#Resh'an/Aephorul

[kyuohki]

resh'an/Aephorul

5, 6, 10, and 12.

5) who does more of the housework?

Aephorul, hands down. Before and during the early years of their immortality, he was constantly picking up after Resh'an's absentminded mess. He also tried to implement helpful tasks and aids to get Resh'an to keep his stuff neater; it would work for about a week or so, then it'd get messy again.

Resh'an was always willing to pitch in to help when he noticed Aephorul doing chores, but if he wasn't monitored during the task, he would get derailed fairly easily.

.

6) who forgets their anniversary?

Resh'an. He always has something big gift or something prepared for Aephorul, he just loses track of the days when working. Aephorul doesn't make a big deal of it, just a little teasing.

.

10) who usually makes dinner?

Surprisingly Resh'an, though they both try to keep it as even as possible. Resh'an's meals are more thorough (seasoned, has *lots* of recipes, etc), while Aephorul tends to throw things together just to get the chore done with.

Resh'an has a love of spicy food (as in nuclear levels), while Aephorul can only tolerate so much before tapping out. When he cooked spicy dishes, Resh'an usually had to make a more mild ver. of a dish for his love, which irritated Aephorul at first until he insisted on having the same thing and realized that it would be the death of him.

.

12) who hogs the bathroom?

Aephorul. As fancy as Resh'an is, he has getting his elaborate outfits on down to a science, and doesn't have many toiletries (has good skin/hair so needs very little). Aephorul, while his style looks simplistic, has to do a lot to make it look effortless. It gets worse when he wants to show off. All the hair/skin care, shampoo/soaps/oils, and tools to get it done. Resh'an didn't mind, bc he gets to ogle Aephorul while he primps.

[maifazcomics]

Sometimes you just gotta

[shayminsh]

[staurolith]

The Great Eagle

[chrono-art]

Wanted to post this as its own thing; based on a post by @stamway 🔮

[smaller-comfort]

It is wip Wednesday, my dudes. And I should be baking, but it is way too hot and I am currently way too inebriated, so here we are.

I doubt I'll be able to finish anything by next week for @ghostinthegallery's birthday, but here are some more teasers of the obyron/zahndrekh thing and the oltyx/yenekh thing and also a tiny fragment of Lysikor's No Good Horrible Very Bad Day.

Aaaand some SoS modern AU, because finishing gotta start somewhere has temporarily rewired my brain, and I am having far too much fun with it. Somewhat nsfw.

Scrap file bit from the snecrontyr Obyron/Zahndrekh monstrosity (it's over 7500 words send help), which still has no title. It's gonna be something extraordinarily pretentious, though- I can absolutely see myself going Shakespearean for this one.

--

“How would you serve me, dear friend?”

He couldn't look up. He couldn’t; Obyron squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead into the floor a little harder. “However would please you most, my nemesor.”

Zahndrekh sighed, and that faint noise of disappointment felt like a gauss rifle blast to the chest. “Obyron,” he said, very quietly. “Would you look at me?”

It was, perhaps, the hardest thing Zahndrekh had ever asked of him. He would have rather faced down another thousand guerilla separatists in the swamp- but he could not disobey an order. He lifted his head.

“Oh.” Zahndrekh touched his face, gently turning him so he couldn't help but meet his lord's eyes. “No, I see- I’m asking too much of you.”

The idea that he had failed- that he was not enough, that Zahndrekh could ever ask something of him that he could not give- he would rather have taken a gauss rifle to the chest.

“Forgive me, my lord.”

“No‐ no, Obyron. There is nothing to forgive. On your feet.” Zahndrekh was frowning, just the smallest crease between his eyebrows. “I shouldn't- I won't. You're a good man, and a fine soldier, and it is an honor to have you by my side. You're dismissed- go, enjoy the celebration.”

He wanted to protest- dead gods, he wanted- but he would not disobey an order.

------

I really hope no one gets tired of necron weddings in conjunction with these two idiots because I'm writing another one. Not their wedding, at least, but *a* wedding. Snecron Oltyx/Yenekh, also currently without a title.

Oltyx and Yenekh are simultaneously Jock4Goth and Himbo4Himbo, and I think that's beautiful.

