#Basically his servants.

[estellardreams]

Sonic AU idea brewing...

Everyone is already miserable help-

[callmefaceache]

Cinderella? Cinderfella? Nah- ChamberPot.

[hisbutler-problematic]

the thing about ciel is he is an awful little boy but he does NOT raise his voice, so any time it actually happens, people get surprised

love that

he said sebastian and i will have a relationship based on bullying each other and generally being awful but i will NOT raise my voice

ciel: [yells] sebastian: Oh We’re Serious

[after-witch]

another smiling man servant imagine because I have no self control

Oh, to be someone who got roped into a deal with the smiling man that makes you his servant on the "sunny side" of the world for an indefinite period of time, in exchange for getting exactly what you wanted so desperately.

And to be called upon to do awful things. Like ensuring people get trapped, and you know what awaits them... (and you, too, down the line): in the end, their souls crunching like stale, dried out corn husks between the Hound's teeth.

But you do it, because you made your bargain, and you don't want to let go of your greatest desire even though it's rotting you from the inside out to do these awful things.

You get used to the idea that you're a terrible person. It's the only way you can keep moving forward.

The smiling man is still terrifying. But over time, you get used to it... sort of. He never shows up without scaring you--it amuses him, you think, to frighten you out of your wits now and then. But he's not outright nasty towards you; he's polite, all things considered. Even gave you a handkerchief the first time you broke down sobbing after delivering a group of innocent bystanders to him.

But one day, you meet someone. Someone kind and thoughtful and understanding and compassionate, all these things you've long since stopped believing you could ever be again.

Someone who looks at you and doesn't see a monster, someone who--in response to your vague, bitter comments about being a shit person--takes your hands in theirs and says that they think you are better than you realize, that you can always become a better person in the future, that whatever you did in the past doesn't matter now, that they see the real you and love you for it.

And you fall for them, hard. Harder than you ought to, considering. Hard enough that you worry that the smiling man will target them, so you hide them as best you can.

You don't keep photographs of them out. The clothes they keep at your place get tucked carefully in a specific drawer in the closet--you told your partner it was because of your obsession with neatness, and they didn't argue. No trace of them where you live, because you're so afraid.

But you slip up.

Because you're in love, and people who are in love sometimes do foolish things.

Like wear your engagement ring the day after they proposed, too high from the proposal to consider tucking it away, or to think about what you'll do when you're living together and the smiling man pops in.

The smiling man does pop in, when you're admiring the ring in the mirror as you get ready for work.

He hones in on it, immediately.

It's the first time he's touched you--he grabs your hand and holds it in a warm, perfectly ordinary grip. Slips it off your finger like it's nothing.

And he doesn't love you. He couldn't, really. He is, perhaps, a bit fond of you--you make good conversation. You're not too awful at chess.

It's not love that makes him snap his fingers and erase the ring from existence. It's possession.

Because you're his to keep, not anyone else's--certainly not someone who thinks they're going to join with you eternally, when you've already made your bargain with him.

As the Hound said--"What he has, he holds."

Even you.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

niku put . forbidden thoughts in my brain

[pink-psychic]

​the fact that his final moments were spent thinking of his family, the people he loved most, while burning his literal heart out

[gideonisms]

See I think if I'd been born a guy I wouldn't be this pathologically avoidant trying to plan my career because there are plenty of situations you can find as a cis man where you just Do Tasks in awkward silence and you can get to those as a woman but you have to go through the rings of hell socializing first and then besides, a lot of those jobs already have so many men that you stand out when the whole point was you Don't want to do that

[melonisopod]

Fate actually popped off with the shared dreams and memories I think. That the Master-Servant contract can mean not just having a fancy ghost who fights for you but that sometimes you can look into their mind, their dreams, their nightmares, you can see the things they saw that no one else understood.

[wiccawrites]

Dragon!Porsche, the deity who has been guarding a perilous mountain range for almost a thousand years now. He's bound to these mountains – the result of a curse he placed on himself centuries ago, when his own foolishness led to the death of his own brother.

Porsche keeps to himself; is careful that the occasional caravan of traders or group of bandits doesn't know he's there. He does send his pet tigers after the bandits sometimes, if he sees they're the especially bloodthirsty kind who won't spare innocent lives but he makes sure his presence is undetected.

Solitude is his penance.

He's spending another evening watching the stars when he hears ruckus coming from a nearby pass. There is screaming, but not the terrified kind that Porsche has gotten used to. Instead, it sounds like an argument.

"I can't let you do this!"

"How did you even follow me? I took the fastest stallion here!"

"Would you please stop changing the topic? Your Highness. You seriously cannot be trusting some half-crazed old man's advice on how to save the kingdom."

Kingdom?

Porsche knows there's a human settlement on the other side of these mountains. Or at least, it had been a settlement centuries ago. He and Porchay used to slip into their human forms and visit there, under the guise of travelers.

Was that settlement the same kingdom these two humans were referring to? It could be. The number of traders passing by these mountains had grown significantly over the centuries.

Out of curiosity, Porsche follows the sound of their voices.

