#is this shmoop

[candycatfalls]

Yanks on him like a balloon

[runespoor7]

I saw a couple people wonder “what about JGY” and “what about JGY and NMJ”, and the thought wouldn't leave me alone.

It would be different depending on whether JZX was at the path or not. If he was, JGY  will be able to utilize the growing coldness between JZX and his father to ingratiate himself further, so that's good for him. In the AU I described, however, I think JZX wasn't there, and so he and JYL are still at Jinlintai. (This is relevant to my JC characterization in that AU.)

For further context, I don’t remember a scene in novel canon where JGY is kept from holding JL, so that doesn’t happen. JGY is made to be in a position to hold bb!JL by JZX; Madam Jin never relinquishes JL to him but that’s unsurprising; JGS rarely holds his grandson either (and never misses an opportunity to make JGY feel unwelcome.)

My usual reading of the text is that JGS dies because his actions resulted in JGY committing unknowing, unwilling incest. That violation of the social rules of family, the fact that because of his father JGY is already “outside” of the proper moral/social order of family, is what allows JGY to kill him. That’s what I’m going with here too. JGY isn't married yet, so...

this got too long

with LXC gone, there’s no-one left to play the world's worst mediator between NMJ and JGY. This is a very weird time between the two of them, but they bond over 100% agreeing that something must be done against LXC’s murderer. JGY doesn't have the pull to get to WWX in Cloud Recesses (LWJ has very different relations to his brother's sworn brothers than NHS would. What's a JGY. Why are you talking to me. NMJ is on thin ice but he does start with a higher LWJ-acceptance ratio at least), and NMJ refuses to assassinate WWX when LWJ has already taken his decision and imprisoned him. It’s not what NMJ would have chosen himself, but it is fitting of the Lans. LXC would have okayed that.

2. This also means that when JGS asks JGY to remove his sworn brother due to NMJ making a fuss about XY, JGY can argue that NMJ was okay with WWX surviving! (NMJ doesn't like that, even though what LWJ retorted in public about WWX’s actions being different from XY stands) they proceed to have the world’s most ill-advised angry kiss. 

Neither of them deals particularly well! 

JGY has sex issues! Cutsleeve sex would make him lose so many points with his father! NMJ is mortified that somehow hostility turned into acting on desire! (“but it’s not like this is bc of the hostility, you already thought he was attractive when he worked for you” okay but that makes it worse, you do understand how that makes it worse right? “he’s no longer under you tho also he’s your sworn brother you're basically equals” first of all phrasing, second of all NMJ isn't listening to this.)

3. Also JGY did not get access to a handy poison/assassination technique, so getting rid of NMJ for his father is, hm. Not doable. It's too early in the timeline for JGY to consider removing his father (he’s not married to Qin Su yet, he doesn't know about the surprise incest, there is no way he will patricide if his father). So it is legitimately a terrible time for Jin “I can do everything on my own and if a solution involves even the slightest social loss on my part it doesn’t exist” Guangyao. Can't remove his father, can't remove NMJ. (He considers having NMJ poisoned the regular way, maybe by having someone sell Huaisang “medicine” for his brother that would aggravate his condition in the medium term, but he abandons it because it’s just not direct enough, and the problem with WQ being alive is that NHS might tantrum that she checks on NMJ’s health.)

That leaves solving the inciting incident, preferably in a way that won't still have his father demanding to get NMJ out of the way afterwards. XY must go. To ensure that, the trick is to create a situation where there’s no possibility but for XY to die. 

JGY isn’t that motivated by keeping XY around since he asked a few vague questions about whether it would be at all possible to maybe possibly bring back someone, and XY laughed. (JGY meant LXC, which he may not have been aware of, but XY’s reaction rubbed him the worst way, so.)

For this JGY brings in JZX. JZX, it should be noted, disagreed with his father in private about what should be done with XY, but the assurance that he’ll be imprisoned/watched/etc (is it so different from what the Lans are doing with WWX?) mellowed him out. 

It’s literally just a matter of engineering a situation where XY acts out against/around the wrong person (JZX the heir; JYL his wife) and XY getting cut down in real time. JGY is aiming for JZX because there’s less risk of JZX being wounded than JYL; he has nothing against his sister-in-law and she would be in actual danger.

4. What happens is that XY sees the trap when it’s sprung and turns against JGY, who gets skewered right and proper. Whoops. Embarrassing. To his pained astonishment, JZX rushes to him shouting for help instead of doing away with XY, who gets away in the confusion.

