#Because of the order I did those flames in I knew exactly who it was and exactly what that meant

[taoofshigeru]

What the Notes Didn't Say (Partitio Yellowil x Ori)

Partitio and Ori spend time in a room at Papp's house. (1100 words)

Giga-turbo Octopath Traveler 2 endgame spoilers ahead!

-----

Ochette had been nice enough to delay her journey home from Toto'haha for another week when Partitio came to her with the request.

"I need yer help to track someone down. Last anybody saw of them was the apothecary's hut in Crackridge."

She'd also been nice enough not to ask too many questions. Even though she knew.

He'd also been lucky enough to catch Castti before she she boarded her ship back to the Eastern Continent. And a good thing. The hunch that the person he was looking for would need treatment proved to be right on the money.

Papp, thankfully, had been willing to let him and the apothecary in carrying a girl in a bloodied shirt and scrivener's cap without asking questions. His dad knew enough to trust him.

And that's where he had been for the past four days, by her bedside whenever Castti wasn't seeing to her treatment. "The desert climate can be especially harsh for those with wounds that severe. We're lucky Ochette found her when she did."

"But she's not dyin', is she?" Partitio chewed on a stick of cinnamon, a nervous habit he had picked up lately.

"I've done what I can, and the apothecary who treated the initial knife wound was skilled." Castti's expression was neutral. "It was a deep wound and a near-fatal amount of blood loss. If all goes well, she'll wake up and be fine. However, I do insist she be watched at all times. The commotion from the other day has settled down, but there's still no telling how she'll react to the situation when she wakes up. And stable condition doesn't mean she can just walk right out of here. She'll need to get plenty of bed rest."

"Thank ye, Castti." Partito scratched his chin, staring down at Ori's unconscious body on the bed. "I know yer best is the best there is. Nothin' left to do now but wait."

Castti was out shopping for herbs when her patient first showed signs of stirring.

…

Ori's eyelids began to flutter. Which was weird, since she was deceased. Why was the cold, nocturnal abyss of death so dazzlingly bright? And scorchingly, sizzlingly hot and tingly? The first thing she saw was a familiar face, a man in a wide-brimmed hat with a smile. That uniquely warm, special, one-of-a-kind smile that always seemed to buzz around in the back of her head like a mosquito with a drum set.

At least, it had before she had spilled her own blood to extinguish the sacred flame. She had been supposed to spill all of it. So why was it daytime. Unless…

"Ah… Partitio…?" This was bad. An atrocious, abominable turn of events!

Her attempts to leap backwards and out of bed were thwarted by the fact that every muscle below her neck didn't seem to want to do more than continue resting on the creaky box-spring mattress.

"Heheh, mornin' Ori." He clasped his hands together. "Gonna want to settle down, though. Castti says ya shouldn't be walkin' around for another week or three."

She blushed, not knowing how to respond. "Oh, gods, this is embarrassing. Am I going to have to write my own headline? 'Wayward Scrivener Waylaid in Desert'? Oh, no, that'll never sell. Maybe if-"

"-Whoa there, newsie." The smile went off his face. Which meant the honest merchant was about to hit on a less chipper topic. "Let's lay that actin' aside here." He pulled out a sheaf of papers from the pocket of his worn yellow overcoat. Even old and battle-worn as it was, it still looked drastically dashing on the dapper deal-maker. "Good to see yer still with us. You should know, I've read yer notes. Didn't try to, but they were lyin' all over the place and somebody had to put 'em back in order."

"Or no, shoot. That's a lie." He lifted up his hat and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. This man had access to a naturally adorable depth of charm, a level of which Ori's fake plucky scrivener persona had only scratched the surface of. "I wanted to know why."

"Partitio…" She had been afraid, terrified before. When watching her village be slaughtered before her eyes. When Harvey's arrogance had threatened their whole gods-damned plan. When the point of her knife had first pierced her own stomach. "You read… You read my notes?" This was different. And somehow substantially worse.

"Yeah. Thing is, they didn't tell me why. Not really." He stared her in the eye. Face close, intense. "You see, I have a talent for judgin' people. Seein' what they're all about. I feel like I know you. These notes tell me what you did. But they don't tell me why you tore 'em out of yer notebook, scattered in a trail on the way to that extinguished brazier. Osvald went through 'em right quick and they helped him put a lotta stuff together. Why would someone who spent years working for that and guardin' information tighter'n any lockbox give up the game like that?"

"They don't tell me why ya helped me out when I was tryin' to get that mall up and runnin'. And they sure as gods don't tell me what you're feeling now." His eyes were pure, shining beads. An ocean of sympathy she had no right to be swimming in. "Can I ask ya that?"

She was frozen. This was utterly, unconditionally unexpected. "I… I…" Her voice cracked. "I'm so scared." Why was she crying? She'd been in scuffles, had interviews that went way worse than this. What did she have to cry over?

"I see." He nodded slightly. "I don't understand what you did. I don't. But I want to know. But more'n any of that, I wanna forgive ya'. Now, ya lil' pen wizard, what is it you want?"

"I… sob" She was breaking. She had already perished, once, but now the walls inside her, walls she had built up for decades, walls her brother had taught her to keep perfectly maintained, were crumbling. She wanted, she really wanted, "I want to…live. I want to be alive, but… But I've done a terrible thing. So many horrible things so many people. Is, is it okay for me to want that?" It was wrong, she had to be wrong. And he was going to laugh at her. But she had about as much luck stopping as she would have had catching a greased octopuff with her bare hands. "I wanna LIVE! WhaaaAHHH!!" Bawling was something she could never recall doing before today. Odd.

"That's it. That's all right, now." And then he was putting his arms around her, lifting her up slightly. "So long as you wanna live, I'm in yer corner."

She cried, screamed it out in his arms until her throat was sore, until there were no more words. At some point, she fell back to sleep, and could dimly feel him lowering her back down onto the creaky old mattress. The last thing she felt before drifting off, exhausted but very much alive, was the grip of his palm on hers.

~End~

Part 2 here

[prettyg1irlstears]

i have a thought!!! rafe x jealousgf!reader whos very petty towards rafe’s ex.. kinda like the bridge from obsessed by olivia rodrigo..

is she friends with your friends? is she good in bed?

do you think about her? no, i'm fine, it doesn't matter, tell me

is she easy-going? never controlling?

well-traveled? well-read? oh, god, she makes me so upset

pairing: bf!rafe x jealous!overthinking!reader

sweet, innocent, kind, naive. those were the words everyone told rafe when you two started dating, taking in the sweet little bimbo persona you had on. but only rafe knew how you really could get..

it’s not like you were evil, no. you truly were exactly those nice words, rafe would never even think about saying otherwise. but what noone apart from him knew was how jealous you could get, especially when it comes to his ex-girlfriend.

because she was the complete opposite of you; baddie makeup, sleeked hairstyles and revealing black clothes.

you were always so self-conscious when it came to her, because how could he go from someone like her to someone like you? plus, she was extremely pretty. and your overthinking brain was scared that maybe one day rafe will get tired of your sweet bimbo self and will go back to the confident baddie of his ex.

like tonight. there was a party at the local beach bar where all the kooks were drinking and just having a good time.

all the kooks apart from you, because your eyes lingered on your boyfriend who had apparently a good conversation because they were laughing together.

what are they laughing at? are they talking about me? are they laughing at me? are they flirting??

your mind ran faster than usain bolt as you nervously tapped your foot and fidgeted your ring on your finger. you ordered your third margarita in the row, not even smiling at the barista like you normally would. you weren’t smiling, or even looking on anyone, to be clear. you couldn’t take your eyes off of—

you gasped. did she just touch your boyfriends shoulder? your jaw clenched, you tapped your foot harder. you start thinking what their relationship looked like. was she on top? she probably was. something you could never do. you - ex; 0 - 1. she probably got along with his friends, too. you did also, but they saw you as rafe’s dumb girlfriend more than their friend. you - ex; 0 - 2.

you sigh and shake your head, trying to fight the nect wave of overthinking as you sip on your margarita. but your eyes drift to them once more and.. her hand is still there. on your boyfriends fucking shoulder.

you decide you’ve had enough, you stand up, adjust your little dress and start making your way towards them. you come up behind him, softly massaging his shoulders and innocently moving his ex-girlfriend’s hand away from him as you move your face next to his head.

“baby, miss you,” you murmur into his ear and kiss him beneath it, in an attempt to catch his attention. you feel him relax a little bit and you also see a small smile on his lips.

“oh hi sweetie,” he kisses your cheek, placing his hands on yours and then continuing to chat with his ex.

is he for real? you think as you frown for a split second, but immediately put on an innocent smile again. you continued peppering the side of his neck with kisses, in a reminder of you.

“come sit on my lap, sweetie,” he pats his lap and a flame of warmth sets in your heart as you sit on his lap with a smile.

after a while of talking, his ex-girlfriend goes for a new drink. when she leaves, rafe leans in and whispers into your ear: “i saw the way you looked at us, sweetie. don’t worry, we were just catching up, glad you came.”

your princess parts flutter as he licks a long stripe along the side of your neck, a small gasp leaving your lips. “y’know y’re the only one f’me, yeah? gonna show it to you tonight, baby.”

so sorry this took me so long love :(

divider creds here!

[imnotsimpingyouare]

ENAMORED (II)

Modern Hantengu clones X Reader

Featuring:

"Pissed Cubicle Worker" Sekido

"Depressed Programmer" Aizetsu

"That Guy in the Alley" Karaku

"Unfunny YouTube Prankster" Urogi

"Disappointed Grandpa" Hantengu

"Delinquent Middle Schooler" Zohakuten

"Possibly a Criminal" Akaza

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

You will NOT be shipped with Zohakuten or Hantengu because:

A.) One is an old man

B.) One is a young boy

Ty for your time 😌

fem!Y/N goes for her last job with Murata's Service Emporium 😢 but gets an interesting offer due to her *OUTSTANDING* work.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Hantengu.

You've heard of that household. They order some sort of cleaning service every month or so. Only, it's never been you that has gone before, so how exactly do you know about their service requests?

BECAUSE APPARENTLY THEY'RE FUCKING INSANE.

Some of the other employees have literally returned from the job crying.

WHICH INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO TERRY THE GARDENER! A TALL, BUFF MAN!

WHAT DEMON IN THAT HOUSE IS MAKING A GROWN MAN CRY LIKE THAT? WHY DOES YOUR BOSS HATE YOU? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST CURL UP IN A BALL AND FOSSILIZE.

You sigh. A big sigh. A really, really long sigh.

If you had the heart to, you would've quit the moment your boss revealed he was going to fire you, only.. you knew it was like him to try and withhold your paycheck for the week if you did. Obviously, he can't do that if you've done your job on schedule for any amount of time, but you're not gonna jump through flaming hoops just to stick it to the guy.

Easier to just get this over with.

You grab your supplies and load your car.

Yes, they make you use your own transport for this job. No, they don't pay for gas.

Maybe losing this job won't be so bad after all.

Starting up the map on your phone, you type in the adress of this demon house and get ready to be very fucking miserable for however long you spend there.

The clouds are grey this morning, as they are every morning, but this morning is different. Maybe it's because you fell down two flights of stairs. Maybe it's because you held some handsome guy's hand this morning when he helped you up. Maybe it's because you literally just got fired like 10 minutes ago. But something is different.

○○○○○

Unbeknownst to you, in the opposite lane of traffic, Sekido is screaming at the cars infront of him.

Nevermind, it's not just Sekido. In some strange sort of... brotherly bonding ritual, both Sekido and Zohakuten are screaming at the car infront of them (which is going the speed limit).

"WHY WON'T YOU PRESS YOUR DAMN GAS? THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT HERE WITH JOBS AND SHITHEADS WITH SCHOOL! 20 ABOVE THE LIMIT NEVER KILLED ANYBODY!"

"...Sekido, I think 20 above the limit has killed people. BUT THOSE PEOPLE WERE GOING TOO DAMN SLOW!"

Sekido's grey minivan pulled up to the school. Zohakuten grabbed his bag and opened the door, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"...Zohakuten."

Red eyes met his, and he felt slightly uncomfortable at how calm Sekido was managing to be.

"....what."

"....one day."

