#he's a demon he lies

[drconstellation]

The Newton/Crowley Mirror-Parallel in S1

Future Echoes from the Past #2

Let me take a moment to try and explain the process of how I approach meta writing. I’m not new to this. I might be new to this fandom, but I’ve been writing metas for twenty years in other fandoms. I’m an old hand at this, and I learnt how to do it with some pretty critical masters of the game. I’ve been wrestling with this meta for several days, which never a good sign. I thought I was on the right track here but got to a point where I was trying to make my biased square blocks fit into the round holes I was expecting to see, and they weren’t, and thought, nope, it’s time to back off and see what is there instead. When things don’t fall and click into place, when you can’t see the next connection easily, when it becomes too convoluted - and actually, I think some of the story is missing in the crucial places - that's a dead end for the time being, so the meta I was expecting (and hoping) to see didn’t emerge. But there is still something there to be revealed, and it was from a bit that I didn't think had much importance.

A few days ago I posted a meta about how the paintball fight at Tadfield Manor was a loose re-creation of the Great War in Heaven that lead to the formation of Heaven and Hell. It was more a description of events and the two sides, and I didn’t assign any of the S1 characters to the celestial characters that we would have expected to be involved with the rebellion. For example, the manager Nigel strikes me as standing in for Gabriel, and jaded old Norman, who is on the verge of retirement, and who organized the “team building exercise” is most likely to be Lucifer  - he is the leader of the Yellow team, who are quite unhappy and full of complaints about the others in the office. But other than those two, the other bit players amongst our regular cast were missing, or unclear. And this was a problem, a BIG problem, because while there hints to who was Crowley, the match to Aziraphale was nowhere to be seen, and he should be there. So, let’s leave that for the time being, and move on.

In the middle of all this is Newton Pulsifer. He oddly arrives in the office, destroys the electrical system, then leaves before the war begins. And there is an even odder follow-up exchange in the car park of the office as he departs. I had to ask why - why add this in?

[It should be noted, at this point in the discussion, that while the paintball fight was written in the original book, the office scene that is the prelude to the fight, and the scenes with Newt that I’m about to discuss, weren’t. They are from the tv series only.]

I have been building up a library of notes and screenshots to help me with my metas, and Newt and Anathema have been on my radar. I came across this screen shot of Newt lying on Anathema’s bed after his accident in Tadfield and went “Huh, he looks very Crowley-coded there with this black/grey clothes and yellow and red socks. That’s not the line I of thought I had been following..”

I kept going and then @ennas-aesthetic posted this meta about Jesus in S3 and mentioned that Anathema was an Aziraphale parallel, so that would make Newt a corresponding Crowley parallel – which would explain the screen shot mentioned. Then the final pieces for this meta were these two posts, one from @mouseonamoose about their thoughts on angel!Crowley and one from @cornchrunchie on part of the exchange between Aziraphale and angel!Crowley in Before the Beginning, at the start of S2E1. I’d already had a thought about another set of lines in this part that formed a parallel to Newt, but getting a second set of lines to tie it in to this S1E2 segment was a bonus, I must say.

So where am I going with all this rambling? Right. Let’s get down to business.

Hopefully by now I’ve established that one of Newt’s roles in the office scene that sets up the rebellion is to be not just a parallel to Crowley, but a mirror – he’s kind of the opposite, in a way. It’s like they are on opposite sides of the looking glass.

At the beginning of S2E1 we are shown angel!Crowley, the Starmaker – the Engineer. And what is Newt supposed to be? A computer engineer. Only, angel!Crowley engineers light, while Newt engineers darkness. Everywhere Newt goes, he turns out the lights. Which is why when he runs into Shadwell shortly after and is given the newspaper advert that declares “ASSISTANT REQUIRED TO COMBAT THE FORCES OF DARKNESS” if he joins the Witchfinder Army that I was cackling at the irony of this. Perhaps we’d better not get sidetracked with that though.

