#Gil is like so I did find it...and now it's gone

[softquietsteadylove]

Thenamesh. Tomb Raider. AU. Please.

Gil did his best to swim to the surface but it wasn't easy. The tunnel he had followed let out to a rather violent section of the river. He had chosen this slightly riskier path entirely because he had thought it might give him a head start on Thena.

Did Thena make it out okay?

He had bigger problems to worry about, like surviving this river.

He fought to the surface, gasping in what air he could before he was tossed aside again. Okay, so choosing the tunnel section close to the rapids was not his wisest decision. He was trying to think like his more reckless and impulsive colleague!

Colleague probably wasn't the right word for what they had. A frenemyship...a rivalry...some tension that he knew he felt, but was quite sure Thena was oblivious to. Not that it mattered now that he was drowning.

"Gil!"

He was hallucinating now. Much closer to drowning than he thought--great. He hit a rock under the water, its speed overpowering all the muscles he had worked so hard for. His air left him in one gulp.

He wasn't sure if it was a hallucination or not when he saw Thena in front of him. His eyes were barely open when she swam down to him. The river was calmer further from the surface. She swam right up to him, pressing her lips to his, pushing air from her lungs into his.

He must be dying, he thought.

Thena's hands gripped the straps of his bag, urging up back into the momentum of the river. He knew she was plenty strong herself. She would have to be, to be called 'Tomb Raider' by those in their profession, freelance or otherwise.

Thena gasped loudly as she surfaced first, then forcing his head up as well. "Breathe, you bastard!"

He didn't know how necessary the name calling was. But he did take in a breath--a real breath of air. So, he wasn't hallucinating, and he wasn't dead. He was surprised.

"Come on," she growled, still fighting against the current to keep him afloat. "Just keep breathing."

He tried his best, although he was waterlogged, to put it lightly. He felt her sharp talons of fingers creep around his pockets, finally pulling at the zipper of his bag, "hey!"

Thena grunted as she finally disposed of the counterweight he had in his side pocket, expressly for the purpose of switching out certain artifacts, potentially surrounded by traps. "Not a world of difference, but a stone is a stone."

He wasn't sure if that was a crack about how heavy he was or if she really was talking about the rock he was planning on switching out.

They did eventually make it to the side of the river. Thena grabbed onto the riverbank first, fingers dug into the grass and holding onto the strap of his bag for dear life. "Come on."

Gil groaned, dragging himself up out of the water after her. He did feel heavier after his impromptu river ride, he had to admit. He coughed up some water, although he was pretty sure he could hear Thena doing the same. "Thanks."

She remained facing away from him, also fighting to catch her breath. He had underestimated just how strong she was, apparently, given her ability to drag him to shore with those thin little arms. "Imbecile."

"Okay," he huffed, turning over to sit on his butt and lean back on his palms to gasp in the rest of his air. "I'll send you a card, I guess."

"What were you thinking?!"

Gil stared at her as she grasped the front of his soaking wet shirt, shaking him. Her voice was raw and warbled from the shouting and the almost drowning. But it was more than that; she had tears in her eyes.

She shook him again, looking terribly upset (angry and otherwise). "Why didn't you follow me?"

"I-I-" he shook his head, still stunned.

She grabbed his shirt with both hands now, pulling him closer so she could really shout in his face. "Why didn't you follow me?!--down my tunnel! It leads further downstream, at a lower altitude!"

She seemed awfully upset with him for...almost dying? Gil let her grab and shake him all she wanted though. Whatever helped her get it out (and not start punching him). "I didn't know. This was the way I came in."

"You could have died, Gil," she asserted, since apparently it bared repeating. She never called him Gil.

"I-" he blinked, sitting up more properly and gently reaching up to her hands. He tried to pry them away from him gently, and she let go as soon as he touched her. But her hands were so small, and so soft, and now they were so cold, too. He held them in his, "I'm sorry, Thena."

She didn't have a clever response to him holding her hands and wholeheartedly apologising. He still wasn't sure why he was apologising for almost dying on her, but what the Lady wanted, the Lady got.

Thena sighed, her hair now hanging around her cheeks limply after their little log ride. "I thought I was the reckless of the two of us."

The two of them made quite a pair, he thought. He chuckled, looking up at her in her hunched position up on her knees. His hand drifted, and he almost wondered what it was doing. He pushed back some of her loose strands escaping her braid, tucking them behind her ear again. "Guess I had to beat you to it, just this once."

Fuck, she was beautiful. If only her very existence didn't interfere with every job he had ever taken.

Thena looked him over, determining if he really was fit to travel or if he was having one last surge before croaking right in front of her. But she must have been satisfied, because she rocked back on her heels before standing. "Just this once, Gilgamesh."

He mourned how she called him Gil.

"Are you able to walk?" she asked more genuinely, more firmly, and more like her usual self. She glanced at him over her shoulder (with as little effort as possible). "Or should I come back for you."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he insisted, even as he let out a loud groan to get on his feet again. "Maybe if I tell them I almost died trying to get that stupid idol they'll still pay me for my trouble."

"You did technically find it," she shrugged as they began trudging back to the main basecamp around the remains of the city. "I would vouch that your finder's fee still applies."

He smiled, tired as it was. Her shoulders sat lower than before, and she had never looked more delicate to him. But he dared to nudge her shoulder with his elbow, "thanks for saving me."

She declined to respond to that.

If she wanted to walk in silence then so be it. But he had to wonder, "where's the idol."

"Bottom of the river."

Fuck.

"It was made of gold, Gilgamesh, I could not possibly have swam with that on my person."

She abandoned it...for him? He looked at her curiously, but apparently his eyes burning a hole in the side of her head was low down on her priority list.

"Which means my finder's fee also applies."

Ah, that was more like the Thena he knew. He chuckled, soaking up the sun, both for the warmth and in hopes it would help dry out his clothing. It was stuck to him like a second skin. He would worry about Thena, but her raiding outfits tended to stick to her like a second skin already.

Not that he had noticed.

"I can always go back for it."

He laughed more fully, even though his lungs still ached a little. She elbowed him for it this time, and damn her elbows were pointier than his. But he let it slide, given how she did forsake a great treasure to save him. "No racing this time."

"It was never a race," she rolled her eyes at him. "And if it were, I had beaten you anyway."

Ah, Thena never changed. And he kind of didn't want her to.

#Thenamesh Tomb Raider AU #I give the people what they want!!! #I hope you don't mind I'm continuing on that other prompt I had #I did my homework! #I watched the movies #tried to get a sense of her character #I like the idea of Gil being another freelancer #and the poor guy is constantly losing contracts because the Tomb Raider got here first #meanwhile he's like Thena please some of us have bills to pay #she looks at him like yes my house is huge it has many bills #They drag themselves to basecamp #Gil is like so I did find it...and now it's gone #they're like the fuck bro #but Thena glares at them like A MAN ALMOST DIED #she lays right into 'em because she doesn't give a flying fuck about these old bastards and what they think of her #Gilgamesh admits to himself that he's a little moved #not just that Thena doesn't want him dead #but that she would feel strongly enough to yell about it? #he thinks yelling is her love language #also he does send her a card #and flowers #and it thanks her for saving his life #and he draws a little 'x' to “return the kiss” #Karun and Druig back at the estate are like exCUSE ME??? #Thena: *throwing the whole bouquet into the fire* it's nothing #pt 2

[indiefilmfatale]

watch you want me

gif by gil-rizzo ^ plot: you want to watch steve get his rocks up without touching him at all content warnings: graphic language, masturbation, voyeurism (reader watches ooh), dirty talk, all the good things word count: a/n: had a visceral dream about this and could not stop thinking about it all day send smutty steve asks pleeeease!

“You don’t wanna, like, touch me or anything? You just want to watch?”

You bite your lip, almost too horny to be embarrassed. “Yeah. I think it’d be hot.”

It’s mid-morning. A rare moment where both of your schedules result on a day off for the two of you, but you were basking in it. Laying in bed all morning, falling in and out and back into sleep, adjusting into different cuddling positions until you finally decided to wake up. And even when you did, you just spent the time talking and laughing with your head resting on his bare chest. Eventually the conversation drifted into bored fantasies, drawing your finger over his chest and twirling the small hairs ever-so-softly. “Well are you at least gonna touch yourself?” Steve’s eyes dot down your body for just a second. You’re wearing a white tank top and a pair of his boxers that hug your curves perfectly. It’s his favorite outfit on you.

“Mm-mm,” You hum as you shake your head, fluttering your eyelashes at him.

Steve sighs, “Okay, I mean, it couldn’t hurt, right?”

You chuckle at his awkwardness, then peel yourself off of him to rest your head in your hand, elbow propped up on the pillow next to him. He adjusts his stature, relaxing himself into place.

“Do- Do I just,” He waves his hand around, as if he’s never jerked off before. You grip his wrist and guide it down under the sheets, where his bare cock rests flaccid. He often slept naked, swears by its comfortability but given how many times you two have fucked in the morning, you assumed it was for accessibility reasons. Less fabric to get out of the way.

When you see him grip himself, you let go, arm resting on your side. He starts slow, just sort of rubbing himself until he’s half hard. You grow impatient, gripping his wrist again until his hand rests below your chin.

Your eyes stare back at him as he watches you drop a wad of spit into his palm. He’s instantly erect, licking his lips and clenching his thighs. “That’s all the help you’re getting from me, Harrington.” You say as you wipe your lip.

He swallows, lowering his hand once more. The new slick of his fingers does wonders, moving his hand up and down his cock with a steady pace. “What’re you thinking about?” You casually bring the hem of his bed sheet down to his mid-thighs, giving yourself the full view of his strokes.

“Mm, your tits.” He’s already panting.

You anchor your fingers around the neckline of your tank top, lowering the shirt so just enough cleavage protrudes. “Oh, you mean these?” You lightly rub one of your nipples through the fabric.

“Mm hm, yeah.” He’s so incoherent, which makes you only want to get more words out of him. You want to know what dirty thoughts find their way into his brain when he’s at his most vulnerable.

“What would you do with them? If you could touch me…”

“Put them in my mouth, your perfect fucking tits. I’d— I’d suck on your nipple, put my hands all over you. Fuck.” His strokes are a little faster now. You can see a spurt of pre-cum drip down his cock, and you have to hold back your own hunger to suck on the mushroom tip until it turns red. You can practically taste him.

