#at least if i have friends there's people who can vouch for me

[ratspider]

having to do something about your loneliness is so embarrassingggggg like NO if i talk to people they'll KNOW I'M A LONELY WEIRDO

[seilon]

pro: ran into a coworker at a bar last night who I don’t really talk to usually (he works upstairs, I work downstairs) and we talked and im pretty sure we were highkey flirting and he bought me a drink and the bar merch shirt i was interested in and thanks to the power of alcohol i guess i asked for his number and he gladly gave it to me and. yeah

con: i have the second worst hangover i have ever had and have been fighting for my fucking life just to eat saltines

[funlovingfuzzball]

Oh I feel this. Not an issue for me, a Comp Sci major in the data science track, but I’m also majoring in statistics and our differential equations class makes us use MATLAB. Again, solidly not a problem for me, but the last 3-5 days before a given MATLAB project is due, I’m spending the vast majority of my free time in the course GroupMe, debugging all of my classmates’ code that is exploding and throwing constant errors. Things like “you have an extra comma there and so it thinks you don’t have a y-axis at all”.

I’ve even had people tell me to my face that MATLAB couldn’t possibly work in a particular way, because that made no sense. My response was basically that no, it doesn’t make sense (it was legitimately a very strange choice of syntax), but your runtime environment doesn’t actually care if you think something else would be more logical, so you’ll have to cope with the nonsensical answer.

So in short, this bothers me zero since I opted into programming (I don’t see the point for this stuff but each project takes me a few hours max and we have multiple weeks for each so meh), but good god am I in the splash zone of the math majors who really did not want to code thanks. My school has a highly rated comp sci program, but it’s not a tech school, so they reasonably didn’t expect major-requirement math classes to need them to code. I am not going through the same as you, but because I’m practically a third TA of the class right now and can see what my classmates are going through (mostly panic and despair), I feel for you greatly 💗💗💗

Future Biologists & Geologists in the 2000s/2010s: specifically avoid heavy computing sciences, probably for one reason or another R Programming Language & R Studio: Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Future B&G's: Awwww fartnuggets

[cheolaholic]

ring of love; csc (02)

summary; agreeing to join vernon spectate an underground boxing match wasn't how you'd expect to spend your friday night. you also didn't expect to see seungcheol, someone you've lost contact with for years, become a part of the ring.

modern! au • boxer! au • hhu focused • multiple kinds of tropes • fluff, angst, smut

a/n; smol update regarding taglist, unfortunately i can only tag up to 50 people in the post and i've reached the limits and is unable to tag the remaining people that signed up om the taglist which is such a shame bcs ik a lot of yall were looking forward to be on the taglist ㅠㅠ

however, i do still want to voice out my thank yous to the immense amount of support you've all given towards this fic 😭 🫶🏻

taglist at the end !

you sat in the crowd, stunned as you watched the match progress.

gone was the unsettling and/or overwhelming feeling of being at the event. instead, you felt a surge of mixed emotions.

how did seungcheol end up being a part of the match?

how did he know vernon?

had he always been in seoul?

why hadn’t he tried to reach out to you?

a loud gasp from the crowd pulled you out from your train of thoughts. as you looked at the ring, you saw seungcheol lying on the ground, a hand over his stomach - you felt a sinking feeling in your guts.

as the crowd chanted ‘get up!’, you clasped your hands together, silently chanting along with them. ‘get up..! please, get up..! choi seungcheol, get up..!’

it seems as though he’s heard you, or possibly from the chanting from the crowd that was supporting him, as he slowly got up, the crowd starting to cheer once again. you could feel your anxiety rise as seungcheol got into his stance, preparing for another round with his opponent.

“first timer, eh?”

turning your head to the side, an older man who seems to be in his 40s gave you a gentle smile.

“pardon?” you responded.

"it's your first time experiencing this, ain't it?" he repeated. nodding your head, you turned to face seungcheol who threw an uppercut towards JK, causing him to stumble back a little.

"don't worry about scoups. he always gets back on his feet. that's why he's been the champion for the past year!"

past year…? he's been doing this for a year?

before you had a chance to ask the old man any further questions, the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers.

"and the winner is - scoups!"

the crowd erupted in cheers, accompanied with a loud applause as scoups and JK were escorted out of the ring, a text from vernon lit up your screen.

vrrnonie: come on back

vrrnonie: i'll introduce you ;D

when you got to the back, it took you ten minutes to argue with the bouncers before vernon showed up to vouch for you.

"she's with me boys, don't worry 'bout it!"

walking beside vernon as you both walked towards the waiting rooms, your nose scrunched up at the smell of sweat and body odor invading your nostrils.

"vernon, how long have you known these people?" you asked, the statement the old man made still lingering at the back of your mind.

if seungcheol had been doing underground for the past year, that meant he either knew vernon before or after he got in.

at least that's what you assumed.

"hmm, i knew mingyu first since we're in the same major!" he answered, "though, he's a year older than me, but we share a few classes together. then, he asked me if i've ever been to underground boxing matches and that's how i came to know wonwoo and coups hyung."

nodding your head, he stops in front of a door with a hanging sign that wrote "SCOUPS". just as vernon was about to open the door, whoever was on the other side decided to open it first, startling you.

standing in front of you was a tall muscular male - his skin was a nice tan and reminds you of a puppy with his curled locks.

you blink once. then twice.

what the hell is pledis' top model, kim mingyu, doing here?

it took you a few minutes to put two and two together - top model kim mingyu, is friends and in the same major as vernon.

"where’d you disappear off to, bro?" mingyu asked, sounding worried.

"sorry, man. went to pick up a friend," pointing to you, it was then mingyu noticed your presence.

"oh, hi!" he greeted, stepping aside and motioned you to enter the waiting room, "come on in, girlie~"

taking a step into the waiting room, you look around, hoping to find seungcheol but to no avail. as if he had read your mind, vernon asked where he was.

"he went to the toilet to freshen up," mingyu answered, "wonwoo hyung went with him. so, who's your pretty friend?"

reaching out a hand to the model, who gladly shook it, you introduced yourself.

"i'm lee ___, vernon's frie-"

"-bestie," said boy corrected, giving you a goofy smile when you side-eyed him, "the day you accepted my coke and made that comment on my outfit, you've signed an invisible contract to be my bestie for life!"

"ah, so you're the poor girl who has to deal with his ass when he isn't with us," mingyu commented, earning a laugh from you as vernon whined.

30 minutes go by and you find yourself enjoying the conversation you're exchanging with mingyu. you found out his father owns a famous art gallery while his mother works as a model (you've seen her a few magazines and it amazes you how she doesn't look like she's aged one bit). his parents want him to follow in a similar career choice as they do, which is why he took up art as a college major; and took modeling as a part time job.

you were extremely invested in conversing with mingyu, you don't realise two other people entering the room until-

"...pup?"

whipping your head around at the nickname, you felt your heart in your throat as the air got knocked out of your lungs.

there he stood, right in the flesh.

it felt like a fever dream.

"pup, is that you?" seungcheol asked, taking cautious steps towards you; his eyes full of hope.

when he's finally stood right in front of you, his body towering over yours, your breathing quickened and your heart thumping so loud you could hear it. seungcheol cups your face in his shaking hands, as if he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing; as if they were deceiving him (and honestly, so did you).

"...cheollie..?"

your voice came out quieter than you expected, but he heard it.

a wide grin spread across his face as he heard that oh-so-familiar nickname, pulling you into a bone crushing hug.

"it really is you! oh my god, i can't believe you're here!"

you were stunned, frozen in place. thankfully, you weren't the only one as you noticed vernon, mingyu and a male who's wearing glasses, which you assumed to be wonwoo, watching you and seungcheol with both amusement and confusion evident on their face.

"you two… know each other?" vernon asks.

"ah-" pulling away from the hug, seungcheol steps aside as he wraps an arm around your waist, the action that has your heart thump harder against your ribcage, "boys, this is ___. she and i go way back."

vrrnonie: i can't believe you knew coups hyung

vrrnonie: and didn't tell me

vrrnonie: i feel so betrayed

vrrnonie: i thought we were besties

traitor 💔: BITCH

traitor 💔: I DIDN'T KNOW CHEOL WAS SCOUPS

traitor 💔: HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW

vrrnonie: …

vrrnonie: okay, fair enough

vrrnonie: but how come you've never mentioned him tho?

vrrnonie: he said you both went way back

vrrnonie: yet i never heard you talk about him

traitor 💔: you never mentioned about him before too asshole

traitor 💔: you only brought him up TODAY

traitor 💔: technically yesterday

traitor 💔: yea, the stage name sounded familiar

traitor 💔: but how was i supposed to know it was the same cheol

vrrnonie: you should've majored in law instead lmao

vrrnonie: but yea, fair point

vrrnonie: but still tho

vrrnonie: when he said way back

vrrnonie: how far back did he mean?

traitor 💔: can we not talk abt this

traitor 💔: i'll tell you when i feel like it

traitor 💔: but really, i just don't want to think abt it

vrrnonie: yes ma'am

vrrnonie: you must be tired after that tho

vrrnonie: get some rest, bbg <3

traitor 💔: vernon wtf

vrrnonie: hehe

vrrnonie: but fr tho, get some rest

vrrnonie: tonight definitely exhausted you

vrrnonie: see ya on monday

letting out a sigh you set your phone down, staring up at the ceiling of your bedroom - replaying the encounter repeatedly in your mind.

how long has it been since that day? the day your teenage love-struck heart got shattered into pieces?

you don't even remember.

you were about to close your eyes, a not so brilliant plan into trying to sleep the feelings away and deal with it in the morning, when your phone chimed.

unknown number: hey, pup

unknown number: i got your number from vernon

unknown number: it's me, cheol

you stared at the texts, unsure of what to reply.

you do, however, hit up the boy who gave out your number.

ma bestie 💅🏻: YOU GAVE HIM MY NUMBER???

vrrnonie: yea?

vrrnonie: oh shit

vrrnonie: was i not supposed to?

ma bestie 💅🏻: nono

ma bestie 💅🏻: it's just

ma bestie 💅🏻: i'd appreciate it if you'd let me know you gave him my number

vrrnonie: ah-

vrrninie: sorry bout that

ma bestie 💅🏻: it's okay

you received a few more texts from seungcheol, but you've decided to leave it up to morning or future you to deal with. part of you felt bad for ignoring his texts, mainly because you haven't seen him in years; and as he's currently making an effort to reconnect, your plan is to ghost him (at least until you're ready to face him).

another part of you felt as though he deserved the treatment. it may seem childish and petty, but you kept trying to justify it by telling yourself that he went on for years without talking to you; surely he’s able to handle a few hours of the same situation.

but as minutes go by of tossing and turning, the blinking notification light of your phone eventually gets the best of you.

cheollie: i know it’s been years since we last saw each other

cheollie: i was wondering if you wanted to meet up this weekend?

cheollie: for lunch, dinner, anything?

cheollie: to catch up and well, explain myself

sweet pup: hey

sweet pup: uhm, it’s currently 2am

sweet pup: so i don’t think lunch is an option

sweet pup: dinner sounds good tho!

cheollie: ah yea, sorry for texting quite late

cheollie: but i couldn’t help myself and you know how i am

cheollie: dinner it is!

cheollie: we’ll figure more of this out later in the morning, okay?

sweet pup: sure thing, cheollie

cheollie: get some rest, pup

cheollie: wouldn’t want you falling sick or be too tired for tomorrow <;/3

sweet pup: i could say the same for you

sweet pup: you must be tired from the match

cheollie: goodnight pup

sweet pup: goodnight cheol

you set your phone aside, rolling onto your side as you made another attempt to fall asleep. but with the anxious feeling pooling in your gut as your heart was beating rapidly in your chest, that was proven to be giving you a hard time.

that’s how you ended up on the floor of your living room, back leaning against the couch as a random netlfix series played while you drank your third bottle of soju.

sure, it was a bad idea and you knew you’d wake up with a killer hangover.

but, in the end, you managed to finally sleep - albeit it being on your couch.

taglist (unable to tag a few ㅠㅠ)

@yoonclip @1004luvangel @catjunhui @mystikha @spk93 @tinkerbell460 @yoozuku @dnylwoo @christinewithluv @limbomoon @plutoxxxworld @i-give-up-1234 @m1ngyuc0re @yunloyal @leclercloverbot @bettybeako @billboard-singer @ocyeanicc @krupyadoorrahe @seobinnieshi @xcynthiaaa @k411z @disneyprincesshuri @sunnyapp @khxsh @staygenezy @loufi8iepuff @ursweetener @noisypapergalaxy @wonwootakemyheart @sugainpinksweater @leah-rose03 @thisisnotthelastofus @yearnoclock @kwonhoeshi @minhui896 @ohmygodwhyareallusernamestaken @ru-lin @deobiforever @belladaises @cheoliekkuma @duskunt1ldawn @hyneyedfiz @marshmallowshouse @ak6ko @chwevernonlover @jejuboo-s @tsukinluv @atinytinaa @gyros-cum-sock @soupbinlily @jungwoos-luvr @ener-energy @watermelon-sugars-things @cyberpunkhwx @ddaengpotate @nightwingsrobbinhoods @chaerrylov3r @joshuaahong @wonussmile @uliceeeeeeee @wonwoo24 @shinetogether17 @simplejihoon @luvkpopp

[brokenpieces-72]

could we please get a part two for the lion!reader x horangi fic? 🙏🙏

Yes you can. You also get a little treat because why not.