There’s a critical point here that I’d like to highlight that I noticed, and how I made the link, because it may have implications in the future, maybe in S3. In Before the Beginning, Crowley sets everything up to get the nebula started, then there is a slight pause.

Az: …is something meant to happen? Cr: Oh, right, sorry, yes yes. Knew I'd missed one. Let there be light.

It struck me that Newt’s efforts in making anything with electricity, the modern source of light, don’t work because he doesn’t check that he’s got everything right. He blacks out his neighborhood as a child without checking the circuits, he shuts down the entire office without checking his work.

Why would you need both light and dark? You can't really have one without the other. It's the yin and yang. Its balance. To see the light you need darkness. And to see shadows you need light.

So we get a short scene of Newt heading off to office, with his Almighty mother handing out some lunch rations, and wishing him luck. Hmm. He’s holding a box that contains, amongst various things, a pot plant (a bromeliad) with a deep red flower, for all love. Ngggkgk.

At the office, Newt is given the cold shoulder by the senior co-worker opposite him (I call her “Pearls,” because I don’t have the S1 script book and I’m not sure what she’s called.) She asks his name, but never offers hers. Sounds familiar, where have we seen that before…?

Az: Um, hello. I'm Aziraphale. Cr: Nice meeting you. Okay, here goes!

@mouseonamoose mentions that angel!Crowley wouldn't feel the need to mention his name if he was a high ranking angel here, he would expect other angels to know who he was. [op adds another item to their list of pointers to angel!Crowley being a senior Archangel...it's up to 18, btw. Yes, I know its only fanon at the moment...] Just like the Supreme Archangel "fucking" Gabriel hasn't got time for a bit of social chit-chat before Aziraphale!Crowley is supposed to be executed in the hellfire in S1E6. Just get on it with it, pleb! We've got better things to do with our time!

Outside, we see Newt has been given his marching orders. He's leaving already. A sharply dressed woman in a masculine-cut suit approaches quickly. I don't know about you, but she looks like a demon to me. Black suit, red hair, pink (which is a tint of red) shirt - she's a copy of Crowley. This is another Crowley-copy about to give some internal criticism to a Crowley-mirror.

"Need a hand, Dick?"

Then she power-walks past. Newt is not even worth her time stopping for.

*Snort* - and ouch. That's a below-the belt joke.

She's just called him a wanker. In the US you might use the term jerk instead. Someone who's a bit egotistical and more in it for themselves than others. (and I never thought I'd be fact-checking the meaning of this word ever, but there's always a first time...) She's basically just equated him Gabriel, in my book (and in more ways than one.)

That doesn't sound like the Crowley we know, does it? Maybe, maybe not - but it does reveal to us a world of information about what the other demons think about Crowley, and more importantly perhaps it gives a hint of what he was like pre-Fall and why he was cast out as a sacrifice for the team, a scapegoat and example for the losing faction, in addition to the asking of questions reason.

It's quite notable that Crowley doesn't have any other demon friends or allies, even after 6000 years. Plus, he seems to have gotten special treatment during that time. Furfur complains about this in the dressing room in 1941, remarking :

"No, what's ridiculous is demons like you doing what they please. And somehow still getting on, while demons like me graft for hundreds and hundreds of millennia and never get a sniff of a promotion! Well, not this time. Expect a Legion to come for you first thing tomorrow. Enjoy your last night on Earth."

Hastur calls him "Mr Slick," and thinks he's been up on the surface of the Earth too long. And you kind of get the idea that Lord Beelzebub is holding back their hand somewhat in their conversation in S2E1 when they summon Crowley down to Hell for a little chat about the missing Gabriel.

CROWLEY: [waving flies away] Augh. Oh, I thought we had a [spits out flies] generalized understanding. BEELZEBUB: We don't. You're still a traitor. I could put a price on your head any time I wanted to.

