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windblooms · 3 years

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Hi!! Could you do headcanons of Diluc, Kayea, Childe and Zhongli with a s/o who is touch starved but is too shy to intimate physical affection please? Thank you!💙

decided to answer the two of these in the same ask since they have similar personalities for the reader, and they evolved into scenarios. hopefully what i’ve written is all right!

edit: to the second anon, i’m sorry, i don’t know how people write more than 500 characters in asks. ㅠㅠ is it maybe a submission . . . ?

childe:

as a very perceptive individual, childe would pick up on your hesitations relatively soon, however won’t say anything about them outright.

while he may ask you if something’s wrong whenever you reach out, but self-consciously pull away, or when you’re on the verge of words but can’t bring yourself to speak, he won’t pry into your meekness.

he knows that some people prefer to keep things to themselves or away from others – he’s a prime example of this himself. so he doesn’t want to push you, but will continue to keep mental tabs on when you shrink away, or backtrack after you sound as if you’re going to ask him something.

if the trend continues for a while, he’ll eventually sit down to talk with you about it. he’ll discuss with you patiently, not wanting to invade past things you might not want to share just yet, but he still tries to find the cause of your hesitancies so he can better understand you.

“there’s something bothering you, isn’t there?” he leans forward across the table, and rests his chin on his hand. “you can tell me, you know. i’ll try and help you with it.”

as you take your time to answer, he grows increasingly concerned, but still wears a poker face to not influence you as well. across the table, he’ll slowly reach out his hand as a means of comfort, and clasp yours when you don’t pull away.

you begin to speak about your uncertainties, and childe listens intently. ah, so that was it – now that you mention it, the two of you don’t hold hands much, or really touch each other. he had assumed that’s how you preferred it, little to no physical touch. but now that you’ve explained why you’ve concealed those wishes . . .

“i’d be more than willing to hold you.” childe’s words are soft, and he manages a small smile to encourage you. as soon as your face flushes, though, he can tell that there’s something else you want to say. so he pauses, expectant, but you still seem nervous.

he takes a gander and speaks. “we can start off slow, if you want . . . actually, anything you want, you can tell me. you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed.”

from there, the two of you work out what you want. you both agree to take it slow, since this will be a first for you; small touches against each other’s fingers as reassurance, and taps against his shoulder when you’re too nervous to outright ask for his attention. he also has something of his own to suggest:

“there’s some custom that mondstadtians have,” childe ponders aloud suddenly. “hm – something about tapping three times, meaning ‘i love you’?”

at his notion, you become bashful, and look down towards your lap. you know where he’s going with this, and at your reaction, the snezhnayan chuckles, unfolding his hands from atop each other to squeeze yours in demonstration.

“one, two, three. it’s just gonna be between us, all right?”

diluc:

diluc is arguably one of the most emotionally reserved characters in all of mondstadt. sure, he’s got a sense of dry humor and wit whenever he feels snarky enough, but when it comes to personal sentiments? he keeps them behind lock and key, with the exception of passive aggression.

if you’re self-conscious about asking for affection, such as when you’re about to reach out to tap at his hand yet pull back at the last instant, you find him looking at you expectatntly, his notorious half-lidded gaze fixated on you. if there’s something you want, you’ll ask for it is his mentality, since he assumes that the two of you are both comfortable enough in your relationship to do so. and relationships are built around trust. so why are you hesitating?

that is to say, he doesn’t stare at you until you crack. after a few seconds, he’ll look away, and resume whatever he was doing beforehand. if it were anyone else, he’d most likely ask them verbally what they want, since there’s no use in prolonging the time, and he’s an impatient man.

he makes a conscious effort to be more gentle with you. he can’t quite tell if you appreciate it though especially in these scenarios, since you always chew at your lip and refrain from looking at him afterwards.

diluc will only allude to these instances. he’ll ask “is there something you need?” or “is something the matter?” he has no experience with physical affection of any sort, at least since his father all those years ago. so he’d be quite lost with your circumstance; he doesn’t know at all what you want unless you make a verbal indication as to what it is.

one day, in the privacy of his office, he senses your fingers just near his forearm. diluc looks over in time to see you clasp his coat rather shakily, but your hold is there nonetheless. much like usual, he’ll peer at you with a half-lidded gaze, although this time he addresses how skittish you appear.

“something the matter?” he’ll say as per usual, but this time he isn’t vague; he’s referring to your sudden committance to reaching out as opposed to pulling away.

“ . . . just wanted to hold you.” your confession is a mere whisper, but your boyfriend still hears it. the two of you sit in silence for a bit, before he turns his body and puts his hand on the side of your head, pressing gently so that you lean flush against his arm.

you’re speechless, however the circumstance doesn’t need words anymore. content with you hugging his arm, and now understanding your wants, diluc continues to work as you drift asleep against him. while there’s still a ways to go, as he’s sure that this isn’t the only desire you have, it’s surely a start.

kaeya:

the astute captain that he is, kaeya can hone into your desires with relative ease.

before you can retract your hand after reaching out, he’s already grasped it in his own. you’re caught off-guard, not expecting his agility, but his grip isn’t firm or unpleasant; it’s gentle, as if he’s caring for glass.

he lowers his face so that the two of you are eye-level. “no need to be shy. it’s just us.” kaeya’s reassurance is playful at first, until your contemplative silence queues him in on the severity of your timidness.

he’s concerned: is there something serious that’s bothering you? he’d just assumed that you wanted to hold hands, or lean on each other. for how long it takes you to speak, he’s thinking the worst: is a coworker bothering you? are you ill with a fever? kaeya’s eyebrows furrow, and he immediately speaks again. “what’s wrong, precious? tell me, please.”

looking up at him, you realize that he has the wrong impression. tenderly enveloping your cheek with his hands, rubbing your skin with his thumbs, you sink into the affection – but he’s got the wrong idea.

“i-it’s fine,” you begin, and he blinks rapidly. “just . . . wanted to, uh,” you nudge further into his hands, and squeeze his arms gently, “ . . . touch you.”

ah. your meekness makes sense now, although considering your personality, his initial guesses probably wouldn’t have been far off. nevertheless, kaeya indulges you, even if you both continue the circumstance in silence. it’s evident that you’ve been holding back this request for a while, and as much as he loves to tease and would like to in this moment, he doesn’t believe now is an appropriate time.

so, kaeya continues to stroke your face, soothing away your nerves. his other hand clasps yours in your lap, giving you the time and affection you crave.

he finds your vulnerability endearing, but there’s guilt on his conscience: why have you been nervous to approach him about this, and why did he not pick up on it sooner? not that he expects you to come for him for everything – kaeya just theorizes that there must be some reason as to why you appear so touch-starved, and he’s thinking the worst about such a reason.

“feeling better?” he inquires, still cradling your face, and he pulls you into a hug. his warmth is reassuring to you – the security that you’ve longed for. if this is what affection feels like, you’re not sure that you’d ever want to pull away.

“yeah.” hesitantly, you lift your face from his chest, but your arms remain around his waist. your boyfriend grins slightly, and ruffles your hair, pushing your bangs aside so he can kiss your forehead.

“tell me about it. we can figure this out together.”

zhongli:

about three weeks into your relationship is when zhongli receives questions from hu tao: “hey, you and y/n don’t touch each other at all. i know you’re ‘professional’ and stuff, but jeez – not even hand-holding? thought it’d get more exciting at this point.”

and while he initially thought of her remarks as rude – your relationship isn’t any of her business – it did prompt him to consider her words.

specifically, she’s right: while he’s generally busy at wangsheng, he strives to make time for you whenever possible. and in that time, never once have either of you touched each other. he’s never minded, since he’s admittedly gone without it for so long and is used to life without it – but it’s the modern age, and isn’t it customary for liyuens to . . . ?

so he takes it upon himself to ask you over dinner. he’s made bamboo shoot soup for you tonight, and as you sit across the table from him, finishing the dish, he speaks so candidly it nearly makes you choke on your last bite.

“would you like to hold hands in the market tomorrow?”

“what?”

zhongli makes a strange face. he knows you heard him, so why do you also look startled, and are averting your eyes?

he repeats himself nonetheless, and while you do answer him this time, it’s by mumbling under your breath.

“ – odd question,” is how you start, and your boyfriend folds his hands underneath his face, yet doesn’t rest his chin. “um, sure. yeah, sure . . . ”

you most definitely do not sound sure, but it’s in a way that further perplexes him. you look . . . thrilled now? he can see that you’re refraining from smiling – the corners of your mouth flutter – but why? zhongli doesn’t recall saying anything that would be good news . . .

“is something the matter?” the archon supplies instead, to which you shake your head. your hands are in your lap.

“ah, no. what you said just came out of no where.” an unconcealed smile from you now, and zhongli finds himself relaxing. if you’re certain, that’s all he cares about.

he stands up, and prepares to take your dish to the kitchen. before though, he makes sure to bring you up to your feet, and intertwines his fingers with yours.

“may i kiss you?” he asks, suddenly, unexpectedly. he sees you nod, the slight pressing of your lips together, and gives them a quick peck before retreating; zhongli can still taste the slight bamboo left over.

when the two of you draw away, there’s a noticeable flush on your cheeks. once more, you seem giddy, however this time he doesn’t have to ask why.

“i’ve never done this before.” there’s trepidation in your voice that causes his brows to furrow slightly. “so . . . it’s all right if we start out slow, right?”

“of course,” zhongli doesn’t hesitate to respond. you could mean so many things, and he isn’t sure which you’re referring to: initiating physicality with him, or maybe that you’ve never had a partner before . . . ? but he doesn't dwell on that. “your comfort is what matters.”

in the market the next day, zhongli finds comfort in the slight tugs on his coat sleeve from your fingers, and the smile that beams on your visage.

#genshin impact x reader #childe x reader #diluc x reader #zhongli x reader #kaeya x reader #childe headcanons #childe scenarios #diluc headcanons #diluc scenarios #zhongli headcanons #zhongli scenarios #kaeya headcanons #kaeya scenarios #fluff #asks: diluc #asks: childe #asks: kaeya #asks: zhongli

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travellingarmy · 3 years

Text

║Diluc║Adopted

Requested from Wattpad.

Child, male reader. Completely platonic.

Fluff.

Word count: 2.2k

---

You don't know where you came from and neither did he, but that question doesn't linger on for too long, allowing yourselves to enjoy in each other's presence.

He wasn't one to have an interest in taking care of children, but ever since he found you in a woven basket in Wolvendom, he made you the centre of his life.

"Diluc, I want to train today!" Barging into his office, you greet him an enthusiastic- yet loud- morning, slamming the door wide open to create a booming sound that Diluc no longer gets a fright out of. "Can we go outside today? Please, please, please?"

He looks up from his paper to eye your person before returning his attention to the paper. "We can go out today, but it will be to the tavern. I have something to do."

You pout and slumped onto a nearby chair, your ears slightly drooping down like the hybrid dog you are. There were few people who had an animal appearance like you and perhaps that might have had been the reason he was drawn to you.

"I said I want to train, not follow you on your errands!" head snapping up as you whined. Diluc slowly closes his eyes and sighs, quite tired from the work yesterday and the added work today. However, he knows how persistent you were and how you would get annoying by the day that even Adelinde starts to get a headache. With that knowledge, he stood up shortly and looks towards your petite frame.

