#[Arc One - Binding Ties - Before Canon]

[funnel-webbed-au]

Scorched Petals

Tag List: @skellebonez

Riley's Notes: HI HI I'M ALIVE AND BACK FROM HIATUS also my brainrot isn't being useful right now posting will be weird

Nezha dragged himself through the doorway, the flames still licking at his body even though they weren't there anymore. The pain, the heat, the overwhelming sense of isolation and abandonment, it had been a very long time since he'd been punished so severely. He knew damn well it had been a bad idea to award the last Demons of Camel Ridge a begrudging salvation, and now that Li Jing had heard of his actions, he knew that his punishments would be far more cruel should he slip up on anything he was told to do. Disobedience, after all, was never tolerated well in a place like this.

The ancient Deity brushed past his beloved superior, the only man he would ever refer to as his father, and tripped over himself when the pain from the rings on his ankles overwhelmed his senses. As Erlang Shen reached down to help his student to his feet, the younger Deity smacked his hand away, hissing through his teeth in mind-melting discomfort.

"No. Don't... don't touch me. I'm still too warm." Nezha's words gave away what had happened scarcely an hour prior. The architectural Deity who had offered his hand pulled away, but did not leave his student's side. He had to be here to support him through such trying times, especially while Kui Mulang was busy drinking his cares away. Someone had to set a good standard.

It tore the old dog apart to see his son, his child, in such a state. How could anyone do this to their own blood? It completely escaped the ancient Deity how anyone would find such treatment permissible. Alas, there was little he could do in the state they were both in. Nezha desperately wanted to avoid being touched until the heat wore off, for fear of hurting someone with the way his powers were fluctuating.

"Just... give me something to do. Order me around if you want to, I just want to get these images out of my head." Nezha opened his eyes as he spoke, the vivid indigo now replaced with a vibrant, scorching shade of hot pink. It reminded Erlang Shen of the lotuses the Deity loved so dearly... but also of the fires that he harnessed and was burned by in equal measure.

"Nezha, my boy, would you do us all a favor? I'm certain I am not the only one who would appreciate a hot cup of tea right now." Those words seemed to relieve the tension from Nezha's body. Erlang Shen breathed a sigh as he relaxed, thankful that even such a small task could bring his son reprieve from the stress. It was a welcome distraction, a welcome return to the idea of 'normal' that he was so used to.

An idea that had been (literally) beaten into him.

Nezha filled the kettle, then turned the stove on and set it on the burner, waiting impatiently for the water to boil. As he scrolled through his phone, it dinged from a text message from one of his siblings. For whatever reason, Red Son wanted him in his lab. Nezha sighed. He figured the fire Demon wanted more samples of his ichor for experimentation. He couldn't blame him; the intense magics in it made it a fascinating lab reagent with a variety of applications before and after processing.

But that could come later. Now? It was time for him to rest and breathe off that memory.

That damned pagoda... and those heartless men... one day, he vowed, he'd make a statement so harsh, that Heaven would cast them out.

One day.

[ravenssunshine]

tw // abuse

i wanted to talk about the depiction of abuse in bungo stray dogs because it’s one of the most evoking aspects of the series for me.

disclaimer: i am by no means any kind of expert. all information comes from my own personal research as relevant to my own situations.

this thought first arose when i was reading atsushi learning about the orphanage director’s death. the orphanage director told atsushi “when it comes to it, hate me, never hate yourself” as an explanation of his abuse. this stood out to me because atsushi’s childhood certainly made him the person he was at the begging of the series. however, the director failed entirely. atsushi hates himself. atsushi’s character arc revolves around his desire to find a reason to live. despite the orphanage directors well guided but ultimately incorrect efforts to give atsushi an emotional out, atsushi never takes it. the orphanage director very pointedly never gets redemption in the canon timeline or beast, and atsushi breaks down upon his death in both timelines. i felt as though this storyline addressed the complicated feels held towards an abuser when that abuser is a parent (or a similar figure). it’s never black and white, no matter how much it should be.

the second arc that stands out to me is kouyou and kyouka. during the cannibalism arc, kouyou says she’ll do anything to protect mori because she fears the port mafia going back to how it was before him. this is relevant because kouyou does all that she does for kyouka out of a misguided urge to “protect” her. i found kouyou to be a good representation of a woman who found a young girl very similar to herself and made it her goal to turn her into what she wished she could’ve been, but the environment of the port mafia skewed the perspective of what an ideal life could be for kouyou. to me, this explains why kouyou let kyouka go and tracked down the file containing the truth about kyouka’s parents and her ability. kouyou initially failed as a guardian, but the exposure to the “light” and the ada was enough for her to finally let kyouka go.

the last instance is mori, dazai, and akutagawa. they create a fascinating picture of generational violence. we don’t know how young dazai was when he joined the port mafia, but we know he was younger than 15 when he witnessed mori killing the old boss, effectively binding him without refuge from mori’s agenda. dazai was probably always going to be an apathetic, suicidal person because those are traits of mental illness, but the way he treated akutagawa was certainly a product of his environment. as a symbolic device, in the port mafia, it’s customary for the person who brings someone into the mafia to give them something of theirs (as stated in dazai, chuuya, fifteen). dazai gave akutagawa his coat. mori gave dazai a coat as well. to me, it seems like this was the same coat between the three of them, however mori does ask dazai if he still has the coat he gave him and dazai says “i burned that long ago.” whether it’s the same piece of fabric or not, as an object, it’s something that binds the three of them. however, dazai is able to let go of his ties to the mafia in material form. this literal dismissal of mafia clothing and the ideals is what allows dazai to mentor atsushi so differently at the ada than how he mentored akutagawa in the port mafia. additionally, likely due to akutagawa’s isolated and struggling upbringing, akutagawa becomes entirely dependent on dazai’s approval. asagiri recently said something about akutagawa’s arc not being over. i truly do not think akutagawa will resolve as a character until he can let go of his dependency on dazai, which likely will not happen without an acknowledgment of shortcomings by dazai.

there’s a lot more to say about the cycles of abuse in the port mafia, but out of the main cast, this is what stands out to me

[mast7r]

my list of hari's involvement w tvd canon by season, found below bc long.

hari arrives around 2x11, and stays under the radar. observing, "borrowing" someone's home. normal stuff. doesn't know what's going on in mystic falls so he temporarily resurrects one of jules's victims from her wolf spree. having a bleeding heart day he lets resurrectee go on a farewell walk around town and gets seen, which starts the whole tip off that something is up. also goes to the historical society party event in 2x14 where they meet elijah briefly. they have noodle hiding around the place to spy and report back. dependent: there's a spell on noodle to hide him from sight, but not from vampire senses.

OPTIONAL ARC - after jonas takes away bonnies powers in 2x15, hari approaches her and pretends to be a normal witch who was associated with jonas but cut ties. lies for the "greater good". he offers her help to get her powers back and whether or not she accepts, he gives her some advice on channelling sites of magic and powerful objects. i'll generally assume she refused his help and she gets them back via jonas before he dies as in canon.

hari disappears from sight again for the rest of the season, mostly to research the originals. partner dependent, he may have come across an original in the past, but i'll assume he hasn't and is doing fresh research. for the first time in a while, he contacts hermione and asks her to use her connections to see if there was anything at the ministry about originals. i also assume bonnie tells the others that he's lurking around town by now.

hari knows that someone messed with death and the balance however since bonnie's away for the summer and damon's busy with the stefan hunt, he's left alone. the gilberts make his magic fritz a little and so he tries to call him the troops. is it because hes a lil lonely hanging out in mystic falls? is it because he feels guilty seeing people who'd fight for their loved ones? who knows! he gets back into contact with katie bell and invites her to mystic falls. he's been exploring places of power like the witch house and thinks there might be something there that could help her after the cursed necklace turned her into a siphoner. she, ofc, does not take this offer but after they talk hari gets killed.

ASSUMED - this is happening alongside 3x4. hari is finally noticed again which is what gets him killed by damon. likely because of the assumption he's working with an original. if the partner is not into this, then i'll assume a member of the council killed him somewhere noticeable. because he never explained his dying problem to his friends back home, the fact he doesn't respond to katie's calls or texts causes her to take the invite and go to mystic falls. he sent a plane ticket just in case she changed her mind so she uses it.

NOT OPTIONAL - 3x7. katie has arrived and he gets his ass handed to him for just leaving, but their reminiscing means that when ghosts appear, so does cedric diggory. godmodding lynn here but cedric is still around in the ghost world because of the circumstances around his murder, with the wizarding world covering it up and lying about what happened to him. so he just got stuck. due to hari's connection with death, ced actually remains corporal for a few hours even after the spell is dropped and any ghosts hari spent some time with that day have extra time as well. caroline and bonnie realise someone has been spending a lotta time at the witch house and when they try to find out who, they find him very not dead. the necklace remains the central point of the ghost spell however the ghost manifestation is equally anchored to hari and that's why it's only affecting the mystic falls area as opposed to the canon reason.

plot dependent, depending on how much he's interacted with other characters at this point, hari isn't very forthcoming with details of who he is or what he is. bonnie uses a binding spell on him to "keep him in sight" whilst they're investigating the caves and mikaelson origins, although who it ties him to can change based on plot. hari breaks it pretty easily but plays along since its easier than spying on them since the ministry had nothing on the mikaelsons. by the end of the ep he makes it clear he's a fair bit stronger than a binding spell like that.

he has no specific involvement in the plot to kill klaus. no thank you, he does not want a part of this, have fun and try not to die. he is at the homecoming party which is (depending on plot) the first time he's met klaus. they can toast to daddy issues. plot optional: whilst he wouldn't involve himself directly in trying to kill klaus, he would not be averse to assisting either side with some magic if asked/bribed.

his involvement in the next three episodes is entirely plot optional. he and katie may be exploring information about her magic problem, he might be helping with unsealing esthers coffin, it's very dependent on character dynamics to this point. he and katie go to the mikaelson ball together (Platonically) both because hari's invited and it's a chance to find out from the oldest vampires in the world what happened to katie. whilst there he does talk to esther briefly so she can confirm for herself what he is and im pretty sure she dislikes him on sight for his existence being against the balance of nature and all. she didn't create this problem so he can be left alone luckily, but it's a stonewall on finding out more about katie.

in 3x15, it's plot dependent who he's specifically helping but hari is trying to assist in stopping esther. not for any personal stakes but because the pillars gave a very definitive order of don't let it happen. they skimped on the details of what would happen if he failed. after abby is turned and struggling with vampirism, he goes to the farmhouse with bonnie and caroline to offer some help adjusting. he shares how, while he was never cut off from magic, it did change after he died and he had to relearn and adapt. it may or may not be the first time he's told anyone in mystic falls why he is what he is now, but definitely doesn't share everything.

i'm not sure if the show said it, but i'm going to say that because esther was channelling the bennet line, it has to be bonnie who unbinds the mikaelsons. klaus possibly threatens hari/katie for help doing it and hari tells him it has to be a bloodline that was involved in the spell. after finns sireline dies, hari gets a mild bout of hell from the pillars for not helping prevent that at all. it takes him out of commission during 3x19 so even if there was magic he could use to help with alaric, he was not up for it. hari and katie also go reminisce about the one and only time hogwarts did a school dance whilst the decade dance is going on, meaning he ignores his phone until it's too late and whilst he undoes esthers spell on the school it's not soon enough to stop alaric from dying. hari doesn't get involved in fighting alaric specifically, instead he's on hand to make sure jeremy wakes back up. hari is also at the storage facility to help but doesn't know bonnie's plan and gets mildly murdered by alaric to keep him out of the way.

hari is a vocal protester to bonnie's plan to save elena. by this point he's told them enough to make it clear he has more control over the other side and death than most witches and he could do something to help. but he refuses outright, and tells them they're just going to have to deal with it. telling them you don't always get the life you wanted does not go well. they fall out with the mystic falls gang over this and damon kills him for refusing to help at all. he's salty enough about it that he mildly encourages the vampire hunter and tells him they'll all be gathered at the church, but it's fine! he wasn't going to just let connor kill everyone. probably. since they're even now, he and katie go and let off their own lanterns and even talk about the war a bit.

using that potter-black money, he finally buys his own place to live since he won't be leaving town any time soon. klaus offers hari more information on siphoners since every time he's tried to find out more there's been some kind of disaster, but only if he helps deal with connor. hari isn't against magical torture. i'm unsure who invites him along, but he does find out about silas from shane ; accordingly, he tries to get another favour from hermione. this time the ministry actually has something. that something isn't very helpful, the ministry destroyed nearly everything relating to silas they could find after a massacre in the 20s - two parts of an expression triangle.

hari isn't involved in the following couple of eps as he's trying to research more into silas. necromancy is very real, of course, but he's pretty sure that the promises silas will bring people back are bullshit and so wants to research accordingly. also, doesn't want another magical megalomaniac around thank you. during this research, he actually starts talking to kol.

by the point of 4x11, hari is fully working with kol to stop silas being resurrected and so helps dispose of the bar vampires. if they have a lil bromance going on here while chatting about how to get rid of jeremy's mark without killing him then so be it. i'm gonna take the "how many times has damon killed hari" tally up to 3 here while jeremy gets away with his arm. they make a back up plan that hari might not be haunted by the curse if he kills jeremy, but plan a is still let damon suffer it instead. hari's very salty idk. for the record, he's not on board with kol's idea to kill bonnie so katie is following bonnie at a distance to make sure kol doesn't go to far, just in case.

