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tsukii0002 · 19 days

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My demons' periods cycles. By Mc

Note: these are purely my headcanons at the moment, they are based on animal ethology and behaviours that I think would suit each character depending on their personality and Lore. I would love to read your headcanon in case you have them.

Warning: Long text. Possible grammatical errors. It's written as if Mc was writing for themself.

Hey, it me Mc, the best human. Here is a compilation of the behaviours of my demons during their periods, cycles, for practical day to day use. It wasn't easy but I sat them down and got to talk to them, with a little effort I now know what they need. So now I am ready to assist them during these complicated times and be prepared in case I find a dead goat on the porch as a tribute.

Lucifer, Mammon & Levi || Satan, Asmo, & Beel || Belphie, Barbatos & Diavolo || Simeon & Raphael

Lucifer

Light does not bother him, but he rarely sleeps during its periods.

During his cycle his wings are filled with new feathers, to make them more noticeable and showy, many are small and iridescent.

His horns are also covered with iridescent scales.

He's constantly preening his wings, and they are always stretched to their fullest extent (Be prepared to be plucking feathers off your head for months)

The more feathers the better health (The stress of everyday life affects his plumage at this time so if at any time you see it scarce don't tell him :()

Unlike what you might think his nest is not in his bedroom but in secret rooms in the HOL.

Peacocks build their nests by making holes in the floor, Lucifer simulates that feeling by making a nest with high walls (good luck trying to get in and out) .

During his cycle he becomes very territorial and protective over his chicks (his siblings) and his mate (Interestingly Satan has woken up in the nest the most times over time, followed by Belphie)

He doesn't go outside his territory (the house), he feels a strong need to protect the fort (so all RAD paperwork falls on this sheep) .

Lucifer has a pre-heat period which is when he starts to grow new feathers, he eats a lot more and stores some food.

During the cycle he hardly eats, for that he has been accumulating energy ( you have to insist and feed him yourself so that he doesn't end up weakened after the cycle) .

He can talk normally, although when someone outside his family approaches a guttural sound comes out of his throat as a warning.

He produces very strong pheromones, but does not mark with them because there is no need (No one will dare steal what belongs to him)

Although physical contact soothes him, don't rub him if you don't see him relax, especially his wings. Let him initiate the contact.

He's always on guard since he does not sleep. But don't want that his brothers see him in his period.

His main way of courtship is to show off, so to get him to let you live, flatter him, tell him how beautiful his wings are or how majestic he is.

It's funny because sometimes he'll expect you to court him back (I don't have wings Luci, I can't do it) .

His senses are uniformly heightened. Nothing gets out of his control. (Good luck going to the toilet)

His body temperature rises (prepare light clothing, more than for him for you, you're going to need it)

Does he purr? Yes, although it's more like the sounds certain birds make before they sing. It is difficult to hear >:(.

During the cycle his anxiety is accentuated.

Normally demons end up exhausted after their cycle, but because he is so proud he doesn't let you take care of him, and he ends up much worse off.

Mc: So the nest is important?

Lucifer: Very important, yes.

Mc: Essential?

Lucifer: Yes

Mc: … *thoughtful* Are you going to let me leave the house?

Lucifer: No.

Mc: And from your nest?

Lucifer: No.

Mc: …. Let's buy cervical pillows then

Lucifer: *grinning*

Mc: So if I forced you, will you eat?

Lucifer: I think it's possible.

Mc: *grinning * And how do I do it with a spoon or mouth to mouth like the chicks?

Lucifer: *blushing * You… don't make me regret having told you all this

Mc: *half asleep* Everyone is sleeping.

Lucifer: *watching them in the dark with his eyes shining*

Mc: Everything is in order *trying to climb the nest*

Lucifer: *picking them up and lifting them to the nest* … *purring*

Mc: Now, now, let's try to sleep…*still half asleep* you are warm.

Lucifer: *covering them with his wings* Rests Mc.

Mammon

He can stand the light but doesn't like it, during these periods he has a reduced sleep schedule.

During his period he feathers, these feathers help him to be more aerodynamic.

He needs to groom them but as he normally doesn't have that many he is terrible at it (So be prepared to give him a hand) .

He nests, but like crows he does it high up, (make sure you prepare a hanging platform on the second floor of his room or he will end up nesting on the roof) .

Unlike Lucifer, he goes out almost every day, looking for small prey or presents. And don't care if his brothers see him in his period.

During his cycle his obsession for shiny things is accentuated, they don't have to be valuable, just shiny: stones, crystals, metals, floors or polished surfaces (thanks for the idea)…

He is a collector and will bring these objects to the nest.

Mammon is not overly territorial, he doesn't expect his parnert to be in the nest for 24 hours either, but when he comes back from his outings please be there or he will panic. Last time the house almost burned down.

He produces pheromones, and he will only use it on his mate.

He does not have a pre-heat, but you can identify that he's approaching his period by her lack of attention (more than usual).

Mammon eats throughout his cycle, more than usual, mostly meat, but also certain grains and seeds that his relatives collect for him.

He will want to feed you and you will want to feed him. You can't get away from that, you just can't.

His pupils dilate and constrict in an exaggerated manners. And his eyes shine in dark.

Although he talks, he prefers to communicate by squawking and growling.

However, when he is affectionate mood mainly with taps and caresses.

During the cycle he becomes very needy of physical touch, at sleeping, eating and grooming times he must always be skin to skin. Stroke him between the wings or plumage and he will start to purr.

He is happy for you to initiate contact, he doesn't mind if you do it whenever you want.

He sleeps curled up on his companion.

Does he purr? Yes, like his brother it's a similar sound to certain birds, but it's easy to make him purr (pretty much whenever you pay attention to him)

And you always have to pay attention to him.

His form of courtship is to bring you gifts, where did you get coins, pretty stones, luminescent flowers … you can not refuse these gifts or he'll cry (however give a stone or a coin and will not leave the nest in hours, he will think that you have reciprocated the courtship and will be happy)

His senses are sharpened especially his hearing and sight, he can see for miles, there is no threat that escapes him, that is why he is able to leave the territory so much.

He is more honest than usual, if he wants you to hug him he will tell you straight out.

Mammon: *trying that mc eat a leg of an unidentified animal*

Mc: No- NO!, youuuu stay baaaack

Mammon: *grunt*

Mc: *giving him part of their bread * take it

Mammon: *with pupils dilate* Oh *happy bird noises*

Mc: *holding back laughter*

Mammon: Farther to the left

Mc: Here?

Mammon: *stretching his wings higher*

Mc: Here?

Mammon: *purrs*

Mc: How the hell did you preen your feathers before?

Mammon: *curled next to Mc holding tightly a monopoly coin*

Mc: *smiling while stroking his feathers*

Mammon: Love you...

Mc: So your period makes you soft…I wish you were always as honest.

Levi

Nocturnal, light bothers him and can hurt his eyes.

During his period he sleeps more than usual (although he should sleep more often).

His scales cover his whole body and become more colorful. And his horns grow new branches.

He does not need as much grooming as other types of demons, but he needs constant humidity.

During his period the bathtub in his bedroom is full, but sometimes a humidifier is enough.

However during the final part of his period he needs to be totally submerged (so be prepared to go diving)

During this phase Lucifer puts a spell on him to track him. Because his envy can lead him to hide in the deepest pit of the ocean.

Some snakes nest, but most do not, so Levi's safe place during his period is under a pile of blankets, thin cloths and other things (like a burrow).

Since Levi is Levi, you have to make sure to give him wet towels every so often to moisten his body.

Levi is very territorial but he is more elusive and prefers to hide, his insecurity increases and there is no way to get him out of his burrow ( make sure he hydrates because it wouldn't be the first time he gets sick)

He doesn't eat much during his cycle, and if he does it has to be raw, but he has poor hunting skills, guess whose turn it is to take care of this?

Although the final phase of the period (Underwater) Lotan often takes care of finding nutritious prey for him.

When sleeping he wraps his tail around your body, first because you are a source of warmth and second because you are you.

Levi becomes partially non-verbal, he uses a lot of hisses and grunts. After two days they can be easily identified.

He likes physical contact, but he is the one who has to initiate it. (Touch him without his permission and be prepared to search for him in the depths of the Devildom water bodies).

Levi's courtship occurs underwater.

First he shows off, where all his scales glow many colors, this is indicative of health (as Levi does not have a very healthy diet or routine, his color could be better, but we won't tell him that)

And in the second instance it gives a single stone of sea crystals.

The sense that develops the most is the sense of touch and hearing. His skin becomes super sensitive so he can only wear certain types of clothing. And excessive friction hurts him.

His body temperature decreases a lot, more and more as the period progresses because he can not thermoregulate ( that's why he needs to be submerged and that's why you will wake up underwater)

Does Levi purr? Of course, when you talk to him or when he is embarrassed.

After his cycle he will need several days to look you in the eye again.

Levi: *sad hiss*

Mc: I'm telling you that your scales are very pretty.

Levi: *self-deprecating hiss*

Mc: No, I'm not just saying this... but if it really makes you feel bad, starting tomorrow you're going to eat more protein.

Levi: *hiss of indignation* >:0

Mc: Levi, I bring you the food!! Levi?

Mc: *looking for him in the burrow* Levi?

Levi: *poking his head over the bath water*

Mc: There you are… Ah! The humidifier has turned off!!

Levi: *grabbing their sleeve*

Mc: *sighing* we have to be more attentive…. *getting into the bathtub* but now you have to eat.

Underwater

Mc: Who had said that automating a spell would save my life.

Levi: *snuggled next to them with his tail wrapped around their body*

Mc: Are you confortable Levi?

Levi: *nodding*

Mc: Good, love u.

If you have made it this far, thank you very much 🩷

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luceafarul-de-dimineata · 2 months

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Avisos cuddle pile

Idea given to me by my wonderful mutual @katy-the-same-as-tsuki, go check her art out, she's amazing.

You were out in Avisos, Bael having ordered that Naberius, Stolas and Amon show you around the country. Compered to Gehenna's cozy atmosphere, Tartaros' opulence or Hades' beauty, Avisos was a lot louder, more visually stimulating than anything you've seen in hell so far. It was as if every building was begging you to pay attention to it.

The three demons you were with were bickering constantly, for God knows what dump reason. They would try to drag you in different directions since they each wanted to show you their favorite part of the country.

Stolas: "We should visit the bird caffee! You love birds, don't you, Mc?"

Naberius: "You only want to go to the bird caffee because you like it. Mc is clearly an intelectual and is more interested in learning about the culture of Hell. We should go to the National Museum of Avisos."

Amon: "I think we should go to that restaurant that serves his majesty Beelzebub's semen, I'm kind of hungry."

Naberius: "Kind of hungry? You haven't eaten in months! I'm surprised you're still standing."

You were starting to get bored of hearing them constantly arguing, so, after circling the same 5 buildings because none of them were paying attention to where they were going, you decide to speak up.

Mc: "I know where I want to go."

