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spoondrifts · 4 years ago

Text

long post ahead I'm sorry-

crack au where Jonah Magnus is a good guy but everything keeps going wrong and he spends all of his time running around trying to stop his employees from diving headfirst into their Fuck Up™ of the week

in this au Jonah is almost entirely incompetent but he's got the exasperated parent thing down enough to make up for his lack of braincells

he's also at least 7% dumber than he is in canon

s1 Jon: please call pest control there are so many worms

s1 Elias: I already did

Jon: and??

Elias: they ate them

Jon: the worms?

Elias: the pest control guys. the worms ate them

Elias spends the entirety of season 2 desperately trying to convince Jon that none of them killed Gertrude (in this au Gertrude just had a stroke or something in the tunnels). Elias stops Jon from destroying the table but a week later something heavy falls on it and the NotThem escapes anyway. Elias bashes in Leitner's head with a pipe after mistaking him for the monster and Jon gets framed.

now Elias has to convince this hunter that Jon is innocent while Jon runs around and harasses various fear avatars (who are all very amused with Elias' wayward Archivist). Jon assumes Elias knows nothing about all this bullshit because Elias is just his weird and uptight boss who accidentally killed someone, he can't possibly know that there are literally fear gods ruling over them

olive ⚰ has named the group 'Avatars ✨'

JMagnus 👀: Jude please don't hurt him. I'll explain everything when he gets back to the Institute.

🔥: too late

JMagnus 👀: What?

🔥: too late

🔥: burned him

[JMagnus 👀 is typing]

JMagnus 👀: Where is he now.

🔥: going to mike

JMagnus 👀: Mike Crew???

🔥: ya

Elias RACES to Mike's house but he. he fucking misses them. the Beholding helpfully tells him that they're all going back to the Institute so Basira and Daisy can interrogate him, which isn't ideal, he'd really like to not go to jail, so he drafts up an employment contract on the way back and barely manages to escape the whole thing with his life intact.

then he explains everything to Jon because if Jon is going to end up being the Archivist, being uninformed won't do. Jon becomes the Archivist completely on accident and Elias is desperately trying to make all of this work because, haha, the Unknowing is coming up, and Elias is not in the fucking mood to deal with clowns.

olive ⚰ has named the group 'all that is terror uwu'

spidey🕸: lmfaooo jonah how do you make an archivist on accident

JMagnus 👀: He stumbled into it. All I can do now is ensure he doesn't die.

JMagnus 👀: Or get further injured by the rest of you.

🔥: woops

🎭: hEy gUyS lOnG tiMe nO sEe

🎭: gEt iT eLiAs

🎭: sEe

JMagnus 👀: Beholding puns are not amusing from a manifestation of the Stranger.

🎭 has named the group 'eLiAs bE niCe tO niKoLa cHaLlEnGe'

🔥: haha

spidey🕸: I'm sure Nikola will be on her best behavior

🎭: yEaH i wOnT kiDnAp yOuR aRcHiViSt

[JMagnus 👀 is typing]

mike n ike: hey guys what'd I miss

🔥: arent you dead

mike n ike: yeh but I came back

JMagnus 👀: NIKOLA ORSINOV WHERE IS JONATHAN SIMS

🔥: can't you see haha

mike n ike: heh "see"

JMagnus 👀: NIKOLA

spidey🕸: wow he must be pissed

spidey🕸: he left out the punctuation

JMagnus 👀: I WILL BREAK ALL OF YOUR PLASTIC BONES WHERE'S MY ARCHIVIST

🎭 has left the chat.

JMagnus 👀: what the FUCK

since he's still a coward Elias sends Michael to go fetch Jon, only finding out after the fact that he very nearly almost signed Jon's death warrant. Elias is now speedrunning Jon's development because fuck the Unknowing is coming up really quickly and Tim is a self destructive mess and Melanie keeps trying to stab Elias and Martin is a pining idiot and goddammit he didn't sign up for this

Elias prepares Jon the best he can for the Unknowing, because even though he knows the ritual will fail, the Circus can still cause a considerable amount of damage and he needs them out of the way.

the Unknowing happens. Jon ends up in a wack ass coma, Tim is dead, Daisy's in the coffin, and Basira is starting to look like the better choice of Archivist because jesus christ Jon has no self preservation instinct. Elias doesn't get arrested this time around but his ex husband starts coming by the Institute and fucking with all his employees. and the Flesh is attacking. jesus. goddamn.

olive ⚰ has named the group 'bully elias'

JMagnus 👀: Why are you all so mean to me? I'm arguably the nicest one here.

🔥: ur joking right

Peter Lukas: you're not nice you didn't buy me an anniversary gift 😢😢😢

JMagnus 👀: I was busy.

Peter Lukas: doing what

JMagnus 👀: Stopping the Flesh from destroying my Institute. Besides, you didn't remember my birthday.

Peter Lukas: you're 200 years old how could I remember 😓

helen!!!!!: We All Know I'm The Nicest One Here!!

JMagnus 👀: How did you make your text that colorful?

helen!!!!!: IDK

JMagnus 👀: Liar.

helen!!!!!: That's Literally My Job

olive ⚰: hey eli your archivist just woke up I think

🔥: ew why

helen!!!!!: How Delightful!! Maybe I'll Throw Him A Glad You're Alive Party!!

olive ⚰: should we invite him to this chat since he's an avatar now

Peter Lukas: no 🙅 🚫❌

Peter Lukas: I hate archivists 😤😤

olive ⚰: still mad about gertrude huh

🔥: were all still mad about gertrude

🔥: but jons fine once you burn some manners into him

JMagnus 👀: Can you all please stop hurting Jon? Or talking about hurting him? I would like my Archivist to not acquire any more scars.

🔥: damn

Peter Lukas: damn 😔

Elias keeps trying to teach Jon how to pick certain victims to feed off of because personally he has no qualms about feeding from innocents but Jon!! actually trusts him!!! so Elias doesn't want to push Jon into making decisions that will offend his moral sensitivities.

things are actually going okay for a while. Elias starts going home at a reasonable time in the evenings and Jon is actually getting some sleep. and then-

Elias is having a nice dream about Peter trying to fish Simon Fairchild out of a sky filled with eyes when he abruptly sits up in bed, wide awake.

"Ah, fuck," he says to Peter, who is laying on the floor where it is Lonelier™. "Jon's doing something stupid. I Know it."

Peter's mumbled "isn't he always" goes unnoticed as Elias hurries to the Institute, where he finds a fucking rib on Jon's desk and the coffin in the middle of the room.

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'archivists ruin my sleep schedule and my sex life'

JMagnus 👀: What the fuck do I do?? I can't go into the Buried! Why is Jon so stupid? I didn't know he had zero braincells when I hired him!

🔥: ngl why havent you fired him yet

JMagnus 👀: Beholding won't let me. We're all bound to the Institute.

🔥: F

JMagnus 👀: Why are there no Buried avatars in here? Please someone help me.

mike n ike: lol the buried is gross why would anyone go down there

spidey🕸: does he have an anchor?

[JMagnus 👀 sent an image]

🔥: is that a fucking rib

spidey🕸: wow that's not a good anchor at all

spidey🕸: he needs someone he loves

JMagnus 👀: Thanks. Gtg.

spidey🕸: np

🔥: are we not going to talk about his rib

🔥: how the fuck did he get that out of his body

🔥: yall

🔥: YALL

it takes three days for Elias to find Martin.

"Please tell me why the fuck you're dabbling in the Lonely," Elias says as Martin steps sheepishly out of the fog.

"Ah. Well. Jon can't See into it very well and sometimes we like to spice up our se-"

"Stop before I have to gouge my eyes out again."

"A-Again-?"

Elias drags Martin back to the Institute. Martin starts setting tapes on the coffin because "Jon loves these" and Elias starts bashing his head into the wall.

Jon climbs out of the coffin with Daisy and Elias almost considers locking Jon in his office so the damn archivist can't do anything else ridiculous. instead, Elias very calmly takes Jon by the shoulders, and shakes him like a rag doll.

"Stop fucking with entities, you stupid, stupid man," Elias says, shaking Jon more viciously now.

after several hours of breathing exercises Elias returns to his house and doesn't take his Sight off of Jon for the rest of the night, which is a fun experience for Peter when he wakes up and finds Elias' bloodshot eyes staring directly at him in the morning.

JMagnus 👀 added Daisy to 'archivists ruin my sleep schedule and my sex life'

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'archivist hate club'

JMagnus 👀 has named the chat 'shut up peter'

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'you love jon more than me'

JMagnus 👀 has named the chat 'I don't love either of you I'm heartless'

Peter Lukas has named the chat 'I want a divorce'

spidey🕸: jeez take your marital dispute elsewhere

spidey🕸 has named the chat 'lonelyeyes dni'

Daisy: wtf is this

mike n ike: it's a chat for avatars

mike n ike: and ex avatars ig

Daisy: didn't I kill you

mike n ike: yea

JMagnus 👀: Hello, Daisy. Welcome to the group chat.

Daisy: why is Jon not in here

Peter Lukas: because I hate him 😁

spidey🕸: Elias talks mad shit in here and Jon would get offended

Daisy: if you talk bad about Jon I'll rip your throat out

Daisy: :)

JMagnus 👀: Noted.

mike n ike: he's kinda rude tho

Daisy: I've killed you once

Elias' only goal now is to keep Jon and his assistants from pulling any more wild stunts without his supervision. his renewed involvement with the archival staff results in a few things he'd hoped to avoid: drink invites, physical contact (Martin is surprisingly quick to start hugging Elias once he realizes Elias won't stop him), and- shudder -feelings. because Elias genuinely cares about his staff and doesn't want any harm to befall them. especially Jon. Jon is his Archivist, the only one to ever succeed like this, and Elias will be damned if he lets anything happen to him.

"Why do you care?" Jon asks, once, compulsion thrumming like static on his tongue. "About us, I mean. I would've assumed you'd want to perform the Beholding's ritual."

Jonah Magnus attempted the Watcher's Crown once, when he was young and new. he'd brought his patron close, but not all the way through, and the backlash of power killed all the inmates at Millbank and severely crippled Jonah's connection to the Eye for months afterward. he grew to assume that the Beholding simply preferred the world as it was--ripe with fear for watching. it didn't need a ritual.

he instead dedicated himself to growing stronger, cultivating his Institute of knowledge, his stronghold. if he tore out a few people's eyes when he got too old, then, well, collateral. but he doesn't want the world to end, and knows now that no ritual will ever succeed unless it brings in all the Powers at once. and he doesn't want that either.

it's concerning to him that Jon seems to be collecting marks regardless. the only ones he's missing are the Dark and the Lonely, and Elias is determined to keep it that way.

he explains all of this to Jon who, to his credit, takes it pretty well. Jon is fascinated with historic life and Elias spends some time simply recounting tales of his youth, when he still bore the name Magnus.

they bond. it's good.

and one day Basira does a little too much research and discovers the dark sun waiting in Ny Alesund. she insists they need to go and see what's left of the People's Church, they need to ensure everything is taken care of. Jon is rather insistent too. and Elias wouldn't have been inclined to let them go, except Peter was finally home after weeks at sea, and it wasn't like Jon was defenseless, he could call Elias if anything went wrong...

so, very reluctantly, Elias gives them the all clear. Basira, Jon, and Martin head north, and Elias almost forgets they've gone when he arrives home and Peter already has dinner prepared.

