#the chaos system my beloved

[robynator]

obsessed with how daud canonically chooses to forgive billie when she gives him the choice between killing her and showing her mercy after she betrays him

obsessed with how just a few months later, daud does the same, placing his life in the hands of a man whose life he completely ruined, asking to be spared and, against all odds, walking away from that encounter alive

obsessed with the alternatives you're given to those options as well

how, if you choose to kill billie in low chaos she helps you guide the blade. how she looks up at you and smiles as you stab her. how you hold her hand as she dies and don't let go even after she's gone

how, in high chaos, you just don't get that choice. her death is brutal, just like all the other deaths at your hand. like she said, what's one more body? but she's not just one more body. she's your second in command, your confidant, the closest thing you have to a daughter. you don't kill her with the same detachment you do for everyone else. you don't simply pull her onto your blade, you grab her by the throat as you stab her. it's brutal and it's personal, and that makes it so much worse

how, if you end brigmore witches with high chaos, corvo will kill you because you are not true to your word. you say that you feel remorse over jessamine's murder and yet your actions speak otherwise. you are not sincere in your words and while corvo may not know that, the game does. and it's telling you that that's the only way it could end. that if daud goes down that path he will not ever better his ways, nor will he be given the chance to. the only way daud can live is if he is actually committed to change

but despite all those options, in canon, daud gives billie the chance to leave and make a new life for herself. and corvo does the same for daud. and that is a parallel i think a lot about

[blue-mood-blue]

Danmei Faves Meet Chopped: The Thought Experiment

(with the caveat that I have not read All The Danmei so actually this is “a limited selection of danmei faves” meet chopped) (also as of their official translations, no spoilers pls)

The Contestants:

1) Xie Lian

Pros: There is not one single thing that you could put into a basket that this man would be intimidated by. Not a single thing. He will cook anything that you hand to him, and be delighted to do so. You cannot phase him with unlikely ingredients or conflicting flavor profiles, he has risen above these concerns. He is smiling at everything he pulls out of the basket and probably scaring the other contestants in the process.

Cons: He might kill someone. Not on purpose. He will be out after round one, guaranteed, once the medics standing by in case of cuts intervene for a severe case of “all the judges are now poisoned.” Filming will probably have to stop so ambulances can be called. The crew generously allows him to take his leftovers with him.

2) Wei Wuxian

Pros: He is going to pack so much flavor in every bite! Every single bite! This man knows and embraces spice, and no one will be able to tell him that his meal is bland or underseasoned! Chili oil all over the damn plate!

Cons: The flavor is pain, he’s used every pepper the pantry has, and if he makes it to round two it’s only because of Xie Lian accidentally unleashing the horrors in round one.

3) Mo Ran

Pros: He’s a good cook! He makes a variety of dishes, and he’s gotten used to adjusting recipes for specific preferences. He’s well-traveled so it’s likely he’s encountered many ingredients and had practice in a variety of conditions, which is good experience to have in this competition. He’s been doing his best to be on his best behavior, but heaven help anyone who monopolizes the fryer.

Cons: Again - he’s been on his best behavior, but that’s really for one person who is not currently in the kitchen. He also only really cooks for one person, who has particular tastes.

4) Luo Binghe

Pros: Also a good cook! He, too, has a range of dishes he knows how to prepare, with years of practice going back (probably) as far as his adoption in his early childhood. He is well-traveled as well, with such exciting and… unique locales such as Hell Dimension (aka Endless Abyss) where he probably had to make… questionable culinary choices, so he probably won’t be thrown by whatever’s in the basket.

Cons: There’s a non-zero chance that there’s blood in the food.

(Of this particular line-up, I think it would come down to Mo Ran vs. Binghe for the dessert round, which will be a close call - they both have experience with desserts, I imagine, but I think Mo Ran might have a slight advantage considering Chu Wanning’s sweet tooth. He’s made a lot of sweets and more often. Also, can Binghe lean on a “protagonist halo” when Mo Ran is the protagonist of his own story?)

(Assuming the final round doesn’t devolve into chaos and sabotage, which… is very, very possible.)

The Non-Contestants:

Hua Cheng: Could he do well on chopped? Almost certainly. But why would he? He is here to cheer on gege.

Lan Wangji: Would probably actually do better than Wei Wuxian, if he cooks the meal to Wei Wuxian’s taste - I feel like he would be a little more sparing with the spice. Otherwise, his food is probably too bland for the judges.

Chu Wanning: He has one good dish, and it’s [redacted]. He could last a round but after that he’s probably out. He will do his best. He will not look like he is panicking (he is panicking).

Shen Qingqiu: A millennial who choked to death on bad food and rage. He probably has limited kitchen skills, but beyond the powers of having a microwave? Who knows.

Bonus Round:

Li Yu: He would try so hard. He would put every bit of skill he had on the table. He does not have any skill to put on the table. Do not put a fish in his basket, do not do this to him.

Mu Tianchi: Probably wouldn’t even compete. He’s going to steal Li Yu’s food from the judges. How dare they.

Chang Geng: He could probably do well in the competition, if he could be convinced to compete, but he probably couldn’t. He is smiling very politely at the producer, who is feeling a chill down their spine and backing away slowly.

Gu Yun: Do not let this man in the kitchen, he will cause problems on purpose.

[kyle-thebanana]

Do we fw this??? (I dont think i even fw it)

[maxssillyangstyblog]

My parents everyone

[silence-between-seconds]

OH MY GOD

WOW IM JUST SO WOWED

this might be the cuntiest sirius you've ever drawn. good work<33

james potter’s OG Hoes™️ (some of them ain’t loyal)

close ups and the sketch bc i like it a lot:

[unforth]

Danmei and Baihe C Novels and Manhua Officially Licensed in English

Things are getting licensed fast enough that keeping a list like this up-to-date is basically impossible, but I saw someone asking in the tags so I figured I'd try. All titles are danmei unless otherwise noted (very little baihe is licensed so far). I've included Chinese titles, but sometimes publishers change the original titles so much that I can't track them down, apologies. I've hit the link limit on this post so I've had to remove NovelUpdate links, but they're still in the version of this post on Wordpress. Note that Taiwanese titles are not included on this list.

This is everything I know of as of December 11, 2024. There might be more. I tried. Resources used to compile this list: Danmeinews.com; this Carrd, last updated in March 2023; this other carrd last updated October 23 2024; list of danmei with official licenses on NovelUpdates; a similar list on Goodreads; danmei-specific list on Reddit that to my eye looks accurate for the larger publishers but isn't thorough for some of the smaller ones.

-

Seven Seas:

The full list of danmei novels licensed by Seven Seas is here. The full list of danmei manhua licensed by Seven Seas is here.

These titles are in various stages of publication, from "entire series released" to "license literally announced less than a week ago." As far as I know, all Seven Seas titles are available world-wide, through major distributors and libraries, and in e-book and print formats. Seven Seas translation quality varies but the editing is general strong and the editions are sturdy and nice. Note that Seven Seas isn't without controversy, especially for treating their contractors poorly resulting in them unionizing. Some people have also been unhappy with the fidelity of their translations compared to the original Chinese (I've been satisfied personally but ymmv).