All of them at once: "Where?"

Mc: "The castle. I want to go take a nap in the castle."

Stolas and Naberius looked shocked but Amon cheered.

Amon: "I like the way you think."

Stolas: "But we have so many places to visit"

Amon: "You heard them. To bed we go!"

Amon picks you up and rushes you to the castle. He was surprisingly fast and strong for someone that always complains about being hungry. Naberius and Stolas turn into their animal forms to chase after Amon.

Bael was on the phone trying to stop 5 different financial crisises at once. Someone from Hades died in Avisos while in a shop run by someone from Paradise Lost, but the guy from Paradise Lost wasn't affiliated with Avisos, but he was doing business there so now it's a logistical nightmare as to who is trully resposible for the death. Bael groaned as he hit his head to the table.

Bael: "Bell, when I catch you, Bell-"

He's inturupted by his three headaches nobles exquarting the guest of honor, the child of Solomon themselves. Bael wanted to make a good impression in front of you since you could help him with some of the external conflicts (and totally not because he has a crush on you).

Bael tried to put on his most charming smile in front of you, but everyone in the room just looks at him with shock, disgust and concern.

Naberius: "Bael... are you alright?"

Stolas: "Did you eat what you cooked again?"

Amon: "I think his fake majesty passed away and this is his mummified corpse. I heard some demons do that after death."

Amon was getting ready to open the flash on his phone as a way of simulating the lighting of a candle for a dead one, but Bael whipped the phone out of the younger demon's hand.

Bael: "I am not dead. Ugh, how was your outing together? You got back quite shortly. Has anything caught your interest, Mc?"

Mc: "Yes, actually."

You grab Bael by the wrist and drag him from his chair.

Bael: "What do you think you're doing, child of Solomon? I have very important matters to attend to."

Mc: "You need sleep. Think of it this way, if you die of exhaustion, who's going to run the country?"

Bael couldn't argue with your logic even though he wanted to. He just let himself be guided outside the office. The three other nobles followed you to the castle's garden, where you layed with Bael. The three looked at you confused before understanding what your plan was.

Naberius transformed into his Cerberus form and curled up around you and Bael, Stolas nestled on your lap and Amon spooned you from behind while you hugged Bael.

Bael: "This is very sweet of you, but I have a job to do and there's a lot of tension between-"

Mc: "Sleep."

Bael finally gave in and stopped struggling, giving in to his exhaustion. Hearing his soft snors as he nuzzled to your chest and Naberius' fur almost made you want to record it as a souvenir from Avisos. No shop could sell the serenity you felt right now.

When everyone fell asleep, a sole fly landed on your arm. At least in spirit, all of Avisos was here.

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb bael #whb amon #whb naberius #whb stolas #whb avisos

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hanihazeljade · 2 months

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Forced Playdate

Timothy is good at keeping good boy image in his appearances in public vicinity but somehow this girl that he was forced to get along with, frustrates every single neuron he has and things go awry.

Part 3 of Disgustingly Green , Skill Issue

(CW: mean, mean, mean Timothy)

Timothy was called one day and he was forced to be nice with this girl, her named is probably Maya or Gia? He didn't remember, she was named in his head as a rambunctious brat.

Well apparently, the brat's father and the weird man that throw him are friends, probably the father is also a weird and idiot person, because birds and their feathers.

Lunch with the kid is a disaster. She use her hands to eat her food like a baby and the food sometimes fly around his plate, making his appetite finally left him. Thank goodness he was not put in a high chair or else he will just drop himself and hope he will die.

If such a kid don't have manners, and the father's friend don't have manners, then by analytical and statistical basis, the father is also a rambunctious brat that doesn't have any manners, and Timothy will do his best to avoid those people.

But of course, the Waynes are twats that doesn't make his life any easier.

Tim doesn't know why he was being forced to be buddy buddy with this uncivilised monkey. At first he can tolerate it as maybe she is just really got a lenient parent, a single father even, but as time goes by Timothy starts to get irritated by passing second.

The little girl, Sophia(?), he still can't remember and he rather stays that way, kept asking him so many questions and kept telling him that they should play. Rolling his eyes internally, he rather jump to Gotham Bay instead of playing with this monkey.

"Didn't your parents taught you manners?" Timothy suddenly asked, losing his cool altogether. The girl just tilt her head. She is already six and yet can't articulate her words better, His mother wouldn't be proud if he was this late bloomer.

"Manners?" she finally replied, titled her head in a manner that some people will say it's adorable, still kind of dumb answer but at least she kinda shut up for now.

"You are a lady, you need to act like one. Not an uncivilised homosapiens." Tim rolled his eyes. The little girl definitely didn't understand what he said, but her father did and boy, was he pissed.

"She's six!" Roy growled, obviously not fancying the idea his daughter is not allowed to be a little kid and be a stuck up spoiled little brat.

Tim just scoffed, like how her mother would whenever his father said something dumb, "And when I'm six, I know how to behave like a decent human being, not some animal who acts on it's instinct." Timothy said as he glared sharply to Roy. The kid was cute but those eyes are not. Roy never thought that he can see the Tim's eyes like that. It was always light and some life in them but now, Tim is like those pretentious rich people he met during Ollie's parties.

"You spoil her too much, but what should I expect to someone who befriend a failure like that man." Timothy rolled his eyes, "You people disgust me."

Tim sighed, he didn't give anyone a chance to speak as he announced, "I will be in my room. I am exhausted dealing with people like you." Timothy said with disgust as he left in silence.

#tim drake #fanfic #chaotic tim drake #de aged tim drake #unhinged tim drake #timothy jackson drake #roy harper #de aged fic

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silverstudios · 16 days

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Your first hibernation (Veldigun Alex fic)

This is me offering this as a peace offer to be forgiven for being an angst gremlin earlier. Enjoy the cuddling.

Alex glanced outside their cave, wings twitching and fluffing up in an attempt to keep warm. It had been…a while since they had left their human form and life behind, a while since they became partners with Clyde and Winfrey, it had been a while since the summer they had by all terms, died and been reborn…

But this was the first time they’ve seen snowfall with these new eyes.

It looked the same, little white sparkling flakes of ice falling from the sky and coating the grass before them, bringing with it an icy chill and that muffled silence only snowfall could bring. Alex knew all of this, these sights and sounds were nothing new.

The intense exhaustion that hit them the moment it started to snow, however, was.

Their eyes felt heavy, their limbs even more so, and it felt like they could just lay down and pass out in a moment's notice. And in some way, they were used to that. It had taken them quite a while to get into a “Healthy” sleeping pattern for a veldigun, and during the morning they had felt in a similar way to how they felt right now.

Except it wasn’t morning, it wasn’t even sunset- it was about 8pm, this was their time to be awake.

“Ey.” A chorus of voices familiar to them whistled behind them, and Alex glanced back- just in time for Clyde to put a dead animal in their face. Alex couldn’t even really see what it was- it was too mauled and gorey and they didn’t have their glasses on- but the smell of iron woke them up a little.

They took it, mouth stretched and tossed the whole thing in, the crunching of bones and flesh a common enough sound now for them not to flinch at them. Clyde rumbled- it always got an ego boost whenever it successfully got Alex or Winfrey to eat- and leaned onto them. It’s tail curled around them both and it glanced up. “Winter’s coming…” “Hm….” Alex glanced up at the sky then down at Clyde. “.....is….it normal for me to feel super tired right now?” Clyde blinks for a few seconds, head tilted and brow raised.

“I mean- I was fine and then I saw the snow and got slammed with intense exhaustion. Is that normal?” “OOOOOhhh yeah that’s completely normal” Clyde stretched- and yawned, far too many teeth and its third eye showing for a moment- before rubbing its eyes and sticking its tongue out. “It’s just about time for us to go hibernate.” “......velidguns hibernate?”

“Every winter- normally starts sometime after Halloween.” Cylde leans a little more onto them, face gently buried into their wings. A quiet purr raced from it, and it snuggled a little closer.

Clyde loved Alex's wings, and loved how soft and fluffy they are. Alex has just gotten used to waking up and falling asleep with Clyde's face and claws buried between their feathers.

“Hm….I guess that’s why the asylum was always so quiet during winter…” Alex glanced away, wings twitching and eyes flicking open for a moment before flicking closed. “.....is there anything special we need to do or?” “Me and Winfrey have got handled.” Clyde rumbled, arms wrapping around the smaller veldigun, lifting them up and heading deeper inside their home. Alex didn’t bother complaining or squirming, they knew very well that both would have no effect and the exhaustion was starting to win, eyes flicking shut every few moments.

“Winfrey~” Clyde sang out, stopping in front of the large veldigun and shifting alex in its grasp, holding the green velidgun out in front of it like a cat or a ferret. “Take the sleepy bird, I’m gonna block us in.”

Alex snickered as winfrey took them, their entire torso fitting within the clawed and calloused hand of their partner.

Winfrey smiled down at them and their thumb ran across Alex's head before they laid down, Alex set into the crook of their arm and gently squished as Winfrey laid their head on top of them.

“You two and my feathers.” Alex grumbled softly as they fluffed up slightly, eyes refusing to open as they snuggled into their partner, who chuckled. “They are quite comfortable.” They hummed, their voice shaking the air around them slightly. Alex never figured out if that was Winfrey’s hallucinations or just the fact they are so big, but in the end it doesn’t matter. What mattered right now was how comfortable it was to be cradled like this, how heavy alex’s limbs felt- to the point they couldn’t move them if they wanted- and just how wonderfully warm they felt and how comfortable the nest they had created was.

Stolen blanket, currants and pillows alongside fallen leaves from this last fall, not to mention the handful of plush gifts that Robin had given them. Bats, candy corns and other sweets in soft plush form and a handful of other soft items lined the nest, sparing them from laying on the hard stone surface of the cave.

They were vaguely aware of the sound of shifting stones, barely audible over the soft humming coming from winfrey…and when the stones stopped, they could hear the clicking of claws against stone….

And became very much aware that Clyde had joined the pile as arms wrapped around them and the sensation of a face getting shoved into their wings occurs, followed by the weight of the smiling snatcher getting fully onto them squishing them further into Winfrey’s arm.

As the two mix their humming and purring, Alex lets their body go limp and head flop fully onto their partners arms. They could get used to this Hibernating business…

#doai sitcom au #veldigun alex #doai clyde #doai winfrey #alex williams doai #Soft cuddle movements #silver writes #take my peace offering

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shady-tavern · 11 months

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Healing Hearts

Warning for implied Animal and Child Abuse, though nothing graphic, please take care of yourselves.

***

Cloud was a very small and very hopeful cat. Her fur was as gray as the storm clouds she had been born beneath and her family had expected great things of her. She had been very energetic as a kitten, looking forward to finally being big enough that she could help out and be of use.

To finally be as proud as her big brother, as strong as her mother and as crafty and swift as her father. There was plenty to do with climbing trees to look for birds, tracking mice and keeping lookout for the pack of wild dogs.

