#it delights me greatly haha

[anonymous-tals]

I think I know where Gob may have gotten the idea to get this hairstyle from.

Spot the difference, it’s, um…They’re the, uhhh, the spitting image of eachoth- *bursts out laughing*

[cower-before-power]

As Mortals Do

Pairing: Gale X Fem Reader

Summary: As much as you enjoy being with Gale in the Weave, you love being with him just as he is more- aka All The Ways Mystra Missed Out

Warnings: Implied sex, very light grinding, mentions of oral (both on Gale and reader), I guess a smattering of angst?? But mostly soppy romantic, sexy fluff. MINORS STAY AWAY!

Word Count: approx 1300

A/N: I haven't written anything for ages but I'm obsessed with BG3 and Gale, just had a little idea and decided to jot it down. I hate hate hate Mystra, Gale deserves all the love and adoration just as he is, and this is me giving it to him haha. I'm not a Weave sex expert, nor do I know for sure if Gale and Mystra did it outside the Weave, but this is my fic and I'll do what I want!

Mystra is a fool, you think.

It’s not a new thought. You often find your mind turning to the goddess, and the depths of her raging stupidity. How she cast aside a man so full of love and devotion, a man whose heart bled worship and loyalty, a man who gives and gives and gives. A man like Gale Dekarios deserves to be loved as much as he loves, to be held near and never let go of.

Her loss is your gain, you think to yourself smugly, as you lay on your lover’s chest, the two of you basking in the sweet afterglow of your lovemaking. Gale is all yours now. His mind yours to delight in, his body yours to lose yourself in, his heart yours to cherish as the precious thing that it is.

You do not intend to replicate her mistakes.

“I can hear the gears in your brain turning, love,” Gale’s rich voice rumbles softly under your ear. “Spare a thought?”

You prop yourself up on an elbow, allowing yourself to drink deep of his satisfied visage before you answer. Gale is truly a vision after you’ve wrung pleasure from him, eyes aglow and face flushed, happiness exuding from every pore. You keep the image tucked close to your heart, a special treasure for you and you alone to revel in.

“I was just reflecting on the folly of your previous lover, darling. As I often do.”

Mystra’s name no longer brings pain to his dark eyes. Instead, he quirks a brow, no doubt curious as to the train of your thoughts.

“Oh? And in what way do you find fault in her this time?”

You brush your fingers along his cheek, his forehead, the slope of his nose. His skin is warm and slick with sweat. “I couldn’t help but think how foolish of her to never have you like this, in this mortal plane. She missed out greatly.”

Gale catches the hand tracing his face, bringing it to his mouth to kiss each of your fingertips. A shiver of delight skitters up your spine.

“How do you figure that?” He asks, lips moving to press more kisses to your palm, your wrist. You want to melt into his gentle devotion, but you have a point you wish to make. Gently, you prise your hand from his grasp, settling it over his beating heart.

You grin down at him. “Don’t mistake me, sex in the Weave is incredible. Every time you take me in there, I’m drowned in ecstasy. Our very souls meeting, entwining like that? It’s not something I ever thought I’d experience, and I’m thrilled I get to. With you.”

Gale smiles at that. “I’m glad to show you those delights, my love.”

“But,” you lean forward and press your lips to his quickly, gently. “as pleasurable as the Weave is, it skips a lot of my favourite parts.”

Gale’s mouth opens, no doubt to inquire what you mean, but you silence him with a firmer press of your lips.

“Your ethereal paramour did not have many glorious experiences, darling,” your breath mingles with his as your lips brush teasingly. “She did not get to feel the smoothness of your lips the graze of your beard against her skin as you kiss her. Or how it bites deliciously against her sensitive inner thighs.”

You nip his bottom lip softly, relishing in the hitch of his breath and the flutter of his lashes.

“She did not smell your scent, sandalwood and mulled wine and bound leather, and how it mixes with the musk of sex and passion into an elixir I wish I could bathe in.” To drive your point, you lower your face to rest in the crook of his neck, inhaling a generous lungful of said aroma. It sends a visible shudder right through you, and you feel yourself already wanting for your wizard again.

Your tongue sneaks out to lave a long stripe up the side of his neck. and the soft groan that tears from Gale’s throat makes your whole being positively ache with need.

“She did not taste your sweat, the salty tang of your spend. She did not feel the wonderful heaviness of you on her tongue, the little twitch right before you spill. Or see the way you look so thoroughly and splendidly debauched after I’m done with you.”

You climb atop him, hands braced on his chest as he grips your hips harshly. Gods above, he is a truly beautiful sight. You think you are the luckiest woman in all Faerun, to have such a man beneath you.

“She did not get to feel how warm you are inside her, how delicious it feels to be flooded with your seed. How connecting in that base, physical manner can feel just as wonderful as a merging of souls.”

To emphasize your words, you grind your hips against his, mewling softly at the feel of him growing between your thighs. Gale himself is practically panting, his sweet brown eyes nearly swallowed by dark lust, his own hips rutting up into yours mindlessly as he hangs on your every word.

You lean over him, chest to chest, face to face. Close as close can be, just the way you always want to be.

“She missed out on so much you have to offer,” you whisper, “and I’m not sorry for her. I’m greedy, all of this-intimacy, unconditional love, an equal partnership-with you is mine and mine alone.”

Gale snaps then, leaning up to capture your mouth in a voracious kiss. You sigh and sag into him, letting him devour your mouth as his hands wander the expanse of your naked skin. His kiss excites, his touch inflames, your bodies melt together like they were made to be entwined.

You firmly believe they were.

Lips meet, tongues dance, sighs and groans mingle in the soft moonlight. You soft whimpers of delight however, are soon abruptly turned into a squeal as he flips you under him. “Gale!”

Your wizard simply smiles down at you in awe and reverence. You think his eyes might be glassed with unshed tears. “My love, your words….I would ask if you truly mean them, but you’ve been quite the persistent one in making me believe my own worth.”

You return his smile. “I am annoying in that way, aren’t I?”

“Doggedly so,” Gale teases, kissing your nose as it scrunches up at his jesting. “But, I appreciate it. More than even my verbose vocabulary can explain, if you can believe that.”

You giggle. “My wizard of words? Unable to explain something? I certainly cannot believe it.”

Gale’s smile turns salacious. “No matter. I’m learning the benefit of expressing myself physically when words fail me.” He shifts, hard as steel against you, and a moan strangles itself in your throat. “Now, my love, my light, my darling precious gem, shall I express my feelings on your lovely speech with my body? Allow you to enjoy all the things you just praised so eloquently?"

He shifts again, and you cant your hips upwards with a whine, desperation seeping into your pores. You want to have him, again and again again, unending, unyielding. You feel like you might go mad if you don't.

Gale’s reciprocation of your hunger shines down upon you like the sun. “Let me indulge in you, sweetheart,” he croons lowly, “let me bring you to the heights of pleasure. In all the corporeal ways that mortals do.”

Your heart cracks open, joy overflowing. There is no greater bliss. He is bliss, in all that he is and all that he gives to you.

“Yes, please,” you murmur, as Gale presses in and consumes you whole. “As mortals do.”

[mochinomnoms]

I have no one to share this thought with, that's why I want to express it somewhere. In fact, I'm a newbie in the Twisted Wonderland fandom, but while I'm currently playing through the game (or rather the plot), I have one such question and dissonance. No matter how you look at it, the characters in the game communicate rather unpleasantly with the main character, I wonder what would have happened if the main character had reacted adequately, calmly, coldly and judiciously, that is, essentially not giving in to Crowley's manipulations. It would have been much more interesting to see this in the main character, because it becomes somehow awkward for me to watch how he is manipulated. Moreover, the characters' attitude towards him at the beginning was also rather unpleasant, well, until they became friends there. To some extent, I would like to see the main character as a realist who understands that he ended up in a world he doesn't understand, the director does nothing at all to bring him home, while the attitude of others towards him is simply disgusting. It just seemed at some point that the main character of the game resigned himself to the fact that he was staying in the world of Twisted Wonderland. Well, if it were me (I'm a realist), I would have looked for all possible methods myself, but to return home. This seems to me to be a much more adequate approach to such a turn of events. The question is, will other characters grieve because the adequate main character went back to his world (let's say he found a way to return back)? Perhaps these very close friends, namely Ace, Deuce and Grimm, who really were friends of the main character, will grieve greatly, the rest... Well, this is strictly my opinion, but it doesn't seem like the majority will simply not care.

P.S. Да, я тот человек, который смотрит реальности в глаза, а не смотрит на мир через розовые оч��и. Я встретил достаточно жестокости в своей жизни и... Вот почему меня раздражает, когда я вижу глупых персонажей, смирившихся со своей участью.

To be honest, the way you're explaining how you'd personally act in Yuu's situation is most likely how most people would react, so I don't see anything particularly wrong with it.

The way the player acts in-game is probably done so because if they acted accordingly, there probably wouldn't be a game, lol. Or at the very least a vastly different game. That's what makes fics so fun though, you are bound to find one that aligns with what you think would really happen, or just find one that's fun lol. Though, I personally don't see canon Yuu as just resigning themselves as much as they're super flexible and go with the flow. There are points in the game that Yuu is a bit snappy or blunt, and lines from the characters on the homescreen especially that point to the player being cheeky, a troublemaker, and touchy with the characters,

I do think more than just ADeuce and Grim would be sad about Yuu leaving though, Malleus is very close to the player, mostly because he's fascinated by their lack of reaction to who he is. Even if Yuu was more of a realist when meeting him, he's so fascinated (and starved for genuine friendship) that he's delighted by almost any version of Yuu. Kalim is also a sweetie, so he's gonna be upset as well, even if Yuu is just an acquaintance. At the very least, I would include Jack with the first three just because he seems fond enough of Yuu to let himself get “dragged” (he went willingly, lol) into their troubles during Book 3. The rest of the cast I think you can argue for as long as you get through their books, I think Pomefiore especially after Book 6.

But it's late and i don't have many thoughts left, so I'll end it there lol.

(also im sorry hon i don't know what the last bit is, i only speak english and spanish haha)

[chipjrwibignaturals]

qsmp tag wranglers i love you

wait holy shit that’s so funny one second

[rashomonss]

“These chains are to ensure that you can never leave me” this with Lucifer x F!MC please? CONGRATS ON 800 FOLLOWERS!

ty so much!! and thank you for all your support as well i really appreciate it!! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

i always love yandere lucifer tbh, i mean who doesn’t? haha anyways I hope you enjoy!

also if any of you would like to request a remaining prompt for this event please do so here!

warnings: mentions of manipulation, obsessive thinking/ behavior, mentions of being restrained

you’re not going anywhere

You had liked Lucifer, this was common knowledge to everyone around the two of you.

After all it’s not hard to catch the little glances you sneak his way, or the fact that you go out of your way to seek him out.

Lucifer knew this as well, and enjoyed the attention you would give him, frankly a bit too much.

As this continued the Avatar of pride found himself becoming completely infatuated with your presence entirely, to the point he began to want you all to himself.

He was never a fan of the way other demons looked at you, be it a low level runt or Diavolo himself. It pissed him off, so much so he began to think of ways to get you away from said demons.

So his first course of action was to make you his, and with a bit of manipulation and spoiling on his end he was finally able to get a solid confession out of you, which delighted him greatly.

