#/ i have once again word vomitted. xD

[youryanderedaddy]

yan prison guard who hates u but low-key wants to f??

YES?!

tw: female reader, hinted non-con, period cramps, physical neglect, abuse of power, hinted blood play, reader is hinted to be a criminal, starts flirty but ends dead dovey xD My Ko - fi <3

"Shit." You mumble, your back softly resting against the cold wall. You reach for the nearest utenstil on the ground - all metal now, since you broke one too many nice porcelain plates - and throw it against the bars with little consideration to the vomit inducing "food" still left inside. The yellow sauce splashes all over the floor, and you look up, not even bothering to hide your smug expression.

"I could make you lick that up, you know." Darcy states, adding little emotion to his already monotone voice - his eyes glued to the book in his lap and all the tiny little words in it, perfectly pristine fresh ink in the stuffy air. His gloved hands are digging into the paper, almost crumpling it, and you now know that his pale hands are simply incapable of holding anything gently - even the things he actually likes.

"Will you?" You tease, but the warning bells at the back of your mind go off nonetheless, seemingly in spite of your best attempts to come off as playful and not desperate. He rarely jokes around - not exactly the fun type. "I'll decide after I finish this page." Your warden chuckles humorlessly. "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." He starts reading aloud, licking his cold lips. "So be earnest..." You can feel his gaze on you, caging you in like a wild animal. "And repent." He finally closes the book. "Revelation 3:19." The blonde repeats quietly, turning his attention back to you - and you realise calling out was a mistake, but now it's too late. He's got you in his clutches.

"My stomach hurts. Tell me, Father Allmighty, is this devine punishment too?" You spit out sarcastically, hugging your knees in order to numb the pain a bit. "Or am I simply on my period?" It's your turn to giggle, although it hurts to do so - anything to mask the unease tugging at your vocal cords every time you're faced with that demon.

His eyes narrow in response, and his fingers circle his nose bridge as he scoffs at you, annoyance quickly spreading across his irritatingly handsome, yet equally sharp features.

"Your voice makes my head throb. Stop it." The guard barks, voice dropping low in warning. Still, you decide to push your luck due to pure and simple physical need. "But it hurts." You let yourself whine, slowly revealing your collarbone - and silently hoping that just this once the sweat will look like glitter. "I don't care." He hisses, picking his book again.

You roll your eyes.

"Alright. Sure. But you'll be the one cleaning the bloody sheets after." You mutter under your breath, crossing your hands. You're not sure what's more frustrating - the way your stomach is trying to eat itself or having to appease a narcissistic maniac with too much power and free time through it. Somewhere in the part of your brain still capable of rational thought you realize you should be provided with basic hygiene products just like all the other female prisoners. What makes you different, you guess, is the fact that you're kept under lock and key almost extensively. Solitary confinement 24 hours a day, except for Darcy.

He brings you food. He helps you bathe - if you've been good enough. He's the only one who knows if you're dead or alive. Hell, he may be the only one who even cares.

"I'm sure cleaning up your mess will be quite exciting." The blonde cracks a tiny, self evident smile only he knows the meaning of - and you would have frowned in disgust if you could still feel that lovely human emotion. "Admit it, you actually like the thought of me bleeding, you little freak." You scrunch your nose at him, then look back to the floor, the filth so thick it almost sticks to your slightly less dirty shoes. "Takes one to know one." Darcy responds nonchalantly, running his hand through his slick white locks.

At that moment the cramps return in full force, your lower abdomen on fire with sharp stabbing pain. You remember some fragmentary tips from your scrappy teen years - you close your eyes and breath in deeply, you bite the inside of your cheek - you even pray to whoever is listening, but it just won't stop. So you bargain.

"You can have it." You say with difficulty, folded in half. Hot tears prick your eyes and you try to fight them, but soon give into the agony. It's such a relief to cry after months of resilience - to break down completely and let your most vulnerable self out.

The warden takes a single steps towards the bars and motions for you to move closer. You crawl to him, your hand supporting your lower belly in the process. He takes a good look at you and slowly, almost gently caresses your face through the metal - eyes suddenly softened by the image of you dancing in the palm of his hand.

If it was anyone else he'd be simply repulsed by this clear display of weakness. If it was another prisoner, another hardened criminal, he'd have no problem following his own principles of zero tolerance - of crushing and breaking their spirit until nothing was left. But it was you and your beatiful, stipid tears that mesmerized him to no end, that haunted his dreams and turned his bloodlust into something a lot more sinister. Something harder to capture, harder to fight - and easier to give into.

"You can have it." You repeated tearfully, rubbing at your soft wet eyelids - completely still. Scared of your own flesh and its betrayal. "My mind, my body, anything. Just please give me some pills. I can't take it." You whimper pitifully, shaking under his watchful eyes. He's holding onto your cheek, but you feel like he's got you in a suffocating embrace. And then just when you're about to kneel down, he unlocks the door to your cell.

"I've been taking your brain apart for months now." Darcy whispers softly, taking off one of his gloves and letting it drop to the floor. He takes another step towards your cowering form. "Your body, on the other hand, is a white canvas." He tilts your chin up, forcing you to meet his burning gaze - and the pain fades away instantly, replaced by raw, intense fear. "I wonder what your insides look like. Surely, they're beatiful."

You feel his lips on your neck, followed by the tip of a knife - a butterfly kiss.

[keymanwritez]

Still wakes the deep headcanons !

Trots

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

° Very clean, doesn't really like messes and will chew someone out if they mess up his work station

° Has two brothers and one sister

° Never been married

° Likes tea more than coffee

° Okay ish with children, though the messes they bring and when they scream drives him to insanity

° Enjoys having the same scheduled meals each week, gets somewhat upset when it changes

° Cannot handle the smell of ribs, it absolutely will make him gag and throw up

° Has tried so many times to talk to Rennick calmly about safety on the rig and got shut down so many times that he just gave up on doing it calmly

° Enjoys keeping gifts and things hes given on display, he's proud of everything he has

° Used to be a calm person but now is more likely to anger

Infected Trots time 💔

° Sees his family, like his mother, his brothers and his sister etc

° Is tormented by the fact that he doesn't have legs anymore

° most of his pain stems from his lower half due to how corrupted it has become from the shape

° Feels pure anger towards Cadal, more than when he was alive

° Dies in excruciating pain akin to the other infected

° In my recovery au he gets pissed at Rennick a lot more due to him learning how Rennick wanted to leave everyone else and his actions during the crisis

° Recovery: he really cannot stomach a lot of foods, he just can't eat them without vomiting

° Recovery: Hates his body no doubt but also gets irritated at the mess it makes in his words

Finlay

﹏﹏﹏﹏

° One of the strongest on the rig no doubt

° Would've won the dart tournament final if it ever happened, dunno why I think this I just do

° Actually likes the ocean a lot, just doesn't like being on an unsteady and falling apart oil rig

° Talks with Rennick sometimes, They sit down and drink either coffee or alcohol together

° She lets him rant a lot but has no problem telling him when hes wrong about something or a situation

° Still gets pissed when he does stupid or selfish shit though

° Enjoys milk in her coffee and that's about it

° Talks to her son whenever she can, Keeps the letters he sends in a decorated box with photos

° Not a picky eater but doesn't really like canned ravioli, she'll eat it just doesn't like it

° Her and her husband are divorced but not on bad terms

° Hangs with Muir and thinks he's funny as shit, a little too reckless for her though

° Bisexual but doesn't really care about partners at the moment

After the events of the game 💔

° Sometimes would need to take a break due to hearing her son, over and over again

° Hummed the song he was singing to try and calm down

° Despite what it seemed in the game, she was fucking terrified of the shape

° It unsettled her deep in her soul and she finally knew why when the rubble fell on her

° Wanted nothing but her son in the end, to hold him, to hug him, or just to see him

° She knew she would never get to see him again though and that would be a good thing for him

° Recovery: Was confused and then disturbed when she woke in her cot

° Recovery: She was dead and she knew she was, maybe this was purgatory ?

° Recovery: Took a while for her to become comfortable around the infected again

° Recovery: Felt like shit for being distant but couldn't bear to be around the infected or anyone in general

° Recovery: Called her son almost immediately after finding out she wasn't dead

Muir

﹏﹏﹏﹏

° Love pranks, I think everyone agrees in the fandom XD

° Does not like swimming, never was a fan of it, knows how to though

° Once pulled a prank on Rennick and almost got fired

° Has never grabbed the correct helmet and probably never will

° Enjoys jokes a lot, puns not so much

° Can actually be pretty mellow, especially when he's tired

° Either wakes Innes up with a kiss or a smack on the stomach, either one it just depends on the day

° Once made a paper rose for Innes for Valentine's day

° Hangs out with Finlay sometimes

° Does not like coffee but drinks it to stay up

° Once fell asleep at breakfast and woke up with new eyebrows

° Don't know where I saw it but there was a post that he had a daughter and I liked that idea

° Has two left feet when it comes to dancing, or almost anything tbh

Infected time y'all 💔

° Saw Innes and his daughter

° All he really remembers is feeling alone and being angry at that

° Like they had all left him to fend for himself

° He wanted Innes mainly and was angry at him for leaving

° At one point his vision soloed in on Innes and saw his terrified face

° He was confused

° When he finally got Innes he didn't even realize he had killed him

° He thought that he was just sleeping, he didn't kill anyone else after that

° He just held Innes, his love

° He didn't even realize he was going to die until he was

° Tried his best to keep Innes body safe as he died

° Recovery: Was akin to the others confused on why he was back

° Recovery: He couldn't believe he was back, he felt joy and then the realization what he did hit him

° Recovery: He tried to hide somewhere on the deck away from the others

° Recovery: He didn't want anyone to see him due to guilt

° Recovery: Not even Innes

° Recovery: Eventually Innes coaxed him to talk to him and Muir just sobbed and apologized

° Recovery: It took him a long while to adjust to not being able to go inside and his new form but eventually he slowly went back to some of his old self

° Recovery: He doesn't think he'll ever be the same again though, emotionally

° Recovery: Cried on the phone when he was allowed to call his daughter

Brodie

﹏﹏﹏﹏

° Sees Raff as a son of sorts

° I really liked @/lilkumquat27 's au where Brodie had a son but lost him due to cancer so I kinda headcanon that now too-

° Feels odd for viewing Raff's like that but dismisses it a lot

° Likes coffee with chocolate in it [ me too Brodie- ]

° actually enjoys the ocean a lot, loved going swimming in Skye with his family

° He finds one of the best feelings in the world is to eat a warm meal when your cold

° Hangs with Finlay when he can, he finds solitude with her

° Would laugh when he lost against her in the dart tournament if it ever happened

° Not really competitive, doesn't see the point in getting angry over that stuff

° I associate the song ' Everything stays ' from adventure time with him, don't really know why it just seems to fit him

° Loves the moon as well, thinks she's gorgeous at night

In game time 💔

° Was mostly trying to keep a level head

° Threw up after seeing what happened to Raff's in the dive bell

° He actually threw up a lot during the events of the game

° Kept saying in his mind to just keep on going

° Heard his son talking about octopuses and the ocean in his mind

° Just kept going through most of it, only taking short breaks to think things through

° Was terrified but somewhat content when the water and oil started to raise

° That soon disappeared as the phone cut out

° Tried to keep his mind on Skye and his son but couldn't, all he could focus on was the pain of not being able to swim and drowning in the oil

° Recovery: He woke up sputtering, he was so confused and hurt

° Recovery: Finally broke after that and just sobbed

° Recovery: He sobbed for hours before trying to collect himself

° Recovery: Tried to ignore the pit in his stomach but it kept getting bigger and bigger

° Recovery: Hugged Raff's so tight he couldn't breathe, apologized endlessly for letting him go in the dive bell and for what he went through

I shall make another one with more characters later but these are some of my headcanons for my favorite characters !!!! explodes

[kidokear]

Spoilers for Murder Drones Ep 8.

What ride! I loved it. ^^

Although, there is this particular line from J that had been stuck in my mind since I watched the episode.

"You know there's no escape, even in death!"

Outstanding delivery aside (seriously, the VA killed it), The line itself (even on a surface level) shows how trapped these drones are, but I'd like to delve deeper here. There is something about it that makes the gears in my head turns and I want to drop the product here.

Here we go.

To start, I'd like to say that, of course, J would know that more than anyone. She died so many times during the show. There is even a J death count in the credit scene. If someone would feel like it's impossible to leave, it would be J because her experience showed her that something as final as death could not break the Solver's hold. (Following this line of thoughts can give us a wealth of information about J and her character! But that's for later)

Now, thinking about it, there are more than one way for the Solver to nullify (heh) death, and I think that makes it even more terrifying and, well, absolute. More so than death. It's not one blockage. There are layers.

