#And it's arguably my best work

[rainypebble07]

It's silly because Mike Wheeler's Guide to the Undead is my favorite fic that I've ever written (I believe it's my best work writing-wise) and somehow it has fewer hits than all my other fics. Even IWABT (Rewritten), which just came out and already surpassed it.

Idk what I need to do to get you guys to read this fic.

It's super cute because it takes place right after season 1, but here's the thing. The premise of the fic is that Will actually died in the Upside Down, but then Mike is at his grave and witnesses him come back to life as a zombie. It's LITERAL ZOMBIE BOY.

Mike helps him becuse they need to figure out what's going on, but they can't tell the adults bc they'll tell the lab, so it's super pre-byler-blyer (miwi?) and so adorable and heartwarming but also kind of angst but also sweet and Nancy and Mike interact a lot and Dustin and Lucas are there and everything.

Other reasons you should read it:

There's a scene where they have a heart-to-heart while sitting on top of a crypt in a foggy graveyard

it has a very happy ending

Dustin hating on Ted Wheeler

Troy Walsh gets what he deserves

NANCY AND MIKE SIBLING INTERACTIONS I REPEAT!

Dr. Owens shows up???

It could technically happen and not change the rest of the stranger things plot

Jonathan and Mike solidarity at Will's funeral???

It's from Mike's POV, but it's young Mike so it's ok

Multiple people told me it was one of the best fics they've ever read

Like, idk what else to say other than it is my pride and joy and I have no idea why all my other fics have so many more hits than it! I love it and I think it deserves so much more hype than a lot of my other fics.

Okay, that's the end of my PSA... but if you were intrigued... maybe give it a chance?

[psymachine]

charden scissoring for anon 💙

uncropped version

[kailjoi]

i stayed up until 3am for three days in a row in a frenzy and possessed by some art god and made this

[northlight14]

“Your beauty never, ever scared me” as a ship dynamic

[undefeatablesin]

Me and my one working braincell

[goldenart0]

Gift for @emis-equivalent-exchange for @astranauticus! Some Theatre Dani and VR-LA hanging out

ao3 link

“Are you sure it’s fine we’re in here Dani?” VR-LA slowly closed the door into the theatre, trying to make it as quiet as possible. 

Dani strolled right up to the booth, twirling the set of keys around her finger. “Of course,” she called back at him, “I practically run this place. No one will question if I’m here, and if they do they can go fuck themselves. Now come on, I wanna show you how the board works.”

VR-LA jogged up to the booth, where Dani was already messing around with some buttons.

Dani patted the chair in front of the board, “Sit down, I’ve already pulled up the cues. It’s not too different from sound really, all you have to do is press the button when the SM says ‘go’.” Dani took VR-LA’s arm and pushed him to the chair in front of the board, standing to the side of him and holding onto the back of the chair with one hand, gesturing with the other.

“It’s honestly probably less complicated than what you’ve done on sound, since you aren’t focusing on cues and mics, just cues-”

“Are you doing sound this time? I’m surprised you aren’t doing lighting for this show. I don’t remember you saying anything about leaving,” VR-LA interrupted, turning to face Dani.

“No, it’s this music kid that’s been asking for a while and I thought since you’re doing lights why not give it him. H-, He-, I don’t really remember his name, think it started with an H. So no, I’m not in the booth this time, I did design and I’ll be watching the show like a normal person.” Dani looked disappointed for a brief moment before pointing back at the lighting board. “Anyway, here’s your list of cues. You’ll probably want to put them in your script as well, in pencil, before the Q to Q, but it’s really the same as sound. The Stage Manager calls a cue, you response with ‘lx’, and press the button when they say ‘go’. Make you don’t, VR-LA look at me.” Dani twisted the chair to face her and made eye contact with him. “Make sure you only press go when you get told too. Even if the Stage Manager forgets and you know it’s coming. You listen to the Stage Manager no matter what, even if they mess up. Then it’s on them, not you, for messing up a cue.”

VR-LA nodded at Dani and waited until she turned back to face the lighting board and stage to turn back himself. 

“I’ll be at the Q to Q as well, in case changes need to be made, which they probably will be. You know how adding cues works right?” 

VR-LA nodded.

“It’s the same deal, new cues are .5s or .1s or whatever. I’ll probably add or change cues when we have to, but the system isn’t too hard. You can pick colours here,” Dani hovered the cursor over a colour wheel on the monitor, “or there are sets of colours stored here,” she moved to a tab on the side of the screen. “’Cause we have LEDs you can pick all the colours from here. And then this button saves the cue.” Dani paused and looked back at VR-LA. “I can do all of that this weekend and you can watch, don’t worry.”

