabletop d&d healing magic like this deals damage to Undead which Vampires are considered.

Being the shield of people, especially in honor of / the same style as their mother (my sword and shield skyrim dragonborn oc Wylla), is baked into Étoile's personality. The mystery of the daedric prince Azura was part of the Neutral aspects of their personality. Étoile was meant to be Neutral Good, but by Act 3, they're not quite who they were at the beginning of their journey and I love that for them.

2. Was there something about the character creator that just couldn't capture your Character? Please tell us about their hair, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, disabilities, their trans or intersex body, or anything else you're comfortable sharing.

While I wanted Étoile to have the face and musculature that they do from the masc body options, I do picture them as having breasts / not having a lot of physical transitioning (?) going on. Their presentation should be mostly in attire. Scars from blades and arrows or armor bent into them would be cool too.

Also no one's called me out on it but I fucking forgot (tbh I couldn't find it in the cc when I was making Étoile in full release) to add their rose tattoo to their neck. It's still there imo. If it were there, it would be inaccurate in that I'd want it to be in "full color" with a red rose and green leaves.

4. Do you remember in which order you recruited your companions? Which companion introduction would have felt the most familiar / like home to your Tav / Character?

Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Lae'zel, Karlach. I recruited Lae'zel before Wyll in all my early access playthroughs but I ... couldn't find her, lol.

I included this question because I wanted to hear about people's oc's who were used to a mugging (Astarion) vs those who were magical nerds (Gale) and so on. Étoile gets Wyll for this question. More accustomed to a battlefield and Aradin's betrayal in an adventure.

6. Were you able to save everyone when the goblins stormed the gates at the Grove?

No! I didn't care that one of Aradin's companions died though. Étoile would have felt bad for being unable to save them, but. Things happen.

7. Did you enter the Grove?

Yes. uwu

8. Do you have a favorite member of the Druid Circle? Is it the same as your Character's?

Are we counting Halsin? akjsdfhkadjs I know I didn't mean to.

Rath. A voice of reason that comes too late and too weak to have merit.

Étoile probably likes Nettie more, as she proved more competent.

10. Do you have a favorite member of the Goblin Camp? Is it the same as your Character's?

Maybe one day my favorite will be Minthara. For the moment, my favorite is a goblin who's name I can't even recall. The one with his new jeans / blue pants.

Étoile probably had the best experience with Grat the Trader.

11. Do you have a favorite member of the Act 1 Githyanki? Is it the same as your Character's?

My favorite is the one who has the most characterization: Kith'rak Voss. I thought he might end up being one of the Three: the armored elf, and that we wouldn't recognize a githyanki in a vision. He's still interesting to me.

At the end of Act 1, Étoile wouldn't really have been able to pick a githyanki ally outside of Lae'zel; nor a favored enemy, lol.

12. Do you have a favorite member of the Zhentarim? Is it the same as your Character's?

Rugan. He reminds me of the opening of 5e campaign The Storm King's Thunder.

I suppose Étoile would like him too, he was cordial.

13. Do you have a favorite character from the Underdark? Is it the same as your Character's?

I don't know that I can pick a favorite. I really liked both Sovereign Spaw and Sovereign Glut. They added depth (haha) and intrigue in an unexpected way.

Étoile had the most positive interactions with Blurg. They appreciated the way Blurg was trying to live, the allies he was entertaining, and took advantage of his sales.

14. Do you have another NPC you loved from a faction not mentioned above? What about your Character?

I wish we could have saved / allied with Dhourn! At least for a little while if he insisted on fighting at the Adamantine Forge. But it would have been cool to see him to his goal.

Étoile probably wouldn't have had very strong feelings about characters not from the factions listed above, but I'll mention that while Étoile would have felt a smidge of guilt overhearing the conversation between Lunkbug and Beldron but even before Lunkbug confirmed in conversation that they were married that their dynamic was just So sweet and loving that Étoile was endeared to them and would have presumed they were together.

15. How did the situation with the Grove, the Tieflings and the Goblins turn out for your Character?

Étoile felt that the grove should have removed Kagha as soon as the Shadow Druid plot was revealed, and they felt vindicated by Halsin's decision, to demote her to the role of apprentice, when the time came. They made their way into the Goblin Camp with lies of being hired for work, and then made their entrance from the crumbling wall at the top of the Shattered Sanctum, killing only a few goblins at the exterior, and only those between them and their goals inside: the ones torturing Liam, the ones outside of Halsin's cage, and those who defended the goblin leaders.

They felt allied to the Tieflings through association with Wyll and Karlach, and were generally fair in their dealings with them. They did allow Lae'zel to be mean / threatening, with the excuse of cultural differences and the presumption that she wasn't actually going to hurt anyone. The Tieflings seemed no worse for wear by the evening of their party.

16. Did you save Halsin?

Yes. In early access years ago I remember what a surprise and delight his appearance was. He's wonderful.

17. What does your Character think of Withers?

When they met Withers, they would have assumed him an overzealous man who sought immortality for the answers to life's most puzzling questions, hoping that some day they would be common knowledge. The more time they spend with him, Étoile is less certain of his origin.

18. How did your Character deal with Wyll, Karlach and Mizora?

Étoile convinced Wyll to stand down. They worried Mizora was going to kill Wyll as soon as she arrived, and felt sorrow about the tortures he went through in the blink of an eye, but felt worse when Karlach said no one had ever stood up for her like that before.

19. Did your Character spend a night with a companion either the night of the party or earlier? Is it someone they have a continued interest in?

Étoile spent the night with Astarion. They've been fond of him at least since he came around stumbling for blood. Yes, they have a continued interest in him.

20. How did you deal with The Artist - Oskar Fevras? Did you even encounter him?

Étoile both bought him out of slavery and gave him some gold to go on his way. I also took control of Astarion to ask about a portrait; not quite a mirror image, but hopefully appeasing. I am looking forward to finding Oskar in Baldur's Gate.

21. What are your Character's thoughts on the strange artifact that was in Shadowheart's possession? Did it jump to your pack because you changed her out of your party?

Étoile is a little unsettled by the artifact having emotions in Act 1. They wonder if they wouldn't have felt more secure if it had just been a cursed object and not, feeling. It did jump to their pack and they went and told Shadowheart almost instantly. Her understanding was unexpected.

22. How did your Character resolve the situation with Sovereign Glut, if you met them?

Étoile helped Sovereign Glut get their vengeance, but then wouldn't turn on Sovereign Spaw. If there could be only one Sovereign, then it would the Sovereign who believed there could be more than one Sovereign, and who Étoile hadn't interpret as weak or inept by their actions or how they defended their people.

23. What are your Character's thoughts on the dream visitor?

They're so conflicted in Act 1. I designed their Guardian to look like a version of their god, Auril. And Étoile would be entranced by such a person, would be driven to believe them, which only makes them more suspicious.

24. Was your illithid tadpole empowered by anything in Act 1? If so, how does your Character feel about that?

At the end of patch 4 early access, I had Étoile run around and do a bunch of things I didn't expect they'd do in full release, like take Ethel's deal, or allow Omeluum to mess with the tadpole; but I was so fascinated by what happened with Omeluum that I was tempted to do it in full release anyway, an unhappy accident. I was worried having no access to the tadpole's potential might hinder Étoile in late-game. However, in full release I accidentally used the mushrooms Omeluum needed while crafting, lol. So no, I stood by my initial plans and didn't empower Étoile's tadpole.

25. Did your Character take the mountain pass?

Étoile actually paced back and did the mountain pass in Act 2. They'd done nearly everything in Act 2, but when Lae'zel said she'd leave the party if we didn't go the the Githyanki Creche Right Now, I looked up some stuff online and found there was no consequence to doing so. So we went and did that then and then continued on with the Act 2 material.

26. What was your favorite enemy? Did your Character have any memorable fights or moments in combat that were ripe for headcanons and interpretation?

I love tactical rpg's. I love big fights that take an hour when I can beat them, lol. My favorite fights in Act 1 were True Soul Gut, the Githyanki on the Risen Road, the duergar of Grymforge, and Nere. I even considered reloading my save at the Windmill when I succeeded on an intimidation roll because I'd remembered really enjoying that fight in early access.

I guess my favorite enemy might still be Dror Ragzlin, but he wasn't as hard for my party to beat / he didn't have enough high healthbar mini-bosses around him to make him a favorite fight. But narratively? The lead up to him with the crash of the nautiloid, Volo's song, and at least three quest markers to defeat him, the way he called upon the unexpected illithid corpse, and his spectacular design, made him an excellent enemy.

I'm playing on the average difficulty for Étoile.

Étoile is a sword and shield based Paladin and I get so much use out of Protection. In Act 1 I either had Astarion around corners or both him and Wyll up under either side of Étoile to take advantage of it. Wyll has also had the gloves of missile snaring. I can't think of specific moments right now, but just the idea of them being able to look at my elf in all their defensive glory as they brace themself against an attack meant for them? I love it!!! Lae'zel is my usual other party member and while she can stand on her own, I think this ability to protect a collective is part of what endeared her to them.

27. Who ended up in your Character's most used party?

As mentioned, Étoile (devotion paladin), Astarion (assassin rogue), Lae'zel (battle master fighter), Wyll (pact of the bald warlock).

28. Did you recruit Scratch the dog? Did you encounter him at all?

I did!

29. Did you adopt an owlbear? Do you have a name for your child?

No. I didn't have Étoile fight the owlbear or do more.

30. Do you have other pets as a ranger or in headcanon?

I don't yet, but I kind of want Étoile to have one or many cats.

31. Does your Character have new or old phobias or superstitions that affect their story?

I am sure Étoile has a number of superstitions that make sense to no one, but none so far that would affect their story.

34. How did your Character resolve the situation with Nere and the gnomes?

Étoile found the gnomes and told them (truthfully) that they already had Smokepowder, so I understand I missed out on some content, but Étoile sent Astarion and Wyll up onto the ledge in the right of the map, and they and Lae'zel stayed on the floor as Astarion got the first blow on the guard on the ledge. They dealt with the duergar, and then blew out the rubble to free Nere to face him. Besides the gnome you cannot save in Nere's cutscene, they got everyone out that they meant to, I think.

36. Did your Character find the Adamantine Forge? Did they use it? What did they make?

Yes. I think I would have missed out on the second piece of mithral ore if I hadn't been told about it. I made each a suit of heavy and medium armor for Étoile and Lae'zel. The fight was sooo hard to do with the hammer. I was told I would have had a much easier time if I'd used bludgeoning weapons with the pair of them.

37. Did your Character find the Necromancy of Thay? How are they handling it / planning to handle it?

Yes. By Act 3 they've fully "handled it." But. When I was playing early access, Gale would only consume orange quality rare items. So I kept the book with the intention of feeding it to Gale. When I discovered that Gale could now consume blue and green quality items, I wanted to give the book to Astarion and eventually figured it out.

Étoile started to read it at camp, Karlach objected, and Étoile was given the option to give it to Astarion. I had the cutscene play out later in Act 1 where he's fighting against the book; and then in Act 2 I remembered to actually select Astarion and read the book and pass my checks.

Étoile could understand why a vampire spawm would want to know how to protect themselves against undead; like vampires.

39. What does your Character think of Raphael?

The answer to this question is so much more complicated by Act 3. But in Act 1 Étoile thought it was prudent to be polite with Raphael while rejecting him, thinking at the time that they would never make a deal with a devil — but for the reason Raphael described: self-preservation in the face of a pointless death.

40. Is your Character used to strange dreams from before the events of the adventure?

No. As a high elf Étoile had never had any dreams before the adventure.

41. Is your Character accustomed to being on the road from before the events of the adventure?

Yes. They undoubtedly camped with their werewolf mother as a child / youth, trained as a paladin, and have been an adventurer for 48 years.

43. Asker has a question not from the list.

oh and for the question not on the list—what's étoile's favorite animal?

I think that because of their mother that they feel a kinship with wolves, even knowing they're different than werewolves by a wide margin. Picturing them in a three wolf moon t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up or cut off Ma/risha R/ay style, lol.

44. Asker wants Blogger to choose a question from the list.

Okay so I've answered all my questions but I want to say two more things while we're here.

Étoile killed the brothers who were attacking Ethel. This was to be consistent with their actions in early access, though in full release sadly Astarion didn't call her a 'sly old crone,' for me. They then didn't come into conflict with her because they felt that people were doing business with her of their own free wills, and that Ethel had a right to live.

Étoile's deity, Auril, being Neutral Evil has affected how others have seen them and their actions and their customs, and Étoile can be very live and let live with the strange and unusual.

The other thing I want to say is I'm thinking of Étoile at maybe twenty years of age asking why their mother Wylla hadn't turned their mother Aranea to a werewolf. And Aranea saying she had no need to be a werewolf, and that the wolves with which Wylla associated were more convenient to her at a distance than being forced as that manner of family. And Étoile asking why they hadn't been turned to a werewolf and Wylla saying they would find strength enough from Auril that they would never need Malar's power.

And this memory being a plague upon them as they try to find the words to tell Aranea, with Wylla long dead, that they've lost Auril's favor through their broken Paladin oath.