For one, we know how difficult it is to kill a Solver afflicted drone. They regenerate so much, so quickly. Even when you take out a crucial part (like the head) or a good chunk of them, they'll come back. And when you do manage to damage them enough to the point that they can't just self-repair, if their core is intact you'll get the 'autorun Solver failsafe' where they'll mutate and turn into eldritch abomination that collect matter until it can repair the host back into the original stat, effectively bring them back to life (and we don't even know the level of awareness the host have during the matter collection process).

Second, even if there is no eldritch phase, they'll still live as a core (like Nori!), a body is not needed.

And if the core is destroyed? Not enough. Because there are backups. J's core was destroyed at the second episode, and oh look! she's back, and seemingly with her memories (on some level) intact from her previous run.

But there is more! Now, this part is mostly speculation and theories, so take it with a grain of salt. But there is a point, after Uzi ate the Solver core where the screen had red in it, and, some says, Doll's name flashed there. Now, I don't think Cyn kept a back up of Doll, and her core was eaten. So what does that mean? I think that could mean that any drone connected to the solver (or maybe eaten by it) would be saved in it's... data base? (not sure what to call it). So even if there is no core, no back up, a drone might not cease to exist and 'die' if it was connected to the solver, even passively. They could forever exist within the Solver itself, which mean that the only way to truly die is to erase the Solver and everything within it completely. which I'm not even sure is possible, considering it's nature of being a 'code mutation' with the possibility of popping up again (although, maybe the end of one strain of Solver could 'free' those within this strain. Or we could have a case of Halo's Flood where even when gone, the new one will carry what the old has, which is honestly horrifying and depressing).

And the patch won't safe you because it keep the primary host out, but not the Solver (and honestly, even if it blocks the Solver itself, I don't think a patch would be effective for long, I think it could pull a flu and mutate to bypass it).

All in all, the Solver is living up to it's name and is being one of my favorite cosmic/existential horrors, not just bending the laws of physics but life itself. A background hopelessness that become more and more prominent once you think about it.

Sorry if that was a mess. Like I said, I just wanted to word vomit my thoughts. XD

[deviantartdramahub]

Sighhh so I really do hate to talk about the forums at all, because from what I saw, that place is an absolute shitstorm that's a headache to even begin to describe but...I just wanna reinforce a point I've been making for ages and give further proof of it. Someone may say it's dumb I'm repeating myself like that, but it's just the people I call out are very fucking stupid, and need things endlessly explained to them so they can have hopefully a shred of realization, and even then that's being too optimistic for their intelligence.

Sooo Evie, one of the morons attacking some good people I care about, specifically Club, one of my most best internet friends, and Tri, a person I don't know quite as well, but still a kind and calm person I know I can trust.

So the only reason people like her are attacking these two is bigotry. Purely bigotry. Club is autistic, and Tri is asexual, so asses who've never matured past high school like to target minorities like them to be cOoL aNd EdGy lolll.

I've already provided so much proof for this but...why not add some more, because as I've said, it's very unfortunately necessary when the bad people I have to deal with are completely brain-dead. So the forums, I've looked at the posts about them, and internally groaned at the thought of ever having to cover that shit myself. This will hopefully be the only time I do so. In the forums, I've seen Evie use slurs. Examples include...http://web.archive.org/web/20240516215957/https://www.deviantart.com/forum/community/complaints/2736800

https://www.deviantart.com/comments/18/2689626/5031912084 (In EdelgardMoon's thread...also Evie don't think your cringe-ass UWUifying the word gives you a pass lol, we know what you're trying to say.) AND SHE ALSO SAYS THE FUCKING N-SLUR IN EnryoAlpha's THREAD??? (Albeit once again butchered bc I guess this bitch thinks being SOOO QUIRKY AND RANDOM RAWR HEHEHEE XD makes it okay to say horrendous things lmao.)

Anyways Evie, it's clear to me you're a nasty person who doesn't give two shits about other people, you probably vomit at the very thought of giving another human being basic respect. You don't want to call out genuinely horrible people to help and protect others honey, nah, you just want to make up crap excuses for your bigotry, and it shows. I've got you in a corner, and I'm eagerly awaiting your excuses to escape. You're lucky you got that tail between your legs, or that kick in the groin would be real painful!

Anndd also, you may piss and whine about me harassing you or whatever lol, but I'm not gonna hear that shit when you actually do that for real everyday for funsies. Though I know you really are a coward, considering the fact on this very website you contacted me only to block me from saying anything else! XD

Fight the battles you start dear, lmao. You acting the way you do doesn't make you cool or funny, you're just pathetic and it's sad you're a full grown woman spending your life like this.

Anyways bye bye, God these people are getting more and more pathetic and laughable.

Agreed, regardless of her defense she might wish to give. Of note, she flunked school, so the school part may have another meaning.

[nekole-doodles]

I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO POST THE THING I WAS WORKING ON FOR NOVEMBER 16TH!!! I was doing homework until 2am :') Speaking of which, this oneshot is only like- halfway done because I've been bombarded with stuff I need to do for school and I haven't had time to work on it, so sorry about that TvT Here's some context for the AU(this is my first time posting on Tumblr using my computer so sorry if formatting is weird): This takes place in my We'll Meet Again AU where C! Tommy was cursed with immortality by Dream XD and was forced to watch as everyone around him either died or left. By the way, the events of DSMP were set in the late 1700s and the oneshot takes place in the 2020s. In this AU, the Dream SMP took place on a cluster of islands created by XD so that he could have some entertainment and created Dream to basically do the manual work of running the "game," like inviting and interacting with the members. XD hid the islands by surrounding them with a thick fog and altered the currents to push away from the islands to avoid any accidental drifters. To keep people out, they put a large border, similar to Miecraft's world border around the DSMP. The islands within the border functioned differently from the rest of the world. The members were given communicators which work as the chat function and inform people whenever there has been a death. When someone enters the borders of the island or is revived, the message "[Player] joined the game" and only registered "players" can enter the border. There are some other things, but those aren't important for the events of the oneshot. Anyway, after everyone in the DSMP died or left, Tommy decided to venture outside of the borders, so he wouldn't be living in lonely ruins. Cut to more than two decades later, and Tommy is now living on his own in an apartment in the city in the modern day, making the trip back to the Dream SMP every year on November 16th. This is the year before Tommy meets the reincarnations of the DSMP members, for those who, by some slim chance, have read what I have written for the actual multichapter story. And finally, here's what I had so far for the oneshot(I'll probably finish this later at some point for you guys because I haven't even gotten to the important bits yet) This has not been edited so it's basically a word vomit I did in my free time at school and I wasn't able to do much research so sorry for any inaccuracies in lore or names:

Tommy woke up with a feeling of wrongness in the air. A kind of feeling that gets you twitching and fidgeting anxiously, waiting for something. Even though you didn't know what you were waiting for or when it would happen, you just knew something was about to happen.

It was strange because he hasn't had a feeling like this in a while. The last time he did was-… 

Wait.

Tommy practically ripped the sheets off of himself, sat up so fast that he was left disoriented for a moment, and frantically searched for his phone on his crowded bedside table, shoving random trinkets off of its surface carelessly until he finally found his phone buried under the mess. He brought it up and clicked it on, the sudden brightness coming from the screen blinding him for a brief moment. After his eyes adjusted, he looked down at the lock screen and his eyes caught onto the date displayed.

There, glaring up at him as if in a taunt, read “November 16”. Just as his registered the date, a notification popped up, an event reminder:

“November 16th Anniversary: Visit the ruins”

Tommy's gut dropped. It was that time of the year again. 

He turned off his phone once more and let it drop onto the bed. He flopped back down into the mattress with his hands covering his eyes, heels of his palms digging into the socket. Suddenly, he let out a loud groan.

He hated this day, hated how it still gave him this sinking feeling of dread and misery. The actual event was more than two and a half decades ago, he should be long over this by now! He dragged his hands down his face and glared at the blank white ceiling as if it had personally wronged him.

He couldn't believe he forgot about the 16th, just what had he even been doing?! He let out a harsh exhale, got up, and grabbed his phone from where he unceremoniously dropped onto the bed.

He called his boss at the cafe to let her know he had a personal emergency he had to attend to and they thankfully understood before getting dressed for the day.

Hopefully, he still has extra supplies for the boat ride back to the Dream SMP islands. Did he even remember where he kept the boat he bought nearly a decade ago for this specific occasion?

After he got dressed, he began flitting around the house, opening cupboards and grabbing supplies before hastily stuffing them into a duffel bag, not caring about the organization. He grabbed a colorful assortment of flowers from a vase sitting in the living room and wrapped the flowers in paper with care. 

By the time he was all packed, he thankfully remembered where he left his boat, and he began making his way there.

He arrived at a strip of the coast that was surrounded by a thick forest, so people rarely traversed the area. Luckily, his hiding place for the boat had worked as it was still in the same place as where he left it last year, bobbing peacefully in the shallow water and untouched for a whole 365 days.

He cleared off some of the overgrowth on the vehicle and did some basic maintenance, ensuring the boat was still functional enough to carry him all the way to the SMP islands. After everything was in order, he got ready to depart from the shore.

The trip on the sea was a few hours and he knew he was getting close when a thick fog began to surround the boat and the currents were coercing the boat into a different direction. 

When DreamXD created the islands the Dream SMP took place on, they wanted to keep it hidden to those who weren't members, so they surrounded it with fog and made the currents push ships away from the cluster of islands to avoid any accidental drifters. Soon, the blue translucent border of the islands was within sight, stretching up into the clouds as far as the eye could see.

The border felt impending and Tommy's anxiety spiked a bit at the sight of it. He had made this trip many, many times as he'd made a point to visit every year after the first time he was able to stomach visiting the ruins of his once-home in memory of all that he lost.

However, no matter how many times he came back to this place, he couldn't help feeling nervous. He didn't know why he was nervous, there was nothing to be nervous about necessarily, as there was no real danger on the islands anymore.

It was simply a visit to honor his deceased friends and family. Maybe it was just instinct at this point due to the years of living in this place constantly on edge, just waiting for when someone would attempt to kill him.

As the boat washed up on the shore, Tommy got off the boat and retrieved the flowers wrapped in paper. He took a moment to prepare himself for the memories and nostalgia that would likely resurface after all this time away.

He wasn’t ready to revisit the ruins of his life, he thinks he never will be, but Tommy had to keep moving or else he will forever be stuck to this one spot on the shore. 

He took one hesitant step towards the border, then a another to cross it. A familiar box appeared above Tommy’s head as he entered, saying, “TommyInnit joined the game.” At the sight of it, he grimanced, being bitterly reminded of the fact that all of the traumatic events that happened in the Dream SMP were merely part of a game for DreamXD, a source of entertainment, like their suffering was simply an amusing show where their literal lives weren’t at stake.

He ignored the text and continued to step forward, shaky at first, before he gained a steady momentum to keep going and going, letting his instincts carry him to his destination.

It didn’t take long for the Prime Path to come into view, and once he followed that, he was led straight to what was left on his old home, L’manberg. Though- it’s more like L’manhole now.

Tommy just stood at the edge of the crater that L’manberg now was, a great and bright nation reduced to a dent in the earth’s surface. It was a sad sight, as it always will be, but still, to Tommy, it was beautiful. Maybe it was the way nature has begun to reclaim it, maybe it was how the sunlight hit the site just right, the crumbling skygrid allowing most of the light in but its shadows caused inconsistencies in the light, creating sunbeams; scattered spotlights. Maybe it was just Tommy being sentimental. Maybe it was all three.

Tommy found peace in the fact that the L’manberg ruins looked so peaceful despite being blown to smithereens. That the nation was allowed to properly rest, much like the souls of all of the citizens who were once a part of it who literally shed their blood, sweat, and tears to build the nation and fight to protect it.

All souls except one. Tommy. The last remaining soldier.

He wonders if the spirits of his deceased friends found their way back to the country and decided to stick around, feeling the same tie he had that pulled him back to the nation. Or maybe they found another place in the afterlife or out there in the wide world. Though, Tommy was always more connected to the country than the others, as everyone seemed to move on with their lives while Tommy was stuck in the past, so they probably moved on and found another resting place.

Tommy wonders where he’d be if he was dead like the others. Would he come back to what was left of L’manberg, a ghost in the ghost of a nation? Or would he go somewhere else, wander around a forest, surrounded by nature, and make friends with the local critters if they had the ability to see his spirit? That sounded nice. 

However, realistically, he knew he’d probably be back in Limbo, in that desolate void, since he was never that lucky.

Wherever they may be right now, Tommy just hoped they had found their peace, like how L’manhole found its peace, with nature embracing it. He hoped they hadn’t been subjected to an eternity in Limbo.

He wished he could meet with them again in the afterlife, but Tommy knew that was impossible now. He wasn’t even sure that even if he could die, he would be able to reunite with them again, given his personal Limbo and all. 