5. JGY comes back to in his bed. NHS is by his side. From outside the room, JZX is shouting at his father that he’d told his father that XY could not be kept alive, he tried to kill JGY, if JGY hadn’t been there XY might have got to JYL or JL. It’s very dramatic, JGY is properly stunned, but he doesn’t really understand why NHS is here?...

NHS replies that his brother regrets not being able to make the trip, so NHS came instead. To see how JGY is doing. Now that JGY is awake again, he can call JZX back - this is an argument that JZX has been trying to have with his father for days apparently. Days? oh, yes, JGY was out for four days.

JZX rushes back in, thanks JGY profusely. Again, JGY is a little stunned by JZX’s certainty that JGY been hurt protecting JZX’s wife and child, but he’s *sure not going to say otherwise*. (NHS is the one who commented something that allowed JZX to reach this conclusion when JGY was out cold.)

6. (this is JGY, of course he’s going to cheat, pay no attention) JGY is a little hurt that NMJ wasn’t there, after all. He shouldn’t, there’s no reason - except that JGY apparently does think they’re still sworn brothers for real. This is all very confusing. His plan didn’t go exactly the way he wanted re:XY, but with that drama the social dynamics of Jinlintai have been altered. JZX is the rising star now, his influence growing everyday, and JGS’s decisions no longer go unquestioned - and JGY is firmly attached to JZX’s social sphere. His… brother is constanty asking JGY for advice. His sister-in-law has told Madam Jin that she considers JGY her son’s uncle.

Still, after a few weeks of no word from NMJ but visits from NHS and the growing, sinking suspicion of what must have happened to NMJ, for NMJ not to be breaking down JGS’s door bellowing about leaving XY alive… JGY goes to the Cloud Recesses. 

Respectfully asks the sect leader (who is a bit of an ass and demands as much respect as before the Lans lost some of their influence, under his leadership) for permission to borrow their Wen prisoner, the doctor, and bring her to Qinghe, to see to Sect Leader Nie’s health.

In Qinghe NHS explains that LQR is staying over to perform musical cultivation for NMJ. (LQR is throwing himself into saving NMJ the way he couldn’t save LXC. It’s apparent to JGY that something of an odd friendship, or kinship, has grown between LQR and NHS. The loss of a nephew and the threatened loss of an elder brother.)

NMJ wakes up, and smiles when he sees JGY.

There is again an extremely emotional showdown, NMJ admits that he couldn’t stand losing JGY like he lost LXC, praises JGY for his bravery, JGY admits that he was scared of losing NMJ as well. They have emotional sex. (Later, NMJ might say that he thinks JGY acted against XY as a calculation, but - he shrugs - that was good thinking. It was a good thing to get rid of XY anyway.) 

XY is still definitely around so that might be a problem for someone at some point, but he made it out of this story alive! And I gotta tell you, I didn’t think he would.

For the ask meme, au where wwx kills lxc at qiangpi path instead of jzx.

Or gender swap jc au.

Ok, so it took me a while to think this over, because there’s a lot here, and then talking it over with @demoiselledefortune I realized there’s even more than I thought! (still thinking about the genderswap jc one)

Also, poor, poor LWJ. 🙁 (LQR doesn't bear thinking about. That poor, poor man. I don't talk about LQR under the cut because it's too sad for me to contemplate.)

1) So the thing is, this isn’t a noticeably better accidental killing for WWX, because while the Lans may be less the powerhouse than the Jins, JGS will definitely try and use LXC’s death to turn against WWX. And it’s going to be stupidly easy, because LXC was a sect leader and the sworn brother of his son.

(I assume LXC was there because he was invited to JL’s 100 days ceremony and his passing there was a coincidence, while in canon he was already at Jinlintai. So maybe JZX is still in Jinlintai here, the confrontation happening earlier and thus before JZX departed; or JZX is here as well as he was in canon, and LXC was the one running late - in which case, JZX is alive and a witness and might speak up on WWX’s behalf at least to his wife and his BIL, at least to tell them that it seemed an accident. This turns out not to have much of an impact on the grand scale of things OR on JYL and JC’s understanding of what happened, bc they already trust WWX so much, but it does have an impact on JZX’s view of the world and himself. This is less about WWX than it is about politics in general and his father in specific. In that version he’s much more in-the-middle of things, much more aware of being personally dismissed. In that version there’s a chance he and JYL go live in LP.)