Your eyes sparkled and a child-like smile forms on your face, knowing what he'll say next. "Did you have breakfast already?" Diluc asks, although it was nearly afternoon, and you nod almost immediately. "Then we'll go out and quickly visit the tavern. Afterwards, we can practise your archery." If he was going to shut you up while doing his work, this method was always effective.

You hop off the couch and rushed towards the red-head, grabbing his hand and allow him to lead the way.

Although he adopted you, he did not put himself as your father on the paper and asked of you to call him by his name only, but that didn't matter to you.

You bid Adelinde goodbye and outside, you took big leaps, excited to get on with archery. "(Y/N), slow down. You'll trip and then we'll fall," Diluc points out, slightly bending as he chases after you, trying to keep up in the light of your steps.

You slowed down, walking at a more comfortable pace. For you, stamina was everything but since Diluc wasn't a child, he couldn't go as fast as you wanted. "Sorry, Diluc."

However, throughout that walk, you did stray from time to time, sometimes letting go of his hand to peek what could have been hiding in rustling bushes. "(Y/N), come back here," he would say, gaining your attention back to his side.

Upon entering the gates, a particular someone just had to show up. "Oho~ Fancy meeting you here, Master Diluc," the all too familiar Cavalry Captain greets, souring Diluc's day. Kaeya's smirk stretched a bit, looking quite smug as his eyes move from him and to your petite stature.

"And good morning, (Y/N). Are you here to run errands with Master Diluc?" He asks with a close-eyed smile, ignoring the murderous aura coming from his brother as he leans down to your level, hands on his thighs.

You nod. "I want to learn how to charge my arrow like Fish lady!" you say with a gleam. Kaeya stares dumbfoundedly at you before finally realizing that you were referring to Fischl from the Adventurer's Guild. "Oh, I see That's some intense training, but I'm sure that you can pull it off." He ruffles your hair and chuckles.

"Sir Kaeya, as a captain, you have an awful lot of time to waltz around lazily," Diluc comments, his grip on your hand tightening, but not too hard that it would hurt. This comment's venom flies by over the aforementioned male as he chuckles, shrugging. "What can I say? I'm sure you're well aware that Grand Master Varka has taken all of my knights. Who am I supposed to captain?"

You mused at the two brothers' bickering silently and see that Diluc's eyebrows were twitching-- most likely from the annoyance his brother is giving him. "But as a knight, you should have at least something to do."

"I do, and that's speaking to (Y/N)," he says. "It is a knight's duty to make sure the people are safe and so, I am speaking with him to make sure he isn't being forced into training by you. You know how wrong that is, don't you, Master Diluc?"

"Tch. I'm well aware. And on that note, I believe you're more capable of doing that than I," Diluc crosses his arms as he spoke. It was getting to the point that your feet were starting to annoy you. Standing still was not something you like doing. "Diluc, can we go now?" You tug on the hem of his coat with your free hand and pouted slightly.

This got both of the brothers' attention and they looked at each other. "Apologies, but we have to go now. You know how children are," Diluc says, feeling quite happy.

"Aw, (Y/N), doesn't want to stay with me?" Kaeya pouts. You shook your head and smiled. "I want to train!" you voiced. Kaeya hums in acknowledgement. "Hm, I see. Then, I won't keep little (Y/N) too long. But promise me you'll play with me next time." He offers his pinky finger and you took it, lacing your smaller pinky. "I promise!"

After that, Diluc tugs you along lightly, not wanting to stay anywhere near the captain, heading towards the tavern to speak with a waited person. "(Y/N), you sit here, okay? Don't stray away." Diluc says and helps you up on one of the chairs outside. You nod, swinging your legs that dangle off of the chair. Diluc stares at you and shows a small smile, ruffling your hair, and then walking off.

You were left alone, but not truly alone as you see Diluc not too far from you, talking to a man who looked wealthy themselves. It was probably a business negotiation of some sort, but you were too young to be bothered by trivial matters that did not involve you.

"Hey, hey, look at him." Whispers. To an average person, they wouldn't be able to hear it, but you weren't, and so, you heard children whispering behind you. It was also evident that they were talking about you as you heard another whisper, "He has doggy ears. I want one."

You thought they would just talk like every other person, but that thought was dismissed when you hear light footsteps coming your way. You turned your head to look down at the other children. There were two boys and a girl. The girl was most likely younger than you and the boys were older-- older than yourself. They look like trouble, you thought to yourself.

"Hey, you!" The first one to speak was one of the two boys. He has jet-black hair and wore thick glasses. You hopped off of your seat and stare at them silently, waiting for them to continue. "Is that thing on your head real?"

"Uh, yeah, it is," you answered, getting off from the chair to have a proper conversation with them. It was a common question asked to you that you lost count of how many times someone came up to you and ask.

"I don't believe it," he voiced, crossing his arms and lookin smug. "Yeah, let us touch it," the second one spoke. Your brows slightly furrows. Who were these kids and why were they suddenly asking to touch your ears? Yeah, sure it was strange and not human-like, but who gave these kids courage to spew words like that?

"Sorry, but they're really sensitive.." you state, your brows slightly furrowing. "Oh, please. I bet you're just saying that because it's actually fake!" Without warning, he reached for your ears and tug it harshly and you yelped at the pain. "Woaaah! Did you glue it onto your head? You're so weird."

"Please, let go." You knew how much stronger you were compared to average children, seeing as you had a vision and was trained to combat and so, you didn't dare use force to get him to pull away, wrapping both of your tiny hands on the wrist outstretched to you. Diluc always reminded you to never harm others. "Please, let go!" you repeated, slightly louder than before. Water started to form on the corner of your eyes the more he pulled on your ears.

In response to your distress, your vision glowed and sent a tiny shock of electro from your hands that held onto his. It wasn't harmful, but just enough to make the kid hiss and stumble back. "H, hey, what did you do to him?" The girl reached for her friend, looking at the hand that had a slight purple to it from you.

And to make matters worst, an older woman came running towards you four, seemingly to be one of their mother. "What's going on here?" the lady asks. "Mommy, look what he did to me!" the boy showed his wrist with tears on his face.

With one look at it, the lady turns towards you. "Excuse me, do you have any idea what you just did?" "I asked him if his ears were real and he suddenly attacked me!" Liar. He was lying, but you had no one to back your claims.

She huffs. "How dare you! How would you like it if someone were to do that to you." She reached her long, slender arms for your wrist. "Where are your parents? I'll have them know how naughty you are." Grabbing your wrist, she tries and drags you from your spot.

"That won't be necessary." Just in time, Diluc came back with the same, glaring-like expression on his face. The woman's eyes widened and with a gasp, let's go of your wrist. "Master Diluc?" she calls.

Diluc looks at the woman and to the children, inspecting the wrist that had been bruised. He had heard the conversation from where he stood and sped up his meeting with the person.

"Tell me what happened?" he asks, eyes returning their attention to the woman. "Well, this brat here injured my child and I was about to look for his parents."

"Oh, really? (Y/N), don't tell me you've forgotten what I told you about using your vision?" Although when he asks this, he already knows the answer. You shook your head. "I didn't mean to hurt them, I promise! They were pulling in my ears and.." Your voice grew weaker into silence, drooping your head down, thinking that he wouldn't buy your excuses.

Diluc sees this and immediately kneels down to your level, putting a hand on your shoulders and gain your attention. "Hey, look up. If you know that you are in the right, there is nothing you should shy away from," his voice was low and spoke softly to you.

Your eyes brightened up a bit and Diluc smiled-- not showing it though. He lifts you off of the ground, putting and arm under you for support as the other went on your back.

The lady was confused but most importantly, scared. "If you're looking for his guardian, you're speaking to them," Diluc spoke, eyes glued on you whilst the words directed to her. "But before you do that, demand the truth from your son." With that, he walked away, leaving the mother to ask what really happened while he comforted you.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and bury your face on his shoulders, trying hard not to let a single tear slip. You idolized Diluc for his skills in combat and his ability to never cry and so, you didn't like crying. It made you feel weak and nowhere near to become like Diluc.

"Hey, it's alright." He rubs your back, noticing your shaking body trying hard not to cry. "It's okay to cry, but don't cry for foolish people. You'll just give them what they want." In moments like these, you see Diluc as a father with his comforting words and life lectures.

You hummed and became silent. Yes, you can't cry for those types of people, you comfort yourself. Taking a deep breath, you peel yourself from his shoulders and showed him the smile that he would never admit he loves to see. A smile that gives others strength with the look of fire in your eyes.

"Alright, do you want to train now?" he asks, slightly smiling. You nod, but stopped yourself. "Wait, don't you still have other things to do?" you ask, to which Diluc ruffles your hair with his free hand. "Those can wait tomorrow. I could use some rest right now."

---

#diluc fluff #diluc x reader #diluc #diluc ragnvindr x reader #genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact oneshots #male reader #kaeya #kaeya alberich #diluc oneshot #fluff #fischl #genshin fischl

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fabelyn · 3 years

Text

Equivalent Exchange

Pairing: Childe/Zhongli (chili)

Rated: T for language Warnings: spoilers for 1.1 update story Chapter: Oneshot Chapter Word Count: 2525

Link to AO3

Summary: Some would see Zhongli’s penniless state as the most pathetic oversight.

Childe sees it as an opportunity.

And maybe that’s what Zhongli is hoping for.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” Childe lies easily, having tracked his target to this location. “May I sit with you?”

He stands beside Zhongli, and is disappointed when he shows no visible reaction to finding him so close after they’d parted with no contact.

The tea table Zhongli sits on is clearly made for one, yet that doesn’t deter him from nodding and making a welcoming motion, and Childe pulls up a chair. The table is small enough that their knees are almost touching beneath it.

“I apologize, I did not realize I would have company and only ordered for myself,” Zhongli motions the leftover tea.

“I see you’re still keeping the finest of taste.”

“Shall I order more for you?”

“Hm, no it’s fine, for now.”

Zhongli smiles. “This is nice, I don't think we’ve sat down to talk since you introduced me to the Traveller.”

So, not beating around the bush too much . “Hm. We were all so busy with the…funeral arrangements.” He chuckled, and Zhongli joined in. Childe let the levity rest between them for a moment before sobering the conversation somewhat. “And I was unaware if you wanted another meal… after.”

Zhongli raises one perfect eyebrow as if completely baffled. “Now, why would that be?”

Childe couldn’t detect sarcasm in the question so he just nods. “True, you certainly did achieve success in your endeavors, so I suppose you aren’t angry with me, at the very least.”

“You sound as if your goal wasn’t reached.”

Childe shrugged. “It was, since the Tsarista was satisfied, although there was… a surprising development along the way.” I did not think I was so stupid as to be interested in the target I was using.

“Surprising development,” Zhongli quoted slowly, then smiled. “Yes, you could say I too had some of that.”

“Indeed?”

“Yes.”

Childe waited, but no further explanation was forthcoming. He shrugged, it was only fair.

“Alright, so neither of us failed. But now we no longer have need of each other. I did not think you had further interest in keeping up a sham relationship, Rex Lapis .”

Zhongli stared at him, then smiled thinly. His mannerisms were still as gentle as Childe recalled, but the look in his eyes were much sharper than before.

“A sham? And yet, you’ve come.”

“You all but called for me. I got curious.”

“Did I? I do not recall doing such a thing, as pleasant as your current company may be.”

