#This is the first thing I drew after getting back from PAX

[yugsly]

Oogh

[kostantina]

Hi! ~

How are you? I hope you've been doing well!

I'M really intrigued by your Fem! GREAT X England. Is there any reason why you began shipping them? What would their dynamic be like? Do you have an favorite headcanons with them? 🪽

Hello, Anon! Thank you for the ask, and I’m doing well. I hope you’re having a great day as well <3

Ship: Female Holy Roman Empire/Holy Rome x England

Reasons: 

So, I’m not really certain how I started shipping them because it has been more than a year since then. But I guess it started because of the content I saw about Arthur and Elizabeth I and Jeanne d’Arc and Francis. The appearance of Jeanne in Hetalia reminded me of Fem!HRE’ in the fanarts I saw of her. They were also both very religious, and I assume that HRE would be religious because of the Catholic origins or nature of the Empire in real life. The Holy Roman Emperor is traditionally the protector of the church, and the imperial title originated from the Pope after being helped by the same man he would then crown as Emperor of the Romans. Many emperors that followed were also crowned by the Pope.

So their resemblance also led me to think about what happened to HRE and Jeanne eventually. The French’s actions resulted in the Emperor dissolving HRE, and a tribunal dominated by the English sentenced Joan to death. Francis would have been angry at Arthur because of what happened to Jeanne, and I thought that if I made Fem!HRE be an important person to Arthur, then it would lead to Arthur being angry at Francis for what happened to her. I imagine the two of them letting go of their anger and being friends, talking about these two women who were very important to them and apologizing for their people’s actions that resulted in their end. Then, Francis would meet Jeanne’s reincarnation, while England would meet Fem!Germany who was slowly remembering her memories as HRE. It’s such an interesting scenario that I got interested in shipping Fem!HRE and England together.

But right now, though, I’m more interested in Fem!HRE reincarnating as a human instead of becoming Amnesiac!Germany and England meeting her. Mentioning Germany, at the time, I was also interested in Germany x England pairing, and as we all know, Germany was theorised to be HRE. I hadn’t seen any content about HRE!Germany and England back then, so my interest in Fem!HRE and England increased. My first content about this pairing was originally about the scenario I mentioned above, with England meeting Fem!Germany who was slowly remembering her forgotten memories, but I ended up not liking the direction I was heading, so the idea was abandoned. Germany also didn’t exist before the late 19th century, and I wanted to imagine scenarios about GerEng before that century. Thankfully, the HRE!Germany theory exists. After some time, I ended up being interested in Fem!HRE x England without needing HRE to become Germany in the future. And as a person who loves rare ships, Fem!HRE x England being rarer than GerEng only drew me more to them.

Also, HRE died in the same century when Pax Britannica happened, and the thought of a man so powerful having the person he loved most dying and the public not knowing about it because their relationship was a secret (due to being personifications) was interesting. She was a living, or rather, dying proof that despite the power he held, he wouldn't be able to get everything. Considering how patriarchal society was, especially in their time, it’s heartwarming to have such a man being appreciative of a woman, so Fem!HRE instead of Male!HRE. I also wish HRE had been older and female in canon for reasons I would not mention because I already said so many things. 

Another thing that interests me is how England and HRE both have empires but hers was not colonial, preventing the two empires from having direct conflicts. Her empire started in the medieval era, which had been the only empire for centuries in Western Europe, while his empire started in the modern era. What happened to them in the 19th century could be interpreted as a medieval empire meeting a modern empire in its strongest state (for her at least since she would soon die to know how strong his empire could be), and a modern empire meeting a medieval empire in its weakest state (and he would have to live with the knowledge she was dead). The contrasts are interesting.

England and HRE’s people also had interactions/connections in real life, but even if not many, I think it would emphasize how personal Arthur and Fem!HRE’s relationship was. I also love how they have canon “biological” siblings because interactions between spouses and their in-laws are interesting and can be amusing.  

Dynamics/Headcanons: 

I see their dynamics having similarities with Padme and Anakin’s from Star Wars and Zhongli and Guizhong’s from Genshin Impact.

Fem!HRE would be softer, while Arthur would be rougher in personality. I see her as being motherly and someone who would calm or soothe him when he was feeling overwhelmed and frown or be annoyed whenever he spoke crudely (but she would get used to it). He would be more straightforward and more of an actions type of person, while she would be more guarded and more of a words type of person. 

After the Protestant Reformation happened, their religious differences would make their relationship awkward but would not be enough to destroy it. Their religious views would also be affected by how Arthur was born surrounded by pagan views, while Fem!HRE was born surrounded by Catholic views (based on what I headcanoned to be her date of existence as an individual). She was basically younger than him, born long after the conversion of Emperor Constantine I to Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire, while he already existed way before that.

Talking about their different circumstances, Arthur would feel bitter about how she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth (already having an empire ever since she was born) in contrast to him, while she would feel bitter at how he ended up with an empire that was more powerful than hers could ever be and how she ended up being the one without an empire when at the beginning he was the one without an empire. Since she was able to grow older earlier than in canon, the same would apply to Feliciano (and his brother), who would remain her first love and who Arthur would be wary (or jealous) of. Her friendship with and fondness for Antonio when both were ruled by Habsburgs would also make her relationship with Arthur awkward.

I love the idea of them getting married surrounded by a few trusted witnesses in the Middle Ages and repeating their vows in the following centuries. She was also more romantic/sentimental and idealistic than Arthur and therefore would highly expect him to be an affectionate lover. Her perception of marriage would be optimistic too, influencing his decision to propose. But she was not naive not to consider the negative consequences, especially since they were not humans and she was in a world dominated by men.

It’s honestly hard to think of my favourite headcanon for them. I don’t really have an organised list of headcanons lol. But I deeply love imagining them bonding over gardening like the couple in the Secret Garden novel and sword fighting one another to practice and entertain themselves. I also love imagining her having a preference for him in the colour of red, and Arthur teasing her about it, causing her to be very flustered. And when it comes to how they met each other face-to-face and became close friends (and eventually lovers), I prefer her older brother, Saxony, to be the bridge between them because of Anglo-Saxon England and her Saxon emperors.

When it comes to parenthood, I imagine Hanover as their daughter because of the House of Hanover ruling his empire and Hanover being an electorate in her empire. At first, I’m not certain how I would characterise Hanover’s relationship with them, whether she should be a daughter or a sister. But I ended up deciding for her to be a daughter because I wanted them to have a child who knew about their secret relationship and Arthur to have a child who was not a product of his empire’s expansion; someone who he would have to see as an "equal" in a way.   

As previously mentioned, England and Fem!HRE had a secret relationship. It's more heart-fluttering that way (like, the thought of him suddenly pulling her away towards a secluded area just to kiss her secretly is 🤭). Despite their roles and the challenges they had to face as personifications, they still found a way to love one another and have their own world.

[tergridguy]

My First Deck: Covid Era Elfball

It seems fitting to start out this blog, which is all about telling the story of my passions, with the very first deck I built and played in one of my biggest passions; Magic, the Gathering. I started playing sometime in early-mid 2021, when the current set was Kaldheim. I am Tergrid Guy after all, and Kaldheim has greatly influenced me due to it being the set of the moment when I first started playing, as well as the first box I ever bought to start off my collection. Technically, I played my first game of Magic on February 29, 2020. I know the date because that was the day I attended Pax East with a good friend of mine, a guy I met in rehab who helped me get into Warhammer 40K. We used to meet up every Sunday at my place to play Warhammer, and he invited me to come with him to the convention. This was just as rumors were beginning to swirl about Covid, and I remember we were worried that it would be cancelled. That day was the first time I remember seeing people wearing masks-- here and there I had seen it before but this was the first time I saw a significant number of people doing so. Even so, it was probably less than 10% of the people there. People were getting concerned a little bit, but we had no idea what was in store for us in just 2 weeks, when lockdown would begin on March 15.

At Pax, there was a space set aside for Magic, including a booth offering starter decks for anyone interested and attended by some representatives who could show you the basics. I was Magic-curious, and I knew my companion had played in the past, so I asked if he would teach me. We went up to the booth and got our starter decks, I chose Black, because of course I did, and he took Green because he thought it would be better for a beginner. We played a few games, and afterward he gave me his starter deck to keep because he already had his own collection and clearly there was nothing of value in it.

So from the very start, I was in Golgari. Those were the two colors I was introduced to first, and my collection to began with those two starter decks. It wasn't until a year later that I picked it up again. This time, it was a client at work who wanted to play. I was already starting to explore using games in my work treating psychotic and mood disorders, so this made some sense. I had been intimidated to get further into Magic because it seemed to me that I would be a late arrival-- all the people who played seemed like they had been playing forever. The client gave me an excuse to go for it, after all, it was for work. We still weren't doing a lot of in-person at the time, so I downloaded Arena and started to learn to play. This was the beginning of my addiction to Magic, as this would soon take over my life for a while. On Arena I really got to learn to play through repetition. The first deck I built outside of the Arena Starter decks was a Golgari elfball with some random inclusions I hesitate to call 'goodstuff' because it was probably pretty bad. Except Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider which I pulled in one of my first digital packs. That was very good. For the next year that would be the go-to Fierce Empath target.

It might surprise people that I didn't start in mono-black, and of course, the first deck I took for a spin was the mono-black precon, but there were a few things that drew me in to golgari, and elves in particular. My first cards were mostly from Kaldheim, and like any budding black mage, I was drawn to two things, Murder, and Raise Dead. I wasn't on discard quite yet. Poison the Cup was the Murder variant in Kaldheim, but the Raise Dead effect was Raise the Draugr, 1B to return a creature card to your hand, or to return two creatures with the same type. There was also Return upon the Tide, which let you reanimate a creature, but gave you two 1/1 elf warrior tokens if that creature was an elf. I wanted to bring stuff back from the graveyard, but it felt bad not to get my money's worth, so I figured I better be in elves. It helped that there were some badass looking black elves in that set. Some people may recall cards that still see some play today like Elderfang Disciple, the Burglar Rat variant, Skemfar Avenger, the typal card draw engine, or Skemfar Shadowsage, a typal Gary, but the one that I remember playing a lot that probably isn't too well known at this point was Duskwielder.

Man, that card brings me back. B for a 1/1 Elf Berserker with a boast ability that let you pay 1 to drain your opponent for 1. I played that card in every deck I built for a long time. It's certainly no Ragavan, but it did some work. It was a 1 drop, which I knew even from the beginning was good to have, and it never felt to me like it failed to do its job. I tried out a lot of cards when I was first starting out, and a lot of them were confusing to me or I just didn't really get what you were supposed to do with them. I wound up cutting a lot of stuff that just didn't seem like it was working for me, but I never felt that way about Duskwielder. It came down early, it gave me an elf, it counted for my Skemfar Shadowsage, and it gave me that little extra oomph when I boasted which felt satisfying and gave me a mana sink which made it feel less bad when I had more mana than I could use or just had 1 left over. Duskwielder never gave me a reason to cut it, even as I got more into the game and started to refine my deckbuilding. It also helped that it was a Common, and that I had a playset basically from the very beginning. My first deck I ever built started with 4 Duskwielders, and to be honest, I don't think that was such a bad start.

I sometimes think about putting Duskwielder in decks even today. Usually, it doesn't wind up making the cut, but I think about jamming it in one of my elf decks just because. Much later, when I was first building Nethroi, Apex of Elves, that deck had a lifegain subtheme because I had cannibalized the Witherbloom precon for pieces, and I put in Duskwielder unironically. It was a 1 drop, it was 1 power for Nethroi to bring back, it was an elf for all my archdruids and other shenanigans, and it gave me lifegain triggers. Really not a bad package, but I wound up cutting it later when I stripped out the lifegain theme to streamline the deck.

On top of that I had Elvish Warmaster, which made more elves when I cast elves, and gave me a late game overrun, I had Elderfang disciple, a card I would soon grow to love more than life itself, which discarded my opponent on ETB, and I had Skemfar Avenger for card draw, Harald, King of Skemfar for, well, whatever he did for me, give me some ability to dig for more elves I guess. And he was a decent body. For mana dorks I had sculptor of winter, llanowar visionary, and my favorite, Canopy Tactician, a card I'm still probably more hot on than I should be. And I had Tyvar, which was particularly awesome with Vorinclex. That ult is no joke, draw 2 cards whenever you play an elf is pretty backbreaking, especially when Tyvar makes all your elves into black mana dorks. The other bomb I had from early on, which is another card I keep trying to make work years later, is Haunting Voyage, which let me bring every single elf back from my graveyard to the battlefield. That was a pretty decent wincon, and it felt spectacularly splashy. I loved that card so much. I loved chumping with my elves knowing I was going to mass reanimate them all in a few turns. And it felt like my thing, because it wasn't really something I saw a lot of other people playing.

The other thing that was in that Elfball deck, was Tergrid, God of Fright. I was drawn to a lot of the cards I pulled in the first box I opened that seemed splashy, that's where I got Haunting Voyage from, I had pulled a borderless alt art of it and it was as gorgeous as it was Timmy. The first legend I pulled had been Tergrid. I thought it was cool, but didn't really get it. It was my first God though, and that seemed important. I also like the whole double-sided thing. You might be wondering what Tergrid was doing in that deck, sure, I had Elderfang disciples, but there wasn't a lot of synergy-- for the front side. I really didn't know how to use the front side of Tergrid yet, but I ran it for the back side. I was elfball, and I could get to a point where I had a lot of mana. Tergrid's lantern was a mana sink I could throw down and use to drain my opponent out when I couldn't finish them off another way. It actually worked pretty well. Tergrid's lantern was an awesome card in Standard in some situations, and I remember casting it almost as often as the front side for a long time.

After a while, once we had started to see our clients in person again, I discovered that another client I had worked with for a while also played magic, and in paper. He invited me to play with him, but I would have to build something called a Commander deck. I didn't really know what that was all about, and it seemed downright inconvenient to build a singleton deck-- after all, I barely had any cards, and most of them were commons from just 1 set. I gave it a shot though, and did my best to replicate my standard deck in commander form. I had seen Abomination of Llanowar on arena when I was searching for elves in Golgari and didn't understand why I couldn't play it in standard-- it looked like it would have been pretty good in my deck, and I liked the design. I decided to get myself a paper copy and use that as my commander.

People may have heard me say that Tergrid was my first commander deck. That would be because Tergrid was my first commander deck that worked. I've always been a little embarrassed by this one. Maybe it would have been different if I had started playing commander with someone who was patient and helped me figure out what I was doing, but I did not. I started playing with a psychiatric patient with a chip on his shoulder from being sectioned to the hospital a few times, I was a representative of the system, and I was to be shown no mercy nor offered any help or assistance. I showed up with my Abomination of Llanowar deck, which could have been a Brawl deck for all the Standard legal commons and random crap in there, and he proceeded to kick the shit out of me with Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy big flips.

That's a story for another time, because that utter humiliation is what ultimately led to my building Tergrid, and thus becoming Tergrid Guy.

I could never get Abomination of Llanowar to work. I came back to it every now and again and it just never could get off the ground, even years later as a more experienced player I struggled with it. I always would run out of gas, or just get board wiped and not be able to recover. The deck didn't know whether it wanted to be a voltron or an elfball or reanimator or what. I still don't know what to do with it, which is why I eventually broke down that deck and rebuilt it with my modern-day Elf of choice, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf. But that too, is a story for another time.

[teebeornotteebe]

Notes on a Season - Devi, Paxton and everything in between

1. Can I just say, it is so freaking good to see POC teenagers being hot and sweet and swoon-worthy. Like, I feel like we're oddly almost taking this for granted but it is amazing to see POCs (and Asians in particular!) being shown as desirable not only to each other but to other people as well and it is NORMALIZED. Gosh, I love this show.

2. I've seen this mentioned on other pages as well but I have to chime in, the music is sooo good! And extra thumbs up to whoever is selecting the music for Daxton in particular, they are absolutely killing it with the iconic soundtrack to this blossoming relationship!

3. I don't know what it is about this season but Nalini's grief was so poignant to me, even more so than last season. She's really become my second favorite character on the show (behind Pax-Man), Poorna portrays her so wonderfully nuanced, dignified and funny!

4. The Grandparents! Oh my were Devi's grandma and Paxton's grandpa the bestest or what? Adorable, quirky personalities that really brought depth to the family dynamics on the show this season. Loved them and more please!

5. Erica and Trent! Just kidding Eleanor and Trent. This was an unexpected but super cute development, I can so see this! I'm hoping S3 will be more of these two and less of the triangle of absurdity, it about time Trent got some love and I'd much rather see this than another season of Devi (unnecessarily) waffling between two boys again.

