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fumifooms · 10 months ago

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The Nakamoto household - facts & theories masterpost

Table of contents:

the hierarchy & general situation

The parents

The Maizuru situation

The siblings

The other retainers

Izutsumi

Toshiro

Conclusion

I also made tldr summary charts here. This post is about collecting facts about the setting and characters, but it’s gonna be a lot of analysis on what it means through the lens of Toshiro as well, his relationship and place in everything etc etc. They have entangled drama the scale of Daltian Clan. Things are so interwoven it’s hard to keep topics neatly in their own section, because of this pictures may be relevant at several point of this but I mostly won’t be putting them in twice, you might have to do some scrolling up while reading if you want the visual proof to accompany statements. Unlike with Chilchuck’s family there’s less ambiguousness and more intricate details and implications so it’s less theorizing & headcanoning and more stringing together all the crumbs canon gave us. I also dig into some cultural parallels, especially since characters from Wa are the most culturally coded in the series. Also disclaimer that I’ll be calling Shuro Toshiro through this whole thing because that’s his actual name & Shuro isn’t even a nickname he’s shown to like, for accuracy’s sake. The servant girls have real names but are always called by their code names so I’ll call them as such, except for Izutsumi who was named Asebi which I won’t be using.

The general situation

To start off, what’s the situation in canon? All three kids of the head of the house, the three sons (Toshiro and his two younger brothers), are sent out on a vague mission to find something interesting for his father to pick the heir. Each son is thus on their own journey, out with their own group of retainers for an unsure length of time, during canon it’s been 2 years that Toshiro left the house for this mission, and they seemingly all drifted towards dungeons. It’s important to remember that this state of things is the exception and not the rule, and before this the sons lived at home and had different uses of their time, and the retainers had other jobs than care after them. See the next paragraph.

The household offers ninja services, no exaggeration or misuse of the term, mostly spyint but also "covert maneuvers" which could include anything including assassination of people high up. That’s the job of their servants/retainers at least, the heads themselves are more like managers probably, possibly samurais themselves though especially since as we see with the heirs (besides the samurai armor) they also got trained in fighting as their skills showcase. I need to dig into the history of samurais more before I can draw the parallel confidently though. The Nakamoto household is noble/wealthy, distinguished as the Adventurer’s Bible puts it, but it works for and puts its service at use for "their local lord". It buys servants, but also has families who have served it for generations like with Hien. The comic shows that there aren’t only women servants, it’s just the ones we see all happen to be because Toshiro’s retainers are only a small team of all of Nakamoto’s servants.

Above, in a page showcasing characters’ relationships with their party leader: 父親の部下を借りている状態なので、距離がある。Doubtlessly there must be a translation of this already somewhere but I’m lazy and impatient so I turned to machine translation instead, this translates into: "Since he is borrowing his father's subordinates, there is a distance between him and them". Calling the servants retainers is what most of the fandom does and it’s accurate so I’ll be calling them this.

Hien and Toshiro were childhood friends which means the servants do have some degree of contact not even just together but with the heirs too, or maybe just specifically Hien, since both their parents were ninjas for the Nakamotos she ended up getting raised there and they let her play with him as an exception? They did end up drifting away as adults as their relationship got more professional, so it’s possible. The servants eat and sleep in shared spaces, separate from the masters, though Maizuru has her own bedroom, if the room configuration at the in is to be believed + it’d make sense since she’s governess/head servant. I’m hesitant wether to say it’s implied that this group of 4 retainers was always a bit of a team or it wasn’t and got formed for Toshiro specifically. We know that Benichidori had little contact with Toshiro before they were sent out together for example, but we do see all three girls with Izutsumi in Inutade’s extra when they were younger, and them eating in the same japanese styled room etc. The inn they stay at on The Island is western styled though they do have futons rather than beds (there’s only one bed in their shared room and Hien has it because of her rank).

From Izutsumi’s Adventurer’s Bible profile: "Maizuru, who was also Shuro's governess, is the one thing Izutsumi fears. After Izutsumi was taken in by the Nakamoto family, Maizuru forced her through a harsh training regimen of speech, common sense, and fighting skills. Since Izutsumi refused to listen to her, Maizuru set a curse on her that would activate if Maizuru didn't touch her within a set time frame: "Ninja Art: Babysitter." "

Maizuru, called a governess, is the one training the girls, at least some of them, we know for a fact she was the one to train Izutsumi for example, and in general she’s the one in charge of the ninja girls we see. She was a ninja herself but retired from frontline missions, but has a central role managing the servants instead. Inutade for example is strong but not stealthy, and it’s said that it’s Maizuru’s job to choose how to train her and what role to give her in consequence. Her training includes manners but fighting as well, notably kunais and martial arts. Hien is shown to use bombs and Benichidori is implied to be good at disguises, Inutade uses a bold weapon like a club but it’s implied with "ogres and clubs just go together" and Maizuru not knowing where to put her to use that it’s uncommon for Nakamoto servants to use those. Their board game artworks also show their specialties neatly. When brought into the household, the servants are given new names and their whole lives become devotion to the house and their duties. The names might be intended to act as code names due to them being ninjas? It’s implied that they never use their non-code names anymore once they start serving the household. Maizuru’s training also contains language and "common sense"… Critical thinking? As well as implied etiquette. This isn’t surprising, as she was the one put in charge of raising not only Toshiro but his brothers as well.

Oh yes I want to mention that all the retainers’ "first deaths" are in the dungeon during canon, considering our main cast we’re used to death being permissible because dungeons make resurrections possible, but it’s relevant to remember that these people never died before. Never. These girls are professionals, ninjas with a sometimes very dangerous job. Messing up means death, permanently.

From what we see and with who we see, the hierarchy is:

Father (head of house, his word goes)

Mother (has status which puts her wishes above others’ and give her some control over the house, it’s unsure how much though, but hierarchy wise she’s very much above the rest but below the father)

Maizuru (governess, in charge of (at least some) servants and raising Toshiro. Two dots)

Hien (leader of their squad, trained servant from a family devoted to the Nakamotos. Two dots)

Benichidori (trained bought servant. Two dots)

Inutade and Izutsumi (bought servants. Power wise from their rank it’s unsure just how much the difference between Inutade (who has one dot), Izutsumi (who has none) and Benichidori (who has two) is, since Hien is team leader between the four servants at least that’s measurable. Inutade gets some janitor duties, and Izutsumi has a curse put on her so she doesn’t run away I suppose. Power wise it’s unsure, but socially/role wise Inutade and especially Asebi are treated worse.)

I didn’t add the sons because I’m talking more generally about the power structure and it’d depend on each sibling, like Toshiro’s wants and directives during canon trump Maizuru’s, but Maizuru is also his nanny and manages the girls so she has a lot of importance and sway even on the final decisions.

The parents

I am so pissed I forgot that we know Toshiro’s father’s name, Toshitsugu, from these panels showing the progression of the family tree. I am so pissed I’m adding this halfway into writing this whole thing, I am not gonna go back and replace every "the father" by his name atm.

The father is the part of this puzzle most important yet most shrouded in mystery, or rather a lack of details. What we do know paints a pretty full and vivid portrait: impulsive and cares mainly about his own entertainment. Maizuru calls him a fool, his sons are exasperated and go "This again?" when he summons them saying that they’re boring/dull, everyone knows he’s having an affair and he often has undignified demeanor, but what he says goes so yes Maizuru will take Izutsumi under her wing, yes the sons will be going out right away into the world to find you the 8th world wonder, yes whatever you want lord. He seems to have little care for how his action affects others, like crashing into Maizuru’s room at night and asking she take care of a catgirl, or sending out his sons suddenly with kicks to the butts. He does what he wants hen he wants and others have to comply.

Like we see with Izutsumi and Inutade, he tends to take a liking to slaves here and there and buy them on the spot, usually at entertainment places, like sumo wrestling matches for Inutade and a freakshow for Izutsumi. The Adventurer’s Bible states him acquiring Inutade as "By coincidence, Shuro's father came to see her first match; he liked her and bought her for the Nakamoto family." and Izutsumi as "She was on display as a "cat-girl" in a sideshow when Shuro's father took an interest in her and bought her." In Maizuru’s extra, he calls Izutsumi a "souvenir" he got for her, and he’s drunk so it could well be assumed that buying Izutsumi was a drunken whim, and that he mitht be alcoholic. You can’t really say that he picks them out because he sees potential in them to be a ninja or would be useful, since with Izutsumi she had no fighting training and Inutade doesn’t fit the skills they seek like stealth and she has trouble fitting in. You could assign noble goals to him like maybe wanting to help or relating to the misfits, but I think with what we see of him it’s more likely that he likes to pick up "oddities", like a catgirl at a freakshow or an ogre, especially since one of the only things we know of him is he wants his sons to bring back interesting trophies from their travels. Toshiro, about his father buying Inutade, says: "People in power desire ogre as servants, and ogres are chosen as opponents in tests of strengths or military exploits. My father bought her for similar reasons."

Also from this we can infer that he goes out to events often, like circus and sumo wrestling, again mostly for entertainment from what we see. I like to think it’s implied that he used to travell maybe still does, due to his own liking for it as a test and because he visits various places like the sideshow, plus his forearm scars in Toshiro’s extra… But him being a samurai in service of a lord could definitely explain that.

This all paints an interesting picture doesn’t it… The Nakamoto’s lifestyle is super encased in rules and social propriety, duty and hierarchy. Old noble man who’s been surrounded by propriety all his life and just wants some spark of interesting stuff happening amongst the humdrum of his lavish cushioned life at home, and is shitty to people around him in consequence and due to his privilege allowing him to. He’s despicable, but from his 3 appearances he becomes an interesting well-fleshed character, at least proportionally to the screentime he gets…

We also know that the affair with Maizuru is well known at least inside the household, so there’s no genuine secrecy around the topic. Makes sense that the wife would hate her guts.

Ahh yes the mother. Little is known about the mother, except that from Maizuru’s profile "Shuro’s mother can’t stand the sight of her, to the point where there are areas on the property Maizuru is forbidden to enter. Maizuru, however, is impressed by his wife’s strength of character." From this I glean that she does have enough power/respect in the house that she can make rules like where Maizuru is allowed to go. Also the implication that otherwise Mazuru would have access to EVERYWHERE in the house despite being only a (high-ranking) servant is a bit interesting. Wether the mother’s "strength of character" is overt and hot-headed or understated and cool-headed is unsure, but I imagine the latter more. I could see Maizuru’s angle in many ways, from being able to tolerate "that fool" aka the father both just in general and with knowing that he’s cheating on her, to knowing how hard it is to be respected as a woman and admiring her putting up with it all and still being able to have sway in the household. This is I think the only mention of the mother anywhere. Doesn’t seem like she is an important figure to Toshiro at all: in fact we hear about her on Maizuru’s profile, and seeing all of this we can see the importance of her in Maizuru’s backstory and life, moreso than Toshiro’s. I imagine she’s a bit of a recluse, which is part of why Maizuru not being allowed to roam the full house is important, because them running into each other at the house is high.

It’s unsure how much contact the parents have with their kids. What we know is that they left the principal tasks of raising the kids, or at least Toshiro, to servants. Toshiro’s profile says that he’s more attached to Maizuru than his parents, and that’s the phrasing. From the comic where their father summons the sons, it does seem like they’re more or less used to interacting, with the sons’ "This again?". So it’s not that they’ve only interacted with them few times enough to count on fingers, but how meaningful were those interactions? From Toshiro’s profile we know he has a complex where he thinks he’ll never get recognition from his father or be able to measure up to him… But is that more born out of secondhand gossip and expectations, or from direct interactions with him that made him feel that way? Likely a mix of both, especially since the father does seem to be very dismissive, uncaring and insulting with his sons. Oh, but it’s definitely notable that in the Hag monster tidbit (below in Maizuru’s section) six years old Toshiro runs to his father scared shitless for help against the shikigami, and his father casually helps him without batting an eye. Toshitsugu knows how to deal with Maizuru’s shikigamis, and he does so efficiently and without any sense of worry or urgency. Although the event traumatized Toshiro and he was very scared, it doesn’t seem like his father offered any comfort, beyond just helping getting rid of it and letting him cower behind him without comment. Toshitsugu gives hungover vibes in that one imo haha. It’s shown he was already training as a ninja, perhaps this event only reinforced Toshiro’s complex, seeing his father, the samurai the achieved man who has expectations for him, so unfazed and uncaring like that.

The Maizuru situation

Let’s establish a timeline first. It’s left vague how much time she’s served the Nakamoto family for, or how she came to be in their service. The central point is that "She was put in charge of raising their children at a young age". If straight from his birth, Maizuru started taking care of Toshiro when she was 15 years old. If from toddler age, then 16. It’s uncertain if when she stopped getting front-line espionage missions, but we know it’s late rather than early despite having kid raising duties. But well, since she’s also in charge of the ninjas she’s definitely has a multitasking role even now.

The dad prob has around 5-10 years more than Maizuru, I’d say. We only see half of his face and only a good few years in the past, around ~3 years ago probably with the shuro quest and a good 7 years with Izutsumi as a kid, but visually those are the vibes I’m getting. From Toshiro’s birth, it’s possible that the father was 15 when the baby was born too? But conception would have been closer to 14 years old then, and yeah I don’t think they marry and have kids that young. Toshiro is 26 years old in canon and is unmarried, and the heir hasn’t been officially picked, so marriage and kids don’t seem to be in the family’s priorities. Even if Maizuru do say that the father would love if Toshiro brought back a wife.

Now the elephant in the room: she has an on-and-off affair with the father and it has been si for many many years, at LEAST 7 years since that’s when we see that comic of him going into her chambers about Izutsumi, and in the comic above, Hien in that panel has an ambiguous age. Regardless it’s definitely implied that it’s a long, long-standing thing. Hien’s phrasing above makes it sound as if it’s not purely physical, as if feelings are involved, "he’s head over heels for his confidante", and who knows if this relationship is part of why Maizuru was chosen to be the governess, or even hired at all.

It’s in the feud with his father that we learn about maizuru’s affair and how after learning it he started shutting her out emotionally. It’s left vague when Toshiro learned about it, Hien made it sound as if everybody always more or less knew but I don’t think Toshiro started shutting her out when he was still pretty young. Regardless, the two are implied to be linked, his dislike of his father/complex and how he stopped getting along well with Maizuru/being emotionally open with her. Is it that he now feels as though Maizuru is actually on his father’s side and not his own, that after all if she had to choose she’d pick him over Toshiro too? Or is it that, because his father’s known to be a self-centered frivolous jerk, that knowing she lets it happen, "can’t seem to shake it", he respects her less? He has an irresponsible reputation and she does give off the vibe of needing to clean up his messes, so that wouldn’t be unplausible either.

On the flipside from her perspective, since he learned she was his dad’s mistress he emotionally shut her out, which can partly explain why she’s SO fussy with him and happy at the slightest hint of happiness or compliance, like when he listens to her and eats, or maybe even being happy that he lets her help him dress and keep tidy (imo this is supported by how they interact in the page showing him interacting with all his party members). She wants to regain that closeness they once had and for her baby chick to be alright as he’s slipping through her fingers. Man so sad to think about him rejecting her when he’s the only thing in her life. She’s raised him for 26 years, no wonder she’s so attached to him, the only thing in her life she feels true unconditional attachment for. Maizuru says that she thinks Toshiro’ll be a better head of the house than the father, too. The respect and care is somewhat onesided, given freely from her side but repressed from his end. When she cares for Toshiro is when her demeanor immediately and drastically softens. She gets easily carried away when it comes to him, rambling enthusiastically or smiling widely or tearing up. Her tendency to ramble or tell anecdotes about Toshiro is shown making Hien and Benichidori go "Here she goes again…" twice through canon.

With Izutsumi’s timeline we see Izutsumi was taken into the Nakamoto household at 10 yo, and since in the comic with Maizuru and the dad she’s shown as stinky and all I imagine she arrived there the same day, so Maizuru was in charge of her since she was first here. In fact if we assumed that it’s the same day as when he bought her at the circus show, then we could assume that buying her was a drunken whim like mentioned.

Since Izutsumi was taken in at 10 and she’s 17, this would mean that Maizuru is 34 years old here. She looks younger without makeup, but lower than that is mathematically impossible besides maybe 33 if Maizuru and Izutsumi’s birthdays line up just right.

Time for the second elephant in the room!!

Maizuru’s magic

Maizuru is the only person in the Nakamoto household, anyone from Wa really, who we see using magic, I doubt she’d be the only one who can use magic in the household but as the governess it wouldn’t be unplausible I suppose. From what we see, the magic is estimated by Marcille to be an "appropriation of gnomic magic" with an eastern script. For my analysis of written magic (though with only a brief glance over Maizuru’s magic), see this post.

If you scroll up and read the little section on Maizuru’s profile, Ninja art: babysitter: "One of the curses put on Izutsumi is Ninja Art: Babysitter, which manifests as a terrifying hag shikigami. Unless Maizuru touches the victim within a set time frame, this terrible curse makes a hag appear and chase them around with a carving knife. Maizuru originally created it in an attempt to keep Shuro from getting lost, but it ended up traumatizing him…"

From Izutsumi’s profile: "Maizuru, who was Shuro’s governess, is the one thing Izutsumi fears. […] Since Izutsumi refused to listen to her, Maizuru set a curse on her that would activate if Maizuru didn’t touch her within a set time frame: "Ninja Art: Babysitter." It was put on her when she was 12. Since Toshiro had it as a kid, presumably the curse can be lifted off rather easily, Marcille was confident on reverse engineering it as well. It’s unsaid what the time frame is, it’s kept vague everywhere and Izutsumi herself says "who knows" how long it is. Izutsumi ran away despite the very real risk of it killing her. Essentially, Maizuru can put people in a timebomb collar

… MAIZURU WHAT THE HELL

As we might have expected, Maizuru being given the task of rasing a child at 15 did not go perfectly. This, a babysitting technique??! This comic happens when Toshiro was 6 and so Maizuru was 21. Interesting to note that Toshiro didn’t even know it was Maizuru’s doing before this conversation during canon, and he doesn’t know how to bring it up or deal with it how it affected him. Maizuru seems surprisingly uncaring of Toshiro’s feelings on the matter here, oblivious to his conflict her and fondly recalling it all.

This curse is a shikigami. From her profile: "A shikigami user, Maizuru has a variety of shikigami that have been sealed in paper as her servants. Her favorite seems to be Gyuki, a bull ogre." Now don’t ask me when Gyuki appears, I do not remember it. But before we go into the cultural/historical basis for this practice, let’s take a second to recognize the parallel that Maizuru has servants she keeps sealed unless useful in the moment, even despite having enough "attachment" to have a favorite. She’s the governess in charge of the other servants, and she has shikigamis, which she has used on the heir and the runt at the bottom of the hierarchy alike.

Shikigami, in traditional japanese folklore, are conjured to exercise risky orders for their masters, such as spying, stealing and enemy tracking. Shikigami are said to be invisible most of the time, but they can be made visible by binding them into small, folded and artfully cut paper manikins.

Shikigamis are from onmyodo, onmyoji is a profession-legal title historically but it’s what you call a practitioner of onmyodo, and so I feel content in saying that Maizuru is an onmyoji, or based on it. Her outfit reminds me of a shinto priest. It’s interestingly closer to a shinto priest outfit than a miko/shrine maiden’s (in picture below, 2 instead of 5), and I feel like red being chosen for the inner sleeve is a very charged decision since the white & red color combo is the shinto clothes color combo. Especially white clothes with red inner sleeve. Shinto priests can be women nowadays but they’re rare, and onmyojis can be considered shinto priests though it’s a more complex than that. Image below as example, source. Now I don’t think Maizuru has the role or prestige of a priest at all- But the association with onmyodo and spirituality is definitely meant to be made I think. Onmyojis are usually clothed similarly to this.

The babysitter ninja art seems to be based off of the hannya yokai. "They were once human women who were consumed by jealousy and transformed into demonesses", twisted by anger and resentment. Interesting considering her being a mistress to a man whose wife hates her. Hannyas are associated with wisdom because of its name, but there is nothing positive about them. At its highest level of "demonic corruption" if I can call it that, their body tend to become serpentine, fun link to make with her name being from the snakeberry plant.

Other cultural ties or symbolism on Maizuru’s character could be found in the motif of cranes due to her sleeves, in the tales of the crane wife, origami cranes (called orizuru, from deformation of 鶴 "tsuru" aka "crane". All names are written in katakanas in Dungeon Meshi, but thus if we had had the kanjis it’s possible her name would have been written with the kanji for crane), tennyos, and japanese crane symbolism in general. I thought cranes might have been associated with motherhood, but seemingly not in japanese culture at least, I was thinking of storks haha.