#long post #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #oc tag: étoile

[feuqueerfire]

To Sir, With Love Live Blogging

It’s 17 eps of 70-75 mins lol I have like 12 days before the end of the year to finish it. hopefully i can do it since i’m on winter break after all

Playlist

Ep 1 (Dec 20)

lol starting with a paragraph to set the scene

interesting to see her play Bua (supposed to be a sympathetic character I think - Song’s mistress) when she was Wanwan’s shit ass mother in PSIHY

Tian is the heir

oh, homophobia right off the gate

D: public suicide not even 30 minutes in

loll i see why people were confused by Tian and Yang, it’s like typical BL childhood before lovers storyline but I’m pretty sure they’re halfbrothers 

omg second wife evil as hell, really through a snake near Tian to hope it kills him

omg this snake and the POV of the snake toward the kids gives me such Indian serial vibes yaas

damn, Song sent Bua to live outside the building when he found out was was sterile, ewwww

me too I hope Tian and Yang can maintain good sibling relationship forever

they really going with the “look at this gay ass child” with Tian pretending to be the female lead in the opera and wanting a hairpin instead of the sword.

aww poor baby getting yelled at by his mom and having to watch the scar and hairpin burn. at least i know he gets a happy ending for sure but fuck

Ep 2 (Dec 20)

found a new playlist that has the show in parts of 5 per ep, so I’ll watch that instead I think

2-1

ooh Tian 12 years later

ooh is that Yang? beating harassers up?

wait Yang is so cool and charming okayyy he suits the wayward second son uninterested in the family business vibe very much

woahhh i love siblings so much!! Hope nothing tears Tian and Yang apart T.T

the gay people not being real men and thus being inferior to real men is thing is fucking me up like Tian’s mother worried that she can’t change who Tian is and so Yang will always be superior to him even though Yang fights and makes their dad upset

pls this lady tryna seduce Tian is so funny

2-2

not the mom basically giving permission for Tian and the girl to have sex cuz she wants her to fuck the gay out of him

“you’re a woman. you should respect yourself and have dignity.” ew Tian

lol Yang’s mother and her servant really just overheard Tian and his mom discussing his gayness rip, they’re not careful enough to enough when discussing it or like that burning in ep 1

oh jk they didn’t properly hear what they were talking about, just saw the mom slap Tian

ooh Yang’s love interest to be? Seems like she’s up to something, they could be a mischievous couple together

bro what’s up with all these girls getting sexually harassed constantly? the girl Yang saved, Mud, now this seller girl?

ooh, getting a glance at Tian’s love interest too

asdklfj Tian’s so delighted and the guy also keep looking back heh

2-3

ahh Yang and his love interest’s dynamic reminds me of like the m/f YA fantasy novel teasing rascal dynamics I read in gr 7, it’s cute

oh fuck the opera is protesting japanese soldiers and thus getting raided by them 

Yang protecting that child, he really is so fantasy romance protagonist 

oh fuck we’re actually getting story for Yang’s love interest too !! she’s from a noble family but her family’s in debt and her father’s disappointed that she’s a woman not a man

damn Yang putting all the blame on himself for sneaking out and lying to make Tian seem better, fuck i love sibling relationship so much

oh fuck i’d seen this clip on tiktok before but I originally though it was Tian’s love interest. knowing it’s the full story of Yang getting beat while Tian tries to stop it is actually even more </33333

2-4

ahh Tian’s mother arranging Pin (Yang’s love interest) to date Tian, I hope exciting fun shenanigans will come out of this

loll Tian amused by Pin getting the maid to leave them alone

Pin so beautiful and mischievous, I love her so much

Tian so amused by Pin’s shenanigans 

2-5

woah brooo Tian really found Yang’s mom in his closet just as he and his mom were about to discuss queerness but I doubt he’d even say anything because he’s just nice

Ep 3 (Dec 20)

3-1

ofc Tian didn’t let his mom know that the second wife/Yang’s mom is here but at least he confronted her and told Yang about it too

so we’re also getting the woman who got her late husband’s business and evil dude Ma back

Mud’s working for this lady, interesting

Tian having the time of his life setting up Yang and Pin everytime Pin tries to spend time with him lol

Tian’s mom’s name = Madam Li

oh dang Yang speaking about duty and following your heart to Pin

3-2

Damn I wanna know what Tian’s love interest is tryna do fr, who’s he following

aw shucks, Tian is already so enamoured but the other mans is going “i don’t think we’re destined to meet each other. injuries always happen when we do.” though it’s clear he also feels something lol

oh, Yang saw Tian and his future love interest have a Moment

omg cut sleeve (the word ‘gay’ comes from that they mentioned)

oh damn this whole time I thought Yang knew but he didn’t realize Tian’s gay till right now when everything’s coming back to him. anyway i trust him to be supportive 

aw, Yang coming to hug Tian

Tian’s love interest is a murderer oooooh

Tian’s love interest works for Mr. Ma noooooo (he’s the one who exposed Zhang’s homosexuality and bf)

at least mans is a contract worker and not loyal to Ma. though he did say “i don’t like commitment” lol

these people funny as hell, of course a worker would overhear your dramatic talks in broad daylight in the middle of the grounds

3-3

Is the man who eavesdropped the same guy who was fighting at the start of ep 2 about someone complaining he didn’t pay them + the guy who kept making advances toward Mud?

lol yeah they do talk to Dong too carelessly and patronizingly considering they want him to keep his mouth shut

3-4

bro I love Yang and Pin so much! This kind of het ship of teasing light enemies-to-lovers I can definitely get behind where they antagonize each other but aren’t extremely shitty toward each other

ayy they’re gonna kill Dong? I was hoping they’d do that

3-5

the editing of this lmfao

brooo Jia, kill Dong ASAP instead of just dragging him through the woods 

Ep 4 (Dec 21)

4-1

Madam Li and Jia did kill Dong but 1) second wife and her maid think Dong was paid off by Li 2) Bua knows 2nd wife thinks 1st wife is doing something to Dong + saw her walking at night last night 3) Song knows his 1st wife Li wasn’t in bed when he woke up. omg

damn, 2nd wife Chan really decided to put everything out there not just Dong but also the fact that Tian has a secret

oii Jia framed Dong and put money on him

didn’t Jia stab him? what’s going on? oh i see lol she put holes in the boat so that it overflows and he drowns. wild that he was conscious but motionless throughout all this oof

Mr Song the dad, Bua, and the workers believe this, Li-Jia-Chan know differently, but I wonder whether Tian and Yang believe it. I think in the beginning they may have though Chan was just spouting stuff to throw off Li’s position but after the mention of Dong knowing Tian’s secret...

4-2

I mean yeah it’s true that Chan and Yang are as disrespected as they are because they’re second. 

okay Tian had doubts but is swayed by Li’s words. Yang is... somewhat unconvinced by his mother but also unconvinced by the notion that this is a natural death

oh my god Hal had mentioned the mushroom body horror and here it is ewwwwww 

4-3

no like the 2nd wife is vengeful and ridiculous but she also has a point when Song yells at her and Yang and about her raising Yang, being like “is Yang only my son? Isn’t he your son too? don’t you think it’s because you don’t love your sons equally?”

omg not the “if he wasn’t my son, i would’ve sent you and yang away long ago” :00 

fuckkk i was hoping Tian would go after Yang when he going after his mom Chan

ew this fucking mushroom growth on face is killing me bc it’s like when in gr 7 or 8 the presentations against drugs showed us pics of how during bad trips, people may think there are bugs and insects crawling underneath their pics and i’ve never recovered

4-4

 kalsfj i love yang and pin so muchhhh the fucking japanese soldier disguise

oakjdfs they’re acc soooooooo cute catching the hat 

ohh Chan is going to Mr. Ma for help. I wonder if Tian’s love interest (sadly, I found out his name is Jiu even though we’re not supposed to know yet) will be hired to help also (or maybe not since his job is assassination?)

loll Chan and Ma both being like “haha ^.^ we both are certain we’re both doing this for the best of the Five Dragons organization that we are both very loyal to”

oof, finally another glimpse of Tian and Jiu. I’m highly entertained by all the other stuff but still know

This show is so dramatic and intense, it really reminds me of Indian Hindi serials with the acting, plot, and editing. The only difference is this has less absurd editing effects and despite somehow picking up Hindi enough to understand shows, I haven’t picked up much Thai via osmosis.

Ep 5 (Dec 21)

5-1

bro i assumed we wouldn’t actually get it exposed that Li killed Dong for sure but I so wish we didn’t have to see this fucking thing with the rats eating Dong’s face bloody

5-2

bro this fucking mushroom body horror is never ending fr, even when Dong’s body is buried underneath

oi, Tian guiding Pin to choose the guy she loves instead of marrying himself yayy

but I’m suddenly afraid the guy she likes isn’t Yang lmfao

oi fuck let it be Yang that she loves pls

aklsdfj they’re sooo cute <333 Yang and Pin <333

5-3

“I haven’t trusted anybody since Zhang. The reason i’m like this now is prlly bc of karma” yeah bruv dumbass Song, who knows how he manages to run the business

“If there’s anything I can do to atone for my mistake, I’ll do it” interesting that you say that Mr. Song father of Tian

Tian and Jiu making the puppet movie aw

this show loves slow-mos and flashbacks and romantic music for every 2 second Tian/Jiu moment lol

oh damn Tian knows Jiu works for Ma

5-4

damn, Li and Jia tryna do some other shit with the poisonous mushroom too

dang, alarm bells. ig this is orchestrated by li and jia so that everybody’s occupied and jia can move the body?

5-5

Jia better at accomplishing missions than all the KP and UN bodyguards (and from what I’ve heard, big dragon ones too). even including the shit that goes wrong everytime lol like evidence of her getting burned

also lol she told everyone that she has to collect some things but when jia came back, she didn’t hold anything

I think Yang is insanely attractive, I’m losing my mind a bit tbh

Ep 6 (Dec 21)

6-1

damn lol just as Li was pointing fingers at Chan for conspiring with Ma, I was like noo don’t let Chan get caught. she’s fun and i want her to get her comeuppance after Li gets hers as well

6-2

oh shit, Yang accidentally letting it out to his mother Chan that he knows Tian’s secret

they’re all fucking eating the mushrooms that Dong’s dead body is sprouting T.T and raving about how good it is T.T

I want Jia and Li to get exposed so bad omg, more than I want for Chan’s downfall as well. I think sometimes I’m here for evil schemers but this time, since that evil schemer is a homophobic motherfucker, I wanna see her punished more than I want her scheming to succeed (even though I did want her to kill Dong lol)

6-3

oh yeah on the ep 5 r/boyslove on-air thread, someone mentioned that it seems like Ma’s gonna hire Jiu to kill Tian ahhh fun exciting times, hope it happens around now bc I can’t take that as a cliffhanger fr

Yang and Bua I’m rooting for y’all to uncover the truth so hard

6-4

i love tian and yang sm and also pin/yang <333

pls tian so bad at scheming and hiding, can’t even hide pin’s palace documents from his mom lmfao

sorry it’s so funny that here are the people that know 1) Tian’s gay - Mom Li, Jia, Brother Yang 2) that Tian has a secret - Chan, her maid, Bua, fucking Mr. Ma, and now the maid Mud who also tells Xiaotong (the woman in the Five Dragons). and yet through all this, the father is clueless/doesn’t pay any mind to Ma yell out about Tian possibly having a secret that makes him unable to succeed

6-5

I’m sitting here dying over Yang and Ping’s interactions once again

ooh, the family’s all going to Conburi which is where Dr. Qi who can maybe tell more about the mushrooms is so I hope Yang and Bua’s investigation goes forward. What does Chan have there though? Oh she just wrote to Mr Ma to tell him about it

lol I knew they’d wait till the end to make it a fucking cliffhanger (would’ve been so much better if the person hadn’t mentioned it on the on-air thread rip it’d be a good surprise) but omgggg Jiu’s assignment is to kill Tian for Ma.

Ep 7 (Dec 22)

7-1

oh finally the father inquiring about what Tian’s secret actually is

I’m so excited, Jiu doesn’t yet know who Mr Song’s eldest son is but will be led to him by Chan 

damn, father really going straight for a heart-to-heart with Tian and asking about the secret

damn, I wonder if Tian would’ve told his father if Li hadn’t interrupted

7-2

Chan really evil as hell, she really planning on killing Tian. not to mention she’d tried it before when he was like 10 and Tian had gotten bitten by the snake by tryna save Yang

damn all the drama about Chan pretending she’s planning on getting ordained and asking for forgiveness just to get Tian to the correct place for Jiu to kill him el oh el

lmfao Jiu succeeding in killing cops silently and easily but Tian managing to throw dust in his eyes and run away and also not scream while running. it’s okay i’ll take it

Jiu finally realizing it’s Tian he’s tryna kill

ahh not this fucking kissing to shut Tian up from calling his mother klas;dfj;klasfj what’s going on

Tian still covering for Chan, man you’re kind to the point to stupidity perhaps considering you know she sent you to die

lmfao dumbass father thinking the attack was related to Tian’s secret instead of it being that he’s about to succeed him in position

bro ya fuck Chan got Yang involved as well, so now Tian knows Yang also lead him there and Li is also asking if Yang did it. fucking annoying, hopefully Tian’s too concerned with the kiss to think about Yang possibly betraying him 

oh fuck on the one hand Chan tryna get Tian’s secret from Yang and on the other side Li telling Tian to not be overconfident and that brother can also kill each other agh

7-3

naurrr okay so someone on the r/boyslove on-air ep 5 or 6 was like lol maybe they’ll make Bua actually evil and pulling strings as a plot twist so now Tian telling Bua that it was actually Chan and Yang who took him to the place is ahh

well at least Tian’s saying he doesn’t doubt Yang hm

 Song came to pay respect to Zhang - can you fucking be okay with your son being gay then

nevermind, Song really went listing like 10 good things and was like “but he shouldn’t have been homosexual” kys dickhead. even saying he’d make the same decision if he could turn back time. no fr die asap motherfucker. at least li was like “hmmm would you change your mind” to feel it out but yeah if she wants Tian to succeed his father, he won’t be able to do it while openly gay

7-4

ooh, Song also suspects Li killed Dong but is unsure of her motive

damn, the fatal water really dissolved Dong’s bones and clothes lol (though there’s a tooth left)

7-5

Tian really in Jiu’s house while Jiu’s desperate for his sister’s worsening condition. Tian dumbass being like “what are you gonna do? are you gonna let her be like this?” like brooo other than asking you for the medicine, the only other way to get the medicine is by killing you on dumbass Tian

omggg Jiu even taking his knife and taking Tian through a shortcut in the forest where nobody would save him only to not only not kill him but also save him from someone else tryna shoot at him 

woahh now Mr Ma knows that Jiu knows Tian and Jiu said he can’t kill him bc he was kind to his siblings before sooo what’s Ma gonna get him to do now (infiltrate Tian’s life/family? pass information?)

being tasked to kill your love interest is also such a YA fantasy/historical romance novel trope I read in gr 7 - 8 ahh hardly get it in BLs (is there any other except Long Time No See?) but it’s so great

I need the interactions between Tian and Jiu to ramp up now pls we’re getting like 5-10 mins of them an episode but increase it to 20 pls lol

Ep 8 (Dec 22)

8-1

I was eating while watching this part so like so much happened omg

Song knows that Yang and Bua suspect something’s up with the mushroom behind their house but Yang refuses to say anything because 1) he says something, it really is Li and Jia but the reason they did it is to protect Tian and if they’re caught, Tian’s secret will come out but 2) if he doesn’t say anything and Li and Jia get off scot-free, then they’re guilty and unpunished

lmfao Song and his right hand man coming up with outlandish theories about Tian’s secret, like he’s got a whole wife and kids but that wife is already married so Tian stole someone’s wife and is therefore a secret. they’re gonna keep tabs on Tian and Yang now though

Pin telling Yang that maybe he should let the other person choose whether to say something or no.

