#Dane Cohren

[tryingtimi]

35✨

Angels by Avenged Sevenfold. It was a nice, and which for I itched to write something. It's really small, more like a warm-up than anything else.

EXPLORATION | PINCH OF ANGST | WC: 543

“What are you watching?” Auva asked, joining Dane standing by the large window.

The glass tapped the ground, reaching to the ceiling even. It framed the office, like a one-way wall — showing everything from the outside world to anyone who stepped inside the room, yet hiding even the fact they’re being watched from those under. Dane put his hand into his pockets, the fine textile rustling ever so quietly.

“A tragedy.”

People gathered around the small abode in the foot of the Astin Crops’ main building. The line was perfect, if long. No-one tried to shove the other to get before them, no. They waited for their turn, curiously examining those who already earned their rations.

Adran walked beside the abode, carrying inside all the boxes they filled up from their recent dive.

Auva audibly shifted, leaning just a touch closer to the glass.

“Why you call this a tragedy?” Her voice was soft, eager. “The units found a lot of edibles recently, it makes the people excited. Does it not?”

Many faces bled into expectant expression, smiles and hands clapsed together with their loved ones colouring the grey landscape of mundanity. If Dane would have shared any poetic vein with his friend, he’d say he saw sparks in their eyes alight. The line wasn’t from the Aquor Sector, however divers the crowd seemed to be. Clearly, there was no-one from the lowests.

“It does, yes. But with this, people forget the world. They see the goods they get, and turn from the depths. They look forward, and never glance below. What comes from there isn’t stopped. It catches up to us, very soon, yet no-one worries. No-one prepares. They forget everything; from where they from, who they lost, what was sacrifised to reach the point where we are now.”

He followed the slowly brightening line. The crowd did not thinned, even though most of them picked up their rations. They circled around the side of the abode, slumped shoulders evenly straightening as they spoke to Adran. He accepted the hands that reached for him, gently similing to them as he spoke. The sparks brightened, the depths floating father away.

“Are you mad because they do not grieve their losses?” Auva asked, genuine curiousity in her voice.

Dane set his jaw, stealing a glance from his left leg. His weight sit on the mechanical leg uncomfortably unnatural.

“Grief is an amputation, Auva.” Water flooded his mind, the trashing waves and crashing screaming filling his mind. He glanced at Adran, and the solid platform under him that did not let them see below. “But hope is incurable. And it is a disease that should not be taken lightly.”

“Hope is what makes these people going, until you save them, Dane.”

Not a single muscle in Dane’s face moved as he turned to her. His expression hardned into stone, reaching down to his chest, turning it heavy and full. Full of dead weight that expanded with every smiling word from Adran’s muted mouth.

“I can’t save them. I am not an angel, or a hero. I am just a man,” he said, tone even. His eyes wandered back at Adran. ”We all are.”

[tryingtimi]

A Wishing God

To break my absence, I leave here a possible ending of IQRUS. It's fun to explore all the things I was just contemplating yet. This piece also started as an attempt for one of the Flash Fiction Friday prompts, Expanding Horizons, but it ended up more.

DANE AND AUVA | ANGST | IQRUS ENDING EXPLORATION | WC: 2,476

Water rumbled quietly. The waves had reached out as enormous fingers, stretching forward in the distance. They licked the solid metal, swallowing more and more of it, almost touching Dane’s feet as he sat on the ground. It wouldn’t have mattered, though. He was wet already, anyway.

The Aquor Sector’s ankle high water level’s surface let him see the solid floor under him.

He couldn’t move his muscles as he sat in the liquid. Mind filled up, overflowed with everything he wanted to keep it in the pit of his existence. He came here for a reason, yet he wasn’t able to get further than tiptoeing to the edge of the Trashland and finally let his legs to give up under him. All the turquoise, slightly translucent hell surrounded him in the moment he reached the ground. His pants soaked through immediately, his mechanic leg getting tighter around his thighs as liquid terror seeped into the fittings. He knew he should have been afraid of the mutation.

But he couldn’t care less about that.

The day of him getting the Caelus Sector offered modifications burnt into his mind. All the serums, plays with his genes, protection he got. Immunity for the top of humanity, they dared to say.

All the people playing God up there.

He tried to think about pulling his pulled-up legs closer to his chest, but he wasn’t able to do that. His body wasn’t under his control now. Fright ruled his blood flow, all of his big and little muscles, his mind. There was nothing he could do about it, only acknowledge it. He was paralyzed. By shock or trauma, he couldn’t tell anymore.

The waves pulled back, slowly making space between Dane and them. The touch of the liquid swayed around his lower body. Every tiny movement of it made something twitch inside him, building up a feeling he didn’t know how to control now or ever.

He wasn’t planning to move, however.

Even if he could have, he was sure he would have been just sitting in the water, watching the far horizon of endless waves and light. There was nothing at the other end. No land, no building, nothing.

Tender swaying and quiet splashing signaled Auva’s arrival.

She didn’t say a thing, only stood beside him for a second, then slowly sat down. He lowered his head, letting it drop between his shoulders. He couldn’t bear the sight of that infinite horizon anymore.

“What now?”, he asked eventually. He wanted to squeeze his eyes together, but he couldn’t. Dane wanted to stay aware of Auva’s presence by his peripheral vision.

After everything had been done, he wasn’t ready to just drown in his darkness, alone.

Because he was like that. Alone. Finally, and completely. No Adran, no Eran, not even Icharo. So much good for one evil to fall. And so, their most dire problem hasn’t been solved by the sacrifices. Was it really worth it then?

Auva shifted, and Dane could see her hand reaching over to touch the waves that came back to them again.

“Now, you must become a Guardian. Properly.” She tenderly caressed the surface, her fingers parting the water ever so slightly. It didn’t leave a mark, only its echo on the froth. “That would be the ideal. That would be the end of my task. But you must choose it willingly. “ She paused for a moment. “And I am not forcing anything.”

Dane exhaled. A long, stretched out breath. Then, after closing his eyes for a second, he opened them again and looked at Auva.

She didn’t force him to choose. She should have, yet she didn’t. A strange, heavy weight loomed over Dane, as he sat under the open sky and watched this figure beside him who he still couldn’t fully fit into his mind. Into his heart, yes, but not into his mind.

Dane wasn’t sure if he wanted to be something like her. He had no idea what that would mean. Icharo… Lero was her kind too. Whatever they were truly, they had powers he didn’t know he wanted to deal with.

He still felt his mind numbing ever so slightly, only just thinking about what he went through and saw.

Save them.

Adran’s last words bubbled up from his tensed muscles into his mind, showing him the memory of their last moments. His brother. His savior.

Everyone’s savior.

Dane’s left eye twitched a little. He wasn’t the one who should be a Guardian of people. Ionera should be safe after Adran’s sacrifice. They won, didn't they?

He snorted at this thought.

Winning. There was no winner in matters like these, was there? And whatever he was ready to do, one question still remained unanswered: if he was ever ready to take up the burden of making things right so his brother’s death won’t be for vain?

“So be it,” he said, his voice even. “How does it work?”

Auva nodded ever so slightly, an almost reluctant acknowledgement. Then, she pulled out a little glass bottle from the tiny case attached to her belt.

Something gold swayed within.

“You need to drink this first. Everything else is up to you after then.”

“What’s this?”, Dane asked as she handed him the bottle. He hasn't taken it yet.

“A substance that flows in my body and keeps it moving.”

His eyelids fluttered closed for a moment as he gulped.

“So, it’s your blood.”

Auva glanced at the far horizon beside them, lost in thought, before she guided her gaze back at Dane and the liquid.

“That’s an accurate conclusion, yes.”

“And you want me to drink it?” He heard it the first time too, but he needed to make sure. And if Auva didn’t quite understand why he needed this confirmation, she hid it well. As well as any human would have.

“It’s not about what I want, Dane. The world depends on it. Your world.”

The water reached for them again, swaying closer and closer, almost reaching his legs. And the gold swayed with it in the bottle. Auva didn’t move her hands, yet the liquid twirled and twisted. Its metallic shine absorbed the light around itself.

Dane could feel the faintest unease in his mind.

A familiar feeling at this point. Something that made him sick.

He forced his gaze at Auva.

At her, who was the bearer of this thing. This something that changed his world at its core. This thing that those carried in their physical bodies too that killed his loved ones and doomed humanity.

Dane curled up his toes in his fully soaked shoes. His hands were white from all the force he was gripping them together.

Auva was one of them, yet she was so much different. She was here to help. She did not ask anything from him. She let him choose.

Choose something he always strived to reach. Saving everyone. Saving Ionera. Protecting the ruins of their world.

