#the real corpse was what we found along the way

[theology101]

Galicaea murdered Cassandra and Sol murdered Ankarna - which is why Kipperlilly Did That

We learned in Revelations and Revivifications (Episode 11 of Season 2) that it was her Clerics from Fallinel who murdered Cassandra. That's just straight up a fact. Now, we don't know exactly what her role in this is but, "As Above, So Below." If Galicaea's top priests are making this move, then Galicaea was down with it.

I've heard a lot of people refer to the wolf aspect as if it was some 'real' version of the faith that's been corrupted. It isn't, it's an Older aspect and its one that Tracker and Co. love a lot more but both of them are a result of worship.

We learned about this 'Last Great Sylvan War' around 900 years ago about the proper way to worship Cassandra. While the High Elves who settled it went with "Erase the goddess - to understand mystery is a heresy," I'm guessing they also heavily influenced the Wood Elf/Non-High Elf variant of Galicaea into being more in line with their version. Obviously a remnant survived in folk religion like with Tracker and other Werewolf communities, her revival reveals that prior to her, there hasn't been any serious challange to Falinel statement.

I think that then Sol started marching North. Gallicaea had claimed Night as hers and hers alone, by deceiving their shy and naive sister and then went to finish the job with Ankarna. But her? No way they could convince Ankarna to kill herself, especially now that her sister was 'dead' (Cassandra technically managed to live via the Quasi-Reality inside of Sylvaire, Kristen more redefined her and allowed her to be alive outside of the Nightmare Forest).

So I think that the Human Priests of Highcourt and the Elves of Fallinel agreed to wipe them out. Sol's paladins burnt their way up the coast and conquered it - we know that the land of Elmville is native Halfling territory, but right next to it is the Mountains of Chaos which was, in my opinion, their true target. Sol wanted the aspects like Conviction, Fire, Rage, Etc. while he gave Helio Summer.

Meanwhile, Ankarna? Her turning Infernal wasn't something done to her, it was something she/her priests did. Why would they do that? Because they're being invaded. The Giants probably took on a more leadership based roll compared to the far less capable to defend themselves Halflings, Goblins, Aaracockra, arguably even Orcs. Turning more and more evil, brutal, and extreme is a result of her being back further and further into a corner. It was a defense of the other races and for her own life.

I think that, while adventuring in the Mountains of Chaos for Spring Break, the Rat Grinders found out about Ankarna's priests and believers being wiped out, maybe one of her ancinet and long forgotten temples. That was it and it would have been it, if Kipperlilly didn't learn about Cassandra. I think her sheer, burning jealousy made her want, above anything else, to bring back a Goddess herself.

And her solution was going to be Lucy Frostblade. And for about two weeks, Ankarna was brought back with Lucy being her sole worshipper. And this is what I think happened next: sweet, kind, Lucy Frostblade's Ankarna wouldn't be the warlike aspect. She'd be like how she was before the Humans and Elves attacked, a kind and loving goddess.

Except there's a problem. There's another worshipper - just one.

Jace Stardiamond, draining power from the corpse of the long dead war goddess.

So, he and Kipperlilly somehow get in contact (my money is through Oisin secretly being a sorceror the whole time and just Acing wizard classes with 0 effort) and together they agree there's only one solution - kill Lucy Frostblade so their version of Ankarna can remain. The High Five Heroes kill Lucy and all begin worhsipping Ankarna (all under the influence of Devil's Honey.) Kipperlilly, Oisin and Mary Anne are all in on it (symbolized by their Blue backgrounds) but Ivy and Rueben refuse to go along with the murder but, since they're not in the way, they're able to be devil's honeyed into not knowing (Symbolized by their red background).

Ivy's weird reaction to Fig? She always 'knew' that Lucy was alive - she's not important to the plan anyways, so she doesn't need to be included. Some random lie is fed to Ivy to explain why Lucy isn't recognized as 'dead.' Reuben though? Kipperlilly can still use Reuben - use him to proselytize and spread the word of Ankarna - so not only does he need to be aware of the details around Lucy's death and all the Ankarna stuff, he also can't know the Ratgrinders killed her. He clearly still thinks highly of her - I think that vomitting the 'blood' in his dream was Fig breaking the Devil's Honey barrier in his mind.

Which is why, as Gertie told us, Kipperlilly ordered two bottles RIGHT after break. They need to keep him in line with the plan.

Jace changed the records in the school so that Yolanda never realized that she switched gods from Ruvina, and used his own spells to fuck with the name and hidden it (clearly there's a difference between the rune on the paper, which no one could read, and the translated version in Fallinel which has been sat for a thousand plus years), and did the same to the body. Yolanda, trusting him as Vice Principal, tells him about her fears, he goes with her into the woods and then instantly kills her in the clearing.

The plan is to take Ankarna from the Dead/Undead form (but now conscious thanks to their efforts) back to being actually alive via a Cleric believing in her.

Of course, in the mean time they need a Cleric. Make him expendable, but still useful. Make the cleric be a Priest of Helio or Sol so that they can kill him, immediately planeshift into Heaven behind him, eliminate his soul and then Oisin and Kipperlilly sneak into the office and bring back the Goddess. In fact, I bet they're gonna fling Buddy Dawn's soul into the void and using the death of a cleric of Helio, Ankarna will return. Killing Buddy was the act of Conquest they needed.

Rueben is obviously in doubt, trying to get help from his Uncle (skipping Forest Animal Murdering and asking for a ride home?), but I think Oisin is in it for the power. Mary Anne is a Kobold, and I think Oisin's Grandma is the dragon her tribe is sworn to so she just follows him around.

I don't think any part of Jace Stardiamond's section of the plan, the bit about the return of Ankarna, has anything to do with Kipperlilly running for preisdent or their quest against the bad kids. Killing Buddy in the Last Stand was just a conveint series of events but as Brennan said in the adventuring party - it looked like killing Buddy was already on the table. That wasn't a freak out move, it was on the agenda, she just wasn't there yet.

For the Presidency, unlike the Ankarna plot where only Oisin and Stardiamond are conspirators, all the Rat Grinders are in on it because they all seem to have personal beef. Except for Oisin and Mary Anne, who seem to be fine with the Bad Kids as a whole, just still on Kipperlilly's team for the race.

For that, Kipperlilly frames the Loams for embezzling, pocketing the money, and then using Ankarna's nightmare king form to kill the Loams when it looked like she was being to thoroughly looked at. Now she has money for both Schemes and the Campaign. Stardiamond tells Reuben to move Frostfaire to the Thistlepsing Tree (just to fuck with the ground and, if I had to guess, be the reason why Gorgug has been getting angrier and angrier as the season's gone on. Specifically, he seemed to really 'Get Mad!' when fighting Grix).

Kipperlilly knows about Buddy's grandpa so after Yolanda gets killed by Jace, Kipperlilly tells Buddy to ask his grandpa to apply while Jace puts the question to Mazey (a decision he should've made himself, to be honest). Bobby's here just to get Kristen expelled, and when they they decided to take the last stand, she grabbed a Rage Shard, strapped it on an arrow, and aimed it at the proctor.

I think that, as the ultimate 'fuck the bad kids' move, the Proctor would go angry and huge and the party would be forced to kill him. Not only does he die, but they were the ones who killed him which would MURDER their grade. I would guess.

But Kristen saw her, and could prove that another student directly interfered with the test (via undergoing a zone of truth). So instead, Kipperlilly indirectly interferes and puts the 'lets kill Buddy' part of the Main Plan into effect. Probably would have happened anyways (they're in a pocket dimension alone, great time to kill a man tbh)

#fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #dimension 20 #kipperlilly copperkettle #oisin #fantasy high spoilers

[girl4music]

I love how Hannigan plays that sacrificing the deer scene. Apprehensive but determined. Very much a “I don’t want to do this but I’m doing it for her” vibe. Of course she lies. Tells the Gang she got the deer blood at the black market. Never tells them that she killed the poor thing with her own two hands and drained the blood from its corpse herself. I suppose in a way it is safer than going to the market. But still, the fact of the matter is SHE FUCKING KILLED BAMBI! And you’re meant to view it as a very disturbing moment.

WILLOW: “All I know is that we have to have it to finish the spell so it’s good stuff in my book.”

It’s the whole methodically planned out deception to make sure Tara doesn’t know just how dangerous it actually is because she knows she’d never go along with it if she actually knew what the resurrection spell required. And Xander pretty much confirms that when he asks Tara in the next episode whether she knew about it and she immediately says “No”. So as far as she’s aware, Willow never knew about the risks or consequences either. It was a surprise to the both of them. Except that’s not quite true. Of course Willow didn’t know what was going to happen with the chaos of the Buffybot and biker gang breaking the urn of Osiris and disrupting the whole ritual. But she did know how dangerous it was. She did know of the risks and consequences. She just didn’t care about them because desperate times call for desperate measures.

Spike - when he found out - he immediately knew Red was the one behind Buffy’s sudden appearance and to blame for the absolute traumatised state she was in. That the rest of the Gang were merely just coerced and while knowing the goal, had no real idea of what Willow was doing and how far she was going to meet that goal. And the dishonesty of it all is telling of that.

SPIKE: “Listen, I’ve figured it out. Maybe you haven’t but I have. Willow knew there was a chance that she’d come back wrong. So wrong that you would ha- that she would have to get rid of what came back and I wouldn’t let her. If any part of that was Buffy, I wouldn’t let her. And that’s why she shut me out.”

XANDER: “What are you talking about? Willow wouldn’t do that.”

SPIKE: “Oh, is that right?”

Spike seems to be the only character that can see darkness in Willow this early because he deals with it in himself. Spike is scared of Willow because he recognises in her that hunger for power and a willingness to inflict pain and cruelty to get it that he constantly fights in himself as an evil demon. He sees right through her lying and manipulative tactics. He notices that she’s playing them all for fools because that’s what he has done and it’s what he can still do if he lets the darkness within him win the battle. He is afraid of what he sees in her because it’s something that he is afraid of in himself. Her energy is very frightening for him. And I’ve always said how I wish there was an interaction between Spike and Dark Willow but I’ve just realized something just now in writing this. He already was interacting with her the whole time. Dark Willow is already there right from the first episode of Season 6. There’s just no “makeover of the damned” because she’s not fully embracing the darkness yet. She doesn’t do that until Tara dies because that was the catalyst to push her over the precipice and fall. She doesn’t embrace the darkness because she’s convincing herself she was doing good.

It’s very clever what they do with Willow this season in that nobody even realizes that the Big Bad is right there with them. Hidden within the ranks of the good guys. Like a viper hidden in harmless vegetation. Something that’s purpose is to nourish and sustain you. Not bite and poison you. The only character that seems to realize this sudden change in Willow is Spike and that really is so interesting to me narratively and thematically because there’s layers upon layers of complexity with Willow that the only character that sees that in her is just as complex himself and I can’t imagine it’s very fun to see his reflection so he spends practically the whole season avoiding her because he can’t stand it. He can’t stand looking at himself. What he used to be. How he used to behave. How he still can if the dark side takes over and drives him over.

And you would think it’s because they’re just characters that wouldn’t interact because there’s no reason for them to why they don’t. I mean they don’t inform each other as characters usually. But rather - at least in Season 6 - I think that it is purposeful. It’s the point. He doesn’t want to interact with her because she scares him. She scares him because she reflects what he doesn’t want to see in himself because despite everyone still treating him as if he is (including the narrative), he isn’t evil anymore. He can still do evil things but his nature has changed because of his love for Buffy and Dawn. Because he cares for them and wants to protect them. I just think it’s so interesting that what was once the purest member of the Scooby Gang is the one member that Spike actively avoids now because he doesn’t want to deal with darkness anymore. He is looking towards the light. At least that was the plan. To change. But it doesn’t work out that way precisely because Buffy is brought back to life by Willow. So in a way she foils his plans by giving him exactly what it is he wanted. Which probably just made him even more scared of her come to think of it.

I really do think it’s interesting how Spike is with Willow in Season 6. To me they are the paralleled characters of the season. Even if not intentionally. It just makes sense to me given how I interpret them and their arcs. How they both struggle to hold on to who they believe they are and should be. And Spike’s had much more experience with darkness than Willow. He knows well what can happen if all control is lost when his anger flares up and he lets his dark side win.

#buffy the vampire slayer #bargaining #willow rosenberg #alyson hannigan #spike #james marsters #parallels #reflection #darkness #power #season 6 #character representation #character development

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

okok so i was listening to remains of the day and i could not stop thinking of corpsegroom!eddie and victor!steve from @undreaming-fanfiction's Corpse Groom AU

Aneta, ilysm!! i hope you don't mind me adding onto your au!!! 🫶

---------------

Steve awoke slowly, blinking up at three (surprisingly) familiar faces. 

His kids.

Okay, not actually his kids, but the ones he took care of not that long ago. They had the same sort of blue tinge to their skin as Eddie did, but it was still them.

Wait...Eddie!

Steve sat up, way too fast, causing his head to spin.

“Whoa, slow down Steve.”

“Dustin? Dustin, what’s happening? You died! Years ago!” Steve frantically looks over the round faced boy, looking for any indication that this really wasn’t Dustin, but nope. He still looks exactly the same from the top of his curly-haired head right down to his feet.

“Yeah, I did. It’s not that big of a deal.” Dustin waves his hand nonchalantly and sits back on his heels from where he’d been kneeling over Steve.

“Not that–Dusty, buddy, I was crushed when you died. When all three of you did.” Steve looks at the other two, a red-headed young girl named Max, and the tall, lanky, and kind, Will. “I couldn’t believe you were all gone..”

“Well, it’s not like we meant to.” Max gripes at him, sitting cross-legged on the stone floor of…wherever this is.

She’s right, of course, the sickness that had shot through the kids of their small town had taken many under its cloak, but luckily only scurried away to the afterlife with a handful. Steve had found out half of his beloved group of kids (friends?) he’d watch over passed when he and his parents returned from holiday. Having skipped over the short-lived plague by happenstance.

He would’ve taken any of their places in a heartbeat.

“O-of course,” Steve stutters out, “I didn’t..”

“It’s okay Steve, we know you didn’t mean anything by it.” Will pats his leg and stands up, offers Steve a hand. “But the real question is, why did Eddie drag you down here.”

Steve lets Will pull him up, and he’s surprisingly strong, maybe it’s a symptom of being dead. Undead? Do you get stronger when you un-die?

“Eddie…Eddie! Where’s Eddie?” Steve looks around for the boy–nope, not really ‘boy’ any longer. The corpse that clawed itself out from under that tree definitely looked older than when Steve first knew him all those years ago.

Looking around the place, he meets the curious eyes and empty eye sockets of the other souls of this world. All those whose skin hadn’t quite gone had the same blue tinge as Eddie and the kids, and some still bore the marks of the events that’d taken them here. To this pub.

Is the afterlife only a run-down looking pub?

Dustin interrupts his scanning of the bar’s patrons. “We really need to play catch-up here, how do you know Eddie?”

“We–I–how do you know Eddie?” Steve retorts.

Max rolls her eyes. “Met him down here, of course.”

“He took us under his wing, helped us adjust…kept us out of too much trouble.” Will smiles.

“So, back to the original question, how do you know him? Dustin asks again. 

Steve lets out a long breath. “I knew him when I was young. Younger than you lot. He taught me to play piano.” Steve smiles at the memories of Eddie humming and singing along to whatever tune Steve’d make up. “He was a very good friend to me, until I just…stopped seeing him around. Whatever happened to him?”

Dustin winces minutely. “It’s kind of a long story..”

“And what a story it is!” A booming voice calls out from behind them.

Steve whips around, finally laying eyes on Eddie again. His arms are held wide as he’d come through the doorway to the bar, but the dirty, rumpled suit he wore and his full head of curls, now filled with debris, did nothing to staunch the glow coming off him. 

He’s so beautiful… and apparently just as much of a showman he’d been when Steve had known him, a fact that made him smile.

“It's a tragic tale of romance, passion, and a murder most foul.” Eddie continues, his low story-teller’s voice cutting through the background noise of the bar as he stalks toward them.

Max elbows Steve in the ribs and says, “This is gonna be good.” at the same time Steve catches Dustin grumbling, “..please don’t.”

Steve gulps. “Did he say ‘murder’?”

Max nods enthusiastically, obviously having heard this story before, while Dustin and Will grimace and nod unenthusiastically, also obviously having heard this story before.

“You all know how this begins, with little ol’ Eddie being cordoned off to his own side of town after getting caught befriending a Harrington.” Eddie begins his tale, speaking to and winding through the tables of patrons. “Can’t have us low-lifes on the ritzy side of Hawkins now, can we?”

Ouch. That stung a little.