tentative friendship over for now with the mystic falls gang, hari makes a deal with klaus before kol is killed where they agree to destroy the cure and make sure silas isn't resurrected. seeing as klaus is under watch at the gilbert house, hari can't free him so instead follows the silas seeking team to the island. magically. at a distance. pretty unfortunate that katherine was doing the same and beats him to the punch. he does stay and helps rebekah and damon to try and find bonnie/deal with the hunter.

hari has a confrontation with silas. first with silas pretending to be katie to find out if he knows anything about where the cure is now, since hari's gotten decent enough at occlumency to keep silas from more than surface skimming his thoughts. all that experience from having a delusional maniac taking up real estate in his head for years. they've set up a code since realising silas escaped the island, however, so silas cycles through a few faces including ron / sirius / lily. hari doesn't tell him that he doesn't know what happened to the cure, and silas makes it clear he knows hari tried pretty hard to stop him coming back, but goes to mentally torture klaus instead. after silas leaves, hari realises katie was hurt to keep her out of the way and cheat codes by giving her vampire blood.

later, suspecting hari's been helping bonnie hide (whether they have is plot optional, but i'll assume he's not touching the mystic falls group even if he's not actively rooting for their deaths) silas threatens him. and does kill him. repeatedly. but since it doesn't stick, and he doesn't talk, silas threatens to kill katie. hari tells him that he doesn't know where bonnie is but caroline might, and silas kills katie anyway. luckily, she still has vampire blood in her system.

with the veil being dropped, cedric appears to them both again. no one else does, and hari realises his loved ones really had moved on since death had never given him a straight answer. together, the three of them spend the day ignoring the supernatural bullshit in mystic falls, turning off their phones, and hanging out while katie decides whether or not she wants to transition. at this point they don't know that she'll keep her magic, even in siphoner form, and so they find ways to let her either enjoy her last day with magic or her last day alive. he misses bonnies calls, as well, so he can't even consider helping her death wise before it's too late. katie decides to transition not long before the veil is put back up, so hari and ced are both there when she becomes a heretic.

their little death day is interrupted by a death eater ghost. lucius malfoy specifically (idc, i just killed him in the battle of hogwarts). they do beat his ass, but the bigot and his buddies are seen around town so hari finally explains about the war. still doesn't explain what exactly he is. there's a standing truce with the mystic falls gang for now.

over the summer, they work with katie on her new vampirism and try to help her adjust to this new way of magic and the prospect of eternity etc. due to his death connection, hari is aware that bonnie is dead and is keeping her secret, but because of the screwing with the veil he's been having some magic issues himself and is extremely sensitive to the other side right now.

hari briefly crosses paths with silas in mystic falls and realises it's not stefan due to his interaction with silas before. being less of a prick for now, he tries to find out what happened to stefan and is the one to find / open the safe, although it was qetsiyah who got the safe out of the sea. she just let hari open it up. thanks to magic, he gets stefan away from him before he’s drained enough that his blood will act like poison (see my headcanon on the effects of hari's blood on vampires). he still dies from blood loss seeing as he has a big ass wound in his neck, but it wasn't enough to hurt stefan, and so it's just hari that damon and elena find in the safe.

hari has no involvement in the following couple of eps because he's fundamentally against helping silas. you will not catch him slipping and helping the dude who killed katie. optional is that he might be helping qetsiyah since he's fully on team kill silas. not to let him go back to being a dick, but he fully thinks the mystic falls gang is being childish around bring people back from the dead. as much as he likes bonnie, he's very aware of the consequences of permanent resurrection. he may or may not say i told you so when she finds out the consequences of being the anchor. he and katie likely get out of mystic falls for a few days to keep her safe from augustine so they're not present during possession/ripper virus arc. since whitmore is the centre point, they go to a college a few hours away and katie compels them into classes for the day so they can try it out.

they come back after the traveller sacrifice. while he and katie attempt to work with the parkers on the magic side, theyre...unsettled by the siphoner/heretic business. the parkers also reveal that the gemini coven knows that hari is master of death and let everyone else know too, while they wouldn't usually work with him the travellers are a cause to unite them all.

hari isn't around in 5x19 and 5x20 because he was caught by markos. they do try to bargain at first, as the form of magic the wizarding world uses isn't spirit magic and markos tries to relate that they're both outsiders to those witches. that doesn't work so they passenger him, but they weren't expecting him to have experience with possession meaning he gets control back a lot faster than expected. rather than playing along to get out, hari kills himself. because of how death works for him it's functional enough that it ejects the passenger from his body. he hasn't stopped being a dick so when he gets back and is asked to help find a way to keep bonnie alive / bring enzo back, he calls them names again. because of his passenger stint, he decides to help the parkers stop the spell. this time not so against killing either stefan or elena to stop it. idk he's very aware that if he'd agreed with kol about killing bonnie then they wouldn't be in this mess.

when the travellers do the anti magic spell, hari and katie are inside the spell boundary packing to leave. they don't get out of it before it starts stripping away katie's vampirism. hari kills her so she can pass to the other side faster and still as a heretic. so...he's arrives to lend his help with the resurrection train. he does the spell with liv and it buys extra time. katie finds cedric on the other side and they get to bonnie and, whilst ced doesn't plan on coming back, he stops katie from being sucked into oblivion and helps her pass through but accidentally touches bonnie too. the pillars finally notice that he's helping mess with the balance and, while they can't just cut him off, they do put him through a hell of a lot of pain so he has to stop with the spell.

with ced catching up on the wonders of being alive and hari out for the count, katie gets all three of them away from the graveyard and just drives away from mystic falls.

[loregoddess]

4, 7 and 10 for the comfort character ask: for Rose from Legend of Dragoon

oooh, Rose is a fun character

4. what about their personality i like I loved watching Rose go from this "mysterious, cold, closed-off" warrior to slowly becoming more trusting and open as the story progressed. Like, all the stuff she does in the world's history aside, seeing her regain that sense of "humanity" before the story's ending was nice, and I think works the best for her character arc. But also makes me wish we got a prequel bc it's suggested that Rose was this warm and kindhearted woman, who was deeply in love and full of hope before the Dragon Campaign, and then had to kill off that part of herself to bind herself to her destiny. She's a fairly complex character, and her entire arc is really interesting.

7. the moment of theirs that made me the happiest The scene at the end of Chapter Two, where she's alone in the guest room of Fletz Castle and Rose laughs to herself, and then realizes that she laughed. Like, it's small, but it's the first indication that she's begun to break away from the fate she's been tied to.

10. my favorite moment with them in canon Hmm...probably her conversation with Dart in Ulara, which is also when the flashback cutscene to her duel with Dart occurred, because it's such an interesting and pivotal point in both her and Dart's character arcs, as well as their story. Like, on one hand we have Dart and his recurring theme of choosing not to claim vengeance despite his motivations throughout the story being vengeance (against both the Black Monster and Lloyd), and how he chooses not to kill Rose because "the Black Monster is already dead," instead accepting her as she is, because, unforgivable as her actions are, he also understands why she chose them. And given that the world is very close to ending, Dart knows that now, more than ever, they need to work together as a team. And for Rose, it's this moment where she's able to truly begin to separate herself from her fate as the Black Monster, to move on from being the crux of the world, and return to just being Rose. And while she can't forgive herself really, she's at least able to face and move towards the future instead of remaining stagnate, as she had been. It's just...not the type of story arc I see explored a lot, and it's messy, but at the same time it was nice to see that for all that occurred, Rose was still given the chance to return to moving forward, to return to living.

[fanfic-obsessed]

This is a Rako Hardeen arc idea with a sprinkling of Legends both canon and of my own creation. Things it is important to know going in:

Part of the Ruusan Reformation Treaty includes a requirement for all Jedi (from initiate to master) to swear oaths enforced by The Force (to obey the senate,  to report anything that could be detrimental to the Republic (including force sensitives in the Republic that do not belong to the Jedi order) to the appropriate body, To forsake any formal relationship ties without incredibly specific permission To accept being barred from seeing the actual Reformation treaty that binds them.)

There are checks and balances in place to ensure that the most egregious abuses do not happen, including a review committee and a way for Jedi to report such abuses.  It is moderately effective.  Complaints of abuse or misuse of power are believed and taken seriously, and the consequences include removal from the senate, so an abuser generally only offends once before they are caught. On the other hand, the type of people who would abuse such a power are good at manipulating the system.

One of the checks and balances was that all orders that must be followed must be in writing. 

Orders from the senate or a senator must be followed and the review committee is there to make sure those orders have justification.

This part of the Jedi oaths is not known to the public, or even all of the senate

As a consequence every Jedi raised in the order is taught from the creche Think Path thinking, the use of loopholes and assumed vs explicit knowledge to try and get around their restrictions. 

An example: Anakin, who came to the temple late, did not take the initiate vows.  Because he didn’t take the initiate vows, he didn’t know he needed to take the Padawan or knight vows. Obi Wan forced himself to assume that Qui Gon had gone over all this information with Anakin, so he did not have to. The entire Order has an actual conspiracy to hide this information from Anakin, because if they know for sure that he has no idea about these bindings they would be required to make him swear the oaths binding them, effectively enslaving him like they are enslaved. His battlefield knighting actually helped with that, as there was no ceremony and everyone could assume that someone else was present when he made the vows.

It starts with Nield of Melida/Daan coming to Coruscant just after Obi Wan Kenobi’s funeral in the Rako Hardeen arc. He asks to speak with Cody, Rex, Ashoka, and Anakin, officially because he promised to tell Obi Wan’s family several stories about his time on Melida/Daan if he outlived the Jedi. He is allowed to meet with them in a specific training room, one of the only rooms in the temple with both soundproofing and without video recording. Nield very firmly, and looking solely at Ashoka (the only one in the room under the Jedi Vows), that he does not know that any of what he is about to show them is true. 

He pulls out a recorded message from Obi Wan, just a few days old. This message says these thing:

He does not know for sure that this will even be watched, which is the only reason he is able to send it.

They (the Jedi Council) had been given a new mission with some specific requirements that they were discussing, but had not settled on any details. This mission would require one of the members of the council (most likely Obi Wan) to fake his own death and go undercover as his killer.

The Chancellor had included an order that Anakin Skywalker was not to be told, that his reaction would sell the falsehood, worded in such a way that no one who had met Anakin outside the council could be told. 

How much he loves Anakin and Ashoka as his son and daughter, Cody as the man he has fallen in love with (I am particularly partial to them having not gotten together, Cody is pining and sure that his amazing General could not possible want a clone like him so this part of the message just slowly causes a blush to rise), The entire clone army as part of his family.  

Reiterating that he has no idea if he will be chosen, or if he is that nothing would go wrong that would end in his death. 

That he could not possibly ask for Nield to find his family if he hears of Obi Wan’s death by a bounty hunter, to show them this message.

Not outright stated, but heavily implied the the entire council used Think Path reasoning (specifically: “The Healers insist that there be a break for a meal after a specified amount of time” combined with “We can and should discuss these minute details ad nauseum, to make sure that we understand exactly who should take on this most important mission”) to take a break before these become official orders (Which would mean that op spec would apply and they could tell no one) to give Obi an a chance to record and send this message

It is quickly made clear that Anakin has no idea about the Vows, which causes Ashoka to freak out (as she is bound to report the fact that he is not bound by the Jedi Vows). Nield helps her by suggesting that, as Anakin had come late with different experiences, Obi Wan must have explained the Vows in a different way,  he just doesn’t realize it’s the same thing. This let’s Ashoka satisfy the Vow without reporting anything. Rex suggests that Ashok a, to make sure she understands those concepts, explain “To Cody and Rex” what the vows are and how they came about. Obviously her Master would not be asking any questions or speaking because this was a test for her.  So she does, and explains about the Ruusan Reformation and the Vows (she only knows the Initiate and Padawan Vows, as another way of protecting the younglings; you do not know the Vow until you are expected to take them). 

Anakin is getting visibly distressed but manages to keep himself silent.  Cody asks about Count Dooku. Ashoka answers with something to the effect of: “I am bound from thinking poorly of the Senate and the Republic. I could not possibly wonder about how someone bound to obey the Senate ends up leading a war against the Senate” (The implications being he is in fact taking orders from someone in the Senate).

Nield gently suggests that Ahsoka leave the room for the rest of the discussion. Anakin begins to puff up, offended on Ahsoka’s behalf but Ahsoka agrees. Ahsoka straight up says to Anakin, “Remember Skyguy, I have to report anything that seems like it would go against the Senate, as I am a Padawan I don’t have the knowledge for anything but black and white” before leaving.

After Ahsoka leaves, Nield is able to speak more directly. He explains about Melida Daan (Qui Gon didn’t so much as abandon Obi Wan as much as he was trying to free him from the Jedi’s bonds. He was trying to do the same thing on Bandomeer, and had tried to do the same with Feemor and Xanatos. Qui Gon does love his padawans dearly, he is just trying to set them free and bad about it.). Nield, Cerasi, and Obi Wan had been moving toward a romantic relationship when Cerasi had died. Nields reaction had killed the romantic relationship between him and Obi Wan, even if they had managed to gain their friendship back. Nield talked about his temper, something that he saw in Anakin as well, and how he would have to live for the rest of his life with the knowledge that he was the reason that Obi Wan had been brought back into the Jedi Order. (If it hadn’t been for his reaction, Obi Wan wouldn’t have had to call the Jedi back which was why he had to leave with them).  He also tells them that he and his people had been tracking who in the senate knows about the Jedi vows.

