#( victor is the only one who knows she killed his father the day she found him and eli )

[clochanamarch]

aisling as a liar is still my favorite thing like she wants to be a good person but she lies every single day, and ur muses are entitled to call her out on that tbqh--

[yourlittlebunnyy]

snow - azriel x reader

main masterlist azriel masterlist

kallias version

summary: Lover, wife, mate. Until he loses you.

warnings: death, happy but not very happy ending;)

w/c: 3.5k

a/n: this fic is fully inspired by "snow" by maxence fermine.

enjoy!

That evening, over a glass of good wine given to him by his uncle Rhysand, and with his other half, your son said, “I don't even remember what she looked like in the face.” And he laughed chasing away the negativity of the situation.

It was true. He no longer remembered your face. But you remember - no, you observe - his from the day you left. He didn't have you beside him, but you were always there, revelling in his victories and grieving over his sorrows.

That night you visited him in his sleep. He did not recognize you.

“My son.” You greeted him. You were on a flowery meadow. He reciprocated, but showed no signs of affection. You were little more than a stranger to him.

You shared blood. You had carried him for ten months. You had nurtured and changed him for two years. But to him, you were nothing.

“My father never told me anything about you.” He said it as if to justify his distance.

But you understand it, you always understand.

You were as close to your child as you were to Azriel, your beloved. You understood and accepted and respected his grief. You understood and accepted and respected being gone from the world all of a sudden. Your memory kept alive only by your mate, quietly and intimately. And you were fine with that.

“Would you like to know?” You asked him at that point. Your arms quivered for contact. Your son nodded.

And so, your story began.

“I would never have seen the light if my love for him had not been there to enlighten me. And he would never have seen it if it were not for me.” The Fae snorted a laugh, interrupting you.

“That's impossible.”

“Why do you say that?” You questioned.

“I know my father. A female would never be able to reduce him like that. He is a warrior.” Hurt, you shifted your gaze to the lush field in front of you.

“Then you don't know your father as well as you think, honey. That's all right, it's a long story. It would have bored you anyway.”

“No.” He begged, surprising you and himself. “Please, tell.”

“Our story goes back centuries. We were about your age.” You took a deep breath, and dove into the memories. “It all began magically. One winter day, while returning from the battle against Hybern, he fell in love with me. I was very different from the kind of females he was used to. At that time he was the Spy Master of the Night Court. He had participated in a very violent war that had ended in a brilliant, beautiful and unpredictable victory. So that he came back as a victor. Triumphant but wounded. A soldier had injured his best friend, your uncle, Cassian. Killed Amren. Then Rhysand. He had been wounded, too. In the wings. When he returned he still had the senses of that scene: the taste of blood and mud everywhere in his mouth, the memory of hatred painted in Hybern's face, the near-death experience. But it was the age of honor. Those were the joys of war. One had to die or return wounded to be considered victorious.

However, your father never forgot that battle. He could never forget the sight of his family one step away from defeat, from death. It was the most horrible thing he had ever experienced in his entire life. And believe me, honey, your father saw a lot of things. When he returned, he fainted on his bed. His family took him for dead and he lay on that bed for three days, still soiled with the marks of war. It was your aunt, Feyre, who found him, since she was worried about him.

He settled down, but for several days he was shaken. There was still fear in his eyes. Rhysand thanked him for his help, and Azriel was proud, but his pride still remained clouded by sorrow for what he had experienced. Finally, having recovered his energy, he came to a conclusion. He did not want to fight anymore, and not so much because of the wound that had been inflicted on him - he had suffered far worse during his life - but out of sheer disgust with war. He, who had spent his entire life killing, realized that he no longer had any desire to kill.

He therefore left the Wind House and set out on the streets of my beloved Velaris. And it was there, on his walk, that the miracle took place.

Crippled by the cold, at the end of his strength, with the horror of war still in his eyes, alone in the thick of the darkness and the tragedy he had just experienced, alone in the abyss of winter, alone with the vertigo of his loneliness, alone in his silence, where he should have died a hundred times of cold, hunger, fatigue, disappointment and exhaustion, he survived. He survived because what he saw that day, that thing, that extraordinary thing that also came from the other side of reality, no doubt to compensate the horror, that sublime and beautiful thing was the most sublime and beautiful image he had ever been allowed to see in his entire life. That image was me. And he could no longer forget me.

What he saw was me, at the time a young female, balancing on a rope. I felt as light as a bird, felt as graceful as a squirrel as I performed above the silvery river of Velaris. I was sixty feet above the ground. More than walking the wire I was floating in the air as if by magic. I was gliding faintly in the blue up there, standing on my invisible wire, the barbell in my hands. I could have been mistaken for an angel.

Your father slowly approached the river, and my beauty captivated him. He then told me that it was the first time he had seen a female from another Continent in Velaris. I seemed to fly, so, intrigued he advanced again. I was now perfectly above him. A dense crowd had gathered on the shore to witness my strange apparition. He approached an old man and, not taking his eyes off me, asked him who I was. I do not know exactly what he answered him, but from that moment he never stopped looking for me.

I was a funambulist, and my life followed only one line. Straight.

I was from Vallahan, a place far away. They called me Snow. I was nicknamed so because I had skin of glass, eyes of ice, and hair of gold. When I darted through the air I looked as light as a snowflake.

This is how I had begun. One day, while I was still a child, my path had crossed that of a traveling circus. Stunned, I had discovered the possibility of daydreaming. Heedless of the dangers, I had decided to make it my business. I had started with a tightrope stretched a few inches off the ground. Then, little by little, I had gone higher and higher in both height and mastery of my art. And so I became one of the first female funambulists. Up on the tightrope, I never came down again.

I became one for the love of balance. I, whose life unfolded like a twisty thread, excelled in the subtle and treacherous art of doing evolutions on a tightrope. I never felt as comfortable as when I walked on a wire a thousand feet above the ground. Straight ahead of me. Without ever deviating a single millimeter off course. It was my destiny. To advance step by step. From one end of life to the other.

My feats had conquered all of Velaris. By the age of twenty, I had already traveled more than a hundred kilometers on my tightrope, often risking my life. I had stretched my wire between two tall buildings in the Rainbow and balanced several hours above the city, I was like a swan made of wind, snow and silence. Then I had repeated my feats at every place in the Court of Night, each time defying the laws of balance.

I was no mere funambulist. I was proceeding through the air as if by magic. Looking at me so far up there, my body standing upright in the sky like a white flame and my golden hair caressed by the wind, I would have been told that I belonged to heaven. Because for me actually the hardest thing was not keeping myself balanced, or even mastering my fear, much less walking that endless tightrope. The hardest thing was not to turn into a snowflake.

By now I was being claimed in every corner of the Court. I even went to the Court of Nightmares. Then, almost without realizing it, I got as far as the Illyrian Steppes, where your father was ecstatic to watch me. Never before had an artist performed before the Illyrian. And Azriel looked at me and already loved me. In his eyes I was no mere funambulist. I was Snow, and I represented all the beauty of art. When I had finished my performance with the tightrope, and returned to the ground, he could not restrain the urge to approach me. He stepped forward and, in doing so, discovered the fineness of my features, the design of my mouth, the line of my eyebrows, and knew instantly that he could never forget my face. He looked into my eyes, and in turn I squared him. No words were spoken, and that was all we needed. I smiled at him, and in that he lost his soul. He knelt before me and said, “I have been looking for you, mate.”

I, on the other hand, was looking for no one. But his gesture seemed to me of such beauty that I delighted in it. And I accepted the bond. We got married, even. The first years passed happily. A happy event solidified our bond: you. You possessed my features, but your father's strength, darling. Our life was one of peace and silence. Gradually I was settling more and more into this Court. Sometimes I felt homesick for Vallahan, but I never complained about it.

What I missed most of all was my job as a funambulist. One night I dreamed of flying again. The next day, waking up, I thought about the dream again. Then I thought no more about it. The cold weather came. Then spring again. You developed in the ecstasy of light. I was happy. In one hand I held your father's heart and in the other my own, which at the same time I offered to you. And that fragile balance served to keep me balanced on the edge of happiness. But one day that balance became so fragile that it broke. One day the affection you offered me was no longer enough to make me happy. I cruelly missed the life in the air. I thirsted again for vertigo, for thrills, for conquest. I thought only of becoming a funambulist again. I asked Azriel to arrange one last performance. I wanted to stretch a rope from mountain to mountain in the heart of the Steppes.

Surely your father esteemed my desire as foolish, deeming it senseless to endanger my life and the life...of your sister.

But, like a true male, he bowed before me and consented. He had two steel ropes come from the Court of the Day. Then he sent two helpers to secure the longest cable between the two highest peaks.

I slipped the barbell out of my old case, put on my ballerina shoes, and practiced for hours in the garden, passing small mountains of flowers and a pond where yellow water lilies floated. Azriel, on the other hand, never tired of watching me. I was a funambulist without any rival.

On that thread I was happy, free and grateful. I thanked the Mother every day for giving me your father. I had blond hair. I had clear eyes. And I was walking on air.

The performance we stared at for the first few days of summer, my belly barely prominent. A crowd gathered from all over the Court to witness my feats. Lucien and Elain, who at the time had just become High Lords, also came.

When I placed my feet on the cable, the crowd rumbled. Up there, I was so high that those who only looked at me felt dizzy; I looked like a white dot in space, a snowflake in the immensity of the sky.

Armed with my barbell, for more than half an hour I performed high above the ground, slowly approaching the opposite side of the mountain. Below, they were holding their breath. One false step and it was certain death. But I, perfectly mastering my art, advanced inexorably. Step by step. Blow after blow. Silence after silence. From vertigo to vertigo. And your father watched as I danced caressed by his shadows in contrast to my white skin, silently praying for me, for his daughter. For your sister. I never stumbled.

It was the wire that broke. Definitely poorly secured, the cable came off the rock and plunged me into a thousand-foot drop. Me, the barbell and my unborn daughter.

Those who saw me disappear there, in the heart of the Steppes, took me for a bird falling from the sky. And my body was never found again.

I, Snow, became snow and sleep in its whiteness.

Your father never recovered from the loss of me, his mate. He killed the two clumsy helpers with cruelty, hatred and the thirst for revenge commanded his movements. Your uncle allowed him to do so without punishing him. But Azriel felt neither joy nor pity in the act. Killing them would not bring me back to life. He saw only one thing: his own grief. He knew only one thing: that never again would he find the woman he had loved. Never again would he see his Snow again. Never again would he see my beauty again.

Back in our house, now devoid of any joy, he threw away the Illyrian sword with which he had killed the two males. He would never kill again in his life, he promised himself. He would throw himself into pain. In the face of our daughter who died that day with me, in which my own face was reflected, he would weep every tear in his body. There was only one last gift left, one last thing that held him to the world of the living: you.

He sank so deep into his grief that he went blind. Your father accepted it, you know. It doesn't really bother him, he is no longer a warrior. He thinks the Mother no longer saw any sense in keeping his sight, if he wouldn't see me anyway.

I have always been close to him. I have always been close to you, my son. As much as my condition allows me to be.