“What if I fucked you with them, hm?” Your voice has gone soft and seductive. “Put your fat cock between my tits and let you fuck them until you came all over my face?”

“Yea…” He whispers, eyes darting between your own eyes and the nipple that you’re pinching between your fingers. These lovely hums keep coming from his throat.

“Will you come for me, Steve? Will you let me watch you cum over that perfect torso of yours?” Your fulling massaging your tits now, feeling a warmth in your core that aches to be filled for him.

“I wanna cum for you so bad, fuck.” His strokes are even faster. “Are you wet?”

“God, I’m soaking, Harrington. I want you to fuck me so bad.” You can’t help but bring your hand down to where his boxers meet your vulva, pushing against the fabric until you feel the cotton against your clit. You lean forward, your lips against his ear. You can see his adam’s apple bobbing as he gulps, breathing shallow and desperate.

“Imagine how it feels to fuck me, Steve. Imagine my cunt is squeezing and throbbing against your cock as you fuck me into oblivion. Legs shaking around your hips, cumming and cumming and cumming as you keep fucking me. Whining and moaning into your ear.” You lick his lobe, and he grunts sweetly as his brows curve upward in pleasure.

Your speech blurs into moans, almost pornographically spelling it out for him as if he’s fucking you right now. “Mm, you feel so good inside, Stevie. Fuck, it hurts. Cumming over and over again as you pump your big fucking cock inside of me. But don’t stop, baby, please don’t stop. I wanna cry over how good your cock feels, mm-hm,”

His mouth is agape, eyes squeezed shut as his orgasm approaches. “I-I’m gonna cum, oh god, I’m cumming.” His voice reaches an octave only reserved in these visceral moments of pleasure.

“Cum for me, baby. I wanna see you cum.” You whisper one last time. He groans as his cock spills cum down his hand and onto his happy trail. His shoulders tense and twitch, his neck tense with veins protruding. “God, fuck…” He moans, keeping his hand tight around the tip until the last drip gushes out.

You rub his chest firmly, a proud smile plastered onto your face as his body relaxes next to you. “That was so good, Stevie.”

He sighs, hand falling onto his hip and head tilting lazily toward you. Your nipples are still hard under your shirt. “Can we do you now?”

#re: unproofed #guys i need him so bad #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington blurb #stranger things smut #stranger things blurb

[smokerswifey]

The seven deadly assholes :

This post is basically me ranting about the biggest bastards in the nnt universe ( I'd rlly like to see other people's opinion on this lol).

7. Ban's Parents

Ban's parents have the last place in the list ( both on parenting and in being assholes ) . They literally had one page in the entire series and still managed to make it into this list !

Seeing Ban getting beat up in the manga was hard enough but in the anime + the emotional music had me punching the air like a 5 year old .

I hope these two are roting in their disgusting home, crying in rage when they find out that there " crap for brains" son is a wealthy king with a family of his own now .

6. Ironside

Yet another crappy parent has made it into the running ! Not only did this jerk abandon his son as a baby and dumped him on his father ( is percival even Ironside's son ?) he couldn't let the poor kid live in peace and MURDERED Percy's grandpa, his own father in cold blood before trying to kill percival too leaving him to die .

If that wasn't enough we found out not that long ago that this ass is happily raising HIS OTHER SON in Camelot, proving that he can actually be a good dad... BUT NOT TO PERCIVAL 💀.

No instead the few times they ran into each other, Ironsid tried to kill percival, harmed his friends and even tried manipulating him into thinking he cared for him to take him by surprise in a fight .

Diodra and Percy both deserve a better dad tbh.

5. Cath Palug

I LOVED YOU, YOU STUPID CAT, I LOVED YOU SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭😭 !!

This adorable piece of crap is what triggered Arthur's descent into evil and I will never ever ever forgive him for that.

( I really loved him...)

4. Arthur

Since I was talking about arthur, I think that the king of chaos rightfully deserved 4th place ( ironically he got 4th place in the popularity contest )

This boy has lost his entire kingdom and his subjects .

He has been betrayed by his closest companions ( Cath, Meliodas when he lost his emotions, Merlin when she used him to awaken Chaos )

He even DIED and came back to life which must've been very traumatising for a teenager ( I think he was 16 during the holy war.

The fact that he went through all of his crap makes a lot of the fandom ( including me ) a bit more emphathising towards him when he became evil .

But he still murdered hundreds of fairy's and giants when they were being manipulated by the supreme deity, ( cursed by light ), capture non human races to turn them into disfigured freaks ( Grudge of edinburgh) and manipulated vulnerable people who lost loved ones in the holy war to join his side . Plus his punishments for knights who have failed his expectations are horrific.

So yeah Arthur your kind of an asshole.

( but I blame merlin and chaos and hopelessly keep believing that he'll come to his senses )

3. Supreme deity and Demon King

*sigh*

You guys take the crown for the worst parents in the nnt universe aswell as the worst leaders of your races .

I'm getting tired and I'm too lazy to make the two page essay of why these creatures are the biggest shit stains on Brittania .

So instead I'm going to close my eyes and revel in the fact that they are both gone.

.....

I'm still reveling

2. Vivian

LOCK THIS BITCH UP FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHAT IS WRONG WITH LIONES SECURITY ????

STRIKE ONE : SHE'S BEEN OBSESSING OVER GILTHINDER SINCE HE WAS A CHILD AND TRIED TO RUIN HIS WHOLESOME RELATIONSHIP WITH MARGARET .

STRIKE TWO : SHE HELPS HENDRICKSON

STRIKE THREE : SHE STALKS GILTHUNDER AFTER THE WAR TO THE POINT THAT THEY HAVE TO PUT A CURSE RING ON HER SO SHE STAYS AWAY FROM HIM

STRIKE FOUR : SHE KIDNAPS GIL, LOCKS HIM UP IN SOME GODESS ISLAND OR WHATEVER AND GETS TURNED ON WHEN GILTHUNDER USES THE CURSE RING IN HER, LIKE ITS LITERALLY PAINFUL WHY ARE YOU SMILING???

STRIKE FIVE : SHE KIDNAPS GIL AND MARGARETS 3 YEAR OLD, KEEPS HIM HOSTAGE FOR SIX YEARS AND TURNS HIM INTO A PSYCHO

STRIKE 6 : KIDNAPS CHION AGAIN ???

AGAIN WHAT IS WRONG WITH LIONES SECURITY 😭😭😭😭.

1. Merlin

Merlin, merlin, merlin...

My old favorite character Merlin...

The most badass female character in nnt Merlin...

I was rooting for you...

Until you screwed over all your friends, your apprentice and the whole world for your thirst for KNOWLEDGE.

...

KNOWLEDGE ???

Arthur became a racist for knowledge???

You betrayed your found family for knowledge ??

Escanor's death and sacrifice...was for knowledge...?

You know what glutton, you won the mofo first place just GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU, WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU, HOW DARE YOU-

Sorry for the mistakes and lazy writing i got tired in the end ngl .

Thank you, brave people who read this and goodnight

#nanatsu no taizai #seven deadly sins #4koa #long post

[hollygl125]

On taking a risk:

I love these two. Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom. Jorja Fox and William Petersen. I love them both. I love them all. (If you’re following this blog, this probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you.)

I love these two moments. I love these moments for Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom. I love these performances by Jorja Fox and William Petersen.

In discussing the new song for which she co-wrote the lyrics, Jorja Fox said (slightly cleaned up by me), “It’s worth taking a risk to get to love someone and be loved.” In “Girls Gone Wilder,” (CSI, 15x05), Sara Sidle says, “I mean, to be with somebody who really gets you, who loves you for who you are—I don’t know. I think it’s worth the risk.” In A History of My Brief Body, Billy Ray-Belcourt (a writer and academic from the Driftpile Cree Nation) writes, “To love someone is firstly to confess: I’m prepared to be devastated by you.”

And I love these two moments because, to me, they both really show that risk—the risk of devastation, of being devastated by someone.

Based on what we see in the first scene, I’ve always believed Sara didn’t know Grissom was coming to the rainforest for her. Maybe after his initial non-answer answer he believed she deserved such a sweeping gesture; maybe he believed she’d be less likely to reject him in person. But he goes after her. During his trek through the rainforest, he’s eager to find her. Then finally he does, and, in that moment when he stands there, before she turns around, I think there is anticipation but also clear awareness of that risk.

For years he feared he might put everything that was comfortable in his life at risk for Sara only to have her ultimately reject him. It’s a risk that, in “Butterflied” (CSI, 04x12), he initially described himself as having been unable to take. But now, here, he’s really done it: he has given up his job and everything comfortable and safe, and he still risks Sara’s rejection. But now he knows—he knows that the risk is worthwhile—it’s a risk he is willing to take, because he knows what it is to love and to be loved by Sara.

In the second scene, I also think Grissom does not know that Sara is coming after him. She looks a bit worried when she gets out of the cab and scans the marina for him, she hurries down the ramp, but then she looks pretty calm as she’s walking down the dock to him. He has, after all, just declared (albeit not directly to her) his love for her, that she’s been his best friend, that she’s restored his faith in the human being, that he’ll miss her for the rest of his life. So our girl should be pretty confident in her endeavour. But, then again, the man did divorce her, and she’s just 100% given up her new job (if you use the deleted scenes as your headcanon, which JF would have to have been doing at the time) to come after him.

So she looks pretty calm heading down the dock, but then there’s that moment where she’s standing in front of him, waiting for him to do something—your move, buddy. And she does this little intake of breath at the end, and I feel like that’s the moment where you really feel how much she is putting her heart out there; she is risking everything, like he has done before. It’s that little intake of breath that seems to jar him into movement. But it’s in that moment that I really feel how much she is willing to put herself at risk for this man, how she is willing to risk her heart—but, of course, this is Sara, so I think she has always been willing to risk everything for this man.

At different times in the series (Sara in “Girls Gone Wilder” and Grissom in “Immortality”), both Sara and Grissom speak of love and their relationship with the other in a manner that shows they both thought their relationship was worth the risk even when they thought it didn’t have a happy ending. (Cue the tears.)

@addictedtostorytelling has some relatively short meta on that subject, and you should probably go read it if you want to feel weepy for a bit.

In chapter 13 of my current fic, I let the characters themselves discuss the same. (I’ll probably leave you less weepy. I just went back to look at that chapter, and honestly I made myself a little weepy. I’m pretty much non-stop tears and anxiety, though, so you probably shouldn’t let me be your gauge.)

