#(also this is a edited version of my old pin so sorry to the few people who have this liked already lmao)

[lu-polls]

Poll Rules:

No Shipping Based Polls - (Exceptions Made For Canon Ships In The LU Comic)

Wind & Four Will Not Be Included In More Mature Themed Polls - (They Are Both Listed As “Younger Teens” By LU’s Author JoJo)

Asks Deemed “Inappropriate” Will Be Deleted - (Offensive Language, Rude Wording, Etc)

[frenzyarts]

Could you talk a bit about how you design your OCs from a visual level? I really love their designs. Only if you have the time and energy of course <3

Thank you so much omg 💕 I was trying to think of a good way to answer this question, but the truth is my methods are very nebulous and hard to define! I’ll do my best though 🥳

Some characters come to me very easily, some go through a few revisions, and some go through a meat grinder of revisions lol. Rune was easy, her design was just in my head right off the bat from years of drawing/thinking about demons. Yorick was a little different. Awhile back I played a ttrpg and designed this character:

Look familiar? This is prototype Yorick!! (I have this on my portfolio at a higher res if you wanna zoom in or something idk) She was a character who was kind of elfin and was a clown who controlled shadows. When I started pinning down the stories and characters of A Slowly Beating Heart I KNEW I had to put a demonic clown in there, and I thought of this design.

A phase I go through when designing characters when im not sure how they’re gonna look is doing a bunch of iterations based on vibes. Here’s some of the earliest Yorick sketches I could find, you can see how they don’t quite look “right” yet:

Like the vibes were there but that’s not our Yorick! Here’s what I think might be the first or second sketch I did where they look right:

I used the old Yorick I had designed but finally modified the outfit and design in a way that pleased me. I went with this design, and went through some minor edits with the colors, and boom, the demon clown was born! (Though even in this image they aren’t quite right, in the final comic I got rid of the lines on their horns and saturated the green parts of their eyes):

Melody is another story. Versions of Melody had also been living in my mind for almost as long as Rune, but never as a solid design. I have a zillion sketches of Melody that don’t look at all like how she looks now. It wasn’t until right before her appearance in the comic that I actually decided to refine her character design. Since I had never quite solidified how she looked in my mind, getting her on paper was quite the task. Her hairstyle was already on my mind, but I did a bunch of different versions of her halo and outfits. I put a bunch of designs together and sent them out to my friends to ask them to vote on their favorite outfit to help me decide 😂:

In the end Melody’s outfit didn’t quite look like any of these, because they’re all somewhat complex, and I need things to stay really simple for comics. Once I had designed the outfit the struggle still wasn’t over, cause now I had to do colors. Here’s just a small sampling of the color pallets I went through:

I guess if I was gonna break down my process into steps, it would be like this:

1. Sketch a bunch of ideas based on vibes

2. Choose my fav and then refine it further by tweaking the outfit/hair ect

3. Try out a lot of different colors and keep adjusting them until they look right

4. Give birth to my Art Child 💃✨🙌

I don’t always do all that, and some of the design processes for certain characters happen a little differently. But that’s basically it! Sorry this was super long, I hope it helped!!

[liskantope]

The webcomic Questionable Content dropped its 5000th comic on Friday, and throughout the weekend and today I binge-reread all of the most recent thousand. I've never had the impression that many of my followers care about QC (not ~8 years ago when I started to blog about it, nor today), but I do have a tradition, after each thousand of its comics, of writing a post reviewing that thousand. Here is where I blogged after the 1000th comic, reblogged after the 2000th comic, and reblogged again after the 3000th comic (this was all during my early months on Tumblr when I was more into reblogging my own posts), and here is my post from 2019 from after the 4000th came out.

When I look back on the pivotal moment clearly scheduled for QC's 500th comic, when it seemed that QC had already been going on quite a while and developed into a really involved storyline that had built and built to this moment when Faye would finally reveal her traumatic backstory, it's astounding to take in the fact that QC has now reached ten times that milestone.

I'm not sure I have a ton to say that isn't essentially a (perhaps more refined) regurgitation of some of the things I've said in the previous reviews, but I do feel like the webcomic has evolved somewhat significantly in its last thousand comics (though perhaps less so than in the previous thousands), and I have a few thoughts/feelings/opinions.

[Note: all of this post is substantially edited since a few people reblogged the original version.]

I would say that this is the first thousand-strip period where my enjoyment of the comic actually went downhill. (Although I would say my feeling is more positive when skimming back over the most recent thousand comics at once; it is still overall fantastic and there's a reason I've stayed so dedicated to reading it.)

It's hard to entirely pin down why I feel this way. I think it has a lot to do with the continued introduction of new characters, at a pace which has never shown any signs of slowing despite the massive accumulated cast the comic already has. While this means that some old characters are more or less abandoned or kind of shoved to the margins (which in some cases I'm quite sorry to see), by and large the comic has stretched out to make room to be shared by an ever-growing cast. At the 4000th strip, I was still doing fine with this, but by the 5000th, I'm starting to feel a little fatigued and past my capacity for keeping track of who's who (and also who knows whom; I have to give the artist credit for keeping careful track of this in the storyline and bringing it up in the dialog when long-already-established characters meet each other for the first time). Many more of them are AIs now, and I guess it may one day be judged as something-ist on my part that I find them more difficult to recognize and distinguish in my memory. Too many of the personalities are somewhat interchangeable too, which is something I should try to expand on just below.

I continue to describe the QC universe to myself using the term "utopia", even though I know this has to be somewhat of a misuse: as I've pointed out before, the characters in that universe are very aware that the broader society they live in is unjust in many ways, and some story arcs (though thankfully not most) are focused on rather futile battles against that injustice. But within the (quite large) social bubble that makes up the immediate QC universe, I have a hard time coming up with a better descriptive word than "utopia" -- maybe this could be modified to "social micro-utopia" or something? (I'm reliably terrible at coming up with terminology.) As I've been reading Peanuts steadily starting from its debut throughout much of the same period I've been reading QC, I actually see a likeness in these "social micro-utopias" and have been meaning forever to write an effortpost delving into this, but as it happens the 5000th-comic milestone has arrived first and that other post will have to wait for another time.

The attractions of indulging in the dynamics of a fictional social bubble which is this idyllic are that it provides a sort of pleasant escapism and that it's inspiring in a way that might enable someone to enact some of the practices and values seen in QC in their own IRL social lives. QC is a feel-good comic; it never tries or pretends to be anything other than a feel-good comic; and (at the risk of sounding trite and cliche) we all need more feel-good things in our lives, and I clearly continue to enjoy it after 8 years of keeping up through 5000 installments. At the same time, some of this... constant and slightly implausible pleasantness... has just gone a bit overboard for me by this point. Maybe a lot of this has to do with the fact that what little I have of a social life feels a very, very long way from satisfying (and I see that I remarked this in my post after comic #4000, with some language reflecting some optimism related to the fact that I was preparing at the time to move back to the US, and it's a reminder of how things really haven't improved for me to any significant degree. To state the obvious: completely unexpected earth-shaking pandemics really don't help. Neither does continuing to get only temporary jobs.) But back during the first half of the 2010's when I had a happily thriving social life, there was no lack of serious drama, tension, real struggles to tolerate one another's eccentricities, and undercurrents of discord. I keep waiting for the social dynamics between the QC characters to get a little more gritty somehow, to feel a little more real. I know this is an unfair expectation, since as observed above, QC never purports to be genuinely gritty.

One thing that has become a symbol for me of the seemingly incessant cheerfulness that characterizes around half the personalities in the comic is... I don't know if there's a term for this that cartoonists use, but you know the technique of drawing closed eyes so that they're concave down, meaning that it's the lower lids that are showing? Maybe this could be called "upturned closed eyes" or something? In cartoons they signal cheerfulness and easy-goingness. And sometimes it feels like half the QC characters go around showing this on their faces all the time, to the point that it's gotten monotonous and maybe a little sappy for my tastes. (This is part of what I meant above about personalities being interchangeable.) It's a constant reminder of how all the characters are pretty much automatically and immediately in lockstep on Major Social Values / Preferences, which I find pretty unrealistic for a hodgepodge of young-ish people who all gradually met kind of randomly. I honestly feel bad that this bothers me quite as much as it does, but it does kind of bother me. There could actually be some dissonance between the characters in terms of their beliefs, values, and ideas of a good time (example: a few, leaving aside Faye who is a recovering alcoholic, could view getting really drunk in social situations as kind of immature, unhealthy, and un-classy behavior -- even some 20-something people do see it that way!).

(Of course, as always, there are occasional characters who everyone has serious problems with, but they are either complete villains who get dealt with and then written out, people who are pushed to the periphery of the social circle but are visibly Trying To Be Better (actually, Sven seems to be the only one in this category), or once-somewhat-hostile characters that the cartoonist obviously wanted to keep around so had to immediately and pointedly mellow and humanize, like Yay a.k.a. Spookybot and probably like five others.)

The comic continues to follow tropes that I call Everyone Is Hot (and half of them are openly attracted to each other), Everyone's Parents Are Remarkably Cool (by the standards of young, socially progressive culture), Everyone Is Woke (in both an ideological and a "young and with-it" sense), and Most People Are LGBT+. I find the first two slightly irritating from time to time and don't mind the last two, but find all of it somewhat unrealistic.

While there is much less dramatic development regarding Faye and Bubbles, I'm glad that Faye remains sober, and that their relationship is still going strong. The profound and powerful love between them is exhibited by the most exquisite writing that the artist has done in all of his work on QC, I would say. Other relationships are going strong, too, and I'm glad. I seem to be asking for more social drama above, but I don't actually care to see loving relationships fall apart. The deep friendship between Faye and Marten is still visible although very much sidelined compared to the comic's old days. The big new relationship is between Clinton and Elliot, and it is adorable from beginning to end (although, see the Everybody Is LGBT+ trope above; there has IMO been a rather unrealistic proportion people convinced they were straight but conveniently discovering they weren't).

And now... there has been a really long story arc about Claire getting offered a job at Cubetown and visiting there with Marten, and all the while, through the very real possibility that Claire would take the job and she and Marten would move away, I have found myself steadfastly rooting against this happening. Because while I complain about there not being enough drama and dissonant changes and it being unrealistic, etc., I don't want that much of a change. The lack of turnover among the social group is absolutely unrealistic in my experience (perhaps partly because I'm a young academic who tends to know other young academics), but I guess it's a part of the escapism that I unreservedly love. Despite my criticisms (and as I've said, it's always easier to expand on criticisms than positive things in reviews!), I've obviously come to care deeply about these characters and their wonderful (if sometimes sappily and implausibly peaceful) dynamic, and I can't imagine the comic being the same with the initial main character and his girlfriend out of the main scene. Plus, their visit to Cubetown has already introduced us to a raft of new characters and... ugh, this comic's world is just getting too big for the comic to hold up.

And (spoiler), as of just the most recent five comics out of the 5000, it looks like Claire is taking the job and this move -- the most drastic change in the QC universe -- is really going to happen. I wonder if the cartoonist draw out the interim period of Marten and Claire preparing to move, have Dora and Tai's wedding as the last major event with them all together, and then retire the comic altogether. (He is certainly not retirement age yet but may have been planning to bring it to a close one of these years.) We'll see, but I can't say I'm thrilled at this very, very recent development. It's hard to imagine what kind of (questionable) content I'll be commenting on if/when the comic reaches its 6000th installment.

[EDIT: I just saw an announcement by the cartoonist that he does not intend to wind QC down, that he initially wanted to get Marten and Claire riding off into the sunset, but now he feels investigated in following both the original setting and the new Cubetown setting. The groaning-under-its-own-weight situation is about to get much worse... *sigh*]

Anyway, here are a few stray observations to finish things off:

The very slight drama that transpired when Clinton and Elliot were trying to feel each other out and there was sort of a romantic interest triangle -ish with Brun is another example of a subcultural norm that has always been baldly present in QC (and that I'm pretty sure I've aimed at describing before), and that I've come to realize is common in poly and queer groups, where people are much more open than I'd be inclined to be about their romantic/sexual interests in each other. Not only that, but it's the way they treat it as something rather matter-of-fact, not in the sense that they don't get worked up over it (they obviously do), but in the sense that it's dealt with sort of... practically? Where everyone is able and expected to just get over their feelings once they find out the party they're interested in isn't reciprocating, because it's not rationally helpful or constructive to hang onto those feelings? I don't know, I'm probably not expressing this well, and I can't judge that norm (it seems like for the most part it would be really nice actually and make for healthy social groups and I'm all for the people who can pull it off), but it's another one of those things that doesn't reflect the way the world really works for me. And I think I bear a grudge against it because it's in line with the fantasies of the anti- Nice Guy activists of a decade ago, who would go around saying, "And he should just get over it and want to still be friends even if I'm not interested in anything else! Otherwise he was just objectifying me the whole time. I'm entitled to the guy who I just spurned to feel like still being friends with me anyway!"

Every single thing about Aurelia as her Mommymilkers avatar is hilarious, the most I've laughed out loud over the last thousand comics. Sure, she's an implausibly "cool" parent, but she's a really enjoyable character.

Bemused nitpicky comment: the cartoonist Jeph Jacques makes a point of making all his characters very much "in the know" about what is "woke"/PC these days (e.g. Renee gently admonishes Brun from using the word "crazy" to describe someone) but appears to have a blind spot with the word "janitor", which I thought had been replaced by "custodian" in socially conscientious circles quite a few years ago.

The term "goblin" comes up a lot. A lot. (Half the time relating to Marigold somehow, but also in a bunch of other contexts.) I didn't entirely notice this until the past few days when I was doing my binge-reread. I'm not sure why Jeph Jacques is so amused by the word "goblin" that he is this fond of using it to refer to characters.

[roquewithq]

PINNED POST

INTRO: ULTRA DELUXE DEFINITELY DEFINITIVE EDITION

Hello!! Good morning, evening or night!!

My name is Roque, and, today, I will make a DEFINITIVE pinned post, because I think my carrd and other intros did not suffice.

Here is an introduction to my identity, and if I seem interesting to you, maybe we could be friends!!

---------------------------------------------------------------

I am Roque,

I am 15 years old(26/03),

He/Him, Bi

and from Mexico!! More specifically, from Mexico City. (My first language is Spanish, but as you can see, I can also speak English, and a little bit of Esperanto.) I am also on the autism spectrum.

---------------------------------------------------------------

I mostly listen to Rock in Spanish, though I also rarely listen to post punk, and other genres {Among them, some Anti-music}. I don't watch a lot of shows or movies, but Utopia (The British version) is very good!

Among my favorite bands/artists, are:

-Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos De Ricota (ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!)

-Luis Alberto Spinetta

-Nicolás y Los Fumadores

-Soda Stereo

-Depresión Sonora

--------------------------------------------------------------

I enjoy writing and drawing, though in a place like Tumblr, it's nothing special (Ask me about "The Notebook"!). I too have a minor interest in philosophy.

I also play the guitar!! I own a Yamaha electroacoustic guitar, and a Fender Stratocaster! And more recently, a Cort Les Paul.

---------------------------------------------------------------

And, as any normal teenager, I also like videogames.

-Grand Theft Auto (3, Vice City, San Andreas)

-Half-Life

-ULTRAKILL

-Garry's Mod

I'm not really in any fandoms, i just like what I like by myself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I SUPERBLY WANT NEW FRIENDS!!

These past few days I've been feeling very lonely, so, I really really want people to add to my small list of friends!

It doesn't really matter who* you are, I would love to be your friend!! I am available most days, but might be inactive because of school.

I promise to be a good friend!!

*DNI

-Basic DNI criteria (Queerphobes, r4cists, proshippers, etc)

-Anyone over 18 [I'm sorry, but I just don't feel comfortable talking to adults]

I don't believe I have much else to say... But, oh! Here's my carrd, too! It's themed after "¡Bang! ¡Bang! ... Estás Liquidado", an album by Patricio Rey y Sus Redonditos de Ricota!

Alright, that is all, please have an excellent day, evening or night.

Signed, Roque

[ambiguousgrass]

ambiguousgrass pinned post wooo yippeee yay

a few things

-My name is grass ambiguousgrass

-pronouns- /it/beep/void/boo/grass/⭐️/🦝/🌱he/she/they

-if I have liked your art and not reblogged, it's in my queue! you'll see it there in a few days!

-I DO ART HERES THE link to art taglist

-i am always following and unfollowing people Im SORRY!! its not personal i just need my dashboard to be Better

more information under the cut if ur interested :3

Art

•this is an art blog! its few and far between but its there!!

•art requests are open!

•all of my art is tagged as grass does art linked here for your convenience ^_^

•If you'd like to be notified when I post a finished piece, interact in any way with the linked post here (rbs appreciated <3)

•you are welcome to use my art in any non-commercial way, as long as proper credit is given. (for example personal icons, print outs, banners, etc. are cool. selling it as stickers or claiming it as your own is not ok.)

•my main mediums are pen&ink, graphite pencil, colored pencils, watercolors, acrylic, clay, cardboard, and digitally i use procreate.

blog contents/fandoms

used to be a dsmp fan but I'm trying to distance myself from that. on account of the everything.

Now its just stuff?? i dont know.

maybe a little TMA here and there? I love the podcast but i have to take breaks from listening to it very often due to the disorders

Every day i get closer and closer to posting about doctor who so enjoy this who free era while it lasts. i might give up and make a side blog one day but who knows. haha. who

edit: I have very much posted about dr who. and also discovered torchwood now. to all the normal people following me my condolences. it is going to get worse

boun der ries

be nice to me

I block and unfollow liberally on account of I meticulously curate my dashboard forfun

- spam likes/rbs/etc are so very welcome! i may seem to be dead for a little while after due to my possum like swag but its ok

-mutuals can ask for my discord if you want but i don't talk much on there.

-feelfree to tag me on stuff. reblog chains. a funny video. art that id like. whatever!! I may not respond but thats just because that stuff gets buried in my notifs and i forgor about them

tagging system

‼️‼️being redone‼️‼️

i realized that tagging things the way i didnt was not working for me so everythings untagged for the time being. I'll redo my tagging system but I'm not going back to fix old posts so this key will stay here along with the updated version. its going to be a while though

grass yells into the void - original posts

grass reblogs - reblogs

the void yells back - asks

grass does art - my own art

​grass queues things - queue

undescribed- posts i create or reblog without image description

fav -posts i like a lot

animals - creatures i like

food - food

c!clingyduo the world - cclingyposting

dr who- dr who

mlp- mlp

tma- tma

(any fandom i post about has a pretty straightforward tag for it in theory)

media types are tagged. (for example #video or #gif.) this is not super consistent, my apologies.

further tagging

as stated above, i tag posts that don't have ID as "undescribed."

the majority of my original posts have image descriptions in their alt texts, which I do myself.

we do not use a screenreader, so I am always willing to hear about ways I can improve the way i post things to make things more accessible.

I occasionally add image descriptions to things i reblog, but I don't do so often.

I have a pretty loose system for tagging potentially upsetting content, but if you ask me to tag a specific thing in a specific way I will do my best to uphold that.

original posts are tagged with as many different trigger tags as I can just to cover all the bases, but rbs are usually just tagged as the thing im warning for [for example- #spiders]

I may reblog posts reguarding political issues, and these will also be tagged as the thing im talking about for filtering purposes.

active sideblogs

@ambiguousseagrass criaturas del mar 🌊 🐠

@ambiguousgrassstims - stimboards nd the like

may be more at somepoitn. shrugs.

thats it bye bye

[strawberryspence]

Vienna

Angst | Spencer Reid x FEM! BAU! Female

Summary: Spencer meets the love of his life while Reader continues to the search for her love for life.

Word Count: 2,1k.

Warnings: angst, no happy ending, reference to having sex, lots of sentimental stuff, rossi has a part in this he was the only old OLD member

Writer’s Note: Hello! I am sad, so this happened... I wanted to clear up that I used the song Vienna in this, tho the meaning of the song is more of a “slow down, you have a whole life ahead of you.” I took the song and made it the direct opposite which for me is “find yourself and never stop until you find it. vienna (your destined destination) waits for you.” I didn’t edit this and I wrote it in one sitting so I am sorry for the mistakes. This is basically me venting out my emotions and I am not entirely sure if this made sense.

Spencer knew that you would change his life the moment you stepped foot in the BAU conference room.

You were a new agent with a fiery passion for the job. You were a Psychology Professor before quitting and took up Criminology and after that you ended up in the BAU. You were eager to learn, always on the go and was always energetic to do any job Hotch gives you. You had a heart of gold and would do absolutely anything for anyone in the team and Spencer was in no doubt completely in love with you.

It took Spencer a year and a month to finally ask you out. By this time, you were already close. It wasn’t hard to be friends with you, you radiate warmth and brightness and you were always so kind to everyone. He honestly felt embarrassed and weak. You were this amazing, strong person but Spencer... he was only Spencer.

“W-would you like to get dinner? Or... L-like coffee?” Spencer fidgets with his fingers, staring at his stained converse as it lines up to your black ankle boots. The contrast was jarring, it shows the two opposite spectrums of your personalities. When he looks up, your face was hard to read and it makes his heart beat harder against his chest.

“Like... a date?” Spencer watches as you chew on your inner cheek, something you do when you’re nervous or anxious.

“Yes... But if you don’t want to it’s okay! You can forget what I sai—“ Spencer raises his hand as a sign of goodbye, as the other grips his satchel. He turns halfway before you hold his catch his arms, stopping him from leaving.

“No! I want dinner! I mean, coffee! Whatever it is!” He looks back at you, a smile now forming in your face, and no matter how many times Spencer have seen it, it still catches he’s breathe.

“Really?” A grin starts forming in his face as he watches a shade of pink color your cheeks, “Yes. Tell me when and where. I’ll be there.”

The date was perfect. Spencer picks you up with a bouquet of daisies in his hands. You pick one of the daisies, clipping it in your hair for the rest of the night making it hard for Spencer to look away from you for the rest of the night. He reserved a table for two in a small, quaint cafe. Even with the nerves Spencer had, the date went smoothly. You talked, he talked and it was just like any other day but this time it was a date.

That date leads to another one, and another one, and another one, until you both finally made it clear that you two were dating.

It leads to numerous adventures.

To museums where Spencer becomes your own tour guide, where he teaches you everything he can teach you, where he watches you become one of the beautiful art pieces and where he realizes that he can take something so beautiful and surreal home.

To libraries where Spencer opens a book, any genre, and reads it you as you both take a journey to another world together, where you watch him read books that he probably already have memorized in the back of his head and where you realized that the world is so much bigger than you thought. More than anything it makes you itch for that world.

To movie nights which more often than so ends up with you on his lap, making out like you were both craving for something only the other can give. If it does, you both end up in bed, tangled in each other as both of you catch your breathe as you make love to one another. If it doesn’t, you both watch a movie chosen by the other and just sit in comfortable silence, cuddled into each others warm body.

To coffee shops where you both try as many different kinds of pastries, making a list of which one has the best pastries. The little corner shop down the street near the library is where Spencer learns that you liked croissants but only if they had chocolate in them. In the cafe down on 5th near the pet store, you learned that Spencer liked his blueberry muffin with cream cheese. The expensive, posh coffee shop in the high end street is where you were both kicked out for laughing way too much when you both realize that a muffin costs ten dollars each.