I have never been given a final farewell. In your house my name is like a curse: it is never spoken and disaster should it be done. Therefore, I have come here, in a dream to you, for one last request. I want to be buried with your father. Come to me.” And you showed him where all that time you were hiding.

“Why didn't you say that before?”

“Because your father would not have been able to go on, seeing my face every day.”

As you spoke, you looked lost in the void, your eyes still veiled by the breath of the dream. The story had been long and paplit. Coming back to reality was difficult. Your son merely smiled and nodded at you, his own eyes wet with tears.

The next day he went to Azriel, who was relaxing by the silver river. He asked him to close his eyes and imagine the whiteness.

“I know where your Snow is.”

At these words, Azriel's face froze. Still with his dead gaze turned toward the river, he said, “Who are you to know this? No one knows where she is. The mountain swallowed her up. A long time ago.”

“That's false. The mountain digested her and returned her body. She is there, under the ice, a meter from the surface. She is there, in a glass coffin, intact and as beautiful as when you met her. In her womb she still holds the fruit of your love. I swear to you that I know where she is. She showed it to me in a dream. If you wish, I can lead you to her.”

Azriel understood that your son was telling the truth, and he could not hold back a tear. “I knew that one day we would meet again. But I did not expect that day to come so late in my life.” He turned to the younger Fae and laid a hand on his shoulder. “And to say that since she died ... since she died I've been looking everywhere for her. I've been looking for her everywhere. In every corner of this Court. In every corner of my mind. In every, single, dream. And now that I can finally see her, I will not see her.”

The next day, after the usual practice, your son asked your mate, “Have you thought about my proposal? When do you want me to take you there?”

Azriel sighed, then replied in a sad voice, “My son. This trip would be useless. I know you speak the truth, but what good would it do for an old blind man to find the grave of a dead lady? Wherever she is, my mate is at peace. May her isolation be respected for eternity.”

“No, father. She told me. Her last request was to be found. To be buried with you.” Azriel disappeared into his garden, leaving his son to be crushed by the weight of his own words.

A month passed. Your son and husband no longer spoke of you. They did not even dare to mention it. Every day, the younger Fae went to Azriel to keep him company, but in the end the two always ended up in oppressive silence. It was as if you were invisible.

But then one morning, standing on the edge of the river in Velaris, Azriel said to your son, “Tomorrow we will visit your mother.” Both of them did not answer, they just smiled.

They left at dawn. Your son guided Azriel with the sound of his footsteps. Every time he offered him a hand to help him over some steeper or treacherous passage, and your husband refused it and punctually overcame the obstacle without the need for help. He may have forgotten that he had been a warrior, but his muscles had not.

At night they slept in the villages. When, upon entering a village, Azriel uttered his name and declared where he was from, the doors opened before him as if by magic. The entire Night Court seemed to know his old reputation. Your son was astonished.

And he understood how fortunate he had been to be able to follow the teaching of such a father.

The journey was long, of unceasing whiteness. White as the cherry blossoms. White like the silence that accompanied the two wayfarers.

Finally, one morning, the first mountain peaks appeared. Their road began to climb toward the sky and its purity. They were the hardest hours. Your beloved began to show signs of fatigue, but your son pretended not to, since they were no longer very far from you. Azriel found the strength to go on only because of you. The journey was coming to an end.

When your son glimpsed the place shown to him in his dream, he trembled with excitement. “Dad!” He shouted. “I found it!” The young man rushed under a rock where, in your dream, you showed yourself lying. He had a cry of surprise.

“What is it?” Azriel asked, trepidatiously. “Has Snow disappeared forever? Has there been an avalanche?”

“No.” He said then. “Far from it. She is different from how she showed herself to me. Snow is here, but her body is closer. It is two or three centimeters from the veil of ice. I can almost touch it. It's as if she has prepared for our arrival.”

You were there. You, creature so beautiful, so naked, so blond, as fragile as in the dream. You were dead. Yet you seemed alive. You were resting under the ice. And soon you would emerge from your grave.

You were not really naked. Your funambulist's dress had been so long under the ice that the weave of the fabric had become almost transparent. And your body so delicate and your skin so diaphanous seemed even more fragile. So transparent were you that your son could glimpse your sweet pregnant womb. He threw himself on all fours and scratched at the ice with his nails. Finally you were there.

Your son grabbed Azriel's hand and placed it on your face. And you, watching the scene crouching beside the two males, could almost feel your mate's gentle caress on your skin. You breathed in that touch.

“Can you feel her face? Do you feel her skin?” Azriel's hand stroked your cheek again. He was blind. But he did not need his eyes to recognize the lines of your face. And yours was so well preserved that a simple touch with his fingertips on your lips turned blue was all he needed.

“It really is her. She is my Snow. You have never lied to me.” He fell to his knees before you and wept hot tears warming your face. He could neither see nor feel you, yet you laid a hand on his shoulder. You could not feel him under your fingers. But you were fine with that. It was okay even just that. Just seeing him.

Azriel never descended from the mountain. He lay down on the ice beside you and closed his eyes.

Your son tried to talk him out of it by saying it was madness, that it was too cold to stay there. But your mate answered him in a serene voice, “Leave me alone. I have found my place. For eternity.”

He fell asleep beside your intact body, one hand resting on your womb.

He died letting the whiteness of the world overcome him. He was happy. At the height of your heart.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Horsemen of the Apocalypse AU is a dark au where Reader, a newer mutant to the Xavier Institute, is learning how to use their powers and get along with the others. They slowly grow on them, especially Logan and Scott and Rogue and Kitty, and are a pretty nice person.

But they start to grow obsessed with stopping a prophecy that has haunted the mutants for over two thousand years, one depicting the end of the world, the rise of a new era, and four mysterious beings who bring it about...

Reader, going through all the notes they can and taking photos of hieroglyphs and old texts and tomes, makes a large journal, so they can decipher what they say, and try and find who the prophecy foretells, and convince them to not fulfill it. Reader is hopeful, and a bit secretive, only sharing their discoveries with the adults...

Reader slowly deciphers the book, making out that the four horses depicted in the texts are statuettes, kept in different museums and antique places, and gets Xavier to have missions to find them and collect them, so they don't fall into the wrong hands. Reader is able to decipher who each Horseman is, and is careful to reveal only the first three, asking for words of comfort and wisdom from their dad-like figure Logan and their grandpa-like figure Xavier, swearing them to secrecy about it... (they don't reveal the fourth one, feeling a need to just... not).

Reader gets to know the other four individually, and has plans to make sure this prophecy never comes to pass!

Sadly...

The older mutants already had a plan in place, one long before they ever knew the kids...

The plan was simple: Once they knew who the four Horsemen were, they'd kill them. If they're dead, then the end won't come, and the many mutants amd humans will be saved, right?

But... now they know these kids... They're their babyies... their cubs and pups and young ones and own children... how can they do this? Logan doesn't want to, but he knows that if they don't, it could end the world and the others... Xavier doesn't want to lose them, but the needs of the many outweigh the few... Erik and Victor don't want more blood on their hands, not from one of their own, but, this is the fate of the world, of everyone else they care about at stake; can they really put a few lives ahead of the other kids/cubs?

Over the next three days, Reader feels unwell, uneasy, worried. They'd felt a sharp pain one night, and they'd cried, not knowing what had happened, just that something terrible had (Remy had died, asphyxiatied to death by a man he saw as a father, Sabretooth...)... The next day, Reader and Logan are sent to the cold moutains to find something that could stop the apocalypse...

Reader is asleep, deep asleep, when they feel a deep pain in their chest, and they wake up (Scott had died, falling to wild animals in the woods, fighting until he couldn't anymore...)...

And standing above Reader, claws high above them, a pained expression on his face, is Logan...

Reader runs, grabbing their journal and fleeing down the trail, trying not to fall off or through any cracks or holes. But eventually they tumble down, down, down, through a crack, and into the freezing depths... they spend the last few days starving and freezing to death, determined to not be found, lest the last of then die... they die curled up in the icy dark, the journal in the satchel next to them...

But it's too late. They're found a few days later, and so is their book. And with the final name known, the last member is killed, poisoned, and dies in his sleep... (Pietro, held tight by his father, who apologizes for all of this, that it isn't more peaceful, that it was him, that it was not someone else...)

But this doesn't stop the prophecy... it only fulfills it...

The great goddess, Death, brings about the great changes, taking away those who die of war and fighting, starvation and hunger, poison and disease, and when the world is cleaned save for the last struggling few, she places a curse or blessing upon them:

For their actions, they will protect and serve the ones they killed... and for the love they had for them, they will be their Angels, their Protectors, and have high places of honor in this new world...

It is both a blessing and curse, as they reminded day and night of what they'd done, of who they lost, and wait to bring them back... and they do, giving the fruit and medicine of Lethe to them, washing away their pains and cleansing their mind and bodies. They keep them fed, safe, warm, loved, hidden in their temples, curled up in nests and beds, cradles if they're turned into helpless babes to better help their minds adjust...

Except Reader, when they're finally awake, and barely remembers their own name, stumbles out of their straps and tubes and cot/pod, and goes to find the key to their past and who they, and these strange people, are...

(But they're missed, terribly, by their brothers and fathers and mothers and other siblings, the entire world misses them, for without the love amd care of the One Over Famine, how can their be crops and harvest and sweet water and fresh food? How can their parents, their Angels and Protectors, rest, when their little one is not safely in their nest, fed and sleepy and safe from harm and pain? How can their brothers rest without their sibling, how can they feel warm and complete? How can their other siblings care for them, hug them, if they aren't there to do so?)

And so the hunt for Famine, for Reader, begins...

( And the statuettes turn into horseys, and are very beautiful and big and love their riders and dedicated ones)

@thewickedweiner @sugar-soda @vivid-bun @danni1323 @weebwholovesuchihasasuke @crowwithguns Ask all the questions you want! I have ideas for this au, and I'm ready to talk about it! (And yes, the horses have names!)

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hello, I see the asks are open! Here is some of this cake I got after killing a slime in the skull cavern: 🍰 just ignore the purple slime on it, I'm sure it's fine. lol. Definitely not a bribe. Anyway.

I made a character recently who adopted a child. Could I ask for some headcannons for how the characters react to the farmer tearing up after their adopted child casually calls them dad/mom for the first time.

For context, their adoption was from before they moved to stardew valley but is still pretty recent and the child has a few abandonment issues so it's a pretty big deal. If it's ok, could I ask for the expanded characters as well?

*Chewing cake* Oh, I thought that purple thing was plum jam. Hmm... *Still chewing the cake* Delicious 😋 Thank you! So, about the question...

I'm not sure, dear anon, exactly which characters you meant, so I did the bachelors/ettes, also added the ones from SVE as well. Thanks for the question! Enjoy!

Hedcanons is written on a situation where the characters know for the situation of the Farmer and their child, that they had adopted the kid before coming to the Valley, and that the child had a sense of abandonment.

SDV/SVE bachelors:

Shane understands more than anyone how much a tsunami of emotions can knock you down at times like this. The day he put Jas to bed and she sleepily called him "Dad" he'll never forget. The girl had already forgotten it, but Shane remembered it forever.

A feeling of abandonment... When Alex's abusive father left him alone with his mother, and later she passed away... It took athlete a long time to shake off the feeling of being unwanted. It's a blessing that he still has his grandparents, and that this child has a loving parent, Farmer.