"wha–"

"One day without doing some stupid shit to get sent home or to the principal's office. If you do, I'll... I don't fucking know, have the gods come down and kiss you on the nose one by one. Just be good. Ok?" He said, almost in a... defeated tone.

Zohakuten, for a moment, was dumbfounded. Had Aizetsu taken over Sekido's body? Was this some sort or trick? Who did he think he was? It's not his fault he'll never use this crap again. Nor is it his fault that some of the kids are little shitheads.

Instead of saying all this, out of respect for Sekido's effort to be *nice*

(Literally, beads of sweat were beginning to form on Sekido's face, and he looked constipated)

....he nodded.

"Okay. I want ice cream after school."

And shut the car door.

Sekido was left by himself, face immediately breaking back into that scowl he wore so well.

"Fucking ice cream. I might as well get him a horse and a spaceship while I'm servicing His Majesty. Seriously, how hard is it not to throw desks?"

○○○○○

Your car stopped infront of a mansion.

Maybe not a mansion, but.. it was something.

A three story house with 2 vehicles in front (AND A MOTORCYCLE?). However, the only decorations in front were a little knome and a set of windchimes. You could also faintly hear "Barbie Girl" playing from somewhere in the home.

At the very least, it was... a flattering home. The outside didn't look too bad, but you were at least slightly concerned about the inside.

You knocked on the door, cleaning supplies in hand.

"Murata's Service Emporium!"

The door creaked open slightly, before opening to reveal a rather handsome, dark-skinned man in nothing but a towel and.... a face mask and hair curlers.

His eyes were a deep emerald green, a complete contrast from his skin that you were HERE FOR.

He looked you up and down, before turning his attention back into the house. "Aizetsu! Your escort is here!"

Immediately your face turned red. "Wha- did you not hear what I said when I knocked!?"

He raised a brow at you.

"Service Emporium?"

Oh.

That actually sounds pretty bad when taken out of context.

"...okay, but why would I be holding all of these cleaning supplies?"

He looked down at you again.

"I don't know what freaky stuff Aizetsu's into, okay? Are you coming in or not?" He huffed.

You reluctantly waddled in and set your things down.

Oh my.

It was a disaster.

The dishes were piled sky-high, the floor SEVERELY UN-VACUUMED... you had work to do.

Another man, almost identical to the one who opened the door, approached you in a rush. His eyes, though, were blue, and significantly more lifeless than the guy before him.

"I'm sorry.. I am Aizetsu. As you can see, our house is a disaster... sorry."

And he walked away.

THAT WAS ALL HE HAD TO SAY?

WAS HE EVEN GOING TO PAY YOU?

HE'S JUST GONNA LEAVE?

You were starting to understand the struggle.

○○○○○

The camera lens was clean. The audio was crisp. In his browser "solt jasz musuc backgriund" was playing.

Everything was perfect.

And now, out of his room once again, was the legendary, the one and only, greatest failed theater kid of all time..

Urogi!

And he was ready. Ready to bamboozle this busy, strangely attractive woman that wandered her way into his home. Ready. But she wasn't.

Which is what made it good content.

And good content -> motorcycle upgrades.

Which he wanted.

Very badly.

So there he was, creeping up behind you, four cans of silly string in one hand, a camera in the other.

You, on the other hand, were almost finished up here. You cleaned in and out, over and under, anywhere you could. The dishes were dried and put away, and everything was soon to be in order. The only task you had left was to sweep the kitchen. A relatively easy job. After that, you could get out of here, and... you didn't have a job to go to.

Hadn't thought of that in a while.

But there wasn't any time to think about it when you heard something being set on the counter behind you. You turned around, only to be met with a man leaping at you.

Naturally, you dodged out of the way, dropping the broom and hooking your attacker around the neck, locking him in a chokehold. All was well until a flurry of colors came flying toward you into your hair and eyes.

Immediately you were overpowered, your key sense being obstructed. You were pushed over near the sofa, being sprayed relentlessly with some sort of squishy string-like material.

You were quick to recover, and reached up to what you assumed to be the sofa, taking off one of the pillows and swinging wildly at your attacker. Terrifying laughter was heard from above you, and you overturned them until you had them in prime suffocating position. Moments into your retaliation, you pulled some of the strange material off of your face, only to see the face of both people you met earlier. Except this one had yellow eyes.

You paused in your struggle with him, both of you huffing and puffing like you were about to blow someone's house away.

He stared up at you, and you stared down at him, before your gaze flickered up to the counter, only to see a camera placed there and aimed directly at the two of you.

Footsteps distracted you from this realization.

"Aizetsu? Your escort got loose. I think she got confused. Did you not tell her about being a quad?" It was the green-eyed man, back with his bunny slippers and some actual clothes, but no hair curlers or face masks.

"IM NOT A PROSTITUTE!" You snapped at him, smacking the man under you again with the pillow for good measure.

"Why the hell is there a woman on top of Urogi? Why are you just watching, Karaku? You sick fuck.."

Another voice was heard, deeper and more gruff than the rest. You looked up, and saw another man identical to all three of the others! Unlike his counterparts, this one had blood-red eyes.

"What's going on? Are you all siblings?" You said, before mentally face-pamling. Of course they're all siblings. What else would they be?

"Of course we're siblings. What else would we be? Idiot." The red-eyed man growled, before hanging his keys and stomping off to who knows where.

The man under you tapped on your forehead.

"...can I get up?"

You rolled your eyes at him, delivering another smack with the pillow before getting off of him. "You don't just sneak up on some unsuspecting person like that!" You scolded, but he didn't listen. He was already busy fiddling with his camera.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, mumbling a slew of curses before going to pick up the broom.

"So clean, so clean! It looks like this house is brand new! Where are they? The cleaner? Where are they?" A labored, weak voice sounded from the hallway. An old man appeared, and hobbled toward you. You tried backing away, but it was no use, as he grabbed your face to examine you.

"Lovely girl, lovely girl! Cleaned up everything perfectly! You're the angel who cleans up my grandsons' mess every month, are you? Lovely girl!" His voice was trembling, as were his hands.

He must be talking about the company. But before you have time to explain, he cuts you off.

"I wish to hire you, lovely girl! Lovely girl! You can live in my home, in the spare room! You can clean up and teach my grandsons how to behave! Will you? Don't leave an old man like me helpless. Their mother isn't around to teach them to behave, will you? Lovely girl?"

Your eyes widened at the offer. "..hire? Like, for money?"

The old man laughed. Well, he tried, but it came out as a cough. "For housing? Food? Anything you'd like?"

"....and for money?"

"...yes, I'll pay you weekly."

You needed time to recollect your thoughts! Living here, with unknown people? Cleaning! More cleaning!

But at least you'd have a roof over your head, and food, and 'whatever you'd like' whatever that was. And you'd even have your own money on the side. Maybe you could save for a house? To go back to school?

At that point, only Karaku and the old man were left in the room, eyes trained on you. Karaku's lips broke into a smile. He knew what your answer was going to be.

"..I'll do it."

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Sunlight (Hozier)

All the tales the same/Told before and told again/A soul that's born in cold and rain/Knows sunlight, sunlight, sunlight/And at last can grant a name/To a buried and a burning flame/As love and its decisive pain/Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

But whose heart would not take flight/Betray the moon as acolyte/On first and fierce affirming sight of/Sunlight, sunlight, sunlight/I had been lost to you, sunlight/And flew like a moth to you, sunlight, oh, sunlight/Oh, your love is sunlight

"I come down with the shivers and start hyperventilating when i hear this song and it makes me want to go outside which is the scariest part"

"I'm not gonna go full infodump here but this song is Peak Vash and Nicholas D. Wolfwood from Trigun-- specifically Nick's feelings towards Vash. Vash's (literal) evil twin brother Knives hired (read: threatened to eradicate the orphanage he kidnapped Nick from as a child if he didn't do what he was told) Nick to act as bodyguard for Vash and guide him to where Knives wants him to go so he can manipulate him for his own gain. Like, he chose the name Knives. This bitch is crazy beyond crazy but this ain't about him. Nick starts out 100% willing to guide Vash like a lamb to slaughter because he HAS to for the orphanage, and this is just some random guy he doesn't know or care about. But then he gets to know Vash, how good of a person he is despite the shit the world (and Knives) has put him through. How he'd rather risk his own life and health than kill another person because he believes he doesn't get to make that choice for people. And despite being someone who'd rather shoot first, pray for them after, Nick starts trying to wound rather than kill just because Vash doesn't like it. It puts them both at risk and he fusses and argues about it and still kills sometimes but he tries anyways. Eventually he decides that he'll do what he can to protect Vash from Knives without provoking him to destroy the orphanage. He ends up caring about him deeply against his own will to the point that his idea of Eden would be to live with Vash and their friends in a peaceful world where none of them have to fight and die. In the manga, Nick's dying request is to see Vash smile again- the genuine smile that he's complimented every time he's seen it. Vash can't give him that, because he knows Nick would see that it was a forced smile. Instead, he just sits with him until he dies. Afterwards, Vash kills willingly for the first time in his entire life (over 150 years. He's not human btw) in order to protect Nick's childhood friend Livio. He wouldn't just do that for just any friend or ally, no, that was out of love. Love so strong he could go against his own mother's teachings that all life matters and people don't get to choose when a life ends, the thing that has kept Vash pacifist all these years, to keep someone that mattered to Nick alive. So while Nick never knew that Vash cared for him the same way he did him, the fact matters that he does."

Your Body, My Temple (Will Wood)

So, when the cattle fall dead and the waters run red, I'll be your lamb's blood on the wall/God isn't dead, but that's exactly what I've been dreading after all the meek inherited fuck all/Jesus Christ, I will die for my own damn sins if you help those who help themselves/My superstitions, your visage, my visions furtherin' the fever of your fervor, for believing, I will

I'll be your blessing in disguise, whip the mask off my good side/I'm all stripped down naked for you but still asking you to loosen up my buttons, baby/You've got my whole world in your hands, got that little blue spot/And you really ain't got no idea how much this thing orbits you, now, do you honey?

"the DEDICATION, the DEVOTION to whoever you can imagine is being sung to...the imagery is so so so good 😩 it's so catchy, it gets stuck in my head every time i listen to it, the emotions are just so good...you can imagine an individual so deeply infatuated with their lover to the point of revering them as holy, to the point of death...the way the word choice just flows so smoothly is so good aughhh- its also got surprisingly good loopability, in my opinion. 10/10 i want to beam this song into my brain it makes me froth from the mouth and shiver like a rabid animal and i'll be DAMNED if i don't make an oc inspired by it eventually. all the lyrics are peak. i am getting riled up just thinking about this song, will wood is elite"

"1. I want to sing this to my Muse. (If I had one...) 2. Will Wood songs just slap. 3. I've listened to the CHnT podcast, and get *all* the references! (Pink Elephant Man starts a cult dedicated to the camp nurse) 4. I'm using this song for the antagonist of my story, who gives yandere vibes."

[teamfreewill56-blog]

you reposted the chapter of the kimetsu gakuen "breath of flame" and made a comment that Kyojuro is depicted canonically correctly here. what do you think about his characterization in all the other chapters of the school au? does his image exactly correspond to the canon? I'm really interested in your opinion, because you understand Kyojuro better than anyone else and are a real expert in interpreting this character. ;^;

Thank you that's really sweet! I'm flattered that you are wanting my opinion and thank you for calling me an expert thats such high praise!

I haven't read all of the chapters, (only Vol.1 and Vol. 2 are currently available on kindle where I am) so this may have something to do with it---but up until this point all the other chapters I've seen floating around Tumblr I feel are canonically inaccurate. It doesn't exactly correspond, it felt like they picked a couple of his traits and then just went nuts.

Which I mean it is an AU and its for humor so I usually don't critique too harshly because its for fun etc etc. But they did Kyojuro so dirty and it makes me not want to read the school au chapters honestly. Everyone else is still relatively canon accurate but him they just...I dunno but I hate it.

Every chapter with Kyojuro involves him getting food, making food or trying to eat something that is for sure bad for him and the other Hashira-Teachers chiding him for it. It feels like the people working on these chapters saw the Mugen Train anime-only episode and the first like 15 minutes of the movie and decided they knew Kyojuro's personality based just on those. And didn't watch or read anything else with him in it. I mean my hell we got the shortest amount of time with this character and they decide to give him a food gag almost every time? Like really? Ya'll being lazy and they clearly did not understand why we all love Kyojuro so much.