So Yang is explaining about the mushrooms maybe growing from Dong’s corpse and Chan came across them and is eavesdropping

8-2

oof Tian being like wtf am i supposed to dooooooo

lmfao Tian almost saying “the secret that I am...” but Yang stopping him, rip Chan’s chance to overhear. if it didn’t stop Chan from knowing, I would’ve been like hmmm Yang, why do you hate to hear your brother call himself gay

damn, Tian really confronted his mother like that

bruh Li really went “Tian, if you tell the truth, get ready to attend my funeral”

woahh Yang even shed a tear he’s so afraid of Tian revealing his secret

Li and Jia going “now we have to find out who knows about this mushroom” girl Song, Bua, Yang, Chan all know about it lmfao

Song is funny as hell “Then Tian’s secret probably has nothing to do with women.” indeeeeed lmfao

oh damn Jiu really was like k you two men harass Mud and I’ll save her and I’ll use it to get into the Song family. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he’s scummy considering he’s an assassin after all

Jiu applying for a job now, he could’ve asked Tian even without orchestrating that lmfao

8-3

Jiu really just lying through his teeth 

Oh yeah Tian, ofc you’ll personally teach him to read and write

ooh k Ma told Jiu to find out Tian’s secret

oh yeah I’ve seen clips of Tian seeing Jiu and Mud in bed together, I though that was in ep 10 for some reason but ig it’s now

Mud is sooo funny with her seduction lmfao and then when Tian sees them and Jiu runs out after him, she’s like “agh! what’s wrong with the men in this house?!” like lmfao the two men you’ve got your eyes on are gay rip should’ve gone for Yang before Pin came around

oof, this is tian angry? why would he be angry? thing and Jiu’s conclusion being he likes Mud. anyway at least both were like no i don’t like mud rip girl. 

did Bue fucking poison the tea or smth what’s up with Li’s pointed pouring of the tea 

woahhh Tian and Jiu spending time together, Jiu learning to write

accidental cheek sniff thing

lmfao not Mr Song insinuating that Jiu’s face gets everyone, including his son, to help him bc of his beauty even though he doesn’t know Tian’s gay

Jiu learning about Pin, Tian’s fiancee

8-4

omg Jiu didn’t leave the kids with his relative but rather with Mr. Ma goddamn also I’ve been wondering if the medicine is some kinda drug rip

omg she’s addicted to opium. i did see someone mention maybe the sickness is actually withdrawals 

they prlly got rid of the beetle orchid after Tian found it right?

naurr I wanna know what Chan’s maid saw

8-5

I can’t fucking tell if they’ll reveal if now or show us Jia being fucking clever again or smth and anticipating it and thus burying a different box for some reason but then again Jia’s holding a knife so hmmm

k I usually watch 2 eps in the afternoon and watch the 3rd ep later at night but I need know right now so I’ll start ep 9 and stop when I feel like the anticipation is a little less ig

Ep 9 (Dec 22)

9-1

Tian’s here as well so he for sure knows that Jia had the beetle orchids even if the box doesn’t have it

oh did Tian take the orchids or smth?

ah he did

lmfao Jiu comforting him by saying the workers all respect Tian and love him and accidentally insinuating Jiu loves him too and having to cover it up by saying the kids Jiu’s siblings love him (even though Jiu def has non-platonic feelings for Tian lmfao)

oh I was wonderin when Li or Yang would see Jiu and Tian together and how each would deduce and react to the situation

Linguistics: Has Tian always used “lu” pronoun with his mom? idk what it means, is it more or less polite than pom?

Tian yelling “You killed someone to hide I’m a homosexual!” in their room

9-2

lmao Xiaotong’s gayder going insane though she's unable to tell

Tian and Jiu are so cute while studying

okay now Yang walked in on them being sorta cute

9-3

Yang and Pin so cute

Aw, Jiu seeing Tian put the hairpin on Pin and being :( about it but good sir you don’t know about his thing for hairpins lol

lmfao Jiu leaving after hearing Tian compliment Pin

aklsdf oh yeah I was wondering when people will realize Yang and Pin are seeing each other

Li going crazy that Yang’s tryna “Steal his brother’s fiancee” lmfao and Jia annoys me with the “Yang is really bad!” like stfu

Li is soooo fucking shitty “it might be good if he and Mud sleep together, Tian might like it” kys

omg they’re literally making an aphrodisiac so that Tian is basically assaulted into sleeping with a woman and producing a child? fuck you for real

Aw, Tian sad that Jiu seems upset with him

woah Yang going to ask something to Jiu or investigate (since he and Tian seem very close) and found something in Jiu’s room...

9-4

bro was Jiu fr gonna stab Yang... yikes

ooh, Jiu’s brother knows Tian’s in danger

naurrrr I thought the letter was from Ma and Jiu was maybe lying that it really just was Tian’s name x100 T.T Jiu practicing fuck but going to burn the letters bc it’ll be bad if people find them

oh shit Mr. Song is the one finding the fucking letter with Tian’s name?! tbh his reaction’s meh, Jiu should’ve just let Yang see it maybe but who knows

aww Jiu having to give himself a peptalk “Don’t forget who you are. What are you here for?”

9-5

damn, the cicadas fr woke everybody up. won’t they wonder where Jia and Li are since everybody else is awake?

I love Tian and Jiu’s very few scenes lol

Fave Scene: the writing Tian’s name a million times on multiple pieces of paper really got me bruv. Jiu’s restrained, he’s working for the enemy, and yet he’s precisely and intently writing Tian’s name so many times fuck

Ep 10 (Dec 22)

10-1

Jiu being very observant of Li as they burn the cicadas... also him being the only one even among the workers who bow when Song comes in

lksdjflkajdfl;kasdf k;lasf Jiu’s younger brother warning Jiu that Ma sent an evil bastard to Tian’s house to harm him... telling Jiu to warm Tian... fuck he’s basically calling Jiu evil and bastard and wicked, which isn’t untrue

aww Jiu having some hand-to-hand combat with Jia and then going straight to Tian’s room all worried

Jiu now has a bit of a guess that it’s Jia

10-2

oiii Pin and Yang 

okay the thing about Yang is that he’s okay with Tian being gay but is he okay with Tian pursuing a man/getting with Jiu or supporting him through whatever happens if he comes out? I hope so

damn, Song seeing Tian and Jiu together, wondering about Jiu, then having a nightmare of Zhang killing himself and then transforming into Tian goddamn

omg the editing of this nightmare is soooo Indian serial vibes

so does Song now know that Tian’s gay as fuck or he’s like pls pls pls pls no my dead son can’t be a homosexual

so does Song now know that they’re tryna sell Pin’s lands to get out of this marriage

damn Li and Song and Yang fr all separately suspect Jiu. Jiu my guyyyy

10-3

miss girl channnnn stop meddling right now, i want them to cancel the engagement asap pls

why the fuck does Yangalso keep butting in to take blame for Tian, let the man handle it on his own just once because he’s also making the decisions

everybody all pereshani bc of this canceled engagement and Jiu going oh? :)

lmfaoooo a maid is like “oh? you’re this happy that the wedding’s canceled?” and Jiu goes “huh?” while the maid’s like “why’re you shocked, I’m talking to Mud” klsdfj;kalsdfj

lmfao ridiculous, Tian being like i never wanted the position, can you take it from me? and Yang being like “I’ve already taken your mischievous fiancee, you want me to take the association head position from you as well?”

finally Tian can say the words in front of Yang without being interrupted 

awww brotherly support, Yang’s words of support <3333 

pls not the “I love you jie” instead of Phi and Tian immediately hitting him 

I LOVE SIBLINGS SO MUCH

10-4

they’re seriously planning on using some sort of aphrodisiac to get Tian and Pin to sleep together fucking fuck wtf

 damn Jia fr locked Yang, Chan, and Nuan in a barn or whatever

10-5

maybe Jiu’ll come to save Yang etc or maybe save Tian and Pin after the aphrodisiac 

i love the word for cicada “chakachan”

girl am i really gonna hafta wait till tmrw (12+ hours) to figure this out... should I watch 5 eps today....

Ep 11 (Dec 22/23)

I’ll try to stop halfway through maybe after the intense parts are over

11-1

yaaas okay i was hoping smth would go wrong with the aphrodisiac and although Tian took it, Pin didn’t so maybe Tian can just sleep it off

yaaas Pin, escape Jia

aw shit Jia hit Pin to fainting

oh fuck i hate this so much. Tian’s on fucked up sex drugs and caressing Pin who’s sleeping and vulnerable and they’re both trapped in that room fucking fuck 

okay Pin woke up pls just knock Tian out or smth

lmfao Yang leaving his mother to go help Pin

omg Pin literally has blood on her head and collar

fuck I hate this so bad, Pin just knock him out

damn Yang letting Jiu take care of Tian so that he can take care of Pin even though Yang doesn’t trust Jiu

aw shit Tian’s attention has now gone to Jiu 

I’m scared that something is gonna happen between Tian and Jiu or that somebody’s gonna see them in a compromising position

11-2

ahh Tian confessing to Jiu that he likes him

omg are they gonna kiss what if someone fucking walks in fuck

bro?! did they have sex???? what if someone had walked in bruv also Tian’s still drugged, no?

Song annoying as fuck “I’ll never let my son be a homosexual” kys fr

Bua batting for Tian’s hypothetical homosexuality, thanks 

damn, Xiaotong figured out Jiu is Ma’s assassin

oh fuck someone can still walk in on Tian and Jiu fucking fuck

oh fucking shit fucking fuck oh no oh no Tian and Jiu are in bed shirtless together ummmmmm 

no okay i believe nothing too bad happens bc i feel like i’d have seen gifs of it or smth bc i just went looking for gifs up to early November aslkfj aghhh i can’t watch this anymore but i can’t not watch. i hope one or both of them somehow gets out of the room before the whole fucking family arrives

lak;jsf;kladjsk;lsadfjk;lsafj k;l THE MOTHER ACTUALLY DOES SEE JIU AND TIAN and promptly closes the door

okay at least nobody but Jiu sees them

11-3

is nobody worried about Chan and Nuan or whatever lol

lol Li’s pointed questioning might tip Yang off about what she saw

oh i see Chan and her maid have arrived

Li’s plan was so shittily thought out this time, it’s like when someone who was originally rational spirals 

lmfao dying at all the dramatics and people finding out Jiu is Ma’s assassin and everything only to cut to Jiu and Tian walking quietly in the forest

fuck I hate that this happened while Tian was under aphrosidiacs so much

Linguistics: I can’t remember if Jiu used to say “Khun Tian” before this or not... probably, right? Cuz him saying just Tian after they slept  together seems like it’s less formal. They also don’t say -krab anymore even though they do say pom. They still use khun as second pronoun tho

awwwww “all this time, I thought it was just me with these feelings”

awww hug T.T 

pls Tian and Jiu being lovey dovey at this random cabin in the woods while everybody’s fighting and screaming over Jiu hurting Tian or Ma getting to him is so funny. also i wanna know how jiu’s wanna escape Ma’s clutches cuz i fucking hope he’s not gonna sell out Tian. does Jiu even know that the secret he wants is that Tian’s gay?

11-4

lmfao they’re still there in the cabin even though it’s night? When do Jiu and Tian plan on going home 

oh at least Tian’s thinking of home even though he’s unwilling to go back

oh Jiu finally gets that this is Tian’s secret lol

no like it really is so silly, murder and suicide and toppling power over the fact that someone’s gay bffr 

ooh what does Pin know? does she suspect Tian and Jiu?

Ma and his guy all being driven crazy by the siblings being loud and their antics lmfao

lmfao i love Pin. her just being behind Yang spying on Ma’s house when he told her to go home

everybody storming the Ma palace

yaas Yang saving Jiu’s siblings, please succeed

11-5

damn bitch how are we already on part 5, i just rewrote 11-4 and then saw last part was already 11-4 tf

i love the little guy, he keeps kicking people in the nuts. oh nooo he fell rip

damn guns drawn on both sides sorry this is killing me that people are throwing shit and willing to kill over finding out Tian’s location while he and Jiu are in their little lovenest

okay whew at least this is a good spot to end it without a cliffhanger

Fave Scene: the confession ig idk the Jiu Tian scenes were great this ep

Ep 12 (Dec 23)

I finished watching ep 11 at like 2am so I thought about it and Jiu/Tian while falling asleep, thought about them more when I woke up at 7, then thought about them some more when I actually woke up. I had to cut vegetables and stuff but now I can finally watch ep 12 lesgoooo

12-1

HANDFEEDING! food as love language my loveeee. also two grown men eating that for lunch? esp tian who’s used to a feast? lol

they’re so funny, really just planning on actually running away and moving to a place nobody knows them lmfao it’s bad buddy ep 11 vibes

aw shucks Jiu, are you still considering betraying Tian?

oof Li fr being like we gotta kill Jiu and them doing the beetle mushroom stuff again. I’m so tired of Li and Jia’s annoying bs but I get it kinda since Jiu knows Tian’s secret + is working for Ma

damn Jiu got seen by Song’s right-hand man Bao and their people

12-2

Tian’s right that he should go home

dumbass Bao why would you not wait until the letter is completely burned 

omg Li admitting to their crime to Doctor Qi and even begging to let it go

then when he refused, she fucking threw the beetle orchid at him lmfao girl wtf. he’s carrying the antidote right

