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blackbloodteeth · 2 months ago

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Okay so last night I decided to use this week's ficwip's Word Game Wednesday post as a writing prompt ("Magic"), especially since I was casually prodded into writing a snippet by a friend. However, I was apparently possessed by my sleep debt demons, and not only did this reach 2.6k, I didn't even use the prompt word at any point. Nice.

As said, this is a little bit of a long snippet and apparently awkward dialogue takes me places, but here's somethin' for today while I see if I got the spoons to finish The WIP™️ after having actually gotten some sleep today despite accidentally staying up 23 hours previously.

Reject normality, return to italics.

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The feeling of sand continuously clops beneath each slow step as he quietly sighs again, looking down at the pitch-black sea stretching endlessly throughout the darkness surrounding him. If it weren't for his light keeping him company he wouldn't even be able to see his legs, and he's quite grateful for it as he holds onto it as the only thing he has out here, but… feels like the more he wanders, the dimmer it's been getting.

Another sigh drags on while he wonders how long he's been wandering, how much longer he has to go, and if his family even misses him right now. Do they miss him? I mean, they'd have to, right? Even if he's not… the smartest or the most talented… or…or……

He gives his head a good shake to toss those thoughts out when the darkness starts to creep across his steps, instead trying the best he can to think about their worried faces and his poor ol' nana… Well he misses them, even if they don't notice he's gone, right where he shouldn't've ran off to……

The ache in his chest weighs him back down to his light weakening up his arms, leeching the hope of finding his way along with it. If only he could say sorry. He's always been the cracked stone of the family, but… but…… maybe if he……….Huh? What's that?

His head suddenly perks up when he spots a different light in the distance, new and- and exciting, breaking him into a gallop just to catch up with it and finding a warmth he's never felt before begin to fill his chest when he gets close, its light glowing brightly against his body. He trots in place a little, curiosity practically bounding around it at this feeling it gives him, like… being strong? Brave. It looks kinda like… a star? Weird…

Lowering his neck, it doesn't particularly smell like anything, but somehow it reminds him of all the bright, warm days of spring as they lead into summer. It makes him giddy to think that this may even be some sort of exit, like a portal, and with an eager prod of his horn to investigate this theory, the contact instantly engulfs him with the same light and makes his mind go blank.

. . .

…Huh?

Suddenly his eyes are blinking open again, and here he is, sitting in some kind of… field? Or well, less sitting and completely slumped over onto the grass as he's overwhelmed by the sensation of a world around him, and soon the voice of someone right next to him before he notices they're there.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He jolts when the… girl? Bu-But not like him, with weird colors and front legs that reach up to him with small horns at the ends- "I said are you okay? Geez, you might actually have a concussion…"

Both his mouth and his stare are just gaping at her(?) and how flat and hornless her face is, with the only thing he really recognizes being the pretty mossy eyes and the mane dangling where her ears are supposed to be while her weird, furless face keeps moving around like that- Until he scrunches back when she tries to prod him with her freaky arm horns because this just too weird-

"Okay, now you're just being a jerk," she snorts, which he thinks might be a laugh?

Like you're one to talk, you're just being weird…

"…So, you gonna say anything, or…?"

Wait, what are you on about, can't you hear me?

"…Ooookay, guess not…" His head darts wildly up and down when the weird girl gets up- on just two of her legs?!? What the h- "What? Are you going to keep staring at me like that, or are you actually having a stroke or something?"

Frantically, having no idea how to communicate at this point given apparently whatever had just happened to him weakened his horn too much, he begins flailing around like any still-sane horn-haver would until, as it just so happens to turn out, he is not in fact still sane: Completely frozen in place after seeing his arms and… an-and they're not right in the slightest! They're just like hers, with- with the color hide over him and the freaky flesh horns and- what happened to his hooves?!?!?

"Okay, so this might be a stupid question at this point, but like are you actually okay; you're really starting to worry me now."

His face whips back up towards her, lungs breathing a gallop a second while he quickly reaches his hoofless arms into his mane and- Oh. Oh no, oh starlight where is his horn- No no no no no-

"Soooo… you did hit your head?" He completely ignores that as his twisted, messed-up flesh hooves jitter and tap all around his eyes and feeling everything wrong with his freaking face being flat and furless and- and-

When she goes to talk again he's cutting her off by slapping his hooflessness in desperation on top of his hornlessness, causing her to jump down to his current eye level and thrust her arm ends into his mane. "Wait, crap; Are you bleeding-"

Just like that, another wave of light from before swallows him like a current, whirling through his mind and body until almost just as quickly he's sitting again, but differently this time, held up entirely by her hands.

Wait. Wait.

"…Um."

Hands. They're called hands?

"Y…Yes?"

Wait, you can hear me now!?

"Oh good, so you do speak." The girl… Maka? How does he know this and that she's laughing because she's nervous- "Okay; one, um, step at a time…"

He sits there as he's told, partly because he's trying not to freak out right now, and especially because he's really trying not to freak out about how he can't move while avoiding looking at his body again so that he can remember how to breathe normally.

"Okay, so… Yeah, I'm Maka. I have hands, you're… currently in my hands… and I just met you after you suddenly bumped into me out of thin air, and for some reason I have a really big feeling you weren't a human boy before this." Human… Human, that's what… Why… "One step at a time. I've got this right so far?" …I think so. "Okay… So you're a human now, I guess, and just learned about hands and that you… don't have a horn anymore? I think??"

Deep breath, deep breath- Yeah. I have… I had a horn, and now it's gone because I guess I… turned into a human after touching that light I found, and I- I'm… Wait, why can't I remember what I'm named, Maka; I know yours but I-

"Okay, don't freak out. Just… I can kind of… see? That you were somewhere dark until you saw the light, and you got flashbanged by it, so I think…" That it made me forget some things when it changed me? "Exactly. Now that we're on… the same wavelength kinda, and know we both just met and are really confused and for some reason you can talk to me through my head because I guess you don't normally speak with your mouth…"

He lets Maka take a deep breath as the dread of their conclusion slowly lifts her hands to straighten his handle up.

"…Why did you just turn into a scythe when I touched you?"

Maka, I'd reeeeally love to answer that right now.

The dread fully plummets down his nonexistent stomach when she flops her forehead against him and he finally lets himself look at his body now being a metal pole and his horn… blade curves longer than probably even her size. It's black on top, and sharp and red on the bottom, which kinda isn't that much different from what his horn was like actually except its much more… vivid. Pronounced. Clear works, actually.

"God, this is so weird… Just like all the stories my papa used to tell me when I was a little kid……" Something curious bubbles up even through his deluge of anxiety and bafflement, making him interested enough to speak up a So you… have a family too? Like a human family? "Of course I have a family," she chuckles, at least until it snuffs out. "Had."

I don't think I'm supposed to ask, but somehow I feel a lot like you're feeling just now.

"Yeah, weird how I can feel that too… Do you have a family? Not humans, or…" Yeah, but we looked a lot like each other when I wasn't here. All of us have a horn and hooves, and a mane… oh, I guess you call it hair. 'Cause normally you don't have short fur all over you. "Yeah… Wait."

Somehow he can still move his eyes (although only at the same time and just one is facing her) to watch as Maka suddenly cranes her head up, staring at him with… wonder? Intrigue? Man, he's learning way too many words today- "Are you… are you telling me you're actually a unicorn?"

Images flow through his head like sand into water, of… horses, with long seashells for horns, and… That's… pretty close to how we look, actually. Is 'unicorn' what we're called to you? I don't think we have a same word for our family…

"Holy crap you're a unicorn…" she utters as if that somehow was any less strange than whatever the hornhole is going on with him right now, and also her. "All this time you're actually a unicorn, and now you're a scythe- and oh god, I must be dreaming. Hit by a car because I finally studied too much. I'm probably in a coma right now and this is all just a dream and you're just in my head, or an angel, or-"

Maka. One step at a time.

He feels her breath shudder when he does the same thing she did just now, playing his memories for her like reflections on calmed water of his brother and him racing through the burrows, and his nana humming her tune that turns the air into waves of starlight, and his ma and da greeting each other with their horns before he inevitably can't make his horn glow as strong as his brother's- Okay, maybe not that one.

A lighthearted giggle, like the fluttering wings of a bird taking off, raises Maka up onto her feet, looking right at him again with… a smile. It's so… warm, and… pretty? I like that a lot actually, it's a lot like when the sun hits the sea when- Oh my godlight, I just said that to you.

There's a way her face is turning red that he is just now learning is blushing and is the exact feeling of embarrassment she is showing by covering her mouth with one of her hands and not being able to look away while her voice goes soft from under her palm. "I've never been called pretty before- by a unicorn…"

We-Well you've never met a unicorn before so that makes it different and it's not like horn-sparking so just- I was just saying what I saw, yeah, he deflects, much like one deflects the dirt off of their shovel while digging their own grave. And yet somehow, mysteriously, he feels like he's deep beneath the ground where he could end up finding that dark place again at how she's… laughing? Happy? Entertained? This is too many words and thoughts to have in my head anymore.

"Y'know, when I imagined actually meeting a unicorn, this definitely wasn't what I thought of." Yeah that's one way to put it. I'd probably say the same thing if I even knew about humans first, and also hadn't turned into one. And then a scythe. "Well, um…"

Her smile falters when he can feel that the particular detail on the 'becoming human' bit also made him unable to think of what he's called (like as himself, not being a unicorn) so she has no idea what to refer to him as. "…Do you want a name right now?"

…I think that would make things a little easier, yeah.

"Okay, how aboooout…" Strange reflections ripple into him again, much faster this time so he doesn't have much room to grab onto any of them until they start to slow down, memories of some… movie? What's this fast-running pictures of?

"Oh sorry, I was remembering the time I used to watch The Last Unicorn when I was a kid; just trying to think of a name that would fit, sorry if that's offensive." He laughs, No, it's… interesting. I want to see it sometime, just maybe after I figure this out. "Yeah, alright. Let me try to actually pinpoint a name for you."

Words of stars and light rain like droplets through his mind, and strange words he could not possibly understand fall like pebbles, things that tie this earth to people and ones that reach the heavens, while everything in between- "Okay, potshotting now – How about Aether?" What a weird word. "I'm trying, okay- Grimm? Edgar? Stephen?" These are all weird words.

"Uggggh, fine," Maka rolls her head back, very much out of frustration until a moment of… something different goes through her head to him. "Okay, this might be a little stupid, but I think I have a good name…"

Should I want it if it's stupid?

"No, no; the name is fine, it's just the reason I thought of it…" A sense of interest looks at her with what he feels is called an eyebrow raise when another movie? gallops through his head, ushering her to well, tell me, then. "Alright hear me out, but… It's a name that's kind of similar to my dad's but I thought of it because there's a, um, horse movie with the same name, so I thought since you're like a horse- but cooler, I thought I'd give you… a name like that, but cooler than my dad, so…" he's on the edge of his what the hell is a seat when Maka takes a deep breath through her teeth and offers it up hesitantly. "…Can I call you Soul?"

…Y'know… I think I finally understand what grinning is.

Soul starts to get infected with her laugh as she readjusts his handle in her hands, the name likewise looked around in his head like he's had hands his whole life. "…So, I take it you want it?"

Yes, actually, this is like, the opposite of stupid. It's so cool even though I've never heard it before but it's cooler than your dad. Like cooler than cool, like- This feels like my name. Like you call me this and it's what I'm called- His feelings in his- his soul light up like they were his horn again, voice all giddy and practically leaping in place. Maka, call me it. I wanna be called it.

She can't help but chuckle, "Okay, okay; You're Soul. Nice to meet you."

Yeah. Yeah. That is so my name- THIS IS AWESOME!!

"Yeah! Yeah it is!!"

This excitement racing through them both is unstoppable and unlike anything he's felt before, almost like he is strong and bright, better than he ever could be on his own – but in a way that made him not alone, and like running across the world, also.

It's just something so unique and precious and he wants to hold onto it forever, much like the way Maka actually starts twirling him around while they both start whooping, until she pauses as a quieter thought rises up to the surface of even his mind. "…Hey Soul, if you came from somewhere else… what are you going to do now?"

And it just sinks into him for a moment while they're standing there out in the middle of a trail in the woods that he doesn't recognize.

…Huh.

#2024 art #writing #soul eater #soul variant #soul evans #maka albarn #soul x maka #(probably)#also just found out google docs added doc tabs let's fucking gooo

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dangermousie · 2 years ago

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By now this drama has departed so wildly from the novel that I’d call it at most inspired by the source material. Because of that, it has narratively started becoming rather a mess (and that is why ultimately, I don’t cry into my pillow over not ever getting to see HYX btw. I love 2ha and they’d have to pretzel it to make it into a drama and that would drive me nuts.)

BUT! Despite the mess (and I find it’s a rare cdrama that does not get messy near the end tbh), it has two awesome things going for it: (1) LYX’s exquisite portrayal of suffering and (2) it is SUCH an interesting premise, if wildly different from the novel - demon god not only built himself a meat suit per specs, he has also predestined said meat suit’s whole life, down to all the betrayals and suffering - and specific, not general “his life will suck.” Thus any seeking of happiness, any defiance on part of TTJ becomes an act of determined insanity of the best sort - despite literal Divine (demonic) telling him this is how his life is and how it controls that life (and with evidence for the same) and despite making any person feel helpless and meaningless to know all his emotions and actions were predetermined and written out to tenderize the meat for best consumption, so to speak, that he is a puppet, a marionette, that his volition is illusory and free will nonexistent - Tantai Jin looks at all of this and goes NO. I have agency. I will do what I want even if all that happened before was a play for my benefit with my strings being yanked. Even if there is no reward, because free will is its own reward. His life prepared him for hopeless fights (And in a way, the cultivators and the world are so awful ironically demon god being worse to TTJ is the best thing in their favor - to give in to demon god would be agreeing to the wishes of your greatest torturer, the conductor of your misery.)

