#AFTER garroth gets shot'

[starry-bi-sky]

back on my bullshit

and by bullshit i mean "rewatch MCD for the millionth time in a row and resist the urge to make an MCD OC"

i have yet to succeed in my bullshit.

[lovelaurs]

hi!! i really like your writing:) you followed me last night and i was So Confused because i don’t post i just repost with stupid tags HAHA if you can and your requests are open (i checked like 29 times and read the rules and im still scared im gonna mess this up and i missed something), can you write a suggestive mcd garroth and laurance little drabble? if you want a direction to go in, i really like fanfics where they fight and it turns into a suggestive bit ^_^ thanks so much aahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

TRAINING TOGETHER

featuring : mcd garroth & laurance x gn reader synopsis : after deciding to train to be a guard, you seek the help of none other then a knight from phoenix drop. yet, after a tough training session, things begin to get a bit out of hand... tags : mature, romance, friends to lovers, sword-fighting, training, kissing, making out, suggestive word count : 2.5k | around 1.2k per character! a/n : woohoo, my first request done! this was really fun to write, so i hope you enjoy!! these two were so silly to write, i just love them so much!

MASTERLIST

GARROTH

As someone who has always dreamt of being a guard, you didn’t exactly have the schedule of one.

After sleeping in for what seemed later than normal, your eyes quickly shot open as you remembered what today was.

Shit.

Your weekly training with Garroth was this morning.

As you quickly shot up from your bed, you ran around your house putting on the first pieces of clothing you could find.

After slipping over a plain tunic along with some boots, you swung open your door, slamming it behind you as you sprinted towards the training grounds.

As you passed through the town, many of the other villagers looked at you with amusement as you exhausted yourself on the way there. They had gotten used to watching you run late to almost everything.

Ever since you were younger, you had always aimed to be a guard.

Except, with the village guards being scarce and always so busy, you were never able to train. This was the very reason that got you rejected from the training program in O’khasis.

Of course, since things have been more and more easier under Lord Aphmau’s rule, the guards have increased, and with that, so has their availability.

After seeking out a guard to help train you, the Head Guard, Garroth, gladly accepted. Even though he himself learnt his sword-fighting in O’khasis, he always mentioned that it wasn’t required to make a good guard, and that all that mattered was the strength in one’s loyalty.

Since you met him from when he arrived, he always showed himself to be loyal.

Ever since then, your hopes have been raised.

It has been weeks since you began training with him, your sword-fighting skills increasing almost tenfold since the first day.

And yet one thing has never changed.

Your tardiness.

As arrived at the training grounds, you keeled over, hands on your knees as you breathed deeply. A disapproving Garroth watched from afar, smiling at the scene.

“Yet again you're late.” He noted, leaning against the guard tower.

“Yeah,” You panted. “No shit.” 

He frowned at your response. “Watch your tone, we’re supposed to be prepping you to be a guard, remember? Guards do not speak that way.” As you finally caught your breath, you stood up straight, nodding. “Right… I’m sorry.” “Great.” Garroth pushed himself off the bricks, reaching for his sword. “Now, are you ready to begin our training that was supposed to start at sunrise?” He teased.

“Haha, very funny.” You sighed at the remark, reaching for the hilt of your sword… before finding it not there.

You frantically patted yourself down, quickly realizing that you had forgotten your sword at home.

“You know, I was waiting for you to notice.” Garroth chuckled. He motioned his head towards the guard tower. “Go grab an extra sword from the armory.” You groaned as you made your way over there, picking up a random sword. 

As you made your way back over to the training grounds, you noticed Garroth watched you with a smirk.

All you wanted was to wipe that stupid look off his face.

As you took your position, readying your sword in front of you, you let your eyes focus on the trained knight before you.

This man had been trained amongst would be Jury Of Nine members, so of course he’d be tough to beat.

It wasn’t until he counted down that you brought yourself back to the present, focusing.

As the word “go” left his mouth, he rushed towards you, unrelenting on his force.

His first contact with your sword was strong, catching you off guard. You held your stance, pushing against his blade, causing him to jump back to regain his own footing.

“Nice defense, your hold is getting stronger.” He smirked, slowly circling you like a shark staring down its prey.

As it seemed he was going to keep taunting you, never truly moving towards you, you decided to take the opportunity to take the lead.

You rushed towards him, putting all your strength into the swing of your sword as it collided with his.

He held his stance, before you both pulled back, colliding your swords once more.

It wasn’t until you shared several more blows that you started to feel sweat pooling on your forehead. This singular match has gone on longer than your usual time, so it wasn’t surprising that your muscles started to ache in response.

Out of nowhere, Garroth swung his sword with all his might, causing your own blade to go flying off towards the bushes behind you.

As you fell to the ground, the blonde stood above you, holding his sword towards your throat.

“You need to work on your grip.” He heaved, before sheathing his sword, offering his hand out to you with a smile.

That’s when you thought of something devious.

You swept your leg under his, causing him to fall on top of you with an “Oof!”.

“And you should work on your stance.” You giggled. 

Garroth adjusted himself, his hands caging you in on both sides of your shoulders. As he took notice of your current position, he paused, just looking at you in the eyes.

You couldn’t help notice just how beautiful his cerulean eyes were. You were so lost within the blue that you didn’t notice how his pupils dilated, his position above you growing stiff.

It was then that his eyes wandered down to your lips, almost watching them impatiently.

With that, you practically couldn’t stop yourself from looping your arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

As the two of you sat in silence, it wasn’t long before Garroth spoke.

“Can… Can I kiss you?”

A sense of wonder filled his eyes as he watched your expression switch into one of joy.

You smiled, slightly tilting your head. “Yes.” When he kissed you, it felt like all pieces of a puzzle were finally connected. With his lips locked against yours, you savored the feeling as much as possible.

He pulled back for a breath for only about five seconds before diving back to kiss you once again.

His lips hurriedly pressed against yours as if the two of you were running out of time and his goal was to taste your lips on a dying breath.

As if a knee-jerk reaction, you slowly moved your hands from around his neck to his hips, pulling his lower half closer. Garroth couldn’t help but groan at the friction.

His face was flushed, tinted pink all the way to the tips of his ears.

As you lay beneath the blushing blonde, it wasn’t long before your perfect moment was interrupted.

“Sir Garroth! Come quick! Kiki’s animals got loose and-”

The two of you whipped your heads around to see a dirtied Dante, covered in hoove marks and mud, looking at you both all flustered.

He quickly brought his hand to his face, covering his eyes. “Oh my- uh, nevermind! I’m sorry to interrupt-” He stuttered as he began to quickly rush away.

Garroth stumbled off of you, rolling over in the grass before stumbling as he went to chase after Dante “W-Wait! It’s not what it looks like!”

You couldn’t help but giggle at the guard’s reaction to being caught, catching his attention.

He turned around, puffing his cheeks. “Don’t think you’re getting away from this!” He yelled, before giving you a soft smirk. “I’ll swing by your house later this evening to continue where we left off, okay?”

And with that, he ran after the younger blue-haired knight.

Now it was your turn to flush, as your mind conjured up several images within your mind that left not much to the imagination.

And you just couldn’t wait.

LAURANCE

Who in Irene’s name suggests training in the middle of the woods?

As you made your way through the shrubbery, pushing aside all sorts of branches and leaves, you kept asking yourself if you were going the right way.

When you left the gates of Phoenix Drop earlier in the day, you felt something in your stomach twist. Perhaps it was a bad omen as to your situation now?

The training area Laurance had told you to meet at was somewhat northwest of the wall, in a clearing in which you could see the ocean.

As if such directions would be easy to follow within an overgrown forest such as this!

He had originally suggested it in an empty area so the two of you “could have no distractions”, which in hindsight, you seriously should have doubted more. That charmer of a man always had ulterior motives.

The brunette himself had gone ahead of you earlier in the day, saying he’d set up the area with equipment and some rations. 

Why the hell did you let him go ahead of you?!

As you continued to stumble over tree roots and unforeseen rocks, your eyes eventually caught sight of the ocean.

You had to be close!

You continued to trudge forward, your new boots practically covered in dirt. As you made your way into the clearing, you saw Laurance polishing his sword, his hair tied up into a small ponytail.

While you approached him, you stepped on a twig, alerting him of your presence.

“Took you long enough.” He smirked, raising his head to look at you. “For a minute I was beginning to think you stood me up.”

You scoffed, taking off your satchel and placing it next to what seemed to be the bag of rations he had brought. “Maybe I would have gotten here sooner if someone had at least made it more obvious where this “secret” area was.” 

“You do know what the word secret means, do you not?” He chuckled. “And besides, I’m sort of glad you had to stumble through the woods by yourself. I mean, just look at the state you’re in right now!” He held back a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand as he pointed at you.

You quickly looked around your clothes, seeing countless spots of dirt littered across it, before patting your head to find leaves scattered amongst your hair. You picked out as many twigs from your hair as you could before finally dusting yourself off.

You swung your head back towards his direction with a pout. “I can’t stand you.”

He smiled at the comment, before standing up with his sword in hand, throwing away the cloth he used to polish the blade beforehand.

“So, are you ready to face the all mighty, powerful Laurance?” You guffawed at the comment. “My, it seems you're even more full of yourself than usual.” You unsheathed your own blade in response.

As the two of you began to circle the area, an unspoken commencement of the training between you two, you kept distance from the brunette as you surveyed his moves.

You kept watching his stance, waiting for an opening, until out of chance his foot slipped up just slightly.

Perfect.

You lept towards him, raising your blade above your head before bringing it down with such might that even he was surprised. 

He blocked it easily, sure, but his stance was still unstable. Your first move had caused him to move his feet to re-adjust himself.

A great play indeed.

Your eyes watched as he let his feet move back.

He must have sensed your motives, as his eyes followed yours to his feet. Of course, being the trained guard he was, he wasn’t about to just let you defeat him so easily from a minor slip-up.

The Shadow Knight decided to turn the tables on you, swooping beneath your own feet, causing you to slam into the ground.

He followed you soon after, pushing his sword against yours whilst on top of you. Your eyes trailed over his body, trying to find a weak spot to escape your soon defeat.

Soon, your eyes landed on the side of his lower abdomen, and your foot instinctively kicked him, causing him to fall off to the side.

You took the chance and jumped onto him, your knee pinning down the arm in which he held his sword, with your own blade aimed at his neck.

As you straddled his waist, pinning him down by your blade, you couldn’t help but breath heavily.

“I won.” You smiled, watching as his light blue eyes never left your own. “I won!” You repeated, only this time cheering.

He smirked as you took pride in your victory. “Really? Because right now it really feels like I won.” His eyes wandered, looking you up and down.

You couldn’t help but slightly flush, realizing the position the two of you were in. “You know I can slit your throat if I wanted to, right?” “And yet you don’t seem to be doing it.” He smiled smugly. “Seems to me that you might care for little ol’ Laurance.”

You rolled your eyes as you sheathed your sword back within your scabbard. “In your dreams.” You responded, before turning to get off of the knight.