“You told the Traveller that you, Morax , had forgotten to plan for having mora a your disposal after your defection from your Archon duties, and they mentioned such a ridictulous thing to me. And it seems others have heard a similar tale of woe from you, I not in so many words.”

“Signaling that I find myself without monetary recourse may mean I require assistance here and there, but not that you must come assist me.”

“And maybe I did not come to offer aid, much less friendship, but to simply laugh at your predicament.”

“Did you?”

“Hm, do you really have no Mora? I find it truly hard to believe that after that amusing plot you tricked me into, and successfully making a deal with the Tsarista, that you would truly not have thought such a thing through. Not to mention, your alias as Zhongli did have a job at the Funeral Parlor. A detail I cannot simply forget given that is how you roped me into contacting you before.” Childe smiles brightly.

Zhongli remains unmoved. “Perhaps after so much time as the Archon, the concept of needing currency to live had become a detail beneath me and I did not factor it.”

“Is that so?”

They stare at each other, a standoff where neither wants to be the first to cede. Childe resists the urge to laugh: it is fun to try the patience of an Archon, yet it is also so unbearably frustrating, perhaps he will lose on-

“I am not in as dire straits as I may have…. accidentally appeared to the Traveller and others.”

Childe blinks in surprise; he had not expected Zhongli to concede so quickly. Or for it not feel like he had won.

“As you surmised earlier,” Zhongli went on, “my employment at the Funeral Parlor could always be taken up again.”

“And yet, you haven’t done so.”

“Indeed.” Zhongli drums his long fingers on the table. “Retirement does not feel right if I am simply taken up another task. Perhaps if it were something enjoyable...”

Childe is getting impatient. “Is getting on your knees enjoyable?” He asks, wondering if the language was too crude for the likes of Rex Lapis to understand.

Zhongli raises an eyebrow, Childe decides to explain.

“The two women who helped pay for you this week, surely you have not become so old as to not understand what they were asking for as gratitude?”

Zhongli’s reply is completely out of Childe’s expectation.

“Why do you assume I would be on my knees?” He asks simply, and, before Childe can recover from that, continues. “And why does that interest you? Is that what you’d ask as payment for helping me now? Oh, pardon me, you implied you only came to laugh at my predicament, not help.”

Childe can simply agree and excuse himself. End this and leave. But if he had wanted nothing, he wouldn’t have come in the first place.

“Did I imply that? I think you misunderstood. I did come to help you after all. Although, naturally, I should have some equivalent compensation, especially since, from my understanding, this monetary aid would prolong itself as you have no interest in getting a job any time soon.”

Zhongli’s perfect poise slips a little, almost as if his shoulders have sagged in relief.

For the first time in… possibly, ever, Childe feels a twinge of what may be guilt. Spurned by Zhongli’s surprising candor, he decides it might be best, afterall, to not trick the... man... further.

“Rex Lapis, Zhongli, I’m not sure you realize who you’re after.”

“Childe, Tartaglia , a Harbinger from Snezhnaya, correct?”

Childe’s fingers twitch at the name coming from Zhongli’s lips. “Our previous camaraderie was all but manufactured so I could attain my results. Had my Tsarista not demanded subtlety and diplomacy, I wouldn’t have sought out the Funeral Parlor, and simply brought pandemonium to Liyue from the get go. I’m not the affable young lordling I acted as. Even the youngest Harbinger is still a Harbinger. I attacked the Traveller, I nearly brought destruction to Liyue, and I regret nor apologize for either. The precious friend you made before, he doesn’t exist.

“However, in acknowledgement of our good… ah… companionship thus far, I suggest you reconsider, and leave.”

It’s actually insane that, after everything, he came to Zhongli to simply allow him to leave when the man had all but tactidly said he’d sell his body to Childe.

But from the moment he had sat so near Zhongli he realized he could no longer wear a mask, not for this. He could not see himself starting anything with the man while not being himself.

And he knows he won’t bear rejection well if their acquaintanceship goes further.

Zhongli stares at him, then begins chuckling.

“Oh, it seems I came here not to laugh at you, but to be laughed at.”

“Pardon my manners, but really, I never expected such silly words from you.”

“Silly?”

“Hm, yes. Let’s see. First of all, the cute persona-”

“...Cute?”

“-You crafted as Childe here in Liyue, while it may have been a performance sufficient enough to trick mere mortals, was hardly that convincing to me. I could see the look in your eyes even as you smiled. I never expected you to be a gentle soul. And as for what you tried to unleash, your glee towards it all, and your lack of remorse now… I see it all, I have lost my gnosis not my eyes. Childe, Tartaglia, whatever name you give yourself, I am pursuing you, not your disguise.”

Zhongli raises a hand as if to stop Childe from interrupting. Childe, however, had no such plans.

“That said, underestimating my observational skills is not enough to make me laugh. What dumbfounds me, yet touches me at the same time, is that you just said you’ll allow me to leave, and I think you mean truly meant that.”

“What about that?”

“Were you aware that I was offered a bonus for my willing compliance towards my end of the bargain?”

Childe blinks. He had not, and shakes his head, confused at the sudden turn.

“Very well. it so happened that this boon would have been to… interestingly enough… deny a request you had made, just after everything was over. I refused it, naturally, else you would not be here.”

Childe stiffens, and Zhongli’s smile widens.

“As you said, even the youngest Harbinger is still a Harbinger. It is unthinkable that they would waste one of their most precious resources staying in Liyue and not going elsewhere to further your Tsarista’s objective. It would be quite the demotion, your staying here, if not for the fact you requested it.”

Childe tries to laugh it off. “I-”

“Pardon me, but I’m not done. Of course, as strange as it is, there are maybe some reasons for it. Spying on the Qixing and the nearby Mondstat. Planning or organizing a future invasion. Certainly there are excuses that could be sufficient enough to make it seem that you truly had no other motive to stay here, other than to serve.”

“Precisely, so-”

“Still not done,” Zhongli says, voice a little deeper, stricter, and Childe finds himself shutting his mouth in too much excited obedience at the tone. Zhongli pauses, as if gauging Childe’s reaction, but then continues. “I waited to see if you would come to reacquaint ourselves, for the sake of your new task. You did not. So I may have made comments to the Traveller and others mentioning a monetary predicament, to see if you would come then. You still did not. However… two interesting things happened, do you know what they are?”

Childe just stares. Surely Zhongli doesn’t know-

“The first kind lady that offered mora in exchange for ah… in your words “me on my knees” was sadly caught in bed by her husband with another man.”

Oh Tsarista, Zhongli knows.

“The other one… a fire consumed parts of her home -a candle gone wrong, such a normal thing- and while she is fine and not in any trouble, she no longer can afford to spend money on others, at least not for a while.”

At Childe’s continued silence, Zhongli leans forward, reaches across the table and tucks an errant lock of hair behind Childe’s ear.

It takes all of Childe’s restraint not to lift his hand to where he was touched.

“Perhaps a gentler, humbler, soul than I would simply assume coincidence. But I am not that humble, and I recall the look in your eyes. So it amuses me that here and now, you offer me freedom from you, yet you’ve been quite keen to stay near and ruin any chances I may have of leaning on other people. You claim I don’t know what I want, but it seems to me you are the one unsure.”

Childe opens his mouth, closes it, then throws caution to the wind. “Being willful is my forte,” he says with a small laugh to be master of himself again. “I didn’t like where that was going, so I cut it short with those women. But I’ve concluded I don’t want to live more of a farce than I already do, so I don’t want anything with you where I have to pretend to be, well, not me.”

“You wouldn’t have to.”

And Childe truly believes it. And because he does, he says something he had never expected to.

“But you know, paying for your lifestyle for an indefinite amount of time will be too costly. Make I should demand your heart along with your body?”

It’s cheesy but it does the trick. Finally it seems he has managed to disconcert Zhongli, who clearly had not expected Childe to say something so outrageous. Childe laughs, because he hadn’t expected it either.

Zhongli recovers spectacularly fast. “Well now, I think the grace of having the former Geo Archon’s body at your command is recompense enough.”

“Oho, so now you abruptly understand the value of money?”

“No such thing, it’s just that even someone so out of tune as I can tell this transaction of yours is too one sided.”

“So, after all of…” Childe waves at the table between them, “whatever this conversation was, is that where we stop? Your body and nothing else?”

Well, not that Childe, who had been bracing for less than that, wasn’t happy , he simply wasn’t satiated.

“Hm… I never said that. I simply don’t believe mora is sufficient.”

The electricity that’s coursing through him almost feels like Childe had accidentally ignited his Delusion. He tries not to shiver and remain composed. “Fair enough. Then, oh mighty Rex Lapis, what price would you place on your heart?”

Maybe this had all been another carefully crafted ploy by the Archon, and he was planning to entice Childe into obedience, or reveal Snezhaya’s secrets-

“Hm, I believe this sort of transaction can only be done if the same thing is exchanged in return.”

Childe blinks.

Oh.

He really should have seen that one coming, shouldn't he?

He can simply lie. But he won’t.

Hesitant for the first time, he looks down at the empty cup between them, and reaches out to play with it. “... That would be tricky. I don’t know if my… if what I have to offer has the same value of yours.” And because he really can’t seem to stop running his mouth today, he dares add. “It might even be more than yours. Or. Or maybe less, of course.”

Zhongli’s hand reaches out lightning fast to hold his own over the table.

“I highly doubt that,” he says softly. “However, we can put that part of the deal on hold for now and discuss the, ah, terms and values at a later time. Unless this needs to be a package for you?”

Childe snorts, no longer discomfited, but finds himself turning his hand to properly hold Zhongli’s. “Oh please, what kind of fool would throw away this deal? Alright, so according to our deal, you’re mine-”

“My body, for now. Don’t try to trick the God of Contracts so brazenly.”

“I am brazen, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. But fine. And in turn I am your walking wallet.”

“Are you not going to put a limit to how much I can demand from you?”

“Are you?”

“I can handle anything.”

“So long as you can, my wallet will handle your demands. And. I don’t see my tasks here in Liyue ending anytime soon, so we can discuss the rest later.”

“We have a contract, then. Ah, could you kindly start by dealing with this meal?”

“Certainly, but you’re following me tonight.”

Notes:

I did this in a feverish state after the new storyline dropped (this was posted to ao3 yesterday), so apologies if it's not that good. I did consider trying to extend it a bit so it did not feel too fast, but the last time I tried doing a "long oneshot" things, ah, backfired into a massive WIP and I did not want that again.

I hope it wasn't too bad. I've never written for this fandom before, so I don't know if I got them down correctly. My main concern was Childe, who to me comes of as slightly sadistic and I could see him being the possessive sort, if he ever came to care about anything. Plus he is unrepetant in his crimes.

#genshin impact #chili #childe #zhongli #childe/zhongli #childe x zhongli #my fic

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irene-sadler · 3 years

Text

Six Months

someone wondered when the Baroness (a side character from the Tournament aka Sir Reynard and the Red Knight which I wrote earlier this year) was coming back and uh, “back” implies that she ever left in the first place, tbh. spoilers: she didn’t.

anyway so here’s a little something something

its a quick family story plus a story about civilians in wartime packed into a little over 4000 words. rated PG. ft teen romance drama, sheep, grown up romance non drama, and not a single canon witcher character. think Roseanne (original show not the weird remake that died on arrival for Reasons) but in the setting of The Witcher. or don’t if u have no idea what i’m even talking about b/c u dont watch 90s cable sitcoms constantly like i do lol.

