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2manyfandoms2count · 3 years ago

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Alix's rom-com night

The June event of the @mlwritersguild was to create bonus content for one of our fics - I decided to seize the opportunity to finally sit down and write one of the bonus scenes of You can count on me (I will be there for you), and to do draw a bit of fanart to go with it (4 panels, including a Marichat piece)! Let me tell you that the Burrow is a pain to draw, but I'm actually quite proud of the result :)

About YCCOM: It's an aged-up, one-sided reveal with "fake" wedding fic, based on Sallteas' art. The fic is 9 chapters and 20k words long. It was written before season 4, so it's no longer canon compliant in terms of who knows who's identities at the beginning.

Synopsis: Ladybug's identity is compromised, and somebody is after her. After a lot of pondering, she and Chat Noir come to the conclusion that her best bet is for her to marry Adrien Agreste. It breaks her heart that she is not marrying Chat Noir, but she knows that she's buying them time to figure out who is behind the anonymous letters she's been receiving, and hopefully to find Hawkmoth. Whatever the situation might be, her wedding day should provide a moment of respite. And maybe it would have, had Chat Noir refrained from coming to visit her just before the ceremony...

About Alix's rom-com night: it's a one shot that's chronologically set before the main fic, but I recommend reading it after reading the latter since it contains spoilers for it. It follows Alix (obviously), and includes Ladybug revealing her identity to Chat Noir and the set up of their "fake wedding" plan.

Hope you enjoy!

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Alix opened her door and dropped her keys in the bowl as she kicked off her shoes with a satisfied sigh. Home, sweet home.

Her studio apartment wasn’t very big, but then again, she didn’t need a huge surface when she had a whole extension waiting for her just a transformation phrase away. She’d mentally thanked Marinette more than once for choosing her to wield the Rabbit Miraculous, rather than somebody else, just for the savings she made in rent.

She whistled happily as she made her way to her kitchen area, grabbing a bag of popcorn out of a cupboard and shoving it in her microwave.

She deserved the treat. She’d been running around all week, trying to slide letters to her targets without being spotted, spending hours on end to find the perfect stationary, and then staying up at night to get the wording exactly right, a delicate mix of subtlety and threat to elicit some sort of response from them. It had taken a lot of trial and error, especially for Ladybug. Her friend had always been surprisingly oblivious on many fronts, and it seemed that her honeymoon phase with Chat Noir reinforced her optimistic ability to brush ominous details aside. It had taken three letters for her to start freaking out and to promise Tikki she would talk to her partner about them, whereas Hawkmoth had started the analysis phase upon the first one he’d received.

Alix had only been mildly surprised by the identity of their nemesis when she’d decided it was high time she knew who they were facing; it was all too fitting that the man who leached off Paris’ most intense negative emotions should be the most embittered person she knew, and the one who, in retrospect, had been the cause of many an Akuma (she still shuddered at the what-could-have-been of Chat Noir’s akumatisation).

The microwave dinged, bringing her thoughts back to her timeline. She took the bowl out and called for her Kwami.

“Fluff, clockwise! Burrow!”

A white portal appeared in the middle of her living space and she walked through it, emerging in the ovoid room covered in screens. She made her way to the furthest point, hung her umbrella up on the coathanger she kept in there, and grabbed a folding chair. It was a director’s seat which supposedly had belonged to a rising name in the cinema world before their career had been shot down for obscure reasons, but she didn’t really care about its story; she’d bought it for a very low price at a yard sale, and that was all that mattered to her.

“Right, where are you…” She muttered, scrutinising her surroundings, until she found the screen she was looking for.

She unfolded the chair, zoomed in on the empty (for now) rooftop, propped down in her seat and threw a fistful of popcorn into her mouth, waiting for the show to start.

Unsurprisingly, Ladybug was the first to arrive on the scene. She paced around, mumbling to herself as she wrung her hands together. Alix felt a pang of guilt as she watched her rehearse how she would break the news to her partner, but reassured herself that the ordeal would soon be over.

Finally, Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug, and she flung herself at him, holding him so tight he had to untangle himself from her arms to breathe.

“Well, well, well, my Lady, I know I couldn’t make it to patrol last night, but I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Alix rolled her eyes at just how lovestruck he looked as he did so. How could her friends be so sappy, and yet still be at square one in terms of knowing who the other was?

Some might have said that it was romantic, that they loved each other regardless of who they were; but those people did not have to deal with the constant end of the world threat.

“What was so important that you couldn’t just text me?”

Ladybug took a deep breath. Her fingers slid along his arms as she relaxed her embrace, taking his hands in hers at the end of the line. “Somebody knows my identity,” she said quietly, looking down. “And I don’t know who they are.”

“What?!” Chat’s voice detonated in the previously peaceful quiet of the evening, making a couple of pigeons take off in a loud flutter of wings.

“I’m so sorry, I must have been careless when I got home one night, they must have seen me, I bet it was last week when I was tired and I-”

“My Lady, no offence, but I don’t care about the when and why, just... are you okay?” He tilted her chin up, gently turning her head to each side, checking for any signs of injury.

She placed her hand on his, making him stop, and gave him a soft, sad smile. “Yes, Chaton. Just a little rattled; you know you were the first person I wanted to reveal my identity to. Not including Bunnyx, although technically I never told her who I am.”

“And technically, I’m still the only person who knows who you are,” Bunnyx smugly commented between two handfuls of popcorn. “Now come on, I want to see how you react when you reveal your identities to each other.”

“How do you know somebody knows, though? And do you have any idea what their intentions are?”

Ladybug’s expression darkened. “I received some letters. They’re not signed, but they’ve got enough butterflies on them to make me think that even if they’re not from the biggest pest in Paris, then they’re probably from somebody who’s up to no good.”

Chat Noir swore under his breath, then regained his countenance. “So, what do we do now? Do you think we can hunt down the bugger?”

“We definitely will, but…” Ladybug bit her lip, and Alix leaned forward in her seat. This had to be it. “Chaton, I think the time has come for me to tell you who I am.”

“YES! Finally!” Alix cheered, almost spilling her popcorn bowl.

“Are you sure, my Lady?” Alix didn’t have to be on site to tell that Chat Noir’s heart was beating faster than usual; the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smile, as though his excitement could make her change her mind.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I really want you to know.” In case something happens to me, Alix was pretty sure her friend had left unsaid.

“Okay, okay.” Chat Noir took a deep breath, buzzing with anticipation, so much so that he apparently missed the whole subtext of her previous words. “Do you want to do this now? And how do you want to do it? Do you want me to close my eyes? Are you going to write it on a piece of paper for me to read? Are you going to detransform? Should-”

“I was thinking the latter, and yes, now,” Ladybug said timidly. “Up to you if you want to look or not.”

“For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles without breaking their eye contact, then took another deep breath and closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his lips. “Ready when you are, my Lady.”

“Ok, here goes.” She let out a shaky breath and called off her transformation. The soft pink glow engulfed her and receded, her suit melting away to reveal her true appearance.

“Wow, Marinette, you actually broke out your favourite dress for this? Glad to see all of this isn’t affecting your ability to think straight.” Alix smirked. If her friend had gone home after a long, stressful work day, and found it in her to change and doll herself up to make a good impression on Chat Noir, things couldn’t be that bad. She had to agree that her dress, simple, white, with little red hearts embroidered on it, was perfect for the occasion, though.

“You can open your eyes now, Chaton.” Marinette gave his hands a squeeze.

Chat Noir obliged, blinking slowly as he took in her appearance, her identity, her. Marinette squirmed under his gaze, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts.

“H-Hi,” she stammered when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I, erm, I guess I should introduce myself? We’ve run into each other before, when we were younger, and even if you actually had lunch with my family that one time, I guess it’s been a while… My name is-”

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Chat’s smile finally broke free, spread from ear to ear, almost literally illuminating his face. Alix wondered if anything could ever wipe it off. Love and admiration twinkled in his eyes as he picked her up and started spinning her. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling giddily, before Chat Noir closed the gap between their lips.

Bunnyx modestly looked away, allowing them to have their moment. Her eyes landed on a rerun of Plagg putting an end to the dinosaurs’ reign.

“I should have known that it was you, Princess.” Chat panted slightly as he carefully set Marinette back on the roof. “Everything makes so much more sense now, I-”

“Before you finish that thought, I can’t know your identity.” She placed her index finger on his lips. “Yet, of course.”

“What?” Chat froze, and so did Bunnyx, her hand pausing midway between the popcorn bowl and her mouth. “But why?”

“I don’t know what might happen to me, but I don’t want to put you in any danger.” Marinette cupped his cheek. “And I don’t want to lose my memories of you. Of us.”

“Oh for Kwami’s sake.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Boo!” She threw a fistful of popcorn at the screen as her friend continued to list all the reasons Chat couldn’t reveal his identity.

“My Lady, Marinette, if you’re worried about your safety, maybe we should do something about it. I could move in with you, or in a flat nearby, maybe, stay transformed or wear a mask at all times so you don’t know who I am, we can figure it out… Of course I know you can protect yourself, but I could stand guard while you sleep, or...” Chat raked his hand through his hair as he thought.

“You know I love you, Chaton, and that’s why I can’t let you do that! You can’t live like that, I can’t ask that of you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me, do you really think I could resist having you so close, and not trying to get a glimpse of who you are?” She joked, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.

“Then we need to get you a bodyguard,” he insisted.

“I thought about it, but… Well, I can’t really afford it, and how could I justify suddenly needing personal security? I’m just a designer, and nothing I’ve ever done has been avant-garde enough that I should be worried about my safety.” She shook her head.

“Damn, I knew I should have targeted Chat Noir,” Alix swore under her breath. “He would’ve had to reveal his identity, and she definitely wouldn’t have been a pushover on her kitty’s protection matter. Come on Adrien, do something.”

She could tell that he was up to something just by looking at him. He’d been silent for a little too long for it to be natural. Cogs turned in his head, making him squint. He let go of her completely and paced around the roof, almost pulling his hair out as he did so. Alix sensed that whatever was on his mind was going to be big. She leaned forwards in anticipation.

Finally, Chat Noir came to a halt in front of Marinette, the fever in his eyes and his dishevelled hair making him look slightly unhinged.

“Buguinette, I think I’ve got a solution,” he whispered.

“You do?” Marinette’s voice was full of hope, although she looked slightly concerned about him.

“You’re probably not going to like it,” he warned her, lifting a finger.

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged, taking a step forward.

“Right.” He gave her one last look, an opportunity to stop him before the words tumbled out. She nodded encouragingly. “Okay, here’s the thing. I have it on very good authority that Adrien Agreste is being pressured into getting married by his father.”

“I see Gabriel’s just as delightful as always,” Marinette shook her head.

“Unlike good cheese, he definitely doesn’t get better with time.” Chat smiled bitterly, eyes losing focus a little.

“What’s it got to do with us, though?” Marinette prompted, placing a hand on his arm.

“Oh, Agreste, you absolute genius, I think I know where this is going.” Alix took another handful of popcorn.

“Oh, yes, right.” He cleared his throat. “See, Adrien’s not dating anyone at the moment…” Right, Alix snorted. “And he’s not really planning on starting a relationship with his father breathing down his neck, but, well, he happens to owe me a favour, and I’m sure that he’d be more than happy to put his security detail to good use…”

“So you’re suggesting that I marry Adrien.” Marinette deadpanned.

“Well, er, I actually thought you could just date, but thinking about it… It would be less strange for you to request a bodyguard if your relationship was more serious…” He trailed off.

Alix was impressed by how well he concealed his emotions. His poker face was truly exceptional.

“And you think Adrien would be ready to marry me because of a favour he owes you?” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips and squinting at him as she tried to pick at his lie.

Alix winced for Chat. Maybe he should have waited a bit before blurting out the (as it turned out) probably only sane option in that situation so he could work out all of the details for himself. Marinette was very good at trying to shake plans to see how solid their foundations were.

“Please. Adrien had a crush on you when you were younger, if anything I could probably smuggle it as another favour, given how perfect the fake scenario would be. Although I guess that since you also liked him… It might just cancel out.” He tapped his lip pensively.

“Adrien had a crush on me?” Marinette frowned. “Oh, you must mean Ladybug. I think Nino mentioned it once.”

“Well, yes, but he also had one on you, Marinette.” Chat stepped forward, mischief twinkling in his eyes as he poked her on the nose.

“Really, now,” she muttered to herself.

“The main reason he didn’t act on it was that he thought you loved somebody else.” Chat smiled ironically.

“Wow, what a pair of idiots.” Marinette chuckled.

“You don’t know the half of it.” He kissed her forehead.

“But you know what?” Marinette didn’t pick up on her partner’s comment. “I’m actually glad we didn’t get together. It probably would have delayed us getting together.” She pressed a peck to his lips. “If we’d gotten together at all in that timeline.” She smirked.

Alix snorted. Out of all the timelines she’d watched unfold in an attempt to keep things in check, there wasn’t a single one where Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, didn’t end up together, and not just because of her interventions to help them, and the rest of the planet, stay alive.

Marinette’s face fell at Chat Noir’s lack of response. Alix knew her friend didn’t particularly believe in soulmates, but she understood that she would have liked a sappy Chat Noir special comment on how he’d told her he’d grow onto her anyway, and that she would have soon discovered that the Agreste boy had nothing on him. She assumed that he was too busy restraining himself from saying the wrong thing.

“Actually… What about us, then?” Marinette cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes glistening slightly in the half light.

“My Lady… If you really think that you being a divorcée will spur me away…” Chat Noir looked down at their entwined hands, locks of blond hair falling in front of his eyes, concealing his giddy smile from her. You sneaky cat, Alix thought.

Marinette followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh as she watched their hands sway lightly. Alix knew her brain was probably trying to find all the flaws in the plan. She crossed her fingers, hoping that it would be enough for her friend to accept. It was perfect, whether they got their act together and figured everything out before the event, or not.

“Fine,” Marinette finally said with resolve, making Alix mentally thank whoever was out there. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”

“Anything, my love.” Chat let out a sigh of relief.

“Firstly, we’re honest with Adrien from the get go. No lying about anything.” Chat nodded along. “Secondly, we get cracking on finding Hawkmoth, and after we do and the divorce is settled, if we even get that far with Adrien because obviously if everything is settled before the wedding we won’t be going through the whole plan…” Chat smiled fondly as she took a deep breath. “After all that, we are getting married.” She gestured between the both of them.

“My Lady, are you proposing to me right meow?” Chat Noir all but purred.

“I guess so.” Marinette shrugged, a smile and a blush spreading on her cheeks.

“Wow, then, I’m definitely putting Adrien in charge of the proposal planning,” he replied with a smirk.

“Chaton!” She stomped her foot, her mildly amused smile cancelling out her frown.