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu titles:

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi)

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi) manhua

Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu)

Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat titles:

Case File Compendium (Bing an Ben)

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (Erha he Ta de Bai Mao Shizun)

Remnants of Filth (Yuwu)

Meng Xi Shi titles:

Thousand Autumns (Qian Qiu)

Peerless (Wushuang)

priest titles:

Guardian (Zhenhun)

Silent Reading (Modu)

Stars of Chaos (Sha Po Lang)

Fei Tian Ye Xiang titles:

Astrolabe Rebirth (Xing Pan Chongqi), written under the pen name Arise Zhang

Dinghai Fusheng Records (Dinghai Fusheng Lu)

Dinghai Fusheng Records (Dinghai Fusheng Lu) manhua

Joyful Reunion (Xiang Jian Huan)

Legend of Exorcism (Tianbao Fuyao Lu)

Mu Su Li titles:

Copper Coins (Tong Qian Kan Shi)

The Unseen Immortal of Three Hundred Years (Bujian Shang Xian San Bai Nian)

Lv Ye Qian He titles:

The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post (Shenmu Nao Bujin)

The Wife Comes First (Qi Wei Shang)

Other titles:

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine (Canji Zhanshen Jia Wo Wei Qie Hou) by Liu Gou Hua

Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu) by Tang Jiuqing

BAIHE: The Beauty’s Blade (Meiren Jian) by Feng Ren Zuo Zhu

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish (Canji Baojun de Zhangxin Yu Chong) by Xue Shan Fei Hu

I Ship My Rival x Me (Wo Kele Duijia x Wo de CP) manhua by PEPA

HET: Love Between Fairy and Devil (Cang Lan Jue) by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang

Mistakenly Saving the Villain (Lun Jiu Cuo Fanpai de Xiachang) by Feng Yu Nie

My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin (Wo he Laogong Shui Guancai) by Wu Shui Bu Du

Run Wild (Saye) by Wu Zhe

There’s Something Wrong with the Chief (Du Zhu You Bing) by Yang Su

Thrice Married to Salted Fish (San Jia Xianyu) by Bi Ka Bi

The Villain’s White Halo (Fanpai Baihua Guanghuan) by Hao Da Yi Juan Wei Sheng Zhi

You’ve Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post (Fei Ge Jiao You Xu Jin Shen) by Blackegg

-

Rosmei:

Rosmei licenses are Singapore distribution rights only. There is a list of international partners organizing group orders here. I've personally placed my orders through Yiggybean, as discussed in reply to this ask. Most of these titles are only being released as print editions, tho titles that weren't originally on JJWXC (of which there are several here) WILL have e-book editions. My first book from Rosmei arrived, and I found the translation and editing to be very strong. I can't speak to how accurate it may be to the Chinese original, but it read smoothly and had very few errors. Overall, though they've made some mistakes, they've been communicative and responsive.

Huai Shang titles:

Breaking Through the Clouds (Po Yun)

Hunt for the Leviathan (Po Yun 2 Tun Hai)

Ning Yuan titles:

BAIHE: At the World's Mercy

BAIHE (I think???) The Creator's Grace

priest titles:

Coins of Destiny (Liu Yao)

The Defectives (Can Ci Pin)

Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire (Lie Huo Jiao Chou)

Other titles:

Albert, from Earth (Aerbote Laizi Diqiu) by Jie Mo Jun

Art Thou Ailing? (Jun You Ji Fou) by Ru Shi Wo Wen)

The Bat (Bian Fu) by Feng Nong

Beyond the Snowstorm: A Windborne Love (Wo Cheng Feng Xue) by Qi Wu Gou

Don't You Like Me (Ni Shi Bushi Xihuan Wo) by Lv Tian Yi

The Earth is Online (Diqiu Shangxian) by Mo Chen Huan

Everyone Loves the Cannon Fodder (Chuan Cheng Wan Ren Mi de Paohui Zhuma) by Qie Zai Shan Yang

Global Examination (Qianqiu Gao Kao) by Mu Su Li

Gold Class Enforcers (Jinpai Dashou) by Pao Pao Xue Er

How to Survive as a Villain (Chuanyue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ruhe Huming) by Yi Yi Yi Yi

Kaleidoscope of Death (Siwang Wanhuatong) by Xi Zi Xu

The Killer of Killers (Sha Qing) by Wu Yi

Love at First Thaw (Wang Chun Bing) by Fu Li

Nan Chan by Tang Jiuqing

Obsessed (Ki Ma) by Wu Chen Shui

Tailhook (O Gou) by La Rive Gauche

Tales of Zijin Temple (Zijin Si Ye Hua) by Yun Tun Tun

Wine and Gun (Jiu yu Qiang) by Mengye Mengye

You're Too OP! (Nimen Nansheng Da Youxi Hao Lihai O~) by Yi Xiu Luo

-

Peach Flower House:

Unfortunately, Peach Flower House has gone out of business. Peach Flower House titles were primarily for sale through their website and through some distributors, such as Amazon.com. Whether titles are e-book only, print only, or both varied by title. In my opinion, Peach Flower House has inconsistent inconsistent editing quality, but the books are very readable.

Da Feng Gua Guo:

The Imperial Uncle (Huang Shu)

Peach Blossom Debt (Taohua Zhai)

Other Titles:

Golden Terrace (Huang Jin Tai) by Cang Wu Bin Bai

In the Dark (Zai Hei An Zhong) by Jin Shisi Chai

Little Mushroom (Xiao Mogu) by Shisi

University of the Underworld (Yinjian Daxue) by Ziloi

-

Via Lactea:

The partial list of danmei novels licensed by Via Lactea is here, but there are titles I've seen them selling that aren't on this list.

Via Lactea titles are primarily for sale through their website and through some distributors, such as Amazon.com. All titles are either print-only or e-book + print. Only a handful have actually been released, the rest are licensed and presumably in progress. I've now read three titles published by Via Lactea and while the translations are decent I could wish the editing was more consistent. Everything reads as if it would have been improved by one more thorough proof read.

Jing Shui Bian Titles:

Salad Days (Jing Jiu)

Silent Hearts (Mo Mai)

Qing Lv Titles:

Painting Against the Natural Grain (Huahua Ben Shi Ni Tian Er Xing) by Qing Lv

Raising Myself in 2006 by Qing Lv

Other Titles:

Apocalypse (Quanqiu Jinhua Hou Wo Zhan Zai Shiwulian Dingduan) by Qi Liu

As I've Told You Before by Sheng Jiang Tai Lang

Dawning (Liming Zhihou) by ICE

Embrace You Till the End of the game by Hu Yu La Jiao

Euthanasia (Anlesi) by Feng Su Jun

The Fall of Summer (Ting Shuo Ni Hen Nan Zhui) by Jue Chu

Falling (Luo Chi) by Yu Cheng

I Can't and I Won't (Zhen Bu Xing, Zhen Bu Ke) by Yan Gui Kang

Psycho (Feng Zi) by Xiao Yao Zi

Limerence (Wo Xichen Ni Nan Pengyou Henjiule) by Jiang Zi Bei

Lingering Game (Chanmian Youxi) by Tao Bai Bai

Lip and Sword (Chun Qiang) by Jin Shisi Chai

May I Touch Your Spirit? by Qing Mei Jiang

The Missing Piece (Maoheshenli) by Kun Yi Wei Lou

The Omega Who Wants His Baby Back by Yao Yao Yi Yan

Rose and Renaissance (Wo Zhi Xihuan Ni de Renshe [Yule Quan]) by Zhi Chu

Killing Show (Sha Lu Xiu) by Fox

Soul Vibration (Linghun Saodong) by Dr.solo

To Rule in a Turbulent World (Luan Shi Wei Wang) by Gu Xuerou (pen name of Fei Tian Ye Xiang)

A Tyrant's Cover-up Plan by A Ci Gu Niang

Was I a Scummy Bottom? by Cheng Zi Yu

-

Aloha Comics:

A tiny, Hawaii-based press focusing on manhua. Titles are available through major retailers such as Amazon and Bookshop.org. I've purchased one of these titles - Nirvana in Fire - and was please with the quality despite a couple minor errors.