That was when he grabbed your hand, pulling you flush against him, before he rolled you both over; switching your positions.

As he towered over you on the ground, he brought his hand to your cheek, cupping it gently, before whispering your name.

Your face flushed, the color change obvious enough for Laurance to notice with a smirk. He began to lean down, closing in the proximity between the two of you.

Before simply plucking a stray leaf from your hair.

“You missed a spot.” This. Asshole.

The look of disappointment seemed to have shown as your face, as his smug grin grew even wider. “Hm? What’s wrong? You look a bit frustrated.” He teased, basking in the fruits of his actions.

You puffed your cheeks, sighing. “You know, if you’re thinking about doing something, just go ahead and do it instead of humiliating me.”

A confused look spread across his face before he smiled again, leaning closer to you. “So you do want me.”

“Shut up and kiss me already.”

It took only a moment for that to process in his brain before he swooped in and planted his lips upon yours.

Your heart fluttered as you felt Laurance battle to take the lead. His lips almost fight against yours as if you were dueling once more.

At some point, you decided to just let him win, seeing as you beat him in your duel.

That’s when he turned you over, both of you laying on your sides as his hands flew to grip your hips. The action caused you to let out a gasp on Laurance's lips, which he took as an opportunity to let his tongue explore. His knee popped up in response, placing itself between your thighs.

You felt like you were going to die. From the way he kissed you, to the grip he had on your hips, and the friction he was causing between your legs? Oh my Irene, it was incredible.

As he pulled back to take a breath, you suddenly realized the two of you were outside… anyone could see you.

But your worries were quickly assuaged as you realized… This place was secret after all.

@lovelaurs, 2024. do not repost this work in any way!

[xerith-42]

I was wrong

It takes a lot to admit that, even more for me to admit that about MCD, but I was wrong about something in regards to this series. In a previous post I said that the worst episode of MCD was Season 2 Episode 95, because it was the culmination of the absolute failure that was Laurance's character arc. And I wasn't wrong about that, S2E95 is an objectively bad episode and I stand by it being one of the worst. But it's only one of the worst episodes of this series. Probably second or third worst.

The actual worst episode of Minecraft Diaries happens far earlier in it's run time than I anticipated. The actual episode that begins the degrading of every single main character happens within it's first season. The worst episode of Minecraft Diaries is Season 1 Episode 65, Our Fears.

For those of you who haven't watched MCD in a minute, or aren't insane like I am and recognize what happens in an episode from just a number and a thumbnail, this is the episode where Aphmau and Dante get chased into Malachi's abandoned castle and fall victim to his uncontrollable magic. A magic that shows people their greatest fears.

Now the concept of a ghost that forces the audience and the characters to come face to face with the leading characters greatest fears is a fantastic idea. I'm serious this is one of the best concepts for character work in the entire Aphverse. This is great, this can go so many good ways.

Aphmau's fear is pretty weak mostly because it shows her house on fire, nobody hurt, and Malachi comments that she's "Scared of losing the ones you love." My honest reaction to this was "She lost her house in episode 36 and didn't seem to care because her loved ones are safe. You wanna communicate that she's scared of people dying just show Zoey lying on the ground or something smh." It gets the job done, but not very well.

Dante's fear is the only one that's well done because it's an image of Gene about to rip apart the realm barrier in the Nether. This works surprisingly well despite only being one shot because it gets across Dante's connection to Gene and the Nether pretty well, setting up for the reveal later on. Dante's existence is this episode's single redeeming quality. And as much as I like the guy, he's not enough to hold up the episode after what happens next.

Now, dear viewer who presumably knows the plot of MCD because you've read this far into a post about this single episode, you know that at this point in the series Garroth has been found out by his brother and has the looming threat of the entire O'Khasis military on his mind all the damn time. Zane has already hurt members of his village in direct ways, and only didn't do more damage because he was called away for an emergency. Garroth has already failed to protect one lord, and he's nearly failed to protect another.

Laurance is a shadow knight. And even though the lore of shadow knights is still flimsy at this point, we know that they are very prone to killing lords, it's why Laurance renounced his position as head guard of Meteli and refuses to return. But that doesn't mean his desire for blood is gone. It just means it has a new target. Like say, the lord he comes to the castle in search of? That he has explicit romantic feelings for?

Again, this idea of forcing the audience and the characters to face their greatest fears is such a good idea, especially with these three, because they can all be interlinked. Aphmau fears losing her loved ones, Garroth fears failing to protect his people, and Laurance fears that he'll give into bloodlust. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? I don't know if I can make it anymore obvious where the show should have gone from here.

But, no, unfortunately Jesson wrote this series. So what could have been one of the best moments of character work in the entire series, instead became the beginning of the end for our would be love interests. I'm of course referring to how it's revealed that their actual "worst fear" is Aphmau getting with... Another guy. Not even her picking one over the other, just her holding hands with and kissing some guy that Garroth and Laurance DON'T EVEN KNOW!

And despite Laurance saying he's happy as long as he has Aphmau in his life, he starts getting enraged that another guy would have the audacity to kiss her. Even though the scene he's shown seems to be entirely consensual. And in response to this, BOTH OF THEM DECIDE TO TRY AND KILL THIS ILLUSION OF DANTE JUST FOR KISSING THE GIRL THEY LIKE!

AND THIS IS SEEN AS A GOOD THING BY THE SHOW!! Attacking this illusion breaks the barrier around the real Aphmau and Dante, and Garroth and Laurance are never punished for their actions here. Aphmau is barely concerned that her guards, the men she's willing to trust with her life, were willing to kill someone for the crime of kissing her. Hot fucking take, Aphmau maybe shouldn't trust these people after seeing that they're willing to kill a man over the crime of loving her when they want to.

And even hotter take, GARROTH AND LAURANCE WOULDN'T DO THIS! Both men have been shown to be highly protective over Aphmau, which makes sense it's literally their job to keep her safe, but that protective nature shouldn't cross over into actively interfering with her romantic life. They're fucking lucky it was just an illusion, what would have happened if Malachi used mind control? What if he was using Aphmau and Dante's bodies as puppets? What if Garroth and Laurance just killed an amateur guard whose only crime was being forced to kiss the girl they liked?

This is one of those writing decisions that truly baffles me. It was RIGHT THERE, HOW DID YOU MISS, IT (the perfect piece of character work) WAS THREE FEET IN FRONT OF YOU! The answer is that Jesson don't really care about the interesting character work, they care about tropes. They care about the main character being in a love triangle with two guys who equally suck but in different ways. They care about fans getting excited and debating over which ship is better. They care about pushing this love triangle onto viewers regardless of what makes sense for the characters involved because the writers fail to see the nuance of the characters that they fucking wrote the nuance of.

I fucking hate Episode 65. Easily the worst episode of MCD. Any episode after this when Garroth and Laurance act horrendously out of character in service of this love triangle (I'm looking at you episode 77, and episode 90, and season 2 episode 95, and season 2 episode 98), know that it started here. It started with episode 65.

Fuck this episode.

[kurithedweeb]

I know we always talk about Garroth ending up looking exactly like his father, but what about Dante growing up to look eerily like Gene.

When he joins up with Phoenix Drop, he's still young. He's a little on the short side, still a bit too thin from life in the wild and imprisonment, and he's a little anxious and shaky around so many people after having grown unused to living in a village. The smiling faces of the citizens remind you of your old home, of clamoring crowds and standing frozen in the plaza as your brother . . .

Anyway, it's good here. It's easy to fit in. The guards joke around with you and make sure you're healthy. They don't know a thing about dual wielding, but you get plenty of sparring partners out of helping the local baker practice her magick, and you maybe make a friend too. You're not too sure how you feel about the Lord, but she's a kind soul and does her best to make sure you're comfortable here in town, and her kids are great. Babysitting the boys is easily your favorite duty. Yeah, it's good here. For the first time in a long while, you feel like you're doing good.

Then the war comes. The children and non-combatants are sent away. The jovial atmosphere of the guard tower has soured into solemn silence as you make your final preparations. In the morning, you step into the battlefield and you go to war for the first time in your life. You have a horrible feeling in your gut that it won’t be the last.

You, Sir Laurance and Sir Garroth make a good team. It makes you sick. The three of you cross the battlefield at a slow and inevitable pace, cutting down any soldier that dares stray too close, and together you cleave the enemy forces in half, scattering them. The killing comes easy to you. You had hoped that in this peaceful new village, with time, you would become unfamiliar to how easily you were once able to take a life, but right then you’re glad your body never forgot the motions of death. Glad for the blood that stains your hands—how can you be glad?

You can’t remember how long you fought for. Days, weeks? Surely not months, or so you think. Yours is a small force, and though Miss Lucinda is a good healer, she grows tired while the other army’s numbers are replenished time and again. You remember the bags under her eyes as she tipped a potion sip by sip into your mouth the time you were shot through the face.

You remember sneaking into the enemy camp in the dead of night, skirting around the edges of it to the back line where the archers rested. You quietly slit five of their throats before you were noticed, and managed to slash another across the belly before the arrow caught you in the side of the face, in one cheek and out the other. The wood of the shaft cracked when you bit down. It was everything you could do not to scream as you fled. Dale thought you were a fiend when you first stepped out of the shadows, face obscured in blood and cradling your jaw as you cupped a hand beneath your mouth in an effort to catch more blood before it left a trail. Laurance held you while Garroth split the arrowhead from the rest of it with a knife and pulled the shaft out the other side of your face, your jaw gripped tight in one hand to keep you from struggling. It took hours to pull the splinters from your cheeks and tongue before they sent you to wake the healer. The whole ordeal had been excruciating. You might have cried. You remember that a lot more clearly than most other times at war. After a while, it’s hard to tell which side spills more blood when so much is shed that red squishes out of the earth wherever you step.

Every day, you fought dawn to dusk. And then one day you won. By Nicole literally knocking some sense into her father, of all things! You find a quiet corner to throw up in and for a beautiful moment, you think life in this little town you’ve started thinking of as home will go back to being good. Until your Lord tells you to guard the village as she races past the gates, and she doesn’t come back. None who followed her do either.

For days, you stand waiting at the gates. You don’t eat, you don’t sleep. O’khasis is gone, Scaleswind has made a refuge of the plaza, and still there is no sign of your Lord or your brothers-in-arms. You won’t even leave to have your wounds seen to. Nicole has to drag a doctor to the gates to treat you, and the entire time you watch the forest hoping that any moment they will reappear. You only step away when someone brings you news that the ship that took the children away has returned. You should be the one to tell them.

Zoey knows something is wrong the moment she sees you. Levin and Malachi smile and ask where their mother is—they call you ‘uncle’ while they do. You get down on your knees before them, and you gather them close in your arms, and you cry as you tell them their mother has been missing since the day the war ended. You’re still holding them when the exhaustion catches up with you.