6. I'm glad we got to see swimming taken away from Paxton. It wasn't necessarily the fleshing out I wanted it to be but it was something. I've always known there are many layers to him, still waters run deep, but it was good for the show to actually SHOW us this. I wasn't wild about Gigi being the narrator but what can you do? At least we got a Paxton-centric episode. I liked seeing him work at being better at school and being so SATISFIED when he accomplished that. That's a really beautiful part of his relationship with Devi, this is his Achilles heel and she was the perfect support and foil for him where he needed it the most. I love that he recognized that and appreciated her for it too. Devi isn't often vocally appreciated by people. I love that Paxton doesn't hesitate to thank her, it must have felt so good for Devi to hear that.

7. The disbelief in Ben's voice when he sees Paxton and Devi together at the prom... that said so much to me. Ben isn't jealous about Paxton/Devi you guys, he's just jealous of PAXTON. His uber competitiveness strikes again. It's actually already present in flashes throughout Season 1 and I didn't pay much attention before. But yeah, Ben's problem is Paxton and how. At this point it's not about Devi as much as it is, just about winning her back *from* Paxton. I bet my future mortgage that's what's going to play out next season. Ugh.

8. So um... that look down that Paxton does just before he kisses Devi outside the prom? SWOOOOON! It's not the first time he does it (he does it slightly too during THE rain scene) but it's really pronounced here and I love it! I wonder if it's just instinctive or if Darren deliberately inserts this into Paxton and if it's the latter I'm dying to know why. It just really works people. Hehehe.

9. I find it significant that we get to *see * Devi first laying her eyes on Paxton. It could've been a throw away line that states the fact but we got visuals! From the get go, she was a goner. And it wasn't even really about LOOKS at that age! Something about him instantly drew her, fascinated her, compelled her. The Paxton thing is deep with Devi. Her running after him and not Ben after her double dipping comes to light makes all the sense in the world within this context. Paxton's the one that's in her dna almost.

10. Okay so I'm biased and I'm a Daxton stan come rain and shine but I really do think they get the most thought through love scenes, not just the music which is WONDERFUL, but also the way the scenes are shot, the cinematography, the lighting, the *time* that's spent on them, it tells me something. I've seen enough tv to know that this type of treatment for a couple isn't random nor is it wasted. Which brings me to, finally...

11. I've seen many a post here on Tumblr talking about a Benvi "endgame". Errr, no. Firstly because while there's no doubt we are going to have any go-around the triangle of absurdity, I see NOTHING that suggests Ben and Devi are going to be the couple that the series closes out with. Nah. There's been far too much time and DETAIL spent on building Paxton and Devi up. There will be detours and roadblocks, Devi and Paxton aren't smooth sailing by any means but endgame isn't in Ben and Devi's future, I'm almost certain of it.

[breakdownsbuttlights]

Dratchetparty (still going!): Your Voice / Shellshocked

Combining the prompts... it's come to that. Probably the last one I'll do for this round. This one’s Ratchlock, and it contains some darker themes. It’s also Human AU, for no discernible reason.

It was late in the evening when the call came through, and Ratchet ought to have been asleep. He wasn’t on duty and he wasn’t on call. Good sleep, regular sleep: that was what he needed, that was what everyone told him to get. He wasn’t technically on leave – the thought made him laugh – but Pax had strongly hinted that if he showed any sign of doing anything other than resting for the next couple of weeks, there’d be trouble. Ratchet knew there was no use in explaining that trouble was what happened when he did nothing but rest.

And sleep… well, sleep terrified him.

He snatched his phone from the bedside table with an eagerness that embarrassed him and stared in confusion at its dark, inert screen. The ringtone persisted. It wasn’t his phone. It was… more distant. Muffled.

Realization came slowly, hobbled by a suspicion that he was asleep, and this was another of those dreams from which he’d awake bereft and sick with longing.

Not a dream. He flipped back the covers and swung his legs to the floor, wincing as he did so. Not too fast. He couldn’t help it. He raced toward his desk like a kid to the tree on Christmas morning. It wasn’t in the top drawer. Nor the next. Sometimes he wondered if he hid the damn thing so perversely in order to forget it existed. As if he didn’t charge it up every week and check it hopefully for messages.

It must have been on its twentieth ring by the time he uncovered the second phone. To his ears, there was something teasing in its persistence, something playful and knowing. There was also, if he wanted to hear it, a little bit of a threat: the kind that made his stomach lurch and the blood rush unbidden to his groin. Come on, Doc. I know you’re home. He could hear the white curve of that smile.

He didn’t recognize the number on the display. He never did; it was never the same. Always a moment of pure terror when he answered it, that the voice on the other end wouldn’t be the one he expected. The game was up, they knew where he lived.

And him? Oh, him, he’s dead.

Ratchet accepted the call and held the phone to his ear. The voice on the other end, when it came, said the same thing it always did.

“Are you alone?”

Relief and dark excitement. “Yeah, I’m alone.”

“Are you at home?”

“Yeah.” Ratchet was smiling like an idiot, twirling slowly on the spot like a teenage girl. If the phone had a cord he’d be wrapped in it; he wanted to be wrapped in it, wrapped in that voice; caught like a fish. It had been months since the last call and he’d thought it was over, the light gone out, that they were truly now in the age of lead. To think how easy it had been once, that not so long ago are you home meant can I come over. The kid slipping in with his own key in the middle of the night, clatter of his guns hitting the floor. His feet were always cold when he got into bed. Ratchet could tell by his smell and feel and the way he tasted if he was exhausted, if he’d been in a fight. They rarely turned on the light.

Ever since the incident at the DMF, Ratchet’s building had been crawling with security.

The voice quieter now, a shade darker. “Are you okay?”

Ratchet sat down on the edge of the bed. There were things he couldn’t tell him just as there were things he couldn’t ask. “I’ve been better.”

“Were you asleep?” The question sounded hopeful, like he wanted to imagine Ratchet that way.

“Nope,” Ratchet grunted as he leaned back on the bed. He wanted to steer the subject away from him. “You neither, I’m guessing.”

A soft laugh down the line, followed by a cough. He sounded smoky, a little stoned. “You know me.” Ratchet did. In the hours they spent together, most of them at night, how many had the kid slept through? Every time Ratchet woke, he’d find him sitting up and smoking, face illuminated by the unfathomable contents of his phone. Sometimes he’d be looking at Ratchet and would reach out and stroke his hair. Go back to sleep, Doc.

Ratchet lay down, drew the covers over him, held the phone to his ear. “Are you ok?”

A long silence. A rustle on the line that might have been static, or a sigh. “I’ve been better.” Sad smile Ratchet could hear in the voice. “Stay on the line for a bit?”

Ratchet drew a pillow close to him and clutched it like a lover. It smelled like the rest of his bed, of course, but if he tried hard enough he could remember: smoke, sweat, sex, metal. The vulnerable scent of his unwashed hair. It wasn’t the first time they’d done this, holding each other over the space that separated them. “Of course.”

Where are you? Are you taking care of yourself?

Who have you killed?

The line was quiet for a while, just a suggestion of breathing carried over the space between them. Against his will Ratchet could feel the tug of sleep. He needed it, felt he could have it now, so long as the line stayed open and he could hear those soft breaths in his ear.

I was tortured.

“Doc.” His voice like the voice in a dream. “Do you still have the ring?”

He meant the small signet he’d slipped onto Ratchet’s little finger at Christmas. It had been snowing; there were beads of water on his black eyelashes. He’d said, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean we’re engaged or anything, and then turned bright red and ducked his head away. The ring was removed when they brought him to the hospital after the incident. Ratchet had been terrified they’d see the two letters engraved there and ask what they meant. All the things that had happened, and that was what scared him the most.

“Remember. Just tell them it stands for ‘doctor.’”

Ratchet smiled into the pillow. "I miss you, kid."

"Ratchet?" That smoky voice coming down with him now into his dream. He'd take it there. It would protect him. He could sleep as long as he could hear it.

I miss you.

"Ratchet. I'll kill them."

~

Read the full series on AO3.

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: Main Story 7-24 Translation

Translation Masterlist | Video

Chapter 7 – Rains of Monte Cristo: 7-1 / 7-3 / 7-5 / 7-7 / 7-9 / 7-11 / 7-13 / 7-15 / 7-17 / 7-19  ♦️ ♦️  7-20 / 7-22 / 7-24 / 7-26 / 7-28 / 7-30 / 7-32 / 7-34 / 7-35

Content Warning: This section contains topics that may be uncomfortable to some readers (mentions of abuse). Please proceed with discretion. 

Vincent found out about the relation between Hang Fei and the boss of the Abyss bar through the moon ornament in Room 1001. The boss requested to see Marius and stated that he had important information. After thinking things over several times, Marius and I decided to meet him as agreed upon.

 Abyss Bar

There was no one in the bar when Marius and I arrived.

Bar Boss: Master von Hagen, Miss Lawyer, please come this way.

The boss pointed us to a spot in front of the bar table. We sat as he indicated.

Marius: You must be the one that Vincent said wanted to meet me?

Bar Boss: You’re being quite direct, Master von Hagen. Shouldn’t you exchange a few pleasantries with me?

Marius: My time’s precious, and I don’t want to use it to speak in a roundabout way with you.

Marius: Tell me, what do you want?

Bar Boss: Nothing major – I simply want Master von Hagen to owe me a “favour”.

The boss took a document envelope from under the cabinet and placed it in front of Marius and me.

Bar Boss: Including that foster care contract from before, these are all of the Hang family’s secrets.

Bar Boss: As long as you get this, all of your current questions will be answered.

Marius: You told Vincent that you got these because Hang Fei owed you money.

Marius didn’t follow along with the boss. Instead, he changed directions.

Marius: What happened between you and Hang Fei?

Bar Boss: Nothing much. Hang Fei merely spent some money here, but ended up unable to pay up.

Bar Boss: Master von Hagen, you’re also a businessman, so you should get that no one can enjoy a service without paying up, right?

Bar Boss: So I thought up of a compromise for him.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

[Flashback]

Hang Fei: B-boss, give me a few more days. I’ll definitely get all the money needed.

Hang Fei looked at the few guards around the boss, starting to mumble subconsciously.

Bar Boss: Mister Hang, you’ve been dragging this on for a long time. Time waits for no one.

Hang Fei: No, boss, please just trust me once more and give me more time. I’ll definitely get you the money this time.

Hang Fei: I can go get them…

The boss looked at Hang Fei, his eyes moving back and forth.

Bar Boss: Mister Hang, after seeing your sincerity, I do have another idea to give you time.

Hang Fei: What idea?

Bar Boss: In this world, there are things worth more than money, such as… secrets.

Bar Boss: If you can find a secret like this as temporary collateral… I don’t mind collecting my “service fees” a little later.

Hang Fei: …

Hang Fei went silent for a moment.

Hang Fei: I do have secrets like this – they even have to do with me.

Hang Fei: If this secret were exposed, I wouldn’t even be able to continue living.

Hang Fei: Boss, this is temporarily sufficient, isn’t it?

Bar Boss: Of course. If you give it to me, I can give you more time.

[Flashback]

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

Marius: …

MC: Boss, to be frank, this is extortion.

Bar Boss: Extortion? Miss, you’re exaggerating.

Bar Boss: I merely wanted the money that Hang Fei owed me – this is what I’ve done for so many years.

Bar Boss: And no one’s ever been able to lay a finger on me.

MC: You…

Bar Boss: Plus, what Hang Fei has done is much worse than me.

Marius: What did Hang Fei do?

Bar Boss: After the first time he left these things as collateral, he quickly found Xu Yin and the other “protagonist of the secret”, then extorted them of money.

Bar Boss: He immediately gave this money to me and got his secrets back. But…

Bar Boss: He started to get “addicted”, maybe because of the “sweetness” of that particular experience…

Bar Boss: Whenever he owed me money, he’d leave the “secrets” as collateral, then would once again extort those two of their money.

Bar Boss: At the end, he even demanded money from those two that far exceeded the amount owned, for his own frivolous squandering…

Bar Boss: See, aren’t I much more law-abiding than he is?

MC: …

MC: (Although, this does explain why Hang Fei’s family life didn’t deteriorate, despite his gambling.)

Bar Boss: How about it, Master von Hagen? Want to do business with me?

Bar Boss: You just need to owe me a favour to get what you want – it’s a great deal.

Marius: Oh? You know what it is that I want?

Bar Boss: Of course. What you want…

The boss looked at Marius, then at me.

Bar Boss: Has to do with Hang Fei’s daughter, Hang Jiahe, correct?

MC: …

Marius: How did you know?

Bar Boss: Master Lu, aren’t you curious about why I wasn’t stressed at all, despite Hang Fei’s half-year disappearance?

Marius: …

Bar Boss: That’s because someone was repaying money “for” him.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

[Flashback]

January 29th.

Bar Boss: You’re right, Hang Fei did leave some things as collateral here.

The boss looked at the woman in front of him, his smile as steadfast as ever.

Bar Boss: But, Miss Hang, you won’t be able to take those things just because you’re his daughter.

Bar Boss: If you want to take those things, then return the money first.

Hang Jiahe: How much does he owe?

Bar Boss: This much.

The boss drew out a number.

Hang Jiahe: This much?!

Bar Boss: I’ll give you those things as long as you repay the money, Miss Hang.

Hang Jiahe: How would I be able to take out this much money right now?!

Bar Boss: Then…

Bar Boss: Like your father, Miss Hang, you can use secrets as collateral.

Bar Boss: You must be someone who also knows many secrets.

Hang Jiahe: …

Hang Jiahe lowered her head in thought.

Hang Jiahe: I can’t. The things I know can be used elsewhere.

Hang Jiahe: Boss, please give me some more time. I’ll definitely get enough money within half a year to a full year.

Hang Jiahe: Within this time, please don’t give these things to anyone else.

Hang Jiahe: I can hand over some money right now as a deposit.

Bar Boss: Ah, alright. I’ve never rejected the pleas of a beauty.

[Flashback end]

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

Marius: …

MC: (Based on Hang Jiahe’s actions, it seems like the boss really does have what we need.)

Bar Boss: How about it, the two of you? Have you thought things over?

Bar Boss: With all I’ve said, you must believe that what I have is what you need.

MC: As the condition you gave to Hang Jiahe was paying money, we can also pay you money.

Bar Boss: That was the condition for Hang Jiahe, not you two.

Bar Boss: My condition for you is something more valuable���  that is, a promise from Master von Hagen.

MC: …

I snuck a glance at Marius. But he looked completely calm, even somewhat disinterested.

Marius: Thank you for the information you’ve given us. I will have Vincent compensate you shortly.

Marius: Let’s end things here for today.

Marius then tugged me up from my seat to leave.

Bar Boss: Wait, Marius von Hagen, don’t you want what’s in the bag?

Marius: I do, but I hate being threatened even more.

Marius: I seriously doubt that there’s anything in the world that Pax can’t find out about.

Bar Boss: Of course you’d be able to find out about it with the power of Pax – but you have no time.

MC: What do you mean?

Bar Boss: You’ve already met Hang Jiahe, haven’t you? Plus, I bet that the police have already overturned the charges against Wang Chunchong.

Marius: …

Bar Boss: Then, did you know that Hang Jiahe suddenly came here yesterday with a large sum of money, and bought away a portion of the things in this bag?

MC: !!!

Bar Boss: I saw that she looked very anxious, so I warned her – out of the goodness of my heart – that it would be best to not destroy it for now.

Bar Boss: These are unusual times, after all…

Bar Boss: Based on how she reacted, she listened to me, but…

Bar Boss: Say, if I called her right now and told her everything that just happened…

Bar Boss: How would she deal with those things?

MC: …

Marius: …

Though we didn’t want to admit it, what the boss had just mentioned was at the very bottom of the list of things we wanted to happen.

Marius: …

Marius looked around. When his sight swept over the bar table, he stopped for a moment. Seeming like he’d thought of something, he spoke with a smile.

Marius: If so, boss, would you perhaps be interested in playing a game with me?

MC: !!!

Marius: If I win, you give those things to me unconditionally, but if I lose…

Marius: We’ll go with your deal – I get those things, and I’ll owe you a favour. As long as it isn’t illegal, I can help you once in the future.

Marius: Also, you cannot tell Hang Jiahe about what happened between us today.

Bar Boss: Master von Hagen, you sure have thought things through – no matter what the result is, you can still take those things away.

Marius: But this is your one opportunity to establish a relationship with me and Pax, isn’t it?

Bar Boss: … What do you want to play?

Marius: Since this is a bar, you must have dice here.

Marius: One die per person. Whoever throws the higher number wins. How about it?

Bar Boss: I’m fine with it, but Master von Hagen, I have never lost this game. Are you sure you want to play it with me?

Marius: We haven’t even played yet, so who knows who the winner will be? Plus, isn’t it better if you win?

Bar Boss: Alright, then.

The boss took out two dice and two wooden dice holders, giving one each to Marius and himself.

