Professor Crewel, you are Yuu's only hope, thank you.
Now with the inclusion of Crowely to the Ramshackle roster with Grim,Rollo, and (maybe Fellow) , it seems that the theme for Ramshackle is "It's a fucking yuu problem".
I love this design!
masquerade yuu rkgk
I need several hundreds of fics of Mobei-Jun finding out about "human courtship/mating rituals" and earnestly trying to perform them as he heard only for Shang Qinghua to think Mobei-Jun is either mocking him or having a deviation
Grimmy Bois!!!!!!!!!
It's near the end of the year so I redesigned Grimmified Ace +Deuce ^_^ (the older one is the first pic)
Okay, we all know that Shang Qinghua (Airplane) can't fight well, but consider:
A year before the scheduled demon invasion Sha Hualing was sneaking around the northern demons' castle during a diplomatic whatever and stole something from Mobei-jun's room that she would eventually use to get into Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. An emergency token that can let Mobei through the wards if his teleportation fails or something, it's a nonsense bauble Shang Qinghua literally put there for Sha Hualing to steal.
But Mobei-jun is both pissed at Sha Hualing now and justifiably worried that his spy would die if the Sha clan attacks the sect. So he gets the wonderful idea to whip Shang Qinghua into shape until he can hold his own!
And Shang Qinghua can't say that he knows when the demon invasion is going to be and he plans to be elsewhere, so Airplane bro gets to experience the worst training montage ever. It works, for what it's worth. It was never his lack of potential holding Shang Qinghua back, it was his different priorities.
He also uses his new focus on his cultivation to get permission to cultivate in Lingxi caves just before the invasion, so he can step in and save Liu Qingge's life (may or may not be necessary, depending if it's Shen Jiu or Shen Yuan, it works for both).
Then the day of the invasion rolls around and Shang Qinghua still planned on sneaking away, but Mobei-jun got it in his head that he wants to see the results of all that training, so Shang Qinghua is not sitting it out, no matter how much he wants to. Luo Binghe won't even get to fight, the third match is Shang Qinghua against Elder Sky Hammer and it's woefully one-sided. Shang Qinghua is feeling a little good about himself even! So not worth all the suffering he was put through to get to this point, but being strong kinda rocks.
But then Sky Hammer tries to take him down with him anyway and Mobei-jun steps in, all tall, dark and looming and uses his ice to cordon off the demon invaders. "You have stolen something that's mine, little brat."
He ends up chasing Sha Hualing's gang off in a deadly hail of black ice before Liu Qingge can even get on the scene and Shang Qinghua is fine. He's fine, he's unharmed and he's internally screaming because that was too close and his king is so cool, but also wtf Mobei-jun why are you out in the open?!?!!
He can. Somehow make it work? It really does help smooth things over that Mobei-jun just potentially saved a lot of lives. Makes it easier to convince people that Mobei-jun is Shang Qinghua's friend and he can be a really good ally, like, do you want this power on your side or as an enemy? Mobei-jun plays along because he realizes that this will give him free access to the Sect and an easier time to coordinate with Shang Qinghua. And hey, maybe he gets to spar with Liu Qingge and Yue Qingyuan every now and then, that's a really nice bonus actually!
Which is to say, Mobei-jun becomes a regular fixture at the sect and spends enough time there that someone will notice his very awkward crush on Shang Qinghua and sets him straight about human courtship customs. At which point it all transitions into a wacky romcom where half of An Ding is trying to discourage him and the other half is actively supplying him with questionable dating advice, all the while the rest of the sect is taking bets about how long until either they get together, or the whole thing crashes and burns. It's a fun time either way.
why are pose references for women like That
this speaking as a cis person. Nothing brings me more joy seeing people find gender euphoria in becoming a mediocre representation of humanity. And I mean that so genuinely. Local boy finds joy and fulfillment wearing a cargo shorts and t-shirt combo. Local girl has transitioned to look like someone's disheveled aunt, has never been happier. Local person experiences gender euphoria rocking the world's worst bowl-cut. Without a scap of irony, this shit makes me see the wonder and whimsy in just, being a human. An average, person going through their day-to-day, is a wondrous thing? That's amazing. And heteronormativity has stripped these experiences of their joy. Like you're right, wearing a basic girlypop skirt should make my heart sing. Why not? Why are these expressions lesser because they're normal? All this to say. Shoutout to all the basic bitches out there. Yes that polo shirt does make you look like a divorced golfer dad. Yes, that too is kind of a slay, now that I think of it.
Prompt: "You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth... If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror."
Pairing: Dire Crowley and GN!Prefect/ Yuu/ MC
Genre: Yandere (platonic)
TW: Yandere Dire Crowley, crow man's delusional and literally does not give two fucks, just generally creepy vibes all around.
