#Nero stop your huge brain is getting the better of me

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

jil have you ever thought about red's eating mannerisms? like, is he a messy eater or completely normal yet eats a fuck ton?

he's popular, he probably asked you to share lunch or dine together like two times in all your relationship because he doesn't want whoever recognizes him to ruin the moment. so you get to see him enjoying his food in peace at home<3

im at a terribly weak point this is so adorable for me to handle

im instantly rolling with the idea that he's a messy eater.... just now i thought about how cute it be that he'd rather let jaide witness him be a bit messy in his eating habits than to have people see them eat together in public since he's for sure very private about his relationship with her 🥺 he only wants her to see him at his most natural space because he trusts her that much and she doesn't mind it! in fact she's flattered he sees her that way 🥺🥺🥺 also this would encourage them to cook together a lot if they won't go outside..... i bet they both became better cooks just because of each other 😭😭😭😭😭 aueueyehheeha i can only imagine how much his cheeks rises in satisfaction over how delicious their homemade dinner is 💥💥💥💥 AEAUGH

[limitlessgojo]

Blood Bound: Red Strings of Fate (Ch 7)

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Descriptions of Blood

Previous Chapter: Speed of Sound

Next Chapter: Red Strings of Fate

Tags: Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Taglist: @lessie-oxj @rizzo-nero @whoreuc @fkngkumiko @isl3t @gojoussunglasses @onepotatostand-blog @s-t-f-u-b-i-t-c-h @sunaswife

Notes: If you want to be tagged for every update, please mention it in the comments below ty <3

Double Update today, because these two chapters go hand in hand. It didn't feel right to upload one without the other.

Chapter 7: Bird of Flame

You faced Todo off in a clearing. Everyone else was at the far side watching. “Just run away if it gets too much.” You worriedly said to Miwa and Mai pushing them back.

“It’s okay, I’ll hold off any attacks.” Noritoshi assured you. You beamed up at him, “Thanks senpai.”

“Someone’s being awfully friendly today.” Momo half coughed and half murmured out. Noritoshi just gave her the side eye.

As per your style of fighting, you stayed still if you did not know of your opponent’s cursed technique.

“I won’t immobilise you this time since we are sparring.” You called out to Todo. “Fine with me!”

You could hold out your protective space warping around you for several hours. You just had to make sure it was activated in the space around you.

Todo didn’t hesitate to start off with punches and kicks. Nothing moved you of course. 5 minutes passed with him getting nowhere. Is that all he has?

You narrowed your eyes, but lifted a hand to push him back into a tree. You manipulated its branches such that they were all pointing to him. He was about to hit them until he clapped his hands and suddenly, you were there.

Your eyes widened, barely having time to brace yourself as you guarded for impact. You hit the branches hard. “Shit.” Looks like you might have to use your extended techniques against him.

He was in front of you in a split second and you quickly moved to dodge. You tried to maneuver your way around him, but it was hard to pinpoint the exact origin of the hits as he kept swapping your positions before landing a hit.

Sometimes, when you brace for a hit, he doesn’t swap your positions. How annoying!!! Of course your spacial barrier is still active and taking the hits for you, but it does have its limits.

Moving at mach speed in a short distant range won’t help you too much as it’s better for transport rather than combat.

You breathed out low and slow, before channeling your concentration into your 6th sense. Spatial awareness. Faster and faster, you started bracing for his hits and pushing him back.

And when he was unprepared you lashed out with your hidden twin blade only for him to dodge it. You can’t deny that the 2nd year's have more experience than you in battle. And Todo's specialty is obviously close combat.

You had both blades out now quickly slashing at him dangerously. He avoids it and the slashes cut all the way to the trees behind him.

You gave in, sheathing your blades and turning around to recuperate but he was faster as he finally caught you by the arm. “I got you!”

You grinned. Who got who?

With one hand, you straightened 4 fingers out towards Todo and folded your thumb into your palm. “Extension cursed technique, focus range: Niflheim”. Your applied cursed technique slows down the movement of molecules in an enclosed area, forcing items to freeze.

A layer of ice covered Todo’s entire body. The branches that binded around him were also covered with ice, stretching behind him in an ice pillar.

You quickly released your hand from his hold and slowly breathed to the sky, releasing an icy smokey breath. You turned around with a slow smile. “Checkmate”

He struggled against the ice but, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That is way under 0 degrees celsius. You might lose a limb or 2 Todo senpai.”

He sighed, “I g-g-guh-give!” He could barely utter the words as his teeth chattered. You gently focused on raising the temperature, melting the ice off of Todo first. You couldn’t do it too fast or else he would combust.

As soon as he was free you reached out and applied your reversed cursed technique on him, healing the cold in his body. “Thank you so much for the match! It’s been a while since I felt that much fun in battle!” You excitedly said.

“Good game. As expected of my little sister, you’re very strong.” Todo patted your head. You stared, “Excuse me, whose little sister??”

“You should have buried him y/n!” Momo exclaimed. “Hear hear.” Mai chanted. Mechamaru just said, “I almost got buried by her once. She should have done the same with him.” You just laughed, “It’s okay, I’m satisfied with this.”

You turned to Noritoshi and he walked up to you and Todo went back. At this distance, the others couldn’t hear your conversation. “That was incredible.” He had a very proud smile on his face. “I hope you take our fight seriously as well. That’s all I ask of you.” He whispered.

“Of course I will senpai. But like with Todo senpai, I won’t use immobilisation techniques so we can spar properly okay?”

“Okay” he patted your shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before moving backwards. ‘Kamo clan, blood manipulation. They can manipulate their blood freely.’ you thought to yourself.

Your eyes zeroed in on his bow and arrows. The smell of blood was always on him, but you bet he had blood on those arrows. “Begin!”

He launched arrows at you only for you to stop them. Projectiles were the worst thing he could do. You frowned as you turned the arrows on him and sent them back. He dodged and shot more.

What on earth? This was so ineffective against yo-

He suddenly came from the side and punched you. Diversionary tactics dummy, you didn’t think about it.

You got pushed back from the force but stood your ground. He was insanely fast for a human. He is currently faster than Todo and any of the male cousins whom you’ve fought with.

It was a jarring experience. “Flowing Red Scale” He moved backwards, one eye wide open with a red blood x mark on it.

Your brain went into overdrive in a hurry to connect the dots while you defended against him. Blood. Red blood cells. Oxygen. He’s increasing his physical abilities.

You quickly lashed out with a double kick only for him to bring out a blood bag. “Blood manipulation: Crimson binding”. Blood strands wrapped around you and caged you in.

But you froze them and easily broke it in the process. You hurried to try and bring him down with mixed martial arts, not wanting to hurt him too much.

Sparring with him actually felt like a dance. You dodged and had an instinct as to where the next move would come from, and he was the same. Barely any hits landed on each other for a while.

Ah right, you promised to go hard on him. You put two hands out in a V shape, with palms facing him. Noritoshi’s eyes widened at the familiar hand signs. It’s the very first one you showed him.

“Tatsumaki” A huge horizontal cyclone hit him and forced him back. “Enhanced Gravity: Output level 4%”

“Aarghhh” Noritoshi groaned as he was forced to the ground. You didn’t notice his hands moving.

“Convergence! Piercing blood” a sudden fast stream of blood shot out and grazed your cheek. It would have been worse had you not moved your head aside. Noritoshi’s eyes widened as blood poured from the wound.

You quickly made tree branches hold his hands apart and forced him back onto the ground. You pointed both your twin blades at his head. “I give!”

You released your technique and knelt down. “Are you oka-”

“Are you okay? I hit your face!” He exclaimed in worry, hand hovering just over your cheek. You stared at him in amusement. “It’s a serious matter!!” he insisted.

You covered your face with one hand, then wiped off the blood to reveal a flawless cheek. He gaped, “Reverse cursed technique. I see. Good fight” He wheezed out.

"You actually hit through my defenses in battle. That was amazing Noritoshi senpai." You whispered in amazement. There was something different about the blood he manipulated.

His bond to it was far stronger than your hold over his blood. So if you tried manipulating his blood, it's a low chance that you could get it to attack him.

You can manipulate anything and everything, even at molecular levels to some extent. But you can't produce what's not there. There seems to be a limit to your manipulation over certain items.

"I still lost. Thank you for the match." He said.

You held his hand for the first time as you pulled him up, when suddenly a searing pain hit the inside of your wrist.

"Ouch!" You exclaimed while Noritoshi winced as well. You both pulled back your sleeves to see a large bird surrounded by flames just below the inner wrist on your right hand. Noritoshi had the exact same symbol, but it was in the inner wrist on his left hand.

You quickly pulled over both your sleeves to cover the markings, “Just say we both got wounds, let’s keep this a secret.” You pulled back and acted on purpose, “Good fight. You almost got me there.”

He naturally followed your lead, but there was a brightness to his eyes that told of something else. “.... Yeah you got me. I’ll do my best to catch up to you next time we spar.”

“What happened?” Utahime ran towards the both of you upon seeing you both flinch forward. “No, Utahime sensei we just got some scrapes that stung badly, nothing too bad.”

“I see. I have a first aid kit on hand, feel free to use it if you need to.” She said, and pushed you two back to where everyone else was.

You both stayed at the back watching the other students ask to spar with each other. Noritoshi quietly tugged at your sleeve, hidden from view with his own large and wide sleeves.

You tugged back twice on his sleeve and grabbed his hand to squeeze it. His hands were rough and calloused from fighting, but also had a tenderness and warmth from the way they tried to hold onto yours.

Both your marks flashed with heat when your hands touched. Noritoshi turned to you with all the world's curiosity in his face.

But you pulled back and put some distance between the two of you so it wouldn't look too obvious. "That binding technique that you did earlier was cool. Is it possible for you to manipulate the blood even after I freeze it solid?" You asked to try and divert the attention.

"Actually I haven't tried yet. But I should be able to as the main composition is still my blood." He admitted.

The remaining time left on the field was spent mostly on the others working on their cursed techniques against each other, and with you engaging in tactical discussion with the other students.

You all bid each other goodbye and went your separate ways. Except… Noritoshi mouthed "library" after he waved you off.

You lifted your eyebrows silently in agreement and walked back with the rest of the 1st year's.