Bar Boss: One round decides all. Then, let’s…

MC: Wait. I have to inspect the dice and holders.

Bar Boss: …

Bar Boss: Alright, please do, miss.

The boss gave all items to me. I examined the two holders – nothing stood out to me. But when I examined the two dice, I noticed a slight difference between the two of them.

MC: …

MC: This…

Marius: No abnormalities, right, great lawyer?

I was just about to speak when Marius cut me short. He winked at me, as if hinting something. I understood.

MC: No abnormalities. Please start.

Bar Boss: Then, Master von Hagen, one round decides all. Go ahead.

Marius and the boss cast their dice simultaneously. The night-coloured holders flew up and down in Marius’ hand as the die slammed on the walls of the holder, creating a clear sound.

Clack.

Both of them sealed off the holders simultaneously.

Bar Boss: Master von Hagen, open?

Marius: Wait.

Marius pressed down on both holders.

Marius: I will confirm again – you haven’t forgotten the conditions from before, have you?

Bar Boss: Of course. The one with more dots wins.

Marius: Good.

Marius opened the two holders. The two dice displayed a massive difference in dots.

Bar Boss: This… impossible!

Marius: I got 6, you got 1… looks like my luck’s pretty decent.

MC: You won!

Bar Boss: …

The boss looked at the dice and pondered for a moment.

Bar Boss: Hah… as expected of Master von Hagen. I lost.

Marius: Hand those things over.

Bar Boss: Don’t worry, I won’t go back on a deal. Here you go.

Bar Boss: Although… aside from that psychiatrist, it’s been a very long time since I’ve experienced this feeling of defeat.

Bar Boss: I can’t help wondering if you know him.

Marius: You’re overthinking.

MC: …

Marius took the file envelope and tugged me up, preparing to leave the bar.

Bar Boss: Also, I’d like to let you know that there is a portable hard drive and several photos in the envelope.

Bar Boss: There’s a connection between the contents of the hard drive and the photos.

Bar Boss: Hang Jiahe bought a portion of the hard drive’s contents.

Bar Boss: And she appears the most in the photos.

Marius: Noted.

✼ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✼

In Marius’ Car

When we returned to Marius’ car, I couldn’t help showing how excited I was.

MC: Marius, you were way too awesome just now!

Marius: No big deal – just some insignificant talents.

MC: But how did you win? The boss’s die…

Marius: You probably also noticed when inspecting them that his die was heavier than mine.

MC: Yeah, so I was wondering if there was something placed in it.

Marius: In that die, right behind the 1 dot, there’s a magnet.

Marius: When shaking the die, as long as the boss secretly holds another magnet…

Marius: He’d be able to use the opposite attractive force and the relative locations of the different dots to throw a result he wants.

MC: But if so, shouldn’t he have cast a 6? How did it end up as a 1?

Marius: About that…

Marius spread his left hand at me. There was a little brooch there, with a magnet at the bottom of it.

MC: !!!

Marius: Since I know how he plans to cheat, I naturally have to counterattack.

Marius: So before he revealed his die, I touched his holder.

Marius: Thanks to my magnet, the die will change again.

MC: Oh… then how did you cast a 6?

Marius: About that… even the rich sons of the so-called upper class can’t evade the allure of dice.

Marius: I do have to learn a few things to maintain my indulgent rich son persona.

Marius: There’s a certain method to guarantee a chance of rolling the amount you want.

MC: Is that so…

Marius: Mere little skills – nothing to show off about.

Marius: Let’s not talk about these for now – instead, we should see what’s in the envelope.

I opened the envelope, taking out a stack of photos and a portable hard drive.

MC: H-how could this…

Marius: …

When I saw what was in the photos, my hands started to tremble. 

There were many photos of children, most of whom were around 6 or 7, and their bodies were covered in numerous purple marks. The photos were taken in hidden, dark conditions from awkward angles, and those children, who should have been running free under the sun, had faces covered with tears. Each one held old toys covered in dust, and some toys were even missing sections, looking utterly broken.

MC: Marius, aren’t these toys the same ones as the ones we saw in the Room 1001 toy display cabinet?

Marius: Yes.

MC: Could it be that… Hang Fei would collect these toys for his own enjoyment?

Marius: Or maybe these toys were what Hang Fei used to kidnap them.

Marius: But regardless of which it is, based on what the boss said, what’s in this hard drive…

MC: The contents have to do with the photos… these photos come from the contents of the hard drive…

MC: Against these children, did Hang Fei…

Were these children victims of Hang Fei’s abuse?!

I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

Marius: It’s not just children – there are also photos of Qi Yu. The only difference is that she’s not holding any toys.

Marius: Also, just as the boss said, one child appears particularly often in the photos.

Marius: If this child really is Hang Jiahe, then…

MC: We’ve found Hang Jiahe’s motive for murdering Hang Fei.

[Obtained Photos of Abused Children]

[Obtained Portable Hard Drive]

[jenxwp]

Screen-used Autolycus ‘Grandma’ Disguise

I have a lot of things in my collections, but nothing quite like this. I want to talk a little bit about Autolycus’ ‘grandma’ disguise from the Season 3 episode Vanishing Act. This is the outfit that Autolycus uses to disguise himself after it is discovered that the Pax statue has been stolen. Of course, Xena sees right through him.

I have never been one to collect ‘clothing’. I have a myriad of set used weapons and armour- hell yes I love it! Bring them on! But not clothing. I am not sure why- maybe because they are hard to display? Or maybe it just feels weird to have someone’s clothes. I am not sure.

All of that went out the window when I saw this for sale not that long ago. What drew me to this piece is that it is a bridge between my two greatest collecting loves – set used props and Xena trading cards. And this item of clothing has such trading card history!

If you read this blog, you will know that the very first thing I ever collected was Xena trading cards and it is still something that I collect 15+ years later. It truly is my first collecting love and I will continue to pick up cards I don’t have whenever I can. Even back when they were in production they were very hard to find in Australia. The odd tobacconist would have some but that was about it. Maybe you could have got them from dealers? I am not sure, but if you could I didn’t know at the time. My dream is that one day I hope to have master sets (complete with all variants) for each set.

How does this relate back to this Autolycus grandma disguise costume? WELL. 

This costume was given by the Xena set to the Rittenhouse trading card company for use during the production of subsequent trading card sets. They eventually used it when they manufactured their 2003 trading card set ‘The Quotable Xena: Warrior Princess’. This Quotable set featured a 6 card subset of autographed costume cards, one of which, was ‘Bruce Campbell as Autolycus in Vanishing Act’.

See where I am going with this!!

The shirt is the only part of the costume that was used to create the trading cards, and in 2021, an American trading card dealer obtained the rest of the costume. They decided to sell it on, and that’s where I was lucky enough to get my hands on it. 😈 Honestly, what are the odds of this thing sitting in a store-room and then after nearly 20 years finally resurfacing? 💜💜

The remainder of the costume has three parts- there is the skirt (with both an under-layer and an outer-layer), a sash belt and a shawl. It is heavier than you would expect! The image of the complete outfit is from the Rittenhouse company used for advertising the trading card set.

The skirt has a concealed zip and clasp at the back. It is heavier than you would expect! The skirt is made from a woven cotton and the sash is wool. The shawl is a printed fabric. To be honest, it is really well made for something that only gets a few minutes of screen time.

So that is it for me today guys. Take care! x

[jokertrap-ran]

(未定事件簿) EVENT!「异乡行歌·上篇」 [Tears of Themis] EVENT: Romantic Rail Getaway- First Half Translations (Lu Jinghe’s Route)

Day 1: Xiangya City― Rainforest Invitation (象雅城: 雨林的邀约)

*Tears of Themis Masterlist / Mobile Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *The tracking tag for ALL Event Stories will go under: #Tears of an Event

Location: Railway Tour's Starting Station

I'd once heard of the saying, that Tanbuyani's Railway Tour was equivalent to a silken string of pearls.

Guided by this silken thread, one will be able to experience and relish in the charm of the very country itself.

Lu Jinghe: I've looked at the train route, and it looks like the first stop's at Xiangya City.

Lu Jinghe: How about we head on down to their resort and have a look around later? Let's not wear ourselves out too much on our first day here, save some energy, and take our time to slowly enjoy everything after!

MC: Okay! I saw on the guide that there was a very big folk custom workshop down at the resort; do you want to try your hand at wood carving?

Lu Jinghe: I'll accompany you if you want to.

We happily carried on, discussing our trip arrangements.

The rest of the guests, in front of the train platform, were also anticipating what was to come in the wonderful journey up ahead, just like us.

Speaking of this trip, Lu Jinghe was actually the one who brought it up first.

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Location: Home

Lu Jinghe: Heya, sis. You're on a long vacation as of late, yes? Have you got any travel plans?

MC: Hm… I haven't really thought of it. Come hit me up again after I get a couple of snoozes!

Lu Jinghe: How about considering going on Tanbuyani's Railway Tour with me after you've caught enough z's?

Lu Jinghe: It's a boutique, luxurious, high-end, independent tour; with a travel itinerary planned and presented to you by PAX's Chairman himself!

MC: Tanbuyani? Why do you suddenly want to go there out of the blue?

This name, one that I'd only seen in geography books, filled me with utter confusion.

Tanbuyani was a small country located near the equator, but although it boasted stunningly breath-taking sceneries, it's economy was well underdeveloped.

No matter how I thought about it, going to this sort of remote location wouldn't be his first choice at all.

Lu Jinghe: For work, of course. PAX has invested in a rainforest development project over there, so I'm preparing to head down and have a look at it for myself.

Lu Jinghe: And while I'm at it… I can bring you along for you to have fun, kick back and relax for a few days.

MC: I see. Maybe I'll think about it...

Lu Jinghe: Nope, stop thinking about it and just go pack your luggage. I'll come pick you up to the airport tomorrow, bye!

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Lu Jinghe's actions were swift, and we were already aboard a private plane bound for Tanbuyani on the second day.

Upon landing, we were immediately transferred to the starting station of the Railway Tour; he'd arranged everything to perfection.

It was just as he said. This was a relaxing, yet intriguing trip, where anticipation ran high.

MC: Right, didn't you say back in the phone call we had before that you're here because of a… Rainforest project?

Lu Jinghe: Yup. PAX plans on establishing a nature reserve in the Imana Rainforest and study the "Parrot Tail Flower”.

MC: Parrot Tail Flower?

Lu Jinghe: A rare flower of medicinal value that one of our people coincidentally discovered back when they came down here to talk about the conservation project.

MC: ...That sounds like the sort of miraculous life-saving celestial grass you hear about in myths and legends.

Lu Jinghe: Perhaps; but I'm not too sure about the specifics either.

Lu Jinghe: The person in charge of the project will be picking us up when we reach Xiangya City, so you can ask him more about it then.

MC: ...There's PAX personnel in Xiangya City?

Lu Jinghe: He's there on business today, so I called him up for a chat, and so that I can have a grasp on how the project's progressing while I'm at it. It's called being prepared for anything and everything.

The sides of his lips curled upwards, a clear smile flashing across his eyes.

Lu Jinghe: Okay, enough about this. Let's think about how we're going to have a happy and delightful lunch aboard the train first.

Lu Jinghe: The train's restaurant serves Tanbuyani's local delicacies, as well as  a delicious, mouth-watering buffet of western food; what do you want to eat?

MC: Mm…

Since I'm already here and all, it's only logical to try out their local delicacies…

But then, I remembered just what those "local delicacies" are, from back when I was checking out the guide.

Things like grilled rainforest ants, stuffed cicada pupae, roasted scorpions… If it just so happens that those atop the plate that the waiter brings up later were...

Do I really want to challenge myself with them?

▷Choice: Western food buffet

MC: I’m getting the western food buffet.

Lu Jinghe: Sure thing. I'll go book us a luxurious buffet then; we'll be able to partake in it once we board the train later.

Lu Jinghe: But… Are you sure you don’t want to try Tanbuyani’s local delicacies?

Lu Jinghe: I heard that there's a type of Black bean-orange Fried Rice that's really delicious; one of the 10 special delicacies that's an absolute must have for tourists!

MC: I do want to, actually… But it'd be a tragedy if something… weird's in the food...

Lu Jinghe: You do have a point. We're not in a hurry, so we can take it slow and observe the tables of the other guests who've ordered it.

Lu Jinghe: And then, we can still make it in time for the order if you want to eat them afterwards.

MC: Okay, let's just happily leave it as that for now!

▷Choice: Local delicacies

MC: Oh, I've decided! I want to try Tanbuyani's local delicacies!

MC: The guide on the internet said that the Black bean-orange Fried Rice available on the train's menu is an absolute must have! And everyone who ate it all said that it's good!

MC: Want to order one together with me?

Lu Jinghe: Let me tell you a secret. Actually… I was about to recommend you the same, but I never thought you'd be the one to take the words out of my mouth.

Lu Jinghe: I guess our hearts really are connected!

His brows were quirked in a smile, and he appeared "quite proud" of himself.

I couldn't resist teasing him a little.

MC: Are you absolutely sure about your decision? There'll be no going back if it doesn't taste all that nice.

Lu Jinghe: Come on, have more confidence in yourself! We have to believe that our choice is the right one!

His eyebrows crooked along with a smile, and I could almost smell the fragrance of the sweet and aromatic orange rice just by looking into his eyes.

MC: I can't wait to try it out for myself already!

☆⋅⋆…⋅─────────── ⋆⋅✾⋅⋆ ───────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

"Chooo…", went the long whistle of the train's horn as it slowly drew up to the platform.

Lu Jinghe stood up, dragging both of our big luggage in tow with a wink.

Lu Jinghe: Come on then. Our rainforest adventure is going to begin!

MC: Yeah! Here we go!!

☆⋅⋆…⋅───── ⋆⋅ Romantic Rail Getaway⋅⋆ ────⋅…⋆⋅☆

Next Part: (Day 1: Xiangya City― Resort Entertainment Area)

[nctvrnal]

hey y’all this is not a full character intro but a rundown to get some quick plotting going!! i’m vee and i use a lot of exclamation points i can’t help it but also i can and yet i can’t!!! find me on discord @ baby límon 🍋🐸#6632

first up there’s ivy!

 [ SOOYOUNG / JOY, SHE/THEY, GENDER APATHETIC ]  —  [ IVY MOON ]  is a child of  [ HECATE ]  with the power of  [ MYSTIOKINESIS ] .  they were born in  [ 1996 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2013 ] .  with the change, they  [ HAVE GRADUATED FROM ]  the  [ AMBASSADOR ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [ INTERACTING WITH FANS & BAKING ] .

 click here to go to her page!!

really any sort of connections work to her since she’s messy and annoying! hook up, ghost hunting buddy, animal crossing friends, coworkers, anything really!! just know that she will not shut up so someone who doesn’t like her works too please 

and then marcus!

[ AVAN JOGIA, HE/HIM, CISMAN ]  —  [ MARCUS JOHNSON ]  is a child of  [ HADES ]  with the power of  [ UMBRAKINESIS & SHADOW TRAVEL ] .  they were born in  [ 1995 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2007 ] .  with the change, they  [ ARE TRAINING IN ]  the  [ STANDARD ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [ STUDYING & TAKING CARE OF THEIR BABY ] .

HE’S A DAD!!! his daughter is two and his wife died in a recent monster attack ):

so he’s back at nemean for protection and some training

he got adopted by the johnson fam when he was 14 so he’s siblings with astrid, miri, pax, and juniper!

he needs friends pls uwu

listen about trevor he’s so funny please

[ SEOKJIN KIM, HE/HIM, CIS MAN ]  —  [ TREVOR AHN ]  is a child of  [ APOLLO ]  with the power of  [ HEALING ] .  they were born in  [ 1993 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2011 ] .  with the change, they  [ HAVE GRADUATED FROM ]  the  [ MEDICAL ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually [ RUNNING THE INFIRMARY & TEACHING ] .

sooo before nl went public trevor would travel around and perform “medical miracles” and heal people. he’d only charge rich ppl tho the rest he would do for free

he had some fame and did tv appearances and really milked the whole miracle thing

he would even be like the pOwER Of GOd hEaLS YoU bc he’s a dick

anyway he’s actually smart and studious but hates being serious it feels awk

now that it's out that he's a demigod ya boi doesn't want public blacklash so he's pretending he just find out too and he's like :O who would've thought, huh

he runs the infirmary so if your chara works there or is studying that track they should know each other!!

also he’s dating miri <3

now on to drew!