Six Months:

The Nilfgaardian soldiers came at night, but they found an empty manor house. The occupants had had plenty of warning they were on their way; the family’s oldest son had ridden nonstop from Rivia Castle to warn them that there had been a coup, that the Queen had vanished and her young son was in charge, and that it was only a matter of time before their old enemy Caldwell came looking for them. Hilde thought they were, in many ways, fortunate - not lucky, because no luck had been involved - fortunate that their son was riding his fastest horse, fortunate that the rest of the household managed to collect what they could and hide the rest without dramatics or incident, fortunate to have somewhere else to go. An old herbalist’s hut in the woods wasn’t much, but it was, she’d said, a roof over their heads. They’d always had a plan, in case everything in their lives went very badly wrong. Everything had, and the hut was part of it.

Then her son rode off with most of her other sons and the rest of her husband’s knights, on the chance that the Queen was out there somewhere, and left the place somewhat emptier-feeling in his absence.

“Wish I was going with them,” the Baron said, looking down the woodland road after them.

“We talked about this, Eldred; you’re sixty-seven years old, your eyesight’s going bad, and your knees don’t bend anymore. A warband’s got no use for you.”

“I know that,” he said. “Don’t mean I don’t wish I was going.”

A little flock of sheep crossed the path, with some of her nephews trailing after them, waving sticks and shouting.

“I’ll be worried about them, too,” she said, as one of the sheep suddenly bolted. Eldred took her hand, squeezed it, and limped off after it.

The next time their paths crossed he was in a slightly better mood. She hooked her arm through his elbow and looked up at the full moon through the trees.

“Can’t hear myself think in there, so I came out here for some fresh air,” he said. There wasn’t enough room inside for even half the people who had followed them along. Most of the household had settled around the hut in tents and bedrolls. The inside of the hut was still jammed with the smaller children. They were also fortunate that it was spring, and nobody would freeze to death sleeping outside. No luck involved, again. No army fought in the winter, although she wouldn’t put it past the Empire to try.

“We’ll have to build pens for the sheep and pigs, tomorrow,” she said. “Maybe some more shelters, too. The farmhands can do it. And I’ll organize some of the women t’ forage in the woods. We’re fortunate it’s spring. We might be living off pottage of oats and chickweed, but we won’t starve t’ death.”

“You know,” Eldred said, “I was thinking I might get a shot at some of these invaders after all. They might turn up here.”

“They might.”

“Wouldn’t want any spies or wanderers t’ spot us and take word back to th’ army that we’re out here.”

“No.”

“Anyhow, with all these boys out here, I thought I might train ‘em up a little, just in case.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

“Might take some of these girls, too,” he added.

“Even better,” she said. He smiled down at her.

“We’ll be safe here.”

“Of course we will, with you around,” she said.

———

Wars were just a part of life. She was born and raised in Rivia; she’d grown up watching her brothers and father ride off to war with Lyria, over and over again. Her father was killed by a Lyrian archer when she was twenty-three. She’d watched her mother’s face while they buried him. She never wanted to know what it took to make someone wear that hard, dead expression. Over a decade later the King married a Lyrian princess and those wars stopped, but more took their place. There had been the rebellion, after the King died, led by her own disgruntled brothers, who refused to serve a Lyrian; her husband’s promotion from petty knight to Baron was a direct result of the glory he’d won putting it down. That war had almost destroyed her marriage, but they’d pulled through, in the end. Then there had been bandits, minor invasions, civil unrest; it seemed like there was always something to fight over, but never anything new. Whether Lyrians were killing Rivians or Nilfgaardians were killing Rivians, they always had the same damn excuses for it. The older she got, the less patience she had for any of them.

———

Smoke from cooking fires floated through the newly cleared area around the camp. The forest echoed with the sounds of axes hitting wood and more trees falling. The pigs slept in the shade out of the heat, watched over by a pack of skinny boys from the village. The herbalist’s hut sat surrounded by a dozen almost identical buildings - buildings, children, chickens, dogs, a donkey that someone had brought in, loaded down with rushes -

The Nilfgaardians hadn’t found them, but a whole lot of other people somehow had. Some of them brought livestock or food, but a hell of a lot of them had nothing but the clothes on their backs. Hilde refused to turn them away, even if a few of the hands muttered darkly about spies and famine. More was better; more people meant more hands to work and more eyes to keep watch. Eldred’s little force of skinny teenagers with homemade bows and farmhands armed with handaxes had grown in size, if not, in her opinion, in quality. He seemed pleased with them, at least. Some of them were standing watch at the edges of the clearing. She was pretty sure none of them were asleep.

It turned out they weren’t; a minor racket interrupted the idyllic peace of the summer afternoon - some kind of argument, she thought. She abandoned the shirt she was mending and headed to the north side of the buildings, where she found a pair of youths shouting at each other. One, she noticed, was her own youngest son, waving a bow and turning an impressive shade of red. The other was a dark-haired girl. The latter spotted her before the former; Hilde watched with detached interest as the girl’s eyes widened and her stance shifted from aggressive to frozen fear.

“Herron,” she said. “It’s -”

“What’s this about?” Hilde asked.

“- your mother.”

Herron deflated, visibly.

“We were just - we were talking,” he said, staring at his own feet.

“I heard.”

“Just a - a disagreement over the watch schedule,” said the girl. She raised an eyebrow, considered telling them to cut the shit, and then decided not to. Whatever it was, it was probably harmless, and it wouldn’t be improved by her involvement.

“If you have an issue, take it up with the Baron,” she said. “Meanwhile, quit disturbing the peace.”

The girl bowed and escaped at not quite a jog. Herron stared after her, still beet red.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

“Nobody.”

“No?”

“She’s just - she wasn’t at the right guardpost.”

“Whatever you say,” she said. Herron was shifting uncomfortably, showing the usual signs of a teenager who desperately wanted to escape.

“Go on,” she said. “Get back t’ work.”

———

Herron had begged to go to war with his brothers. He was only fourteen, and although he looked like a skinny, lanky, teenage copy of his father, he had none of Eldred’s athletic ability. The best that could be said for him was he was a decent shot. Maybe he would have survived the battlefield, but she didn’t want to take the chance. Besides, he was her baby boy; she felt like he had been ten years old only the week before. She couldn’t let him go, and Eldred had taken one look at her face and hadn’t argued with her. The resulting angst had taken weeks to wear off.

Whatever Herron was up to, she was just glad he was finally speaking to her again.

———

The rainy season hit exactly on time; a genuine stroke of luck, because the rain would keep their ever-increasing hideout a secret for a little longer. The pigs were happy, but the sheep and humans less so. Hilde and her selected lieutenants kept the place running anyway, despite the endless mud, the nonstop damp, and the weather that ranged from a drizzly mist in the mornings to downpours in the afternoons and evenings that were so heavy Eldred stopped making his militia patrol the forest for fear they’d get lost or drown in a flash flood.

During one of the downpours one of the militia members came splashing through the mud and into the hut. Eldred stopped scrubbing rust off his sword.

“Something going on?”

Hilde thought he sounded a little too hopeful.

“Nothin’,” the man said. “Not really. Just, we had this kid come up t’ th’ east guardpost just now.”

“Ask around; has t’ belong to someone around here,” Hilde said.

“Don’t think so, milady, on account of it ain’t a human child.”

“Oh. I’ll take a look,” she said. “Go on, I’ll be there.”

Eldred shook his head slightly at her as she stood and pulled a cloak around herself.

“What?”

“Nothin’.”

She could barely see where she was going, but she managed to slop her way through the muck between the huts and made her way the guardpost. A little pack of militia stood around the spot, watching a single, very small shape that huddled under a blanket. The shape didn’t look up when the guards all spotted her and stood.

“Honestly,” she said. “How many people does it take to keep an eye on one five-year-old? Don’t you all have work to do?”

“We were thinkin’ maybe there could be Squirrels about,” someone explained, awkwardly. She rolled her eyes; the expression might have lost some effect in the pouring rain and dark, so she added a little of it to her tone.

“Yes, well. If so, I’ll protect you, Jenny. Get going, all of you. Find something else to do.”

Most of them trailed off, muttering among themselves. One man stuck around; she raised an eyebrow at him, which he seemed to take as a sign. He stumped off a few yards away and stood squinting out at the dark woods. She rolled her eyes again and crouched down.

“Hello. Who are you?”

“I’m six,” the huddled shape said.

“What’s that?”

“You said I was five.”

“Oh. Sorry. It’s hard to tell for sure, under that blanket.”

“I don’t want t’ get wet.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ailfe.”

“My name’s Hilde,” she said. “If you come with me, you can get something to eat and sit in front of a fire. What do you say?”

“Alright.”

Ailfe sat next to the fire, inhaling a steaming bowl of barley and dandelion leaves. Hilde offered seconds after the first bowl was done, bided her time, and, finally, asked, “So - Ailfe. Where are your parents?”

The girl shrugged, took just enough time away from eating to say, “Dead,” and went back to it. Eldred shook his head again, slightly, when she glanced at him; he had looked less than surprised when she came in out of the rain lugging a bundle. He was trying to look like he was wearily embracing the inevitable, but she could see a hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth. She smiled back.

“Where are you from?”

“Dravograd,” Ailfe said.

“Ah.”

She’d heard rumors, in passing, through the militia, who’d heard them from the merchants on the roads. Hilde knew enough to believe them.

“Well,” she said, “You can stay here, if you like; it’s not like we don’t have the room, and you can help my nephews with the sheep. How’s that sound?”

“Fine.”

Not twenty minutes later, the girl was dead asleep. Hilde pulled a dry blanket around her and stretched out on the pallet in the corner next to Eldred.

“Couldn’t let her starve,” she said to him.

“We’ve had stranger things than elves in our family, I suppose,” he replied. “Remember my uncle Egbert? Th’ one who turned into an enthusiast and became a priest of Pareplut?”

“I always wanted a daughter.”

“I know,” he said, kissed the side of her head, and added, “I love you.”

“And I love you, Eldred,” she said.

-——

When she’d decided she was going to marry him, her parents hadn’t been too sure about the idea. She was twenty and he was slightly more than a decade older, but she’d seen him in the tournaments, and she’d heard about him outside them. He was very often the best knight on the field - perfect form, an undeniable talent - and he was a close cousin to the King, and her aunt’s husband had it on good authority that he was as capable an administrator as he was a fighter. It was true that he wasn’t much to look at, but she wasn’t foolish enough to care about his missing front tooth, or the scar on his chin, or his crooked nose. The day he’d won yet another tournament and gallantly offered her the prize with a gap-toothed smile, she knew nobody in the world was going to change her mind about Sir Eldred Greenwood. Her parents would just have to get used to it.

——

The rain stopped for good and the sun cooked all the water out of the air. She started sending the kids and donkeys off to the stream, a mile away, every morning and evening to fill kegs with water. Ailfe trooped along with the others, wearing a shapeless cap that covered her ears, looking as filthy and half-wild as any of them. She had forgotten about the incident with Herron completely.

