#aglionby-bound's writing

[vexedtonightmaare]

✝ main ✝ bio ✝ face ✝ muse ✝ starters ✝ wishlist ✝

about:

This is a sideblog, and I follow back from my main @grimmusings. Please direct IMs there, since it's easier for me to keep all my messages on one blog. It's also easier to start interactions with me there, where I regularly post open starters and meme prompts. For a full list of rules, see my main. Honesty hour questions will largely be answered IC and treated as anonymous unless signed by a muse.

There are major spoilers ahead for The Raven Cycle and some for the Dreamer trilogy. Ronan has the ability to take objects or beings (or sometimes entire forests) out of his dreams. There's no real limit to what he can take--if it works in the dream, it works in real life, beyond the bounds of reason or physics--but he must be on a ley line to use the power, and he'll die if he leaves the line for too long. He guards this secret ferociously, so there is no chance your muse would know about it unless they're a fellow canon in the know or it's been heavily plotted ahead of time. What they are welcome to notice is that he's often surrounded by improbable objects or that he constantly hums with dream energy if they're supernaturally sensitive to that sort of thing.

I typically pull my portrayal from some time after he's graduated from Aglionby, while Adam is away at college, and Ronan is fucking around dreaming things, taking care of the Barns, and generally being a menace. I take some elements from the Dreamer trilogy, including Ronan's friendship with Jordan and their investigation into sweetmetals (made objects or art that keep dreamed things awake even after their dreamers die, otherwise they fall into an unwakeable sleep). In addition to the intricate tattoo on his back, Ronan also has the chainmail tattoo on one arm that's made of sweetmetal ink to keep him awake off a ley line. However, I typically don't include Ronan's friendship with Bryde, their bout of ecoterrorism, or the plot with the Moderators.

wanted connections:

Per canon, he's a hostile jerk to most people, so please do not interact if you're not prepared for that. Likewise, your muses are welcome to respond in kind, since being an asshole has consequences. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and I can roll with most muses as far as basic interactions. I’m happy to ship Ronan with other TRC characters and OCs/fandom crossovers based on chemistry, but unless they’re on my OTP list, they need plotting and interaction first. There is never any pressure to ship with me, even if they’re on my list.

Please note that I write Ronan as homosexual, as supported by his canon, and I only ship him with male muses, with the exception of a polycule that includes Blue Sargent (because imo the canon also supports all of them being in love with each other). He doesn't consider this as much a secret as it used to be, and while he's come a long way in terms of acceptance, that Catholic guilt is hard to shake, and he still struggles to be open about it. There may be some internalized homophobia in his threads.

OTPs: Adam Parrish, Richard Campbell Gansey III, Noah Czerny, Blue Sargent, Joseph Kavinsky NOTPs: Anyone on the family list (it should go without saying, but you'd be surprised), Bryde Family: Matthew Lynch, Declan Lynch Other: Jordan Hennessy, Opal, any supernatural/powered people because he feels very alone in that secret

default verses:

canon (+/-): Ronan's main verse, with any events that take place post-Aglionby.

horror!verse: Any crossover verses with other paranormal/horror fandoms.

multiverse!madness: Ronan dreams an object that can take him to alternate dimensions and back and stays out of curiosity. Crossover/duplicate friendly!

[puffinstack]

drop a song in the ask box followed by “LISTEN” and i’ll listen to it oh, maybe 8 to 10 times, and then write a little tidbit (maybe 2 to 3 hundred words)

[djhedy]

for @rainbow-0bsidian on this the most auspicious day in which we commemorate your first breath of air and shit like that

i wondered whether i was going to write a whole thing, but i haven’t been writing much lately, and figured you could have a short thing anyway, since it’s your birthday and all

love u jenn xxx

---

Ronan has never visited Boston before. Masachusetts. Never been further North than D.C. (Unless you count Ireland. He’s seen a map but he hasn’t memorised the fucking latitudes.) He opts to take the car. Chooses fast roads and thumping speakers over tiny seats in planes and old ladies asking about his tattoo. He goes because he wants to, because he has to. Because it’s time to learn what leaving the Barns is like.

He goes for Adam.

-

It’s not that he’s nervous. He isn’t fucking nervous. Of what – Harvard rich kids? He’s a rich kid. He’s bound to hate them more than he hates Aglionby kids. (More than he used to hate himself. He’s better at that, these days.)