Ok speaking of her name. Maizuru is the name of an existing japanese city (舞鶴), meaning "dancing crane". From @room-surprise’s work in progress research paper on Dungeon Meshi characters’ names: "Maizuru is her ninja code name, and comes from “maizurusou”, which is maianthemum dilatatum, the snakeberry plant/two-leaved Solomon's seal/false lily of the valley. Lily of the Valley is a plant associated with motherhood and virtue… So Maizuru being a false Lily of the Valley implies that she is a false, replacement mother, and also hints at the way that Toshiro became cold towards her when he realized she was his father’s mistress, and not a pure, virtuous mother-like figure that he thought she was. Also, lilies are toxic to cats, which makes sense since Maizuru and Izutsumi have an extremely bad relationship." For more details I’ll leave it up to Room when the paper is ready to be released. Edit: It’s out!! Click here! Incredible meta that goes into a ton of details not only about Maizuru.

So some big themes of her character are: (false) motherhood, spirituality/magic, control, cranes, woman’s jealousy.

The siblings

Alriight so besides Toshiro the eldest at 26 years old, there is Toshiyuki (Toshitsuge in one fantranslation) the middle son and Toshizane the youngest (Toshikage in one fantranslation). They were all said to be raised by Maizuru. "A strange level of distance" is interesting. Why strange? I feel like this implies they do interact regularly, and that they’re all rather civil wirh each other, but they still have little bond to speak of. That wouldn’t surprise me, especially since even inside the family etiquette and propriety and rules are enforced, the summoning by his father feels very formal and they all listen to him standing in silence despite having snappy inner thoughts. It’s unsure if they were largely raised together or apart, but since Maizuru was their (at least main) caretaker/governess it implies that they were imo. They were put in competition with each other for the title of heir to the house, though it’s unsure to what degree. It’s examplified by their family all having names that start with "Toshi" that the legacy is very important and thrust upon them, cogs in a machine almost. They all think the same thing when their father summons them and has a spiel, so they’re used to the same sort of treatment and they are indeed brothers for being on similar wavelengths haha.

Toshiyuki, as seen in the comic about his retainers, the poor soul sent into Darkest Dungeon, is brattish. Rude, selfish and rather lecherous, does not hesitate to be mean to his retainers and complain he wasn’t given women retainers. Visually he looks what, 14 years old top. I wonder if Maizuru stopped using her babysitter ninja art on the heirs after it traumatized Toshiro, and if so maybe that explains why Toshiyuki Knows No Fear In His Heart™️ and that’s why he can spout off stuff like that.

The retainers for the youngest brother, Toshizane, don’t seem to be as clad in ninja gear as the other two, seems like the priority is to take care of the very young young master there? Rather than truly go adventuring and dungeoneering, perhaps. Not that it’s ever said by anyone that their quest is to go into dungeons specifically, only to find something "interesting" to bring back, but both Toshiro and Toshiyuki are shown to have ended up drifting into dungeons. Toshizane looks young, I’d clock him 8 years old personally. He’s drawn looking rather innocent, especially the headshot doodle above and in the Toshitsuge complaining about his retainers comic. ALTHOUGH on the latter, interestingly as we see with Toshiro having a smug smirk in that same panel (or alternatively a smug indifferent/uncomfortable "i don’t care about this, even though you want it so much" look which at the very least is very exaggerated from how he emotes in reality), it’s Toshiyuki’s unreliable/exaggerated vision of his brothers and it doesn’t necessaeily reflect reality, though it’s still interesting to note that that’s the vision Toshiyuki has of his brothers/the impression Toshizane gives off. That can imply juicy dynamics for the brothers, for example if Toshiyuki feels as though he’s in competition with his brothers, feels superior to them, that instead of pushing the shitty family dynamic angst onto his father he puts the blame for it all onto Toshiro. Toshizane seems maybe too young to notice the tensions and seriousness around him, maybe more coddled… IS WHAT I WOULD SAY BUT in the comic where their father send them away he’s as well-behaved and serious as the others, so clearly he has a grasp on his role.

When talking about which retainers go with who, it’s said it was the father’s choice. I’d like to assume it wasn’t an airheaded/random choice. Maybe he knew that Toshiyuki would be weird about having women in his team of retainers? And wants to forge their character or protect them in the way they need. Though how Toshiro’s party only has women isn’t only pointed out and commented on by the comic with Toshitsuge but also in the main Dungeon Meshi story, both Marcille and Chilchuck going "his party is fully made up of women", one more loudly than the other haha. So it does feel like a somewhat pointed/purposeful decision, if not that the 4 girls were already a team like I mentioned.

The other retainers

Already made an analysis of Hien and Benichidori’s relationship (+ moment compilation) here. Honestly my juices are exhausted so quick rundown:

Hien’s parents both serve the Nakamotos, so she grew up with the family and was even a childhood friend of Toshiro. She assumed he and her might end up in a Maizuru-Toshitsugu situation ‘just because that’s how things are��/‘it’d be a natural development’ if we’re to believe Hien, ahh what growing up at the Nakamotos’ with those role models will make you believe is normal hah, and was surprised when it ended up not in that way at all. They grew more distant with time, in good part because of the professional nature of their roles in relation to each other (truly a reversal of the Maizuru-Toshitsugu situation). She’s the leader of their lil squad, under Maizuru, she’s very confident and she gets the perks, like getting the bedframe in the shared inn room. For all the details just read her page. She has two dots, showing her rank as a full fledged ninja. I made a more in depth more speculative reading of her in this post.

Benichidori was bought, by "the Nakamotos" so we don’t know who made the final decision. She’s perceptive and submissive, her specialty is implied to be disguise. She never had much contact with Toshiro before she became part of his party. She has facial dysmorphia where she fears the judgement of others if she doesn’t wear makeup and highly values beauty, in her extra her anxiety really shows and she ends up angrily snapping at Hien. Benichidori ends up taking a big liking to Hien and from there on they’re implied to be inseparable. She has two dots, showing her rank as a full fledged ninja.

Inutade is said to worship Toshitsugu because he "saved her" from her horrible life conditions, buying her personally from the sumo matches, she’s extremely grateful to the family and is happy to do any work they give her and is highly satisfied with her current living conditions. She seems to find Toshiro intimidating, though. She was separated from her parents from before she can remember and raised as a sumo wrestler in inhumane betting matches, where her front tooth broke. It seems she has very littke ambitions and dreams besides obeying orders day to day, but after Izutsumi fled away she was happy for her and mused that she’d love to go out and find her one day. They’re so besties Izutsumi gave her a dream of her own I’m sobbing… </3 She has one dot, showing she still has to be attributed her role and earn her stripes.

Their approval rating of their leader. The highest total score from all the parties.

Izutsumi

Sighh where to even begin. Her timeline was put in Maizuru’s section of this post but the rundown is "taken away from parents and turned into a beastkin" at 6 yo (the human half of her soul), "sent to a sideshow on the island of Wa" at 7 yo and bought by Toshitsugu at 10 yo when he took an interest in her when he visited the sideshow. Maizuru put the curse on Izutsumi at age 12, so from then on she always had to not stray much far from Maizuru or risk death, it’s unsure if Inutade’s extra is from before that time, before she was 12, so she could still attempt many many tries to run away. If that’s the case, then Maizuru’s curse was very much treated as a last resort, honestly beyond everything else I can see it being a pain that Maizuru would need to touch her every so often on Maizuru’s schedule as well. The alternative is that, not unlike Kabru who had no regrets dying in a dungeon rather than staying with Milsiril, she’d risk her life to get a taste of freedom. Besides, you know, being a slave and having a timebomb collar with Maizuru’s curse, her frustrations with her life with the Nakamotos is most concisely put in the comic just up above, Inutade’s extra.

She has no dot tattoo, meaning she’s at rock bottom of the hierarchy. It makes sense, since unlike Inutade she’s rebellious and needs threats to obey orders, and even then might try shifty business.

This last part where Izutsumi tries sleeping with Toshiro is most interesting to me. So she’s sought out contact with Toshiro before, she considers him "the stuck-up guy" but she doesn’t exactly hate him. I wonder if this comic is set in the inn on The Island or back at the Nakamoto household, because if that’s the latter it implies that she could get access to his room if she’s sneaky.

Oh oh also, this is fanon but since Toshiro’s weapon is one used usually on horseback, and with the steadfast and upright character of horses I associate Toshiro with horses a bit, though this is wild fanon. What’s interesting is that the plant Asebi was named after is a plant infamous for being toxic to horses. Hehe hehehe he wears a ponytail… Hm now that I think of it hairdos have importance for samurais, should look into that.

Toshiro

God. Ok. Everything was leading up to this guy. Need to split open his head like a geode and vibecheck his brain crystals. Let’s get some interesting details out of the way first.

His weapon is a tachi, not a katana. The wikipedia on tachis is more in depth if you want, but I consider the article I linked to be in deoth and digestible. Tachis are heavier and longer blades than katanas, and make for better horseback weapons than close combat. The way Toshiro uses one instead of a katakana shows that he’s extra strong… And does make sense, since most monsters won’t fight in as close quarters as human fighters. If katanas aren’t a thing in the world yet could make a difference, since tachis were invented first, and once the katana was invented and spread tachis became something more common in higher-ranking samurais. In the monster tidbit of the Hag, it’s shown that even at 6 years old Toshiro was training and learning ninja skills, his first instinct to the shikigami besides running being to fight.

Toshiro knew that Izutsumi wanted to leave, for sure. He may have been sympathetic, if his cryptic look back at her in the ‘Toshiro interacting with his party members’ page means anything. As seen below though, him being sympathetic doesn’t necessarily mean that much. Also, Toshiro had to have known about the curse on Izutsumi, where if Maizuru doesn’t touch her once in a while she’d die. "Asebi must have ran away, leave her" can be seen as subtle support for her to gain her freedom, but it could just as easily be seen as him leaving her behind to die. Because the outcome options are 1) she gets killed by Maizuru's curse, 2) she finds a way to break the spell, 3) she finds a way back to them.

He’s very conflict averse. Wether it be in relationships like with Laios or the status quo. Will not stand up for 99% things including himself. He obeys his father quietly despite his anger and dislike. This is the same guy who can't even get himself to speak up to correct the butchering of his name, the slippery slope that got him tangled in the Laios party seemingly without resistance. It’s very japanese etiquette from even nowadays, never saying a direct no to not be rude. ALSO THAT PANEL, has Toshiro beaten an ogre before?? Is that a brother of his?? Does seem in character for Toshiyuki the most, unless Toshiro was desperate to earn his father’s attention with feats. On the right I’d say the ones in the foreground are two of the brothers, maybe the third being the one to gesture to the ogre. It’s worth noting that inheritance laws during the Edo period often made the heir the son with "the most merit".

When with a goal that’s important to him he’s fine with even starving for it. Although what we see him be like that about in canon is Falin, aka self-admittedly in the post-canon proposal comic "the first person he has liked this much", which for him I feel is like admitting she’s one of the first things he has truly wanted for himself and fought for, soo… It’s more like an exceptional freaking out moment than something that would be recurring, most likely. How disheveled he got is a testament to how much he would forego propriety and rules for people of his status for the person he cares about most. Maizuru says the first personal request he’s (ever?) made was for them to help him rescue Falin.

Which ahh yes, his crush on Falin. I do think idealization plays into it, he doesn’t know Falin that well for sure, but it’s more complex than that too. Falin is pretty and can have an ethereal energy to her, she’s caring and gentle kinda motherly which Toshiro would find soothing I imagine, BUT MOST OF ALL. She’s weird!! She’s just weird enough to allow and be charmed by!! Shuro was fully shaped by his upbringing and environment of nobility, social etiquette and whatnot. Yeah she’s weird and quirky, but still quiet and sweet-mannered enough that he’s like "Yes, she wouldn’t bring shame on my family name". And why would he be charmed by her weirdness? Because all he’s ever known is rules!! Conformity, fitting in!! Unlike the others he knows, she is weird without being overbearing as well. "Woah she’s so different… She’s kind and soft and doesn’t care about fitting in… She is out of this world, she’s free, she shows me a world where tenderness and authenticity is possible…" She’s like his comfort character. MOREOVERRR I had totally forgotten about it, but Toshiro was shown watching a snail behind a bush and losing sight of everything else (like Maizuru calling him) as a kid in the Hag monster tidbit, the moment he fell in love with Falin it was when she looked enthralled at a caterpillar and he mentions how "most girls would have screamed or recoiled in disgust", and in the beach chibis page he’s crouching and collecting shells thinking about Falin… He likes bugs and crawly critters guys, he wishes he could be cottagecore too… It’s a genuine shared interest… . Someone pointed out that Toshiro & Falin’s relationship probaboy references this japanese folk tale, and I think that’s very interesting to note.

And Maizuru is like his mom but it’s a Thistle situation where they can’t just be a normal family and normal affectionate either- and when he learns about his father having a thing with her he feels weirded out. And like. Who knows how much he even got out of the mansion. He got homeschooled. He’s distant with his brothers. The family is in shambles

Shuro’s issue is that he was taught to be perfect and have the upmost respectable behavior, so if something annoys him he has to be righteous about it and that it’s the annoying thing’s fault or moral failing. Bro just let yourself be petty sometimes it’s healthier. With the feud with his father it’s explicitly stated that the pressure and expectations of the family name weigh on him a lot.

But then, that makes his beef with Laios so understandable doesn’t it. Not justified, but explained certainly.

Laios & Shuro and the whole mess coming to a head

I’ve made an analysis of the Laios-Shuro fight from Laios’ pov before, here. This is the Shuro pov analysis. Yes yes in The Fight, Shuro is dehydrated sleep-deprived and underate, he’s majorly off his rocker, BUT his frustration and the underlying issues are still things he felt on any day and it’s interesting to note.

Toshiro has been raised from his birth with the priority of propriety, nobility, etiquette, rules, conforming elegantly, appareances and reputation are everything. He’s modest, humble, quiet, stays in his lane and bottles all his feelings up. Wait who is this loud guy coming up to me being inconsiderate and loud af?? Does he not see me blinking in morse code that I’m not enjoying this and want him to leave?? Was he raised in a barn?? He’s overbearing and rude and way too friendly- He’s weird wtf! Not conforming to basic etiquette is illegal??! And people just… Let him do whateve he wants?? He lives well, no one stops him or kills him?? What the fuck, I’ve followed rules and etiquette thoroughly all my life, and it’s thankless work I get no recognition for, meanwhile he gets to be oblivious af and do whatever he wants without getting clapped?? Resentment, frustration, dislike, anger anger anger, jealousy.

Laios might even remind Toshuro of his dad in a way, because he SEEMS impulsive and like he does whatever he wants without a care to people around him, without thinking of how it might affect them. Doing things without thinking through the Implications. And interestingly this is a bit paralleled to to how Shuro is serious, strict, and big on the duties that come with having a leader role and the family dynamic it brings, like Laios’ own father, who Laios also dislikes… Dealing with his anger towards Laios, especially knowing that Laios doesn’t mean anything bad by it like Toshiro admits, is probably very healing to him. He stops repressing and thinks through his issues a bit, realizes what parts of his life he’s unhappy with and where all the negative feelings come from. I do think he bottles up his dislike for his father a bit, he has to at least for appearances. His beef with Laios is repackaged internalized anger for his father, but it’s ALSO repackaged frustration from his etiquette-bound lifestyle. He says it himself, when Laios is like "You never told Falin how you feel…? Alright, when I can I’ll tell her for you buddy!!", "that’s the part of you that I envy". Laios’ ability to just come out and say what he wants to, what he means. He wishes he could be free of all the rules more, that he had te courage to speak out, like with Inutade, or talking things out with Maizuru, or nit having to act like he’s not angry with his father. This narrative point of Toshiro envying Laios’ ability to say things freely and being frustrated by not being able to himself is ESPECIALLY examplified by their first interactions, the basis of their relationship: Laios enthusiastically befriending him, giving him a bad nickname and roping him into joining his party, with Toshiro never turning it all down despite wanting to, too hesitant to act possibly rude.

And now is time for the laishuro addendum… Because of personal experiences it’s a bit of a sensitive spot to me so while I see timelines in which I enjoy it I’m very picky… This is all further theorizing from me btw I’m not pushing my view here onto ppl as facts, but I think there’s more interesting bits and scenarios to bite into here. Laishuro has very cute and sweet potential. I personally don’t see the "Oh wait Laios is just girl Falin… 😳" angle because to me if anything that’d just make Shuro disillusioned with Falin lol, but like yes make Shuro learn that it’s ok to be weird with Laios 🥺 They DO have differences first of all, important ones, especially from Toshiro’s perspective. Laios is overwhelming, whereas Falin is soothing. Laios is loud and asks things of him where Falin is a calm, quiet presence. Laios pushes himself onto Toshiro, whereas Falin is content on just doing her own thing in her corner alone.

Hot take but the ultimate laishuro timeline is the one where he DOESN’T bring Laios back home, because he knows he’ll be seen as an oddity and clown by his father, and he doesn’t want Laios to be treated like the tapdancing monkey there to please and entertain his father the way he himself has always kind of been. Wouldn’t inflict that onto someone he loves. He can recognize when people are taken advantage of (mostly) like Inutade, and it doesn’t settle right with him. He might be especially sensitive to it in Inutade’s case because it’s about seeing his dad in a better light than he deserves, though. His father is his weak spot, THE weak spot.

It gets me so emotional thinking about it actually because seeing Laios played like a fiddle by his father, Laios so happy to find someone who’s enthusiastically listening to him ramble and engaging, would destroy Shuro emotionally I think. Like. On one hand being like "Oh of course my dad would find Laios fun, unlike me his boring son", super angry as coping mechanism for his intense sadness of not having positive parental attention, and then on the other he’d see Laios being treated as a clown and identify with it and that would remind him of how he gets treated similarly which he’s in denial about (more or less, but since he puts up with the family rules and follows along he hasn’t given up on getting recognition. He wants his father’s approval, and he couldn’t blame Laios for being happy with it despite how hurtful that attention truly is without Laios’ knowledge), which would be such an overwhelming conflicted mess of emotions and his worldview would shatter a bit because he has to repress it all even now, and he’d have a breakdown.

And similar deal but if he brought Falin home… Bc ok yes he idealizes her and doesn’t even know her all that well, but like I said imo what he sees in her is that "Woah she’s so different… She’s kind and soft and doesn’t care about fitting in… She is out of this world, she’s free, she shows me a world where tenderness and authenticity is possible…" So meanwhile with Laios he’d have mixed feelings on him getting treated like a clown and identify with it, bringing Falin home and having her be demeaned would be like having his perfect comfort character dunked on and he gets reminded that the world can’t have anything good actually. With both Toudens it’d make his resentment towards his father even worse, he might snap. I’m not the biggest on gendered analysis tbh but Kui evidently does like to do it to some degree, with the genderbending changing their life considerably and different fantasy cultures having different gender roles and all, but Shuro idealizing the Touden sister as something perfect he cannot attain while being jealous and frustrated at Laios for being something he cannot attain is like. So compelling actually. With Maizuru’s hannya of female rage weaponized there could be a theme of pushing the blame and responsibilities of things onto women too, the responsibility to raise and to manage and to dish out the work and to clean after mens’ reckless decisions. Anyways just a tangent.

Shuro on a bad family angst day is everything I love in a blorbo… He can be a lil shitty as a treat to make his healing arc more fulfilling. Toshiro snapping after he sees how they treat Laios/Falin and he gives up the family headship to LEAVE. Maizuru arc where she has to choose between loyalty to the clan and loyalty to Toshiro, will she stay with the boy she raised or go home… To me Maizuru is much less sympathetic than Shuro, but she is pretty tragic and her selfless love for Shuro is her one redeeming quality. Babygirl take no shit no more, but also better yourself and turn your life around please and thank you… She is so evidently taken advantage of but like. What else does she have? So she just takes care of and loves the boy she raised like her own kid and goes about her daily life in servitude and doesn’t think too much about it all.

Shuro is awful a nickname but also, I think Shiro would be a good nickname for Toshiro, because it gets rid of that ‘Toshi’ first part of his name that all the male members of his family share. It severes the link to his father and the tied pressure from his family.

Laishuro brotp turning slow burn romance would be so lovely. I think college au for laishuro would be peak actually… Shuro so is the repressed "I am so normal" guy who has a furry liberation identity crisis arc… I also quite like the potential he’d have with Namari, as both work-oriented misfit foreigners cast out of their homes, and she’s also bolder so it’d be good for him, and he could bring her stability… That’s a topic for another day tho. Even he and falin are sweet tbh, they could have traveled around together even if just as friends… Bc yeah she does value him as a friend at least somewhat, she says she’ll visit him~! Mostly I want Izutsumi-Toshiro brotp fancontent.

Conclusion

The household is very hierarchy oriented, and honestly the system doesn’t seem to make anyone happy, or at least not healthily so. Sighh feudalism.

