gentlekami

[gentlekami]

梅香。

先日の写真展、恒例の（？）搬入前撮影会、今回は@brownie-picsさまをお迎えしての会でございました（@sou0902さまは所用にてご参加ならず…残念）

宇治・三室戸寺はまだよくて五分ぐらい？な咲き具合ではございましたが、仄かな香りとゆったりとした空気の中でリラックスできました。

Plum scent.

[gentlekami]

.beloved III

part I and II

Her laughter rang high in the air frigid air above them after he told her of his intent, and he felt his claws sink into his calloused palms again, nearly piercing the scarlet hide. Her presence set his emotions into conflict, one moment he felt warmth crawling into places that could not fathom the touch of heat, to feeling the urge to snap her slender neck in half.

He knew it would be effortless to accomplish this before her creations would act on her behalf. Despite these slew of urges currently being dealt with, there was one thing for certain, she was stirring within him desires that had long been put to rest. Whether they were debaucherous or otherwise.

But, even the urge to murder was diminished when he watched her in earnest, the joy upon her face with each breath that escaped her lungs, the way her body quivered from the laughter as his words held some comedic value to them, how the shadows splashed across her walls reacts to her jubilation. Around her.. he felt life.

Through his gleaming, wet teeth, he snarled in her direction. He was vexed and now such was reflected upon the scowl he wore upon his face. “And what of this do you find delight in?” His voice was a gravelly sound that silenced the remainder of her amusement once she settled but her gaze settled above her head, into the undulating darkness, now quelled after she calmed down with a quiet sigh.

“You seek conquest, so you come to me for aid. What makes you think, Lord Diabolos, that we are of the same mind. You may have attempted to suggest things whilst I dreamt, but it was all for naught.” Any joy left from her was snuffed and she focused solely on him before shifting her attention, only for a moment, to the guards at his side. Monetarily, Diabolos seemed annoyed at this truth, realizing that even if he was the Lord of Nightmares, he held no sway over her.

“I seek not to transcend realms for the purpose of claiming it as my own,” her body rose from the ground and the shades, spilling away from her back, retreat to fall behind her like a saturnine, silk train. 

“Do you not wish to expand your realm then? To truly rule beyond this desolate wasteland of dead flowers and deformed creations? Or would you rather fall back into slumber and rot away, as I found you.” Diabolos shortened the distance between them with each heavy footfall of his clawed feet, his guards remained at the ready as tensions began to grow between the two. Around them shadows violently danced against cold stone, seeping out of the crevices.

The stage of their meeting suddenly became unsettling.

“Why would I risk war in an unfamiliar place, to what end? To lose beloved children as I toss them at your feet for your ambitious project?” Now it was her turn to close the gap and for a moment he could feel the kiss of winter melting away the heat he was accumulating in his suspended form.

Beloved? 

For a moment that word made wrinkles on the bridge of his nose in obvious disgust. They were useful subjects in his eyes, but in the end disposable. From what he witnessed, most of them were constructs put together by remnants of monsters that had met their end before. If she was not pliant of handing him command of her army.

..then he had to resort to another form of manipulation, by claiming her aether, her power, for himself.

“Then let us come to a compromise,” his shadow veiled her smaller frame as he greeted the intimate space with a minacious tone, which forced her to ignore a dull ache building up within her. Leathery wings flap languidly, keeping him perfectly suspended when leaning over. He saw his gargoylish reflection staring back at him.

He had her attention.

“..perhaps I can give you something you want in return for your help. After all, I wouldn’t need your minions when you can help me create my own.” Heat radiated from his own while he leaned towards her face; his teeth were made visible as he breathed the words quietly against her cheek. “I just need.. you.”

[gentlekami]

Nikita Gill, from Fierce Fairytales Poems & Stories to Stir Your Soul; "Seven,"

[gentlekami]

(perverse, predatory, manipulative voice) Hello 

[gentlekami]

I love you tragedy I love you corruption arcs I love you doomed relationships I love you character succumbing to their fatal flaw I love you codependency I love you characters doomed to die from the start I love you road to hell paved with good intentions

[gentlekami]

[gentlekami]

[gentlekami]

今年初のサクジロー

[gentlekami]

chinese hanfu by 春和国风

[gentlekami]

.beloved II

The ornately decorated doors sweep towards him before he could approach. It abruptly made short work of the grandiose entrance he wished to make. Another strike against her, despite the cordiality of her welcome. Irritation caused a twitch at the ridge of his brow, barely seen by her as hellfire came to life in the candelabras closest to the doors he entered through. Embers licked the stone walls, highlighting the low-hanging vines with roses, similar to the ones he passed in her halls, strangling pillars that vanished into the darkness and sank into the rafters above his head. 

“The one forged in a nightmare,” her voice assaulted his senses from every direction, quiet yet threatening. His guards, armed with swords, slammed steel together in their attempt to intimidate, only to be met with chittering laughter from creatures above their heads still left unseen, which only resulted in testing the limitations of his patience. 

He was a creature of little words, lest they were important. His dreadful presence alone would speak volumes. But, it seemed she needed an introduction - and to learn her place before him in the hierarchy, he would start with her remembering who she was dealing with.

