#its heartbreaking >:)

[septemberkisses]

the fact that i'm no longer the same age as the protagonists of novels and films i once connected to is so heartbreaking. there was a time when I looked forward to turning their age. i did. and i also outgrew them. i continue to age, but they don't; never will. the immortality of fiction is beautiful, but cruel.

[fraternum-momentum]

based on @peachykindaok 's post that you can find here !

[ladycrimsonandblack]

murderbot using sanctuary moon dialogue for comfort — both for the preservation team but also for itself — is inspired. this is its comfort show! of course it's going to use it for comfort.

[spineless-lobster]

So I cackled the new clip of jorge’s cut song that’s about achilles facing off against hector and this line is so abysmal it wraps back around to perfection and I just… I just had to make this

[fairsweetlonging]

svsss au where shen qingqiu can't go through with the endless abyss quest, and is just staring at binghe's tear-streaked face, listening to him rambling through excuses and apologies, not saying anything himself. he can't make himself do it, and prepares himself to die, but since the quest must be completed, the world bends to fulfill it, accidentally throwing both luo binghe and shen qingqiu into the abyss.

the stress of it causes shen qingqiu to have a qi deviation, and together with the sheer absolute force of demonic qi slamming into him from the abyss, he's out before he even hits the ground.

since the evil speech didn't take place and shen qingqiu never did anything except stare at luo binghe with an inexplicable look of resignation on his face, luo binghe is hopeful that it's not too late, and he does everything he can to drag his shizun to a "safe" place once they're in the abyss. now, luo binghe doesn't just have himself to save, but his shizun as well, and the force of his determination activates his full protagonist aura (aka binghe is planning to x2 speedrun this thing).

when shen qingqiu wakes up again and finds that he's completed the abyss quest, he doesn't waste a second before comforting his little demon lamb and assuring him this changes nothing, and binghe isn't evil for being a demon.

shizun's words give binghe the additional motivation boost he needs to start tearing through the abyss to find a way out, and though the abyss is horrible and all-consuming, it isn't as bad now that shizun is here to treat his wounds and comfort him and give him loads of information that, by all means, shizun shouldn't have known about, but he does, somehow, and it makes binghe's travels infinitely easier (and also avoids loads of wife plots shen yuan never liked).

they aren't going as fast as shen qingqiu would have liked, he isn't going as fast, he can barely breathe down here and his qi is like a beacon to abyssal creatures, only barely hidden because of without-a-cure, and he's trying to tell binghe everything he knows as soon as possible, to give him everything he needs to get out of the abyss by himself, because shen qingqiu knows he won't make it that far.

the abyss isn't made for him, both narratively and literally, he can't survive here, it's a miracle he even survived the initial drop. he can't bear to tell binghe, but he knows, and meng mo seems to know too, when he visits shen qingqiu in a dream to ask him how he's going to break it to the boy. shen qingqiu has no answer. the plot has been thrown completely off, and for the first time shen qingqiu is at a complete loss. he was never supposed to be here, and luo binghe was supposed to kill him after getting out, what will happen to the plot now?

of course binghe notices, eventually, that shen qingqiu is slowly getting poisoned by the abyss, and that shizun's surplus of doting isn't just to show acceptance, it's to say goodbye.

and shen qingqiu does die in the abyss, after little more than a year. it isn't even a beast or a plant or the acid lava boiling ground that kills him, nothing binghe could have fought or prevented. one day, after resting in a hidden shelter, shen qingqiu simply doesn't get up. his qi has been entirely corrupted, his meridians torn beyond repair, and he's gasping for breath between every bit of information that he tries to make a sobbing luo binghe remember. shen qingqiu has never seen binghe as devastated and lost as he does now, and it's horrible, but he can't do anything about it. the mushroom body isn't ready yet, he holds out no hope for that.

since luo binghe is the protagonist, shen qingqiu is determined to make sure binghe grows stronger from this all and continues his path to becoming powerful and heroic, basically making it his dying wish.

shen qingqiu dies, and his soul is transported to the mushroom body, but it takes years for it to fully develop, and binghe is convinced shen qingqiu is dead.

like in svsss he gets into a war with cang qiong about shen qingqiu's body, because binghe still tries to bring shen qingqiu back.

seven years later, shen qingqiu digs his way out of a grave and, because there is no bad blood between him and binghe this time, immediately goes to cang qiong sect, covered in dirt, and asks what he missed.

