#and now I have started my redraft! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chaotic-orphan · 5 months ago

Text

Intoxicating Fear (XX)redraft*

Revealing the Monster

Read part one here // Masterpost // Continued from here

Here's the tea, I am redrafting PART XX of this series and uploading it here, this is the canon - but I WILL POST THE NEXT PART TOMORROW!

The new part starts about halfway down XD

I am sorry, I wasn't happy with part XX! SO part XXI tomorrow, thank you for your time. :)

~*~*~*~*~*~

Kit was wary about following Ambrose down a very dark, a very concrete set of stairs. “If this is the fucking torture basement I woke up in initially—”

Ambrose waved the accusation away, as if it was daft for Kit to be wary. “It’s to the garage,” he told him, keying a code into the pin-pad beside the metal door.

Ambrose walked through the door and held it open, rolling his eyes when he noticed Kit still lingering at the top of the stairs.

“Come on.”

“I’m not going to willingly follow you into your torture dungeon.”

Ambrose blinked, tilting his head. “The sex dungeon is two floors down, Mallory.”

Ambrose laughed at the face that Kit pulled. “Come on. I can always force you to come if I want, and we’re kind of a time crunch here.”

Kit glared daggers at the man and begrudgingly walked down the stairs. He stopped at the last step, trying to get a peak into the room. Ambrose walked away from the door letting it close before Kit could. Kit lunged forward to catch the heavy metal door, but relaxed immediately when he saw it was in fact a garage.

Kit let out a long low whistle after stepping into the garage. The door shut with a buzzer after him. Ambrose opened a lock box with keys hung up in a numbered order.

He grabbed the keys named ‘01’.

“You’re such a control freak,” Kit snorted. “Do you have OCD or something?”

Ambrose shrugged, taking off through the cars covered by different tarps. The only car that wasn’t covered was the one closest to the garage door. The same car that Ambrose kidnapped Kit in last night.

He hated that Ambrose had a good taste in cars. He hated that Ambrose had this many cars when Kit couldn’t even afford one, nevermind a garage full.

Ambrose grinned at Kit over the roof of the Wraith as he unlocked the door. “If you like, I can give you one of the ones I don’t like.”

Kit rolled his eyes. “I thought I told you to stay out of my head,” he said, opening the door and climbing into the passenger seat. The cream leather was so comfortable under him as he put his seatbelt on.

“Seriously,” Kit went on, anger curling around him the more comfortable he became with all of Ambrose’s luxury. “Don’t you have any thoughts of your own?! It’s fucking creepy, man. Just ask questions if you want to know my thoughts.”

Ambrose laughed as he opened the garage door with a remote and they rolled out of the house and onto the road again.

“I mean, don’t you have any friends?” Kit demanded hotly. In all honesty, he didn’t know why he was getting pissed all of a sudden, it’s not like Ambrose invading his mind was a new thing, but now? It pissed him off. “Don’t you know how to talk to people?!”

“Relax, Mallory. You’re the only person I relay their thoughts to. It might shock you, but generally, people love when you know what they’re thinking. It’s why humans seek connection. To feel understood.”

“Okay, Socrates,” Kit grumbled. “It’s just fucking weird. I don’t like it when you do it.”

“All of a sudden.”

“Yes!” Kit snapped, glaring at the villain beside him as the forest zoomed past them. “All of a sudden!”

What had Ambrose seen? What parts of him did he know? Could he see everything or was it selective?

“After you found out I’m Mentor’s son,” Ambrose said pointedly. Kit scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring out the passenger window. They drove in a terse silence for a while, cause Ambrose was a psychopath and didn’t have the radio on.

“We have to talk about it, Kit.”

“Well, you already know my thoughts on it all, so enjoy having a conversation by yourself.”

“Mallory,” Ambrose said with a tired sigh, flicking on the indicator as they pulled to a stop. “I know it must seem like a weird coincidence to you, but I swear I didn’t know you were Mentor’s s—”

Kit’s hands tightened into fists. Son. He was about to say son.

“Prodigy,” he settled on, taking a right and messing with the gears until they were coasting again. The air seemed tighter. “I didn’t know that he meant anything to you. I swear— I just assumed that when you were scared of me turning you into him, that you had heard the horror stories in the academy, or Superhero told you. Not that you… not that you were personally affected.”

Kit’s eyes burned as he stared out the window, the forest growing sparser the closer they got to the city. “I didn’t know. You have to believe me.”

“And if you did?”

Ambrose hesitated.

Kit turned his head to look at him, studying the villain’s reactions.

“And if you knew that he was like a father to me.” Like a father, not an actual one. “If you knew how much it hurt to see a man who plucked me out of nothing be destroyed. Would it have been any different?! Or would you have laughed and rubbed it in like salt in a wound?”

“Kit—”

“Oh, come off it. There’s no one here, Rosey. It’s only me and you,” Kit said, his voice dripping with a horrible hysterical knowing. “You can be your usual sadistic, unfeeling, monstrous self and I can tell nobody about it—”

“Mallory—” Ambrose tried to interject but Kit spoke over him again.

“But you know the funniest part in all this? You already took away the one person who would have given a shit about this! About me, not the Hero. Me. And you made him a monster!” Kit roared, something wet hitting his cheeks and flowing like a stream down his face. “And now, because clearly God hates me, I have to team up with you of all people, to go and stop — the one man who ever treated me like a person — from becoming a monster like you.”

The silence was deafening. In some strange way, it was comforting. No electricity crackles or malfunctioning lights accompanied his breakdown with the power dampeners locked around his wrist.

It was cathartic.

They had just pulled into the main road that brought them to the outskirts of the city, the skyline visible over the horizon when Ambrose spoke.

“He wasn’t a hero to me,” said Ambrose quietly, almost imperceptibly. Kit glanced at him, but his eyes settled on the white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

“Don’t fucking tell me you have daddy issues.” When Ambrose didn’t answer Kit let out a strangled laugh. Blinking in bewilderment, Kit raised his brows. “Are you telling me you have daddy issues? Mr Big Bad villain?”

“Oh fuck off, Mallory. At least I had parents.”

The words stung. They cut deeper than Kit would have ever admitted out loud or shown physically, but Kit knew that Ambrose was in his head after the villain winced.

Shifting in his seat, he said: “I’m— I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off snarky. I just—” Ambrose let out a groan. “You just rub me up the wrong way.”

“Well who’s fucking fault is that, dickhead?!”

“Do you want me to explain, or are you just going to argue with me the entire drive to the hospital?” Ambrose snapped. “I can only do one of those things in our limited time, so choose.”

Kit clenched his teeth, glaring forwards at the car in front of them. “Fine. Tell me.”

“Mentor is my father. As you know, he only rose to prominence within our lifetimes, though you may be too young to remember. Before him, heroes and villains weren’t really a thing. There were a couple dotted here and there, but mostly they were vigilantes. The good guys and the bad guys.”

“Yeah. I remember learning about that in the academy.”

“Right. So after my father rose in public opinion and word of mouth, well the government started stepping in and trying to regulate it. Which they did and the rest is history, but he wasn’t the same heroic good man when he came home.”

Kit swallowed, tightening his fingers into fists. He didn’t want to hear this, he realised. He really wanted Ambrose to shut up and not tell him anymore, but he asked for this, didn’t he? To know the side of Mentor that Ambrose knew?

“He wasn’t abusive,” Ambrose said softly and Kit released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Not physically, anyway. When he discovered that I was born with powers he sought to train me, to make me in his image. A family of Superheroes. My Mom, she didn’t want that for me. She saw the toll it took on him to be the city’s saviour everyday, and that’s when they started fighting.”

Kit sat rigid in his seat, staring forward. He couldn’t imagine Mentor fig— well, no. He could, actually. How many times had Kit walked in on Mentor and Mr Silver arguing? Or Superhero trying to tell Mentor that the next step was a bad idea, that it was too risky.

“I trained hard. When he wanted me to push myself, I pushed myself. When he wanted me to commit 100%, I did 200%. It was never enough for him. None of it was. He wanted a son and a wife who adored him, who worshipped the ground he walked on, and instead he had a family. His ego was a problem.”

Kit cringed at that. Even he knew that Mentor wanted people to adore him, no matter who or why. He wanted to be the city’s saviour, the man on everyone’s tongue and in their thoughts.

Kit let out a breath of a laugh, running a hand through his hair.

“I guess… that’s why he adopted me, isn’t it?” Kit asked, his voice hollow. Ambrose didn’t answer, and that was answer enough. God, how could he be so stupid? How could he not have seen that to Mentor, Kit was just some charity project he knew would always support him. Worship the ground he walked on, defend him even when Kit knew he was in the wrong.

Ambrose opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, setting his lips into a thin line.

“Mallory…”

“No. It’s okay,” Kit replied, letting out a long breath. “It’s fine, go on.”

Ambrose hesitated, fingers lifting from the steering wheel, before curling around them again. They passed the memorial garden in silence, taking the diversion around the square towards the hospital. They weren’t far away now.

“He started the Hero academy when I was twelve. A school for children with powers to develop their abilities to become heroes. I saw it for what it was though, incentive and resentment. He failed to teach me to control my abilities, and found a fault in me that I couldn’t rectify. My ability wasn’t flashy enough, or showy enough for him, for the great Mentor.”

“He wanted a child who would make the world stop and look at them. Someone who was as fast as him, as strong, but not stronger. In his eyes, I may as well have been born with strong charisma because you couldn’t see the effect of what I could do, only experience it.”