The events that necessitated the events of “Immortality” should never have happened; they were a complete betrayal, and I will never think otherwise. But I do love the parallels that were created in the end: both characters giving up what had become a very comfortable existence for a chance—a chance—at happiness—a chance (no guarantee, still the risk of rejection) to go off on an adventure with the one they love. They are both willing to risk that utter devastation, and I love it, and I love them.

So, yes, I love these two and their story, and I love these performances.

Also, GSR Day is tomorrow (except it’s actually today—February 9—because I always end up posting things after midnight). Since this is nothing but the first of my completely made-up GSR holidays, I will probably do nothing but reblog my first GSR Day post and post a completely unrelated GIF-set and maybe re-read my “how they met” fic. Actually, now that I think about that last one, I’m kind of excited for it. So happy almost-GSR Day. Did I mention I love these two? 😉

(I have to add that, according to Zuiker, they did not have much time or money to shoot “Immortality,” and it definitely shows in the lighting on Jorja Fox’s face in parts of that final scene. So, for the second gif: it’s not me doing odd things; it’s the source material.)

#gsr #otp: gsr #sara sidle #gil grissom #sara x grissom #grissom x sara #💛: survivors in the night #my thoughts and feelings on the two lovely science nerds

[dangermousie]

Dramas for the first half of 2023

Now that we are six months into 2023, time to do one of these posts. I am gonna include both Korean and Chinese dramas, because why not and any drama I even checked out is on it.

DRAMAS WATCHED

29. Romance of Twin Flower  (China) - make it cease existing! My favorite het web novel got murdered and then had its grave spat on.

28. Dominator of Martial Gods  (China) - if MST3K still existed, this drama would be prime material for it.

27. Wanru’s Journey  (China) - acting. Try it!

26. Royal Rumors  (China) - they tried acting. But forgot to try having a functional screenplay on top.

25. The Last Princess  (China) - acting is nonexistent and the story is trash but it never aspired to be what it wasn’t and was kinda cute.

24. Oasis  (Korea) - great acting in a story with a screenplay that goes round and round fruitlessly like a hamster in a cage.

23. The Trust  (China) - the OTP in this one swaps bodies but it would have been better for everyone if whoever made this and an actual competent writer swapped theirs.

22. Snow Eagle Lord  (China) - yet another drama in which Xu Kai does his best to keep acting opposite a wooden costar and through a terrible screenplay. There is something seriously wrong with that man’s career choices.

21. Heartbeat  (Korea) - the good: it’s harmless. The bad: it’s harmless.

20. Back from the Brink  (China) - ummm the people are pretty? And if I were 10 I’d be all about this show but as is...

19. Joseon Attorney  (Korea) - slightly less fun than reading a legal treatise.

18. The Starry Love  (China) - the definition of a xianxia playing it safe and pastel; I did love the secondary couple a lot but it was not enough to save that snoozefest of a drama.

17. Chong Zi  (China) - badly acted and a screenplay that somehow manages to be both repetitive and disjointed. But I am a sucker for the shizunfucker trope so here we are.

16. Island  (Korea) - a mess but Kim Nam Gil is hot with a sword.

15. Circle of Love  (China) - rationally, a hot mess. But so entertaining and addicting and fall of make outs of epicness!

14. Lady Durian  (Korea) - makjang from the Queen of Makjang and with that scrumptious cast! This is gonna be GOOD!

13. The Forbidden Marriage  (Korea) - sweet and oddly charming despite nobody in it bothering to act much.

12. Pledge of Allegiance  (China) - the way they had to edit it likely due to censorship made it less than it what could have been but still more than most dramas this year.

11. Choice Husband (China) - delicious cliches and tropes and angst in the rain!

10. Hidden Love  (China) - to make ME of all people to care about a fluffy modern is a bona fide miracle but the two mains are chemistry machines who portray longing so well.

9. Gone with the Rain  (China) - wildly uneven but our heroine and the sexy general she eventually chooses are pure gold!

8. The Secret Romantic Guest House (Korea) - how to do youth sageuk right. Everything about this just works!

7. Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow  (Korea) - it has flaws but is so gorgeous and full of longing and grief and everything good!

6. Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938  (Korea) - a sequel/prequel that is almost as good as the original, how often does that happen?

5. See You In My 19th Life  (Korea) - wacky and grieving, delicate and odd, this is everything I ever want in a kdrama.

4. Call It Love  (Korea) - a truly exquisite story of trauma and loneliness and healing and love.

3. Till the End of the Moon  (China) - gloriously messy in every way this is just MORE. The ending is enraging and there are issues but when it hits, it hits so hard the rest of it does not matter - the dark characters, the dysfunctional love story, the battles, the insane visuals, the EVERYTHING of it. This is what fantasy should be like.

2. Chang Feng Du/Destined  (China) - came out of nowhere to own my heart via its story of growing up and finding love and slow organic relationship building and keeping your soul in a world of horrors.

1. The Ingenuous One  (China) - the best one, so I am gonna talk about it below.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Ingenuous One - so impossibly solid, from acting to visuals to screenplay to EVERYTHING! Adult characters with adult issues and choices, both moral dilemmas and battles equally compelling. The love stories, the friendships, the shades of grey. This is utterly and completely adult.

WORST DRAMA

Romance of the Twin Flower - if I could make one drama cease to exist, this would be it.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Tantai Jin, Till The End of the Moon - the best character this year hands down - by turns (and timelines) unhinged monster, a contained saint, a victim of abuse trying to attain being viewed as human, a schemer, a ruler, grief personified, curiosity and monstrosity and nobility all mingled.

Runner up: Jang Uk, Alchemy of Souls - sunshine boy gone dark and grieving, but still with that same core of steel.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Shim Woo Joo, Call It Love - she’s damaged and impulsive and relationship-phobic and revenge driven and glorious!

Runner Up:  Shu Ya Nan (The Ingenuous One) - allowed to be tough and dark and with her own agenda and not a member of a good sect and just so cool.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Han Dong Jin’s Mom, Call It Love - that woman was horrifying and the source of so much of his trauma; a real realistic monster petty in all ways except for the damage she inflicted.

FAVORITE SHIP

Gu Jiusi/Liu Yuru, Chang Feng Du - wholesome and helping each other grow and talking it out but also there is blood feeding and midnight rescues and everything. They are good but not in the least boring.

Runner Up: Woo Joo/Dong Jin, Call It Love - two wounded souls finding such slow but such amazing healing with each other.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Su Ming Yu/Ke Menglan, The Ingenuous One - there’s actually been a lot of good secondary OTPs this year (General x Fox in TTEOTM, Investigator x Princess, TIO, Rang/Mermaid, TOTNT1938) but these two owned my heart - gentleman merchant x gambling hostess ftw.

NOTP

Romance of Twin Flower - they took my favorite het novel OTP, smart and coldblooded and forces of nature and turned them into THAT?

SHIRTLESSNESS AWARD

Xiao Hong Ye, Circle of Love - guy was a terrible abuser but those pecs were the real sin!

CRAZIEST FUNFEST

Circle of Love - screenplay written by rabid monkeys and populated by a bunch of psychos but such ridiculous, irresistible fun!

FAVORITE SCENE

Tantai Jin confronting Li Susu in jail, Till the End of the Moon - the energy, the intensity, the darkness the EVERYTHING.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Li Gong Quan, The Ingenuous One - yeah whatever, I realize he’s a minor character but I loved him so much! The whole having to bring down your benefactor who’s gone evil tho you are in love with his daughter should have been a whole other drama!

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Chen Wende, Gone with the Rain - most of this drama is not that exciting but whenever his King of Trolls hot general shows up, I sit up and pay attention. I am 35 eps deep because of him.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

The Ingenuous One - I am dying to see what happens to royal investigator and supposedly dead princess, how our OTP will travel the world, the merchant and his lady, Ten Taels and his orphans and his girl and just everything. I loved these people so!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

Till the End of the Moon - it was clear they cut a BUNCH in the last third to fit the ridiculous new “40 eps or bust” rule and it would flow so much more smoothly if it was allowed to breathe.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Romance of Twin Flower - it should have been shredded into nonexistence sorry not sorry.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Pledge of Allegiance - this drama was good but had gaping lacunae where too many scissors were taken to it for censorship reasons; I am surprised even what’s left was allowed to air tbh but still...

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Shrill = cute - I see it every year, I hate it every year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Hot Men Whump - come one, TTEOTM alone would fill the quota but we also had CFD, Call It Love, See You in my 19th life etc etc.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Back from the Brink - it’s based on a novel by an author whose other novels (Zhao Yao, Blue Whispers, Mulberry Song) I adore and the novelist was the screenwriter so I was so excited. But it was a juvenile, flat mess that de-powered the heroine and taught me that yeah, sometimes the writer should not adopt their work.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Chang Feng Du - I loved the novel but the trailers were a fluffy bland disaster and I checked it out with zero expectations. However, this is a glorious adaptation, a lesson in how to transport a massive novel on screen into slim 40 eps and to account for changes in medium and stricter censorship restrictions for dramas versus books while keeping the essential vibe of the original.

BEST NON-2023 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2023

The Imperial Doctress (China) - the pining the pining by the Hot Emperor! This is like all my web novel dreams come true!

MOST ANTICIPATED

A Journey to Love/Prisoner of Beauty/My Journey to You/Kunning Palace - maybe one of them will air before the world ends.

#cdrama #kdrama #2023 drama list

[lordgrimwing]

Nesting

Gil-galad hadn’t seen much of Elrond over the last several days. That, in and of itself, wasn’t too unusual; they were both busy people, after all. But he’d spoken to him briefly last night as he was heading to his study after dinner and the apprentice was just getting back from the Hall of Healing. So he knew he’d come back to the house instead of falling asleep in the Hall or (even worse) somewhere along the streets between there and here. He wanted to talk to him about an upcoming gala, one with visiting dignitaries from Doriath, but his friend looked like he was nearly dead on his feet, so he let the moment pass, telling himself they could talk over breakfast the next day—Elrond should have the day off from the Hall if his memory served him, so he should make an appearance at the morning meal, simple as it was.