“Life moved on, Eddie grew into a dashing young man,” Eddie stands straight and flashes a charming smile over the bar, one hand comes up to his chest and the other flings half of his dark mane over his shoulder. “Dashing enough to even make a deal with a more well-off family perhaps?

“A deal was bartered with the Cunninghams, to wed their only daughter to the once-distinguished Munson family.”

Steve knew of the Cunninghams, their only daughter was shipped off years ago to be wedded to the Carver’s first-born son in the next town over. He’d never heard that she’d once been thought of for marriage to Eddie, though he had been forbidden from knowing anything of the long-haired boy he’d met after his father had found out.

“But alas, the lone Munson heir was not one to choose the company of ladies, as lovely as Christine was and likely still is. She was his best friend, and he would not put her through a loveless marriage. Especially not when he had a love of his own.

“SO!” Eddie jumps up onto a rickety-looking chair with the exclamation, “He did what he thought best and he planned to run away.” he steps up further, onto the small wooden table, much to the apparent excitement of the skeleton seated there. “He took what remained of his family’s money, leftover dowry from his mother’s marriage to his father, and fled.

“That was the plan,” Eddie continues, plodding across the closely placed tables as he went. “Take the money and run, elope with his beloved; they’d already picked a meeting place, so he asked Chrissy to send word to his lover to meet that night, in the graveyard by the old oak tree.”

Oh no. That’s where he first found Eddie.

The crowd reacted together in a combined wail of “Don’t go!” as if rehearsed, all of them hanging on his word.

“I must!” Eddie replied, as if this was a play and not the tale of his own murder. “My darling dear will wait for me and we will flee to my only remaining family!”

“No!” the patrons yell again.

“Yes! We will go to Uncle Wayne, we’ll elope, start anew…we’ll get to be together.” Steve’s chest starts to constrict hearing the story-telling tone leaving Eddie’s voice. This was real. This is what he’d actually thought back then, back when he was alive, still full of hope.

“Oh no..” comes Will’s whispered voice beside Steve.

There’s a single beat of silence where Eddie seems to collect himself at the same time the crowd waits on baited breath (at least they would be if they had any) for him to continue, knowing what happens next.

Eddie jumps from the table he’d been atop to the nearby stage, spins around, and starts again, voice fully back in story-mode, and many-times-repeated words spill from his mouth.

“So there I was, next to the graveyard by the old oak tree, on a dark foggy night at a quarter to three. Ready to go! But where was he?”

Another round of call-and-answer picked up across the dingy bar, the entire place calling out, “And then?”

“I waited…”

“And then?”

“There!” Eddie points off to the side of the stage, “In the shadows, was it him?!”

“And then?”

“My poor little heart beat sooo loud….” Eddie clasped both hands over his un-beating heart.

“And then?!”

Eddie’s chest was heaving.

Steve took a step forward on instinct, not knowing if the panic on Eddie’s face was just for show.

“And then…everything went black.” The crowd gasps at once, all still seeming to be horrified by the turn of events no matter how many times Eddie may’ve told this tale.

Eddie starts speaking again, gaze far away, back in time. “When I opened my eyes, I was dead as dust. The meager amount I had on me, gone, along with the sound of my heartbeat.”

He starts back across the tables toward their little group, voice gaining confidence again as he recites his story. “So I made a vow, lying under that tree, that I’d wait for my true love to come set me free. So long I’ve been waiting for someone to ask for my hand,” He quick-steps down to the floor from a chair so generously pulled out for him by a kind looking woman more skin-and-bone than flesh.

“Then out of the blue comes this beautiful young man,” Eddie’s directly in front of Steve now, and reaches for his hands. Steve lets him take them, takes in the man in front of him, every last detail he can.

He’s just as beautiful as Steve remembers, even through the lens of crushing on someone much older than you; his hair was just as wild, his eyes as fiery, his hands much colder than the ones that used to guide his fingers along piano keys, but just as soft, just as sure.

What had not been there before was the dark purple, crumpled looking gash on his forehead, just under his hairline. The sight of which had pure rage boiling in Steve’s gut at whoever decided it was his place to take such a soul from the world.

“He who vowed forever, to stay by my side.” Eddie all but whispers.

Steve looks down at their hands and his heart squeezes in his chest at the sight of his ring on Eddie’s finger. He looks up with a smile, squeezing Eddie’s fingers in his and suddenly, the panic is back on Eddie’s face. For a fraction of a second, then replaced by one fully-cocksure. 

Steve’s hands are suddenly empty, Eddie spinning around to the crowd, “That’s my story. The story of your resident corpse groom!”

Eddie flings his arms wide, like he had when he first returned to the bar, and gives the raucous crowd a low bow. 

The muted claps of the corpses’ skin on skin, and the rattling ones of the skeletons around him are drowned out as Steve steps forward to place a hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Eddie, I–”

“No worries Stevie, I’ll get you back up to the surface again, no sweat.” Eddie takes a step backward, then another, his face under the grin falling sharply, “I gotta go find Elder Gutknecht, he’ll know how to get you back, no ties still tethered here.” then he turns and all but runs from the room.

———————-

ahhh!!! i couldnt get the idea of eddie, the story-teller he is, being the one telling his own story in remains of the day 🥺

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #st #st ficlet #st au #corpse bride #corpse bride au #dutin henderson #max mayfield #will byers #chrissy cunningham #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steveddie #emily corpse bride #victor van dort #emily x victor #noelle writes

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Chapter 4: It’s my Heart

Eugene Roe x Violet Elwood

Summary: Eugene learns the truth of the secret Violet has been keeping, but can he handle what it means. Warnings: medical conditions, talks of death, grief Masterlist

August 31st 1941

Eugene sat in the room he shared with his younger brothers, glaring out of the window as he watched his family heading to church. His mother had tried to persuade him to go but he just couldn’t stomach being around anyone. Since last Wednesday when he found out about Violet’s condition, it felt as though his heart had stopped and it had yet to start again. He felt cold, like a corpse that wouldn’t die but wasn’t alive either. The days passed by in a blur and dragging at the same time.

Violet’s mother had popped by yesterday to tell him that Violet was now at home but he couldn’t even leave his room. Instead, he watched her speaking to his mother on the front porch before forlornly walking away. He was sure she had noticed him in the bedroom window but he didn’t care, he just wanted to be alone.

His mother brought his dinner up to his room but Eugene left it untouched most nights so his brothers would eat his leftovers, thankful for the extra food. His father had come up a few times and he expected him to talk harshly to him, reprimand him for his lack of respect for the effort his mother had put into making the meal or his antisocial behaviour. His father merely patted him on the back, before leaving him once again with his thoughts.

He wanted to see Violet, of course, he did but he couldn’t bring himself to. It would make everything too real. At least this way if he kept away he could pretend everything was still perfect.

September 6th 1941

The guilt was eating away at Eugene as he walked down the familiar corridor of the Elwood residence. He hadn’t been here for nearly two weeks now, which was the longest he’d stayed away since he first met Violet.

Violet’s mother had let him in, smiling sadly when she saw him standing outside. “Violet is sat out in the garden.”

Eugene wanted to hate her family for keeping the secret from him, they had known all along and they let him fall in love with her. In truth, he couldn’t hate them, he couldn’t hate any of them. He did, however, hate himself for trying to hate them in the first place. How could he hate a family who were just obliging their daughter's wishes? ‘She wanted a normal summer’.

Eugene followed her through to the garden where he could see the three sisters sitting in garden chairs. Violet sat in the middle, her head resting on Rose’s shoulder while she read to her. Lily sat on the opposite side of Violet, her head leaning on her oldest sister's shoulder. Eugene hated to disturb the peaceful moment between the siblings but also felt as though it should be him sitting out there with her. He’d been selfish and hurt and he’d wasted two precious weeks he could have been spending with her.

Violet’s mother appeared behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “She missed you terribly, Eugene. She blamed herself for driving you away.”

Eugene shook his head, “It’s my fault, not Violet’s. I’ve been so stupid and I can’t even make it up to her. There’s not enough time.” The tears that he’d been holding back ever since arriving on Elwood's doorstep slipped free down his cheeks now and Violet’s mother pulled him in for a hug.

“Now, now, don’t cry. The main thing is you’re here now. You’re a good man, Eugene and my daughter loves you very much which is why she didn’t tell you she was sick. She didn’t want to hurt you,” Violet’s mother sighed, “We’ve tried to keep her safe for so long but we knew this would come eventually. I’m just glad she met you. She got to experience true love, and I believe what you both have is true love. Thank you for loving my daughter”.

The pair stood in the kitchen for a while, trying to compose themselves, “Now go out there and be with her. She’ll be so pleased to see you.”

Eugene walked slowly down the porch and out across the grass to where the girls were sitting. Rose noticed him first, putting down the book and giving Violet a small nudge. The scene broke his heart. In just those few weeks since he’d last seen her, she’d grown paler, cheeks less round, lips less plump but her blue eyes sparkled brighter than ever.

“Eugene,” she whispered, trying to stand but Rose stopped her, shuffling out from the seat and moving so Eugene could take her place. Lily got up too, following her sister inside and allowing the pair some time alone.

“Vi…”

“Gene…”

They both stopped trying to encourage the other to go first. Eugene decided to speak up.

“Violet, I’m so sorry, for everything. I shoulda been here for you and instead, I was a coward. I was scared to lose you but being away from you killed me. I’m here now and I promise with all my heart I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh Gene,” Violet pulled her arms up around him, kissing his lips firmly. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Having Violet back in his arms was the best feeling in the world, it was a feeling Eugene wanted to treasure forever.

“How long?” Eugene mumbled, broaching the question that he feared he didn’t want to know the answer to.

“The doctors aren’t too sure. Could be three months, could be longer. I’m a ticking clock Gene, I’m on borrowed time.” Eugene nodded sadly, pulling Violet close to his side and kissing her forehead.

“Well then we’d better make the best of the time we have,” he mumbled into her hairline, kissing her head once more.

Violet nodded, glancing up at Eugene, “Will you read to me? Rose was reading to me but I’d much rather it was you.”

Eugene chuckled, picking up the book on the bench, opening it to the creased page and beginning to read where Rose had left off. Violet snuggled into his side, her head resting against his shoulder and her hand wrapped around his while he read.

Eugene wasn’t sure how many perfect moments like this he had left with Violet, but he promised himself that he would treasure each one.

September 19th 1941

Eugene watched nervously as Violet climbed onto the seat of the Ferris wheel, the whole time his hand remaining firmly on her back. There was a fair in the next town over from them and Violet had mentioned it as soon as she saw it in posters along the main street. Eugene had been reluctant at first, all those people pushing and shoving but Violet had pleaded and he’d easily relented. How could he deny her the chance to ride the Ferris wheel when it might be her only chance?

The fair wasn’t too crowded when they arrived and the couple made a beeline for the Ferris wheel. Violet gripped Eugene’s hand tightly as the attendant placed the bar over their laps and the ride began to move.

“We’ll be able to see the whole town from up here,” Violet chatted excitedly, grinning over at Eugene. He placed his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to his side and she snuggled in.

As the ride reached the top it stopped for each person to see the view. Violet began pointing out landmarks, chatting excitedly when they could see their hometown in the distance. Eugene barely glanced at the view, his eyes trained on the beautiful woman beside him. Violet's blonde curls were tucked neatly into a bun at the back of her head but soft curls fell out around her face. ‘A picture of beauty’ he always called her affectionately and she’d always giggle, thanking him for his compliment.

The wheel continued its descent and Violet laughed cheerfully, watching as the ground grew closer to them. Eugene helped Violet climb down from the ride, scooping her into his arms causing her to screech loudly. He laughed when he put her down and she spun around in his arms.

“Where do you want to go next, Love?” He asked, smoothing the hair away from her face.

Violet thought for a moment, her nose wrinkling as she scrunched her face, “Hmm. How about we find some food?”

Eugene nodded, “I think that’s an excellent idea.”

The stand selling cotton candy wasn’t too far from them so they headed straight there, purchasing two large candies and taking a break on the bench close to the stand.

Violet bit into the candy, grinning happily as the sweet taste filled her mouth, “Gene, is so good. You’ve gotta try it.” She motioned for him to take a bit of his own which he obliged, biting into the pink fluff, nodding in agreement. It was good, even if it was a little sweet.

Violet took great amusement when Eugene got some of the candy stuck on his nose, laughing hysterically as he looked at her confused.

“What? Have I got somethin’ on my face?” He wiped his hand over his face multiple times, continuing to miss the candy.

“Here, here, let me get it,” Violet knocked his hands out of the way, reaching over with her handkerchief and wiping it from the tip of his nose. “There, all better. What would you do without me, Eugene Roe?”

That was a question Eugene couldn’t answer because he didn’t know what he’d do without her.

October 17th 1941

“Happy birthday, Gene,” Violet shouted as soon as he opened the door, throwing herself into his arms. Eugene stumbled back at the sudden contact, catching her mid-air and spinning her around.

“Hello Love,” he kissed her sweetly on the lips, enjoying their loving moment before he noticed the lack of people behind her. “Aren’t your family coming with you?”

“They are,” Violet assured him, “But they’re coming later, I wanted you to myself for a while.” She laughed, noticing Eugene’s blush. “Nothing like that Gene, get your head out of the gutter.” She jested, elbowing him in the ribs lightly.

“No, I wanted to give you your present before the others get here.” She passed a large square parcel towards him, it was neatly wrapped in brown paper and tied with string at the top.

“What is it?” He asked, shaking the package curiously.

Violet sighed, “I’m not going to tell you. What’s the point in having a surprise if I tell you before you open it?”

Eugene looked a little confused and Violet sighed again, “Come on,” she grabbed his hand, leading him upstairs to the bedroom he shared with his brothers. She jumped straight onto his bed, making herself at home like she always did.

Eugene fell onto the bed beside her, chuckling as she snuggled into his side.

“Come on, Gene. The suspense is killing me.” He sent her a small glare for joking about death and began to unwrap the parcel, fumbling with the string. As he unwrapped it a large leather scrapbook fell out onto his lap. The initials V and E were embossed onto the front and Eugene felt his heart clench at the picture on the front. It was one of the few pictures they had together. They were sitting by the lake, Violet’s hair blowing softly around her in the wind. Both of their faces were bright, with wide smiles and gleaming eyes. It was from happier times before their lives had changed forever.

Eugene felt a single tear slipping down his cheek but Violet quickly brushed it away, “Look inside,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his neck.

He opened the first page, marvelling at the detail of each one within. Each page had a photo, some of them together, a few of Violet alone and lots of the different places they had been together. Underneath each one Violet had written something. Sometimes a small paragraph, sometimes just a sentence. Eugene smiled, reading a few of them before Violet stopped him.

“I made you this book so that when I’m gone you have something to remind you of me. If you’re ever feeling down you can just read these and I’ll be here with you.”

Eugene shook his head, “Don’t speak like that, Sugar. I don’t want to think about being here without you.” He looked up at her, a small sigh escaping his lips when their eyes met. “I love you, Violet, I love you so much that a…” a silent sob escaped his lips and Violet pulled him straight into her chest, cradling him like a small child as he cried.

Eugene wasn’t sure how long he’d been bottling these emotions but something in him broke and he couldn’t hold back the floodgates. Eugene cried his heart out and Violet held him. She never once told him to stop crying or trying to calm him, she let him feel everything and she embraced him. Violet knew that he needed to grieve just like her family had, except her family had already had a year to grieve her condition.

When Eugene’s sobs finally subsided, Violet pulled him to sit up, cupping his cheeks in her hands. “I love you, Eugene Roe, and I’ll always love you no matter where I am.”

Tags: @blueberry-ovaries @mads-weasley @coco-bean-1218 @she-wolf09231982 @georgieluz @docroesmorphine @liptonsbabe @hesbuckcompton-baby @allthingsimagines @bucky32557038ww2 @iceman-kazansky @yeahcurrahhe-e @msmercury84 @blvestxr @dustyjumpwjngs @theflyingfin @jump-wings @kafka-ohdear @kmc1989 @hanniewinnix @inglourious-imagines @l13bg0tt @xxluckystrike @hogwartslegacypics @softguarnere

#heart to heart #band of brothers #Eugene roe #Violet Elwood #Eugene roe x oc

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Could we see a platonic Mitsuri & Obanai who “adopted” a kid!reader they found, only to have them escape after a few years? And by the time the pair find them they’ve returned back to their real family?

Your New Parents | Platonic Yandere Mitsuri Kanroji and Yandere Iguro Obanai

You probably just got a little lost on your way back home

But you knew how to get back so it wasn’t an issue

Despite your reassurances to the pink-haired lady who was devouring an enormous pile of fish near the river

“No no, baby you’ll need to head back with me! Can’t have you out here with demons all about.”