In Mugen Train after Tanjiro sees Kyojuro eating does Kyojuro talk or bring up food with Tanjiro during any of that first conversation before they fall asleep? NOPE. During the entire movie there is not a single time-- even when he's eating the bento--that he says or does anything to indicate he is food obsessed. Conversation in his dreams? NOPE. Waking up and finding the boys and giving orders? NOPE. Throughout the whole movie, nothing. It's almost like gasp Kyojuro having a big appetite is just a tiny miscellaneous detail!

His Gaiden right when he gets introduced Senjuro says "I made you some sweets how about a rest?" You know who rushes to him and the food? MITSURI. And behind her Kyojuro is going "Hey! We aren't done yet!" And absolutely no hate to Mitsuri because I adore her and I love her big appetite and her obsession with food but she is the one obsessed with food, in canon she is the one who often talks about it, not Kyojuro. But we don't see it at all in the high school AU.

There are moments in Gaiden, Mugen Train Drama CD etc where Kyojuro is shown mostly being around people when eating but he's clearly enjoying their company and being with them, not focused on the food. Even in the anime only episode which is food heavy, he uses it to navigate around the people he has to interact with--and my only complaint really is him being upset about Slasher stepping on the bento box while he's got his claws in a guy's shoulder. Because Kyojuro cares about people and their safety most and that victim would have been his only concern not the bento.

The very first time Kyojuro is in the High School AU he orders pizza and has it delivered to the school because he was craving it--even though he knows there's rules against deliveries for safety reasons. "I never do anything for myself and always put everyone else, especially their safety first" Kyojuro Rengoku would never do this. Shinobu tells the boys the reason for the rule is to keep dangerous people from trying to sneak into the school and there is no way Kyojuro would risk that, like none. And then Sanemi tells him to "control his urges".

...Ya'll joking right?

Not only is that a horrible way to phrase that especially towards this cinnamon roll man (urges to purchase food you're craving is not that bad anyway if at all...) but Kyojuro is always in control and has never once given into urges or even his emotions other than happy?? Even with Akaza pissing him off he didn't lose control of himself and Upper Moon 3 was attacking his core beliefs. But even then like, I didn't find this particular part of the conversation to be funny although that's the intention but that could just be me.

He wouldn't sneak into the home ec room to make food either, although its unclear if its actually sneaking or if its just "sneaking" to Haganezuka. Either way if he's getting chased for something he supposedly did wrong he's not going to run he's going to confront it and try to resolve it.

There are things that I feel are accurate, at least a little bit. When Kyojuro isn't being food obsessed but is focused on helping his students I feel like we're closer to canon. He does always try to help students who come to him with a problem and he commits to helping them just as he does in canon with his job.

He helps the butterfly sisters try to figure out a solution to creating medicines for their club (but his solution is food when he could have given them historical references/places to look to get ideas from and help them brainstorm from there).

He recognizes how badly the boys wanted pizza and so found a way to get them pizza and made it for them.

I haven't read the full comic but I've seen a little section of Kyojuro helping Sanemi and Obanai get in the way of a pot of spilled Tonjiro so it didn't get on a student. But beyond that to me it just doesn't feel like Kyojuro. The marshmallow one does because he gives real advice and insight about a topic when he talks about it with Senjuro, he teaches the boys about the sun and fire (this hints to me that he should have been able to help the Butterfly girls on a level beyond let's make foods that we know are healthy), when Senjuro realizes that the food in his drawing is more like a marshmallow than sweet potato Kyojuro chimes in with insight "Good idea, come to think about it I also like roasting sweet potato with marshmallow too!"---giving Senjuro additional reassurance that hey the way he colored it does actually fit something Kyojuro would do. The boys get hungry so okay let's feed you lads.

When the lightning starts a fire he immediately goes for the fire extinguisher and then jumps outside and puts it out and all his dialogue here is spot on although I'm not sure I believe Kyojuro would miss a part of the fire. If anything he'd probably offer to just make them a fire after putting one out but maybe that's just me.

[fierygoddess-2]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗’𝖘 𝕱𝖑𝖆𝖒𝖊

𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝕺𝖓𝖊

Summary: Princess Rhaenyra and her family return to King’s Landing. The little girl, (y/n), is now a fierce warrior. What happens when Prince Aemond looks into her icy blue flames for the first time.

Warnings: Fighting, Weapons

A/n: Thank you for reading the first part of my fanfic. I hope you like the official start to the story. Don’t worry, Aemond is in this one. The picture up top is what your armor is supposed to look like. Also, I’m not good with describing fighting scenes so bear with me and I’m using a translator for the High Valyrian so some of the text might be wrong.

It has now been six years since Princess Rhaenyra decided to call you her own. In those six years you have grown into a fine woman. The promise that you made years ago has also formed you into a fierce warrior.

The day that you were brought into the Targaryen family, Daemon saw the fire in your eyes and decided to train you in the art of combat. You even sailed with Lord Corlys until he was unfortunately hurt. Now, you are a legend among many. Known as the “Ice Dragon” because of your eyes, which they say burns a thousand men with one glance.

In those six years, you have also grown close to Jacaerys, Lucerys, Rhaena, and Baela. You always trained in both dragon riding and combat with Jace and Luke. With Rhaena and Baela, you spent your time studying High Valyrian and reading many books. They saw you as their older sister and you saw them as your younger siblings. They were your family, the ones you hold close to your heart and you would protect them with your life.

The little ones: Joffrey, Aegon, and Viserys were attached to your hip. They followed you wherever you went and you did almost everything with them. They loved you and you loved them.

The days that you loved the most was when you went dragon riding. Even if it was with Jace, Luke, Rhaena, or Baela, you loved feeling the wind in your hair and the adrenaline you got when riding. This was a time where you truly felt like a Targaryen.

You are the dragon rider of Vermithor. The day that you became the rider of Vermithor was one of the greatest days of your life. It had only been a few months since you were brought into the Targaryen family and that day you went with Daemon to the caves were the dragons stayed to get some eggs for Viserys and Aegon. As you were walking around the caves you heard the loudest roar. It scared you half to death and when Daemon saw your petrified face he chuckled.

“Follow me.” Daemon grabbed your arm towards the direction of the roar.

You could do nothing, but let Daemon pull you. As he pulled you, you began to notice how the lights that reflected off the cave walls began to dim. Noticing this made you realize that you were going further into the cave and soon you got to a point where you couldn’t see anything in front of you except for the torch that Daemon was carrying. The point of no return. Once he let go of your arm, you began to inspect the cave. It was eerily quiet, which confused you because you assumed that this was where the loud roar came from and knew that something huge was lurking in the curtains of pitch darkness. You looked toward Daemon who was looking at the sea of darkness as if he was waiting for someone or…something.

“What are we d—” You were interrupted by Daemon turning to you with his index finger on his lips.

Then Daemon began to place the torch on the floor, but what confused you the most was that he began singing a song that was in High Valyrian, a language that you were currently studying. You didn’t know exactly what he was saying, but you loved how beautiful the song sounded. It made you feel calm in a place that was meant to bring out fear.

As Daemon was singing, you began to hear noises coming from deep within the cave. Curiosity got the better of you and you began to move closer to the edge in order to see what was hiding behind the darkness. Then flames lit up the cave making you to jump back and causing you to crash into Daemon.

Daemon held onto your shoulders, keeping you in place to stare at the huge dragon in front of you. Your breathing intensified as you stared at it. You’ve never seen a dragon this large before. Daemon continued to sing the song, but quietly this time as the dragon was staring at you and him. The dragon growled in your face causing you to close your eyes and your (h/c) dreads to fly back a little.

When it finally got quiet, you slowly opened your eyes and noticed how close the dragon had gotten towards you. You can basically feel the dragons breath on your face. Your flaming blue eyes stared right back at the dragon’s flaming amber eyes. The burning flames of blue vs. the burning flames of amber. You were so entranced that you didn’t notice that you were slowly walking towards the dragon. Your hand slowly reached out towards the dragon like it had a mind of its own. This movement caused the dragon to flinch away. You faltered just a bit, but you to back control of your body and reached your hand out again with more determination and slowly placed your sweaty hands on his nose, and he seemed to let you. You smiled knowing that a connection was born. Your blue flames won over the amber flames and they soon came together to create twin flames. Bound together and to never be separated.

Daemon smiled as he stared at you and the dragon. To him you were now fully a Targaryen, even if you weren’t a Targaryen by blood, he still saw you as family; as his daughter. He saw the fire burning in your eyes since the day he met you and he would do anything to keep it burning. You were like one of his daughters and he smiled knowing that you were on your way towards greatness, even if you didn’t know it yet.

“Ivestragī’s jikagon arlī lenton, Vermithor!” (Let’s head home now, Vermithor!)

Vermithor soared through the clear blue sky back to Dragonstone. You looked up at the clear blue sky and closed your eyes as the wind blew your (h/c) dreads behind you. When you are flying Vermithor you felt like you were closer to your birth mother. It’s been six years since her death and it still hurts, but now you have a bigger family that you’re apart of and you couldn’t be happier.

“Love you mom.” You whispered into the wind hoping that she could hear you.

Then you opened your eyes to see that you were finally back home. A small smile graced your face as you looked at the castle that you have called home for as long as you could remember. You then grabbed onto the Vermithor’s reins and guided him down to the platform where all the dragon tamer’s are. When you landed you were greeted by one of the dragon tamer’s. The dragon tamer was a man in his late 50s and you knew him ever since you got Vermithor so you could say that you were friends.

“Nyke assume aōha kipagon istan sȳrī, issa riñnykeā.” (I assume your ride went well, my lady)

You finally climbed down from Vermithor’s long ladder before replying with a smirk, “Ao assumed paktot se skoros emagon nyke ivestretan ao bē calling issa bona.” (You assumed right and what have I told you about calling me that). You have told everyone about using formal terms when addressing you, but they all tend to address you formally anyway.

“Anyway emagon ao ūndegīon se dārilaros se dārilaros?”(Anyway have you seen the Prince and Princess?) You asked as you took off your riding gloves and stuffing them into your riding pants.

“Kessa. Dārilaros daemon iksis isse se caves trying naejot jiōragon syraxes zaldrīzes drōma. Mōrī nyke ryptan dārilaros rhaenyra iksin isse se sombāzmion.” (Yes. Prince Daemon is in the caves trying to get Syraxes dragon eggs. Last I heard Princess Rhaenyra was in the castle).

You nodded your head before responding, “Kirimvose. I’m jāre naejot jikagon find se dārilaros. Mazverdagon sure mazemā care hen vermithor syt nyke.” (Thank you. I’m going to go find the princess. Make sure you take care of Vermithor for me). You patted Vermithor on his neck, which got you a big huff in response, before walking off to go find your mother.

After changing into your armor you walked around the castle trying to find any of your family members. It took you a while to find anyone, but when you walked into the War room, you were met with your sibling Jace who was learning High Valyrian and little Joffrey who was reading with a maid.

“The conqueror and his sisters sailed with a great army.”

“Se Blakuata Rasho dranot vilinio viartis.” Maester Gerardys spoke in High Valyrian.

“And landed at the Blackwater Rush.” Jace replied back.

“Dranot.” You said as you walked down the stairs towards Jace. Jace kept repeating the word as he tried to figure out what it meant. “At the end?”

You shook your head now and said, “The mouth.”

“Mouth! Ah, come on Jace, you knew that.” Jace put himself down after getting the word wrong. “Jace it’s fine if you get the word wrong from time to time.” You placed your hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “Perhaps you should take a break for now.” Jace walked away from your touch and turned to you like you said the most absurd thing in the world.

“No, no. I-I want to keep going.” He then turned to the Maester and had him keep going.

“Guesi misenakson Aegon undas.”

“Aegon…ordered that the trees should be…killed.” He looked at you for confirmation. “No, it’s felled. They are related words.” Jace’s face fell after you said that he was wrong. All he wants to do is live up to the Targaryen name, but he can’t even determine the difference between two words. “Jace you can’t expect to learn High Valyrian in a day. It took me a few months before I could understand just a bit of the language. What makes you think you can learn it in a few mere hours.” You spoke to Jace hoping you could make him understand.