“What?” He teased her.

“Will you? Marry me?” She held his gaze.

“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled. “You know, my Lady, I’m pretty sure that, in my head, we’ve been married since that speech you gave on the Eiffel Tower during our very first fight. Well, I’ve been married to you; you do whatever you please.”

“You’re such a dork,” Marinette laughed, brushing her nose against his and throwing her arms around his neck.

“And yet you still love me.” He pulled her closer.

“Unfortunately, I do,” she sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to his lips.

Alix dismissed the screen. She’d seen what she wanted, and it seemed like a good place to stop; a happy, sappy ending. Also, she’d finished all of her popcorn.

Everything was on track, her friends would start their Hawkmoth hunt, and soon everybody in Paris would be able to live without fear of their own negative emotions.

(Of course, that was the theory; she’d soon find out that she’d underestimated Adrien’s will to organise the perfect wedding for Marinette, and that, my friends, was no small oversight.)

#miraculous ladybug #the miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #ml #mlb #miraculous fanfiction #miraculous fanfic #miraculous fanart #alix kubdel #bunnyx #ladynoir #ladybug #chat noir #half-reveal #one-sided reveal #aged-up characters #elle writes #elle sketches #yccom

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aros001 · 3 years ago

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First time read through light novel vol. 5.

STOP BITING YOUR DAMN FINGERS!!!

“—If you have decided to fight, fight with all your body and soul. Forget all pretty words that lead to defeat. Hunger and thirst for victory using any means necessary. If you can still stand, if you can still move a single finger, if your fangs have not yet been broken, stand. Stand. Get up, get up, and attack. So long as you live, fight. Fight, fight, fight!”

In my last post I commented on how Subaru, if he wanted to be closer to Emilia, had ironically already learned the way during one of his previous loops; that instead of grandstanding and white knighting for her he could have just been her friend like she wanted. This reminds me a little of that, because we have seen Subaru fight with everything he has, not even entertaining Return By Death as an option for if he should fail. The fight against Elsa applies but I'm mainly thinking of when he faced off against the Shaman. He did everything he possibly could in that battle, fighting and struggling until the very end even when it was clear he couldn't win, not even allowing himself to think of failing because of what could happen to Rem and Ram. That's the interesting thing about Subaru. He has already had times where he's proved his worth and his value to others. But he's so caught up in the fantasy that he either doesn't see it himself or it's not enough for him.

This has nothing to do with anything, just that after reading Wilhelm in this book I love it so much that he and Sebas (from Overlord) are friends in Isekai Quartet. I want to see Wilhelm gushing about his wife and Sebas gushing about Tuare to each other.

As was typical, there were few that Emilia could count on, and she had enemies numbering beyond reason. In such circumstances, who would take her side without some kind of ulterior motive?

The answer was no one. After all, there was nobody currently at her side who would be her staunch ally.

She had left behind the one who would have.

No doubt, when Emilia realized that, she would regret what she had done. That was why—

Subaru lifted his head and murmured with determination, “I’ve...got to go save her, don’t I?”

....

In the carriage, he silently let the time pass, alone.

With the exception of Rem in the driver’s seat, he was isolated in that place, unable to sense the presence of any other.

—And he never noticed the faint twisting of his lips.

Oh ho! Ominous! But in seriousness, I do like what the narration is doing throughout this book and showing how somewhat twisted Subaru is becoming, to the point that he's happy something bad might be about to happen to the woman he loves just so he'll have an opportunity to try and save her again. Or that he can't be happy that Otto approves of Emilia trying to become king, because at the moment he sees his value as being the "only" person truly on her side; a mindset that's threatened by others who believe in her. Subaru, I believe, is a good guy, but obsession and entitlement can easily turn a good man bad. And yes, I am thinking of Star Wars.

I think I remember seeing fanart that made fun of how little of season 1 Otto was in.

All at once, the figures faced Subaru and reverently bowed their heads to him.

“—Ah?”

Subaru’s brain was unable to process the scene before him.

The incomprehensible band that had emerged was paying Subaru respect for reasons unknown, and leaving him behind in his confusion, they began sliding out of sight.

Given the narration implies they went after Otto after sparing him, I'm curious what specifically they noticed about Subaru; the witch's scent or his mental state?

If he could voice the possibility that he’d lost the girl he cared for and the possibility his own heart could break, then why not offer up a sacrifice so that he wouldn’t have to?

As much as I ship Subaru and Rem, I do like this bit. Him saying Rem's name and wondering over her fate because he can't bare to think about what might have happened to Emilia. He cares about Rem but clearly it'd be easier for him to accept something terrible happening to her over Emilia. Naturally though, I do like his horror at finding Rem's dead body, the narration talking about everything he'd come to like about her and that she was just starting to like herself.

I remember in the anime the scene that scared me the most was when Subaru gets flash-frozen. Obviously being frozen that much would kill you but this is a world of magic, so for all I knew it was going to be a Medusa situation (only with ice instead of stone) and Subaru wouldn't be able to RBD because he technically wasn't alive. It's a weird sensation, feeling relieved as you watch a man's body shatter like glass.

Thanks to Rem’s tireless efforts, the store had sold its merchandise nicely, and the shopkeeper, in quite high spirits, seemed inclined to give them a souvenir. He was asking how many abbles Subaru wanted to take with him, and she remembered him answering, “How ’bout all of ’em?”

The very next moment, his demeanor abruptly changed, and he fell limply onto the street. When Rem sat him up, he seemed so overcome by sadness and tears of joy that he kept laughing.

Beyond his own constant deaths and seeing the deaths of everyone he loves, the thing I felt the most sorry for Subaru for is how his RBD looks to everyone else. For us the audience we know what he's been through but for them it must look like he's either a whiner or completely crazy, with only his harsh emotional state giving them any reason to believe anything is actually wrong and that he's not just fragile.

So is it because the witch cult attacked her village that Rem is so sensitive to the scent of the witch or is it something else about her? Because she says even Ram can't catch the smell like she can, so I'm assuming it's not just a demon thing (though I suppose Ram doesn't have her horn, so maybe it could be), and she even says very few beings can detect the presence in general.

There are even more good parallels between Subaru and Rem in this book, but also some nice contrasts that come with them. She also wants Subaru all to herself and is jealous of all the others in his life, like he's starting to be with Emilia, but she keeps herself from being too possessive over him, even finding a lot of things she likes in his relationships with others. She even toys with the idea of running away with him, which I like given what I assume is going to be happening next volume. It's something she's considered and wanted even before Subaru's offer and shows that such a thing is very tempting for her. But she turns herself away from the idea, both to not abandon her sister and for Subaru's own sake as well.

I do like that any issues Rem has with Emilia are not just because Subaru loves Emilia. It's a factor, certainly, but there were issues before he ever even came into the picture because of Emilia's resemblance to the Witch of Envy. Even Rem acknowledges to herself that her feelings are irrational and unfair, because Emilia herself has done nothing wrong, but the witch cult still made any connections to the witch such a personal thing to her. I helps me understand the rest of this world a little better, given how near everyone is prejudiced against Emilia because of the witch. While it's irrational, that's exactly what great pain and tragedy cause.

I think the implication with Subaru's madness wasn't necessarily that he was faking it but that he willingly dove into the madness so that he could escape from reality and was actively fighting against returning to sanity. Not only were his reactions too genuine most of the time but I feel like either Ferris or Wilhelm would have called him out if he was completely faking it. Someone besides just Petelgeuse would have noticed. His experience from the first loop caused him to crack and he chose to stay broken so that he could be pitied and not have to deal with the world anymore.

Even though their hands were together, their hearts were at opposite poles.

Subaru Natsuki’s heart was tempted far into that deep, deep, dark abyss—

Holy shit, I love that line and image.

Nothing much else to say other than that I am SO happy Subaru and Crusch's talk over drinks seems to have been before the save point, so RBD didn't erase it. She might be one of my favorite non-mansion characters so far and the small relationship the two have built I don't want to see lost.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gq1uao/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_5/

#re:zero #random thoughts #reddit repost

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antpelts · 4 years ago

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multiples of 1 for the wc asks :]

;;;; jgfdlkgjdl puts this under a cut bc itll be so long but,, ty

1. what color is scourge’s collar?

i think like.. idk i never really cared too much but my brain always went to red or purple i wasnt picky tho fkgkdfklgj

2. top 5 the prophecies begin characters

oh.. okay like.. im not gonna go thru everything otherwise i probably wouldnt be able to pick but! these also arent in order

1. bluestar absolutely.. god i love her sm;; ive already rambled about her to you but she makes me fucking ache sm 2. brackenfur/thornclaw gonna put these boys together here because like i liked both of them for.. almost no reason? FDGDFGDF idk!! i think i liked thornclaw just a bit more but.. my boys!! 3. cinderpelt ... no explanation required <3 no just.. yeah ;_; i cry over her so much just.. like.. the tragedy to like her accepting and loving herself and becoming an amazing med cat and and ;;;;;;;;; i love her 4. tallstar and crookedstar..... leaders of my two fav clans.... need i say more <3 (ive also told you about these two and why i like them ;; both their books made me cry) 5. barley and ravenpaw ...... yeah ;_; <3

special mention for littlecloud and runningnose.. i loved them-- OKAY I NEED TO STOP IM AT WAY MORE THAN FIVE

3. should hollyleaf have had a power?

i say no!! the fucking.. tragedy of it all.. like its been a while since i read but fuck dude the like.. feelings of uselessness that must come with that but like shes a fucking complete cat either way and when she comes back and fucking sAVES IVYPOOL OH IM MAKING MYSELF TEAR UP shes AMAZING and did not need a power

4. millie or silverstream?

both! ;_; they dont need to fight. tho i think i did like silverstream more at first i dont think i ever hated millie like others

5. favorite forbidden romance

oh god lmao gonna only go with canon stuff [side eyes moth/leaf] buttttttt i mean ;; bluestar and oakheart ;; itll always make me ache yknow.. -- WAIT CAN I ADD CLOUDTAIL AND BRIGHTHEART TO FAV CATS TOO ILL CRY OVER THEM SOBS... -- uhhhhhh i never super liked leaf/crow just.. shrugs. ig it wasnt forbidden but stormfur staying with the tribe for brooke.. ;;;;;;; and to stay where feathertail died.. GOD ;_; yeah.. idk does tall/jake count ;;;

6. favorite sss warriors design

tbh i didnt really watch sss warriors but we love a nice just.. orange boy firestar :3

7. realistic or sparkle designs for roleplay?

its about balance........ ive had both! i liked leaning towards realistic but to this day id say i fall between like.. not realistic wrt genetics but making designs that Seem plausible at least

8. first deviantart username

oh god i dont remember prolly something like.. with mossmask in it

9. favorite crack ship (ex. revengeshipping)

it.. Was revenge shipping but like i never knew the crack ships klfgjkfdlgj :sob: yeah tgat was the only one i like ever saw so

10. describe your first warriors oc

technically.. jaymoss who i dont remember much? gray tabby? very quickly was revamped into/replaced by mossmask who to this day is who i consider my first oc and sona.. theyre a calico :3

11. favorite amv prior to 2014?

oh god ill have to look.. hm okay so.. bones shatter was a fucking CLASSIC i loved it okay.. so off the top of my head here we go.. the one firegray one of course and bonus this firegray one too klfdgjdklfg AND I LOVED THIS ONE FUCKING ASHFUR FAIRYTALE i wanted to have art like that for a few months i tried to emulate it lkjgldkfgj and god i loved duckfeatherz stuff.. the why did you change one... AND THE SWIFT AND BRIGHT ONE FDGJDFLGK FUCKING [SCREAMING CAT] GOD I LOVED IT.. ;;;;; fuckin.. god.. they ..... ;; [IM WATCHING IT RN FUCKING THEY AND NOSTALGIA ILL CRY] okay okay fucking of course obligatory [what if ashfur wanted to break] of course god 9 year old me loved it.. kfdjgkdfg OH AND THIS ONE BROUGHT BACK SO MANY MEMORIES IMMEDIATELY.. SCOURGES FLAWED DESIGN YES KDLSFJSDKL and god.. ashfurs hurt.. i watched this so much the voice acting in amvs god yes... I STILL THINK OF THIS SONG AT RANDOM EVEN THO I NEVER LISTENED TO IT OUTSIDE OF THIS VIDEO!!!! THE FUCKING LKJFLKFJGDLKG !!!!!!! AHHHHHH fucKING AHH [HELP ME HELP YOU] [IT HURTS WHEN UR LONELY AND IM STANDING RIGHT BESIDE YOU AND IT HURT WHEN YOU TOLD M--] [ITS JUST A MATTER OF HOW MUCH U LET IT SLIDE!!!!!!!!] [HOPE U NEVER HURT HOPE YA NEVER CR--] GHFGHFG GOD ;;;; like i hate ashfur being a bitch but i loveddddd this amv :sob: also.. leafpool is sober of crowfeather i ;;; this song gets me to this day also i viscerally remember the voice acting god kljfg i loved this one so much.. i still think of tigerclaw is not one of thunderclan sometimes too klfjgdfg and,, okay

i hate to pick a favorite but i feel like this one changed the trajectory of Me...... like ive always loved the song but this amv cemented it as like one of my songs of all time and i loved the designs and video and... literally i love this one so.... of course... ashfur - mr brightside.. my fucking BELOVED

12. is brambleclaw a good main character?

i read the books like so young i hear he got shittier? like.. i liked him when i was like.. 10-13 reading the books i liked all the journey cats tbh so

13. rank the clans (excluding skyclan, including bloodclan)

windlcan/riverclan shadowclan thunderclan bloodclan

in my opinion <3

14. dovewing or ivypool?

i like.. liked ivypool a lot.. maybe related to her <3 but.. i like them both a lot up to where i read at Least

15. daisy: yay or nay?

i liked her!

16. did you ever use fanart as your pc wallpaper?

yes. including my own <3

17. what would your warrior name be and what clan would you belong to?

mossmask <3 of course <3 [rolling eyes] half clan river and windclan kljgdfklgj yeah.. could never pick.. honestly i mean.. shadowclan grew on me recently but in my mind.. mixed clan and it goes between whether moss would be wind or river

18. favorite medicine cat? (cutoff being oots)

ughhhh idk i liked a lot of em ;; runningnose cinderpelt brambleberry yellowfang.... thats without looking it up so <3

19. did you name/want to name a pet after a character?

i wanted to! never did.. still might name a cat moss in honor of mossmask

20. swiftpaw, gorsepaw, or shrewpaw?

swiftpaw.. like i dont remember the other two as much in my mind and swiftpaw really got to me as a kid ;;

#kkamikazed #beep #evan.txt #blease send asks #ty beep ;;

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mrslittletall · 4 years ago

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Title: Off Balance (Chapter 8) Fandom: Hollow Knight Characters: The Pale King/The White Lady, The Pure Vessel, Herrah, Quirrel, The Five Great Knights Word Count: 7.756 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805333/chapters/59596573 Previous chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/618553918352441344/title-off-balance-chapter-7-fandom-hollow

Summary: After returning from Deepnest the Pale King gets confronted by his knights about Hollow.