[ TAEHYUNG KIM, HE/THEY, NON-BINARY ]  —  [ DREW SUH ]  is a child of  [ NIKE ]  with the power of  [ ENHANCED SKILLS & CERTAIN VICTORY ] .  they were born in  [ 1995 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2010 ] .  with the change, they  [ HAVE GRADUATED FROM ]  the  [ HERO ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [TRAINING & STUDYING ] .

 tbh i think at some point all my charas had a crush on drew he’s just minds his own business and vibes

he’s been training hard since arriving to nl so he’s super advanced in combat and overall skills

nl’s perfect poster demigod and tbh idk how he feels about it

has completed many missions so drew sped through the hero track and was one of the first ones to graduate

will do 1 on 1 training if he has time!! drew loves to help out those new to the demigod stuff and give out advance for combat and wielding weapons!

joonho is also vibes but also chaos

[ SEHUN OH, HE/HIM, GENDER APATHETIC ]  —  [ JOONHO KWON]  is a child of  [ TYCHE ]  with the power of  [ META PROBABILITY MANIPULATION ] .  they were born in  [ 1996 ]  and have been in nemean lion since [ 2016 ] .  with the change, they  [ ARE TRAINING IN ] the [ AMBASSADOR ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [ VIBIN’ ]

u kno when ppl are like teehee i’m not just a pretty face

well joonho IS just a pretty face and wouldn’t have it any other way

anyway with his power he riggs stuff and will enter contest/giveaways for funsies

if you’re his friend and ask him to win something for you he’ll do it no hesitation!

oof, daphne. this one is a little longer than the rest

[ DAVIKA HOORNE , SHE/HER, DEMIGIRL ]  —  [ DAPHNE SAENGMAI ]  is a grandchild of  [ HECATE & ATHENA ]  with the power of  [ MAGIC ] .  they were born in  [ 1993 ]  and have been in nemean lion since  [ 2004-2015 & 2020 ] .  with the change, they  [ HAVE GRADUATED FROM ]  the  [ BUSINESS ]  role which makes sense since they’re usually  [ IN HER OFFICE & BOSSING PEOPLE AROUND ]

she’s a grandchild of hecate & athena. 

one thing u gotta kno about daphne is that she just doesn’t care!!!!! alright well she does care a little but mostly doesn’t! everything reflects back on her so she has to pretend she does. 

so back in the day her mom lou had a half sister (also hecate) and she died but her ghost/spirit whatever stayed roaming the earth and lou kind of trapped her bc she was p vengeful n angry! then daphne as born and named after her aunt and then lou agreed to let ghost daphne stay in babie daphne’s body if she dedicated herself into protecting lou’s daughter and ya so alive daphne has a ghost named daphne living inside of her and she has random knowledge and memories that aren’t hers and if you hear daph talking to herself she probably actually isn’t lmaooo 

also her magic is stronger than it’s supposed to be bc of it. 

anyway ok so daphne got the call from her mom that it was time for her to take the ceo position at nl and let me tell u!!!! she cried for like 10 min on the phone and then her mom was like r u done being dramatic and she was like ya but also i want an ice rink (she did figure skating growing up and wanted to persue a career but :/) and i’ll go quietly and her mom was like ok deal. she’s been gone the past 5 years so if your chara has been here longer feel free to assume they know each other p well or hmu!! either way everyone should know daph even if it’s a new acquaintance bc she’s in charge and she’s good w names and faces.  i can’t explain her daphne is j daphne have fun teehee

ANYWAY that’s it really i will plot anything with anyone uwu

[cosplayinamerica]

COSPLAY WIP : firespunalchemy

When I decided it was time to tackle Umi Ryuuzaki from Magic Knight Rayearth, I knew this would be my first major build and I needed to do some serious research before diving in.

I’ve always kept a kind of to do list for previous cosplays, but I have about six pages of planning for Umi, covering each major component as I look up different methods and materials. I’d had the wig for her for a while, even styling it (it was a wavy wig I got from Arda on sale that I straightened and trimmed), so that part was out of the way, but there was still so much more to do.

Over the quarantine in 2020, I thought this was the perfect time to start with the most intimidating part: her sword. I found files on Etsy, and contacted a friend with a 3D printer since I don’t have one.

She asked for specifications such as layer depth and what kind of filament, which I definitely didn’t know much about, and was kind enough to help teach me (it’s printed at a standard layer depth out of PLA). It started as about 8 separate pieces that I glued together with a five minute epoxy around a ¼” thick, 52 in long aluminum rod (as specified by the files).

Then...the sanding began. I started with about a 150 grit sandpaper, working on getting down the layer lines and any epoxy that had gooped out the sides, working up to about 800 grit. Then I primed with a sandable filler primer, sanded more, and then used a nail buffing block to buff and shine. I then used some Bondo to fill in areas that were a little low, before doing another round of sandable filler primer, sanding, buffing, polishing.

After one more round of this, I painted the whole thing with a grey primer, and started painting the blade with a silver craft paint. I started painting the handle, pommel, and guard before I realized the blade’s paint felt strangely tacky. When I tried to sand it, the paint gummed up, so I had to peel it by hand until I got enough off to sand the rest down.

Ended up sanding it all the way back down to the print and having to re-prime. I did one layer of sandable primer, sanding, buffing, polishing, and felt it looked smooth enough to move on to the grey primer again. This time I didn’t want to take any chances (or more time) so I used a hammered silver spray paint for the blade. The rest of the sword was completely painted by hand, with a gloss top coat over the gem sections, then an iridescent top coat over everything.

 After all that, I figured I’d start on a smaller and easier part: her headband. This is what I’m currently working on, building out of foam and foam clay. The reference art for Umi’s armor is incredibly inconsistent on the headband, so I’ve had to choose within my options what I want to go with.

I first made the wing attachments out of 6mm EVA 50 high density foam, cutting them out from a pattern I drew in paper then rounding out with a Dremel. I primed it with about six layers of Bounce from Hot Wire Foam Factory, then realized I hadn’t accounted for several things.

So I cut them out and sanded them down again, but this time in 4 mm EVA 38 foam, etched shapes into them with a Dremel, then added foam clay to create dimension. I’m waiting for the foam clay additions to dry until I can say this will work and move forward. Thankfully, those failed pieces serve as a great way to test whether this priming method is really what I want to use, since it’s kind of a pain to apply.

I’m also working on the gems for her chest, headband, and hand, testing out methods that don’t require casting in resin. I don’t currently have a large enough setup or the budget to get into playing with resin sadly, so I’m testing the classic method of hot glue as well as using a silicone mold with foam clay. Hot glue gem creation has been an interesting process, because the eyeshadow I used to color my test gem shifted after being exposed to heat and became much greener. With the foam clay gems, I’m having trouble with air bubbles present on the surface. So I’m trying out using some Bondo to fill those holes, sanding, then priming with Plastidip. So far, the results are promising!

Other than that, I’ve ordered swatches for fabric options for the body of her costume, which I’ll have to start drafting the pattern for soon. This is my first major build, so about 90% of what I need to do is something I’ve never done before (3D printing, making gems, making boot covers, drafting a pattern…) and that’s been a great way to keep myself focused and time occupied during the nightmare of the last year. I know for many cosplayers, 2020 was rough because not having a deadline meant they felt little motivation to work, but for me it’s always been the pursuit of the craft so I’ve just been slowly chipping away at projects.

But then my cosplay journey has been a little a-typical anyway. I first learned about cosplay when some friends mentioned wanting to go to this anime convention in Dallas, A-Kon, back in around 2005. We were all in high school so we had to get permission from our parents and my boyfriend at the time drove us up there (we lived over 4 hours away). He also made my first costume of Sakura from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, while I thrifted my second costume of Melfina from Outlaw Star.

We all cosplayed and went to cons together for a few years, but then life kind of got in the way and I spent about a decade out of the convention and cosplay world. PAX South in 2015 really ignited it again, and I’ve been cosplaying ever since. For me, on a very serious level cosplay has been a way to work through some gender and body stuff, as well as stage fright/anxiety.

But I also just really enjoy coming up with creative solutions to problems and learning new skills so challenges like Sogeking’s mask or Umi’s headband are great puzzles. It doesn’t hurt that I keep cosplaying characters few people probably even remember, much less cosplay, so there are very few tutorials I can use to guide my way and I’m okay with that. I’m here to have fun and re-create some of my favorite characters, whether from recent anime or obscure and old series (just wait until I make Sabriel), learning and making friends along the way.

[ericsonclan]

A Rather Slimy Present

Summary: Clementine isn't sure if she'll ever see that strange boy again when all of the sudden he reappears.

Word Count: 1000+

Read on AO3:

After the bizarre encounter Clementine and Prisha had experienced the other day, the pair went into their second day at Fenrell Cove not knowing exactly what to expect. Would the mysterious, strangely silent swimmers be back for another visit or were they gone for good? With no way to know, both girls set about continuing their research, Clementine with her trusty notebook and Prisha with her older backup camera since her favorite camera that had fallen into the water yesterday was disassembled and still drying on the boat in hopes that it could be saved.

Returning to the point where they had run into the strange pair of swimmers the day before, Clementine surveyed the water in hopes of seeing the same pale green leaf that had drawn her attention the first day. No, not a leaf, it must be attached to some sort of animal. Whatever animal that was, it and its camouflage had moved on to calmer waters since Clementine could not find the bit of faux foliage anywhere. Setting aside that endeavor for now, Clementine instead circled round the shoreline to another section of the cove to investigate further and perhaps to move out of earshot of Prisha’s constant grumbling over the shoddy quality of her current equipment and her threats should she ever come across those two nincompoops again.

Passing a small clump of bushes she had only fleetingly explored the other day, Clementine headed to an isolated section of the cove, one banked by a cave wall that joined with it to form a sort of cozy grotto directly by the shoreline. Taking a seat in the soft sand just inches from the water, Clementine began compiling notes about what she observed around her. Though crystal clear, the surface of the water kept hidden whatever species dwelt beneath its currents. It must be that there was a sudden drop off here instead of the usual shallows that would lead into further depths. Perhaps this would be a good entry point for her and Prisha in the scuba portion of their investigation.

Jotting this down, Clementine’s focus turned skyward. The portion of the cove she was currently in was also still within the cave. The setup somewhat reminded Clementine of how the inside of Skull Island looked in the old Peter Pan film: there was the enclosed intimacy of the cave walls but the amount of light let in through the immense entrance meant that nothing about this portion of the cove felt cold or dreary. It was a pleasant, secluded place. Perhaps that supported some of the theories she and Prisha had read about Fenrell Cove, that it at one time was the site of religious rituals for islanders from distant shores that were now long gone.

Or were they? Was it possible that the strange boy and girl they had encountered might in fact be familiar with the cove or even residents? Could that explain their total bewilderment with the English language? No, that was crazy. It was like Prisha had said (again and again in her impassioned rant last night) – they must have been tourists on an ocean cruise who had swum out and found the cove by happenstance, nothing more.

A disturbance in the water suddenly drew Clementine’s attention to its surface. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw what had caused it. There before her was the same boy from yesterday, smiling brightly at her. His dreads dripped droplets onto the surface of the water as he drew nearer, his eyes locked with hers. Setting aside her notebook, Clementine moved closer to speak with him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again,”

He had no reaction to her words, simply staring steadily at her, his eyes large and bright with interest.

“That was pretty shitty what happened to my friend because of you,” Clementine attempted again. “You pretty much wrecked her best camera. I think you owe her an apology,”

Still no response. The young man was as silent as ever, though his focus had shifted from her face to her legs which were tucked beside Clementine as she sat on the sand. Clementine glanced at her legs. There was nothing weird about what she was wearing unless cargo pants were considered an unforgivable fashion faux pax. Was he actually looking at her notebook behind her? Clementine moved to grab it but lifting it up in the air to share with him did nothing to draw his focus away. Her legs did look pretty scratched up. Perhaps that was it?

Clementine ran a finger along a particularly lengthy scratch. “They got sort of banged up yesterday. Some of it’s from when I lunged forward to save Prisha, but the rocks around here are pretty fucking slippery so I fell down a lot more after that. Some of these are permanent too, just left over from other expeditions. Like this one-” Clementine paused, looking over at the boy again. He was listening to every word she said with rapt attention, but it was clear none of it was getting through to him. “You don’t know English?”

A few small squeaks came out of his mouth. He looked at Clementine expectantly. Was that a… language? He did seem to be trying to communicate.

Unsure what else to do, Clementine squeaked back a couple times.

The young man’s nose wrinkled in confusion. Whatever that sound she had made was, it was apparently nonsense. Suddenly he dove down, disappearing deep below the water. Clementine leaned over to try to spot him but couldn’t see anything. Had she offended him somehow? She truly hoped not. Clementine continued to wait, watching the surface of the water for any sign of movement. Nothing. How long was he going to stay under there? It had already been about a minute, which Clementine was ashamed to admit was her limit.

She hadn’t been able to spot him or the girl emerging from the water either. Did that mean they’d stayed underwater till she and Prisha had walked away? Intrigued, Clementine started up the timer on her wristwatch. Either he’d emerge within the next few minutes somewhere within eyesight or there were secret tunnels within the cave’s waters that allowed him to disappear and surface elsewhere.

Three minutes passed. Then five. Then ten. Clementine had been watching the shoreline the entire time. Either he was the fastest swimmer ever and had crossed the length of the cave to reach the exterior of the cove without her seeing or Clementine’s underwater tunnel theory was correct. Either way, he seemed long gone for the day. Letting out a small sigh, Clementine picked up her notebook to return to her work. Then a bright chirp came from in front of her. Glancing back up, Clementine felt her jaw go slack in shock. “What the-”

The mystery boy was before her once more but this time instead of the slippery minnow that had fallen from his mouth the first time they met there was a full-sized fish wriggling within his toothy grasp. Letting out another short trill, the boy leaned forward and spat the fish out upon the shore, smiling at her proudly.

“What the fuck,” Clementine whispered in bewilderment. “Did-did you catch that? With your teeth?”

Seeming to pick up on her general gestures between him and the fish, the young man nodded, his chest swelling as he grinned with self-satisfaction. When he caught Clementine staring though, he suddenly grew self-conscious and looked away in embarrassment.

Clementine looked back over to the fish, still flopping on shore with desperate vigor. This wasn’t the sort of puny guppy you would catch on your first fishing trip and take photos with as you looked goofy in your bucket hat. This was the sort of fish you would brag about as the one that got away. And this strange young man had caught it… with his teeth.

The cruise ship passenger theory was completely out the window. But did that mean that Clementine’s native islander theory was their next best guess? This young man seemed completely unaware of the meaning of anything in English and was an incredibly proficient swimmer who seemed to know the ins and outs of this cove like the back of his hand. Would it be so crazy to think that the islanders that had been spoken of in ancient records hadn’t been wiped out but instead were merely forgotten by the rest of the world and continued with their lives as always?

Clementine gazed at the young man with intense curiosity. He met her eyes shyly, drifting closer to her. The freckles smattered across his chest and shoulders stood out upon his skin as it shone in the morning light. He was so close and just as curious of Clementine as she was of him. Trying to communicate, Clementine raised a hand and pressed it to her heart. “Thank you. I really appreciate the gift,”

The boy’s eyes brightened in joy as he recognized her thankfulness. Letting out a series of happy, short barks, he twirled round in the water again and again, enraptured by joy.

All of a sudden a rustling sound drew both of their attentions to the bush. The boy’s eyes widened in fright before he dove for cover under the water, disappearing once more into its deceptively clear depths.

“No, wait!” Clementine cried, but it was no use. He was already gone, and Clementine had a feeling that this time he wouldn’t return in just a matter of minutes.

Prisha emerged from the bushes, camera raised expectantly. Her expression fell when she saw Clementine’s face. “I scared it off, didn’t I? I was heading over this way and heard some sort of animal cry that sounded almost like a bottlenose dolphin. I tried to approach quietly enough to not arouse alarm, but it’s clear I was unsuccessful,”

Clementine shook her head. “It wasn’t an animal. It was him. The same boy we saw yesterday?”

“What?” Prisha’s brows knit together as she frowned. “I was sure he and that sour-faced companion of his would have been long gone by now. A cruise never stays in one place for long,”

“That’s the thing.  I don’t think they’re with a cruise. Look what he brought me today. He caught this in his mouth,” Clementine gestured to the large fish now dead at her feet.

“In his mouth?! Surely you can’t be serious,”

“Look!” Clementine pointed to a series of indentations upon the scales. “See that? Those are teeth marks!”

“My stars…” Prisha leaned over the fish, gaping at it in bemusement. “What sort of manner of man would do such a thing?”

“Prisha,” Clementine’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper as she locked eyes with her friend. “I don’t think this island is uninhabited after all,”

[sparklingpax]

Tales From Iacon - Part 3: Understanding

A/N:

-Part 1, Part 2

-I also have a wattpad where I’m posting updates as well as other stories! (user is @/kunixjiro)

-Lol so after an actual eternity I finally resolved this,,,sorta,,,,sorry for the wait ^^’’

-Sorry if this is badly written (and for any typos, mistakes, weird phrasings, etc)

-This one’s long too O//O’’ oops....^^’’

-Please forgive me for constantly making up bots to fill roles I need in stories lolo I,,,I promise I’ll figure out a better way to do that,,,,, :’D

-Oh, and apologies if anyone was ooc >//< 

-And yes I cut it off before the encounter because I’m mean >:D and because it’s not done being edited but I really really really wanted to post the next part of this story tonight so anyway, here we are ^^’’

-Ahhh....and with that, I guess, enjoy!!! <3

///

Weeks had passed since Orion and Megatronus had parted.

