Fables, folktales and dreams

I guess??

I'm DruidMadeOfBones on ao3, but most know me by Deer.

The skull character you see here is called Bonnie (get it? Bcs Bones?) and she is more or less a mascot.

We'll see how active I am, but eh. I've been needing an idea archive for a while now.

FICS!

I write for multiaple fandoms (and read for ever more lol). Here is a list of my excisting fics:

MDZS:

Love Jingyi - Four times Wangxian show Jingyi is their son and one time Jingyi returns the favour.

Happy Birthday Granny - set in the same universe as Love Jingyi. Story behind how everything came to be.

A loose string - What if Wei Wuxian died instead of Jin Guangyao? What would happen to everyone else then?

Lights Over The Ice - Three memorable winter festivals for Jiang Cheng. The difference the years make...

Cinnamon, Meet Bastard - Crack fic turned serious. What if Yanli and Wen Chao were childhood friends? Can Yanli fic the world, befriending one loser at a time?

Love is a Struggle - Lan Qiren gets attacked by an old artifact that will kill him, if he doesn't air out and let go of his grudges. Wei Wuxian is not looking forward to this. Wreaths of the Wretched - Despite now being a fierce corpse, Wen Ning's Hanahaki is still going strong. He's used to it by now, but when one of the juniors start showing signs of the disease, he knows he needs to intervene.

Secrets run deep- and bleed down bitterly - A silly actor au, where LWJ has PTSD surrounding blood and faints at the sight of it. But when he is offered a role in a vampire drama, where his celebrity crush WWX will be playing as the main actor... Well. It's just a little secret. How hard could hiding it be?

SVSSS:

Reservetations of/for two: Moshang modern au, where the idiots have been pretty much married for years and are surprised when people find out. Now they ACTUALLY need to decide if they wanna get married. Cuddling, supportive friends and a hamster.

Witcher:

My well is turning black (unless you get me back) - Daemon au. Jaskier holds many secrets, but only one stays above all else. Will it get in the way, as he and Geralt grow closer? Will he spill the frogs out, before silly crushes become something more?

Beck the Mongolian Chop Squad (the manga):

Cautions to the wind - A fix it, where one conversation (unknowingly) saves a life. Koyuki and Eddie Lee finally have a chance to talk.

Minecraft weirdoes:

Hide Behind Me - witch!Techno and familiar!Ranboo au. A lost and injured familiar stumbles upon a lonely witch doctor. A friendship blooms.

Heart That Fed (Lies) - royal fantasy au. A broken tale of an immortal king, ghost prince and a goddess of Void. And all the people their lives touched; or burned.

Your name means love - Witch!Tommy au. A young witch apprentice is forced to flee his old life and gets seperated from his guardians. This leads him to befriending fae and mages alike, as he rediscovers memories he didn't even know he had. Is all he knows just a lie? And if so, then what for?

The Hobbit:

SQH is amazing at multitasking, scheming and hiding stuff. But even he can't hide a demon king who acts like a spoiled house cat when he is in fact a tiger. By the time SQH is a peaklord, Mobei-Jun has developed a habit of coming to and wandering around An Ding whenever he is bored and/or his life has once more been threatened by his uncle. SQH is one badly timed visit away from having a stroke but for some reason no one seems to notice this huge demon wandering around the peak. And he knows better than to look a gift horse in the mouth so he just. Does not bring it up and lets his king do whatever.

Unknowns to him, every single one of SQH's baby An Ding disciples has met Mobei-jun. They've all been lost on a new, massive peak badly enough to stumble into this massive demon lord just lounging in a secluded area. Or have accidentally tripped over the sleeping demon while running to hide from bullies. Or even stepped in on the waiting king in their Shizun's house, when in search of SQH.

All of them have been, understanably, terrified. And, most of the time, you would've expected Mobei-jun having no problems disposing of them. They were a threat for having witnessed his presence, after all.

But because of how much SQH has fondly rambled about "his kids" and how much he has ranted about hating "how those brute from other peaks (Bai Zhan) bullied his kids", Mobei-jun is TERRIFIED of hurting even one of those disciples. He is absolutely certain that SQH will not accept his advantages if even one of his kids is hurt by or doesn't like Mobei-jun. So he is determined to make a good impression. He helps out the lost, scares off bullies and teaches the kids how to defend themselves, gives some of his snacks to the tired ones. He lets them climb him like a jungle gym, lay on him and nap when it is hot and even answers their questions.

Jaskier and his daemon Griselda from my fic <3 I know what they are singing but it will be a while before we get to this scene.

(Dandelion's/Jaskier's look is based on how he appears in The Dark horse comic "The Witcher, ballad of two wolves". Their witcher comics are absolutely beatiful creations that bring all the things I love about these characters together.)

Dear darling mine-

Won't you come lay down easy by my side?

Dear darling mine-

The earth may be cold, but the sun it feels oh so nice.

Dear darling mine-

It's been so long since our hands last touched,

Would you please just believe that this is alright?

Dear darling mine-

Can't you hear the echoes of my voice?

It's repeating and growing, singing on and on,

Sharing our pretty little song.

The one where you called me and I was sure

That forever wasn't long enough

SO MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS but trying to balance it out with not giving away too many spoilers-

Okay so. In my fic "My Well Is Turning Black (unless you get me back)" Jaskier is as we have always known him. A performer, a friend, a hopeless romantic and so many more things. But there is a distance he puts between how he acts and who he thinks he really is. For reasons that I cannot say yet, Jaskier often acts like his frog daemon Griselda is the better part of him. Almost like she isn't him at all.

And this is where we get into the details. A frog is often thought to be a symbol of renewl and transformation because of how they grow. They are about imagination (and fertility lol), potential ans so many things. Mostly positives. Adding on the "Princess and a frog" fairy tale by the Grimm brothers and you might see why I think this was the PERFECT fit.

