#OKAY BUT the thing is you desecrate it anyway. you do it because you still want it

[karinyosa]

.

[butterscotch-goat]

What are your ocs’ associated animals and why? (I love animal symbolism so much it’s the Utena fan in me)

YOU ASKED THE PERFECT QUESTION MY FRIEND

Aster is associated with a lamb! Because she's the Jesus metaphor, used as a sacrifice for scientific endeavors, y'know...I've been wanting to play around with more black sheep imagery though,, because she's othered for her magic (but then again literally every character in this story is "othered" for one reason or another. Mostly bc no one can handle their queer and neurodivergent swag)

Beatrice is associated with birds in general, but more specifically the mourning dove because! The mourner. Even before Charles dies she's kinda grieving who he used to be. And I plan on there being a lot of bird-in-a-cage-but-the-cage-is-open (She feels stuck at the manor, even though she could leave, she won't because of her dedication to Charles) imagery (stole that from @/senaaaard btw hi sen)

Charles is associated with bees because 1. Bees are known for being like,, incredibly hard workers and 2. Because bees die when they sting. They made an impact, but caused their own demise in the process. I ❤️ TRAGIC CHARACTERS

Grace is associated with a deer for a couuple of reasons? iirc deer are sometimes associated with the supernatural or with spirituality??, and y'know Grace is the only other magic one (healing abilities), she's also put on a pedestal and serves as some kind of "savior" when she heals people (grace is also a jesus metaphor and a parallel to Aster). also because Grace is damn near the "perfect victim," always kindly and "innocent", only ever breaking under the pressure of the role of savior she's been given once, which is what gets her arrested and killed anyways,, but like even when she's waiting in a jail cell before she gets executed she still helps and heals the other kids in the cell with her, despite being exhausted and hurt and bruised herself. ALSO also because of a thing that happened with Bea and Charlie as teenagers. Charles was Hangin Out in the woods and came across a deer corpse that somehow, for some reason, hasn't been eaten or completely decayed yet. He was super excited and thought it would be so cool and fun and eDuCatIonAlLy eNrIcHiNg to dissect it, and he gets Beatrice to do so as well. Beatrice is VERY opposed to it and feels like they're desecrating the poor thing, while Charles can't get himself to empathize and sees it purely as a learning opportunity. Mirroring how Charles,, steals Grace's corpse and dissects it, like completely tears it apart and stores different organs and limbs as it's rare he can get his hands on a corpse that's 100 percent confirmed to have been magic, Beatrice once again being opposed to it, but unable to stop him.

Eli is associated with crows because DEATH! okay also because crows are like,, idk common little fellas you see em on the street and they're really clever despite being seen as a spooky omen. But also spooky omen. Eli is CONSTANTLY surrounded by death. He's a kid living in an industrial city in the 1890s what do you expect. But yeah Eli has witnessed his fair share of corpses, there's been plenty of times one of his fellow newsies died overnight or didn't come back after leaving for work, etc. also his parents are dead!! Grace dies!! He thought Martha died when she got kidnapped!! everyone he knows keeps dying !! urhgh !! Also in canon Eli denies knowing Grace after her death (Peter from the bible allegory) and a crow will caw after he does so!! just like a chicken (?) does in the bible!!! Also Eli is a parallel to Beatrice. Birds 👍

And lastly Martha is associated with a praying mantis for kiinnnnd of superficial reasons,, one because. Praying. She's super Christian so she does that a lot. And 2 because of the whole thing where mantises eat their spouses? Martha blames herself for the death of her beloved Grace? Hmm?????? You see the vision????

thank you THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK!! this is one of my fave things to draw/talk about as I'm sure is obvious hehehhehe

[lovelynim]

i was debating if i should desecrate your temple with my dirty thoughts, but in the end i'm here foaming at the mouth. so... you know me. karu. every time i watched intimacy rooms with this pup i couldn't get rid of the desire to see him getting what he wants finally. he tried to tickle eiden once, but couldn't find the proper place and failed. what if after all the endless teasing and hurting his pride he finally managed... to punish eiden? 👀 after all he's still very ticklish

i wouldn't even mind it to be spicy, but it's up to you to decide. and of course feel free to turn it down if you don't feel like writing it!

How to tame a human

Nu: Carnival - Eiden x Karu

[500 Followers Milestone Event - "Punishment"]

A/N: Okay, first things first: it was such a pain to find an actual art with Karu in it because it is ALWAYS GARU!! cahem, anyway, I had a blast writing this and I accidently made it a liiiittle longer than it should be, hope you don't mind ~

Summary: After failing to control his human (again), Karu asks Kuya for advice and try to learn a way to do it properly

Word count: 1663 words

Across Aster’s mansion's hallway, the young wolf pup ran as fast as he could. Cheeks flustered, slightly wet eyes, Karu passed by each servant he met on his way as fast as he could, after all, he couldn’t let them see the mighty Karu in such a state. In that whole damned house, there was only one person that the young yokai wanted to meet.

“Master Kuya!!” He shouted, bursting the door that led to the gardens open. A pinch of relief struck his heart when he saw the old fox looking at him and, wasting not a single second, he ran to him, throwing himself at his arms. “Master Kuya, I found youuu…” Karu cried out quietly, burying his face into the yokai’s chest.

Trying to understand the whole fuss, the old fox simply looked down, still trying to figure the other out. “What has gotten to you, wolf pup?” Kuya sighed, hesitantly placing his hand on Karu’s shoulder, patting him. He had gone to the gardens to have some time by himself, but guess even he couldn’t properly hide his scent from Karu with so little effort. Guess this is where his rest time ended. “What are you crying about, hm?”

“Y-your plan, master Kuya,” Karu said, lifting his head to look up to Kuya as he tugged on the older yokai’s clothes, “it didn’t work! The human even made fun of me!!”

With an unamused - and slightly confused - look, Kuya tried to recall what the other could be ranting about. Plan? That had something to do with Eiden? How was he supposed to remember something so specific with such a vague description?

“And exactly what part of it didn’t work, wolf pup?” Kuya said calmly, placing the kiseru he was smoking down on a nearby table and gently lifting Karu’s face from his chest - he didn’t want to risk getting his clothes wet or anything, after all.

Sobbing quietly and slowly recovering himself from the disappointment he just suffered, Karu’s eyes still shined as the droplets hung on his lashes. “I-I tried to surprise him with a sneak attack - just like you said, master Kuya!”

“I assume it didn’t work, then?”

“Y-yeah! I tried to tickle him, but it didn’t work! Not at all!” Karu cried out, frustrated as he remember Eiden’s face and how easily that damned human turned the tables against him. The wolf yokai pressed his eyes shut, shaking his head before looking up to Kuya again, “I need your help again, master Kuya!”

Kuya scoffed as he let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. “I figured what went wrong, wolf pup,” he mused, raising a finger between him and Karu, pointing to him, “your skills are lacking efficiency.”

“W-what?”

“You see, your technique is still awfully dull and humans, especially someone like young master, are complex beings, full of surprises. You need to improve in order to tame him, wolf pup.”

Karu listened to Kuya’s explanation in awe, feeling the wiseness behind each word. It all made so much sense, of course Kuya’s plan wouldn’t have such a flaw - his master only didn’t consider his skill level. 

“A-and how do I improve it, master Kuya?”

“Listen carefully, wolf pup,” Kuya grinned, leaned his head a little forward before he began to whisper his new instructions into Karu’s ear, giving the young yokai important details that he might have missed along his first try: how to properly apply pressure against the skin, different finger movements he should try and even how to properly wrestle his human without the aid of magic.

By the time Kuya was done talking, Karu looked like he had reached some kind of enlightenment, sparking up with joy and excitement to try the new plan out. 

“Thanks, master Kuya!” The young yokai said as he walked away, waving back to the fox as he got inside the house. Kuya grinned - a devious, evil smile - as Karu turned his back to him. Picking up the kiseru again to resume smoking it, the fox chuckled. “I wonder how amusing the young master’s reactions will be, huhuh…”

Back inside the mansion, Karu wasted no time in relying on his sense of smell to track down his target. Taking him nothing more than a couple of sniffs to determine the direction where Eiden’s scent was coming from.

Unsuspecting the income danger, the grand sorcerer was peacefully spending his time inside the library of the mansion, trying to finish another book without Olivine’s aid. 

As the sounds of steps coming from outside got louder, Eiden turned his head over his shoulder, wondering what that fuss was about.

“Is everything alrig-”

“Human!” Karu shouted as he slammed the door open, grinning cockly as he spotted his prey.

“K-Karu?!” He gasped, letting out an embarrassing shriek after getting scared by the wolf pup like that. “A-ah, you scared me, I thought something was happ-”

“Shut it, human!” He demanded, furrowing his brows while staring at Eiden, “did you really think you could humiliate me like that and I would leave it like that?! I’ve come for my revenge, prepare yourself!”

“...what?” Eiden blinked a few times, a bit too stunned to understand what Karu was ranting about this time. “Humiliate you? But I- oh, you mean tickling you back?”

A faint red hue spread across Karu’s face as the grand sorcerer finished talking. The disrespect… How dare he?! Done with waiting to strike, the yokai ran and tackled Eiden down to the library ground, using him to ease the fall. Straddling the human’s waist, Karu looked down to his face, getting even angrier when he sensed that there was no fear or resistance coming from Eiden.

“Y-you know, there was no need to pounce on me like that,” the grand sorcerer said, still feeling his ass sore after falling on his butt like that. However, seeing Karu so excited and eager to get his revenge, Eiden couldn’t help but to play along. After all, how bad could it be? “I mean, ahm, oh, you got me!”

Karu grinned, not even allowing him to state his last words. “It’s time to punish you for disrespecting the mighty Karu, human,” latching his hands onto Eiden’s sides, he remembered the instructions of his master, putting his best efforts to bring it to practice.

As soon as his nimble fingers started to tweak and prod at Eiden’s side, the grand sorcerer felt the corner of his lips twitch. ‘Wait, there is something off,’ he thought, trying his best to play along as, much to his surprise, Karu’s moves actually felt ticklish this time.

“K-Kaharu, what ahare- pfft- hehey! Wahahait!” As the first giggles broke through his lips, it became almost impossible to hold back his reactions any longer. Eiden was caught off guard by how bad it became, what did he do? Where did he even learn to… tickle like that?”