But they haven't put a price on Crowley's head. And they don't intend to. Crowley is still being given the special treatment. Also in that particular conversation is a hint that he was once on a similar footing to Beelzebub, and Beelzebub was also a high ranking angel before the Fall - they aren't Grand Duke of Hell and Satan's right-hand demon for no reason.

Its ever-so subtle, but its there. Those traces of privilege we were pointing out that Gabriel and Beelzebub flaunt when they abscond? Once upon a time Crowley had them too. But the passing millennia has slowly worn them away until we can barely see the traces of it. Although, it still shows up occasionally.

We should finish off the scene back in S1E2 with Newt, though, because he does show us s little bit more of our mirror-Crowley in the car park scene. As the demon-lady walks past him he calls after her:

"My name's not actually Dick, it’s the car's name. You can ask me why if you like."

Aww. Poor Newt. While Crowley was stopped from asking questions, and cast from Heaven because he wanted to ask questions, his mirror-character Newt is offering to answer questions for other people. It's just that they aren't interested in doing that either. Either way, the conversation stops, doesn't it.

To finish off, I'm going to leave you with this. I know, its about Newt not being a computer engineer, but since we've been discussing how Newt is a mirror-parallel to Crowley, perhaps it's something we need to tuck away in the back of our minds for S3 as well, when the past comes back to haunt us.

Further reading in this series:

#1: The Great War of Tadfield Manor

#3: "Not Even At Gunpoint!"

[drconstellation]

Oh he definitely remembers both Furfur and Saraqael. He's playing power games here, but two different ones.

The one with Furfur is interesting, and I did a post about it here. It has some interesting implications for S3 around possible betrayal, and the iteration of the King Arthur/Camelot theme that is lurking in the background. Recall there is an odd out-of-place Agnes Nutter prophecy that might be related to this as well, peeps. Ah - this one:

Prophecy 3011: "The exer... and churches be laid open to ... oppressed shall prevail, and oppose the cruelty of foreigners. For a Boar of Cornwall shall give his assistance, and trample their necks under his feet."

Not sure exactly what it means, a but apparently the "Boar of Cornwall" relates to King Arthur. In the dressing room scene, Furfur is Arthur, the one being betrayed in the love-triangle. This accounts for some of his bitterness, but yes, he is also bitter at Crowley's professional success - which then raises a whole bunch of other questions connected to the conversation Crowley has with Beelzebub in S2E1 on the two thrones, or even just deepens the implications that one gets out of that conversation there.

The interaction with Saraqael links her with the dark horse theme. in S2. While there are big arrows pointing to Aziraphale being a "dark horse," there are other minor dark horses doing odd things here and there, such as the Marley horse statue in the book shop and the Dirty Donkey pub. I think most meta writers have settled on Saraqael being a helping hand in Heaven in an unexpected way in S3. Look how they helped Crowley, by not setting the alarms off that he was there and letting him see what he essentially came to find out - the only alarms that were set off were by Aziraphale doing his halo toss back on Earth.

The gravity conversation is pure forgetfulness, it was so long ago. Forgive him that one, at least.

Crowley’s Memory of Saraqael and Furfur

There’s a distinct parallel to be drawn from Crowley’s interactions with both Saraqael and Furfur. Both times, Crowley pretends that he doesn’t know who they are. Both times, the opposite party explains who they are to him in detail. But what are the differences?

Furfur. Furfur comes into the dressing room with just Crowley and Aziraphale. He tells Aziraphale that they’ve never met, but Crowley has met him. Furfur explains to Crowley that they were in the same legion before the Fall. Crowley says that he remembers going into battle, but not going into battle with Furfur. Furfur becomes agitated and explains how they fought together. Then says that it doesn’t matter, because Crowley broke the Infernal Code by consorting with an angel. Then the rest of the scene ensues. But why did Crowley say that he didn’t remember Furfur?

