#8'DDD

[howthesleeplesswander]

@tenacquity continued from here!

Sharp eyes ignored the human as they walked. The call of his karma would alert Xiao to any nearby monsters long before they appeared within eyesight, yet his gaze still searched the elongated shadows cast by towering peaks and jagged slopes. Ever vigilant. Ever prepared to exterminate evil the moment it appeared.

Which meant that Xiao missed the human's bewildered scrutiny of their surroundings, but no matter—his tone spoke to being lost in more ways than one before his question made it obvious. Tch—no wonder he'd been wandering through Jueyun Karst so carelessly. Liyue's citizens knew better than to set foot in the realm of the adepti. Shouldn't they also teach outsiders where it was too dangerous for their own kind to tread? That responsibility should fall to the mortals themselves, not to those who were the danger that was best avoided.

"The adepti are illuminated beasts who were tasked with protecting Liyue by Rex Lapis eons ago," Xiao concurred. "Most keep their distance from humans and make their abodes here in these peaks. Mortals only dare set foot here out of greed or desperation." A pause, then a pointed look skewered the human sidelong. "The pointlessness of your presence here is the most foolish 'reason' of all."

Though the human kept pace, Xiao held his spear in the hand nearest to him: forcibly keeping distance between them. "Despite their vows of protection, the others do not hesitate to punish mortals who enter their domains. Had you stumbled upon Mountain Shaper's peak, for instance, you'd find yourself encased in amber for the rest of your pathetically short lifespan."

[isjasz]

[Day 331] 💙

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

Do you remember before? We stood facing each other on opposite sides of that door. Now we stand side-by-side. Let's go home together this time.

[howthesleeplesswander]

The other's eventual answer was far from kind, yet the insults held none of their usual bite. Every syllable dragged with a weight that such a small frame didn't seem capable of carrying. What should have been scathing words now barely crackled with dying embers; a fire that was nearly extinguished.

Childe should be glad that Scaramouche's arrogance had been cut down to size. He should be reveling in this snotty little pipsqueak finally being put in his place. Once upon a recent time, he would have. And not just reveled—laughed and gloated, rubbed the defeat in his face.

Don't ask him why he didn't now. He didn't know. He didn't know how to admit it.

All he knew was that this was wrong.

Above everything else, that thought stuck like a sword plunged straight through his skull. Even lacking fire, each word Scaramouche spoke bloomed an odd pain at the center of his chest. But he was a child of war; that pain should have excited him as it always did. It shouldn't make him angry—it shouldn't cause this white-hot fury that simmered in Abyss-tainted veins, that clenched the fists of his crossed arms tighter with the urge to plunge his weapon into Dottore's smug face, into the Traveler's kind eyes—to inflict equal pain onto those who were the cause.

The truth was that Childe knew this feeling all too well. It was the same unbridled rage he'd felt towards the scumbag who'd broken Tonia's heart when she was fifteen. Towards the hilichurls who'd dared so much as aim their crossbows at Teucer the last time he'd been home for a visit.

This was why Childe didn't work with the other Harbingers. This was exactly why he refused to rely on anyone's strength but his own. Until the pedestal of the strongest warrior in Teyvat was his—rightfully earned through breaking and reforging himself as many times as it took—being defeated in strength was inevitable. But...this? The defeat of fight? Of spirit? Of who a person was, all because of the failure of someone else's strength?

You're better than this. Didn't you used to know that?

For a fleeting moment Scaramouche seemed to regain a flicker of that fire, but it was wielded only as a feeble attempt to order him away. Childe barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I can see that." Even the shorter boy's glare lacked the ardor he'd come to know. His own voice more than made up for the sharpness the other's lacked. "Man, so all it takes is one defeat to reduce you to this, huh? You know, you're a lot of things, princess, but I have to say: I never thought you were pathetic."

The emptiness of his eyes laid bare the storm within; all the anger, the disappointment, the ache. "Fighting you now would be a waste of time. You can barely look me in the eye; you wouldn't be worth the effort of conjuring my blades like this." Childe shook his head. "It's no wonder you didn't bother coming back. I do know just as well what the Fatui is like; and right now, it'd eat you alive."

“Spare me your idiocy just once, Tartaglia.”

The Balladeer—or was he that anymore, he wondered? (Could he even dare to use the name “Scaramouche” when it had never truly been his, but bestowed upon him the very instant he became useful to someone?)—had stayed miraculously silent while the other prattled on, and only given the equally surprising pause did he take the opportunity to admonish him. The edge in his tone wasn’t quite as sharp… not soaked in biting static and poised to strike without a trace of remorse. No, it was as heavy as his first word, almost tired in the way it slid through his teeth without the usual punch: the usual arrogance.

