#Lion Guard Next Generation

[pizacat72]

Next Gen TLK OCs

This post is more for me than anything bc I wanted to have a post of my TLK next gen cubs here. Gonna pin it to my blog.

Fikiri, eldest of Kiara and Kovu:

https://www.tumblr.com/pizacat72/759908604895772672/had-to-use-a-cub-creator-since-i-cant-draw-for?source=share

Thamani, youngest of Kiara and Kovu:

https://www.tumblr.com/pizacat72/759927359457624064/this-is-thamani-swahili-for-worth-she-is-the?source=share

Sauti, youngest of Kion and Rani:

https://www.tumblr.com/pizacat72/760020056742707200/this-is-sauti-sauti-kubwa-meaning-loud-in?source=share

Kimya, eldest of Kion and Rani:

https://www.tumblr.com/pizacat72/760017713398743040/this-is-aibu-shy-in-swahili-she-is-the-second?source=share

[cheetahwrites]

The Next Generation - Chapter 1

A lion and a cheetah lied beside each other, their eyes closed.  The cool mist from the waterfall was always refreshing on a summer afternoon.  The Tree of Life’s seemingly magical property of keeping different habitats in the same place didn’t seem to ward off seasons.  Of course, the cliff could get slippery at times, but the lake below was deep enough to save any falling animals.

The two cats were in a peaceful sleep, their tails overlapping each other.  Sure, some might complain that the cheetah, Upesi, snored too much, but the lion, Taakat, didn’t seem to mind.  She sometimes even found it endearing.

But of course, not all sleeps mean no more.  One does have to wake sometime.  If they don’t…well, let’s just say that wouldn’t be great for our story, would it?  At least, not this early.  Nor is it good for the story to reveal the ending at the beginning.  They’re antonyms, aren’t they?

Regardless, Taakat was the first to open her eyes.  She let the warmth of Upesi’s tail sink into her own.  It wasn’t an uncomfortable warmth, like the sun’s heat could be, but it was nice.  Her eyes drifted to the sky.  The sun was already fairly close to setting.  Her tail twitched

“’Kat?” Upesi asked.  “You’re awake already?”

“’Already’ is a strong word,” Taakat responded.  “It’s almost dusk.”

That got Upesi to shoot to her paws.  “We slept that long?”

“Calm down, ‘Pesi,” Taakat said.  “Nobody’s come looking for us.”

Just as she said that, a voice started calling their names.  Taakat rolled her eyes.  She immediately recognized it.  Her brother, Raaja.

“You were saying?” Upesi teased.

Taakat only sighed and walked into view, Upesi beside her.  Raaja looked up and saw them.  “There you are!”

“We were just napping,” Upesi said.

“With your boyfriend,” Upesi’s brother, Alfahd, said.

“Girlfriend,” Taakat corrected without thinking.  Then, “Wait, no, I’m not her girlfriend, but I am a girl.”

“Delude yourself all you want,” Alfahd replied.  “You two are girlfriends.”  Then, to Taakat specifically.  “Sorry.”

“S’fine,” Taakat said.  “But I take you came here for more than misgendering me and teasing us.”

“Yeah,” Raaja said.  He straightened up.  “I mean yes.  The King and Queen will be gone for a few days, and as such, I am to be acting King in their absence.”

“And…?” Taakat pressed.

Raaja lost his heavy posture.  “Do you know where Yasna is?  Ullu will be gone with them and I need better eyes than a lion’s.”

Better eyes than a lion’s, Taakat’s gaze drifted towards Upesi.  She had good eyesight.  Then, Taakat said, “Probably with Ono and Anga.  I’d say they’d be with Beshte, probably in the savanna’s watering hole.”  She nudged her brother.  “Maybe get your boyfriend to help look for them.”

“That’s not a bad idea…” Raaja muttered.  “Hey!  He’s not—ugh, whatever.  Thanks.”

With that, Raaja and Alfahd left.  Upesi turned to Taakat.  “So, girlfriend?”

Taakat groaned.  “You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope,” Upesi smiled.

Taakat entered the Tree of Life.  Even though she had seen it every day, its mysticism never truly wore off.  It almost emanated this calming energy.  Like she belonged here.  And there were those vines at the back.  She had never been allowed back there, but always wondered.

On the rocks in front, two lions were grooming themselves.  The one with the orange mane had considerably lighter fur than the lioness.  He shook himself and stood up.

“Taakat?” he asked.

“Hi, Dad,” Taakat replied.  “Hi, Mom.”

“What are you doing here?” Taakat’s mom asked.  “Weren’t you with Upesi?”

“Fuli called her away for something,” Taakat explained.  She sat down.  “I wanted to ask you something about what Raaja said.”

“Go on, Taakat,” her mom said.  “What is it?”

“He said you’re leaving the Tree of Life?” Taakat asked.

“Yes,” her dad said.  “As you know, I was the leader of the Lion Guard.”

“Of the Pride Lands, correct?” Taakat asked.

“Correct,” her dad responded.  “When I joined the Tree of Life, my brother-in-law’s sister took over.”

“Yeah?” Taakat asked, a bit more snark in her voice than intended.

Her dad chuckled quietly.  “Careful with that tongue of yours.”

“Sorry,” Taakat bowed her head.

“No, no, it’s okay,” her dad said.  “But regardless, every year, the Lion Guard holds something called an Ukumbusho.  It’s to celebrate the peace between lions and elephants.  Rani and I haven’t necessarily had the time to visit any since having you two.”

“You and your brother are quite a handful,” Rani joked.

Taakat scoffed.  “Be glad it’s not Renard.”

“Bunga handles her just fine,” her dad said.

“I don’t think we could,” Rani said.  “Eh, Kion?”

Kion laughed.  “Nope.”

Do I? Taakat thought.  Renard hadn’t necessarily come out to Kion and Rani.  No.  They wouldn’t want to be outed.

“But yes, Taakat,” Rani said.  “Kion and I are leaving at sunrise.”

“Support your brother,” Kion said.  “When this happened with Kiara, we didn’t agree with anything.”  He looked away and his voice quieted.  “It started their plan to bring Scar back.”

Rani put her tail on Kion.  “It’s okay.  It wasn’t your fault.”

Taakat had heard tales of Scar’s return, but she didn’t know her dad was so involved in it.  She opened her mouth to ask, but was cut off by a voice.

“King Kion!  Queen Rani!”

“Ullu?” Kion asked.  He straightened up.  “What’s wrong?”

“We need the Night Pride,” a falcon flew in.  “Invaders!”

“Yasna?” Taakat felt her body straighten.

Kion and Rani looked at each other.  A light came off their shoulders.  The mark of a lion’s head that Taakat was so used to seeing was no longer there.

“They can’t,” a mandrill came out.  “They must rest.  And their Marks are gone.”

“Then I’m on it!” Taakat said.

She darted out of the room before anyone could protest.  Rani started after her, but Kion blocked her way.  “We have to see if she’s ready.”

“Yasna!” Taakat called, not stopping.  “Where were they?”

“A group of leopards,” Yasna explained.  “Three or four, about your age, at the entrance.”

“Got it,” Taakat said.  As much as she itched to fight all the leopards alone, she knew it was stupid.  “Okay.  We need Upesi and Gato.   Renard wouldn’t hurt either, but we can even it out without them.”

“Understood,” Yasna said.

“And quickly!”

Yasna flew away.  Each step invigorated Taakat more.  She was going to protect her home.  She was going to help Raaja.

As she neared the entrance, Upesi caught up to her.  “What’s going on, ‘Kat?”

“Yasna wouldn’t say anything other than you needed us,” a jaguar with jet-black fur caught up as well.  Gato.  Good.

“But we’ll help you in anything!” a gray fox jumped in.  He even brought Renard.

“There are a few intruders,” Taakat explained.  “Yasna!  Can you spot them?”

The falcon soared down and towards the entrance.  They nodded.  “Affirmative!  There are four, advancing!  One’s farther ahead than the rest.  Must be the leader.  Two on their left and one on their right.”

“Understood!” Taakat said.  “Okay.  Upesi, take the one on the right.  Gato, you have the leftmost one.  Renard, Yasna, the one directly to the left.  I’ll take the leader.”

“Let’s go!” Renard sped ahead.

With strength and respect, Taakat thought.  It didn’t feel right finishing it.  They weren’t the Night Pride.  But they could still protect.  She ran ahead, barreling right into the first leopard.  It knocked him to the floor, and Taakat pinned him.  She swiped at his chest with her claws, and he pushed her back up, scratching her own chest in the process.  Landing on her feet, she swiveled to face him.

“Intruders will never be allowed at the Tree of Life!” she spat.  “We’ll protect the Circle of Life ‘til the day we die!”

The leopard spat and jumped at her, claws outstretched.  She rolled out of the way, but got a nick on the ear.  Give him a scar he won’t forget.  She extended her claws and drew one down the side of his left foreleg.  Blood started to flow out.  He limped back.

“Leopards!” he called.  “Retreat!”

The leopards all turned to face him and ran away.  Most of Taakat’s group appeared unharmed.  Sure, a few fur patches were torn out, but it looked like she was the most harmed.

“Taakat!” Upesi called.  “You’re hurt!”

“I’m fine,” Taakat said.  “It wasn’t much.”

“You’re bleeding!” Upesi exclaimed.  “We’re taking you to Nirmala.”  Taakat opened her mouth to protest, but Upesi put her tail over it.  “No.  You’re going to Nirmala.”

Taakat sighed, but followed.

“What happened?” Nirmala asked.  She and the rest of the Night Pride had come to get answers to that very question.  And heal Taakat’s group.

“Makini said the Night Pride needed to rest for their journey,” Taakat explained.  She winced as Nirmala put something on her wounds.  “I decided it would be best to face the intruders.  I got Yasna to collect the other four.”

“At least you weren’t stupid enough to fight them on your own,” Fuli glanced at Bunga.

“Hey!” Bunga protested.  “I’m not the Bravest for nothing!”

Makini raised her Bakora staff.  “There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity, Bunga.”

“Whatever Bunga has, I can’t deny it served us well as Night Pride and Lion Guard,” Kion said.

“Speaking of the Lion Guard,” Makini said.  “The sun’s setting.  You ten better get some sleep.”

“Right,” Kion said.  “Taakat, Raaja, can we talk to you tomorrow before the sun rises?”

“Of course,” Taakat and Raaja said.

[dustofthedailylife]

"General, This Ain't A Cat"

-> Masterlist || → Taglist

Pairing: Jing Yuan x (gn!) Reader

Summary: One day you find a cute white lion cub scratching on your front door, little did you know that the actual owner of it was Jing Yuan, the General of the Xianzhou Luofu himself. And he might have the wrong idea about the little thing, too...

Tags: Fluff, Crack, Jing Yuan's Lion loves you, inspired by the General's Diary you can find in HSR, flustered Jing Yuan

A/N: I love him a very normal amount, your honor! The fact he is a cat dad too is just too cute! And also that he got scammed trying to buy a cat and instead unknowingly managed to buy a lion makes it so much funnier. I can only recommend reading his diary ingame lmao

A distinct scratching sound on the front door of your home made you perk up in your seat. You waited for the sound to reappear a couple of times before deciding to check what was causing it.

You slowly opened the door and looked outside. But both to the right and to the left you spotted nothing that could’ve caused the sound. It was also relatively windstill on the Luofu today so that also couldn’t have been it.

Just as you were about to close the door again you spotted the culprit behind the flower pot right next to your door. It was a small, snow-white lion cub, not older than a couple of months at best, and it looked at you pleadingly with its azure-colored eyes.

Did it want to come in?

You knelt down on your doorstep and stretched your hand out towards it, prompting it to come over to you. It hesitantly tiptoed in your direction from behind the flower pot, carefully smelling on your fingers first before bumping its head into your hand. You began scratching its head and not too long after a loud purr could be heard.

It was such a cute little thing you were almost tempted to snatch it and keep it. But a beautiful animal like that had to belong to someone, right?

You picked the soft bundle of fur up and walked towards the main road to look around. Maybe it ran away and the owner was still around looking for it? They had to be since you never heard of any instances of strays on the Luofu.

A little bit further down the street, you spotted two Cloud Knights with a bag of treats in their hand. They were eagerly shaking them to make rattling sounds and simultaneously scanned the ground for something. Looks like they are the people the little cutie belonged to.

"Hey," you called out to them. "Are you looking for this snow lion perhaps?"

"Oh, thank the Heavens!" One of the guards exclaimed. "We've been looking for it the entire day already.”

One of the guards stretched out their arms to take the little lion cub into his arms but it made no fuss to go anywhere. In fact, it was clinging to you and started purring loudly, bumping its head into your chest.

“Hey, you little cutie. You have to get back home. I’m sure you’re hungry by now, aren’t you? Enough adventure for one day.” You said in a higher-pitched voice. Its eyes almost looked sad and it let out a squeak the moment you handed it back to the soldiers and waved them goodbye.

As soon as you were back home you couldn’t help but think about the little lion again. It was the first time you had ever seen one with such a majestic fur and eye color. Whoever it belonged to could surely count themself lucky. 

A couple of days passed and you went about your days as normal until you heard the familiar scratching at your front door again. 

Unlike the first time you immediately knew it must be the same lion from a few days prior. You went to open the door again and the white bundle of fur immediately zoomed inside of your home.

Alerted, you immediately began chasing it around your living room. As much as you wanted to actually keep it as well, you absolutely couldn’t. Someone was waiting for it and probably worried about its disappearance once again. You for sure would turn the Luofu upside down if it was your missing pet.

Snatching the little complaining bundle of fur up again proved difficult as it was clinging and clawing at your carpet for dear life, but you eventually managed.

Carrying it outside once again you looked for Cloud Knights you could return it to again but this time a blonde teen boy, dressed in blue and no older than maybe fourteen was walking down the street with treats this time. And for some reason, he seemed oddly familiar.

“Mimi? Miiiii-Miiiii. Come get your treats!!” The blonde boy shouted and shook the treat box in his hands like a rattle.

The little lion cub, apparently named Mimi, perked its ears up in your arms and began trying to wriggle out of your grasp. You let it jump down and watched it zoom in the direction of the boy, sitting down and looking up at him with hungry and expectant eyes.

“There you are, you little troublemaker!” He says furrowing his brows and throwing Mimi a handful of treats.

Going off of the way the lion reacted to his voice you assumed it was probably his pet lion.

He picked it up and started petting it, eliciting it to close its eyes, start purring and relax in his arms. The boy smiled at it fondly and slightly shook his head in disbelief over the little rascal before looking down the street to where you were standing.

“Hey, you!” He shouted and started trotting in your direction. “Were you the one who found Mimi?”

You nodded in response before wondering how he could’ve figured that out considering he didn’t see you with Mimi at all.

“Wait how did you-?” You inquired with furrowed brows.

He just pointed at your chest, or more specifically, at your shirt in reply. Following the direction of his finger with your gaze you soon realized that you were entirely covered in white fluff from when you were holding Mimi.

“Ah. Well of course. That makes sense,” you chuckled. “Does it run away a lot?” You asked pointing at the still happily purring snow lion in the blonde boy’s arms.

He simply rolled his eyes and smiled in reply. “All the time.”

“Well, it seems to be fond of my front door as of late. I live just a bit further down the street. So chances are if it runs away again, it might be near my house again.”