“That’s what you get for underestimating me, human!” Karu continued, easily evading and passing through Eiden’s attempts to stop his fingers, continued to tickle his sides and lower ribs, covering the sensitive spots with poke after poke, reducing the grand sorcerer to a mess of laughter.

The wolf pup’s tail wagged in excitement as the tickling went on and on, enjoying the feeling of finally having enough “power” to subdue that untamed human. On the other hand, however, Eiden was fighting for his life as those devious claws found their way to his ribs. No matter how hard he tugged on Karu’s wrists or pressed his arms against his body, the yokai’s hands would find their way through his defenses and strike his sensitive spots again.

“T-thahAHat’s e-enohohough, K-KahAHaru!! StahahAhap!” The grand sorcerer cried out, kicking his legs behind the wolf pup as he thrash in a fit of laughter.

But Karu was way too excited to stop. No, he wouldn’t let such an opportunity slip through his fingers like this, not at all! He remembered how much he needed to beg- I mean, ask for Eiden to stop tickling him before - and now he wanted him to stop like that?!

Letting out a cocky chuckle, Karu quickly moved his hands up, shoving them underneath Eiden’s arms and making the grand sorcerer let out an embarrassing loud squeal. “In your dreams, human! This is what you get for provoking the mighty Karu, hahah!!”

“O-okahAHAHAY!! AHahAHa- I-i’m sohOHORRY, K-KARU!! AHAhah, q-quihihihit it!!” The laughter kept breaking through and interrupting his words over and over. This was nothing like Karu’s previous attempts to tickle him. The clumsy, uncoordinated movements from before had evolved into merciless, well-aimed attacks that were driving him up the walls!

The grand sorcerer wasn’t sure what happened, but he needed to figure it out as soon as possible or the yokai would actually tickle him to death. “E-enoHOHOUGH! AhahAHAH, I-I’ll d-do ahAHANYTHING!! J-Juhuhust stop!”

“Submit to the mighty Karu and I might show you some mercy, human!” Karu said, speaking louder than he usually did, just to make sure he would be heard through Eiden’s laughter. “Or suffer! Heheh…”

“F-FIHIHINE!! Juhuhust stahHAhap!!” Eiden uttered with the last bits of his strength. As Karu finally moved his hands away, the grand sorcerer let out a huge gasp, finally able to try to catch up his breath. “A-aha… t-thank you, I thought I was a… a goner, ahh…”

“It worked, it really worked!” Karu cheered, quickly springing up back to his feet. He looked at his own hands, wiggling his fingers as if some kind of power was flowing through his limbs. He then pointed back at Eiden, smiling as confidently as ever, “now, you have to obey all my orders, human!”

“S-sure… just give me a moment,” Eiden muttered, sighing as he used his elbows to support his body. Whatever happened, he thought, it should be better to play along for a while - after all, sooner or later, he knew he would have his chance to strike the “mighty” Karu back…

[lazyscience]

DCC Challenge, Day 17

Time To Floor Collapse: 13 days, 4.5 hours (give or take)

Time for the recap episode!

Crawler @quartzandsundry

New Achievement! Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me!

If I were an algorithm, I would be hurt - but I'm not, so fuck those guys! While dealing out consequences is what I'm here for, I'm not interested in steering your choices. Well...no, I'm not REALLY, because nothing goes viral like the least predicted outcome! Viva individuality, everyone LOVES to imitate it!

Reward: A silver Twihard box! Inside, an Enchanted Bracelet of the Ab-Solar conferring protection against infection with vampirism, lycanthropy, and +25% damage against the sapient undead, and a roll of Regenerating Bondage Tape! 60' total, regenerates 1 foot per minute up to 3 times daily for as much skin-safe restraint fun as one crawler could possibly need!

Crawler @kathrynalexao3:

New Achievement! We're Gonna Play It!

So it is a known fact that I am not the biggest fan of bards (shut it, Mordecai, it's not MY fault that wet fart Chaco had a better lawyer) - most of the time, they're using it to sneak out of bars without tabs and castles after fucking elites, and while that's all well and good it's not The Main Event, right?

But (snerk, gasp) the mobs' little FACES when they realized they'd followed that tantalizing Entourage illusion into ambush and the heat was...on! Hah, I knew you'd make use of that eventually.

Reward: A gold Full Commitment Box! Inside, sheet music for Standing Ovation and Encore! You've earned some applause. And if you look in this box right here - (charting at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of August 23rd, 1987, it's Rick Astley and "Never Gonna Give You Up" - applause, everyone!)

Crawler @king-ofconfusion:

New Achievement! Stranger Things than Death Can Happen!

Undeath's a bitch, isn't it? Well, it's not like you would know yet, you've managed to successfully duck, bob, weave and cast your way out of the hands of the war mages and vampires up till now, but keep an eye out for those janitor mobs, Jikiniki no jokey-nokey, yeah?

Let's keep it flowing, blood, ectoplasm, the traffic at rush hour....

Reward: A silver Smells Like OK Soda box! Inside, a Ricard's Ring of Sniping, a Silver Bullet ammo reload, 13 Holy Goopers and 7 holy-water-infused Hobgoblin Smoke Curtains. It's like a rave, of DEATH TO UNDEATH!

alive to death to undeath to death...yeah. okay. I confused myself for a minute there. We're all good!

Crawler @oreniaa:

New Achievement! Sweet Blasphemy, My Giving Tree!

Crawler, if there was a dungeon crawl art exhibit you'd be Jackson Pollock with a bullet. If there was a catwalk, all the black clerics would gnash their teeth and claw their faces at your effortless air of apostasy (they'd probably do that anyway, but REAL hard, like they meant it)! And if your hair could talk - it'd say business in the front, desecration in the back!

Reward: A golden Love for Fire Box! Including matched Obsidian Needle Gauntlets of The Cenobite, which inflict the Suffering Bleed debuff (stacking) with each direct hit to an opponent, with a cumulative incidence of 1.3% of summoning a Lesser Infernal Demon if employed against a minion of Hell (call it professional courtesy)

Crawler @cairfrey :

New Achievement! CrawlCon!

6:00 AM - Crawl Art Contest! Featuring Crawler Cairfrey, Ripper Wonton and former crawler Herot judging!

9:00 AM - Beez in The Trap! Panel on ambush and trap attacks!

12:00 PM - VIP Meet N'Greet! 1 3DEO recording with Cairfrey, Waterkangaroo or both! (Extra charge of 19.99 GalCred for both)

2:00 PM - Live With Odette, Snick or No Snick!

4:00 PM - A-tier Meet N'Greet! 1 signed autograph from Cairfrey or Waterkangaroo on your choice of promotional material - still photo, CrawlCon program, or genuine reclaimed Earth paper (highly collectible!)

Reward: For publicity? Seriously? Unless someone dies, you're SOL, but that said, I heard Shade Gnolls don't give a shit about corporate property and there should at least be a couple pretty sweet Deluxe Shower arrays to make sure you're all pretty for your press. Do with that what you will.

Crawler @deathdovesong:

New Achievement! Me and The Devil Blues!

Surprise T'Ghee round! Good thing you had those level 65 Gargoyles and a level 58 Devilfish still tucked into your hand, the mob's level 69 Reaper Golem was a BEAST! But in the end, Uzi Jesus always performs down to expectations as a nepo baby and you brought home the win.

Reward: a gold Squeaky Clean box! Includes a Day Pass and Deluxe Bubble Bath at Busted to Bomb, the Desperado Club day spa, and a 50,000 credit for Bed, Bath and Beleaguered, purveyors of fine alchemical supplies, potions and poisons in the famous Midnight Market! (No takebacksies if anything you buy gives you the screaming horrors. Caveat emptor!)

Crawler @clearbrightlight:

New Achievement! Catlike Reflexes!

Some people might think I mean speed and grace. Nah, I mean The Slappinator! By the time you stopped smacking that bitch up with Astral Paw, there wasn't enough left to juice.

Hummina.

And then there were the ones you used Walls of Fire to kettle him into your savage horde of familiars. Killing with claws isn't feet, of course, but it's the next best thing!

Reward: A gold You'e Got A Friend in Me box! Includes an enchanted Flute of Snake Charming! Deactivates aggro from snake and snakelike mobs, +10 to Charm Critter, Hypnosis and Sonic Attack skills! (Increases aggro of feline and canine mobs; bonded pets will be distracted and difficult to control, wild will attack on a failed attempt to charm)

Crawler @lazyscience:

New Achievement: Juggling Grenades!

wretched monthly one-on-one? check. regulatory agency hold to reply to? check. pushy PI draft? check check. stupid consent kerfuffle? check. hateful guideline clarification, check. Everything's still in the air, we'll see what you drop tomorrow!

Reward: I TOLD you, everything's still in the air, so nothing went boom! also churro donuts.

Now get out there, crawlers, and kill, kill, kill!

ATTENTION, all partied crawlers! Don't forget to update me on mobs, quests, or parties (defined at link) so I can award you achievements! Please let me know either in the replies to this post, reblogging with additions, or hit my askbox/DMs!

(please, do this, even with small and silly mobs/quests, it makes giving achievements so much easier!)

