#tiny dragon in the centre of everything

[phooka-animation]

please go read my partner's webcomic please please please please please please please

[foundfamilyhq]

Hello! I normally wouldn't do this here, but just this one time. My friend has recently started a webcomic called Tiny Dragon in the Centre of Everything and it's very cool! The art and characters are great!! You can check out the whole first chapter and the beginning of the second chapter on Webtoons ANYWAY, the reason I bring this up is because as part of the recent update they've included a popularity poll for the cast to see who's the most-liked based on first impressions. And I'm using this as an excuse to get more eyes on the comic because YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR RYAN!! MY BOY WHO DOES EVERYTHING WRONG!!! you should read the comic and vote for who you like best! :D

[tinydragoninthecentre]

back forward

[sparrows4bats]

So I think Lois Lane adores Damian Wayne.

Sure, she was unsure about Jons friendship with him at first. The stories she was told about him weren't the most flattering, and she would always worry about her bad, invulnerable, or not.

But when she meets Damian properly, gets to know him and his history?

She loves that kid.

Damian Wayne is a boy who was abused and turned into a weapon for the first ten years of his life and then was abandoned to the care of strangers and told everything he ever knew was wrong. When given the chance to choose and learn for the first time in his life, he became a hero, an artist, a vegetarian, and an animal lover.

Lois Lane, a reporter and a staunch humanitarian, looks at Damian Wayne and sees a child who had people he was meant to trust betray and abuse him for their own ends.

She sees a boy who would do anything to ensure Jon comes home to her.

She gets a true soft spot for the tiny ex assassin one night when, during a sleepover, she finds Damian Wayne sitting at her kitchen table at 3am.

"I know you're a bat, but I didn't think you were actually nocturnal. "

"I'm not, I assure you Mrs Lane."

"Jons snoring wake you?"

The boy smiles at her, "No, I got trained to sleep through anything, even the super chainsaw in there."

"So, why are you up so late?" Lois motions for the kid to sit with her.

"Sometimes it is hard to stay asleep." As he says this the kid looks haunted and Lois she gets it.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." Lois decides not to push him even if she is curious.

"Okay, so Jon tells me you rescued a cow recently?"

The boy lights up and shares tales of Batcow and the evils of industrial meat factories. They have a very nice conversation until Clark comes looking for her and shoos them both back to bed, but only after offeringhis own opinions on ethical agriculture.

She sees how smart Damian is, with connections and links to underground dealings that they use to get justice in Lois's way. Exposing trafficking rings and embezzlement while showing Damian that sometimes the system works.

Damian becomes her silent informant and researcher because he gets bored. They win Lois her third Pulitizer together.

Remember, Lois Lane has and will continue to jump out of windows to prove a point, and much to Jon and Clarks distress, Damian follows her example.

Jon is very glad his best friend calls for him when he needs help, but he really wishes Damian would stop putting himself in danger.

Clark has to save all three of them when Lois bring both boys to investigate a bad landlord that ended up being a front for a cartel.

When Damian decides he can do more for the world as a doctor, Lois becomes one of his biggest supporters.

She gets him placement tests and uses her connections to get Damian proof of his many qualifications. She even helps him practice for his college interviews.

Dr Damian Wayne helps her take down corrupt pharmaceutical and health insurance companies.

They meet at least once a week for coffee and to vent about their favourite kryptonitians.

Needless to say, when her son approaches her, panicking over the fact he is love with their favourite bat, Lois is very excited.

She knows the feeling is more than mutual and decided that Damian WILL be her son in law.

So she tells Jon exactly how she fell in love with his father. He is horrified at all the near death experiences, but overall, the two come up with a plan.

Clark tries to stop them but is ignored. He considers warning Bruce but decides that he can't risk Lois getting mad at him again.

Jon confesses his love to Damian over an erupting volcano while rescuing a team of geologists. His mom was right. It was very romantic.

He kisses Damian for the first time while riding a new dragon friend they found for Wiggles that Jon insists they call Mushu.

When Jon proposes, he and Lois design the ring together. Jon moulds it in the heat of a collapsing star and forms a diamond in his hands to set in the centre.

Damian says yes while performing emergency medicine on other heroes. The JL are extremely happy for them but confused about the timing.

Lois loves showing off how wonderful her new son in law is. Especially when she has grandchildren to spoil.

Jon will never regret bringing Damian into the family. He loves his husband, but he really wishes he and his mom would stop jumping out of windows.

Especially when the kids start to follow them, Thank Rao they can fly.

[captain-joongz]

Notes to chapter 2 of Dragonheart

Dictionary

atmokinesis - the ability to control the weather by calling for rainfall or storms

白虎; baihu (chin.) - in the story known as stripes or the kingsguard, the mythological concept of the white tiger is the same as the azure dragon's. the white tiger is considered one of the four daoist guardian spirits, he guards the west and he is connected to autumn, metal and death. and much like the azure dragon, it is also an important constellation

(depiction of the white tiger from Goguryeo period tomb mural)

玄武; xuanwu (chin.) - the third of the fourth guardian is the black tortoise (also sometimes called the dark warrior - it's the literal translation of the characters). it's sometimes depicted with a snake wrapped around it. in the story it is known as the shadows or the unit of secret intelligence, but in real chinese mythology it is considered the guardian of north, it's connected to winter and water

(depiction of the black tortoise and a snake from a Goguryeo period tomb mural)

Just a tiny detour into a general overview of Chinese cosmology

Feel free to skip this if you're not interested, it just gives a little more context about the concepts I use in my story, but I understand it can be a little overwhelming or confusing - if you have any questions (about how this connects to the story or just about the concepts and mythology alone) feel free to send me an ask and I'll do my best to explain everything to you!

Chinese cosmology is what you'd call correlative - everything is somehow interconnected and it creates a complex confusing system of things that are all linked together by larger concepts - it's a living organism, a hive if you'd like

I touch on the subject of the Great four Guardians - that is a daoist concept mostly, though it melts into a bigger confucian cosmologic concept of correlation and wuxing 五行 - the five phases

as you can see on the picture below (please ignore my very much "graphic design is my passion" level of skill with Canva), there's an over-arching theme (either a season, a colour or one of the five phases) and there's a slew of things connected to them (tastes, senses, organs, flowers, planets, mountains, etc.)

for example - the colour red is inviolably connected to south, summer, fire, the pheonix, lotus flower, etc. - these things become symbols for those concepts

I use the four guardians (black tortoise, azure dragon, red sparrow and white tiger) as names of elite Academy units, these are the concepts that stand behind those four beings - the dragon is firmly the symbol of east, just as the white tiger is firmly connected to colour white and the concept of death

here is a slightly simpliflied overview that is more about the five phases than about the cardinal directions

these concepts go beyond just philosophy (though of course not perfectly) - for example spring is a yang season while autumn is a yin season - yang is the life power, and as it rises during the spring and brings the world back alive, it (ideally) should be illegal to kill young animals or execute prisoners, while autumn as a season that strenghtens yin and the world starts dying is the season during which you should hunt and plan executions (this is an ideal concept of the right rule)

why is the centre/earth kind of weird? - well, you see, China is a huge country with a super fucking long history, and these concepts didn't start out together but they were slowly built on top of each other as time went - that's why sometimes they kind of needed to force things to correlate to make it symmetrical - there's five cardinal points, but only four seasons, what do we do? we make up something so it works in theory. a lot of these concept evolved simultanously but under different schools of thought and then kind of merged together, that's why it's a little messy sometimes (ei. there the ox officially isn't a fifth guardian, but the centre is still connected to the animal of ox because there needs to be one)

