#i hate this fucking guy (affectionate)

[starmocha]

Bride of the Dragon King :: Prelude

Sylus/Reader | 465 words | Masterlist | AO3 Tonight, the wine tasted so sweet. A/N: I yapped on my tumblr about how I wanted a dragon!Sylus AU…so I willed it into existence. 😊 This is the prelude to a technically 3-part story. The main story will be a 20K+ word one-shot, so I feel justified in a shorter intro. I am still finalizing the main story, so I want to give people time to read the prelude first. While the prelude is SFW, the main story and epilogue will contain explicit adult themes, so it's best for MDNI. Influenced to varying degree by the Vietnamese origin myth, Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ, and the C-drama, Miss the Dragon…and probably a whole slew of other period C-dramas I watched in the past. Recommended Playlist Love and Deepspace - Wander In Wonder Shuang Sheng - 流转莹回 ☆ I can do a tag list for the main story once it's up. Just let me know in the replies, and I'll keep a list handy. ☆

Distantly, in the Celestial Realm where the immortals resided, the vast kingdom of the Dragon King was shrouded in nighttime for all of eternity, stuck within an eternal spring. Pink petals from the ever-blooming flowers of the magnolia trees were carried away in the warm breeze across the palace courtyard.

Sylus, the Dragon King, lazed under a grand magnolia tree with red blossoms overlooking a large koi pond, his solemn gaze lingering on the reflection of the full moon in the still water. He poured wine from a crimson porcelain bottle into the matching cup, and he took a swig of his drink, sighing.

The moon is lovely tonight… he thought, The wine tastes so sweet…

Red magnolia blossoms drifted down from the tree, landing in the water and startling the fish beneath, the immediate ripples distorted the reflection of the moon. Sylus kept his own crimson eyes on the floating flowers.

Little Snake, this is not much, but you are welcome to stay with me for as long as you would like!

He huffed in amusement, eyes drifting to a different flower.

You are so shameless. How can you ask a maiden to bathe with you?

He poured another drink, chuckling, but there was little joy in his laughter.

You are not allowed to get hurt! …Promise me you won’t get hurt again...

His cup lingered at his lips momentarily, a look of guilt flashed across his features before he tossed the drink back, sighing heavily.

Sylus…I don’t want you to leave…

He leaned back against the tree, eyes wandering to the moon. On the ground next to him was a necklace, its pendant pure gold with a jade border. Engraved on one side was the image of a dragon with wisps of cloud beneath it. When Sylus picked it up, his fingers caressed the other side, tracing the characters that formed the word, “Beloved.”

Another flower drifted into the pond, spinning slowly before it floated away.

…Who are you?

He closed his eyes, his hand tightening into a fist around the pendant as he made his decision.

He was going to rewrite their story. The red thread that tethered them together was going to unravel and lead her back to him.

All of it was going to be undone, and a new ending was going to replace all of the tragedies that were and were to be.

For her…

Heaven and Hell were going to bend to his will, he vowed.

For us…

As Sylus finished the wine, a white mist enveloped him, swirling before scattering and leaving nothing in its place beneath this red magnolia tree. In the night sky, among the millions of stars, a white dragon flew away, his scales shimmered in the moonlight before he disappeared into the horizon.

[kitamars]

downtime

[lilisette]

me: hey i haven't played love and deepspace in a while, i wonder who's this sylus guy [proceeds to get smacked by this]

me: ... me: ah shit.... here we go again... opens google docs

[tvckerwash]

rvb au where everything is the same but the soldiers on chorus all wear odst armor

[sciderman]

Sometimes i remember a comics moment i randomly came across somewhere, where Sam Wilson mentiones a musical and Steve Rodgers says he doesn't like musicals, to whitch Sam goes "Guess that means you really are straight" and even tho i don't care about Cap America or the Avengers, the moment stuck in me for that quote by Sam. And like....Sci, any ideas if straight men actually don't like musicals or is that bullshit?

actually i think i know more gay men who hate musicals than i know straight men who hate musicals. i've had a drag queen stop me point blank when i was about to sing a barbra streisand song, and i know so many gays who pointedly hate abba. so based on my experience i think the inverse is true. most of the straight men i know are kind of impartial about musicals, but gay men? hate.

my theory is that a lot of gay men don't want to fall into stereotypes, maybe. but thaaaaat's just a theory! a gay theory.