However this possessive nature of his became worse when the two of you had begun to pass the five month period.

His brothers and even friends would mention his possessive behavior and ask if you were alright with him acting like that. You however brushed it off and joked that it was just Lucifer being Lucifer.

Little did you know, you should have taken their advice a bit more seriously.

It was the middle of the week and you had just come back from the Demon Lord's castle after having tea with Diavolo. Lucifer blew up your D.D.D with messages about where you were and who you were with, which in turn cut your visit with them short.

You made your way to his room slightly annoyed that he did that. Sure you forgot to mention Diavolo invited you to tea, but he didn’t have to get so bent out of shape about it and demand you come home.

Just as you went to knock on his bedroom door it flew open and Lucifer grabbed your arm and pulled you inside his room harshly.

“You sure took your time getting back didn’t you?”

“Look I’m sorry I forgot to tell you about my visit with Dia, but you didn’t have to blow up my phone and be psycho about the whole thing” you said giving him the same attitude he gave you.

Lucifer sighed and grabbed his face with his gloved hand. “This is what happens when humans have too much freedom” He spoke softly.

“Excuse me?” You replied annoyed.

“I should have kept you home more, otherwise I wouldn’t have had to stress trying to figure out where you were.”

You stayed quiet for a moment and looked at his unreadable expression.

“To make sure this doesn’t happen again you’re staying here from now on, where it’s safe I’m able to keep an eye on you.”

“What?! No way, I’m going wherever I want, there’s no way you’re putting me on house arrest”

“Who said anything about letting you walk around the house?” He replied. You gave him a look of horror as your heart dropped and began to run for the door.

Lucifer smiled as you tried to make an escape, it was a valiant effort, but he used a magic seal to restrain you as he carried you over to his bookcase.

He then grabbed a book and pulled it down causing the whole shelf to slide over revealing a small dimly lit room that was furnished with furniture that looked exactly like the one in your bedroom.

“I knew this was going to be useful one day.” Lucifer smiled as he brought you into the room.

“Now this is what I meant by keeping you someplace where I can keep an eye on you.”

The Avatar of pride put you down on the floor and watched as you struggled in the seal for a bit. After a few minutes you gave up trying to get free and then spoke.

“Lucifer..” you said as he loomed over your slouched figure.

“What is it now, little one?” He cooed crouching down to your level.

“Please let me go”

His face turned to one of annoyance then he sighed and began to caress your cheek. You looked at his hand with fear but soon glared back at him with whatever courage you were able to muster.

Lucifer scoffed and grabbed a fistful of your hair, then he slightly tugged you closer to him.

“Now you better listen here, because I’m only going to tell you this once.”

“You belong to me. You made that choice ever since you agreed to make a pact with me in my office that day, remember? So don’t go pulling out of a promise now.”

“Besides, the Devildom is a very dangerous place for a human, I don’t want you going out anymore and having to experience all those other disgusting demons who aren’t worth your time.”

“Instead be a good girl for me and stay here where it’s safer. You needn’t worry your pretty little head about anything else, I shall do my job and provide for you to ensure you stay healthy and comfortable.” Lucifer smiled, letting go of your hair and fixing the spot he grabbed.

“But Lucifer I don’t want to be here..!”

The demon frowned and looked at you sympathetically. After a second he stood up and began to walk to the other side of the room and mess with something in the corner. After a few seconds he turned around and walked towards you with what appeared to be metal chains.

Your face displayed one of pure horror and you tried freeing yourself from his magic.

“Now, now my love, calm down, I’m not going to hurt you” Lucifer said, patting the top of your head.

“Don’t put those things on me!”

“Don’t worry I won’t make them unbearably tight, however they might be a bit uncomfortable at first but you’ll adapt to it eventually.” Lucifer replied. He then knelt down and put chains around your ankles then placed them on your wrists.

Once the chains were on, you felt him pull them and attach them to a lock on the wall. As a result he did drag your body back slightly causing you to harshly slide across the ground.

Lucifer inspected the chains and once he deemed them secure enough he released the magic seal he was holding you with. Your body then fell limp and you suddenly felt very weak.

“What did you do..?” You asked glaring up at the first born.

“These chains are magic draining ones, so as a result you might feel sluggish at first due to being drained of most of your magic. That’s what I meant by them being uncomfortable. But as I said before, you'll adapt to them eventually.”

“Why are you going to such lengths to do this?”

Well if you must know, Lucifer said gently caressing your head.

“These chains are to ensure you can never leave me”

“I love you far too much little one, so in order to keep you safe and happy I have to make sure you’ll never be able to leave my side. Doesn’t that sound nice? Like I said before you needn’t concern yourself with trivial matters anymore, let me take care of everything, you just be happy and relax in here from now on.”

“Now then if you’ll excuse me I’m off to let my brothers know that you’ll be permanently staying in the human realm” Lucifer smiled then got up and walked towards the door.

The Avatar of pride then gave you one last glance before shutting the door, now leaving you in a locked dimly lit room chained up and tired.

[ma3-author2]

Campfire Cooking In Another World x Reader

It's been so long since I decided to make Part 2 haha.

The manga update is so slow, but still. I'm happy that it's not only an Isekai, but that the author of this novel is a meat lover. haha.

Chapter 2 : "Cook a ginger-fried pork and you get a legendary beast as a familiar! 101 ways to get a familiar."

____________________ Previous Chapter ---> Part 1

"Hey, Human, can you not hear me?"

In front of you stood a big magical freaking wolf. Talking like it was a normal thing in that world. Though it is possible, as you and Mukoda got transferred out of the blue, the way the warriors act surprised as well is something that any beast could say. It isn’t normal.

He repeated his words again, this time getting impatient. "OI! Are you deaf?"

You immediately nagged Mukoda, signaling him to give his plate, followed by you. It wasn’t even in front of this beast when he immediately chopped down the food.

"It’s.. It’s a Fenrir."

Just hearing Werner is enough information to know that this beast, who was busy devouring the food, isn’t any ordinary beast.

"It is good, but there is not enough. Give me more." Fenrir demanded licking the sauce off of the corner of his mouth. Even Mukoda was curious and wary of the monster in front of him. All the members of Iron Will can’t even move at the appearance of this Fenrir they called.

"D-do as it says, Mukoda. Y/N."

"But there’s none left…" Mukoda whispered, glancing at you as you said the same thing.

-Hey, what should we do?-

-Isn’t it obvious? We need to make more.- You simply said, raising your hand in front of this beast, deriving his gaze toward you.

"E-excuse me, as you see. There’s no more... but we can make some, so is it possible that you could please wait a little bit?"

"So be it. I shall wait, so be quick."

For a beast, his demands are really high, and they remind you of your shitty boss. Only for you to brush it off as you can’t punch him like you did back then to your former boss. You're talking about a big, powerful monster that can easily kill you with one bite.

You and Mukoda quickly went to work to make this beast a big meal. You thanked God that, before Fenrir appeared, the Iron Will had defeated a monster. Which you two used as a source of meat.

"D-do you think this is enough?" Mukoda whispered, showing you a large amount of meat placed on a plate.

"Don’t ask me! I’m not the one eating it! But I think it’s enough... then what do you think mine is?"

"I think that’s good."

As soon as you two placed the plate in front of Fenrir, he didn’t take a second to devour the food in front of him. It wasn’t long before it all vanished like a vacuum that sucked up any dirt.

"More. More, I say. This is not enough!"

-Calm down, Y/N, this is a beast. You can’t punch him-

It took you two more than an hour or so to satisfy this gluttonous beast. Not only does it satisfy his stomach, but the pocket money is slowly eaten by Mokuda's online store and yours. Almost certainly, all of the ingredients purchased were yours because you had the least to pay. So while he cooks, You buy things.

What a team work. Even the Iron Will, who was still scared, tried to support you two at the back.

With a loud burp coming from Fenrir, he hummed in delight, "You two are quite skilled. That was delectable. Still, for you to satisfy me this greatly with only this much meat," Praising you both. Now this irked you so much that Mokuda held you back.

-Let go! I don’t care if I get transported into another world! What does he mean by only that much meat? Fuck you! You even devoured our money!-

-Calm down, L/N-san!-

Fenrir scoffed at your reaction, replacing it with a sneering "Okay. I shall form a contract with you."

"Fuck no-" Before you could finish those lines, Mokuda had slammed your lips shut with his palm. Chuckling sheeply.

"Haha... ah, what do you mean by that?"

"You may be skilled, but you're not that sharp, boy. Unlike your lady friend,"

-Wati.. I forgive you-

-L/N-san!?-

"I said that I would form a familiar contract with you two."

Familiar is the best way to describe it. Like those tamers from the web novel or any games. That player will have a companion who will help them on their journey. To make things easy. Imagine it like Pokemon. But instead of Pikachu being cute and reliable, you two will own an asshole one.

Mokuda tried to refuse, but Fenrir always interrupted him. He then glanced at you, asking for your help.

-Help me with this one, L/N-san!-

With a loud sigh, you then stood up. "Fenrir was it?"

"Hmm?"

"You've got guts for asking us to form a contract with you. Do you think we’ll accept it? After you've eaten all the meat and my money—!"

The Iron Will group and Mokuda quickly shove you away. Mokuda was so wrong to ask for your help. He should have seen this coming. Knowing you for all those years. He knew how you felt when someone demanded something and that person, who was now a beast, was rude to you or both of you two.

"What did you say?! You dare refuse a contract... with me, a Fenrir? Kin to the goddess of victory, Ninrir? I could not imagine that you two would do something so... bold!" Fenrir exclaimed, standing in a threatening form.

"I-it’s not that!" Mokuda defended

"Yes!"

"Huh?!"

"N-no. Don’t listen to her. She’s in her days; that’s why she’s acting up!" Mokuda quickly made up a good lie. Sheepishly laughing the sweat away. Not only for Fenrir but for you as well, as you're now eyeing him. In a  ‘The fuck did you just say?’

"Hmph. Well, what is it? Hm?"

"Ah.." He then peeked at you again, and you repeatedly shook your head, while the Iron Will had the opposite reaction. Telling him to say yes already.

"Fine…"

You could only sigh while snarling at Fenrir, who has a big smug on his lips. eyeing you to tell you that he won.

"Indeed. Well, then, we will begin the rite of contracting. Come here." Fenrir patted the ground next to him. Mokuda followed his instructions. As soon as their foreheads touched each other, a light shone within them, closing the contract.

"It’s almost done, now, you. Next"

"No, thank you. Mokuda can have you all to himself." You said you were raising your hand. You're not feeding a giant dog and spending your money on him. Even if you see the benefit of making a contract with him, you just don’t have that much energy to cook for a large portion. Heck. Mokuda even made you ramen because you were too tired to make it yourself.

-You can’t leave me! Help me on this one... L/N-san-

You sigh. Even if you’re a prideful person, you will lower that pride when it comes to people who you owe to or someone like Mokuda. He did help you with many things, and this will be his payment for it.

-Okay, but you're going to feed him-

-*Sigh* Deal-

"Now the contract is complete. You should be grateful to have me as a familiar"

"More like a curse," you murmured. It was a good thing that Fenrir didn’t hear you.

Fenrir was about to request another food, but when he saw something to you two, "Hm? You have the appraisal skill, I see. Could you two be a summoned he--mmph!" only for you and Mokuda to shut him up. He was confused as to what you two were doing, but as soon as you told him that it was a secret, he understood.

