#The Fox Concubine

[nagisa2345-blog]

彼女の笑顔に惚れた | わたしの幸せな結婚

I so really really really really love this whole entire video, etc On The Whole Entire YouTube App, etc!!!!!!

And Also I so really really really really love this whole entire anime, etc as well too, etc On The Whole Entire YouTube App, etc As Well Too, etc!!!!!!😀😀😃😃😍😍😘😘🥰🥰🤩🤩🙃🙃🙂🙂🫠🫠🥰🥰🥰🥰🌈🌈🌈🌈👄👄💋💋💘💘❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹💝💝💖💖❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥💗💗💓💓💞💞💕💕💌💌❣️❣️❤️❤️🧡🧡💛💛💚💚🩵🩵💙💙💜💜🤎🤎🖤🖤🩶🩶🤍🤍🩷🩷♥️♥️💟💟💐💐💮💮🏵️🏵️🌼🌼🌻🌻🌺🌺🌹🌹🌷🌷🪻🪻🪷🪷🌸🌸🍃🍃🍂🍂🍁🍁🍄🍄🌾🌾☘️☘️🍀🍀🌱🌱🌿🌿🪴🪴🌵🌵🌴🌴🌳🌳🌲🌲🪹🪹🪺🪺🫧🫧🌈🌈🤴🤴👸👸🤵‍♂️🤵‍♂️👰‍♀️👰‍♀️🤰🤰🤱🤱👩‍🍼👩‍🍼👨‍🍼👨‍🍼👫👫👩‍❤️‍👨👩‍❤️‍👨👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👩‍👧👨‍👩‍👧🦸‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧛‍♂️🧛‍♂️🧛‍♀️🧛‍♀️🧝‍♂️🧝‍♂️🧝‍♀️🧝‍♀️🧜‍♂️🧜‍♂️🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧞‍♂️🧞‍♂️🧞‍♀️🧞‍♀️🥷🥷🥷🥷👨‍💻👨‍💻👩‍💻👩‍💻👨‍🎤👨‍🎤👩‍🎤👩‍🎤👨‍🎨👨‍🎨👩‍🎨👩‍🎨🕺🕺💃💃🤹‍♂️🤹‍♂️🤹‍♀️🤹‍♀️🍱🍱🍚🍚🥘🥘🍲🍲🍛🍛🍜🍜🍝🍝🫕🫕🥡🥡🥗🥗🍎🍎🍏🍏🍓🍓🍒🍒🍉🍉🍑🍑🍊🍊🥭🥭🍍🍍🍌🍌🍋🍋🍋‍🟩🍋‍🟩🍈🍈🍐🍐🥝🥝🫒🫒🍇🍇🫐🫐🥥🥥🍅🍅🌶️🌶️🥕🥕🌽🌽🥦🥦🥒🥒🥬🥬🫛🫛🫑🫑🥑🥑🍠🍠🍆🍆🥔🥔🍄‍🟫🍄‍🟫🫘🫘🌰🌰🥨🥨🥜🥜🥚🥚🍳🍳🫓🫓🍞🍞🥐🥐🥖🥖🥯🥯🧇🧇🥞🥞🧀🧀🥓🥓🥩🥩🍖🍖🍗🍗🍟🍟🍔🍔🌭🌭🍕🍕🌮🌮🌯🌯🫔🫔🥙🥙🧆🧆🐟🐟🐠🐠🐡🐡🦀🦀🦞🦞🐙🐙🦑🦑🦐🦐🦪🦪🍣🍣🍢🍢🍤🍤🥟🥟🍘🍘🍙🍙🥮🥮🍿🍿🥠🥠🍥🍥🍡🍡🎂🎂🍰🍰🧁🧁🥧🥧🍮🍮🍧🍧🍦🍦🍨🍨🍩🍩🍪🍪🍫🍫🍬🍬🍭🍭🍯🍯🍼🍼🫖🫖🥛🥛☕☕🍵🍵🍾🍾🥂🥂🍷🍷🍸🍸🍹🍹🍶🍶🍺🍺🍻🍻🥃🥃��🧉🧋🧋🥤🥤🧃🧃🧊🧊🍽️🍽️🍴🍴🥄🥄🥢🥢🏘️🏘️🏠🏠🏡🏡🏨🏨🏰🏰🏯🏯🏤🏤🕌🕌⛲⛲🗼🗼🗽🗽⛩️⛩️🏘️🏘️🏘️🏘️🏠🏠🏠🏠🏡🏡🏡🏡🏨🏨🏨🏨🏰🏰🏰🏰🏯🏯🏯🏯🏤🏤🏤🏤🕌🕌🕌🕌⛲⛲⛲⛲

[kangturu07]

🐺🫶🦊

General Huo and His Highness

I really like this novel. Need people to talk about it because the community almost non exist 🥹

[sculptorofcrimson]

Pavilion of Golden Flowers

A Warhammer retelling of the Drunken Concubine.

