#but the bastards got the best of me

[lovesickeros]

☆ even the gods bleed [ pt 2 ]

{☆} characters furina, neuvillette {☆} notes cult au, imposter au, multi-chapter, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings none {☆} word count 1.9k {☆} previous [ 1 ]

This had to be a punishment of some sort – some kind of divine punishment.

She was bored out of her mind just watching the sleeping body – she hadn't blinked once in the past five hours, her eyes were really starting to hurt. Yet they still hadn't moved so much as an inch since she sequestered them away to the only place she had known to be safe.

But it'd been almost a week since then.

The only solace she found was that Teyvat had seemed much less hellbent on collapsing in on itself like a dying star.

That counted for something.

Not much, but something!

..Even if their position was no better then it was a week ago.

There was, after all, still the issue of what to do about the false Creator – the actual imposter – and the Archons following them like blind lambs. The other Archons wouldn't listen if she tried to reason with them, and it would only risk the life of Divine One if she spoke of their location to anyone else.

She also was pretty fond of having her head still attached to her shoulders.

So she avoided them all together. Partially because she wasn't sure she wouldn't have a breakdown at the sight of them..she'd never been a fighter, and fighting an Archon? Easy pass.

Instead she was forced to babysit the sleeping Divine until they woke up while Neuvillette handled taking care of the nation and dealing with the other Archons – and by extension the false Creator.

Really though, she would almost think them dead if not for the subtle rise and fall of their chest.

Though..this also left her with a lot of time to herself. A lot of time to think.

She really didn't like it.

There wasn't a lot to occupy her mind and what little there was only distracted her for a scant few moments before her eyes drifted back to the Divine like she was locked in their orbit, unable to escape.

She closed the same book for the twelfth time – she kept count – and returned it to it's meticulously designed place within her bookcase. A low, barely audible huff of frustration escaped her lips before she could bite it down, her stare boring a hole into the body of the Divine One with a sharp intensity she rarely showed.

She was tired, bored and constantly on edge, fearing that at any moment someone would find out about their presence here.

That, at the drop of a hat, she would be powerless to stop the greatest tragedy of her time play out before her eyes.

Neuvillette would have scolded her for being so petulant, especially around the Divine One, if he were here.

But he wasn't.

He was out running her nation, instead.

And what was she doing? Nothing!

She grit her teeth, nails digging harshly into the palm of her hands as she took a deep breath – now was not the time to think about that. She had..much more pressing matters. Sulking and letting her thoughts spiral helped no one, least of all herself.

Yet her attention was caught by a harsh inhale, the rustle of fabric – were they finally waking up? She was exhausted, but it all vanished at the sudden drop of life within the otherwise deathly still body of the Divine.

Her eyes followed the subtle twitch of their fingers, watching as their brow furrowed and their features twisted in something almost like..pain.

..She wasn't ready.

What was she supposed to say?

Should she even say anything? Would that be considered impolite? Does she wait for them to speak first? Should she kneel? Bow?

She doesn't get much time to find her own answer before their lashes flutter, chest heaving with every strangled breath. Every single thought vanishes from her mind the moment she meets their eyes.

For a long, silent moment she thinks that her heart must have stopped.

Their eyes glow like the cresting of the sun over the horizon, painting the world in hues of gold – yet it also reminded her of the dipping of the moon below the waves, casting the briefest, most gentle of lights upon the world engulfed in darkness. In the depths of their eyes was the birth and death of stars in the infinite cosmos – glittering stars in a sea of empty, blank space that left her feeling lightheaded and breathless.

Beneath the splendor is a spark of recognition in their eyes so vibrant it was like a shooting star piercing through the dark night sky, leaving nothing but the wonder in the eyes of the observer as the only proof it ever existed – brilliant in it's beauty, however brief.

It is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen.

"Focalors?"

The lilt of their voice nearly made her knees buckle beneath her – euphoria so consuming it left her feeling she was starving swallowed her whole, her mind blanking in a moment of utter bliss. It was..an indescribable feeling that she doubted she could ever hope to put into words – not in a way that could properly express it, try as she might.

She swallowed the words that threatened to spill from her lips – she couldn't make a fool of herself. Not in front of them of all people. She'd never forgive herself.

"Divine One," She rasps, clearing her throat and covering her mouth with a hand to mask both her nervousness and the small smile that creeps across her face. She quickly regains her composure, hand resting on her hip as she puffs out her chest with every bit of pride she can manage. "I am sure you must be confused, but worry not– your most loyal acolyte has seen the truth!"

The silence is deafening.