If you can convince her she might walk you back

And as she waves goodbye and you enter your house with your waiting family 

You hope it will be the last time you see her 

It's not

When you get semi-lost again she’s there claiming to be hunting a demon nearby

Even better if the demon tries to attack you while you're with her

She’s easily defending you, gaining your trust

“Geez, what kind of parents leave their kid all alone to get eaten by demons!”

Whether you defend your family or not you trust her now 

And that is your downfall

The next time you're walking along the river a little white snake seems to be following you

“Aww are you a baby snake? A white one too you're so cool.”

It's like that for a while the snake following you as you make your way back home

One day you meet Kabamaru’s owner

A strange fellow, you gathered

With two different colored eyes, he seemed quite strict

“Are you really still walking this way after you’ve been attacked here once? They must really want you to die then.”

“N-no they just trust me to be a big kid and get the chores done! I can do my chores just like everyone else in the house.”

The final time they’re together 

With Mitsuri giggling to Obanai before they approach you

“Good news! We’ve decided we’ll be taking you home with us! So we can be a family!”

“B-but I already have a family!”

“Not a very good one, brat. So be grateful we’re letting you into your home.”

The struggles of a child are nothing against the power of two Hashira

It isn’t long after that you become used to the grounds of the cabin

Covered in Wisteria trees and tall fences (taller than you) that have to be jumped over to leave

You fall into a rhythm after a while 

And much as you hate to admit it they take really good care of you

But any mention of your family is met with Obanai insulting them and Mitsuri outright ignoring their existence

When you do escape back to your family they recall the pink and green-haired woman that escorted you that one time and believe your story

But try as they might their best defenses against the couple are futile

They are the Love Hashira and Serpent Hashira after all

“Ah~baby love! There you are! We’ve been worried sick about you!”

“Yeah, you have some nerve running from your parents like that.”

“Y-your not my parents!” 

“We are now.”

“W-what?”

“Do you really want to stay with those corpses? We took you to help you, (Y/n) don’t understand that?”

“B-but I w-was just talking to them…How-?”

“Oh, baby you crafted it all in your head just now. Let’s go home and we can snuggle tonight, okay?”

“O-okay. S-sorry…”

“It’s okay baby we know this is hard for you.”

 You’ll fall asleep while Mitsuri carries you, a backpack of your stuff from your home

While Obanai falls back to properly set fire to the building

When you returned it did take a while for them to realize you were you had gone

But when they do Mitsuri’s sad and Obanai rectifies it 

Now don’t be misled 

Their Hashira, they wouldn’t kill innocent humans who were boarding up their home

But that are the actions of some overzealous demons in the area insistent upon luring the Hashira in the nearby vicinity

And if the only one they were able to lure away to survive was you

Well its only natural they assume guardianship while your poor family is being slaughtered

Obanai and Mitsuri make quick work of all the demons and putting those injured…out of their misery

“Kabumaru missed you (Y/n).”

“Don’t be shy Iguro we all missed you, (Y/n)-baby!”

“You won’t leave us again baby, right?”

R-right…”

#yandere mitsuri #yandere obanai #platonic yanderes obanai and mitsuri #yandere kny x reader #yandere kny #yandere demonslayer #yandere demonslayer x reader #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yanderexrea #lovelyyandereaddictionpoint #yandere #yanderes #yandere demon slayer #yandere harem #yandere parents kny #yandere parents

[luimagines]

Okay I hear what everyone was saying about the Time Has A Twin AU, and it sparked a semi-related tangent in my head so now I have to share it with y'all:

What if Dark Link...is actually The Fallen Hero/Time from the Downfall Timeline?

Lemme take a step back real quick. According to Hyrule Historia: In the Downfall Timeline, Link dies during the final fight with Ganondorf. But, theoretically, the Downfall Timeline could occur at any point, if Link died prematurely.

This will loop back around, I swear; but during the events of OoT, you gotta be Adult Link to get into the Water Temple. And where do we find Dark Link? The Water Temple.

My theory/au/whatever is, in the Downfall Timeline, Child Link accidentally found some way into the Water Temple early. And, not having the Zora Tunic, he ended up drowning. Then some evil force -- could just be Ganondorf, or it could be the malice behind Demise's curse, or whatever -- comes along, revives Child Link and tortures him, corrupting him into Dark Link with evil magic.

Hylia doesn't like that her hero died -- so she "resets" the game, thereby creating the 2nd Timeline (which later splits into the Child and Adult Timelines), and Link goes through everything the right way this time (so no early Water Temple). But that same evil force decides that this is the perfect opportunity to hurt the hero again, so it takes the now-adult Dark Link and imprisoned him in the Water Temple to fight a "more successful" (or, perhaps, more lucky) version of himself.

This achieves two things: 1. Tormenting 2nd Timeline Link by fighting his own dead corpse, and 2. Forcing the formerly dead child-turned-adult to fight to the death in his own tomb. Two traumatized heroes for the price of one

This could even be why Dark Link seems to hate Time so much...🤔

okay I'm done thank u for your time 😅

Ah- So this is how it all connects together then. XD

That would make more sense instead of just throwing Dark Link as Time's twin and calling it good. And of course, it had more traumatic irony for our poor Hero of Time because the universe like to throw all that it can at the poor guy.

Canon!

#pinky replies #twins au #except not really

[ozmatippetarius]

Unpacking the Group Dynamics on the Night the Farmer was Killed and the Aftermath

(Or, how many times can we keep coming back to the same scene and ripping its guts out)

Side note before we start, that of course Henry didn't actually kill the farmer. But forget that, it's not important. For now, what matters is that Henry does believe that he killed the farmer, and his actions in light of that are very telling.

Bear with me, this post is going to get long, but I promise it will be worth it. Please feel free to provide your own thoughts: discussion welcome.

First, one conclusion we can reach even though it isn't stated explicitly: Camilla and Henry were together when they encountered the farmer. Some points in support of this:

Although Richard doesn't know at this point, Camilla and Henry were romantically involved. And as Richard notes, "these are fundamentally sex rituals, aren't they?"

We're meant to understand that the blood in Camilla's hair when the group finds her afterwards is from the farmer. When is she supposed to have done this, if she weren't with Henry? Henry hopes to obfuscate how little his version of events adds up by masking it in the general mystique of the night. But come on: this isn't a fantasy. Don't accept fantastical handwaves when there are simple real-world explanations.

Camilla vividly remembers the smell of the farmer's intestines months later. By Henry's own account, the group left as soon as Charles found Camilla and brought her back; they didn't stand around sniffing the corpse. More on this later.

Second, a point that is stated explicitly although Henry still attempts to obscure it later: Francis and Charles are together, and don't encounter the body until after Henry does. In other words, Francis and Charles both have solid alibis that they were not involved in the farmer's death.

Again, Henry tries to mask this. He's quick to tell the story of Charles struggling with something that might have been human, with the implication that he might be remembering killing the person Henry has already admitted to killing himself. Henry is quick as well to discredit Francis's testimony, saying that, "Every time you talk to him, he remembers something different." Note that Henry has been sure to tell this part of the story when Francis is not present, instead of waiting just a few minutes for Francis to arrive. Later on, Camilla will specifically cite Francis as a reliable testimony to corroborate her own account of the night; she clearly doesn't believe his memory is so flaky.

In other words, despite the fact that Henry has explicitly admitted to having killed the farmer himself, he simultaneously has cultivated the idea that any of them could have done it, really, and nobody's testimony is reliable. Sure, go ahead and ask the others! Just don't believe anything they say. Richard buys into this idea so thoroughly that he never does ask Charles or Francis for their stories, and he doesn't ask Camilla about it until very near the end. A great deal of readers buy into this illusion as well.

So, what's the actual sequence of events that happened that night? It has to be something along these lines.

Henry and Camilla stumble upon the site of the farmer's death. He punches something, twice. He and Camilla both believe that he has accidentally beaten the farmer to death.

Although Henry later goes out of his way to tell Richard that Charles and Francis were "fairly close behind" and "had soon caught up", to give the impression that there was no time for him to take any action before they arrived, there's no evidence to support his claim. The time between Henry finding the farmer and the others finding Henry is likely larger than he has implied. Here's what is going through his head during that period:

I've just killed a man.

Francis and Charles are going to arrive soon.

Francis is a pushover, but Charles hates me and would sell me out to the police in a heartbeat.

How do I ensure that doesn't happen?

He evaluates the tools at his disposal and concludes that the only option is to implicate Camilla. If Camilla killed the farmer, there's no way Charles rats her out. Henry has Camilla wash her hair in the farmer's intestines and run ahead of him.

Later on, he tells Charles to go searching for her. Keep in mind that Charles by all accounts has just been mauled by a wild animal and is missing a decent chunk of his arm, but he's the one sent off to find Camilla, while Henry (who is totally fine) and Francis (who is throwing up over the body and would probably be thrilled to get some space from it) stay behind.

Henry needs for Charles to be the one to find Camilla, to see her ahead of the group, with guts in her hair, and to come to the conclusion that she was involved in the farmer's death: there's no other explanation. This is the only way, Henry thinks, to ensure that Charles doesn't blab.

Pit stop for an exchange between Richard and Camilla much later in the novel:

“And is Henry not afraid of Charles too?” “Why should he be?” “You know.” Once she realized what I meant, I was startled how quickly she leapt to his defense. “Charles would never do that,” she said, with childlike swiftness. “Let’s say he did. Went to the police.” “But he wouldn’t.” “How do you know?” “And implicate the rest of us? Himself, too?” “At this point, I think he might not care.” I said this intending to hurt her, and with pleasure I saw that I had.

Even when the twins are estranged and furious with each other, Camilla is certain that Charles would never do anything to implicate her: it's a core belief for her.

Henry isn't so certain. He recognizes how precarious the situation is, and he isn't happy with it. That being the case, how can he ensure that none of his classmates will roll over on him? Only by implicating them in a murder of their own.

Bunny isn't killed to keep Bunny quiet. Bunny is killed to keep the others quiet. After participating in his murder, how could Camilla or Francis or Charles possibly think of ratting Henry out for his own earlier misdeeds? In order to make sure this happens, Henry leaves out evidence for Bunny intentionally implicating the group - the diary in Rome being the prime example of this.

Something else that is explained here is Charles's anger at both Henry and Camilla throughout the last half of the novel. Sure, there's jealousy, but more than that, there is the intense bitterness of having been forced to lie to the police and participate in the murder of his close friend to cover a crime that Henry and Camilla committed. This is why he throws a shot glass at Camilla, why he shouts, “You’ve ruined my life, you son of a bitch,” before shooting Henry. It's not simply possessiveness, although there's a fair amount of that mixed in.

#the secret history #henry winter #francis abernathy #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #bunny corcoran

[onboardsorasora]

Writing Prompt

You press your gun against the back of a man walking down an alley “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you and rob your corpse.” He replies “I have no reason that would satisfy you but if you take my life, you must take on my unfinished business. The bucket list is in my pocket.”

this spiraled lol 1700 words

So like Daniel’s been having a tough few years; a downward spiral of his life that lead him to this point. He didn’t want to kill this guy but he’s the only witness to him killing some other guy. A killing that will have disastrous consequences for him if he’s caught. 

So, he kills him and takes the bucket list from his pocket along with any cash he had and a ring with a horseshoe on it. The bucket list only had one item on it ‘tell Max I love him’. 

What the fuck?

Daniel searches the guy’s pockets again because well, that’s vague as fuck? Who is Max? Why is a declaration of love a bucket list item? This all felt very problematic all of a sudden.

He found a small handgun in the guy’s other pocket and that just raised way more questions than answers and well, Daniel’s gotten himself into more fucked up situations before, hasn’t he?

So he disposes of both bodies, continuing his night the way he had intended originally– just with an addition. 

Hes sitting in his flat in the early morning hours looking at the ‘list’.

Tell Max I love him

Who the fuck was Max?

Does it have to be a specific Max? Can he just find the first Max he came across and do the deed? 

Because let’s be real; Daniel knew that the moment he killed the guy he accepted the quest. It was either have a witness or accept a fucking deathbed quest and well….he couldn’t have a witness.

“Some direction would be really helpful.” He muttered into the quiet of his space before throwing the piece of paper on his coffee table and going to sleep. He’ll deal with that later. After he’s checked in and gotten everything else sorted.

It was two days later when he was smoking on his balcony that he felt a tug in his chest. He stumbles out of his flat and down the stairs, the tugging was insistent and he knew this was the fucking quest that he couldn’t stop thinking about. He didn’t even get to put on shoes or whatever. He’s standing at the curb looking around when he hears a chorus of laughs; there were some guys walking down the street jostling each other and clearly having a grand time.

“Max you dickhead.” One said, and the blonde of the group laughed harder.

So that was Max, well best to get this shit over with. 

Daniel stumbled towards the group, trying to ignore how warm and not clean the sidewalk was. Also trying to ignore how he knew he probably looked fairly homeless in his ratty shorts and a stained oversized tee. But again– the quest curse thing didn’t really give him an opportunity.

They’re looking at him weirdly–because of course they are. But Daniel walks confidently up to ‘Max’. He’s cute; bright blue eyes, wide lips, square face. 

“Max?” Daniel asks – just to be sure. The blonde nods, his friends look extra weirded out. Because, of course they do.

“Ok good. Max I—” Daniel stops. Coughs. His eyes narrow and he clears his throat. That was weird.

He tries again. “Max I—” He makes a strangled noise and closes his mouth.

“Are you ok?” Max asked.

Daniel clears his throat again, “yeah, I just…sorry.” He mutters. 

“Max we should go.” One of his friends insist and drags Max away from a stuttering Daniel.

What the fuck was that?

Daniel stumbles back to his home and grabs up the annoying piece of paper and looks at it from all angles like he’s been doing for the past two days. The only words on it remained Tell Max I love him

Well he just fucking tried

He threw himself onto his couch and well what the fuck does he do now?

So he goes about his life, because what else is he supposed to do? And his chest aches sometimes. He eventually realizes that that means Max is nearby. He doesn’t do anything with that information at first; determined to just…ignore the quest. Since it refused his fucking straightforward way of doing things. 

He still works for his boss, Christian, but he’s been trying to like…not. He doesn’t want to kill people for hire anymore– he didn’t in the first place. And then since he killed that quest guy he’d been feeling like maybe he strayed too far, y’know?

So he started taking some classes at the university nearby. It's not much and it's subsidised anyway so he can do it part time or whatever. He dropped out when he was 20. He’s like 28 now so– it's fine.

His chest has been hurting him consistently now, its like a dull ache. Daniel sees him a bunch; Max. with his friends across campus when Daniel’s hustling to his evening class or leaving because he has to meet with Christian.

It's fine.

They end up having a class together, if Max recognises him, he doesn’t let on. Things continue on like that. Daniel’s doing less and less work for Christian, and going to more and more classes. He calls his mom more now because, well– he's been feeling like less of a failure recently.

He also can’t stop thinking about Max. 

Tell Max I love him

Like was he even gonna complete this quest? He’s already tried the once. And he spent a lot of time saying “Max I love you.” in his flat to know he can fucking say the words. He doesn’t even know why the quest stopped him in the fucking first place.

Life fucking goes on.

They get a group project to end the semester and of course he gets paired with Max.

Tell Max I love him

“Uh, hi.” Max is awkward around him, so that means he remembers him. Daniel isn’t sure if that's a good or bad thing yet.

“Hey. Uhm…sorry about– yeah.” Daniel apologises because well, it was weird.

They end up spending a bunch of time together, Daniel is doing even less jobs for Christian because he can’t really get away to kill people when he has to also not fuck up his or Max’s grade. 

And well, he likes spending time with Max. He’s fun. He’s sweet. And they have a blast together, laughing at everything. Daniel sometimes spends time with Max’s friends, the ones who he had to promise he wasn’t homeless or weird.

Its fun when he doesn’t have to cut himself off from people. When he can just….be himself.

So the semester is over and they’re still hanging out. Max comes over sometimes to watch movies and to like get out of the dorms. They hang around and learn more about each other and and. Max is amazing. He’s fucking beautiful and kind and fuck.

Tell Max I love him

So Daniel’s now crushing. Wonders if he should try to complete the quest again. His chest has been hurting him a while now, so much so that he rubs it unconsciously and people ask about it and he says it's fine. Because it's fine.

He doesn’t bother with the quest anymore because he doesn’t know what will happen when he does. Will he still be able to spend time with Max? Will he have to like leave? 

The internet is shit at giving him information on what happens after you complete a quest. It’s like no one is allowed to speak about it. And thats fucking frustrating. 

So that's that. He just….won’t.

They’re hanging out on Daniel’s balcony when

“Hey so. I have this family thing this weekend, could you maybe come with me?” Max is hesitant to ask and Daniel’s never heard him like this really. So he agrees before he even knows anymore information.