It was the only power that Crowley could show in the situation. If he lashed out immediately then Furfur knows for certain that he’s guilty. If Crowley acts like he doesn’t remember Furfur then it could be plausible that he didn’t know that Aziraphale was an angel. It’s plausible deniability. His status in Hell also helps with this. From what we know the lower demons wants to be him and the higher demons are annoyed by him. The lower demons know that he gets to work on Earth, almost for himself, but the higher ups don’t like that he acts indifferent and can be quite arrogant. So when Furfur comes saying that he’s broken some rules, Too Cool For Hell-Crowley starts answering, “Who are you? I can’t even remember who you are. How was I supposed to know he was an angel? Who cares?”

Saraqael. The first thing that Saraqael does is answer Crowley’s question to Muriel about Gabriel’s trial which he hadn’t even started to ask yet. They say his chosen name and then say that they didn’t think that they would ever see him again(not too affectionately but not hateful either). Crowley says that he doesn’t know them and it seems genuine. Saraqael says ‘when you were an angel; we worked together on the Horsehead Nebula.’ During this statement, they’re almost smiling, but then he answers that he meets a lot of people whilst laughing, and this annoys them(similar to Gabriel later). But did he actually remember them or not? If he doesn’t, why pretend?

I think Crowley remembers who they are after they mention the Horsehead Nebula. Simply, because he laughs. At first, he looked like there was a blank, but of course, a nebula would trigger his memory. If he remembers them or not, he has two options: tell them he knows them or tell them he doesn’t. Pretending that he remembered them would maybe give Saraqael a reason to trust him. If they trust him, maybe they will let him look at the file anyway. If he does the opposite, pretend he doesn’t know them(or maybe he really didn’t), then it almost looks more honest and trustworthy. For some reason, most of the angels don’t take the time to remember them whether Crowley knows that or not, up for debate. But if he really wanted to get into the file, then wouldn’t the best way to be making a friend like he did with Aziraphale? But for some reason, he knows that it isn’t. Because I really do think that if he had told them that he had remembered, they wouldn’t have believed him. I think either way, they were going to let him into the file. The archangels believed that Crowley and Aziraphale had more information. Yes, he got himself into the file and all that, but Saraqael didn’t try to smite him, and that means that he chose right.

Between these two interactions, Crowley acts very differently to the two people involved. To Furfur, he acts indifferent, but also agitated. He’s wearing his hat to his brow with his glasses on and he keeps his legs turned away from him. To Saraqael, he looks them in the eyes with glasses that are quite light, comparatively. He doesn’t turn away and he stays engaged. He even laughs. The first thing that Furfur brings up the War and the Fall. Two things I don’t believe Crowley likes to remember. The first thing Saraqael does is answer questions and reminds him about stars(some of Crowley’s favorite things). They don’t bring up the War or the Fall or even Eden. They bring up the fact that they worked together on the stars. I think he respected them for that.

So does he remember them? I think so. I think maybe that he was drawing a blank on Saraqael, because from what we see in Before The Beginning, Crowley was very absorbed in his work. So he might would need some specifics to help him out. Furfur, on the other hand, he might not have remembered, because he blocked him out, because he tried to block the Fall and the War out. Either way, it was plausible deniability on his part. My main reason for his memory being intact(perfect?no) is Muriel and Gabriel. When Gabriel is in the bookshop with just Crowley, they talked about gravity and he said that it seemed like a good idea when “we” were all talking about it. He also knows Muriel’s rank and class without them ever mentioning it prior. He also knows exactly what their job entails. He also remembers where Gabriel was pulling those lines from when he would “wake” up. Crowley seems like he has a handle on his memories. Now, could there be something wrong with them or did something happen to them? Were they fixed? Maybe, he walled some of them off like humans do. Either way, I’m excited to find out.

[roses-and-revolutions]

DC x DP Idea

After several years, Danny and Damian meet each other again at a gala. But there was no heartfelt reunion since the moment they led eyes on each other it was all-out war. Damian takes out a sword from somewhere and Danny just starts throwing hands.