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

[crow-in-a-teapot]

tower of nero spoilers

i have just finished the tower of nero. and before i go searching for other people’s thoughts and art and more of the characters i love so much, i want to write down some of my own thoughts because i know as soon as i delve into that ‘ton spoilers’ hashtag there are going to be complaints and criticisms and so much that i don’t want to hear, or essays that’ll make me upset, or things that’ll change my perception on the book (because on this website people really love to hate the trials of apollo).

i want to start with: i loved it. it didn’t feel earth-shattering or huge and momentous like some of my favourite riordanverse books (house of hades, the blood of olympus, the last olympian and maybe some of the magnus chase books take those pedestals for me) but it was satisfying. and i think it was satisfying because it in no way felt like an ending. whether because eventually rick will write that will-and-nico-go-through-tartarus-and-save-bob novella, or because we (or at least i) will continue writing and imagining and creating for this world i don’t know. he didn’t wrap up the story in a perfect little bow like ‘nineteen years later’, he simply put it on pause. gave us a glimpse of where every character was at at the end.

the only thing that makes me so angry and upset is that i did manage to get some spoilers for moments that i know would have been so good to experience for the first time if i hadn’t been spoiled for them. the moment where rachel mentions penguins in a mansion near her house, nico getting mental health advice from mr d, the fact that will and nico were going to be in the book for so much of the story, but the big thing was literally spoiled for me two days ago, it was the reason i sat down to read it as fast as possible because i was terrified of getting more spoiled and not being able to experience the moments for myself, was that piper had a girlfriend. i know that reading that for the first time would have been so cool and surprising, and the fact that when it came up for a moment in the last couple pages all i felt was disappointment because it was spoiled for me and because it was now tinged with whatever that person was saying about her having a girlfriend.

but i still had some warm fuzzy moments, the two parts where apollo thinks he’s going to die but nico comes up behind him - so good. impeccable. 

Leader Guy spat. ‘Now, I kill you.’

He raised his sword... and froze. His face turned pale. His skin began to shrivel. His beard fell out whisker by whisker like dead pine needles. Finally, his skin crumbled away, along with his clothes and flesh, until Leader Guy was nothing but a bleached-white skeleton, holding a sword in his bony hands. 

Standing behind him, his hand on the skeleton’s shoulder, was Nico di Angelo.

and

Nero raised his hand, ready to give the kill command, when behind me a mighty BOOM! shook the chamber. Half our enemies were thrown off their feet. Cracks sprouted in the windowsand the marble columns. Ceiling tiles broke, raining dust like split bags of flour. 

I turned to see the impenetrable blast doors lying twisted and broken, a strangely emaciated red bull standing in the breach. Behind it stood Nico di Angelo.

gods. poetic brilliance. i can’t believe i’m still a nico di angelo stannie in the year 2021. in five years i have not changed (ever since the tv show announcement last summer i have managed to morph into myself from 2017)

from here i’m not sure where to go next i kind of want to go through everything, except it’ll be more difficult than my tyrant’s tomb reaction because i wasn’t reading on a kindle and thus can’t just do funny little reactions to screenshots of quotes, so i’ll just skim through the book page by page and see what i can comment on (i’m not planning on doing analysis today, no thank you, just enjoying the end of my childhood and trying to squeeze as much out of it as possible)

i have an emotional attachment to mr. snake from the very first chapter, and am very upset that he’ll never get off on his baltimore stop and get to see his wife, lu had no reason to shoot and kill him like that.

that brings me to lu, i liked her, it was interesting to see how rick kind of brought in not only the overarching theme of abuse, but also people who let the abuse happen, i have more i could say on this i’m too lazy to right now, and i promised no analysis - or the fact that Lu had conspired to make the show non-lethal to spare Meg’s feelings rather than - oh, I don’t know - refusing to do Nero’s dirty work in the first place and getting Meg out of that house of horrors. 

And are you any better? taunted a small voice in my brain. How many times have you stood up to Zeus?

Okay, small voice. Fair point. Tyrants are not easy to opppose or walk away from, especially when you depend on them for everything.

the parallels to meg and lester heading to percy’s apartment, and then to camp half blood to the hidden oracle was so cool to read, every callback to the hidden oracle just there to remind us readers exactly how far apollo has come and how he’s changed; the entire chapter with sally, paul and estelle just felt sickly sweet, it just didn’t seem real how wholesome and good that family is, like i get why apollo broke down and just sobbed in that shower.

also rick really saying acab again in toa, i thought he was done after that elf cop chapter in magnus chase (the magnus chase series is a masterpiece) but apparently not, with A ‘good cop’ is still a cop... still a part of the mind game.

the grey sisters, i forgot about them completely but this threw me back into was it the sea of monsters when annabeth summoned them? i’m not sure, it could have been the lightning thief either, they really remind me of the disney hercules movie. the whole ganymede paragraph was gold, i love gods being canonically confirmed lgbt in the riordanverse. i also love the whole eye-tossing part - 

‘He will crush our eye,’ Anger cried, ‘if we don’t recite our verses!’

‘I will not!’

‘We will all die!’ Wasp said. ‘He is crazy!’

‘I AM NOT!’

‘Fine, you win!’ Tempest howled.

also, the explanation for why dionysus chooses to look the way he does was perfect, because it was something i often wondered about and wasn’t expecting to get an explanation for, and i imagine the whole mythological dionysus to look like.. well like a more feminine apollo i guess, beautiful in a gender non-comforming way.

Other Olympians could never comprehend why Dionysus chose this form when he could look like anything he wanted. In ancient times, he’d been famous for his youthful beauty that defied gender.

... 

In retaliation, Dionysus had decided to look and act as ungodly as possible. He was like a child refusing to tuck in his shirt, comb his hair or brush his teeth, just to show his parents how little he cared.

every scene with nico at camp just BREAKS ME, i would throw in screenshots of every damn quote but unfortunately, as said above, cannot and would rather not type every one; we’ll start with, obviously apollo confirming to him that jason is dead. 

He didn’t look angry exactly. He looked as if he’d been hit in the gut not just once but so many times over the course of so many years that he was beginning to lose perspective on what it meant to be in pain. He swayed on his feet. He blinked. Then he flinched, jerking his hands away from Meg’s as if he’d just remembered his own touch was poison.

ugh then will talking about how nico’s doing, confirming that he’s suffering with ptsd, mr d giving him advice, helping him sort though what voices in his head are real and which ones aren’t, then the paragraph that just recounts every horrific thing poor nico has been through, how will has to reassure him that he’s okay and ‘with friends’ when he wakes up after shadow travel

will’s kindness to apollo, buying him clothes, and apollo finding seymour the leopard’s head in his bed, put there by mr d aaaa AAAA A A A A A THE ORDINARY, EVERYDAY CAMP HALF BLOOD THINGS..

i could go on for years and years about how much i appreciate rachel having a big role in this book, and the visit to her apartment, everything, her art, the fact that she got what she wanted, she’s going to PARIS to study ART, she isn’t forced to be someone she’s not by her dad, and gets to be a big part of a demigod mission and not stand on the sidelines for once.

i love that her landscapes are still visions, that she still paints the quests demigods go on - the burning maze, jason’s funeral pyre, caligula’s ships; and how nico ~appreciates art~

‘And, hey, di Angelo -’ she pushed him playfully away from the canvas he’d been ogling - ‘don’t brush against the art! I don’t care about the paintings, but if you get any colour on you, you’ll ruin that whole black-and-white aesthetic you’ve got going.’

i. love. rachel.

WILL GLOWS!! THE HEADCANONS FROM LIKE FIVE YEARS AGO THAT YOU’D SEE FLOATING AROUND ABOUT HIM MANIPULATING LIGHT!! CONFIRMED!! CANON!! AMAZING

I AM  OBSESSED WITH THE TROGS, I LOVE THEM, THEY ARE GREAT, not gonna lie, i was expecting something more dramatic and spooky with how worried will was and how dionysus was going.. visiting the cavern-runners isn’t ♫ good for your mental health  ♫ but the little hat frog gremlins were a good addition. i like them very much and their funky little soup shenanigans. quoting the ghost king himself: trogs good. nice hats. (IM SORRY I KEEP MENTIONING HIM BUT I JUST) also how apollo starts wishing for breadsticks a s ajoke and theY STRAIGHT UP HAVE BREADSTICKS? HUH? WHERE DID THEY GET THE BREADSTICKS FROM??

yeah, i’m also still very much upset by every mention of jason grace, it’s funny how ever since his death in the burning maze i have grown to love him more and more and that’s not fun for me, for that boy to become one of my main comfort character’s and have his death and sacrifice and nobility mentioned every few chapters. i’m pretty sure i cried when he appeared to talk in apollo’s dreams, and this time the tears weren’t from the effort of keeping my eyes open and working for hours straight reading this book (i remember staying up until 2am to finish the sequel to beautiful, broken things, it was very much worth it)

‘All right, Jason. We miss you, though.’

ALSO. THE FACT THAT THIS KID. THIS CHILD. HAD TO THINK ‘BUT IF A HERO ISN’T READY TO LOSE EVERYTHING FOR A GREATER CAUSE, IS THAT PERSON REALLY A HERO?’ A KID ISN’T SUPPOSED TO THINK ABOUT THAT AND BE READY TO SACRIFICE THEMSELVES FOR THE GREATER GOOD,, i,, ugh,, he’s supposed to be finishing school and designing temples not being the perfect hero and soldier,, spain without the s,,

as @couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name said: ‘thinking about how ghost! Jason didn’t seem to understand why Apollo was so upset about his death because he’s been raised to believe a hero’s sacrifice is noble and his life doesn’t matter in the grand scheme and also if he doesn’t understand why the person who watched him get horrifically killed is so torn up over his death he probably doesn’t even realize his other friends are grieving him..’

IM SO UPSET THE ARROW OF DODONA IS DEAD D: IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS ALL THE FUNNIEST MOMENTS WERE BECAUSE OF THAT ARROW AND IT'S DEATH WAS SO SAD WTH LIKE WE FIND OUT HOW USELESS THE ARROW FELT AND HOW THE GROVE OF DODONA ALL THOUGHT IT WOULD BE CRAP AND WOULD FAIL APOLLO AND THEN ONCE WE FEEL BAD FOR IT, IT DIES??

the entire python battle was pretty grim, there is a part of me that's like because this is the last book series i would have loved say the magnus chase and kane chronicles gang in a giant battle with everyone like the battle of manhattan but even more dramatic, but even so, i did appreciate that python battle and the whole almost-falling-into-the-depths-of-tartarus thing.

him talking to artemis was cool, but JESUS: 'I turned and strode out of my room, trying to recall how the god Apollo walked.' like that HURTS. it was such a huge culture shock for apollo to go throught this huge character arc and be so human and understand the pain of others, to be around gods again who are so.. apathetic. also, zeus. 'Interesting how he put that: I had done him proud. I had been useful in making him look good. My heart did not melt. I did not feel that this was a warm-and-fuzzy reconciliation with my father. Let's be honest: some fathers don't deserve that. Some aren't capable of it.'