Before, dying was such a constant threat, especially in the Dream SMP, always looming over him, threatening to take him. But now that he can never die, he didn’t feel that constant threat.

He just felt grief. Grief for those who died much too soon, sooner than they ever should have. He felt grief for even those who turned against him and tried to kill him. He felt grief for the family who left him, not for the first time.

He grieved all of the pieces and memories of his old life that were only held by the ruins and by Tommy. The burden of all these memories of the people he once loved- no, still loves- was a great burden but a welcome one. He will willingly carry the memory of those who had died and all that was lost because it was the least he could do.

Finally, he spurred back into movement, walking to the blue and gold memorial of sorts that was built in the ruins of the original button room. A torn and scuffed L’manberg flag hung from the middle and Tommy had the sudden thought that maybe he should have brought one of the flags he made to replace it… A thought for next time. 

He walked up to the memorial, stopping right before the lapis laid in the ground. When he first started revisiting this place, he sort of treated this as the official grave or memorial of L’manberg.

He noticed the very faint remnants of withered flowers around the memorial from the previous years when Tommy came here. He also saw the items he brought here since they lasted much longer than the flowers. Most of them were his own recreations of symbolic items from L’manberg as he’s made many of those over the years.

This place was also sort of the grave for Wilbur too. Well- one of them since Tommy made a few for him in his first years of visiting the island on November 16th. They all honored the deaths of certain parts of Wilbur, not just the death of his physical body. This one honored the physical death of Wilbur, when his 3rd life was taken.

[exalted-dawn-drabbles]

For the DADWC, from the Lord Huron prompt list: "the ways of death can never be learned," perhaps for Talenna?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO okay I sorta took this one in a different direction :3 this drabble stars @dreadfutures's lovely Ixchel, and sorta loosely takes place within her canon timeline for her fic the Brave Guide :> Wanted to write some Agent!Tal who is sorta new to the group and eager to prove her usefulness, but who hasn't yet adjusted to her new role in the field. So we got some good ol comfort and encouragement from the Inquisitor to help her along uwu for @dadrunkwriting

Rated T: Blood mentions and mentions of vomit (not super graphic but yeah XD) ~1k words

The Ways of Death Can Never Be Learned | By Exalted_Dawn

Talenna’s body shivered with it: a leeching ache that spidered across her stomach muscles and up into her ribs. Her head swam and her chest heaved with great, open-mouthed gasps. She needed air, but each inhale caused her throat to burn further with the acidic bite of bile that still clung to her mouth, making her feel sick all over again. She had already emptied her stomach once onto the forest floor, but her body seemed not to care about that. 

Creators, when would she get over this? It was beyond time-

“Talenna…?”

The crunch of twigs beneath feet heralded the Inquisitor’s arrival. Despite the weakness in her legs, Talenna forced herself upright from where she was bent against a tree and wiped any proof of her sickness into her scarf. “I’m here,” she called out shortly after, her voice rasping. 

Ixchel stepped out from behind a tall bramble, pushing branches and leaves aside so they wouldn’t catch on her cloak. Even with the hood drawn up to obscure her face, Talenna could make out the wrinkle of concern in the Inquisitor’s gold-lined brow. Talenna had taken too long, it would seem, and they had sent the Inquisitor to fetch her. 

Ixchel’s gaze flicked across her face. “The others have moved the bodies and finished clearing the road– we should be ready to leave soon.”

“Aye, alright. Serannas, all be along shortly,” Talenna managed.

Typically, she would have thought the response passible. It had been unremarkable and uninformative– the typical bland answer one might expect from an agent– and Talenna’s tone had been even. Or even enough. But unfortunately, her response could have been the perfect lie and it still wouldn’t have hidden the evidence of her delay that decorated the ground by her feet.

Talenna saw the flicker in Ixchel’s eyes as her attention was swept downward– brief, but just long enough to see the Inquisitor’s worry deepen as they snapped back up to her once more. “Are you alright? If you aren’t feeling well enough to travel…” 

Talenna shook her head. “Ir abelas, I am perfectly fine. And well enough to travel. You needn’t worry about me.” 

“Typically, people who are ‘fine’ don’t just get sick for no reason.” 

Ixchel wandered closer, but before she could close too much distance, Talenna moved to meet her. Not that she was particularly shamed by being caught like this, but there was no need for either of them to linger around for long. 

“I promise,” Talenna insisted. “It is nothing worth worrying about. I am just…” She hesitated a moment, meditating on her words. How to phrase this so that she would not immediately be removed from the Inquisitor’s company? “Untried. In battle, I mean. My clan was rather isolated– most of my experience with taking lives comes from hunting animals. Not…”

Not people. 

They may have only been bandits, but still. When an animal was killed, there was a purpose to it. Their meat could be used for food, their pelts for warmth, and their bones for weapons and cutlery. But there was rarely a benefit to taking a human life where incapacitating them could not accomplish the same result. It was wasteful, and the blood did not sit well with her. It was as though she could feel it dripping down the back of her throat.

Her lips thinned. “I will learn to get over it,” Talenna reassured, ducking her head in avoidance masked as obedience. 

Ixchel was silent for a moment. It was a heavy silence, the kind indicative of thoughtfulness, but to Talenna it was a weight about her bowed neck. A couple seconds felt a lifetime, and her response seemed to sit between them, simply hanging dead in the air. 

Talenna itched to fill the empty quiet, with further explanation or promises perhaps, but as soon as words came to her lips, Ixchel spoke up.

“I have been in many battles, and while it might get easier, I don’t think it’s exactly something that you can learn to get over.” 

A hand touched her arm, urging Talenna to lift her head. Ixchel was holding out a waterskin, a small smile pulling at her lip. “And I don’t think it’s particularly a bad thing for the death of a person to have this kind of effect on people. Just be sure to take care of yourself as well.”

Talenna hesitated for only a moment before taking the offered waterskin. It wasn’t as though she disagreed, but she was more surprised that the illustrious Brave Guide– leader of wars, slayer of dragons, and hero of southern Thedas– felt the same. 

“Serannas,” she said at last. “I believe much the same. I only meant that I will not let it impede our travels.” To prove her point, she uncorked the skin and took a sip. The water tasted sweet, and did help in soothing the burn in her throat. Taking a few solid swallows, she capped the water and handed it back to Ixchel. 

She nodded in approval. “Of course. And if you ever need more time, please do not hesitate to say so. We’ve been making good progress, and we still have a while until we reach Serault. I am sure taking a few minutes here or there will not be a problem.” 

Talenna huffed a laugh. Honestly, she must have been in a sorry state indeed to allow herself to be comforted by someone Being comforted by someone at least five years her junior, and the Inquisitor at that. She was better than that.

“That is kind of you,” she said, a true smile pulling at her lips. “If I ever feel I need it, I will be sure to say. But hopefully we are through with running into bandits,” she chuckled. “I am sure that would be preferred by the entire traveling party.” 

And just like that, the Inquisitor brightened, her concerns swept away like clouds against the wind. “That certainly would be easier,” she agreed, hooking her waterskin back onto her belt. “Though knowing my luck-” The Inquisitor grinned guiltily. 

Talenna could not help but laugh. “Aye– we could fill a whole book with your misfortunes.”

“I am pretty sure Varric is already halfway there.” 

Together, they turned and began to make their way back to the cart. 

“More like three-fifths,” Talenna snorted. “He lets me skim his drafts.” 

[luimagines]

Ok- food for thought.

I recently reread your twilight soulmate series (my favourite fics EVER btw) and I was thinking angsty shit, as I do.

Now to me, twilight is assuming his soulmate is dead because of what he saw or rather what he didn't see.

He painfully moves on with his life, knowing the presence that was always there to guide him since he can remember will never be there again.

Suddenly he has regrets.

Why didn't he tell them more about what was going on? Why didn't he try harder to find them?.. did he ever tell them that he loves them?

Did they die not hearing his love out loud?

The thought stops him in his tracks, the other boys looking concerned.

All he can Think about is his soulmate. He shouldve been with them. He shouldve protected them. He shouldve been able to hold them in his arms and tell them everything would be ok, and that he wouldn't leave them.

Once again he breaks down crying, the boys trying their best to soothe him. He eventually calms down and keeps going. But nothing will stop him from calling out in his mind repeatedly every 5 minutes, waiting for an answer

Fast forward, the crew are still travelling until something changes. Suddenly tracking dark link down is easier than it was. The boys are sceptical, but follow the leads nevertheless.

At last, they enter a new realm, one none of them recognise.

And there, chained up, bloody, barely conscious, is Twilight's soulmate.

Twilight can hardly believe his eyes. It's you! It's really you In front of him and not in his mind!

Only.. this isn't how he wanted to see you. He wanted his first time seeing you to be filled with love and wonder...

Not blood and fear.

Before twilight can run to his soulmate, dark link appears, cutting the group off.

"I figured you show eventually." The dark creature smirks

"at first I kidnapped them to torment you. I wanted to hurt them and use your bond to make you watch. But the little rat is stubborn. Before I knew it, they were somehow broadcasting their location to you."

Twilight gasps. You were still helping him, even when you were in pain.

His eyes well up again. He has to save you- has to thank you and over all he has to love you. He has to love you more than should be possible to make up for everything that's happened.

Before the boys can move to fight, dark link chuckles.

"at first I thought about killing them to make them stop... Then I realised it was the perfect opportunity to lure you to a trap" dark link changes his stance, clearly preparing for battle.

But twilight doesn't care. He'll fight and fight and win if it means his soulmate is safe.

He will save you, and this time he'll protect you.

This time he'll be the one to help you

Fkdndkdneodnoe this scenario has been rotting inside my head and I NEEDED to write it down- sorry for the word vomit 😭

I- hi hello- this is amazing!??!?! Thank you??!?!??!

I am... so happy XD Where do I even put this????

I'll figure it out, lol

I almost took it this direction to be honest but it didn't quite fit with the tone that I wanted. Don't expect much to happen in the next chapter either. I just have to get from point A to point B at the moment but we are reaching the end of it. ^.^*

I love that my self indulgence leads to some of my best works. And honestly, it shows. XD

I have to put this everywhere now- seriously, thank you. <3

[arecaceae175]

THREE SENTENCE PROMPT: AIR

(((Continuation of running out of time and unconscious. This is SO many more than three sentences XD I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: concussion, vomiting (not graphic), discussion on injury, allusion of life threatening events)))

Wild came to slowly. He felt like he was floating. There was a comforting weight against his back; his senses latched onto it. A shiver ran though his body, so he curled his body tighter and pressed himself against the warm weight.

"Cub? Are you waking up?"

Safety.

Wild wasn't sure who the voice was, but he felt safe as soon as he heard it. He felt the vibration of the words through his back more than he heard them. His head felt like it was full of water, and the words couldn't quite make their way through.

"Can you open your eyes?"

Wild realized his cheek was touching something soft. He rubbed his face against it, and slowly felt more awareness seep into him along with the sensation of the soft fur.

Fur. Wolf fur. Twilight.

"Wild? Can you open your eyes, please?" Twilight asked. He sounded upset. His voice was rough like he had been crying, or yelling.

Wild pried one eye open. His eyes took a moment to focus, but once they did Wild recognized Twilight's face peering down at him. Twilight had a huge grin on his face. It made Wild want to smile, too.

"Hey, there," Twilight said.

"Hi," Wild croaked. He shivered again, and Twilight's arms tightened around him.

"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked.

The question was too broad for his hazy mind to process. Wild blinked up at Twilight.

Twilight frowned in concern and turned his head away. "He seems confused. And his pupils aren't the same size," Twilight said.

"It's probably the concussion," Hyrule responded. He walked into Wild's field of view and Wild felt his eyes go out of focus from the movement. Hyrule came closer, then peered into Wild's eyes.

"Hi," Wild repeated. Hyrule smiled.

Hi," Hyrule said. "Do you remember what happened?”

Wild tried to shake his head. As soon as he moved, he was hit with a strong wave of dizziness and nausea. The world tilted, then he was emptying his stomach onto the grass. An arm around his core held him up, and pulled him back as soon as he was done.

Wild let his eyes slide shut and he groaned. His head throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

"His face is flushed. That's a good sign," Hyrule muttered.

"How is that good?" Twilight asked. His voice was loud. It hurt. Wild brought one hand up to cover his exposed ear.

"Sorry cub," Twilight whispered.

"'S okay," Wild muttered. Twilight didn't respond, so Wild wasn't sure anyone heard him.

"It means his symptoms are probably from the concussion and not the lack of air.

Air. Cave. Sky.

Wild's thoughts still moved slowly, but the spike of panic was enough to raise his heartbeat and open his eyes.

"Sky?" Wild asked.

"He's okay," Twilight said. Then, he bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder.