Zoey is with you when you wake. She tells you you’ve been out nearly two days. She fusses over you, and you know you’ve worried her because that’s what she does when she’s worried. You’re a mess anyway, so you let her fuss. You drink the broth she makes you, you change into the clothes she provides, you sit still while she cuts the unruly mats of your hair and shaves your face. You used to cut yourself shaving all the time, no one ever taught you how and you were only six or so when Gene was learning to; you don’t remember now how he showed you each step or the laugh in his voice at the face of disgust you made when you slapped a little hand into the lather on his face and left behind a tiny palmprint. Zoey doesn’t cut you once. When she’s done with you, she takes you by the arm and guides you back into civilization, where everyone who remained has decided already on search parties to go out looking for your missing friends.

You head each expedition. Dale brings himself out of retirement to watch over the town while you’re gone, and asks only that you also look for his son. Does he know you used to be a tracker, used to spend days in the woods trailing coyotes and runaways for enough coin to carry you through the cold months? You try for him, but the ground is soft still and every step anyone takes leaves a print, all overlapping and muddled. You keep an eye out as you circle the same stretches of woods for days, but you find nothing. Your group goes further and faster than any other, the first to find and dismantle bandit camps and dens of fiends, but no matter how far you go you find not a sign of anyone who has disappeared that day. It’s as though they vanished into thin air. Every time you return home, Dale looks at you with hopeful eyes, and every time you must take him aside and break his heart a little more. Eventually, he stops asking.

For a year, you search. The area has never been safer. You have never felt so alone as when people start to suggest that a funeral may be in order.

You feel like a monster for the rage in your voice when you denounce these people. You know they aren’t dead—you would have felt such a thing, you know, you would have felt pieces of yourself snapping like wire pulled too taut, you would have felt the sharp edges tangling inside you—it would have felt like it did when the brother you killed rose from the grave to slit your throat and cut your very existence from the memory of Boboros. You hear white noise rumbling in your ears when the first brave soul says Sir Dante, there’s been no sign for a year now, and your blood is boiling when you slap their comforting hand off your shoulder. You spit that you’re not giving up just because everyone else has taken no evidence of life to mean the surety of death, and with their pitying looks burning into your back to return to the woods. You scream into the trees until you can’t anymore. When it doesn’t help, you use your considerable tracking skills to hunt something, anything, until you feel human again.

You crawl back home the day before the funeral with your cape stained with blood; they held it back so you could attend. You polish your armor and swords until they shine, and the warped reflection of your own face makes you feel sick the way waging war did. You stand at attention the entire ceremony without moving a muscle. When Dale reads the names of the deceased at the end, offering their souls into the embrace of the Matron, you salute, and the clatter of your armor silences the crowd.

Everyone who fought in the war salutes with you. So do your Lord’s sons. You’re too tired to cry. You hold your salute long after everyone else has left.

The remaining forces of Scaleswind return home. One by one, family by family, the streets of your home empty. Without your Lord, without your guard, the citizens trickle out the front gates and never turn back. Some apologize to you as they say their goodbyes, and some of them you actually believe. You close the gate behind each of them until all that remains is you, Zoey, and your Lord’s sons. Then Zoey tells you she’s taking the boys to the Yggdrasil Forest. She holds you tight for too long and kisses your brow when you show them to the gate for the last time.

You can’t believe you ever thought you knew what loneliness was before this.

For five years, you are completely and utterly alone. You search and you patrol and you do your best to maintain the village. You don’t believe in Irene, but every day before dawn you stand before her statue and look down down down over the cliff’s edge and pray that this won’t be the rest of your life. That you haven’t deluded yourself into believing a fantasy, that you haven’t made such an incredible fool of yourself that people can’t bear to be around you, that you haven’t been forgotten. For five years, you pray that someone, somewhere, remembers that you exist. You look down down down over the cliff’s edge and have the terrible thought that you don’t know what you’d do if you were forgotten again.

The gate is falling apart. You don’t know how to repair the damage the weather’s done to it, you tried to patch the cracks but it never holds. With each year, you’ve been pushed further and further outtowards the coast. The only places you have the energy to maintain anymore are the guard tower and your Lord’s home. You blockaded the gates when the mechanism broke, you check it on occasion to be sure no bandits get in, and one day you hear voices from the other side. Familiar voices. You scramble up the wall and look over the other side at a boy you don’t recognize looking back up at you. He says, Is that Uncle Dante? and you climb down as fast as you can to embrace Malachi.

He’s nearly the age you were when you first met his mother. He’s grown tall, and strong enough to carry his brother on his back. Levin is fevered when you first see him, flush and hurting even as he dozes, and Malachi tells you he can’t walk from how bad he hurts. You remember how Zoey fretted over him when he was young, how sometimes he’d scream for seemingly no reason, and once you show them to their mother’s home Malachi refuses to leave his bedside.

You sit with them and ask where Zoey is. Malachi tells you of her obsession, and the relief that you are not alone in the belief that those who disappeared are alive feels like a hint of betrayal. You’re relieved that she’s driving herself into a downward spiral because of what? Because it makes you feel like you were reasonable to fight not to let their souls be put to rest?

You wait for her at the gates deep into the night and take her to her boys when she bursts from the woods, frantic that she’d lost them, and safe if your Lord’s home she holds you so tight your ribs hurt from the force of her grip. After so long, you’re not alone anymore.

You wake before dawn and strap your swords to your back. For the first time in a long time, you feel safe enough to go without your armor. You hike up the steep cliff to the Irene statue. You kneel before her to offer your thanks. You look into the pool at her feet and fear grips you by the throat.

Your brother’s face looks back at you.

You wear your swords the way he did. Your hair falls like his, dark in the shadow of Irene. Your face is gaunt and pale from old habits, eating only enough to sustain yourself so rations will stretch long enough for you to find more—do you remember how they starved Gene before they killed him? How they weakened him so he wouldn’t have the energy to fight? How pale and gaunt he was, dirt streaking over the side of his face, blood and grime drying in his hair, shaking and sweaty with how hard he fought back? Do you remember the scar that twisted around his throat when he returned from the dead to get his vengeance? Your collar is open over the scar he left twisting across your own, and it matches his own so very well. In the shadows of your eyes, you see his own staring back.

You think of the war. You think of how easy the killing was. You think of how easily Gene cut through the guards, the Lord, the memories of Boboros. The rage in his voice when he denounced you as his brother, the twist of his smile when he told you he would leave you to rot, Dante. No one will ever remember you. You can see that twist in the corners of your own smile, pushed into shape by the deep scars on your cheeks. You and your brother are the same.

You’re shaking too much to stand. You never go without your armor again.

[emo-ratbastard]

Only on ep 15 of my mcd rewatch (when Garroth gets shot with an arrow) but it's so obvious how good of a person Garroth is

Like literally everyone in the village is praising him for his work and how he's stepped up after the old lord left

I love Garroth sm actually

[romeavebrainrot]

What are your Garmau head cannons

All of these are for MCD!

In my head, the moment Garroth had a crush on Aphmau was when she got Lord Burt to heal his arrow shot. It was mostly just a small crush tho until their conversation in the mines.

Their actual conversation was pretty short, but in my head it was much more emotional! Garroth opening up about his self-doubt and golden child trauma for the first time, nearly tearing up while Aph just... listens. And gives him a hug.

Aphmau, on the other hand, didn't have strong feelings for him until Season 2. Ironically, their separation is the thing that made her realize her feelings

Whenever Aphmau had the "tree dimension" dreams and woke up, she'd always try to go back to sleep on the offchance that she would end up there again (honestly i forget if this was a canon thing its been a while since i watched s2)

Enough sad talk its time for the silly hcs!! Garroth made the flower crown he gave to Aphmau himself

Aphmau's love language is quality time, and Garroth's is words of affection + physical touch!

Dale, Donna, and Kiki caught on to Garroth's crush on Aphmau early on. They gave Garroth tons of dating advice that went unused bc he was like "what if it flops"

I did say that Aph started liking Garroth in S2, but even before then her heart did skip a beat a few times; the first was when they danced at Donna and Logan's wedding. It was the first time she saw him smile

Both of them think of each other when they go to the docks. As in they're each others' first persons that come to mind as soon as they smell the ocean breeze

They both love cake!! After Nana moves to Phoenix Drop they'd stop by her bakery, buy some cake, and have a small picnic at the docks. Aph likes fluffy bread and Garroth prefers cheesecake

If they get to live together, they'd have the perfect chore distribution. Aphmau does the cooking bc she enjoys trying out the new crops she got from different villages while Garroth does the cleaning and laundry bc mundane tasks help him relax

[silkkorchid]

What went down in TWST RP in a week-

Covers 4/13 - 4/19

There is a war between potatoes and eggplants.? WHO IS MAKING THIS AND DOES THE STAFF KNOWN ABOUT IT!?

NRC Fashion is still at it against Lucius.

In the NRC Cooking club, 🍊will eat ANYTHING with chopsticks. But according to mod 🍋 , 🍊 tired to eat soup with chopsticks.

NRC Book club seemly be in a plush fight with everyone.

NRC host 🥀, why the heck you posted a video of people scuba diving while dancing?

NRC Book club, Fashion, Therapist needs help. ALSO BOOK CLUB WHY DID YOU DRINK RANCH AND PRETENDING ITS A SHOT!?

According to NRC Fashion 🐀, it was raining blot in Ignihyde when they went out shopping.?

Lucius is still at it being sassy.

There is a NBC Student Council Account. Rollo if you see this, please be prepared for a lot of craziness…

The aftermath of Sebek kidnapping still continues with that delusional family. NOT THE ZIGVOLT FAMILY! I would like to live a bit longer…

Rumors have it that Sebek smells Malleus’s socks. Where the heck did that came from?

Silver now inform that Diasomnia have an ice cream machine, but Lilia made a questionable combo of choice…

Silver fell asleep and woke up to his face being covered with markers(?).

Thea lost consciousness after eating Jade’s mushrooms.

Riddle came back after two weeks.

Riddle and several other people now know the existence of Riddle’s father tumblr account…

There is two Trey, and @/best-baker-of-the-heartslabyul knows the existence of AUs/ Alternate Universes.

Trey now realizes the existence of children (mostly everyone future children)

Flamingos are still on the loose thanks to someone in Heartslabyul forgetting to lock the gate

Deuce is just in pain thanks to an Anom about that people find his mom hot.

Does Rory love breaking doors like Garroth? (If you get the reference then good for you!)

It’s Ruggie birthday! We are all giving him some type of presents.

Ruggie isn’t allowing his child, Rory, have his duties.

Ruggie got caught by the NRC staff about his way of knocking people out.

Ruggie GET CHEKA OUT OF THE SPELLDRIVE COURT!

Mrs. Ashengrotto has listen to our advice to show us Azul baby photo. And she is trying to find the rest. BE READY AZUL

Thanks to Floyd giving us a dump of information about his parents’ height. I’m terrified if I come across them…

Rook digging into the NRC Monster Control inventory.? Also why does he need samples?

Epel is screaming at Grim and Ace since they haven’t given him his homework yet.

Idia is loosing his shit after the second floor of Ignihyde somehow disappeared.