Kit looked down at his wrist, at the power dampeners locked around it. Lightning was flashy. Lightning gave Kit strength and strong reflexes, he was fast, he was flashy. He trained hard, to the point of exhaustion everyday in the Hero Academy. Not caring if he had no friends. Not caring if he passed out from pushing himself too hard. He just had to be the best. It was all he had. It was all he could do.

It wasn’t until he was beating people three years above him that Mentor started to pay him any attention. It felt good at the time. It felt like somebody finally recognised him for what he was.

Mentor made him feel seen. He saw that Kit had put his everything into training, because everything in him was all he had to give.

He didn’t have a family to worry about him getting hurt.

He didn’t have friends that would mourn him if he died in action.

All he had was being a hero.

Of course Mentor would latch onto that. Of course he would pick up on the fact that Kit was desperately trying to prove himself. Of course he would take pity on the orphan and bring him home like a trophy. Show him off to the world.

But that… that wasn’t the Mentor that Kit knew.

He brought him home, but it was after Kit denied him so many times. Told him to piss off, and asked if he was a pervert that prayed on boys his age. Kit had grown up on the streets, he knew what happened to skinny kids like him. One day they’re there, and the next, you never see them again.

Mentor was patient, and kind. He didn’t push Kit after Kit said no, told him he had everything he needed in the academy.

“Then my Mother got sick, and well…” Ambrose said, trailing off, pulling Kit from his memory and back into the car. “After she died it was like he… he didn’t even care. All he cared about was building the city up, saving everyone from possible Villains that lurked in the night. He didn’t sit with her in the hospital because he knew he couldn’t rescue her. He wasn’t there when she—”

Kit was quiet beside Ambrose, head tilted down. He knew what loss was like. He knew the absence a parent can leave behind, but losing someone who meant that? Kit didn’t know how to relate to that. When Omen destroyed Mentor’s mind, it wasn’t the same as if he died because Kit could still go and see him. Still talk to him, even if the Mentor he remembered was dead.

“I’m sorry,” Kit said softly. Ambrose cleared his throat, turning his head so Kit couldn’t see his face.

“Yeah,” he agreed, going rigid. “Me too.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence. It wasn’t far. Five minutes in the car, and two minutes to park.

“Are you…?” Kit began, then cut himself off when he met Ambrose’s black eyes. What was he going to say? Are you Okay? Alright with going into see the unfeeling man who wasn’t a good father? The man you cursed for being…

Ambrose shook his head, no. “Of course I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Kit said with an awkward shrug. They got out of the car, closing the door in unison. Kit thought nothing of it.

It was borderline awkward in the lift. Ambrose kind of just, stood there like a totem pole. His hands behind his back, standing straight up like a serial killer.

“Would you relax?” Kit said, rolling his neck. “You’re making me nervous.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“I’m fine,” Ambrose said slowly, voice cold. Kit shrugged and said: “fine.”

He ahead and almost cried in joy when the doors opened to the ground floor. He stopped at the reception desk. Ambrose was walking and stopped when Kit stopped, two steps ahead and glancing back to see what Kit was doing.

He joined him a moment later, standing beside him and glowering at Heather when she turned and beamed at Kit.

“Hi Heather.”

“Hey, Kit. You goin’ up to—” her big blue eyes trailed to Ambrose beside him, who looked as if he was under a storm cloud, or extremely constipated. “Oh. Hi. Is this your brother?”

Kit’s eyes blew wide, but Ambrose didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Older. We’d like to see—”

“I didn’t know you had a brother, Kit. Of course, darlin’s, go ahead. I’ll let them know you’re coming.”

Ambrose nodded stiffly and stepped back. Kit blinked, shaking his head, and smiled at Heather. “Oh, actually. Was there anything strange with him? Any new visitors or—”

“I’m sorry, hun. I’m just the receptionist for the main desk. You’ll have to ask the nurses up there.”

Kit nodded, standing up. “Thank you, Heather.”

“Anytime. And nice meeting you.”

Ambrose nodded at her. “You too.”

Kit clapped him on the back, a wide grin on his face. “Let’s go, bro.”

Ambrose made a noise and Kit had to stifle a laugh until they were in the stairwell. “What was that!” He barked, laughter bubbling up his throat.

“I— panicked.” [***RE-DRAFT STARTS HERE***]

“I thought you weren’t nervous,” Kit teased. He was turning to walk up the next set of stairs when Ambrose slammed his forearm against Kit’s throat, shoving him back into the corner of the stairwell, pinning him there.

Ambrose’s nostrils flared, his eyes blazing with cold fury down at Kit. “Of course I’m nervous, you fucking child. Tch. Don’t you ever switch off?”

Kit pushed Ambrose’s arm off him, and to his surprise, Ambrose let him, running a hand through his hair and letting out a breath.

The realisation only dawned on Kit, his mouth opening into a small ‘o’.

“You’ve never been to see him.”

Ambrose straightened. The villain returning as he stared down his nose at Kit, a sardonic smile on his lips. “And why should I? He didn’t give my mother that courtesy.”

Kit put his hands up, showing Ambrose he meant nothing by it. “Hey. It’s your decision. Not mine. He’s your dad, not—” the words choked up before he could say them. Ambrose didn’t pry. He knew what Kit was going to say.

Ambrose stared for a moment longer before glancing up the stairs and nodding stiffly.

“Yes. Well.” He cleared his throat and started walking up again. “What floor is it?”

“The fifth,” he replied, starting up the stairs beside Ambrose. “Top floor. They don’t want anyone stumbling amongst the crazies.”

“Probably for the best,” Ambrose muttered. Kit had meant it as a joke, but, he didn’t disagree with Ambrose as they climbed the stairs. Thankful that their footsteps filled the silence he couldn’t in the lift. They knew something had happened when they got to the fifth floor.

Kit stepped in first, Ambrose craning his neck around the door into the hall. Kit breathed a sigh of relief. No police tape, no police, no anything. That meant there was nothing to worry about.

Kit smiled at Ambrose and slapped him on the back, walking towards the door to the locked ward. “See! You were irrational. Overthinking everything. Nothing’s insidious about Mentor. He was here the whole time.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because if he did somehow magically vanish, there would be police and Superheroes and politicians here to interrogate him about what happened.”

“And if they just moved him down to the station to do that?” Ambrose asked, raising his brows. Kit’s smile dimmed a little, but it remained on his face.

“Too much risk. Trust me. Everything will be fine.”

The door buzzed open after Kit waved to the camera and the pair stepped through. Kit walked his usual path to Mentor’s room, and only realised halfway there that Ambrose wasn’t following him anymore. He paused, looking over his shoulder for the villain, before turning after laying eyes on him.

Ambrose stood in the middle of the hall, his eyes blazing and his little finger twitching by his side. A muscle in his jaw clenched and tightened when he met Kit’s questioning eyes.

He swallowed. “This was a mistake.”

“No,” Kit said, coming to stand beside the Villain. “It wasn’t. He’s out of it most of the time anyways, Rosey. He probably won’t even recognise you.”

Black eyes flashed like two burning coals. “He’ll recognise me.”

Kit didn’t tell him that Mentor didn’t recognise Kit for months after his accident. Then again, he didn’t have to. Something smoothed out in Ambrose’s face as Kit remembered his first meeting with a stark raving mad Mentor, who screamed at Kit to get out and leave him be. Kit thought for a minute that Ambrose could see the memory, but quickly remembered that the ward was built of the same power dampening material as the supers-prison and power dampeners.

Ambrose swallowed. “Let’s get this over with,” he said through clenched teeth. This time Kit led the way beside Ambrose, and let Ambrose walk into the room first. Ambrose didn’t falter as he stepped through the door, black eyes settling on his father for the first time since he drove him insane.

Kit followed him in, leaning against the wall beside the door. Mentor was sitting in an armchair, gazing out the window when they arrived. He turned his head and locked eyes with Ambrose and didn’t even glance over at Kit.

The tension was palpable in the air, tied like a three-way noose over their throats as nobody dared breathe in the room.

“Oskar,” Mentor said softly. Kit’s eyes blew wide, glancing at Ambrose who stiffened at the mention of his name. Mentor recognised him? He— remembered Ambrose?

“Hello Father.”

Mentor grunted a huff of a laugh. Almost like a derisive scoff, but Kit had never heard Mentor make a sound like that. A sound so like— well, Ambrose. Kit didn’t dare move, but he had the sneaking suspicion that Mentor didn’t notice, or if he did, didn’t care, that was Kit was in the room too.

“Is that all you can say to me, boy?” Mentor demanded, his voice hard, like gravel grating against gravel.

Ambrose shrugged, but Kit noticed the tightness to his usual casual gesture. “I can say a whole lot more, but word on the street is you have trouble remembering things lately, old man.”

Mentor’s eyes were cutting. “I remember the important stuff.”

The words came like a sharp slap to Kit’s face, almost staggering him out of the room, but Kit didn’t move. He just stared, eyes burning at the man that helped shape him into who he was today. But this man he was staring at may as well have been an alien. This wasn’t Mentor. This was the cold father that Ambrose told Kit about. The man who looked like Mentor, but was a monster beneath skin.

“What are you doing here?” Mentor spat. “Have you come to take more from me, hmm? The breath from my lungs.”

“Well it would be a wasted trip if I didn’t take something from you,” Ambrose replied with the cold smile that Kit was so used to seeing.

What he wasn’t used to seeing was Ambrose flinching. Kit pressed off the wall, eyes wide as a cold, dark chuckle filled the room. An empty laugh that caused shivers to run down his spine and freeze him in place.

“You’re still good at talking, Oskar.” Black eyes met Kit’s across the room, aware that Kit had just seen him flinch at Mentor’s raised hand and it was like the world slowed down around him, his heartbeat rushing in his ears.