The weekend comes and Daniel pries more from Max while theyre on the way; “well, my father. We’re estranged, but he’s been missing for a while and my family wanted to hold like a— how do you say it? A memorial? A vigil? And I don’t want to go alone. The guys don’t really…like get it.”

And Daniel’s blood runs cold.

Tell Max I love him

Well, Fuck.

So they go to the vigil and Daniel sees all these pictures of Max’s dad and its the same witness guy he killed. The fucking bucket list quest guy. Fuck.

He killed Max’s father. 

Tell Max I love him

He turns to Max quickly. He’d been silent the entire evening as people hugged him. Daniel was introduced to Max’s mom, sister, aunt, nephews. He felt sick.

Tell Max I love him

So he pulls Max aside. Like, ready to confess. And Max just— breaks down. Daniel hugs him close and lets him cry on his shoulder. And Max is sobbing and saying how much he misses his dad even though things hadn’t always been good and he’s so happy for Daniel to be here to support him.

And Daniel thinks, well maybe the quest was to literally tell Max that his dad loves him. So he goes to try, then stops because…what’s gonna happen when the quest is over?

He still doesn’t fucking know. 

So he says nothing, just holds Max close and whispers reassurances and supports him.

More time passes and well, Daniel can’t deny the pull he feels to Max. He’s been crushing on him for so long now its just a part of his being now. He loves Max. He knows it. Its fucked up, but the quest brought them together.

He’d completely cut ties with Christian. He’s been going to classes full time now. His parents send him money so he can keep his place. Which is good because Max kinda sorta maybe moved in?

Not officially, but he’s there all the time now and the guys come over to see them and not just Daniel.

They’re laying on the couch together, some show is on. And Max is talking about maybe wanting to get cats in the future. And Daniel is so in love, he’d do whatever Max wants. If he wants cats, fuck it…he can learn to like them. 

Max crawls on top of him, smiling that crinkly smile that Daniel loves so so so much. And…well it just slips out really.

“Max, I love you.”

Max’s face goes slack with shock and Daniel tenses beneath him. But before Max has an opportunity to literally do or say anything. Daniel’s vision whites out.

Daniel wakes up in his bed, his alarm is going off.

“Fuck.” He scrambles out and puts on some clothes, he had a meeting with Christian this morning and he was fucking late. He pulls on some clothes and just goes.

Life goes on. 

#toying with the idea that he eventually finds the paper #and is like 'who the fuck is Max' #then maybe remembers Max and their life and the quest #and then tries to I guess get Max back in his life? #writing prompt #my almost fic i guess #I did post and delete this to give it its own post #maxiel #max/daniel

[s1lv3r-4rt]

FUN FACTS FROM STORMBRINGER BECAUSE I'M INSANE

also SB SPOILERS OBVS!!!

ALSO TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR: MENTIONS OF DEATH, MENTIONS OF MURDER, MENTIONS OF TORTURE, DESCRIPTIONS IF HALLUCINATIONS, SEMI-GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF GORE, DESCRIPTIONS OF TORTURE! DO NOT READ IF ANY OF THIS MAKES YOU UNCOMFY!

-the hat chūya wears during 15/just joined pm is NOT the same hat he wears at 22! he wears verlaine's now! because arahabaki is a bitch!

-doc went to school (at least med school) somewhere in north america! so he probably knows english!

-our chūya is very highly probably the clone! and n is his dad!

-if our chūya isn't the clone, he's not an orphan! we see him watching what seems to be his grandparents in the epilogue!

-his bike is from albatross!

-paul verlaine is actually arthur rimbaud's real name, but rimbaud gave it to our least favorite french assassin when he found him!

-rimlaine canon! (irl verlaine and rimbaud were dating/fucking i will NEVER not bring this up) (because bsd generally keeps relations accurate from irl (like dazai, oda, and ango hanging out at bar lupin))

-if you didn't know, verlaine trained kyōka and gin!

-bsd mary shelley is a scientist who made adam frankenstein! she is also so skrunkly and so swag!

-dazai is a fucking faggot! ("i'm always thinking of ways to annoy chūya.") (I CAN SAY THAT I'M BIROMANTIC AND HOMOSEXUAL AND TRANS I PROMISE)

-dazai, at least from 15-16, lived in a cargo container for transporting cars! he only had a bed, a fridge, a lamp, a desk and chair, and a spare light bulb! all the more reason to burn mori at the stake!

-shirase moved to britain! his and chūya's goodbye was really sweet after what they've been through!

-before becoming an executive, chūya was in charge of taking care of gem smugglers! which was dazai's job before rank climbing! silly little gays!

-chūya has a scar from where shirase stabbed him, as well as a scar on his right wrist with unknown origins (i think it's unknown reading the epilogue was a fucking blur)!

-verlaine is batshit! he was in the trunk of a car with a corpse (i think, he might have been sitting on the trunk lid/door thing)! and then said "*pops open trunk* this bad boy can fit so much lippmann"! and it was described horrifyingly! (smth along the lines of "he watched the body roll out of the trunk with a wet thunk. the body that was lippmann." i will shank asagiri and the translator i read it from /j) also! he open alb's fucking chest! his rib bones were just out in the open! doc's entire lower half was missing!

-pianoman's and iceman's bodies aren't described (lippmann's isn't either, but from the wet thunk we can infer), it's only noted that they're there and in the pile with alb and doc, but we can imagine the bullshit verlaine had to do to get those two down because! pianoman was the leader of the flags and was this 👌 fucking close to becoming an executive! and iceman murders people with his bare hands, fountain pens, hell, i'm pretty sure a table was on that list!

-adding onto that! at the funeral, chūya tells adam that it took the mortician 8 hours to get the bodies even presentable!

-chūya is a really good pool player! he's repeatedly called the "undefeated king" (or smth) by the other flags! the only person who could beat him was adam, and adam's a robot! chū's been playing for the least amount of time, as well as being up to 9 years younger than the others (pianoman was the oldest at 25, iceman is next oldest but we don't have any exact ages except for pianoman), so i guess he's just really good at playing with balls! (hehe)

-lippmann is a famous, FAMOUS actor! he is repeatedly referred to as attractive by the narrator and even doc! it's said that any woman falls for him, and if he were to dress as a woman, the men would fall too! we love an icon!

-lippmann also comments that chūya could/should join him as an actor if he leaves the pm!

-the flags were VERY well known before their deaths! lippmann was basically the face of the pm! iceman was a very well known assassin! albatross was the head of transportation! doc was the best doctor the pm had! pianoman was, again, LIKE 30 SECONDS AWAY FROM BECOMING AN EXECUTIVE! the only less well known one was chūya!

-and that was immediately revoked when he defeated fucking GUIVRE! HE DEFEATED (and to the public/government, killed) THE KING OF ASSASSINS! WHEN SAID KING OF ASSASSINS WAS A FUCKING GODZILLA BOOTLEG WITH THE POWER OF LIKE THREE GODS IN ONE BODY! it is outright stated that every single person in the pm knew of and respected chūya, and this was before he became an executive! he was 16!

-speaking of! he was 16! he had to watch as his brother murdered every person who mattered to him (except for dazai iykyk)! it doesn't matter that adam came back (epilogue)! he had to watch someone who is supposed to care for him destroy his entire life! verlaine is the one who unlocked chū's gate (the ability to use corruption/singularity form)! he is the one who broke chūya down to his fucking base, build him by about 0.5%, then break him even more! he had to learn that he may not even be human! he had to watch his original melt down to his bones before attempting to murder him! that's horrifying!

- speaking of... that^! the original(?) chūya was... let me just summarize it! he was in a cylinder of some kind of liquid, which n drained. that resulted on og chū starting ti fucking suffocate because he'd been in that shit for like- 9 years? maybe even longer! so he started dying. n gave our chū the remote, which resulted in our chū getting og chū out of the cylinder, only able to hold him as the flesh melted off of his fucking bones. imagine that. watching someone (almost) identical to you, your original, melt into nothing. the only thing left being the mush his skin turned into, his clothed skeleton, and the scientist who did it to him.

-hehe! verlaine murdered n by stepping on him (as guivre, but honestly if verlaine wanted to ste-)!

-while in the lab being tortured, chūya has some hallucinations! dazai being a little shit, shirase blaming him for everything that happened to the sheep (and he was joined by the sheep members for a moment), then the flags! the flags, mainly pianoman, told chūya that it wasn't his fault (i think) and that chūya needs to keep going! then verlaine pops up, and chū thinks he's a hallucination until he frees chū!

-speaking of chū's torture! he was chained to a wall with shackles that had barbed wire on the inside, stakes through bullet wounds that would electrocute him, and tubes in his back administering poison(s)! it was genuinely heartbreaking to read as chūya's screams filled mot only the room he was in, but also the entire lab!

-albatross is the one who taught chūya to swim!

#bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd #i'm going a little bit insane #bsd dazai #bsd dazai osamu #bsd osamu dazai #bsd stormbringer spoilers #bsd stormbringer #bsd storm bringer #okay character list here we go #bsd chuuya nakahara #bsd chuuya #bsd chūya #bungou stray dogs chuuya #bsd verlaine #bsd paul verlaine #bsd rimbaud #bsd arthur rimbaud #bsd rimlaine #bsd the flags #bsd albatross #bsd doc #bsd lippmann #bsd pianoman #bsd iceman #bsd adam #bsd adam frankenstein #bsd shirase #these silly little gay men have me in a chokehold. specifically lippmann and pianoman because they're really interesting.

[luminnara]

The Lost Boys x Slasher!reader PART 2 (nsfw)

Part one!

(This is pretty gender neutral in terms of pronouns but does have feminine body descriptions so do with that what you will. I finished this at midnight and did not beta it lmao)

Warnings: violence, sex, blood, murder

A month.

You’d been in Santa Carla for a month, and your life had already changed so much. 

The night that you met the boys was also the night that you ditched your shitty motel room in favor of their sick ass cave. The crumbling hotel inside of it was beautiful, in its own way, and you felt like it was the perfect place for someone like you to hang out.

It was the perfect place for people like them, too.

They had answered all your questions, and then they had asked you theirs. They found that you’d been killing for a while, though not nearly as long as them, and you found that there were more than just serial killers that went bump in the night.

Four vampires. A month ago, you hadn’t even thought that vampires were real. In fact, you still weren’t entirely sure that they were; after they had cleaned up the corpse of your latest victim, you had made them show you their fangs again and again and again, much to their amusement.

Marko and Paul were more than happy to bare them at you, pretending to lunge for your throat and making you squeal with laughter. They loved that you weren’t scared, even though you were a human, and they were the apex predators of the boardwalk. You always just shrieked, ducked away, and then demanded that they do it again, grinning wildly whenever they snapped in your face.

Dwayne was so chill that he let you feel how sharp his fangs were. At first, he was confused—what the hell were you doing, sticking your fingers in his mouth??—but when all you did was run your thumb along his teeth, he realized that you were just curious. Handsy, but curious.

David would let you reach for him, let you think that maybe this time, he would be nice—and then he would always grab you and come within millimeters of your throat, far closer than Paul or Marko ever did. It gave you the impression that it was part play, part warning, but instead of scaring you off, it just made you want more.

“Go on, sweetheart.” David said one night as everyone lingered around the bikes. “Go find someone to play with.”

Hearing those words always put you in a good mood. You bounced over to him and stretched up to kiss his cheek before skipping away again, the boys all watching you hungrily as you went. Sometimes, they hunted on their own, individually or as a pack, and sometimes, they liked to work in tandem with you, letting you run off to find someone and then catching up to enjoy an easy snack.

You couldn’t help but feel like David almost treated you like a pet sometimes, with the way that he would let you off leash to go hunting for him. You knew he could easily find you again once you disappeared into the crowd, and you knew that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. It was like he wanted to let you stretch your legs, encouraging you to go kill in case you got too bored or lost your edge.

You’d never lose your edge, though. Not after you’d spent so long sharpening it.

The boys watched from a rooftop as a man leered at you, and they knew that would be your choice. Marko groaned—he totally wasn’t his type—but Paul and Dwayne were already drooling, having developed some sort of accidental Pavlovian response to seeing assholes hitting on you.

“You’re insatiable,” David chuckled when he heard the way that Paul was licking his lips.

“Happens every time now,” Paul groaned, running his tongue over his fangs. “Makes my dick hard, too.”

Dwayne growled in agreement.

“Think the guts are gonna be in another heart this time?” Marko asked excitedly. “That’s always for me, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, Marko, we know.” Paul rolled his eyes. “You won’t shut up about it. Stupid cutesy shit…”

“Jealous,” Marko hissed.

“Fuck off!”

“Boys,” David snapped before they could start fighting, “don’t you wanna watch?”

They immediately shut up and peered down at the alley. The guy was following you obediently, his hand already down his pants. Dwayne wrinkled his nose and growled, tensing to move. He hated watching guys act like that with you. He knew that they always got what they deserved, but seeing them always made him want to do the shredding before you even got a chance.

“Easy,” David murmured, holding up a hand. “We don’t intervene unless we have to.”

“I want to,” Dwayne grumbled.

“I know. Just be patient. You know it’s worth it.”

And it was. It was always worth it to wait and watch the way you started unbuttoning your shirt, only to turn around, pull out a knife, and go to town. Tonight started much the same—the man followed you into the shadows, fully expecting to get lucky, jeans already unbuttoned as he watched you start to take your shirt off. Usually, this was where the victim’s fun ended and yours began, never actually getting the chance to get topless.

This time, though, you actually did.

Paul thought he was going to pass out when all the blood in his body rushed straight to his boner.

“No fuckin’ way,” he said, mouth hanging open in shock.

They’d been good. He had been good. So patient. Hands mostly to himself. He had never spent so much time around somebody he liked without fucking them, but David had insisted that you come to them, so Paul had behaved. He had pictured you in his head several times while he fucked other people (or Marko’s mouth), but he had behaved.

And now, it seemed he was being rewarded for all his good behavior.

You knew the boys were watching, even though you didn’t know exactly where they were. They were somewhere just out of sight, waiting to pounce, and tonight, you wanted to give them a show. You didn’t care about the man in front of you as he reached for your tits. You only cared about the four vampires who you hoped liked them.

And they did. Marko was drooling buckets. David was grinning. Dwayne was growling deep in his chest, and Paul was about five seconds from jumping on you. They loved the sight of you shirtless, holding a knife behind your back as you batted your eyelashes and smiled so sweetly. The only way you could possibly look any better would be if you were covered in blood, and with any luck, that was coming soon.

“Fuck, I can’t take this!” Paul whined.

Before David could stop him, he was jumping down, Marko hot on his heels. The two blonds landed just behind your prey, and you immediately smiled at the sight of them and their wild, vamped out faces. You loved those bright yellow eyes and those angular features. You really, really loved them.

You loved them, too.

“Hey, Paul,” Marko said, an amused lilt to his voice.

You watched your victim pause in confusion at the new voice.

“Yeah, Marko?” Paul asked, laughing darkly.

“I’m feelin’ kinda impatient. How do you feel about fast food tonight?”

Paul laughed like a hyena, clutching at his sides as Marko seized the confused human around the middle and and pushed him towards you. You laughed at the bad wordplay, too, the steel of your knife flashing as you brought it out from behind your back.

“You got it, boys,” you winked, plunging the blade into the man’s chest.

His screams were like music to your ears as you stabbed him again and again, blood spurting out onto your face. Marko was trembling with excitement as he watched, sinking his fangs into the human’s shoulder just to keep himself from lunging forward and grabbing you.

You looked so good all covered in blood.

“What do you think, Paul?” You asked. “Should I do something fun with him, or are you too hungry to wait?”

“Oh, baby, I’m hungry, but not for blood,” Paul said, his voice suddenly coming from behind you. You had no idea how the vampires were so fast, but you kinda liked it. “I’m hungry for you.”

A chill flew up your spine as you felt his breath on the back of your neck. Sometimes, the boys would remind you that they were at the top of the food chain around Santa Carla. They were the apex predators. They were the baddest, scariest things around, not you.

And sometimes, you liked that reminder.

“C’mon, babe,” Marko purred, still holding the human. “Carve him up. Gut him.”

“Don’t waste time with that,” Paul said. “Just let Marko kill him, and let’s have some real fun.”

They were like having an angel and a devil on your shoulders, except they were both devils.

“You can be patient, right Paul?” You reached up behind you and seized a handful of his hair, giving it a sharp tug.

You hadn’t known for sure if he would like it, but when he moaned and bucked his hips against you, you figured you were right.

He stayed glued to you as you stepped forward, his hands on your waist as your knife plunged into human flesh again. This time, you did what Marko wanted, and luckily for your victim, the guy managed to pass out before his intestines hit the ground.