who even are the five emperors and why do we care? - we kind of don't actually, these emperors are a very old concept called wufang shangdi 五方上帝 - "deities of the five directions/regions" - all of them are an impersonation or a manifestation of the concept of tian 天 (heaven). we can assume they were once worshipped, but to this day the only two emperors that kept their importance are the Huang-di and the Chi-di (Yellow and Red), the rest are kind of lost to time. Huang-di is to this day very important and one of the most known beings in chinese mythology, and an important patron to various daoist teachings and concepts, while also a deity that mythologicaly stands at the very beginning of chinese civilization (he was one of the five first fabulous emperors that ruled before the first dynasty). Chi-di has undergone a several transformations and is also known as Huo-di (fire emperor) or Shennong (the first husbandman and patron of agriculture), as Huo-di he is connected to Huang-di as his friend and companion during a famous mythological war, he is also the mythological fire-giver

this is a more detailed chart if you're interested, as you can see there's all kinds of shit like emotions, virtues, part of the body and such

the five phases - are they just the elements? - yes and no. In chinese wuxing actually means 'the five in movement, the moving five' - that's why it's more generally translated as phases. The whole concept behind wuxing is extremely convoluted and confusing, just know that they all move in a never ending cycle (water -> wood -> fire -> earth -> metal) and they react to each other (either purify or destroy each other) - as is shown on the picture below

this all also connects to chinese medicine (the organs correlation and the cycle of the five phases) - in the most basic terms (i myself don't understand this perfectly) - let's say you have a problem with your lungs - lungs are connected to metal, metal is destroyed by fire (as displayed in the chart below) - to remedy your sick lungs you need to eat bitter food (which is connected to fire and summer) - I just pulled this shit out of my ass, but this is generally how chinese medicine works in the broadest terms

this is all kind of like the most basic most surface stuff, trust me - chinese mythology is fucking insane and basically impossible to fully orientate in, China is huge and every region has different deities or different names for the same deities, some deities started off as something and then slowly evolved into like five different people or concepts and it's all very confusing (like the Chi-di - Huo-di - Shennong - they're all different deities while still being different versions of one deity, in some myths they are synonymous and in some two of those are in the same story as completely different people with different histories)

there are three main religions (daoism, confucianism, buddhism) that all have their own myths, concepts and deities that during the ages melted all together, not to mention that each of those religions have countless cults that each go their own way (especially daoism, that one goes crazy - like how did we go from 'dao is the endless flow of things and you need to trust it to lead you instinctually' to 'you need to eat these rocks and have sex in these positions to be immortal'??)

the history is long and ever-changing, different sources might tell you different things, also China has a history of manipulating the records and a lot of things were lost or rewritten, so some older concepts, rituals or deities are all just pure speculation or theories, because we can't really know what was really happening 3-4 thousand years ago

as times go certain concepts built on top of each other or try to one-up each other, so you start with one heaven and centuries later end up with like 10 layers that each has different guardians and concepts until you have no idea what's going on anymore

there are some over-arching myths and stories, but even those have thousand different versions

so, it's one of those topics that leave you more and more confused the more you study them - the more you wanna know, the less you actually understand

(with love, from a very tired Chinese mythology and philosophy student)

[starryamber]

So uhhh I started a comic! Still figuring out the process and stuff right now and will probably make a tumblr to post it on, but right now the prologue is on webtoon if you want to check it out!

[apatheticlexicographer]

not to be unoriginal but seriously i'm never not thinking about the one way sign and just how gay/byler coded mike's room is in general.

like??? we only get one angle on his room, but all of the decorations except that sign are clearly tied to either his character (past or present) or the plot.

the two black and white art prints are from the basement in a previous season i believe. i haven't watched conan but from what i've heard the plot is some kind of foreshadowing for the russia plotline. pinboards are usually places to display mementos that mean a lot to you, so the couple of wills drawings that can be seen there make sense. the big tiddy dragon man is obviously a d&d thing. even the barely-visible guitar is another nod to how much mike is trying to copy eddie in this season!!!

but the one way sign??? the fuck does that represent??? it's big as hell, directly above the part of the shot you're led to focus on while watching (mike) making it easy to pick up on peripherally on a single watch, and points straight at the closet. with how deliberate literally everything else in his room is, one of the most prominent pieces of decoration being filler makes no sense.

meanwhile he has two images of very muscular male figures on his walls, one of which is dead centre of the shot and has a tiny wizard casting a fireball on it (big tiddy dragon man ilysm) AND has will's art on his corkboard despite being in a rough patch with him and just tossing el's letters away.

(side note: something about his drawings being directly next to the lamp and the recurring association of will and lamps/lights throughout the whole show, and the way the blocking places him under the light sources so frequently when he's with mike. something about his drawings being representative of mike feeling like he's lost him due to the s1 scene with the binder. something about him being mike's light even when they're so physically and emotionally distant from each other. yeah.)

and let it be said, the stranger things set designers DO NOT FUCK AROUND. there are countless instances of people noticing little pieces of set decoration that follow characters throughout the entire show, or innocuous graffiti and posters that foreshadow major story beats. one of my own personal observations from an analysis i never finished is a perfect demonstration:

a trophy in will's room in s2, and a matching one in mike's room in s1. a matching set from one of the party's science fairs, presumably.

another lamp-shaped trophy in will's s4 room...

and an exactly matching trophy from a photo shared on finn wolfhard's instagram IN DECEMBER OF 2017!!! those trophies are such a minor piece of set decoration that i couldn't even find a screencap of mike's that was clear enough to use, but it's still custom embossed. that's how hard the stranger things set design goes.

so the wealth of queercoded and will-centric imagery in mike's room??? the seemingly "random" road sign??? that's not coincidence or laziness, no matter how hard some people will argue that it's not that deep. on the contrary, it's probably substantially deeper than we'll ever know T_T

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

A Fic Recommendation Extravaganza

as promised, (or more like voted) I'm going to share some of my favorite fics and authors in this post.

I joined Tumblr in 2012, but only started posting my writing in 2018, never thinking people would actually read it. Now here we are, 5 years 6K people later and I couldn't be more thankful!

These will be heavily Pedro centred (what a surprise lol), but there's some other people who I have been following for years before too.

Let's go!

@radiowallet whole Masterlist but especially her Oberyn series. I love to hate to love stubborn soulmates who get heir happily ever after. And I can not wait to hold PWC in my hands.

@something-tofightfor currently very in love with undercover future king of Mandalore Din Djarin falling in love in a christmas town. But honestly check out the whole masterlist. So many good stories, and I haven't even read everything yet

@wheresarizona Arizona makes me yearn for fictional Javier Peña in Learning to live like no other. Not only is this the fluffiest love story ever, no it's fucking filthy

@jazzelsaur Frankie and Ellie will have my heart FOREVER and ever ever.

@tilltheendwilliwrite was probably one of the first authors I followed on here. Her Blessings of Magic series is one of my most favourite stories ever and it still keeps growing.

@lavendertales oh where to start? Frankie Angst? Or Enemys to lovers with Javi P? Honestly, the whole Masterlist ist just chefs kiss.

@whiskeynwriting Dave fucking York and his daughters best friend. If I could drop real life whenever an update is posted I would (okay I mostly do)

@oonajaeadira PATS my beloved. I'm in love how you build this tiny universe with a character we haven't even seen just listened to.

@absurdthirst ooookay. I don't know what's my favorite. Just like... everything. And Werewolf Pero.

@wardenparker every single Soulmate series had me in a chokehold. Just... read it all here.

@chaoticgeminate Don't make me decide between Dragon Pero and sub Dave. Or Javi and Solecita. Or...

@whatsnewalycat you don't know that, but I read your Javi series almost completely when I was on vacation last year without knowing that you were on Tumblr too. I literally stopped breathing during the last chapters. And now I am loving to hate Frankie in Designated Person.

@guess-my-next-obsession Dr. Javier Peña my beloved.

@fuckyeahdindjarin If Palomino was a person, I would be on my knees. Cowboy Jack is like.. the perfect man and it's kinda rude of him but I love him.