“Good to know. Certainly makes things easier,” he nodded. “I’m Yanqing, by the way!”

That’s why he seemed so familiar. He is the lieutenant of the Luofu Cloud Knights and you had seen him here and there in an official capacity but you generally didn’t pay too much attention to those so you couldn’t quite put your finger on it earlier.

It certainly explained the beautiful and special-looking animal in his arms.

You grabbed the hand he held out to you and introduced yourself as well before bidding him farewell for now not too long after. Looking after him as he walked back home you smiled to yourself and hoped for him that he would be able to keep his little lion cub in check from now on.

A couple more days passed once more after that encounter until someone rang your doorbell. You weren’t expecting any visitors, especially not this late in the evening so you wondered who would possibly come over at this time of day.

Out of every possible person on the ship, however, you certainly didn’t expect the General of the Luofu in the flesh to be your late-night visitor. He was standing in front of your door with hands folded behind his back and staring down the street, waiting for your to open the door.

“Good evening, General… Can I help you with something?” You carefully inquired with some hesitancy in your voice. 

You suddenly felt very small, and that was not only because he was a tall, handsome, and quite muscular man but also because you were more than just a bit intimidated.

Nothing to worry about, right? It was only the most important man on the entire ship standing in front of your house. 

Naturally, your mind immediately came to the conclusion that you must’ve done something wrong.

“Uhm-,” he began, scratching the back of his neck. “Do you happen to know where my cat is?

Out of every possible thing he could’ve said, this was the last thing you expected.

“Your… cat?” You asked in disbelief. He simply nodded and looked around your front yard once more.

“It’s white with bright blue eyes. Yanqing has informed me that Mimi is quite fond of you and keeps escaping to your house.”

So it was his pet. But wait, didn’t he just say…

“Cat?”

“Yes. A small grimalkin, up to no good, constantly runs away. My cat.” He elaborated.

At that point, you couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He seemed very taken aback and confused by your outburst and you were almost inclined to say that it made him, this big hunk of a man, look like a huge, gentle teddy bear.

“Care to explain what is so funny?” He asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Forgive me, General,” you wiped a tear out of the corner of your eyes. “I do not wish to burst your bubble here but your cat may not be what you think it is.”

“What are you implying?”

“It’s a lion, General. I can assure you, it’s most certainly not a cat.”

You observed how his eyes widened in surprise and a hint of pink began to dust his cheeks behind his long bangs. You had to bite your lip in order to not start laughing again. He really didn’t know. And the fact you made him aware of it seemed to be quite embarrassing to him.

“Oh. Uhm… well, I actually had my suspicions already.” He stated, once again scratching the back of his neck. You couldn’t help but wonder how a man like him could manage to look this cute when flustered. And to think this was the first face-to-face contact you had ever had with him made it all the better.

Without a doubt, he was an attractive man, and that was something everyone aboard the Luofu would agree to. However, after witnessing him in this flustered, and quite frankly, adorable state tonight, your desire to get to know him on a more personal level increased.

“What would it take for you to not tell anyone about this?” He suddenly inquired. But before you could answer, he made an offer himself. One you couldn’t possibly refuse after everything that transpired tonight.

“How does a dinner sound? My treat of course.”

“Hmm, very well. Or you could let your cat stay with me more often?”

“Well, that can also be arranged,” he chuckled with a playful smile. “But we come as a pair.”

Do not repost, copy, translate or edit - © dustofthedailylife || reblogs, comments, and asks about Genshin or my fics are always greatly appreciated and motivate me! Maple dividers are mine - do not copy.

[pearlywritings]

A guide to motivate the General

synopsis: just a couple of messages and maybe a call from his loved ones is all Jing Yuan needs to find it in himself to finish his work and go home.

pairing: Jing Yuan x fem!reader

tw: fluff, domestic fluff, dad!Jing Yuan, Mimi being a huge spoiled baby

word count: 2.1k+ words

A loud yawn echoes in an empty space of The Seat of the Divine Foresight. The general squints, but immediately shakes his head - as much as he’d love to take a nap, there are still some urgent cases he has to attend to. It’s so quiet and lifeless with everyone being dismissed. Oh, what he would’ve given to be far far from here… 

He knows, however, that dwelling on such a matter is just a waste of his resources. Instead of feeling jealous of the guards and secretaries he let go home three hours ago, he opts to redirect the remnants of his energy to the last pile of papers he’s already halfway through.

But just as he reaches for another document his phone vibrates, screen lighting up momentarily, but even a second-long glance is enough to see who the message is from.

And he can’t make his wife wait, can he?

As he carefully puts the ink brush down the device makes a sound a couple of more times, indicating that there are three messages already. Quickly typing eight numbers of his passcode - two most important dates of his life - Jing Yuan swipes away all the spam that has gathered there this evening. His thumb lightly taps on the messenger and goes right to the chat with you, tired golden eyes gaining a bit of their usual shine.

Good evening, my love. I suppose you weren’t lying when you said you’d be quite busy. Didn’t want to disturb you before, but I hope Yanqing wasn’t covering you up, telling me that you ‘dutifully ate’ the dinner I asked him to bring you earlier.

Jing Yuan chuckles. Ah, isn’t it wonderful to have a loving doting spouse who cares so much for her husband. Of course he took a break and ate his dinner - how could he ever deny your home-cooked meals? It would be a crime against your marriage.

Ignoring for a moment your two next messages, the man starts typing an answer.

Good evening, beloved. Yes, I’ll be here for another hour it seems. But I am planning to return home tonight, don’t worry. Yes, the dinner was delicious, thank you. And you know that boy knows better than to lie to you.

Though he, personally, finds your infuriated face adorable, not scary. Sending the message, he skips to the next ones.

Look who’s been waiting for your return

And the video attached. Not thinking too long, he presses play.

He is quick to recognize your shared bedroom and from the angle you were filming you were clearly in bed. He can see the double doors of the entrance, some of the furniture and fine tapestries decorating the walls. But the main focus is obviously the big lion pacing back and forth in the space between the bed and the doors, occasionally stopping, glancing at the wooden obstacle, huffing and continuing its pacing. Then he hears you sweet melodic giggle and his heart melts and then immediately bursts when your voice enters the recording.

“She’s been like that for the last half an hour. She clearly misses papa.”

At the word ‘papa’ Mimi swiftly stops and looks at you and then at the door. Her tail slowly moves.

“No, Mimi, sorry, but papa isn’t home yet. Though I am sure he will soon.”

She seems to understand you, because another huff of dissatisfaction passes through her nose and she butts her head against the left door.

“Jing Yuan, you better hurry, before she figures out how to open the door and go bother ‘her cub’. I barely managed to separate the two.”

As the video stops, the general can’t help but snort, mouth covered with his palm. Eyes glance to the side, to the photo frame sitting snugly on his table - of him, you, held against his side with one arm, and a little girl perched comfortably in the crook of his other one. The smiles the three of you presenting are joyful and he can recall why - the day was brilliant, after all.

Not given an opportunity to wonder however, his attention is brought back by another vibration - looks like you still have something to say.

True, but it never hurts to make sure.

Want me to wait for you?

Oh, he’d love for you to be awake and welcome his exhausted body into your embrace, but at the same time he wants you to have a night of good sleep before tomorrow. Even so…he can allow himself to indulge just a little bit, right?

Warmth swirls in his chest when you pick his video call.

“Hi, pretty,” a lazy smile tugs on the corners of his lips when he sees your cozy form - hair let down, a pillow tucked behind your back and two thin straps of the chemise resting on your beautiful shoulders.

“Hey there, sleepyhead,” he sees your eyes taking into his own visage, noting his tired gaze, messy hair and a palm supporting his chin. “Are you calling me to answer my question?”

“Yes and no. Just wanted to see you before you go to sleep,” and that is enough of a response to you.

“How sweet of you, Yuan,” there is a guttural noise in the background and he sees your eyes dart behind the phone. “Ah, looks like Mimi heard your voice. She started running around the room. Searching for you, Mister,” even though there is a hint of reproach in your voice, the general knows you are simply joking. 

“My apologies. It seems I made all my girls wait. Speaking of my girls, how is-”

Suddenly you gasp and your body seems to jump and for a moment the phone tilts backwards and Jing Yuan has to stare at the ceiling.

“My dear? Everything is okay?”

“What-? Ah, yes, yes, it- Mimi, stop! Ouch, your paw is heavy!”

The ceiling is clearer now - you must’ve put the device down in an attempt to (what he can only guess) fight off the lion that jumped onto your bed, finally figuring out where the voice was coming from. Loud grunts and your noises of discontent with occasional complaints are the only things he can hear for a couple of minutes. Reasoning that it’s better if he stays silent for the time being, Jing Yuan sets the phone against the photo frame and returns to the paper he was about to review.

It’s almost three documents later - wow, a quick peak of his loved one is doing wonders to his worsened productivity - when the commotion settles down and you pick your phone back, heavily exhaling with an annoyed look on your face. Jing Yuan decides to simply turn to you, hand still skipping through the papers.

“I swear, this overgrown cat is the biggest baby I’ve ever dealt with. Here, look, papa is here,” and you practically shove the device into the animal’s muzzle. Big nose sniffs around, and, not finding the familiar scent of her caretaker, the lion gives you a side eye, which makes your husband choke on his laughter. The maned head whips to the left, keen hearing obviously picking a well-known voice.

“Who taught her that jumping onto the bed is okay?” You are in his sight again, fingers running through your hair, now no different from his own messy locks. “Right - you. I couldn’t get her off and barely managed to put this bulk down. You better pray she decides to leave on her own accord, or you are sleeping on the floor tonight.”

Yes, your annoyed expressions are truly marvelous. How he wished to be there with you and shower your puffy cheeks with dozens of kisses, cradling your face in his big warm palms. It would be so lovely.

“I’ll just go and sleep with my angel then. I am sure she won’t be against having dada by her side.”

He hears Mimi yawn loudly and you make an ‘oof’ sound, promptly lifting the phone.

“Everything is alright?”

“Yeah… She just dropped her head onto my lap. And is staring at me, quite offended.”

“Oooh, now you are stuck,” he can't help but smirk, relishing the roll of your eyes. He knows better than anyone how heavy his pet is. Even he feels a strain in his back whenever he picks her up. Or maybe he is just getting old.

“Wow, thanks, General Obviousness. Mimi, your papa is so-”

Abruptly you are interrupted again, but this time by a quiet, almost inaudible sound of the doors opening. He sees your body lean forward and by a warning “Mimi, stay” he knows you are pinning the animal down. Which can mean only one thing…

“Mom?” A sweet sleepy voice of his daughter proves his assumption right. Suddenly, hearing just one word from her, the man wants to abandon what little work he has left and rush home to envelope the little wonder into his arms, hear her giggle and call him “dad” or “dada” or “papa” - he'd take anything, really, as long as it’s from his little one.

“What is it, baby? Having trouble sleeping?” Oh, but your voice is so beautifully tender, he wants to have it directly caress his ears, while he is cuddled into your body, your fingers running through his thick hair. Aeons, he is losing focus.

“I heard Mimi running,” the little voice gets closer and Jing Yuan sees how your shoulder tenses - the arm is undoubtedly wrapped around the lion’s body. “I thought that daddy came home… has he not yet?”

Now, he really wants to get home as soon as possible.

“No, sweety. But guess what? I am talking to him right now. Want to say hi?”

As you are leaning back, your husband reaches for the phone, holding it properly in his hands, heart skipping a beat in anticipation, waiting for the girl to climb onto the bed and settle at your side.

Stars above, she is a carbon copy of him. Fluffy hair, tucked behind her ears not to obscure the vision, keeping the pretty liquid gold eyes on display, a beauty mark under her eye is charming, just as a lovely smile, stretching mouth when she finally catches the glimpse of her father.

“Papa hiii!” Her little hands wave happily at him, a toothy grin even wider than before. Pure excitement written all over her drowsy expression is adorable, so cute in fact, that Jing Yuan fists the shirt on his chest in a silent cry of his heart.

“Hi, my little sparrow,” he speaks softly, gazing at her with so much love, while his mind is screaming with joy. “I am going to be home very soon. But I want you, and mama, and Mimi all to go to sleep.”

“But whyyy,” she whines, pouting. He also hears the lion grunt, as if understanding what he is saying, and you just shake your head with a small chuckle.

“Because papa wants you to be well-rested. He promised us a walk tomorrow, right?” Your hand goes to rest on top of her head, patting. “It’ll be too bad if we are sleepy, don't you think?”

“Mama is right. I know you miss me, baby, and I miss you terribly too. But if we want to spend the whole day together, doing everything you, princess, want, I have to complete some of my cases. That's why I am going to say my good night’s and get back to work to finish it.”

The white-haired girl sighs, dropping her head, letting the heavy fringe escape and cover her eyes.

“Being an adult is awful,” he hears her murmur a complaint and can’t help but agree. Though, if he wasn’t an adult, would’ve he ever had you and her? “But I get it, daddy. I am a big girl!”

“That’s my girl,” he gives her an encouraging smile, when she lifts her eyes again to look at him from under the bangs. His smile is almost immediately mirrored.

“So…” Jing Yuan catches your gaze (you have been watching this whole exchange with a fond look in your eyes) and shares unspoken affection. “Good night, my love.”

“Have you soon in my arms, dear,” you blow a kiss and he makes a grabby motion with his hand, bringing it to his very heart.

“Baby,” the girl perks, wiggling in her place and tucking her hair away when his attention is focused on her once more, “sweet dreams. I promise to stop by and kiss you on the cheek.”

“I'll be waiting- I mean sleeping! Have fun with work, daddy.”

“I will. Rub Mimi’s tummy for me, will you?”

“Mhm!”

Giving the two of you one last glance before hanging up, Jing Yuan is filled with the new found motivation. At that moment he thinks that busying himself for the full duration of the day is absolutely worth it, if he gets to give his girls undivided attention tomorrow.

And he will be damned if he lets something ruin it.

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

🛡 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺! Lionheart Armor
Armor (medium or heavy), uncommon (requires attunement) ___ A lion-faced helm adorns this armor. While wearing the armor, you can use a bonus action to speak the armor’s command word to summon a lion to an unoccupied space that you can see within 10 feet of you. The lion is under your control, and it takes its turn immediately after yours. On your turn, you can mentally command the lion if it’s within 100 feet of you and you aren’t incapacitated (no action required). You decide what action the lion takes and where it moves during its next turn, or you can issue it a general command, such as to attack your enemies or guard a location. The lion remains until you speak the armor’s command word again, at which point the lion disappears, and it can’t be summoned again for 1d4 hours. If the lion is reduced to 0 hit points, it vanishes, and this property of the armor can’t be used again until the next dawn. The lion regains any lost hit points whenever it’s summoned. ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[hexologh]

═══════☆♡☆═══════

𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗗𝗔𝗬,

𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧.

═══════☆♡☆═══════

AZURE, MONKEY KING, MACAQUE AND NE'ZHA FINDING OUT THAT YOU ARENT REALLY THAT INNOCENT!?

MADE BY: HEXOLOGH

AZURE

Azure was totally caught off guard by your dirtiness... Wait, I mean your impressive level of confidence! I mean, seriously, just take a good look at yourself! You had this innocent facade going on, but deep down, you unleashed a dominant aura that sent shivers down his spine.