It leads to numerous sleepovers on Spencer’s double bed. Waking up to a new day with you was the best thing in the morning. Waking up tangled with your limbs all around him, waking up to you making him his favorite coffee and pancakes in bed, waking up to your naked body pressed unto him as you dream of him some place else.

It leads to home cooked dinners with silly dance numbers in the middle, warm hugs after hard cases and silent whispers of It’s okay’s, picnics in the park with packed sandwiches and it leads to five hundred, eighty one, forever treasured I love you’s.

One date leads you to numerous adventures and dates with Spencer.

But it was also a year and a month into the relationship when Emily video calls you both for a job offer in Interpol. She says, it would be a breathe of fresh air for the both of you. A new adventure. Together.

Spencer was set in his ways. Virginia was the closest thing he’ll ever have to a home and that’s because of the BAU. They were family. Penelope and JJ are the sisters he never had. Will, Henry and Michael was his extended family. Derek is his best friend and he loved being near him and Hank. Hotch and Rossi was the closest thing he’ll get to some kind of a father figure and he didn’t want to lose that in his life. He has long set his roots in this place, his home and he immediately shakes his head and declines.

He looks over you when the silence was to deafening to ignore and it doesn’t take a profiler to see the hesitation in your face. There was a spark in your eyes, the same one he saw when you first came to the BAU, the spark of excitement. You look at him and you see the way his eyes shines with sadness as he realizes that this was what you wanted. You shake your head at Emily and declines.

Emily smiles as she says her goodbye before reassuring both of you that there will always be a position open for the both of you in her team if ever anyone changes their mind.

That one video call leads to exactly six fights about the job opportunity. Spencer knew that you wanted to go and the selfish part of him wanted to hold unto you. So he did, he held, and he held, and he held until he couldn’t anymore.

Spencer stays late at the BAU one night. The two of you haven’t been the same since the job offer. You have left earlier to go home as he stares at the place he has called his home. Can he leave this? Was his love for you enough to leave everything he has known half his life?

“What’s keeping you here?” Spencer snaps out of the thought, looking up from his paper work to Rossi leaning over the railing right across his office.

“Nothing.” He looks back down, but he can see Rossi giving him a soft smile, “News flies fast around here.”

Spencer snaps back his head, “What?” Rossi nods, “We all know.” He continues to chew on his lip.

“I don’t know what to do.” Rossi walks down the stairs, walking closer to Spencer, “You remember Y/N’s first few weeks?” Spencer nods, the memory of your first week still vivid in his mind.

“You remember how before she was in the BAU she was a psychology professor? When she came on her first day,” Rossi smiles, reminiscing as he continues, “Remember how eager she was to do everything? There was this spark in her eyes and she was just passionate about the job and to learn?” Spencer nods again.

“Kid, in my life, I have met two kinds of people. The Mover and The Homebody. The Mover is the one who moves, they never get enough of the high that life can give, they go around looking for more adventures to learn and to help them grow,” Rossi looks down at him, a sad smile on his face, “Then there is the Homebody. Its not a bad thing to stay in one place. They are the ones who set roots in one place and grows in that place, they get comfortable and make that place in their life their home.”

“Are you saying I am a homebody? And Y/N is a mover?” Rossi forces a smile, giving his shoulder a pat.

“If you’re so smart then tell me, why are you still so afraid.” Rossi sings before giving him one last smile as he turns his back, not giving Spencer the chance to ask what he meant.

Spencer later learns from Penelope that it was a song written by Billy Joel. He asks Penelope if he can hear it by himself in her bat cave and she immediately agrees, leaving him alone with a song someone wrote in 1977 that perfectly fits and embodies you. As the final beats hit his ears, Spencer lets go of you.

The next twenty one days comes in a swift. Spencer stands in the airport as the team says their teary goodbyes to you. The team leaves to give the two of you space and privacy to say your goodbye.

“Spencer... I am sorry.” Spencer gives a smile. It wasn’t fake, there was no bad blood. He wanted to let you go, to go find the best version of yourself.

“This is what you need in your life to grow. I am happy for you.” Your eyes sparkle in tears as your heart softens.

“I’ll be back, if you are still in the same place as we are today, can we pick up were we left?” Spencer nods, as he opens his satchel and reaches in for a box.

You open it and inside is the same daisy you pinned in your hair on your first date, but it was dried and framed. You look up at him with questions in your eyes, “I stole it from you after our first date. I kept it for future purposes but it’s more suiting to give it to you right now.”

“Last call for passengers of flight 582 bound for London. Again, last call for passengers of flight 582 bound for London.” You both look at each other as the announcement rings through your ears

“I love you.” You whisper. Spencer gathers up all the courage he has and pulls you into one last kiss. His hands stays on the curve of your neck as he pulls you closer to him and as you snake your arms around his arms.

Spencer kisses you with fervour and fear. This was the last he’ll kiss you and if he had to tattoo it in the back of his mind he will. He will remember the distinct taste of your peach lip balm, the way your lips moves against him and how your hand presses hard on his back to pull him closer. Spencer pulls away when a voice in his head screams at him to not let you go. He had to let you go now before he change his mind, screams and beg you to stay with him. His heart breaks a little more as he sees tears flowing down your cheeks.

You pull him into one last hug and it sinks in, his holding you for the last time. He tries to memorize how your hands wrap around his neck and how you perfectly fit between his arms. Your body vibrates as you sob against him.

You pull away from him with tear stained cheeks and barely catching your breathe, you smile through it as you wave at him, “Goodbye Spencer.” You sobbed as you start backing away from him. You see him clench his hand as tears start filling his eyes.

“I can’t wait to meet who you’re going to be. Good luck, Y/N.” Spencer raises his hand to wave at you as the inches between the two of you grow bigger.

“Thank you. I love you.” You bid him goodbye before turning your back on him and running to your gate number. Spencer smiles through his tears as you give your ticket to the airport staff. You look back at Spencer and give him one last smile before boarding the airplane.

“Vienna waits for you, my love.”

-

taglist (if you want to be added, please message me 🥰): @all-tings-diego @shemarmooresfedora @averyhotchner @samuel-de-champagne-problems @bingereid @sweetandsunny @reidsbookclub @spencerreid-187

[minty-frost]

Pinned (forever changing)

Ooff, thought it's time for me to make a pinned post. (And edit it)

Hey, I'm Mint (Minty Frost is like, a full name), I am a minor. If you make fanart of any of my aus/ocs - please tag me, I will be very happy!

DNI, Warnings, other blogs etc under cut to not make it too long.

I am nonbinary, I use They/It pronouns, but She or He is okay if you are new to this, or if you are speaking in a heavily gendered language. I prefer neutral terms, but you can use masculine ones when it's funny. Though, please don't fluctuate between my pronouns too much, I confuses my brain (one pronoun set per few sentences is preferred). Also I'm bi so I draw all flavors of hot people.

DNI:

Basic DNI criteria; Any type of lgbtq+ phobes, racists, pedos/maps/proshippers, zoophiles, ableists, TERFs, bigots, etc etc, If you think doxxing people is a good response to drama. If you support any of the people who fit the criteria above. If you are a NSFW or a kink blog. DDLG also falls under that. If you think/use "Queer" as a slur. I will add more as I see other people's DNIs.

Warnings:

Comparing my characters/works to the characters/works of Viv/ziePo/p will get you blocked. Temporarily, but I have bad memory, so might be forever.

I am bad at tagging warnings. I'll tag any warnings as "cw blank" and add "tw blank" for posts with common triggers. I tend to use "blank mention" in situations where it's not just mentioned briefly, so you're better off blocking a few if you really don't want to see something.

I don't ID my art, though I will ID something if you request me to. I will use tone indicators if I am talking to someone who requests their usage, or I feel like my tone is confusing (Though usually in tags)

I have difficulties fluxuating between multiple sets of pronouns, but I'll try my best.

I tend to not reblog ot talk about any heavy current events, but not because I underestimate them, I just don't like thinking about bad things. Sorry.

Main thing to remember: I am on the good side. If I do something bad - I have already regretted it a thousand times over, or just am not aware. I am not perfect and you aren't either. Please politely point out if I've done something wrong.

I do NOT support the creator of Underlust.

I like selfcest (shipping a character with themself or a version of themself) and genuinely don't think it's problematic. We promote self love here. If you have valid criticisms that are not just "i think it's gross uwu" - you can share. But don't come whining into my askbox, please.

What I post:

This is my main art blog, but sometimes there are no drawings for a while. Mainly I draw Undertale AUs and my OCs. Though other fandoms may appear if I feel like it.

Tags:

Mint's arts - My art

Reblog - Reblog, though I don't really reblog stuff here anymore.

Just ramblin' - Non-art talk posts

Tumblin' - Posts that, to me, feel like I'd see them voiced in a youtube video. Basically unused.

Mint's words - Basically unused writing tag

Mint's anims - I think that's my tag for attempts at animation.

Licoriceposting - Old Licorice Cookie tag.

Might make a separate post for my world tags someday.

Other blogs:

@minty-has-a-reblog-alt - reblogs that I dont put here

@godcast-official - an ask blog for my Godcast OCs. Very rare updates.

@your-fave-havent-seen-bees - A misspeled url that I just own

@my-brain-is-full-of-wobbledogs My main secondary blog. Since this has turned into an art blog, most of my silly thoughts go there. A lot of random posts, and even art that I'm ashamed of putting here sometimes.

[abraxos-is-toothless]

The Beauty That Is She

Part 3 is finally here!! Previous Updates Here:)

Before we get into this one, I want to say a quick thank you to those of you who have asked if I was alright and have been so, so patient for this update. I'm so sorry it's been so long, but this story was only meant to be a few chapters long and now, my ideas keep changing and there is so much I want to write for it. I can't thank you all enough for the kind words and the encouragement, I honestly didn't think people would enjoy this that much considering it's not one of the mains AND that I've paired him with an OC.

This one isn't my favourite but it is still important or you might get a little confused later on. The wedding/wedding night is in the editing process and I'm still deciding if it should be two small chapters or one big one!

Anyway, enough of my rambling and on with the show!

-------

It was the day before the wedding and Fenrys was terrified. Not because he didn't want this or he was having second thoughts, but because he was terrified Eva would say she didn't want this anymore, didn’t want him. But above all of that, he was terrified of the words about to come out of the trembling messenger boy’s mouth.

Rowan’s personal messenger, who had managed to secure his place when Rowan had found him trying to survive on the streets. His name, Fenrys remembered, was Kallias. He was just a year younger than Connall and abandoned by his family when he was spotted kissing one of the boys from the village. The family had up and moved not long after, the villagers saying they were too disgraced. Fenrys thought it was all fucking absurd. Your child was your child, regardless of who they chose to love and he would make sure his future children knew that too. The thought of those children, his and Eva’s, brought Fenrys back to Kallias.

 “What is it, Kal?” The boy shifted on his feet and Fenrys heard the way he took several deep breaths before he spoke.

 “The King wishes to see you out in the courtyard, My Lord.” He rolled his eyes at the title, trying to act as if those words weren’t scaring the fuck out of him.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that? It’s just Fenrys, kid.” Kallias nodded, but he still heard the muttered ‘yes, my lord’ before he turned to leave. Fenrys couldn’t help the way he tried to straighten his tunic and his hair before making his way to see Rowan. It’s not as if looking a bit cleaner would save him from the other male’s protectiveness. He understood though, because he would be the exact same way if his daughter was about to be married off. It would mean she was no longer his to protect, no longer his to care for. Although he would still do those things, every day, until his dying breath.

The halls of the castle were full of people bustling about, adding the last few touches of decorations here and there. Aelin could be heard before you even saw her, making sure everything was perfect. His Queen would like to think everything was done by her, but it was his Eva who led all of the wedding preparations. Fenrys was enraptured whilst watching Eva tell her mother exactly what she wanted, where it would all go and when it would happen. Aelin had tried to get her way only once, but Rowan had just given her a look, along with a light smile and she had kept silent and continued to make sure Eva wouldn’t have to worry about anything. He breathed deeply as he pushed through a large oak door and stepped out into the courtyard. Out of all of the places he’d seen, the places he’d lived, nowhere had ever felt like home as much as Terrasen did. Not even all of those years spent in Doranelle serving Maeve. Rowan wasn’t hard to find, all he had to do was follow the loud cursing and shouts of “You can get off of me now, Buzzard!”

When he reached them, he bit his lip trying not to laugh; lest he want to go a couple rounds with his Queen for making fun of her. Rowan had Aelin pinned to the ground, straddling her hips and a hand on each of her wrists, her blade knocked a few feet away. When Aelin noticed him, she twisted her head to look at him upside down, eyes narrowed. “What in the hell are you doing out here?” Rowan stood slowly, pulling his wife up beside him, placing a quick kiss to her temple.

“I sent for him,” he said, before Fenrys could even open his mouth. Aelin folded her arms across her chest and raised a brow.

“What could you possibly need him for? His wedding is tomorrow, he still has things to do.” He didn’t really have things to do, just to help set up tables outside for the festivities after the ceremony, but he thought his Queen might be trying to save his ass from Rowan’s ‘territorial fae bullshit’. Fenrys was grateful for the effort, though he doubted even she could save him.

“There’s something I want to show him. We’ll be back in time for when Lorcan and Elide get here, I promise.” Aelin stared at her husband for a few moments longer, having one of those silent conversations before she nodded, kissing Fenrys on the cheek before walking back to the castle, muttering about seeing if Connall wanted to read their newest book. Rowan looked to him when she was out of sight, an unreadable expression on his face before he said, “come and walk with me.” Not a question, nor a request, so he followed obediently as the silver haired man made his way to the tree line. They didn’t speak as they walked, the only sounds were of rabbits and birds that he wouldn’t know were there without his fae hearing, and the crunch of shrubbery underfoot. Studying the warrior a few paces in front of him, he noticed the male hadn’t actually brought any of his weapons with him. It made him feel better, knowing he wasn’t likely to get stabbed, but that didn’t mean Rowan couldn’t hurt him. There was no need for weapons considering how much power he had.

After what felt like hours in the silence, was merely a thirty minute walk to the hills within the grounds, but far behind the castle where Rowan halted them. “Where are we?” His King, his brother in arms, his friend looked at him with such softness in those stark green eyes; Fenrys couldn’t even find the will to look away.

“We’ll get to that, but first I have to say a few things.” He dipped his head for Rowan to go on. “When Aelin first told me she was carrying twins, I cried for hours. It was from overwhelming joy and excitement, but also from an underlying fear. Fae twins are rare, as you know, but childbirth for fae females is also a difficulty. I was so, so terrified something would go wrong, that I’d lose them, including Aelin and that it would be like Lyria all over again.” Fenrys pushed the thoughts from his mind, trying not to remember how cold and angry Rowan had once been. He knew that it would have been a lot worse this time, had the worst actually occurred. “But everything was fine. I watched as they grew, as they kicked their tiny little feet against my touch for the first time. And then suddenly, as if I had merely blinked, I was holding Evalin in my arms.” Images of the warm summer evening the twins were welcomed into the world bombarded him, and he could clearly see Rowan with a babe in each arm in his mind’s eye. It was a sight you simply couldn’t forget. “She may be grown up Fenrys, but she’s my little girl, as she always will be. But tomorrow, tomorrow she becomes yours to love, to cherish and protect and I’ll respect that of course I will, but she’ll never stop being my sweet little princess who used to whack me with wooden swords and put flowers in my hair.” There was a dampness to his cheeks and he realised with a start, as he brought his hand to his face, that he’d started crying somewhere along the way.

“Of course she’s yours Rowan. That will never change, but just so you know, I’ll spend every day of my life trying to be worthy of her, to be worthy of being loved by her.” It was true, he didn’t deserve someone such as Eva, but he’d do everything in his power to prove himself to her. Rowan brought him into a back-clapping hug and he could do nothing but return it.

“I know boyo, I know, I’m just feeling a bit emotional is all and Aelin probably would have told me I was being ridiculous. Also,” he pulled away and smiled wickedly, “even if you do fuck this up somehow, I think I would be lower down on your list of concerns.” Rowan started walking again, pushing between the low-hanging branches of two old willow trees.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I think Con would beat me to you. He may be younger than Lin and Mia, but he’s fiercely protective when it comes to his sisters.” The miniature version of Rowan Whitehorn was a hellion naturally, but it was worse when something had happened to the twins. Fenrys had seen a little bit of that protection show the day the mating bond had settled.

“Speaking of, have you noticed Con has been spending a lot of time with Kallias lately? I’ve found them together a few times in the library, though Connall usually catches me from the corner of his eye and darts away. Poor Kal is always left confused and I think a little hurt.” There was a low chuckle from Rowan, his head shaking.

“I’ve seen them. I’ve known about my son’s preference for males for years, but I think he’s scared to tell us. I think they might even get a little shock of their own in a couple of years, honestly.” Interesting. “Aelin is desperate to call him out on it, but I’ve told her this is something he needs to sort out within himself first. He’ll tell us when he’s ready, though I hope it’s soon, because all I want is for him to be who he wants.” He was about to retort when Rowan halted them abruptly, nodding his head to the right of them. When he turned in that direction, his breath caught a little in his throat. There, in amongst the trees, was a small little yellow cottage. It was dark inside and Fenrys could smell the stale scent of pine and snow, indicating Rowan had been he but not recently.

“Rowan?”

The male in question dug into one of the pockets on his breeches, and pulled a small, silver key that glinted in the few rays of sunlight that shone through the canopy. “I started building this when Aelin told me she was with child, and then started another one after she had announced it would be twins. I knew that when they were all grown up, my children would want to leave and live independently, to be their own person. I also knew it would be hard for us to let them out of our sight, so I wanted to give them somewhere that they were far enough away from us, but somewhere I knew they would be safe, protected.” He pressed the key into the palm of Fenrys’ hand and folded his fingers over it. The metal was cool in his palm, barely weighing anything at all. “You and Evalin don’t have to live here of course, but I wanted her to know there was a place for her to start this new adventure with you.”

“I don’t know what to say.” There were things Fenrys knew he should say, but the words got stuck in his throat.

“There’s no need to say anything.” Rowan’s eyes were lined with silver as he ran his eyes over the place he’d created for his child. It wasn’t hard to imagine being here with Eva, it wasn’t hard at all.

“You said you started another when you knew it was going to be twins, did you start another when Aelin told you about Connall?” His friend wiped at his eyes quickly before nodding in confirmation.

“Yes. Mia’s is to the west of here, barely any distance from here at all and closer to the lake. I built Con’s to the east side of the castle, actually. There’s a small cavern close to it that has a hot spring inside, which I thought would be good for practicing.”

The two of them stayed out there for a little while longer, occasionally letting a content silence between them, or talking about all sorts of topics and reminiscing on the past. Soon enough, they were on the move again, reaching the castle just in time for Elide and Lorcan’s arrival, Aelin waiting for them with a glare. It was possible that they were a little behind when they said they’d be back. Fenrys tried to greet his friend’s as they arrived, little ones in tow, but Rowan stopped him with a hand to his shoulder, telling him to go and rest because he had a big day tomorrow. He let out a breath and agreed, walking back to his room without stopping to say hello to anyone.

When he was washed and settled into bed, Fenrys let the darkness take him into the land of dreams with a smile on his face.

Tomorrow, he was getting married.

--------

Let me know what you thought! I’m sorry for being so behind on things:( If you’re not in the tags but you’ve asked to be, just give me a shout and I’ll fix it asap, I don’t think my lists are updating properly<3

Tags:  @empress-sei​  @acourtofterrasenandvelaris​ @tswaney17​ @queen-of-glass​ @thesirenwashere​  @awkward-avocado-s​ @b00kworm​ @http-itsrebecca​ @eatmysandwiches​  @poisonous00​ @flowersinvegas​ @julemmaes​ @mu-si-ca-l​ @spyofthenightcourt​  @sis-it-dont-add-up​  @mad-madeline-ace​​ @df3ndyr​  @jesstargaryenqueen​  @notyournymphetish​ @nightcourtcinnamonroll​ @acourtofmarauders @rhyswhitethorn​ @booknerdproblems​ @sevenfreckles-for-sevenloves​ @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln​ @lucy617​ @ireallyshouldsleeprn​ @mis-lil-red​  @eleonor-da-silva​ @silentquartz​

[saeyoungs-sunflower]

Never Too Far (Choi Twins’ Birthday!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favourite tomatoes! This was written in haste to get it out in time so I’m sorry it’s pretty rough haha, I might go back and edit some parts later but don’t worry I won’t make any big changes. ALSO I know it isn’t in her timezone yet but it’s also my good friend @sunshinejihyun ‘s birthday so go send her some love! Her writing in incredible so I would 100% recommend you check it out!! <3

Notes:

It is implied Saeyoung x MC, but the main focus is on the twins <3

The last part takes place after the Secret Endings but V is alive because I do what I want heheheh

***

11th June, 2 years ago

The other members of the RFA had been very sweet to celebrate Seven’s birthday the way they did, organising a get-together at Jumin’s penthouse and properly hanging out outside of the RFA parties. They danced, they sang, they played games. They didn’t need to all that for him, but they did and Seven was incredibly grateful for that.

But he was just so exhausted.

It was hard enough to keep up his happy-go-lucky facade on his best of days, but the promised emotional turmoil of that day made it infinitely more taxing. The mask he had to hold up was heavy and his arms grew weaker with every passing hour.

It was around 10pm when the celebration came to a close. Seven thanked everyone for the day and for their generosity and left the penthouse, deciding to walk the long way home to give himself space to think.

What was he doing right now? Was he celebrating too? Did he get a cake and presents and was he surrounded by friends and family?

Was he happy?

Every new thought made his heart sink lower into his chest, buried down until he could hardly feel it at all. Numbness was better than pain, he thought, though his will to carry on that way was a dying ember in a rainstorm.

He hadn’t registered the he had been crying until he heard the shy tap of a tear hitting the concrete under his feet. Reaching a hand to touch his cheeks, he realised the tears had been running a long while before he noticed. He opted for wiping his face with the sleeve of his hoodie, his glasses already fogged up from the hot tears that spilled from his eyes. Fixing them to sit on the bridge of his nose again, he saw the sign:

Two Scoops

24hr Ice Cream Parlour

He laughed despite himself. Even the universe was mocking him now. Or was it trying to tell him something?

Seven didn’t care either way, deciding to further torture himself by indulging in what was his other half’s favourite treat. By taking himself back to the days when he would sneak out and seek out an ice cream parlour very much like this one. By filling his mind with the image of pure joy on his brother’s face when he returned with an ice cream to share, an image that was already printed onto the back of his skull. He just couldn’t resist.

“Hey there, what can I get you?,” said the girl running the till cheerily.

She seemed to be the only employee there, which wasn’t too surprising considering the time. The shop had more customers than he expected, but was by no means busy, “Hi, could I get two scoops of the strawberry, please.” That was his twin’s favourite. He really was putting himself through it tonight, wasn’t he?

