#Gary Konowalous

[fluister]

A stormy night with Gary and Efnisien (and Polly) Happy birthday @not-poignant! Hope you had a wonderful day!

[not-poignant]

Daily excerpt from chapter 106 of Underline the Black:

‘Are they nice?’ Efnisien asked. ‘What are nice parents like? You said they were good about food, weren’t they?’ Ah, Efnisien might never lose the knack for freshly breaking Gary’s heart. ‘They were lovely people,’ Gary said. ‘Very kind. My mother in particular. I told you she worked in animal rehabilitation, but she did that as a volunteer. Her actual work was designing and consulting on breeding programs for critically endangered animals, and she was one of the best in a global team, who helped to look at an organisation’s budget and habitat and make suggestions that were realistic and workable. I like to think she brought several species back from the brink of extinction in her lifetime, but…she always said the animals did all the hard work.’ Gary handed Efnisien some more photos. His parents on a boat, a sunset in the background flared in the neon pinks and oranges of a Perth summer. Playing video games on the couch with his dad and his mum taking the photo while they’d been in the middle of his father trying to seize the controller to make Gary lose the game, because Gary kept winning. As a teenager, he remembered being furious.   It was stupid to wish he’d valued his dad more. He couldn’t help being a teenager and thinking the way a teenager did, but if he’d known his dad was going to die a week after his eighteenth birthday… He sighed.

[suis0u]

Inspired by  @not-poignant’s wonderful story Underline the Black ❤️. 

[charzea]

oops, more art.

This is fanart of ,,Underline the black’‘ by @not-poignant 

I was kind of planning to keep Dr gary faceless in my art, but i couldn’t help it. It was kind of fun to mess around with the design. I might keep him faceless if i do any other art after this. Efnisien will likely be the one to fall victim to my color studies more often because his curly hair is way too fun to play with :)

[not-poignant]

oh I love this so much <333

'I don't know what's wrong with me. Somethings wrong with me.'

Bonus lineart only and close up:

[not-poignant]

Daily excerpt from chapter 107 of Underline the Black:

‘You’d like him, wouldn’t you?’ Gary said. After all these years, he hardly ever talked to James. He knew some people dealt with grief by talking to their deceased loved ones, but Gary felt it to be trite for a long time, as though trying to make a false connection was a mockery of the actual love they shared. It was funny the things he used to believe that fell away so easily now. ‘You would have liked him all along,’ Gary said, his voice muted. ‘You would have liked him before I did, would have been furious at me for how I treated him. I can hear it now, I think. How angry you would have been at me for not respecting him as an alpha, while using my pheromones to get my way.’ Gary wiped at his cheeks and laughed to himself. How maudlin. Even without the wine.

[not-poignant]

Daily excerpt from chapter 108 of Underline the Black:

‘You don’t hate it?’ Efnisien said, his voice small. ‘Of course not. Of course I don’t hate it. How could I hate that?’ ‘You’re not- You don’t like omegas.’ ‘I don’t like that I brainwash most omegas,’ Gary said, and sighed. ‘I have a powerful presence in that regard. Not all peak alphas are the same. Even Temsen doesn’t have the same impact on omegas that I do. I can’t suppress it or stop it, and I have very little control over it. It’s hard to be attracted to people who can never truly be themselves around you. Who are forced to always tell the truth in answer to any question I ask, with or without persuasion. Who have to take medications to stand up to me, like Cella did.’ Efnisien watched him like he was hungry to hear everything Gary had to say about anything. ‘I like you,’ Gary said finally. ‘Whether that’s as an omega, or an alpha, or both.’

[not-poignant]

Why do I feel like something really bad is about to happen in UTB? I’m scared. Haha

Look, I would never ever ever

a reader never made a gif about it or anything sdalfkjdas

[not-poignant]

This is genuinely so incredible, I just keep on staring, I love that Nate and Janusz and Augus and Kadek are consistent, and how cheeky kadek looks, and how done Flitmouse is, and Faber's little stare back at Caleb, and how Polly and Isabelle are just happy to be there lakfjsda just ALL of it, so good!!