The fighting is intense, and blood is being spilled (what are those glowing green specks?). They are screaming at each other in Arabic as it's easier to slip back to your mother tongue when in rage right? This makes the fight more personal.

Most people don't understand what they're saying but those who do look at the boys then Bruce. Bruce then back to the boys again. Like B, we know you're stupid but you fucked this person twice.... did you NOT see the red flags the SECOND TIME!?!?

The fight ends with Damian on the ground with the sword grazing his neck. He looks up to Danyal with the fear of god in his eyes, knowing that with one swift movement, he'll be dead on the dance floor. But Danny's eyes were cold and tired, they were dead. No spark, no sense of life in those chilling blue depths.

Calmly, Danny spoke to Damian. His voice was crystal clear, cool like a mountain stream.

"Just because you jumped into the fire behind me doesn't mean you felt the pain I did.  Your hand was held above the flames while I was being burnt in the fucking fire."

Damian begins to cry because he knows that Danny is right. No matter what he went through, it would never compare to what happened to his big brother. Even more so, when he feels long lanky arms wrap around him, a cool hand rubbing his back soothingly, and whispers of sweet nothingness entering his ears.

He cries because no matter what he does he will never be like his big brother.

[clownowo]

🤨

bonus:

[steamedlotusroot]

remember when swk tried to take li jing and nezha to court for gross negligence in jttw? good times

[usertoxicyaoi]

"They despised you, trampled on you and cursed you, just because you don't belong to the same race as them. How did it feel? Don't you hate them? Don't you feel aggrieved? You're not a sinner, but they still hate you."

FANGS OF FORTUNE (2024). EPISODE TWENTY FIVE.

[mutantfactor]

Fangs of Fortune 𓆩𓆪 Zhuo Yichen & Zhao Yuanzhou

[kandadze]

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; (Emily Brontë, "Wuthering Heights")

[tk-duveraun]

During his Abyss mourning years, SY manages to travel by himself to watch the migration of Demonic Purple Liege Butterflies, so he's just out in a field when a tear in reality opens up and LBH falls out, broken, beaten, slightly charred and fresh out of the Abyss

SY is, sadly, a deeply stupid man and instead of running cleans him up and nurses him back to health in the cottage he's rented to watch the migration. Maybe he's waving his own death flags, but what is he supposed to do? Leave LBH to suffer more?

Imagine his surprise when LBH wakes up and cries with joy to be reunited with his Shizun and home(ish)

He doesn't remember how he fell into the abyss

[evilminji]

Ngl, I'm kinda really big on "Accidentally Fixing Things While I Was Off, Minding My Business/Indulging My Hyper Fixation"

With a side of "huh, why do I hear jaws music?" *Og!Protagonist Approach-ith*

Cause like? Who WOULDN'T want to play around with QI? Talismans? Get REAL deep into the esoteric Cultivation Lore??! What do you MEAN "boring", native to this universe!? This shit is MAGIC! We're literally playing with MAGIC here! I can write squiggles on a peice of paper and BEND REALITY! Concentrate REAL hard and have the universe around me just... shrug and OBEY!!!

That's SO COOL!

Sweet backflips and flying swords! Mythic animals! Forget being a wizard, this is WAY better! *cackles in glee*

Imagine if a SI-OC aims for a Peak that was never even brought up in Cannon! The Talismans and Artifacts (don't get them started. Yes, it's both two seperate fields. But somehow ALSO a spectrum? And can be both at once, depending on the age of the object? No one else is quite sure...) Peak. She finds her people.

First you study the general, then you specialize.

Everyone there can info-dump for HOURS on their niche field of study! Lots of cross Peak cooperation! Half of them are never ON Peak because they can't MOVE their objects of interest! Gotta study them at location! Which, yes, includes hidden realms! AND THE CREATION OF THEM.