But as it turned out, Cloud wasn't very good at many, many things. She fell out of trees when she tried to climb them, she rarely landed on her feet and couldn't stealth through tall grass if her life depended on it. She got distracted watching out for the wild dogs and failed to warn her family in time.

"Maybe it's better if you leave," her brother told her one day, annoyed and tired. His heart was clearly troubled and grim with unpleasant determination. "You are ruining the hunt for all of us and it's unfair that we work hard just to keep you fed when you can't do anything for us."

"I'm doing my best," Cloud protested, upset and hurt and panicked at the idea of being all alone. Of being cast out. "Where would I even go?"

He flicked his tail dismissively. "Anywhere that's not here. Mom and Dad already expect a new litter of kittens and it will be hard enough for us to get them through winter without you there, mooching off of us."

When Cloud looked beseechingly at her parents, her father was studiously looking to the side, tail flicking restlessly. His heart was dark and heavy with what they had decided to do and yet he was too scared to meet her eyes, too scared of seeing the pain he was causing.

Her mother was tired and half asleep, her eyes were apologetic but she didn't speak up. Her heart was worn and exhausted and busy guarding the growing lives beneath it in her belly.

"Go," her brother said quietly, brushing past her. "I'm sure you'll find your place somewhere out there."

Cloud didn't leave right away, even as her heart felt cleaved in two. She lingered and skulked along the edges of her home, until at last the silence of her family drove her fully away.

She felt so desolate, it was nothing but pure luck that she didn't run into the pack of dogs or any other trouble. She walked until it started to rain and then she curled up within a hollowed tree along one of the dirt paths humans had made to travel along.

It took her a long moment to notice the whimper over the gentle, steady rain. Her ears flicked and for a second, she considered not getting up. She was grieving and tired and felt as though her heart had turned to paste, but at last she dragged herself to her feet.

Following the noise, she soon came upon a big, black dog, scars across its muzzle and it was tied down to the ground with a fraying, rough rope. Cloud stilled, startled, but the dog didn't react. He just remained curled up, shivering a little.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked after a moment and the dog blinked one eye open. He looked very sad and very small, even though he was big. His heart was the darkest and heaviest Cloud had ever seen, filled with pain and grief and worthlessness.

"I was a bad dog," the dog said at last, quiet and so mournful it broke her heart a little. "I always mess up everything."

Despite herself and all her family's warnings, she felt a pang of understanding sympathy. She hesitated, then approached the desolate dog, noticing that he was lashed down so tightly he couldn't get up even if he wanted to.

"What happened to you?" she asked, aghast and the dog closed his eyes again, curling up tighter.

"My master didn't want me," the dog said in the tiniest voice and Cloud was horrified, before anger overtook her. She marched up to the dog and started to chew and claw at the rope until the frayed part snapped.

"Get up," she said and nudged at the startled dog until he clambered to his feet. He was too thin to her liking. "You can't stay here."

"Then where do I go?" the dog asked, fur matted and ears drooping. "I'm not gentle enough with children, too stupid for tricks, too dumb for guarding and too cowardly for fighting. I'm good for nothing."

The words hit home harder than Cloud had thought. She, too, was good for nothing. Too clumsy for climbing, too loud for sneaking and too easy to distract for keeping watch.

"I don't know," she answered at last. "I don't know where to go either." At least he was free now.

When she turned around to leave, the dog hesitantly crept after her. When she didn't protest, he followed her all the way to the hollowed and now they were both curled up within. The space was just barely big enough for them to fit.

After a moment of staring outside Cloud got up again and he looked visibly startled when she curled up against his side. He was warm, even if he smelled of stale air and dust.

They remained there as they waited out the rain and night fell. Some owls hooted and a fox screeched and the dog flinched a little, but stayed calm when she didn't react.

At the first hint of dawn, hunger drove Cloud to her feet. The dog followed her again as they walked down the road in the direction most of the humans traveled.

"Where is your family?" the dog asked quietly after a moment.

Cloud had to wait until her throat stopped aching with grief until she could respond, "They don't want me." She glanced up at her big companion. "I'm not good at anything either."

The dog looked upset on her behalf and hesitated, then offered, "Maybe we can be good at something together?"

That made Cloud thoughtful. Maybe the dog was right, she decided as they walked. Maybe if they worked together, they could make it. "Alright," she said at last and the dog perked up hopefully. "Come on, I think I know where to get food."

The dog looked relieved and eager. As they crested the hill, a settlement came into view. Cloud's family had always warned her away from those places, but she had overheard birds chatting with each other, as they watched her try and fail to climb. They found her clumsiness greatly entertaining.

"People leave food they don't eat outside," she told the dog when he hesitated to set foot into the small town. "We'll be careful. And look, it's still early, so barely anyone is awake."

Hesitantly, the dog followed her at last, almost crawling with how small he tried to make himself. Now came the tricky part. Cloud had heard the birds talk about food, but she had no idea where exactly she was supposed to find it.

She made sure no one spotted them, winding around corners and ducking into hiding spots until the dog suddenly lifted his head.

"I smell something. This way." They followed his nose and soon Cloud smelled what he had caught on the wind. The scent of blood and meat.

There was a building where humans clearly did their killing, which was strange but she wasn't going to question it. Not when bits and pieces got tossed outside. The downside was, they weren't the only ones. Other dogs milled nearby, while wary cats watched from the shadows, ready to swoop in and grab what they could.

"We can find food elsewhere," the dog whispered, looking scared of confrontation. Cloud was about to agree, when their stomachs growled. It hurt and the sound his stomach made was so much worse than hers. He needed food. They both did.

She took a deep breath and stepped forward, her new friend whispering in warning, but to her surprise, he followed still. The dogs paused in their excited staring at the big window and four heads swiveled to look at them.

"Fuck off, kitty," the meanest looking one growled at her, heart sparking in warning like a fire about to blaze bright. "Or you're part of our breakfast."

Her heart was pounding, but even if she was good at nothing, at least she could be brave. She had to be, or they'd go hungry. So when the dog lunged forward with a snarl, she lashed out. It was nothing but pure luck that she had moved when she had.

Her claws dug deep into the dog's nose and with a pained yowl they flinched back, dripping blood and now they looked scared, the fire in their heart doused swiftly. The rest of the pack lunged to attack and it became a frenzy of clawing and biting and her new friend joined the fray, determined but just as bad at fighting as he had said he was.

"Enough!" someone shouted above and they all flinched apart, staring up at a disgruntled human. "There is enough for all of you, so stop or you'll get nothing at all."

Cloud backed up a step and the pack reluctantly did the same. The human sighed and reached inside to start emptying two buckets, making sure to spread it out as much as possible so everyone got something.

"Hungry lot," he muttered as they all started to snap up pieces. Even the other cats hurriedly grabbed whatever had fallen closest to them. The man's heart was kind despite his rough voice and sharp words and Cloud found herself relaxing a little.

Cloud's big friend managed to snag a piece the size of his head, along with something smaller that dangled from one tooth. Cloud herself grabbed the biggest piece she could and they hurriedly retreated until they felt safe enough to eat.

They laid in the sun together afterwards, sated at last and they enjoyed the sun after a rainy day, keeping an eye out for trouble. They soon explored the town and started to map out the alleys and streets. Cloud made a note of which people were nice and which weren't.

There were so many hearts, good and nasty, bright and dark. Many shifted throughout the day, reflecting the emotions people went through. It helped Cloud in figuring out which humans would be willing to share their food, making her seek out the ones who had happy or soft hearts.

The dog managed to sniff out more places that tossed food outside and Cloud managed to be fast enough to swipe a small fish and later a sausage from someone handing it out to other humans in exchange for something shiny.

"We're doing good so far," Cloud said and the dog hummed in agreement, looking tentatively happy.

They found a place for the night and as the days passed, they settled into a new routine. In the mornings they waited by the butcher, as the man and his employees were called, who threw them all the bits and pieces humans didn't want to eat. Sometimes he tossed them things that smelled a little old, as though they were about to rot, but those were still edible enough for the alley animals.

In the afternoons, Cloud and her friend lingered by the market or other places that had nice people and they ate whatever else they were given or tossed. They sometimes got into fights over food or territory, but managed to establish themselves well enough to get by.

She was vicious and her companion was big and even if he wasn't good at fighting, he learned to pin down whoever recoiled after getting hit by Cloud's claws. It wasn't pretty, but they made it work.

One afternoon, while Cloud was looking up at a woman with a kind heart with big, pleading eyes, she noticed a struggling crow overhead. The bird looked to be young and one wing was clearly injured. It flew from the roof to the next, barely making the journey. When it tried to get further away, it tumbled and disappeared in a nearby alley.

Accepting the piece of ham Cloud was given, making a quick, sweet noise in thanks, she hurried to where the bird had fallen. She found it crouched between a half broken crate and a trashcan, looking like it was panicking.

Upon looking closer, the wing wasn't just hurt but tangled up in some kind of see-through, tough string or wire of some kind. The crow's heart was so heavy with grief and fear it might as well have been made of a large stone.

"Do you want some help?" Cloud asked politely around her piece of ham and the struggling bird froze in place, staring at her with wide eyes. "I promise I won't hurt you. Where is your family?"

"Gone," the little bird croaked faintly at last, heart growing even heavier. "I'm alone."

Cloud winced a little. Losing one's family was awful. She set the ham down and carefully approached. The small crow was clearly too terrified to move, but when Cloud started to carefully pull off the string tangled around the wing, the crow inhaled sharply.

When the string was removed entirely, the little crow stared at her in astonishment. A small gurgle of hunger came from the bird's stomach. Cloud thought for a moment, then offered her the piece of ham.

"Can you eat that?" she asked and the bird bobbled a quick nod. "Don't stay here too long, or someone will find you."

With those words, Cloud departed, only to hear struggling hops behind her. Glancing back, she saw that the crow was following, only to stop, ham pinched in her beak.

"Come on then," Cloud decided after a moment and the crow hop-walked to her side hurriedly, glancing around nervously.

Cloud lead the crow back to where the dog was dozing in their hideout and introduced them to each other. It quickly became clear to the bird that she had nothing to fear and the dog was more worried about getting pecked than she was about getting bitten.

And thus, Cloud gained another friend.

They became known as an unlikely trio around town. The little crow, once her wing healed, flew overhead to scout around. They managed to swindle and steal enough food for themselves and kept each other safe from those who did not like having them around.

The hearts of her companions slowly lightened, losing some of the unhappy dimness. They were still burdened, but they had perked up a bit, had regained some of the spirit the world had stolen from them.

Cloud thought they scraped by just fine and she thought about her family in the forest less and less. Her life was going well, most days.

Sometimes they had to fight harder than usual to have something to eat or to avoid mean people and sure, sometimes she was envious of the pets that had cozy, warm homes where they were always well fed, but those feelings always faded away soon.

She could have found a human for herself, but that would have meant abandoning her friends. She wasn't going to do that. Not when she wouldn't have come as far without them.