(Author's note: This chapters are getting longer and longer, and while this one doesn't match the length of chapter 7, it still is pretty huge. I just have so much to tell! One of the scenes in here I actually had planned far earlier, but only now felt like the right time to include it.

By the way, I can't believe that you all like Homewrecker Herrah as much as me and I even got some fanart, drawn by @ninvic-0. Thank you very much!)

“Nobody.”, Hollow signed, the way they sorted out their shaky fingers the Pale King had to assume they weren't exactly truthful.

“Hollow, are you lying to me?”, he asked.

Hollow flinched and then shook their head, also raising their hands to sign out the word no.

While the Pale King had some doubts, there wasn't exactly any reason for Hollow to lie to him. Maybe nobody had taught this word to them and they simply had overheard it somewhere. He was even a bit proud that they stood up to him, if they were truthful or not, it was a big step on their way to becoming their own person.

“Fine, I believe you. You have no reason to lie to me.”, the Pale King said. “I just want to say, you can't toss this word around like that. The relationship between Herrah and me was political and not-”

The Pale King stopped talking when Herrah entered the room and said: “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing.”, the Pale King said without hesitation and he saw Hollow cock their head in a way that felt like they were judging him. He just didn't want to explain to Herrah that Hollow had called her a homewrecker, he would never hear the end of it.

“Say, Hollow, did you have fun today?”, Herrah said and Hollow nodded enthusiastically, the Pale King extended one arm and pulled them back into place by tugging at their robe when they threatened to fall over.

“It seems like there is some hope for you, Wyrm.”, Herrah said.

Hollow signed a few words and Herrah glanced to the Pale King for a translation. “They want to know if they can say goodbye to their sister.”, he said.

“Sure, why not.”, Herrah said. “She seems to like Hollow already. However, she is sleeping at the moment and I don't want to lay her down again, so they have to be as quiet as possible.”

“I was trained to be quiet.”, Hollow signed and stood up, walking over to Herrah with an upbeat step.

“What have they said?”, Herrah asked and the Pale King felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead.

“Uh, that they will be sure not to wake Hornet up.”, he said.

“Then come.”, Herrah said and took Hollow's arm. The Pale King followed them in some distance, doubting that Herrah would let him into the baby's room, his light was too bright.

Indeed, Herrah stopped him at the doorway and gestured only for Hollow to go insight. “She is sleeping in the crib.”, she said. The Pale King narrowed his eyes and tried to see in the dark, seeing a red bundle sleeping soundly in the aforementioned crib. The floor of the room was littered with toys, which made the Pale King wonder if he should get Hollow any toys. Technically, their body was too old to be considered playing with grub toys, but they never had been allowed to be a little grub. He wondered what kind of toys Hollow would like.

Hollow went over to the crib and proofed their skills to be quiet, by barely making any sound. They looked down at Hornet for a minute or two and then tucked the baby in, not unlike the Pale King used to tuck them in whenever he brought them to bed. The baby cooed and grabbed on the blankets. Hollow stood there a few seconds longer, probably enraptured before they went back to the door.

After all three of them were back in the visitor area, Hollow signed: “Can sister come visit us?”

“They want to know if Hornet can come visit us in the palace.”, the Pale King translated, fearing that the answer would be negative.

“I consider it.”, Herrah said, to the Pale King's surprise. “Hornet seems to like you and the thought of the wyrm dragging you through Deepnest again makes my exoskeleton crawl.”

The Pale King flinched under her words, while Hollow clapped their hands together in excitement. The Pale King had to admit, he was rather glad about Herrah maybe allowing Hornet to come visit him, as with Hollow, he had tried to stay distant, but he rather cared for the the little spiderling that was also his daughter. Besides, he had the feeling his Root would like to see the little energetic bundle too.

“You have our thanks for your hospitality, Herrah.”, the Pale King said and gave her a bow, if she liked or not.

“Yeah, yeah, cut all that court stuff.”, Herrah said, “Before you leave, make sure that your child is fine and that all of their needs are met. And please, consider to not leading them through Deepnest to the tram again. Take the stag station instead.”

“Speaking of the tram, what is holding up the construction of the station near your den, Herrah?”, the Pale King asked.

“Oh, my citizens simply told them that they don't like the idea.”, Herrah said and her voice betrayed a smirk under her mask. The Pale King froze, that meant that there probably were heavy attacks against the workers. He made a mental note to break off the works, at least until the relationship with Deepnest had stabilized. He had enough victims on his hands already.

After making sure that Hollow was ready to go, they said their goodbyes to Herrah and left the den. The Pale King took the few steps that would lead them to the stag station and then had to stop, anxiety rising in his chest at the though of having to alight at the busy station near the White Palace as well as some nausea rising up in him. “Ugh, I don't think I can do this...”, he said, Hollow staring at him with eyeholes that seemed to display concern.

After the Pale King had calmed down, Hollow had been a great help, buy sitting him down and holding his claw in their hand, they signed: “Father. We can leave with tram. I can do it.”

“Thank you, Hollow.”, the Pale King said, getting up. “This time I won't lose you, I promise.”

As they once again crossed Deepnest, making a break at the bench near the hot spring, Hollow signed: “Father, why do you not like stag station?”

“Different reasons.”, the Pale King replied. “Mostly too many bugs. They make me nervous. I prefer worship from far away, not up close. Then, the stags themselves. They don't like the trams. I feel judged by them.”

Hollow signed: “That is all?”

“...you got me.”, the Pale King said. “The first time I rode on the stags after establishing them, I got really really sick. It wasn't... one of my most elegant moments.”

Hollow put their hand over the part of their mask where there mouth would be and made a movement that could be considered a chuckle, one that wasn't heard of course.

“I am just glad my Root was with me to shield me from any curious views.”, the Pale King said, trailing along one of his prongs. “Come, Hollow, let's continue.”

A walk later the both of them were back in the tram and Hollow had pretty much instantly fallen asleep, leaning against the form of the Pale King, clinging to his arm. It was kind of adorable and so the Pale King didn't dare to move, to not wake them while the tram approached their destination. It had been a long day for them and they must have been very exhausted. Besides, he didn't want to wake them, they looked so peaceful sleeping leaned against him, he still could hardly fathom how they could put so much trust in him.

Though, with nobody to talk to, the Pale King lapsed into thoughts, especially all the things that Herrah had said to him. She had been right with every single sentence, it had felt like he was stabbed by several nails at once, but he knew that she was right. How much his distance had hurt Hollow, how dumb he had been to believe that he could create an empty being, in short, what an awful father he had been to them. He looked down at their sleeping form and softly caressed one of their horns. He wanted to make it up to them, but he had the feeling that he could never make up the emotional (and physical, when he thought about the path of pain) abuse he had put them through.

He still planned to do his very best to at least be a good father to them now and to not making them cry again. Which... had happened just today when he had lost them at Deepnest and they had been so shaken and scared and then he had collapsed in front of them and they had to take care of him. The already tight feeling in the Pale King's chest only got tighter and he had to take a deep breath to avoid falling into a full blown panic.

The rest of the ride the Pale King studied Hollow's sleeping body, they couldn't close the eyes in their shell, but he could see the regular heaving of their chest, indicating that they indeed were fast asleep and not dead. He had seen enough dead vessels already and he didn't want to be Hollow one of them and he seriously needed to stop thinking about the bodies in the abyss. He blamed the shape that looked like a vessel he had seen in Nosk's lair.

The tram came to a stop and the doors slid open. As much as it pained the Pale King, he had to wake up Hollow so that they could walk back to him with the palace, but they were dead out, not reacting to him gently nudging them at all. Instead of trying further to wake them, the Pale King lifted them up to carry them on his back. They seemed to sense the shift in posture, because he could feel their arms wrapping around him, laying their head on his shoulder.

“Don't worry, Hollow, it is only a short walk and then we can get you to bed.”, the Pale King said in a soft voice, not that his voice ever had been loud, but it was barely above a whisper.

The Pale King hadn't even covered half the distance to the palace when Hollow on his back stirred, raised their head and then pretty much shot up, losing their balance and making the Pale King trip, having a rather painful impact with the ground because his hands had been busy holding Hollow and he didn't exactly had thought about his extra hands hidden under the robe. He briefly wondered if that was how Hollow felt all the time.

As he turned around, he saw Hollow signing “Sorry sorry sorry” over and over again, like back in Deepnest.

“Stop this.”, he said and they stopped in an instant. “Are you hurt, Hollow?”

They slowly shook their head and then raised a shaky hand to point at him or more precisely, at his forehead. As the Pale King raised his own hand to check it out, he noticed a bit of his white blood on his claws. “That won't be any trouble.”, the Pale King said and focused his soul to heal the minor injury in mere seconds. “See, nothing bad happened. Can you walk?”

Hollow slowly nodded and then got up, coming closer to him, but not moving any further, pretty much standing there as still as a statue.

“...Do you want to take my hand?”, the Pale King said and offered it to his child. Said child finally started to move and took it into its own one. As the Pale King continued walking, with Hollow in tow, he wondered why they just hadn't asked to hold his hand, but of course, it was because they weren't used to voice their own desires. He had to tell them that they never had to feel bad for wanting physical contact with their parents. He was sure that his Root would wholeheartedly agree.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. In front of the palace some of the royal retainers bowed to the both of them and then hurried to carry out their duties. Not deep into the palace the Pale King could spot the White Lady.

“How has your trip been, you two?”, the White Lady asked and then frowned as she noticed the state of both of their robes, clearly being stitched with spider silk. “Did something happen?”

“I'll tell you later, Root.”, the Pale King said. “For now, I need to take care of Hollow. Let some tea and snacks be delivered by the retainers, we meet on the balcony.”

The White Lady nodded and looked after the both of them until they were out of sight. While the Pale King had preferred to get Hollow into bed right away, there was another thing he needed to do first, so he led them to his workshop.

As they entered and Hollow cocked their head in that questioning way, he sat them down on his chair. “Your foot.”, he said. “I need to take care of it. Don't move.”

After he had said that, he went to search through the mess of paper and tablets he had scattered in his work shop, trying to repurpose the sealing spell, until he finally found a bottle with some void. As he returned to Hollow, they sat there as stiff as a statue, literally not moving.

“You can relax, Hollow.”, the Pale King said. “I just wanted for you to not leave the chair.”

Hollow's posture relaxed at once and it felt like they released a breath they had been holding, making the Pale King frown. They had tried so hard to be the Vessel, that they even tortured themselves.

“Show me your foot.”, the Pale King said and they lifted the injured foot. The Pale King had noticed that they had limped with that foot since they had left the tram, the soul bandage could only prevent the injury from leaking, but not heal it. The Pale King dispelled the soul bandage and coated the foot in void.

Their body went to work right away and absorbed the void into it, filling the cut and only leaving smoothness behind. “There.”, the Pale King said. “Soul can't heal void, but void can. Now, let's get you to bed.”

Hollow, who had looked at their foot and seemed to be fascinated, touching and testing the healed area, nodded and slid off the chair, almost falling over in the process.

“Easy there.”, the Pale King said, laying a hand on their shoulder and gently guiding them out of the room. “You need some sleep.”

Arrived at their room, Hollow slipped out of their robes, carefully hanging it over the nearest chair before walking to their bed and slipping under the blankets. The Pale King followed them, glancing at the robe, they surely needed a replacement, and sat down at the edge of their bed.

“Good night, Hollow.”, the Pale King said, stroking their horn. Hollow didn't even react anymore, they had fallen asleep instantly, indicating just how exhausted they must have been. The Pale King tucked them in and watched them for a few more minutes, his tail swinging around as he recalled the events of the days and how scared he had been at losing them. He only stopped the nervous swinging when his tail got caught at something under the bed. The Pale King carefully got up and lowered himself to his knees to look under the bed. His natural light revealed several books.

With his curiosity piqued, the Pale King grabbed one of the books, maybe that has been how Hollow had taught themselves to read and write, but the book he was pulling out from under the bed wasn't an educational book. Instead, it was a cheesy romance story.

The Pale King opened the book to read the summary which only confirmed that it was a romance story full of cliches and when he went to investigate the other books, they all turned out to be equally cheesy romance novels.

“Huh, so that is where they learned the word...”, the Pale King said and put the books back under the bed. He didn't had a clue while Hollow was hiding them, they weren't from the “adult sort”, in fact, he was a bit glad that they did something without him knowing, but he didn't want to let them get the impression he wouldn't approve of their lecture, even though he had the feeling he should introduce them to a bit more... better books.

The Pale King got up and gave Hollow's horn a last stroke before he left the room, intending to meet up with his Root. As he was on his way to his own quarters first, to put on a not torn robe, he was approached by two of his great knights, Ogrim and Isma.

“Oh, you are back.”, he said. “Can you give us our reports tomorrow? Our queen is waiting for us.”

“It isn't about the report.”, Ogrim said. “We already gave it to the queen, she can inform you, your highness. We wanted to ask about the Hollow Knight.”

The Pale King flinched, physically flinched and hoped that it hadn't been too obvious.

“What about them?”, he asked.

“...We know that they couldn't continue their training with us because of their balance problems.”, Isma said. “But their balance problems are a lot better and we believe we could teach them to keep their balance while fighting better, however...”

Isma glanced to Ogrim who continued: “You have started to treat the Hollow Knight differently. It started with them taking in their meals with you and the queen and they have this lessons with Lady Monomon's assistant and right now we have seen you entering their room while guiding them...”

“Your majesty.”, Isma said, her voice firm and steady. “We have talked with the Royal Retainers in our absence and they told us that you were treating the Hollow Knight more like an heir than a weapon. We would like to know that the meaning of this is.”

The Pale King flinched a tiny little bit before regaining his composure, he couldn't falter in front of his knights. He knew that it would have come to this, his knights would liked to have some answers, while the supposed weapon against the infection wasn't treated as such anymore.

“We believe that you deserve an answer.”, the Pale King said. “All of the five knights. Come see us tomorrow one hour after breakfast. We will tell you everything.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”, Isma said and bowed. Ogrim joined her bow and added: “We will inform Hegemol, Ze'mer and Dryya of your summoning.”

“You are dismissed.”, the Pale King murmured, heart feeling heavy in his chest. That would feel awkward having to explain to the knights what he had almost done to his own child.