[boatemlag]

Hi I read your gift fic to Bee and I am soooooooooo wondering about the funerary rites of every empire pls tell me about them

[ID: Ask from erstwhilesparrow that says, "[staggers out of ao3 shaking slightly] okay so obviously now i have to ask you for your thoughts on empires funerary practices!! stares at you with big pleading eyes. share thoughts?" /end ID]

HI!!!! im so glad you asked >:) a lot of this is in my brain but this was the initial note for the concept for the gift fic so you see where i'm coming from

[Text ID: A screenshot of an iPhone notes app bullet point that says: "2. 2. mezalea and complicated system of rebirth and reincarnation-> no sense of grieving funerals? joel has never had to grieve because hes inorganic. clay structures dont die. interested in the connection between golems in judaism and clay constructs in mezalea" /end ID]

my basic concept with mezalea was ultimately that because constructs dont die (joel was made by the mother tree, and in turn made the mezaleans in his image? something like that) they cant properly die? and if they do die their friends and family or joel himself can reinstate them, and theres ritual for that, but its a thing that is ultimately for inorganics. and its not really akin to a funeral.

more under the cut, separated by nation! ones mentioned in the fic first!

mythland: for mythland i was inspired by this story i heard from a classmate of a funeral he attended in his father's hometown in china where they walked from the morgue to the cemetery and it took like multiple hours and they were singing funeral songs and prayers and such and then still had a ceremony at the cemetery. i had an image in my mind of the rain falling through the dark oak leaves and sausage dressed in the robes of a king even though he is so small (way too small for him) and the robes really are wearing him, and the hours upon hours of walking through the streets of mythland to the royal cemetery with hundreds of mythic citizens behind them singing mourning songs and the toll that takes on a boy too young to be king... yes. delicious. after the blood sheep religion is revived, these ceremonies involved ritual animal sacrifice.

gilded helianthia: i really like the idea of helianthians being people of the earth, and not having huge ceremonies for their funerals. people coming from the earth and going back to the earth. planting their favorite plants in their resting place. this one is pretty self explanatory i think? and its a very logical extension of helianthia's values. the bonfire is something i think is very common in surrounding areas of bordering nations.

pixandria: pixandria is, i think, the only canon depiction we have of funerals? its kind of obvious to say "The Vigil" but like. the Vigil. im also a big fan of the idea of something similar to an ofrenda being common, visiting the memorials of lost loved ones. i also think corpses dont preserve well in the desert so cremation is very common. the body is not considered very sacred and its the soul that has to be memorialized.

rivendell: i spend so much time thinking about these goddamn elves its not even FUNNYY!!!!!! religious schisms make me SICK!!!!!! in the head. anyway. i think cremation used to be very very common in rivendell because in the cold of the mountains bodies decompose very very slowly. but after the schism fire is considered weirdly sacrilegious when it comes to rituals, so they sort of have shirked the cremation part of the ritual. theyve always had wakes i think, and theyve replaced cremation with a complex catacomb type situation. elves also dont die super often? so there are centuries of elves buried beneath the mountains but its not like. that many. comparatively. elves consider it important to see the corpses of their loved ones as part of the grieving process and its an egregious crime to desecrate a corpse or modify the body in any way, even back in the days of cremation.

cod empire/codlands: funerals are VERY important in codish culture because the swamp conditions mean uhhh bog bodies are very possible. and thats considered sacrilegious because the only preserved body allowed is the cod head lmao. its a religious symbol as well as a theocratic symbol. that being said, there are a plethora of ways cod folk prefer to care for their dead. for those who are closer in heritage to oceanic peoples, its very common to feed corpses to fish (livestock) and hold a ceremony during then. for those with mythic heritage (before the ravine and erection of the walls of codlands and mythland) funeral processions were very common, though usually taken out to sea. these are just a few of the types of funerary ceremonies the codfolk use.

ocean empire: as mentioned in the previous section, oceanic rituals often involve feeding bodies to the fishy livestock as a funeral ritual. other than that, more land-living oceanic citizens do something akin to a "viking funeral" where flaming rafts are sent out to sea

lost empire: heh. so theres two main things here: pre and post xornoth. the folks of the lost empire used to bury their dead in large clearings dedicated as cemeteries. for more important people in society they constructed tombs all connected by underground tunnels. post-xornoth, cremation was added as a common custom. this was obviously short lived for the empire.

house blossom/the overgrown: similar to gilded helianthia, except instead of the land around, citizens are buried with seeds on their being, to be used as nutrients for the large wild flowers. post burial rituals include several days of merriment and mourning, and i like the idea that bonfires are also common here.

the grimlands: i really like the idea of public burial in the fields outside of the main capital of the grimlands. there are pretty large cemeteries that are multilayered. the tradition has a common ancestor with the lost empire's tradition.

crystal cliffs: I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF LIKE. magic being involved in some way. perhaps the crystallization of famous witches and wizards and sorcerers immortalized in amethyst, deep beneath the mountains. because the crystal cliffs is run by the headmaster or headmistress at the time i think the general burial rights actually depend on the nation of origin or wishes of the individual. crystal cliffs is very much a nation of various peoples because anyone can attend.

the undergrove: the burial rights of the gnomes is a dying secret. because there are very few gnomes left, the decimation of the population has erased former traditions in the face of cremation to eliminate chance of Corruption. it used to be something else, but that knowledge is lost to time.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for avenging my brother?

hiiiii ^^ so im (30, let's say M for convenience's sake) am currently the leader of a very big sect, which was Not the plan WhatSoEVER (i'll get into it). i was born as the younger sibling to the sect heir, which meant i had free reign to basically do whatever i wanted while he got the responsibilities and stuff! great deal methinks. our father died when we were both still young due to heart issues that run in the family and also being killed. since my brother had a decade or so on me, he pretty much raised me from then on while also having the new role of official sect leader on his shoulders.

again, seems like a good deal! he was strict, and really really insisted i practiced my fighting skills (like that wasn't the literal cause of our family's heart issues) to the point that one time he like kind of burned my paper fan collection in front of me but that's like it's all besides the point okay he loved me and i loved him and we were both there for each other okay? okay

anyway he had this servant/best friend/pretty sure somethingsomething was going on there. he was kind of like a second big brother to me. our interests overlapped and he also preferred stuff like art and poetry over fighting. he understood me in a way that my brother couldn't, and he helped raise me just as much, even accompanying me to my third year of summer courses. which lol was supposed to be a one year course but i failed twice. lmao w/e

things got... bad. a war broke out, the servant betrayed us by letting a dangerous enemy out of his cell, and he and my brother had a horrible fight that ended in the former's expulsion from our sect. fast forward yadda yadda this isn't so much the part of the story it's just context but basically that turned out to be a plan to get close to the enemy sect leader so he could stab him in the back. which turned out to become a recurring theme.

the servant, now a prominent figure in his own sect, my brother, and one basically-a-celeb from another sect became this big trio (and totally a Thing) because of the role they played in ending the war. servant-now-big-boy (let's go with snbb for convenience) used that position to send my brother into a cardiac arrest by playing a melody that was supposed to soothe him differently.

so now i was alone, and with one of the current biggest sects to lead, while all i wanted to do is look cute, paint and be bisexual. you can probably imagine how i felt when i learned who did it, especially considering how not only no one else knew, but he got /rewarded/ for it by becoming a sect leader himself. soooo i got a little silly and here's where i mighttttt be tah :3

basically i started a 10+ years revenge plan. i didn't really plan a /lot/ of it, but i knew i'd have to resurrect one of my childhood friends for it to grab attention away from me etc and such and so on and so forth. but basically i also got a gay and socially rejected teenager killed for that, desecrated the corpse of snbb's mother, paid some people to spread rumours here and there, possibly killed a few cats to lure a group of people where i needed them to be, and adopted a public persona of a useless idiot who couldn't run a sect for the life of me to keep suspsicions off of me for the duration of this, which was Also a part to get back at him because that meant he, as someone responsible and sooo niceys and oh won't you please help your poor little meowmeow with the big scary emails plssss (he basically ran the sect for me lol).

to top it all off i had him killed by the one person that loved him the most (mister sir basically-a-celeb. god his jawline is stronger than my will to live) (he has gone into seclusion and is isolating himself indefinitely to mourn)

but also all this allowed my old bestie to get gay married with his longtime heartthrob

so. aita?

[best-overplayed-song]

Re: Take Me To Church in response to anon-- a take by someone who first heard it a bit After it came out at the age of 20, was concerned it was overhyped, and on listening had to admit that it was in fact good. (Also disclaimer, I've got less context about like, Irish/English history and stuff than OP so uhhhh sorry this is just gonna be my own personal vibecheck)

Tw: sex mention.

A lot of my feelings on the song are more related to this bit: Take me to church I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies I'll tell you my sins, and you can sharpen your knife Offer me that deathless death and revolve around a. Possibly more sexual interpretation, so take that as you will (I was horny at 20 what can I say)

Okay first off let's talk about Why Church Is Horny. Religion and sex are both things that people often have a lot of feelings about. Christians specifically have even more feelings about sex, usually because they're saying it's bad. However, from a Catholic perspective, there's often a LOT of erotic imagery and stuff going on behind the scenes. See: lactating Jesus, saints' mysticism (for instance, Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena), and honestly just general medieval saints… people were SO horny for God. Plus, from an anti-sex Christian perspective, stuff still gets horny more often than you'd think. Milton was a Puritan, and that doesn't stop Paradise Lost from having originated Sexy Satan as a trope. All of which boils down to, coming from Christian, English-speaking cultural context a lot of your feelings about sex and religion, both of which carry enough baggage on their own, become intertwined.

So. All of that means you get the invocation of Christian stuff in the Bedroom anyway--lots of people say stuff like 'oh god' during sex, for instance. Think about the popularity too of the sexy nun trope, or even Destiel. A lot of people find desecration of the (Christian) holy, hot as shit, though it remains taboo.

For that reason! "Take Me To Church" being a song about sex?? About a woman referred to as a "lover," not a wife? Sex as worship? Get all those cultural hotbuttons pinged. (And that's just the first line we're looking at.)

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies Hoo boy. So, again, worship = sex? That's a lot as seen above. Invoking the dog imagery as part of deference to a woman also gets into stuff about gender roles, taboos, and the breaking thereof. There's a lot to unpack here-- deference of a man to a woman, of an animal to the holy, the admission that it is a shrine of lies, and tied into all that is the implied desire and consent to do these things. That's sexy!

I'll tell you my sins, and you can sharpen your knife Shame is a strong feeling-- one that comes up a lot when we look at this religion/sex network. Telling of sins evokes the Catholic sacrament of confession. And then we get to the knife. I don't know how to explain my interpretation of this without getting real kinky so uh, let's just say that pain and blood can have significant associations with both Christianity and sexuality, and the use of the knife thing in this context brings in Yet Another hot-button thing.

Offer me that deathless death I always just interpret this as euphemism for an orgasm. But! That's not to belittle it. Could a deathless death also be an assumption to heaven? In the context of the previous line(s), it takes on so many alternate connotations it's insane. Has he been stabbed for his sins? (That carried penetration imagery with it fyi.) Has he been forgiven his sins and gets to go to heaven? Or is it sexual release? With the ambiguity the song leaves, all three are possible, keeping up all those threads of violence/pain, shame, ecstasy, sex, divinity, submission… there's A LOT here.

Anyway I'm gonna stop there cuz this is too long. I don't even like this song THAT much, I'm just here to explain why people do.

OH YEAH AND PS: ADD TO ALL OF THIS THE SHAME/RELIGION/SEX FEELINGS AND ASSOCIATIONS CAUSED BY THE LISTENER BEING QUEER okay bye

I loved reading your interpretation! Thanks for the breakdown!