She was sitting on the top rail of a fence in the twilight, watching bats flutter through the smoke and lights of the camp and chatting about nothing in particular with Eldred. Anything resembling privacy was hard to come by, but most people seemed to be off doing something, somewhere, and nobody was near the sheep pens. At least, they didn’t think so, but they were wrong. Right around the time she lost interest in the bats and they ran out of things to talk about, something interrupted the forgotten background hum of insects and humanity.

“Wynn?” a voice said, from the nearby guardpost, out of sight past a shed. Eldred jumped about three inches and, to her mild disappointment, stopped kissing her.

“What the hell-”

She covered his mouth with her hand, quickly.

“Shush.”

It was only Herron. She recognized his voice. She didn’t immediately recognize the voice that responded.

“Hi Herron. You on watch?”

“Yep.”

“When do you get off?”

“Uh, in around an hour. Why?”

She figured it out, after some thought; it was the girl he’d been arguing with, weeks earlier. Eldred raised an inquiring eyebrow up at her. She shook her head at him.

“Do you want t’ get dinner afterward? My folks are cooking a chicken that quit laying.”

“Oh,” Herron said. “I already ate.”

After a brief pause, the girl said, “Um, well, have a good shift, then. I’ll see you later.”

“Later,” Herron replied.

Hilde waited a minute, then sighed wearily. Eldred looked pained.

“That was the single worst thing I’ve ever overheard,” he commented.

“I’m thinking you ought to have a talk with our son,” she replied, quietly.

“First thing in the morning, and not a minute later,” he agreed. “Anyway, what were we talking about?”

“We weren’t.”

————

They’d had five sons. The oldest, Hal, had a wife and children of his own. He was at court, most of the time; Eldred had sworn off the place as soon as Hal was old enough to go without him, and only went up for holidays and emergencies. Edgar and Robin, the twins, were five years younger and as unalike as they could make themselves. Edgar was a wanderer, had barely been home for most of the last decade. She wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or not that he had been home during the spring. Robin had just gotten married during the winter, and had a position at court. Jack, the fourth, had died of consumption when he was four. Her youngest son was a surprise; she’d been over forty when he was born, and nobody had expected both of them to survive the event, but they’d been wrong. Herron was weedy, but he was as strong as an ox. He looked like his father, crooked nose and all, but he acted just like her long-dead oldest brother - kind, loyal, brilliant, and unbelievably easy to manipulate. It worried her, sometimes, but she knew better than to wonder if her youngest son would come to a similar end. There was nothing to be gained by dwelling on the past, and even less by trying to predict the future.

———

The dry spell continued. One evening the donkeys and children went off as usual. An hour later as she was helping finish butcher one of the pigs, one of the boys scrambled out of the woods. Hilde balanced the knife in her hand and glanced at the trees behind him. Nothing seemed to be following him - at least, not very closely.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re comin’,” he said, wide-eyed and shaking.

“Who?”

“Black Ones. We was on our way back, and - and -”

She swore under her breath and turned quickly; she would have told one of the others to get Eldred, find the militia, but it was too late; someone had already gone.

“- they took all the donkeys,” he continued, “Even Donny.”

“What about all your friends? The other kids?”

“I don’t know; everyone was running around, and there were soldiers, and nobody was payin’ attention to me and I just ran away.”

Herron raced up, sweating heavily.

“Ma, someone said th’ enemy’s here, and dad says t’ get everyone inside th’ stockade-”

“Yes, I know what t’ do,” she said. “There’s a bunch of kids out in these woods, somewhere.”

Her daughter was out there, somewhere. She had to go find them.

“I’ll go look for them,” Herron said. “I’ll find them.”

He looked terrified. She couldn’t send him - but she couldn’t not send him; she knew she couldn’t really go herself. What would she do out in the woods? Get lost. Get killed. Herron was, if nothing else, a good shot, and a halfway decent hunter.

“I can do it,” he said. He looked even younger than he actually was, but he sounded confident. She breathed out and nodded.

“Please be careful.”

“I’ll try.”

The stockade was barely a wall; it was a fence with a gate, but it was better than nothing. They’d built it to head height with the sharp ends of logs pointed out toward the trees, and it wouldn’t stop an arrow, but it would stop a horse. Hilde stood by the gate, looking through the holes in the fence at the path her husband and a bunch of teenagers and farmers had taken into the woods. He had trooped out with a sword in his hand, smiled at her under his helmet, and hadn’t looked back. She told herself he would be fine, and Herron would be fine, and the collection of women armed with axes and pitchforks and old spears left over to defend the entirety of the camp would be fine.

Hours passed, and nothing happened. The feeling of stretched nerves in the air turned to one of faint boredom as the afternoon wore on. She took to pacing the perimeter of the fence, watching the trees for movement, listening for a sound other than the endless rattle of cicadas and crickets and the noise of livestock and people. The shadows got long, and nothing happened. She sternly told herself not to worry, or, at least, not to imagine horrible things that could be happening very far away.

“Horses,” someone suddenly said. “I hear horses comin’.”

She stared out at the woods, clutching the makeshift spear she’d armed herself with. There were horses out there; she heard a rumble that could only be a line of heavy cavalry, dozens of armored horses and men. She’d heard them a thousand times in a thousand melees, and she could imagine exactly what they would do to her mass of barely-armed, unarmored peasants if they broke through the fence.

“Get ready with the spears,” she said. “Just like we practiced.”

Spears was an overstatement; more than a few of the people who lined up behind the fence with the points of their weapons facing toward the trees were holding pitchforks, but Eldred had thought they’d do just as well. She had her own doubts, but they didn’t have anything better. Any side conversations ended as the sound of the oncoming cavalry rumbled louder; they stood and sweated and waited until the first horse appeared on the narrow road between the trees. She squinted at it; it was hard to see in the dusk, and she wasn’t very familiar with Nilfgaardian armor, but she didn’t think the rider was wearing black. In fact, the knight riding up at the head of the column had a distinctly familiar seat. She breathed, finally, and leaned the spear on the fence.

“Those are Lyrian banners,” someone said.

“It’s a trick,” someone else replied, shakily.

“No,” she said. “No it isn’t. Open the gate.”

She trooped up the road, met the column, found Herron limping along beside them with a bandage on his leg, a pack of children surrounding him, and Ailfe in his arms.

“What happened?”

“I did it,” Ailfe announced. “I saved the day.”

“Oh?”

“Well, sort of,” her son replied. “She did keep the Blackclads from catching her and the other kids -”

“-we climbed a tree,” a boy announced, smugly.

“-and then I found them and they caught me -”

“Herron fought like a good one,” said Ailfe. “He got wounded, look.”

“- then Dad and the lads turned up and attacked the Nilfs -”

Ailfe finished the story in an excited shout.

“- and then, durin’ the fight, th’ army came!”

The knight from the head of the column pulled up and stopped.

“Not that we needed help,” he said.

“No, of course not,” Hilde replied, rolling her eyes at him.

“- anyway, it all ended more or less well,” said Herron. “And they’re saying the Queen’s back.”

She looked up at Eldred, caught a gap-toothed grin on his face.

“Oh?”

Eldred nodded at her.

“We can go home soon,” Herron said.

“Home?” Ailfe asked.

“I’ll tell you all about it,” he said. “Come on, let’s get down to the camp. Ma, are you coming?”

“In a minute,” Hilde said.

“Well,” she said, in the comparative quiet after they left, “Did you see any of our sons?”

“Not in this unit - these people are just scouts, really,” Eldred said.

“They’re all alive, at least?”

“Far as I know. We’ll see them soon enough, if all goes well.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Can I give you a lift back?”

“A ride from a noble knight? I can’t say no to that,” she said.

The camp was swarming with Lyrian soldiers, Rivian civilians, donkeys, barking dogs, and runaway goats and sheep. Eldred reined in the horse at the gate and overlooked the chaos. She thought she caught a glimpse of Herron and Wynn, ducking out of sight behind a hut, and quickly pointed out the leader of the soldiers.

“Ah,” Eldred said. “Well, I suppose we could wade into this mess and talk to him -”

“You’re the Baron,” she interrupted. “You can’t just sneak off by yourself with all this going on. Also, it’s getting dark.”

“I wasn’t going to go by myself.”

“Oh,” she said.

“What I’m thinking is we go off somewhere and come back after this has a chance t’ calm itself down -”

“I suppose I can always pretend you kidnapped me,” she said. “Someone has to maintain an appearance of responsibility around here.”

“I promise to have you back before dark,” he said. “What d’ you say?”

“It’s a deal.”

“Someone told me our Hal’s a Colonel, now,” he said, turning the horse around. She wrapped her arms around his waist and propped her chin up on his shoulder to see the road ahead.

“Is he?”

“Not that it’s a surprise; he’s just like you.”

“A social climber?”

“A pragmatist.”

“You always were a romantic, Eldred.”

“I’m a lucky man. We wouldn’t have made it all these months without you.”

Luck had nothing to do with it; they’d planned and fought and were, again, fortunate that it had all worked out in the end. She buried her face in his neck and let him think it had, anyway.

“I can’t wait to go home,” she said.

#witcher #fanfiction #original characters #drama #humor #romance #relationships #thronebreaker #middle aged women running things

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limenal · 4 years

Photo

The Lion's Roar: Chapter Sixteen ;; over the glowing hill, i will conquer “Do you really grow used to it?” Lucia asked Ealhswith. “No,” the other woman said with a dry laugh, her hand cradled against her daughter. “But you do get better at hiding your worry-” “A rather valuable talent when it comes to these men, I’m afraid,” Hild said. “Will they be alright?” She knew it was a question neither of them could answer but she could not help but ask it all the same. “They would do anything to protect each other,” Hild said. “Come on,” Ealhswith beckoned as she turned back toward her home. “I have stew on the hearth and a jug of wine waiting for us. There is no use in worrying out here when we can worry in there and at least have a drink to accompany us.” Read on AO3

#the last kingdom #fan fiction #the lion's roar #destiny is all #tlk fan fic #tlk finan

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katsukikitten · 4 years

Text

Whisper 2

A/N have this small part. I've tried adding more but this is all I have for now.

Time slows as it always does when you're about to see a Death, especially when it was one you hadn't meant to see.

*"He will...."* Their breath stops suddenly and you snap your eyes open. There is no more scuttling or scraping or ripping of haunted flesh to be the one to tell you just how he will die.

Instead they are all frozen in place and you begin to wonder who or what is the cause.

*"Child I have done this."* The deep voice reverberates through your chest as you screw your eyes shut, hopeful that this entity has not noticed your movement.

*"I will spare you from witnessing his Death but you will have to give me a piece of you."*

You say nothing for a few long moments enraging it.

*"I'VE STOPPED THIS! I'M SPARING YOU HIS DEATH BUT CHILD I WILL DO SO NO LONGER! I WILL BRING YOU TO WITNESS HIS DEATH IN PERSON. YOU WILL SMELL THE ROT ON HIS FLESH IF YOU DO NOT GIVE ME A PIECE OF YOU!"*

You've angered it enough for it to show it's true voice, not a deep haunting pitch you hear in a dark alley or in the emptiness of your house when there should be no one but many overlapping pitches and tones.

All speaking in unison revealing to you it's age and the amount of souls it has previously collected.

You decide to call it's bluff, this is currently the only leverage it has over you.

You've seen plenty of Deaths before, in strangers and friends alike. Yes seeing Bakugou's would be hard.

*Extremely hard* but you would learn to live with it.

You have before.