Leo

CoD Hybrid AU | Navigation

Why did you have to be nervous, he was going to bug you about it as soon as he saw you. It was embarrassing enough that you were here. Come on, you’re a lion, buck up. You straighten, and take a deep breath, puffing out your chest. It was just a thank you get together. You had enough money to set proper boundaries and even get your siblings a better situation as well. Horangi had stepped in, and helped you, you owed him at least some food.

“You are up.” A cocky voice said. You looked up and saw a familiar face. Or at least you recognized the voice. Horangi had his neck warmer over his mouth and nose, and wearing glasses. He blended in perfectly with the rest of them, clothed in jackets, gloves and hats. You yourself had your leather jacket on and your scarf. Horangi looked well enough. You swore you could see his cheeky grin even with it covered.

“Did I say I wasn’t?” You asked.

“You said sure I’ll take you for food when we’re in the same neighbourhood.” Horangi pointed out. He wasn’t wrong.

“Any preference or are you at my mercy?” You asked him. Horangi shrugged. He wasn’t a picky eater to begin with. Though you noticed he’s more observant. You offered him your arm and smiled, tugging him along. Your touch seemed to let him relax more as you took him to your favourite restaurant.

Before then König was asking Horangi about you. Of course Spirit got curious as well. Horangi rolled his eyes, assuring you it was just a meeting among two friends, two coworkers.

“Simon and Johnny are coworkers and they do more than just work.” Spirit pointed out. König snickered at the blunt statement.

“Just a friend. Konig can vouch for me.”

“Since when?” Konig asked, with a stupid smile on his face. Horangi had half a mind to shoo both of them away but honestly, you’re one of the nicest things to happen to him.

A big crowded area would make Konig uncomfortable. You know Horangi, and he doesn’t mind crowds. Easier for him to lay low, and avoid people. A small night market was perfect for the occasion. Food stands and booths for you both to try, and plenty of friendly people. Horangi may be out of his element but he was impressed. You were so relaxed. Sure you didn’t have people coming after you for debts, but when last he saw you, you seemed reserved, headstrong and quiet. Yet here you were smiling and messing around at booths selling crafts. Maybe the holidays brought that out of you.

“You could probably take the sunglasses off, I doubt there will be anyone here who wants to collect money from you.” You told him. Horangi was caught off guard by what you said, so it gave you the chance to take off his sunglasses for him. Now you understood why he left them on. There was the remains of a nasty black eye, thankfully healing and useable but enough to make you were. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Horangi asked, trying to turn away and move on. You stared him down, tail whipping from side to side behind you. Horangi made a small growl, as you tugged him forward. He tried to pull away but you pointed out the kids running past behind him. Horangi refused to look at you. You took a quick glance and pulled him aside. He begrudgingly came with you so you could talk more privately finding a small alley.

“What happened?” You repeated. Horangi kept looking down the alley instead of at you. Ugh, of course he had to be such a trope. You took him by the chin and made him face you. “Start… talking.”

You voice could send chills down his spine, while relaxing him at the same time. If anyone would understand it was you. He told you what happened with him and Spirit, and the guilt he felt. “I put a kid in danger, just for going outside. I covered up, and nearly got her killed, and then I messaged you to see if you wanted to go out, and then… I didn’t want anything to happen to you.”

There is a moment of silence between you two as you consider everything he told you. You sighed, annoyed. “Really?”

“What?” Horangi shrugged, still refusing to make eye contact until you crossed your arms.

“You think I can’t take care of myself? I’m not a child.” You told him. “And clearly you know that otherwise you wouldn’t come out with me. If you need a break say the word, and we can find another alley. It’s not like I didn’t come without some defence.”

You gave him a warm smile and held his arm. Horangi wasn’t used to the tender side of you but he had to admit it was kind of hot.

“If I need a break?”

“Say the word.” You told him. “This is my way of saying thank you, and making you uncomfortable is the last thing I want.”

Horangi got this glint in his eye, one you’d seen before, his tail brushing your leg. Your face was turning pink, but you guess it was from the cold air.

“Shall we continue then?” He asked. You gave him a smirk and tugged him back to the market smiling and chatting with him. It was a good night, and it didn’t take long for there to be a light snow fall.

The market is filled with plenty of things to do, it's like a small fair. Kids were enjoying maple syrup on snow, some bean bag toss games, and of course snowballs being thrown. You and Horangi ducked stepped out of the way of a few throws. Then you felt a hard packed one fired at your back. You laughed, but it did kind of hurt.

Horangi looked up and saw it was some adult human. Didn't apologize either just smiled looking smug. He attacked a defenseless person in the back, and he was acting smug. Horangi barked at him, saying something in Korean, but you tugged him away. There was some barked comments about his masculinity and hybrids being dirty animals. You flipped them off continuing your stroll.

"Could've fought back." Horangi grumbled.

"And then there would be a fight, and the kids around would get scared, police would be called, fingers would be pointed and nothing would really get resolved." You told him. "We would give them what they want and get nothing out of it."

Horangi had to admit you had a point. You worked for Kortac as a mercenary but you were getting paid, you were getting what you wanted. Equal exchange. Starting a fight here, there would be nothing but problems. Although he had to ask one thing.

"So when you punched the guy at the convenience store...?" Horangi asked.

"Well he was a pig. Needed to be put in his place." You said, folding your arms. "And he was teasing Konig about his height."

Horangi chuckled. You always had to be the bigger person one way or another. It was attractive. Wait.

Horangi waited just outside a small store front, not wanting to be in the way of the other shoppers while you browsed the tables. The mask was back over his face, but it was more as a neck warmer. It seemed to intimidate a few people, which was fine with him. At least it was less likely for him to be hit with snowball. While he focused on you, everyone seemed to ignore him. Except one.

There was a tug on his jacket, that he at first thought was just the material getting caught on something. He brushed it aside, and then he felt a small hand. When Horangi looked down, he found a young boy staring up at him, and politely saying "Excuse me."

Horangi wasn't really used to kids, it had been a while since he'd seen any of his younger relatives. He raised a brow, and then looked around. Where was the boy's parents? The boy said again, "Excuse me?"

"Uhh... yes?" Horangi replied.

"Are you a hybrid?" The boy asked.

"Yes." Horangi answered. The boy's eyes seemed to widen as he asked what kind of hybrid Horangi was. Horangi knelt down so he could talk to the boy a little easier. It was getting pretty crowded, and he didn't want to kid swept up, though he guessed the boy may already have been based on the absence of a parent. The boy was honestly just curious about Horangi and haetaes, asking what Horangi could do, and what it was like.

When you came back from purchasing a small gift, you found the pleasant sight of Horangi letting the boy touch his tail. You also looked around for the child's guardians as you can over.

"You making friends?" You asked Horangi who looked up with the boy. Before Horangi could answer, the boy spoke up.

"Are you a lion?" He asked. You smiled, answering him. Then it was you getting overloaded with questions. You don't mind, he isn't asking anything rude, and you welcome curiousity. You don't mind him touching your tail either. He's having fun but you are concerned about his safety.

"Are your parents nearby?" You asked. The boy stopped looking at your tail and then looked around. Had he not noticed them missing? There was a worried and panicked look on his face, and Horangi stepped in immediately.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll find them. Do you remember where they were last?" Horangi asked. The boy looked on the brink of tears as he shook his head. You stood up and looked around for a security guard or maybe a volunteer running some of the activities.

"Did they have a spot for you to go if got lost?" You asked. The little boy nodded, sniffling. "Do you want us to take you there?"

The boy nodded again. You took the little one's hand as Horangi stood up, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be looking frantic or worried.

Thankfully as soon as you arrived at the spot the boy led you too, the mother was there, and rushed over to hug her child, checking that he was okay, while the boy was apologizing. The woman thanked you both profusely. Honestly it wasn't a problem at all, he was so polite. You waved good bye to your little friend as the mother took him into the crowd, carrying him.

"Not what I thought this thank you would look like." You said, sitting at a table with some food. Horangi shrugged, taking another bite of food.

"Not the worst reunion I've had." He pointed out. Now was a better time than any. You set the small gift bag on the table.

"Not sure if you celebrate but happy early holidays." You said. Horangi was a bit surpised, staring at the back for a moment, before takin it to opened it up. Inside was a necklace with a symbol cut out of wood. A symbol Horangi recognized, symbolizing luck.

"Not one for superstition, but I figured you could use all you could get." You said. Horangi smiled. Jewellery wasn't much his thing, but this, this he would wear. Could tuck it into his shirt if he needed.

"Worried you might lose me?" He teased.

"You know most people would just say thank you." You argued, deflecting the question. Horangi gave you that cheeky grin and you smiled back. Damn that grin was hot. You coughed realizing you were staring. Your face was turning warm.

"Your cheeks are rosy. You cold?" Horangi asked casually.

“Why don't we find a warm drink after this." You said, focusing on your food and avoiding the question.

“Thank you for the gift. I appreciate it.” He said. You relaxed. It would hopefully make him feel safer on missions.

You and Horangi had found warm cider, and a park bench to relax on to people watch. Horangi was still looking around, you were too. You didn’t have very long with each other, maybe a couple more days or so before Horangi had to ship out again. Still, you wanted all the details.

“A wraith? Really?” You said, sipping your drink, while keeping your voice low.

“Caught me off guard too.” Horangi admitted. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“And Konig has more control?”

“Yeah that kid… that kid does something to you. It’s weird.” Horangi said, sipping his cider. He noticed your coy smile. “What?”

“Nothing.” You said. Something about the snow in his hair, and the scars peeking from behind his cup made him adorable and handsome all at once. You wondered if it was part of the lure a yokai could have. Horangi tries to ignore you, but then you get a thought in your head. You’d had this thought before but it was from a distance. And private.

“You know… I didn’t want to say it, cause of your pride.” Horangi started.

“My pride?” You asked, your smile now a scowl of confusion.

“Oh please you think you’re hot shit and you know it.” Horangi said with a raised brow.

“Cause I am hot shit, but go on. Tell me whatever it is that could wound or support my pride.” You commanded, puffing up your chest.

“You…um… you fight good.” He said. That took the wind out of your sail a bit. It was a nice compliment just… not what you’d hoped for.

“Thanks.” You said, feeling a little disappointed. You finished your drink and Horangi finished his quickly after. Suddenly he told you he needed a minute, so you followed him. Okay a little odd. Where was this going? He took you to the alley and you kept scanning the area. Nothing but happy people with a few tired and blank faces. No one trying to cover up their intentions. Horangi started to pace a little. You let him stir for a bit. It would go away. He was overwhelmed. You have a crazy idea. You approach him carefully and take hold of his shoulders. “Hey… what's wrong?"

Horangi stopped as soon as you got in front of him, looking at you. That red on his cheeks wasn't from the cold, and neither was yours. Horangi is still at war with himself because for the longest time he has been hiding, keeping a low profile while taking out higher ones. You weren't an easy target yourself, so he had little to fear for your well being. And he was still debating whether he wanted more than what he had. Once again, he refused to look at you.

"Nothing." Horangi answered after a brief moment of eye contact. Your tail flicked up, and a hand went to his neck. You found the sweet spot easily, and he started involuntarily chuffing. "It's nothing."

"Nothing is wrong?" You asked.

"Nothing at all." He said standing up straight.

"Good..." You said. Another moment passes, and both of you look around. Now was your chance. Horangi noticed your hand was still on his neck and moved his hand to remove it. Then your soft touch became firm. You tugged his mask down in one quick clean motion. You took your shot.

You kissed him. Horangi's eyes widened before relaxing and kissing you back. Your arms went around his neck, while he wrapped his arms around your waist and torso. You two weren't going to see each other for a while. This time was a thank you for the help with your family, but it was a chance to meet up, and see the person who meant a lot to you. You felt his tail go loosely around your leg. The world seemed muffled as you just focused and lost yourself in the moment.