12-3

omggg this fight with the hat and scarf of blowing the beetle powder to each other killing me wtf

damn, Jia in hysterics over Li killing (well hopefully not succeeding) Qi

damn Jia “if a good man was normal like others, I wouldn’t have to kill anybody” kys 

so many tears this ep, now Li crying at Budda 

12-4

omg Jiu brought Tian to his parents graves

awooo Jiu wanting to hold Tian’s hand but Tian’s hesitancy whenever people can see them

doesn’t Jiu wonder what happened to his siblings since clearly Ma would wonder why tf Jiu isn’t coming to se him even though Tian is missing

omg Yang and Pin finding Jiu and Tian

is the fact that Jiu’s Ma’s subordinate gonna come out now

lmfao Yang’s “Jiu really captured Tian, that’s why he has to send this letter asking for help” meanwhile Pin’s like acc I think they just have an unexpected relationship if you know what I mean

okay maybe this is where the brother are at odds with each other bc Yang fully believes that Jiu’s tricking Tian and that’s it

12-5

Jiu, let this man return to his home. Tian, make the decision to return to your home.

i can’t tell if Jiu is completely genuine or has a plan up his sleeve to deceive Tian agh like I know he loves him but still

Ma spotting Jiu, then also Bao gives news that they know Jiu and Tian’s location

Hope that the woman Tian’s boutta approach is indeed Bua and not like Li or smth lmfao

girl this is so klajdf Ma is at Jiu’s house just as Song’s about to arrive, which will make them think they’re conspiring together and Tian’s boutta spill his guts to some woman whose face he hasn’t seen 

ofc it was Li, dumbedy dumb Tian

This ep was kinda meh cuz I think I had higher hopes of Things Happening but maybe next ep

Ep 13 (Dec 23)

Read this comment on an r/boyslove post and ahh this ep is angsty as fuck it seems like after Tian finds out about Jiu’s affiliation with MA

13-1

Li saying “nobody in the world will love someone like you” to Tian ummm kys

oh fuck Tian’s gonna get to Jiu while Ma’s in the house... Tian’s father also heading to that house... fuck fuck fuck

I can’t fucking watch this I’m about to have a heart attack

okay okay okay I know they have a happy ending

Tian really came at the very moment Jiu told him Ma the secret and not a second before when he was begging for Ma to not kill him ofc ofc ofc fuck fuck fuck

poor Tian sobbing in the forest T.T and finding his father

13-2

no Jia and Li so silly for just making Yang and Bua smell something and faint

aw rip Jiu worried and searching for Tian 

what’s up with Jiu not worrying about his siblings bruv, Ma saying he’ll use them to threatening Jiu if he doesn’t cooperate but he’s half forgotten about them

oof I was hoping Tian’d tell his dad to not kill Jiu but he was tryna tell him he’s gay but ofc Li won’t let him

oh fuck Bao and people tryna kill Jiu and fucking Ma of all people helping him escape cuz he’s gotta bear witness to Tian’s homosexuality. insane bruv

oof Jiu fully convinced that Tian’s been “captured” by his family

Jia finds out that Yang knows about Tian’s secret goddamn

13-3

why the fuck do Li and Jia just go straight to murder even for Yang tf like mans has known for so long and hasn’t spilled bffr bc you’re the ones who are more likely to let people know (eg. Dong overhearing) than Yang telling anybody (even Pin knew it before and Yang only confirmed it)

damn Li realizing they’re too far in 

oh, Jiu’s tryna sneak into the Song household to find Tian

i’m losing my fucking mind T.T 

girl now Jiu and Yang are fighting like stopppp I wanna see a heartwrenching convo between Jiu and Tian

oh fuck Tian accusing Jiu of doing everything for money while Jiu’s so desperate but Tian has reason to distrust him

13-4

Jiu’s desperation really made him be sloppy and literally alerted everybody ever to his presence

 Song shot Jiu?!?!

damn Li and Jia fr tryna kill Jiu rn fr 

i bet they’re gonna spin up something to make themselves get out of the situation though

oh Jiu found by Pin

13-5

Li and Jia are really fucking planning on killing Chan and Yan, this is so stupid you have shit for brains

gj Tian for somehow managing to come in at the right moment

I need Li and Jia to die so bad

lol yeah imagine they fucking killed Yang and Chan, whole time Ma knows the secret 

Ep 14 (Dec 23)

14-1

Hope Jiu finds his sister in Pin’s house

oh yes, good

Tian and Jiu both having the “fuck everything’s fucked up cause of me” streak

naurrr Jiu get the antidote of the mushroom thing somehow pls I refuse to believe 

Pin talking to Yang like people will oppose our love too the way they oppose Tian/Jiu’s love. doesn’t mean it should be given up on. so true, pin <3

14-2

lol Li being like “she’s someone in our house. at least we can control her” about Mud marrying Jiu lmfao you don’t know bout her and Xiaotong

lmfao Xiaotong also guessing that Tian’s gay. so funny there’s this big secret and people can just guess it with some thought as multiple people (yang, pin, xiaotong. + even his father guessed this) have done

why does Tian have such a happy smile throughout everything about getting married... is he getting better at pretending or does he have some other plan?

Jiu writing Tian a letter of explanation ahh but from the look on Tian’s face... he looks resolute with the wedding and like he won’t fucking meet Jiu rip

14-3

no fr it’s true that Tian has duty and it’s not just him and Jiu in this world but both their families, so they can’t just run away. it’s so </33333 but I understand

while i was reblogging gifs, I saw someone say they were very glad Jiu wasn’t actually dead, so I’m so aghhhh knowing that Jiu “dies” or we think he does. I wonder if it happens now as he’s tryna rescue his brother Fu

naurrr Jiu sending Fu to run by himself bc the mushroom is getting worse and worse in his body awww poor kid and poor Jiu fuck

14-4

damn, what’d Tian say to the police?? is it about his mom or did his mom come up with a different plan to tell the police or did his mom tell him to tell them about her? And he won’t even tell Yang

lol Fu running into Tian and Yang

aw shucks Fu thinks and is telling everybody that Jiu died :<

well damn Ma really gonna bring the Japanese soldiers to the meeting tmrw

14-5

lmfao Ma accidentally shooting his right hand mand multiple times instead of Jia is killing me lmfao

omg finger slicing rip Ma’s fingers and also eye

damn Tian don’t kill yourself, what’re you doing with the beetle mushroom powder? oh are you gonna kill someone else?

3 more episodes, should stop for today and watch the other eps tmrw oof

Ep 15 (Dec 24)

15-1

lol Tian tryna trick Nuan somehow, what’s his plan ooh

at least Song noticed that Jia and Li were clearly missing and had bruises and such

lmfao I’m dead Tian really buried it so that Nuan would find it but she went to Chan too quickly to notice where he buried it 

they don’t translate what’s written in the letter Tian hid for Chan and Nuan to find

ooh it was Jiu’s letter to Tian that he hid. Tian coming out while making it seem like it wasn’t his plan to make sure it gets out

15-2

all this drama and hahutash over Tian coming out lmfao so true, that’s exactly how my family would react to me

oh Tian really taking responsibility for killing Dong fuck

and Li still can’t stand up for her son? stand fucking up and explain what you did and how they should accept Tian, useless murderer homophobe. No like it really is clear that she wasn’t doing jackshit for Tian because then she wouldn’t let him admit to killing Dong 

damn Song really moving back as Tian reaches for his hand 

Song kys <3

Tian really is going strong with the “I killed Dong” even to Yang but aw Yang, knowing that Tian buried it on purpose

“Youd let me take up the position, confess to father, then commit suicide, right?” “As a mother, I’m willing to do naything for you.” k lmfao i sure believe you

fuck Tian really did and himself over to the police

15-3

okay I thought Tian got the beetle orchid like 2 mins ago after Li and Jia came back from maiming Ma bc of how it was shot but are we gonna get a twist that he did it much longer ago

yknow they’ve been talking about how Zhang cursed Song to know his suffering but lmfao Song having a gay son he hates doesn’t let Song know Zhang’s suffering. instead it’s Tian who knows the suffering

well at least Song doesn’t believe Tian killed Dong, that’d be major stupidity on his part

lmfao Li dumb as hell, Ma beating up Tian for her crimes. Ma kys, Li kys

holy shit, the way Ma is dragging Tian by the hair is so fucked

where the fuck are the subs, I’m gonna kill something

lmfao all the subs for 2 mins in one paragraph thanks for that

oof Chan getting beat the fuck up and apologizing. she’s shit but it’s just not as satisfying as it’d be if Li was brutally killed or Song getting beat 

15-4

is Chan boutta get killed, that’s the vibes with her asking for forgiveness and Yang being like “i know you did everything for me”

lol I said that but then slow-mos started and yeah, that’s to show Chan’s not dying rn

Song saying everything happened because of him cuz he didn’t love them enough etc and like yeah bro. you’re a dumb fuck who didn’t treat anybody but Li and Tian fairly and even that hinged on Tian hiding his secret. kys 

anyway, Ma reminds me so much of the perpetrators in my recurring kidnapping and killing nightmares when i was younger

lmfao nobody shooting as the family all go under the red cloth

oof Nuan

15-5

damn not this Li and Chan and everybody in the same team bc they’re tryna escape and live rn

lmfao why is Jia being like “this is the antitode” like they could just kill you and get it anyway tf 

Jiu <33333

Tian and Jiu moments right in front of Tian’s shitty parents’ salads

Ep 16 (Dec 24)

16-1

so Jia doesn’t actually have the antidote, right? 

yaas as expected, Doctor Qi is alive because of the antidote and he helped Jiu as well

i don’t like seeing Bua beg Li to let Tian live the life he wants if they all survive

good. die, jia, die

16-2

yeah fr lol all this to be the head of the five dragons association but it doesn’t even exist anymore

16-3

omg okay Li helping an injured Fu. I want a convo between Jiu and Li soooooo bad you don’t even know

awww Fu and Mei talking about them and Jiu and Tian being happy and Li flashbacking to when Tian just wanted to be happy but she told him he can’t be if he’s like this

I just find it so hard to care about Li’s sorrow like yeah, she’s realizing that she might be part of the reason Tian was so unhappy but like shoulda realized it earlier

i love yang and pin so bad “if anything happens to me...” “I’ll find a new boyfriend for sure. So you can’t die. Come back to me.”

so funny that we have maiming and killing but Jiu/Tian get like 2 pressed lip kisses + an allusion to sex while Yang and Pin get a hug 

sad Jiu is so T.T 

Li and Jiu very tenuous goodwill toward each other with the herbal tea

Mud seeing Jiu check up on Tian and Song. Song hearing Tian and Jiu talk oof

16-4

even Song is understanding a bit but I have so much more hate in my heart than Tian does lmfao

16-5

there’s no way Yang would die imo like I refuse to think of it as even a possiblity

damn fr one ep left only

i didn’t mention it in the eps but when previous jiu/tian were in the woods or this ep when the family were in the woods, their lack of/muted makeup suits them so much. makes them more vulnerable.

Ep 17 (Dec 24)

last episode ?! but i don’t want it to end... maybe i’ll reblog gifs from before nov 28

17-1

girls against everybody woahhh

damn Ma acc shot at Song

oh damn Song acc died?? oh jk he lives

17-2

they could still trick Ma by instead of antidote having something that knocks the person out idk

oh true they did do that but also Ma made her eat it first so she hadta be smart about what she was putting in there

Madam Li got shot at

damn Li fr took the beetle orchid too. does she have the actual antidote or anything

bro kill Ma and his lackey before rushing to Li omg

damn Li fr sacrificing herself

do the bullets not run out 

aw poor Tian :< crying out for his mother

17-3

aw shucks did they really not bring any pure real antidote

damn Li’s dying wish really being for Song to accept Tian

Li saying something to everybody, say something to jiu omg

okay she told Jiu to please take care of Tian

oof Li dying wasn’t as satisfying as it would’ve been several eps ago, now it’s just :<

damn it really is just new day

“Now mother and Jia would’ve met already” oh yeah I saw a Li/Jia tiktok and was like okay interesting though

lol Chan still with her attitude, despite being teary and crying to Li’s photo very endearing to me

oiiiii Yang and Pin engagement?! 

17-4

girl people more likely to gossip that the Phi that Pin broke up with is gay. like it makes sense bruv

tbh the “let the adults talk, go outside” stuff is funny to me everytime like you’re discussing these kids’ marriage 

I love Pin!! yeah she’ll do what her father says but also do what she wants!! if he won’t let them get married, she won’t but she’ll still pack up and live with Yang ahhhhhh

sorry this is killing me Yang hugging Tian in excitement and Tian going girl? hug your fiancee

omggg Tian really gonna live a quiet life with Jiu?! I really thought they wouldn’t let him abandon his position/duty but wooaahhh esp cuz that man didn’t want to be the head

nawt Jiu getting slapped for saying “if you don’t want to eat food, how bout sweets?” cuz the children are there. whole time he means actual sweets and not an innuendo

omg this fucking flower candy

aw domesticity but Tian’s dream of equality prevails

lol Jiu saying something gooey and Tian going “Your speaking skill is better. Where’d you learn it, huh?” 

17-5

oof the family coming to see Jiu and Tian

I had to take a 1-hour break bc I have a few mins left and don’t want it to end

oii Song giving Jiu the first serving of the fish and Tian unable to contain his smile at it so true

damn, even Chan asked Tian to go back to the business to help

aw rainbow :<

damn it’s fr just done tf it’s such a calm, happy ending for the intensity of the last 16.5 eps

Overall

Definitely enjoyable and also different from other BLs I’ve watched because this was a lakorn that had a huge component of Tian being gay but the actual romance took up very little screen time. 

Very dramatic, gives me Indian serial vibes. The acting was great (Yang’s actor’s tendency to have O.O eyes for every intense or semi-intense scene not included) and the characters were fully realized. Even when the decision making got a little wonky, it was still true to the characters. Also liked the intense scenes in the last ep or so with the shootouts and such. The focus on women, even though they were mostly fucked in the head, was also a welcome change in the midst of all my BL consumption.

Yang and Tian’s brotherhood was everything!!! I love siblings and sibling bonds so much T.T They really were there for each other in every aspect despite having so many reasons to have become rivals.

Yang/Pin were also adorable. Gave me YA fantasy romance het couple vibes with their penchant for mischief :> Also I’ve heard them call Pin as Khun Ying but I thought I just couldn’t fully hear the p or smth but no, her name’s Ying! They’re Ying Yang! 