Dane wasn’t the right one for this responsibility, but he was the only one left for this world. So, with heavy hands, he slowly took the bottle, closed his eyes and snapped his head back so he could swallow everything.

Then, he let his hands fall back down and nervously waited.

Waited.

And waited.

Nothing has felt different. The water still licked his sides, he might not have been as cold as before, but other than that; nothing.

“How long does it take to begin?”

Auva smiled. He didn’t know how he could know this with his eyes closed, but he did. For certain.

“ᴏᴘᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴇʏᴇs,” she murmured, her voice sounding like a… prism. It belonged to her yet echoed on a thousand other.

He slowly lifted his eyelids, seeing nothing different over the horizon then before. A touch of early morning mist, endless water and small waves… in a room.

An intricate, vast room that contained everything he called his world. A room made of a prism. The walls reflected the sky, expanded horizons before Dane. All the layers of the images he’d seen opened up for him; the clouds’, the sky’s, the water’s and everything’s outlines splitted into hundreds of their own reflection, into shapes and colors he’d never seen before. Dane could see, feel and hear everything around himself. His vision, hearing and ability to feel erupted and expanded into something that made him be aware of all the happenings of the world. To feel every person and every living thing as if they were a part of him too.

Dane became the beating heart of Aetherius.

And with that, his core fright from before — that was so deeply a part of him he couldn’t acknowledge it fully — towards death evaporated into nothing. He knew he won’t die anymore. That he can’t die. Fear and death turned into mere concepts in his mind.

Then, he turned to Auva.

It wasn’t her true name. That wasn’t something that could have been spoken out loud. Dane stick with it, though.

The air wobbled around her figure that did not wore the features he was used to seeing on her. Golden bronze skin without a face, although Dane knew it wasn’t a skin exactly since it flowed in her physical form as well. Quills cascaded around her shoulders, blanketing her upper body, a featherless wing-like extension growing out of her back as a cape would.

He could use only mortal words to describe her, even though she was so much beyond that comprehension.

“ɪ ᴡɪsʜ ɪ ʜᴀᴅ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏ sᴀʏ,” whispered Dane. His voice similarly echoing in a thousand other as well. He wasn’t sure if he was capable of feeling anything at all, yet he knew he would feel awe if he would be his self from before.

Auva smiled. Dane could tell she was, no matter her faceless form.

“ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴅ.” Her voice still ethereal, the language they spoke celestial, if it was a language at all.

“Is ᴛʜɪs ʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs sᴇɴsᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ?” Dane needed to ask. There were things that did not ease with his ascension.

“ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Gᴜᴀʀᴅɪᴀɴ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴡʜᴏ’ᴅ ʙᴇᴇɴ Mᴀᴅᴇ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴍᴀᴋᴇs ᴍᴇ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴜs. sᴏ, ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪs ɪᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ sᴇɴsᴇ?”

What was he sensing? How could he describe it? He should have been overwhelmed, but he could not experience life as before. Eternal things laid before him, more than his world only. He won a glimpse of the other worlds that had burnt into his mind; people with pointy ears, monster-like creatures, black suns, violet moons and so, so much more. He’d seen a fraction of all the different sides of that infinite prism that his world reflected it too. He couldn’t be sure what he sensed actually.

He knew what he should have reacted to, though.

“ᴇᴍᴘᴛɪɴᴇss.” That wasn’t it exactly. “ꜰᴜʟʟɴᴇss ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴍᴘᴛɪɴᴇss ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ sᴇᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅs ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜɪs ᴏɴᴇ. sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ ᴏɴᴇs. ᴜɴᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ᴏɴᴇs. ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ sᴇɴsᴇ ᴍʏ ɢʀɪᴇꜰ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs Aᴅʀᴀɴ ᴀɴᴅ Eʀᴀɴ’s ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ. ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴏᴜʀɴ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ, Aᴜᴠᴀ. ɪ ᴅᴏ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ. ɪ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ʙᴇʏᴏɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴍᴇ.”

Some kind of wrongness nested in his core also. A plague, a reversed black hole. Aetherius’ doom, the dimensional tear that let the terrors pour into his world.

It had been hidden from him, but now he could sense it. The calling of the ocean, deep under all the monsters and darkness; the portal slumbered there, out of the reach of any mortal. But not his, not anymore. And so he could have a chance to extinguish it. Or begin to do that.

Auva nodded, excitement reflecting in the vibration of her magnetic field around her.

“ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʀᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴀs ᴀ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ, ᴇᴠᴇɴ ɪꜰ ɪᴛ’s ᴛʀᴀɢɪᴄ, ᴛʜᴀɴ sᴛᴀʏɪɴɢ ᴅɪᴠɪɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟᴍɪɢʜᴛʏ.”

“ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ.”

“ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴛʜᴇɴ,” She extended her hand. “ɪᴛ’s ꜰᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴀᴛᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ sᴛᴀᴛᴇ ɪs ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀʏ” And with that, Dane’s senses began to shrink. Whatever he experienced, it did not leave him, only made him more and more anxious. He couldn’t put his finger on what he’d seen in the next second, when he stopped feeling everything.

Minute by minute, he gained back that core terror of death and the dreadful woe that nested in his bones. He got back his grief and his mourning. His ability to remember and love. His focus wasn’t on all living things anymore, he wasn’t everywhere all at once. And he saw Auva only as a woman sitting waist deep in the water.

“How could this happen? I thought being a Guardian is a permanent task.”

Auva smiled and glanced at the bottle in Dane’s hand. He mirrored her movement, realizing he wasn’t paralyzed anymore, even though all his grave emotions only multiplied in his chest.

He furrowed his brows when he saw the golden blood still sway in the bottle. He could have sworn that he swallowed all.

“It was. Before you’ve changed the rules of turning into one. What I’ve said previously was something I only came to know the moment you made up your mind. And so now the rules are letting Guardians choose after they experience what it's like to be one. You’ve created a new concept. A new era. Change is never immediate from now on. It needs time and so you could have only one drop to begin with.”

Dane tightened his hand around the bottle.

“It sounds like I’ve modified space and time in a blink of an eye. That is something only…” God should be able to do, Auva. He stopped himself before he could finish his sentence like that. He couldn’t deny it anymore. He was one of them for a short period of time. If it was a short period of time at all, since time itself lost its meaning for him in that state. Or that’s how he could describe it if he attempted to put it into words.

A soft touch on his hand made Dane shiver slightly. He glanced at Auva’s tender gaze that was full of comfort, yet reflected something deep that he couldn’t really grasp. As if the cosmos itself had been captured in those eyes.

“It must be a lot.”

It was. Dane couldn’t deny that either. But there was also one thing that stayed with him the most after the experience. Something that made him confident enough to hold Auva’s eyes.

“I’ll take the role temporarily. I’ve seen the tear, so I need the power to unravel it, to find it again and close it. But as soon as we’ve reached that, I’ll find someone who’s worth enough to take this role properly,” he said and with that, he flipped his hand to took Auva’s in his too.

[tryingtimi]

13 & 29!

His Little Brother

Thank you so much for the numbers! 💙 Well, it was a lovely combination of two IQRUS song, Goodbye by Ramyes (from Arcane) and Doom by Imagine Music. So, since I already planned to write this scene in the near future, I've lived with the opportunity now. Context: The cult experimented on making a specimen of the mix of a human and a zaphrin (angel/lesser god-like creatures) that can erase other zaphrins. Adran happened to be the best candidate to this role, so they made him insane and turned him into an eldritch monster, then went to the Everocean to destroy Auva and kill Dane. It's almost the end of the book.

ADRAN COHREN | BODY, ELDRITCH HORROR | GORE | BLOOD | WC: 819

Adran’s jaw – that nauseating, deformed piece of his face where his sharp, shark-like teeth slumbered – clenched together with an ear-shattering crunch. His Evolved hand closed over Dane’s neck with ease. It seemed so tiny compared to his clawed arms that Dane tried to draw blood from with his weak fingers. To no avail, however. The scales that grew over Adran’s translucent, slithery skin could stop lasers from slicing them through. A mere scratch of a human being was not near to harming him.

Adran’s neck twitched as he saw his brother’s tears escaping from the side of his face.

“Ad…ran…” he forced out the letters with the air that rushed out from his lungs but couldn’t get back anymore. His face slowly turned into the purple of the sunset behind him. “Fight… it…”

ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ, ɪɴsᴇᴄᴛ.

He watched Dane struggle, desperation and terror pooling into his ocean-blue eyes. No. ʏᴇs. His brother let out a gutwrenching cry as Adran’s claws tightened, his neck bruising visibly. No! NO!