Anakin hesitantly asks about Padme. Nield responds that they have had no sign of either of the two most common reactions to the Jedi vows (carefully worded to avoid any order or heavy handed with orders) but they know for a fact the former Senator for Naboo, Palpatine, definitely knows (there is an order on the books that boils down to the Jedi being required to provide him with the company of a small child, Anakin, that is worded in just the right way that the orders cannot be protested). 

Cody and Rex quietly inform the GAR of the restrictions the Jedi are under. The GAR is not happy that their Jedi are effectively enslaved. The 212th, in particular, has to be talked down from storming the senate multiple times in defense of their Jedi, who comes back from the dead tired and ready to accept any recrimations for faking his own death (he truly had to make himself believe that no one would know.)

Anakin and Padme work together to find an actual copy of the Ruusan treaty. They discover that there is an escape clause of some kind that can remove the power from the Vows all at once. It is a particular request that has to be made by a member in good standing of the Jedi Order using a very specific wording during a senate meeting.  It could only be enacted after 700 years. The best part is that the request being approved or denied is immaterial. It is making the request that is important. Because of the restrictions of the Vows, Anakin is the only one who can make the request. He and Padme work so that he can recite the words from memory. Then they conspire to have several members of the Jedi Council (Mace Windu, Yoda, and Obi Wan in particular) in the Senate that day. 

Anakin speaks the words and all hell breaks loose twice. Anakin does not know what he unleashed. The air around the Jedi pod ripples, the same ripples that reflect off of a few undercover jedi spread throughout the rotunda, and all of the clones.  Obi Wan Kenobi appears to be having some sort of out of body experience. Tears are pouring down Mace Windu’s face as he says the words ‘We’re free’ over and over.  Yoda is staring around as if he had never seen anything before. (There were some really old, near forgotten Jedi laws on the books that regulated emotions and power that the Jedi had access to.) Half a galaxy away Yan Dooku and Asajj Ventress were abruptly freed from the orders that dominated their lives (Ventress had been guided through the Padawan Vows by Ky Narec). 

Darth Sidious ignored the feeling that he should just cut his losses and attempted to activate Order 66. Except that the chips were a physical manifestation of the Clones own Vows (Not that they realized they were Vowing) and as all the Clones were Force Sensitive when the Jedi took command, they became part of the Jedi Order. The removal of the Vows from the Jedi removed the control aspects of the chips.  

Palpatine received a Yoda to the face, the little green troll had received a powerup a la Dragon Ball Z and was doing his best to tear an old man’s throat out with his teeth. Obi Wan stands from his existential experience to start making a list furiously. When he is asked he says that the Force has been keeping an accounting of every abuse of the Jedi (and the Clones), he’s making a list so they can start dealing with them (no one is really sure if being dealt with is dead or arrested and everyone is kind of afraid to ask.) A third of the Senate starts making plans to step down, for fear of being targeted. Half of the rest is exceedingly confused, and wondering if they should be doing something about the little green Jedi Master who is biting a politician.

[raayllum]

with all of myself :: callum’s mage arc + rayla

So in season two, there’s an emphasis placed on breath throughout, specifically with Callum’s character. This is a motif littered throughout the season during some core scenes and during a couple of core relationships (Callum with each of his parents; Callum and Claudia; and Callum and Rayla). Jack De Sena has said himself that one of the things he takes into account when playing Callum is where the character places his breaths and how well he can breathe, in particular.

Which is to say: Callum’s arc as mage is synonymous with his relationship with Rayla, and more than just the canon text of the show supports this. (For example, the game Battlecharged has Rayla as his Motivation card, but in the alternative Dark Mage Callum deck, Claudia is his Motivation card.) But for now we’re just gonna talk about the canon show text, so without further ado: let’s talk about Rayllum and the concept of a magical anchor.

Now some of this is self explanatory. I’ve talked before about how Rayla is tied to just about every stage of Callum’s arc as a mage: being his first real teacher, being the first person to call him a mage, he did dark magic for her, she’s by his side when he unlocks the sky arcanum, him successfully getting his wings is very Power of Love trope, etc. So too is the concept of a magical anchor: a person that’s uniquely tied to another person, often seen in stories with Powers as the person who can calm the other down (think Aang and Katara with the Avatar state), or who is a primary motivator and agent of change in a character’s power growth arc. 

We see this sort of dynamic begin to be set up in s1 through the aforementioned moments, as well as in season two in more overt eyes like in 2x07-2x09. However, S2 adds another layer of symbolism by steadily building a motif.

When Callum is with Rayla, he can Breathe.

Repeatedly in season two, we find Rayla attached to instances where Callum has been through something terrible, but afterwards, he lets out a breath and relaxes into her — particularly during their hugs. 

This is noteworthy especially compared to his relationship with Claudia, where Callum hyperventilates and cannot breathe. 

But just as Claudia represents one magical path Callum could take (Dark Magic), Rayla represents the other (primal magic) in more ways than one. Besides the aforementioned ways she’s tied to his mage arc, such as calling him a mage, season two takes this one step further with the imagery it establishes for arcanum being adjacent to their developing romantic relationship. Lujanne states that understanding the Primal is learning its secret, set off by some sort of spark. A personal, internal realization that happens due to a spark — a kind of metaphorical fire. Like say, a lightning strike.

Moreover, Rayllum is also attached to the secret of the arcanum. Not knowing Rayla’s secrets — about her binding, and Harrow, and then her feelings for him — keeps him from being fully able to understand her. Then, after 2x03 where he knows all but the latter, Callum says, “I understand why you couldn’t tell me.” (Also a nice call back to his “I do not understand girls” in 1x02, again, about Claudia.) None of this is to say that either girl’s place narratively is to be a love interest, but rather than their different ideologies concerning magic nicely parallel — and sometimes determine — their respective relationships with Callum and in ideological opposition to each other.

All of this is to say that there are multiple scenes where Rayla encourages, or helps, Callum to breathe properly and collect / calm himself. She helps keep him grounded, cares for him, and protects him. So it’s little wonder in some ways that her love for him is paralleled with Sarai’s love for her son in 2x09, since as I’ve said before, TDP parallels all kinds of love with each other, familial, platonic, romantic, etc. What’s actually being highlighted is the calming and unconditional aspect of both of these relationships.

It’s not a coincidence that one of Callum’s main flaws is that he can stuck in his head, and that being stuck in his head is literally how he’s being tormented in 2x09. It’s also not a coincidence that Sarai tells him to get out of his own head and think about the present — a present that Rayla is calling him back to, a present where she’s holding him tightly and is trying to keep him with her.

Additionally, there’s the way that his metaphorical plotlines with Claudia and Rayla intersect in 2x07 and his choice to do Dark Magic. He uses Dark Magic for reasons Claudia would detest (saving a dragon and an elf, specifically Rayla) and does things Rayla would approve of in a way she finds morally abhorrent (through Dark Magic). But there is little doubt that the main reason he does Dark Magic is for her. Broader meta I wrote after s2 talking about that in further detail here, and supplemented with quotes from the Book 2: Novelization that came out earlier this year here:

Could he really bring himself to go through with his plan? What if he didn’t succeed? What if he compromised his beliefs and it all ended up being for nothing?

[…] But her blade bounced off with a clang, sparks flying. She reeled back and tried again. Nothing happened. She was in trouble. Callum inched toward [where Claudia’s tome lay]

So Rayla is routinely tied to Callum’s ability to breathe, and to stages within his mage arc beyond that, which is why when she’s by his side in 2x09, Rayla’s presence and witness of that scene is an added reason it feels so satisfying. But this is only the first half of why I believe Rayla is Callum’s magical anchor, so onto the second half: how and why season one and season three add to the discussion.

Mostly 3x09, with an already pretty iconic (and self explanatory scene). 

I’ve written about how much their individual journeys — Callum’s doubt in regards to magic, Rayla’s cliff motif — culminates in this scene in a pretty in depth meta, so I won’t touch on too much of it here. Said meta also touched on how Callum won’t risk his life to learn magic (as 2x04 shows) but he will risk his life to protect and save his loved ones (Ezran, Rayla) on multiple occasions, the Leap being one of them.

Perhaps, then, the point of the Leap for the sake of this meta is its parallels with 2x09, at least emotionally. Rayla and Callum are both watching the other seemingly slip further and further out of reach; Callum is drowning in Rayla’s worst fear, as she hates water, and Rayla is plummeting through the air in one of Callum’s fear of heights (being skittish about jumping down from tall places in 3x02 and 3x06 from the ambler’s nose; nervous about jumping in 3x05, etc). Both culminate in anguished love confessions — or at least, Rayla gets very close, and Callum does confess his love even if Rayla doesn’t hear it, yet.

Rayla has always been the one pushing Callum to explore magic — “Is this a guessing game? Just do it!” “Hey sad prince, let’s go get your cube” “Like some kind of breakthrough?” “If you say so, mage” “Did you get him to each you any new sky spells?” — even if she’s always had his safety at the forefront of her mind (which Callum doesn’t always prioritize). She’s also always been the one taking care of him.

So, understandably, Callum is willing to move mountains for her. He’s willing to die with her. She caught him when he was out of breath (and then they passed out holding hands because they’re just Like That)

So now he catches his breath so that he can catch her, too.

She’s the key to his magic, and to his happiness, in so many ways. Because they love each other with all of themselves, and they always will.

[dreamrecorder]

Ok so- idk if you’ve seen demon slayer;; but there’s this episode (it was during the spider fambam arc) aNywaYs- so like. Rui yeets ties* (i guess-) Nezuko like. Up in the air. With his weird spider thread jazz— and like. It’s sHarP weird spider thread jazz— so she’s like. Yknow. Being sliced and diced with string— but it kindaaa reminds me of like. Xiao. And his like.... weird... sad.... uh. Karma. Thing. Like y’know where he’s like hanging from his arms- red stuff. Yeah. So like. Now for the actual request

Xiao’s s/o (female if you don’t mind;;) gets kidnapped by like— the fatui or smth. And they tie her up like Nezuko :D to be like “lol haha Xiao be all like-” and she’s just. Like. Dying. Slowly. Dripping b l o o d and yknow. All the tea. And Xiao comes to rescue her— and he’s like 0-0 “wait...” and he realizes that’s like- exactly what happens to him- and so. He beats the fatui’s butts saves his s/o, anddddd she like.

Idk. This is where I need your angst expertise ❤️ like- she could d i e. In his arms. And poor Xiao would be so scarred omg poor thing- BUT THE ANGST- but at the same time;;;; the f l u f f of him being able to save her just in time and she was like fighting for him the whole time or whatever and ended up needing him to save her anyways- and then Xiao feeding her almond tofu until she gets better ❤️❤️❤️

IM SORRY THAT WAS SO LONG- im probably going crazy from lack of sleep from reading fics for too long sndndnsnsj

But if you do this,,, BLESS YOUR SOUL I HOPE TO EITHER BALL MY EYES OUT OR SQUEAL FROM THE WHOLESOMENESS-

Anyways.... thank you! Have a stellar day~ ✨❤️

The heart yearns and the wind heard

lmao this ask is so adorable i hope you’d enjoy this ksks

anyway, full Angst train up ahead but there are moments of Fluff too. There are mentions of blood and violence if those are not your thing- dont worry guys, this goes with a happy ending cos you and Xiao deserve one~ on a final note- non canon compliant and suuuuuuper long- like- legit this is very long

The Yaksha sighs.

He’s here again. His mind and heart has returned his being into this crimson world his demons have created within him.

He feels it. He feels the corruption binding him tighter again for every death he brings by his tainted hands.

He looks at his bindings. And ever so slowly, the red and black coiling around his person will eventually reach his heart.

One day, he thinks, all this crimson and black in this world will swallow him whole and he will see the light no more.

Xiao sighs again.

This is his karmic debt.

~

The moment you stepped foot within Wangshu Inn, you knew he was in his prison again. After giving a quick greeting to the inn keeper, you hastily went to Xiao’s room. The closer you got, the heavier the atmosphere became.

You reached his door and knocked softly. As expected, no reply as he continues to struggle to take back his control over himself. Without hesitation, you stepped in. To anyone else, they would have instantly met his spear at their throats, but with you, this doesn’t happen. Instead, you see him crouched on the wooden floor with a hand on his chest. His knuckles were white and his breathing was ragged. His amber eyes- lost. Observing his form, yes… his moments of corruption are becoming progressively worse.

With swift steps of familiarity to this routine, you went to him and grasped his shoulders.

“Xiao, it’s me…” You whispered with clarity. And oh- how your voice brought a wave of comfort to his soul.

“N-name…” His voice cracked, but him calling to you is always a good sign.

You gave him a small smile and proceeded to grasp his hands together with yours. After which, you then leaned your forehead to his to chant your prayers. As your prayers progressed, slowly but surely, the corruption begins to fade along with the black mist that covered him. However, you took note how this ritual took longer than the last.

Once everything is done, Xiao just slumped onto your shoulders, still breathing deeply. “How are you feeling?” It was a useless question you asked every time this happens, but you always, always, have to make sure.

Usually, he would mutter a small ‘fine,’ but now- words seemed to have left his mind and all he could muster was an almost-unnoticeable shrug.