VR-LA took the mouse from Dani and clicked on a part of the colour wheel Dani pointed at before swirling around inside of it. The light on stage turned blue, before quickly flashing between all the colours VR-LA had hovered on.

“Oh wow that’s. A lot.”

“LEDs am I right. Delightful tools. Anyway, that’s probably all you really need to know, I mostly just wanted to show you the board.” Dani pushed off the desk, standing back upright, and started looking as if to head out, stepping behind him.

“Who is the stage manager by the way?” VR-LA asked, reaching to find the off switch for the board.

“MR-SN, though I would have assumed you already knew that.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t know, why would you assume I knew that?” VR-LA asked, confused.

“Well,” Dani drew out the word, smirking, “I thought you two were close.”

VR-LA paused. He and MR-SN did work together and he enjoyed hanging out and talking with him, but he wouldn’t say they were particular close. Certainly not anymore than anyone else in the theatre, right?

“And on that note,” Dani continues, still smiling, “No flirting on headset. The booth isn’t as soundproof as you think it is-“

VR-LA whipped around to face Dani. “What?”

“-And I don’t want to hear anything while sitting in the audience.”

“We do not flirt, MR-SN and I don’t flirt with each other, what are you talking about? I don’t flirt with anyone and definitely not MR-SN.” VR-LA’s words came out rushed and he felt his face start to heat up.

“Well I still don’t want to hear anything, flirting or not.”

“I don’t flirt with anyone Dani!”

“I’m just saying that the booth isn’t fully soundproof VR-LA, that’s all.” Dani smiled at him and his, not serious, rage and embarrassment. Then she looked over his shoulder at the stage and her face fell a bit.

“Are you alright Dani?”

Dani made a small noise of surprise and looked back at VR-LA. “Yeah I’m good, just thinking.”

“Are you sure, you looked sad for a second, is something wrong?”

“No it’s fine, just a lot on my mind. It’s your first show as mlx, it’s a new sound op, this is my first time designing lights myself, it’s a lot going on.”

VR-LA didn’t respond to her. There was a lot of new things going on for this show, and Dani had to be under the pressure of designing her first show by herself.

“It’s just that.” Dani spoke up, tapping her fingers against the back of the chair. “I won’t be there if anything happens. I’m not doing cues to make sure they happen when they should, or on headset to say if anything looks weird, or if anything or one goes missing. After the Q to Q I’m done. Can’t touch anything, it’s out of my hands. I’ll just be sitting in the audience and trust you guys have it under control. Which I do, don’t get me wrong, but-”

“But you want to be there to make sure.”

Dani looked down at the floor. “I’ve never not worked a show before. Even backstage, running around making sure props were in their places or actors made their cues. It’s weird to not have to do anything.”

“And let go of your responsibility?” VR-LA added.

“I guess, it just makes me nervous to not be able to do anything. Even through I totally trust you guys, I don’t think you’ll mess up, but if you do, I can’t do anything and that’s nerve-wracking.” Dani squeezed the back of the chair and looked up at VR-LA.

She did look upset. Not angry, but sad, or longing. Like she didn’t want to give this up to VR-LA and whatever person she grabbed for sound. VR-LA knew Dani wouldn’t let him give up his job to her just so she could be back in the booth, even with how much more experience she had then he did. If she was accepting her role as a designer, for her first solo show, she would stick with that no matter how much she wanted to be in the show. VR-LA hoped that if she watched the tech runs it might calm her nervousness but made a mental note to talk to some of the others to do something for Dani in appreciation. 

For now through, “You know, I’m still a bit confused on how to add a cue, could you show it to me again?”

He saw Dani’s eyes light up with excitement again and give him a genuine smile as he pointed back to the monitor, and she came back next to him by the board.

[queenhawke]

very funny to me that RTD2 wasn't quite hitting for me until the moffat ep. and tbh i wasn't even that excited for him coming back bc i kinda wanted new stories from new writers but like. can't argue with that banger of an episode

[aleki-lives-here]

I watched an mdzs animatic with a song from wicked, and something in my mind finally clicked and now I want to scream about how similar my current and my past hyperfixations are.