It was a gray day, as gray as her fur, with a storm rumbling in the distance, shaping up to be as wild as the one she had been born beneath, when she heard crying. It was human-crying as well, not animal-crying.

Humans usually took care of themselves just fine, but something about the sound didn't sit right with her. Peeking around the corner, Cloud saw a young girl sitting crouched beneath an awning, clothes torn at one shoulder. She was pressing herself against a firmly closed door.

"Please, let me in," the girl begged in a keening voice and her heart was an open, bleeding wound in her chest, oozing despair and panic. "I promise I won't do it again!"

"Go away," someone shouted from beyond the door. "Be lucky we don't just burn you at the stake!"

"I promise I'll never do magic again!" the girl begged around a sob. "I promise I'll be good!"

"Don't lie, we both know you're good at nothing and good for nothing," the voice answered harshly. "Go, this is the only chance I give you, for your late mother's sake. She should have never let you live when you were born with the witch mark."

The girl cried harder and begged again, but no voice answered this time. She slumped down the door at last, curling up tight and cried. Cloud hesitated, then slunk forward. The girl looked up at her meow and when Cloud nudged her leg, she found herself scooped up by trembling hands.

The girl was warm and cried until she was too exhausted to continue. The door didn't open and no one came for the girl. Cloud stayed with the girl for so long, waiting, that the dog and crow came looking for her.

"Come on," she said at last and nudged at the girl until she got up and followed them.

The hideout was a little small for a human girl, but they made do, curling around her to keep her warm. Her heart was still open and bleeding, still oozing despair, but the panic had softened and was nearly gone, instead replaced by exhaustion.

They were going to take care of her, Cloud decided and when she looked at her friends, their hearts and gazes reflected that same decision.

It was more difficult to keep a human fed, that was for sure. Cloud and her friends worked hard to get enough food and the girl never complained and helped as much as she could, begging for the shiny coins that the crow started to look for.

She once came back with a piece that made the girl gasp and they didn't go hungry for an entire week. They ate the best food they had ever gotten that week.

The girl was smart, Cloud realized. She knew exactly where they could go to get food and as time passed, Cloud observed her doing strange things. Things no other human did. She stood beneath the full moon and her skin seemed to glow the faintest bit, sometimes she held things in her hands she couldn't have gotten on her own and sometimes she got little glimpses of the future.

Other people started to notice as well sooner or later. They got no more food from the butcher or the other shops and previously nice people avoided them in the streets.

"We don't feed witch-cats," one man who had always given her a piece of fish hissed at Cloud when she meowed sweetly at him. "Leave!"

"My uncle says I'm a witch," the girl murmured when she lit a fire with the snap of her fingers. They had no food tonight, hadn't had much to eat that wasn't stolen out of trash cans in days. "It won't be long now before they decide to burn me. And...I fear what they will do to you."

There was only really one solution then. Cloud exchanged a glance with the dog and crow and that night, while the town slept, they left. On the way out, they stole everything they could.

The crow stood guard outside and sat on windows, watching people sleep as the girl whispered at doors so the locks clicked open. They left with sacks of shinies the girl had used in the past to get food and old skins to stay warm. Next they grabbed food and better, good skins to wrap up in and then they disappeared into the night.

They managed to find their way through the dark, with the crow's eyes in the sky, the dog's nose and Cloud's ears. They fought off whatever dangers came their way as they traveled with cunning and sheer viciousness and a healthy dose of desperate determination.

But as the air grew colder with the passing days, Cloud realized they needed some place to settle. The girl wasn't strong or old enough to make it through winter out in the open and it was slowly growing colder. Luck was on their side at last, when they stumbled across an old cabin, surrounded by a crumbling stone wall.

"A witch's hut," the girl whispered. "I heard rumors that those places draw witches to them when they stand empty for too long, but I didn't think that was true."

It was dusty and smelled old and stale inside, but all the walls were intact, the roof didn't leak and the windows didn't creak. A fire was lit swiftly in the chimney and they curled up, their hearts glad for a dry, warm place to sleep in.

Soon the downright dreary, slightly creepy place transformed. It was as though it came alive the more they made it their home. The floorboards gleamed like they had been recently polished when they were dusted and washed, the walls looked freshly made when the cobwebs were all swiftly removed.

The garden grew and transformed and with each day, the crumbling garden wall seemed to repair itself. Weeds disappeared and vegetables and herbs grew strong and vibrant instead, offering a last, big bounty before winter came.

The brighter and warmer the place became, the more it turned into their home and Cloud watched the hearts of those around her to grow lighter in turn. Relief at having finally found a safe place softened everyone and allowed hope to shine brighter and brighter the more time passed.

They had found a true, proper home at last and after some exploring once winter had passed, they discovered a village nearby. They cautiously ventured into it to trade shinies for things. Soon it was a normal sight for the residents to see the girl with her animal companions.

The local herbalist was willing to take the girl under her wing and as they were accepted by the village, they settled into a better, warmer and well-fed life. The girl grew older and as the years passed, Cloud noticed that she didn't really age anymore and neither did the dog and crow.

"Well, you're my familiars now," the witch said, carefully cleaning off small crystals she had found in a river. She smiled wide and happy. "That means we're family for as long as you want to be."

Oh, that was very sweet. Cloud cuddled up to the witch and got the best scratches in return.

"You know," the dog said that evening as they dozed on the thick, soft carpet in front of the warm fire. Snow was slowly falling outside, but they felt none of the cold bite inside. "I'm so glad you found me that day. Even if I'm good at nothing, I still have a life I could have never dreamed of."

Cloud frowned at that. "But you are good at many things," she said and when the dog looked ready to protest, she hurriedly tacked on, "Your nose saved us many times and you always found food for us no matter what. You kept us from going hungry."

The dog ducked his head, bashful but hopeful so she kept talking, "Even if you say you can't fight because you're too cowardly, you always helped me no matter how scared you were. That's real bravery, you know?"

"Oh." The dog was quiet for a long moment, then whispered, "You really think so?"

"Yes, there is no doubt," Cloud said firmly.

The crow flapped down from her perch in the rafters and nodded. "You're strong and big and warm and you always take care of us," she said. "Whoever told you you're good for nothing lied to you. You guys..." She hopped a little closer, voice going warm. "You're my family. When I had nothing, you came and gave me everything."

The dog gently nudged their heads together with a little rumble. "And you're mine." He was quiet for a long moment. "I...never thought about it that way. Do you really think I'm pulling my weight?"

"A hundred times over," Cloud said with certainty, then nudged the crow as well. "And you're our family too."

The crow chirp-cawed happily and they laid snuggled together on the carpet. The crow was asleep and Cloud was about to doze off when the dog murmured, "You're no good-for-nothing either."

Cloud opened one eye and he shifted his head to look at her. "You saved me when no one else would have and you have done the same for our crow friend and our witch." The dog tipped his head a little to the side. "And then you helped us figure out how to survive. We wouldn't have made it if we hadn't all stuck together, if you hadn't found us. So, you know, you're definitely good at something."

Cloud was wide awake now while the dog fell asleep, snoring ridiculously loud within moments. She watched the dog and crow a moment longer, then looked up to where their witch was making a protective charm for a worried villager.

When the witch noticed her staring, she looked up and smiled. "Sleep," the witch whispered. "We're safe here. Safe and happy and we're going to stick together, won't we?"

Cloud chirped a little noise in agreement and settled down. Her heart felt full and as warm as the fire they laid near.

Without realizing, without even meaning to, she had ended up getting everything she had ever wanted. A family that loved her and a purpose, as strange as it may look to others. And sure, she wasn't good at any of the things other cats were good at, but now she didn't have to be. Now it was a good thing that she was strange and different.

She fell asleep with a smile and in the morning the world outside was snowy and cold, but her heart still glowed bright and warm. And when the witch looked knowingly at all of them, when Cloud noticed that they all walked unburdened, she realized they had done it.

They had healed the wounds on their hearts.

#my writing #short story #finding love and family in the most unexpected places #just a little thing I found myself writing #hopefully someone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed writing it #a bit of a different thing to my usual stories I think #hopefully I didn't overlook too many mistakes #implied child abuse #implied animal abuse #just so you know in case that is a no-go for you #be sure to take care of yourself #i have no idea how tagging works #magic #witch #familiars #and families

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aiartshaming · 4 months

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What's your problem? What will you gain by doing this? You don't have to like or rb, but encouraging others to block is shameful. 😡

So, obviously I feel zero shame about encouraging people to block content thieves, and it's extremely funny to get lectured by one about what constitutes shameful behavior. But "what do I gain by doing this" is an interesting question.

When I was traveling recently I got to do some gardening, which was really nice and something I don't get to do often. Most of that time was spent digging and pulling out weeds by hand. It was kind of exhausting, hurt my hands after a while, and honestly a lot of those damn roots broke off, so I know the weeds will come back eventually. So what did I gain by doing it? Removing a few weeds from a corner of a garden to make room to plant something else to grow, until the weeds come back and we need to do it all over again?

The thing is, before we started that garden, the soil there was dead. No worms, no bugs, not much growing aside from this awful grass that choked everything else out. But after 15 years of work, a little at a time, that garden is FULL of worms and snails and spiders and bees etc etc etc. It's bursting with life because we kept at it, pulling up those weeds and planting things that would help the soil become more alive. Bugs came back, and birds, and bigger animals that like to sneak in and eat the flowers when our backs are turned. We gained a thriving ecosystem. We gained mornings drinking coffee, watching the garden fill with life like a garden is meant to be.

That's what I'm doing when I call out spammers, ai posters, and content thieves so people can block them. These kinds of blogs spoil the ecosystem here by flooding it with fake and stolen art, taking attention away from real creators who are strugging to find an audience. I only have a few followers, my posts aren't going to purge tumblr of this kind of content anymore than I can fully remove every weed in a garden.

But maybe by pulling enough weeds in my little corner, I can make room for a few real artists to thrive. By encouraging people to block stolen and fake content, I'm reducing the amount of garbage in their feeds. I'm reminding them that real art is made by actual people. I'm asking them to look for real art instead, to find the sources of the art they like and support those creators. I'm trying to direct some attention toward people who rely on their art for a living and hopefully grow their audiences a little. What I gain is making life more livable here in the hopes that artists will keep coming here and posting their work and connecting with people who love what they do. That makes tumblr a nicer place for all of us.

tl;dr I'm making my little corner of the internet a better place, and I wish more people were trying to do that instead of stealing and spamming to get as many like and reblogs as possible.