AN: I am so, so, so sorry for what you are about to read now lol. If you get too confused in the middle, don't worry, I was just as confused writing this but my brain just wouldn't rest until I finished and posted this so here we are. The basic summary of this is that Yuu or the Prefect is trapped in an endless cycle because Crowley overblotted. You might have to read this twice or thrice to understand the how and why <3
He knows.
From the moment he sees them, he remembers.
He remembers and he watches as they do it again.
And again.
And again.
A puppet, unaware of their being handled by someone else, someone kinder and gentler who just wants to keep them safe and sound.
Even if it means trapping them in an endless cycle.
Even if he is the only one who sees and notices and remembers.
Dire Crowley cuts an imposing figure as he stands in his office, facing an ornate mirror. Not the Dark Mirror, no. This particular mirror has its roots in mystical arcane magic, from the times of Jupiter and when the Titans roamed free. Dire has a faint memory of his mother, the Crowley Matriarch, telling him to be careful with it, to pass it down to his heir as she had, to him.
Crystal clear, it beckons to him to reveal himself. To bare himself, imperfections and flaws laid out in the privacy of his office for it to see.
A selfish, sadistic desire to pick apart every carefully constructed lie, each bejeweled facade to show the utter mess of a man that lies beneath it all arises in him; he finds himself indulging in it more often than he likes to admit.
The masked man removes his mask for what is not the first time, and most certainly would not be the last. Sharp golden eyes look on as black ink, once held within the confines of his mask, drips down his face. Times like these make him wonder and marvel at how he has not met his demise yet.
Fingers adorned with golden claws rise and touch the blot, marveling at how cold it feels as it stains his skin. Lesser mages would have been dead long ago, Crowley knows this. Slight dread rises in him at the thought, knowing that his magic reserves are long finished; he lives on borrowed time and magic.
But then again, who cares? As long as he can have them here, where they belong, safe and sound-
A knock resonates through the room, startling the headmage. He quickly puts the mask on his face again and clears his throat, saying, "Come in."
He watches as they walk in, no doubt to complain about something, or to talk about their financial situation. Perhaps he should increase their allowance? After all, it is their being, their magic that sustains him, and allows him to live through these lifetimes watching over the unassuming, now magicless human he had imprinted on and the students they had endeared themself to.
Crowley watches as they speak, unable to stop his lips from curling up into a smile. He hems and haws and lies through his teeth about not being able to find them a way back.
He sees the light in their eyes dim; it is a small change, one that doesn't stay for long. But the magicless human is precious to him, and so he observes them. He watches them leave his office silently, a stark contrast to when their impatience and indignance have them cursing his name to the skies. No outcome, no outburst of their emotions will be able to move his cold, frozen heart to thaw, however; they belong to Twisted Wonderland, as Twisted Wonderland belongs to them.
In their first lifetime, Crowley recalls with the fondness of a father thinking of his grown-up child, they did possess magic; far different in nature, but magic nonetheless. And powerful too, considering the aura of it radiated from their being even as something stopped them from being able to use it.
Crowley wonders if it was so that he could see how invaluable, how indispensable they were.
How the entirety of Twisted Wonderland was made for them.
He did try, the first time, to find them a way back home. Endless efforts were dedicated to researching the existence of universes and multiverses. Of course, such exhaustive research would take time, time which he saw them spend getting close to the students of Night Raven College and fighting overblots.
Seven overblots, in the span of one year.
A record untouched by any other being, mage or otherwise. A record they kept making each and every lifetime they spent in the loop. A record that became his new normal, so much so that he no longer gives more than a cursory glance to the overblots and their aftermath.
He knows how it all ends, after all.
In their first lifetime, his efforts had bore fruit. His studies revealed a way to connect the Dark Mirror to their plane of existence, through the use of the very mirror that was hidden behind his back. His blood had run cold at the revelation, and he spent the next few weeks? months? looking for alternatives. For other ways to be able to send them back.
Until one day, the Prefect found out.
As they angrily interrogated him for the reasons behind his silence, asking him why he would not send them back even though there was a way, he realized exactly why he was hesitant about sending them back.
Crowley had no spouse, no children. But the mirror, the mirror which had been in his family for generations, needed an heir. One who could gain control over it, rather than have it control them like it did with so many of his ancestors, including his mother.
Surely the one dubbed a beast-tamer could tame such a dangerously powerful magical artefact?
He desperately begged and bargained with them, trying to change their mind. Trying to entice them into staying forever in Twisted Wonderland, as his heir. He offered them gold and silver, riches beyond what one would expect a man like him to have. He offered them the immense honour and prestige that came with being a deity that the entirety of Twisted Wonderland bowed to.
But they... they refused to stay. The only thing that was in their mind was to go home. Why couldn't they get it through their head that Twisted Wonderland was meant to be their home?
The aftermath of that argument... Crowley's memories are hazy at best. He remembers waking up in a pool of blot, the sticky ink covering his hands and the top of his face, dripping constantly. He remembers the mirror glowing as he dragged himself to it like a mindless moth flies to the flame even with the risk of getting burned.