Obviously their situation are very different, but still Toshiro and Izutsumi react to the same conflict in opposite ways: when a hierarchy and lifestyle of rules and duty is thrust upon them, Toshiro obeys and believes that it’s how things simply are, always having it been drilled into him since being a baby and being privileged enough to live ok with things as they are, meanwhile Izutsumi rages and eventually breaks free and never wants to submit herself to rules or hierarchy ever again, even if that perceived hierarchy is a mutually beneficial professional party dynamic or having a role inside a well-meaning team, like Laios’ party. WHICH IS WHY THEY SHOULD HANG OUT AND HAVE AN ARC TOGETHER. LET HER INFLUENCE HIM TO GET WILDER AND THINK OF HIMSELF MORE. FUCK INHERITING THE HEADSHIP. THE SIBLINGS NARRATIVE.

As always if I find more stuff to add i’ll edit it in. Rn I’m thinking that I’ll look into ninja & samurai feudal history and try to find specific terms that might fit their roles and situations more. I should reread try to cover Izutsumi’s end of the Toshiro-Izu dynamic as well.

I greatly recommend this paper for more excellent meta on all named Dunmeshi characters and their culture!

Ah yes yes, I forgot to talk about it but we don’t know what Toshiro’s retainers have been doing with their time on The Island, especially while he was dungeon diving with Laios and co. Although in the anime’s ed in this shot we see them "stealthily" follow him around, so presumably when he’s not in dungeons they’re tailing his moves.

Afterword here, it has summary charts about the power structure & relationships and complementary pages and artworks, couldn’t put them in here because SIGH 30 pictures per post limit.

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junesilk · 7 months ago

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hiii just saw you were a new account and decided to drop by 🙉 loving the account btww

as for a suggestion, how about some kurapika dating head canons? thank you🫶

DATING HEADCANONS

aka: how the hxh main 4 act in a relationship!

characters: kurapika, leorio, killua, gon

gn!reader

kurapika—

The way your relationship started was a slow ordeal. And by that, I mean, it was a gradual shift from friendship to something… more.

You fell first, but he fell harder type of relationship.

It took him a while to realize that what he felt was love, but when he did, he was quick to act.

Sitting you down and having an adult conversation about how he felt was how he confessed.

He’s a soft lover, and protective of you. It can feel a little overbearing at times, but really he’s just trying to keep you safe.

Not the most physical out of the four, but he often has his hand on your waist or holding yours.

It would have been a while into your relationship when he finally relayed what had happened to him as a child, with his clan & all.

He’s very open about everything about himself to you after that. You’d ask him to tell you stories about his family, and he would gladly oblige, avoiding sensitive topics.

His hands would be combing through your hair as you laid your head on his lap, looking up at him as he quietly told you about his mother. His other hand would be tangled in yours, drawing little circles on the back of your hand.

He lives for those hushed moments with you, tangled in sheets as he memorizes the details of your face, just talking about anything and everything that comes to mind.

leorio—

He’s a very sexual lover in my opinion, so you’d have to be okay with that before being in a relationship with him.

He’d probably confess his love to you on a whim, probably when you’re least expecting it. He fell first and harder, that’s just the way he is.

Genuinely thinks you’re the most beautiful person he’s ever seen, and he treats you like it too.

Takes you on romantic, candlelit dinners at least once a month. An allotted day, in which he makes sure you’re free from work or any distractions, for the two of you to get dressed up and go out.

He’d be insistent that he needed to be in your arms in order to go to sleep. He claims he can’t sleep without you, but you’d occasionally find him with his head on his desk, glasses lazily strewn aside while soft snores leave his lips.

Loves it when you tie his tie. He knows how to do it himself, yes, this is true. But when your hands diligently and softly pull the fabric together around his neck, he falls even deeper in love with you.

Listens to jazz music. I will die on this hill. Pulls you into his arms when you’re trying to make dinner, and sways with you to the sound of the song playing in the background.

killua—

His favorite pastime is being with you, playing videos games. It doesn’t matter what, even better if it’s some low-quality game for duos. It’s endearing how competitive he gets, jokingly betting that he could finish the game so much faster than you could.

His fashion sense infects your fashion sense, and before long, you’re wearing his clothes. Loves when the two of you wear matching outfits, or even just similar styles. Out in public, at home, wherever you are.

Dates with him usually reside in arcades, malls, or wherever you like to go. He never lets you pay for anything, insisting that it’s nothing, even if the sum is well into the thousands.

Sharing earbuds with him is also one of his favorite things to do. You two have a shared playlist of all of the songs you like. After a few months, you notice how he has begun adding songs he thinks you’d like, and you had been adding songs you think he would like.

Buy him candy, and he will serve his heart to you on a platter. The first time you bought him those beloved chocolate robots he had loved so much, he seriously considered marrying you. Only to be dismayed when he realized that people his age shouldn’t be getting married.

He’s very sarcastic. You’ll have to put up with some downright sassy responses if you want to be in a relationship with him.

Prefers texting over calling if you’re long distance.

gon—

He radiates energy and loves to be doing something at all hours of the day. This can be good or bad depending on the type of person you are, as he adores going on hikes and traveling with you.

Likes it when you brush his hair. He doesn’t know what exactly about it he likes, but he finds himself leaning in to your touch when you card your fingers over his scalp.

Picnic dates for life. Just being outdoors with food and his partner, he could die of happiness.

Wears earth-toned clothing. You find yourself stealing his tank tops most often, because he always buys pure cotton clothes. They’re just comfier, he argues, and not at allll because he loves how they cling to your scent after you wear them.

Isn’t on his phone very much. You’ll text him asking what you think you should wear that day, and he might respond two days later with an answer. It’s frustrating sometimes, but being with him is like a breath of fresh air from such an online world.

Always loses at board games. No matter what game, from Monopoly to Life, he just can’t fully grasp the rules. Hey, at least that means you always win.

His body naturally runs really warm, so you’ll wake up in the mornings find all of the blankets are on the floor. You don’t really need them when you’re stuck to him like legos when you’re cuddling at night.

guys…….. two weeks turned into an entire month and a half IM SORRRYYYY. anyways i keep getting requests for singular characters and i always turn it in to requests for all four because honestly there’s not enough content out there for characters like leorio and gon and they deserve love too.

as always, likes and reblogs appreciated but not necessary!

#kurapika x reader #kurapika #kurapika kurta #kurapika x you #leorio x reader #leorio #leorio paradinight #killua x reader #killua zoldyck #killua x you #gon x reader #gon freecss #junesilk #hunter x hunter x reader #hxh x reader

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shanastoryteller · 8 months ago

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Happy birthday!more female wei wuxian please

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

If Jiang Cheng is captured or killed, they'll kill Madame Yu and Uncle Jiang and Jiang Cheng. Jiang Yanli is an heir, but not one that can lead their people into battle, and they won’t bother keeping hostages for her benefit.

Wei Wuxian could do it – but with Jiang Cheng gone, she loses her place in the clan, she can't become the wife of their future sect leader if he’s dead. She’s the logical one to lose.

Jiang Cheng is going to kill her. But they’re getting too close to the inn.

She pays a boy to take the medicine and a note back to them in an hour’s time, then whistles, clear and bright cutting through the crowd. The Wen soldiers look at her and she’s hungry and tired but this is her clan’s life on the line here, her sister’s, her fiance’s. “Looking for me?”

There’ a moment of stillness then they’re surging forward and she’s running and they’re chasing and she’s very, very good but they’re fresh. She needs to go someplace they won’t follow.

They’re not too far from Yiling, she thinks.

Jiang Cheng is going to kill her.

He wants to go after her, but he doesn’t even know where she is, and that would mean leaving A-jie defenseless on her own, which he can’t do, and Wei Wuxian would never forgive him for doing anyway.

They set a punishing pace to Jin territory, which is where the disciples were instructed to meet up with them. A bit of gamble, but Wei Wuxian had pointed out that Jin Guangshan would likely be playing both sides of the war to his advantage, which is as close to neutral territory as they were going to get.

Once he delivers A-jie to the rest of their disciples, he can leave them to protect her and can leave her to organize them and he can go after Wei Wuxian. He thinks that three hostages is probably one too many – two too many, really, and he wonders how long it will be before his mother’s mouth gets her killed. If they do put her and Wei Wuxian together, that would move up that timetable exponentially.

Part of him is scared Wei Wuxian’s already dead. The rest of him knows better.

If she were dead, the Wen would be flaunting and bragging about. If they’d killed her, they’d be using it to draw him out, but so far there’s been nothing.

Of course, she ruins his plans like always because just when he’s getting ready to go out searching, she appears in the camp and grabs his shoulders and says, “You’ll never guess what I figured out!”

She’s been missing for almost three weeks and just as soon as he feels like he can breathe again he’s going to strangle her. “You!” he hisses and then he’s grabbing her, yanking her into his chest and holding her so tightly that she probably can’t breathe either, although for a different reason.

She’s hugging him back just as tightly, which makes him feel slightly less like he’s losing his mind. He pulls back and she’s wearing robes that she definitely stole and – “Why do you have a flute?”

Wei Wuxian beams, rocking back on her heels.

Most of Jiang Cheng’s relief drains to wariness.

That expression on her face has never meant anything good.

#prompt answers #prompts are closed #asks #hessadvv #untamed

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banj0possum · 1 year ago

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Hello, I'm the person who requested the yandere orc and I just wanted to say I loved it! At the end of that request I said I would ask for minotaur if you didn't do orc. But I still want to request yandere minotaur because I am a big fan of how you write yandere stuff. So can you please write yandere minotaur x reader.

(I would like it if the minotaur was just a hunk of muscle that no one would dare mess with, but becomes putty for reader. If you have another idea, use it!)

Flowers For My Cleric

Yandere! Minotaur x GN Reader

Edit!! Nsfw content removed! Replaced with some extra fluff!!

🌾 Ashvan was a part of a clan of warriors, ones that are feared and respected for their strength and brutality throughout the land.

🌾 He's seen fighters of all kinds from the biggest orcs and golitaths to the smallest goblins and kobalts. He's seen almost everything and everyone on the battlefield.

🌾 But nothing prepared him for you.

🌾 You looked so small and soft compared to everyone else. So out of place from the rough and tough warriors with bodies decorated in scars and tattoos.

🌾 It was during a welcoming feast that he first met you. You were the newest member of the clan and everyone welcomed you warmly.

🌾 He asked one of his close friends what your deal was and he learned that you were supposed to be their healer.

🌾 Vibrant music played in the tavern, but all he could see and hear was you and your adorable little laugh.

🌾 Your smile shined like the sun and your movements were so graceful and soft.

🌾 You went around meeting everyone, occasionally healing a fresh wound or two until he came face to face with you in all your glory.

🌾 "H-hi.."

🌾 "Hi!.."

🌾 He's almost crumbling at the sight of you. It's the first time he's ever been nervous.

🌾 Never before has he felt such a feeling, not even when he was facing the deadliest foes. How is a big and tough minotaur like himself shaking at the feet of such a gentle creature?

🌾 You start to laugh awkwardly the more he just kept staring at you. You pat his arm comfortingly before moving on to greet the rest of the clan.

🌾 It felt as if he was touched with the finest silk!

🌾 You'd run into him quite often while in the clan. You'd see him laughing with his friends with confidence and pride in his walk, but the moment you say hello, he'd be reduced to a stuttering babbling mess trying to say hi back. His friends would have to bring him away from you so he won't embarrass himself further.

🌾 "O-oh! Hello cleric! W-we were just uh..going to spar, you can join us if you want..b-but you don't have to! I mean you're probably busy but I would love to have you there..n-not to spar though! I mean you can..but you can watch..I-I'm not calling you weak or anything! You probably can take care of yourself pretty well, b-but if you ever need anyone to protect you, you know..o-only if you want to-"

🌾 He follows you around sometimes, pretending to be doing something else like carrying around some supplies or sharpening his weapon. When you turn away, he would have a lovesick smile on his face.

🌾 If you catch him staring, he'd panic and try to hide behind a barrel or crate, doesn't really help that he's a large minotaur. You'd giggle at the sight of a tall and fearsome creature hiding from you as best as he could with his tail and horns peeking through the crate.

🌾 "M-me? Hiding? Noooo! I-I don't need to hide! I-I'm a warrior!..heheh.."

🌾 His friends would try to help him out, telling him advice that may or may not work. I don't think gifting your crush the head of your enemies is pretty romantic though...

🌾 You would be fixing up your medical supplies when you feel a tap on your shoulder, you turn around and Ashvan would be towering above you, shakily offering you a small, sort of roughed up bouquet of wild flowers in his large cloven hand.

🌾 Some of the stems look a bit bent and most of their petals have fallen off, but it's cute either way.

🌾 "C-Cleric! I uhm...found these uhm..flowers and uh..thought of you!..Well they're small and cute..n-not saying you're small! I-I mean you are because I'm bigger and stuff and uhm...j-just take them.."

🌾 You giggle and thank him, taking the flowers from him. He huffs out from his snout as your hands touch. As you take the flowers from him, he grunts, nodding as he awkwardly walks away.

🌾 As soon as he's out of sight, he's giggling like a little schoolgirl at the thought of you liking his gift, he's going off to get more flowers for you if you don't mind.

🌾 He might confuse normal plants he finds cute as flowers, so you now have a vase full of yellow wheat he got from a field one day.

🌾 The first time he was sent to be healed by you was like being in heaven. He watched you closely as you gently healed the gash on his chest as if it was a seam on a fabric.

🌾 He took the time to study your face, how you stuck your tongue out or pursed your lips when you concentrate, or the way you ghost your delicate fingers over his rough skin, it took a lot not to swoon as you touched his chest.

🌾 "You're uhm...very good with your hands! hahah.."

🌾 Yes he steals your clothes, and its ok because you have more anyway that he'll also eventually steal...

🌾 He would get hurt on purpose to see you again and be touched by you, going to bed that night and fantasizing about you coddling and cooing over him. Hey! Even a big burly minotaur wants to be treated right!!

🌾 But for now, he's just a shy and nervous bull man who adores you from far away <3

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pandorxxx · 1 year ago

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Matchmaker

Lo’ak x Omatikayan fem reader (All aged up)

Warnings: dom lo’ak, oral (fem receiving), p in v, multiple orgasms, choking, creampie (breeding kink), cursing, jealous Neteyam at the end.

Synopsis: You had a crush on Neteyam, but lo’ak was the one that had eyes for you. When you go to express your feelings to Neteyam, it seems as if he’s more interested in playing matchmaker than he is in you. But when it’s all said and done, he soon realizes that he made a huge mistake.

You were among the elite kids in the clan, as your mother and father were very skilled hunters who often led the huge hunts. But most would say that you were very different from the other people your age. You didn’t drink, or smoke. You didn’t party much, and you always stayed out of trouble. You pride yourself on being the best daughter possible. You were a very smart, skilled warrior, and one of the most sought after woman in the clan.

Although you got a lot of male attention, you were only focused on one boy in particular. Neteyam sully. You were absolutely head over heels for him, but it didn’t seem like he saw you as anything more than a friend. His younger brother on the other hand, couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. Lo’ak made it very known that he liked you, and you would be a fool to say that it didn’t boost your confidence. However, you wished it was Neteyam.

You were pretty shy, and you didn’t want to make the mistake of telling Neteyam you liked him because it could be a large possibility that he didn’t like you back. However, your mother always taught you to go for what you wanted, no matter how scary or out of reach it seems.

So when you saw lo’ak and Neteyam talking to eachother after training was done, you thought you’d kill two birds with one stone. Telling Neteyam that you liked him infront of lo’ak would surely hault his advances. Or so you thought…

You walked over to them, watching as they engaged in a conversation. You stood infront of them for a moment, surely hoping that they noticed you. However, the didn’t. You cleared your throat loudly, causing the brothers to turn their attention to you. A friendly smile crept across Neteyam’s face. Lo’ak licked his lips quickly, wiping the corners of his mouth swiftly to hide his arousal.

“Hey, Neteyam. I-I umm-… I wanted to talk to you, if that’s ok?” You asked, a lighthearted smile plastered across your face. You fiddled with your fingers nervously as he nodded.

“Ofcourse y/n. What’s up?” He asked with slight urgency. You never really talked to him unless it was in a group setting, so he assumed that you needed him for something important. And he was always glad to help.

“I-I know this is probably going to be so out of the blue, but umm-. I like you. Have for a while now. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime. You know, just you and I?” You blurted out, letting out a sigh of relief once you got that off of your chest. Your fingers Interlocked with eachother behind your back as you awaited an answer. However, all you were met with was alot of awkward silence, both boys staring at you in confusion.

You wanted to melt into the moss beneath you. You were so embarrassed. You really didn’t know what to expect, but the silence and the blank stares sure wasn’t it. “D-Did I say something wrong? I-I’m sorry! Just forget it, please-“ you rambled, before turning to walk away. You felt a firm hand on your arm, turning you back around. Neteyam, ofcourse.

“I-Im sorry. I didnt mean to make you embarrassed. I just thought-“ Neteyam started, waving his finger in between you and lo’ak. Signaling that he believed you and his baby brother had something going on. Your eyes widened in realization, immediately shaking your head.

“Oh, no! What? Absolutely not! Lo’ak and I are just friends! Right, lo’ak?” You smiled, peering over at lo’ak. He scoffed, eyeing you up and down.

“Absolutely not, huh?” Lo’ak asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice. It was clear that you were too harsh, and you’d hurt his feelings. Ofcourse, you thought lo’ak was hot, but if you had any chance with Neteyam, you had to play it cool. And if you were being honest, Neteyam was better in your opinion.

“Oh, lo’ak. I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.” You spoke softly. Seeing a visibly upset lo’ak got Neteyam thinking. He tapped his brother on the shoulder, making eye contact with him. A few quick nods, and slight smirks before their eyes were back on you. This time it felt alittle bit more…intense.

“I like you too, y/n.” Neteyam confessed, but you couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not with that devilish smirk plastered across his face. But you decide to take it with a bright smile.

“But see….here’s the thing.” Neteyam continued, walking to your backside slowly. He gripped your shoulder firmly, bending down to your ear.

“Being the older sibling…nothings ever really all yours is it?” He asked before leaving a small peck on your cheek. You cocked an eyebrow, in confusion but you had an idea of what he was insinuating.

“I-I don’t know.” You spoke nervously.

“Listen. If you want me, you’ve gotta let my brother have a taste. Don’t leave him hanging.” Neteyam finally confessed, earning a gasp from you. Your eyes connected with lo’aks. His full of lust as he waved at you.

“What? I-I don’t— I’m not that kind of girl.” You shook your head hastily. “Oh, come on. I know you’ve got some slut in you somewhere.” Lo’ak spoke sensually, licking his lips slowly as he scanned your body.

“Excuse me?” You asked, an attitude forming quickly as you shifted your weight to one hip. Eyebrows furrowed in anger.

“Mmm, you’re gonna make me repeat myself? I said I know there’s some SLUT in you SOMEWHERE. Better?” He clapped back, taking a step closer.

“And if there was, you’d never see it.” You crossed your arms, ripping out of neteyams grasp to take a step closer.

“Oh please, Just give me 5 minutes and I’d have your little ass begging.” He growled with another step forward. He was dangerously close now, looking down at you with heavy aggression.

“Yeah yeah, that’s what they all say. You wouldn’t even LAST 5 minutes.” You spat, a small chuckle rumbling in your chest.

“Mmm, pussy’s that good huh? Let me try it out.” He teased. That was your last straw. Before you knew it, your hand flew across his face hard. So hard that he stumbled back a bit. Immediate regret washed over you with a loud gasp. Shocked by your own actions. He grabbed his jaw gently, his eyes meeting yours. But this time, they were filled with anger. You could feel the aggression radiating off of his skin.

“Well then. Im gonna go ahead and leave you two to it.” Neteyam spoke from behind you, but you were too busy focused on how angry lo’ak was, you’d never seen him like this before.

“Good luck, Princess.” Neteyam chuckled, patting your shoulder before walking off. “Don’t break her, bro. I might wanna try it later.” Neteyam joked, hitting lo’aks shoulder playfully on his was to leave.

“Mhm.” He hummed, his eyes not leaving yours. You gulped loudly, followed by a low whimper. “Lo’ak, I’m sorry. I-i don’t even know why I did that.” You apologized nervously. Hoping that it would be enough to satisfy him. But ofcourse it wasn’t.

He stood there for a moment. Awkward silence plagued the forest as low growls rumbled in his chest. Every hard breath revealing his defined muscles. Every clench of his jaw revealing the prominent veins in his neck. Scared was an understatement, you were terrified.

“Comere.” He spoke lowly, gesturing you with his finger. You would be a fool to think you could out run him, or fight him off. So you mustered up enough courage to take a step forward, cautiously.

“Closer.”