He parks in the lot Adam had sent the directions for and turns his phone on to text here.

Adam replies that was quick! On my way down.

Ronan gets out the car, leaving his bag (having left his other things behind, deciding that any trouble Opal and Chainsaw could get in together was worth a weekend without the constant squawking) on the backseat, sunglasses tipped up to rest on top of his head, shoulders bare, air chilly.

He leans over the roof of the car.

And then sees Adam.

He tries not to grin.

He grins, and Adam, too, spotting him and heading straight over, hands in the pockets of his jeans, a sly slouch (it’s been a while) and slightly longer hair, curling round the tops of his ears, and looking at Ronan like – like Ronan suspects he’s looking at Adam.

Adam comes to within a couple metres of him and says, “Hey. Been a while.”

“Yeah,” Ronan breathes, mapping his face with eager eyes, before pulling him into a hug and breathing in something better.

“Hey,” says Adam again, muffled against his shoulder. “God I missed you.”

“God’s got nothing to do with it,” Ronan mutters, clenching the flats of his palms against Adam’s shoulder blades, his lower back, as Adam just does his usual round-the-middle squeeze.

“God, I missed you,” Adam says slower, enunciating the punctuation.

“Non sum deus,” Ronan whispers, kissing Adam once on the neck, resting his lips there for a second.

“Meus es tu,” Adam replies, and now Ronan is starting to have all sorts of pleasant reactions so he clears his throat, pushes Adam away, and punches him on the shoulder.

Adam rolls his eyes, rubs his shoulder, and looks thoroughly pleased with himself.

“Come on,” he says, “I have a whole thing planned.”

-

Upstairs, Adam’s thing turns out to be a kicked out dormmate and an empty dorm. Beers in the mini-fridge, homework schedule cleared, and the option of going to the bar later with some friends. He emphasises option.

“I’m not some anti-social hick,” says Ronan, kicking his boots off and looking around.

“Sure,” says Adam distractedly, picking up Ronan’s bag and throwing it into his bedroom.

Ronan looks around some more.

“Are you nervous?”

“Why the fuck – no.”

Ronan picks up a book and reads the title An Introduction to Literature. He says, “What the fuck is this? What is this like 200 pages? What the hell is an introduction to literature. What does that even fucking mean.”

“Education is a sham.”

“Fucking right,” Ronan says, putting the book back down.

“Stop looking at my books,” Adam says, and Ronan finally looks at him, and not the books.

They make it to the sofa. Ronan had forgotten the precise level of heat from Adam’s body, the way his touch made Ronan’s skin melt, nerves on fire and the taste of his tongue going straight to his gut, straight to other places too, but he wasn’t so interested in that right now.

Adam, on the other hand –

“Wait,” gasps Ronan.

Adam lifts his head from Ronan’s collarbone. He frowns. “You ok?”

“I –” It isn’t that he isn’t ok, or that he wants to stop, it’s that he feels like he’s going to explode, and doesn’t want to do it all over Adam’s pristeen college sofa – blue and faded sure but probably cost a gillion dollars. And it isn’t even that, is it – sure he’s worked up but it’s – it’s just all too much right now and he can’t be inside Adam the way he wants to, not when he feels so untethered, like he’s everwhere and nowhere at once, not with Adam looking at him like he’s borderline hurt, like he needs an explanation, like Ronan needs to say – “I fucking missed you.”

The crease disappears, and Adam closes his eyes, and kisses Ronan once, softer, one hand cupping the bend of his head, says, “Ah sorry, I um, just feel like I’m losing it.”

“Me too,” admits Ronan, linking his hands around Adam’s back. “But later, yeah?”

“Later,” agrees Adam, grinning against Ronan’s lips, relaxing against the back of the couch, more in the dip between Ronan and the rest of the world than blocking him from it, and Ronan relaxes into kissing Adam lazily, one hand on his cheek, or his ear, or his neck, his shoulder, his spine – just this, and nothing else.

It’s pretty fucking great.

[endymionreads]

So I've never done the Magical Readathon before, but it happened to cross my tl this afternoon on twitter, and I figured, since I'm trying to get back into reading, why not? It was the perfect opportunity!