@whataperfectwasteoftime is where I go to to get my Marcus Pike fix. And I can not wait to read your book either!!

@keanureevesisbae the mental picture of John Wick hanging up those paintings in one cappuccino and a chocolate brownie please has been burned into my brain. The amount of fluff you are able to put into words is unbeatable and I love it.

@supernaturalgirl20 whole Masterlist is to die for. The one story that stayed with my was Ezra in Bookshop by the coast. I think I read that three times.

@psychedelic-ink The amount of Joel fics that seem to show up daily from you have me in awe. Masterlist here.

@coastielaceispunk I fell in love with all Max Lord fics, and stayed for the rest. Check Masterlist here

[chenziee]

Five

@lawluevents - Day 6: Conqueror's haki/Hand holding

@onepiece-bingo: Sound of Drums

Alternate summary: 1044 because of course it is :)

Alternate summary 2: write Nika Luffy without him turning into a giggly murdering maniac challenge

! MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1044 (ENDING OF ONIGASHIMA) !

[ Read on AO3 | series ]

—————

Luffy never thought about losing. He refused to think about losing. There was too much on the line in Wano and if he lost to Kaido, then all of it was going to be destroyed. He promised he would win and smash the night to pieces—to Momo, to Tama, to Yamato, to Kin, to his crew, to Torao. He promised to win no matter what. 

And more than that, he himself couldn’t forgive Kaido.

He couldn’t afford losing to this man.

And so, when he did lose…

He was shocked to find out that he wasn’t upset, disappointed… or even angry.

No; instead, he was happy. Who knew losing would be so much fun? 

A giggle bubbling out of his chest, Luffy got to his knees. There was blood dripping off his face and staining the ground under him but he couldn’t feel any pain. He felt too giddy, too excited to get back to fighting.

What was that DOOM-DUT-DA-DA rhythm resounding all around him? A drum? Sure sounded like one… but that didn’t feel right. Oh, was that his heart beating?

“Okay, that’s funny!”

A new wave of giggles overcame him as he finally got to his feet; he felt so light now, like some invisible restraints had been lifted, giving him all the freedom he ever wanted. He was sure he could do everything he wanted to right now.

Looking at his hands, Luffy clenched and unclenched his fist a few times, testing. What if I make it bigger, bigger than Gear Third?

He barely finished the thought before his fist blew up into giant proportions—big enough to make it seem like he could just reach out and grab the moon off the sky, and big enough to make Luffy himself stumble at the sudden shift in his centre of gravity. Quickly shrinking his hand back to normal size, Luffy grinned.

“This is amazing!” he laughed happily, jumping up and down. He didn’t even notice until now but did his clothes turn white? That was so weird! “I really can do anything!! I can totally fight a bit longer like this! This is my peak. This is Gear Five!!”

Taking a deep breath, Luffy focused on his surroundings. He could feel countless people down below him, scrambling around as the battle went on. There were several strong Voices—Kaido’s was the strongest but he could hear Sanji, Yamato, Jaggy, Momo a bit further away… Zoro’s voice was weak but also there, just like several of the Akazaya samurai.

If at all possible, Luffy’s smile widened even more when he found his Torao.

He knew he and Jaggy would win. Torao was strong, after all; much stronger than stupid Big Mom.

His presence was comforting; hearing his Voice was grounding, keeping Luffy’s mind from getting off-track. He really was the last one to wrap up his fight, huh? That wouldn’t do! He couldn’t keep everyone waiting like this!

Luffy snickered, cracking the knuckles of both his hands before pulling his right arm back. “Here I go, Kaido!” Luffy called to no one in particular, letting his haki flow—

—only to startle at how effortlessly it came to him. Has his Conqueror’s haki always been this powerful? Did it always so free, so light, was it always so easy for him to control?

This form, this Gear Five… It was just so fun!

A grin on his lips, Luffy thrust his hand forward, letting it grow into the arm of a giant to easily bust a hole in the Skull Dome’s ceiling, grabbing for Kaido. He laughed at how tiny the dragon’s body seemed in his hold. Like a simple rope, just ready to be tossed around.

This was where the real battle started.

—————

“Idiot!”

“Huh?” Luffy blinked, pausing with where he was stuffing his mouth with meat to stare at Torao.

He was pacing all over the room in the Shogun’s castle that Momo let Luffy use while he recovered, his hair dishevelled from how he had been running his hands through it in frustration. He wasn’t looking at Luffy, only muttering something to himself about ‘reckless morons who never stop to think’.

“What did I do?!” Luffy asked, instead of doing something stupid like laughing. The sight that Law’s stress made might have been very funny, but Luffy also didn’t have a death wish.

Law clicked his tongue, his head snapping up to glare at Luffy. “Take a fucking guess,” he hissed angrilly.

Tilting his head to the side, Luffy thought hard about what might have caused Law to act like this but he was drawing a blank. “You wanted to eat this meat?” Luffy tried, offering him the half-eaten drumstick in his hand.

“No. Try again.”

Luffy studied Law’s face, taking note of how Law’s eyes flickered away from Luffy’s face to dart all over Luffy’s body—over his injuries—and suddenly, Luffy understood. And he couldn’t keep the warm, happy smile off his face as much as he tried. “Torao~” he sang easily.

That only earned him another glare and he had to bite on his lower lip to stop himself from giggling as he shook his head. Torao could be so cute sometimes.

“Torao, I’m fine,” Luffy said, trying to sound reassuring but he wasn’t sure how good a job he was doing with the way his voice shook. He was just so happy his Torao was so worried; it made him feel all warm and fuzzy in ways he didn’t bother deciphering. He simply basked in the feelings, and in the pissed off, adorable look on Law’s face.

“You died,” Law said flatly.

“Did not!” Luffy cried in his defence.

Clicking his tongue again, Torao sighed deeply. “You’re impossible.”

Unable to keep it in any longer, Luffy snickered—while ignoring the frustrated noise Law let out in response. Discarding his meat on the provided plate, Luffy quickly wiped his hands before he turned back to Law and stretched out one of his arms to grab Law’s elbow, forcing him to come closer to where Luffy was sitting on his futon.

Surprisingly, Law didn’t protest; he let Luffy drag him over to himself, only turning his eyes away so that he wasn’t looking at him. Embarrassed, and unwilling to show it, and Luffy grinned.

So damn cute.

Letting go of Law’s elbow, Luffy let his fingers slide down Law's arm until he found his hand, taking it in his own. Slowly, he brought Law’s hand to his lips, pressing a small kiss to the inside of his wrist—right at the edge of his soulmark—before lacing their fingers together.

“Torao, I love you,” he said in a teasing voice, making Law freeze.

He didn’t say anything for a long while, only standing there completely tense… until he clicked his tongue and finally deflated. Luffy wasn’t surprised when a moment later, Law flicked his forehead—armament haki and all—before he heaved a sigh and replied, “Don’t I-love-you me in this situation.”

“But it’s working!” Luffy said cheekily, sticking out his tongue.

Law narrowed his eyes. “How about I cut your dick off and toss it into the hole with Kaido. It’s not like you’re using it anyway.”

“You wouldn’t!!” Luffy gasped.

“Fucking try me,” Law growled back and Luffy gulped.

Maybe he shouldn’t be pushing Torao much further… Oh well!

“I’ll still love you though,” Luffy said defiantly, squeezing Law’s hand for good measure.

Law didn’t say anything to that… but when he squeezed Luffy’s hand back, that was all the answer Luffy needed.

[aprilrainsimblr]

DA:O to TS3 herbology set conversion

I know, I know, this is a bit underwhelming, especially coupled with an ugly preview. But bear with me, something way more exciting is coming this weekend.

What can I say? I love Dragon Age: Origins, I loved running around collecting elfroot and deathroot, and I definitely appreciated the new herbs added in Awakening. Did I ever craft something with them? Nah, couldn’t be bothered. But I wanted to have them in TS3 for some obscure reason, so here they are. 