With demon god as the writer and TTJ the character whose strings he yanks and whose wings he pulls off, and TTJ’s utter refusal to give in, despite the absolute ruler of his life saying he should, this reminds me of Extraordinary You, my favorite drama of all time, very different in plot and setting, but with that same idea - creations refusing their creator and establishing free will on the margins, whatever the cost.

God, the way his life is ashes in front of him and he still fights.

I honestly think the only way he doesn’t break under this ocean of horror is because his life has been so awful he’s built up a tolerance. (The concept of universe out to get you reminds me of Mistakenly Saving the Villain and the divinity being either absent or uncaring horror and the world cannibalizing itself but the main choosing to go “I will still choose good” despite the futility or the horrors thrown at him, makes me think of Wu Chang Jie. Both are huge faves.)

Fuck you, demon god!

Of course not. Gotta give him some happiness to not make him permanently numb because those permanently numb cannot emotionally be flayed.

Honestly, how does he not break?

The poor man. All I want is therapy for him and some cookies.

But honestly, give LYX all the awards, he is SO good!

#cdrama #luo yunxi #till the end of the moon

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winterweary · 1 year ago

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Fragile Returns

Obey Me Nightbringer fic based on some angsty thoughts I've had about our return to our proper timeline.

An intro with continuations for Lucifer and Mammon. I plan to do the rest of the brothers and Solomon (or maybe make Solomon a separate fic all together we'll see).

SFW, angsty, insomnia etc. GNMC unless I've missed something (please feel free to lmk if I did).

The first night you think it’s just a fluke. Of course you’d be having a bad dream or two, that’s to be expected after everything you’d gone through.

By the fourth night, you’re beginning to get frustrated, on edge every time you turn out the lights and crawl into your bed in the House of Lamentation.

After three weeks, you’ve completely resigned yourself.

It’s not always the same nightmare. A part of you wonders if it would be easier if it were. Then, at least, you would know what to expect. Instead, your nightmares vary wildly. Sometimes you dream of being yanked back in time again, only this time without Solomon by your side to support you. Sometimes you dream of returning home only to find that none of your demons remember a thing about you. Occasionally you dream of drowning, reaching out a hand for a brother, choking on surf as you beg for him to pull you up to safety, only to watch as they’re consumed by their sin and turn their backs on you all together.

Whatever the dream, it results in the same: you waking up writhing in your sheets, gasping on silent screams and chilled with sweat.

You try to power through. The dreams will stop eventually, you know it, if only you can endure. But everyone begins to notice your fraying sooner than you expected.

You had returned to them in a rougher state then which you’d left. Your eyes were haunted despite your smiles, your laugh a little quieter, your touches more restrained. None of them ever said anything, but you’d caught Asmo and Mammon exchanging concerned glances more than once, and both Leviathan and Belphie had begun following you like a shadow when you moved from room to room. Perhaps you were imagining it, but you thought Satan may even be avoiding you, though you were too exhausted to try and sort through why that could be.

No matter how hard you tried to settle again, something always felt off. It felt like jet lag, only deeper, the way you were constantly knocked off balance by the tiniest of differences. Stubbing your toes on a small table moved three inches to the left. Pausing every time you entered Levi’s room and feeing a wave of dizziness before you could adjust to the change in arrangement and quantity of his collectables. Walking into Lucifer’s study and having a panicked moment, trying to remember which timeline you were in and how you were expected to behave around him.

The less you sleep the harder it got, your mind slipping more and more as the exhaustion deepened. The dark circles under your eyes darkened, your smiles began to grow thin, and then one day something just broke.

It was stupid. You’d been carrying a vase of flowers toward your room, having decided that if you were going to be up all night staring, you may as well look at something pretty. As you approached the living room, you could hear the boys were bickering comfortably, and you hadn’t even given it a second thought until Beel had backed up around a corner, avoiding Mammon and Levi’s wrestling. His elbow had just barely caught you, but your reflexes were dulled, and before you could stop it, the vase had tumbled from your fingers and shattered on the ground.

There was a beat of silence, and then you were sobbing. A wail that collapsed into deep, chest wrenching sobs, face pressed into your hands as Beelzebub stared at you in abject horror. He had made you cry and he had to fix it, quickly stooping to gather the dripping flower stalks and lift them from the glass.

“Don’t cry! I’ll…I’ll get another vase,” he promised, in a near panic himself, and jostled as Mammon and Asmo rushed over to your side.

“H-Hey! Look, it’s okay, don’t cry…”

“Oh love, my poor dear, what happened?”

But of course it wasn’t about the flowers, or poor Beel, or any one thing. It was everything and everyone and the constant, all-consuming wrongness that had been choking you every minute since you’d gotten home.

You fell into a crouch, covering your ears and weeping into your knees, trying to claw your way out of despair as the boys watched in helpless despair.

A sudden weight and darkness fell over you a blanket was thrown over you, Levi’s voice quieting his brothers. You feel pressure as someone wrapped their arms around you, and you take a deep shuddering breath and try to get control over your sobs.

Eventually, silence falls outside of the blanket, and someone kneels in front of it. The fabric lifts, letting light in, and you blink pathetically out at the demon looking back at you.

Lucifer took in the sight silently, searching your eyes until you have to look away. The wail he’d heard from his office had chilled him to the bone, and Lucifer wasn’t sure he’d moved so fast in his life, thundering down the stairs before coming across the scene: his brothers whispering frantically around a blanketed, weeping lump, Belphie clinging to it determinedly. Lucifer had sent them all away with a word, crouching before gently lifting the blanket.

Before you, he breathes a soft exhale, lifting his hand to carefully brush your tears off your cheek. Your lip quivers, the gentle touch almost making you start weeping again.

“Forgive us,” he murmurs, voice low, “It seems we are still asking too much of you.”

You want to argue, to tell him he’s wrong, it’s you who are broken not them, but the words won’t come. He shushes you anyway when you try to speak, taking you into his arms, blanket and all, and scooping you from the floor. You’re wrapped up still, unable to protest. Instead, just close your eyes and press into his shoulder, breathing in his scent and trying to remember that you’re home. This is your home.

When he sets you down, it’s on his bed, Lucifer gently unraveling the blanket from your shoulders. His warm hands cup your face, tilting it upward as he bends to give you a long, steadying kiss. He would give anything to be able to love the pain out of you, to speak a word of magic and lift every burden from your mind, but he also knew the healing you needed could never be so simple.

Even so, the kiss doesn’t hurt.

You give an exhausted sigh, shaking your head at yourself as he sits beside you on the bed.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It wasn’t Beel’s fault, I just…” your voice hitches and Lucifer hushes you again, lifting your hand and brushing his lips over your knuckles. Gently, he guides you to lay across his lap, his palm coming to rest atop your head.

“Sleep,” he commands quietly, “I’ll be right here. We will speak when you wake.” His fingers start to move through your hair, and almost against your will, your eyes fall closed. Lucifer watches as you give a final shuddering exhale, melting against the stable grounding he offers you. However long it takes, whatever he needs to do, he vows not to leave your side until your feet are steady on the ground again. He would collapse mountains if only it would keep your tears at bay.

But for now he knows all you need is this. A deep sleep and the knowledge that he will never allow the two of you to be parted again.

“Hey…ya alright there, sweetheart?” Mammon asks anxiously, quickly flicking the blanket over his head so he can wrap his arms around you, pulling you close as you whimper back another sob, “Shit…c’mere…I’ve gotcha…” He exhales his own shaking breath, throat tight from seeing such pain in your expression. He doesn’t want to start crying when he’s supposed to be comforting you, but it’s hard.

“I’ll pick ya every flower in the Devildom, don’t you worry,” he promises, kissing the top of your head as you gave a watery laugh. He knew it wasn’t about the flowers. He knew that something was haunting you, like a ghost that hovered on the edge of all your conversations. What he didn’t know was how to help, and that damn sense of being useless was killing him.

“Cry as much as you want, alright? Mammon’s got ya,” he continued, wrapping your legs around his hips and standing up, lifting you into his arms with a grunt. He shook his head, sending the blanket sliding off of you both, and you pressed your face into his neck to hide from the brightness of the lights and any lingering witnesses.

“I’m sorry,” you whimpered, ashamed at having caused such a scene, and Mammon clicked his tongue as he fumbled to open his door.

“Shut up. Don’t you be apologizin’ to me,” he grumbled, carrying you into his room to sit on his couch, keeping you straddled in his lap. You sniffle, sitting up a little to peek at him. His brows are tight with concern, but he forces a quick grin at the sight of your face.

“There’s my sunshine,” he teases, kissing your nose as you make a face at him, “Like I said, cry as much as you want, whenever you want. Your Mammon can take it, got it?” He pinched your side until you gave a weak giggle.

“Got it,” you tell him with another sniffle, and he exhales a sigh, kissing across your brow and rubbing his palm over your back.

“This ain’t been so easy on you, huh?” he murmurs, casting his gaze aside. He knows he’s been selfish. He’d been so lost without you that once you’d returned, he’d drunk you in like a man dying of thirst. In his desperation, he hadn’t been payin’ enough attention to what it was taking from you.

“…hey, I got an errand to run in the human world. For Lucifer, yeah?” he says suddenly, catching on an idea and clinging to it, “So tomorrow, let’s you and me go, alright? You don’t gotta do nothin’ but eat and sleep in the hotel and I’ll take care of the rest.”

That sounded like heaven to you but…your eyes cast sideways, betraying your uncertainty. Is it really okay to leave everyone when you’ve only just gotten home?

“Stop that,” Mammon orders, tugging gently on your hair until you look at him again, “I can see you worryin’. Do you want to go or nah, that’s all you got to think about.”

“I do,” you croak, and he smiles again, softer this time.

“Good. Then you just let The Great Mammon take care of you this time, got it?”

“Got it,” you sigh a deep breath, leaning in to kiss him, and you let Mammon chase every other thought from your mind.

#obey me fic #blithe fics #obey me nightbringer #obey me mammon #obey me lucifer #i have chronic nightmares and pretty bad insomnia so this is very self indulgent

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pyr0cue · 4 months ago

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WAHOO thank you for answering my ask!!

while i certainly agree that satanic aspects in horror movies is, at this point, kinda beating a dead horse, but i think it's also considered the 'root' of all horror, in a western sense at least. unfortunate because it sort of shoulders away not only other religions, but other wild ass concepts like how far you can push something like Cosmic horror, but at the same time, i feel like Longlegs can even be viewed through THAT lens, simply because there's a lot of 'well, what if?' scenarios.

like for example! Lee's 'psychic' abilities- i've seen people come up with ideas that Lee isn't psychic at all and it being even kinda confirmed in the film with her saying 'i also missed eight,' when discussing how she got eight right on her test, so she's right half the time, which isn't really that remarkable, it's only made remarkable because of the scale of the things she predicts (her partner not listening to her, being the biggest)- but it could also be something as it's not her at all, it's simply Longlegs in her head. at the point of her predictions she was still 'possessed' to a degree, Ruth begged Longlegs to not hurt her, who's to say he wouldn't go out of his way to drop little hints and gut feelings for her, for the sake of keeping something he perceived as a 'little angel' safe? but also, why would someone so evil really care in the first place? what does Longlegs believe he's doing? is it human at all, or something else? is it really dead? i think its neat!

i do feel that towing the line of uncanny valley with a character like Longlegs would be interesting- making limbs longer, doing something that just makes him a bit more unnerving to look at would be a tight rope to try and walk. i think the details of his makeup now, wary as it may be to some viewers, was excellent in the 'what am i LOOKING at' type of way- how is hair looked punched in like the dolls, his eyes that were difficult to look at for long, how he looked like a 'something isnt right' with how he spoke and moved- i think they made a good representation of what a nightmare could look like, or what the antichrist would present itself as. his appearance of course is going to stir the pot, and i think that may be intentional, because people are going to try and make sense of a walking nightmare, of something evil, and some peoples nightmares may be something that just doesnt look right, while others may be horrified to see a nightmarish portrayal of an overplayed stereotype that may, inevitably, harm them. kind of like a pennywise in a way? but then again, i may be looking into that aspect way too much!

i really think like comparing it to Silence of the Lambs was something that was't really intended, but more of a way for the director to be like 'it fits in this category' of a thriller/ crime-genre, this with supernatural undertones, to the point where i'd compare it more to something like Sinister despite how silly that movie got towards the end. the plots are pretty similar, with a wildly different protagonist, but again with the 'it's a demon!/ it's got something to do with satan!' aspect kind of shoveled in. it had a lot of people going in expecting something different and walked out disappointed because it wasn't that, and at the end kind of boiled down to 'this antichrist-adjacent character uses dolls and balls and a loving mother to commit horrible atrocities', and i can see where people are like 'thaaat is not the type of horror i like, that's actually pretty silly.' i think theres some substance to chew on even if the film feels a little hand holdy, because there's always a question that can be asked that sometimes doesn't have an obvious answer. BUT!!! that is why we have opinions!!!!! and thats important!!!!

HOWEVER, yes, the marketing deserves all the praise it can get, it stirred up an audience already pretty well fed when it comes to horror this year and made a ton of money, and i hope they get their cut because it is WELL deserved.

i am YAPPING but honestly fr you get it- saw 5's banter was top tier for the franchise, and as a big hoffman fan myself, for sure one of the best ones. 6 is near and dear not only because the traps but the very loud and blatant 'hey the way shit is run through dogpits picking out errors from the sick needing help sucks, actually' which is, as faaarr as i remember, one of the loudest messages from the saw franchise (other than, like, 'dont be an asshole,' i guess?).