"Good news, the witch is dead!" like

"No good deeds" is such a "character pushed to their limits" song. Imagine it before the nightless city. The first scream, as Wen Ning and Wen Qing walk away. The chanting as he lies there, unable to move, praying for them to be well. Memories of people he loves: Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, Lan Zhan, the Wen siblings.

"Was I really seeking good, or just seeking attention?" -- as he looks at the burial mounds and leaves.

"If I cannot succeed, Fiero, saving you, I promise no good deed will I attempt to do again." -- as he learns about Wen Qing and Wen Ning's death.

Ending with him arriving at Nightless city and pulling out the flute.

I want to see it animated so much!

My skills are so annoyingly not up to the task. Maybe if my hyperfixation survives long enough that I learn drawing and animating things well? It'll be the third mdzs animatic I really wish to do one day. Maybe one day.

[necrotic-nephilim]

Fandom: Grayson (Comics) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dick Grayson/Tiger Characters: Dick Grayson, Tiger (DCU) Additional Tags: Omega Dick Week (DCU), Omega Dick Grayson, Alpha Tiger (DCU), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Forced Bonding, Mating Bites, Mate or Die, Porn With Plot, Oral Sex, Spyral (DCU), Ambiguous/Open Ending, Unrequited Love, Bittersweet, Intense Sex, Hurt Dick Grayson, Whump Summary:

Tiger does what he has to, to save Dick's life. Unfortunately, that just happens to be forcing a mating bite onto Dick. Together, they figure out the aftermath and find a mutually satisfying way to deal with Tiger's subsequent rut.

-

Omega Dick Week 2024 - Day 3: Forced Bond

[camelspit]

#guys you dont understand if hekster loses on the day of the keefe book announcement on the day of the tierloss i will lose it#this would be my last straw

would you consider it. the straw that broke the camel's back

STOP 😭😭 i am having an awful time rn. i think i did something to offend god because no one is on my side.

[owl-with-a-pen]

ok guys… we really need a fic now where evil brainy and nia kiss then she gets stabbed and the whole shebang 🫵🫵

Okay so I've been thinking about this pitch a whole lot and the way I imagine it is that it could take place as a canon-divergent event at the end of the Bottle Episode. So, instead of Nia and Brainy breaking up because Brainy has to work for Lex, the evil Brainy traps the real Brainy in a bottle and stabs Nia to death, thus creating an end-of-episode cliff hanger that then leads onto Nia not being quite as dead as the evil Brainy had intended.

Now, I have multiple ideas for one-shots in this canon-divergent universe, but for right now I've written one for the kiss-kiss-stab-stab scene in question.

It's available on AO3 now, you can read it here!

[electracraft]

even outsiders are rooting for the meet up it really is everyone against mother nature and fate and the world now

[softquietsteadylove]

3rd- Kro has been keeping his eyes on Gil and noticed Gil on the market, he told Gil that he saw her with a lady— Gil said that it was her sister Sersi. But Kro insisted and described the lady with a blonde hair, pale skin, every detail that made Gil clench his fist. He said that although he was using his binoculars he could see how beautiful that lady is. Kro also described to him the treasure he caught days ago and it happens that how he described it is the same how he described the lady he said was with Gil and that made Gil even more mad.

Gilgamesh tried to mess with him asking if the treasure he caught was a human because he describes it very humanly, but Kro just laughed cornering Gil with the question where is the lady that he's with days ago. And then Thena suddenly submerging walking through Gil's back, she cameback and she went with the plan Gil instructed to her earlier ago (you decide what plan that is and reveal it here). Luckily Gil and Thena had manage to stay with the plan without getting suspicious. Kro walked through Gilgamesh and Thena tried hissing at him but Gil managed to soothe her for Kro not to notice something unusual with her. Kro said that he'll keep an eye on him but he's looking at Thena, and then they left.

I THINK IT'S A LOT, SO SORRY😭 AND THANK YOU!✨♥️

"Gil."

"Kro."

Gil grunted as Kro shoved him aside, marching into the house again. He wasn't here to dance around the subject, though. He had a wire in hand already, "where is she?"

Gil shut the door, keeping an eye on the muscleheads Kro had brought with him. "This again?"

"Nice try, Gil," Kro snarled at him, not waiting to get in his face this time. "I saw you."

"You're seeing me now, aren't you?" Gil sighed. He really didn't have any fight left in him.

Kro grabbed the front of Gil's shirt, shaking him, "at the market. I know it was you and your little catch, Gil--my catch."

Gil just looked at Kro.