OKAY OKAY SO THE END?? CHIRON TALKING TO A CAT (BAST) AND A SEVERED HEAD (MIMIR) ABOUT SHARED PROBLEMS WITHIN THE PANTHEONS!! WILL AND NICO RECEIVING A PROPHECY FROM RACHEL TO GO TO TARTARUS AND SAVE BOB!! THE HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS, INCLUDING THALIA AND REYNA BEING BEST FRIENDS (qpr.. qpr..) HUNTING THE TEUMESSIAN FOX!! PERCY, ANNABETH AND GROVER, THE ORIGINAL TRIO, GOING ON A CHAOTIC ROAD TRIP TOGETHER!! - SO MANY STAND-ALONE SET -UPS PFSJSJSJ

okay quick word on the reunions at the end: funny little elephant visitation program with livia and hannibal. love that for them. calypso and leo's relationship seems rocky and complicated, but that's to be expected, i think even if they do get properly back together again it might not last long, because it does pretty much feel like a teenage relationship where the two aren't very compatible, but we'll see. hazel and frank are so funny with their gold plated necklaces. lavinia - tap-dance icon. almost cried at the mention of jason's temple-extension plan again. percy not being sure about what he wants to do in college is accurate and i like that that's left to be up-for-interpretation (rick does THE MOST for the fanfic writers pfsjsj). i am OBSESSED with aeithales, like i hate deserts so the burning maze setting is not my favourite but GOD that HOUSE, the vibes are off-the-charts. i'd love a house made of living trees that's also a greenhouse filled with dryads. meg gets a unicorn. that is so great.

i kind of wish the book hadn't ended with 'Call on me. I will be there for you.' because every time I imagine the friends theme song and i don't think that's the vibe he was going for, BUT i do love him talking to meg, that was genuinely emotional - 'You'll come back?' she asked. 'Always,' I promised. 'The sun always comes back.' ; i really wish it had ended with that, but i guess apollo does tend to break fourth walls and talk to the readers, like a lot of the protagonists of riordanverse books.

[julieandthefandoms]

Best Day Of Our Lives

A Jemma wedding fic featuring a Kitty reunion, married with children Kierartina, and Haline being cute together. It can also be found here on AO3 :) 

Also, a thank you to Kaitlin, @ineedadrinkorsleep, for allowing me to use her list of Kierartina baby names, you’re amazing!

Tagging @katie33333 @tessagraycarstairs @zafirafox4636 @fairchild-squad @lily-chen-deserves-better @ineedadrinkorsleep @older-brother-kit because I have a tag list now!

Julian straightened the collar of the suit. It was bright in shade, a thing of fire and gold. It was the kind of fire so bright it almost seemed to hold no color at all, leaving the shimmering runes custom to shadowhunter weddings to almost compete with the brightness of it. It was blinding, and Julian could admire the craftsmanship of the suit, tailored to near perfection. Julian could care less about the flashiness of the suit though. It wouldn’t matter whether he were wearing jeans, or even were covered in paint splatters. What mattered was that he was getting married to his best friend, Emma Carstairs.

For the longest time, he was sure he wouldn’t have this opportunity. He had thought he had sealed his fate on that day in Idris. The day after the Dark War, when he had asked the person he loved to be his parabatai. He was prepared to live a life of unrequited love, but by some stroke of luck, he was getting married to her. The bond had been broken, and they could be together. He could be happy.

A pang went through him as he thought back to those days, back when Livvy was still with them. She would've been wild with excitement to be there, to have planned it to perfection. Julian was almost surprised that the pain hadn’t dwindled over time, but there was still an ache as he thought of her. The feeling of loss never truly fades. He had enough space in his heart to love Emma, while still hurting from the loss of his sister.

Julian tugged at the bottom of the jacket once more.

“You look lovely, Jules.” He turned to spot his sister, Helen Penhallow Blackthorn, his suggenes, leaning against the doorframe, a bright smile on her face. She herself was dressed in a flowing gown barely brushing against the top of the floor. “We should probably get going though, you wouldn’t want to be late to your own wedding.”

~^*^~

Kit Herondale should have known better. It was bound to happen really, he was definitely pushing his luck after about the second or third wedding he’d been to, but he hadn’t expected it to be so sudden. It had all started earlier that year, when virtually every friend of Jem and Tessa’s had collectively decided to destroy Kit’s life, a simple one of sneaking Mina extra cookies and avoiding his problems, by forcing him to face all his problems at their weddings. And currently, he was faced with the person he was avoiding most.

Kit had somehow managed to skate by during most of the weddings though. Simon and Isabelle’s was first, Kit having managed to stay as close to the crowd as possible, and silently slipping away after the main portion of the ceremony to reduce his chances of getting involved in a rather awkward discussion. Only a few months had passed before Clary and Jace got married as well, Kit glimpsing a head of dark hair before bolting as soon as he could, claiming that he had to take care of Mina. In fact, what was doing was hiding in the library, pouring his heart out to his little sister.

“You’d think after 3 years my heart would stop beating so rapidly that I became concerned about my own health, but no,” Kit glanced at Mina, who was currently laughing at him, eyes half shut from joy.

She let out another giggle.

“How dare you find joy in my pain?” he said, dramatically laying a hand on his head and leaning back against the bookshelf, though the smile illuminating his face revealed his true intentions. “How can I go on now, betrayed by my own sister?”

Kit smiled at the thought.

Kieran, Mark, and Cristina’s wedding had been somewhat more challenging, him having been caught behind a huge oak tree by none other than Livvy Blackthorn, but he had somehow managed to convince her to tell no one, i.e. her twin brother, a.k.a. the person Kit was trying so desperately to avoid.

“Please, Livvy, don’t tell him I’m here,” Kit was pleading now, already on his knees, gazing up at the ghost above him.

Livvy rolled her eyes. “Fine, but only because I want you to do this on your terms. Remember though, my ship must be canon!”

“Your what?!-”

And that finally brought them up to this wedding, Emma and Julian’s to be more specific. Having been related to, however distant that relation may be, the bride had seemingly got the Herondale/Gray/Carstairs family (or as Kit liked to call it, the Herongraystairs family) a one way ticket to the wedding, and consequently, Kit facing the person he was dreading to meet again.

It had been going relatively well, he’d thought, the ceremony about to begin, and Kit quietly tucked into a corner. That was until Mina dragged him towards the table piled high with drinks, having spotted Max Lightwood-Bane, Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Tavvy Blackthorn, Gianna Blackthorn-Rosales, and Nico Blackthorn-Rosales (Cristina, Mark, and Kieran had Gianna and Nico a year before being married, and Mina instantly fell for them, claiming that they were her “best fwends”) playing near there, and Kit had thought maybe a drink or two wouldn’t hurt. He was severely wrong of course as Kit had failed to notice one head of dark hair standing not far from that very table.

Kit blamed Mina’s doe eyes, and his ability to fall for them instantly.

After his first drink, a voice had made Kit turn, causing him to end up where he was currently, nearly on the floor.

“Hello. I’d like to talk to you.”

~*^*~

Julian was bubbling with joy, a smile brightening his face as he was led to a platform, Helen by his side. He stopped at the top of the steps, turning to give Helen an appreciative nod and a smile. Julian took a sharp inhale as Emma walked around the corner, Cristina lending her off to the stage. All thoughts left him. She was breathtaking, wrapped in a gold silk gown that hugged her waist before flaring down to the ground. A sheer overlay on the silk skirt caught the brightness of the witchlight, complimenting the gold in her hair.

But it wasn’t only gold, was it? It was a beautiful mix of cadmium yellows, naples yellows, golds, yellow ochres.

She was beautiful, and Julian couldn’t help but think that he was the luckiest person in the world. As Emma reached the platform, she leaned in, a grin plastered on her face.

“I know, I look stunning.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a playful manner.

Julian shot back a nod. “It is your wedding, I’d expect no less.”

And with that, the ceremony began, Brother Enoch reciting a few words, before steles appeared in their hand. It passed by in a blur, and before Julian knew it, they were kissing. Time seemed to still, Julian thought he heard a crash somewhere in the crowd, a flash of blond hair blurring by the table, but he paid no attention to it. The room melted away, it was as though they, Emma and Julian, were the only two people in the room. It was perfect.

~*^*~

“HOLY-” Kit choked on his drink. He had forgotten how graceful shadowhunters were, how easily they could move without alerting anyone surrounding them. Unfortunately, that shadowhunter grace had apparently skipped a generation because Kit found himself clutching at the table for support, having nearly fallen from shock.

“Are you alright?” It was none other than Tiberius Nero Blackthorn, his arm outstretched. He was looking at him, and at that moment, all rational thought left him. He said something roughly equivalent to an audible keysmash before clearing his throat.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Kit brushed himself off, standing up as though nothing had happened. If you pretend to be confident, it won’t be long until you begin to feel confident as well. For the first time since the wedding fiasco began, he actually looked at Ty. He was taller now, Kit was surprised to see, though he supposed he shouldn’t have. Three years did a lot to change someone, he supposed, but those eyes were the same. A beautiful yet deadly storm churning above a sea. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Kit leaned against the table once more, this time a bit more suave and cool, and less panicky than the first.

“Why are you avoiding me?” It was a simple question, clear as day. Kit choked up a bit. “And why did you leave?”

All of a sudden, he was fifteen again, doing anything he could for Ty, the beautiful shadowhunter that had held a knife to his throat. The nephilim he would have done anything for. Years of suppressing his emotions didn’t prepare Kit for this moment, he doubted anything could have. Ty looked calm enough, but his hands were frantically twisting and unknotting a ball of pipe cleaners. He was nervous, Kit knew it, and so Kit blurted it out. He never could have told Ty a lie, even if he wanted to. Even after three years.

“Because I was hurt, and I was running away from what had happened,” Kit took a deep breath, as Ty nodded, understanding it. Kit, suspecting he was going to turn away, proceeded to continue talking, hoping to get a laugh, a smile, anything out of Ty. “Tessa thinks it was the Herondale dramatics though.”

Kit didn’t add the second part of what she said, “Running away from the person you love ‘for their own good’ is alarmingly common among Herondales,” but Ty let out a laugh, bright and brilliant, so it was a win in Kit’s book.

It was an amazing laugh, low and lovely, beautiful to hear.

“Tessa knows Herondales well.”

“She does.”

The silence stretched on for a moment, though it was a comfortable one. A silence in which both parties simply enjoyed the presence of the other.

The soft piano finally registered in Kit’s mind. A crazy idea formed in his head, one his fifteen year old self would banish to the darkest corners of his brain.

“May I have this dance?”

Turned out he wasn’t the only one to have that idea, Kit thought as he accepted Ty’s hand. An impish grin spread across Kit’s face.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

~*^*~

Soft music began playing from the piano in the corner, Jace Herondale shooting a wink at Helen as she rolled her eyes at his antics. A smile rested upon her face, as Helen looked at her brother and Emma, both beaming joy, foreheads together as they swayed to the music. It was so genuine, and beautiful, she couldn’t stop grinning even if she wanted to. She’d already missed so much of her family’s life, exiled on Wrangel Island, that she was glad to be here, sharing this moment with them.

And how lovely it was, gold decorations pinned to the walls, tables lined with dishes and drinks. Kieran, Mark, and Cristina were on the sides, cooing at their third child, Emelia, an adorable baby girl born only a few months ago. Helen spotted Ty dancing with Kit by the drink table, both blissfully unaware of the children bouncing about close to them. Dru was at the center of the ballroom with Jaime Rosales, gown flaring as she was spun.

Aline leaned into her, resting her head upon Helen’s shoulder. She was stunning, in a wine red gown with glittering gold accents, dark hair brushing against her back. Helen couldn’t stop but think about how lucky she was, to have someone so beautiful, so wonderful.

“Young love, it’s beautiful isn’t it?”

Her wife was most certainly correct, and Helen agreed wholeheartedly.

“It really is.”

[gio-is-writing]

Hello!! Can I request a college au Risotto with an art major s/o?? Maybe With Risotto modelling for her?? Thank you...