5 did have HoffStahm golden moments and the glass coffin - and Strahms death is probably the one that actually made me gagging in the theater with just the brutality of it. here's to the next one with (hopefully) some more hoffman because his little ending in the most recent with john & the tummy tickler trap has me hoping we'll see some more of him :""")

Again I do like this reading it’s so much more interesting then what i got out of the movie lmaooo im choosing to think about it your way because it’s so much more fun than what I walked away feeling

I think you are super right about the difference between expectations and reality, I actually didn’t read anything or watch more than the first trailer because I find I like movies more when I don’t go in with a lot of prior knowledge. But I definitely let the rounds of “this is the scariest film I’ve ever seen!” Get to me, so I think I walked in wanting a film that was very scary rather than more of a story focused film. And yeah I think it’s just not my cup of tea, if my horror film is story based i want much more thought out and nuanced story than I felt I got with longlegs (I am spoiled by Jordan peele and Ari aster lol) but as much as I think the story wasn’t well thought out in reality it DOES give a lot of room for speculation and filing in the gaps

I do like the speculation about Lee’s abilities, and I do subscribe to the theory that they’re somehow tied to her doll/its ‘brain!’ My biggest question walking away from the film was ‘why are the brains so significant in the dolls?’ I like to think it’s longlegs way of making them feel whole, and the satanic stuff was incidental in why Lee could sense stuff from them, that they’re a part of the child they’re made for and not special on purpose. But it’s probably connected to a satanic ritual if I had to guess? Idk, I think there are some interesting questions left I’m just not sure if they were intentional.

I also think my favorite part of the story was longlegs being connected to Lee’s mom, but I really wish there’d been a bit more of a build up to it, and I wish Lee was more of a PI than an FBI agent, I feel like a lot of the crime/thriller aspects were ruined by how fast the crime got solved in favor of Satan. I did love the dynamic between her and Lee tho, the character work in this movie was really good!!

And yeah, I don’t really think longlegs is like….intentionally calling to some stereotypes I think it was just something they thought would be creepy and didn’t think about the implications of. And I can definitely see the makeup and voice and everything being creepy, i also went in after watching 2 nick cage movies with some friends and the whole time i could NOT unhear cage which ruined that effect. Word of advice, don’t watch more than one nick cage movie at a time all you will see is nick cage

YESS I love how like 90% of the saw franchise is like being an addict is bad get saw trapped and suddenly saw 6 is like “the systems of capitalism we live in promote dishonesty and immorality because exploiting people for money is easier than being honest” with a side of “im john Kramer and you fucked me over” my favorite switch up ever. It also has the added benefit of the gallows trap where jigsaw just bullies that young guy for not having any friends, I love that one. The oxygen crusher too…man that was evil and I would die immediately (<- asthmatic) so i can like. Feel that one everytime I watch the movie

I always say the only franchise I support is saw because. Well I think they are fun. I really do hope we finish Hoffman’s story and I hope they continue the tradition of showing “the younger version of himself” by smacking on a backwards baseball hat.

#movie talk is so fun!!#ask

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witchcraftandburialdirt · 9 months ago

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♡ hi robibi ( but what if also abel )

✧ ── 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 ♡ 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄'𝐒 𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍

── I don't think its any bit of a surprise how strongly Robin feels towards Evelynn, she is one of the strongest relationships he has (and one of, if not the first genuine relationship he had); and if we know anything about Robin its that once he loves you he will blot out the sun if it would you happy. This was a short, but very intense burst in their original meeting but it really gets to flow out in modern verse. Robin constantly feels that he and Evelynn were destined to meet and he has a strong sense of nostalgia from her; the brief time he had with her in his first life meant that much to him. When he has an issue she is the first person he turns to for advice and help, and he is present for every moment in her life - good or bad. Robin authentically cares about her and pours so much of himself into keeping her busy life in order and keeping things running smoothly. She is his best friend, his confidante, and someone he knows he'll meet over and over again - they're just that stitched together.

── Abel's relationship with Evelynn is a bit more complex considering theyre both demons and the fact that Abel suffers from being unable to truly feel anything beyond psuedo-emotions. However the dull emotions he can feel are actually quite positive in regards to Evelynn despite their constant bickering and arguments; Abel is quite fond of her. It definitely helps that the emotions they feed on are wildly different so they never have territory wars - but also these two have known eachother for so long (and can only really relate to one another) that a nature sense of loyalty and trust sort of built itself between them. He will act like he feels nothing towards her and laugh at her failures, but at the end of the day these two still garner some type of care for eachother; perhaps a sort of affection that humans aren't capable of understanding - but it exists nonetheless.

#♡ meme #ℝ𝕆𝔹𝕀ℕ 𝔸. 𝔹��𝕌𝔻𝔼𝕃𝔸𝕀ℝ𝔼 ... 【 ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ'ꜱ ᴀᴅᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛᴇ 】#𝔸𝔹𝔼𝕃 … 【 ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʙʏꜱꜱᴀʟ ᴄᴀʟʟ 】#mun speaks #verse: modern #agonizedembrace #han dont look at me #i love these guys so much

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fellamarsh · 1 year ago

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18, 23, 27!

Hello lovely anon! Thank you for your submission to the Fell A Marsh Memorial OC Ask Zone. Apologies for my lateness getting back to you; I saw this ask and was very excited for it, but then I went to sleep and forgot it existed.

I'm mostly going to answer these for characters from Hierarchy of the Unseen since it comes out tomorrow (!!!) but I'll probably throw in a couple other characters too.

18. which ocs will bend the rules as much as possible without breaking them? which do it to get what they want, and which do it just for spite?

Bending the rules as much as possible without breaking them is very Kor, specifically when he's still part of Mant's legion. His whole deal is he does not want to have to work any more than possible, but he also doesn't want to get in trouble (the consequences would be very bad for his continued existence). And while he mostly does this to get what he wants, there's definitely an element of spite to it. The demons believe that their god sent them to torture humans as punishment for some transgression in the spiritual realm, and Kor very much does not buy into this - he hates the gods (and/or does not believe in them) and the vampires that carry out their supposed will, and does whatever he can to not go along with them.

23. which ocs have the most book intelligence? which have the least?

In HotU, Mant is maybe the one with the most book intelligence - Mitzli definitely has some practical training as a demon hunter but I don't know that they've read a lot, while Kor actually struggles with reading (he hasn't gotten to do much of it in his life). One of the things that set Mant apart from the other vampires are his many books; Kor catches him reading or writing multiple times in the book.

Even if he had the chance to do so, I don't know that Kor would read much; if he thought he could find some interesting secrets or something immediately useful in a book he'd probably skim through it, but otherwise I don't think he'd be interested. He has things to do. Also he is very stupid.

Being able and willing to read isn't necessarily what I would consider "book intelligence", though - so stepping outside of HotU, Fae (from Both Sides of the Moon) is by far the (major) character I have with the most education. He went to magic school and managed to graduate despite not having any magical talent himself, and (minor BSOTM spoilers) he's able to puzzle out the workings of some very ancient vampiric technology in... less than ideal circumstances. He's also very stupid in his own special way (all of my characters are lol) but he's definitely book smart! There's arguably another character in BSOTM who's smarter but they aren't in much of the story (though they're very important) and their existence is kind of a huge spoiler so. I will not be discussing them further lol

27. which ocs put lots of care into their physical appearance? which ocs could not care less?

This is a great question for HotU because I think both Mitzli and Kor care a lot about their physical appearance but in wildly different ways. Kor is a shapeshifter, so he's put lots of thought into how he looks as a rule, but he also has a sort of go-to human form (who he often names Linna) that he's refined over the years, and is his preferred presentation among humans. The demons are kind of gender essentialists, so Kor keeps himself masculine around them in order to not get misgendered, but he loves to play around with his gender expression when he's among humans. He's also very full of himself and thinks he's very attractive; I think if he somehow managed to get like, stuck in a form he considers less than ideal he would immediately throw the world's biggest, babiest, most pathetic tantrum.

Mitzli cares about their appearance in general a lot less than Kor, but they do put a lot of thought into how other humans perceive them. They're half-vampire and have a bit of a guilt complex going on, so they refuse to disguise their vampiric traits, mostly their red eyes; but they're in a position where they're meeting lots of new people and need to gain their trust. As such they are very careful about wearing their demon hunter uniform around people, and consider what sorts of expressions to use and how to speak when they're entering new villages, to the point that they often rehearse their own introduction on their way there.

Aaaanyway thanks again for the ask mysterious anon!!

#ask game #writeblr #hierarchy of the unseen #both sides of the moon #answered

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agender-alien · 5 months ago

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yeah i agree. i think this is one of the things people will take at face value while reading fire and blood, despite the unreliable narrators.

Healena is one of the very few female characters that (for the most part) isn’t demonized by the men who re-write history to fit the ideals of westerosi society. The Measters who tell the dance of the dragons in the books are obviously biased to the greens, so it makes sense they would take the “green queen” and try to portray her as innocent and gentle as possible, because that fits the standards for women in Westeros and would potentially make her seem more sympathetic then Rheanyra who is portrayed as differing in many areas then the “ideal” feminine archetype.

Healena was probably a generally gentle and kind person we don’t have much reason to think her personality was wildly different, but any anger/frustration/grief expressed in the “unfeminine” way was written out of history. I think it’s pretty much impossible to go through what she did and not be angry/bitter/frustrated at all.

Even readers who don’t take fire and blood at face value will often forget that it’s not just biased against one party, but nearly everything we see has been changed to fit the societal ideas of Westeros, a deeply sexist and patriarchal society.

The show i hoped wouldn’t lean into the “soft uwu bean” thing to heavily. It seems they aren’t showing her as expressing the “perfect” archetype of grief, while they aren’t showing her being angry or frustrated either. In the show it’s clear she isn’t all there, and is pretty heavily dissociating, which given everything we have been shown about her so far makes sense for her character. But i do hope we get to see her express some sort of frustration she would have.

Ok so I’m not trying to call anyone out or insinuate things but I really don’t like it when people have “oh my god poor helaena she doesn’t want to be at the funeral she doesn’t want to hurt team black her trauma is being exploited by her evil bitch mother and brother uwu” takes.

Because yes, Helaena is a much kinder and gentler person than most of the Greens. Yes, she was barely involved in the war. But, believe it or not, she is actually capable of independent thought and comprehension beyond being “the nice one.”

She watched her son be killed in front of her. Her daughter threatened with rape. Her other son told that she wants him dead. All because of her sister and uncle, people that have no war with her or her children, people that only two weeks ago were enjoying her company at dinner. You’re telling me that she feels no anger or resentment towards these people? At all? That nowhere, nowhere in the corner of her mind, nowhere does she want the people of King’s Landing to understand their brutality?

Look I know that people already think that autistic people are sweet little innocent uwu small beans who could never feel a negative emotion towards anyone in their life and who are incapable of comprehending anything as complex as politics and war, but this is getting ridiculous. And you know what? Maybe when the season comes out she will have been forced to go to the funeral, and I’ll eat my words. But for now, can we please not do this?

#helaena targaryen #hotd #Fuck the measters #house of the dragon #fire and blood

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axl-ul · 1 year ago

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The Flight of the Western Crane: Chapter Four

(A reupload/repost of my fic/dark retellingof Journey tot he West because the whole AO3 site, where I originally posted this, got taken down for now)

(General info about this fic/wip/retelling is here)

****

Cold breeze playing with thick fur woke him up. He opened his eyes. They were sore, heavy. His head was aching. The simian could feel his veins pumping wildly with each movement. The drought in his throat was beyond endurance. Monkey’s back hurt and his bones cracked as he dragged himself over the nearest remains of a table. The piece of furniture was covered in dark liquid and burnt by a good half. There were holes after some sort of a sharp object, most probably a knife. Somebody had to have been thrown on it as there were such dented areas that the blunt force almost broke the wood. Wukong carefully slid down the rough surface with thin fingers, his mind still foggy. He needed to find a jug of water. The sooner, the better. Last time he was this thirsty it was his junior…Bajie, Ol’ Sha and then…

Everything around him stopped.

“Shifu…“

Still squinting and coughing, he dashed through the smoke in the direction of his Master’s room. Not paying attention to the fact that a potential danger could still lurk behind a corner, the Monkey King burst in. Nobody was there. No Shifu, no Sha Seng, no Daizi. Only a broken bed and tattered curtains remained after the catastrophic events of the previous night. The inn wasn’t completely burnt down but the damage was done to a good third of the place. This room was, sadly, a part of it.

Fists clenched so hard the knuckles turned white. Wukong sank to the floor covered in a thin layer of ash. The burning itching woke up under the eye sockets. The wound from the venom started fully healing. Despite the process not being the most pleasant one, it could never compare to the hollowness that resided inside. The mightiest king of all demons and yet he was just a fool in torn trousers. Why did he listen to Bajie? Daizi had never had any good ideas to begin with. The monkey should have gone to bed like Ol’ Sha. After all, Sha Seng hadn’t ever possessed the same strength as his Senior. He only carried their luggage and helped occasionally. Wukong was the one protecting them. Then, why did he fail once again?

Bam! Wukong punched the wall beside him so hard he left behind a gaping hole with thousands of cracks around it. He was fed up with himself. The glorious Handsome Monkey King pitying himself?! What was it good for? A protector chosen by Bodhisattva Guanyin letting a simple rogue demon best him? He crossed oceans, achieved immortality and faced death more than once. During his youth some dared to call him a weakling. Those who tried it later paid for such insults dearly. Doesn’t matter who the person is. A demon, a human or a god. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven won’t ever succumb.

With painful moans the eldest disciple stood up and began his investigation.

The ceiling was caved-in in the middle. Through the hole the cold sunless morning invited thick fog. Its gaunt arms slithered down the hole by four low walls that were still standing. One of them, however, differed from the rest. A black smudge with golden brown edges emerged on it. In front of the scorched panel was the table beside which Wukong woke up. Before he had the chance to make his way towards his sniffing nose caught onto a gut-clenching mixture of soy sauce, sweat, urine, blood and mud. A squeaky sound spread around. Heavy thumps soon followed after which an unnerving silence came.