Plus your "gift" is the rarest of all levels of Listeners, you cannot only see them and hear them.

But you can move them, change them, guide them, command them.

Form a connection deeper than most so you shine like a beacon.

And the dead will always be a moth to a bright flame.

The desperation of this entity is reflected heavily on his current bargain. Revealing so much of itself and its abilities over something as trivial as witnessing a death.

There was not much known about the Dead but you've picked up on cues quickly, the more powerful the entity, the higher the price.

And higher the amount of weaknesses it could have.

You just have to listen.

And this one proved over and over again that it did not like to be ignored.

*"VILE CHILD ACKNOWLEDGE ME AT THE VERY LEAST AND I WILL SILENCE THE DEAD EACH TIME YOU LOOK INTO HIS EYES. YOU WILL BE SPARED HIS DEATH STORY!"*

Oh that was tempting.

Before, even if their Death was whispered to you like a lullaby once before, it would be repeated each time you held eye contact whether the same Dead told you or many the story would be repeated.

As if it were a beloved night time tale they would have told their children.

So to be able to look someone in the eye, to not see their death, and to not hear about it even years later sounded....

Sounded too good to be true.

Your eyes flash open to stare into burning ember and your heart races, his skin a soothing hum beneath your finger tips.

Your mind quiets when you're around him when he is calm, well as calm as Bakugou can be.

There is a calmness about him when he fights, the same as their is a calmness about him when he stays up late watching TV in the common area. His energy producing a stillness during these moments, so much so that even his Dead seemed to relax, doze.

And for some reason the Dead do not like Bakugou when he is even the slightest bit kind to you which is more reason to be able to, maybe, possibly, make some sort of friend that could bring you even the tiniest bit of TRUE silence.

Even if it came at a high price.

"Nameless, know that if you betray me or your promise should become broken I will hunt you down and make you wish your own demise." A snarl so chilled that even the frozen Dead shiver.

They knew the truth in your words as you had done it before, becoming a terrifying legend among Dead. Ripping an entity limb from haunted limb ensuring its exepriance was that much more sinister than Hell had to offer.

The deep blood red necklace winks now at its mention, stirring with an ear piercing scream.

Milky dead eyes start to shift towards the exchange despite their immobility.

They cannot miss the contract that may be forming.

Vying to be next.

*"Ah my child, I am well aware of your abilities. What do you think has brought me here in the first place?"*

It settles on a voice of a male, smooth and deep but not overly so.

Similar in pitch and tone to the one frozen on top of you making you wonder if that is what he would sound like if he were older.

"When will you truely reveal yourself. Nameless?"

"When the time is right we will meet. For now you've paid in full." You feel its breath on your ear, hands curling onto your shoulders as his voice is filled with cocky arrogance, "Until next time my sweet Y/N."

You feel Nameless fade away as the gears of time slowly begin to work, averting your eyes from Bakugou's out of habit.

Causing your spreading anxiety to further, it is not good when a spirit is overly satisfied when you've paid the price, especially not when it is paid in full.

Meaning that even though the current "contract" exchange has happened all this entity needs is acknowledgment to worm his way into your head.

But you would have to think of that another time as everything begins to come back to life.

The dead screaming in anguish in your ear each time they attempt to continue.

You feel the familiar gaze of Wide Eyes once more before beginning a binging feast on any spirit that attempts to place their hands on you.

Between the screaming of Bakugou's dead, Bakugou himself, the angry Dead and the snaps and slurps coming from Wide Eyes combined by the rising anxiety of the contract with Nameless has a vein popping in your forehead.

You stare at his throat that reddens with rising blood pressure.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" He yells louder than his dead who still fail to right him.

*Snap*

*Sluuuuurrrp*

*POP*

*"YOU CHEATED YOU CHEATED YOU CHEATED YOU CHEATED!!!"*

"ENOUGH!" You snap finally losing it and flinging all of them from the dorm hall, including the Dead that cling to Bakugou, as if erasing a mistake made in pencil.

Suddenly the hallway seems brighter and hell, even lighter, the pressure of their presence immediately gone.

Most importantly truly quiet and your fingers grip tighter onto the dull hum that is thick forearms.

You'd pay for displaying your power in front of so many dead.

But the price was more than worth it.

You want to test the promise before avoiding the ash blonde, for how long you weren't sure but it's not as if you seem in a stable state what with pulling him to you and shouting for no reason.

You just needed to know, so bravely you let your eyes trail up his handsome face.

Past his strong jaw, his kissable lips that snarl over sharp white teeth, gliding over dusted cheeks before forcing yourself to see his eyes.

Burning scarlet red, set in a narrow scowl.

"Oi!" His voice echoes in the silence, "So you can look me in the eye now? I thought you were too good for our class."

He bites and you fear his anger with urge the Dead to rush back to you.

You've sent them quite far but still you relished the quiet.

Something you hadn't had since the first time you set eyes on an entity, pulling at your mother's long skirt with shaking hands to grab her attention.

*"Momma what's that?"*

*"What's what honey?"*

Wide Eyes had given you a wide smile then and hadn't let his gaze waiver from you in over twelve years.

Your nerves feel grated from his question, who HAD started that rumor that you thought you were above everyone else.

That you did not use your powers because these people were beneath you.

You didn't use your quirk so you could protect them.

You give up, reluctantly releasing your hold on him.

He does not move right away as he studies you, had you used your quirk just now?

You were flushed, sweating but not enough to make your hair that damp. That must have been from a shower or bath.

He had noticed how gloomy the dorm had felt when he stepped out and he definitely noticed how charged and heavy the air became when he yelled.

The air felt...lighter somehow, the hallway deffently brighter, but most importantly you seemed relaxed.

He sucks his teeth as he rises to his feet.

"Whatever." He growls before stalking to his dorm room. Leaving you to lie on the carpet of the boys dorm floor.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou x you #bnha x reader #bnha x y/n #bnha x you #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugo #bakugou #bakugo #bnha bakugo katsuki #mha bakugou #bnha katsuki #bnha kacchan #bnha bakugou #bnha imagines #bnha fanfiction

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crackimagines · 5 years

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Sorry if this seems like spam, you're just the best and I keep getting ideas for you. Anyways, maybe one where Child!Blyeth gets sick, like bed-ridden, barely coherent sick, and Jeralt's out on a mission, so it's Big Sisters Mercedes and Annette to the rescue to help their tiny professor until he feels better?

child!Byleth Post Masterlist here!

Thanks for the compliment, I’m glad you enjoy the blog! And don’t you worry a thing! I love the prompts you guys send me, and I checked, and you’ve only sent in like 2 asks anyway.

plus you were there that night when I fucking axed these sweethearts, i gotta make it up somehow

I’m also going to be combining these 2 asks since they’re pretty much the same

Thanks for the ask, merciful-chaos and anon, hope you enjoy!

—-

MEDIC! (FE: Three Houses Short Fic)

Child!Byleth Professor AU

Byleth becomes sick due to overworking himself. So, there’s naturally only two people who can help with this situation…

—-

The tiny professor sighed loudly as he finally left the Blue Lions classroom. Grading the papers had been exhausting for him. He had recruited so many students to the point of absurdity, and that meant way more extra work.

Then again, he couldn’t exactly say no, so this was mostly his fault of why he had to work so hard.

As he walked, Sothis materialized next to him.

“You look quite pale. Are you alright?”

Now that she mentioned it, he wasn’t exactly feeling his best as of late.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. Nothing some sleep can’t fix up.”

He continued walking towards the offices, there was at least one more bit of work to do before the night got too late.

Right now it was about the dinner hour, so he could still finish at a reasonable hour.

The more he walked however, he began to feel lightheaded.

“Perhaps we should get back to the room. The work can continue at a later date, off to bed with you!”

As much as he hated leaving work half done, she was right. He sighed again, and started headed back to his room, until he felt his legs give out, and his face planted into the floor.

A squad of knights were patrolling by the entrance to the offices, and saw Byleth on the floor.

(Knight 1) “H-Hey! Professor! Go call for a healer!”

(Knight 2) “Yes sir!”

(Knight 3) “What happened to the kid?!”

(Knight 1) “No injuries, pulse is still good…He may just be exhausted. That said, search the area! I want every nook and cranny checked! Split into teams of two, and alert the other squads!”

…

When Byleth opened his eyes back up, he was in a bed, and slowly looked around, the room much too bright for his liking.

(Girl’s Voice) “Oh, professor, you’re awake!”

He could barely make out the voice as he started to gain back his sight.

After a few seconds of the world finally coming back to view, the entirety of the Blue Lions class was standing in his room.

(Dimitri) “There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know!”

(Byleth) “S-Sorry for worrying you all. What time is it? We need to-”

As he tried getting up, he felt a sharp pain in his head, to which he was gently pushed back to lying down by Dimitri.

(Dedue) “Professor, please get some rest. The healers said you have become sick through exhaustion.”

(Ingrid) “No need to worry about us sir, some other instructors are filling in for you.”

(Byleth) “…S-Should I even ask?”

Everyone awkwardly looked at each other. They knew if they said that Alois of all people had to be their substitute, he’d have a heart attack.

(Felix) “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”

(Sylvain) “Regardless, hope you feel better teach! We have some very capable people to take care of you while we’re off!”

Byleth felt his anxiety lessen when he heard Sylvain say that.

(Byleth) “Flayn?”

(Annette) “Even better!”

(Mercedes) “We’ll make sure to take good care of you!”

…Byleth’s anxiety then went through the roof.

(Ashe) “Professor, you’re starting to sweat up something fierce. Maybe we should let them take care of you-”

‘PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME HERE WITH THEM’

…is what he wanted to say, but he started coughing, letting everyone leave the room.

(Bernadetta) “Get b-better soon, professor!”

(Marianne) “We’ll pray for your fast recovery.”

(Raphael) “Yeah, we’ll get a good dinner once you’re out!”

(Caspar) “You make it sound like he’s in prison…”

Caspar had no idea how right he was.

Once the doors closed, Annette nodded and took some soup out.

(Annette) “Here you go professor, I made this soup personally!”

AND NO ONE STOPPED YOU?!

…Is what he was going to say until he felt his throat finally give out. It was clear that he wasn’t going to speak anymore today.

Sothis materialized behind Mercedes and Annette, looking at the soup and shuddering.

That was NOT a good sign.

He was crossing his fingers under the blanket in hoping they weren’t going to do something as humiliating as spoon feed him like an infant.

Luckily, they gave him his own spoon, so he nodded as thanks and took a bite out of it.

He was also luckily that Sothis was the only ones who could hear his thoughts.

BY THE GODDESS THIS IS DISGUSTING!

(Sothis) “I have no concept of cooking but…I wish I said something earlier BEFORE you took a bite…Can you not speak to say that this is horrible?”

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do it. Take a look at their eyes.

Sothis did just that, and saw them sparkling. They finally had a chance to be the big sisters.

(Annette) “I-It’s okay? No spitting it out! OH MY GOSH, MERCIE I FINALLY DID IT!”

(Mercedes) “I’m so proud of you, Annie! Your cooking is finally improving!”

Like hell it was.

(Sothis) “…I…I suppose you’re right. What are you going to have to do with that slop?”

Well, considering it’s helping a bit with my illness I…I think I’m going to have to eat it all.

(Sothis) “…Just this once, I will allow you to turn back time outside of combat.”