“Lo’ak i-“ you were cut off by his strong hand wrapping around your neck, yanking you dangerously close to him. You grabbed his wrist in defense, making sure that he wouldn’t squeeze your neck to the point of non-circulation.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry lo’ak please!” You pleaded, fear written across your beautiful face. “Yeah?” He asked, shaking you by your neck gently.

“YES!” You whined, nodding frantically. He squinted with a slight head tilt, eyeing you up and down for a moment while he thought about what he wanted to do to you.

“Mhm. Tryna figure out wether I should put you on my shoulders, and eat this pussy until you’re crying….” He started, running his hand down your torso, making it all the way to the band of your loincloth. Your breathing hitched, his fingertips so gentle against your skin. You could feel your legs tremble as he placed his hand inside of your cloth, using the pad of his fingers to massage your clit. A series of low whimpers escaping your lips, his just being inches away from yours.

“Or should I just get straight to it, and Fuck you like I hate you. Fuck you until you can’t speak, until you can’t WALK. Show you who the better brother is.” He finished, now teasing your entrance with his middle finger.

“Shit, I mean we do have all the time in the world, right babe? How about I just do both? Take my anger out on this pretty body of yours.” He spoke with a slight grin, his lips grazing yours with every word. It was like he didn’t even have to do any of that to have you hooked, you already were at this point. Maybe it’s the aggression, or the way he talked to you, the way you were at his completely mercy. But lo’ak was for sure the winner.

He began to untie your loincloth, letting it hit the ground beneath you. And in one fell swoop, you were on his shoulders in no time. Backing you against a tree so that your back was supported.

“Been waiting on this for quite some time now. Let me show you why I’m the better choice.” He spoke, looking up into your eyes as he sent a kiss to your throbbing clit. And before you knew it, he was devouring you. Sucking on your clit like a pacifier, and licking on the nub gently.

“Mmm, lo’ak…” you moaned, running your fingers through his braids. Only motivating him more. His technique began to get sloppy, spit dripping down his chin and to his chest as he lapped up your juices. Flicking your clit with his tongue as we glared at you with those beautiful eyes of his.

“Yess! Just like that, fuuuck…” you moaned, the volume increasing. Throwing your head back against the bark while he tongue kissed your core expertly. After a few minutes, you could feel your orgasm coming as your stomach began to tighten.

“Lo’ak I-I think I’m-“ you whined, meeting his devilish gaze, the gaze of a man who didn’t plan on stopping, wether you came or not.

“Mhm.” He hummed into your core, flicking your clit again. This completely sent you over the edge. Your legs began to shake around his head, eyes rolling all the way back as you let go on his face. He licked your essence greedily, growling with every swallow. And to your suprised, he didn’t stop. He continued his abuse on your sensitive clit.

“Ok ok! I-I can’t take it lo’ak!” You screamed, pushing on his head gently, causing him to hold you tighter, while he ate you like you were the last meal he’d ever have.

“Squirt, and I’ll let you go.” He mumbled, sending vibrations through your entire body. He sloppily kissed your clit a few times before going back to work. Writing his name into your cunt like you were his property.

“I-I CANT!” You whined, attempting to use your hands to climb up the tree, being completely unsuccessful. Your legs began to shake again, the overstimulation consuming you.

“Stay fucking still! Or so help me GOD!” He roared. You whimpered, watching him attack your clit again. “T-Toooo much…” you mumbled, out of breath as your cunt began to clench around nothing.

“It’s called a punishment, baby.” He moaned feeling your clit jump in his mouth. He watched you intently, your erratic breaths telling it all.

“Let go, and I’ll stop.” He teased, letting his spit cascade down your clit before sucking it up. Your eyes began to cross, mouth falling agape as silent screams escaped your lips.

“Just like that, y/n. Let that shit go in my fucking mouth, you hear me?!” He growled, aggressively sucking your clit, taking your breath away in the process. And in an instant, you finally let go again, squirting all over the boy beneath you.

A loud whimper escaping as you held onto his head while you shook violently from your orgasm. He lapped up your juices again, some of it trickling down his chest, and completely soaking his own loincloth.

He sucked your sensitive clit one last time before pulling away with a small gasp. A line of spit connecting his swollen lips to your core as he glared at you. “You know what’s next, right?” He asked with a smooth tone, licking his lips slowly.

As much as you wanted it, you didn’t know if you could take anymore. And if his mouth had you shaking, you couldn’t even imagine what his cock would do.

You shook your head lazily, pretending to be oblivious as he lowered you to the ground. You could barely stand, leaning against the bark for support while he held your hips.

“Oh, you’ve forgotten already?” He teased, holding you in place with one hand while the other one untied his loincloth. You didn’t even need to look down to know what you were dealing with. His cock sprung up with a loud slap, very hard to miss. He grabbed it, placing it on your stomach, and you could feel the girth against your skin. It was so damn heavy, and the veins were prominent enough for you to feel as well. You could feel the wet trickles of precum running down your torso, and you gulped loudly.

For a moment, you two stared at eachother. Breathing heavily in anticipation. He moved alittle closer, until his lips were hovering over yours. So much tension that you could cut it with a knife. You moved your lips closer to his, and then he closed the gap. You two engaging in a passionate kiss. So hungry for one another. He grabbed your neck, squeezing it lightly as he deepened the kiss. Too short to wrap your arms around his neck, you wrapped them around his waist, pulling him closer to you.

“I want you. I can’t wait any longer.” He mumbled against your lips, spinning you around aggressively. He pinned your arms over your head with one hand, using the other hand to line his cock up with your entrance, pushing it in slowly. You couldn’t help but moan as he stretched you out with every inch. Going deeper, and deeper until he completely bottomed out.

“So damn tight baby.” He whispered in your ear before kissing it, beginning to thrust into you slow and deep, making your eyes roll back.

“Lo’aaaak!” You whined, voice rippling from every hard thrust he sent you. He let your arms go, pushing your back down gently so that he could get the view he’s been dying for. He began to speed up, grabbing your hips for leverage. You could feel him in your stomach, mouth falling agape as he expertly played in your guts.

“Ohhh Great Mother- yesss!” You screamed as he began to plow you roughly from behind. Loud grunts and groans escaping his mouth as he watched your ass ripple against his pelvis with every stroke.

“Yeah baby. Im giving you that gooood dick, hmm?” He moaned, smacking your ass harshly. You winced, digging your nails into the tree infront of you.

“Yesss lo’aaak!” You whined, tears blurring your vision as he abused your sweetspot repeatedly. He reached around, grabbing your neck to bring you back into him harder. You whimpered, feeling kisses on your upper back while he drilled into you.

“You may be right about that 5 minutes. This pussy is driving me crazy, baby.” He groaned, your tight cunt squeezing him with every thrust. Your lingering slick revealed with every stroke. So wet that it was smearing his thighs, lines of your arousal connecting you two together. He was on the verge of losing it.

“Mmm fuuuck!” He moaned, squeezing your neck tighter as he sped up. The veins in his neck protruding with a loud growl. It was becoming too much for you, and you just couldn’t take this beating any longer.

“Lo’-Lo’ak i’mmm cum-minggg.” You cried, voice staggered from the violent thrusts he was sending directly into your sweetspot. He bit his lip, watching your body shake beneath him. And just like last time, he had plans to make you beg.

“Mhm. Cum on this dick. Let me feel that shit!” He growled, smacking your ass once more, squeezing the flesh harshly. And that was really all it took, your eyes rolled back as you came undone on him. Every stroke revealing his cream coated cock. But even after, he still didn’t stop.

He began to rut into you harder, and deeper. The sounds of skin clapping filling the forest. Your legs were starting to go numb, as you slid down slowly. But ofcourse, lo’ak held you in place, abusing your tight little cunt like his life depended on it.

“Lo’aaak pleaseeee. D-Don’t do this to meee.” You moaned, cheeks becoming wet from your own tears. He shifted his other hand to your neck as well, now rutting into you using it as leverage.

“Don’t do what, baby? Make you cum for the 4th time?” He teased, angling his hips up to jam into your sensitive sweetspot. “Ohhh, shit!” You squealed, eyes crossing from the overstimulation. “I-I don’t- I-I can’t-“ you stuttered deliriously.

“Mhmm, going dumb on this dick. Just how I like it.” He groaned, pulling your head back until your eyes met his. He teased you, hovering over your lips knowing how bad you wanted to kiss him.

“I love you, girl. You hear me?” He whispered, drilling into you nice and slow, hitting every spot possible. You bit your lip, eyebrows scrunched in pleasure. He’s told you that he loved you before, but you never really wanted to hear it. However, this was something different, so much more intimate than before. You could feel your muscles tightening again, just from those 3 little words. He had you completely whipped.

“I-I love you more.” You whined, meaning every fucking word. His ears perked in satisfaction, not thinking that you would respond back like that. He had been waiting to hear those sweet words for some time now, and fuck did it feel good to actually hear it.

“Tell me you’re sorry. For making me wait so fucking long.” He moaned, his grip on your neck becoming tighter.

“I-Im sooorry, baby. I’m so sorry.” You moaned. So genuine in your tone. You couldn’t believe you’d been denying yourself such pleasure, especially knowing that he was in love with you.

He kissed your lips, his thrusts becoming sloppy from his incoming release. You whimpered into the kiss, shaking violently in his arms while your came for the 4th time in 10 minutes.

“Yesss lo’ak! Im c-umm-minggg!” You mumbled against his lips. Your essence spilling to the moss with every stroke. “I know, baby. I-I’m almost done with you, ok? Just alittle longer.” He reassured, his cock twitching inside of you. You nodded lazily in his embrace as tears flowed down your temples. He kissed them away, tasting the salty liquid on your cheeks.

“I-I want your babies, lo’ak. please!” You cried, reaching around to hold his hips, just so he couldn’t pull out. His eyes went wide, gazing down at your fucked out expression. Surely you didn’t really mean that, right?

“Talk to me when you’re not delirious, baby. You don’t know what you’re saying right now.” He shook his head, his thrusts becoming lazy.

“Cum in meee!” You whined, eyes rolling back as your body signaled another orgasm approaching. Your walls began to flutter around him, and he could feel his orgasm building quickly as well.

You both began to breathe hard, inhaling each-others breath. “Lo’aaak, I-I can’t stop cumminggg!” You screamed, letting loose for the 5th time.

“Mhmm.” He hummed, eyes rolling back as he felt little squirts of cum making its way out of him. He tried, he really did. But with your beautiful moans, and fucked out expression, he had no choice but to cum inside of you. It was just too fucking good to stop.

“Oh fuuuuuck!” He muttered through a clenched jaw, throwing his head towards the sky as ropes of cum flooded your empty womb. He held you in place for a minute or two, emptying his seed in you with a few low growls.

And it was safe to say that you were now just as in love, if not more in love with him than he was with you. And you proved that with the weeks following this incident. All you wanted to do was be around him, hug him, kiss him. You were completely and utterly obsessed with him.

You had forgotten all about Neteyam. You wouldn’t even give him the time of day when he tried to talk to you. So, him being curious to know what happened, he talked to lo’ak about that night.

“Damn baby bro. What did you do to her? She acts like I don’t even exist anymore.” Neteyam chuckled.

“Listen, I don’t want to go into detail. But she’s mine now, bro. If you truly liked her, you shouldn’t have handed her off to me the way you did.” Lo’ak laughed. Neteyam was far from mad, he was actually happy for lo’ak. Yeah sure, Neteyam liked you, but lo’ak loved you.

“Shit, I’m surprised she’s not here right now. I can’t get time to myself anymore. It’s like that girl wants to live in my skin or something.” He chuckled, hitting his brother in the chest lightly. But it seemed as though he spoke too soon. 2 dainty hands wrapping around his torso from behind, followed by small kisses being planted on his back.

You peaked your head around from the side, looking up at your gorgeous mate. “Hey baby! I missed you.” You smiled. He smiled as well, bringing you around to the front of him, bending down to leave kisses all over your face. You both giggling at eachother.

Neteyams fists balled up slightly. The anger finally seeping in when he saw you two together. Maybe he was jealous, and had more feelings for you than he thought. But he sucked it up for the sake of his brother, plastering a fake smile.

“Lo’ak can we go? I have something to show you.” You spoke innocently, kissing his lips. “Oh yeah?” He cocked an eyebrow, already knowing what you meant. You nodded your head with your lip between your teeth.

The exchange alone made Neteyam’s blood boil, swallowing the lump in his throat slowly. Jaw clenching and unclenching quickly before letting out a sigh.

“I’ve gotta go bro. Something came up.” Lo’ak spoke, reaching out to Neteyam to do their handshake. Neteyam raised his hand, obliging with a forced smile.

“Ofcourse bro! I’ll see you around. Bye y/n.” Neteyam spoke, hoping that you would finally acknowledge him. Yet you didn’t, just a quick nod to him before pulling lo’ak away. Leaving Neteyam by himself, wondering how things could have been if he didn’t play matchmaker…

Taglist: @number1gal @loak-bae @tiredmamaissy @neytirishottie @terrorthewolf @lethargicluv @reyzzsostellar @m0nst3rfk3r @agelsully @jakescumdump @wekiamo @st-cass @cleardonutangelwagon @tsireqas @satanlovedays @afro-hispwriter @urfavgirlmakenna @fanboyluvr @iameatingmyhair @secretflowerobservation @violet-19999 @xreadersstuff @sweetllamaparadise @lia-nath @sullymenrhot @dotheyevenknowmars @xdbluesky @slay-nt @domino-x3-blog @ladylovegood-69 @itssomeonereading @sweetirilly @skxawngmia @j-jinxee @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @cumikering @pxndorasdream @itsaleidasworld @atxxokirina @yeletta @eywascall @valeriearriana37484 @avatarsslut @bee782916 @atxxokirina @taylormarieee @sweethoneycn

1K notes · View notes

callmeagardengnome · 1 month ago

Text

𓆩 bless me 𓆪 - chapter 8

w.c - 4.2k

pairings - demon!ateez ot8 x demon! fem! reader

genre - demon au, hint of royal au, possible yandere themes (?), romance, slow burn

synopsis: as hell's receptionist, you only wished to talk shit and stay out of trouble. yet, you happened to be the one that the two social clans in hell start fighting for.

c.w - GORE, pretty dark themes, mentions of torture and stuff oopsie

not proofread!

previous / next

masterlist

“How did you get in here?” you scrambled behind, hitting your head against the bed frame.

You were enjoying a deep slumber before the faint sounds of shuffling pulled you from your sleep. When your eyes fluttered open, the last thing you expected to see was Wooyoung, wearing a dark cloak that hid most of his frame.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” Wooyoung grinned down at you, completely unfazed by your reaction as if him being in your bedroom was the most normal thing in the world.

You stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. As weird as the situation was, you couldn’t help but smile as you leaned forward and pulled him into a short hug.

“It’s good to see you, Wooyoung,” you muttered. “But uh, what are you doing in my room- wait, what are you doing in the Palace? Halas aren’t allowed here.”

He rolled his eyes. “Wow, where’s the ‘thanks for risking your literal life to come here’?” Wooyoung then gestured lazily behind him. “I think you should ask that asshole over there.”

Your gaze followed his hand to the corner of your room, where Yunho sat with one leg over the other on the plush, velvet chair.

Yunho raised an eyebrow, along with the faintest hint of a smirk tugging his lips. “Before you ask, I disabled the gun and camera system outside the Palace. You’ve got-“ he glanced at the watch on his wrist. “-Less than 15 minutes to talk. Probably should have woken you up sooner, but you looked so peaceful sleeping.”

You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose. “You’re telling me that you used up most of the time we had watching me sleep?”

“You’re welcome, by the way. One hour is the most I could do without anyone noticing. I suggest you use it wisely.” Yunho said.

“Great,” you sighed, already feeling stressed. “So what’s going on?”

“We’re all aware that the Eternals are going to get more aggressive,” Wooyoung plopped himself on the edge of your bed. “We need to find ways to talk without getting caught if we even want a chance at surviving.”

The three of you fell silent for a moment. You could barely comprehend the massacre, let alone the bombings - what more could they do? You didn’t even want to begin thinking about it.

“We could try letters?” you suggested, looking at the two demons.

“Too traceable,” Yunho shook his head. “The Palace rarely receives letters. Lord Hongjoong checks each one that comes in.”

Wooyoung scratched his head. “Any secret tunnels in the Palace?”

“The Duke knows the grounds of the Palace like no other. It won’t last long,” Yunho bit the inside of his cheek.

“What about carrier pigeons?” you joked, only to earn a glare from both Wooyoung and Yunho. “Geez, sorry.”

You sighed, fiddling with a stray piece of string on your blanket. Every idea thrown out had its own cons, ones that obliterated the idea instantly. You leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, hoping to think of something, anything that could work.

“Imagine if we got a Hala to play dress-up?” you chuckled, half-joking, half-serious. “They could pretend to be an Eternal to sneak in and out.”

Wooyoung looked at you with a ‘you better be kidding’ glare. “We would get caught instantly- our horns are completely different.”

“Actually...” Yunho rose from the chair, walking over to the two of you. “That could work.”

You and Wooyoung exchanged a look, confused. “How?” you both asked in unison.

Yunho stood just infront of Wooyoung. He grabbed the top of the Halas’ head, sizing up the stubby red horns protruding from his head.

“Your friends have horns like these, right? Similar size and shape?” Yunho asked, tilting Wooyoung’s head from side to side.

Wooyoung smacked Yunho’s hand away but nodded. “Yeah.. why?”

Yunho stepped back with a satisfied expression. “Perfect. Here’s what you’ll do..” he leaned down, whispering something into Wooyoung’s ear.

“Guys?” you raised an eyebrow. “Am I going to know any of this?”

“Nope,” Yunho straightened his back, dusting himself off before he addressed Wooyoung once more. “Expect a gift soon, along with a letter. Follow the instructions exactly.”

Wooyoung nodded, his face dazed and confused. He wrapped you in another quick hug. “Please stay safe, okay? I’ll be back.”

“You better,” you said softly, squeezing him back. “Wouldn’t want my favourite client getting into trouble.”

Wooyoung pulled back just enough to give you a deadpan look. “That’s all I am to you? A client?”

Wooyoung clutched his chest as if you wounded him. “I thought we were closer than that, Receptionist. Am I just another name in your file?”

“Stop being dramatic,” you scoffed, a small grin tugging your lips.

Wooyoung leaned in slightly. “So what am I then?”

You hesitated, looking at him then the door as if you could ignore the question. “Shouldn’t you leave soon?” you asked, but he kept silent, his eyes watching you closely. “Fine, you’re my favourite demon. Now leave.”

A smile broke out on his face. “Much better. I’m glad to see you again, Receptionist.” Wooyoung patted your back and turned away, leaving your bedroom - to what you would assume to be a route in which he wouldn’t get caught leaving.

Yunho sat on the bed, shifting closer to you. He stared at the wall across from him before finally speaking up. “Favourite demon, huh?”

“It’s not that deep,” you said, shrugging. “He’s the only demon I’ve known for this long.. what was I supposed to say?” you added when you noticed Yunho’s reaction.

His smile widened slightly as he sat up straighter. “You have an interesting taste in friends. That’s all.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Yunho said, though the grin on his face told you that it was definitely not nothing. “Some demons tend to be more.. emotionally obvious than others. But I wouldn’t worry about if I were you.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, making a ‘tsk’ sound. “Yunho, get to the point.”

He turned to face you fully, and it was only then you saw how his grin did not meet his eyes. “You know, he seems to be very territorial over you. He wouldn’t even let me get near you when you were asleep.”

“Territorial?” you repeated, narrowing your eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Yunho tilted his head, his face just a few inches away from yours. “You’re clever. Figure it out.”

Before you could respond, he stood up, adjusting his cuffed sleeves. “You should sort him out before he hogs the favourite title. Some of us take it very seriously,” he said, quickly disappearing into the corridor without waiting for a response.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖⊹₊ִ ࣪𖤐๋࣭ ⭑⊹₊ 𖥔.

It felt colder than normal, the air suffocating you as you glanced around the table.

Hongjoong at the head of the table, Seonghwa sat across you with his posture straight with Yunho beside him, calm as ever.

You don’t have good memories in the Palace’s dining hall. The last time you were here, Hongjoong gave you the ‘gift’ of watching the bombings. Not only that, being here meant that you were most likely going to discuss the next step to exterminate the Halas.

You could barely maintain eye contact with any of them, especially since they knew that you did betray them and leak their plans. The food on your plate barely looked appetising anymore.

From the corner of your eye, Mingi sat beside you with his head slightly down. His leg bounced restlessly under the table, catching your attention.

You reached out and rubbed his knee gently - causing him to stop almost instantly. He glanced at you, nodding subtly, though, his hand gripped the edge of the chair a little tighter.

Hongjoong’s voice broke through the silence. “Give me the status report on the Halas,” he said, taking a sip of his drink.