Words had slipped through his mouth like the prayers of the devout at the altar of their deity, the faint and familiar hum of magic accompanied by a slight crackle of dark miasma.
"Ah, my dear esteemed benefactor... My proud, beautiful flower of evil. You are truly the fairest one of all," he had spoken, not knowing exactly what spell he was casting. All he knew, was that he was succumbing to the mirror, the same way his mother had; the same way all of his ancestors had, giving into the madness that such unchecked power and magic could create.
"O magic mirror, thy wisdom I entreat... Reveal unto me the visage I seek.." A vision of them, standing on the other side of the mirror, had Crowley try to reach out to them. His hand grazed the solid glass, before passing through it. He watched as their eyes widened and they took a step back.
"You, whose image the Dark Mirror did beckon forth... If your heart bids it, take the hand of the one reflected in the mirror." A shiver of thrill ran up his spine as they gingerly placed their hand in his after giving his words some thought, even with all the doubt in their eyes. He curled his fingers around their warm hand, and pulled.
He later found out that, during his overblot, he had managed to trap a significant portion of their soul in the mirror that was his family heirloom. The mirror rejected their magic, foreign as it was, and somehow those powers transferred themselves over to Crowley.
The words Crowley spoke, was the way to invoke their soul and bring them back each time they left Twisted Wonderland. A reset button, if you will.
Every time they show the slightest hint of wanting to leave, the slightest glimpse of understanding that he is the one they need to defeat in order to go home, he resets. Memories get wiped and Twisted Wonderland moulds beneath his gold-plated fingertips to what it was before. They say time waits for no man, but then again, Dire Crowley is more monster than human now. And so it bends to his will, but not without taking away his memories as well.
But then he sees them.
And he remembers.
the autism spectrum or something idk
Moshang establishing a weird degree of intimacy (for two people who are at least ostensibly not dating or anything) even early on in their relationship due to having known one another since their teens and both being, y'know. Weirdos.
Like Shang Qinghua has definitely dressed Mobei Jun. Toweled him off after a bath and put clothes on him because Mobei Jun is royalty and he just expects servants to do that, and Shang Qinghua was like, well, okay I guess we do this now I guess this is happening, and decided to just enjoy the view.
Mobei Jun prefers to sleep in beds that smell like Shang Qinghua. It just feels safer, and no he's not interrogating that impulse very deeply. He has food tasters who check his food for poison, and he's heard the term "bedwarmer" thrown around he's pretty sure this is just the same idea, a bed that's just all sterile sheets which don't smell like anyone but himself feels isolated and vulnerable and unsafe. So he'll nap in Qinghua's bed on An Ding, and whenever his servants wash out his sheets at his palace he'll drag SQH over and work him to exhaustion and then make him "warm his bed". Shang Qinghua thinks maybe Mobei Jun prefers a warm bed at night, the way that some humans prefer cool sheets? Like an ice demon thing? Whatever, his king's bed is still more comfortable than his, it has soft pillows and furs and everything so he's not looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Shang Qinghua has treated Mobei Jun's wounds. MBJ used to watch him like a hawk at first but after years of this happening with zero issue he stopped bothering, so between that and the "sometimes dresses his king" thing Shang Qinghua can basically move his limbs around and put stuff in his hands or even his mouth and smear ointment on him and etc and MBJ will just go with it. Sometimes Shang Qinghua worries about the amount of access Mobei Jun's servants apparently have to his person, but honestly none of the regular staff could actually get the same kind of uncritical compliance out of him. Just Qinghua.
Mobei Jun also sees no issue with physically picking Shang Qinghua and moving him around. He will literally throw him at problems he wants solved or carry him to situations he needs examined. Shang Qinghua is very portable and it expedites the process of him begging not to be asked to do something, to just toss him at it and make him sort it out right away instead.
Mobei Jun would also steal Shang Qinghua's clothing if there was any remote chance of it fitting him. Throwing his cloaks and things onto Shang Qinghua works fairly well though, it makes them smell like him which is still good. Shang Qinghua is rarely bold enough to steal Mobei Jun's clothes on his own, but if it's especially cold and no one else is around he's been known to grab part of Mobei Jun's cloak (often while he's still wearing it) and wrap it around himself.
You want to call your House rep now and tell them Trump needs to be impeached immediately for defying a Supreme Court order (re: Kilmar Abrego Garcia), which functionally voids our constitution and means no one in America has rights anymore.
I am not exaggerating.
As of now, anybody can be disappeared, no due process, no recourse. Trump is openly disregarding a Supreme Court order and says he’ll send US citizens to El Salvador.
This is not a drill.
Call your House rep and tell them they must impeach. Tell them if they cannot bring themselves to impeach, they must resign. A more open and shut case to impeach is not possible. Trump and his administration are saying openly, in public, that anybody can be kidnapped by ICE, even in error, and disappeared permanently.
Call your senators, too, and tell them to support impeachment (it goes to them once it passes a majority House vote).