Besides the Jins, there’s also NMJ, who is a big fan of his sworn brothers not getting killed and of not shielding people from the consequences of their actions. Just putting it out there where we can see it. On the other hand, they’re not LXC’s most direct family. LWJ and the Lans are, so NMJ lets LWJ take point.

(There's a version of this prompt where NMJ qi-deviates when he hears about LXC's death. In that timeline should WWX get killed NHS' plans never feature bringing him back.)

2) Know for whom LXC dying instead of JZX changes things a lot, though? WQ and WN. When they decide to surrender themselves, they go to Cloud Recesses, not Jinlintai. LWJ and his sect I feel wouldn't punish WQ for LXC’s death. She wasn't there.

(WN, otoh, is very done for. There is no way GSL pulls a Jin to keep him around. He's a fierce corpse and the one who killed their sect leader at that. They execute him/lay his soul to rest. There's no further desacration of WN and that's probably the bitterest comfort WQ could hope for. WQ does try to shield WN when she realizes the Lans aren't planning on executing her, but she doesn't get that.)

WQ would easily get a promise of safety from LWJ for at least A-Yuan, probably Granny, maybe the others - on the sterner end of the scale for the adult cultivators. This is somewhat dependent on what JGS (and NMJ) are clamoring for but JGS wants the Stygian Seal more than he does the Wens and NMJ would be satisfied with the Lans supervising the fate of the Wen remnants. Besides, the most high-profile of the Wen remnants is WQ and she just surrendered herself. WN would say WWX isn’t responsible for LXC’s death, it was a freak resentful energy accident–

3) I think what LWJ does demand about WWX is... that WWX be given over to Gusu Lan. They can lock him up. And purify him of the resentful energy.

LWJ is in a frankly abysmal mental space - it’s only because his cultivation is so orthodox that he doesn't qi deviate. It’s all tearing him up, LXC’s death because of the guy LWJ has a crush on, LWJ’s want for WWX and LWJ’s wish that he could (imitate his father) bring someone back to CR and lock them up and LWJ suddenly being in the horrendous situation where he is imitating his father. The memory of the kiss is now a nightmare. It was always a mixed memory (how shameful, to lose control of himself thus - to take advantage of the one he loved - to lack even the courage to simply ask, either for the kiss, or at least for forgiveness) but now it makes him retch.

It's all twisted in the fact that LXC is dead, because of WWX. There can be nothing between LWJ and WWX now. Simply wishing there could be would be the worst betrayal.

(LWJ remembers the days of their youth, LXC’s delight and gentle teasing at LWJ’s inexplicable liking of WWX. The Water Abyss. And now LXC is dead, because of the boy he was so happy LWJ wanted for a friend. LXC always wanted LWJ to have friends, something akin to his own friendship with NMJ.)

0) (the Problem. The Problem is that I cannot see WWX staying in the Cloud Recesses if he's imprisoned there. If he wouldn't rather die at first, he will afterwards. LWJ thinks of his mother. If WWX dies LWJ would enter seclusion like his father once did. This isn’t something LWJ tells himself consciously.)

4) JC and JYL visit WWX in the Cloud Recesses while he's imprisoned there. JC hates LWJ for it, but I think he's self-aware enough to think “what if it had been Jiejie.” It’s hard to hate LWJ wholeheartedly.

5) WQ is in Cloud Recesses, too. She’ll never live outside the Cloud Recesses again, but it could have been far worse. She’s allowed time with A-Yuan (she is not in forced seclusion and neither is she A-Yuan’s mother but LWJ cannot let himself see them together, or else he starts to think of how she isn’t allowed to raise her kin herself.)

When it comes out *pretty damn early* that WWX doesn’t have a core, she’s the one who implies WZL got him.

(JC is in LWJ’s office clamoring, begging for WWX to be released into the care of YMJ in a hot minute after he finds out - which takes at least one or two visits, because no-one wrote to tell him, and it takes him asking a question about how getting WWX rid of resentful energy and not letting go when the answer’s too cagey to his taste for him to know. If it were just LWJ– but LWJ has elders. plus there’s also LXC’s sworn brothers to contend with; LWJ isn’t thinking of that, and JC will think of it later, after LWJ has refused to return WWX to YMJ.) JC is so so so angry at everyone involved - WWX for *lying to him*, why didn’t you *tell me*, I would have *helped* - WQ for hiding it from him AND not telling him when she told the Lans (to which she retorts that she isn’t exactly allowed a free correspondence. Hmph. Okay. JC allows that. WQ has negative scruples about lying to him about the core rn.) - LWJ for keeping WWX a prisoner here even though WWX is, is, WWX isn’t a cultivator anymore he’s a normal person let YMJ watch over him, let JC - even JYL for having something else in her life that she loves, that isn’t WWX locked up in another sect.