           Megatronus had fought more battles at the rink. Since then, a familiar ache had set into his bones, making him wonder why every fight seemed duller than the last. Yet, for the crowds that surrounded him most nights, he put on his best show. Judging by the sounds of their cheers, he had done a good job at that.

           Though, at his spark, their cheers felt distant and faded.

           Why was it such a big deal, that the archivist did not wish to see you fight?

           When he was alone, the thought came to bother him, to almost taunt him for being so…dramatic. For a moment, he’d justify himself, but Megatronus quickly came to see that Orion had come with only good intentions.

           What I lacked was understanding, a grand flaw I have yet to fix, it seems.

           Parts of him wished he could forget about Orion…but most of him wished only to see his friend again—to say to him it was all ok. The last thing he’d wanted was to scare his friend away…and he’d done just that.

           All of him wondered…could Orion ever forgive him for being so childish?

///

Orion Pax had continued his work and studies. He spent his days working around the building, organizing, and filing one thing after another. At night, the young archivist studied until he couldn’t keep his optics open any longer. He worked tirelessly at his projects, writing papers with much fervor.

           Yet deep down, he felt an emptiness. Sadness and guilt continued to weigh on his spark.

           Orion wished more and more with each passing day, that he had kept silent. Had Megatronus been angry at him, he wouldn’t have minded…but the rejection that shone so clearly in his gaze…

             Orion could scarcely bear the thought as it came to distract him every now and then. Still, the young bot kept a small hope alive in his spark.

             Primus willing—he thought, setting down a box of old files—I’ll see him soon. Maybe then, I can fix things…I only hope that time has done its work.

             Almost without thinking, Orion moved towards a window, to gaze absent-mindedly at the stars dotting the sky—sparkling from afar, mildly, elegantly.  He had realized only in these past weeks that Megatronus was someone special to him…

             A friend I…do not wish to lose if I can help it.

///

             “Orion, are you in here?”

             The young bot looked up from his holopad, hearing a voice from outside the door, abruptly torn from a riveting story about—

             “Yes, Alpha Trion,” he left his desk and made his way to the door. It was quite odd that his teacher should come by at such an hour, but all the same, Orion offered no argument.

             He stepped outside to find his mentor already slowly walking down the hall. Before he could inquire about anything, Alpha Trion lifted an arm to silence him, not even turning to do so.

             “Walk with me, my student.”

             Without a word, Orion followed the master archivist, quickening his pace until he had come up beside him.

             In silence, they walked for a few minutes. Then, as if sensing Orion’s curiosity, Alpha Trion chuckled softly. His optics sparkled with gentleness, serenity, and boundless wisdom.

           Orion had always thought that—even from the first moment he’d laid eyes on his mentor, when he arrived at the door to Iacon.              

           “Orion, my student,” he began, “I am sorry to have interrupted your recreational free time.” To that, Orion gave a polite smile.

           “It was no trouble at all, master.”

           Alpha Trion hummed to himself and nodded. “I just wanted to let you know that I notice you have been working hard. Therefore, I wish to allow you a break.”

           The surge of excitement was quickly deflated once Orion quickly remembered that such free time was not of much use to him…as he no longer had anyone to meet…and nowhere to go, really.

           Sure, it was nice to read—which was usually what Orion enjoyed doing when he had the time. But since he’d met Megatronus, the prospect of hanging out with him was far more exciting than any of the tales spun in his books.

           His friend was much like a tale unto himself….

           “However, you cannot really use that time for much, right?”

           Orion’s spark skipped a beat at his mentor’s words. He halted, staring at the floor. His teacher continued on a few steps before he, too, stopped.  

           That’s right…and I have only…myself to thank for that…

           As if hearing his thoughts, Alpha Trion turned to him and drew close, placing one servo on the young scholar’s shoulder. His eyes shone with something wistful…something Orion couldn’t really put into words.

           “Young spark, listen to me.”

           “I am.”

           “The details of the situation are beyond my knowledge, but I only wish to say one thing. I sense that you know this, but you must fix whatever has happened between you and your friend. I know not his name, nor what caused the evident rift in your relationship. However, I do understand…”

           A pure sadness—some kind of deep regret—passed over his gaze, shimmering faintly.

           “I understand what it means to lose a friend, to wish only that you’d done or not done one thing or another. To wish you’d not let it all happen…that you could go back in time and do it all over.”

           He stared to his right. Following his gaze, Orion set his optics on the gorgeous mural hanging on the wall. In silence, he studied the painting—an artist’s depiction of the Thirteen Primes, all in harmonious glory and power. Not moving his eyes either, Alpha Trion spoke once more.

           “Eventually, time comes and takes from us. So, cherish what is meant to last for the moment, and replenish whatever you can. I believe you know in your spark…how to make things right. You have given it time, Orion. Do not let such a precious thing as friends slip through your servos like sand.…for no matter who they are, if they bring you joy…”

           “Such a bot is…a true friend….”

           “And now, there is understanding. Trust that he…has gained his.”

           Leaving Orion to stare ahead, speechless, Alpha Trion gave his student one last pat on the shoulder, then turned and continued down the halls, disappearing round the bend.

///

            Tap, tap, tap, tap!!

           Light footfalls sounded on the dirty, metal floors, quickly drawing closer to Megatronus’s quarters. He only barely heard them as he sat alone in his room.

            His eyes were closed, head against the wall and tilted towards the ceiling.

            No real thoughts swam around in his mind.  

           “Megatronus, sir!”

           The shrill voice reached his audio receptors, jolting him out of this blank state. He growled to himself, wishing he had not been disturbed. Then, with a sigh, he rose from the berth and unlocked the door to peek out into the halls.

          “There you are! I—I have a message from—uh, from…” the young, thin-framed, brightly colored bot shuffled around his brown bag for a moment. At last, he pulled out a thin screen—a message tablet. As the bot entered something into his delivery log, Megatronus folded his arms, interested.

           Who would be trying to contact me…who would use a message tablet…?

           “It doesn’t say who it’s from, but the order here says it’s urgent—so here you go, sir.”

           The bot carefully handed the gladiator the thin, glowing object. Megatronus nodded his thanks and took a step back into his room.

          “Uh—uhm, sir…”

          The delivery bot stammered quietly, causing Megatronus to stop look up.

          Now what?

          “Do you need something?” He asked as politely as he could.

          The thin-framed mech gripped the strap of his delivery bag and looked away for a moment before nodding.

           “I, uh…I just thought—well, I wanted to let you know th-that—um…”

           He shook his head harshly, worrying that Megatronus was starting to become annoyed.

           “I’ve…listened to a lot of your discussions—your speeches—and, um….” He took a deep breath, then looked up to Megatronus, admiration sparkling brightly in the depths of his optics.       “You’re a hero to me, sir. I—I want to let you know that…wherever you take your fight for freedom…I, for one, am right behind you…” he bowed his head a little. “As a delivery bot, with my weak, thin frame, I’m—I’m no good in any of the professions I wish I could enter, anyway…but your speeches about—y’know, equality and all…I just get so inspired!”

           Megatronus was taken completely aback by this, yet pleased to know he had one more ally in his campaign. Feeling pride in himself and joy knowing he could help this bot, he reached out and placed a firm servo on the smaller mech’s shoulder.

           “You are worth as much as you wish yourself to be, young bot. And your capability is also, only defined by you.” He smiled warmly. “What is your name?”

           The delivery bot looked so happy it seemed as if he’d burst.

           “Mikro, sir!”

           Megatronus laughed softly. “Thank you for your kind words, support, and,” he held up the message tablet with a grin, “This.” They shared a quiet laugh. After a moment, the gladiator continued. “Always remember this, Mikro. All bots have a spark in them, and that is the only deciding factor of their worth.”

            With that, he nodded a goodbye and stepped back into his room, closing the door.

           What a nice, young soul.

           He set the tablet down on a table and touched it, hoping to see who had sent the—

           “Megatronus, hello.”

           Orion’s face appeared on the screen, accompanied by his soft, level voice.

           Megatronus was greatly surprised. He felt a twinge of anger, but it was outweighed by a strange joy at seeing and hearing his friend after these long, empty weeks…

           “I am recording this from my room, and I will send it by an acquaintance of mine as soon as possible. I hope this reaches you well,” On the screen, Orion looked away, seeming nervous. “I will be at the entrance to Kaon city tomorrow. If…you are willing to meet with me…I have something to tell you—to show you—something that would not mean as much were I to share it over this screen. I apologize if I have inconvenienced you. May Primus be with you in all you do, Megatronus.”

            Click!

           Megatronus stared at the blank screen, seeing his own face reflected in the black glass. He sighed, gently setting the tablet face down. He laid on his berth, staring at the ceiling, thinking.

           Finally, he reached a decision.

           “See you tomorrow, then, Orion.”

....

I wanna just apologize again if there was any weird wording, spacing, typos, etc because I’m falling asleep/my head hurts/my stomach also hurts as I’m editing this :P ,,,,it’s 2 am,,,,,but for the sake of finally posting it because I’ve wanted to for so long, I’m trying my best! I’ll read through it tomorrow and probably fix some stuff lol

Oh an dw I’m not abandoning the other fic I’m writing, just updating this one cuz it’s been a while....^^’’

ANyway, thanks so much for reading!!! <3 

[mrsbenedictbridgerton]

The Shark

My first writing of any kind in like - years. 2K words of me playing with the toys I put away so long ago and missed.

Card shark Killian Jones has taken Mills Casino for a sweet half a million. So they send in the best woman for the job of bringing him down. But when sparks fly, can either of them keep a cool head?

Ao3

White teeth bit down upon blood red lips. Jade green eyes were framed by brows drawn into a straight line. The fingers of her free hand, the one not holding a fan of cards, drummed lightly against the emerald green baize of the card table. 

Killian Jones resisted the urge to smile. Such tells were clearly those of a novice, one not used to the high stakes of Mills Casino and certainly not the cordoned-off area in which they now played, one step before the high stakes section which sat behind a glossy back door behind her. He eyed the stack of golden chips that lay beside the tiny purse she had placed down when she sat, her long legs swivelling around the short stool, revealing the short hem of her red dress. Not short of coin, at least. He hid a smirk, this time by peeling off the black leather jacket he wore. 

The lass with the golden hair nodded, taking another card into her hand. He watched her brow wrinkle for a second. Bust. Then her eyes raised, meeting his cool blue ones, a flash of electricity racing through his veins. He took a deep breath. Aye, she was gorgeous, but so was he. Clearly he had been too long without company in his bed if only a glance from an attractive woman sent waves of heat through his body, his groin tightening and then thickening in response. Fuck. He frowned and concentrated on his cards.

This was child’s play, she thought, as she watched the dealer take her cards and her chips. Pretending to be bad at Blackjack, looking like a beginner, losing a few- hundred - dollars (expensed, naturally): piece of cake. If she were to be truly honest, the accent threw her. She knew he was British and had been prepared for the queen’s English. But the honey smooth timbre of his foreign tones had threaded straight through her the first time he’d spoken.

She schooled her features in the innocent mask she had practised that afternoon. But ignoring him, well, that had been a little harder. She’d seen a picture, of course. Mills Casino had tabs on all its high rollers, especially when they took the house for a cool half million only a week ago. Actually, Emma had anticipated having to work a little harder to track him down. Surely, he wouldn’t return to the scene of his crime so soon. But the card counting crook had. Maybe he was arrogant. He certainly looked arrogant. All dressed in black, fingers covered in silver rings, shirt unbuttoned to show an almost unseemly amount of chest hair. But that wasn’t just it. There was something there. It was magnetism. Something that didn’t come across in a security image or a copy of his ID. He radiated confidence and… heat. Even from across the table she’d had to thank her great foundation for the hiding the blush she felt when their eyes met and she saw their deep blue.

And blushing was not her. Not Emma Swan, hard ass, ex con, best damn bail bonds person on the east coast.

She signalled to the waitress and ordered a Manhattan. She didn’t often drink on the job, but this was medicinal. She needed to think straight. To relax.

Her lips caressed the rim of the glass. Images of more enjoyable uses for that mouth taunted him every time he looked in her direction. He should stop looking. He was here to work. Almost a week’s break - in honour of the nice payday he had won last week - had been unheard of time for him until now. Routine was important. Focus was essential. Mistakes - fatal. 

Tonight was for taking it easy. Perhaps it was brazen to show his face again, at least so soon. But he was almost certain his activities had gone undetected. That said he had done nothing illegal… more frowned upon. Frowned upon with fists. By casino security. He flinched briefly as he remembered his first foray into the depths that department. He’d had a swollen lip and black eye for a week. And he’d learned a valuable lesson.

She ran her finger tips along her clavicle. Her long wavy hair had fallen over her shoulder, sweeping along the low neckline of her dress, the shade of her cleavage drawing his eyes. 

Bloody hell. What was it about her? He felt… drunk. Even though his two fingers of rum had remained untouched since he sat down. The cards were turned and he lost. Again. Three hands in a row, his count had been obliterated by blonde hair and long legs. 

Enough.

He picked up his glass and downed the contents in one go. He nodded to the dealer and tossed him a couple of chips before picking up his jacket and heading for the exit.

What the fuck?

She racked her mind for the file she had built up on him.

Killian Jones never, never, left a table before he had at least doubled up. And he never left the casino floor before 3am. She glanced at her watch. It was just after midnight.

She had to get him tonight. Tomorrow, he could be gone. This was the first sign of him in days. She could just call out regular security to stop him, but Regina Mills valued discretion above all else. She did not want even a whiff of a scene. Which was why her services had been needed.

A second later, she was following him, making rapid little steps in her too-high heels as she headed for the VIP exit that meant high rollers didn’t have to walk the whole casino floor to get to their hotel room - or back onto the street.

She nodded at Tiny, the tall, bearded security officer who held open the door for her, as she made her pursuit. But she had only made a few paces along the dimly lit corridor before she felt a hand upon her wrist. A warm, strong hand. It was him, he’d been waiting where corridor intersected with another, stepping out to block her way as she halted in shock.

She thought he had blue eyes? No, they were sapphire. Dazzling sapphire. Hot, glittering sapphire.

This was the moment when she should have protested, men did not grab her without hearing a piece of her mind. Instead, she shook her arm free and stepped back.

Killian enjoyed watching her expression change - from shock to curiosity to idignance. If he said he wasn’t used to the way women reacted to him, well, he’d be a liar. And a liar he was not. Bending the truth however... 

“Can I help?” he asked, rubbing his fingertips across his lips.

She looked momentarily stunned as if she did not know what to say. But she had followed him. He’d watched out the corner of his eye as she had seen him leave. Things were getting interesting. He liked interesting.

“Are you lost, love?” he asked, caressing the endearment with his tongue, taking a step closer and enjoying her flush.

Her shoulders straightened and she smiled. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

Interesting. Well then…

He reached out and cupped her cheek. “You blush when you’re winning.”

“I do not-” she protested.

His land moved lower and skimmed across the exposed skin of her chest. “Here,” he added.

He could feel the racing of her heart as his fingers moved. His own pulse answered with a similar beat. By God, she was magnificent.

This was not going according to plan, she thought, as her skin burned from his touch. The cuffs should be on already. He should have been dragged down to the security room by now. Instead she was staring, her mouth a little open, her gaze fixed upon his stubble coated cheek which his knuckles has just passed over. Would those little hairs be hard and rough, or soft? She held out her hand and touched it. Soft, she thought, kissable.

Clearly there was some mutuality in that thought. His gaze dropped to her lips. His free hand found her waist and drew her closer. Then, his mouth was upon hers.

Soft and warm and strong. He tasted like spiced rum. His musky cologne mixed with the smell of the expensive leather jacket he wore. She sank into his kiss, letting her mind block out all the (very good) reasons that this was a very, very bad idea. Convincing herself it was just a kiss as her fingers slotted into his hair and he turned her, pressing her back against the flocked wallpaper of the corridor wall, sliding his thigh between hers. His heavy arousal pressed against her hip and she ground against it. Revelling in the feeling of power it gave - well, the illusion at least.

If the urge to pull up her skirts and take her right there had been even a little stronger, he would not have been able to resist. But Killian Jones was nothing if not a gentleman and even for him, taking a lass up against the wall in a public corridor would be a faux pax. He didn’t even know her name, and such information was a bare minimum requirement for his bed partners, or not bed in this case. He let his hands caress her waist and the delicious curve of her hips, drawing under her buttocks and pulling her tighter against him, torturing himself with the sensation of bodies entwined save for a few layers of infernal clothing. He wanted her. God, he needed her. The ache in his blood since she’d first appeared was reaching fever pitch.