Will and want you to pound him into the ground, fuck him until he's holding onto you for dear life.. woah.. slow down satan.. 😟

Dang, whenever you playfully laid your hand on his thigh, it was like an electric shock racing down Azure's spine. But hey, it wasn't fear that got him all worked up, oh no! It was pure, unadulterated excitement.

He willingly signed up for the 'No Walking Challenge' because, with you around It's gonna be a wild ride and Azure is ready to embrace the thrill!

Imagine edging him. he'd definitely let you do it, But also imagine tying his wrists together and doing it back. he finds it hard to hold back..

And Legs? Pfft, overrated! Azure would put on a brave face, claiming he could handle anything.

But when the heat turned up, he'd be a sobbing mess, begging you to stop (not that he really meant it, wink wink).

And let's not forget his poor brothers! Azure would concoct the wildest excuses to skip out on missions, but it seems like his excuse generator is in desperate need of a reboot.

Time to find some fresh alibis, my friend!So, check it out, Azure lion, the ultimate definition of lowkey, was just, like, mad quiet at the diner table, you feel me? But he took it up a notch, like he was on stealth mode or something.

And, yo, imagine this—there he was, straight-up whimpering as your hands did their magic. It was a total mood, for real! I mean, it was so hilarious, like you couldn't help but ROFL at how completely and utterly pathetic he was in that moment. It's like next-level comedy gold.

"Hng, mhn~....ngh..!" Azure murmured as you gazed at him, raising a hand and placing it on your cheek while your other hand did the work.

"What's wrong?" you questioned, tilting your head back and your eyes shone.

"Cat got your tongue?"

SUN WUKONG

Oh, let's dive into the Monkey King's struggles!

I mean, this guy is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, for crying out loud! He's all about power and not taking any nonsense.

But, hey, when you cast your gaze upon him, Like, he's low-key simping so hard, it's hilarious! Who would've thought the mighty Monkey King could be reduced to a puddle of mush? Love makes us all do crazy things, doesn't it?

Monkey King, surprisingly enough, finds pleasure in your roughness, reveling in the intensity and passion it brings. Equally, he adores the tenderness and warmth you show him, finding solace and security in your gentle touch.

It's a beautiful balance that makes him feel safe and cherished in your arms... As you demolished his insides ❤️

Bro like fuck him until his insides are the shape of your strap/dick or whatever.

Oh, let's spill the tea on the Monkey King! Here's the deal: He despises having to beg and bow down to you, or so he claims.

But guess what? Secretly, deep in the depths of his mischievous heart, he absolutely adores it! It's like he's caught in a love-hate battle, but the truth is, he's head over heels for the thrill of submitting to your power.

"o-Oh!... fu-fucK...ngh!" Sun Wukong moaned and groaned, he could almost feel tears rolling down his face, loving the way your fingers went deep within him.

"Look at how pathetic you are," you say as he flushed in embarrassment, his eyes closing shut and turned his head away.

Sun Wukong gasped before letting out another moan as your other hand seized his chin with force.

"Keep your gaze on the mirror."

MACAQUE

When he found out, oh... Brace yourself for Macaque's wild desires! This guy thrives on rough play, even going as far as enjoying being stepped on.

But let's not forget his mischievous side! Picture this: you're in the midst of work, and Macaque is right there, incessantly poking your head, like an annoying but lovable sidekick.

He's a handful, that's for sure, HE IS SO ANNOYING 😭

Like, "mommy issues?", "Daddy issues?" NO, HE IS THE ISSUE 👹😠

But alas you love him, CUZ YOUR A SIMP, But me too bbg 🖐️☺️

He's laying on the ground, his hips stuttering pathetically as he whines, gripping at your leg and pleading with you to keep walking on him, to release this overpowering need to cum.

Macaque, the lovable troublemaker with a heart full of love! Despite his antics, he adores you with every fiber of his being and isn't shy about showing it.

But here's the twist: when you unleash your power and reveal your true strength, it catches him off guard.

Well, he probably should have seen it coming! I mean, it's you we're talking about—the unstoppable force that commands attention wherever you go.

But like I mean, Slay queen/king 💅Get ready for Macaque's wide-eyed surprise, mixed with pure admiration, as you unleash your might upon the world!

And Slowly breaking him? He loved it, fucking him so good that every time he's in your presence for the next several days, his mind instantly returns to that day, his dick throbs at the sheer sight of you.

"haha.." you chuckled.

"Hah.. Hng! S-ShIt!" Macaque moaned aloud as your hands stroked his cock as the other hand pinched his nipples as tears roll down his cheek.

"Awh, did I hurt your feelings?"

NE'ZHA

HUH? WHERE DID THIS COME FROM!? WHO ARE YOU!? BRING HIM BACK HIS LOVER! 😠

My guy thought he had it all figured out, expecting to be the dominant force in the relationship. But, nope! UNO REVERSE BITCH! his expectations shattered when you swooped in and stole his spotlight! Though.. not that he minds being pushed down on the bed harshly as you literally rearrange his guts.

Ne'zha is the type that loves to try different and dirty things. so don't be surprised if one day he asks you to choke the living life out of him, like there he is officer, The horny 😧

Has a preference for being praised over being degraded, childhood trauma am I right? This man is 100000000000% a good boy <3

Tbh he would jack off right infront of you if you commanded him too, slut of the month, right here.

He'll never forget that day when he was talking to a maiden who seemed.. really interested in him.. more like his body.. I mean this guy probably wears things that are real tight, YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS TIGH-- Okay I'll stop 😔

Anyways, He could practically feel your eyes glaring at him, and that's when he knew, he's so fucked, EVERYONE POINT AND LAUGH 😂

"Come on.. you can take more, right? You aren't the third lotus prince for nothing.." you murmured as your fingers gently wrinkled Ne'zha's chest up to down, as the vibrator in his ass works it's magic ✨

"C-CanT- No.. Hng, Can't anymore.. nghh!~" Nezha could feel the ropes tighten on his exposed skin, you frowned as you put a finger under his chin, forcing him look up at you, his weeping eyes looking at your disappointed ones.

"How utterly pathetic you are.."

[blues824]

Heya Blue! I was wondering if I could request the over blot crew with a general neutral reader. Where the dorms kidnaps the boys and ties them up like a present for their S/O… If that’s okay?

Alright, so I do not understand the assignment. If I got it wrong, just shoot me a message and I will write another post and you will have two posts for the price of writing one out.

Riddle Rosehearts

Ever since his overblot, you’ve constantly checked up on him to see if he was doing alright. He never had someone fret about him so much, and it makes him feel both flattered and flustered. Eventually he caught feelings like it was the plague.

He could talk about you to Trey for hours on end. Every touch you give him leaves him a stuttering mess. Once, you even gave him a hug and he was just waltzing around all giggly until Ace messed it up by letting his big mouth run.

At first, it was amusing to see the ever-so-strict Housewarden of Heartslabyul crumble to his knees because of the Prefect of Ramshackle, but eventually it got tiring. Trey tried to convince him to confess his feelings but Riddle immediately shut that down.

After weeks of this annoying tango, everyone had enough. While he was asleep, Ace and Deuce took action on behalf of the dorm. They snatched him from his bed and tied him up in a chair. Once he adjusted to the light that was present, he saw that Cater, Trey, and Ace were all smirking while Deuce was just nervously smiling. Then, Ace stepped forward and placed a bow on his head, as if he were a present.

A door opened behind him, and he heard your voice. You went around so that Riddle could see you, and you seemed glad that he wasn’t harmed from this prank. Once the others explained why they did this to their housewarden, you were both blushing. You then let out your angelic laughter and untied the bow on his head, essentially unwrapping your new boyfriend.

The 4 absolutely suffered the next few weeks, but they weren’t beheaded because Riddle was spending his time by your side. He reasoned that it was to make up for the lost days. It was adorable to see him be so clingy, and you definitely savored his love and affection as he did yours.

Leona Kingscholar

Ever since his overblot, you would always bring him some snacks after a stressful day. It warmed his heart in such a sickening way. How dare you make the Prince of the Sunset Savannah fall hopelessly in love with you?

Ruggie finds the whole situation absolutely hilarious. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. However, all the laughter was done when Leona started becoming angrier and less patient towards everyone, especially him.

Eventually, both he and Jack had enough because Leona was pushing training harder than ever. Everyone was on the brink of collapsing out of exhaustion. Ruggie suggested multiple times to talk to you about how he feels, but he refused immediately.

After days (they were truly tired) of this cycle, the hyena and the wolf constructed a plan. During one of Leona’s many naps, Jack threw him over his shoulder and marched off. The next moment, the lion saw he was in a dark room. Ruggie was holding wrapping paper and Jack had a few bows. In just a few short moments, they had successfully wrapped him up all the way to the neck.

He then heard a door open behind him and your voice calling out to him as you saw him. He had never felt so embarrassed. When the hyena told you the intention behind his actions, you let out a squeal and set about unwrapping your ‘present’. He was about to make some snarky remark when you placed a kiss on his cheek. Every word in his vocabulary was forgotten.

From that day on, Leona could always be seen by your side. A magicless herbivore like you shouldn’t be alone in a school full of mages, so you have scary guard-lion privileges. Congratulations, Y/N.

Azul Ashengrotto

You were always kind to him even before his unfortunate overblot. The fact that your treatment towards him didn’t change even after learning about his ‘pathetic’ (his thoughts, not mine) childhood made him fall for you so freaking hard.

The tweels found it amusing that Azul insisted on being the one to serve you whenever you visited the Mostro Lounge. He didn’t even realize it either. He just craved being close to you whenever possible, possibly because he wanted to show others that he was your favorite.

Eventually, Jade brought up the prospect of the cecaelia confessing his love to you, and Azul immediately said no. He was deathly terrified of being rejected by someone as great and wonderful as you. 

After about a week of trying to convince their boss, Jade and Floyd came up with a plan. While they were discussing business matters in Azul’s office, the former twin went up behind him and quickly wrapped a rope around his boss’s chest and tied him to the chair. Floyd grabbed some wrapping paper that he hid as well as a blue bow.

After about half an hour, Azul saw the door open. The twins had finished wrapping their boss, so they were just waiting for you to get there. The cecaelia was very close to tears when he heard you gasping. But then you started cooing about how adorable he looked and he started blushing. You giggled when Jade and Floyd told you why they did this, and unwrapped your now boyfriend.

Now, Azul was tempted to punish the tweels for kidnapping him and holding him hostage, but you told him that they should instead be rewarded for bringing you together. Since you have him wrapped around your finger, he gave the tweels an early day where they were able to leave early.

Jamil Viper

You actually saw him as a human being rather than a robot built solely to serve Kalim, and he’s grateful for it. Even after his overblot, you continued to help him with chores around Scarabia. You were his hero, and he fell long and hard for you.

Kalim noticed that Jamil was starting to get clumsy around you as well as getting more distracted. He asked him about it and that’s when the Vice Housewarden told him about the feelings he has for you. He went on for a solid hour, by the way.

He knew that it was best to tell you directly about his feelings, but he was scared of rejection. In fact, Kalim always giggled whenever he saw his dear friend panic about confessing his love for you.

After a few weeks, Kalim grew impatient (but in the way where you want the love story to continue), so he had some of his dorm members help him. Jamil woke up in a dark room within the dorm. He looked and once he adjusted to the darkness, he saw that some second and first years had wrapping paper and bows in their hands. Then Kalim ordered the siege.

They actually did a pretty good job in wrapping him up, he had to admit. He couldn’t move at all. However, his impressed mood quickly dampened when he saw you walk in through the door. You asked Kalim why Jamil was all wrapped up, and he explained everything. You blushed and laughed a little before unwrapping your new boyfriend and placing a kiss on the top of his head.

Jamil still has responsibilities as the Vice Housewarden and the servant of Kalim, but he’s happy that he has you to cheer him up on the bad days and cheer him on during the good days. Since he doesn’t have a lot of time to spend with you, he shows his love through words of affirmation and by telling you directly. Ironic, isn’t it?

Vil Schoenheit

He appreciated how you always made an effort to make him feel loved and appreciated, even after his overblot. You would make comments about how his eyeshadow really brought out his eyes or something like that while you allowed him to do your makeup or skincare. This caused him to fall for you, in a gentle way.

Rook saw how the Housewarden always awaited your arrival each afternoon so that you could go over homework with each other while just getting to know one another. Luckily, Rook knew that you returned Roi du Poison’s feelings.

The hunter brought it up that it would cause stress if Vil didn’t tell you about how he felt about you. The latter raised an eyebrow, but knew that he was right. However, he felt as though he wasn’t good enough for you.

After days of seeing his dear friend suffer with his conflicting thoughts, Rook decided to take it into his own hands. He had Epel help him because he had more petite hands to help with his plan. Vil woke up tied to a chair. He demanded to know what was going on. The hunter explained while the apple-carver started wrapping his dorm leader in wrapping paper. 

Vil thought it was embarrassing, but creative. However, he would’ve appreciated it if these two didn’t meddle with his personal affairs. His mood turned south when he saw you entering the door. You asked why he was wrapped up and Epel gladly told you. You blushed a little but unwrapped your present, meaning you accepted him as your lover. He doesn’t remember a time where he was so happy.

Nothing really changed when the both of you became an official couple, besides more displays of affection. The paparazzi have captured at least 75 photos of the two of you walking out of modeling agency buildings, which stirred up a bit of celebrity drama. I hope you like being in the spotlight…

Idia Shroud

He’s still shy around you, especially after you helped him recover from his unfortunate and most definitely painful overblot. He couldn’t look you in the eyes for the longest time. But you showed patience and understanding and that made him swoon.

He has most definitely ranted about his feelings to Ortho, who had to refrain from laughing. The way Idia would go on for hours and hours about you was truly impressive. He even attends classes in-person just so he could see you more often.

The youngest Shroud brother suggested telling you about his feelings and the eldest Shroud brother immediately dropped his controller. There was absolutely no way you would agree to become his significant other. It was a miracle to him that you became his friend in the first place.

Eventually, Ortho started to get impatient. How could Idia know you would reject him if he never even asks?? After a few days, Ortho decided that he needed to take action. He recruited the help of some of the other Ignihyde Dorm members to carry out his plan.Idia woke up tied to his gaming chair. Some of the first years were wrapping up his legs. He looked around and saw Ortho, who was ordering everyone around. After asking him questions for a few minutes, he was wrapped up to his neck. 

His heart stopped when he saw you enter and everyone besides his younger brother leaving. He started tearing up in embarrassment, not even hearing you asking Ortho a few questions about why Idia was wrapped up. You took note of his despair and quickly unwrapped him and held him close to calm him down. Rather than getting flustered, he hugged you back.

From that moment on, Idia grew attached. He learned quickly that you thought he was the best boyfriend ever and that he shouldn’t be shy around you. His sleep schedule was fixed because he wants to cuddle you while you both sleep. I hope you don’t get too warm at night.

[batsvnte]

𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 — 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐮𝐚𝐧 , 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞

pairings! Jing Yuan & Blade (separate) ;; Black gen!reader (They/them) ఌ angst w/comfort, platonic relationships ఌ cw! mc is mute, implied use of sign language, blood + mention, death implied on Blade’s part, ooc maybe, spelling mistakes/improper grammar, not proofread ఌ synopsis! A new soul is tasked to guide spirits to finally cross with peace ఌ song rec! All is Soft Inside - AURORA

Xenos’s notes - I kinda just downloaded a bunch of games last night for no reason. This was mainly inspired off of Spiritfarer and I love that game sm.