REQUEST: Hello!! Can I request a college au Risotto with an art major s/o?? Maybe With Risotto modelling for her?? Thank you...

When i tell you i scREAMED when i saw this request. To this anon, bless. Hope you like it as much as I like Risotto’s tiddies😩

Pairing: Risotto Nero x Fem! Reader

Warnings: College AU!

PERFECT MODEL

Looking for the perfect model was never easy, (Y/N) was very strict when it came to looking for someone to make art from. So when she got introduced to Risotto Nero, a criminology major, she was stunned.

Risotto was tall, handsome, had unique eyes and beautiful white hair. He was unique, she thought.

She didn’t actually asked him to model for her right away, he was an intimidating man and she was quite intimidated. Their relationship started to grow from friend from a friend to being actual “friends” in their unique way. He was not much of a talker but he nodded at her direction when passing by as a what she assumed would be a greeting.

Other days he simply seated at her table when at the library (even when there were some tables empty), he would sometimes happen to be passing by her building and stop for a little conversation. Little things like that showed her that he trusted her as a friend even if he was mostly alone.

What he luckily missed to see was the little sketches she had of him, when in the library or cafeteria. It wasn’t a stalker kind of thing but Risotto had unique figures and (Y/N) just HAD to sketch into paper.

Nearing the final weeks of the semester, (Y/N) was assigned to do one final art project. A big one at that. She had a few ideas running in her mind but none of them seemed to really catch her full interest. She was getting frustrated that nothing seemed interesting or attractive enough but then he walked into the room.

Risotto looked around when he spotted her. He walked slowly around some tables until he dropped his bag right beside’s hers. A lightbulb lighted in her brain, Risotto was the perfect model for her project!

“Hey” he simply said

“Oh hi Risotto, how you doing?”

“Finals” he took a thick book from his bad and started going through it.

God, she forgot he also was on finals. She felt like asking him would be distracting for him and probably a burden. She was debating on this thoughts without knowing she was glaring at the poor man across her, lost in thought.

“Are you okay?”

Her face turned a bright red as she came back into reality and noticed her actions. She nodded and turned back into her sketchbook, still thinking on what to do.

“Something is bothering you”

“Ah!” she stammered “No! You know, final projects and stuff”

“Is there a way I can help?”

Yes! her mind screamed at her to say yes but the guilt of taking his time while on such stressful days was stopping her, then again maybe, just maybe he could help.

“It’s just... they assigned me a final project and I don’t know what to do” she looked anywhere but him

“What is it about?”

“I have to create a 30”x20” painting”

“Hm, that’s pretty big”

“Yeah...”

Silence took over as she returned to the little doodles on her book, she wasn’t really making anything but weird figures

“And what do you plan on painting?” he suddenly asked

“I have a few ideas I just need a...” she didn’t want to say the word that would probably hint that she indeed needed his help “a...”

“A model” he finished her sentence

“W-well yeah”

Her pencil tapped against the poor notebook in a nervous matter, she didn’t want to ask him directly to be her model for her project, would that be awkward right?

“I could model for you if you’d like”

“I- I don’t want to take your time, it’s finals and y-“

“It’s all the same shit I know” he interrupted and shrugged closing his book “I can do it”

“Then, that... would be great”

“Cool”

They decided to meet in one of the private studios on her building that saturday so they could have some privacy and quiet. Days before she visited her local craft store to buy all the things she might need like paint, brushes and the huge canvas. Having all her stuff ready, the big day arrived. Everything was settled in the studio, a few chairs she moved around with a fabrics she owned hanging from them. She also brought with her a little speaker to play some music so time passed by quickly. The setting was already looking great and having Risotto would be make it perfect. As in cue, the man knocked on the door with the number he was indicated. (Y/N) welcomed him with a warm smile and pulled him in.

She explained what her idea was to recreate in a painting the famous statue of “Barberini Faun” with a few modern twists to it. Risotto wore a fitted black shirt with black jeans, perfect for details. As he sat down, (Y/N) moved all over to place his arms and legs in the perfect position and lost in concentration she didn’t notice the close proximity of their bodies.

After achievements the perfect pose, Risotto suggested to play some Metallica music and since he was the guest model, she complied. She got to work right away with sketching the siluate and the details before going in with the colors.

She was so into her art that she failed to notice Risotto’s eyes on her every move. He admired how her brows furrowed in concentration, how she changed between pencils and brushes to find the perfect stroke. The apron she wore slowly but surely gained a few new stains but she couldn’t care less and Risotto was lost in her. The pure dedication into her project was beyond that, it wasn’t just a piece of art to be due. It was a piece of art to impress and remember.

“You look so pretty when concentrated” he mumbled

“Sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing” he chucked

Hours felt like minutes, even she was impressed of how fluently it all went down when it took usually a few days. Today she felt trully inspired. As she gave the finals details on the edges and background, Risotto finally was given the green light to move again, he felt a little cramped but he was more excited to see the final product. She smiled giving one last stroke and nodding; satisfied.

“Come see it!”

The tall man walked around the canvas to see the final painting. He was in awe, it was like the original statue but instead of the man he saw in her reference photo it was him. His red eyes, his white hair, his big hands and thick thighs, it was all him. The background was all kinds of dark colors giving it a gothic look, and constrasting his light features. He loved it.

“It’s amazing (Y/N)”

She smiled brightly up at him, jumping from excitement. It turned out better than she ever imagined.

“Thank you so much for being my model Risotto”

“Anytime” his lips stretched upwards in a smile and she swore she would melt.

“Now, how about I...” she fumbled with one of her brushes “treat you some lunch”

“That sounds good to me”

[labyrinthof-fan-fiction]

Two Ships Passing in the Night {1}

Series Masterlist

Spock x fem!Reader then Bones x fem!Reader

Second Person POV reader named because typing y/n is driving me nuts.

AOS

Summary: You would never admit your feelings for Spock, even at the expense of your own heart. You had known going into this relationship that it was casual, but you hadn’t expected the consequences that stemmed from this relationship or where life would take you.

A/N: I told you all that I would make it back to Star Trek again. This one has taken on a mind of its own and morphed in ways I was not planning.. OOC at times. Trying something different with the imagine style. Giving the OC a name and all that but writing in second person. I saw this in a post somewhere about people hating y/n, which if I’m honest. I do too. I barely picture myself in inserts and create a different character and read it from their point of view. Let me know what you guys think.

Warnings: Mentions of abortion, pregnancy, minor swears, mentions of injury.

Word Count: 1,223

You had fallen in love with Spock. You knew that much, even after you had agreed with him that it was nothing more than physical. For you that had changed, and you damned yourself for it. Then the battle happened, the betrayals, the destruction of Vulcan. Everything changed, you just didn’t realize how much until you were lying in a medical bed.

The Enterprise crew was shaken after the battle with Nero. You found yourself in an unfamiliar medical room, it was a hospital. You tried to take in everything, until Doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy walked through the door. The two of you had become close friends, thanks to your mutual tolerance of Captain James T. Kirk. As a member of command you often found yourself wanting to throttle the man, Leonard just generally had that feeling. It lead to a great deal of bonding between the two of you. It had all started when you walked into the medbay, arm slung around Jim, holding him upright.

“Look, Bones, she can carry me.” Jim said, his head lolling a bit, Leonard glanced up looking at the injuries on the Captain as you set him in a medical bed.

“Finally, someone who can kick your ass.” Leonard muttered, winking to you before starting to work on Jim.

Leonard was shaken as he entered the hospital room. You believed that he had been through more than the rest of the crew. He would never admit it, but healing people would take its toll on him, especially when he would not be successful.  His hazel eyes meeting yours, for moment they held the softness you were used to, but they hardened quickly.

“What in the hell did you think you were doing putting yourself in danger?” He snapped, closing the door of your hospital room, his eyes alight with a rage that he normally reserved for Jim.

“My job?” You asked, your arm in a sling, your eyes wide as the doctor began to huff.

“Your job…..you think this is about your job?” Leonard asked, his eyes searching your face, quickly flicking back and forth. Looking for some kind of reaction from you.

“Bones, what has you all worked up?” You winced as he sat next to you on the bed.

“Darlin’, have you noticed anything odd with yourself lately?” He asked gently.

You raised an eyebrow at the man in front of you. “Being in the middle of an intense battle and witnessing a planet’s destruction….. Yeah, nothing to make me feel weird lately.”

Leonard sighed, “Jen, listen to me. The past few months, have you felt different, physically?”

You sighed, trying to think of something you had noticed. I had my heart broken, but you know that. “Bones, just spit it out. Am I dying tomorrow? I’ll have to get my dress uniform pressed if that’s the case.”

Leonard groaned. “Goddamnit Jen, you’re pregnant.”

You froze. That couldn’t be right. You couldn’t…… Yes, you could, very much so, be pregnant. You stared at him. “Bones……” You began.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell anyone, at least anyone from the crew. The baby’s fine. You’re four months along. We’re going to need to get you started on supplements to manage the Vulcan genetic needs and keep you safe.” He said softly, his hand reaching out to yours on the bed. His thumb stroked the back of your hand.

“Thank you.” You whispered.

“No problem, but you should tell him.” He began. “He deserves to know he is going to become a father.”

You sighed, he was right. Which you did not want to admit to him. “He’s going to Vulcan. He told me yesterday. He came here to say goodbye.”

“He might stay if he knows.” Leonard tried to convince you.

“No, his mind is made up. There is no trying to change his mind.” You said, thinking about the man in question. He was determined to be a part of rebuilding his planet. He was driven, which was one of the qualities that had attracted you to him. You had slept together once, he had needs, you were willing, and that was enough.

Knowledge of the child you were now carrying was jarring for you. He wanted to aid with Vulcan, as a young male of the species he had felt that he could aid in the repopulation of the species. His words, which now felt odd to you with the circumstances, but the child would be 75% human. The 25% of Vulcan genetics probably weren’t enough to consider the child to be a part of the New Vulcan. You knew that Spock had a tough time being half human. You weren’t sure you wanted to subject your child to that scrutiny. Your brain continued to spin at rapid speed, you were finally pulled out of your thoughts by Leonard’s voice.

“Jen, are you here?” His hand had moved from yours and come up to your face.

“Yeah, I’m here.” You whispered.

“You have options.” Leonard said, his hand leaving your cheek. “Adoption is better than it ever was. Abortion….” His voice dropped off as you flinched. “Darlin’ it’s options, I’m not going to tell you what choice to make. This is all up to you. As a doctor, I have to tell you the options.”

You glanced up, meeting his blue eyes. “I’m going to keep it.” You answered.

He nodded, something you couldn’t recognize in his eyes. “We’ll get you started on supplements, get you in for OB/GYN services. We’ll need to see what we need to do to get you back on the Enterprise. We might have to hire another doctor…”

You glanced up at him. You hadn’t told him, you hadn’t told him. In the few days before you were transferred back into his care, you guessed that he had fought with the hospitals to be in charge of the Enterprise crew’s care. “Yes, to the first two.” You murmured.

“The first two?” He asked.