[le-agent-egg]

Y’all I know we are rooting for Mondo but i said i would draw Taka if he won against Chihiro and i am a MAN OF MY WORD 💪💪💪

If you remember the spamton button up post on my blog you are actually an og

And if you know me irl and you see this post no you don’t 🫡

[kogglyuffs]

them but eiscue?? yes

[coffin-hopping]

the outsiders mfs cooking up the saddest headcanons you’ll ever read

[just-a-random-person24]

MORE BARNEY'S MIND NOTES APON YE!

Episode 4

• sees a guard crushed by a barrel and just says ‘that's gotta hurt’

• points out a bottomless pit with no handrails near it

• “Barney Calhoun, crane operator!”

• likes pushing stuff cause it makes him feel strong

• assumes there's an earthquake, only to remember that New Mexico doesn't have earthquakes

• says evolution sucks because humans only got opposable thumbs instead of teleportation and the ability to shoot lightning

• when he reincarnates into something else, he wants to regenerate and have Wolverines claws. That's not how reincarnation works.

• hates MySpace cause it's a waste of time

• says he's like a ninja-pirate for running and jumping onto a ladder

• finds out steam is hot

•likes Star Trek more than Star Wars, but got off track while saying that

• gets his wrist caught on a ladder he almost falls down, hurts a ton

• assumes a dead scientist is asleep

• doesn't know why a scientist has a Spas-12

• dropped out of college

• very confused why the guards don't get a HEV suit but the scientist's do

• would be surprised if he gets out of Black Mesa without breaking any bones

• wants pizza

• damn counter: 1

Episode 5

• very confused about how the handicapped employees are supposed to survive a disaster, given all the ladders and bottomless pits

• thinks Barnacles look like a meaty spitwad with teeth

• tries to use the Barnacle tongue to swing only to get choked immediately

• got sewage in his mouth :(

• calls 1 person a massacre

• gets mad at aliens for killing a guy who probably owed him money, them says the aliens owe him money now

• “Barney Calhoun, debt collector!”

• makes a comment about a zombie body disappearing

• thinks the Vortigaunts are worse than the alien from Alien

• pulls a random lever to know what it would do

• thinks his situation is worse than Resident Evil

• reads a sign that says to keep explosives out of the canal, then does it cause it seems fun

• “rofl-freaking-mao”

• has no clue how long it has been, assumes its been a day already

• is not upset about the time-frame as Stark was

• SHEPHARD MENTION💖

• thinks he knew the guy the HECU threw down, also assumes that guy owes him money

• says he's never buying anyone a pizza again

• damn counter: 1

Episode 6

• very not surprised about finding another room w/o proper lighting

• thinks the pipes are made of asbestos

• finds where the ladder in Episode 3 goes, finds it very weird and annoying the ladder is purposefully made too high to reach

• finally encounters the HECU properly

• more ‘yarg's

• knows the passcode to one of the doors on the surface

• takes a dead guards vest

• wants to hijack said dead guards SUV and leave, then doesn't because the engine block

• knows he can't shoot a lock open because of MythBusters

• very confused why the HECU was shooting at him

• tries to shoot a panel to open it. Then remembers in Star Wars it closes the door, *then* wonders why it would do anything in the first place cause it would just break the panel

• falls down a ladder and gets knocked out

• oh yeah this series was made in 2009…

• very confused about why there was a turret in a random cavern

• is not disgusted by cockroach guts because he's stepped in so much other shit

• says he'll have a badass hardened personality when he gets out

• likes the sound of being locked in a padded room

• very confused how the valve closed off the steam

• says, something abt 2012? I have *no* clue what he said exactly it was quiet and he doesn't go back to the thought

• thinks all the water is from Black Mesa fixing their own plumbing

• gets Bullsquid acid to the face

• killing a lot of cockroaches for no reason

• sees a toolbox and thinks its a lunchbox

• very surprised at how explosive the explosive barrels are to explode a hole in the wall *and* the toolbox

• damn counter: 14

[gunslinging-messiah]

i made a revolutionary discovery while playing xrd the other day and thought it was worth sharing

[camels-pen]

(i haven't read Whole Cake in a while, and i never really watched it, so bear with me)

I'd love to write a fic with Usopp on Whole Cake. it'd be sooo fucking long and i'd need to refresh myself on the entire arc, but god i'd probably be so satisfied when it's done. specifically for having brought a single moment in my head to life, but we'll get to that.