Certain it was no hinges or the wind, Wukong creeped over the departed door of the neighbouring kitchen. His eyes were met with a horrifying discovery. On the floor, there was the innkeeper lying in a puddle of red liquid. Next to him was his wife and their little son. The expression written on their features perfectly described the last moments of their lives. Their swollen faces, bare arms, necks, legs, it didn’t matter what part of the body Wukong closely observed. The snake bites were all over them. Breathing out for the last time, the throats of the family must have been filled with sobs and dreadful cries. The same venom which burnt Wukong’s face circulated in its victims’ veins. Creating an excruciating suffering, the torture resulted in the twisted contours.

He turned around. Though the stench from the corpses was undeniable the one he tried to track down came from a different direction. Bare feet stepped over the tragic find. He strode to the bead curtain and swiftly drew it back. In the darkness of the pantry the sobbing grandmother with the younger child in arms crouched in the corner. In the same moment, something massive rustled behind Wukong’s back.

“Aaargh!!!“ At the last second the monkey pilgrim dodged the long tines of a rake. A rotund person swished by the furry demon. Stretching out the slender arm without moving further aside, Wukong grabbed the attacker’s long ear.

“Nice circus, idiot…“

“Big Brother?!“ Bajie whimpered. Soon, the nine-toothed rake dropped down. Pigsy forgot everything about the painful squeeze and whooped with joy,“It’s you! I thought those snakes had returned. But no. It’s everyone’s favourite monkey!“

“Bajie, shut up!“ Wukong cut him off abruptly.

“Nah,“ the pig demon waved his hand with lighthearted laughter, seemingly completely forgetting the weight of the current situation, “Madam, you can come out. You’re safe, now.“

“I wouldn’t do that.“

“What’s wrong, brother?“ Pigsy wondered. Soon he realised what resided in the elder’s mind once the monkey motioned with his head towards the three corpses. The gloomy expression replaced the jolly gaze. His pig snout dropped.

“I doubt there are any more survivors, am I right?“

“Sadly yes. You are. We should bury them.“

At first, Wukong wanted to object. For him, all life must once flee and though the dead should rest in peace, those alive are more important. His Master needed him. He can’t waste time with rotting humans. But then, he remembered the teachings. Monks should spread compassion. He looked over the woman with her last family member. The boy tightly clenched onto her, not daring to gaze upon the scary-looking disciples. The image evoked something that’d been in a deep slumber inside. “I agree. Let’s go.“

Both brothers did as they promised. Around twenty to thirty graves grew from the soil in the yard in front of the house. During and after the ritual, not a sound was heard around the two men. Not a single leaf moved, not an early lark chittered.

“Bajie? When I was knocked out, did a candle fall to the side?“ Wukong asked while they walked away from the marked grounds.

“Sorry,“ the pig demon shook his head,“I can’t recall anything like that. Before you lash out, in my defence, I had slightly different concerns to take care of.“

To Bajie’s amazement the monkey demon kept his cool. The only thing he actually did was pat the former general’s back.“I know, brother.“

****

“What are you doing?“

The man with big ears cast a curious look over his shoulder. He saw his senior crouching by the table and delicately running fingers on the scorched remains. “Observing. Investigating. Do the same.“

Zhu Bajie snorted,“As if we were one of the officials…“

“Bajie, if we want to find Shifu, Ol’ Sha, the Princess and the Wolf Witch…“

Another snort,“Whoah, you title her properly all of a sudden?“

Sun Wukong sighed and paid no more attention to his brother. Instead, he focused on clues. Images of potential scenarios rushed inside his mind. Picture after picture. Still, it wasn’t enough.

There was a candle. Although the item was broken in half, it was fairly long and its wax nearly intact. The wick was in the same condition. Calmly, he crossed out the candle as the possible cause of the fire. To gather new resources the hairy fiend sniffed. A well-known floral scent came to him. The aroma tingled his sense and forced him to use his keen sight, as well, once he was sure he was on the right track.

Eyes lit in smouldering flames and the Monkey King entered the world of patterns so fantastic no ordinary human could ever imagine. The floor seemed to get into a flowing motion while the thirty to forty streaming ribbons marked the space with various spirals and figures of red and gold. Wukong stood up and followed the most prominent shape which happened to possess a feminine look.

Without facing his fellow disciple, the former warlord asked,“Bajie, will you do me a favour? Check the stables. Maybe Bai Long Ma ran away. Still there might be something useful.“

“On my way, Big Brother.“

“One last thing,“ he stopped Zhu Bajie while approaching the wall itself,“if the dragon-horse is alive and well, saddle him up. He’ll take the woman and the child back to the woodcutter’s shed once they wake up. Then, he’ll wait there with them.“

“Understood, Brother Wukong.“ The boar creature exitted the low building and left the monkey alone.

Wukong remained in the centre of absolute silence of the gloomy hall. He followed the tracks of Márgerdra’s remains. Her presence was still quite strong which allowed the fiend to easily detect details of the fight. It was her who collided with the surface of the thick wooden board. She might have been strong and swift. But it was no match for the attackers who easily outnumbered her. They restrained her the same way they managed with Wukong. In contrast to him, she wasn’t poisoned and still maintained her powers. For someone with such a stubborn and proud nature as herself a quick retribution was inevitable. A blinding lightning had to be followed by a bursting fire. At least, he based such deduction on the witch’s much earlier attempt to gather enough strength for the spell. The fact that several of the attackers’ imprints dispersed in various directions seemed to confirm the theory. Others collapsed on the spot. Which, of course, had downsides, as well.

To the Sage’s annoyance, too much foreign energy concentrated around his clue and consumed it. Frustrated, he started observing the wall once more. There he found something peculiar. Deep grooves were carved in. As if someone lost their balance and tried to avoid the hard fall. Wukong thought of the second possibility. The person was desperately trying to escape the grasp of danger. Because they didn’t have a weapon the poor soul used what was left and most natural to them. Claws. The marks they left behind were remarkably long. Wukong carefully caressed them with his finger pads. Snakes and claws didn’t go hand in hand quite well. They had daggers with needle-like ends. Not to mention their infamous venomous teeth. Maybe these weapons were responsible. On the other hand, there were five of them right next to each other. At the same time the marks were quite thick in comparison…

Weapon. A word which became another kick for Sun Wukong.

His cudgel. He dropped it last night. Nervously reaching to his right ear clawed fingers didn’t touch the cold metal a single time. Panic rushed all over his body like a deadly fever.

Where is it? His powerpole. His Ruyi Jingu Bang! His dearest weapon which had been accompanying him for so long.

A frantic look quickly grew into a furious flame. Backing away from his findings he tried to take a bigger picture when he tripped over. Agilely rolling to the side to soften his unfortunate fall a golden glow caught his attention. There it was covered in ashes and a silk veil. Rich floral embroidery painted itself over the cloth. The luxury, partially covered in the dried mud, was surely in the possession of the Lady Wolf Witch. It was the very same blue-grey piece of fabric decorated with red peonies and magnolia flowers which lured out Wukong seconds before the meeting with the woman.

He carefully picked it up. Caressing it with a thumb a memory flowed around like waves washing the shore. Tall grass brushed against the pink cheek. Later on, with equal loveliness the strange woman put a hand on the little princess’ forehead.

‘I’ll make sure you’re safe…’ Why didn’t he say it outloud?

A loud yell made its way inside the ruined inn,“Big Brother! Come here! You better see this!“

“On my way!“ The Sage dusted down both himself and the found cloth and rushed outside. Pigsy’s calling navigated him to the stables where the pig was reviving the knocked out stallion. Beside them there was an unmoving body lying flat on its stomach covered in a large cape. It was soaked wet in blood just like the hay around. Similar to the family Wukong found earlier the fluid also seemed to begin drying up.

“Is that it?“

“Do you see anything else mildly interesting?“ Bajie responded with a snarky undertone in his voice.

The demon with a fiery gaze squatted beside and turned the dead over. His decision made the fabric move aside and reveal a feral face with bulging yellow eyes.

“A wolf demon. Seems like your pack didn’t appreciate you much,“ the hand in a yellow sleeve uncovered the wound on the wolf’s neck. Wukong eyed both his right and left yet something still bugged his mind. Picking up the deceased’s paw he closely observed it.

Pigsy couldn’t help but curiously raise his gaze and ask,“Big Bro, what are you doing? Why are you murmuring under your nose?“

“The claws. There were wolf claws on the wall inside the inn.“

“So what?“

“Idiot! I’m looking for their owner.“

“Well, you can lie your head to rest. The culprit’s here. But I doubt he’s gonna tell you where his accomplices took Shifu.“

“It wasn’t him.“

Bajie wasn’t sure whether it was the sudden cold in Wukong’s voice or the certainty in his words which drew out a confused stutter,“W-What? What do you m-mean?“

Seeing Bai Long Ma slowly coming back to senses the Monkey King waved for Bajie to come nearer. “Look, The blood’s nearly as old as the one around the corpses inside. He either died before or shortly after the attack. There’s no way he got that far inside the building and scratched a wall. Now this - he’s got two of his fingers missing. There were five claw marks I found. Not only that. These are much larger.“

“Are you sure? Listen, I know your sight is beyond belief. But yesterday one of those fiends wounded your eyes. Maybe it’s still deceiving your true senses…“

“No, Bajie. Go inside and check them. Once you’re done you can only agree with me that it wasn’t him. Again, the wolf was either killed before or after the attack. I believe in the first option. I recall smelling fresh blood from the snake fiend.“ Wukong being logical was nothing new to his junior. After all, they’d travelled for a long time together and he was a witness to many occasions on which the Great Sage showed his quick thinking despite the usual initial impression. Contrary, the former general hadn’t seen the monkey be so collected in a long time. His tail rested on his sash and no longer painted chaotic drawings in the air. Shoulders visibly raised only occasionally.

The extraordinary tranquillity woke up the boar’s slumbering trust,“Who do you think it was, then?“

With an empty expression the elder lied,“Not sure.“ Soon he added,“But I guess that if we manage to find them we’ll find Shifu and Ol’ Sha, as well.“

The monkey looked over his shoulder back to Ao Lie who in the meanwhile pulled his miserable body together. “Brother, saddle Bai Long Ma. He’s gonna take the woman and the child to the woodcutter as quickly as possible.“

“What about us? What’s our destination?“ Pigsy rushed behind Wukong. They stopped and looked forward. The duo found themselves in front of the image of colossuses. The high peaks seemed to have reached the celestial arch aeons ago. Yet, countless black dots didn’t escape the grasp of a watchful pair of brown eyes. They were caves. And they were staring back at Wukong, equally fearlessly and impudently.

In response, the golden-black pole hit the ground. Long tail took out the damaged veil. It brought the item up to the monkey’s nose. Wukong sniffed and picked up the trail. “The mountains.“

****

When Mei woke up with an atrocious headache her protector was already crouching by the cell bars. Although the princess’ chapped lips quivered and her chest clenched tightly her swollen eyes were the reason behind her miserable expression.

“Márgerdra, where…where are we?“ The painful whimper was all the young lady could gather her strength for.

Márgerdra’s frustrated growl stopped her nearly immediately. A silver-plated wooden hairpin flew across the cell. The flight ended with a distinct clinging as the item collided with the stone. “Foremother’s bones! This is supposed to work every time!“ Wolf Witch sank down, yellow waves from the undone bun flooded the floor. She wrapped her hands around her knees. Otherwise striking the world with her radiant beauty, the magnolia was in her wilt. Pink cheeks withered away. The youthful spark hid itself behind the dark curtain.

The Princess of the Great Tiger Kingdom crawled closer. She leaned against the woman’s shoulder. “Why are you trying to open the door with a hairpin? Can’t you use your magic instead?“

“They’re going to notice some kind of usage. Snakes are particularly good at this.“

“They’re just a bunch of thugs. I mean, they’re pretty disgusting and sleazy. But that’s all. Just simple thugs.“

“That’s how they present themselves. But I’m not so sure.“

“What do you mean? What’s going on?“

Blue eyes flashed in the gloom. They looked over the room as Márgerdra scented the air. “Something around here stinks. And it’s not the dead rat in the corner.“

They sat in the lingering silence for a while. Only the two of them in the unknown room. Wet walls seemed to come closer to them with each breath. Their steps were slow yet sure. Those massive bodies with deep scars are going to crush two women. They’re going to break their bones, their skulls, they’ll make sure two helpless bodies will merge with them for the rest of eternity. No-one’s going to discover the little secret of the cave. The sleeping mountain giant will collapse and nobody will bat an eye.

Only the malicious dripping of water accompanied Márgerdra and Mei. The distant murmur thrummed in their ears. Mei looked to her right. No matter how much the sole torch in the narrow corridor tried to deter the proceeding shadows. The same way they ate the rat alive, those hungry beasts of dread and hopelessness were going to cut the prisoners’ throats, too. It was only a matter of time until they’d break even the Wolf Witch herself or the Tiger Princess. After all, Tripitaka ended up in their claws, as well.

When Mei and Márgerdra started feeling like sleeping again a sharp metallic noise brought them back.

Keys and boots approached their destination rather quickly. The prisoners didn’t even manage to take a breath when a scaly bald head shot in the gap of the cell bars. The forked tongue flickered. Soon, half a dozen dark figures emerged behind the snake with a low hissing.

The snake motioned to his minion and the door opened widely at once. A tall man in light clothing was thrown inside. He was covered in bruises. “Venerable monk!“ Mei couldn’t contain herself and knelt beside him. Although weak, there was a strong hint of a great willpower and determination once he grasped her hand.