After what felt like hours, your lips parted and you take a moment. Then you realized what had just happened, and you don't think your face has ever felt this red in your life. Now neither of you can make eye contact, and neither of you know what to say.

"S-sorry." You said. Horangi gave you a look. Yeah you couldn't believe you said that either. Then he started to snicker, and you punched him in the arm out of embarrassment. "Shut up!"

"What are you gonna do, kiss me again?" He asked with that same smug and cheeky smile. This joker.

"And what if I do?" You asked, folding your arms. Horangi had the best time when he got you to pout like that. It didn't look like a pout, you hid it well, but he could tell. Horangi's tail hadn't left your leg. He just smiled. The question still remained about what exactly just happened, but he didn't care. That could be discussed at a later date. Instead he gave you a kiss on the cheek.

"We should keep going." You said, still flustered. Horangi just grinned, and you wanted to smack him.

Taglist: @yourlovely-moon @kaoyamamegami @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @sans-chara @1mommyrose4ever29 @smitten-haematite-quartz @talia-the-gemini @yuki2129 @whitetiger846 @graystorm444 @chibiduck @reaperxxxxzz @danielle143 @sobbingnshtting @cringeycookies @cryingpages @dcnocap207 @reaper-chan666 @bestbookfriends @thriving-n-jiving @cutiecusp @shikigami-the-paper-spirit

[sagegreenprose]

Here are some OFF headcanons centered on elsens that nobody really requested but my friend and I wanted me to write teehee ^_^

Elsens in Zone 2 are really nosy and gossip-prone. However, it isn't malicious-- it's more oriented towards keeping the community safe and alert. In fact, almost all of Bismark is aware of who has damaged what books, besides the Librarian of course-- the culprits are already at risk of getting themself papercuts, it would be so cruel to also get them in trouble too.

Elsens in Zone 3 have a very competitive and toxic work environment. When one elsen succeeds, another elsen is punished. Rations certainly aren't coming out of Enoch-- no, Enoch has it arranged that for every percent increase in rations that one elsen earns, there's a percent decrease for a less productive elsen.

Elsens in Zone 1 have a very cooperative and supportive work environment. The success of one elsen in a district is treated as an inspiration and something to model for the rest of them-- especially if that success gets noticed by Dedan. Dedan might be a loud asshole, but he knows how to make a productive work culture at least-- if only there were clones of Dedan like there are of elsens, he'd be a lot less stressed and pissed off. And unlike in Zone 3, Zone 1's elsens have some days off.

Elsens under the effects of sugar are referred to as "glazed," as opposed to "high" or "stoned." Additionally, that one elsen in Area 1 of Vesper whom we see looking out over the plastic sea was definitely glazed.

I see a lot of people think that wearing the necktie made The Batter be visually perceived as another elsen, but I disagree. The Batter didn't trick the elsens of East Bismark into thinking he's an elsen by wearing a necktie per se; what wearing the necktie really did was give them a sense of security in thinking that somebody there knew the Batter personally and let him borrow their necktie as a way of vouching for him to travel through. That vouching went right out the proverbial window the moment that the Batter began making the elsens there feel ill at ease though.

As a follow-up to the previous headcanon, I also like to think that-- although the valzong-burnt sprite and the overworld elsen sprite stay generic-- there wasn't actually a real prize to winning the Balloon Game in Zone 2's Theme Park, but the elsen in charge of the game knew that prizes were typically rewarded upon completion of those sorts of games, so he'd take off his necktie everytime he had to work the booth just to fix it onto the balloon in the middle. He never imagined that somebody would actually win that prize though, which is another part of why he was so freaked out (and the sound of the balloons popping certainly didn't help his nerves either, even he did know the source.)

Liquid plastic is occasionally referred to as water by the elsens-- primarily the ones of Zone 2 who've read about water in certain books, and then related the concept of water to the liquid plastic that they've got instead. Liquid plastic is not something you want to get on your skin though, and even less, ingest. But you'd find it in the same places you'd find water, so it works out. Reading about touching or ingesting water in books freaks elsens the fuck out though-- combined with the fear of ripping pages, the library might as well be considered full of horror novels.

Elsen clothing is all made of polyester. Thankfully, elsens don't really emit body odor (even when they sweat), though they can accumulate a general funk from where they've been, which they do wash off with a nice metal dust bath. The exception to this is that elsens under immense stress and on the verge of going burnt do have a very slight smell of caramel about them. Burnts themselves have a very strong smell of charred caramel. On that note, the air in Zone 3 can be like a horrible punch to the nostrils to anybody not from there-- especially the farther North in Vesper you get. Sugar consumption can make the sugar smog more tolerable though.

Most elsens do their laundry communally, but some (mostly in Zone 2) prefer to do their laundry themselves and at their own pace. Honestly, everything happens at its own pace in Zone 2, besides trade with the other zones.

Most residents of the Zones, including elsens, make up for a general lack of water by getting all their hydration needs met through consuming meat... Somebody ask me my thoughts on Zone 1 cows please.

Zone 1 elsens tend to stay in their assigned districts for long periods of time, with various promotions scattered throughout. However, if an elsen is starting to become disillusioned or even burnt out with their current stations, there is a process for them to start anew in a different district (though it is lengthy)... Unless they're in Alma, but who would want to leave such a good job?.. Under normal circumstances, your average Shachihata worker can take years to become truly worn thin by their job, but in Alma, it usually only takes a month for the disillusionment and anguish to set in. This is why everybody but those who actually work in Alma sing Alma's praises so high: dead men tell no tales. And a month is not long enough for an elsen to completely deconstruct their preconceived views on Alma (and warn others of the pipedream)-- they'd much sooner just straight-up burn from the sudden influx in disappointment and doubt.

Also, this is not my own headcanon, not at all, but I am 110% a believer in that all the elsens originate from the giant elsen in the Room, forming on that guy like fungus on a log and then falling off... Onto something a bit more original to that though: the other elsens we see in the Room are in direct contact with the big elsen and-- along with having very streamlined, simple routines-- that's why they're so steady and confident. Meanwhile, the vast majority of elsens elsewhere had been taken from their progenitor so quick they can't even remember him, and they remember the Room just barely. So they couldn't even develop that essential part of identity that comes with having a connection to any sort of nurturing figure, though many in Zone 1 have imprinted on Dedan. A few in Zone 3 exalt the Director like that too, though much less directly, and it's almost always from those who have never met the Director. But then you've got the elsens in Zone 2 who've got no guardian that they know of-- no protection nor leadership... Japhet, unlike Dedan and unlike Enoch (who views the elsens more like peons), returned the feeling of kinship though-- which is not so much headcanon as it is canon actually haha.

[itsabouttimex2]

Read your villain thing, just to be clear, do you think redemption means a character had to be punished? Because you talked a lot about punishment and I think you mean that if a character isn't punished as equally as they harmed, it's not a redemption. Which I guess is a view you can take, but it's not mine at all

A punishment is literally anything that counts as a “consequence for being an evil person who hurts others for fun/power”.

The only qualification I have is that they have to happen outside of being immediate self-defense. Losing a fight doesn’t count.

They don’t have to be equal- but having characters face something as simple as generic consequences for their actions helps polish a redemption arc and make it seem more authentic- the world feels more alive and real when characters are allowed to have negative responses to those that have hurt them.

Here’s a few “punishments/consequences” Red Son faces for all the shit he’s pulled:

(And thinking on it now, I might move Red Son into my “actually redeemed list” if I ever remake it. He goes through quite a bit of development- I might be being way too harsh on him. Then, he’s still totally unrepentant for hurting innocent people and trying to take over the world… hmm.)

(Footage gathered for Red Son)

Vocal and vitriolic distrust from at least two people who have every reason to distrust him. These people dislike the idea of working with someone who has openly and happy hurt them.

MK at least questioning working with him- he vouches for Red Son anyways, but it’s clear that he has at least some doubts, too.

Clear and open distrust from someone he was constantly hurting/trying to hurt/actively working to subjugate to his family’s whims by attempting to take over the world. Mei performs a “team-up” because the world is in danger, but still actively dislikes him.

Physical assault (played for comedy).

Teasing and mockery (played for laughs).

The butt of more disrespect- the characters have no reason to trust or respect this guy, and it’s portrayed very clearly that they don’t.

It takes an entire training arc that leaves Red Son sincerely opening himself up for this to changed- Red Son has to actively work to help Mei before she’s willing to cozy up to him.

And even after all this?

He isn’t given an immediate and universal pass that makes every character magically okay/friends with him.

THIS is what “punishment” is to me.

I don’t want these characters to break and bleed and die. I don’t want them getting dragged to the underworld while screaming in terror. I don’t want them on the ground with their teeth broken and their pride destroyed.

Consequences don’t have to be violent. They don’t have to be vengeful. They can be, but I don’t need them to be.

So what do I want?

I just want; in-universe, for people to care enough about how they and their loved ones have been hurt to have negative reactions to the pain and suffering they were caused.

And Red Son is actually a pretty good example of that, as it turns out.

As opposed to Macaque, who actively has potential consequences REMOVED-

Tang telling Wukong to not attack him after Macaque forces Tang to complete the Samadhi Fire ritual under the threat of ending Mei’s life.

Why? Why does Tang blame himself for something he was forced to do to prevent a dear friend from being murdered in cold blood?

Tying him up was good- especially with how MK snapped at him to be quiet and how Sandy flipped him around- they dislike him for his crimes, so treat him as a pest- that’s nice!

And then one of the worst moments in the series occurs-

MK giving him an awful “you aren’t a bad guy” speech before Macaque has done a single kind thing for anyone.

Macaque is not “playing” at being a bad guy. He IS a bad guy.

Up to about 27:49, Macaque spends nearly every last moment he gets being an unrepentant and murderous individual who takes open joy in hurting others. It’s not like he’s trying to spare unrelated individuals or going out of his way to avoid hurting people- he openly revels in attacking Ao Guang, assaults Tang, etc.

HE IS NOT SECRETLY A GOOD GUY DEEP DOWN.

“Not meaning it” or whatever is not an excuse for doing evil things!

Like, the most “kind” thing he’s done by now is drag an extremely exhausted and injured Mayor to the team- with no effort or work put in on his part. It’s not like he was out fighting the guy.

It’s the equivalent of your cat dragging in a dead bird and pretending they caught it themself.

Like, oh, “he doesn’t get a bowl of noodles” from MK or whatever, but it’s pretty clear MK was saving those for himself- and Wukong steals them to be petty.

And then comments on the caliber of Wukong’s character in Season Four like Macaque has any right to say anything about anyone- especially the people he’s openly tried to murder and in general be unpleasant towards.

“Wukong was power-hungry,” whines to MK the simian who was so power-hungry that he spent days/weeks manipulating MK to steal his powers.

How does MK respond to this?

Oh, he doesn’t. Because if you’re Macaque, the writers… I don’t know, actually.

Why wouldn’t they have MK defend his mentor, or call out the blatant hypocrisy that he was a victim of?

Seriously, what the hell?

How does Mei respond to a team-up with the guy who violently attacked her uncle and held her life hostage, leading to a chain of events that very well could have killed her?

She doesn’t! Because if you’re Macaque, the writers will write out character traits like “fiery and prone to losing her temper” or “loves her friends and family” to justify her not having a negative response to him doing genuinely awful things so they can have a team-up.

Like, revisit pictures one, three, and four.

Mei is not a gold-hearted sweetie who “simply can’t bear to hold a grudge”! or anything. She should absolutely have a comment here. She should be distrustful. She should be at least cautious.

But she’s not, despite Season Four working to exemplify her negative traits like being trigger-temper and impatient.

Because she’d be going against Macaque-

And the writers will do anything with him BUT acknowledge his crimes or genuinely having intriguing or complex moments between him and his victims.

——

There’s one last comment I’ve got to respond to, and then I think I’m done with the “redemption talk” stuff. ​

I’ve pretty much spilled out all my feelings on Macaque’s arc by now- there’s nothing left I can say.

But I’ve enjoyed talking on it, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the counterarguments! It’s been nice to see why people like his redemption arc, even though my own personal feelings on it are unchanged.

One person pointed out that Pigsy does at least have a moment of apprehension about trusting Macaque, which I hadn’t remembered, and I’m glad they brought to my attention! (This only makes the writing worse. Pigsy cares more about a secret being kept by Wukong than someone trying to murder him and his son in cold blood, because… because.)

I also noticed that I got something else wrong- Macaque wasn’t yet infected with the Lady Bone Demon’s power when he sieged Ao Guang’s palace- which actually makes it harder to justify, because we can’t even say that he was “rushing to save himself from an internal and imminent threat. He was just being a monster.

Also I’m pretty sure people are getting sick of seeing it, haha.