“I am Lord Dia –” He began.

“Diabolos.” She finished.

The soft voice finished and his tail slammed into the stone floor hard enough to leave a crater in its wake. He scanned the darkness and found her silhouette’s movement in the shadows above, approaching where the light touched the surfaces of her domain. From what he could tell, she could be crushed with one grip of his clawed hands. Claws turned inward as he prepared to give the command to overtake her.

Then he saw her descend and become bathed in the light, it was almost preposterous to compare her to an angel, and yet –

“The creature of the dream world, master of nightmares, to what I owe this visit,” her eyes were ravines of darkness, but he was well aware they had met his gaze fearlessly, unwavering. From the curve of her spine slipped tendrils which mimicked the span of his wings and his eyes tore from her soft features to follow the path of each one, knowing that she could utilize them to restrain him and his guards if need be.

Yet none of this came to pass, and when her bare feet touched the stone underneath them, he caught the short-lived shudder coursing through her small frame. He could only wonder how long it had been since she felt anything.

Shadows were beholden to her, offering their worship, with the point of obscuring his view of her entirely. Had she been in slumber, not in the comfort of her silk-lined coffin, but wrapped in this undulating penumbra? His mind wandered for a moment at how darkness brushed her with such familiarity, and it was enough of a distraction to unfurl his claws from his palms, letting down his guard.

However, the movement of her tendrils snapped his attention back to her doll-like face and how she seemingly was focused on looking upon him..unabashedly.

“I come with a proposition that would benefit us both, Lady of Shadows, Queen Scáthach,” he demanded her attention but to her..his voice felt like a hand slipped between her thighs. He caught a smile forming on the corner of her lips, thinking that perhaps he piqued her interest, in a matter of speaking, he did - just not in the way he assumed.

“I am sure you have, Lord Diabolos," there came an extended pause as her hands moved to the sides of her and dismissively waved to the corners of her chambers, where her beloved creatures lay in wait. Then her attention was reverted to him anew only to catch him staring directly at her.

"Come, let us speak and see if your rude awakening is worth it, and if we have time, teach you proper manners when entering someone’s home.”

[gentlekami]

Walther Witting (1864–1940) - Vanitas, c. 1900

[gentlekami]

Tang Dynasty had some astonishingly low collars. I first noticed it when visiting the Royal Ontario Museum, when I looked closely at the Tang figures.

The hairstyle in the drawings, and on the upper figure in pic 3, is also quite commonly seen during this Dynasty. It's called a "flipped knife style"（翻刀髻). The hair is styled into a large, flat piece, then "flipped" downwards.

[gentlekami]

.beloved

She was meant to be a device to utilize for his means, one who had amassed a faithful following that he could seize if he could claim her. Scáthach was rumored to be an eccentric queen, preferring neutrality in her rule, yet held significant power over the dead and voidsent who sought refuge under her dominance.

He would convince her, and if necessary, by force to forge an allegiance. He'd offer an arrangement that would provide equal control over the regions of this ravaged world, wrangle it free from obstreperous, and weak figureheads, to unify it. To help it thrive.

Though he was not one to share.

His ambitions were set in place, and he knew well what needed to be done to accomplish it. Yet, they bore no fruit in the end; he misunderstood the source of her power and why she held on to it for long, even when slumbering in her solitude.

..because she was beloved by those who served her.

Beloved.

It was both a nightmare and a blessing to know the meaning of what it was to be beloved now after her passing. Before she came into his life, such a foreign word had lost all meaning in this space and time, long forgotten by the residents that dwell here. However, she gave it a physical form with her existence; her presence defined this accursed, beautiful word. Try as he might, he could not forget that day when he first met her and the impact she left after her death.

It started in the desolation of her sanctum, where she was still praised as the current sovereign, she was roused by the oppressive aether that slithered into the tranquility of her dormancy. An all-out battle was anticipated by those who kept guard of her, for the trespass was a declaration to overthrow her.

There was little opposition in his way, instead little stood in the way of this demonic abomination treading her vast halls, where twisting macabre shadows, forged from flickering hellfire, herald his welcome. Roses parted their petals along vines long affected by rot, revealing an eye that watched every movement made by his company. Whispers and snarls resonated against the dilapidated stone, cursing his lot until it all fell silent when he reached her chambers.

Beyond this door he believed that what he would discover would be the missing link to put him closer to his goal of conquest, however, it only led him to the subjugation of his heart.

[gentlekami]

Wake up.. wake up..

The mortal world drew her in with its beauty and mystery, and in the end, it was her undoing. Scáthach filled this empty world with light, a flicker of warmth I wished to preserve and protect in the frigid world we have only known.

And I failed her.

She ventured into a quiet sanctum, a dilapidated home away from prying eyes, and despite being guarded and in the companionship of my hounds, she was found by would-be adventurers..

..and chose to take her from me.

[gentlekami]

滋賀県 東近江市 永源寺 Siga Higashiomi Eigenji

[gentlekami]

POV: You're Diabolos and this is the last time you see your wife.

Before she's murdered by adventurers.

[gentlekami]

Though she grew up with the customs and celebrations of her culture, when he speaks passionately about it, she can not help but take in every detail about what he has learned, attentively.