All these titles are manhua!

Day Off by Qing Cai

Heaven Official's Blessing Animation Manhua by Bilibili and Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (this is a manhua made based on the donghua, using donghua art)

Here U Are by DJUN

Link Click by Li Haoling and Haoliners (not technically danmei!)

Nirvana in Fire (Lang Ya Bang) by Hai Yan (not technically danmei!)

-

Monogatari Novels:

Monogatari Novels is based in Spain. These titles can also be ordered from at least some major retailers. Note that there has been some controversy about Monogatari Novels. I'm personally not ordering these works until more information is available.

Due to a lawsuit between Monogatari Novels and BLoved Publishing, How to Survive as a Villain and The Legendary Master's Wife are currently on hold.

BAIHE: A Clear and Muddy Loss of Love (Jing Wei Qing Shang) by Please Don't Laugh

BAIHE: Female General and Eldest Princess (NuJiangjun he Zhang Gongzhu) by Please Don't Laugh

How to Survive as a Villain (Chuan Yue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ru He Huo Ming) manhua by Yi Yi Yi Yi

The Legendary Master's Wife (Chuanshuo Zhi Zhu de Furen) by Yin Ya

The Silent Concubine (Ya Nu) by Qiang Tang

BAIHE: Soulmate manhua by Wenzhi Lizi

-

BLoved Publishing:

ngl I can't figure out exactly what is up with this, and there seems to be some controversy related to them and their relationship with Monogatari Novels. Their website is depressingly low on details. However, this list is for completeness, so here we are.

Due to a lawsuit between Monogatari Novels and BLoved Publishing, How to Survive as a Villain and The Legendary Master's Wife are currently on hold.

How to Survive as a Villain (Chuan Yue Cheng Fanpai Yao Ru He Huo Ming) manhua by Yi Yi Yi Yi

The Legendary Master's Wife (Chuanshuo Zhi Zhu de Furen) by Yin Ya

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Chaleuria:

As far as I can tell, Chaleuria has not updated their webpage since April 2023, so the current status of in-progress titles is unknown. All titles are digital and/or e-book, and I'm not sure how to purchase them as I haven't tried.

The Complete Guide to the Use and Care of a Personal Assistant (Zhuli Shiyong Zhinan) by Why Radiance

Deep in the Act (Ru Xi) by Tongzi

Fake Slackers (Wei Zhuang Xue Zha) by Mu Gua Huang (no longer available)

From Body to Love (Leng Yan E Nan: Xian Shenhou Ai) by Wan Wan Yi Xia

Interstellar Power Couple (Xingji Qiangli Lianyin) by Kun Cheng Xiongmao (no longer available)

Intoxicated Friends (Zui Qing Zhi Pengyou) by Ye Shu Ying

The Long Chase for the President's Spouse (Zongcai Zhui Fu Lu Manman) by Three Thousand Crow Language

No Money No Divorce (Mei Qian Lihun) by Shou Chu

Reborn into a Hamster for 233 Days (Chong Shengcheng Cangshu de 233 Tian) by Yi Shu

Records of the Dragon Follower (Cong Long Ji) by Yueren Ge

Urban Tales of Demons and Spirits (Dushi Yaogui Lu) by Qie Er

World Hopping: Avenge Our Love (Ni Wufa Yuliao de Fenshou, Wo Du Neng Gei Ni Song Shang) by Xiaomao Bu Ai Jiao (no longer available)

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Webnovel:

When I first made this list, I heard that Webnovel had a few titles but couldn't actually find them - but now I've found them, thanks to a list someone else put together. I'm including direct links to them, since I had so much trouble finding them at all.

Comrade: Almost a Cat-astrophic Love Story (Jintian ye Yao Nuli Dang Zhimao) by Demonic Fire (link)

My Boyfriend is a Dragon (Nanpiao Shi Tiaolong) by Chubby Strawberry Sauce (link)

The National Sweetheart Livestreamer is a Pro! (Quanmin Zhubo Shi Duiba) by Mo Shang Wang (link)

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Honorable Mentions:

There are a handful of titles I know of that are official translations of C Novels. These are not books with contextual queerness, but for folks with an interest in Chinese history and culture, they are worth checking out anyway, especially because understanding these stories can help understand the above books. Also, some have active shipping fandoms (for example, I've written for Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Daomu Biji). I've included two above under the entry for titles from Aloha Comics (Link Click and Nirvana in Fire) and here are a couple others I currently know of:

Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong Lou Meng) by Cao Xueqin, available in translation for free from Project Gutenberg

The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles (Daomu Biji) by Nanpai Sanshu (six volumes are available in English from Things Asian Press)

Journey to the West (Xiyou Ji) by Wu Cheng-en, in four volumes from University of Chicago Press

The Legend of the Condor Heroes (She Diao Yingxiong Chuan) by Jin Yong, in four volumes from St. Martin’s Press

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), attributed to Luo Guanzhong, available in translations for free from Archive.org

The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (Zonglie Xiayi Chuan), attributed to Shi Yukun, available in translation for free from Archive.org

Water Margin (Shuihu Zhuan) by Shi Nai’an, from Tuttle Publishing

RESOURCE: List of Chinese speculative fiction in English translation

RESOURCE: More Chinese speculative fiction in English translation

I will add to the "Honorable Mentions" list if I find any other more mainstream titles with official translations.

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Rumored Licenses:

Sometimes, I hear rumors about titles being licensed before the license is announced - and thus before we know which publisher has licensed them (assuming the rumor is even true). I thought I should note these somewhere. Titles I know of rumors about currently are:

A Certain Someone (Moumou) by Mu Su Li

Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know (Mozun Ye Xiang Zhidao) by Cyan Wings (a Spanish edition of this has been formally announced, which might account for the rumor)

The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua (Chenghua Shisi Nian) by Meng Xi Shi

Guide on How to Fail at Online Dating (Wanglian Fanche Zhinan) by Jiang Zi Bei

Immortal Koi is Going to Debut (Jinli Daxian Yao Chudao) by Mo Xi Ke

Mist (Bowu) by Wei Feng Ji Xu

-

A handful of other licenses are mentioned on the Carrd I linked at the beginning of this post; I have no idea the status of those titles and wasn't able to find information on them while putting together this post other than what was listed on that Carrd, so I've omitted them.

Now go forth, and buy some books!

[sillygoofyqueer]

Ahhhhh, I had another idea!