"He will be," Hyrule amended forcefully. "We got to you just in time."

Wild forced his eyes to refocus on Hyrule before the adrenaline left his body. Hyrule had thick bags under his eyes and his skin was noticeably pale, even to Wild in his less than ideal state.

"Spell?" Wild asked.

Hyrule nodded and ran an anxious, shaking hand through his messy hair. "I had to use my life spell. He woke up for a minute, earlier, and seemed to be... on his way to being okay. Time and Four are with him now. "

Wild blinked blankly at Hyrule. His eyes lost focus as he stared, and he let his gaze slide to the leaves on the tree above him.

"That might have been too much information," Twilight muttered.

"Sky is okay," Hyrule said. He grabbed onto Wild's hand. The warmth felt nice. "You're both safe."

"Safe," Wild muttered. Sky was okay. Twilight and Hyrule both meant safety.

Wild eyes slipped closed and he snuggled further into Twilight's embrace.

[angelanimedesaray]

🍄🍓🎲

AAAH!!! HELLO!!! I always see you in my feed, I wasn't expecting you in my inbox, but I'm happy to see you here XD

Sooo, the questions. Yes. I am so sorry these are so long, I can't be short and sweet and to the point for anything, I swear, it's always just word vomit and -- I'm rambling again, let's get to it hahaha XD

🍄 A Headcanon for one of my favorite ships/Pairings. Sooooo I don't have a favorite ship/pairing, not really, for the AOT fandom, I'm just kind of vibing over here with most of them XD I'll enjoy Erwin/Levi Content one second, scroll two more posts down and oogle over a Hange/Levi, and then gasp and jealously drink in an OC/Levi art the next second while scribbling down the artist for future reference for the day I can finally afford to request some Levi and my OCs art (I have an OC in mind for every Levi x Reader Fic I've written that I imagine while I write). So it's more like a Levi x Anyone kind of headcanon:

I have always been a sucker for the thought that when Levi get's really comfortable with whoever he's with, and he's letting his guard down more and is cuddling regularly with his SO, that this is a common and favorite position:

Just, the hand running gently through his hair at the nape of his neck, arms wrapped tightly around one another, head pillowed on n their chest, it looks so comfy and warm and comforting for him and uuugggghhhhh I'm a sucker for it, it's my comfort soft thought/headcanon and I love it.

🍓 How did I get into fanfic. Soooo I was already known IRL for loving writing, mostly poetry at the time, and being a huuuuge star wars fan (I was usually the one people went to if they had a character or event question cause I KNEW MY STUFF). And a friend of mine came up to me one day at summer camp and asked for some help with a star wars fanfic she was writing since i knew character and canon/EU stuff so well, and she explained WHAT fanfic was to me, and after talking for a while we wrote it together, though we kind of parted due to creative differences/complete opposite styles, but I'd created a fanficnet profile putting the original character names from the story together with plans to post the fanfic we were writing, and I decided to just keep it and start writing my own stories, and that's how I started writing fanfic--and also how I got the penname AngelDesaray, two OCs that didn't really see the light of day. Well, Desaray got revamped into Zelina for my Star Wars fanfiction baby I still work on slowly to this day, but that's besides the point, heh.

🎲What stops me from writing more in my free time? I usually get in my own way a lot. My attention span has been really shot since college, it's hard for me to focus on one thing for a long time--it's part of why I started having multiple things going on at once, it helps me to focus if I have a video running or music playing, and three or four word documents and a social media website I can easily jump away from again open, because then there's enough going on that I oddly enough can focus (I used to get teased all the time by my parents for having my laptop open on my lap, texting someone on my phone, playing a NintendoDS Game, and watching a show all at once). Another issue is that I think I haven't 100% bounced back from my college burnout, but I really really miss my writing and stories, which puts me in this weird catch 22 where I'm just mentally tired and don't want to do anything, but i've been daydreaming of my story for literal hours and really want to get something on paper. Also sometimes I'm cursed with wanting to write plot heavy stuff but I'm in the middle of relationship building, or wanting to write action but I'm doing dialogue heavy chapters, or wanting to write relationship steamy stuff but there's a lot of plot stuff going on--etc etc. Its usually me and my attention span getting in the way, pretty much. Doesn't mean i don't want to really really bad or that I'm not thinking about it 24/7, cause I usually am, it's just hard for me to FOCUS these days once I have the white sheet in front of me.

Ask Game Here

[veilder]

please excuse my word vomit but I shortened the hell out of my caption to avoid being annoying and your tags on my art sent me into a frenzy haha

so my favorite pre relationship dynamic for convin (and in my current fic) they start out as enemies with benefits who accidentally develop feelings but are in denial and know the smart thing to do is to stop and so every time they hook up is the last time (until the next time). and you’re right I drew gavin with the pained expression bc he’s the first one to realize his feelings are feelings but he doesn’t think he deserves connor and he thinks connor wants this to stay physical and that hurts but 1. he thinks he deserves the hurt and 2. he’ll take what he can get for as long as he can get it (hahaha ow). I’m allergic to happy endings in my own writing but I wholly support your happily ever after 😄

also no pressure at all just floating the idea but I’d be so down if you ever wanted to do a collab :] anyways yeah I’m happy you liked my pic and your comments always bring me joy, keep on being wonderful

Omggggggg, what a great ask to get!!! Thank you so much for sending this! 🤩🤩🤩 So, one, your idea behind your art is wonderful and fits them both perfectly. Two idiots getting in over their heads and catching feelings? Yep, that's them, lol. Although, I'm already imagining a happy ending for the two of them, even in that scenario, so whoops! XD I know for me, when I saw your art I was thinking that they were set to be separated. Specific scenarios were still up in the air (i.e. investigation gone awry, some sort of terminal condition, human!AU college fling, historical!AU, etc), but there would be some sort of circumstance that would drive the two of them apart. And this would be the scene of them making the most of their last days together, with Connor throwing his whole self into it while Gavin, in an effort to make the inevitable separation hurt less, begins to withdraw, even though it hurts him. And it would lead to a really messy breakup where they both say hurtful things and are just left with so many regrets. But then... there would be some sort of timeskip and they would meet again, both very changed now but never forgetting the impact the other had on their life. And again, something would force them together, whether it's work or some sort of mystery or even just running into each other over and over again. And they would both realize that the other hasn't really changed as much as they initially thought. That he's still the man they fell in love with. And that those feelings are far from dead. And eventually, things would rekindle in a burst of passion and long-held feelings and it would be terrible and beautiful and cathartic and so, so painful all at once. They'd wake to a morning of regrets and, in their fear, again try to sever ties. But they'd be miserable about it and all the life would drain from their days. That burst of brightness they'd slowly brought back to each other has once again vanished and they're both left in the dark. And then, idk, the plot would pull them together one final time and they'd get to have their moments of peril and heroics and emotional confessions. And finally, finally they'd confess their feelings for each other. The feelings they've had for so, so long. And they'd both realize what absolute dipshits they've both been, that they've both felt the same way for years and were just too emotionally constipated to do anything about it. And then I'd probably undercut it with some sort of big BLAMO moment where one of them gets taken out by the bad guy (I've decided that there's a bad guy now XD) and they'd be dying in the other's arms. And you'd think that that's it! That, after so much build up and them finally getting on the same page with each other, that they won't get their happily ever after after all. But then idk, there'd be some clever deus ex machina I seeded into the story early on that comes through for them and they both live and the bad guy goes to jail and everything is GOOD! And then sappy epilogue. XD ...Ugh, see? Look what you're making me consider here with your beautiful art?! I'm plotting. Multi-chapter plotting! UGH! 😫😫😫 No, but seriously, I adore that art and felt so damn inspired when I saw it? I wish I'd had more energy to do something with that, but alas! I was just getting off work and it was very late. 😓😓😓 BUT THEN YOU SENT THIS AND MENTIONED A COLLAB AND NOW IT'S ALSO VERY LATE HERE BUT I'M JUST 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 BECAUSE DAMN SON, I WOULD LOVE TO COLLAB?! Like, I legit cannot make any promises, I've had the worst case of writer's block ever now for a couple years and counting. But even if it's just, idk, discussing ideas or chatting about these idiots or something, I'd so be down for it! Definitely feel free to hmu whenever!!! I'd love to chat!!! :D

[luckycheesefoodie321]

Today I was washing my hands in the bathroom of the movie theatre and a lady next to me randomly goes ��AH (mumble mumble) your bag!”

We’d accidentally locked eyes when getting soap from the dispenser so I thought she’d accidentally squidged some soap on my bag so I looked up in semi-alarm and confusion but also fully prepared to say “oh that’s ok”.

But then she was like “oh no I was just looking at your bag. I needed a bag” and again I was about to respond (as you would when someone says something) and really I was just gonna say “oh cool” but then she cut in once more.

“Yeah no I was thinking I needed a nice bag. I should go to Mimco” bc I have a mimco bag gifted from my mum and I nod and prepare to sell how nice the bag is and maybe even touch on the fact it was a gift.

“Oh yeah they’re nice” is what I was halfway through saying before she spoke over me again (all while I’m like half smiling bc this is completely random but I at least have enough social skills to entertain an abrupt convo with a rando in the bathroom)

“Yeah no I was thinking (mumble mumble) yeah they look quite nice and they got the (mumble mumble” because genuinely she was speaking so fast I didn’t absorb most of what she was saying.

“Yeah the straps are-” again this lady just keeps going, plowing right through any response I might have.

“Yeah theyre really good and I needed a bag and I saw that and (mumble mumble mumble)”

“Oh well. Fair enough then” at this point I’ve given up so I make a point of turning away to pretend to shake off the water from my hands and pretend to look for a dryer bc my polite smile has turned into something of an awkward grimace.

“Yeah ok! (Mumble mumble maybe something like a farewell here)”

“Kay” fully pivot and look away while wiping my hands on my shirt and exit the bathroom at speed just in case she continues the one-sided conversation while I’m drying my hands.

I’ve never had such a totally one-sided conversation with a stranger before where I can’t even attempt a noise of agreement to participate XD like amongst friends and family, sure. Sometimes the words are just vomiting out so nothing can be done. But most convos with strangers, they recognise the turn-based system for the most part and usually look for some sign you’re listening lol.

This lady basically turned me into a sounding board to bounce her own thoughts off of.

[inkwell-intrigues]

I think you had already said it but I got lost. Why did you rewrite the whole story for Chalice? He became like your favorite character and that's why the change of prominence? Will it stop being a story focused on brothers? I say because from writer to writer it is really difficult to keep several protagonists at the same time with the same importance, but if there are 3, one ends up overshadowing the rest no matter how hard you try, there are cases where there may be a little exception but for very little. My real question is... Was it a completely necessary change to rewrite everything? Maybe add parts of the importance of Chalice later or intertwine them with a detail that you wrote in previous chapters...

I am sorry for any inconvenience of grammatical type or coherence and cohesion. English is not my main language, much less one that I master.

No worries! So- I'm not rewriting the whole story for specifically Chalice, while she is a protagonist, she will get less "screen time" than the brothers, who are and will remain the main focus.

My reason for a rewrite is simply that I feel that the current version of TSTS is not 100% the story I meant to tell.

I got a little lost along the way, going, I believe, far too in depth into the backstory of Ginette (Don't worry- Gin isn't going away, but I focused on her too much, I think), the plot's pacing began to slow down after chapter 13 and onward, and I just lost track of the story I wanted to tell.

As for Chalice: For me, TSTS is about a family that has been torn apart and how families can survive terrible things, and grow to include more people! Chalice is a vital part of that family, and in the current draft I kind of overlooked Chalice. Now, I don't technically need to have her play a bigger role, but I want to. I want Chalice to play a bigger part because I believe she has an important story to tell - one that I strongly resonate with. (But here's a fun fact- she isn't actually my favorite character at all! That honor goes to Mugman! xD But, I advocate for Chalice because I believe so strongly in the story that I want her to tell.)

Additionally, Chalice has a HUGE role to play in the finale, but I didn't develop her well enough in the initial draft for her role in the finale to feel satisfying. (But you are right- 3 protagonists is EXHAUSTING, but I made a few changes that I think will balance it well!)

Now to clarify, I'm not going to rewrite everything. Chapters 7-12 are what I'm calling my "golden standard", so those and some others (Chp. 15, 20, etc.) will not undergo massive changes. What I want is to reshape TSTS's current writing into something that better matches the dream story that has haunted my brain for the past 5 years or so. Of course the dream has changed and been shaped by the DLC, by the Cuphead Show, and by you guys- all my wonderful readers! - but I still hold onto parts of that original story. Parts I almost lost in trying to finish a story while very burnt out. I want to be able to honor those nearly lost parts of the story.

Was it a completely necessary change to rewrite everything?

Depends on who you ask. And once again, I'm not rewriting everything!