If you see a little river coming out of nowhere near your feet, just know it's all Elliott's tears. The writer was so touched by the event, its like as if it was his own child calling him father. Elliott doesn't want to get involved right now, but he will congratulate Farmer later.

Sebastian, without noticing it himself, smiled broadly as the crying Farmer hugged their adopted child. Even though he doesn't fully realize how important this is to Farmer, he's genuinely happy for them.

Sam, who in the absence of his father has become not only Vincent's best big brother but now part father figure, truly understands Farmer, even if their situations are a bit different. Every child should have a family and Sammy is glad that this kid have the Farmer in their life.

Humanity is capable of incredible cruelty, but also great compassion and kindness. And Harvey's glasses get a little wet when he witnesses true kindness. He can't put into words how happy he is for this kid and how proud he is of Farmer.

Victor would definitely need a whole box of tissues, maybe two. The fact that the Farmer's foster child could finally feel like a member of the family touched Victor so much that he cried quietly.

The sight of a crying Farmer hugging their kid makes Magnus both smile and feel unbearably sad at the same time. What it's like when a child calls you dad, alas, Magnus will probably never know.

Lance's heart filled with joy when abandoned children found a family again. The adventurer, however, took it upon himself to scold the Farmer if they risked their lives for no good reason, where a child might be left without a family again.

SDV/SVE bachelorettes:

Penny had to cover her face with her hands, for her face was already a little swollen and red from the endless flow of tears. How happy Penny is for them! The girl wishes all the best for this family.

No child should ever feel abandoned, and Leah is very proud of Farmer that even though they were young, they were able to be a great parent to a child. It's not something everyone can do.

As much as Abigail tried to hide her tears, she failed. And you know what? She doesn't care! Even a man with a stone for a heart would shed a tear. The little one deserves a home and a loving family. Hell yeah, Farmer, good job!

Oh, how happy Emily is for them, how happy she is! Happy people and acts of kindness will always overwhelm her with positive emotions. Especially after all the troubles the kid has been through, she is glad child found people who love and care for them.

"Awww" Maru couldn't help gasp in tenderness, and can you blame her when her friend and their child are so happy? She would congratulate Farmer later, she didn't want to distract them right now.

As Haley was about to take a picture of the happy family to give to them later, she stopped herself at the last moment. It seemed to her that it was too personal to take a picture without asking. So Haley would only observe this beautiful scene. Ugh, her tears made her mascara run....

Sophia is about to cry herself to tears. Such a touching moment, she just can't hold back her tears at the sight of her crying friend and how much a child's words mean to Farmer.

Coming out of Jojamart for a break, Claire happened to witness this moment when she saw Farmer standing in the park in the spot where the cashier usually rested. They were crying and cuddling their child. She was very happy for both of them, and decided to rest elsewhere, not wanting to disturb the parent and their kid.

The happy child and their wonderful parent are sure to be the first gossip Olivia tells her friends. Running a farm and giving a family to an adopted kid is a lot of work and a lot of responsibility, and the woman is genuinely happy for the child and proud of Farmer.

[falindankovsky]

Alright Sezja info post yay!!

Sezja is a utopian who comes from neither the capital nor the town nobody knows where he really came from just that they showed up in the mistresses graveyard one day claiming to be the reincarnation of Victoria, they take the role of a mistress yet they don’t have visions only very strong ESP. Even after their falsehood is uncover victor allows them to stay in the Crucible for what exact reason who knows. By the time of the game they’ve became Maria’s consort (and it’s implied in dialogue they can not separate one from the other and sees the other’s reflection in the mirror instead of their own.) and often impose into the mistresses business with Maria’s permission since she upholds the idea Sezja is a rightful one.

Sezja provides the townsfolk with getting more extreme forms of medicine he can most often be found at the broken heart when not around Maria seeming to have quite the repertoire with the twins (possibly even having helped them cover up a crime.) from the original claim when they got into town they are not on good terms with the Olgimskays and Katerina believes Sezja was born from some kind of evil/ from a grave. In the changeling route they’re one of the people you attempt to convert only for them to threaten to blow you to kingdom come for ever daring to ask them to betray Maria. In the haruspex route they’re far more genuine asking about his relationship with his father and even revealing the treatment they suffered from their own father. In the bachelor route they suck they threaten to kill his husband multiple times call said husband a vile rat!! And just overall very deranged

Sezja’s behavior is very erratic one minute being calm and the next screaming out in frustration until he starts to sob he also appears to have a complex of sorts due to his physic abilities, though in reality it’s all a front a facade a scared person lashing out as it’s the only way they’ve learned to get attention. They feel a deep resentment towards maternal figures due to their mother turning a blind eye to their fathers mistreat of them because she cared more about her marriage then her own child, Sezja genuinely believe the lies they tell and get very distressed when it’s pointed out he is being dishonest they often go crying to Maria to have figures who question them dealt with.

Other info!! Sezja is transmasc and genderfluid and goes by they/he pronouns, his symbolic animal is a crow, his favorite flowers are black dahlias, if given the chance Sezja will sleep on top of Maria like a cat, Sezja and Maria are the same age, his voice claim is una from turgor/the void, Sezja got all his piercings done by one of the twins while said twin was drunk and just prayed they wouldn’t get infected. Has a very difficult time touching dirty items due to fear of infection and has difficulty with eye contact and social interactions beyond the pre established emotional outbursts.

He’s aware of the rat prophet very aware of the rat prophet, he constantly screws with Peter by pretending they actually are a woman and he’s getting their gender incorrect when referring to them, despite their nature Sezja seems to genuinely care about all of the termites and openly worries about their safety even requesting not to give medication to him and instead give it to one of them!! They are also referred to as a witch who came from the sea a term which he’s taken as a compliment instead of any insult

Uhhh if you made it to the end here’s Sezja chibi but looking like a cat?? I dunno why I drew?? Oh also here’s their official playlist of songs that remind me of them https://open.spotify.com/playlist/43G1ciZBdmaoq6fSDum4rq?si=FMKPvyeTRsOnjQqVAbrU-A&pi=u-HXgokpDQQqSD

[givekennyabreak]

Ohh I’m sorry to hear you got hurt, good to know you’re feeling better :) my studies are indeed going well

… just wanted to pop in here with another sweet thought though:

(And this scenario only applies if the producers decide to stop killing the good characters)

Donna hosting a dinner (given colony house, I’m sure she’d be the one to host) with the rest of the survivors (main characters only for reasons of space) to see how’s life been treating them and Jade shows up with his pregnant wife (who somehow believed everything). Just imagine him standing in the doorway as he holds her hand, everyone’s eyes going from him to her round belly and back. And at some point during a quite moment with just himself, his wife and Kenny he asks for permission to name his unborn daughter after his mom (sth like Tiana or Tia or sth like that)

No, I’m not sniffling, just my allergies 😭😭😭

Thank you, anon!

I reckon those dinners would be monthly - always at Donna's, because she likes to host and also lives in the intersection of everyone else's places.

Jade is ALWAYS there - annoying everyone, teasing Jim, giving Ethan new projects, teaching Victor how to play the violin.

A year or so passes, before he appears with a guest.

His beloved girlfriend of a bunch of months, who has seen the way his eyes glass over, has woken up more than once with his screaming, dried his tears when it got too much.

The one who believed him.

It's not a surprise when he gets engaged - Tabby helped him pick a ring, Julie gaped at the prices (and maybe he got Julie a pretty ring too, just because. She deserves nice things.).

Everyone attends the wedding as well - Victor plays Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the violin (the only piece he learned), and Boyd is the one to officiate the ceremony.

No one expects Jade to be a father, he never actually said he wanted that, but a few months of marriage bliss, you notice your feet swelling and your period going bye-bye.

Tabby is the one you call - your mom was still a little baffled that you chose to marry a guy a decade older, so you don't trust her too much on this matter.

Tabby is the one to drive you to the doctor to get a blood test - you don't trust pharmacy ones -, and when it comes out positive, she hugs you, even going as far as staying with you until Jade comes back home.

She waits outside.

And she hears a scream, before barreling in, only to find Jade twirling you around, eyes wide and smiling like a fool.

"I'm gonna be a dad!"

It's all settled. On the next communal dinner, Fatima brings in a cake she baked for you, and you all celebrate it along with Kristi and Mari's wedding anniversary.

A few months later, Jade pulls you to a corner, where Kenny was previously talking to Boyd. He's alone now, blinking as your husband gapes like a fish.

Finally, you sigh, softly taking Kenny's hand in yours.

"It's a girl." You smile, having found that out a few days ago. "Jade and I have talked about names, and we want to honor your mom."

You look at your belly, round and soft.

"It's Tiana. Tiana Herrera." Jade says, looking up at Kenny.

You can see his eyes water, and he sighs shakily, squeezing your hand. Jade's own eyes water, and he brings you two into a group hug.

"It's perfect." Kenny exhales, nodding his head. "Perfect. Thank you."

Guess who little Tiana's godfather is?

Yeah. That's Kenny.

[curseofthebloodcountess]

Session 35

Spoilers Ahead!

Our last two sessions have been wild. The party learned that Rictavio’s tiger had escaped. Izek Strazni, as captain of the guard, was ordering Vallakians to go inside, but he asked the warlock if she could help to heal Gunter Arasek, who he claimed had been mauled in the tiger’s escape. Theo agreed readily and followed Izek to Vallakovich manor while the rest of the party went in search of the tiger. They found (and healed) a nearly-dead Karl Wachter, who was responsible for the tiger’s escape. They left him to lick his wounds and Alistor, Tam, and the Kolyanaviches delved into the woods, where they ran into Ez and an old man they did not recognize, arguing about the tiger. The man was Dr. Rudolph van Richten, vampire hunter. Ez told the party (who she knows is traveling with Doru) that the tiger is trained to hunt vampires. Alistor and the Kolyanaviches slipped off in one direction. Tam made a false trail and persuaded Van Richten and Ez to follow it. (DM Note: Van Richten wasn’t fooled and was fairly sure, based on his understanding of the area, that they would loop around to be able to corner the vampire in question). Meanwhile, in town, Theo quickly learned that Mr. Arasek was not there, not injured, and that Izek would not let her go. He knocked her out and she awoke in his room, surrounded by dolls that looked like her, her “sisters” (other creations of the Abbot’s), and Ireena, and wearing a wedding dress. She sent her familiar (a homebrew creature called a “cherub” that is a celestial warlock response to the imp) to get Victor to help. However, Benny, the familiar, only has limited telepathy, so Victor didn’t have a better plan besides firebolting the door. 

He forgot that Theo is terrified of fire. This initiated combat and Victor and Theo took down Izek below half health. He realized he was losing and that the woman he loves did not reciprocate. In a moment of conscience, he delivered one of the most amazing final lines I’ve ever delivered, “There are no heroes in this room. Not even you, Theodora. But I want you to know that I never raised a hand to you in this fight.” And, hopes utterly destroyed, skin necrotic and burning with holy fire, he lit himself on regular fire as Victor and Theo fled. They managed to put out the fire, but not save Izek. It’s tragic because Theo and Izek really were friends. His obsession ruined it. Theo and Victor agreed they would tell people Izek died trying to save them from the fire and they went to find the rest of the party.