Shen Yuan teaching his regular (not demon) crow friends how to curse at people and spout ominous phrases... but in English!

Some random person wanders into the forest near his home village only for ominous voices from above to start calling things like,

"DOOM!"

"Nevermore!"

"Fuck off!"

And so forth.

It's very fighting to the PIDW natives who have no idea what English is, or where these voices are coming from. 😂

Perhaps one day Airplane ends up in the forest and is just perplexed. Did the System get lazy and just decide to use English as their ominous foreign tongue or something?

(For Airplane, the fact that "Airplane" (飞机, fēi jī) is a homophone for "Flying Chicken" (飞鸡, fēi jī), with the same tone and everything, plus this is the bird AU, makes me kinda want him to be like, a chicken/rooster demon or something. XD)

Now that you've brought this chicken/rooster demon idea to my attention, I will be running with it with no thought or hesitation oh my golly gosh. He will appear first in the forest, muttering to himself and getting absolutely insulted by crows all around, pondering how the fuck they know English. He curses back in English and gets tackled by Shen Yuan, who is reasonably questioning why the FUCK this random demon knows English and then is about to throttle him when he finds out who he is. The crows act as a siren and warning to allow the village to know there's people they don't know are coming in. This is FUNNY.

GU YUN MY BELOVED!! He's from Stars Of Chaos/Sha Po Lang (which I've been reading the first book of), and I'm madly in love with him /silly. That sounds so cool for a Crow!Yuan design, and I'm swooning at the thought of just feathers and enough jewellery to become his own little light when the sun hits it just right. He doesn't wear all of it all the time, but he would sooo be tempted to every time he sees it. {part six! Part one, art two, part three, part four, part five, part seven!}

[pyjamatranslation]

The Agony & The Ecstasy

Part 1 of 2.

Plot: A woman is sentence to death for murdering her husband. In the cells of the Colosseum, she meets Lucius. 900 words.

Warning: Mentions of a shitty husband, loss of child, blood, murder, suicide.

A/N: This is my first time writing fanfiction. After some light research, ancient Rome was not a nice place to be a woman.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lucius lay on his cot, near sleep despite the chaos of sounds beyond his cell.  Injured men groaned in agony as they tried to survive the night.  The animals of his homeland grunted and snorted at whim.  Footsteps now scuffled along the sand walkway with the distinct sound of something being dragged.  A cell was opened then locked, the footsteps receding. He tried to quiet his curiosity and nearly succeeded until a woman screamed.  Jolting up in bed at the sound of it, he thought of his wife.  The scream hadn’t been one of fear or injury, but of rage and strength.  His wife made that sound on the battlefield many a time.  Standing now, he pressed himself against his cell door to see more.  

In the cell diagonal to his, a woman paced back and forth.  He would have thought the dark red stains on her stola were wine if not for the pattern he knew came from blood spraying out of a mortal wound.  He had seen her before, in the stands of the Colosseum sitting next to the senators. 

“My lady,” he called.  She whipped her head towards his voice, the way the tigers did when you walked too close to their cages.  Her eyes were wild and glistened with unshed tears that reflected the flames of the torches lining the tunnel.  “Whose blood is that?”  She looked down at herself as if unaware of the stain upon her clothes and hands.  

“My husband’s.  A beloved senator of Rome.”  Disappointment escaped him as a sigh, a pity it wasn’t the General’s or one of the emperor’s. 

“Not beloved by all.”  She looked at him briefly then moved to rattle the door of her cell, her frustration making it a valiant effort.  “What did he do to you?”  He wondered.  She kept her hands wrapped around the bars but knelt gently as her adrenaline faded and gave way to exhaustion.

“I gave birth today.”  Lucius thought she was ignoring his question until she continued, “My husband refused the baby.”  The tears that threatened to fall earlier fell now, a mark down each cheek, the wet lines a tragic war paint.  “It’s the second time he’s done it.”  Lucius moved from standing at the bars to sit and lean against them.  He thought of the Roman custom tollere liberos of laying the newborn on the ground for the father to see.  Picking it up and raising it into the air was a father’s way of accepting to raise the child.  If the father didn’t, the child was abandoned, left outside to the elements and the animals. “I created life, I carried the child.  Yet he has the power to decide its fate.  Why?  What has he done to earn that right?”  She looked to Lucius like he might have the answer.  He didn’t.  “I created life.  I took his away.  I earned that right.  My body, my child, my hand on the knife.”  Lucius watched as she leaned her head again the metal bars.  Tomorrow they’d hand her a wooden sword and she’d fight for her life in the Colosseum, punishment for killing a man, but in truth, it was punishment for daring to fight against a system that gave her no control over her life.

* * * * * * *

Lucius knelt in the arena, his hands sifting through the sand and remembering everyone he’d lost.  It was over now, there would be no more bloodshed.  No more pain.  The grief would be his lifelong companion but there would be comfort in that familiar pain.  He tensed at the sound of movement, swivelling his head to find the source of it.  The lady had survived the day, but barely.  She half crawled, half hobbled towards the downed body of a royal guard, one arm wrapped around herself.  Lucius breathed in relief and wondered how long before the idea of peace settled in and he no longer needed to fight and watch for threats.  He stood to go to her, watching as she reached for the guard’s sword.  Swaying to a standing position, she held the sword up and Lucius could see the colourful clouds reflected in the blade as he approached her.  He watched in horror as she turned the sword around so it pointed at herself.  His relaxed footfalls turned to hurried steps as he ran towards her.

“No!” he called out.  Jarred by his voice, she stumbled as she turned to see who was there.  Almost within reach of her now, he slowed as she pointed the sword at him.  

“Leave me be,” she said, her voice shaking.

“I will not let another drop of blood fall in this sand.”  She moved her hand away from her waist to show him the blood pooling into the fabric of her dress there.

“Let me go,” she pleaded.  He stepped closer to try to help stop the bleeding but she swung the sword at him.  He dodged it and caught her wrist, twisting it with enough pressure to have her yelp and drop the sword.  He regretted the first but was relieved by the second.  His other hand came around her to press against the wound at her side.  She hissed at the pain. 

“We need to get you to a doctor.”  She fought his embrace,

“I cannot bear to be a childless mother.  Release me of that agony, please, have mercy on me.”  There was a time when he did not care if he lived or died.  Having seen the light beyond that darkness, he couldn’t leave her lost in hers.  

“I will find your child,” he promised.  She stopped fighting him, tilting her head to look at him.  Her hand wrapped around his wrist but it was her expression of wonder and gratitude that grabbed a hold of him.  This moment touched him more deeply than the accolades and applause of the amphitheatre were ever meant to.   

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thanks for reading!

[functionalasfuck]

Oh, I fucking LOVED this story and have read it multiple times. Maybe this is a sign to reread it.

This comment is all over awesome stuff, but what has me really smiling like a mad thing is that last little bit. I don't have a beta reaer. I do my own editing. I hate every minute of it, and that just makes it worthwhile.

(I do still miss errors sometimes - it happens - but it's great that people notice the effort I made! ❤️

[jay-joy113]

First headcannons, might as well go all in

Twisted wonderland

How would the characters react to you being an absolute menace to society? Part 1

Riddle

Please stop, youll give him an early grave. Or dont, im sure Ace will find it funny as fuck to see you get collared for painting all the roses yellow or eating all the sweets end switching them for Meat rolls. If you end Riddle are dating he might ask if you have something

"My Rose, are you sure you dont have OCD or something?"