But, was the rewrite necessary? For me it was.

This story means a lot to me and has a lot of roots in my own childhood and experiences. It's my baby in some ways, one that will have its 6 year anniversary this summer. I want it to be as perfect as I can get it, not just for me, but for all the people it represents and all of the readers that my words have somehow managed to touch.

Thank you for your question, and I hope my word vomit of an answer makes sense! Also, don't worry - your English is very easy for me to read!

Thank you so much for your support and I hope you have an amazing day!

- Ink

[ask-the-clergy-bc]

How would era 3 ghouls + special react to their s/o being pregnant?

I ended up adding a lot of the era III ghouls, hope you don't mind! XD

Tide is the fourth water Ghoul who was Omega's initial replacement before Aether, and Ivy came after Earth but before Mountain! Trying to get more of the cast in here!

I also wasn't sure if you wanted human or ghoul reader. But I never get an opportunity to write ghoul reader, so I chose for you! :'D

And tags for Pregnancy in the bottom!

Era 3 Ghouls + Special React to Their Ghoul S/O Being Pregnant

Special: Actually, he broke the news to you! IMMEDIATELY! He couldn't hold it in! It was more of a word vomit one day when you complained of feeling out of it. Special's omnipotent powers of just... whatever he is comes with the perks of not being as surprised. You know that but truthfully, you thought he was screwing with you. But cried when he excitedly bounced around. "I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT EITHER!!" You both have to spend some time processing it but DAMN! He was practically vibrating with excitement!!

Omega: He freezes, and it first you think it's because of panic. After all, you both weren't trying or planning... it just happened! You're almost afraid he was upset until he pulled you into the biggest bear hug. Omega nuzzles into your hair and you can feel him trying to hold back tears. Omega has been in the Ministry for so long he thought he would never get his own family. He won't admit he's nervous for the Ministry plotting to use your child (especially if they come out quintessence like him, the most highly sought after element.) But he's fiercely protective of you both!

Alpha: Like Omega, Alpha just stares at you at first. You can practically see the gears in his head turning. Once he finally processes what's happening he lets out the LOUDEST and LONGEST victory cry you've ever heard! You're immediately whisked into his arms as he spins you around, kissing all over your face! And, in true Fire ghoul tradition, Alpha takes you to the mess hall with all of the other ghouls. The fire leader lifts you over his head and shouts "MY MATE IS PREGNANT!!" much to your embarrassment and the cheering of the other ghouls.

Water: Normally your smug partner takes everything in stride... but you weren't expecting him to have such a bad reaction. Water panics. Panics because having kits on Earth is dangerous and he does NOT trust the humans in the ministry. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure? OH Babe, please tell me you're sure!" He's worried for a week and it stresses you out so much. Eventually he comes to accept it but he knows he has to earn your trust back. It's a bumpy road but Water isn't going to abandon you or make you feel worse!

Earth: Absolutely has no words. Instead he makes a series of garbled half sounds and energetic hand gestures. Which you thought was cute until he nearly passed out. When he wakes up he tells you he had the weirdest dream you said you were having a kit. Cue the noises starting again when you say it wasn't a dream. Earth just holds you and happy cries and you both have a back and forth of WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME and I AM TELLING YOU NOW! You both laugh and hold each other over it.

Air: It scares you how much you can't read the old ghoul. He is as still as a statue and only stares at you before looking at your stomach. You normally aren't afraid of your mate but... he can be terrifying. You think Air is going to be angry, kick you out, be mean... but he sighs. Still not what you want to hear, and it makes your ears droop and eyes tear up. Air leans down to wipe a tear away. "No, don't. I am quite pleased. I just was not expecting this here." Air pulls you closer, as tenderly as a grump like him can. "Our kit is going to be healthy and wonderful. I promise you." It's not until later that you realize he wasn't upset with you... but he was mentally contemplating how to threaten the humans to stay away from you and the baby!

Ifrit: Excitedly asks you if you're serious. REALLY? YOU'RE REALLY PREGNANT? HE'S GOING TO BE A DADDY??? Laughs hysterically and runs around for a few minutes before dragging you to go tell EVERY GHOUL YOU KNOW! Ifrit is so excited!! He does have moments where they excitement goes from smug assuredness he'll be an amazing parent to crippling doubt. With you there, though- it will be a wonderful transition for you both!

Mist: Your normally quiet and cheerful mate nearly explodes with emotion when you surprise her with the news. You both had been trying for ages to find suitable ghouls to help get you pregnant! The one you chose was respectful and more than happy to help. Plus they were the same tribe as Mist! After a couple of months of trying IT FINALLY TOOK! Mist holds you and silently weeps, thanking Lucifer for His blessing.

ChAir/Stratus: Thinks you are fucking with him at first. Do you know how HARD it is for ghouls to get pregnant on Earth??? He accidentally hurts your feelings by waving you away. "Very funny, you need to think of a better prank." Kicks himself immediately when you start crying. Oh shit, you're SERIOUS!!! He goes back and forth between trying to comfort you and trying to figure out how you're going to have a kit on Earth! It's a rocky start but he starts taking care of you and ASSURING you he loves you and the kit very much.

Tide: He admits he's only not surprised because he had a feeling. His Aether side nagged him for weeks when he felt your Aura change. But he's sure as Hell still excited that you are both having a kit!! Tide kisses all over you and nuzzles into you, excitedly chatting about the nest you are going to make. You can tell he's so relieved to finally be able to talk about it and start planning! Tide already has so many ideas for names and what element your kit is going to be!

Ivy: Your normally stoic drummer blinks before asking if you're serious. He smiles so big when you say yes! Ivy is ecstatic!! It's probably the most you've ever seen him get this hyped since you got together or when he was able to tour! He pulls you into his lap and kisses you. He wants to start planning right away! Ivy asks if you have told anyone else and melts when you say no, you've waited to tell him first! You both plan to tell the rest of the pack after you spend some time cuddling.

[noffy96]

Errink fic

Did I write another fic? YES

for so long this one was just a 1 sentence prompt in a document, but i couldn't let it escape me.

So here we are. I finally wrote an Error/ Ink fic! So happy to finally do that

read the full story below or go to

Warnings:

I rated it M to be safe, cause it involves ink. Puking ink into the error's mouth. so...yeah don't read if you are squeamish, but it shouldn't be too bad.

How Excitement ruins everything

Word count: 8282 ( i didn't notice that. that's funny XD)

Summary:

They had been so worried about Error crashing. That the thought that this would happen never crossed his mind. Or maybe it did, how would he know… But it had happened. Another sob wrenched itself from his throat, the brush dropping to the snow as he dug his hands into his closed eyesockets.

He was such an idiot, Error had deserved a far better first kiss. Their relationship had been fine without it, and now look at where they were. Error was gonna tear him a new one when he was found. He had been told repeatedly to be careful and not get his ink all over the other's clothes.

Or

I remembered that Ink pukes ink when overwhelmed with emotions. So what would happen if he pukes ink while having his first kiss with Error because it makes him feel too much. This. This is what happens

AO3 right -> HERE

Or continue reading, right below:

He landed once again and made another portal and jumped through it. He had jumped through what 10 maybe 15 portals. He didn’t keep count, he just wanted to get away, he didn’t wanna look Error in the eye after screwing up like that.

Of course, he had to screw it up. When did he ever do something right? And even now while having been so careful. He had to forget and throw away all that progress the two of them had made. Slowly he came to a stop, he was on the edge of a snow-covered cliff overlooking a chasm. It was so very quiet, no one was around for miles.

He closed the portal, it wouldn’t matter much, Error would find him eventually. He always did and it’s not like he could avoid him forever. He collapsed onto his hands and knees. Tears were running from his face. As the tears hit the snow, it slowly turned blue. Then one drop fell from his chin and made a spot of black appear. Just the one, but it stood out. He let out a hollow laugh and squeezed his eyes shut.

Emotions were running wild inside of him, not sure which one to settle on. Disappointment, embarrassment, fear, sadness, and guilt. It made him taste so many different colours, it was making him sick.

And before he knew it he was retching out another large puddle of ink from the depths of his stomach. It all fell away, the tears stopped, and only some drops from the ink on his chin kept falling into the puddle below. All his emotions had become distant whispers, leaving him nearly empty. He started at the black puddle beneath him for a second longer before sitting up straight, and quickly petted at his stash and grab some paints.

Going for all the colours he just vomited out…because he did it twice, was nearly all of them. Drinking his blues, purples and greens in quick succession. But when his hand rested over the yellow and orange. He stopped…he hadn’t forgotten how he ended up here…and he really didn’t wanna feel forced happiness right now.

The tears that had stopped were back, making more of a mess of the white snow. As he sat back, his bare hands and feet dug into the snow. Just staring up, looking at the ceiling of the underground, that stretched higher than he ever remembered seeing.

He tore his gaze away before he got distracted, and tucked at his scarf. He had to write down what happened, such a fuck up should be noted. He got one of his smaller brushes from his stash and whipped some ink from his face with his gloved hand.

His eyes scanned over the expanse of his scarf looking for a free space. Not really reading most of them, until he saw one note with Error’s name.

Error wants to kiss you, he sets the pace because of haphephobia and will start our first kiss!!!!

Next to them was a tally with ‘failed attempts’. Ten small lines crossed beneath it. A brief sad smile came over his face as flashes of memories came to him. One of Error crashing before he even got close. Another of Errors determined yet shy face. Flushed blue. Another one of them leaning closer only to be interrupted when Fresh suddenly poofed in.

Error had been trying so hard to overcome his fear of touch. And he was so proud of him, they had come so far. If you told him, that one day he would be leaning against the destroyer happily working on his next artwork when said destroyer was working on his dolls. He would have laughed at your face.

But it was real, a good type of real. Error made him feel all kinds of emotions, emotions that mixed so wonderfully that it was like tasting a shade of colour he had never come across. It made him want to experiment with his colours so he could try and feel more. And then return those feelings. But most of the time when he tried mixing them it left him overwhelmed and vomiting out ink again, and maybe he should have thought about that.

After trying to wipe his face once more, he wrote beneath the entry

First kiss failed, you puked ink all over him.

His hands shook. Why..? Why couldn’t he just be normal? They had been so worried about Error crashing. That the thought that this would happen never crossed his mind. Or maybe it did, how would he know… But it had happened. Another sob wrenched itself from his throat, the brush dropping to the snow as he dug his hands into his closed eyesockets.

He was such an idiot, Error had deserved a far better first kiss. Their relationship had been fine without it, and now look at where they were. Error was gonna tear him a new one when he was found. He had been told repeatedly to be carefull and not get his ink all over the other's clothes.

But how could he have known this would happen, it had never happened before. A kiss never had made him feel so much. Surprise? Sure. Happy? Yeah. Excited? Most definitely But this…this had been so much more.

Maybe because he hadn’t seen it coming. Maybe if he had he might have drunk a little less paint. But would it have felt the same? Or would he not have been able to reciprocate the full extent of what the other did to him?

Not that he had been able to now. It had been barely a second after their teeth touched before he puked all over them.

His hand went down to his mouth. He could still feel it, the slight tingle of one of Error's glitches. The hand against his cheek, guided him to look up. The fond look he had gotten from Error just before they had closed their eyes.

It was like he had been filled with all his warmer colours, when you mix them all together to get the most beautiful of sunrises. Chasing away the cold blues and purples that had been there all along. And when their teeth actually touched. It felt like buckets of that mixture had been poured into him. That along with pride, for coming this far. Relief for getting there. Excitement that he was allowed this close at all.

But then he could feel it all mixing and turning until it had become a black mess., He felt it coming, and fear settled in, acting as an accelerant. Within the next split second ink had boiled up from his throat and started coming out of his mouth.

By the time he had managed to pull himself away, the ink had been dripping from both their mouths onto their scarves and shirts. Error's eyes were filled with error signs and were completely glitched out, on the verge of a crash. Fear consumed him, and he fled.

He ran, he didn’t want to be yelled at. Or want to see the disgust on the other's face. Not wanting to see the slowing realisation, that he had not been worth all this.

It was hard enough, their relationship. With his awful memory and inability to feel. Add Error’s haphephobia, temper, and their fights over creation and destruction. It was a surprise they worked at all.

Yet they did, Error somehow loved him, despite the fact that he couldn’t return those feelings in full. But he did feel so much for Error. Love…he was thinking that more and more these days, A emotion that he was sure was the most impossible to feel out of all of them. Yet it came up in his mind more and more. Cause what other feeling could that warm yet terrifying feeling be? And Error might be the first person he felt so strongly about. And it terrified him, 'cause if it wasn't that. That would mean breaking Error’s heart…and he was so scared to lose him.