Tian and Jiu were not the biggest part of the story, didn’t really even have much interactions before ep 7 but they were sooo romantic. The running away to the woods was a bit wonky for me bc why did Jiu seem to forget about his siblings lol but so many parts were just soooo peak romance. The cradling of hands through the floorboard? The way Jiu was taught to write by Tian and it leading to sad letters? The fact that Jiu was an assassin sent to kill Tian but he couldn’t? oof

Overall, good and enjoyable and if you binge it in 5 days like I did, overstimulating. 

kys counter: 9. mostly for Song and Li but I think Jia and Ma got one each as well. I’m usually not one to want characters to just die in order to remove them as conflict but this time... murders and intense homophobia were already there, so might as well die if you’re a piece of shit yknow

Rating: 7/10

Tiktoks:

To Sir With Love

Ep 8 or 9 Tian seeing Jiu and Mud in bed + Jiu saying Tian likes Mud

beautiful actors and actresses as all the characters. Li and Chan’s actresses especially oh my goshhh 

wait pause Li and Jia? (bg: Until I Found You)

In-char interview: this was kinda cute, hope more shows have in-character interviews; might watch the Big Dragon one after this. it was also killing me bc it felt like modern JiuTian AU with Film’s blond hair lol

#to sir with love #ep by ep commentary

[korereapers]

Title: Gone soft

Rating: Explicit

Fandom: Original stuff, Dungeons and Dragons

Ship: Ohmrom von Allmen/Barkilara

Warnings: well, sex with a devil, you know

AO3

Sex has always been merely recreational for Barkilara. The means to an end, just a way out of boredom when things are too still and he needs a very particular itch scratched.

This particular devil he is dealing with, damn, they are attractive, silky skin and a smile that should make his insides burn. This time though, it doesn't.

Unluckily for him, and the first sign that something is not… right.

It's not that he doesn't like them, the completely dark eyes, hands that caress his chest, lips that suck on his neck with a vehemence that almost feels like violence. He has always loved this, the thrill, the thin line between pain and pleasure, the danger of it all. The lack of attachment.

He wonders, not without a hint of desperation, why the hell he cannot stop thinking about a certain human while he is with someone that has nothing to do with him.

The thing about mortals is that they are… well, mortal. You have to be careful with them, ask them only for what they can give you, for what they can take without breaking irreparably. No matter how hardworking and resilient his human is.

Fuck , how well he takes him. Barkilara holds back, of course he does, always in control of the situation, knowing when and how to push until Ohmrom rolls his eyes, his throat hoarse and his body about to give up. Overwhelmed and spent, and still looking at him with those warm eyes…

His bashful smile, skin shining with sweat, body hair Barkilara likes to feel against the palms he borrows for the occasion. A musky smell he eagerly memorizes and that makes Ohmrom blush, his heartbeat faster because with him, he has nowhere to hide.

The other devil's skin is soft, smooth even, far from the scars Barkilara has grown used to, to a body so punished that makes Barkilara shiver with the fact that it's still standing.

It should be easy. Get this asshole in his bed, fuck them senseless, forget about it and never talk about it again. He is restless, his body reacting to their touch, but his mind somewhere else entirely.

"You're making this oddly difficult," they complain, clear annoyance in their voice.

"Maybe you're just lacking in skill to keep me interested."

It's a low blow and a fucking lie, but Barkilara would rather die than to accept that it's far from a matter of skill. That what makes his insides burn is only a couple of hands, shaking and unsure, handling a sword with ease, but too nervous to handle a man. Rough lips that take him with difficulty, trying to keep a pace but losing himself in the process.

"Do you know what I think? What everyone thinks? " They ask, their voice mocking, eyes as dark as Barkilara's soul. " That you have become soft. That you've grown fond of the mortal. What a fucking waste."

Compared to other devils, Barkilara is really not that powerful. Limited in ways that enrage him, he knows he could be so much more than this. To have so much more. He has several poor unfortunate souls binded to him, old hosts whose souls he ended up devouring, that now he keeps chained to him with eternal and unbreakable contracts. He used to feed on them like a parasite, and then go after the next one when the host died or was too weak to hold him.

"So I'm right," he barely hears them say, just before he grabs them by their throat, without thinking, sinking them into the nearest wall.

"Like fucking hell."

The other laughs, unfazed, because the demonstration of strength is just a confirmation. A weak point to attack.

Barkilara knows this is going to have consequences.

"Get out, " he says, his rage cold and unforgiving. " Piece of shit."

"It's in our blood, " the other answers, kicking him hard in the ribs so he releases him. Barkilara groans slightly, letting them go with a menacing growl. " But it seems you have forgotten about that, too."

Barkilara's growl becomes a roar, and the other devil chuckles, letting themselves out of his bedchambers.

"Fuck. Shit."

He sits down, his head between his claws, grunting in frustration. They are right, they are all right. He has become soft because of the human, and the worst thing of it all is that he doesn't really feel bad about it. Embarrassed, maybe, but guilty? Nah.

He licks his lips, focusing after a long, deserved sigh. He wants to see him, talk to him. Relieve himself alongside him.

Luckily enough, Ohmrom seems to be enjoying his free time. Reading one of his books, the ones with torrid romance that he likes so much, with scenes that make him blush but that make Barkilara roll his eyes. Ohmrom's heart flutters, and Barkilara keeps that feeling close to his own heart.

"Having fun?" He asks, and he can feel Ohmrom's face getting redder.

"You could say that."

Barkilara smiles, a mouth full of sharp teeth. He is sure that Ohmrom can almost feel it.

"I have something more… interesting in mind. If you're interested."

He is. Hell , he is. Barkilara can feel his brain muddled, his ears burning with something that is a mix of embarrassment and something else entirely. He closes his book and sighs, looking at the ceiling.

"I can't… I can't really look for someone for you to possess right now."

Barkilara knows how much he wants to touch him, to be touched by him, even if it's in another body, another heartbeat. Different mouths with the same owner, savoring his skin and memorizing the flavor.

It makes both of them twitch in desire.

"We don't need that for what I have in mind. Only me and you."

Ohmrom's bedchambers are austere, and Barkilara reminds himself to suggest him to get a large mirror. He wants Ohmrom to see the kind of wild animal he becomes when they are together, for him to feel scandalized by it.

Fuck, he would love that.

"Undress yourself. I want to see you."

Ohmrom's expression becomes something between bashful and playful.

"I can feel your impatience..."

But he obeys, as he usually does. Not a hint of anything that's not pure devotion and curiosity. Barkilara wants to dig his teeth in such a sweet feeling, and swallow it whole.

Ohmrom stands, naked, in the middle of the room. Barkilara takes a couple of seconds to observe him, so abused in the physical sense and yet so naive in the sexual one. He wants to corrupt that, too. To make him filthy, to teach him that the body can also feel good, the limits of pleasure he keeps reaching with him.

"Good boy. But I want you to get comfortable."

That never fails, Barkilara thinks with a mischievous smile. Tell him how good he is, and he will melt immediately, already half hard.

The mattress sinks a little with his weight, and Barkilara watches every nook and cranny, every muscle flexing, every bit of fat. He has been eating more, drinking more. Ohmrom's fingers twitch in embarrassment, and Barkilara knows he is waiting for another order.

"Touch yourself for me, " he asks, almost breathless, his hand on his own erection. " And know I'm going to be doing the same for you."

Ohmrom's breath hitches, and Barkilara can feel his desire as clear as his own.

"Tell me how."

Barkilara's smile becomes almost sweet.

"However you want me to touch you next time."

Ohmrom nods, frowning slightly. His fingers go to his mouth, trembling with embarrassment, getting them modestly wet (Barkilara would make sure to make it all messier) and lingering a little on his mouth.

"I want to kiss you too," Barkilara admits, and Ohmrom's eyes widen, his smile nervous but strangely… happy.

His hand moves downwards, tracing a couple of scars on his chest. Wet fingers follow the trail to a nipple, gently caressing it, clearly embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

"You love it when I suck on you like that."

Ohmrom nods, taking his time only with his chest. He grows more confident, pinching a nipple softly, and letting out a small sigh.

"You know, I could bury my face in your chest for hours."

That's enough to make Ohmrom almost jump in place. Barkilara worries that he'll come without even getting to the main course, but the experiment is fun nevertheless. He lazily caresses himself, hard as a rock, but still wanting to hold himself together, waiting for the moment of Ohmrom's bliss.

"You're acting strange today."

Barkilara rolls his eyes.

"Can't a devil want to corrupt his host in peace?"

Ohmrom chuckles, and it's different from the devil from earlier. It's fresh, almost loving.

"I want you a lot, too."

It's a small confession, but both of them take everything they can get. Barkilara pictures himself bending him over, burying his face in his shoulder and nape, going down on him at his own pace. He is sure that Ohmrom can feel it, because he lets out a sound, his hand actually moving downwards.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that on my own."

He can, but Barkilara isn't about to show him the wonders of sex toys. Not yet, at least. He keeps some of his fantasies private, for the moment, until the human can mentally take it without fainting.

He does wonder how and why he doesn't faint, because his sexual frustration is so evident it makes him feel dizzy, mad that he cannot bury his whole body into him, lick every drop of sweat. He follows Ohmrom’s hand as it goes down, the trail of hair that descends from his belly button making him picture himself between his legs, following that trail with his mouth.

“You look so good, ” he murmurs. “ Like a goddamn treat.”

Ohmrom lets out a chuckle, and it’s partially in disbelief, but Barkilara can feel his pride. He can feel his chest expanding, his cock harder even without touching it, leaking slightly.

“If I was there, I’d lick you clean.”

That’s enough to send a spark down Ohmrom’s spine.

“If you keep talking to me like that, this is going to be the shortest session we have ever had.”

Barkilara grins, sharp teeth everywhere in Ohmrom’s mind.

“Do you think I’d feel offended? That would just be proof of how much and how deeply you belong to me.”

Ohmrom says nothing, his frown not out of annoyance or anger, but to keep himself under control, focused on the task. Sometimes, Barkilara forgets that the man was actually bound to be a paladin, but destiny had other plans.

“Are you taking care of yourself?” Ohmrom asks instead, in probably the cutest way to ask him if he is just looking or actually jerking off too.

“Don’t worry about that. For now, watching you is more than enough.”

Ohmrom makes a sound, his hand around himself without a second thought, and Barkilara drinks from the sensation with hunger, touching himself too.

“Take it easy, boy ,” he reminds him, knowing how often he doesn’t even enjoy it, wanting to be done with it as soon as possible. “ Think I’m the one doing it.”

Ohmrom’s voice sounds almost scared when he speaks up, so, so quiet that Barkilara actually has to hear him from the inside. From where he cannot hide from him.

“I always do.”

It's enough to make Barkilara's insides burn, his desire so evident that it must feel overwhelming to the poor, not so fragile human.

"Believe me, if I was there…"

Ohmrom's pace is slow but firm, his thoughts about Barkilara, about his hands, no matter the body, about his confidence, his encouraging words. He whispers something incoherent, and Barkilara still keeps whispering, that it's fine, that he is good. Ohmrom stops for a second, so overwhelmed he keeps shaking, his thoughts and feelings so intense and all over the place that Barkilara has to have at least some compassion.

"Just like that. Explore your body, and let yourself feel it. If you need me to stop, I'll stop."

The human just sighs, so hard that it must hurt, and Barkilara feels his words before he even utters them.

"I want… I want you inside so bad. I'm sorry, I know it's…"

Fuck, he really is going to have talk to him about sex toys, isn't he.

"Next time, when you have another little puppet for me. Under your terms."

Ohmrom's smile is tiny, but it's definitely there.

"When we are together… my mind stops. My body takes control, sometimes. It scares me."

He has felt it, the way his rational thoughts shut down. The way he lets himself feel, be taken care of, taking everything Barkilara gives him eagerly, until exhaustion overtakes him and it's just clarity, the calm after his bliss peaking.

How could Barkilara not be addicted to a feeling like that?

"I'm not going to do anything to you that you are not okay with."

"I know. I… I trust you with that."

He really shouldn't. It isn't in his blood not to take advantage of him, not to take more than he is allowed to. Still, he tries. He has felt his sadness, he has felt his disappointment, his betrayal. He prefers his euphoria, his frenzy. The way he kills when it's righteous, when he is angry and needs to take it out. The way he moans, loud, when Barkilara does something especially nice, Ohmrom's legs on his shoulders, comfortable and yet…

"That's teasing…" Ohmrom complains, and Barkilara was probably thinking so hard about it that he sent the image to his mind. No way he's going to tell him it was an accident, though.

"Do something about it, then. Use your fingers."

He doesn't need to be told twice. To Barkilara, that's one of the best sights in the world, and one of his biggest victories. Playing with his ass needs time, patience, and allowing himself to relax, which is something Ohmrom never does willingly. Seeing him so excited about it is a good thing.

Strong muscles tense when he kneels, and Barkilara can see everything from his eyes, the way he sucks on his own fingers, coating them with saliva, probably because he doesn't have any kind of lube on him at the moment.

"You look so good when you kneel… " the devil teases, his own hand moving slowly, just engraving the image into his brain. " I'm almost jealous of everyone that has seen you pray. Makes me want to take your soul from them even more."

Ohmrom shivers, a finger pressed into his rim, breathing down like he has been taught, forcing his muscles to relax. He caresses the skin with mere curiosity, and he bites his lip just in time not to let out a sigh.

"Careful ," and it's not just advice, but a warning. " Are you going to deny me the pleasure of hearing you losing your mind while you fuck yourself? Thinking about me?"

He can almost feel him gulp.

"Sorry."

Barkilara sighs, the human's insecurities a big handicap he still has to deal with.

"What's so bad about enjoying it? Does your stupid religion teach you anything but how to feel guilty about absolutely everything?"

He feels Ohmrom's rage, mixed with something else. He likes degradation, but his religion is a sore subject. Barkilara knows better, or at least, he should.

"It just… enrages me that you feel bad about what we do, sometimes. Wanting is something all beings do."

Ohmrom relaxes, his body tired, but equally determined. Still a little bit defensive about a matter that shouldn’t really be that difficult.

"I'm working on it."

"I know. And know that my people also frown upon what we are doing. But nobody is going to take you from me, you hear me?."

A smile appears on human lips, and for a second, nobody says anything.

"I take I'm feeding you well, then."