‘Ohh, I see.   Okay, understoon.’

‘At least he listened,' you thought, removing your hand from his mouth.

"Well, then. Confirm your status."

With a sigh, you two did what Fenrir requested. As soon as you two opened it. There was something new. Just below the skills. Written a familiar name: Fenrir.

"Now I am a magic beast contracted to you two. Since that is the case, you two, as the masters, have to take care of me, your charge. Well then, I will be looking forward to... three meals a day."

-What…? Wait, do you know about this? L/N-san? Oi!-

-Can’t hear you, and you agreed that you would take charge of him-

-So you already know this... *hmhp* This is so unfair-

"Ohh, I had forgotten. As proof of the bond, you two must give me a name."

"Okui" In English it means Gluttony as Fenrir already showed who he was. You gave it without hesitation; that name really suits him.

"What did you say?" Fenrir exclaimed, hissing at the name. He's not that gluttonous, right?

"Then, pochi? Or spot?" Mokuda suggested, at the same time sweating at how original the name was. Earning a look at you two with the "are you serious face?"

"Are you making fun of me?"

‘What the hell? He’s pretty selfish, isn’t he? Now I know why L/N-san wants to give him to me.. hmm.’

"Then, since you’re a Fenrir, how about Fel?"

"Hm, Fel? That is good—more than her. Okay. I shall take it; from today on, I am Fel." Fel snorted. Not only did he receive that name, but from now on he would have those delicious foods every day. What a lucky day for him!

"M-mukohda- Y/N"

"Hmm, what’s wrong? Werner, are you all right?"

"Y-yeah, I’m fine, but…"

"You don’t look like it," you commented, as he looked like he wanted to puke.

"*Cough* To think I’d lay my eyes on a legendary beast, a Fenrir... you see. There are legends of one being seen around 300 years ago, but I’ve never heard of anyone forming a contract and making it a familiar."

-What did I get myself into!-

-Hey, I’m also in contract with him. -

"There are only enough of us Fenrirs to count on one hand, after all." "It seems there was one that formed a contract around 700 years ago, but this is my first time forming a contract as well, even though I have liked for over 1000 years."

"And here I thought I was the oldest one." You whispered.

"For the opportunity to eat something this good, serving a human for several tens of years is nothing."

Fenrir didn’t hide the fact that he only made that contract just for the food. You would too, as Mokuda is good at cooking. If there was a competition, he would undoubtedly win. So does the Iron Will group, but they too praised your cooking. These two are really made for each other.

____________________

A couple of days have passed since you two made a contract with the legendary Fenrir. Or, to use the exact word, since Mokuda has this gluttonous beast beside you two. As of now, the group was walking near the border.

The Iron Will has this nervousness about it. They're nervous about what will happen if they hit the border with Fenrir tagging along. They’re not nervous for them, but for you two, who were busy admiring the new place.

*Sigh*

"Is something wrong, Werner?"

"No, we’re just about to hit the border, so I was wondering what to do."

"What do you mean?" You asks

"Nonono, they’ll definitely stop us like this!"

"Ahhh…?"

"You see, all the border guards will probably come out at once. I’d like to believe that they’ll withdraw once they realize we mean no harm, but..."

"Even if the entire royal army were to fight it at once, they could not stand up to a fenrir." You agreed with what the old dude said (Lamon).

Not only you learned that Fel is a gluttony beast that lives more than a thousand years and makes your money look like dust. But you learned that their species destroyed a whole country. Though it was just a historical fact, you doubt they didn’t do it. More importanlty. Fel has a big ego.

"There is no need to worry. If they will harm these two or myself, then all I have to do is fight them. If they mean us harm, then they can fall to ruin. If they don’t want that, then they just have to leave us alone. It is as simple as that."  Fel tried to ease their worries, but it didn’t help due to his threatening aura.

But you do see his point. The term is like if life threw you a pie. Throw it back, but with double the cream. You can’t help but hum, agreeing with what he said.

"More importantly, is it not about time for food?"

L/N-san, please help me. -

-No, thank you. I’m good-

The group finds a quiet place to rest before continuing. Mokuda had called for you, asking if you have anymore meat, of which you only found a small portion. Fenrir, who saw it, poked you two, gaining your attention. "Hey, I wish for meat."

"Really? Then if you want meat that badly, why don't you catch some yourself? You eat it all up!" You yelled. Mokuda is trying to calm you down. Maybe it’s your day.

"Hm? I see, then. I shall catch some immediately. Wait for me."

"Okay, don’t come back."

‘L/N-san.. really?’ Mokuda thought chuckling. Even if you and Fel don’t get along very well, there’s always a time when you and he have a normal conversation.

"Mokuda-san, Y/N-san. You can just use the red boar meat, you know?"

"No, no, we can’t do that. Not after all of you went through the trouble of killing it."

"Beside, if Fel wants meat. He needs to provide for his own meals." You continued, helping Mokuda set up all the cooking material.

With what you two did, you earned their trust and respect. Even if they find it cool how you two can order around a Fenrir, you two just thought of two things. Fenrir is a beast who lured a human to make a contract for food, as well as for gluttony.

"I caught one. Hurry up and cook." Fel caught something that wasn’t even a normal beast. The beast looks like an ostrich with a dinosaur feature. What's more, it was a B-rank monster. A rock bird. But a bird is a bird. They have the same system, but what would it taste like?

"You know we don’t know how to take that apart, fel. We’ll have to ask them to do it."

"Also, we’ll give them all the materials other than the meat."

"Do as you like, as long as I can eat met. I have no problem."

And so the rock bird was beautifully taken apart by the members of Iron Will. Now you’re a fan of gory movies and comics, but watching them tear them apart in front of your own eyes is something your stomach can’t handle. Still looking at the fresh meat, it makes your stomach grumble.

You quickly coughed to cover it up, but it was heard by Fel, who snorted at you.

"Shut up"

"Hey, what do you think it's best to cook with it?"

Glancing at Mokuda, "Hmm, fried chicken? That would be easier. But what do you have in mind?"

"What about this?"

"That would do."

Soon, Mokuda began his cooking show with you as his assistant. Helping him chop the vegetables and make the onion soup. You two made Teriyaki Rock bird and Onion Soup.

"Hey, where is my potion?"

"Patience. Mokudo-san is now cooking it. Be grateful that we’re two and not one. Or you will wait longer."

"Hmhp"

After feeding everyone and Fel. It was time for you and Mokuda to take a break and eat the delicious food. Though it may irk you that you began cooking for Fel, it is better than watching Mokudo struggle to cook a lot of teriyaki. As for all of the meat other than yours and Mokudas disappearing into Fel’s stomach,

You hope that Fel will take a big diet.

"This is better, I guess."

"What is?"

"We are feeding this gluttonous dog. having to take a journey to get to the other city instead of taking a train. This is good, because I don’t have to go to work anymore!" You stretched your arms. Deciding to lay on the grassy ground

What is it with people being sleepy after eating a lot of food? Add the fact that they would be more sleepy when the air is cold. Mokuda chuckled while watching your drowsy look. He agreed with what you said. How long has it been since you two met?

Since he tries to hide his feelings, how long will it take him to let them out? He don’t know... but he guesses that it is better this way.

"Yeah... right. I can't do that."

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing!!"

[thechurchofsplatterdaysaints]

Dude. I greatly desire the 10th anniversary ed. Can't afford records anymore and it's a gd sin.

Tyson vs Paul. Fucking 309. I actually shut it the fuck off in the middle of Stipe/Jones. Political shit was brutal.

Kinda bummed (laced with weird excitement) about Musumeci but maybe the bjj thing will be amazing?! haha Can't help wearing rose colored glasses. You'd think a lifetime of getting the pointy end of the stick would smarten one up. Nope.

Spent another giggle fest weekend w/ you know who. Need to be blood brothers & get ink already. Plan a heist. Share cooze. Start a band.

Drying and sorting juniper berries for a project. Greek yogurt naan doesn't hit quite the same but it's pretty fucking good for dipshits like me who can't bake. Gonna keep tweaking this recipe.

Need a good place to unload vintage tees. Mostly band stuff but other shit too. Ebay not an option. Any ideas?

A few of the many delights in pkg from bff. Everything else far too rad and personal to share but know I cried like a shitty ass baby and the rest of you are fucked cause he's ALL MINE. *flex*feint*fuck you*

Nick Diaz out of 310 but he's in Darkness of Man the latest low budget JCVD so grabbing now. Please God, let me get some amazing screens from this shit. love youuuuu.

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

Ghoulette Appreciation Week 8

Week 8: Coffee Shop AU & Sickfic

I've been excited for this one! Back to the Midwest Emo Ghouls AU, because they just won't stay outta my head for long!

When Mist doesn't show up to Aurora's coffee shop, she gets worried. Or, Mist and Aurora are hopelessly crushing on each other, but neither seems to realize their feeling are mutual.

Rating: G Content: Fluff, secret crushes, Rory taking care of Mist when she has a cold. Words: 2651

It would be remiss of me to write a Midwest Emo Ghouls Coffee shop AU and not mention @midnight-moth's ficlet (which I think technically they said is only adjacent to this AU? but I wrote this before double checking, oopsie!) with coffee-shop!Aurora and record-store!Mist, the og fic that had me sold on Mistrora! (go read it!)

As with anything I've written for this AU, all credit goes to @herbal-quintessence and friends for its creation, I've picked and chosen my favorite hcs for the ghouls when there are multiple, and for any other inconsistencies with the original creators's hcs and timeline let's just say I'm operating on a different branch at an indeterminant point in time, haha..!

Read below, or on AO3!

The screech of the coffee machine snapped Aurora out of her daydream. She shook her head slightly to dislodge her leftover thoughts, still drifting around about her favourite customer. Aurora kept expecting Mist to walk in the door any second, and she didn’t dare try to meet her eyes while simultaneously imagining herself staring into them under greatly different circumstances.

The door to the shop remained closed however; no tinkling of the bell to herald Mist’s arrival to the coffee shop, and the subsequent arrival of a swarm of butterflies into Aurora’s stomach. For the umpteenth time that day, Aurora squinted out the window to the record store opposite. The lights were still off, the sign still reading closed. Where was she?

Aurora had worked in the coffee shop for several years now. She had applied when she first moved to town as a broke student struggling to pay rent, and had loved every second of it. The coffee shop, it turned out, was the beating heart of this rural town: a social hub for almost all the denizens both ghoul and human. She had taken great delight in getting to know her new community and neighbours, and beginning to recognize people outside of the coffee-scented air of the café.

From her connections at the shop, Aurora had learned about the existence of the dark church, and in particular its close community of ghouls. She had found many of her new friends here, and even her new home. Aurora had got talking with two lunchtime regulars she recognized from the church: one the owner of the hardware store down the street, the other his husband joining him in town for lunch. She had quickly learned that they farmed the fields east of town, and when Aurora had mentioned in passing that she was looking for a place to stay over the summer semester break to keep working, they had offered their spare room. They were looking for a lodger, anyway.

Another regular was Zephyr: church organist, GP surgery receptionist, and one of the first people Aurora connected with in town. They always came in during the afternoon slump, and happily tried the newest and strangest flavours of tea the shop had ordered. Aurora would scribble notes on their thorough yet honest reviews, before they left with an extra-large, extra-strong black coffee for Omega, the surgery’s GP.