Alistor and the Kolyanaviches discovered the cabin in the woods, where the tiger had Doru cornered and planned an ambush on it. Alistor also had to explain tigers (and saber toothed tigers) to his bewildered boyfriend and Ireena. I don’t think Ismark was prepared for the tiger to be THAT BIG, but he and Alistor started to attack it and very nearly killed it. 

Meanwhile Tam, Ez, and Van Richten ran into some local farmers (people Tam knows in passing) leading a child in a muzzle and chains into the woods with intent to bury her neck deep and abandon her for having turned into a “vampire”. Tam corrected some of the farmers’ misconceptions while Van Richten inspected the girl. If she was a vampire, he would kill her, and if she wasn’t… 

She was a dhampir. Tam, the girl’s father, Van Richten, and Ez deliberated on what to do about this, whether she’d be better off mercy killed (Van Richten), taken to Father Lucian (Tam), or taken to Immol. As they talked, Theo and Victor crashed through the underbrush to find them and Tam persuaded the father to take his child to Immol. The group pressed on and Van Richten accidentally outed himself as Rictavio. Theo, who was already having a horrible day, had her celebrity crush dashed on the rocks as they approached the cabin and joined the fight. Victor used hypnotic pattern to hold Doru, Alistor, Ireena, and the tiger still. Ez and Tam moved the tiger, Durga, so she could be healed by Van Richten and taken away from the fight. Theo rushed to help Doru, but when he unfroze, he was gripped by bloodlust (emphasis on lust) and tried to rush the injured Alistor to feed. Theo pinned him to the wall and he started to flirt with her (his beloved fiancee) with no restraints before sinking his fangs into her throat and drinking. Van Richten Zone of Truth’d the party to find out why they were siding with the vampire. As he did that, however, the party all started asking Theo questions about why she was wearing a wedding dress, what do you mean there was a fire, etc. Theo struggled. A lot. 

Van Richten tried to leave without Ez (yet again) and she stopped him. The party began to interrogate him. Who is he? Is he really Van Richten or Rictavio? And what does he plan to do next, anyways?

“I,” Van Richten said with a grin, “am going to kill Strahd von Zarovich.”

End session. 

I am so pumped!! It was so chaotic and fun!! I have a lot of feelings about these characters - all the PCs and NPCs - and I want to see good things happen for them and for our story. It’ll probably be 2-3 weeks until we can play again, so I hope we can keep the momentum going!

[rivenvictors]

Name: Riven "Riv" Victors Occupation: Book editor Age: 32 Sexuality: Bi Species: Witch (minor coven — Circle of the Reverie) Hometown: Columbus, Ohio Relationship Status: Single Personality Traits: sarcastic, lazy, daring, forgiving, insecure, sly

Biography (tw: violence)

"Do you believe in magic, Riven?"

He was only six, when the word magic ignited his soul. Set it aflame — just like that look in his mother's eyes. Burning with something wild, something that couldn't be tamed. A magician pulling a bunny out of his hat, the size of his fist — something his father used to dress as, for one of his birthdays. The whole crowd of small chidren gasped and clapped and gathered around the man who tought them how to juggle later that day. Tossing oranges into the air was the only magic his father's ever known.

Yet Riven's never had his father's eyes.

He was born out of something else entirely. His mother's child — her very own protégé.

And she treated him as such, even when he was too young to know what holding such power even meant. Did he ever stop to question his own mother's sanity? No, never. She could do no wrong in his childlike gaze. But man who's fallen from their pedestals liked to drag the rest to muddy waters, and when his chid no longer felt liks his, the magician prepared for his greatest act. A dozen swords, long and sharp, a woman inside a box, and a boy who's never known violence until this day.

"Do you believe in magic, Riven?"

He did not speak for a year. When the woman who introduced herself as his aunt took him in, she believed he's gone mad. The old woman was not a blood relative, but a friend of his mothers. A familiar face in that coven of people he did not know, nor wished to.

Troubled, and always lightning a match where even a spark would be too much, Riv found his voice within the next couple of his teenage years. He found more than just his voice. He found the flame to his matchstick hands. And Aaron — he didn't mind the burn.

Riv often wondered when that magical click happened; when a stranger turned into something worthy of knowing, when an acquaintance turned friend, then a friend turned lover. He wondered where the line was and how certain people managed to cross it without his permission.

When his magic found shelter within his, and how exactly was it that when he wielded the shadows of illusion, it was Aaron's magic that gave them voice. The dreams that boy who watched his mother's flame dry out, created were now alive — more real than they've ever been.

Not a soul asked him, if he believed in anything anymore. Not magic, or love, or the meaning of life. He was too old to answer silly questions. But if someone wanted to talk about magic less, and witness it's madness more, he'd gladly sneak inside their minds and show them.

Headcanons

Riven has heterochromia, which explains why one of his eyes is blue, and the other brown.

Scars cover his entire back, from a time when his father was still around.

No one has ever died in his hands. Rivan could never bear the thought of it. His magic could threaten and burn, and wound but he'd never take it as far as to suck the life out of somebody.

Wanted connections

THE DREAM REALM / Witches from his minor coven — the circle of reverie. The coven has been created by a group of close female friends, and eventually their children. They would've spent their childhood together and worked on their magic from a very young age.

MY SHELTER / His mother who he believed had died. She has been stripped of her magic powers and turned into a vampire. The former witch would've tried to reconnect with her coven, yet they turned her away and never told Riven, she was even still alive, in one form or another.

MY FAVORITE GAME / Although Riv had never killed anyone, he loved to toy around with humans. Invading their minds and senses, tormenting them for the fun of it.

FOES/ALLIES/FELLOW WITCHES/

[eolewyn1010]

Dragging Frankenstein - Chapter 21

The one where I get immeasurably sick of Victor! I mentioned the capslock-yelling? It begins here.

You know I can’t stand Victor, so I’m happy if he’s inconvenienced. But he and the Creature can hardly be the only people who canoe around there, can they?

Also, the “handsome young man, about five and twenty years of age” – is everyone gay here? DAS GAY: 35

And if poor Henry’s body was not yet cold and they thought they could still revive him, did the Creature bring him over to Ireland alive to kill him there? How???

“The first part of this deposition did not in the least interest me” -.- Victor is such a twat. Someone is dead? Whatevs, don’t care! IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 25

He gets another one right away because even Henry’s death is just cause for another self-centered whinefest. “the agonies that I endured”, yeah, sure. IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 26

I find this line highly interesting: “Death snatches away many blooming children […], how many brides and youthful lovers…” So. Children, brides, lovers. William, Elizabeth, Henry, nah? DAS GAY: 36

“Of what materials was I made, that I could resist so many shocks?” This right there. This is the good shit. Victor is more and more estranged from his own human nature, speaking of himself in the same terms that can be used for his Creature.

Then it’s two months angst coma, and when he wakes up, of course he complains about the lacking luxury IN FUCKING PRISON WHEN HE’S IN FOR MURDER, VICTOR. Sorry. I hate him. I SO PRIVILEGED: 12

“and [the nurse’s] countenance expressed all the bad qualities which often characterized that class.” AAAAAARRRRGGHHH! *jumps up and strangles Victor* I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, YOU PHYSIOGNOMIST-BULLSHIT SPEWING, LOATHSOME, CONCEITED, JUDGY, SHALLOW, SNOB TWIT!! HOW DARE YOU LOOK DOWN ON A WOMAN WHO PUT IN ALL THE TIME OF HER DAY TO KEEP YOU ALIVE WHEN YOU ARE USELESSLY LYING AROUND BEING A BRAINLESS PIECE OF FLESH, A STRANGER IN THIS COUNTRY, AND ASSUMED TO BE A MURDERER!!! DIE!!

*ahem* Count? I SO PRIVILEGED: 13

And then she’s also indifferent. Can you believe that. How dare she not pity Victor appropriately; his life is so haaaaard.

“I turned with loathing from the woman who could utter so unfeeling a speech” – dude, 1st, she literally just agreed with what you said, and 2nd, she’s perfectly polite. I can’t with him.

“careless” and “brutality”, what is with him? He was fed. And medicated. Through a coma. Of two months. She probably wiped his ass in the meantime! Jesus Christ with this guy.

“Mr Kirwin had shown me extreme kindness”, best room and all, easy-peasy. I SO PRIVILEGED: 14

I’m so spiteful right now, I want to give him another one for complaining that Mr. Kirwin is not permanently fluttering around him and “wretched indeed was the best”. What an incredible snob. Read the room, for once.

“Can I do anything to make you more comfortable?” Mr. Kirwin, crawl out of his ass for a second there, will you? Zero respect for that guy, too.

“on the whole earth there is no comfort which I am capable of receiving.” – then why won’t you stop complaining about your accommodation?

“doubtless, evidence can easily be brought to free you from your criminal charge.” – considering the circumstances in which Henry and Victor were found, it should be about as flimsy as the evidence for his guilt. What even is this case?

“a friend has come to visit you” Urgh. Dude, just spare us the dead herring and SAY right away that it’s his father; I hate it when Victor gets excuses to spew paranoia around. As if the Creature would officially speak to people in broad daylight and all that to come visit Victor in prison. Has Victor lost his last brain cell during the angst coma?

…and Victor hops right from “wah, take him away!” to “why does he not hasten to me?” in an instant. Whew, I hate this brat. IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 27

me-me-me-me-me! Sorry, this recap is getting exceptionally salty.

I’m wondering why the magistrate treats him like a child. Isn’t Victor the same age as Henry, aka obviously an adult? Eh, but that’s picked up by Frankenstein sr. Gotta baby the baby a bit.

“…and Elizabeth, and Ernest?” – Ernest? Oh yeah, that guy! He sure is a person that exists! He’s so important for his family, isn’t he? Good, dear Ernest.

More whining, complaints that he actually has to sit through a trial, would you believe the audacity of these people…

“proved that I was on the Orkney Islands when the body of my friend was found” ??? How’d they do that? Victor was completely isolated; he wasn’t talking to anyone. Who could have professed his presence anywhere at any time at all? Eh, convenience.

Shelley seriously calls Henry’s eyes “dark orbs”. I blame her purple-prose husband, and wanna bitchslap him for it. What is he, My Immortal’s author?

Also, can you stop gushing about your dead boyfriend’s beautiful eyelashes? DAS GAY: 37

Geez.

“My father tried to awaken in me the feelings of affection.” – Heh, good luck. As if Victor would feel for his fellow humans. IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 28

“At these moments I often endeavoured to put an end to the existence I loathed” – good. Do it.

“to watch over the lives of those I so fondly loved” – I don’t believe you. You don’t care, so I won’t.

“put an end to the existence of the monstrous Image which I had endued with the mockery of a soul still more monstrous” – first of all, word-for-word repetition of phrasing. Second of all, this. DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 16

As if.

“I was a mere skeleton” – poor Elizabeth; that wouldn’t have been a fun wedding night even without the visitor.

He’s also laudanum-addicted now. I found it tragic with Emil Behring. It only makes me roll my eyes at Victor and go, “of course the little wimp does that, too.”

If there weren’t a ton of kind people around him, he never would have survived till now.