Barkilara snorts, and fuck, he wants to kiss that warm mouth and make it his.

"Oh, you give me way more than whatever I could think of when we made our pact."

He doesn’t apologize. He never does. Devils don’t apologize unless it’s to someone higher in rank, and even with that, it hurts their pride. So he does the only thing he knows to do. To be honest, way more honest than his human can be.

“I just want you to enjoy it as much as you can.”

This time, Ohmrom relaxes completely, his smile a little crooked when Barkilara keeps whispering into his ear, so low he could mistake it for a wandering thought, but he knows better. He feels the devil’s joy, his approval, when he circles his ass with careful movements, closing his eyes and letting himself exhale, still not a moan, but better than before.

“Thinking about my tongue, huh? I love to do that to you. I love the way you hold my head because you don’t want me to stop.”

Ohmrom does moan at that, at his words, giving himself a couple of seconds to relax before a finger goes in, probably sensing that he would come way too soon if he just kept listening. Saliva is, of course, not a good substitute for lube, so his expression is uncomfortable as he slowly fingers himself, stretching himself a little.

“If it’s too much…”

“Not enough,” Ohmrom corrects him, his breath uneven. “I want you. Onir , I want you…”

“Believe me, if I could, you wouldn’t feel lonely ever again. Not a single night.”

Ohmrom shivers, his eyes still closed. The discomfort becomes less overwhelming, and he slowly adds a second finger, still listening to him.

“What would you do?” he asks, his voice trembling, a strike of bravery in his little heart. Barkilara cherishes it, feeling the blood pumping through it.

“I would fuck that little body of yours, drink from you and leave you dry.”

The human tenses, his neglected cock twitching as he whines in desperation.

“Would you like that, my little pet?”

He knows he is pushing him too hard, his emotions bubbling, sweat and blush making his skin as tempting as a ripe fruit.

“... Yes.”

It’s worth it, anyways.

“Good. Now start fucking yourself with those fingers of yours. Give me a good show.”

He knows that his legs hurt, the posture not optimal, but so, so goddamn beautiful Barkilara catches himself touching himself faster, enthralled. Poisoned by the sight.

“Curl your fingers ,” he suggests, almost breathless. Ohmrom obeys almost immediately, his movements a little slow, but still quicker than he is used to. It must burn, Barkilara can almost feel it, but he still doesn’t stop, maybe trying to emulate the feeling of being stretched wide by him. “ That’s it. Attaboy.”

His words are interrupted by a moan, louder than before, and the human repeats the movement, his legs shaking in the process, the feeling so intense it reaches Barkilara’s brain, a growl escaping his mouth even before his hand moves.

“Touch yourself. Fuck , touch yourself. I want to see you come.”

He fears that his words are enough to push the human over the edge, but luckily enough, they don’t. He pumps himself with his free hand, and the devil can feel that he is close, struggling to even breathe, moans that feel so desperate that he wants to either put an end to that misery, or keep him toeing over the edge forever. He keeps looking, his own hand faster, breathing down, deeply, even if he doesn’t really have to.

“You… close?” Ohmrom manages to pronounce, his brain muddled with so many emotions and sensations, the cold air around him, but still knowing that he is not alone.

“Yeah,” Barkilara answers, breathless, because he is, because he is indeed getting a good show, his little human so devoted to him, so eager to receive everything he can give him.

Ohmrom smiles, and it’s almost a little smug. Almost proud, another part of him shining through his cracks. The devil loves every single detail, every part of his.

“You’re beautiful… ” he whispers, and Ohmrom blushes, hard, the string that keeps his brain and body together snapping, his orgasm so strong he almost falls, his whole body shaking, ragged breaths coming from his mouth. His hair, long and a little disheveled, has become a mess, sweat making it stick to his forehead, unraveled like a wild beast. “ Fuck, that’s it, you’re so fucking…”

He growls, saving the sight in his brain, keeping it for future needs, so, so frustrated with his previous encounter that his orgasm is almost violent. He spills himself all over his stomach, but he doesn’t really give a flying fuck, because his human is smiling, a ragged chuckle taking his hair out of his face.

“Was it good?” he asks, and Barkilara knows what he really wants to ask if he was good. He decides to give him what he wants.

“Perfect. You were perfect. How do you feel?”

“ Perfect ,” Ohmrom echoes, and Barkilara can feel his pain, but he also feels the way his muscles relax, so spent, his body and mind grateful for the experience. “I don’t know if I can move, though.”

“Rest, then. You know I always have my eye on you.”

Ohmrom chuckles like a teenager in love, and Barkilara strangely finds it endearing. A dark thought that he has had many, many times, emerges from his psyche, and this time, he decides to swallow his pride and just say it.

“Will there be a place for me… ” he starts, uncharacteristically unsure. “ ... when you find someone to give you the life you want?”

A peaceful life. Drinking hot cocoa with his husband, and a myriad of cats. He doesn’t really fit in there, does he?

“If I find someone,” Ohmrom answers, his voice sweet like honey. “You’re still going to be in my life. In my heart. In my bed. That doesn’t have to change, if you don’t want it to.”

Barkilara smiles, relieved. No, even if he does get to feel a little jealous, he doesn’t want that to change. He doesn’t want anything to change.

“You like big ones, ” he says, matter-of-factly. “ It would be my pleasure to have my way with you in such a body.”

“Then I would be glad to offer myself to the two loves of my life.”

It sounds weird as soon as he says it, and the way he blushes makes Barkilara roar in laughter.

“You really have no sense of self preservation, do you?”

Ohmrom’s expression is mortified, afraid of having said something that has ruined the mood. Unbeknownst to him, it’s kind of the opposite.

“You… Do you feel disgusted by it?”

Barkilara looks up to the ceiling, being asked probably the easiest and also most difficult question he has ever answered. He thinks about his previous partner, about how it was physically impossible for him to focus on them, his mind plagued with pretty humans with pretty scars, with the warmest eyes.

“Of course not. Far from it.”

That’s everything he says, but it seems to be a win for Ohmrom. A smile goes back to his features, and everything is fine again.

“That’s… that’s great.”

He lets himself fall to the bed, and Barkilara does the same, the ceiling so strangely, goddamn interesting suddenly.

“Your soul still belongs to me, though. The pact still stands.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Their awkward moment gets interrupted by a very polite knock on Ohmrom’s bedroom. The kind of politeness that augurs a painful encounter, but Ohmrom still gets up, his legs wobbly, putting some pants on and quickly cleaning himself with the sheets before going to the door.

When he opens it, he sees nobody at first, but he looks down, and there’s that pink, tiefling girl. Not like the violet one they used to know. This one is wearing a dark nightgown, and even without makeup, her features look sharp and tired.

“I have been hearing you moan for a while, but I wanted to be polite,” she says with that elegant accent of hers, dark eyes blinking in what’s most likely sleepiness. “I get that you are having fun, but can you… how do you say it… fuck less noisy?”

Barkilara lets out a laugh that contrasts with Ohmrom’s pale face.

“I… we…”

“I didn’t hear any other voice, though. Just you. And you were talking to someone,” she continues, her voice a little absent. He probably woke her up. “That, or you are amazing at pretending not to be alone.”

Barkilara whispers into her brain, in Infernal, loud so Ohmrom can hear him too, because he feels like watching the world burn that night. He deserves that kind of fun.

“As you may suspect, he is rarely alone.”

It’s her turn to get pale as a ghost, which goes strangely well with the kind of clothes she wears.

“ Bon… Well… I… I’ll see you around then.”

And like that, she flees, her paleness becoming a deep blush that makes her look like a little, blooming flower.

Ohmrom closes the door, still speechless. His legs shake until he manages to get inside the bed, screaming into his pillow just a second later.

Barkilara sighs, relaxing in his own bed. A well spent evening, alright.

#my stuff #dnd #ohmrom von allmen #barkilara #ohmrilara

[demonslayedher]

I lost a bet to myself and paid the price by making another demon sibling AU. Was originally just going to be headcanons and doodles, but I wound up writing the parts I felt like. The names of Tengen's siblings are entirely made up. This will come in two parts due to length.

Clicking each bone in his spine, Yogen stood to his full height, taller than Tengen remembered. It wasn't uncommon to go long periods of time without seeing his siblings when they were on their own missions, but Yogen shouldn't had changed that much. "I'll spare you. It wouldn't do for the Uzui clan not to have a head. Now you're the strongest one."

"...Yogen..."

"I wouldn't had been able to take you on, if not for the fact that you'd never have done it if you knew. You should thank me, Aniki. You know what I've spared you? Father was going to make us all have a fight to the death. You'd have done at least half of this."

"What have you done!?"

"I ate them," he laughed, something Tengen had never heard Yogen do in his adult voice. He had the most infectious laugh when they were children, and this rang with the same pleasure, however dissonant. "I was stunned too, at first. When I came to, I had eaten two of them, they were still warm in my mouth, their cells already nourishing mine. But you know what? I decided to eat the others. I was going to kill them anyway, what difference does it make that I should eat them?"

Tengen's face pearled back into a snarl, his eyes flaring.

"One, two, three... Eizen got away before I could bite him, though. That whelp would had done nothing for me. The one I really wanted to eat was the strongest," he said, his glowing white eyes shifting down to their father's fresh corpse. "And now, even he's nothing to me."

Tengen could stand no more of this. "Yogen!!" he screamed and gripped one of the swords at his back, and charged at Yogen all in one motion. A hard sickle burst out of the flesh of Yogen's arm and caught it, but when Tengen pulled his other sword down through Yogen's shoulder and chest, the sound of ripping sinews what different than it should had been. A look over to the injury revealed that the shoulder was repairing itself before Tengen's eyes. When had he learned any technique like that?

The momentary lapse in focus caught him, Yogen swiped up against Tengen's forearm. It felt too varied to had been spiked knuckles--those were his fingertips, he had grown claws. Tengen drew a sword up to lop off Yogen's forearm, and then his brother let out a shrill scream as his features lit up and revealed how contorted they had become. Yogen didn't look human anymore with how his veins bulged and burned. Burned? From what? Tengen took a look over his shoulder to the sun rising and casting light through the wide open door, and when he looked back, Yogen was gone.

---

Tengen watched the flames consume the house and the bodies of his slain family. He had combed it for any trace of Yogen, but his brother left none. Hope though he did that the flames may consume Yogen too, he knew in his gut that he was still out there.

Behind him, Suma sneezed in a gust of smoke that wafted into her face. Hinatsuru handed her a handkerchief, as she and Makio were already covering their faces in case of poison. Tengen didn't bother, he was resistent to most ninja poisons, and the scratches down his forearm were already less swollen. "You three should go back to your homes."

"No!" insisted Suma.

"We're already members of the Uzui clan," said Hinatsuru.

"Your revenge is ours," added Makio.

Hinatsuru made the most important point, they were already seen as his property. He could hear whispers and feel them all being watched; the other ninja clans knew what had befallen the most powerful family, and the Uzui name was now shunned. Even if Tengen wanted to stay, he had no place in the village, and neither did anything that belonged to him. The only thing left for him now was to track his brother down and drag him to hell.

Someone else was approaching, and Tengen reached for one sword. Uneven footsteps. One didn't have the splat of a foot, it was the thunk of wood--a cane, or two canes? A leisurely, but determined pace. Self-assuredness, even for entering ninja territory. A robust heartbeat. Who was coming?

"Well, is that what you all look like? I feel like I've wandered into one of those storybooks," said an old man. He had one missing leg, a full head of hair and moustache to rival it, a grin, and a telltale scar lining the underside of his left eye. "I had always left your kind alone, but I couldn't when I felt the presence of a demon over here."

"Who are you?" Tengen asked, stetching one arm before his wives while the other hand stayed at his weapon.

"You didn't chop its head off, did you, ninja boy? It's long gone by now, you know. It'll hide from daylight. Be even more trouble to find if it's one of your folk."

"How do you know about us?" Makio shot back.

"How do you children not know about demons? Aye," the old man huffed to himself as he set down a stool he carried. He planted his rump on it, then folded his arms. "The name's Kuwajima Jigoro, former Roaring Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corp. I figured this would be out of your expertise, so I've come to help."

Tengen felt in his gut he could trust that. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head, his wives all doing likewise behind him. Jigoro seemed to enjoy that, but insisted they do not. Instead of bowing, he'd appreciate the ladies rubbing his shoulders to display their gratitude, he said.

While Hinatsuru and Makio set about at each arm, Suma kneeled at his remaining foot with a gasp. "Aren't old people not supposed to be this beefy?"

"Can it, Suma!" chided Makio.

Hinatsuru said nothing, but could feel something was different in this man, not only in his physique. Whatever he had to say was going to change their lives more than the previous night already had. They all listened carefully as Jigoro orated about the existence of demons, how they eat humans, how they are near impossible to kill, but also the methods of those who hunt them, with specialized blades and an organization to support them. As he began describing Breath, however, Tengen stopped him. "I already know all that, that's ninjutsu basics. That's not giving me anything I don’t already have."

"Oh? I figured as much. Always made me curious about you pups. So you you've got the basics of Breath technique, huh?"

"It's beyond basic," he shot him an annoyed frown.

"I'll be the judge of that. See that tree over there? That's probably about the strength of the usual demon neck. Go hog wild on it." As much as showing off was against the ninja code, Tengen wasn't in the mood to argue and made short work of that tree, the only sound being the pop of it seperating into two halves. Jigoro gave him a clap, then stood with his cane. "Good accuracy. Spot on. Now you pick one out for me. Take some mercy, though, I'm only working at half-strength." He balanced on his foot and his peg, plopping the end of his cane in his palm to show off that he meant to use it in place of a sword. Tengen hated when other people tried to be show-offs, so he pointed to a tree a few rings thicker than the one he had cut.

The old man eyed it, then slid his good foot through the dirt, and as he leaned forward, clouds of steam rose from his lips. "Breath of Thunder, Fifth Form. Heat Lightning."

The sound hit Tengen so hard that he covered his ears, and the old man was gone--on the other side of the tree, which was not only cleanly chopped, but split itself in half vertically as it fell. A rarity, Tengen's jaw dropped. Jigoro looked back with a fierce grin, knowing he'd have left them all impressed.

Rather than one knee, Tengen planted his palms and face to the ground. "Please teach me this technique, Master."