Jon comes back marked by the Dark.

Elias curses himself, over and over, for being foolish enough to let them go, for not keeping a closer eye on them. he knows the ritual won't work unless a certain incantation is spoken, so he'll just have to keep world-ending written chants away from Jon. easy. and it's not like Jon will even get marked by the Lonely. Peter wouldn't.

(but Martin doesn't have the same level of control, and sometimes...)

it's an accident. Martin and Jon are testing it, pushing the boundaries, when Martin pulls them both into the Lonely. Elias threatens divorce until Peter caves and fetches them, but it's too late. Jon has been marked by all fourteen Powers.

Elias tells him, and warns him to check everything he reads.

helen!!!!! has named the chat 'apocalypse babey'

JMagnus 👀: How are you doing that?

JMagnus 👀: And the apocalypse is not imminent. I have the situation under control.

olive ⚰: ha yeah

JMagnus 👀: What do you mean by that?

olive ⚰: nothing

JMagnus 👀: Well, now I certainly think it's something.

olive ⚰: it's just

olive ⚰: don't you think it's kinda weird that @spidey🕸 has been offline for so long

🔥: thats weird shes always online

JMagnus 👀: Oliver, what are you implying?

olive ⚰: idk

olive ⚰: just weird, that's all

🔥: never good when the spiders are quiet

olive ⚰: hear hear

Elias gets a sinking feeling in his stomach, and beside him, Peter looks alarmed. meanwhile, in his flat with Martin making tea in the other room, Jon has a statement clutched in his grasp.

Hello, Jon.

I would apologize for the deception, but I'm afraid that's quite what I'm good at. I'm not one to monologue, that's more Jonah's shtick, so shall we get on with things?

I admit I underestimated Jonah Magnus. He's still remarkably easy to manipulate, but when he abandoned the Watcher's Crown ritual I knew I would have to take a different approach. The Mother is not so satisfied with the world as she may have insinuated. It is our turn to rise, Jon.

At the age of eight, you were marked by us. We sent you to the Magnus Institute in the hopes that a new Archivist would rekindle Jonah's desire to end the world. Unfortunately, it seemed as though he grew fond of you, and so we brought in a new plan. We marked you. One fear at a time. Jonah gave an admirable attempt at protecting you, but ultimately, he is an incompetent old fool, and I am a Weaver. Even Jonah Magnus dances to invisible strings.

Everyone underestimates a spider until it bites. Poison is poison, Jon, regardless of the medium in which it is served.

You will be safe in this new world. Martin, too. Perhaps even Jonah and his Lukas, if the Mother deems them worthy.

Now, please repeat after me...

Jon reads the ink scratched words, eyes welling up with tears and hands trembling, as thunder crashes outside and a howling gale picks up beyond the windows. Martin is shouting something, there's the crawling press of Elias' gaze as it rests heavy behind Jon, a silent observer. He can feel Elias' soothing presence, cool and calm in the raging storm.

Elias is still watching out for him.

Strings are wrapped around his wrists, jerking his arms up in a poor mockery of religious regard, strange hysterical laughter clawing out from his throat.

Jon's tears run red. Somewhere, Elias is still watching.

The door opens.

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abalonetea · 4 years ago

Note

I'm new to your worldbuilding and ocs. Could you steer me in the direction of who everyone is and what's going on in the stories? thank you

HELLO ANON

I NEED YOU TO KNOW I LOVE THIS QUESTION and also! welcome to my blog! i have a lot of minor background wips, and several main ones. i’m gonna throw this under the cut!

GROUNDHOG DAY - 60k words into the first book, outlining the second half of the first draft - part of Cat House Productions Verse

This is my MAIN wip. The heart and soul of everything I write. Groundhog Day is set in two versions of the same classic rpg video game, one the gritty reboot of the other. But when glitches start to wreck the original games’ codes, several characters begin retaining memories of their past lives, realizing their kingdoms are trapped in a time loop. It’s even worse when another glitch strikes, switching the games of one of the characters with his counterpart—Red and Blue—prompting a race to get home amidst the formation of friendship and family and the threat of a new war.

It stars Bolte, Locke, Red, and Blue. Secondary mains include Captain, Celeste, Aba, and Midnight! You can find art of most everyone HERE! Locke is the goodest good boi to ever exist, the literal embodiment of Hope. Bolte is a very hurt, angry desperate knight just trying to keep himself and Red alive. They’re the two “Official Mains” of the wip. Celeste is one of the most popular side characters - they’re a spider bard!

It’s a “worlds collide”, power of friendship and love story set in two candy kingdoms; one already fallen and the other on the cusp of war. The main themes are learning to accept help, making your own family, and understanding that there’s always time to make a better life and a better self. Hope, love, and compassion are the main driving points. It’s a highly emotional story, and the first of an eventual series.

_-_-_-_

STARBOY - 13 chapters in, posted over on patreon.com/abalonetea for the $10+ tiers, excerpts and art frequently posted here, goal of finishing by december

The crew of the Cosmic Pearl have been on the run for years now, their ship set in a permanent course towards chaos. It’s just that they’ve never really gotten into a mess like this before.

When they find a ship idling in a part of the galaxy no one else should be, Rumi orders it to be docked. What sort of pirate would skip a chance to plunder, right? It’s just…the ship isn’t abandoned. And the single man they find on board isn’t…exactly how he should be.

Judges cast the first stone, but hunters throw the knives.

And captain’s? Well, they’ll protect ship and crew to their dying breaths.

Rumi just hopes he’s not about to take his any time soon.

An epic space adventure following the pirate crew of the Cosmic Pearl. Main characters are Rumi, Starboy (Jude), Jaxon, and Carmelo. Rumi is the captain, and he’s got a really hard time keeping track of his pants. It’s a running theme for him. The basic idea is that a concept called “Judges” exist in this world. It’s random who ends up as a Judge. Jude is a Judge that managed to escape from Unity, where he was being held, and who accidentally gets picked up by Rumi and his crew.

The smart thing to do would be to just turn Jude in but...Rumi’s not known for being smart. What follows is an epic chase across the galaxy while they try to get Starboy home, find their own treasure, and avoid being caught by Hunters. Heavy themes of found family, learning to be yourself and not what other people want, friendship matters, and also poly-relationships.

_-_-_-_

PASS YOU BY - almost done the outline, hopeful nano story

Axel and Wrench have made a living for themselves in the Fallows; the wasteland left behind after a magical nuclear explosion. They aren’t expecting for a doll to show up in their dreams and rip them into an entirely new world. They really aren’t expecting for a bunch of children to show up in their bedroom closet, talking about how they’re the only ones that can stop the Melt from destroying their world.

Despite having been content finally making an easy going, relaxed life for themselves, they can’t let literal children try to save the world. So they take up that task instead...and find the same doll from their dreams at the heart of it all.

Main characters are Axel, Wrench, Blanket and Doll. Secondary mains are Ruin, Russet, Wren, and Melt. Wrench is literally a walking lamp post, and Axel has a floating cow skull for a head. It’s a hardcore fantasy with magic, alternate worlds, and a “Studio Ghibli” vibe to the designs.

The running theme is that Axel and Wrench, an unofficially-married married couple end up adopting a bunch of kids because the other adults in this world are useless. Culture clash, Food With Importance, found family, and making a place in the world are all the main themes. The first in a two part set, with a spin off planned called Take It To The Grave.

_-_-_-_

Dandelion Fluff - gets published on the 15th

A casual read about the prince of the Land of Monsters and the monster he finds trapped in the basement of the Royal Labs. Running themes are making wishes reality, it’s never too late to find a friend, standing up for the people you love, and dealing with grief in your own way.

The prequel to the upcoming book Quilted Blanket, in the outlining stages presently.

_-_-_-_

You’ll also frequently find me posting about my background wips -

NeonPnk - set in a post apocalyptic world where radiation has caused people to develop “glowderm”, causing glowing colored patches on their skin. It follows the members of a strip club trying to locate one of their missing employees and accidentally over throwing the government in the process.

The Business - animal mafia, set in the video game world of The Business

Catharsis - all about vampires, soul mates, and dealing with grief

Wings Of War - set in a CHP video game, starring the winged members of the Compass Team.

Swimming In Stars - four young adults take the road trip they were never able to go on in their youth

I also make new wips every three or four days and will frequently post about them here! I LOVE answering questions, so feel free to ask any questions about the wips or characters if you would like!

A lot of my stories have food as a central theme, and about half of them are set in the CHP verse, meaning they take place in various video games.

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rxyllum · 6 years ago

Text

All of Our Days

Summary:

Small snippets of life after the war.

(Based off of my “rayllum headcanons” post)

—

Pairings:

Rayllum

—

Notes:

This started off as a small drabble, but ended up being much longer, a bit over 5,000 words. Please note that most of this was written last night after school cuz I had bits of inspiration I didn’t want to lose (so several parts might be a bit rushed).

I’ll probably go back, add a few things, and edit it later, but for now here’s the final version of the first draft.

—

All of Our Days

—

It started off simple. A small, slowly growing flame that often diminished to the point of almost non-existence.

But it was there, and when Rayla first realized what was happening she pushed the feelings as deep into her subconscious as possible.

They had a mission, they had to return the dragon prince to his mother. Nothing more, nothing less.

Their time together would eventually end. She wasn't going to fall in love.

• • •

Callum didn't know exactly when he began developing feelings for Rayla. He just knew that it was a silly crush, and it would pass eventually.

After all, who wouldn't like the sarcastic, smart, funny, intelligent, cute, awkward, amazing, talented elf in that way.

When the crush wasn't fading, Callum began to grow concerned. It was as if, with every passing day, his love grew and grew.

He'd fallen down a deep hole called love, and he wasn't sure he ever wanted to leave.

• • •

When they first revealed their feelings for each other, it was completely by accident.

The dragon prince had been returned to his mother, and the dragang had finally returned to Katolis, where Harrow had managed to escape Viren's curse and return to his rightful place at the throne. Peace negotiations were being made, and a formal celebration was held at Katolis' main ballroom, where several political leaders — both human and elf — had gathered for peace treaty negotiations.

There had been several people around their age as well, and they even managed to get a message out to Ellis, who joined Ezran in exploring secret passageways and stealing jelly tarts throughout the night.

The problem was the elves and humans around Callum and Rayla's age. The elves were the children of high-ranking Xadia elves, and the humans the children of nobles.

Callum had left Rayla for a split-second to grab the two of them drinks (moonberry juice, of course) when a random human girl approached him, laughing flirtatiously at something he said. The dress she wore was much more extravagant than Rayla's (there was no way anyone was getting her into one of those frilly ball gowns, and it had taken Claudia hours to convince Rayla to wear the corset-less sea foam colored one she had on), and Rayla's heart seemed to burn at the sight of Callum's awkward laughter and silent glance he sent her way.

It was a plea for help, one she'd seen several times on their short journey together.

And so, Rayla approached them, taking one glass of moonberry juice from Callum's hand, and then replacing the empty space with her own hand.

The girl seemed to falter at the sight of the elf, who simply smiled in return. The humans could hate her all they wanted, but that didn't mean she had to give them valid reasons to hate her.

The conversation dwindled, and the human girl eventually left to join her other human girls, whom Rayla could clearly hear gossiping about the stuck-up elf that had interrupted her conversation with the prince, who was close to marrying age.