Synopsis: Valdor waits for his master

“Love and hate breeds a trice

Couple like the moon with sun

Love and hate are vast

Ask, do kings love?” - Drunken Concubine

~~~

Terra no longer snowed. The white flakes that once cascaded and tumbled before Terra’s slow ruin, the pale frost that had blanketed the Himalayas and chilled golden armor to divine bone, had departed for scorching spring, never to arise once more. There was no more water to freeze, not a single drop of natural moisture upon Terra to fall from its plump heavy clouds. No more bitter frost to wrap the world underneath its wintery embrace. Even the Imperial Palace’s pools and lascivious decor held no natural born water of Terra’s oceans, not eden wealth could restore the lost, for Poseidon had long since abandoned humanity to its fate. 

The skies no longer wept in sorrow. They had no more tears to shed. It would be winter, if not for the fact Terra’s climate was nearly as dead as its oceans, and the Imperial Palace was insulated against such natural wonders. There would be no natural ice upon Terra’s surface, for now and forevermore. The only weak flicker of nature’s dying grasp was the slowly spreading moonlight, hovering with marked fickleness as an icy moon rose above the palace. Before it’s single-eyed gaze, the world sharpened and illuminated itself, the ghostly light painting it silver in all its ancient splendor.

It was through this nostalgic haze did the concubine toss back another cup, wineglass crinkling underneath gene-enhanced fingers that could have crushed a man’s throat. The hulking behemoth of a man would have looked intimidating under any other circumstance, even when draped in nothing but silken regalia and stripped of his weapons and armor. Not so long ago, his stern features had been set in an unsmiling glower as the serfs had massaged and groomed and dressed him for his lord, the Emperor's favorite concubine barely resisting as they draped him in silk and threaded scarves around his muscled frame. He hadn’t struggled when they had pulled on jewelry pretentious enough to bankrupt an entire star sector and veiled him in such golden extravagance it was nearly ostentatious. He would have protested against such attire(it was not practical, it was not even easy to move around in, how was he supposed to defend his lord in such ridiculousness?), but the serfs were already tugging the much larger Custodian towards his appointment. Their movements had been harried in their scampering as they had ushered him before a feast fit for an emperor, the Custodian now perfectly prepared to magnificence as if he had been any other item now artfully arranged for their Emperor’s amusement.

Yet still as majestic as ever even when draped in silks instead of auramite, Constantin Valdor was as resplendent as ever as he helped himself to another drink, the liquid searing his throat as his Custodian biology attempted to make sense of what he was drinking. His gene-enhanced form shuddered slightly as the liquid seared his insides, flesh and cells unable to comprehend what foreign substance could be strong enough to bypass his innate resilience.  

Such indulgence would out of character for the Captain-General, but the hour of restraint had long since passed, such reservations simply ceased to matter when the clock ticked on and on and on yet, whereas the hands turned and the sand slipped through the hourglass, his lord and master had never even appeared. It was possible that such a thing had simply slipped His mind, however impervious as it was, and left Valdor sitting there, alone, half-slumped over his...seventeenth? Eighteenth? bottle of the finest wine within the Imperium. 

At this point, they might as well give him the entire Imperial Palace's cellar. 

The serfs and servants and servitors still scurried for the aborted appointment, and the Captain-General watched them with the dull impartiality of cold detachment, the alcohol wrought haze having thankfully having numbed the cold humiliation of the Emperor’s abandonment to muteness. 

Still holding the wineglass in a crushing grip, Valdor idly wondered who could sharing the Emperor’s bed as of this moment. Who had been the lucky concubine chosen instead of him? Ra, for his humanity? Kadai? Saturnalia? Perhaps even Diocletian, as feisty as he was? Perhaps tonight the Emperor wanted a challenge instead of Valdor’s mute obedience. 

The Captain-General let his gaze linger upon the wineglass, now slowly being refilled by the hand of a Lucifer Black. Briefly, their eyes met, and the guardsman flinched when he noted Valdor’s piercing glare upon his, however dulled by wine that gaze was. The Lucifer Black dropped his eyes, and his hands shook, spilling a neat drop of red liquid along the side of the glass. Neither of them comments. Valdor only made a noncommittal noise as he dismissed the guardsman, gaze travelling onto the serfs still hurriedly running through their preparations as if they truly expected the Emperor to ever arrive. Valdor took a sip of the wine. And then another. Because why not? He long since knew the bitter truth the servants didn’t. 

The Emperor would not arrive today. Valdor knew that even as he accompanied them and waited for a master that would never return. The Emperor would never be here now, not in one hour, not in two, not when He had already chosen another concubine over him. 

Such indulgence would be impossible to fathom under other circumstances. Yet Valdor found no reason to refuse as he beckoned for the guardsman to approach again, waiting for a refill with endless patience and a serenity that tasted bitter.

The Emperor had taken the emotions of jealousy and envy and carved them out of his chest years ago. In fact, He had even taken the memories of desire itself and torn them out of His perfect creation, had drained away as much of his humanity and conscience as He pleased. Even now, lost in drunken reflection, Valdor found it impossible to even feel a twinge of loss or sympathy for his condition, had found it so unspeakably strange and incomprehensible. Such programming was wired into his literal bones, singed into the very fabric of his soul and shackled into the chains of his mind. There was no greater pleasure than serving his master, if only because he could feel nothing else otherwise. Of course, when pain and absence of pain were all you could feel, you too would gravitate against feeling nothing at all. 

The Lucifer Black seemed no longer frightened of Valdor’s presence, although the short glances he gave the Custodian were now full of wariness and guarded observation. Valdor ignored him, more out of the fact he knew the guardsman wanted to talk to him no more than he desired to initiate a conversation. Instead, they both watched the wine refill in a wineglass that would soon crack from Valdor’s grip upon it, and when it was full, the Lucifer Black stepped back without a word. 

The wine was supposed to be the finest in the Imperium, yet acting as a connoisseur of wine was the last thing upon his half-dazed mind as Valdor mused upon the hollow ache upon his chest, the strange withdrawal he felt upon his master’s abandonment. It was the unpleasant sensation of betrayal, a deep-seated ache in the absence of his normally iron-clad duty. The liquid was searing as he downed another cup of the Imperium’s finest spirits. 

His master wasn’t here. And the Emperor most likely would not appear tonight, or even tomorrow. Right as of this moment, He was most likely enjoying His time with another Custodian, perhaps humoring Ra, perhaps listening to Diocletian, perhaps even doing both in their company.

The thought was no consolation. The fact that his brothers were accompanying the Emperor while Valdor tried not to rip the sheer silken attire surrounding his muscled form did nothing to aid the Captain-General. While Valdor was no longer capable of jealousy, he was not yet quite ready to let go of the closest thing he had for pain in the face of this coldly blunt rejection. He was not yet ready to… forgive? Forgive, perhaps? Was that the word? Was he still capable of such an action, stripped of humanity as he was?No, Valdor believed not. To forgive would be to imply the Emperor had done wrong. To forgive would be to imply that there was a sin that needed forgiving. And the Custodian found himself unable to hold the Emperor to His sins, to His great mistakes and misconceptions. It was simply beyond him, quite literally unable to summon the hatred required for even such a small action. 

The Emperor had carved out his ability to feel such poisoned luxuries long ago.

And thus, you cannot forgive someone you could not even blame in the first place. 

There was no scapegoat, no one else to blame as Valdor raised the cup to his lips and drank from the finest wines in the Imperium. The Captain-General hung draped in the finest silks of Terra, and lounging within the finest Palace to have ever been graced by Mankind, and yet nursing the dull pain who refused to drown beneath endless drinks and the finest of liquor the Imperium had to offer. The liquid was searing yet numbing upon his tongue, yet he had accustomed himself to its taste with surprising efficiency.

Such human revelations were not supposed to be part of his duty, and would not be part of his duty. He was to serve in all regards, and so be it. So be it if the Emperor has another concubine in His mind, it was not his duty to intervene after all. This had, of course, happened multiple times in the past, and doubtlessly would continue in the future.

But if that was the case, why was he so rankled over his master’s absence? Why would he desire Him so?

Valdor’s grip tightens once more upon the wineglass at the echoing of his own thoughts, unable to completely drown out sorrows long since assumed lost to him. 

Sorrow. What an ugly word. 

Thanks to the Emperor he no longer held the capacity to feel in any defined form anymore, and if he could, it would be better to leave him to the illusion that he couldn’t. The wineglass cracks underneath his force, finally giving away, shards of glass normally unable to pierce Custodian flesh suddenly driven into skin and muscle by the sheer strength of Valdor’s grip. 

The Lucifer Black that had been preparing to refill the glass utters a sharp cry of surprise at the shattering, flinching at the Custodian’s sudden motion.

“And so be it.” Valdor growled aloud, his words surprisingly clear and sharp despite the inebriation that had overtaken him. The guardsman flinched and looked up in surprise, partially due to the fact Valdor had seemed to speak to him, partially due to the fact the Custodian’s piercing gaze was fixated on…something. Something not quite within the room with them right as of this moment, something he himself possibly could not name. Valdor’s cold gaze settles upon him for a moment and the guardsman’s hand trembles slightly upon his pitcher, but does not falter. He only watches the Custodian with a mixture of caution, surprise, and carefully guarded curiosity at the strange, somehow dark expression which briefly flitted across the much larger Custodian's features, before it was gone once more.

Valdor finally drops his gaze as he turned away, expression listless and unreadable, the shards of glass of what had once been a fine wineglass now piercing through his skin and the silken fabric. With surprising calmness, he sets down the broken glass, silently savoring - or as much as a being like him could savor - in few sensations he was yet capable of feeling: the bitter sting of pain, if only for a few moments before it was gone. Almost intangible once more in an eternity of unending invulnerability. Instead, he only draws back in silent almost-disappointment, watching the guardsman move to sweep up the broken pieces, soft footsteps rustling against lavish carpets as the pale-faced Lucifer Black busied himself with the task. When it came to the ranks of the golden, the still-living immortalized dead, silence was a virtue, and it was one they could easily afford.

He does not acknowledge the Lucifer Black, and offered him not even a single word as he turns and strides out of the room, his gait slightly lacking the usual eerie grace with which the Captain-General usually displaced himself with, an uncharacteristic alcohol-bourne clumsiness gracing his every step. The truth of his destination, he was not yet certain of, even though he knew he must find somewhere else to go. Somewhere further away, somewhere where his master wouldn’t be able to look upon him with disappointment and rebuke.

The Lucifer Black only watches him leave, the closest to vulnerable the Custodian would ever be, titanic form casting shadows against the silverware and the shattered glass. It was only when Valdor’s hulking silhouette was gone did the guardsman release a soft, exhausted sigh of worried relief.

Even alone, Valdor could not find it in himself to regret. His steps beat a hollow rhythm, the sound echoing off the walls, a soft, frozen heartbeat of entombed steel. He should have accepted what he had always known. It would be for the best, yes. He was nothing more than a tool of the Emperor’s, His loyal servant and Captain-General, created to please His every whim. Nothing more. Nothing less. Who was he to disagree?

He had no more tears to shed in the face of this, no more sorrow to feel. Such emotions had been ripped from him long ago. He was Valdor, the Captain-General of the Custodes. He was Valdor, the Emperor’s favorite, or he should have been. He was Valdor, and as he spasmodically leaned against a gaping doorway, trying to rationalize how he wasn’t drunk, how he wasn’t actually drunkenly leaning against a frame never meant to support his weight, he coldly explained away how the Emperor’s absence tonight should have been no surprise. He was busy, of course He was. He had other matters greater than a single Custodian to attend to, it would have been thoughtless of him to assume otherwise. And of course, His eye strayed from him to Ra. Or Diocletian. Or Khorarinn. There were ten thousand of them, it would have been arrogance on his part to assume otherwise. How foolish of him.

Shaking his head, hearing the decorative bangles wound into his neural implants jangle, the Captain-General’s gaze aimlessly wandered to the full moon still shining through the gaps of the Imperial Palace’s view. It was a single, baleful eye glaring down upon him, casting its silver gaze upon the emptied floor, upon the pillars and murals half-shrouded in shadows. Its languid light was almost a mockery to the hollow ache in his bones, an empty cry, an emperor’s fickle favor made grand and hollow in the taunting moonlight.

Slumping against the wall when he heard the door’s hinges begin to creak from his sustained weight, the Custodian’s sharp gaze wanders from the pool of liquid moonlight to the sight of the Palace’s gardens, in full bloom, yet so artificially sickly sweet even the Emperor’s gene-wonders could not have removed their deviance. A stray finger catches onto one of the golden bangles, and Valdor’s cold expression never falters as he grasps onto one of its latches and harshly tugs downwards. His gaze never even flickers in intensity, glaring back at the moon with enough frost to rival even the abyss of space itself as the bangle was forcibly wrenched from delicate neural implants, the sharp sting of pain drowned out without even a flinch. Valdor grasps the removed bangle, the pinpricks of Custodian blood already fading as his regeneration takes hold, the Captain-General quietly glaring back at the soulless moon that would never offer solace. The way it came to him, bubbling out just from under the surface like some entombed corpse from beneath the grave, the revelation itself was almost cruel. And made all the more taunting by the fickle light of a hollow night. Yet, it was not particularly surprising. No, not at all.

What is the meaning of glory, what is the purpose of prosperity? What of pride, what of greatness, what of even loyalty itself, when he could not even fathom betrayal itself? His hand tenses and relaxes as if in sync with his rapid thoughts, crushing the gold of the bangle now and imprinting the soft metal with his clawed grip.

It was hard to imagine a time before then, a time before when he still felt memories of avarice, of greed, of loathing, of joy itself, reduced to half-snuffed candles flickering in a dream.

The bangle snaps under the force of his grip. Uncaringly, he tosses it aside. It clatters as it falls.

Of course, His eye had strayed from him to Ra.

Of course.

Transfixed, utterly inebriated, and watching the stars that were never truly humanity’s birthright, the first Custodian tried to pretend that his Emperor’s cold dismissal wasn’t so terrible, so visceral, that even immortals knew pain.

~~~

"Love and hate are vast

Ask, will king re-love

Chrysanths Terrace reflects moon

Who knows how lonely my heart

Drunken in king's arms

dreaming of love” - Drunken Concubine

[boleynqueenes]

The specific thing I think of for you as a writer is 1) your wit and 2) your characterization of Anne (two things which also go v neatly hand-in-hand!). I’ve read soooo many works w Anne and even the really good ones (Anne of a Thousand Days for example,) it’s always ‘a little to the left please’ yours was the first piece i sat up and went HELLO! That’s HER!!!! Like I myself have a v specific vision in mind of her yknow? But even I can’t capture it. You just…do! It’s amazing!!! In awe honestly!!!!!!

She definitely had the wit of someone very determined to rise and make the most of the places her parents' ambitions brought her to, yes. This doesn't seem to have ebbed at all once she finally became Queen, because she was just as determined to secure her place as she had been to rise.

But tysm, I definitely do try to capture that <3

[theladysunami]

Now that I’ve read ‘The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish’ I’m really itching for something similar but Binggeyuan flavored, that includes Bingge’s harem!

(A more direct adaptation already exists: ‘The Proud Immortal Demon’s Pet Fish’ by BeanFiend).

I’m thinking something along the lines of Shen Yuan transmigrating into one of the forgotten wives’ pets, a cute PIDW monster cat, ferret, or fox of some sort.

His experiences in the inner court result in him unilaterally deciding to help his poor forgotten mistress (*cough*and-ultimately-Bingge*cough*) by finding her friends, resolving all the ‘stupid’ harem drama, and raising Bing-ge’s kids properly.

Of course, trying to do most things while a small fuzzy animal is quite the challenge, and cultivating a human form isn’t easy even without the fear of being discovered and executed for infiltrating the harem as a man.

Once he does figure out the transformation part (mostly), he still has problems since the System didn’t find it necessary to provide an animal knowledge of traditional characters, writing via brush and ink, properly wearing xianxia robes, or any other type of human skill.

That and transforming doesn’t come with clothes!!!

Most of the clothes Shen Yuan can ‘borrow’ belong to wives and female servants, and he’s always in such a rush to complete whatever task he’s taken upon himself —before being stopped and arrested— that he can’t just stand around experimenting with the intricacies of xianxia robes and grooming. He ends up spending most of his time in human form running around looking like a perpetually bedraggled maid or low-ranked concubine.

Bing-ge is bemused by the glimpses and brief meetings he gets with this strange ‘woman,’ and wonders if she’s a wife he’s forgotten about or a maid he should wife up at the earliest opportunity.

That’s all I have for now. The idea of Shen Yuan accidentally endearing himself to the wives and kids, and seducing Bing-ge, all while looking like a bedraggled lunatic, is just really funny to me.

Who wouldn’t love the crazy man who somehow knows the powers and weaknesses of every beast, potion, and secret artifact in existence, but not how clothes or hairstyles work?

[devosin]

— THE CONCUBINE GAME !! ♡. Synposis ; Y/N L/N, the newly crowned Emperor takes the court by storm—after dethroning their father, who at the end of his reign almost led his empire to a downfall—Now, Y/n must deal with the after affects of their father's reign and stabilize the Empire . . starting by . . taking in Concubine's? . . stay tuned to see what this new Emperor has planned!!