Because Error was despite everything a great boyfriend. He could be a downright asshole sometimes and yell at him a lot. But most of it was deserved. Dream didn’t seem to like it, but it helped that someone reeled him in and just point out he was being a dick. Yet also didn’t force him to change.

But Error also helped him with the confusing emotions, not caring when he was high up on one colour, And never demanding for him to find a balance that was ‘normal’. In fact seemed to enjoy it, when he let himself go for him.

His hands were brushing over the blue vial again carefully taking another sip, as from the dept of his mind a memory serves from a little while after they first started dating.

They had been sitting on handmade swings from Error’s strings. And Error pushed himself into a slight swing.

“I still don’t see how you can say they are all fake Squid”

“Error…it’s…” He sighed “They just are okay?… I could drink any of these, and suddenly i would not be enjoying this date anymore!”

“But you ain't doing that?”

“But I could!”

“So?”

“What do you mean? So?”

“Some people take drugs to make themselves feel different right? Or drink? Or take medication so they feel more in control, how is that different?”

“Cause they don’t change their entire personality?!”

“Your paints don’t do that? So you are a bit more cheerful, or more sad, but you are still You, You are still an annoying inkblot, that will somehow make a mess out of everything. Sometimes you forget to take them, sometimes you take too much, it’s still you,”

He didn’t remember what face he made, but Error came to a stop.

“Look here, no look me in the eye. I know with what kind of abomination I fell in love with Capiché?! God knows I asked myself why! And I am FULLY aware that someday you might forget your paints, go completely blank and forget whatever made you so obsessed with me. Yet you are here. And not because those paints made you. Cause YOU choose to Ink! “

He must have looked doubtful cause Error continued on

“Look... You got the full set now right? A nice concoction of all your colours.”

He had given a nod.

“You could at this moment, pick and choose just a single one of them, yet you don’t, you let them mix inside you, and form who you are, You might ‘pick’ “ He made big quotation marks with his fingers. “Your emotions more than we do, but that's just you being you, and I fucking like that okay. And I trust, that this is the truth of your wants”

He stayed quiet

“You are quite the fool”

Error just shrugged

“Sure, yet you don’t leave me, so I say we both are”

He was smiling despite not having taken any of his warm colours. But yellow was in green, and red in purple. So that might be how…who knows, you think he did after all this time. But if he had written down all the times the paints acted differently than he thought they would, his scarf would be 10 times its size.

A crunch of snow sounded behind him. He had been found.

He held his breath and didn’t look up when the other's shadow fell over him. “Fucking hell, you stupid Squid, did you have to run off….”

Error’s voice trailed off, as he kept his gaze on the ground below. The other let out a deep sigh “Right….” And then a thud sounded next to him, and from the corner of his eye, he saw one of Error's legs laid out on the snow next to him.

He turned his head more to stare at said leg Seemed the other had sat down, one leg crossed under him, the other sprawled out, He didn’t dare look up. Still kinda waiting to be smacked over the head at the very least.

The silence stretched on, and the longer it continued, the more confused he became.

“W-what are you…doing?”

He hear some rustling of clothes so he assumed the other shrugged.

“The same as you do after I crash, I think, waiting for the worst to pass, until you're willing to talk”

“W-what if I don’t want to”

“Tough luck Inkblot, if you won’t let me escape after a crash, you ain't escaping after nearly overdosing yourself on blue paints, seriously Squid, it looks like you smashed several blueberries on your face”

“I might have” He countered weakly, and Error snorted.

“Any other day, I’d believe you, you’re stupid enough”

He gave a weak glare at the other's knees.

“Now come on Squid, spill”

“Spill…what do you mean spill…” He was confused., Was the other not mad? He had ruined their first kiss. Why was the other not yelling at him, telling him how disgusting he had been?

“You are obviously upset, so tell me so I can help you”

He felt his fingers clench as a short flame of anger seemed to flare up from somewhere deep inside him. “Like you don’t know…” he muttered

“You think I'd be asking if I did, idiot”

“STOP!” He finally looked up, more tears falling, but his anger was snuffed out the second his gaze landed on Error's face.

The bottom of his face was still covered in black ink. It covered the bottom of the blue streaks that came out of Error's eyes, making them nearly impossible to see. He could still see black between the other's teeth as well. Good god, he felt awful, he wanted to reach out and help remove it, just as much as he wanted to curl away and hide.

Errors brow furrowed. “Fuck, did I screw it up that badly?”

He grew even more confused “What?”

Error's gaze left him to glare at the ground instead and he murmured, almost too low to understand.

“Didn't think I'd be that bad at kissing”

He scrabbled up, as a whole different emotion filled his system

“What no! NO not at all! How dare you say that! That kiss was amazing, better than anything I’ve ever experienced. It made me feel so much!“

He grabbed the other's jacket sleeve, careful not to touch him. Not sure how glitched out his boyfriend was after the near crash he caused.

“I’ve felt so many colours, all at once like never before! It was so overwhelming like…like a shower of ink of all my favourite feelings just rained down on top of me. It really, really wasn’t bad. Believe me!”

He was panting at the end of his little declaration, tears still falling from his face with how much blue he had drank, as his body trembled with fear, fear that he had caused the other to doubt himself, that he might have scared Error away from ever trying something like that again.

Error in response simply raised a browbone.

“Yet you still ran…”

He gave Error a helpless look. “Of course I did…after screwing up like that”

Errors eyes narrowed further until something of an understanding came over him “Wait…are you talking about the whole ink thing? Dude…that’s what got you like this?”

He warped his arms around himself, hoping to stiffel down all the emotions he drank. Trying to get some kind of comfort that he knew the other wouldn’t be able to give at this moment.

“Of course it is…”

“Ink…”

He curled more into himself, swallowing thickly.

“Go ahead…it’s fine..” he mumbled

“Wha…Ink? What are you talking about now!?”

He shrugged, not looking back up. “Yell at me…call me disgusting…I dunno…smack me for forgetting not to get your clothes dirty. … break up with me” On the last part he felt his voice crack.

He didn’t think that would hurt, but it did…and it felt somewhere deeper than where his paints normally reached, Just like that one emotion that was so terrifying, And it was of course in the moment of his biggest screw-up he realised he might have truly and deeply fallen in love with Error. Might…have…it could still not be real..but would it hurt like this if it wasn’t? But he continued on with his speech before he lost what he was trying to say. Tabeling that terrifying thought for now.

“It’s what I deserve for that disgusting display”

The wind blew past them, making an almost whistling sound. It sounded eerie and foreboding. His body was trembling, waiting for the other's judgement.

But no yell came, no hit, nothing….until he felt something on his hands. The warmth was something he recognised immediately and he opened his eyes, to see Error’s multicoloured hands holding his own trembling hands together. Glitches were passing over them almost gently and he could feel the tingle of them.

The action filled him with a confused warmth. He looked back up to see Error staring at their hands as well, opening and closing his mouth, like he was trying to say something. But sometimes shook his head, like the words weren’t good enough.

They sat like that in silence for a bit, the pleasant tingle slowly becoming more of a painful itch as the glitches grew more intense. But he wouldn’t let go before Error did…not knowing if this could be the last time for something like this. But eventually, his confused curiosity won out.

“Error..?”

Error's eyes looked up And for a moment he seemed helpless and sad, but it seemed to pass the longer he was stared at. His hands were squeezed drawing his attention back to them. Wanting to squeeze back, not sure if he should

“I didn’t find it disgusting…” Error stated. He looked back up, Error eyes held a determined gaze, like daring him to be contradicting.

“It wasn’t…pleasant or…expected. But not disgusting. So stop saying that you are…Okay?”

This time it was his turn to raise a brow at Error. “I threw up ink…IN your mouth…You…you really want me to believe…That didn’t bother you…That it isn’t horribly -”

“Yes, you idiot!” Error huffed impatiently.

“If you can deal with me glitching out, and not hugging me and touching me when I ask for it. Despite your love for physical affection. Having dealt with that for years. Then I can suck up my fucking pride and not yell at you for getting us covered in ink. Because you couldn’t help it, It really isn’t as bad as you seem to think it is”

He felt a slight flush on his face, “That’s not…that’s not the same”

“Fucking bullshit Ink. Honestly, I don’t see why you are so upset about it…” He flinched trying to pull back, feeling a bit hurt, but that might be the blue paint.

Error sighed “Wait..fuck..no, poor choice of wording. What I mean is…like...I don’t get it. Like Really Ink, It’s not the first time, we’ve dealt with you being too excited to hold in all your emotions”

“But it normally doesn’t kill the mood this bad…or make you suffer it with me, and just Rruin the whole thing we have been trying to plan for mon-”

Error lifted their hands cutting off his little spiel. “Did it really ruin anything? It didn’t for me… not until after you ran off, And from what you said, until right the moment before you couldn’t keep it in, you were enjoying yourself as well.”

“But..it happened so fast, and no one wants to have ink sp-”

A kiss was planted against his knuckles, more glitches sprang forth from the connection. Almost hiding the other's face from view for a few seconds. But the kiss was warm, making it feel like his hands were on fire. If he had had even slightly more yellow, red, or god forbid pink in his system. The colours it would have brought up would have made him puke again.

But now it only gave him a gentle warmth that spread throughout his chest, making him feel confused fondness along with the sadness and fear of losing his relationship with Error.

“Squid…it’s just ink…It really isn’t as bad. Not the nicest taste in the world, but I won’t die from it…immortal remember.” Error gave a slight quirk of a smile, mouth still close to their hands but not touching it anymore.

He realised the burning feeling in his hands…might actually be how bad Error’s glitches were affecting his body. If he was burning, Error must be in a lot of pain as well…yet his hands were still held onto. Not being dropped for a second, it kept a warmth burning in his chest that didn’t seem able to be put out.

“Besides…it’s flattering in a way…if what you said was true” In the other's eyes was a teasing glint…almost prideful in a way. Like he was boasting about something, holding something shiny that only he could have far above anyone's head

He cocked his head to the side confused. “Flattering?...how…how is it flattering?”

Errors smile turned bemused, dropping their hands back down, but one hand let go to reach for the end of his own scarf.

“Answer me this…cause I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure I ain't. When do you normally expel your paints? “

He blinked a couple of times rapidly, becoming even more confused.

“What does-?” “Humor me Squid, it will make sense.”

He narrowed his eyes “It…it normally only happens when...I feel too much of one emotion, or if I have too many and it mixes weirdly…”

“Mnn. mmm. So I was correct”

That didn’t answer anything!

“Error I really don’t get what you’re trying to say here…correct about what?!”

Error’s smile fell, half concerned. “You really don’t see it?” The other hand wrapped it itself into the scarf.

He looked around helplessly once again, “No, I… I really don’t see how any of this was flattering?”

“Let me phrase it differently then…Did you mean it when you said, this never happened with anyone else you kissed”

“Yes, and I am so sorr-”

“A kiss” The other broke him off, staring straight into his eyes “NEVER made feelings rise in you so much, you had to expel them?” At that, his face flushed, and he could see what the other was trying to say. The conclusion the other had gotten, and the underlying truth of it.

He was pretty sure he was blushing quite badly, and with the rising grin on his face, Error seemed to know he had finally understood as well. He shook his head, he couldn’t believe it..he didn’t dare believe it. As Error leaned a tiny bit forward. His eyes never left his.

“I did that…” He had said it, without any room for argument left, full of a boastful pride “You felt so much, one way or the other, that it exploded out of you, that you couldn’t control it. To me, that seems like a pretty big compliment, Especially now after you insisted that my kiss didn’t suck “

He felt his magic turning inside of him, if he had a soul, this would be the moment he suspected it would hammer at his chest. Out of embarrassment or because of….love. Maybe a terrifying mixture of both, For now, it left him anxiously still and flushed.

Errors hand came up to hold his chin, scarf in-between as a sort of barrier, it didn’t do much, but his bones weren’t burning right away, so better than nothing. The hold, kept him gazing up at Error.

“I promise you Ink, I really don’t mind this at all, But if it really bothers you this much still, we can look into ways to prevent it, so it won't happen, I doubt we get there all at once, but I am willing to try if you are..okay. Your worth trying for Kiki.”

The little bit of his warm mixture of colours was really doing a workout after hearing that little nickname. Trying to warm him with all the love in the world. Feel all the emotions he wanted, but it was stuck at warm affection. With tears forming once more, at the unfairness of it, not able to fully feel that warmth.

“Thanks….Ruru.” He got another small smile, then the other slowly pulled away. But then stopped as he hesitated for a second.

“Ru-?!”

Error moved forward and quickly kissed his cheek. He felt his eyes widen, And when Error pulled away, his face was flushed a dark blue, not meeting his eyes anymore. His own free hand reached up and traced where Error’s teeth just were. Still feeling the lingering ghost of glitches, proofing that it hadn’t been his imagination.