Seeing how awkward the conversation with the other girl had made him made a spark of jealously fill her chest, and she gave his hand a comforting squeeze, which he returned.

They didn't separate after that, not until Harrow approached them and asked Rayla to find Ezran, as both princes were needed for a diplomatic address. Rayla nodded, quickly saying farewell to Callum and making her way out of the ballroom and to the secret passage Ezran had shown her earlier.

"It's the best one to steal jelly tarts at events," he'd told her. She could only assume that's where he and Ellis had made their base.

Sure enough, he was there, and she sent him off to find the king. Ezran and Ellis stealthily slopped our through a ballroom vent as Rayla made her way to the less conspicuous entrance, a ways away from the party.

When she exited and let a tapestry fall over the hidden doorway, she heard voices.

"I can't believe they let elves into the castle!"

"I know right? And that one who was hanging out with the prince, how on Earth did she manage to earn his trust?"

"Probably some weird voodoo magic they use in Xadia."

She bit her lip. The voices were coming from around the corner, in the passageway that led back to the ballroom.

"Are you sure you saw her come out here? What if she never left the ballroom, then we'd be missing the king's speech for nothing."

"Oh hush, she's out here. We just have to find out what she's doing and ruin her reputation so that the prince sees she's nothing but a lowly elf who doesn't deserve his time."

She turned to face the tapestry, maybe Rayla could just hide out in the passageway until they left. Unfortunately, they had different plans.

Before she could make any decision, the girls turned the corner, spotting the elf standing there awkwardly.

There was a long moment of silence, before Rayla lifted her chin, and began walking past them.

A hand flew out to stop her shoulder, sharp, filed nails digging into her exposed skin.

"You're that one elf girl, correct?" she asked.

Rayla recognized her as the one who's been talking to Callum.

"I'm sorry?" Rayla replied, suddenly aware of how much her accent stood out compared to the girls.

The girl rolled her eyes — which were a surprisingly sharp blue — and went on to mimic her voice, "'Ah-m soh-ray', oh shut up. You know what I mean."

Rayla stared at the girl in surprise, before commencing to look them up and down.

She could easily take them out, even without her weapons — which were tucked away back in her temporary room. A simple sweep under the legs and they'd be out of commission. They were the ones who'd chosen to wear heels instead of flats.

But if she did that they'd undoubtably twist the story, saying she attacked out of nowhere, and the humans would be outraged and war would start again.

And so, she remained silent, throwing a small glare over her shoulder.

The girl's grip on her shoulder tightened, Rayla ignored the growing pain. She survived having a binding slowly crushing her wrist, this was nothing.

"I mean, really. What does the prince see in an elf?"

Her hand released Rayla's shoulder, leaving several small, red lines forming thin crescent shapes. What happened next was worse than the pain.

The girl reached to the thin, see-through layer that stretched across the surface of her dress' base. In one swift, clean motion that suggested she'd done this before, a large tear was ripped in the expensive material.

One of the other girls gasped, "Kathleen—"

"Oh, please, Charlotte, as if the elf would risk telling anyone. If she does we'll just play the victim rout, should be easy enough."

Rayla simply stared at the dress, slowly taking several steps backwards. The now-loose fabric dragged along the ground, and Rayla's foot caught onto it, the sound of ripping fabric filling the air as she fell back and hit the wall behind her.

"You know, rags really do suit you," the blue-eyed girl continued, the one the other girl had deemed Kathleen.

It was a blur on what happened after that, but Rayla did recall a simple notion filling her mind.

Don't lash out, don't lash out.

An elf couldn't afford to hurt them.

It ended when Rayla's fear got the better of her, and an arm flew out, hitting the nearest object — or in this case, human.

When Rayla opened her eyes, she saw the shocked faces of four girls. Kathleen's cheek was a bright red, and a thin line slowly began to grow where Rayla's hit had sliced open the girl's cheek.

The look of confusion slowly gave way to that of anger. Of pure, blistering rage.

She hoisted up her dress, turning on her heels and making her way down the hall, her three friends following, their voices hushed and terrified.

Rayla took in a deep breath, swallowing back the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. Rayla slowly pulled herself to her feet, slowly looking down to examine the damage.

Her dress was a mess. The jewels that had been carefully sewn into the hems were loose, several had scattered on the floor around her. The lower parts of her dress had huge gashes exposing her legs. The cuffs that had been positioned on her arms were bent, one was missing. Her necklace, one made by Runaan's boyfriend for the occasion, had been forcefully yanked off of her neck and lay shattered on the floor, where one of the girls had "accidentally" stepped on it.

And so, Rayla collected the fallen gems, slipped them into her pockets, and began making her way away from the ballroom.

It was cold out. Scattered leaves lined the entrance to the garden. Callum had mentioned the place once before, when she'd seen a drawing he'd done of it. It looked much different in autumn, when the flowers weren't in bloom and all of the plants were dying.

Rayla found herself falling to a sitting position on a bench, her eyes stinging as she tried desperately to hold back tears.

She would not cry. She would not cry. She would not cry.

A sob escaped her lips.

Rayla hates crying. The feeling of pain in her chest was an immense, crushing feeling, and the tears blurred her vision to the point of blindness.

She really was pathetic to think she'd be able to attend without some jealous, racists ruining it for her.

Her breath fogged in the air around her, and the cold pricked painfully at her skin as wind raced through the empty garden.

She didn't know how long she sat out there, alone, but when someone finally found her she'd cried out all of her tears.

Callum dropped his suit's jacket over her bare shoulders, blocking the chilly air from hitting her and providing her with an extra layer of warmth. He sat next to her on the stone bench, letting his head fall into his hands. They sat in silence for several minutes, neither of them wanting to break the comfortable silence they were accustomed to. They'd walked all the way to Xadia together, they were used to silence.

"We missed you at dad's speech."

Rayla nodded.

"He mentioned you. The brave elf who helped escort us safely to and from Xadia, returning the dragon prince to his rightful home."

She nodded again.

"A few minutes after the speech ended a girl around our age came in screaming about an elf attacking her."

"Kathleen?"

"Yeah. She was bleeding."

They fell into another silence, before Callum unconsciously moved closer to Rayla, trying to obtain any possible heat.

"I'm guessing there's a second side to the story."

Rayla had thought she'd cried enough tears, but her eyes had other plans. At what Callum said, tears began flowing all over again.

"She ruined your dress, didn't she?"

"I'm sorry," Rayla managed to choke out, "they'd cornered me, and I panicked! Okay? I didn't even know what I'd done until it was over!"

Callum wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "She'll be banned from all future events. When people see what she'd done to you they won't be able to protest."

"And why would they believe the word a lowly elf?"

"You're not— Rayla, you're more than just a 'lowly elf', you helped end a war!"

Rayla turned to face the boy at her side, "And what does that matter to them? There are centuries worth of hatred that isn't just going to be undone by some silly treaty!"

"Then we'll make them understand somehow," Callum suggested, "that'll be our next adventure, re-associating the two races and ending the stupid superstitions about bloodthirsty monsters."

Rayla laughed, "Because I'm positive they'll listen to an awkward prince and his elf friend he loves to annoy."

In response, Callum smirked, "You know you love me!" he teased.

"And you know you love me too!"

"Of course I do!"

The two suddenly paused, realization dawning on what they'd just accidentally said.

"W-wait!"

• • •

So far dating in secret was a huge success. The only others who knew were Ezran and Bait, which made sense, since they were the most epic group of friend on the face of the Earth.

Ezran had freaked out when they told him, saying "finally!" and "it was about time" without hesitation. He then declared that it was a "Romeo and Juliet" scenario after they explained how their relationship would work.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Callum asked, his voice cracking as he narrowly avoided a spider web that just happened to be in the middle of the path.

"Ezran explores these passages all the time, we'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say, you're an epic, badass, monster-slaying assassin. I'm just a guy with a sketchbook."

"Oh hush, you love being the guy with the sketchbook."

"That would be true."

The hallway Ezran had showed them was similar to the one that led to Viren's old evil lair, only much more rarely used. Dust littered the floor, aside from small, Ezran-sized footprints that covered the length of the passageway. Unlit torches lined the wall, and Callum had originally suggested that they used the candle they had for light to ignite them, only to be shot down immediately. There was too much dust and too many cobwebs, it would be asking for disaster.

The room that the passageway led to appeared to be a part of some old shelter, a bunker designed for if war ever broke out or someone invaded the castle. It was obviously now unknown to anyone in the castle other than Ezran and the two of them. Ezran had a way of finding every one of the castle's secrets.

"There's meant to be an exit to a secret garden somewhere in here," Callum mentioned, "Ez told me that behind one of the walls is a staircase leading out to a small, hidden courtyard. There were several other passages along the way, some of which lead out of the castle and city."

"You mean like right here?" Rayla asked, pressing in a stone on the far wall. The bricks began receding to reveal a staircase like the one Callum mentioned.

"How did you do that?!"

"There was a jelly handprint."

"Of course there was."

The two entered the small staircase, ignoring the small passageways and stairs that branches out from the one they were currently on. Eventually moss began appearing on the stone steps, bits on light seeping in from what appeared to be a loosely concealed exit that was covered in roots and vines.

Rayla carefully parted the greenery, her breath catching in her throat as she took in the area around her. Flowers and various plants filled the area, a small tree was growing in the far corner, a small pond formed underneath from the lack of any drainage area.

Callum set their candle down to the side on the steps before following Rayla out of the stairwell. The walls towered high above them, with a few crumbling windows revealing what appeared to be more hidden passages.

"Wow," was all Rayla could manage to say.

"I think this might've been a medicinal garden at one point," Callum mentioned, walking over to one of the green plants that seemed to break out of a border of stone that appeared to be separating different garden plots, "that's aloe, normally used for treating burns and several skin conditions."

"Was it for the bunker below?"

"I guess, this courtyard is really small and not visible from anywhere in the castle, it might've been an emergency area, since there's only roof paneling above it looks like it was made to be practically invisible from the outside. Not even the guard areas can see it."

"It's beautiful here."

"Yeah."

"And, this means no one will be able to find us!" Rayla happily exclaimed, "Which means I won't have to worry about Runaan's unavoidable lectures that would come with dating a human."

The elf smirked, leading to Callum pouting.

"Hey, humans aren't that bad!"

"According to you, a human!"

Callum shoved Rayla's arm, and the two laughed.

He leaned over and pressed a small kiss on her cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too."

• • •

Runaan knew.

She had been careless, talking and laughing with Callum like they always did, like what people were used to, then she made the unconscious mistake of reaching out to take his hand. She held his hand, like they always did when walking in hidden passages with no one around to see.

Their conversation had been about something stupid, and then they began talking about art, which eventually led to Callum talking about plans King Harrow had for them to take a diplomatic trip to Xadia. They'd be able to return to her home when she and Runaan left in a few weeks.

She'd turned into a ball of joy, "That's amazing, Callum!"

The stupid elf then forgot that they were meant to be "just friends" and kissed him. Right then and there.

She'd let her guard down, and didn't realize Runaan was walking towards them, from far down the hall.

"Rayla?"

The sound of his voice made her freeze. She'd turned toward the direction of the sound and saw Runaan standing there, a faint look of bewilderment crossing his face.

Rayla had then dropped Callum's hand, and began to run, trusting Callum to do the same.

Callum hadn't run, and later told her that Runaan wanted to speak with her.