"When did I ever say I wanted a student like you? You already said you know Breath technique, don't you?"

"You won't teach him?" Suma sat straight up, little tears in the corners of her eyes.

"I only want students with talents I can mold. You're already set your ways and would just try to make Thunder Breathing into what you want. You can't fill a full tea cup, as they say."

Tengen wanted to insist he's do anything to take his revenge, but the old man was right. As he was, he wouldn't be able to unlearn everything he always knew, it was as much a part of him as every experience and memory, like every scar, such as the ones running down his left arm.

"The true nature of Thunder Breathing would escape you, you'd get too caught up in how powerful it looks. You're too flashy!"

His cheeks flushed. "Say that again."

"You're too... flashy? I don't think a ninja should find that a compliment."

"You can't tell him all that and then not train him!" insisted Makio. "Please! There's got to be something you can do! Tengen-sama works really hard!"

"Tengen-sama works harder than anyone!"

"Please, Master. Tengen-sama can think flexibly, please give him a chance."

"I won't! I can already tell he's not the sort of student I'm looking for!" he barked back, and Suma burst out into sobs, while Hinatsuru hid delicate tears and Makio's face turned dark red. Jigoro flinched at the sight of the upset girls, then looked back to Tengen. "I--I didn't come out here to leave you high and dry, you know. I already told you about the Corp, didn't I? That's where you really need to go. I can't teach you Thunder Breathing, but if you really think you can pick up something new, there's an old scroll I've got of an off-shoot Breath. Someone like you might be able to pull it off. What do you say, ninja boy? How about I give that to you and you teach yourself Sound Breathing?"

---

From there, Tengen took much the same course as in canon. When he became a Pillar and had his meeting with Oyakata-sama, he was upfront about his reasons for entering the Corp. Oyakata-sama appreciated his frankness and assured him that the entire Corp would support him if they found any information on Yogen, but Oyakata-sama was also keen on the undercurrent of Tengen's heart; that he was relieved to leave the murderous ways of ninja, and that he wanted to live an upright life. This finally gave words to something Tengen always felt, but thought he had no right to wish for. He and his wives were moved and they swore loyalty to Oyakata-sama.

However, as time went on, there were no clues whatsoever about Yogen. Around the time they all got antsy, Makio finally couldn't stand it anymore and suggested they may never find him. "Think about it," she said. "This Corp is full of strong swordsmen. Someone might had already chopped off his head long before we got here."

While that should had come as a relief, Tengen couldn't help but find the idea frustrating. That revenge was his to take. He could think of only one person stronger than him who might had done it, so he described Yogen to Himejima one day and asked if he remembered seeing a demon like that. Himejima plainly replied that he was blind.

As they began to accept that they may never have closure, Hinatsuru proposed that they be satisfied bagging an Upper Moon. That should be enough for them to earn their peace, she said, and as much as it grinded away at Tengen's heart, he agreed.

In the course of performing Tengen's Pillar duties, they closed in on what was likely an Upper Moon in Yoshiwara. Hinatsuru, Makio, and Suma slipped in, but when he lost contact, Tengen went looking for some female Corp members to sneak in and see what was up. That's when he reencountered the boy whose head he meant to spill at the last Pillar meeting, as well as his two annoying buddies. Inosuke would had been satisfyingly flamboyant, if not for the fact that he was gross. The other whelp was named Zenitsu.

"You write that 'Zen' with the kanji for virtue?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Nothing," Tengen replied, never saying anything of it ever again. It didn't take long for him to notice that Zenitsu had ears on par with his own.

The boys managed to get in, and soon the plan went awry. Tengen's first encounter with an Upper Moon broke out, and that went awry in the most horrifically flamboyant of ways. Tengen found himself unconscious, needing to stop his heart to keep the demon poison from spreading, as it was many times more potent than any ninja or demon poison he encountered before. There was fire in the wreckage nearby, he'd be consumed if he doesn't move soon. In the odd space where consciousness was returning to him, his hearing reached into a deeper plain, where he could hear the most carnal thoughts pounding though the bodies of those around him.

Tanjiro was panicking.

No scent! No scent! Upper Moon Five--where did--but--no scent! No scent!!

Tengen could hear Upper Moon Six, in both bodies, but he couldn't hear any other demon. It gave off no sound. He struggled to look in Tanjiro's direction, and was stunned by the sight of a demon partway sticking out of the shadow Tanjiro has cast, guarding Upper Moon Six with a kunai stuck in his arm.

"Sakage!" growled Upper Moon Six. That is not the demon's name. "I don't need you here! Were you intruding on my thoughts?"

"I didn't need to. I heard the cacophony from ages away. You wouldn't had seen wisteria coming anyway."

Upper Moon Six looked to the kunai, while Tanjiro panicked that the poison had no effect on the newly arrived demon.

"Quit with all the fuss. I'd appreciate it if you hurry up and silence that Pillar over there," he turned his glance to Tengen. His eyes had writing in them, but that was Yogen. "I can't be bothered."

Yogen disappeared into the shadow as suddenly as he appeared, and Tanjiro fell forward with a stumble. He'd be a sitting duck like that, Tengen had to go save him, he pushed himself off the ground to--but--but his arm was missing--the scars were torn off-----

---

Yogen had been quick to learn some of the ins and outs of being a demon, but not all the finer details. He gathered from the surrounding demons' fear of the drum demon that the "Twelve Moons" were the most fearsome demons, closest to their progenitor, but didn't those other demons notice that the drum demon couldn't stomach humans as he ate them? That demon was weak, and Yogen wouldn't stand for it. He cut off his head.

It did not kill the demon, who screamed at him with the characters "Lower Six" in one of his eyes, but he shut up quick when Kibutsuji Muzan arrived. Despite warning Yogen that this was not how fights between demons were done and he should kill Yogen for acting without permission, Muzan smilingly decided to allow it, and instructed him to absorb the former Lower Moon Six and assume his role. Muzan did not care for how Yogen's name referenced sunlight, though. He renamed him Sakage on a whim.

Sakage went on to learn very quickly how to please Muzan, and how to climb the ranks. While not immune, he could resist wisteria poison, which Muzan was more than pleased to borrow from him and see how he could try to adopt it into his own cells. Sakage could move between connected shadows, and in spying on the Corp, he picked up on the hand signs the swordsmen used and quickly deciphered them, and openly reported so to the demons that outranked him. With hearing far more advanced that his brother's ever was, he listened to the information shared between crows, piecing apart their language to the best of his understanding.

Lower Moons Three and Two later, he used his spying abilities to identify his next target: Upper Moon Five.

Gyokko was startled by the challenge, and under Muzan's gaze, he could not refuse. Sakage made short work of him, and the other Moons all felt a chill. Akaza's chill was excitement.

Akaza wasted no time in chatting up the new Upper Moon, for Sakage likewise had a stated hatred for weaklings. While Sakage did find it a bit of a bother, especially since he knew he was a long way from ever being able to pose a real challenge to Akaza, he learned that the quickest way to stop Akaza from pestering him was to spar. Akaza loved to chit-chat even while sparring, though, and this became a useful way for Sakage to catch up on a hundred years of gossip about the other Upper Moons.

While it did feel they had somewhat of a friendship, one day they got on the topic of poison. "I hate people who use poison," said Akaza, between punches. "It's as cowardly and low as you can get."

Sakage, who could create a myriad of weapons from his cells as needed and always laced them in poison, was not offended, but disagreed. "I see no problem in being effective."

This gave Akaza pause, and an uncomfortable drop in his stomach. He excused himself, and bothered Sakage not so often after that.

Muzan was typically pleased with Sakage, which made Hantengu tremble that the ambitious demon had it out for him next. When Muzan was in a foul mood after Upper Moon Six's defeat, Sakage was likewise in a bad mood for the annoyance he encountered out there, someone who should had stayed hidden away instead of bearing free his inherently show-offy personality by joining the Demon Slayer Corp, especially since he was sure to have his ears set to the ground now for any new sign of him. He was certain Tengen witnessed him. But, for as much of an insult as it was to the Upper Moons that Gyutaro let him live, Tengen wouldn't be much of a threat anymore.

Still, Sakage knew to keep his cool. He had news to report, and he was certain of his deciphering. When he declared where the swordsmith village was located, Muzan had no doubts, and sent Hantengu alone. "Now why couldn't you find that, after all this time?" Muzan smirked to Nakime. She, not being of any rank, could merely apologize. Sakage took no pleasure or pride in looking better than a peer whom he knew he was stronger than. Muzan's mood could never be sustained for long, though, and he very soon frowned back to him. "You've brought no word of the blue spider lily."

"My apologies."

"Aren't ninja supposed to have knowledge of these things? Weren't you of a high ranking clan? Go back and order them to search."

And, at that moment, a dangerous thought escaped Sakage's inner filter, it leaked though to his mind at the same moment it leaked to Muzan's: But I can't show my face back there.

The way Muzan's face bent with disgust drove more terror into Sakage than when he was still a human and first encountered the demon lord. He felt certain of a swift death, but Muzan let him be. Sakage was still too useful. But, Sakage knew he'd have to crawl back to Muzan's graces by providing something of more use to him. He had to unveil a secret of more value.

--

Tengen, who remained active despite missing an eye and a hand, was present at an emergency Pillar meeting. Tokito and Kanroji were bandaged up, and they recounted how the swordsmith village was attacked by Upper Moon Four. With two Pillars and a few other reliable Corp members all working together they defeated him well before daybreak, but not before discovering an ancient ability known only as "the mark."

As he was now, Tengen knew he'd never attain this. What bothered him more was how the demons found the village, so hidden that he'd have to put his mind to it to have figured out where it was. He could had resorted to old tricks to figure it out, whether that be silently tracking the smiths after their deliveries or flirting with the Kakushi, but what recourse would a demon have had?

'I heard the cacophony----'

A demon may have had ears that rivaled his own, or were better!

Feeling sure of which demon it may had been, he set to thinking of what he would do next. If the demon moved in shadow, listening for the Corps' secrets, what would be a bigger target than the swordsmith village?

Oyakata-sama!

"Uzui-san, are you alright?" asked Himejima. "You seem quiet today."

"You look pale," added Kanroji.

"I'm jealous I won't get one of those flashy marks," he lief without flaw. "We all know I can't take any demons on like I used to. Maybe I don’t belong here."

"Uzui, what sort of talk is that?" Iguro looked to him with his flamboyant dichromatic eyes wide, and brows knit tight over them. "This isn't like you."

"I've got a different sort of mission to go on, I'll see myself out. You all stay here and keep each other company discussing this."

"Then I'll excuse myself here as well--"

"Not you, you've got no excuse," Uzui forced Tomioka back to a seated position by pressing on his head.

In conducting his own investigation, Tengen set his crow to work investigating from the sky. What the crow learned, tracing a few leaks and scolding the birds involved, was that their mid-air communications may had been what spoiled the secret location. This confirmed Tengen's suspicion about Yogen's hearing. He had a feeling about some other spoiled secrets too, and in following up with Corp members involved in previous mishaps, he concluded that the secret hand signals had been divulged.

--

(Read the conclusion reblog here.)

#please reblog from the conclusion post thx #tw blood #tw violence #tw cannibalism

[dr3amofagame]

originally i just wanted dream to recover, preferably in the syndicate. but after today's quackity lore? he deserves to fuck shit up for a bit. let him get his revenge. tommy got his revenge on dream, techno got his revenge on l'manberg, dream deserves to get revenge on quackity and sam! then he can recover after that lol

(context: ask was sent on march 16th and i am very. very late.)

but YEAH !! logic brain says revenge bad and cycle of violence will continue BUT emotion brain wants c!dream to go crazy go stupid !! go beat them up honey we’ll be here with juice boxes and fruit snacks when you’re done <3 

i wrote this while looping casino royale by derivakat for (checks time) something like 12 hours straight so uhh,,, yeah LMAO have some of c!dream going apeshit bc honestly he deserves it (/hj)

tw: implied torture, abuse, mentioned injuries, suicide, murder, explosions, death, violence, dark portrayals of c!dream, c!quackity, and c!sam, emotional distress, prison arc, pandora’s vault

Sam is uneasy long before he enters Las Nevadas - Quackity’s terse, serious-sounding string of texts he’d woken up to had sent his heart racing before the country even came into sight, and he’s pretty sure the pit in the middle of his gut since Dream escaped a week ago won’t disappear until the prisoner is either jailed or dead at his feet. Still, the city hardly does his anxiety any favors - each step within its limits feels a bit more like walking to his own death, the silent storefronts and looming, boarded up casino seeming to watch his every move, making him pick up his pace to move a little faster and avoid their judging gazes.

Stuck in his head as he is, it’s not until he’s halfway to the meeting place that he realizes how eerily quiet the place is - Las Nevadas has yet to be a particularly busy country with the casino yet to open and their recruits usually doing their own thing in the meantime, but still there’s usually at least one of them lingering on the city grounds, between Fundy’s work on his yacht and Foolish’s construction and whatever Slime does, usually involving an immense amount of following Quackity’s every move. The city as it right now feels much more like when it had been no more than a secret of his and Quackity, months spent with just the two of them working to make Big Q’s vision a reality. There’s something uniquely unnerving about it, like stepping into a ghost town, and Sam’s unease only grows.

“Sam!” Quackity calls from the base of the casino - Sam shades his eyes from the sun as he jogs over. Even from this far, it’s clear Q is displeased - his lips are flat in a small frown, skin taut from where the corner of his mouth is pulling at his scar. His tie is slightly askew and shirt rumpled - he looks disheveled, eyebrows narrowed irritatedly as he taps at something on his communicator. Sam smiles slightly, hollow.

“Hello Quackity,” he responds simply, drawing his trident and bringing it to his side. “You said we needed to meet?”

“Yeah,” Quackity’s voice is distracted, and he mumbles a curse as he jams his finger particularly hard against the communicator screen. “What is up with everyone today? They sent me these- weird fucking messages  and then we get here and nobody’s here-”

“Who?” Sam’s lips press together. “You mean like- Fundy? Or Foolish?” They seem to be the ones that Quackity got messages from most frequently, if he remembers right. He doesn’t know for sure - usually, Quackity handles the social side of managing Las Nevadas.