I will be attempting all of the exams, and whatever I pass will be the N.E.W.T.S. I take if I do that in August! I don’t really know what I want to choose for a career yet, both irl and for the Readathon, so I’ll just be taking the exams and seeing where I end up!

You can view my TBR under the cut!

Ancient Runes → Read a book with a heart on the cover or in the title.

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly. Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles. Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The Prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat. So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all. Winner takes the loser’s heart. Literally.

Arithmancy → Read a book outside your favorite genre.

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of the family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to ben? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? , how will history remember you?

Astronomy → Read the majority of the book at night.

We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bertlett

Seventeen-year-old Revna is a factory worker, manufacturing war machines for the Union of the North. When she's caught using illegal magic, she fears being branded a traitor and imprisoned.

Meanwhile, on the front lines, Linne defied her father, a Union general, and disguised herself as a boy to join the army. They're both offered a reprieve from punishment if they use their magic in a special women's military flight unit and undertake terrifying, deadly missions under cover of darkness.

Revna and Linne can hardly stand to be in the same cockpit, but if they can't fly together, and if they can't find a way to fly well, the enemy's superior firepower will destroy them--if they don't destroy each other first.We Rule the Night is a powerful story about sacrifice, complicated friendships, and survival despite impossible odds

Care of Magical Creatures → Read a book with a creature with a beak on the cover.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job. Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise. And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Charms → Read a book that has a white cover.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little. For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Defense Against the Dark Arts → Read a book set at the sea or on the coast.

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet. But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all . . . or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

Divination → Assign numbers to your TBR List, and use a generator to pick the book.

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

Set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice. She will reign. As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer—the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic. When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic. But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder—and more peril—than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever. I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.

Herbology → Read a book where title starts with an m.

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon. But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place. As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.

History of Magic → Read a book featuring witches and/or wizards

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry. Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined. Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.

Muggle Studies → Read a contemporary book.

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

Will the princess save the beast? For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right? His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can't shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck… As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.

Potions → Read a  book under 150 pages

Red As Blood And White As Bone by Theodora Goss

Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss is a dark fantasy about a kitchen girl obsessed with fairy tales, who upon discovering a ragged woman outside the castle during a storm, takes her in--certain she’s a princess in disguise.

Transfiguration → Read a book or series that includes shapeshifting

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

Young Daine's knack with horses gets her a job helping the royal horsemistress drive a herd of ponies to Tortall. Soon it becomes clear that Daine's talent, as much as she struggles to hide it, is downright magical. Horses and other animals not only obey, but listen to her words. Daine, though, will have to learn to trust humans before she can come to terms with her powers, her past, and herself.

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[seekthemist]

@two-of-swords-621 tagged me into this game and I’m very ❤ ❤ ❤ about it!

“Post the first line of your last 10 published fics, then tag 10 people.”

In reverse order from most recent to older, I took some liberty with the quoting:

1. Beyond the Edge of Our Hope (TRC, Pacific Rim AU, E-rated) “Dawn had yet to break but the sky was starting to tinge a lighter shade of blue. All around, water and air merged, crystal clear, on the endless horizon provided by the ocean.”

2. Like a Lung (TRC, CDTH missing scene, E-rated) “(Taking away the canon lines) It had to. There was no way Ronan would let it not, not if at stake there was Adam who made several different brands of impossible work, right before Ronan’s eyes, only to yearn for Ronan’s presence.”

3. Homeward Bound (Captive Prince, post-canon wedding anniversary, E-rated) “Midsummer had passed by more than two months ago, but heat clung to the air. Not even the excellent position of Marlas — so close to the sea to the west, nearing the uplands on the east — seemed to beckon the strong winds Laurent had hoped to find.”

4. Red Thread (TRC, smut collection update, E-rated) “It is a clear spring night, late enough that the moon has set already. Deep in the twisty off-road tracks in the Virginian fields, the silence has an organic quality, made of the low hoots of owls and the whistling of wind through trees and crops alike.”

5. Tired (TRC, pre-canon Roah missing scene, T-rated) “The painkillers had worn off. The harsh reality of the fact lingered in the mess of Ronan’s room in Monmouth Manufacturing, unevenly lit with four different lamps even in the middle of the night.”

6. Leading Hand (Captive Prince, pre-canon Nikandros/Makedon, E-rated) “At midday on the last day of summer the Hall of the Hearings of the Royal Palace of Ios was pooled in light, reflecting impossibly white against the polished marble.”