The set contains ten plants: elfroot, deathroot, blood lotus, madcap, rashvine, some randos and a rather ugly shrub. Everything is recolourable and low-poly, but these models are more than a decade old, and it shows. I think their value lies more in the nostalgia, but maybe someone will want them too! They all cost 5 simoleons and can be found in decor->plants section.

Download (google drive)

Alternative download (dropbox)

Credits to Bioware for the textures and meshes. See under the cut for previews and more info.

Elfroot

LOD0: 398 polygons

Two recolourable channels: the leaves and the stems. Nothing more to add, he is perfect and I love him.

Deathroot and tiny deathroot

LOD0: 582 polygons

Two recolourable channels: the flowers and the green parts. Also it’s freakin huge!

The original model is slightly taller than a default-sized adult sim. That’s why I also made a baby deathroot for those of us who are too lazy to use OMSPs every time lol.

Blood lotus

LOD0: 276  polygons

Possibly the ugliest of the bunch, but I’m a completionist so I couldn’t have left it unconverted. It has two recolourable channels (the flowers and the stems/leaves) but I forgot to take a picture, I’m sorry.

Rashvine nettle

LOD0: 582 polygons

Two recolourable channels: the flowers and the green parts.

Madcap

LOD0: 494 polygons

Three recolourable channels: the green parts, the petals and the centre of the flowers.

Tiny flowers 1

LOD0: 296 polygons

Three recolourable channels: the stems, the petals and the centre of the flowers.

Tiny flowers 2

LOD0: 198 polygons

Three recolourable channels: the stems, the petals and the centre of the flowers.

Plant 1

LOD0: 289 polygons

Two recolourable channels: the leaves and the stems. It’s a beautiful little plant, but unfortunately it has transparency issues from some angles because DA:O meshes don’t have backfaces.

Cool plant

LOD0: 370 polygons

Three recolourable channels: the stems, the petals and the centre of the flower.

Mediocre-looking shrub

LOD0: 648 polygons

Three recolourable channels: the stems, the leaves and the small patch of soil underneath.

Idk what else I can add. Leave a like if you hate Orlais.

[regicidal-defenestration]

KaF3Countdown - Magic/Folklore

When Feels came back from the shops to see Kane sitting on the floor, candles and loose bits of paper spread out in a ring around him, he didn’t pay it much mind.

“Afternoon, Luce,” he said, trying not to step on anything that looked too important as he made his way to the kitchen and dumped his bags on the table.

“Got us more milk.”

Kane made a distracted sound that probably meant thank you.

“You’re not going to burn more sigils into our carpet are you?”

At that, Kane did look up.

“That was one time!” he protested, in the way of someone who, from plenty of past experience, knows exactly how the conversation is about to go. “And I got rid of them.”

“You moved the desk over them,” Feels pointed out.

“I moved the desk over to the window so we could both get some more sunlight whilst working.”

“It doesn’t even fully cover the damage.”

“You suggested I needed more vitamin D, I might add.”

“Look at those scorch marks near the front corner.”

Kane threw a pencil at him, which missed by a good few centimetres. The worst part was that Feels was entirely in the right.

“That’s why I’m writing everything on paper this time. If they ignite again, they’ll burn themselves out before the fire has a chance to spread.”

That…

That wasn’t the worst idea Kane had ever had, Feels was forced to admit.

“What’re you doing with it?” he asked, rather than say that thought aloud. He was only half-listening for Kane’s answer as he put the milk in the fridge, then went back to the bags to fetch the cheese.

“Summoning a dragon.”

A thud as Feels dropped his cheese.

A pause.

“Luce,” he said slowly. “Do you remember the bit about not setting fire to our flat?”

“It won’t! Really, Brutus, you could have some more trust in me.”

There was no chance of Feels winning this particular argument. And, maybe, if he was really being honest, he didn’t want to win. The thought of seeing an actual dragon was one hell of an incentive, even given the fiery risks.

He sighed, picked up the cheese.

“Well, don’t let me stop you.”

Kane grinned at him, an infectious smile Feels was compelled to return.

“Þa se wyrm onwoc-”

Wait-

“That’s Beowulf,” Feels interrupted. “Why are you reciting Beowulf to summon a dragon? Don’t you need something a little more… magical-spell?”

Kane looked less-than-impressed at the break in his focus.

“If someone started chanting a story about you, that’d probably attract your interest, right? How do you even know that?”

“Some guy did a musical about it once.”

Kane made another sound, one that translated to that explains it. Turning back to the ring of paper, he cleared his throat and began reciting again.

“Þa se wyrm onwoc,

Wroht wæs geniwad,

Stonc ða æfter stane, 

Stearcheort onfand

Feondes-”

He stopped. 

Something was happening.

A shiver went down Feels’ back. He felt uncomfortably aware of his own teeth, and the air had started to smell purple.

Reality compressed in on itself, then, just as quickly, sprang back into place with a sproing which wasn’t heard so much as felt.

Feels blinked.

“Oh my god,” he breathed.

The amazed laugh that came from Kane meant he wasn’t imagining it either.

There was a dragon in the centre of the paper ring. A tiny thing, barely half a metre tall at its shoulder, with a squat body, thick neck, and wings that looked more vestigial than actually useful for flying. Two horns curled out from the top of its head.

Feels blinked again.

“Is it weird to call it cute?”

Kane was already kneeling down to get a better look. The dragon watched his movements with bright amber eyes, but let Kane run a hand down its ridged scales with no complaint.

“It is cute, isn’t it?”

“What’re you going to do with it?”

Kane’s hand was too close to the dragon’s mouth now for Feels’ comfort. He wondered how you’d explain fingers being bitten off by a dragon to A&E.

“Do you need a permit to keep one in your house?”

“Probably not, but only due to a lack of imagination on the government’s part. I expect the RSPCA wouldn’t be impressed.”

His sentence trailed off.

Kane shuffled backwards quickly, motioning for Feels to do the same.

A clicking sound, not unlike a lighter, came from the dragon’s throat. It hiccupped, then coughed a small, fizzing, spark onto the floor.

They watched in silence as the carpet began to smoulder.

[phooka-animation]

Really excited to have a guest comic feature on @starryamber ‘s webcomic Tiny Dragon in the Centre of Everything!!! Go check it out!!!

[a-drop-of-nightshade]

|| Priceless ( Open RP ) ||

Open Rp for all, but also tagging @blackparaderunner & @darkness-around-every-corner

Now when you think of a black market you think of that classic darkened alley way with lots of stalls that sell dark and twisted thing, you imagine tiny cages stuffed with exotic creatures or jars of human parts. However when you looked upon the interdimensional black market you found a space between dimensions, every shifting and changing place, the sky rippling as it moved as not to be caught, stalls and shops spread as far as the eye could see.

The shops were the most popular business’s with each one dedicated to a fresh new thing, there were stands and platforms where slaves and exotic beasts were paraded off and sold to the crowds, people hustled around mostly wearing masks and cloaks to hide their identity although some brave souls did not care. Then there was the centre piece, a huge auction hall for the rarest of rare and it was filled with those who wished to bid for the most expensive and rarest of things.

It was in this hall that the gem found himself huddled in a cell, he could hear the auction proceeding, he heard descriptions rattled off about where the products were found and then the bidding for strange amounts he didn’t understand; but he had roughly gathered that there was a set credit to be used across this place before it could be exchanged into the customers desired currency.

The gem jolted as the cell opened, rough hands grabbed him and he yelped, struggling before he heard a bark, “Careful! That thing is fragile but priceless! Break it and I’ll break your necks!” He did not recognise the voice and he couldn’t see with the black bag over his head, he felt cold metal around his wrists and ankles as he was lifted with ease and dragged along. He heard discussions switching in languages, he felt himself get stripped and heard annoyed muttering before he was forced into new clothes a skin tight black suit that hid the cracks on his body and held him together.