Not long after this conversation, the Pale King had put on some fresh robes and joined his Root on their favourite balcony, where she was waiting with tea and pastry, the smell truly wonderful in comparison with Herrah's indefinable Deepnest cookies.

He sat down next to the White Lady, who poured him a cup of tea and smiled at him: “There you are, my Wyrm.”

“Thank you, my Root.”, he said, taking a sip from the still steaming hot tea, calming down a bit. “You surely want to hear about our trip.”

“Mostly I want to know why your robes have been all torn.”, the White Lady said, picking up some pastry to nibble on while her other branch rested on his shoulder.

“...I lost Hollow to Deepnest.”, the Pale King said, staring in his tea cup which he held with both of his hands. He could feel how his Root's touch hardened. “It wasn't on purpose, of course!”, he quickly said. “However, when I was searching for them, I managed to cross paths with a predator that used their face to lure me into their lair, an infected one on top... I... shouldn't have had trouble to take them down, but because they were using Hollow's face, I was frozen and couldn't fight back...” The Pale King put his tea cup down and buried his face in his hands. “It was Hollow who came to my rescue. It was them who took the predator down. I think they didn't even knew how they did it...”

The Pale King noticed that he had started to shiver and he had slung his tail around his legs several times. The White Lady gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“So that is why your robes were torn.”, she said and then led her branch under the Pale King's robe, investigating the area where the cuts have been. “At least I don't detect any injuries, so you were able to heal yourself.”, she stated.

“Actually...”, the Pale King said, “I was out of soul after the fight, my last reserves were used to bandage up Hollow. They brought me to a hot spring where I could heal up.”

“How was Hollow taking the whole experience?”, the White Lady asked, retracting her branches and giving her husband a hug instead.

“They were scared, but they put their fear away in favour of me and bravely fought the predator. We can truly be proud of their abilities, they are a natural with the nail and with soul, they just lack experience. In a sense, the fight probably was good to hone their abilities, but I feel awful for having lost them in the first place... That.. shouldn't have been their first real fight.”

“The important thing is that both of you are safe.”, the White Lady said and pulled the Pale King a bit closer before picking up a pastry and handing it to him. “Here, my Wyrm, you need to try these, they are surely divine.”

“If a Higher Being says that, I am bound to believe that.”, the Pale King said and tried the pastry, which really had the right amount of sweetness and crispness. He had the feeling that Hollow would love them.

“So, how are Herrah and Hornet?”, the White Lady asked. “I hope Herrah hasn't teased you too much.”

Upon hearing his wife's words, the current bite got stuck in the Pale King's throat and he quickly drank some more tea to avoid choking. The White Lady chuckled at his side, with one of her branches in front of her mouth. “Judging by your reaction, Herrah hasn't minced her words.”

“Not one bit.”, the Pale King confirmed. “At least she was very kind to Hollow. Hollow seemed to enjoy being in her presence and playing with their sister. They even wanted to say goodbye to her. If not for them falling over so much, I could imagine them taking care of Hornet once in a while. The little grub has quite grown since I last saw her... and... she is so warm. I forgot how warm little grubs used to be...”

“Oh, Herrah has let you hold her?”, the White Lady asked.

“It was more that she prompted me to hold her. After all, I am her father... even though she was conceived for a political alliance...”

“Little Hornet reminds me a lot of you, actually.”, the White Lady said. “I hope that Herrah will be fine with her visiting the palace once she is older.”

“She might be.”, the Pale King said. “She hinted that Hornet surely would like to play with Hollow again.”

“I see that your trip was a success then.”, the White Lady smiled.

“It had some bumps, but yes, I assume..”, the Pale King said, taking another sip of the tea. “By the way, Root, have you observed that Hollow became more independent lately?”

“Other than that we don't have to tell them to sit down anymore when we eat together, not much.”, the White Lady said. “It only has been a week, they surely need some more time.”

“I think they already might have broken their dependency on me a bit.”, the Pale King said. “When Herrah took Hornet to lay her down to sleep, they wanted to know the details about how Hornet is related to them and when I explained it to them, they asked me if Herrah is a homewrecker.”

The White Lady stared at him and then broke into a cheerful laugh: “Oh, that is too wonderful, I wonder how Herrah will react when I tell her.”

“Please don't!”, the Pale King put both of his hands into the air in a pleading gesture. “Anyway, I surely haven't taught them this word and you surely haven't taught it to them either.” The White Lady shook her head, confirming it wasn't her.

“Maybe it was their teacher, Quirrel.”, she assumed.

“I thought about asking him too and berating him for teaching our child inappropriate words, but in fact, I found all these cheesy romance novels under her bed.” As the White Lady frowned, he added: “None of the juicy ones, don't worry.”

“So they have secretly read this novels and that is where they have learned the word.”, the White Lady said. “While I don't exactly approve with their choice of literature, that they were choosing it themselves and didn't even told us, is something a child their age usually does. I think we can consider this a breakthrough.”

“I know and I am so glad about it.”, the Pale King sighed and leaned back to cuddle against his Root. “I want them to be happy. It's the least I can do, after I have been such a bad father to them... Especially because they are our last living offspring...” As he felt his Root flinch, he added: “I am sorry, Root, I know you were never fine with the plan, I shouldn't have forced you...”

“Wyrm, what are you talking about?”, the White Lady asked. “You never forced me to have a part in the plan. That I agreed to it was my own conscious decision.”

The Pale King rose from his position and stared at his Root: “It was?”

“...I never told you this, but... our children had a high mortality rate anyway, because they would be hybrids, no matter what we did. I... thought, that it wouldn't be too bad to experiment with them, when half of them died anyway and there would only one of them picked to be the Vessel. I assumed that there would be enough children left for us to love, so that we can forget about the awful sacrifices. I never had anticipated that only one of them would survive...”

“Root.”, the Pale King said, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. “And here I thought all the time that you resented the part of me that went through with the plan...”

“It must have been evem harder for you.”, the White Lady embraced the Pale King and wiped his tears with her sleeve. “You were in the middle of all the experiments, I only sowed my spores and then detached myself.”

The Pale King nestled in his Root's embrace, but his tears didn't stop to fall: “I have let them fall, Root... I did nothing to save them...”

The White Lady replied simply buy pulling him tighter into the hug: “You did what you thought you had to do, my Wyrm...”

“...Compassion would have tainted them.”, he mumbled, feeling how his Root's branches stroked over his back and gently touched his wings, not saying anything anymore, just embracing him, waiting for him to calm down.

After what felt like an eternity had passed, the sobbing of the Pale King ceased and he raised his head, wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve. “When is the last time you cried in my arms?”, the White Lady asked, getting out a handkerchief which she handed to him. The Pale King gratefully accepted it and mumbled: “When I asked you to marry me and you said yes.”

“Are you feeling better now?”, the White Lady asked, which actually gave the Pale King some food for thought. He was still feeling awful for what happened to the Vessel, he was still feeling awful for how he treated Hollow, he still had Herrah's voice ringing in his ears, calling him out on his failings, but for some reason, he felt lighter.

“Yes. In a way.”, he replied and gave his Root her handkerchief back after he had dried his face.

“...Maybe sometimes it is better to cry it out.”, his Root said, breaking the embrace. “Bottling it all up... can't be healthy. For the both of us.”

“You are sounding like Monomon.”, the Pale King said with a chuckle.

“I may have spend some time with her assistant lately.”, the White Lady said. “It surely won't hurt you to see Monomon and talk to her. Oh, and take Hollow with you.”

The Pale King cocked his head as he stared at his wife. “You already have figured this all out, haven't you?”, he said before falling silent again, leaning his head against his Root as he remembered his earlier conversation with the knights. “Root, there is something else...”, he murmured.

“Yes?”, the White Lady asked, her gaze directed on him, worry shining in her blue eyes.

“The knights have caught on that we treat Hollow differently.”, he sighed. “I promised them to tell them the truth the next day.”

“Do you want me to be present?”, his Root asked without hesitation.

“You wouldn't mind?”, the Pale King asked and the White Lady traced one of his prongs.

“Of course. That is a matter that concerns the three of us.”, she said. “Besides, Dryya usually won't leave my side when I am in the palace. She is even guarding the door right now.”

“True.”, the Pale King said, smiling as he thought about Dryya's protectiveness. Dryya would follow his Root at the end of the world and back, so loyal was she and still, she managed to be an individual, with her own feelings, not afraid of speaking her mind, acting as a leader to any troupes she had been assigned to. Secretly the Pale King wished that Hollow could pick up some mannerisms of her, though, that would only made them a copy of Dryya and surely not their own person. Why did parenthood had to be so complicated?

“You had a long day today, so I would like to see you in bed on time.”, the White Lady said as she poured him another cup of tea.

“I was planning to.”, the Pale King said, taking a sip from the tea, already feeling drowsy. Had she used her sleeping spores again? “I can't concentrate on battling the infection today anyway. I heard the knights have given you their reports, how about you tell me about them while we finish this tea?”

After a good night's sleep (definitely sleeping spores, he didn't even had nightmares this time), the Pale King met up with Hollow and informed them of the meeting with the knights, because he wanted them to be present for it. The White Lady also had suggested to get Quirrel in, so that he could easily translate their sign language, which the pill bug gladly agreed to. After they had their breakfast, the Pale King went through what he wanted to say and repeatedly told Hollow to only speak when he prompted them to, as if they wouldn't do it anyway. The hour until the meeting with the knights passed more quickly than the Pale King was comfortable with and he might have had a cup of coffee too much, because on the way to the throne room he was positively jittery.

“I should think twice to let you have coffee before an important meeting.”, the White Lady said. “It makes me wonder if I have two children.”

It had been an attempt at an light hearted joke, but as soon as the words were out, she realized her mistake and her, the Pale King and Hollow looked at the ground rather awkwardly, walking the rest of the way in silence. Only once they entered the throne room, the White Lady spoke again. “Anyway.”, she said, taking her seat next to the Pale King. “Let's give our best that everything will go well.”

“I hope that it will...”, the Pale King said, sitting down on his throne and realizing that once again his tail had curled around his feet. That became a daily occurrence lately. As he still was busy to physically untangle his tail from his legs, he noticed that Hollow had taken their place at his side, standing there as stiff as a statue.

“Um, you can relax, Hollow.”, the Pale King said and then was met with stares of both his child and his wife, noticing that he still had his tail in his hands.

“You are one to talk, dear.”, the White Lady chuckled.

The Pale King quickly let go of his tail which tangled around his legs again and accepted his fate. “Let's get this over with.”, he whispered to himself, looking at Hollow, who still stood stiff next to him and to his Root, who sat on her own throne looking beautiful and regal.

Soon after they all had taken their spots, there was a knock on the door, but it weren't the knights, instead, it was Quirrel, which made the Pale King breath out in relief of having a little more time. Quirrel came in and then stood a little away from Hollow, near enough to see their signing, but far enough to not intrude in their personal space or make him seem associated with the royal family. The Pale King could see him sign a few words to Hollow which he couldn't make out in the moment, Hollow signed something back and then their posture seemed to relax just a tiny bit.

Not even two minutes later a second knock was heard and this time it were the five great knights, Ogrim was the first to enter, followed by Isma and then Dryya. Then Ze'mer entered and the last one to come into was Hegemol. They all lined themselves up and then sank down to their knees. The Pale King rose from his throne and said: “Please rise.”

After all five of them had risen up, the Pale King folded his hands on his back and spoke: “We have asked for your presence at this place at this hour, because both Ogrim and Isma have spoken of some concern to us, regarding the Hollow Knight.” The Pale King gestured to Hollow, which was back to standing as stiff and straight as possible. He noticed that their robes still had the fixed arm of spider silk, there hadn't been enough time to organize them a new one.

“That is correct.”, Ogrim spoke. “Your majesty, from what you have told us, the Hollow Knight is a weapon against the infection, so we have been rather confused as how you have interacted with it lately.”

Isma nodded along to his words and Hegemol and Dryya were whispering to each other while Ze'mer's gaze was entirely locked on Hollow.

“These words have been true, once.”, the Pale King said. “The Hollow Knight had been intended to be our weapon against the infection, more precisely, to contain the infection, sealed away so that it would never be able to threaten our kingdom ever again. However...”, the Pale King took a deep breath before continuing. “We had to realize that the being we thought had been empty had been tainted by our feelings for it... it had started to develop a mind of its own, it had started to feel. After all, we couldn't deny anymore that Hollow is our child.”

There, it was out. He had said it. His Root had been rather positive, but when the Pale King looked at his knights all he could see what shock, across five faces, with the one who was dumbfounded the most being Ogrim.

“...Your majesty.”, Ogrim spoke. “Have you just told us that the weapon against the infection is your own child?”

“Correct.”, the Pale King said, trying to sound as detached as possible, not letting the whirlwind of emotions inside of him showing through. “It was necessary for the Vessel to be a being that was born of a god and void.”

“That is not the point.”, Ogrim spoke and his face darkened, the normally so jolly warrior looked legitimately furious. “The point is, that you planned to sacrifice your own child.”

“Your majesty, is Ogrim correct with his observations?”, Isma asked. “Have you planned to use your own child to fight the infection?” Isma's voice had been calm, but the Pale King couldn't miss how much weight she had given to the word child.

“Yes, unfortunately.”, the Pale King said. “That had been the plan. Though, we don't hold onto this plan anymore. It was bound to fail anyway.”

“So.”, Hegemol spoke from the background, his voice gentle as ever, but a certain shakiness in them. “You are telling us that you experimented on your own child to create the so called Hollow Knight.”

“Yes.”, the Pale King said once again, looking downwards, having trouble to keep eye contact with his knights before raising his head and locking his gaze on all five of them again. “We exposed Hollow to the void, altering their body, however, the void wasn't able to alter their mind. We realized the errors of our ways, Hollow will not be send to contain the infection.”

“Like I already said, that isn't the point.”, Ogrim spoke again, this time his voice was shaking. “The point is. Your majesty, how could you do something that cruel to your own child?!”

The question hit the Pale King as hard as had someone hurled a brick at him. How had he done it? By being sure that the plan would work. By trying to detach himself. By telling himself that no cost would be too great. By trying to convince himself that the impure ones were disposable. In truth, all the dead children from the abyss haunted him in his nightmares, in truth, he had feared so much that he would taint the one pure vessel that had ascended, in truth, he hated what he had done, what he was about to do, but he had to save his kingdom.

“No cost should have been too great so save our kingdom.”, he mumble, reciting that mantra that he had recited to himself over and over again, knowing that there indeed was a cost to great, to his knights.

He could see how Ze'mer, who yet had to talk glanced at Isma and Hegemol laid a hand on Ogrim's shoulder who now was shaking with rage. Instead of him, it was Dryya who spoke first. “Mylady.”, she addressed the queen. “Why did you let this happen? Have you been...” Dryya didn't finish the sentence, but the Pale King knew that she wanted to ask if he had forced his wife into participating. He himself had even thought it had been true a day prior.