Which was all well and good, up until he checked his schedule and realized he was supposed to attend the agriculture council this morning. The council always met at a terribly early hour. Honestly, he didn’t even know why he was the one who had to attend, he knew next to nothing about farming or harvesting or anything else related to agriculture beyond the eating of delicious food. He must just be low enough on the peon ladder to get the meetings no one else wanted. The 'why' really didn’t matter because now he had to leave the house hours ahead of schedule and he couldn’t wait for breakfast if he still wanted to talk to Elrond, which he very much did.

So, he went to his room and knocked on the door.

“Elrond,” He called, opening the door. “I apologize for the horribly early visit, but I—” 

He swallowed the rest of his words. The room was empty.

Elrond wasn’t there. In fact, it looked like he hadn’t been there all night: the bed was perfectly made, and the pitcher of water the servants left on the occasional table was completely untouched. The half-elf was generally a very tidy person, but he wasn’t so obsessed with order as to keep things exactly the way he’d found them. Had he not used his room last night?

Puzzled, he stepped out of the room and looked up and down the quiet hall. Where would Elrond sleep if not in his room? This was very peculiar. He should have set the oddity aside and gone to prepare for the council, but if there was one thing he liked, it was sniffing out a good mystery. He began checking the other unused guest rooms.

Fifteen minutes and half a dozen rooms later, he stood outside his own chambers, no closer to finding his wayward friend. Baffled, and slightly concerned, he started toward the stairs down to the kitchen. Perhaps the cook, who always arrived frightfully early, saw Elrond or had some idea for where he might have gone off to.

As he neared the tightly spiraled staircase mostly used by the servants for quick access to different floors, he passed an old closet, hardly used these years except for the occasional guests who brought more than they could keep in their rooms. Gil-galad had no reason to stop here, except that as he passed the door he thought he heard the faint sound of something moving inside. 

He paused. 

Oh, he hoped that wasn’t some animal that decided to move into the unused space. The house really was built for grander affairs than even he could pull together on a regular basis, and it seemed like every few months he heard about another nest of little critters getting relocated after someone found them living in a too-long unused spot. He didn’t particularly want to deal with angry little creatures who’d just had their home disturbed, but if he just continued on, he might forget about it entirely and not ask anyone to look into it later. Steeling his nerves, he put his hand on the little handle and opened the door.

Inside, he was confronted by a mound of blankets and winter clothing twisted together into a mass that managed to keep its shape when the door opened. In the center of the fabrics, nestled comfortably under what looked suspiciously like a tablecloth he'd seen last week, his eyes half hooded and smiling slightly in dreamy content, lay Elrond.

Gil-galad stared at him in open-mouthed surprise. What in all of Middle-earth was he doing sleeping in a closet? He said as much, voice high with shock.

Elrond blinked, his eyes coming back into focus as he shook himself and looked up. His expression quickly changed from profound relaxation to surprise and then embarrassment. He blushed, color rising in his cheeks. 

“I’m sorry,” He apologized, uncurling himself in the tight space and sitting up, somehow still looking comfortably nestled in the mound of material. 

“What are you doing in here?” Gil-galad asked. This couldn’t possibly be more comfortable than a bed with a proper mattress. 

“I’m sorry,” He said again, picking up the hem of a garment that looked suspiciously like one of Gil-galad’s winter riding robes which should have been shut away in storage until the weather cooled. He held it up to his chest like some kind of flimsy barrier. “I tried finding someplace where I wouldn’t get in the way.”

“‘Get in the way’?” Gil-galad repeated, baffled. He looked at the pile of fabric, this time realizing that it wasn’t just a randomly thrown-together collection of unused bedding and clothes. It looked, albeit poorly made, like a nest. “Are—Elrond, are you nesting?”

The half-elf blushed harder and hid his face in his hands. “I didn’t mean to!” He exclaimed. 

Gil-galad was horrified. “You can’t nest in here,” He reached out to take one of the quilts.

Elrond’s hand shot out as if to stop him. 

He froze, fingers hovering over the old quilt, and looked up. To his surprise, his friend looked like he was on the verge of tears. “This isn’t—” He began to say but was interrupted.

“You’re right,” Elrond sniffled. “I shouldn’t have taken these things. They’re yours and I’ll put them back where I found them so you can use them. I shouldn’t have let myself take them in the first place. I’m sorry, I’ve inconvenienced you. You must have better things to do with your morning than tracking all this down.” 

He rose on his knees and began picking up the top layer of the nest. Gil-galad felt almost physically ill at the distress on his face at the prospect of pulling apart what he’d so painstakingly built. 

“Wait,” He said. “That’s not what I meant.”

Elrond looked at him cautiously, the embarrassment still clear on his face but mingled now with a touch of shame that made Gil-galad’s chest clench.

He sat back on his heels, making it clear that he wasn’t about to go anywhere. As calmly as he could, he said, “You shouldn’t be nesting in a closet. You don’t need to hide.” 

Looking a little confused, Elrond settled back down on the fabric, unconsciously snuggling against the armful of clothes he’d picked up. “I’m not hiding,” He said. “I just don’t want to be in anyone’s way.”

“How would nesting in your room, on an actual bed, put you in anyone’s way? It’s your room.” Gil-galad said, feeling like he was missing something.

“I don’t want to be in my room,” Frustration flashed in his friend’s voice. 

“Why?” He made a point of ensuring all the rooms were perfectly comfortable. He liked comfortable things.

Elrond squinted back at him and his tone suggested that was a rather foolish question. “It’s too big and empty.”

“So you’d rather be in a closet?” 

He groaned and clutched at the makeshift bedding. “It’s out of the way.”

Gil-galad furrowed his brow. As far as he understood, the point of nesting wasn’t to hide in some small, out-of-the-way spot, all alone. In fact, it generally involved a lot of cuddling and spending time with romantic or platonic friends. He couldn’t wrap his head around why Elrond would want to shut himself away and avoid everyone else in the house.

“Is this a Fëanorian thing?” He asked. 

The half-elf came to Mithlond from one of the nomadic bands. While nothing like the savage avari tribes in the eastern wildlands, the Fëanorians kept themselves separate enough from the rest of the realm to develop their own peculiar traditions. He wouldn’t put it past them to have some kind of taboo on nesting.

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say, as Elrond’s expression grew suddenly defensive.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” He amended, even though he had. Thanks to all the trade meetings he attended, he had a better understanding than the average citizen of how important those wandering groups were to the economy and particularly in maintaining contact with the human settlements far to the north. That didn’t mean he couldn’t find them odd and off-putting at times. “It’s just that it feels like we may be running into a cultural difference. I’m sorry that I made you feel like you can’t nest in here—and you can! If that’s really what you want to do. But you don’t have to.”

“I don’t mind,” Elrond said quickly, not nearly as defensive as he’d been before.

Gil-galad sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “You don’t mind a lot of things that I, and most everyone else here, think are absolutely intolerable. Could you explain why you want to nest in this old closet?”

He knew it wasn’t his friend’s job to explain himself or his upbringing to anyone, least of all a minor member of King Finarfin’s court, but he wouldn’t be able to focus all day if he thought the other was hiding because he didn’t want to be a bother—which he never was—or, worse yet, because Gil-galad did something to make him think the behavior wasn’t acceptable. 

That last part was a truly horrible thought. “Wait,” He said. “Did I do something that made you feel unwelcome?”

“No!” Elrond exclaimed, releasing the comforting material and taking one of his hands between his own. “No, you’ve been nothing but unbelievably kind and welcoming, even if you do drag me off to every event you can.”

Of course, he did. As his patron, it was his duty to set him up for the most successful future possible, and in Lindon that included introducing him to as many powerful figures as he could manage. Plus, those parties were far more pleasant when he had Elrond to talk to.

“Then why do you want to hide?” 

“I’m not hiding,” Elrond insisted despite all appearances to the contrary. “I’m—I—” He struggled over whatever he was trying to say, flustered. 

Gil-galad squeezed his hand encouragingly.

Elrond inhaled, his shoulders hunching up to his ears. “There isn’t much opportunity to nest,” He said the word like it was some kind of ill omen, “while traveling. We’re usually moving around too much to have the urge. But if you do get it and can’t shake it, the only option is to take space in one of the wagons and try to make do or else make the whole group stop while you make a nest somewhere quiet. And it’s so frustrating for everyone because we need to keep going but we can’t. 

“It’s different when we set up a longer camp. We’ll stay for a few fortnights sometimes, and that’s more than enough time to build a nest and get through it. And if you want someone in the nest with you, there’s always someone around who doesn’t mind doing nothing for a little while.” He exhaled heavily, his entire body seeming to shrink down from the loss. “I can’t do that here.”

“Of course you can,” Gil-galad said, keeping his voice calm and reassuring. 

“I can’t,” Elrond insisted firmly. “I don’t have family here, or a tribe. I hardly know anyone outside of the Hall besides Erestor and you. He detests everything to do with being like this, and I can’t bother you when you already do so much for me.”

‘You damn well can,’ He almost said. Instead, he pressed his free hand to his chest and said, with complete sincerity, “I am honored that you feel safe and comfortable enough in my house to nest, and as my dear friend, I am more than happy to spend as much time with you as I can.”

Elrond looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself at this, so Gil-galad patted the edge of the pile and asked, “Mind if I join you now?”

His face lit up and he shifted to one side, making a little room for him to squeeze in beside him. The closet was not designed for one, let alone two occupants so it was a snug fit. Gil-galad had to hike up his robes and shimmy his way in, apologizing when he invariably trod on some part of the other. Elrond gave no indication that he minded in the slightest and pressed up against him as soon as he’d settled. 

Gil-galad shifted around until he could rest his cheek on the top of Elrond’s head, and soon found himself with two armfuls of very happy and very cuddly half-elf. As cramped as he was, this still beat listening to counselors drone on and on about the latest harvest or how many sheep had sore feet. 

They stayed like that, half sitting, half lying, for a good long while. 

Eventually, he felt movement beside him and opened his eyes—when had he closed them?—to see Elrond shifting around as he pulled up parts of the bedding with his fingers and toes.

“What are you doing?” He asked, fascinated. 

Elrond stopped, and from how his voice sounded, he was surely blushing. “Making it more comfortable.” 

“Ah,” Was his reply. Then, because he couldn’t help himself and because there was something so profoundly uncomfortable with thinking about anyone shutting themself away in a dark closet because they didn’t want to be perceived as a burden, he added, “A bed really would be better for that.”