[capsicle107]

(X)

[balimaria]

I just realized I can cross over my favorite characters and literally no one can stop me. This is way too much power.

(these captures are from gll99's GX fansub! you can find it free on their blog @/kaiowut99)

Part 2

[mellosghosts]

sorry for being inactive, it will happen again!

since i'm terrible at focusing on one thing at a time, here's some wips! happy 2025!

[saragrosie]

I was ltr just drawing them in swapped outfits cuz ya know disco is canon in Yakuza 0 and then bam they fucking Harry Du Bois'd Majima and ive never been more hyped for a video game in my life

Expect to see more of this in non shitpost style (yes I lowered the graphics on kiryu and majima im tired) bc I love disco fashion and RGG and DE <3

[abyssyby]

Hi! Loved your most recent fic with our favorite family, it was so angsty but so good! I wonder if this is gonna make it even harder for the boys to say goodbye to Sylus before he goes off on a mission (and maybe even their mom when she has to travel for work too). Like, we've already seen it was tough before, but it was more of a "I'm gonna miss you" sadness but now that they've been on a mission themselves it's like, "Missions are NOT fun, they're scary, please don't go😭"

hello!!! thank you for reading two birds on a wire 🥺 genuinely one of my most favorite stories i’ve written so far so i feel incredibly blessed and i appreciate each and every reply on it 💕 — yes, the twins are definitely more reluctant to let papa go now since they know what’s in store for him on his ‘ishuns (missions).

kyros would be very time conscious. well, firstly, he’d be holding onto papa’s legs and sobbing by the door (if sy had a difficult time leaving then, he’s definitely suffering now). he’d be sobbing and begging him to stay—

“five mimits!” he doesn't know what minutes are. but sylus has stayed for 4 ‘five mimits’ now, so he’s convinced they mean ‘stay’.

his voice is squeeze out of his throat, small and pitchy, begging desperately, “five— five mimits, papa, pease! pease!”

sylus has to drag his leg all the way to the door, and take an extra ten minutes to soothe kyros in his arms before promising he’ll call or be back at a certain time.

Kyros has mephisto tap on a gentle tinking bell to let him know the time, and eventually learns how to read big hand and small hand on the antique grandfather clock. you find him sometimes staring up at it, and when he spots you or the big twins passing by, he points up and asks, “time? what time?”

“just a little bit more,” you’d tell him, knowing the time sylus is supposed to call too.

“much more?”

“hmm, about three songs, angel.”

so he waddles over to the record player, asks you to help him put on sylus’s CDs and counts. by the end of the third classical song he’s listened to, he uncovers his ears (the last song ended with loud trumpets) and runs to the house phone/holo-caller, where sylus’s holographic face pops up.

sylus’s heart melts when Kyros or both Kyros and Lucian’s big eyes fill up his screen as the call goes through.

“papa, come home now.”

“one sleep, angel.”

kyros definitely gets huffy puffy. snuffing through his nose like an angry little dragon and stomping his little feet in disapproval. “don’t want sleep!”

“then how will it be morning?”

kyros’s brows knit together at that. sylus watches the gears turn behind his eyes. and then, softer, more hopeful— “i sleep now, papa. i make morning.”

sylus grins, cleverly cocky and effectively charmed. “good night, turtle.”

when kyros wakes, papa is always back home. either lifting him out of his bed or waiting for him by the fireplace. kyros walks up to him quietly, climbs on his lap, lays sleepily on his chest and listens to his heart. he feels much better now.

lucian is action-driven— anxiety manifested in mischief and pranks.

little pranks, essentially harmless in nature, but it effectively causes sylus delays.