Kro released him, taking up that same, sickening grin that made Gil's skin crawl the last time they had talked. "She is quite a catch, too, isn't she?"

Gil remained silent, watching as Kro walked around the kitchen. Just like before, nothing was out of place; Gil had made sure to put away any extras of anything. There wasn't another plate at the table, there wasn't another mug in the sink. Nothing that would give him the impression that someone else was there.

"Quite a beautiful thing, she is," Kro chuckled to himself. He ran his fingers along the wire looped around into the shape of a noose. "You can see why I'm looking for her, can't you? I don't see why you're fighting so hard when you clearly haven't sold her anywhere, either."

"Sold her?"

"Waiting for the right offer?" Kro postulated, skipping right over the horrific implication he was making. "I thought about calling some aquariums for it, but they would probably just pull the 'animal cruelty' card. But some of those water parks with the whale shows are still up and running. Maybe the big one in Florida would pay the right amount for her."

Gil gripped his fists so tight they ached. "You...were going to sell her?--to an amusement park?"

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings?" Kro laughed in his face. "Come now, Gil--a catch like her could make us billionaires!"

"Us?" Gil raised a brow at him.

"Look," Kro raised his hands to him, although the wire noose stayed around his elbow. "I know you're hiding her. I'm willing to make a deal. You surrender her to me, and I'll split the money for her with you. I'll even give you the five hundred thousand reward; consider it a deposit."

"I don't want your money."

"Everyone says that before they have it," Kro shrugged, still convinced that Gil had a price, all he had to do was find it. "You're telling me you're happy to drag yourself out to sea everyday of your life?"

"What I'm telling you-" Gil moved forward, grasping Kro's shirt this time. "Is that I'm not going to let you hunt down Thena for sport."

"Oh," Kro's eyes sparked in amusement. "You've fallen for the fish?"

"She's not a fish."

"A whale, then?" Kro cackled. "Or is she more like a dolphin?"

"She's a person, Kro," Gil released him, his eyes darting out the window towards his dock. "And she's back from work."

"What?"

Gil walked out of the house, freely ignoring the wall of muscle Kro had brought as backup. He continued his easy pace, even as Kro shot out of the house and ran ahead of him.

Sersi guided Gil's dinghy to the dock at a gentle pace. She secured its knot easily, although she had to grip the sides as Thena shot to her feet and scrambled out of the boat and onto the dock, "careful!"

Kro's jaw dropped as he watched Thena walk over to them, a dress floating around her legs, her feet bare and plain to see. "How-"

"Hey, Sweetheart," Gil smiled, although Kro would never be able to perceive the tentative nature of it. He breathed out a shaky sigh as Thena ran to him, allowing him to fold his arms around her. He buried his nose in her hair, "I missed you."

"This is impossible!" Kro snarled at them. He raised a hand to inspect the mirage before him but Gil pulled her closer to him.

"Hey man, you can't just touch women you don't know," Gil chided as he would if they were in a petty squabble in the pub. He grasped Thena's shoulder.

"Kro," Sersi greeted rather dryly as she also walked up the dock towards them. "I see you've beaten yet another illegal poaching charge."

"What did you do?" Kro turned on her, ready to tower over her as he pleased.

"Hey!" Gil moved to block his sister from the monster of a man, only for Thena to beat him to it.

Sersi smiled as the blonde planted herself next to her. "I see you've met my colleague, Thena. She works at one of the marine wildlife posts in the Bering Sea. It's awfully lonely out there, but her year long outpost is finally over."

"Her what?"

Sersi held Thena's hands in hers. "I was so happy to be able to visit her and Gil here. I even met her friends."

"Friends?"

"Oi!"

Kro leaned over the side of the dock, further aghast at the two people seated in Gil's dinghy. One was a lithe little woman, her legs stretched out at odd angles in soft looking yoga pants, and a menacing grin on her face. The other was a man, with a blanket over his legs but with boots and a heavy jacket on. "Wh-"

Ikaris glared up at him, "you givin' my sister a hard time up 'ere?"

Kro looked from the two in the boat back to Thena, whose legs were also undeniably there and functional. "This is impossible."

"What is?" Thena tilted her head at him (worsening Gil and Sersi's underlying anxiety about the whole thing).

Kro stood, walking back over to them. Gil and Sersi flanked her but Thena held his eyes. "I know it was you. You looked at me just like this when you were in that net."

Gil's fist tightened at Thena's back.