Still, he refused to face the soulless eyes boring into him. Tch. Hardly a need, really. It was obvious, the way Childe looked down his nose at him as if he were in any position to judge, to lift himself up on some imaginary “high horse” the bloodthirsty little leftovers of the Abyss couldn’t dream of riding. Scaramouche didn’t have to look at him to feel a heat wash in a prickling, stinging wave over the whole of him: from head to toe, a flush of something inexplicable attempted to drown him, but—

No.You don’t get that control here. I won’t let you have that control.

“This has nothing to do with trusting him. Don't make me repeat myself on a topic you've already worn out,” Scaramouche noted sternly, alluding briefly to that particular disaster they'd broached a painfully short time ago. “You know as well as I how the Fatui work; we’re duty-bound. Camaraderie or any trace of trust doesn't belong in that.” A restless hand lifted to skate along the edge of his hat, purposefully or not tipping it even further over his face before he spoke again. “The point is, Dottore was useful to me. I was useful to him. That was the only foundation, and the moment either of us no longer could fulfill that, well…”

His fingers twitched. They tightened on the rim, and Scaramouche despised the need to force out his next breath. “His actions come as no surprise. After all, I’m nothing more than a failed experiment, now.”

But this was a farce. Why was he even wasting his time explaining himself? He didn’t owe Childe anything, and the fact that the Eleventh even thought he had a right to this—? (No, you don’t. You absolutely don’t. I could just walk away; I could—)

An agitated growl rumbled in his chest, and finally, Scaramouche lifted his head. His hand dropped back down to his hip, and he met his company’s stare with a narrowed gaze. “If you’re here for a fight, you’re out of luck. I’m not about to offer you that ‘thrill,’ so get lost.”

[yasu-kun]

Ｄｅｖｏｔｅｄ　Ｔｏ　Ｃｏｏｋ　Ｆｏｒ　Ａ　Ｌｅｇｅｎｄａｒｙ　Ｍｏｎｓｔｅｒ…

The parody is based on watching the first episode of "Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill" and I immediately got inspired after I hearing Fel(l)'s name.

[collectorcookie]

Moon's Road

[skyward-floored]

Btw im luring you all in. I’m being sneaky. If you’re thinking to yourself “oh the whump hasn’t been too bad yet!” then my Evil Plan is succeeding wonderfully

[arcanadreams]

alright! so! I just finished my first playthrough of episode eight!! going to put my immediate thoughts in some bullet points here (putting under a read more for spoilers, since it is the latest ep after all):

many people were skeptical about the Nerissa reveal, but honestly I feel like she's become a good narrative device. and yeah, I don't agree with her most of the time, but in this episode she was finally vulnerable and opened up to Traveler and admitted to being stubborn and being in the wrong about some things. which was great, and exactly what I needed from her! I wanted her to be vulnerable, and to show that, and I enjoyed her much more in this chapter.

loving how we can just say live on air that the monarchy should be abolished, that is honestly so slay

Zovack having a sister who died in the Orionite mines...now that was a reveal I was not expecting, and an intriguing one at that

I love KY-L3. Or however you spell it, lmao. he's so fun and he clearly is so fond of Traveler. his protective streak about Nerissa was very sweet.

ZANE INVITING TRAVELER INTO HIS AND ALISA'S BED...BRO. Bro. I almost stuck with the "Don't tempt me" option but telling Zane that I didn't mind if he flirted with me felt icky when I'm on someone's route lol

The "flirty reply" option when your love interest texts you...bro kill me that was so cringe. It's straight up cringe sexting I can't take that shit seriously oh my god...nope never picking that again (jk I need to see how bad it is on the other routes too LMAO)

soft kiss!! at least on Cal's route!! I've said before that one of my main gripes with a6 is that kisses feel like they're softblocked behind the horny options, and that can make it seem like the people who aren't into horniness are being shafted sometimes. for example, you don't get a morning after scene with your love interest unless you have sex. and yeah, I get that it isn't really a morning after scene without the after sex part but like they couldn't just snuggle up in bed with you and stay the night and still be cute in the morning? the texts you get instead on Cal's route are sweet but like if you don't fuck you miss out on an entire scene, which makes it feel a bit like you're punished for not being horny lol. but oh well, that's what fanfic/headcanon is for

WE DID GET A NON HORNY KISS THOUGH FINALLY. after you get the Cal betrayal lore (which I will get into in a moment), on his route he gives you a soft kiss and I LOVED IT.

CAL LORE. WE GOT THE EX'S NAME Y'ALL. It's Selah! She was a singer on Goldis, working for Zovack the whole time. Cal fell for her, but she still couldn't get what she wanted out of him, so she moved on to his childhood best friend, Jasper. They framed Cal for the murder together. Jasper's betrayal hurt Calderon far more than Selah's did. Also, in this scene, we learn that Cal's moms know how to party kjhdslfj

okay so overall, my first impressions are mainly good!! the only things I straight up was like "um" about were the "flirty option" texts...like that was so embarrassing, i'm SORRY i think it's just my asexuality shining through but ough dhsflkj, and the fact that the cute scene at the beginning of the episode is softlocked behind the horny. other than that, I had a blast!!