“A king should honor the traditions of his forbears.” Jace countered. Before you could reply back, a new voice broke through the room.

“Well…unless you’re planning to depose your own mother, you have plenty of time to study.” There stood Princess Rhaenyra as she held her pregnant belly. You and Jace were shocked to see her there since she didn’t alert anyone to her presence.

After a minute of complete silence in the room, you walk over to Rhaenyra and hugged her softly to not hurt her or the unborn babe. Once you released her from your hold you placed your slender fingers on her stomach. “How are you and my unborn sibling feeling, mother?”

“You needn’t worry too much about us, my ice dragon. We are doing well.” Rhaenyra replied while placing her warm hands over your hand.

“I am your sworn protector so I should worry.” You two stared at each before the sound of a door opening and closing forced you to turn away towards the noise. The new person that entered the room was Prince Daemon who was covered head to toe in soot from the caves. After Rhaenyra saw who it was she told everyone to leave so that she could talk to her husband in private. You looked at Daemon with a smile which he returned before you left to go train.

You flew over the ship that was carrying your family. You decided to fly on Vermithor instead of riding with the rest of your family because you wanted to get a better view than you would on the ship.

The day that you found out that you and your family would be going to King’s Landing shocked you to say the least. Daemon was the one to tell the news. He had found you battling another knight in the training grounds. His presence caused the knight who you were battling and others who were watching to bow. Daemon used this opportunity to take the place of the knight and become your new challenger. This wouldn’t be your first time fighting him, he was the one that trained you in the arts of battle since you became a Targaryen.

You smirked before getting into your stance and gripping your sword with a light, but firm grip. Both of your steel broadsword’s seemed to glisten in the sunlight as you two circled each other waiting for the other to deal the first strike. Next thing you knew Daemon lunged forward, his blade sliced the air just inches from reaching your face, but you swiftly dodged to the side and swung your blade to meet with his. The clang of your locked swords rang throughout the grounds. This moment caused you to block out everything and everyone. Your sole focus was on this fight and this fight alone. The drive to fight had caused you to push Daemon’s sword away and feint a high attack, which he dodged, but when you quickly struck low it caught him off guard, but only for a split second and he parried your attack. His parry had caused you to stumble and with this moment of weakness Daemon disarmed you and kicked you back causing you to fall. Daemon went to place is sword on your neck in victory, but you quickly rolled to the side and found your way to your knees. While on your knees you reached into your boot and quickly pulled your dagger named Thorn, which was gifted to you by none other than Daemon himself. The smirk on Daemon’s face when he saw the glint of the small dagger in your hand was not only in mischief, but also in approval. You got up from the floor and got back into your battle stance. Daemon swept his sword to your face which caused you to duck, but you didn’t a move that Daemon didn’t expect. You kicked your leg out and tripped him causing him to crash to the floor. You then quickly got on top of him and placed your dagger on his neck in victory.

“You did good my ice dragon.” Daemon smiled with a mocking tone when he said the nickname.

“Well I did learn from the best.” You got up and pulled him off of the ground. Once he was up you quickly embraced him in a hug, which he greatly returned. When you two finished hugging you looked up at him with a questioning look. “So what are you really here for father. Surely you didn’t come here just to spar with me.” You crossed your arms over your chest.

“Always the perceptive one. I taught you well.” Daemon sighed before continuing, “We are leaving to King’s Landing the day after next.”

“What? Why?”

“Ser Vaemond has called into question Lucerys’ legitimacy and is taking the title as Lord of Driftmark away from him.”

You were filled with new found anger at the thought of Ser Vaemond taking something that was rightfully Lucerys’. You have meet Ser Vaemond a handful of times and on each occasion you could see the hatred that he held for anyone who wasn’t a Velaryon. So it wasn’t a total surprise when Daemon said that Vaemond wished to take control over Driftmark. Daemon saw the anger flash in your eyes and placed both hands on your shoulders, “This is why we must go to King’s Landing in order to put a stop to this treachery.” Without saying another word you nodded your head.

Now back to the present, you could see the huge castle in the distance. You decided to go ahead of the ship in order to leave Vermithor at the dragonpit and meet your family at the castle gates. Before going to the dragonpit you decide to fly above the buildings as Vermithor roared in order to alert everyone of the arrival of the Targaryen family (Blacks).

After a while of making your way through the town, you finally made it to the castle gates. You made it just on time to see your families carriage make it through the gates.

“All hail Rhaenyra of House Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne and her royal consort Prince Daemon Targaryen.” You saw a knight as he announced both your mother and father.

Once the carriage stopped you saw your mother open the door and you ran over to help her get down, which she smiled at you in thanks. Rhaenyra looked you over and noticed that you changed out of the regular armor that you ware and into the clothes that she had given to you the day before they left to King’s Landing. Rhaenyra specifically had it made to fit you perfectly and she could see that it fit you well. It made Rhaenyra smile to see how much her little dragon has grown into a fierce woman.

As you stood in the courtyard you noticed that there was barely any one to greet the royal family. The silence was deafening to your ears. “Do they not know how to formally greet people?” You said under your breath.

Your family stood in the center of the grounds waiting for anyone to welcome them to the castle. It took a few minutes before the huge castle doors opened and a man that looked to be around his late 50s walked out. He proceeded to walk over to you and your family before bowing and grabbing onto your mother’s hands. This caused you to place your hand on top of your sheathed blade. This movement didn’t go unnoticed by Rhaenyra and to ease your worries she gave you a small smile before turning back to the man in front of her.

You notice that your mother felt comfortable with the strange man so you slowly took your hand off your blade’s handle, but still remained alert if he were to try anything.

The man glanced at you, but turned his full attention back on to Rhaenyra. “Welcome back, princess.”

“Lord Caswell.” Rhaenyra responded.

After there exchanging, the man ,Lord Caswell, brought your family into the castle. Once going inside you were astonished by the architecture. It seemed dark and dreary when you first stepped inside, but you could see the hidden beauty that was lurking beneath. You were finally brought out of your thoughts by Jace grabbing your arm.

“Come on (y/n). Me and Lucerys are going to the training grounds.”

“Wow I’ve never seen you this about training before.Have the god’s finally answered my prayers.” You chuckled.

Jace glared at you, “Let’s go.” He pulled you as you and Luce laughed at him.

You three wandered the castle for a while before you heard the familiar sound of swords clashing.

“It’s smaller than I remember.” Luke said

“It looks exactly the same.” Jace replied to his brother

“I like our training ground at home better.” You sighed.

“Ah, (y/n) and Luke, come on.” Jace ran down the stairs while you and Luke followed behind him. You looked around at all the fighting men. You noticed that some noble men and women were in the training ground as well and stared at all three of you. They whispered things about you three, but you didn’t really care about what they thought as you walked to a table with weapons of all kinds on it.

Jace ran over to a part of the wall that had a big chip in it. “See? I told you this would still be here. And you thought you could swing Criston’s morningstar.” He teased Luke. “And you almost took your own head off.” You smiled and shook your head at there conversation before looking back at the weapons with your brothers.

Luke turned around and noticed to old noble couple whispering while looking at you guys. You and Jace caught on to his discomfort, but before you could say anything, Jace spoke, “What’s your problem?”

“Everyone’s staring at us.”

“Well let them stare. They have nothing better to do with their miserable lives, but talk about others.” You told Luke.

“Yeah, but no one would question me being heir to Driftmark…if…if I looked like Ser Laenor Velaryon than Ser Harwin Strong.” Luke whispered.

Your eyes immediately darted to his and you placed your hand delicately on his chin so that he was looking only at you. “It does not matter what they think. You are a Targaryen and will be no matter what.” You and Luke stayed in that position until the cheering of the crowd made you change focus. Intrigued, you three walked over to the circling crowd that were watching a sword fight. The crowd gasped every time the one with the silver hair got hit, but you drowned out the crowd as you picked apart the battle. You loved to watch others fight in order to analyze what the people are doing wrong or right. The crowd applauded after the blonde won his battle with his sword to his opponents neck. You thought that the blonde was good, but you knew that you were better. You looked over the blonde and noticed that he had an eye patch on his left eye, which you thought gave him some character.

He didn’t look like anyone special until you heard his opponent say, “Well done, my Prince. You’ll be winning tourneys in no time.”

‘Ah so he must be Prince Aemond that Jace and Luke warned me about.’

“I don’t give a shit about tourneys.” He said back to him, but he wasn’t even looking at him but at Jace and Luke. But then his eyes wandered to yours. Icy blue eyes meet with pale blue eyes. He stared at you for an uncomfortably long time before he shifted his eyes back on to your brothers.”

“Nephews…have you come to train?

Your brothers remain quiet as they stared at their uncle. Luke looked more tense when he looked at his uncle. You knew of what happened six years ago with the two, so you were more on guard as Aemond stared menacingly at Luke. You decided to step in front of your brothers and block Aemonds’ view of them.

“And who might you be?” You could tell that Aemond was analyzing every detail about you.

“I am (y/n) Targaryen. Adopted daughter of princess Rhaenyra and prince Daemon. You may also know me as the Ice Dragon.” The gasps and whispers of the crowd began to get louder as you introduced yourself. After the crowds incessant talking subsided, Aemond spoke, “Ah, I finally get to meet the Ice Dragon that I’ve heard so much about. Since my lovely nephews aren’t going to spar, why don’t you take their place.” His tone conveyed to you that no wasn’t going to be an answer even though you weren’t going to back down from a good spar anyway. “That would be lovely.” You replied back. Before you could take a step towards Aemond someone grabbed your arm. When you turned around you realized that it was Luke. “Be careful.” You could hear the worry in his tone. “Don’t worry everything will be fine.” You gave him a small smile before walking up to Aemond who was staring at you the whole time. You then unsheathed your sword and got into your stance with a smirk on your face. Icy blue eyes pierced through dull blue eyes. Then the battle commenced.

[gingerishly]

Meaningful Dread

Chapter 1

Notes: hiiiii i posted this on ao3 and it did good so i figured i’d make a new blog and post it on here too :3 enjoy <3

…………………………………………………………………………….

Astarion had a sort of Disdain for the wizard. Jealousy. Resentment. Longing. Though he would never admit it to himself.

Gale was clean. Collected, refined. How could a man be so perfectly tainted and pure? The way he walked, holding himself proudly, the way he talked as if he had acquired all the knowledge in the universe, the way he simply existed as if it weren’t something that takes one’s whole energy.

Obviously, it shouldn’t. But of course that’s how it felt to the vampire. As if living had become a chore, not something to enjoy, something to do because you must. Something to do because you must be better than those who have wronged you. Those who fill you with disgust. You stay alive because you will make yourself stronger. Impenetrable. What else was there to live for, other than power?

Gale, on the other hand, had a very different issue. Being faced with the possibility of death, and seeing it as the solution. As a task to be completed, because that is the only way to be forgiven. Redeemed for your own foolish actions. You do not have the right to make yourself better, nor do you have the right to have the longing. You are what you are, and what you are is a solution. Said solution is death, and so death shall be a reward.

The fire glimmered in front of them. The buzzing of friendship and conflict gently hummed around the two, both too focused in their own daydreams and nightmares to pay any mind to their restless companions. Any mind to each other.

The flames fought one another, constantly bobbing in and out of domination. Slaves to their own hunger for power. Hungry for more, only to be knocked down again. Or perhaps they were thinking about it too much.

Gale was the first to snap out of the melancholy trance, quickly noticing that only he and Astarion were left around the fire. The vampire idly fiddled with the skin around his fingers, face contorted into an expression of focus and confusion. The face of contemplation. Wet teeth, shining eyes glimmering by the fire.

The wizard softly cleared his throat, an unspoken and unnecessary disclaimer that he was leaving. He stood up, meeting Astarion’s blood red eyes for a moment before turning around and making his way to his tent.

Finding himself pulled back to reality, Astarion took the time to brood for an extra moment before finally getting up himself. He hated that damn wizard and he hated even more that he didn’t have a reason to. Not one he could consider valid, at least, and Astarion considered most reasons to hate someone valid.

Perhaps he was just hungry. He had not fed in a while, and it was only becoming increasingly obvious. Enough sulking and more hunting.