Elrond sighed and pressed his face against his shoulder. “I don’t want to be in my room.”

“Because it’s too empty, right.”

They were quiet for a bit. Elrond resumed fluffing up the bedding, his breath coming out in little huffs as he worked. Gil-galad pondered the issue.

At length, he spoke again. “Are you in here because you don’t want to be in your room, or because you want to be in here specifically?”

Elrond twisted his shoulders so he could look up at him. “I don’t want to be in my room or in anyone’s way.” 

Gil-galad hummed in thought. “What about my room?” He could see the argument building in the other’s expression, so he pressed onward. “You can’t say you’re in the way if I invite you.”

A pause, and then, “But you need your bed.”

He snorted. “I certainly don’t need to sleep in it until tonight. Not to say you should be done by then. There’s more than enough room for two.” 

“You really wouldn’t mind?” Elrond asked, his voice small and muffled as he hid his face again.

“Of course not,” Gil-galad ran a hand down his companion’s unbraided hair. He rather surprised himself with the touch, it felt far more intimate than he expected.

“If you change your mind, you can tell me to go and I will.”

“I’m sure I won’t.”

“But you can.” 

He really was insistent over some of the most peculiar things. “Thank you for letting me know.”

They settled for a moment, Gil-galad not wanting to push too hard. He had plenty of time before he needed to leave for a meeting that he really couldn’t skip. There was no rush.

Elrond took a deep breath. “I’m ready to go.”

Gil-galad sat up, his back complaining at the movement after spending so long in such an odd position. “Excellent.”

“You don’t mind if I bring this too?” He asked, hesitant again as he delicately picked up an old hat. 

“I rather hoped you would. Mind if I help?”

“Please.” Elrond laughed at himself, “It’s a bit more than I meant to gather.”

Together, they collected up the odd assortment of quilts and clothes and curtains and, yes, even a saddle blanket, and walked to Gil-galad’s room.

#the story i've been talking about #now kiss #they're precious your honor #please let them realize they're more than just friends (or patron and benefactee) #sometimes you just want to nest but you're kind of embarrassed about it and your friend has to reassure you it's fine #why a saddle blanket? because I said so #the silmarillion #gil galad #elrond #elrond and gil galad #silm abo au #grimwing writes

[marietheran]

LotR reread - book 2, chapter 2 - The Council of Elrond

Tolkien once envisaged Galdor of the Havens as the same person as Galdor, Lord of Gondolin. He seems to have gone back on it, but I like that version a bit.

Mysterious Allusions Counter at 4.5

"And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so."

"The Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aeglos and Narsil, none could withstand" -- proof that what's important is a really really good sword, able to survive contact with evil beings?

"The blood of the Númenóreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon the walls of Mordor slept..." - hmmm... otoh, weird with the "lesser men", otoh, given the next sentence, it might mean less a racial change and more the Gondorians forgetting their heritage.

Boromir's (Faramir's really) dream: voice speaks out of the West. This seems important.

Another poem I learned by heart completely accidentally at 13.

Bilbo telling his story - "He did not ommit a single riddle" xdd

Mysterious Allusions Counter at 5.5

"In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe"??? In the wars of the First Age, yes, but I can't really find any instances of treason later on, unless it's the Númenóreans' collective descent into evil idiocy. But the "Dark Tower" means Sauron. A slip? Or were there betrayals we haven't been told of?

"It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill"

Whatever one thinks the Valar would say about someone bringing the Ring into Valinor (LotR declines to elaborate on "they would not receive it"), the explanation that the road to the sea will be guarded against them seems very reasonable anyhow. "Too often the Elves have fled that way" and Sauron would not have forgotten how his predecessor ended.

"But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right: and though all the mighty Elf-friends of old, Hador, and Húrin, and Túrin, and Beren himself were assembled together, your seat should be among them" (!!!)

I used to not understand why Túrin and Húrin are held in honour so high. Now I get Húrin, because the Silm seriously undersells his bravery (he was long, umm, persuaded to give up the location of Gondolin, and you can guess what kind of methods of persuasion were used - and said nothing), but despite Túrin being a problematic fave of mine, I still feel like remembering the killing of Glaurung and forgetting everything else, which everyone in ME seems to do, is a bit weird. I have seen the interpretation that it is done specifically to spite Morgoth, and I guess it makes as much sense as anything.

But anyway, rest in peace, Túrin, and that praise Frodo was given was something.

#realised I've been writing Thrangorodrim with that additional r for years #oopsie #the professor's mythopoeia #lotr reread #lotr #original post

[khazadspoon]

Well it happened. Not quite full on cat-tle drive au but catboy rowdy au has now got written content.

I’m not sorry

———

As he approached the wagon, Gil knew something was wrong by the volume at which the voices were speaking. Rowdy and Wishbone were far from the quietest pair in camp, but this was loud even for them.

“What do you mean you don’t know? You- you’re the doctor here!” Rowdy nearly wailed.

“I mean exactly what I said! I don’t know how long and I don’t know why. I’ve done more than my fair share of doctorin’ on these drives, but I ain’t never seen anything like this so quit yelling and drink the damn tonic!”

Gil rounded the chuck wagon, readying himself to play mediator once again. He took a deep, steadying breath, and glanced around at the two men and-

-promptly blinked, shut his mouth, turned, and went to grab the bottle of whiskey sticking out of the supply wagon nearby.

He shook his head and ignored the call of “boss” and “Mister Favor” as he sat heavily on a crate next to the fire.

“I’m asleep,” he told himself, “dreaming, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.”

A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed, five sharp pricks of pain shocking him. He glanced up despite his desire not to confront whatever was happening this time.

“Mister Favor, please, you gotta help me!”

Rowdy stared down at him with wide eyes Gil didn’t recognise. The usually bright but normal eyes were gone, replaced by slit pupils surrounded by a deep green so unlike Rowdy’s usual eye colour. When he sneered, as he so often did when upset or confused, sharp teeth glinted in the firelight. And his ears-

Well. They could only be described as cat’s ears. Pointed, furry, a dirty blonde colour like Rowdy’s hair, but flattened back like an… like an angry cat.

Gil took a long drink from the bottle and rubbed the back of his hand over his damp lips.

“Rowdy, this is the only time I’ll ask so think carefully before you do anything. I want you to punch me.”

Rowdy blinked, his ears (damned fluffy looking things) twitched forward. “What..? Why would I do that? Look, it’s not natural whatever’s happened to me but I need your help-”

“Punch me and I’ll wake up.”

The hand on his shoulder squeezed again, the same sharp pain following and Gil realised he really wasn’t dreaming.

“Shit.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily, lifting the bottle to his lips once more.

Rowdy growled and it almost made Gil drop the bottle.

“This ain’t a joke, boss,” he said with a hiss, ears flattened and teeth bared. “I can’t just- just walk about like this! Look at me!”

Gil did, blinking slowly to ensure he wasn’t seeing things wrong. Rowdy watched him, eyes softening as he blinked back. His ears rose and pointed forward and Gil blinked slowly again. Rowdy copied the motion.

“Stop it!” Rowdy hissed, backing up and nearly falling over the coffee pot on the ground. Gil quickly rose and caught him with an arm around his waist.

“Careful,” he muttered, setting Rowdy back on his feet. The boy grumbled under his breath and turned, hands on his hips. Gil glanced up and down the length of his body and paused. “So… ears, eyes, teeth, goddamn claws but no tail?”

Rowdy flushed a dark pink when he whirled to snarl at Gil. “I’ve got a-!” He took a long, deep breath and let it out in one slow exhale. “I’ve got a tail. It’s just… short.”

Gil tried not to laugh, he really did. He failed. “First I’ve ever heard a man admit to that.”

“It’s not a joke!” Rowdy crossed his arms over his chest like a petulant child and Gil was glad the kid hadn’t decided to just drop his pants right there to prove himself. “It’s like- like a bobcat or something.”

There was a watery note to his voice. Gil mentally slapped himself and tried to rectify the situation as best he could. “I’m sorry, Rowdy. This is a lot, but that don’t mean I can make fun of you. We’ll deal with it, and we’ll find out how to fix it. If we can’t, then….” He trailed off and shrugged, reached out to grasp Rowdy’s arm. “We’ll learn to live with it.”

Rowdy looked up from under his long lashes, those strange cat’s eyes glinting eerily in the low light. “Really?”

“Really.”

They hadn’t actually been through anything this strange before, but Gil was quietly confident they’d figure out how to manage.

#rawhide #rowdy yates #gil favor #catboy rowdy #I can’t believe I’ve done this

[argentrenard]

The Slap of the Glove

Some verse based on roleplay

Fresh whiskey on my tongue

Gilded fire in my eye

Some stolen gil still jingles

In the purse against my thigh

My quarry strolls along

Her gaze tracks left and right

The soft yet heavy snow

Protects me from her sight

I fix my eyes upon her

My prey her step so light

My mind is full of images

Most wicked in the night

And then without a chance

To spot the little thief

Some lad just snips my coinpurse

His touch so quick and brief

I know I won't give chase

He's owed his well caught prize

My focus is on her

And where the future lies

A lithe and liquid turn

She executes with ease

Her ears have just picked up

The sound of little thieves

Between two homes the lad

Did vanish with a laugh

Suspicious of his antics

She follows down his path

Chance has dealt a hand

Again not in my favor

But it only adds some spice

And I love a hunt with flavor

She struts right to the alley

Cautious and alert

Her hand rests on her rapier

With danger does she flirt

So enticing so alluring

The alley eats her up

As her leg vanishes in darkness

I approach to fill MY cup

Yet once again the dice

Roll and find me wanting

Her silhouette is gone

Her missing silence haunting

Without a thought on why

I adjust my plan with ease

And climb an errant gutter

My fingers start to freeze

I wait upon the rooftop

Search for her intently

And then I spy her peaking

She hides so very gently

My luck has held again

No stalker in the alley

She hesitates but leaves

And after her I sally

I follow close above her

Jumping as I dare

The snow and wind of Ishgard

Make me move with care

Finally we approach it

The end is now in sight

Her apartment warm and welcome

She relaxes for the night

Book and drink are taken

She flops into a chair

Her long and languid legs

I can not help but stare

I've slipped inside to watch her

But now I sneak close by

As quiet as caressing

Her hip and then her thigh

Behind her relaxed body

That rests upon the chair

I toss my last gil coin

And catch her unaware

She stands at once to check it

It's then that I rise quite crass

And reaching back with silken glove

I slap her lovely ass

The challenge has been given

Surprise is in her eyes

She turns to face me slowly

And smirks at what she spies

The duel will last all evening

Though both of us will win

Ending like the beginning

The slap of glove on skin

@faustinebellamy, thank you for an always engaging and inspiring collaborative story

#argent renard #silver fox #ffxiv rp #ffxiv #ffxiv roleplay #spilled poetry #poetry #Poem #faustine bellamy #I wrote this on my phone #So the formatting isn't so nice #But I also wrote it while waiting backstage in a play #So I had fun being creative! #Thanks Faust!