“I assure you, my fierce Dryya, that my involvement in the creation of the Pure Vessel was my own conscious decision. It was my husband who proposed the plan to me, but he never forced me to partake. I believed that the plan could save our kingdom.”

“You can't be serious!”, Ogrim hissed out. “Both of you! How could you ever had thought you did the right thing?!”

The Pale King flinched at his words, but straightened himself up right away. He had to stay regal in front of his knights, as justified as Ogrim's anger was, he couldn't let him talk down to him like that. He narrowed his eyes and spoke: “Watch your tongue, Ogrim of the five great knights. We understand your outrage, but we can't let you speak to us and especially our wife in such a tone.”

Ogrim opened his mouth, but before he could say another word, Isma spoke. “Wait, we haven't heard what the child has to say about this matter.” She made a few steps close to Hollow and said in a gentle voice. “Can you tell us how you feel about the actions of your parents?”

Hollow looked to the Pale King. They still stood there pretty stiff and the Pale King noticed that Quirrel next to them had taken in a rather awkward stance. The Pale King knew that Hollow was waiting for his permission, so he nodded to them.

“I will translate directly what you have to say.”, Quirrel said. They nodded to him and then started to sign.

“I am not mad at father and mother. My whole life I thought I should be the Hollow Knight.” Quirrel interrupted himself and then continued translating with a rather shaky voice: “No.. thinking is bad.. my whole life I was trained to be the Hollow Knight, but I turned out to be impure. It was me who failed, it is my own fault, my fault alone. Because I couldn't stop thinking.”

As Quirrel finished talking, all the eyes were on Hollows and Quirrel said in a low voice: “Um, Hollow, do you want to talk later...?”

“Your majesty!”, Ogrim said in a booming voice, cutting through the eerie silence. “This child thinks they are to blame. This child thinks they are at fault because you have told them that they are not even a living being. There is no way that you can excuse your actions. You... abused your own child!”

“We don't deny that we have treated the Hollow purely at first.”, the Pale King had to admit. “However, we realized that our actions were wrong. We are aware that we have hurt Hollow greatly and we aspire to never stoop so low again. Both us and our Root have accepted them as our child, we won't let any harm come into their way anymore.”

“That still is not the point.”, Ogrim growled. “That you have stopped doesn't mean that you can ask for forgiveness that easily. I... don't even get why that child can call you father so easily, they should hold nothing but disdain for you!”

Yes, that was what the Pale King also thought he deserved. How Hollow didn't hate him, but instead loved him, was over his head. He didn't had an answer for Ogrim and turned his head to the side when he heard Quirrel mutter: “Oh dear... I... shall I really translate that...”

“They deserve to have a voice after we have taken that from them.” the Pale King muttered.

“Alright.”, Quirrel took a deep breath and then said: “They ask if you are fighting because of them and they, uh, seem to be rather upset about it...”

As soon as Quirrel's words were out, any noises died in the throne room and the Pale King looked at Hollow, seeing that they were shaking and that thick void tears were running down their face, their nail clutched tightly in their hands.

It was Isma who broke the silence, walked over to them, tapped with her foot and then hissed out: “You should all be ashamed!” She then bowed down to Hollow, whispered a few words to them and then led them out of the room, with Hollow looking back at the Pale King, fresh void tears appearing in their eyeholes.

“Um... I better look after them too...”, Quirrel mumbled and practically rushed out of the throne room.

Dryya looked at the White Lady, who nodded to her. Dryya gave a bow and then went to join Isma, leaving only Ogrim, Hegemol and Ze'mer in the room.

“This hasn't been the end of that discussion.”, Ogrim hissed and rushed out of the room. Hegemol cleared his throat and then said: “I better go after him, to calm him down.”

As Hegemol had left the room, the White Lady said: “Well, that went less than optimal.”

“Less than optimal?”, the Pale King said and then raised his voice, which meant that it for once wasn't barely above a whisper. “Root, that was a disaster!”

The Pale King buried his face in his hands, murmuring to himself: “There is no way that I can atone for my sins...” before slumping down in his throne, only raising when he heard a voice.

“Um..”, Ze'mer said, who still had been in the room and had seen his pathetic behaviour. He hadn't even noticed that she hadn't left.

“Your majesty, please allow che a question.”, she said.

“...What is it, Ze'mer?”, the Pale King said, straightening himself up on his throne.

“The true nature of the infection... What is it? You know more than you told, right? Please, che need to know...”

“Ze'mer, aren't you mad?”, the White Lady asked after the Pale King failed to answer her right away.

“Whilst che does not approve of your actions, che can understand what has driven you.”, Ze'mer said. “The infection is threatening those close to che, so che need to know how to help. Che can understand, because che also would do everything to protect che's loved ones. Ai.”

The Pale King looked to his Root which simply nodded to him.

“Very well.”, he said, his heart feeling light that at least one of his knights showed some understanding. “We will tell you what you desire to know, but first you have to tell us your side of the story.” (Author's note: I like the thought that Hollow adores super bad cheesy romance novel and yes, that is where they learned the word homewrecker, because that novels overuse the love triangle trope to hell. The scene with White Lady was an important to add, because it seems to be believed that she was forced to partake into the plan, which isn't true. It turned out exactly like I wanted, so I am very satisfied with. The scene with the five great knights was difficult to write and as you can see, they aren't too happy about what they hear, minus Ze'mer. Even though I have already hinted at her reasonings, I will get into more detail in the next chapter. As always, I hope you enjoyed and I thank you so much for the comments and the fanart.) Chapter 9

#hollow knight #fanfiction #the pale king #the white lady #wyrmroot #the pure vessel #the five great knights #littlewritesstuff #I hope you enjoy

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storytellerofuntoldlegends · 6 years ago

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Stars in Our Eyes and Hearts on Fire

A/N: So @sanderssidesfanfiction organized a Reverse Big Bang, and I’m so excited to finally unveil my fic based on @incubchii‘s wonderful fanart! Huge huge thanks to my beta, @bangthekobrakid, who I couldn’t have done this without! Anyway, without further ado, enjoy the fic (it’s a wild ride, and is probably both the angstiest and the fluffiest thing I’ve written)!

Pairings: endgame Romantic Analogince, Familial Moxiety, Romantic Remile

Wordcount: 10,922

Summary: Logan was a witch of great power- but also of great regret. One night, while flying over the city on his broom, he notices that his former flame was in trouble. Logan swoops in to save the day, and things only get more complicated from there. Can he and his newfound friends, a pair of twin brothers, save his once lost love from being hunted?

Warnings: breakups, feelings of regret, violence, injury, torture, attempted murder, death mention, passing out, kissing, anxious thoughts, food mention, distrust, magical exhaustion, crying, pain delirium, mild jealousy, thoughts of guilt, implied rough childhood, attempted stabbing, minor villain Deceit (he’s only in one scene), blood, relationship negotiations, soft makeouts, implied NSFW, mild insomnia, embarrassment, playful teasing, nearly getting crushed, cursing (lmk if anything should be added!)

The wind ruffled Logan’s hair, threatening to blow away his pointed hat, while the stars twinkled above him and filled his very being with magic. It wasn’t the most logical thing to be doing, flying on his broomstick over the city, but Logan didn’t care. Being up there, it felt right. Even if the people below him could potentially see him up there, thus exposing the regulars to magic, Logan felt it was worth it. He was feeling particularly reckless tonight… if only Roman could see him now.

Logan huffed, shifting so that he was leaning back on his broom, idly twirling his staff between his fingers while his other hand adjusted his hat. Why did his train of thought always shift to the hot-headed magma-witch? Was there nothing that didn’t make Logan’s heart twist painfully with the memory of Roman? He was supposed to be glad that he was rid of that unfairly gorgeous idiot. Yet, all he felt was regret.

Logan and Roman had studied magic together under the same master witch. Roman was a witch bound to two elements: fire and earth. Meanwhile, Logan was one of the rarest witch types: an astro-witch, bound to the celestial. The two of them had bonded over their oddities, making quite the unlikely pair. Logan had always studied hard, desperately wanting to live up to his title of astro-witch, meanwhile Roman was quite the show-off, flaunting both his earth and fire skills with no uncertainty. Such differences… it tore the two of them apart. And after their training was finished, things didn’t end well, and Logan hadn’t talked to or seen Roman since.

A sudden spark of red magic burst past Logan, nearly throwing him off of his broom. He quickly righted himself, turning to glare up at the spark that was shooting higher in the sky. It burst into a fiery explosion of reds and golds, and Logan’s heart clenched with fear. That was undoubtedly Roman’s magic. His gaze shot down to where the spark came from, and a horrified gasp choked its way out of his throat. Down below, in an alleyway, a swirling mass of shadow lashed at a beacon of red and gold. The bright beacon of light was flickering in and out, the shadows threatening to overtake it.

“Roman,” Logan gasped, eyes narrowing as he zoomed back towards the beacon of light and the shadows surrounding it.

The shadowy figures crept closer. Roman held his side with one hand, while the other was outstretched, magical flames dancing in his palm. He wasn’t sure how, but an entire band of shadow-witches had managed to jump him while he was on the way to visit two of his closest friends. Now Roman found himself cornered in an alleyway, his magic dangerously close to being depleted.

A sudden wave of shadows flew at Roman, and he desperately tried to summon a wall of flames to shield himself, but he was too late. The mass of shadows hit him square in the chest, and he was flung against the alleyway wall. Pain flared through his body, and the air was knocked from his lungs. He fell to the ground, dazed for a moment or two before desperately scrambling to his feet. His vision blurred and he stumbled to one side, eliciting cruel laughter from the shadow-witches.

“What’s the matter, sweet Prince?” one of them sneered. Tendrils of shadows shot out, wrapping around Roman and pinning his arms to his sides. He squirmed, trying to break free, but the shadows clenched tightly around him, causing the magma-witch to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. One of the witches came closer to Roman, summoning a sword made of shadows as they walked. The point was put beneath Roman’s chin, forcing him to meet the figure’s dark eyes.

“Roman Prince. You will pay for what you’ve done,” they snarled.

“Which would be what, exactly?” he asked, brows furrowed in confusion. The figure growled, making a clenching motion with their free hand. Roman let out a pained yelp as the shadows cinched around him tighter.

“Don’t play innocent. You deserve this,” the figure hissed, and they raised the sword above their head, preparing to strike.

Suddenly, a bright bolt of light threw the figure to the side. Roman’s head whipped to the side, and his breath caught in his throat. Logan hovered just above the ground on his broom, staff brandished in front of him. He had a powerful aura about him, starlight twinkling dangerously in his eyes. He was more gorgeous than Roman remembered.

“Take care of Prince! I will deal with this interruption,” the figure snarled, jumping to their feet and summoning another shadow-sword. One of the figures flanking Roman nodded curtly, and in two brisk strides, they were in front of Roman, their hands pulsing with some sort of dark energy. He desperately tried to squirm away, but the shadows held him fast. The figure placed one hand on either side of Roman’s head, and the magma-witch screamed in pain. The dark energy pulsed through his skull, and Roman’s world was narrowed to the pure pain radiating through him.

In an instant, the pain was gone, as well as the shadowy tendrils keeping him bound, and Roman felt himself falling forward. A set of arms caught him, and Roman blearily tried to scramble away until he heard a soft and painstakingly familiar voice murmuring words of comfort. Through the pain-induced haze, Roman looked up and saw Logan, instinctively reaching out to caress the astro-witch’s cheek.

“Starshine?” he gasped weakly. A flush overcame Logan’s cheeks, and he covered Roman’s hand on his face with his own.

“Roman, you’re hurt- I need to heal you… but I’m not sure-”

“I have friends nearby… Patton and Virgil, a pair of twins- healers,” Roman hurriedly tried to explain, feeling his grip on consciousness fading fast.

“Patton and Virgil who? Where do they live?” Logan pressed, eyes wide and his expression becoming fearful.

“Picani,” Roman gasped out, the world around him and Logan’s face- his almost painfully beautiful face- fading in and out of focus. The astro-witch was pleading with him, possibly begging him to stay awake, but Roman couldn’t quite catch Logan’s words. With one last burst of strength, and before he could truly think about what he was doing, Roman leaned up to press a kiss to the corner of Logan’s mouth. The astro-witch’s face flushed deeper, and Roman smiled softly, glad that he at least got him flustered one last time. And with that wistful thought, the magma-witch’s eyes fluttered shut, and he fell limp in Logan’s arms.

Virgil Picani sat on the roof of the joint apartment and tea shop he shared with his brother, Patton, and stared up at the stars. Shadows curled around him restlessly, and he sighed in frustration. Being a shadow-witch had its disadvantages, he supposed. One of them being that the shadows tended to darken around him because of his emotions.

“Need some tea, kiddo?” a voice piped up from behind him. Virgil jumped at the sound but looked over his shoulder to see his brother Patton, a solar-witch, standing behind him. He held two mugs of steaming tea, offering one of them to Virgil. He took the offered cup with a smile, and the shadows cleared slightly as he took a sip.

“Chamomile and lavender? You’re turning into Dad,” Virgil joked.

“Aw, Virge! Don’t tea-se me like that!” Patton replied, grinning from ear to ear as he sat down beside him.

“Ugh. You really are becoming Dad,” Virgil groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Patton retorted with a giggle.

“Nah. But if you start wearing colorful ties and cardigans, I’m staging an intervention.”

“But Virgil… I already wear cardigans!” Virgil let out a dramatic gasp at that, grabbing Patton’s shoulder.

“Patton, it may be too late for you! You’re turning into Dad!” he said with a laugh.

“Don’t you mean I’m evolving into a dad?” Patton grinned.

“Cartoon references! It may be too late!” Virgil cried, dramatically placing a hand over his chest.

“Technically Pokemon is a video game.”

“There was a cartoon too, I’m counting it,” Virgil scoffed. A comfortable silence settled between the brothers, and Virgil idly sipped at his tea. The shadows had finally calmed behind him.

“So. What’s got ya so restless?” Patton asked.

“I’m not restless,” Virgil protested. Patton raised an eyebrow, and the shadows twitched defensively behind him.

“You’re sitting on the rooftop, and the shadows were just swirling around you. Something’s got you worried,” he pointed out. Virgil let out a sigh, and took another sip of his tea.

“It’s Roman. He should have been here an hour ago.” Roman Prince was a good friend of theirs and often met up with the Picani brothers to hang out or discuss magic. It was also no secret that Virgil was harboring a bit of a crush on the magma-witch, but Roman was either clueless or didn’t care. Virgil tended to believe the latter, but Patton was pretty confident in the former of the two.