With Jing Yuan, he found you intriguing.

You were neither dead or alive. You were an soul that was wandering among the universe to find ones that were lost. Most of were strangers that you have never met before. Few of them were family that you long lost since you had started traveling the universe. Everywhere you had been, except for the Xianzhou Loufu. The natives were long live species, and a spirit had warned you that it wouldn’t be necessary to go to Xianzhou. Solely because of the dangers that lurked around the corners.

Jing Yuan barely even sees you. You haven’t visited for nearly 500 years. Since there was problems arising of the fallen becoming mara-struck and immortalized to never be able to pass, there was nearly no point of you coming back. Which brings a surprise to the Ten-Lord commission of the whispers that you were here. One thing leading to another, here stood Jing Yuan in your vicinity with your back turned to him.

“Spiritfarer..” His voice was smooth yet filled with an sense of wonder. Giving an his infamous smile as he caught your attention. “What brings you here to the Loufu?”

His gaze turns over to the woman next to you. One who was always accompanying you on your journey through the universe (aside from the little white lion cub that was tailing after you). She explains what the situation was and why you were here. It was apparent that you needed supplies for the spirits and the ship at hand. Mainly food since one had been so curious about the Xianzhou.

It was a moment of silence for Jing Yuan. Thinking over what has been said as he kept his gaze locked onto you. In your hands, you were carrying a basket of goods. Who knows how much longer you would have to stay. But he might as well help you with whatever tasks that you need to get done.

Jing Yuan was an man of patience. He enjoys hearing about what type of people you’ve met on your own and what it was like within the universe. The general loves all the trinkets you show him, showing a feign of amusement when you had showed him the bottle of lightning that you accidentally brought along. This, of course, doesn’t go unnoticed by Yanqing who had came into the gardens during the midst of you showing the lightning bottle to Jing Yuan. He made a little note to later make sure that you weren’t by yourself when it’s raining. Especially when Yanqing was with you.

He was aware that all of your tasks were complete for the time being. Yet as you two bid your farewells, he snuck a little gift onto your hand without you barely realizing it. It was a golden pendant with the linings engraved into a lion. One that reminded you of the lion cub that you shamelessly had to drag away from Mimi countless of times due to it wanting to bother her.

“Till next time, spiritfarer—“

He was nearly cut off by the sudden embrace of yours. Jing Yuan was caught off guard by this. Seeing how you were tightly hugging him as if you truly didn’t want to depart from this world. He gave a gentle smile to you as he wrapped his arms back around you. The small height difference was good enough for him to lift you up, squeezing you tightly. It almost felt like forever before you pulled away from him. Everything was at peace with him.

But with Blade, you couldn’t tell what he thinks.

Every so often there was a chance of running into him. It was never when he was alive, nor really dead. He was struck with mara and immortalized with no key way of knowing what can truly kill him. The first few times you ran into him, you managed to stay some distance since his body was constantly moving but also fading. He was on a thin line of Life and Death, but you both always knew what side he’ll always be on.

You lost count at the amount of times you’ve seen him. With an shaky sigh, you racked up the courage to approach the man who was lying face down on the ground. Nudging him gently to at least get him to acknowledge you. Which indeed worked out since he turned his head over towards you. Blade’s gaze was on you in an instant.

Were you someone who was here to harm him? Blade was on on the verge of his last breath but he couldn’t run away from danger of the world. Even in the state that he was in.

Your arms snakes under his torso. Trying your best to lift him up and help him to his feet or at least sitting up so you can get a proper look at him. The lion cub that was by your side watches as you helped Blade to be in an upright position. He didn’t do anything to protest against it. His silence was enough to know that he wasn’t done with the life he was bear to live. And yours was enough to know that you couldn’t do much for him.

It was a little cycle that happened. You would find Blade on the verge of death, and it would lead to him being brought back to life due to the mara almost immediately. On rare days you would find opportunities to get to at least know who he was. When his body has been too damaged beyond immediate repair, the time you shared will be longer as well.

It was one of those days. He was sitting alone in an empty ally. His body fading in and out at random moments, and this time with you by his side. The mara was always the one cause of his memory loss but he felt solace with you. He couldn’t remember fully of what you’re like. He knew that you weren’t a threat to him. He knew that you were an important person. But he just can’t remember much about you. Even when he did it was when he was alive and breathing well.

Blade’s eyes were consistently tracking your hand as the other was holding a snack for him to take. It didn’t matter if he was a spirit or a living being, you still offered food and water for him to take.

You paused briefly before turning your fully attention over to Blade. A solemn look upon your face that he knew. It was almost time for him to go. He watches as you stretched your arms out a little as if you were implying for something. He tilts his head towards you in response, debating whether if he should accept or not.

Blade knew it wouldn’t make much difference but he raised a hand a few inches from the ground. Letting you do what you wanted to do. Within a few moments, you wrapped your arms around him. Your embrace was warm which made him feel much more at ease than he was before. Though his body tense up slightly at the gesture. He was use to it, but he had an fear of causing any harm to you.

It took his a few moments for him to return the hug. Wrapping only one arm around you since the other was damaged badly. Resting his chin ontop of your head with his eyes closed. He felt you squeezing him tightly as if you were begging for him not to go.

Once he opened his eyes he was in the same place before. Only that you and the little lion cub was gone from your places. His body healing himself to make him conscious of what was happening in the living world. He feels the mara stirring within him once more. Blade casted his eyes elsewhere, the warmth of the hug slowly fading as if it was just a memory he made to give himself some sort of comfort.

He must’ve died. How marvelous.

[starsfic]

The Monkeys of the Monastery and the Mountain

Summary: Azure Lion falls in love with Sun Wukong when visiting Master Subodhi. He also falls in love with Wukong's scowling shadow.

-_-

"Ugh, I can't believe I have to lower myself to this."

Azure Lion, steed of bodhisattva Manjusri and favored general in the celestial army, wisely did not speak up. This lord knew as well as him that he didn't have to do this. There were many other nobles in the Heavenly Court that were more qualified. This lord had just made a fool of himself at the Queen Mother's feast and just wanted to escape the inevitable gossip.

Azure couldn't blame him... much. He too wanted to escape the stifling atmosphere and all the noise of greedy nobles. If he didn't agree to "guard" this lord, he was certain that he would've stabbed either himself, the next noble who talked, or an unfortunate guard who crossed his path.

Although his choice of company only added fuel to the desire.

The clouds parted, revealing their location. The Cave of the Slanted Moon and Three Stars was a Taoist temple that clung to the side of a mountain with white walls and red roofing, subtle touches of the moon and stars here and there, like the stones on the front lawn they landed on.

The doors opened, revealing the master of the temple. Patriarch Subodhi, shifu and master to his students, walked down the stairs and came to a stop. He bowed his head. "Lord Xueqin," he said. "What brings you to my humble temple?"

"I'm here on orders of the Jade Emperor in order to check upon your teachings," the lord said, puffing up his chest. Clearly, he had noticed the lack of a full bow. "You are-"

"Under orders to not teach the forbidden ways of gaining immortality, as I have been for the past few centuries." The Taoist raised a brow. It might've been Azure's imagination, but there was a spark of panic in his eyes. "I am well aware of my orders. However, you did not need to bring a guard with you."

The lord raised a brow. "I heard what happened when Lord Fan visited your humble monastery and I just want to be sure that there are no incidents this time." Azure bit back a snicker. Everyone had heard about what happened during that visit. The fact that he spent months in his chambers and refused to go out in public without a veil was enough.

Patriarch Subodhi sighed, the panic fading from his eyes to instead be replaced by amusement. “I see. If that makes you feel better, then I welcome you both.”

Azure bowed at the waist. “It is an honor to visit, shifu.”

Subodhi did not respond, but he could see a smile tug on his lips as he turned and guided them inside.

The main courtyard was full of students, all dressed in simple grey training outfits, busy from sparring to reading to rushing to do what looked like chores. Women and men alike mixed, only marked by the fact that the women were allowed to keep their hair. One of those women met Azure’s eyes and bowed her head politely.

Azure bowed his head back before the doors to the shifu’s personal study opened. Subodhi stopped before he and the lord entered. “If you wish to wait outside, that is allowed,” he said to Azure. “We should not take too long.”

He was liking this man even more. Azure could hear the quiet offer. While it was tempting to watch Subodhi frighten this quivering noble, having never faced a foe that he couldn’t deal with via gossip, it also sounded boring to just sit there. The frightened spark in the noble’s eye sealed the deal.

“Thank you,” Azure said, giving another bow. He didn’t intend to stand outside the entire time. “It’s been a while since I’ve been allowed to stretch my legs and seeing your lovely monastery is a great excuse.”

The noble hummed, still looking terrified. Azure could see the gears thunking in his empty head. He would probably interrogate Azure on anything “suspicious” he saw. Azure doubted it. Subodhi simply nodded and led the noble inside, shutting the doors.

Azure began to walk. There was a side hallway, leading away from the main courtyard, and he took it.

The monastery was lovely, with several branching yards, most set up for training based on the sparring groups or meditation circles he saw. One led to a large herbal garden, where students tended the plants. A few were gathered around a large patch of what looked to be turmeric. “- get it,” a student said, holding a flower and turning it back and forth. “We’re all working with the same soil and supplies. How is Wukong’s stuff already flowering?”

“It’s Wukong,” another said. “He has a green thumb.”

“I know he does, but that doesn’t explain how time speeds up.”

“Again, it’s Wukong. Nature just likes him.”

“I would say it’s more than that…”

Azure walked away. While it was interesting to hear that nature apparently liked a very good gardener, that didn’t scream “Subodhi breaking the rules on teaching illegal immortality.” That just sounded like a possible affinity with the natural world or a spell to encourage plant growth. Shifty, but not illegal.

A set of large doors caught his eye. A guess made him reach out and push into the room, revealing it to be full of books. Ah, like he suspected.

Like many monasteries Azure had visited, the library was one of the largest rooms. This had to be the largest selection he had seen, though, drawing on many subjects from one glance. It wasn't a surprise, Subodhi prided himself on his knowledge and his desire to know more.

Azure studied the shelves as he walked past, taking mental notes here and there of certain books. Yellowtusk would love this library. He should recommend him for the next visit. If they waited for a century like they were supposed to, the collection would only get bigger. Azure turned the corner, still dwelling on the thought, and felt himself come to a stop.

His heart skipped a beat.

In the center of the library was a comfortable-looking sitting area, with many tables and pillows ready for someone to sit down. Large windows let in sunshine that illuminated the room during the day. However, it also illuminated the one person that sat in this room.

A monkey demon sat at the table, his golden fur lit by the sunshine, his long curls braided back. Several scrolls and loose paper were scattered around him. Golden eyes were focused on the scroll he read, one hand using ink to scrawl out notes. He wore the robes of a student, although Azure hadn’t seen any other demon students, the cuff of his writing hand stained with drops of ink here and there.

He was gorgeous.

Azure wasn’t sure how to react. He had thought people were pretty before, from soldiers who caught his eye to maids who attended the nobles. His dear sworn brothers Peng and Yellowtusk were beautiful in their own ways. But he had never seen someone like him.

It would probably be rude to just walk up and attempt to talk to him, but Azure’s longing nearly knocked him off his feet. He had the feeling that if he didn’t at least try to talk to this beauty, he would regret it for the rest of his days.

He stepped forward and cleared his throat.

“Hell-”

A tail whacked him in the face. Normally, he would brush it off, except the strike made him stumble back, caught off-guard by its strength as his breath rocked out of his lungs.

The monkey didn’t seem to notice that his wagging tail had claimed a victim. He hummed at whatever he was reading and then rolled the scroll up. Azure blinked at the ceiling as the monkey grabbed another scroll. Before he could unroll it, the doors to the library opened up.

“As you can see,” Subodhi sounded annoyed as he gestured to the library. “Nothing on immortality.”

The lord looked ragged. Azure was torn between amusement and concern- it had only been about ten minutes, if he was correct. What had happened in such a period of time?

“What about that?” the lord huffed, pointing at the golden beauty. “What is that creature? Why is it here?” He looked down and if Azure cared about his opinion, he would’ve been embarrassed. “Did it attack my guard?!”

The monkey looked up as Subodhi’s eyes went wide. “Uh, what?” He looked down and those beautiful golden eyes, like miniature suns, went wide. “Oh, crap, I am so-”

“It’s fine,” Azure rose up to his knees, raising a hand to hold the monkey’s knee. It may have been forward, but he didn’t care. “You were so focused. It was my fault for trying to interrupt you.” The monkey blinked and then smiled. It was so sweet and warm that Azure’s entire being warmed.

And then the noble spoke up.

"Is this your pet?" the lord huffed, eyeing the monkey as though he wasn't sure what to do with him. Azure felt his fur bristle protectively at the annoyed noise the monkey made as he stood, his brows furrowing tightly together and his teeth bared in a grin.

"No." Subodhi's words broke the staredown as he walked over, stepping between Azure and the monkey. He settled a hand on the monkey's shoulder and, like magic, the monkey relaxed. Not by much, but it looked better. "This is one of my students-"

"Sun Wukong," the monkey said, the name sounding more like a threat.

Azure's heart skipped a beat as he remembered the name, both from Subodhi to the students gathered around the turmeric. Sun Wukong. It was his new favorite word- it was spelled the same as the word for the sun and how fitting it was, for a monkey that glowed like the sun.

"Respect," Subodhi warned his student in a hiss. He turned back to the lord. "In any case, he is a special case and has proven himself to be one of my best students- don't get a big head about that." The last was a warning to Sun Wukong, whose frightening grimace had turned into a proud little smile.

The lord still eyed Wukong as if he was considering a threat. Azure stepped closer, but Subodhi stepped to the side, pulling Wukong with him. He wondered, for a second, if he imagined the nasty glare that the elder shot him before the man cleared his throat. "In any case, I believe it's best that you leave."

"Not until-" the lord protested.

"Is there anything else you honestly need to see?" Subodhi said, his voice stern. However, Azure could see his hand flexing in and out on Wukong's shoulder. Based on the wince that trembled the smaller's form, so could Wukong.

"If I may speak up," Azure said, stepping around Subodhi to hover on Wukong's other side. "I have been walking around the monastery and I have seen nothing that suggests Patriarch Subodhi has violated the law. While Wukong is a surprise-" That time, he was certain. Subodhi was glaring at him. "He's not a violation. He's clearly a good student based on the ink marks on his cuffs."

The lord huffed, glaring at the three of them. Finally, he nodded. "Fine," he said, like a toddler denied of a toy. "You pass inspection."

Subodhi bowed his head. "Thank you," he said, unwrapping that protective arm from Wukong to make a shooing motion with his swatter. The lord turned an interesting shade of red. "Now, please leave. You're interrupting my student's study."

The lord huffed again and stormed out of the library. Azure trailed behind, feeling Subodhi follow close behind. He glanced back and met Wukong's golden eyes before the monkey sat back down at his study spot. He probably looked weird with the smile he felt forming, but that wasn’t important.

I hope I can talk to you again soon.

-_-

Unfortunately, Azure didn't get a chance to talk to Sun Wukong before he left the monastery.