He moved his lips to her neck, nibbling down the soft skin, allowing his lust to cool a moment.

“Do you have a name, love?”

Name. Yes, she had a name.

The question had cracked the spell she was under. Not broken it, she still felt heady with desire and something a little stronger than lust. But her name... It was at stake. This rogue, this scoundrel, with the silken tongue and gorgeous accent was her mark. She laid her head back against the wall, took a deep breath and tried to clear her head and ignore the sensation his lips were making upon her neck.

“Yeah, I do. Swan. Emma Swan,” and with one hand she reached into her purse and pulled out the cuffs she had brought. “Mill’s Security.”

He froze, his lips pulling away from her skin as the words sunk in.

“Ah,” he sighed. He jerked, ready to make a move. But, she was quicker. In a few quick moves, she had his face pressed where she had been, his hands behind him and she was fastening the cuffs. He didn’t struggle, which at first gave her pause, until she swung him around and saw the arrogant smile on his lips.

“Well lass, if that’s what you’re into, you just had to ask.”

She rolled her eyes, “Watch it, buddy.”

“Indeed I shall,” he replied, his eyes travelling down her skimpy red dress.

She pushed him ahead of her along the corridor.

Well, this was a turn for the books. Never had he been bested in such a manner. It felt oddly amusing. Perhaps more so if he wasn’t still feeling somewhat amourous, his body protesting against the abbreviation of the enjoyable activities. He liked this woman, this Swan. The name suited her. Graceful, elegant, strong. No one messed with a swan; powerful buggers they were if you got too close. 

Well then.

He let her steer him along the corridor, taking a left before the exit, stopping at a large unmarked door. She punched a code into the security pad beside it and pushed the door open. Inside, there was a table with a chair on each side and little else to speak of. 

She nudged him to sit.

“So, Swan, not you have me all to yourself, what now?”

She might have rolled her eyes at his question but she couldn't hide the blush. “Puh-lease, you are far too into yourself.”

“Merely an avid observer of womankind.”

She licked her lips. “You sit, I make a call, I get paid and you…” She let the words hang in the air before shrugging. “Well, that’s not my area.”

He chuckled, noting the interesting shiver of disappointment that rippled down his spine. “Tis a pity.”

“Yeah,” she  hummed, letting her eyes linger on him for a moment as she reached for the door handle. She squared her shoulders. “Sit tight, revenue protection have a few things they want to talk to you about.”

One last time, she met his eyes. He fancied he saw regret. 

Then the door closed.

She made the call from the courtesy phone along the hall, cell service being patchy at best in the depths of the casino. Now all she had to do was wait, make the handover and then head home for a hot bath and a large glass of pinot. Or two.

Her skin began to rapidly cool as the fever of those moments together faded into memory. God he could kiss. And his hands… and… She flushed as she revisited the sensations. She’s almost lost herself in the embrace. If it had gone on a moment or two more-

The back of her hand pressed against her mouth. He was a fraud, a conman, a manipulator. Making people feel things was what he did. It meant nothing. Even if it had been so long since she had felt anything beyond the basic mechanics attraction. It had just been to long. That was it. 

She tapped her foot impatiently. They should be here in a moment. She should check on him. 

Hurrying back to the room, she stilled her breathing before entering the code to open it. She would just check. Make sure he was… well, something. The door opened and she peered inside. The handcuffs were on the floor, a corner of the carpet pulled away to reveal a small trap door. More importantly, there was no Killian Jones.

Mother fucker!

Brushing himself off, Killian made his way out of the underground parking lot. The cuff key he always carried was tucked away in his vest pocket. He made a mental note to send Tiny a bonus, those details about the service shafts has come in very useful.

If he felt regret as he joined the busy mele outside the casino, he pushed it away. She was just another woman, this swan. Nothing to concern himself over.

And if he paused at the next sight of blonde hair and red fabric, well, that was another matter.

[kaleidiope]

September Project updation post in October because, well, i’m silly

This post I’ll mainly talk about my plan for my stories, and the things that’ve changed along with my plans for them and such. This was suppose to be in September but, I procrastinated, so yeah!  And, a ‘keep reading’ line to keep things tidy looking! Also, I actually had this as a draft, but forgot about it! Also, also, please don’t mind all the spelling errors that i’m sure is in here, this is quite long, and i’m so sorry for all of that!

You all know the drill, this is an update for the story I've been working on. It was made in roughly February of 2019. Or at least, that’s when I got the idea for it. I’ve been working on it seriously since September of 2019. So, for about a year. On this blog you can find a good bit of random things about it, including drawings. A lot of the drawings I've done I never posted, maybe one day, probably never, but still! A lot of this Blog has actually been WIPS of my story. And, since those past updates, story pitches and such, a few things have changed, and that's what this is about!

First, for those who don’t know, I feel in love with One shot, Deiland, Moonlighter, Borderlands, and a few other games. Mainly One shot for it’s vibe, it’s feel. I loved it, maybe too much? And, really wanted to make something like it. I don’t see that atmosphere much, personally. On Music box maniacs, a lovely site, I was given the idea to make a melody for a character. And that’s how Umber came along. Over time, I kind of made Umber, and left her. Started trying to get into digital art, but without a tablet I tried to create a character that would be easy to free hand with a mouse. Which became Pax. Over time, I feel in love with Pax’s design. I drew him a lot, he was my first, and only OC. I’ve drawn random people and thing’s before, but he had a name. An age. And soon, a back story. He was set in a different world than Umber’s. Which, at this time, is almost abandoned. He was a potion seller’s child who only wanted to go on the adventure’s the customers where experiencing. And one day, he’d face a dragon, and possibly his fate. But that was scraped because each time I drew him, more and more, the backgrounds reminded me of Umber’s story. So, he became a child in her story and his was abandoned.  Umber was suppose to be a child traveling with no family trying to get awareness of her light to others. And once meeting Pax in another shop, he agreed to help her. So, you could say, Pax was Moonlighter based, and Umber was One shot based. The idea that her light was a bad thing and there were ‘”bad people” didn’t come until later. Though, Crimson was suppose to be a bully type of person who mocked, and even at times, almost hurt Umber. Because also, at this time, everyone was children. Once it was thought over for awhile then did we get the story line we have now. Umber was an inventor in a world suffering a seeming eternal eclipse. which was ruled by a corporation that was money hungry and didn’t care for the greater good. The world had glowing bugs that somehow emit a good amount of light, and through time and a lot messing and discovery, oddly power? Which is what the corporation sells, Starworm lights, and “batteries” of a sort. The bugs also allow some things to grow, but with them being harvested as much as they are, the corporation is killing the world. But, that won’t be their problem, they’ll be dead by the time it’s an issue. Now, we have a lot of characters and general world building stuff, along with the flora and fauna and how things work. So, let’s begin! (Yes, this is going to be a long post. I’m so sorry!) But, I have since changed a few things, which I will now state. I was pretty heck bent on giving them ages, but, I don’t wish for them to have any, anymore. This is not earth. It’s a planet without a sun. Keeping track of time is easier than days, let alone years. So for many, it’s just a toss up on how long they’ve lived for. Just a mere, rough, idea. I wanted ages for personality comparisons and height ideas for when I draw them. Which, was never my idea at first. This was just for OC’s to draw, yes, but then it became a story for them, along with for my own enjoyment and somehow it became more than that. Which, I oddly love. But, ages were more for an even sillier reason I've since abandoned as well, and I think the story’s better off now since then. Also, they were all children at a time. Adults wouldn’t even have names or faces, All adults were originally suppose to get full face masks. Instead of half masks. But Indigo ruined that, and after that, some of the characters were being made older. To fit with the personalities, for say, Talos. He was also a child, who I didn’t feel being a child would fit the character and mainly, their job in the story as a whole. So yes. The story itself wasn’t the main idea. Having OC’s to draw were. But I was given a lot of support on MBM with my story pitches, also, I enjoyed making them. So I continued. And I really enjoy this. World building has been the hardest, trying to make things make sense, like the eclipse lasting years. And the fact a moon bigger and that much closer to the planet would most likely make the planet itself, the planet’s moon, and the moon, the planet. And how is life still possible, along with, isn’t it cold? And to that, yes, yes, yes, and maybe XD Mainly, this is fantasy, yes, I do want it to make sense, yes, this isn’t earth. The people’s races aren’t our races, calling them human might just be an insult to them. I mean, they don’t even have pupils. (Thanks, odd drawing style.) So, my answer to a lot of this is, it’s not earth. This is fantasy. I’m doing this for fun. And I’ve done a lot research for something that was never suppose to be as much of a thing as it is, but i’m having too much fun to stop now. And with that as well, yes, a lot of my characters are suppose to have a deeper skin color. Talos, Mauve, Indigo, and so on, are suppose to have a more deep olive color. But, at the time of drawing a lot of them, I didn’t have the faith to execute other skin tones correctly. So I just didn’t. Just like drawing illustrations for my story. I didn’t think I would because I didn’t think I could, but i’m now willing to try. So, here is where we stand so far! I want my characters to have a rough age, but it could be depicted to give of take about three years. I’ve said I wanted Pax to be about 11, but I also see him to act older for his age and such. The idea of him being any younger seems odd, but if you wanted to give him a 9-15 age for an example, that’s more than cool. That goes for all my characters. I want a lot of my characters to look like their own character, i’m working very hard with redraws to make sure there’s noticeable differences with their noses and eye shapes and such.  I want different skin colors and face shapes and so on, but the idea of different races on such a small planet and even the idea of tanned skin in a world without the sun to give one a tan seems odd to me? But there will be differences, because I always wanted there to be. This story will indeed cover some heavy topics. Including but not limited to, alcohol, death, suicide, murder, mental and physical disorders and illnesses, such as DID, alzheimer’s, dementia, memory issues, abandonment, and a form of racism. All things are not straight out talked about or referenced, but lightly implied.  I took inspiration from a lot of things. (including places, animals, other stories and people) And I will not refer to any of it within my story, such as DID. There is already too much falseness and other wrong info on that and other things. I do not trust myself to paint it in a good light, nor a correct light. And will re-frame from actually stating a character has an identity disorder. The idea this world knows of DID and would use the same word is also something I question. But the characters disorder is based on DID. (Also, it’s Tobias.) The idea of genders is something that’s a toss up. I’ve never said anything of the sort and would rather not say anything. The idea that they have genders or sexuality is just something I don’t really want to think about and is rarely mentioned. The idea of love and such is mentioned, purely more for a joke/bit. But still I don’t wish to think of my characters with genders or those parts no matter what I refer to them as. Not mention these characters still aren’t human. I do use She/he/they pronouns for my characters and as of now have used phases like, “That guy” But, it’s become a personal running joke I want to make clear at the start of my story that it was translated and adapted to fit this worlds standers of word form. There are roughly 25 characters as of now, only five main characters, or should I say, five characters that get there point of view expressed. And about six support characters, and the rest are minor support characters. Some of these characters are only mentioned, or referenced, as an attempt to build the world. Questions are always open, and this story is undergoing many changes and constant consideration. As I learn, grow and improve my skills.  I have no hope or want for this to get big or anything of the sort. this is for fun. 100%. If it looks like I talk about this a lot, but never have anything to show for it, it’s because I want it to be perfect or close to it before I show anything. Which will be never, because I can never make perfect. I’m just trying to do the best I can and am pushing the limits of my skills to get there.  I should note, I am fine, I’m not “Pushing” myself. Which is why it’s taking the time it is.  I am really working on character personalities and keeping them coherent and sane along with the same. And talking about all this helps with that. As for now, I know what I want to do, and where I want my story to go, i’m just figuring out how to execute it best.  I’m more skilled in writing where I describe things, mainly emotions and the scene it’self. Along with script writing. I’m not skilled with writing conversations which is a large part of my story. Same with drawing backgrounds or anything that isn’t people. So my story so far reads a lot like a script due to how the conversations are laid out and due to how I describe how each thing is done. This is something I want to get a bit away from because it was purely so I wouldn’t get lost and confused with who was talking and the emotion/feel of each scene.  That’s because I have the attention span and instruction following skills of a carrot. I use my characters names far too many times along with a lot of other things I use for self help clarity which I hope to fix by the end. I do think it’d be cool to start dropping parts of the story and other things of what I have done, with the note that it could change. I feel it’d be fun, but i’m very hesitant to do so.  I do wish to make character bios and such for them all at some point and just have a post that lays down what has been decided so if anyone wants they can follow along with the process. But, that’s all a toss up as of now. Thank-you for reading, and for your time, I hope you have an amazing day! And I dearly apologize for this length! 

[jflashandclash]

Tales from Mount Othrys

Ajax: Fidget Spinners IX

           Pax assumed, “Are we there yet?” would earn him a hard enough slap to the head to kill him. At least, Pax reasoned, he wouldn’t have far to go if he died.

         “Hey, Lou Ellen?” Pax huffed. “If we die in Tartarus, where do we go? The current court of the dead probably isn’t handing Paradise Passes to Kronos supporters, but—like—are we just here, undead, wandering in Tartarus and trying to find out way back to the Underworld, so they can pass judgment and send us back here?”

         The thought made him tremble. This was definitely a place that had never been on his bucket list and, he would burn the bucket list of any friends that suggested it.

         They hadn’t gone far, or Pax didn’t think they had gone far. The landscape was monotonous in its I’m-evil-and-depressing way and time didn’t feel right. He didn’t know how to explain it beyond that. The deprivation of sun and sky was making his head loopy. He was from the Caribbean; this cavernous, sunless nowhere felt like it violated nature, even if he had enjoyed swimming in the occasional cenote.

         Apparently this question was worse than, “Are we there yet?” Axel, despite his seeming exhaustion, wound up a hand to slap Pax across the back of the head.

         Lou Ellen weakly grabbed at Axel’s elbow before he could strike.

         With no fight, he lowered his fist.

         Everyone was exhausted. Lou Ellen looked sickly in this burnt orange haze. By now, they could see the giant rock that she was leading them to. It should have only been a mile away, max, but Pax had no idea what that would mean on this terrain.

         “Let’s just not die,” she suggested. There was no giggle. She sounded too tired for that. Her hand stump was tucked firmly under her opposing armpit. She wouldn’t let either of them see it. Pax had a creeping feeling that something was wrong with it.

         Axel had offered to turn around, to look for a way to scale the buffs behind them. Neither Pax nor Lou Ellen—especially not Lou Ellen with her missing hand—would be able to make that climb. Judging by the occasional stagger to Axel’s step, helping the two little ones was wearing him down.

         He had offered this after they passed some humanoid bones. Monsters, unfriendly ones, monsters that earned the name monsters, had been feasting there. Axel hid them, commanding they not make a sound.

         He was afraid of getting overwhelmed down here. Since he was afraid, Pax knew to be afraid.

         But, Lou Ellen said their destination wasn’t far.  And, Pax suspected, she knew going back would mean failing to climb that buff, and—in the unlikelihood that they succeeded—going back into the clutches of Hades’ army. Which, again, might have just meant a one-way ticket back here. Might as well get acquainted with their neighbors if this was the inevitable end.

         “Wow,” Pax said, “I think the gloominess, acidity, and potential demise is ruining my mood. You know what we all need? A Matthias prank. Like, a good, old hack job. Remember that time Matthias ‘accidentally’ shot Luke in the butt with a bow?”

         That earned him a slight smile from Lou Ellen and a choked laugh from Axel.

         The stupid rock ahead of them seemed a lot closer. Pax could make out the glint of chains against its blackened surface.

         “It was a mini-toilet plunger with enhanced super glue on the tip. Luke had to cut it out of his clothing,” Lou Ellen said. She even giggled. “He never did figure out who did it.”

         Axel sighed, but the sound thinly covered his amusement. “Luke didn’t know who did it and no one would rat Matthias out, not even Morpheus. He said he was sleeping… we had to do an extra mile of running every morning for a month as punishment.”

         “Totally worth it,” Pax and Lou Ellen agreed.

         The massive rock didn’t protrude as high into the air of Tartarus as Pax was expecting.

Pax squinted and felt his spirits almost splinter again; something withered up there. They knew it would be on the rock, but seeing the humanoid thrashing, likely in anticipation, was different than hearing Lou Ellen and Axel discuss the myth.

         He wondered if the others saw it. Axel must have. Despite his exhaustion, his pace had picked up, bringing them ever closer to some smaller rocks at the base of the big one.

         “I’ve never met someone whose name is so many words. Like, how do we nickname him? Pro? Me? The? Us?”

         “The ‘e’ in ‘the’ isn’t the same,” Lou Ellen muttered, like she knew Pax needed Alabaster here to criticize Pax’s absurdism.