7. Grandiloquent (TRC, prompt collection, various ratings) “Gansey climbed up the dock, leaving the boats of the rowing team to regroup after open-river practice. The sun was shining bright on the Aglionby sport fields, an early autumn that still clung like late summer to the Virginia air.”

8. Echo chamber (Captive Prince, post-canon “good sex still triggered”, E-rated) “The hardwood door of the royal chambers closed behind Damen’s back with subdued heaviness. The wood on the inside was as full of carvings and gold lining as the outside had been, but still managed to pale in opulence against the frescos on the ceiling of the quarters.”

9. The Grip of It (TRC, post-canon pre-epilogue magic intimacy madness, M-rated) “(Ch.5 start) Darkness waited patiently for Ronan to open his eyes.He could not remember going to sleep, but he must have had at some point to find himself here — floating, or lying prone; staring upwards, or looking down.”

10. You would even say it glows (TRC, Christmas shenanigans, T-rated) “Adam first jostled awake in total darkness, which given the early winter days could mean anything from three in the afternoon to seven o'clock in the morning. “

And this proves to us all that I need to write more evidently (but in my defence the Pacific Rim AU is a monster).

Tagging some assorted lovely people from multiple fandom madness!

@gerec @liesmyth @josselinkohl (only ONE girl!Laurent Joss!) @akumastrife @augustales @stillwaterseas @turtletotem @exyking @niniblack @vaultedthewall

[pynches]

risk it all (for you) ch1

summary: when adam and ronan try to protect the only openly gay kid at aglionby, they find themselves in a fake relationship they need to keep up

word count: 1503

tw: homophobic slurs by an original character, very mild violence

ao3

For a split second, Adam wondered if there would ever be a day that Ronan didn’t fight somebody. If there ever would be, then today is definitely not that day. 
As Adam ran closer, he could make out Ronan’s tense form, hauling a startled Preston Windsor by the shirt and slamming him against the nearby wall. A sickening crack sounded, that Adam recognised as a broken bone and watched him crumple to the ground.

“What the fuck, Lynch?”

Normally Adam wasn’t one to intervene, that was Gansey’s job, but Gansey was busy doing his presidential stuff and Ronan was one fight away from expulsion.

Ronan’s fist, already halfway raised, stopped in mid-air. He didn’t pull back but it was already more than Adam expected. When Ronan got into a fight, it was almost impossible to pull Ronan back. He often looked like a man possessed, only sated when it was sure he had won. It never scared Adam, though. Ronan wouldn’t hurt him, which was why he felt confident enough to step closer and touch Ronan's shoulder.

“Is this really necessary?” Adam asked.

“He nearly beat him up,” Ronan said with a sneer, still not taking his eyes off Preston who was bleeding heavily from his nose, down on his pristine white shirt.

‘Him’, in this case, was Theodore Montgomery, who was looking back and forth between the boys as if he was unsure whether he should run or stay. Theodore was also known as the only openly gay kid in Aglionby. With money came a lot of prejudice from the others, apparently. He didn’t have it easy in Aglionby, Adam remembered. He was often pushed into lockers, sneered or laughed at in the hallways, but nothing quite this bad had happened to him. His right eye was already starting to look blue and he stood with a slight slouch to favour his left leg. Adam felt a sudden rush of heat, blind, hot anger that someone would do this. He couldn’t even think about what Ronan must feel right now.

They never talked about it. Ronan probably being not as heterosexual as people might perceive him to be. Adam caught the looks he gave him sometimes, but he wasn’t ready yet to figure out what they meant and what they meant to him. It was easier to ignore them, making his homework instead of looking back at Ronan lounging on the floor next to his bed with headphones on and a curious glance in his eyes. It was easier to work until he was bone-tired and didn’t have to think about anything anymore.

Adam understood the anger, the pain Ronan must feel to see someone getting beat up for who they are. For who he is himself. However, Gansey will murder him if he didn’t stop him from getting kicked out of school.

“Why are you defending him anyway, Lynch?” Preston asked with a condescending smirk grazing his beat up face. “Are you a faggot yourself?”

“So what if I am?”

Adam froze and watched Ronan do the same. It hadn’t meant to slip out, but Ronan didn’t back down, just kept glaring at the homophobic shit with cold eyes.