Their last Peak lord? Fuckin DIED to Tianlang-jun's sealing. Their CURRENT Shizun? Hates the Old Palace Master with the fury of ten thousand suns. Bastard just... just DUMPED a project like "seal a Heavenly Fucking Demon Emperor" on everybody LAST MINUTE. And WIPED OUT an ENTIRE GENERATION of Masters.

If ANY of them work with ANYONE from Hau Haun? They are DEAD to him.

DEAD.

So like.... fuck those guys. It's the formal stance of her Peak. Fuck those guys forever. *spits*

Oc agrees. Cause wtf. That sounds like it was unreasonable and deeply fucked up. And that kid of demon? SUPER dangerous! Good thing there aren't any more of them! She says... having never read the book. Either one. Granted, things KINDA sound familiar? In that her brother used to talk about a series from overseas he was slowly moogle translating to read.

But like? It's the Multiverse. Not impossible odds. Maybe her soul just clung to a Cultivation Universe that VAGUELY sounded familiar, over the countless that DID NOT. Not like she knows how Reincarnation works...

Anyway~ Back to her projects!

She's industrious AF. Exceeds her Talisman goals. Constantly. Which means she gets to keep or sell the extra (it's motivation to work hard). She likes to give some to people who look like they need um. Like that miserable kid on Qing Jing. She sees him every time she stops by to hit up their, frankly, Gucci Library. VERY fancy.

Here, kid, have some warming and protection talismans. Perimeter alert ones. Kinda weird you go through so many, but meh, I don't know your life. Want one of my practice Qiankun pouches? It's ugly af. But since our peak makes them, I gotta practice.

The kid gives her snacks. They're pretty good, not gonna lie.

He IS... kinda creepy though. Very "you should skip school tomorrow" quite kid with too intense eye contact. You... uh... you GOOD, kiddo? Wanna talk? Should... should she, like, do something about this, or.....

No, no! He insists. With the flattest, fakest smile she's ever seen outside of a Serial Killer. He's Fine™! No need to worry about HIM!

......okay, but, see, when you SAY shit like that....

Creepy™ "probably gonna murder everyone on Qing Jing" kid aside? She has a GOAL! Wants to make a MEDICAL Hidden Realm! Yeah, that's right!! See, you can dictate the "rules" of reality (somewhat) inside the Realm you create, right? SO! It occurred to her! She should make a Realm?

That DOES NOT ALLOW QI DEVIATIONS!

Something that forces the Qi inside one's body to smooth and heal! Calm and rich! Like Ling Xi caves but for healing instead of breakthroughs! It could be a lifesaving realm, where one goes to ride out a Qi Deviation or face their heart demons! In an environment that will not ALLOW them to fatally spiral!

Of course, she needs to find a whole bunch of rare and soothing legendary flowers to plant. Trees, too. A couple rare beasts, known for their intensely soothing auras. Just... REALLY stack the odds. THEN off course, she'll have to lay the ground work of the realm itself. Find a good place to PUT it!

Maybe Qian Cao Peak? Or could she connect it to to the Ling Xi to take advantage of the natural Qi and protection the mountain itself gives? She would need permission either way... she should draft a consultation request...

All this? As the immortal conference gets closer and closer. Fate LOOMS.

Only to slide wildly off the rails, as she get approved by THE SECT LEADER to make her "Anti-Qi-Deviation Realm" in the Ling Xi Caves as her final project. Her Master Work as an Inner Disciple, as it were, Proof of studies and skill. All HE saw was "anti-Qi-deviation" and thought "this could totally help Xiao-Jiu". Immediately gave the go ahead.

(And as for Lui Qinggi? This is NOT a new idea of hers. She'd long gotten Mu Qingfang on board. What luck, for EVERONE involved, he was in the caves that day. Once again looking for a good place to anchor the realm, for a maximum effect to ease of access ratio.)