ʏᴇs, ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴍɪɴᴇ. ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ.

Electric shockwaves ran down across his skin, right into his bones, the little sparkles popping up here and there in the ooze that dripped from his whole body. His mind had been out of his reach, thick fog and froth washing Adran farther away from himself. Numbness sunken him deeper and deeper locking him into a dark corner of his existence. He’d seen his grotesque, eight feet tall self lifting Dane higher through an old screen, not his eyes. He was lost. He was doing what was best.

It was the best for Her. And so it could be the best for the world as well.

Adran saw what he was doing. Through a screen. Through… he saw his arms and a scar on the sensitive skin between two lines of scales.

A scar.

ɴᴏɴsᴇɴsɪᴄᴀʟ.

His scar.

ᴀsɪɴɪɴᴇ.

The scar he got when he saved Dane. From falling. From dying. He stirred in his numbness. Adran looked down at Dane’s remnant of his mechanic leg. He ripped it out of their fitting. He trashed in the shadows of his mind, trashed for air and freedom.

He was choking Dane. The one he saved and has scarred himself for. Dane lost his leg that day, the day he got his scar. When they were kids. He saved him. From falling. From dying. His Dane.

Adran looked at his gagging, deepening red face.

At his little brother.

NO!

Adran’s mind buzzed and whirled, it melted and bled as he screamed his throat raw when he finally forcefully took the control back over his body. He immediately let Dane go, then with his eyes jumping everywhere at an insane speed, he turned around to look at the source of this bone-crushing unease, this madness.

At Icharo Astin, The Golden Prophet.

He couldn’t describe the guttural loathing that his form presented under the golden robe, and he didn’t try to. With the thin thread he could grab of his sanity, Adran charged towards The Golden. The vessel’s floor thumped under his large, oily feet, the air around him resonating and tearing apart. The Golden did not move as if he was sculpted from stone-cold confidence. He stood there as the grand statue of lunatics. He was indestructible. Death couldn’t lay a hand on him.

Adran, however, was worse than death.

And so he broke through the invisible, yet crushing resistance that this man’s, this monster’s cosmic protection had lifted before him. There was a slight hint of surprise in The Golden’s unreadable, faceless expression when Adran soundlessly roared at him and began to rip him out of existence. He surprised a God, after all. ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɢᴏɴɴᴀ ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴏʏ. ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟꜰ. Adran felt an endless shock of pain in his core, in his bones, in his mind. He started bleeding from everywhere as he sucked the skin, the bone, the life out of The Golden before him.

What he was consuming, was a part of him already. And he couldn’t bear it. It was too much for his body.

Jarring gurgling exploded from The Golden’s mouth. Deafening agony resonated in the air, as both he and Adran shrieked.

Vibrant red and sparkling gold blood bled onto the floor, pooling under them.

Yet, Adran had only one thing stuck in his mind. One thing he was holding onto; that last thread of sanity. Golden-red blood oozed from his face as tears, when he looked at the terrified Dane from the corner of his eyes.

“Save them,” he… forced his mouth to form the words.

Then, with the thought of his little brother, Adran howled in sync with The Golden one last time, before he tore every part of him out of the worlds and destroyed himself in the process.

Completely and permanently.

[tryingtimi]

Not sure if I’ve done this yet, but Trick or Treat! 💖

Sweetpea, thank you for this! I'll go for a little treat 🍬 then, so I can share every funny little stuffed-into-the-corner-of-my-notion-pages pieces now. Since I'm trying to get myself in the mood for IQRUS, here's a kind of incorrect quote-like dialogue exercise out of context. It's old and I don't think it's gonna be canon because it's too funny for a sci-fi eldritch horror story lmao.

Dane: Whats’s that?

Auva: A subtance that flows in my body and keeps it moving.

Dane: So, it’s your blood.

Auva: That’s an accurate conclusion.

Dane: And you want me to drink it?

Auva: It’s not about what I want. The world depends on it.

IQRUS taglist (because it's fun) 🌌: @bloodlessheirbyjacques, @jess-p-edits, @circa-specturgia, @moonscribbler, @blind-the-winds, @odysseywritings

[tryingtimi]

I know I'm late bbuuuuut...

🦇Trick or Treat!!!🦇

Legend, you’re so in time! You can always pop in for anything 🧡 Thank you, and then I'll go for a treat then, because you're always feeding my excitement by indulging my asks. Therefore, here's a pretty old and not really canon Dava scene because I know you love them. 🍬

Lil' summary: Dane and Auva are talking about what is magic and hope. I used this as a dialogue exercise, so there is not much detail about who speaks, either way, Auva starts the convo.

“At some point, technology will feel like magic.”

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t make it magic.”

“Depends on your definition of magic, Dane. What is it really? Lightning shooting from a robed figure’s fingers? A wonder that can cure and save everyone and everything? Or a generated phenomena beyond mortal understanding and logic?”

“Neither, it is just the cruel deception of the desperate. People getting advantage over those who lost hope.”

“I see. And what is hope then?”

“Hope is… well, it’s a feeling. A stupid one, might I add. It makes people vulnerable enough to override logic and reality in their head. There’s some useful aspect of it, I admit, but I wouldn’t say the overall feeling is something that rational people need. Why, though? Don’t you zaphrin hope too?”

“I... no, we actually don't.”

“Really? Haven’t you hoped to find me?”

“That’s not how we work. I had a task to come here and find someone capable of working with me against Lero. We knew there was someone, so I only needed to wait. It was either success or failure.”

“But you couldn’t know for truly certain there is someone who's capable enough. That’s not possible, only if you know the future. Which you stated you don’t. So you zaphrin didn’t know there is someone, but hoped. In fact, hoped enough to believe that it is a fact. You’re much more of a believer than we humans, as it seems.”

Auva didn’t respond. She seemed lost in thought as she stared at her hands in her lap. Maybe Dane shouldn’t have said that. He basically shattered her whole understanding over her species. Unintentionally yes, but still. He felt awful.

Dane was ready to apologize when an ever so gentle smile creeped onto Auva’s lips.

“Yes, yes it seems we are.” She looked up at Dane and her eyes sparkled. “Isn’t it magical?”

IQRUS taglist 🌌: @bloodlessheirbyjacques, @jess-p-edits, @circa-specturgia, @moonscribbler, @blind-the-winds, @odysseywritings

[tryingtimi]

Find The Word

Thank you so much @aschlindartroom for the tag! ❤️ This gives me a chance to show you the random snippet I just wrote the last time and which turned out something I’m moderately proud of.

Also I couldn’t find anything for luck because it seems in Ionera there’s no such thing lmao. But my words were: lungs, laugh, long, luck. This piece will contain all except luck. I’m also not sure it needs trigger warning for angst, but I’ll leave it here just in case.

Tags: @jess-p-edits @bloodlessheirbyjacques @aninkwellofnectar @athenixrose @approximately20blorbos @aalinaaaaaa @friendlyneighborhood-writer

And the words for you lovely people: come, close, clear, cup

TW: Heavy Angst.

There it was again. The feeling that made him constantly itch, urging him to scrape his skin off until he reaches the blinding white of his bones, knowing too well, it will still not cease. The feeling that made his lungs heavy – so, so heavy as if he could be underwater without gear, drowning. The feeling that burned his throat, leaving nothing behind only molten vocal chords in the grave of his unspoken words. The feeling of….

That all-consuming darkness and pain which Dane had known in his entire life, but wanted to bury so deep, even Adran shouldn’t have found it. Especially him. And yet, he did.

Then grabbed him by the neck and shoved his head into that abyss again, not caring how hard he trashed for air.

“You’re not breathing right.”

Breathing, drowning. Auva’s voice sounded muffled, as it came from the surface while he was still underwater. The world felt unreal. Dane was spinning in the vortex of neon lamps giving no light and marble walls failing to keep out the raging waves of terror. The terror of faces. Of voices. An entusiastic, silly face accompanied by a heartfelt laughter. A scarred, tough face with a deep, encouraging bariton. A kind, gentle face, painted with the tenderness of quietness.

A friend’s face, with endless void in his already glossy eyes, having no voice anyomre.

“You’re trembling. You should sit down, here, let me help you.”

Help. His friend needed help. His parents needed help. Help. Dane hated this word so much, he could rip his ears off just to be free from hearing it again. Help.

The faces of falling parents.

The sound of raging waves.

A friend’s face.

Silence. Pain.

His brother. His own brother.

Breathing. Drowning. Dying.

Help me.

Two hands on his cheeks made Dane flinch. He blinked. Not one, but a hundred times, before his vision cleared and his eyes could focus on the person before him.

No friend, no parents, no brother. No faces, no voices.