It might come off as very offensive if you are just a natural harbinger of chaos, or youll have a great day pranking him by telling that you DO have something, end if really have he will try his best to be more... *patient*

"Sigh... no, no, i wont scream, deep breathes control yourself they cant help it"

Leona

Are you **sure** you want to be near him when all you do is enough to wake the beast?

Might hate you at first if you go down on the "*lets prank a literal lion with magic whos also buff*" route, so your best choice to get on his good graces is annoying the teachers so they wont disturb his sleep, or annoy people he doesn't like.. wich is almost everyone.

"Herbivore, what did you do this time? Make it quick, im not in the mood to chat"

"Impressive for a herbivore, if i ever need an jester ill be sure to consider you... nah, you make a better pillow"

If you guys date he **WILL** make you calm the fuck down for cuddles

Azul

Youll give him an early grave 2.

Please never meet Floyd, hes begging you-

Too late, now he has 2 walking tornados full of too much energy.

Might make you banned from the lounge, if you dont behave or at least lock you on the VIP room.

"Pearl- Floyd- please stop breaking everything!"

Kalim

You are so fun! Wont you join his next feast-

Jamil hates you with all his guts, give him a break he already is almost a single mother at this point-

If you end kalim are together he will find you very lively, but youll discover sooner than later that he doesn't like when the joke goes too far.

"Why were you so mean to them? You should apologize so we can all be friends"

Not very funny to prank since hes almost never too scared of it end wont get too angry.

Vil

"POTATO, DID YOU PUT DYE ON MY SHAMPOO?!"

Does not enjoy your pranks end will demand you to stop them before he has to put you on watch by Rook.

You might find yourself on good manners lessons with Epel, who will break you out so he can ditch the class since Vil will be too busy with you.

Idia

You are NOT allowed in his room, even if you guys date. He cannot bet on the life of his precious merch end tech, even if he loves you a lot.

Will not hesitate to put a security system especialy for you if you ever do come to his room, wich will probably only make you unable to mess anything but wont hurt you.

"Nyshishi... my win, reader-sama"

Malleus

Are you related to Lilia?

He likes how lively you are, end does like your mischif, it feels very familiar end it shows you are comfy enough to do that with him.

That being said, the gargoyles are off limits.

DO NOT HARM THEM.

Or you might find a very pouty Malleus at your door in the middle of a storm.

"Beloved, i belive we talked about limits"

Thanks for reading

[dravenscroft]

So my wife and I are working on a long fic that's a Terror modern AU set in a secondary school. My wife is a teacher and has experienced The Horrors of crappy schools being taken over by academy trusts and becoming weirdly corporate firsthand. We're like 50k into it and it'll probably be like 60k? I think? Anyway we're uploading it on my Ao3 soon but here's a brief rundown of some of the highlights:

Crozier is the new joint head of school, he's been moved there against his will to work alongside Fitzjames, the 'Head of Data', which Crozier thinks isn't a real job.

Franklin is the Executive Head but he's NEVER at the school, he's always busy at head office and has no idea what chaos goes down.

Fitzjames used to be a drama teacher until he got promoted up. He hasn't taught in years and so Crozier has zero respect for him...at first.

Little is the exhausted head of English and he is regularly being verbally abused by the children. He is having a Bad Time.

Hodgson is the music teacher. Irving is the art teacher.

Collins is the maths teacher...he has had a sniffle since the start of the year...he is maybe over medicating with Lemsip and cough medicine in an effort to keep coming to work.

Goodsir is the bright-eyed NQT biology teacher. He is still full of wonder and hope. Oh, to see the UK education system 'with eyes as an NQT...'

Stanley is the head of science. He is not full of wonder and hope. Obviously.

Blanky is the geography teacher who has been there since forever and doesn't take any shit. He's beloved by the kids but they also rightly fear him because he will tell them what for if they misbehave. He also has NO concept of professional corporate speak in emails. He will tell it like it is.

...Oh yeah, there's emails in there too. It's partly epistolary.

Jopson is the highly competent office worker for the school reception. He WILL find a way to schedule the unscheduleable, he WILL handle any difficult parent that comes his way, and he WILL answer every email in a timely fashion.

He works alongside Billy of course, who doesn't want to be there, except maybe for the gossip.

Bridgens takes on the work of several as is normal in a terrible school...he's librarian, and the first-aider, and a TA, along with his husband Peglar who is also a TA.

Tozer is the disillusioned P.E teacher who USED to enjoy his job until Heather left and took another job on the other side of the country and the Academy (Admiralty Trust) took over...now he hates his job and is totally checked out.

And then of course there's Hickey...a problematic parent who has made bringing down Crozier and the school his primary goal. It was very hard to imagine Hickey with a kid but we came to the decision that his daughter was born when he and the girl's mother were like 15, a one-time fling before he figured out his sexuality, and he has Regretted It Ever Since because good GOD this man doesn't want to be a father. He only has her on weekends and isn't in contact with her mother at all. He WANTED to run off to Hawaii like in canon but then his kid's mother said she'd chase him to the ends of the earth for child maintenance if he did. He is NOT a good father, this troubled, angry teenage girl lives off takeaway and pot noodles and they mostly just try to avoid each other when she's at his scummy little flat. HOWEVER, because Hickey is all about his ego, when there are Issues with his daughter at school Hickey takes it as a slight against HIM, and makes revenge his goal.

His daughter also features, she's a 'managed move' student who was nearly expelled from her last school for bringing in a knife. She's very troubled and terrorises the teachers (she's referred to as 'a little terror' in one of the emails...) but she also ends up bonding a little with Crozier, who tries his hardest to turn things around for her. It's just too bad her father wants to cause Problems rather than do anything to ACTUALLY help her.

Anyway yeah. It's mostly comedic but with a few serious issues tackled (like the obvious neglect this girl experiences, for one) - it's mostly been a way for my teacher wife to rant about Academy schools and just the general failings of the UK school system lmao. There is Social Commentary involved.

Anyway it's Coming Soon.