It was through Zephyr that Aurora had learned of their lodger Mist, who had recently opened a record store directly opposite the coffee shop. Mist was cool. Seriously, effortlessly, cool. Throughout the weeks that she had started coming to the coffee shop at Zephyr’s suggestion, her visits had become longer more regular. At one point, after Aurora brought over her third drink of the morning, her curiosity had got the better of her, and she had asked Mist if she actually sold any records, seeing as she spent more time in the café than her own shop.

It turned out that Mist had not only been an art student at Aurora’s college several years previously, but had also taken several courses in online business and marketing. She made most of her sales from her website, explaining how her shop kept running with seemingly few customers. Aurora thought she was amazing: smart, arty, stylish, cool... She felt like a schoolgirl with a crush on the homecoming queen. Mountain and Swiss thought this was adorable and frequently teased her about it, reminiscing on their own tentative courtship many years previously.

Mist had started bringing her laptop to the café, sitting by the window to keep half an eye on her own shopfront for customers while being plied with coffees and “free” cakes. She had quickly realized that no café had that good of a loyalty scheme, and that Aurora was instead buying them with her tip money. Secretly, she had started keeping track of what Aurora was spending on her, the notes tucked into the tip jar at the end of each day always covering the pastries, and then some.

As the frequency of Mist’s visits increased, Aurora had become deeply attuned to her presence. Mist was a welcome sight in her window armchair, a source of charming smiles and words which made her heart flutter. And so, on this day in the middle of a cold February week, Aurora had felt Mist’s absence before she consciously noticed it. All day, she had been distracted; one eye on the door or the conspicuously dark record store opposite.

She was so distracted, in fact, that Zephyr had cottoned onto it immediately when they entered for their afternoon break. They caught her eyes flickering to the empty shopfront opposite three separate times while ordering.

“Missing Mist today?” Zephyr asked kindly. Aurora blushed deeply; was it that obvious? “She’s at home sick today, she’s feeling pretty under the weather.”

Aurora’s concern must have shown on her face, and she started pressing herbal teas and cake upon Zephyr to bring to her.

“You could bring them yourself, if you want?” Zephyr smiled warmly: young love was such a precious thing. “She’s not contagious, Omega took a look at her this morning. She just needs some rest and TLC.”

Aurora nodded earnestly, not trying to hide how keen she was.

“You could meet us at the surgery after you close here? I can give you a lift once the Omega sees his last patient.”

“Thank you Zeph, that would be lovey. I’ll meet you there–”

Aurora’s eyes instinctively flickered to the door again as the bell chimed the arrival of a customer. She waved Zephyr and their good-natured smile goodbye, heading back behind the counter.

Before Aurora cashed out and locked up, she also gathered a selection of coffee beans and teas to bring for Omega and Zephyr. She closed the door the minute the clock hit six pm, and resisted the urge to run down the road to the Doctor’s surgery. They were a ten minute walk away at best, and Omega’s last appointment was at quarter-to-seven.

She decided to make a quick detour past the small grocery store. Tea and pastries were fine, but nothing beats the winter lurgy like hot soup. And crackers. Oh, and maybe chocolate, Aurora thought, throwing everything she could think of into her basket. At least with Mist living with a doctor, she would be well taken care of with painkillers and cold medication.

Her bag weighing heavily on her shoulder, she greeted Zephyr as she got to the surgery, perching on a chair in the waiting room while Omega finished seeing his last patient. Her feet swing nervously beneath her.

Aurora sat in the leather backseat of the silver saloon car, as Omega drove back to their house in the suburbs. As they pulled off the road, she saw Mist’s familiar ice-blue bicycle leaned against the side wall of the garage.

“Let me know when you want to go home, I can drive you back.” Zephyr offered, before directing Aurora to Mist’s room at the top of the stairs. She knocked shyly, it was too late to be scared of overstepping now.

“C’m’ in!” a croaky voice called from inside. Aurora gently opened the door, smiling cautiously at Mist and offering a small wave.

“Rory?” Mist’s eyes were rimmed with red, matching the colour of her nose, but they seemed to light up as the smaller ghoulette hovered in the doorway. “What’re you doing here?”

“Oh you poor thing!” Aurora cooed, dodging the question of why Mist’s casual workplace acquaintance was suddenly knocking on her bedroom door. Mist really did look terrible; her face was tired and haggard and her skin even paler than usual. “Can I come in?”

“’F course.” Mist sniffed, hauling herself upright in bed.

“I’ve brought you cake, and tea, and you’re not going to sneak money into my tip jar for once,” Aurora chattered nervously. “Can I run you a bath? Or fluff your pillows? Are you hungry, I brought soup?”

Mist smiled weakly at Aurora’s enthusiasm, a little overwhelmed at the small ghoulette’s whirlwind of fervent hospitality.

“A bath would be nice, this cold’s making me feel disgusting. So would some soup, I haven’t eaten since yesterday night…”

“A bath is is then!” chirped Aurora, “And I’ve got tomato, chicken noodle, or vegetable broth?”

“Tomato, please.” Mist rubbed at her red-raw nose with a tissue. “Zeph could do all this y’know? Or Meg. Did Zephy drag you here?” Conniving scoundrel, Mist thought to herself, anything to win that silly bet with Omega.

“I wanted to.” Aurora shrugged, trying to conceal just how eager she’d been to visit, “Zephyr just drove me.”

Mist struggled to pull herself more upright and swing her feet out of bed, and Aurora made a move to assist her. As she did so, she looked down at the armful of goodies she was still clutching, before whirling around to find somewhere to put them. Mist’s room wasn’t at all how Aurora had imagined: every available surface seemed to be covered in clutter and trinkets, the opposite of the cool, minimalist personality she exuded. The walls were plastered with artwork, lending everything a warm and cosy feeling. Aurora eventually made space on the desk, moving a few mugs – some with pencils in, some with leftover tea – and stacking the assortment of sketchbooks into a rough pile.

While Mist sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for the dizziness in her head to abate, Aurora headed into the en-suite and turned on the taps to warm up and begin to fill the bath. She looked around at the bottles on the windowsill, and poured in some blue bubble bath alongside the stream from the taps. Ocean Breeze, whatever that was meant to smell like.

“Thanks, ‘Ror,” rasped Mist, as she leaned against the doorframe, clean pyjamas in hand, “I can take it from here, unless you want to stay?” The exaggerated wink as she spoke told Aurora that she was only joking, and that despite Aurora secretly longing for more, this was just Mist’s normal flirtatious banter. At least she was feeling well enough for her usual wit to come through.

Aurora closed the door behind her as she left, and hovered in the bedroom until the taps turned off and the splashing sounds of Mist getting into the bathtub safely and without falling had quietened down. She grabbed some of her care package from the stash on the desk and headed back downstairs to make some tea and heat the soup.

Entering the kitchen, she found Zephyr at the table with a mug of the tea she gave them, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Omega paused where he was slicing vegetables and directed her to the kettle and microwave, grabbing a bowl and mug for her too. Aurora hovered awkwardly as she waited for the various liquids to heat, aware of Zephyr’s eyes burning a hole in her back the whole time. Out of the corner of her eye, she even thought she saw them making a gesture at Omega, like rubbing cash between their fingers and thumb. She put the bowl of soup and mug of tea onto a small tray Omega also presented, adding a few napkins and a spoon, before escaping back upstairs.

Balancing the tray in one hand, she knocked on the bedroom door again, entering when she got no response. The gentle sloshing sounds of water told her that Mist was still enjoying her soak, so she set the tray down on the desk and took a seat.

“I’m back!” she gently called at the bathroom door, “Let me know if you need anything else!” Mist hummed in acknowledgement.

Aurora took a look around the room while she waited, admiring the mishmash of colours and styles. Each item so clearly told a story, she wished she could ask about every single one. A small photo on the bookshelf made her smile: a younger Mist, probably round Aurora’s current age, was dressed in dungarees and pulling an uncharacteristically silly face at the camera from her seat atop a hay bale. A handsome dark-haired ghoul she recognised as the previous youth pastor Ifrit leaned against it, while Mountain and Swiss stood to one side, arms loosely around each other’s waists. Aurora couldn’t help the pang of jealousy she felt looking at the picture. Even though she knew they had only ever been friends, she was reminded that Mist had lived a life before she moved here, that there was no way she would ever fall for her young barista with a silly crush.

Abruptly, Aurora stood up and walked to the bed to straighten the duvet and fluff the pillows, perhaps with a little more force than was necessary. As she was tucking the foot of the blankets back in, Mist finally emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of fresh, ocean-scented steam. She looked to have more colour in her cheeks already, the worst of the pallid complexion she had worn before now gone.

“Feel better for that?” asked Aurora, smoothing the duvet with a final flourish, and moving out of Mist’s way.

“Much, thanks Rory,” Mist climbed back into bed, sighing as she sat up against Aurora’s carefully arranged stack of pillows. Once she was settled, Aurora brought over the tray, moving the mug to her bedside table so it didn’t spill. She tried not to stare too intently as Mist ate, smothering the protective fire that burned in her belly at seeing her devour the soup.

Instead, Aurora distracted herself by chattering at Mist about the daily gossip from the street. How Mrs Bloom from the flower shop had come in half an hour earlier than usual, coinciding with Mr Phipps from the jewellery boutique, and did this mean the elderly shopkeepers were finally getting together or not? And the teenager with the purple hair had been back to remove her Missing flyer from the noticeboard, as her pet cat had just been hiding in her neighbour’s garden shed the whole time, much to everyone’s relief.

As Aurora nattered away, she took Mist’s tray back to the desk once when she finished the soup and moved onto the tea, before lying back down under the covers. Aurora continued quietly recounting the day’s events until Mist’s breathing gradually slowed and evened out. Asleep. Aurora silently returned the empty mug to the tray, before grabbing a pencil and a scrap of paper to leave Mist a note in case she woke up wondering where her visitor had gone. She debated for a few seconds, before finally scribbling her mobile number on the bottom of the paper. Given how much time they spent together during the day, it was strange they hadn’t exchanged them yet, right?

She propped the note up on the bedside table and, in a moment of impulsivity, kissed two of her fingers before pressing them into the pillow, feeling Mist’s cool breath curl around them. Aurora shook her head, and grabbed the empty tray to leave before she made any more reckless confessions.

Zephyr drove her home in a comfortable, yet knowing, silence. Aurora felt slightly like she was the punchline to some joke she wasn’t aware of, but tried to think nothing of it. Surely spending your evening taking care of your favourite regular customer who might also be your friend but also might not be wasn’t that weird?

Aurora thanked Zephyr for the lift, choosing to slink off to her room as Swiss immediately invited them inside with promises of a fresh jar of honey from his bees. As she settled down for bed herself, mind still racing over the events of the day, her phone buzzed. Aurora felt her heart skip a beat as she read the message: Hi, it’s Mist. Thanks again for coming today, I’ll have to repay the favour sometime. xx

[drownedinlavender]

Helloooo, so I'm writing a long kyman fic. It's gonna be a slow burn multi-chapter one. I got like a good 1/3 of it down with like a skeleton of events mapped out. Since I haven't been active in any fandom or like written fanfic since I was a teen, I wanted to post an excerpt to kinda test the waters a bit haha I'm kinda shy about sharing stuff but was greatly inspired by a lot of people's work.

