#quiet understanding

[luca-just-luca]

Fuck it I’m done pretending.

I want to hold his hands. No no, I want to HOLD his hands. No see you-you’re still not understanding. I want to hold him like he’s made of the most refined metals in the galaxy, I want to rub my thumb over his knuckles like they are smooth rocks that have been etched away at by the waves of life. I need to cradle his hand in mine, despite the size and difference in fingers. I need to cradle his hand with both of mine as if it’s a fallen star I’m gazing upon. I need to press my lips to his skin like you would to a warm mug for heat, I need to look at him and only at him. Not look past him like others-no-I need him to know sitting across from me, hand in my own that there’s an ache he helps me soothe in my body by simply being. By granting me the gift of holding him. I need him to look at me and see me-not through me. And see his hand, cradled in mine like the most precious artifact known to humankind and soften. I need the tension to fall away from his shoulders, his eyes to soften, his hand to relax. Before grasping mine with his other hand, no words needed nothing to be said just the gesture to connect us. A moment of peace and understanding in the frenzy of the uninformed futures. Just quiet and gentle understanding, you aren’t in it alone and you never will be.

[fairsweetlonging]

truth serum / system reveal au where shen qingqiu gets hit with an uncloaking spell that reveals the system in the reflection of his eyes every time it pops up.

during one of his missions, in the treasure hoard of some dragon-like creature, he finds a golden, oval shaped hand mirror, its gaudy style more victorian based than anything (airplane you hack!), that doesn't seem to do anything when he looks into it. but when he does, it reveals the system's screen in his eyes.

he doesn't notice this, of course, because he can't see it, and the system, surprisingly, stays quiet.

the peak lords think he's cursed.

maybe mu qingfang is the first to notice, during the mandatory post mission check-up, when shen qingqiu is scrolling through his most recently accumulated points and mu qingfang can see the strange vividly-blue lines reflected in his pupils. it's gone when shen qingqiu blinks, like it was nothing but a trick of the light.

it comes out when yue qingyuan is visiting and, just as he's done laying out the plans for a new mission, shen qingqiu's eyes glaze over and a bright blue box takes over the whole of his iris. shen qingqiu goes quiet; the thing in his eyes moves, shifts, pulses for a second, like static worms crawling all over his pupils. then he blinks, and it's gone, and shen qingqiu accepts the mission that yue qingyuan was almost sure he would decline.

maybe there is an intervention, when the peak lords corner shen qingqiu at qian cao peak and try to figure out what's wrong, subjecting him to all kinds of treatments and curse-finding spells that turn up empty, they can't find anything.

of course, the silencing threat is still very much up and running. at first shen qingqiu was kind of confused by the whole ordeal, but when the peak lords start describing a "strange blue box", he realizes, with sickening suddenty, that they're describing the system. and he can't say anything.

this only makes everything worse, because their fellow peak lord now keeps evading every question and acts like he doesn't understand. liu qingge points right at his face and asks, "that blue box, what is it?" and shen qingqiu laughs nervously and starts talking about how bright the weather is and surely it's the sky and nothing to worry about!

even worse, during the intervention the system thought it was a good idea to start talking to him, so now even the peak lords who hadn't seen it and who might have been persuaded by light tricks and reflections, get a first row view that no, that definitely isn't a trick of the light.

they try to do the whole thing of "are you in danger, blink twice" but shen qingqiu can't even do that because it's still a direct admittance!

maybe eventually he starts saying vague confirmations that don't actually confirm anything, like "this master hears what you're saying", or maybe he goes with a classic "this master can neither confirm nor deny that." but the system starts warning him for that too and eventually he stops saying anything, which worries the others more.

luckily mu qingfang catches on that every time they ask a direct question about the box or shen qingqiu says anything vaguely confirming, it appears. it doesn't appear when they ask about curses or demons, so it must not see that as a threat.

for a little extra angst: maybe the peak lords keep pressuring him for answers, and at some point shen qingqiu gets fed up and snaps out something like, "why don't you understand that i'm not allowed to answer that!" the system counts this as a direct admittance, threatening it's existence. so it punishes. shen qingqiu has a qi deviation so bad it lasts two weeks and takes two people every day to cleanse his meridians. the system doesn't appear in that time. it doesn't appear for a long while after that, either. the peak lords stop asking, mainly because shen qingqiu will instantly leave the room if they do. they don't stop searching for a cure, though.

shang qinghua returns from a business trip and catches on the second someone mentions a blue box and forced silencing.

[vaguely-concerned]

lucanis is a 'I could sit in our quiet kitchen on a grey tuesday afternoon drinking coffee and talking with you about nothing much in particular forever and be the happiest man who ever lived' romantic, not a 'classic tropes and grand gestures' romantic. this is a distinction and conceptual gap I personally feel is crucial to understanding what's going on with him when romanced. for all his almost painful sincerity and clear depth of feeling he's not a very effusive guy by nature, but in the history of time no one has ever, with their whole soul, chest and being, been so genuinely and openly happy to just do laundry and taxes with you.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Vibes based grading system.

(for @epistemologys, who wanted some post-canon, teacher WWX)

[zuzu-romeave]

“this episode could’ve been an email” WHY DO YOU HATE STORYTELLING SO MUCH!!! WHY DO YOU HATE WORLD BUILDING AND GETTING ANSWERS AND EXPLORING CHARACTERS!!!!

[impactrueno]

your honor he's my coping mechanism/emotional support ghost friend that i missed for 30 years

[aslyran]

Visions

[indigo6f00ff]

sigh fiiiiiiiine ill draw him (throws bricks

[himbo]

[fluentisonus]

nettle soup

[biarthurpendragon]

I think the most beautiful thing about Merlin and Arthur romantically was how they never wanted to possess the other. The unspoken devotion between them was never given a name but it wasn’t less beautiful than being married or anything.

They loved each other the way you love sunlight on a cold day. You don’t have to possess it to appreciate its warmth…

[joyful-lurker]

The redemption arch Rebecca managed to pull off from 'god fucking damn it Dain' to thee magnificent Dain 'eyes here" Aetos is one for the ages. A literary masterstroke

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

as someone who rarely listens to music, i am unceasingly in wonderment at the emotional connection many humans have to music as a medium. genres & styles & artists and all that jazz --you guys care a lot about this stuff. i sit marveling at the sheer commonplaceness of people feeling an intimate connection to individual songs & albums & musicians. to the point musical preferences are often considered a meaningful part of one's identity as an individual....thats crazy. so much passion...so much fierceness of feeling ...people say "you have to listen to this song" and i listen for 30 seconds and say "neat!" bc it is, it's neat! the chorus is catchy! i might tuck it away to hum to myself later. but for now im putting my earplugs back in returning to the glorious silence that my essence depends on the same way my lungs depend on an oxygen-rich atmosphere. u beset me with fascination

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

I’m pretty sure this is why Ragatha was quick to forgive Pomni after the Kaufmo incident and tries to move on from it.

And why she was uncomfortable when Pomni didn’t respond positively to the apology.

She was afraid of being her mom.

[sengenism]

rewatched some dr stone episodes lately

[vaguely-concerned]

of all the little indignities lucanis has to suffer through in this game, having a being that only very hazily understands the first thing about physical reality glance at you and go 'bitch you need so much therapy. rook be upon you' must be one of the most of them of all time