Here she was, a week later, still avoiding the elder elf at any possible moment. She'd been avoiding sleeping in her assigned room, instead rotating through random guest rooms that were never used and running every time Runaan appeared.

Today was a problem, however. Runaan decided to chase her.

It was inevitable, really. But she was not ready for this conversation.

Runaan was far more experienced than her, they both knew this, but she knew the layout of the secret passageways better than him.

The only problem was that there were no entrances near where they were.

Oh, for the love of Xadia—

Rayla turned a random corner, making her way out to one of the guard walkways, and jumping over the wall, using her daggers to quickly scale down the wall and into the training courtyard, ignoring the baffled looks of those around her as she ran.

Runaan caught up to her in one of the empty hallways.

Her legs we pulled out from under her, and she went crashing to the floor.

"Rayla," Runaan shouted, "would it kill you to stop running for just one second and listen?"

She rolled onto her back, staring at her mentor with a silent fear in her eyes.

Runaan sighed, "Come in, let's go to a more private place."

The walk back felt like an eternity, and Rayla felt her cheeks redden at every thought of what he'd seen and what he was going to try talking to her about.

They reached her room, and Runaan closed the door behind them, leaning on it casually as if to say "you aren't getting out of this."

The silence was deafening to Rayla.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Runaan finally asked.

"Maybe six months or so, since that one event when my dress was ruined."

"And just how long were you two planning on hiding it?"

Rayla remained silent.

"Rayla—"

"I don't know! Okay?" she shouted, her hands wrapping around her chest in a false sense of comfort, "I don't know how any of this will end, I was just sort of hoping things would find a way to work."

"You do realize that people won't be happy with this."

"Yeah."

"There'll always be someone trying to find fault in both of your actions."

"I know."

"If you ever decide to try having kids they'll face all kinds of discrimination—"

"Okay, ew. Please don't say anything like that ever again."

Runaan let out an emotionless laugh.

"Never change, Rayla."

• • •

When they decided to go public with their relationship, Callum had just turned 17. There had been countless rumors beforehand, so it wasn't that big of a shock to anyone (King Harrow had known for almost as long as Runaan, but had decided to let them tell him when they were ready).

There was an outrage, as expected. A mob of protestors appeared outside of the castle gates the very next day, and the two lovebirds decided to run off to their secret garden with Ezran in order to avoid the press.

"So, are we still going to raid the kitchens tonight?" Ezran asked, pushing through the curtain of vines and joining the other two in the small courtyard, Bait clutched securely in his arms.

"Of course! What else are we meant to do on a full moon?"

"You two are ridiculous," Callum signed, letting a hand rest on his forehead, "Ezran, you're the crown prince, just ask for some jelly tarts to be brought to your quarters and you'll have a plate in the next ten minutes."

"But that takes the fun out of it!" the younger boy protested, Rayla nodded in agreement.

"Besides, sooner or later the baker will come to a realization that the sweets disappear only on the full moon, we have to collect as many as possible before they discover our plan," Rayla explained.

Callum rolled his eyes, "Rayla, you know I love you. But why do you insist on using your spooky, magical, epic full-moon mode on stealing jelly tarts?"

"Well, I'm not an assassin anymore, what else am I meant to do with my magic?"

"I don't know, something cool?"

"My dear brother, are you suggesting that stealing jelly tarts in the middle of the night isn't cool?"

"Um, that's not what I meant—"

"I think he is, Ezran," Rayla accused.

Bait croaked in agreement.

"Fine then, we won't share any of our loot with you tonight!"

"But Ez!"

Callum ended up helping with their theft that night.

• • •

When Rayla next returned to Katolis, their reunion played out how it usually did. Callum was waiting at the gates when her group of elves arrived, and as soon as she saw him she was sprinting to close their distance. In the next second they were in each other's arms, Callum spinning the elf around before kissing her.

You'd think that by their reunion it had been years since their last meeting. No, Rayla had only been gone for a couple of months.

It was just how they'd grown used to seeing each other again.

The two of them spent around an hour at the castle, talking, before heading off to the city.

The streets of Katolis' capital were crowded with people. It wasn't a surprise, really, considering the fact that the now-annual festival for peace between humans and elves was today.

The late-summer air was filled with the feint chill of winter, though the extra layer of Rayla's cloak dismissed any bit of cold lingering in the air. Callum had painted over her markings with a tan oil, and the gloves on her hand were a much more advanced disguise than the ones she'd used when traveling with the two princes. There was a prosthetic fifth finger, sewn into the glove so that whenever she moved her pinky the extra finger moved as well.

Callum's disguise was much more simple, he'd found a way to create a sort of wig, so that his hair was a dark black instead of brown, and changed into much cheaper clothing. If anyone were to look at them they wouldn't see the crown prince and his moonshadow elf girlfriend, but two random people strolling the streets.

Music drifted throughout the street, with a clearing up ahead holding a dance area. The concrete was covered in various chalks and paints, and there was a group of children creating their own messy artwork on the cobblestone.

"Callum, look," Rayla suddenly said, getting her boyfriend's attention.

In the window of one of the several shops was a painting. It depicted two people, one was a human boy, and one was very clearly a moonshadow elf, or what she assumed the artist thought moonshadow elves looked like. They faced each other, foreheads touching and their hands cupped around what appeared to be a small star, illuminating their faces in a soft glow.

Callum bought the painting on their way back to the palace.

• • •

"So when are you going to ask Rayla to marry you?"

The question came as such a surprise that Callum choked on his moonberry juice.

"I'm sorry?"

"You two have been dating for years now. When are you gonna marry her?" Ezran asked again.

He asked it so nonchalantly, before going back to eating another jelly tart.

He turned to look at Rayla, who was currently on the other side of the dining room, conversing with their dad as if he wasn't even a king. It always amazed Callum at how quickly the king took a liking to Rayla, treating her more like family than an elf assassin that once tried to kill him (though she never actually got around to killing him).

"You're eighteen now, you know. Most princes get married at sixteen," Ezran mentioned, stressing the fact that yes, today he turned eighteen. He was officially an "adult".

"Ezran!"

And so, the next several month were spend in a complete and utter mode of panic.

For once he was actually glad Rayla had to return to Xadia for the next month, because he didn't know how he would be able to act around her. Ezran must've known his words had an effect on him, because he kept finding a tray of jelly tarts at the foot of the door that led to Ezran's room most nights.

Still, Callum wasn't able to sleep soundly and act normally until he'd managed to plan out every bit and piece of how he'd propose to Rayla — if that ever even happened.

He accidentally proposed to her a year later.

It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did.

He'd gotten the ring ready and everything, and was confident in his decision, sure. But he just didn't want it to happen in that exact way.

It was meant to be a perfect day. They'd go for a walk through the castle gardens, spend the whole day out in the sun and possibly go swimming before having a late lunch and—

Well, none of that really mattered anymore.

They didn't even make it outside.

When walking through the castle halls, they managed to walk past the place where the two of them first met and, well, it just sorta slipped from his mouth.

"Hey, remember the one time you tried to kill me when I was walking down this very hall?"

"Oh, that was here, right! I'd almost forgotten."

"I'm glad Ez and I aren't dead."

"Me too."

"...ugh I can't do this anymore."

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just stressed about how I'm going to ask you to marry... me...."

He'd trailed off as he realized what exactly he'd said.

Rayla said yes, of course. But still. It wasn't the best way to ask someone to marry you.

• • •

It isn't until years later, we'll after they're married and happy when the subject of children came up.

It took forever for Rayla to get pregnant, and when it looked like she was, she and Callum didn't tell anyone except Harrow, Ezran, Amaya, and Runaan. They didn't want to get the kingdom's hopes up; after all, despite the portion that hated their relationship, the majority seemed to actually ship them. Ezran discovered this when he accidentally found a "black market" dedicated to fanart and fanfiction for his brother and friend.

When it became clear that Rayla definitely was expecting a child, she and Callum cried. They began worrying about the smallest things. Callum wanted to be there for the child, able to live and see them grow, to fill in a needed place that he'd only ever known from Harrow (it occurred to Rayla that Callum didn't know anything about his birth father, other than that Sarai never ended up staying with the man). She was worried about being there for the child as well, worried about not being able to live up to expectations, and not wanting to leave only for someone else to take her place.

Several months later, the child was born.

It was a cold night at the beginning of December, and when she came it was all too clear what her name would be.

After all, it wasn't every day a child was born on the same date as their grandmother.

She was small, much smaller than she would've thought, with fuzzy hair bordering on white, with the occasional dark streak running through it. From what she could tell of her eyes, they were currently a mix of blue and green. She knew that as her daughter grew they'd grow to become a bright emerald green to match his father's. The small trace of horns that had yet to grow in could be felt on her small head. She had five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot, and slightly pointed ears with such pale skin she looked like a ghost.

To Rayla and Callum, their daughter Sarai was perfect in every way, shape, and form.

When Callum left the room to speak with Harrow about all of the small details about the birth (she was a new princess — that was kinda a big deal), Rayla was left with the baby girl.

She moved a small tuff of hair off of the child's forehead, spending time taking in every little detail she could. Small thoughts began filling her mind, about the hate she would eventually receive, how she'll grow up seeing that no one around her looked all that similar, or how no one but her mother seemed to have horns or markings.

A sudden cry bubbled up from the baby, as if Sarai had sensed the unsettling thoughts that drifted throughout Rayla's mind.

"Shh, don't cry," Rayla whispered, holding the child closer, "I know everything is new, and scary, and you have this weird old elf looking at you."

Rayla started to cry, she didn't exactly know why, but once she started, she couldn't stop.

"There are going to be people out there who try to hurt you, because you're different, because you're special," the child's cries slowly faded as Rayla was talking, the baby helplessly opening her eyes and attempting to stare at her mother, "but you're more amazing than any of them will ever be. You know why?"

The child couldn't understand any of this, Rayla knew. Perhaps the words were more for herself than anything else.

"Because you're surrounded by people who will love you, and care for you, and hold you tightly in their arms whenever needed. You're a miracle that most say shouldn't be able to exist. But you're here!"

The baby's eyes closed, and by the soft breaths Rayla guessed that she'd fallen asleep.

"Because your father and I love you so, so much," Rayla leaned down, pressing a soft kiss against her daughter's forehead, "welcome to your life."

#tdp #the dragon prince #rayllum #tdp rayla #tdp callum #dragon prince #tdp runaan #king harrow #tdp headcanons #fanfic #headcanons #tdp fanfic

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anythingbutmyname00 · 7 years ago

Text

Spierfeld- Alternate Meeting

what if Simon immediately found Blue’s second note and they started texting? What if Bram forgets to put his phone on silent before lunch?

*Will be posted on AO3 as soon as I get my account fixed up*

Simon had no intention of wearing the shirt to school.

First of all, his wardrobe of blank T-shirts and hoodies suddenly including band tees might throw a few people for a loop. He’s not self-absorbed enough to think people actually care that much about his style where they’d notice a change, but if he knows one thing it’s that Leah would notice. And if Leah notices, Leah makes a comment, and then Nick and Abby notice, and then it spirals.

Second, He doesn’t know if that’s too desperate on his part or coming off too strong towards Blue. Even Simon knows wearing it to school the very next day would be extremely pathetic. The best he can do is email a thank you for now. Also, who knows if that would freak Blue out? I mean, it was a gift, a shirt, and yes, shirts are supposed to be worn, but is the very next day a sign where Blue would be totally freaked out? Like Woah, Simon is obsessed with me freak out?