Then it was as if a switch flipped of indifference. Ambrose straightened, black eyes smiling as he faced his father again. He slipped one hand into his trouser pocket, shifting his weight to lean on one leg and shot Mentor a cold smile.

“You’re still good at being a piece of shit, only, now you’ve exposed yourself to a witness.”

Mentor’s eyes narrowed and he got to his feet, turning his body to face Ambrose. He had only just turned when his eyes found Kit’s frozen blue ones staring as if he were a deer in headlights.

Mentor’s expression shifted into something softer, something kind. “Kit my boy—”

Kit’s eyes burned, his nostrils flaring. “Don’t.”

“This is-” Mentor began, gesturing between himself and Ambrose. “Family issues. They go back a long while.”

“I don’t care about your explanation,” Kit told him, shaking his head.

Mentor’s hard eyes looked between Kit and Ambrose, scrutinising. “What are you even doing together? Aren’t you a strange pair.”

“Not at all,” Kit said before Ambrose could even open his mouth. Kit stood talk, feeling Ambrose’s black eyes slide over to him as he commanded the space. “He’s helping me on a case. A new Supervillain.”

Mentor scoffed, folding his arms over his toned chest. “Have you considered him?” He asked, nodding his head to Ambrose.

“I have,” Kit ground out through clenched teeth. “But it turns out this new Supervillain has telekinesis. You wouldn’t happen to have an alibi for last night, would you?”

Mentor’s mouth fell open. Even Ambrose raised a brow at the accusation in Kit’s hard voice. He had never seen him so angry. It was very entertaining to watch, especially when it was directed at his father.

“I was here,” Mentor said, spreading his hands in a helpless shrugging gesture. “Obviously.”

“Can anyone corroborate that story?” Kit demanded, spitting venom at his old Hero and Mentor. Mentor glanced between Ambrose and Kit, his expression tightening as some understanding flashed across his face.

He rubbed his temple with the palm of his hand, kneading it into the soft flesh, letting out a disbelieving huff. “I can’t believe this. You’re seriously trusting this man over me, Kit? You're like a son to me.”

“Clearly I wasn’t,” Kit practically yelled, but he didn’t shout. His voice was surprisingly level despite everything. “Or you would have told me you had an actual son.”

Mentor’s gaze was cutting. “Surely you know what he did to me,” Mentor said, his voice a quiet fury. “What he did to our family, to this city! He—”

“Is Omen,” Kit finished, his eyes flashing. Mentor took a step back as if he’d been hit. Kit didn’t stop there though. “Yeah. I know. And I know he’s not a liar. So do you have an alibi or not?”

Ambrose was quite happy to let Kit take lead on this interrogation. It was true, Ambrose wasn’t a liar. If he said he’d torture you, he would. If he told you he liked you, he did. If he said he was Omen, he was. Something Ambrose didn’t think Kit picked up on, but was happy by the turn of events all the same.

Mentor was halfway through stuttering out a reply when a Doctor walked into the room, a clipboard in hand and already speaking. “Mentor, how are we tod—” Doctor, sensing the tension looked up and smiled at his obvious intrusion. He put the clipboard under his arm and stood taller. “Ah. Sorry, Mentor. I didn’t know you had visitors. Ah, hello Kit.”

“Doctor,” Kit replied not taking his eyes off of Mentor. “Can you confirm Mentor was here last night?”

Doctor’s eyes went around the room before bouncing back to Kit. “Uh, yes. I mean, CCTV and the hospital logs can probably. I wasn’t on personally, but as Mentor’s doctor today I can tell you there was no anomalies last night.”

“Great. Thank you,” Kit said, nodding at Ambrose. “That’s all we needed to know, we’re leaving.”

“No, wait—” Mentor protested, but Ambrose was already talking to the Doctor and walking back out the door. Kit turned to do the same when a hand was on his wrist, stopping him from leaving. Kit glanced back over his shoulder to see Mentor clinging to him like a desperate, old man.

“Kit…” he said with shining eyes. “M’boy. Please, let me explain.”

“You lied to me,” Kit hissed, finally letting the hurt shine through his features. “You told me, you— you made me feel special.”

“You are special, Kit, and not just to me.”

“Was I only special to you because I was strong?” Kit asked. Mentor hesitated. Kit pulled his arm from Mentor’s grasp. “You never saw me as a son. You saw me as a tool that you could mould and use to further your great image. Superhero. Saviour. Good charitable man,” Kit spat, tears springing suddenly to his eyes. “He even rescues orphans, the übermensch. Mentor: The great man.”

“Kit—”

“You were everything to me,” Kit said, his bottom lip trembling. “My only normal in the world. My family. My father. I worshipped you, and you used me!”

“Kit, please. Let me explain.” Mentor said again, pawing at Kit’s jacket. Kit recoiled, shrugging his hands from his shoulders.

“You have two minutes before I’m walking out that door.”

“In the beginning, yes, I wanted to be close to you because I saw your potential. Nobody else in that academy ever came close to you. You were extraordinary. I wanted a sidekick when I walked through those doors on the day of your exams, and instead I found a second chance.”

Tears streamed continuously from Kit’s red rimmed eyes as he listened, occasionally wiping them on the cuff of his sleeve.

“I found a son in you, and from that day onwards I decided that I wanted to help you. To give you the start in life that you deserved, not the one you were given. I patrolled the Rookery looking for you every night because one of the other kids told me you slept rough on the streets. I wanted to offer you kindness, and you had such hard eyes. It was weeks before I ever saw you smile, and when I did, m’boy, I swear the heavens themselves opened.”

Kit sniffed, his breath catching in his throat, taking in fretful breaths once he saw the glisten in Mentor’s eyes, and the tears welling up behind them.

“I never wanted to use you as some piece of equipment to further my image. I wanted to make sure you had bread, and safe water to drink. I wanted to give you a home.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me you had a son?” Kit asked, barely above a whisper. “Why… why- why didn’t you tell me you had a family? I would’ve understood.”

Mentor shook his head. “I had already left them at that time, Kit, and I was too ashamed to tell you. To tell you that I fucked up my last family. How could I tell you that? A child yourself when I was trying to gain your trust so I could help you, and the way you looked at me…”

The pair of them stared at each other, tears streaming down their faces the longer they spoke. “You saw something in me that I hadn’t seen in years, and it made me feel special, Kit. It made me want to be the better man you thought I was. To change, for the better, for you. For us. I thought it was my second chance when I met you, and I can tell you now for certain, it was.”

Kit looked away, afraid he might collapse if had to listen to any more of this. Mentor touched a hand to his cheek, thumbing away the tears, drawing Kit’s attention back to Mentor.

“Just please,” he blubbered. “Please say you don’t hate me. I will fall to my knees and beg for your forgiveness, Kit. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Please.”

Kit didn’t say anything. He just stepped in and hugged his old man, wrapping his arms tight around him and holding him up when Mentor sobbed harder into Kit’s jumper.

“I’m sorry,” Mentor cried into Kit’s jumper, muffling the sound. “I’m so sorry. I love you, I’m so sorry.”

Kit held him tighter, trying to compose himself but there was nothing to be done except wait it out. Ambrose stood outside the door, leaning against the wall to his father’s room, downcast eyes staring unseeing at the clinically clean floor in front of him.

Kit stepped out after a few minutes, his tears dried but the red rimmed eyes gave him away. Ambrose stood, face impassive as he took a deep breath. “You good to go?” He asked.

Kit nodded dumbly. They walked to the exit of the ward, but Doctor shouted from down the hall and the pair turned. “Oh good, I caught you before you left. Here. I’ll walk you out.”

Doctor quickly caught up to them, half-jogging towards them with a self-deprecating smile. “Sorry. Shall we talk outside?”

Kit glanced at Ambrose before nodding. Doctor fell into step with them, flashing his keycard on the control panel and the doors to the locked ward opened with a beep. He pushed through them and held it open for Kit and Ambrose to walk out. They stood just outside the ward, Kit tilting his head at Doctor.

Doctor smiled at the pair, a handsome smile. He was a little older than Ambrose, his eyes crinkled at the edges when his smiled. His tan skin contrasted against Ambrose’s paleness to a stark degree that Kit would’ve laughed if he didn’t feel so drained.

Kind green eyes found Kit’s. “I double-checked the log’s after you asked about Mentor’s whereabouts last night,” he said. “He was here all night, I can confirm with 100% certainty.”

“Okay, thank you Doctor.” Kit said nodding.

A copycat? Ambrose said in Kit’s mind. Kit glanced at him, but Ambrose was still looking at Doctor.

Maybe. Or maybe another telekinetic… Kit thought, pushing it towards Ambrose.

“Well,” Doctor said, clapping his hands together. “I hope that is everything you need?”

“Yes, Doctor, thank you for confirming the alibi,” Kit said. Kit reached his hand out which Doctor took and shook it. Doctor turned to Ambrose as well, offering his hand which Doctor took with a smile.

“Nice meeting you.”

“Thank you Doctor,” Ambrose said coolly before withdrawing his hand and stepping away. The pair walked down the stairs, hearing the buzzer of the ward door open and close again.

“What now?” Ambrose asked. Kit ran his hands through his hair, letting out a sigh.

“I don’t know. I need to get my phone from my apartment, just to see if anyone’s been trying to call.”

“Right. Of course.” Ambrose said as they walked to the car. Sensing the stiffness in Ambrose’s body language, Kit kept quiet, not wanting to poke the bear, but feeling too bad to just remain silent and not say anything.

They got into the Wraith in silence. It was only when Ambrose turned the key in the ignition that he broke the silence. “It’s not your fault, Kit.”