— What to expect ? ! : harem / historical au , gender neutral reader (referred to as emperor), entire twst cast x reader, multiple characters x reader , genshin crossover, royalty au , includes rsa + yuuka/yuuken, takes heavy inspiration from historical China (not accurate), comedy, fantasy, mentions/usage of drugs, petty fights, violence, slow-ish burn, all characters are adults, etc . .

♡. Spotify playlist | Updates, twice a month !! " for every fight you've won . . ."

OUT NOW !!

PROLOGUE !!

♡. Butchering the crime scene ♡. Dressed for Grief

SEASON ONE — strings attached . .

001. Drowning conflict, 002. not my fault, 002. carriage parade , 003. Wrong groom, 004. twenty years of pity, tba . . .

— taglist ♡ ; @ravenlking , @oogly-oogly , @corvids-treasure-box , @queerlordsimon , @syl-lithy , @vamprel , @sarah22447 , @nerdy-simp-7120 , @islander-posts , @the-dumber-scaramouche , @lunavixia , @senpaiofotome , @sophiethewitch1 , @voasprofile , @dotster001 , @eriislost , @twst-writer , @the-fox-of-the-eclipse , @achy-boo , @despairingy-obsessed , @mirai-in-the-headspace , @novaloptr , @silvery-stars-above , @alby-rei , @shionin , @shan-jia-mo-li , @phiikichi , @xmoogx , @celestisnothere , @fluffimemes , @sketchy-owl , @mscarterakaviola98 , @batknot , @lemonmoonmochi , @thespiderinyourroom , @gl00muraaii , @probablynoposts , @a-z-rie-l , @kyxmlii , @warcelia , @leifsclubroom , @entropyensues , @rhyzoma , @ghostlysyntaxed , @busy-dadzawa-fish , @iris-arcadia ,

♡ . Ask to be tagged...

♡. Want spoilers ?! . . Join my server . . !! (or for updates)

This is @/cupids-chamber's new account.

No intro's, you'll be introduced to the characters throughout the story, so it flows better.

© devosin , do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.

[sunderwight]

Moshang AU where Airplane transmigrates into a demon NPC from one of the fanservice clans he created, rather than into Shang Qinghua.

So basically, there was a point in time where a lot of PIDW chapters were just Luo Binghe running around propelled by political plots and rebellions from the demon kingdoms, and most of that actually just ended up being Luo Binghe collecting wives with cute animal ears and tails and various abilities that Airplane used all of once and then completely forgot about. They covered the usual bases of the sexy cat girls, sexy fox girls, sexy bunny girls, sexy bird girls with wings, etc, before moving into more, erm, niche animal hybrid demon territory.

Which is all a roundabout way of explaining Cute Hamster Boy Shang Qinghua in his faithful-to-canon clan of Hamster Demons, whose primary skills include cute squeaking noises and digging abilities.

In the process of making his braindead written-in-a-panic-at-3-am "world building" on this front actually function in a real version of the setting, there has got to be a way for the otherwise-unremarkable fanservice demon tribes to actually survive the incredibly hostile environment which Airplane otherwise described, though. Like yeah sure when you're writing a book you can just say in one breath that the demon realms are incredibly brutal and cutthroat, and then in the next that this tribe of bunny girls with no visible skills at self-defense has existed here for thousands of years, but if you actually tried to set that up in some kind of a simulation the bunny girls wouldn't last one year, let alone one thousand.

In that case of Airplane's hamster tribe, their digging skills are so supernaturally prodigious that they are able to construct massive underground fortifications in otherwise hostile terrain. But that still doesn't solve all of their problems, because they still need to acquire food, and for that they mostly do have to go up to the surface. Some of their weakness is mitigated by sheer numbers -- they have a lot of kids to offset the high mortality rate. However, to further increase the survival rates, the hamster demons also try and make contracts with some of the local liege lords or ruling clans whenever they expand into a new territory. In exchange for protection, they send some of their extraneous family members out as servants, to either cement alliances through marriage (that high fertility is helpful and was indeed the crux of Wife #whatever's acquisition in canon) or to work as diggers or even high-level architects.

As the like, twelfth son of the Hamster Demon chieftain, this is Airplane's fate. On the one hand he's highly positioned enough to get an education, and his plot knowledge helps a lot. On the other hand, he's not high enough in the hierarchy to be kept around, so it's either go work for some other clan or else risk his neck doing missions on the hostile and deadly surface. Neither seems great, but Airplane would rather try his luck as a sycophant than a warrior.

Luckily (or unluckily, depending on his mood when he thinks about it) when Airplane reaches sixteen years of age, it's around the same time that the Hamster clan's tunnels have expanded towards the Northern Desert. Airplane ends up being part of the "hiii~ pleasedon'tkillus let's be friends~" tribute to Mobei Jun's father.

Mobei Jun's father tosses him to Mobei Jun, so Airplane dutifully latches onto him in order to avoid being eaten by any of the other retainers. Airplane has been educated in various subterranean building skills and is under the impression that he's been given to MBJ in order to build him his own palace or something?

Everyone else assumes that the Hamster demon is a concubine.

Mobei Jun also thinks that's what he's been given, but he's too busy bristling in teenage offense at being given a concubine by his father to actually consider taking Airplane to bed. So when Airplane starts doing other things for him, he just sort of bemusedly lets it happen.

Gradually it becomes apparent that Airplane himself isn't interested in being a concubine. No. Clearly, this Hamster is gunning for future empress of the Northern Desert! How else would one explain all the lengths he's going to not only to win Mobei Jun's favor, but to secure his position and ensure his future rule? The system also wants Airplane to ensure the Abyss plot arc happens in the future, too, which means Airplane helps Mobei Jun win and instigate conflicts against the righteous cultivation sects too.

Obviously, Airplane wants power. Mobei Jun knows that if he gets an heir off of Airplane that will be that, the wily minx will use any children to secure his position, and MBJ is not convinced he could control himself well enough to prevent that sort of eventually. Airplane is fiendishly attractive, and he clearly knows it, and Mobei Jun is not sure if he wants to accept what increasingly seems to be the inevitable. He won't be a ladder for someone else's ambitions! But... as long as Airplane remains loyal to him, he will consider it. Even if Airplane never harbors any true affection for him, and simply considers him a means to an end. If, by the time he ascends the Hamster has not betrayed him or tried to elevate himself by flipping over this uncle's side, or seduced any of his other relatives or any of the highly-placed lords all salivating to steal MBJ's would-be empress, then Mobei Jun will grant his wish and make him the second most powerful demon in the North.

Airplane, meanwhile, just wants a snack and a nap. Maybe if he builds a secure enough fortress and amasses enough of an intelligence network and hoards a few advantages for himself, and figures out how to stop pissing off MBJ, he'll survive long enough to retire. Somehow.

[aspoonofsugar]

What do you think of Shisui in The Apothecary Diaries?

Hi!

I love her, she is my favorite character <3 She stole the season as the (fake) villain she is!

Shisui is a foil to both Maomao and Jinshi, which is why their respective confrontations with her in the finale are them facing themselves.

Maomao and Shisui are both daughters of important politicians. Lahan and Shisu are respectively the fox and the tanuki of the imperial palace and they are foils themselves. Lahan was the heir of the La clan, but was considered unfit because of his disability. Shisu was instead adopted by the main family of the Shi clan because of his ability. Whatever the case they rose to power because of their intelligence and had their life marked by a tragic love. Lahan left his love waiting for too long, while Shisu waited for his love far too long. Maomao and Shisui are the fruits of these complicated loves and have had opposite upbringings as a result. On the one hand Maomao is technically a noble, but since she was born outside of a wedding/when Lahan was absent she is brought up in poverty in the pleasure district. There she still receives love and care by the courtesans and Loumen. On the other hand Shisui is a noble, but she is brought up in a cold and controlling environment. She is shown no parental love and is treated like a doll and a weapon of revenge.

Superficially their lives may seem opposite, but the two girls are actually quite similar. Both suffer the consequences of an absent father and an abusive mother, but they still love their parents and work to give them as much happiness and peace as they can. Season 1's finale is Maomao's scheme to solve her father and mother's tragic love. Season 2's finale is Shisui's scheme to give peace to both her father and mother. Both send off their parents by dancing on a roof. Maomao's dance is a celebration of life, while Shisui's is about accepting death.

So, why is Shisui so important for Maomao? By meeting Shisui, Maomao really meets a different version of herself. Shisui is just as smart as Maomao and just like the apothecary she has been conditioned to repress her feelings. And yet, no matter how much Shisui appears as an uncaring doll she can't help, but to love her family, to love people, to love the world. Maomao is the same. She keeps saying she is selfish, cold, unfeeling. She insists she only minds her own safety and business. And yet, she is always the first to jump into the fire for others. Shisui kind of makes this part of Maomao clear to her, as Maomao's thoughts in her last meeting with her convey:

"You should just run. Just throw it all away and run with Suirei. Politics, your parents, the clan, just throw it all away. I don't care about other people, either. I'm the most important person to me. Do you realize how much I went through after being dragged here? But, still...Why can't I stop myself from reaching out to her?"

Maomao and Shisui are both selfish, right? And yet neither of them can't help, but to look out for others.

Jinshi and Shisui are two nobles who are trapped in their respective roles. Jinshi is trapped as the Crown Prince/Imperial Brother and tries to escape this reality by becoming Jinshi the eunuch. Shisui is trapped as Loulan the Concubine/the Shi Clan heir and tries to escape this reality by becoming Shisui the maiden. Both act as if they are of humbler origins to find true bonds outside of their status. Still, both know these masks are only temporary.

At the same time, I would say they have an opposite relationship with their "fake identities". Jinshi's personality as the "beautiful eunuch" is in itself a shallower version of himself. It is only through his relationship with Maomao that his childish, but also more noble self starts coming to light only to truly bloom when he steps into his role of Imperial Brother to save her. In Shisui's case, it is the opposite. It is Shisui's personality as "Loulan the Concubine", which is the lie. She presents herself as a shallow beauty only interested in clothes and fashion, when her real self is far more modest and in love with bugs. She acts as her mother's doll, when she is far smarter and a potential better leader than Shenmei. So, differently from Jinshi, Shisui's true self can only shine when she escapes her "Loulan" persona to embrace who she truly is (as Tamamo).

Finally, both Jinshi and Shisui are blamed for their parents' actions. Jinshi is blamed for the Previous Emperor's sins because he looks so much like him. Shisui is blamed for Shenmei and Shisu's crimes, even if she sabotages the rebellion and saves Suirei, the kids and as many of her people as possible. This shared tragedy is why Jinshi and Shisui's final meeting is all about solving these generational conflict.