Preston actually began to laugh, not one bit of self-preservation in his body. “I knew you and Gansey were fucking.” 
Ronan only glared harder. “Leave Gansey out of this, asshole. He has nothing to do with it,” he spoke through gritted teeth. Adam was momentarily taken back to Kavinsky calling Ronan Gansey’s guard dog.

“Hmm, then who-“

“Me.”

All three of the boys turned to look at Adam. Theodore, looking shocked but pleased, Preston’s smirking unpleasantly as if he had already thought about multiple ways to make Adam’s life miserable for this fake confession alone. 
Adam could barely look at Ronan. 
When he quickly glanced over, disbelief and shock pulled at his features and his eyes were unreadable when he stared at Adam.

“Got something against that, fuckface?” Ronan sneered, quickly pulling his eyes from Adam’s and pushing Preston against the wall again. There was even more power in his hold, his face twisting in something fierce, something that earned him the nickname “the snake”.

“Nope, none,” Preston quickly said, his eyes darting everywhere to look for an escape. Everything to prevent his face from getting ruined even more than it already had.

“Good, now I suggest you apologise.”

“Sorry, Ronan.”

“Not to me, asshole,” Ronan said, exasperation clear in his voice. He nodded his head to Theodore who watched it all unfold. “To him.”

“I’m sorry, Theodore,” Preston said, getting slammed against the wall once again. “It won’t happen again.”

Ronan dropped him like a piece of garbage and Preston rushed away, obviously aiming for his shiny car to get the fuck out of dodge. Theodore stared after him and gave Ronan a slight smile, sad but hopeful.

“Thank you,” Theodore said. “I don’t want to imagine what happened if you hadn’t come between them.”

Ronan just nodded, looking like his mind drifted away from the situation already.

“For what it’s worth, I think you two make a cute couple.” This startled Ronan back to earth and watched with his mouth slightly open as Theodore walked away and gave a small wave when he did.

“Wanna tell me what the fuck that was all about, Parrish?”

Ronan didn’t look mad, confused more than anything. Still, Adam was apprehensive to say, “I don’t know, Ronan. I just said it without thinking” because what would that mean? He said it easily, no doubt filtering his mind from speaking the word out loud and now they were in some deep shit.

“I don’t know,” Adam decided on. It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

“We’re in some deep shit now.”

-

By the end of the day, the news had spread all over Aglionby, though nobody dared ask in fear of Ronan Lynch and his sharp smile. Adam tried not to let it get to him but he knew that they needed to talk about it. Should they let people talk? Should they say it was a joke?

When Theodore rushed over to them in the parking lot, telling them that nobody had picked on him since the rumour about them spread, Ronan and Adam both instantly decided they had to keep this up.

“We need some ground rules,” Adam said, grabbing a notebook from his flimsy desk at St. Agnes. “And a backup story.”

Ronan threw himself back on Adam’s bed with a sigh. “Why the fuck would we do that, Parrish?” “Because, Lynch,” Adam responded, rubbing his forehead to get rid of the giant headache Ronan was giving him. “This needs to be realistic. We need to have the details ready on how we got together and we need to decide on how far we let this go.”

“We got together because we have been friends for a well over a year,” Ronan said, putting a finger in the air to start his imaginary list. “I asked you out, and don’t argue with me on this.”

Adam snapped his mouth shut, arms folding over each other to emphasise the glare directed towards Ronan.

“And I don’t give a shit about how far this goes.”

“So, you wouldn’t mind kissing me?” Adam asked, one eyebrow raised. He watched in amusement as Ronan flailed and nearly fell off the bed, his face red like he was sunburnt.

“I-you-why the fuck would that be necessary?”

“It needs to be believable!” Adam argued back. “Couples kiss, Ronan.”

“Well, we don’t.” Ronan decided. He would lie if he didn’t want to kiss Adam but this was too risky. He held his feelings contained in a locked box inside his heart that even he didn’t dare open and if this started, if they actually kissed, the box would open and all the contents would pour out. Ronan wasn’t ready for those consequences.

“I’ll add it to the list,” Adam sighed, writing down a big "NO KISSING" on the blank page. “What about hand-holding?”

Ronan’s mouth pulled down for a second but he eventually nodded.