He was put back into shackles that had a connecting chain around his neck that was held by a metal collar, the bag was removed and he was dazed by bright lights only for a black fabric to be draped over him as of to hide him from sight, he didn’t get much of a chance to talk as he was soon pulled onto a circular metal platform.

“And now!” Boomed a voice overhead making him flinch, his back hitting a glass wall as he realised he was in a strange glass tube, he held his chained together hands close to his chest, “We have a real treat for you all tonight! We found this beauty in a strange new world full of fantasy and colour, a world of dragons and orcs! Of beasts of all kinds! Yet this priceless product is one of a kind even there out shining them all!” There was a click before the metal platform lurched and began to rose.

L stumbled but kept his balance, his breath was heavy and laboured and he flinched as bright lights flooded in from a hole above him, he ducked his head and yet his hands began to shine and glitter under the light, the crowed was whispering there were so many and L’s heart sank as he lowered his head, “A living gem! Made of magic and dragons treasure! Who knows what secrets it can find, it holds magic in its veins and most of all, it shines like a star!” All of a sudden the black fabric was ripped off him and he gasped.

The concentrated lights were pointed at the gem and the moment they struck his body he flowed brilliantly, reflecting purple light and sparkling all over, his purple eyes widened confused as his body refracted everything and he truly did look like a star when illuminated.

“Be it a piece for your collection, a pet for your menagerie, hell it even has humanoid body parts for whatever purpose you may like!” The seller chuckled ominously, and it made L shiver, “This priceless gem is starting at a bidding of 1 million credits!” And with that the room exploded into life, L quickly lost track of it all as the numbers went higher the signs flew up and he realised that there was no escape, and he had no idea what fate would befall him.

[tinydragoninthecentre]

[lifeofkaze]

Coffee, Cake and Covert Secrets

A/N: Surprise! Wishing the happiest of birthdays to my favourite fellow German gal, my gaming nerd, the beloved sunshine of the best group of friends I ever had. May you have cake, cat cuddles, and may that effing Frozen Pony of Ridiculous Drop Rates finally be yours today. I love youuuu 💛💛💛

Warning: mentions of pregnancy

The rain was pouring from the grey skies in heavy curtains, drenching the ground and dripping from the trees at the edge of the forest. Lizzie hurried through it, along the last bit of the muddy pathway ending toward the tiny cottage, through the lush green front yard and found shelter beneath the porch.

She wiped the rain from her eyes and shivered; even for the end of August, it was surprisingly cold in this region of North England. She felt chilly to the bone and drew her coat, which she wore open over her loose jumper, together as best she could. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. The sound of approaching footsteps could be heard before the door opened to reveal a woman of Lizzie’s age, with a blonde ponytail and strikingly green eyes.

“Lizzie!” Samantha beamed, opening her arms and closing them around Lizzie a second later. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Me too,” Lizzie smiled back at her old friend. “Sorry I didn’t make it for your actual birthday. I wasn’t feeling well.”

“A stomach bug?” Samantha suggested with a sympathetic look. “People have been getting sick left, right and centre.”

Lizzie hummed in response. “Something along the lines.”

It was only now that Samantha seemed to notice the drenched state Lizzie was in. “Don’t tell me you walked?” she gasped with a mixture of incredulity and concern. “Why didn’t you Apparate?” 

“I felt a little queasy this morning, definitely not well enough to Apparate. Good thing I know how to drive, don’t I?” Lizzie nodded to the old car parked at the beginning of the dirt track leading up to the house, now barely visible through the rain.

“You could have used our fireplace.”

“I could have, I guess,” Lizzie said evasively, “but I wasn’t sure you were hooked up.”

That was a lie. Lizzie knew full well that the cottage Samantha was living in was connected to the Floo Network, but the thought of the awful spinning sensation that came with travelling by Floo powder had been enough to put her off the idea. 

“Now you know for next time.” Samantha frowned. “Is everything alright? You look pale.”

“I’m just tired. And wet,” Lizzie added, her eyebrows rising. “Can I come in?”

“Of course! Sorry,” Samantha stepped aside to let Lizzie in, colour rising to her cheeks. “No wonder you’re tired, what with a baby and all.”

Walking past the mirror in Samantha’s hallway, Lizzie had to admit that Samantha was right. She looked tired, her skin pale with dark circles under her eyes.

“How’s little Dylan? And where are your men anyway?” Samantha continued to chat over Lizzie’s silence, either not noticing or pretending not to notice. Lizzie was grateful for it.

“They’re having a boys’ day,” Lizzie smiled as Samantha led her into the living room. “The weather wasn’t as bad at home, so they’re probably doing something fun on the beach. As much fun as an eight-month-old can have on a beach, that is. In any case, I’m glad to get out of the house for a change.”

Samantha’s living room was small but cosy, with a big fireplace and fluffy carpets on the floor. The shelves were filled with trinkets and souvenirs, reminding Lizzie of her great-grandmother’s study at Fraser Hall. She sat on the sofa and reached for a colourful pillow, reminding her of the ones her friend Charlie had in his lodge at the Romanian dragon reserve. She laid it across her lap and leaned back into the cushions, feeling the tiredness tug at the borders of her mind. 

She and Samantha chatted for a while, about how Samantha had spent her birthday, their families, the weather. Lizzie was trying to focus, but the way she absentmindedly pulled on one of the tassels on the pillow across her lap wasn’t lost on Samantha.

“Do you really not want a coffee? It’s no bother to make one.”

“You don’t drink any. Please, don’t make an effort for me.”

“It wouldn’t be,” Samantha protested. “I keep some in the house for guests anyway.” A mischievous smile was forming on her face. “I could add a shot of whiskey if you like. Irish naturally.”

“No, and especially not with Irish whiskey,” Lizzie shook her head and sighed. “I’m not doing that at the moment.”

Samantha touched her forehead with her palm. “Of course, you’re breastfeeding.”

Lizzie paused. “Yeah, that.”

Their conversation drifted away from the topic. Samantha told Lizzie how much she relished her newfound freedom after the war, and how now - after more than a year since the Dark Lord had been defeated - everything had slowly but surely returned to a fragile state of normality.

“It’s like life just went on,” Samantha sighed. “We lost so many, and yet, here we are as if nothing ever happened.”

“Strange, isn’t it?” Lizzie mused. She chuckled wryly. “Though I didn’t have much choice in seeing how quickly life continues.” 

“I bet that whole pregnancy came out of nowhere,” Samantha laughed, not noticing Lizzie’s distinct lack of comment. “But now everything’s going back to normal for you, too. As normal as the life of a Quidditch player gets, that is. Are you excited to go back to playing soon? The season’s about to start, isn’t it?”

Lizzie suddenly looked uneasy. “It is. But I’m not going to return.”

Aghast, Samantha blinked several times. “Merlin’s beard, why not? I thought you were looking forward to it!”

“I was,” Lizzie sighed, picking at a loose thread on the pillow, before letting go of it with a sigh. “But I won’t be allowed to, for at least another year.”

Lizzie waited with bated breath as Samantha processed the information. When the pieces finally fell into place, Samantha’s green eyes went wide.

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered, leaning slightly forward. “You’re not pregnant again, are you?”

Feeling a mixture of relief and misery, Lizzie nodded somewhat unhappily. Samantha squealed and jumped off her seat, hugging Lizzie so tightly that she struggled to breathe for a moment. 

“That’s fantastic news! How long have you known? When are you due? Do you know what it’s going to be? Do you even want to know?”

The sheer enthusiasm Samantha was putting on display made Lizzie laugh after all. “I’ve known for a bit now, I’m due next spring, and no, we don’t know, but it doesn’t matter anyway. If the new baby is half as relaxed as Dylan, I’m perfectly happy with anything.”