“I’m still sorry.”

Ambrose turned his head to look Kit head on. The expression on his face would’ve floored Kit had he been standing up.

Ambrose’s eyes were like two rainbows, his eyebrows drawn low over them, his lips were curled up on his face, exposing his smile lines that usually looked so annoyed.

Was Ambrose smiling?

When Kit wasn’t even covered in blood or bruises or struggling to breathe?

“Really, Kit. It’s okay. I don’t have any ill will towards you. Just think of it like, we both had one good parent and leave it there. Okay?”

Kit nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. Ambrose’s face went back to neutral and Kit felt like he could breathe.

Then his eyes narrowed as they pulled out of the parking lot. “What?”

“I just—”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I don’t think you should smile, Rosey. It doesn’t suit you.”

Ambrose almost hit the roof. “What?! My smile is charming.”

“I feared for my life. It is mortally terrifying. Do you smile at babies like that?”

“Babies love me,” Ambrose hissed.

Kit laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Actually can you drop me off at a therapist before we go back to my—”

“Oh yeah yeah,” Ambrose grumbled, turning the indicator on and taking off onto the main road. “Laugh it up.”

Kit did, and he felt good after it. The laugh smoothed everything out in his chest, unwinding the tension that weighed heavy on it and for a little, fleeting moment, he felt lighter than he had in a while. Ambrose turned the radio on.

*~*~*~*~*

Continued here

Orphanage roll-call (lmk if you wanna be added or removed): @beatenbruisedandbloody @404lunar1216 @whumpyworld @nameless-beanie e @andithewhumper @annablogsposts @whumpasaurus101 @0eggdealer r @rejectedbytheempty @sleepy-pearl @n3rv0usn0v4 @whumpatize-me-captain @sunshiline-writes @burningkittypoet @honeyed-euphrates @sacredwrath @theonewithallthefixations @m3rakii @xxgalgurlxx @princess-bubble-blossom @blood-enthusiast @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @andtheysaidspeaknoww @dutifullykrispyland @mononeigbour @tippytappytyping @shinokoro @bedtimescenarios @whatwhump @memepsychowhowantsuperpower-blog @ehobep @acer-whumpstuff @fa1rie

51 notes · View notes

poshbiscuit · 11 days ago

Note

Ok, I have two questions for you

1.- What is your process for writing? Like, how do you plan out a story in the long term?

2.- How the fuck did you improve so much in so little time?? Ive been a fan of yours for some time and istg, CRaawloTT and ABCs and 123s are years light apart in quality!! And they were posted just with a months difference, like what??? Did you sign a deal with the devil?? Tell me your secret, ive been writing since 2022 and i havent improved a lot😭😭

Warning: This is going to be a ramble 😭

First of all, I want to say thank you for the ask and for reading my fics!! I really appreciate it :)

Now, for your questions:

1. I am someone who needs everything to be picture perfect before I even begin to think about writing the fic. So, I’ll come up with the vague concept first. Most of my WIPs don’t get past this point lol. But if they do, then I explore the idea a bit more. Make the concept more than just a sentence or two. Think about other things that could link and come into play. Think about how this concept COULD potentially be fleshed out into a story. Just get a word document, or a Google Doc, and just dump. Dump every single idea in your head, don’t overthink it. If you still like it after that, and you still have inspiration and passion for it, then start a rough outline. Now, an “outline” is subjective. Like I said, I’m an extreme perfectionist. Therefore, I’m not happy to start writing before I have every single moment of the entire story planned out. I have a Google Doc for “Yours, Veronica” which has a summary of everything that happens in every single chapter. It’s nearly 200 pages long. You do not need to go this crazy! 😭😭😭 This is just my personal preference. So I write an outline for the story. I go back and read it. I change it. I add more. I read it again. I research things to make sure there are no historical inaccuracies. I add more. I keep on redrafting it and adding to it and changing it until I am 100% satisfied. For “Yours, Veronica” this took me a few years. Again, you don’t need to be this particular about it, it’s entirely up to you. You don’t even need an outline! Write how you want to write. This is my personal planning system, and it’s what works for me. I like having a strict and thorough outline to refer back to when writing the chapters.

Okay, for your second question, I’m going to waffle a bit, so bear with me! And I do want to preface by making it very clear that I am not a professional writer. Like… at all. I don’t really know what I’m talking about! So take it all with a pinch of salt :)

I do want to say thank you. I can’t believe you’ve been around for so long! That’s incredibly sweet, and I appreciate you so so so much.

In terms of progress, I have a lot of thoughts about this.

I think a big reason why there is such a difference between CRaawloTT and ABCs is because CRaawloTT was so unfathomably bad. It was immature, there was no effort, no planning, no spellcheck, it was written rapidly and badly, and it was (objectively) stupid. I was young when I wrote it, and I had never properly written a story before. So my point is that CRaawloTT was such utter trash that literally anything would be better than it, which is why ABCs seems a lot better. I still don’t love ABCs and I still don’t think it’s very good in hindsight but oh my god it’s SO much better than CRaawloTT. The thing is, it’s pretty easy to be better than CRaawloTT.

Another thing that I do want to point out is that I was very young when I wrote my very first fic. Even though ABCs wasn’t that long after, when you are young your maturity rapidly grows and each year you’re like a new person. If that makes sense? So, I would say that I was really young when I wrote CRaawloTT (and it shows) and I was less young when I wrote ABCs (and it shows). I think even the end of CRawloTT has a pretty big difference to the start. But really, it is effort that is the main point. During those few months between the stories, I worked a lot on the new story and therefore was improving, and also was automatically making a better story. I was just doing at least the bare minimum, which I hadn’t done before.

I mean, even now I go back and I look at The Prom Bet (which is a ton better than ABCs) and I cringe because it’s so frustrating and immature and there’s a lot of contrivances. You have improved and you will improve. I’ve been doing this for nearly 6 years now and I know you may not feel like you’ve made progress but you have. We are all our own biggest critics. But if you want to keep on improving until you notice it, then all you can do with writing is just keep doing it and you will get better. It’s experience, that’s all it is.

I’d say a big tip is trying new challenges and getting out of your comfort zone and testing yourself. With ABCs, the difference was I started implementing things like minimum chapter word count goals and that made a huge difference. From CRaawloTT chapters that were rushed and less than 1000 words to ABCs which had chapters that were a minimum of 3000 to 5000. Another thing was doing an outline, like I mentioned before. CRaawloTT had no outline and I had no idea where it was going. I would randomly open a word document and decide “Uh okay, chapter 7? I guess… this can happen?”. The impact that makes on the quality of your story is huge because you’ve got a story there. It’s not guessing games, and spur of the moment incoherent babble. Of course there’s spellchecker too. Listen, ABCs still has a lot of spelling errors because I was still a bit lazy 😭 but it’s better. And that’s the progress that you’re talking about. Such basic tools that I just didn’t implement at first. So don’t beat yourself up! What I’m trying to say is that you probably started at a much higher level, with much more effort, passion and consideration. So, of course your progress isn’t going to seem as dramatic!

So really, it wasn’t like I went from “good” to “amazing”, you know? I went from “really really abysmal” to “not as bad”, which seems like a huge jump but it’s not. It’s just a big difference in quality, because the first one has such a lack of quality that anything feels like a big jump. I think you need to give yourself more credit.

Finally, and perhaps the most important point of all, is that I didn’t love doing CRaawloTT, and that shows in the writing. You can put hours of effort in, you can have all the talent in the world, you can use every technique in the book. If you don’t like what you’re writing, it’s going to be so clearly. I loved writing, I loved being part of the Heathers fandom, but I didn’t like CRaawloTT itself. I had no passion for it. I had passion for ABCs. I enjoyed writing it. I enjoyed the story (at the time). I was excited for it. That’s such a huge difference. Just like how I feel even more excitement for Yours, Veronica.

so TL;DR:

The reasons for the improvement from my first fic to second fic are that my first fic was just so awful, I implemented very basic writing and planning methods, and also I was very young when doing my first fic.

I’m sure you have improved, even if you don’t see it. Just continuously writing and gaining practice and experience is the best you can do

Implement challenges and goals if you haven’t already. Set a higher minimum word count for your chapters in order to improve pacing, for example. Write an outline, if that’s what helps you, so you don’t go off-track. Try a new style of writing that you’ve seen before that you like.

I am so terribly sorry for this completely unnecessary babble. I got a bit passionate there! I really really loved this ask and I really loved talking about this stuff, so thank you ❤️ good luck with your writing, I’m sure you’re doing great and you’ll continue to do even better. Have faith!

#writing #writing advice #fanfiction #ao3 #writer #chansaw #heathers #yours veronica

15 notes · View notes

steddieunderdogfics · 21 days ago

Text

This week’s writer spotlight feature is: @Thegertie! RurouniHime has 24 fics posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and all of them are in the Steddie tag!

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @Thegertie:

Accidentally Absconding With An Impulsive Idiot: A Tale Told In Thirty Parts

Don't Cry For Me, Next Door Neighbor

The Nightly Stroll

In My Heart of Hearts

Rebellion in Your Back Pocket

"Rurouni does such a wonderful job writing alternative romantic and sexual orientations for Steddie, and has a particularly special skill with writing really tight, fully-formed stories that work alone or within series. The humor and character voices are always so on point, and the variety of depicted relationships make for a very well-rounded selection of stories to choose from!" -- anonymous

Below the cut, @Thegertie answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

ST was almost a no fly zone for me. I wasn't too impressed with season 1—nostalgia, eh, but I didn't like the 80s much when I was living through them, so it wasn't enough. However, I ran out of things to watch and picked ST up again on a friend's rec, and each season got better than the last. Steve was already one of my favorite characters (the other being Joyce), but up through S3 I'd had no fandom engagement. And thenS4 rolls around and here comes Eddie Munson. And he is such a wonderful character that I finally went searching for fic…and found Steddie. I hadn't felt so moved by and attached to a pairing in a while and I leapt straight in. Steve and Eddie are such great foils for each other, different but also similar, and at their cores are pain, but also wholehearted love. When they turn it all toward each other… well, it just makes for beautiful and wrenching and satisfying stories.