WQ is also the one who sees when WWX is seriously at risk of his life just fading away, and this time she tells JC: if WWX doesn’t get out, he will die.

The fic ends with WQ and JC breaking WWX out of the Cloud Recesses (it’s implied LWJ is looking the other way). WQ stays in CR, of course, but JC is taking WWX to Lotus Pier. There’s no plan for “later”.

[kateksmallcuteowl]

Page 3/3 of a Bagginshield comics. Born from a “Thorin looks angry when he’s embarrassed” concept.

[starpawedart]

nandermo come back to meee

[solarmorrigan]

39 + 95, ship of your choice

Fanfiction Trope Mashup: 39. Survival/Wilderness Fic + 95. Sleep Intimacy

Hello! So I'm going to be honest with you and say that survival/wilderness stories have always given me anxiety and I've never enjoyed reading them, so the closest I got in writing one was a camping fic. I know it's not the same, but hopefully this is alright <3 (ship of choice was Steddie)

-

You might not know it to look at him, but Eddie had been an outdoorsy kind of kid.

He’d loved playing outside (he’s still the king of finding cool sticks to use as wizard staffs) and he’d always looked forward to his and Wayne’s annual camping trips. Wayne had taught him a lot about surviving in the wilderness on those long weekends, and Eddie had looked at them as grand adventures.

Eventually, of course, Eddie had gained other interests, and Wayne’s hours at the plant had changed, and the camping trips had petered to a stop. Eddie looks on the memories fondly, but doesn’t necessarily feel the need to go back and relive them (particularly not after the days he spent roughing it during the spring break from Hell). He’s happy to leave the outdoorsy activities to Steve these days. Steve loves going hiking, loves swimming, doesn’t even mind doing yardwork; he’s the one people would look at and assume he’d spent his childhood outdoors, except–

“You’ve never been camping?” Eddie asks, sitting up to look down at Steve where he’s squished in beside Eddie on a pool lounger that is absolutely not meant to fit two people.

Steve shrugs. “I always wanted to go, used to ask my dad a lot, and he used to promise he’d take me when he could get the time off of work,” he says. “I think he got pretty fed up with my asking, though, so I just kinda… stopped.”

Well, damn, if that doesn’t poke at a soft spot in Eddie’s hardened little heart.

“We could go,” Eddie blurts.

Steve blinks up at him. “What?”

“Me and Wayne used to go camping every year. I remember a lot of how it’s done, so… you and I could go,” Eddie offers. “If you want.”

“Yeah?” Steve asks, a smile blooming across his face.

Eddie can’t help his answering smile. “Shit, yeah. Let’s go.”

If it makes Steve this happy, Eddie thinks in between Steve’s excited little kisses of thanks, then even if it goes terribly, Eddie won’t regret offering.

It takes a little bit to finagle their schedules and get time off together, but they manage it on the first nice weekend in spring. They pack Steve’s car up with a tent and sleeping bags and provisions and everything else Eddie can remember them needing (and a few things Wayne helpfully reminds him of), and they set off on their adventure.

The weekend starts off well. They set up the tent with minimal swearing, and manage to get a fire going, and explore the trails surrounding their camp, and spend the first night looking at the stars that shine brighter here than they do over Hawkins, and it’s nice.

It’s nice right up until Midwestern weather rears its unpredictable head while Eddie and Steve are out hiking on Saturday afternoon. The clouds roll in fast, rain-scented wind kicking up and shaking the limbs of the trees above them; they turn around to head back to camp, but they aren’t quick enough to beat the incoming rainstorm.

They’re soaked by the time they reach the tent, running and spluttering and laughing breathlessly, zipping the flap shut behind them and shucking their wet clothes before they can drip all over everything. They leave them in a heap off to the side, hopefully to be line-dried later, and do their best to dry off in the confined space.

“Gonna be hard to warm up without the fire,” Steve comments as he tries to scrub the rainwater out of his hair.