“Aw, well you know Roman! Probably got distracted, and he’ll tell us about his adventure when he gets here!” Patton exclaimed. Virgil’s lips quirked up into half a smirk, and he took another sip of his tea.

Suddenly, a burst of red magic shot up into the sky, just a few blocks away from Patton and Virgil’s apartment. Virgil’s heart clenched in his chest. That was Roman’s magic, no doubt. A flash of blue shot down towards where the magic originated from, and the shadows around Virgil pulsed with fear.

“Patton-”

“It’ll be okay, don’t panic, Virge,” Patton soothed.

“Don’t panic?! This a perfect time to panic! Roman must be in trouble,” Virgil exclaimed as he shot up to his feet. He stormed over to the door that led to their apartment, flinging it open before descending down the stairs. He practically flew through their apartment, grabbing his cloak off the hook before going down another set of stairs that led to the tea shop that Virgil and Patton owned. The brothers had named it Quali-tea Time, although the name was more Patton’s idea than Virgil’s. But Virgil didn’t have time to think about their adorable tea shop. Roman was in trouble.

“Virgil, wait!” Patton exclaimed. Virgil halted in his steps, having just affixed his cloak around his shoulders. He cast a glance back at his brother, who had his pointy gray hat clutched in one hand, and his wooden staff in the other. It was topped with a sun shape made of gold, with an orb in the center that glowed a soft yellow.

“Sorry. I just-”

“You’re worried, it’s okay. We’ll get him,” Patton soothed, placing his hat on his head firmly. Virgil nodded curtly, and the twins headed out into the night.

Logan’s heart pounded in his chest as he cradled a limp Roman in his arms. For maybe the first time in his life, Logan felt completely clueless. Helpless, even. He barely knew any healing magic, and he doubted he could find the brothers that Roman had mentioned in time. The name Picani was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t place why and his brain was too frazzled to try and remember. All he could focus on was the soft, adoring smile Roman gave him before unconsciousness snatched him away. And, of course, the kiss that had sent fire skittering along veins and heat to Logan’s cheeks. How was it possible that Roman could be so alluring, even while battered and half-dead?

“Get away from him!” a voice snarled from the mouth of the alleyway. Logan gasped, placing Roman on the ground and springing to his feet. He took a defensive stance in front of him, brandishing his staff at the two figures that had stepped into the alleyway. One wore a hooded black cloak with purple patches, and shadows twitched around them restlessly. The other figure seemed to be the polar opposite, as they wore a light blue polo, a gray cardigan over their shoulders, and khakis. The only sign that they were magical was the pointed gray hat on their head, and the sun staff they held in one hand.

“Who are you, what do you want with him?!” Logan cried.

“Could ask the same about you,” the hooded figure growled. The shadows curled towards Logan menacingly, and he sent a warning blast of starlight from his staff in response. The shadows jumped back, as well as the two figures in the alleyway.

“An astro-witch?” the hooded figure gasped in surprise.

“Please, we’re Roman’s friends, we just want him back!” the individual with the gray hat pleaded. Logan furrowed his brow, magic simmering dangerously in the air.

“He was just nearly killed by a band of shadow-witches. Why would I trust another one?” Logan snarled.

“We’re two of his best friends, I’m Patton Picani and this is my twin brother, Virgil! We’re both gifted in healing magic, let me heal him and prove to you that we don’t wanna hurt him!” the one with the gray hat exclaimed. Logan’s eyes widened in surprise. These two were the brothers Roman had wanted him to find.

“Pat, you sure we can-”

“You’re the friends he wanted me to find,” Logan gasped, interrupting Virgil.

“Aww, he mentioned us?!” Patton squealed.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth? That he really told you about us?” Virgil demanded.

“My name is Logan Andromeda. Roman and I studied under the same master witch,” Logan explained, a little exasperated. He didn’t have time for this- Roman didn’t have time for this.

“The master witch, what was their name?” Virgil pressed.

“Thomas, Thomas Sanders. He’s a solar-witch,” Logan answered. Virgil and Patton seemed to share a sigh of relief.

“Okay. Your information seems to check out, although I’m not sure if I really trust you yet… but we don’t have a choice,” Virgil said, tone grim. Logan nodded curtly, and he stepped to the side to let the brothers take a look at Roman. Virgil darted over, dropping to his knees beside Roman. He placed a hand on his forehead, brow furrowing in confusion.

“What the hell happened to him?” he murmured.

“Like I said, he was attacked by a band of shadow-witches. I believe there was four or five of them that had ganged up on him. When I arrived, one of them was about to strike Roman down with a shadow-sword they had summoned. I disarmed them fairly quickly, but they had commanded one of the others to ‘deal with him.’ They attacked him with some sort of dark energy-” Logan’s voice cut off as Roman’s screams of pain echoed in his memory. “After I had dealt with them, the others scattered and ran off.”

“Thank you for saving him, Logan,” Patton replied, placing a hand on Logan’s shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze before kneeling next to Roman as well. He closed his eyes and placed a hand on the magma-witch’s chest. A soft glow emanated from Patton, and it began to seep into Roman’s body. He shuddered as the energy flowed into him, and his eyes fluttered open as he drew in a sharp breath. Logan could have sobbed in relief.

Patton suddenly slumped into his brother, the soft glow fading away. Virgil wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulders, expression twisted with concern.

“M’kay. I’m okay,” Patton insisted, voice slurring slightly as he tried to sit up.

“Hey, whoa, no you’re not. What did you do?” Virgil asked, supporting him as he sat up a bit straighter.

“Roman was… he was- closer to… closer to d-death than we-” Patton broke off into sobs, leaning against Virgil heavily.

“Pat? What’s-” Roman gasped out weakly.

“The loveable dork that is my brother nearly depleted his magic saving you,” Virgil huffed out with a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Logan found you… I knew he would,” Roman sighed, his voice soft and wistful.

“It… It was more like they found me, actually,” Logan chuckled.

“Smaaaart friends,” Roman said, voice slurring a bit.

“Get some rest, Roman. We’ll take you back to our place,” Virgil said with a soft laugh, reaching out to brush Roman’s hair from his eyes. Roman sighed, leaning into the touch. An unfamiliar emotion twisted in Logan’s gut. Were Virgil and Roman… together? It certainly seemed so, with how fiercely protective Virgil was of Roman. But then why had Roman kissed him? Perhaps he was too disoriented when Logan found him?

“Logan, can you take Roman? I’m gonna help Patton,” Virgil said, snapping Logan from his thoughts. He nodded, willing his staff away before walking over to Roman’s other side and scooping him up into his arms. He clung to Logan, nuzzling into his chest with a hum. Logan’s face flushed, and his gaze flicked over to Virgil. The shadow-witch seemed mildly annoyed but didn’t say anything as he rose to his feet, with Patton’s arm over his shoulder to support him.

“Where are we headed?” Logan asked.

“Our place. It’s a tea shop with our apartment above it. It’s only a few blocks from here, can you carry him that far?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. I am stronger than I appear, and Roman isn’t that heavy anyhow,” Logan replied. Roman made an indignant sound, muttering something about not being a feather-light damsel in distress. Virgil and Logan chuckled at that, and even Patton let out a light giggle.

“C’mon. Let’s go home.”

Somewhere along their journey, Roman had passed out again, this time from sheer exhaustion instead of pain. Virgil had convinced Patton to climb on his back, and the solar-witch had quickly slumped into unconsciousness, his face nuzzled into the crook of Virgil’s neck.

Eventually, they reached the home of the Picani brothers. The sign above the door read “Quali-tea Time”, and had a picture of a smiling teapot pouring out tea. Logan also noted that the door was painted in rainbow colors, and the sight caused a smile to quirk up on his lips.

Virgil shifted around a bit awkwardly for a moment or two, eventually fishing out a key from within his cloak. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, silently beckoning for Logan to follow him. Once inside, Virgil shut and locked the door behind him, while Logan took in the tea shop. Although the lights weren’t on, Logan was fairly certain the shop was filled with pastel shades and rainbows, if the exterior was anything to go by. There was a counter with barstools at it, where customers could order and pay for their tea. Shelves with various types of tea lined the walls, and there was a plush seating area with a fireplace off in one corner.

“C’mon. Our apartment is upstairs,” Virgil said, heading to a door towards the back of the shop. He opened it to reveal a set of stairs, and he adjusted his grip on Patton before heading up. Logan continued to follow him, being mindful of the unconscious magma-witch in his arms. Virgil flicked the light on when he reached the top, and Patton let out a sleepy, confused sound.

“It’s alright Pat, we’re home,” Virgil soothed, smiling softly to himself. The expression seemed almost… strange, on the shadow-witch’s face. Virgil hadn’t done more than scowl or frown since Logan had met him, and this soft, shy smile made an emotion that he couldn’t quite place unfurl in his chest. It was shockingly similar to what he once felt when he gazed at Roman, before harsh words were flung and the mere thought of the magma-witch’s dazzling smile only brought pain and regret.

“You can- uh, lay him down on the couch. It’s just past the kitchen nook… follow me,” Virgil said, snapping Logan from his thoughts. His face flushed slightly, and he hoped Virgil didn’t notice that he was staring at him. Why had he even felt such things about Virgil? Logan was still hung up on Roman, wasn’t he? Nothing made sense, but he pushed those thoughts aside and followed Virgil deeper into his apartment.

They walked through a small kitchenette area, and made their way over to a seating area with a couch nearly overloaded with pillows. The couch was set across from a television, and Logan could picture Roman and the Picani brothers sitting down among the many pillows and watching movies. Virgil clumsily cleared the couch, pillows flopping unceremoniously onto the floor.

“I’ll tidy that up in a sec, just lay Roman down for now. I’m going to get Patton to bed,” Virgil said, walking over to a door past the seating area. Logan nodded, although Virgil couldn’t see it. He walked over to the couch, leaning down and gently depositing Roman onto it. He instantly snuggled down into the couch, letting out a sleepy sigh. A small smile wormed its way onto Logan’s lips at the sight.

“How is he?” Virgil asked, causing Logan to jump. He hadn’t realized that Virgil had re-entered the room.

“I think he’ll be alright, just needs some time to recover. How is your brother?” Logan asked. Virgil huffed out a laugh.

“He’s pretty zonked out right now, but okay,” he replied. An awkward silence settled between the two, until Logan noticed the shadows shyly creeping closer and shuffling the pillows into a pile beside the couch.

“You could have just walked over and done that,” Logan teased.

“Hey, gotta get rid of this nervous energy somehow,” Virgil shot back.

“I suppose,” Logan replied, fighting back a yawn.

“Are you tired? The pillows make for a nice napping spot, I know from experience,” Virgil replied with a teasing smile.

“That… actually sounds like a good idea,” Logan said with a yawn, arms stretching above his head. Virgil’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“You seem… awfully trusting of us,” Virgil said, suspicion creeping into his voice.

“Roman trusts you. Plus there is something… familiar, about your names. Specifically, your last name,” Logan replied. Virgil chuckled slightly, a blush creeping onto his face.

“Yeah… our Dad is Emile Picani,” he replied sheepishly. Logan gasped in realization. No wonder their names seemed so familiar to him. Emile Picani was a well-renowned herbal-witch, and his healing magic was legendary.

“I wasn’t aware that he had sons… it must be quite the reputation to live up to,” Logan commented.

“Yeah, that combined with our Pop being a dream-witch… growing up was interesting. But they never expected us to be like them, Dad always emphasized that we weren’t defined by who he and Pop were,” he answered with a shrug.

“A dream-witch?!” Logan gasped. Astro-witches like himself were incredibly rare, but dream-witches even more so. They could manipulate dreams and cause people to fall asleep with a single touch… such power was unheard of and often abused.

“Yeah… Dad met him soon after taking in Patton and I. His name’s Remy Picani- well, formerly Remy Morpheus. But then he married Dad and the rest is history I guess,” Virgil continued. A silence settled over the two as Logan let the information sink in. Something in Virgil’s tone implied that he and Patton had been through a lot, but he wasn’t certain that this was the time to press the subject.

“Well, guess I’ve bothered you enough. You get some rest, I’ll be in my room,” Virgil said, gesturing to a door back towards the kitchen area.

“Of course. Goodnight, Virgil.”

“Night.” The shadow-witch left the living room, shadows curling after him. As Logan watched him leave, he vaguely wondered how his life had managed to get so complicated so fast. With a sigh, he flopped into the soft pile of pillows and drifted to sleep almost instantly.

Roman’s eyes snapped open. He wasn’t sure what had woken him up- or how he even fell asleep in the first place. His memory was a foggy mess… there was a fight- Logan was there? Patton and Virgil, too. He was in the Picani brothers’ apartment. But what woke him-

Someone was suddenly on top of him, their hand clasping over his nose and mouth, while their knee dug into his stomach. He let out a muffled cry of surprise, and his eyes widened at the glint of a blade in the darkness. He struggled beneath the figure in vain as it got harder to breathe, and the blade drew closer to his chest, just above his heart- he couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t be the damsel in distress again. A small burst of flames sputtered from his hand, and while it wasn’t much, it was enough to throw his attacker off of him. They slammed into the wall, but were back on their feet in an instant. Glowing golden eyes glinted at him in the darkness, and Roman scrambled backwards in fear, ending up falling to the floor with a loud thump. The sound startled what he had previously believed to be a pile of pillows, but was instead Logan.

“Roman, what’s-” his sentence cut off as he saw the fear in Roman’s eyes, and he quickly sprung to his feet, conjuring his staff in an instant. His gaze swiveled about, trying to find the source of Roman’s distress. The figure behind Logan crept closer, and the magma-witch’s eyes widened.

“Behind you,” he gasped out. Logan whirled around, and the attacker slashed at him with their blade. He cried out, stumbling backwards for a moment before regaining his footing. Logan glared at the golden-eyed witch, and sent a burst of starlight from his staff. They were thrown back once again, but sprang to their feet again and snarled at him in frustration.

Suddenly, before the attacker had a chance to try and strike Logan down, the shadows whipped out at them, disarming them and binding their hands behind their back. Roman glanced over to see Virgil standing a few feet behind him, and he practically melted in relief. Virgil gave Roman a small smile, which for whatever reason made his heart flutter ever so slightly. But before he could contemplate that, Virgil’s expression twisted into a scowl as he regarded the attacker.

“Kiddos? What’s going on?” Patton said, having emerged from his room at the sound of all the chaos. He had a fluffy blue blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and his hair was unruly from being asleep.

“This individual broke in and tried to kill Roman. I managed to hold them off for a time, but luckily Virgil came in and restrained them,” Logan explained, his voice slightly breathless.

“Logan, are you okay?” Patton asked.