“I’m not coming back to the Enterprise. I was offered to be captain of the Defiance. Given the circumstances, I think I’m going to take it.” Leonard remained silent, waiting for you to continue. “It’s a diplomatic ship. There will be less danger than a five year exploratory mission.”

Leonard sighed. “I won’t deny that there is definitely a greater deal of safety on that mission. But, that could just be due to you being the captain.” He smirked.

“Leonard McCoy, are you saying bad things about the great James Kirk?” You joked.

“Considering that most of the crew is in a medical bed, I’d think I have a lot of bad things to say about James Kirk right now.” He grumbled, “I will miss you though.” He added.

“I’ll miss you too, Bones.” You answered, reaching out and lightly squeezing his hand. He held your hand for a moment longer than necessary and released it with a sigh.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Captain.” He rose from your bed and made his way to the door, he closed the door behind himself, letting out huge breath he had been holding. He glanced back at you, in your hospital bed, one arm in a sling, the other hand resting on your abdomen and he couldn’t stop the pang in his chest as he watched you.

Part 2

[skvaderarts]

Soliloquy Chapter Five: Adrift

You can check out the Masterlist Here for more links to places to read!

Otherwise, you can read the new chapter below. Enjoy!

And sorry it was late today! Family got int he way!

Chapter Five: Adrift 

Note: Once again, Mallovarwen and Skylarmorgan1899 are my emotional support reviewers, and reading your comments always puts a smile on my face. Thanks a bunch! I’m always happy to read everyone’s comments and feedback, so feel free to send them my way. I don’t care if it’s just a smiley face emoji. Now back to the story!

The overhead fan that hung from the double-height ceiling spun lazily as it wafted barely chilled air throughout the front office. A nearly finished box of pizza sat next to a pile of now negligible utility bills and empty drink bottles on the desk. Despite the fact that the music was still booming loudly throughout the space, Dante had slumped onto the front desk, his arms hanging over the far side facing the front door. The Youngest Son of Sparda had dozed off shortly after his troublemaking older brother and nephew had vacated the premises. It hadn’t been until they left that he realized how much he needed a good nap.

At seemingly the precise moment that Dante entered deep sleep, the front double doors slammed open and knocked against their respective sides of the wall. Dante jolted slightly at the sound but didn’t make an effort to raise his head and see who had just come into the building. He already knew. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Not by a longshot.

“So you both made it back, hu,” Dante inquired, the desk muffling his speech as he laid face down on it,” I was starting to think that Nico had finally crashed the van and killed you ya.”

Standing in the doorway was none other than Nero and Vergil, the two of them looming over Dante from across the room like gargoyles. Nero crossed the room and leaned over the desk, trying to rouse Dante from his restful state. The older man didn’t exactly feel like snapping out of his groggy delirium when Nero probed him, however.

Nero stood back and shook his head. The gravity of the time constraints they were under made him feel uneasy, to say the least. “Come on, get your ass up. We need to get going!”

Dante rolled his head to the side to make blurry eye contact with the younger descendant of Sparda. What was he going on about now? He then glanced over at the clock in another part of the room, exhaling in discontent. “And where the hell are we supposed to be going at almost ten at night?” Dante asked in a mixture of distaste and disinterest. He had been taking a perfectly good nap and now it was ruined.

From his place standing against the far wall of the shop next to the now-closed doors with his arms folded across his chest, Vergil chimed in. “Apparently, to Fortuna. I would have never seen myself going back there, but here we are.”

Dante sat up at his brother’s statement, now more curious and perplexed than irritated at them both. “And why would we go there?”

By this point, Nero was pacing aimlessly in front of Dante’s desk. He was not accustomed to being this out of his depth in a situation, and the time pressure only made things worse. At least when his arm had been cut off, there were more definite variables in the situation. Like the guarantee of pain, suffering, and the risk of bleeding to death. But using some sort of arcane anchor to pull a soul from Purgatorio, or limbo, or hell, or whatever this place was called and risking basically everything? Everything about this situation was supremely stress-inducing. He barely understood the concept of what they were even going to use the book for when they got it. All he knew is that they needed it because it was an item that V clearly cherished and that made it vital to this situation. And somehow it had made even less sense when he had tried to explain things to Nico. Magnolia would have to explain it to her later.

Clearly realizing that his hypertension riddled son wasn’t going to answer his brother’s question, Vergil interjected again. “We need to recover something important and we have a rather short window of time to accomplish our goal.”

Setting aside the fact that Vergil has just used the word “our” for probably the first time in their entire time that Dante had known him, the youngest Son of Sparda stood up at his desk and stretched, yawning. After he had cracked all of his bones, Dante shoveled down the last sliver of pizza in the box on his desk and turned back to face his clearly disgusted twin. “Alright, so how are we gonna get there? Doesn’t the ferry stop after dark?”

Nero nodded. “The last one runs in less than an hour. Which is another reason you need to get your ass in the van so we can go before we miss it!”

Dante chuckled under his breath at Nero’s comment. He was ever the firebrand of the family, no doubt about that. He didn’t respond, but he did decide to reach back and grab his blade off of the back wall. While Fortuna was relatively a cakewalk after the events of the last while, it was still better to be safe than sorry. “Alright, but this better not be the day she decides to drive through a building or something. I’m in enough debt as it is.”

Vergil raised an eyebrow slightly at the statement. “I should look into that one this is over. But Nero is not incorrect. Time is of the essence.”

As the eldest Son of Sparda turned and headed out the door Dante visibly paled. Nero shook his head and snickered as he walked towards the front door with his uncle. “200 bucks says he’s going to beat the living shit out of you when he finds out how far in debt you are, Dante.”

Dante shook his head and passed through the threshold of the front property. “Considering the fact that I still owe Patty those ten ice cream cones, making a bet with me isn’t going to do you any favors.”

Nero mulled over the comment for a moment in confusion before deciding that he’d just ask another time. Right now, they had much more important things to take care of.

~-~

To say that Vergil’s brilliant plan to simply use their Devil Triggers to fly to Fortuna instead of just taking the ferry had been a bust would be a gross understatement. As a general rule, none of them were willing to, under normal circumstances, reveal their true nature to innocent bystanders (unless you counted V…), but there had been no inconspicuous places to trigger at the waterfront, and doing so in the van was an explosive accident waiting to happen, so they had been forced to board the vessel. It wasn’t a huge ferry since cars weren’t exactly used commonly in Fortuna, but no one was going to comment on Nico’s driving abilities or the fact that she was probably the only person going to this island who knew how to fix a car. The vessel was mostly used to transport goods back and forth between the island and the mainland, but it hadn’t taken much effort to get on board at the last minute once one of the former had recognized Nero. For better or worse, seemingly everyone on the island knew who the young white-haired man was. This just happened to be one of the only times that that had been a beneficial thing.

Given the circumstances, Nico was the only one excited to be returning to Fortuna. The young woman missed Kyrie’s cooking and it had been a little while since she’d had the opportunity to terrorize the little ones. Before today, she and Nero had been out of town checking on things in Redgrave city, and before that, they had been out of town doing a mission for a client in Enamel City. Things had been tricky lately. After everything that had happened, the local government on the mainland had addressed the public, announcing an investigation into the matter. Catching the eye of the local authorities didn’t seem like a great idea. But they had left Fortuna alone, at least for the time being.

Nero leaned on the rail looking out across the water. The young devil hunter let out a steadying sigh. Given the fact that they were on the last boat for the night and were going to have to stay the night on the island, it was best that he calm down now as to not upset his family when he arrived at home. The boat would be docking soon, so he had come here to enjoy a last moment of reprieve before they disembarked.

As if carried forward with the breeze, Nero suddenly felt another presence near him. The young descendant of Sparda snuck a glance over his shoulder only to see Vergil walk past him. His father leaned against one of the nearby poles, leaving ample space between them. But somehow Nero could tell that despite the distance between them, Vergil had come here to say something. Or maybe he was just losing his grip and Dante had gotten on his nerves again. Either way, he didn’t spare it much thought. After all, he was trying to relax, and what could be better for his state of mind right now than salty sea air and solitude?

“... So who is Kyrie?”

Nero could practically feel the nerves in his brain pop lose and the neurons die as his brain came to a screeching halt. Vergil seriously wanted to ask him about that right now? This was the furthest from a relaxed topic that he could get at the moment.

To Nero’s continued horror, Vergil briefly smirked before turning slightly away from him. He no longer needed his young son to answer the question. The implications of their relationship were written across his now blush covered face.

Vergil stepped away from the pole and slightly closer to Nero, even if only by a few feet. He folded his arms and leaned over the railing, quietly captivated by the black sea before him. In a way, they reminded the eldest twin of his time in the underworld. Although not quite as luminescent, the mirror shine on the water’s surface was reminiscent of the quicksilver river that Dante had so foolishly questioned if he could drink from earlier that same day. Vergil shook his head silently. Dante would be dead within a few hours if left to his own devices in the underworld.

Nero rubbed his neck in discomfort before looking out across the water again. Vergil couldn’t make eye contact with him if he was faced out across the water sea. Or so he presumed. In all honesty, Vergil’s immense strength and power made Nero question just what he was capable of. He hadn’t forgotten how powerful Urizen had been and he never would. “She’s my, um… girlfriend. Why?”

The younger man hadn’t intended his response to come off so awkward. As he watched Vergil nodded in amused satisfaction, he decided that the best way to get out of this conversation and reclaim his now tarnished reputation was to redirect the question.

“Anyway, while we’re talking about family, where the hell is my mother? Do V and I even have the same parents?”

Despite the fact that Nero didn’t ask the question with any level of malice in his voice, Vergil seemed like he wanted to avoid his son at all costs. He leaned further over the rail, seemingly keying into Nero’s avoidance method and using it to his advantage and stayed quiet. Nero wasn’t sure if he was being ignored by his father or was thinking, but he decided to give Vergil a few more seconds before he got confrontational about it.

Vergil shifted and stood back up straight, his hands resting on the rail. He spared a glance at Nero, half looking at him but still not fully facing him. Nero gave him a sideways look, insinuating that he was still waiting for an answer and that he wasn’t exactly bursting with patience. After an awkward moment that felt more like a standoff, Vergil turned to full-face Nero. Despite his discomfort, the eldest Son of Sparda had never been one to back down from anything, even in situations when it most suited him. Call it a fatal flaw, but it was simply the way he had always been. At least as an adult. “The two of you have different mothers... And I have no idea where they currently are.”

Nero nodded slowly, quietly taking in the information he had just been provided. He was not shocked that Vergil didn’t know where either of them currently lived. After all, he had been in the underworld for probably as long as Nero had been alive. It made sense that he didn’t exactly have them on speed dial. Knowing Vergil, he probably didn’t even use a phone. But that did raise a few questions, some for now and some for later.

“... So do you know which one of us is older, then? Or did you even know you were related before all this bullshit started?” Nero asked sarcastically as he unfolded his arm and placed his hands in his pockets. He was starting to see why his uncle never seemed shocked when his older twin told him something else despicable or unbelievable that he had done. Although, this didn’t seem quite like the other times. Nero couldn’t quite place what it was. Maybe it was his father’s demeanor, his reluctance to speak on the matter, or maybe what he had said back at Magnolia’s house had changed his view towards him a bit, but Nero couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Vergil might actually regret what he had done to the two of them. He wasn’t sure if the eldest Son of Sparda was capable of apologizing, but Nero was willing to be surprised.