He honestly considered it until he heard Annette speak up.

(Annette) “You know, I was so worried you wouldn’t like it! When I heard you were sick, I wanted to make sure we could help you get over it as fast as possible!”

(Mercedes) “Annie spent all night trying to get the soup to perfection, and it’s relieving to see its helping you!”

(Sothis & Byleth) “…”

(Sothis) “On second thought, I’d feel too bad.”

Same.

Byleth worked up a smile and nodded at them, which mad both of them smile even wider.

This was going to be the longest day in his life.

Later that night…

Mercedes and Annette did a fine job of taking care of their tiny professor, though it was quite a rough start. They constantly insisted he take naps, which he refused, trying to do paperwork instead.

They eventually had to convince him by saying that he’d get brownies if he cooperated, which was his breaking point.

He hated the fact it had so much power over him, but he had to comply.

Mercedes’ cooking WAS that good…Well, her baking anyway.

Though when Annette offered to sing him to sleep, he said no so fast she didn’t even finish her sentence.

On that note this was the first time he was ever given attention like this. Usually when he was sick, he didn’t make a fuss and just slept it off unless it was very bad in his mercenary days.

Though, having a healer just do their job would’ve been sufficient he…didn’t entirely hate the fuss Mercedes and Annette caused for him.

Once he finally drifted off into sleep, Mercedes put a blanket over him, and both her and Annette quietly walked out, leaving their tiny professor to rest easy.

(Mercedes) “That was quite fun! There were so many things I didn’t know about Byleth until today!”

(Annette) “I know! We’re finally his big sisters!”

They began laughing, and chatting about how childish Byleth was on the inside. All the while, Sothis watched from outside his room, smiling to herself.

“Oh man, that child is NOT going to be happy once they begin spreading the news…”

Spoiler: HE WASN’T.

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murasaki-murasame · 3 years

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After a surprise five-day extension, the free anniversary tenfolds are finally over, so now I can give my update on what I’ve gotten since the Gala Alex rerun banner.

TL;DR: I might be dumb, but I am also incredibly stupid :’)

Just as a disclaimer I am absolutely not gonna be able to remember 100% of what I got, especially when it comes to dragons, so this probably isn’t a complete list, lol.

Anyway, after the banner where I got Gala Alex, we had the Stirring Shadows banner, which I only did free tenfolds on since I already had literally everyone on the banner to begin with. I think the only things i got were a dupe Akasha and a dupe Nyarly [who I already had MUB].

After that we got the Valentines rerun, which also didn’t interest me that much since the only unit I was missing from it was V-Hilde, who I don’t care about that much. I think the only thing my free summons got me was a dupe Epimetheus, who was enough for me to get him MUB, but then I spent an extra ten summons afterward since I wanted to break my pity rate and all I got was a dupe Vayu, who I already had MUB, lol.

Then we got the Gala Poseidon and Lapis banner, which is basically where my entire life started to fall apart, lmao. Not immediately, though. I did my dream summon around the start of the banner since it was going to end, and I decided to get Mitsuba. I was basically torn between her and Yurius, mainly since my list of characters I wanted to dream summon was pretty small, but I decided to go with Mitsuba since I already use Pipple all the time and it’s a hassle to use people with the same weapon type in the same team even if they use different equipment, so that was a strike against Yurius. I know there were some limited units on the dream summon, but I already have Ieyasu, Marishiten, and DY-Jeanne, and I don’t really care about H-Elly or DY-Cleo at all.

Then like a day or two after that I got Yurius [and a dupe Jiang Ziya] from a free tenfold, lmao. I was slightly regretting getting Mitsuba by that point since I still wanted to get Yurius eventually, but I guess everything worked out just fine. Sadly I dunno if it’d even be worth building him up and using him anywhere, considering that I have so many good water units built up already, but oh well. And as a fun fact, he was the only non-limited wand unit who I was missing, so that’s neat.

After that I honestly can’t remember if I got anything from the rest of my free tenfolds. I might have gotten a 5-star from my last one, but I dunno. Either way all I can say is that I didn’t have Gala Poseidon or Lapis by the end of my free summons, and I figured that I had a good stash of 300 summons saved, so I could afford to try and chase after Poseidon a bit. I know he’s not even that great, but still.

Let’s just say that I had to redeem 300 wyrmsigils to get my one and only copy of Gala Poseidon, lol. It was a nightmare. I should probably deeply regret my life choices right now, but honestly I can probably still save up a spark by the time the New Years banner comes around, even if it’d mean skipping Christmas [which I was planning to skip anyway] and Gala Leonidas [who I don’t care about quite as much as most people].

There’s a lot to go through so let’s just run through the list, which should do a good job of illustrating the emotional rollercoaster this goddamn banner took me through.

Dupes:

-the JZ dupe I mentioned before

-Gala Alex [I just remembered that I specifically got her from my final free tenfold summon. Thankfully I only had to spend like 60 summons on her rerun banner to get her, but I still had to just spend a moment staring into the distance after this one]

-Yaten

-Like two or three copies of Zephyr [who I already had MUB]

-C-Phoenix [who I think is now at 2 or 3UB]

-Andromeda [who’s now MUB]

-Shinobi [now I have two separate MUB copies of him, lmao]

-Cerberus [who I already had MUB]

-Apollo [who’s now at 1UB]

-Two copies of Agni [who I already had MUB, and also I got these both in the same tenfold, just to rub salt into the wound]

-Kamuy [who’s now at 1UB]

-I might have gotten a copy of Siren??? If I did, she was already MUB, lol

-Hastur [who’s now at 1UB]

-P-Siren [who’s now at 2UB, I think]

-Another Nyarly dupe [now I have two random copies sitting in my inventory]

So basically I got surprisingly few dupe adventurers [relative to how many summons I did across this whole banner], but after a while the dupe dragons started to just blur together and I could feel my body slowly escaping from this mortal plane. I got pretty lucky with the first three gala dragons, but oh boy this one just absolutely refused to come home. At least I was able to spark him, and I immediately used stones on him, but I’m not very happy about it, lol. At least I didn’t get any dupes of OG Poseidon, which would have absolutely driven me insane at this point. He’s still on my shit list after that time I got like three copies of him in the same gala banner.

And then for the new stuff [aside from G-Poseidon]:

-the Yurius I mentioned before

-Yukata Cassandra [I think she was like third place on my list of dream summon candidates, so this was nice]

-Delphi [it took this dude so fucking long to show up that now I don’t even know if I have any use for him, lmao. I’ve been wanting him for over a year though]

-Lazry [I don’t really care much about her, but it’s nice to have her in my collection]

-Ilia [*looks into the camera like I’m in The Office*]

It’s a smaller list than the infinite pile of dupes I got, but all things considered this is a really high number of new adventurers to get from just one banner. I think now I’m down to only ten or eleven non-limited characters that I’m missing [aside from Opera Karina]. I’ve known for a while that water and shadow were the two elements I’m missing the most characters in, but I’ve gotten a surprising amount of them lately. I got Yurius and Lazry from this banner, Mitsuba from the dream summon, and Catherine from the Gala Alex rerun banner. I wish I had gotten Lapis too, but oh well. I think she and Pinon are now the only non-limited water units I’m missing. And on the other hand, even though I got Delphi from this banner, shadow’s still the element I’m missing the most units from, since I don’t have Linnea, Nevin, S-Patia, Forte, or S-Verica, and soon enough Opera Karina will be on that list too.

It would be nice to get Gala Leonidas, but at this point I’m probably gonna have to just stick to hoarding until New Years, since I have basically zero summons left over at this point, and New Years has always been my main priority for sparking. Hopefully I can get that many summons over the next two months, but I’m a bit worried after how few summons some of these recent events have been giving. At the very least I still have a shit-ton of adventurer stories to go through, and I’m not above doing a free tenfolds with diamantium if I need to.

So on the one hand, I spent absolutely way more summons than I should have just to get a gala dragon who’s probably not even worth getting [why are his attack mods so low . . . Cygames why . . . . Cygames explain this ;_;], but on the OTHER hand, I got five new adventurers [plus Mitsuba from the dream summon], which includes several who I’ve been wanting to get for a while, so I’m happy about that. I’m still probably gonna end up regretting this immensely once Gala Leonidas comes out and I don’t have enough summons to justify chasing him, though, lol. I can’t exactly promise that I won’t end up just giving in and chasing him anyway, but I do really want to be able to spark on New Years, since zodiac units are much more limited than gala ones.

And on that note, we should be getting a rerun of the Mitsuhide banner this month, but I don’t really care about that much anyway. I’m still missing Daikokuten and Nobunaga, but I’m not interested enough in either of them to justify chasing them at this time of year. I’d rather just save for the new zodiac units instead.

#dragalia lost #fuck Poseidon. all my homies hate Poseidon u_u

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conchstellations · 4 years

Text

watching the 1990 LOTF movie!! my reactions:

hello all!!!! i was bored at midnight again so here it is: me watchin the 1990 movie, for the first time, hell yeah!!!!! here we go!!! its got the other movie to live up to, so im excited for a comedy lmao!! tl;dr at end if u want!!! its kinda long btw lmao

- castle rock entertainment??? piggy u better watch out bro

- fuck is that the pilot???

- k this isnt a big thing but why are they in water? the plane left a scar in the earth, they were on land.

- okay, again, me nitpicking. but idk, to me, they dont look 12?? maybe its just cause theyre all dressed up n that but they dont look like 12 yr olds to me like the last movie

- why tf does ralph (?) have a glowstick lmaooooo

- why are they all together. where is my conch. wher are my stupid ass choir outfits. maybe im not there yet and they have them, but i want my stupid cloaks!!! jack would not stand for this!!!

- why TF is the pilot alive???

- am i supposed to know whos who by now?? did i just miss that?? which ones ralph? which ones jack?? wheres simon???

- conch??? the conchs main job is to bring them together, and here theyre already together so???

- piggy already makin me love him gosh piggy is child

- okay so im guessing brown hair kid is ralph

- piggy protecting conch rights

- i do like piggys sass... very iconic

- okay whAT??? is that blonde kid supposed to be jack?? first off, jack has red hair. second off, there is no way in hELL THAT MY basTARD child jack merridew would let ralph win the election just like that??? wheres my choir??? wheres my c sharp???

- okay jack would for sure call piggy shitbrain nvm

- mY CHOIR WOULD NOT ACCEPT THAT SINGING.

- wheres simon????

- r they fuckin cookin lizards??? nvm look away simon pls dont be in this

- is thAT BITCH supposed to be Simon?? hes got a lot to look up to. also why the FUCK is the adult alive. taht ruins the whole purpose of the entire book

- was that a dream??? sorry im dumb af lmao

- alrght simon is kind of an adorable hild and he likes lizard maybe hes valid?

- idk.. for some reason this ralph isnt like, giving me ralph vibes?? hes just not bring like ralphish u know??

- now im getting a little bit more of our beloved lil bitch ralph..

- okay wtf is going on lmao

- “SHOVE THEIR DICK IN THE CONCH” had me laughing for a solid fucking 30 minutes. william golding who??? whoever wrote that line is the new icon

- ‘EAT SHIT AND DIE” okay wtffff im so confused but also vv entertained

- for some reason jack’s character is like 100% off, but also somehow 100% on point “thats exactly what i meant” like holy shit. like idk hes not jack but just sometimes he radiates “jack if he was allowed to swear and was less of a lil bitch” energy

- ok simon and lizard?? valid

- i swear to FUCKING GOD i will kill that child!!!