He stepped up off the log he had previously taken his place on, stalking his way into the night. Perhaps he would find a boar, or maybe even a bear tonight. The thought filled him with excitement, hunger. Against his better judgement, Astarion made a bet with himself. One to prove his own worth. Find the biggest, strongest animal that you can and drain it dry. Just a reminder that he was on top, that he was in control. He felt as though he needed it after being left with his own thoughts for longer than he would’ve preferred. Well, not exactly alone. He did have the wizard in his company, but Gale didn’t make him feel anything other than confused. That wasn’t a powerful feeling.

As he stepped carefully into the dark, he finally spotted it. A bear. He knew he had heard one the last time he found himself hunting for a meal, but he had already found what he was looking for.

He took a moment to think. When was the last time he’d eaten? Not last night, no, last night he had headed to the river in order to clean himself the second he had a moment away from his companions. It must have just slipped his mind, as impossible as that sounds.

Whatever. That wasn’t important. He didn’t feel weak, so therefor he was strong enough to fight a bear.

As he approached the beast silently, he thought about his action plan. Originally, he hadn’t necessarily planned to be going after something so large, so he didn’t bring a knife. Perhaps he could just jump on its back, put it in a headlock? Plenty of space to sink his teeth into, as long as he could hold on.

And so Astarion sprung into action, jumping onto the bear’s back, wrapping his arms around its neck and diving his fangs into its flesh. The fur was certainly irritating, but overall worth it. That was until he realized that perhaps his grip wasn’t tight enough. As the bear struggled, Astarion then realized that he probably should have prepared for this better. However, he didn’t get much time to think about the situation before getting bucked off and thrown against a tree.

If he could breathe, the wind would most definitely be knocked out of him. As he leaned against the rough bark behind him in defeat, he watched the bear run away. He figured he was lucky.

Suddenly, a familiar voice broke the silence. “By Mystra’s grace-!” Oh. This fucker.

Astarion softly groaned in annoyance at the realization of who had been watching this utterly embarrassing situation unfold. Meanwhile, in the moments the vampire had taken to squint his eyes shut and will himself out of this reality, Gale had already run over to him, crouching down besides Astarion and looking him over for visible injuries, of which there were a few. Though it was mostly an awful pain in his back, there were plenty cuts and scrapes divvied across his body.

“Wizard…” He mumbled, as if it was somehow the humans fault this had happened. “What are you doing here?” He asked, his tone as bitter and unstrained as he could manage.

“Well, I-I, I do apologize. I figured you were going out to hunt and wanted to utilize this as a learning opportunity! Though I fear that is the least of our problems at the moment.” Gale reached out his hand to gently hold the small of Astarion’s back off of the tree, earning a hiss of pain from the pale elf.

Gale rummaged through the bag he had brought along with him, (for materials, Astarion assumed? Though he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly would be deemed necessary in order stalk someone.) the wizard pulled out a small healing potion, offering it to the wounded elf.

Pausing for a moment, almost reluctant to accept Gale’s help, Astarion finally pushed past his ego and took the glass bottle, popping it open and chugging the liquid inside. That was one problem dealt with, but he was still hungry.

The elf closed his eyes for a moment, letting the potion take effect before opening them back up and turning to furrow his brow at Gale.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Sneaking anywhere close to an actively hunting vampire?” He sounded positively vexed, as he felt he had the right to be. “A hungry one at that!”

Gale gulped before answering, the gears in his brain almost visibly turning as he searched for an excuse to calm Astarion down.

“Like I said, I am terribly sorry, and even more sorry for frightening your meal.” While Gale felt he had no actual connection to Astarion’s failed hunting attempt, he was more concerned with trying to get the hungry vampire to not be mad at him.

“My curiosity got the best of me, and it will not happen again. Is there anything I can do to make you forgive me?” He tried his best to stay calm, hoping the effect would pass over to the elf across from him.

Still very obviously annoyed, Astarion scoffed, but did seriously consider Gale’s open ended question. An apologetic human owing a hungry vampire a favor… of course he was going to ask for a free meal.

Sitting up straight, a practically snobby expression plastered across his face, Astarion finally answered. “Let me drink some of your blood. I’m still positively ravenous, you know. It’s the least you could do.”

While Gale wasn’t exactly not expecting that to be Astarion’s answer, he knew it wouldn’t be possible, or at least not pleasant.

“What? No!” Gale responded, clearing his throat once he realized he may have been too curt for the situation at hand. Perhaps just letting Astarion drink from him was the easiest way out, or at least the safest one. Who knows if Astarion would even listen if Gale flat out refused?

“Well, that’s not—“ He started, his explanation quickly being cut off by Astarion’s dagger sharp stare. While Gale didn’t necessarily want to be bitten, he did feel bad about Astarion’s hunger. And even if he agreed and tried to explain that his blood would be disgusting anyways, he knew it would only be seen as an excuse. Perhaps it could be a good learning experience… That’s what he would try and convince himself anyways.

“Stand up. Back facing the tree.” The elf said firmly, standing up and stepping back in order to make room for Gale. While laying down would certainly be more comfortable for the human, he didn’t want Gale to feel that comfort.

“I— Um, alright, however I will warn you that my blood will be less than delectable. Perhaps inedible, even.” He spoke as he stood up, standing in front of the tree and turning to face Astarion. He could feel his heart start beating faster, and he was almost sure Astarion could as well. He was doing his best to convince himself that the heat he felt rising to his cheeks was purely out of fear.

Astarion simply rolled his eyes at this, figuring that any warning Gale offered him was an attempt to make him change his mind. Determined to take what was owed, Astarion stepped towards the wizard, leaning his head just over the crook of his neck. His cool lips gently brushed over Gale’s skin, taking in his sent for a moment before leaning even closer and sinking his teeth into the human’s neck.

And for a moment, it was pure bliss. His first meal in days, and from the hands of someone he had wanted to hurt in some way for so long. It was delicious. Fine dining, some would say.

Until it wasn’t.

He could feel Gale shaking under him, letting out a groan at the sharp sensation of teeth piercing his neck. This would have been lovely, if his blood had not suddenly turned spoiled. Bile. Acid. Something disgusting, something inedible. He quickly pulled away, wiping the corner of his mouth and leaving Gale to gently feel over the mark Astarion had left.

“Fuck! You taste like absolute shit!” He spat, angrier than he had been this entire encounter. Nothing could go right tonight, could it?

“What is wrong with you?!” The elf asked, desperately trying to get the taste out of his mouth.

Gale was still woozy, not necessarily from blood loss, just from the sudden spike in adrenaline. The mark on his neck was throbbing as he gently toyed with it using his fingers, searching for any stimulation to keep himself awake.

“I’m terribly sorry, I tried to warn you.” He started, finally calming down and standing up straight. “The taste of my blood is related to a story involving the mother of magic herself. It is not something I can help, unfortunately. Though I figured it couldn’t hurt to test your tolerance to it.”

Gale was almost relieved that Astarion found his blood unappetizing. At least that definitely confirmed there wouldn’t be any surprise attacks, at least not any for the sole purpose of feeding.

“Well it didn’t hurt, that’s at least true, but you are disgusting!” Astarion shook his head, his still face contorted in distaste as the flavor gradually faded away.

Gale, however, honestly felt a little hurt his blood was so repulsive. While obviously it was mainly a good thing he didn’t taste good, it’s never fun to hear that you taste disgusting.

“Well, I apologize for being so disgusting.” The human responded, perhaps a little more rattled than intended. He only received a deadpan expression from Astarion in response to this, his sudden shift in attitude clearly being picked up on.

“No— no, you do not get to— ugh! Gods, you are insufferable!” The vampire groaned, maddened by his own urge to apologize to the wizard for making him upset. “It is not your fault that you are disgusting, and I appreciate you offering yourself up to me. There, is that what you wanted?” Astarion’s tone was positively acidic.

Gale paused for a moment, almost wanting to completely deny Astarion’s… kind(?) words, before deciding ultimately that would be the petty thing to do.

“Yes. Thank you.” He answered finally. “I will see you tomorrow. Perhaps we can do something about your hunger situation then, together.” And at this, Gale started to make his way back to camp, Astarion watching him leave from behind, not bothering to follow him. He’d rather them not arrive together.

[yinnina]

𝐈𝐈

I stood back, watching both boys fight-even if it was just because of a childish reason without a moral at all. I simply took out my phone, and started scrolling through Magicam, bored out of my mind as I followed a few people that appeared on my feed.

Did I mention that Night Raven also had an official page? I didn't know that, until it appeared while I was scrolling down.

I hadn't paid much attention to neither party until I heard the red-haired boy scream in horror, "No! Now the Queen of Hearts' statue looks like it's been flame-broiled!"

Flame what?! "You guys can't be serious! Are you three out of your damn minds?! I look away from one second, and the statue of one of the Great Seven is burning in flames!"

"That's your fault for trying to divert it!" Grim yelled at Ace, "You shoulda just let it burn you to a crisp!"

"Who in their right mind would ever do that?!" Both me and Ace asked. It wasn't even a few seconds later that we heard a very familiar voice, "What is going on here?! Cease this at once!"

"Going back to Rose Killer doesn't seem like a bad idea now..." I whispered to no one in particular.

"No more lashings of love! We gotta get outta here!" As you guessed, that was Grim, not wanting to get lashed again by the headmaster. 'Is this guy always like this to make a student fear him that badly?'

Swash!

"That answers my question! Why am I the one getting hit?!"

Swash!

"OW!" Ace screamed in pain.

Swash!

"myaaaah! And I'm still sore from yesterday, too!" Grim yelled in agony. "As if the liked of you could ever flee from me! Haah... Did I not just warn you, 'no more incidents'? And now you've charred one of my statues?!" His voice increased as he went on, "It's almost as though you want to be expelled!"

Ace was in shock, from both the threat and the whipping, "No! Forgive me!"

Crowley then turned to look at Yuu, "And you, Yuu. You were specifically told to keep Grim under control!"

Yuu whispered, afraid to raise his voice in this situation, "I tried to stop him, but..."

"[L/N]," the head master turned to look at me now, and my head just raised slightly to acknowledge him, "don't think that you are any different from them!"

I didn't say anything, just crossing my arms, still mad that I was whipped while Yuu came out of this situation completely unharmed. "This will not do," murmured the masked man, "And you! State your name and grade."

Ace knew exactly that he was talking about him, and he sulked slightly, "Ace Trappola.... Freshman."

"Then listen well, Trappola. You too, Grim, [L/N] and Yuu. As punishment for today's infractions, you are hereby ordered to wash a hundred windows!"

"A hundred?!" I yelled, and the headmaster turned his head towards me, making my sweat drop slightly. "You will wash fifty, but you will take care of the plants in the botanical garden!"

"I shouldn't have opened my mouth at all..." I whispered. This man just had to be crazy enough.

"That's what you get for makin' fun of me!" Grim crossed his arms angrily as he yelled at Ace, "This is all your fault!"

"What?! I have to do it too?!"

Crowley looked at Ace with anger and disappointment, "Of course you do. You will meet in the cafeteria after class. Are we clear?"

Both me and Ace murmured a low, "Yes sir..." Grim then looked rather bothered, "Ugh, I just can't catch a break!"

I sighed, agreeing with the animal-like monster.

Class went as smoothly as it possibly could be. I now had athletics first period, which completely sucked, but it got me awake, so now I'm just waiting for the whole day to be over.

"I'm already exhausted from a full day of cleanin'. I can't believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!" We were currently sitting around, waiting for Ace to show up in the cafeteria.

Grim and Yuu were sitting on the seats of the tables, while I was sitting on top of the table. My legs weren't open at all, in case you're wondering, due to my skirt being one of those skirts that was tight on your skin and made you look like a professional.

Now, I know I'm going off topic, but if you were given like ten different types of skirts to wear to school, you would freak out too. The only reason I choose the tight mini skirt is because I gotta say, I look like a whole desert.

But back on topic. Yuu turned to look at Grim, his sweat dropping ever so slightly, "We just gotta suck it up and do it."

I nodded in agreement, but my eyebrows furrowed right after, "Hey, have neither of you noticed how late it is, and yet Ace is nowhere to be seen?"

Grim agreed with me, crossing his arms in frustration, "It's been bugging me too! To make us wait, after what he did!"