With his third victim, the Creature has apparently acquired a taste for killing Anyone But Victor, and isn't that just super convenient. Wouldn't it be a much more apt demonstration of power to set an end to his creator's existence, seeing as he owes his miserable existence to him? A life given, a life taken. Sounds way more logical to me than killing a ton of innocents. But then again, this fits right in with how Victor considers those close to him only as extensions of himself - he's a true narcissist that way. William dies? Oh, how Victor suffers! Justine gets killed? Oh, how bad that makes Victor feel! Elizabeth is depressed? Well, it can only be on Victor's behalf! And the Creature buys right into it, God bless. Good that at least he doesn't have a family.

[battlebuilt]

( taron egerton. cis man. he/him. ) ⸺ 🐏 greetings, bighorns ! walking around campus, sporting his shit - eating grin we’ve spotted THEODORE "THEO" COYNE, a thirty two year old who contributes to our thriving community as a GENERAL TRAINER / GUARD. according to our intel, he's been around the sanctuary for five years and what we know about him, aside from the fact that he does agree with the decision to close the gates, is that he arrived in handcuffs, becomes more of a mystery with every question answered, enjoys a whiskey sour in the evenings. doesn’t that make him fantastic ? we think it does, and that’s why we appreciate him so much, grateful for what he gives to our community.

i.

full name: theodore rhys coyne.

nickname: theo.

age: thirty two.

gender + pronouns: cis man + he/him.

orientation: bisexual.

birthday: april 16th, 1991.

originally from: brooklyn, new york.

job position: general trainer / guard.

ii.

weapon of choice: anything close range.

typical pocket contents: doesn't carry much, currently has only a green lighter in his left pocket and a carton with three cigarettes in his other.

moral alignment: chaotic evil.

horoscope: aries sun, leo moon, scorpio rising.

inspired by: victor strand ( ftwd ), richie gecko ( fdtd ), wolfgang bogdanow ( sense8 ), faith lehane ( btvs ).

iii.

he can't remember anything before the age of seven and it's one of the things that angers him most in the world. it was when he was seven that he lost his mother, his whole world shattering the second she left. theodore then had only his father, a man who had never once said anything kind toward his son. without a mother to protect him, his father no longer played nice. if theo even dared to glare at him, he would end up regretting it. he learned to hide the bruises by dressing differently and would shut down anyone who questioned anything. this went on for years, theo distancing himself from the reality of his pathetic situation - until one day, he saw a glimpse of hope.

though most of the world didn't have a kill count until after the outbreak, theo can't exactly say the same. he technically didn't do anything... but that's as far as anyone knew. his father had been fixated on a football game, screaming at the television with a lit cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. by the time the game was over, his father was hammered, beer spilled everywhere, cigarette almost out. a dropped cigarette, an accident, and the man burst into flames. maybe it happened that way, maybe it didn't, but that was the official story - theo's story.

finding out he did in fact have a relative left, his father's brother, was a whirlwind. he'd never met the man before and in turn, his uncle had never known he had a nephew. though certainly rough around the edges, he wasn't cruel by any means and actually became a solid father figure. it was through him that theodore learned everything he knows : about stealing, lying, general thievery, the likes. his known skill was safecracking, something he found immense pride in. his uncle was involved in organized crime so theo dipped in toes in.

knowing the right people and keeping his head down did him a lot of favors. his ego, however, cost him a lot and would often get him in trouble. it was during a bank robbery that he'd gotten greedy and went for a hidden safe in the back office. his team had left him in the haste and without a getaway, he ended up getting caught. aged eighteen at the time, he was tried as an adult ... which landed him with a sentence of twenty years, his record not doing him any favors. he spent four long years in a prison somewhere in missouri until a very odd day came where the guards didn't show up. a lot of people thought it was a test, but they didn't have to tempt theo twice - the second they were left to themselves, theo started brainstorming.

while not quite sure how it happened, he's just sure that it did. whether someone had done it accidentally, purposefully, or potentially even hacked them, a few days later every single cell door opened. he walked out of prison like he'd been gifted a get out of jail free card. it took some time to get rid of his outfit and into what seemed like civilization. he hadn't been out in four years and what he'd come back to seemed... broken. not having left anything behind before he went in, theo moved forward and adapted.

theo bounced around from camp to camp. at first it was because someone recognized him, then because he threatened someone who joked about eating his rations. after that, it was on purpose and he stuffed his pockets full of supplies before sprinting away. the most recent one before uec involved someone who had an... "accident" and ended with theo in handcuffs. he managed to sneak away, still handcuffed, stumbling his way onto uec's doorsteps. definitely not the best first impression, but he understood their caution. hell, it was safer to be. he wasn't sure how to offer his... immoral skills, so he lied about previously being a boxer with self defense training. though he wouldn't advertise as such, he was more than willing to do the more... gruesome tasks if that's what it took to secure his spot.

charismatic when he wants to be, he's willing to do what it takes to survive. his name may or may not be his legal name and may lie more than he tells the truth, but at least he's cute ??

[wherethewillcwsgrcw]

Name: Willow Dubois

Nickname: Will (She will happily stab you if you call her Willow)

Age: 43

Gender: Genderfluid

Pronouns: She/They

Home: District Seven

Current Residence: District Thirteen

Role: Victor of the 48th Hunger Games, Mentor, Rebel

Personality: Grouchy, crass, honest, loyal, decisive

Song: I don’t wanna do this anymore - Pvris

TW: death, depression, murder, child death, blood, sex trafficking, drugs, alcohol

-Growing up, Willow was smack in the middle of a group of five children. Aspen, Elm, Willow, Birch, and Laurel were all born within ten years of one another, Birch only minutes before his sister Laurel. For a family in Seven, having five mouths to feed would be hard. For the Dubois family this was no different. But Honey and Johnathan Dubois never let their children know that. The children went to school while Johnathan worked ten to twelve hour days in the lumber yards and Honey worked in a paper factory. But dinner was always on the table at a decent time and the family never wanted for food even if it was bland. Life was okay for the Dubois family.

-That is until her father had a very unfortunate accident when she was fourteen and lost his leg. Suddenly the family so used to two incomes and the relative comfort it provided them were lurched into a life of one less than stellar income. Aspen already had his own wife and a kid on the way, he had his own family to support. And Elm who was on track to a better position than even their father had refused to break away from his training to help and ultimately left the family over it. So Willow took it upon herself to get a job, pretend she was older, drop out of school, and begin working in the very same lumber yards that had nearly taken her father’s life so that at least Birch and Laurel wouldn’t go hungry. The days were long and hard, and she didn’t earn as much as her father had. She sometimes skipped a meal here or there, but at least her little brother and sister were fed. 

-But cruel is fate. In January of 48 Birch grew ill, a nasty virus that refused to leave and ultimately claimed his life. The family was struck with grief. Her mother grew depressed, refused to leave bed, no matter how much Willow or Johnathan or Laurel begged her to get up. She’d loose her job at the paper factory. Willow would take her own grief and anger out on the lumberyards, work sunup to sundown. And sit around a bar for hours after sundown.

-She was sixteen, almost seventeen that year, only a year and a half older than Laurel, the year her sister’s name rang out over the reaping square that morning, Willow wouldn’t think twice before volunteering for her sister. She couldn’t loose someone else, not so soon after loosing Birch and Laurel… Well Laurel had only known the ‘just okay’ life Willow’d ensured her sister would never miss out on. She couldn’t win. There was no way. 

-Willow was sweet and quiet in the Capitol. She had a plan in mind and she’d stick to it. She scored a three in private training, shared how much she missed her family during her interview, and ultimately was passed off as canon fodder by the career tributes and sponsors alike. No one, not even her mentors knew the true story behind her ploy. Enter the arena though and she already had a leg up, coniferous trees abounded as far as the eye could see. But she did nothing, hiding amongst the branches. She’d follow some tributes, but only to hurry down the tree when they weren’t looking and steal food or other items. One such item being an axe her district partner had received as a sponsor gift - it sucked to be him that day. She’d killed two before the finale, one who’d found her at a river and had ended up with the axe in his chest. She’d refused to let herself see the dead tribute as anything other than an animal, convincing herself that she was fine and it was nothing more than killing a wild boar back home. The second she had met and allied with for a day before the girl had tried to kill her in her sleep. It’d been the other’s own dagger that had ended her life - lithe muscles still working despite ongoing hunger from the arena. Both a surprise as she’d always seemed to meek and weak.

-They’d been ushered together by the game makers and mutts, she’d offed one on the way, but stuck to the high branches of the trees away from mutts and other tributes. She watched as two of the careers converged on her district partner before taking on each other. She watched in curiosity as the final stood in the clearing, a clearing she was sure hadn’t been there before, mutts circling but not attacking. She heard the boy shout he was ready to get out of the arena. She’d been forgotten. Good. He hadn’t seen the axe come flying out of the tree. 

-She’d arrive home and move her and her family to her new home. No one would see her though, for the following several months. She’d refuse to leave for anything or anyone at least until she was forced for her victory tour. It was during her victory tour that she decided she preferred to be called Will. She was no longer Willow. Willow had been a quiet, albeit strong, girl who was naive to the actual cruelties that the world around her sustained, cruelties much greater than those she’d experienced in Seven. She was no longer Willow.

-That fact was only solidified when at eighteen, she was summoned to the Capitol, just weeks after the Quarter Quell to have a personal audience with Snow. She’d refuse his offer and before she could even get home, her parents were dead and the little sister she’d volunteered for was being held at gunpoint. She’d accept Snow’s proposal via teleconference, further distancing herself from the girl Willow was and deepening her identity in Will. Will could withstand so much more than Willow ever could have imagined. 

-Will would spend the next two decades in and out of the Capitol for the Games, or visiting sponsors, or being forced to meetings with Snow. Getting high and drunk became common past times, anything to stay complacent, to keep the nightmares at bay, and make her visits to the Capitol at least something she could withstand. But twenty years is a long time to be complacent. And Will was never complacent even if they acted the part well enough, acted the part of being controlled by Snow’s hold over her in the form of her family. So when the whispers of a rebellion started, Will didn’t spend to long in finding the right people to get themself involved with. And when the arena of the seventy-fifth hunger games blew up, Will was already on their way to District Thirteen. 

[percontaion-points]

Lifeblood chapter 20

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 20

My parents were good to me...at first. The older I became, the more involved they became in their work. Dad was a representative in the House of Myriad, helping to pass realm laws for humans. Mom had her paintings. One day, I woke up, cooked my own breakfast and realized I had been raising myself for years. 

They spent time with me only when I required discipline, and the knowledge had hurt. Badly. I’d become an afterthought to the people who were supposed to love me.

Not only that, but they were still expecting for her to blindly follow in their footsteps simply because they demanded it? Yet at the same time, couldn’t be bothered with their own child? 

It’s even worse when you think of how the book is trying to redeem Ten’s mom. Like sorry that you started having second thoughts, but it’s literally too late. Especially when you remember that mom broke the law and had a second kid, but subjected said BABY to a life of suffering, and almost immediate death. A LITERAL BABY. 

At sixteen, I became a bargaining chip. Because of my supposed Fusing with a Myriadian General, the realm offered my parents more money, more fame—but only if I made covenant. I wasn’t a daughter. I was a key. 