Ida and Ori Shroud have a luma form.? They became one with the stars I suppose. Also Idia ded

Ortho being called the cutest person to exist. IN WHICH I AGREE

Ortho laser someone after they insulted Idia…

Che’nya still booping people

People are now impersonating others. Let’s see how this will go.

The possum of RSA has been stabbed.

Yuuna came back from the dead and now realize there is an Ashengrotto related to Azul.

Quartz shipping people.

@blind0raven loose it with Deuce SSR event card not coming home. And to add salt on the wound, Deuce came in to apologize. Idk if it was accepted

Raven also running away from their confrontation of her love to Deuce thanks to Amon.

Yuuko and I found a video where Ruggie was being kabedon. And his reason is money, classic Ruggie.

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Wait, hol’ up… Zenix got the SKs to hold off from killing Kiva, an innocent little girl? Whilst actively kidnapping a man?

Hm.

Maybe it’s just feminism at this point.

And I’m joking when I say that, but like I do find it super interesting how Zenix does have these very moral extremes, often all at once.

Shooting Garroth on a patrol he refused to let Aphmau join because he was worried she’d get hurt. Kidnapping Burt (which he was originally planning on doing, apparently) but telling the other SKs to leave Kiva be.

It’s clear that he has An Agenda, his cruelty is to fit that, only only really that. Right now, his Agenda is killing Garroth, and he Shot him, and now his job is to make sure that sticks. How? By taking out the only available healer in the area. Even with injuring Brendan, you can kind of try and imply that it was some long-set plan, injuring him as a practice (the injuries are EXACTLY the same, apparently), and to use up the very finite resource of Citrus Herb…

Because I do read this as being about Zenix, though obviously it can be ambiguous without more details. Just because he did have Burt when Aph sees him, Vylad doesn’t talk, and Zenix is kind of known for sweet-turned-mean… which all characterise the ‘masked man’ as Kiva describes him. The only inaccurate descriptor is ‘mask’ because it’s a helmet, not a mask, and so it COULD be about Vylad, but I doubt it. I just think it’s Jesson inaccuracy, and also from the recollection of a child.. so…

Small addition, after finishing the episode; he is also fleeing the Nether with a lasso I think it’s pretty obvious it’s him. Even if Jess does bait us with him and Vylad a lot and switch them in certain situations

Quotes, S1Ep18, without the typos:

‘The monsters were trying to use me as a sacrifice… but this masked man told them to hold off’ - Kiva, about her well-being

‘The lord! He was taken by the masked man… the masked man came and saw he was here and said something about “not having to kidnap him, himself”… and took the lord with him… the masked man looked so nice at first… but he was scary.’ - Kiva, about Lord Burt and a ‘masked man’

[laurancezvahlslefteyebrow]

Fever

A fic based on @cinnamontoastcroonch ‘s take on Cadenza’s perspective during Laurance’s de-Shadow Knighttaion induced fever, but from Aphmau’s perspective

Aka: Laurance has a really bad fever, hallucinations a bit and everyone is panicking

CW: Sickfic, fever whump, thoughts of death, mention of hallucinations

At first she didn’t notice. She’d nodded off sitting in the rickety wooden armchair next to Laurance’s bed. Her arm was beginning to fall asleep as she rested her head on it, when suddenly she heard the soft rustling of sheets. Her head shot up to see his face, scrunched in agony, beads of sweat running down his pale skin. His eyes fluttered open hardly half way, hot tears falling to his ears. His breaths quickened and all she could hear was a pathetic whine escaping from his soul. Aphmau was willing herself not to panic. Not yet. She could tell he was hurting, she needed to comfort him, make him feel ok.

“No, no no. Shh shh. It’s alright. You’re ok Laurance. I’m here. I’m right here. I got you.” Despite her best efforts, her voice broke a bit and she became chocked up. She hoped he didn’t notice. Aphmau raised a hand to his cheek to verify a fever. Oh gods he’s burning up. This is bad. She wiped some tears from his cheek as she stood, rushing off to the basin on the window sill. She dunked a rag in the cool water and rung it out before returning to Laurance and placing it on his forehead and eyes. A sudden gasp fell from his mouth as he tipped his head away from the sudden attack of cold. “I know, I’m sorry, but you’re burning up! We need to cool you down.” Aphmau could not keep her voice from wavering, she was beginning to panic.

Aphmau grasped Laurance’s clammy hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He seemed to calm a bit after that, Aphmau thought maybe he’d be able to sleep now. But after a while, Laurance spoke softly. “Why’s.. he here..? He- Aph I-“ Before she could do any more, he attempted to sit up. A long groan escaped him before he collapsed back into bed. “Laurance!” he was shaking, shivering maybe. Aphmau needed help, she didn’t know what else she could do for him. Her magicks hadn’t been working, no matter how hard she tried.

Aphmau let down Laurance’s hand and ran to the door, though before she could open it, Garroth stepped in. “Garroth! Garroth, he woke up! Laurance woke up! But,” she was talking a mile a minute, “but he’s out again. Shaking! I need to find Cadenza! I don’t know what else to do!” Before Garroth could even get a word in, Aphmau was gone, the door bouncing closed behind her.

“Cadenza! Cadenza I need you!” Cadenza set down the flowers she planned on buying and turned around, a look of fear on her face. “…Is it Laurance or Eseryt?” Aphmau could tell by the look on her face that she was dreading the answer. Aphmau took a moment to catch her breath, “He woke up. Bad fever, asking weird questions. Cadenza he needs you.”

Cadenza wasted no time, practically running to his bedside. When they arrived he was awake; shaking, looking around the room wildly, on the verge of tears. Garroth practically had to hold him down to keep him in bed. Cadenza went to Laurance, taking his hand and speaking quiet words to him that Aphmau couldn’t fully make out.

“D’you see him?” Laurance sounded so weak. He looked so weak. Aphmau had never seen him like this. Not even after he returned from the Nether. At least then he was more aware, less delirious. “Who, Laurance?” “…Joh.”

Aphmau’s heart dropped into her stomach. She could tell that everyone’s did. Garroth stepped back, finger nails digging into his crossed arms. Cadenza’s eyes widened, a hand going to her mouth to stifle a sob. Aphmau was in shock. All she could do was stand and watch this unfold. Is this really happening? Is Laurance…Oh gods..

“Laur. Joh’s… He’s.. He’s not here.” Aphmau could hear the lump forming in Cadenza’s throat, as the pain of one forming in her own made itself known.

“Caddy… I.. Are they here for me.?” he paused a bit longer than anyone would hope for, “Am I… Dying?” His voice was so small, too small. Weak and hoarse and filled with fear and pain. He starred into the void, eyes glazing over and unfocused.

Garroth turned to face the wall, unable to bare the sight of Laurance like this any longer. Aphmau could no longer keep the sob from escaping her throat, though she managed to stifle the tears.

Cadenza squeezed her eyes as a tear rolled down her red cheek before resting her other hand atop of Laurance’s. “Of course not. You still have so much ahead of you Laurance. So much. You have yet to even meet your daughter. Remember? Lina?” Laurance didn’t answer, only closing his eyes as he slowly gave a single nod, a barely visible smile resting on his cracked lips.

At that Aphmau came back to his side, opposite of Cadenza. She leaned over and gave him a long kiss on the forehead. She didn’t know what else she could do. She just got him back and now she might lose him again? This time permanently? Gods no, please. He doesn’t deserve this, he never did.

————————————————————————————

Hope you enjoyed that and that your heart is shattered :D

It’s ok he pulls through. They just don’t know that.

[mcdbutichangedit]

Villagers that were in Phoenix Drop since the beginning:

Garroth, Zenix, Dale, and Theodora (my OC. sorry not sorry, this is being written for my childhood self) have been with Phoenix Drop since before Aphmau arrived, all of them being guards ofc. I assume Dale would be the oldest guard out of all of them, then Garroth, then Zenix, and then lastly Theo. There are a few other guards but they're irrelevant.

Molly is already married to Dale already. I imagine she does something that could be summed up to "working from home" and but idk what. Maybe she makes stuff? Seeing as time will work... Like how time typically works irl, Brian is currently in guard school or wherever he went. He'll come back when relevant.

Corey is the head miner, he typically has to work far away from home because, before Aphmau, the village had no mine. The nearest one was miles away. Emma is a farmer or something, I haven't decided. Aphmau will likely introduce her to Corey or they'll already be married. Idk. I honestly forgot about her until my rewatch (I'm on ep 47. THERES SM LEFT OH MY IRENE).

Emmalyn is, of course, told to shelter Aphmau since she has nowhere else to go. I'm trying so hard to make this girl hate Aph via terrible miscommunication. To Aph, Emmalyn has no reason to stay in Phoenix Drop. She hates the village really. But she stays because where else is she gonna go that lets her have all these books and run a library? She would never admit it but Phoenix Drop is her home. She's the first one to notice signs of Aph's Irene powers but she always overlooked it as "dumb girl doing dumb things."

Also, Aph learns about what a village needs with a book from Emmalyn's library.

Brendan is still a farmer. As an attempt to encourage trade between Phoenix Drop and other villages, Garroth asked Brendan to build a dock, which he is working on when Aph gets to the village. He tells Aph about how bad the farms are, prompting her to build a farm based on what a book about farms said. After the docks explode, he works with Aph to make a new one. When he gets shot, his little sister (according to the aphmau wiki, it's unclear which one is younger vs older) Kiki comes to visit.

The basement lesbians, Sylvia and Kimberly (i remembered them more than Corey and Emma), are just nice women hanging around the village. I'll try to remember them more than the og. I imagine they own a bakery together.

I believe that's everyone who was in Phoenix Drop pre-mcd! I feel like I'm missing some people but I literally don't remember any other relevant character that don't get to the village until a little after Aphmau's arrival

[attourney-at-lycan]

aphmau mcd superhero au thoughts (it is 2AM)

aph: alien girl who just crash and has no awareness of thebworld, speaks alien language, cool alien powers

garroth: a sherrif of a small town near the big city, used to be a famous hero but quit after losing his younger brother, found aphmau after chasing down criminal scum on the run

laurance: hot shot hero who visits his hometown, helps garroth get aph situated, probably is the one that gets alien girl to become a hero, much to garroths dismay

zoey: aph is crashing @ her place, old friend of garroth’s, somehow understands aph’s language but cant speak it, deals with aph’s shenanigans bc garroth doesn’t know how

vylad: vigilante, ex-villain (??), received prophecy of some sort of powerful being that will help some sort of calamity. didn’t want that responsibility or felt he wasnt worthy, made a petty crime and led garroth to aphmau and wooshed away

aaron: batman.