[panlight]

Ugh, YES! I couldnt agree more!! 😭

My friends and i were talking about this the other day (about how it seems like SMeyer (and i guess Bella 🙄) seems to have such OBVIOUS favoritism towards vampires) but seeing this ask reminded me of it again and it's a good jumping point.

It's just SO hypocritical that the first thing Bella assumes with the werewolves are that they're the ones eating people, which on it's own is FINE,,, if it werent for the fact that literally the previous book we have the Cullens/vampires who DO eat people by nature (and Edward even warns her!!!) and Bella's just "idc about it" and continues to not stay away, and still vouches for them despite the fact. Its always rubbed me the wrong way from when i first read that part years back, so when Jacob calls her out on it, yknow what? your right and you should say it, Jacob. (and let's not forget that a few chapters before that scene those same werewolves SAVED you from a vampire who did want to eat you, but ok Bella!)

Not counting Edward's (and some of the Cullens') unjustified prejudice on them, the werewolves are often portrayed in the narrative to be more savage, wild and lacking in free will compared to the vampires. What really cements this for me is that scene in BD, where Edward kinda goes "unlike you, we still have our free will" on Sam(??) and it really shows how the vampires (Cullens) are kinda shown to be "better" for denying their nature but the werewolves apparently "can't". Werewolves can't deny their Alpha (being able to is the exception), vampires can always leave their coven (being unable to is the exception); werewolves have no choice on their imprint, vampires have more liberties in finding their mates (ex: Victoria and Irina see James and Laurent as their mates, but that doesn't mean the latter two see them that way/are mated to them). That moment where Jacob finally breaks free from the Alpha command would"ve been a great moment for his character, and to show that werewolves do and can be above their nature, but then Nessie happened and he's just,,,fine with that?? He doesn't even TRY to break free from his imprint, or at least not be so held down by it. How is being okay with her biting him, attending to her every need and want, a GOOD thing? Bella even describes the imprint as Jacob's own needs being SECONDARY, bc appeasing the imprintee is now your "first reflex".

((there's also the way Bella's sees the vampires treating Jacob/the werewolves as nothing more than invisible/children/infants as ""easy acceptance"" (it's not, you can literally just say they barely tolerate them, tf), AND how the Cullens just stand there and watch Bella beat Jacob (in the movie she does get physical, in the book i think she only almost does) even though just a few days ago he saved your asses, you'd think at least Carlisle would do something!! even Leah, you'd think she'd do more about how Bella broke her brother's arm than just throw "murderous glares" her way, but NOPE!! But I'll just chalk these up to the story and characters bending backwards for Bella))

Yep. And some of this is, I'm sure, subjective, and people might have read/interpreted things differently, but your take tracks a lot with me. The vibes were just that the vampires were Super Cool and Awesome and something to be envied and admired. The wolf pack was warm and fun, but they were Poor and Uncivilized and always Bella's second choice. And again, that alone isn't really a problem. She's allowed to like spending time with her boyfriend more than with her friend. And she's Born to be a Vampire so there's maybe some naturally affinity for them. Whatever. Totally fair! It's just . . . the vibes.

It's telling, too, that in the original Forever Dawn the wolfpack was just "thinly sketched" and "most of them didn't even have names." They're a second thought and like, again . . . okay! SM's allowed to be more interested in the vampires. But that sort of dismissiveness, IMO, bleeds through in the writing. Harry Clearwater's death, for example, mostly exists so Edward can have his Romeo misunderstanding and think Bella's the one who is dead. But Harry's death should MATTER much more than it does. The wolfpack is antagonistic to Leah because like "ugh a girl and she's so upset about Sam" but like HER DAD JUST DIED?!? It doesn't seem to be a factor, like SM just forgot that it would matter to Leah, and to Seth, and the whole community. She brings up Embry's parentage mystery and then just does nothing with it. Why mention it? And like, sure, she does this with the Cullens too sometimes (Alice's backstory with James might as well not have happened), but at least there's SOME follow through: Rosalie's baby obsession in Breaking Dawn relates back to her backstory, Jasper's history fighting newborns becomes relevant, as does Carlisle's past friendship with the Volturi.

And it takes on that extra edge of ". . ." because she chose to make her poor, uncivilized, no free will 'werewolves' Indigenous. I do think she probably sincerely came at this from an oblivious "I just love Native cultures!" sort of place rather than a place of malice, but she co-opts these real people and rewrites their history and legends and then also just kinds of treats them as afterthoughts and also-rans. I don't super care that she doesn't super care about the human kids, but it feels different with the Quileute characters because she used these real people.

[ronwestbreeze]

TO YOU , WORLDS AWAY : PART TWO : CHAPTER TWELVE

pairing: jake sully x fem!reader

summary: in which it is the year 2159

word count: 2.4k

author's note: hello hello! TYWA part two has arrived! now updating is going to be a bit different for this. i'm thinking posting each chapter once a week will be what I will do from here on out that way I can have time to write future chapters whilst you all read the one's I have already written! just remember, don't demand me to post, it doesn't help with motivation or make me want to keep writing it! anyways, thank you for the patience! and without further ado, part two!

AO3 | prev | next

“I keep having these dreams. About this girl. Every time I saw her, it felt like I knew her for years. Like she was my best friend in the whole world. And I couldn’t imagine a life without her.”

“Tell me about these dreams.”

“Well…they always start with fire and…”

“What’s wrong? Baby girl, what is it?”

“You’ll think I’m weird, Daddy.”

“I won’t, I won’t. I promise.”

“When I wake up, I’m sad. Like I’ve lost someone. And it feels so heavy…Daddy, I hate it!”

“Sssh, ssh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ve got you, alright? I’ve got you.”

“I miss her, Daddy. I miss her so much.”

“Miss who, baby girl?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t even know her name…”

Year 2159

It had been five years since the RDA were exiled off of Pandora and Dr. Chloe Parker was still trying to find her footing on this planet. 

Before the battle, she had been well into the late Dr. Augustine’s Avatar Program. Trained and studied learning to control her own avatar and then using her time to explore all of Pandora’s plants and herbs. And it was interesting, learning about all the medicines here, the potential use for them.

Then the battle at the Tree of Souls happened. Killing dozens of wildlife, many humans and Na’vi alike. It was a sad day to say the least. But after Jake Sully took over as the clan leader for the Omatikaya Clan and exiled the RDA off of Pandora, things began to change for the better.

Dr. Chloe had been one of the humans allowed to stay on Pandora, mostly because she didn’t contribute to the war that struck the planet and because Dr. Max Patel vouched for her and some of the other scientists and avatar volunteers. Now she had spent her time continuing to explore all of Pandora, working with the Na’vi in different clans to study their ways of medicine and perhaps teach them some of the stuff humans do, even though she knew they would probably never use it.

For the past few months, Dr. Chloe, and her small research team, took their avatars and their next journey to the Olangi Clan. A very nomadic clan that worked very closely with the Omatikaya so their home wasn’t too far from the former’s. Their clan leader, Akwey, had allowed them to stay and start their research there as long as they didn’t pose a threat to his people and were respectful of the lands and their ways. Which wasn't a difficult task, especially when there were no more military men flanking the planet anymore.

But as of recently, Dr. Chloe had been requested to retrieve the Tsahik of the Omatikaya Clan, Mo’at since the Olangi’s Tsahik had died in the battle against the RDA. So, instead of researching like the rest of her team, she had been made into a messenger, going back and forth from each clan speaking of something called Eywa…Dr. Chloe wasn’t really too spiritual to care much of who this Eywa was. But if it made the people happy and content, and kept them from shutting down her research, then Dr. Chloe would take one for the team for now.

On the other hand, she wasn’t entirely too comfortable leaving her very first patient alone so much. A patient very important to her research.

When Dr. Chloe found Mo’at, she was with her daughter, Neytiri if she could recall correctly. Dr. Chloe never really had a conversation with the woman—mostly because of her obvious distaste of Dr. Chloe’s presence—and today was no different. Once she arrived in her avatar form, Neytiri hissed and walked away. One of her children, a young boy, followed after her closely.

“Why has Akwey sent you now, Chloeparker?” Mo’at greeted her while crushing up what looked like herbs in a small wooden bowl. Dr. Chloe’s Na’vi wasn’t perfect but she could understand a lot of it after years of listening to both Dr. Augustine and the people talk expertly in it.

“An elder died yesterday.” Dr. Chloe informed her, stuffing her hands into her shorts. “Akwey wishes for you to perform the ceremony.”

Mo’at hummed, not looking up from her work. “One day, he will have to come to my daughter as she will be the next Tsahik of the People. And I will finally rest.”

“Let’s hope that day isn’t soon then.” Dr. Chloe commented with a thin smile. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your daughter doesn’t seem to like me much.”

“You are Sky People. Of course she doesn't like you.” Mo’at stood with the bowl and finally looked at Dr. Chloe. “I am not too fond of your people either.”

Dr. Chloe could understand that in a way. But she was a bit tired of being grouped with the people that tried to destroy Pandora and take it over. Then again, she really couldn’t blame them. If she were in their shoes, she’d hold a grudge too. It didn’t matter if they were the same or not. That anger, that resent, it was uncontrollable and rightful. Dr. Chloe could do nothing but shrug.

“Touché.”

“Mmph.” Mo’at then handed her the bowl. Dr. Chloe took it, surprised at the sudden gesture. “I understand you are a doctor among your people. This can be more useful than whatever technology you Sky People insist on using.”

Chloe held the little bowl delicately but frowned, “The technology is not all useless, you know. It does help sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” Mo’at pointed out. Dr. Chloe tried not to roll her eyes.

There was small movement behind Mo’at and Dr. Chloe did a double take. She hadn’t realized they weren’t alone until Mo’at had stood. It was a little girl that didn’t really look like Na’vi. Actually, when Dr. Chloe looked at her closely, she realized the little girl looked awfully similar to someone.

Before she could wonder just who the little girl reminded her of, her earpiece suddenly beeped, alerting her that one of her team members was calling her from back at the Olangi Clan.

Dr. Chloe excused herself before answering her earpiece, “This is Dr. Chloe—”

“You need to get back here fast!”

She blinked in confusion at the urgency in her fellow researcher, Simon's voice, “Why, what’s happening?”

There was a pause, “…Okay, don’t get mad but we decided to take her out of cryosleep—”

“WHAT?!” Dr. Chloe covered her mouth when Mo’at gave her a disapproving scowl and the little girl watched her curiously. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice before continuing, “Why the hell would you do something like that—she’s not even stable enough to take her out—”

“Just let me explain!” Simon interrupted with an exhausted sigh. “We connected her to the machines we’ve been working on for months ever since we first started working on her, remember?”

“Those aren’t even ready yet!” Chloe hissed into the earpiece, walking out of the tent where Mo’at and the little girl still were. “Simon, what the hell were you thinking—”

“It worked, Chloe.”

She went quiet. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around the forest, unsure if she had heard him correctly. When Simon called her name again she finally responded in a hushed whisper, “You’re not shitting me, are you? Y-Your saying—”

“It worked, Chloe, it worked.” She could practically imagine the growing smile on his face as he said this. “She could wake up at any moment now. But with her condition, it’s not exactly permanent and I don’t imagine she herself would be happy with the results, but they are supporting her. They're keeping her alive until we know how to deal with the heavier wounds.”

This was definitely a development. This had been something she had been working on for two years now, hearing that it worked, on a person no less? Chloe couldn’t help but start packing up her things and leave.

“I’ll be right there! Don’t do anything without me!”

And with that, Chloe rushed back toward the Samson she had arrived in, ordering the pilot to take her back to plains.

There was a lab within the tall trees the Olangi Clan lived in. Chloe had it built when she first arrived in the plains. Even though she technically wanted to build one in one of the trees, having a lab hanging from a tree wasn’t exactly the safest position. So, they went with having it on the ground.

Plus, if they had done it in the tree, then the lab wouldn’t be as spacious as they needed it to be.

When Chloe arrived back, she came out of her link bed with Simon waiting for her.

“How is she?”

The two walked side by side with each other, leaving the link room and walking down the long hallway. Simon carried a holographic pad in his hands as he spoke, “She’s stable, still has yet to wake up, but things are looking good so far. The doctors want to start on the severe wounds right away.”

“How exactly bad are these injuries?” Chloe found herself asking. Really, when they first saw the patient, they had already decided to quickly put her in cryosleep with how badly injured she was and freeze her wounds before it became any more lethal to her body. Chloe hadn’t exactly seen it for herself but she’d always kept hearing about how bad it was.

Simon frowned, “Third and second degree burns, a broken rib, and a her lungs might've collapsed, I'm not entirely sure.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, I hear she was a lot worse and the doctors managed to work on some of the less lethal burns, but she’s not exactly out of the woods yet.” Simon sighed as they stopped in front of the closed door. “We have twenty minutes with her before the doctors get to work.”