She opens one eye, peaking at the bewildered and almost distraught expression of the Divine.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

That..she was not prepared for. Surely they knew who they were! Surely they knew. They had to– she's been praying to them for as long as she's breathed, she's dedicated every hour of her life to living up to their ideals, they can't just–!

"Lady Furina?"

Neuvillette, thankfully, spares her the embarrassment of having a meltdown in front of the Divine, the gentle rap of his knuckles against the door making her and the Divine pause, the soft lull of his voice soothing her nerves and yet setting her on edge at the same time.

"Neuvillette." She clears her throat again, her steps hurried as she marches to the door and pries it open none too gently, a forced smile pulling at her lips. She wastes no time tugging the man into the room, shutting the door behind him with a short huff. The silence is, somehow, even worse then before as the three of them stare at each other in absolute exasperation.

Neuvillette, for his part, manages to get his act together with a sharp clearing of his throat, bowing so low even she looks unnerved. She steals a brief glance at the Divine, and she's taken aback by the uncomfortability twisting their features into a grimace.

Their expression is schooled back into one of empty apathy when he stands back to his full height, but she saw it – she knows she did! Did they not like their worship? Were they not respectful enough? For a moment, she feared the Divine would smite Neuvillette down on the spot..but they just stared at him like he was a ghost.

"Why aren't you killing me?"

The defeated, resigned tone combined with the way their voice cracks makes her heart ache in her chest – it feels as though her entire world is crumbling down at her feet, and she cannot explain why she feels such emotions so strongly, but it is suffocating. It is almost as if Teyvat itself is weeping, bearing down upon her shoulders like a heavy weight.

She feels the urge to weep herself, but she powers through, gritting her teeth long enough for Neuvillette to take his place at the side of her – though it feels more like their – bed, kneeling like he was going to pray.

"Divine One," He offers a hand with a quiet rumble of his voice, the words slipping off his tongue like honey. It's like trying to soothe a stray cat..though she'd never voice such comparisons of the most Divine out loud. "I..we mean you no harm. I swear on my authority as the Iudex of Fontaine and Chief Justice that you are safe with us."

The skepticism she expected, but the reverence in which Neuvillette must convince them – or perhaps they are simply so tired that they simply did not care any longer if it was all some ploy to drive a knife between their ribs. She didn't expect them to actually place their hand in Neuvillette's.

He didn't either, judging by the way he visibly brightened – not that they'd notice, but she did.

..Not that she could really blame him, her heels clicking against the floorboards as she shifted her weight to the other foot with a nervous energy that was practically bursting at the seams, more then a little jealous of the attention he was receiving. She was the one who found them, she was the one who stayed with them the entire time..but he gets all the attention?

How unfair.

"O-of course! We would never lay a hand on our creator," She adds, her voice a little higher pitched then she would have liked as she placed her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest and brushing off the sting of jealousy. "Least of all I– your most loyal, most devout acolyte!"

She felt baffled when she heard the sound of their laughter, her shoulders hunching and her cheeks flushing on mere instinct – she was expecting mockery, but the look in their eyes, still dulled by a pain she cannot even begin to imagine, made her hesitate.

..It was, perhaps, the most genuine thing she'd heard from them ever since before the hunt began.

She wasn't sure why her heart hurt at such an idea, but it was enthralling to see the beginnings of a half hearted smile on their lips.

For a moment, her mask of theatrics was forgotten as she stared at them in a mixture of awe and adoration– and though she didn't look at Neuvillette, she could imagine he must've shared such an expression.

Had she any doubts that they were her Creator, that they alone were the most Divine..they would wiped clean now. There was no mistaking the way the world itself seemed to grow clearer as they glanced up at her like she was worth something.

For a moment, she realized how cold the false Creators gaze had been now that she has felt warmth so gentle it almost made her knees buckle beneath her. It felt like a pale imitation, now.

Nothing could compare to the warmth that spread through her body at the mere semblance of a smile upon their lips. She didn't even mind if it was her they were laughing at anymore, she just wanted to hear them laugh again.

She'd make a fool of herself, if she had to.

She'd never felt so..ravenous for such a thing, but just the briefest glimpse was addictive.

She simply couldn't help herself from striding across the room and clasping their free hand in her own, her smile wide enough to unnerve as she leaned her weight onto the bed. For a moment, she considered pulling away at the way they startled, but her mind was made up by then – there was no going back.

"Again."