--

As Oltyx watched, Mesekhet skinned an ork with quick flashes of her claws. She draped the skin over Qareh's shoulders, affixing it in place over the cresting protrusions of their spine. Qareh, in turn offered her the creature's heart; a choice delicacy, by any measure.

They tumbled to the ground together, Mesekhet's whip-scorpion knife blade of a tail wrapping around Qareh's hips.

Oltyx thought of them as flesh memories, all the things that he had no more context for. He could not remember his own face, or his brothers’ or his father's. He could not remember the taste of ice wine, or any occasions where he might have drunk it. But he did not need to remember eating to know hunger; or to remember drinking to know thirst. There were things that he knew without needing to remember.

So it was with Mesekhet and Qareh: flesh memories, their mouths and hands moving with a hunger that Oltyx knew without remembering, bodies locked together and voices rising in ecstatic harmony.

He looked away, and felt something cold and hollow echo in his flux (his heart; his blood). He should be happy that two of his kin had found a way to assuage their hunger within each other. And he was; he was happy for them. He couldn't name the feeling that left him feeling so cold.

'Took her long enough'. Yenekh stepped out of the void and draped his arms over Oltyx's shoulders from behind, dripping with fresh gore.

He replied with an interrogative.

'Mesekhet. Thought she'd make Qareh wait another fifty years.'

Yenekh's closeness banished some of that nameless cold. 'How could you tell?' He tapped the question on the back of Yenekh's hand, enjoying the way the blood-slick metal felt beneath his fingers.

Yenekh didn't answer for a long moment, and then he let go of Oltyx with a shrug. 'You just know, sometimes.'

----

Lysikor and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (working title). He's actually having a great time here. He absolutely does not at any other point in this story.

--

“Valgûl, Twice-Regicide!" Lysikor laughed. “I should take lessons from you. I've stolen ships, constructs; overthrown a fringe world or two. But you- destroyer of dynasties! The future and past of Ithakas, stolen, vandalized. I could spend an aeon learning from you.”

“What second regicide have I committed?” Oltyx was too amused to be indignant. He'd forgotten- Lysikor had always been strange, but he was at least an entertaining sort of strange.

Lysikor tapped his cracked dynastic cartouche with one gnarled finger. “Unnas’ successor, of course. Didn't you murder Oltyx when he fought the Unclean? Stabbed in the back, I hope.” He leaned forward with that strange, unnerving eagerness. “Perhaps you could share the details with me.”

Oltyx laughed, because Lysikor wasn't wrong, not really. “The dynast of Ithakas fell in battle- I only scavenged his corpse.”

“Ah, Valgûl, King of Vultures! Nevertheless, it is an honor.”

-------

Okay, so the modern AU endgame has always been an ot3 situation, because I am extremely predictable. No title yet (the sequel to Life/Work Balance is called Staycation, because of course it is). Anyway, Aephorul and Resh'an have had sex on every flat surface in their townhouse, and most of the non-flat surfaces, and this is why they never host dinner parties. (They have like. An entire playroom. And yet somehow they still have an alarming amount of sex in the kitchen. This is just one of the many facets of Aephorul's extremely convoluted strategy to keep other people out of their home.)

--

There were times, Aephorul reflected, when he really wasn't entirely sure how his life had turned out the way it had. Now was a good example: here he was, lounging at the kitchen table, drinking the good wine directly from the bottle. Meanwhile, his husband was spread out on the table, bent nearly in half by the extremely large and muscular older man who was fucking him with enough force to make the whole table rattle in alarming ways.

It was impressive; the table was very sturdy. All of their furniture was sturdy, in fact, for this very reason.

Maybe this wasn't a great example, actually. Aephorul knew exactly how he'd ended up here, and it was mostly because whenever Resh'an wanted something, Aephorul would move heaven, earth, and all of their heavier furniture in order to give it to him.

[neoyi-backstreetback]

Oh, BDSM Slab, my beloved. 💖

[the-starry-lycan]

“HE HAS A YAOI LABORATORY?!”