Thena tipped her chin up, though, a far ways away from cowering from him. She withheld herself from hissing at him, though. "Are you in the habit of stringing up human women in nets?"

"That sounds awfully suspicious, Kro," Sersi asserted as firmly as she could. "I would hate to have to tell people that you're an entirely different kind of predator."

"I wouldn't," Gil added.

Kro backed up just a step, but it was a step in the right direction. "I will get you for this. I don't know how you did it, but I will find you again, and you won't get away next time."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Gil shook his head at him, "don't say stuff like that to people!"

Kro turned, storming back up the hill and towards the far side of the island where he had parked his own motorboat. The wall of muscle followed him, seeing they wouldn't be transporting anything.

Gil and Sersi both let out positively gut-deep sighs of relief. Thena blinked at both of them.

Sersi held onto Thena, her knees wobbling, "that's enough excitement for one lifetime."

"I can't take this," Gil gasped on Thena's other shoulder.

"Is he gone?!"

Thena smiled letting the fretful siblings lean on each other and ride out the adrenaline in their systems. She leaned over to look down at her own fretful sibling. "He's gone."

Ikaris threw himself in the water without a second of hesitation. They never did manage to get pants on him, since his legs were just barely formed enough anyway. He had protested that he wasn't exactly given much time to learn and practice!

Makkari also descended back to the water and let her legs form back into her red scaled tail. She resurfaced, looking around her at the remains of the yoga pants Thena had wrestled onto her. Sorry.

Sersi rejoined Thena, waving, "don't worry, they served their purpose. Thank you for all your help."

Makkari smiled and waved at the rather funny and agreeable human. She had enjoyed the boat ride over chatting with Sersi. She looked at Ikaris, well, Loverboy?

He hissed at her. Thena raised her brows as he looked at Sersi in a peculiar way. "Thank you for helping to protect my sister. I am indebted to you."

Ikaris and Makkari both swam off, not particularly eager to stick around.

Sersi waved until they disappeared from view. She looked at Thena, "he seems rather nice."

Thena gave her a positively baffled look, "Ikaris?"

Gil rolled his eyes behind her, "speaking of rather nice, how is Dane?"

"Oh!" Sersi shot to her feet, dusting off her knees with a sheepish smile, "h-he's good--asked me to say hello."

"Hm," Gil smirked at his flustered sister, although she swatted at him for it. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, forcing her to endure a side hug from him, "thanks for coming, Serse."

Sersi sighed from within the coil of his arm, "of course I would! I can't believe you didn't tell me about this sooner!"

"Thinks he can handle everything by himself."

Sersi grinned at Gil's look of devastation at Thena's jab. She pulled Thena into a hug, "he does, doesn't he?"

"Stick around, join us for dinner," Gil gave his sister's shoulder a little pat. He nodded behind him at the house.

Sersi looked between the two and nodded, heading up to the cabin by herself.

Gil, finally alone with Thena, sighed. He tilted his head, trying to get a look at her, "Angelfish?"

She looked down at her feet, wiggling her toes. "Your plan worked."

"Well," he sighed, daring to stretch out a hand to her. She let him take hers, and immediately she felt some of his muscles loosen. "Bringing Sersi with you was what really made it work."

Thena accepted the truth of it silently, waiting for more.

Gil moved closer, "I'm so sorry, Thena. I should have asked you from the beginning what you wanted to do. Neither of us would have had to go through this."

Thena swayed on the spot. She had been waiting to hear those words, but her chest tightened, like after she would let Ikaris swim into a particularly dangerous set of caves. "I...understand why you did what you did."

Gil pulled her closer by the waist, fully holding her in his arms. She sighed into his chest, having missed the warmth of him, the scent of his shirt, the solidity of his arms around her. "Still, you were right, and I won't forget that."

Thena happily melted into him, having gotten the apology she wanted. "I missed you too."

Gil nuzzled into her, "Angelfish, you have no idea how much I missed you. It's so lonely here; I don't know how I lived out here before you."

Thena soaked up his affectionate words like a happy little seasponge. She purred, "poor, lonely Mister Human."

"I know, I know," he chuckled, not separating from her much to look at her as he spoke. "No more, though. I want you here, with me."

Thena dashed her eyes to the end of the dock coyly, "what if I rather liked being able to swim freely again?"