         “It’s too long a name to call him,” Pax decided. “Do you think ‘Rocky’ would be offensive?”

         “Yes,” Axel said.

         By then, the sight was disturbing.

         Like in the myths, there was a titan chained, semi-upright, to the rock, full spread-eagle. Though, Pax suspected he wouldn’t like the description, “spread-eagle.” From what Pax could see, the guy was huge—at least ten feet tall. He wore a tattered piece of material might have once been a Greek chiton. The torso piece was so ripped to shreds, it was impossible to tell for sure.

         They made it to the smaller rocks at the base before anyone spotted the second part of the myth.

         Axel, of course, saw it first. He grabbed Pax and Lou Ellen and dragged them behind the lower lying rocks. At the same time, a piercing screech echoed around Tartarus.

         Pax could hear the titan release a soft, despondent wail. Bits of sand and rock clattered down off the massive one as the titan renewed his struggles.

         Pax bit his lip. He was pretty sure this guy was crying. He could hear a soft, weeping noise.

         When Pax looked up, he could see why.

         The attacker moved too fast for his eyes to follow it in the sky. One moment, he thought he saw a wingspan larger than a minivan and talons the length of two Pax arms. The next moment, there was a blur diving at the rock above them.

         Axel stood up and drew his sword.

         “Axel, what are you doing?” Pax hissed. “Massive bird of prey. In diving formation.”

         The talons must have dug into the rock above them. The whole thing shifted eerily. The titan released a despairing howl.

         “The eagle will leave once it’s done feeding!” Lou Ellen reminded Axel.

         Axel unsheathed a knife from his belt, digging it into the side of the rock like a climbing pick. “It’s the principle of the matter.”

         Axel’s golden eyes glinted with fury. Although Pax knew there was no way to dissuade him, he clutched at his brother’s arm, then foot as Axel dragged himself up the rock’s façade. Axel’s muscles bulged with strain. Considering how much extra weight he’d taken to make sure Pax and Lou Ellen’s journeys were easier, Pax figured—and kind of hoped—Axel would overexert himself and flop back onto the ground.

         He did not.

         “’Axel’s principles’ is not what I want to write on your obituary! It does not have a ring to it and I cannot write it into a jingle,” Pax pleaded. A jingle was already forming in his head, but he tried to banish the morbid tune.

         Axel had already shaken Pax off and was half-way up the rock.

         Prometheus screamed.

         Something leaked over the ledge above them.

         Lou Ellen and Pax jumped away from each other. Blood. They’d been splashed with the Titan’s golden blood.

         “Come on!” Lou Ellen said, “We have to do something.”

         She scrambled around the base, picking up smaller stones that had chipped off the big one in this eon long struggle. Pax went to help her. As they gathered, he could see the stump of her missing hand. The skin around the edges looked blackened, as though with gangrene. She had been hiding how quickly the magic was failing.

         They took a few stumbled steps away from the rock, so they could see over the ledge.

         Even from this distance, Pax felt his mouth go dry.

         The eagle looked nothing like the one plastered all over American logos. Its feathers were black, except the hint of some brown towards the head. The only colorful thing on it was its golden beak, now speckled with red. One black clawed foot had anchored into Prometheus’ hand, a talon puncturing him right in the wrist, crucifixion style. The other dug into the rock.

         Golden blood leaked from a gash in Prometheus’ stomach. A coiling rope appeared to hang out and Pax nauseously thought about how convincing Alabaster’s fake intestines were. He doubted the things spilling from Prometheus’ gut were just sausages. If they were, he had a lot of questions about Titan biology.

         Lou Ellen grew flustered, seeming to realize her throwing arm was half-missing.

         “Need a hand?” Pax offered, his voice trembling.

         “You have better aim anyway. I would probably hit Axel,” Lou Ellen said, looking relieved.

         Axel had made it to the ledge. Soon, the eagle would notice him.

         Pax dumped his extra stones at their feet.

         Other than darts, Pax didn’t have great aim with projectiles and he definitely didn’t have the strength to throw such a distance. However, he did have specialty knowledge and equipment: any good prankster needed a slingshot.

         He grabbed a stone the size of his palm and slipped a slingshot out of his back pocket, the one Matthias had made for him for special occasions.

         In a blink, he’d aimed, fired, and bapped the bird in the head.

         The stone smacked into feathers then flopped onto the tortured Titan’s stomach. Pax would feel bad (and a little grossed out) about hitting the Titan’s exposed wound after they were done saving him.

         “Hey birdie!” Lou Ellen shouted. “Over here!”

         They hadn’t done much damage, but they had caught its attention. The eagle released another piercing scream. Its head snapped in their direction.

         That was all they needed. In the moment of distraction, Axel had scrambled up to his feet beside the bird.

         Before Axel could slice into the bird’s back, its entire body blurred. One moment, it was about to be cat food. The next, the bird’s body had quarter turned. Its beak snapped backwards. Axel’s sword barely deflected that deadly point—sharp enough to cut apart a Titan’s stomach.

         At the force of the attack, Axel almost fell backwards off the rocky plateau.

         “Keep firing!” Lou Ellen shouted, shoving another rock into Pax’s palm.

         Pax fumbled with the ammo, shoved it into the sling, and took aim. In the test of strength, Axel was losing this battle (which felt backwards. In the world of avian vs. feline, Pax generally voted on the one with more teeth.) The glint of Axel’s sword turned into a smear as he and the bird parried talon, beak, and blade blows. Axel kept nearly losing his balance, twisting to avoid the occasional, cartoony pinwheel.

         Pax became very happy that Axel had trained for trapeze before they were taken from their Uncles carnival troop.

          With Lou Ellen’s cheering, Pax released his rock. The projectile caught the eagle’s wings as they extended, looking like a black tidal wave of death.

         The eagle was not happy to have its dinner interrupted. To be fair, Pax supposed it would be super rude to have someone attack you when you’re trying to enjoy some raw spleen.

         At the ammo strike, the wing fluttered violently. Ignoring the strike like it had the average velocity of a beach ball, the eagle arched its body—it was getting ready for take off. As Lou Ellen handed another rock up to Pax and he took aim, he knew take off would be bad. Even with Axel’s cool Mayan features, Pax boys were not born for aerial combat, trapeze training or not.

         “We need to get closer!” Lou Ellen shouted. She must have realized they weren’t doing enough damage from this distance. However, if they got too close to the bluff, Pax wouldn’t be able to shoot over the ledge. Still, they had to try and get a sweet middle spot. He took a careful step closer, already loading the next projectile that Lou Ellen had shoved his way.

         The eagle arched back onto one talon to strike down with the other.

         Axel went down.

         Lou Ellen and Pax screamed—

         The eagle clawed at Pax’s downed brother, pecking violently. Even with their attacks—Pax now unloading rock after rock, shrieking for Lou Ellen to load him up with the largest ammo they could fire, this wouldn’t be enough. Some tiny voice in Pax’s head whispered that this was just like the time he’d seen Julian almost kill Axel in the arena. He was about to lose his brother, and there was nothing he could—

         Axel rose back to his feet on the other side of Prometheus. The bird continued to claw and peck at the spot Axel had been.

         Pax’s jaw dropped when he realized what had happened.

         The eagle was pecking where Axel had pinned one of its wings with his sword.        

         Lou Ellen’s and Pax’s screams went from horror to cheers.

         He couldn’t tell if Axel had used a trick of the Mist, was actually that fast, or if Prometheus had somehow distracted the bird and helped Axel. Honestly, Pax didn’t care.

         All Pax cared about was how awesome his older brother looked when Axel lunged onto the bird’s back and plunged his dagger into the back of the bird’s head.

 ***

Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed and are staying safe! Stay tuned next week to meet our Titan of the hour—Rocky—I mean Prometheus.

[tlhnetwork]

the last hours by cassandra clare : a complete compilation of snippets released as of 19 feb 19

reminder that snippets are tentative and can be misleading, it’s all up to interpretation. i have ordered the snippets, some are all from chain of gold as far as i guessed / can tell from cassie’s tags and have some sort of sequence, others are most likely from chain of gold too. some are from cassie’s pinterest so they might just be ideas. i will update this post at least once a month, also depending on whether new snippets have been released. 

WILL, JEM, TESSA & JAMES ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Will had been sitting on the floor, the rug bunched up under his feet, with his back against Tessa’s legs. He looked up when Jem came in, and Jem, in his Silent Brother robes, went over to Will and sat down beside him. He drew Will’s head against his shoulder, and Will held the front of Jem’s robes in his fists and he cried. It was the first time it had ever occurred to James that his father might cry about anything.

SHADOWHUNTERS FOUR

They were inseperable.

MATTHEW

"What's that little smile of yours?" Matthew inquired. "You look as if you're about to laugh."

UNKNOWN BOY & MATTHEW

He yanked him downward, and in a moment they were rolling on the carpet like puppies, Matthew laughing uncontrollably...

SEMI-UNIDENTIFIED SNIPPET ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

He took a deep breath, and crossed the floor of blades and constellations to the other boy’s side. He stood at the foot of the stairs, looking down.

“But of course,” he said, very softly, “your sentiments are reciprocated.”

He stooped over him, tilting his chin up. Their lips met. The other boy made a soft sound, almost like surrender, stretching under his body. He slid an arm around his neck and pulled him down onto the stairs.

TESSA & WILL

"Will." Tessa sank down beside him on the bed. "There is no war."

MATTHEW

"A lapidary phrase is one that is worth carving into stone," said Matthew, "and preserving forever — a wise saying such as we are dust and shadows, or alternately, any words that come out of my mouth."

JAMES

"That's because you’re drunk," said James. They were both sprawled at the same round table in an upper room of the Devil Tavern on Fleet Street.

MATTHEW

"I think too much and I drink too much," said Matthew, "that's my problem."

MATTHEW talking to JAMES

"Please recall that I am the pale neurasthenic one and you are the dark brooding one. It is tedious when you mix up our roles."

MATTHEW & JAMES

Matthew held out his hands. “Pax,” he said, wheedlingly. “Let it be peace between us. You can pour the rest of the port* on my head.”

James’ mouth curved up into a smile. It was impossible to stay angry with Matthew. It was almost impossible to get angry at Matthew.

* as it turns out, a definition of ‘port’ is a strong, sweet dark red (occasionally brown or white) fortified wine, originally from Portugal, typically drunk as a dessert wine. that’s how I made the connection between these snippets and arranged them so. it’s not confirmed.

WILL & LUCIE ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

“What if Cordelia has changed her mind, and says she will not have a minx like you?”

“She would never!” Lucie was outraged.

“No,” Will agreed. “She would not. As far as I am concerned, you shall perform the ceremony as soon as you please. All I want is for you and Cordelia to live a long and happy life, and never be parted.”

CECILY ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

"I am pleased - it is high time I think more girls became parabatai with each other," said Cecily.

WILL & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

“Cordelia Carstairs,” Will said, after greeting her mother. “How pretty you’ve become.”

Cordelia beamed. If Will thought she was pretty, perhaps his son thought so, too. Of course Will was entirely prejudiced toward all things Carstairs. He even thought Alastair was perfect (and, possibly, also pretty.)

LUCIE

The Beautiful Cordelia was a novel that Lucie had begun when she was twelve.

“THE BEAUTIFUL CORDELIA” LUCIE & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Cordelia glanced over her shoulder. “Is it — I mean, I wish to chat alone with you, too, but are we being dreadfully rude asking your brother to walk behind us?”

“Not a bit,” Lucie assured her. “Look at him. He’s quite distracted, reading.”

And he was. James had a book out and was calmly reading while he walked. Though he seemed entirely caught up in whatever he was perusing, he nevertheless skirted oncoming passers-by, the occasional rock or fallen branch, and once even a small boy holding a hoop, with admirable grace. Cordelia suspected that if she had tried such a stunt, she would have crashed into a tree.

“You’re so lucky,” Cordelia said, wistfully, still looking over her shoulder at James.

“Goodness me, why?” Lucie looked at her with wide eyes. Where James’ eyes were amber, Lucie’s were a pretty pale blue, a shade lighter than her father’s. The famous dark blue Herondale eyes had gone to Will’s sister’s children.

Cordelia’s head snapped back around. “Oh, because —“ Because you get to spend time with James every day? She doubted Lucie thought that was any special gift; one didn’t, when it was one’s family. “He’s such a good older brother. If I’d asked Alastair to walk ten paces behind me in a park he would have made sure to stick by my side the entire time just to be annoying.”

“Pfft!” Lucie exhaled. “Of course I adore Jamie but he’s been dreadful lately, ever since he fell in love.”

She might as well have dropped an incendiary device on Cordelia’s head. Everything seemed to fly apart around her. “He’s what?”

“Fallen in love,” Lucie repeated, with the look of someone enjoying imparting a bit of gossip. “Oh, he won’t say with who, of course, because it’s Jamie and he never tells us anything. But Father’s diagnosed him and he says it’s definitely love.”

“You make it sound like consumption.” Cordelia’s head was whirling with dismay. James in love? With who? The look he had given her when she stepped down from the carriage, perhaps she had imagined that?

“Well, it is a bit, isn’t it? He gets all pale and moody and stares off out of windows like Keats.”

“Did Keats stare out of windows? I don’t recall hearing that.”

Lucie plowed on, undeterred by the question of whether England’s foremost romantic poet did or did not stare out of windows. “He won’t say anything to anyone but Matthew, and Matthew is a tomb where James is concerned. I heard a bit of their conversation once by accident, though —“

“Accident?” Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

“I may have been hiding beneath a table,” said Lucie, with dignity. “But it was only because I had lost an earring and was looking for it.”

Cordelia suppressed a smile. “Go on.”

“He is definitely in love, and Matthew definitely thinks he is being foolish. He does not like her.“

CORDELIA, LUCIE & MATTHEW ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Cordelia clutched Lucie’s hand as they jolted through the streets in the Carstairs’ carriage, surrounded by the blurred traffic of omnibuses, motorcars, and pedestrians. Advertisements whirled past. THE HORSESHOE HOTEL. THREE GUINEA STOUT. NEW PALACE STEAMERS. Signs advertising tailors and fishmongers, hair tonic and cheap printing.

Matthew, sitting across from them on the upholstered carriage seat, was muttering and swearing to himself, his hair sticking out madly.

“Hidebound,” he muttered. “Weasels.”

“What?” said Lucie.

“I think he said hidebound weasels,” said Cordelia. “But who do you mean, Matthew? Are you angry at us?”

Matthew flung himself sideways so his long legs were pulled up on the bench seat in front of him, and his profile was presented to Lucie and Cordelia. It was a fine profile: he was much more delicate-featured than his brother, who had a broad, strong face. Matthew had a face that looked as if it had been meant to be painted on china.

“Of course not,” he said. “It’s just appalling how they all treat James.” He glanced at Cordelia, and then at Lucie. “She knows, doesn’t she?”

JAMES, TESSA & WILL ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

James could see his mother moving like an anxious pale star among the guests in her lilac dress, greeting each of them warmly, welcoming them to her home. She had not glamoured herself to look her husband’s age for the evening, and she appeared enormously young, though her hair was done up like a gracious older woman’s, not a girl’s. When Will materialized out of the crowd and came to put his arm around Tessa, smiling down at her, the gray at his temples flashed like silver. James looked away; he loved his parents for being extraordinary, but sometimes he also hated them for the same thing.

JAMES & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

James and Matthew separated, Matthew to dance with Lucie, and James to speak to his parents. Cordelia saw them glance over toward her and looked away quickly; still, she was not at all surprised when James appeared a moment later in front of her, flashing a smile at his aunt and uncle.

“Miss Carstairs,” he said, with a slight bow in Cordelia’s direction. “Would you favor me with this dance?”

“It’s a waltz,” said Cordelia’s mother, before Cordelia could speak. “My daughter does not know how to waltz.”

Cordelia bit her lip. She certainly knew how to dance: her mother had engaged an expert instructor to teach her the quadrille and the lancer, the stately minuet and the cotilion. But the waltz was a seductive dance, one where you could feel your partner’s body against yours, scandalous when it had first become popular.

She very much wanted to waltz with James.

JAMES & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

"Who's the boy tripping over his own feet?" Cordelia asked as the boy in question, a slender, ink-stained young man with spectacles and tousled brown curls, nearly careened into Lucie and Matthew.

"That's Christopher Lightwood. My cousin. Alas, Christopher is far more at home with beakers and test tubes than he is with female company. Let's just hope he doesn’t pitch poor Rosamund Townsend into the refreshment table."

"Is he in love with her?"

"Lord, no, barely knows her," said James. "Charles and Ariadne* are engaged, and Barbara Lightwood has an understanding with George** Hayward. Beyond that, I'm not sure I can think of any romances brewing in our set. Though having you and Alastair here might bring us some excitement, Daisy."