Third, he wanted this to be a gift that was just for him. He knows that’s stupid; of course the gift is just for him, but it’s like the emails. No one else needs to know about it. It’s between him and Blue.

So, yeah. Simon had no intention of wearing it to school. But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to wear it at all. He got home from play rehearsal--- an extra hour every night, now that the show is less than two weeks away--- and slumped his way through all of his work while heating up whatever his mom made for dinner. By the time he finished everything he had to do, it was close to 11:30, but nothing could’ve stopped him from trying that shirt on.

He’d never felt this sort of need before. It’s not a need like a crush-on-someone need where its just an aching. Or a need where its an I-want-that need where you forget you’re supposed to breathe when thinking of whatever it is. It’s a new need, one that doesn’t have a name yet. To him, it just feels like an unstoppable force. This isn’t physics though, there is no immovable object. There’s just his hands, complying as he removes the shirt from the bag, standing in front of the bathroom mirror waiting to try it on.

He holds it up first and just admires it. And then he admires how much Blue must know him to get him the most perfect shirt. Simons’ not even thinking about the fact that it was Elliott Smith--- an A+ right there in his book--- but the fact that it was just the kind of fan merch he’d wear. There is fan merch that goes way over the top, like, who would ever wear that over the top. There’s also fan merch that is more casual but just feels wrong; like the lyric they chose is weird or the design is off. Simon would browse the internet for hours looking at potential band tees he would wear if he felt like he had the right and confidence to. And, of course, Blue got him the most perfect shirt. It’s simple and not flashy. Muted colors. Comfortable fit. He’s too distracted thinking about how this boy must know him so deeply that he stands there for five minutes without even putting it on.

When he finally felt ready to try it on, Simon slipped his hand through the bottom of the shirt, but about halfway up, he felt something too thick and scratchy to be a tag. Frantically, he lifts the shirt to eye-level and sees a second piece of blue-ish-green construction paper.

In his effort to remove the paper, he’s so excited he almost rips it. His hands shake so much as he holds it up he almost can’t read it.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he begins to read the note.

P.S. I love the way you smile like you don’t realize you’re doing it. I love your perpetual bed head. I love the way you hold eye contact a moment longer than you need to. And I love your moon-gray eyes. So if you think I’m not attracted to you Simon, you’re crazy.

And then, underneath it, a phone number.

Blue gave me his phone number. He actually gave it to me.

7 million thoughts buz through Simons head at once. Is blue waiting for him to text him? Did he pressure Blue into giving the number to him? Should he text him now or wait? What does this mean?

And then: I can text him a thanks instead of emailing one.

Rushing back to his room without even trying the shirt on, Simon begins drafting texts to Blue.

Simon: Hey, It’s me Simon. Thanks for the shirt.

Simon: Hey, It’s Simon. I love the shirt.

Simon: It’s me, Simon. I cannot believe you got me a freaking Elliott Smith shirt AND gave me your number!

He went with the last one and collapsed on his bed to scream into a pillow, fitfully. Life is a Ferris Wheel indeed. He thought he’d ruined everything they had, and then Blue turns around and gives him his phone number.

He waits up for another fifteen minutes, but decides he can’t possibly keep his eyes open any longer. He knew there was a good chance Blue would already be asleep anyway.

The next morning, he wakes up to no new text messages. He checks his phone every five minutes anyway, despite the fact that his volume is up all the way. Yeah, so he’s that pathetic.

No new texts during his morning routine, during breakfast, during the drive to school. Nothing; it’s killing him. He knew Blue had to have a reason for giving him his number. He wouldn't do it if he had no intent of answering. Maybe he just needs some time to comprehend that this is happening. Simon would give him all the time in the world if he knew it meant in the end he would get to see Blue in person and kiss him and his perfectly grammatical lips.

It would just mean he needed more patience. He could do patience; sometimes. He just needed to relax.

Walking into the school, he headed towards his locker. The hustle and bustle of the hallways was so obnoxiously loud that he almost didn’t hear his phone go off.

Almost

But of course he heard it.

Simon reached so quickly into the pocket of his sweatshirt to grab his phone and whip it out, that he accidentally threw it into the person at the locker he happened to be passing.

Gasping, Simon looked towards the direction of where he flung his phone and his eyes met those of cute Bram.

“Hey, I’m so sorry man. I’m a bit of a mess this morning my bad.”

Bram looked at me from his position at his locker, hands cradling my phone where he caught it on reflex. His eyes softened when he saw it was Simon he was now forced into a conversation with, which he guesses for him was better than if some stranger had been the person to accidentally throw their phone at him. He really does seem to have a small problem with the quiet thing. Simon could see his shoulders relax a little from reflex tension and social interaction pressure.

It’s only occurring to me now how little he know about him despite the fact that he’s played soccer with one of his best friends for years and they sat at the same lunch table all school year long thus far.

Bram reaches out and hands him back his phone, smirking slightly, in the way cute Bram often does at the lunch table when Garrett says something stupid or Nick makes a fool of himself in front of Abby. “Must be something good on there.” He says, obviously making a casual play at my excitement which caused this interaction in the first place.

Simon takes the phone. “Huh. I guess so.” He holds the phone up and does that smile nod thing to say thank you and continues on his way down the hall. Once he turns the corner and gets to his locker, he opens it and take out his phone behind the locker door. Sure enough, there it is. A reply.

Blue: So, I’m guessing you liked it?

Perfect grammar and punctuation, even in text. Anyone like Nick or Leah doing that and Simon would’ve ripped them apart for being a huge nerd. But, suddenly Blue does it and he just finds it incredible hot. Figures.

Simon: Are you kidding me?? Best gift I’ve ever received. Easily top 10.

And the rest of his morning continues just like that. Simon patiently waiting to feel his phone vibrate against his leg while also trying his best to remain invested in class. There are more weird breaks between texts but he’s not dense enough to not be able to apply that to the fact they’re in school.

The conversation continues naturally, the way it would in their emails. Simon is so blissfully happy that he finally has Blues number that he doesn't even care when two of his teachers have to remind him that phones are prohibited in school.

He’s antsy all day waiting to be able to pull out his phone and respond to Blue’s texts, but it really reaches its height during lunch.

For one, he keeps his phone on the table instead of in his pocket. This way, when it lights up he can see it and doesn’t have to pull it out. He knows he’s being pathetic, he’s just too giddy to care.

“What is up with you?�� Abby questions from directly across from him, snapping him out of his eager daydream. “All you can do is glance at that phone. What’s on it, something juicy I hope.”

“Ha Ha.” Simon deadpans. “As if. It’s nothing” he says, moving his plastic fork around the pasta salad on his plate. As far as school lunches go, it’s definitely not bad. But that still doesn’t make him feel inclined to eat it.

“She’s right, Si.” Leah says from next to me. “I’ve never seen you so invested in the thing.” Leah makes a face that, to someone like Abby who she’s only known for a few months, would seem like she pleasantly agrees, but to me, seems like she would like anything else in the world than to agree, but she does.

“Oh, whatever, I’m not invested, see?” Simon says as he tucks his phone back into his sweatshirt middle pocket, trying all too hard to seem casually like he doesn’t care at all that he has to put it away.

“He was so excited over it this morning he practically assaulted me with it.” Everyone looks up at the fact that Bram was the one who next put into the conversation. It’s not like he never speaks, he does; it’s just usually he does in small sentences or phrases, and mostly when Nick or Garrett are involved. So when Bram speaks up in a conversation mainly featuring me, Abby, and Leah, it pretty much made the entire table want to join rather than just spectate.

Cute Bram, tried acting like the sudden attention wasn’t getting to him, but Simon could see that his jaw was a little tense, as if he’d clenched it slightly, waiting for someone to say something.

“Buddy, come on. If BRAM joined the conversation to say so, then something’s up with you and the phone.” Nick claims from his spot next to Bram, where he gripped him on the shoulders and slightly shook him when mentioned his name.

Bram blushed a little and released a small pointed laugh. The blush looked really good on him, coloring his tanned cheeks. Simon himself, felt his face get a little hot and he mumbled another “yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever” before returning once again to his pasta salad.

The rest of his day blurs by. He almost doesn't survive the entirety of play practice without being able to check his phone, which Abby notices and fondly teases him about. At home, he texts Blue in between working and eating and everything else. He was smiling at his phone below the table so often during dinner he was too distracted to hear his mothers’ “would you like to be excused, Simon?” and responded with a meek “hmm?”

Wednesday went mostly the same. It was so much nicer texting Blue continuously rather than having to wait for wifi to answer an email.

This time, he gets to lunch and he's careful to not make it obvious that he’s waiting on his phone.

After five minutes of half-heartedly listening to Nick and Garrett complain about the new soccer drills their coach is running while Bram enthusiastically nods at their points and occasionally adds his own two cents, Simon can’t help it and pulls out his phone.

He sees a response from Blue. He hadn’t felt his phone go off, it must have been while he was walking back to the table or something.

Blue: I see you haven’t taken Mr. Wise’s advice about those sentence fragments.

Laughing slightly to himself, forgetting his surroundings, He types a reply.

Simon: I thought you loved my sentence fragments! Is there someone else with more adorable sentence fragments? You can tell me, it’s okay. I can handle it.

He bites back his smile, trying to seem like he was just casually checking his phone, looking at the time, texting his mom.

And then something happens.

He presses send on his reply, just as his phone is going back in his pocket, looks up, and a phone goes off somewhere in close proximity.

No one else even flinched at the noise, instead the guys at his table continued their stimulating soccer conversation which Abby listened in on, and Leah spoke in hushed tones to Morgan and Anna.

He looked around but couldn’t see anyone visibly looking down at their phones; not near enough to matter anyway.

Taking advantage of the sudden invisibility at his table, Simon pulled out his phone to perform an experiment.

Simon: what changed your mind into giving me your number, btw?

Simon made sure that he was looking up and alert when he pressed send this time.

Once again, somewhere nearby, a phone went off, same as before. It had to be at one of the tables surrounding his. The first time could’ve been dismissed as a coincidence, but both times? Simon wasn’t superstitious enough to believe it could’ve happened twice.

As he’s about to start casually staring down the occupants of every table surrounding his trying to scout out the source of the phone, he notices cute Bram excuse himself from Nick and Garrett, who barely acknowledge his leaving, and head towards the door. As he does so, he reaches into this back pocket and pulls out his phone.

There’s no way, he thinks. There’s no way Blue is cute Bram. The same Bram who’s been at his lunch table right in front of him the whole time. He thinks about what he knows.

He thought he knew Bram liked Leah based on the other day, but Simon realizes he failed to see that Garrett was also present in the conversation it could easily have been him crushing on Leah.

He knows…...he knows nothing. He knows Bram is quiet, quiet can relate to Blue’s shyness.

He also knows Bram is really smart. He need only remember the paper Mr. Wise accidentally gave him of Brams. Good at english means grammatical.

He doesn’t know about his religion, but he knows he doesn’t have Blue eyes that’s something right?

Bram. wait. Bram.

“Garrett.” Simon says. “Garrett!” A little louder.

He gets his attention. Garrett looks slightly inconvenienced at his conversation about the price of his new cleats being paused but he answers anyway. “What, Spier?”