"Then you can," Gil rushed to promise, burying his face in her neck again. "I'll keep a light at the end of the dock and I'll keep your safe box stocked for you, always. But-"

"Gil," Thena laughed, tipping his head up again. He looked frightened, "I want to be here, too--with you."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and she inhaled at the sensation she had been dreaming of feeling for the last few days. She blinked as he moved his lips from her forehead to her cheek. It felt different, but in kind of a nice way.

"Come on," he said gently, holding her hand ever so delicately in his, like when she was first getting used to being on land. "I'm making your favourites, and there are plenty of sardine snacks."

Thena happily joined him in walking up the hill, hand in hand. She caught Sersi's head - clearly watching them from the kitchen window - ducking down to avoid them. She felt her cheeks warm.

"I was going to go get some mangoes," Gil started, and she immediately looked at him with excitement. He offered a sheepish shrug, "but I thought...maybe you could come with me to get them?"

"Go to the market again?" Thena bounced on her toes (she had come a long way in her balance on land).

"Yep," he grinned at her enthusiasm, pulling her hand up to his lips. "We can take our time and enjoy the day in town, I can show you some more of the sights. What do you think?"

Thena leaned up, mimicking what Gil had done previously and touched her lips to his cheek. It turned a charming pink colour; maybe the nerves in the body could tell when lips touched different parts? "It sounds perfect!"

[devondespresso]

just scrolled through vickie tag without any filters and oh god oh boy you never realize how nicely cultivated your dash is until you get to see all of it (tags vent post sorry)

[a-koschyei]

re: koschei's philosophy in the context of war

he is the worst and i will be the first to say it, but i also want to emphasize that his sense of principles and overall mentality ( in almost every context tbh ) is of someone in the middle of war, whether real or perceived. thus, his behavior and mode of operating isn't to be evil, it's for the sake of surviving, winning, enacting his view of justice, and/or saving his country/faction. and quite honestly he is a tricky bitch first and killing machine second. meaning, his philosophy is very machiavellian rather than one that revels in destruction or makes a show of his full military force with little regard to their damage ( this is actually where his ego is not at work ).

granted, he is not selfless. he will let the world burn down before he does, but if he didn't look out for his own soldiers and chyerti, there is simply no way he'd be a successful usurper capable of rallying them to his side the way he has. he is not nice, he is authoritative and militant, but he is nonetheless effective and appealing to them because his tactics are centered around: a) knowing when to have no mercy or hesitation to strike at an enemy when he feels bloodshed is required (in his mind, being ruthless now means avoiding a bigger or prolonged struggle later and depending on the context of this..... he may actually be correct ) but more importantly; b) when to use wits and deception to avoid the death and unnecessary bloodshed of his own forces.

" all warefare is based on deception. hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; [...] hold out baits to entice the enemy. feign disorder, and crush him [...] pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant [...] if he is taking ease, give him no rest [..] if his forces are united, separate them [...] attack him when he is unprepared. appear when you are not expected. " ( the art of war, sun tzu )

this is above all else koschei's go-to stategy. essentially, have the enemy be the fool who takes themselves out, or let another force exert the effort to destroy them before he or his army needs to step in. minimal damage to them is in fact the priority because the bigger force typically wins, but also... he's not entirely heartless and disloyal. at his core, koschei hates feeling alone; comradery among his realm and military is very important to him; and avoiding as little grief and loss as possible is essential to him, even if he won't ever openly admit that to others or sometimes even himself (your boy is perpetually stuck in the denial stage).

re: how he commands & unifies his forces

again, his chyerti and soldiers would never regard him as nice, but there is a delicate balance here between being too draconian that they hate him, and too soft that they don't obey and fear him. koschei is a master when it comes to walking that fine line. he will fight alongside them, make them feel their plight is one and the same, praise and take care of them, while handsomely rewarding the ones who serve him the best to inspire overachievement. but insubordination is not tolerated and swiftly met with harsh punishment to make an example.

in the context of ruling a kingdom, this approach isn't always the best course, but in the context of running an army? maintaining that order, that unilateral obedience, that sense of fearing his disappointment or wrath a little more than the horror in front of them, is actually vital for their survival. he is not afraid to be that guy, and overall, genuinely feels this is how he shows his care -- by keeping them alive. unfortunately, this is also the only way he knows how to operate in most dynamics outside the context of a war, but he was never given the chance to behave in or learn any other way. war has always followed him, and is just too engrained in his being at this point.

[eldritchmochi]

a pro ana account liked one of my outfit pics and im just like sir i am fat and i would very much like to stay that way