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

<33

name: mithi - not really, just family nickname

she/her

16 years old

desi

lesbian

questioning demi/gray-aromantic

11th grader in cbse science stream (subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, english)

intj

mostly post & reblog stuff related to marauders, lgbtq+, literature, feminism, girlhood, desi culture, mental health & other general stuff & a couple other fandoms (pls stick by if i seem ur cup of tea)

dni: basic dni criteria, pro-israel

rules: don't be any of the above mentioned, don't be creepy

fun fact!: i was born exactly at 11:11 p.m.

daily click!

libra sun, gemini moon, cancer rising

mental: unstable, go through depressive phases, gritted-tooth optimist, generally a bit sad and numb and lonely

physical: brown skin, black hair, v dark brown eyes, 5'6/168cm, glasses-wearing girlie, kinda a face reveal?

sideblogs :

studyblr: @academicgremlinhehe here to keep my procrastination in check

mental health/vent/ranting: @thyhonesteheorte here cuz i'm too scared to be especially depressing on main

ns/fw sideblog: @thy-wench-hath-gone here for idk exploring my sexuality somewhere else, not gonna be horny on main yk

feel free to check me out on :

blog - like an actual site, not this beauty chaos

ao3 - solely marauders content

that odd melancholy feeling - current ongoing marylily fic on ao3

wattpad - same content as ao3

that odd melancholy feeling - on wattpad

pinterest - still in the middle of organizing so mind the chaos!

life goals :

become an academic weapon once again - summoning pre 9th grade me

plan a - iiser bs-ms course with major in biology & minor in humanities; plan b - bsc biotechnology/biochemistry + masters neuroscience/astronomy/evolutionary biology/marine biology abroad

phd astrobiology/neuroscience/evolutionary biology/marine biology abroad

multiple degrees?? yes pls to being disgustingly over-educated

work in research + part time writer

independence

travel the world

tagging system! :

#mithi's own - all original posts

#she communicates oh my! - answering asks, communicating with other users, tag games

#poetic lil mithi - original poetry

#mithi's marauders - all posts relating to my marauders fanfiction

#wishful necromancy - posts relating to the marauders fandom hehe get it?

#slightly less beloveds - posts about fandoms apart from the marauders

#musings from thy truly - journal extracts, vents, stuff that should be in my journal but i was too lazy to write with my hand, shit posts, life updates, literally anything that isn't poetry or fandom-related

#moody mithi - moodboards, web weaving, etc yk

#filmy mithi - posts featuring my own pics :)

#mithistudies - studyblr posts made until 10th october 2024

#save palestine - all donation asks

current read! : crime and punishment (fyodor dostoevsky)

current watch! : -

current obsessions! : dreaming of an academic comeback

hobbies! : sketching, chess, photography, writing (poetry, lyrics, fanfic, novel, etc), recording vlogs, crafts, listening to music, reading, watching movies & shows, piano, and many many more!!

music! : gracie abrams, lorde, olivia rodrigo, chappell roan, cavetown, clairo, hozier, ethel cain, phoebe bridgers, mckenna grace, billie eilish, conan gray, chloe ament, mitski, tv girl, beach bunny, girl in red, lana del rey, wallows, alex g, florence + the machine, boygenius, and many many more!!

books! : solitaire, heartstopper, pjo, hoo, toa, soc, p&p, wuthering heights, jane eyre, great gatsby, sherlock holmes, agggtm, ouabh, and many many more!!

shows! : heartstopper, atypical, lotr: rings of power, pjo, young royals, dickinson, sherlock, s&b, and many many more!!

movies! : lady bird, p&p (2005), the perks of being a wallflower, dating amber, little women (2019), lotr & hobbit trilogies, thg triology + tbosas, dead poets society, and many many more!!

last updated: 2nd january 2024

[justhereforkeefe]

See, I think Kaladin is in the *perfect* place to critique the system. He is a dark eyes, regardless of his eye color, he grew up and live his whole life in that system. He can speak to the full spectrum of the society, having been born into a reasonably affluent second nahn family only to be made a slave and live at the bottom. Now, as a shardbearer, he has the authority and respect to *make* people listen.

Is it right that his authority and ability to affect major change comes from his new status as a “light eyes”? No- but it’s the reality. He was changing things even before getting his blade. Dalinar shouts it at him in the jail cell- about doing his light-eyed job as a dark-eyed man well and showing everyone eye color doesn’t matter. And when Adolin offered him the shard blade, he told Kaladin “this will change you life” and Kaladin’s response was that he didnt want *his* life to change because his eye color changed, he wanted life to change for all dark eyes (right? It’s been a while since I read WoR, that was the paraphrase version, yes?).

He now has the ability to make that happen on a much bigger/quicker scale- and I hope he’ll work to do so in book 5 and that’s what’s Brandon Sanderson is RAFOing.

Comatose: Originally, Kaladin and Moash were essentially the major darkeyes who were in a position to criticize the nobility and lighteyed culture.

Now that Kaladin has kind of (if not emotionally) bought into the system to some extent, by outranking most lighteyes, and Moash has gone full villain, are we going to get another character playing that role of a darkeyed or lower class individual who is critiquing the system?

Brandon Sanderson: Yeah, I've been looking at that. One of the questions is whether Lift can justifiably fulfill that role, as someone who considers herself a bit of an outsider even among the Radiants.

But let's hang a little bit of a RAFO on that, ask me after you've read book five.

[covenofthearticulate]

@vamptember's 12 Nights of Christmas | Night 4

It is too easy, these nights, for Louis to pass the entire evening in his library. Armand has so thoroughly spoiled him with every comfort he could ever want; collections of the rarest manuscripts, translations that lend new meaning to his beloved favorites, delightful little surprises of new titles which appear every now and then as unspoken tokens of love, just to let Louis know that Armand is thinking about him.

It was no accident that the library was tucked into the heart of the sprawling complex; away from any windows through which the sunlight might cut his reading short, and sequestered far enough from the street that Louis needn’t worry about the noise and chaos of the outside world. No, he could spend his every evening and every day in this library, just as he finds himself doing on this very evening, tucked quietly in his favorite armchair with only the company of the roaring fire and his beloved Rimbaud on the page, and—

“Jesus CHRIST—” 

A flash of bright white light sears across his line of vision, and there is Daniel, fumbling with his phone in an all-too-mortal fashion as he clicks to turn off the flashlight. 

“Merde alors—Daniel!” Louis yells right back. 

His book hits the ground with a thud as Louis’ hands fly up to cover his eyes from the sudden onslaught. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Daniel apologizes with a huff. “I thought you went out with everyone else.”

Even after Daniel turns the light off, Louis cannot help but squint in his direction, his raisined expression clearly reflective of the resentment now brewing in the wake of his disturbed peace.

“...and you were expecting to come into my library while I was away?” Louis raises a brow in suspicion. 

“Well I didn’t want to go all the way downstairs for a candle. You’ve got spares in here, right?”

Stepping fully into the room, Daniel looks around for a moment. He’s rarely ever in this room; there are other libraries in the house, and it had always been made clear from the instant Louis moved in, that he requires a space of his own.

“A candle?”

“Yeah…for the outage.”

Louis blinks, cocks his head to the side for just a moment, but before he can even voice his question—

“For the outage, Louis. The power’s out!” Daniel raises his arms, motions up and out as if to say look around, you idiot! 

“There’s a massive snowstorm. It’s been coming down hard for hours. Christ, you really didn’t know, did you?”

“I’ve been reading,” Louis replies with the stunning simplicity which never fails to get a breathy laugh of disbelief out of Daniel.

“I swear to god, between your library and Armand’s movie room, you two could wait out the whole end of the world in this place.”

“But the world hasn’t ended, Daniel.” Bending down with a sigh, Louis retrieves his book from the floor and flips through the now-bent pages in an attempt to find his place once more. “It’s only a few hours of darkness. We’ve both survived worse.”

Daniel gives a small scoff at that last remark which, admittedly, was slightly less kind than Louis would be on any other ordinary night, had his reading not been so rudely interrupted by a blinding light. 

“You really don’t use any electricity? Like, at all?” Daniel fixes him with a skeptical, narrow-eyed look. In the shadows, the pinch of his brow looks ghastly.