Vergil seemed to be becoming used to Nero’s little jabs at him, as the comment didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest. “I knew about him long before I knew about you, but that is... an exceedingly complicated matter for another time,” Vergil glanced in the direction of the van where Nico and Dante currently resided,” As for your second question, you’re younger. I’ve known his mother longer than yours.”

The eldest Son of Sparda paused for a moment, giving his next words careful thought. “... I will look into their locations after this is done. I make no promises.”

As if on cue, the horn for the ferry blew, signaling that it was time to disembark. Vergil headed back towards the van. It seemed that this conversation was done for now. Nero seemed to understand that and opted not to press the issue, for now, opting to head back to the van instead. After all, the ferry was going to dock and then return to the mainland again, with or without them on it. They needed to go. After all of this magic and mayhem was behind them, they would have all the time in the world to talk. That would be the time for concrete answers. As the sun fully fell behind the water blanketed horizon, one thing was certain. A reckoning was coming.

OMG, I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS IS SLIGHTLY LATE!! It’s just past midnight, but family matters came up, so I had to set aside my writing for the majority of the day. Also, this is a shorter chapter than normal by about 1k words or so. My bad! The next chapter is going to be much longer though. Much, much longer. And a lot harder to write lol! But look forward to Friday. This chapter is going to be fun hehe! And once again, thank you for your lovely comments!

[nero-spardas]

interview - nero sparda.

title: interview.

pairing: nero sparda x reader.

word count: 1,628

warnings: cursing.

summary: you had no desire to interview the demon hunter who helped save the world from a huge tree. 

author’s note: posted on ao3 as well!

The moment you were assigned to interview the young Demon Hunter, you couldn’t help but laugh. You had heard all about the situation on the news – demons spewing from a tree, the military becoming unable to kill them, the population downfalling. It was a nightmare and something you only thought existed in Hollywood movies. Obviously, you were wrong. 

You had argued with your boss for hours, explaining to him you had zero interest in interviewing the young boy. That was the truth, too. Why not assign someone like Shaun, the new reporter who sat across from you who had Star Wars posters hung in his cubicle? He would be more than thrilled to get into the sci-fi realm of the real world. You, on the other hand, were more focused on the lifestyle aspect of the newspaper. You wrote daily columns for housewives who had nothing better to do than drink red wine, host book club meetings, take Xanax tabs, and pick up their kids from soccer practice. You were fine with that, too. 

When your boss threatened to have you fired if you didn’t do this interview, you knew the assignment was final. You had no choice, so you packed up your laptop, your signature notepad, and you went to your car. The entire car ride, you grumbled to yourself about how much of an asshole your boss was and when you finally arrived at the Demon Hunter’s house, you stayed in your car for a few minutes. You stared at the front door, leaning back in your seat while pondering over why you had been assigned to this. There were plenty of other reporters who were more than qualified for this; why did your boss have to pick you? Letting out a sigh, you finally exited your vehicle as you grabbed your bag, before ambling to the front door. 

You rang the doorbell. You weren’t sure what you were expecting, truth be told. The kid knew you were coming – it had been a planned interview, and according to your boss, the kid had been reluctant to do the interview. In fact, his roommate had taken the phone from him and was the one to solidify the interview. 

This was a mistake, you thought to yourself and right as you spun around on your heel, the front door opened. 

“Are you the reporter?” His voice is muffled, a bowl of pasta in his hand as he keeps the door open with his foot. Oh, great – real classy, you think yourself. The temptation to roll your eyes is heavy, but instead, you turn back around and nod. 

“That’s me. [Y/N] [L/N], from the Daily Reporter.” You extend your hand, ready to shake his. The first thing you notice are his eyes – they’re an icy blue color and they’re mesmerizing. They almost don’t look real as if they’re a pair of contacts, but you know they aren’t. His hand shaking yours brings you out of your thoughts, his brows furrowing. You must’ve been staring. Shit. 

“Yeah, cool. Let's just get this over with.” He said, keeping the door open as you walk through. 

The house was small and plain. Empty enough to look new but full enough to look as if people actually lived in it. According to your boss, the kid and his roommate were hardly ever home. They ran their own business through a van, traveled often, and this was the only chance for an interview you had. Your eyes scanned quickly over the house, taking it all in. 

“We can do the interview wherever,” He spoke before taking another bite of his pasta, stepping in front of you. Your eyes looked over his shoulder, gazing into the living room. 

“The living room is fine.” You gesture behind him, offering a smile in his direction. 

The Demon Hunter led the way, allowing you two to get set up in the living room and get comfortable. Once you had your laptop pulled open and your recorder set on the coffee table, a question dawned upon you. 

“Is your roommate around? I know she was the one who wanted the interview to happen –”

“Nico’s working on the van – But I’m sure you know all about that.” He dragged his final words out, a hint of annoyance dancing behind them. Setting his bowl down on the coffee table, his gaze met yours. His facial expression explained it all: he was not excited about this. You raised your eyebrows, leaning back into the cushions. 

“Look, kid – I get it. Your roommate sets up an interview for you, you don’t wanna do it but you’re forced to. I don’t wanna be here either, but you gotta suck it up. It’ll give you some publicity and who knows, maybe it’ll help get your business going.”

He scoffed, his eyes rolling. “Trust me, I don’t want any more business calls after all this.”

“You fought a tree –” You noted, watching his eyebrows raise. He almost looked offended, his facial expression becoming even more displeased. 

“You don’t even know what happened, do you?” He asked abruptly, cutting you off. Vexed chuckles followed his words, his head tilting to the side. “Do you even know my name?” 

“I – Look – Of course I know your name.” You stammered, your brain going wild. Oh shit, what was his name? You gulped, running a hand through your hair; it was a nasty habit you had whenever you got nervous. 

The demon hunter scoffed before standing up, his lips pressing themselves together. “I knew this was a bad idea and not fucking worth it.” 

His name dawned on you at that moment. “Nero, please sit back down.” You pleaded, your [E/C] orbs staring up at him. Your tone was laced with sympathy, a tactic you had learned in school. You needed to act as if you sympathized with the interviewee; it would give them the feeling they needed to open up about their experience. 

The moment you said his name, his gaze met yours. Nero’s eyebrows furrowed and for a second, he looked as if he was contemplating sitting back down. Silence filled the entire living room, your gazes never drifting away from one another. It felt like an eternity and it gave you the chance to really look at his eyes again. They looked like shards of ice, they were so cold and yet, so warm at the same time. “You really have no idea what happened, do you?” He finally asked, his facial expression dropping to one of curiosity. 

“Honestly, no. I have no clue and to be frank, I really didn’t want to come here today.” You giggled quietly, your cheeks turning a light pink color. “I write the lifestyle columns for the paper. I don’t write about gigantic trees threatening humanity typically.” You quipped, shrugging at your own words. 

You could swear, you saw his lips curve into a slight smile for a quick second; as if he had gained some amusement from your honesty. A sigh fell from his lips while he sat back down, running a hand through his short silver hair. You looked over his face for a moment, the realization of how attractive he was dawning upon you. If you weren’t on duty, you’d almost considering throwing your number at him. He was cute – almost adorable in a way, but you could tell he came with a lot of baggage. (He fought demons for a living and defeated a demon inside a fucking tree, of course he would come with baggage.) 

“Well, I guess I have to explain then.” He said in a courteous manner, rolling his eyes at his own statement. 

The interview went on for a solid hour in a half, with brief intermissions of laughter between the two of you. You found yourself intrigued by how open he was being, and yet, how secretive he was. You knew there was only so much he could say, but you still found yourself drawn to the topic. You couldn’t help but wonder if this is how the rest of the geeks in the world felt when it came to this. When the interview began ending, you felt a hint of sadness forming in your heart. A part of you didn’t want it to end and you found yourself not wanting to stand up from your spot on the couch. After a few moments of silence between you and Nero, you finally sighed as you began gathering your materials. It didn’t take long to pack up your laptop and make sure the recorder had stopped recording. 

As you reached the front door, you turned around to face him a final time. “I know we started off rocky, but I truly had a great time doing this.” You stated, a genuine smile curving across your delicate features. Nero chuckled, nodding his head. 

“Rocky is one way to describe it. I’m glad we did it, too.” 

Silence filled the corridor and usually, you would have found it extremely awkward but between the two of you, it was almost normalized. It wasn’t strange and the way you two looked at each other, you could almost feel a surge of electricity running between you. It was as if you the two of you were communicating and yet, weren’t vocally speaking. It was odd and yet, not odd at the same time.

Your lips pressed themselves together, nodding for the final time. “I should go.” You gestured at the front door before reaching down to the handle. 

“[Y/N], you wanna get a drink sometime?” Nero blurted out, his expression almost shocked by his own surge of confidence. 

Before you had the chance to stop yourself, you nodded your head immediately. “I’d love that.” 

[clypblog]

Creator Spotlight: Paper Skies

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hey guys! I'm Dan, better known as Paper Skies on Clyp! From the time I'm writing this, I'm currently living in Canada, Ontario and have been producing for a year and six months in the EDM, Melodic Dubstep field.

What inspired you to start making music?

Even at a young age, music has always been a huge part in my life. Raised listening to classical music from composers like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, my brain was always filled with melodies and musical ideas, which got me into playing the piano. I never understood or cared much for theory, since I always had a strong ear in composition, but that wouldn't stop me from slapping away at the piano keys. I would occasionally create my own pieces, and learn how to play, just by listening to old CD's. Little did I know that eventually, my strong musical ear would come in handy and allow me to fulfill my dream of being a musician.

In my early teenage years, I developed a strong passion for Dubstep after hearing "Skrillex - Bangarang" in a friends car. The new, heavy hitting Dubstep sounds I heard that day stayed with me for the next few weeks, and I ended up finding some new artists like MUST DIE, Nero, Sound Medik, and my eventual inspiration to creating music, Virtual Riot. After a few years of casual listening, I downloaded the demo of FL Studio onto my computer, in an attempts to create Melodic Dubstep. The rest is history!

Tell us about your approach to writing and production.

Every approach to creating a track is different, as it all starts from some sort of inspiration or idea. Typically, the best way to start a track is by laying out a chord progression and working off of it, but I sometimes find myself starting a track with lead or bass sound, then just getting a hook on it!

In terms of layout though, the best thing is always to start off with the actual composition (Chord Progression, Bass patterns, Leads, Ext.), then get to the drums, sidechain and finally background noise and other elements. I recommend every artist to try and find there own way to start tracks, as well as a respective style.

What programs, equipment and other tools do you use when producing?

At the moment I'm running FL Studio 12.4 on my computer, and I'd highly recommend it to new people looking to get into music production! Its an easy to learn, yet extremely powerful DAW for new and experienced users! I think it’s the best DAW for taking advantage of automation clips, and basic editing, since it comes with so many useful VST's and features, right off the bat!