#ai art #tumblr culture #i should start making a list of real artists on here actually #there are so many good ones i follow whose work gets stolen ALL THE TIME even though they're here and people can reblog right from them

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ovaruling · 2 months

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no one asked, but here’s my detailed bird seed update since this blog has become not only a record keeper of my fitness but also my bird friends:

adjusting my budget severely for the elaborate bird feeding i’ve got going on. to recap, i feed about 200+ wild birds per day, mostly doves, grackles, blue jays, cardinals, catbirds, warblers, mockingbirds, and woodpeckers. sometimes i get a rare painted bunting! the number may possibly be more, my counting when they swarm is not reliable.

when i first started feeding, the birds were all terribly thin—the development in my neighborhood has been devastating to the general health of the bird population, as well as the sweltering heat of recent years. growing up, i remember it being a common sight to see birds milling about on the ground, scavenging for food. you almost never see it anymore, bc there IS no more ground. if its not paved, then it’s all tightly mowed grass with no chance for food to even have a chance to be there. based on the cityscape, my guess is that they have had to fly further and further distances in search of somewhere to forage. which, in this climate, must be utterly sapping them. they haven’t moved away, they still nest right here bc there are still thankfully lots of sheltering trees. but they are having to go further and further for food—not good.

the adjustment is worth it. i did find one store online that sells very cheap whole corn kernels by the pound, which the squirrels and jays love.

there is a female squirrel who is very obviously and very definitely nursing some babies. i am trying to keep supporting her bc she unfortunately picked a very bad place to give birth (landscapers and horses and vehicles nearby tear through almost daily on the other side of my hedge).

i don’t want her to have to go far, especially with the heat getting more intense, and so i’ve been making sure she has corn cobs every day at the base of her tree. but those get expensive, so i’m excited to have found whole corn kernels so cheap.

also found one decent price for halved peanuts which all the birds are absolutely obsessed with.

and the rest i’m still reliant on Tractor Supply for. i’d love to stop giving their murderous animal agriculture supporting asses money, but i’d need to find a better priced Fruit and Nut seed than they offer, and i haven’t yet.

as for seed cakes for the woodpeckers—which, the vegetable gelatin ones i buy are the most expensive per unit that i’m spending on rn, bc there is absolutely no way i’m going to conscience animal gelatin—my experiment in making them myself is ongoing. i used too little agar agar powder in my last batch (and also didn’t get it boiling enough) so it just ended up being a sticky crumbly treat that i put on the ground for the scavengers.

i’ll try again this week bc i’d really love to keep supporting my native red-bellies, especially as it gets hotter and hotter into the summer and the birds get more exhausted at a much faster rate.

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sinister-moonlight · 9 months

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Its been so long since I finished @naffeclipse's fic Cryptid Sightings but I got the urge to draw some more Cryptid monster design for Eclipse cause I still can't stop loving the way Naff created their Crypid!Eclipse! <3 I cannot stop the love I have for CS and I do need to reread it one day.

I did forget that it was four arms sooo um... woop! Hahaha!

I was like always inspired by the AMAZING - I cant praise my love for Meep's art enough no matter how much I try!! - @themeeplord cause their CS!Eclipse makes me MELT! Lemme hold their cute face!! This time I went with a more glowly design since I love light effects and I imagine that this Cryptid!Eclipse can turn their light on and off to use as a angler fish to lure their prey closer in the dark.

Please check out both Naff and Meep for their amazing work and their ability to make me melt with their creations! <3

─────────────── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────────────

A little "short" story under to build on the picture <3 Been a while since I written stories haha!

The ever pressuring darkness of the ancient forest around seem to chill you to your very bones. Every creak of the old trees makes you flinch and turn your head praying its just a bird, but there is no sound of any animals in the forest with you. No hooting owl. No scavenging fox in the underbrush.

It is just you.

Or is it?

The heavy blackness is suddenly breaking as a red light seem to come from a unknown source just a short ways in front of where you were going. It almost looks like a firefly as it bobbles gently in the wind. Another is soon followed but this one a deep blue.

You feel your tired legs start to move towards the almost hypnotizing light. The exhaustion in your body seem to get heavier as if the light is telling you that it is finally okay to take a break. You feel safe.

The silence of the forest is then shattered by the sound of bells.

'Ding... Ding...'

Its a soft sound. A sound that reminds you of a windchime softly singing in the summer breeze.

More lights are now accompanying the previous ones and they seem to almost take shape.

Your mind is trying to tell you that it is not safe. You know the stories of the demon in this forest - yet still you went in only armed with a old camera around your neck. The elders in your small town spoke of the demon - or old god as some called them - and how it lured in wrong doers and so called rulebreakers to punish them. You been taught and ordered already as a young child never to enter the forest at night, but the stories had done the opposite of scaring you away.

They had thrilled you to enter.

Yet now you feared that maybe you really should have listened. Maybe you should have been scared as slowly giant hands dipped in red and blue reached out for you to oh so gently grasp your head and hips. The size double of that of your head with claws longer then your whole hand. Sharper then the teeth of the old stray dog that you used to feed at night.

Bright yellow eyes enveloped in red stares into your own with a soft cooing and rumbling coming from fanged mouth. A sound resembling the bellows of a crocodile emitting from the being's chest where it's bright petal shaped crest stands proudly like that of a lions mane.

Slowly it pulls you in where the hands travel to gently lift you up and press you close to its body as if you were something precious to keep safe.

You are now fighting to keep your eyes open as they grow heavier and heavier as the gentle chime of the bells and the now soft rumbling sings you to sleep. The feeling of being moved only managed to make you lose the fight to stay awake.

The last thing you register as the slumber sweeps you under is a deep voice that whispers in your hair with what sounds like two overlapping voices.

"Rest little one. Nothing in our forest will cause you harm. Not as long as we can help it..."

#cryptid sightings #I love these crypid bois and Im a little shy to share my writing but was really happy with it <3 #I hope this is enough as a love letter to some amazing creators that inspire me daily!#Thank you Naff for making me fall in love with diffrent worlds over and over again.#Thank you Meep for making me fall in love with soft and wild creatures that always makes me smile.#myart #fanart #fnaf fanart #fnaf:sb #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf eclipse #cryptid #demon #monster

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evolutiononthebrain · 2 years

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A harbringer of death, a witch with something wicked inside, and a kidnapped watcher — the perfect combination of siblings, yeah?

Cursed Trio / Cursed Siblings HCs!

- Grian oldest, pearl middle, & Jimmy youngest ?

-> Grian being the older sibling whose supposed to be responsible but is just so not is too funny to pass up

- they don’t have parents, they just spawned one day and then grian created EVO

- Grian is the feral older brother who didn’t know what he was doing so thats why pearl is… like that

-> he got a bit better when jimmy spawned

- they all have pronouns ://

-> Grian = he/they

-> Pearl = She/They

-> Jimmy = ftm He/Him

- the capitalization is on purpose, grian does not care enough about gender to capitalize his pronouns

- WINGS! wings wings wings wings wings win

n e ways: wing headcanons

Grian: Obviously, the rainbow parrot bird wings. we all know where the wings originate from but i’d also like to imagine that, like a male bird, grian is colorful because they were the oldest, the “protector” of his siblings, so he was the brightest and most colorful to distract predators (mobs in this case) from their younger siblings

Pearl: now i haven’t seen many Pearl wing headcanons but i’d like to think that Pearl’s wings are bigass raven wings that she can use to make herself look more intimidating. Also, raven symbolism = every time you see a raven, death is approaching. They would also be easy to conceal under a dark jacket, like the black one they have.

Jimmy: the famed canary wings! canary, obviously referring to “canary in the coal mine.” the yellow to white gradient also looks almost ghostly in sunlight. jimmy is a naturally good singer and very friendly, like canaries often are, but keeping them in cages means there’s a ghost around. too bad he’s usually the ghost that’s around :(

- also i think it’s incredibly funny that, though parrots can grow to be 40 inches, ravens behind at 24-27 inches, and canaries only averaging around 3-5 inches, jimmy is the tallest sibling with pearl being a close second

- jimmy was obsessed with making random animals nests when he was younger:

-> finds a chicken

-> makes it a nest

-> cries when the chicken walks away

- whenever they’re on the same server, grian will just pick jimmy up (cuz tho he is short, their wings are very strong & fcking massive) and throw him like when he was teaching him to fly

- he has attempted this with pearl Once, and never again

- jimmy is the only one who preens his wings on the “regular,” but even then he only preens them like every three months when they are absolutely awful

-> the other two are TERRIBLE about preening

-> they get that hermitcraft hyperfixation that all the hermits get when starting a new build or redstone machine

- all of them are fairly light weight, though all looking like body-builders cuz hollow bird bones

- pearl is so done with her dumb older & younger brothers, at all times

- they will go days without seeing grian, or even weeks without seeing jimmy cuz of the server differences but the moment she sees them she just deflates

- exhausted

- she is very protective tho :) she joined empires to keep jimmy in check and then joined hermitcraft cuz they knew grian needed someone to keep HIM in check

- this was only a few days apart (empires - June 12, 21 / hermitcraft - June 19, 21)

- pearl joined to keep them in check, she failed, they both caused chaos and she joined in

- Pearl = goddess, Grian = watcher, Jimmy = listener

-> they use their abilities to cause mayhem and wreak havoc

- when it was “revealed” that lizzie and jimmy were seablings pearl and grian were jealous that jimmy got to be siblings with somebody cool AGAIN but they were stuck with him

- jimmy was offended they didn’t think he was cool

- both times jimmy has acquired a husband/partner, grian and pearl both had “the talk” with them

-unfortunately, they are simply too goofy to be taken seriously so both scott and tango were unconcerned until pearl’s eyes starting glowing white and grian’s wings were covered in massive purple glowing eyes

- both scott & tango asked jimmy if he could do cool stuff like that after they calmed down

-> he gave a wistful little sigh and said, “no, all i can do is hear down to atoms. not so impressing.”

- much confusion, those days

- feathers:

- jimmy gives feathers out like candy; to his family, his friends, his loves, etc.

- grian only ever gives his feathers out to very close ppl; their siblings and scar & mumbo

- pearl never gives her feathers out; they have a deep seeded fear of her feathers not being pretty enough in comparison to their brother’s bright colorful ones

-> the only time she’s given them is to her brothers when they were like 9

- they love each other !!! oh em gee

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entomolog-t · 11 months

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The Shadow We Cast

Author Notes: Content warning, but the CWs make it sound far scarier than it is. Unless you struggle with any of the topics its fairly lighthearted.

Another finished a G/t July Prompt; Bird! This takes place after Sal and Mark meet for the first time (Loosely based on this comic that I will inevitably redraw) acting as a sort of Chapter Two. The Title for their story is still up in the air and I am more than welcome to suggestion.

Word Count: 3184

Next Chapter: Chapter 2

CW: Adult language, mild gore (blood, hunting, animal death), derealization/questioning sanity

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The warmth in the air was uncomfortably muggy. I could feel myself break a sweat and I’d barely started my trek to the outskirts of the property. It reminded me of whenever he got too close. The way he radiated heat… the way he seemed to use up all the air around me, leaving the air feeling used and wet with his breath. Stretching my arms skyward I couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of the strange human; The shared shock as we saw one another, the way he fumbled over himself to assure me he wasn’t a danger… and that hilarious scream he’d let out at the sight of my innocent little spider. I couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face. I’d never imagine I’d talk to a human, let alone spend the better part of an hour trying to get one to calm down!