“Why would I need it? I could read in complete darkness if I so wished; the fire is mostly for warmth and, I suppose, a bit of ambiance.”

With a roll of his eyes, Louis catches a glimpse of all the things Daniel wishes to point out: it’s not just the lights— it’s the alarm system, the wifi, the refrigerator, hell, the heated tiles in your bathroom that you keep pretending to hate! Stop acting as if you’re above it all when you benefit from it just as much as I do! 

“Great, well…I’ll let you get back to your reading, then,” is what Daniel finally does say.

He grabs a candlestick from the mantle, sticks it into the open mouth of the fireplace to let the flames catch the wick, and…and then he holds it for a moment, once a small flame is caught, and realizes he doesn’t know exactly what to do with it. Maybe he’ll be fine holding it with his bare hands, it’s not like the wax will burn him, and he only needs it long enough to find the stupid flashlight from the cupboard and—

“Here,” Louis says with a tsk as he crosses over to his grand desk, grabs a beautiful brass candlestick holder from the corner. “Allow me.”

With his usual gentlemanly grace, Louis snatches the candle from Daniel’s hand, tips the flaming end toward the top of the holder and waits patiently for the first few drops of wax to land. 

“It isn’t that I refuse to use electricity,” Louis finds himself explaining. “It’s simply that…well, it’s similar to the way you prefer listening to your music on vinyl instead of…what was it that you yelled at Benji for the other day? Spot?”

“Spotify?”

“Spotify. Overhead lighting is my spotify, Daniel. It’s helpful, but it doesn’t put me at ease, and it doesn’t feel natural.”

Turning the candlestick rightside up once more, he presses the bottom into the shallow pool of melted wax until the seal has cooled and the candle is cemented in place. 

When he hands it back to Daniel, there is a familiar look of realization on his face. It never fails to amuse Louis, this expression of Daniel’s. It’s the same gentle crease between his brows and soft curl of his lips that appeared that very first night, the instant he began to realize that he was, in fact, speaking to a vampire. It returns to Daniel every now and again, whenever Louis says something in particular that strikes at that sentimental cord and reminds him that Louis is still the same creature he always was, with the very same tragic wisdom about him. 

“...is it really snowing outside?” Louis asks, to break him from his thoughts, if nothing else.

“More than snowing,” Daniel scoffs. “It’s a blizzard.”

“Hmm. I’d like to see it,” Louis decides. 

“Yeah?”

“Oh yes. If the world is ending, what use is it to stay holed up in my library?”

Louis stands, takes a step towards the doorway but pauses before heading all the way out. Turning back, he stares at Daniel, then back to the door, a silent yet glaringly obvious gesture to please get out so that Louis may follow behind. 

The halls of Trinity Gate look different in the near darkness. Only now does Louis realize how truly rare it is, to walk the halls without pollution from the billboards and neighbors, without the odd glow of yellow light leaking from under the doorway leading to Sybelle’s room or one of the various guest suites, without the blitzkreig of colors from the televisions, or even the strange blinking lights from the smoke detectors and alarms. 

Blessed darkness. True darkness. 

The faint flicker of the candle’s flame dances across the crown moulding, the beloved paintings adorning the hallway, the statues that seem now to breathe and loosen their stiff limbs. Little details too small for the human eye, delivered only by the virtue of the Dark Gift. 

This is a liminal space, he realizes, as the shadows warp the halls around them only to give way to the beautiful, insidious wonderland of silver moonlight reflecting from the snow and spilling in transcendent ripples across the hardwood floors.

Louis can hear the wind long before they arrive at the little window seat in the east wing sitting room. It’s low and fierce like a rumbling tide, and yet there’s something comforting in the patter of fresh white snow against the window pane.  

They sit in silence, one on each end, ankles knocking together as they settle against the cushioned alcove. 

“I’ve never seen this city so dark,” Louis breathes in amazement. 

“Yeah…thank god the moon is out tonight.”

Louis has nothing to say, but he offers a soft hum in reply as he allows himself to become transfixed with the rush of snow coming down, the way each icy flake catches the silver moonlight, the way the wind makes them dance across the window pane as it howls and rages against the glass.

“This is the perfect weather for a ghost story,” Daniel says eventually in a voice so unsure, so soft, it nearly blends with the groan of the wind outside. “Know any good ones?”

He stops breathing for a moment, as the request hangs in the air. Louis notices the way his chest stops moving, just as he notices the rattle of the wrought iron gate around the perimeter of the building, and the whole world seems too quiet and too loud all at once. 

It’s less of a question and more of a bait. They both know that. 

Louis hasn’t spoken of it, of her, to anyone. Not even David, with all his well-meaning endeavors to chronicle the whole thing and somehow make sense of it for himself. 

But Daniel is different. There is a softness there, an earnestness. And Louis has always been able to speak to Daniel, hasn't he? Suddenly Louis finds himself staring at him, drenched in silver-blue moonlight and the gentle lick of yellow from the candle flame, and behind the violet eyes and porcelain glow of his skin, he finds that very same reporter boy looking back at him with the very same hunger and curiosity.

“What would you like to know?” Louis asks, with a gentle tilt of his head.

“No, sorry,” Daniel immediately backtracks. “Nevermind.”

“It’s alright.” Louis says, and for perhaps the first time, actually means it. “Really, it’s alright.”

But Daniel continues to look out the window despite Louis’ eyes on him, and there’s a flurry of thoughts racing through his mind, just as quick and harsh and chaotic as the whipping wind outside.

I miss you. I love you. I want to hear you talk again, I want to listen to your stories, really listen. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you—

“Daniel—” 

The instant his voice is imbued with that soft knowing, he can feel Daniel close off his mind, turn off the spout with a hurried sort of embarrassment that lets Louis know any sort of leakage just now was not intentional. He makes a sound in the back of his throat, something whining and self-chastising, and for a moment he seems so utterly, charmingly human. It makes Louis’ heart ache, and for some reason he can’t seem to help himself as he reaches out and lays one hand on Daniel’s knee. 

A simple gesture, and yet they both seem to feel something; something overwhelming and indescribable and familiar and strange all at once. Daniel stares at the hand, then stares right at Louis, and it looks as if he has something to say but his mind is closed now, and Louis cannot seem to see anything past the restless thud of his pulse.

Leaning forward, Daniel places the candlestick on the narrow window ledge, presses his hand over Louis', and for just one flicker of a second, the wind dies outside, and the world is still and quiet and full of possibility.

“There’s a backup generator,” Louis admits, before either one of them does something they cannot take back. “In the boiler room, next to the breaker box.”

“Maybe we can leave it off for now. The darkness isn’t so bad, I guess.” Daniel shrugs.

“Very well,” Louis nods, and allows his eyes to soften just a bit. “Perhaps I can think of a story or two, after all.”