We stayed silent for a brief moment as we waited. Minutes passed minutes, and we now knew the situation that we were in. "Now he's super late!" Grim yelled, "I bet he up and bailed on us!"

I sighed, "Let's just look for him. We could've easily done our part and just left him to do his, though."

"Ain't no way am I doin' his punishment for him!" The animal threw his arm in the air, "Come on, you two. I don't care if we gotta drag him kickin' and screamin', he's washing those windows!"

I sighed. We decided to look into one of his classrooms, and the first thing that we did, or rather, Grim did, was yell out for him. "Hey! Ace! Get over here! Try to hide from me, will ya!... Huh... Maybe there's really no one here?"

I hand caressed my temple, "You know, I'll be in the botanical garden if you need me. I need to take care of those plants, and quickly."

Yuu nodded towards me, "We'll see what we do about the whole Ace situation, good luck."

I left both Ramshackle dorm members behind as I left to do my own punishment in the botanical garden, which one would say that wasn't all that bad, considering that most flowers don't die easily. But hear me out, ok? I have to not only water all plants, which there are more than plenty of, but I also gotta add a growing solution to the soil, and we do have a few plants that, for some reason, are so dramatic.

I walked around the godforsaken garden, trying to finish as much as possible, but there was only ever so little I could get finished, and I knew right away, that I would hold this grudge against Ace for the rest of my life, all because he kept aggravating two other idiots.

All I ever did was stand around, and look exactly where that got me.

As I walked around, carelessly, I bumped into the chest of a boy. I looked up slightly to meet the same familiar eyes. "I apologize. It looks like we keep bumping into each other."

Kirin Alsteek.

I nodded my head as I gave him a closed eye smile, "It seems so. Say, would you mind giving me a hand? There are too many plants for me to take care of alone."

The eyes of the boys brightened as he nodded rapidly, but the look in his eyes changed quickly. "Actually... I was told I would find you here. I wanted to ask you something, or rather, beg you for something."

I noticed that the boy looked down, almost in a shame. My head tilted ever so slightly, "Go on, then. What exactly is it that you need?"

"Please let me work under you!"

I was silent for a brief minute, seeing as Karin bowed his head towards me, waiting for my response. Once he noticed that I hadn't said anything yet, he started to panic, meeting my eyes, "I mean-you don't have to! I-I could always just—"

"Sure."

He was confused, it was clear by his eyes widened and his mouth hung open, almost as if he wanted to say something. "No contracts have to be done, don't worry. It seems beneficial for both of us, and besides, you seem cloying to me, so I'm sure that you don't mean any harm."

I crossed my arms, and the boy seemed as if he didn't know whether to celebrate or cry on the spot. I told him a few things that he did have to follow though, he couldn't work under anyone else but me, he couldn't disobey my orders not break my rules, and it was best if he sticker around me at all times, just in case.

He agreed, even after he had heard all the rules, and told me that he would help me with the plants. We talked for a while, and soon enough we were almost done with half of the plants.

"My Lady, it's getting late, maybe we should continue tomorrow?"

I nodded, "You know you don't have to say 'My Lady,' all the time, right? You can just call me [Y/N]."

The boy was in shock, and right when he was about to say something, he was cut off by a loud Eek! that came out of my mouth, "I-I think I stepped on something..."

I looked around, only to find a boy laying behind the bushes, now awake. He seemed to have the tail and ear of a lion, and by the looks of it, I had just stepped on his tail.

"I'm so—" "I don't know exactly what you're thinking, but if it is that you can just freely step on my tail and get away, know that you are wrong!"

The dark skinned boy crossed his arms. He was now standing up, and I had to look up to meet his hard, cold gaze. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought that he would eat me alive, and he looked like he was holding back onto beating me up.

His brows furrowed, but soon, a cocky smirk was placed on his face. "Well, will you look at who it is. It's the girl that isn't even supposed to be here," he placed a hand on his head, "you will still owe me for stepping in my tail."

I sighed, "Is there really anything I can do?"

"Simple, be my errand runner."

The boy next to me then decided to step in between us, "Wait, isn't there any other way? Maybe we could pay for your lunch or something?"

"Kirin, it's fine."

I then turned to meet the green eyes of the beast-man who stood before me, "I'll do it. But I'll only go for a week," I crossed my arms, "I don't know about you, but I am very busy."

The boy's smirk got wider. He agreed on the terms, and told me that I would start tomorrow, by heading to the Savanaclaw dorm in the morning, there I would meet a boy named Ruggie Bucci, who would tell me what I would do.

The man, who told me his name was Leona Kingscholar, left to head back to his house dorm while me and Karin stayed behind. Karin was freaking out about the whole thing, and he promised to help me with anything I needed help with.

"Kirin, don't worry, I'll be fine. You'll just work under me, so don't even think about following any of his sayings. I'm sorry I even brought you into this."

"My La—[Y/N], it's alright. If anything is needed from you, please inform me at any time."

The boy put his fist on top of his chest, and I put my right hand on my hip, "Actually, there is something I need from you... I need information..."

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

Reflections

*I'm not really sure what anyone was expecting, but this scene in particular doesn't really involve you, sorry. It's more like inner dialog from what I could put together in my head. Sorry @spadewalker1 this is all I could think of from your humble request. *

Staring at himshelf in the mirror, he glared the reflection staring back. He sneered at the scratches, marrying his face. Luckily, they weren't very deep and could be healed with a simple spell. But that wasn't what made his blood boil.

He had been so sure and so certain that both and the boy were just toys that Sullivan brought for whatever demented pleasure he received from it. But no. Lord Sullivan hadn't brought playthings. He is housing an invasive species. Gripping the counter tightly he remembered watch you both enter the room.

It was rather easy to keep his eyes on the boy as he had many powerful elites speaking with him. And you, you have been escorted by Lord Sullivan himself. At first he could find nothing special about either of you. Nothing by demonic standards stood out. But perhaps it was because you both didn't show much that drew his fellow demons to you.

As repected and feared individual he knew that many would attempt to appeal to him as well as his alter ego. Yet both you and your son didn't pay any mind beyond a brief greeting. So he had to engage himself in conversation.

He tired to get the boy to admit his crime of being here illegally. He had assumed correctly that he would be the easier target between the two. What he hadn't accounted for, was you. Being on the boarder patrol he had encountered few humans and they had all been the same. Weak, scared, pathetic parasites that latched on to anything and everything.

But Narnia had no idea what to make of you. You had been calm and rather peaceful looking being in a room full of demons unlike your nervous child. You who seemed to know exactly what was going on even though you had been far across the room when he started pressing for a response.

You had caught him by surprise with not only your speed but the strength behind you as well. Very rarely had a human been able to land a blow on a demon, and that was only with the help of a weapon. But you had done it bare handed. Your aura, having been so powerful it scared his ceberus.

Your sweet and gentle facade had been hiding an animalistic nature all along. Like a wolf in sheeps clothing. Was your son also like this? No, the boy had definitely looked frightened by him and his words.

But your words and actions were cause for alarm. Oh, how he hated your words of mockery and distain. But even worse.... he couldn't figure out how something insignificant like you could strike fear into ceberus as well as himself.

How did you know who he really was? He had been so careful and not even the 13 crowns had realized this yet. How much did you really know of the plans ahead? There was no way you could stop ot. To much had been set in motion to be stopped by any interference now.

He just needed to be patient. He would rid Hell of both you and your child. This was a place for demons, where the strong conquered. He must have been caught off guard in order for you to have any advantages over him. Yes, that must have been the case.

Composing himself at last, once more, donning his mask. "Soon, it won't matter. Things shall return to the way it was before, and those things will be engulfed in the flames."

[extraordinarilyextreme]

11:30-12:15

Hou Minghao: Then, I’ll continue talking, alright? Firstly, yesterday[’s episodes] covered why-- Firstly, I’ll talk about why: originally, Wang Ye wanted to conceal the Fenghou Qimen, yes? Right, so why did he still end up using it in the end? It actually is just because Wang Ye, toward this world, possesses a heart of compassion¹. He doesn’t wish to see Zhuge Qing, in order to investigate the truth, end up letting himself be harmed. He doesn’t wish to see that at all. Right. …Furthermore, I feel that, as a sorcerer, actually [Wang Ye] holds Zhuge Qing in very high esteem. So, in that moment, it was that-- He didn’t wish for [Zhuge Qing] to continue investigating and to hurt himself. So he made the choice: “Okay. I will tell you [the truth] in full detail, from beginning to end².”

1. 怜悯之心

2. 一五一十 - explain systematically and completely

36:40-39:20

Hou Minghao: Yes. But I feel like… Just, in truth, Wang Ye can tell that you are actually very strong. With regard to this, Wang Ye definitely approves of and acknowledges you. So I actually feel that - “Zhuge Qing, have you ever been defeated before?” - this sentence actually… He was worried that you would suffer a setback¹ because of this. So he didn’t want to continue explaining, because he knows you’re very strong. He can also tell that you think very highly of yourself². So he also knew that you had never been defeated before. So that’s why he used this sentence - he was actually trying to imply to you, “In truth, I also don’t want you to be defeated. But this is where my words end. I hope you can understand. If, after these words, you can understand, then let’s just stop right here. But if you really [insist on] this, then you might really lose some of the things that made you think so highly of yourself.” [Wang Ye] will be somewhat worried, actually, with regard to you.

1. 受挫 - be thwarted; become frustrated

2. 自负

Wanyan Luorong: Yes. Actually, Zhuge Qing did understand these words. And then, right there in that moment, he divined a fortune for himself using the Eight Trigrams - and then he discovered a remark composed of only four words: “moth to a flame.” Just-- He “knew full well there are tigers, yet traveled deep into the mountains anyway³,” as an equivalency. 

3. 明知山有虎，偏向虎山行 - to forge onward into certain danger

HMH: Yes, so didn’t you discover that just, at that moment, Wang Ye was really using - seriously using - the Fenghou Qimen, the Fenghou Qimen of the Eight Supremes, to treat this battle earnestly? He was treating [Zhuge Qing] in earnest. Right, because he could tell-- Because, actually, he very much admires⁴ those who “despite knowing full well that divine order and destiny exist, will behave in a manner that opposes the momentum of the times⁵.” Just, he really admires this type of person and their feelings. Right, just, he really admires this type of courage. Moreover, he also knew, knew full well-- “You know full well that the odds are not in your favor, but you still--” This type of courage, he admires, actually. So in that moment, he was willing to hold you in esteem. He will-- Actually, he also gave it his all [during that fight] - to treat you. 

4. 敬佩 - revere

5. 明知天理在 但是逆大势而行

WYLR: Yeah, exactly. And also, I feel like, in truth, Zhuge Qing and Wang Ye actually have quite a lot in common⁶. I personally feel that, at least. And then why, in the end, they ultimately became friends-- Actually, I feel like, that scene where Zhuge Qing was going down the mountain and you helped me carry my suitcase, where I said, “But I really want to be friends with you” - I feel like that statement was sincere. Actually, I feel like, including from maybe the fight or the entire Outsiders’ Martial Arts Summit, our “two-person security guard” group⁷, then to my curiosity concerning you, then to… Actually, I feel like the true turning point - where a seed was planted in my heart - has to do with when I heard you speaking to Zhang Chulan, that scene with Zhang Chulan. That scene where the two of you ate mantou. HMH: Yeah. WYLR: I feel like that [scene] planted a seed in my heart, which is… “Wang Ye, this person - I can get along with!” Yeah? HMH: Right, yes. WYLR: With regard to Zhuge Qing, it was like this.

6. 共性

7. 保安二人组 - a joke started by cnetz about YeQing; maybe Quanxing couldn’t have done so much harm if at least one of them had stayed on Longhu-shan

from 王也诸葛青宵夜局 Hou Minghao and Wanyan Luorong's 20230912 livestream

[belit0]

Unbreakable bond part 2!!🥺💞

Unbreakable Bond (part 2)

You demand, and I shall give🙌🏻🙌🏻 it took me longer than expected because, when completing half of the chapter, I deleted it all and started over (lol). The Izuna I was writing was not as I wanted him to be, so I started from scratch in order to portray him exactly as I wished. I decided this story is not going to be beautiful and full of love. It's going to have angst and raw material, sex (consensual), and death (also love and nice feelings, but not mostly!!).