She anchors the Realm. Starts planting like mad. Transferring her legendary Soothing Plants and Soothing Trees. Constructing a few buildings in accordance to the feng shui MASTER she hunted down and consulted. Requests Shen-shibo himself come and be in charge of paintings and other decorations, as he IS the master of the scholars peak.

(And most at risk of a Lords or a Qi Deviation. So would be a splendid test case.)

(Is what she does not say...)

(But they are both aware of anyway.)

And? Shen Jiu? Has... never felt so calm and safe in his LIFE. Unnatural! Doesn't like it. Disgusting. What coddling nonsense! He's never going... going... to go... *stands at the entrance and glares, like the realm personally offended him* *carefully inches back inside like an abused cat*

He stops paying attention to his peak almost immediately. Yes, he does his job. But... his brain is no longer wrapped up in it. Obsessive over it. Constantly comparing and jealous and spiteful. Don't get him wrong! He's still a petty, spiteful, bitch of a man. But...

True, restful sleep? Changes a man. The complete lack of constant minor Qi Deviations, like mini-seizures, in the night. Throughout the day. Constantly wearing him down, tearing him down. Exhausting him and hurting. That... gentleness. Calm. Escape from pain, which he has lived with for so, so long.

What was he doing? Comparing himself to brats?

Being jealous of and competitive of tiny little IDIOTS. They're morons! He's a Peak Lord. He's WON.

He starts ignoring Bingge. Noticing things he'd overlooked before, in his exhaustion. Like the fact that his daughter is, apparently, very susceptible to rumor mongering and not AWARE she is just and ONLY his daughter. (Ying-er, sweetie, Baba loves you... but sometimes you make him very tired...) (also it will be a cold day in hell, when he allows to to marry that little cretin. Chose better.)

Oc? Getting SLOSHED with Mu-shibo! WOOOOO~☆ we DID IT!!! The Realm was a SUCCESS! We're GENIUSES! We can't wait to see how this develops!!! *celebrating noises*

Immortal Conference, happens. SI-OC? Just graduated. Missed it. Meh... it should be fine. Still... here, kiddos. Her backlog of Talismans and pouches. Never know when that might be useful! Oh, hey, Creepy I mean, that Kid from Qing Jing who thankfully hasn't killed anybody yet! Still got the Weirdly Intense Eye Contact, I see! You all packed?

....that's... a little light.

Here, Talismans and Pouches, just like the kids from her Peak. Stay safe, okay? There's food and water in there. Medicine too. Some emergency blankets. Flares and stuff. Don't hesitate to use um. They are made to be used. Everybody be good!

And remember! This conference isn't worth your life!

[♡Luo Binghe Will Remember This♡]

W...why do I hear jaws music? Hello? Helloooo?

Cause like? Shen Jiu? Doesn't throw him in. He's too busy saving students he Actually Cares About. You know... like a RESPONSIBLE Peak Lord. But does that STOP fate? Ha! No. Down Binghe goes! With a bunch of pouches he begged of Talisman Peak disciples who were dropping out. Since... they didn't need them... *puppy dog eyes* c-could he steal borrow them?

He ends up in the Abyss with a small warehouse of supplies. Which is GREAT! Will get him through this hellscape!

Assuming he can protect it.

Every meal. Every night of sleep where he DOESNT have to twitch at every sound, thanks to the talisman arrays. Every drop of clean water. Scrap of medicine. It's a reminder of the One(1) Sister who was nice to him at no cost. Didn't want to fuck him, use him, in some way. Have him a part, like some sort of emotional crutch. Was just... kind. For the sake of kindness.

Saw him, not the mask he wore, and recognized he'd be strong. (Why else would she look so wary?) And he wants and wants and Wants AND WANTS.

Aren't I strong, now, Shixiong? Aren't you so very proud of me? Look how powerful Luo Binghe has become! I came back for you. Brought back the things you gave me. A little stained, but that's okay. We can make new ones. Can finally move on. No more Cang Qiong. Isn't it great? Tell me it's GREAT, Shixiong.