On the topic of VST's, my main plugins would have to be Harmor, Serum and Sylenth. These VST's are great for producers of every genre, and open new doors for unique sound design. I typically use Harmor and Sylenth for my leads, synths and plucks, then Serum for my basses. Serum is definitely the more difficult of the two, but it offers much more in terms of unique sound design, because of its customization and editable wavetables.

How has Clyp played a role in your production process?

Clyp started off as just a place for me to upload previews and sound design, but quickly turned into a second fanbase, and family. Its allowed me to meet some great producers, people and personalities, working undercover to make the EDM scene something great. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today. The connections I've made have put me where I am now. I will continue to use Clyp in the coming years, in hopes to grow myself and the platform.

How does the feedback you get on Clyp influence your editing and creation process?

Clyp is honestly one of the greatest places for getting feedback, since people of all levels of production are able to listen to your tracks! As much as it’s important to get feedback from skilled producers, the best ideas can sometimes come from the everyday listener. I make sure to respond to all comments on my Clyp, and always apply the feedback given.

Who/what are your influences at the moment?

My biggest influences at the moment are Virtual Riot, K?D, Panda Eyes. Melodic Dubstep is key (/' - ')/

Can you share a Clyp you’re currently working on?

Wouldn't have finished this one without the wonderful support of the Clyp community!

Any tips or advice for other creators/producers/musicians?

Always make sure you guys enjoy your own music. As much as pleasing the crowd is important, work for yourself and discover your potential, before trying to make it big. That way, when you hit that one release you've been waiting for, it will be all the more worth it. Best of luck to everyone in the Clyp community! Love you all <3

- Dan (Paper Skies)

[alka-di-kijarr]

Hunters Journey - 014

Disclaimer. The following part of the hunters journey was connected to my #CallOfThePharah on deviantArt in april2020. English is still not my native language, but I wish you a lot of fun reading the next adventure of Nero, Vaas and all the other hunters.

Grimwolf species is a closed species. If you want to get your own, please contact me.

The winner of this design - and so the new owner is - HashtagOctothorpe

Hunters Journey - 014

A few days were spent into the eager tries of finally finding some peace, after Nero had encountered this weird flower-fox-thing. He felt the warmth of the midday sun on his skin, while the wind stroke his blonde hair and a smell of sweet flowers tickled his nose. Every day since the event Nero came back to the garden, sat down on a bench and tried to remember what he had seen in this night. Or felt.

Unexpectedly his memories had gone blurry, with each hour passing after the creature had left the place again. Sighing from exhaustion and frustration Nero laid his face in his hands, trying to slow down the storm of thoughts in his head. What happened to him?

A rarely heard voice appeared next to the young hunter and a shadow covered him, squeezing between him and the sun. He lifted his face and found himself fixated by the gaze of Avon. The greatest medic of the guild was standing beside him, despite the fact that he hated the burning sun, the dazzling light and the heat. A chamber-crawler far away from his very chamber.

"Master Avon, wha-"

"Are you the hunter who got touched by the Flowki?"

"Y-yeah, I guess, what exactly is a Flow-"

"Follow me."

Without further explanations, the oldtimer turned around and left with flying steps in the direction of the medic quarters. It took Nero a moment, but finally, he jumped up of the bench and tried to catch up with Avon. This old man was really fast, contrary to his age and his appearance. Together they walked through the corridors, passed by different nurses and young medics who cared for whomever was in need of help. Nero always had a fascination for people who joined the medics, but he would never switch the place with one of them. Invisible enemies, bringing pain and death, no chance to either catch them or destroy them easily. Tons of elixirs, potions and poisons, which can cure, but also kill. The line between those attributes is just a milligram of the dose. A whiff between wonder and failure. Deadly failure. Until this very day Nero had not made up his mind on the question of who had the more thrilling and more dangerous job. The medics, or the nurses...

Caught in his own thoughts, Nero nearly ran into Avon, who stopped in front of a giant door. Nero had passed this door several times, but never had anyone entered or left the room behind it. Somehow the feeling of a giant rock in his stomach, dragging down his curiosity and his hope, appeared as Avon opened the gigantic door with a heavy key, slipped through the gab and ordered Nero to follow him.

The door made a deep, scratching sound when Avon closed it behind the young hunter.

"Follow me. Fast." The old man took a lantern, inflamed it and walked down a spiral staircase.

If Nero wouldn't know it any better, he would have said Avon was running. Was this some kind of weird panic attack of his? From all the sun and the outside climate? Nero had heard plenty of rumours about the greatest medic of the BlackBestia-Guild, but never had a chance to build an opinion of his own about Avon. After they reached the end of the stairs, a long - really damn long - corridor lead them through the darkness.

It was more like a tunnel, but Nero had no time to think about his fear of narrow paths, slippery stones under his shoes and the smell of rotting material swimming in ancient water. At least it was what it smelled like. Without any word they followed the tunnel, turned right once, and left it behind shortly after. Nero saw many other tunnels splitting away and vanishing in the deepest darkness he had ever seen. His heart raced and at one point he nearly passed Avon. But trying not to be rude, he stayed behind the old man - but as close to his lantern, as Nero could.

Eventually, they reached the beginning of another spiral staircase, leading upwards. Avon suddenly stopped. Nero could hear his rapid breathing as the old man smoothed out his clothings and walked upwards. Slowly. As if there had been no rush or pressure before, Avon took the stairs one after the other.

It felt likes ages, before the stairs finally found an end and Avon stopped in front of a door. This time the door made no noise, and Nero saw Avon turning to him, meaningful laying a finger on his lips, before he passed the threshold. Nero felt a dumpling hanging in his throat, but didn't dare to clear it.

Together they entered a room, broad walls, filled with hanging fabric. Nero touched one of them, it was made from the softest silk he had ever felt between his fingers. The room was litten up by huge windows with thin paper glued onto them. It gave the place a calm atmosphere. Somewhere in the room Nero could hear the lapping of water and the discreet scent of flowers filled the air. The young hunter felt the soft touch of a slowly flowing wind, but there was no open window anywhere.

"Avon. It has been a long time."

"Lady Eyrie." Nero saw how Avon bowed down, so he did the same - more out of reflex than anything else - even though he didn't see the person Avon talked to. After they rose again, Nero followed Avon through the labyrinth of flowing fabrics. One moment he saw nothing, the other, one of the fabrics turned to the side, and his eyes found a woman sitting on a big pillow in the middle of...well everything.

"What brings you to me, Avon?"

"Lady Eyrie, you know I would never invade your space or steal your precious time, if it was not for a very important reason."

Neros brain was still digesting what he encountered here, so the talk between the two nearly passed him entirely. The woman in front of them had dark hair with a soft blue shimmer.

"I know, Avon. I have felt it."

"What have you felt, Lady Eyrie?"

The woman arose from her pillow, soft feathers forming a dress, shining in the reflection of the warm light. She walked down the stairs in front of her, and two long, entirely black wings, formed in front of Nero. As if they had been hidden in nowhere. Exactly like the creature in the garden.

Neros heart raced. His throat was dry and his legs felt incredibly weak. Now the woman turned her ice-blue eyes to him.

"He has been touched."

"Y-yes, Mylady."

She walked towards him and a strong grasp around Neros heart nearly made him jump off and leave, but Avon formed a sign with his hands. Everything is okay. The woman came closer and Nero could sense the same kind of aura that Gemini had. Pushing him away, strongly, but not as strict as Geminis. More like flowing water, capturing him kindly in the middle, but also showing strength and straining him a little. She layed her hand on Neros chest and the poor young hunter nearly lost his breath, his eyes fixating the wide wings this woman had. Just now he realized that her hands were covered in scales, with long talons on the end of each finger.

Avon came close and laid one hand on Neros back.

"Excuse me, Lady Eyrie, the young hunter has never made an encounter with a Theres-Harpy."

"Oh, I don't blame him, Avon. My species is hiding for a purpose. I would have been more perplexed if he had known me...or my kind."

"Young man, Lady Eyrie is not only a Harpy, she is a weaver."

A weaver. A WEAVER?! Neros eyes jumped between the two figures who seemed to fixate him. He felt a little betrayed by Avon, but also felt a bit of ease, to know that he was here.

"Why am I here?" It was his first sentence, since they had started their journey from the garden.

"You are here, so Lady Eyrie can see if she finds the reason for your unstable health, since you have been touched by the Flowki."

"This again, what is a Flowki?" Lady Eyrie rose her eyebrows, giggling a bit into Avons direction.

"So Seth is still not teaching the hunters about the Kahoré realm?"

Avon seemed to turn red on his cheeks, turning his eyes down.

"No, Mylady."

"I haven't expected anything else. Now, Nero-" How did she know his name?! He hadn't told her.

"A Flowki is a creature of the spirit dimension, Kahoré. The fact that is was able to touch you, as well as the fact that you and the others could see it, tells us a lot about the current situation."

"Does it?" Avon was in thoughts, leaving his guard down for a moment.

"Eh, Mylady, I apologise. What exactly does it tell us?"

The harpy smiled but her eyes felt like piercing needles of ice.

"The barrier between the dimensions got manipulated. I assume the dark creatures are the reason for it."

"But how can that be? They were made out of mass - they got hurt and they have hurt people by contact."

"You can touch me too, young Nero." The careless way Nero had talked got scolded with silent words by Avon, but the Harpy just smiled, when she took his hand and guided it onto the middle of her chest. Nero turned as red as a tomato, feeling her heartbeat. But there was more to it. A sparkling feeling. Like electric voltage. The moment felt like an eternity, yet like a fracture of a second.

"Flowkis are known to be shy, and they don't interact with your realm. Normally they don't even pay attention to your kind. Something seems to happen in the dimensions layers...and I am not sure whether if it's good or bad."

"Are there more creatures in the Kahoré,...Mylady?"

"Yes. A lot more. Some shy and peaceful. Some far more dangerous."

She let go of the hand, which was grasping Neros the entire time, and turned to leave.

"Do you know what a Grimwolf is?"

"N-no, I-I am sorry Lady Eyrie." The fascination was drawn all over Neros face and somehow he followed her a few steps, until Avon caught his arm, softly pulling him back.

"They are harbingers of plentiful deaths as a consequence of a contract someone made with them."

"A contract?"

"Yes. In Padunay there is a story which got told through the centuries: The prestige tale of Shamki the merchant. He sold humans, which he had caught before, to people with a lot of money and prestigue. But not only poor people from the streets fell into his arms. He robbed babies from their parents, children from their families. Leaving nothing behind but agony and despair. Some day, one of his "sells" got lifted out of his social standing and became the student of a magician. And how the fate plays, he found the book of summonings, which his master believed, was very well hidden." The harpy took place on her pillow, stretched the wings back and folded her hands in her lap.

"What happened then?" She just smiled.

"The young men was full of hate and rage. He searched for the most powerful spirit he could summon, together with a piece of clothing he had ripped off of Shamki and kept hidden for all the long years. The appearing Grimwolf was a monster among the beasts. His eyes, holding three pupils on each side, the tail with the head of a snake on the end, holding a lantern with screeching souls inside. Only those who are really eager to make a contract, survive the first encounter. If the Grimwolf decides that you are weak,...well, he will devour your soul without further questions. But the young men was strong-willed. So the Grimwolf took the piece of fabric and left to find its rightful owner. The story goes that Shamki the torturer suffered a horrible death."