Chloe frowned, staring at him incredulously, “What should we say to her if she does wake up?”

Simon shrugged, “Tell of the situation, maybe fill her in since she’s missed basically five years of her life, and…I don’t know, comfort her the best we know how?”

“Comfort is not either of our strong suits, Simon.”

Simon rolled his eyes before finally opening the door.

What did death feel like? Was it this bright? This cold? Were you supposed to feel so heavy, so numb as if you couldn’t feel your body. Maybe your consciousness was floating above your body. There were stories like that, you remember reading about people who have died for a few seconds and were able to see their body outside of themselves.

Okay, maybe you weren’t actually dead. You may not have known what it felt like but you were pretty sure you weren’t supposed to be able to recall a memory as if it were another day. Then again, your body didn’t feel like a ton of anvils had fallen onto it and was pinning it down, preventing you from moving.

You hadn’t realized your eyes had been open until a shadow came into view, blocking some of the light above. Your vision was blurred, really you didn’t know when you had woken up or how long you had been staring up at the ceiling. Yes, that was definitely a ceiling.

Either hell was some bright room or you were somehow still alive.

Muffled voices echoed into your ears. You hadn’t realized, at first, that the voices were coming from the shadowed heads above you. It was like using your ears for the first time, like you were a newborn baby. Hell, your eyes felt like they hadn’t been used before.

Soon, you started registering the voices.

“You think she fell into some sort of vegetative state?” This voice belonged to a woman.

“I don’t know. It’s a possibility. Coming out of a cryosleep can be a little much.” This voice belonged to a man. Neither of them were familiar to your groggy mind. “We might need to get the doctors.”

Soon your vision began to clear.

“Wait, hold on…” The woman above you whispered. She was staring directly down at you, eyes wide with wonder. “I think she’s…”

Your eyes then moved to the second head, the man, when he came back over and appeared in your vision. And like their voices, they were both unfamiliar to you. Even in your foggy mind, you could not recall a single memory where it included these two strangers. Wait, maybe the woman. Back before you had stopped going to Hell’s Gate, you might’ve seen her a few times in passing.

Wait.

Hell’s Gate.

The bombs.

The ship crashed.

You should’ve been dead.

“Dr. L/N?”

The woman’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts, you refocused your gaze on her and she grinned excitedly. “You can hear me? Understand me?”

With great difficulty, you nodded. Or maybe your head shifted slightly similar to a nod, you didn’t really know.

“Holy shit.” The male muttered in amazement.

The woman continued grinning, “Welcome back, Doc.”

Before you could ask her where you were, before you could question who these people were, it suddenly hit you.

And it really hit you. Worse than a pile of anvils. More like an out of control train that crashed right into your body and dragged you along the way.

That was the type of pain that struck your body once your senses had begun coming back. This pain was unimaginable. It was unlike anything, unlike any pain you had ever felt in your short life.

This was worse. This was what death felt like.

You didn’t remember much of what happened after your chest jolted forward from the shock of the pain. All you saw was the two that had been standing over you, rushing away, shouting for what sounded like help. And in the next few seconds you kept blacking out a few times. The world went in and out. Every sound clashed together around you. Most of the pain, you realized, was coming from your waist, hell, just your entire upper body.

You wanted to scream. But all that came out of your mouth was choked gasps, barely any words or cries. You were crying. You were crying. Yes, you were sure of it.

There was a sharp prick against your neck.

And in the next second, it was like you were falling out of the world and back into the blackness.

Falling.

Falling.

Eventually, you would hit the ground…

And Jake Sully would wake up.

[red-riding-wood]

I’m so sorry about what happened to you and so many others. Disgusting misogynistic behavior. You all deserve so much better ):.

Also sending this bc I do believe he has made two new accounts. Drcranessweetestdoe and monsterfromthewoods. I have no proof these are him ,but it just strikes an absurd resemblance to his writing and he seemed to interact with both of them a few weeks ago. The first one hasn’t blogged in weeks either. Just seems strange. Once again though, I could be wrong. Just something for everyone to stay weary about. Stay safe ❤️

Thank you for the well wishes, anon! I really do appreciate you reaching out. <3

From my conversations with @drcranessweetestdoe, she does not behave like Kill (nor does her writing style compare to his), and I am pretty positive he is incapable (or at least very bad) at taking on different personalities since I believe I witnessed his attempt with the second account you mentioned. Aurora is very sweet, and she used to be a fan of Kill's writing and mine. I don't want people to be suspecting her of foul play because I do believe she is genuine. Kill has a pattern of reblogging fics as a way of seeing what victims he can latch onto and I see that as a coincidence with his reblog of Monster's.

As for @monsterfromthewoods... I was hesitant to make a callout, mainly because no one has actual solid proof that he is Kill. But, there is too much evidence for me to ignore, and I wanted to give my honest opinion and observations. Monster, if you are not this person, feel free to reach out and vouch for yourself, and if I am wrong, I am deeply sorry.

Fuck that. As I was typing this message up, I decided to check my DMs and noticed that my friend had said that he gave her the same name that, as of this morning, was revealed to me as his actual name along with his real picture and Facebook profile. That really sealed the deal for me. Here is the rest of my evidence to prove that this is "Kill":

Monster followed my friend around the same time that she blocked Kill.

Monster followed me the same day that I sent Kill a confrontational message, calling him out for his lies and pleading with him one last time for medical treatment and answers.

From the posts on Monster's account, and the one comment I know he made on my friend's post, his personality exactly fits Kill's. This is why I said I do not think he is capable or likely to be able to craft a believable persona.

Monster made a post about suicide, and a pro-Palestine post, the former of which Kill discussed with me a lot and the latter my friend pointed out as suspicious since Kill was also very strongly pro-Palestine. Seeing as Monster doesn't have that many posts yet on his blog, this isn't irrefutable evidence but it is very coincidental.

Lastly, I actually did my best to analyse and compare Kill and Monster's writing, since I had recalled a few things that stuck out to me when I read Kill's writing. Him and Monster share many similarities with their writing habits/consistencies. They are as follows (the examples listed are from 18+ content so please do not view if you are a minor):

Use periods and exclamation marks -- but never commas -- as punctuation to end dialogue tags.

Starter dialogue tag always facing outward. Like: ”So... Tight”

Tend to each use a snapshot style of writing, favouring incomplete sentences with frequent use of periods. Examples: K: "His mind, usually so sharp. Focused and organized like the most expensive machines. A killing machine, that worked in perpetual motion, living off killing, adrenaline used like a drug." M: "Your dear, understanding doctor. Doctor Jonathan Crane, who laughed out loud suddenly a couple moments ago. The dark colour covering his exotic looking eyes as he revealed his real nature to you."

Similarly, they both tend to avoid using possessive pronouns and determiners. Examples: K: "_ Pale, little pussy peaked from between her thighs." M: "The scars covering _ man's pale skin," _ = absence of "her, that, the," etc.

Often use adverbs after verbs in a way that feels out of place.

Capitalise after ellipses, always.

"Y/n" always has a lowercase "n".

Sometimes use three ellipses, often use only two.

Use "pants" but never "trousers".

Yeah, so, I may have spent way too much time on this. And I think most of this is redundant, now, especially after the name revelation, but still, I put work into it and didn't want it to go to complete waste lmao. I also had no idea until I was tagged today that apparently there are programs that do this sort of thing for you. Oops.

[mono-dot-jpeg]

[1:43am]

a/n; cute timestamp 143 (ily) i almost forgot this idea i had for twst since i was thinking about dragon reader. but this time i was thinking about nimona shark so.... an excuse for me to write for octo dorm again

platonic??? romantic??? idk you can decide.

you loved your home (back in the ocean) and all but man, you couldn't help but gravitate even more towards the ocean themed dorm. you don't like getting attached to people. you kind of live with your own school of sharks when it was feeding time, and that was it for the most part.

but you wanted a friend or two... one that wasn't scared of you at least. that was a hard ask back in your school (as if you've only lived in the sea until this exchange program).

but here, you had a chance at least!

you learned about the dorm and you were hooked from the start. when you first met floyd and jade, you were caught off guard with their sharp teeth and supposedly odd personalities. you understood the fear.. you think. but you thought floyd seemed nice despite the raving rumors around him. maybe it was because you knew that you could body him with your size and height alone.

you were a very big shark after all. and floyd seemed interested. before he had a chance to really know you, he called you a whale (not out of insult but as a nickname), and you had corrected him that you were a whale shark. "i'm not a whale, i'm a whale shark." the lack of sharp teeth had him even more interested. "very different creatures clearly."

"hehe, looks like sharky has some bite after all!" floyd snickered as this was a first meeting and he's only heard you from gossip. "we're gonna get along great."

that was a lie. he always tried to get on your nerves because of your loner-like personality. how you didn't really mind other guppies (humans) and how you didn't even mind being friends with leona's dorm members. you didn't really care most of the time when he did it, which did get him bored.

but then you met jade and the dorm leader himself, azul. your tall stature had initially startled him. but you reassued him, "don't worry, i don't eat octopus." somehow, you had amused the leech twins, both of them snickering at your blunt statement as azul stares up at you in disbelief. "i really don't."

"it's true." floyd vouches. "they eat people." he almost says it a little too seriously, causing you to smack him behind the head. "sharky!"

"i don't eat people. you do."

"well, that's just not true!"

"don't lie about me and i won't lie about you." and somehow you find a job in the lounge, becoming a host or the last line of security for the place. you certainly capture the attention of other students. you reflect most of your shark counterparts and behaviors that scare them, but you're really a gentle person.

you provide an odd sense of comfort to the guests of the lounge. it's rather endearing watching a shark-mer such as yourself try to be gentle and (mostly) nice to others.

floyd often turns to you for when he wants to squeeze something, and he just doesn't feel like chasing that magicless prefect yet. you're not really a warm-blooded person, so it's not a warm hug or anything, but you are one of the few people who can take a squeeze from the eel. and he takes that to his advantage. sometimes you are forced to carry him around when he's feeling extra clingy, but you don't seem to mind.

jade comes to you when he's done forcing mushroom dishes to his twin. you have a big appetite, so it only makes sense for him to test dishes with you around. he likes your peaceful presence as well, always commenting how people must mistake you for those violent shark movies and videos that those guppies watch. you sigh heavily every time when someone talks about those movies and if they were actually how sharks were.

azul comes to you for your calm presence. he warmed up to you slowly as you were still technically one of the few biggest sharks. but you always tell him it's okay to be scared of you because you're just used to it. and he's a little concerned now. "do you not have many friends because of your lineage?"

"no one likes a scary shark. not many people, at least." and it kind of reminds him of how alone he felt back in elementary. and he gave himself a silent pack to just not make you feel that way. he had even offered to let you swim the back lounge area for the employees. you were very happy at that. of course, he didn't fully account for how big your shark-mer form really was. but you looked so happy, he couldn't ruin that for you. and after that, he opened up a bit more and you both spend your time together in a comforting silence while he works and you rest or work with him. you're not the best with negotiating, but you do bring an energy that helps ease the clients (or scare them) into signing his contracts.

unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and you had to go back to your school because the exchange program ended. you were all kind of sad. but at least you knew that you had made a friend, and that felt like enough. they promised to visit and everything. even inviting you to school events at nrc if it was possible. and you offer the same as well.

you don't mind being a scary shark anymore.