“Sure thing. Was that to eat-in or takeaway?”

“Uh, eat-in, please.” He didn’t want to go home yet. He didn’t want to go back to his version of normal yet.

“No problem! If you’d like to take a seat I’ll bring that right over,” the girl said, a warm smile on her face. She was probably told to smile at customers like that, but for some reason it made Seven’s weary heart flutter as if it were genuine.

He read her name tag before finding a booth to himself. MC. Cute name, he thought. She seemed sweet, which was pretty fitting for a girl who worked at an ice cream shop.

A few minutes passed until MC came over to the booth with his ice cream, the same kind smile gracing her features. She placed his order in front of him with a small “Enjoy!” before going to clear another table.

Seven eyed the ice cream curiously.

Three scoops and a note?

He carefully unfolded the note and read its contents:

The extra scoop is on me. Happy birthday! x

How on earth did she…? Oh. Seven laughed out load when he remembered the big-ass birthday badge that Yoosung had given to him that was currently pinned to the front of his hoodie. Yoosung 1, Seven 0.

He turned around to where she was currently wiping down a table, also giggling as they made eye contact. He shot her a wide smile, the first genuine smile he could recall, and mouthed a ‘thank you’ at her.

She simply bowed her head in response before returning to her place behind the counter, still smiling as she started to make other customers’ orders.

Seven continued to spoon ice cream into his mouth as he watched out the window, trying with all his might to not look back at MC. He didn’t want to distract her from her work, but he also didn’t want to make any promises that he couldn’t keep.

He wanted to give her his number. He wanted to take her out for a drink to say thank you, maybe even take her out for dinner. He wanted to have that option. He wanted nothing more than to live a life where he could do those things, but even if he wanted to, it was out of his reach. He had already gone too far by being friendly with her, so all he could do now was leave a sizeable tip and never come back.

Shoving his hands into his pockets he moved towards the door, stopping by the counter on his way, “Thank you again, you really didn’t need to do that, but I appreciate it. It was very kind of you.”

“Nah, don’t be silly,” you said, your smile reaching your eyes, “it’s my pleasure. Have a good evening.”

He’ll try.

“You too.”

And with that, he walked out the door, the shrill ring of the bell over the door mocking him as he left what could have been the best thing that ever happened to him. As an agent, he spent a lot of time considering the ‘what if’s and ‘what could been’s, and he couldn't help but feel that this pure act of kindness from a stranger could have blossomed into something cherishable, something precious. Something real.

Perhaps, one day, he would return to this ice cream shop and pick things up where they left off. Perhaps things would just work out his way for a change. Perhaps he could have a chance with that life.

But life just wasn’t that kind, was it?

***

11th June, 1 year ago

Ray was, quite frankly, bored. He had been sent out to recruit new believers more times than he could count. It was such a dull task, since he rarely found someone worthy or suitable for paradise. However, the saviour had sent him out on a special recruitment mission today, so he knew he had to concentrate.

But, today in particular…he just wasn’t feeling it.

He knew he wasn’t supposed to, but he still remembered. 11th of June. His birthday.

There were only so many doses of elixir he could stomach, so in the end he lied to the saviour by saying it had worked, that he couldn’t remember anything from his past. He was a clean slate, a blank canvas ready for her to paint whatever she pleased. The venom of guilt ran through his blood everyday since he betrayed his saviour, but he wasn’t sure he would have survived another round of cleansing.

However, it was only on this day that, just for a while, he let his mind wander about his old life, or the life that could have been. He never let it wander too far in fear he would run with it, but just enough to satisfy the gaping whole in his heart that grew wider with each year that passed.

He continued to trudge through the streets, his focus diminishing until the glint of a luminous sign caught his eye.

24hr ice cream huh?

Ray considered it for a moment, the venomous guilt stinging more than before. It wasn’t allowed. He would be punished if she found out. She would be so angry.

But really, how would she know? He would be leaving sooner than he arrived, and he could tell her he thought he found a potential candidate but they turned out to be unsuitable. After a rush of bravery, with a trace of rebellion, Ray entered the shop.

The shop was small, quaint. He expected it to be busier, considering the nice weather. But he didn’t complain, it meant there was basically no queue.

“Hiya,” the girl behind the counter beamed, “what can I…oh! Hello again!” What? “How are you?”

“Oh, um, I’m good thanks but sorry I-“

“I love what you’ve done with your hair by the way, the white really suits you!”

The white really…hold on. Did she think you were…?

This…could work.

Ray cleared his throat, “Ah, thank you. I, uh, bleached it recently.”

“Well I think it looks great,” she said, still smiling brightly. Yes, this could definitely work. “What can I get for you?”

“Uh, the salted caramel please. Two scoops, please.” He didn’t know why he said that. It wasn't his favourite. But he knew who’s favourite it was.

He must have been feeling sentimental today.

She raised an eyebrow at him, her lips curling up even more, “Of course, eat-in or takeaway?”

“Uh, takeaway, please.”

“Sure, if you just wait round the corner I’ll make that up for you!”

Rounding the corner of the counter, Ray started to type furiously on his phone. He’d read her name tag, now he just needed to locate her phone. MC, MC, MC…

Gotcha.

“Here you go!”

Ray snapped out of his trance, taking the paper cup out of her hands, “Oh, thank you.”

“No worries. Have a lovely birthday!” she called out as she hurried off to the next customer.

Okay, he could understand the mix up, but how on EARTH did she know that?

Well, there was no time to worry about that now. He had done it, he had found the perfect person. His saviour would be so proud.

She was kind, enthusiastic and, seemingly, overly-trusting. He would be able to lure her to the apartment quite easily. Plus, she would feel right at home with that red-head…

Ray swatted the thought from his mind as he left the shop, only then noticing the extra scoop of ice cream he had been given.

How strange.

Later that evening, he began the first part of the plan. Thoughts of the past left his mind, being replaced by thoughts of the future.

Maybe, life was a little kinder to him then he thought.

***

11th June, Present day

Saeyoung woke up and patted the other half of his bed, only to find it empty and cold. He shot up, sitting bolt upright as he rummaged for his glasses. Upon locating them, he propped them on his face before he focussed his tired eyes on her side of the bed, finding only a piece of paper with her handwriting on it:

A little birdy told me it was someone’s birthday? If that’s true, come to this address at 12 noon. Try not to be late but for the love of God do NOT be early pleeeeeease! Love you! MC xx

He kind of recognised the address, but couldn’t begin to remember where from. Rubbing his eyes, still slightly crusty from sleep, and flinging on a t-shirt, Saeyoung went to take a shower only to meet his brother in the hallway.

“Did you get one too?” Saeran said, voice still husky as he held up a note very similar to the one he found.

Saeyoung couldn’t help but smile.

“I did. Looks like she’s up to something.”

“Oh God, what on earth has she done.”

Both twins chuckled, they knew what MC was like. She was excitable, cheerful, loving. But she also had a tendency to go a bit overboard, which often made for some very amusing and slightly awkward situations for everyone involved. But no matter the outcome, she always managed to make them smile and they were always grateful for her efforts.

So they knew that either way, they were going to have a good birthday.

After they both showered, ate and were preparing to leave, Saeran disappeared to his room before returning with his hands behind his back.

“Saeyoung?”

“Uh huh?” Saeyoung said as he tied his shoes.

“Um, happy birthday.” Saeyoung swivelled around to find Saeran holding out a small red box, tied together with a white ribbon in a neat bow. Saeyoung stood up, mouth agape as he gently took the box.

He slowly untied the knot and opened it, chuckling when he saw what was a pendent in the shape of an ice cream cone.

“It’s silly, I know, but it’s what connected us for so many years and…I wanted something to remind of us that,” he said quietly, his hand under the colour of his sweater as he pulled out a matching pendent on a chain.

Saeyoung tried with all his might to blink away the tears but it was no use. He unfastened his usual chain from his neck and slipped the pendent through so it sat proudly next to his cross. He leapt forward, catching Saeran in his arms as tears continue to slide down his face. There they held each other, neither willing to be the first to let go. Eventually Saeyoung broke away, darting into his own room and coming out with a medium-sized pink box.

“I was waiting for the right time to give you this, and now seems pretty perfect,” he said as he handed it to his brother.

Setting in on the table, Saeran shyly lifted up the lid and couldn’t contain the grin that creeped up his face as he examined the present. It was a bonsai tree.

“I know that you love gardening but get upset when the plants die, so I thought that you should have one that will live for as long as you take care of it.”

Saeran also felt tears pricking his eyes but was able to hold back, “Thank you, Saeyoung.”

“You’re welcome. Now we better go before MC hunts us down.”

***

Saeyoung and Saeran wandered the streets together, following the GPS on their phones before coming face-to-face with an all too familiar sign.

Surely not.

“Wait…” they both said in sync before hurtling towards the entrance.

“SURPRISE!” the whole RFA cried as they stumbled through the door. The place had been covered head-to-toe in red and pink decorations, and every member had their own party hats and streamers. To an outsider, it would have looked like a children’s party but nobody cared, because the look of pure joy and astonishment on their faces made it all worth it.

The twins were covered in confetti upon entrance, and whilst they were both indescribably grateful and excited, Saeyoung had questions.

“MC, do you work here?!”

“I used to, a little bit anyway. My parents own the business so I would work here in between jobs or when I was visiting. That’s why I was able to close it for the day!”

Saeyoung thought he was going to burst, “Did you work here a few years ago? In the summer?”

MC lips curled into a smug smile. She knew where this was going, “I did.”

“So…you were…this is…”

“Where we first met,” she said gently, intertwining her fingers with his.

“And where we first met,” Saeran chimed in, smiling at MC.

“HUH? Sorry…WHAT?!” Saeyoung yelled, one hand taking a fistful of his hair as he tried to wrap his head around everything.

Saeran and MC couldn’t contain the laughter that bubbled up in their throats. They explained everything to him, about how Saeran had come in a year after he did, how MC thought he was Saeyoung, how that was the reason MC joined the RFA. It was so crazy Saeyoung needed to sit down, but his smile never faltered.

After that was cleared up, they all enjoyed the rest of the celebration. Zen organised the karaoke, Jumin and Jaehee set up the party games, Yoosung and MC were in charge of ice cream, and V took photos of the whole thing. He captured every smile, every laugh and every tear of joy. It was a truly magical day, one that neither twin ever thought was possible for them.

It was stupid late when everyone decided it was time to go home. MC locked up, saying that she would deal with the mess in the morning since it was going to be closed anyway, and the three strolled home together.

MC linked arms with the two most precious people in her life, tugging them close to her side. They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, until Saeyoung spoke up, “One thing still doesn’t make sense though.”

MC cocked an eyebrow, “And what’s that?”

“When you thought Saeran was me, how did you know it was my birthday? Surely you wouldn’t have remembered the date?”

“Well, the one time you came in was on your birthday. I thought it must have been a tradition, since the time of year seemed about right. Lucky guess, I suppose.”

“Okay, I got it…actually no I don’t. I’m sorry but isn’t it just too weird?” he looked to Saeran, “Like, how did we both go to the same ice cream shop on the same day of the year and meet the SAME girl? Then you brought her to the same organisation that I was in and then we got to live like this? After everything that went down?”

Saeran smiled gently, “I think even we deserve a bit of good luck every know and then. It is funny though, that even when we were apart, we were basically connected through MC.”

“The universe has a strange way of working everything out,” MC said softly, “and anyway, I think that’s the thing about twins,” MC squeezed both their arms,

“Despite all odds, they are never stray too far from one another.”

***

Big love for the Choi bois <3 again I am so sorry this isn’t my best writing, but I still hope you enjoyed it! x

Masterlist

[holymoonlighted]

Lost in the Sands, Irithyll, Anor Londo and beyond.

Spoilers for Dark Souls III for the entire post:

Irithyll is an interesting location in Dark Souls III, a snowy town with an eternal Moon upon its sky; Anor Londo being the same. However, if not obvious it was not always the case for Dark Souls III. The intentions for Anor Londo and Irithyll were much different, it can even be seen in the game still.

If one needs some information before we begin: Dark Souls III was heavily edited and reconstructed very late in the day. You can still see so many unused structures and different placements of things especially from Vordt’s room where you fly to Undead Settlement. Many maps even now have drastically rearranged, new or removed architecture, placements of buildings and locations, the works. It is a miracle that this game even came out, honestly. Nevertheless, this is needed to explain that the story was shifted around insurmountably. It is why many things in the story seem to just fall off, or seem like they don’t belong. Many things even during the DLC were absolutely switched and patchworked in to make sense or to make things even more confusing. Boss Musical Chairs is the name of the game in this game as well. Nevertheless, enjoy.

(Sorry, this is the best shot I could get for this building.)

This itself is Anor Londo. This is not the end of the world as the Ringed City would like you to believe. It was never planned to be that until they had to cut the entire concept. Yes, this means Irithyll was a desert at some point. It’s still quite obvious in the final game, but luckily snow acts the same as sand in the way it’s used but, nonetheless, here we go. In this version, it was just sand everywhere. Furthermore, this proves something by the appearance of it. It’s old, decrepit and quite frankly demolished. Ruins are all over the place and it is obviously quite large. It also appears even from Vordt’s view, not as high up as if it’s sunken into the sands. Many buildings are left to ruin and most likely, no holy sights or Gwyn or even Gwynevere statues exist anymore.  So, it’s not how it appears in the final game, and that can be explained. What would have happened is, at some point, travelling back to a past Anor Londo was necessary. How or why this was isn’t know, but, what is known is that travelling back was a thing but then possibly defeating Gwyndolin or someone that looks like Gwyndolin was necessary. If you notice, the Gwyndolin we fight as Aldrich, well that isn’t Gwyndolin. It’s just Lothric with a mask similar to Gwyndolin. It is also interesting to note, at one point, Aldrich had the ability to summon Man Grubs as one point and it links him to being Rosaria’s firstborn even more, so fun fact.

Current story aside this, well, is not Gwyndolin. The mask is so different that it looks like a Bootleg. Not to mention the clothes are entirely new, especially that the color is transparent and black. And this was most likely the case. Someone who was pretending to be Gwyndolin and faking it so that they can influence the people of Irithyll their god is still alive, somebody named Sulyvahn. See, Aldrich’s internal name is Sulyvahn. With this it can be concluded that some roles were changed, Aldrich at one point was at Archdragon Peak, way, way past Anor Londo. Then he was at the Cathedral, still far away from Anor Londo. In conclusion, Sulyvahn was this character that was acting like Gwyndolin, who is leading the Darkmoon Knights and corrupting their image. There is just a boss in the files called “Anor Londo Boss” and well, it was most likely Sulyvahn and was probably a callback to the Gwyndolin fight. At the time where you travel back to, Anor Londo was still whole, in fact the past map is actually the current map but the past map would have a “past” world state aka just a filter on the screen. Also, the entire Sulyvahn and Aldrich plot was absolutely just not here. As will be seen later. The boss that was “Moonlight Witch” and this enemy still appears in game, as the “Fire Witch”. It’s also in the art book with some impressive art, it being the boss is the reason. These enemies still bare their magic and weapons in the final game, but not the spell shown in its art.

This location by the way is called “Anor Londo Ruins” and the entire place would just be ruins and it was also the end game area, assumedly. And, once in the past, and defeating this boss some event revolving around resurrection is involved. An unused game flag called “After Resurrection” is present but sadly, nothing is known about it other than that. Except, we probably do know. Sulyvahn as we know him now is actually a boss called “Old King of the Eclipse” and was actually the final boss before Soul of Cinder. He was probably the final boss for a long while until he had to be changed due to unspecified reasons.

The Old King of the Eclipse:

This part of cut content is extremely, very, very hard to pin down lore-wise but other parts like mechanics is pretty easy to decipher. So, to state a few things I said before and some I didn’t: 

Aldrich in Archdragon Peak

Resurrection in Anor Londo

Lorian and Lothric being an early boss

Old King of the Eclipse being resurrected

Archdragon Peak lines up with Lothric Castle with some teleportation manipulation, meaning Archdragon Peak was closer at one point, incredibly close.

So, with this information we can construct a narrative: Aldrich is still a Lord of Cinder, traveling to him would be like Anor Londo now. But instead it would be in Archdragon peak. Since the Lothric princes are early bosses, no need to fight them as Lords of Cinder(them being Lords is very late, apparent by their absence in the intro cutscene.). So, three lords defeated and once at Anor Londo, a resurrection happens. Then you go to Untended Graves and unlock the Kiln of the First Flame. It is unknown if something at Anor Londo resurrected the Old King, or what it’s just up in the clouds. Also, I am not sure when this was a thing but the Pilgrim Butterflies at one point were seemingly Dragons. A lot of early stuff seemed to involve Draconic Children and really the return of Dragons in general. Which could help with the whole scenic thing of “Things are turning back to how their primal form” which would also include the world itself, which includes Dragons who were there before Gwyn and Humans. But. nevertheless, assume that this resurrection is related. 

Then, this possibly kickstarts the Eclipse or furthers it along. The Eclipse in a logistical standpoint is not explained as far as I know. It has not true explanation that gives credence to any sort of theory involving it rather than content clues. It seems that a King was born and became a holy symbol of this world ending eclipse, it is most likely that this eclipse is something like the 2012 Mayan Calendar event and when this or this happens like the resurrection, it kicks off and the world ends. The picture below is assumedly the eclipse as well as the Kiln at this point:

Also, keep in mind that this King is literally the Sulyvahn Model, from what I know, nothing drastic changed and it’s the same. The King seems to form this duality, like souls tends to do; Life and Death, Alive and Undead, Good and Evil and Light and Dark which are incredibly key opponents in the Dark Souls world. Gwyn has always been seen as the light of the world, he is literally the Sun. The Eclipse is the Moon, Darkness. An Eclipse is the Moon obscuring the Sun, and this King of the Eclipse can be well equated with a Dark Lord character archetype found in fiction. This figure that overshadows the Dark. It’s even more apparent looking at early Anor Londo, it’s absolutely destroyed.  Gwyns legacy is destroyed, at least one of its major parts.

Gwyn as a name is essentially forgotten. And yes, it is unknown how worshipped this King was, but, he’s doing way better than Gwyn, he’s still alive. So, it seems this King and the Eclipse is this symbolic thing that says “Gwyn is dead, his age of light is dead, overtaken by the dark.” and it’s way more maddening when you realize this is the apocalypse, the end of everything. Also, notice how it looks exactly like the Darksign, this bloody Moon of Darkness which covers the Sun; It’s definitely a symbol of Gwyn’s fear and his failed efforts have finally overtaken his world that he’s built. 

 It’s not only Gwyn, though. The society he built is still lingering through Lothric, in some capacity. Undead are still hated, the linking of the fire is still “needed” and supported to the point an entire Kingdom’s ethics are based around making a worthy linker. It symbolizes, in my mind, the idea of the curse and the world that the sins are bleeding onto the world as if it were saying “this has been brought onto you, by you, your blood.” Of course, Gwyn did bring the curse to humanity, but they continued to link the fire, the fear of death is a thing that lingers still: But due to humanity’s fears as well, they continued to link it. But since humanity continued this tradition. The world must sit and watch itself burn. 

Of course, this is just my theory, if you have anything else to add or you don’t agree, feel free to let me know.

Thanks for reading! (This post has been drastically edited!)

[threshasketch]

Hey, thank you for checking out my art commission post! 

Commissions and Patreon and Ko-Fi are my only source of income right now, and every dollar helps me pay the rent, keep the lights and internet on, and (very important!) keep coffee pot full. ♥

First, a very important announcement:

Commission prices and guidelines have been revised as of 2/6/2020. All previous versions of my art commission guidelines are outdated, and will not be honored*.

*I want to make the changes here as fairly as possible, so anybody who contacted me about a commission before 2/6/2020 will still get the old prices for that commission, even if I haven’t responded to you yet. All commissions I am contacted about on or after this date will adhere to the new guidelines and pricing.

Why The Changes?

It’s become an annual thing for me to review and update my art commission guidelines, because after a year I can see that some items never get ordered and some prices are too low for the amount of time I’m spending working on them.

The prices haven’t changed much this year, and anything that has gone up, it’s because I’ve been doing commissions that involved those things and took me much longer than I thought they would. Price changes are not done to gouge anybody, but to try and be fair to myself for how hard I’m working.

As ever, I’m so grateful to everyone who has ever helped support me and my work – sincerely, thank you! ♥

Without further ado, onward, to the art!

Commission Guidelines

YES:

OCs

Child characters

Ship art (poly ships welcome!)

Specific poses by request

Pics with multiple characters

Characters from shows/comics/anime/manga/etc

Characters in outfits you send me a ref of (armor, a toga, fashionista ensemble, pink panties, you name it – talk to me)

Tasteful nudity (think pin-up style, coyly placed vases, that kind of thing)

Giant/tiny art

Different body types (I LOVE drawing different body types)

Backgrounds (not too complicated please)

Wings, horns, other non-human traits (♥)

NO:

Underage characters in romantic/sexual situations

Furries (nothing against these, I’m just not great at drawing them)

Mecha (see above)

Explicit sex/kink stuff (sorry…I’m sure there are others who will draw this for you out there)

Graphic violence

Non-con

Anti-something art/hate

RPF, aka Real Person Fiction (same thought as explicit stuff)

Closely copying or editing somebody else’s artwork for you

Drawing Styles

Coloring Styles

Pricing Info:

First pick a drawing style:

Chibi line art: $20

Non-chibi line art: $30 (complicated poses/details may be more)

Then add a coloring/shading style:

Flat grays: $10

Flat colors: $15

Gray shading: $20

Color shading: $25

Digital painting: $40 (may be more depending on how realistic/complicated)

Add any extras:

Additional character: $10 per chibi character, $15 per non-chibi character, $25 per digital painting character

Simple background: $10

Detailed background: $20

Add ‘em up and you have your price! If you want a dot chibi couple pic with flat colors, for example, you’re looking at about $45. A non-chibi couple line art? Also $45.

Specialty Projects

Tattoo design: Standard commission prices for characters, style, etc, additional $50 for extra time and care making super high res, smooth line artwork in a one-of-a-kind custom design for you. I have designed several tattoos already. ♥ Tell me the planned tattoo location and I’ll shape the art to fit and display nicely. 

(Tattoo belongs to @vibraniumarm​ , photo and ink work by Diaz Tattoo.)

Fanfic illustrations/covers: Minimum $50 per piece (Will vary based on number of characters/details, art and coloring style desired, etc. I’m an experienced big bang artist. Please check out my Supernatural Bang Master Post for 2018 for examples of fic covers I have done with links to the full art master posts below each cover.)

More examples from my own fics:

Commission Conditions

Commissions provided in digital form only. I post commissioned art on my art blog and on Twitter with the name of who commissioned it – if you don’t want to be tagged by name or need to hold off the posting (say, for surprise birthday present art), please let me know. High-res file copies of commissioned art are provided on request, no extra charge. Payment is required before I begin to work.

I retain the copyright to my work. Under no conditions are you to sell it, print it to sell, repost it without credit to me as the artist, or claim it as your own work.