I wanted to do the one human with many muppets thing but couldn't decide if the human should be gary or efnisien, so!! I did human ef for falling falling stars and human gary for underline the rainbow <3

characters belong to @not-poignant

[not-poignant]

Excerpt from chapter 103 of Underline the Black:

‘Good,’ Flitmouse said. ‘Your hair is very soft.’ He brushed it absently, then his hand rested gently at the top of Efnisien’s back. ‘I have to know, what is it like to be with a peak alpha? You didn’t even have a heat to carry you through it. I can’t decide if that’s better or worse!’ ‘I hated my first bastardised heat,’ Efnisien said, his voice quiet because they were so close. ‘So this was better. It was a lot, but it was better than that.’ ‘If you could choose between someone who had a perfectly beta-sized penis, no knot, who didn’t consume you like that, would you prefer it?’ Efnisien bit at his top lip and then shook his head. No. That’s what he’d realised ages ago. Even before Gary had fucked him like that. There was something about the intensity of Gary’s possessiveness – whether it made him furious or feel like surrendering – that he craved. ‘Maybe I’m a masochist,’ Efnisien said. ‘Maybe I am too,’ Flitmouse said. ‘Are all omegas like that?’ ‘Oh no. No, not at all. But perhaps more than the average person, yes. And some of us more than others. There are things I don’t like at all, and other things I almost feel I look forward to until I’m going through it again. And once it’s over I want them again.’

[not-poignant]

Daily excerpt from chapter 102 of Underline the Black:

‘I wanted to say before you left, I think the lare body is more active than I realised. I became super aware of it during everything. I know I don’t have the glands anymore, but the lare body is still really alive.’ ‘Yes, it would be, with all the sub-larentins it’s producing,’ Temsen said. ‘That is fascinating, though. Careful, I’ll end up writing ten case studies about you.’ ‘Maybe one day I could handle that,’ Efnisien said. ‘Not today though.’ ‘Oh no, definitely not today. Now I’m going to leave so Gary can come and smother you in his pheromones. At least they don’t smell as much like a sour red wine as they used to.’ Efnisien frowned and Temsen’s eyebrows lifted. ‘You haven’t noticed? Since dropping the red wine, and getting good medical support, how much his scent’s changed? It’s still too much for me most of the time – I’m so relieved he aired out this room – but it’s…mellowed so much. Like walking through some herbaceous forest. That drinks wine.’

[not-poignant]

Hi!

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your work with everyone. UTB is my favorite piece of literature, and I’ve read a lot. A LOT. I’m a 33 year old ex-English major.

Can we look forward to any more major arcs in UTB? If so, can we maybe get a hint?

Life is hard, but your work really helps me cope. So, thank you, again. Best wishes!

Hi anon!

Oh my goodness, thank you so much!! I'm so glad you're enjoying the writing so far.

There are definitely some big / major arcs coming. We've got the Henton arc and the Crielle arc coming, I just had to move Gary and Efnisien's character growth and relationship growth into a position for both to take place.

I'm actually just about to write the chapter on my end where Crielle officially comes back into the story.

And tbh, the hints have been there! Henton's foreshadowing about him not really having good motivations (anyone who has read Falling Falling Stars will know more about that, but I also like that some folks won't, but he's still very 'off' as a character), as well as Efnisien's certainty that Crielle will eventually kill him.

So yeah I would say actually the most action-packed arcs are still coming!

[not-poignant]

YEP

UtB chapter 56 thoughts

(To deal with the unspeakable grief)

@not-poignant thanks as always for the food hehehehhe

[not-poignant]

Excerpt from chapter 101 of Underline the Black:

‘The thing is… Well. It’s so overwhelming for the people with me. James could only do this two or three times a year. Perhaps in being so restricted, I became used to taking it further, more often. I’m sure my instincts know it might not happen again for six months.’ ‘Yeah,’ Efnisien said softly. ‘So. I mean, that sucks too. For you. I don’t enjoy doing it for three days straight. Mostly because I actually kind of lost my mind a bit and stopped paying attention to a lot of it.’ Wouldn’t you want that? Gary thought, confused. Efnisien cleared his throat a few times, and Gary brought the water bottle over again, giving him small sips. Efnisien still didn’t seem interested in taking the bottle for himself. And once he was done drinking, he pressed his face into Gary’s chest like he was hiding for a moment. Then, he took a breath and turned outwards once more, looking at the open window. ‘If it’s like that every time,’ Efnisien said, ‘I could maybe do it five or six times a year. If it was only for one night, then maybe twice a month? If we could do other stuff as well in between?’ Gary didn’t know what to say for long moments, absently cupping Efnisien’s face and keeping it close to his chest. That seemed…far too generous. He was certain no peak alpha – except for maybe someone hyper-controlled and on the lower end of the ardolphogen spectrum like Augus – had ever been offered something like that. Possibly peak alphas just took it from others. But what Efnisien suggested was something Gary had always assumed was an impossibility. He used to be jealous of betas who could have penetrative sex every day, if they wanted to. And while this wasn’t every day, it was a far cry from anything he’d ever known. ‘You need time to think it through,’ Gary said, even as a part of him cried out to accept the offer.

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia

Why did Gary growl and cover Efnisien's face/mouth when he said the safeword? Was he angry and trying to stop Efnisien from saying it so he could continue? If yes how did he manage to pull himself back from the brink of doing something unforgivable?

I think Gary was so uncoordinated in that moment, he wasn't thinking 'I need to shut you up' but there was definitely an instinct of: 'How dare someone tell me to stop.'

There was a visceral war with himself when he growls vs. when he places his hand on Efnisien's face, almost like he's trying to feel his breathing and his voice. It's a very quick motion, and while Efnisien assumes it's to shut him up, I actually think Gary was literally very out of it in that moment and was kind of bracing himself to even understand what happened.

Like, this is a guy who didn't respond to a lot of basic language and sentences for three days, or when he did, mostly could only do so in basic sentences or even single words. So while the peak alpha grokked the 'how dare you' pause, I think it was like a 'wait is an alpha trying to stop me from taking what is mine' level of confusion. He places his hands on Efnisien's face, almost like he's trying to find where the words came from, in my mind. Like someone who is blind who is trying to find a fan switch in a new place. They don't quite know where it is, but they know it's important in hot weather.

He then does hear more of Efnisien's voice (in the form of a distressed shriek) and immediately stops.

I really don't think this is as clean as 'he was fully aware, heard something he didn't want to hear, and made a choice to make sure Efnisien couldn't safeword again.' I don't even think he knew at the time what he heard, or how to understand it, only that he heard it and that he had to stop.

If yes how did he manage to pull himself back from the brink of doing something unforgivable?

Tbh Gary has the safeword to literally stop himself from doing the unforgiveable. And he does it with an immense amount of willpower that almost no human will ever really comprehend. Dude was barely even conscious at the time. Just like Efnisien spent many hours in a heavily dissociated receptive headspace, Gary does the same but from a more dominating peak alpha side. Literally just ruled by hormones in a very primitive way.

I'd say he's one of the only peak alphas in the world who can actually listen to a safeword at all in that state. I don't even think Temsen could.

[not-poignant]

Excerpt from chapter 98 of Underline the Black:

‘I’m sorry,’ Gary said. ‘I’m struck by how much I want this to be a…gentle experience for you, and I know it won’t.’ Efnisien sat up, shifting until his knees rested on the pillow that had been beneath his hips. ‘What, you imagined some romantic situation with candles?’ ‘It’s your first time,’ Gary said, a stern expression on his face. ‘That matters.’ ‘I’ve had a lot of choice over this,’ Efnisien said, looking at the panic button on the chest of drawers and wishing he’d read more about peak alphas. ‘You’ve shown me at least some of your instincts when we’ve done size training and other stuff. And maybe you think I should have some gentle first time or something, but I don’t think I want that either. It’s not like I’ve craved softness, or whatever, it’s pretty clear I’m not that kind of- That I like something different. Not saying this won’t be hard, just…’ Efnisien dragged a hand through his hair and thought about how fragile Gary seemed. Efnisien was scared mostly about the pain aspect, how overwhelming it would be, but all of his life had been overwhelming, and Gary wasn’t like the other people he’d known in his life. ‘This whole “It’s your first time” thing is stupid,’ Efnisien said, sighing. ‘I’ve had almost all my first times with you, and I’m not just talking about sex, it’s all the other stuff, too. If you just don’t want me, and would rather…’