The snake almost tilted his head in laughter. Márgerdra, however, protectively stood in front of the couple,“Nice to see you being all easy-going. Say, where did your bravery go when you met Sun Wukong? To your pants?“

“Sorry. Didn’t catch that. Say it again.“

“Dumb, deaf and a coward. What a nice combination. That’s quite rare these days.“

“Coming from a filth who needed a monkey to fight for her.“

Suddenly, Mei shouted at the demon,“Hold your tongue, you brute! You’re speaking with the royal protector Lady Wolf Witch. Not to mention you deserve spanking for the heinous beating of venerable Tang Sanzang.“

The fiend narrowed his eyes. The slit in his pupil was barely discernible. “Spanking?“ Smiling vindictively, he stretched out the long arm, whip hanging in between fingers. “Like with this?“

Márgerdra’s pupils dilated. “You wouldn’t dare…“

“Would I, witch? I’m the lord of this cave. Not you,“ hand with Márgerdra’s whip pointed at the young girl and the wounded monk and in a low and malicious voice he added,“nor them.“

As fast as a lightning, the biting tail slashed. Sanzang and Mei screamed in horror of the upcoming blow. They shut their eyelids and waited. But nothing came. The witch caught the tip with her bare hand. The cut was deep, sending striking pain up and making the woman shiver. Yet, she didn’t loosen the grip. In fact, the zeal only rose from the depth of her soul. Lightnings sent from her petrifying gaze shot her opponents as if she had brought back the thunderstorm from the previous night. Contrary, her angelic voice turned into an icy threat. “Only over my dead body.“

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t aiming at them.“

The demon pulled the whip and sent the witch flying into the nearest wall. Two snake fiends surrounded Márgerdra and pinned her against the cold rock. Similar process was done to the monk and the princess who they separated into opposite corners.

The rogue stepped in the direction of Mei and proclaimed,“Since there was barely any mention of you two in my deal I guess it’s my time to shine.“ Hunger mirrored in his face, tongue licked thin lips. His hand slid down as he undid the knot on his trousers. Two of his vipers stripped down Mei’s skirt and pants thus revealing a good portion of her legs. The girl started shaking uncontrollably and cried, the monk prayed and vainly bargained with the leader.

“Sir, please! Have some sense!“ Sanzang cried his eyes out,“This doesn't lead anywhere! She’s an innocent soul!“ Otherwise pleasantly warm voice became croaky and wobbly. Not one of the kidnappers listened to the begging.

The scaly figure knelt down. When his henchman failed to restrain the black-haired girl the leader hissed and forcefully spread her legs. Poor soul whimpered and sobbed. Tears poured down her swollen cheeks. Her fists clenched hard and her bare legs were prepared to kick in any direction when given a chance. Alas, slim limbs only trembled as soon as the ice cold fingers began sliding up and down and massaging the sensitive areas. The snake skin was so rough that the foreign pressure not only bruised the soft skin but also scratched her badly.

“Leave her alone, you filthy bastard! You hear me?! I swear I’ll pluck your eyes out and feed you to vultures! Not even your mother will recognise you once I’ll get my hands on you!“ The witch shrieked for the last time it shook the stone skeleton.

The shrill sent shivers down everybody’s spine. “Fine. Since you’re asking for so much attention I better give some. I can have the younger one next time, anyway. Or is anyone else here interested in this…exoticism?“ The treacherous gang leader spread his arms in a welcoming gesture and patiently waited. It didn’t take long for the biggest of his minions to step out.

The volunteer resembled his master too much. His manners, the confidence in his steps, everything about him caused a tremor inside Márgedra’s chest. Unmistakable stabbing pain built up in her throat just as he offered a ravenous stare the moment he tore open her dark blue vest. Her shallow breaths ceased to be. A single sweatdrop streamed by the ear down. Despite a great shadow enveloping her the witch swallowed hard. Keeping her face straight, her long spine leaned back unnaturally calmly.

“Step aside, Dong. I want to see the quality I’m about to receive,“ the rogue demon intended to say out loud. However, his voice muffled in the middle of the sentence. Instead of cobalt sparks an endless abyss yawned within the flat expression.

What followed surprised everyone including the unmoving Mei and frozen Sanzang.

A smile drew on the angelic face,“Finally you’re showing me you can be a man. Why don’t you come closer, then?“

“W-what?“

“I demand,“ she continued in a honeyed voice,“that you come closer. I know what your heart desires the most.“ The witch let a few strands fall over her left eye.

At first, the snake refused to believe his own ears. How can she offer herself this easily? It hasn’t been a minute ago when she yelled as if she had been possessed.

Looking closer and observing her naked abdomen and breasts wrapped only in a thin tight cloth he lost himself and walked over. The provocatively stuck out chin was all too tempting for the gang leader. The fiend caressed her soft frame as soon as his head fell in the curve of her neck. Needily, he planted several rough kisses there.

“Lady Wolf Wi-“ Sanzang didn’t manage to finish.

A blood-freezing yell ruptured eardrums of everyone present. In front of the young Buddhist, the fiend’s body uncontrollably twitched in excruciating pain. After several more seconds, which felt like an eternity, he collapsed to his knees. Blast of slurs flooded the cell while the leader held onto his neck. The torso shook fiercely and angry hissing seemed to have poisoned the air itself apart from the spat venom.

Sanzang audibly gasped upon the horrifying view. A wrathful look shot from the witch whose mouth and chin were smeared with the reptile’s dark blood. As if it weren’t enough for the Buddhist’s fragile heart the Wolf Witch spat something pinkish over the suffering demon. Though she might’ve been enraged beyond belief, a satisfied expression replaced the hellish fumes.

“Dong! Dong!!!“

The henchman hesitated before carefully approaching. Crouching figure pulled his master aside before the rest could jump in. Of course, the punishment was inevitable.

One, two, three mighty punches landed into Márgerdra’s stomach until she vomited. Her attack had its lasting effects and no other restrictions were undertaken.

Soon, the kidnappers took away and left the locked trio alone. A miserable void filled them.

“I…I’m sorry, Your Highness, Venerable Tripitaka. That…I didn’t do more. I should have…“

A body dragged across the floor and a bruised face of Sanzang drew near. “You’ve done more than enough. No need to apologise for anything, loyal advisor.“ Although the Tripitaka was still shaken by these events it couldn’t be denied the witch acted in self-defence. So, he partially unwillingly turned blind eye to her ferocity.

He helped her to stand up and walk over.. As soon as the women met he threw a layer of his robes over them.

“Venerable monk, what about you? It’s cold here. Surely you’ll be freezing.“

Tranquillity and compassion resonated within the man.“Don’t worry about me. I’ve been on a journey for several years now. Living in nature under the sky…this is nothing.“

Márgerdra insisted,“I mean it. Did you forget when I mentioned I come from the land of ice and snow?“

“Truly, do not worry about my well-being.“

“Venerable monk, please, get under with Her Highness. You’re just a human…“

“And you aren’t?“ Sanzang offered a sincere smile.

Strangely, the witch froze on the spot. For a moment, she resembled a statue. Quickly standing up, her hands clutched the damaged jacket as tight to the skin as it was possible. Urging the monk she added,“That’s enough. Don’t be childish…“

For the first time, the gentle girl spoke up,“Márgerdra…thank you so much.“ Mei took her protector’s hanging hand in hers,“but you should be under the jacket with us, you silly.“

“There’s enough room just for two, Mei.“

“You sure?“ A shy smile replaced the dried out tears.

“My Lady, please,“ sitting Sanzang pleaded. No matter how much the young couple offered an aid the advisor was simply too strong-minded for them.

Sanzang was first to doze off. On the other hand, Mei couldn’t even find a good enough position to begin with. Though, the uncomfortable stone was the last on her list of worries.

“Márgerdra…I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger…“ she whispered after a while.

“What? What are you talking about, little tiger?“

“You stood up to him. Me? I just cried again…Like a stupid, foolish child that I am-“

“Don’t you ever say this again, little tiger. I’ve already told you - you’re strong. You’ve always been. And you’ll continue to be. You have the spark, that spirit millions of warriors dream about,“ Márgerdra took the round face in her hands. “They dream yet they don’t dare to wake up and face reality. That’s why you’ve achieved so much. That you faint a little bit more often than others? No. That’s not childish. If only it shows how pure your soul is. How much you value life itself. The ruler with no respect for the living is no ruler at all. Such brings only death and doom. The never-ending winter. You, on the other hand, you are going to bring the spring. And I’m so proud of you. Even today. Because you actually told the fiend the right thing. You showed him his reflection. He hurt the defenceless. While my little tiger roared and didn’t allow for the injustice to simply fly away…Now come here, my little plum.“ Márgerdra soothed the sobbing Mei,“I love you, alright?“ With a kiss on her forehead the protector tucked the large cloth under the princess’ chin.

“Thanks, Márgerdra,“ Mei beamed at her, the bright taking over the gloom. “One day, when I have children of my own, I’ll make sure I’ll be just as a good mother to them as you’re to me.“ Soft silence slowly washed the cold stone walls. Then, the plum girl looked over the cell door with a growing fear. Under the large jacket, she subconsciously crossed her legs.

“Rest while you can, Mei. You need to gather some strength. Soon,“ blue eyes shot a mistrustful look behind during a short pause,“we may get out. Now, go to sleep. I’ll be on the watch.“

Before moving onward she added with a wink,“If anyone ever gets close to you again I’ll bite their head off,“ the Wolf Witch chattered with her teeth.

At last, a ringing chuckle escaped from the Tiger Princess. “Wow, you really deserve the title of ‘Wolf’ Witch.“ The moment she ended her amused remark the princess entered the land of dreams.

Márgerdra sat down and faced the dark corridor. The single torch got significantly weaker. Yet, miraculously, it was still burning and offering a little light. She smiled under her nose,“Yeah. ‘Wolf’ Witch…“

****

“So? Found anything?“ Wukong brushed off a thick layer of dust and tiny pebbles. He turned to arriving Zhu Bajie who was soaked wet and covered in strange roots and leaves. A large bulge was emerging on his snout.

“Yes! My boot in your a-“

“Alright. Idiot got tricked and finally washed himself. Check,“ Wukong casually threw Ruyi Jingu Bang over his shoulder and continued on his way upwards.

The first half of their tracking could be described as pretty easy. Trace of kidnappers and their victims was still somewhat fresh and thus strong. The further up the mountain they went and the more caves there appeared, the more confusing the mountainous labyrinth became. The hardship showed on both demons equally terribly - Bajie not only wailed, he started to throw pebbles and rocks into every darned tree and bush he saw. In addition to Pigsy’s anger, Wukong’s tail twitched uncontrollably while he pursed his rough lips. Mentally, the simian was counting down and waiting for a moment to smash Bajie over his head.

Thankfully, the duo decided to sit down for a while before reaching the final cave. The pig demon stretched his neck and shoulders. Bones cracked and he felt as light as a feather, again.

“Still thinking about her?“

“About who, idiot? If you want to talk nonsense, be more specific.“

“Wolf Witch. She’s getting onto you, isn’t she?“ Bajie smirked.

Wukong rolled his eyes before snorting,“As if. The only thing she's getting onto is my nerves. So are you.“ He took out the veil and observed every detail for the hundredth time that day. “What are you hiding, blondie? Why are you sealing yourself away?“

“Did you say something?“

“No.“

“C’mon. Be a brother and talk to me.“ Simultaneously, Pigsy noticed the cloth piece in the monkey’s palm,“You’ve seen it already…“

“I know. But it seems like there’s more to it. Or rather to those damned claws…“

“Brother,“ Bajie hugged his senior amicably around his shoulders,“the wolf demon must’ve gotten inside. Somehow. Then he fought you and maybe the witch, too. She wounded him. He died. The end.“

“That’s not it. The disgusting fleabag had his throat sliced. He died before. The size doesn’t match, either. And the surroundings…“ A pleasant sweet, slightly citrus, fragrance filled his nostrils.

“You still think it was her?“

“I’ll prove it.“

The boar snorted once again in amusement,“Good luck with evidence, then.“

He intended to ascend to higher parts of the peaks. After a few steps he paused and faced the monkey once more,“You really think she’s not just a human witch?“

Answer was dry and anticipated as usual,“Yes.“

“So what is she? Why does the princess keep her close?“

The trickster thought hard. An image of their first fight and Márgerdra’s despair to keep Mei as far from the danger as possible struck him. “I’m not sure.“

“A fairy? Couldn’t she be that one? ‘Cause if she’s reporting to Heaven…“

“No. She works on her own,“ Wukong stepped out and resumed the search after their Master.

“Plus, she’s smarter than that. At least I hope so.“

Demons ascended higher and higher. Initially, Zhu Bajie thought they entered the Heavens and they were going to get struck by lightning for the insolence. Clasping his big ears and his rake, he followed Sun Wukong close behind. Fog was no more promenading in the web of mountain paths and needle thin passages. However, the earth’s spine curved and splitted in various places. So two disciples now wandered around aimlessly. Everything was grey and red but no entrance of a cave arrived to greet them. Only vultures watched them warily far from the cloudless sky where the heavenly wheel was getting back to its summer prime.

No matter how hard he wanted to hold his tongue, a taunting question forced its way out,“By the way, a ‘fleabag’, hm? Ain’t you yourself kinda hairy, Big Bro?“

It nearly took one dreadful look over the shoulder to silence the pig. This time, Bajie remained interestingly obstinate. “What? You wouldn’t scratch that cute furry belly?“

“Shut up, Daizi.“

“Say, Brother, a wolf, a dog - they’re all so adorable when they give those big puppy eyes,“Bajie made sure to highlight every word spoken,“when they tilt their heads to the side and their ears just, y’know, follow? Big plus if their paw’s lifted. They look so dumb but cute,“ Bajie softened his voice until it became unnaturally thin.

“I said shut up. Those disgusting beasts aren’t at all ‘adorable’. One look away and they gut you out with their teeth and claws. Dogs, wolves…they’re even worse than cats. Or even more than foxes and snakes combined.“ He waited for Bajie to catch up when he pressed him against the nearest rock and spitefully explained,“First, they select the weakest one of the group. The sickest, the youngest, the fattest. Simply the one who’s got the minimal chance to escape the inevitable. When they choose their target those beasts create enough chaos to get that idiotic victim. You, as the prey, don’t want to be eaten, understandably. So what are you going to do? You either run until you’re so tired of the endless chase that your legs give out and those ‘adorable’ monsters get you and tear you apart. Or you can fight. You fight and fight and fight. But you know what?“ His husky voice lowered. The rock formation crumbled under his fingers clawing into it.

