#(apart from probably another collection with even more content but I don't want to demand anything people have lives and this is hard work)

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

I AM NOW THE PROUD OWNER OF A 400-PAGE LONG BOOK OF ACADEMIC ANALYSIS ABOUT MDZS (both the novel and CQL, as well as the wider danmei sphere, internet authorship, fan reactions in both CN and non-CN spheres, and so many more interesting things – there are photos of the contents list below) >:DDDD

I only got it this afternoon so have only read the (quite long?) excerpt available online and pages I came across while flipping through, but everything I've read so far is really interesting and well-written. If you're interested, it's promoted on the blog of @pumpkinpaix, where there are also chapter spotlights with comments from authors of each paper/chapter about them and about MDZS in general (which is how I found out about it, one came up in tumblr's 'based on this tag you follow...' recommendation), as well as FAQs (including where to buy it, though I did link that at the start). Alternatively, all posts about it are in the tag #catching chen qing ling!

I really recommend it, especially if content about MDZS interests you! and I promise I haven't been told to advertise this it's just something so so cool... a collection of academic work about MY FAVOURITE BOOK... and I know people do follow me for meta/analysis so this might be the sort of thing people looking at this blog will be interested in..?

[fanfictrashdump]

Queening a Pawn, 20

If you’re new: this is my procrastination fic. It is what I drabble around with when I’m being my worst self, and ignoring all my other WIPs and responsibilities! Enjoy!

X

Summary: During the Time Heist, Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped. He did not expect, however, to be pulled through a Time Loop that delivered him to a Midgard more than a decade older, wiser, and bitterer. Having just lived through his unsuccessful attack in New York, Loki must learn to live in Midgard after the defeat of Thanos (post-Endgame). The question is, who is Loki without a quest for a throne or total domination?

Pairings: Loki x OC

Warnings: language, suggestive content (I think nothing terrible), soft fluffiness, two idiots in love.

=

Loki awoke with a sharp inhale. Wild eyes hopped form place to place, taking in the moody lighting and dark woods of his own living quarters. He did not remember getting here. He certainly didn't walk, which meant that, more than likely, Banner had carried him to his room while he was unconscious. He didn't know whether or not he was OK with the idea, but the pounding in his head did not allow him to focus on the quandary. Atop the sheets, Delilah was kneeling beside him, her fingers gliding gently over the collection of scars marring his pale skin.

Despite the fact that he had awoke quite violently, she did not seem to have noticed him. Instead, she was intensely focused on prodding at the circular areas of shiny flesh. His chest felt heavy with sorrow that was not his own and a fear of the unknown prickling at his skull.

His long fingers closing around her own made her start, and she glanced up, cutting her eyes at him, instantly. A lazy smile tilted his mouth at the wide-eyed gaze. "Counting scars to see how many are new will not make you feel better, dove."

"You don't know. Maybe I'm a secret sadist."

"Oh, there is no secret about that, but I rather believe that you enjoy my pain more when it brings pleasure," he riposted without missing a beat. "I have the bite marks to prove it." Delilah did not respond. Instead, she stretched out alongside him and buried her face into the crook of his shoulder. Loki chuckled, turning his head just enough to press a kiss to her crown. "I do not die so easily, darling. Many have tried, none have succeeded."

"That's not true."

"The Titan did not kill me." He drew a finger beneath her chin to cast her eyes up to meet his. "I will always make it back to you, I swear. Even if just to die at your feet."

"Don't… don't say things like that," she mumbled, trying to blink away tears.

"Darling," he whispered, brushing her hair back away from her eyes. They were so terribly vulnerable and open and their emerald hue glinted with her tears. His heart, a part he had foolish thought dead for hundreds of years, twisted painfully. How could he keep her from feeling this way? "My purpose has never been to be safe. Even on Asgard, my well-being was unimportant in relation to the good of the realm. In some cases–"

"No."

When Loki glanced down, Delilah looked like she was livid and his eyebrows slowly rose in a surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Stop… stop talking like you don't matter."

"Love–"

Tears were streaming down her face at this point. "You fucking matter to me. If you died because you decided the greater good was more important than you I would raze the Earth in vengeance. Do you understand?"

Swallowing at the lump in his throat, he nodded.

"Say it."

"Say what, my Queen?"

"Say you're important," she demanded, heatedly. "I need to hear you say it. I know how easy it is for you to ignore what you don't acknowledge. So, say it."

"You know me far too well, I must say." Taking Delilah's hand in his, he raised it to his lips. He kissed her palm and sighed wearily, like a heavy load was set on his shoulders. "I am important, if to no one but you."

"Is that not enough?"

"On the contrary. I'll have to start taking care not to accidentally die. I'd never want you to be upset… or to raze the Earth for my sake." He continued pressing kisses to her palm, seeping in the warmth of her hand and taking solace in it. She was fiery, electric and obstinate. He adored it more than life itself. He coveted her protective nature more than he ever did a throne.