No water.

Only the angular line of a jaw, the strong, too pale cheeks, the straight, narrow nose, the thin lips and those intense, sharp-edged eyes.

It was only Auva.

“You’re okay,” she said with a little nod, undisturbed calmness swaying in her slightly confused eyes. Dane sucked in a long, shaky breath.

Finally, he coud breathe again.

[tryingtimi]

Happy Blorbo Blursday!! Tell me about the relationship between Adran and Dane. What's one of their fondest childhood memories together? Did they get along as children? Etc. I want the deeets.

Thank you, @aschlindartroom! 💙 Deets you want, deets you shall recieve. Buckle up, legend, this is gonna be long and spoilery, as everything I always give you. Side note: I've tried to write about both of them, but I kind of got biased and wrote more about Dane. So maybe, next time, I'll talk more about Adran lmao.

CHILDHOOD: LIFE OF THE DEEP CORPS' BABIES

Adran and Dane had a very good relationship when they were little, even though they have a seven years age gap. Adran always looked after tiny Dane, who mostly tried to prank his big bro all the time. He used his advantage on being more into science-y stuff, so he surprised him with harmless bombs — that their dad helped him build it — or weird, little creatures hidden among his stuff. Adran also returned the favour, but since he never were much of a sneaky person, he just wrestled with Dane, tickled him, challenged him etc. Adran was always very touchy and loudly affectionate, so he gave lots of hugs to Dane, always sat close to him or behind him so he could massage his shoulders (what Dane loved) and brought him gifts from wherever he went, even if it was only the grocery store. And Dane always shared the gifts with Adran. He had his silent care attitude as a kid too though, so he tried to seem cool while he did that. He was never a loud kid, but he was mischievous, because he knew how to use his head well. He also told everyone that how cool brother he has. Plus the "fact" how cooler his gonna be when they both get into the Corps; Adran as a soldier, Dane as a mechanic. Just like their parents — even though their dad was never part of the Corps, but he figured he'll be one in there anyway. PARENTS. Kallista Cohren and Hido Riordan

side note: on Ionera, if your a child of a Corps memeber, you always inherit their family name. In any other cases, your parents can choose. Hido was a talented mechanic, who managed to move from the Aquor Sector to Terrana. He was a strict, mute man, who owned a humble workshop, where he repaired stuff for a very low price to people who couldn't really afford it. He also maintaned and made Kallista's mechanical hand, which is basically how they met. Kallista was a fearless woman in the water, but a more gentle, cool mom at home. Dane and Adran got a lot from both of them. They even got to learn how to swim (which is rather rare, considering the circumstances) with the help of Kallista's suit that could change to the shape of any wearer, thanks to their dad's little hacking in its technology. The boys were also taught to not fear the water. It's dangerous, but it's also part of their life and it's always gonna be. So, it's better to be on good terms with it. This was Kallista's philoshophy that Hido seemed to support, even if he always kept his distance from the water. Adran tried to ask him about his parents, past and get him to learn swimming together, but he never budged, which Dane somehow understood more than his brother. He took the lessons with his mom and Adran and enjoyed it, but then always joined his father sitting far from them alone, watching them contently. They had a kind of understanding, that Adran found more in Kallista.

This is why, their fondest childhood memory is probably a holiday, when they were all home through the whole day. Kallista tried to make a secret plan with Adran to prank Dane and Hido, while the said two also did the same. But, when the time of the pranks came, the two adults found themselves "attacked" by their own ideas, because the two kids secretly ganged up together against them.

They were also half a religious family. None of them forced Dane, nor Adran to believe in the same thing as they did, but the latter automatically joined Kallista in believing the Almighty. Corps members had a tendency to become a believer anyway. However, Kallista used to tell the boys that Hido was never really into God before he met her and he never really joined the church either (but went to preaching with the family anyway). Dane liked his father’s take on the subject, though, which said he did not deny the existance of a higher being, but he didn’t think it had any intrest about them, lessers.

TEENAGE YEARS: LOSS AND SLIENCE

Dane was ten, Adran seventeen, when the famously high Rising and a very messed up transfer occured. They lost both their parents through the process. Hido and Kallista died helping the desprate aquorian people get into Terrana, while Dane also lost one of his leg fully when he tried to dash after his sinking parents. Adran saved him, but from that point, Dane did not speak for months. He also refused to leave their apartment and engage in any kind of social or physical interaction, so young Thaddeus offered to help Adran and they switched each other between training days, so there was always someone who stayed with Dane. They got no professional help because of the chaos that the event followed.

Adran never gave up on Dane, though. He asked for advice from all the older Corps members how to run a household, took care of Dane, talked to him everyday, tutored him of the things he should learn in school and got him a prosthetic, finally. That broke the ice. Dane treated Adran as a stranger through this time, his eyes hollow, not even looked at him once. But, with getting the prosthetic, he was puzzled at first, then furious and then devastated. He shouted, thrown the mechanic leg at Adran and yet again, refused to use it. The next day, Adran found him sitting on the sofa, prosthetic nicely seated beside him (not attached yet), Adran’s favorite food on the table, even though it was burnt a little. When Adran sat beside him with the food, clearly touched by the gesture, Dane did “thank you” in their own sign language, not looking at his brother, before they spent the rest of the morning in a comfortable silence.

Important note: They have this thing that they never say “thank you” or “I love you” with words. They use sign language for that, which they got taught because of their father. They also made up their own signs for it, because there were times when they didn’t want their parents to understand what they were talking about. They made this into a habit and now it’s something that connects them. Dane, however, never uses “I love you” anymore.

From that point, Dane slowly came to terms with wearing the prosthetic outside (never at home), going out etc. Their connection, however, transformed. Dane wasn’t near to being better, because when he got back to school finally, he provoked others to beat him up (as Adran later figured out), he shouted at Adran a lot, trying to provoke him to hit him too (which he never did, nor said a word when Dane got this worked up) and spent a big amount of time in his room, alone. He refused to go to a professional to get help with everything he was going through, so Adran — secretly — tried to use all the mental training methods he got to know through his Corps training. Which Dane could spot very easily and they had a big fight after that.

Dane was ruthless with his words by the way, but Adran never spoke to him like that. When he had the urge to say something hurtful, he stayed quiet instead, even though his face could tell everything.

Nevertheless, they always aplogized and cried together after a fight. Dane eventually got out of his room, while Adran sat beside the door, waiting for him. Those moments were the only ones when Dane let anyone to touch him, because Adran always hugged him tight. They also never talked about their parents or what happened. At least with each other, because Adran needed to, on his training.

As they grown, Dane changed more, and he would have been popular in school if he wasn’t cold and unfriendly with everyone. Adran saw that some were afraid of Dane because he never ran from the bullies, but some got very interested in him, even admired him. Adran saw Dane’s transition when he reached the age of 16. He got quieter, their arguments got more rare and he stayed in school more. Turned out, his teacher showed them some things in the lab about their water and the sealife. Dane became obsessed with examining all these stuff in his free time. Which Adran thought strange at first, considering how Dane bacame completely incapable being even near the Everocean or any kind of water since The Events. But, if this helped Dane, then who was he to stop him. In fact, he got Dane all the stuff he needed for researches to one of his birthday and started to save up for his education. Which Dane did not ask for, and he even secretly started to work to save too. Either way, Adran spoiled Dane, because he didn’t know how could he support him more.

Dane wasn't blind though, so he take up all the chores from him and most of their arguments transitioned into arguing over why Adran wants to do anything at home, when it's Dane's job. Also, Adran tried to lure Dane into their religious community, since the day he got back to him, but he was furiously against it. At the end of his teenage years, he switched to questioning things about it, though, intead of plainly attacking it. He also seemed to completely forget what happened with their parents by this new obsession over studies and sience. (which we know isn't how things work, so)

ADULTHOOD: SAVING AND SERVING

Dane and Adran had no problem with living together still when Dane started university. In fact, all the people who was sound of this and suggested Dane to move out (his partners usually), was generally destroyed in a very thoughtout and seemingly unassailable debate about why he has no intention doing it and that's okay. He also payed the bills before Adran could, from all the scholarship money he got or won on competitions. Which Adran was always a little upset of; he wanted Dane to spend on anything else.

Also, with being more and more educated, Dane stopped to start arguments with Adran, and instead, he tried to debate. He questioned his worldview, morals and his belief, which Adran didn't mind; their parents did that a lot anyway and he had answers and liked that his brother began to talk more. Unlike the people in the university where he successfully got in; Dane was insufferable in most people’s eyes. He was intelligent and quick minded (not a true genuis though) and he wasn’t afraid of being sound of someone’s lack of skill in something if that hurt the community too. He seemed to got a hold of his emotions, but was still not be able to stay in control, when he got frustrated. So, he got into a lot of trouble because of his sharp tongue.