"lucian?" sylus calls, voice loud but not angry. more amused.

lucian emerges from the hallway, hands behind his back. bright red eyes round and ‘innocent’. "papa?"

"did you put butter in my shoes?" he grimaces, eyeing his slippery stained socks.

"oopsie— AAA papa, no run you slip!" Lucian is giggling, sylus has phased before him and picked him up. blowing raspberries in his cheeks and nuzzling his nose to his ticklish neck. "papa!"

sylus loses all sorts of things the minute he’s set to leave. until he follows the trail of animal cracker crumbs/plastic cars/paper stars where he finds lucian tucking them away under his pillows, into his pants or in mephisto's treasure piles.

sylus confronts him about it when he gets chocolate fingerprints on an important document. with a stronger voice, exasperated and tired, he lifts lucian up by the back of his shirt just as he runs away.

lucian is already teary as sylus sets him in the crook of his elbow. "i sorry, i sorry!"

but sylus can't find it in himself to truly be mad. instead he keeps up the front (very difficultly) and scolds lucian. and then when he gets his points across, he brushes the tears away from his eyes and kisses his brows. "why are you being naughty?"

lucian is sniffling, hugging sylus around the neck, seeking forgiveness. "don't want papa— don't want papa go—"

"you can just ask me, angel." sylus says sympathetically, fingers pushing sweaty bangs away from his forehead. he presses his forehead against lucian's. "just ask, i will listen."

"you say no."

sylus's heart aches. "not always."

"yes always!" lucian says, angry little fists coming down onto sylus's chest with no real force. but sylus feels the frustration spear into his heart nonetheless. "papa go— papa go to scary mishins!"

"Lucian, I—"

"Papa will died! Fly and fall and died!" he yells. devastated, traumatized, upset. he'd been the one with his eyes peeking out his shirt during the crash landing, he'd been the one who saw the strain in sylus's eyes and the grinding teeth when he held them and yelled at his pilots during the mission. "I don't want papa died!"

Sylus squeezes his eyes shut as he accepts the soft blows of anguish loaded fists. enduring, he presses his forehead against the little boy's to calm him. "Shh... shh..."

something in lucian snaps, his voice breaks and he collapses against sylus's shoulder in sad sobs. "i scared, papa. please stay, please."

sylus feels the weight on the corners of his lips as he teeters to tears himself. he nods then, sighing in defeat. although, he was fairly certain that even without the tears, without the pranks, sylus would always find a way to say yes.

"Alright now, alright," he shushes, rocking him side to side and planting a kiss to his wet nose. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here."

"Papa—" Lucian cries. Just that— papa, papa, papa— over and over, like he'd been running from a monster. Now seeking refuge, comfort, and safety in him.

Sylus clicks his tongue, swallowing repeatedly keeping himself from crying still. He rubs lucian's heaving back, drawing slow circles to match with his breath. He hums a tune into his temple, letting his broken melody aid his fluttering heart.

It won't be easy, it will never be easy, leaving home. But he swears, he will do everything to make it easier for Lucian. And if that means staying for tonight, then he will stay.

—

this got away from me again hehe thank you for sending in this ask, reading & thinking about the twin babies! have a wonderful, wonderful day, anonnie!

✧˚ ⋆｡ read two birds on a wire here | read more with the little twins here || more sylus thoughts ✧˚ ⋆｡

[mooniism]

every time i remember this i fall onto my knees in despair and wail

[somuchbetterthanthat]

Can you imagine surviving the bloody apocalypse only for your husband to die a month later of an extremely easily-fixed-before-all-this medical emergency???

Besides which Alice clearly has also lost her parents and possibly her brother, no WONDER she's desperately holding on to the glimpse of her Sam in her nightmares, no wonder she absolutely jump at the thought of Sam just reappearing, out of nowhere-

[fraternum-momentum]

some puppygirl aimee for these trying times

[qwakque]

Nostalgiaaa

[gunsatthaphan]

just bro banter 🤙🏻✌🏻

[avasillva]

you died screaming, yet the monster who took your place was silent. you are a weapon, and weapons do not weep. | insp