The weather has been nice, but not so nice that standing around damp and in their underwear is particularly comfortable. Even in the close space of the tent, the air isn’t warm, and Eddie eyes the goosebumps texturing the bare expanse of Steve’s tanned skin.

“I have an idea,” Eddie says, and Steve looks up at him expectantly. “C’mere.”

Eddie nods to the little nest they’d made the previous night by zipping two sleeping bags together and covering it with a couple of extra blankets. They don’t bother with dry clothes – isn’t skin-to-skin contact better for warming up, after all? Eddie slides in first and Steve joins him, immediately pressing the line of his body up against Eddie’s, curling an arm around his waist, tangling their legs, and resting his cheek against Eddie’s chest. Eddie tucks the blankets up a little closer around the both of them and settles down, wrapping both arms around Steve’s back.

“How’s this?” he asks.

He can feel Steve’s contented sigh as much as he can hear it, and Steve wiggles a little against Eddie’s front, as if there’s any space left between them to eliminate.

“This is good,” Steve says softly.

And it is, Eddie decides. He presses a kiss to the top of Steve’s head, where the earthy smell of the rain lingers, underscored by the faint, familiar scent of Steve’s shampoo. Rain continues to patter against the roof of their tent, and the soft, dim afternoon light does nothing to discourage either of them from beginning to drift.

If it can always be like this, Eddie doesn’t think he’d mind making camping an annual thing again. He wouldn’t mind at all.

[kafkanism]

only a fool could believe they would escape death

[mrfancyfoot]

Plots & Prosody: Prompts

Raphael x Female Tav/OC (Evie implied)

.

- Caress -

"She arrives at the House of Hope to find a grumpy, stressed devil in need of a nap.  AKA: Despite himself, Raphael succumbs to some of his more human needs."

This prompt was: ‘A simple caress’

.

Hey..hey, you!  Go drink some water/hydrate yourself. ❤️

Some soft Raphael, cutesy shmoop ahead!

This one, while written for my OC, Evie, uses only she/her pronouns while she remains unnamed, so can mostly be read as a generalized Tav/OC (only caveats being that there is brief mention of her fluffy (fox) tail and claws and a bit of backstory).

.

Rating: T / SFW

Word Count: ~1.9k

Timeline: Plots & Prosody, Part II - Canon

Tags/Warnings: POV F!Tav/OC/Evie; Fluff; Comfort; Cozy; Slight Alcohol/Drug Use by Raphael; Raphael’s Only Soft for Her; Cuddly Devil; Devils Can Purr; Some Slight Charitable Reimaginings of HoH Architecture; Devil Courtship

Main Fic (Rated E/Varied): AO3 + Tumblr | Master List

Related Prompts: A Blank Page , Good Morning

[Quick Context: After Evie spends most of Part I (Game Events) “befriending the devil,” yet denying him her soul, Raphael makes an alternative offer: the Orphic hammer in exchange for her time - specifically, a mandatory number of days every month for a span of two years.  He procures his Crown by other means.  Evie goes about her new life kick-starting her business and re-inventing modern-day things. Unbeknownst to her, Raphael is using what she obliviously believes is a “contractually mandated friendship” period to court her as his future Archduchess.]

❤️ Thanks for reading! :3 ❤️

The evening when she arrived, it was obvious from the deeply etched scowl straining and pinching his face paired with the agitated drumming of his fingers that something had happened - but Raphael was in an unusually untalkative mood.  His greeting was short, his responses clipped and distracted.  He appeared stuck between summoning her out of obligation to their contract while his attention was needed elsewhere and wanting to shove away everything that was preventing him from utilising their time together.

Seeing his stress and knowing well that he would share the details later if he wanted to, she suggested a quiet evening by the fire, simply enjoying the presence of one another.

She would have suggested that he could keep working if he needed to, but she had a feeling that it was work that got him into this mood and maybe a break was warranted no matter its importance - or perhaps even because of its importance.  Raphael was the sort to keep going at something until he hit the wall of exhaustion - either of his energy or of his options, and not infrequently, both.  Anything less was seen as wasteful.  And so, Raphael repeatedly pushed himself to his limits.

So before he could voice any disapproval, she wandered over to a bookshelf and plucked the partially read anthology of Gnomish short stories residing there from when she had time to fill during other visits.  Taking a seat on the chaise near the fire, she beckoned him to the armchair nearby.