[happyk44]

actually annabeth joining luke's army as a double agent for chb but percy doesn't know this so he just thinks alright and grabs grover and hooks it over there bc annabeth does what she wants and he knows there's no convincing her otherwise bc she's a stubborn ass and also ares fucking sucks so as far as percy's concerned the gods can suck it based on that alone

grover is just ??? bc he does NOT want to be over here and percy's just like "look, we can't convince annabeth to not be part of monster army, so the only option is to be part of it ourselves" and annabeth walks in on them trying to join (or rather percy trying to join for both of them and grover looking on the verge of tears) and she's just ??? bc what the fuck percy why are you two here

whole time percy is going on a rant about ares and how he sucks and how he's pretty sure the god has abused clarisse ("maybe we should get clarisse to sign up with us") because no one believes that he wants to join luke's army and they just thinkk he wants to spy on them so he's trying to show that he thinks gods (well at least one god) is a total ass and can get obliterated and percy will be happy to do that bc he did it once before, he can totally do it again! and if they get clarisse she can deliver the final blow as an FU

someone asks why grover's there and percy is like "um. he's my best friend? he has to come with me? what, you think I'm gonna fucking fight my best friend? are you stupid?"

meanwhile grover is having the worst panic attack of his life. like why is this how he discovers percy has no morals. couldn't it be something smaller like putting french fries in a strawberry milkshake?

and annabeth is resisting the urge to start screaming and now she's gotta vouch for percy and her vouch for percy is basically "if it came to saving me and grover or a bus full of people about to plunge into the atlantic, percy would save us, no hesitation" and everyone's like "jesus christ, the hell is wrong with this kid" because like maybe they're on the side of a cannibalistic titan but they're not fucking evil

ofc once they're let into the group, annabeth drags them both to the side and wrings percy a new one for fucking up her double agent plans and they're both whisper-arguing bc it's not his fault he didn't know she didn't really shack up with the enemy, but like fuck off percy, you didn't have to follow me here! why the hell would you choose to come here, were you going to try and kidnap me and bring me back to camp by force??

and percy is just like "yes that is 100% what i was going to do, i was definitely not joining with the intent to be by your side and blow up olympus because i'd rather destroy the world than fight my friend" and grover turns to annabeth and is just "he's fucking lying" "yeah i know"

anyway grover is released as a double agent for the monster army (but actually for CHB) bc the idea is that he can help them get more demigods to their side as a searcher being sent out to grab kids and he's mentally banging his head bc NOW he has to figure out how to get unclaimed demigods safely to camp without making it look like he took them there on purpose and if it looks like he defected back to CHB, they'll probably kill annabeth and maim or imprison percy and good gods, percy i hate you so much rn

percy? idk. it's past summer so he just goes home and luke is like "bro you can't just fucking leave" "um no offense luke but if you try to stop me from going home to my mom who i love more than life itself i will legit eat you" and then he goes home

come december, grover is calling percy up like "hey i found these fucking powerful ass kids, plz help me get them to camp without making it look like i got them there on purpose" and so they gotta loop annabeth in who's just mentally banging her head and cursing percy out over this whole thing as she strategizes a way to get the army there but have them fuck up so badly it would look super suspicious if grover just shoved them over

so first she yells at percy then she makes grover call thalia up so she can help him and it'll be okay 'cause she's in the same area as him so it won't look suspicious, it'll just seem like camp sent her in with him, like they do sometimes when there's dangerous monsters that a satyr might not be able to handle by themselves.

and then she makes percy go with them as support for grover's "nefarious" deeds since thalia's there. and it's a whole fucking thing, and mentally she's just like "oh thank fuck" when artemis and the hunters show up.

they retreat back to wherever the monster army was at this time (not the boat, but like idk. atlas' post? were they all chilling there or was it just luke and some ppl being assholes and everyone else was still on the boat, i can't remember) and curse their loss of two powerful and clueless demigods, only for percy to call annabeth up a couple hours later like "hey, remember those kids from a couple hours ago with the manticore and the hunters and everything"

"percy it was two hours ago, ofc i remember it, my memory isn't as shit as yours" "right right, you're elephant" "oh my- why are you calling me!!" "oh yeah. uh. well. they're kinda in my house" "what??" "yeah they're sitting right across from me. my mom's giving them some hot chocolate."

"how the hell?"

"i have no clue. they also have no clue. they just, uh, didn't feel safe at camp, bc grover was being weird about trying to save them. which, um, yeah, makes sense. and they don't like thalia because her spear scares them 'cause they don't like lightning. and also the girl said the hunters keep trying to convince her to join them which is freaking her out, so they didn't want to stay at camp. and then suddenly they were in my house."

"..."

"what do i do?"

this time annabeth bangs her head physically on the closest wall. and somewhere in the fine forests of new york, grover is banging his head on the nearest tree, both of them unified in their feelings of "for fucks sake percy i hate you so much rn"

[ceo-of-sloppy-women]

No grave can hold my body down; I'll crawl home to her

chapter 3

Chapter 4: Sevika's Place

You’re hurt, to say the least, but you do your best not to show it. Sevika’s boundaries are hers, regardless of whether they sting or not. You can’t possibly expect a stranger to be comfortable sharing her house with you, even if she did vouch for you. Even if you thought she had been flirting with you for the last forty-eight hours. Folding your hands in front of yourself, you hold your chin high, refusing to look hurt. The last thing you want is to make her feel uncomfortable for having boundaries.

Silco, on the other hand, does not seem to have the same qualms: “Do you want your poor friend here to sleep in a tent? Or in a booth at the Last Drop? You know our housing situation, Sevika.”

Before Sevika can continue, you speak up, focusing your gaze on Vander and Silco, purposely not looking at Sevika in case you look more hurt than you wish to show her:  “I can sleep in the Last Drop. I don’t want to put anyone out – or be too much of a burden. I’ve been sleeping in the cold for the last few years just fine. Even just having a roof over my head would be wonderful.”

“Shit, no, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…” Sevika groans like a pained animal, dragging her hand over her face. “You can stay with me. I’ll be fine.”

You turn around and smile up at her, placing a gentle hand on her bicep. “It’s okay, Sevika. You’ve already been incredibly nice to me, far nicer than you needed to be. I don’t want to invade your privacy – I can stay in the Last Drop. It’s probably far better condition than some of the places I have stayed in the past.”

“Fuck no! I ain’t letting you stay in that place – it’s where we quarantine new people so we can keep an eye on them! You’ll get yourself bit, and then it will be my fault because I got you into that mess in the first place. You can stay with me; I’ll be fine.”

“Sevika, it’s okay. You’re –“

She grabs your face, holding your jaw between her thumb and forefinger. Your eyes go wide as you stare up at her hard gaze. At this angle, she towers over you, bent forward slightly, blocking out the dying sun. If you weren’t desperately trying to do damage control, you would practically salivate at how much she resembles the divine figure that rescued you from the horde of infected.   “Can it, princess; decisions final. Stop being so damn altruistic. I’m a big girl – I can make decisions for myself.”

You really want her to stop sending you mixed signals, but honestly, being vocal right now might kill you. Or the next words out of your mouth could be a plea for her to spit into it. Frantically, you nod your head, desperately trying not to blush. Satisfied, she lets you go and looks over your shoulder at the two men. You don’t see the way Vander shakes his head with a bemused smile or the tender way Silco hums as he leans into Vander’s resting on his lower back.

“You better get a house ready soon. She deserves better than my mess,” Sevika grunts before stalking off, seemingly finished with the conversation.

Still stunned, you look from the two men to Sevika, trying to figure out if she expects you to follow her or wait for them to explain more to you. Your mouth opens and closes, wanting to say more to the two men – to thank them for their hospitality or something! But you can’t find the words. Vander snorts, ushering you after her.

“You better hurry up, I don’t think she’s going to wait. We can discuss your role here tomorrow when there’s more daylight. For now, welcome to Zaun.”

Nodding rapidly for a moment, you manage to remember to thank them both before rushing after Sevika. The crowd is thickening, and she’s nearly disappeared in the foreign sea. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry, and you can dodge between strangers until you reach her side. She cocks her head to you, checking who’s walking beside her and giving a (hopefully) satisfied nod. A moment later, she picks up the pace as if she’d been waiting for you to join her.

You fiddle with your hands in silence as the two of you walk through the settlement. Desperate for something to break the thickening ice, you pipe up and ask: “You smoke -? Weed, I mean. I already know you smoke cigarettes from earlier… Do you smoke weed?”

“I smoke in general,” Sevika grunts without so much as a glance in your direction.

“Okay, stop for a moment then… please?” you ask.

 She obliges quickly, letting you rummage through your backpack until you pull out a pack of dubbies. A lot of trading posts had a various assortment after a few years. Many of them cultivated their own strains to attract repeat customers so they could continue to receive necessary supplies without risking their populations.

“Bought these a while back, but they should still be good.”

Popping one into your mouth, you search your pockets for your lighter, trying to remember where you’d left it. You hope you didn’t drop that fucker on the trail over here! A click makes your head whip up to see Sevika holding out a custom metal lighter with a flickering flame. It’s a nice lighter – you wonder how often she smokes… Not wanting to lose yourself in that train of thought as she waits patiently, you lean forwards and light your dubbie, staring up at her with big puppy-dog eyes. She blushes slightly, eyes darkening as she stares down at you. It takes a moment to light, but when you finally get it, suck in a small puff and blow it out into her face. She inhales as the smoke rolls over her, watching you intensely.

“So polite,” you hum with a smile, letting the first pull rumble into your cold and aching body. That horse ride has really left you sore.

Sevika says nothing, swallowing thickly as she takes the dubbie from between your lips and pulls a long drag from it. She blows the smoke out of her nose with a practiced perfection – not even a cough – and hands it back to you. Then she starts walking again, still clammed up. You take another drag and offer the dubbie back to her, she takes it again, and you allow silence to come between the two of you as you walk the streets you now call home. Occasionally, your fingers brush, and she startles slightly, almost flinching away from your touch as she takes the dubbie. Smoke pools in your lungs as her indirect kiss wets your lips. You steal glances at her lips as she curls them around the white paper, sighing heavily on the exhale. Her head turns slightly to you as she passes it back, catching you, and she cocks an eyebrow but says nothing, letting you take the dubbie under the excuse you had only been waiting for it back.

Pleasantly warm and buzzing, you turn down a quiet street in an isolated part of town. Most of the houses here are dilapidated, having fallen into disrepair during the apocalypse. All except for a handful, which have tidy yards and lights on in the windows. Down the street, you see a scrawny young man walking alongside Jayce. You hadn’t spoken much to him during the trip back, but it is nice to see a friendly face. Not wanting to disturb their conversation, you silently watch the two of them duck behind a yellow door of a greying house and watch the light flick on. A smile creases your lips (and the thought of power thrills you).

Next to you, Sevika turns and opens the gate to her house. It’s a two-storied building with a window in the roof, suggesting a loft. You’re not sure if it was once white, but the siding is yellow now, with what appears to be a very colourful amount of graffiti drawn onto the side walls. Some of it looks painted over with white paint – the house was probably white originally, then. The porch looks well-maintained, with a metal bench and some custom pillows that appear to be made from old t-shirts sewn together. The door is painted a bright pink colour with a blue smiley face spray-painted in the centre.

Sevika sighs heavily as she turns the key in the lock: “I keep telling her to stop wasting spray paint.”

“Who?” you ask, following her inside.

“Jinx,” Sevika grunts, dropping all of the bags on a thread-bare couch near the door.

Nodding to show her you heard her, you take a moment to look around the house. There’s a staircase immediately at the door, leading up into a narrow hallway with a few shut doors. You can see a staircase at the far end, curving to the side. Currently, you’re standing in the living room. It has a few lamps that exude a low, soft light, and two couches plus a comfy-looking chair – all of which look to have handmade blankets on them to disguise their age. Some are crochet; some are knit – you smile softly, rubbing your fingers against them. Blankets like these take ages to make, meaning they were either super expensive or someone in the settlement really likes Sevika. The same Sevika who is currently ignoring you in favour of trudging off to the kitchen tucked in the back of the house.

Following after her, watch as she opens a cupboard of glasses above her, crop-top riding up and exposing part of a large back tattoo as she reaches for two glasses. You lean against the doorframe to act nonchalant as she grabs a bottle of mead from the liquor cabinet next to you, rolling her shoulders absent-mindedly. She pours two glasses as you take in her and the kitchen. A door to your right leads outside, with a shovel and coat hook next to it. Through the surprisingly clean window, you can see a small community garden beyond Sevika’s yard with a pump and a well and flourishing tomato crops. Inside, there are dishes in the sink, empty cans on the counter in a plastic bin, and two boxes of empty glass bottles on the floor.

A glass is thrust into your hands as she catches you staring at the bottles.

“Jayce has a forge. We melt the bottles down to make new ones… or wash ‘em and reuse them. Recycling,” she grunts stiffly, brushing past you to get back to the living room.

She flops onto one of the couches and sighs heavily, sinking into the fabric. The crop top rides up again, and she doesn’t even bother to fix it as it exposes the edge of her sports bra. Combined with her low-slung pants, you nearly fry your brain staring at the fluffy happy trail leading below her belt. Sevika is staring out the window, swirling her drink in her glass.

You stand awkwardly in the doorway, unsure if she wants the company or not… but without anywhere else to go. The comment definitely does not explain why she has so many bottles – yet she’s clearly uncomfortable with you acknowledging them. It’s definitely best to drop the topic for now, lest you anger your already grumpy host. However, you’re not sure if she’s so grumpy you should get out of her hair or join her on the couch.

“You can take any room upstairs – just don’t go into the loft,” she waves dismissively, taking a sip of her drink. “Jinx used to crash here as a teenager when she fought with her dads. Still got the pull-out bed-couch thingy up there. Just, you know, don’t choose the bathroom. That’s communal. Oh, and before you ask, yes, the toilet works. You can thank Caitlyn for that one – she brought a bunch of her family’s notes from when they designed Piltover’s sewage system or something. Got a nearby hydroelectric whatsit working to power all that.”