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

PINING. Oh, give me all the pining, I love it so! Mutual pining? Even better! Mutual pining unbeknownst to each other?? Just knock me over the head right now and go home, that’s it, all buttons pushed.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

I've thought about this and I'm not really sure. Or maybe it just changes depending on my mood. A trope I tend to return to again and again is the misunderstanding/reconciliation trope, though I know that's very broad. If you (again) add The Pining into the mix, it gets even more rich and delicious. But I do love to use the misunderstanding (minor or major) and pining tropes to explore a character's insecurities and then allow them to get a little healing. That's pretty common in all the fandoms I've written for, I think.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

Might be the very first one I read: the affliction of the feeling by nondz (pinkjook). I mean… hot DAMN. What a way to start! The emotional description paired with the physicality of this fic is superb. Writing goals. I have been meaning to reread this one since the first time I read it. I still have the original tab open for it, but I keep putting it off because I love to torture myself with ever impending feels.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I'm always coming up with half-baked fic ideas and most of them are going nowhere. I really don't have anything particular simmering on the back burner at the moment. I do have intense plans for my Tubthumper series (ace!Fratboy!Steve) but if I say much what, it'll be a spoiler.

What is your writing process like?

I do not write consecutive scenes. I've heard from people who have to write start to finish, but that has never been me. I tend to jump all over the place: middle scene, ending scene, middle, beginning, ending, middle, middle, etc. The con of this is that I often lose track of what takes place when and have to redraft parts of the story to make the timeline work. The pro is that my themes tend to stay very strong and intertwined as a result. I think it's a fine payoff.

Do you have any writing quirks?

I jump? More than just jumping around in a story; I have to be working on several projects at once because if I get stuck on something, I need to have something else to jiggle the flow free. I also go through prolonged periods of intake (reading, watching, listening) vs output (writing, brainstorming, plotting), which can be annoying, as it means I'm not always inspired to create.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Sigh. I have used chaptered fics in the past to try to force myself into keeping to a schedule, but what usually happens is I stay on task until the end and then I get completion grief or whatever and I end up stalling on the last chapter. Which isn't great. It's a much better idea for me to finish drafting the thing before I start posting, though I did have several projects while in my Drarry days that had a very punishing schedule and that I was super on top of all the way to the end. I'm proud of those.

Which fic are you most proud of?

In the ST fandom, it's In My Heart of Hearts. I'm all my fandoms, it's my Merlin BBC epic, Dower the Stars. Sometimes I can't believe I wrote that.

How did you get the idea for Rebellion in Your Back Pocket?

Let me come right out and say it: I'm in the Canon Eddie Is A Virgin camp. In the beginning, I read so many fics featuring Eddie as a worldly sex god, and they were fantastic, I loved them. But when I think about Eddie, I see a lot of my high school self in him: confident for show but with a tendency to endlessly pick at and overthink things. I too had a small but intimate friend group and a propensity for focused nerdiness. I see Eddie, a gay kid in the 80s American Midwest, as super curious about sex but without much opportunity for practical application, and perhaps a little fear of it. On top of that, he clearly uses his own infamy as a shield against the people who don't like him, which means any rumors about him essentially become his weapons. So RiYBP came out of the idea of Eddie finally getting with his long-time crush who also happens to be notoriously good in bed, and he's absolutely forgotten to clear up the misunderstanding that he himself is not knowledgeable AT ALL about sex, and then him digging himself deeper while trying to find a way out of it. I truly feel this is a pickle that Eddie Munson would get himself into, and I adore him for it.

When writing Rebellion in Your Back Pocket, what was something you didn’t expect?

The mix tape chapter! I had Eddie's planned very early on, but at the urging of my beta to give more substance to the nonsexual side of their relationship, I got to thinking about Steve and what he would have on a playlist, and wow, just... That scene in Steve’s car and all the angst and beauty and growth that came out of it by the end of the fic was a complete and welcome surprise. Also I was surprised by how much I loved writing Wayne overhearing Steve and Eddie in the trailer. Omg, #prayforwayne, that man is a saint and the perfect Dad Troll to combat Eddie's dramatics.

What inspired In My Heart of Hearts?

The origins of this one are very personal for me. I am gray-ace, and bi, living in a world that focuses extremely heavily on sex: having it, losing one's virginity, being judged by how little or often you do it… I'd been wanting to write Eddie as a rock star for a while, and also to write Eddie as gray-ace, and this fic blossomed out of that. I read a Stony fic once where Tony was actually ace and had never in his life defined that for himself, and it was so touching. I wanted to capture that essence with Eddie, a celebrity constantly beleaguered by sexual propositions from strangers and not wanting any of it, PLUS the general loneliness that sometimes comes with being on the ace spectrum, and the helplessness of being in love with an allosexual person but not knowing how to ever make that work. I wanted to explore the fact that it can and does work, and that in spite of what society tells us, being ace does not require compromising yourself in order to be happy and fulfilled, and loved.

What was your favorite part to write from The Nightly Stroll?

Hopper’s POV. Getting in his head was so cool. And then Hopper and Eddie's snarking. Please, can I just have a fic with them stuck in a car together, pleasepleaseplease. Hopper's eye-rolly exasperation and short fuse paired with Eddie's derisive sass and well-honed needling skills. The potential there is overflowing, and then to push it up against Steve’s relationship with Hopper and have that protectiveness extend suddenly to Eddie was very nice. I also really enjoyed exploring El and Hopper’s relationship through Hopper’s eyes. He really loves that kid. And Steve lunging out of the car to defend his man. There’s not much about that fic that I don’t love, actually…

How do/did you feel writing Don't Cry For Me, Next Door Neighbor?

Now that one was a surprise venture into ace character exploration. I was writing the scene of fratboy!Steve encountering the enigma of Eddie at a party, and all of a sudden, here's Steve telling me, hey, btw, I'm asexual. I went with it full throttle and this series took off. It truly is a joy to write. I love letting these characters be who they are without the impending threat of death by interdimensional beast and I love finding ways to incorporate pieces of canon into the modern college setting. It's challenging to write, especially since Steve in this one is not gray-ace like me but much closer to full-on asexual, though recently someone commented on one of the stories with the term "recipromantic", and I'd never heard of that. So I'm learning new things every day.

What was the most difficult part of writing Accidentally Absconding With An Impulsive Idiot: A Tale Told In Thirty Parts?

Probably the fact that it was only meant to be one damn scene! Not that I don't adore what came of it, but initially the idea birthed from the snapshot of Eddie taking off one day and Steve getting there just in time to keep him from going alone. And I really should know better because I cannot write anything brief to save my life. Always gotta explore the backstory/repercussions/development. *eyeroll*

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME CHOOSE BETWEEN MY CHILDREN just kidding. But also kind of not? I don't know that I could choose an absolute favorite. A few scenes that bring me true happiness, however, are Wayne overhearing Eddie and Steve in Rebellion in Your Back Pocket (literally, that fic should be titled “Here, Eddie, Have Seven Chapters of Mortifying Moments, You’re Welcome”, and who better than Wayne to totally yank his chain?), Eddie's climactic confession to Steve in In My Heart of Hearts (he broke my heart with how broken open he was and how much he laid himself bare in that moment), and the car scene in To Cleanse the Palate (I just let them get real hot and heavy and monstrously in love, and it was great).

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

Well, fortunately for me because I am head over heels all over again, but unfortunately for all my Steddie readers, I recently tumbled ass over teakettle into The Untamed. For the time being, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying have stolen my tragic-romantic's soul. No, seriously, you don't even get it, I binged the 50-ep live action, bought all the novels, and got myself a bunch of swag while fighting off a two-week-long mystery flu (I'm calling it Influenza Aftershock, rock on, my friends), and am currently trying to talk myself out of picking up the manhua too. (Let's not even discuss the animated series.) But I am not done with Steddie by any means—just taking a breather—so please keep a watch for more Tubthumper and a return to Only A Spark to Light My Way (aka, the Lost Boys Steddie fic) in the near future. I'm also just saw Gladiator II, which will likely plunge me back into the Roman-Britain AU Steddie series I'm writing with patientanxiety. So keep an eye out for those!

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Only this: Thank you so, so much for thinking of me! These are great questions and I’m really glad I got to participate.

Thank you to our author, @Thegertie, and our anonymous nominator! See more of RurouniHime's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

#steddie #steddie fic recs #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #stranger things #steddieunderdogfics #writer's spotlight #writer's wednesday #ao3 writer #steddie writers

17 notes · View notes

songoftrillium · 1 year ago

Text

Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of my actions before me.

I am delighted to announce that Dead Mountain's release, initially slated for Halloween 2023, has been delayed!!!

Wait, what?

This post is enormous, but please take the time to read it. Likes don’t increase visibility to others! Please reblog this to spread the word!