Firstly, Pigsy didn’t want to continue in Wukong’s terrifying game. In the end, the burning look made him give in. “W-What, B-Big Brother?“

“It’s all up for nothing. You’re cornered. The whole pack surrounds you and you have no more space where you can put up a good and fair fight. You kick, you whimper, you try to shake those fleabags away. And then, there always must be that one certain single bastard who not only bites and scratches you like the others…“

“Is it the one that bites into your neck?“ the junior asked. His body was completely shivering.

“No. This one’s much worse. It’s the one that enjoys the hunt all too much. The wolf, or a dog - all are just the same savages, jumps and bites into your leg. The pain makes you howl. You feel your bones being crushed. You feel how your strength is leaving you. But you can do nothing. You’re completely restrained, lying on the ground so the next bastard can sink his teeth into your throat and finish you off. So next time you want to scratch a stray cat or a dog, think of it.“

Furious Wukong bounced back and eyed Bajie who in return was left speechless. After gathering some courage, an even bolder remark slipped from him,“Just admit you’re afraid of dogs. Am I right? You have no problem with any other animals…“

“...cats, too. Also bats and…“

“Nope. You’re trying to be all scary and stuff,“ Bajie laughed in Wukong’s twitching face,“but in the end your shin was chewed on by a mere puppy. That’s what you’ve been just addressing.“

“You got some nerves, Brother Bajie, don’t you?!“ the monkey clawed onto the pig demon’s ear until the lobe turned white. “Since you’re in such a good mood, say, what was in that potion that got me poisoned and where did you get it?“

Pigsy’s laments stopped. A strange bird cawed in the distance.

“Answer me, idiot. Where did you get the flask and why did you give it to me?“

Wukong’s menacing tone had its effect. Tiny eyes widened. Instead of a coherent reply, a puzzled stammering only added insult to injury,“I-I don’t know. I just happen-ned to find it one night. When we were a-at the woodcutter’s. Thought to myself m-maybe Ol’ Sha l-lost some of our medicine. I wanted to return it. Really. But it looked…I don’t know…not like the usual sort of potion. M-more l-like a confidence booster-“

“How did you arrive at that conclusion?!“

“Only Ol’ Sha carries our luggage. He’s the shiest of us, too. Maybe he bought some to aid himself a b-bit. When I saw how mis-miserable you became upon angering Shifu I wanted to h-help…“

The Monkey King barked back,“Or to entertain yourself, huh?“

“No! I swear! Although, looking back, something weird occurred. Like something has stung or bitten me…“ He started pressing onto the monkey’s back and showing the fat fist into the painted face.

The massive weight created too much impact and the Sage almost lost his balance. Annoyed, he wished for the situation to pass as quickly as possible. “Fine! Shut up and get on with it! Let’s say I believe you and your idiotic mouth that you poisoned me by accident while you yourself got poisoned. Now keep your eyes open. I think I can smell Shifu. But…“

Bajie intended to demand the rest of the unfinished sentence. However, a rustling and crumbling rocky path made the boar turn around and attack whatever made its way towards the two disciples. A pig squeal and a warrior yell bounced against the tall peaks meanwhile the cudgel and rake rose up.

Sprinting towards the danger, the men stroke. Just by a hair before terrible blows landed hands gnawing on the weapons stopped. In front of them, there was good old Sha Wujing. Bare feet were covered in bulges and bruises, a large cut on top of his head was of the same colour as his beard. Both his knee-length trousers and green vest were tattered and in need of severe repair. Although the look at him was lamentable Friar Sand limped further towards his found brothers. Being only an arm’s length away he decided to ditch away the risk and threw himself forward. His seniors caught him with a worry in their eyes. On the other hand, all three of them couldn’t contain themselves.

“Ol’s Sha!“ Wukong and Bajie yelled out happily.

“Big Brother Monkey! Brother Pigsy!“ Wujing hugged them tightly. “Quickly! Let’s hide here before they find us.“

“What are you talking about, Sha Seng?“

“Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything.“

Right after they hid a group of seven viper demons passed around. Snakes were yelling and tracking the runaway. The mountain trembled under their feet and the ringing of spears and swords deafened the surrounding area. Only those vultures curiously looked down on them. Glass eyes didn’t miss a single detail of the havoc below. When the kidnappers of the Mysterious White Cloud Cave disappeared, Wujing launched a great monologue and described his own escape and everything that happened in the Sage’s absence. Carefully listening to his lucky junior a plan formed in the monkey’s head. The mist in front of his eyes was beginning to dissolve and the brightness of the summer sun shone through. Not one of the three demon disciples noticed they became new targets for the vulture flock which observed them. Soon, the flock lost interest and returned to the corpse of a crane. It was time to continue in their feeding. After all, the heat’s approaching and the food in the mountains is running thin.

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Taglist (let me know if you'd like to be added): @vanessaroades-author @rubywrite @aohendo @rbbess110 @jgmartin @outpost51

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List of chapters:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Epilogue

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sillygoofyqueer · 1 month ago

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MORE WEI QINGWEI YAPPING BECAUSE YOU GUYS SEEMED TO ENJOY IT BEFORE!!!!!!!

So, I promised yapping about how Wei Qingwei got his scars (amongst other things), and I did some thinking in Sociology (always seem to do things in Sociology lmao)!

Wei Qingwei has scars all over his body, from training with real swords that he shouldn't have had at his age (previous Wan Jian peak lord was also extremely enthusiastic about swords - the bane of the previous Qian Cao peak lord's existence). I like to think that he n Liu Qingge have been friends since head disciples - Liu Qingge always needed more weapons because they all broke, and Wei Qingwei was always the first to volunteer his time to make them on top of all of his other duties. Because they're friends, they always had scuffles n shit, meaning more scars; Liu Qingge obviously has a more aggressive fighting style even without weapons, whereas I think WJP would definitely have more of a weapons based fighting style that he wouldn't deploy with Liu Qingge.

He also gets scars from missions - often acts as a human shield of sorts when others are in danger (there have been multiple occasions where Mu Qingfang stands and watches in utter resignation as WQW stands in front of cowardly loser disciples so they don't get hurt and then immediately gets thrown to the side by the beast/demon of the week).

I know that previous paragraph was a bit tiny, but this is the one I really want to blab about. You know how I said he had facial scars? He has three, really jagged claw-like scars across his face (including his eyes) from wrestling with some form of bear/tiger/beast mix away from another disciple - it was an incredibly gory sight, practically choking on his own blood and some more dripping from where one claw had caught his throat. MQF completely panicked, only being a head disciple and therefore not completely able to deal with such a serious situation.

WQW often regales this tale like a super cool story, while MQF uses it like a warning tale to all of his disciples about getting too cocky. The other peak lords gain a look of horror on their face whenever it's so much as mentioned. WQW also has pretty bad eyesight (wildly varies based on the day) because of this attack, and almost lost his role as head disciple but managed to hold on through a mixture of learning how to work the forge without being able to see and Shang Qinghua (the one WQW saved) managing to get ADP to engrave characters on necessary equipment for WQW's benefit - he doesn't need them anymore, but he definitely keeps them handy.

Usually he wears glasses but, on account of him spending most of his time in the forge due to threat of melting, he doesn't wear them in the forge which accounts to more burns than not.

Despite popular belief of WJP not being the best for pupils who may have certain accessibility issues due to the danger surrounding the peak n the forges, WQW will take on any goddamn student willing to learn - which is why he keeps the accessible tools n other jobs for students, like helping out with enchantments for weapons or making different sheaths and designs for swords n shit.

WJP is also incredibly useful for children who have what can be perceived as "behavioural problems" that don't gel well with other peaks -> there's nothing more relaxing than beating up metal and casting enchantments, according to WQW. The peak lord himself has become very adept in all fighting styles so it's easier for him to help out with other peaks, and will happily spar with any of his martial siblings for a bit of a laugh - LQG appreciates this and is very gruff with his friendship (he froze up when WQW was attacked by the beast that gave him the bad eyesight n facial scars), dumping helpful monster parts onto WQW's doorstep (depending on when in the timeline/AU, either MQF or Shen Yuan tell LQG which parts WQW would find use for).

#four being a dumbass #wei qingwei my blorbo #yes you can ask for more #yes I am obsessed with him #yes I will add this link to the first post #etc etc #scum villian self saving system #ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong #scum villain #mxtx svsss #svsss #wei qingwei #wan jian peak #mu qingfang #liu qingge #peak lords #cang qiong mountain sect

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huggingtentacles · 9 months ago

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I'll go over the basics first for people who don't follow me:

From Software combat system falls apart when you introduce a second target to any enemy. When you're fighting something in fromsoft games, the game makes your opponent target you when it engages you in a fight, and their attacks are directed at you. At the very core, stripping down all the special effects, fromsoft games require you to do 2 things: Dodging and Hitting.

You dodge the attacks your opponent throws at you and you look for an opening during their recovery/when they're vulnerable during their attack. It's a simple, yet satisfying system, that is easy to pick up and takes time to master.

Summons break that system completely, leaving little to nothing behind.

When the enemy targets your other person in the coop, you have a free opening at the enemy's back. They're not directing their attacks your way and you can wail on them as long as they keep their targeting on your summon. What happens when they switch? Well now your summon is in the same position as you were! Free openings on demand, because the enemy AI simply cannot deal with two people, can't divide it's attention, it doesn't have a strategy or a play against you two, it's just forced to swap wildly between you two hoping one of you messes up this very simple strategy.

Summons make it so every boss is fought the exact same way. Once you figure out this out, there is no difference between fighting Godfrey or Godrick, you do the same thing to them both.

"Okay huggingtentacles, I see where you're coming from, but this system has been here since Demon's Souls and you don't seem to complain about other games, what's so different about spirit summons?"

First of all, I am also complaining a little about other games, but there are a lot of key differences that make spirit summons extremely bad in comparison to coop.

1. At least coop requires both people to actually think.

At least on harder bosses, when the boss focuses their attention on you, you at least have to dodge and weave untill your buddy takes aggro. Spirit summons are simply damage sponges. They require no input, no learning curve, they just take the enemy's attention away as long as they have hp.

2. There are trade-offs to coop that make you consider doing it yourself.

If you coop, you get invaded, yes, and that's quite frankly my favourite part of it, but even if you summon next to a fogwall to avoid invaders, the boss gets increased HP, status resistances and poise. Which means if your co isn't pulling their weight, it might be worth trying it on your own still. And they usually cost some form of currency (though in Elden Ring that has been removed in favour of more accessible coop. I don't hate that choice but I prefer having some sort of cost to such an overpowered tool)

Spirit summons, on the other hand, have little to no trade-offs despite being just as efficient if not more than your average coop member. My mimic tear can solo Malenia, that's not a feat most people get to brag about.

Yes, there is a mind requirement. A negligible mind requirement. 23 mind is required for Tiche, the most expensive spirit summon in the game. That's without considering the fact that you can shrink it down to 16 with stat boosting gear. Or you can simply use Mimic tear which costs 1 healing flask. Most summons before Tiche and Mimic Tear can be summoned with base mind of your chosen starting class.

Oh, you could also sacrifice one singular physick flask slot to summon anything in the game for free. And in exchange you get a summon that ranges from "just a funny little guy" to "can literally beat the entire game for you with little to no input from you"

3. Despite breaking some parts of the game, coop is overall a great contribution to the culture, lore and fun surrounding these games.

The flaws of coop, when properly balanced, are minor compared to how much it adds to the overall experience of Fromsoft games. Coop offers so much more than merely help beating a boss, and spirit summons simply don't have that.

"Okay, but spirit summons are genuinely fun, what if I like having a little guy beside me?"

Adding an NPC companion to the game could've been done better without compromising gameplay. Having your clone or a little jar guy follow you around in the open world, helping you out but not breaking the combat could be done with a little bit of creativity. If someone asks me about it I might make a post on how I would do it.

"What about people who are bad at these games and wouldn't beat play it otherwise? Wouldn't you want them around in the community?"

This is a very delicate question because I risk coming across as an elitist asshole from the "git gud" crowd (though to some people on Tumblr I'm already that so whatever) so I'll try to explain it in the nicest way possible.

In one of his interviews, Miyazaki stated one of the reasons as to why his games don't have an easy mode:

And I wholeheartedly agree now that I've experienced a sort of "easy mode" added to Elden Ring in the form of spirit summons. This might be the most important thing I'll say in this post, I hope this answers the inevitable "just don't use spirit summons let people have their fun":

People using spirit summons are impossible to relate to while discussing Elden Ring. They are, in a way, playing a different videogame from the rest of us. Spirit summons fragment the user base.

For example, when someone makes a post "I finally beat Malenia!" It makes me happy because Malenia is a difficult boss that took me a long time to beat and master. But when I ask how long it took for them to beat and they reply "Oh it took 8 attempts Maliketh felt way harder" I immediately understand that they did not have the same experience as me. They haven't learned anything about the boss. I can't discuss the mechanics with them because they haven't interacted with those mechanics. Which method did they use to dodge waterfowl? They didn't! The mimic ate the damage and they outdamaged the heal.

How did they beat Margit? The wolves distracted him and they hit his back. How did they beat Rennala? Ancestral Follower distracted her and they hit her back. Morgott, Godrick, Astel? You get the point.

Which boss is the hardest? You have to be a goober to say Malenia is not the hardest boss ever made by fromsoft. And yet Maliketh makes it to the top of the list sometimes, why? Because he jumps around a lot and if the summon doesn't have ranged attacks, you risk the boss targeting you for more than 10 seconds.

"Okay, but wouldn't the people playing coop only be just as unrelatable to you?"

No, because the post they made would be "WE finally beat Malenia" "Me AND the phantom I summoned finally beat Godfrey, thank you Marikastoes28490!"