Anyway, Dane moved into a closer place to the lab at last, because of his research projects and the frequent overnight stayes, but he still talks to Adran everyday through holo calls and Adran still uses their sign language everytime, especially the "I love you" at every message he leaves for Dane, or at the end of every meet up they're having. Dane do not uses any of it anymore and calls Adran childish for doing it, but never tells him to stop.

[tryingtimi]

Picrew OC portraits

Now, here’s the IQRUS cast, where Dane also got two different portraits. But we start with the others. (link for the picrew)

Auva Knox and Eran Kodyn

Adran Cohren and Thaddeus Holtz (made in a different picrew)

pre-Council member Dane Cohren, Council member Dane Cohren

I was worried that Auva and Dane would look like siblings, but, to be fair, everyone looks like this in the Caelus Sector, so.

Anyway, since I still can upload photos, here’s a chibi couple pic of Council member Dane and Auva.

Some tags if you guys might want to try it (also putting the taglist lovelies here too): @jess-p-edits, @bloodlessheirbyjacques, @circa-specturgia, @friendlyneighborhood-writer, @approximately20blorbos, @aalinaaaaaa, @aschlindartroom

[tryingtimi]

FOR DANE AND AUVA! 3, 5, 7, 13, 18, 21, 22 😈

HAHAHA LOVE THAT LITTLE DEVIL! Now, crack those knuckles.

You see both of them sitting beside the nicely shaped, wide table, when you enter the room. They stand up to greet you; calmly shaking your hand, then taking their seat again. Auva's face seems rigid, yet somehow excited, while Dane is a little unreadable. He offers you a smile that is questionably genuine. "Shall we?" he asks, extending a hand towards your holo screen with the questions. You start without hesitation.

"What is your favorite childhood memory?"

You catch a glimps of Dane fidgeting with his tumbs, his hands intertwined in his lap. "It is a quite great question. Hard to answer though, I have so many." He flashes you a smile that feels more forced than the previous one. "In the past I was the one to make food at home, because Adran, my brother was still under training in the Corps. One time, however, when I got home from school, I found our kitchen blanketed with some gross, greenish gelatin-like thing, while my brother was on his knees cleaning the floor. His face, clothes and hair was full of that gelatin too. It also smelled awful. Turned out, Adran had a day off, so he tried to make me dinner from a plant he found in the water which was known to be explosive around heat. Or, well, known to me and most of us. Either way, we had a great laugh and I appriciated the intention."

Auva's lips curve up hearing that. She is beaming. When you turn to her, however, she pauses for a minute. "Hm, when my brother..." She looks at Dane, then back at you. "Sister rather, tried to make me food, but wasn't educated enough to recognise the explosive ingredient. It was funny but wholesome."

Dane shrugs and his face reminds you of someone who tries very hard no to facpalm in front of everyone.

"What is your favorite thing to do in your free time"

Dane relaxes. "Runing tests on the newly collected organisms."

"Watching him do that. But I also very much enjoy books and the television," Auva adds to it.

"Who do you look up to?"

"Eran, as a Corps member researcher, also Auva. They are both very capable people on their own field."

A smile tugs at Auva’s lips, while she continues with her calm professionalism. "He left out Adran, but he also quite fascinated by his brother's perseverance." Dane gives her a side-eye, and you have a feeling that he tries to not show how right she is. "As for me, I look up at Norel, Thaddeus' daughter. I admire how thoroughly she can examine others around her in a very short time. She can understand people easily and express herself in an equally clear way. I do like to train under her in the future."

Dane puts his elbows on the chair and he scratch his eyebrow with the back of one of his thumbs, looking at you. "She's eight."

“You’re given an unlimited budget to build anything you want!  What do you build and where do you build it?”

You swear you can see Dane's intrest perking up the first time the meeting has started. As if he heard something that suits him, finally. "More platforms in the Caelus Sector, so we can transfer everyone there. It would require a lot of rearrangement and the people up there would complain, but that's something I would be willing to take on myself."

"I would invest into building a durable submarine that can transfer us deep enough to take a look at the dimensional tear..." Dane clears his throat. She looks at him, head tilting to the side, and her lips parting in recognition after a few seconds. Then she turns back to you and smiles as if nothing happened. "Another Tower. That would give us a lot more space."

"What’s the best way to cheer you up?"

"Well, that's... a great question. It feels good when someone backs one of my ideas, so I would say that is one way." His tone and wandering eyes suggest you that he might has another, less neutral answer. He doesn't share more, however.

Auva leans a little closer to the desk, her features giving away the strange mix of indecipherableness and visible excitement. "I like to receive explanations on emotions and people."

"Describe your ideal partner."

Dane crosses his legs, leaning just a little closer to Auva by the motion. "Someone honest, intelligent and open-minded. With a strong opinion and a capacity to argue about our views." He picks up the glass of water from the table to drink it.

"Someone like Dane," says Auva without hesitation.

You see as the mentioned tenses up from the slight choking that causes him to put down the water. He doesn't cough, but he punches his chest once, his face painted with a nice shade of red.

"What’s the easiest way to flirt with you?"

When Dane collects himself, clearing his throat again, he takes a deep breath. He clearly doesn't know where to stand with this. "I might not be the best one to ask this. People tell me that I'm straight up blind when the conversation comes to this. My past relationships, however, started with us making fun of some ridiculous results of an experiment, so." He starts adjusting his button on one of his sleeve, but he steals a glance from Auva, as she gives the question some thought.

"Complimenting my reactions or showing me new things, probably."

You see the faintest half-smile finding Dane's lips, as if she have said something only they can understand fully.

[tryingtimi]

Fluffy Facts Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @kjscottwrites ! <3

It was sitting in my drafts for forever now, but here we go again. I'll make one for IQRUS this time.

Little kid Dane has lost his right leg the same day he and Adran lost their parents. Adran, his big brother was the one who saved him from having the same fate as their parents. After the catastrophe of the flooding, he carried the completely ruined Dane in his hands to the nearest place, where he could get some help to take care of his injury, since they came from the lower Sectors, so they couldn’t get into a hospital. Dane was still in shock for days, did not talk for months, so Adran looked after the best trashmech on the field, bullied him into teaching him just enough to make Dane a prosthetic, hoping he will get him back with that. When the new leg was presented to Dane, he just looked at it for a moment, blinking, then a shadow of an emotion appeared on his face for the first time in a while, when he said "That's... a left leg too."

Dane and Adran's relationship as a whole intends to be adorable in a sense that Adran takes care of Dane like no-one else. He would do anything for his little bro to be happy. Literally. Dane also (of course) wears that bad prosthetic Adran made him. He would need to switch it to a new one, but he won't. Ever.

Auva is also a fluffiness factor with her strange mind. She sees everything from a very different perspective, and the human mind is pretty much a strange thing for her.

Thaddeus, Adran's friend and brother-in-arm has two kids, one of them is a little one, the other is a teen, so I intend to put some "great dad" moments into the story. Just a sprinkle of it.

Zev, the trashmech who taught Adran and helped to make that prosthetic and Dane has a very touching relationship, because he is kind of a father/uncle figure for him. Dane always asks for advice from Zev.

I don't have any mindspace to tag people today, so if you read this, you were tagged, okay? I would love to see your fluffy facts. This is a open tag. As open as it can be. Do it and tag me, it's so fun <3

[tryingtimi]

Happy Blorbo Blursday! You asked me about one of my ships, so tell me about one of yours! What is one of your favorite WIP ships? How did they meet? How do others see them?

It took me a little while, but here it is. Thanks for this question! <3

One of my fav is probably Dane Cohren x Auva Knox in IQRUS.

Tiny worldbuilding detail for better understanding. Water flooded the world a long time ago, and since then the water level is constantly increasing. People live on platforms that attached to one gigantic tower that can transfer these platforms higher, when a flooding comes again. It’s necessery because monsters appeared in it and touching the liquid results in mutation. Not necessarily major mutation, but their skin becomes slimy, or scaly, or membrane sarts to grow between their fingers etc. Lovecraftian deep water creature mutation you know. Depends on how much time the person spent touching the water. So, the lowest plaform (they call these sectors) is basically in constant danger and most of his people got some mutation from previous flooding, when the trasfer of the platform was too slow or something. The population drastically decreased, and the highest platform almost reached the top of the tower, so very soon, there’s gonna be nowhere to go.