Don’t be so surprised, Resh’an… you probably helped him build it for the both of your enjoyment…

[goodshipskypirate]

I spent maybe a little too much one day trying to look up what beds in West Asian countries looked like during old-timey periods (with mild luck, honestly) just to have an excuse to draw Resh'an sleeping in a comfortable sleep pad surrounded by pillows, rugs, and cushions. Because I feel like Young Resh'an would just be surrounded with an ungodly amount of pillows, rugs, and cushions. This is, assuming, he did not fell asleep in his chair from overworking, that is.

Meanwhile, Aephorul sleeps on the dirt with a rock for a pillow and calls it a day.

[kyuumon]

Oh, they fookin!!

[drop-dead-dropout]

exes but like we still fuck and we're still basically in love we're just mad about it now

[kyuohki]

Because I have no self control:

Variations under Cut:

[maifazcomics]

Ooh, the good old times~ Oh and BTW that last image is from the ARG Sabotage Studio makes on their Discord server where we can interact with characters in from the games and do fun stuff. Before Sea of Stars was even announced, Resh'an (we knew him only as The Archivist back then) entered and showered us with lore about SoS and The Messenger. AND HE INCLUDED THAT. IN 2019. AND EVERYTHING HE SAYS CAN BE TRUSTERED AND CONSIDERED CANON (words of the writer, Thierry Boulanger). RESH'AN EXPLAIN TO ME-

[dread-pirate-mumbles]

more sea of stars thoughts (less shitposty this time, maybe??)

spoilers for true ending below

First: what the fuck was Romaya doing with Moraine's staff in that one end credits cut scene??? she better not have been trying to pull a Duke thing again but with Moraine (sometime in the future, after he's passed)

Additionally: i absolutely adored pissing Romaya off throughout the entire game. I really hope B'st got to go back and talk with her about whatever he was gonna say after the second fight.

Second: Valere and Zale have to come back for Garl's bday every year, but I'm guessing keeping track of time while on patrol across the various worlds is Difficult, so I like to think that they tracked down Resh'an and asked him to set up a yearly reminder for them. I like to think that Resh'an has a connection to all of the Solstice Warriors (which is how he finds them once they are born), so he can find Valere and Zale wherever they are, and obviously time is His Thing

Third: (and keep in mind im just a Baby in the lore rn, just limited to in-game stuff)- I think that Aephorul made the Catalyst to try and remove his and Resh'an's souls from their bodies. I think the immortality potion has tied their souls to their bodies thus preventing their souls from passing on, and I think Aephorul made the Catalyst to either 1) remove their souls from their bodies and finally die together; or 2) put their souls into new bodies that would not be subject to the curse of immortality in the way that their original ones were

I also think the World Eaters were initially designed with the same end goal of death for Aephorul and Resh'an combined- something that can destroy the very fabric of time would likely be strong enough to break their immortality. However, Dwellers were not strong enough to do so, and there was no guarantee that a world eater would be strong enough either (nor was there anyone Aephorul could use as a test subject), so Aephorul continued to try and make them more and more powerful, and perhaps even experimented on some people to try and mimic immortality to see what would happen

I've also wondered about the pronounciation of Aephorul, because if you read it as "Aye-For-Rule", it (if you squint with your ears) kind of sounds like "All For You", which. fits with this idea of Aephorul doing this initially *for* him and Resh'an.

Fourth: I really want to write a post-canon fic where Garl goes back with Serai and B'st to their world, to help build things back up and restore hope. The dinner at the Golden Pelican and the comment when you send Garl to the hot spring (where he's like. "I gotta tell Serai something important") have inspired a *little* bit of a Garl/Serai shipper in me. I'd also want to include what the Dumbass Immortal Gays are up to, too, because I really love their dynamic, and I'd love to Literally Fucking Kill Them For Good. I really, really want Resh'an to like. Talk with Garl, maybe Valere/Zale, about his failings and his mistakes. He's just a human, still, after all, and he has basically no one else to talk to about his Bad Life Choices

Anyway- Garl goes between homeworld and Serai's world on the Vespertine, but he always makes sure to be in mooncradle on time for his birthday. (side note- I wonder if he made jam from the sap of the willow on the thought that it would like. make zale and valere more powerful?? that seems like a him thing to do)

Fifth (aka assorted plot holes or complaints):

-Why did we never see the Dweller of Strife or the Acolytes again? I thought maybe the idea was that they became the World Eater at the end, but there's not like. a lot of game details pointing to that.