After spending an hour bickering back and forth they came up with a plausible story. They had gone out for a drive, stopped by the side of the road to look at the stars, “we have a real Don Juan in our midst” “I’m surprised you even know who that is considering you skipped English for months”, made out, confessed feelings, and that was it.

“Do we tell Gansey?” Adam had asked and they decided on yes. Gansey probably heard the rumours already, being the most popular boy at Aglionby, and could actually help cover them when needed.

It wasn’t a perfect plan and something was definitely bound to go wrong. But they felt like it was the right thing to do, whether it was for Theodore of them, they weren’t sure. They just hoped they would survive tomorrow without being caught faking it. But, honestly, how hard could it be?

[ellipsea]

dear diary

Fandom: The Raven Cycle Pairing: Gansey/Diary Rating: G Word Count: 1314 Summary: Gansey was dying.

Metaphorically. Hyperbole about such a thing had lost the potential to be a joke after his second death, probably. And despite Calla's incessant "Better with three!" hollering at him whenever he paid Blue a visit at 300 Fox Way, he wasn't ready for a third go-around.

Notes: inspired by @cabeswaterlovesthem and this post.

also on AO3

Gansey was dying.

Metaphorically. Hyperbole about such a thing had lost the potential to be a joke after his second death, probably. And despite Calla's incessant "Better with three!" hollering at him whenever he paid Blue a visit at 300 Fox Way, he wasn't ready for a third go-around. At least not until much, much later in his resurrected life.

No, Gansey was having an existential crisis because he had forgotten his diary at Monmouth Manufacturing, and now he had to survive a full day of classes at Aglionby without it.

He'd call it a journal to anyone else, but addressed the leather-bound booklet with the "diary" endearment each time he began his entries. He found it therapeutic, to talk to someone about the mess they'd pulled themselves out of last fall. It still contained old entries from his Glendower hunting days, and several sketches and poems endured as proof of what a wistful boy he was.

Still is a wistful boy, but he was back then, too.

Today, during his diary-less day, he fidgeted a ballpoint pen against his desk, elegant marbled casing thumping against the wood. It was a gift he'd received in a long black box from his father for Christmas. He considered switching it out for his calligraphy fountain pen, but didn't want to overuse the tip. Plenty of pages in his diary swirled with his slanted script, and the right pen was always so hard to find.

Maybe it was a blessing that he wouldn't be able to write a new entry today. His grades had been slipping, slightly — doodling in the margins of his diary and jotting down errant ideas for adventures sapped his attention from lectures. Often he spiraled in some less-than-productive thoughts about the nature of his humanity, questioning if existence qualified as sufficient realness, and he recalled that his previous entry looked much like this:

Dear Diary,

Sometimes I wonder if I am a real boy. I don't mean to plagiarize Pinocchio, but I was fundamentally remade by magic twice. It's a really valid question. Jane says that I am just like her now: part tree, to her kinetic delight. Oh, kin, get it? Just like her? Okay, well. Ronan says that I have always been part magic, but that particular lapse in hostility was likely due to his inebriation. Adam asks me how I'm doing, mostly. It's his lack of assumptions I appreciate most but also thinking too hard about what's in my own head makes me feel lost.

I still feel like me, though. Same contact lenses, same car keys, same wanderlust, but that part's bigger these days. More timeless. Can you want to adventure into the past, present, and future all at once? I think I've found a way. If all of your pieces are still intact, is the whole just the same? I think I'm in over my foresty head. Try to think of an answer for me next time, won't you?

Yours, sincerely, always,

Gansey (I hope)

The final bell rang. The classroom noisily transitioned into a rush of bags being packed, plans being made, shoulders jostled and hair rustled. Gansey sighed. He still had extracurriculars to attend, professors to speak to. Adam would be off to work for a few hours, so they couldn't accompany each other back to Monmouth, where they agreed they would both be studying until late —

"Gansey Boy!"

Boy, yes, that's what I am —

"Henry," Gansey replied brightly. "My good prince."

Henry's hair and smile defied laws of physics, but when he spied Gansey's pen spinning about agitated fingers, his expression turned more sympathetic. "All right there? Look like you've seen a ghost."

"I have," Gansey said. He set down the pen to clasp Henry's palm in greeting. "Just not today."