Anyway, the premise is Cartman impulsively taking the fall on something and being admitted to inpatient cause of it. This excerpt is when he facetimes the gang to tell them about it. Stan and Kenny are at school during lunch, Kyle's at the hospital (has to do with what Cartman took the blame for), and Eric's at home about to leave.

I'd greatly appreciate any criticism or input! Thank u for ur time 💜💖 ^^)/

"Dude, a psych ward? That sounds pretty serious," Stan looks mildly concerned.

"It is serious, Stan. That's why Kyle's gonna owe me big time when I get back," Eric smuggly declares, "Like sucking my balls big big time."

Kenny sneakers at the brunette still obsessing over a bet they made years ago when they were just kids.

"Man, you gotta lay off the balls thing, Cartman. That's hella gay," Stan drily informs while munching on a fry.

"Hey! It's not gay! It's about humiliation and having power over an individual," Eric offendedly denies, choosing to die on that hill.

Kyle, who has been absolutely seething in the background, finally bursts, "Fuck you, Cartman! I didn't ask you to cover for me, you did that all on your own!"

Eric scoffs, "Okay, fine, Kahl, would you prefer me going to PC principal and telling him I take it all back. That he should take you off the team like he wanted? Is that what you want, Kahl?"

Kyle tenses his jaw muscles as he grinds his teeth. Of course that's not what he wants but is Cartman holding one over his head any better? His eyes flicker to the side as he contemplates for a brief moment. Stan continues eating, staring at his screen waiting for his best friend to speak as if he's watching an enthralling reality tv show. Once Kenny's giggling fit finally subsides, he lays his head on one outstretched arm and sneaks a French fry from whoever's lunch tray is right across from him.

"Fine," Kyle bitterly concedes with a sigh, "but I'm not helping you do anything illegal like murder or whatever. And I'm definitely not sucking your balls," he points at Cartman through the screen.

"Oh…" a small voice utters in surprise across the room from Kyle. The redhead looks up at a shocked nurse half way through the door. "I-I'll come back in a second to check your vitals," she embarrassedly scurries out of the room.

Kyle's mortified face soon matches his hair. "God, damn it, Cartman!"

Kenny practically dies of laughter, not even bothering to hold his phone up right anymore.

"Dude," Stan snorts before cracking up as well.

Kyle hides his face with one hand, trying with every fiber of his being to maintain any ounce of composure he can muster before combusting from rage.

Eric's amused smile warps into a shit eating grin, he absolutely could not be any more delighted by the current turn of events. He obnoxiously clears his throat before continuing, "Very well, I'll leave a legally binding contract in your room before departing, Kahl. Now Kenny," he seamlessly changes the topic.

Kenny straightens himself out the best he can. "Uh-huh?" He responds through tears.

"Wait a second, fatass, do NOT break into my room!" Kyle protests.

Eric purposely ignores his rival, knowing it'll anger him further. "Kenny, my mom says you can use your spare key to clear out my fridge whenever. She's gonna stay up in Denver with some cousin until I'm out. We don't want the food rotting up and stinking up the place so do it sooner rather than later, got it?"

"Seriously, dude?!" Kenny immediately straightens himself out in elated surprise. Woohoo!" He cheers. He knows their fridge is always packed so he and his little sister are definitely set for bit.

"Knock yourself out, dude, just don't let anything rot in there. Seriously, I'll kick your ass if I come back and my house reeks like spoiled ass."

"You got it, bro," Kenny assures with a thumbs up.

"Don't ignore me, asshole!" Kyle's demands only serve to further Cartman's amusement.

"Welp, gotta go pack up some essentials. Don't know how long I'll have to be admitted … but it's all worth it for my dear friend Kahl's sake," Eric fakes sincerity. With a hand over his heart, he winks at Kyle.

"Oh, Fuck off," Kyle rolls his eyes.

"Well, good luck, dude. Don't blow up the place trying to escape," Stan waves goodbye from his screen.

"Guys, wanna say bye to Cartman? He's gonna go do some time at a loony bin," Kenny asks, reversing his camera to show the rest of their lunch table.

"We heard. You guys are super loud," Craig complains before biting his burger.

"Hey! Don't call it a loony bin, asswipe! That's totally insensitive to people with mental health issues. Not cool dude," Cartman condescendingly lectures, doing what he does best, playing the victim.

"Cartman's getting admitted? Dude, that's crazy!" Tweek comments.

"Wait, who's getting what now?" Clyde looks up from his phone, unaware of the conversation going on around him.

"Cartman, dude, he got in trouble again so PC principal's sending him to a psych ward," Tweek rapidly explains.

"Oh," Clyde responds in his usual nasally tone.

"All in order to save Kyle from getting kicked off the team," Cartman adds.

"Don't act like you did it from the kindness of your heart, fatass!" Kyle quickly corrects.

"First it's Cartman, then they'll be coming for the rest of us!" The jittery blond panics.

Craig pats his boyfriend's shoulder. "No they won't, honey, we don't cause the town to blow up every other month like they do."

"Hey!" Kyle indignantly exclaims.

"We haven't been directly responsible for the town's destruction for like," Stan counts the time in his head, "at least a year now!" He defends himself and his friends, receiving a middle finger from an unimpressed Craig.

"L-l-later, Eric, don't dr-dro-dr-dro-drop the soap," Jimmy jokes before offering up his signature smile.

"Jim, that's for jail," Tolkien corrects.

"Aw, we'll miss you, Eric! Don't take too long in the psych ward!" Butters gleefully shouts.

Kyle rolls his eyes, feeling himself getting more and more irritated by the situation at hand. "Oh, for Pete's sake, it's not like he's dying, you guys." The longer these farewells are dragging on, the more he can feel a twinge of guilt spreading throughout his subconscious and twisting up his guts.

"Poopsikins, mommy can't find Mr. Kitty's carrier, do you remember where we left it?" Liane can be heard calling from the background.

"Just a second, meeem!" Eric hollers off camera before getting back in frame and sticking out his tongue with a peace sign, "Later, losers ~ " he sings-songs and hangs up.

"You know …. For someone being sent off to an insane asylum, he seems really unbothered by it," Tolkien points out.

Kyle's eyes flicker down for just a second before choosing to quickly dismiss further analyzing Cartman's reaction to being sent away. "Well, yeah, it's Cartman. Do you really expect him to react normally about anything?"

"That's true," Tolkien immediately agrees, chalking it up to Cartman just being Cartman.

For a brief moment, Kyle remembers the time he was admitted when the town wouldn't believe him about Mr. Hankey but before he can even decide on entertaining that thought, Stan speaks.

"Wow … so he's really leaving, huh?" Stan says more than asks, looking a bit absent minded.

"I guess so," Kenny pensively looks down at the lunch table, head resting on crossed arms. He turns to Stan and forlornly admits, "dude … I'm actually feeling kinda bummed out."

Kyle bites the inside of his cheek. The reality of their current predicament further sinking in.

"Aw, Ken," Stan frowns and pats Kenny's shoulder.

"It's okay, Ken," Butters comforts, patting Kenny's back, "he said so himself, he probably won't be there for long."

"Isn't this a good thing though? Things are going to be a lot more peaceful while he's gone," Tolkien suggests.

"If Cartman gets admitted for the rest of the school year, I'll be sooooo happy," Craig chants in a monotone.

A sniffle directs everyone's focus towards Clyde.

"Clyde, you okay, buddy?" Craig puts down his lunch to fully focus on his friend's concerns.

"We *sniff* were starting to *sniff* get along more *sniff* this year," he powers through a closing throat.

Kyle bites his cheek even harder. Cartman was certainly a lot tamer as of late. Things were finally getting comfortable between the two of them, too.

"He was being a lot c-coo-c-coo-cooler this y-year," Jimmy admits.

The nurse knocks before entering Kyle's room this time. "I'm going to take your vitals again, okay?" She smiles.

"Yeah, sure," Kyle replies before addressing his friends, "I gotta go guys. Stan, can you come pick up my keys and move my car before my parents get back? I have a minor concussion so I'm under observation for a bit."

"Yeah, dude, totally," Stan confirms.

"Later," Kenny mumbles, waving with one hand, his face fully immersed in his crossed arms.

"Alright, thanks, see you guys later," Kyle says his goodbyes, queuing the nurse to begin taking his blood pressure.

Kyle barely moves, too busy contemplating Eric's departure. First, Stan moves and now Cartman's going to be gone for God knows how long? He bitterly sighs.

[wjforever]

So, a little bit about the translations of the names and titles that we meet in the first episode, not including the legend at the beginning, haha.

These are the words that I think it was important to translate or not to translate. At least once, so that people like me get it better, lol.

So, the title of the series itself. 苍兰诀 Cāng Lán Jué I hate how they translated it. "Love Between Fairy and Devil". No, no and no. This translates as "Parting of the Fairy and Devil". Or "parting" can be replaced by the word "farewell". But the most interesting thing is that the translation doesn't include the full names of the characters. This includes the word "cang" dark blue; deep green; ash-gray from the name of Dongfang Qingcang. And also the word "lán", which translates as orchid. And jué as "to bid farewell, to say goodbye". This adds an additional meaning to the title, right? Dark blue orchid to bid farewell.

玉京 Yujing. If I had known right away that it translates as the Jade Capital, it would have been a little clearer to me why so much attention is paid to this stone in the series. Because its significance would be more obvious. I confess, I didn't know about the importance of jade in the Chinese mythology of this genre.

(also 玉京 Chinese words, meaning that the Taoists called Heaven where of Service; refers to the Fairy are; refers to Royal Park in)

水雲天 Shuiyuntian. Translates as "Water clouds". And again, if I had known about the presence of the word water in the name, it would be easier for me to understand why they have so many water pavilions and fountain palaces. So I think you need to familiarize yourself with the features of the genre to understand this better.

司命殿 Arbiter Hall. Oh God. That's what I clutch my head about now. How could it be translated like this?! It killed the whole meaning for me. A very important moment! Siming translates as the god of fate, the keeper of fate. This is the God in charge of human life. Yes, it can be translated as a proper name. But Siming is not just the name of the master, it's her role, position. Therefore, then the guys are surprised that the master is a woman, because Siming is usually a man.

And although it can be translated by many different ways: Master of Fate, Controller of Fate, Deified Judge of Life, Arbiter of Fate, Director of Alloted Life Spans, and Director of Destinies, it's always important to emphasize the word "fate". And not just leave the word "Arbiter".

I think it's better to translate it as "Keeper of Fate Palace" or even "Arbiter of Fate Hall" or something like this. Otherwise This greatly interfered with the correct perception of the story and confused.

仙 Immortals and 仙界 Fairy realm. This translation made a very big confusion for me, because it seemed that the Shuiyuntian's people are immortal, but at the same time we are told that the true immortal is only Dongfang, and the Moon Tribe seems doesn't belong to either mortals or immortals. And here again it's important to learn the history of the genre.

In this case, immortals can also be translated as celestial or divine. These are people who live on the ninth cloud or among the clouds. The Moon tribe are also immortal, but they have left the heavenly capital.

I believe that for a better understanding of the difference it's worth translating it as the heavenly world and the celestials. This would be less confusing and more understandable.

仙女 Fairy. It's important to understand the difference between the European image of fairies and the Asian one.

A little lecture.