He didn't do it every day, but at least once a month, Azure would slip to Earth, conveniently near Subodhi's monastery. The first time hadn't been on purpose. Another celestial steed had gotten loose and was trying to take over a village. Azure and Peng had been successfully wrangling the cursing creature until Azure's eye caught a hint of sunshine. There had been a group of familiar uniforms, the front being Sun Wukong, vibrating so hard that about three students had to keep him in place.

The steed kicking him in his face was his own fault. He would give Peng that.

With the realization, Azure started hanging around the village and the mountain at least once a month to at least see the pretty monkey. He had good reason! Power-hungry demons stalked this area, interested in Subodhi's students. He was being helpful!

Subodhi didn't seem to get that. Every time they ran into each other, Subodhi's friendly look faded more and more from the first time. Azure made the mistake of asking about Wukong one time, and his hands were bleeding for days from shielding his head. It didn’t stop him from visiting.

He would just have to keep things quiet.

"You know that Wukong doesn't live here anymore, right?"

"Excuse me?"

The student who had walked up to him stared steadily back. "He got expelled two days ago. Apparently, for showing off the special lessons Shifu was teaching him, I guess? But he's not here."

Azure's heart sank. Two days ago. He had missed the perfect chance to talk to him, to maybe comfort him. Being expelled had to be hard, right? "I- Where does he live?"

"I dunno, someplace called Huago? All I know is that it's on the west coast and there's a lot of monkeys." The student hiked up the bag of groceries they had probably come for in the first place. "All I know is that he's not here, so you can stop stalking us." And with that, they walked away.

Azure didn’t realize he was moving until a shadow slammed into his face.

He stumbled back, the portal he summoned thankfully dissipating before he went back through. He looked around, realizing he was in the middle of a jungle. He was much higher than he expected- was he on a mountain? In the distance, he could see something shining, darting around a larger figure in armor. He knew that gleam, even when the power running through didn’t exist.

Before he could step towards it, another shadow wrapped around his chest, hard enough to crush his ribs, and yanked him to the ground. “I guess you were the celestial warrior Subodhi warned me about,” a voice said from overheard. Azure looked up and, once again, his heart raced.

Unlike Wukong, who was soft and glowing with sunshine, this monkey was hard and dark, all except his eyes. Those eyes gleamed with violent violet power. His clothes were a mess, ripped and torn and dirty, cuffs tight on his wrists. Chains wrapped around the muscle of his arm, the ends broken. It didn’t stop the fact that he was beautiful, dark curls cut to frame his handsome, blood-stained face.

Was it just those two, or were all monkeys so lovely?

The monkey clapped his hands and purple sparks darted out. When he pulled them apart, a staff like the one he saw Wukong wield sometimes formed, glowing and made of the same magic that held Azure down. Unlike Wukong’s staff, both ends were spiked. If he got hit with that, Azure was certain it would be nasty.

“I’m surprised you even had the courage to try and follow Wukong here,” the warrior said. “While the Demon King of Confusion surprised me, small fry like you don’t.”

And with that, the monkey dove down and Azure barely had enough time to escape his bindings.

It became a blur of fighting- dodge, strike, uppercut, taste your blood in your mouth, hit him back, don’t feel bad. As he fought and dodged, Azure wondered if sparring like Wukong would be like this. Was this warrior just as studious as Wukong was? They appeared similar far away and up close, save for the color of their fur and the color of their power, how far did those similarities go?

Azure found himself tumbling into the brush with one good strike that definitely bruised his ribs. Through the shrubbery, he could see the warrior tense, ready to follow, but a loud crash that sounded like boulders falling, the sound of several panicked monkeys, and a loud “MIHOU!” made him pause. He glanced back and then nodded before he disappeared, the shadows swallowing him up.

Azure waited before summoning another portal, this time focusing on the warrior. His portal was kind enough to drop him off in another patch of shrubbery so he was hidden from the scene.

The giant demon was collapsed on the ground, the air smelling of blood. Wukong was bathed in red, so much so that Azure’s fingers twitched with the need to grab him and clean him until he saw the golden fur. The warrior- Mihou, based on the yell- hovered next to him. It appeared the two were concerned about each other, talking over each other and reaching out and holding each other. A loud cry of a monkey turned their attention away from each other to the small, white-furred monkeys gathering around them. Wukong beamed, his smile warming Azure’s heart, as he reached down and scooped several up in his arms, allowing the rest to climb over him and Mihou. The warrior didn’t protest, his gaze so tender that it made him melt.

He didn’t realize it until then, but his heart had room for two.

He just needed to figure out how.

-_-

A few years passed and Azure finally felt it was time to make his move.

It hurt when Sun Wukong didn't recognize him when he offered his services and his brotherhood. But Azure brushed it off. The course of love never did run smooth- Macaque didn't seem to recognize him either, but he sometimes noticed him squinting at him, as if he thought him familiar but wasn't sure why.

Peng and Yellowtusk had their doubts about Wukong's leadership ability, but Azure was certain that his love could lead. His kindness to his people was far greater than the Jade Emperor's compassion towards the entire universe. He had his doubts about Macaque as a consort, but that didn't matter at the moment.

Especially not when he was presenting him with flowers.

"They reminded me of you," he said. It was true- the asters and plum blossoms reminded him of the color of Macaque's magic and his favorite fruit. In his opinion, this was a good test-run bouquet.

Macaque blinked and then eyed him as if waiting for a joke. Azure kept his face open and honest, hoping that Macaque would accept the gift. The shadow monkey finally hummed, taking the bouquet. "Thank...you, Azure, these are-"

A golden blur rushed between them and slapped the bouquet straight out of Macaque's hands. Both monkey and lion blinked as the bouquet disappeared into the distance before a larger bouquet of flowers, leaning towards red and pink, was stuffed in the former's hands.

"Macaque prefers it when I give him flowers," Sun Wukong huffed, crossing his arms with a pout. Azure opened his mouth, unsure of how to respond to that, before his love turned to his moon. His stance grew gentler. “These are the right colors, right? For the last big scene of your play?”

“Ye- Yeah, they are!” Macaque held the flowers closer. His eyes shone as he smiled and Azure felt his heart skip a beat. “I didn’t think you would remember what I said.”

“Pssh, of course! You’ve been working on that play for weeks!”

Azure relaxed in the sun, enjoying the sight of their smiles. This was just a hiccup. There would be plenty of time to court his monkeys of monastery and mountain.

[papaver-decervicatus]

Cat/Mouse/Den: Pt. 2, Mus Rusticus

After months of tense flirting and teasing with the mountain of a man she only knows an König, Mouse finds herself in a life-or-death situation while on patrol in the Alps. Maybe her new admiration isn't as one-sided as she thinks…

CW: Obsession, stalking, canon typical violence, intrusive thoughts, unsanitary wound care

Authors Note: Wow! The response to this fic has been incredible, heartwarming, and just baffling to me! I cannot express how happy I am to share this with you all!

Being completely objective, this chapter requires some suspension of disbelief, the circumstance is not totally likely but alas, I am here for fun.

My college classes are starting up soon, so expect slower updates moving forward. As always, please feel free to leave a comment/reblog with a message saying you want to be added to the taglist or just interact in general!

Cura ut Veleas❣️~ Caedis

PREV | Pt. 2, Mus Rusticus | 4.1k words | Mouse POV | NEXT

He’s a vision, he’s hard to miss on the horizon, he stands out like a mountain lion against his fellow men. He sways his hips wide, the trusty Glock Field knife he keeps on his belt shines like a beacon. It’s such an outrageously cocky move, to keep glinting metal on his person when she’s sure he’s supposed to be stealthy. He’s tall as a tree and broad as a train and always has some hood covering his face. He’s sniper candy, he’s so obviously right there it makes her dig blunt nails into her arm in frustration. He’s hard to miss, should be her straight shot. 

But he never is. 

She never gets the barked orders, the confirmation. She’s asked a hundred times. When it’s in the forest, it’s less warfare and more stakeout. She’s not paid enough to know what she’s looking for, but she always sees him. And she’s always been told not to shoot. She stops asking at some point, but like everything else with this man, she doesn’t quite remember when. Her life is a blur of missions and off time and him and nothing else.

It’s been months since the ravine and she’s seen him just about everywhere she’s been. When SpecGru was gathering intel on KorTacs drug affiliations, she saw him in the haunted deserts of Sonora, Mexico where she lies in the dirt redder than blood and coyotes sing her to sleep. She gazes down at him atop crumbling 16th-century Byzantine marble when she picks off the guards of a weapons supplier in Belgrade, Serbia. In the ancient and verdant bamboo forest of Yibin, China, hunting down spy affiliations, she camps across a creek from him for a night. 

It’s a small world, but not quite small enough for her to believe just how they keep running into each other. No matter where she ends up, their eyes always meet. 

The eyes of the apparition with bloody tears on top of an executioner's hood always flick right towards her, even when she’s under a ghillie or some camo or nothing particularly obtrusive at all. She’s even taken off her scope once or twice to reduce glare, to see if the monster still turns her way then. To see if the cat is following a laser pointer she’s unwittingly putting out. 

He does.

Always finds her.

No matter what. 

He would’ve been a good sniper, in another life. If he wasn’t built like the trees she climbs for her shots. 

Very few things are constant in her work. Very few people stay, very few people know. It’s awful, but she starts to hope to see him on the fields. Like he’s some coworker she’s been flirting with in the coffee lounge. 

But he’s not her coworker. Quite the opposite, he’s a soldier on the other side. The enemy. He breaks men’s spines on his knee like toothpicks. He hums with visceral energy, like mud, blood, and guts. He disembowels men like fish. He walks like a monster with three legs (and at some point about three months into their little game, she touches herself thinking about that third leg.) He swings wide, he keeps his knives sharper than cat eyes. 

His stare is constant, glacial, beautiful. 

She wonders what the rest of him looks like, with such a beautiful set of eyes. Beautiful thighs. Beautiful shoulders. He must have some reason for the mask, but she can’t help but think (or hope) he’s a good kisser under there. That his hands must be larger than life, that his skin must be warm. That his teeth must feel good if used in particular places with caution and moderation. 

She’s sure if he ever caught her, the cat would sink his teeth right in. 

She finds she wouldn’t quite mind getting chewed on by him when they accidentally pick up each other’s radio frequencies in the field. They should be encrypted. They shouldn’t be able to, but the cruel stars align and they make their pacts. 

It’s a game of cat and mouse.  They’ve got their own little rules, too. 

They don’t talk about work or positioning, he always knows where she is but never tells anyone on his team. Once she reaches out, he never gets any closer. Like it’s a game. Like they’re playing hide and seek and he knows he opened his eyes too early so he’s closing them again and pinky swearing not to tell. 

He must not tell, because SpecGru has yet to fall into an ambush. So has KorTac, though. If anyone knew they’d have their heads, but no one else does. The secret stays between them and their radios become the divining rods of close encounters. 

Mostly it’s just breathing on each line, mostly it’s just- 

“König?”

“Maus?” 

“Mhm.”

“Hmm.”

And that’s it. And they breathe at the same time, and he looks up at her in the trees or in her towers or wherever she is. And she hopes he’s thinking the same terrible things that she is, and she hopes that he keeps striking out at base camp and bars and wherever just like she has, and she hopes that he’s lonely like she is. That he has nothing else to focus on so she takes all the space in his head like he does hers. 

She knows she should get a shrink or a good fuck to stop fucking thinking about him like this, but sometimes he whispers a joke into his radio and she laughs, and sometimes she tells him about the book she’s been reading, and sometimes he shows her his favorite knife tricks, and sometimes she tells him stories of before she was in the military and he always laughs and asks questions to show he’s actually engaged and he cares and- 

She doesn’t know when she started missing shots. When she started covering his ass the three or so times he didn’t recognize some hostile getting a bit too close for comfort. 

When the fire is heavy and the mission is condensed into a 100th the size of their usual open field rendezvous, she’s seen him in action. He can handle himself, he can more than handle himself.  Some terrible part of her hopes, though, that he is thankful for her. Cover fire from a traitorous Angel in the trees, makes for a good romance novel but a terrible dynamic in war. And that’s what this is, right? It’s war? But what for? 

She doesn’t know. She’s not sure she wants to. So she keeps their little secret and she prays that he stays safe when she really can’t risk covering for him. To that point, though, he does himself no favors. He fights like he can’t get hit. 

When they’re alone he’s the perfect gentleman, he gets no closer than when she reaches out to contact him first. When they’re not, it's a whole different story. He runs into the middle field like if he can just reach her, he can keep her. If he can carry back his conquest, well… kings get their war spoils, don’t they? It’s a terrible secret she keeps alive only in her heart, but she hopes one day he finally will. 

She’d never shoot one of her own, to save his hide. But when it’s one of his own going after his neck, or when one of hers needs cover too, or one of some other guys on him, it’s easy. 

The Mouse saves the King. 

But a game is no fun with only one player. 

The King also saves the Mouse. 

It’s November, it’s somewhere in the Alps. She’s had quite the pleasure of seeing him so in his element, so proud, broad-chested, and covered in the swagger of a mountain as it walks with its own. The snowfall constricts her view but not his movement. He’s practically prancing around like a snow leopard and despite the temperature it’s warming her up a little to think about how happy he looks down there. 

“Are you gonna get me, kitty?” She hums into her radio, lips curling into a saccharine smile, when it’s just them alone in the cold. His eyes find her immediately after she’s made contact. Like always, they breathe in and out at exactly the same time once those terribly fantastic eyes of his meet hers. 

“Haha!” His whole body shakes like an earthquake when he laughs. “No. Just…” he stops for a moment like he’s catching his breath or remembering the right word, “-watching.” He says, hand reaching to his mask, lifting it up just enough so she can see a red, red, mouth and sharp, sharp teeth turning in a cruel, Cheshire Cat smile. He languishes on a stump, playing with his signature knife, downright admiring her from far away. He pulls his mask back down, but the outline of his exhales still turn into clouds in the snow. 

They breathe in tandem. Their hearts must sync. 

Today is unusual because he is actually working at something in his grasp. Usually, his beloved knife is his dancing partner, his muse of movement, the loyal companion of his oversized hands. 

Many times she’s been lost in the beautiful dance of his hands and his knife, as he flicks it up and catches it with ease. Every time he does so, her heart clenches in her all of a sudden seemingly too-small chest as she fears it’ll come down and slice him. She knows how sharp he keeps his many knives, she knows how terribly it would go for him should it ever fall out of its practiced battle dance. The knife, of course, never does. When he gets bored of tossing it, he starts doing little tricks. He balances it on his index finger, he spins it between the fingers on his massive hand, he can even juggle it between his hands without a moment's hesitation. What’s worse, is the whole time he does it, he is watching her with a relaxed posture. Like he’s showing off like he’s saying “Don’t you see how good I can be with my hands? Don’t you want to invite me over? Don’t you ache to know just what I’ll make them do for you?”

This surgical precision never ceases to amaze her because she’s seen him around his comrades. The steady hands she so admires (and yearns to touch her) disappear and shake like leaves the second he has to talk strategy or cover for others outside of immediate battle. He’s a capable soldier, he’s a great commander, he’s an excellent strategist, sure. But he’s never at ease enough to make his knife dance like this, never like he is with her. His hands shake without adrenaline and with the company. 