[beea-idiot56]

~ How He would React to You being Hurt ~

A/N: Hello <3 This is just little drabbles on how I think some MCD men would react to you being Hurt <3 you're not seriously hurt in most of these, Laurence's is the worst lol. But I really wanted to write some MCD one shots and I love injury patching tropes so here's this teehee

Also just in case youre mad I wrote something for Zane, okay I just- okay I cant defend myself. I read one(1) (uno) (eins) one shots about dating MCD!Zane and now I have a full fanfic planned out and I'm fighting the urge to write it LMFAO(I hate MCD! Zane but I also hate myself so why not)

Characters: Laurance, Garroth, Zane, Dante

Warnings: some minor gore

CW: non

Tags: fluff, hurt/comfort, absolutely smitten, pre-established relationship(arranged marriage for Zane), gn!reader, reader is mentioned to be a Lord, before the time skip <3

𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

Y/N felt a groan rip through their throat as they shouldered the door into their home. The empty rooms met them and they let a sigh fall from their lips as they hobbled over to their bathroom where they held all of their medical supplies. The house was dimly lit, only the setting sun was the light that lit up the rooms, Y/N probably needed to light a candle or two, but at the moment they wanted to deal with the pieces of wood hanging out of their arm.

Of course bandits had decided to come pry around the outskirts of town. Usually it would be a guard patrolling but Y/N had been wanting to look for flowers to make a new stall with for a flower merchant so they took over the patrol in hopes of finding some while keeping watch. They did find the flowers, but the bandits also found them whilst they were picking the wildly colored petals up.

Y/N looked in the mirror as they finally set their bags on the ground and started to strip the armor from their shoulders. the heavy iron falling off was a relief to the tension in their shoulders as they let out a soft sigh. At least until they started to pull up the fabric on their sleeve, wincing as they looked at the small pieces of wood sticking out of their skin. During the fight with the bandits Y/N didn't notice one coming up to their side and they were shoved off a small ledge, and straight into the crates stacked nearby. Meaning there was a littering of splinters of where their body broke through the crates. The skin was red and irritated and blood dripped down their bicep and onto the white sink, if Y/N tried they would be able to hear the drip drip drip of their blood.

They quickly got to work on removing any small pieces of wood, deciding that they would remove the splinters first then clean off the rest with rubbing alcohol and then wrap it up. hopefully all before their lover, Laurance, returned home. This shouldn't be too hard, Laurance had been staying behind quite a bit later as of late, usually to finish up reports or to pick up food from their favorite villager. Y/N estimated they had about an hour to finish cleaning themselves up, and as long as they kept a shirt on Laurance wouldn't have to know what had happened.

It wasn't as though Y/N was worried about his reaction, he would most likely dote over them and take care of them, rather than get angry, but they didn't want to be taken from their freedom. if Laurance thought y/n was even slightly injured there was a pretty large chance that he would keep them from any duties or patrols that they might take in turn for them resting to try and recover.

the sudden sound of the door opening and metal scraping made Y/N let out a small string of low spoken curses as they quickly shut the bathroom door with their foot, frantically looking around for a way to hide this since their sleeve was already soaked with blood.

"Y/N! I'm home! I brought food from Cadenza!" Laurence called out, the sound of his armor clanking down on the ground following shortly after. Y/N frantically reached for the towel near them, wiping at their arm, a small hiss escaping their lips from the feeling of the towel dragging on the already fresh wounds. "Y/N?" Laurence had asked, gently pushing on the bathroom door. from the corner of their eye they could see the door open slightly and they shoved their foot out to stop it, "you good in there, darling?" "Yep!" is all Y/N could reply with, unsure if their voice would show how much pain they were in. the door budged against their foot, and this time it cracked open slightly and they could see Laurence's eyes trying to peer around through the crack.

Y/N watched as his face dropped once his eyes saw the blood on the counter, and they sent a silent curse to their past self for not washing the blood down the sink as Laurence pushed more forcefully against the door. "Let me in, Love. I can see that there's blood on the counter, are you okay?" Laurence asked, his voice dripping with worry. Y/N sighed before moving their foot, letting the brunette push his way in, his hands immediately came up to their face and cupped it. he tilted their face back and forth, looking for any cuts before looking down words and scanning their body. once he made eye contact with their arm he grimaced at the sight.

"What happened here sweetheart?" Laurence asked, his voice dripping in concern as he lifted Y/N's arm to inspect it closer, "Nothing much, just fell" Y/N gave a little white lie, they did technically fall, just not by their own merits. "well that wasn't very smart was it" Laurence chuckled a bit, before picking up the swab of cotton next to the two and putting some rubbing alcohol on top of it, before slowly wiping away the excess blood and dirt and grime on their arm. the alcohol eliciting a hiss of pain from Y/N.

Laurence grimaced at the sound but continued to wipe at the residue, making sure it was clean before he picked up the tweezers and began to pick at the rest of the splinters, only one or two remaining now. Laurence placed a kiss on their arm after removing a splinter, frowning as he continued his work, obviously upset at having to do this at all. Y/N smiled softly, their own concern for him showing through as their free hand came up to rub a thumb across the wrinkles caused by his furrowed eyebrows. "quit frowning like that or you'll get stuck frowning" they spoke softly, their voice coming out like a motherly coo. It caused Laurence to laugh slightly, which lifted Y/Ns spirits, only for them to be dropped again as he shook his head.

"I cant help but to worry about you my darling." his voice was quite, his eyes still trained on their arm as he started to wrap it with a bandage, One they were fully wrapped Y/N moved their hands to be holding Laurence's face as he leaned into their touch, his own hands finding their hips and leaning against them slightly so the two were flush with each other. Laurence hummed lightly as Y/N played with the hair at the nape of his neck, he leaned in and placed a kiss at the corner of Y/N's mouth, making them smile.

A long hum was strung from Laurence's mouth as he placed tiny kisses all along Y/N's cheeks and nose, pressing anywhere he could reach and showering them with love. In turn Y/N began to giggle and push Laurence away slightly, only making him grip onto their hips tighter to keep them there. "nuh uh uh~" he hummed placing another kiss into their forehead, "you have to stay here until I'm sure you're better" he chuckled softly, his voice soft and sultry as he placed another kiss into their lips.

Y/N only melted into his touch, resigning themself to his affection.

𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉

A soft breeze passed through Y/N's hair, making them smile as they opened their mouth to drink in the lovely air brought in from the ocean over yonder. Y/N was walking besides Garroth, a peaceful silence between the two. The silence was not awkward or strained, but a mutual feeling of just enjoying each others company without the burden of keeping up a conversation.

The two had been walking for the entirety of the day, usually they would take a horse on such a long trip like this but alas, they had vastly underestimated the journey. Y/N didn't mind, however. They were content to enjoy the walk and the peace that came with not having to deal with their duties of the day. Y/N smiled, their eyes trailing along the sides of the path. Their gaze locked onto a bunch of flowers up ahead and they took off running, a smile on their lips as they went to go see the beautiful flowers. "Wait!" they heard Garroths frantic voice behind them, but they didn't quite care, keeping their fast pace run.

That was until they tripped over a rock, sending them face first into the ground.

"are you crying? oh no please don't cry-" garroth sounded frantic, his hands finding Y/N's shoulders as they started to shake. Y/N lifted their face, a wide smile filling their features as another laugh fell from their lips. Garroth stared at them for a moment, before slowly relaxing, chuckling a little himself as Y/N turned onto their back as their hands flew to their face, covering it as they laughed.

Garroth began to laugh as well, slowly easing into the ground as he face palmed, shaking his head as the worry he had for Y/N started to ease away. Y/N looked at Garroth, a smile and laugh in their voice as they spoke, "I guess you could say I was falling for you" Garroths head snapped to them, making them giggle more as his face turned pink. Y/N sat up, propping themself up on their arms as they giggled at Garroths face. He only stood up, reaching out a hand to them to help the Lord up.

Y/N gladly took his hand, standing up. That was until their legs buckled slightly and they fell into Garroths arms. He instantly caught them, not even hesitating to hold them up for support. Y/N looked down at their knees, okay maybe they fell harder than they thought. Y/N grimaced at the sight of bloody and scraped up legs, gravel sticking into their skin where they impacted the ground. Garroth looked down as well, sucking in a small breath.

"oh well, that's gonna suck to walk on." Y/N commented, before pushing off of Garroth and beginning to walk, trying to hide the very obvious limp from the pain that erupted with each step. Garroth let out a huff before coming up beside Y/N, making them yelp as he suddenly picked them up.

His hands held them around their knees and at their back, effectively carrying them bridal style as he walked. Y/N stared up at him, their own hands instinctively reaching up to hold onto his neck, their eyes wide with surprise. "Garroth, I can walk by myself" their voice came out a little weak, more so a squeak than anything else. he shrugged, continuing on with the walk as if he hadn't heard anything.

"I'd carry you to the end of the world, Y/N." his voice came out a little gravely, and Y/N could see the blush that covered his cheeks. they only smiled before relaxing into his grip and resting their cheek on his chest.

𝒁𝒂𝒏𝒆

The soft sound of humming filled the quiet home. The flowers bloomed outside, if you were looking out the window you would see them sprouting. The beautiful scenery left Y/N in a lovely mood, something that was quite unusual for them. Usually Y/N spent their time at this home hiding away or having semi stiff conversations with their forced lover.

Y/N and Zane had been "married" for around a year now, but it had only been in this past month or so the two had been warming up to each other. Originally their marriage was for the sake of a power boost to their respective villages, each of them faking dates and longing stares to keep up appearances before having an extravagant wedding in Y/N's village, them having insisted on it since they were still the Lord of this village. Since then the two have been civil. They didn't really indulge in romantic pleasures besides from the needed PDA to keep appearances up.

However, this past month had been a turning point. The usually cold conversations had slowly turned softer as Zane loosened up. What was usually his stiff shoulders and averted stares had turned into his mask less face keeping eye contact with Y/N as they told stories of their day and time. What was before keeping rooms length apart now turned into sharing couches, sometimes even blankets if the two were both enjoying a book and a bowl of grapes. Maybe that had been the change. Y/N pondered, maybe the turning point in Zane's head had been when he was reading and instead of continuing on with their day: Y/N picked up their own book and settled down onto the couch next to him, the both of them content to sit in silence as they divulged in rest during their usually busy days. Y/N smiled to themself, what used to be silent time had just a few days ago turned into soft conversation after ones eyes grew tired and they set down their book, and snacks had started to accompany their time.

Y/N let out a small gasp as the feeling of pain shot through their finger, they looked down at their hand realizing they had completely spaced out and had accidentally cut themselves while slicing the peppers they were preparing for tonight's dinner. Y/N stared at the cut for a moment, watching as the blood dripped from the cut with interest, not really caring since it didn't hurt but almost being curious about how the blood dripped from their finger, slowly splashing onto the cutting board they were using. It was only when they realized they were dirtying the peppers that they snapped out of their daze and drew back their hand, a small curse escaping their lips as they moved about to go wash off their hand.

"something wrong?" a voice sounded behind Y/N causing them to yelp and turn around, their hand immediately finding the knife and holding it in front of them, only for their shoulders to slack as they realized it was Zane who had spoke. Y/N sighed, before slipping the knife back onto the cutting board. "Yeah I'm fine" they hummed, bringing their finger to their mouth to lick up the blood that was still there.