I’m pretty sure that I said this a lot during the first book, but not one single person seemed to give a shit about Ten. They only wanted her power, and the things that she wanted to do didn’t seem to matter. 

Look me in the eye and tell me that Troika gives a shit about Ten’s wishes. They talk an awful lot about free will, yet demand that she go into the field after like a week of training. 

“And my dad? How is he?” 

“He’s being trained as a Laborer, but not with the new arrivals. He has a private tutor because he’s on the fast track.” 

I’m not surprised. At the end of his Firstlife, my dad’s love for me—if he ever really loved me—had darkened into hate. He blamed me for the loss of his fame and fortune, and paid to have me killed.

I enjoyed how Myriad had branded daddy dearest as a traitor who tried to get around the child clause in his contract by having a second baby. But all of that was apparently for show, since they’re treating him WELL in Myriad. 

“Any leads on the spy?”

 “Nothing yet.” 

Who could it be? Kayla, Reed, Deacon, Victor? I trust them. Elizabeth? I would love to blame her. Levi? Even though I’m angry with him, he doesn’t strike me as a fox but a shepherd. He fights foxes, keeping them away from his flock.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the entire idea of a spy is acting like nothing is wrong. Even if you’re sometimes acting against the side that you’re spying for in order to maintain your cover. 

So literally any one of those could be a spy. 

He can’t pass through the Veil of Wings to reach me in Troika, but I suspect he would try if he thought I was in trouble—try until he died.

Chapter 20 summary: Ten and Killian start making out on the patio of the French cafe. As he pulls her away to somewhere more private, Ten randomly thinks about how shitty her parents were. Not only at the end, but how neglectful that they’d been before that. 

They start making out in an alley, but then they move to the cave that they camped out in right after Killian and Archer helped Ten escape from the asylum. There, they continue to make out. Killian eventually stops her, and says that he doesn’t want their first time to be when they’re wearing their shells, which is fair. But it’s also kind of a terrible thing to say, especially since he’s still refusing to deflect. 

Killian tells her that Levi comes to him sometimes. But during their last chat, Levi told him that he’d found a barrister for Ten’s mom, so now her trial is going forward. Ten is relieved to hear that, and asks about her father. He’s basically being treated super well, which pisses Ten off something fierce. 

They talk about the Troikian spy. Killian says he kidnapped Victor to prove that he wasn’t the spy. But even after all of that, he’s still not convinced Victor wasn’t somehow getting messages out while in captivity. He also says he didn’t wipe Victor’s memory, which is super suspicious right now. 

He goes on to tell her that he knows that the souls in Myriad are not resurrected. Ten says she thinks that they end up in Many Ends, but he isn’t sure about that. He explains his reasoning in the resurrection thing in explaining about his mom. His leaders had been hedging around about the new identity of his mom, which was frustrating him to no end. So he looked up the info on his own, and went to visit this woman. Except he knew that it wasn’t her when she tried to sleep with him. Ten isn’t sure about that, since Killian died when he was a baby; he never knew his mother, so how does he know that she wasn’t a slut? She goes back to the Many Ends thing, and describes the lake that she, Kayla, and Reed had to swim through to get to Myriad. Killian is lost in thought, so she thinks that there’s a similar lake in Myriad. 

Before they leave, he gives her a Pi necklace, with an emergency beacon connected to him. She gives him the gun-ring Meredith had given her. 

[crackspinewornpages]

Les Misérables 365/365 -Victor hugo

361 

One day Valjean left his house only to go back in and the next day didn’t leave, eat or drink to his portress’s dismay. He only left to get a cross and remained in bed for a week. The portress believes his daughter has a bad marriage and the doctor agrees he is very ill. “He is a man who, to all appearances, has had cost some person who is dear to him. People die of that.”p.906 (he’s literally dying of sadness and loneliness)  

362 

Valjean made an effort to sit up and dress himself, get Cosette’s mourning clothes and candlesticks, it exhausted him. In the mirror he didn’t recognize himself, he looked like he was dying, his strength failing. Trembling, he wrote to Cosette that Marius was right to send him away, love him and writes about black jet as he’s about to die, he wants to see her but he’s alone. 

363 

That same day Marius got a visitor and a letter, the smell of tobacco from it triggered a memory of Jondrette, the letter said he had information that could ruin his family. It was signed Thernard, (didn’t even try with that alias did you) he found one man, now if only he could find the man who saved him. He has the man sent for and he comes in disguise. There is a Jew (oh this book is going there) in Rue Beautreillis that changes crooks to honest men for a while. The man gave a fake story, Marius was never at the places he mentioned or the people and demands to know who he was. He gives a story that America is dangerous, and people go for the good and he wants to establish himself and needs money. 

Marius has him state his case, he has an assassin in his house under a false name, his real name is Jean Valjean, he knows him and that he is an ex-convict. Marius could see the fury in his eyes and the man says he’ll keep the secret for twenty thousand francs. Marius won’t give it as he also knows his name, Thenardier, also his aliases and he had a house at Montfermiel and threw five francs at him. Thenardier takes off his disguise, a humiliation worth five hundred francs, he didn’t make the connection between Marius and Pontmercy of Waterloo. Through Azelma and his research he found who Valjean was in the sewer encounter but didn’t know who Cosette was and didn’t have proof she is a bastard. (even says going up to a guy and accusing his wife of being a bastard with earn him a kick to the balls) 

He ought to have drawn back and change tactics, but he wasn’t compromised yet and knew what he was talking about. Marius was humiliated he owed a villain but content to settle his father’s debt and maybe Thenardier knew the source of Cosette’s money. Marius tells him he already knows Valjean robbed a manufacturer and assassinated Javert, he recounts Madeliene’s history and how Javert was shot by Valjean. Thenardier says his information is wrong, Valjean is Madeliene and Javert killed himself, he has papers as proof and Marius felt joy at being wrong. 

Valjean was really an admirable man, he is really Madeliene, a saint and his savior and Thenardier says while he didn’t rob Madeliene, he is a murderer. What he knows is unknown, a year ago in June, during the insurrection, he was at where the sewers enter the Siene. He had hid in the sewers and heard someone in there with him, he had the air of an ex-convict and was dragging a corpse. He had a key and talked to buy time, the corpse was young and had an air of wealth and disfigured with blood, he had torn off a bit of coat without notice. He unlocked the gate and the assassin threw the corpse into the river.  

He brandishes the strip, stained with filth and blood, Marius springs to his feet and opens a cupboard where his grandfather stored his clothes from that night. He declares to Thenardier he was that young man and the torn strip fits. He shoves a thousand francs at Thenardier. “You come to accuse that man, you have only justified him; you wanted to ruin him, you have only succceeded in glorifying him.”p.918 He knows enough of Thenardier to have him sent to the galleys only Waterloo protects him so get out go to America. (it was played for comedy but at least in the movie Marius sees Thenardier is a complete rat bastard) Thenardier didn’t understand any of it but was happy he had money and left for America with Azelma under false names and set up as a slave dealer. “Contact with an evil man sometimes suffices to corrupt a good action and to cause evil things to spring from it.”p.918 Marius rushed Cosette to get ready and left for Rue de l’Homme Arme and tells Cosette to call Valjean father, he is the one who saved him and they will bring him back, Gavroche must have delivered his letter to him, Cosette didn’t understand but went with it. (if I was his wife I’d have a million questions) 

364 

Valjean let them in his room and he was joyful to see Cosette and hugged her, he asked if they forgave him, he was at the point he accepted he wouldn’t see them again, how funny God is to send him an angel. Cosette scolds him for going away so long and not letting them know he is back or tell them how ill he is. Marius bursts out that he saved his life, gave her to him and sacrificed himself, while he is the guilty one, why didn’t he tell him the truth. (says the person who never asked and acted like a jackass) Because he thought he was right to send him away, if he had known he would have had him stay which would lead to embarrassment. Marius won't have him stay here, not even until tomorrow, Valjean says he won't be here, not even with them tomorrow. (he’s too lonely and sad) Cosette won't have him leave again, they’ll go home, be a family and he’ll have a little garden and they’ll eat strawberries, Valjean would like that, but he is dying. (the sadness is too much) 

Cosette insists that he must live, maybe with them here he won't die, Marius says he is full of life, he won't have sorrow anymore and has forgiveness, (make a hastag Valjean did nothing wrong) he will live and live with them. Valjean says that won't change what he is, God thought it useful for him to go, he has Cosette to be happy, she’s better off with him. The doctor came in and with a glance let Marius know it wasn’t good and the doctor figured out it was Cosette Valjean wanted. “It is nothing to die; it is dreadful not to live.”p.922 Valjean walked up to the crucifix and told them to behold the martyr. (ok stop being dramatic and get back in your death bed) Cosette starts crying, begging him not to leave after they found him again. (he never left this house) Valjean had a moment of lucidity and tells Marius what pains him is he hadn’t touched the money and explained what he did with black jet. He refuses a priest, he already had one and it was the Bishop. (remember him from the beginning of the book in the movie Fantine was there as well) 

Valjean was falling, heaven already in his eyes, he had Cosette and Marius come closer as he had last words. He loves them and it's nice to have them by his side but they must be happy and assures Marius the money is honest so use it to live nicely. He leaves Cosette the two candlesticks and he doesn’t know if the person who gave them to him is pleased, he’s done what he could. (sometimes that’s all you can do and sometimes it’s enough) He wants to be buried in a poor plot, no name on the stone but he would be happy if Cosette visits. He asks Marius to forgive him for not always loving him, he’s grateful he makes Cosette happy. He has five hundred francs for the poor and still has Cosette’s mourning clothes, does she remember the forest in Montfermiel, does she remember the happy years, but forgive the Thenardiers, her mother’s name is Fantine, she suffered and loved her. “She had as much unhappiness as thou hast had happiness. That is the way God apportions things.”p.924 He sees us all and knows what he does. “There is nothing else but that in the world: love for each other.”p.925 He has other things to say but no time, he hugged them and stopped moving no doubt in the night an angel awaited a soul. 