“What is Bram short for?”

“What?” Garrett responds at first. “Abraham. Why?”

Abraham.

Abraham Lincoln.

Simon doesn’t answer. He gets up as casually as he can manage and tries not to trip over his shoelaces as he walks maybe a little too quickly to the doors of the cafeteria.

Bram. It has to be Bram. How could he never have seen it?

Pushing the doors out of the cafeteria open, he glances down the hallway to the left and right. To his left, leaning against a random locker, facing the opposite direction, is Bram.

Even though Simon cannot see the front of him, he can see that Bram is hunched a little, leaning over something. It has to be his phone.

He decides to try something. He takes out his phone and turns the ringer on, putting it up on full volume, and waits. He walks out of the doorway so that he’s about 10 feet behind Bram facing him, holding his phone.

And then, it happens.

He sees Bram stand up straight again, and, just after he does, Simon’s phone goes off. Loud.

They’re the only two people in the hallway which makes it echo off of the lockers. He knows Bram heard it. He saw his shoulders slightly tense when he heard the noise.

Slowly, Bram turns around, and his eyes meet Simons.

They’re wide and unblinking. He doesn’t seem as if he knows what to do, and, honestly, neither does Simon. He’s been waiting for months to meet Blue, and now that he has, he doesn’t know what he should be doing or saying.

Instead, Simon looks down at his phone, at Brams text.

Blue: No one else has sentence fragments as cute as yours, I promise. I don't know exactly. I was dead set against not giving it to you, but then in school I saw you smile at one of your friends and I suddenly changed my mind. ;)

Simon sees that Bram still hasn’t moved from his spot, so he texts him.

Simon: Bram?

He looks up as the phone in the hands of the boy he loves goes off once again, a few feet down the hallway.

Bram also looks down when his phone goes off, another loud echo through the hallway.

Right afterward Simon begins walking forward towards Bram, but as he gets close enough to be in arm distance, Bram puts his arm on Simons elbow and ushers him into the classroom closest to them, which happens to be unoccupied.

Inside Simon walks forward and runs a hand through his hair as Bram quietly shuts the door.

Simons turns to face him, one hand still in his hair, the other one by his side. Bram stands there, his hands in front of him one tightly gripping the other, his face unsure of what exactly to say. But he speaks anyway. “Simon I-”

But Simon doesn’t want to talk. Simon just found the boy he’s been in love with for months. After so much bullshit and secrecy and Martin fucking Addison, Simon’s done talking. He surges forward and places his hands on Bram’s cheeks and kisses him.

He feels all the tension melt out of Bram as his arms wrap around Simons waist. The kiss is short. It only lasts about 3 seconds, and it's not enough. But right now, Simon would take anything.

He pulls back and looks at Brams face, his hands still on his cheeks and brams arms still hugging his middle.

“I can’t believe you sat at my lunch table all fucking year and I didn’t know.”

Bram laughs and removes his arms from Simon. Simon takes the hint and takes a step back, his hands back to his own sides.

Now it's Bram’s turn to nervously run his hand through his hair. He looks down and bites his lip just a little. Simon wants to kiss him again.

“I guess I feel kind of stupid now for not giving you my number sooner.” He says and looks back up at Simon.

“No, you had every right to wait. I shouldn’t have pressured you the way I did anyway.”

“No, Si, man come on you didn’t do anything wrong.” He reaches across to grab Simon’s hand “If I could’ve predicted that kiss I definitely would’ve given it to you sooner.”

Simon smiles at him. “Oh yeah?” He says, taking a step closer.

“Mhmm” Bram says, him this time being the one to kiss Simon. This one lasts no longer than the last as Bram pulls away again and says “but we should probably go back to lunch.”

Reluctantly, the two stagger their return to the lunch room, Bram first, saying he went to the bathroom, and then Simon a minute later.

Simon walks back in and sits down, focusing too hard on his seat and tray as to not stare pointedly at Bram on the other side of the table and a seat down.

“And where’d you go, weirdo?” Says Abby who tilts her head in a youre-still-acting-super-odd sort of way.

“Wait,” Leah says, “let me guess...to find service!” Nudging his arm with her unused plastic knife.

“Something like that yeah.” Simons says smirking a little. He deals with his friends friendly prodding about his new phone obsession for the rest of the period and laughs at all the right moments, though his head is somewhere else. Somewhere across the table and a seat or two down.

The rest of the night goes something like the last. His phone constantly going off and Simon constantly smiling ear to ear at it. The next morning too. All of it relatively familiar.

And then he gets to lunch. He sits in his usual seat. The end of the table right next to Leah, across from Abby and then Nick and finally, Bram. He says hi to everyone as he sits and throws a hidden smirk towards Bram who returns one.

He takes out his phone and reads the text that's been waiting for him.

Bram: I thought you should know that Garrett has been asking me all year why I suddenly get even quieter at lunch despite the fact that it's him and Nick.

Simon: WAIT. You mean I’M one of the cute guys who makes you all nervous?

Simon cant help but smile at his phone, not knowing that he’s caught the attention of about half the table since he’d sat down. He looks up, still trying to bite the smile off his lips, and then sees Abby, Leah, and Garrett all looking at him with an amused sort of expression. Nick is too invested in his mac and cheese. That helps the smile go away pretty quickly.

“What!” he defends. Glancing around at all of his friends individually.

“Okay” Abby begins saying. ”I MUST know who you’re texting. Come on Simon.” She has a determined look on her face that says she’s joking enough to be kind about it, but she’ll do everything she can to find out who it is.

“It’s none of your business actually, so I think I’ll just send my text, put my phone away, and change the topic of conversation.” Simon says, smirking right back at her, his phone now visible above the table which before he’d used as a shield to type. He uses one arm to hold Leah directly where she is next to him, while they all laugh at her trying her best to see around him at his phone. Chuckling, he uses his other hand to send his text to Bram.

He just hadn’t even considered the fact that maybe he should wait, maybe Bram forgot to turn his phone on vibrate. Maybe he should’ve played the phone thing off again.

But of course he didn’t do that.

And of course Brams phone went off at a loud enough volume for the entire lunch table to hear, causing Leah to stop fighting against Simons arm, Abby to stop laughing, and even Nick to look up from his food. Even Garrett stopped what he was doing to open his mouth at the boy sitting next to him.

Bram had paused in the middle of opening his water bottle. Suddenly, as if someone had pressed play on a remote, he continued opening the water bottle and stared straight ahead while he drank some, trying to act like no one just heard his phone go off from his pocket.

“Bram” you could hear the smile in Abby's voice as she said it. “Was that YOUR phone that went off after Simon sent his text?”

Simon could do nothing but watch as he felt the color rush into his cheeks. He watched the event unfold, unable to say anything.

“No” Bram responded too quickly, his voice an octave higher than usual. He began to play it off. He cleared his throat and tried again. “No, definitely not.”

Two more seconds passed, and then the entire table erupted.

Garrett was smacking Bram on the arm and saying “way to go Greenfeld holy shit!” while Bram laughed and played into it.

Leah and Abby are firing questions at Simon like its nothing. How did this happen? How long had he been texting him? But seriously how did this happen?

Nick was glancing back and forth between both of them going “nowaynowaynowaynoway.”

Simon didn’t care though. He laughed as Garrett and his friends got the most out of this sudden discovery, and in the midst of all the craziness, he met Brams eye, and his smile got impossibly wider. Bram smiled right back as he swatted Garretts arm away again, and the whole rest of day couldn’t have done anything else to make him happier than that smile made him.

Simon was good.

thanks for reading!!! hope you enjoyed!! message me with comments or anything!! I will gladly take requests for more fics if I can work with them!!

-Emma :)

#spierfeldweek #spierfeld #simon spier #bram greenfeld #simon #bram #love simon #Simon versus the Homo sapiens agenda #simon vs #nick robinson #leah burke #garrett laughlin #nick eisner #abby suso #im too obsessed with this book holy shit

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resbang-bookclub · 7 years ago

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AMA Transcript: touch cats shut up

For our next AMA, @makapedia and @sojustifiable (Amanda on Discord) stopped by to chat about their Resbang, i've got a touch aversion and a stray cat that says you should shut your mouth. Here’s some of what went down:

Q: Why Fruits Basket!!?

makapedia: Aaaaa. So I think I was hanging out at madi's place? And we were just lounging around watching anime and she put on fruits basket and I was like... you know, hm. And then I had a rewatch with Pere weeks later and we were watching through and I just thought it'd be fun and nostalgic.

Q: What was your favourite scene to write?

makapedia: My favorite scene to write was uhhhhh... I think it was one of the last scenes? When Soul's in his true form (tm) and Maka's trying to convince Soul to come home because I really do just like writing scenes where characters are coming to terms with their feelings and stuff. Or the scene where a moth flies into Soul's face.

Q: Was there a scene that was really hard to write, and if so, why?

makapedia: The hardest scene was literally any scene with Death the Kid because I am SO BAD at writing Kid but I really wanted to get better. And he played a big part in the fic and I really didn't want it just to be a ship fic.

Q: I've never seen Fruits Basket but I still really enjoyed the fic! Was there like a specific 'Fruits Baskety' mood or tone you were going for?

makapedia: Ooooh! So, Fruits Basket really comes off as very light hearted and fun but there's a lot of sad darkness in it too. I wanted it to be funny but also have some heart to it too.

Q: Any parts of the story that you'd planned one way and changed as you wrote??

makapedia: I struggled a lot with the Medusa scene because I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle it or how long I wanted it to go on and how I was going to write Maka through it. The biggest struggle was writing Maka as Tohru because while Maka has a lot of the same heart and caring parts about Tohru, Tohru will just give and give and give and she's such a pushover. Maka will literally knock someone's teeth out if they cross her friends, so it was hard for me to not have Maka just throw down.

Q: What was your favourite character to write? Because your Free was bomb.

makapedia: Soul was my favorite to write I think? Because I didn’t get to write as much of him as I'd hoped and there was a lot more I wanted to cover with him. But Free was super fun to write. And his bad fashion sense.

Q: Amanda, how did you decide which scenes to art for?

Amanda: I knew first thing I wanted to do a cat Soul, even just knowing the concept before I even read the fic. Especially when Kat described her image for cat Soul.

makapedia: Cat soul with the flowerssssssss. So cute.

Amanda: The other scenes I guess just popped out at me and I had a specific kind of feeling I wanted to do.

Q: Amanda what was your favourite piece to draw?

Amanda: I think Soul in the garden was the most fun to do, partly because it was the first piece I tried in that style and I had no idea how it would turn out and it was very freeing to paint without a sketch or masking. And the layering with the plants was really fun and I was happy with how it turned out.

Q: Do you have a favorite chapter Kat?

makapedia: I like the later chapters more than the beginning chapters. I had a hard time establishing things and getting the ball rolling there for a while, but once I found my groove things were just easier to write. I really like just writing characters falling in love but I hate writing like the awkward beginnings.

Q: Any beta shenanigans you would like to share? ;P

makapedia: Anytime I wrote the word "silly," Silly commented with an emoji. Maka living in a tent was interesting because Amanda had some comments about washing laundry and stuff. It was very useful.

Amanda: I know that tent life intimately.

Q: I really loved Sarah turning your innocent sentences into innuendos.

makapedia: YEAH. SARAH. She giggles about it every time.