“Thanks, that’s actually… very informative. Like, a lot.” It answered a significant portion of your questions. You think back to the ride here and the black-haired woman Vi kept giggling with at the front of the group. You had no idea she had been so helpful… was everyone here “helpful” in some way? Like a piece of a larger puzzle Silco and Vander were putting together? It would explain why Silco was so quick to include you…

“Heat should start up soon, too. I suggest waiting until then to have a bath; can get pretty nipply without it. Unpleasant to bathe in, and all,” Sevika comments, stretching out the “pretty” as if she was working her mouth around it.

“Maybe I’ll just… sit down then?” you tentatively move to take a seat on the other couch. You make a show of letting your jacket fall down your shoulders, exposing the curve of your figure that had been pressed up against her back for nearly forty-eight hours. Sevika watches you walk in front of her, taking another sip of her drink and making no move to stop you. “Plenty of time to take a bath when the heat’s back on,” you continue, dropping onto the couch and pulling your feet up under you, leaning against the back cushions.

Sevika nods her head, reaching the end of her glass and cursing. She grabs the bottle off the coffee table and refills it again. You take that moment to finally taste what she’d given you – to your surprise, it’s sweeter than expected. A pleased hum escapes you, and her head shoots up, eyebrow cocked, watching as you take another sip. Her gaze is almost predatory, making you squirm in your seat as the weed starts to kick in. Your whole body tingles under her gaze as if she’s lit you on fire. The intensity is terrifying – you’re not sure if she wants to kill you or fuck you or she’s just high. It’s probably the latter, but you’re not sure you’d make an attempt to stop her if she did try to kill you. She could step on you, and you’d probably thank her for it.

In a desperate attempt to ease the tension, you say: “It’s really good. Better than any bottle I’ve bought at a trading post in a long while.”

Sevika smiles into her glass like she’s… proud.

“Wait – did you make this?” you ask, trying not to look shocked in case you are jumping to conclusions.

“Tend to the bees myself. Jinx likes to help out sometimes. More of a hindrance than anything… Vander helped me make the first batch of mead and honey. After that, I got a couple of assistants to smooth out the process. Some of the firelights really like bees –“ Sevika shrugs a little – “It’s not the only alcohol made in town, but I needed something to drink without having to pay an obnoxious bar tab.”

“Oh,” you whisper, staring at the boxes of bottles in the kitchen as she pours a third drink. “Everyone deals with the apocalypse in their own way.”

You’re no damned saviour complex – you’re not about to test her patience by preaching about the dangers of alcoholism. She’s a grown woman; she can make her own decisions. But you do sprawl yourself out on the couch, unbuttoning your plaid shirt to expose the tight t-shirt underneath as the heat starts to warm its decaying frame. It has been far too long since you were inside a building with actual heating. The slow, deliberate nature of the action draws her attention back to you – that same starving stare as before. She sets the bottle down with only half of her drink poured. If you had to, you’d put money on her having a personal limit – at least in polite company.

“Thank you for letting me stay here. It – all of this means a lot. You’re doing so much for me, and here I am, drinking your alcohol, waiting for your house to heat up so I can take a bath in your tub. Especially after how uncomfortable you got when they said I was going to stay with you for a little while… I promise I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I’m able. You’re the first friend I’ve made out here in nowhere, and I don’t want to fuck that up.”

Sevika stares at you for a long moment, taking a sip of her drink and swirling the amber liquid around in her glass. Another heavy sigh escapes her, and you can see just how heavy the bags under her eyes are as she tilts her head toward you. “You can stay as long as you need. Told you: I’m old enough to make my own decisions. If I really didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be here. The Last Drop, it’s – it’s not bad, it’s actually a half-decent bar named after the one Silco and Vander used to run, most of the time. But if I brought you all the way here just to get you killed –“ she looks you dead in the eyes – “It would be a damn waste. Use all the hot water you’d like, try to match me in a drinking game – Hell, cook up all the damn food I’ve got lying around and then use my money to buy more! It ain’t like it’s getting used often enough for you to even make much of a dent.”

“Oh, thank you.” You smile sheepishly, dropping your head so she doesn’t see you blush. “I promise I won’t go that far. Just enough to get by.”

“I’m asking you to,” Sevika states abruptly. You glance up at her, thrown off by the impulsive statement, finding her wide-eyed and nervous. As if she wants to shove the words back into her own mouth but can’t. “Look, use what you’d like when you’d like to. With that book and your journals, you’re doing us a huge favour. Survival is worth actually buying groceries instead of eating the scraps I find in the back of my pantry.”

Gulping down the last of your drink, you levy your gaze on her and ask:  “If you’re so comfortable with me doing all of this, why did you really not want me here?” Laying out all the cards on the table. You’re not stewing in miscommunication all night because you were too much of a coward to buck up and ask.

Sevika drops her head this time, avoiding eye contact as she mumbles: “I just didn’t want you to see how I lived. Thought you’d… think less of me.”

Rising from your seat, you stalk over and settle on the couch next to her. Not close enough to touch – just enough to cut through the distance. She watches your approach with wide eyes, vulnerability pulsating beneath her skin. Her long-forgotten glass is set on the coffee table as she holds her breath. You want to reach out and wrap her in a tight hug, yet the fear of shattering the fragile moment by violating some unspoken boundary keeps you at bay.

Instead, you say: “Sevika, we live in the apocalypse. There are bigger things to worry about than how you spend your most private moments. You are surviving in your own way, as best as you can. I can’t hold that against you – no one can.”

There are tears pooling in the corners of her eyes as she stares back at you. Gingerly, you reach your hand out and stroke your thumb against her hand where it’s laid across the back of the couch. In an instant, she lurches forward, pulling you against her, hand fisted in the back of your shirt. She buries her face in your neck, holding you against her as if you’re about to float away. It’s an unexpected rush of emotion you hadn’t expected from the grumpy, brooding woman who’s only exuded confidence in your presence up until now. It shocks you for a moment, stiffening in her grip until you catch yourself. Knowing this isn’t the time to get startled over affection; you relax into her grip, legs half-straddling her lap as you run your fingers through her hair gently to soothe her. She shakes in your arms, gasping, quivering breaths stolen from the air as she cries silently. You hold her for as long as she needs until she finally begins to calm down and release her grip. Waiting for her to finish crying completely, you linger in her grasp until she’s just sniffling against your shoulder. Fishing out a handkerchief from your pocket, you offer it to her as you settle next to her to give her some space, legs now touching.

“You really need that bath, you reek,” Sevika grunts as she blows her nose.

You stare at her for a beat, taken fully off-guard by her comment, before peeling into laughter at the absurdity of her comment. She starts laughing with you, wheezing as she clutches her side, bringing tears to her eyes again.

“Sorry, that was – that was rude of me,” Sevika apologizes when the two of you calm down. “You should have seen the look on your face though!”

“Don’t apologize, you’re probably right –“ you take a whiff of your armpit and recoil with a gag – “Okay, that’s repulsive. Ew! How did you not gag?! You know what, don’t answer that! I’m going upstairs to find your bath and finally wash the apocalypse off of myself.”

“Definitely a good idea. I’ll get that bed set up for you; I’m sure I have some extra blankets and sheets kicking around somewhere.” Sevika stands from the couch and groans as her body protests.

“Thank you, you’re too kind,” you giggle, and she huffs, lightly pushing your shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get insufferable on me now. Just go have your bath.”

You bob your head as you rummage through your bag for your belongings: soap, clean-enough clothes, and shampoo. “Shit, I don’t have a towel. Can I put you out and borrow one?” you call upstairs.

“Yeah, I’ll put one in the bathroom for you!” Sevika graciously promises as she rummages through the linen cupboard upstairs.

“Thank you,” you hum as you pass her by in the hallway.

“Mhm,” she murmurs, passing you the towel instead as you walk by her. “Hot and cold are backward, by the way. Pull it forward for hot, push it back for cold.”  

“Got it,” you say, stepping into the bathroom and pausing for a moment. You turn around, catching her just as she’s about to duck into another room. “Hey, Sevika?”

“Yeah…?” she answers, cocking her head, eyes still puffy.

“I appreciate your honesty. It’s nice to finally be able to be vulnerable with someone after everything that has happened. I don’t really care if you drink or smoke or eat scraps from your pantry instead of buying groceries. Just don’t be surprised if I take you out to buy some tomorrow, okay? You’ve been incredibly kind to me the last few days; I want to show you how much it has meant to me.”

She doesn’t answer at first, walking over to you and pulling you into another hug. “You don’t gotta go through all that effort. You could make me burnt toast, and I’d still never repay you for it.”

You shake your head, holding her bicep so she can’t walk off as she lets you go: “This isn’t about repaying you. I just think you deserve nice things, like the nice things you’ve done for me.”

“Oh,” she mumbles, mouth working for a moment to find the words. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say ‘thank you.’ That’s all you need to say,” you say, smiling up at her softly.

“Thank you,” she parrots, reaching her hand up toward your face. Your breath catches in your chest as she stares at your lips. For a brief moment, you think she’s about to lean down and kiss you. Then, abruptly, she pulls away and rubs the back of her neck. “I’m… going to go get that bed made for you! Go bathe; the smell’s getting unbearable.”

“Uh, yeah –“ you huff out a soft chuckle – “See you in a bit.”

She nods her head as you step into the bathroom and shut the door. Your heart hammers in your chest as you lean against the wood, trying to gather yourself. After a moment, you hear her footsteps echo down the hall, and the adrenaline finally starts to subside. All you can do is ghost your finger over your lips and wish she had kissed you.

[mortalityplays]

Hi there! I’m a newly graduated editor and writer trying desperately to make freelance work for me, and/or find a permanent position with a publishing house or company. Do you have any advice for how to start getting clients consistently/how to get your foot in the door? I’ve been struggling to find work since I graduated last spring and it’s been hard to figure out where to start or what I’m doing wrong when a lot of the time I am just being ghosted :”)

I had to go for a walk and think about this. I've written and deleted two very long responses because it's hard to balance what I think I've learned about 'the industry' (fake idea but we can unpack that another time) with what it has made me learn about myself. The latter is not really going to be important or helpful to anyone else's specific circumstances.

Here's what I can boil it down to:

The idea of a 'traditional path' into editing/publishing or a standard entry point and career ladder, is almost entirely made up. I don't think that's on purpose. Getting established is very slow and hard and confusing and full of unexpected opportunities and disappointing dead ends. As people who are fond of narratives, it's only natural that we retrospectively turn our journeys into storylines. Real life doesn't really work like that, though. Take all advice with a pinch of salt; ultimately all advice is just somebody trying to speak to their past self.

All of the best clients I've ever worked with have been friends and artistic peers first, clients second. Some of them were also starting out when I was starting out, and we just traded services to help each other get a leg up. Now that they're well established in their fields, they're in position to vouch for me with bigger clients.

Having someone who can vouch for you is worth its weight in gold. Do a tiny job as a favour, then tell a small client you did that job. Do their small job for a small fee, then tell a medium client you did that job. Collect testimonials. Collect examples of past work. Let me tell you a secret: I didn't go to school for this, and nobody ever trained me. I've never landed a job by talking about paper qualifications because I don't have any. Show, don't tell.

Don't beat yourself up if you have to take other work to make ends meet. Not only will you be happier, healthier and more stable with that consistent income, but life experience will make you a better editor. I spent years working in bars and restaurants while I was doing sporadic small editing jobs on the side, and I loved it. It taught me about people, and how to speak to strangers with total confidence, and how to demand the value of my work, and how to spot when a writer doesn't know their shiraz from their malbec. All experience is work experience in the arts.

On that note, SPECIALISE. Pick out a subject you're especially passionate and knowledgeable about, or a genre or medium where you're particularly determined to excel. Study up on it. Look for clients who need specific expertise, and sell yourself to them. Generalists are everywhere, but you might be the only 'amphibious vessel technical manual editor' in your state. Learn to adapt your offering to the client and tell them why you're the key that fits their lock. Lie sometimes maybe I don't know shh I didn't say that part.

I think that's all I've got that isn't unbearably navel gazey. It's really hard work and I haven't finished the marathon either. I may still end up going back to generic office jobs on and off in the future. Mostly I try to follow the only really good advice an artist has ever given me: Do what you can, with what you've got, for as long as you can. At least then you can say you did.