All eyes turned to Mingi, which caused him to clear his throat hurriedly. “An estimate of 40% of the Halas have been wiped out after doing a sweep,” he said, his voice weirdly mechanical.

“Only 40%? It should’ve been 100%,” A scoff came from Seonghwa. “But guess who decided to play hero,” he said, glaring at you as his voice dripped with malice.

At that moment, you kicked Seonghwa’s leg under the table. Hard. He flinched, his smirk dropping as he sat up straighter. Seonghwa spoke through clenched teeth. “What was that for?”

“-Stay where you are,” Hongjoong raised his hand, ordering to who you now noticed were guards stationed at the doors of the dining hall. The guards who were scarily close to you retreated back to their original positions, like they never moved.

Seonghwa glanced towards the guards before shooting a glare at you, his jaw clenching. But Hongjoong didn’t spare him a second glance. Instead, his eyes were laser focused on Mingi, who looked like he wished the floor would engulf him and swallow him whole.

Hongjoong took a spoonful of the porridge that had been set aside from him. “40%,” he repeated slowly. “I expected more.“

Mingi gulped, his adam’s apple bobbing nervously. “W-well, there were-“

“Save your words,” Hongjoong’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “Anyone would be blessed to be in your position as a General. But it seems that you are.. ungrateful.”

Seonghwa looked at Hongjoong concerened, “Sire, what are you-“

“I didn’t know that the lives of Halas was more important than your King,” Hongjoong continued, not caring whether or not he interrupted his right-hand demon. “Helping the curses of Hell? You’ve embarrassed me.”

You clenched your fists, your heart racing.

Mingi didn’t deserve this.

As Hongjoong spoke, you noticed something. The way he completely ignored your presence, as if he didn’t acknowledge your role in the betrayal. Mingi was the target - which confused you since Hongjoong basically confronted you about your traitor tactics during the explosions.

“I acknowledged your strength during your years of training,” Hongjoong said, his words a dangerous whisper. “I took you in. Gave you a room in the Palace. Even gave you a sought-after position. Is this really how you repay me?”

“I didn’t-“ Mingi’s voice cracked, but stopped, his shoulders slumping under Hongjoong’s gaze.

Hongjoong gestured towards Mingi. “Come here.”

Mingi froze, his knucles whitening as he gripped the chair. He didn’t move. Hongjoong repeated himself, his voice low and threatening. “General.”

Slowly, Mingi got up from his chair. He moved reluctantly to the King, like he was moving to an execution. When he reached Hongjoong, he stood stiffly, his tall frame towering over the Eternal leader.

“Bow,” Hongjoong commanded, sending a shiver down your spine.

Mingi hesitated, pure confusion flashing across his face. But after a few seconds, he complied, lowering himself into a bow.

Hongjoong’s smile widened, cold and psychotic. “Let this be a warning to everyone in the room,” his looked at his fellow Eternals at the table before finally landing on you.

Hongjoong reached out, gripping Mingi’s tall horns with both hands. With a sickening crunch, he pulled and yanked the purple horns put of Mingi’s head.

Mingi’s scream ripped and echoed through the dining hall, filled with agony that would span thousands of lifetimes - making everyone but the King of Hell himself flinch. Mingi collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head as blood poured from the jagged wounds where his horns used to be, seeping into the carpet.

“What the Hell?” you shouted, jumping out of your chair.

You rushed to Mingi, kneeling beside him as he shook in pain. His hands were trembling, covered in blood as he pressed his fingers weakly into the open wounds. Your stomach twisted at the side of the two gaping holes where his horns used to be.

“What is wrong with you?” you cried out, looking up at the King with tears welling up in your eyes.

Hongjoong laughed, the sound wicked and maniacal. He tossed the detached horns onto the table, landing into the big pot of porridge, the red blood mixing with the white meal - letting both Seonghwa and Yunho watch in shock as the horns bubbled and float.

“He’s not dead,” Hongjoong said dismissively, rolling his eyes. “He’ll be fine.. physically at least.”

You glared at him, your chest heaving. Hongjoong’s lips curved into a smirk as he watched you cower over Mingi. He tilted his head slightly.

“Don’t tell me you feel bad for him..” he said, his voice mockingly gentle. He walked towards you, crouching infront of you.

Hongjoong’s hands found your face, leaving a trail of blood on your cheek. “It’s cute, really. How protective you are over him. Wish you had the same energy for our cause,” he squeezed your face. You flinched, feeling the cold metal of his ring touch your jaw.

A small smile appeared on his face - completely ignoring the other Eternal that is heaving in pain beside the two of you.

Your jaw clenched and you instinctively swatted his hand away. You moved towards Mingi, shielding his body. “You’re insane,” you spat out.

“Careful,” Hongjoong replied. “I still need you. I wouldn’t want to kill you over that sharp tongue of yours.”

Hongjoong pushed himself off of the ground. He wiped off the excess blood on his hands using a napkin on the table. “Oh yes,” he spoke up, turning to Mingi’s weak body. “Eternal, you’re fired.”

Mingi’s head shot up, his face twisted with pain. “What?” he whispered hoarsely.

“I was going to keep you… despite your unfaithfulness,” Hongjoong continued. “But it seems I no longer have any use for you.”

“Wait, Sire. Who will command our troops?” Seonghwa abruptly stood, his chair scraping against the floor. “We never discussed any of this.”

Hongjoong’s gaze flicked to Seonghwa, his lips pressed into a line. “I did. Just not with you.” He then turned to Yunho. “You said you had someone, yes?”

Yunho nodded. “He’ll arrive tomorrow.”

Hongjoong’s grin widened, the light in his eyes gleaming with craze. “We’ve found someone far more trustworthy and stronger than this.. rat,” he emphasised, turning to Seonghwa, as if that would reassure him.

Seonghwa’s jaw tightened, his usual cocky demeanour cracking as a sliver of betrayal crossed his face.

Hongjoong looked towards Yunho, then Mingi. “Dispose of him.”

Yunho rose from his seat, walking to you and Mingi with a blank expression. When he reached you, he crouched down, his strong hands lifting Mingi with a surprising gentleness.

As he moved to stand, Yunho leaned slightly closer to you, his lips barely moving as he whispered, “Don’t worry.”

The words were so soft, so subtle and so reassuring that you almost thought that you were imagining things - though, the look in Yunho’s eyes said otherwise.

Yunho carried Mingi out of the room, leaving you alone with the demons you hated together with the bloodstained floor. You turned back to the table, your eyes locked onto Hongjoong.

“What?” he asked. “Did I hurt your feelings?”

Hongjoong cackled, turning to leave but paused at doorway where the guards stood rigidly. “Seonghwa,” he called out, gesturing for the older Eternal to follow.

Seonghwa hesitated. His eyes darted to the blood pooling in the carpet, then to the horns gurgling in the porridge, resting like a trophy, then you.

The eye contact between the two of you lasted just long enough for you to register the reluctance in Seonghwa’s gaze, before he quickly whipped his head around and scurried to the Eternal leader.

The sound of the door shutting echoed through the room and you were now left alone with the aftermath of Hongjoong’s cruelty.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖⊹₊ִ ࣪𖤐๋࣭ ⭑⊹₊ 𖥔.

Your heart pounded as you searched the endless halls of the Palace. After that traumatic ‘meeting’ you immediately ran out of the dining hall to find one demon - Yunho.

With a few wrong turns and whispers from passing servants, you finally spotted him on the other side of the Palace, overseeing a housekeeping team cleaning the marble floors.

You tapped on his shoulder. Yunho turned around, looking slightly annoyed - but that quickly vanished when he saw your face.

“Ah, Miss ‘____’. It’s nice to see your face once agai-“

“Where’s Mingi?” you interrupted.

Yunho’s eyes looked over your figure up and down, his face unreadable. “What are you talking about? I got rid of him.”

“You and I know damn well you didn’t,” you snarled, narrowing your eyes. “So where is he?”

He sighed, glancing around to make sure that none of the servants were paying attention. “Lower your voice unless you want both of us killed.”

Silence hung between the two of you - with Yunho fidgeting with the edge of his pocket while you stared him down, your eyes never leaving him as your frustration boiled beneath the surface. Finally, Yunho muttered, “Give me ten minutes.”

You stood off to the side, arms crossed as you watched him direct the Eternal workers. You had to admit that it was pretty hot impressive to see him take charge. Even though he seemed pretty uninterested from most - if not all of the workers, he still treated them with a strange kind of respect that you hadn’t seen from the other Eternals you knew.

After a few minutes, the workers finally dispersed, going off to do their respective jobs. Yunho turned back to you, sighing as he adjusted his sleeves. “Follow me.”

Without another word, he led you through the Palace. He took long strides as he maneuvered down corridors you’ve never seen before. Chandeliers turned into torches and the walls became darker, the pristine marble turning into a damp stone. Sounds of faint whispers and groans started to get louder and it echoed through the corridor.

Yunho stopped infront of a rusted metal gate, pulling it open with a screech that made your skin crawl. The room was dimly lit, the scent of decay and blood overtaking your senses.

Your heart dropped as you took in the sight of beaten Eternals scattered across the floor, some chained to the ground and some chained to the walls - Yunho brought you to a torture chamber.

“Why- why did you bring me here?” you asked, gulping.

“He’s not here,” Yunho clarified quickly, seeing the worry in your face. “But there’s things we need to discuss.”

You looked around the room. “Is it really safe to talk about this here? What if one of the Eternals here.. I don’t know- rat us out?”

“They’re all halfway to death. I doubt they have the energy to say anything." Yunho shrugged. "They might hate me but the King and Duke tortures them way more than I do. If anything, they'll want to help us.”

He began to walk ahead, but for some reason, you couldn’t bring yourself to move.

Groans and pained whimpers filled your ears, the sounds unbearable to even be around. You wrapped your arms around yourself, watching the tortured Eternals beg for mercy or cry for help.

“Yunho..” you said, your voice barely above a whisper.

He paused, glancing back at you with a raised eyebrow. “Yes?”

You shook your head, unable to form words. The sounds of suffering pierced your ears, getting louder by the second.

Yunho’s eyes softened slightly, a hint of understanding crossing his face. He walked towards you and stopped, rummaging through the inside pocket of his blazer. After a moment, he pulled put a pair of earplugs.

“Here,” he said, his voice softer now.

You blinked, surprised by his offer. Before you could even say anything, Yunho stepped closer, tilting his head.

“Hold still.”

His fingers gently brushed against your hair, tucking it behind your ears as he fit the earplugs in. His movements were slow and carefull, treating you as if you were a porcelain doll. The warmth of his fingers stayed on your skin as he adjusted the second earplug, stepping back once he was done.

“Better?” his deep voice muffled, though you could still hear him.

You nodded. “Thank you,” you muttered, causing Yunho to smile slightly.

“I recommend keeping those in the whole time we’re here,” he said, gesturing you to follow him as he walked further into the room.

He eventually stopped, glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t be scared,” he said, causing you to raise an eyebrow.

You watched in horror as Yunho approached a chained Eternal slumped against the wall. Without hesitation, he ripped the Eternal’s purple horns from their head.

The scream broke through the sound barrier of the earplugs, causing you to jump. You ran towards the Eternal - was this really happening again?

“What are you doing?” you exclaimed, examining the Eternal’s injuries. Besides the fresh wounds on his head, one of his eyes were gouged out, his face swollen and a bleeding mess.

“Are you trying to be Hongjoong?”

“Don’t say his name out loud,” he replied sharply, almost like on instinct. “You might hate him, but you should still show some respect.”

You glared at him, waiting for an explanation. He inspected the horns in his hands like they were tools instead of pieces from another being.

“You shouldn’t feel pity,” he shook his head. “That one withered our basil plants.”

You stared at him, unamused.

He sighed dramatically. “Fine. He also killed an Eternal child and mother, if it makes you feel better. Just thought the basil part was important.”

Your disgust was evident, but Yunho continued to examine the horns.

“These,” he said eerily calm. “Can be capped around a Hala’s horns. You know, if they fit.”

“…What?” you blurted.

“If one of your Hala friends can fit these horns over their own, they’ll be the ones doing your ‘dress-up’ plan,” Yunho explained. “It’s risky, but it’ll work.”

“Are you serious?” You stared at him in disbelief.

“He’ll arrive tomorrow..”

Your eyes widened as you understood what he meant. “..As the General..”

You ran your fingers through your hair. “But what about Mingi? Where is he?”

“I sent him away to find your friend. He’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” Yunho said, wiping the blood on the horns with a handkerchief.

You let out a sigh, finally feeling relieved - but unease came back once more when you looked over at the tortured Eternal.

“If the King or Duke come looking for Mingi’s body,” Yunho gestured to the limp body infront of the two of you. “They’ll find this instead. I’ll make sure his face is unrecognisable.”

Your stomach did jumping jacks when you realised what he meant. The Eternal had a disturbingly similar build to Mingi, and as long as the face wasn’t seen, it could genuinely pass off as Mingi’s body.

You stood up, dusting yourself off. You walked side-by-side to Yunho, staying close to him as you approached the exit.

“You’re really doing all of this to help the Halas..?” you said, the words coming out as more of a statement than a question.

Yunho’s glanced at you for a moment before muttering under his breath, “More like helping you.”

“What?” you asked, stepping closer. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “I’m just evening out the playing field.”

.𖥔 ݁ ˖⊹₊ִ ࣪𖤐๋࣭ ⭑⊹₊ 𖥔.

Tense couldn’t even begin to describe the air in Hongjoong’s office.

Stacks of files and papers taken from your office were scattered across Hongjoong’s desk. The sounds of his pen scratching against the paper filled the room.

Seonghwa sat across from him, helping the King sort out and sift through the documents, his movements sharp and impatient.

The silence stretched for too long. Seonghwa’s eyes continuously darted from the papers to Hongjoong - before he sighed and broke the silence.

“Was it really necessary?”

Hongjoong paused, his pen hovering over the page. Slowly, he set it down, his sharp gaze lifting off of the paper to meet Seonghwa’s. “What was?”

“Mingi,” Seonghwa replied simply.

Hongjoong leaned back into the chair, his face blank as he considered his question. After a while, he finally answered, returning back to his papers. “Yes. It was necessary.”

Seonghwa’s jaw tightened, clearly unsatisfied with his answer. The room fell back into a silence, but this time, it was even suffocating. Seonghwa shuffled the papers in his hands, trying to distract himself from the frustration bubbling within him.

“Why are we keeping the Walker when we have plenty of other ways to acquire information?” Seonghwa blurted out.

Hongjoong tilted his head slightly. “Are you really in a position to question me?”

“I-“ Seonghwa opened his mouth, but instantly cut himself off. He knew better than to push the issue. Though, his anger was obvious, especially with the sharp inhale he took through his nose.

Hongjoong focused back onto the documents on his desk, ignoring the fuming demon infront of him.

Eventually, Seonghwa stormed out of the office, the door swinging shut harshly before slowing down as it closed with a click.

Hongjoong glanced up at the closed door. He could have easily gone after Seonghwa, maybe explain himself or God forbid - apologise for leaving him out of the discussion he had with Yunho, but did he really care enough to bother?

His eyes landed on his hand. He slowly fidgeted with the ring on his finger, the small, cheap piece of jewelry catching the light.

His fingers traced over the the delicate engraving on its surface - a name. Your name.

His lips curved into a sick smile, though it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “‘____’,” he murmured softly to himself, the sound of your name lingering in the quiet, lonely room.

author’s note: I’M BACKK yall i swear i will be writing more especially cuz my exams are over.. please stick around its getting good 😭😭

series taglist [OPEN] - @binchanluvrr @hiddlestandom @avantalem @hecateslittlewitchling @iara-ya @thunderous-wolf @jaerisdiction @mallielovssyou @syzygyweeb @dimeb29 @marsofeight @doitforbangchan @shotaswife

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felassan · 1 month ago

Text

Polygon article.

Rest of post under a cut due to length and possible spoilers.

“I’ll say one of the greatest challenges of this game, but also one of the most enjoyable things, was, How do the Dalish react when their gods are out in the world and rampaging?” creative director John Epler told Polygon. It seems that across the board every Dalish elf in the game pretty much rejects their risen gods now that they’ve shown their true hand. Two of Rook’s companions, elven historian Bellara Lutare and Grey Warden Davrin, come from Dalish clans themselves and even though they’re a little shaken about confronting their gods, they’re not conflicted about doing so. In fact, among Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain’s lackeys and puppets, there’s not a single elf to be found. Epler said that it’s vindication for the Dalish — which is nice to see considering how they’ve been portrayed in past games. “Dragon Age has not always been the kindest to the Dalish,” he said. “Somebody once made a joke to me, and it’s not untrue, that it’s possible to wipe out a Dalish clan in all three of the games in some way.” In Origins, siding with the werewolves in the Brecilian Forest quest leads to the clan being destroyed. In Dragon Age 2, if you defend your companion Merrill’s blood magic usage, her clan attacks you and must be killed. And in Dragon Age: Inquisition, if you’re playing as an elven Inquisitor, you can accidentally kill your clan by picking the wrong options in the War Table mission. It’s not easy being a Dalish elf in Thedas. Still, though, why haven’t any Dalish elves decided to join forces with their gods? As Epler put it, the gods simply don’t care about them. They’re looking for followers in other places. Even though the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC revealed that Solas had amassed a network of elven agents, they weren’t going to be swayed. “Solas’ agents were never there for power,” Epler said. “They were there for a sense of identity and a purpose. And I would say that it’s fair that Fen’Harel probably bent the truth to them when he was doing his recruiting pitch — the part where he says ‘I’m going to destroy the world’ at the end of Trespasser [was] not what he was telling them.” Solas’ agents are almost jarringly absent from The Veilguard, with barely any mention of how far and wide they spread in the years prior to the game. But they do have very good reason for not being the ones joining up with the gods. “Those blighted, decrepit gods, they’re not bothering with the soft pitch,” Epler explained. “Their pitch is, We’re going to make a horrible world. We’re going to give you a lot of power, and maybe you’ll be OK.” On a more meta note, the Dalish just needed an in-game win. It’s refreshing that Bellara and Davrin get to honor their culture and also not be ostracized from it and possibly forced to kill their clan, as was the case with Merrill in Dragon Age 2. And instead of being accidentally (or purposely!) killed off by the player character, the Dalish elves in The Veilguard get to righteously rally against the mages that they once called gods and reclaim part of their history. “I love that the Dalish in this game, by and large, are saying, No, we were lied to. We were the first victims of these gods. We’re going to fight back,” Epler said. “And they really get a sense to kind of rise up in this game and start establishing themselves in this way that in the future I can’t wait to go back to, but in this game gives them a sense of a win. They get a victory in how they respond to the threat of the gods in this game.”

[source]

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age the veilguard spoilers #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #solas #dragon age 5 #(note: i just want a tag to start filing things under which are about the possible future thats all ^^)

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quartzalynlove · 7 months ago

Text

Dating Goro Majima Would Include

Pairing: Majima x fem! Reader

Summary: dating our favorite crazy eyepatch man

A/n: I knew the second I saw this man that he'd make me post about him

WARNINGS: N/A

Your honor if this isn't a gift giving man idk what is

He's buying whatever your eye lingers on for more than a second

Or getting random clothes he wants to see you in

And you better not get caught looking too good around him because he's gonna get rabid

The strength of Mr Shakedown couldn't pull him off of you

He'll cling onto you and all but try to eat you

When you finally push him off he'll get all pouty so you'll have to let him know that he can get all clingy later

Definitely shows you off

There's not a member of the Tojo Clan that doesn't know Majima's girl

You could walk right in and out of HQ just to say "hi" unscathed because who's getting in the way of Majima and his girl?

No one that values their life that's for sure

Kisses are sloppy and open mouth

I swear all that junk food has him nutrient deficient

I wouldn't be surprised if he's a biter too

But he lives for all that soft crap

Throw him off with a sweet, chaste kiss and he might start rattling like a cartoon character

I think he'd love anyone that matches his crazy even a little bit

Like having a few screws loose makes you just perfect for him

He'd play into the dog thing

Not even in a suggestive way, mostly just for the plot

"Trust me, darlin', I live up ta both parts of my name!"

Head scratches, curling in your lap

He might even growl a little into your neck if you've got a new perfume on

It's to prove a point but he does love it if you're the one doing it

He'd probably let you walk him on a leash if you felt like it

Physical touch is definitely his second biggest love language

He holds you like he's trying to absorb into your skin

Inhaling your essence with the desperate hope that part of you is coming to dwell in him with each breath

If you tease him about how soft he is with you, he'll brush it off, but the truth is that you're the whole world to him

In a life that's always moving and changing, you're his gorgeous, brilliant constant, and he cherishes that

He loves his crazy life, but watching you fade into view each day as the soft morning light spills in around you? That's the reason he keeps going.