Please stop running. Or I'll have to burn the mountain down.

@mayfay @legitimatesatanspawn @babbling-babull @hdgnj @spidori @leftnotright

[azfellco]

Me right now

[mymoshangthoughts]

for those of you out there who are, like me, obsessed with the mpreg fish book

li yu, instead of transmigrating into the novel he read, transmigrates to the trashy stallion novel he'd only heard about and didnt want to read bc he's a proud fudanshi dammit and all that straight porn sounded really boring

but now he's in the body of a baby fish demon who cannot yet transform and gifted roughly from the hands of the TERRIFYING mobei jun into the ALSO PRETTY SCARY immortal cultivator shang qinghua, who seems confused that this demon is giving him anything at all

still, the ice demon was COLD AS ASS AND HE NEARLY DIED so he'll stick with the cultivator THANKYOU

his system is malfunctioning a lot tho. it seems to think he's in a different novel and it also seems to fighting with a DIFFERENT system and basically dealing with the system is a headache inducing non-starter so instead he focuses on his life being a peak lords pet fish

except this peak lord is clearly working with a demon and li yu has read enough cultivation novels to know thats not good news. so this guy is prolly a villain? right?? he seems relatively harmless. kind of a hamster-like man who is clearly very overworked and mutters to himself a lot, but not a terrible fish owner so li yu is inclined to like him well enough

anyway, theres also something just.... suspicious about this guy aside from all that. like he could SWEAR that sometimes the guy mutters some modern slang. but also, this novel was pretty well known for running fast and loose with the cultivation setting, maybe it had a lot of anachronistic phrases?

moreso than figuring out whats up with that, li yu is pretty invested in the "will they, won't they" drama happening right in front of his eyes.

because oki the demon lord (finding out the demon was a DEMON LORD was like a scare that took a few years off of li yu's life, THANKS) comes to visit a LOT and hangs out on shang qinghua's bed and shang qinghua seems equally horrified and horny and li yu is left wondering if this is what he's been designated as a fish for. he spent his life observing other peoples romances as a fudanshi, and now his fishy life is much of the same?

which tbh isnt terrible except li yu only has patience for slow burn WHEN ITS FICTIONAL AND THERE ARE TIME SKIPS. while his system is up to fuck who knows and he might spend the rest of his days (or until he's old enough to transform into a fish demon, CROSSING HIS FINGERS THAT HE'S A MERMAID LOOKING DUDE, HE WILL CRY IF ITS THE OPPOSITE) as a lil fishy pet, li yu decides to begin OPERATION: MATCHMAKING FISH PET

bc at this point he ships it and look, he is NOT going to wait however many DECADES this romance might take without his interference (it is indeed pre-canon moshang lolol)

[haifoct]

Zhuo Yichen, don't miss.

[breadedsinner]

"Blackwall just kept lying, zero fucks given," actually the crux of Blackwall's character is that he had many fucks to give.

[share-the-damn-bed]

You think I don't want to see you? I know you don't.

[citrus-circuss]

Everything about Li Lun appearing in that final fight against the guy with the Ever-Burning Wood made me FUCKING INSANE.

HIM KNOWING HE'D DIE SOON IF HE TOOK HUMAN FORM AND DOING IT ANYWAY?? THE WAY HE SWIRLED AROUND ZHAO YUANZHOU AND ZHUO YICHEN???? THAT LOOK HE SENT ZHAO YUANZHOU AS HE SHOWED UP?? HIM NOT RESISTING THE URGE TO WRAP HIS HAND AROUND ZHUO YICHEN'S THROAT ONE FINAL TIME??? HIM, OF ALL PEOPLE, TELLING BAI JIU TO GET AWAY FROM THERE WHERE IT WAS DANGEROUS? HIM SAYING HOW MUCH IT PAINED HIM TO SEE ZHAO YUANZHOU POWERLESS??? GOD. INSANE I TELL YOU.