Dane is one of the main characters, who freshly got his PhD, and is applying to be the representative of his and the lowest sector in the Divum Council. Auva will be his supervisor, and kind of his partner in their department. They both want to solve this water problem and raise some awerness in the highest sector, so they can change the lower sector’s life into a better one and, well, keep life up at all. Their start is pretty good, because they have the same goal and they try to achive that in the best possible way. They’re great at working together. But, as they begin to getting to know each other, they realize how much they differ and everything gets a little bumpy. Dane is a very down-to-earth person with a lot of emotional baggage and trauma. He likes to focus on his goal, and he’s a man of science and logic. Unlike him, Auva is a very open-minden personality with the itch to understand human nature, so she’s more focused on people. She also loves to question Dane’s stubborn resentment towards belief. They’re debating constantly, but never argue actually. Which is an important aspect, because Dane talks about these stuff only with his brother and it never ends peacfully from his side. They also always question each other, keeping the other one checked on the right motivation, morals and everything.

Oh and she also has an aspect that messes with Dane’s morals, ideals, his head in general, but that is a huge spoiler (but I mentioned in one wbw already I think lol), so I’ll just leave here under a cut.

How do other’s see them is a veeery good question and I really love it! Most of the people see them as two equally competent person who can work together efficently. But those who know Dane will think it’s weird how long Auva can stay by his side without either a rejection or getting frustrated by his comments on scientific stuff and straight up just quit. Those who know Auva will be only very interested in Dane, beacuse they will see the changes on Auva – this one’s explanation is under the cut too!

She’s not human. She is literally a kind of “higher” being, but not a god. So, how she percieves the world is very different than any other character’s and actually that’s why she is that interested in human nature. Also this is one of the reason why she and Dane works. She geniuenly wants to understand Dane, and by questioning a lot of things, she forces him to think outside his bubble. In the end, they kind of help each other become more human, I guess.

And those who know Auva are similar beings too, so they are fascinated or threatend by Dane. But they collectively amazed, how more human Auva gets to act by getting close to him, so they just stand around him and basically start to study him, when she introduces him. They throw some random questions at him, try to figure out how his influence works etc.

[tryingtimi]

Hi Timi! ✨ For the Relationships Ask Games, I ask:

1, and every one with a 0 after that!

Have fun! ✨

Thank you, Circa! 💙 I'll go for Dane and Eran and their friendship then, since I’ve talked a lot about Dane and Auva's relationship already. The boys haven’t gotten much of a spotlight yet anyway. Ask game.

1. What were their first impressions of one another?

Dane was disappointed, to say the least. He knew Eran is a genius (literally, he has a very high IQ), but he very much hoped he's not gonna be as chaotic, easily distracted and flirty as he turned out to be.

Eran, however, thought that Dane is handsome and intelligent; no wonder he won his place into their university.

10. How do they make up after a fight?

Well, they usually fight over experimental stuff, theories and results and their method to make up is trying out/ considering the other one's idea, basically. They both stubborn on the topic, so this is a gesture they both appreciate very much.

20. What are they like when sharing a bed?

Eran would probably ask something like “Do you wanna make out?” just to annoy Dane. Then Dane would start a conversation about why people always have the urge to make out if they share a bed. He’d lure Eran into a conversation about this thought’s psychological and social matter. They would probably not sleep a single minute, because they would be so into the conversation.

30. How does your OC react to being broken up with?

Since they're friends, I will answer this in a way that, how do they react to the other one going through a break up?

Dane is kinda neutral on the topic of breaking up with anyone, because he's never really into a relationship. He does things half-heartedly in this matter, because he's afraid of attachment. But, Eran got to know him enough to see the concern on his face and in his actions towards his ex-partner after freshly breaking up, because he does care about them as a person. So, Eran usually tries to involve the ex into another group of friends to get over Dane and things like these, which Dane appreciates the most.

Eran, on the other hand would act (after a fresh break up) as care-free as he did before. A little too much, even. So, Dane would know that he isn't well and would call him out for a drink, a party or something. (he never goes out for these kinds of things otherwise, nor joins the partying) He would also bring him a lot of new things they can experiment on, so he could take his mind off of the break up.

40. What do they do when they miss one another? Is one more needy than the other/s?

They call each other. They're not shy about this, not even a bit. About who's the more "needy", I think it would be Dane. Eran is a special friend in his life, if not the only one.

50. Is there anything that scares them about their friendship/relationship?

Yep, on a level, Dane is terrified of how deeply Eran knows him already and probably concerned about his own attachment to him too.

Eran, however, has nothing that would scare him about it.

[tryingtimi]

So I’ve made some relationship montage for this and will leave here a pinterest link for the the OC’s, worlds too. Also, I’ll include the couple songs because I’m a music freak. Enjoy and thank you again for this @cherrybombfangirlwrites ! ❤️

METALSEA COUPLES

Syonehlia Dione x Darmon Strotagor

Avelyn Dione x Cronyl Eldenwer

IQRUS COUPLE

Auva Knox x Dane Cohren

Happy Blorbo Blursday!

Do you have any aesthetic/moodboards for your OCs or their relationships?

Happy Blorbo Blursday!! <3

I have, but they're a little messy yet, and I like my stuff organised when I share them, so I'll save this post for just a tiny bit later and reblog with the links to them.

Thank you so much for the interest!! <3

[tryingtimi]

Taglists for the WIPs in the individual posts. To sign up for any of the taglists, please fill out this form. I will also share snippets and crumbs from projects other than these three as well. Those will be tagged with timis other stories, but I'll make them a masterpost someday for organisation purposes. ♡

〄 METALSEA SERIES settled with this one for now

When Cronyl, the exiled young driadlin man tries to fight against a fairly corrupt kingdom alone in a reshaped world that no longer bears humans on its back; an unexpected Turn of the Metalsea happens to upset everyone's plans — and life itself on both half of the planet it holds together. Confused and disoriented, Cronyl teams up with the people who he stumbles upon in the chaos and they begin to wander together, revealing more and more secrets about their roots and the world they thought they knew.

PROJECT PAGE

Masterposts

SNIPPET | CHARACTER | WORLDBUILDING

genre: epic fantasy, adventure, with a sprinkle of romance pov: past-tense, third person limited, also a lof of character (i think i have at least 5 MCs) setting: fairly typical high fantasy, but i try to come up with as much original stuff as i can — hopefully original races for example, also a little bit steampunkish later in the story status: slowly starting the first draft — when i can finally stop worldbuilding plus note: i plan this to be a series of 4 or 5 books, because i can't write short stuff if i happen to start writing tag: #Project Metalsea

◉ IQRUS temporary title, sometimes I call it Project Icarus

A slowly growing, great gap separates the two borther, Dane and Adran Cohren, when they begin to fight againts Aetherius' otherwordly horrors on the brink of human extinction.

PROJECT PAGE

Masterposts

SNIPPET | CHARACTERS | WORLDBUILDING

genre: sci-fi, fantasy, eldritch-lovecraftian horror or thriller (not sure yet), probably a little grimdark pov: past-tense, third person limited, more than one character pov setting: cyberpunkish, futuristic, deepwater stuff and a fair amount of bullshit science status: outlining and drafting plus note: i know the description is very vague but i couldn't write one without too much worldbuilding (yet), so i'll make it up some later, maybe when the individual post is up already tag: #IQRUS

☏ LONEL settled with this one for now

Lonel has two secrets. One, he is the last of his kind since his mother was killed. Two, he is certain a vampire is to blame. These, however, are secrets he can’t tell anyone about. Vampires do not exist, and he can't be sure if his mind could be trusted anyway. Until one day, during his daily forensic cleaner job, he witnesses a scene that changes everything.

PROJECT PAGE

Masterposts

SNIPPET | CHARACTERS | WOLRDBUILDING

genre: neo-noir, thriller, urban fantasy pov: past-tense, third person limited setting: Wolf Among Us and 1960s-esque city with full of crime and all. status: brainstorming and outlining plus note: i need to come up with a better summary, but all in all this is it. everything is subject to change, especially since i may or may not want them to be vampires or werewolves but something a bit more unique, even tho the base concepts are the same. tag: #Project Lonel

SIDE BLOGS | OTHER TAGS

TIMISRECS. I reblog works from here to keep others' works I enjoyed in one place. TIMISHELPSAVES. The URL says all. I reblog writing advice, helpful tips and such from here.