He was blinking rapidly, feeling his eyes shift between colours and shapes. As far as he knew, Error hadn’t kissed his cheek before today either. Error had gone right in for the big guns, with their first kiss. But this random bit of small affection was using up all the warm colours that were still lingering in his system.

Like a muted version of that sunrise mixture from before. He quickly dropped his hand to his paint stash grabbing for his warm colours. But before he could raise one to his mouth, a hand tugged at this sleeve.

“You don’t have to…Don’t feel like you need to just because-” “Error” He cut him off this time And he felt himself smile at him.

“I want this…I get to decide my emotions, Trust me…this is what I want..”

The other huffed a laugh and let go.

“Just wanted to be clear…I don’t need you to force yourself to be happy if you're still sad about” He waved his arm around, indicating…well everything.

“I was..am? But I also know I feel happy about what you said, and now I wanna feel it to its fullest, so shut up and let me drink my paints”

And with that, he started taking sips from all the colours he neglected before until he got to a nice balance…When he was done, he held on to the pink one …the one that made him feel affection and love…as well as embarrassment and shame.

Debating for a second more, then took an extra swig from the vial, and put it away. When he looked back at Error he saw the other was blushing a nice shade of yellow this time around.

He couldn’t help the happy giggle that escaped him. “Idiot…” The other mumbled into his scarf.

He felt a way stronger wave of fondness come over him and squeezed the hand he was still holding. The glitches seemed to have died down a little, or his hand was burned enough not to notice anymore…one of the two

He looked around trying to find the paintbrush he dropped earlier. Until it appeared in front of his eyes, making him nearly go cross-eyed. He plucked it from Error's fingers with a huff. “Thanks, Ruru~”

The other rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment. He unwound his own scarf, looking for a good place to write all this down. Trying to word it in a way that would make sense for him if he ever forgot. But something inside him hoped this was one of the few memories he could retain. He might…it involved Error after all.

When he was done and looking back up, he saw that Error had removed his scarf as well, looking at the ink stain with a slight frown. Guilt stabbed him once again, Error might find the whole process may be flattering, didn’t mean there weren’t some casualties.

He held out his hand, “I could fix that for you,” Error met his eyes, ‘I know, it’s fine…just wondering about something”

“What is it?”

“How come yours isn’t stained, you got ink dripping down your chin as well”

He let out a startled laugh, leave it to Error to notice that of all things, And now of all times.

“Sci helped me make a special tonic for it that repels it, is easier than cleaning it with broomie every time”

“And you only use it on your scarf, and not your whole outfit because?”

He shrugged “Cause it’s a pain to make, and my scarf is the only piece that is important to not get completely ruined, and besides, if I used broomie I might accidentally remove some notes”

He paused for a moment as he got an idea and continued with a slight blush “I got some spare bottles, for when the magic wears off…I could treat yours with it if you want to?”

Errors eyes widened. “You would do that…”

He gave a nod, feeling his face warm even more “Yeah well..if…if what happened today…happens again... It might be a good idea?”

“I’ll….think about it” he gave a nod. He was about to suggest they get out of this snowy cliff and maybe back to the Antivoid or Doodle Sphere when Error moved closer.

“Hold still for a moment, will you?”

“Oh…sure?” He went to sit back and keep as still as he could.

A new light flush was forming on Error’s face, as he shuffled forward. His flush was a dark blue again. It was almost glimmering, glittering, like. Well, glitter. His blush was something so uniquely Error’s. Most monsters blush in the colour of their magic, but not Error’s. No, it switched between yellow and blue. Sometimes a dark blue, that got darker and darker looking like a beautiful night sky, with yellow sparkles in them. Other times the blush was a yellow glow, and only seemed to grow brighter and brighter, with blue-ish freckles shaped like stars.

In all his musings on the other's blush he didn’t notice how close the other had gotten until he felt something against his face. Slowly rubbing back and forth, first gently. Then with a bit more force.

It took him a couple more seconds to realise the other was whipping his face clean off all the ink stains that his tears and throwing up had caused with his scarf. And now his own face was covered in its own blush.

Flustered eyes met Error’s, who was trying to do the whole ‘Totally not affected by this at all’ stick, he let him have it if it meant Error stayed close and showered him with soft attention.

“You..you don’t have to...” he half whispered “It’s fine if it needs to be cleaned anyway, the least I can do is make you look decent after making you cry like that” He felt blue and pink fighting to make their way to the surface. He let the feeling pass over him as he mumbled “Wasn’t you…” “I….I know..but..still..” The other had a slight frown.

Error…must have been pushing down a lot of his own feelings to help him here. No matter his tough, nothing can bother me, front. It must have hurt, to open himself up like that and for him to run away. Looking back it was a real asshole move, even if he hadn’t intended it that way. An apology right now would be brushed off…he’ll think of something to thank him at a later date..

At first, he thought he was imagining it, but no. Error was definitely looking at his mouth every so often. The thought that Error might want to kiss him again, even after everything…made the blush grow, slowly covering all of his face. When the last of the ink was wiped off, both their gazes seemed to shift between their eyes and mouth.

Never before had he felt so nervous…and gave an answer to the unasked question. “I…i will throw up again…most likely” His voice was now an actual whisper, afraid he might have broken the moment. He felt Errors tri coloured eyes stare right down into him, “I know…” “You might crash… you are glitching pretty hard..” “I am aware”

The scarf had dropped from the others hand and he was touching his cheek with the tips of his fingers. That barest hint of touch was sending several shivers down his spine. Both of them were flushed, so close, all it took was one push.

“Do you want…?” “Yes…”

Error voice was half a plead, even if he would deny it till the end of days. But the other wasn’t moving closer, he was hovering just above him like he couldn’t take that final step. And he realised the other was waiting on him, for a sign from him,. That another kiss would be welcomed. Not wanting to risk him running away again.

But he had no intention of running, even now knowing what was to come. Error really didn’t seem to mind…seemed to expect him to vomit ink again.Yet didn’t move away, stayed close even.. And himself…he was too desperate to feel those wonderful emotions again. Wanted to try and show Error what he did to him, and hopefully share them.

And with that, the next step came easy. With a sigh, he pushed up, eyes fluttering close, as he pressed his teeth against Error’s.

He heard Error’s short gasp just before they connected. And when it did he started feeling so much once more. Buckets of paint seemed to slam into him, and it was a lot. He was trembling with it. But he was determined to hold out more than 3 seconds this time. He felt the others glitches. Like drops of hot oil springing from a pan, burning and surprising. But he wouldn’t pull away, a little pain was worth the mounting warmth in his chest. Error's hand came to fully cup his face, pulling him closer, his own hand mirroring it, feeling the glitches beneath his hand spark. The rough bone he so rarely got to touch seemed to tremble as much as him. And the warmth of the blush was intense beneath his fingers.

His other hand finally let go of Error’s to clutch at his shoulder instead, It was difficult to stay upright, he felt overwhelmed with the rush of emotions surging through him. The teeth against his own opened a tiny bit and he felt the slight heat of a tongue against his closed mouth. It made a moan escape his teeth, he was pretty sure he had never done that before from a simple kiss.

Error answered it with a small little growl of his own. The ink was boiling inside of him, he tried to let Error know, gently pushing at his shoulder. But instead, Error pushed closer, and the sound around them got filled with buzz and static. And Error spoke against his teeth, with a voice deeper and more glitched out than he heard in a while.

“Don’t hold any of those feelings back, Ink. Show me how you feel…” Pressing closer, not letting go of his mouth. Staying close like he wanted to taste it again. He felt the pink colour expand and take over all other colours, more and more until all he felt was his deep, deep love for Error.

Then it ran over, and he felt the ink rise from his throat. Right against Error's mouth again, the wetness dripped between their mouths. Making a new mess of their faces.

He felt dazed, going a bit slack against the other. He wasn’t sure, but the other might be smiling against his teeth until finally pulling away. His face felt incredibly hot, part of him still wanted to run away and hide. But a larger part of him was completely overwhelmed by the way Error looked.

Error's face was still flushed darkly, new ink stains covering his chin, and his fingers had smeared the old ones on one side of his face... Errors eyes were filled with error signs, and he probably couldn’t see a thing. Yet he still felt the fingers gently stroking at his flushed face, and the other had a small content smile he wasn't sure he had ever seen before.

It was a look he really wanted to capture. Two of Error's five tongues darted out for a second, licking at the mess on his face. Then he saw the other's throat move. And he felt himself blush even harder

“ERROR! Did you just…did you just swallow my ink?!…. Please don’t do that?! That can't be good for you?! And you said it wasn’t pleasant!”

Despite the other still not being able to see, Error let out a cackle dropping the hands from his face “I can do whatever I so please squid.” Error turned his head to look at him seriously, but was turned a bit too far to the side, but he wouldn’t mention it.

“It isn't pleasant…but it’s you. And you are mine…so I do what I please with this unless it bothers you”

He felt his chest squeeze in affection and worry. “Just…don’t do it every time?”

The other nodded, “ I can live with that”

He slowly dropped his hands from Error's face so the other could reel himself in a bit more quickly. He was sad to let the warmth go. But he got so much more than he ever thought he would ever get to have with Error. So he could table his desires for now. There will be more times in the future when he could hold the other.

And maybe someday, far far away, they wouldn’t have to worry about it at all.

He gave Error's shoulder a final squeeze and stepped away. Looking around, he spotted broomie, who he must have dropped when he first entered here. He went over and picked him up as well as both their scarves. Used broomie too quickly, clean the ink stains of Error’s, and then sat down next to his lover. As he drank some more paint to replace what he just lost, but this time, deciding to stay in what felt like a healthy balance. Then he started to write down the last of his notes.

Apologize to Error for running away after first kiss! Do something, don’t just say sorry.

Second kiss went better. Still puked, But Error Truly doesn’t care if it does happen. Seems annoyed if I hold back the feelings (still wanna kiss him longer so LOOK INTO CONTROLLING IT at least a little)

…I think…I truly do love Error…

After a few quiet moments, the buzzing and static noise finally died down. He deemed it safe enough, and carefully went put Errors scarf back around him, careful to not accidentally brush against him. And when he finished the final loop, it seemed the last of the error’s signs had left the other's eyes. Who was giving him a look between fond and annoyed?

He stood up once again, “So shall we go then?”

Error sighed and with a groan and some popping sound stood as well. That near crash must have stiffed him up really bad. “Yeah, we should, probably have to work soon anyway”

“Probably yes….was one of the better breaks from it tho” He said opening a portal to the Antivoid without question, The better for Error to recover after two near-crashes.

“Even with the emotional episode? ” Error asked, half amused, half worried. Opening his own portal and stepped through it.

He jumped through his own, appearing behind Error. Who quickly spun around with an eye-roll at his antics. “Of course, got to kiss you twice…didn’t I? “

Both of them flushed, and then he couldn’t help his own giggles. “Thank you…Ruru…I mean it. Thank you…for being.. so nice about everything…and my little freakout... In the end…I really enjoyed myself”

The other hid his face in his scarf and mumbled something he couldn’t hear, before facing him fully. “Yeah, yeah, well don't get used to it…was a special occasion”

He let out another giggle, he didn’t believe that for a minute. “Of course glitchy, I understand.”

Error huffed “yeah well…just so you know…idiot squid” “I know , Glitchy” He just kept smiling at the other. And the other's eyes narrowed in a glare he turned to walk past him towards the small space in the Antivoid he called home. Error grasped his sleeve, and pulled him along.

“Yeah, yeah, Love you Kiki”

He felt hit with another wave of the biggest and scariest emotion of them all. It was so much bigger now that he had all his paints. Bigger than when he took more of the pink. Like now that things were in balance. The strength of it stood out. A hint of fear rose up in him. What he was about to do, might change everything. Destroy what they just patched up. But he couldn’t help it, the words wanted to be free.

No. They needed to be said, and for the other to be known. Cause Error let him know, in his own gruff way. He should know it was finally and truly returned. That this wasn’t a passing curiosity, that he wouldn’t let the other go…not anymore. It might not be the real thing…but it would probably be as close as he could ever get to it. And that is what he had wanted, more than he could ever have wanted.

“Love you too, Ruru” The words were barely a whisper, and his voice gained an awe to it. Feeling himself mean it to the fullest he ever had. He had been sure he had to say it again he had been so quiet. But Error suddenly froze in his stride.

The other turned around, eyes wide, Face covered in a yellow blush, matching his own rainbow one.. He felt himself smile shyly. It had felt so different to say it than at any other time in his long life, he hoped the other understood. But Error would understand, might understand better than anyone else how he functioned. He would know this would be the truest he ever could be, he was scared of saying it again now. Not sure he could put the same amount of feeling behind it again. Not wanting to cheapen it.

The next second he was pulled close, as an unexpected kiss was placed against his teeth. And while before it felt like being showered with buckets of paint. This..This felt like being thrown into an ocean of colours.