On the one hand Shisui fulfills Shenmei's wish to "hurt" Jinshi, who looks just like the man who refused her and broke her pride. On the other hand Jinshi welcomes Shenmei's hate and anger by taking responsibility for the Previous Emperor. By doing so both Shisui and Jinshi really free themselves from their respective curses. Shisui fulfills her mother's revenge in her own way. A revenge without real victims. Jinshi aquires a scar, which sets him apart from the Previous Emperor. Finally, his face is his own. This is highlighted by Maomao's words:

"Master Jinshi is too beautiful. That causes ripples in the heart of the people around him, making them focus only on his beauty. But Master Jinshi's true essence isn't flamboyant, like his appearance. He's much more solid and practical".

Jinshi isn't defined by his beauty, but by his heart like the kindness he showed Shisui by accepting her scar.

So, Shisui forces Maomao to accept her own heart and Jinshi to step into his role. She scars both in a sense:

She scars Maomao psychologically, as she leaves the apothecary to grapple with feelings of love and grief

She scars Jinshi physically by forever changing his face and "ruining" his beauty

In short, Shisui embodies a trial for both our protagonist. It is a painful trial which ends with losses. Maomao loses a loved one and Jinshi loses his comfortable mask as the "beautiful eunuch". Still, it is also a trial that helps both grow up. In a sense it marks a passage from "adolescence" to "adulthood".

Maomao goes through an adolescence phase where she enjoys Xiaolan and Shisui's company, which comes to an end with Shisui's disappearance.

Jinshi traps himself in an eternal adolescence by taking the medicine to suppress his sexuality and fake himself an eunuch. The Shi clan's rebellion forces him to grow up.

The end result is that both Maomao and Jinshi mature and find themselves closer as a result.

Not only that, but their bond does bring life. Like, it is not by chance their kiss/sex scene gets interrupted by the kids being reborn. It is symbolic of Maomao and Jinshi's relationship (symbolical sex) saving the children (creating new life). Once again this is something both Maomao and Jinshi do thanks to Shisui.

On the one hand Shisui asked Maomao to care for the kids and help them when the medicine brings them back to life (immediate care / microchosm). On the other hand Shisui asked Jinshi to forgive those that have already died once (political scenario / macrochosm). So, it is only thanks to both Maomao and Jinshi that the kids survive and can have a future. Symbolically it is Shisui the one who entrusts the couple with this future. At the same time, it turns out Shisui herself is one of the kids who is given a second chance of life thanks to our two protagonists.

The silver hairpin is a metaphor for Jinshi and Maomao's bond, as Jinshi clearly gives it to Maomao as a token of love. Later, Maomao gives Shisui the hairpin and the object ends up deflecting the bullet and saving Shisui's life. This is a perfect commentary to Shisui as a character.

Shisui chooses to love everyone even if she really does not have to. Actually, it would be easier to leave behind her family and her people and to escape with only Suirei or even on her own. Still, Shisui chooses to stay and to die out of love. It is important she isn't really planning to survive. She plans to ensure everyone's survival, but her own. And yet, her friendship with Maomao saves her and grants her freedom. The girl who chooses love is saved by love.

As a final note, Shisui's rebirth is commented by several motifs.

First of all, there is her insect motif. Throughout the series, Shisui compares herself to an insect, specifically crickets. She is scared of becoming like the "cricket wife" of her horror story who "consumes" her husband. This is why she keeps taking abortion medicine. At the same time, she sees herself as an insect that has to die, so that the kids can live. She is the one generation evil who won't survive the winter, but will ensure the young ones' survival. Well, "Loulan" dies, but "Tamamo" is reborn and chooses a cicada as her symbol. Cicadas are symbolic of rebirth and are insects, which spend the winter hidden, so that they can start singing in the summer.

Secondly, there is her tanuki/fox motif. She spends her life as the Tanuki's daughter, changes her looks like a tanuki and goes to face Jinshi looking like a tanuki. Still, she herself is far more similar to a fox, as Jinshi calls her a fox twice. In the end, she can leave the tanuki behind and fully embrace her "fox self" as Tamamo, whose name comes from Tamamo No Mae, a fox spirit.

Finally, Shisui says goodbye to the viewers and the series twice. The two scenes are complete opposite and interesting to compare.

Shisui's first goodbye is her final dance under the snow. It is winter and she is in the mountains surrounded by snow. She is accepting the death of "Loulan", the Tanuki's daughter and the cricket who can't survive the winter.

Shisui's second goodbye is her send off, as she runs towards her new life. It is summer/spring and she is by the seaside, surrounded by water. She is reborn as her new self "Tamamo", a fox and a cicada who sings in the summer.

Two sends off, one rooted in death and the other in life, one tragic and the other hopeful. One is fake (a mask) and the other is true (her real self). It is really the perfect goodbye for a character so rooted in duality.

[mimiaguilar-bansheebender]

When Jinshi finally presents MaoMao as his bride (he’s too invested to leave her as just a concubine) i would love that some more time has passed and she has had time to prove herself as a great physician’s assistant (maybe the first girl doctor a girl can dream).

Also i think it would be hilarious if the 3 princesses prepared her for the presentation and with all the makeup and a tad more grown up she looks even more like Fengxian and Lakan is a happy tearful fox cause his beautiful and intelligent wife lives on in their daughter 🥲

Also! Read my rambles about what i think the best ending for the series would be:

i think the best ending would be something like yeah they're still solving mysteries and being consulted till the end of their days. Like sure, she might get kidnapped/hurt once or twice every couple of years, but also people now know she is LaKan's daughter and KaZuigetsu's favourite so the instances have reduced significantly.

I also think that MaoMao is super necessary for Jinshi cause he would def be at an early grave without her. she needs to balance him and whack him in the head for him to take breaks and take care of himself; alternatively she also needs him to stop her from playing with smth like quicksilver, so they're even.

they can't have a happily ever after. it is not realistic with the times and with the life they lead. they can only have a fulfilling life next to each other, supporting the work they both do because they both know how much value what the other one does actually has. A key part of their partnership is that they definitely admire each other in that point! They're both extremely hardworking individuals with amazing gifts that have had to develop masks for their own safety, but they're also inherently very good people that will run themselves ragged for other and the greater good, to imagine them riding into the sunset and getting a cabin to bake bread and live lovey dovey lives would be a disservice to them.

So imagine my surprise when the author said they want to give an ending that portrayed a (life goes on) vibe and people rioted on reddit (???) like thay is such a weird thing. How can you read on and on a again about MaoMao getting happy and liking the palace life (specifically the impact and help she can provide) to the point she wanted to beg not to be fired WAAAAY at the beginning; or about Jinshi running himself ragged to the point of extreme exhaustion, weight loss and passing out from sheer fatigue, just trying to fix and help the nation. To read them all reminiscence after wards like, we were dumb dumbs but we helped a lot of people, cue happy faces and think; yeah they def need to ride into the sunset! (like ???) These babies thrive of the work they do, to cut them off is to make them feel like their worth is diminished.

Is not that they like being recognized by their work, but they like the value their work gives their life and more importantly; they like to actively make the country and the palace a better place.

So when the time comes for the light novels to finish the only thing i wanna see is LaKan being a happy mess, cause his baby girl made it.

She is what Fengxian's life should've looked like in the best scenario. Had circumstances been different for them both, he would've come back and been able to buy her out and then she would've been the menace she was meant to be as the La Lady. But again, the time and the life they both led did not allow for that. Am i saying that they would've a fairytale life if he had been able to buy her? No! Let's remember most people either fear him or want him out of the way, they is no way to guarantee no one would've plotted against her or against baby MaoMao. They had a Happy-ish ending, where she knew she had been loved and he would never look at anyone but her, but she was already weak, sick and did not live long.

So MaoMao climbing ranks as rapidly as she did (let's remember she started out as a mere servant girl and Jinshi has been pushing to even the field since he made her take that first exam) LaKan will just see a small what if. Cause to him, Fengxian lives through their baby, she is every bit as cunning and beautiful, and while they were robbed of time and a better outcome by the times and his blindness, their baby just might make it.

He will make sure she can have a happier life than him or her Mom had, because the circumstances of their romance robbed her of a happy childhood, but also made her the woman she is today.

[nagisa2345-blog]

💓女孩一觉醒来竟穿越了！古代美男主动要和她亲亲！丨萌宠狐狸翻身记

I so really really really really love this whole entire video, etc On The Whole Entire YouTube App, etc!!!!!!

And Also I so really really really really love this whole entire anime/manga, etc as well too❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😅😅😅😅😅😅😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[holybibly]

Heyy if your dark hours are still open…👀👀 would you mind sharing your thoughts about yandere Ateez concubine harem…? Or perhaps any harem that you can think of because I’m very much into this topic🤭🤭🤭

You know what? Today I wanted to be affectionate with you, damn bunnies, and spoil you with tenderness and sweets, but you just provoked my dark side with all these requests, didn't you?

So change of plan, bunnies; we're going down the dark and rough road. I love yandere's concubines, Ateez. God, can we think of anything more seductive and more dangerous than that? From now on, you should send me such requests more often, bunnies. Feed this demon within me.

You entered the palace as the wife of the new emperor. His fourth wife. His glittering war trophy.

When war came, your world was changed beyond recognition. Flames and ashes consumed the luxury and grandeur of the palaces, and the jewels turned to dust, leaving only you, the Ice Princess of the Northern Mountains.

Your life was made of crystal and your heart was made of ice stronger than diamonds, and it was this cold and lunar beauty that caused you to be forcibly married.

Yes, you may have entered the palace as the Emperor's wife. But you were a nobody within the high walls of the palace, just a sad reflection of past your greatness.

Everyone knew that the Emperor had a large harem, not counting the three older wives, but what really surprised you was that it was not only made up of girls, but of young men as well. There were eight of them. Each one more beautiful than the last, each one unique and unrepeatable.

Until one fateful night, you had never met them or seen them in person. It was a lunar festival, and you were its queen. Dressed in silk and the finest translucent tulle, as if kissed by the moon goddess herself, you sparkled and attracted the attention of everyone around you. Everybody, but not your husband. He didn't even look at you, brushed you aside as if you were an annoying mosquito, and sent you off to talk and smile at the guests while he went off to fuck another beautiful concubine.

And then, for the first time in your life, you had a meeting with the concubines of his other harem. And your world was turned upside down for the second time in your life.

It was love at first sight, a fire that burned through his veins and poisoned his mind. And it was all because of you. It was your fault that Wooyoung couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't laugh, and couldn't live. All of a sudden, his whole world was reduced to you and your heavenly, icy beauty. He passionately wanted to melt that ice, make you beg, squirm, and moan as he fucked you unconscious and painfully, filling you with his sperm and marking you as his property.

The only thing Wooyoung ever had in his life was his beauty. He grew up in poverty, living on scraps of food and the small amount of money he was able to pick up from the dirt. That is, until the day the current emperor, who was still a prince at the time, came upon him in one of the alleys, on the run from his guards. Wooyoung's dark fox eyes captivated him at once, and as if he had fallen under his spell, the emperor brought him back to the palace to be his concubine.