[sburbian-sage]

Hey there, Knight of Quartz again! I’ve been testin shit, here’s what I got for you so far:

I’m in the Land of Fabergé and Rhystic, LOFAR.

So right away, weird, because Rhystic isn’t a real word, it’s a thing from Magic the Gathering- a word used for cards that an opponent can pay a cost to prevent you from using. Rhystic Study for example draws you a card every time someone else casts a spell, unless they pay an extra point of mana. (God FUCKING DAMN do I miss MTG, can’t play it now though, too risky, lots of cards give corruption.)

Meanwhile, Fabergé was literally just a guy’s name I think? But the way it manifests here is clearly about Fabergé eggs, they’re all over the place.

It’s kinda hell actually. Tons of the eggs have consort ashes (and/or organs/bones) in them and are basically like grave urns. But some of them have important stuff so I gotta open em anyway, and I think all the funerary ones I keep desecrating by accident are actually dropping my land rep.

As for the Rhystic keyword, I’m kinda stuck actually. I’m not seeing much about it really? There’s a place called the “Rhystic Tower” in one of the consort villages, and the consorts get really weird when I try to talk to them about it, but I can’t figure out how to get inside.

Onto the topic of death, none so far. No comas either. I want to ask though, if Quartz DOES rely on no deaths, do you think dying to go god tier might fuck all this up and make it so I retroactively never would have been assigned the aspect? Not that any of us have found our beds yet anyway, but I'm worried about it... Realselves don’t leave a ghost in a dream bubble when they god tier, right? Since you are your realself and dreamself at the same time? Or am I wrong?

As for time stuff, the meteors seem to be working like normal. Appearifier is still letting us make paradox slime for frog breeding, and the Ectobiology labs are present in the veil (but we’ve not found a gate to them yet). I think the exiles aren’t working though? Hard to tell. They might just be subtle and not have much to say, or maybe all of us have too much pepleader or something.

Okay, now for the big list of abilities I’ve gotten:

The first two were [Rose Tint] and [Smoke]. I guess in reference to rose quartz and smoky quartz. They are notably NOT offensive, and in fact seem to barely work, if at all. I think they might just be bugged. I can target living things with them, and they eat up some pluck, but then nothing seems to happen. I know abilities can be finicky, but I’m running out of ideas.

[Record] is an ability that I’ve been using constantly though. I actually learned to freestyle this early on, though the ability version is way more efficient. Either way, it basically it lets me extract a memory out of something’s mind. They come out as these glowy colorful orbs, but I can’t like, stuff them into my own head or anything. When I touch them, I think I get an impression of what the underling I extracted from was feeling at the time (mostly anger and fear so far). I’ve not found a real use for these yet, but it’s become almost compulsive for me to [Record] every enemy I fight at least once. I assume they’ll be useful later on.

As for abilities that actually do stuff in fights, [Elegist] was my go-to for a while. It feels like it “skips” me ahead, to after an enemy is already dead, and then I get a mental summary of how I beat them. But while it’s running I’m actually just in a fugue state, it’s not time travel or anything even though it feels like it. Had to stop using it after it let me get run through the chest with a sword just so I could get in close and kill an imp, I almost died from that… Plus, I just don’t trust it, no way Sburb really gave me a “I win” button, I bet it’d fail against strong enough enemies or whatever.

So instead I’ve mostly been using [Brain Fart] and [Going In Circles]. Fart just makes a target forget what they were doing for a second, and the circles one seems to make an enemy want to go back to wherever they were standing when I used the ability on them, after a few seconds. Both of these are really good at throwing enemies off in battle, and cost barely any pluck, so I can spam them.

There’s more, but my coplayers need me for a dungeon dive, and these were the ones I’ve been using the most, so I’m just gonna send this off as is.

I'd be a bit concerned about the Land Keywords. The running theory is that Quartz is a bugged Aspect, and Lands don't typically generate pop-culture references. I mean, it'd be kind of stupid if you got like, the Land of Gonzales and Mug Root Beer and you don't know that wrestler/that soda isn't available in whatever country or world you come from. Pop culture is constrained almost entirely to Alchemy, so you should be seeing immediate red flags any time they pop up. Related sidenote, I am now much more skeptical of this entire post.

On the funerary ashes, you just gotta roll with it. Toppling sacred urns, desecrating mystic ruins, and defiling hallowed tombs is as natural as breathing. It's sad, but you can't make an omelette without traumatizing a few people.

"Retroactively not getting assigned your own Title" isn't a thing. The only thing you can do to make yourself not be the Title you've been assigned is to do Vagabouncy. The nature of the Quest Beds and how ascending works is unknown, so it's kind of your job to figure that out. And as for whether or not ascending leaves behind a Dreambubble Ghost, the classical mistake you're committing is thinking about Dream Bubbles. Don't do that. All thinking about the Dream Bubbles typically does is existentially freak yourself out. So don't think about it, or whether or not you leave a ghost when you suffer a non-Just or non-Heroic death.

That the meteors and Ectobiology labs are working as normal seems to throw a wrench at our previous "Quartz supersedes Time and replaces it" theory. The game DOES have back-ups in case the meteor plan doesn't work, so "it brute-forces the meteors to time travel when the Reckoning happens because that's an essential step of the game" isn't an answer. Or at least, it seems somewhat hackneyed.

I don't think [Elegist] is an "I win" button, per say. It gives you a roadmap for defeating an enemy, but knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two different things (I say as I smooch my bulging biceps while wearing a shirt reading "SAGE EXCEPTION"). It's like how you can read guides for how to get top scores on Punch-Out!!, but the input, timing, and RNG makes it difficult. I would advise not using it on tougher enemies... Alone. If you can get someone to run a distraction (or otherwise protect you), it could make for a really good tactic. The defending player learns how to protect against its attacks, you learn the perfect offense, and then you put it into action. Unite, synchronize.

Those other abilities seem more immediately useful though, yeah. One ability that might be looking into, either "try freestyling" or "potential in-game ability?", is forcing an enemy to repeat the last action they performed. It'd be really predictable, which would help one learn how to avoid or counter an attack, not to mention the potential of "making an enemy with an explosive attack keep exploding and causing collateral damage". That's the first ability I'd think of when it comes to Quartz.

I'm glad to hear the progress report. Keep your wits about you, seize all tomorrows, and report back with any breakthroughs.

[whogivesafughck]

My entire life has always felt somewhat re-lived.

Though every now and then I am immensely overwhelmed by a sudden entity, a miraculous, beautiful being. And it didn't take long to realize that nothing is permanent, people come, and they go, much like the tides kissing the shoreline repeatedly. Or the sun creating the early morning dew, the moon nonchalantly being disguised upon the sky throughout some days. I'm well aware of what I am, the traits I possess. How I've always been a natural magnet upon countless strangers. It didn't take long to mentally scoff, sigh, roll my eyes and weep after being told "I'll always be here for you, I promise", because that is all people ever fucking do (leave). And that's okay, such is my stupid beautiful life. I am a collection of a vast variety of people who at a point were overly fond of me, then one day, after many, just cast me aside. Like a stupid toy in Toy Story. The thing is, despite how much I allow people to use and take advantage of me - I'm not a fucking toy. I am an overly emotional, complex, dark, wonderful, lost, hurt, isolated soul. I've shut myself away, ever since I was 4 years old. Growing up all I yearned for was to meet someone Vaugely similar to me yet at the same time it'd desecrate my heart, knowing they felt the ways I have and do. Every fucking day I do things I don't want to, via work - favors for other people - fucking merely existing sometimes. More so as of late. And I do not discuss those wretched disgusting thoughts with Anyone., Because I learned about a decade ago that it's easily dismissed - shunned - misunderstood. That is the epitome of my life. And it just fuxking Hurts. I opened up to a girl I hardly even know about a week ago and ended up with saying that - It fucking hurts - I hurt myself every gods damn day. I am Constantly torn between what I want and what I cannot have - due to my own actions and or lack of. The thoughts of just..perishing have been overwhelming lately and I fucking HATE it because I declared Many moons ago that that isn't even a fucking option - so why do I still have those thoughts. The only reason I didn't long ago was to prevent heartbreak / pain unto my loved ones and friends. Yet again, placing others before myself. I'm stuck at a cross roads. I know what I have to do in order to achieve what I crave, desire. It just isn't the same anymore. I'm not even sure I deserve such a life anymore, despite it being all I've ever yearned for. I stupidly find myself wishing I were anyone but myself. Which really sucks because..well I'm a beautiful person, or so I tend to think & constantly be told. Obviously not. Nobody fuxking knows the depths of the darkness that dwells and resides within me, and that itself breaks my fucking heart. Am I just a facade. A mask worn daily? I cannot stop imaging simply piercing a bullet through my heart so I may finally, eternally as well as peacefully sleep. The agony that would briefly spring unto those I care immensely for, sigh, just isn't acceptable. I am drowning in despair, while looking up at myself basking in the light - reaching out unto myself. I absolutely fuxking hate resorting to using this app, but my gods, it's much faster than physically writing., and I almost always delete it shortly after. plus, no one reads it anyway which is a bonus. I Love but Hate being me, I just wish to achieve the better versions of this essence, despite the consistent general heartbreak.

[tinypurpleparrot]

My partner Kaidan (M, 29) and I (F, 36) just took down a dragon. It was threatening to tear up a village and kill everyone it, and had already torn up a group of bandits well outside the village, so okay, that wasn't much of a loss, but the way it completely desecrated the bodies and left body parts all over was uncalled for. It was invisible, and taunting Kaidan who's already having a hard time with an identity crisis, and I'd finally fucking had enough when it put it's big, invisible, smug maw over the blacksmith's daughter walking out of her house while waggling it's eye...ridges? brows? at me. Fuck it.

So I pulled the river up and pinned the dragon to the ground like a giant butterfly with ice pylons. The village is fine, it's just soggy and the watermill is busted. Whatever. Is anyone injured? No.

But it wouldn't stop talking. So I cut it's tongue out. Besides, dragons use vocal magic, so it would have escaped if I hadn't. And it was still insistent on being a fucking dick. All the other dragons I killed weren't nearly this assholish, plus someone stole and destroyed all my notes and journals about draconic biology. Two dragons with one spear.

Look, I know what I'm doing; I even checked to make sure everyone was still safe and in hiding before I cut it open. Of course it's going to start screaming, who the fuck just has gallons of anesthesia with them? Kaidan tells me to cut it out (*snort*) and just kill it and stop being weird. I tell him to fuck off because this is my job. Plus, he already gutted it so it's going to die soon, anyway. And now the village watch is yelling at me and meeeh meeh meh, there's blood everywhere and the screaming is awful and yeah okay I'd very much like to see you try to arrest me after I just fucked this thing up.