"If it can save the kingdom, I'll take advice regardless of who it comes from."

"What if it doesn't work? You'll bleed out and die!"

"I've instructed Arm to distribute rations to our people. Ships and caravans are ready. Pete will lead our men. Kim has already planned an escape route that will guarantee the survival of most of our people."

Porsche is close enough that he can see two figures -- a man and what sounds like a boy barely breaking into adulthood. The man has his back turned to Porsche but the fine quality of his clothes are certainly fit for a royal. His broad frame hides the face of the person he's talking to from Porsche's line of sight.

Porsche is close enough that he can hear the man's voice grow soft.

"It will be difficult, but I trust my brother to lead our people. He'll take care of you, so please look after him for me too."

"No. I won't do it. No. Please, Your Highness. Please don't do this. Please. You can escape with us."

"The moon is almost at it's peak. You should go."

That it is.

The moon is full tonight and she lends her light to the darkness. It's thanks to her that Porsche sees the blade glisten in the man's hands, hidden behind his back.

The boy tries to plead some more, but he runs out of time.

As soon as the moon rises to its highest point in the sky, the man pushes the boy away. He turns around, slices his palm with the dagger and lets his blood drip into the earth before turning the knife towards himself.

The metallic scent blood fills the air and Porsche looks on in regret as he hears familiar words uttered into the night before the man finishes what he'd set out to do.

The thing about being nigh immortal is being able to witness the stories about you turn into tales, which then turn into lore, that somehow evolves into a legend. To this man's credit, he does have his facts right.

Had Porsche been a weaker deity, a selfless blood sacrifice made at the height of the full moon would have bound him.

But Porsche is much more powerful than that.

He watches as the man falls to the ground, a pool of his own blood already beginning to form around him.

"P'Kinn!"

The man's companion rushes to his side and Porsche freezes in place as he sees tears flow down the boy's face.

No. It can't be.

Porsche is stepping closer to get a good look of the boy's face before he can even think about throwing a glamor on himself. He steps on a branch that snaps loud enough for the boy to look up, red-rimmed doe eyes the exact same as they had been nine hundred years ago.

"Please," the boy's voice wavers as he begs, completely oblivious to the fact that Porsche had never been unable to deny him anything since they were born. "Please save him."

Without even thinking about the consequences – the bond he'd be forming with a virtual stranger, the life force that he'd be sharing with someone who he wasn't even sure was worthy saving, the target he'd be placing on all their backs if the wrong people found out – Porsche takes the dagger and gives in to his brother's request.

(Later, when the three of them are safely in Porsche's home, the man he'd saved wakes up. His name is Kinn, and he is the king of the relatively small but prosperous kingdom nearby. There is an invasion brewing and all plans of negotiation have failed.

"They will need to pass through these mountains if they want to get to us. Please, protect us."

"Done."

"You won't ask for anything in return?"

Porsche holds up his hand, shows Kinn the fresh scar on his palm.

"You've already paid the price. You're a king, aren't you? The ritual you performed binds you to me. As I am bound to these mountains, so shall you be."

"You're saying I'm your slave and I can't leave this place," Kinn says grimly. Porsche nods, lets him assume the worst; hopes this interpretation of the bond will keep Kinn as far away from him as possible . "For how long?"

"This is not a bond that can easily break."

"Will you keep protecting the kingdom?"

Porsche sneaks a glance at Kinn's attendant. The boy called Chay, who was currently napping beside one of Porsche's tigers.

"Sure, why not?"

"Then so be it.")

[xieliansbignaturals]

Happy sigh... Fenglian <3

[nerenda]

Sometimes I remember that Jamil is 17 years old and has had a job looking after Kalim basically 24/7 for years, his childhood spent making sure this other child stays alive and safe from assassination attemps while also managing their mundane things. And while I refuse to believe there weren't adults involved while Kalim lived in the Asim household, that is still absolutely an undue pressure to place onto a child - not to mention the whole child labor aspect of it.

And every time I dwell on it I'm just all

But also I want to punch every single adult involved who decided that this was a totally good and a normal idea and there's nothing wrong whatsoever with this arrangement.

[like-sands-of-time]

Idk man I'm a little mad we got one dying kiss between soulmates out of 6 hours of film and no future for them, it just feels insanely unsatisfying? I guess?

Was that meant to be a happy ending?? Her other half is dead .. story rules dictate she can't just go on and be happy with her other half dead, not after they actually said it instead of leaving it unspoken. They have some force bond. Dyads. Equals, two halves of one whole. Balance between light and dark. First in generations they said. No way she's just Fine after his death. No way she's Balanced after his death, what? How?

[dannybobany]

Working on this one again

Charlie is such a bastard I despise him <- his creator

Although this is young Charlie. He gets worse with age. Like a reverse wine.

[quil12]

I'm literally at the point where I have to give myself a mental slap on the wrist at the thought of starting a new fic lmao

[illegiblewords]

Uzal/The Dark Urge

[charulein]

Honestly my main grievance with ffxiv is how the female characters are treated lmao