He's also clingy because he's a little scared as well

The only person crazier than him must be whoever chose to be with him

He may be a force of nature in the yakuza, but he still can't control what each day may throw at the two of you

Whatever it may be seems to melt away when he comes home to you, though

Just by watching you he can see the rest of his life clearly and not the day to day antics he constructs on whims

He can see himself leaving everything behind and leading a domestic life

But that may be his most insane fantasy yet

187 notes · View notes

izzabela · 4 months ago

Note

I don’t know if anyone has asked this before, but the Lin Kuei trio with a reader who works as a military special forces operator? I don’t know but I’d like to think that on tactical terms the Lin Kuei and a military soldier can work pretty well together so I would definitely want to see how this will play out

When Worlds Collide - Lin Kuei x GN!spec-ops!reader (headcanons?)

in which past meets modern warfare

a/n: bro the fact you requested this and i'm getting into COD is INSANE THE TIMING IS AWESOME

ship[s]: none

warning(s): cod x mortal kombat?? ghost reference? soap ref? gaz & price reference??

You are a spec-ops soldier, working with the most elite soldiers in the world under the guidance of the American military. With the Outworld Investigations Agency opened, they're gonna need some manpower....

Introducing you and TF141, so perhaps this is a mk x cod fic??

- all three of the brothers would be very impressed with your records and awards. you are a decorated member, and the fact you are decently younger compared to your coworkers impresses them further

- Tomas asks you questions. lots of them. where you've been, what you've seen, the kills you have (it surprises you he knows the difference in the terms), he even asks others about you

- Bi Han wants to inspect every piece of modern equipment you have. he asks incredibly well-informed questions about the weapons, he even sketches ones that pique his interest the most so he can show his clan back at home

- Kuai Liang is the lucky brother who gets to hold and try the equipment. you and your team watch over him in the gun range as he shoots down practice targets with ease (ninja precision is crazy)

- Tomas and Soap might get along the best. he'd definitely be thrown off by how vulgar the team gets, but he and Soap are very friendly with one another

- Bi Han, Ghost, and Price. those two would be having a blast together talking about manly adult leadership stuff

- Kuai Liang might get along best with Gaz. Something about these level-headed men having a normal conversation in front of neanderthals is refreshing to you, snd you really appreciate that

- teamwork wise, not including the 141, they'd work pretty good with you. you're a great all around: sniper, foot-soldier, hand-to-hand, you know the drills for the shit they go through on the daily

- specifically, you and Kuai Liang would work together with a knowing silence. something like Price and Ghost since those two knew each other for so long. something about you and Kuai covering each other's asses without saying a word means you guys are in perfect sync. i can imagine it (can't you?)

- working with Bi Han is like Price and Soap, or Ghost and Soap. You definitely would try and liven up the mood as you off enemies left and right. Bi Han might actually scold you mid battle, too, expecially talking about distractions

- Tomas is Gaz, and working with him is like nothing but butter sliding smoothly on bread. Tomas is everything in a package: smart, skilled, quick-witted, and level-headed. Tomas knows when it's the right time to do things

- i think you and Bi Han would get into the worst spats and fights when discussing how to further push into battle. i'd say it gets physical, with you ordering him to stand down as the "professionals handle this"

- Kuai Liang and you could also get into some hefty drama and fights too. i think Kuai would actually apologize too, considering that maybe you might have seen more than him

- outside of the missions, everyone gets along well (maybe). when the three lin kuei bros are out drinking with you and your team, that shit is fire. Tomas probably gets drunk first, but that's after maybe five cups of hard ass liquor

- Kuai is next drunk, then Bi Han

- back to mission stuff, when you and the Lin Kuei trio aren't fighting, you guys agree on strategy rather easily. in fact, they like how you pull your strats. Bi Han takes mental notes to implement to the clan

- yeah, that's it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

guys i want to write a COD fic soon, but idk who to start with. after my reqs though

also, school started for me, so writing may be coming slower

see yall in the next fic!

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bonefall · 2 months ago

Note

a while ago you said that Starclan cats design kittens and customize them with patterns and colors from their parents genes. So, do the clan cats raise any eyebrows when it comes to people who know cat genetics? Is there a geneticist who is holding their head wondering how these two cats have this colored kit while their starclan designer was just playing around? Or do the Starclan designers still have to stay within the rules?

Basically, do the humans notice that some of these clan cats are sparkle cats lol

I try to not get too "lost in the weeds" since the humans aren't the focus of the story, just taking care that they DO have real motivations behind their actions rather than construction crews materializing out of nowhere to Do A Chaos, but...

First, the genetics of cats in Albion are different than humans in equivalent Great Britain.

Partially, this is because I honestly just don't really enjoy learning about in-depth genetics or applying them realistically. I like drawing anime characters and writing anime battles, so they have anime genetics. But more than that, off-screen, the intelligence of cats has altered the timeline of this world.

If cats really were capable of higher thinking, that totally would have had some butterfly effects. I like dropping crazy alt-history and then not elaborating on it, because it's funny. Archimedes' cat helped him invent a death ray, btw.

On that note of genetics though, you guessed right. StarClan designers DO have to work with what they have. Whatever the genetics of this alternate universe of cats are, every kit born still abides by the laws of nature.

Which brings me to...

Second, the researchers do notice that the Clan cats are special. In fact, there is a "study of magic" in this universe-- Thaumatology. "The science of wonder."

(There's no world where magic actually factually exists that science isn't all over it lmao)

Thaumatology facts I haven't shared so far since it's all offscreen and just Bonus Worldbuilding;

It is a "soft science," not a hard one.

It has a LOT of problems with replicability. Thaumatologists and Quantum Physicists have a lot of in-jokes.

The most well known (to the point of being a cliche) is "magic and quantum particles both hate being watched."

Magic is highly variable based on a bajillion very personal factors, like emotion, environment, culture, personal background, etc, so it's severely difficult to re-create it in controlled environments.

Thaumatology has a lot of overlap with sociology, archeology, and theology, so people from these fields work together a lot.

There was absolutely not a dedicated Thaumatologist working in the Research Team early on, sadly.

It was probably discovered when the Battle of the True Eclipse blew out a bunch of field cameras.

It's pretty common that photography equipment fritzes out a bit during "supernatural" times like eclipses, but the damage was extensive enough to be noteworty

The Clan cats were initially notable just for the fact they had advanced culture.

Cats are usually comparable to crows and monkeys, in this universe. So cats with fire and a crude writing system were enough to SHAKE the field of zoology.

The fact they're cats helped a lot. The public loves cats, enough that since their discovery after Speckletail attacked a bulldozer, massive outcry has secretly helped the Clans several times.

The discovery that the culture also has Thaumatological elements is more of a goldmine for a scientist than the public, though.

It's common knowledge that "animals are magic," because humanity projects traits onto them. "Of course they do, they're cats...?"

The Thaumatologist is freaking out because "THE CAT IS PROVABLY DOING ITS OWN THAUMATURGY"

Most people don't know the difference between Thaumaturgy (the functional work it does on the world) and Thaumology (the study of that as a whole), so this particular scientist is going to have a hard time explaining WHY this distinction is so special.

(And possibly even offensive to certain groups, who would insist only humans are capable of this)

In any case, eventually there would be Thaumatological interest in the Clan cats, but they weren't there in the mid to late 2010s when BB!ASC takes place.

#One of the things I like doing with The Researchers is making them relatable to my scientist friends lmaoo #So I like imagining the mundane reality of it all #There's exciting moments that make it all worth it-- but they have to grapple with budget a lot #Or their subjects breaking their equipment #Or an idea not working out the way they imagined it would #And trying to keep the public interested in their REALLY COOL PROJECT!!!#I was reading a paper on the swamp project in delamere and felt Incredibly Violent when i saw that they couldn't extensively re-wet one spo #Because there was a goddamn Go Ape Zipline #SCREW YOUR ZIPLINE OH MY GOD JUST MOVE IT #BITE BITE BITE BITE #''We could not remove the nearby patch of rhodo-motherfucking-dendron because a landowner thinks it's pretty :(''#1000000 US National Park Systems kill this man #Better Bones Au #Millie's Radio Collar

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fleurriee · 2 years ago

Text

— a routine of kisses ; neteyam sully

pairing ; neteyam sully x fem!reader

synopsis ; it’s routine for the two of you to tell one another i love you before succumbing to sleep, and neteyam can’t allow you to do so without uttering the words.

word count ; 1.8k

themes ; fluff, established relationship (mates)

warnings ; clingy neteyam if that counts but he’s cute so it’s kinda void??

author’s note ; i saw this & i couldn’t help myself so this fic is dedicated entirely to u, my lovely <3 @draiochtwrites

main masterlist request a fic!

You and Neteyam had just begun settling down for the night, the two of you moving from one side of the tent to the other, ensuring everything was the way it should be before leaving it for the entire night. The both of you moved with fairly sluggish movements, drained from the day you had just had - Neteyam had been strenuously teaching the younger hunter’s, a task that should’ve been easy but had turned out to be more difficult than he could’ve imagined, whilst you had been with the children of the clan, spending your time teaching and playing with them.

After the day the two of you had, nothing could stop you from falling straight into your mat.

With everything finally where it needed to be, your tent tidy and ready for its own rest, you exchanged a brief look with your mate, your tired expressions speaking for themselves. Huffing with exhaustion, you slowly made your way over to the mat, flopping down until your stomach was flat against the material and your face was smushed down.

You heard a faint chuckle from somewhere above you, your mate no doubt finding your actions amusing and dramatic. The next thing you feel is Neteyam’s stomach pressed firmly against your back, his warmth radiating into your system and making you bask in the comfort he’s offering. A smile makes its way onto your lips, sighing in relief at finally being able to succumb to your dreams.

Now settled in place, you feel content enough to let your dreams take you away to another place, a world where everything is perfect and euphoric... not entirely far off from your life you experience now. Though, your dreams are slowly but surely starting to add new, smaller additions into them alongside yourself and Neteyam.

Your mate curls himself somehow impossibly closer into your figure, his tail wrapping around your thigh like it always does, the end tapping against your skin in its contented excitement . His breath fans against your neck from where his face is squished, the sensation having tingles sent down your spine. “I love you,” he mumbles, words almost inaudible if it wasn’t for the fact you were expecting such a declaration of love.

It’s some sort of routine the two of you had picked up back after you had first mated, the both of you always making sure to say I love you before falling asleep. It wasn’t anything you had planned, it was just something that happened naturally, and now, you were stuck in such a pattern.

Well, stuck was probably the wrong way to describe it, because it wasn’t like you were annoyed by it. Except tonight, you were simply too drained. The day had taken a complete toll on you, practically knocking you out as soon as your head hit the floor, so your only response to your mate was an incoherent mumble that you hoped sounded a little like the words you meant.

You’re too tired to tell, but unknown to you, Neteyam is suddenly alert, wide awake. His eyes had shot open, furrowed in confusion whilst his tail subconsciously loosened its hold from your thigh. Completely puzzled by the entire situation, he’s unsure as to why you hadn’t said it back. You always said I love you back to him before falling asleep, a part of his days he arguably looked forward to the most, because there was nothing more thrilling, more special to him, than hearing his mate declare her love to him.

It wasn’t as though he needed the confirmation that you loved him - he saw the way you looked at him; the way you acted around him; the way you kissed him; the way you spent your nights with him. No, hearing you say I love you was more of a euphoric feeling he wanted to drown in for the rest of his life, and the next.

Not hearing you say the words after all this time since you’d been mated felt off. Neteyam props himself up on his elbows, slowly beginning to lean himself over your worn out figure, eyes raking over your features as you attempt to sleep. His mind screams how you look so beautiful even when you’re not trying to, but it’s too late now - he’s overthinking.

“Yawne (beloved)...” he starts, words just a hushed whisper, hesitant. He doesn’t want to wake you from you peaceful slumber you’ve so willingly fallen into, but he can’t seem to help himself. With a gruntled hum from you as his answer, his brows furrow, carrying on and leaning just slightly closer to your face. “You didn’t say it back...”

You hum again, your mind too foggy and out of it to really understand what your mate is saying from on top of you. All you can sense is that his warmth once radiating into you has slightly started to diminish, and it has you craving for the feeling once more. Instead, you snuggle for face in closer to the mat, your body squeezing against the floor for comfort.

Neteyam needs more than a hum. “Y/n, you didn’t say it back.” This time, his voice is a little louder, wanting you to grasp every word he’s saying, and why he’s saying them. He needs you say it back. Leaning all his weight on one elbow now, he brings his other hand up to rest against your arm, shaking it gently to garner your entire attention.

He can’t sleep without you doing this for him.

Grumbling, slowly starting to come to and bear your surroundings, you turn around, now lying on your back. Your squint your eyes up at him, the lids desperately wishing to close but you will them to open. His face is only inches from your own, eyes repeatedly fleeting from looking into each of yours, a mix of worry and confusion evident. “What?” Your voice is hoarse already from having only fallen slightly asleep for just a few moments, hand rubbing your face tiredly. “Didn’t say what back?”

He’s quick with his words, desperate almost. “I love you.” Once the truth is out in the open, you realise your previous mistake of having not said the words that are so precious to your mate. A small sigh escapes your lips, eyes closing for a moment, licking your lips in contemplation. You knew it was routine for the two of you, you just hadn’t realised it meant this much to him. However, before you can even begin uttering the words he’s aching for, he takes notice of your expression, and mistakenly takes it for something else, eyes now pooling with plead for you to see his reasons. “You always say it back. What if something happens and you never said it back? I know you love me - I mean, we’re mates - but it’s ritual for us. You have to say I love you back. I need to know that you love me-”

Another sigh falls from your lips, this one accompanied by a tired chuckle from your mate’s antics. Instantly noticing that he’s isn’t about to stop in his ramblings any time soon, you reach your hand up to press it gently against his cheek. At the feeling of you close to him, his words trail off, eyes gazing down into your own. “Neteyam,” your words are softer than before, now that you know his problem. “Nothing is going to happen to either of us - we’re just going to sleep.”

In your attempt to reassure him, you can see that it does something within his system, but it’s still obvious he’s waiting for more. A pout forms on his lips when you don’t say what he wants you to, and despite wanting absolutely nothing more than to fall back asleep and not wake up until the sun was beginning to rise, you can’t help but take notice of how adorable he looks above you. Your hand snakes its way from his cheek to the back of his neck, a smile full of pure adoration caressing your features as you lean yourself higher to kiss his childish emotions away. Pulling back, you keep your lips close to his, whispering against them. “I love you, ma’teyam.”

You drop back down against the mat, keeping your eyes trained on his as he starts to smile wildly now that he’s heard you say it. Feeling your heart fluttering within your chest at the sight above you, you feel content that he can calmly fall asleep beside you now.

But, Neteyam clearly had other ideas, for you can still feel his lingering presence as he doesn’t move. When you open your eyes again, expecting to find him saying something else, you only find him smiling dumbly down at you, seemingly lost within his own world.

“What-?” You begin to question, brows furrowing as you think what he could possibly want now, when you’re suddenly cut off by an array of kisses pressed forcefully all over your features. Neteyam doesn’t pause for breath, continuously kissing one side of your face to the other - from your forehead, to your cheeks, to your nose, to your chin, everywhere but where you want him to be the most.

His hands now holding their grip against your waist, thumbs pressing light indentations within your skin, giggles tumble from your lips at the overload of sudden sensations. He doesn’t cease, though - if anything, it seems to spur him on, too caught up in the love he wishes to scream out for the world to hear. You reach your hands out to lay them against his back, repeatedly tapping for him to move. “Neteyam, stop!” You yell as quietly as you can, small laughs lingering within your words, loving the attention he has for you.

Not once does he stop, but he does slow down. This time, his lips linger against your temple, breathing his words into your skin, making sure they truly find their way home. “Ewya, I love you so much.”

If you didn’t concentrate enough, you were sure your eyes would spill over with tears. It’s painfully obvious how much he means those words, just from the seriousness in his voice, and when he pulls away, face inches above your own as your noses rub against one another, his eyes speak more than words ever could.

Everyday, you thank your lucky stars that Ewya had chosen Neteyam for you, not knowing what you’d do without him by your side, even when he woke you up simply because you forgot to tell him you loved him - a fact the entire clan already knew.

Catching your breath, a giddy smile upon your lips, you push a fallen braid back behind his ear so you can have the view of his entirety. So beautiful, you thought. “Nga yawne lu oer (I love you).” This time, you bring him down to you, smashing your lips together in an intimate, clashing kiss.

Now, you know to not forget the words next time. Although, if it always ended up like this, whose to say you wouldn’t purposefully forget?

taglist ;

@bakugouswaif @andraga12 @draiochtwrites @teyums @neteyamslovrr @tinkerbelle05

#𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐑’s work ── ✎#neteyam #neteyam sully #avatar #avatar 2 #neteyam fluff #neteyam smut #neteyam x reader #neteyam sully x reader #neteyam x you #neteyam sully x you #neteyam x female reader #neteyam x fem reader

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vixensdungeon · 5 months ago

Text

You've probably asked yourself

What are psychology mechanics in tabletop roleplaying games?

Or maybe you haven't, because that's a term used by like two people because it was made up by me. But others have come up with it before me! Warhammer, for example, uses "psychology" to mean effects like Hatred and Stupidity that modify the behavior of units on the battlefield. And that's thesame basic concept we're talking about.

Psychology is a game mechanic that represents a character's inner life and modifies their behavior. Some would call such a thing a "roleplaying mechanic," but those people are silly with a limited idea of what roleplaying is.

Psychology mechanics fall broadly into three categories, or three C’s. They are:

enCourage: if you do X I’ll give you a little treat Coerce: do X or suffer the consequences Compel: you do X

Encouraging mechanics seem the most in vogue in modern design, though I think the other two have their place. (I briefly considered naming the first one Consent but that wouldn't reflect how the mechanic acts upon the character, and in truth the player consents to all three by playing a game with such mechanics in it)

One game I think is particularly famous for its psychology rules, that being Call of Cthulhu with its Sanity mechanic, and I think King Arthur Pendragon deserves a nod for its passions and such, but we’re going to talk about a different one. Paradigm shifting in its time, seen as traditional these days, it’s Vampire: The Masquerade, the cool game for sexy goths!

To help us delve into the World of Darkness, we’ll employ the guidance of Malcolm Fisher, a Lick currently operating somewhere in England. Say hi, Malcolm!

I knew the vixen was trouble the moment she walked into my life, with an air of mystery and danger, and thighs that-

Ahem, yes, thank you. I think we don’t need to hear from Malcolm anymore, wouldn’t you agree? Instead we’ll use his character sheet to explore the various psychology mechanics in Vampire.

Vampire 5th Edition doesn't actually have an example of encouraging mechanics that I can remember (correct me if I'm wrong), so we'll briefly dip into its predecessors for that. Malcolm has two archetypes, a Demeanor and a Nature. In his case both match: Enigma. Whenever Malcolm acts in accordance to his Nature, in this case by perplexing other characters through actions that turn out to make sense in hindsight, he regains spent Willpower. This encourages Malcolm to act a certain way.

V5's compulsions are, despite the name, a coercive mechanic according to the terminology I made up. When Malcolm suffers a bestial failure on a roll, he might suffer from a compulsion. We'll assume that in this case it's not the one specific to his Clan, Malkavian, but rather one of the generic ones: Paranoia (still appropriate for him). Any action not taken to disengage from any perceived threat suffers a penalty. This coerces Malcolm to act a certain way by punishing him for doing otherwise.

Finally we have the big one, Frenzy. This prevents a player from saying something to the effect of "I would simply not flee in terror from fire." I'm terribly sorry but that's not for you to decide. Unless one decides to ride the wave and not resist the frenzy, the Storyteller takes control of the character. Seeing a large bonfire after a particularly draining investigation, Malcolm fails his Willpower roll and falls into a terror frenzy. He will flee from the fire in the most expedient manner, whether the player wanted to or not. This compels Malcolm to act in a certain way, because he has no other choice.

And there you have it. That's the general gist of psychology mechanics.

#ttrpg #5e

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darknight3904 · 10 months ago

Text

The Length of a Life

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴏᴊᴏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ 20ꜱ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ

ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴛʜᴇᴏʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱɪɴᴄᴇ ɢᴏᴊᴏ ᴀᴅᴏᴘᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴇɢᴜᴍɪ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛꜱᴜᴍɪᴋɪ ʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ɢɪʀʟʏ ꜱᴛᴜꜰꜰ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ 2010ꜱ. ɪɴ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡᴏʀᴅꜱ, ɢᴏᴊᴏ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴅɪʀᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ꜱᴡɪꜰᴛɪᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡꜱ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴅᴜᴄᴛ ᴛᴀᴘᴇ ᴡᴀʟʟᴇᴛꜱ.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤: ᴄᴜʀꜱɪɴɢ. ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ/ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ. ꜱʟᴜᴛ ꜱʜᴀᴍɪɴɢ. ɴᴀᴏʏᴀ ᴢᴇɴɪɴ (ʜᴇ ɪꜱ ɢʀᴏꜱꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴇᴇᴅꜱ ᴀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ)

ɢᴏᴊᴏ x ᴢᴇɴɪɴ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: ᴏᴠᴇʀ 5ᴋ (ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ)

ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴘᴀʀᴛ / ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ /ᴍʏ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

July 2013 (Gojo: 23 You:22)

"Satoru, did you forget the sunscreen?" You groan

"What? No! I swore I packed it in that little hidden pocket inside the green bag!"