Revisions will be done within reason if you aren’t absolutely happy with the work (but that’s what I’m aiming for on the first try. ♥) If in doubt, please message me and we’ll work it out!

Payment Info

All prices are in US dollars, and I accept payments through PayPal. All I need is your PayPal email address, and I’ll send you an invoice of what commission item(s) we discussed, the price, the date and other important information in minutes. Once the invoice arrives, you can use PayPal to pay it in a few clicks. 

I switched to invoices because it helps me track my earnings/tax info, as well as being a proof of a commission agreement between us. It protects everybody involved. ♥

How to Contact Me:

If you’re interested in an art commission, you can contact me any of these ways:

Send me an email at thresherii@yahoo.com with the subject line “Threshasketch Art Commission”

Toss me a Tumblr ask / messenger message

Send me a direct message on my Twitter

I’m usually around and will get back to you as quick as I can. Actual art-making turnaround time is pretty speedy, but really depends on whether the commission is complicated or simple. 

I usually have a queue of commissions lined up, and I work on them in the order they were paid for. Please expect several weeks at the minimum for me to reach your place in the queue and create your art. Let me know if you have a specific time frame you need me to work within, and I’ll be sure I can meet that requirement before taking the commission on!

Think This Post Is Long Enough? Cripes.

If you’d just like to support my work and don’t have a specific art request in mind (fhdsfkdhdsk), you could buy me a Ko-Fi as a tip or become a Patron on Patreon as a monthly type of thing. (If you’re already a Patron, bless you and I love you to pieces!)

Congrats, you made it to the bottom of the post! Thank you for your interest in my art, hope the rest of your day is awesome! ♥♥♥

[muesliforbreakfast]

Fanfiction

Ahhh I remember being sixteen. Vaguely. My favourite book series at the time was the Old Kingdom trilogy. I haven’t read it in a while, but I think it probably holds up. Good lord the pacing.

I wrote a fanfiction of it, and I’m going to share it with you here and now. Relax, it doesn’t feature scenes of a self insert banging all the characters in debaucherous and self aggrandizing ways. All the self-insertion is as like, an action hero or something.

A few disclaimers - This is not the original version. I edited it a fair bit. For grammar and continuity, mostly. However, I do have another sixteen years of experience now... Most importantly, a lot more experience in the arts of mars. When I came across it, I was like “Not only does this not work, it’s also too fkn clean.”

Don’t worry, if you do bother to read through it you won’t be coming across some Cormac McCarthy level violence.

I wrote this in like, 2004. At that point only the original trilogy had been released. I haven’t even read Clariel, or Goldenhand. I really should get on it, I’m sure it’s fucken dope.

Also I’m well aware that even in a fantasy setting some of this shit would never happen. Where I’ve made the biggest changes I’ve tried to keep to the spirit, if not the letter of the original.

Not all fanfiction is garbage. Don’t get me wrong, this totally is, but you should read The Last Ringbearer.

This will be a long post.

Enjoy

- - - - - - - - - - -

Deserter - 1 - Night Moves

The driving snow made visibility next to zero on the Ancelstierre side of the wall, and for once, the same could be said for the Old Kingdom side. This close to the wall and Barhedrin hill, a traveller was unlikely to die of exposure, if they were to seek shelter immediately, but the poor visibility and blanketing snow would erase any tracks made, making chances of survival poor. Law wanted to find shelter now, but that was not the mission.

<One. Meter. Spacing. Head North. Hurry Up.>

The visibility made his signals difficult to see; he hoped the squad got the message; if not, they'd get it when he sped up.

Lawrence reached the boulder at the position that the group had described for him as suitable shelter months ago; more of a windbreak really. He was well ahead of the group, but had to wait for the last of the dozen to enter the comparative calm of the lee side of the boulder before he could start erecting a shelter. Those that arrived first were skewering him with hateful glances as they set their tents up. The first one to finish, also the tallest approached him.

"Hey dick head," Law turned his head to look at him, "What the fuck is your problem?"

He obviously didn't like Law, and the rest seemed to share his sentiments. They'd probably crucify him if he knocked big stuff out.

"This is all fucked... But you do your job and I’ll do mine, chief." He replied.

“You’re on thin ice, fuckface.” Big stuff growled.

"Back off Smith." Their leader said, Law didn't even know his rank. All the men quietened down and the leader sat down next to a boulder. Having already erected a tent by himself, Law figured it was OK to sit with him.

"That was a tough slog, but they’ll be glad we’re a bit ahead of schedule." he said.

"Weather’s getting worse,” he said, taking out a cigar and a match, “They’re not stupid."

His match went out, and Law tossed him a lighter. Smoking in the field was... Not his problem.

"Use mine." The leader tried to light it.

"Gee whiz. It's not working." he tossed it back.

-

The storm had passed two hours before dawn, which meant that they had trudged through it for an hour or so. Law had discarded his NVG's which were faulty, and he had also discarded all his faith in the organisation of this operation. By the time they saw the sun, they were well past Barhedrin Hill, having passed under the cover of cloud and night. The weather seemed to be clearing, and soon he would be able to leave; the next ridge was where he got off this train. Unlike the night before, they all arrived together. They all gathered, got their bearings and left. They were dicks, and amateurish, but good luck to them. He held up a peace sign as they moved past him, slow and quiet.

Orders were to stay put for half an hour then leave, but along with the orders to carry no watches, he figured it was time to leave. He was in a pristine, snowy landscape, and immediately regretted not having brought skis along, this hill was the tallest one for miles. He could see a village on the other side of a valley from here, and a small wood well south of the village. Skiing from here would have been a blast. He began his quiet march back, alone. As he moved along, he spotted a funny looking rock at the foot of the hill. He bent down to inspect it and found that he had led the group in a circle. They were the night vision goggles that he had discarded well before dawn. He frowned; they had all ended up in the right place, so... what? The only conclusion he could come to was that the mission they were on was hopelessly organised. 

He continued along, and almost missed the ski tracks following their trail. When he noticed them, he drew his silenced .45 pistol. He inspected them, and saw that they were going in the same direction that they had been walking. He had a general idea where the tracks would lead; over the tall hill. He scaled it from a different angle, it took almost no time at all. He lay prone in the snow and crawled to a small snow drift; when he arrived he saw there was a log underneath. Propped up by the edge of the log, he watched the place where he and the group had separated, he doubted that the skier would have passed there already. He was rewarded when he saw a figure in white, with skis strapped to his back pick his way past the rocks before the insertion point. He watched the figure kneel in the snow; inspecting all the footprints, but was surprised to see the figure follow his tracks instead of the groups.

-

"Drop you're weapons." Law ordered, with his .45 pointed squarely at the man's back as he skulked by on the rocky ground. The man dropped his skis and ski poles. He turned, the wide, predatory smile across his face twisted Law’s guts into knots.

“Law.” He said, and drew his sword.

"Who are you?" Law asked, looking down the sight of his weapon.

"An assassin. Sent to kill you." he replied, and advanced slowly.

Law pulled the trigger. Dead man’s click.

Somehow the assassin smiled wider and quickened his pace.

-

Lawrence cleaned his bayonet on the snow and examined the sword. It was nice, high quality steel. Razor sharp, but not wielded by an expert.

-

As the assassin had charged him, Law had thrown his gun at his face, but the assassin had expected that, and had battered the flying gun aside. Law drew his bayonet, and stepped aside across a tree as the assassin had tried to run him through. The assassin faced him, sword at the guard position. His bayonet was of the type that the perimeter garrison used; extra long, 60cm. He was a good knife fighter, maybe he stood a chance. The assassin advanced, with more restraint. He swung his sword one handed, and Law parried it as best he could. The assassin punched him in the jaw, and Law slipped on the ice, landing hard on his shoulders. The assassin laughed maniacally as he brought the sword into a high guard and swung it down towards him. Law rolled to the side, and the sword sent a spray of snow across him. The sword was stuck in a root, and the assassin was grunting with exertion, trying to pull it out. Law rolled up on his back and sent both his legs at the attacker. One of his boots crashed into his face, and the other into the hilt of the sword, breaking his hands and knocking him to the ground.

He stood up and closed in on the assassin, as the assassin tried to stand.

“Why?” He growled, bringing his shin into the assassin’s ribs, breaking at least three.

“Fuck you!” The assassin yelled. Law pounced on his back, grabbed his head with both hands and started smashing it into the hard icy ground. Then he put his forearm across the assassin’s face and pulled his hands in a gable grip with his considerable strength. He felt the assassin’s nose and front teeth break under the pressure. The assassin gargled in pain and struggled for a weapon, some snow, anything. Law bore down on him and their combined weight landed on the assassin’s face. He put his forearm on the attackers face again, and pulled, with pressure on his eye socket this time.

"They're gonna kill the Abhorsen!" he cried out. Law released the pressure, only to punch him in the liver.

"Who?"

"The twelve guys you guided in here!" The assassin was a sorry sight, battered face, bleeding mouth.

"Why?"

"Corolini! The Corvere insurrection!”

Because of a revenge plot.

Law pulled the assassin’s head back and cut his throat, blood sprayed across the scene of their fight.

He had met the Abhorsen once. He was one of the few in Corvere that weren't loyal to or paid by Corolini during the Corvere insurrection. He had been ordered to join Corolini’s guard, drawn from the ranks of Ancelstierre's special forces. He despised Corolinis rhetoric, policy and person, and had put a bullet in his head at the first opportunity. When the fighting was over, it turned out that he had chosen the side of righteousness; some bad motherfucker Warlord, Orannis, in the North had been siding with Corolini, and had been routed. The Prime Minister of Ancelstierre had pinned a medal on his chest, and so had the Abhorsen. The assassin had said that the plan was to kill her’ someone was out to get even.

"They should have given you a crossbow, friend." He said, as he left the assassin in the snow. The objective was the Abhorsen, and he couldn't really see how it would be achieved. The plan until now however, had made perfect sense. They had equipped him well south of the wall, and taken him to the wall by horse and cart, to 'blend in with the locals.' They had shown him maps of the 'planned route', but never pictures, or first hand reconnaissance to ensure he didn't find out some of the stories he'd been told of this place were true. They had gone on the snowiest day possible so any tracks they made would be wiped clean, so they had needed him to get as far as they had. From there, Law figured that the plan was to lure the Abhorsen and her apprentice into some kind of trap, but they could well be after the entire royal family. He had to assume the worst. He picked up the trail again. He was in a very interesting position; he could stop this plot in it's tracks. Ancelstierre would think he was dead, and so would the twelve. As long as he remained hidden, he would have the power to intervene.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Deserter - 2 - Catching up

Night Vision Goggles. Zippo Lighter. .45 caliber silenced HK. Compass. 7.62mm SLR. Headlamp. With all that gone, Law would travel lighter. That was the bright side. The assassin had only carried a set of 6 throwing knives and the sword for Law, and he only had his clothes, his bayonet, a garrote and a little folding knife in addition to that. He hadn’t packed heavy; two days worth of water, food and a tent. He was meant to be home by now. He didn't know the terrain, but he was an expert in fieldcraft and field survival. With all this snow around, he wouldn't die of thirst, but finding food would still be work.

He soon found that he wouldn't have time to die of starvation; the group had left all the useless gear close to where they had split up. No food, but they were close. From there, they had set a casual pace. He caught up within a day, and observed them. They were in their army khakis now, but carried swords and shields instead of guns and grenades. They all wore assorted armour, which explained their glacial pace to him. They had to carry all that crap, their field gear and rifle, and several magazines. Armed as they were, Law thought he could rush in there and take five or six before they even knew he was there, and two or three more before they could do anything about it. Leaving up to five for later, if he survived. He would have done it, if they weren't in direct line of sight to a village or something; only nine... cottages... Apart from the lack of modern weaponry, they looked like they were on patrol in the normal world. Law figured out this next part of the plan; they were going to pretend to be deserters (which they really were), but blood all over their clothes would make their reasons for deserting seem kind of weak. He'd have to continue watching. They entered the village, and Law went around it; they didn't emerge, he'd have to camp here for the night.

They finally left three days later, but moved with the same non-military pace. They were here to spread a story, moving on to whatever else was next on their plan. Law decided to go into the town and find out exactly what that story was. He pulled off his balaclava, revealing his face. He had jet black hair, and hadn't shaved for days. He drew his bayonet to shave off his stubble. He had skin a few shades darker than olive, and having just taken off a balaclava he'd been wearing on and off for five days or so, his shaven head was a prickly stubble. It still looked neat, at least. In this snowy hell hole, he doubted that there was anyone else as dark as him, so he'd have to stick to their story of desertion. He went around the village again. He'd come in from the Ancelstierre side.

"Excuse me ma'am," A tall, dark and handsome Ancelsterrian Tamith had been watching for a minute or so approached her, " I'm looking for some friends of mine, they said they'd be coming through this way. Have you seen them?"

"I don't know. Why don't you describe them?" she replied.

"There were a dozen or so of them, Ancelsterrian clothes, and... uh...local weapons." the stranger replied, he didn't seem fazed.

"They're deserters, are you?" That reply seemed to get past his guard.

"Yes. I am." He replied after a moment. Tamith had promised them not to help anyone trying to bring them home; they had some pretty solid reasons for deserting, and this fellow started alarm bells ringing with his manner.

"Sorry they didn’t tell me anything. Why did you desert?" She couldn't be sure about this man, but she decided to give him a chance.

"Military life... Orders. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been there, but I’ve had to do things I’m not proud of." In her opinion, that was the wrong answer, but that was exactly what one of the soldiers said.

"What were their names?" She finally asked.

Lawrence had picked twelve random famous people from Ancelstierre as their names. She had said "No they weren't", to which he'd replied “They might have lied to you; knowing them and knowing me is a risk to us. Please, forget this entire conversation.” Then she had told him everything they had told her. They had been looking for jobs, and she had suggested joining the guard at Roble's town. They were hiring pretty easily, there was some trouble in the North, and anyone with some experience in the armed forces would be recruited in a heartbeat. He thanked her and moved on. The way he figured, they would practice their act at every major and minor settlement between here and Roble's town. He could move ahead, she had told him the way. If he was lucky, he would arrive days, possibly even a week or two ahead of them.

Law sighted them the next day; they were moving with good security. Slow and quiet. They weren’t the amateurs they acted like on the first night. No opportunity to eliminate any of them presented itself that day, so he passed them. It took him six days to get to Roble's town at his pace, at least twice as fast as the others. There were two small towns and a village that was even smaller than the first one on the way. He ended up reaching Roble's town over two and a half weeks ahead of the others. Like the young woman had said, they had accepted him readily, and put him in the infantry under his new name Tony; his hand to hand combat skills were better than anything they had ever seen, he was told. With his equipment and skills however, they could only assume he was a deserter. He made no friends among his new colleagues, he seemed beneath their contempt, and he really couldn't blame them could he? His plan was to stay out of their sight and kill the other Ancelsterrians as they slept. Then he could slip out and go home; no one need know that he had foiled an assassination plot. Unfortunately, the recruiting centre in Roble's town was flooded with people wanting to do their part for their country, and he was transported to Qyrre. From there, he would be taken to Sindle via boat and horses.

Qyrre was next to the Ratterlin; the main river in the 'Old Kingdom'. He had never liked fishing back home, but with no friends and no reason to leave on his time off, Law decided it was a good opportunity to get out and do some recon. He hadn't caught anything all morning, and was preparing to leave the riverbank. Sword practice was in an hour,  and he was bored out of his mind anyway. He turned and found the others lined up behind him.

"Lawrence," one said, "Or is it Tony now?"

They were carrying the equipment he had been issued, but he was wearing his Ancelsterrian weapons. They threw his stuff on the grass in front of him.

"Put it all on." the one he figured was the leader said.

He put on all his armour and buckled on his sword.

"You don’t have to be traitors. We can all go home now." He said.

"It's over Lawrence." one said. Then he blacked out as someone clubbed him over the head.

Law was absolutely freezing when he fully came to his senses. He was tied up and lying on a gravelly riverbank, on the other side of the river, judging by the flow of water. The last five or so minutes had passed like a feverish nightmare as he had struggled to stay afloat with his hands were tied behind his back, and his feet tied together. It was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn't drowned. He wriggled out of the water as best he could; his feet were going numb. The ropes weren't tied that well; he struggled against them until his wrists were bleeding. They were tied well enough. Next he looked around for a sharp rock or something; all his weapons were out of reach. He found a long cigar shaped rock, with a rough edge, like an old nail file. He used it to sandpaper at the ropes while looking around for something that he could use to escape faster. He finally spotted a rock that was partly buried; it had a long, sharp looking ridge running along the top. He managed to cut through his bonds in four minutes or so while sitting on it, and he made short work of the ropes around his legs with his folding knife once his hands were free. He then washed his wrists, but had nothing to bandage them with. He had no idea where he was, he could only be upstream.

Four hours later, he still hadn't sighted Qyrre, but he recognized the road on the other side of the river. He didn't doubt that his ferry to Sindle had already left, he was due to leave today, and had spent a good hour looking for a rock. The others must have taken the same ferry, and he was no longer ahead of them. His advantage had been lost; but they still thought he was dead.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Deserter - 3 - Horses

The ferry would have reached Sindle by now, and Law knew that on foot it would take him a very long time to catch up to his enemies. He decided that it was in the best interests of this heinous place that he steal a horse. He figured that as long as he walked along the river, he would find a farm or homestead that would have horses. He struck gold when he came across a low rock wall. He scouted around it and found it surrounded a homestead on a bit of a hill. He knew next to nothing about farming, but immediately recognized a stable between the barn and the homestead. There were two hours to go until dusk; Law decided to use that time to make this next development as bloodless and quiet as possible.

There were nine people living on this farm; an old couple, a willowy, redheaded woman and her younger sister, and a tall, muscly fellow. There were also four children, ranging in age from six to thirteen. He hoped none of them knew magic, like some of the soldiers he had met at Qyrre and Roble's town. The sky was dark, and the family appeared to be on the second floor of their two story home. He stalked up to the house, peeking into the dark windows until he found the kitchen. The windows weren't locked, or even latched. He managed to break in without breaking anything. He could hear the family was singing upstairs, then he realized that he was unlikely to find a tin of baked beans, or protein bars. With this in mind, he settled for a piece of cheese, a loaf of bread and a cured sausage. He also spotted a sharpening stone and a small satchel, which he filled with the food and sharpening stone. He left the way he came in, and left quietly. He could still hear the sounds of singing wafting down the stairs and into the kitchen. He moved quietly to the stables, and went around a large-ish vegetable patch. He unlatched the gate and closed it behind him, but he didn't latch it. He entered the stables and inspected all the horses. There were twelve in all, and lots of saddles; a lot more than twelve. He wasn't a horse guy, but part of his training for the previous three weeks involved learning to ride. He could mount, dismount and ride... sort of. He picked a horse he judged was robust enough and saddled it, then he strapped the satchel to it. He left to open the gate before going back in to take the horse.

"Don't move, or I will unleash a spell of great destruction." by the time the strong female voice who said that finished her sentence, Law had ducked behind a large sack of grain. Another door opened opposite him, and the muscly fellow was there, a bow in his hands and an arrow nocked. Law put his hands up and the woman (the younger of the two sisters) approached him; a belt in her hands. He put his hands behind his head. She stood behind him and gripped his wrist. As she brought it down he dragged her arm and put his arm around her neck. He drew his bayonet and pressed it's blade into the small of her back, while turning to face the muscly fellow.

"Drop it." He ordered. The man slowly lessened the tension in the string and put the arrow into a quiver on his back. He was about to drop his bow when a scream from the direction of the homestead saw him disappear almost before Law even noticed.

"Let me help!" The mage woman said. He released her and moved towards the horses. Then turned. Maybe they'd consider the horse a just reward if he helped them; he really needed to keep the locals onside.

The vegetable garden had a wooden fence around it; there was a tall figure trying to scale it, and two more behind him throttling each other. They were dead; he knew this because he could smell them, and because the one trying to climb the fence had five arrows through his head. It seemed under control; the arrows didn't seem to damage it much alone, but with each one, it slowed down, and became even more discoordinated. Law decided to handle the winner out of the two that were throttling each other. He drew his sword and watched. One's neck snapped; the winner snarled triumphantly as it's adversary's body went lifeless and head hung limp. Law vaulted the wooden fence.

Both dead things came right for him; lurching and stiff, but quick nevertheless. The one with arrows in it's head seemed stronger, so Law went for it first. He hacked at it, cutting it's left arm off at the elbow. He followed his hack through with a kick that snapped the thing's right shin. The thing didn't seem to care about either arm or leg; it still advanced and battered at him with the better arm. Law charged into it with his shoulder and punched it in the face with the guard of his sword, but a vice like grip on his shoulder prevented a second attack. He took the arm, dropped to his knees and smashed the second thing into one of the wooden posts supporting the fence. Hard. He heard several bones, possibly even it's spine snap. He rolled to his left and got to his feet, facing the first with his sword held underhand. He crouched, ready to spring, and a gout of flame tore through it's body. It burned with intense, orange flames that left him momentarily flashblind, then fell to the ground, finally lifeless. The second was weak, but still alive. It stood and lurched towards him. He scuttled back, giving the mage time and space to burn this one too.

"Help him!" one of the children squeaked from behind the fence. Some of the children echoed this brilliant idea.

"Fuck him," the mage woman he had taken hostage said, "We caught him stealing Carris. Fight, thief."

They wanted a show. He kicked it in the knee, which snapped. He grabbed the blade of his sword with the left, and smashed it in the face with his sword guard. It fell, it didn't die. It got up again, then he saw the one it had throttled get up too.

This seemed to silence the children. Law drew his sword again; the one he had thrown into the wooden post seemed weaker, so he threw his sword at the one it had throttled. It went right through it's chest, right to the hilt, and the sword emerged out the other side with a shower of sparks. He hadn't expected that, but he recovered well. He ran at it and charged it with his shoulder, then tore his sword out of it's body, ripping it in half. It didn't move anymore; it was dead, and so was he once he took care of the last one. There was no hellfire; the show must go on. He sheathed his sword and drew his bayonet and garrote. The last one lurched towards him, and he didn't move. It was finally in grabbing distance, and it growled as it reached for his throat with it's rotting hands. He took its wrist and dragged it down, looping the tough cable of his garrote around it's neck. He then got behind it and drove his bayonet into the small of it's back before pulling it back to its feet. A gout of cool blood splashed across his hand. They were strong, but slow, uncoordinated and dumb. Therefore, this one was now harmless. He wheeled with it, turning it towards the family, and started moving away from them. There was a low stone wall to his right, about seven metres behind him and twelve metres from the family. The mage woman started building up her hellfire thing again; it looked pretty ominous to him. This living corpse would burn with him.

He pulled his bayonet out of the zombie at the wall, and wiped it relatively clean on it's filthy rags. He sheathed it and let go of one of the garrote handles, then he vaulted over the wall, rolling on the other side. He then followed along it in the direction of the stables. The mage woman finally released her hellfire when he was well away from the zombie, he saw it illuminate a small part of the countryside, it cast sharp shadows all over the property. Not of him though, he was already in the stable, wishing for his SLR.