Izuna had to step back and think, evaluate the situation calmly, and decide what to do about it. Carefully pondering things was never his forte, always making impulsive decisions on the spot without analyzing a single thing, guided by his instincts and bodily sensations.

Madara has been trying for too many years to get him to use his head in times of pressure, but he always preferred his muscles and intuition.

In this case, his physical system screamed one thing and his mind demanded another.

He knows what his mission is, he knows what he must do and how he must do it, when and why, but something inside prevents him from doing so. This human is unlike any other with whom he has had to carry out a contract, and she is making his duty impossible to fulfill.

Izuna has seen too many people grow up in his lifetime, with too many deals on his back to even count. He remembers the first mission he was entrusted with, and his flawless execution of it as if it were yesterday.

His older brother had been proud of him, and his Leader even gave him a smile of approval. Everything had gone perfectly and since then, the demon fell into a familiar and simple routine.

Go to the human realm, fulfill his contract, return with the reward, and repeat the process.

He could never remember the faces of any of the humans with whom he worked, ignoring their existence once those tedious twenty years were up. He couldn't recall their expressions upon meeting for the first time, nor how they screamed and begged for mercy upon being transformed.

However, this human was different. From her first moments of life, Izuna felt a strange and powerful connection between the two of them, something different. He could not calculate how many people he had to deal with, but he never felt any respect for them.

With (Y/N) it was different.

He caught himself grinning at the girl's accomplishments, an unfamiliar warmth invading his chest and making him feel uncomfortable. He shared her negative feelings when things didn't go her way, and radiated hatred if anyone dared to look at her with heated intentions.

Izuna always did the bare minimum to keep his human alive until the time was right, acting like a trustworthy angel and earning the person's trust, lulling them into a false sense of security that would explode the moment they met face to face.

With her, he could not help but impart brutality to anyone who had bad intentions.

Leader's orders were always extremely clear to everyone, and no one ever dared to disobey them for fear of the consequences. His clan would go out into the human world with an objective, a mission to accomplish, and once the task was performed, they would return home with the reward. It was a simple system, devised to be flawless and work perfectly, ideas that shaped him from his first moment of existence.

Yet, here he was, running away from his human and creating distance between them in order to think. The time had finally come to follow Madara's advice and evaluate the situation, although he knew his brother would be shooting flames out of his eyes if he could see him right now.

Let's not even talk about the Leader...

Izuna leaps from branch to branch at full speed, forgetting for a moment the large pair of wings decorating his back. He has no way to control his breathing, completely agitated and out of his mind to understand things clearly.

The time had come to see (Y/N) and execute the mission he has been waiting to complete for twenty years, but the girl had a mishap that almost put her out of the game. Izuna solved it without problems, triggering the issue when finally able to touch her, skin to skin, with no barrier of protection in between.

After years of being her invisible guardian, Izuna had never had the chance to feel her physically or be in direct contact with her. He got used to becoming her shadow, always close but separated by a wall only to be breached on her twentieth birthday.

As 12:00 came and the girl was almost suffocating from nerves and food, Izuna dared to touch her for the first time. The effect was immediate and he could only resist long enough to save her, make sure she was breathing smoothly, and leave her lying on the floor, having to escape on the spot.

As he wrapped his hands around her stomach and helped her push to free her airway, Izuna felt his entire body catch fire. His fangs throbbed with the need to bite, his claws with the urge to dig into something urgently, and his wings quivered with pure satisfaction.

He'd never felt subdued like that before, let alone by a human under contract. His reaction was something entirely new to him, a side of himself he was unaware of, fleeing the scene before doing something he would regret.

An instinctive, animalistic part roars with need within him as he turns away from (Y/N), demanding he go back to her. The girl had fainted but was safe, and Izuna would not be able to make it back until he discovered what was going on with him.

After what felt like hours of jumping through the shadows of the night, the demon stopped dead in his tracks, feeling a strange sensation in his chest. It was the same he had experienced when he touched her, and the physical distance he imposed between them did not help to dispel the sensation. Unable to account for his body's reactions, Izuna unloads his fists against the logs around him, screaming in rhythm with a savage beating to nature.

He wants to set everything on fire, destroy the place, run back to her and take her in his arms, finally look her in the eyes, rip his heart out of his chest, and stop the strange thing inside him, all at the same time.

His mind is a mess and his body calls for violence, death, and blood. It's a familiar mix, but he had never been triggered by such a situation before.

"What would Madara do... Fuck!"

He was supposed to complete his mission when the clock struck 12:00, just as he has been doing for millennia. Wait for the human to be expectant and happy to finally meet their "angel", and strike brutally when the invisibility barrier disappeared between the two.

An easy, simple routine, always straightforward to perform, but one he would not be able to carry out with this girl. He had the perfect opportunity to convert her just as (Y/N) lost consciousness, but his body demanded an unplanned escape and the postponement of his task.

He sits on the forest floor, surrounded by a terrain reduced to dust and ruins. Nearby humans would hear the commotion, and soon there would be several angels searching the area for the origin of such a disaster.

With his head in his hands and elbows on his knees, he tries to dwell, reflect, and decide. He has to act now, with the clock ticking in all directions. If he doesn't go back home with his target served soon, they'll be out looking for him, and things could get ugly.

Izuna knows the consequences of a failed mission, he's seen what happens to those demons who can't comply, and he doesn't want to be the focus of the Leader's wrath any time soon.

With his thoughts tangled and that nagging feeling in his chest, he lifts his face and begins to flap his wings from the ground, slowly peeling himself off the surface and setting out back to the scene he fled from.

He may not be able to create flawless strategies like his older brother, but the demon knows exactly what his body and gut instinct tells him to do. For the first time in his long existence, he will ignore every known routine and break the rules, making an exception for that human.

(Y/N) cannot be converted, and he will go to great lengths to avoid it.

......

The girl regains consciousness little by little and sits up on the bathroom floor, remembering what happened. Her throat hurts as if she had swallowed a razor blade, and her stomach seems to have taken quite a beating.

She becomes aware of her surroundings and notices her angel is not at the scene.

A little disappointed and saddened by all that has happened, she realizes perhaps the celestial being could not wait to see her wake up, having other matters to attend to. They probably have a very busy schedule and many responsibilities, so it was comprehensible.

She sat up slowly, still dizzy and somewhat groggy. As best she could, she made it to bed, her body needing rest after the situation, and decided she would clean up the mess tomorrow. The night had been chaotic, and she calculated by the clock about two hours without consciousness. Estimating that the blackout time was a mixture of her misfortune and the exhaustion of her workday, she decided to get a good night's restful sleep.

There was a hollowness in her chest at the absence of her guardian, having had them by her side since the very beginning of her life. It was the first time (Y/N) could not detect them in the atmosphere, and their absence felt as if a part of her body was missing.

All her mental preparation went down the drain, with the introduction being put off until the moment her companion returned. Part of her was disappointed, and the other was dying of anxiety. This only meant further delaying the whole thing until the being could return from wherever it had gone, and they could finally see each other. She didn't know anyone who had almost died in the nick of time, so there was no reference to comfort her in this scenario.

Either way, her angel would return and they would be able to introduce themselves accordingly, despite her nerves.

She quickly changed into comfortable clothes for bed, and while opening the covers, an explosion of objects was heard in her living room. She kept that window always open at night because of the heat, letting in the pleasant night breeze to cool the place down a bit.

Startled and surprised, she froze, debating whether to panic or not. Her body was shaken by the experience, and her mind was a mess of simultaneous thoughts. She could not decide if being alarmed by the noise was simply an exaggeration of her current state, or if she should genuinely consider it a threat. The night had already been too eventful for any other occurrence.

It might have been the wind, knocking objects around the room if a fair amount of it suddenly began to circulate, but there were footsteps following the clatter and those weren’t caused by the weather. Someone was approaching quickly, moving with determination and haste toward her. She felt like a deer in front of a giant truck, about to be slammed into a fender and helpless to do anything about it.

Still holding the sheets of her half-opened bed, (Y/N) watches as a tall, burly man crosses the doorway, red eyes glowing in the darkness. She can make out one folded wing behind his back but fails to see the other. The image is odd and terrifying considering the time of the night, and the fact she’s home alone and spontaneously confronted by an unfamiliar man appearing in her room.

A sense of edgy relaxation partially washes over her body as she realizes her angel came back to finally introduce himself, regaining the initial anxiety of what was about to happen. They would finally meet face to face, and her sense of trepidation at the event was automatically restored. She almost managed to give him a shaky smile, trying to pretend the situation didn't affect her at all, that is, of course, until she paid attention.

It is difficult to admire details in the darkness of the night and with the lights off, but she notices something particularly awful.

His wings are not white, but black.

[meowww-ffxiv]

When they were still getting to know each other, Theodore thought Meowdred was going to react to the Inquisitors' actions in Coerthas with revulsion and horror. He seemed the type.

Instead he turned to Theodore and said, "Wow, the Church of Halone really goes bare-face with its depravity. In Ul'dah, the Order of Nald'thal would hide them in the laws and 'protections for tradition' it pushes for."

"Which is worse?" Theodore asked, because he couldn't tell which one Mordred implied.

"What does it matter which is worse? Both are bad," Mordred replied. "Although physical acts of depravity are always easier to immediately counter than political ones. Let's go. I need to arrange that inquisitor's funeral."

Theodore had to spend a long time explaining to Mordred that they couldn't just do that! The inquisitor going missing would prompt even more from Ishgard to come look, and Francel was a well-known person, etc.

In the end, the guy was a fake, so the situation resolved itself. But Mordred's expression had been thunderously dark the whole time, so Theodore was now very sure that he was going to have some itchy opinions about Ishgard because... well, people always did.

Instead Mordred left him behind and descended Witchdrop by himself. Theodore caught up later to see him moving some half-eaten, frozen bodies of the convicted and executed for proper burial.

"If you're here, aren't you going to help?" Mordred asked Theodore, who stood frozen as these dead by the opening.

"My mother might be in there," Theodore heard himself say.

Mordred straightened, and looked at him. There was something undecipherable in his expression. Or Theodore just couldn't find enough clarity in himself to really look. But he knew it was not pity.

"Turn away, Theodore," Mordred said. "You don't have to watch."

His mother had said that, too, when they dragged her to the lip of Witchdrop.

And his father had sneered that whoever of his children would turn away from this traitor would follow her down. They must look corruption and heresy in the eye, he said. Must see how it could dwell in those they loved most.

The boon Mordred demanded of Haurchefant was spent in soliciting Dragonhead's aid to give these ones a proper burial, though they had no names to carve into their headstones. Then Mordred went back into Witchdrop again, with a Halonic priest, and had her help him do burial and prayer duties.

The voidsents lurked at the edge of their work, but dared not draw too close. Mordred had summoned his own voidsent hounds to guard them. Theodore was glad, as while he had followed him back and forth on both trips, he still felt out-of-body. Numb.

Later, much later, when they had reacquired the airship and defeated Garuda, and were safely in Gridania with mugs of cinnamon tea between them, Mordred asked Theodore about the full story.

He told him. He did not remember what exactly he said, or if it was coherent at all. But years later as Theodore's father crawled backwards on all four away from him in the Vault, hurling curses and saying he was glad she was dead -- his wife, his other sons, they were all sinful, everyone save for him--

When Mordred burned him alive from the tongue to the finger that pointed at Theodore with such hatred, the voidsent-serpent of flame that Mordred commanded twisting and laughing as it devoured the priest, the father, the murderer--

"Do you believe in vengeance, after all?" Theodore asked him, much later.

"No," Mordred replied.

"What was that, then? A crime of passion?"

"Your father haunts you," Mordred said. "You fear him and what he had done and what he meant to you. Let me be the monster that devours him. Hate me as you wish. But he is gone. I killed him. You saw him die. He will not come back. Exorcise him from your mind, too, and consign him to nothingness. You are you, and no one else."

Oh, Theodore thought. I see.

There were traditions of guardian beasts or spirits in Yanxia. Household, ancestral beings that could be called upon to guard the progeny.

Mordred was very disconnected with this, of course. He only vaguely knew of them from the Doman fugitives by the time he killed Theodore's father. It was Theodore himself who made the comparison, between Mordred and these stories.