Wooyoung was a greedy concubine; there was always something that was not enough for him. He wanted to swim in luxury, to drown in gold and silk, to have diamonds, and to own the whole damn world. The best should be his, and so it was; the emperor gave him everything and more that Wooyoung had a desire for. And now you were in his sights. He wanted you so much that it ate him up from within and almost drove him mad, greedily and viciously, in the most horrible way in the world.

Yes, Wooyoung was greedy, and if he had to kill the Emperor to get you, he wasn't going to think twice about doing it.

One look at you could bring him to his knees. He would crawl to you like a pet if you commanded him to, and that desire was stronger than the hatred he felt for the whole of the world. You could tame his wild temper, and Mingi would want nothing more than for you to straddle him and ride his cock day and night, tearing the skin from his back and shoulders, choking him, and biting him until his will was broken. Mingi was uncontrollable and capricious, passion and fire raging in him, burning everything in his path, but your element was ice, burning him harder than hell itself.

Once upon a time, Mingi was a warrior, one of the great generals of his country, until the war came and destroyed his entire life. It took everything from him—his will, his family, his home. Yes, the war had taken everything from him except for the poisonous rage and the dark, vicious passion that was boiling in his veins. He was brought to the palace in chains like a slave, and that very night the Emperor took him by force and made him one of his concubines. This only made him bitterer.

Mingi was venomous and aggressive, biting and scratching until he bled, but you, you did something to him—you forced him into submission by your very presence, without him even knowing it. The wild, unbridled storm inside of him became the icy surface of the lake, soothing and healing. And Mingi wanted peace. He wanted the touch of your icy hands on his heated skin and cold kisses on his lips. He wanted you.

What is passion if not a flame that is a destroyer of all things on its way to its goal? And Mingi was full of fire to burn this damn palace to the ground to take possession of you.

He was sin clothed in a human body, debauchery and lust embodied in an image of heavenly beauty. The whole of Seonghwa's life had been nothing more than a constant stream of sex and an endless series of lovers. He could not get rid of this feeling; it was like frost on his skin. This constant, painful need was scratching him from the inside out. But when he saw you, all his thoughts were focused on you—on your pure, untouched skin that he wanted to lick and bite, on your slim waist that he wanted to squeeze as he fucked you continuously. On those red, seductive lips that would be simply amazing when wrapped around his dick. It was you he wanted, and for the first time in his life, Seonghwa wanted you to be the one. He didn't want anyone else, only you. 

Before he entered the palace, he was one of the most sought-after whores in the brothel, famous for his devilish beauty and his languid, cat-like gaze. There was a line of people waiting for him, and Seonghwa was more than happy to accept them all. He was insatiable, wanting to fuck anywhere and anytime, trying the most sinful and unusual things. He was a real slut. But when the emperor heard about Seonghwa and visited his brothel one day, everything changed. Suddenly, he was no longer just a whore; he became Imeretar's concubine.

Seonghwa's hunger could not be quenched, and one partner would never be able to cope with it. But here you are, pure and radiant like an angel, beckoning him with your immaculate beauty. You were stronger than his dark, insatiable demon of lust. He wanted to corrupt you, to make you like him, and to make you dependent on him, just as he had become dependent on thinking about you.

It is said that whores don't know how to love, but they know how to desire. And there was enough darkness in Seonghwa to consume and destroy the world; to possess your purity and chastity. Then let the world be plunged into darkness until you are alone with him.

Yeosang had never been interested in anything at all. The world was too boring and dangerous for him. He could never care less about it. If he could, he would stay safe and comfortable in his bed for the rest of his life. You were different—distant and cold, but with an inexplicable thirst to live. You wanted to see all the things around you, to experience the cultures and the art. The world was interesting to you, and that was a source of irritation to Yeosang.

Everything about you was fragile and exquisite, and the fact that you didn't see it was what made Yeosang so angry. Don't you see, little butterfly, the world is terrible and dangerous. You would be much better off with him in his bed, far away from anything that could harm you in any way. Perhaps you would finally understand that you shouldn't run away from the safety and comfort of his bed if he were to break you. If that helped, Yeosang would want to destroy you and fuck your little curious brain until you thought only of him. He would spend hours warming you with his dick, days kissing your cold lips, and smothering you with his attention and love.

Yeosang was always aware that one day he would be part of the emperor's household. He had been prepared for this since he was a child, pampered and protected from the whole world, so that there would not be a trace of dirt on his silky, snow-white skin. Always waiting for the Emperor to visit his chambers and warm his soft bed, albeit temporarily. Yeosang almost never left his room, but like all concubines, he had to attend the Moon Festival. And that's when he saw his fragile butterfly. And like everything beautiful in this world, you were too easy to break. Yeosang wanted to protect you, hide you between his sheets, and shower you with care.

Yes, beautiful things broke easily, sometimes too easily—delicate butterfly wings, flower petals, crystal jewelry. But Yeosang wanted to see how the most beautiful thing in the world—human life—broke.

He wanted to eat you alive. Sinking his teeth into you and never letting you go, you awakened in him this wild, all-consuming hunger that he could not satisfy with anything else. You were the most delicious dish of all, and your taste was his only desire. San had always been a little insatiable, wanting more attention, wanting to love more, wanting to more sex, wanting everything this world had to offer him. It was never enough. You walked past him without even looking in his direction, the trail of your perfume settling on his skin and seeping into his body, poisoning him as you went. He wanted you to pay attention to him, to smile at him, to love him, to touch him. Oh, he would never let you go, he would fill you with his cum over and over again, and it wouldn't be enough for his taste. If he could, his dick would be in your pretty pussy all the time, so warm and delicious. He was in desperate need of you, he was hungry for you, and this hunger was all-encompassing.

Ever since he was a child, San had had a voracious appetite, always in need of a bigger and sweeter bite to temporarily fill the emptiness inside him that was growing with him. He had everything he could ever wish for; he had grown up in a loving and wealthy family with titles, but the dark hunger that plagued him was terrible. No matter what it was, he was always in need of more. So one day, when the emperor asked if he wanted to join his harem, San didn't hesitate to accept, but the hunger didn't go away.

You were the most delicious forbidden fruit of them all, and San was desperate to sink his teeth into you. He could almost feel the heavenly sweetness of you on his tongue, and it was driving him wild.

The sky could crash and burn all around him, and he wouldn't care, as long as you could fill him up and satisfy him.

There was no one in this world who could ever be like him. There was no one like Hongjoong. There was no limit to his pride and his greatness, and any praise You never praised him, you never sought his attention, and you were never enchanted by his sharp mind, his sweet voice, or his beauty, which could only be rivalled by the devil himself. And Hongjoong hated it. He hated how much he wanted your attention and your love. He wanted you to worship him, idolise him, and devote your whole life to him. He had to have you in all ways, even if those ways were darker than the night itself.Hongjoong wanted to see you in his golden bed, stretched out on the silk, while he was ravaging your body. He wanted to hear the endless moaning of his name as his cock tore apart the little cunt that was yours. He was in need of it, so much so that his whole body ached.

Hongjoong was a trophy of war, just like you. He was a real prince, who was supposed to be a king one day. His ego knew no bounds, and he was cruel and daring. Of course, the whole of the palace was conquered by the magnificent prince dressed in gold - all of them, except for you.

Yes, Hongjoong was a true prince, and one day he would overthrow the emperor and take his rightful throne, and like every emperor, he had to have his empress. You may not see him now, but the day will come when Hongjoong will be the only sunshine that illuminates your life. And he couldn't wait for it.

Yunho has never been the victim of jealousy. He has always been the recipient of praise and adoration, a constant reminder of how much he is loved. Yunho had no idea how jealousy could be. Or so he thought, at least.

That night, when he saw you in the light of the moon, he had hatred for the whole damn world. How dare he look at what belonged to him? He envied all those who could speak to you so freely; he envied all those who could pronounce your name; he envied his emperor, who did not appreciate your beauty and who humiliated you. Damn it, Yunho was jealous of the very air you were breathing. He desperately wanted to be him—to live inside you and melt into your skin. He wanted to melt into you without a trace.He would have loved to take you to his bed, to kiss every inch of your skin, to fuck you long and slow, and to shower you with compliments and praise. He would like to have you in his arms all the time, writhing and moaning with desire and need. For him, you are the only thing he needs in his life.

Yunho used to be just a servant in the palace. But he caught the Emperor's eye. That very night, he entered the emperor's chambers as his new concubine. Yunho knew about the others; he knew that he was not the only one, but that never bothered him; he was able to share the attention of the emperor. Except you. You were his own, and even the world was not worthy of seeing you.

It would be so easy to have the entire palace blinded, so that no one else but Yunho would have to see your celestial beauty.

Jongho was a man too proud for his own good. In his mind, it was beneath his dignity to pay attention to others and smile sweetly at them. Jongho was the spoiled, arrogant son of one of the most important palace officials, and when his father had the chance to get close to the emperor, he naturally gave him to the harem. But even so, he still considered himself to be better than everyone else, even Hongjoong, who was a prince in his own right.

Jongho was the one who first saw you, quite by chance, when he visited his father on the night you were appointed as the emperor's fourth wife. The Emperor was a real fool not to see how brilliant and magnificent you were—a real crown jewel. You were a symbol of power, strength, and might, an enslaved princess of a once great country, and a black flame of desire flared up in Jongho—he wanted to own you completely.

He wanted you for himself—your thoughts, your will, your body, and your life. He wanted you to sit by his side, to be covered with jewels, and to bear his children. It was easy for him to imagine his hand wrapped around your fragile throat as he fucked you into the mattress, you begging and moaning for him, wanting to be filled with his cum.

Fueled by his selfish desires, his fixation on you became increasingly harmful and dangerous.

Out of all the trophies in the world, there was nothing that was more attractive to Jongho than you. And on the way to what he wanted, murder was never a serious matter for him.

[sculptorofcrimson]

[Banging pots and pans together] Where's valdor you goddamn furry?

[/affectionate, For legal reasons, that was a joke, I am on very good terms with the furry community.]