Am I really the asshole here? Did I not just save an entire village? Am I forcing anyone to watch me do important work? No? Well okay, then.

if you're trying to get into the head of your story's antagonist, try writing an "Am I the Asshole" reddit post from their perspective, explaining their problems and their plans for solving them. Let the voice and logic come through.

[yumester]

OC rambling under the cut because I am having a moment

So I have an OC, let's say his name is Kasper; short for Kas. Kas is like going through the worst Tuesday of his life. In actuality, its been six years in the making and the world is ending—typical alien takeover, post apocalyptic/brutal dystopia Armageddon (some part Half Life and interlining Heavenly Delusion, mixed with Fallout NV in a drug laced worldbuilding cocktail). A bunch of stuff happens to him yada yada (i.e. mind taken over, body modified against his will, nightmares/hallucinations on a constant bases, loses every ounce of his previous life; family, friends, future desires, etc.). And, suffice to say, Kasper was about to live the rest of his life as a unyielding drone to some entity beyond his understanding.

That is until he meets professor Lise Blackwood while patrolling. Lise is another character of mine, originally a RP self-insert style scientist but unlike Kasper, I actually did a few stuff with her here and there.

Anyway, Lise and Kasper have history together, Lise was a tutor for Kasper in her college years—forming a close relationship of sorts. They reunite; Kasper technically chasing after her into a desecrated building while she fails to hide from him, only to be reassured when he does something that sparks recognition that its him. Funny thing is though, Kasper can't talk. Couldn't for years from the modifications (he's like one of the Combine Soldiers in that regard, junk rammed through his throat and body absolutely wiped clean). There is one thing Kasper keenly knows what to do for this. It's sign language.

Back in school, one of the things Lise taught Kasper was sign language. To be honest, Kas thought nothing of it at the time. He was technically forced to learn it. But he liked Lise's odd teaching so it kind of worked out.

Anyway, Lise takes in Kasper. Not necessarily like some dumb adoption or other found family nonsense. Kas is like in his late twenties, was literally in college when shit hit the fan, while Lise is in her late thirties/early forties. Taking in Kas is a process in and of itself. For one, she's literally commandeering the enemy, Kas technically is still viewed as a tool for the outsiders. Two, she has no idea if its actually Kas because he's tailored head to toe with padded armor and no voice to speak but she just hopes in a way it truly is him. Three, she has to talk to the current group she's with about it; technically just her, her old buddy from work, some robot she found in a parking lot, and lab rat of sort. A small group nonetheless. Last task isn't hard to do but the walking tin can of a robot despises her for it. Though, to be honest, he's always hated her (if I go into details about their dynamic this would be like 1k words later but lets just say they were siblings in a previous life <3).

Okay with that out of the way, I wanna say this; imagine feeling so out of place in a world you hardly recognize. What do you do?

To Lise, it's simple. Learn everything you can and adapt.

To Kasper, it's a hard and yet, to him it should feel easy. He wishes it was. He wants attainment. Whatever that might be, he doesn't know. For now he just kinda wanders the line of being there and not being there. Lise is like an anchor to him, a sad anchor but a good one nonetheless.

Thinking back to that post I reblogged talking about certain dynamics. Lise and Kas are like "I'd destroy the world to protect you" but in like a child, grown in harsh, cold environment trying to protect its mother type beat. Whereas Lise is like "I hate everyone but I love you more than anything" core. She literally does not care for people or things or anything, she is very cold at times not even gonna lie. Kas is like one of the, if not, only people she treats in high regard and yet, Kas would probably destroy any ounce of himself for her.

Funnily enough, both have the mindset of "I hate everyone in this room except you" but in like very different fonts.

TLDR; Boy who loses everything finds comfort in someone he lost and can and will absolutely do anything for them even if that means losing himself even more, even if that means betraying his former teacher.

[azureeyenews]

Thanksgiving: Chapter 13

(TUMBLR EDITION EDITOR'S NOTE: I belatedly discovered that Tumblr does not maintain line breaks between the websites. I apologize for any previous difficulties making sense of what was going on that this caused. I will correct for it going forward, but I'm not going back and re-doing every single post so far.)

Kathy always wanted to be special. Which is weird, because your family basically owns the local county, and between politics and money she was already a local celebrity just by being born. For some people that's not enough. It's never enough.

You knock on her door, and are shortly invited in.

"It's so nice to see you again!" She exclaims, "I swear, it's like you vanished into some alternate dimension after you got banished from university. I didn't even know they COULD banish someone, I thought it was only expulsion."

"In my defense," you shrug, sheepishly, "I had no way of knowing that priest was a papal legate when I-"

"Oof," she winces, "yeah, the inquisition was pretty lenient, all things considered. Anyway, what brought you home after all these years?"

"Dad's invitation."

"What?" She raises an eyebrow, "That's... he WANTED you back? Are you sure you're talking about dear ol' Dad? The man who blames you for the death of his oldest and still mourned son? Who watched you drown his ex-boyfriend?" You show her the note. "Well I'll be damned! Or you."

"Yeah, I suspect it's the latter," you admit, "I'm pretty sure I'm getting offered up to the spook on Thanksgiving."

"Oh, did you finally find out about that? Took you long enough. I had a bet with Bronwyn you wouldn't before you got possessed. I suppose I lose."

"I don't suppose," you ask, "you'd know any way to NOT get my soul ripped out of my body and hurled head-long into eternity?"

"Again, oof," And again, she winces, "Sorry, but as far as I know the rules are A) be alive, and B) be the oldest living descendant. Which means you."

"Well, what if I just leave?" You... actually don't know why this hadn't occurred to you, before now.

"I have, darling, absolutely no idea. By all means, go! I love you, truly, but I'd be okay with you never coming back if you were safe.-

"-But that said, if you need help? I am not the one to ask. I am, as dear daddy describes it, a 'useless socialite' who's only kept around because I can manage some of the smaller businesses while the real boss is busy. You want eldritch knowledge? Ask someone else."

You wish your sister a goodnight, and then go down to do something you should have done as soon as your mom's grave was desecrated- you leave. Or you try to, anyway, at which point you discover that leaving the front gate puts you in the forest in the back, by the graveyard.

A bit of experimentation later & you map out that you are quite trapped on the grounds. You have been very thoroughly cursed. Swearing at yourself, you run through everything that's happened, trying to work out who cursed you and when. You saw Father... huh. When DID you see Dad?

You remember that he was angry. Furious. That he's dying of consumption. You remember him being there. But... but you haven't actually SEEN him, have you? What the hell? Has he been holed up in his room this whole time? Then how did you talk with him? You KNOW you did.

You mentally add a note to look into that later, and decide to go back inside. It's getting cold out, and there's other siblings left to talk to. You decide to go see:

[ilovewhiteroses]

Workplace Affair Part 3.

Pairing: The Corinthian x Female Librarian of The Dreaming Reader Genre: Fluff, smut Warnings: Smut (sex in a human’s dream), knife play in an erotic way Rating: 18+ Notes: - The Agents, my OCs, previously appeared in ’Think Twice Before You Create Us’, where they were straight up evil, but I rebooted them and in this fanfic, they are two law- abiding dreams, who follow Morpheus’s orders

Your sensual encounter with Corinthian had its consequences, although it cannot separate you from each other either...

 Morpheus managed to care of things quickly in the Waking World, so he could return to his palace in the Dreaming sooner. He had just set foot in the throne room when he heard groans. He went closer to the source of the sounds and saw you riding Corinthian on the throne and then continued having sex on the floor. Morpheus seethed inwardly with rage. He had seen many things in his long life, but never like this. It's not enough that you broke the rule that a dream can only mate with a dream, while a nightmare can only mate with a nightmare and even these only with his permission, but you also desecrated his sacred place, where he used to make important decisions... He must replace the throne, he thought to himself. On the one hand, he didn't want to leave Merv with the task of cleaning up the traces of your intercourse, and on the other hand, the throne was very old, so a new one would have been needed anyway. But even then, he couldn’t believe that you two, especially you, were capable of such a thing. He won't leave it at that, he will talk to you...

 A few days later, your mind was still on your last meeting with Corinthian. Even now you felt the initial fear when you asked him about his eyes, and the pain in your heart when you found out why he did all the things he did... You saw his sexy body in front of you, you felt his touches on different parts of your body ... In your human life, you would never have dared to have sex at your place of work, no man would ever have been able to persuade you. But Corinthian was different, literally. You read his book out of curiosity, because even though you knew him intimately, you felt that there was more to learn about him.

You finally met Lucien and Merv, who had been very busy lately and only now got around to talk to you. You asked what they managed to do with regard to the construction of the palace. Allegedly, the library will be expanded and a few broken windows will be replaced, among other things.

 "I’m sorry we didn't take you with us, but someone had to stay here in the library. Next time, when the architects call, you can go, I'll stay." Lucienne said with a smile

"Oh, it's okay, I wasn't bored, I kept myself busy." you answered with a shrug, meanwhile lush images of the sexy time in the throne room appeared before your eyes. You have no idea how much fun I had, you thought to yourself.

Suddenly Matthew appeared and said:

"Hi everyone! Y/N, Morpheus is calling you, he wants to talk to you about something.”

Merv and Lucienne stared at you. As soon as the raven said that, you felt as if you were standing on a cliff and someone pushed you into the depths. Nervousness and panic gripped you inside. No, it's impossible that he might have seen us, because he would have let us know that he was back...

"Okay, I'm going." you said and hoped the others didn't hear the tremor in your voice. "You're not coming?" you asked Matthew.

"No, because he emphatically stated that only YOU should go." he said, you gulped.

"Okay, I'll be back soon." you told them and walked to the throne room with trembling legs, as you heard Merv asking the others why the Lord called you to him.

 You entered the huge room, but this time you had completely different feelings than last time. You've seen Corinthian and Morpheus from afar. The nightmare was in his usual elegant, cream coloured outfit with his hands behind his back, Morpheus stood on the stairs and looked at you with narrowed eyes, as if he wanted to strangle you. Oh, shit…

You stood next to Corinthian, he smiled at you and said a quiet ‘hello’ to you. You said hello back, but you didn't dare to smile, you were too nervous for that. You also put your hands behind your back, making the three of you look like you and him were two students who pulled a prank and were waiting to be scolded by the principal. Morpheus stood silently and stared at you, and you, in your agony, were already waiting for him to get over with it. Better to relieve the tension, you asked Morpheus with a forced smile on your face:

"May I ask you, My Lord, did you manage to arrange everything in the Waking World?" Morpheus didn't answer, he just continued to stare at you in silence.