I know that they didn't have the same challange as me, but they still experienced jolly cooperation which I can relate to and discuss, they experienced random coop which is part of the core experience of Fromsoft games. Coop takes away something from the gameplay but it gives back something so much more: human connection. Unless you're using McDonalds WiFi in which case your connection is inhumane.

This post is getting long so here is a lightning round of all of my other gripes with spirit summons:

1. People who could beat the game normally and have that experience choose the path of least resistance and end up ruining the game for themselves. Merely having that option is enough to make someone question "maybe you're supposed to beat it with spirit summons" (you're not)

2. They take away online activity because summons have all the advantages of it without any disadvantages. Less invasions, less coop = deader game sooner.

3. They make people hate bosses that are perfectly fine without summons. Fire Giant rolls in unpredictable directions and one shots your little spirit summon user because they didn't have enough vigor (they didn't have to take damage for most of the game) this is where the famous "endgame difficulty spike" comes from. If you're playing the game normally, no such spike is felt because you're improving as the bosses get stronger.

4. You can't even kiss Tiche. Why Bother.

I think these are all of my complaints about spirit summons, I hope this covers everything. I think spirit summons are badly conceptualised and awfully executed and I wish they went into a different direction with them. Maybe make them controllable in some way! Maybe make them passive/supportive companions! Anything but "replace coop with a more braindead option".

They probably won't rework them, but I hope they won't come back in the next title Miyazaki makes.

Guys sorry I need to come clean.

I hate spirit summons. They're one of the worst additions to souls formula ever.

#elden ring

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bomberqueen17 · 3 years ago

Text

here is a delightfully trashy fic idea

ed note: i just found this in my drafts from like..... close to two years ago? anyway it seems a shame to delete it. I have no memory of this and wonder where that draft went.

I published this instead, which is fine but has almost nothing in common with this idea, LOL.

(for Good Omens) I brainstormed this wonderfully filthy wallowy id-tastic fic and even semi-outlined it and then I tried to write it and I’ve got literally 5,000 words with three scene-cuts and zero smut and have wildly deviated from the idea, so I’m just going to release this summary free to a good home so I don’t feel like I have to try to wrestle whatever the fuck I’m writing back on course. It’s not going, it won’t do it. Someone else can write it, if they want, and please do and tell me when you do because I want to read it, but I absolutely am not equal to the task of writing it.

It’s wonderfully angst-filled smut with mutual pining, which is like, my catnip, and it’s nice and dirty, which I also like, and yet somehow, I just can’t do it.

(Seriously, it’s been a thousand years and Aziraphale is meditating on free will. For fuck’s sake.)

So here’s the premise. I got as far as literally the first paragraph here, and then the whole thing went off the rails, so. Mine’s something else now.

Pretty early on in their acquaintance, pre-Arrangement, Aziraphale stumbles across Crowley in a bad neighborhood among prostitutes, who have recently invented their trade. Aziraphale is righteously offended by the concept, and Crowley defends it, and Aziraphale assumes Crowley invented it for the humans, and of course he did not.

At any rate, in the course of their discussion (during which Crowley is wile-y [though there’s some great potential for an unreliable narrator here, where the angel is perceiving the demon as being far more seductive than he is actually trying to be, because he is attracted to him and doesn’t understand that] and Aziraphale is righteously but confusedly Into It despite himself), Crowley winds up giving him a demonstration of just what it is that’s so great and why humans would choose this sort of thing of their own free will rather than being demonically wiled into it.

There’s a humorous instant where they’re both suddenly terrified that angelic emissions might have a holy-water-like effect, but they don’t, and after that moment’s terrified pause during which Crowley doesn’t dissolve and Aziraphale doesn’t get Smitten By Divine Wrath, Crowley dusts off his knees and Aziraphale puts his bits away and they go their separate ways in a sort of mutual well-that-got-out-of-hand embarrassment, each intending never to speak of it again.

Which lasts a while, but not really. Sure, most of their meetings can stay respectable, but every so often, Aziraphale just happens on Crowley in an alley looking shady or whatever, and they wind up repeating it, and Aziraphale tells himself he’s just diverting the demon so he doesn’t tempt any humans, and has zero clue that Crowley is only doing this for him, isn’t actually using his body to tempt humans at all, only shows up in those places because he knows Aziraphale’s going there looking for him in that moment.

Potential here for a wonderfully sleazy dynamic, of Crowley always passively receiving, taking whatever Aziraphale will give, very clearly not seeking his own sexual gratification at all in this, and Aziraphale never really contemplating just what it is that Crowley’s after instead. (Except maybe in his darker hours thinking the demon is trying to seduce him to Fall, or something, and being a real self-righteous dick about it sometimes.) Maybe, eventually, at some point, Crowley lets it slip that what he gets out of this is that when Aziraphale fucks him he can feel divine Grace again, or something like it, and it gratifies him on an entirely different level than the physical. Maybe he says so and Aziraphale doesn’t understand it, or refuses to really contemplate it.

Or maybe Aziraphale does get it, and then he’s even worse; instead of being self-righteous about Crowley trying to tempt him, he’s kind of horribly pitying about it, and it’s gross, and Crowley attempts to quit but can’t actually make it stick and before he knows it he’s lurking in the back rooms of clubs again when he knows Aziraphale’s just wandered in the front door. (Potential here for wonderfully juicy angsty sleazy scene of Crowley getting absolutely railed in a pub toilet by a complete stranger he’s trying to pretend is Aziraphale, and then slinking in a desperate haze of lust on his knees to the angel begging for the sacrament only Aziraphale can really give him.) (Right? Right? Argh, I wish I could write this story.) (What I’ve got so far is all strict close Az POV and it’s almost better because you’d only indirectly get that that’s what Crowley’s just done; A would just assume Crowley’d been off doing his demonic job instead of trying desperately to break his addiction.)

#this was lost in my drafts #for over a year #maybe two?#anyway #good omens

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has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong · 3 years ago

Note

In regards to the high school Au, Gil meeting a shy yet pretty girl that he likes. What would he do to win her heart?

Hello, anon! I'm glad you enjoyed the high school AU. This will be an interesting continuation...TIME TO GO IN GUNS BLAZING!!

btw i made the reader insert character gender neutral so then it feels more like a dating sims game. :3

note: this is going to be a bit ooc (crackfic maybe)

Student Gilgamesh Developing a Crush (High School Au)

- Bored, Gilgamesh sips his wine on the school roof as usual; gorging himself in a specially-reserved bento box. He liked it up above, where he could just rest, instead of dominating the school so fiercely.

- When he hears the sound of pattering footsteps traipsing across his sacred grounds, anger thunders down on his face. "To think that such a foolish mongrel would have the nerve to entrench themselves upon my resting area...How dare you-" The words freeze in his throat, as he catches sight of you.

- From your posture, to the expression on your face...Gilgamesh was ensnared within the thorns of captivation!

- "E-err...sorry about that." You bow politely, as wind billows through your beautiful strands of hair, eyes blossoming like the finest of flowers. "You see, I just like to sit here too sometimes." Albeit being rather nervous, you bravely spoke up for yourself, which he liked. "I mean, I can leave if you'd like but I like this place too-" His brusque red eyes catch you off guard, as you duck your head in agony; twiddling your fingers.

- He was so scary!! As you fluctuated between wanting to leave and wanting to stay (because its not as if Gilgamesh owns the school roof or anything), his hands suddenly grip yours- as he pulls you towards him with all the force of a bull.

- "How adorable...how utterly enthralling you are! I never expected to witness such a fine beauty upon these school grounds." Gilgamesh has already latched into his hardcore flirting mode, leaning in awkwardly close to your face. "Mongrel. Tell me your name. NOW."

- Eyes wide with shock, you reluctantly tell him your name, only for him to proclaim that you shall have his interest from now on. "Although you are a beauty, you are naught but a mongrel. If you catch my eye from now on as well, so be it!" He tries to play it cool, but is actually much more interested than he wants to let on. "Take this land for yourself. I have no need for it anymore."

-As he leaves- face beaming with joy- an ominous pit of worry pools in your stomach. You knew the rumors all to well- of how Gilgamesh was pretty tough work, relentless once interested; and the tales of all the people who he had left broken and rejected. 'I'd better pick a god and pray...'

- However, you are greatly surprised by how tame his approach is at first (let's just say that he can be quite a nuisance at times). Besides from randomly slotting the occasional gift atop your desk, and winking whenever you passed him by; Gilgamesh was pacing himself for once.

- Once you nervously asked your friends about this, they reassured you that he wasn't always quite so hardcore as he seemed. "He only pops off once he's fully invested! All the best," Your stomach churned slightly at the idea of that. The amount of expert knowledge they had on his movements were insane. Everybody treated him like a local celebrity!!

- However, all things drastically change once he crosses paths with you during Sports Ed. Bunking off yet another class deemed too banal to entertain him, he strolls through school grounds- only to catch sight of your legs trembling as you parry the horrible sports ed teacher's serves; tears dropping from your eyes- as other students watch blankly on, hoping to avoid eye contact with the situation altogether.

- Once the teacher picks his next unfortunate target, Gilgamesh is surprised to see you rush to the back; only to be taken aback by the next sight lying before him.

- Helping take care of students injured by your demonic excuse for a Sports Ed teacher, you mouth words of encouragement to them, despite clearly shaking with fear yourself. Despite being extremely shy and scared, it seemed as if you were trying desperately to support others, as well.

- "Hoh..." Now he was certainly interested. Slinking back to his private zone, Gilgamesh vows to conduct a little more research on a certain asshole Sports Ed teacher...

- Luck seems to strike the pan, for another huge encounter occurs once he bumps into you at the shoe lockers. The sun slowly sinks across the horizon; dappling the world around you in a bright orange light.

- "You've been evading me so skillfully lately, mongrel. Have my divine offerings been to your liking?" Leaning against your locker, he grins mischievously at you; red irises dancing with amusement.

- "T-the chocolates were nice...but I'm fine without any gifts. So you don't have to bring them anymore." Hugging your plastered hands to your chest, you lower your head. Now just wasn't the time, you were already drained for the day. "I have to go, sorry..."

- Now that was a surprise. Usually people would be dying for his attention, not evading him like this! However, this was exactly to Gilgamesh's liking oh my god. Leaning forwards, he's just about to attempt to set your heart aflutter with some cheesy adages until...

- The Sports Ed teacher bursts in, eyes brimming with rage. "Y/N!!! WHY ARE YOU LATE? All that talk about 'i want to protect my friends', and then you can't even come to club on time, huh? You freaking coward!" By this time, the teacher is gripping you by the arms, as scared tears drop from your eyes, expression frightened.

- Eyes narrowing with disgust, Gilgamesh stares at the events unfurling before him. His research had uncovered a great deal of trash on this teacher, who was infamous for training students way past their limits; bullying them severely for not fitting his ridiculous standards.

- Grabbing the teacher by the scruff of his neck, Gilgamesh forcefully pulls him away from your quivering figure. "How pathetic a troglodyte you are, to be treating your fellow mongrels with such disdain. " Gilgamesh all but hisses into the teacher's ears. "You leave me no choice but to punish you."

- "Punish me? Who the hell do you think you are, you bastard?! I'll suspend you for touching me!" The teacher slaps Gilgamesh's palm away, as you watch them with terror. Things were getting ugly, and fast.

- "I'm Gilgamesh. Remember the name, mongrel- especially once I've casted your meagre buttocks out of this estate." Unveiling his golden-plated phone, a horrifying gleam lights in his eyes as he reveals a huge list of the teacher's misdemeanors. "I know what pathetic things you've been up to...and about your abuse of power. Not that I'd usually care, mind you." However, the teacher had the gall to threaten you. Which basically meant that he was now dead meat?! he was gonna destroy him XD

- Worried, you step in before Gilgamesh can unleash one of his terrifying bribes upon the teacher. "W-wait, Gilgamesh!" As he turns to you-shocked that you'd address him by name, you smile. "I-I think we should have him legally fired instead...but that's just me..." That way, he'd never be able to become a teacher again.

- "Hoh, how kind-hearted of you. Well, I shall honor your rather pitiable request once." Gilgamesh shoos off the bewildered teacher, who looks confusedly between you both. "Fate has bestowed you with generous luck today; you pathetic excuse for a teacher. Depart the premises at once!"

- However, the teacher is extremely prideful; and lunges to attack Gilgamesh- flying so wildly off the mark that he legitimately crashes into the teacher's office nearby. Which alerts all of the teachers of the ensuing scuffle. Which then results in you having to bravely explain the situation...which ends up with the teacher being MIRACULOUSLY FIRED ON THE SPOT?!!!!

- It was as if this chain of events was perfectly orchestrated. As you look towards him with both a mixture of awe and fear, he heartily laughs. "Fuhahaha! Let's just say that Lady Luck favors me quite greatly." That was a lie. Gilgamesh knew much more than he was letting on.

- "Thank you." For the first time, you truly smiled at him; sunlight beaming down on your face. "For a scary tyrant, you can be really helpful sometimes." Those were not the words he was expecting to hear at all! Coughing awkwardly, Gilgamesh puts on a mask of nonchalance to avoid his burgeoning feelings. You weren't meant to say that!!!

- "Fuhn, I wasn't doing it to help you, nor the other pathetic mongrels that troglodyte was bullying. Don't get cocky, lowlife." And with that he was gone, as you waved goodbye.

romancing bit (?!!)

- Seeing as Gilgamesh is now very interested in you, he will most likely make sure to cross paths with you as often as possible; saying all sorts of cheesy and flirty things. He sits with you during break, loudly sipping wine by your side as other students look on with amazement. He also leaves letters and gifts by your desk everyday. The letters are eerily direct, proclaiming ominous things such as 'we shall wed...'

- Overall, he is overzealous and extremely headstrong in his approach, not giving you enough time to breathe. However if you tell him that you feel overwhelmed by his actions, he reconsiders them briefly...only to go over-the-top in different ways instead; hoping that you'll be pleased by his advances. I think Gilgamesh needs to learn more about self-restraint here.