-How did Serai end up in our world anyway? Did she teleport based off of information about the home world (how would she get it? how far can she teleport? how can she teleport away the *top of a fucking mountain*??)? She couldn't have gotten information from Resh'an, since he didn't know about the Great Eagle thing, so maybe she stole info from The Fleshmancer/his subordinates? Maybe this is related to the Queen that Was- maybe the queen worked with the fleshmancer, and Serai took over her house and thus information when the Queen left??

-How did Serai get her powers? Was she an experiment from the Catalyst, or was it something she pursued on her own? Also, *please* tell me the rest of her crew who knew the fuck she actually was, she was so obvious

-I'm assuming the academy is no longer needed, with new guardian gods, no need for new solstice warriors for this realm, but that means Moraine is the only solstice warrior on both home world and serai's world. I feel bad for him cause he very obviously suffered from the loss of so many fellow warriors due to strife (and took it out on brugaves and erlina, unfortunately), so I wonder if he feels lonely about it sometimes

[staurolith]

Managed to get my hands on some of the original art from the Sea of Stars gallery, in particular the Two Alchemists and the 2nd pass at Seraï.

Detailed look at differing elements to the art book under the cut

Here is a list of differences between Art Book and Originals (Two Alchemists and Serai Concepts 2)

Some are major, some are inconsequential, but still wanted to point out everything I could see anyway. Mostly because I find it really interesting to see what was adjusted, even if it is a very tiny detail

* Resh'an Concepts 1

* Front facing bird face is not present in art book

* Leaves at feet for elder mage are a single "line" of flow in the art book, and are on both right and left sides in the original

* Goofy expressive bird face not present in art book (my favorite one)

* Cloaked version has feet and an arm in the art book, but are not present in the original

* One of the birds is complete in the art book, but is overlapped at the tail in the original.

* Resh'an Concepts 2

* *Five* faces for the ninja and cloak styles not present in the art book, three for the ninja and two for the cloaked/goggles. I particularly enjoy the goggles one of him looking off to the side, the expression is really charming, and the hood shape is kind of funny and ironic given the final Aephorul concept.

* Full cloak is obscured by the mini fullbody in the art book, but is uncovered in the original.

* In what seems to be a small error, the art book does not give the cloaked mini full body a second foot which gives the impression that this concept has a peg leg. However, there is a small heel visible but covered by the hood in the original, which seems to indicate there was supposed to be another foot.

* Ninja bird full body is cut off past the shins in the art book, but is a full body with feet in the original.

* One additional bird concept not present in the art book (a "masked" version seemingly correlating to the "black mage" concept. Referenced in the art book but not present)

- Aephorul Concepts 1

- Eyeball armor bust sketch has two shoulders in the art book, only one partial in the original

- Same sketch, the original has what I initially thought was a mouth scar, but since it was edited out in the art book it could have been an unintended ink mark/error. The lines on the face are also slightly different.

- Uncloaked back has a complete fullbody, and is overlapped on his leg and foot in the original

- Aephorul Concepts 2

- Two cloaked sketches not present in the art book (no horn). These being left out is a bit odd to me since they are most similar to the final design as the clear jumping off point. I really enjoy the hunched posture of these ones especially

* Serai Concepts 2

* One face/head not present in the art book, which is a shame because it's *unfairly* cute.

* The art book has more overlaps/slightly incomplete drawings due to the formatting. Of greatest note are two of the full bodies which are primarily overlapped by other concepts.

* One concept has an eyepatch in the original, but has both eyes in the art book. While overlapped by the final lineart, the weapons in the original here are incomplete/it's hard to tell what she's holding so nothing of note is covered.

* One of the fullbodies is cut off at the legs in the art book. The original shows that version wearing baggy pants, knee pads/armor, and wrapped lower legs.

* Wrapped ponytail concept has a scarf(?) offshoot in the art book resembling a small cape that is not present in the original.