“Does Orion know yet?”

“Judging by how loudly I cursed when I found out, probably all of Montrose knows. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me throw the bottle with the test potion against the wall,” Lizzie added wryly and then sighed. “Certainly wasn’t one of my stronger moments.”

“You’re not happy about it then?” Samantha asked, suddenly looking apprehensive.

“No, I am,” Lizzie hurried to reply, placing her hand onto her stomach beneath the wide sweater in an unconscious movement. “It’s just really soon after having Dylan, and it’s all a lot. And it means saying goodbye to Quidditch for another while… if not completely.”

The sad look on Lizzie’s face made Samantha reach out, lightly touching her arm. Lizzie gave her a grateful smile and visibly pulled herself together. 

“I didn’t come all the way by car to talk about myself and the consequences of being hormonal and reckless, though,” she said determinedly before breaking into a small giggle. “I’m here to celebrate a birthday, even if it’s late and only with sad, whiskey-less tea.”

Samantha’s face lit up. “Do you know what goes with tea and birthdays? Cake!”

Lizzie laughed, feeling a lot lighter now that her secret was out. “I had a feeling you were about to say this. Is it from your birthday still?”

“Obviously, I was. And no, I baked it this morning. There’s nothing better for the soul than chocolate cake,” Samantha called out as she vanished into the kitchen. Lizzie heard the clatter of plates and cutlery before she returned with two huge slices of cake, a fork sticking out of each. When she stopped to set one of the plates down in front of Lizzie, she suddenly looked worried.

“You can still do chocolate cake, right?”

Lizzie laughed and picked up her fork. “There’s only one way to find out.” 

[mythicamagic]

Enemies to Lovers - Sesshoumaru is injured - "Lean on me" prompt

AN: Because there’s a lot of prompts to get through I probably should have/could have spent more time on this one due to the heavy subject matter buuut since in the anime Sesshoumaru only gets 11 episodes to recover from the loss of his arm, I don’t feel too guilty XD

Warning: body trauma

---

Inuyasha's wench had found him around an hour ago. Unlike Rin, she'd deliberated approaching for a few moments. Unsurprising. They were still foes after all. Crimson eyes remained burning, glaring listlessly at her face.

She'd seemed to silently decide something, determination steeling her expression. The yellow nekomata he vaguely recalled belonging to the slayer was her sole companion, who growled at him warningly not to try anything. As if he would.

The miko carried a large cumbersome bag, so he assumed she'd been headed somewhere before running into him within the forest.

Kagome cleaned his wound as best she could, before binding it to try and stop the excessive blood loss. She'd then approached with the beast, proceeding to kneel beside his bloody form. Sesshoumaru remained where he was, reclined against a tree and settled at its base.

Kagome winced, arm secured around his waist after having removed his armour.

"I can't just leave you like this. Lean on me. I'll take your weight enough to move you onto Kirara."

Sesshoumaru turned his head, gazing at nothing.

His lips moved, speaking too softly for her to hear.

"What?"

He repeated himself in a tight voice. "What is the point?"

Kagome stiffened against him. Her heart thudded quicker, fear brushing his senses.

Sesshoumaru allowed his hazy red eyes to dull into empty gold, staring right at the woman.

He could survive a missing arm. Had adjusted his fighting style enough to manage.

But the Killing Perfection could not survive the loss of a leg too. His body would save him from blood loss, but his spirit lay broken, irreparable.

Kagome swallowed loudly, resting a hand on his upper thigh. His leg ended below the knee.

"T-this… it's nothing for you," she mumbled quietly. "You're going to be okay. You'll find a way to walk again."

Sesshoumaru chuckled dryly, resting his head back against the trunk. "Why do you care, wench?" he flashed sharp teeth at her. "We are not allies. Leave me."

"I won't," Kagome moved closer, grabbing a handful of his hankimono. "Listen, I might not be your friend and you've tried to kill Inuyasha more than a few times, but…" her hand shook. "But you're the strongest person I've met. If you fall, then what hope do the rest of us have?" she questioned softly. "Despite myself, I admire people like you and Kikyo. Always so crazy strong."

Sesshoumaru scoffed, gripping her hard by the hair and forcing her head down to look at the stump of his right leg. "Do I look strong to you, miko?" he hissed in her ear.

Kagome braced her hands on his available leg, twisting in his grip to look at him.

Sesshoumaru stilled.

Unshed tears lay in her eyes.

"Yes," she muttered with conviction. "So long as you don't give up now."

Sesshoumaru stared. Inky black hair slowly fell limp around his fingers. He settled back against the tree.

Kagome straightened, winding an arm around his waist again. "At least come with me to find shelter. You can't stay like this out in the open."

Sesshoumaru remained dead weight. He did not see the point in trying.

He could not hope to recover from this.

Kagome tugged and heaved at his body, his mass much too big for her to hope to move.

She sighed with frustration, blowing air at her bangs. "I'll tell Inuyasha about this," she grumbled.

Sesshoumaru blinked, sliding his gaze back to her. "I would kill you before you managed to leave."

Kagome smiled a little, patting his shoulder. "That's better. You look a bit more like yourself when you're threatening someone."

He wanted to snap at her. To snarl and bite the soft looking skin of her neck, frighten her enough to leave.

He was tired. A part of him felt content to die after his pride lay in such shattered tiny pieces.

And yet…

And yet a part of him, instinctive, strong and indomitable, refused to lay down and perish. It appreciated her continued efforts.

The thought of him hobbling about so pathetically was almost too much to bear, but Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, realising very wretchedly that this meant he did not in fact wish to die.

"We can do this," Kagome was muttering, trying to angle him enough to lay on Kirara, who pressed in close, offering assistance.

Sesshoumaru stifled a sigh, making a silent choice. He begrudgingly leaned against her, shifting his remaining leg beneath him.

Kagome gasped, "that's it!" she encouraged, helping him into a crouching position before he fell forward onto the beast. Kagome adjusted his leg, ensuring he was steady, before nodding for Kirara to stand.

Sesshoumaru did not pay attention to their surroundings, the forest passing in a blur.

If he'd just been quicker, the bull demon who had humiliated him would have perished sooner. The beast had produced a second weapon out of thin air, axe cleaving through muscle and bone. All he could do was pull back- lest he lose his entire lower half.

He felt no pain. Surprisingly, everything remained numb. His flesh was cold and clammy, and he lay as if outside of his own body.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, lapsing into unconsciousness.

---

The scent of rain stirred his senses.

Sesshoumaru turned his head, finding himself laying down upon a strange futon that resembled a squashed cocoon. The nekomata lay behind him, keeping him warm.

Sesshoumaru blinked. The miko had found them shelter. He soon located her sitting at the mouth of the cave, looking out at the rain while a fire lay in the centre of the cool space.

When she noticed he’d regained consciousness, Kagome rose and offered some water from her strange water container.

She’d changed clothes, donning more unusual clothing Sesshoumaru was unfamiliar with. Her pants clung to her form distractingly.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, hovering close.

He tsked, passing back the water after taking a swig. “Like I have one leg and one arm. How do you think I am feeling, mortal?”

She winced, “shitty.”

“Indeed,” Sesshoumaru lay back down, staring at the cave ceiling soberly.

“Do you want something to eat?” a crunchy noise rustled from her pocket as the woman produced a rectangular bar of some kind.

He couldn’t keep the disgust out of his voice, eyeing a picture of the food on its strange packaging. “What is it?”

“A peanut butter and chocolate energy bar,” Kagome winced. “Look I don’t know how to hunt-” he scoffed, “-so this is the best I’ve got. Sorry, your Highness.”

Sesshoumaru sneered, “you may keep it. I do not eat human food. Least of all bizarre creations such as that.”

“Fine but it's your loss.”