Truth be told- his response disheartened you, but you did not show it. Instead, you opted to simply encase him in your arms and caress his hair. After all, these are just one of the few, rare moments Xiao would leave himself into your care. Xiao is aware, himself, that his state has been becoming worse and worse. And you both know, that a day would come when he would just attack anyone- friend or foe- without a trace of hesitation. So, just this time- he speaks his feelings.

“Name?”

You answered immediately with a questioning hum.

“What would you do… when I finally lose control over myself?”

It was very subtle, but he felt how your hand stopped caressing his hair for a second, then proceeded to the previous task at hand again. In all honestly, you can never find yourself having an answer to that question. “And why would I ever let that happen to you?” You questioned back, fully aware that you were dodging his question.

Silence surrounded the two of you, unsure on what to do with the sudden heavier atmosphere.

Not wanting to face the cruelty of the world yet, Xiao simply buried himself on the crook of your neck even more. And despite the ghostly sensation of his lips on your skin, you could feel him mouth the words ‘I love you.’

“As long as I’m here,” you whispered, “nothing can hurt you.” And that was the most beautiful lie that the Yaksha has heard, but he was willing to believe all the same.

~

When word about Fatui diplomats starting a bank reached you, there was a nagging feeling in your head that trouble would bring itself present anytime soon. It was like an itch that wouldn’t get away. And the only way to have that itch gone is to scratch it.

“You are absolutely a fool.” Xiao stated darkly with crossed arms, for once disagreeing with the plans of his master.

“We can never know what their intentions are unless we let them start their bank, no?” Zhongli said as he gazed at the marsh spread beneath him.

The Yaksha only scoffed but said no more.

Building up your courage, you deemed it was your turn to voice out your thoughts, “Um… Rex Lapis, I see your point, but wouldn’t it be best to resolve the problem before it persists into something larger? We all know- All of Teyvat knows, that the Fatui are not to be trusted.”

Your archon offered you a kind smile, “I understand your worries, Name. However, as of the moment, they have not presented themselves as such. If they truly are our enemies, then it would be beneficial for us to know their intentions.”

You frowned deeply at his statement. Seeing you do so, somehow, your archon immediately identified your main concern.

“Is this about the Tianquan assigning you to be her representative for the Fatui?”

The moment those words left his mouth, a growl tore from Xiao’s throat, but he held his tongue.

“Did Ganyu tell you?”

The Archon nodded and you sighed.

“I volunteered, actually.”

And at that point, Xiao vanished into thin hair, but you could still his sense his presence around.

“May I know why?” Zhongli questioned gently.

For a moment, you struggled for words. You didn’t know how to describe this ‘itch’ to him. “At first, it was supposed to be Ganyu, since in the Tianquan’s eyes- Ganyu is an adeptus and she does not know that I am, too. Perhaps she didn’t want to put me in harm’s way, a ‘visionless human’ at the side of a harbinger. After some convincing to Ningguang for my volunteering, I spoke to Ganyu next.

“The adepti are divine beings that walk here in Liyue. I had this feeling that putting a divine next to a power-hungry harbinger would become an issue. I told Ganyu that, since I looked ‘harmless’ and ‘ordinary,’ the harbinger’s interest about the divine would never surface.”

A stretch of silence wrapped around them as Zhongli pondered over your words. “Perhaps, are you also planning to dig out the truth of their arrival?”

You nodded, “I knew you would allow them to stay, so I just took it upon myself to unfurl their secrets.”

“Hmmm… I grant you permission on doing this. However, should trouble arise, do not hesitate to tell us.”

~

The glare pointed at you was strong. Even without him saying a single word, you could hear his phantom voice in your head speak with such coldness, What are you thinking?

You simply gave him a reassuring smile, “I’ll be fine, Xiao. I may be a human in mortal eyes, but please do remember that I am also an adeptus, no matter how weak I am.”

Xiao releases a huff, but still sits by your side at the floor of the balcony, letting the moon kiss his skin. “You’re not weak.” He mumbled as he snaked his hand to yours.

To him, you will never be weak. In fact, you were the strongest being he has ever laid his eyes on. Not physically, no. It was you mental and emotional fortitude. Back during the Archon War, he always admired how you kept your head held up high no matter the suffering you have experienced. No matter how much death surrounded you, you still fought. And that strength made you a survivor. During the war, you never failed to help the wounded. Even when someone dies under your care, you held strong for the departed and for those who are left behind. You were a pillar of hope.

He brings your hand to his lips and kisses every knuckle “… Just be careful. If ever you are in trouble do not-“

“Hesitate to call your name.” You finished, beaming at his words.

~

As someone who used to be a healer and a doctor, you were quite familiar with several mild skin diseases that mortals can suffer from.

If there is an itch, you do not scratch it- for you will only aggravate the area even more.

Now that you’re working alongside the Fatui as the Tianquan’s representative, the itch you kept feeling was only irritated more. Especially whenever you spoke with the Harbinger who goes by the name Childe. And since your work requires you to cooperate with him, you also don’t miss the chance to discover what he hides, should the opportunity presents itself.

Childe… his azure eyes certainly have their… charm to those unaware. However, you knew better. You know he’s capable of drowning you just by his eyes. While he may be a cheerful man, his eyes lack the lustre of joy. The eyes are the windows of the soul, yes? If so, all you see is an unending ocean that you do not want to swim in. The surface may be calm, but the deep is relentless. However, duty bound you are- deep within the ocean, you shall find the secrets the Fatui hides.

Again, another scratch to the itch, but it only irritates you more.

~ 

The news of Rex Lapis’s death became the catalyst of you confronting the Harbinger. From Yujeng Terrace all the way to Northland Bank, you ran (with Ningguang’s permission of course). Before you can even open the door to his office, something caught your eye.

It’s faint, but you’re an adeptus. You sensed elemental traces, just smack bang at the middle of the door. You carefully scrutinized the tracings, and fortunately you knew Snezhnayan script. And what you read only made your heart sink.

It’s ready.

With the adeptal arts, you managed to uncover the origins of these elemental tracings.

Scratch.

Without hesitation, you followed these tracings until it led you into some ruins.

Scratch.

Following the tracings further, you find yourself in a dimly lit room. Wary, you summoned your weapon imbued with your element.

Scratch.

Searching the room, you came across several antique boxes. You opened them.

Scratch.

What you saw were familiar. Too familiar. Dimming the room more with your element, you find more Sigils of Permission hanging on the walls and on the ceilings. The energy within them were faint, but with enough numbers, it’s enough to kill a-

“Well, well well, I thought you’d be there mourning for your Archon. But here you are, snooping around someone else’s research material.”

The sound of his voice made you sharply turn your head to him, your stance now more offensive. “What are you planning?” You bit coldly.

The Harbinger hummed a small tune, “Nothing much… But! If you’re really curious, I guess I could tell you.” He hummed some more but you knew he’s not finished. Once he finished his tune, he grinned to you menacingly and the depths in his eyes became even deeper and darker, “After all, I won’t let you leave this place with you knowing my secret~”

~

There was this one time, Xiao struggled against himself so much, he scratched himself red so that he could anchor himself back to the real world. You remembered how much you cried as he slept in your arms. You never wanted to see him do that again. Seeing him hurt himself also hurt you, too. It was like a stab in the heart, then a twist, and twist some more. A slap in the reality that you might lose him one day.

As he slept, you solemnly observed the wounds he sustained himself to. They were angry red, just like blood.

Now, you, yourself scratched that itch in your head too much into a wound for blood to seep through. You scratched too much and now you have to bleed from it.

~

You were slipping in and out of consciousness. Sleep was tempting you more and more but you know you have to wake up. You were aware that this is going on for days.

Everything hurts. You remembered how his blades, imbued with the Sigils, weakened you thoroughly. Every slash he brought to your body just drained the energy away from you. But still you had to do something.

He wanted an adeptus- he wanted an adeptus in order for the Sigils to grow stronger both in number and in power.

Now here you are, bound by chains and suspended at the middle of this empty room. These chains were adorned by talismans that drained away your energy. You were bleeding from your wounds of your previous battle.

Drip. Drip. Drip goes the blood and pools on the ground underneath you. The ground, you barely noticed, was lined by Liyuean script which enacts the ritual of the Sigils draining your divine power from your blood.

To the eyes of a sadist- you were a picture perfect in a canvas. A dark room lined by the damned Sigils, glowing an eerie gold. Then there's you with your bloodied clothes and chains. The red pool underneath was casting a red glow on your way, giving you a red shade to your pale skin.

Everything hurts-

And everything was driving you mad.

You can also feel the Overlord of the Vortex feed from your energy through the Sigils. You sensed his lust for power and revenge. You felt his anger and the corruption within him. You felt his hatred and his want to bring death. For days that felt like years, you’ve been battling against that very same god in your head. This battle was not something you shall not lose to and failure is not an option. If you fail here, then Liyue will fall. 

This god- he was driving you mad slowly.

If ever you are in trouble, do not hesitate to call my-

You shut the thought from your head. You are not going to call him. You will not speak of him. You will not think of him. You will not call him. Not to this place where his corruption will grow. No. You Will Not Call Him.

If it means that me not calling you will keep you safe from the corrupted remnant of a god- so be it. 

Please

However, no matter how much you denied yourself to call his name, no matter how much your heart yearns to be with him- the wind does not ignore the pained sob that left your lips.

~

Ever since the news of Rex Lapis's death and the visit of the Traveler with a Sigil in his hand- the corruption within him just bloomed into something feral.

The Sigil- there was something wrong about it but Xiao doesn't know what is it that is wrong. Then there's you- where are you? Surely with the news of their Archon's death- it would send you to bring forth a meeting for the adepti to talk this over. But now- for days- you remain not by his side.

With you missing- the demons inside him are slowly taking control over him, taking advantage of his vulnerability for you. For each passing day, it was slow torture for him- The worry bubbling in him was consuming him. He glared at the Sigil between his fingers and not failing to notice how his dark aura covers him once more. 

“Traveler,” Xiao called sharply, “What is it you intend to do next?” 

To any mere mortal, the look his eyes held were enough to strike fear, but the Traveler stealed themselves- meeting the adeptus’s gaze with an equally serious calm. “I have my suspicions on a certain harbinger and I-”

“Where?” The Yaksha growled.

“In the Golden House.”

Without a word nor warning, Xiao placed a hand on the Traveler’s shoulder and teleported them to the place where the Exuvia is hidden.

To the Traveler, everything happened so quickly as one event led to another. One moment, they were standing among unconscious bodies of the Millelith then the next thing they knew a corrupted and demonic gust of wind flew them away to the side. Regaining back their vision, they could see Alatus’s spear now at Tartaglia’s barrier made of Sigils. 

Alatus narrowed his eyes at the floating talismans and began to calculate the flow of this incoming battle with precision and accuracy despite his losing control over himself. 

It was a tense minute of sizing each other up, but eventually, Tartaglia has broken the silence with his annoying innocent voice. 

“Who would have thought that I’d have the honor of fighting another adeptus of Liyue?” 

The question immediately fed the corruption within him, the dark aura exploding at it. He knew that he should not believe in the Harbinger’s words so easily, but the glint in the latter’s eyes held truth. You could be out there, hurting, scared, alone. You could be out there, bleeding out. You could be out there dyi-

His aura exploded once more at the thoughts spreading in his being. With a burst of unspeakable power, Alatus lifted his weapon and pierced the barrier once more, this time breaking it without failure. At the threat, Tartaglia backed away as he donned his mask.

In a similar fashion, Alatus, too donned his mask. “I will ask you once,” the Conqueror of Demons spoke with a deathly calm, “Where is she?”

~

He should have killed him then and there. But the call of the Overlord of the Vortex must not be ignored as it threatens Liyue. 

In the small opportunity of escape, Childe took it. But he was weak and injured as Alatus swiftly threw his spear to block his way and teleported right in front of him. In a show of power, the Conqueror of Demons lifted the mortal by the neck.

“I will ask you again, where is she?”

In fear, Childe told him everything and at his every word, Xiao listened carefully- never speaking once. But the anger within his heart, it boils- it rages. His amber eyes bored into Childe’s soul- thinking what he should do to this mortal. Oh how killing him would be so nice. However, when the Yaksha’s gaze landed on the regal form of the Exuvia, he merely threw the mortal in its way.

“Killing you would have been easier. However, the crimes you have presented against Liyue are not mine for me to judge.

I leave the Harbinger to you... Rex Lapis.”

Once out of the Golden House, the Overlord roared once more, shaking the lands of the nation. However, along with it, he heard the faintest of voices. I’m so sorry... I couldn’t hold him back anymore. 

Only then did the demons in his heart freely took control of him. Just like the stories of old, where the Yaksha walks, death follows. But they were no stories. In his way towards the ruins where you were held captive, every step he took brought carnage and even more death and blood to taint his hands. No Fatui will leave this place alive. The very being of destruction ended many lives. Each death, the demons were growing stronger.

All he wanted now was to kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill killkillkill killkill kill killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill

Then seeing you suspended in the ceiling and bound by chains. Blood was painted on your lifeless skin. Wounds were littered and bruises were blooming on your form. But most of all, your eyes. What were once full of life and hope- now empty and blank. His demons quieted down.

Broken. You were like a broken porcelain doll.

“N-name...” His voice cracked, not believing it all.