#timisramble | #get to know timi | #timis general worldbuilding

[tryingtimi]

IQRUS INTRODUCTION. GENRE: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Grimdark. CONTENT: Collegues to Lovers, Science vs Belief, Bittersweet Romance, Brother vs Brother, Cult Activity, Brothers-in-Arms for Life, Otherworldly Terrors, Madness, Underwater Monsters, Bullshit Science. SETTING: A flooded, doomed planet named Aetherius, where thechnology advanced onto a cyberpunk level and people live in the sky. STATUS: Outlining / Zero Drafting SNIPPET MASTERPOST

SYNOPSIS

No-one can remember when did the water devoured the surface entirely. At first, people might have thought it was just a simple tide, a harmless natural phenomenon. Until the expected low tide did not come and the water level rose to heights that human race could no longer control. In order to survive, they began to build towards the sky, while after the first monster attacks, their technological advancements needed to speed up as well. Generations passed by since and humanity has reached its limits once again. Only this time, there’s no chance to stretch farther anyway. In a world like this, the almost middle-aged Adran strives to serve the people as a veteran member of the Deep Corps, whom duty is submerging into the mutagenetic water and searching for still eatable food stocks in long sunken places. His younger brother, Dane, doesn’t want to serve people, however. He wants to save them, by creating a world free of monsters, mutations and tides. This contrast in goals cannot ruin the two brother’s strong relationship so easily, but the terrors they find on their separated journeys might be capable of breaking bonds.

LOCATIONS - IMPORTANT ASPECTS

EVEROCEAN ― A mysteriously started phenomenon that resulted in flooding the entire world. People figured out early, if they touch the liquid, a strange mutation begins to change their body and slowly their mind as well. Soon after the first city had sunken, the severity of the situation increased, when grotesque looking monsters showed up in the water in sizes people have never seen before. Modern theories guesses this may be the reason why the first sufferers named the ever-rising water Everocean. Nowdays, many generations after the beginning of the flooding, both the phenomenon and the monsters are common things in aetherian life. RISING ― The tide that comes slowly and unpredictably. IONERA ― Main location. Many country took place here before the flooding. Now, they all merged together, so they can fit onto the Astin Tower's platforms and remain safe from the Everocean. These platforms serve as separetad sectors, where people live under various circumstances.

DEEP CORPS ―A special organization which was founded by the Astin Corp. when the non-mutagenetic food supplies began to radically decrease. Most of the food is seafood, so they needed to develop a method to make it eatable and clean again. However, this project still hasn't been finished, therefore The Corp. collects volunteers year by year and train them to face what the Everocean has store for them, while they gather supplies from sunken cities. They also tasked to take samples and study what is underwater so every unit has at least one proficent scientist among them. ASTIN CORPORATION AND GOVERNMENT ―The savior of humanity. It's founder, Lero Astin was the first one to act, when the flooding came and with his innovative development in science and technology they could build the Astin Tower to shelter people from the water. He created a new system and helped people to adapt to it. He brought order into chaos. Since then, The Corp. became everything, including the leading facility.

CHARACTERS

ADRAN COHREN. A soldier, a brother, a believer. After their parent's early death, he manages to balance life between raising little Dane alone and finish his training to become the youngest member of the Deep Corps. Many years later, he still doesn't go on a misson without thanking the Almighty for giving him hope and strenght to continue working on a brighter future for the people of Ionera, but most importantly, for his little brother. pinterest | playlist DANE COHREN. A researcher, a soon-to-be delegate, a racionalist. While he is very grateful for his brother, he also dismisses his ideals of blind faith. He grew up to be a man of reason and it helps him achieve his goals; even if the most defining event of his life is something that cannot be reasoned. pinterest | playlist AUVA KNOX. An eccentric personality who will tasked to be Dane's supervisor and teacher, until he learns how the Caelus Sector and the Divum Council works. pinterest | playlist ERAN KODYN. One of Adran's brother-in-arms. A young member of the Deep Corps and a senior of Dane from university. Eran might not be the best fighter considering his much less training in combat, but he doesn't actually need to be, since he is the brain of their unit. He's close to Adran, and he might be the closest friend to Dane too. pinterest | playlist THADDEUS HOLTZ. Adran's another comrade. He is the muscle of the unit, but that doesn't mean he stays behind on an intellectual level. He's a father of two with a simple desire to live another day and make a better future for his kids. When Adran needs advice, Thaddeus is the one he goes to. pinterest | playlist ZEV. A trashmech who makes prosthetics from junk. While this "profession" is a common thing in the Aquor Sector (considering the high mutation rate), not much people are as good as Zev. He has a close relationship with the brothers since childhood, because he helped to make Dane's prosthetic too. pinterest | playlist ICHARO ASTIN. The direct descendant of Lero Astin. He's the current head of the Divum Council and the man that follows a strange aspect of the Astin family: never shows up in person, only in holographic form. He lives at the top of the Tower. pinterest | playlist

AUTHOR'S NOTE | TAGS

This post will be expanded and/or edited as I go because I'm still working on a lot of stuff and I'm big on changing things while writing the first darft heh. Eiher way, here we go finally! Links and tags will be added slowly too! TAGS. snippets | worldbuilding | moodboards | character dynamics | nymar | tunes | Dava ship

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking it out! ♡

TAG LIST: @bloodlessheirbyjacques, @jess-p-edits, @circa-specturgia, @moonscribbler, @blind-the-winds, @odysseywritings, @the-void-writes, @dyrewrites

[tryingtimi]

When Everything Has Lost PART I

@aschlindartroom here's another one from the lovely prompts! Even though it's not really going between frenemies or anything like that, becaues the character I could imagine the line is just straight out good friends with the other. But still. Fair warning: this one got veeery long lmao. Also huge thanks to my love @bloodlessheirbyjacques for beta reading for me! ❤️ Previous snippet to this ask | Prompts from this list

YOU BROUGHT ME ALONG BECAUSE I CAN DO THINGS YOU CAN'T HANDLE. SO JUST LET ME DO MY PART THEN, YEAH? | ADRAN COHREN | THADDEUS HOLTZ | EERIE UNDERWATER MISSION | WC: 2,475

Adran’s Deep Sight suddenly shut off, leaving him with nothing, but his own eyes to navigate in the Everocean’s endless depths.

“Thad, the… “

“Yes, I know. No Sight, no Vision. Even Zynx doesn’t answer, something might be blocking her signals.” Thaddeus needed to be close, because Adran could slightly feel the swaying of the water through his suit. “I don’t like the look of this, Captain.”

Adran couldn’t help but agree with his comrade’s crackling voice through the microphone. Somehow, even the sounds got confused, making the other’s voice feel distant and machine-like. They’ve met nymars that could perplex their devices for a little while, but the one they’ve escaped from wasn’t that kind. Which meant the only thing that could mess with them was their objective – that lonely, lightless cave that’s circular, yawning entrance reminded Adran of a black hole that Dane showed him in a picture a long time ago.

“Me neither, but that’s why we’re here. It turned into a Blind Mission then, that’s all. If we stick together we should be fine, as always,” he said, while his hand found his pendant under his suit. He needed to trust the Almighty’s guidance on this mission. They were no more than any man this time.

Buzzing and whirring made Adran grimace; he could best interpret the noise as a scoff, before a big hand grabbed his forearm. The faint light of their swimming suits shone bright enough to reveal Thaddeus’ slowly wrinkling face.

Their closeness made the sounds even worse for both of them.

That meant one thing.

“Communication off.” The words rolled off of Adran’s tongue heavily. All the connection broke in a blink of an eye, making place for that sightless, deafening silence the soldiers were trained for in the practice chamber. Sunken in a weighting liquid, trapped in a too open space. Feeling, hearing and seeing nothing, but their own projection of things they’ve expected to find.

There was no practice chamber, however. The threat was real around them somewhere, which if they wouldn’t want to bring upon themselves, they couldn’t use any more light then the suits’.

Thaddeus slowly blinked, signaling his agreement on Adran’s decision, then looked at the direction in the dark where they’ve seen the cave’s entrance the last time. It was unmistakable; a restless, unsettling pull emitted from it which might have felt insignificant if they would just swim by it.

But not this close, not this time.

Adran knew Thaddeus felt it too, he needed to. There was nothing like that feeling. And that was why he needed to know what’s inside that cave. Everything he’d done so far, those terrible things he was suspected with – all of it led to this place.

After setting a rope on his and his comrade’s belt, they began to swim towards the objective.

Without the sight of any rock, seaplant or sea life, Adran’s focus never wandered, so he could notice the difference when they finally were inside. The sensation of the pull became stronger, while the darkness somehow turned even darker. He experienced a completely blind state before, but not this thick, oily blackness that not only surrounded them; it swallowed them whole.

Guide me. He saw the cave outside, it was deep, but straight. There was no other sign, only that and only there. He needed to go forward, no matter what.

As much as the strange feeling felt as a pulling, Adran never met water this heavy, this… resistant. It almost seemed as if they tried to swim against a current.