“Fundy, Purpled, Foolish, Slime-” Quackity makes a vague, affronted noise. “All of them! Where the hell are they?”

Sam pauses.

“Q, when did Slime learn to use a communicator?”

“That’s the green one, right?” Both of them freeze, whirling around to the voice behind them, seeing nothing but the empty, arched doorway of the still-locked casino. “Naïve. Easy to fool.” The voice pauses, barks a sharp, quiet laugh. “Made my job easy, at least.”

The voice is familiar- too familiar. Sam doesn’t think he’ll ever get that cadence out of his head, not after months after months spent in the prison, hearing it in every possible tone and form. Quackity’s shoulders are hunched up to his ears, teeth bared in a snarl.

“Dream- I fucking swear- where the hell are you?”

“Aw, not so brave when the other person can actually fight back, are we?” Dream’s voice is lilting, mocking, and Sam’s hands tighten on the trident. “Fine, I’ll show myself. I’m not like you- no need to extend this game any longer than necessary.”

Dream slinks out from the shadows, wearing all black and covered in netherite armor, seeming fiddling with a small, grey thing in one hand. HIs stance is wide, torso pulled close to the ground - instead of a mask, his outfit includes a hooded black cloak that pulls down over his face, barely offering a glimpse of his eye glaring from underneath it.

“I’m giving you three seconds to tell me why the hell you’re in my country,” Quackity growls, sword forming in his hand, blade still crusted over with old blood, “And I’ll make your death half as painful as it’ll be otherwise.”

Dream laughs, high-pitched and unstable. “Please- what are you gonna do with that thing?” Quackity stalks forward with a low, wordless yell and Sam only barely manages to snag him back by the wrist.

“Watch it, Q,” Sam mutters, looking closer. Sure enough, there’s a faint, reddish haze rising from Dream’s body, only barely visible, interspersed with some lighter blue wisps. Strength and Speed. “He’s got potions.”

“Outmatched, aren’t we?” Dream cocks his head to the side, a tight-lipped smile visible under the hood’s shadow. “What a shame. I was hoping for a good fight.”

Quackity curses at him, loudly, but mullishly stays in place instead of lashing out like earlier, and Sam hisses a small sigh of relief. He looks back over at Dream - under the sun, he looks worse than ever, armor doing little to hide the gaunt edge of his face, limbs skinny and shaking. His hands tremble, wrists kept close together, as he continues to move the thing within them from hand to hand, small and grey and smooth from what he can tell in flashes between scarred and calloused fingers. He’s still favoring his left side slightly, but his eyes are cold and clear as they follow his every movement, clearly lucid and intelligent. Unfortunately for them, Dream is the best of fighters at the worst of times, and he has no doubt that with potions on his side and themselves relatively unprepared for battle, any fight with him won’t go particularly well.

Negotiation it is, then. “Why are you here, Dream?” If they stall long enough, then the rest of the server can come to back them up, and then even Dream won’t be able to fight back for long. He and Quackity can figure out what to do with him once he’s safely back under their control - for now, they have to play things safe. He pulls out his communicator carefully with one hand, trying to avoid drawing attention to his movements. “I doubt you’re here for a housewarming visit.”

Dream waves his hand slightly. “Something like that-” he bares his teeth in a small smile. “How about a housewarming gift, instead?”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Quackity bites, aggressive in a way that speaks of how threatened he feels, and the pit in Sam’s stomach only grows. Dream’s eye seems to glow as he turns and presses his hands to the nearby wall; when he pulls them back, there’s a stone button fastened on the quartz.

“Say, Quackity,” Dream’s voice is too light to be anything but forced levity, rolling his shoulders back to try and hide the way his entire body has begun to shake even more violently than before. “How much TNT do you suppose it took for Wilbur to blow up L’manburg?”

Sam gasps, low and harsh through his teeth, a quiet, breathless no falling from his lips. Quackity’s head shakes, eyes widening in fury and denial.

“No- no what the fuck did you do- Dream what the absolute fuck did you do-”

“Eleven stacks of TNT, to blow up that country to kingdom come.” Dream laughs, directing his wild, manic expression to look them in the eye. “The amount of TNT hooked up to this thing is ten times that.”

“You’re a liar-” Quackity rushes forward, sword raised, “I’m going to fucking kill you-”

Sam grabs him, again, ignoring his yells to look at Dream, who’s still standing, seemingly unruffled, one hand hovering over the button that’ll spell doom for them all.

“That’ll kill all of us,” he tries to reason, panic clawing up his lungs, “You’re on your last life. You can’t-”

“And what, Warden, makes you think I give a single goddamn fuck about that?” Dream’s voice cracks, slightly, and for a moment Sam almost thinks he’ll break, that he can press the point until the other backs down - but Dream is nothing if not stubborn, and within seconds he’s composed himself again, looking at them with a determined set to his jaw that Sam recognizes well enough from Quackity’s visits to know that he won’t back down. “Everyone else is far away from here. I made sure of that. It’s just you, and Quackity, and me, and I’m pressing this button if it’s the last thing I do. Call it a parting shot, will you?”

Sam pulls at Quackity, wrist still locked in his grip. “Q, we have to leave.”

“I’m not letting him destroy this place Sam, are you out of your fucking mind? This- Las Nevadas- it’s everything- I’m not letting him take this place from me not again-”

“He’s going to kill us all, Quackity,” he throws a water bucket at his feet, charging up his trident. The sign taunts him at the edges of the city borders, far too far away for any of them to even hope to reach. “We have to go now-”

“Say your goodbyes,” Dream taunts, and there’s a quiet click. Sam smells the faint, smoky smell of redstone being activated, hears a hum growing in volume from the ground beneath him. He looks over to Dream, who has a hand pressing the button to the wall, fever-bright eyes wide and wet as he stares at his own hand before shutting them with a soft, almost serene smile. “And see you in hell.”

The world goes white.

[Dream was blown up by Dream.]

[Quackity was blown up by Dream.]

[awesamdude was blown up by Dream.]

#-> my writing #my writing :D #my asks !! #-> my asks #tw torture #tw abuse #tw injuries #tw suicide #tw murder #tw explosion #tw death #tw violence #tw emotional distress #prison arc #pandora's vault

[gay-snom]

contextualizing lwj’s coming to terms with his feelings subplot!

i wanna talk about the role of confucianism in this subplot because i think it’s something some western fans might not pick up on. basically, the sociopolitical climate of confucianism in his character arc, and a little bit about his interaction with the public image theme.

disclaimer: i’m not chinese but i do have a double minor in chinese and asian studies and have written a few papers on confucianism.

we’re gonna be talking about the novel bc i feel its a little more in-depth and nuanced than lwj’s “what is black, what is white” monologue in cql. namely the tension and misunderstanding in wwx’s first life and how lwj got his scars. i feel like it’s pretty well accepted that wwx made lwj reconsider his world view, so i’m just gonna expand on it. also i want to point out it's pretty unspoken in most of the text, but lwj is also affected by/used to explore the public image themes, as his image the is ideal confucian scholar.

confucianism is centered around the ideas of how to behave “good” in sociopolitical contexts. basically it boils down to a belief system on how society should be run. if everyone follows confucian beliefs, you will have an ideal society. the main text is the Analects, which you can read here. it’s been around for a few thousand years (like around 200 BCE ish), had a huge revival in the tang dynasty (618-907 CE). it was put on imperial exams, the emperor’s cabinet had confucian scholars, etc. this is just to say confucian values are important to historic society, especially upper-class scholars, which seems to be a role cultivators commonly fill in xianxia. here are some basic tenants:

being a gentleman/scholar/superior man (君子 jūn zǐ) : partly being learned in the arts, literature, music, poetry, etc., mostly behaving righteously and dutifully.

filial piety: usually described as obedience. it's not simply obeying everything elders tell you, it includes doing it with reverence and thankfulness for their sacrifices for you.

leading by example: if leaders/the government is righteous, the people will follow. lwj has his flock of juniors that are all strong cultivators and the lan sect is just generally known for being moral and good.

rites/rituals: a focus on politeness and holding proper ceremonies, sacrifices, and funerals

speech: there’s some great meta about the register he speaks in here, i just want to touch on think carefully before you speak, only speak sincerely, etc.

tldr; lwj is THE perfect gentleman (even his title contains the character suffix 君 -jūn, like lxc. which, while this character is not uncommon for cultivator titles, it wasn’t chosen carelessly either. also not to be confused with 尊 -zūn). seriously, look at almost all of book 10 and you'll see don't do/consume in excess, don't talk during meals, sit only when your mat is straight, etc.

okay, so Why is understanding his feelings for wwx so troublesome?

1.2 "They are few who, being filial and fraternal, are fond of offending against their superiors. There have been none, who, not liking to offend against their superiors, have been fond of stirring up confusion... Filial piety and fraternal submission! - are they not the root of all benevolent actions?"

in other words, people who are filial will never create political tension. so like, morally, wwx should be considered horrible person! he’s not only snubbed the jiang sect. he was a head disciple who undoubtedly had younger students looking up to him. and then he goes and stirs up some huge political issues! he is now a bad role model for the people below him and disrespected the people above him. lwj has an entire image to uphold, he has poured his entire life into following these rules and beliefs, and then wwx comes along. would continuing to be in wwx's life taint lwj? there are some contradicting teachings in regards to interacting with wwx:

15.4: "Do not take counsel with those who follow a different Way"

15.28: "When the multitude hates a person, you must examine them and judge for yourself. The same holds true for someone whom the multitude love."

15.36 "When it comes to being Good, defer to no one, not even your teacher."

this is part of the reason lwj had so much trouble accepting his feelings. he didn’t know how to handle this situation, making him appear distant during/directly after sunshot. if he judges wwx's intentions to be pure, it's then not wrong to be friendly with him. but wwx still is morally wrong by society's standards. now, lwj has to not only figure out his feelings, but also reconcile this with how he still thinks wwx is Not a bad person, despite everything. what if he does get "tainted" by wwx? will it hurt the reputation of his sect? that would be un-filial, right? he spent his whole life memorizing rules that are probably extremely similar to sections in the Analects, and now these mixed messages (coupled with the relatable gay panic) are overwhelming.

onto the next! there’s something unspoken in the scene where wwx discovers why lwj has the whip scars. as other posts have mentioned, lwj taking wwx back to the burial mounds and nursing him is high treason. however, this action is also extremely un-filial. also his entire image is built around being a perfect gentleman, if this were to get out to the public he would lose absolutely everything. he would be just as irreparable as wwx.

“I was worried if those from another sect found you first, WangJi would be considered your accomplice. The best scenario was his name being forever tainted, and the worst was his life being taken away right then. Thus, along with Uncle, we chose thirty three seniors who had always thought highly of WangJi... ”

there’s no way lwj didn’t know what would happen if he did this. obviously as lxc says, if this got out, he would lose basically his entire face. and even though lxc didn’t mention this, it would definitely lose a lot of face for the lan sect as well since lwj is so prominent. the decision about what elders to bring is also notable.

“...As if he knew all along he would be discovered by us, he said that there was nothing to explain, that this was it. Growing up, he had never talked back to Uncle, not even once. But for you, not only did WangJi talk back to him, he even met with his sword the cultivators from the Gusu Lan sect...”

so yeah, he obviously knew they would come for him and what the consequences would be. and he still talked back! that’s already not a good look for the lan sect. but attacking them? totally unforgivable! lwj gives up how he was raised and the importance of filial piety, what he has held on to until this major plot event. since it's basically the biggest "fuck you" to his uncle and his clan, this was not a decision he made lightly. lwj shows them he cares more about wwx and His Own ideas of right and wrong than the sect’s or society’s.

Wei WuXian dug his hands into his hair, “...I-I didn’t know... I really...”

when was the last time wwx was at a loss for words? wwx spends a few paragraphs after this lamenting how he hurt lwj, but he's not unaware of the gravity of what lwj did. it's an underlying assumption from being raised in the culture. i would argue his first instinct is "oh god he gave up what for me?" since those lamenting paragraphs are after lxc finishes speaking.

"But he said... that he could not say with certainty whether what you did was right or wrong..."

this is something thrown around a lot in the Analects, that not even confucius can say for sure what is right or wrong. what better way to show lwj is still a perfect confucian than have him paraphrase confucius himself?

“...WangJi was a model for the disciples when he was young, and a prominent cultivator when he grew up. In his whole life he had been honest and righteous and immaculate--you were the only mistake he made!”

here’s the confirmation that the world and even his family thinks of him as a perfect gentleman, the top tier of society, and it was all thrown away for wwx. this is just so heavy. the mistake thing? thats not only because lwj is fraternizing with an enemy. lxc and the rest of the sect who knew are terrified this will forever corrupt lwj personally, not just publicly. lwj was so devoted to believing this was the right thing to do he offered up everything he had. the gravity of this decision is insane. it’s very obvious that he loves wwx, it’s just that he struggles a lot internally to accept everything that is happening.

as for helping wwx leave after the massacre, is this gentleman-ly of lwj? was it actually in-line with his image? is it more honorable to save someone who is dying, at the cost of your own health, than to look away? isn't looking away a form of resentment? i wasn't able to find a specific passage about bystander-ness, but personally i think it qualifies as "bad intentions." there is also this passage for what it's worth, originally it was about government suppression:

12.19: "...What do you say to killing the unprincipled for the good of the principled?" Confucius replied, "...why should you use killing at all?..."

lwj is always more actions than words, and he was not fucking around. his core beliefs really haven't changed, and remain very strong throughout his life. he is still righteous enough to accept his punishment, graceful enough to search for wwx's body since there was no one else to do the funeral rites (10.22/10.15), caring enough to take in a-yuan, upright enough to still spend his years going where the chaos is.

just with this one action, the audience knows he has come to terms with realizing that authority isn't always just, and neither is the public opinion/opinion of other gentlemen. he has reconciled. this is him standing for what he believes is right. this is his devotion. this is his own choice. just. poetic cinema...

anyway that's it for my first meta post! i would love to hear your thoughts, feelings, opinions, discussions, other meta ideas, whatever! thank u for reading! <3

#its My post and i get to pick the subplot #i have...brainworms #wwx and lwj are foils in the public image theme change my mind #mdzs #mdzs meta #lan wangji #mo dao zu shi #stfu #meta