“I’m fine. Let’s just find out who the attacker is,” Logan said dismissively. Patton looked like he wanted to protest, but summoned a small sphere of light in his hands. It cast the room in a warm glow, and allowed them to see who the golden-eyed witch was.

The figure was a man who wore a black cloak edged with yellow trimming, and had dark hair that fell into his golden eyes. A jagged scar ran over half of his face, trailing from the top of his forehead to his lip. His blade, now discarded on the floor, was a curved dagger with twin snakes twining around the hilt.

“Who are you?” Virgil growled.

“No one of importance,” the figure hummed, sounding bored.

“I’d consider rewording your statement,” Logan said cooly, his staff humming with magic. The figure swallowed nervously, then let out a pained sound as the shadows clenched unexpectedly for a moment.

“Don’t make me ask you again,” Virgil snarled. He rolled his eyes, huffing out a sigh.

“Fine. The name’s Declan,” he replied smoothly.

“Why did you attack Roman?” Logan demanded.

“You know, I’d love to stand here and answer your questions all night, but I have a job to do,” Declan snarled, and his dagger flew to his hand. He tried to slash through his bonds, but the blade merely slipped through them, not breaking their hold. A shadowy tendril shot out and snatched the blade from his hand, bringing it over to Virgil.

“Dude, they’re shadows. You can’t cut through those. But good to know that you must be an earth-witch with a particular talent in metal manipulation,” Virgil said with a smirk. Declan scowled, squirming in the shadowy bonds.

“Are you in league with that band of shadow-witches?” Patton asked, his voice firm and eyes almost cold, a strange phenomenon for the solar-witch.

“What?! Those idiots? Oh please, I’m a solo assassin. I don’t need those morons,” Declan huffed.

“Thanks for telling us you’re an assassin. Now, why are there people after Roman?” Virgil pressed. Declan cursed under his breath, clearly frustrated that he had given himself away.

“Hell if I should know. Prince did something to piss someone off, and now there’s a rich bounty waiting for any assassin who kills him,” he replied, shrugging nonchalantly.

“But I haven’t-” Roman’s voice cut off with a pained gasp as he tried to sit up.

“Roman!” Virgil gasped, eyes wide with concern. Unfortunately, Virgil’s sudden flash of panic at Roman’s condition caused his hold on Declan to slip for the briefest of moments. But that was all the assassin needed, breaking free of the shadows and summoning his dagger to his hand.

“Well, this has been fun, but the bounty is not worth this much trouble,” Declan scowled, before turning around and leaping out the open window.

“I’ll go after him,” Logan declared, but only managed to take a step forward before he winced and fell to his knees, hand clutching at his side.

“Logan!” Virgil cried out, rushing over to Logan before dropping to his knees beside him.

“M’fine,” Logan protested weakly, before he slumped against Virgil, eyes fluttering.

“Bullshit. You’re holding your side… he managed to get a hit on you, didn’t he?” Virgil pressed. Logan shifted uncomfortably for a moment, until Roman shuffled closer to both of them, expression twisted with concern.

“Jus’ a scratch,” Logan muttered, moving his hand. Both Roman and Virgil’s eyes widened as they saw the jagged cut running across his side, and the red rapidly blooming from it and onto his polo. With hardly a second thought, Virgil closed his eyes and ran his hand along the cut. Shadows trailed after it, before settling into Logan’s skin and leaving a mere scar behind. He let out a shaky breath once the cut was healed, opening his eyes.

“There. It’s no light-healing magic like Patton’s, but it gets the job done. You’ll probably feel a little sore and weak for a few days,” Virgil said with an apologetic hum.

“S’okay. Thank you,” Logan said softly, clasping his hand over Virgil’s. A light flush overcame the shadow-witch’s face, and Roman felt his heart thud the slightest bit faster in his chest.

“You’re- uh, you’re welcome,” Virgil stuttered, eyes darting around frantically, unsure of where to look. Logan smiled, and gave Virgil’s hand a comforting squeeze. Virgil met Logan’s gaze for a moment, then switched to look at Roman. The magma-witch had pink dusting across his cheeks as well, and lips parted in a somewhat surprised expression. This only caused Virgil to flush deeper, and let out a light chuckle. An emotion Roman couldn’t place settled over the three of them. It was strangely warm, and almost caring. He wasn’t sure if he wanted it to stop.

Patton watched the nearly silent exchange between his brother, Roman, and Logan with an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He could see what was happening as clear as day, but the three of them had absolutely no idea. Which was even more amusing, considering Patton had no desire for romance, dating, or anything of the sort.

“I think you three have something to talk about,” Patton piped up, breaking the tender moment.

“What?!” Roman spluttered, gaze whipping over to Patton. The solar-witch merely giggled in response, slipping the fluffy blue blanket off of his shoulders and draping it over the back of the couch.

“I’m aroace, not blind, Roman. I see what’s going on here,” Patton replied with a grin. A surprised squeak escaped Roman’s lips, while Virgil gestured uselessly behind him. Meanwhile, Logan seemed to be silently unraveling Patton’s words.

“But-”

“I’m not saying you have to talk anything out, but you probably should before things get… interesting. I’m betting people aren’t going to stop coming after Roman, so I’m going to go get some help,” Patton said, finger-combing his unruly locks as he began to walk out of the living room.

“Patton, you’re still recovering from healing Roman!” Virgil protested.

“I’ve gotten some rest, I’ll be fine. This can’t wait. Besides, Dad and Pop aren’t too far away,” Patton said, summoning his staff in one hand, and his broom in the other. Virgil frowned, but let out a sigh of defeat.

“Fine. But be careful. And don’t forget your hat.”

“My hat!” Patton cried out, shifting his broom under one arm, then holding out his now free hand. His bedroom door flew open, his gray pointed hat zipping out and into his hand. Patton put on his hat with a determined smile, then took his broom in hand once more.

“I’ll be back soon. You three should talk. Love you!” Patton said, rushing out of their apartment, leaving the three witches to stare after him in mild bewilderment.

Logan mulled over what Patton had said. He wasn’t entirely sure of what the solar-witch was implying, but he had a niggling feeling that it had to do with… well, feelings. It was clear there was something between Roman and Virgil. And, much as it pained him to admit, Logan still cared deeply for Roman, in spite of everything that had happened. Not to mention that there was something about Virgil that just seemed to draw Logan in.

“There’s something I must confess to the both of you,” Roman blurted, before either of them could say anything. Virgil and Logan exchanged wary glances.

“Well… perhaps we should move to the couch, first,” Logan proposed, starting to rise to his feet. Roman and Virgil nodded, flushing slightly before standing up and making their way to the couch. Roman sat down in the middle, with Virgil at his left, and Logan at his right.

“So… uh, what was it you wanted to tell us?” Virgil asked, fidgeting with the ends of his cloak.

“Well… the first thing is that- that I… I really still care about you, Logan. I know I said some awful things… we both did. But I didn’t realize just how much I still cared about you until you saved me. Twice,” Roman said, looking down at his hands, which were nervously folding and unfolding. “And yet… I find myself caring deeply for Virgil as well.”

“What?!” Virgil shouted in surprise, cheeks flushing red.

“I know, I know. It’s strange, but true. I care for both of you. Very much,” Roman uttered softly, brown eyes warm and earnest. Virgil’s mouth opened and closed uselessly, the shadow-witch unsure of how to respond.

“Roman… I must confess that I too, still care for you very much. And perhaps the reason things didn’t work out before is that we were missing something. Someone,” Logan replied, flicking his gaze up to Virgil.

“I… what?” Virgil gasped, looking incredibly flustered. Roman’s reaction seemed to be more or less the same, except for the excited glint in his eyes.

“I’ve never been one for the ‘love at first sight’ sentiment, but there’s just… something about you, Virgil, that makes me want to reconsider,” Logan confessed softly. Virgil’s blush grew darker, if possible, and Roman looked like he was about ready to squeal with excitement.

“I… um…”

“I’ll admit, you came off as tough, powerful, and fearsome when I first met you, but there’s an underlying softness to you that is…” Logan’s sentence was cut off by Virgil suddenly surging across the couch, taking his face in his hands, and pulling him into a deep kiss. Logan made a startled sound, but quickly sank into the kiss. Virgil pulled away, a bit too soon for Logan’s liking, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I shouldn’t have-” Virgil’s sentence cuts off as he suddenly realizes he’s practically in Roman’s lap, the magma witch having wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist.

“It’s alright, Virge. I don’t think Logan minded,” Roman said with a smirk.

“Ugh. That’s- that’s not- this is complicated. Roman, I feel like I’ve had a crush on you since forever, but I don’t- I’m not sure how I feel about Logan. But I just kissed him, and I really liked it- I don’t really know what I’m feeling,” Virgil rambled.

“Virgil, a kiss doesn’t have to be a commitment. If you’d rather just remain friends, I am fine with that. But for the record… I enjoyed kissing you as well,” Logan soothed, a slight flush over his cheeks.

“I think… I think I want to try. A relationship. With the two of you. I’m just scared,” Virgil said, refusing to meet either witch’s gaze.

“I’m scared too. But I think what we have, what we could be- it’s worth the fear,” Roman said, one hand rubbing soothing circles into his back.

“You’re scared? But you’re… you’re you! Brave and reckless… and- and all that stuff!” Virgil exclaimed. Roman chuckled, tugging Virgil the slightest bit closer to him.

“Oh Virgil… I’m afraid more often than you would think. I talk about going on grand adventures… but they can be terrifying. The fear of not coming home after a quest… but that’s what makes them an adventure. And in the end, it’s worth it. To have won, and to return with a noble story,” Roman declared, voice soft and eyes shining.

“Can you stop being so adorably dramatic? It just makes me wanna kiss you,” Virgil grumbled, but there was a soft, adoring look in his eyes.

“Guess I’ll just have to be more dramatic, if that’ll finally get you to kiss me,” Roman smirked.

“Shut up,” Virgil murmured, looping his arms around Roman’s neck and pulling him into a soft, sweet kiss. Roman seemed to melt for a moment, letting out a satisfied sound against Virgil’s lips. The arm around Virgil’s waist tightened, while the other hand reached up to run through his hair, causing a shiver to run up Virgil’s spine. He let out a sound akin to a moan, and Logan found himself shaking his head with a fond smile.

“Careful you two, I’m sure it won’t be long before Patton returns,” Logan teased. Roman broke away from Virgil with an indignant sound, face red. Virgil let out a snicker, covering his mouth with his hand soon after. Roman soon dissolved into giggles, and even Logan found himself laughing slightly.

“Oh Logan… I’ve missed that smart mouth of yours,” Roman sighed wistfully.

“I’m sure that’s not the only thing about my mouth you’ve missed,” he replied with a smirk.

“Fair enough. C’mere you,” Roman said, carefully disentangling his hand from Virgil’s hair and reaching out towards Logan. The astro-witch chuckled, and leaned in. Roman’s hand rested on his cheek, and their lips met… it was everything Logan didn’t realize he was missing.

Emile hummed as he tended to his plants, a small watering can in one hand. They reached up and stretched towards him, their vines curling around his fingers. He huffed out a soft laugh, stroking the leaves lovingly.

“It's alright, I'm here,” he soothed. They retracted from his fingers, and if plants could purr, Emile believed they would have.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped his waist, and a nose nuzzled into his neck. Emile laughed again, turning his head to look down at his husband, who was now pressing soft kisses to his neck. He pressed a kiss to Remy's soft yet unruly hair, setting his watering can down.

“I'm here for you too, don't worry love,” Emile said with a grin. Remy let out a pleased hum, pulling back slightly to look Emile in the eyes. He twisted in his husband's warm grip, placing a hand on his cheek and kissing him lovingly.

“What're you doing up so late, babes?” Remy asked after pulling away.

“Couldn't sleep,” Emile shrugged, pressing another kiss to Remy's lips. Remy was frowning when he pulled away, but was stopped with a hand on his chest when he tried to kiss it away.

“I could help with that, you know,” Remy pointed out.

“You were sleeping soundly, for once. I didn't want to wake you,” Emile murmured, brushing a strand of hair from Remy's eyes.

“You're like… too sweet. But as you can tell, I woke up anyway. Bed feels empty and strange without you,” Remy hummed, pulling him down into a deep and passionate kiss. Emile laughed into the kiss, hands plunging into Remy's soft, thick hair.

“Mmm… I love you. Sorry for leaving bed,” Emile murmured against his lips once he pulled away.

“Betcha you'll find a way to make it up to me,” Remy smirked. Emile let out a low laugh, and leaned in once more.

A sudden blur of blue and gray bursting in from the window caused both witches to jump, Emile losing his balance and toppling backwards, taking Remy down with him. The two of them glanced over to see their son, Patton, looking a little disheveled with an urgent look on his face. Remy was the first to scramble to his feet, rushing over to Patton and stopping just short of pulling him into a hug.

“Patton? Hun, you okay?” Remy asked softly. Patton’s expression wavered for a moment before he threw himself into Remy’s arms, sniffling. The dream-witch hugged his son tightly, looking over Patton’s head at Emile, expression twisted with concern. Emile rose to his feet and walked over to Remy and Patton, wrapping his arms around both of them.

“What happened?” Emile asked in a murmur, gently rubbing Patton’s back.

“You remember our friend Roman?” Patton asked.

“The one Virgil has a crush on?” Remy asked. Patton nodded, tears beginning to spring from his eyes. Emile and Remy exchanged concerned glances once more, hugging their son tightly between them.

“Someone’s put a bounty on him, he’s almost been killed twice! Thankfully an old friend- well, they were more than friends- of Roman’s saved him, but then he got hurt too! I just… I don’t know what to do, we need your help,” Patton whimpered, burying his face in Remy’s chest.

“It’s okay hun, we’ll figure this out,” Remy murmured, gently running his hands through Patton’s hair. Emile pressed a gentle kiss to his son’s hair, then pulled away from the hug.

“I’ll grab my bag, and then we can head to your apartment,” Emile explained with a soft smile.

“Grab my bag too, sweetie? I’ve got my broom,” Remy said, shifting Patton into a one-armed embrace and holding his now free hand out. His broom flew into his grip, and Emile smiled at his husband’s dramatic antics before heading to their room and grabbing their respective bags- Emile’s a large floral handbag, and Remy’s a brown messenger bag. Both bags were enchanted so that any object could fit in it, no matter the size or weight.

Emile strode back into their main living space to see that Patton had now detached himself from Remy, wiping at his eyes before adjusting his hat with a confident smile. Emile smiled back before giving Remy his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder, before giving Emile a smirk.

“What?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something, babes?” Remy asked, gesturing with his broom for emphasis.

“Oh! My umbrella!” Emile cried out, holding out his hand. After a few crashing sounds, and winces from Remy and Patton, his umbrella flew into his grip. Remy chuckled fondly, shaking his head.