365 

In the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise, far from fancy tombs, in a deserted corner, lies a stone, aged by time and nature. it is plain and has no name. Many years ago, someone wrote on it with pencil and the lines have been washed off since. “He sleeps. Although his fate was very strange, he lived. He died when he had no longer his angel. The things come to pass simply, of itself, as the night comes when the day is gone.”p.925  

This took me a fucking year and damn 

a bunch of miserable and desperate students and working class dying for what they believed in against the government spurred on by economic hardships and an epidemic really makes you think as we recover from the last few years and head into 2023 

people get what they deserve or what they don’t deserve 

people suffer by circumstance or their own doing 

they change their ways or are entrenched by them to their doom  

how the past has consequences for the future how everyone interconnects with fate’s tapestry for a little moment insignificant to the larger piece of history but significant to your own  

How you can give your life for a cause and it means nothing as the cycle repeats itself 

The more things change the more they stay the same 

it is a good book but definitely one I only plan to read once 

once was enough 

...and next is War and Peace 

FIRST

[dualnaturedscientist]

"We worked quite well together. Believe it or not we actually got along. Well as much as we can with that self absorbed prick. Before everything happened. I had foolishly trusted her. No one knew what she was planning on doing. Not even Calvin. You want to know what made it even more heartbreaking? I genuinely thought she cared about Becky. Her cold nature. It had melted away a little bit when my daughter was around. Athena took interest in her, seemingly enjoying her company. Of course I kept Beckys powers a secret. I always feared that they'd take her away if anyone found out. I didn't know how right I was to fear that. Tristan would bring Becky with him to the labs. To visit me during lunch. I hadn't realized that the door was left open. We thought we got away with it when we realized. Thinking no one had caught that. Seeing Becky using her ability to fly. I was wrong. Athena caught that. She took a further interest in Becky after that. I was oblivious to realize why. That vile woman. She mistook Becky's dream to be a hero and twisted it in her mind when she found out. Thinking I was forcing her to become one. Of course I didn't. I wasn't going to stop her nor was I forcing her to be one. Athena thought she would take the situation into her own hands and 'help' my daughter. HER HELP WAS SICK AND TWISTED JUST LIKE HER! SHE TOOK MY LITTLE GIRL!" Dr.Two-Brains didn't mean to have an outburst like that. Recalling the event brought back emotions. Highly reactive emotions. The villain had to take a few deep breaths. Victor had went to his brother and hug him tightly. In order for him to be able to somewhat calm down again. It didn't ease the dark, pure fury and hatred filled look within his eyes. Glaring daggers into an imaginary Athena that only he could see. "She took Becky from school one day. I didn't realize it until I got a call from her school. Telling me she was missing and that a strange woman was talking to her before she went missing. I hadn't a clue that it was Athena. Not yet. If it wasn't for Alex helping me rescue her from that horrible woman. I don't know..I don't know what would've happened to her. Thankfully Alex had found Athenas little laboratory. Becky was weakened. Absolutely frightened, strapped down onto the table. What she was planning on doing to my little girl. There were scalpels among other medical tools. SHE WAS GOING TO DISSECT BECKY! IN ORDER TO FIX HER! BUT IT'S NOT BECKY WHO NEEDED FIXING! IT WAS THAT B*TCH!" He couldn't help but shout. There was a crazed look within his eyes. Each time he managed to calm himself down, Dr.Two-Brains seemed to just rile himself up once again. "Becky was drugged. She couldn't break out of the straps. Alex took her home to Tristan. But we weren't finished there. Not by a long shot. I had kept her there while Alex took Becky to Tristan. I couldn't let her get away with what she did. She had to pay. I made sure she did. Alex held her down for me as I found the perfect way to send a message to her loud and clear. You see. She wasn't always as nutty as she is now. She was affected by her own formula which she accidentally ingested before. I found that concoction of hers and made a few slight adjustments of my own. You see. Her formula would only temporarily affect her. I made it so she wouldn't ever find peace within her own mind ever again. I made the effects permanent and especially more potent." Dr.Two-Brains grinned maliciously. Mirroring his own fathers expression. His eyes flashed with anger and something else. "Alex held her down as I forced the tweaked concoction down her throat. Forcing her to ingest it. Stuck within that state of hers. I swore to her that if I ever saw her walking free in Fair City. I would kill her in cold blood. No hesitation. I meant it. I still do. She's still locked up in jail for what she did. Rotting away in her jail cell. Mrs. Botsford saw to it that Athena got the full sentence."

Everyone was exhausted from the eventful day. Dr.Two-Brains had put the mice pups on a makeshift little bed for them to sleep on. They seemed to have grown attached to both Becky and the mad scientist in the short amount of time they were taking care of them. When they put the mice pups down they squeaked to be picked up again. When they finally fell asleep, full from their dinner, Becky and Dr.Two-Brains quietly left. Though Becky didn't want to leave the pinkies alone. The villain spoke softly. "They will be okay there. I promise. Let's be quiet and let them sleep." Becky stared at her father for a moment. She had a thoughtful expression, following after him. Dr.Two-Brains had put his kid to bed. Once she was tucked in. Bob too. He kissed her forehead goodnight. "Goodnight my little ray of hope. Rest well. I'll never let anyone hurt you anymore. I promise. You'll be safe from now on. I'll never let you out of my sight again." He mumbled this, his eyelids feeling so heavy now. He drifted off to sleep, head on the bed. Becky untucked herself and made herself comfortable near her dad. Bob made himself comfortable as well on the opposite side. Both of them curled up next to him. The others had already left for their own home. Leaving Carl, Steven and Matthew with them. Carl and Steven had been taken to the spare rooms while Matthew had only the couch to sleep on. If he was going to be honest it was still much better than the poor excuse of a bed they forced him to sleep on during his time in Maximum prison. The facility where he was transferred was so much worse. He was going to take what they gave. As his son in law wished, he was on his best behavior. It would stay that way until they didn't need him anymore. The truth was, he wants his kids to be happy. Just like any other parent would. Once he was of no use anymore, he will make sure they never see him again. He'll be far away. Just like they wanted. Despite what happened, Gene was still his favorite. He was so proud that his son turned out to be so brilliant, kind from what he saw. He was still all that despite the mouse brain. His son was strong. Maybe even more than him. He gave in, Dr.Two-Brains didn't give into it for the sake of his daughter. Matthew finally allowed himself to drift to sleep.

The next morning, Matthew was woken up by his son cooking breakfast for everyone. Well everyone but him. He assumed that Gene would want to feed the man he hates. Matthew felt guilt. Over hurting his son like that. Everyone else woke up soon, gathering around the table. Once it was set up, everyone helped themself to the delicious and cheesy meal. Matthew stayed in the living room though. Becky glanced over at him, puzzled why he wasn't joining them. Dr.Two-Brains felt his insides twist. As much as he hates Matthew he couldn't let his little girl panic like that. If he's staying here, he must eat as well. He spoke in a less than enthused tone. "You want your plate over there or are you going to join us?" Matthew blinked owlishly. He saw that the table seemed a bit crowded and he doubted they wanted him to sit with them. "I'll fix up my plate and eat on the couch. Thank you." There was no sarcasm in his tone. He was genuinely thanking his son. After they ate, Matthew and Dr.Two-Brains were alone in the living room. It was tense. Matthew wasn't looking at his son, not wanting to make the situation worse. He didn't see the expression Dr.Two-Brains was wearing. Grim. He wanted answers. He was finally able to ask this question he had been dying to ask for years. "Why did you do it? Why did you massacre all those heroes? Rebecca?" Two-Brains found himself even more emotional, bringing up his late best friend. There was anger in his eyes. Sadness. Hurt. Matthew only felt guilty when it came to his family. He hated seeing them hurt. A thought he always had. If he hadn't massacred the heroes, maybe he could've done something to prevent Carl and Steven from being kidnapped. Prevent Gene from going through all that. "You wish to know? I'll tell you. Just a heads up. I'm telling you why and it's not an excuse for what I did. I'm simply telling you what happened." Matthew paused for a second, frowning at the memory. "A good man died so many years ago. Not one hero shed a tear for someone whose intentions were good. Despite his less than legal ways of achieving his goals, he was on their side. They never saw it that way. It didn't affect him in the least. He still fought for what was good. They said horrible things about him. Yet he never retaliated. Never spoke against them in anger. My uncle. He hated this vigilante just as much. Hated that he was teaching me just as much. I didn't realize it at the time but this vigilante was more of a hero than the others were. Not one of them, including my uncle, mourned for him. They never even mentioned his passing once. The one who killed him, he wasn't going to stop. I had to make him stop. The anger I felt. I wiped him out. With his goons. They didn't care how many lives were lost. That added so much fuel to my hatred of heroes. So much so. It blinded me. Making me no better. I became the malicious monster that my uncle said I was. The rage grew in me. He disowned me. So did my mother. When the rage grew, I only had one thought. One goal. I was unfortunately blinded by this. Not seeing the damage I've done after I executed my plan. All of my rage was released. I don't remember killing most of them. But I know I did. I truly love you and your siblings. Your father, I never stopped loving him. Yet my hatred was stronger. I gave into it. I know this is the consequence of my actions and I accept it. If you wish to get revenge, I won't fight back. Do as you please. I'm truly sorry. I know it doesn't mean anything to you since it's from me. But my apology is genuine. I am sorry. I don't expect forgiveness. But I thought you deserved an apology."

Dr. Two Brains sat stunned at Maddrix's explanation. He had no idea Matthew used to be a hero. None of them did. He didn't know how to react to his apology either. It was a little too late to say sorry. Yet on the other hand, Two Brains could tell he was being serious and genuine. Maddrix's explanation though, it opened up more questions for him as he reflected on his past before the massacre, analyzing Matthew's actions and comparing it to what he knows now. "Is that why you raised me to be a villain? So I wouldn't end up like the heroes you hated so much?" Two Brains asked. Matthew shook his head. "I had that hatred festering, but it wasn't the main reason I raised you to be a villain. I genuinely saw the natural spark and flare you had for villainy at an early age. When you acted sweet and innocent as a cover to get what you want or to get away with biting people that made you mad." Matthew paused a bit as he chuckled a little at the memories. "I honestly lost count of how many people you bit." Two Brains couldn't help but smirk at that. "It was the only way I could get back at those who made me upset. Neither you nor dad would let me gain access to tech until I was 13." Two Brains quipped. Matthew nodded with a bittersweet smile. "True. We were both slightly afraid what you mind would do if we gave you access to tools and tech before you were mature enough to use them." Matthew then frowned. "The true reason was I didn't want you to end up like me. I had a lot of anger and aggression issues when I was growing up. I don't exactly know where they came from. I just know that my uncle nor my mother never gave me the help I needed. My uncle saw me nothing more than a weapon that made him look good until I didn't. My mother was a spineless fool who went along with anything my uncle told her. I wanted to help channel your villainous impulses into something productive. I wanted to give you the helping guidance I never got. Even after you got me arrested. I was miffed yeah but I was never truly mad at you. I'm proud of the person you grown up into. Not because of the villain part. It's because you have a lot more control over your priorities and better restraints over your impulses than I ever did." "So that's why you told dad you were an orphan." Two Brains muttered as he processed what Matthew told him. Maddrix just shrugged. "Well your biological grandfather walked out when I was a toddler and the only true parental figure I had died when I was teenager. It was easier to say I was an orphan than to go into the nitty gritty." Dr. Two Brains leveled Matthew a hardened look. "You kept a lot of secrets from dad, including the part about you and me being villains. I remember you said it was best that no one else in our family knew the truth about our villain work. Even though they wouldn't be bothered about it, you still didn't want them to know. Why was that? Were you afraid of them getting hurt if they knew?" Dr. Two Brains interrogated. Matthew's expression became pale before he turned his gaze away Dr. Two Brains looked at the man with annoyance and confusion for not answering his question in a rude manner. A thought then struck his head. That evasive and somewhat rude reaction. He knew it all too well. "You were afraid dad would hate your for being a villain and kick you out like your mom and uncle did. That was why?" Two Brains muttered quietly. Maddrix didn't reply. He didn't have too. Dr. Two Brains could see clear as day the prickling tears the villain was trying to blink away. Two Brains gave a bitter chuckle. "I guess I did take more after you than I realized." Two Brains mumbled. Both he and Matthew never wanted their loved ones to see the true them, consumed by their fear of being hated and alone by those they cared the most. The difference here, while Two Brains found a better way to cope with his fears and learn to be more open to others, Matthew didn't. @dualnaturedscientist

[the-cannibal]

I love your writing so much! Can I please request Bo Sinclair (or the sinclair brothers if you’d prefer) with an s/o who is unhealthily obsessed with them? Tysm! I understand if you don’t want to do it and you can completely change the topic to whatever you’d like or not do it !