Club meeting running late, Gansey texted, hours later, phone tucked close to his chest. I'll have to miss dinner, unfortunately.

take your time dick

Flattered to have gotten a response at all, Gansey hastily typed back. He never corrected Ronan on his nomenclature anymore. Lost causes and Ronan Lynch were old friends.

Save me some wings, we should be done shortly.

no really take your time

Two texts from Ronan in under two minutes — normally, he would take his good fortune and run with it, but the itching nature of the day and the instant dismissal of his tardiness stirred Gansey's senses that something was up.

"Not sticking around?" Johnson said as the meeting adjourned, Gansey already heading for the door.

"We bought all these donuts," Geary added, thumbing behind him to the layers of pink boxes across the desks.

"I have a dinner to attend," Gansey said, waving them off politely. To the Aglionby student body, his excuse probably sounded more like I have to go dump a pound of caviar down my throat and I won't even taste it. But dinners at Monmouth were scrappier, greasier, appreciative hums and full-bellied laughs all through the night. They were Blue's head in Gansey's lap, her hand rubbing his thigh whenever she felt like it, Henry's jovial arm wrapped around Gansey's shoulder. They were Ronan's legs on top of Adam's legs and his hand in Adam's hair and Adam wearing the easiest smile Gansey had ever seen on him, and it twisted something so brightly happy inside of him that he had to look away.

Days were theirs to frivol away, curses and tomb-raiding and evil Latin teachers all behind them.

When he got to the parking lot it was quiet and dim, the air forgiving and still, and the sight of his orange automotive miracle was a combusting sunspot on the dull pavement. He couldn't wait to get back, to get home, to kiss Blue, to unravel today's cares into textbooks and takeout.

On the third turn of his keys, the Camaro roared to life, chugging helplessly before remembering what taking a breath felt like. Reliably unreliable, as always. He cranked down the window on the drive away from campus, wind billowing through his hair and easing his worries. It all seemed so right, when he was like this. Just him, his car, the open air and open road. Maybe he didn't need the security of a diary, of writing it all down, making it physical and permanent and fastidious. He could just be. Moving on, moving forward. That sounded grand to Gansey-the-forest, and Henrietta rolled in waves as he passed it on by.

No one knocked to enter Monmouth anymore. The door swing freely and welcoming on its well-worn hinges, and Gansey greeted the interior as he stepped through the threshold. "Hey, guys —"

Three heads whipped up when the door shut. Adam, wide-eyed and hunched, pressed into Ronan's side on the couch. That was familiar, that was normal. The two were usually seen at each other's side, and it no longer gave Gansey pause but delighted him, plain and simple, that his friends had found comfort in each other. Sometimes the four of them competed for gross levels of PDA, until Henry joined in on Gansey's and Blue's side and they inevitably won the contest. (In his modest opinion.)

Ronan himself looked like he had committed a crime, which was also normal. But Blue — oh, beautiful and miraculous and wild Blue — looked like his guilty co-conspirator. They were all huddled on the couch over an oddly familiar leather rectangle, and realization pitted in Gansey's stomach.

"Oh, no," he said, and dropped his bag to the floor.

For a moment, they just stared each other down. A standoff, where the first one to break would be the one blamed for the whole thing. Then Ronan began reading from the diary, in a bold and booming voice, "My beloved Glendower —" and Blue roared with laughter and Adam wheezed and fell off the couch.

All Gansey could think was that he'd accept his third death anytime.

[clive-staples]

It is, of course, true that even in the sixteenth century some individuals deplored persecution. Erasmus, writing to George of Saxony in 1524, pronounced it 'very harsh' (non aequum) 'that anie error be punished with the fire unlesse there bee joyned to it sedition or som other fact that the lawes do use to punish with death.' This, it will be seen, is only a plea for mercy, not for religious liberty… Far stronger were certain isolated voices in the English House of Commons; one Akinson, who in 1562 argued against the imposition of the Oath of Supremacy that 'if any were rebellious before, now will his heart be more rebellious for that he is forced to perjury', or Aglionby, who in 1571 declared the 'conscience of man' to be 'eternal, invisible, and not in the power of the greatest monarchy of the world in any limits to be straitened, in any bounds to be contained, nor with any policy of man if once decayed, to be again raised'. Best of all, since they find a religious ground for not enforcing religion, are the words of Robert Browne; to compel religion 'belongeth not' to the magistrate, for 'the Lords people is of the willing sort, they shall come into Zion and enquire the way into Jerusalem not by force or compulsion but with their faces turned thitherward' (A Book which sheweth, etc., 1582). With Browne we may class the anonymous author of the beautiful Temporis Filia Veritas (1589) who would tolerate all 'so they love God and desyer to live under obedience to the king', because 'the trueth itself' cannot be formulated by flesh and blood but is 'the lovely lyfe or being of God'. But the chief importance of such utterances is to remind us, after all our talk of 'periods', that in every age nearly every conceivable opinion is held by somebody: 'there have always,' says Sir Maurice Powicke, 'been civilised men.'