On Zou, he insists to be taken along on the Sanji rescue team and has worked himself up with a whole bunch of very good reasons as to why he should go there instead of helping in Wano, but of course Luffy just immediately accepts with a "yeah sure"

With Whole Cake, I think he'd be flipping between having fun as part of the idiot trio/quartet (Luffy, Chopper, Carrot), and being terrified with Nami. There wouldn't be that many differences in the arc as a whole, though; some things would be easier/better and some things would be worse- I don't necessarily think Usopp's presence would be overall an advantage or disadvantage, just different. Like, major events would stay mostly the same, but little details would change and maybe those little details would build to a far more drastic change-

for example, maybe one of Big Mom's kids considers themself a great sniper and wants a match with Usopp, or is motivated to work harder because Usopp is around and they want to take him out and boast about it. Maybe it means Sunny takes more damage than canon, or maybe Usopp's help means less damage to Sunny. (idk if i'd really do smth like this, but it's just an example)

skjdhf fuck i'm really not equipped to try and figure this out when i don't remember shit from Whole Cake aaaa

I do know that, despite his penchant for talking and rambling, I'd probably have Usopp be dead silent after his initial shock when Sanji fights Luffy. Everything about that is the same, except Usopp is just watching Sanji the whole time- not panicking, not moving, and not speaking. He doesn't say a word the entire time, doesn't even make a sound, and that, along with Luffy's words and Nami's begging, stick with Sanji.

(Usopp is thinking of his own fight with Luffy in Water 7, he's partially wondering if this was what it was like- if it was this painful to watch from the sidelines- and partially knowing he doesn't have to say a word, because he knew, like he knew back then, that it didn't matter what was said. It wasn't quite the same, but he could tell in the way Sanji moved, in the way he spoke and held himself, that he was putting on a front, trying to be brave in all the wrong ways. Usopp didn't say a word to Sanji because there was nothing he could say that Sanji himself didn't already know. Should've known. And his quiet, direct stare, was more than enough.)

the singular moment i really wanna write, is a scene where Sanji is apologizing for dragging them into his mess- either during the big meeting in Bege's castle or some other time- and Usopp's like "I'll do what you can't, you do what I can't, right?" and Sanji pauses, a little confused, until he remembers Enies Lobby and a stupid mask and cape and-

and tears are gathering in his eyes now, fuck, but he laughs a little. It sounds wet and his face is itchy and they're surrounded by tentative allies, but he- he laughs again and he says, "Fuck, you remembered that?"

Usopp shrugs, a little smile on his face. "They were some wise words from a wise man."

Sanji laughs a third time. "You think I'm wise?"

And they banter a little more before Bege tells them to quit it since they're on a time constraint or something. Quietly, Usopp will ask, "It-it helps. On bad days. And I figured, 'what's a worse day than this?' Ah, not that you getting married would ever be bad per se-"

"Usopp," Sanji says, looking more relaxed and settled. He smiles fondly and grabs his friend in a one armed hug, crushing him to his side. "Thanks."

And yeah, don't remember much beyond that, except the whole "hiding and then busting out of the cake" bit, which would mean Usopp in a cute little tuxedo or smth- maybe with a fedora aaaaaa <- loves fedoras- helping out with the fighting and eventually sailing with everyone to Wano.

He would be so distressed about fixing up Sunny now that the whole thing with Whole Cake is over. Maybe there'd be a gag about him promising Franky to take good care of Sunny while they were gone and being confident, after being Franky's tinkering partner and learning from him over time, that he could handle minor repair work much better than he did the first time around with Merry. And so when he finally takes in all the very-not-minor repairs he has to do, he's certain Franky is gonna strangle him for not keeping his promise. Probably also try to write in some nostalgic 'repairman Usopp' vibes from pre-Water 7.

Also something something, Sanji, wanting to do more for the crew bc he still feels guilty about Whole Cake, decides to take it upon himself to help Usopp not fall into a whole anxiety spiral about the ship. In turn, Usopp ends up helping Sanji not feel so guilty- usually by handing his own words back to him on a silver platter. And, yknow, having the two of them bonding and being buddies again like they so rarely get to be in canon nowadays qwq

[unfortunatelyilikebnha]

Every time I remember that bitch* jumped off the roof (he was FINE even though he shouldn’t have been but whatever, anime logic) I always get way too concerned abt it like YOURE GOING. TO BREAK YOUR ANKLES BE MORE CAREFUL FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

*kai toshiki

[ozymoron]

fucking sleep paralysis demon

[perilegs]

ok i think lamento should be awarded with the prize of worst lube in fiction

[obsessive-jan]

currently obsessed with pouty puppy mark webber, don't know what to do with my life now

[skhardwarevers1]

lowkey. Not over my ex at all