When I started this project, my stance on Werewolf: the Apocalypse underwent a series of evolutions between then and now. In short, Dead Mountain, a chronicle meant to simultaneously provide a game module and queer inclusivity at gaming tables, has grown beyond its original design and size and into something much bigger and bolder than what I initially set out to do. It has become a more significant task than one person can accomplish alone. Of course, I could delay Dead Mountain's release a few months to get it completed, and I will still be releasing it standalone eventually. I could also put it out, but what would come out would fall short of presenting Werewolf in a way I feel does the game justice.

In many ways, nothing changes; it just happens later. In its current form, however, Werewolf: the Apocalypse doesn’t provide a game that fully supports the scale and inclusivity this chronicle demands. The project rapidly ballooned the chronicle into something more resembling a corebook; while fun to imagine, it is more than I initially set out to accomplish. The volume of literature needing redrafts and the need for this to be a single chronicle alone are at odds with each other, and more than one person can write independently.

I plan to reapproach this in a way that has the team excited, and I think this will excite you, too. See the rest below the cut.

As work on Dead Mountain progressed and drew closer to completion, the things I needed to include to make it happen in a way that did its subject matter justice grew beyond its original scope. The more aspects of inclusivity, culture, and story that turned up missing from the newest edition out of the occasional paragraph, the more I came to realize that if I wanted Werewolf: the Apocalypse to represent what good I see in it, I needed to also make the game itself presented in a fundamentally different way than it has before.

I have a challenge to World of Darkness writers:

New players should only have to read for no longer than an hour to start coming up with character concepts.

Every Werewolf corebook put to print is falling short of that goal. It would be unjust to force players to wade through the old literature to explore all the game has to offer, and I think y’all deserve better. The tribes they read about should focus less on everything wrong with them out of the starting gates and provide players and storytellers with something worth fighting for and motivates them to action.

Over the past few weeks, we have realized that the things we need to include to do justice to the subject matter of Dead Mountain have grown beyond the project's original scope. We want to ensure the game is inclusive, culturally representative, and accessible to new players. Given the available core literature released with the latest edition lacking coherent structuring, our writing has had to balloon beyond a typical RPG supplement size to provide a functional game representative of, and relevant to, queer culture. Therefore, we have decided to delay the game's release by one year to Halloween 2024. This extra time will allow us to create a game that meets our high standards and provides an enriching experience for all players, and make Werewolf: the Apocalypse a more accessible game, particularly regarding accessibility to new players and storytellers.

My goal is simple: Nobody new to the World of Darkness and Werewolf with an 8th-grade reading comprehension level should do more than an hour’s reading (10,000 words) to comprehend Werewolf: the Apocalypse well enough to start thinking up character concepts. New players shouldn’t have to wade into problematic legacy literature to get the specifics of Garou society or to seek cultural representation. Storytellers should have guidelines on creating chronicles with their players and interlinking them with stories.

A series of players guides and storyteller handbooks intended to streamline the flow of information to the reader, sorted by Garou ranks, both in terms of gaming power levels and depth of information relevant to Garou of that rank. New players want to know how to make new characters. Storytellers wish to know the kinds of NPCs appropriate to characters of that power and how to run games. This is not a corebook but a series of reference guides intended to keep the depth of the world we all love in the legacy game in an easily navigated format while only revealing the most pertinent information for a given Garou’s rank and a ready-to-go adventure to pair with that game ranking. With each successive release, more information about the world of the Garou, Garou society, their enemies, and the complexity of available storytelling tools will also evolve to grow the game in tandem with players and storytellers.

Book 1: Cliath — Contains enough information for new players and storytellers to get started, focusing on character generation, Rites of Passage, and culture.

Book 2: Fostern — Expanded Garou powers for the ‘citizenry and society (and not-so-nice things that happen in the background that they keep hidden from the cubs and cliath) of the Garou.

Books 3: Adren — Explodes into an anthology of Tribebooks with expanded powers and tribal customs and detailed septs, camps, and factions vital for any Adren fighting for Gaia.

Book 4: Athro — exploration of spirit and history. The secrets that bind society and a more lucid view of what elders in the Garou Nation face, with expanded Garou stats covering both rank 4 and 5.

Book 5: Elder — The Storytellers guide, focusing on world-building and running one's own chronicles in the World of Darkness.This puts all prior ST info in one place with a master index and any extra systems errata needed.

Our small team consists of seasoned storytellers, writers, and werewolf academics working on making Werewolf more accessible to new players. We’ve been researching, playing, or running inclusive Werewolf tables for over 60 years combined, and are self-taught experts in everything Werewolf. Everyone on this project deeply loves the game and sees its inherent value and well-meaning beneath its 90s liberal veneer. Many of us have spent decades perfecting our craft and knowledge of this game, and we want the rest of you to see the Werewolf that we see in the pages.

We are using By Night Studios' edition of Mind’s Eye Theater: Werewolf as a baseline reference for this project. Much work has already been done to bring inclusivity to the game and encourage character investment in the world, and translating that to the tabletop will be a more inclusive baseline to utilize than any other corebook. We will continue the metaplot of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, with a handful of changes to tribes and factions of Garou. Due to the MET systems translations needing to be done, we still have our work cut out for us and plenty of writing to do. This game will be shifting the formatting to prioritize ease of identifying information pertinent to players versus storytellers while prioritizing keeping culture, mechanics, or cross-edition compatibility as best we can with updated sensibilities.

Stay tuned for another post this afternoon to learn more about our first upcoming book in the series!

#world of darkness #werewolf: the apocalypse #dead mountain #werewolf the apocalypse #werewolves #world building #hearthbound

98 notes · View notes

queen-tashie · 2 months ago

Note

Happy Storyteller Saturday! I'd love to hear about your earliest writing attempts! How old you were when you started writing, what you wrote about, the first story you finished, etc... feel free to ramble on :)

Happy Storyteller Saturday!

My absolute earliest writing was way back somewhere between grade 2 and 4 (ages 7-9ish). I tried writing my own episode of Pokemon as a picture book. (I thiiiink my parents still have it somewhere, I kind of want to take a look at it again).

I didn't really write much back then, I was more into drawing line art and making OCs that way. When I got to grade 4 or 5ish I stopped reading on my own almost completely, besides an occasional book or two, and I was more likely to read non-fiction to learn about animals (like sharks. I really like sharks.). I think as I stopped reading I also stopped writing, because I didn't start reading for pleasure again until I was 15. And then suddenly I started writing again.

Around then I mostly read YA fantasy in my free time, so I started writing a story about dragons (two brother dragons, Valdore and Arian, their father Failias, and their mother S... something with an S at least. (I could literally check this right now but I just had a huge meal and I'm feeling sluggish haha). Ok it was bugging me not knowing and I got up to look for it (and it took like 5 minutes instead of the 10 seconds I thought it would lol) and her name was Sarhina. I attempted this story a couple times but was fully pantsing it, not really sure which direction to go in. I wrote about three or four very, very short chapters before I started writing something else. Valdore was one of the OCs I had come up with back in elementary school, I think as young as 6 years old, so I was still happy that I attempted writing a story about him.

The next story I wanted to write was a futuristic apocalypse story where the main characters fought demons as they came out at dawn. This one I progressed even less than the dragon story, the OCs were much newer. Originally I had called this story Survival of the Fittest, then I changed the premise completely to the main characters either appearing in a new world or already living there (I suppose it was a genre change to a portal fantasy). I kept some of the apocalyptic vibes the same, the world had time seasons that went through the life and death of the ecosystem and structures on the land, then back to rebirth. One season was new growth, buildings were small but structurally sound, even people felt refreshed. Another season was abundance, buildings were large and had character to them, people felt their best and were at their strongest. The third season was scarcity and death, buildings crumbled from age, people were struggling to survive. Then it would start again with the rebirth of the land. Again, didn't really know where I was going with this story but the world building was much better developed than the first.

Somewhere in between both of these stories in my teens, I wrote some more Pokemon fanfic that I had started to share on DeviantArt.

There were also a half dozen or so other WIPs that I had started and didn't get further than a paragraph or two. For some reason I deleted many of these :(

Then the first novel-length story I ever finished is (BEING RELEASED TOMORROW!!!!) The Quiet Forest. Runnicka is an old OC from my elementary school drawings (though she's changed since then, I happened to get an ask earlier today that reminded me of this). It took me 11 years to finish writing it (from drafting to giving up and redrafting to finally writing my first outline to finishing the actual first draft, then many, many edits), plus a year to query over 100 agents. It's the longest I've ever stuck to anything before, and so it's been a huge accomplishment finishing it, finishing querying, and now deciding to share it online (more about the story here).

I've had a series of smaller writing wins (ie finished stories) before The Quiet Forest was finished, though! I wrote about 10 flash fictions in 2020, some that I'd like to revisit and edit to better match my current writing skill level. One of them is already ready to read on my AO3 account! And last year I wrote over 80k words between two first drafts for two separate novels, and two finished short stories, one a Legend of Dragoon fanfic (also on my AO3), and another that I wrote as a writing sample for a contract writing position (almost got in but there were hundreds of entries and only about 5 or 6 spots), but I am working to get it published! And speaking of publishing, in 2023 I got randomly inspired to write All You Hear Is My Voice which got published early this year. It's a sci fi/speculative romance where a lonely queer man has reverse telepathy--instead of hearing everyone's thoughts, he's involuntarily projecting every thought he has into the minds of others nearby. Makes it hard for him to meet understanding people, and even harder to date. The thing that makes it sci fi is that it takes place on Mars :)

#storyteller saturday #writing #writeblr #long post

8 notes · View notes

theeccentricraven · 1 month ago

Text

11th Day of Writemas 🎄🤶🎅❄️⛄🍒

Thank you again @agirlandherquill for the tag game/writing prompt/writing challenge that brightens the Christmas spirit and so far has been a cool alternative to NaNo for me ❤️🤍💚

If you'd like to know/get a refresher of the rules or join the tag list, check out the invitation post.