"Hey," she whispered, pulling away from the dungeon he built in his mind. "Where did you go just then? I'm sorry if I upset you."

He smiled "You could never. I just… find it hard to believe I've earned your protection and it throws me for a loop, as it were." With a groan, he sat up against the headboard, pulling her along with him. "I'll make you a promise. For as long as you wear that ring, I'll do everything in my power to come back to you. I can't guarantee I won't take stupid risks for the sake of what is right, but–"

"I'll take it." Delilah brushed his shaggy hair back, undoing knots with her fingers before grasping the dark tresses to pull him towards her. "I don't want to keep you from doing whatever it is you want. I just want you to make sure you spare a thought about whether or not you'd survive afterwards." As if remembering herself, she started. "Oh, one moment."

With another kiss, she hopped off the bed and out the door before he even had the sense to question her. The sound of the front door closing irked him enough to debate whether or not he could physically chase after her. He was Aesir and had improved healing over Midgardians, but that building had done a number on his form and every bone in his corporation ached. The door opened and closed once more before Delilah scurried into the bedroom.

She hopped back onto the bed with a giddy leap, crawling up to the head and sitting back on her heels. "So, between days six and eight of you being entirely MIA, I got antsy and sat down with Tony in his lab. I was going through some of your old files and noticed that we had data about the specific signature your magic leaves behind."

"That is interesting." It sounded like a question rather than a remark.

"That's not the point, Lo. The point is that since we could tell the specific signatures it left behind, maybe we could predict what the magic looks like. Then, if we could do that, the next logical step would be find a way to amplify it."

Loki bobbed his head side to side, weighing out the probabilities with a serious frown. "I suppose it's possible. How would you validate it?"

"Oh, we used Strange's signature as a base model. It worked well to predict his energy." Her expression brightened with the small smirk of pride blossoming at the left corner of his mouth.

"Very clever, indeed, but I am still unsure as to what it all means." For a moment, she fidgeted and the excitement that had been brimming within her a second ago is dimmed with nervousness. "Delilah?" He rarely uses her full name, so it has the desired effect of forcing her to look up, instead of her knotted hands.

"It's stupid…," she trailed off.

"That is invariably untrue. You were excited. Tell me… or perhaps show me is the appropriate request," he amended, seeing her hands twitch tighter around something.

Her fingers loosened fractionally, a golden chain tinkling through her fingers for him to see. He waited patiently for her to reveal her secrets.

"You don't really wear anything, so I didn't… I put it on a chain, but it can also clip onto your lapel or go around your wrist. It just needs to be on you somewhere."

Loki grinned excitedly, leaning forward. "Go on, show me."

With a reluctant groan, she gripped his wrist and deposited the object in his palm, immediately looking elsewhere as she burned red. Along the gold chain rested a golden ring, etched in simple geometric designs like a circuit board. It consisted of a longer circle, twisted and doubled upon itself. He could slip the two bands apart just the slightest bit to slide it onto a lapel or the chest plate of his armor. Small pin mechanisms belied the ability of pulling it apart and expanding what he now noticed were two twin snakes.

"I'm gonna go," Delilah irrupted, suddenly, flushed from head to toe and feeling awkward at his quiet contemplation. Loki pounced from bed, tackling her onto the floor before she had even made it to the bedroom threshold. Caged between his arms, he trailed kisses from her neck to her jaw until ending on her lips, giving a contented sigh when she responded in kind.

"How would you prefer me to wear it?" She shrugged, looking awkward again. He nipped at her pulse point in protest for the shift. "Certainly you had an initial design in mind." He hummed against her throat in thought. "You're practical, which is why you've added the chain. Easy to keep around, minimal effort in minding it. While on the lapel offers visual advantages, it would look out of place with the clothes I've been wearing as of late." An open-mouthed kissed burned the hollow of her throat. "And while you are all for practicality, you are also fiercely possessive. Don't bother, you know you are," he added in a haughty tone when she went to protest. "So, your initial design was for my hands–visible and apparent. The others were an afterthought."

Another nip, much more forceful landed on her collarbone and she bucked into him in surprise. He repeated the action with a growl, pressing into her. "A ring. It was a ring. I didn't want your wrist to get caught on anything, Jesus!" A moan cut through her defense. "You don't wear jewelry and I didn't want you to think I was being stupid and sentimental with a ring, so– oh god." Delilah shuddered against him as Loki hitched one of her legs over his hip.

"I love stupid and sentimental," he husked. "Our whole relationship can be described as stupid and sentimental." He pressed a kiss behind her ear. "You're going to put that ring on me and then I'm going to take you like I almost died on what should have been an easy mission. Yes?" Delilah barely nodded before Loki eased off, pulling them up to sit beside each other. With shaking hands, she freed ring from chain and slipped it over his finger. With a wicked grin, he swooped down and threw her over his shoulder, gracefully slipping onto his feet and towards the bathroom. There was a warm bath with both their names on it.