Nero was pale and even Avon seemed to be sucked into the story Eyrie was telling.

"What did the grimwolf do to him?"

"You know...there is the weaver who can weave things into your soul and the one who can unweave things from your soul. And then there are creatures like the Grimwolf. Ripping your soul into parts before they mingle them together and start all over. At the end, your soul, your precious, shining, wonderful soul, is nothing more than a chunk of chewed up material. And you are awake and alive the entire time. Until they rip off the chunk of the last strain that holds it to your real body and vanishes. Depending on which culture you are living, people say you will have no chance to find a peaceful end, nor the chance to find your beloved ones in the afterlife."

"There is an afterlife?"

Again she smiled. Knowing, teasing, but silent. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Who knows, young hunter. Well....but, at the end, even the Grimwolf is no monster."

"H-how can it not be?"

"It is a scavenger, eating up the contaminated souls of lost creatures, before it will die one day and release nothing but cleansed energy to the Ao, so the great Ao can form new life again."

"We will leave you now, lady Eyrie." Avon grabbed Neros arm again. Nero was thrilled. Confused. Angry. Sad. Overexcited. He was everything but calm, nor ready to leave already.

"So will it be, Avon, old friend."

The old man nodded, turned with Nero, who wanted to stay so desperately.

"And Avon..." He stopped.

"...the Flowki caused no harm to our young hunter Nero. The symptoms will fade soon. But it might be...that your youngster will see the world differently now. And you should talk to Seth, about my thesis. If the layers are damaged, we can only hope there won't be other Atmas roaming and leaving their home dimension. None of you...would be ready."

Avon clenched his fist and Nero could see how hard he was pushing his jaws together. Without any further word, they left the place, left Lady Eyrie behind.

But what would stay, were all the questions.

So many questions. No answers.

For now.

[gyrlversion]

JAN MOIR: Surely not another coffee shop clogging up the high street

Someone please make it stop. It was revealed this week that four new coffee shops open in Britain every day, with another 6,500 scheduled to open by 2023.

This effectively means that in four years’ time there will be more than 32,000 coffee shops clogging up UK streets, most of them faceless outposts of the international chains. And you won’t get a halfway decent cup of coffee in most of them.

What seems to be the problem, ma’am? Only that despite their ubiquity, the offerings from the majority of coffee chains veer from the bland and forgettable to the downright bad or unpleasant.

It was revealed this week that four new coffee shops open in Britain every day, with another 6,500 scheduled to open by 2023 – most of which are big chains like Cafe Nero

And please, barista, make sure the water is scalding hot so that it peels the skin off my hand when spilled, thank you kindly. Any chance of a stale blueberry muffin, an inferior sandwich assembled at some far distant central facility, or a factory-made, microwaved croissant that tastes like a buttery floor cloth? Well, don’t mind if I don’t.

I used to buy a coffee on my way to work most mornings, sometimes from a chain, occasionally from a fancy but glum independent which sells cinnamon buns for a fiver and a tiny latte for £3.

‘With not very good latte art,’ someone moaned on a review website recently. As if that were the deal breaker, instead of the adventurous pricing, the double depresso service and the grim coffees that make the whole process such a cheerless, expensive waste of time.

Now I have fresh coffee at home, instant at work and have cut the chains out of my life. Cry freedom from the tyranny of the frappuccino fiends! I might buy myself a small Cessna jet with the money saved.

Yet despite the lack of quality on offer, coffee shops are now everywhere. And, sadly, their unstoppable proliferation — along with vaping shops, tattoo parlours, charity shops and shops that sell covers for your mobile phone — is turning British High Streets into windblown tundras, bereft of the tiniest waft of culture or beauty.

The Starbucks Venti is just a pint of coffee in a charmless mug or a cardboard coffin, Moir writes

And there is still little end in sight to the expansion of chains such as Caffe Nero, Costa, Greggs, Pret A Manger (actually, I love Pret) and Starbucks, to name a few. Obviously, selling 11 grams of coffee and a shot of hot milk for £2 plus is a lucrative business for all involved.

Today, coffee chains are like burger chains, complete with lots of advertising campaigns, central sites and huge rents to pay. In prime positions in every High Street, they are the most visible representation of our changing culture and they continue to boom as pubs go bust. Why? Younger people are drinking less, while Britain’s mix of ethnicities and religions has also had an effect — especially when one considers 56 per cent of non-whites declare themselves teetotal, compared to only 16 per cent of whites.

Beer duty and business rates have also taken their toll on pubs, where demanding customers now want craft beers, silly gins, food and their ghastly children to be admitted.

So coffee has surged into this vacuum, and who could blame it?

I pass eight coffee outlets on my walk to work, including Danish chain Joe & The Juice. What the heck is that all about? Joe seems to be full of silent young people tapping away on phones and laptops.

Bonhomie and conversational skills have been washed away by technology, amid the atmosphere of a trendy morgue.

Their advertising campaign suggests the ideal Joe customer is an attractive Nordic skateboarder with a lizard tattoo. All the better to raise your glass of Sex Me Up juice (please, no) along with your avo wrap and turmeric shots.

Perhaps it’s not them, it’s me? Yet there is still a place in my heart for the good, independent coffee shop. When I first moved to London, how I loved those Italian coffee places with their hissing machines and great walls of sandwiches in glass cabinets, generously stuffed with about three inches of egg mayonnaise or crammed with ham.

In prime positions in every High Street, the chains are expanding exponentially and replacing pubs because younger people are drinking less

In Cornwall, imaginative independents thrive, such as the Honey Pot in Penzance and the Cook Book Cafe in St Just, where the owner makes heavenly sandwiches with bacon from her own pigs.

To walk into any of the Bettys Tea Rooms in Yorkshire is to be assailed with the aromas from another age: fresh baking, savoury toast, roasted coffee beans. And, oh, the civility could make you weep. Tablecloths, milk jugs, sugar tongs, a smile.

There is no comparison between a lovely coffee served in a perfect china cup and saucer at Brasserie Zedel in Central London and a monstrosity such as the Starbucks Venti — over a pint of coffee in a charmless mug or a cardboard coffin.

So, hello darkness my old friend. I’ve come to drink you up again. Although not in a chain, never in a chain, even as they become increasingly hard to avoid.

Don’t shed a tear for evergreen Eva

Eva Green revealed she feels insecure about reaching her 40s next year because acting ‘depends on the desire’ of others

Eva Green is an exquisite beauty. However, at the age of 38, the actress (pictured) is worried about the ageing process.

Eva, a word. Only when one gets older — much, much older — will you truly understand what a perfect age 38 is and how lucky you are to be perched there, on the cliff face of life. Most of the early angst is over, but you are still pre-40 watershed. Make the most of it!

Yet Eva feels insecure about reaching her 40s next year because acting ‘depends on the desire’ of others. ‘Will people still like me?’ she frets.

Possibly not, if you carry on like this, darling.

But let us not mock Eva, for I honestly believe the ageing process is so much harder on the beautiful and the damned.

If you have been used to the warm and appreciative male gaze all your life, it must feel very chilly when it begins to fade.

The gain of feeling no pain

You might not believe this, but there is a woman in Scotland who feels no pain and never complains. No, it’s not me.

Her chemical imbalance means that she is also always in a good mood, which means she is definitely not me and neither is she Lorraine Kelly, who admitted last week in a tax hearing that her super-cheery on-screen persona was fake. (Can I just pause here to mention that Lorraine has also just revealed that she never takes off her bra, not even when she goes to bed, which is even more shocking.)

Jo Cameron is the remarkable woman whose unusual gene mutations stop pain signals reaching her brain. For 71-year-old Jo, childbirth was a breeze; she only needed aspirin for a painful operation; she walked away from a serious car accident, and she munches on scotch bonnet peppers as if they were plums. When she was a little girl, she didn’t even notice she had broken her arm roller-skating.

Jo Cameron (left) has led a virtually pain-free life due to a rare genetic mutation that affects just one in several million

It makes you strong, but it also makes you weak. She had no indication that her hip was crumbling, or that osteoarthritis had pushed a thumb bone into her palm.

Experts believe her condition is only found once in every several million people and she is now helping medical experts explore the parameters of pain management, especially for those who suffer chronic pain after surgery. In a way, I’m glad that she discovered this at a late age — one can only imagine what medical science might have wanted her to do earlier.

What a remarkable story. She has never felt pain in her life, but I bet she still runs screaming from the room when someone mentions Brexit. Or Lorraine’s bra.

 Havana truly bizarre time

Has there ever been a more hilarious royal tour than the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall’s recent 12-day jaunt to the Caribbean? Every second was a joy, for us — not them.

The sprightly septuagenarians crammed more than 70 engagements into a schedule that seemed to leave rigid royal protocol behind and had the pair of them shambling around the islands like a couple of crumpled pensioners on a Saga cruise.

Highlights included Charles striding along the sand in his beach brogues, Camilla looking like a discarded sweetie wrapper at his side and about a thousand cheesy photo ops, including one in Cuba where they actually did eat actual cheese.

Prince Charles and Camilla make a mojito on their trip to Havana, Cuba, this week

There were moments when it was more like an episode of Flog It! than a royal visit. The couple tootled around in a classic car, then sat next to a statue of John Lennon, Camilla visibly wilting gently under a parasol. They learned how to make a mojito cocktail (above) and sampled their work. ‘That hit the spot,’ said Camilla, after a long gulp. Charles used a sugar cane treadle, posed with a parrot, got into a boxing ring and looked like he was having the time of his life, even if he was not.

Looking thrilled at municipal events is his superpower. He even met Lionel Richie at the Coral Reef Club Hotel in Barbados and greeted him with a line from one of his hits.

‘Hello,’ said the Prince. ‘It must have been you I was looking for.’

Close, but no Cuban cigar, you dear old thing.

At Reading University, food scientist Dr Stuart Farrimond claims to have discovered the recipe for the perfect toasted cheese sandwich. In his formula, two medium slices of white bread are toasted on both sides, then buttered right to the edges. 

Then he adds 50g (1.8oz) of grated medium cheese, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, and places them exactly 18cm (7in) under the grill.

Is he COMPLETELY MAD? Everyone knows that you don’t use butter when making cheese on toast, and that you toast the bread on one side only, then add the cheese. 

What kind of savagery is the prof encouraging? Honestly. You simply cannot trust half-boiled eggheads to do anything properly.

Fury from the Madden crowd

Richard Madden fans are troubled. They feel that the actor has been snubbed because he didn’t receive a Bafta nomination for his performance in BBC drama Bodyguard.

Unluckily for Richard Madden, the Bafta nods this year include two of the best male turns in television drama for years, meaning he’ll miss out

His portrayal of protection officer David Budd (pictured) was compelling and one for which he has already won a Golden Globe. But, unluckily for him the Bafta nods this year include two of the best male turns in television drama for years — Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe in A Very British Scandal and Benedict Cumberbatch as Patrick Melrose.

A different class, wouldn’t you say, Sergeant Budd?

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