For the 11th Day Prompt I chose "He hoped for salvation, he prayed to the Gods, every one he could think of, even though he knew they would never listen." I thought about how I could incorporate this into another WIP where the subject fits well with the world development. Along with my other WIP's, I've worked on Columbus Day, a YA Scifi First Contact Buddy story as I like to describe it. I've left it in the trunk for over a decade but am now getting down to redrafting/rewriting/revising. I haven't posted much about it yet on Tumblr (sometime in the future I'll get World Building and Character posts up). In short, it involves aliens with wings discovering Voyager 1. This snippet starts the prologue.

__________________________________________________________

Demisen raised his greenish blue wings high above his head, releasing tension. He was nervous. He retracted his claws, bringing his finger claws inside his fingers, and pushing them out. He did the same with his toe claws. He felt a calm release. He checked that his appearance looked presentable for his audience. His greenish blue hairs and feathers were finely brushed. He wore the outfit for his flock - a pink jumpsuit with the orange letters that spelt VSHIKRI in the Zaramna alphabet. He projected a hologram image of himself. His solid maroon eyes charmed whoever looked into them. No need for any enhancements.

He had every reason to be confident to give this presentation, yet he feared he could be opening a box to release a strange gas - a healing cloud and a toxic cloud in one. He hoped for salvation, he prayed to the Gods, every one he could think of, even though he knew they would never listen. The gods of two thousand deistic cultures in the galaxy were never expected to respond to prayers. Demisen knew them enough to be confident that he would meet the Mystery in the next life with a knowledge to know the secrets of the universe. He couldn’t help but fear the price to pay. He’d been a source for contention on the world he called home. He wouldn’t let that happen again. The discovery promised a way to connect the Proserims with another race. First contact meant the chance to find a powerful ally and strengthen the Zaramna Alliance. He longed to find them. Finding the makers of the strange device could mean gaining more knowledge, knowing other Gods, knowing the Mystery better, and finding a source of redemption. His legacy would be that of harmony, enlightening his path to the Mystery.

He listened to the recording, playing the moment of the history he held in his claws.

"Lachra Nalthav thi Lachra Virthi, har sher shi?" Code Nalthav to Code Virthi, What is that? One voice made a wheezing and gasping sound. “Vlit thaneg har nush lomthvi?" Do you realize what we have found?

With a wave of his wing, Demisen turned off the recording. He waved his other wing over a scanner on the computer interface to start a new recording. He took the network friend band around his limb. He waved his wing over a scanner on the band, activating a broadcast.

He raised his wings high. “Dmurch Mthil’s Nephew Demisen Nbliju sends a message and announcement on behalf of all of Vshikri flock, I send a message to the world.”

And eventually, the galaxy.

He waved a wing over the band’s scanner, emitting a projection. The holograph displayed a probe of ancient craft. The probe was the construction of obsolete technology. A plaque covered the probe. The plaque featured drawings of two fleshy beings, holding up their limbs or some other part of their bodies. Heads, eyes, torsos, limbs, and curious details suggested the creatures followed the typical path of evolution.

Demisen continued to speak. “Somewhere in the void, our explorer probes descended into a wormhole to discover the fabrics of dark matter that powers the universe. And we found this. Two members of our flock analyzed the probe’s findings. They discovered the probe had returned with a treasure. This is the treasure. This device was created by another race. We sent more probes out to that end of the wormhole. And so we found not one but two other space devices just like it. The third probe taught us a threshold about the uncanny makers of these probes. Vshikri flock needed to keep this secret for some time, but now we are ready. We declare another race under the creation of the Mystery, another people we share our galaxy with. Another people seeking to solve the mystery of life. We invite you to come to the projected coordinates, the Vlaksho arena. A great treasure awaits you. Of all the species the Proserims contacted, this probe could have only been created by a race who wanted to be found. Why would they want us to find them? Our data analysis suggests they want to share what they have in return for something. Whatever they need, we can’t know yet, but it’s likely they offer what other galactic races have offered. Gods and spirits to know. Opportunities to commune with the Mystery. Exchanging their treasures for survival tools. A powerful contribution to the Zaramna Alliance. Arts and entertainment. Adventures and challenges. They provide us the chance to form an amity that will enlighten us to know the Mystery in the next life.”

___________________________________________________________

Tagging! 🌟🎀🦌🛷🎁🎶👼🧝⛸️🔔🥁

@sunflowerrosy @furrywrit3r @wyked-ao3 @selenekallanwriter @drchenquill

@revenantlore @whatwewrotepodcast @jay-avian @constellationandcompendium @olivescales3

@ryns-ramblings @primroseprime2019 @illarian-rambling @kaylinalexanderbooks @kitty-is-writing

@kitkins13 @buffythevampirelover @willtheweaver @poethill @acmartin

@apolline-lucy @elizaellwrites @gioiaalbanoart @orphanheirs @pluppsauthor

@cowboybrunch @leahnardo-da-veggie @dandelion-jester @aalinaaaaaa @faeriecinna

@brynwrites @somethingclevermahogony @rickie-the-storyteller @raevenlywrites @winterandwords

@happypup-kitcat24 @the-golden-comet @ddgraywrites @autism-purgatory @mxxnwishes

@tildeathiwillwrite @screamingatanemptyroom @kbwritesstuff @spookyceph @pluto-murphy-writes

@talesofsorrowandofruin @kaylark @sleepywriter00 @americanfemcel @fairy-tales-of-yesterday

@inkednotebook @the-letterbox-archives @laureleavess @simonnebethel @forthesanityofsome

@melpomene-grey @creatrackers @stephtuckerauthor @theink-stainedfolk

@g0ttest0d @infinnative @little-peril-stories @lyneidas @late-to-the-fandom

and Open!

12 notes · View notes

steelycunt · 10 months ago

Note

sorry if you’ve been asked this a thousand times, but how is it going with your pride au? so excited for, still thinking about the little snippet you posted a while ago.

hi no not at all!! honestly love being asked about it it makes me very happy when people do because i like talking about it : ^ ) rambled a bit so ill put it under the cut with a little snippet!!

it’s going well thank you!! ive done quite a bit in the last couple of weeks by my own standards, and im looking at the last leg of chapter two now!! im quite a slow writer n will probably have to ease off soon for uni stuff, but as it stands the five chapters look like they will be about 20k each give or take a few thousand!! currently i have done about 31/32k so it’s already the longest thing ive ever written…truthfully though i think 95k is far too long so hopefully itll be reduced when i redraft it all. but yah!! having a lot of fun…chapter two is where it starts getting really fun (for me. hopefully it’s fun from chapter one for other people or we’re in trouble) i think chapter one and the start of two stressed me out a bit because there’s a lot more plot and a big ensemble cast im really not used to writing, but a lot of the major details have been established now!! and im really enjoying it...im quite happy with what im writing and im looking forward to being able to share it : ^ )

ii.

#telegram #anon #pride au #r/s #snippet #my fic

35 notes · View notes

workingtowardsthatphd · 9 months ago

Text

Saturday 4th May

May the 4th be with you. Working in a cafe in town today because I have a society coffee morning at 11, so I've arrived a little early to get some work done.

Incomplete from Yesterday:

Nothing! I'm on a roll.

To do:

Re-write Chapter 2, add in the conclusion. Go back through make sure all newspaper names etc are italicized.

Write first draft of Chapter 3.

Re-write the introduction using the chapters as a guideline.

Complete:

Nearly 600 words into Chapter 3, this one seems easier to write than the previous two, probably because I am drawing on themes already established.

Hit a wall on Chapter 3 and started redrafting Chapter 2 instead.

Finished redrafting Chapter 2, spellchecked and italicized all titles. I now have a solid 4,000/8,000 words finalised, putting me nearly halfway through.

Chapter 3 is going badly! I attempted to switch to writing the introduction instead but that is also going badly so I think that's my sign to stop for the day. Hopefully I can write 2000 words tomorrow and on Monday, otherwise this is not getting done in time.

Ignore all of that! I have found a second wind and started completely rewriting Chapter 3! 450/2000 words.

About 800 words of Chapter 3 now done, and it is quite late, so I'm gonna head home and try again tomorrow with a fresh brain.

Cups of Coffee: ☕☕

#student life #studyblr #uniblr #chaotic academia #undergrad student #study blog #university #study motivation #studyspo #student #dissertation

18 notes · View notes

aadmelioraa · 2 years ago

Note

Hi! I was just wondering, what is the difference for you between the Scrivener categories you use? What makes a certain section redrafted vs revised vs punched up vs polished? Thank you!

Hey!! I am more than happy to elaborate on that post. Here are the scene (or chapter) draft categories I use via the "Label" function in Scrivener, and what each category means to me:

To Write. Any scene that I haven't fully drafted, ranging from an idea in my head to a few bullet points to a scene that doesn't yet have a beginning, middle, and end. Lots of ellipses and all caps notes to myself [ADD CONVERSATION WHERE X AND Y ARGUE ABOUT DINNER PLANS] at this stage. I am a planner-pantser hybrid—I usually start writing without a real outline, and then create and reshape my outline as I continue writing new scenes, the outline evolves as my draft evolves and vice versa.

Drafted. I have written a full version of the scene. It has a beginning, middle, and end. I have hit all the major points I want to hit. It's messy, but it's on the page. These scenes comprise the Rough Draft.