His hands never shake when the two exist like this, though. No, the shy soldier boy who won’t look anyone in the eye doesn’t exist to her. Like a fairytale, the second the two see each other, he disappears and instead, a man of ferocious devotion finds himself in her sights. He waits for her. He never once gets closer to her than the moment she reaches out to him first. 

It would almost be romantic. If it wasn’t war and she wasn’t herself and he wasn’t himself. 

Her comm line lights up, ripping her away from her inattentive, lovelorn adorations. Apparently, there’s an enemy scout that’s inching treacherously close to her position and slipped past someone further ahead of her. If he gets beneath her, she’s D.O.A in her tree. 

She sees König’s body tense a second after hers, the way she’s come to recognize he’s received a transmission. He stops his idle patrol and puts down the something he was working on in his hands. Quickly, he tucks it into his pocket. He’s ready to hunt all of a sudden, the relaxed air of his body falls away with all the quickness and ferocity of an avalanche. She knows to pity the poor soul on the receiving end of that look in his eyes and-

Is it her this time? Her heart stutters to a stop. 

The snow is picking up, she can’t see much of anything but she sees him blur into motion. Towards her spot. 

“Keep moving and I shoot,” she says to him. In warning. Begging him not to. She’d miss his comfort if he does make her. 

“It’s right under you, Liebling.” His voice rasps through static colder than the snow on the ground. 

She realizes she’s stranded on her branch, there’s a widow’s maker close enough to her perch to mean she’s screwed if she moves too quickly. She doesn’t have enough time to maneuver out of the tree safely and she’s a sitting duck for someone else’s shot, so long as all they’ve got is short range. If it were longer range she’d be dead already. She’s going to fall to her death or get shot at from below. It’s a shame, but she’s a little happy that it’ll be König, her cat, that’ll catch her corpse. 

She sees the would-be assailant on the horizon and she brings her gun to her cheek. He darts frantically between trees, careful to only go far enough that she’ll have to re-aim as he darts out again. He’s gaining a substantial amount of ground as she finally has a good enough line of sight to execute and-

Her gun jams. 

With all the futility of a mouse in a glue trap, she begins to shake and replace everything she can afford to in such little time to make her rifle usable. The man on the forest floor uses all of the seconds she cannot afford to waste as it becomes clear that he will reach her before she can either get down or get her gun unjammed. 

But by the time she’s gone to pray and say her goodbyes in her head while frantically looking around, she hears the footfalls of a desperate man crunching snow and she sees red spill out. 

König’s massive hands cradle one of his very own, dead. She sees the outline of hardwired explosive packs on the corpse’s chest, apparently a suicide bomber? Alone in the Alps? 

For his part, the giant doesn’t seem the least bit displeased with his kill. He wipes his bloody knife on his pant thigh and sheaths it like it’s nothing. He’s got another man’s blood all over his lower half, he sliced that poor bastard clean between his third and fourth ribs.

“Threat eliminated. My position is compromised, I’m moving.” She says to her comm. 

“Rog, Mouse.” Someone in command responds. 

She, very slowly, makes her way down to the carnage near the base of her tree, sniper rifle at her hip like a mother huddles an unruly toddler. When she’s only 12 feet in the air instead of 40, König spreads his arms out to her. It’s snowing. Hard. He doesn’t move, arms outstretched like a tree.

“Maus, I‘ll help you!” He says. 

It’s the first thing he says to her outside of the buzz of the radio. 

It’s her name. Or, the only one he knows her by. 

And the first thing he says is a promise. A promise of help. A promise of aid. 

She shouldn’t trust him. 

She tosses her gun to the pillowy snow, against all safety protocols and everything she’s ever known. He doesn’t move for it. He’s got a rifle of his own, well- not a sniper's rifle, on his back. Maybe he doesn’t need two?

She unhooks her cabling. 

It’s snowing hard. 

She kicks off the tree and into the air. 

It’s snowing really hard and dawn is breaking. 

He does, indeed, catch her. 

He audibly gasps when she lands in his arms. He doesn’t move, she’s much too small and light to move the man. He just holds her. For a moment- in the air. 

“… klein,” he all but whispers and puts her on the ground. His hands don’t start trembling as she expects them to.

She doesn’t know what that means and goes to pick up her gun and makes a quiet mental note to find a German Dictionary or self-teacher or something if this weird romance is gonna keep up. 

“What’s this guy's story?” She motions to the left. Where there’s the stump of a man who should’ve been her death. 

“Traitor, against both sides. Al Qatala. Made off with classified files.” He rolls his shoulders, completely unconcerned. 

It could be a lie. It could’ve been that this man just has a weird obsession with her and couldn’t stand to see her get taken out by someone that wasn’t him. 

Well, if that were the case, why’s she still around? He could just kill her. But then again, couldn’t she have killed him multiple times over? 

She doesn’t think he's lying. He’s affected by some things, not by others. He’s much too jittery and anxious of a man to lie so easily to her. She recognizes she’s putting a terrible amount of trust in the enemy, but if it’s gotta be anyone, she’d rather it be the man who sometimes radios her terrible jokes instead of some stranger. 

But now they’re as face to face as over a foot and a half of height difference will let them be. There’s still the hood on his face which is haunting, but this monster-  he’s scarcely made a move to her that hasn’t been some perverse version of love or care. 

She realizes she’s thankful for him. 

Stockholm syndrome, she decides. Even though this is the first time they’ve been within 80 yards of each other. 

“Thank you.” Is what she says instead, breathless and quiet, almost like she’s sorry she has to say the words out loud. Almost like they’re bad news like she’s telling the kids they have to put the family cat down. 

“Bitte schön,” he says, gentle and warm like a wool blanket. His hands are drumming on his thighs with nervous kinetic energy and he looks intently at where he grabbed her, maybe he’s worried he hurt her? But he’s not trembling. She tries not to think about it, that he’s not trembling. Her face is red and her heart is fast but for all the wrong reasons.

Before they part ways and go back to their little lives on opposite sides of some silly war she’s sure is not worth the human toll, he reaches into his pocket. 

He brings the little thing to his hood and places it right where she reckons his lips are. 

Their breaths puff into billows of smoke. 

They breathe in time. 

It’s bloody from his pant legs when he presents it to her, holding the tiny object in two forefingers and thumbs. She cups her hands in front of her like a child begging the family pet to drop an injured bird it found in the backyard. He drops it just like that pet, a few inches above her hands to avoid bloodying her hands directly. Like it would be a shame. Like he cares about tainting her. 

It’s a piece of light wood, whittled into the shape of a mouse. 

She holds the thing in the palms of her hands and they ache. It is so small, so hard for even her to hold. His field knife, the one he loves so much, is massive but she knows it was the one that he used to make it. She did research one day, trying to discover what sort of blade it was. It's a custom Glock Field Knife, with a near mirror-perfect patina and two whole inches larger than the standard issue. She also thinks he wrapped the handle himself because she cannot find that stark red chord on any seller’s website. It's a monster of a knife, for a monster of a man. It’s not made for woodworking, for whittling, for creation– it's a thing of utter annihilation and destruction. Yet, he changed its nature. He utilized his most favored possession to carve intricately into fallen birch wood. He’s given a second life in the shape of her name to what would rot without his attention. He has created, against all odds, something beautiful and delicate out of a brutal tool and doomed material. For her.

She is dumbstruck by this man. She has no words for him, for herself, she wouldn’t have any for anyone who asked either. Suddenly, the Alps aren’t so cold even though it is verifiably snowing. 

When he turns to go she thinks how much his hands must’ve hurt to make this little thing and she can’t just let him go, not empty-handed. 

“Wait!” She calls to him. 

He stops and looks back at her. She fishes around in her pockets and curses her nearly-frostbitten fingers until she finds it. 

She tosses it to him. 

He opens the little leather pouch and she sees his smile through his eyes as he recognizes what it is. It’s her pocket whetstone, with the crown she doodled onto the leather holder with charcoal. 

Her lucky charm. 

She shouldn’t trust him, she’s really got no reason to. But this man, he’s saved her life. He likes knives more than she does, hell, uses them more than she does. There’s really no reason for her to have it (just like there was no reason for her to put his symbol into the leather.) His glacial eyes melt while looking down at the object and she’s never known the winter wilderness to be so warm. She tries not to think about the way her heart speeds up when his eyes soften looking at the object. 

“I will only use this from now on, Maus.” He says, voice quiet and reverent. Like he holds the keys to his kingdom when he holds the cheap piece of rock. 

“Don’t. It’s- it’s not a great one. Just. My charm.” She shrugs. She wants to say ‘It’s a piece of shit and useless, just like I am. It’ll fuck up your knives. I know you love them. Don’t ruin useful things on my account.’ 

“All the more reason to treasure it.” He replies, simple and unburdened.

God. She wishes he wasn’t so charming. There’s no going back. 

She feels like she’s in his jaws already, totally caught. He seems not to realize that he could march off with her and go anywhere and she’d just let him. He walks away and it genuinely hurts when his form disappears into snow and trees and leaves no trace like he’s a fairy tale. Like he’s not real and never was and cannot be. 

And with that, the King had saved the Mouse. He turned and left and she moved her position before returning to base camp. 

The next time she sees him, about a week later, she sees him sharpening his massive field knife with the tiny whetstone on his comically large thigh, and in response, she thumbs at the wooden effigy in her pocket. They laughed into their radios to each other. Her cheeks flush red. Her thighs clench around nothing. She dreams about those big, big, hands, the ones that cradled her in the air, pinning her down and leaving black and blue bruises all over her hips and thighs. She thinks about that red, red mouth tracing said bruises with a gentle tongue. She thinks about the hands caressing her neck, the mouth kissing the top of her head. The hands, holding her at the hip snug to his massive frame throughout the night. The mouth, hushing her to sleep and promising to be there in the morning. 

She’s got nothing for him, though. Other than her body and the vain, ridiculous, impossible dream that’s enough for him. He doesn’t seem the romantic type. She doesn’t think he’d settle down. She doesn’t know him at all, not really.

But, she does have something for him. The answer to a question from what feels like lifetimes ago. 

“It’s because I’m quiet.” She whispers into her radio, half hoping he won’t pick up. 

“What?” He hums back. 

“Mouse. Because I’m short and quiet in the field.” 

“Really?” He asks back. “That’s it?”

“Yep.” A heartbeat too long of silence passes between them. She chews the inside of her lip to bits, waiting for a response. “Your turn,” she prods gently. 

“Because I am not.” Is his response. 

“Really, that’s it?” She chuckles into her radio. 

He just laughs on the other end. And now she’s really got nothing else to give him, save a rare book recommendation, a laugh in return for his bad jokes, and her sharp eyes always trained on his form in her scope. She’s got nothing to give him that she hasn’t already given him, and nothing he couldn’t just find elsewhere. 

But God, she wants him all the same. 

It’s dangerous to be at war. 

It’s dangerous to play cat and mouse. 

Even more dangerous to fall in love on top of those two. 

taglist!

@kneelingshadowsalomee @sprout-fics @bucca2 @dead-cipher @gallowsjoker @lostagoodcigar 

[pizacat72]

This is Thamani, Swahili for "worth". She is the second born daughter of Kiara and Kovu.

Thamani was a very fussy infant. She cried rather frequently, much to her brother's irritation. For a long time, Simba and Kion were the only lions who could calm her down. Much to the surprise of her parents, she also frequently insisted on being bathed by crawling into their arms and mewling until they started bathing her.

As a cub, Thamani is aloof, competitive, and rather serious for someone her age. She is a stickler for the rules and absolutely hates getting in trouble, to the dismay of her loudmouthed cousin Sauti. She loves to go on morning patrol or hunting with the lionesses, wanting to be as studied up on her role as future leader of the Lion Guard as much as possible. When she's not doing either, she usually spends time with her grandfather Simba, listening to him tell stories.

Competition is usually one of the few ways Thamani is able to have fun. It doesn't take much for her family to provoke her into a race or a sparring session. She's able to relax more when she's competing and it becomes sort of an escape for her when she's burned out by her duties. Though, she does actually have more fun within the jungle than she cares to admit.

Notably, Thamani is much closer to the adult lions than she is to the rest of the cubs in the pride. They don't like playing with her because she's so bossy. This frustrates her but she also has trouble seeing the point in having fun. Even her grandfather keeps encouraging her that there's more to life than being a particular role but she hates that.

Thamani begins to grow out of her issues with breaking the rules with Kion's and Kovu's help. They talk about tradition and when it can help and when it can hurt. When it comes time for the Udugu trials for her and Fikiri, she makes the decision to break one of them in order to save him. Kiara in particular, is overjoyed and decides she is finally ready to begin training for leading the Lion Guard.

Out of all of her family, Thamani is closest to Kovu, Simba, and Kion. Kovu seems to be one of the few lions who can get her to laugh and smile. He's usually the one who is most able to help his little princess have fun, even if competing is the only way she can do so. Though she is frequently irritated by her family, she is fiercely loyal to them and frequently declares it in a sort of "i hate you but nobody else is allowed to hurt you" sort of way.

Thamani is more openly emotional and frequently cries when angry. She hates this and keeps reminding herself to not mewl like an infant but it still happens. She is more openly confrontational, especially when her brother is seemingly getting on her case. However, she surprisingly doesn't hold grudges for long and is usually calmest after working through some issues.

[foxgonyoom]

If whoever is behind the Jade Emperor's death is trying to cause the world to spiral into chaos, I think Nezha is the next one on their list, and here's why:

(My theory located below, condensed into occasionally colored bullet points, and with pictures! So you don't get bored :>) 

So 

Let’s take a look at these pictures:

Here, in this picture, we get to see all of Heaven’s generals gathered to stop Azure’s rebellion in its tracks.

Now look at this second picture. In it, Nezha and Red Son are the only discernible figures standing out from the crowd of Celestial Soldiers. Which to me, points to one thing:

Nezha is the only (or at least most prominent) general left in Heaven. Meaning before the Jade Emperor’s death, he and the Jade Emperor were just about the only ones running the show. Why are they the only ones left? Well there are a few reasons, but they basically all boil down to:

Most of the really important Celestials left

Allow me to provide my evidence by listing several examples we've witnessed in-show via the following bullet points:

Erlang was nowhere to be found during Azure’s second rebellion, implying that he isn’t present in the Celestial Realm (I heard somewhere that he lives in a mountain in the Mortal Realm and doesn't interfere with Celestial Realm business unless asked by the JE himself, though I'm not sure if that's true or not. Regardless, he doesn't seem to be present in Heaven nonetheless).

Iron Fan left the Celestial Realm to be with DBK

Similarly, Kui Mulang sacrificed his position in the Celestial Realm for love as well

Azure Lion, Peng, and Yellow-Tusk are all former Celestials who decided to rebel against the Jade Emperor, getting them kicked out of Heaven

Considering how many instances of Celestials abandoning their duties in the Celestial Realm (or just being kicked out in the Brotherhood's case) we’ve seen in the show, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine that many other unmentioned Celestials also followed suit, until the Celestial Realm became absurdly understaffed.

I think the Jade Emperor and Nezha being basically the only brain cells in charge could also explain a few things as well:

The Celestial Realm’s overall absence from mortal affairs

If the only people in charge were the JE and Nezha (who was also busy guarding an incredibly important world-destroying artifact, the map to the Samadhi Fire), it would make sense why the Celestial Realm wasn’t getting very involved with the Mortal Realm. They were too busy keeping the realm up and running to interfere with mortals.