With haste, he quickly broke your binds and caught you in his arms. he was fast to check for your pulse and your breathing. And thank the Archons, you were breathing but barely. You were now walking the line between life and death. With all his might yet a gentle caress, he hugged you for dear life. “Name... It’s me...”

But still, your eyes still held no recognition and it shattered his heart to pieces. With further inspection, he sensed the presence within you. A corruption. A certain evil. 

“Name, stay with me please,” Xiao begged with desperation as he fought back tears. “It’s me who supposed to be the corrupted one between us, not you... I’m not allowing you to leave me, you hear me-”

With a ritual of the adeptal arts, he started purging and purifying the evil left by the god who fed from you. He is not letting you stay alone in your prison, not for a second longer. 

Xiao prays and he never prayed before. Even to his master. But just this once, He prays with desperation. You are the light in his darkness. You are the moon in his night. 

The ritual was a delicate process. For every word he spoke, he was rewarded by your screams of pain and the writhing of your fragile body. He wanted to stop, but he can’t. He had to physically restrain you from trying to escape from his embrace and from hurting yourself. And for every cry you released, Xiao merely shuts his eyes clos just for him not to see your pained eyes. Every now and then, Xiao speaks gentle apologies and words of encouragement for you. You were coming back. But still, the evil persists.

You writhed and scratched against him, until you were creating more wounds for blood to seep through. When it came to a point, you began pleading and begging for him to stop, that was when Xiao had shed a tear. So he continues the ritual, his prayers, and his apologies. They were arriving to a point where the ritual is reaching its conclusion but your screams only grew louder.

Please, just a little more...

Please, just stop...

Please...

The corruption disintegrated away from you in a forceful release of dark energy. He was breathing deeply, attempting to calm his loud heart. When he placed his gaze on you, you were breathing rapidly and your eyes were searching blindly and your hands were desperately holding onto him.

“X-Xiao...” You whispered, “Where am I? Where are you?”

With a sigh of relief, the Yaksha hugged you again closer and his forehead to yours, fearing you would go away again. The action made you lift your hands to his face, still searching blindly.

“I’m here, Name... I’m here.” At his voice, the dam in your eyes broke as you cried silently. Xiao was not adept in emotions, but for you, he will face them gladly. He lets you cry as he gives you soft whispers of assurance, safety, love, and promises. However, you were not crying because of what had happened to you. You were crying for him. After experiencing such corruption-

You sobbed some more- you were this close to him losing you and you could not bring yourself to imagine if your roles were reversed.

“P-please,” you said with a broken voice, “please don’t go to the place where I can’t follow...’

The words, at first puzzled him, but after a few moments, he realized and once more it broke his heart. Bringing you closer, Xiao let loose the tears he was holding back. With a gentleness unexpected of the Conqueror, he simply littered your face with kisses. “I promise if only you would do the same.”

With your smile that he loved dearly for so long you too spoke your promise, “I do.” They were simply two words, but the comfort they bring into the Yaksha’s heart was in volumes.

After that, you shared a few tender moments in each other’s arms. Simply relishing the feeling of their familiar warmth. A little later, Xiao spoke, “Would you like to eat some Almond Tofu once we get home?”

The question made you giggle at his innocence, so you agreed. Despite you needing physical medical attention. But Almond Tofu with him? Yes, you two definitely need some emotional healing.

A/N: fINALLY dONE lmao this was supposed to be short but angst really makes me want to write longer everytime haha~ anyway this request really made me ponder bout genshin stuff with all the corruption this and corruption that but then a question popped up like-

how did childe replicate the sigil of permission? since sigils are imbued with divine energy, i just thought how did this guy accumulate so much sigils to the point of freeing Osial- a god!!! soooo i just played with the idea for a bit then figured out maybe these pieces of paper get the divine energy from a divine source right? and the adepti are divine beings of liyue and another thing- you guys might have noticed the change of names in some scenes- i dont know but i think somehow different names represents different side of a person like- we have childe the cheerful harbinger then tartaglia the power hungry harbinger- there’s Alatus who’s calculating and cold, there’s the Conqueror of Demons who’s ruthless and unforgiving, then Xiao who is calm and humane- lastlyyyyy i might post this in ao3 ksks

[nitw]

What's this about Blake and the ring? Sorry, I haven't heard of it before so now I'm curious.

OH DW i'd love to explain! this contains pretty big spoilers for the rwby comics published by dc!!!

the rwby comics switch the focus between each member of team rwby, canonically taking place inbetween volumes 4 and 5, showing aspects of the seperation arc that we haven't seen in the show.

in one of the first issues, we see blake on the ship to menagerie. she takes out cap from a soda bottle (that we haven't seen before) and throws it into the ocean as she reminisces about her team.

we find out in a later issue, a flashback to their beacon days where yang takes blake out to a pub, that blake saved the bottle cap from then as a memento (which is why she throws it away after leaving the team). i promise this is relevant lol

back to blake, there's an issue that takes place after she's returned to menagerie. kali takes blake out on a fishing trip, where she tells her a local legend about a faunus princess who fell in love with a human, and gave him a ring.

and when kali tries to console blake, we see blake's reflection as the faunus princess with the ring, with the words "past self" highlighted, STRONGLY hinting at blake being some kinda reincarnation of her.

then at the end of this issue, blake and kali catch a huge fish and cook it for dinner, which is revealed to have swallowed the ring from the legend. blake thinks it's the bottle cap at first, which already here ties the two items together metaphorically.

blake continues to wear this ring for the rest of the comics, as a personal totem reminding her of her loved ones who miss and depend on her. she likely still carries it around IF THE SHOW WANTS TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT THAT IS,,,,

and to bind it all together: in one of the final issues, before yang travels to anima, the soda bottle cap washes up on the beach, and yang picks it up and smiles as she promises to return to her team!!

[orenonahaichigoda]

More non-Ichigo character thoughts. This time, Rukia.

Sleving the ones who are actually permanently children for whatever reason completely unexplained at least before the novels, haven’t been following the novels. Like the Digimon Adventure universe movies, the only other cartoon I like on its own merit and not because it’s tied to my cartoon-loving dad who died of racially motivated fetishistic abuse against Asians, the same which most fandom exhibits, the Bleach novels seem like they’re mostly there to justify the poor rush job that the epilogue was. Again, same as the Adventure epilogue. Just, the literal twelve-year old fans decided to hop on the family computer and type up some fix-it fic to post on their Geocities rather than the terrible-twos-esque temper tantrums we saw from some Bleach fans.

Anyway, so, you know, there was definitely a deep love between Renji and Rukia that appeared when Renji was fighting Ichigo, though not in the early stuff, because seat-of-pants writing. Been there, and I think anyone who’s written fic has.

However, not only do none of their interactions ever read as romantic, they don’t read as the same maturity level except for the early jail taunting bit.

Renji reads like a lot of his peers, except that his childhood as a street urchin haunts him especially hard.

Remember episode one? The first thing Rukia gets mad about ends with her claiming she’s ten times Ichigo’s age. When she binds him, she takes time to draw on his face before going to do her duty.

I just mentioned the whole problem of characters’ trajectories veering wildly onto a completely different road. Shoot, look at early Gin and end Gin. (Leaving aside early Orihime who wants to be a cyborg and wants to fight to protect Tatuki like Tatuki always protected her, and her veering into Nurse Nancy In Distress Orihime, which compounds sexism because yes, the work is sexist and all sorts of queerphobic. I really would’ve loved to see a follow-up on when she decides to destroy the Hogyoku, honestly)

However, Rukia… never really moves past or gets veered off the course of her early characterisation. Even her very sweet scene with Orihime in the early Arrancar arc—it frankly read *way* more like possibly shippy peer content between them.

There are totally adults that size—I’ve known white, black, and non-white European cis men under four foot nine and Rukia’s height and build is not at all uncommon for E/SE Asian women. Her and Momo both look like just short women, not the same as, say, Hiyori or Tousirou, who are clearly just perma-kids. The average Japanese woman is five foot two/157 or 158 cm, but that height and build is not uncommon. (And though mine was racially motivated because I’m Asian enough, furthermore, Japanese enough, Momo seriously needs more love—takes a DV survivor to know a DV survivor. Clearly Aizen has groomed probably even her sense of self out of her, and neither canon nor fandom is particularly kind to her. There is not much explicit about what went on between them, but I honestly see no other possible reading for her)

Just…Rukia doesn’t ever end up reading like someone who would make a good parent. Yes, the parents of all Bleach teens are absolutely dysfunctional—the adults in positions of authority over them in Karakura all are somehow. However, what little we see in the new SJ Bleach chapter, which I actually bought at my local Japanese language bookstore, so I’m going off the original in my native language, thankfully, they’re not just repeating the dysfunction. (Though I’m very curious why there does seem to be formal kinship terms despite the fact that Kubo unimaginatively rolled with current Japanese law—thank the LDP, America’s favourite—and Rukia married out instead of Renji marrying in, as evidenced by their name plaque at their door. Clearly, there is some Kuchiki influence in their family, though… scratching my head)

It’s another undeveloped, inexplicable thing, just, I mean, while the read I got was Orihime seeing Ichigo as her hero when abuse is on all sides, totally reasonable, and Ichigo seeing Nurse Nancy in Distress Orihime as a *responsibility,* and that is just never the underpinnings of a healthy relationship. I don’t even care if you’re talking a D/s relationship, you don’t start off on that foot and expect to last, at least there was *some something* going on?

Renji and Rukia just don’t read romantic, and furthermore, Rukia just doesn’t read mature enough to be a mother at all. Rukia looks like she could be in her twenties, but she acts like a teenager throughout. Any time she’s not in line of duty mode, she just acts like Ichigo’s age. So that development was absolutely a curveball.

(And “people can be born as ghosts” is just a whole another issue and posts. Artificial bodies being capable of reproduction resulting in living children? OK. Ghosts having ghost babies…? Stretching a little too far for my taste)

[funnel-webbed-au]

Flashing Signals

Nezha sighed as he sat down in the armchair across from his adopted father, then took a cup of tea off of the tray Kui Mulang brought for him. It tasted sweet, unlike anything he'd ever been allowed in the memorable past. There was a lot he had missed, and a lot that he hadn't. There were a lot of memories made, a lot of changes, a lot of growth and shifting tides.

He still wasn't ready.

The Deity swallowed harshly, setting his tea town while Erlang Shen only passed him a confused, curious glance. He didn't understand why Nezha was so uneasy. He'd cultivated this palace to be a place of respite, of reprieve from whatever some of the courts were prone to do. So why was Nezha still nervous, still restless?

"I don't... I don't understand." Nezha finally spoke, unable to hold it back any longer. "You're never mad at me, you never take anything out on me. I'm not... I'm not a target, I'm not a disgrace. Why... why weren't you mad at me when I dropped that vase?"

Yang Jian had to do a double take when he heard those words. It was all so startling to here those words from the younger Deity, and it was... it was also painful to hear him speak like that. He swallowed uncomfortably, but forced a smile anyway.

He'd always been a great liar.

"Because, Nezha, that incident was an accident. You were overworked, and neither of us accurately gauged your exhaustion and stress levels that day. I could never lay a hand on you." The elder Deity took a sip of the tea he had on the table next to him, then stared into the cup. It was his favorite, most soothing blend, and yet, it did nothing to dethrone the pit that had been dug in his stomach. The realization of the truth wasn't something he was ready for, even in all of his years of life. He'd never encountered this before.

Nezha wasn't acclimated to being loved.

At least, that's what Erlang Shen suspected. He sighed, setting the cup back down before he approached Nezha. His heart sunk when he saw that guarded look on the other Deity's face, controlled and unreadable, and the tension in his body was evident of his distrust. Even now, there were many things the younger Deity wasn't ready to share, to show his adopted father.

So be it. Erlang Shen patted Nezha's shoulder gently, but didn't speak to him. Instead, the old dog went to prepare dinner, Nezha's favorite. Hopefully it could take the edge off.

He knew he couldn't make Nezha trust him, but he knew he'd taken some of the right steps in recent years. One day, he knew he'd hear the Deity call him his father. He knew that one day, the Patron of Children would trust him.

He handed Nezha a bowl of noodles a while later, and the Lotus Deity passed a nod of appreciation towards his superior before he dug into it. While his companion was eating, Erlang could only wonder what the extent of the damage to Nezha's psyche had been, and hope that it could largely be mended. Time would tell.

If only he had to foresight to know what the future held.

If only he hadn't been so naive.

[wolfgrowlwrites]

Tribe of Rushing Water Analysis

Since people were curious both on my thoughts about the Tribe of Rushing Water in Canon and how I’ve rewritten them in my fic Ties that Bind, here’s the massive post on it. If you read this entire thing, thank you.

--- 

Alright so I’m not much of an internet funnyman but I was an English Major and someone with a hyperfixation on the Warrior Cats series so it’s time to analyze the Tribe! The following post will include Spoilers for Watership Down (yeah the rabbit book, I’ll come back to this) and I will speak openly about the Warriors Series as a whole with the assumption that the people reading have already read the books in question. The goal of this is to discuss the Tribe’s narrative placement in the story, and what I’m doing with them in my rewrite.

Now Warriors was originally just going to be one book, and then six, and then first three books of the second arc. The weird effects this has on the narrative and tone is best explored elsewhere, but I bring this up because Midnight, Moonrise and Dawn were meant to be a trilogy ending the series. And this trilogy was based on nothing other than Watership Down, all of which is important to consider when we talk about the Tribe. The Tribe was meant to only appear briefly, which means there was no need for fleshing them out, and they are the Warriors parallel of Cowslip’s Warren.