Marko finally let go of his shoulder, but not before ripping a chunk of flesh out. “Bummer. I was hoping he’d scream more.”

“Guess he just wasn’t a screamer,” you commented, turning to clean your blade on Paul’s jacket.

“Are you?” Marko asked.

The question caught you off guard and you froze, trying to stammer a reply. Usually, the boys would be eating by now, and you could sit down with your back to the wall and relax.

Not tonight, though.

Tonight, Marko was stalking towards you like a jungle cat, a mischievous look in his yellow eyes. Tonight, Paul was sucking a hickey onto your neck, completely ignoring the fresh corpse on the ground next to him.

Tonight was going differently.

“Let’s find out,” a new voice said, and suddenly Dwayne was there, pulling you away from Paul and picking you up as if you weighed nothing. He held you up against the brick wall at the end of the alley, pinning your hips with his own, one of his hands on your ass while the other held the side of your neck.

“H-hey Dwayne,” you gulped.

“Hey, doll.”

“Wh-what’s up.

He rolled his hips against you and you sucked in a breath. “I think you already know.”

“You drive us wild, baby,” Paul said as he paced back and forth behind Dwayne.

“You always look so good when you kill…” Marko unsuccessfully tried to duck under Dwayne’s arm.

“And you’ve got a nice rack, too.” Paul added.

“Let us show you how much we appreciate you…” Dwayne’s lips found yours and you melted into the kiss.

Your head was spinning as you felt the others descending on you. Paul kissed his way up your legs, reaching for the button of your shorts. Marko licked blood off your stomach, his tongue warmer than you thought possible for a vampire. Dwayne’s hands found your tits and kneaded at them, pulling moans from your throat as your back arched up into his touch.

But where was David?

You felt like something was missing. The boys were all over you, but you wanted that fourth pair of hands. Things weren’t complete without David there.

“D-David,” you whined as Dwayne’s mouth moved to your throat. “Where’s David?”

“Right here, kitten.”

Your eyes snapped open and you saw him there, licking blood off his gloves.

“I’m lucky,” he purred, reaching out to grab your chin. “I got dinner and a show.”

“I-I want you,” you gasped as Paul bit at your thigh. “A-all of you.”

David grinned dangerously. “All you had to do was ask, sweetheart.”

All at once, your shorts were gone and you were being lifted up again, only this time, you were set back down in the proper place. You could feel their hands all over you as they whispered praises, smearing blood over your skin as they kissed and bit at your flesh. They moved like a perfect hunting party, always together, always in sync.

When you sank down onto your knees, David was there in front of you, stroking himself before fucking your face. He wanted to be the first one to feel you, and fuck, he wasn’t disappointed. It had been worth the wait. Your tongue swirled around him divinely, and your eyes were so big as you looked up at him…he was falling in love right there.

You sucked Paul off, too, while he ate you out at the same time. He was hungry, devouring you in much the same way you’d seen him devour his prey. Greedy. Wild. Insatiable.

But amazing.

His tongue put yours to shame. You figured he’d had a lot more time to practice, and his never ending source of energy probably helped, too. He made you cum—twice—before Marko was suddenly on top of you, desperate for your attention, desperate to watch your face as he sank into you.

You were panting, chest heaving as your nails dug into his back. Marko was sweet. He liked missionary because he liked seeing what he did to you. But Marko was also just as greedy as Paul, pulling filthy moans from your lips with every thrust, whispering things you had never even imagined before. They were promises, of everything he wanted to do to you. Everything he would do to you.

And Dwayne, surprisingly, was the hungriest of them all. He held your hips as he fucked you against the wall, lips wrapped around your nipple as he drove into you harder and harder. You didn’t think you had another orgasm in you. You were exhausted, completely spent, your legs gooey and your head totally cock dumb from all the overstimulation. But Dwayne did it—he pulled another out of you, and when he felt you squeezing around his cock, he came inside you, holding you close and petting your hair.

They dressed you and cleaned up the mess after they had cleaned up you, lazily licking the last of the blood off of your skin like cats giving a tongue bath. You felt so safe among these murderers, these nocturnal monsters. Maybe you felt safe because in an lot of ways, they were just like you. They purred and whispered sweet nothings, making sure that you were happy and healthy before carrying you back to the cave because there was no way your legs would be working after that.

“You alright, kitten?” David asked as they set you down in your bed.

“For the thousandth time, I’m fine,” you huffed, laughing anyways.

“Not too rough?” Dwayne asked nervously, eyeing the many bruises and bite marks covering your neck and chest.

“I liked it,” you said defiantly.

“Fuck, how are you so perfect?” Paul dove in next to you, burrowing under the covers before pulling you up against him. “I’m stayin’ here today. The rest of you can fuck off.”

“No way,” Marko was suddenly at your other side, shoving his head under your hand in an effort to get you to pet him. “You fuck off.”

“Boys, relax,” you laughed sleepily. “There’s enough room for everyone.”

Because there was. There was more than enough room, and as David and Dwayne joined, you realized that you had never felt safer in your life. These vampires got you, and you got them. And you were determined to never, ever leave their side.

#the lost boys #poly lost boys #poly lost boys x reader #slasher x reader #the lost boys x reader

[cutiepisenpai]

Day 12. Aphrodisiacs - Undertaker (Witch)

Witch!Reader x Undertaker

Warnings: Smut of Course, Slight spoilers for Book at Atlantic, aphrodisiacs, vaginal fingering, vaginal penetration. creampie.

It has been dreadfully boring these last few days. There haven’t been many people coming in, not a lot of people dying. Not that you wanted them to die, but when there were guests to attend to you saw your love more often. Right now he was busying himself in an attempt to perfect his Bizarre Dolls. You tried assisting him one time, but that did not go well, the magic backfired and the results were catastrophic. Since then he made a rule of no magic use of the corpses. So here you are throwing random ingredients into the cauldron, willing time to move faster. After some time you grow bored and the concoction you are brewing doesn’t interest you anymore. You throw the last of the ingredients you had already prepped in before leaving the room. You make your way up the stairs finding a book and hoping to cure your boredom with it. 

You are unaware that downstairs your caldron has boiled and bubbled over a mist covering the floor of the room. With nowhere else to go the mist travels down to the basement. Undertaker is consumed in his own work and doesn’t notice the mist seeping in until he breathes in a sweet aroma. It drifts through the air luring him away from his work. He walks up the stairs, as he gets closer to the source the thicker and stronger the scent becomes. When he sees the boiling over cauldron he knows the culprit is you. He douses the fire before continuing on his mission of now finding you. He checks the front of the shop and you are nowhere to be found. When he decides to head up the stairs he feels a wave of heat over him, by the time he reaches the top he is removing his overcoat. He walks into the bedroom seeing you lounging in the window seat book in hand. He moves quickly looming over you.

“Hey, are you done working today?”

“What did we talk about with the practicing magic, dearie?”

Confused, you close your book looking up at him, waiting for him to continue. You are even more confused when instead of continuing his lecture he starts undressing himself. 

“Love, what are you doing?” 

“Why are you always so careless with your magic?” 

He is undoing the buckles to remove his boot, his jacket and shirt already off. You might be more insulted by his question if you weren’t so happily looking at his increasingly nude body. 

“How am I careless with magic?”

“What was in the caldron?”

“I don’t know just random stuff. Nothing happened and I got bored so I left.”

“Well that is where you are wrong?” He undoes the buckle of his pants. You catch a glimpse of his eyes and notice his blown out pupils. “You left it boiling and created some sort of love potion.”

“I may not be the very best witch, but even I know that love potions aren’t real.”

Undertaker pushes his naked body against your clothed one. Tugging and pulling to undress you. 

“You’re burning up.” You can feel the heat radiating from his body like he has a fever. 

Your comment goes unnoticed; he has taken to kissing your neck while removing your clothing. Your nipples hardened and groaned loudly when his lips latched onto your neck. 

“I can’t wait much longer.” He groans into your ear. 

He pushes you back onto the bed spreading your legs, his fingers delve into your wetness. His fingers gently circle your clit.

“Always so careless with your work. I tell you time and time again to be more careful.” His fingers press harder against your clit. “Are you so desperate for my attention, that you would be this reckless.”

He removes his fingers much to your dismay before replacing them with his cock lubricating it with your slick. He slowly sinks his cock into you, his cock is exquisite. You enjoy the feeling of stretching around him, feeling the fullness. You wrap your legs around his waist pulling him flush against you. He leans over placing kisses along your shoulder. He fucks you harder almost crushing your body beneath him, pressing you into the mattress. He groans through every thrust of his hips, you feel his cock twitch. With a few more pumps he is cumming deep inside of you, filling you with cum. His breathing is labored as he rests his head on your chest, and all you can think is that you need to find out what your threw in that damn cauldron, is this is the result. 

#kinktober #kinktober 2022 #x reader #reader insert #female reader #smut #black butler undertaker #undertaker black butler #undertaker x reader #undertaker imagines #undertaker

[lunanoc]

PART III: WHO ARE KING SHANG OF LU AND THE IRON-MASKED GENTLEMAN, AND WHY IS IT EVEN IMPORTANT

finally we’re reaching the end of this thing

(to see previous disclaimers and context here’s part I and part II of this madness)

blanket spoiler warning for the books once again

more disclaimers, the entirety of this part is where i veer solidly into crack theory and full-on interpretation, so while everything i’m presenting here does have arguments based on sources that’s important we do love sources, it’s very much speculation and not hard fact

now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into the really wild stuff

with the various versions of “king shang of lu”’s and the iron-masked gentleman’s story, along with king mu of zhou’s story more or less unpacked (or as unpacked as they can be given we don’t know everything or even have a definitive truth), the real question then becomes what exactly you do with that information

based on what we’ve determined so far through the various versions of these characters’ stories, and taking into account the dubious nature of some or all of them to some degree, i feel there are a few base assumptions and conclusions you can come to, and that i’ll be working with from here on out:

the silkbook that wu xie found in “king shang of lu”’s coffin was indeed a fake, and was placed there with wu xie in mind, knowing that he would find it, and its purpose was to ease wu xie into the game the wu and xie families had been playing with the wang family. whether it was wu sanxing himself or the wang family who did it isn’t certain, and while either is a solid option, @tiesanjiaoshenanigans raised some solid arguments in favor of it being wu sanxing that you can read in their reblog here. in any case, it’s highly unlikely that it was xiaoge. grain of salt because i haven’t reached this point myself, but i’ve looked into a particular passage in ten years (Ten Years, Ch. 31, Key) where wu xie thinks back on the seven star palace, and while he does speculate that wu sanxing had a hand in using the silkbook jin wantang brought to him for his own purposes, wu xie also works on the assumption that it was xiaoge who swapped out a real silkbook for the fake one that contained the first version of king shang of lu’s story, and that his unease was due to recovered memories. granted wu xie does also speculate that he’d had the impression that xiaoge had been to the seven star palace several times before, which is entirely possible due to its significance in relation to “the truth of the world” (credit to @kelly42fox for speculating that maybe the headless corpse thrown into the sacrificial ding cauldron at the entrance of the seven star palace was in fact that missing blood zombie that xiaoge had subdued on a previous visit, and it was this memory that was triggered). however, while wu xie’s word is generally the most trustworthy simply because he’s dmbj’s main narrator, bases his assumptions on logic, and readily course corrects when he’s proven wrong (so in that sense he’s not the type of unreliable narrator who deliberately misleads the reader), he’s still a limited pov character, and what wu xie thinks he knows isn’t always necessarily the truth. because again, xiaoge planting the fake silkbook implies either he or chen pi ah si had a solid motivation for deceiving wu xie specifically, which seems odd all things considered

the wang family’s version of the tale of king shang of lu is the closest we have to the truth simply by virtue of it being the most detailed, of providing additional information that conveniently sheds light both on things mentioned in prior books and things mentioned in later books, and of it being a tale they clearly believe in. while it’s likely not the entire truth, both because they have a clear bias, and because they themselves are lacking key elements of this history, namely what “the truth of the world” is and what their feud with the zhang family truly stems from (Sand Sea Part III, Ch. 146, Wang Zanghai), it’s the best candidate so far

the iron-masked gentleman from the first two versions of “king shang of lu”’s story and the owner of the fox mask from the wang family’s story are the same person, and there might be more to his identity than you’d think

with all this being said, what’s left to consider is the possible identities of the characters in this story, namely king shang of lu, the iron-masked gentleman, and king mu of zhou, and the ramifications of those possibilities

let’s start with the iron-masked gentleman, as he’s arguably the most nebulous of the three, and for the sake of convenience i’m going to refer to him as just iron mask from here on out since that’s what he’s best known as

ironically however, the first detail i want to bring attention to regarding him is that he specifically wears a fox mask adorned with “patterns often found on bronze ware”, bronze ware being so precious a material at the time that it was used almost exclusively for ritual objects, most often funerary ones (Sand Sea Part III, Ch. 132, Lesson). later, we learn from the wang instructor that similar fox masks were correlated with a specific group of tomb robbers operating in shandong (where this story takes place) during the same time period (Sand Sea Part III, Ch. 134, Deception). based on this alone, i feel it’s safe to say that some type of parallel is being drawn between both iron mask, and if not this particular group of grave robbers, then at the very least the activity of robbing tombs. this detail will be important in a bit

for now, let’s look at how iron mask is presented to the reader in the various versions of king shang of lu’s story we’re successively given:

in the first version taken from the fake silkbook, iron mask plays a fairly neutral role despite helping king shang of lu to find the famed jade burial armor, which ironically in this version he also reveals the existence of to the man he advises

in both the second version briefly mentioned by xiaoge and in the third version given by the wang family, iron mask plays a more duplicitous role, either by stealing the jade armor for himself, or by sharing in duping the ruler of the state of lu to acquire his resources to find the jade burial armor in king mu of zhou’s tomb

according to the wang family’s version of the story, iron mask wasn’t king shang of lu’s advisor, but rather the advisor of the ruler of the state of lu, and as such, while he wasn’t in a position of direct power himself, he was in a position to influence said power, and he clearly did given he deliberately swayed the ruler of the state of lu into granting resources to rob king mu of zhou’s tomb. it’s also noteworthy enough to mention that the state of lu happens to be where confucius was born among other eminent scholars of the spring and autumn period, the intellectually prosperous period preceding the warring states period, and the one during which king mu of zhou supposedly began to implement his plan by incorporating the guarantee of tomb robbing into chinese tradition itself (Sand Sea Part III, Ch. 135, Stone Box). as such, the state of lu had a particularly important cultural influence on the rest of china both at the time and going forward. what i’m getting at by bringing this up is that iron mask was therefore not only in a position to influence the court of just any of the many states of the eastern zhou dynasty, he was in a position to influence one of the more prominent states of the time that had been a hub for some of the foundations of chinese culture for millenia to come. that iron mask was the one to recommend “king shang” to the ruler of the state of lu in the first place, clearly long before king shang ever had any sort of prominent position at court, further solidifies this idea.

and while there’s no direct evidence to infer that king shang, iron mask, and king mu might have been searching for and robbing tombs before iron mask ever brought up the idea of robbing king mu’s to the ruler of the state of lu, the previous connection between iron mask and the grave robbers with fox masks seems to hint at that possibility, and the narrative, by drawing this parallel, lends itself to interpreting iron mask and these fox-mask wearing grave robbers as some sort of organized collective

as mentioned in a previous part, the wang instructor explains to li cu that a number of these fox masks were found in tombs all over shandong, and that grave robbers of the time associated foxes with grave robbing because they’d often burrow in grave robber tunnels and around graveyards. what this then means is that, assuming these fox mask-wearing grave robbers and iron mask are indeed connected, then the activity of grave robbing itself is also connected to iron mask, or rather iron mask is connected to tomb robbing. as for the reasoning behind why someone would consistently wear a mask to the point their identity becomes eclipsed by it, the easiest answer is to assume that concealing their identity was maybe the point, and in the case of iron mask, given we have no information on his real name or anything else about him really, if that was his goal, then he clearly succeeded. therefore this fox mask he wears potentially has the dual purpose of both hiding his identity, and establishing some form of kinship with others who wore similar masks

to sum up then, iron mask was a man whose true identity and name remains unknown, who held an influential position in the court of one of the more prominent and certainly most culturally significant states of the eastern zhou dynasty, was associated in some capacity with grave robbing via kinship with a group of people who wore the same type of mask as him, and he used his influence at court to sway the ruler he advised into taking actions that benefited him in some capacity. as it happens, we know of at least one organized group of people in dmbj’s universe who also held influential positions in various imperial courts, are associated with grave robbing, and used their influence in spheres of power to sway rulers and/or the course of history in directions that benefited them and/or their endgame

do you see where i’m going with this

again, there’s nothing anywhere that can directly confirm that either iron mask and/or the fox-masked grave robbers were members of the zhang family or even associated with them, but there’s also nothing to technically disprove it either so i’ll just. leave the parallels here for people’s consideration

but where things get even more interesting is when you stop to then consider who “king shang of lu” might be

outside of the very first stone slab we get in the seven star palace that describes king shang of lu as having been “born with the ghost seal in hand” and the command of the army of the dead, if we assume that version 1 of his story in the silkbook that wu xie finds is dubious at best, then we don’t really get all that much about king shang of lu’s life or identity. the wang family’s version describes him as being introduced to the court of the state of lu as a descendent of the zhou emperor and as a “strange man” or “奇人” (qiren), which can either mean a “strange” person or an “extraordinary” person, as in having extraordinary talents, which arguably, given what his tomb looks like, he was (Sand Sea Part III, Ch. 132, Lesson).