[flash-exchange]

My, my, could that be that Clavis has caused some trouble again? Read on to find out!

Now, the real question is... Who else sent us postcards? Are there any connections between them? What misadventures befell them? Well, there's only one way to find out -- stay tuned!

Best wishes from the crew of IFE.

Transcriptions below the cut.

My sweetest darling,

I can almost imagine your face when you see this “postcard”, and the smile that appears on it the moment you realise I was the one who sent it. Haha, you did not expect that, did you? But rest assured, wherever I go, the only woman I think about is you. I am a gentleman, after all, and I have some heads to investigate here.

To think that you can fly now! Isn’t that delightful! Although, I must say, the flight was a bit dull. I had to entertain myself by thinking about what my brothers may be doing, ah.

Yes. I’ve lost them at the “airport”. Unthinkable, isn’t it? Hahaha, I hope their trips went as planned.

Forever yours,

Clavis Lelouch

--

As per my promise, I, Yves Kloss, the Fifth Prince of Rhodolite, have sent you a postcard. Under normal circumstances, it would be unthinkable for a man of my standing to go out of his way to message a commoner… So you better be happy and save it!!

Although… It isn’t from Egypt, like I told you it would be… Argh, it’s all Clavis’ fault! He lost us all on purpose! Knowing my luck, I probably ended up the furthest away from all of them…

But it’s my brothers who are missing out! I’ve been having a great time in Japan! Everybody has been very polite to me so far. Tokyo is quite bustling, but I found a nice café to rest at. They asked me to work there and surely, their dessert menu could be improved… Do you think I’d also have to wear a maid uniform if I accepted?

Have fun holidays! That’s an order from the Fifth Prince himself!!

Yves Kloss

--

Dear Little Rabbit,

How do you like your holidays? I must say, I felt offended on your behalf when I’ve learnt the Rhodolitian Princes left you behind. It is rather inconsiderate of them to enjoy their time while you’re lonely and defenseless, no? I shudder thinking about all the things that could happen were you to lose your way back home… Just thinking, of course. 

Is the work hard on you? I can’t imagine your bookshop being particularly busy now that everybody endeavours to travel. Nonetheless, performing the same tasks, locked inside until this lovely weather is all but gone, does seem exhausting. I personally wouldn’t be able to stand it.

You’d think I’ve forgotten, but I never forget about my dear friends: thank you for your book recommendations. I did grow fond of the authors you’ve mentioned. It so happens that soon they shall visit the Royal Palace of Obsidian, so I intend to meet them personally. Should I tell them a word from you? Such opportunities are quite hard to come by, but as your ally, I’d gladly fulfil any requests you may make.

Your faithful friend,

Gil

--

You won’t believe where I am, but first things first: have you heard from Yves? I’ve lost him at the second airport. You’d think it’d be loud enough there for me to read the guide, but… You can tell what happened from there on. 

That aside, you never told me how beautiful the sky is from up close! Although flying itself is so-so, the food’s like something Clavis could come up with. I ended up in Tanzania. This really is a different world, isn’t it? I don’t exactly know the local languages, but everybody’s been real nice. They even offered to take me on a trip.

I will see you soon,

Leon

PS:

Hahaha, lions ARE fast.

I’m fine.

Leon

#leon dompteur #ikepri leon #ikemen prince leon #clavis lelouch #ikepri clavis #ikemen prince clavis #yves kloss #ikepr yves #ikemen prince yves #gilbert von obsidian #ikepri gilbert #ikemen prince gilbert #ikepri #ikemen prince #ikemen series

[danger-xylophones]

The King's Herald Prologue (Elrond x reader)

warning: she/her, reader referred to as princess, shitty babysitter, protective gil gadad, no elrond yet - this is just setting up dynamics

Summary: As heir to the Noldorian throne, it's about time you learn how to be a proper diplomat. It just so happens that your father's new herald is more than happy to help you settle back into life in Lindon.

Relationships: Gil-Galad + daughter! reader, Cirdan + reader, Elrond x reader

Note: this is a mix of the ROP canon and Tolkien canon

masterlist | elves

"Atar!"

The piercing cry of the young elleth thoroughly startled the High-King, making him drop the letter he'd been completely absorbed by. Gil-Galad looked up just in time to catch sight of his daughter charging towards the head of the table where he was sat. Her little legs a blur as she tried to swiftly cover the distance between him and the entryway.

Realizing her intentions, he scooted his chair back to create a safe landing place for the young girl as she leapt at him. He caught her fast and pulled her into his chest before the small child could go flying face first onto the floor. "Woah, anel!" He exclaimed while the child erupted into a flurry of giggles as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Where are your caretakers?"

"We're playing hide and seek!" She cheered right into his ear. Gil-Galad felt his eye twitch.

"I see," he said, gently pushing his daughter back but keeping his hold on her lest she fall off his lap onto the floor, "And are they aware they're playing?"

At that, her face fell into a look that told Gil-Galad he'd caught her. The High King had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. He'd avoided accidentally teaching her that expression of annoyance thus far - he loathed the day she finally found its power. "Anel," he admonished, "you know better than to run off on them." Her face fell further, taking her head with it. "They're probably worried sick."

"I just wanted to see you." She muttered, retracting her arms from his neck.

Gil-Galad sighed already caving at the sight of her saddened face, though frustrated with his daughter he couldn't bear to see her upset. "Merca alma," he brought a hand to her tiny chin, "lift your head." With gentle prompting, she did but she would not meet his eye. Gil-Galad's heart clenched when he realized it was because she was trying to hide the tears that were starting to gather. "I am not angry with you, anel nin." She tentatively looked at him. "But you must know that this behavior is unbecoming."

"I know..." she sighed, looking away again. "I just...I was lonely, atar. The caretakers never want to talk to me and I never get to see you anymore."

Gil-Galad's face fell. It was true that he hadn't had any time to spare his adopted daughter ever since he became High-King of the Noldor and now he could see lurking in the depths of her eyes that the separation was taking its toll on her. Casting his gaze to the letter detailing the latest struggles of Beleriand, he made a decision. While he couldn't leave the matter be, there was a way to also enjoy some quality time with the girl. "Anel nin, dry the tears in your eyes. I have a task for both of us."

Her head tilted to the side as her undefined brow furrowed. "For both of us?" She echoed.

Gil-Galad nodded. "I have also missed our time together, anel nin. But, until the darkness is gone from this land we will continue to be separated." She frowned but he pressed on. "So, that leaves us with only one option."

"Banish the darkness?" The elfling hazard, voice sounding shaky.

Gil-Galad nodded and lifted the girl off his lap to set her back on the ground before rising himself and snatching the letter off the the table. "Precisely, and we'll start doing that together. Come along." He started walking, trusting that the little girl would find a way to keep up with his long strides. "You are going to help me draft an address, merca alma."

"An address?" Her bell like voice piped from behind him. "What's that?"

"A letter." He amended. "You'll send countless in your lifetime." Gil-Galad turned down the hallway that led to his study.

"Oh." His daughter hummed in thought. "Who are we-?"

"Aranel! There you are!" A scolding feminine voice suddenly boomed down the hallway, making both elves pause - the younger of the two taking shelter behind her father's midnight blue cloak. Gil-Galad raised his gaze from the girl that clung to his leg and to her caretaker - Almarian, if he remembered her name right - who was approaching with a thunderous expression. Only to falter when she realized he was there. "Oh, Your Grace," She drew up short and fell into a curtsy. "A thousand apologies, my king," The pale haired old elleth began to ramble, ripping her gaze away from his eye to stare down the young girl still cowering behind him, "The princess managed to slip out of her room without our notice. I hope she hasn't been bothering-"

"Quite the feat," Gil-Galad interrupted, "considering she is but a child and you are four keen-eyed caretakers." Her face paled. "And I can assure you that my daughter is no bother. Not to me," the high king narrowed his gaze at the uncomfortable elleth, "nor should you consider her one." When Almarian failed to respond in a timely manner, Gil-Galad reached behind him to nudge the girl into her line of sight. "My daughter will be spending the rest of the day with me." He said icily and watched as the elleth before him squirmed. Normally, he didn't like pulling cheap power plays like this - but a line had been crossed. "I suggest you return to your comrades and tell them that I will be arranging a meeting with all of you to discuss how my daughter is being cared for. You are dismissed, Almarian." He hissed her name and she at least had the decency to look abashed. "Now," he turned his attention back to his daughter, laying a hand atop her head, "come along, ingaranel."

Turning on his heel, he started to walk, but was stopped after taking a single step by the feeling of his daughter's tiny hand taking hold of his. Gil-Galad looked down to find her beaming up at him, her eyes twinkling as if they held stars within them. "Thank you, atar."

atar - father

alma - flower

anel - daughter

aranel - princess

ingaranel - (lit) daughter of the high king

merca - wild

nin - my

#elrond #gil galad #elrond x reader #rop elrond #rop amazon #rop elrond x reader #tolkien #silmarillion

[arlenianchronicles]

Part 2!??

Alrighty, here’s part 2 of my dark!Maedros AU!! And part 1 :DDD I never finished fleshing out the AU after the twins arrived, but I have the general gist of it, so here we go XDD

Once the twins arrive, they notice right away that the world is different. They're found by Orc scouts; Elros pushes Elrond to hide, distracts them, and is caught. My thinking is that there are hunting parties of Orcs and Men going around to round up any Free Peoples still against Morgoth, with the purpose of either enslaving them in Angband or Himring.

Since Himring is closer, Elros is brought there. When Maedros sees him, he thinks Elros is an illusion and tries to kill him, but Elros proves that he isn’t (and puts up a good fight, too). Elrond is soon recovered also, since Elros doesn’t want to just leave him in the unfamiliar wild. And Maedros is all too happy to bring Elrond into the safety of his fortress.