He stood from his desk with a roll of his shoulders and massaged his neck.  Circling around to its front, he leaned on it and let his eyes scan over the many shelves of books around his office as he brought his hand to his chin thoughtfully in consideration of his own choice in literature.  But his shoulders slumped minutely from a sigh and she could see his eyes unfocusing as his mind drifted back towards whatever he’d been thinking on before.

Pursing her lips, she reckoned that she’d be fighting uphill on this one.  She asked him if whatever was on his mind was something that needed his attention at that very moment.  At the reluctant twist of his lips and partial shake of his head, she followed up by stating that it would do him some good to get out of his office.

Hooking her arm around his, she made an executive decision and brusquely pulled him from his office.  Despite how he sputtered and tsk’d and harrumph’d in protest, he still allowed himself to be led through the silent halls - if he didn’t want to be moved there was no way in the Hells she’d be able to budge him.  Unsurprisingly, the servants had already made themselves scarce.  She detoured to drop him off at the boudoir with a push, telling him to go relax in the bath for a bit before turning on her heel and continuing to her destination.

She bounded all the way up the spiral stairs of the tower and pulled open the heavy door to the bedroom Raphael had decreed as hers a scant few months ago that had seemingly passed in the blink of an eye.  Her ‘home away from home’ twice a tenday thanks to their contract.

Though they were friends, drawing presumptions from said contract and the prior ones that he had attempted to get her to sign, she could only further conclude that he wanted her presence around as the occasional distraction from his work in some kind of contract-enforced capacity, as evidenced by the amount of discretion that he allowed her.  And if that was what he wanted, she would thusly also be the force ensuring he was taking proper breaks and getting enough sleep when he got like this.

Plus, he could have rescheduled, as per a mutual clause in their contract…yet he didn't.

The room was bright from the open curtains allowing in the ever-shining sun of Avernus.  She admired the fresh cut flowers vased upon a table, then set about creating a soothing atmosphere.  After lighting a few candles and the fireplace, she drew them tightly closed and plunged the room into a cozy, dim ambiance.

She poured herself a glass of water from the fresh pitcher on her nightstand, changed into something comfy from her wardrobe, and got settled in with her book on the sofa.

An estimated thirty to forty minutes later, Raphael poofed into the room in a bright cloud of smoke and smelling strongly of his bath products - cherries and musk - and a hint of the smoke.  He had changed into only a pair of loose lounge pants, and, while he still looked tired, the agitation and irritation from earlier had significantly softened across his features.  In his hand was a glass and a bottle of something with a curious shimmer that she would bet was awfully strong.  Though ‘mortal’ alcohol didn’t affect devils, there were some substances in the Hells that could affect them similarly - she’d eat the book in her hand if that bottle didn’t contain at least one of them.

He was quick to spy her and sauntered over, pulling the top from the bottle.  He filled his glass and immediately downed the contents.  His eyes closed as he savored it.  The glass was then refilled and the bottle loudly plunked down on the nearby coffee table as he turned and sank into the sofa.  

Reaching over, his finger tipped her book up enough to glimpse the cover.  He allowed his head to fall against the back cushion and demanded that she read to him.

She asked if he would like her to start from the beginning.

Raphael replied that ‘from where’ didn’t matter; he simply wanted to hear her lovely voice.

And so - feeling a little awkward at first as this wasn’t something she had ever really done outside of school classes - she picked up where she left off in the middle of a silly lesson story filled with cooking mishaps.

After that story came to a close, she noticed that he was battling keeping his eyes from closing.  Most of his drink was gone, the glass balanced precariously on his thigh within his slackened hold.

He waved her off when she suggested that he could take a nap but either didn’t notice or didn’t care when she slipped the glass from his hand and placed it on the table before she began reading aloud the next story.

Yet it wasn’t long until he was twisting around to impishly rest his head on her thigh, under the guise of needing the rest of the sofa to stretch himself out.

It struck her that the way he fought against his need for sleep - for this wasn’t the first time she had seen him push himself to this point and refuse to allow himself actual rest - was likely another manifestation of his denial and detestation of the human, mortal part of himself.

Seeing him start to lull and yearning for a little bit of payback for the hands that always managed to find themselves threading through the fur of her tail that he’d pulled over his chest, she began running her fingers through his hair, her claws light against his scalp.

With a startled grunt, his hand reflexively shot up as though to stop her, but he caught himself, his fingers curling tensely inches away from her own that had halted, as he seemed to reconsider the objection that was quick to ignite his actions.  His narrowed eyes stared up at her beneath the pinched furrowing of his brow.  She kept steady, her own gaze calmly returning to her book, as though trying not to scare off a wild creature that may interpret eye contact as something predatory.