beyond this however, there’s nothing in the wang family’s version to suggest that king shang of lu was anyone of note before iron mask quite literally pulled him out of thin air, as if he’d never existed until he suddenly appeared at court one day like a mysterious messenger from the beyond that the ruler of the state of lu, if not purports him to be, then may also believe him to be. the mystery persists with the tale of how king shang of lu supposedly gained his title by communing with the dead king mu of zhou to ask permission to open his tomb, since while we know that this perspective on what happened is in fact skewed by what the ruler of the state of lu who was tricked saw, and that in reality, king mu of zhou wasn’t dead, knowing this doesn’t answer how king shang of lu actually acquired the ghost seal or who he really is, if his identity is even significant. that he was “born with the ghost seal” in hand is likely a descriptor made to reflect him coming out of the coffin he’d been sealed as if “reborn” under his new title with the proof of his “covenant” with king mu of zhou. however, given the meaning of the name 殇 shang mentioned earlier (that is to say “to die young or at war”), and despite the explanation given of his title as a means to justify the subsequent robbing of king mu of zhou’s tomb, it nonetheless leaves you wondering why this name, and why specify that he was a direct descendant of king mu rather than simply “forming a covenant” with him? it could simply be that it was the most efficient ploy to manipulate the ruler of the state of lu into finding convenient moral outs, and there’s nothing more to read into it than the first step of the elaborate plan king mu of zhou had roped king shang of lu and iron mask into

but consider: we’ve established that while it seemed as if there were only two people working together, in fact there were three. but what if against all odds, there really were only two people in the end? after all, a third party is never really hinted at in the earlier versions of this story we get in book 1, unless you count the initial corpse in the fake silkbook version of the story that king shang supposedly removed from the jade burial armor when he found it, but that can’t have been king mu if king mu was in fact alive. what i’m saying is, what if we consider the crazy possibility that king mu of zhou and king shang of lu were in fact the same person

we know that king mu of zhou faked his death centuries before, and while he might have simply sought out and convinced king shang and iron mask of his identity, objectively, the less outside parties involved in his plan, the better. to be fair, it’s entirely possible that king mu used himself as a living example that immortality existed in order to bait king shang and iron mask into helping him, only for them to betray him later and successively take the jade armor for themselves. but if you consider the possibility that king shang was nothing more than an alias king mu used to “return to life” so to speak, it wouldn’t be less fitting of an explanation, as who could possibly have stood to recognize the face of a man centuries dead? of course, nothing really exists to solidly confirm this idea, which is the case for pretty much all of this “meta” that’s entirely speculation at this point but consider

after all, king mu of zhou saw “the truth of the world” in the queen mother of the west’s kingdom. i’ll come back to her briefly later, but we also know that to our knowledge, before wang zanghai, the zhang family were the only other people to have access to that “truth”. it’s reasonable to assume that king mu of zhou, having seen the “truth of the world” and returned from the queen mother of the west’s kingdom changed from it in more ways than one, might have also gained knowledge of another party who knew this “truth”. it’s equally reasonable to assume that rather than go through a third party and thus introduce an unknown variable into his plan, and seeing as king mu of zhou had been “dead” long enough that no one would recognize him should he choose to assume a different identity, it would have simply been easier to approach the only other party who both shared in the same forbidden knowledge, as well as presumably shared similar goals to some extent. and if iron mask was a zhang, then coming back to the previous point, given his particular social status, iron mask would have been the prime candidate for king mu to turn to for assistance. it also stands to reason that if iron mask was a zhang, then by extension a member of the zhang family would have accepted a mutually beneficial arrangement. after all, king mu’s plan and goals aligned somewhat with the zhang family’s interests, and they had to have been aware of king mu’s covert manipulation during the spring and autumn period. using grave robbing as a means of perpetuating curated traditions and culture over centuries, manipulating the flow of history, and thus making it extremely easy to practice convenient historical revisionism perfectly aligned with the zhang family’s designs. arguably it’s also precisely what the zhang family had been doing and continued to do, as wu xie himself eventually speculates, wondering if the zhang family had used tomb robbing as a means of disseminating if not false, then modified histories in order to control china’s “fate” through the ages (Tibetan Sea Flower, Ch. 67, Biggest Secret)

in addition to that, considering we know the ghost seal is something tied to the main zhang family, particularly zhang qiling, and that it allows passage into the bronze gate beneath changbai mountain that houses the ultimate (which is what “the truth of this world” ostensibly is) past the ghost army that does exist (though whether they can be controlled is something we have no evidence of), it’s also not a stretch of the imagination to consider that the zhang family might have lent the ghost seal to king mu/king shang for appearance’s sake. and if all this did have to do with the zhang family and there really were only two people involved in the endgame of this story, it might also provide a tentative reason for xiaoge’s unease as he tries to parse through why there isn’t a third blood corpse in the seven star palace. it might have triggered a memory or some feeling in him that there was an explanation to all this that existed but that he wasn’t privy to in the moment, but perhaps he had been privy to it in the past, and perhaps he had come to find it many times before that he could no longer recall because it was a place tied to the zhang family in some capacity

that does however raise the question of why then had iron mask’s memoirs been circulating if he’d been a zhang, but then again, dissemination of information via tombs was a plan the zhang family had every reason to encourage and perpetuate if they hadn’t already been in the business of practicing it, so if iron mask was a zhang, he would have neither had any qualms about participating in it himself, nor of providing a revised version of the truth. after all, we have no indication that version 2 of the story as told by xiaoge is a truthful account either, especially since this version still doesn’t reveal a name for the iron-masked gentleman despite it coming from his supposed memoirs

in addition to that, we also get an interesting tidbit in hindsight from practically the very beginning of book 1, where wu sanxing takes note of the fox pattern on the warring states silkbook that started wu xie’s journey into the conspiracies and says that it depicts “the mask worn by the earliest people in the state of lu when they were offered up as sacrifices” and that it must mean that “someone with a very special identity” was buried in the tomb, possibly “more respected that the emperor” (Book 1, Ch.3, Temple of Seeds). it’s hard to say what to make of the notion that the fox-masked people were “sacrifices” considering the wang family’s story explicitly makes them out to be grave robbers, so either or both of them is a lie. however, it does at least confirme there is something special about these fox-masked people beyond what’s being said (especially given the green-eyed fox corpse, who following the zhang logic, might have been a lower ranked family member offered up as a sacrifice and who turned after death, but this is probably a stretch), and whoever is buried in that tomb is abnormally important. the only real issue you run into with this train of thought is considering how far back the zhang family tomb extends, why would any zhang of note not be buried in it, so that’s at least one gap in logic

all of this then leaves us with a final question: if we assume iron mask was a zhang, and that king shang of lu was in fact a false identity created by king mu of zhou for himself, then what exactly happened in the seven star palace, and who is who in what coffin?

we know that the seven star palace is a warring states period tomb constructed on top of a pre-existing western zhou dynasty tomb. there’s no indication of whether this pre-existing tomb was meant to be king mu’s (in which case it was at least partially a dupe as he was still alive), and raises the problem of king mu not having had the jade armor prior to the king shang of lu story as he was actively looking for it, so he can’t have found it in his own tomb. to me, this means there are two possibilities to consider:

possibility one: king mu had a tomb built for himself during his reign that was designed with his plan in mind, which might explain the presence of the snake cypress (which we again only ever see elsewhere in gutongjing in ancient ruins related to a candle dragon baby snake mine, so clearly it being in the seven star palace is of some significance). king mu and iron mask did find a jade burial armor, but in another tomb or elsewhere that isn’t what would become the seven star palace

possibility two: king mu and iron mask, with each other’s mutual knowledge and abilities, found a tomb containing a jade burial armor that happened to be a western zhou dynasty tomb. the story then roughly proceeds like in the first two versions, and king mu/shang removes the corpse from the jade armor and takes it for himself

in some ways i feel like the most logical and likely option is the first one, simply because the mechanisms inside the seven star palace are too precise and deliberate, namely the timer coffin that was tied to the box with the baby in it (which i won’t be getting into here because that’s for another meta). this then leaves us with the problem of determining exactly who is who in this tomb by the time wu xie walks into it. the wang family implies that king mu’s plan ultimately failed because he hadn’t considered that someone like wang zanghai would come about and have the ability to hijack king mu’s plan for his own purposes. you can interpret that either as referring to his grave robbing plan alone, or that it also refers to king mu himself successfully staying in the jade armor for as long as it would take for him to come out of it side effect free. the ambiguity of what the wang family meant by “plan” makes it difficult to decide whether, following that wording, it leaves room for king mu to have been dumped out of the jade burial armor or not, which doesn’t really make deciding who is who any easier. for the record, wu xie mentions later when he comes back to this story in ten years later that he believes the one buried in the coffin under the snake cypress was iron mask (and npss also states this in his timeline in the postscript of book 8). if we choose to believe this is correct, and that king shang of lu was in fact king mu of zhou, then it leaves two more possible outcomes to the story:

possibility one: the thing in the coffin at the entrance of the seven star palace is king mu of zhou, and he was also the blood zombie that xiaoge killed

possibility two: the thing in the coffin is king mu of zhou, but he didn’t turn into a blood zombie, rather into something different or more powerful, and therefore the blood zombie xiaoge killed was someone else

the only thing that makes me doubt in this theory that king mu of zhou could both have been the blood zombie xiaoge killed and whatever was in the coffin at the entrance to the seven star palace is that to start with, there was a coffin so elaborate there to begin with convenient enough to place someone in (unless there had actually initially been a sacrifice in it and that’s the body that got dumped in the ding cauldron on the side to get replaced), that if wu xie was correct in assuming xiaoge had been to the seven star palace before, he would have left a dangerous blood zombie that could roam around in it “alive”, and lastly, the fact that not only did xiaoge kowtow to it to ask for safe passage within the tomb, even after having killed the blood zombie, xiaoge insisted on respecting the time limit the thing in the coffin had set and pushed wu sanxing’s team to leave the seven star palace before dawn regardless. it’s worth noting that xiaoge has never kowtowed to a corpse outside of this occasion (to my knowledge at least), has only actually knelt in front of changbai mountain that houses the bronze gate really, and has only ever spoken to one other also incredibly old and likely powerful corpse that was very likely one of the first people to come out of the kunlun mountains, and that rests inside the meteorite in tamutuo (Restart Part I: The Sound of Providence, Ch. 222, Countdown to the Finale 4).

why adamantly continue to uphold the demands of a creature that you’ve killed and that can presumably no longer harm you? unless leaving before dawn was an imperative that went beyond the sole demands of the thing inside the coffin at the entrance, it’s a little strange. however, the problem with saying that whatever was in the coffin at the entrance to the seven star palace and the blood zombie that xiaoge killed are two different entities makes things difficult, because it would mean there was some third party involved somehow, and it gives possibility two (the one where king mu/shang and iron mask find another tomb to steal the jade burial armor from and co-opt it) a little more ground. i haven’t been able to find any conclusive information on where the real-life king mu of zhou was buried, and it’s hard to say how much of an argument a real-life fact holds for something like this, but it’s interesting to note that the western zhou dynasty’s capital was fenghao, located in what’s now part of present day xi’an in the province of shaanxi, and the province of shaanxi is roughly 800 km (or 500 miles) from the province of shandong where the seven star palace is. it’s relatively far, especially for the time period, so does the distance justify the thought that it might not have been king mu of zhou’s tomb that was used as the basis for the seven star palace after all? did king mu/shang and iron mask really find a tomb that contained a jade burial armor and co-opt it? more food for thought

either way, whether or not the blood zombie xiaoge killed was king mu of zhou, if we choose to follow both wu xie and npss, then it doesn’t change the fact that it’s very likely that regardless, king mu of zhou ended up in the coffin at the entrance of the seven star palace, and iron mask in the jade burial armor in the coffin beneath the snake cypress. in that case, it brings into question the motivations iron mask might have had for doing this if, following the current theory, he really was a member of the zhang family. surprisingly, it’s not too difficult to think of some plausible ones

the zhang family have been searching for a way to curb their own terrible longevity curse for centuries, to the extent their blind determination to find meaning in their existence is what proved to be the fatal weakness that drove them right into wang zanghai’s and the wang family’s trap. if he really was a zhang, why then would iron mask have been any different, especially since given the time period, knowledge of anything connected to either the queen mother of the west, or what her kingdom housed (re: the meteorite), or both would have likely still been fresh enough for zhang family members anyway. the promise of the jade burial armor could have been a tempting offer for a man himself doomed from birth. it’s also possible that while king mu of zhou’s grave robbing plan naturally aligned with what the zhang family had likely already been doing, and so in that sense they facilitated it, they drew the line at him potentially accessing longevity, as king mu of zhou remained an outsider and therefore an unknown variable in the long run. better then for one of their own to guard something like a jade burial armor than someone who while aware of the “truth”, wasn’t necessarily an ally, which is what ended up happening much later with wang zanghai. king mu would thus have been a liability to dispose of. and king mu/shang might have sensed this and tried to have all the people working with him killed like the first two versions of the king shang of lu story seem to suggest, and so iron mask really did fake his own death to ensure king mu couldn’t succeed

i realize this idea raises a number of other problems, such as again why the zhangs would not either have kept some knowledge that one of their own was buried not only outside of the family tomb (which had things dating back to the spring and autumn period, suggesting burial in it had already been an established tradition then), but also in something like a jade burial armor. maybe they did, and it’s one of those secrets only zhang qiling is privy to. only xiaoge would truly be able to answer that (not that he will). it’s also possible following this logic that if iron mask did fake his own death, doing so placed him outside the scope of the family enough he was free to act of his own selfish free will and seized the opportunity, but again, this is all speculation. it also raises the question of why the wang family, if they’d known there was a zhang buried in jade burial armor, wouldn’t have tampered with it and removed him, but then again, they likely needed to keep the corpse there to bring their plan against the zhang family to fruition regardless of who it was

for the sake of debate, i might as well also share an alternative theory to this, that while i feel has a lot more problems and ultimately doesn’t fit with a number of other elements of dmbj lore brought up here where the theory this “meta” has been about so far does, is still maybe worth mentioning. it’s essentially the reverse, that the iron-masked gentleman was king mu of zhou’s fabricated identity, and king shang of lu was a zhang. again, i feel like this spin on the theory has a lot of logic problems going on, but if i had to make a case for it:

殇 shang and 张 zhang are vaguely homonyms and both pronounced in the first tone, which while it’s likely a coincidence, lends this theory a tiny bit of substance given the zhang family is also associated with death both by nature and design

if king shang was a zhang, it could explain why he would have had access to the ghost seal, in which case it would have been iron mask who sought the zhang family out and then ultimately duped them

if iron mask was king mu, then his ability to spin a tall tale about himself to the ruler of the state of lu would have been much easier

if king shang was a zhang, then slaughtering any outsiders aware of the plan would have made sense to ensure knowledge would stay within the family

it would also mean that king shang the zhang was tossed out of the jade burial armor and presumably into the coffin at the entrance of the seven star palace while iron mask/king mu took his place, and was maybe duped by iron mask/king mu who faked his own death because the zhang family’s hubris has always been massive and he didn’t suspect he could be bested

this would fit with the interpretation that by saying only wang zanghai prevented king mu’s plan from succeeding, the wang family meant both his grave robbing plan and his ability to successfully attain longevity without side effects

this would have presumably also given iron mask/king mu the time to accomplish his “series of things” such as writing his “memoirs” onto a silkbook, constructing his own coffin duo together with the box that contained the unborn baby

that would mean that whatever was in the coffin at the entrance of the seven star palace was a zhang, which might explain why xiaoge would feel the need to kowtow to it when this is something he doesn’t usually do

again, as nice as this idea seems, it has a bunch of flaws to it, namely for example how that would then connect the fox-masked people and iron mask (unless you want to consider those were simply his own followers brought about by implementing his own plan), how king mu even in disguise could have had held a position at court without any suspicion and likely no familial backing as he’d faked his own death, and many more. so ultimately i feel like t’s not as solid of a theory, but it’s an interesting contrasting thought

as for who the queen mother of the west really was, that’s also up for debate and lot more difficult to determine. though li cu suggests even she might be a fabrication meant to embellish the story of king mu of zhou for the sake of luring people into believing immortality existed, we know enough by sand sea to be certain she did in fact exist. while it’s unclear whether she truly was the queen mother of the west of legend, i like to think she was simply because we have no other accounts of anyone with that name, and because of how deeply entrenched she was in things relating to “the truth of the world” that she was more or less implied to have been privy to. the theory i’m personally going with is that she discovered the meteorite in the qaidam basin and constructed a kingdom around it (which would have taken far longer than a lifetime to accomplish to the degree that she did), knowing full well what the meteorite represented and what it could do. and if she did know, then considering her knowledge of “the truth of this world”, and her supposed longevity, it’s not entirely impossible to consider, especially given the title of the book itself, that the queen mother of the west might be related to the ancestors of the zhang family mentioned in queen mother’s ghost banquet, and that she simply belonged to a different branch of those people who took a different direction than the zhang family did, and sought to remedy the curse in a different way. and what better way than to return to its source? after all, knowing the zhang family’s origins, it’s not impossible to suggest that not all of the people who emerged from beneath the kunlun mountains and among other things built the bronze gate all ended up congregating to form what would become the zhang family. we know, for example, that baima, xiaoge’s mother, also had special blood akin to the one running in the zhang family, enough that she passed it on to xiaoge, ironically granting him purer special blood than any other main family zhang by that point. so it’s not that far-fetched to think there may have been offshoots of the zhang family’s ancestors who chose to lead a different life and eventually drifted apart from their brethren enough that they lost knowledge of each other, or served a different purpose for whatever is controlling the zhang family like marionnettes on a string

so this has been a massive “meta” i still can’t believe i actually sat down and wrote this

hopefully it makes some kind of sense and isn’t just incoherent babbling i’m going to be honest that’s still what it is lbr and i’m not sure it’s contributed much to anything besides being one more rabbit hole crack theory, but uhhh if you’ve stuck out this long thank you for reading! and feel free to comment or add anything onto this i’m always happy to talk about dmbj lore please talk to me about dmbj lore

#dmbj #meta #dmbj meta #idk if i'm more pikachu face at the fact i wrote this #or actually finished it #BUT IT IS DONE #thank fck #i want to say this is my humble contribution #but really what is it contributing to #besides me gnawing on my walls about dmbj lore #i'm literally that that one gif of the guy and his conspiracy theory red thread board #this is my life now

[jijyou]

𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍: prologue

eren x f!reader TW: blood, gore description, death, trauma, panic, anger, sadness. posted: 08/21/2023 | word count: 820.

A/N: hey you! hope you like this <3

Year 845:Two days after the fall of Wall Maria.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Again, and again, and again.

Big eyes that hold so much fear, with tears in the brim of freedom, a sequence of images, whose blood was this again? She asks herself as the despair takes control of her frail and much-pained body.

Senses other than fear start to wake within her body. Her vision, still blurry, scans the surrounding scenario, not being able to identify much. The smell was not helping either, her stomach was curling in itself, a simple reaction to the disgusting and intoxicating scent in the air. And no, it was not the blood or the corpses in a state of decomposition. It was the despair felt by what was left of humanity. Those insignificant beings, oh poor of them: cloistered by themselves in a cage of degradation and disgrace.

Is it really worth it to keep living? I do not wish to be like this.

The voices in her head getting louder and louder, just like the pained ones in the outside world. She sure wished to be deaf in a moment like this. The time they - as humanity - were living was not very gentle with those who were experiencing it. It certainly should not receive the name of "present" as it means something that should be cherished, appreciated, and lived. The only present they received was the fall of hope, faith, and protection. And in the place of concrete blocks, bodies were being piled, one by one, in this unmerciful and misfortunate wor-

— N/n.

A tired voice suddenly cut her thoughts, like an ax, trying to open a way through a dense and tricky forest. But it was easy for him, the girl always being an over-thinker, living inside her head for most of her life. Constantly being remained by his mother, she should b- Right, mom it's not here anymore.

The fall of the wall had taken way more of them than he would like to admit. Those bastards, giant monsters that resembled humans, treading above us as if we are nothing. They have lost everything, their families, their homes, and their freedom.

I am going to kill every single one of them.

He thought, and his eyes cast down for a moment, a piece of his ragged cloth was wrapped around her left hand in an innocent attempt of putting bones that were once whole back together.

— Oi, N/n. — He called for her attention once more as his left hand found a way to her head —You seemed uncomfortable in your sleep. — he pointed out facing forward. — Did you have one of those weird dreams again? — Although exhausted, he was still worried, they just had each other now.

— Eren… — Whispered a weary voice —Did I wake you up? — She promptly tries to change the subject, willing to forget everything she, once again, witnessed.

— I was already awake. — Liar. The first word to emerge in her wave of unceasing ruminations.

— Go back to sleep. — He states, attempting to make her rest on his shoulder.

She instinctively looked at him, trying to sit straight. Just then, she realized the weight that rested on her right shoulder, along with the very so soft fabric of Mikasa's crimson scarf in contact with her arm. Consecutively, she stopped moving, not wanting to wake her friend up.

— One of the soldiers said it will take a while for them to allocate us, children, somewhere. So you can ease up for a bit more. — The young boy professes in the middle of a yawn. 

— Aren't you going to sleep too? —She asked in an almost silent voice, trying to reach for his hand, her nightmares still too real for her to handle. She did not want to close her eyes again, just to have her mind filled with scenarios of a gruesome life.

— Hum. —He mumbled, resting his head against the stoned, cold wall. — I was waiting for Armin, he had just left to try to get some bread for us with his grandfather. — explained Eren with his eyes closed.

— And... — He hesitates, but finally, he looks at her — I just wanted to be sure you are asleep first.

Assuming that her heart had raced would be an understatement. Gazing at his eyes, it was like her muscles had some type of cellular memory she was unaware of. The tension left her body. Irises that reflected the deepest teal gray oceans, carrying the same anesthetic effects as the remedies Mr. Yeager used to carry around in his bag. She was sure those were the same eyes she saw once her own were closed.

Right, she smiled to herself, having the tiredness invading her once again. That is right, in my dreams, his eyes were there too.

𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍's sumary:

masterlist ↫ prologue ↬ chapter 1

#eren x reader #eren yeager #eren jaeger #eren aot #mikasa ackerman #mikasa aot #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #aot x reader #x reader #anime #fanfic #canon #armin arlert #levi ackerman #eren yaeger x reader #eren jaeger x reader #jijyou

[separatist-apologist]

Neon In The Nighttime

Summary: It's the end of the word as we know it. A west coast baker and the drummer of a metal band team up in Boston, MA thinking they're one of the last few people left alive after a viral outbreak turns those infected into blood hungry monsters.

Their destination: Los Angeles, California- the last place Lucien's eldest brother was living while gearing up for a presidential run. Lucien is desperate to escape the memories of his past life and what he had to do when his wife, Jes, became infected. Elain wants to try and reclaim the fractured pieces of the life she remembers before everything went to hell.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Read on AO3

She woke to the sound of wet hands slapping against the glass. Lucien was awake in an instant, pulling his seat back up as he fumbled with the keys. They’d been found by someone infected, pounding frantically against the window with those red rimmed, sightless eyes.

Elain nearly threw up in the seat well at the sight of the creature just outside. Flesh hung in bloated, rotting chunks from a broken, skeletal frame. One eye was wholly gone, plucked out so nothing but bleached bone remained. The jaw had come unhinged, leaving only the top, toothless half gaping in a silent, horrific scream.

Lucien screeched out of the sleeping spot on the side of the road along a long stretch of trees where more of those creatures—because they weren’t human, not anymore—shuffled and ambled toward them. 

“Do they just go on forever?” Elain gasped, gripping her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. “They don’t eventually die?”

“Oh, God,” Lucien whispered, his golden skin ashen. “Oh, God.”

He didn’t stop, and to their credit, neither of them threw up though she suspected they both wanted to. Lucien drove through Pennsylvania and into Ohio before he ever spoke a word.

“Have you ever been to Cleveland?” 

She almost laughed. “No. Have you?”

Those eyes of his clouded over. “For a show, a couple times. It’s not that bad, you know.”

“It’s Ohio,” she joked. Lucien offered her one of his half-smiles, the closest she’d ever gotten to a true one in the forty eight hours she’d known him. 

“Come on,” he said, pulling into the empty city. 

“Are you going to give me a tour of all the midwestern cities?” she asked, hoping that he might. Elain was half afraid that Lucien would find Eris and he’d leave her. How did she ask a stranger to let her live with him for the rest of their lives? She hadn’t quite figured it out in her head, but she knew she needed to make sure he understood she was asking as friends.

Platonic roommates was a thing, even in the apocalypse. 

“No,” he said, shooting her a sly glance. “But I know a place we can get some actual sleep.”

That was a relief. Lucien had dark circles beneath his eyes and she knew she hadn’t fared much better. Sleeping in a car was uncomfortable in the best of circumstances but knowing there were infected lurking in the woods all but guaranteed Elain was never going to get a good night's sleep again. Maybe not until they were further out west in the desert, where she thought it would be harder for a rotting corpse to amble about for a year. 

Lucien took them straight into the heart of downtown Cleveland. Whatever it had been before seemed a paradise to what it had become. More of that sewage smell wafted through the air while nearly all the buildings had been broken up and covered in layers upon layers of black spray paint and new growing vegetation. 

“I heard a pundit say once that humanity was the real virus,” Lucien told her, glancing at curling ivy. 

“I don’t think that’s true,” she responded. She’d heard that, too, declared so snidely over the radio while she’d been on her way to New York. “I think that’s a cop out.”

“Oh?”

“It didn’t have to be like this,” she whispered, hating the emotion in her voice. Lucien glanced over, knuckles white from where he held the steering wheel. “There were so many chances to turn back, to be better. To do the right thing. So many people tried, and I think it was greed that got in our way.”

“That’s still humanity—”

“No, that’s like, a couple power hungry assholes who decided the rest of our lives and the world itself was worth risking. I don’t think their behavior is some sweeping indictment of humanity as a whole. Do you think that?”

Lucien seemed to contemplate that. “No,” he finally admitted. “I don’t.”

“They sold us all out for money,” Elain said, her heart pounding in her throat. “And I hope they suffered for it.”

The leather groaned beneath his grip. “So do I.”

They didn’t say another word as Lucien wound his way up through a parking garage. He’d had to get out and break the bar to keep out interlopers while Elain watched. Lucien looked strong, so it didn’t surprise her how easily he’d taken it apart. No, it was the rage that flitted over his features. How the muscles in his back shifted beneath the long-sleeved, green shirt he wore and how when he’d looked back to the windshield, there’d been satisfaction etched on his features.

Gone, just as quickly as she’d found it, but still it was there. 

“This is as safe as we’ll ever be,” he said, unfolding a tarp from the backseat in an attempt to hide the gas cans in the cab. “We’ll sleep here tonight and make tomorrow a long day.”

“Fine by me,” she agreed. “Tell me about this place.”

Lucien made his way toward the stairwell, ignoring the elevators that no longer worked. Elain couldn’t help but walk to the pried open doors and peer into the gloom. Lucien waited by the stairs, his expression tight. 

“Careful,” he warned, as if she might jump straight to the bottom. It had been a long time since Elain had felt that suicidal. She offered him a polite nod. 

As they made their way down, Lucien spoke. “This place belonged to a friend of mine. He was from Ohio and I guess living in Cleveland made him feel like he hadn’t sold out. He was out in Los Angeles more often than he wasn’t, but he had this place and when I came through, he let me use it. I don’t think he’ll mind.”

Elain wondered if Lucien hoped he’d find his friend. Walking through the lobby of the building, she kind of hoped they did, too. Like Boston and Erie, Cleveland was miserably empty and gloomy to boot. The sunless sky made everything seem worse—gray and dull, a miserable existence along a muddy river. 

And still, lives had been lived here. Snuffed out thoughtlessly, and still pieces lingered. Elain found a stuffed brown bear laying face down in the stairwell and a discarded show in the once clean, open lobby. We were here, those things seemed to scream. Don’t forget us. 

Elain picked them up and Lucien didn’t say a word about it. As far as companions went, she was beginning to think she’d lucked out. Though sad, Lucien was at least friendly. He made her think of George and his assertion that killing was nothing like he thought it would be. Nothing like he’d seen in movies. Lucien, by that same logic, was nothing like the action heroes of the post-apocalyptic shows she’d used to watch. Though there was a gruffness to him, there was also compassion and kindness. He cared, deeply if she had to guess which made it easier to exist beside him.

She didn’t feel as though she needed to bottle so much. Maybe he felt the same, too, since he’d brought her here. What Elain wanted was to be his friend, to have that connection with another living person again. How awful to crave that desperately and find yourself stuck with someone that openly refused to indulge in any emotion but rage?

“Lucien,” Elain panted when they’d reached the tenth floor and were still climbing up. “How much—”

“Five,” he breathed, wiping sweat on the back of his shirt sleeve.  “I didn’t think it would be so bad.”

“We can’t do this on foot,” she wheezed, clutching at the metal rail to help take her up.

“Of course we can,” he replied, though he didn’t look as though he believed his own words. Elain certainly didn’t. They did make it to the fifteenth floor, gasping for air and dragging their legs behind them. Lucien pulled open the heavy door and with some unknown strength, managed to break into his friend's apartment while Elain kept her cheek pressed against the yellowing wall. 

Elain stumbled in behind Lucien, surprised by how normal it looked. Like they were merely renting it for the weekend. Behind her, Lucien managed to get the door to close, though it didn’t lock like he so clearly wanted it to. 

Gold records hung in black framed glass pictures on the wall, denoting the success of a metal band named Spring Reign. Leather furniture and sleek technology told Elain this had been someone with money and taste, given how orderly and nice everything was arranged. 

Pictures were hung along a shelf on the walls of the man who’d owned this place. His tan skin and green eyes were made paler with the make-up he used around his eyes, and his long, blonde hair seemed as though he’d made it stringy looking on purpose. There were photos of him with other celebrities, with politicians, and one that Elain pulled from the wall to look at closer.

It was two photos, side by side. The first was Lucien, a dark haired brunette, and a beautiful, red-haired woman. Sweat soaked and grinning in front of a burry crowd of screaming people. Lucien held a pair of drumsticks in one hand, his other casually flung around the redhead. It was clear the man who owned the apartment had taken the picture and kept it, Elain supposed, because they were friends.

The other was far more domestic. In some unnamed living room, Lucien and the blonde man held middle fingers up at the camera. Lucien sat beside a curly haired brunette woman lost in some forgotten conversation with the redhead from the previous photo. 

“That’s Tamlin,” Lucien said from behind Elain. With careful fingers, he pulled the picture from her grasp to look. “And that's Jurian—he played bass—and Vassa, she sang, and was our lead guitarist. We headlined for Tam and he took this picture of us. I didn’t know he’d kept it.”

Elain waited, watching how Lucien’s thumb swept over the smiling woman sitting beside him.

“And that’s Jes.”

“Your wife?” Elain asked, though she knew. “She’s beautiful.”

He nodded. “Yeah. She was…I met her when I was a fucking loser in high school. She was…” he trailed off, lost in memory. “She could have done better. Sometimes I wish she had.”

“Lucien,” Elain whispered, taking the picture from him when it looked like he might throw it against the wall. 

“It was our first big solo tour. All our shows were sold out, we had a huge following and for the first time everything was going right. And I could have brought her with me but…”

Elain waited as Lucien drew a breath.

“I didn’t want her there. I wanted it for myself and I knew if she came she’d hate it. She didn’t like the crowds, all the girls…” 

“Lucien,” Elain said patiently, looking up at the tortured man in front of her. “There was no way you could have known.”

“I was in Atlanta when they shut down the airports. If she’d been with me—”

“She still could have been infected,” Elain reminded him gently. “We didn’t know how it spread back then, or how fast newly infected people were.”

Lucien was staring at his hands, his eyes wide with horror. Elain could piece it all together. His wife had probably gone out in the early days and been attacked. And Elain could imagine she’d taken herself home to clean up the wound while trying to decide if it was worth going to the emergency room or not. Unaware she only had an hour—and that no matter where she went, she was already doomed.

And Lucien, who’d returned after days of trying to get home, to find her gone, but still alive. Elain swallowed.

“Did you—”

“Yes,” he whispered, still looking at his callused hands. Elain took them in her own. 

“She was already gone  by the time you got home. You didn’t…you didn’t hurt her. She couldn’t feel it. And she didn’t know it was you.”