For those of us who haven’t read Watership Down, it is a story about a bunch of rabbits who have a prediction of the destruction of their home and set out on a quest to find a new one. (Sounds familiar right?) One of the dangers they run into along the way is what originally appears to be a friendly warren run by a rabbit named Cowslip. The rabbits immediately find themselves on edge, as while this warren is exceptionally friendly there is the underlying evidence that something is wrong. When they ask questions the natives to the burrow deflect and dance around answering, and while their customs seem similar, they’re different enough to be unsettling. Behold, I’ve described the Tribe in Moonrise. And like the Tribe, the fact that Cowslip’s Warren is hiding is that there’s something extremely dangerous hunting them. Cowslip’s warren is being maintained by humans who are actively snaring the rabbits, and the Tribe has Sharptooth who is also hunting them. In fact, the snares almost kill one of the traveling rabbits, while Feathertail does end up dying to Sharptooth.

(Thank god I’m doing this on Tumblr not Twitter, god this thread would be unbearable.)

(For those who have read Watership Down, Brook is probably supposed to be Strawberry.)

So narratively, the Tribe are there to be a hinderance to the traveling cats who seem friendly and similar to them but have a danger to them that will put the traveling cats at risk. That is the role they’re meant to play, and as the series was meant to end after Dawn, the Erins didn’t need to flesh the Tribe out really beyond that.

But then money and the publishers spoke and the series continued and we returned to the Tribe except uh… huh. Honestly I kinda don’t want to get into this because it’s the same thing every time. The Tribe, who when we first meet them are described as huge and able to fight eagles, and are well adapted for life on the mountains, have encountered some problem and only the Clan cats can save them. Rinse and repeat. And as someone who has attempted to figure out the Tribe’s Allegiances, if you thought they were bad about remembering details for the Clans oh boy. For specific citations of the Tribe needs the Clans help, oh no, please see Moonrise, Outcast, Sign of the Moon, and Tawnypelt’s Clan. Sign of the Moon in particular because a Clan cat straight up choses the Tribe’s new leader. Can you imagine how the Clans would react if a Tribe cat tried that?

But it’s okay right because of the whole time-travel thing which means that Jayfeather actually founded the Tribe and named the first Stoneteller. I could write an entire essay on how much I hate this plot point, but that’s not the point here. The more important part is that some how the Tribe went from names like Stone Song, Half Moon, Lion’s Roar, Clear Sky, Gray Wing, etc. to names like Brook where Small Fish swim. I, as a white guy, don’t want to touch the racism there, I’m pretty sure other people have explained it better than I can, but the short version is that a group named the Tribe with names like Jagged Rock where Heron Nest comes off like a stereotype for Native Americans, at least from my white American experience. So, uh, solid yikes on that one, especially when those aren’t even the names they use (because of course not they’re a fucking mouthful) which gets to the world building point I’m gonna touch on instead.

The Ancients become the Tribe but somehow the names grow so long that they all have to go by nicknames that… almost resemble what Ancient names were to begin with? I understand this is because the Tribe’s naming convention got established before the time loop thing, but honestly, there is no reason they should’ve been named like that and in fact more reasons why they shouldn’t have. Between the racism and then from a writing perspective, what is the point, of having names like that if they’re never used? Like narratively it makes no sense from the start, and the Time Travel plot only makes that more obvious.

All that said, I actually super adore the Tribe! I wish they’d been handled differently in a lot of places but they had so much potential to be cool that got lost along the way. So thus, we come to my rewrite. If you’re just here for Tribe Analysis you’re free to go, but if you’re here for how I’m rewriting the Tribe than settle in.

---

In my rewrite the Tribe has Ancient names from the get go, because it makes more sense and allows for the Tribe to serve its original narrative function, that is, a place similar to what the Clan Cats are used enough to be comfortable, but different enough to be unsettling. The Tribe has ancestors not unlike StarClan but I have the Tribe’s worship working very differently. Stone Tellers are raised from birth to serve as a guiding force for the Tribe because they are the ones that can speak to the ancestors, and every full moon, when the Cave of Pointed Stones glows, they lead their tribe to speak with their ancestors, in something not unlike a gathering, but it is meant to be a form of remembrance, as they are sharing news with their ancestors instead.

The Tribe has very extreme views of their ancestors, refusing to take the Tribe of Endless Hunting’s name in vain. It is also believed that a Tribe cat that has passed cannot move on to the Tribe of Endless Hunting until a final task has been completed. This task is something the cat would’ve wanted to do while alive, but didn’t get to, so now one of their family, or a close friend, does it in their place. (To a reasonable extent, for example telling someone that the cat who died was in love with them, not settling down with them to raise a family because that’s what the dead cat wanted to do.) Those who have not moved on linger as ghosts. They don’t have stars in their pelts, and they don’t have the ability to see the future to warn their Tribemates the way StarClan or the Tribe of Endless Hunting do. They are capable of speaking to those who can see them, usually Stone Teller, but otherwise they tend to simply watch and wait for someone to help them move on.

The Tribe believes that the future is chosen by the Tribe of Endless Hunting, to challenge their omens is the most heretical thing a cat can do. The current Stone Teller decides a cat’s future when they are born, Cave-guard, Prey-Hunter, or rarely, the next Stone Teller. Those kits are taken by the current Stone Teller once they’re old enough to be weaned and raised in the Cave of Pointed Stones. Their name is chosen by the current Stone Teller and stripped from them when they become the next Stone Teller. Stone Teller is meant to be the ancestor’s conduit to the living and an impartial leader to the Tribe. However, not every leader can live up to those expectations, and should the Tribe begin to doubt the current Stone Teller’s capability to guide them, they can make a new cat leader. This cat would do the job of leading the Tribe, while Stone Teller continues to serve as the medicinal and spiritual leader. This rarely happens, and when it does it is rarely so clean cut, as no one particularly enjoys admitting they’ve made a mistake and need to be replaced as leader.

The Stone Teller is assisted in leading the Tribe by the head of the Cave-Guards and the head of the Prey-Hunters, these are seen as the cats that are best at that job and capable of quick decision making and good judgement calls. They often work together to organize hunting patrols and discuss issues in the territory, often presenting Stone Teller with their solutions alongside problems.

Honestly the Tribe won’t be playing a very large role in my rewrite as a whole, but since they have an entire arc dedicated to them, I wanted to make sure I had them well fleshed out. There’s a few details I��ve left out because this is long enough, but if you’re curious about anything I’ve said either about the Tribe or my rewrite, hit me up.

[nimueries]

REGARDING: NIMUE + THE FOURTH FACE

In Mists, we are introduced to the concept of ‘The Fourth Face’ and its existence within their lore by Viviane. The reference is actually made in regards to Morgause, who Viviane (the current Lady of the Lake and Morgause’s older sister in this variation) pointedly ignores when accounting for the figures who make up The Goddess at that time.

 "[Baby Morgaine] is not yet a maiden, and I not yet a wise-woman," [Viviane] said, "but we are the Three, Igraine. Together we make up the Goddess, and she is here present among us." 

Igraine wondered why she had not named their sister Morgause, and they were so open to one another that Viviane heard the words as if Igraine had spoken them aloud. 

She said in a whisper, and Igraine saw her shiver, "The Goddess has a fourth face, which is secret, and you should pray to her, as I do, Igraine that Morgause will never wear that face."

I could probably write a novel on how shitty Morgause is treated by the writing of this book but I don’t have the time. What’s important to understand is that at this time, Viviane is both Father Griffin and Morgaine to a pre-teen Morgause. She has magic but apparently she uses it frivolously and for selfish purposes? She’s too ambitious and willful and so she cannot serve the Goddess as she had originally wanted to. So, she pursues the only avenue that is left to her, which is to pursue her magic in private and marry and plot to marry as high up as she can. Obviously, this makes her the big bad. 

Now that we understand the concept of The Fourth Face existing in Mists canon, we can talk about how it pertains to Nimue. If we go with the notion of The Fourth Face embodying both Birth and Reckoning - what comes before The Maiden but after The Crone - we can tie it all the way to the circumstances of her conception. Nim’s birth is the product of deception and manipulation, a birth born from the destruction of Elaine’s purity and actual innocence. Beyond this, she is ultimately ignored and disregarded by mother, father, and priest. When she is acknowledged it is usually for the purpose of punishment and blame. 

During her formative years in Avalon, she is further isolated and placed in the shadows of all the other women on the Isles. During this time the roles of the Maiden, Mother, and Crone are played by Niniane, Morgaine, and Raven even if the fit isn’t quite right. Niniane even goes on to corrupt the role of maiden by participating in the Rites with Gwydion/Mordred, knowing that she wasn’t a virgin. Meanwhile, Nim is not given leave to speak with or interact with anyone save for these three personifications of The Triple Moon. Her virginity (which in itself is a squicky subject and deserving of its own meta entirely) is guarded and her growth as a maiden is stunted.

Of course, this all brings us to the reason that she’s been safeguarded for so many years. Which, is to ultimately punish the Merlin for his offenses against Avalon. (Which, again, I could write novels about how bullshit this entire plot is, but I digress. We hate MZB in this house and will continue to hate her long after our deaths.) This is where Nim’s ties to The Fourth Face begin to manifest in a more ‘on the nose’ sort of way.

First of all, she’s forced to hide herself while in Camelot. She’s physically present but every true thing about her is still plunged deep into the shadows. The magic that she’s working on the Merlin is ancient and dark, performed in the dead of night where no one else can see. The power that she is invoking is both ancient and largely forgotten, ripe with life and death. The most telling indication that Nimue has had to invoke The Fourth Face is that her spell will not come to full fruition until ‘the moon-dark.’ The night of The Fourth Face.

"When the moon is dark-" [The Merlin] flinched, and she knew that here was the moment of danger, the moment when the carefully played fish might slip off the hook and out of the net and be free. In Avalon the priestesses secluded themselves at moon-dark, and all magic was suspended ... but he knew not that she was of Avalon.

Not only is this an exceptional example of Morgaine and Niniane forcing Nimue to overlook her own training and betray the tenets that she had been taught, but it’s an exceptional example of where Nimue actually, ultimately, draws her power from. She has tapped into a force that even Morgaine has shied away from, and - through her own cowardice and thirst for petty revenge - left Nimue to drown in.

Nimue once against embodies the Birth and Reckoning/Destruction aspect of The Fourth Face on this night. Due to the dark sorcery of the event, Nimue is denied the ability to transition from maiden to mother through this act. She quite literally rejects the Merlin’s seed but through the blood she has enslaved him and ultimately destroyed him, birthing a new era for the Druids in the process since they have lost their corrupted leader. For herself, although she doesn’t realize it at first, this act is also a birth and reckoning. Nimue realizes that her faith has been betrayed by Morgaine and with the completion of this task there is the birth of a new woman in Nim.

Which, ultimately takes us to her suicide. This is by far the most ridiculous part of her arc and piss poor writing on MZB’s part, but I digress. I’ve ranted about it a million times and have since adapted it into something that makes more sense to my characterization of Nimue. Death is the ultimate sacrifice, the only pure thing that she still has left to give to her faith after Morgaine has defiled everything else. Through this death, through this sacrifice, Nimue is reborn because her faith is answered by the one goddess who has been beside her all this time. The Fourth Face. She is reborn so she can become reckoning. Avalon is corrupted. Camelot is corrupted. They must be devastated so that they can be restored.

After that first moon dark night, Nimue becomes that instrument of both devastation and restoration. An immortal entity that stands outside of the human coil. What was created by Morgaine will also be her ruin.

She was a charged vessel of power, like the Holy Regalia which it was death to touch unprepared, and all this power of her long preparation would be hers to bind the Merlin to her...but she must wait for the tide to slacken and fill again; at the dark moon she must take the other tide which came of the other side of the moon[...]not of life at all but of dark magic older than human life....

[rabm]

ok i’ve said mp100 is pretty light on the magic system (which is true) but i still wanna talk about how the psychic powers work so.. under the cut. some spoilers if you havent read the manga

psychic powers are fueled by emotions.

the villains claim that negative emotions are more powerful, but i don’t think that’s true. it only seems so because it’s much easier to force people to feel negative emotions than to force them to feel positive ones.

explosions like 100% gratitude and 100% ecstasy really did not look any weaker than other explosions...so yeah

repressing emotions weakens psychic powers

esper powers are absolutely tied to their muscles.

ootsuki channels his powers using a physical object (a paper fan) and sakurai uses weapons, so i think the general esper rule is that they have to channel their power through something, and for most of them their muscles work fine

being more physically fit strengthens psychic powers

being drained of psychic energy leaves them unable to physically move, or they may even faint

all psychic actions are performed with a movement, like how shigeo points his hand at spirits he’s exorcising. 

this movement is necessary to using psychic powers, as evidenced by how espers bound in place either with rope, plants, or telekinesis cannot attack before breaking free. this is why binding others in place is such a common psychic attack, and why espers even bother with tying each other up

the only exceptions to this rule (unless im forgetting someone) are passive espers like telepaths or clairvoyants, minegishi, and shigeo at ???% 

passive abilities are kinda obvious so not much to say there. 

ohhh yeah shimazaki is kindof an exception too, w teleportation and his unconventional defensive abilities. no wonder he was in the super 5

minegishi is an exceptionally strong specialist, so in this case it could have been achieved through experience (much like how teru learned how to defend and attack at the same time)

minegishi lost composure when frightened by mogami so maybe it takes concentration lol

shigeo at ???% is the most interesting exception. his ability to use devastating telekinesis without moving at all definitely adds to his uncanny appearance.

he’ll still physically pummel you if flinging you away doesnt initially work so he’s not a total exception either

not totally clear if he retains this ability post canon but imo he does

some other notes..

a lot of espers are limited to one or two abilities but its not totally clear whether this is a hard limit or due to them being unwilling to learn. it probably varies.

it’s apparently nearly impossible to attack and have a barrier at the same time, shigeo appears to be an exception and teru definitely is

healing powers are stated to be rare. shigeo and fukuda are the only espers shown to have it

shigeo has never done so actively but he clearly heals himself in fights, and healed everyone at the end of the WD arc

being able to absorb external energy or give your energy to other espers is even more rare, and overpowered as hell if the two espers to have it are any indication (touichirou and shigeo) (dimple could also do it as lord psycho helmet but evil spirit powers are a post for another day)

touichioru instantly tried to kill shigeo upon learning he could do it so like, yeah

shigeo could absorb energy straight from the atmosphere

[wordcubed-writes]

My villain OCs: The Problem-Solvers

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Fanfic: untitled AFO!Izuku AU

Context: As promised at the end of my AFO!Izuku AU timeline, here is the first of several posts about my fic's villain OCs.