"Where the hell is he?" someone yelled. A little later, he heard a clatter; an arrow shaft bouncing through a tree.

"Not there fuckers." he said bitterly. He needed that horse, he could have left them to deal with the things. He wasn’t winning any hearts and minds in this country, and this country would never win his now. He found Carris and mounted.

-

Being a stranger to these parts, Law decided to stick to the main roads, and turned his cloak inside out to help alter his appearance. The goal now was to get to Navis; the others would be posted South West of there, and the fastest way now was by boat. He just hoped the local authorities weren't onto him yet, but he would probably need their help later on. Mounted, it only took him four days steady riding to reach Callibe, a small settlement by southern standards, but apparently a large port city in this country. Right. Law skirted around the city searched for a dock, but despite it's proximity to water (only a hundred metres or so), and it's reputation as a seaport, there was nothing, save for a small jetty and a half built sea wall shielding part of the beach from the waves rolling in from the open sea. Law turned and walked a well worn path to the city centre, he tied Carris to a post outside a tavern. Then he asked the first person he met for directions. He got nothing but strange looks from everyone he asked for directions to Callibe's shipyards.

Law was exceptionally confused as he walked down a dusty lane winding through the limestone houses that made up this part of the seaside town. He was now looking for a law enforcement officer of some description. He found a pair of men wearing knee high leather boots, blue clothes, black cloaks and red sashes that he decided fit the description pretty well.

"Excuse me officers," Law approached them with a large, friendly smile on his face, "could you direct me to the closest boat market, or dock?" They exchanged glances.

"Of course, friend," the older one replied, "That would be Callibe, this is Telephone, a Korrovian settlement."

"You're not from around here, are you?" The younger one enquired.

"Uh. No, I'm not. I need to get to Navis." Law rubbed his chin, in genuine worry.

"Why, friend?" the older one asked, his hand moving to his hilt. The law was already after him.

"I signed up with the royal guard, but my division left me behind at Qyrre. I need to catch up." Law's father had always told him, the less bullshit the better.

"Why didn't you wait for the next boat then, friend?" the younger one asked. Law noticed a mark on his forehead, also on the older one's forehead. Then, kind of slowly, he realized that all the people he had seen do the funky magic shit had that mark, except for the mage woman from the night before. But he probably hadn't noticed it in the dark.

"I kind of... don't remember the past few days... You know how it is after a few ales..." A lame excuse, he knew.

"Well, I'm sure we can help you remember." The older one said. Law put his hands behind his head and gave up without a fight.

The constables had thrown him in gaol, and for some reason, his 'accidental deserter' story hadn't held true; someone had found a body in Royal Guard uniform down river from Qyrre, so that case was closed. He was in here for theft. The constables had taken everything but his garrote in his left sleeve, and his folding knife, in his boot. They hadn't found either. They wouldn't do him much good in a fight though; he was shackled to a wall with his hands behind his back. The cell was made of soft limestone, which wouldn't hold anyone with a spoon or chair for very long, if it had been above ground. More of a dungeon with smokeless, burning lights. The cell held three other prisoners, shackled like he was. They had been in here for an hour or two more than he had. Civil negligence (an untidy, state run stable) and public drunkenness were their crimes. Those stables must have been pretty fucking untidy. Law had the distinct impression that he was the most hardened criminal in here. The other two prisoners weren't talking to him anymore; they were fiercely patriotic, and repentant for their crimes. The fact that he wasn't had procured intense glares from the both of them for the past hour. A guard entered the cell, followed by the woman from the night of the horse. Law skewered her with an intense, hateful, defiant look, but remained relaxed, shackled low to the wall as he was.

"The dark one, with the bright eyes." She said, the constable laughed heartily at that.

"You're free to go friend, she's not pressing charges." He unlocked the shackles.

"Thank you constable. Can I have my things back?" His wrists were bleeding again; he was hungry, uncomfortable and relatively pissed off.

"What things?" the constable laughed again, "They all belong to her now. She's not pressing charges, because you do too, for the next three months, for stealing her best horse."

-

"They're going to kill the Abhorsen." Law had been handcuffed and placed astride the horse he had stolen. The cuffs were surprisingly modern; essentially the same design used in Ancelstierre. Which was making unlocking them very easy.

"So you're not ignoring me anymore?" the woman, whose name was Tarryn, was on the horse he had judged was second best, and she was leading his.

"I'm not kidding." He replied.

"Sure, sure, I know," the dismissive sarcasm in her voice was so thick he could taste it, "So why did you really need a horse so badly?"

Law had known that he had little chance of escape from right outside the police station or whatever they were called in this country, so when no one had been looking he had loosened his garrote a little. He was now using the tough cable to pick the locks on the almost modern cuffs, so he didn't reply.

"You know, the only reason I'm not pressing charges is because the law says I can keep you on my farm for up to three months, so you can work you're debt off," she giggled, "And a big strong man like you, can work a lot I’m sure. You look like you have a lot of... Stamina." One more little twist...

“I’m flattered. Really, I’ve been in country for a long time,” he said, ”I can show you my stamina, anytime you want. But first I have a job to do."

"Oh, no no no, you're coming with me." She replied; she really was very pretty, but the rape slave undertones of their conversation had raised his hackles. She was a very scary woman, and he had a job to do. The lock turned easily; he kicked the horse's flanks. He closed the one meter gap in a second, then tackled her off the horse. They rolled along the ground, and when they finally came to a stop, Law had his knee on her chest and his garrote around her neck. Somehow, she had managed to keep a wrist between the cable and her throat.

"As far as I'm concerned," he stopped to catch his breath, "You can help me, or you can die."

She nodded, and he brought his fist crashing down onto her face.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 4 - the Capital

Law hadn't been in the special forces for nothing; he had come to Ancelstierre at the age of twenty two, having already undergone training for compulsory national service in his home land, Diego. He hadn't found any kind of employment, so like any other young man with no direction in life he joined the army. He was fit, aggressive and intelligent, so he was soon a corporal. After a couple of combat deployments he had been accepted into the Ancelstierre Air Brigade, where he had been for the last six years. He had been behind enemy lines before, and he treated this the same, avoiding detection by anyone. It was considerably easier here. There was no war, and there were miles between civilization (as in households and villages) in some parts of the country. By the time he arrived in the capital, it was spring and some kind of festival was in full swing. He had spent two months or so making his way here, the long way. He had gone around, through, or over mountains, rivers or valleys, taking spectacular measures in order to totally avoid people. It hadn't been easy, but he had succeeded, in avoiding people and in arriving at the capital without being killed or enslaved. His stealth skills were as sharp as ever, having been honed through hunting and hiding. Despite having lived rough for the past couple of months, he was presentable, having shaven and trimmed his hair at a small stream which would eventually lead to the Ratterlin.

His plan was to find his way into the palace and talk to the Abhorsen. With a bit of luck, she would remember his face, or recognize something else about him. He had come into the city without even being searched, and had spent all day slowly making his way to the palace, through the celebrating citizens. For the people, this was a day of celebration, but naturally, this didn't quite extend to the city/royal guard. He had resolved to watch the shifts and their changes closely, but seized the opportunity to enter the palace when an altruistic guard rushed to help a young woman who dropped a basket of painted fruit. He took full advantage of the gap, but the novelty of painted fruit certainly wasn’t lost on him.

Law hadn't expected entering the palace grounds to be this easy; but he hadn't expected security around the palace proper to be so damned difficult either. He had skulked around the grounds for the past forty six hours. Everything was well guarded, or so open as to be public and useless, and he was getting desperate. He wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer at this rate. At the moment, he was stalking a pair of guards at a distance of five meters. It was now twilight, and the guards were possibly the most boring human beings on the planet. A half hour and not a word. Law heard a clatter, a small group of people running in armour coming from around the corner the pair were about to turn. Law quickly went off to the side of the path and ducked behind a small birdbath that would help break up his outline, if nothing else.

"Guard the park reservoir entrance!" one of the guards called to the pair he was stalking, they set off at a run. He waited until the dozen or so guards passed him, making good time, and then sprinted after his pair. The guards reached three caves in the side of a hill long before he did; he only arrived in time to see them sink into the shadow of the central one. There would be no sneaking past them, and he refused to kill a pair of honest men.

He circled around the hill, the problem outside seemed to have been resolved; Law could hear the sound of celebration again. He spotted a monument on the hill, being watched over by a pair of young oak trees. He made his way to the monument, quickly but quietly. No sense in moving slowly; a lone figure in Ancelsterrian camouflage and a worn ranger's cloak would stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the palace park; it wasn't that dark yet.

"A monument to those who served and died in the Corvere insurrection." This one would read, he recognised the general shape of the bronze statue; a crossing point scout and a royal guardswoman supporting a wounded Korrovian refugee. A couple of his friend's names were on this one, and his name would be on a plaque on the side, along with about twenty others. He couldn't imagine himself saying 'I'm here to help, see? That's me!' He sighed and crawled as close as he could to the lip of the cave. He hoped the guards would show the same restraint he planned to in the following confrontation.

Law cancelled his plan. He couldn't see himself dropping in on the guards and subduing them without killing them or getting killed. It was ridiculous. It would be easier to garrote the poor guys, or bayonet them in the dark, which were both out of the question. Hearts and minds; he couldn’t imagine being listened to after killing loyal soldiers. He decided to wait for an opportunity to present itself. Or for the guards to fall asleep. In the cave, a door unlocked loudly.

"Still in here Maddock?" the guy who had entered the cave/exited something.

"Sir!" Maddock replied.

"Trouble's over. Just some damn fool who dropped some burning oil. You can leave now. You too Brie." He guessed that was Maddock laughing. It could have been the other guy. They all went through the door, talking about some travelling artists or something. The door closed behind them. No one was even breathing in that cave. Law hoped the door would be unlocked.

It wasn't. Law tried the knob, then lit a match because he couldn't even see the damn lock. He saw that like the cuffs, the lock was relatively modern. He picked it with a set of picks he had fashioned after selling Tarryn's horses, educating her on the evils of slavery and telling her to fuck off. He was surprised to see that this country had standardised the pin and tumbler locks used worldwide, which suited him just fine. On the other side of the door was a staircase, illuminated by torches every twenty steps or so. There were two torches, and a dark patch in the middle. He managed to avoid breaking his neck passing it. At the bottom of the steps there was a small dock, and a pair of iron rings, for tying up boats of some description. He couldn't see very far into the room, but he could see that the floor was actually water, and that the room stretched an indeterminate distance ahead of him, and to his left and right. Not the nation's drinking supply, so... What? He decided not to ponder the mystery and just grabbed a torch. The water was about waist deep; Law slid into it with barely a ripple, and walked so as to always be able to see the reservoir wall to his left. A minute or so later, he was in a corner. From here, he could see a fiery glow, off to his right. He doused his torch and crouched in the water, moving so as to press up against the wall. With his torch doused, Law saw another, further, fainter glow, across the reservoir.

The top of the passage he had chosen led to a grey stone wall. Obviously a secret passage. He pressed against the stone. Then he tapped around it, then he stared at it and blinked at it. Nothing. Possibly only open to people who could do the funky magic shit. He decided to try the other passage. He made his way down the one hundred and fifty odd steps and slipped into the water. He started making his way towards it when he heard steps echoing across the reservoir, down the passage he had chosen. He headed to the middle and found some columns, which he hid behind. Seven guards or so were riding a raft without even pushing or rowing, or something. Lucky bastards. They were headed towards the staircase he had just left, and had come from the passage he had been going to. As they passed, he moved into the wake of the raft. They reached the small dock and tied the raft to one of the iron rings. "Look, it's wet here," one of the guards said, "He's been here."

He had been detected somehow, which wasn't surprising. He climbed onto the dock after they all filed into the passage. He followed them up the stairs twenty steps or so behind, thinking of home all the way. Up ahead, he heard a door slide open. Stone on stone, the passage. He quickened his pace, but not enough for his combat boots to squelch. Then he realised that they didn't used to do that; these boots were relatively new and his previous pair had lasted him for years in the field... They were falling apart for some reason. He immediately put it down to the inexplicable shittiness of this fucking country. The guards were filing out of the staircase, he quickened his pace a bit more, wishing the squelch away. He was almost trapped again, and he was also almost detected as he squelched onto a fluffy red carpet. He had emerged in a very large room; a hall overlooking the entire city. The city was awash in firelight; presumably from the festival, hopefully not from that damned fool and his oil spill. The guards were still crossing the large hall, which didn't seem to be a banquet hall or anything. They weren't even halfway across. He decided to follow, feeling more than a little lost. He knew his new favourite trick wouldn't work for much longer; he was surprised it had worked a second time. He would at least follow them with more distance between them, now that he could see. A pair of guards broke off from the rest of the group and stationed themselves on either side of the entrance. Law gave up and crouched behind a sculpture of a man, a man with a funky bandolier and a big sword. The guards were out of the hall now, but more came in, protecting someone. Law shrank back behind the statue. He repositioned himself, and found that he could see and not be seen, past the statue under it's outstretched arm which was holding a scroll. The people that the guards were protecting were still too far to hear. It was a regal looking man of around fifty and a guardswoman, considerably younger than Law, and a lot younger than the old, regal guy. They looked agitated, at the moment, the old regal guy was rubbing his eyes with his palms, hard. He turned to the window.

"Which entrance." he asked, before clasping his hands behind his back and standing perfectly still.

"This one." replied the guardswoman. The old guy jumped as if stung.

"What?" he spluttered, "I want this person found... And killed if need be!"

"A full search was ordered when we first saw signs of an entrance, your majesty," the guardswoman said to the king, "This person is obviously a major threat, having some charter magic at least. I've called the best mages in the city and the whole barracks are searching." The king exhaled deeply.

"You've done well Tonin. Please, see to Sameth and Ellimere personally. And put your best at the Ambassador's door... And be careful." he added.

Law stood up and stepped out from behind the statue, hands held high.

"I'm alone," he said, "And I need to speak to the king."

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 7 - Help

"Why should we believe your story?" King Touchstone sat on a comfortable looking couch, while a guard or three stood behind him with pointy sticks and whatnot, ready to poke him really hard should he chew on his grapes too loudly. As such, he had decided to ignore the grapes.

"Apart from a body that would have been found or eaten by now," "Or raised as a hand," the king interjected and Law cleared his throat, "Your majesty, I have no evidence."

"We'll soon see if you're telling the truth." the king replied and clicked his fingers. A messenger boy entered the room and they whispered quietly for a moment. Law sat in an uncomfortable silence, feeling three separate glares boring three separate pairs of holes into his skull from three different directions. Five minutes or so passed, and the messenger boy returned with a wooden case. He handed it to the king and scuttled off. The king pulled a pair of rods from the wooden case, one black and one white. He motioned and chanted a bit, then looked right at Law.

"I'm going to ask you some questions you've already answered. Ok?" the king said, as if he had a choice.

"Yeah. Yeah, just fine." Law replied.

"Ok. What is your full name and your rank?" first question.

"My name is Lawrence James Thallim, Trooper, Ancelsterrian Air Brigade."

"Is the story you told true?" the King asked.

"Uh. More or less? I've been out there for months, but it’s correct to my recollection." Law replied, feeling slightly moronic. The guards weren't giggling or anything.

"Now I want you to lie to me." the king said.

"Uh... I fucking love this country. Everyone’s been so hospitable. Considering moving here even." His voice trailed off. The king seemed both pleased and pissed off.

"Sir, I don't feel any different..." Actually, he did. He felt dumb. And sleepy. He was crashing.

"Your face just turned green," The king pointed out, before waving the guards away, sending the case out with one of them. “This is a simple lie detection spell we often use in court. Simple but effective, and unfortunately, you are telling the truth.”

The king mused and leaned back on the couch. Law crossed his arms and looked him in the eye.

“This brings me to the question... What are we going to do with you?” Lawrence felt a surge of energy, of righteous indignation.

"These motherfuckers tried to kill me, sir. Twice. It's my fault they made it this far, and I want them dead. All of them. You can use me or you can let me go. But you'll know where to find me."

-

The King had approved of his sense of duty. More like revenge. He had sent runners out to find where the twelve were, he had also written a letter, which Law was to show to anyone who had anything he needed. Then he had sent him to the barracks with the guardswoman, Tonin. She seemed to loathe him well enough. They didn't talk all the way to the barracks; she had ignored him when he asked her name, and Law had picked the vibe up immediately. They finally reached the barracks, no celebrating folks here. All the guards glared at him, and a big guy walked up to him.

"How did you get in?" he asked, but he wasn't curious.

"I followed you all around 'till I got lucky. I haven't eaten in three days. Anyone have food?" he replied, and sat down on a bench near a large hearth. He was brought a bowl of hot beef stew, then directed to a wooden table off to his left. Tonin sat across him.

"Security has been slack, you know? With the festival and all." she finally spoke, and she didn't strike him as the confident, competent woman who had spoken to the king earlier. The guards were displeased with him, but they were probably angrier with themselves. Not his problem.

"You watch what you can and you put land-mines and traps everywhere else." he replied.

"We have no mines." The same big guy said, watching him closely with his hands clasped beneath his chin. Law shrugged. This guy wanted to eat him alive, he just wanted his damn meal.

-

The king had assigned four of his best guards to accompany Law, and he had also found the twelve deserters. Apparently, they had all recently been involved in a battle close to a settlement near the Nailway. Then their division had moved east. The guard who wouldn't leave him alone the night before turned out to be in the group; his name was Mathe. There was Tonin, and Dail, a younger, slimmer version of Tonin with dark brown hair. And there was Jardin, who claimed to be the best archer in the kingdom. Which was as far as the conversation went with them; they introduced themselves, and Jardin had been the only one who had offered anything further. None of them seemed to like him, none of them talked to him, about him or around him. Which suited him fine anyway; the only four people who had treated him like a human being with rights were the two constables in Phone and the king. And Tarryn, after he had broken her orbital bone and threatened to kill her. Like he expected Mathe to threaten him within the next twelve seconds or so.

"Where did you learn to move so quietly?" Dail or Tonin asked from behind him. Dail, she had a sweeter voice.

"I don't follow.” He responded.

"You got into the palace, within killing distance of the king, and no one heard or saw you." There was no admiration in her voice.

"Standard fieldcraft, I guess." He responded.

"That’s pretty fucking condescending." whoops, looks like he'd finally pissed Mathe off. Law shrugged.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Law got the feeling that Mathe wanted to snap him in two, so he turned and unslung his rucksack.

"Step up or shut up, you fucking lid." Law challenged Mathe; he didn't think that lid would be a common insult around here.

"All the guards on patrol are getting reduced pay for a month after what you did, Lawrence," Tonin said, "That's everyone, except for those on leave, or away, because you were in the grounds for three days."

"That sounds like your problem." he replied, and Mathe drew his sword. Law unbuckled his.

"Hand to hand combat. No weapons." Apart from his garrote and folding knife, Law was now totally unarmed. Mathe seemed to approve, he dropped his sword and got in a boxing stance. When Law didn't move at all, Mathe advanced slowly until they were toe to toe. Law didn't move, so Mathe swung. Law parried the fist down with his left and followed up with a short sharp hook with the same hand, and a driving elbow with his right arm. Then he gave a short sharp shove to Mathe’s face. He was bleeding from his broken nose; Law brought a round kick thudding down into Mathe’s thigh, before he closed the distance low, picking Mathe up by the hips and bringing him crashing down onto the ground, onto his neck and shoulders. While he was dazed, he dropped onto Mathe’s stomach with his knee, hard. Then grabbed Mathe’s lapels with his arms crossed. Mathe started to mumble, his skin and breath heating up with faint light.

“No!!” Tonin screamed; Law pulled his arms apart, pulling Mathe’s collar tight, then he drove his forehead into Mathe’s mouth and drove his knee harder into Mathe’s stomach. With a sigh, Mathe passed out.

Limping, face swollen, Mathe was now properly chastened, but now the others kept a larger distance from him. Before it got dark, Jardin shot some rabbits dinner. They camped under a rocky outcrop on a hill that was strangely out of place; it was in the middle of nowhere, a hill in the middle of a totally flat plain. Law ate with the group then moved away from the fire. He found himself on the exact opposite side of the hill. He heard Tonin and Dail coming.

"Don't you want to sleep near the fire?" Dail asked.

"It can be seen for miles, he replied, “That’s... Well it’s fucking dumb.”

She left right after that, but Tonin sat down.

"Why?" Tonin asked. Law opened his mouth to speak then paused.

"... I hadn’t stopped to think how you all might be different here. Where I’m from, back home, in the field if you can be seen..." he put his fingers in the shape of a pistol. He got the feeling that she didn't dislike him as much as she let on.

"Are you lonely back home?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"No. I'm not." he replied. She leaned against him and put her hand between his legs.

"But you are lonely here." she whispered in his ear.

"Fuuuuuck.” he whispered. He turned to her and grabbed her head and lower back, firmly but gently, and kissed her passionately. He hadn’t been with a woman in months, it hadn’t taken much to seduce him.

He pulled her on top of him as they kissed passionately; he ran his hands along her, feeling her firm athletic body through her clothes and around her armour. She put her hands on his solid biceps and shoulders. He loosened her breeches, and began to pull them down, dying for a taste of her wetness.

She had a lot of bush, they hadn’t bathed in a couple of days but fuck, that was fine... He moved down to kiss her on the lips but she grabbed his wrist firmly, pushing against his face and yelled “What the fuck are you doing?!”

“I’m going down... Don’t you guys...”

“Get the fuck off me!!” She yelled.

He got off her to sulk, and she was gone.

-

Tonin and Mathe were shunning the company of the rest of the group, probably because the rest of the group wasn't ignoring him for once. Dail and Jardin didn't seem to dislike him, which wasn't saying much.

"If I were to get lost, what would I do." he asked aloud, for the benefit of Jardin or Dail, who were talking about what passed for pop culture in these parts.

"Don't," they both replied almost simultaneously, "You got through the woods south of the capital, but the north is more dangerous. You'd need to know magic." Jardin continued. That was the answer Law had been hoping for. That, or directions to somewhere of significance.

"Can you teach me?" he asked.

"No, it would take years for you to know enough to survive." Dail replied, which signalled the end of the conversation. At nightfall, they came across a small village, Wais. As they walked by, the villagers peered out of their cottage windows, some occasionally saluting or waving. At his companions, not him. The looks he was getting made him feel like garroting someone. Dail rapped her knuckles against his arm.

"To them, you are unusual Ok? They've probably never seen someone from across the wall this far north."

"Thanks." he replied; he hadn't realised he had made his displeasure so evident. Tonin left the group for a minute; Law saw that she had spotted the village leader. She conversed with her, a grey old woman being supported by a lean young man of twenty or so. She returned with information, which she shared with the group, taking care to exclude Law.

"Apparently, a division of soldiers have passed through Wais, and among them were a dozen or so foreigners. They were dressed identically to the others, but were easily distinguished by their uncivilized, vulgar ways..." She told the group. Law thought about asking for some clarification on that, but decided it would be a pointless exercise. On the subject of pointless exercises, his mind drifted, speculating on their whole plan; he had already tracked them down and he still couldn't figure out their plan.