"Well, it's not here," You sigh passing the bag to your boyfriend to check for himself

"I could've sworn I put it in here!" Gojo whines

"You probably left it on the kitchen counter." Megumi says

"I bet he did. He's always leaving the important things there." You say

"So you remembered the CD player but not the sunscreen?" Tsumiki asked with a light giggle.

Gojo rolls his eyes in annoyance. Not only were the two preteens he was stuck watching sassing him but so were you.

"Great, now we can listen to One Direction while our skin burns," Megumi says

"One Direction is amazing! Zayn is so awesome!" Tsumiiki gushes as she pulls one of her CDs from the big bag that was supposed to have the sunscreen in it.

"I'm more of a Harry girl myself." You chime in

"Excuse me, could you not talk about another man in my presence?!" Gojo gasps, kicking a bit of sand towards you.

"I'll talk about whatever man I want to since mine forgot one of the most important things you need for a day at the beach." You say, pointing an accusing finger at Gojo.

"I'm your man?!" Gojo gasps wrapping his arms around you "Finally you acknowledge my presence, Senpai!"

"Stop that." You say trying to wiggle away, embarrassed as other beachgoers are staring at your loud-mouthed boyfriend. "You're embarrassing us and I'm a year younger than you, idiot."

"Never! Tsumiki, play What Makes You Beautiful! I'm going to serenade all of you!" Gojo requests as he turns his head to place a wet kiss to your cheek.

"Tsumiki don't do it!" Megumi begs "Last time he sang One Direction my ears almost fell off!"

"Then I won't sing One Direction...Tsumiki put Taylor Swift on! I'll sing You Belong with me, instead!"

"No!"

November 2013 (Gojo: 23 You:23)

"You're sure about this? She can't even see curses, let alone use a technique." Gojo reminds you as he drives.

"I'm sure. I hear she's strong in other ways. Besides you're Megumi's benefactor, I think I need a kid to look after as well." You say

"I just fund him. You do all the hard work." Gojo says

"Combing hair, wiping noses, and helping with homework isn't that hard, Satoru." You laugh

"Sure it is, the amount of boogers he and Tsumiki produce is disgusting," Gojo says, carefully parking the car

"Give me a call or a text if something goes wrong. I'll be waiting here." He says

"I think I should be saying that to you. You're the Gojo who just drove onto the Zenin estate like you own the place." You say

"True. I'll let you know if I become a damsel in distress." Gojo grins

His words are ridiculous but you do hope he contacts you if something goes wrong. Not because he couldn't defend himself but you didn't want him wiping the entire clan off the map, even if it would be for the best.

Hushed whispers follow you as you make your way toward your destination. Perhaps it's due to your engagement to Naoya. You can't imagine that the news of you and Satoru was out. After all, you had only told people you were both close with.

You're welcomed by the woman you can only presume is the twins' mother.

"And is this Maki?" You ask pointing to the little girl who peers around the corner of the doorframe.

"Yes, it is. But I'm sure you're more interested in Mai. She's the one who has a technique. I'll go get her for you." She says

"That won't be necessary. Let me have some time with Maki. I'll see Mai later." You say

She looks at you like you're insane but motions for her daughter to enter anyway before leaving the room. Her respect must only come because of her fear of Naoya's wrath. It hurt that so many people in the clan believed that you and Naoya were close. That you were only worthy of a bit of respect because Naoya might get upset.

Imagine if they found out what you and Satoru had done last night. You'd surely lose all respect then.

"Maki right?" You smile, hoping you're not coming off as intimidating to her, "Please sit down."

Maki wordlessly obeys you but you can tell she's trying to figure you out. The wheels are turning in her little brain.

"You know who I am right?" You ask

"You're Naoya-san's fiancee. My mothers talked about you before, and said you're an honored woman to be chosen for him." She spouts like the words have been perfectly laid into her mind, "She said you're the perfect example of what a woman in the clan should be. You're well-mannered and respectable."

Is that seriously what's been spread around the clan about you? Nothing else? Nothing about your technique or the fact that you're a special-grade sorcerer?

"Oh...that's wonderful she thinks so highly of me. I'll have to thank her later on." You awkwardly say.

If Maki doesn't know anything about who you really are as a sorcerer, this will probably take more effort than you initially planned.

"I don't really buy all that though. It seems like a bunch of scripted bullshit. Everyone around here buys into it though, even my sister." Maki says suddenly

Oh? What a surprising twelve-year-old girl Maki Zenin is turning out to be.

"I know you're a special-grade sorcerer. I also know you've kicked a bunch of curse's asses. " Maki grins

Good to see your reputation proceeded its self.

"What are you a fan?" You laugh, suddenly at ease with the girl

"Yeah!" Maki exclaims, suddenly standing up.

Her face gets red and she immediately gets back in her seat.

"I mean...no. I just hear some people talking sometimes." She lies, looking at the wall behind you.

"It's alright. I don't mind. It's nice to be praised, everyone likes to hear words of affirmation from time to time. It's what makes us human." You say

Maki slowly nods in agreement.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here talking to you when Mai is the one with the cursed technique." You say, "The truth is, Mai doesn't really interest me. I am, however, interested in you."

"Me? Why? I can't even see curses." She grumbles

"That doesn't matter to me. You have potential to be amazing. Have you ever heard of Toji Zenin?" You ask

Maki shakes her head, figures, no one would pass on that bastard's legacy. Nabito must be content with Toji's vanishing after his death a few years ago. Too bad he couldn't get his hands on Megumi.

"He was just like you. He couldn't see curses and yet he became known as the sorcerer killer. Toji was immensely powerful and I think that with time you could be the same way." You smile, the man might've been a total pain in the ass but there was no denying he had been strong.

"But what about Mai? Wouldn't she be the better choice?" Maki asks

Cute. Thinking of her sister.

"No, she won't be able to get as good as you." You honestly say

Maki doesn't like that and rolls her eyes at you.

"Look, there's ways to become great. I brought one with me today. I'll even give it to you know but only if you agree to becoming a sorcerer." You say

"Fine. I've been wanting to show my family they're wrong about me anyway." She agrees

"Good, now, here's how all this will work...In a few years, you'll enroll at Jujutsu High, I'll be your benefactor so you're going to have to work pretty hard. And while you're there you'll become stronger than everyone else." You explain, hoping your over-the-top words will inspire her.

Maki follows you to the car where you can hear California Girls by Katy Perry blasting even with the windows closed. Satoru is going to end up deaf one day.

"Oh right...the gift." You say pulling a small case from your purse

Maki opens it slowly and is obviously disappointed when it's a pair of glasses.

"Um, I can see just fine." She mumbles

"These are special glasses. They let you see curses. Next time you're out, give em' a try. I'm sure they won't disappoint."

You give the girl a gentle pat on her shoulder before beginning to walk towards the car.

"Hey, wait!" Maki calls

You turn to face the young girl you just placed your hopes on.

"Thank you!" Maki smiles

Maki watches as you get into the car and say something to the person at the wheel. It looks like the two of you are laughing as they reverse. Then, just as the car passes her, she locks eyes with blue eyes covered by dark glasses. A white tuft of hair catches her eye and then you're both gone.

Were you in a car with Satoru Gojo?

October 2014 (Gojo: 24 You:23)

"I mean it. After we both turn 28 I expect us to be married." Naoya says, "After all, I've done you a favor not spreading your relationship with Gojo everywhere. You can thank your little project for the news reaching me."

Maki. You didn't blame the girl for telling someone. You probably would've done the same thing if you were in her shoes. It was only a matter of time until he found out anyway.

"You don't even want to marry me, why the rush?" You ask boldly,

You've been spending too much time with Satoru and now you're mouthing off in front of Naoya.

"My father wanted us to be married already at 25." He explains, ignoring your rudeness "You're right, I don't want your ugly cunt anywhere near me. Why do you think I pushed for 28?"

His words are harsh and hurtful but you internally thank him for pushing the marriage off. It gave you more time to try and figure out what you'll tell Satoru.

"Better get your affairs in order, future wife. I have a feeling a certain Six Eyes user won't be happy about you leaving him one day." Naoya laughs "He'll certainly miss you warming his bed. He'll find another though, you seem to be rather forgettable, with that plain face of yours."

"Shut the fuck up, Naoya."

Shit. You should not have said that.

Instead of anger or fists, you're met with amused laughter from the man who represents everything you've been running from your whole life.

"Such a temper. I'll have fun getting that out of you once we're married. Until then, feel free to live as Satoru Gojo's glorified slut. I'll remind you of your real place in a few years." Naoya says, leaving you speechless.

The Tatami door of his father's expensive home slides shut behind him and you swear the anger inside you has never burned hotter.

"He said what?!" Gojo yells "Where the hell does this bastard live again? I'm going to rip his teeth out of his skull!"

"Satoru, be quiet! The kids have school tomorrow!" You try to calm him down.

You had come home expecting him to be in bed but now here you were spilling details about what Naoya did this time.

"There's nothing you can do about it now, what's been said is said." You say

"That doesn't mean I can't go over to his house and blow his ass up!" Gojo declares

"Just let it go, 'toru. I'm tired and I want to take a hot bath and go to sleep. I just wanna forget about it for now." You sigh

Gojo looks at you and he can see how worn out you are. From dealing with curses, Naoya's disgusting ass, Megumi, and Tsumiki, your energy is completely gone. For your sake, he'll drop it. Just for now though.

"Alright. But only if I get to sit on the floor and talk to you while you soak." Gojo says

"Fine...but it better not be about anything stupid like Digimon." You warn

"I was just gonna talk about how Tsumiki taught me how to make a Duct Tape wallet today." He says picking you up off the couch bridal style and carrying you to the bathroom, "For the record, Digimon is awesome."

"What wallet?" You ask as you begin shedding your dirty clothes

"Look," Gojo says pulling a bright pink Duct Tape wallet out, "Pretty cool right? She showed me all the steps and helped me when I messed up."

"Satoru it doesn't look very secure." You laugh "But yes, it's very nice. It's the perfect color for you."

"Right? Also, it's perfectly secure," Gojo says

He's eating his words a moment later though when his credit card slips out of the little pocket it was nestled in and right into the bathtub that was slowly filling with water.

"Alright, maybe it's not the most secure."

February 2015 (Gojo: 25 You:24)

"Trust me, he's totally gonna love it," Shoko assures you

"I dunno...he's been so stressed lately. The higher-ups have been breathing down his neck and he's been going through some training so he can teach at the school next year." You say.

"All the more reason to buy the dress. Every guy likes a little eye candy every once in a while. Nanami and I will even watch Megumi and Tsumiki for the night. That way you can really get into it!" Shoko grins

Your face heats up as you hand your card to the cashier. Why were you friends with her again?

"Could you please not say stuff like that in front of others, you're embarrassing me." You groan, avoiding the cashier's eyes as he smirks at you.

"Oh please, that's why we're friends," Shoko smiles, "So what time should I pick the kids up? Nanami and I will make sure they eat all their vegetables and go to bed early."

You try to think of the last time you and Satoru had a moment alone. Most nights were whirlwinds of chaos between cooking dinner, helping with homework, and then throwing in exorcising a curse or two...

"Four thirty...Satoru usually gets home at six. I want some time to do my hair nicely." You relent

"Perfect!"

Gojo can't wait to get home. He swears all his problems will be solved the moment he sees you. Today, he's exercised three special grades, sat in a boring meeting, and then had to listen to Yaga blab for hours about how important the next generation is. He already knew that...why else would he be personally training Megumi?

A hot shower and a big meal are on his mind as he fumbles with his keys to open the door. He can smell whatever you're cooking up behind the door and he hopes it's something with noodles.

"Satoru!"

Your sweet voice is music to his ears as you call to him from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm home." He sighs, removing the white bandages he's been using for his eyes. Perhaps he should go back to glasses.

All thoughts of passing out in bed leave his mind once he sees you. A little black dress hugs your figure as you stir at whatever's in the frying pan on the stove.

"Well, well... what's this?" He smiles

"How was your day?" You ask coyly like you're not all dressed up for him.

"Terrible, until I came home to all this." He honestly says, crossing the room to wrap his arms around you from behind.

"I'm making Sukiyaki." You say, accepting his barrage of kisses that he trails all over your neck.

"And it smells amazing... I'm more interested in this though..." He says slightly pulling the bottom up the dress up your thighs.

"Ah, Shoko said you'd like a bit of eye candy in your life." You smile

"Well, she was right." Gojo laughs, pressing a wet kiss to your ear.

"Forget the Sukiyaki, let's go upstairs. I think our bedroom is calling our names." He whispers.

"I'm in the middle of cooking, 'toru." You say, knowing he's going to win this one.

"We can order a pizza." He says, "I'll even get one with pepperoni on it for you."

Before you can get another word of protest out, he's switching off the stove and carrying you up the steps.

"Eye candy indeed." He laughs as he gently tosses you on the bed, "I'm so glad my meal is this delicious looking."

"Satoru!"

It's going to be a long night, it's a good thing Megumi and Tsumiki are gone.

September 2016 (Gojo: 26 You:25)

"Shut up Megumi!"

Tsumiki's room door slamming is loud enough to rattle the entire house.

"Not again..." Gojo groans from his spot on the couch.

Today was his first day off in months, he wished you were here and snuggled into the couch with him but instead, you were off on some mission with Nanami and that kid he was training, Ino was it?

Gojo wished you were here so you could deal with whatever the Fushiguro siblings were fighting about now. You had always been better at diffusing the situation that he was. After all, he'd often end up instigating more problems since Megumi was so funny-looking when he got mad.

"What's going on now?" Gojo asked the dark-haired boy

"Nothing. I just told her that her hair was weird looking today. Where is-"

"She's out on a mission with Nanamin. I'll be handling dinner tonight so go start your homework and apologize. " Gojo said

"You sure you can handle that without burning the place down?" Megumi asked

"Of course I can! I'm the strongest sorcerer alive...I can handle a little dinner."

"Goodnight, Zenin-san!" Ino called out the window as the car drove away

He really was a lovely boy, strong too. Nanami had trained him well. The walk up the sidewalk to your shared home with Gojo and the kids was your last sliver of peace though as you could already hear yelling.

What horrors awaited you on the other side of this door?

"Megumi would it kill you to help out?"

"Yeah probably. That pot is gonna overflow."

Your feet quickly carry you to the kitchen where Satoru is standing amongst...well you're not really sure what he's trying to cook.

"What's going on?" You ask

"You're home!" Gojo called excitedly, "How's Nanamin?"

"He's great. What's all this?" You ask gesturing to a pan that's been burned so bad its normally white bottom is black with charred food.

"He's trying to make dinner. He's been trying for almost two hours." Megumi says

"Satoru you're 26, can't you cook anything?" You ask as you pull your hair up, ready to take the spoon away from him

"I can cook. " He defends

"Frozen chicken nuggets don't count." You laugh

"Hey!"

Gojo watches as you toss what he was working on, to be frank, he's not sure what he was trying to make at this point. It had started as pork katsu and then evolved into a disaster.

"What's wrong now?" You ask as you rummage through the fridge.

"I wanted to have a nice meal ready for when we got back from your mission. Like you do for me." Gojo says

You can hear the pout in your boyfriend's words.

"It's alright, Satoru. It's the thought that counts." You assure him

"Next time you go away, I'm going to make the best dinner ever." He declares, resting his chin on your shoulder as you fill a pot up with water.

"Well, Nanami and I have orders for Friday...so I'd get learning, Satoru." You smile.

"Perfect. Friday night, my dinner will be even better than yours. I'm going to go pick out a recipe on my laptop." He declares marching off to who knows where.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Megumi." You say, the boy rarely asked questions, so you were always excited to answer them when he did.

"Can you get someone else to cover your mission on Friday? I think if you leave him alone with the kitchen again he might blow us all up."

2017 (Gojo: 27 You:26)

June

"So he's cursed?" You ask as you skin the papers Gojo just handed you.

"Yup. The curse comes from his childhood friend, Rika." He explains "She's super powerful, I hope she doesn't try to squash me tomorrow when I meet with him."

You let out an ugly snort of laughter.

"Hey don't be mean, I'm being serious." Gojo smiles

"I'm sure you are, Satoru. and I know you're going to have no trouble handling Yuta Okkotsu tomorrow." You say

Gojo lets out a soft hum of acknowledgment.

"I can't help but think something is coming." He says

"Like what?" You ask

"I'm not sure." He says

"Then why'd you bring it up?"

"Do you ever stop to think that your words might come off as rude to others?"

"No, not really."

September

"Maki is doing really well for someone with no cursed energy. I'd hate to go against her in just hand-to-hand combat." You say

"Are you saying you're weaker than a 15-year-old girl?" Gojo teases

"I'll kill you." You threaten

Gojo just laughs and sits directly next to you on the couch you were occupying.

"Very well, I'll see if I can change your attitude tonight then. After all, it usually ends with 'More 'toru! Ah! Right there!'" Gojo laughs

You're going to cut him in half, seriously why does he say these things?

"Does it ever occur to you that behavior like that in public is inappropriate and embarrassing for not just her, but you as well?" Nanami chimed in

"Well, I think it's funny, Nanamin."

October

"Happy Halloween, Zenin-san!" Yuta smiles

"Happy Halloween, Okkotsu. Do you and the other first years have anything fun planned?" You ask as you walk beside the boy

"Panda said that Inumaki likes to use his cursed technique on drunk people to get them to do crazy things," Yuta says

Now that, you weren't expecting. Inumaki definitely wasn't supposed to do that but it certainly sounded funny.

"Oh wait! I wasn't supposed to say anything about that!" Yuta scrambles

"It's alright, your secrets safe with me. I went to school here with Gojo so I've seen my fair share of craziness." You laugh

"Thanks, Zenin-san," Yuta says

"What's Maki up to tonight?" You ask

"Oh uh, I think she said she was just gonna stay in her dorm room tonight. Something about being too grown up for Halloween." Yuta says

"Makiiii, I know you're in there, Yuta can't keep a secret to save his life!" You sing as you knock on the girl's door.

"That idiot."

You smile as you hear her rummaging around in her room before the door swings open.

"What is it?" She asks

"Let's go spar. I wanna see how well you're doing." You smile

"You're dropping your elbows too much, that's why you're losing to me." You advise as Maki falls to the floor again

"Or maybe I'm losing to you because you're a special-grade sorcerer who's 10 years my senior." She grumbles picking herself back up

"Pessimism won't get you anywhere." You say, easily dodging her next attack with her staff.

"I think you're spending too much time around that bandaged idiot. You're beginning to sound like him. " Maki says

You're starting to sound like Gojo? It can't possibly be...your worst nightmares are coming true!

Maki's wooden sparing staff makes a sharp cracking sound as it hits your face.

"Oh shit! I didn't think I'd actually hit you!" She exclaims, rushing to help you up.

"It's alright, I'm fine." You laugh

"You're laughing...I must've hit you too hard. I'll go find Ieiri-san to help you." Maki says, clearly concerned.

"No really, I'm fine. I'm just impressed that the clan's weakest link is now one of our strongest."

"If you're going to insult me like the rest of them-"

"I'm serious, Maki. You've grown stronger than anyone could have ever anticipated. As your fellow sorcerer and relative, I'm proud." You say rubbing your face, damn she hit hard.

"Whatever...thank you," Maki says avoiding your gaze

You smile knowingly. Getting praise was something that had always been hard for her even though she so badly deserved it.

"Can I ask you something?" Maki says

"Sure," You reply, patting the floor next to you so she sits.

"The stuff that most of our clan spreads about you...how much of it is true?"

"You're Naoya-san's fiancee. My mothers talked about you before and said you're an honored woman to be chosen for him. She said you're the perfect example of what a woman in the clan should be. You're well-mannered and respectable."

"Not much of it. I mean maybe at one point it was true. But now only the engagement is the true part of that stuff. Although I'm hoping to get rid of that one too." You say honestly

"I knew you didn't really like him," Maki said

"Oh really? Are you a relationship expert now?" You laugh

"No....but I figured since you're dating Gojo there's no way you could be into a freak like Naoya." She said

"You're right about that one." You smile, when did Maki get so perspective?

How grown up she's become since you first met her.