- im gonna cry. wtf. why would you kill his lizard. even this movie’s jack seems like he thinks thats fucked up and hes a psychopath. also, lemme say, at this point, i think most of the book characters would beat the shit out of someone if they were mean to simon like that, bc the choir were his friends, and ralphs tribe respected him, sooooo

- why tf is it simons job to take care of the adult that shouldnt even be there? liek wtf hes grieving asshole

- no fucking duh hes scared of everyone but simon i would be too

- honestly kinda glad they let ralph say fuck he deserved it

- “back off man im sick of ur shit and sos my gang” fuckin got em

- let me guess pilot dude is the new beast???

- honestly wtf is goin on lmao

- okay piggys actor actually made me sd when he was crying about his glasses so good job

- simon comin through with the glowstick. also, good job simon

- well at least the lord of the flies looks terrifying as always

- are samneric putting on warpaint this early?? bc i WILL NOT stand for that shit. i am a samneric STAN Ok??? they were two of the tHREE left when simon died who didnt become cowards and go savage. they wree LOYAL to ralph until they were LITERALLY tied up and FORCED to join jack, and even then they helped ralph!!!! so fuck u. samneric are better than that.

- oh simon :(

- im glad they actually kind of (?) shwed simon like with the pig head bc last movei it was just ike them flipping the camera from pig to si so idkk

- ok that was a pretty ralph move to bring up the fire 24/7 lmao

- piggytits?? tf

- simon with hus fuckin glowstick lmao

- awe, simon

- okay HOLY SHIT. the sounds of what i assume to be them fucking stabbing simon are horrific. and then that cut to simon’s fucking mutiliated corpse?? holy SHIT. like as much as im complaining, thats the gruesome shit i expect from this book. i was expecting them to shy away from it bc its so awful, but im SO glad they didnt, bc that gave me fuckin chills. finally, something i can praise them on. thats the lord of the flies i expect.

- i feel bad for ralph.. good job

- ok good. samneric came back. good job again.

- ok. nvm. the disrespect to my loyal children. alright.

- okay that child screaming as hes being whipped?? wtf.

- ok that line of piggy being scared that the russians will take them nad make them go into the olympics? gold.

- piggys laugh is so pure

- why the fuCK are they finding instruments lmao

- poor piggy

- did roger just wolf whistle at ralph what the fuck is going on

- holy SHIt this movie does not hold back on the blood. but, wheres my conch explosion?? if ur gonna show him getting hit u gotta show the conch exploding. although, the conch means like nothing in this movie lmao

- okay wow piggys dead body cool cool cool

- ralph fucking YEETED that kid to the ground lmao

- okay, ralph crying?? good acting

tl;dr/conclusion/my thoughts: hooooo boy so i see why everyone likes 1960 one better.

first, lets start with the obvious: why this isnt lord of the flies. because its not. if this wasnt telling me that its lord of the flies, i would think of it as that, really. first off, the conch. the conch represents civility, it brings them together. its important. when piggy dies, it dies, representing how all civility is now gone. i maybe saw the conch three times this movie. didnt do anything.

second, the pilot, captain whatever. the point of the beast to me is that they made it up. sure, the corpse was real, but it didnt pose a threat, it was simply a corpse. they made it into what it was, therefore proving that they are the beast. sure, the pilot here was harmless, but he grbbed a boy’s foot and was therefore making himself a possible threat. maybe its not a big deal i guess.

third, the characters. the point of lord of the flies is that they are rich kids who havent gone through anything. theyre the perfect, spoiled kids who havent done anything wrong. half of them are in choir. chOIR. in this movie, lets take jack for example. they said he stole a car and got sent to military school. no. the point of jack is that he was a perfect kid. leader of choir. he was manipulitive and got even ADULTS to trust him. its part of hs character, showing that this perfect choir leader kid went fucking insane to prove how literally everyone can be evil. also samneric???? the direspect!! they were loyal to ralph until they were tied up and FORCED to join jack, and even then, after roger like beat the shit out of them, they were STILL loyal. fuck you.

so those are the MAIN reasons why it wasnt lotf.

now, what i liked i guess.

the swearing was NOT lotf, and it didnt fit with the story, but ill admit that i laughed, so i guess thats a plus.

second, i liked how they showed the gore, i guess? sounds weird, hear me out. lord of the flies is a gruesome, violent, awful book. theres descriptions of death in detail, and im so glad they showed it. when simon’s body was there, literally torn to shreds? the shock of it, the true savagery you see that these boys murdered him SO violently, is amazing, because thats the essence of lotf. simons death shows how theyve lost all their civility, and showing such a gruesome corpse really brings that through. so good job.

and now, of course, the obvious: thats not the characters i pictured when i read the story. simon doesnt look like that, ralph doesnt look like that, jack doesnt look like that.

where did the choir go, too? forgot to mention that, and i think that also adds into the whole, theyre supposed to be perfect kids and then become savage thing. also, the choir was a group. they voted for jack and went with him for a reason.

so yea, thats that. dont know why people would read this lmao but thats my thoughts!!!! i just need to keep myself busy when i watch movies and to make sure i focused, i figured id just write down my thoughts as i went. if u wanna watch for free, look up lord of the flies 1990 google drive.

;)))) and yea im posting this at 230 am lmao why not

#lord of the flies #lotf #lotf 1990

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magaprima · 4 years

Text

Part 3 Episode 3

OMG HARVEY’S DAD TALKING TO HIM ABOUT SEX AND PROTECTION I’M DYING

Nick is having night terrors. Understandably. He’s going all Lady Macbeth trying to scrub himself clean

Zelda sneezed? Witches don’t get colds...

Also I swear I have Sabrina’s shirt in brown.....

Sabrina wants a long day with Nick, but Lilith turns up like ‘oh no. You don’t get to declare a reformation in hell and then leave. demons want some shit’ AND SABRINA WON’T FUCKING GO.

‘i’m not going. i’m spending the day with Nick’.

I swear, Lilith exasperation and frustration is my exasperation and frustration. You can’t just do shit and then leave Sabrina that’s not the way shit works. Also Lilith looks stunning. And I love her rolling her eyes while they kiss.

AH, the slamming of fists on the table from the trailer is now. They’re demanding an audience with Sabrina, and Lilith’s wide eyes in the trailer are her shouting the PG equivalent of SHUT THE FUCK UP

Unholy hell Lilith seems to actually be enjoying shouting at them on Sabrina’s behalf, because it’s like they can’t attack her, she’s only regent acting on behalf of the Queen.

Lilith’s face when Caliban comes in is fucking priceless. It’s like ‘this fucking idiot again. go away’

Sabrina accepts Caliban’s challenge and Lilith is just like ‘a regent’s work is never done’ Lilith is just having a constant sass vibe

The challenge to the throne, meaning there’s essentially no one on the throne now, means the witches are losing their powers. They’re getting colds and not able to fly...

MRS MEEKS. She excitedly tells Mary about the carnival and Mary says, ‘Adam and I used to go to carnivals together’. OWWWWWWW

Theo getting dating advice from Harvey. I love Theo

Ambrose establishing that Queen of Hell or not, Sabrina will be killed by the Aunts if they find out. True facts

Nick has pretty hair. I wanna run my hands through it. Come here, handsome boy

ALL THE STUDENTS ARE TRASHY WITCHY BODICE RIPPERS.

OMG IT’S HILDA’S NOVEL. SHE FUCKING WROTE IT OMFG. AND SHE HAS ZELDA IN THE BOOK AS A HAG SPINSTER SISTER OMFG HILDA??

Ooh hilda standing up for herself and getting her own life, identifying that her dreams are different from zelda’s. ‘i have duty to myself to be happy’

Zelda deleted Hilda’s book. Don’t be a meanie Zelda

Nick has serious PTSD and needs help. Sabrina ‘you are so lucky the church of night only has 12 members right now or I would totally smite your asses’. Love it. Nick needs help like I can stress this enough. He’s been through literal hell

Ambrose wants to keep Herod’s Crown. Ambrose....give it back. Drop it. Drooooop it. Drop it.

Oh no, I think they released King Herod from the tree. Like you do. I can just hear Giles’ voice being like ‘don’t free crowns out of trees’

NICK IS TRYING TO CUT OFF HIS OWN FOOT. HELP THE FELLA

Undead King Herod smells of maple syrup because he came out of a maple tree. Yum.

Roz can see that the carnival people are satyrs and other celtic creatures. Roz is definitely the Phoebe Halliwell of the group

Ah Dr C and Hilda having a romantic walk through the carnival. Aaaaaah

Hilda’s dream: I just want to grow old in a cottage with a fire and the spiders and a dog. Not a stuffed one

Yeah Hilda thinks Vinegar Tom is weird too, I hear you, Hilds.

DR C PROPOSING TO HILDA SHE DROPPED HER CANDYFLOSS!!!!

SHE SAID YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Is Roz getting entranced by Billy. And I do mean entranced.

Ah Mary walking alone at the carnival. Since finding out she’s an only child I’m extra protective of her, because I am an only child, and only children, we learn to do stuff on our own because we have no siblings to drag along. Mary heads straight for the fortune telling tent. She’s sat so awkwardly while having her palms read.

‘I had a fiancee, Adam. I fear something terrible has befallen him’.

the reader replies ‘I’m sorry, he is gone forever. But you already know this, because you were there’ and Mary is confused as fuck. ‘I wasn’t. At least I don’t remember’. She looks so upset. The fortune teller than guesses that Mary never had sex with Adam. Mary is rightfully insulted by this prodding into her sex life and leaves.

I feel it’s implied here Mary is a virgin which makes me wonder...fuck do they need a virgin sacrifice?

Harvey wonders into the snake dancer tent. Of course he does. So much Lilith imagery here mixed in with druidic and hindu? Such a mix up.

Nick and Sabrina go into the tunnel of love, very sweet, come out screaming like a Benny Hill sketch with King Herod behind them. I love this kind of stuff, where something serious is executed with dry humour. It’s why I loved Buffy so much growing up.

Sabrina didn’t grab the fucking crown while Caliban is there. so he gets it. fucking hell Sabrina.

Mary back in her cottage. She’s found Lilith’s box of tricks. i.e dead things and spells.And Adam’s fucking ring. Wait....hasn’t Lilith got that ring? Oh wait, was there a pair?

Either way Mary asks ‘what happened to you Adam? What happened to me?’. Well, Mary you will killed by Lilith, and Adam was killed By Lucifer because Lilith loved him.

Caliban is crowning himself with Herod’s crown and Lilith is just like thinking this is the worst torture ever. When Sabrina punches the crown off him, Lilith is the one to pick it up and put it away, and she has a very curious look when the demons start chanting Sabrina’s name...?

OMG THE FUCKING CARNIVAL PEOPLE INCLUDE THEO’S LOVE INTEREST (duh robin goodfellow equals puck) BUT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR FUCKING VIRGINS??? which Mary, Harvey and Theo are. Can I just say I love how virgins are not presented with one look or habit in this show, and not shown as less capable or successful people which shows often do.. Virginity means nothing. Except to a bunch of people wanting to sacrifice you to bring forth an old god.

#caos spoilers

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