"... and finally, they should be camped in one of the two fields along the North of this road, at most, two miles North of this town here."

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 6 - the Battle

The rhythmic thumping of hooves ahead warned them of an approaching rider. Jardin nocked an arrow and took position behind a tree, Law unsheathed his bayonet. A rider emerged from around bend in the path, wearing kingdom colours. He saw Tonin, Dail and Mathe and started yelling.

"Not that way! The dead are attacking! I'm getting the Abhorsen!" he called to them as he passed. The dead; those three things on the dark farm. There would be hundreds of them, and the twelve would be pretty busy. Surely, he could take three or four of them in the confusion, but only if they got a move on. Jardin decided to lead, and they managed to reach the encampment five minutes later. By the time they did, the battle was well and truly over, a victory to the dead, apparently. The few guards who were still alive were fighting ferociously, in the centre of a clearing with hundreds of charred corpses strewn around.

"... Fuck." Jardin whispered, and signalled for the group to stop on the tree line. Law sheathed his bayonet, and drew his sword, which had been provided by his majesty. Jardin put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"What are we waiting for, we have to help dammit!" he whispered to Jardin.

"Look closer, Law." he replied. Law looked. The twelve were in the centre of the clearing, hacking at the dead, fighting alongside other guards... who were in pretty bad shape. He didn't get it. He said so.

"That one there has a broken neck. That one has his throat torn out." Jardin pointed at two guards, and as Law looked, he saw that the twelve deserters were the only guards who were actually alive, and fighting.

"The dead are fighting each other?" Law said.

"It doesn’t make a lot of sense, my explanation is that with the Royal Palace garrison only accepting the very best soldiers..." Jardin began, slowly backing up, "If twelve soldiers survive an... onslaught this huge, they would be, well, they could walk right in."

"I thought of that," Law continued, "Twelve guards in the right place at the right time can kill the entire royal family and escape. But that’s a lot of work and not great odds." Jardin nodded. They both retreated.

-

"I can't let you go by yourself." Tonin stated, while checking the edge on her sword for something like the twelfth time.

"What do you mean ‘let’ me." Law replied.

"How many necromancers do you think can control enough dead to defeat two hundred charter mage guards this easily?" she said.

"I don't know." He knew she had a point.

"After Sabriel and Lirael stared cleaning the kingdom up, none. There's more than one controlling that lot, and together,they are very dangerous." That answer didn't help Law very much.

"The Abhorsen is coming, with Thirty six guards!" Jardin interrupted them then. stalked off. He signaled for Law to follow. He stopped at a small hillock well back from the clearing. Thirty six guards were standing at attention, in the dark, and a caped figure that he almost recognized was standing amongst them.

"Tonin!" she recognised Tonin immediately. They embraced warmly, she then shook hands with Jardin.

"Which one of you is our Ancelsterrian?" she asked.

"I am," Law stepped forward, "Lawrence Thallim, Ancelsterrian Air Brigade ma'am."

"Right. I've heard quite a bit about you, and this plot you've uncovered. I need your help.”

-

The going was slow over the corpses of fallen soldiers, and other, dismembered corpses that could have been months old. He had crawled over fifty metres, and still had over three hundred to go before he was within striking distance of the deserters, who had built a fire in the centre of the clearing. They were sprawled around it, and one thing they weren't faking at the moment was exhaustion. He stopped moving when he heard paces over the trodden grass, ahead of him. One of them was moving away from the fire to take a leak or something. He hoped that he had the decency not to do it over a dead body; especially not his, very much alive, body. If he went out past the trees, the Abhorsen's guards would handle it, or Jardin would. He passed Law, and started speaking to a dead body.

"I always liked your ring, Fallon, thanks a lot." He recognised that voice; back in Ancelstierre, he would always carry a pack of cigarettes under his left sleeve, and blow smoke in Law's face, because Law didn't smoke. He was looting! Law stood up slowly, garrote loose and ready. Cigarette guy spat something out and searched another body. Law moved slowly so he wouldn't alert him, and finally reached him when he was still deep in a dead man's pockets. Law planted his boot against smoker’s bent knee, and wrapped his arms around his neck and head in a strangle. He squeezed, bringing his elbows together and did his best to tear smoker’s head off. The traitor wheezed and mewled desperately, but was unconscious before he could really begin to resist. Law lowered the body quietly, then bound his wrists and angles together tightly. If this wasn’t over in the next ten minutes or so, smoker would have permanent nerve damage. Law started crawling again. It took him almost half an hour to cover the three hundred metres to the ring of firelight; the deserters had been busy clearing a circle free of bodies, but they hadn't really done a very good job. He was safe here, and he could hear their conversation. None. Maybe they were too tired for talk. He could see his next target; he was sitting on a log on the other side of the ring of firelight. He began his crawl.

"Where's Trent?" one of them asked.

"Probably still looting." another replied. They all looked in the same general direction, and Law took the opportunity to put his bayonet into his target’s neck and pull him off the log. He pushed him against the log and moved back out of the ring of firelight. They turned.

"Phil's gone!" one cried, "Phil! Where the fuck are you?" They were in a panic, but decided to get ready to move. They lined up and filed out of the field, leaving the fire burning. Law got up and followed, on foot now. He stooped while walking to pick up a dead man's sword, and slowly caught up to them. When the last one was in arm's reach, he hacked wildly, at the neck region, then hurled the sword at the second last one's back. The first man died quickly, but the second was only battered by the hilt of a flying sword.

"Someone's here!" he shouted.

Seven globes of light appeared around the tree line of the clearing, and they slowly rose in the air, illuminating the area. Everyone dropped to the ground, save Law and three of the deserters, who started running. Each fell when they were feathered with arrows. Law decided to drop too, just in case. Thirty soldiers emerged from the tree line and they were not pleased. A lot of their friends had been killed on this night. One of the deserters decided to run, after all. Law grasped a sword and gave chase, he drove the sword into the thigh of one of the other deserters as he ran. The one who had decided to run was running in a random pattern, to avoid arrows. He was close to the tree line, but Law was the faster runner, and hadn't spent hours hacking and moving dead bodies that day. Law reached the trees soon after him, but lost him. He couldn't see any tracks or anything in the dark, but was saved when a massive ball of light hovered past the tree line. He could see the tracks now, but the light was low to the ground. It was so bright it was disorienting. It was white light, but was so intense everything seemed to be in black and white. Law sped up a little, soon he was running. He couldn't see any shadow, and missed the pike staff poking out of a tree to trip him. It almost had the desired effect. He dived instead, and slid for a moment, drawing his bayonet as he regained his feet. He turned to face his assailant. He could remember the face, but nothing about the man.

"Lawrence," the man acknowledged him, “You fucking cockroach, you are unkillable.”

Law didn’t respond, he evaluated the situation instead. Time was on his side, after all. But the range wasn’t. The traitor advanced slowly, Law retreated slowly. The traitor thrust with a lunge, and law retreated back and to the left, swatting the end of the pike away with his bayonet. He had lunged but not overcommited. Fuck. The traitor took a half step, then lunged. The head of his pike held low, he brought it up, trying to punch it through Law’s chest. Law scooped it aside with his empty hand, and desperately closed distance. He was too close for the pike to be useful now, so the traitor let it go and began to grapple instead. But Law had charged right into him with a lot of momentum, and they fell to the hard ground, Law landing across the traitor’s chest with his body. He bore his weight down on the traitor’s chest and neck, and the traitor desperately struggled to grip his arm, to shake him off, clawing at his face, pulling at his clothes. Law scrunched up his face and closed his eyes, he dropped the bayonet and reached for his clearing knife at his chest, he pulled it out and brought the blade to the traitor’s chest. He dropped his weight on the knife, and it sliced through his gambeson, stopping on a ring of chainmail. He dropped his weight on the knife again and again and again, until the ring split and his knife plunged into the traitor’s chest. The traitor gurgled, and sprayed blood on Law’s face.

Law stood up, wiped his knife on the traitor and spit on him, before retrieving his bayonet and leaving the woods.

Tonin and some guards had arrived, and had seen the end of the fight. And had seen the look of naked rage on his blood spattered face.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 8 - Homesick

Law was sitting on a rock, facing south and longing for home. One of the female guards from the Abhorsen's force was sitting next to him. She was a tall, blonde, slim woman, around seven years his junior. Her name was Elina and she wouldn't leave him alone. Lucky for him though, she was the quiet type, like him.

"You are an excellent killer." she finally said, after a half hour of emulating Law's south facing silence.

"I beg your pardon?" He replied.

"Mind if I sit down?" she asked. She already was, so Law turned. It was the Abhorsen. He gestured towards the rock.

"You captured one of the assassins without being heard or seen or even hurting him. Then you killed another while he had a pike and you had a bayonet. That is impressive.” She said.

The silence stretched out between them.

“I’m a good soldier ma’am. A career soldier.” He finally said.

"We knew about you before you talked to the king you know; the Clayr saw you." she said.

“Tell you what, it sure was helpful of the Clayr to lend a hand whenever I needed one over the last couple of months.” Bitter sarcasm for royalty. He wasn’t in great form.

"I take it Elina hasn't explained the Clayr's primary occupation yet." Sabriel said.

"We see into the future." Elina finally said; a musical voice belonging to a person who wasn't where she wanted to be.

"Really? Neat. Have you talked to the guy I caught yet?" Law said. His temper was short; no longer had a reason to be here, and he hated it here.

"He's very difficult, milady." Elina said.

Law glared at her, then stood. Fists clenching and unclenching.

"We need your help," Sabriel said to Law, "You do things differently, you can get things done that a charter mage can't, and we need to finish with the conspirators once and for all." Law thought for a minute.

"I’ve done enough already. Take me home." He replied after a minute or so of mental deliberation.

"They were all right about you," Elina said, "You are boorish, and vulgar." Law didn't reply; didn't move. The Abhorsen was watching both of them like a hawk. Finally, Elina got up and strode away angrily. Law still didn't move. A moment later, he was in the dust, he had a mouthful of leaves and Elina was on his back, yelling in his ear.

"I saw you in the palace, I saw us together in the future and I begged to be allowed to meet you! I can't believe I wasted my time!" she yelled, hurting his right ear. Law was pissed off now. He brought his hands and legs underneath himself and rolled underneath her. She seemed a little surprised and leaned back. He scissored his legs around her arm and her neck, and began to apply pressure.

Then she immobilised him with the magical equivalent of a stun gun. Multiplied ten times. He came to his senses an undetermined amount of time later, being restrained by four guards. Elina was sitting on the rock, looking worried, and the Abhorsen was next to her, looking amused. He was covered in cold sweat, and felt dreadfully tired.

He threw up and passed out again.

-

He came to in a crappy little bed, made of straw. He was in a messy little room, which looked like it had been a shed a few hours ago. He assumed that he was in Wais, the town that he had passed through a few nights ago. Light was streaming in from a window above his head, and Elina was watching him from a chair in the corner. All his things were in front of her, including his clothes. He was naked under the sheets.

"Can I have my clothes?" he croaked; his stomach was cramped, and his side was numb, where Elina had applied her magical stun gun.

"So, you're awake." he had startled her. She stood up and unfolded a bathrobe that had been in her lap, and tossed it to him.

"We need to talk." She said, and sat back down. Law eyed his garrote on the table, next to his bayonet, folding knife and clearing knife. He looked back at her.

"You threw up all over yourself. You carry a lot of weapons.” She said.

“I want them back. Am I free to go?” He said.

"Go on then." Elina said, but didn't move from the chair. He stood up and started putting on his clothes.

"Before you go, we do need your help. We can give you a lot. We can be... Very persuasive." She said, in a rather bored monotone.

“Money is persuasive.” He responded.

"That has already been arranged. Your payment will be a very fine sword, fine boots, a fine cloak, clothes from the best tailors and one hundred and fifty silver deniers." She said. One hundred and fifty silver deniers. There was no Old Kingdom currency exchange, and the price of the silver melted down would barely pay for a street tough with a gun in an impoverished country.

He stopped and stood, clenching and unclenching his fists, seething with anger.

Finally he began to speak. Slow and controlled, but far from calm.

“That is not nearly enough money to pay for someone of my training and experience, let alone for a mission of this complexity,” his anger began to subside but he continued with this tone, “I have not been home in months, my chain of command does not know my whereabouts, and when I return I will be charged with desertion. You need to do better.”

He finished with his boots and walked to the table.

“Do you know what they do to Deserters?” He put his bayonet in it's sheath and put his garrote in his sleeve, as usual. Elina shook her head no.

"My sword." he said.

"It belongs to the kingdom." She replied. He scoffed and looked for the doorknob. He opened the door, and she made no move to stop him.

"What do they do?" She asked, disinterested.

He put his hand up in the shape of a pistol, and he left. He had been in a shed, on the outskirts of town. A guard moved from behind a tree, he looked like he had been taking a leak.

"Hey, you, wait!" he called. Law stopped, and the guard approached him.

"Have you come to an agreement?" he asked.

"Yeah, I go home now." he replied. The guard eyeballed him suspiciously.

"Give me your sword." Law said. The guard grasped the hilt of his sword, but didn't hand it over. Law started to turn, and gave him a vicious right hook to the jaw. The guard dropped, and Law took his sword.

“Sorry chief. Take it up the chain.” He said, as he buckled it on.

"Wait!" Elina called from somewhere behind him.

He walked off without a word; he heard running behind him, and prepared to get tackled again; last time he'd been surprised, but he'd always had a trick or two up his sleeve...

"Please, just hear me out!" Elina said, as she caught up with him. He stopped.

"We need you to assassinate someone for us," she said, "Please, no one else will be able to get into the place you need to go!" He looked at her skeptically.

"You have no idea how lucky I was that night. I've never been that lucky, ever." he replied.

"If you help us they won’t shoot you; we can secure diplomatic immunity for you."

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 9 - Keenan

The last news he heard on the matter before leaving on his mission was that Ancelstierre was already aware of his being alive, they had been for a long time, and they weren't very pleased. As for his mission, it involved finding a certain Keenan, a barbarian necromancer, and killing him. No one had listened when he had said that he wasn't the man for the job, that he had entered the palace out of sheer luck. Wherever Keenan was, he was well protected. He imagined how much easier this job would be with a scoped rifle. Hell, he would settle for his SLR and its iron sights. They had given him a sword, boots and a cloak instead. Serviceable, but not the best quality. They had given him a mail shirt, and he also had a little purse full of silver pieces. Then they had driven him to a hill and told him to make his own way to a fortress a mile to the east. There was a tall hill around halfway there; Law had been the section scout; from that hill, he would have been able to put a few rounds in Keenan’s direction quite precisely. He would have had a hard time getting away clear if what he had was a rifle, but up close with a sword, this mission was a suicide mission. He couldn't really think of a good reason to carry it out, but he started walking anyway. Law realized that for the first time in a long time, he was actually afraid; he wasn't sure if he should be happy or not. The truth was that this little trip into the Old Kingdom had changed his life; whether or not he lived, whether or not he returned home, he would have to kiss certain parts of his life goodbye. His career in the military, his pension... He sighed wistfully, and concentrated on his job. One problem at a time.

There were tracks in the dirt; deep imprints of hobnailed boots. An armed patrol. He stopped imagining what his first meal when he arrived home would be, and forced himself to focus again. He was around a kilometer from the fortress, assuming that Old Kingdom miles were the same as miles everywhere else, and assuming that his conversions were accurate. He followed the tracks quickly and quietly, being careful to stick to the frozen areas so as not to leave footprints. They led directly to a track, which curved gently from his left to his right when he arrived. Law crossed the track and crouched behind a shrub on the other side. He waited a few minutes to make a decision about which way to go; no guards came for him to follow, so he just went to his left. He kept his eyes opened, and moved parallel to the track; he didn't dare go through the woods, there were probably bear traps or something in there. He spotted a guard tower around the bend and went deeper into the woods. There were lots of twigs and pine cones and stuff on the ground, but the wind rustling through the trees masked his sound. He could actually move quite quickly under these conditions, but he was looking for information. At the guard tower, the track went off in two other directions; it continued, and also went into the centre of what Law imagined would be a big circle; the centre was his destination.

The towers and the traps had made him expect a high efficiency military structure, but the so called fortress was more of a casually guarded castle, which suited him fine. The castle struck him as the type that they had in the educational books he used to read as a kid; with cross sections that showed a secret entry/exit or five. That would be ideal as an entrance, but the assassination had to happen tonight; he would never find it in time. He had approached the castle from one of the sides, as he went around it, he saw that the moat was filled with hundreds of sharpened stakes instead of water. He searched for the front way in, and found it on the other side of the castle; it was protected by an old school drawbridge, and apart from the secret entrances that would have to exist, this was the only way in or out. He hadn't been spotted yet, so he found himself a nice bush with a direct line of sight to the drawbridge, a mere thirty metres from the drawbridge. The drawbridge was being lowered. Law peered around the thick foliage of the bush; a dozen guards or so were being allowed to enter. The drawbridge hit the dirt with a loud thud, and the guards passed over the hardwood with their hobnailed boots. The drawbridge was slowly raised again; Law made a run for it when it was at around one meter's height; it was being raised so slowly that by the time he reached it about four seconds after getting up, it was still below shoulder height. He grabbed the drawbridge as it passed, and shuffled over to the right chain, then he moved hand over hand on the chain. The opening that was slowly reeling the chain in was a square with meter sides; easily large enough for him to crawl through. The bridge was starting to move faster; Law stopped moving hand over hand and waited. He swung his legs into the opening and held onto the chain. He was dragged into the opening; once in safely, he let go of the chain and started crawling.

The opening stank of decaying flesh; Law could already guess that the drawbridge wasn't powered by mules. He shuffled through the tunnel like opening, and found he was right, it was powered by the dead. He could see them chained to a wheel, still walking, still reeling the drawbridge in. The drawbridge hit the stone wall with a dull thud; the dead went limp. Law would have described them as lifeless, but... A big guy with an axe walked by the opening that Law would obviously have to exit from. Red cloak, red leather boots. He walked by again and Law edged closer to escape. The plan was to leave the room noiselessly. He would be able to garrote or knife this guard silently, but it was probably in his best interests to let him live, he might be missed. Law watched closely; the guard spent fourteen seconds to the left of the opening and three to the right. He exited the opening, and the room when the guard had his back turned, without being seen. He emerged in a long hall; blue carpet, gold trimming. There were tapestries and paintings on the wall; fields, forests, mountains... He passed several doors, all of which were locked and silent. As he moved down the hall, the sound of celebrating got louder and louder. He tried door after door; they were all locked. He finally reached a door that seemed to have the celebrating behind it. It seemed to have quietened a bit though. The door was unlocked; he walked into a banquet hall and closed the door behind him, and no one saw him enter. A minstrel, or a bard or something was singing a ballad about someone-iel's triumph over the dead hordes. Not Sabriel or Lirael, he knew those names. Everyone in the room was entranced by her story and her sweet singing voice. Law scoped the room out; the guy at the head of the table seemed especially interested. He was a tall guy, a bandolier across his chest was making his meal kind of difficult. Keenan. They had described Keenan to him in general terms: tall, pale, red hair, bells across the chest. He spotted a dark corner that would provide a better view of Keenan. He made his way there and watched Keenan and those around him. Six others in the room wore bells, and all of them sat at the same table as Keenan.

The banquet ended a long time after Law entered the room, possibly two hours. Law managed to take some chicken and a mug of ale to wash it down with; he hoped it had a low alcohol content. He saw Keenan and the minstrel leave the hall and followed. A guard had followed ahead of them, but when he had heard Law, Law had hit him hard enough to put him in a coma and had dragged him into a dark corner, there was no shortage of those. The guard had been carrying four throwing knives. Law had commandeered them, and had hurried after Keenan and the minstrel. The hall was pretty long, and they were well ahead of him. Law decided to take a risk and started jogging. Someone screamed ahead, and he heard light footsteps around the corner. There was a suit of classical knight's armour in an alcove to his left, and to his right. He ducked behind the one to his left. The minstrel passed him, and he could hear that Keenan followed. Keenan passed before he realized it. He drew his bayonet.

"Everything all right sir?" someone asked, "We found this one running and caught her for you."

"Yes. Release her and carry on." His husky reply. Law peeked out of his alcove. No one in sight. He emerged from his hiding place and ran down the hall Keenan and the minstrel had just come from. He scanned left and right as he ran, until he found a door that was ajar. He entered, and when his eyes adjusted to the poor light, he saw why the minstrel had screamed.

Dead people, chained to the walls by their throats. They were in an advanced state of decomposition, and Law didn't doubt that they were of the walking variety. He heard a snarl behind him; one was attacking. It reached out for him with rotten, gnarled hands. He punched it in the jaw, and the metal collar around it's neck restrained it as it swung viciously into the wall and collapsed. He heard Keenan and the minstrel approaching; Keenan was sweet talking the bard. Law saw another door and tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. He entered the room and closed it behind him. This room was nothing like he had expected; there was a rack of wicked looking weapons above the hearth, but other than that, he guessed this room was as normal as they came... in this kingdom. There were bookshelves, a desk and a bed. He would fit under the bed. He crawled beneath it, and he could still hear Keenan outside the first door.

"Close your eyes if you like, my pretty," he said, "I promise, no harm will come to you." Right. What a creep. Law still clutched his bayonet. He was under the bed of the man he was meant to assassinate, and no one had any idea. Maybe the Abhorsen had picked the right man after all.

"So, you see, my pretty, They are there for our protection!" Keenan said as he entered the room.

"Oh, my, your room is beautiful! Look at the view!" the minstrel had a musical voice, very nice. Then he could hear sounds of kissing and foreplay in the room. It didn't take long for them to get started, or to finish. He put his own situation out of his mind and focused on ending Keenan’s situation. He could hear light snoring on the bed above him, and gently felt the mattress. The minstrel was a pretty little thing, barely twenty one by his guesstimate. Keenan struck him as slightly older than that, and he was a tall, solid guy. He didn't want to kill the minstrel, so he started quietly shuffling out of his hiding place. Evil laughter filled the room and Law froze. The snore turned into a gurgle, and an arterial spray covered part of the wall, and half of Law's face. He ducked back, just in time to miss being squashed by the minstrel's corpse. Keenan laughed again and Law felt his weight shift on the bed. Law felt a cold rage start within him, and he gently felt the bottom of the mattress, to locate Keenan. Shoulders here.

"Ha ha, motherfucker." he whispered, more to himself, and plunged his bayonet into the mattress. The sixty centimetre razor sharp blade cleared the mattress and bone in Keenan's back easily. Law thrust another three times and emerged, face covered in blood. He looked stunned but not dead. Law leapt onto Keenan and began stabbing into him like a sewing machine. When he was done a few seconds later, Keenan had scores of holes in him and was definitely dead. Law cleaned his face and bayonet on the sheets and left the room. As the blood pounding in his head subsided, he could the sound of chaos tearing through the castle.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 9 - Escape

He left the way he came, hiding often, as guards passed to and fro in the halls. If he could find his way to the banquet hall, he would be able to leave the castle. He found the door to the banquet hall and entered. There were guards everywhere, in a protective circle around six frozen figures. Law skulked around the room, and found himself an out of the way pillar to hide behind. Four of the figures started moving again, ice cracking as they reanimated. Literally frozen, apparently.