Zane scoffed before stepping over to where Y/N stood, taking their hand out of their mouth before looking where they had been cut. "dumb-ass" he mumbled before pulling on their hand so they'd follow as he walked out of the room. Reluctantly, they followed behind him as he led Y/N to the bathroom, where he let go next to the counter as he pulled out a small first aid kit that Y/N had originally insisted on keeping for "just in case" emergencies. Y/N watched as Zane pulled out a band-aid before pulling at their hand again, bringing it up so he could look at it closer.

For a moment Zane inspected it before he opened the band-aid, wrapping the small piece of fabric around Y/N's finger and then letting go when he had finished. Y/N watched him with curiosity as he seemed to hesitate, staring at their hand for a moment, that was until he brought his lips to the back of their hand, pressing a kiss to the soft spot. Almost instantly he let go and turned to walk away, "I'll be in my office. Once the food is ready could you bring me a plate?" he spoke, clearly demanding it despite the statement being formed as a a sentence. Y/N only hummed but couldn't bring their eyes from where he had kissed their hand, a small smile slowly spreading across their lips.

yeah maybe this 'power marriage' wouldn't be too bad after all.

𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆

Y/N groaned as they fell onto the couch in the living room, their body sinking into the plush furniture without trying to fight it. Everything hurt. Y/N had been working in the yard and around the house since Dante left this morning at dawn. From plucking weeds, to pulling up the vegetables that were ready, to dusting and folding laundry. They had been either bent over, kneeling, reaching, or straining in some way the entire day. They already felt the repercussions for the continued strain, if they had been any older they were sure they wouldn't have been able to do such labor for so long.

Originally they were only going to pluck weeds, but then they just spaced out and kept going around and did all of the things they realized were on the house chore list. Ending with making dinner and setting it to the side so they could eat with Dante when he returned home. Speaking of which, they seriously hoped that he would be a little longer so they could take a quick nap and hopefully sleep off some of the aching.

Of course, however, the nature of time had no such plan and Dante pushed open the door to their shared home. His eyes averted to the ground as he entered. Y/N smiled up at him, they couldn't help but to admire him every time he came home. Sure he was sweaty, tired, and looked drained, but he never stopped being so beautiful. and apparently he shared the same sentiment because when he saw Y/N his eyes immediately lit up and a soft smile came across his face.

Dante shut the door, setting down his armor and weapons next to it before coming over to Y/N, leaning down to press a kiss to their temple, "hello, my beautiful spouse." he mumbled, running a hand through their hair.

Y/N smiled, turning slightly and opening their arms to him, inviting him to a small cuddle session but he nearly laughed and shook his head. "I would love to but I'm starving. Have you made dinner or do you want me to make it?" he asked, standing back up to his full height and looking over to the kitchen where the lovely smell of a home cooked meal was wafting in from.

"I made some, feel free to make yourself a plate." Y/N hummed, flopping back down to rest on the couch. Dante looked over at them, raising an eyebrow. "Do you want me to bring you a plate?" he asked as he walked over to the kitchen to help himself to a serving. Y/N thought of it for a moment, going to prop themself up so they could eat, but the sharp pain in their back said otherwise and they flopped back down with a small groan. "No, I'm going to lie here for a bit" they mumbled, closing their eyes, possibly they would take a nap in the time being. They could always reheat the food if they were hungry later.

Dante peeked from around the wall that separated the living room from the kitchen, his eyebrows furrowed. He stepped forward and leaned against the frame, "are you okay my darling?" Dante asked, his voice laced in concern but not moving just yet, worried that Y/N was in one of their 'come near me and die' moods. Y/N grumbled slightly, "yeah, just sore" they hummed, turning slightly so they could look at him while they talked. Dante looked at them, his eyebrows furrowing even more before he walked over leaning down by the couch and placing his hands on their back. Y/N looked at him with confusion but instantly melted into his touch as he slowly started to knead into their muscles.

Y/N groaned as he pressed into each knot that had formed during their day of labor, each movement of his hand bringing more tension relief, making them melt more and more into Dante's hands. Dante continued his movements, ignoring his own hunger to make sure they could relax properly first.

"Thank you, my love, for working around the house." he hummed quietly, pressing into a particularly rough knot, "next time let me help, I don't want my spouse to be too overworked" he smiled, before reaching down and pressing a kiss to their cheek.

[rosetashes]

So in the recent poll I did, the small thing Aphmau does won. So this will be a small fanfic. For those who want the other stuff, don't worry I'll still do them. Now onto the story

1. Singing, so much singing.

It was no secret that Aphmau liked music. It was one of her favorite things. And while she loved to dance at festivals, her main talent was her singing. She wasn't perfect by any means, but she could hold a tune. After a few days of her arrival, she was already fixing up the town. New pathways were laid down, houses were being fixed up, and a small plaza was in the works. However Brendan, who often worked along with Aphmau when he wasn't busy farming, noticed something. Aphmau kept singing. It wasn't that unusual, singing a song can help you keep going. But it was the fact he didn't recognize the songs. Now Phoenix Drop is isolated, as they don't have a dock and it's a long walk to Meteli, so people figured it was some song from another village. But he wasn't from Phoenix Drop, he traveled and he never recognized any song she sang. Oh well at least the songs were catchy, even if the words can get dark.

2. Odd Language

Everyone cusses. That's just a common thing. Now some people try to not swear as often as others but everyone has their moments. So when Aphmau was helping Molly cook dinner for her family so she could learn how to cook herself (and cause she didn't want to go back to her new empty home.) it was inevitable that something would happen. A simple mistake, one everyone makes, touching something that was way too hot. Aphmau pulls her hand back and shouts something. What she said Molly couldn't understand, and she was busy helping Aphmau with a burn. It wasn't until Dale questioned the language over dinner did she realize what was said. Aphmau shrugged and kept eating. Molly was concerned, but chalk it up to Aphmau's memory loss and the language being instinct. She would ask Emmalyn about it tomorrow, maybe she could teach it to her baby.

3. Weird payment

Logan was a merchant, a traveling one at that. So he knew how different regions paid. He made his payments clear, and only accepted different payments when they were worth it. As much as he complains, he had to mention Phoenix Drop had some good resources. The mines were full of gold, the natural fauna was easy to hunt, and Brenden would give him a piece of farmland. It was still a shithole, but a profitable shithole. His oddest customer had to be the Lord of the land. She still paid in his currency, but she also paid for weird things. Things like cloth, fox fur, fish, the list goes on. Now Logan more than not accepts these things, mostly cause she was buying cheap stuff and giving him valuable things. But it made him wonder where the hell she got the stuff. But if there's one thing he learned from his years of being a merchant, it's to not ask questions.

4. Poison

Garroth loved being a guard mostly. He wasn't happy dealing with Dale's drinking habits, but he put up with it. The new Lord Aphmau, gained his attention faster than he thought. First it was the fact she didn't know anything about her past, second it always felt like something was off with her, third she didn't understand her emotions, and finally she could eat raw meat and be unharmed. All of these facts made him suspicious of her. But she was doing good, so he settled for keeping an eye on her. One day he was in the plaza learning about poison from Emmalyn and Donna, more specifically poison antidotes. With two people being shot, and him being poisoned along with the arrow wound, he figured he should know how to handle any poison just in case. Aphmau happened to walk by and asked about the strange liquids in vials. Emmalyn, jokingly said they were a drink. And with no hesitation, Aphmau decided to drink one of the vials. Thankfully the one she drank wasn't immediately deadly but it was still concerning. Garroth decided to practice his new knowledge and try to help. Only to find no mark of the poison. The poison targeted the veins, but Aphmau's was fine. Aphmau, who couldn't read the room simply told Donna and Emmalyn that the drink wasn't good and left. Garroth decides to end that lesson early as he tries to figure out how the hell his lord is alive.

5. Pocket dimension

Aphmau has magicks. Zoey learned this a while ago when Aphmau decided to make illusions of different things when she was telling Levin a bedtime story. Magicks aren't rare nowadays, but it's not everyday you see someone actively use it. Pocket dimensions however aren't common. At all. So Zoey was extremely surprised when Aphmau just pulled a book and quill out of nowhere. When questioned, Aphmau simply responded that she always had this ability, she just uses it to store small items. Zoey spread Levin's nap time asking a million questions to Aphmau who was happy to answer as many as she could. From that day forward Zoey would catch Aphmau putting and taking out things from her pocket dimension. How Aphmau has enough knowledge and magicks to keep that dimension stable, Zoey has no clue and she had a feeling Aphmau doesn't either.

6. Way too many animals.

Kiki loves animals. That's just a well known fact. But having your Lord walk up to you and ask if you can care for a dolphin was a new one. Dolphins are easy to take care for her, she can care for elephants so dolphins are a piece of cake. A pack of wolves is a different thing. When Aphmau goes on her adventure, Kiki takes care of the wolves if Aphmau leaves them. Now Kiki can handle wolves, but the fact Aphmau has this many had her asking questions. Mainly where did these wolves come from? Because while wolves can be found at Phoenix Drop, you have to go deep in the forest. But honestly with the amount Aphmau travels, she wouldn't put it past the Lord to have explored the forest. As long as Kiki gets to care for the lovely things.

[xerith-42]

That AU where Aphmau blows up (PT2)

Me with my rewrite: I want all of these characters to talk about the things they feel and be allowed to feel happy for once!! They've earned it!!

[immediately turns around and writes even more heart wrenching angst]

Fair warning, this post is loooooong and kinda jumps between scenes. I had. A bit more to say.

Content Warning for suicide mention

Unlike everyone else, Aaron had actually slept through the night on the island. Aph had made him promise to get some extra sleep when she saw how tired he had become recently, usually due to overworking himself to keep the island alive and growing. He wasn't posted on any kind of watch shift, he didn't feel anything suddenly when she died, but there was a feeling when he woke up.

A sort of familiar dread. The feeling of birds taking off before a disaster, but he didn't know what disaster they could be flying from. Or if he should follow their lead. Just that when he finally stood up, he just had this feeling. He couldn't place why. At least not at first.

It was when he stepped into Aph's house that he could tell something was… wrong. Both Aph and Lilith were missing. Panic started to fill him instantly, and Aaron desperately fought off memories of his previous family as he raced through the alliance island. He hoped that he was just over reacting, that Aph had taken Lilith to Phoenix Drop or at least somewhere that people knew where they were. He was probably just being paranoid.

Doubt was almost instantly replaced with dread. When Aaron got to Phoenix Drop proper he knew that he was right. He wasn't just being paranoid. He could see Zoey walking towards the tree house with Lilith swaddled in her arms. Aaron could only feel a tinge of relief that she was at least okay. He could tell just from the look in Dante's eyes that Aph was dead. That kind of mourning was far too familiar.

"What happened?" He asked carefully, his body tensing to try and fight the oncoming wave of emotions.