Her heart leaped. "I didn't realize you remembered that old nickname."

"What, Daisy?” He was holding her close as they danced: she could feel the heat of him all up and down her front, making her prickle all over. "Of course I remember it. I gave it to you. I hope you don't intend me to stop using it."

"Of course not. I like it." She forced herself not to move her gaze from his. Goodness, his eyes were startling up close. They were the color of golden syrup, almost shocking against the black of his pupils. She had heard the whispers, knew people found his eyes odd and alien, a sign of his difference. She thought they were lovely: the color of fire and gold, the way she imagined the heart of the sun. "Though I don't think it suits me. Daisy sounds like a pretty little girl in hair ribbons."

"Well," he said. "You are at least -"

He broke off. She heard the click as he swallowed: he was looking past her, at someone who had just come into the room. Cordelia followed his glance, and saw a tall woman, thin as a scarecrow and dressed in the black of mourning, with gray-streaked auburn hair done in the style of decades ago piled on her head. Tessa was hurrying toward her, a concerned look on her face. Will was following, and goodness, what did they both look so worried about?

As Tessa reached her, the woman stepped aside, revealing the girl who had been standing behind her. A girl, dressed all in ivory, with a soft waterfall of white-gold curls gathered back from her face. The girl moved forward gracefully to greet Tessa and Will, and as she did so, James dropped Cordelia's hands.

They were no longer dancing. Cordelia stood, frozen in confusion, as James turned away from her without a word and strode across the room toward the girl.

* in the original snippet, her name was Daphne, it’s been changed to Ariadne, confirmed.

** see next snippet

BARBARA & THOMAS ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Barbara patted Thomas, as if his brawny arm was a small boy’s head. “I was merely anxious about you, Tommy. Surely you are not vexed.”

Thomas’s brows were drawn sharply together, making his amiable countenance dark for the briefest interval. Then he sighed, drew his sister toward him in the circle of his arm, and stooped to press a kiss upon her brow.

“No, Babs,” he said. “Of course I am not vexed. Can you spare your brother a dance, though I know Oliver** will be loath to part with you? I will take care not to be clumsy.”  

** unsure if George’s name has been changed to Oliver or if they are even the same person.

THOMAS, CHRISTOPHER & GRACE ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

“Christopher,” said Thomas. “Would you take James away immediately and show him an interesting scientific experiment?”

Christopher frowned. “Which one?”

“Any one at all!” said Thomas. “I will escort the ladies home.”

Christopher’s brow cleared. “Ah, I understand perfectly. This is what Matthew said we were to do, about not letting James out of our sight and above all else keeping him away from…”

He trailed off, gazing at Grace with distant alarm.

GRACE

Be careful what you say to me, Grace told him. There is nothing I cannot make you do.

[ popularly assumed to be JAMES talking to GRACE ]

"That was vile, what you made me do, and vile that you made me do it."

THOMAS & LUCIE ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Apprehension stole across Thomas’s face. “Lucie, you must not challenge Grace to a duel.”

“We shall see where the night takes us,” Lucie declared.

“Oh good,” said Thomas. “I see you intend to Herondale to the fullest.”

JAMES

Make a wish, Jamie

JAMES

"Stop!" James cried. He felt as if he were drowning. He had always been shy...

JAMES & BARBARA

The world had gone monochrome. James saw broken, black walls, a splintered floor, and dust that glittered like dull jewels scattered across the place where Barbara had fallen.

SHADOWHUNTERS FOUR ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

James cried out. Lightning seemed to fork behind his vision, and suddenly he was back in Regent’s Park, kneeling on the grass. There was a firm grip on his shoulders. “Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,” said an urgent voice, and James — his breath tearing in and out of his chest — tried to focus on what was in front of him.

Matthew.

Everything was blurred in that moment but Matthew’s face, his green eyes wide and dark and steady. Behind him moved other figures; they seemed in that moment like the shapes James had been finding in the clouds — inchoate and untouchable.

“Jamie, breathe,” Matthew said, and his voice was the only steady thing in a world turning upside down. It had been years since this had happened. Years. The horror of it happening in front of a crowd of people —

“Did they see me?” he said in a cracked voice. “Did they see me turn?”

“You didn’t,” Matthew said, “or at least, only a very little bit — perhaps just a bit fuzzy round the edges —“

“It’s not funny,” James said through his teeth, but Matthew’s humor acted like a slap of cold water; he opened his eyes fully, saw Thomas and Christopher looking down at him. They had positioned themselves so as to block him from the crowd at the lake’s edge.

“Get up,” Thomas said. “It’s the best thing you can do, James, we’ll tell them you tripped or fell.” His hazel eyes were anxious but his tone was reassuring. “Honestly all the attention was on Ariadne — “

Matthew’s hands on James’ shoulders turned into a grip on his arms, and James was hauled upright by his three best friends. Christopher produced a handkerchief from somewhere and began to dust his lapels.

“Chris,” said Matthew. He was the only person who ever used that nickname for Christopher besides Anna. “Stop. Who cares if he’s dusty? He was just invisible.”

“But he isn’t any more,” Christopher pointed out.

“We need to get you back to the Institute,” said Matthew to James in a low voice. “If you’re going to start suddenly going all — shadowy — for no reason, then the Silent Brothers —“

“Not the Silent Brothers,” said Thomas. “Just Zachariah.”

JAMES & MATTHEW

The whole way to the Fairchilds’ James had felt as if he were choking, and now he could breathe, the pressure on his chest easing. He couldn’t find words now, couldn’t do anything but clutch on to the front of Matthew’s shirt and put his head down on his shoulder.

JAMES & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Cordelia was alone in the hallway. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed open the door to James’ room.

She had never been in a boy’s bedroom before, and it was quite a scandalous action to enter now, but the significance of it seemed small, swallowed up by her worry. James was half under the covers of the bed, moving restlessly from side to side, his face flushed with fever. His nightclothes clung to him, wet with sweat. It was a bright day outside and sunlight speared through the room, illuminating the bowls of burning herbs that Enoch had left behind.

James rolled toward her. His eyes, the color of sunlight, blinked open slowly. “Matthew?” he said. “Matthew, is that you?”

CORDELIA

A betraying hope swelled in her heart and for a moment she allowed herself to imagine being engaged to James, being welcomed into Lucie's family.

JAMES

The moonlight softened the harsh gold of James' eyes to a dark umber. How changed would his life have been if his eyes had not been a sign of his difference?

JAMES & CORDELIA

Cordelia blinked, bewildered. "James?"

"I suffered every thorn for you," he said. "I would again."

JAMES & UNKNOWN GIRL

"Hold my hand, James," she said.

WILL & JAMES ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

“Matthew told me what happened at the park,” Will muttered in a voice no one but James could hear. James shot a betrayed look at Matthew, who shrugged and gave him a half-smile. Matthew could be relied on to tattle on James if he thought it was for his own good. “Thank the Angel for Matthew and Thomas and Christopher.” He touched James’ face. “I regret ever having said that your generation was wasting its time with parties and boating and dancing. All I wish for you is to be able to amuse yourself in a pointless fashion during peace and never, ever be in danger.”  

ANNA & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

"To take tea with Anna Lightwood," said Cordelia. "She invited me."

CORDELIA

Cordelia felt her back stiffen. "I accepted the invitation," she said. "I will go."

ANNA & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Anna Lightwood lived on Percy Street, a small byway near Tottenham Court Road. It was made up of long rows of houses of red brick that all looked very much the same. Each had sash windows, white-painted doors, brick chimneys, a shallow set of steps and a fence about the servants’ entrance made of black wrought iron.

On the stairs in front of No. 30, a girl sat crying. She was a very fashionable girl, in a walking-dress of blue foulard with lace trimmings and acres of flounces about the skirt. She wore a head-band trimmed with silk roses, and they wobbled as she cried.

Cordelia checked the address she had written down again, hoping it would have changed. No, definitely Number 30. She sighed, squared her shoulders, and approached.

“Pardon me,” she said, as she reached the steps. The girl was blocking them completely; there was no way to politely edge past. “I’m here to see Anna Lightwood?”

The girl’s head jerked up. She was very pretty: blond and rosy-cheeked, though she’d been crying. She gave Cordelia a deeply wary look. “Who are you, then?”

“I, ah…” Cordelia peered more closely at the girl. Definitely a mundane: no marks, no glamour. “I’m her cousin?”

“Oh.” Some of the suspicion went out of the girl’s face. “I — I am here because —“ She went off in a fresh spate of tears.

“Might I enquire as to the problem? Is there something I can do?” Cordelia asked, though she rather dreaded finding out why as it seemed the sort of thing where she might have to come up with a solution.

“Anna,” the girl wept. “I loved her — I love her still! I would have given it all up for her, all of it, polite society and all its rules, just to be with her, but she has thrown me out like a dog on the street!”

“Now, Emmeline,” drawled a voice, and Cordelia looked up to see Anna leaning out of an upstairs window. She was wearing a man’s dressing gown in rich purple and gold brocade, and her hair was a cap of loose, short waves. “You can’t say you’ve been thrown out like a dog when you’ve got your mama, two butlers, and a footman coming for you.” She waved. “Hello, Cordelia.”

“Oh, dear,” said Cordelia, and patted Emmeline gently on the shoulder.

“Besides, Emmeline,” said Anna. “You’re to be married Wednesday. To a baronet.”

“I don’t want him!” Emmeline sprang to her feet. “I want you!”

“No,” said Anna. “You want a baronet.”

LUCIE & ALASTAIR ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

He might be Cordelia’s brother, but she did not like him above half.

Moreover, at the present moment, he presented the appearance of a lunatic. Beneath his unbuttoned coat his waistcoat was disarranged, and one side of his high wingtip collar was dreadfully askew. His improbably light hair was out of its usual careful shape, pomaded strands going wildly in all directions and glittering electric bright under an arc lamp. On Percy Street, the street lights were older and less reliable, their fierce yellow burn stripping them all down to harsh lines.

“You’ve lost your hat, Alastair,” said Lucie.

Alastair said: “I have lost my sister!”

Lucie went cold. “What do you mean? Has something happened to Cordelia?”

UNKNOWN GIRL

Does love mean anything to you, she said. Or is it just something people give you easily, the way you give toys to a child?

ANNA & GRACE

“I respect a heartbreaker,” said Anna. “People are better off without hearts anyway. But you don’t leave people better off. You’re not a heartbreaker, Grace Blackthorn. You’re a life destroyer.”

MATTHEW & ANNA

"Anna can seduce anyone," said Matthew.

ANNA

"Preferably not boys," said Anna, without looking up. "Then I have to pretend to be interested."

JAMES & ANNA

Anna raised her eyebrow at James as he turned away, but James ignored it. Anna had been raising her eyebrows at him all his life.

ANNA & COUSINS ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

Anna’s deep-blue eyes narrowed as she studied him. James was sitting on the edge of his chair, hands clasped together and leaning forward in Anna’s direction. These cousins looked more like brother and sister than James and Lucie, or Anna and Christopher. James’s face was chiseled and serious, while Anna’s features were sharp and roguish, but they shared the same coloring of crow-black hair and snow-white skin. More than that, both had an air of cleverness that seemed thrown up as a defense against sensitivity, sharp minds that shut away hearts too easily broken. Seeing the similarity made Cordelia wonder what had happened to Anna, and fear what might happen to James.

Anna flicked an eyebrow upward, a scratch of ink dashed across a page. “Ah yes, about that. Let me be perfectly clear what you are asking: you want me to seduce a pretty warlock in order to procure you an [item redacted for spoilers!]?”

Anna surveyed the room, and when she was answered with cautious nods she threw her hands into the air.

“You are off your heads, every one of you.”

“Can you not do it?” Thomas asked apprehensively.

Anna toyed with her watch chain so the chain caught the light and glittered. “Oh, I daresay I could.”

There was a collective moan lamenting Thomas’s stupidity in asking such a question. Lucie told Thomas he was a dolt. Thomas begged Anna’s pardon.

“Not at all, Thomas, I know you’re an innocent soul. That said,” Anna drawled, “I take many issues with your request. For a start, it is against my strict policy to seduce anybody twice.”

“Every outlaw must have a code,” James said.

ANNA

"No one ever just wants to have tea," said Anna. "Tea is always an excuse for a clandestine agenda."

ANNA

"Do you think he's in love?" Anna said. "People can be rather awful when they're in love."

MATTHEW

"But is it wise to prove James isn't a lunatic?" said Matthew.

ANNA

"You might leave that to me," said Anna.

LUCIE & GRACE

And there beside her was Grace. Lucie remembered Grace as a determinedly poised twelve-year-old but she was quite different now. Cold and lovely and statuesque.

TATIANA, GRACE, JAMES, LUCIE & CORDELIA ( CHAIN OF GOLD )

From where they were, they had a perfect view of James, standing straight and polite as Tatiana Blackthorn, wearing a faded fuschia dresses stained with dark spots, advanced on him, a witchlight torch in her hand.

“How dare you come here, Will Herondale,” she said, a savage tone to her voice. “What is left for you to destroy? You murdered my husband and my father —“

Lucie made a small whimpering noise. Cordelia clutched at her cold hand, squeezing it for comfort.

“That’s James.” It was Grace, dressed all in a long white nightgown with a white dressing-gown over it. White slippers covered her feet and her blonde hair was loose, falling over her shoulders. “It isn’t Mr. Herondale, Mama. It’s his son.”

LUCIE & JESSE*

He really did have a most arresting face, Lucie thought. She firmly believed it was all right to stare at people when you were a writer. Writers needed to gather material. That was all there was to it.

* not confirmed, but popularly assumed and not without good reason.

LUCIE & UNKNOWN PERSON

"Miss Herondale?" said a soft voice behind her.

[ most likely JESSE & LUCIE ]

But Lucie was staring at the boy who had come in with them. The boy who she had last seen in Brocelind Forest. Lucie was ten when she met the boy in the forest. Lucie looked for him in the forest after that, but she never saw him again. It would be ten years before she saw him again.

[ these snippets are actually separated but they flow well so I put them together. ]

JESSE

Jesse sighed and looked up at the chandelier. "I have two ages," he said. "I am twenty-four. And I am sixteen."

[ popularly assumed to be JESSE & LUCIE ]

"Can no one else see you?"

JAMES & LUCIE

James went white. "Lucie?"

CORDELIA & JAMES

Not tie him to the bed, Cordelia thought. Not cut his beautiful hair. She loved his hair: it was black like his father's, black as night, dark as a place you could tell secrets in.

ALASTAIR, CORDELIA & MRS BRIDGESTOCK

“Disgraceful,” said Mrs Bridgestock. “I know your face. You are that Persian boy. Are you not ashamed to be running around corrupting nice young people? I suppose you are only following your father’s example, but considering what happened to him, you should really know better.”

Cordelia wished to rush to her brother’s defense, but she did not dare move.

Alastair bared his teeth at Mrs Bridgestock. “I should, shouldn’t I?”

LUCIE & MATTHEW

A coat settled on Lucie’s shoulders, bottle green superfine and warm from the heat of Matthew’s body, smelling of expensive cologne. Lucie glanced up to see Matthew’s face above hers, limned by sunlight and the gold of his hair, serious for once as he carefully buttoned the coat closed. His hands were usually swift and bright with rings, flying through the air when he talked or to the curving hilt of his rapier when he fought, but now they were moving with great deliberation over such a small task. She heard him draw in a slow breath.

JAMES

James' heart lurched in his chest. "We were childhood friends."

UNKNOWN GIRL

"You lied to me," she said.

UNKNOWN BOY ( the person in the pin was a guy )

"You carry my life in those careless hands"

ANNA ( SHADOWHUNTERS FOUR, the pin was four boys )

"Delicate boys must be protected," said Anna.

UNKNOWN BOY

The house has all fallen down into ruins, he said.

UNKNOWN BOY AND GIRL ( in the pin, they both had dark/brown hair )

We could get married, she said.

JAMES & CORDELIA

To the last hour.

[ according to Cassandra Clare’s The Last Hours Pinterest board. The picture was a girl with red hair and a guy with black hair. Cordelia and James fit the description best. ]

UNKNOWN BOY AND GIRL

Death is not the end.

UNKNOWN BOY AND GIRL

The shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is eclipsed.

SHADOWHUNTERS FOUR

One for all and all for one.

TWO UNKNOWN BOYS

We had grown as gods, as the gods in heaven, souls fair to look upon, goodly to greet, one splendid spirit, your soul and mine.

SHADOWHUNTERS FOUR

All together, or not at all.

TWO UNKNOWN GIRLS

Thank you angels for ensuring she’s a good dancer, loves to dance and takes me out dancing.

[ unsure if the last five are actually snippets, it’s not in the Shadowhunters’ Wikia but it’s on Cassandra Clare’s The Last Hours Pinterest board so I just added them in. ]