So now the kidnap fam is together again, except their dynamic has been twisted considerably due to what Maedros has gone through. He still loves the twins (I imagine they’ve become more precious to him than the Silmarils), but now he’s become more possessive of them, like in a creepy platonic way? Protecting them and keeping them with him forever becomes his new “purpose.” They’re all he has left to love, and he doesn’t want to lose them again.

But he also no longer remembers how to be gentle with them, either. He can get angry, handle the twins to roughly (like my painting where he grabs Elros too hard), and he doesn’t bother to stop himself. The twins learn to adapt to this quickly and use it to their advantage at times.

Speaking of adapting, the twins’ plan is now to find out how Morgoth won the War of Wrath, and how to get back to their own time. I imagine most of their “adventure” takes place in Himring, where they weave their way through the dynamics and politics of Maedros’ court, which gives me dark fae vibes in my head loll I imagine Elros becomes a very good “player” in this setting, either because he fared better in learning politics back home, or because of his Maia-ness (or just to set up his skills at being a king later down the line XDD)

During all this, Maedros doesn’t notice much because the twins are being especially careful. If he does notice anything, he’d get very suspicious and think that the twins are trying to run from him. Half of his paranoia stems from keeping them a secret from Sauron, I think. Since the twins told him of their time travel adventure (in the hopes that he’d help them get back to their own time, to no avail), he now knows that Morgoth and Sauron lied to him.

So now he’s super angry at them and wants to confront them and/or kill them, somehow. He’d likely start fortifying Himring just as a precaution, both to keep the twins sealed in and to ensure that Morgoth and Sauron can’t get in easily. Heck, he’d probably even try to build up resources so he can overthrow them eventually.

In the end, the twins get their info and find out how to return to their own time. I’ve always envisioned Maedros chasing after them, which forces them to incapacitate him. Elrond might hesitate to leave him moreso than Elros, because Elros has done his best to harden his heart against it all, but even he’s moved to pity. But they stick with their plan and return to their own time to find present-Maedros searching for them after they were ambushed by those stray Orcs.

The twins share their info with the Feanorians, who in turn bring it to Gil-Galad, and the War of Wrath is won as usual! However, the twins are now left with their trauma, and it’s hard to look at Maedros without knowing exactly how far he could’ve fallen.

Thus concludes what I have so far for my dark!Mae time travel AU! Thank y’all again for reading this far, if you did XDD And thank you anon for letting me ramble about it! <333

#asks #anon asks #tolkien #silmarillion #au #kidnap fam #kidnap dads #elrond #elros #maedhros #maglor #dark maedhros

[mollygreenteas]

Do you ever stop and think about the fact that the only time Suho and Sieun have won their fights post-meeting each other was when they were fighting together? Going insane again ..

When Sieun had been ganged up by Seokdae’s group because of Yongbin, he had won through the divine intervention of Suho (and Bumseok too, but only a little). When Sieun cornered Gil-su in the abandoned amusement park, he had won, again, through Suho’s divine intervention. I like how the second fight had shown just how in sync the two are together, with the finishing blow being a coordinated attack they orchestrated just by following each other’s movement.

(Not to mention the fact that Sieun knew, in the back of his mind, that Suho would follow him. (“You came.”) Like the single acknowledgement that their bond had grown closer than it was before)

And then came the fights that had happened after. It’s safe to assume that both Suho and Sieun have never been into many fights before the entire events unfolding through the catalyst that is Yongbin. And now that they are close, fighting hell and back, realizing slowly just how much they mean to each other, then came their unconcious decision not to get the other involved in those fights anymore. Protection. Guardian angel.

Sieun fought Suho’s battle for him, even though he knows Suho is more than capable of defending himself, and that maybe if they had gone there together they could’ve rescued Youngyi without scoring another trip to the hospital — but alas. Sieun’s decision is born out of maybe personal guilt (since he tends to think that everything that has happened to Suho so far was his fault, because he was the one attracting the bullies in the first place) and the sense of not wanting Suho to get hurt anymore. He believes that this is his burden to carry. So he goes and fights alone, with the extra mile of making sure to remove a trace of the messages just so Suho wouldn’t find out and follow him because Sieun knows, really knows, that Suho would. Sieun would rather it be him that hurts and not Suho (maybe seeing him in the hospital after the Gil-su arc while Sieun was walking free was another influence for this decision).

And then Sieun loses.

And then Suho finds out. Then it’s another cycle of fighting a battle alone. Fueled by barely contained rage (how dare they lay a finger on Sieun), and Suho’s strong sense of avengance (mentioned in a previous post I made). Maybe if they had communicated, maybe if Sieun wasn’t so intent on keeping the truth from Suho — because he knows what it would mean to Suho, to find out that Sieun was beaten to the point of getting hospitalized, knows that Suho would give whoever had done this to him absolute hell. Because Sieun would’ve done the same (and he did). And the biggest maybe of all: maybe if they’d fought that battle together.

Suho and Sieun were destroyed not only by the forces of the likes of Bumseok and Yongbin etc, but also for how much they care about each other. If they were willing to bruise and bleed together like they did in the amusement park, instead of wanting to shoulder the other’s wounds (‘better me than you’), then maybe things really would’ve been different.

#i hate shse so much they make me so mentally ill #wrote this half asleep hopefully it makes sense whn i read it in the morning #weak hero class 1 #whc1 #shse #ahnsuho #yeonsieun #just work together you fools #crying thinking about sieun shouldering all of this now that suho is .. you know #they were each others greatest doom

[softquietsteadylove]

Hiii, I was just wondering if you can make another stories of zombie au for the Thenamesh I really miss it, I have some idea of them being trap with a horde of zombie all around them they think that there's no way out of the situation and they saying good bye to each other or something like that before rescue has arrived or something again hahaha, just a suggestion thank you.

Thena pressed her hands to her ears as the banging increased in volume. She should have double checked the perimeter. She should have banged on some of these shipping containers and made sure they weren't full of these things. She should have been more careful, and then she and Gil wouldn't be in this mess.

She opened her eyes, seeing the aged and dirty flannel Gil was wearing. His arms were around her, protecting her as best he could in this hopeless a situation.

Sweet, perfect Gil. The best thing she could have found in the end of the world. The best thing she had ever found at all, maybe.

"I'm sorry, Thena."

She pulled away, looking at him in the dim light - just barely more than pitch black - of what small holes were rusting the corners of the shipping containers away. She blinked and shook her head, as if she hadn't understood the words he was saying at all.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated, practically whimpering, his chest heaving with panic. He blinked and she caught the sparkle of tears in his eyes. "I-I should have checked better, h-helped y-"

"No," she shook her head. No, Gil was at fault for nothing, and she would throw herself to those things outside before she let him believe he was. "No, Gil, you-"

"I shouldn't have-" he choked, pulling her tight against him again as their doom pounded on the rickety outside of their haven. "We should have just gone around. You wouldn't-"

Thena tried to find the words to argue with him. He wasn't making any sense. "No, Gil!"

"You would've made it," he blinked at her, his tears slipping down the apples of his cheeks. She wished she could have heard him laugh more. "You could make it if you weren't dragging me around with you."

"No!" she barked at him, not that it mattered how much sound she made now. If they were going to die in here, then whatever had kept her from saying this before didn't matter, right?

"You," she gulped, looking at him for all she was worth. This was what she wanted to see when and if she died. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Gil."

His tears built up again, "but-"

"No buts," she shook her head, forcing him to look at her and pass the words from her lips directly to him. "I am so glad...I am so lucky you found me by accident in that old sports store. Because I have been more sane in this time with you than I ever was in the real world."

"You are so sweet, and so kind, and in a time when you don't have to be," she laughed. Because she was never sweet like him, end of the world or not. But then she found him, and he did things like pick wild berries for her, and stand guard when it was her turn to bathe, and hold up heavy doors while she looted supplies for them.

"Never think you are anything less," she urged--demanded of him. She leaned in, pressing her forehead to his, and then her lips to his lips. "You are the very best thing left in this awful world."

Gil kissed her back, desperate and heartfelt. "Th-Thena, I-I-"

She bit her lip. She was crying too, now. She nodded, but she wanted to say it. If she could never say anything else, she had to be able to say this, right?--in these last moments, this last chance to tell him just how much he meant to her?

How much she loved him?

"Gil, I lo-"

They both flinched. What sounded like a gunshot sounded outside the shipping container serving as their shelter. It wasn't though--it was the backfire from a motorcycle driving down the other side of the road.

Gil held her, their chests moving wildly in the stress of it all. They clung to each other, but the pounding on the outside of the metal decreased, slowly but surely ebbing away. Gil dared to look up from the top of her head. He whispered, "they're following it."

It would have only passed for a few seconds, but it was just enough to draw the attention of those things. With any luck, they would go dormant again once the stimulation was over.

Thena peeked out from his chest. It was true, the dull and lifeless palms slapping against metal was growing quieter. She looked up at him.

They would live.

Gil let out a faint gasp, pressing a laugh of pure relief and hysteria into her hair.

Thena pressed her tears into the t-shirt under his flannel. She liked how he smelled. Under any other smells that clung to him during their travels, he smelled like a house. He smelled like coming home after a long day.

They waited until it was completely silent outside. Opening the door to the thing would probably wake them again, but with any luck it would be a manageable number. Nothing like earlier, at least.

Thena pulled out her knives, walking in front of Gil, as she always did. "Ready?"

"Ready," he said more surely than he usually did, standing beside her with his trusty iron skillet in hand.

She smiled at him--her trusty partner in all this hell around them.

"Hey," he whispered, looking down at her, barely more than a silhouette in the faint light. "What were you going to say?"

"Hm?"

"Before," he glanced back at the far corner where they had pressed themselves in their earlier terror. "What were you going to tell me?"

Thena blinked, a different kind of terror flooding through her. She tightened her grip on her knives. Maybe she could use the adrenaline to move quicker. "I'll...tell you later."

Gil couldn't see the warmth burning in her cheeks.

"Okay," he accepted easily, because he was Gil. He raised his skillet in his hand like a baseball bat, "I'll tell you mine too."

Thena smiled. She wondered what he would tell her come the time. And what would she make up so she didn't have to tell him that she was in love with him? "Deal."