Today's bunch are minor characters I created because I needed to solve a problem. They don't get much, or any, development. They exist simply to enable the plot to happen, and most only appear in one or two scenes. They’re so unimportant, I only have placeholder names for them at this point.

While their Quirks are all incredibly useful, many also have side affects that make them impossible to use without hurting people. 

____________________

The Universal Translator

One of the goals of my AFO!Izuku AU is making the world feel bigger. I can't have Japan be the heart of hero society if we never see anything outside Japan, can I? But that raises another problem: how the heck can I have people from different sides of the planet casually talk to each other? Easy! A universal translator Quirk.

Babel works for the Consortium. With a touch, he can make a person fluent in every language (that has living fluent speakers on Earth). Obviously, this is so incredibly valuable that it needs one hell of a downside to explain why he can only find work as a villain. (Not that he's reluctant. Babel is totally okay with his Quirk's cost; it's not like he's the one paying it.)

For every person Babel "gifts" this way, he has to assign another person to lose the ability to speak, write, and understand language—any and all language. This victim is left unable to understand or communicate with any person or media around them, for the rest of their life. (Babel's villain name makes sense now, doesn’t it?) And that "rest of their life" is usually short, because no victim of this has ever lasted more than a couple years before killing themselves—being that isolated, that alienated, is unbearable for a human being.

But it gets worse! Victims and recipients are paired. Within several hours of choosing and touching a recipient, he needs to choose and touch a victim, or else suffer the downsides of his Quirk himself. When a victim dies, their paired recipient loses their universal fluency (and vice versa if a recipient dies before the victim, though this rarely happens). Thanks to the high suicide rate of his victims, Babel needs to constantly create more of them.

Obviously, the only people who'd be okay with this cost are pretty awful. The Consortium is canny enough that they help Babel choose victims who either won't be missed or that the Consortium needs silenced (which they can literally, thanks to Babel).

Random bit of backstory for Babel: his personal paired victim is the only one he's forcibly kept alive. He hasn't lost his universal fluency for almost twenty years now.

The Medic

Hurtswap exists because I felt that Inko's faction needed a healer on their side. Hurtswap's Quirk allows them to swap an injured body part with someone else's healthy body part. This has obvious downsides: they need access to uninjured people to heal any injuries. And unlike Babel, they can't delay the exchange for very long; if Hurtswap heals someone, they need to assign the injury to someone else within a few minutes, or else suffer the injury with their own body.

Inko takes Hurtswap in when they're still a kid, but by time Izuku starts at UA, they're in their twenties, and they're pretty skilled. They've gotten creative, and can swap injuries onto animals, provided the animal has the right anatomy. For example, Hurtswap can give a human's broken femur to any animal with a femur (and the human's femur will be healed), but they couldn't do this with, say, an insect, because insects don't have that kind of skeleton.

I've been going back and forth on how to write them. Sometimes I think it'd be interesting to make them a Mad Doctor(tm) who enjoys using their Quirk, mostly because I like the idea of giving Himiko an adult in her life who sympathizes with, or even adores, how creepy and stabby she is.

Other times, I lean towards making Hurtswap a woobie who hates hurting people or animals, but still feels obligated to save other people. Someone who reluctantly swaps your broken arm onto a rat, then completely ignores you and cries and dotes over the now-injured rat. This version obviously allows for more angst, and possibly more character development, but I don't want to write Inko pressuring a kid into using a Quirk they hate.

We'll have to see which direction I take them.

The Wealthy Sponsor

So like, where is homeless single mom Inko getting the money to establish a found family villainous empire? Answer: somebody rich is using her shelter to launder money.

I also wanted to address an issue that canon BNHA doesn't really touch: class. In-canon, Shinsou has a "villainous" Quirk, and needs to follow the straight-and-narrow rules just to get a fair shake. In this AU, Inko's sponsor also has villainous Quirk, but he’s rich and powerful. The law protects him, but it does not bind him—the inverse of Shinsou.

Secret Thief's Quirk lets him know the secrets of the people around him. Its strength is based on distance. Across the street from you? He can learn secrets that would be mildly embarrassing to you if the wrong person learned them. Shaking your hand? He knows the secrets that could destroy your life if they got out.

Secret Thief got booted out of UA for being a real mean son of a bitch. (Not by Aizawa; Secret Thief is actually slightly older than him. Also he was, naturally, in the management course.) But Secret Thief's family was also rich, so he had options; he ~redeemed~ himself by going on an apology tour, donating money and even personally volunteering at various charities. At one of them, he meets Inko, and immediately picks up on all the secrets she's keeping.

Secret Thief sees Inko as easy prey. She works in a sketchy part of town with sketchy people (her shelter is one of the few with a "no questions asked" policy, so a lot of people with "bad" Quirks, or who're skirting the edge of the law, end up there), and she treasures her son, Izuku.

As far as Secret is concerned, he's being very nice: Inko gets legitimacy, money and aid she needs to continue her work, a contact among rich and influential people, and a more robust cover for her illegal activities.

All he gets out of it is a pet project to build his reputation and skills with, a legally-separate organization to funnel and hide resources in, easy access to desperate people willing to work under the table, and plausible deniability if anyone finds out. Oh, and Secret makes it very clear that if the public ever learns what Inko has done, she manipulated him, and she will take the fall.

Secret Thief comes the closest to getting a character arc. He's obviously in a position of power over Inko, capable of destroying her life. But later, after Inko's gang has built ties to powerful groups like the Consortium (and even dangerous people like All For One), Secret Thief realizes she's outgrown him—he's just one of many influential contacts she has, and the rest have power he can't touch.

The Secret Keeper

So with all sorts of secrets to be kept, and especially with Secret Thief and other mind-readers prowling around, how do villains keep the wrong information from getting out to the wrong people?

Censor is a freelancer for other villains. Her Quirk, Classified, makes it so that if you learn any new information when it's activated, you become unable to share that information with anyone else—unless the other person themselves already knows it. This applies to everything, not just important secrets.

For example, if you learn a new fact about octopuses, you won't be able to talk, write, or otherwise signal it to another person unless that other person already knows that same fact. Now replace "octopuses" with any information you don't want people finding out.

Her Quirk is one of the few counters to psychic Quirks, outright blocking information from them. Censor's character debut is when the Consortium reaches out to Inko, and they want to share information with her despite the possibility that she may refuse to join them.

Random bit of backstory for Censor: she's from a big family, all with similar Quirks. They have close ties to the Consortium, and were some of the few "civil servants" of the supervillain dictator era to side with that group instead of All For One's League of Villains.

The Teleporter

It gives me a lot more options in the story if characters can just sometimes appear where they need to be.

Tesseract can shift the space within a thirty-meter-across cube around himself into a higher dimension, both surveying and quickly relocating to any other spot of his choosing. He is very busy, since teleportation Quirks are rare and obviously valuable, so it's not like he hangs around the Important Characters moving them whenever. There are plenty of times when someone has to shrug and take a 12-hour plane flight.

Tesseract's Quirk has no major downsides, aside from the fact that he doesn't look human—just a vaguely-humanoid shattered pane of multi-colored glass. He's relatively young (late teens), but he's been groomed since he was a kid by CORE's own longtime (and elderly) teleporter to be her successor.

____________________

Notes: I’ve put way too much thought into these, despite how unimportant they are.

Tomorrow: Two other OCs. Both close to Inko, and they actually get character development!

[ctl-yuejie]

For the untamed ask game 5, 8, 10, 17, 16, 19, 21 35, 46 and 55

5. Biggest WTF momentThe golden core reveal in the book! ( read it before the drama so I don’t know how much I’d have been surprised without prior knowledge watching the scene in the series). Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention, but from what I remember I wasn’t even sure that Wei Wuxian had lost his Golden Core at that point. So I was extremely shocked by the reveal and also very excited because it made his past actions much more understandable and his dynamic with both Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji got even more interesting. 

8. Most Confusing Part In The Storyon my first read i had a hard time remembering all characters so i think i zoned out a lot when the story didn’t focus on wangxian, so not necessarily a particular part of the story that confused me but i was just not paying enough attention. also: the timeline is random af.

10. Favourite Fanfic Set-Up Uhhhh!!! I love me powerful Yiling Patriarch stories where he survives the second sunshot campaign and anything and everything that focuses on the Yunmeng brothers relationship after canon. Also: every fanfic about the WangXian family regardless of universe.some great “bamf!wei wuxian survives the second sunshot campaign and adopts everyone”

16. Favourite Habitwei wuxian talking non-stop about lan wangji after they’ve met. so much so that the whole jiang family (read: jiang cheng) is super annoyed by it.

17. Purer Cinnamon Role Than Wen Ning (sorry for all these typos in the ask game) hmmmm…Wen Ning is pretty much peak pure cinnamon roll, but from the younger generation Ouyang Zizhen might even out-perform him. sure he is loud and direct, but also doesn’t know how to act in most social situations because the world is such a happy place for him and did you know that Hanguang-Jun and Senior Mo are dating and they’re not as dramatic about it as I want them to be but still super cute, and wtf Hanguang-Jun is now married to the Yiling Patriarch and all my dreams have come true, i have no idea why Lan Qiren looks so constipated maybe that’s because of Jingyi…..19. Cinnamon Role Meme (4 Characters) 21. A Fanon You Like hmmmm….this is pretty much canon but WangXian adopting everyone and everything while roaming the country & Wei Wuxian managing to cultivate MO Xuanyu’s core.and the lan wangji played inquiry for 16 years fanon. not because i think lan wangji would try and bind wei wuxian’s spirit to him but more so to find out whether he’s at peace and at some point it becomes this tiny remembrance song he plays for wei ying once a year.

35. Who Is The Biggest Disaster many disasters in this one but maybe Jin Zixuan??? i think he is so lucky for Jiang Yanli to be persistent in her love for him and MianMian intervening to clear up some misunderstandings…left on his own he really is a sad disaster.

but there’s some tough competition from wei wuxian, jiang cheng, jinling and more…

46. Favourite Fanfic / A Fanfic You Want To Recommendprepare yourself! (if not stated otherwise it’s wangxian)

since then i am because you are by sarahyyy (very short, fluff, oblivious wei wuxian & marriage)

overcast by willowcatkin (middle-length, canon divergence, role revearsal, accidental child acquisition)

and so my heart beats wildly by lily_winterwood (long fic, modern au with cultivation as an olympic sport, wangxian are competitors)

The (Several) Convenient Kidnappings of the Chief Cultivator by the Yiling Patriarch by misscam (short, some silly sexy fun)

your heart, two doors down by ficklish (middle-length, modern au, wangxian are neighbours, single parent! wei wuxian)

A Little Happiness by Suspicious_Popsicle (middle-length, post-canon, lan wangji turns into a child, everyone panics & wei wuxian just wants him to be happy)

asymptotic by chinxe (middle-length, canon divergence, lan wangji plays inquiry, that is how he encounters wei wuxian for the first time, beautiful but it also hurts)

transcendent by hyunbyun (short, wei wuxian is insecure about being in mo xuanyu’s body, domestic fluff)

Continuation by thefaceofno (long fic, post the untamed canon, hair brushing, some more pining but happy end)

i’d be all right (if i could just see you) byThirtySixSaveFiles (long fic, college au, wei wuxian is an idiot and takes lan wangji to a party)

Libation by BastetCG (middle-length, gods au, tentacle sex but in a very innovative way)

a lot can come from being in love with your captain bythefaceofno (long fic, part of a series, star trek au, various pairings, action & romance)

How Wei Ying Went from Oblivious Idiot to Shameless Boyfriend in Three Days by misscam (middle-length, college au, wei wuxian is oblivious but tries to be oh so helpful when lan wangji seems to have a crush on someone)

Adventures in Solitude by etymologyplayground (short, hurt/comfort, the untamed episode 16 canon divergence, lan wangji tries to come to the aid of yunmeng)

every time we kiss i swear i could fly by sarahyyy (short, kissing booth college au, lan wangji has a misunderstanding and is sad but all is well)