"It's no use!" one wailed, "I saw both Abhorsen and her apprentice waiting for us in death! We can't bring them back!" They were scared shitless, and Law finally had a general idea what necromancer meant. They had sent him on a suicide mission, something worse than a suicide mission. He waited in his dark corner, waiting for something to change, letting him leave. The four remaining necromancers conferred for a little, gesticulating wildly and shuffling nervously.

"Search the grounds!" one called to the guards, "And escort me to my quarters." He picked up a pile of things he had on a table, then led the way out the door closest to Law's hiding spot.

"What do we do?" the remaining three were just as lost as him. Law waited for the pair of guards following the necromancer to leave before following. He crossed the threshold and went left, hoping to go around the hall and find some place he recognized. The guards were around the corner, the Necromancer had dropped his stuff and they were wrapping whatever the things were in one of the cloaks. Law ducked back around the corner.

"Over there!" one called. Too late. He drew his bayonet, and crouched.

"Come back, cowards!" the Necromancer yelled; he had a chance. Law rounded the corner, and there he was. He was taller than Law, and had a bigger sword, of black metal. He was wearing chain-mail, and a bandolier of bells. He raised his sword with his left hand.

"I will subjugate your spirit." he said, before his sword burst into dark, oily flames. He crouched and reached for his bandolier, Law threw his bayonet into his centre mass. It struck his wrist with a shower of sparks, and severed his hand from his arm.

The necromancer looked at the stump, then focused on Law again and started swinging his flaming sword left handed.

The Necromancer was clumsy, but he was fast. He advanced, flaming sword swinging, and Law drew his own sword, wielding it like a very big knife. He parried the sword into the stone wall, and followed through with a shoulder charge that knocked the necromancer back. The necromancer slapped Law's shoulder with the flat of his blade, and Law's cloak set on fire. Law kicked the off balance necromancer, who landed hard on the floor, dropping his sword and reaching for a bell. Law was still on fire, but he swung at the necromancer instead, cutting his left arm off at the elbow. The necromancer cried out in pain, and Law took off his cloak, before kicking the necromancer in the jaw. The necromancer spat teeth, and Law stood over him, and began hacking down at him with the sword, cleaving his skull in two.

They must have felt Keenan die, they would have felt this guy die. Law figured he had six seconds or so to do something brilliant. He decided on going back to the door to the hall and finding some place to hide. There was nowhere to hide near the door, so he extinguished a torch instead, and crouched in the darkness. The door opened, and guards poured out, about six of them. A necromancer followed, and left the door open. No one followed the necromancer. Law decided to risk it and skulked behind him, bayonet in hand.

"Erdel! Behind you!" someone shouted, the Necromancer turned just in time for Law to drive his bayonet into him. He put his hand on the necromancer's shoulder and stabbed him under the ribcage, through his stomach, left lung and heart. He pulled the knife out obliquely, creating an enormous wound. Even still, the necromancer stood unsteadily on his feet. He stabbed the necromancer again, in the side of the neck. The necromancer finally fell lifelessly to the floor. No guards came from around the corner, Law leaned against the wall, hoping no one would come near. No one did. After thirty seconds or so, he ducked into the hall, and dashed behind a pillar. No hellfire or anything. The hall was deathly silent, and empty. Law could hear the sounds of battle outside the castle; leaving the way he came in wouldn't be an option, he would have to follow the others.

He wandered the halls with his sword at the ready; they were at least thirty seconds ahead of him, and he had to assume they were running. Up ahead, a man ran out of a door, in one hell of a hurry; Law followed him, hoping he wasn't running into a fight. He wasn't. He was heading back to the banquet hall, deeper into the castle, where it was relatively quiet. He went into the banquet hall, and pulled on a tapestry. Law ducked behind a table, and heard a loud click, somewhere nearby. The man crawled under a table and pushed on the flagstones. A trapdoor opened up, and Law followed him down it. There were torches on the wall, and Law had smashed the man on the back of the head with the pommel of his sword. He walked quickly down the tunnel, hoping he was the only one in it. He sheathed his sword and pulled a torch off the left wall. Then, the torches ran out. He moved faster, then slowed down after a minute or so when he saw firelight up ahead. The ground was rough, the footing uncertain; he still needed his torch, and he probably needed to hurry up as well.

When he caught up to the firelight, it turned out to be a passage with torches in it. He decided it wasn't the way to go and took the darker passage.

There was more firelight ahead.this light was moving forward; definitely at least one person. He advanced slowly. There were two necromancers trying to escape. The one without the torch paused, and Law stopped, slowly drawing a throwing knife. He turned and spotted Law, and opened his mouth to voice warning, Law threw the knife into his mouth, and the other Necromancer turned. Law threw his torch at the last one, but it missed, and skittered off the stones, remaining alight. He drew his sword with his left hand and drew another throwing knife. The necromancer dropped his torch and drew a sword, which started glowing white hot, without melting. He reached for his bandolier to draw a bell. Law threw his knife, but the necromancer dodged. It missed his hand and stuck to his vest of thick leather. Law charged the necromancer and kicked the bell out of his hand. The bell flew into the wall and cracked; the clapper making no noise as it swung inside the bell.

Whatever was meant to happen didn't, and the Necromancer swung his white hot sword at Law. Law hopped back a step and parried clumsily. He lost his balance and dropped his sword to balance. The necromancer stepped forward and thrust with his sword; he stepped to the side and stomped on the necromancer’s foot, scraping his boot along the necromancer’s shin. He drove his shoulder into the necromancer’s body, who dropped his sword as he bounced into the wall.

Law followed the body check through with an elbow that drove the necromancer's forehead into the wall forcefully. The other one had survived a knife in the mouth somehow; he was coughing and slowly getting up. Law would have to make sure. He drew his bayonet and sliced the throat of the necromancer that was against the wall. Then he stepped in, pushed the Necromancer who was recovering to the floor and knifed him twice, like he'd been taught; femoral artery, control the arm, subclavian artery with the entire length of the extra long sword bayonet. The necromancer hung slack. The last necromancer drew another sword as Law drew his bayonet out of the dead one. They faced each other squarely.

"I'm going to enjoy beating you on your terms, Hero, before subjugating your spirit." The necromancer said, in a husky voice.

Law stood silently, assessing the situation. The necromancer smiled at him, and unbuckled his bandolier, letting it fall to the ground. Then he lunged at Law, swinging his sword. Law stepped in while cutting an angle and blocking the blow. He followed through with a slash to the face of the necromancer, who dropped his sword and turned away.

"Mercy! Please!" The necromancer gurgled, as blood streamed from his face. Law kicked the necromancer's sword away.

"I can make you more powerful than you can imagine!" he pleaded, hands behind his head. Then he mule kicked Law in the stomach; a powerful kick that briefly brought him to his knees. He dropped his knife and bayonet as he pushed off the ground. A moment later, he had his garrote in his hands. The Necromancer was up, a four inch metal talon in his left hand, and a very long dagger in his right. He was armed to the fucking teeth, and all Law had left was a couple of throwing knives he couldn’t reach, a small folding knife on his belt and a garrote. Law twitched nervously, and the Necromancer launched a frenzied attack. His hands were almost a blur, but somehow, Law managed to catch the dagger with the garrote and direct it into the wall. The Necromancer's weight was in that blow, he broke a knuckle and winced in pain, also dropping the dagger. Law looped his garrote around the Necromancer's neck and planted his left knee in his back. He pulled, and the necromancer thrashed like a freshly caught fish. The kevlar composite of the garrote handles broke in two then crumbled into powder, and the Necromancer fell to the ground. For a moment, Law stared incredulously at the powder in his hands, then reached for his folding knife. It wasn’t there.

"Looks like you're done for, friend." the Necromancer said, pulling another claw and fitting it into his right hand. Law retreated down the hall, back to the castle, with the necromancer’s continuous slashing attacks mere inches from him, the entire trip back.

He had gone down the other passage, and tried to take a torch. They were all mortared into the walls, however, and eventually, he had burst out a door with a battle raging around it. He was behind enemy lines; he was in the kitchen, and the Necromancer's guards had overturned a table and were firing arrows at kingdom archers. Stalemate. Law quickly dragged an unsuspecting guard to the ground by his face, and savagely stomped on his face, but realised too late that he was an archer. He took an arrow anyway. The necromancer emerged a second later, as disoriented as he had been. He was still in the door, and now that he had a weapon, Law decided to attack. He tackled him back into the passage.

He felt pain in two places as he hit the ground; in his chest and in his back. He coughed and tasted blood. He was feeling cold, and tired, but he still had one job to do. It was done. His tackle had pushed the knife that had stuck in the Necromancer's armour earlier into his heart. He rolled off the necromancer and almost fainted as pain spread out through his entire body. He reached behind his back. He was bleeding badly. His immediate assessment was that he didn’t have a fist sized exit wound in his chest so it must be a .223. Then he remembered where he was. It was an arrow. The blood was dark; the arrow seemed to be in his liver; he didn’t have long. He gathered his strength and grabbed onto the necromancer’s lapels with crossed arms. He pulled his arms apart with all his strength, and the necromancer’s collar tightened around his neck. The necromancer struggled weakly, slick bloody hands struggling to find purchase anywhere on Law’s head or body. It felt like an age before his weak struggling faded to nothing, as Law’s vision faded to black.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - Epilogue - Exile

Law opened his eyes, Elina was sitting next to him. She smiled as he awoke, and he groaned.

"It's a healing spell, you'll be fine in a week or so." she said.

"Thanks." he croaked, and closed his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked a moment later.

"You're in the infirmary in the Palace barracks," she replied, "I'm here because offered to take care of you."

"Why?"

"Because I was wrong about you." She replied.

"When can I go home?" he needed to know.

"I'm afraid you can't," Someone else said. An older voice, the Abhorsen's, "The Ancelsterrian Army doesn't want to even hear about you, and one General Cardon tells me your assets have been seized by the state." Law opened his eyes to look at her.

"I suppose I could stay here," he conceded, "But I don't want to. You didn’t tell me what a necromancer was. Way I see it, you owe me.”

"We know, but they won't hear of it," she replied, "We can make your life here comfortable, there's a position open for you in the royal guard." Law sighed. There was so much he didn't understand, and he had accepted that he would never live to see his home again anyway, although he'd thought he wouldn't live, period.

"I don't belong here." he finally said.

"You killed five necromancers with no knowledge of magic," Elina said, "If you don’t belong we’ll make a place for you." Law sighed again. He was going to die on this side of the wall, he would have to accept that sooner or later.

"Why didn't you warn me about what could have happened to me?" Law asked, "Why didn't you tell me my spirit could have ended up subjugated, and why don't you tell me what that means?"

"The greater good, Law," Sabriel replied, "We needed a killer, and I don't know anyone quite like you." Law didn't feel complimented.

"I’m a soldier, not a killer. Do you know what a population support mission is?"

"They would have enslaved you for all eternity. All eternity.” Elina said. Law didn’t have a response to that.

"There's nothing for me here." he breathed, then closed his eyes. His eyelids were heavy, his chest was tight and painful. A minute or so passed.

"My apprentice and I were waiting in death for you to kill Keenan. He crossed over into death and we bound him before he could recover. A little while later, the other necromancers crossed over into death, and we sent a signal to the royal guard, who were waiting to attack around the castle. We managed to bind two, but the others escaped us. We never expected you to hunt them all down, but you did, and we were victorious. You were like.. Like a catalyst. Without you, many more lives could have been lost, including my own. We appreciate what you've done, and are ever grateful." Sabriel said, quietly, "We had known about them for a while, but we never expected them to take an initiative before we did. Because of you, we managed to turn their initiative against them."

"That much I more or less gathered, but what did I have to do with all this? Why did they bring me here in the first place?" he croaked; he was feeling weak and sore from being awake for so long.

"The Corvere insurrection; some people thought Corolini was the greatest leader Ancelstierre ever had. You killed him and I opposed him. The group of Necromancers and one of those factions joined up for what was basically a revenge plot and a coup rolled together." She replied. Great. He opened his eyes.

"So that’s I can't go home," Law said, “They might even be doing me a favour by exiling me, I can’t ever be safe at home.” Sabriel nodded. His return home really was out of her hands; he'd have to stay.

[allithewriter]

Fourth Time's The Charm by allithewriter/the-writing

Paring: Peter Parker/Spiderman x Reader

Summary:  Two times Peter Parker tried to confess his feelings. One time Spider Man tells his counterparts crush how he feels and one time the two worlds collide

Warning: Cursing because of Flash, Reverse bullying?, Extra fluffiness and adorable Peter Parker pinning for you

Word count: 1,507

Author’s Note: For my Secret Santa buddy @petersshirts sorry if this is awful. I haven’t written anything in forever. Inspiring Music 1 Inspiring Music 2 Inspiring Music 3 Mandatory Tag: @itsbuckysworld

Another note: I have an edited version but I don’t have access to it right now and I need to get ready for work so I will edit this later on after work. I hope you enjoy it Jo!

Guide: Y/N: Your Name,  Y/H/C: Your Hair Color,Y/H/S: Your hair style, Y/E/C: Your Eye Color, Y/F/A; Your favorite animal, Y/H/H: Your Hogwarts House

Peter Parker stands at your door with a hand raised to knock and a bouquet of roses behind his back. He takes a step forward but frowns and shakes his head, his nerves getting to him. The twenty year old frowns as he puts the roses on the floor in front of your door. The man crawling onto the wall after making sure the coast is clear and knocks on her door before making his way onto the ceiling to await for her. Peter prays she doesn’t look up and see him on the roof

Y/N opens the door after a moment in a fluffy robe, her Y/H/C hair wet. She glances up and down her hall confused. “I must’ve misheard...weird…” She mumbles and goes inside, not even noticing the roses on the floor in front of her.

Peter drops the floor and scoops up the roses. Deciding to go another route to show his affection to the woman. The twenty year old male grins as he leaves her apartment, giving the Doorman a smile. He heads into the alleyway and pulls off his outer clothes to reveal his Superhero counterpart and pulls on his mask.

“Hello Peter. What are your plans for the day?” A kind voice asks him and he smiles. “I’ve come to realize something Karen. My best friend..I just can’t think of a day that goes by without seeing her at least once…I’m going to tell her how I feel. One way or another” He says while crawling cautiously up the wall avoiding as many windows as he can. “What do you mean Peter? How did you come to this ‘Realization’” The AI asks him.

“Well it all began back in June. Just before school let out….our last summer together…before everyone went their separate ways for college” He replies and rests on a fire escape as he thinks back

1.

The day was shaping up pretty well, Flash had only successfully come after Peter once for a Locker Knocker time, just before their final class of the day.

“You’re such an ass Thompson. If you keep this up you’ll be a lonely man in life” You scoff at the bully and opens the locker door for Peter.  “Come on Pete, let’s get going. We don’t want to be late for class” You say as she leads you along until your both far away from the school bully. “Are you alright Peter? Did he knock you around too much?” She asks concerned for her friend and turns his face to examine him.

“Y/N! Y/N! I’m fine...see?” Peter says and turns his head and body around for her to see. “Alright smartass, let’s go in so we can grab a seat together” She says and leads the way into their math class, Peter dragging behind her and rolls her eyes. The Y/H/C hair floating behind her as they walk past the note fluttering to the floor from Y/N’s locker.

   2.

It was during that summer on their annual trip with Ned and MJ to the pier that Peter tried again, attempting to win his crush a stuffed Y/F/A to help confess his feelings when a loud explosion interrupts his throw. “Dammit” Peter mumbles and looks around to find Rhino tearing apart the Midway Games set up in the area. “Oh come on….seriously?” He grumbles as he goes to his friends.

“Come on! We gotta go. Rhino is here” He urges and tries to shuffle them along, nodding to Ned to help him convince the girls to leave the pier so he can change into his superhero alter ego. “W..we can go to the main land and wait for spider-man to show up and kick ass….that can be the best angle right?” Ned says while awkwardly grabs Y/N and MJ’s hand. The darker skinned man pulls them away just as Rhino breaks through some of the tents, separating Peter from the rest of his group. “PETER! Are you okay?” Y/N calls out for him as Rhino faces the trio, Y/N’s yelling attracting his attention. “I’m fine! Run before he charges at you and you guys get hurt!” Peter exclaims while struggling to get his mask out of his backpack between one of the tents. He throws off his outer clothes before swinging into action as Rhino starts to charge. Peter; now Spider-Man shoots webbing the villains eyes, and drives him like a horse away from the citizens and his crush. Once they have some distance from everyone Peter begins to beat up The Rhino until he’s down for the count and can be webbed up for the police to collect. The seventeen year old teen changes into his normal clothes as quickly as he can while trying not to grunt in pain, his battle while Rhino has taken a nasty toll on his body

3.

Peter frustrated with the first two failures decides to bring a present back from England where the Avengers were sent out to get rid of a Hydra Base. Peter browses a bookstore and spots an interesting cover for Harry Potter, one of your favorite book series. He chooses (Y/H/H) book covers and is quick to use Mr. Starks card to purchase them. The brown hair man grins as he carries the ‘heavy’ bag onto the Quinjet and set it by his feet as it takes off. “What’s in the bag kid?” Tony asks as his phone beeps, the billionaire  checks his phone and signs. “Really kid? I’m guessing this is for your crush. Good luck explaining where this came from” Tony says with a chuckle. Peter debates to himself about how to explain it before sighing and deciding to just drop it off in her room when she isn’t there.

A few days after they’ve landed back home in New York and Peter has had time to adjust after the jetlag had caused for his young body. He swings over to your apartment and peer inside your bedroom window to make sure your not home. He gasps as you come into your room and flop onto the bed and turning over to blow your nose.

“Ugh this sucks!” You moan and get under the covers to take a nap. “Being sick can kiss my ass” You mumble before falling asleep

Peter waits for a while to make sure your asleep before trying the window, frowning as it seems to be locked. He puts the books down in front of the window and swings off, hoping to try again another day. When he returns a week later than he should have the books have disappeared and when he looks inside your room he can see the books are scattered about the room as you’ve set them down once you’ve finished them.

4.

The male smiles as he snaps back into reality and crawls up to Y/N’s fire escape. He looks surprised to see her waiting for him. “Uh..hello Citizen, don’t mind me! Just passing through as his voice modulator activates, disguising his voice.

“Really? You weren't my nerdy best friend that was hanging on the ceiling of my hall?” Y/N teases as she leans against the railing. “It’s okay...I like you too Peter Parker…” she murmurs and glances up at Peter, like she's examining his mask.

“Are you gonna kiss me or do I have to take that mask off myself?” Y/N flirts as Peter stands there flabbergasted in how she figured how his mask works.

“Oh I should shouldn't I?” Peter says awkwardly as his mask dissolves to reveal the brown haired man you've had a crush on for years.

“Yeah… you should…” Y/N murmurs gently

Peter pulls you close and kisses your lips gently  a spark coursing through both of your bodies.

When you both run out of air you separate. “Wait how did you know?” Peter asks you, curious of how it came to be.

“Well….you suck at hiding shit in your locker….the amount of times I’ve had to come and open your locker and it’s been on the floor or not so discreetly hidden in between books. Seriously Peter….and then I knew it could only be Spider-Man who could detect the rhino was coming our way and was going to charge at us...You kinda gave yourself away, and lastly….there was no way Spider-Man could know exactly what book and cover design for (H/H) house was...plus I knew that you were in England and that’s the only place you can get it from..” You confess and lean into Peter Parker. “Well I’m glad you know….but you also need to know that if my identity gets out that you’ll be in danger….I...I couldn’t live with myself if you were ever in danger….” Peter whispers and kisses your forehead. “Don’t worry...I believe you can save me and the world. You are a Hero...My Hero..”  You whisper as your lips meet again.

[jostenminyard]

who are your aftg fancasts ?

Anonymous said: have you ever thought about what actors would be perfect to play the foxes if there were ever a show/movie ?? i’m interested lol.

sorry for taking so long pals, i wanted time to really think about this! i have models/people picked out in my head for certain characters, but not any actors. and i think there is a difference there! also does anyone else picture fanart for them more than rl people? like requiemofkings/rainbowd00dles/llstarcasterll’s art is exactly how i picture a lot of them, with some exceptions.

anyways, let’s get into this

neil josten: this is tricky because in my head, he is NOT white. he has beautiful brown skin so i definitely headcanon him as either half first nations (like me!) or hispanic. they aren’t interchangeable i know but my hc as him as native is pretty much me projecting. anyway i could pick the obvious answer of jake cooper (1, 2) who is beautiful and has that pretty boy charm to him that neil has, but boy is white af. there’s also froy gutierrez, who is stunning and a lil cutie, and is actually an actor! my only problem there is that. he’s just so /cute/ that i can’t picture him as neil entirely. i’d love to hear what other people think!

andrew minyard: OH GOD. WTF. NO. HE CANNOT EXIST IN RL. THIS 5′ TALL BEEFCAKE?? WITH BLONDE HAIR AND GOLDEN EYES?? i legit haven’t ever come across anyone who fits the bill, so i usually picture fanart. that being said, there are a few people who give off andrew vibes. as nora said, toby hemingway (1, 2) has that ‘good-looking-but-kinda-scary’ look that fits andrew. but idk i think andrew has more defined facial features. i despise the thought of dane dehaan as andrew because he looks like 40 years old (not to say he isn’t good looking) but dane’s voice is definitely andrew’s 100%. also i’m not that informed about kpop but i kno this guy and he’d make a good andrew right?

aaron minyard: ^

kevin day: oh this is eASY!! the one, the only, the man, the myth, the legend, LAURENCE COKE!! he has such a beautiful face, a jacked af body, and he has that arrogant look to him that says ‘i’m better than u’ because he is! but. BUT. my dearest headcanon that i won’t allow anyone to take from me is that kevin day and wymack are native american. so that being said, a very beautiful kevin day would be dyami thomas!!

nicky hemmick: those who say tyler posey is nicky hemmick can jump in a fire. tho i will admit he could probably act as a good nicky, but,,,,, nah. nicky has dark skin. i picture him with long and curly hair, that always gets in his face. somebody on twitter once asked nora about nicky and she responded with a perfect face cast i think but i cannot remember the name. if we’re going for face/hair/body type though, this kid and this kid help build nicky up in my head.

dan wilds: dan is not white. i have never ever thought of her as white. she is beautiful with her short hair and her tiny fierceness. i think aiyana lewis is BEAUTIFUL and is who i generally picture as dan. but, like my kevin hc, i do want to believe that dan is native american. this user found the most beautiful lady that would make an amazing dan! look at her with short hair oh wow ♥

matt boyd: do i even need to say it?? reece king. REECE.KING. what a man! oh god i’m getting woozy over here

renee walker: oh sweet renee. there are so many amazing versions of her (fanart/fancasts) that i’ve seen in my time here in the fandom that it’s hard to pin her down. i’ve seen kim tae-yeon in a few edits and this picture really struck me as renee! 

allison reynolds: i just saw somebody say amber heard and lemme tell ya. i am GAY for that idea. but also kayley kiyoko. i wasn’t able to see it before but hayley kiyoko can do whatever the fuck she wants. can i also say dianna agron or is that my gleek ass projecting? IDC SHE’S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD

david wymack: listen. if you even try to tell me that dwayne the rock johnson is david wymack, i’ll block you. wtf. get more creative people. clearly jeff goldblum is the only rational option here. being serious tho, i picture this big gruff native guy as wymack. listen i don’t have a father i don’t know what they look like ok. but did any other canadian native kid grow up watching north of 60? this face comes 2 mind

i’ve just spent 2 hours on this so i think i’ll end it there! if they were to make a tv show or a movie it would be really swell if they could cast all new faces. i want to see the most diverse cast ever. i want to see actual gay people playing gay characters. i want voices that aren’t ever heard and faces that aren’t ever seen in the spotlight. hope u enjoyed 

[comicteaparty]

July 12th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on July 12th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on The Guide to a Healthy Relationship by Dani .