But the flip of this comes to meet us with my fic's name. There is a list of references I am making with it, but one of the ones I did not mention is that if you have a dead frog in the well it poisons the water.

This fic is about Jaskier coming to terms with who he is and how people see him- to both positives and negatives. Because if he doesn't, he will poison his own well.

Airplane had a really solid plan for when he'd eventually (and according to the system- inevitably) meet the future Mobei-jun. It was an idiot proof way to AT LEAST buy himself more time with his pre-planned killer.

All of that went right out the window the second Shang Houhua, newly promoted inner disciple of An Ding (THE SYSTEM COULD SHUT the fuck UP! It hadn't lifted a single figurative finger to help him get even this far! That rank was earned solely through his tears, sweat and blood! HE'D WORKED FUCKING HARD!), met the terrifying Mobei-jun.

"Please let me serve you-!" Shang Qinghua squeaked, tears already bursting from his eyes as he tried to dive for the demon's legs- only to trip and crash face first into Mobei-Jun's open chest.

It took them both by surprise. Nothing like that had ever happened to either of them before and their young bodies were very um. Intrigued. Shock, shame and all consuming panic made both of them freeze in place. And that shock would save them both plenty of time down the line-

Because the second Mobei-Jun shifted, Shang Qinghua's well cultivated survival reflexes decided that the best course of action right then was to punch the demon prince's lights out.

While panicking over the unconcious demon, Shang Qinghua FINALLY noticed the Huan Hua's poison dart. And OH BOI WASN'T THAT FUN! Luckily, system had already thought him to be paranoid and over pack for every single mission. Through some very creative cursing and lots of crying, Shang Qinghua does manage to smuggle the demon into an inn, remove the dart and mix a general antidote for the poison.

Unfortunately, Shang Qinghua had to use a flower called Snow Drop of Fertility's Tears- one the many, many weird plants of this world, that thankfully didn't have too many side effects on humans. It was decently rare, so he loathed the whole process of taking it apart and only grinding up the stem and middle for the cure. And, well, since he WAS just waiting around until Mobei-jun either died or woke up, he used the petals to make a calming tea for himself. He enjoyed his tea, the only good thing about this whole mess, before falling asleep next to the unconcious demon.

And complitely failing to remember the kinds of side effects the same plant had on demons...

"-And the next thing I know, I'm being kissed to the very inc of my life." Shang Qinghua explains five months later, slowly growing hysterical as he connect the dots.

"Congrats. You got married and pregnant in one go, by accident." Mu Qifang mutters from his stool, still holding his head in his hands, unsure whether he should be crying or laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mobei-Jun gets accidentally baby trapped by Shang Qinghua, who didn't check the possible side effects his anditote would have for a demon. Aka, during their first meeting, Mobei-jun gets VERY horny the second he wakes up and misunderstands Shang Qinghua's oath for a marriage proposal. They have sex and bcs of flower and dual cultivation shenanigans, Shang Qinghua gets pregnant.

Unknowingly, Shang Qinghua leaves the sleeping demon behind the next morning, convinced that his life was saved bcs appearently Mobei-Jun is really into crying twinks?? He isn't sure what just happened there, but knows better than to wait and ask. Especially when he has a whole fucking cart of half ruined books to drag back to the sect.

Mobei-jun is convinced they are engaged. He keeps visiting Shang Qinghua unannounced at the most uncivient times, bringing beasts and treasures as his courting gifts. He WANTS to duel Shang Qinghua properly as is traditional- but the first time he portals to to An Ding, a month after their first encounter, he can SMELL that Shang Qinghua is expecting. He is very disstressed to find that his future consort wants to remain in the sect.

A very long time ago, there was a Druid. A very kind but terribly shy one at that.

The druid had made many friends during their long life- one of whom would one day become a king. The Druid adventured, helped, fought and healed with all of them. Living a life full of people and excitment. Yet, none of those friends could fulfill the deep, tired ache the Druid felt as the years passed by. They had all but given up on finding a cure for it, when they were summoned by a dear friend of many years.

The kingdom was at war.

When the King asked the Druid for help, he was honest in his request. "You don't have to join- I don't need you to fight for me. I have an army for that. And I cannot promise you that we'll be able to come back from this fight."

"So you say." Druid hummed, air shifting under their fingers as they fanned the much older looking man. "But you've yet to tell me why you wish for me to come at all."

The King shuddered, fear and cold sweat gathering at his greying eyebrows. "I am afraid, old friend. And I do not wish to go into this battle alone."

The Druid simply smiled then, their much smaller hand reaching high up to lay on the King's heavy shoulder. "Then I shall ride with you. For the last time, if fates so decide."

The battle was brutal. So much so, that the who few lived to tell the tale of it never could bear to do so. And wars like that are always forgotten far too quickly.

As was our fallen Druid. But you see- once one decides to surrender themself to be nature's shephard, you'll always be one. Always. The laws of nature woild accept nothing else.

But when a resurectiong spell takes over 400 years to set in, there are bound to be mistakes. And there is very little that can be done at that point.

THEN I START TO READ THE MAIN BOOK, ONLY TO FIND OUT SHANG QINGHUA AIN'T THE MAIN CHARACTER. HE COMES IN AT LIKE CHAPTER 4 BUT SKFKFLDLLD. Yeah. Yeah. It took me a while to get back to it after that.

Not going to lie, I would've been insufferable if I watched this in my teenage years. It's a besutiful combo of goth aesthetics, dark (low) fantasy elements and modern crime/mystery story telling. Kind of happy I waited this long because now I can appriciate it while NOT becoming absolutely obssessed. Hopefully. We'll see how it goes.