Awww thank you so much! That means a lot to me! This prompt is so interesting I’ve been thinking about it all morning and I’m so excited to do it for you! Thanks for being the first person to request something, I hope you like it!

Bo Sinclair X Reader who is unhealthy obsessed with him

Gender neutral reader - they/them and you is used

Written on mobile so sorry if the format is weird

You had known the Sinclair’s practically your whole life. The brothers were your best friends. You did everything together, you’d sneak off to each others homes to play, eat lunch together and skip classes in grade school. But there was one Sinclair you were closer to.

Bo. Ever since the first time you met Bo you had a special bond with him. You would always want to hang out with him. Lester wants to play tag? Can Bo come along? Vincent wants to show you how to draw? Well how about Bo join in too!

Bo didn’t think much of your… Clinginess. You were his best friend, so it made sense why you wanted to be around him so much. In fact, he actually quite liked how clingy you were to him. It was no secret after all that his parents were good to him, which is why the two of you usually hung out at your house or outside somewhere. So the fact that someone wanted his attention, wanted to talk to him and listen to him, he adored it.

But you didn’t just “want” Bo. You craved him. You always felt a special way towards Bo. When you were little you didn’t know what those feelings were. It wasn’t until you were a teen you realized you were in love with him. So you began showing Bo your love. You’d bake him his favorite sweets and cook him meals, you’d help him with cars, you’d bandage up his wrists when he had been picking at them and making them raw and irritated. And when his mama got sick you were there to listen to him vent about all the things he was feeling and what was running through his mind. Despite the fact you hated his parents for what they did to him and his brothers, you’d never talk bad about Trudy. You knew Bo had a complicated relationship with her and somewhere deep down in him he still loved her, even though she didn’t feel the slightest bit the same for him. Her world was Vincent. Bo and Lester were just extras she had to “put up with”.

And then Bo killed his father.

Bo would always tell you that his dad committed suicide. That the death of his wife drove him mad. But you knew the truth. You saw it after all.

You were going over to bring Bo a box of old car parts you had stolen found for him, when walking past the window to Victors office, you saw Bo holding up his shotgun and pointing it at the man. You saw him pull the trigger, and Victors blood and brain splatter on the window. The sight made you smile, you were proud of Bo for standing up to that sick son of a bitch and putting an end to everything once and for all. But you couldn’t tell Bo that, so instead you turned back to your home and pretended like you saw nothing. The box of car parts helped cheer Bo up after his fathers “suicide”.

A few years later and the two of you were adults now, and you had finally won Bo over. He was officially yours now and yours only. You moved into Ambrose relatively soon. The town had always been small, but you had began noticing it was getting smaller. And then one day you saw a group of people roll into town, claiming something was wrong with their car. Bo being the kind man he is offered to help them, and told them to go to the house of wax to keep themselves entertained while they waited.

“Darlin can you help me for a sec?” His sweet voiced called out to you.

“Of course, Bo! Whatcha need?” You skipped over to him with a smile.

“Well it looks like they have a broken fan belt, problem is that I don’t have the right size here. Could you go into town with Lester and get one for me?”

You nodded with a smile. And he smiled back down at you. “Thank you, darlin, I appreciate it.” Bo wrote down what he needed on a piece of scrap paper and sent you on your way. You were happy to help Bo, and you got to hang out with Lester! That was a bonus!

When you got back to town with the part you noticed those peoples car was gone, and so was Bo. So you knocked on the basement door to ask Vinny if he had seen them. He shook his head and you thanked him with a smile, turning to walk away but stopping midway. “By the way, those are some neat sculptures you got down there. Trying to keep up with your ma’s art?” You asked with a sweet smile. Vincent nodded. “Ah, I see. Well you did a great job as always! It almost looks real.”

And that was when you found out the brothers had been killing off the town one by one and anyone who crossed in it. You found the pit soon after that, or well, you smelled it. But best of all, Bo thought you were completely in the dark.

He’d wake up, give his partner a kiss before waving goodbye to them as he went out to get some more muses for his twin. Meanwhile his partner was subtly helping him out. They’d make sure their partners clothes was clean of any specks of blood, clean the garage extra carefully, and of course give him the biggest sweetest smiles. You had watched Bo do his special little hobby, in fact watching him became a part of your routine. And he suspected nothing.

“Welcome back, honey!” You shouted over your shoulder as you put dinner in the oven. Tonight was your turn to cook. Bo mumbled a hello back to you and slumped on the couch. You frowned, tossing the over mitt onto the counter, and making your way behind him. “Something happen?” You asked with concern.

Bo sighed, rubbing his temples and leaning his head back. “Jus’ been a long day,” He answered. “I’m so exhausted.”

Without needing another word you wrapped your hands around his shoulders and began massaging them, doing your best to work out some knots. Bo melted into your touch with a sigh. “You always now exactly how I like to relax.” You hummed with a giggle. “I know a lot about you, Beauregard. A lot more than you think.”

“Is that right?” He spoke. “Alright smarty, what else do you know about me?”

You hummed in thought. “Well, I know despite all the blue you wear your favorite color is actually green.”

Bo snorted. “You know my favorite color? Big deal, that’s too easy.”

“I’m not finished,” you spoke, moving your hands to lightly massage his scalp and temples. “You don’t like any green. You like a darker green, like a fir tree. You also hate neon colors because they hurt your eyes.”

Bo simply hummed in response. He was slightly impressed, he’ll admit.

“But I also know things about you that even you yourself doesn’t know.” You said, getting Bo’s attention and making him perk up. You swung around the couch and lightly kissed him on the nose. “Like you ain’t as sneaky as you think.”

Bo chuckled and grabbed you by the waist, pulling you into his lap and covering your neck in kisses. “What’s that supposed to mean? You know where I hid your birthday present or somethin?”

You giggled and shrugged. “Maybe,” Your moment was interrupted by the over timer. You got up and took the dinner out and looked back at Bo. “I think ill take some of this to Ms. Locket , if you don’t mind.”

Bo’s face twisted to a sad pout, a very fake one. Oh how he’s never been good at faking emotions, other than a charming southern man. “Didn’t y’a hear? She passed away this mornin.”

You frowned, slowly setting the food onto the counter and looking down. “Oh…” you mumbled. “She was so sweet…”

“Oh darlin, come here.” Bo held his arms out and took you in, holding you close. You buried your head into his shoulder and could smell gun powder. “I know it’s sad, but you’ll get through it. I know you will.”

You hummed and smiled, gripping your hands around Bo tightly. Around your Bo. Yours and yours alone. He might not know just how enamored you are by him, but that’s okay. Because you know, and that’s all that matters.

[countrymusiclover]

1 - Dad's Early Years

Part 2

Victor's Daughter

@lemonluvgirl87

16 years ago - Haymitch's POV

"Elizabeth, I know what I'm asking of you. But I can't let anyone know she is my daughter." I explained holding my baby girl in my arms. Elizabeth is an old friend of mine from my childhood. I can't let the Capital know she's alive. A few months ago after I won my games my family was killed by order of President Snow. I found a way to win the games and become the first person ever in District 12 to ever manage that. "They killed my family. She is the only one I have left..." I begged her watching her weekly smiling at the infant girl.

A year before I went into the games I got together with a girl that I had a crush on from school. We were young and stupid to sleep together. I had never thought of having children and I nearly told her when she told me she was pregnant that I didn't want it. Until the day I got home after the games and she went into labor. She ended up dying after her birth. It was nearly everything in me to leave the baby to die or at least that was the plan until I stared into the eyes of my babies. The eyes she shared from her mother. I fell in love with my child that second.

"Haymitch if I agree to this we both could get killed. You must know that?' She questioned taking the girl from my arms holding her for a few minutes. Running my hands through my blonde hair, flipping it away from my eyes so I can see. "Elizabeth....her mother always wanted children. I'm doing this for her." My best friend finally sighs nodding in agreement. "Does she have a name?" I smiled letting the baby suck on my thumb. "Y/n."

Y/n's POV

A peaceful childhood is something I've never known. Living with a elderly woman who is friends with my father because he can't raise me out in the public of District 12. Hi my name is Y/n L/n, my real last name is Abernathy. I am sixteen years old and haven't gotten my name drawn in our world of the Hunger Games, yet at least. A bloodbath of survivor's my father told me once before he was transferred to the Capital yearly to be a mentor of the new tributes picked for the games. Tucking my blonde hair behind my ear I shrug on a jacket waving bye to the woman who has raised me. The wind blows through my hair as I entered the market handing a woman some goat cheese from one of my friends. The woman hands me some breed before I headed down to the Everdeeen's place. Knocking on the door it takes a few minutes before the door opened for me to see Primrose, Katniss's younger sister.

"Y/n!" She cheers allowing me inside and I closed the door smiling to her mother before her cat ran and puts its front paws on my legs, bending down I petted it with a smile. "I managed to get you fresh bread from the Mellark's, Mrs. Everdeeen." She takes it from my bag with a smile before the door opened and Katniss walked in carrying some dead squirrels. Locking the front door back making sure she wasn't followed. It was illegal to go hunting in the woods but her and Gale Hawthorne go out anyway. Late at night sometimes I lay awake thinking about how much better my father is living. How the Capital is treating him every year. Some part of me hopes to think he is missing me, wishing that we could live together instead of acting like we aren't related at all.

Katniss looks to me starting to cook the squirrels she killed. "Gale is looking for you." Whipping my head her direction I bite my lip hoping I'm not blushing. Growing up throughout school I started to develop a crush on her best friend. "He is?" I tried to not sound excited about that. But he's always been looking out for me since my mother, well the women who raised me at least has been getting older. "Yeah heading towards your mom's place." She answered as I jumped up hugging Prim quickly and she teases. "Y/n's got a boyfriend." I shake my head no at my twelve year old friend. Mrs. Everdeeen had me babysitting Prim sometimes when she worked late, so because close because of that.

Running home I see him sitting on the porch talking with my mom as I run up the stairs hugging him. He hugs me back for a few seconds until we break away smiling. "We managed to kill some extra food so I thought you'd want it." Tilting my head up since he's slightly taller than me I parted my lip. "Oh you didn't have to do that. You have a bigger family than me." He shakes his head as my mother helped him carry his bag of food smiling. "I wanted to, golden strawberry." I stick my tongue out at his nickname for me. He started calling me that one evening when he managed to find some strawberries in the woods. I moaned with a genuine smile on my face at how amazing they tasted. So now he calls me that getting me to actually smile. The three of us sat down at the table and he helps take care of my mom when he can. I can't help but wonder how dad would feel about him possibly being my boyfriend someday. But I doubt I'll get to see him anytime soon, secret letters addressed to my mother is the only way we contact one another.

Comments really appreciated ❤️