(〃￣ω￣〃)ゞ ✰✰ Squigaggle Squigurg, you have now a blurb ✰✰

~~~~~

Ten Thousand Flowers

"Sequel" of Pavilion of Golden Flowers

Recap: Pavilion of Golden Flowers - A Warhammer retelling of the Drunken Concubine opera.

Relations: Valdor/Emperor(one-sided), Emperor/Ra ~~~~

Of course. Of course His eye had strayed from him to Ra.

The Captain-General watches, muscled arms crossed over his chest, with only a glimmer of desire in his eye. The Emperor’s hand on Ra’s back slips lower, circling his tailbone, and the smaller Custodian’s laugh does not pass unnoticed by his first brother. A muscle clenches in his jawline, the serfs attending him quickly back off in anticipation of some kind of wrath before warily returning to his side. One cautiously sets aside his pauldrons, unarmoring him in silence now, even as the Custodian’s gaze never strays from his lord and Ra.

The Emperor's hand was boldly caressing Ra now. He says something, and Ra stares back at him, wide-eyed, a surprised jolt passing over his frame. Of course, Valdor notes, of course. He was not so surprised as to find the Emperor’s hand beneath the hemline of Ra’s robes now, gently pulling against the silk to trace over his thighs. The Custodian’s response was lost to him, although Valdor could have certainly eavesdropped had he deigned to. 

Ra’s laughter echoes through the armory, tremors rumbling through his half-unarmored form. 

The Emperor was smiling indulgently as He withdrew His grasp from His now-favorite concubine. They speak something rapid, the Emperor extends one hand in some kind of offering. Ra nods as he responds, Valdor not even consciously tracking their movements yet still memorizing each of them with the same, perfect recall that had been beaten into them. A serf yanks off one of his gauntlets with more disrespect than Valdor would have normally tolerated, the impudent servant tapping lightly at the exposed bodysuit beneath as if trying to garner his attention. Valdor hardly even noticed, in fact, the serf wondered if he cared at all. When your master’s favor had strayed so utterly to another, there was little room for doubt.

Surely there was no reason to fear impropriety, was there? Surely, when He reigned over all beneath His regard, all of the Ten Thousand belonged to Him, in mind, body and soul. It would have been impolite to challenge Him in His own lair. 

Valdor turned his gaze away as Ra joins Him, now completely unarmored, his silken robes contrasting harshly against the Emperor’s tanned skin as He wrapped one massive hand around Ra’s upper arm and lead him away, their movements synchronized in the way only lovers - and masters - could.

Of course.

Of course His eye had strayed from him to Ra.

The Custodian shakes his head once, and turns to gesture at the serfs. Now completely unarmored, he rises with his usual grace, somehow tempered with some kind of frosty steel, as cold as the peaks of the Himalayas. Wine. Bring him wine. His master won’t accompany him to drink. Of course, his master won't be accompanying him tonight, but that is of no matter. The will to be envious, to even be pained by such callous rejection, had been beaten away. So much like a toy that no longer amused Him and thus had been discarded for prettier, shinier conquests, yet without even the will to spurn Him for such betrayal. 

Wordlessly, Valdor commands. The serfs gaze upon his unarmored form, observing the tense bitterly cold demeanor in the lines of his muscles, and that frosty, yet somehow wounded glare he brings upon each of them when they hesitate. They nod once and bow before scattering for their tasks.

The Unification Wars used to frown upon indulgence. There was no time, no respite, only the bitter cold gnawing at the marrow of their bones, only the triumphant wind howling a bitter end in the stones. Things are a little different now. Things are a little different, when the Emperor has a little time to spare for His playthings. It is harder to ignore the weight of His eye when it was sometimes - quite literally - burning upon your skin. He is still the Emperor’s best servant, His spear and Captain-General, but he is no longer the favorite, the precious one. As the serf sneaks a quick glance at those cold eyes, he realizes this as firmly - and as surely - as the Captain-General himself.

The eye of the Emperor had strayed from him to Ra. 

Of course. 

Of course he had. 

Hastily, the serf bows his head before that cold, resigned glare. Then, he turns, moving with haste as to not disturb the Custodian still staring so intensely at the pair, and goes to fetch the Captain-General some wine.

[platrom]

Infinity.

CHAPTER 1.

JJK x READER

SUMMARY: In every universe, Ryomen Sukuna will find you, whether it is by chance or not. But only time can tell if you awake to discover your doomed fate.

WARNINGS: sad tones, mentions of hard labor, the concubines are rude and abusive, mentions of mold, aguri is very playful, sukuna has a bride, reader gets beat up and belittled, reader is too aware but not too knowledgeable on their world, some heavy hints to Sukuna’s ultimate control over his people

MASTERLIST | NEXT CHAPTER | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

TAGLIST (slashed means could not be tagged): @xhoneymoonx134 @ofcqdesi

—taglist is open! if you would like to be added, please comment. :)

i. endless

The work gets easier the longer you do it. The constant bending of your knees, elbows, and back becomes almost natural the longer you spend dragging rotten mattresses, tossing dirty sheets, and folding those dreadful covers.

You’ve also learned that harsh, morbid environments like the living quarters of your fellow maids bring disgusting conditions to the rooms.

A certain type of fungi has begun to creep into the corners of the rooms and under the beds. You’ve found the darkness serves as an outstanding breeding ground for this fuzzy, green bacteria with speckles of white that act as pores.

The sight makes you sick to your stomach.

But a part of you wonders if the living quarters above for the men who kill the spirits and the king’s favored subordinates are bright with life. Maybe life grows there— maybe bonsais and cherry blossoms litter the windowstills and butterflies flutter inside and outside their rooms. Maybe creatures like rabbits and foxes settle inside when the sun is too warm, and the subordinates of Lord Sukuna get to relish in their presence.

“(Name)!” You turn your head, grasping the ends of the gray sheets and bunching them as you rise.

A beaming Aguri pops her head into the frame of the doorway. The end of her headband is falling from her hair, letting strands loose to rest against her cheeks. The ratty accessory was meant to be a pure, pristine white, but with years of cleaning soot and dust, it has become a murky grey, nearly a dirty black.

“Shouldn’t you be cleaning the kitchen? The cooks are out on their break,” you rub your cheek with the collar of your uniform. “Uraume won’t be pleased if she sees you here.”

“Uraume is never pleased no matter what I do,” she moves towards you, lunging at you when you begin to move up to meet her. Together, you both tumble into the pile of dirty bedsheets and pillows covers that decorate the floor. She giggles as you groan in pain. “As long as my duties get done on time, there shouldn’t be an issue.”

The back of your head throbs against the itchy material of threaded cloth. “If you say so, Aguri.”

She grins, smushing her head into the crook of neck. She inhales deeply, before releasing a slow breath.

“Are you smelling me?” you grab her shoulder, tugging at her sleeve in an attempt to remove her from your side. “What are you, a dog?”

Aguri makes no movement, but merely holds on tighter. When she speaks, her voice is quieter. “What if I was a hound? Like one of Lord Sukuna’s.”

“Why would you ever want that?” you frown. The absurd statement is not anything new from Aguri, but it is the tone she holds that sets you aback.

She doesn’t get quiet or melancholic often. Even when she spoke about the grimmer things in her life or her past, she didn’t dim as much as now.

“Maybe, I would be treated better,” she sighs. “You know, they always need those dogs. The blood-hunting ones that they send out to attack traitors or find enemies. And they feed them well— the chefs give them some of the nicest meat I’ve seen… but that stake isn’t very high.”

You understand. Meat is a rarity to the poor, but a normalcy to the rich. The wealthy gorge on the finest slices of beef, chicken, pork, and any fatty animal they can find.

The poor cannot eat anything but crumbs. Bread, if they can make it. Cheese if they can get a goat or trade for it. And for most, scraps of berries or bits of rotten vegetables tossed out serve as their only food source.

There are people outside who run into estate’s dumping grounds daily. You’ve watched as they fished out slivers of carrot peels or orange centers and devoured as much as they could.

They would be killed if they were caught. They would be humiliated by all the kingdom and even the town, despite how poor they are as well.

You’ve see the bodies, sometimes. In the kitchen with the staff, with Uraume holding the knife, cutting the limbs. The chefs look green with disgust at the sight of a body being torn, boiled, and seasoned. It’s a blessing that Lord Sukuna has designated Uraume to be his main chef when it comes to humans.

You’re not sure anyone truly human could handle it. But you know for a fact, Uraume is not. And neither is Lord Sukuna.

But you’re not sure what they are, either.

“It must be nice to be cared for,” you murmur, your hands threading into Aguri’s hair. “To be well fed, groomed, and treated like royalty. Their bedding must be nicer as ours. Made out of pure cotton and sewn with the finest of threads. Pure white, like the sheeps and bunnies in our dreams.”

Your fingers tug against tangles, curves, and bumps. It’s a comforting motion for you, and her. To feel the gentleness of another person, instead of the harsh treatment you both are constantly subjected to.

The hard labor, yelling, and constant threat of death. It’s overwhelming and drowning. It’s dispiriting and crushing. Most here die at their 20s. The average life expectancy is one’s early 40s.

It’s the stress that kills them the fastest. And the slaughtering of them in the masses, as well.

Aguri whines, kneeing you in the side. “Why did you stop? I was getting comfortable!”

You squeeze your eyes shut, before a pained smile grows on your face.

You wish she would never have to worry about her life. You wish you could protect Aguri with your life, and that would be enough.

“How about we sneak into the kitchen? I heard the head baker made some new pastries with a special strawberry cream.”

Aguri perks, staring at you with wide eyes. “Can we?”

You wink. “As long as we don’t get caught.”

In an instant, she tugs at your arm and pulls you up, sprinting out of the room.

Her laughter is all you need to match her pace.

I hope you stay like this forever, Aguri.

ii. bastion

Lord Sukuna marries Akazome Emon on the night of your birthday.

You have the pleasure of preparing for the ceremony. The tables, the food, and all the decorations are overseen by Uraume, while the maids of the estate fulfill the duty of beautifying the already breathtaking garden where the celebration will be held.

The wedding has no more than fifty guests. It’s small, for a king as powerful as him— but it’s fitting and understandable.

Lord Sukuna has enemies who drool at the chance to even brush shoulders with him. To be able to infiltrate his palace is a feat that no man or woman has ever achieved. All concubines are checked thoroughly and every servant goes through a lengthy process before they are admitted to work for the king.

But the news of his bride will spread quickly. The parchments will fly and the whispers of mothers will flood the ears of the neighboring kingdoms.

His Queen will become an immediate target as a way to crumble his spirit and overthrow his authority. Riots will begin in the streets, and wars will rebirth.

In a matter of hours, the world will be in chaos once Lord Sukuna marries his bride.

Though, a small voice in the back of your head believes that the king thrives in danger and destruction. It is the motto of the Sukuna estate.