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

and now, a break from our normal schedule for my Favorite cat dad and his lovely vagabond son

[dreamytfw]

ROBERT EVANS JUST OUTED HIMSELF AS A SUPERNATURAL FAN AND AS A DEAN GIRLIE I AM LOSING MY MINDDDDDD (X)

[goldiipond]

everyone shut up forever it's my cats birthday today everyone say happy birthday bungus youre so awesome bungus

^ bungus

[talentforlying]

idk if john will ever realize just how many times his big sister has had to mourn him because his idiot ass showed up on her doorstep to say a "final goodbye" and then just dropped off the grid for months afterwards. figure out the cell phone thing, man.

[whataboutfractions]

[clearwillow]

So I was trimming some clips down to make gifs and there's one little detail that made this scene 100x more funny to me.

It's likely just an animation snafu (I mean we won't discuss Dark Schneider's head shrinking) but listen. Everyone but Dark Schneider was wearing shoes:

I didn't catch it at first, but Joshua is barefoot when he leaps:

See that foot? That's Sailor Samurai mad as hell.

This man kicked off his shoes before he went for his shot. Now I've seen women come out of their shoes before a fight but this is a new one. He's got enough going against him with that shirt, but then you've got Hammet trying to drag him to the floor while DS is playing dodgeball with him. They're just pissing him off further - which is why I'm convinced that he not only drug Hammet down the hall, but he's the one to blame for that explosion.

If DS had something of Kai's in hand I bet a supporting wall would have come down that night. 🤣

[masquenoire]

When in Gotham, if somebody isn't trying to kill you, you're clearly doing something wrong.

[princekirijo]

Well that happened. That was a DLC.

[arolesbianism]

Thinking abt Sif Odile duo looping au again and I wanna be able to plot everything out more coherently but act 5 eternally looms overhead and boy I do not wanna look up

[fresthered]

WOWE! inktowbew day 4 (by @college-knockout!!) was looking forward to drawing these guys! more about them + bonus under the cut

anyway, bottle cap (they/she, they're on the left) is the resident free country organist (for the king of town). they keep to themselves most of the time, and only speak in whistling. she's unnoticed by most of free country, but occasionally some residents come to her performances. here they are in higher quality:

other guy is "hatguy" cooldude (he/him, on the right). doesn't have a job or role or anything, is pretty much just the resident failguy who thinks he's hot shit but. *really* isn't. only really friends with the cheat. they steal shit and cyberbully people together. higher quality here:

[gargelyfloof118]

4 dozen eggs just gone

[hopelessromantic-ghost]

[hecksupremechips]

Btw I’ve started playing the funny stars and time game. The the one about the loopty loop and the white diamond ass shit

[dandelion-wings]

My next two theme teams to build towards!

I am actually hoping that the Mondstadt team will work to replace my current Icebreakers team, which works just fine for Cryo-themed domains and bosses but isn't really a great overworld team, but I'll only find out once it's built, so. XD;; We'll see! (Ironically, since I'm done running Blizzard Strayer for now I mostly use Icebreakers for the Mondstadt talent books, so by the time this team is built I won't need it much for that domain, but again, I'm hoping that it'll be a bit more functional in the overworld so I can just run around with it everywhere on the days that I'm using it.) I had a catchy name for it when I first thought of it that I've completely forgotten, but "Diluc's Demise" works for now because the narrative I'm building for it in my head 100% involves the teenagers running roughshod all over him.

"Shogun Loyalists" would work better as a name if I had Yae Miko instead of Wanderer (meme voice: this is where I would put my Yae Miko, if I had one), but I was still saving for Eula last time she came around, so! He will hold the fort for now. Mostly I've been wanting to build Sara a team so that I can justify actually finishing building her, and this will do as a placeholder until I do get Yae. In the meantime, I've been making theme teams in order to motivate myself to build more of my 5-stars, so he will get built that way! And running artifact domains for this team will help me feed the artifacts on Diluc's team, which is fully equipped with sets but whose sets are not all powered up yet. The artifact grind is endless....

Not pictured: Since I was running Crimson Witch for Diluc anyway, I am also building Hu Tao and Yanfei to start cycling into the Liyue Children (and possibly Meltin' Medley, though I've got such a good rotation with that one that I'm not sure they'll add in well, since as far as I can tell from talent descriptions both are on-field and it relies on Xinyan and Xiangling's off-field Pyro). My endgame there is to do at least a short run-around with all four Liyue Pyro girlies, once I have them all built. :> They deserve a fieldtrip of their own! Unsupervised! Yanfei's basically a responsible adult, I'm sure it will be fine.

[hauntingblue]

Syrax roaring when rhaenyra finds her son's remains omg......