* There is an extra arm seemingly part of the bangs-covering-one-eye portrait in the original that is not present in the art book.

While I didn't get them, none of the 1st or 3rd pass Serai concepts seem to be in the art book! (The third pass is split into 2 separate pieces. One is completely unused, the other has one that seems to have been the base sketch for the final lineart in the art book on page 32, but the other is unused.)

I can't imagine how much else was left on the cutting room floor.

[smaller-comfort]

wip wsunday, 2 modern au fragments and a bit of devotional. I *want* to post bits of my sanguinalia thing but I caaaan't. >:xxxxxx

------

can't stop, won't stop (modern au, aephorul/resh'an, college/post-grad years; call it the sequel to gotta start somewhere. probably counts as a kinktober thing; the boys go toy shopping.)

Devotional isn't the silliest thing in my wips. it's this. this gets absurd. there are costumes involved. it starts off fairly innocuously, though.

--

"Let me buy you something fun for my birthday." Aephorul sat down on the couch beside Resh'an and set his laptop on the coffee table.

Resh'an squinted at him. "That's not how birthday gifts work. And I know I'm bad with dates, but I'm pretty sure your birthday isn't for another three months." He frowned. "...it's not, right?"

"It was yesterday," he said gravely. "You didn't even wish me happy birthday. I was completely devastated. Absolutely bereft. Abandoned by my boyfriend-"

"You are such an asshole." Resh'an elbowed him sharply.

Aephorul managed to keep a straight face for half a second longer, and then lost it. "Your face! Oh my god-" He tried to fend off Resh'an's elbow again, but Resh'an nailed him in the solar plexus. "Oof- fuck- ow- this is abuse- motherfucker-"

He wasn't really sure what it said about either of them that this kind of thing ended up being foreplay at least 75% of the time. Not that he was complaining- well, maybe he was complaining a little. Resh'an fought dirty and his elbows were sharp.

--------

staycation: monday (modern au, aephorul/resh'an petplay)

this one is also very silly. most of the modern au is in aephorul's pov, so it's an interesting exercise to write resh'an's viewpoint, particularly when aephorul is being submissive.

I feel like I'm missing the point of petplay with this entirely, but I'm having fun with it.

--

"Sure you don't want a spoonful of peanut butter?" he asked while he loaded the dishwasher. "Because I kind of do. Maybe some fruit? The grapes are still good."

"Grapes," Aephorul said icily, "are poisonous to dogs."

"You're so obnoxious." Resh'an smiled fondly. "It's almost like you want to be muzzled."

Aephorul stared down at the floor and didn't say anything. He was trying to hide behind his hair, to disguise the fact that he was blushing hard enough for it to visibly darken his cheeks. Aephorul was teetering on the edge, and it wasn't going to take much of a push to put him all the way under.

But Resh'an wasn't going to push; he didn't need to. Aephorul would get there just fine, all on his own.

------

devotional ch 4 (barma'thazel/elysan'darelle)

why yes, this story has snowballed out of control, why do you ask? this chapter is probably just going to devolve into some good old fashioned monster fucking. who knows, though, maybe somebody will get pegged.

aephorul sends barma'thazel a gift basket after chapter 2.

--

"This is the problem," she hissed. "You're a general, not some common prostitute."

"I am our Master's servant," he corrected. He ate one of the chocolates; they'd been enchanted to survive the ambient heat of this place, but it melted into velvety richness on his tongue. He closed his eyes and ate another one; it was as decadently delicious as the first, and it had some sort of crunchy center. Amazing.

"You really should try one of these." He held out the box. "It might put you in a better mood."

She looked almost like she wanted to fling them back in his face. "This- it's demeaning. You deserve- mmf!"

He popped one of the chocolates into her open mouth and tilted her chin up, forcing her lips closed. For all her skills with sorcery, Barma'thazël still moved faster than she could react.

Elysan'darelle's eyes widened with fury, and then scrunched shut as the taste of the chocolate hit her. Her hands flew to her mouth, but not before her tiny moan of pleasure escaped. When she opened her eyes again, she shoved Barma'thazel away from her and stamped a hoof in frustration.