[auriidae]

PART 2 ‼️ me & my friends when we are stuck at life (pt 1) (pt 3)

character notes under the cut!!!!!

both in true hs canon and in this au, rage represents chaos. and lifeseries grian is so undoubtedly linked to chaos above all else — he thrives off it, subsists on it even. if it’s not something he can seek out it’s something he’ll initiate. but — make no mistake, the anarchy he initiates is very much limited to within the game. he doesn’t break the game system, he works within it and disrupts whatever system the players are trying to put in place… for the benefit of the game itself. and again, with heirs being played by their aspect, it only makes sense for him to be one. rather than jimi, though, he’s okay with this — being an agent of chaos ties him to it intrinsically, and that makes him feel so, so alive. he’s okay with being controlled, for the most part, because it also means he’s in control. at least at the beginning.

i wanted to make eethos a mind player so bad you don’t understand 😔 but i think he is closer to void in reality. either way he’s a thief — dealing in redistribution of his aspect only to himself, whether consciously or unconsciously. i think void makes sense for eethos because he’s such an unknown to many of the other players (and also to some extent probably himself). a thief of void — taking the mystery from others, knowing them and their secrets and cloaking yourself in them, making yourself an unknown. if void is an aspect more focused inward, also (i like the idea that the central struggle of void players’ character arcs are more personal than some of the other aspects), we could have eethos vs the mortifying ordeal of being known + choosing to stay. which comes back to his class, with thieves having to let others have their aspect as well in order to fully complete their character arc. with that being said eethos “wghats the deal wiht abtrhoom pesnis” mind player will always be real in my heart ok

beedub oh beedub my beloved rogue beedub. rogues typically have the problem, right, where they are capable of redistributing their aspect for the benefit of others but never for themselves. so they try to find others who can help them with it but really just have to learn to stand on their own (and end up finding a source of their aspect that way). this specifically throws beedub n eethos’s friendship into the saddest light because beedub is okay with giving everything to his friends + allies (esp eethos) while quietly hoping they will help him in return, but the thing beedub wants eethos (as a thief) is incapable of giving to him. he can only take, and that’s where their sort of falling out where eethos starts avoiding him and spending more time with others comes from. eethos needs to learn to give to others (not beedub) and beedub needs to learn to stand on his own. ethubs makes me sad. BUT ANYWAYS hope as the aspect of imagination, of being caught up in seeing what could be, of love and trust unconditionally without paying mind to the possible repercussions. that is pretty bdubs-coded i think. he’s a hope player and he’s going to be ok guys he’s going to be fine :)

again feel free to ask me questions abt them !!! lifestuck is in my brain

[therainnight]

Me blathering about Omgaverse JaviLloyd. 

Warning: I'm no writer. English is my second language AND this is me blathering about Omgaverse JaviLloyd. 

Of course, there is no beta reader. this is me blathering

---------------------------

hear me out- omega!Lloyd.

Yeah I know he must suit for being beta but I like the chaos of Suho and others that not is baron or baroness, don’t know if Lloyd is omega.

Originally, his death isn’t only because of drinking too much but also consumed heat suppressant pills for a long time and won’t let his body have heat after the first time it happened, and because of that most people think he is beta.

Unfortunately, Kim Suho aka our beloved young master takes his body without this knowing this. He did notice the pill bottle on the bedside table but don’t think too much about it. (In his defense, “it a pill bottle with no label. Who would dare to touch it?”)

The story continues like now it in the novel or webcomic. There was once or twice, Javier noticed a new scent coming from Lloyd. VERY SUS. At first, Javier thinks that Lloyd has a secret meeting with omega to steal the weird knowledge that recently Lloyd possessed but that theory has to drop out because Javier is with Lloyd 24/7 after he picks up Lloyd from passing out on the road on a faithful day.

Lloyd knows only a few things about this second-gender thing. “The knight of blood and iron” is focused on Javier’s knighthood journey more than the second gender. He knows what beta, omega, and alpha are but just that it.

After the mining & ant incident, it the moment that Lloyd learned about his real second gender. He learned from the mouth of his family doctor. At first, the doctor praised Lloyd for his choice of choosing to stop drinking after that he praised him for stopping taking heat suppressant pills and letting his body free for once, doing what it was designed for.

“Heat? What?” Lloyd asked but the doctor didn’t notice and keep talking.

“It’s good that now you consider your health, young master. But just completely stopping consuming heat suppressants immediately is kind of dangerous. I will write a new set of pills for u to stable your system, ok?”

“Oh and please don’t take it the wrong way but now you're out of pills, I think you should consider wearing a collar for your own protection.”

“I know. Sir Asrahan is trustworthy and noble alpha but as you always said to your soldier, safety first! Hahaha” the doctor laughed softly.

Before Lloyd could ask doctors more about this “heat” and pills. Baron and baroness break into the room and hug him while telling how they were glad that Lloyd is awake and safe. After a joyful family drop-down. Baron tells Lloyd that he knows about Lloyd's decision to stop taking heat suppressants. The baron presents Lloyd with a collar with the Frontera symbol on it. He said that ask for a mage to cast a spell cast on it to become invisible when the user wears it.

“I know how much you hate people knowing about it but please, think as to help ease your father and mother’s mind.”

Lloyd was confused but agreed to what the baron and baroness begged him for. Good for Lloyd, He wasn’t alone. Javier was also confused.

Nowadays, young master Lloyd has this- bewitching scent coming right off him. At first is very dilute, if it is not because of his sharp sense and of the time they spend together. He won’t notice it but now it becomes more clear and stronger. It smells like chocolate mostly but also another sweet scent that makes a sweet tooth like Javier crave for some.

On one relaxed night, The one that Lloyd can have a routine like normal people. He finished his bath, ready to put Javier into dreamland but Javier have some business before joining him in his bedroom. Lloyd rolls around on the queen-size bed. Lloyd can’t help but feel uneasy and annoyed with how his bed is.

Everyone would have some moments like this. When you feel like the bed is not right and they fix the bed until you feel comfortable again.

So Lloyd spend time waiting for Javier to fix his bed until he felt satisfied. He fluffs 4 pillows that he has. He keeps arranging it but is still unsatisfied.

‘Tomorrow was my day off!! I will have a good quality night's sleep today!!!’

Before he knows he collects the many pillows and blankets as much as he can. While Lloyd arranges his bed like a madman he notices Javier’s pink pillow on the chair near his bed. He picks the pink pillow up. Look around it. Before hugging it to test the quality of the pillow. Turn out it is perfect!

Lloyd replaced the pink pillow with his own pillow while thinking Javier won’t mind him borrowing this pillow just for one day.

-knock- -knock-

“Master Lloyd. It’s me”

“Ah! Come in.”

Javier didn’t prepare his heart for what he witnessed after he opened the door. The usually normal bed is now full of pillows and blankets. Anyone can see that each item has gone through a lot of calculations to determine where to put it.

‘I- it looks like a nes-‘ before Javier can end his thoughts suddenly Lloyd pops out.

“Ha ha! Lo and behold! This is my fortress!”

“....Young master, what are you doing?”

“...make my bed? ANYWAY! come join me! it's very comfy, you know~? Want to sleep with this big brother tonight~?”

“..with all the respect, sir. I have to refuse- wait. Is that my pillow?” 

"oh-AH. Yes. I will borrow it today! "

"You have a ton of pillow, Sir. Why you must borrow mine? please give it to me"

"What-? Did I just hear SIR KNIGHT ASRAHAN say he can't sleep without his pink pillow? don't worry. I won't tell a soul."

"--!"

Javier moves closer to the bed with a fortress(?) make of pillows. To be honest, the nest- no- the bed looks very comfy and neat but he can't let himself go along with what this trash human planned.

Thank you for reading! :3