The Last Three Feet by etymologyplayground (middle-length, wangxian are oblivious, domestic downtime in cloud recesses with sizhui)

A Start on How by misscam (middle-lenght, college au, sleepovers!!, lan brother feels)

critical path analysis by chinxe (long fic, b99 au, hilarious perfection, it is scary how well the characters fit)

dirty politics by sarahyyy (short, politics au, wangxian are in a secret relationship but oh so wonderful together)

Rumor Doesn’t Have It (But Wei Wuxian Is Determined to Change That) by misscam (middle-length, post the untamed canon, everyone is weighing in on the relationship of the yiling patriarch and the chief cultivator, maybe wei wuxian should make some of the rumours come true)

Found Family by tulirepo (short, hurt/comfort, lan wangji finds ah-yuan on burial mounds, all the found family feels)

i want your heart to be for me by ThirtySixSaveFiles for sealdog (middle-lenght, wangxian soulmate au  but set in canon, usually not a soulmate au reader but the concept is tied in super nicely into the story here)

to recollect and long for by mme_anxious (middle-length, all the found family and ah-yuan feels, hurt/comfort)

Grand Pianos Crash Together by etymologyplayground (long fic, post canon, wangxian find back together: an epic)

grief; the stages of by synonemous (sussiekitten) (long fic, the whole story in a modern setting, stuck in early 2000 wei wuxian is hilarious)

Sleeping in Paradise by daiki (middle-length fic, thematic fic, wei wuxian survives the sunshot campaign, jiang yanli lives, jin rulan’s relationship to the mysterious sleeping person at lotus cove)

What Rests on Tea by Gotcocomilk (long fic, yunmeng feels, jiang yanli & jin zixuan live, inventor!wei wuian, some great hurt/comfort)

and i will go this way by detention_notes (long fic, post-canon, wangxian write each other letters, wei wuxian travels with lesbians and harrasses friends and family on his roadtrip)

Not Just Netflix and Chill (Or Lan Zhan’s Lack of Grasp of Euphemisms) by misscam (short, modern au, lan wangji is the cutest and wei wuxian is helplessly in love)

These Things Stay the Same by notevenyou (modern au, war zone/disaster zone journalist! wei wuxian, sizhui feels!!!!!)

works in progress (they are all very, very good)

a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke (long, almost finished, arranged marriage to save the yiling patriarch, yunmeng bro feels)

Death of a Ghost by Gotcocomilk (long, wei wuxian materializes as a ghost after his death, major yunmeng feels, he raises all the children)

Flowers of Blood and Bone by Sakurafubuki (AriasOfSnow) (long, vampire/vampire hunter au, a lot of action, great world building, crafty!wei wuxian, vampire!lan wangji)

I will surrender (myself to this moment in time) by Naamah_Beherit (long, post-canon, wei wuxian wakes up in gusu but has no idea how he got there, angst (with promised happy ending), lan sizhui calling wei wuxian father feels, wei wuxian gets confronted by the darkness in his life)

Lying on the Edge of a Star by Suspicious_Popsicle (long, slow-burn, wei wuxian falls into young lan wangji’s courtyard who is falling fast and deep, pity that to wei wuxian humans are but a fleeting existence)

please forgive my most passionate disruptions by pumpkinpaix (scribogenesis) (long, modern college au, wei wuxian is a stripper, lan wangji binds himself by his family’s old customs, marvelous character study, all the lan/yunmeng/wen sibling feels)

The storm comes and goes (and I keep walking) by Naamah_Beherit (long, wei wuxian survives the second sunshot campaign and roams the country as a rogue cultivator, he adopts all the children)

55. A Story-Arc That Haunts Youdefinitely the yi city arc!!!! i both love and loath it because it is just so sad and horrible but also has some stunning visuals, wei wuxian being a badass kindergartner and some big reveals for the main plot.

The Untamed / MDZS ask game

[queenmorgawse]

transmigration for dummies

a mdzs scum villain au, based on @lee-luca‘s art. read on ao3. ( warning : implied car accident. )

Jingyi’s first thought upon waking up is ugh, it’s still dark outside. He’s lucky enough to live fairly close to school, so he doesn’t have to wake up anytime before seven, so why—

Memories from last night (?) hit. Thus, his second thought is shit, mom’s going to kill me.

Figuratively, of course. Besides the fact she’d miss him too much (pro tip : as long as your mom still brings you plates of sliced fruit, she still loves you), Jingyi’s fairly sure he’s already dead.

The question of how, though, remains mostly unanswered. Of course, that’s the point : he might have avoided dying if he’d been paying attention. But as things are, and try as he may to remember anything at all, there’s only the screech of tires and someone’s blood-curdling scream and then nothing. The thought makes his skin crawl.

He blinks at the ceiling blearily. There are probably other people right in this room, because he can hear quiet shuffling and whispers and the unmistakable sound of early morning yawns. Is this some kind of dorm? Did he flash back in time and wake up in his old boarding school?

No way. He hated the place, and it apparently hated him back, but at least the pillows there didn’t feel like they were made of wood. Jingyi sits up, rubbing at his neck with a wince, and the sight that greets him knocks the breath right out of him.

All around him, young boys are getting out of bed, shrugging out of their sleeping clothes and into white robes, occasionally shoving at each other until another friend shushes them into behaving, all of it in almost perfect silence. The scene looks like it was lifted straight out of some wuxia movie he used to watch on school nights to procrastinate homework.

Nobody seems to notice him staring (yet), so Jingyi keeps at it. Their clothes look kind of familiar. Maybe it’s cosplay? Wait, I know! Cloud-patterned robes and forehead ribbons, that’s it ⎯ these guys look exactly like Lan Wangji from ‘Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation’! The art’s everywhere on his Twitter feed, it’s hard not to catch the reference.

As soon as the thought crosses his mind, something rings right next to his ear. He almost screams, right before he’s cut off by a cheerful mechanical voice.

【Activation Code：「Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation」. Automatically triggering system.】

Okay, what the hell?

Jingyi glances around. No one else seems to have heard anything. The oddest reaction he gets is from some of the boys, who stare at him, somewhat bewildered, before blinking it off and turning away, as if deciding it really isn’t any of their business if he decides to laze around in bed a little longer.

【We welcome your entrance into the System. This system is based on the developing concept of 「I wish school wasn’t that boring」. We hope to provide you with the best experience. It is our sincere hope that during the course of your experience, you can achieve what you desired. We pray for your happiness. 】

System? He can practically feel gears turning in his head before they click to a conclusion. Seems like all this time spent reading novels on his phone during class is paying off. He’s not that fond of transmigration novels, but damn if he’s not glad he’s read at least a few now. What does this entail, though? Is there any way to go back?

Mom’s going to miss me.

Even as concern clouds his mind, some little part of Jingyi knows there’s probably no turning back from here. What if he comes to in a hospital, bedridden forever, unable to even move his pinkie finger? What if the other him - if there’s another him at all - really is dead, and going home just means fading?

“Oi.” He grabs the nearest teenager by the sleeve and - by the looks of it - almost startles the soul out of him. “Where are we?”

The other looks at him like he’s grown a second head. “What do you mean, where are we?”

“A-Ming, be kind, Shui-jie just allowed him out of the infirmary yesterday night,” another voice chides gently. Someone lays a warm hand on his forehead. “Jingyi, are you feeling better?”

He rubs his eyes. A kind-eyed face comes into focus. The newcomer’s hair is already neatly tied back with a cloud-patterned band, and his blue-gray eyes gaze down at him with enough benevolence that Jingyi feels his breakdown step back a little. “I’m alright,” he says, if only he can’t think of anything else that won’t sound weird.

“These are the Cloud Recesses,” Pretty Boy continues, with all the patience of a saint. He misinterprets Jingyi’s widened eyes wildly. “Don’t strain yourself, you’ve hit your head pretty hard, and Shui-jie said you might be a little confused when you wake up. But you remember me, right? Sizhui? We were together on that night-hunt.”

As Sizhui speaks, another screen has materialized. The AI, or whatever it is exactly, barrels on with renewed enthusiasm.

【System activation successful! Binding your role: Gusu Lan Sect, junior disciple ‘Lan Jingyi’. Starting B Points: 100】

Sizhui is still staring at him, looking increasingly worried. Jingyi’s brain short-circuits in more ways than one. He manages a weak “Huh”, clearly not at top eloquence.

Hey, man, Alexa, whatever you are, what the fuck?

As if reading his mind, the disembodied voice chirped, 【You initiated the command for the system’s implementation and are already bound to the account ‘Lan Jingyi.’】

I heard you the first time! To be honest, he’s still trying to process the implications. This is, as he suspected, the plot of ‘Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation’, plagiarized by this insane system down to a T, and Sizhui is Lan Sizhui, the protagonist’s kid. Not that either of them know that. If there’s even a smidgen of logic in this whole endeavor, he can assume he’s starting from the beginning, when everyone’s clueless about their relationship to everyone.

At least, if Lan Jingyi’s still alive, this must be before the Yi City arc. He can make it there too, right? Provided he doesn’t die from snorting corpse powder in the creepiest town in Fantasy Ancient China. Cool, cool, cool, cool. This is absolutely fine.

Jeez, he even thought it was funny that one of the side characters in the novel shared his first name. If he could go back, he’d punch his past self in the face then beg him to think about anyone else⎯ like someone cooler, or just someone who doesn’t die a stupid death as cannon fodder just to be forgotten in the next five chapters.

He buries his face in his hands, takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. So, what do I do now...System? Can I call you Alexa?

【You may not. As the plot progresses, there will be many point-giving missions gradually opened. Please make sure that the points obtained for each mission are not less than zero. Otherwise, the system will automatically give punishment. 】

Punishment? Doesn’t sound ominous at all. Just for that, he might be tempted to call it Alexa anyway. As if latching onto his train of thoughts, the System chides, 【Failure to keep your points value above zero will result in automatic deportation back to your original world. 】

Note to self : don’t complain too much. As it turns out, things can always get worse.

He digs through his brain to remember everything he can about Lan Jingyi. Not that there’s much to go off of in canon, given the page time he was allotted before his untimely death, some thirty-something chapters in.

Okay, be methodical about this.  It’s easy enough to place himself within Gusu Lan sect : even if his brain had somehow glossed over such an obvious piece of information, his surroundings would have reminded him soon enough. Jingyi’s fairly sure that the original was even part of the main clan. Does this mean he’s got other relatives now, maybe even a new set of parents? The moment the thought crosses his mind, he pushes it down. This deserves its own, separate freak-out.

Moving on to Lan Jingyi himself. In retrospect, Jingyi regrets not paying more attention to him, but why would he? The guy had been a background fixture, mildly important as a supporting character in the junior disciples’ group but still removed from the rest of them because - he’s not going to lieto himself - this dude was kind of a jerk. He remembers Lan Sizhui was nice to the original, but Lan Sizhui’s nice to basically everyone, even Jin Ling at his whiniest. It’s not much of a criteria. Even now, he’s shown nothing but patience to New-Jingyi. Some of it may be due to the fact he apparently just recovered from a pretty serious injury, but he’ll take whatever he can get.

The more he thinks about it, the more chaotic Jingyi’s thoughts get. How is he supposed to keep living here? It’s not his world, it’s not even real. And what if someone realizes he’s an impostor? If he gets thrown out of the sect on grounds of...possession or something, what’s he going to do?

He grunts, pressing his hands against his temples. Breathe in, breathe out. He can do this. Here’s the plan.

Step one : integrate. Make friends where the original guy didn’t manage (or didn’t want to). Besides potentially coming in handy later, Jingyi’s always hated being lonely.

Step two : learn everything he can. If he’d known, he would have spent more time reading up on ‘Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation’’s lore, but there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Keep it up at least until the plot begins. Then, he’s got to assume either the original plot or the System will show him the way. It did mention missions, right?

Step three : reach the end of Yi City arc alive, and then keep surviving. Maybe he won’t ever be the protagonist, but he can at least avoid kicking the bucket like some random extra. Best case scenario, the System will drop-kick him into another story (can you imagine landing in Proud Immortal Demon Way? ugh). Worst case scenario, he’ll just fade into the void, like some permanent game over.

Unpleasant. But at least, either way, he’s never going to spend a fortune in college funds.

“Jingyi?” Someone’s waving a tentative hand in front of his face. Jingyi blinks a few times, realizing he must have looked pretty spaced out. “Do you need any help getting ready?”

Sizhui again. The guy really is too sweet for his own good, Jingyi reflects, but as long as he’s out of his depth, he could do with a bit of help. So he does as any normal polite classmate would do : he smiles at the other and goes, “Yeah, if you don’t mind. Thanks.”

Almost immediately, the System blares out, 【Warning. Your current attitude constitutes a violation of behavior, please remain careful. In the event of another breach, the system will automatically give punishment. 】

Oh, come on!

read chapter 2.

hi guys! i hope you liked reading this piece of crack as much as i liked writing it. i don't plan on having a regular update schedule for this fic, as it's a rather light work and uni's kicking my ass on the daily, but i definitely plan to write more of it as soon as i can. some notes : - i took the liberty to make modern!jingyi a second gen kid, if only because he's going to keep making references (at least in his inner monologue) to his 'previous life' and i don't trust myself to be accurate if it was still set in china. and also because i do have a tendency to Project. - some of the system's 'standard' lines are from bcnovels' translation of scum villain.