His expression became blank, noticing her wince and start apologising for the wording. He wasn’t listening anymore though. The initial shock was beginning to wear off, and now he was more than painfully aware of the shooting pains running up and down the remainder of his leg, from stump to upper thigh. Sweat began to bead on his forehead, refusing to show his discomfort.

“...You’ve used a human arm before,” Kagome said carefully, sitting beside him and crossing her legs. “And what looked like a dragon one. By that logic, you could attach a demon leg to yours, right?”

Sesshoumaru slid his gaze to her, silently thankful for the distraction. The coming agony would be something he’d already dealt with due to the loss of his arm. Phantom limb pain was a real bitch.

“Yes,” he managed, before taking a steadying breath. He managed to arrange his features into something smirking and lofty. “Are you implying you will fetch me a new limb, little miko? How very generous.”

Kagome’s eyes turned flat. “I’m not about to go out and lop off some poor demon’s foot just to help you. But...if…” she said slowly, “if I’m attacked- which happens often because of the jewel shards- maybe I’d…”

Sesshoumaru dropped his smug expression, frowning softly.

The rain continued to pour, pelting the ground hard. It was a sobering reminder that if she’d left him to the mercy of the elements, he’d be in a much worse state.

He ran careful attention over her features. “Why?”

Kagome’s deep blue eyes held his probing stare, not a flicker of deceit in them. “I don’t know,” she admitted softly, “things can’t go back to normal for you right away- or at least, they shouldn’t. You should take the time to recover. I don’t know how the hell you managed to come after us so quickly after losing your arm. It likely wasn’t healthy for you.”

He arched a brow. Repressing every single fibre of the experience and any feelings about the fate that had befallen his left arm had worked wonders for his recovery. Granted it made sleep difficult at times, but none had ever had the audacity to lecture him about his decisions before.

“But- I also don’t want you to be vulnerable to attacks or starvation,” Kagome kept rambling. “Giving you a leg won’t solve everything but it’ll help- ah, are you burning up?” she noticed a bead of sweat roll down his temple, reaching out automatically.

Sesshoumaru snatched it mid-air, pushing up with a burst of speed and yanking Kagome down, simultaneously rolling atop her. Her back hit the ground, punctuated with a squeak from her startled lips.

Silver hair hung down, creating a curtain that blocked out the rest of the world. Those blue eyes widened, breath hitching. Their lower halves pressed intimately together, stomachs meeting as Sesshoumaru leaned closer, using his hand to brace his weight above her. A fire burned within the back of his throat, ancient, tattered pride stinging. He found that he resented her slightly. Resented her for seeing him so weak. It hadn’t mattered when Rin had found him wounded. A battered child had no relation to him. But this girl, Kagome- was an enemy. She should not have seen him thus.

“Do I seem so very vulnerable to you?” he asked in a hushed voice, mouth inches from hers. The fire crackled, rain pouring. Her breathing sounded a touch quicker, heartbeat loud in his ears. Drumming.

Against all logic, he felt her body relax beneath his. She even smiled a little, “no,” she muttered.

“Is something amusing?”

“I’m just glad you proved me wrong. I’d rather you kept acting like a jerk than look so...defeated like you did earlier,” Kagome gave a nervous giggle, gesturing between them, “uh...if you could let me up now though that would be great.”

She tried to rise, but he let more of his weight sink down upon her soft, warm body. “No, I do not think I will.”

Kagome gasped, drawing a knee up and inadvertently opening her legs, allowing him to fit snugly against her. If he hadn’t lost a limb several hours earlier that same day and wasn’t experiencing agonising, blinding pain, Sesshoumaru had to say, the feeling was enough to make him...consider something previously thought impossible between himself and humans.

As it was, he hissed a breath through grit teeth, the stump licking phantom flames of blazing fire around the wound.

“Sesshoumaru? Sesshoumaru!”

He shuddered, trying to prevent himself from crushing her beneath his weight, arm shaking.

It hurt. It suddenly hurt like hell- and nothing was working. No distraction could take him from the blistering, lonely, maddening sensation that holy fuck his leg was missing. He wanted to do something as meaningless as wriggle his toes and he could not-

Suddenly, her arms were around him. Pleasant fresh scents assaulted his fractured senses, citrusy and clean. Kagome pulled him down while rolling herself, flipping their positions.

“I don’t have anything for the pain,” her voice strained apologetically. She quickly moved off him, but Sesshoumaru wasn’t paying attention anymore. He panted, temples pounding. His body shook, pain shooting through the nerve endings in the remainder of his leg.

Something cold and wet lay over his marked forehead. Cracking the burning suns of pained golden eyes open, he watched Kagome adjust the cold compress, before checking his leg.

“You heal quick, but you need new bandages. M-maybe that’ll help until I can go home for painkillers,” she muttered, grabbing her bag and digging through it.

Sesshoumaru panted softly, seizing the fretting miko’s wrist.

“Your...scent,” he grunted.

“What?”

If he were sober he’d never request something so undignified, but Sesshoumaru kept talking, somewhat delirious now that all sense of shock had worn off. “Come here...again. I want your scent.”

Kagome’s shocked features were lost to him as the Daiyoukai hissed, squeezing his eyes shut.

The scent of citrus returned after a moment. Soft, curling locks of dark hair brushed his nose as Kagome gingerly embraced him.

Sesshoumaru wrapped an arm around her shoulders, burying his face into the black fall of citrus-scented strands. He lost himself to instinct, gripping onto the stable, pleasant sensations that took the form of Inuyasha’s wench. She let out a tense breath but soon relaxed against him, verbally assuring Kirara when the nekomata growled.

For the second time that day, Sesshoumaru unwillingly lost the battle for consciousness.

----

She was gone by the time he awoke in the morning, but the nekomata remained. She growled and hissed softly whenever he looked at the beast for longer than necessary. Kagome left a note, explaining that she’d be back soon.

Sesshoumaru had little to do except wait. The pain had become a continuous throb, which was easier to deal with but equally as irritating, exhausting him.

When Kagome returned several hours later, she produced wrapped pieces of cooked chicken from her bag, cheerfully explaining that she’d returned home. Sesshoumaru turned his nose up slightly at the food.

“I would have preferred the bird...raw.”

“Wait like freshly dead?”

“Alive, favourably.”

Kagome gaped, leaving the lunchbox with him. “That's terrible!”

Sesshoumaru stared at her flatly, opening his mouth and drawing out his tongue, transforming his features into something more monstrous and canine while placing the food into his mouth and eating it in one quick snap of his jaws. “Demon,” he muttered pointedly.

She rolled her eyes and let him finish his meal in peace.

---

They fell into an odd routine of planned visits for several days, talking about the strange things she brought back from home. He came to learn she was from the Future, of all places. They discussed its advanced technologies while she bandaged his leg.

He suspected the miko felt some sense of responsibility for him now. The thought set his teeth on edge, mildly humiliated.

When he brought up the subject of his vassal, ward and steed, Kagome shrugged and told him they’d been accepted into Inuyasha’s group for the time being. They worried about his continued absence and Inuyasha complained about having to share a space with Jaken, but bared with it. Not one person knew about his situation except Kagome, for which he was thankful.

By the end of five days though, Sesshoumaru needed to move. He began by pulling himself along the ground via his hand and knee, which proved awkward but not impossible. Next came standing, which- after many failed attempts- he finally managed to do, gripping onto the cave wall.

Walking was impossible, of course. And by the time Sesshoumaru realised the very sobering truth that he’d have to hop everywhere the rest of his life or walk with the use of a cane or crutch unless he could grab a demon leg- he wondered why he’d bothered moving at all.

“You’re standing!”

Dulled golden eyes slid to the miko, who stood at the mouth of the cave. In her arms was a large sack faintly marred with blood, and he could tell from the wrinkle of her nose exactly what it was. Surprise slammed into his gut.