Redrafted. At this stage, I follow Matt Bell's "Rewrite Don't Revise" advice in Refuse to Be Done (highly recommend this craft book!). Once I have a Rough Draft version of the project (the entire book has a beginning, middle, end, and enough essential connective tissue scenes to prop it up), I print that off* and open a fresh Scrivener file. I hold myself to Matt Bell's no copying and pasting rule, and it's honestly been a game changer mentality for me. I refer to my Rough Draft and my Revision Plan Outline as I create a new draft that is both leaner and more fleshed out as needed. The Revision Plan Outline is the roadmap of the book I wrote (the Rough Draft) spliced with a roadmap of the book I want to write, including new scenes, stronger versions of the scenes I already have, and notes about what needs to be cut. *This is probably obvious, but you don't need to work from a printed copy, you can open your Rough Draft doc side by side with a blank doc if that is more your speed. The important thing is to start with a blank document rather than making revisions to your Rough Draft. It might sound insane, but I've found that it allows me to let go of what I would otherwise struggle to cut, and opens me up creatively to write new material.

Revised. Once I have the fresh, stronger, more intentional version of my scene, I go through and check that it's doing what I need it to do in terms of character work and plot points. It's not only a complete scene in that it begins and ends where I want it to, it's also functioning as part of a whole.

Punched Up. This is my favorite draft stage in most ways, I just find it really fun and satisfying. My goals are to make sure that the tension is properly threaded, that the emotional beats are landing how and where they need to, that the humor is working, that each character's voice is coming through, that my language is vivid and interesting.

Polished. Here I am making final cuts and changes, taking things at a line level and evaluating individual word choice. Nitpick city, but ideally in a productive way.

Right now in my current WIP I have an array of scenes at every level in a single Scrivener file. Most of them are Redrafted or above (I already completed a Rough Draft, printed it off, and am working from that and my Revision Plan Outline to create a new version of the book) but there are plenty of scenes in my Revision Plan that didn't exist in the Rough Draft. I will once again shout out @bettsfic and her invaluable developmental insights, you can check out her substack here and read more about her services here.

Anyway, this is what works for me, it definitely won't work for everyone, but hopefully you find something useful here! I will note that you can use the Scrivener "Draft Status" category to function in a similar way as the "Label" category, allowing you to use "Label" to denote POV or something else. Labels are visible in the sidebar (you can find options under "View," and Draft Status shows up in the corkboard view (it's stamped over the notecard for each scene if you select that option).

#kat replies #anon #long post #sorry for the charlie day red string board energy of this reply lol #i hope it's helpful in some way!#i have used a version of this framework for long form fanfic and past (abandoned) original novels #but this is definitely a more organized and functional iteration #writing #scrivener #[redacted novel project]

166 notes · View notes

howyouloveyourdragon · 2 years ago

Note

yandere rhaenyra x aegon (platonic) headcanons. rhaenyra sees aegon decides to love him and gives him the attention he craves and he trusts her above alicent and otto so he possibly when they are trying to crown him, he goes to her like always when afraid. I feel she could have forced alicent to let her participate in her siblings lives if she had desired it.

pairing: Platonic Rhaenyra Targaryen x Aegon Targaryen alternate universe: Yandere Rhaenyra type: headcanons warnings: yandere tendencies dividers by: firefly-graphics bullet points: 48 A/N: thank you for your request and i hope you enjoyed, lovie ♡ regarding my break: i want to preface this post by saying that this post does not mean that i am not back yet and i still have not checked any notifications from this account but i worked myself up to posting this today and i know that these are not up to the level i usually get them to as they are shorter than i would have preferred and less detailed but i hope you can still enjoy these headcanons ♡ to make up for any disappointment i might consider redrafting these or making a part 2, whichever you decide, and tagging you in them once i have returned properly to tumblr and posting

i'm going to merge this with similarities from my last request because i don't want to repeat myself too much but the requests are also very similar, a link to anyone who hasn't read it is here

so this will start from when rhaenyra hears otto; "What would your mother say?" The older man hisses, grasping the pale boy's shoulder "If she heard that you were whoring and poisoning yourself with ale at a time like this?" the ferocity is strong and harrowing through Aegon's bones, jolting him "I-I-I cannot–it's not my fault!" Her brother's words stumble and splutter, an ache resides in her she tries to remember every argument she has ever had with her own sons, were they ever this afraid? she cannot recall it, she hopes she will never have to a lump forms in her throat as familiar words belt in her ears "This is not what your mother needs right now, you are a disappointment to the throne and a disappointment to me." Aegon holds back his flinch but she does not at the abrasive words "I do everything you ask of me," His voice sounds so quiet, so fragile

Rhaenyra remembers all the times she squeezed Alicent's hands and felt the nibbles at her nails, the stark red indents

She remembers her friend, she remembers her vows of protection

She remembers teaching Aegon how to pronounce her name

Ahe remembers teaching him to pronounce his own

"And yet you are still not enough." The grown man sneers with a pelt of venom. "It would be better had we sent you to Oldtown rather than Daeron. At least he had better wit even as a mere child."

and that is when the first instinct kicks in

the first time she orders control of Otto Hightower

The first time she cares to comfort her half-brother

Her face pinches as she steps out, a hard sneer on her face.

It isn't immediately that she decides to chew the old fool out but when he sighs and hardens his stance, she doesn't hold back

"Are you not ashamed of yourself?" She roars

Both man and boy flinch upon hearing her

Aegon's eyes have never gone so wide before

"Threatening a young boy–no, a prince of all boys." Otto stiffens but tries to hold back his anger in front of the named heir though he is sure that detail will change soon enough "Your highness, I am threatening no one, I assure you. I am simply chastising my grandson." "And how would his parents think of this?" Rhaenyra asks, raising her brows. "The King and Queen?"

she cannot help but delight in how a glimmer of concern and contentment flicker across his eyes. She hums and all but snaps her fingers.

"Perhaps I should be spending more time with my brother then, if he needs chastising such as you say." She tilts her head as his eyes widen. "Come Aegon, let us speak." He trails after her like an unsure puppy

which is when the obsession begins

she has someone fighting for validation of her, the very person who threatens her reign is the same who desperately wants her to see him

she knows her father plays favourites and she particularly knows where he falls in that order, Viserys has always favoured herself and Helaena but if she can twist that lens even slightly, she knows that Aegon will be more than agree to an allyship

It has been so long since he had her attention, he had even tried befriending her children to secure it

i think Rhaenyra would be a defensive and targeting yandere when it comes to Aegon

for example, she may begin isolating Aegon from The Greens she believes to threaten her

At the top of that list is Otto

Otto has been controlling Alicent since she was child, whether it was how she can braid her hair or to whom she will marry

Rhaenyra does not want Aegon under that control nor the environment but there is little she can do to isolate him if she is in Dragonstone and Alicent is insistent that Aegon stay in the Red Keep

...Unless she can trade out guards loyal to her and guards loyal to Alicent without her noticing

Which is precisely what she does and it takes a long time but slowly, with her husband's help, she is able to transfer half of her guards but years pass before this is achieved

Messages are sent between Rhaenyra and Aegon without interference but soon Alicent becomes suspicious of the hours Aegon pours into learning High Valyrian so that only Rhaenyra can read his letters fluently

She has never seen him so dedicated nor dependent on anything else but finds no matter how she tries, she cannot get word of her responses because she too has begun writing to him in High Valyrian

She has paid for him to be gifted his own private tutor and he is ecstatic, becoming spoiled by his sister for every response he gives her

When he recieves word that she is visiting, he drops everything and greets her with the excitement of a namesday

He stands by her and Alicent is surprised to find that Rhaenyra accepts the way he clings to her

It worries her but she believes all will be well once she leaves

And after Viserys has passed?

She is shocked that he doesn't try and flee

That he doesn't even hide

He just walks through the castle as if nothing is the matter

It is safe to say that both she and Otto are on edge but begrudgingly place faith in him

And when he swipes his father's crown into his hands with the ease of a mischievous cat? She expects him to throw it...

Until they reach the platform and a familiar silver haired princess is walking into the ceremony with her head held high. Gasps whip across the crowd but none move to stop her and especially not when their supposed soon to be King kneels at her feet

Otto commands the guards to cease her steps and those of the army behind her but they do nothing, in fact they seize him before any arguments to her role as Queen can take place

Aegon holds the golden crown high but before anyone can take it, Rhaenyra stands before him, Daemon at her side who takes it into his lean palms to place it upon her, recalling vows of safety and faith in her reign. Aegon kneels proudly before her as the words are spoken but when Alicent is about to seethe, she swallows

It is too late for long-standing plots and panic embeds in her gut

It is clear that to every suggestion, to every blatant demand, Aegon has told Rhaenyra tenfold

He has done more than deny his right, he has blatantly abdicated it before the court and spectators

But she needn't worry, Rhaenyra is very fond of him indeed

Perhaps he would even make a good Master of Coin, he understand not only the money of the castle but the prices in which take course in Fleabottom, he has been there enough to understand their suffering

So Alicent's fearful gaze roams Rhaenyra and her people as the woman is crowned

The same question bounces around in her head over and over again...What happens now? as Rhaenyra caresses Aegon's proud face gently and calls for him to stand beside her

#platonic #rhaenyra x aegon platonic #platonic headcanons #platonic rhaenyra x aegon #rhaenyra targaryen x aegon ii targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen x aegon ii targaryen platonic #yandere rhaenyra x aegon platonic #yandere rhaenyra x aegon ii platonic #yandere rhaenyra targaryen x aegon targaren platonic #yandere rhaenyra targaryen x aegon ii targaryen platonic #yandere rhaenyra #yandere rhaenyra targaryen #yandere rhaenyra platoniic #yandere rhaenyra targaryen platonic

103 notes · View notes