#Thenamesh Zombie AU #honestly thank you for asking this anon! #I missed this AU honestly #I just love these two dummies at the end of the world #Gil and his murder wife I mean respected ally in the apocalypse #he is so sweet and docile by nature #he's like man I hope I can be of some use to Thena she's so cool #and she's here like god I love this man #she's free from society #she's free from medication and mandated therapy and episodes #ironically now that there are barely any humans left #but then she finds this sweet gem of a man #and she falls utterly and completely for him #and suddenly she's not just counting out the days in an old sports gear shop in a mall #she's living #because he's her new purpose sorry

[frozen-fountain]

Get to know the fanfic writer

Thank you once again to @late-to-the-fandom for the tag. In turn I tag: @visualheresy, @laboradorescence, @oceangirl24, @bees-and-sunshine, @0nelittlebirdtoldme, and @hrh-spinach.

When did you post your first-ever fanfic?

All the way back in 2005.

First Character(s) you wrote?

That's for me to know and most of you to hopefully never find out.

Main Character(s) you're currently writing?

I'm alternating between Shadow (FFVI) and Cloud and Tifa (alternating viewpoints).

Character(s) you haven't written about before but plan to soon?

Well, he's been the secondary character enough times now that I really need to give Reeve his spotlight some time. Cloud's viewpoint also requires giving Zack and Sephiroth more of a voice than they've directly had in this project so far. And then my next longer project puts me in Setzer's head which... joy. But I think I've at least written a few lines for just about everyone in these ensembles at this point.

Fandom(s) you're currently writing?

Final Fantasies VII and VI.

Platonic Pairing(s) you're currently writing?

Shadow and Baram, though ngl the relationship on the page has turned more ambiguous than I had in mind at the outset. Let's throw Shadow and Relm's not-relationship in there, too. More broadly I'm also getting into Cloud and Tifa's ways of interfacing with a whole village of faces old and new; it's been fun characterising them through different reactions to the same person.

Romantic Pairing(s) you're currently writing?

Cloud/Tifa (messy), and I suppose Shadow/Relm's inevitably unnamed mother (barely romantic at all).

Your top AO3 tags?

Character Study, Post-Canon, and Romance.

Current platform you use for posting?

AO3, and Tumblr and Reddit for attempts at promotion.

Snippet of the WIP you are currently working on?

Ooh, I really liked this part even though it's still unpolished:

“Ain't no ord'nary train on its tracks.” The fire outlines him in gold as he says it, makes darker the dark hole where another eye used to be. He cackles with his eyes on the woods as the train passes by, its lights making prison bars from the shadows of the trees. “That just gone by's the Phantom Train, on its way to the next life after this one.”

You scoff as the clack of metal on metal fades into the night and take another swig of your liquor. Some paint stripper stolen and not missed from a falling-down bar outside of Zozo. The woodsmoke-scented air is warm as tobacco and silent, now that the search has been called off. “Stories for kids and old folks,” you mutter.

He shakes his head, lifts his bottle. Pauses with his hand on the neck and no closer to his lips. “Not this one. And it was you and me put a few more faces in those carriages, you bet your ass.”

“You say so, buddy.”

He smirks, a red and sinister thing in the firelight. “Oh yeah? Then you tell me, Mr. Scholar,” and he nodded towards the tangled briar behind you, “where it gone and went, if it ain't passed outta this plane altogether.”

You turn your head and there is nothing. Only unbroken inky black and the hoot of an owl rustling in the treetops. A shiver racks your body as the forest slides back into place, as though nothing had ever passed this way at all. Shrugging it off, you drain your bottle. “The woods is dark. Awful lotta things can get lost in there.” A grin, and you toe the bounty by your feet with the flapping, ragged toe of your boot. “Worked out real swell for us.”

You pulled it off. The garrison abandoned you to the night some hours ago, their torches guttered and the strong arms of the law returned to their homes and leaving the darkness for the crickets. Another train passed out of sight a little lighter than it embarked, and you'd both be eating good when you made it to the next town. A day or two, no word of the hooded figures that held a driver at knifepoint, and no-one would ask questions with the right amount of gil dropped onto their counter.

He cackles and sits back, the joints of his elbows cracking as the wear and tear of the dash through the bracken sets in. “Think what you want.”

You humour him with a smile. “How'd those dear departed souls get the afterlife way back when, then? 'Fore trains was running? Answer me that.”

“Well, you know folk. Tale gets a little update every couple hundred years. Way back when it was a long road you gotta walk on, I guess. Little later comes a carriage with a pale rider to take you to the next world. Chocobos with fuckin' death rattles comin' outta they beaks. Go down south where it's marshland and they'll tell you to watch for the pass of the will-o'-the-wisp, 'cause that's the light that guides the ferryman and his dead cargo. Fella told me they got a big steamboat these days. You can see the ghosts hangin' off the sides and wavin' their ghost kercheifs when the moon is -”

“Shut the fuck up.” Another of his stories – always the biggest brute in the bar whose head he bashed in, or the tart with the biggest tits throwing herself in his way.

“I'm tellin' ya.” He chuckles then and raises his half-empty bottle to the sky. “Here's to progress!”

#froze fics #froze thoughts

[bakubunny]

I would straight up ask #1-25 for both Emet and Thancred, cause I'm freaking curious but I won't get greedy- #1-10 for tragic white-haired ffxiv man of your choice (>ᴗ•)

saved this one for last bc i knew i'd spend a ton of time on it willingly. i'll answer as many as i can for both because why not? gonna start with thancred x wol z’hana because that (self ship) doesn't stray too far outside of canon unlike the soul bond au, and i’ll post emet-selch x wol separately. fair warning tho, i'm not great at writing thancred... hence why there's so little of him in my works... but here we go! ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა

1. Do you get jealous or protective over your partner?

z'hana: i did get a little jealous in the beginning, but now that i know him well, not really. and i only get protective when he's overworking himself. thancred: me, jealous? never. and perhaps i might be more protective if she hadn't already bested me in combat more than once, but i'll never shy away from a fight to keep her safe. (lies. he gets v. jealous.)

2. What are your pet names for each other?

z'hana: babe, darling, sweetheart, handsome, honey thancred: the ones i can share, or the ones i can’t?… (cue glare from z’hana as he grins.) darling, love/my love, sweetheart.

3. What is your idea of a perfect date?

z'hana: i quite enjoy traveling with him. i still remember the time he whisked me away for an evening on scion gil right under tataru’s nose…. she was not happy, but it was an excellent night nonetheless. thancred: i don’t ask for much…. a home cooked meal and the love of my life.

4. What are your names saved in each other phones?

z'hana: thancred thancred: z’hana

5. Do you like cuddling? Why or why not?

z'hana: i enjoy it a lot, but too much and it’s overbearing. thancred: i would agree, i’m much the same.

6. What do you think the others love language is?

z'hana: physical touch thancred: physical touch

7. What’s the one trait about each other that annoys you the most?

z'hana: he still tries to brush things off with bravado and charm, even after multiple years together. thancred: she’s the most stubborn woman i’ve ever met, right after y’stola…. don’t tell her i said that.

8. Coffee or Tea?

z'hana: coffee thancred: coffee

9. What was your first impressions of each other?

z'hana: he was attractive, perhaps a little over confident. thancred: she was pretty. a competent ally.

10. What attracted you to each other?

z'hana: over time, it was our friendship…. it certainly didn’t hurt that he’s a sight for sore eyes. thancred: i should say her tenacity.

11. When did you know you were in love?

z'hana: probably at some point during our time on the first…. it just sort of happened for me. he went from a friend i used to share a bed with to someone i didn’t want to be without. thancred: my time on the first without her there made me realize i’d been a bit of an idiot. once we were reunited, i made a promise to myself that i’d never leave her again if i could help it… though we all know how that turned out in the final days.

13. What's the most noticeable physical attribute of your s/o to you?

z'hana: his back or his smile, i can’t decide. thancred: will i earn another glare if i say her thighs?

14. Spicy: Favorite sexual position?

z'hana: oh gosh, haha. i don’t know, missionary is nice, i suppose? (lies.) thancred: *eyeroll and a grin* she prefers modified doggy or prone bone, but i quite enjoy when she’s on top.

15. Who’s clingier?

z'hana: i am, hands down. thancred: z’hana.

16. What do you two find to be the most attractive about one another?

z'hana: his loyalty, pragmatism, dedication…. he’s steady, whereas i can be a bit high strung and fickle. thancred: i’m going to sound like i’ve gone soft when i say this, but it’s her kindness and strength.

18. PDA? Yes or No?

z'hana: i prefer it, yes. but subtle things, hand holding, maybe a hand on my back or an arm around my shoulder. thancred: early on, we never did. once the rest of our friends (tataru) found us out, we started to be more open about it.

19. How often do you say I love you?

z'hana: frequently. all the time. thancred: i say it when the moment is right.

21. Out of the two of you, who would be the one to kill / get rid of the spider?

z'hana: he is. i hate them. thancred: i am.

22. Spicy What is your secret to getting the other in the mood?

z'hana: oh, you know. *nervous laughter* now that we’re not preventing a world ending calamity, he’s not difficult to get going. perhaps a certain look or turn of phrase. thancred: a kiss or a gentle touch. i’m sure you can figure it out from there.

23. Would you rather never kiss again or go a year without sex?

z'hana: a year without sex. it would be a challenge, but manageable so long as i can kiss him whenever i like. thancred: my drive for intimacy is quite high…. i’ll make the smart decision and defer to her.

24. Would you consider yourself lucky to have found each other ?

z'hana: yes. how could i not? thancred: unbelievably so. in truth, without her, i’d have succumbed to my desire for liquor… though we don’t speak of those days much anymore.

25. What is something your s/o does that cheers you up instantly?

z'hana: he’s quite charming, i’ll give him that; he never fails to make me smile in that regard. thancred: she’s very silly from time to time. her playfulness always brightens my day.

#I know I don’t have to do both but #I love them ur honor #I miss my blorbos so if zaz gives me a chance to gush I’m taking it #technically my original non self insert wol (mizuki) is a lalafell but i’ve only written miqo’te wol #but i digress #maybe someday i’ll be brave enough to take on the criticism but not today #yes i have a different self insert for different aus/ships #I feel like that’s normal but maybe it’s not #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #wolcred #thancred x wol #thancred waters #warrior of light #self ship #self insert #z’hana #bakubunny #ask games