Corinthian leaned in close to you and whispered,

"I asked him too, but he didn't answer me either."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Morpheus finally spoke:

"May I ask what you did while I was away?"

You were about to open your mouth to answer the question, but Corinthian cut you off.

"Lord Morpheus, we were doing our usual tasks. I was in the library and Y/N helped me find the book of the man whose nightmare I appeared in next.” he told this lie with such confidence that even you believed it.

“Is this true, Y/N?” Morpheus asked looking at you and you nodded.

"Hmm, interesting… I remember differently." As soon as he said that, you knew you were done. You gulped and tried to keep yourself together.

"What do you mean by that, Morpheus?" Corinthian asked almost offended.

"As soon as I returned home from the Waking World and entered the throne room, I heard voices. In fact, not simple voices, but moans." You felt your face start to burn, you already knew what he was going to say.

"Lustful, loud moans. I came closer and saw you fornicating on my throne.” You were about to faint at this point, the thought of Morpheus seeing you freaked you out. You looked at Corinthian to see his reaction, but unlike you, he remained relaxed, even smiling proudly to himself. Morpheus continued:

"It's not enough that you broke the rules and had a secret affair, but on top of that right here, in my holy place! What excuses can you come up with?”

Neither you nor the nightmare knew what to say. It would have been pointless, because Morpheus wouldn't have listened anyway.

"I knew it. Corinthian, to be honest, I'm not surprised by you, but you, Y/N, I thought you were smarter than to put yourself in a situation like that.” You didn't dare to look Morpheus in the eyes, but Corinthian carefully reached for your arm, indicating that nothing would be wrong, don't worry. Morpheus saw that you regretted your actions and softened a bit. He took a deep breath and thought about your punishment.

“I must note that what you did is not the worst thing that has ever happened in the palace, it is rather unpleasant. But so that this doesn't happen again, I'm warning you: from now on, there can only be a work relationship between you, nothing more. If I hear of any more misbehaviour of yours, Corinthian, you can never set foot in the library again, I will tell you whose nightmare you must be in, and you, Y/N, I will set the Agents on you, who will watch every step of yours. Did I make myself clear?” he asked with a stern look and you and Corinthian nodded. The thought of possibly never seeing him again made your stomach churn. Morpheus asked you to return to work, he has to deal with other palace matters. On your way out of the room, Corinthian whispered to you:

"Don't worry, we'll figure out something." you looked at him and saw his lovely smile. I hope so, you thought to yourself…

 When you returned, Lucienne was alone with a magnifying glass in her hand, reading a small print in a book. She looked at you and asked:

"Is everything alright? Why did Morpheus call you?”

You had to come up with something fast. "Nothing out of the ordinary, he just told me a few names whose book I should look for and that he needs to take care of the matters of the palace." You tried to look her in the eye as you said this because you knew that the hallmark of a liar is looking away and you didn't want Lucienne to get suspicious. She pouted her lips and shrugged.

"Alright then. Let me know if you need help searching.”

"Thanks, but it's not necessary, I'll handle it." you said. Until then, at least I'll have time to think over a few things…

After that, you didn't see Corinthian for days, or if you did, he only dropped by for a few books, and you pretended to be co-workers. He looked at you and even though you couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses, you knew that with them he would say 'I'm sorry' and 'I miss you'. You missed him too: his closeness, his crude humour, his kiss...When no one saw you, you thought of him longingly.

You saw Lucienne marveling at how well you behaved around the nightmare.

"What? Didn't you tell me to watch out for him because he could cause trouble?" you asked her surprised

"Well, yes, and you're doing right. Good girl!" Lucienne answered you. Oh, but if you only knew about the insanely sexy moments I've had with him...

 Another few days later, Merv told you that the Agents would soon come to check on you. Fuck! You almost had a heart attack at the news, you thought Morpheus had told them what he saw and maybe asked them to question you about your relationship with Corinthian. Although the main task of the Agents was to find meaning in human's dreams, their duties also included checking on the palace employees from time to time and reporting the situation to Morpheus.

You, Lucienne, and Merv stood there while Agent 1 and Agent 2 went through the documents and your notes. It was the second occasion in a short time you were this nervous, you thought a librarian job in the Dreaming would be less stressful. The Agents questioned you, but it was only about work things, luckily there were no issues concerning your private life.

Corinthian came again for another book and asked you to help him find it. Lately, Lucienne also went with you, but now she had something else to do, so after a long time you could finally be together again. You could talk to Corinthian in another hidden part of the library. He told you that the Agents counted all the Dreaming residents for the census, including him and asked him about this and that, but thank goodness they didn't ask him about you, so Morpheus really didn't tell anyone, only he knows about your little adventure. Of course, deep down you were afraid that you would get caught again, because then you really wouldn't see each other anymore. You agreed that when there is no one else in the library, he will come for you and you go into a human's dream, someone whose nightmare he has been in once.

 Night has come in the Waking World, the human went to sleep and dreamed of a beautiful forest. It was evening and you arrived at a big tree in the forest. You remembered that Corinthian once mentioned this 'human dreams of a forest' thing.

"Whose dream are we in?" you asked him while enjoying the beauty of the forest.

”His name is Joel Mayfield. He had a couple of burglaries a long time ago, for which he was arrested. I appeared in his nightmare to warn him that it will not end well if he commits another crime. It seems that I managed to influence him and now he dreams of less dangerous, more peaceful things" He said and took your hand. "Come, let's find a place where he can't see us." You went further and came to a slightly hilly part. You stopped and then looked at Corinthian and asked:

"What if the Agents show up?"

"I don't think they'll show up, but if they do, I've set a trap for them." Since it was a dream and anything could happen, he actually set up traps so that wherever the Agents stepped, the ground would swallow them up. You liked the idea and were glad that he was so forward thinking. You calmed down, you knew you were safe. You kissed each other and you wished there was a bed there so you could finally make love comfortably. A large, comfortable-looking king size bed appeared. To make it even more cozy, you set candles around it. You knew this from your human life, that there is nothing more romantic than candlelight.

You both started undressing. You took off your top and bra, then you sat on the end of the bed. Corinthian also took off his jacket and shirt, then he took off your skirt, leaving only your panties on. You slowly climbed onto the bed, he took off his trousers and underpants, then knelt on the bed and started to climb towards you. He stopped at your ankles, then carefully began to caress your legs and thighs while looking deep into your eyes. Your heart was beating fast. The candle flames reflected on the dark lenses of his sunglasses, a metaphor for his fiery desires. His hands reached your panties, which he began to pull off you, you raised your bottom slightly so he could take them off you more easily. He didn't take his eyes off of you for a second as he slowly pulled the garment off you, taking deep breaths. By the time you were completely naked, he tossed your panties aside and licked his lips. You pulled him close and you kissed passionately. He wanted you so much, he wanted to taste every inch of you. He knew your body, knew where and what you liked. You closed your eyes to feel his touches even more intensely. He started at your neck: first kissing it, then carefully biting it. He went lower, gently and carefully biting the mound of your breasts, teasing your nipples with the tip of his tongue. He continued to kiss you, moving towards your belly and then your pubic mound. He then kissed the inside of your thighs, close to your pussy. You moaned longingly, letting him know that you wanted him to kiss you there too. He took this as encouragement and licked you. When he heard you murmur a low ‘Oh my God’, he continued and ran his tongue around your folds and then your clit. As a result, you started to squeeze the two sides of the pillow and turned your head back and forth, you enjoyed it so much, it was so good. You felt like you were in heaven and lying on a soft cloud. After Corinthian brought you to your orgasm, he moved back to kiss you and said,

"I'd like to try something with you, if you're in."

"What would it be?" you asked quietly and inquisitively as he flipped you over so now you were on top.

"I would like you to run my knife all over my body, and then yours!" he said as you sat up. You were surprised by the request. You have never been asked to do something like this before. "But only if you want to." Corinthian looked at you worriedly, he was afraid that he might cross a line. You bit your lip and thought about it for a moment, then said:

"I want to, but I'm telling you in advance, I won't cut you with it." you caressed his chest as you said this and the knife was already in his hand. You took the sharp tool in your hand and carefully touched the tip to his neck, then slowly stroked it along his naked upper body. He moaned and whimpered softly, enjoying that you made small scratches on his skin, You began to carefully scratch your name into the skin above his belly, but you made sure not to cause him pain, while you looked at him and flashed a sexy smile.

"You like it?" you asked confidently.

"Oh yes, very much." he replied and in the meantime he grabbed your breast with one hand and started kneading it gently, which made you even more aroused. You took the knife from his skin and now put it to your own neck and started to drag it along yourself, Corinthian's hand moved back to your hip. The tip of the knife touched your breasts and stomach, and then, guided by a sudden idea, you turned the knife in your hand and carefully touched the handle to your clit, where you began to slowly caress yourself with it.

"Oh my god, that’s so hot!" Corinthian moaned in his deep voice, you could tell he was going to like that. You stroked yourself a little more, then asked:

"What do you want me to do?" you raised your eyebrows sexily.

"I want you to ride me! I want you so bad!” You giggled and teased him a little more before he took the knife from your hand and threw it away. He grabbed your hips and lifted you up so you could gently place him inside you. When you felt that he was in, you leaned forward, grabbed the headboard with one hand, placed the other on his chest and he started moving under you, moving his cock in and out of your wet pussy. You loved how he fucked you like that, but you also wanted to control. You sat up in a riding position, you grabbed his wrists and pinned him to the bed, you fucked him, wildly moving your hips.

“Fuck Y/N, don’t stop! I'm yours, use me!” he encouraged you heatedly, you loved that you could drive him crazy. You let go of his wrists, then he sat up, put his arm around you and you continued like that, which made your lovemaking even more intimate.

It may have all happened in a human's dream, but it was very real to you. Romantic and passionate. By now, your opinion of Corinthian has changed. You read his book, and it is true that there is no forgiveness for what he committed in the Waking World, but at the same time you understood him, because he only did what he was created to do. No one told him what was allowed and what was not allowed in the world of humans. Until then, people were afraid of him, but he also longed for their recognition, and even though Corinthian knew that he was only a physical manifestation, he enjoyed being able to fit in.