"There was an explosion in the forest, shortly before sunrise," Dante began, taking a deep breath to keep his voice even. He had already done enough crying when he got home, he had to keep himself together in front of others. "Garroth was there, but Zane and Aph… weren't."

"D-Did she leave anything behind?"

"Her diary, which Garroth has. And--" Dante reached into his armor and handed Aaron a folded page. He unfurled it and could once again feel his heart sink as he read over her words. She knew. And he should have known she would do it. It's in a lords nature to sacrifice themselves no matter how foolish it is to do so. "I'm sorry--"

"Don't." Aaron took a steady breath, read the letter over again, and then handed it back to Dante. "I'll go make sure I can move in with Lilith and look after her."

"Right. Let me know if you need any help with that." Aaron just nodded, moving past Dante and pulling the bandana out of the pocket of his cloak. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to hide. Given the pitying look Dante gave him, he wasn't doing a very good job in the first place.

Though Dante's concern was nothing compared to the look of complete despair in Zoey's eyes. They were blood shot, and she had clearly been crying, but even when she wasn't she looked completely miserable. A weary smile spread across her face, but it was quickly replaced with the morose look she wore before.

"I-I'm sorry for taking Lilith without saying anything," She began with a teary voice. "It was just the first thing I thought of when I heard the--"

"It's okay," Aaron answered simply. "Thank you for looking after her." He grabbed a guitar from the weapon stand. Most weapon stands had them now, and it was a top priority to have musical instruments at the ready. Aaron was one of the people who pushed it most. "The little one will be cared for."

Lilith let out a small giggle, reaching for the end of Aaron's bandana as he leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He settled back, sitting next to Zoey as he tuned the well loved instrument. [Insert Flowers on the Battlefield here]

The moment Zoey heard the familiar notes she couldn't stop her tears. She tried in vain to wipe them, to hide them from Lilith, but there wasn't much she could do. Aaron himself was only able to hide behind his bandana, but it didn't do a lot. The melody just reminded them of good times, and the crushing defeat of those times being taken away so suddenly.

Nobody knew where Garroth was at first. Travis assumed he'd be at Aph's house, but the place was hauntingly empty. It was from the top of the hill that he could not only hear Aaron's guitar, but he could see Garroth down at the docks, trying in vain to tear out old planks of wood. It was the first time Travis had really gotten a look at Garroth, especially without the armor. He looked… So sad.

He at least wanted Lilith to hear the song one more time. To remember the sound that could so perfectly encapsulate her mother and her impact on those around her. Even if she would never get to properly meet her.

Garroth's head jerked the minute Travis was close enough to notice. Travis nervously held his hands up as a sign of peace, which Garroth just turned away from.

"Hey," Travis said awkwardly. "I'm Travis."

"I guess you already know my name," Garroth replied, refusing to look at him.

"Look I--" Travis held back the urge to put a hand on Garroth's shoulder. "I'm not great at emotional stuff. And I know we really don't know each other, but I-I knew Aph, and I knew Laurance, and they both told me a lot about you. I thought I'd… I don't know." Travis took a shaky breath. "Sorry…"

"Aph was always better at the emotional talks, wasn't she?"

"I wanted to see if I could do anything for you." Travis stepped so he was standing next to the man. "Could at least get that splinter out."

"Yeah." Garroth let out a sigh, tearing another board out and groaning as a splinter slipped into his finger.

"Is there something you wanted?"

"It's not worth worrying about." Travis let out a small sound, almost a laugh, which made Garroth finally look up to meet him eye to eye. Some part of his heart ached at the sight of Travis' bright green eyes. They were almost the same color as Laurance's when Garroth met him. "What's so funny?"

"Aph once said that was one of the phrases she hated the most. That she was tired of her friends and guards saying that to her, because she wanted nothing more than to look after everyone, ensure we were all doing okay at the very least." Travis took a deep breath, hoping that this would be the right move. "She said it was one of the last things you had said to her before running away."

"I was a fool to let Zane get the better of me."

"From what I heard, sounds like you didn't have a choice." Garroth raised his eyebrow. "That companion of his, with the mask? She knew mind control, you really didn't have full control over yourself once she got into your head."

"H-How do you know?"

"I knew the minute Aph described the mask to me. It's something my mother warned me about." Garroth let out a small chuckle, followed by nearly full blown laughter as a tear forced its way down his face. "D-Did I--"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong." Garroth let another tear slip out. "I just, I never knew for sure. I couldn't quite tell what my own thoughts were and what she or Zane wanted me to think. I was worried it was my own foolishness entirely that doomed my friends."

"Well, that's a bit dramatic." Garroth laughed again, almost incredulously.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Sure, you messed up pretty badly, but it wasn't entirely your fault. And even if it was, it hasn't all been bad." Travis gestured to the Phoenix Settlement. "That village is making a real comeback, and it's only getting better every day. And if it weren't for those 15 years, I might not have met everyone." Garroth glanced over at the elder tree that stretched out across the skyline. His arms ached at the memory of her weight in them. He wanted nothing more than to hold her close again.

"B-But she…" Travis awkwardly held a hand out to Garroth, who just stared at it. Travis simply placed his hand in Garroth's and took a deep breath.

"Look, I didn't know Aph half as well as you did, but I do know that she wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this." Garroth turned away, swallowing down further tears. Travis squeezed his hand, before pulling away. "I'll give you some time to yourself. Let me know if you ever need anything." Travis turned, and it was only when he was a few steps away that Garroth finally spoke.

"Thank you," He whispered. Garroth knew he was alone after that, letting him take a step back, and then sit on the part of the docks that wasn't falling apart. His eyes drifted to the diary tucked into his bag. Was there… A page looked out of place. Garroth reached forward and pulled on it, pulling out a fairly worn piece of paper, one that he could tell just from a glance was stained with tears.

Garroth and Laurance,

Oh no.

I know what I'm doing is especially unfair to you two. We all fell in love together, and I wish we could grow old together. There's a chance we still could. But there won't be a chance if Garroth can't be there with us. So I have to bring him back.

Laurance, I can't even imagine how you'll feel. I really wish there was another way, but I can't have anyone else, especially you, sacrificing themselves for something I want. If I could make you do one thing, I'd make you promise not to run away. Please, don't leave him. Please.

Garroth, I'm so sorry. I truly wish there was more I could say to express how much I currently miss you, and how much I'm going to. But you deserve to have a life, to see the way the world has changed because of your bravery, and you deserve to have your chance at a redemption I don't think you need.

I love you both.

"What is wrong with you?!" Vylad roared as he grabbed Laurance and nearly threw him to the ground.

This one wasn't signed. It didn't have to be. It was stained with tears that belonged to more than its writer.

"Ow! The fuck-- Vylad?!" Laurance groaned as he threw off Vylad's grip. The two were just at the edge of the cursed forest, not too far from the borders of Meteli. "What are you doing here?"

"Telling you to go back to Phoenix Drop!"

"I-I can't! Vylad, if I go back there I don't know if I'll be able to control myself."

"You learned to control yourself around her, you can do the same for him."

"I don't know if I can! I couldn't live with myself if I killed him!"

"If you don't go back there he might kill himself!!" Laurence froze. His breathing started to pick up.

"Wh… N-No, Garroth wouldn't. He's stronger than that--"

"He's always been at his strongest with the people he loves at his side. One of them is dead and he thinks it's his fault, and the other ran away from him before he could properly grieve. I doubt many could survive."

"Then why are you here?! He's your brother!"

"Because I don't know my brother. It's been almost 20 years since the last time I saw him face to face, I-I don't know nearly as much about him as you do."

"And what if I lose control? His blood would be on your hands."

"If I don't get you back to him now then it definitely will be." Laurance backed away, his head starting to ache as voices clashed within. The calling was jumping at the idea of going back to him, and Laurance hated that he was going to agree to it. But he had to. If Garroth died without him, because he left… He couldn't even entertain the thought.

"How are you holding up?" Katelyn glanced up at Lucinda, who had just placed a cup of tea on her bedside table.

Laurance took off, shortly followed by Vylad.

"How do you think?" Katelyn bit back. She instantly regretted it when she saw the hurt look in Lucinda's bloodshot eyes. "S-Sorry. That came out… Harsher than I intended."

"It's alright. I'm unfortunately familiar with some of the feelings around this."

"So am I." Lucinda sighed, leaning back and taking a sip of her own tea. "Is that how you're handling it so well?"

"Handling it well? Katelyn, if I didn't have a silencing glyph on my room you would have heard every miserable tear I shed last night." Katelyn frowned at the almost calm look on Lucinda's face.

"Why are you trying to hide it then?"

"Everyone's grieving right now. No need to saddle anyone else with my baggage."

"Like I said, I've got some myself. Why not let me lighten the load?"

"Are you sure?" Katelyn sat up a little more, leaning against the headboard of Lucinda's guest bed.

"I may not know you that well yet, but I know you cared about Aph. I think we all have that in common. Might as well care about her and mourn her together, right? It's what she would've wanted."

"She did always like bringing unlikely people together." Lucinda let out a sad sigh, setting her teacup aside. "During those fifteen years you were all gone, I lost my dad. I-I wasn't sure if everyone was dead or not when you all disappeared, but I saw my dad in his final moments. I held his hand as he passed… I suppose I'm not even sure Aph is dead until I see it."

"You still think she's alive?"

"There's a nonzero chance. Though it could just be a desperate ploy to deny the truth."

"That's what it sounds like to me, sorry."

"No need to apologize. You're probably right. Suppose her dying without assurance has made me think she could do it again."

"She always did have a new trick up her sleeve. I wouldn't put it past her." Katelyn let out a shaky sigh. "Just wish she hadn't done this in the first place."

"You and me both."

"I used to feel the same way about Jeffory."

"Jeffory?"

"An old friend of mine. He and I were in the Jury of Nine together, and he was the only person I could trust for a long time. But then he risked his own life to save Aph, and when he died, I had to know why. I had to understand why he decided this woman was worth risking everything we had built for." Katelyn's hands clenched into fists as she fought tears. "I understand why he did what he did now more than ever."

"Levin!" Malachi called out as he entered their home. "Where are you?" His response was a sniffle from upstairs. Malachi groaned. In spite of his body being younger, he still felt 900 years old, and sometimes just climbing the stairs was exhausting. He found his brother curled up in the window of his room, his music box coming to it's end as Malachi across from him in the windowsill.

Lucinda felt the words she wanted to say getting caught in her throat. She understood exactly what Katelyn was saying, but she had no idea how to respond to it. So she thought about what Aph would do. She reached her hand out to Katelyn, and interlocked their fingers. Katelyn glanced down at their hands, back at Lucinda, and then she smiled. Both of them were clearly on the verge of tears, a hair trigger away from another grief induced meltdown, but for that moment they smiled.

"How are you so okay with this?" Levin asked, his voice laced with an unusual amount of bitterness.

"What in the name of Irene makes you think I'm okay with this?" Malachi replied with an almost too soft tone.

"I-I've barely seen you cry. When Dante told us, all you thought about was making sure everyone was okay, making sure we could repair the damages. Don't you care about her?"