Nezha’s personality shift from his mischievous, caution-to-the-wind, “LET-ME-AT-’IM!!!” attitude in the book to his responsible, frustrated, “Don’t-poke-a-fucking-fork-in-the-socket” personality in the show

If Nezha had to take on more and more responsibility in the Celestial Realm (what with having to help keep it running and guarding the map of the Samadhi Fire), his personality would likely shift as a result, turning into the personality presented in the show today. 

(That’s also another parallel between him and MK, that is being forced to take on a larger role in the world by forces outside of their control, when they’d really rather not).

Nezha wanting to fight Azure to the death

While the main reason for Nezha’s stubbornness seems to be that Azure becoming the new Jade Emperor was a big no-no, it could also be that deep down he knew if the Jade Emperor fell, and Azure couldn’t handle the JE’s power, then the responsibility of keeping the realm together would fall to him. A responsibility he wasn’t ready for. 

I’m not as certain about this, however, and it could easily just be a personality thing + Nezha knowing the possible consequences of if Azure failed to keep control of the Emperor’s power.

Why there were only two magic dog statues guarding the Jade Emperor's throne room in Revenge of the Spider Queen (and really just the Celestial Realm's lackluster security overall. Seriously even Jin & Yin robbed the place with seemingly little to no trouble)

If Nezha and JE were basically the only ones in charge, it could explain the poor security in the Celestial Realm. It's not that they're bad at security or anything, don't get me wrong, they're just spread too thin, and have a lot of other things to focus on besides making sure people don't rob them.

My friend suggested this as a possible consequence of a low staffed Celestial Realm when I told them about this theory, and I agree with their idea.

Now here’s the fun part: What Nezha disappearing could cause, because oh boy would it cause a lot! Here’s some possible consequences of Nezha getting poofed:

Celestial Realm on fire

With their basically last leader gone, the Celestial Realm would likely erupt into chaos, which could in and of itself lead to half of the things on this list.

Meeting Erlang

If Nezha disappeared, then the Celestial Realm might end up calling up old generals to help ease the chaos, such as Erlang Shen and Princess Iron Fan. Heck, this might happen even without Nezha disappearing into thin air, considering how much work he’d be swamped with.

Red Son getting some screen time

This might seem a bit arbitrary, but it builds off my last point, because if Iron Fan gets called up to do damage control on the Celestial Realm as a result of Nezha going missing, Red Son would probably take a more active role in the plot.

We’ve seen how he’s basically been recognized as a part of the Monkie Crew now, and we also know that he cares about Nezha, so it's not hard to imagine he'd want to help track down where the missing prince vanished to. Thus, this might be an opportunity for Red Son fans to get their win.

The overarching plot (as well as episodic plots) of season 5

With a Celestial Realm in chaos because nobody’s around to manage it, some demons, animals and artifacts which were being guarded in the Celestial Realm might get loose, requiring our heroes to get them under control before they can cause too much carnage.

This could offer a chance to at least semi-return to our original monster-of-the-week format, albeit with each episode being a bit more connected this time, and there still being an overarching plot (AKA, Operation: Where the Fuck is Nezha).

(And if you're wondering why I also mentioned Celestial animals, in the book, the Goldfish Demon was originally Guan Yin's pet goldfish, who had escaped it's pond and started causing havoc, and the Rhino King originally was a bull(?) that belonged to Lao Tzu, so animals escaping and causing havoc is all too possible)

Obligatory “The gamemaster would gain hold of the Big J’s power”

Probably the first reason that sprang to y’alls minds when I said Nezha was next on the chopping block, but I’ve saved it for last so that you read to the end (hehe I'm so mischievous). Yes, if Nezha gets kidnapped, then the one pulling all the strings behind this would effectively have the JE’s power in their possession. 

This is, of course, assuming Nezha doesn’t manage to sneakily teleport it to someone before he gets captured, although it’s possible that wouldn’t keep the JE’s power from our dear gamemaster for very long.

Now, for my final statement, I’d like to turn your eyes to the last scene of the Monkie Crew and the Monkey King in the S4 special.

Here, Monkey King says that whatever our dear gamemaster has planned, the Monkie Crew can handle it. Together. It then cuts to a shot consisting of the entire Monkie Crew, before shifting to the final segment of the episode.

But

Look at this scene.

Look at who’s missing.

In this scene, we can see the entirety of the Monkie Crew. We can see the original 5 members, we can see Monkey King, we can see Macaque, even Red Son is effectively a part of the gang now. Everyone is here.

Everyone except Nezha.

Nezha is not yet recognized as a part of the Monkie Crew.

He’s still all on his own up in the Celestial Realm, trying to hold everything together. The only thing holding everything together.

The gamemaster knows the Monkie Crew can handle their schemes.

So they’re not going for the Monkie Crew.

They’re going for Nezha.

[minweber]

Musings on Custodes: Aging and Generational Divide

How many living custodians who remember the Emperor in the flesh are there? The precise answer doesn't matter quite as much as the existence of the question.

Custodians got their shit rocked pretty hard during the War Within the Webway at the end of the Horus Heresy. As traditional for warhammer there is some numbers fuckery going on: it is unclear how many custodians there even was initially, the famous monicker of "The Ten Thousand" possibly being intentionally misleading, and there is no precise information about how many of them were committed to the Webway, and therefore what percentage of the total number did their losses there make, and what then were their losses during the Siege of Terra... But once again, the specifics aren't that important here. What's important is the idea that after the dust had settled, Horus lay slain and the Emperor entombed - Custodes stood as a pale shadow of their former might, their numbers seemingly reduced to a fraction of the original.

What became of these veterans then? It is presumed that by the 42nd millennium Custodes numbers were generally replenished (just in time to get their teeth massively kicked in at the Battle of the Lion's Gate) - though we also don't know to what extent. Do those few-hundreds-to-a-thousand original Custodians still stand among them? Custodians supposedly don't age, and no upper limit to their natural lifespans is known, but there is the whole The Eyes of the Emperor retirement plan for them. Custodians who have, after aeons of service, their reflexes slow down even by a ridiculous degree of a millisecond, supposedly lay down their armor and go out into the galaxy to play spies. So time does affect them? Or is it something else that eventually slows down their bodies? Just how universal is this process for them? Because surely if it's caused by passage of time and at least one of them has gone this road over the last ten thousand years, then most, if not all, of the old guard must either have done so too or be on their way out?

Whatever the answer, the implications for Adeptus Custodes dynamics as a group and organization are fascinating. Because what does it even mean to become a Custodian after the Emperor's "death"? The shame of the failure you never partook in? The hole where the maypole of your entire identity should be? The expectation of being one of humanity's last links to some glorious past which was over thousands of years before you were even born? The Emperor sought counsel of his custodians from time to time, and supposedly made them specifically so that they would be able to give it - do the "young ones" feel the pull of this duty they can never fulfill?

And there are different potential flavors of delicious tragedy here.

If there are none or next to none original guardians left, then it kinda uproots the whole image of Adeptus Custodes, doesn’t it? The mysterious golden demigods are just as lost as anyone else. They may be thousands of years old, but none of them were there. None of them spoke to him, none of them bear any sacral foundational truths of humanity, or even of just the Imperium. All of their deeds and even they themselves are a desperate attempt to recapture something lost, not a defiant effort to carry something forward.

And if the old guard remains as a sizeable minority, then there must be an unseen divide between them and the new generations, right? With the Emperor being so integral to their identity and purpose, surely there was something important that they gained from interacting with him? Can they now pass this something down? Is it even physically possible? Can you truly be a custodian without it? Imagine looking at the new generation of, essentially, your people and realizing that there is a critical piece of your group's identity that they, through no fault of their own, will always be missing. That something important has been irrevocably lost, and they will never even truly now that it had been there? That's chilling stuff. Any real-world analogies for it that I can think of feel like they would be in poor taste to bring up in a rant about warhammer lore. Do they - consciously or not - hold it against them? Do they separate themselves physically and organizationally? Can one who has never seen the living light of the Emperor lead those who have? Are there enough heroic deeds in the galaxy to make up for not being there in time?

The theme of degradation and things being lost to the passage of time is very prominent in warhammer lore. In 40k, the small cadre of characters who physically bridge the divide between 31st and 42nd millennium have always been awarded with a certain aura of awe, but Custodes get to enjoy this situation from the position of someone for whom time itself should never have been a problem. It doesn't really matter how many of the "original" custodians are left - what will forever hang above them is that there even are the "original" ones.

[lorei-writes]

HC: Crochet! Princes - Foreign Affairs Faction

Clavis, Chevalier, Luke, Nokto Content Warnings: none Word Count: ~1.3k Inspired by @keithsandwich 's work :)

Quiet. Be quiet, little ones. For what would have happened if humans saw you come alive, with your little crocheted heads and wire spines? Children of yarn do not see eye to eye with those born from blood.

So be quiet.

At least for now.

Clavis

He falls asleep come midnight, so he spends his days wandering in the shadows of his human maker. (Who, as it happens, is now certain that Clavis doll is possessed — how else could they explain the fact that it is him and him alone who is always misplaced?)

A multitude of legends has grown around Clavis the possessed doll. Likewise, rules followed. For the protection of his co-habitants, naturally.

Rule #1: If you see Clavis doll appear in the kitchen while you’re cooking, do not turn your eyes away from the food. Otherwise, it will be magically transformed into gruesome in appearance, although technically edible, abomination.

Rule #2: If you hear the plink of glass out of nowhere, pinch your nose and proceed as usual. If you see any colourful vapours, run.

Rule #3: Say “I adore you to the moon and back, Clavis!” whenever you hear hyaena laughter.

Rule #4: If you see Chevalier doll fighting with Clavis doll — no, you did not. Follow any steps specified by Clavis doll until you’re outside the reach of Chevalier doll. Were you to fail at the task… Clavis doll does enjoy digging in the ground.

Cyran doll is still in the making. As such, Clavis doll is… Well.

His ambition is to find a needle and to add certain “adjustments” to Chevalier doll. However, he’s been unsuccessful thus far – largely because any yarn needles are held within the big tin box of doom on the upper shelf, guarded by a hedonist-doll-hater orange cat by the name of Potato.

An ancient prophecy says that on the day of final judgement Clavis doll with descent from heavens riding on an orange lion. It is highly likely that Potato’s disdain for all things Clavis is what prevents the apocalypse.

Whether that will remain the case is still unclear, as Clavis doll has taken interest in growing plants… including catnip.

Chevalier

Chevalier doll can generally be found somewhere around any large bodies of books — bookcases, attics, perhaps his maker’s backpack (whenever their route leads by a library). That being said, it “conveniently” always so occurs that it’s perfectly reasonable for Chevalier doll to be there. As such, nobody ever questions it.

The people who have seen Chevalier move do not make it far. (Typically not outside the door; provided that they do not execute the instructions of Clavis doll).

The house hosting Chevalier doll is rather old. As such, the primary focus of Chevalier doll is the maintenance of his kingdom, for the benefit of the doll kind. Using his superior wadded (with polyester) brain, he slays mice and moths with toothpicks, unclogs toilet bowls, calls appropriate companies to fix the roof… The list goes on.

That being said, Chevalier doll does indulge from time to time. Not only that! He finances his endeavours on his own!

Can you really be sure the person you talk with online is a person and not a crochet doll? Can you? CAN YOU NOW?!

With the internet at his non-existent fingertips, Chevalier doll can accomplish things no ordinary (meaning lifeless) doll could dream of. An inconspicuous doll by day, Chevalier spends his nights as an editor for an established publishing house — the fearsome Bloody Tiger who will not let the smallest error slide!

His work laptop (and personal e-book reader) is hidden below his makers bed, next to their secret toy box. They do not dare question it. The placement of the device was meant as a threat and it clearly has worked.

Yes. He has his own bank account.

And somehow, a driving license.

Nothing is impossible for the rare genius crochet doll born made every 1 000 years.

But maybe let’s not think about that too deeply. Lest we are to arrive at human-doll hybrids.

Luke

Luke is one of the few dolls who have actually befriended a human.

Her name was Leila. She was the niece of his maker and she instantly took a liking to him. She’d take him out on walks, make clothes for him, sing him songs, feed him pretend honey cakes… and she’d also tell him things. Things she’d never tell to anybody else.

In turn, Luke protected her — whenever she was afraid of demons living under the bed, he’d go and “scare” them away. He’d check inside wardrobes, hush any mosquitoes, bring her cookies after she had already brushed her teeth. He’d keep a flashlight on the ready and he’d do his upmost to present her with shadow theatre whenever she couldn’t sleep while visiting.

However, Leila grew and she continued to grow… and eventually, she convinced herself that she had merely dreamt of Luke coming to life. It all must have been a silly game played by a child bored with yet another visit to her relatives.

That being said, Leila still comes by. She also still plays with Luke, or at the very least takes time to greet him properly and shake his hand. She often brings (now an actual honey) cake and sets a good portion of crumbs aside aside, just for him… Although she tells herself it must be mice that eat it. Surely. Just old mice.

Luke finds it hard to accept this reality. The little girl that has once played with him is no more. He is happy to see her well, however, he also struggles with the fact that their lifespans clearly differ. Luke the doll will go on living. Leila the human is already an adult. She will age, and then… How does one mend humans? What does one do when their stitches become loose? When moths eat away at their cotton flesh and their strange button eyes fall off?

Nokto

Nokto doll is an absolute hit with women of all ages. For… vaguely unexpected reasons, perhaps.

The way Clavis doll is seen as cursed, Nokto doll (together with Licht doll) is thought to be blessed. Having Nokto around supposedly brings good luck during job interviews, dates, social gatherings of any type, and language classes.

Given the above, he is brought… everywhere. Nokto doll enjoys a rich social life. His wardrobe is expansive — how else could he become the high fashion accessory craved by many but possessed by few? Some of his outfits are downright scandalous… not that he complains. (That being said, he may consider it most curious, given the intricacies – or lack thereof – of his crochet anatomy).

The sad truth of Nokto’s life is that he never stays for long with anybody. It may be that he’s grown to accept it, or to even prefer this state of affairs (although he cannot say why that could be the case). He sleeps in many beds, just to be brought home in the morning, to sleep away all day and be back at his post at night.

The secret behind Nokto’s “magical qualities” is that, whenever people aren’t looking, he disappears from the crowd and sneaks in below the floor, to converse with local rats.

Nokto doll is the best cheese dealer in town. And other-things-dealer too, but we do not talk about that. The rat king sees him as a valuable ally and so, his subjects are to do as Nokto commands.

Since one of Nokto’s commands is to avoid his own house of origin, Chevalier doll does not see this situation as a potential threat. Even though Nokto may be actively working to overthrow the major of their town. For what purpose? Well… That still remains unclear, although the recent evidence suggests a certain eyepatch has been crocheted. Who knows, perhaps somebody else is pulling all the relevant strings…

You've seen a typo? Please, tell me!