November

Tsumiki looks peaceful today. Her hair is freshly washed thanks to a nurse and you've spent nearly twenty minutes combing it to perfection.

"If you keep brushing she'll be bald when she wakes up," Megumi says

You sigh and place the comb back on the little nightstand.

"It's almost as if she's just napping." You observe

"Yeah...weird isn't it?" Megumi agrees

"I hope she wakes up soon. She's already missed so much. If you keep growing she won't even recognize you." You tease

Megumi lets out a grumble but doesn't pull away when you rest your head on his shoulder.

"I hope she's dreaming about something good." You sigh

"...Me too."

December

"Satoru! Long time no see!"

If you could go back in time and tell your 17-year-old self she'd one day be staring at Suguru Geto who was now a curse user, she would've laughed in your face.

And yet, it was happening right now. Geto, your former upperclassman and friend was declaring war and pledging to rid the world of all non-sorcerers.

"The Zenin clan's biggest failure...how interesting that she's being trained by one of their strongest. What's the point in taking in a monkey-like her anyway? She'll never be anything." Geto says

"Watch your mouth, Geto." You growl, "Or have you forgotten I'm a special grade as well?"

"I'd never." Geto grins finally turning to face you.

Geto's eyes lock on yours and Satoru steps in front of you.

"You can leave her and the students out of this, Suguru," Gojo says

His face is a stoic mask as you watch your boyfriend approach his best friend for the first time in 11 years.

"See you at the war!" Geto calls as he disappears into the clouds.

"Are you nervous?" Nanami asked

"What? No. Do I look nervous?" You ask

"You're fidgeting a lot." He points out "You only do that when you're nervous. Just like when we had a big test coming up back when we were in school."

Curse Kento Nanami and his observation skills.

"Hey guys!" Ino points at the sky to a barrage of curses flying overhead.

You have a feeling you should've stretched a bit more.

"Zenin-San!"

Ino is calling your name but where is he? There are two curses to your right, another to your left, and then there's that green one that's flying above you.

"Zenin-san behind you!"

You quickly turn around to see Ino chasing what looks to be an Okapi of some form. It must've escaped him.

"Got it!" You call

Your sword feels good in your hands. It's been a while since you've gotten to use Phantom to its fullest potential.

There are five curses in total. Two are closer together, and the other two are farther apart. The final is in motion and a student is hot on its heels.

The cursed technique, Phantom allows the user to create many versions (Phantoms) of themselves at once. The true body can be as far or as close to these duplicates as they please. The more duplicates that are created, the less control the original user has over them.

One, two, Your first Phantom cuts through the curses like butter

Three- this one's for your main body- that particular slash felt good, you're getting in the groove, now

Four, your Second Phantom is on it,

Five, nice and weak, perfect to kill

Done, they're dead now.

"Wow, Zenin-san. Have you gotten faster?" Ino asks once you're done killing the final one.

"I don't think so. But my duplicates are exceptionally good today. I think it's probably the healthy diet I've been consuming recently." You explain, calling your duplicates back into your self.

"Hey, stop chatting. There's more coming." Nanami scolds

"Yes, sir!" Ino salutes

Satoru's face is blank as he approaches you, Yuta by his side who seems to be thrilled to just be alive.

"Are you okay?" Gojo asks, his eyes scanning for any injuries

He looks distracted like something is weighing on him.

"Geto?" You ask, ignoring his prodding.

You wonder if he had slipped through Gojo's fingers again.

"He's gone. Yuta here gave him a nice ass kicking." Gojo smiles, patting the boy on his back.

He's gone? He couldn't possibly mean...

You look up at your boyfriend who hasn't bothered covering his eyes back up. There's a sadness behind them that you think only you'll notice as Yuta calls out to Maki.

"Gone?" You ask once the boy's out of earshot

"Mmhm...It's alright though. I'll get over it. " Gojo sighs, his gaze fixed on the sunset.

"It'll take time." You say, trying to get just a hint of emotion from the strongest sorcerer's unreadable face.

"I just hope he didn't hate me in his final moments," Gojo admits finally looking at you and you can finally see how devasted he is. Pretty blue eyes that are welling with tears pull on your heartstrings.

"Suguru could never hate you, Satoru. You're an irreplaceable force to everyone, even him. You'll miss him forever and so will he." You assure

"Maybe you're right... I just think that I should've spent more time living with him. We spent more time apart than together, I think I might regret that until I die." Gojo says, voice dripping in regret.

"I like to think that it's not the length of life that matters but the depth of it. It matters how we spend our time together, not how much time we spend together."

I threw the Maki and reader interactions in at the last minute...I hope they turned out okay.

Next Part

Series Masterlist / My Masterlist

Taglist:

@winonnaa @tartarsaucechi1de @dann-acalle @polarbvnny @bakedpotato12 @lysaray @starryparkrr

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xiao-come-home · 1 year ago

Text

Genshin + HSR men as dads;

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✰ Characters:

↳ Genshin: Ayato, Itto, Alhaitham, Kaveh, Zhongli, Xiao.

↳ HSR: Blade, Jing Yuan, Luocha.

✰ Words: 3,5k.

✰ SFW ; afab!reader, because pregnancy mentions. fluff.

Warnings: established relationship, the characters are reader's husbands, mentions of pregnancy, babies, ayato always ends up kinda horknee????? slight spoilers about blades past, not beta read THERES NO TIME FOR THAT

A/N: this is my first time writing for hsr and kaveh, but I tried my best </3 also I have work in 2h and I haven't slept yet. this is more important. pog also give me feedback if you like hsr pieces ;q;

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

Ayato Kamisato:

he's such a girl AND boy dad you can't convince me otherwise. i just can't get that out of my head: imagine just chilling with your husband, you two enjoying some tea or coffee, while watching your children happily yell and play outside; ayato plays with your palm slightly, switching between rubbing it with his fingers and interlocking it, giving you occasional glances and tiny smiles.

ayato's definitely a strict parent, but wants his children to feel freedom - he does not force them to practice something they don't like, but teaches them necessary stuff they need to know if they are to be the future of the Kamisato clan.

he DEFINITELY had a boy first. and his son DEFINITELY looks like a perfect mixture of you two - he has ayato's eyes and hair type, but your hair color and smile.

your daughter, on the other hand, is exactly like ayato's copy, except with your personality - and he's extremely whipped for her. his little girl wanted to practice a new hairstyle with multiple pink hair clips? oh well, looks like he goes like this to his important meeting.

though, your son is just as mischievous as his father, if not worse - has probably trolled Itto more than once by the shy age of just three. he's also definitely interested in ayato and ayaka's battle styles, like hello??? HOW DO YOU JUST DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT??? AND TURN INTO SNOW??????

even though some fights between his children happen, as it's a thing you can't avoid - the big brother is very protective of his little sister and would do anything to make her happy! even if it means princess tea time. it reminds ayato of his, though not as fortunate, childhood memories with ayaka before she grew up to be the strongest woman and best auntie we know.

ayato probably teases you about wanting a third one, so they look like you this time. "say, darling, how about we get another little one?" feeling his smile, ayato whispers into your ear, "think about it, love," he wraps his arms around your waist from behind, "you just look so perfect I can't resist you."

Arataki Itto:

i do nOT care, his child is just as hyper as him. they're his absolute best buddy, partners in crime, you name it. but there's a plot twist - thank god your child thinks more often than their father AND stops him sometimes.

listen. absolute boy dad. his son is his pride and joy,he bragged so much about his boy to the point that Raiden Shogun herself heard about him.

so, remember itto being severely allergic to beans as an oni? his son absolutely loves beans and could eat them with no side effects. but itto being itto, prepares him meals with beans and takes it as a challenge. he just might cry, or throw up at worst. but hey, everything for his little sunshine.

^^your son absolutely cheers when he's making him dinner and suffering like?? "go dad! you're so awesome!" "yummy!" and itto's screaming back with tears dripping down his cheeks, "yes, YES!! THE BEST COOK OF INAZUMA, ARATAKI ITTO!"

itto prides himself in creating the most perfect small person to ever exist. your son inherited itto's golden heart and your brains (thank god). he's truly a ball of sunshine, and possibly the happiest and polite boy in Inazuma. with a pair of red horns just like his dad, red streaks in his hair and markings, itto's pupils and your eye color.

hear me out: total best pals with ayato's son. they love playing board games and battle onikabuto with each other, and much to itto's delight, his son is usually the winner, but the boys always politely thank each other for the game and move on.

your son is actually such a smooth talker to ayato's daughter to the point that he considers giving them a blessing and suffering being in-laws with itto.

he's also (great)grandma oni's favorite child now... he loves baking, cooking and sewing with her, and showing her his favorite onikabuto that you and itto let him keep as a pet!

itto's actually VERY down to have a few more kiddos if your pregnancy went well. he'd love a little girl to spoil his long hair, or maybe two. and two more sons so he wouldn't be lonely..

that time itto caught ushi sound asleep with his ball of sunshine next to him was the day he'll never forget. with tears in his eyes, he covered them in a warm blanket and let them snooze for a little more before bedtime.

Alhaitham:

literally no one, not even one soul knew that alhaitham has a child until they saw him walking a three-year-old. and the said child is probably the most behaved child that has ever been born.

seriously, your son is probably the smartest child ever. alhaitham, despite some worries, did and still does very well as a father - he began teaching him to talk earlier, he also seemed to have taken a liking to some instruments when he got older. the scribe's little one also enjoys it when his dad reads with him! be it alhaitham's books or fantasy ones, they have a special routine just for reading.

your son absolutely looks up to his father. when he sees him drafting some documents, his eyes shine with curiosity and adoration. alhaitham, can't help but smile slightly when he isn't looking.

nahida promoted alhaitham as the Acting Grand Sage. he promoted her as his babysitter.

^^but in a more serious tone, I genuinely think Nahida would be somewhat interested in your child - not in a negative light in any way, but.. it does make her wonder how a small child could be so smart. though his son has a long way to go and grow up, each year he manages to surprise her.

when his son is too bothered by the attention of other people, alhaitham gives him his noise-canceling headphones; they're a bit too big on him, but he appreciates it anyway.

alhaitham makes sure your son remembers his late grandmother, despite having not met her. even if the scribe does not consider himself a very emotional person, he wants the memory of her to live on.

he encourages his child to make his own decisions, too - just like he had that choice as well; if his son wants to break the ice and become more outgoing - alhaitham will not stand in his way. he wants him to grow up as the person he truly wants to be.

he definitely explained some god-tier science to his toddler son while holding him in his arms, receiving only some confusing "blah blag bwwwug" in return, watching him bite his tiny hand in happiness. he continued.

if there's something that alhaitham shares with his son, it's his love for naps. sometimes you all sleep together, and when it's time to wake up - both of them whine and your son snuggles up to his dad, to which your husband responds by getting his arm over the little one and giving you a small chuckle with one eye open, shortly before falling back asleep.

kaveh is your child's godfather. no, it wasn't his choice.

after a bit of hesitation and a lot of thoughts, he wouldn't mind to have another one; genders don't matter to him by any means, but I see him with yet another son :)

Kaveh:

kaveh and his twins could rival itto and his son's enthusiasm - it's what kaveh wants his kids to always remember - he wants them to enjoy every single bit of life, even if it's something simple.

the famous architect has decided to work hard to provide for you and the baby when you told him about the pregnancy- or, rather, about his future children; some of his work truly shone and got him quite a bit of attention, and therefore - a bunch of well-paid commissions.

kaveh has fought his empathy many times and tried not to overly spend money, which resulted in him being able to create and build your house that you share together; each of the twins has their own room, decorated according to their tastes.

your children have great emotional intelligence, just like your husband; if there's ever any conflict, they rather talk about it, than pout for hours, similar with you two. kaveh teaches them to always be honest, especially to themselves. they're also talented, but in different ways - your daughter seems to be fascinated by the role of the architect as well, but your son, regardless of what he's doing - he always makes sure it's perfect and polished as much as possible.

you cannot tell me this man doesn't do some kind of weekly family time - kaveh loves his family to the bone and would risk his life to protect you and your children with no hesitation. he's very involved in his children's lives and wants to be considered as their friend as well, not just a father; kaveh wants to know what they are interested in the moment, who they had their last beef with and who their crush is. he just really wants to gossip with them lol.

contrary to what a lot of people think, the twins and alhaitham's child(ren?) get along very well, and are aware they're just mirrors of each other. they can't however, understand how they managed to live together under one roof for so long... they never complain if they visit uncle alhaitham though, as he lets them search through his library so they can find out more about their interests.

in revenge, alhaitham is the godfather of the twins, just so you know.

Zhongli:

not only did he fall in love with you, but after hearing the cry of his little girl after she took her first-ever breath - zhongli fell in love once again.

he's so, so overprotective of his baby, regardless of her age. he's swooned by her - how tiny her fingers are compared to his when she finally grips them for the first time, how every month she looks even prettier than last one - he's always by her side, making sure she's the happiest she could possibly be.

since he has to sleep only once for a few days, he's willing to spend every second with her, especially after birth - zhongli also wants you to rest as much as you can, so you can both create memories together.

he most certainly takes her on a lot of walks with you when she gets older; not only around liyue harbor, but places dear to him and her only, if they discover one.

when your daughter grows up and begins to show interest in zhongli's hobbies, he smiles at her gently and sits her in his lap, only to start explaining it and feeding her curiosity; sometimes he has to stop himself for a moment to admire her twinkling eyes.

oh he DEFINITELY does her hair every morning. he's practiced on you before, having learned many new hairstyles to later on perform on your daughter; he carefully strokes her hazel hair with golden tips with a brush, feeling as he's almost watching his own in a mirror. sometimes, he adorns her hair with his own hairpin.

xiao was definitely the first person to know about your daughter. knowing that archon blood runs in her veins, he's less worried about being around her, therefore always more willing to spend time with her. both grow from this interaction - the little one knows how to protect herself (or to call uncle xiao when she's in trouble), and xiao understands small humans just a bit better.

zhongli's thrilled to know what her favorites are - no matter if it's tea, food or fabric, he has to know! perhaps they share the same favorites?

with the help of kamera, he's now able to immortalize the sight of you and your daughter. each birthday, he takes a picture and cherishes the young years of your baby, knowing they won't last long; erosion be damned, as long as he has the pictures - he'll always remember.

Xiao:

xiao was clueless. clueless and frightened. he wasn't supposed to have a child - with a mortal on top; albeit he tries to stay calm for your and baby's sake, he wants both of you to heal well.

it took quite a bit of time for xiao to fully embrace that he's a parent - and he adapted very well, having you by his side; the only worry that hasn't gone away is the thought of harming his daughter with his karmic debt.

but so far, the little one hasn't shown any signs of it, which makes xiao more than happy. she's yet another reason to warm his cold heart up, which he always compares to being engulfed by comfy scarf in the winter.

he automatically turns his head around whenever he hears her tiny little "tap taps" with her feet; not only does he find it adorable, but he knows she once again managed to lose her slippers and socks.

listen. she inherited the same diamond mark on her forehead - and he finally understands why you always insisted you liked kissing it for no reason.

he always. ALWAYS shares his almond tofu with his baby girl.. and she always makes a mess while eating it.. but it's worth it.

your daughter seemed to have taken a liking to watching finches from a distance; they always look for a nice spot in liyue plains, make a small picnic and feed the leftover bread to the birds. she finds them so adorable to the point that xiao was looking for a finch plushie for WEEKS. that made her good friends with qiqi, whom she tries to remember as "the finch friend."

Zhongli never says it out loud, but thinks of Xiao as his son. therefore, he finally earned a title of a grandpa (though unofficial). he's very proud to see Xiao stand up in a role of not only a protector of liyue, but the ones closest to him.

yes, your daughter actually calls morax himself, grandpa. (he doesn't correct her. ever)

imagine xiao with baby carrier. now you don't have to imagine it anymore.

。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

Blade:

don't even say he isn't a girl dad. HE IS.

he thinks he's a mere blade whose humanity has been lost hundreds of years ago - it's nothing more but a delusion in his mind. if that was the truth, why would he stay near his daughter's crib and watch her sleep peacefully, flinching when he saw her stir in her sleep?

she's absolutely not afraid of his cold, death stare, in fact - she looks at him back, waiting him to break first. just imagine a tiny baby eating a rice waffle, blade next to her and he just.. stares at her. but she stares at him back and eats the waffle like it's nothing.

your baby girl inherited blade's hair- or rather, yingxing's pearly white hair. he often pats her head gently and goes his hand through her hair, his eyes holding a tinge of bitterness and anger; not at her, however, but at the one he's after.

since blade spends most of his time on various missions with the stellaron hunters, he tries to make it up to your daughter by giving her gifts; hairpins, stickers (ekhem, silver wolf), coloring books, you name it. he slowly warms up to the idea of spending more quality time with her - after so many missions and the thought of his family waiting for him at home, his heart longs to see you again.

sometimes.. you can catch a faint smile on his lips when he plays with her. it's a sad smile - a smile yearning for it to happen back in simpler times, before getting reduced to a weapon, or perhaps in another lifetime.

he never admits it out loud, but he gets used to the new routine a bit too comfortably. before, when it was just you - in contrast to now, when he barely closes the front door and hears his daughter sprinting to him and clinging to his leg; he picks her up and feels her squishing her cheek against his while grinning. "welcome home, daddy!" are the first words he hears - and hopes to hear until it's his time to leave.

at times, blade becomes genuinely terrified - terrified of no longer craving death and wanting to stay. it sends him in so much emotional turmoil he starts to shake; how else do you process this? after so many years of attempting to look for that one thing that finally stops your breath, only to get swarmed by the thoughts of not wanting to leave your daughter behind? what if something happens to her and there's no one to help her?

there's a thing that I can't stop thinking about: I want to leave it up to you how you name your daughter, but I feel like blade would truly like the name Mari.

he lets her decorate him with stickers. it was silver wolf's idea.

Jing Yuan:

he was blessed with a daughter, as well. and then again. and then... again.

he absolutely adores his three little girls, hellO?!?!? but if you think about it, it makes sense - almost all of them took after his personality.

there is a mandatory nap for him and his girls that no one can disturb, unless the planet is on fire or someone got you mad. they all snore quietly while cuddling their dad, one of them on his chest, second on his stomach, and last one has her face somewhere next to his hair. makes you wonder how they got in these places, considering they started sleeping beneath a pink blanket decorated with lions.

speaking of lions, mimi claims your daughters as her cubs and does not let jing yuan take them away. she loves being pet and getting small kisses from them, there's no way she gives him that amount of attention back.

jing yuan loves your daughters to death and spoils them with absolutely EVERYTHING. new plushie? will be here in a few hours. a damned rock that's stupidly expensive, holds no value but one of them liked it? he'll take five. hell, he might even buy them a dog or another lion and hope for easy consequences from you.

he's slightly scared of how fast his oldest got so good at chess.

the girls get very upset when someone mentions they have no older brother - after all, how could they forget about yanqing?

there is a high chance of him losing one of them at home. they're walking, he turns around and.. suddenly the math doesn't add up..

if it's princess tea time, it is princess tea time. fu xuan either becomes a princess or comes back later.

even though they sometimes bring a lot of trouble, jing yuan always tells them to appreciate you - when it's mother's day, they all sit down and prepare a gift for you, same for your birthday; your special days will never go unnoticed.

probably wouldn't mind having another child, but is fully prepared for another girl lol.

Luocha:

he fathered a beautiful boy and girl a few years after. none of them were planned, but very welcome by both of you.

he's.. such a doting father. he always takes care of his children well, shows them affection - especially as small babies, he can't get over their chubby cheeks and peppers them with kisses, so he could hear them giggle.

in general, I think he just. can't get enough of them when they're toddlers or even younger. he loves holding them. he loves seeing his tiny babies get curious when he prepares medicine. he loves when they extend their hand to him for seemingly no reason, so he has an opportunity to give it a kiss. ARGH

he's thrilled to share his medical knowledge with his kids, if one shows interest in it!

luocha's definitely the one to style his babies' hair, I mean have you seen this man's gorgeous locks???? he's also the one to cut it if they don't like it long.

this isn't really about the children themselves, but.. he's just so grateful that you brought them into this world?? and he makes sure you know it every day, be it through actions or words. when you gave birth to your daughter, he held her in her hands and approached you from behind, leaning down and planting a chaste kiss on your cheek. "love, she's so wonderful, thank you for your hard work. I can't stop looking at her, and I wouldn't have that opportunity if I didn't meet you. I've never been more happy to meet such a person like you."

just like kaveh, he wants to be very involved in their lives. he always asks them about their day in school, if they made any friends. luocha also tries to be stern and has only one expectation as a father - he wants them to have a good, comfortable life, in which he'll assist in achieving as long as they need.

your son is very, very talkative with his dad and they could converse for hours. like for real. he's so smart, luocha is more than happy to broad his horizons, even in topics of lesser importance.

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