[some examples]

Q: How was it making somewhat-subtle references to Soul's weenie for the whole fic?

makapedia: GOD. So like, in Fruits Basket Tohru definitely sees like everybody's animal form. She definitely accidentally disrobes so many characters but in this fic I like... forgot to do it... so instead it was just a lot of naked Soul. But it was fun???? to write naked Soul I guess, and Maka just really traumatized and constantly reminded that she's seen the thing.

Q: I also really enjoyed Stein!! Were there certain Dog qualities you wanted to emphasize with him?

makapedia: He always announces when Soul climbs in the window, as dogs do whenever somebody enters the home. Gotta bark. He's a big snoot dog. Long.

Q: Was there any character you wish you could have explored a bit more?

makapedia: Ohhhhhh. Well... Eruka, since she only appeared at the end. Black*Star too because he's technically Kagura in this AU? And Free. I feel like I could've done more with Stein, too. But he was super hard for me to write.

Q: Do you have any dialogue that you particularly loved?

makapedia: Ohhhhhhh. I mean aside from "bitches love piglets," I had a lot of fun writing Soul and Kid bickering. And Kid like, flicking water at Soul from the sink.

Amanda: I really wanted to do some piglet art but my health was not great.

makapedia: Yeah, you poor thing.

Q: Bitches love piglets was so delightful, I remember startled-laughing at that one.

makapedia: In our hearts we all know what tiny blue piglet star looked like.

Q: Was there anything left out of the final draft?

makapedia: SO MANY THINGS. I had a lot of jokes I wanted to write, a lot of scenes that I wanted to write, a lot more bonding and middle stuff that I just didn't have the time for. Closure for Liz's conspiracy theories. I have a bullet point on here that is just… "laser pointers." Unfortunate that that one didn't make the final cut.

Q: Did you have a joke doc this year?

makapedia: I did.

Q: What’s next on Kat’s writing adventures?

makapedia: Next on Kat's writing adventures is............ hopefully the 2nd part of my 2 part smut fic that is not yet smut. And sequel, yeah. Probably an update to mermaid AU and Not Lovers.

Q: My favourite part honestly might be how twilight reference started in the beginning as an aside and then it just kept being relevant the longer it went on.

makapedia: It was totally supposed to be a one-off joke but the more I wrote, the more it worked, and so I just ran with it. Also on the 'outline': Soul knocks things over when no one (Maka) is paying attention to him. Liz is increasingly convinced that Kid is secretly a vampire and that is what his big secret is and Maka doesn’t know how to break it to her that the dude’s a rat.

- Tries to get him in front of mirrors to prove her point

- Eats garlic bread and then gets in close with her garlic breath

- Liz’s conspiracy theory (™)

"I’ve got shivers so bad my nipples could key a car” AT SOME POINT PLS USE THIS GOD" Apparently this was an important line that never happened. Rip Black*Star.

Also this meme: http://makapedia.tumblr.com/post/162601390488/someuphillbattle-pussifoot

Q: What was the writing process like, kat?

makapedia: Uuuuuuuh. Sooooo I don't outline, even when I should. So most of it was just putting on a playlist, thinking about what still needs to happen and then word vomiting into a google doc for two hours until something sticks. Except I didn't really have a real official playlist for this fic, I just listened to a lot of after laughter and my 90's alt playlist on Spotify and hoped for the best.

Q: Hardest character to write?

makapedia: Medusa was the hardest by far.

Q: How did you decide who was gonna be who? Were some people easier to match up with certain animals than others?

makapedia: The main three were the easiest to match up for sure. And then Black*Star as the boar just sort of fell in place because man, who else would stick to Soul like glue like that? Pere and I had many Discussions about the match ups. I did make a spreadsheet.

Q: What made you decide to have spirit in the zodiac? It's a huge change!

makapedia: YEAH. Yeah. I mean, if you go by like... characters... he's the best Ayame. But also he's Stein's friend. But yeah when I decided I wanted Spirit to be Ayame I knew I had to change up the rules of family a bit. Please no cousin marriage.

Q: It's kind of an interesting folding of Maka into their little body of weird. I liked it and am hype to see it play out

makapedia: Yeah! The more I wrote it and thought about it, the more fun I had with it. I like writing AUs of things but I don't really... like making them just copies? with characters in their roles, so it was a fun way for me to change it up.

Q: Is there a Wes?

makapedia: Wes is/was supposed to be Soul's guardian, but Wes ALSO DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT. I really like Resbang because it makes me finish stories but I also don't like it because I want to do so much more than I can fit.

Q: Please tell me the school play will make your sequel. AND THE FAIR.

makapedia: It has to. I also still... want to write New Year’s.

Q: I think the only real pairs were going to be soma, freeruka and sid/nygus right?

makapedia: I didn’t get to do that. I toyed with kidliz when I was plotting it out but I was going for aroace Kid in the end.

Q: kidxfriendship was great in this fic.

makapedia: He deserves good friends. Yeah, the whole time I was like ‘this is a soma fic’ but I still want Kid to be important in it. And I wanted his growth to be important too, like not as a side note. I realize now like… Kid... never became a rat. Which means Maka never hugged him and that is a Mistake on my part.

Q: I feel like I'm spoiling my review, but I really liked how you gave everyone different types of friendships that all worked, all felt realistic, and were all very touching.

makapedia: /rubs my grubby ace hands together. Thank u. A big part of it was like, me really wanting to write that platonic love is just as important as her romantic love too, just in different ways. And just because I didn’t write it as a love triangle doesn’t mean that Kid in particular wasn't important to her too, just not in a smoochin kind of way. I also really didn’t want to make it seem like she was picking Soul over Kid.

Q: What are you most proud of this Resbang?

makapedia: .... FINISHING RESBANG. I DIDNT THINK I WOULD, SO. Other than..... finishing... I think I'm proud that I actually wrote Kid and Stein because I am Afeared of going outside my box.

Q: Are you going to resboob again?

makapedia: Proooobably? Somewhere along the line I think I need to give my poor brain a break.

Q: I really liked the Kid/Maka dynamic in this. How did you decide where to go with that?

makapedia: I knew I wanted Kid to be the rat but I also knew I didn't really want to go down the love triangle path, so a lot of it was me exploring how a really important friendship can hold that same weight and make things hard for her because she really didn’t want to choose between Kid and Soul. When I was casting I had Soul as the cat and then I was like... well Kid has to be Yuki, there's no one else who could be Yuki. But it was interesting writing Kid and Soul not getting along.

Q: Was it hard keeping Soul in character but also making him Kyo-level angry? Because I feel like that would be hard for me.

makapedia: Yes, it was very hard. I had to like, balance him out into being kind of cranky angry as opposed to Kyo's Punchy angry. I don't find Soul particularly explosive, but I do think he is capable of a lot of anger. I had to find different ways to have him lash out. Boy can hold a Grudge. It was also weird trying to keep both Kid and Soul in character while making them hate each other, but I did what I could.

#AMA transcripts #rbbc #resbang book club #i've got a touch aversion and a stray cat that says you should shut your mouth #TOUCH CATS SHUT UP

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coffeeandcalligraphy · 8 years ago

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It’s Been a Year... | I’m Disappointed

Hey People of Earth!

I have been waiting a year to write this post... Here we go...

I’M DISAPPOINTED is a novel I reference a lot on this blog. In saying that, I've mentioned a couple of times on here that it’s hard to nail down when I started this book. Technically speaking, I wrote the first couple hundred words on May 5th, 2015, but didn’t really write much beyond that. It was only ‘til November that I actually started to really draft. To me though, this book doesn’t have a definitive birthday. And to preface--this whole ‘book birthday’ thing isn’t something that means a whole lot to me, I just like referencing them to see how far the project has come since it was started.

To me, the book starts when I finished it.

Today is February 19th. AKA the day I finished writing this book.

When I think of a date and I’M DISAPPOINTED, I instantly think February 19th.

I’m writing this post because I just want to reflect on how far this book has come--how far I have come since writing the final sentence this time last year.

I’M DISAPPOINTED came to me during a really... confusing period of time. I won’t lie--mentally, I wasn’t doing well, my school schedule was stressing me out, and adjusting to high school was difficult for me. Since I started drafting it (for the most part) in November, this meant I was constantly surrounded by tons of schoolwork. Having just entered high school at the time, I wasn't dealing with my semester in the best way possible. In all honesty, I was just going along as things came, and it was stressful.

But for some reason, writing this book was something that helped ease the tension in my life. It wasn’t only writing it--it was also the reaction it got from my earliest readers, my best friend and my sister. It was exciting to know that two other people out there loved my story as much as I did.

When the time came, and I finished it, I was happy with I’d produced. January-March are always rough months on me, but having this story brew in my mind helped.

This book has gone through a lot. Its word count has jumped to 120k down to 114, then back down to 92k. It’s been entered into two contests. It has a query now. It’s been edited eight times through. It’s lost original scenes, it’s gained a crap-ton of new ones. Its middle has been ripped out and reorganized then put back into place.

And yet, the story I wanted to tell back when I finished it on February 19th, 2016, is the same story I’ve been telling now.

Of all the book’s I’ve written, I’ve never felt so dedicated to one before. I went out of my way to write this novel, no matter how I felt, because it’s just something I genuinely enjoyed. Instead of paying attention in class, I was furiously writing down scenes and chapters. I wrote this book in class, on the way to class, the second I got out of class, before class started. I subconsciously put the most effort into this novel than I ever thought possible for me.

Below are a couple examples of my handwritten chapters/scenes, along with the date, and sometimes notes for Future Me in the margins.

Friday February 19, 2016 (Geography class) <<< the day I finished the novel

Future me: *still in math class

November 23rd, 2015 (RELIGION CLASS) <<< I included this bit because chapter 13 is one of my favourite chapters in the entire novel. Also, I’m pretty sure I’d just finished an assignment and scrambled to get this chapter out of my brain...

(IN MATH CLASS) *SAME DAY DAMN WE JUST HAD A QUIZ <<< because the obvious thing to do after finishing a math quiz is write your novel...

Wednesday, February 3, 2016 *trying to edit in geography class* Future me: is this chapter the same at all? <<< the answer to that question is yes.

I can’t help but feel shock when I see how invested I was in this book. Because I genuinely don’t think I’ve accidentally worked so hard on something in my life. I’ve got an entire folder filled with these... It’s kind of nuts looking back on all of this and realizing that some of my favourite parts of the book were written during class...

(And I’m not condoning not paying attention in class. I’m a notorious multitasker, so I was paying attention, just scribbling down the bones of scenes. Please pay attention in class, lol)

Since finishing this novel, so many things have happened. I edited this a billion times, even when it was hard to do so in the beginning. I’ve received so many beautiful drawings from my friends and family based off of my characters, I have a board game for this novel, I’ve printed it out via CreateSpace three times. I’ve gotten so much support for this book. So much support that I can’t even think of it without almost crying at the thought that there are people out there that care about this story and care about this one girl’s writing journey.

So now I’m turning to you.

Thank you for letting me ramble about this novel for a year. Thank you for taking interest in my story, and for being so supportive and kind throughout this journey of mine. Thank you for reading and supporting this blog, and for being the best readers I could ask for.

Okay, I think that’s enough of this melodrama, LOL. Thanks for also putting up with my extremely emotional responses to everything in all of these posts. You guys mean the world to me.