The image of him, face flushed and sputtering had been comical. He’d been so embarrassed. Rightfully so. Why would a creature like him be scared of such a sweet little spider? Ridiculous. Picking up my pace, I began to jog towards the tree line, hoping those masked birds hadn’t yet found the berrying tree. Chewing on my lip, I found my mind being drawn back to the human. He’d called himself Mark. Once he’d calmed down he’d apologized up and down for his outburst. He was strange. I had sat down on his window sill as he asked question after question. What was I? Where had I come from? Why was I trying to get into his house?

His… Mark’s house had been empty for so long… was I not supposed to take my chance to see humans up close? There's something invigorating about even just being in the presence of people… When was the last time I’d even seen another being capable of conversation, let alone had a conversation? Sure, it's not like I planned on popping up directly in his line of sight, but … despite my better judgment, I found myself happy I did. I’d had my first conversation in years, and for some strange reason I was feeling as if it had left me bursting at the seams with renewed energy. Whether it was from the interaction or maybe from the strange food the colossal coward had given me… an Or-we-Oh? Was that what he’d called it? It didn’t really look like food… more like two disks made of soil with something unnaturally white between them. While it may have looked wrong, it had tasted far better than it looked.

My stomach growled at the memory. Whether it was the human food or the conversation, I’d made up my mind. I was going back. Though, not empty handed. These stupid tree-berries were always such a hassle to get.

The trunk of the tree was thinner and smoother than what grew deeper in the woods making them profoundly annoying to climb. Worse yet, the stupid branches only really broke off in a convenient fashion after a sizable climb, and even then, they grew at an such an angle that I could never just stand. The lack of hand and footholds along the lower portion of the trunk always left me exhausted, but the deep red berries were, regrettably, worth the effort.

Hand over hand and feet pressed firmly on the trunk I climbed up the tree, letting my weight hang downwards effectively anchoring my grip on the trunk. I grit my teeth. Climbing like this was always a pain. I could feel the muscles in my arms swell and ache as I made my way up the trunk. Better sore than hungry. I thought, as my hands finally gripped onto a branch. Hoisting myself up, I surveyed the scene. Those stupid birds had definitely gotten here before me, with one or two of them still darting on and off the branches. Even still, those smooth deep near purple berries were still relatively abundant.

Those stubborn pests ignored my shouts and attempts at shooing them away as I maneuvered along branch after branch, filling the sack I’d brought until it was nearly overflowing. If I had any hopes of trading that human for more of their strange food, I would need more than just a couple berries.

I sat, letting my feet hang over the edge of the branch as I tied the mouth of the bag. This was weird, right? Wanting to see a human? To spend time with them? I shook my head, ridding myself of doubt as quickly as it came. Mark had been weird, sure, but he could talk!! An unwelcome thought seemed to bubble to the surface…

How long has it been since I’ve heard a voice other than my own?

Yeah, no. Bad thought. No time for those. Rising to my feet, I heard the sudden flutter of wings as those pesky masked birds took flight, swooping away from me and deeper into the woods. Figures, they’d leave now that I-

My thought was interrupted by a resounding screech.

Fuck.

---

The sticky summer air struck like walking into a wall. I made my way out of the sanctuary of my air conditioned house, and into the frying pan my porch had become. Was this real? A tiny man... There had been a tiny man in my house. Sal… that was the name he’d given me. He was a rough looking creature, and I had no doubts after just one glance at him that he had been living outside. He had warm, sunburnt skin, and was covered in an unsightly layer of grime. I found myself wishing I had got a closer look at him, but there was no way in Hell I was getting within arm's distance of that creepy little spider he’d had accompanying him. I shuddered at the thought. The image of it crawling liberally all over him as we spoke made my skin crawl.

He’d laughed at my reaction too, as if I was the one being weird.

He’d told me he’d bring me back a treat in exchange for the Oreo. I’d half heartedly tried to tell him there was no need but… if I’m gonna be honest? I wanted him to have a reason to come back.

I stared up at the sun. The strange little man apparently wasn't very familiar with the concept of hours and had told me he’d meet me when the sun was “around there in the sky” as he pointed vaguely at an angle that seemed to suggest sometime around noon? Maybe?? I took a seat.

This was crazy. Was I crazy? I mean… a little man… a tiny yet full grown man had just pulled himself up onto my window sill? I ran my hands through my hair, my loose grasp on reality making my stomach knot. It had felt so real… but it couldn’t have been… and yet here I was, sitting on my front porch in this awfully muggy weather waiting to rendezvous with something, someone rather, straight out of a fairy tale.

The minutes dragged on lazily, as if the muggy weather made time itself move sluggishly. Fuck, was I actually losing my grasp on reality? I mean, I had seen him, heard him, but I hadn’t touched him… I had no pictures, no proof to fall back on. I felt my brow furrow as I swallowed dryly. I’d fucking lost it. Staring up at the sky, I watched as a hawk circled lazily overhead. I’d go into town tomorrow and see if I could get in with a doctor. A solid two days away from the city and I’d managed to develop some form of cabin fever. Just fucking great.

I closed my eyes and leaned back. Man, it was hot. Somewhere above, the hawk screeched, seemingly in agreement with my thoughts. I thought about going inside to get water… or better yet, a beer, but I couldn’t leave my spot. It was as if I was holding onto a shred of hope, desperate to prove to myself that the miniscule little man had really existed.

The longer I thought about him, the more doubt seemed to surface in my mind. His voice, while relatively quiet, had been deep. Did that make sense? Surely someone that small would be pitched up? Thinking back, he may have had pointed ears, but everything else seemed perfectly human-

A strange cacophony interjected into my rambling thoughts; another shriek from the hawk, although this time, much closer. There was the rustling of grass and the puffing sound from flapping wings. I cracked my eyes open and sat up. I knew they were skilled hunters but I’d never seen one in action, and although morbidly curious, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to see the aftermath of whatever poor little creature ended up in its… talons.

Poor little creature…

SAL.

I sprung up. Reality be damned. What if… what if he really was real… what if he’d been-

I pushed the thought from my mind as fast as it had surfaced. Don’t think. Just go. I ran down the stairs and out towards where I’d heard the sound, begging that the hawk had just picked off one of the little finches or waxwings that flitted about the property.

When I saw rustling in the grass it was as if my heart was trying to crawl out of my throat. No. No. No.

Please be alright… My head spun with worry as I moved aside the grass, heart sinking at the sight. A red tailed hawk moved awkwardly on top of something… something small. No feathers were scattered about, no flapping of wings beneath its grip...

Oh God…

My throat felt tight. I lunged at the creature, hoping desperately that whatever damage was done wouldn’t be fatal.

A yelp.

I nearly fell back from the soft sound of shock that came from beneath the bird. Everything seemed to slow as my brain struggled to keep pace with what I was seeing. There he was. That tiny little man… Sal… Covered head to toe in blood. I felt as my own blood drained from my face, bile rising up in my throat. He was soaked. Oh God, was it fatal? What was I supposed to do? Who was I supposed to call for help? How could I-

He smiled.

His teeth were bright white against the gruesome crimson that covered him. Why was he… smiling…? The limp weight of the hawk in my hand suddenly felt a good deal heavier. I looked from the hawk, to him and back to the hawk.

Had he…?

“Well?” He said, placing his hands on his hips and craning his neck to look at me, “Fair trade?”

Things were moving too fast for my brain to keep pace. To start, I wasn’t losing my mind. The tiny man was real… and he had killed a hawk… a dead hawk which I now held in my hand. I swallowed the urge to gag. What had he meant by trade… Oh- Oh no.

---

His face. Oh man, his face. That near death run-in was worth every cut, scrape and bruise to be witness of the realization dawning across that massive face. He turned his head back and forth between me and the redtail hanging limply in his grasp in rapid succession. He looked uneasy. I felt my smile grow even wider. There was disbelief in his eyes. I liked that. I wanted his gaze on me to stay that way. Looking at the bird in his hands I could only feel my pride grow. Fuck those stupid berries, now that was a meal fit for a human.

“Don’t worry,” I chuckled, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the bird’s blood from my face, “I’m not that rude of a guest. I’ll prepare it for you. Can’t go bringing unfinished gifts, now can I?”

I stared up at him, awaiting some kind of response. Wow Sal, that's incredible! Or Oh man, that's a pretty big bird, I doubt I can finish it all, or-

“Prepare…” The colour drained from his face. I snorted. The last family that lived here hadn’t seemed to have to do much with their meat either. Sure, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience but someone had to do it. He crouched down, staring at me with a strange expression; his brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

“Dude, that's gross. I’m not eating hawk?”

Oh.

That simple remark seemed to puncture something in my chest. I felt deflated. My smile wiped away in an instant. Did humans not eat redtail…? Why... why was it gross? That strange expression on his face suddenly seemed to come into focus in my mind; disgust.

Not wanting to look at that expression any longer, I busied myself with looking around the grass.

“Ha, oh yeah, that’s… I had something else. Um,” I felt heat rise to my face. I didn’t get what was wrong with it? What was I missing? “It should have fallen around here somewhere…”

Fuck, I felt small.

I was all too aware that even as I cast my gaze downward, he could see every movement I made. His presence loomed over me. Small. What had felt like an insurmountable feat just a few moments ago was a dismissable nothing to someone like him.

A cruel voice seemed to rise from the ether within my mind. So are you.

---

Shit.

He had been really excited, hadn’t he? He’s done the equivalent of slaying a fucking dragon, and how do I react? By saying it's gross?? I mean, the idea of eating a wild hawk most definitely is gross, and questionably legal, but… My thoughts trail off as I stare down at the crestfallen little man. He doesn’t meet my gaze. That borderline uncanny confidence seemingly eviscerated by a single tactless comment.

I chew my lip and groan, albeit, internally.

“Sal…” he doesn’t look at me, but I catch him flinching at his name, “You know… Now that I think about it, it’s probably pretty similar to turkey.” His head snaps back to me, eyes full of hope. I offer him a smile.

“I’ll give it a shot. Can’t let a great catch like this go to waste.”

It’s as if a switch goes off, and suddenly he’s beaming, his cocksure grin even wider than before. It would be an adorable sight… if not for the fact he was drenched in the blood of his prized catch. I cringed internally as I offered him my hand. He took a step back, as if unsure of what I was doing.

“You can use my kitchen to prep the meat, but only if you wash yourself off first…” I paused, “Please.”

His grin never faltered.

“You got it, Tree-Top.” Despite absolutely dreading his meal, I couldn’t help but grin right back at him.

He took a hesitant step onto my open palm, looking back and forth between my face and my outstretched hand as if asking if it was okay. I nodded encouragingly, repressing the urge to gag as I saw the tiny bloody handprint he left on my thumb. Gross. Gross. Gross.