"Of course I do. I know you were young, but I saw mom when she was a lord. She always acted in the interest of everyone else, ensuring everyone's safety before her own. I knew that's what she would have wanted. I thought you would understand that better than anyone."

"It's what we lords do..." Levin sniffled again, a tear pushing down his face again. "Why didn't she say anything to us?"

"What?"

"She left a note with final wishes for everyone, but she didn't even mention us. L-Like she wasn't even thinking about how we'd feel about our own mother throwing her life away!"

"She probably thought we'd be able to handle it. After all, we thought she was dead for all those years before--"

"But this isn't the same! We know she's dead!"

"We don't know for sure--"

"I'm not going to live in denial again!" Tears continued to stream down Levin's face as he looked out over his village. His home. Malachi put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Look at all you were able to do without her. She knew we'd be fine without her." Levin sobbed, burying his head into his brother's shoulder as Malachi held him close. "I-I'm going to miss her, but we know how to do this, don't we?"

"I-I don't want to."

"I know. So let's grieve now. We might not get the chance to later with the lives we lead." Levin nodded in acknowledgement, though Malachi could feel his shoulder starting to become wet from his brothers tears.

"Where is he?!" Laurance was almost in a blind panic, his heart racing and his breathing unsteady as he stumbled into the Phoenix Settlement. He felt almost alive. "Where's Garroth?!"

"Thank you." That's all it took for Malachi to join him.

"He was at the docks last time I saw him," Travis answered. "Where have--" Laurance was already gone. He wasn't thinking straight, only worrying about one thing. Just as Laurance reached the top of the hill and saw Garroth standing there, his left leg went limp. Laurance wasn't able to catch it happening before he took a step forward, resulting in him taking a very noisy and not exactly pleasant tumble down the path to the docks.

"Laurance?" Garroth questioned as he stood up and ran over to his lover. Laurance managed to push himself up from the ground and get a good look at Garroth's face. Tear stained. He was alive. He was breathing.

"Thank Irene you're alive," Laurance muttered.

"What?"

"N-Nothing." Laurance managed to get himself to sitting, but there was no hope for his leg coming back anytime soon. Garroth simply sat in front of him, Aph's note still in his hand. "Look, Garroth, I can't even begin to voice my regret. I-I shouldn't have run away from you. It was wrong of me to leave you alone, even if I thought I was protecting you. You're the last person in this forsaken world I would lay down my life for, and I was a fool to think I was doing any good by running away from that." Garroth smiled, and then took Laurance's hand and pressed a kiss to it.

"I'm glad you've come to this conclusion on your own." Garroth turned his hand over and placed her note in it. "I knew you would eventually, considering she already did, but I was worried it would take longer." Laurance's hands trembled as he read over the words, and by the time he was done, Garroth was sitting next to him and wrapping an arm around him, ready for the oncoming wave of emotions that was eventually going to hit Laurance.

He folded the paper, handed it back to Garroth, and then used his still working leg to bring himself around Garroth and wrap him in a proper hug. Garroth instantly wrapped his other arm around Laurance and just breathed. He just felt Laurance's weight, felt his breathing, felt his presence. He was back. In spite of his words Garroth had worried Laurance had truly abandoned him. It was more than he could ask for to have him here like this again.

And even when Laurance began to cry into his arms, Garroth was still eternally grateful.

"I'm sorry--"

"Laurance, it's okay," Garroth assured him. "I understand why you ran."

"I-I just didn't want to hurt you."

"I understand."

"But I love you. I love you so much and I never want to spend a second away from you."

"I love you too." Garroth took a deep breath, before he broke their embrace simply so he could hold Laurance's head in his hands and stare into those beautiful blue eyes. "We're going to get through this, tgoether."

"Irene?"

"Right, together." Laurance leaned forward and placed a kiss against Garroth's lips. It was easily the most alive he had felt since he had undergone his transformation. Even if he was still in an unimaginable amount of pain, even if he might tear his own life apart, even if everything could somehow get worse tomorrow, he was alive enough to kiss the man he loved. That's all he could ask for.

┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈

What...?

"Wake up, Irene. It's not your time to die just yet."

[kurithedweeb]

I went to a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons recently and let me tell you I've had such ideas about how each one applies to each of the Ro'Meave brothers. I saw like entire animatics while listening.

Spring is about all three of them: the first section is Vylad’s, upbeat, innocent. The second section is Garroth, much slower and more somber, almost mourning interspersed with moments of frantic energy like the first, about the night he escaped and was captured by the titan golem that guards the outskirts and released at the last minute after it saw flashes of Esmund, who created it. Zane in the third section where he almost mirrors Vylad but with a less jovial air.

The second section, the slow one, got to me especially. It reminds me very much of rain and it switches between slow somber pieces and bursts of almost frantic energy that follows a two-beat rhythm. In the beginning, Garroth is still the heir but he is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the idea that his allowing himself to be molded like this will do anything to save his family and has recently discovered he'll be married off without his input, and his planning his death is a slow and controlled process. There is a frantic burst where he believes he's been discovered, but the actual death is a calm, calculated affair, and the panic only sets in when he is running through the streets to make his escape. There is a brief, grieving respite in the sewers as he properly tends to the wound and it finally completely sets in what he's doing. If he goes back now, he'll be killed for real. So he goes out into the rain and he runs, and the frantic energy in the faster parts get more and more sad as he cries and his tears mingle with the rain, and there is this feeling right in the middle where it feels like something is approaching. Something massive. In the background of the shot, an enormous shape becomes visible, and though Garroth doesn't turn to look he knows what's coming, and he's incredibly worn out from what he's done. He wonders if he shouldn't have done this after all. He slows to a stop and lowers himself to his knees, and he curls into himself as one massive hand comes down over him and covers him from view. The hand slowly lifts, turns towards the camera, and reveals Garroth cradled in the center of its palm, so small by comparison. He finally lifts his eyes to look at it. They're face-to-face. In the reflection of the golem's eyes, we see Garroth, and the rain washes his image into one of Esmund.

There are flashes of Esmund seen from the perspective of the golem. Laughing and talking with his friends. Talking by the fire with his family. Gathering the materials for the golem. Sketching designs. Looking into the golem's eyes and smiling softly as a parent to a child, speaking to it though the words cannot be heard. Esmund, wounded and torn open emotionally, mouth opened around an unheard cry as he throws things off his workbench and collapses against its edge, shaking as he holds himself up with a hip pressed to it and a hand coming away bloody from his bandaged side. Esmund curled into his seat by the hearth, the flame so low as to nearly not be burning, exhausted even in sleep. Esmund in the golem's palm just like this, holding his hands to its face and laughing with the joy of creation. And Garroth in the same pose, grief-ridden and resigned. And in the last few beats of the song, the golem lowers its hand and it remains there with its hand upturned in the grass as Garroth flees.

Summer is Garroth. Shots of him traveling, ill and hurting, and finding his way to Phoenix Drop. The second section is him finding Zenix, first slowly integrating into Phoenix Drop and then following a blood trail out to the woods and finding a boy crumpled to the ground and covered in wounds, the camera pausing a completely three beats on his feeble form before the pace picks up again with Garroth crashing to the ground and gathering him up and getting up even as he shouts for help. Shots of rushing Zenix to safety and caring for him and taking him on as his apprentice. The third section is as Phoenix Drop begins to devolve under Malik’s increasing paranoia, in the final slow part Zenix looks upon the flames he set to Malik’s house. Summer ends as Garroth takes charge of the investigation and the village and gets more and more tired with each passing shot.

Autumn is Zane. It has a bit of a haunting beginning that quickly folds itself into jovial music you wouldn’t find out of place in any noble society party scene in a movie. This is what he was raised in, where he finds his power, his connections, and there are sharp moments that reflect that there’s something well-hidden beneath the high-society charm. The slower second section is the moments behind the mask when we can see a sliver of the true face of the boy beneath: one devout and calm and perhaps not so inhuman as he portrays to his subordinates. He holds himself to an ideal. There’s a segment at the end of the second section that reminds one of a steadfast love, and this is Zane bringing Janus into his embrace and his plots as a man who finds loyalty in affection and duty and a sense of self given by another. In the third section, he dons the mask and veil once again and this is when he gathers all his strings and seizes power, by the end standing as the undoubtedly most powerful man in O’khasis even if all that power is hidden in doublespeak and undertone.

Winter is Vylad. The first section is Vylad as a boy as he grows into his teens, reminiscent of his part of Spring but having grown into something else. As we near the second section, there is an undertone of unease as he realizes something has been happening without his knowledge. The upbeat tone of the first part sombers a bit as Garroth dies, and soon after picks back up as the plot against Vylad spirals into fruition: in the last few segments of this section he is running through the forest and fields. The second segment opens as he is being hunted and chased, strings plucked in tune with his rapid breaths as he finds himself pinned and stabbed and lying in the grass as his life drains away. For a handful of moments, he sees the afterlife. And as this section closes, he wakes in a body he no longer recognizes, feeling as though he has been stuffed into a broken doll. In the third section, he navigates his old-new body. He finds himself in the Nether, at the beck and call of the Calling and cruel commanders. He gathers his strength, and at the first burst of a frantic movement, he makes his daring escape. He is chased, and so near when he is caught. But he bides his time, shown in shots of him drawing on the walls of his cell and fighting anyone who comes near and slowly cutting his way through his bars until the second frantic movement crashes over him and he bursts from his cell, runs through the fortress, bulldozing past anyone he can. The portal is within reach. He bursts through it and does not stop, heart racing and breath coming quick as the day he died. He’s forced to slow eventually, and over a series of backgrounds that change with each repetition, he slowly falls to the ground. As the song comes to a close, as he sits defeated on his heels without even the strength to push himself to kneeling, there is a swell that inspires hope, and he looks up to Hyria standing over him at the edge of the Sacred Forest.

[strxwberry-swtichblxde]

seven deadly sins au lore

@lucindaspartnerrealandtrue02 @boygirltitties

tw; s/a, death in war, murder, stalking, sex work, death by illness, hanging, burning, guns

what is the au? ; where 7 mcd characters are a deadly sin each

whose who?;

lust - laurance

envy - garroth

greed- gene

pride - zane

wrath - katelyn

sloth - travis

gluttony - michi

how'd they all die?:

laurance - killed by gene after a cilent session went VERY WRONG, fast, and ended up being s/aed and chocked to death by gene. was left in a frozen river to die and his best friend (kenmur) , roughly 2010s

garroth - went mad for the women he loved and snuck into her room to find her making love to her lover, was killed by her, roughly late 1600s- early 1700s

Gene- never payed back someone he should of, and was shot in a gun fight, mid to late 2010s

Zane - a lying preist whod use his power to get more power and fame, was found out and burnt to death, 1690s

Katelyn - a girl who lived in england in the 40s, she died in the london bombings, 40s

travis - died in a coma from an unknown ilness, 1960s

micihi - poisoned one to many men, hung, 1500s

whose the mai character ; Frlix is a john doe