Thanks for reading this post, and for following my crazy journey. I couldn’t ask for more. :)

(And also, thank you for 300 followers. I have no words. Genuine thanks.)

--Rachel

#Writing

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resbang-bookclub · 8 years ago

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AMA Transcript: Criss-Crossed

This week, @soundofez dropped by to chat about her 2016 Resbang, Criss-Crossed! Here’s some of what went down:

Q: What was your favorite scene to write?

fez: Fave scene hands down was the opening scene, it was one of the first I wrote. I had a lot of fun with Spirit's texts though. x)

Q: Did you always plan for two pairings to be developed simultaneously or did it pop up in the middle of planning?

fez: Deffo planned for the two pairings and it was HARD AS BALLS.

Q: How did you decide which characters would be temporary villians?

fez: I just wanted the villains to be recognizable characters with significant ties to either Soul or Maka? There's actually a pretty neat split: Tsubaki and B*S are the friends, Wes and Spirit are the family units, Tsubaki and Wes are Soul's, and B*S and Spirit are Maka's. Stein and Marie, of course, were there to be relevant to their plotline, and Crona is the forever villain. Arachne used to be Medusa until... um... canon parallels + plot relevance. In terms of who tf knows what's going on between her and Lord Death? Certainly not me. Medusa was going to have a creepy fixation on Stein.

Q: Did you secretly plan to make people fall in like with ML? *eyebrow waggle*

fez: Yes. Unequivocally. Ngl I want it to be an ML gateway fic. :^)))))

Q: ACTION SCENES. HOW DID YOU APPROACH THEM?

fez: ACTION SCENES WERE #STRUGGLES. I just sat down and like, forced myself through them. Like, k. Where are they? What are weird things that lucky charm can take advantage of? I freaking h8 lucky charm fjadsklfjasklfjka. A goddamn DIY PROJECTOR IS A CANON THING LADYBUG DID AND I SALT 5EVER.

Q: My question is why did you make Maka Chat and Soul Ladybug instead of vice versa?

fez: Uhhhhh 95% aesthetics, but tbh Maka's approach to fights is really a lot more like canon Cat Noir/Adrien, and Soul has more than enough self esteem issues to parallel canon Ladybug/Marinette. I h8 h8 h8 red-eyed cat, and I might be like wayyyyyy too attached to green-eyed cat Maka. You don't understand, I drew cat Maka and bug soul [in] like... October 2015. I have been on the cat Maka/bug Soul train for eternity.

Q: So, sequel??

fez: MAYBE SEQUEL BUT ONLY WHEN ML GIVES ME MORE CANON THINGS TO WORK WITH, AND NOT A MOMENT BEFORE.

Q: Why'd you decide to go for "they're superhero friends and irl enemies" instead of the love squad?

fez: Superhero friends + irl enemies was 100% a product of ml origins episodes. And to be fair, Soul didn't really hate her. Maka just... Maka.

Q: Did your plot outline always stay the same?

fez: NO, MY PLOT FREAKING BOUNCED ALL OVER THE FREAKING PLACE. I mean, the big overarching plot was the same b/c ch8 was like... the second chapter I finished writing? But. Man. Kid used to be like an actual student. He got lost. Crona was supposed to be more... present ahaha. Everyone started as freshman (w/ upperclassman b*s) but then like... idk I kept writing soul and I just... "bb u r not a freshman. 2 mature." Medusa, ofc, used to be the main antagonist in the way early drafts. TWO CHAPTERS SWAPPED PLACES ON ME LIKE TWO WEEKS BEFORE POST DAY. Franken used to be a doctor instead of a grad student struggling to publish. There used to be a Rachel/Arachne/Excalibur mashup villain in the works That one made it into my claims summary lmao.

Q: Omfg. What would have been their supervillain name?

fez: Idk but the chapter title would've been "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Q: Do you have deleted scenes? :)

fez: YOU KNOW I HAVE DELETED SCENES, I CRIED TO YOU OVER MY TOO MANY DELETED WORDS. I THINK I HAVE LIKE 50 DELETED SCENES. 7K. 7K DELETED WORDS.

Q: How do you have a villain mashup of Excalibur and Arachne? I NEED TO KNOW.

fez: I don't even remember how this Rachel/Arachne/Excalibur villain was supposed to go, I never got farther than just "this villain exists I guess." This was before i like.... logicked out that the villains should be tied to Maka and Soul somehow.

fez: Also for cat Maka and bug Soul: look just loOK AT HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE: http://soundofez.tumblr.com/post/132631437973/its-a-love-square-between-two-people-x-the.

fez: I already knew that Blair would be Maka's kwami. I have Kwami Headcanons and this fic was the perf time to Indulge. Part of those headcanons dictate that cat Soul would never be able to have a kwami like Blair. And like... what a waste man. That's more ML territory so idk if I wanna go into em here? But yo, dm me and I will give you All The Things.

Q: What kinda music, if any, did you listen to while writing this?

fez: I'll have a more complete list in a moment but the big one was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdQpngguJpM

fez: maka// this is halloween, marilyn manson soul// l'autre valse d'amélie, yann tierson stein// fairy blue, ama lo & dj lee (i think?) marie// fuck you, lily allen tsubaki// cosmic love, florence + the machine sebastian// immortals, fall out boy spirit// take a break, phillipa soo wes// fragments of memories, ffviii crona// demons, imagine dragon arachne// come little children, erutan more songs: everytime we touch, cascada thinking out loud, ed sheeran E18, detektivbyran grey, project ml

Q: The antibug and catastrophe scenes were some of my fave scenes, did you draw from the Envy chapter for that scene? Bc it seemed that way to me, esp with Maka's breakdown, but I wanted to check and also just hear you talk about your thought process for those scenes.

fez: OH YES DEFFO. My notes have "see Eibon chapters" lmao. Like... man Maka has Issues. So many issues. And I wanted to address them. Maka is not an angel, ok? She petty and she has to Learn. She does not forgive, and that's why her arc is so focused on forgiveness. Like... one of the first lines I wrote was "cat, you are just not nice" b/c I Knew I had to. OH. LEMME SEE IF I CAN DIG UP MY SHITPOST. fez: http://soundofez.tumblr.com/post/153369132853/me-needs-maka-to-come-up-with-her-alternate

fez : DESTRUCT-O-CAT. I DIED LAUGHING, I THINK I TOLD LIKE EVERYONE I COULD. INCLUDING ML FRIENDS LMAO. Originally Soul was gonna be lucky bug, then I realized no. He derp. And [I needed to] give Maka a reason to love him... accidentally? I need the crushing. And Maka was gonna be black cat b/c she is not French, no sirree. And then, well... Destruct-O-Cat. I almost squeezed that into a scene. Originally B*S and Maka were the ones who were gonna get littled.

Q: How'd you come up with Soul's kwami?

fez: Oooooh. I struggled? B/c I didn't want him to be an OC but he... definitely wound up being an OC. I considered using Wes but... you know... actual brother lmao. [He was] strongly inspired by Tikki for sure.

Q: Kid being Death's kwami was one of my favorite lil gems. At what point in planning did you come up with that?

fez: KIDDO HAPPENED ALMOST BY ACCIDENT. I was just trying to wrap up ch 8 and I realized Kiddo exactly follows the kwami name scheme. It was a Moment.

Q: How did you work out Soul's mom as a character? Did anything influence how you portrayed her?

fez: Ahhhhhh I never liked Mama Evans? Something about her feels like the Smother, in my head I mean. And like... man idk. Been dealing with Unpleasant Feelings at the state of the world, partly directed at oblivious rich people who just... don't get it. They think they're the sun, moon and stars but they really really aren't. I do think she came out flatter/more stereotypical than I would've liked but I also wrote her like... the week of posting rip. I vaguely wanted her to run into Shibusen and be like, ridiculously charmed. Enough to resolve her wanting Wes to Do Better For Himself, but it didn't happen :') I wish I had time to like... make her not so shallow, but I'm also not sure how I would've pulled that off. I mean she's intuitive she just... happened to be wrong about the maid lmao. I enjoyed writing that immensely, ngl. Random humor in the middle of this lady is nuts. She sees what she wants to I guess? Or she assumes. She thinks Wes likes the xxx so she... yeah. There's probably history involving bad first times and short ex relationships in there.

Q: Ahahaha omg which reminds me, that was such a different portrayal of Wes. Most people do write him as into xxx, how did you come to it?

fez: Ahhhhh man i just... I like uncommon interpretations of characters, and I like playing with Wes's character b/c he doesn't have a canon one, and I just thought... everyone makes him super different from Soul but what if he's really not? He's just a grown Soul who Soul thought had his shit together b/c he was so much older. He'd Learned how to be Perfect for his parents but like.... that doesn't mean he liked it. The thing about Soul and Wes going to separate colleges was deffo lifted directly from my college experience. I applied to my brother's uni but I didn't gun it b/c I knew my mom would move down with us if i got accepted and... I love my mom, she is much better than this version of Mama Evans, but No. Nooooo no no no no.

Q: Was there a scene you super struggled with writing or found easier than you thought??

fez: Uhhhh, I thought Soul and Maka would fight more in the library in ch 6, but they settled down pretty quick ahah. Almost too quick?? I was Nervous like... what? Is this okay? Are they being too logical? What's going on? I thought it would be +500 words of Whispered Library Fighting. Most of the action scenes slid past once I sat down to write them? I just didn't like writing them.

fez: Deleted scenes: so many reveal iterations, so many cat confesses iterations.

Q: Omg pls feed them to me, I loved the reveal.

fez: "'I’m in love with you, dummy,' Maka snaps, feeling her face burn." There's [also] a Soul POV ladybug-reveal iteration. It's... kinda long tho. Do you just.... want the doc? lmao: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11DbejHYa3Cow5frrf2yhO9zHRPac5Zqkv-gvuVD2BJM. [fez would like everyone to know that the doc is, in her opinion, messy ;D]

Q: You did multiple resbangs, how did you manage balancing art and writing?

fez: It helps to like... not have a job or school or anything. When crunch time came I just kinda gunned it. I got lucky that all my resbangs posted so late too, b/c it gave me more time to finish. [For] Dolly's I probably could've uploaded the sketches for all the pages, b/c those were done Super Early. Lining comics takes so long orz. I really love Anne's, we just had so many headcanons in common. Her Resbang was actually the easiest for me to work on. Whenever I worked on it I was like... dang I already have this bit done???? :thumbsup: Julie's I honestly wish I spent more time on b/c her resbang is gorgeous and emotional and mkaldsjfklsadf. I wanted to collab with amanda and do a song mv with her song like I did for Anne but n o p e. And then ofc I just buried myself in ML AU.

Q: I liked that Soul was ladybug.

fez: Ladybug Soul is my beb.

Q: That decision kinda bugs me. (I say it solely for the pun, it is a wonderful decision.)

fez: In hindsight I know it defeats the idea of female protag that ML has? Oh good, I was actually worried. But I just... ladybug Soul.

Q: I semi-wish Arachne would have used spiders.

fez: Haaaah yeah. I didn't want to diverge that much from ML canon, and I tried to nod to the spidery thing with her scene? I think I tried for web imagery there. I don't remember if i succeeded rip.

fez: Have some of my posting day struggles lmao:

fez: I am... a Mess™.

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Thanks so much for swingin’ by, fez! Stay tuned for more transcripts!

#AMA transcripts #resbang book club #rbbc #resbang

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