As much as you didn't like him at first, lately you've started to feel something more than just a crush on him. He told you ‘I'm yours’. Did he just say this in the heat of the moment or did he also have tender feelings for you? You hoped it was the latter.

He grabbed you and flipped you over but was careful not to slip out of you and now you were under him. You looked at the sky as you put your arms around him and this time you really made love under the open sky, in the light of the stars, the moon and the candles, so passionately that you have never experienced anything like this before...

After you both calmed down from orgasms, Corinthian pulled up the covers and snuggled up to you. He put his arms around you like you were the little spoon. He kissed your cheek and then whispered gently in your ear:

"See you in the next dream!"

  Tags: @thecorilove86​, @placeinthemiddleofnowhere, @kittycat-kai,  @e-dubbc11, @onehundredyearsofyearning, @yellowwithalisp, @icytrickster17, @lazy-queen26,  @jessamydreams, @amidalasruby, @drowningnikki, @destiny-rahl, @atomwritez, @treasures-of-the-alleyway, @dayleis, @idealai, @belladiaz, @foodlover123456789, @violentviolet88, @merryandrewsworld  @strudelbug07, @ionlyjoinedforboydholbrook​​

[zealous-whispers-of-us-redux]

homecoming

(A/N: I tweaked an old, unposted [on this blog] fic of mine for @multi-stann and her 1k writing event. I picked the smut prompt: "Love the taste of you, but I need more.”) :)

Warning: demon sex and desecration in/of a church. Please don't read if that offends you!!

SMUT AHEAD

Intoxicating dreams. The feeling of her mouth around his cock. His teeth sinking into her plush bottom lip. Heat racketing up his spine until all he knew was her. Wrapping a hand around her neck and feeding on her pleasure as he fucked her. Taking anything and everything she would offer him. He missed her. He missed her.

He...

Bucky jolted awake in the confession booth. Sweat dripped down his face, and he could still feel the flames of Hell licking his skin. He was hard in his slacks. Crossing himself absently, Bucky muttered a few prayers under his breath because this was happening again. He knew what it all meant. He has been away for centuries, but his past was finally catching up to him. The more vivid the dreams, the closer she was to finding Bucky. And the closer she was to finding Bucky, the more his true nature rose within him as his body fought against the angels' invisible chains. Bucky was hungrier than he had been in a long time, but the runes on his skin made him unable to leave the church, let alone go out and feed.

He checked his watch, and as he expected, it read 3:17 a.m. Bucky's heart thumped excitedly in his chest. He knew that she knew where he was. Finally, she had found him, and she would rescue him from this hell. He opened the door to the confessional just as she blew into the church, stalking nearer and nearer until Bucky could take her in for the first time in years. She looked just as beautiful as he remembered- wild and passionate with eyes that glowed from within. With each step she took, the floor cracked underneath her feet. Crucifixes clattered to the ground, and the stained-glass window shattered, raining colored glass down onto both of them. The statue of the Virgin Mary cried, and she grinned.

"There you are," she said, and Bucky could not take his eyes off of her.

"You found me," he croaked in the language he never forgot, no matter how many beatings he took.

"You’ve been calling out to me for ages, but your jailers kept you well-hidden. Even my father couldn't see you."

"They summoned me," said Bucky bitterly. "They summoned me, an' they stole me as a barginin' chip."

"If they think they can stop this, they're wrong. It is only the beginning. My father has gathered his troops. I asked him to wait until I found you. Lord Belial wasn't happy with me, but I came for you anyway. "

Bucky squirmed at the innuendo, his gaze dropping to her mouth. His stomach rumbled, and she must have heard it because she smiled. He reached out for her, and she threw herself into his arms. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, breathing her in.

“You do remember me, don't you?” she asked, sounding vulnerable in a way he would never expect.

“How could I ever forget my baby?" Bucky asked.

"How come you haven't left this church if you remember me?"

"The runes." He gestured to the symbols carved into his skin. "I can't leave."

"You can leave if the angels who created the runes are dead."

"What did you do?"

"They gambled away their vessels, and I burnt them to a crisp," she said, baring her teeth. "It was a fitting punishment, Father said. If they thought they could take away what is mine, they were wrong if they thought they could hurt you without retribution. They deserve worse than what I gave them."

"You-"

"You're free, Bucky," she said firmly, placing her hands against his cheeks. "What will you do now?"

Bucky kissed her, and it was like slipping a key into a lock. He had forgotten almost everything about his old life, except for her, but she saved him and was now giving everything back. He vividly remembered Hell again, remembered how it was not as dreadful as the angels brainwashed him into believing it was. It was his home. It was hellhounds and halls of crystals glittering in the low lamplight. It was decadent food that demons didn't need but ate anyway. It was her naked in his bed, waiting for him to return from corrupting souls on Earth. It was sex all the time, whenever Bucky wanted. She was as insatiable as he was.

“Welcome back,” she said.

“It's been so long,” Bucky replied, pawing at her greedily. “I need ya right the fuck now. I'm starvin.'”

“Remember when we fucked in that church in Romania? Right under the statue of their precious Mary?” she asked.

“Hell, I’ve missed you."

As they kissed again, Bucky felt her heating up under his hands until tendrils of flame erupted from her skin. She pulled back, and Bucky saw her eyes alight with hellfire. He gathered her closer with a groan, knowing he would never get burned. She kissed him again, clawing at his hair as she swung herself into his lap. The confession booth swayed dangerously, but both ignored it. Bucky sunk his teeth in her bottom lip, and she snarled, scraping her nails over his scalp in retaliation. They pulled apart to blink at one another, then she dove to take off Bucky's shirt. Her fingers burned his skin so good, leaving red streaks that would fade quickly. Bucky could feel it crawling under his skin again, the hunger for sex that he hadn’t felt in ages. He wanted; he wanted to feed off of her pleasure and make her scream.

“I see those pretty black eyes,” she said, drawing Bucky’s gaze from her bare chest. “I knew they wouldn’t succeed.”

“Missed you,” Bucky growled, sucking her jaw so fiercely that he drew blood, “Take yer panties off for me.”

“Ask me nicely.”

She dug her nails into his pecs- a warning. Bucky rolled his eyes as he carried her out of the confessional and into a booth.

“Please take off yer panties. Sweetheart,” he said.

“Okay, darling, whatever you say," she replied.

“Disgusting. Don't ever call me that again. An' take your fuckin' panties off, huh?"

“You're such a dick."

"Hey, leave me alone! It's been two hundred years."

She shoved Bucky’s shoulder, trying to push him off of her enough so that she could wiggle out of her bottoms. Bucky ignored her unspoken command. He grabbed her wrists and slammed her arms over her head.

“Keep ‘em there," he said.

“How am I expected to take my underwear off? Think things through, will you?” she said.

“Yer bein’ unusually bratty today.” Bucky wrapped his lips around one of her nipples. “Ain’t had anyone put you in yer place for a while, I guess.”

“Oh, please. My father is one of the seven kings of Hell. If anything, you should submit to me. I remember how much you liked it when I made you beg at my feet like a hound."

“It's been decades since I’ve had ya underneath me. Now that I have ya, I ain’t just gonna give that up so willingly. Stop bein’ a brat."

“For Baal's sake, just do something instead of talking about it."

“No swearin’, we’re in church,” Bucky said. “An’ keep yer arms above yer head. No touchin.’”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“An’ shut that mouth a’ yours too. You don’t want me to gag ya, do you?”

"Who the fuck has been going around and telling lies saying I wouldn't like that?" she asked with a smile.

Bucky softened. He knew he was probably looking at her like a dumbass, but she was so beautiful and here for the first time in a long time. Bucky wouldn't want his first feeding session in centuries to be with anyone else. If a beast like him could love, he was sure he would love her.

"Missed you," Bucky said softly, tucking his thumbs in the waistband of her panties and stuffing them in her mouth. "So much."

"Missed you too," she mumbled.

"Did you make 'em suffer?"

"You know I did. They hurt you."

She said everything he needed to know in just seven words. His hunger overwhelmed him, and Bucky blacked out until all he could see was her. Flames tickled him as Bucky leaned down to kiss a fiery trail down her stomach. She growled at him in an ancient tongue, and the foundations of the church shook at her words. The statue of Mary cracked in two the louder her words got, but Bucky ignored it, not content on just eating her out- he wanted her screaming. But she was a hard one to please. Bucky could rarely get her to scream when he ate her out, no matter the amount of coaxing he tried.

"Love the taste of you, but I need more," he said, his tongue flicking over her clit. "We still gotta topple that statue."

"Come up here and fuck me. It's been so long."

Bucky left the plush comfort of her thighs and made his way up her body, pressing kisses along the way.

"I know it has, babe," he said, kissing her forehead in a display of comfort that they were both unaccustomed to. "But I’m here now, an’ nothin’ can pull me away from ya again, you hear me?”

"I'll kill anyone who tries," she said.

Bucky grinned sharply. "That's my girl."

"Not yours," she countered.

"No?"

He reached down and drew her legs up around his waist. She locked her ankles together, holding him there so tight he could not move, not even to get inside her. He growled, trying to break free.

"I'm not yours," she repeated.

"If you fuckin' think for one second you ain't mine, you're wrong."

"I'm a fucking demon. No one owns me."

"Never said 'owns.' I said mine. Now, you gonna lemme fuck you or not?"

"No. How is it different?"

Bucky groaned, dropping his head onto her chest. He pressed a few kisses at her breast, bit her nipple.

"C'mon, gimme a break. I'm starvin.'"

"No, not until you tell me."

"Fuck's sake. You're mine, an' I'm yours, okay? An' I don't wanna feed on anyone else, ever again. You're enough for me."

"Okay."

"You don't have to reciprocate."

"I put a war on hold, and I killed three angels to find you," she said flatly.

"Yeah," Bucky said, his vessel's heart fluttering. "You did."

She loosened her grip on Bucky, allowing him to slip inside her for the first time. His body shuddered in delight at feeling her again. He could taste her pleasure in the air, and his tongue flicked out to gather it from her lips as they kissed. Bucky knew he wasn't going to last long, but he would be (more) damned if he finished before she did.

"Come on, move," she said, her nails pricking his back.