- He'll probably want to take you to many places as well, and try and bowl you over with limited edition experiences; things that are beyond your wildest dreams. He's probably also going to get very serious as well by increasing the time he spends by your side considerably. Expect to see him everyday from now on, too!

- Is he the type to do a shoujo-manga style entrance to sweep you off your feet? Yes. He does helicopter landings every now and then, thrusting a bouquet at you. He also hires people to serenade you at times, much like something out of a romantic novel; and loves seeing your surprised reactions.

- He will get quite pushy at times, so it's recommended to alert him if you're not enjoying it. In his eyes, the two of you are as good as close contemporaries now.

- Exasperated, he finally decides to ask "Mongrel. What is it that you desire? Anything you shall wish for will be in your hands." He's absolutely convinced that he can do anything to win you over. However when you reply with a simple, "...I'd like some help with my studies!" as your adorable cheeks flush with determination, he sighs. There was no winning over you with conventional means. Yet, he is also spurred on by the challenge.

- "Although your response is a terribly common one, I'll oblige you." He certainly will. "With my expertise, you'll be acing all of your classes from now on!" When a color-coded, detailed guide on all of your subjects lands on your desk the next day, as Gilgamesh smiles smugly at you.

- As you flick through the pages, you see detailed notes on all the things you don't understand, and are quite shocked by the quality level of this. "T-this is amazing!" You gasp. "How did you do this?!"

- "I have my sources." He really did. "Mongrel. From now on, I shall stand by your side. Do not hesitate to call upon my assistance if need be." And with that, his word is final.

- I have a feeling that once he likes someone, he'll hold onto them quite tightly, and will do as much as he can to impress them; going out of his way to win their heart.

#gilgamesh #fate series #gilgablog #my writing #fgo #ok this is high school au so its a little tame a little crackfic and a little ooc XD its a light hearted story ^^#this is like an otome game now. it is isnt it.#asks #anon

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tanoraqui · 5 years ago

Text

tanoraqui

Still thinking about an au in which for some reason WWX and the Wens are left to just live peacefully on the creepy death mountain - some detente wherein they don’t leave the mountain ever and in exchange no one tries to visit ever. Borders patrolled by corpses and sect disciples. So A-Yuan grows up raised kind of collectively but mostly by WWX and Wen Qing (the one most likely to tell WWX that he’s doing it wrong), and learns healing-focused spiritual cultivation AND demonic cultivation, and then at some point starts sneaking out to be the terrifying force of righteous kindness he was always going to be

tanoraqui

Righteous kindness but also, like, having picked up WWX’s cavalier confidence (or at least some of the ability to fake it) and Wen Qing’s general attitude of Do No Harm But Take No Shit

Like IMAGINE

tanoraqui

In this au, despite the strict border-by-mutual-agreement that’s the only reason somehow no ones tried to attack, LWJ sneaks in like one a year so he and WWX can make eyes at one another but not actually say anything ever, and Wen Qing and LXC are both EXHAUSTED bc both their dumb little brothers (WWX is a sibling by adoption now don’t @ me) mope for like a week after EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENS, and it’s been /over ten years/.

tanoraqui

Meanwhile Jiang YanLi and JZX are FINE, and JYL somehow keeps up some sort of correspondence with WWX - or at least, he’s faithfully managed to send a birthday present for Jin Ling every single year, and every time, JYL makes her son write a thank-you note and bribes some series of people to get it smuggled back to Yiling

tanoraqui

...which means, honestly, that Jin Ling is probably wildly curious about his uncle the evil demonic cultivator kept trapped within the terrible ghost mountain by the forces of Good and Right, and WILL sneak out one day to try to visit. Optimally, obviously, at the same time Wen Yuan is sneaking out to see the non-mountain world

tanoraqui

The optimal plot is that Wen Yuan ropes Jin Ling into helping him set up WWX and LWJ, because he, too, is exasperated at this point, and Jin Ling ropes Wen Yuan into arranging like a parent trap reunion for the Jiang siblings, and obviously there are monsters and undead to complicate it all

tanoraqui

They kind of acquire Lan Jingyi somewhere, somehow. He’s having a blast

There is a 100% chance that the first Adult(TM) to find them is Wen Ning and they just kind of rope him into whatever the hell is going on at the time

...you know what, I think this is just a good au where JGY fucking died at some point

tanoraqui

Maybe someone threw him down the stairs again and he just broke his fucking neck. WWX is still vilified but between Jiang Cheng not really wanting to attack and Jiang (Jin?) Yanli being AGGRESSIVELY against it, and dragging JZX along with her, they’re left in peace.

tanoraqui

Oh man and Jin Ling has YOUNGER SIBLINGS in this...

Hey for u: Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing can accidentally happen while the Teens are trying to get everyone else to meet

Today at 8:42 AM

@professorsparklepants

I love this it's so goddamn wacky

tanoraqui

I just want teenager-based shenanigans ft. surprisingly competent teenagers and all the adults running around like chickens with their heads chopped off

professorsparklepants

Jingyi: why are you two more calm about this than the literal adults

Wen Yuan: have you met my dad?

tanoraqui

Also to be clear it is not at all hard to convince Wen Ning to join Team: Teenage Shenanigans, bc literally ANYONE in the Burial Mountain village would probably be down if you were like, “we’re engaged in a conspiracy to make Wei Wuxian fucking admit that he’s in love with that Lan guy who visits a couple times a year”

professorsparklepants

"This is my father, and this is his sugar daddy."

tanoraqui

I kinda wanna say he goes by “Wen Yuan” more often bc he’s 100% the baby of the entire remaining Wen clan there, but his adult name or w/e it’s called IS Wen Sizhui, because WWX asked LWJ if he had any suggestions and LWJ said this while maintaining eye contact

professorsparklepants

OH MY GOOOOOOD

tanoraqui

They meet LXC and he figures out what’s going on in like 4 minutes, despite the teens’ best attempts at obfuscation, and instead of calling anyone’s parents is like, “okay, I’m in”

professorsparklepants

#1 wingman...

tanoraqui

Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are definitely both traveling under false names, too? Wen Yuan obviously can’t admit to being a Wen and Jin Ling is making a privileged but slightly helicoptered teen’s rebellious bid for freedom

professorsparklepants

His dad is panicking at home and Yanli is like "boys need their freedom :)"

I saw a post forever ago about how Yanli would be the most hands off parent & Zixuan is an only child who would panic every time his kid fell down

tanoraqui

With a side order of “my mother is the only one who’ll say nice things about the Yiling Patriarch and she always looks sad when she does so I’m going to sneak into the Burial Mountain and either drag him out to see her or force my parents to come get me”

professorsparklepants

"I'm gonna beat up the Yiling Patriarch" "why" "he made my mom sad" "okay proceed"

tanoraqui

^ actual real conversation with WenYuan

professorsparklepants

A-Yuan then repeats the same thing to Wen Qing and she has the exact same answer, verbatim

tanoraqui

Side note: Wen Yuan has never been scared of the undead in his entire life, and probably this will lead to getting into severely life-threatening situations when he doesn’t have more backup than 2 other teenagers

professorsparklepants

Oh absolutely

professorsparklepants

He's so used to tuning out the sound of sentry corpses that one jumps on him and almost punches his lungs out

tanoraqui

Also what if he took WWX’s sword, so he looks like a proper normal cultivator - honestly, what if WWX gave him the sword when he turned 12, or whenever one customarily gives a child a sword in this world. He also has a flute stashed in his robe somewhere but he does know how to use both

tanoraqui

But also, while obviously it’s very important that this is the sword he inherited from his father, it’s never OCCURRED to him to, like, strongly associate it with WWX, in terms of “this would be a recognizable weapon”? Chenqing the flute, obviously, but WWX just left the sword on a shelf all the time

professorsparklepants

He's very good at fooling people into thinking he's a normal rogue cultivator until he busts out the flute

LOL YES

tanoraqui

So the first time someone looks at him and is like, “That is WWX’s sword” he achieves, like, “Who’s Morales? [NOT THAT DUMB]” levels of blank-brained

professorsparklepants

It like, doesn't even occur to him that this stick named whatever will be recognizable to people until it actually happens

"this is the Yiling Patriarch's sword!" "... I've never heard of him"

tanoraqui

“What sword?”

professorsparklepants

KDJAKSNJS

tanoraqui

“Oh, THIS sword? I...found it. In a stream.”

tanoraqui

Also...at some point...once the teens have admitted their identities to one another...and possibly gotten into a couple other increasingly public shenanigans...they run into a bunch of concerned people searching from the Jin or even Jiang sect - JC being there would be PERFECT - and Jin Ling is like, “aaahh, no, I don’t want to be dragged home... kidnap me.”

WY: what?

JL: pull out the flute, summon a couple corpses, shout that you’re the dread son of the Yiling Patriarch, and pretend to kidnap me

WY: ...yeah okay

AND THEN THEY DO THAT

professorsparklepants

The dumbass energy...... off the CHARTS

tanoraqui

They’re 15 and neither of them has ever faced consequences but in...actually not too different ways

They’re 15 and neither of them as ever faced consequences nor most of the real world

Oh my god is Lan Jingyi the most sensible person here

They’re going to DIE

professorsparklepants

JXHAKAJAKKQHSJA

JC and Yanli immediately see through this probably

"dumbass kid just doesn't want to go home. I'll break his legs."

tanoraqui

I think Yanli does but I have minimal faith in JC’s ability to think logically at any time

He’s still angry at WWX for leaving

professorsparklepants

Stomps to Yiling to demand his nephew back & wwx's like "lol, A-Yuan left two months ago"

Okay my shift is starting later

tanoraqui

/snort

Though, bold of you to assume that WWX isn’t also running around anxiously somewhere like “oh god, oh no, my son is missing; I must find him”

professorsparklepants

Sizhui is a responsible boy, I don't think he would leave without telling at least ONE person where he was going

tanoraqui

Ok but it was Wen Qing who thinks it’s good for WWX’s health to stop brooding and go run around like a headless chicken instead, optimally if he runs into his totally-not-a-boyfriend-Hahahaha-why-would-you-say-that

Alternately it was, like, Granny, which, ditto

No one on this mountain is going to stop WWX from going out to cause trouble and hopefully get laid, is my point

tanoraqui

Also, the cultivation world has been basically at peace for 13 years and the reason is that this is an ideal AU where JGY is dead and whenever trouble starts to stir politically, NHS and JYL meet eyes across the room and mentally Rock Paper Scissors over who has to manipulate everyone into calming the fuck down

Neither of them actually wants this job; they’re just good at it and recognize both those aspects in each other

professorsparklepants

LOLOLOL

That is.... so goddamn in character

tanoraqui

concept: JYL and NHS are friends and no one else understands it, or attributes it to JYL just being that nice, bc NHS still generally acts useless

professorsparklepants

Nhs actively wants to be useless and life is conspiring to make sure he can't

tanoraqui

a little less dramatically useless, but why ruin a good thing when you're having fun and it's useful

professorsparklepants

Lol

tanoraqui

but JYL fucking identified him as Actually Competent one time when he couldn't hide it, so now sometimes they get tea together and bitch about politics and stupid people

professorsparklepants

He's the only person who can correctly identify when she's talking shit about people, because it's VERY subtle and her brothers & husband are too busy thinking she hung the moon to notice

tanoraqui

JYL striding into Nie sect HQ (whatever it's called) and tossing her coat over a chair. "You would not BELIEVE what my brothers are doing now."

NHS: *probably knows, because he's found that the minor investment of effort in maintaining a very good spy network pays major dividends in helping him avoid greater work* *immediately sits up and pours her a cup of very expensive tea* Oh, girl, dish.

professorsparklepants

Question: are they also friends with lwj...

tanoraqui

yes but he's obviously not invited to hte political gossip sessions

professorsparklepants

I'm trying to imagine lwj making eye contact with them at some meeting his brother dragged him to and both of them struggling not to break into hysterics

tanoraqui

but they both know that he sneaks into Yiling to visit WWX a few times a year, and every single time, JYL sits him down within a couple weeks and aggressively debriefs him as to her brother's condition

professorsparklepants

I'm sure she tried to get him to take treats in

tanoraqui

for sure

it's hopeless, though, bc there's no really predicting WHEN he'll go? It's basically just "every 4-6 months when LWJ's resolve breaks"

professorsparklepants

Too bad she's not a stress quilter instead of a stress baker

tanoraqui

she gets him to go at an actual arranged time, bearing pork soup, like once, for WWX's 30th birthday or something

professorsparklepants

tanoraqui

omg lit brain: LWJ of course is hte WORST for getting gossip, but JYL has pieced together a reasonable amount about the people her idiot baby brother (#2) is now living with. And she's mildly despairing as to idiot baby brother #1's ongoing refusal to get married and have an heir or three. So she, if not actively connives, then certainly siezes the first available opportunity to set Jiang Cheng up with Wen Qing

tanoraqui

basically, this au is PEAK romcom

tanoraqui

...also, for max happiness, i'd like to think that WWX made some strategic raids to rescue additional Wen refugees and bring them back, so there's a properly populated village and they didn't all just die

professorsparklepants

!!!

Good... Good thoughts

Good because 1. more people die and 2. The Yiling Patriarch will attack your village and steal your people away!

tanoraqui

(romcom being exclusively adults-focussed; the teens initiate it all but Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are both so delighted to have an Additional (But Cooler) Family Member that they comfortably cousinzone each other instantly)

professorsparklepants

*nice*

tanoraqui

...i feel like i keep characterizing Jin Ling as an only child, when really he ought to have a small horde of siblings

maybe they just...couldn't conceive more. shit happens. pregnancy is hard.

professorsparklepants

That happens sometimes

#mdzs #the untamed #ficlet #my fic #lan sizhui #jin ling #lan jingyi #(not actually here much; rip)#wen ning #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang yanli #nie huaisang #lan xichen #wen qing

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