Originated from Chinese mythology, to describe persons of high moral character, intelligence and extraordinary, healthy, elegant to behold, and with extraordinary abilities, immortality of the woman and the high status of God. In the context used to describe looks pretty good, dignified and beautiful, delightful woman. In many minds, also refers to the appearance is not beautiful, but the temperament of someone charisma of women.

Western fairy is a fairy tale or myths and Legends of one of the female spirits or elves, is often described as a supernatural or preternatural spirit thereof. Fairies are generally described as having a human outer body with magical power, which originated from the inability to research folklore. Although in modern culture, even though they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, A diminutive humanoid creature, but they are with the initial human expression are completely different. The English word“Fairy”is sometimes also can be used as the elves, the dwarfs, the gnomes and goblins, and other various shape close to people or having supernatural creatures in General. In such a case, the "Fairy" will be translated into elves. (Sorry for the translation from Chinese without correction, huh).

More on my blog

[akiology]

In the Dead of the Night || Part 3

You are married to two of the most infamous information brokers in Tokyo.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Word Count: 1.1k Pairing: Akira Kurusu x Reader x Goro Akechi Note: THIS IS AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!! this chapter focuses more on akechi's history! also i am still not sure how long this is gonna be so you might see me gradually add parts to the links haha

The thought of never being born delights Akechi. And it's not just because of his self loathing, although it plays a part, but he genuinely thinks that his mother's life would be so much better if he was never born. His mother was definitely not the best, but she tried. That is what Akechi experienced and believed.

He didn't know much about his mother's life before she had him, but he knows her life would have been so much better. When she chose the active decision to keep him, is when her misery started. Many people shunned and judged his mother for having a child out of wedlock. She had lesser job opportunities, and thus she resorted to being a nightclub worker.

He was not dumb, he knew the kind of work his mother does. When his mother brings someone home she would give him some spare change and send him to the bathhouse. But regardless, he wishes to grow up fast so that he can work instead and get his mother out of that hellhole.

Until... that day.

"Mama! I am home!"

"Mama?"

".... Mama? What happened to you?"

Perhaps if he wasn't born, then maybe her mother would have had a stable job, and married to a man who will actually take care of her. Maybe if he wasn't born, then maybe she would not have to work herself to the bone, to the point where she could not recognize the person in the mirror. Maybe if he wasn't born, then maybe... she would actually be happy.

But he was born, and there's nothing he could do to change that. But what he can do is become stronger, powerful, to the point of untouchable, so that he and all the people he loves will no longer be resorted to the kind of pain he felt as a kid. And to make Masayoshi Shido, his asshole of a father, pay. The thought of him groveling pathetically while on his knees and at his complete mercy... Akechi smiles at thought.

/./

"You know... you seem a little too young," A man clad in an expensive suit looks over Akechi's resume. He is incredibly smart yes, but he is just a college student.

"I am more than qualified for the job regardless of my age," Akechi confidently answers, and flashed the guy a big smile.

The man seemed to mull it over. While Akechi is young, all they needed was a scapegoat. Currently, news of illegal activities has been circling around their company. The higher-ups needed someone to eventually take the blame, a fall guy, but they put it under the guise of looking for a new secretary.

"Alright, kid."

Little did they know, Akechi knew. And underestimating him was what caused their downfall.

/./

"Boss?" Akechi one day approached his office, with a folder filled with business documents in hand.

"Yes, Akechi-san? I am very busy, so I am going to need for you to make this quick," he was dismissive.

Akechi sighs, "I got a call earlier this morning. I am apparently under investigation?"

"Ah yes. Be sure to be on your best behavior." He looked away from Akechi and focused on the documents he had on the table.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Akechi was surprised.

"Hm? What else do you expect me to say?"

Akechi's expression greatly darkened. "Don't play dumb with me, old man. I could just turn you in to the police right now."

"Ha! Don't get cocky, kid. Nobody will believe you."

"That's true, whatever will I do?" Akechi laughed, but it was dry. "I have detailed documents and evidences of the illegal shit you do around here. I also have a few anonymous people that are willing to turn in their testimonies."

"Oh? And you think that's enough? I have more power and influence over you. Just throw some money their way and they will shut up."

"Have you no shame?"

"That is nothing. It is a dog-eat-dog world. The weak are weeded out. I am merely cutting down costs, and allocating more funds for the betterment of the company."

"They were going directly to your pockets."

"Well, I am the head of the company so I think it is well-deserved!" He laughed boisterously.

Akechi brought out his phone, clearly showing their conversation was recorded. "With just the press of a button, I could send this to the police right now."

"You! You wouldn't."

"I won't if you give me what I want."

"And what is that?"

"A bar."

/./

The old man stayed true to his word, and Akechi found himself being the owner of a bar in Kichijoji. After he established himself and his bar gaining enough profit to sustain himself, he decided to take care of the only link he has that could destroy him.

"Are you Goro Akechi?"

"Yes I am," Akechi was seated in front of a certain Sae Nijima. She was a prosecutor who was chasing down his previous boss, but did not have enough evidence to warrant an arrest, much less an investigation.

"I was told that you could help me with one of my cases."

"Jin Fukuhara, my previous boss. I have detailed evidences of his corruption, and how he silenced any employees that go against him. He also has ties to some shady dealings with the yakuza," Akechi handed a portfolio filled with the information, and raised a pouch. "Inside this is a USB device with his confession, and the testimonies of his workers."

"You... this... This could be good for my career!" Sae gawked at the papers in her hand, but then narrowed her eyes at Akechi. "What do you want in exchange for this?"

"Just keep my name out of this, and remove any connections my bar, Jazz Jin, has with him. I will rebrand."

"That..."

"This is good you know? My bar is known to attract customers who may have valuable information that could help you in future cases..."

And so Jazz Jin became The Jazz Bar. Jin Fukuhara was sentenced to prison time. Sae Nijima found herself with an unlikely consultant who did not want to be named in her operations. That's fine, she gets all the credits for her cases so it's a win-win.

/./

"Where are we going, Akira?" Akechi grumbled, feeling perturbed especially since they left you behind.

"We have a client, they want to meet at somewhere near Shibuya." Akira was just as displeased, but they it is not like they can easily turn their backs on their jobs. It would have been even more dangerous if they did.

"What about the bar?"

"I've asked Ryuji and Yusuke to take care of it."

Akechi sighed, resigning himself to the job. "Who's our client?"

"Someone named Kaneshiro."

[frodo-with-glasses]

Been thinking about a particular LOTR what-if scenario (because my D&D campaign took a turn into collaborative LOTR fanfiction), and I'm interested in your perspective on it if you have time . . .

Supposing Boromir somehow survived protecting Merry and Pippin, what effect would that have on Denethor?

Denethor's being fed despair by Sauron either way. But I have always read him as the news of Boromir's death being the thing that breaks him and makes him start to believe it. His grief is certainly a large part of what's informing his treatment of Faramir (though certainly not the only thing, as I think there's textual evidence that Denethor favored Boromir all along).

If Boromir didn't die . . . would Denethor still give into despair? Would he still send Faramir on a suicide mission — and if he did, and Faramir still suffered the same wounds, would Denethor still end up in his whole "all is lost; better to die on our own terms" spiral? Or would he have the presence of mind to see to the defense of the city?

How would he react to Aragorn, a man who has all the qualities Denethor disdains in Faramir but even more so, and who people are now saying is the rightful king (who even his own sons, even favored Boromir, are saying is Gondor's king returned)?

(He almost certainly wouldn't be a fan of Aragorn's plan to draw Sauron's eye away from Frodo. He probably would be greatly displeased that the Ring had been allowed to go across the River to Mordor at all, and even Boromir would have trouble convincing him otherwise.)

Thank you for letting me ramble in your askbox, haha. Don't feel pressured to answer if you don't want to or don't find the question as much as I do. (But if you do answer, I will be delighted.)

As much as the Gondor Dudes aren’t my personal hyperfixation in LotR, I am nonetheless a big fan of overthinking hypothetical situations, so this is right up my alley. :-D (Also, it’s really cool that you’re running an LotR-themed D&D campaign!! Sounds like a blast.)

To be honest, you hit pretty much every point I was going to touch on; Denethor’s despair and consequent insanity were certainly motivated, at least in part, by grief, so if you take the grief out of the equation then naturally the results are going to be at least slightly different. But we still have lots of other factors at play here: fighting a hopeless war, the looming specter of deposition, knowing that your allies just sent a nuke into the territory of the Enemy in the hands of a garden gnome so small you could punt him, and Prolonged Exposure to Cursed Artifact are still going to take their toll on Denethor’s mind. He will doubtless be more motivated to hold on to life while his favorite son is still alive, but even if he doesn't turn paranoid and filicidal, he’s still going to be Deeply Messed Up regardless.

So since I'm not getting any new ideas by looking at things from a Watsonian (in-universe) perspective, I'm gonna steer this in a Doylist (meta) direction and talk about implementation instead. The question I always ask myself with these sorts of "canon but a bit to the left" fanfictions is this:

What do you want out of the story? Do you want to:

A) Return to canon as quickly as possible? B) Change just one thing and see how far it butterfly-effects out? C) Find something somewhere in the middle?

Because the thing with "canon but a bit to the left" AUs that you can make pretty much anything work. It's a hypothetical situation. The question is how far away from canon you're willing to deviate. If I'm writing a "Boromir Lives" AU, I might go a couple of different directions, and the one I ultimately choose depends on personal preference and what I want out of the story.

Putting this under a read-more 'cause it's about to get long.

Option A: Canon, but like .5 degrees to the left

Ever since the battle at the Falls, Boromir has been following Aragorn and doing everything the Three Hunters (well, Four Hunters) do. When Pippin looks into the Palantir, Gandalf decides to take him to Minas Tirith right away, and Boromir, who's eager to get home and feels some responsibility for Pippin, volunteers to go with them.

(Yes I know that Shadowfax travels at ungodly fast speeds to get from Rohan to Gondor, but it's implied that lesser horses can keep up with their lord when they need to, so even if Boromir took a different horse they might still have been able to make it to Minas Tirith in a similar time.)

Denethor gives an enthusiastic welcome to Boromir and a far less enthusiastic welcome to Gandalf and Pippin. That welcome becomes less enthusiastic still in the ensuing conversation/interrogation, when he learns that they totally had the Ring but they sent it into Mordor instead of bringing it here. Boromir tries to reason with his father. Denethor is very disappointed with him. He blames Gandalf for corrupting his other son with all this foolishness, and treats Pippin with suspicion because of the whole prophecy with the Halfling, and the convo ends with hurt feelings all around.

I might need the War Nerds on this blog to correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, the attempt to take back Osgiliath wasn't a completely useless suicide mission, at least in concept. It is a major river crossing, and controlling transportation routes is like War 101. If you make it hard for your enemy to cross the River, you make it hard for your enemy to get to your stronghold, and that's good. Not a bad idea on paper. The only problem was that Minas Tirith didn't have the manpower to pull it off.

(And also there were Nazgul.)

Anyway, the point is, it's almost logical enough that you might be able to get away with Denethor ordering the Osgiliath offensive even without the grief-induced paranoia. Besides, there's still other paranoia in play: so far as Denethor is concerned, the Ring is walking into enemy hands, his son and most trusted captain has turned against him, and Gandalf is already planning a coup.