He supposed this was why even Aymeric harbored some relief to go with the guilt about Archbishop Thordan. Mordred was known more for his reluctance to kill and his willingness to help others than he was about his expertise in doing so. If a good man slew your father, you could think that he deserved it.

Mordred did not believe in "deserving" and "undeserving". He did not even believe in "justified" or "unjustified". But the ferocity and hatred in his eyes whenever Theodore brought up his father told Theodore that he did not regret that murder.

And so Theodore felt--

Guilt.

And a deep, deep relief.

And the ephemeral yet undeniable sense of safety he should be too old to feel now, when one had the protection of another.

[meganwasbored]

The Dragon Prince Thoughts Season 4 Episodes 1 and 2

ok so i read ttm and dear callum (and cried over both of them but that’s not important) and by my understanding that’s the only thing i had to read to understand what’s happening so i think i’m good

Episode 1

-“rebirthday” oh this is gonna hurt

-if dark magic eventually makes your hair turn white then why isn’t viren’s hair also white also he’s old

-bruh what is this sparkly place and why did it turn viren into a game piece

-just callum being in the same room with the mirror is making me uncomfortable

-relieved to know that callum is still just as much of a dork as he used to be

-NEW SPELL IN THE FIRST THREE MINUTES

-just thinking about all the new spells were gonna be seeing makes me so excited

-soren is also exactly the same

-crow master finally getting the appreciation he deserves

-callum being excited about his amazon package, he is all of us

-LOOK AT HIM

-ezran literally arranged bait his own dramatic entrance

-WHY IS THIS BAKER SO IMPORTANT HES A BAKER WHY IS HE HERE AND WHY DOES HE GET AN OFFICIAL TITLE

-RAYLA would’ve thought the dragon queen joke was funny

-callum literally wasn’t even out of the room yet soren i know you’re smarter than this

-soren this isn’t 2016

-LITERALLY EVERY BAD THING EVER IS YOUR FAULT VIREN LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO YOUR DAUGHTER

-it probably would’ve been smart for janai to mention to amaya that flame ribbons are used in sunfire elf dances at some point before this so her girlfriend doesn’t think she’s getting attacked with fire whips

-callum standing there waiting for soren in this specific spot implies that soren does lunges on this same route every day

-CALLUM IS THE SAME HEIGHT AS SOREN NOW LOOK AT HOW MY BOY HAS GROWN

-just imagine being one of those dancers i would be so confused

-i couldn’t care less about viren’s life i just care about claudia’s feelings

-corvus knows all he has to do is mention callum’s latest hyperfixation and it’ll buy them hours to think of a story

-soren acting like he didn’t know callum could fly

-amaya attacking the proposal dancers and callum almost zapping everyone at his surprise party, like aunt like nephew

-imagine waking up to find out you’ve been dead for two years and in order to stay not dead you have to free a magical being from his ancient prison and you have less than 30 days to do it and then your daughter brings out her boyfriend who’s an elf (and you were trying to kill all elves last time you were alive)

-do you ever see a sad scene coming and you just have to pause it and prepare yourself for a second because the second i saw callum on that balcony i knew

-you can tell just from this thirty seconds that ezran has been callum’s therapist for to last two years

-🎶it’s my party and i’ll cry if i want to🎵

Episode 2

-are they really expecting the staff to still be there?

-ezran literally never questions any of callum’s dorkiness he’s always just like “you do you big bro”

-ZYM HAS GROWN SO MUCH OMG

-also ibis going from “powerful sky mage” to “dragonsitter” is so funny to me like there are so many more important things for him to do but nope he’s here trying to convince the prince to eat his vegetables

-also i’m pretty sure i’ve said this before i’m gonna ask again, are the runes for the wing spell tattooed on ibis’s arms or does he just like regularly repaint them? or after you do the spell once are they just there permanently? and if that’s so does callum also have the runes on his arms? he has to in some way because he just did the wing spell last episode

-THATS WHAT IM SAYING

-can’t tell if viren is acting like this to terry because he is an elf or just because he’s his daughter’s boyfriend

-why did karim look at gren and amaya? does this dude really think amaya is cheating on his sister with her best friend? has he not heard of lesbians?

-i love him

-viren stop being so dramatic and just admit you’re out of shape

-at least he’s self aware

-woah this took a whole different path than i thought it would

-i thought karim was about to be homophobic but turns out he’s just racist

-we all know dark magic is wrong but claudia just looks so cool doing it i don’t know whether to scold her or applaud

-just to be clear viren accepting that he’s nothing but crap doesn’t make me hate him any less

-someone who knows sign language please translate these conversations i’m clueless over here

-HERE SHE ISSSSSS

[kariachi]

Some ‘Achi’s up early’ Osmobeast fic. Kevin is a man of many abilities.

~~

“Somedays, just some, it’s really fucking tempting to scare your buddies, just a bit.” Pausing in taking off his coat, Gar watched as Kevin didn’t even bother, just beelining for the fridge.

“I don’t think that would help, sweetheart.”

“Oh fuck no,” Kevin said, pulling out a soda and displaying it. Gar nodded and he tossed it his way. “They’re already annoying as shit now, and they’ve just got the same basic knowledge everybody else in the galaxy has.” Shaking his head, Gar couldn’t help a little chuckle.

“See, now I’m curious…” The fridge gently thpped shut as Kevin dropped down in a dining chair, cracking open his soda with a toothy smirk. He waited patiently for Gar to join him at the table before raising a hand.

Casual as anything a ball of fire formed, big and bright, in his hand. As Gar blinked, readjusting his own knowledge of his boyfriend accordingly, it faded into electricity, then mana, then crystal, and back to flame. Smirk widening, Kevin made a little flourish they both knew was just for show as he dispelled the flames, hand coming over to fiddle with Gar’s with all the ease it ever did.

“Sir.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure the Tennysons know about that shit either. There’s a lot they probably don’t know about. I try not to scare them.” Gar knew there were at least five people in his life who would, on learning this was a thing Kevin could do, just casually use other powers, immediately want him on high guard, but he couldn’t manage it. He loved learning new things about his man, especially ones that weren’t bad.

“But mine are fair game,” he said with a smile. Their fingers laced together.

“Tell me, after today, that Dick doesn’t deserve to be reminded about where on the power scale he sits.”

“About.”

“Baby, I don’t know exactly where I am on the power scale.” Kevin face took on a contemplative expression. “Ahead of Kori, definitely, but I’m not sure with G and Rae which order we’re in.” Gar nodded.

“Probably doesn’t help that you can just, have their powers.”

“Oh, I do have G’s,” Kevin said, leaving Gar floundering for a second, “was pulling on those for the mana trick, but she’s always gonna be better with them than I am. They come more naturally than some other shit because energy manipulation is sort’ve my baseline thing, but they’re not mine.” Gar nodded along like he got it. It made sense, but wasn’t something he personally had experience with. He had his powerset and that was his powerset, until now he’d thought that aside form a few Omnitrix-caused aberrations Kevin was the same.

“Much as it would be nice to see Dick thrown off kilter,” he said, rather than continuing the train of discussion- if Kevin absorbed from him, just how much of his powers would he be able to keep? would he ever know the man had gotten hurt again?- “I don’t think learning you have more powers than your official files say would help anything.” Kevin nodded.

“Yeah. Like I said he’s already annoying enough without the extra ammo. And a lot of the detailed files were ‘lost’ after the Rooters got taken down.” Gar nodded, taking a long draw of his soda and turning all this new information over in his mind.

Damn he loved this ongoing puzzle box of a man.

And he was getting tired of some of Dick’s bullshit.

“I think we could get away with, the next time we all go out somewhere, if you grab something bone-in…”

[maximuswolf]

Change My Mind: "Perform Skill X to improve it" is a cool concept but it rarely works well in video games

Change My Mind: "Perform Skill X to improve it" is a cool concept, but it rarely works well in video games I'm not sure whether I'm alone on this take or not, but I wanna hear your thoughts on it.I imagine many people here are familiar with The Elder Scrolls (and Skyrim in particular) and how they've implemented skill growth: In order to become good at one skill, you just do a lot of repetitions. Exactly how we learn new skills in real life, so it's really immersive and cool right? In theory, yes, but in practice... ehh. Forging thousands of iron daggers makes you good at smithing daggers, but it doesn't make you a masterful blacksmith on its own right. Still makes more sense than spamming a flame jet + healing beam on your own horse (who doesn't seem to mind) in order to improve your magic abilities though.Then I dug through some other games that use the same philosophy and see how they measure up. Runescape + WoW are another familiar examples, so familiar that I knew about it even though I've never really gotten into MMOs. From what I've gathered, it did entice many players to afk farm their non-combat skills like Mining/Fishing/Foraging (or whatnot) because those things took a lot of time to rank up.Final Fantasy 2 had similar system too, and from what I've heard the consensus is... it was done poorly. Again, haven't played this one either, but YT videos seem to recommend spamming all your curative & stat ailment spells, lingering in battle for long as possible to rake up your character stats. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea to be honest.Likewise, Grandia 1 (a game I HAVE played, for a change) uses a similar mechanic as FF2. And likewise it also encourages you to spam your specials and spells until you run out of SP and MP. You do have character levels and the regular EXP system on top of it, but character levelups happen so slowly you're better off pumping your skills to get those stat bonuses.Mount and Blade -series does that with weapon skills, although you can use Skill Points to up your skills to a certain threshold. It doesn't automatically make you a master swordsman or a crack shot, but at least you can be a semi-competently trained soldier from the get-go.One game that seems to implement this mechanic rather well is Kenshi, ironically thanks to being able to automate some tasks. For example, setting a character to mining ore and hauling it to a container improves following stats: Laboring (because mining), Athletics = Max running speed (improved by walking/running) and Strength (improved by moving while encumbered). Athletics and STR are useful stats for combatants as well, so you don't really feel like wasting time "just to up one non-combat skill". Even when you lose a fight, you often come out of it with better weapon skills, Dodge/Blocking and Toughness (assuming you didn't fight carnivores who just eat you after downing you). I'm sure there are some other examples I've missed out, but from what I've seen and experienced so far, Learn By Doing easily leads to boring & repetitive gameplay. Leveling up via EXP and picking up Skills/Perks at level ups ain't perfect either, but I can see why many games prefer that implementation instead.What are your thoughts on "Perform skill to improve it" mechanic? Do you guys have more examples of it done well in video games? Submitted May 30, 2024 at 03:45AM by Khen-sai https://ift.tt/GpQrR1P via /r/gaming

[adara-of-the-flame]

thehouseofivo

Well. This was odd. Bradford thought he was the one who hated this the most. Seems someone else might hate it nearly as much as he did…. or at least in the ballpark.

“Greetings. I am Bradford Buzzard, of The House of Ivo.” Not that titles mattered to an entity like this. He turned to Luna. “This being doesn’t seem like it’s interested in speaking with us. Any particular reason why you brought me here to bother it?”

If anything, while he knew exactly why, he wanted to hear her say it and hear the tree’s reaction.

adara-of-the-flame

"Because I enjoy tormenting my fellow elderly." The Seer's answer didn't even skip a beat.

The tree scoffed. 'Elderly? you're barely a sappling. Both of you.'

Luna leaned in close to speak to Bradford. "Tall order for those of us in our second century, but this tree's over six hundred years old."

'Years. Names. Why do you small, fast things fill your time with such nonsense?'

"We gotta fill it somehow." Luna seemed to be taking this irritation in stride. "But, I actually brought Bradford here to speak with you about your life. He needs to get out of his comfort zone of staying in the same place all the time."

'Sounds like a good routine if you ask me.' How does one speak without a voice? There were 'words' in the pair's heads, and yet there weren't.

A tree is not known to speak. Maybe Bradford's and Luna's minds simply translated what was already there. 'I've spent hundreds of 'years' just sitting here minding my own business. Nothing wrong with that.'

All Within It’s Season

It was a short message, written out on large, unassuming index card. 

“Dear, Director Buzzard,

You’ll be happy to know your season of dread had ended, and it’s time for you to accompany me on a trip to the outdoors, as was our agreement. 

Meet me in the morning tomorrow at the Fortress Entrance with anything you wish to bring with you. I’ll provide the rest.

Sincerely,  Luna DelMar, Director of Mental Health.”