“Miko-”

Kagome set the bundle down, hurrying over and steadying him when he tipped too much to one side. “Are you alright? You should be resting-”

“Give me the leg, miko.”

Kagome fell silent, eyeing his stump. He’d stopped needing bandages two days ago. She didn’t protest, merely looking at him carefully. “Are you sure?”

Sesshoumaru leaned against her, allowing her to help ease him down into a sitting position. He briefly touched her cheek, gliding a thumb there and watching it redden. His heart thudded with gladness. “I am sure.”

She nodded, soon bringing the bloodied sack over. She explained that he’d gotten lucky, as while the first two demons they’d faced in a group of three had been too large and bulky to fit his build, the third had been smaller. Inuyasha had been extremely disturbed and suspicious when she’d asked him to hack their leg off once all three were dead.

“It’s not been easy, avoiding his questions, you know. He’s tried to follow me here more than once. I managed to convince him that this leg was for my weird Grandpa.”

Sesshoumaru blinked, finding himself watching her instead of studying the leg as it was revealed to him. The miko had been astronomically helpful and considerate in all the ways one could to a demon lord. His chest felt strange. Warm, upon realising the extent of her actions for his sake.

“Well, do you like it?”

Sesshoumaru jolted, focusing on the red-scaled leg laying before him. From its scent, he knew it to be from a lizard demon. Not his first choice, but this was no time to be picky. Sesshoumaru grabbed it and pressed the severed end to his stump after aligning it. He didn’t so much as flinch as muscle and bone wove together, the process over in seconds. Kagome gaped with amazement.

When he moved to stand, she quickly assisted, pulling him to his feet. Sesshoumaru took a step and staggered, looking downwards.

Ah.

Kagome’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh. Oh no...it's too short isn’t it?”

The height was off by a few inches.

He made to reply- before stiffening, scenting salt. “Why are you crying about it, foolish woman?”

“I-I’m sorry,” she waved it off, some tears escaping down her cheeks before she roughly brushed them away. “I just wanted it to be perfect but now you’re kind of...tilted.”

Despite the situation, a smile tugged at his mouth. A noise bubbled up from the back of his throat, escaping as a quiet laugh.

Kagome froze, tears clinging to her lashes.

“It is fine, miko. More than...fine.”

Sesshoumaru held onto the wall for support, feeling the bite of putting weight onto the leg, his stump flaring. It would take time for his body to adjust. Despite this, his warrior heart filled with purpose again, powers working to heal him. Just having the ability to walk after having it stolen away renewed his spirits.

Kagome watched him with a smile, occasionally offering aid but largely keeping her hands off. He could sense various soft emotions rolling off her in waves. Admiration, relief and something else. Something he could not name. It remained untouched and unnamed long after he left the cave behind one afternoon.

He had no writing utensils to leave a note, instead carefully tearing out a segment of his sleeve, leaving the red and white flower symbol of his family crest for her to find.

---

Kagome panted hard, catching her breath and folding down into a crouch, gripping her bow tight.

“Are you alright, Kagome?” Rin asked, closely followed by Shippo as they approached from Ah-Un, having kept away from the random attack on the village. Thankfully the hoard of boar demons had finally been dealt with, but Kagome’s nerves were shot to hell after racing around so much, trying to protect villagers.

“I-I’m fine, guys, thanks,” she smiled, looking between them both. The orphans had bonded quickly, and she felt a surge of warmth, happy they had a companion their age to talk with. It had been two weeks since she’d last seen Sesshoumaru since his disappearance, and while she loved having Rin around, it did make her worry. Sesshoumaru always returned to his group. Where had he run off too?

Maybe he went to find a better leg, she thought, taking the children’s hands and walking towards Miroku- who was helping up an old man from where he’d fallen. Perhaps he needed time to get used to walking on what’s essentially a prosthetic.

For humans- such a thing took up to one year. Demons really are something else.

Kagome’s lips curved, picturing the burning, determined gaze of the Daiyoukai.

Or rather, Sesshoumaru is something else.

“Kagome, look out!” Miroku yelled.

Jerking, Kagome sensed a lone boar youkai barrelling towards her through the forest, knocking trees aside. It was quicker than anticipated- and despite Kagome grabbing the children and trying to run out of its way, it charged straight for her, grunting, throwing its head wildly.

People were screaming her name, but they were too far away. Kagome twisted her body, pushing the kids aside and in order for her to take the brunt of the hit-

Red light exploded to life, consuming the boar demon before it could reach them. Hide and blood were caught up in the attack, leaving Kagome mercifully free from the boar's flying carnage.

She panted, shaking a little and gazing at the steaming remains of the demon. A pale figure floated to the ground, landing elegantly.

“Lord Sesshoumaru!” Rin cried happily.

“Lord Sesshoumaru?!” Jaken’s distant yell could be heard.

Kagome straightened, heart doing a funny thing in her chest. She immediately looked at his leg- finding him clad in white hakama pants and black boots. The same as always.

Blue eyes widened. He appeared completely unchanged. Somehow, he must’ve found an inhuman demon and took their leg so that he could masquerade as his usual self.

His tiny group circled around him joyously, while Kagome’s friends gathered together a little ways away. Inuyasha’s ears pinned back to his head with displeasure.

Jaken hopped up and down. “Where have you BEEN, mi lord!”

“Nowhere."

“Tch, bastard,” grumbling, Inuyasha raised his voice a touch. “Hey- you could at least thank us for babysitting your damn group while you were probably out doing power-hungry shit.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze slid over the Hanyou dismissively, stopping on Kagome. Her breathing hitched.

“I am not here to thank you, Inuyasha.”

Kagome remained frozen as a shadow fell over her face, his head of silver hair blocking out the sun. Golden eyes replaced the burning circle in the sky, blazing and intent. Slit pupils pinned her in place.

She was vaguely aware of her friends exclaiming in surprise and alarm, thinking he meant to harm her. The sound of Inuyasha drawing his sword was enough to make her mutter ‘sit boy’ absentmindedly, paying no attention to his subsequent impact with the ground.

Sesshoumaru raised a hand, resting pale knuckles against her cheek in a slow drag down to her jaw, skin cool, clashing against her warmth. White lashes lowered, becoming half-mast.

“You’re okay?” she breathed.

“Hn, I merely needed some time,” Sesshoumaru’s low rumble melted her insides.

She cleared her throat, cheeks tinging red because of his proximity, his dark youki brushing her senses, his touch- his everything. Reaching into her pocket, she produced the segment of his clothing, the pattern of his clan. “Did you want this back-?”

“Keep it,” he closed her fingers over it, catching her eye. “You have my loyalty for what you have done for this one, miko. Keep it,” he said softer.

Kagome nodded slowly, opening her mouth to ask more-

Firm lips slanted over her own. Stiffening, she became deaf to her friend’s even louder exclamations of surprise, Miroku quietly voicing his awe, impressed.

The miko inhaled sharply through her nose, feeling Sesshoumaru’s mouth move, brushing against her own in several lingering kisses. Blushing, it took a moment for Kagome to get over her stupefaction. But then she pressed a little closer, kissing him back perhaps a little nonsensically. But it felt right. Her toes curled at the feel of him.

A low groan rumbled in his throat and his lips softened against hers, mouth parting to brush his sinuous tongue against hers.

Kagome shivered and wondered if he could hear how her heart hammered in her chest. His palm felt steady upon her back, arm encircling her waist. When they finally pulled away, their lips lingered close.

“What...what was that?” she breathed, cheeks flushed.

Sesshoumaru’s lips quirked, “that was this Sesshoumaru conveying my deep sense of gratitude, miko.”

“Funny way of thanking someone, but I’ll take it,” Kagome’s eyes glittered. She could think about the consequences of such an action later. For now, she was content to hold his gaze and keep his secret safe- for however long the prideful Daiyoukai needed.