C.S. Lewis, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century

[puffinstack]

okay!! so

time for my favorite game: Bound Writes Things at Midnight so She Doesn’t Have to Forget Them in the Morning

also known as: Building Character, one mistake at a time

so one of my MCs for NaNo, yes? yes.

her name is Galdrie!! i am so very excited for you all to meet her. she dresses mostly in long robes (the kinds in Ghibli movies that seem to be constantly puffed up) and she is rather soft.

a useless lesbian, she spends her days doing her job as Archivist. this means logging every significant cultural occurence that happens within her jurisdiction. she has to be VERY well informed and yet really does not seem to like people all that much. (this turns out to be untrue for a select group, most importantly her apprentice Teck. more on him another time.) she is always Stressed, and always a bit snippy (again, except for Teck. she has infinite patience for Teck because she knows no one else will extend him that respect.) she is enormously responsible (to the point of often feeling crushed by this responsibility).

speaking of responsibility, her job description:

keep records of:

political actions, from insurgent movements to the current leader’s day-to-day schedule

culture, from fashion trends to architectural movements to painting styles

holding and distributing memories for members of the population who are:

predisposed to forgetfulness for whatever reason and need the memories sent somewhere

dying and want their loved ones to have their memories

collecting copies of every possible book, library of alexandria style

providing the tiebreaking vote in any kind of election, being considered the one citizen who can provide the most informed vote

conserving cultural artifacts

taking a regular census of all citizens

taking care of the sprites, golems, and other low functioning creatures associated with the Archives

more on this last point: “low functioning” as a label does not work in her world the same way it does in ours. what it means here is they can follow basic commands and have free will, but don’t usually have the energy to think for themselves. their jobs could be done by magic, but it would be impossible to sustain that wide a network for any actual amount of time. the Archives act as a kind of sanctuary for these creatures and Galdrie (and every other Archivist) is so, so careful with them. it gives them a place to work and make a living that lets them be independent.

so yeah. Galdrie’s a hot mess most of the time.

she, like all Archivists, is prone to fits of sneezing, the occasional coma-like hibernation (usually not exceeding 5 days), and clothes and skin permanently covered in faded text.

her magic is growing out of her control and she is very worried about that. this out-of-control growth forces her to make larger and larger expenditures of magic as time passes because if she doesn’t, she starts to feel like she’s going to explode. since using magic takes a pretty decent amount of energy, she is chronically fatigued.

she hates it when people touch her bare skin. she has an amazing memory (affected by the fatigue it’s worse of course, but still). she is really passionate about social change and also lemon desserts, and somehow keeps track of Teck’s seemingly endless lists of both nicknames/aliases and friends. she also has an extremely short temper (excluding Teck as always). she isn’t a Feelings Person. she is an oldest sibling, with two younger brothers and three younger sisters whom she loves very much. she sleeps like a dead woman and can drop into this dead sleep anywhere, almost on command. she has been known to fall asleep while walking. (this is pre-chronic fatigue. she’s really good at sleeping.)

she has very long hair at first because it is a part of her village’s culture to cut their hair off only when they go to war (whether that be with an enemy or with themselves or wtih a disease) so that it can’t make them vulnerable.

she’s one of those lesbians that if a woman smiles at her she falls apart but if a man even LOOKS at her wrong she rips his teeth out.

TL;DR i love her to death and i hope you love her too. (she is pivotal to the non-existent plot so we will be seeing a lot of her as time goes on!) i will reblog this post when i add to it, mostly for my own benefit because it’s easier for me to have everything in one thread (not because i think anyone on the internet needs to reread my ramblings eight times). also, if anything is internally inconsistent here, i’d appreciate it getting (GENTLY) pointed out. i am stupid sometimes. thank you.