[just-jammin]

i did a thing on famitracker

cover arrangement is based on the original song, as well as a musescore sheet

yt version coming up soon :3

(all links will be listed in subsequent reblogs)

[mel-loly]

-I HAVE GOT MY FIRST VIDEOGAME, AN NINTENDO SWITCH WITH MARIO KART 8!!!!!💖

[howthesleeplesswander]

((Heya everyone! 8'D Sorry for my lack of activity recently! Between the new Xiao-centric Genshin trailer and finishing TGAA with my girlfriend over this past weekend, I've basically been like........completely emotionally dead inside asdlfjdks there is nothing else going on in my brain rn besides an endless loop of gross sobbing and inhuman screeching tbh. BUT I will do my best to become a functional human being again over this week, so I promise to return soon!

Tysm for reading, and I appreciate everyone's patience and understanding! ^^;/ ❤️❤️))

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Hey guys! I will be liveblogging the premiere of 9-1-1 Season 8 tonight :). I'm so excited!!!

See you tonight!

[mirror-to-the-past]

I am but a measly 2:00:15 into the genre-defining "Riku is Gay" video, but like. Damn, Tennelle Flowers is a cinematic genius. I've remained so thoroughly enthralled by the tasteful spacing of audio commentary, clips from the games, and excerpts from the novels/writer interviews that I've hardly even noticed the time passing. What is this video laced with, man- I love video essays, but usually I have to rewind a gazillion times due to my attention slipping against my will.

That collage of comparison clips from KH2 Beast's arc and Riku's KH1-KH2 arc is killing me, man. Ever wish you could tattoo a part of a video to your forehead? Apparently, now I do.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

...wait a minute, this was a minor miracle.

I just woke up from sleeping more than 8 hours straight for the first time in literally months (and I need about 9 hours of solid sleep to actually feel rested).

I woke up and was like "I could PROBABLY sleep more... but what I REALLY want to do is read the last chapter of DDD!" Because I talked about it yesterday. (Watched Edge of Sleep with some friends and a line was practically STRAIGHT out of that chapter. X) It's good by the way! Many tw's apply but It's Good.)

Anyways, I started reading it. And I didn't just read it. I EDITED it too! Holy Shit! This is the first time in like two months I've TOUCHED that chapter! (And even then I was just adding little notes I'd made previously into the actual story file.)

But no, this time I actually made some Editorial Decisions and re-worded some things and actually Wrote In details I'd wanted to add before but couldn't put words to yet.

Guys It's So Close To Being Done I Can TASTE it. Mostly I just need to edit like FIVE more sentences and write out the scene where Raven helps Dove start actually rebuilding the mindscape. It's So Freaking Close!

[nicodaws]

i get to watch the devils play hockey TODAYYYY !!

[tidaltow]

@howthesleeplesswander || cont.

So, here’s the thing.

It wasn’t so much that Kazuma was a strict, no excuses kind of instructor—which, yeah, sure, he definitely was, and no one at camp would ever argue that, but… The reason anyone ever felt any amount of disheartened under his keen eye usually had a little something to do with not wanting to disappoint the supremely cool, incredibly skilled and awesome katana guy who showed up whenever he wanted and disappeared like some crazy demigod vigilante. (Who also was considerably attractive, Percy supposed… if the reactions of some half-blood kids and even the dryads were anything to go by.)

Part of Percy knew Kazuma didn’t expect him to excel at this immediately. Then another part of him argued he should, that this technique should be well in hand by now (literally) if he hoped to have any chance against what was coming. Part of him figured he was annoyed at the prospect of letting Kazuma down—letting everyone down. Then another part of him shot back that there was more to this. It wasn’t just about—

He nearly jumped when Kazuma rejoined his side. In the prior few seconds, he’d fallen into somewhat of a trance, one that had him glaring off at the dining pavilion with thoughts of the winter before, of a particular young demigod responsible for the large crack across the floor. Because Percy had failed him (and still continued to).

A murmured “thanks,” and he took the water, downed a few gulps while Kazuma gave him his usual encouragement. He pinched his brows. “Yeah, I know. I mean… You’re right, I just—” He should’ve laughed. Maybe even said something like, What isn’t bothering me? But the energy wasn’t there today, and with some reluctance, Percy met the eyes boring into him. He weighed his options: what he should and shouldn’t talk about, what he could and couldn't trust Kazuma to know. Whatever ended up winning, a loud and practically surrendering sigh came first.

“We can… talk for a minute, if that’s okay. Can we—?” Percy capped Riptide, stowed the sword-turned-pen back in his pocket at the same time as he pivoted toward the nearest bench. He paused only to glance back. “Only if you don’t have someone else, uh… lined up to train anytime soon? I don’t want to interrupt…”