There was so much, and not just his own. He could feel Error sending his feelings to him with his magic. His fear, His relief, His frustration, His joy, His love, Everything., And he did the same, tried to at least Had no idea how or if it was even working because within the next second ink had spilled from his mouth once more. Dripping all over their faces

But Error didn’t move away this time. No, he dove in for another even hungrier kiss. And his whole face must be flushed in all the colours he had taken. Feeling the other's tongues against his teeth. And not just the one, but all of them pressing at the seam of his mouth. Without really thinking about it too much, he opened his mouth to them. The chemical taste of ink was still in his mouth, as was the burning and tingling sensations of glitches everywhere they touched.

It was the closest he ever felt to having a soul. It took him another few moments to realize he should properly make his own tongue form as well. And as soon as he did, it was struggling against the overwhelming force that was Error’s tongues and love. But before he could even figure out what that taste of the destroyer was. Another surge of ink came from him. Which Error swallowed down, licking it up with a little groan.

The overwhelming feeling was dying out, quickly and slowly turning more numb. He gave a weak push against Error's chest, the other made a soft sound of protest. And that send a pang of some feeling he couldn’t identify anymore…he pushed again. Not wanting to keep kissing without his paints…not for something like this.

Maybe..he’ll let Error do that in the future…maybe…he could trust him with that…. Error pulled away. Not far.. But as he did he felt most of his emotions, leaving with it. He started up at Error.

“Ah…ink?” He mumbled.

That was warm…hearing his name. It was a good feeling hearing the other say his name. He swayed a bit, wanting to listen to Error's soul…but remember something about permissions

“Can I hug you…?” He mumbled “Yeah..yeah if you want…”

He wrapped his arms around Error, placing his head on the other's chest like he wanted. The sound from inside was a fast drum, almost fluttering. “I meant it….” he said, tho the feeling was far away, almost out of reach, he knew that he did. He felt arms warp around him as well, keeping him close, not as tight as he would like…but he wouldn’t push. Doesn’t want the other to get hurt

“I know Kiki….Thank you”

He shook his head softly “Don’t thank me…just…keep loving me like that…and I do the same…to the best I can…I promise”

He felt the other's teeth twist into a wider smile on top of his skull. “I will Inky…I will” He was squeezed softly

“I am yours now” He promised softly. And Error let out a short laugh. “Tell me that when you're on all your paints as well…Because then…this…this relationship of ours…it would mean forever okay? You won’t be able to get rid of me” A soft nuzzle against the top of his head. “If you want forever of course, just …give me those words again…knowing you remember would be all the proof I need that you want it… And I know you will remember…you always remember the sappy shit”

Error's voice was soft, and something surged from deep inside him like this meant more than he could currently comprehend. “Forever sounds nice..” he answered with a smile.

It was a while later, when his body was filled with warmth again, As he kept drinking the concoction of paints in his hands, not sure how it got there. When he finished the last drop he realized a couple of things. One: He was still in the Antivoid. Two: He was lying on Error’s bean bag. And three: He was leaning against Error. He tried to think about how that happened. But the last thing he remembered was that overwhelming kiss, and being hugged afterwards as all his feelings dripped out of him.

He rarely let himself drain that completely and he felt his face flush. And a kiss was placed against the side of his head. And he turned to face Error who was looking smug. Like everything he ever wanted had landed on his lap.

And maybe in some way, it has… He gave the other a small smile “Hey…” “Hey…” “You ain't…glitching as much” “Had some time to recover”

He nodded “How long was I?” “Half a day or so..not long, I Promised I wouldn’t let you be blank for more than a day remember”

His hand went to his scarf, he could vaguely remember writing that down long ago. “Sort of….yeah..” The other smiled self-satisfied His mind tore over the memories of just before it all became fuzzy. The promise he made in his near-emotionless state felt so much bigger now. He had meant it, and a forever with Error sounded truly wonderful. The request on Error’s end…had almost been a proposal.

Forever…huh… He could get used to forevers like this. But he wanted to be sure, wouldn’t want to break Error's heart in the long run with a promise like that made carelessly.

“Ruru..?” The other hummed “Forever sounds nice…if a bit scary…I hope you won’t mind terribly waiting a bit longer”

Error's face flushed Like he hadn’t expected him to address it right out of the gate, but he didn’t want Error to doubt. He remembered, and in a few minutes, he would write all of this down.

He got a nod “As long as you need, we aren't in a rush.” “Thanks, Error” “No Ink…Thank you”

Yeah….They’ll work it out. For now, he snuggled back under Error’s arm and let himself bask in all the feelings that had returned to him. Later they’ll talk…about the kisses, and how to proceed. But for now. He could say he was feeling pretty well-loved, and he was able, to give some of it in return.

Turns out, he hadn’t ruined anything. No…he had gained something even more special.

Later he wrote two more notes on his scarf

If you ever tell Error you are his…he will stay with you forever.

The number of times I told Error I loved him. tally 1

[solarsavoy]

Sorry if this is a lot but 🏅👮😈👨‍👧‍👧✨

It's never too much! I'm happy to answer all the asks!!

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

I haven't been too happy with my fics lately tbh, however, I was really proud of finishing Karmagisa week back in July. I was really worried I wouldn't, considering my recent streak of updating irregularly. (Guess I'm just like every other fic write now. 😅 I just miss being able to keep up with posting regularly, because then I got regular comments which are like my lifeblood.) But yeah, so, Karmagisa week.

👩‍🏭 If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?

I still don't think any of my other fics will have anything on Students of Despair. However, if I do it right, Pandora's might be worse in that respect. The reason is the same for both: I'm going to be googling a lot of dead body stuff and possibly adding in methods of killing. Yeah, that's probably gonna get me arrested. 😅 So if I do, somebody please point out this post to the police so they can see that this was in fact the intended purpose and I wasn't googling that stuff because I wanted to do anything.

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

Strangely no? I did initially wonder if my readers would hate that I don't feel the need to make every ending happy, but I actually think that makes readers more interested, not less. (Looking at you, tuuli. XD)

There is one thing though. I love writing whatever ship the story may call for for the sake of the story. I won't change it just because some people don't like a certain ship. This makes me sad because I'm not intentionally trying to ever hurt someone for writing about a ship that I love and/or appreciate (because strangely not all ships I include are ships I personally ship, like NagiKae, but I do appreciate them) but as a writer, I feel it's my obligation to follow the story. I don't always know where my ideas come from, but it sometimes feels like if I'm not following the story, I'm disrespecting the thing that gave me the idea in the first place. Maybe that's weird, but I also attribute my inspiration to write at all to the same thing that gives me ideas. If I try to write a specific idea just because I want it, it's very hard to write without the backing of my muse. (It's hard to write at all lately, but that's a separate issue.) Anyway, that's less of speculation and more of a fact, but I do wonder if it hits more readers than I'm aware of. I know not every person is going to like every ship, but I still feel bad.

👨‍👧‍👧 Do you tell people in real life that you write fic? 

Oh, all the time.

In fact, there's a round of questions I ask literally every new person at one of my jobs. 1. How old do I look? (because they often guess I'm around 20-25 when they're actually a decade off and it makes me feel young XD) 2. You like books and reading or anime and manga? And then their answer to 2 will direct how the next part goes, which is either "I wrote a book and it's an isekai!" where I then blabber about my book for 30 minutes, or "oh, which anime? Have you seen Assassination Classroom? Great, cause I write fanfiction for that!" and then I proceed to blabber about that for 30 minutes. I do this because otherwise I never bring it up and there've been a couple people that were disappointed they didn't know I wrote/drew sooner, so I've just decided on this introduction of "yes, I draw, I write, I'm awesome, please check out my stuff" and then I proceed to never bring it up again because I haven't practiced my social interactions beyond that first one. (Did I mention I'm socially awkward despite being very chatty? Well, at least I got it out. I'm very bad at marketing otherwise.)

It always touches me when they ask how my art/stories are going later and it makes me not regret my word vomiting introduction as much, so I keep doing it. It helps because otherwise I feel way too into myself, introducing myself like that, like I'm a salesperson selling my stuff, which I am essentially doing. I know this, but no one will know about my stuff if I don't talk about it so, this is how I do.

✨ Choose three adjectives to complement your own writing.

Deep, intuitive (as in with the characters), and smooth (usually because of flow and/or how smoothly I tend to do AUs or mix ideas in crossovers).

Thank you for the ask! Love you Hailey!!

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Do you have anything written for To Live is to Die Twice that you are willing to share?

I just looked through my folder and found something. More than I expected, actually. XD (It's not edited at all though, so beware the mistakes)

Here you go

Mors drifted through the In Between, guided by the gentle prodding of a presence just beyond his understanding, until it suddenly stopped and sensations came rushing back all at once. The experience was so jarring he forgot he was supposed to breathe. His lungs felt like iron bands were clamped around them, burning hot and ice cold at the same time.

He could hear something. It was warbled, like someone trying to talk underwater and his ears were full of cotton. Something crashed into his chest and if he had had any breath left, he would have gasped. A spark ran through him. It was some kind of magic, but it was gone too quickly for him to say what kind of magic it had been. It could have been a lightning spell trying to fry him from the inside out for all he knew.

Suddenly he could breathe.

Greedily he sucked in gulps of air and blinked blearily against the golden half-light. Was this how souls arrived in the Ring of the Lucii? If so, it sucked balls.

An unbidden groan made its way past his lips. Somebody was talking again in hushed tones and gentle words, but his brain was too scrambled to make out what was being said. Fingers carded through his hair. This was embarrassing. Showing weakness like that in front of his ancestors and needing to be molly coddled like that.

Mors forced his eyes open – it took more effort than he thought it would – with the intention to make the person stop whatever they were doing and came up short as he stared up at a cracked ceiling. It must have been beautiful once, a distant part of his brain – the part that had always had an interest in architecture his own father had never truly allowed him to pursue, not that it had stopped him, of course – voiced as his eyes trailed the crumbling stucco and the bits of plastering that still held traces of colour.

This wasn't the Ring of the Lucii.

Where by Bahamut's bladed wings was he?

The fingers carded through his hair again and he flinched back. As it turned out, whipping his head around was a bad idea. Black spots crowded his vision and nausea made his stomach lurch rather unpleasantly. Mors was sure he would have vomited all over the scratchy bedsheets, if his stomach hadn't been empty already.

He forced himself to take a few deep breaths until he didn't feel like his whole world was spinning around him in a dizzying array of shadows and soft light anymore. The frame of the bed creaked ominously as he shifted his weight to gain a better look at the person, whose fingers should fucking stop already.

It was a young man who looked like he had barely hit twenty – if that – with an unruly mop of long, black hair that currently obscured half his face, and striking violet eyes. There were thin lines tattooed around his eyes and along the cheek and temple of the left side of his face. Mors suppressed a derisive snort. If Regis had dared to do something like this he would have beaten him black and blue for disrespecting his family line like that.

The stroking of his hair finally stopped as the young man seemed to get the hint that his touch wasn't welcome. Mors couldn't help the unbidden sense of loss-emptiness that washed through him and squashed it down mercilessly.

A soft sigh rushed past the young man's lips and they twisted into a slight smile as Mors's eyes focused on him.

“Finally with me again? You had all of us worried.”

With a furrowed brow Mors inched further away along the bed until his back hit the wall. Only now that he could feel the old stone at his back, did he realize how cold the air hitting his face was. He shivered in the warm cocoon of the blankets he was wrapped in, and scowled at his own reaction. He was a King of Lucis, and not some pampered noble that wouldn't know the sharp edge of a blade, even if it hit him in the face. But here he was, barely able to move, limbs heavy and without the strength to summon a weapon.

Then it registered what the young man had said. What did he mean 'again'? Wait, no. That wasn't as important as: “What do you mean 'us'? Who are you?”

He snapped the words out with all the air of a man who knew his questions would be answered – or else. His mouth clicked shut sharply as he heard the sound of his own voice. This wasn't how he was supposed to sound. He hadn't sounded like that since -

Before his mind could slip into the dark hole that was his death and what by Pitioss is wrong with me, there is something wrong, wrong, wrong, an amused huff made his attention snap back to the man sitting on a stool next to the rickety old bed.

“Such insolence. It must really run in the family.”

…What?

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

The man blinked like he had just realized something. He leaned slightly back and carded his hair out of his face – it was long enough to fall between his shoulder blades – and Mors's breath shuttered in his chest. That face. This unknown man looked so much like Regis, and by extension, him, it hurt.

Oh Gods, Regis. How was he doing? Had he grieved at all? Mors had always done his best to protect his family, even if he knew that Regis thought different. He had seen it in the growing distance his son kept, the polite, empty words they exchanged, the looks Regis and Clarus had exchanged when they thought themselves unwatched.