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing The Guide to a Healthy Relationship by Dani~! (https://tapas.io/series/TGtaHR) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

snuffysam

i don't know why, but the scene where apollo is asking around and trying to find julian really stuck with me. it's not the most artistically vivid scene (there are quite a few of those), but that one stood out.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

anything particular that made it stand out to you? just asking out of curiosity cause honestly i barely remember that scene just because its not the most artisticially vivid(edited)

snuffysam

i'm not sure. i think apollo realizing he wasn't crazy in seeing julian the other night made me feel, like, emotions.

turnish

Really any scene with Julian that exhibits his psychosis are ones that I particularly like Like, I find it very relatable and the art just perfectly displays what that Actually Feels Like imo

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello!

snuffysam

the way the art reflects mental states in general is incredibly well done

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Just wanted to pop in and say hi.

turnish

I agree

snuffysam

hi justin

turnish

Hi!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi justin

yeah i have to agree with turnish that my fave scenes are probably the ones showing julian's mental problems. although i think the one that sticks with me the most is the one where julian is talking to a younger version of himself and his younger version is calling him lazy. i feel like its a great blend of mental illness but kind of normal self esteem issues perhaps. in that he does seem kind of sick yet here his younger self is berating him. @snuffysam thats a fair point. i did feel emotions when it turned out apollo was indeed not crazy. XD

turnish

HH YEAH that was like a punch to the gut

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

If I had to say anything about this comic, it's got a really nice traditional artstyle and all the detail in the characters populating the pages

And some great BG work too

DanitheCarutor

Hello everyone! I'm the creator of 'The Guide to a Healthy Relationship', I'll be helping my ma out with dinner so I won't be on much, but just wanted to pop in to say hi and answer any questions and such whenever possible.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hi Dani!

snuffysam

hi dani!

turnish

Hi!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thanks for coming dani~!

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Great to have ya here~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes. i really like the day of time reflections. particularly i think the way night is portrayed is really spectacular. https://tapas.io/episode/804141 like that page. youve got the light glow effects going on, you have some excellent reflections on the door that really make it look like night. its just all really well done.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yes

it's all very well done

especially the glow from the sity

snuffysam

the colors and lighting are just incredible

in general

turnish

i reread it today entirely bc my brain is Crap and i don’t remember stuff well but man i agree

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

snuffysam

yeah i probably should have done that lol

turnish

The night is still young

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

indeed

I wonder how you do sunsets cause I have a soft spot for epic sunsets

turnish

tbh big same

snuffysam

I like how the colors are shaded with completely different colors most of the time (e.g. a blue shirt has orange shading). that's super cool to me. something that very few artists do.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Same

Colored shading alone is awesome when done right

turnish

color theory is so important

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

and it also brings out the colors themselves

snuffysam

it also helps capture that feel of night time. which is when most of this story takes place.

turnish

yeah! agreed

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

This is a cool looking comic all around

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah there are really just great color choices all around. i especially like the contrasts. cause one of my biggest issues with traditionally colored comics is theres not usually enough contrasts. so everything kind of winds up looking muted and its hard to tell things apart from one another. but i feel this comic doesnt have that problem at all

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

and all in traditional too!

and I second that

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I made it. ^^ I'm inclined towards the Julian scenes too, though I actually liked the scene where he was doing his janitor stuff and tidying up, making things sparkling. In retrospect, it was nice to see him (seemingly) taking pride in something.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hey Math!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also, I'm very impressed by going the traditional route with such a blend of colours.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Given he was supposed to be dead, Julian’s appearance in Apollo’s life opens up many questions. First off, do you believe this is indeed Julian, or do you have reason to doubt this claim? What do you think Julian meant by telling Apollo that, “his friend is dead?” Was it just a way to get Apollo to leave, or is there a deeper meaning? Where do you think Julian has been all this time? Throughout, we also see that Julian has both physical and implied mental health problems. Do you believe this has something to do with his appearance? Do you think Julian dealt with these problems all his life or are they a new development? Lastly, where do you think Julian came from considering Apollo relays they pretty much found him in a bag?

DanitheCarutor

Ah! Thank you all! Seeing the positive reactions to Julian's mentally ill scenes is really encouraging. I've been doing a lot of research on the subject since I've never experienced it myself, and it's tough to know when it's being done well. Also I feel so bad for having Julian ruin that emotional scene with Apollo, slamming the door in his face was kind of a mood killer. Lol. @Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨ A sunset scene is going to be coming up in a couple pages, so we'll all see how that turns out. xD I've never drawn a sunset before.

DanitheCarutor

Sorry! I type a lot, and I type slow.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

SUNSET SCENE CONFORMED

and that's alright!

snuffysam

I think Julian metaphorically died when... something happened to him. Don't know what.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I think there's a deeper meaning in that the person he was doesn't exist any more. Though honestly, I'm not sure they were as good of friends as Apollo thinks; Julian seemed to keep to himself even then.

snuffysam

Julian was a nice person to Apollo, but I'm not sure if he ever really liked him.

turnish

when reading “your friend is dead” I chose to interpret that as the Julian Apollo once knew no longer exists, and Julian considers himself a different person now. or he’s running away from his past

i think i made the same point as math whoops

snuffysam

in terms of where he came from, i'd imagine russia, because he only spoke russian

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It may be worth saying that, as a 40 year old teacher, I don't think I'm the demographic for this comic. Every time I see Apollo I kind of want to get in his face and shout "shape up man!". If he was as oblivious now as he was in the past, I kind of get why Julian would want to move on from his old life.

snuffysam

yeah honestly i get why julian wouldn't be too psyched about seeing apollo again. he's kind of a difficult person to have in your life.

especially if you have your own mental health problems to deal with

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel apollo is a bit self involved and just wouldnt notice julian's suffering. so while julian was there to care for apollo, apollo wouldnt notice when someone needed to care for julian persay

snuffysam

i second that

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I think Julian saying something to the effect of "I don't have what you need" kind of emphasizes that.

That time Apollo jumped out of the bushes.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Lol, Prince

I lost it when you brought up "shape up man!"

snuffysam

i wouldn't want to go back to that kind of one-sided relationship either tbh

DanitheCarutor

Aw man, those are really good questions, with some really good answers! I won't confirm much because I like things being left open for interpretation, but Apollo is 100% a moron. Also I don't mind throwing it out that he's a homeschool kid, so no social skills.

turnish

I love a moronic boy

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbf i could also see the hes dead mean something deeper. like maybe julian was in an accident and lost part of his memories. like all the good memories of apollo and just remembers the shitty times.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Also "Get off my lawn". (Your drunk ass is scaring the squirrels.)

snuffysam

that's awfully convenient re: losing all positive memories of someone

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Interesting, so I guess Julian was homeschooled too? Since they grew up together?

(Also, for a moment I read that as "Apollo is 100% a mormon" and I did a double take.)

snuffysam

yeah that doesn't exactly fit with most of the stuff he's done lol

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Rebel: Maybe? I kind of feel like Julian might have faked his death to get away from creditors and people who just generally were treating him lousy though. But maybe things didn't go as planned.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Perhaps

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

What's kind of interesting is how Apollo has problems too, with his eyesight, so you'd think he'd be able to empathize a bit with Julian having his own issues. But it does seem like he doesn't have much experience with that.

snuffysam

empathy and sympathy both seem to be problems for apollo

DanitheCarutor

Math: Lmao! Oh no, not a mormon! But for the homeschool question, nah. Julian is a public school kid, they hung out almost 24/7 but they grew up in different environments with Julian staying in an orphanage and Apollo living in a fancy house.

snuffysam

especially when it comes to julian

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Ahhh, interesting. I think I misunderstood and thought he'd been adopted like a brother. That adds an interesting element of class to things too.

Apollo is very much "live in the moment". I would not want him doing my tax returns.

snuffysam

the fancy homeschool tutors may have neglected to teach him, like, responsibility

going back to what rebel said - were there any positive memories of apollo julian had to begin with?

like, even apollo's recap at the beginning paints himself in a bad light

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

probably. homeschool can be pretty lax from what i hear. so apollo's education in general might have sucked.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe they went sledding together.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and yeah its possible that julian doesnt have positive memories

albeit there must of been a reason julian chose to ahng out with apollo

snuffysam

though that may have something to do with apollo's mental state making himself out to be worse than he was

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and why julian didnt make an effort to move farther away

cause if i didnt want someone to find me i would not be living in driving distance of them

snuffysam

maybe he couldn't move further. relocating is hard

especially if you don't have financial means

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

true but he has had something like 5 years to make arrangements. i think 5 years. its years at least. but it really all depends where he was. it could be that hes been in the hospital or something

or a mental hospital

DanitheCarutor

Misunderstandings is totally understandable, a lot of stuff in the comic is very vague right now, and some of it will only be shown in snippets. I can't say much, but Julian does have some positive memories, there's just not many and it's harder to focus on the good over the bad.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

DanitheCarutor

Also as a homeschool student myself, the education does suck. I pretty much cheated my way through middle school because my teacher was a Christian booklet.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh really?

That's... interesting

DanitheCarutor

Oo! Since this isn't super important, Julian and Apollo actually grew up in Ohio in a town based of Newark. When Apollo "grew up" he moved to a city in California based of a mix of San Diego and LA.

snuffysam

is it possible julian faked his own death specifically to get rid of apollo for a while? like, he didn't have the capacity to take care of him anymore, so he just cut him out of his life.

lol "grew up" in quotes

so yeah, julian may not have known where apollo was, and didn't intend to be in the same city as him

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

man now thats got to be the shittiest coincidence

julian is like "im free from apollo oh shit wait theres apollo"

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

No kidding

snuffysam

yeah, but looking at julian's reaction - he clearly did not intend to run into apollo any time soon

DanitheCarutor

"and Julian's evening was ruined" -ugly cry-

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder if apollo just didnt even know how julian "died." like one day whoever took care of julian was just like "nah man he dead" and apollo just made a goofy face and accepted it

QUESTION 3. Despite most definitely being adult, protagonist Apollo is a little bit immature. Why do you believe Apollo is so irresponsible? Is it just his personality, or are his habits a way to avoid certain aspects of his life? Do you think his ocular albinism plays a role in why he acts the way he does? Do you think it will be good for Apollo to reconnect with Julian, or will the events of the past send Apollo into a downward spiral? What do you think Daniel’s role will be in Apollo’s life? Lastly, what do you think it will take for Apollo to get his life together a bit more?

snuffysam

if his ocular albinism plays into his irresponsibility, it's only as an excuse. "well, i can't see normally. better get sloshed!"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

(Sorry, sometimes I have to dash off if the little one is crying.) Oh, being away in a mental hospital would be an interesting development.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^

snuffysam

i think apollo just has serious issues with self control. he started out with alcohol and drugs to get away from some aspects of his life, and then it just got worse from there.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Snuffy: I don't know about that. If he's sensitive to daylight, it makes sense that he'd be out and about at night, which is when the parties happen.

snuffysam

true, that may be a source of some temptation. but if he was healthier, that wouldn't be a problem.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

But yeah, agree about the self control thing. Guy doesn't know when to say "no". Also doesn't seem to know a good thing when he has it.

Fair. I don't think he eats from the proper food groups.

snuffysam

i meant mentally but yes

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Can't help you feel active.

Like, if you're always eating junk food I mean.

Ahh, gotcha.

snuffysam

he doesn't have much of a support channel to help him with his issues, and a lot of the people who do try and help him out don't like him very much because of the whole personality thing

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i think the ocular albinism does play a role. cause as someone who is awake all night, there is nothing to do outside. like the options are go to dennys, go to waffle house, go to walmart, or go to a bar. so i think it more than increases the temptation for apollo. it hampers a lot of paths to recovery.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Is it cool to bring up Daniel? Because he's such an interesting counterpoint.

I cannot see Apollo as a greeter at Wal-Mart.

snuffysam

his boss puts up with so much from apollo, it's a wonder she hasn't fired him

DanitheCarutor

Math: Sure! He's going to be in the comic a lot more from this chapter on.

Apollo really does have control issues, it'll come up why later but he's never had an issue with getting whatever he wanted as a kid.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh cool~

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

they dont have greeters at night. in fact i think the greeters all leave before 8pm at the latest

yeah apollo's boss deserves a boss of the year award

cause man

i wouldve fired apollo 10 billion years ago

turnish

Ahhh Apollo’s boss deserves the most

snuffysam

and his other coworkers too. who was the woman he asked for help and then called a slur? galia?

DanitheCarutor

Rebel: Yeah, being awake at night sucks. I used to be a night owl, waking up at noon and staying up till 4am. There isn't anything to do, at least anything that's a good idea.

Yup, that's her name! Poor Galia, she's only been in the comic a couple times so far and it sucked for her.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I'm hoping Daniel can get through to Apollo. Challenge him without going so far as putting him off.

turnish

Same here Math

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel at the very least daniel will openly pull up his flaws in a way others dont. cause the others say it with anger and derision and lots of ppl just flat out tune out criticism at that point. where as i feel daniel would be the one whod be like "hey apollo maybe you should clean up your place some?"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Or maybe Apollo will just want to, so that his date doesn't get a bad impression.

Cuz the Apollo/Daniel ship is sailing.

turnish

heh

snuffysam

yeah, i think that's going to be one of the major themes coming up. trying to reconnect with julian isn't healthy - julian doesn't want anything to do with apollo, and he has his own physical and mental issues to deal with without taking care of apollo. meanwhile daniel will push apollo (either wittingly through calling him out, unwittingly through apollo wanting to get better for him, or both) to get healthier and turn his life around

whether apollo goes into a downward spiral or begins recovery depends on which path he chooses

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

It's a good point though, Rebel, about how to get across criticism.

I wonder if maybe Daniel starting to spiral down would help shock Apollo to his senses?

snuffysam

in that, apollo drags down everyone around him with his toxicity?

could happen, but i hope not. i like daniel.

DanitheCarutor

Oh man, I'm loving the Daniel discussion! He'll definitely be challenging Apollo in one way or another.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Maybe Daniel starting to date Julian will shock Apollo to his senses.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i believe in daniel to be self confident enough to fall down apollo's hole. but on the opposite turn i do think julian will be important for apollo cause i think only julian can point out some of apollo's flaws from the past and give apollo pause. tho im not quite sure how outside of giving apollo more clarity of the things julian is dealing with

snuffysam

daniel can even use the perfect pickup line that he's been saving for such an occasion

"i like my men like i like my alcohol - russian, and found in a bag"

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

11/10

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Okay, you win with that one.

snuffysam

julian can point out problems that apollo has had since childhood, but question is, will he want to?

or will he just want to keep apollo out of his life?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Back on the question of why Apollo is so irresponsible, I think it comes from his position of privilege. His parents probably made sure that he never suffered real consequences from his actions.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i feel julian wont succeed in keeping apollo out of his life because 1) apollo is apollo and 2) julian's young ghost self is telling him to not be lazy and i think julian will give in to that for a while

snuffysam

yeah it absolutely stems from that

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

A restraining order might be needed to keep Apollo out of his life. ^^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

and yeah i agree with math, i think apollo has no real concept of consequences

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Napples agrees too.

snuffysam

where are apollo's parents anyway? do they know what's happened to their son's life?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Do they care?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

they might not care? or they might not know. cause apollo does not seem the type to call home frequently and i doubt their once in a blue moon phone calls consist of apollo saying "yeah i got wasted every night this week"

cause consequence conscious or not thats just not a thing i think any kid would talk to his parents about XD

QUESTION 4. The comic’s title, “The Guide to a Healthy Relationship,” seems rather revealing of the story at hand. What does the title mean to you exactly? How do you think the story will live up to that title? Furthermore, the three chapter titles (“Hypomania,” “Monophobia,” and “Psychosis”) all share a theme of mental issues. Does this change how you interpret the title at all or how you interpret the story itself (whether the entire story or a specific chapter’s content)? What role do you think these titles play in regards to the mental illnesses we’ve seen in the story so far? Finally, do you feel the story is about relationships with others, relationships with ourselves, both, or something else entirely?

snuffysam

yeah there's a reason i've been referring to things as healthy and unhealthy all night lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

for me personally i feel the title is both about relationships with others and with ourselves. tho i lean more towards the latter if i had to pick one. because of how apollo treats his own self.

snuffysam

yeah, having a healthy relationship with yourself seems like a big theme

i also think the unhealthy relationship apollo had with julian growing up will keep coming back

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Wow, I hadn't even picked up on the chapter titles. Hmm, I guess at first my mind went to romantic relationships, but yeah it makes sense to be more friends and such.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"Guide to a Healthy Relationship - Don't act like Apollo."

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats the real lesson we should take away from this

dont be an apollo

be the best daniel you can be

MathTans the Pun ���Prince👑

I gotta wonder a bit about Apollo's circle of friends too. They seem like real enablers, I wonder if they have day jobs.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

probably. despite their party habits more of them seem to have their crap together perhaps.

tbf tho i think apollo is equally an enabler. so i think its just a circle of friends who see nothing wrong, enable each other, and spiral down and down

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

There is that, yeah.

snuffysam

do they know how bad apollo's life is? or do they just think he's that wild guy who likes to drink on the weekends?

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Speaking of spiralling down, that one panel with the pill on the tongue was cleverly done. Just wanted to get that out there.

I think they believe Apollo's got an amazing life. Bartender with access to free drinks, his own place without a roommate to bug him, the ability to afford random merchandise for thousands of dollars... what's not to like?

snuffysam

true

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

thirded

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

If anything, the search for Julian might be helping to pull Apollo away from the bad influences.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

math has a point

cant be out drinking when youre haunting a school at night

looking for ghost friends

maybe apollo will be like "wow so this is what being sober is like"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

"I can walk without running into trees. My friends, however..."

snuffysam

though nothing stopping you from drinking before starting the search

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe julian will say something

like "please dont come here reeking of alcohol"

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Julian just needs to keep throwing water into Apollo's face. Like that first time.

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yeah

Try it like eight more times

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Though the fact that he did reach out there implies that at least part of him doesn't like seeing Apollo down on his luck, perhaps?

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i dont think julian hates apollo persay. i think hes just tired of dealing with apollo

cause ive dealt with ppl like that

where you dont hate them

but man do you have your own shit going on and theres only so many hours in the day

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Truth.

"And now I have to mop the floor AGAIN, geeeez."

snuffysam

yeah, that's the thing, i think julian does care about apollo, but their relationship is so one-sided that it isn't worth it

DanitheCarutor

The answers about the tirle, and this discussion is soooo gooood! I didn't think anyone would pay that any mind. -sobs- I wish I could spill the beans, some of you guys had some really spot on theories.

turnish

Sorry I’m hella cleaning so I couldn’t participate as much as I wanted to,,rip

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Apollo knows not of this "cleaning".

snuffysam

yeah didn't you learn from the story, turnish? you have to live your life like apollo! that's the moral!

turnish

Dang ur right I should become a slob

shixjdj

Superjustingo of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

kek

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Don't lose your glasses though. That's a bad plan.

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, man. Just throw it all on the floor, the nanny will take care of it. Everyone's got one of those, right?

turnish

Man I Wish

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah i store my nanny in my closet when not in use

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Hm, this sequel to Mary Poppins took a NSFW turn...

DanitheCarutor

Ah, I'd suggest storing them in a jar. It's more cost effective.

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Anyway, last remark from me, again impressed by the use of colours and drive to experiment with some different perspectives and the like at times.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Dani, as well, for making The Guide to a Healthy Relationship and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Dani’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Wednesday7 by Viki Kuli. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on July 19th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/Wednesday7%20

[leonbastralle]

What’s in my Sim’s bag?

I got tagged for this by @bonnypixels who requested these two! Sorry for taking so long, I didn’t want to spoil YA Rad’s face XD also no pictures, cause cc is hell. I hope you understand.

AUR’S BAG

2 phones (one crappy old one with a transparent case, stuffed with tiny pics of the members of his family, one very new one in a golden, ingraved case which is his business phone) 

keys (car, home, office, United World headquarters master key), heart shaped keychain that has a pic of him and Flame when they got married)

wallet (yellow leather with a rainbow clasp) with various exclusive membership cards, too many pics of Flame, a ridiculous amount of small change

3 notebooks, MiraculousFlame, therealgem and blazeofpositivity merch, that he uses interchangeably and forgets what he put where all the time

a pair of stupid party glasses (you know the ones) that he keeps taking for some reasons

United World baseball cap

an extra tie, you never know

“Not A Lifestyle Guide” and “Sweet States of Equality - Discrimination in Berry History” by Dr. Blaze Miracle

a few band aids, some of them children’s ones with pictures on them

a water bottle

no tissues, he tends to forget about those

newspaper

newest issue of a pride magazine

an almost empty bag of eucalyptus drops

organ donor card

box for contact lenses 

binder with various semi-official documents (in orange)

leftover election pin

RAD’S BAG

phone, new model, fancy black flipcase 

keys (car, flat, The Miracle House)

2 pairs of sunglasses

tissues (the packet says ‘best little sister’)

chapstick, hand cream

2 plain notebooks, labelled 'work’ and 'private’

asthma spray

brush

an orange or a banana

lunch (usually egg and salad sandwich)

an e-reader in a galaxy case, last book opened: 'The Toughest Cases in History and How They Were Won (or Lost Scandalously)’

pocket version of the Sweet States Code of Law

hair ties (even though she usually wears her hair down, she carries some in case someone else will need one)

umbrella (floral orange pattern)

box of peppermints, Aureus Miracle election campaign freebie

pain killers

an assortment of women’s hygiene articles, in a little sack with a Rosie the Riveter print on it

the Berry equivalent of the Cosmopolitan

old university logo scarf

disinfection agent

galaxy style wallet, containing a reasonable amount of everything

staff badge

earphones, the cord neatly rolled, in a box

empty plastic bag

EDIT now with tags! @socialbunnies, @thatsimslove, @melien, @treason-and-plot, @plumboblures and @nernershuman! Pics are optional since I cheated with that as well xD I mean the tag itself is, really, even tho I tried rly hard to think of some who would enjoy this I didn’t necessarily get it right I suppose xD