So here's what I'm thinking. Keep the Osgiliath battle, but send Boromir out there as well. Boromir and brother bravely bear the baleful battle, before their butts are badly beat and they get bit by the Black Breath. Dad feels bad, his boasts bashed as his boys' bodies burn with fever. Battle bears down on the beleaguered bourgeoisie, but their bereaved bigwig is barely bothered, too busy building bier bonfires.

…Sorry, I don't know where that came from.

Anyway, the point is, this puts us squarely back where we'd be at this point in canon: Denethor thinks he’s about to lose his family, his city, and his kingdom, and consumed by despair he decides that it's better to die on his own terms than in the hands of the Enemy. You can pretty much just follow canon from here and copy-paste Boromir with whatever is happening to Faramir.

(Except, of course, for the whole "falling in love with Eowyn" thing. But hey! Boromir was in Rohan! He and Eowyn probably know each other already! So they might have some fun conversations in the Houses of Healing.)

This is the route I would take if you want to stick as close to canon as possible and still keep Boromir alive. If adherence to the narrative is not your biggest concern, however:

Option B: Go stupid, go crazy

Boromir doesn't die. What does that change?

Well, everything, if you let it.

Let's say Boromir does return to Minas Tirith with Gandalf and Pippin like I suggested above. Let's say he's able to talk his father into begrudgingly going along with their unorthodox plan to save the world. Let's say Denethor doesn't call for the almost-but-not-quite-entirely-completely-a-suicide-mission to Osgiliath and instead puts Boromir and Faramir to work strengthening the defenses of the Minas Tirith. By time the Battle of Pelennor Fields rolls around, Denethor—now no longer occupied by the family barbecue—is available to direct defense of the city, with both sons acting as his captains.

Awesome! All this is great stuff, right?

Well, yes. So far.

The problem is that we lose so many great moments with other characters in the process. Pippin's pell mell run to find Gandalf. Beregond abandoning his post to protect Faramir. Eowyn and Merry, who slayed the Witch King together because Gandalf was too busy putting out fires (literally!) to get down there and do it himself. Aragorn, proving that "the hands of a king are the hands of a healer"! And if Faramir and Eowyn hadn't both suffered the Black Breath, they wouldn't both have been forced to stay behind as everyone else went to fight at the Black Gate, and they wouldn't have fallen in love in the same way.

This is not a statement meant to push your decision one way or another, but it's just a fact of the decision: If you dispense with Denethor's paranoia, and the insanity, and the murder arson, then you dispense with a lot of the other cool moments in this book. The question you've got to ask yourself is if that's a price you're willing to pay, and if not, how you can work around it.

Anyway, back to Pelennor Fields. I want you to imagine that Denethor is standing at the wall, watching the battle raging below him. It's not going well. The reinforcements from Rohan arrived, but they're barely hanging on. And to his dismay, he sees a fleet of black dots which could only be Corsair ships sailing up the river.

The foremost ship unfurls a banner, with the Tree of Gondor glittering on it.

And the army that pours out of them absolutely wrecks shop with Sauron's forces.

Is Denethor feeling relief? Yes. But is he feeling dread and apprehension and anger too? Also yes. He knows what this is. It's a challenge to his power waiting to happen. All his suspicions about Gandalf's ulterior motives are coming true: he has found someone to supplant him, and whether or not this kid is the true Heir of Isildur, the darn upstart's already gone all dramatic and made a war hero out of himself. Whoop-de-frickin'-do.

And then, he sees Aragorn's face.

And he's livid.

Fun fact: Appendix A tells us that Aragorn actually worked for Denethor’s dad, Ecthelion, for a long time. Aragorn went by a different name, of course, but he was so competent and so well-liked that he became Ecthelion's most trusted and honored captain, to the point that the Steward liked Aragorn more than he liked Denethor. We don't just have history here. We have beef. It's a little bit of a Tony Stark, Howard Stark, Steve Rogers situation where it’s like “Dad liked you more than he liked me and I’m his own son”.

You’d better bet your bottom dollar that when Denethor’s childhood rival rocks up to Minas Tirith, flying a banner made by an elven princess and carrying the Sword that Was Broken on his belt like he's somebody important, it doesn’t matter if Boromir and Faramir and Imrahil and everybody else in Minas Tirith likes him and happily falls in line behind him; Denethor is still gonna take one look at his face and go, “oh. it’s YOU. I freakin' HATE you.”

Whether this colors their ongoing relationship "coolly polite" or "passive-aggressive" or "outright hostile" depends on how vindictive you want to write Denethor. Because let's be honest, bro could totally order Aragorn to leave Minas Tirith and he would; Aragorn knows he's not the king yet, and he's humble enough to accept orders while the Steward is still in charge (as bass-ackwards as that is). But the thing is that Aragorn has the support of the people, and banishing him isn't gonna change that; if anything, it will probably garner sympathy for him, cause the people of Minas Tirith to distrust their leader, and maybe result in fracturing the loyalties of the populous.

So here's what you've got, okay.

You now have a David and Saul situation.

Think about it. Charismatic, upright war hero, beloved by everyone he meets, serving under the suspicious and deeply disturbed incumbent ruler who knows the newcomer is gonna boot him off the throne. You can't live with him: 'cause he's gonna boot you off the throne. But you can't live without him: 'cause you're in desperate need of his particular set of skills, and you'd be incredibly unwise to do away with him and earn the ire of the public. So you put up with him. And put on a show of liking him. And maybe chuck a spear at his head while he's playing the harp to calm down your possibly demonic fits.

But that's just Saul, so let's get back to Denethor.

The next step, in the book, is obviously the Battle of the Black Gate. And, obviously, Denethor is gonna think this military equivalent of knocking on the door of an axe murderer and threatening him with a pea shooter is a terrible idea, because it is. But the whole point—Aragorn and Gandalf and Boromir and Faramir and Imrahil and everyone else insists—is to distract Sauron long enough that the Ring-bearer can succeed in his mission. The plan isn't to win, it's to be bait.

Now you have a few options.

Denethor can, once again, begrudgingly go along with it, showing that he's slowly changing in heart. Perhaps Aragorn's humility is winning him over. Perhaps Boromir's impassioned pleas are getting through. In any case, you have a pretty good set-up for a redemption arc here, which could be interesting if you want to go down that road.

Alternatively, this could be the moment that Denethor entirely gives in to despair and basically says "fine, if you guys wanna go kill yourselves, I'll just be over here doing the exact same thing", and he tries to make Steward a la flambé. (Whether or not he succeeds is up to you, but I will say that this would be a pretty easy way to settle the succession crisis.)

Alternatively still, Denethor could publicly denounce the whole idea as stupid and order the people of Minas Tirith to stay put and defend the city, at the same time that Aragorn and the rest are urging those same people to come with them for one last stand. Now every eligible fighter in the city has to make a choice. Who will they follow? Lord Denethor, or Lord Elfstone? The people are divided. Factions are made. (This might be the moment that a certain member of the Guard sees Faramir standing with Lord Elfstone and decides, for the first time in his life, to break the rules.) In any case, the force that travels to the Black Gate is far smaller than it would have been if not for Denethor's interference.

If you go with the first option, it's a quicker road to a happy ending. Aragorn returns victorious, he and Denethor reconcile, and Aragorn honors the Steward and puts him in a place of high esteem. Everyone in Minas Tirith likes this, including Boromir and Faramir, and everyone lives happily ever after.

If you go with the second option, Denethor has either successfully or unsuccessfully attempted sudoku, which should probably disqualify him from public leadership either way. If he succeeded in barbecuing himself, it's the tragedy of a man who never got to see the upcoming victory; if he failed, it's the tragedy of a man whose mind was so utterly broken by the Enemy that he couldn't enjoy it.

If you go with the third option, congratulations; after Aragorn gets back, you still have to deal with the succession crisis. But I've waffled on for long enough and have basically no ideas how you'd handle this post-story, so I'm not gonna go down that road any further.

Option C: Pitch straight down the middle

Now what I've just presented are the two most extreme possibilities of a "Boromir Lives" AU that exist in my brain, but they're far from the only options. This thing is a spectrum. There are a potentially infinite number of possible storylines, some closer to canon, some further away.

If you like parts of one but not the other, you can mix and match. Take an exit ramp from the AU and get back on canon wherever you want, or just don't and see where it takes you. All I've done is present the furthest extremes I could think of to help shake up the ol' creative juices.

(I would have explored the possibility of Boromir arriving on the corsair ships with Aragorn instead of a few days earlier with Gandalf and Pippin, but that didn't change much except for Boromir having less opportunities to talk his dad down from bad decisions. So do with that what you will.)

Conclusion

I have no idea if this was the kind of answer you were looking for, but I guess I'm just returning rambling for rambling, LOL! In any case, I hope this helped, and if not, I hope it was a fun read.

But there is one more thing I can do for you, before I wish you good luck in your D&D endeavors, and that's turn it over to everyone else who reads this blog and see what they think!

HEY YOU GUYS! If Boromir lived, how would that effect Denethor's psyche?? Reblog with your thoughts!

[trashboatprince]

Here are my thoughts on Wild Blue Yonder!

HOO BOY!

Doctor Who spoilers under the cut.

First off, loving the whole random ass opening with Sir Issac Newton, and the fact that they continue to use the word mavity throughout the episode. It's stupid, but it's exactly what you expect from Doctor Who

Ooooh, the Doctor being so bummed about the new console room, the way they sounded reminded me of Crowley's '90 years and not a scratch'. No wonder David knew what to do, he was told to think of the TARDIS blowing up for that scene. And... well... looks like he had to repeat that, haha.

QUEER FOURTEEN! QUEER FOURTEEN! I mean, honestly, I already suspected as much, but yes! Gay? Bi? Pan? Who the fuck cares, they're queer! (And I still stand by David's Doctors being ace, so... :))

The tenderness of Fourteen caring for Donna throughout this, especially at the end when they hold her while the spaceship explodes... *clutches chest*

The visuals for the ship are pretty damn cool, if a little cheesy, but this greatly reminds me of the station from RTD's second episode during Nine's era, which also included the companion nearly dying by a powerful heat.

If I had a nickel for every time David played a nonbinary non-human in tight clothing talking to someone with the label of 'Jim(bo)' in 2023, I'd have two nickels.

The fucking creatures in this episode! UUUUUHHHHHGGGGGG!!! The body horror made it impossible for me to watch because holy shit it started getting into that territory where I feel my skin crawl just looking at it!

That's not to say I hated it, I fucking love horror in Doctor Who, but UUHHGG!!! EW! FUCKING NO!

Also really creepy that not-Donna knew about The Flux and the Timeless Child bullshit. I hate this lore, but it was interesting how it was brought back in a horror setting.

David and Catherine playing villains against them playing heroes is a delight

Also, chalk this up as another time David plays a version of the Doctor, this time as an enemy. Though in my heart of hearts, the Spriggan is still his best villain Doctor, TLV!Ten and not-Fourteen be damned!

Scary as fuck, very intense, this was a great special that I really did not see any of it coming. I'm so glad it was kept secret.

WILF! I started sobbing when he showed up, I love Wilf so much, and Fourteen's pure delight at seeing him! <3 I miss Bernard, I'm so glad he was able to be part of this before he passed.

It's not Doctor Who without a cliffhanger!

I wonder what the salt thing will do in the series, will Fifteen have a call back to it? I'm very curious...