[meetthegofer]

🦀🦅💕😑💀 (esp interested in the last one considering game mechanics)

THANK YOU TORRANCE MY GOAT.. once again since this will be a little long its going under a readmore 🔥 thank you though this is a very fun selection

🦀- How did they handle realizing they were in love? Embarrassed? Nervous? Mad?

fossey was absolutely the more accepting of his feelings of the two in this regard; though they were definitely pretty nervous they tended to downplay it a lot, like "welllll... people get crushes on coworkers with all the time!! plus its not like anything's gonna come of it, so its fine for me to like him.. im sure ill get over it soon" <- that. generally just didnt register that they might have a chance At All and as a result didnt really catch themself reading too much into his words/actions because "well its not like he'd like me anyways! that would be wasting my time. i have a job to do, after all".

sniper on the other hand...

for him, the realization was like being hit in the face with a brick. not because he thought fossey was particularly undesirable in any way that would make him go "i cant believe i like THEM", but rather because he was still operating under the expectation of not really getting to know them or really form any relationship/attachment past just. general coworker amiability. it honestly made him panic a bit, because he wasnt sure if this would affect his performance in battle ["if i get hung up on something like that, itll be easier for me to get distracted and hurt more easily. or worse, ill underperform" <- that sorta thing] and again, he tries to consider himself as being somewhat divorced from feelings, at least on a professional level. of course, we know this to not be true [calls his parents regularly, shows genuine care to his teammates, etc etc] but well. hes stupid. <3.

🦅- How good are their friends at being wingmen? Do they even help at all or just sit back watching the pining with a bag of popcorn?

...you could not possibly have a worse ensemble of wingmen than the options laid out for these two. at the absolute least, fossey has the support of miss pauling, who reassures them about things when they feel down. however shes not really an active wingman? like she encourages fossey but doesnt ever actively try to vouch for fossey as a potential partner for sniper, mostly because fossey has asked her Not to [going back to the whole lack of perceived desirability they feel and all]. other than that, they havent really confided in their feelings to anyone else, mostly because they know theres literally no circumstance under which it would end without great humiliation.

sniper, on the other hand, tries to be discreet when asking for advice, but everyone kind of Knows who hes got his eyes set on. so when he tries to ask for help and is immediately met with a chorus of "ooooh so youre finally gonna ask out fossey?" hes like FUCK YOU and also how did you know [fake idgafer they saw you saying good morning!! when you dont do that for anyone else!!!!]. so i think he would get frustrated and then not ask for help again

that said i can definitely see a few of the mercs trying to take things into their own hands. scout makes stupid jokes to fossey about sniper ["yknow hes got a picture of ya in his camper, right?" "HE WANTS TO SHOOT ME?" "NO"], soldier probably tries giving him unsolicited advice that literally only worked because zhanna matches his freak so well, and medic breaks HIPAA in a strange way to try and bring them closer together. none of it ever works but theyre all quite content to watch the two of them very awkwardly dance around their feelings for one another and tease them about it [though mostly sniper. since fossey does a shockingly good job at hiding her side of things + they havent known her nearly as long]

💕- Who confessed first and how? Did it go as planned or did shenanigans ensue?

oh this ones fun. they both kinda confessed at different times, but the first one just... didnt work? going back to this question set, after fossey apologizes/confronts sniper about his avoidance, he Does confess his feelings, but does so in a more vague way that fossey absolutely Did Not Clock as romantic. unfortunately this ended with the most brutally unintentional friendzone known to man

its not as though All hope is lost, though. like i said, there were multiple "confessions", albeit fossey's was admittedly much more thought out in terms of like. the specifics.

see, they have a really bad habit of overworking [mostly because they lose track of time very easily, and their work is so repetitive its easy to get lost in the sauce. they arent a very intentional overachiever], and a lot of sleep problems. as such, it was bound to happen that they would one day fall asleep at their desk, having worked themself to exhaustion and not really noticing it until they'd woken up...

sniper notices fossey sleeping at their desk, hours after they were supposed to leave for the day [being a bit of an insomniac himself, he would sometimes just. walk around. everyone on the team is kind of a freak it makes sense to me. you know]. so he goes and wakes them up like "hey dude you were supposed to leave hours ago" and theyre like FUCK right ill be out of here in a second. however, before they can leave, sniper remembers that fossey usually Walks home. so he offers them a ride, because the idea of them walking home alone at like 2am greatly unsettles him. they agree, and since its only a 15/20 minute walk it ends up being a very short drive, spent in an admittedly comfortable silence between the two. maybe a longing glance or two is passed without the other noticing.

and just before fossey steps out of the van to go fuck off to their apartment building, without even thinking they lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek, then step out and wave goodbye like nothing happened. [its not until theyre actively closing the door to the apartment building behind them that they realize what theyve done. and by then theyre like FUCK]

sniper is obviously speechless, because just a couple months ago he got friendzoned and he was still wrestling with the fact that his feelings were only getting stronger with time. he just kind of sits there for a second before he realizes he probably looks crazy just sitting there in a van outside an apartment complex that is primarily home to like. old ladies. and on the drive back to his usual parking space for the camper hes just like Fuuuck work is gonna be so awkward tomorrow.

and the next day they do talk it out.. fossey stops by his camper and is like Heyyy so can we um 😅 talk about last night haha... and they give a verbal confession but end it with like "im not really expecting you to feel the same way but since you basically already know i figured id tell you..." and snipers just there like It is unbelievable how much i feel the same way. i imagine the conversation itself would be quite awkard/seemingly "anticlimactic" for the start of a relationship, sort of like [incoming maine moment] shimamitsu's first little stint as a couple in skip to loafer where they just very awkwardly are like "do you... wanna try going out?" after a rather embarrassingly sudden confession. but both of them are autistic and awkward so <3 love is love <3

😑- How easily do they get jealous and how do they handle it?

fossey is admittedly not very jealous at all LOL though this mostly comes from the fact that they dont place very high value in themself. so theyre like "? if he ever found someone else he'd just go for it man i dont think it'd be worthwhile to keep me around just to cheat". they also just arent really the possessive type, since they do actually trust him quite a bit in this regard and are very much of the "if you love something let it go" mindset. however in the context where i ship sniper with the other mercs theyre very chill with it. because fossey has the fujoshi spirit 👍

if they ever Would get jealous i think they would handle it well enough on their own, though. they tried exactly one [1] time to make a joke about sniper leaving for someone else and he was MORTIFIED so they were like Damn i probably shouldnt do that again that was a little mean.

sniper i think would probably be a little bit more jealous? it doesnt come up very much, but every once in a while someone gets just a liiittle too close or looks a liiittle too long and hes like ? You could back up a little bit!

he mostly keeps it to himself since fossey isn't and has never been the type to pursue or flirt with others even in a playful context, so when he Does get jealous its usually directed at the other party. i think early on he mightve gone to fossey about it first and when they got confused [because they didnt think the other person saw them that way + were absolutely NOT trying to go for them] he realized it didnt make much sense and didnt really bring it up like that again. not much reason to blame fossey for how others feel when they arent the one Inviting those feelings, yknow? at most he might be like "damn that guy would Not leave you alone" but even then it happens quite rarely, so its not something they really have to address more than like. once or twice a year. that said i Do think he might get a little more clingy without really noticing it... hugging a little more tightly or casually throwing an arm around their shoulders a little longer than usual.

💀- If the canon character is canonically dead, how did your OC handle their death? (Or did you completely omit their death cause fuck canon?)

this one is interesting, not just because of the game mechanics but also because of his canon [albeit temporary] comic death. when considering respawn compatibility + mechanics and the nature of the game, i think fossey is desensitized enough to how much violence occurs around these guys on a daily basis that the concept of sniper being hurt in this way doesnt really faze him any more than it does miss pauling or any other merc. like he knows he'll be back. its fine. though i do think in the back of his mind he sometimes worries that one day sniper might come back and not remember/not love/not care for him anymore, although this has yet to happen, and if scout's persistence with trying to court miss pauling is any proof, it likely never will.

his comic death, however, is a different story, primarily because it left him with some pretty permanent scars. fossey freaked out so fucking bad when they found out what happened [since they werent present for it] and they just like. almost couldnt really believe it? the desensitization to his death in the context of the gravel war + respawn machine and how it functions made them less cognizant of the idea that Hey he could still die for real one day. and that realization shook them pretty badly... if they were actually present for it i think they would genuinely be inconsolable for a while. but LUCKILY hes back 👍 insert i cant help myself "all clean!" image here

[dragonologist-phd]

Piper & Companions - First Impressions vs Final Opinion

Tag game: Give your KC’s first impression and final opinion of each of their companions!

tagged by @dujour13! thank you!

i've already lost track of who's done this, so if you want to do it (or do it again), i'm tagging you! yes, you!

First Impressions

Seelah: “Wonderful- on top of everything else I have to deal with, there’s also a Paladin. At least this one seems to have a better spirit about it than most.”

Camellia: "There's a rich girl if I've ever seen one. She sure does remind me of someone..."

Lann: "Odd fellow. I can't decide if he's smart or an idiot. Either way, he thinks far too highly of me. But I think I like him."

Wenduag: "Someone who looks like that has a lot of nerve bad-mouthing tieflings. Unfortunately, she seems useful right now."

Woljif: "Him, I understand. And I just might take him up on that offer to leave before things get too messy. Thieves and outcasts gotta stick together, yeah?"

Ember: "What is she doing here? Why does she insist on sticking around? Someone needs to be responsible for her, and I really don't think I'm the right person for that."

Daeran: "Ugh. All I wanted to do was steal some silverware, now I'm stuck with the most obnoxious person in Mendev."

Nenio: "She certainly has her own set of priorities. And if nothing else, she knows how to provide a good distraction."

Ulbrig: "Is he really as old as he says he is? Or is he just as crazy as he seems? It's getting harder and harder to tell the difference these days."

Galfrey: "She's a tough one to read. But I must have convinced her I know what I'm doing if she's trusting me- me!- with the Crusade. I hope she never realizes how much of this I'm making up as I go."

Sosiel: "An absolute dear! I could talk about art with him all day long. I can't imagine what possessed him to go to war, of all things, but I'm glad he's here. That's probably selfish of me, but there you go."

Regill: "Huh. I thought he'd be gargoyle food by now. Pity."

Trever: "Nobody should have to go through this. I'm going to get him out of here, and then I'm going to burn this place to the ground."

Arueshalae: "I know this voice...I just never imagined it belonged to a succubus. Maybe I'm the fool for getting close to her, but she helped us- and more than that, Desna vouched for her. That's enough for me."

Greybor: "He's shrewd; people underestimate the value of that. That's why I don't trust him beyond what I pay him. He can say what he wants, but contracts are broken every day."

Aivu: "I have no idea what's happening anymore but yes of course we're best friends!"

Final Opinion

Seelah: “She’s pretty amazing. I’d have died many times over if not for her, but it's more than that- nothing keeps her down, and she’s the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. I trust her, and coming from me? That's a big deal.”

Camellia: "I should have stopped her sooner, I know. I could justify my choices, but really...I was afraid of having to fight her. I ended up having to do that, anyway. I do wish it could have been different."

Lann: "Definitely an idiot. I thought we were friends, but- I don't know. I still like him enough to hope he stops trying to throw his life away, at least."

Wenduag: "I did give her a chance. I suppose I always knew what would happen, but- well, you can't blame me for hoping."

Woljif: "He's my best friend and my brother and still the only person who I think totally gets me. I'm proud of how far he's come- how far we've come."

Ember: "I guess she could take care of herself pretty well, in the end. She takes care of others, too. I still wish she didn't have to, but at least she's happy."

Daeran: "I still think he's the most obnoxious person in Mendev, but...he's grown on me. If nothing else, he's the perfect partner for wine and gossip."

Nenio: "It's funny- I've gone by a lot of names in my lifetime, and that's never bothered me. But I'm really glad she remembers this one."

Ulbrig: "An actual god, huh? I couldn't have made up a story this fantastical. It's going to make a great song."

Galfrey: "I wish her the best, but...things just aren't the same. Whatever friendship we might have had at one point, I don't think it can be recovered. I suppose I'm mature enough now to forgive, but still not enough to forget."

Sosiel: "Still an absolute dear. And I'm still glad to know him. He has a strength few people see; I feel lucky, to be able to see it."

Regill: "Maybe I was harsh on him at first. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but...he stuck by me, even when I really thought he wouldn't. I guess that counts for something."

Trever: "He's still a good man, and he deserves a good life. I don't know if he believes that yet, but he's getting there."

Arueshalae: "My sunshine, my miracle, my happy ending. I could write a ballad in her honor every day for the rest of my life, and it would never be enough to say how much I love her. She says I've made her a better person, but we all know it's really the other way around."

Greybor: "I don't care if he's the most feared assassin in the demon realms, I know the truth- he's a big old softie."

Aivu: "Still best friends. Still the best part about being an Azata!"