The pace Bucky chose was brutal, and she moaned, arching her back. He remembered now the way she’d never utter more than a moan. No matter the amount of coaxing, Bucky could never make her scream. She had passed out from him fucking and feeding on her a few times, but even then, all he managed to get were a few calls of his name. It kept him desperate to please her even though she was the one feeding him.

"Go faster," she sighed, her head tipped back enough so that Bucky could get at her neck with his teeth.

"I gotcha, babe. Wan' my hand?"

"Yes, please."

Naturally, Bucky obliged. He wrapped one of his big hands around her neck, squeezing gently and then harder. Her mouth fell open against his as he fucked her, and they stayed like that, panting into each other's mouths. And Bucky wanted so much for someone to burst in and see them like this, see him fucking her into the ground and feeding off her desire.

He pulled out of her when he got an idea. She speared him with a glare, but he calmed her down, urging her to get to her hands and knees. Bucky smacked her ass, and she muffled a cry into her forearms. The flames on her skin burned hotter and hotter the more Bucky spanked her until sweat was pouring down his chest. He gathered her hair up in his hand and dragged her up from the floor, curling a possessive hand around her throat. Flames licked his skin wherever her body was pressed to his. Bucky could feel it rising within her, and he gasped at the taste of it after so long without. It was the best drug in the world.

"C'mon, rub your clit for me, and scream when you come. You know it makes it taste better," he demanded.

"Make it worth my while, and I will."

"You wan' it? I'll give it to you," Bucky said, squeezing her neck until she was gasping. "Now, come for me. Gimme it."

It only took a couple more sweeps of her fingers over her clit and a quick kiss from Bucky for her to come. He kissed her to muffle her screams, drinking her down, thirsty for everything she could give him. He continued fucking her through her orgasm, his eager pants ringing around the church.

"Again, again, gimme one more. So hungry, babe, you taste so good," Bucky panted.

It didn't take long for her to come again, and Bucky fed on her, moaning as he felt her slipping down his throat. He licked his lips and pushed himself entirely inside her, holding still until she triggered his own orgasm.

"That's a good girl," Bucky cooed, kissing her to get the last of her orgasm.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, looking upside down at him.

He snuggled closer. "Yeah."

"Are you pulling out or what?"

"Nah, wanna stay here for a minute or two. Missed this. So happy y'found me. You saved me."

"I always will," she said, scowling.

Bucky laughed, burying his face into her hair.

"How's Hell, anyway?"

"It's good. Will you come back with me?"

"I'll go anywhere you want me to."

"We'll get those runes off your skin."

"'Kay, but later. I'm still ravenous," said Bucky.

She grinned, all sharp teeth and fire in her eyes.

"Come on, then. Let's go to a real bed."

"Lead the way," said Bucky, flipping the bird toward the Mary statue that lay shattered on the ground.

[black-n-white-wings]

I think the worst Jiang Cheng did has actually been "survive"? You know? All the others of his generation have died or wallowed in a cave and then fucked off with no obligation? And here he is, broken and angry and so alone, and yet he did fucking great!! A great uncle (when wwx was a one time wine uncle and lsz calls lwj "hanguang-jun"... So family-coded...), an astonishing sect leader, an unavoidable figure of politics in the Jianghu.

I agree there is some sort of discourse shift trying to say "yeah he sucks but I love him" maybe just because it's really tiresome to have to defend ourselves for a fictional purple martial grape, yk? I'm here to have a good time, and mainly I had a terrible ride in this fandom.

He did not kill the Wen remnants on his own, some of those Wen were cultivators, he never said "kill the child" when he saw lsz.

Killing demonic cultivators is the cultivators' JOB!!! So yeah, kill them, they're crazy evils that literally kill people and raise the dead and desecrate the dead (which is a... No-no in Chinese culture?).

He's rude but lwj is way more rude and yet people praise lwj and curse jc for it. Protagonist plot armour, I guess, but at least jc thinks about something else than wwx. (Ljy is rude, too, I love him. It's just lwj I don't).

And to go back to the main post (thank you for finding word of god) we actually never really saw him fight in the books or the series post-resurrection. When wwx attacks him in the ancestral hall, jc is still affected by minshan's spell, so not a really good baseline. Jgy KNOWS he has to cheat to win, that's how confident he is about LOSING one on one against jc. The antis are always trying to find things in the book like it's the bible and they can't even read. And it's really sad.

It's okay to like the protagonists for the romance. It's okay not to focus on some elements you're not interested into. But if you are doing exactly what mxtx is trying to critic in her book, and do it under tags we are certain to find, then you are not enjoying the book. You're enjoying antagonising people for the heck of it and pretending to be smart about it. Learn to read. Learn to think for yourself and not follow the narrative we have read a million times already. Spice it up!! Invent new theories!! JC is actually three raccoons in purple robes! They're evil your honour!!

That's getting too long again. I can't make it short and sweet I'm sorry 😭 anyway I love Jiang Cheng and he doesn't suck. He is a victim. He was doomed to survive. Love was there and it simply was not enough. He has the *grace* to let his loved ones go when he would rather have all of them with him at all times. Because he loves so much he can't force them to love him back. And he is a survivor of child abuse, torture, I suspect s.a. (but i don't want people to attack me so... Maybe another post if people want to hear my take on that?), a fucking war when he was a child! He was alone, wwx NOT WITH HIM while he was talked over by adults and pushed and manipulated, and then he had to bear the responsibility for the acts of wwx who had abandoned him! To clean after wwx! Sure wwx had good reasons and the heart in the right place, Yada yada yada, but the FACTS remain the same. And still he persisted. He endured. Anger kept him alive, kept his sect safe, kept his nephew safe and thriving. He's angry because what else does he have? What has not been taken from him?

Just saw someone claim that WWX gave JC a core that was 80 years more advanced???? And that he did nothing with it because no one was scared of him???? WTF do they mean ‘80 years more advanced’ I’ve never heard that claim spouted anywhere before. And that no one was scared of him? Aren’t a lot of anti’s main talking points that he cows everyone by being a mean, torturing, serial killer that murders everyone he so much as dislikes? They’re trying to claim he’s mediocre, but they’re way of claiming it is just so illogical and stupid.

Dude wtf I just saw the same one and thought "The hell are they on about?" XD

What part of the "If you're going to insult someone make sure it's not ever this guy" sound like "he's mediocre"? 😂

What part of "he was searching for wwx on the battlefield, while carrying his struggling sect on his shoulders" sounds like "he didn't do anything with it"?

"80 year old advanced golden core" More like 8 year old advanced reading comprehension 😂

[sleuthomatic]

Harper paces (never a good thing, he’s learned, when it comes to judging her mood or mental state), as Nick explains how tape #11 was by chance intercepted by the BADTFL, en route to the county courthouse. How it went into the evidence lockup, with the erstwhile Winter’s End task force ordered not to touch it, or even look at it. Something about federal jurisdiction, double jeopardy…

And how BPD Detective Nick Valentine listened to it anyway, on October 22, 2077.

Got the name of Jennifer’s most likely killer. Got a whole lot of details about Corrigan and his friends. Got no further than that, since he was ordered to Cambridge for that hack job of a therapy session.

And that was it. Ava Harper, attorney, never heard the message before the bombs.

And then Nick recovered the tape in their BADTFL sweep two years ago, on their renewed hunt for Eddie Winter.

And now, Ava Harper, private detective, is glaring at him, her lips pressed together tightly.

“You should have told me.” Her voice sounds like she’s chipping it out of ice. “You should have. Why didn’t you tell me.”

Nick shakes his head. “If you’re asking me to explain, or, or to own up to this stupid move that old Nick made, I can’t — “

“No. First of all, you dedicated the better part of a century to old Nick’s unfinished business, so that’s rich, coming from you. And second of all…” Harper steps right up to him, as eye to eye as she can be given her stature. “I’m not talking about a dead cop. I’m talking about you. You’ve had that tape all this time…”

“I didn’t know it was that tape until a few weeks ago.”

“You should have told me about it then.” Harper punctuates it with a clap. Her voice is now on a gradual crescendo, and his sensors are picking up on a tremor from her. “Why didn’t you tell me then?!”

Nick shifts his weight, head tilted. “And for what, Ava? If you did know that Winter could have a bead on you, in your last days before the war, what good would that do you now? It was all moot once the bombs fell. What would it change now?”

“For one thing, it would change that I found out like this!”

“And what about your memories?”

“What about them?!”

“Your memories of the old days. The way you talk about it, the way you smile and sing about it, I know those memories are precious to you. And you think I’m going to desecrate those by telling you that you were in danger?”

“You don’t think maybe the bombs already did that, Nick?!”

Nick’s response dies in his processor, and his heart metaphorically sinks, with regret, with guilt, when tears begin to glimmer in her eyes.

“You don’t think everything I’ve seen and done since then — I was happy right before the war, and now I’ve seen what my happiness cost so many people, what kind of sick evil things were happening just out the corner of my eye, you don’t think that’s already ruined my old memories?!”

Harper jabs a finger at him. “Let’s get one thing goddamn straight, Nick Valentine, because I’m never saying this again. When it’s about my own affairs, you don’t get to decide what I should and shouldn’t know. And you don’t get to decide how I feel about my past. I would never dare do that with you and the old Nick.”

“Ava, on my honor that is not what this was,” Nick protests. “I wouldn’t dare either. But you’ve told me time and time again that you want to move forward, and this just pulled you back — ”

“Okay, detective, what do you think I’m moving forward from? Huh?! What do you think this is pulling me back to?”

“I — I suppose your old goals, your old fears and loves, your…”

“Old loves?!”

“No, that’s not — ”

“Nate?! You kept this from me because of Nate?”

In this rare moment, Nick doesn’t know what to say. “I — ”

“You think I’ve ever stopped worrying about Nate? Stopped caring about him?! I loved him! He was my best friend! Everything I am now is because he loved me and backed me up, and not a day goes by that I don’t still worry about him, even after watching him die.”

There’s no more ice, no frightening calm. Harper is shouting, tearful, hand over heart.

“What would I wanna move on from that for? For you?! After you said very plainly that you don’t — ”

A creak on the stairs, and Harper stops. Both detectives turn to see Shaun, hanging back in the hall, flinching, trying not to cry.

“Momma, what’s wrong?”

The tension visibly leaves Harper’s shoulders, and she wipes her eyes. “Hey, hon…I’m sorry if we scared you. Come on, go for a walk?”

The synth boy nods, and as he follows his mother out he throws one last confused, reproachful look at Nick.

Nick slumps at his desk.

That couldn’t have gone off worse.