You purse your lips, staring at the sheer sheets that line the wooden poles now cemented into the corners of the garden. Tree peonies line the ends of the box-like structure, while chrysanthemums are sparsely dispersed around the seats.

The gardeners are exceptional at their job, you crouch to inspect the flowers. Your eyes trace over the delicate ridges of the baby pink in the peonies, and the fluffs of white in their centers. They are beautiful, bright, and voluminous; fit for royalty.

The maids have gossiped about the bride’s bouquet after one of the florists had dropped the sketch of the design on the garden’s ground.

It appears that her bouquet will be filled with nippon daisies at the center and lavender rimming the daisies. It was an odd choice for a woman as exquisite as Akazome Emon to have such common flowers be the choice for her bouquet— especially for them to be the kinds of flowers the poorest of the kingdom eat.

You wonder if her choice of flowers mean something greater than just to look nice, but you’ll never know. The privilege of accessing books was never one you had.

It wasn’t like you could even read or write to begin with.

“Work faster, Uraume will be out soon! The ceremony must look spotless for our king,” the head maid is running around like a headless chicken, straightening creases and perfectly spacing the seats from each other. Maids back out of her way as she sways around, screaming orders at anyone who looks her way. The flock of you are sent scattering as guards begin to enter the grounds.

For such a wonderful day, the workers of the estate are tense and on edge.

“Did you hear that Lady Emon appointed Lord Sukuna’s other suitors as his concubines?” Two ladies veiled in crème colored robes brush past you as you adjust the deserts on the table. The material looks smooth and soft— like velvet. It’s a type of cloth you’ve heard Uraume describe to her seamstress about her robes. “For a future Queen, she is keen on throwing any woman she possibly can at the man who will bring her unlimited power.”

Along their necks lies an engraving of blood-red roses lined with heavy, black ink. When the ends of their robes rise, around their ankles rests a gold chain intertwined with bits of lavender.

They must be concubines.

The king was known to lavish his mistresses in the finest of jewels and clothes from raids against neighboring estates.

“What are you looking at?” a nauseatingly saccharine voice snaps. A blur of black and white drops into your view and you stumble backwards. “You stupid whore, who are you to look at me?”

Your mouth runs dry and your tongue becomes heavy. Instantly your head falls to the ground with your hands under your forehead and your eyes squeeze shut. “I’m sorry, my lady. Forgive me, please.”

She scoffs, before yanking at the shoulder of your uniform to bring your face up to hers. Strands of fine, black hair lay across the front of her face, the ends brushing against the white of her makeup. The pigment on her lips is a bright, vibrant red that contrasts the paleness of her face and the darkness of her hair.

She’s breathtakingly deadly.

She must be one of Sukuna’s favorites. Her aura is so fierce, but her features are somehow delicate and sharp.

Her nails dig into your arm and the corners of her lips slide down her face. The iris of her eyes are a deep brown, nearly blackened by the anger that spreads through her body. Her eyebrows are tightly knit, the perfect arch in her brows now flattened into a hard slope.

“You dirty, proletariat brat. You must wish this was the life you lived, huh? You must wish you were worthy of Lord Sukuna the way we are,” she spits as the the tips of her nails dig deeper into your skin. You have no doubt the moment she releases your arm, blood will gush from the indentations of her nails on your skin.

The other concubine steps forward. She’s just as stunning as the other, but her features differ vastly. Instead of a foxy look of slender features and slim eyes, her jaw is soft, her lips are round, and her eyes are wide like a doe’s.

“It’s astonishing that Uraume allowed the scum of the estate to even step outside of the dungeons today,” she frowns, bending down to invade your space. She scans your features, trailing over the dust that clings to the creases of your clothes and the swatch of white paint across the back of your hand.

You’re surprised as well that Uraume allowed you to participate in preparing the ceremony. Despite your promotion, you still worked in the lower parts of the castle, commonly referred to as “the dungeon.” Rats, cockroaches, and snakes are common sights in the halls, and fuzzy spores are found on every end of each room. The maids of your levels speculate that the ground level of the estate is littered with ceramic vases, gold plated portraits, crystalline walls, and the smells of roses and joy.

It’s been awhile since you’ve smelled anything but must and damp walls, hasn’t it?

You bow your head, shutting your eyes. This battle cannot be won— the concubines will win. The aristocracy always succeed, even if they are wrong. It’s an endless cycle engraved in the history of your people. Prosperity and wealth do not come to those born into poverty— it runs in the veins of those fortunate enough to have lived at a time where a man was willing to adopt a boy, or for those who have leeched themselves to the top.

The voice in the back of your head brings you to believe that these two are the latter of the group.

“Now, you want to show some respect?” the concubine tightens her grip around your arm before tossing you back to the ground. A glob of spit lands on your cheek as the other scoffs, kicking your chest. You curl into yourself, clutching your head noiselessly.

The faster this goes, the sooner I can go to finish my duties and head to bed.

You pray someone will step in and separate the two from you; you want nothing to do with these concubines. Their sight of their perfectly primped hair and glassy skin was only supposed to be a glance for your own entertainment, to relish in the joy of the world above you. It was meant to be a taste of a world you would never exist in— a distraction from the harshness of reality that existed inside the walls of the estate.

The sight of the swaying cherry blossoms, the freshness of the grass beneath your feet, and the gentle breeze in your hair were meant to be figments of your imagination that you could play in your head until your final days in the manor. The tulle that surrounded the wooden posts were meant to design the gown in your dreams, in a life where you would find a loving husband and spend the rest of your life with a lover who would destroy the world to merely bring it to your feet.

Now, you recognize that you stepped out of place. You thought too hard and believed too much in an unattainable fantasy. In no life were you destined to be happy.

In no universe did you belong with plates of fluffy, sugary cakes and tender meats and soft cheeses. Doughy breads coated with flour were never meant to be placed on your table for dinner.

Instead, you were meant to eat a bowl of leftover bone broth and a slice of stale brown bread. You would never live to pluck a berry off a bush, or lay in a bed of flowers in the cool evenings.

Those were impossible tales for girls like you. They were realities for women like them.

Please, make this punishment quick and easy. Let me go to my room and speak with Aguri until my mouth runs dry and my eyes close shut. Let me sleep ‘till my next day of cleaning and collect the ribbons and threads of color that Aguri loves.

Let me make it to my room tonight, please. That is all I ask for today and forever.

The last thing you hear before a blow is made to your head is a terrified scream, the crashing of glasses, and the sound of rushing footsteps.

#© platrom, plot / writing / banners & headers. do not repost, reblogs are appreciated! please consider leaving a comment and a heart! <3

[hexcodewisteria]

LN 4 and beyond spoilers

I meant to look up Shisui's name choice here for a while and it's actually really interesting! Tamamo (玉藻) is seaweed, though i couldn't really find much on it's usage other than it being called a poetical term but it also refers to the mythical kitsune fox spirit Tamamo-no-Mae (玉藻前), who was said to corrupt and kill the rulers of those eras. In mythology, she's linked to the consort Daji, a concubine of the last king of the Shang Dynasty in China, whose rule ended in rebellion and then seemingly bounced around countries for a bit before ending up in Japan and gaining the name of Tamamo-no-Mae, an exceptionally beautiful and knowledgeable woman, where she caused the illness of Emperor Toba as his consort, and in general caused chaos which continued even after her death. The fox spirit is said be fond of human depravity and greed (eg, torture and orgies (something linked to Shenmei)).

It's a really fascinating thing to link back to Shisui in particular, who did her level best to avoid that fate— she did everything to not incite war and took steps to make sure Li wouldn't fall, due to Shi clan rebellion and forewarn them about the insect plagues and eventually managed to escape with her life and live freely. She is actively disgusted by Shenmei's actions and runs counter to her for literally her entire life. I think it rather suits how she's villainized in universe after LN 4— Maomao notes that stories keep spreading about Consort Loulan, the greatest villainess of their age who'd be spoken of for generations to come. I wonder if in the modern era of the Kusuriya Universe, Loulan would be one of the consorts said to be possessed by the fox spirit in stories.

In general though, I think it's an interesting choice because Shisui wins against Shenmei and her decision to take on the villain mantle is her own and something that is heavily demonized in the in universe stories post LN4, just like she thought it would be. And I think its important that the meaning chosen is seaweed, and not related to a mythical figure. Of course, it could just be that Tamamo-no-Mae as a figure does not exist in the Kusuriya-verse but considering Romeo and Juliet does, I think we could feasibly say that the myths that exist in our world could also exist in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto. Any other word choice could be used if it was just supposed to refer to seaweed— the vendor even mentions its a fancy word for seaweed in their world, implying there are other, more contemporary and casually used terms for seaweed and its even clear that this is Shisui at this point, so it's not about signalling to who the girl is. But it was tamamo that was invoked, so I think it's fair to relate it to Tamamo-no-Mae too.

So it's important to me that the term the author chooses is seaweed instead of any of the mythological connotations because at the end of the day, Shisui is just. a normal, bug loving girl who should have been free to study them to her hearts content. She's made into this mythical figure, and her impact on the story is just as huge, but what she is, at her core, who Maomao remembers her as, is a simple girl who smiled and joked around with her friends and who loved bugs. In this way, choosing seaweed over myths, is basically a small reflection of Shisui continuously choosing those she loved and her values over her nobility, choosing to embrace a free life over a royal one. Leaving her mother and the Shi Clan behind and finally being able to live as a person— not her mother's doll.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in December 2024 🌈

Find these books and more here.

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Happy reading!

❓What was the last queer book you read?

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ Sugar-Coated Kisses - Echo Lark 🧡 Christmas at Watson Memorial - Clara Ann Simons 💛 Warm-Blooded - J Greene 💚 It Takes Three To Tango - Jem Wendel 💙 The Black Curse - N.A. Moore 💜 Heavenly Tyrant - Xiran Jay Zhao ❤️ Encrypted Hearts - E.V. Bancroft 🧡 Dangerous Devotion - Robin Jo Margaret 💛 Sew in Love - Rhea Fox 💙 Saint - Chani Lynn Feener 💜 Her Ladyship's Christmas Companion - Theresa Meiningen 🌈 A Sky of Emerald Stars - A.K. Mulford

❤️ Inked in Blood and Memory - Allison Ivy 🧡 The Key - Jo Morgan Sloan 💛 Home Between Homes - Flynn Woods 💚 A Kiss for the Holidays - C.S. Autumn 💙 Loving the Linebacker - Amaya Knight 💜 Close to Home - Allisa Bahney ❤️ Christmas Shelter - Eva Gonzay & Julia C. Brown 🧡 This Isn't Everything You Are - J. Marie Rundquist 💛 Keep It in the Dark - Justin Arnold 💙 Santa & His Elf - Bink Cummings 💜 On the Subject of Kittens and Mittens - Katie Silverwings 🌈 Winter's Whisper - M Bonneau