Instead I focused on the absolutely wild sensation of holding small… human…(?) in my hand. The sensation was beyond bizarre. Nothing like holding a small rodent or lifelike doll could come close to comparing. I could feel how intentional every movement was, as if I could sense the human intelligence behind each carefully placed step. The thought that I was quite literally holding a life in my hands was overwhelming, and I teetered back and forth between excitement and anxiety.

I stood. As he rose upwards in my cupped hand, he gripped onto my thumb with an unnerving amount of strength for a being of his size. Looking down at him, my own stomach lurched. With seemingly no instinct for any form of self preservation, he leaned over the edge of my palm on his hands and knees, watching with rapt excitement as the ground disappeared beneath him. He turned his attention to me briefly, shooting me a cheeky little cocksure grin, before going back to watching the ground pass by in awe as I made my way back towards the house.

In those moments, I was all too aware of every item I had ever dropped in my life, and suffice to say it was more than a few. My heart felt as though it would beat itself out of my chest as he let himself nearly dangle off the edge of my palm. Slowly, I leaned my palm against my chest and curled my fingers inwards. Sal was unphased with the change in position, absentmindedly shifting to standing, his feet perched firmly on my pinky while he leaned precariously over my index finger.

His excitement only seemed to grow as we entered the house. His head was constantly on a swivel, taking in every detail he could catch. Which arguably wasn’t much as I hurried toward the kitchen counter, the sticky feeling of quickly drying blood on my hands leaving my skin crawling. Ew. Ew. Ew.

“Stay right there.”

Placing him and the bird beside one another on the counter I hurriedly turned on the sink, letting out a deep sigh of relief as the rush of water cleaned my hands. The last thing I needed was a bloodied little man exploring the area where I made my food. I bit my lip, trying my hardest to keep the disgust from forming on my face, not wanting to upset my gruesome little guest.

“Here,” I grabbed a table cloth and wet it, offering it to the little man. He didn’t hesitate to begin wiping himself down. As I went to lay out a cutting board, I paused, my stomach sinking. Fuck, I thought, am I going to have to … I grimaced.

“Um, hey man, are you going to need me to-” He cut me off with a wave of his hand, shooing me away as he strode over to my knife block as if this were his kitchen.

“No, no,” he said dismissively “I got it.” He smiled over his shoulder as he yanked out a serrated knife from the block. Nope. Don't wanna see this. I turned to leave, but a small shout made me pause. Sal stood atop the hawk, knife slung over his shoulder like an oversized video game sword, waving me down with his free hand.

“Can you grab me a bowl?”

“Why do you-” he cut me off,

“Organs.” I gagged and silently prayed he didn’t notice. Right. Gross. I tried to hide the revulsion as I plopped a bowl down on the counter, averting my gaze from the carnage on the cutting board. I needed a beer. Or four. Not wanting to wait around in case Sal thought I could make myself useful I disappeared down the hall, now more thankful than ever that I had kept my college mini fridge as a beer fridge away from the kitchen.

#TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY??#An absolute mad man #Sal is basically a cat #Mark is going to spend the next 3 weeks cleaning his kitchen #CW blood #cw derealization #cw animal death #Giant/tiny #G/t #g/t writing #The Shadow we Cast #SalOC #MarkOC #Entowrites #Borrower au #g/t story

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dearmantis · 2 years

Text

The fruits of my labour

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/The Darkling x Durast!Reader

Summary: Haunted by shadows during the day and the words of your old teacher you don't expect two little boys to be the first sign of your upcoming downfall.

Warnings: drowning, manipulation, hints of psychological abuse, descriptions of anatomy, mentions of bone breaking (?), death of an animal

Word Count: 4k

Authors’ Note: This is the last chapter that is still kind of chill, just fyi. Things are going to start going down rather quickly after this part. Please pay attention to the warnings at the top of each chapter and on the series masterlist. This is also still not edited and English is still not my native language (and I technically accidentally posted this so if you see any mistakes please dm me)

Part 1 | Previous Part | Series Masterlist

Baghras words put you into a weird, almost distant state that you're unable to escape, stuck in an odd void between reality and your racing mind.

You start eating lunch and dinner with the other Grisha again, skipping breakfast entirely, but you don't use your free time to experiment anymore. You can't bring yourself to.

The bird, a beautiful little dove, is free since you came back to the Little Palace after that first dinner with your old teacher. You hope the time it spend locked in a cage in your tiny one person workshop in the basement of the Palace scared it so much that it flew far away from Os Alta.

Instead of experimenting you focus fully on the prototypes, finishing ten slightly differentiating grenades for the General to test and pick his favourite from. You haven't seen Kirigan once since you met up with Baghra, but you swear you can feel him lingering closer than before.

It's driving you slowly insane, how the shadows seem to follow you in odd ways, a bit too long and a bit too dark for your liking. You start to question if it has been like this since he first ran into you in that hallway. If he has been watching your every move since that fateful day and you were simply too caught up in your own obsession with the forbidden science to notice.

All that confidence that you built up over the last weeks is gone, the inner armour disappearing into thin air and leaving behind nothing but your rotten, ruined soul and the fear in your heart.

Baghra is annoyed by your distant state, convinced that you're wasting precious time you should spend hiding your tracks. She has advised you against running, at least for now, instructing you to finish the presentation of the grenades and then return to your previous team to make corecloth.

Disappear in mediocrity. That's what she had called it. You're terrified enough to agree with her plan without questioning it.

Despite your trust in her you lay awake at night, combing through memories of your interactions with the General to see if you can tell if and when he noticed anything off about you until the exhaustion drags you into restless sleep once again.

You're nothing short of miserable.

A part of you wonders why even bother with the prototypes, now that you're aware that he probably doesn't care about your idea in the slightest. Of course you know that you have to act like you think it matters, like you care so much about the validation and love from your dear General, no matter how ashamed you are of yourself.

You got tricked so easily by him. A few minutes of attention and some compliments and you were clay in his hands. Years of distaste and anger directed towards the man who never cared for anyone from your Order unless he wants something, gone after a few nice words and a glass of water. Pathetic.

You're a fabricator, child. He doesn't care about your kind.

Baghra's voice haunts you like the shadows do, following you even when you sleep. She has warned you of him. She has done so for years, hundreds of times, but you never understood how serious her warnings were until now.

It's hard to keep your schedule stable, to do everything the way you did before Baghra kindly alerted you that the General is watching you like a hawk watches a mouse, but your mind is clear enough to know that he will pounce if he notices anything unusual about your already odd behaviour.

You try to plan ahead for the meeting with the General, spending more time hanging around your old teammates. You speak more during meals, discussing your grenades animatedly with an Alkemi and another Durast, careful to mention how much you miss working together with others. To even out the scales you then complain on your way back to your room with another Durast about how boring the corecloth making can be.

It's all a balancing act. Every step is careful and meticulously thought through while you fight to hold onto the last strands of sanity you have left.

In the night before your scheduled presentation you watch as the shadows draw figures on the wall across your window. You're not sure if it's your own fear turning tree branches into people and figures vaguely reminiscent of volcra, if you're slowly going crazy on your own or if the General is intentionally driving you to insanity.

To watch you break, maybe in hopes of getting you to expose your secret in your panic?

You have to hold onto reality. If the only way of doing that is to surround yourself with darkness and other people until he finally loses interest, then so be it. He can't haunt you if others could see, can't draw shapes with shadows if everything in your vicinity is cloaked in blackness.

Standing up from your bed you step over to the window and pull the curtains closed tightly, promising yourself to steal some fabric from the workshops to thicken your curtains a bit more, in hopes of blocking the light more efficiently, before going back to bed.

When you finally manage to fall asleep you dream of drowning in that river again, but this time you feel how the water fills your lungs, how death takes over your muscles and bones and carries your soul into the shadows. This time you're not at peace. You scream silently, cursing the world and it's cruel nature while starring up towards the surface where the people of the village stand and watch you drown.

You don't pray for the making to show you mercy, you pray for death to come for those who killed you.

In the morning you drop the prototypes in a big, cushioned chest and place it next to the door of your workshop, before going up to eat breakfast with the other Grisha. Eating slowly you speak with the others, tightening your ties to the other Fabrikators even more. People who will miss you if something happens to you. People who will ask questions if you disappear.

People who are less susceptible to the Generals manipulation since they know, just as well as you do — hopefully better than you do — that nobody cares about the Materialki order.

Anja, the Durast woman next to you asks if you're scared of presenting as she watches your hands play with a fork, your hands humming with power as you move the metal around like clay.

"A bit" you admit, rolling the polished steel into the shape of a marble. "But I promised the General that I would present today, and I worked quite hard. I honestly can't wait to get a break, to just work on corecloth again for a while. A solo project is a lot of responsibility."

You can feel the eyes of a Heartrender on you as you speak, can feel the subtle, signature brush of her powers as she checks if you're lying. The eyes of the General are everywhere.

Heartrenders are luckily not perfect. Calm breathing, a clear mind and simple, easy lies can throw them off well enough, not that anyone cares. The Corporalki are the Generals favourite, so they can't do anything wrong, right? That's at least what everyone thinks. You're not gonna fall for the lies though. Baghra has taught you well.

"Ah, yeah. That makes sense. I would probably not finish my work at all if I had to make my own schedule. I can't take my own deadlines seriously at all. But with the General breathing down my neck, everything is suddenly serious, isn't it?" she says, her voice dropping to a whisper at the last sentence. You nod quickly, finishing your meal alongside her before you accompany her to your old workshop.

You do really miss your old work, despite the fact that your old team leader is arguably one of the most unpleasant people to be around. Being surrounded by other Fabrikators, people who understand your oddness, your greed for knowledge, your fascination with the unexplainable, is a comfort nothing can replicate.

"I hope the General summons you soon, and that the whole presentation goes well. And afterwards you're gonna come back, yes? Boris and I miss you a lot." Anja asks when you finally arrive at the workshop, quickly slipping in through the open door and walking over to her table. You watch her collect her materials for a bit before you turn around to walk over to your own workshop.

Your one-person workshop is technically a bigger storage closet down in the basement of the Little Palace, the only access to fresh air being a tiny window directly under the ceiling. It's easy to cover it with a few layers of thick parchment, blocking out the daylight entirely.

For the next three hours you make yourself familiar with your workshop while sitting in pure darkness, counting floorboards, then nails, then the bricks in the foundation of the building.

Lunchtime comes and goes and you don't get summoned, now using your powers to follow the skeletons in the palace around.

You try to see if you can tell the location of the General without paying attention to his rings, try to feel the Merzost Baghra claims sits deep in his bones, humming quietly in the compact tissue.

When your powers brush it you wonder for a second if he feels it, if he feels that something touched his secret, but then you remember what else Baghra has revealed to you. You can't draw from Merzost. You can summon, can weave it into things, can shape and change and evolve, but you cannot use it for yourself, cannot feel its power humming in your own body. All you have is your own talents as a Fabrikator.