Forward.

His helmet’s weak inner glow let him see his reflection on the translucent part of his gear. The face he saw had deep wrinkles on the forehead, lips forcefully pressed together, eyes desperately trying to find something to look at. He couldn’t see the ears, but he could feel and hear the pumping of the blood in his eardrums. That look on the reflected face and the sound of his own throbbing blood flow reminded Adran of someone who was afraid.

He almost stopped from the realization. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt fright in the water. No, of course not. This was his job, his domain. He knew the Everocean as someone knew his own home. He's been on Blind Missions a million times now, and however unusual this sensation felt, there was nothing he couldn’t handle. He needed to remember his training.

If you can’t see, you listen.

And so he listened. The murmurs of his and Thaddeus’ gear almost sounded calming despite their distant echoing. Echoing. There was no such thing like that underwater.

Shiver ran through Adran’s spine when the temperature dropped. There was no transition, one second to another, he just found himself inside an ice cold darkness with no room for the heating layer of his suit. A thousand ants scuttled around on his skin, their hurried steps hurting more and more as the cold bit into every inch of his body. Then, it was as if something had brushed past his arm.

Adran tried to turn on his Frost-Vision by squeezing his eyes, while his hand automatically pushed the water farther from himself.

He did not get back his sight, nor he encountered anything in the water. Nothing attacked him.

But he couldn’t be sure.

Adran panted in his helmet, blood loudly drumming in his ear, while the cold tried to trick his mind again. Or something was brushing past his body every second.

He needed to remember his training. He's done similar things hundreds of times now. He couldn’t fail now.

Adran pulled on his rope twice, not slowing, nor stopping to let his helmet clear from his breath. The rope almost immediately moved twice again with a little force to pull him backwards.

Thaddeus was still here and okay.

The captain closed his eyes, as he always did in the chamber too. He needed to feel. He felt the brushing on every part of his body, an attempt to scare him, make him change direction. He felt it. It wanted to… guide him.

All the constant crawling on his skin wanted him to let his resistance go. This thought made Adran very aware of the pendant pushing into his chest. He squeezed his eyes even more together, holding onto the holy symbol, and then, he let everything go.

Guide me.

The sensation embedded into the strange pulling. They made Adran feel dizzy, his stomach hurled back into the pit of his core and twisted so tight, he could sense bile rising up in his throat. It lasted for seconds or minutes, he couldn’t tell. Ghostly pulling sensation swayed him left, then right, to every direction it wanted to. His throat began to dry out from the freezing cold, he was gagging, choking as if every air would have left the suit.

Then, the coolness started to melt away with a faint, dim light that hit his closed eyes.

He did not open them, so long as he finally felt the pull release his bones, scamper out from under his skin and let him reach the surface.

Adran emerged from the water so quickly, he almost fully leaped out from it. His eyes shot open as his helmet pulled back into his suit, and he hurriedly gulped down air like he’s tasting it for the first time in his life. He did not look around so long he could hear the throbbing in his ears and feel the bits on his skin.

A short time later the rope loosened on his belt and Thaddeus arose from the water beside him.

He reacted the same way, jumping out as if something was chasing him. So he felt it too.

Adran couldn’t deny the relief of not being the only one, while he scrambled towards his comrade, grabbed him by the neck of the suit and with a powerful yank, he helped him get out of the water before he followed him.The movement came to him instinctively, not caring what they crawled up onto.

Both of them breathed heavily, laying on the ground, trying to collect themselves.

Thaddeus looked up at Adran, leaning on his hand beside him.

“This is no simple Blind Mission, Cap. That path was worse than those grosslings’ inside. Are you sure you want to proceed?” His face seemed to be made from shadows under the strange, blue-orange light that lit the space. Adran gave this a little thought, but he already knew his answer. He nodded eventually. “Fine. Don’t waste any more time then.”

Thaddeus was clearly deeply concerned, which Adran understood completely. He had a lot to lose if something turned out to be dangerous. He, unfortunately, was also the only one who the Captain could fully trust to make this mission through with him. Adran debated a lot to include him, but he also knew if Thaddeus wouldn’t be here, then he could never find out the truth about all the confusing things recently – and about himself as well.

They both gave themselves an extra moment, before they got up and took a good look at where they were exactly.

The place seemed to be a round cavern, water pooling inside where they came in. The water’s crystal blue texture let Adran see the glowing of some kind of organism close to the surface, which apparently also brightened the whole place. It stuck to the rock formations… or it was part of them. There was no way to tell.

It shone in a faint blue-orange colour and unfolded a tunnel before the soldier’s eyes, as Adran realized little patches of the organism were trapped and attached to the walls in glass bulbs.

The walls also had a very unusual appearance. Adran thought what surrounded them was a stone he hadn't seen yet. But he soon realized, he saw no stone; not even close to any kind of rock.

What he faced was metal.

“What the hell is this place?” Thaddeus’ rumbling, deep voice echoed through the tunnel, while he frowned at the other side of the place, keeping a fair distance from it.

“I don’t know, but it’s sure far from natural.”

The two exchanged glances. Adran reached for his laser blade on his back, at the same time Thaddues grabbed a grip from his belt and let the massive Blastergun build up piece by piece, then fall into both of his hands.

Whatever layed far inside this place, better to be prepared.

The captain signaled with his free hand, what his comrade acknowledged with a nod before he began to creep forward. Adran mirrored him sticking close to his side of the wall, while he also brought up his arm to glance at the popped up holo screen. All the emergency bombs were intact on his suit, and the oxygen level in his tank barely dropped down. Which meant whatever he experienced in the water wasn’t caused by lack of air.

A familiar, sickening sensation pulled on his bones.

Adran jerked towards Thaddeus and he could see the big man tensing up everywhere. Something was wrong.

As they prowled inside carefully, this feeling only deepened. The cave – or more like a hallway appeared to be endless and empty. Yet, the pulling made it feel…full. Full of… something.

Little rocks rubbed against their feet, quietly crackling underneath. Adran stepped on a small pile of them one time, causing a slightly louder noise, when movement coughed his eye on his right.

Hand gripping his blade, he glared at the metal wall beside him. It beared the colour of bronze and gold, but the blueness of the glowing organism hasn't shown on it. In fact, when Adran inched closer, it seemed as if the orange part of the brightness was coming from the wall. But, what dried his throat out was the surface of the metal… which was waving.

Like water.

Adran felt sick. His mind tickled as if a finger just tenderly would have caressed it. The longer he looked at the wall, the stronger the pulling in his bones grew. There was something deeply unnerving staring at it. The colour, the material, the structure. The hue. Sinister, black hues gathered around where the light hit the metal.

Wrong. This place felt nothing, but utterly wrong.

“Captain.” Adran spun on his heels, striking down on the one who called after him. Thaddeus immediately leaned back and grunted while he caught the captain’s hand in mid-air, iron grip closing over the arm. There were mere inches between his face and the buzzing blade. “What are you doing?”

If he hadn’t been a much bigger and equally trained soldier, Thaddeus would be only half a man already. The hardening concern on his features, the shock and warning in his voice snapped Adran out of his state. Confused, he stopped resisting and let his comrade forcefully bring his hand down from before his face.

“It’s just… I don’t know. I got surprised by you. I was inspecting that wall and…”

For the Almighty’s holiest name, why did he do that? Was it instinct or a reflex because he called for him too suddenly? He couldn’t remember, nor could he feel anything else beside the shiver running back and forth on his spine and the wild rhythm of his heartbeat. Or that profound unease in his mind.

Whatever was the reason behind this, it just didn’t make sense. And it was dangerous.

Thaddeus’ frown deepened, yet he let him go.

“Right. Look, it’s okay, I believe you, but you’re clearly not well. I should probably carry the blade for you,” before you start a rampage again. The words hung in the air like lethally sharp spikes over one’s head.

“Those weren’t me. It’s just this place… something is not right here. If we stumble upon anything dangerous with me being unarmed…”

“Then I’ll pass the blade back to you, or deal with it myself. It’s not like you couldn’t fight without a weapon, either way, you brought me along because I can do things you can’t handle alone. So just let me do my part then, yeah?” Thaddeus said, then extended his free hand.

For all the resistance in his body, Adran knew his comrade was right. He knew how his recent doings looked and even though Thaddeus believed him not killing innocents for no reason, caution was the best he could offer. Reason. It was hard to grasp for Adran what that word meant at the moment.

“Here.”

He handed his weapon to Thaddeus anyway, who kept it safe on his back in the same way Adran would do it. Then, the big man put a massive hand on his shoulder, squeezed it reassuringly and nodded to their left with his head.

“I’ve found something over there.”