❤️ Boyfriends - refrainbow 🧡 Innis Harbor - Patricia Evans 💛 A Complementary Connection - Eskay Kabba 💚 Point of Sighs - Melissa Scott 💙 Bind You by Blood - Shepard DiStasio 💜 The Resurrectionist - A. Rae Dunlap ❤️ Fractured Dreamer - A.K. Adler 🧡 The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou 💛 Becoming Disabled - Jan Doolittle Wilson 💙 A Caress of Water - Nico Silver 💜 How to Survive As a Villain 1 - Yi Yi Yi Yi 🌈 The Silent Concubine - Qiang Tang

❤️ Hadrian - Harlowe Savage 🧡 A Series of Rooms - A.J. Barlowe 💛 Inklings of Invisibility - S.L. Dove Cooper 💚 The Cobbler and His Elves - C.B. Wren 💙 A Nightclub for the Holidays - Arden Coutts 💜 Armor of Dusk - Jess Galaxie ❤️ Twisted Shadows - Allie Therin 🧡 A Deception of Courts - Ben Alderson 💛 Trial Run - Carsen Taite 💙 How to Flirt with a Witch - Tiana Warner 💜 Roughed Up - Kate Hawthorne 🌈 House of Crimson Curses - Ruby Roe

❤️ Sister Snake - Amanda Lee Koe 🧡 Roland Rogers Isn't Dead Yet - Samantha Allen 💛 The Rivals - Jane Pek 💚 Private Rites - Julia Armfield 💙 The Christmas Switch - Briar Prescott 💜 Ribbonwood - Ruby Landers ❤️ Shifting Lanes - Joanne Kwan 🧡 Twice-Spent Comet - Ziggy Schutz 💛 A Crush for the Holidays - E.L. Ough 💙 Resist - Lasairiona Lewis 💜 Free from Falling - E.L. Massey 🌈 The Legendary Master's Wife - Yin Ya

❤️ Tide Breaker's Curse - Ivy H. Marikova 🧡 Twist Her - Terri Ronald 💛 How to Fuck Like a Girl - Vera Blossom 💚 Dog Days of Christmas - Krystal Wolfgang & Kimberly Wolfgang 💙 Warmer, Colder - Alexia Onyx 💜 Salt in the Wind - Jenna Pine ❤️ What We Carry With Us - Joseff McKenneth Goodwin 🧡 Reinvention - Karol Yan 💛 Christmas Carols - Maxime Jaz 💙 I'm Not Your Pet - Fae Quin 💜 Something Extraordinary - Alexis Hall 🌈 I Might Be in Trouble - Daniel Aleman

❤️ Deck the Palms - Annabeth Albert 🧡 Don't Get It Twisted - Wren Taylor 💛 Ice & Sweet - Charlie Novak 💚 Speak EZ - Elle E. Ire 💙 The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish - Xue Shan Fei Hu 💜 Horns For Hell - Rafael Nicolás ❤️ Flamboyant Fictions - Ian Fleishman 🧡 Where the Heart Is - Jenni Simonis 💛 Sorry I Kissed Your Dad - Achilles King 💙 Merry Weihnachten - E.J. Noyes 💜 An Alpha for the Holidays - Emily Axon 🌈 The Blessed - Anne Shade

❤️ Our Sinful Love - Amy H. 🧡 Gambler's Conceit - Adara Wolf & R. Phoenix 💛 Fate and Flambe - Leena Metcalfe 💚 Figure You Out - Hannah Danielle & K.F. Starfell 💙 Amaranthine - Aricka Alexander 💜 Twisted Loyalties - Barbara J. Webb ❤️ Echoes of Us - Alex Cross 🧡 The Shadowbearer's Curse - Jasmyn Morning 💛 Too Many Beds - Various 💙 We Are the Beasts - Gigi Griffis 💜 Unspoken - N.N. Britt 🌈 Rainbows After Storms - Luka Kobachi

❤️ The Shutouts - Gabrielle Korn 🧡 Robin's Worlds - Rainie Oet & Mathias Ball 💛 What the Woods Took - Courtney Gould 💚 Rescue Me - N. Slater 💙 Seb & Ailin - Michele Notaro 💜 The International Love Story - Jonas Noelting ❤️ Waterlogged - Nance Sparks 🧡 The Guardians - Sheri Lewis Wohl 💛 The Changeling's Faerie Prince - K.D. Ellis 💙 Until at Dawn We Wake - Charlotte Dalwood 💜 How to Get a Life in Ten Dates - Jenny L. Howe 🌈 Hammajang Luck - Makana Yamamoto

❤️ The Rules of Royalty - Cale Dietrich 🧡 Tired of Waiting for Tomorrow - Allison K. Garcia 💛 One Last Run - Bryce Oakley 💚 Reckless Hearts - Jax Calder 💙 Christmissed - Blythe H. Warren 💜 How Could You - Ren Strapp ❤️ Blackened - Tyler Briggs 🧡 Gratification in Gluttony - Nik Knight 💛 The Mogul Meets Her Match - Julia Underwood 💙 How to Be Heard - Roxane Gay 💜 The Case of the Missing Maid - Rob Osler 🌈 Shades of Us - D.L. Sims

[delulupunk]

DUNE AU DAMIAN WAYNE X READER

Mild Brutalia

Fem reader

Notes: Under no circumstances should opinions expressed by characters be linked to this author in anyway. This is written in the style of Frank Hebert’s book, this means spoilers for Dune. While inspired by Frank Herbert’s novel the plotline may be similar, however it will not be the same. The following work is apart of a series, the first few chapters will be slow.

Imperial terminology

Bene Gesserit: The ancient school of mental and physical training established primarily for female students after the Butlerian Jihad destroyed the so-called ‘thinking machines’ and robots.

Caladan: Third planet of Delta Pavonis.

Filmclip: An apparatus used mainly for training consisting of a shigawire imprint carrying a mnemonic pulse.

Mating index: The Bene Gesserit master record of its human breeding program aimed at producing the Kwisatz Haderach.

Mentat: The class of imperial citizens trained for supreme accomplishments of logic. ‘Human computers’.

Sapho: High-energy liquid extracted from barrier roots of Ecaz. Used by Mentats who claim it amplifies mental powers. Users develop deep ruby stains on mouth and lips.

Duke Bruce Wayne of House Wayne is the father of Damian Wayne, the child was birthed by Lady Talia. Despite having feelings of affection for Lady Talia, Duke Wayne has decided against marriage to his child’s mother. Lady Talia will serve House Wayne as a concubine to Duke Wayne and mother to Damian Wayne. Lady Talia will not have anymore children.

Mating Index (Imperial Year 10109)

Damian heard the sound of boots clicking before the soft patter of rain registered. He racked through all the possible people who would dare wake him from his slumber. While it was no longer dark outside, it was summer so the days were longer on Caladan. His father had always preferred the lighter days, saying that it lifted spirits. His mother though gentle and kind, did not care much for small talk- weather included.

A few knocks in quick succession fully roused Damian from his sleep. Whomever it was clearly knew their place, they were bothering the Duke’s son, the ducal heir. Yet they still had some etiquette to knock on the door.

He sat up in his bed, while he didn’t need to see his hair, Damian was well aware that it was sticking up on end like a spooked hedgehog. He crinkled in nose in disgust at the morning, before slipping out the bed and striding towards the door. Uttering a short prayer under his breath.

“Who is it?” Damian’s voice came out rough and course from the sleep he was currently lacking.

“Lucius Fox, do you have but a moment?” Damian gritted his teeth at the deep toned voice. His father’s Mentat.

Damian obliged the request though displeased, he opened the door to see Lucius’s appearance. Skimming over the constants, the reddish purple tint his lips took from sapho, the colour of his skin and the colour of his eyes. Damian delved past this to see the true emotions in the old man’s stature. From the tensed posture, to slightly crinkled brow it was clear as glass to Damian that the older man was stressed. He was only able to gather the knowledge from his mother’s training, she’d taught him some Bene Gesserit ways. All the subtle tells of emotion no one except a Bene Gesserit could see.

“Ahh young Damian, I apologise for waking you up at this hour.” The Mentat’s tone was apologetic enough for Damian to let go of his grievances as he stiffly nodded in return. Damian only took the disrespect of Lucius not addressing him correctly, since they were so close.

“I have the filmbook capsule on the Bene Gesserit school like you asked for.” Lucius held out the tiny tube to the man. Damian felt himself perk up as he took the tube from Lucius.

“Thank you.” Damian’s tone slightly softer, yet still firm with a nod of the head.

Lucius hesitated, “I’d keep that private, it’s not something some people would appreciate the existence off.”

Damian understood the old man’s warning, don’t tell your mother or anyone else. After a few more words Lucius departed. Damian shut the door behind the receding Mentat’s form.

Damian felt anticipation rush through his bones, a year prior he would not have cared for the schooling system of the Bene Gesserit, he would have scoffed and said ‘Let them keep their secrets’.

However for the past months he’d been plagued by dreams and odd feelings. Dreams of a girl. At first he passed off the dreams, deeming them useless due to his teenage mind, perhaps he just longed for a wife and warm company. Nonetheless the dreams continued as if spurred on by his dismissal.

The dreams were fleeting at first, he could sparingly make out details. Eventually he could work out the shape of the hair and face, the size of the body relative to his. Then the soft sound of the girls voice came and he was completely undone. Could he understand what she was saying? No. But with time he could, Damian was so fascinated and intrigued by this mysterious girl he would move the seas of Caladan just for a true look at her face.

After some vague questioning to his mother, he’d been able to deduce that the clothes the girl wore were of a Bene Gesserit. So Damian had asked Lucius for information on the Bene Gesserit, due to the Mentats supreme intelligence.

With great care Damian placed down the filmbook capsule and made his way to his bathroom.

Damian’s 18th birthday was fast approaching, over the years he’d watch the planes of his face become sharper and more defined, his hair was not as stiff, but has become more malleable. Damian knew there was an expectation on him to chose a concubine or wife in order to continue the Wayne lineage- a house must have an heir.

Damian had never been able to find out from his mother if the Bene Gesserit had ever intended to marry him off to a different house. Despite pointedly asking his mother she always seemed tight lipped about the subject.

Washing his face Damian looked into the mirror with a determined gaze, he would find this mystery girl one way or another.

The Lady Talia was a seasoned warrior and well trained in many styles of combat- her main skill was assassination. The Duke Bruce Wayne did not find use for this skill, many speculate that it was due to his aversion to killing. It is believed by many that the Lady Talia was deeply underestimated, which helped lead to the New Emperors victory.

Commentaries On The New Emperors family - Empress Y/N

Lady Talia sat regally in her chair, her posture as straight as a wire. She noticed the light in her son’s eyes, despite his best efforts to cover it up with a searing scowl.

“Damian,” she firmly spoke breaking the salient sound of rain thrashing on the sunlight.

“Yes mother?” Damian stirred.

“You said you wished to tell me something yesterday.”

Lady Talia noticed the subtle shift in her son’s attitude and the way he seemed to steel himself. It was only a slight tell, but a Bene Gesserit such as herself was trained for such things.

“Mother I would like to have a Bene Gesserit lady.”

“What for?” Talia replied smoothly, resisting the urge to smile. Her son may be a master of concealing his emotions to others, but not to her.

“A Bene Gesserit lady has a great knowledge of politics and that would aid me as Duke. The Bene Gesserit are also formidable- worthy allies and terrible foes. Having one aid me would also be beneficial for our House.” Damian explained still trying to contain his nerves.

“How do you intend on having this Bene Gesserit?”

Damian balked at the question and blushed.

“As an advisor of course.”

“Nothing more?” Lady Talia asked lightly.

Damian wore a mask of impassiveness, “A ducal heir has many responsibilities I intend of fulfilling them.” Damian’s tone had a tinge of ego and arrogance- he will make a strong ducal heir.

Lady Talia regarded him for a moment dissecting the comment till all meanings lay bare. At the core she found his true answer, a ducal heir is expected to find a wife if need be this Bene Gesserit would fill the role.

Her expression softened as she rested her hand onto his, “My son you will make an excellent Duke.” Lady Talia complimented gently, proud of her son for becoming the man she taught him to be.

Damian’s mask cracked to reveal a small smile, “Thank you mother.”

“I believe you should consult your father and Lucius Fox about this matter, it is an important one.”

Damian nodded and the rest of the breakfast was enjoyed in a comfortable silence. Lady Talia adored her son like the stargazer to the night sky- constantly there to see him even if there was nothing new or nothing at all, she would always love him. Throughout her life Lady Talia has had many misgivings, but caring for her son would never be one of them.

Part two