His eyes found hers, wide and glassy with unshed tears. “How do you know?” he asked.

She didn’t want to relive it. Elain had spent months trying to forget George and the tunnel and everything that happened in the aftermath.

“I was in the Chesapeake tunnel when…” Lucien’s eyes widened. “The man in front of me was attacked. We thought it was drugs. Just someone on a bad trip who’d decided to walk through oncoming traffic. His name was George.”

Lucien didn’t take his eyes off her face.

“It’s a long walk back to the beginning,” she whispered, half lost in the glowing orange. “And with every step, he was getting sicker. I think he must have realized at some point. I think he knew what was coming, could feel himself slipping. He gave me his gun before he attacked me, and when he…when…he begged me to kill him.”

Lucien’s skin had grown pale, eyes practically bulging. 

“It was like that the second time, too,” Elain told him, closing her eyes. “Once you're infected, you have an hour or less before you’re gone and the virus takes over. You saw this morning. Our bodies are dead, we’re gone, but our brain is still alive. You didn’t hurt her, Lucien. If anything, you gave her a merciful death. Don’t you think she’d forgive you, though? If she knew what you were doing, don’t you think she’d have wanted you to end it before she hurt you?”

A tear slid down his cheek. “If we’d been together—”

“You didn’t know,” Elain said firmly. “None of us did. And I know this probably doesn’t make you feel better, but I’m glad you survived. And somewhere, I think so is Jes.”

He blinked, losing another tear despite how tight he clenched his jaw. “The time we had…sometimes I think it was enough. At least…at least we had it. It keeps me going, thinking about her, about before. And when you said…”

He drew a shuddering breath.

“Maybe you’re right. And maybe the word doesn’t have to be so ugly all the time. I think…when you said humanity isn’t a virus, that she wasn’t. And the love we had wasn’t, either. It was enough.”

Elain turned the picture over in her hands, popped off the little cardboard backing, and slipped it from the frame. 

“All we can do is go forward,” she said, offering him the photos. Lucien took them, his eyes locked on her face. “That doesn’t mean we have to forget. And that doesn’t mean the love we felt meant any less.”

Swallowing hard, Lucien nodded his head. “Was there…did you—”

Elain’s laugh was more scoff than anything. “I was engaged. I wish I could say he mourned me like this, but I don’t think he spent even a minute wondering about me.”

“His loss, then,” Lucien replied flippantly, tucking the photos in his back pocket. “I’d miss you, if you left.”

Elain didn’t want him to know how much that meant to her. Truthfully, she didn’t think anyone had missed her. In the scrambling aftermath, Elain was certain she’d never been anything but an afterthought. A last minute, “Oh and Elain, what happened to her—”

And that stung. Knowing everyone who had ever loved her likely had written her off as the first to die and likely hadn’t displayed even a fraction of the remorse that Lucien was still grappling with. 

“Good,” she said, forcing herself to remain light. She tried to dart away, but Lucien’s hand shot out, catching her elbow in warm fingers.

“I mean it. I…” He swallowed again. “Thank you. For coming with me.”

“It was self-serving—”

“Take the compliment, Elain.”

“Promise me you won’t abandon me if we find your brother.”

Lucien’s smile made her heart thud with hope. “What happened to competing cults?”

“Exactly,” she reminded him. “I’d let you be my equal but your brother would make you subservient.”

Lucien chuckled. “Come on, Elain. Let's see if the water still works.”

And for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, Elain felt as if she could breathe again.

LUCIEN:

The water did work, and once they let it run, it was mostly clear. Cold, though neither of them had expected it to be hot. He let Elain bathe first, listening to her shriek beneath the frigid temperature in Tamlin’s once glorious shower. There was soap, at least, which was more than he’d had in a long time. While Elain showered, Lucien went to the fridge. If there was one thing he could count on, it was alcohol. 

Tamlin’s apartment was drowning in it. Bottles covered in dust were half filled with tequila and rum and though it was warm, there was a whole shelf of shitty beer sitting in a fridge that had contained nothing else. Tamlin had never been the vegetable type. 

Warm beer was fine with Lucien. He popped the top off one and took a long drink like a starving man. Fuck, but a little alcohol might help dull some of the pain radiating in his chest. Seeing that picture of Jes had been a wrecking ball against his heart. 

“Did Tamlin have a girlfriend?” Elain’s voice called from the hall, echoing in the silence. What he wouldn’t have given for just a little electricity. Some music, some television—a distraction from his constant thoughts.

“Probably,” Lucien called back. “He was certainly popular with them. Why? Did you find something?”

“Clothes!” she called back with a giddiness that made him smile. Lucien couldn’t believe someone had left this woman behind. No one was looking for her? That felt impossible. The only reasonable explanation was whoever it was that wanted to find her hadn’t been able to track her down after a desperate, frantic search. There was something special about Elain Archeron and the way she could see the ugliness of the world and find all the beautiful pieces anyway.

Elain sauntered out, combing through her thick, golden brown curls. 

Lucien grinned at the sight of her. “No more St. Patricks Day clothes?”

No, Elain had found a black bodysuit that had likely been worn for bedroom purposes. It looked good on her, though. Tight against her lithe frame so it hugged right against her skin while the fabric pulled in places to give her a defined, almost hourglass sort of shape. 

“Do I look like an action movie heroine?” she asked, pulling the strand of her wet hair into a long braid.

“Is that what you’re going for?” he asked. She did, he thought, minus all the gear those types seemed to wear. A sanitized, prettier version of an action heroine. No one would have believed a face like hers was capable of the sort of violence those movies demanded.  

Elain wiggled her hips with a smile. “Yes. Maybe if I look terrifying, I’ll feel like it, too.”

Lucien merely shrugged. “A sunbeam masquerading as starlight?”

Elain’s lips parted, eyes wide while Lucien instantly regretted saying such a thing. What had possessed him? Unable and unwilling to take it back, Lucien stepped away so he could shower, too.

“Good luck with that,” he said, poking her in the ribs before vanishing down the hall. She didn’t call after him nor did she say he’d made her uncomfortable. Lucien reflected that he hadn’t been wrong, either. Elain exuded light. It was her great tragedy, in his opinion, to exist in a place that no longer valued that sort of softness. That had stolen it from her in order to ensure her survival. 

Lucien took his time in the frigid water, careful to keep his mouth shut given the metallic tang that filled the glass space. Elain had been right—Tamlin had a lot of soap.

Deodorant, too. God, he’d forgotten how good it felt to slather it beneath his arms and not worry that he reeked to high heavens. Lucien intended to take it—and the spare he’d found in a closet—with him.

He assumed Tamlin wouldn’t care if he stole some of his clothes. Just as Elain had done, Lucien shrugged on a pair of tight black jeans and a matching t-shirt, short sleeved to show off his tattoos, which was a thing he still stupidly cared about. He ransacked Tamlin’s closet, taking everything that had been left behind.

It wasn’t like Tam was ever going to use it again.

Lucien returned, threading his own fingers through his hair to give himself a dutch braid that matched Elains. She’d dug out a lot of candles, from where, Lucien didn’t know. He followed the trail of them and the mingling scents into a room that made his throat tight.

“Look,” Elain said, holding a coconut jarred candle in her hands. Lucien was certainly looking—not at her, but at the room she’d found. Tamlin’s studio, once upon a time. All untouched, from the guitars on stands and the fiddles on the wall, to the box where he’d recorded vocals and the drum kit against a glass window.

“I found this,” Elain added, walking toward a tower of records. Pulling out a plastic case, Elain found a CD—The Exiles. 

Lucien could have wept. “We can listen to it in the car!” she said brightly. “Also, your friend was a big fan of Taylor Swift, so if we get bored—”

“We won’t,” he breathed, taking the CD out of her hand. Of course Tamlin would have bought one in every form he could get his hands on. Lucien bet he had the record, and a digital copy, too. 

“I found sticks,” Elain told him softly, nodding toward a cup on the windowsill. “If you wanted to play, I’d listen. I’ll even scream that I love you, if that helps.”

Lucien choked on his laughter. “Would you flash me, too?”

She rolled her eyes, still grinning. “I don’t believe that ever happened.”

“Oh, it did. Mostly to Vassa, but still.”

“Well, if Vassa were here I might reconsider,” she said, plopping in a leather chair. The mixing board was dead, a monument to the money Tamlin had once had and the dreams he’d so carefully cultivated. Lucien would have given anything to step into the recording box and hear his own voice—to manipulate the vocals, the sound of the drums, the guitar. Anything that might shake him from this nightmare.

Elain waited expectantly, hand outstretched. He handed her his record, thinking of the blood, sweat, and tears it had taken to make it in the first place. 

“Play The Grey for me,” she said, looking at tracklist printed on the back. Lucien smiled.

“I wrote that, you know,” he said, reaching for the sticks. A thin layer of dust coated the kit, but for the most part, the set was in perfect, gorgeous condition. 

“Of course. I’m actually a secret Lucien Vanserra fan,” Elain told him. “I had a poster of you—”

“Shirtless, I hope,” he said with a relish, flipping his sticks between his fingers. He didn’t have to look to see her roll her eyes. Lucien could practically hear it. Still, it felt good to tease her a little.

In his head, he could see it all so clearly. That last show in Atlanta and the hum of the crowd. Vassa tuning her guitar just off stage while Lucien stretched out his muscles and Jurian gulped down water. They hadn’t known it would be their last show together, didn’t know they needed to savor it.

He hadn’t told either of them goodbye. He’d just left in his desperation to get back to Jes. He didn’t know what had happened to Vassa and Jurian, but he hoped they’d gotten the hell out. That they were somewhere safe, and they didn’t hate him too much.

Lucien looked up to find Elain watching, his record still held in her delicate hands. Hands that were just as blood stained as his own. She smiled that bright, sunny smile and Lucien thought if Elain could find joy in this terrible world, maybe he could, too. And maybe, despite everything, there was still a place for musicians and bakers. 

Closing his eyes, Lucien counted in his head, just like he’d always done. Vassa started, and Jurian followed just behind, thrumming softly. Building into Lucien’s furious beat. Lucien had forgotten how it felt to lose himself this way. To give in to the ache in his arms, to lean into the pain because it felt good. Nothing in Lucien’s life had ever made him feel like playing music did. He still remembered when his mother had brought home that drum kit, desperate to find something that might focus her rowdy son. Lucien had taken to it like a fish to water and that it been the end of things. While his father groomed Eris to be a great politician, Lucien was left to run wild. 

The music in his head ended, dragging him back into the candle lit darkness with Elain. She had her head propped on her hand, watching him with bright eyes. “Teach me,” she asked. Jes had said the same thing, once. Lucien had blown her off, unwilling to share. There would be time, besides. He’d always thought so. 

“Come here,” he said instead, breathless and exhilarated. There was no such thing as time anymore. Every moment had to be selfishly seized lest they lose it forever. If Elain wanted him to show her how to play and he brushed her off, he’d never get another chance. Tomorrow they’d be back in the car, and though they’d have things to listen to, they wouldn’t have this.

Lucien yielded the stool to her, hovering just behind. She inclined her head to look up at him and for just a moment, Lucien was struck by how genuinely beautiful she was. He’d forgotten, having grown accustomed to her presence, her face, but just then, as he handed her his sticks, it was like he was seeing her for the very first time. 

“Now what?” Elain asked, unaware of his thoughts. Lucien reached for her wrists. 

“After me.”

#oops I forgot about this #elucien

[quipxotic]

Some early thoughts about Episode 63, spoilers below and reader beware.

I’m going back through the Team Isslyra episodes from the beginning, knowing what we now know about Bor’Dor, to see if there were any tells along the way. Something that frustrates and intrigues me about him is both we and the characters have no way to figure out how much of the Bor’Dor we came to know was real and how much was an act to ingratiate himself to the group. My gut instinct is everything he did was so thoroughly a mix of the two that even he might be challenged to tell them apart, but I don’t think there’s any way to prove that.

So with that in mind, I really doubt he saw all of them at the dig, assuming he was even there. Ashton and Laudna were hidden most of the time and were off blowing up one of the batteries when the main action kicked off. He might have seen Orym, but Orym was a small guy in a complicated situation where a bunch of far more dramatic things were happening, like a white werewolf attacking Ludinus. I doubt Orym was the one drawing a lot of the attention in that fight. So it’s possible the first moment he knew who they were was when Ashton hauled the two Ruby Vanguard corpses out of the hole. Matt didn’t draw attention to who they were other than to mention their red robes, but even if Utkarsh the player didn’t recognize in this moment what group the bodies belonged to, Bor’Dor the character would have, which might be something interesting for fan fiction writers to play around with.

Other thoughts:

I don’t think the cart was his. It doesn’t fit in with what Bell’s Hells saw when they were at the dig site and Bor’Dor had a noticeable lack of attachment to both the reindeer-like creature and the items in the cart.

When Prism approached the group, Deni$e found her whip of warning was warm. We know Prism wasn’t a threat to them because she was actively looking for people to take her survey. Bor’Dor was the threat but that was masked by Prism’s arrival and quickly forgotten once they were attacked.

If he didn’t see them at the dig site, why did he claim he did? I think part of him was trying to get Laudna to kill him. Bor’Dor believed too much in the cause to let them walk away, but he liked them and had enough doubts that he didn’t really want to hurt them. He had found true happiness and acceptance with them for a short while, but was constantly dealing with the guilt of knowing he was going to betray them. He didn’t know how to resolve the situation in any way that wouldn’t be awful so he hoped someone would make the choice for him.

#Critical Role #critical role spoilers #Bor'Dor Dog'Son #Utkarsh Ambudkar #team issylra #quipxotic stuff #fan theories

[moongothic]

Still not unconvinced that if crocodad real Crocodile was made to think he lost his baby in childbirth. Why or by who I don’t know, but it would explain a few things.

I mean sure, that would explain why he has trust issues, why Crocodile couldn't recognize Luffy as his child etc, but like. While the scenario is interesting, it feels hard to believe because there are so many easier explanations to why things turned out the way they did. Like this concept would require so many leaps in logic that it'd feel unnececary from a pure writing perspective

Like, for example, if we just wanted an explanation to why Crocodile didn't stay with his baby/bring him along with him, and why he didn't know his child's name:

1) As I've talked about before, staying with the baby would've stripped that child of any freedom to choose their own path, instead becoming an immidiate target for anyone with a beef against Crocodile (anybody who wanted to mess with him could just target the baby instead) and/or the WG if they ever revoked Crocodile's Shichibukai status (which they could do if they ever found out he had been involve with the Revs). Luffy would've been doomed to grow up like Robin and Ace had the WG ever found out about him, so Crocodile and Dragon would've had to leave Luffy behind, for Luffy's own safety, so he could be free to become whoever he wanted to become. (And let's not forget how freedom is a hugely important theme in One Piece, how being "the most free person in the world" is literally how Luffy defines what the Pirate King is)

2) Knowing ^^^ it could've been too hard for Crocodile to name his child, knowing he might never see the baby again. Or maybe, knowing his child would end up in the care of Dragon's father, letting Dragon name the child was intentional. Maybe Crocodile had an idea for a name but The Divorce went bad and he never got to name the child. Or maybe it's customary to let the non-birthing parent to name the child in the world of OP, like it seemed like Roger was the one who named Ace too?? Point is, there may not be any clear answer, but there's many simple explanations we could work with.

But then if we wanted to make the "taken from childbirth and lied to" route, like. It just raises so many questions. Too many. 1) Who stole the baby 2) Why did that person get to be around Crocodile and the baby at this time 2.5) Letting anyone untrustworthy know about the pregnancy would be dangerous as hell, who the fuck would Crocodile have allowed even near him at this time 3) Who took the baby to Garp 4) Why/how did Garp know about the baby being his grandchild 5) How did Dragon find out about Garp having his baby in safety 6) Why didn't Dragon tell Crocodile the baby was alive 7) Who told Crocodile the baby had died 8) Why/how did Crocodile even believe that

And my personal favorite

9) Did they show Crocodile someone else's dead newborn baby as "proof" that his child had died, or did they just take the baby, lie to him, and Crocodile somehow believed it without ever demanding to see his baby? Like. I'm sorry, but there's no fucking way. There's no fucking way. Like sure, giving birth and your baby dying would be a horrific experience and maybe you wouldn't want to see let the parent see the corpse immidiately because. Trauma and all. But they can't just throw the corpse baby into a bin five minutes after birth without letting the parent see their child at all. Like what if the parents wanted to bury or cremate their baby??

Like I'm not saying you can't write an interesting story that could work, you could. I'm just arguing that there's far easier ways to explain how Crocodad could've happened. Like there's perfect in-universe reasons and thematic elements you could work with

#Moon posting #Asks #OP Meta #Crocodad