--

Tag List: @lancelotscloak @violettduchess @pathogenic @fang-and-feather @tele86 @rinaririr @keithsandwich @cheese-ception @bis-enti @claviscollections

Tell me if you'd like to be added to my tag list :)

[mistkisbiggestfan]

Pidge x reader | White Lion - Part I |

A/N: Okay so this has parts of dialogue of "Dangerously Yours", it'll have a part 2, and btw my requests are open! Word count: 2k

You were not ready for failure of any kind. As a white paladin of Voltron your soul mission was to protect other paladins and people around you. A medic was what you were, a brute by nature and a pacifist by force, all you could do was save, even if you tried to charge into battle you were quickly pushed off – back to the sidelines. “Y/N! Get out of here! It’s not a place for a medic!” They yelled. Voltron was fine by itself, no medic was required, you were a so-called “Plan B”, you were useless, healing pods were more handy than a medic. Everyone neglected you, not as a friend of course, but as a valuable fighter and defender of the universe. 

The only one treating you fairly was your love, Pidge. She actually appreciated any kind of help she got from you during and out of battle, that was, to your dismay, cut short. As war with Galra raged on, everyone forgot about any other struggles disregarding the threat across the universe. Soon, Pidge began to share the view about you with other paladins, bit by bit. – You should be more careful! – She said, but quickly, those words turned into. – Just stay out of this Y/N! We don’t have time to waste!

Waste? You thought. Waste? Is that what they see my effort as? A waste..? And like that, the overthinking pursued. No one even noticed you staying out of conversations, blindly following orders, no one noticed because it was making everything easier – Who would have thought that disregarding your feelings would be so convenient? Nobody, that’s why no one realized something was wrong. 

And there you were, in the middle of the ashes of a once proud planet, now left dying and naked of its natural beauty and resources. While the other paladins were fighting a Galra ship, basically above, you were left to seek refugees and help them. People shied away, some openly running out of your sight. You left your weapons hidden, leaving only a red, cross marking on your armor standing out. You looked forward, a camp stood out of the dead surrounding, a medical camp. You quickened your pace, rushing into the tent. 

– Hello? – Everyone sulking in silence suddenly looked up at you in horror, some closing their eyes, as if you were there to collect their soul and send it away from this world. – I saw the crosses on the tent, do you need help? I’m a medic and—-- You were cut off by a few people gasping at your confession. An old, wise looking alien granny rushed over to your side and guided you inside. – We’re glad you came here, indeed we are, but there’s no time! We need to act quick, please, help us. – She looked at you with hope in her eyes, the medical staff, consisting of three other aliens, gazed at you. You just nodded in agreement. 

– Y/N? What’s happening there? – You heard the confused voice of Pidge on your intercom, you muted your mic and popped off your helmet, pushing it into the corner of the medical camp. – Alright, let’s get to work. – You said quietly, no one said a word, they just led you into the other part of the tent. 

In the next hour you operated on at least four people, crushed, stabbed, or just dying in general. You sighed and washed off the sweat from your forehead, you turned to another patient but before that, a middle-aged woman grabbed you by your shoulders. – Please, god, save her. I can’t do it without her, please, you kind people are the only hope we have left. Not even Voltron is here to guard us. – She said breaking down in front of you. – Where were they when we were dying? – She asked, and like that she fell to her knees as one of the other people inside took her away from the place you were operating in. You looked at the girl in front of you, her life was in your hands now. She turned to you and whispered – Don’t blame yourself if I don’t make it, if I- I actually won’t wake up tomorrow, tell that girl that I will watch above her… – She closed her eyes as you ran to save her. 

The battle outside died down, you were sitting under a dimly lit light with a cup of strange coffee in front of you. And like that your mind wandered off. Your helmet beeping obnoxiously. 

Beep. Voltron just missed this place? While they were fighting in the sky, innocent people were dying on land. We could have stopped this, they could have stopped this. Beep. What kind of heroes are we if we can’t even save the people we’re fighting for? Beep. What’s the point in this? Today, I helped more people than I ever did in Voltron… Did they even notice I was gone? Beep. Lord, all of those people had families, lovers, children, lifes to come back to after the war. Beep. You looked up, the beeping seemed to be more frequent then before, you sighed annoyed and turned your intercoms on. You heard a few familiar voices echoing through the mic, your tired and beaten down gaze softened. 

– Y/N? Y/N? Are you there? – You heard the soft voice of Pidge, you smiled for a second at the thought of her. – Ugh, Pidge, come for your food! – Lance shouted in the background. 

– Um, sure, just let me make this one message and—--

– Pidge! Come on, you know how the Mx. Lone Medic Wolf acts like, they’ll be back, please, what’s the worst that could’ve happened? They were on land, no battles you know. 

– I- I guess you’re right, I’m just a bit worried.

– Have you forgotten? They’re not a fighter, it’s not like they could be hurt doing a pointless check up on land.

– Yeah… It doesn’t sit right with me though, the whole “creating a pointless task to get Y/N out of battle” thing, you know?

The rest of the conversation was muffled, you couldn’t keep up with the words leaving their mouths, the sentence left you numb to your surroundings. You heard Pidge shuffle around, presumably standing up and getting out of her room to get food. You stood there frozen, shocked, sitting still and aimlessly staring at the dark abyss in front of you. You felt tears flowing down your face, but you made no noise. Everything was too loud and too quiet at once. You silently took off your helmet and put it in front of you, sitting in the dimly lit room, with cold coffee as your company. Is that what they think about me? You thought. 

Suddenly, someone walked in, their feet shuffling on the floor, you didn’t move, still staring numbly forward. – A- am I interrupting something? – You heard the person say, it was one of the medical staff you worked with today. You stiffened and spoke up. – No, not at all, but I must ask, why are you here? – You grabbed your mug and relaxed into your chair, the person walked in and sat slightly on the table in the small room. 

– I just wanted to thank you for today, many great people were saved because of you. – The seemingly way older woman told you. Your head dropped to the table as you hid your face with your palms. She looked at you, worried.

– But too many were lost, tell me, what was this effort for? What did I change? – You said, your voice cracking. She walked over to you and put her hand on your shoulder. 

– You saved lifes. – She said.

– Did I? How sure can I be that they’re going to make it to see the daylight? 

– You can’t be sure, all you can do is wait. – That left you speechless, not out of rudeness, just purely out of things to say. It seemed like all the words you could muster out were said, but then, she spoke up again.

– I’m sorry but I came here to ask you something… – She said quietly, you nodded for her to go on. – Are you, by any chance, part of team Voltron?

– I- I’m, yeah, yeah I’m part of Voltron… – You said, almost ashamed. But why? You thought. 

– I saw your reaction to that young lady breaking down in front of you, and I wanted to tell you that you shouldn’t go hard on yourself. – She said, almost like an older sister giving you great advice. 

– What are you trying to tell me..? – You almost cried out, looking at her with your bloodshot eyes, gazing at her through the gaps between your fingers. 

– There’s really no way of winning this, you know. You can't fight woth yourself forever. – She said, taking her hand off your shoulder, bitterly smiling at you, with such sympathy you haven’t seen in a while. – Take your time, kid. 

The door shut behind you, the ear-splitting silence was killing you, your breathing stopped for a second when you heard Pidge’s voice on the intercom. I didn’t turn off my mic. 

– Y/N..? – You heard heartbroken Pidge on the other side of the mic. – Y/N please… I know you’re there. 

– Have you heard everything? – You asked, feeling drops of sweat rolling down your back, awaiting for an answer. 

– I- I did, and did you..? – She asked with hope that you didn’t, your answer crushed the little hope she had left.

– Yes, I did. 

– Look, Y/N, I’m sorry, please just listen, I- can explain—-

– No! I can read you like a book now, you're not so wise after all.

– You don’t know what you’re saying Y/N! 

– You never loved me did you? You knew that I loved you and you used that!

– Y/N please, just listen to me!

– No! I'm done, you saw me as an useless waste of space, didn't you? – The silence after your sentence was deafening. You sighed tiredly into the intercom. – You want my heart to constrict with agony?  My hands to shake? You want me to plead for my place in Voltron, you want to hear me beg for a chance to be useless trash laying around again? You want that so you can make a generous gesture and spare me..? – Your tone shifted drastically. – Sorry Pidge, I don’t seem to be in a mood for prayers tonight. – You bitterly smiled to yourself. 

– I used to think that I was a Paladin just like you all, but now, the mere thought of it makes me ashamed. I should wish you good luck, shouldn't I, huh? I guess, this is a goodbye, isn't it Pidge..? – You said sadly, sighing once again. You brought your hand up and rested it on the mute button. – I- No, I don't have anything else to say. Don't look for me, Voltron won't be us welcomed here as you wish it to be.

– Y/N just please, wait! —- The conversation ended. You took a sip of your cold coffee and closed your eyes to recollect yourself. You rested your head on your hands and cried quietly, sobbing stopped only after you passed out from exhaustion that finally caught up to you.

[hollowwrites]

Could you do some Sebastian HCs please? 🥺 NSFW as well? Your Ominis ones were top tier 🙌🏼

Sebastian Headcanon

Is this how you Seb girlies recruit? Cause I was 100% Ominis and Garreth then I started getting requests like this now I’m in love with the trash man!

I ship him with Imelda SO HARD so if I refer to Imelda just swap her to MC or Y/N

I’m going to include anything surrounding Sebastian so I’ll mention Anne too…

🔞 MINORS DNI 🔞

~

General HCs

Met Ominis in Charms. They’ve sat next to each other since first year and despite sharing a dorm they didn’t speak until theirs charms class. Ominis keeps to himself so I don’t think this is completely out of the realms of possibility, but it drove Sebastian insane. He was so curious about him, the way he moved around the castle etc, and it all came tumbling out when Ominis placed his wand to a book to read. Sebastian noticed he was ‘reading’ faster than him and no one reads faster him. So he asked him how and he was genuinely so excited and fascinated by him that Ominis let his guard down. Rest is history.

Plays as a Keeper in Quidditch. He’s the only one Imelda trusts in the position. Although when they play friendlies and there’s nothing at stake she makes him play beater so she can ogle him afterwards. Compliments him on his ‘form’. Insists he’s not blushing he’s just red in the face from Quidditch.

He’s the shortest of the bois. He’s still tall but Garreth is an inch taller than him and when Ominis stands up properly he’s way taller than both. Doesn’t really care but will get wound up easily if Leander says anything.

Favourite subject: Charms…I know but hear me out. He’s good a DADA without trying. He likes Charms because he has to think about different uses for spells to suit his needs. Look at the way he immediately think of Accio for other purposes than bringing objects to you. It challenges him.

I think Him, Garreth and Ominis are bros…Garreth and Sebastian are both annoying mischievous bastards you know they’d bond over stupid shit. ‘Oh I stole this potions book from the Restricted Section for you’ and ‘I made this potion that turns your Confringo to lightening’ they would just encourage each others bullshit and send Ominis to an early grave.

His Boggart is everyone leaving him or him being alone. I go in detail here

As someone who has lost a parent, I’m fairly confident in saying I think after a while Seb will accept what has happened to him. After that, he’ll look into the Mirror of Erised and see himself and Anne, older and healthy. Anne is pregnant with Garreth, who walks up behind Sebastian and ruffles his hair. He sees Ominis and Imelda in the distance laughing and blowing raspberries at Anne and Garreths’ other baby.

Patronus

Right so hear me out… cause some of these are…questionable

Lion - He’s Loyal, fierce and is clearly a leader. I’ve written so much chatter between Ominis, Garreth and Seb where they talk about Seb being a Gryffindor that it just won’t leave me. Because he just is. The ONLY reason he’s a Slytherin is because of his morally grey attitude. Everything else…total Gryffindor.

King Cobra - They eat other snakes (would annihilate Ominis’ family in sight and you can’t convince me otherwise) and are among the smartest of the species. Sebastian is exactly that. Also I know that his Patronus being a snake would amuse Ominis no end. I don’t know if this is how Patronus’ work but the idea of Ominis being able to speak to Sebastian’s Patronus and turn it against him makes me giggle. True King of Slytherin.

Crow - Very Intelligent. Also if you google ‘Crow Traits’ it literally says Inquisitive and Mischievous …They also symbolise Death but also Intelligence and Loyalty. Need I say more

Speaking of Patronus’ and his similarity to Harry:

One of the memories he uses to conjure a Patronus is of his parents. He can’t remember if it’s real. He’s spoken to Anne about it and she remembers it too but slightly differently. It’s just them sitting in their living room sat in his moms lap whilst she reads to him.

Second is the first time Slytherin win a Quidditch match in sixth year. Imelda’s jumping around celebrating after catching the snitch and he joins her. The team are all jostling around and he bumps into her. There’s a moment where he’s holding her upright to protect her from the crowd and she looks so small…it’s the moment he realises he’s got feelings for her and later in seventh year she tells him the same.

Family

This isn’t really a headcanon just something I always think about. I feel like Sebastian is what could have happened Harry. Both lose their parents and both are left with abusive family members. I feel like if the Dursleys had magic, Harry could have very easily turned out like Sebastian.

Nicknames

For Victoria

Calls Victoria, Vic or V exclusively. She’s never Victoria, she could never annoy him enough for him to full name her.

Teased her the once and she responded that was actually an Angel and would never do anything wrong. From then on she’s Angel.

Is a master of changing the way he sounds to suit the conversation i.e

(After knocking her on her arse in Crossed Wands)“Look at me, are you okay, Angel?”

(Horny AF) - “Oh Angel, you look so pretty with your mouth open”

For Imelda

Calls Imelda, Mel

When she gets a little shouty and and he’s feeling brave will call her Ma’am

Again KING of changing how he says things:

(After being shouted at in Quidditch) “Yes, Ma’am”

(After she rolls on top of him, chuckling) “Mmm Yes, Ma’am”

Relationshipy Stuff

I like the two sides of the same coin aspect of him and Anne. They’re both mischievous little shits but I think Anne has compassion that Sebastian lacks. He has no way of looking at a problem and just listening to it he *has* to resolve it. We see that with Anne’s curse.

So if his partner ever has a problem he’ll go out of his way to resolve it. Even if it was just something small he’ll go over the top.

I have a cute thought of Imelda getting splinters from Quidditch and he researches into charms and salves and all sorts for her. Gifts her a balm for her hands to protect her and she’s like “Seb, I haven’t seen you in weeks…is this what you’ve been doing?”

Again I’m probably projecting because I personally don’t want kids but I don’t think he’d want children. He’s be too scared of what happened to him either if he died and left them or if he turned out like Solomon. Plus Imelda would be busy being a Boss Bitch for a family so he’s happy as is.

🔞 NSFW Headcanons 🔞

He’s so tender. I love rough Seb but I just think he falls in love hard and fast he adores whoever he is with.

Because of that I imagine he’s SUPER vocal. Constantly praising and complimenting who he’s with.

“You’re so Beautiful”

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to have my hands on you”

Don’t think he’s be into any sort of pain stuff cause his sister is constantly in pain it might remind of her and it’d completely ruin his whole day.

I also think he’d be spontaneous, like he can’t contain his love for them any longer, and will drag them to the nearest broom closet.

There is not an area of Quidditch Arena and Broom closets that him and Imelda haven’t done it.

Seeing the state of each other after a match, all sweaty and flustered just gets both of them going.

Still really possessive and jealous, loves hearing his own name

“Say my name. Say it again, Look at me, and Say. It. Again. Focus on me and nothing else”

“Tell me who you belong to?”

“Who else makes you feel like this?”

The whole “You’re mine, I’m Yours” thing makes him wild.

LOVES eye contact ESPECIALLY when eating out, just likes looking at the things he’s done to her and she’s done to him.

LOVES finishing on her face. It’s like the ultimate possessive thing.

Masterlist