Overall, a terrifying special, I fucking loved it, but eeeeeewwwwww... the body horror and stuff. I hope David and Catherine had fun!

Also, I like Jimbo.

Anyone else get Midnight and the two-parter Ganger episodes vibes from this special? Cause I love that.

[karliahs]

Hello Karliahs my internet stranger friend- please know that I previously held an ambivalent stance toward bnha, but your posting has greatly improved my interest in it!! And your insights about the recent group photo are absolutely delightful and I appreciate you very much :3

🥺🥺🥺 anon this is so sweet and made me smile so much...i appreciate you right back!!! I'm so glad me rambling enthusiasm into the void could make you feel some of it too

and to be honest i feel a fair amount of ambivalence about bnha too! there's a lot of things in it that i don't like and i do often feel like its storytelling priorities don't align that well with what i'm really looking for...i don't talk about that as much both bc i fear discourse and bc also it's just kind of more fun to dig into my (very genuine) enthusiasm for it

like despite those gripes it's such a fun playground and i have so much fondness for it, both bc i watched it initially with dear friends and bc this is kind of the only time i've felt like i'm really part of a fandom rather than just kind of lurking on the edges of one? i feel very comfy here you know...and i feel like all these cool creative people engaging with this show makes it into more than the sum of its parts

anyway haha that got long but thank you genuinely for this message! and i'm glad you enjoyed the thoughts i tapped out grinning at my phone like an idiot while waiting for my paella to be done simmering

[curetapwater]

Hey who's your smash fave? I don't play but I watch competitive streams of it a decent amount

I should start by saying I'm very much a casual ehe, I mostly play against CPUs and occasionally family members when I see them. But I have been playing some form of Smash since I was I wanna say 8 years old? So I don't consider myself especially impressive at it but I do have a lot of experience.

As a kid, my favorite was Zero Suit Samus because I had a crush on her lol. She's still my favorite to play as in Brawl, I just love how quick an nimble she is, and her plasma whip is so satisfying to get people with. But I don't like how they changed her in Smash 4 and Ultimate to have less focus on the whip and more on her rocket shoes, which are cool, but they aren't as satisfying to me. I do greatly appreciate that they made her accessible on the roster and not hidden behind normal Samus' Final Smash, and as a result gave Zero Suit Samus a new Final Smash that doesn't have me constantly avoiding the Smash Ball lol.

For a long while, my second favorite character in Brawl and my favorite character in Smash 4 and Ultimate was Kirby. I still consider him to be one of the best. He can jump five times in a row and his up special takes him up even higher (although it's a gamble unless you're certain it'll land you on the stage). His side and down specials are so satisfying to hit people with, and his updated Final Smash with the rainbow sword is fabulous and has so much reach ehe. And his copy ability is especially fun when playing against human players because then you get to tease people like "haha I took your power!" And he's also adorable!!!!!

But once I started getting into Sonic the Hedgehog in I wanna say late 2020? Well. Guess who my fave became. Like, objectively I understand his moveset to be lacking. He was a very late addition to Brawl and it shows in how many of his special moves are just different variations of "curl into a ball." But oh. It is so fun to curl into a ball. Not to mention he's just so darn fast that the strategy for playing as him becomes essentially to be as annoyingly confusing as possible. Hit and run hit and run side special and ram into everyone in front of you and remember to uncurl before you accidentally rocket yourself off the stage. His near-unamanageable speed is tricky at first but once one gets the hang of it he's a delight. Well. He's a delight for me. He's a menace to everyone I'm playing against lol.

It's especially funny because as a kid, Smash was a reason why I once reeeally didn't like Sonic as a character. I thought he seemed rude and annoying lol. I especially hated when he went "You're too slow!" in a mocking sing-song voice. But now that I've been exposed to so much Sonic media, ohhhh is he delightful. Especially in Brawl, in terms of characterization. They brought in Jason Griffith to record original lines for him and his face is so expressive and aa!! I wish in Smash 4 when he had to be replaced by Roger Craig Smith that they'd brought him in to record new lines too, instead of recycling clips from I believe Generations? But oh well. I just. He's so fun to play as ehe. When I play Smash with my cousin and little sister, they'll see me choose Sonic and immediately form an alliance against me. It's hilarious.

[raw-law]

!!!!! I adore you two, really. I always love educating people and having discussions with them but I do not wish to come across as arrogant just because I'm so honest (which most people cannot deal with). Both of you really deserve every ounce of my appreciation, even if the subject may still be a bit more foreign to you Light. I do not view it as a flaw, the fact that you're willing to expand your horizon on this (and everything else, really) makes it very easy to talk to you and I really like how you express yourself even when there's something you don't particularly agree with, or relate to. Very delighted at how polite you are. I absolutely agree with you, our expectations and preferences towards romantic partners do mesh. Out of the romance oriented questions you replied to occasionally I could get behind your replies a lot, seeing as you hold a standard of non dependancy and realism. True respect is sacred to me, and I like how the more someone mentally challenges you, the more respect you open up with towards that person. Very relatable and I cherish the position I'm at in your eyes. Now, Ryuzaki on the other hand.. Let me tell you, people have called me stoic all my life, but this right here? You really managed to get a wholehearted laugh out of me. I do sincerely hope you managed to get some sleep, but I have to admit I am heavily entertained by your way of gaining knowledge. I, too, like to sacrifice my precious sleep for it hahaha. Though what a shame.. What a shame it is to hear a smart man like you degrade himself like that. I'm not liking that and I truly believe you should put yourself on this pedestal as well so let me mirror some of the praise I have been kindly receiving from you boys. You are not slow by all means, nor are you incoherent. I can follow perfectly fine, there is no bullshittery to put up with.. Your natural curiosity is nothing to be ashamed of, it should be admired. I'm certainly not suffering from your rambling, I was in fact looking forward to this reply and you surely did not disappoint. Trust me, it would be nothing but a pleasure to me to be bombarded by your questions even in the middle of the night haha. Sorry, now it's my turn to sound a bit shallow haha I'm just a bit flustered. Every time I press send I start doubting myself because I fear I might seem like a total weirdo and creep and every single time you welcome my words so greatly, both of you. It always hurt me when people painted you as some ugly rotting creature, Ryuzaki, because I am certainly not failing to notice how charming you are. Naturally, even, since you're not really trying at all. I understand how people are drawn in by Light's effortless elegance but I think you are bright too, Ryuzaki. Very much so actually. I greatly appreciate the warmth in the way you interact with me.

Anyway, sensual is the word I was looking for. In the past, my partners have always used that term when referring to me. I want to tell you two something a bit contradicting yet not short of amusing; I already had this opinion before this happened, but around.. Four or five years ago, I was in a relationship with someone who deeply fascinated me. A very busy person who majored in psychology along with a job in security and a large social media presence with a big audience on the side, quite a bit older than me as well. We got acquainted through our shared interests and while getting to know each other, they slowly but surely revealed their fragility to me. I was obviously more than honored, but back then I wasn't as confident as I am today and everything was a tad bit intimidating to me. My life was vastly different to theirs, so I wasn't sure about being able to take care of them but since they held such mental strength, I figured it would not be much of an issue. Until, one day, they told me something that was alien to me - they told me that they haven't shed a single tear in years. Through laughter. Casually, just like that. With their busy life and blows of fate, I kept on asking myself how that was possible and eventually realized it was repression that held their tears in. Something about that was so cruel to me that it made me instantly tell them "I want to change that." in a way that would be beneficial for them. Mind you, me personally I would break if I couldn't shed my precious tears. I like to cry and I like to cry often, I cry when I listen to sad music or when I watch sad movies. I cry out of anger, sadness, and joy. I would never be ashamed of that. I figured it must be torturous to not be able to, literally, let your emotions flow out of you like that, especially since crying releases well needed endorphins. I wasn't sure how to approach it because really, how do you say "hey, want me to make you cry?" without sounding like an asshole? It was almost comical, especially with me being younger. I didn't want them to shed tears of sadness, so this was when I tended to eroticism. After getting their consent, I began to strategically pinpoint their most harmless of weaknesses, expanding into those that rooted deeply. They were woven into knots and with them and me having a rather long distance between us, it usually ended up in me rambling on the phone, building up into something more erotic day by day. It goes without saying there was an insane amount of trust involved, someone recognizing your weaknesses like that can be insanely harmful and dangerous, I chose my every word carefully and yet if I made it sound too weak, I knew I couldn't reach anything. Sometimes, they were so relaxed that they just fell asleep. This was a huge compliment to me, proved their trust and just reassured me I was the only one who could do this for them. Not once did we have sex, believe me when I say I have never physically touched them and yet one day it happened, they cried and they cried hard. It was cathartic and sexually gratifying for the both of us. This was when I realized how erotically capable I am.

I apologize for the length of this ask, but I figured this story might be highly interesting to someone who's not well versed on this matter. And yes Light, whether you're a mass murderer or not is not to be questioned in the slightest. It's a fact, as Ryuzaki said. Not insulting you, the burden you carry must be heavy if that's the path you chose for yourself. I won't pick sides. I wish to remain neutral and realistic.

-🩶

L:

wow.. i'm honestly not sure if i can make a response that lives up to everything you've shared here. but.... shit. i'll try, hahah.

i'm glad you found my sleep deprived prattling amusing, though light definitely did make it more coherent than it originally was, so thank him for that part if anything, hah. your compliments are also highly flattering. i'm not.. really used to praise that's not in regards to my work..? so this is certainly new. i'm not sure what's the uh.. socially right way to accept such remarks? but i do highly appreciate them. it's just.. very new, hahah. and you say i have charm.

i'm also glad that you can feel comfortable asking and answering with what you please. i wouldn't want to foster an environment that makes you feel like a creep, or a weirdo.. or question what you're doing here (it may be a reference but it is true, i assure you). plus, i just like learning about people, so lengthy responses are always welcome. as much as i like taunting light with stupid questions, i very much enjoy discussions like this as well.

and the story... that's the main part that i'm not sure i can match up to.

it's beautiful. really. i'm not sure what else i can say. i honestly didn't think relationships like that could really.. exist..? but in the sense of that kind of deep emotional intimacy, especially in the form of erotica. or maybe it's just a subconscious mentality of not believing i could personally achieve that... i'm not sure. either way, it's an incredibly touching story. i doubt i'll forget it. thank you again for the response, even though i feel like "thank you" is too weak of a phrase to describe how much i like this story.

Light:

I'll...try my best to answer your ask, sorry for the long wait...I've just been thinking of a better way to answer you.

First of all, I'm glad that you're writing to ask. Don't worry about seeming like a 'creep' or a 'weirdo', we're always interested to learn more---especially when the subject is interesting, like in this case.

And....I must say this. Your story is beautiful. Honestly, that's why I've been waiting on this reply for so long---I'm not very sure how to adequately respond to what you've told to both of us. I guess I can say that, because of it, I understand now that eroticism can...make people feel emotions they haven't felt in months, years, possibly even decades. And, honestly, that's just so...amazing? If that's the right word, because words seem to be unfortunately failing me here. I suppose I'll just enjoy your story in silence. Just know that I deeply enjoyed it, and, well...I can say that you've helped my understanding of the subject come a long, long way since the start.

Thank you. And you're right: it is highly interesting. I'd absolutely love to hear more of this, though my response is heavily inadequate...