Slowly his arm lowered again to rest over his stomach and she saw the tension leave his neck and shoulders.  She resumed playing with his hair.

He said nothing of the exchange, as though the interruption never happened.

His hair was soft and smooth with the slightest curl at the ends.  It had obviously just been washed but he must have magically dried it.  It left the slightest residue of some product on her fingers and her movements once more scented the air tartly with cherries.

By the time she finished the second story, his eyes had closed again and his belly was rising and falling with the deeper breaths of sleep.

Truly, even a devil needed his moments of peace.

How many others did he allow to see him so vulnerably?  Knowing that couldn’t number many made her feel both pity and privileged.  That would only become exponentially unlikely as he chased his ambitions and brought the Hells under his power.  He couldn’t afford to allow himself to be vulnerable around others.  The amount of trust he placed in her - despite not even having control of her - brought a sense of awe.  Their friendship was something she had come to cherish so fast.

But she couldn’t fall asleep here on the couch like this herself or they’d both be waking up later with sore necks and complaining.

Closing the book, she contemplated how successful she’d be in coercing him into going back to sleep if he woke up even for the brief moment to relocate to her bed.

Her fingers gently caressed the planes of his face, so much softer in sleep when not pulled and twisted by the scowls and exaggerated masks he wore during the day.

A boop on the nose didn’t wake him as she thought it would.

So she poked his cheek and threw on her ‘no nonsense’ voice, telling him to get up.  His eyes fluttered slightly, but he resisted until she stood and his head dropped back to the sofa.

The jolt did the trick to wake him and she used his momentary confusion to try to pull him to his feet.  He jerked his arm away but sat up with a growl, all the while, looking like he was about to tip over.  With a roll of her eyes, she bent forward and grasped his hands, attempting to haul him up again while advising that they should go to bed.

Begrudgingly, he relented, finally standing and following her guidance the short distance to her bed, his hand still in hers.

She pulled the light cover back and slid to the other side.  He climbed in after her with a yawn but veritably fell to the mattress.  With hardly enough time to pull the cover over herself, he shifted to close the distance between them, slinging an arm over her waist as he pressed his face to her side with a content rumble that morphed into a deep purr.

Within a few breaths, Raphael was once more asleep.

She let out a quiet laugh - forever giddy since discovering devils and tieflings purred - and covered her own yawn.  Getting as comfortable as she could with a deceptively heavy devil now using her as a teddy bear, she closed her eyes and felt the soft haze of sleep overtake her.

Part 2...?

[9haharharley1]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Rise of the Guardians (2012), Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jack Frost/Pitch Black Characters: Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood), Kozmotis Pitchiner, Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Pokemon, Meet-Cute, Just really freakin cute guys, Referenced Animal Abuse Summary:

A not-so-wild Glaceon appears to waylay Pitch's walk home after work. It's incredibly effective.

[notjahrethh]

GUYS… LITTLE EMO😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️ he didn’t even hurt and now my little creature can be with me foreva

[dreamcrow]

low-contrast classic old married bastards

i've been wanting to figure out what skrael's bed looked like recently for predictable evil and...i mean, i didn't NOT answer the question? ╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭

[mibkid]

Silly sketch of renga

ai amor da vida por favor essas idiotas fofos 

[scissorcraft]

>>

[kateksmallcuteowl]

Page 2/3 of my BagginShield comic.

New headcanon: Hobbits take Floriography (flower language) very seriously. Dwarves have NO IDEA of it existence. Thorin just really picked up the tiniest and prettiest flowers he could find, because he thought Bilbo will like them.

And, yes, that’s a quote from Shrek in Thotin’s line🌚🌝 Why not?

I’m still trying new things with the style and colouring here, so I’ll be glad if you let me know what you think of it.

[lodessa]

Having caught up on The Wheel of Time show, I'm proposing fandom in general start using getting "lost in the Arches" as a shorthand for when one gets caught up in wish fulfillment/fluff to the point of losing track of who the characters actually are and what makes them distinctive.

[mollywog]

Before I found tumblr I used to do my read-alongs with my BFFs shmoop, cliffnotes, sparknotes, litcharts, Gradesaver, and Wikipedia

[kafkanism]

again failing at crossposting. giving her the big ol ears