You will never be more. You have turned yourself into a tool for others. You're here to make, not to use.

So you reach out for it, trying to understand how the forbidden science sits in his bones. You chose a bird for your first experiments with amplifiers due to their hollow bones, an empty space you could fill with something new — something forbidden — but human bones aren't hollow, they're filled with spongy bone tissue and marrow.

Feeling along the skeleton of your General without his knowledge feels odd, like a violation of privacy, and you wonder briefly if the Corporalki feel the same when they start learning to feel out hearts or if they're simply born with a disregard for other people's personal rights. You can feel it though, carefully woven through his bones in a way you hope you will be able to replicate one day.

Most of it sits deep in the cortical tissue, but some of it seems to weave through the soft tissue as well, thin strings almost building a net in between. It's harder for you to follow the soft tissue, the marrow too squishy for your Fabrikator powers to really hold onto and follow, but the Merzost makes it a bit easier.

A darker part of your mind, the same part that convinced you to figure out how to summon the forbidden science in the first place, briefly wonders what his broken bones would look like. There is so much Merzost in his skeleton, would you be able to see it? Would his bones shimmer in that iridescent way that you have come to associate with the forbidden science?

Shaking your head a bit you try to clear your head, a bit disturbed by your own thoughts. You stretch your hands for to loosen the muscles in them before finally deciding that you could probably go on a quick walk, as long as you stay around the Little Palace where the servants can find you when he finally decides to call for you.

You lock the door to your workshop behind you, quickly walking up the slim staircase and slipping out of the servant entrance of the Palace.

It's freezing outside, your breath clearly visible in front of you as you walk through the gardens of the palace. Above you heavy clouds hang in the sky and a sweet smell is in the air.

Snow. It's gonna snow soon.

Snow means the workshops are gonna be cold again, especially your solo workshop in the basement. You can only hope that your less than subtle conversations during meals in the past days are enough of a foundation to guarantee yourself a ticket back to the corecloth makers. Otherwise you might freeze to death before Kirigan even gets a chance to catch you messing around with Merzost.

A sudden scream rips your attention away from the sky and towards two small children. You can't see much from how far away you are, just that they're hitting each other quite aggressively. Without thinking you run to them, a loud "Hey!" falling from your lips as you get closer. "Stop that!"

As you get closer you start to realise how serious the situation truly is, not just for the kids but also for yourself. They're covered in blood, hands dripping as they rip on each other's hair. It's a nightmarish sight to see and you wonder where any of the teachers are. Kids aren't supposed to be outside on their own right now.

You can't see any big open wounds on either child, just scratches and bruises. Grabbing both of the children by their arms you try your hardest to pull them apart, pushing yourself between the two as soon as you create enough distance.

"What's going on?"

In the distance you can see a grey uniform slowly walking into your direction.

"I killed it first!" one of the boys yells, trying to get out of your grasp to hit the other.

"No! I killed it! I literally felt it!"

"Killed what?" You ask confused.

"The bird!"

Following the direction both of the boys are pointing at your eyes finally find the reason for all of the fighting and blood, and you can feel how your stomach drops.

The small, broken body of a dove lays in the frost coated grass just a few metres away from you, its neck hanging low as if someone broke it and its wings stretched and bend unnaturally. It's white feathers are covered in it's own blood.

They must've tried to rip it apart to kill it, you think, a heavy feeling of dread filling your chest. This is your fault. The death of this bird is your fault. You were the one to give it magic. It wasn't born with it.

"I was the one to figure out that it's an amplifier in the first place! It was my right to kill it!" the other boy wails, but you're not even paying attention anymore. Your thoughts are racing. How are you going to hide this? The way you worked the Magic into it's bones isn't now nature does it, not how it weaved it into the bones of the General.

Behind you the kids start fighting each other again. You can't bring yourself to care. Let them kill each other, that way there would be no witness to the crime against the Making you have committed.

Your eyes are glued to the small body. You can see its bones clearly, and even in the muted daylight, filtered by the thick clouds, you can see the way the insides shift unnaturally.

Merzost.

It's visible. It's clearly visible and you're sure if you look at it for much longer you will throw up.

"The General chooses who gets an Amplifier" you hear yourself saying, but it's not like the boys are paying any attention to you, too caught up in their own little battle. You can't even bring yourself to blink. There's nothing you want to do more than look away but you simply can't.

Far away you hear someone yelling out "Durast!".

You step closer to the dead animal and kneel down to observe it closer, fingers carefully moving the corpse to look at it from a different angle, desperate to understand how exactly they tried to rip it. Its a brutal sight, but you feel like you owe it to this bird, somehow, since you put it into this position in the first place. You changed it's destiny. It's blood is on you hands now.

The Oprichiki you saw coming towards you a minute ago finally reaches you, pulling the two children apart once again. He begins to scold them immediately, which is what finally pulls you out of your almost trance like state.

"I'm gonna get the General." you announce, standing up and smoothing down the material of your purple Kefta, smearing it with the blood that covers you fingertips in the process.

The guard tries to protest but you cut him off before he gets the chance to speak his mind. "They're fighting over an amplifier. I need to tell the General."

And that's that. No room for discussion.

You walk quickly back into the Little Palace, mind full with paranoid, broken thoughts that lead to nothing. If you were smarter you would probably go to Baghra with this. You would go to her hut as soon as you told the General what happened and explain that your dove has been murdered. She would tell you what to do, come up with some plan to save your pitiful, worthless soul once again.

But you're scared — you're fucking terrified — and you can't think when you're like this.

"There was an incident in the gardens. I need to talk to the General." you quickly say to the Oprichniki standing guard in front of Kirigans doors, pushing past him without waiting for his response and opening the doors. A part of you hopes the guard sees this as a threat, the start of an attack, an attempt on ending the Generals life, and rips your heart out. He doesn't.

Kirigan is bent over a mountain of documents laying on the table in the middle of the room when you step inside, eyes big as he looks at you, waiting for an explanation for your disrespectful behavior.

For a few seconds your fear of the man freezes you in place, eyes glued to his, darker than the night sky itself. His presence is dominant and it feels almost as if he's pressing down on your lungs somehow, trying to squish the words out of your body. The shadows crawling on the walls don't help you either, their odd, sharp shapes moving slowly into your direction like a predator towards it's mortified prey.

"I don't remember calling on you yet." the General finally speaks, his voice smooth and cold like satin, full of that awful authority you don't remember him pushing onto you when you last stood in these rooms.

The dread it sparks in you frees you out of your paralysis.

"Two children are in the gardens fighting over the bones of a dead bird. They claim it's an amplifier." You blurt out, almost stumbling over your words. You hate this, hate being so close to the man who might kill you if he finds out what you've done. Every word Baghra has ever said about him, every warning and cautionary tale, echos loudly in your mind while your fingernails press into the soft flesh of your palm.

The General proceeds to stare at you for a few more seconds, eyes piercing into yours as if he's trying to pull your thoughts out of your mind and read them, then he finally stands up and motions you to follow him.

You obey, almost jogging after him to catch up with his long, heavy steps. As you two walk through the Little Palace you notice how the shadows stretch, desperate to follow their summoner, and you begin to wonder when they slip back into their original shape. How far does the control of the Darkling truly go?

How far would you have to run to no longer be in danger?

Your own powers reach quite far, but things are probably different for summoners, and even you have to admit that your powers weaken greatly the further away something is. Feeling metals and bones and all that, that's simple, but the shaping? That's the part where distance begins to take a toll on you. It's probably similar for the Etheralki, right? Grisha aren't all that different from each other. Are we not all things?

"You said they think it's an Amplifier?"

Snapping out of your thoughts you look back at the General. His eyes are on you, watching carefully, and you have to swallow your anxiety down to answer him.

"That's what they said, yes. They're fighting over who killed it and gets to claim it, moi soverenyi. I tried to mention that you're the one who decides which Grisha gets to claim an Amplifier for themselves, but they refused to listen to me. A guard pulled them apart and I decided to get your help."

He nods, silently thanking you for your quick rundown of what had occurred, before his back begins to straighten, his shoulders stiffening in the process, and his chin lifts a bit, making it seem like he's looking down on everyone. His steps become louder but also smoother, and one of his hands combs though his ink black hair, ensuring that every strand is in perfect position.

He was already scary before, but now he really just looks like a proud, powerful hunter, ready to discipline whoever disobeyed the rules of the Little Palace. It almost feels like he's doing too much, but the dealings with amplifiers have always been quite serious to him so it makes sense why he would go all out to scare children back into good behavior. The rules regarding them are tight and unforgiving and breaking one of them by claiming an Amplifier without consent from him is a serious violation, even if the perpetrators are children.

You can easily see how this man terrifies all of Ravka, how he keeps the entire Second Army in line and makes sure that you all lack nothing. This is not just Kirigan. This is the Darkling, the descendant of the Black Heretic. The man who bends darkness itself to his will and carries pure magic in his bones.

Moving quickly to open the door for him, you let him step into the gardens while you desperately try to keep your body in motion. It's hard to remember how powerful you are when you have someone who's basically a mythical being walking two steps in front of you.

Sure, you could hold onto his bones, shatter them into splinters and dust with a few quick hand movements, perhaps even rip the magic out of his body, but how are you supposed to do that when his aura alone almost paralyzes your body? And who can say if you would even be quick enough to do all that before his famed cut slices you in half?

Your hands clench further at the thought, a piercing pain shooting though your hands and arms when your nails finally draw blood as your eyes gaze upon the two boys.

The guard is still holding them in place but someone else has joined the group to discipline them instead. A teacher.

"Baghra?"

She's in the middle of insulting the fire summoning of one of the boys, the dead dove carefully cradled in her hands, when she hears you call out, her tired, angry eyes looking first at you, then at the General who's still a few steps ahead of you. You doubt anyone else notices it, but you see a spark of worry in her stare before it all disappears back under her usual mask. You think it unsettles you more than anything else ever could.

"Durast" Kirigan says coldly, stopping a few metres away from the group, eyes clearly glued to the dead bird, before he turns back to you. It's still not your name, but this time you're more glad than anything. If he hasn't bothered to learn your name yet he might not be as suspicious as you thought. The only good thing that happened today. "Go back to your quarters. I will send someone for you after all of this is over."

You can't help but nod, sending another nervous look to Baghra before you disappear back into the Little Palace and hide away in your room.

It's after midnight when a loud knocking finally rings through your room, but it's not who you expect.

"He's going to find out soon." Baghra whispers as soon as you open the window she knocked at, her tone serious. "He noticed the unnatural Merzost in the bird and we already knew that he's suspicious of you. It's only a mater of a few more hours until he connects the dots. You have to leave."

Part 5 - I'm not the devil

Taglist: @shawty-writes-a-little @dreamlandcreations @watersquirtpewpewboomm @getawayfrommewerewolf @magicstrengthandcourage @blossomedfloweroflove

#aleksander morozova x reader #general kirigan x reader #darkling x reader #the darkling x reader

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