“You and your Mary Poppins aesthetic,” Remy scoffed, but had a soft twinkle in his eye.

“Practically perfect in every way! Now, let’s go to Patton’s and see if we can sort this dilemma out!”

Remy wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he arrived at Patton and Virgil’s apartment, but his son curled up on the couch with Roman and another man he didn’t recognize was not one of them. Virgil was seated in Roman’s lap, one of the magma-witch’s arms around his waist. His nose was buried in the crook of Virgil’s neck, eyes closed and snoring softly. His other arm was around the darker haired man that Remy didn’t recognize, his face smushed against Virgil’s chest, one hand clutching at his cloak. Virgil was leaning his head on Roman’s, a soft look on his face as he gazed at the two men clinging to him.

Patton let out a sharp gasp, and Virgil’s head shot up at the sound. The movement nearly startled Roman and the other man awake, causing Virgil’s expression to twist to one of mild panic. But they both settled back asleep, and Virgil let out a sigh of relief.

“Calm down Patton, you’re gonna wake them up!” Virgil hissed.

“Sorry! I’m just so excited! It looks like you three talked things out!” Patton whisper-shouted. A light flush came over Virgil’s face for a moment, paired with a rare soft smile.

“Yeah… we did. They’re my… uh, well- we’re uh- dating. All of us. Together,” Virgil stammered, becoming more and more flustered.

“Well, I’m very happy for you three,” Emile said, smiling encouragingly. Virgil gave a small half-smile back, gaze shifting back to Roman and the other man.

“Thanks, Dad. And while you’re here, do you think you could take a look at Roman and Logan? Patton and I tried healing them the best we could… but I’d really feel better if you’d double-check our work,” Virgil asked, gave flicking between Logan and Roman, then back to Emile.

“Of course, Virge, I’d be happy to! But it seems they’re a little wrapped up with you right now,” he replied with a wink. Virgil flushed deeper, if possible.

“Daaaaad! I am so glad they’re not awake right now, you’re embarrassing,” Virgil muttered. Just as the words came out of Virgil’s mouth, Logan began to stir. His eyes fluttered open, and he blinked tiredly for a moment until he saw Virgil. A soft, adoring look came across his face, and he leaned up to give Virgil a quick peck on the cheek. A small squeak escaped Virgil’s lips, and he glanced frantically between Logan and the others.

“Logan!” he hissed, face incredibly red.

“Mmm… you’re cute when you blush. Was kissing you okay? I didn’t overstep, did I?” Logan asked, brow furrowing with concern.

“No, you’re fine-”

“Good,” Logan interrupted with a murmur, pulling Virgil into a soft kiss. Virgil made a surprised sound into the kiss, but began melting into it- until Remy cleared his throat.

Logan jumped, breaking away from Virgil with a yelp. The noise awoke Roman, who made a tired, distressed sound, tugging Virgil closer to him in a protective manner. An incredibly deep blush was over Logan’s face as he saw Remy, Emile, and Patton standing in the living room. Virgil was murmuring soothing words to Roman, assuring him that they weren’t in danger, and his grip on the shadow-witch loosened.

“Remy, they were having a moment! And you spooked poor Roman!” Emile protested with a frown.

“Babes, I’m happy that our son is happy- but we came to help them with whoever’s trying to take out Roman, not see them be all cutesy and domestic,” Remy replied.

“Yes, of course- sorry Mr. Picani,” Logan stammered. Remy huffed out a laugh.

“Gurl, you can just call me Remy. And don’t sweat it.”

“Yeah. Besides, he and Dad are much worse,” Virgil teased with a smirk.

“Hey! Now wait just a minute-”

“You said something about helping us?” Roman piped up, before a full-on sass-off erupted between Virgil and Remy. The dream-witch quickly schooled his expression and nodded.

“Roman, do you know why someone would be after you?” Emile asked. Roman sighed, drawing one arm away from Virgil’s waist so that he could run a hand through his hair.

“That’s the thing- I have no idea,” he replied.

“Are you sure? What about your adventures, you’re always running into unfriendly people,” Patton pointed out.

“But I haven’t come across anyone as of late! The last big adventure I had was slaying a dragon that was terrorizing people,” Roman said with an irritated huff. Remy and Emile exchanged nervous glances.

“Is everything alright?” Logan asked, but the two of them didn’t seem to hear him.

“You don’t think that-”

“Emile, it’s been years, decades since one’s been seen or even heard of!”

“The same could be said about you.” Remy let out a frustrated sigh, then turned to Roman.

“Are you absolutely sure it was a dragon you killed?” he asked.

“I think I know a dragon when I see one, Remy,” Roman huffed, expression twisted with confusion and frustration.

“Are you sure? Think about its eyes, its mannerisms, did anything strike you as strange about it?!” Remy demanded.

“What? I don’t know! It was a dragon, it was hurting people, so I put an end to it!” Roman snapped.

“Pop… what are you trying to say?” Virgil asked carefully, gaze flicking between Roman and Remy.

“A dragon-witch might be targeting Roman,” Emile replied gravely. A shocked silence settled over them for a moment, until Logan spoke up.

“But- they’re even more unheard of than a dream-witch or an astro-witch!”

“Yeah! And how could one be after Roman if he killed them?” Patton asked.

“There could be more than one dragon-witch. Or it could be one of their dragons that Roman killed. It’s hard to say,” Emile explained.

“See, this is why I keep telling you all of these adventures are a bad idea! You’re gonna get yourself killed,” Virgil huffed.

“The dragon was hurting innocents! I couldn’t just sit there and let people die!” Roman protested.

“Why do you have to be so goddamn noble and heroic?! It’s both the most frustrating and charming thing about you,” Virgil grumbled.

“You think I’m charming?” Roman smirked.

“Oh my god, shut up!” Virgil exclaimed, burying his face in Roman’s shoulder.

“Roman, where was the dragon’s lair? Maybe if we went there, we could figure out what exactly happened,” Emile suggested.

“It was in the old subway system under the city,” Roman replied.

“Then it’s settled. We head to the old subway system in the morning,” Remy said.

“Why not now? We’re all awake and ready to go!” Roman protested.

“Gurl, haven’t you been attacked twice?! Y’all need rest before we try and take on a dragon-witch!” Remy scolded.

“I agree… but it may not be safe here. An assassin has already come here, there’s no telling who else may know of our location,” Logan pointed out.

“Hun, I’d like to see them take on a dream-witch and the most notorious herbal-witch,” Remy said with a confident smirk. Emile blushed slightly at Remy’s proclamation, but nodded.

“Yeah, and Logan did a pretty good job of protecting me earlier,” Roman cooed, leaning over to kiss Logan’s cheek.

“I got wounded.”

“Virgil healed you!”

“I’d prefer not having to heal either of you.”

“Okay lovebirds, that’s enough. Let me take a look at Roman and Logan to make sure that they’re healed up okay, then you all can get some rest,” Emile said, tone making no room for argument.

He looked over Logan first, then Roman. He checked over Virgil too, despite his protests that he was fine. The three of them then trudged to Virgil’s room, none of them needing Remy’s dream magic to help send them to sleep. Emile sent Patton off to bed, despite his insistence that he didn’t need to rest. However, he was practically asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. It reminded Emile of the days when Patton and Virgil were just children, just after he had married Remy.

“You should rest too,” Remy murmured, arms wrapping around Emile’s waist and nose nuzzling his neck.

“What happened to potential assassins not being able to take on you and me?” Emile teased.

“I’ll wake you if anything happens, promise,” Remy murmured.

“Fine,” Emile sighed, letting himself be led to the couch. Remy sat down first, and Emile laid down with his head in his lap, letting Remy stroke his hair until he fell asleep.

The next morning was calmer than expected, with Patton and Emile making breakfast for everyone. Logan and Virgil hardly left Roman’s side, both of them equally paranoid about how he was holding up despite Emile’s okay on his condition. They shuffled through their morning routine, a little different from what they usually experienced on their own. Roman didn’t mind it one bit- in fact, he felt he could get used to it, waking up with Logan and Virgil.

After they had eaten and rounded up their various magical paraphernalia, their quest could not be put off much longer. The band of witches set out to the abandoned subway. It was a bit of a trip from Patton and Virgil’s apartment, but with their brooms (and Emile’s umbrella) they made the trip in no time.

“So where’s the dragon?” Remy asked, voice echoing in the empty subway cavern. Scorch marks could be seen all over, as well as parts of the tunnels that had completely collapsed, leaving behind only rubble.

“That’s the thing, it just went poof after I killed it. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” Roman explained.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?!” Virgil demanded.

“Hey! I’ve had a very stressful past few days! Details slipped my mind,” Roman protested sheepishly.

“How about the detail that you should check to see if the dragon you killed is actually dead? Or that the dragon is actually a dragon?” a voice snarled from behind them. They all whirled around, Logan and Virgil taking a defensive position in front of Roman. Patton stood beside his brother, while Remy and Emile were in front of the four younger witches.

Before them stood a tall woman wearing a sleek bodysuit that seemed to be made of shimmering green scales. Her dark hair was piled into a haphazard bun on the top of her head. If the horns protruding from the top of her head weren’t enough to prove what she was, then the fiery orange-red reptilian eyes certainly were. She was a dragon-witch.

“Um… heyyy, about before-” Roman started, but was cut off by Virgil elbowing him.

“Don’t make this worse than it already is, Princey,” Virgil muttered. The dragon-witch moved as if to step closer, but halted by a firm glare from Remy.

“Gurl. Don’t even think about it,” he snarled, golden dreamsand beginning to swirl between his fingertips. The dragon-witch arched an eyebrow, dark laughter rumbling in the back of her throat. She threw her head back and began to full-on cackle. Remy gritted his teeth, and with a defiant yell, hurled his dreamsand at the witch. Golden tendrils surged through the air- but ended up curling through nothing. The dragon-witch had vanished.

“Where did she-”

“REMY!” Emile cried out, but his husband turned around too late. The dragon-witch was behind him, hands having morphed into claws. She slashed them across his face, and Remy cried out, stumbling backwards.

“NO!” they cried out in unison, Virgil’s voice swelling above the rest as a wave of shadows flew from his fingertips, hitting the dragon-witch in the chest and sending her sprawling. Emile and Patton rushed to Remy’s side. Emile kneeled beside him and pulled the dream-witch into his arms. Patton’s hands flew to his mouth when he saw the heavily bleeding cuts over his father’s face. Remy let out a whimper, eyes fluttering and tears of pain mixing with the blood trailing down his cheeks.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay, my sweet Bedtime Bear,” Emile soothed, his voice trembling as tears dripped down his face. Some of them landed in Remy’s cuts, the tears causing them to heal slightly.

“Thought ‘m more of a Sweet Dreamsss Bear,” Remy slurred. Emile choked out a laugh, brushing Remy’s hair out of his face.

“Maybe now’s not the time for cartoon references,” he murmured.

“Youuuuu ss-started it,” Remy pouted.

Patton let out a sudden gasp, and Emile’s gaze shot up to him as he slammed the end of his staff into the ground. A shimmering golden dome materialized above them, just in time to stop a massive dragon claw from crushing them. A frustrated roar was heard, and the claws came down, again and again, Patton letting out a pained gasp with every hit to the dome. His body was trembling with the effort to keep the barrier up, and sweat trailed down his brow.

“Patton…”

“Don’t worry about me, heal Pop!” Patton cried out. The dome was hit again, and Patton let out a shout as he fell to his knees. The barrier flickered, but stayed up as Patton leaned against his staff, gripping it firmly with both hands.

A burst of starlight hit the dragon-witch, soon followed by a wave of shadows and a blaze of fire. She roared in pain, stumbling back from the golden dome. Patton glanced over to Logan, Virgil, and Roman, giving them a weak smile before slumping to the ground with a pained sound. The golden dome flickered out, and Virgil was at his side in an instant.

“Nononononono, Patton, don’t do this to me, c’mon- not like this, please-” Virgil begged, shadows clinging to him and swirling anxiously as he took his brother into his arms. Patton’s eyes fluttered open, and Virgil sobbed in relief.

“‘M okay, jus’ tired,” Patton murmured.

“Well, if you weren’t sleepy, I would be able to help you with that, hun,” a voice piped up from beside Virgil.

“Pop!” Virgil and Patton cried out in unison, seeing Remy standing beside them. The cuts had healed to become just faint lines against his face. Emile stood at his husband’s side, smiling in relief as he gazed at him and his sons.

An enraged roar broke the Picani family out of their reverie, and their gaze snapped to see the dragon-witch stumbling backwards against the old subway system’s wall. Bursts of fire and starlight rained down at the witch, Roman and Logan fighting together in tandem- almost like a practiced, graceful dance.

“I’ll take care of Patton, you two go help Roman and Logan,” Emile said, already scooping Patton up into his arms.

“But what do we do?” Virgil asked, glancing over to the dragon-witch nervously. No matter how many hits Logan and Roman got on her, she would get back up, jaws snapping and spitting fire.

“You three keep her distracted long enough for me to use my dreamsand without her noticing. Once she’s asleep, we turn her in to the Board of Master Witches. They’ll figure out what to do with her,” Remy explained.

“Sounds good, Pop. Be careful,” Virgil said.

“You too, hun. Go help your boyfriends,” Remy replied with a wink. Virgil spluttered for a moment or two, blushing, before turning and running to help Logan and Roman. Logan caught sight of Virgil first, expression flashing with concern. He sent another burst of starlight from his staff before rushing over to Virgil. He gently grasped his shoulder, eyes searching for any injuries.

“Are you okay? How is your family holding up?” Logan asked, gazing softly into Virgil’s eyes.

“They’re okay, Pop has a plan,” Virgil said, then explained Remy’s plan to him. The astro-witch nodded curtly, about to pull away and tell Roman the plan, but hesitated.

“I’ve never been one for superstitions, but-” he paused to press a soft kiss to Virgil’s lips. “A kiss for good luck.”

“Good luck,” Virgil gasped out, practically breathless from such a simple, soft kiss. Logan smiled, then turned to run and explain the plan to Roman. Virgil watched him leave for a moment, until he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The dragon-witch was getting up from Logan’s most recent blast of starlight, and her angered gaze was zeroed in on Logan and Roman. Something snapped inside Virgil. He couldn’t let them get hurt.

“Dragon-witch!” Virgil cried. Her head snapped to glare at him, but Virgil stood his ground, glaring right back. Tendrils of shadow writhed and whipped behind him, and Virgil was surprised to see a spark of fear run through the dragon-witch’s amber eyes. The tendrils lashed out at her, pinning her front claws to the ground. Her massive wings flapped as she roared in frustration, trying to free her claws.

A burst of starlight hit her side, and a mighty roar shook the old subway system. She breathed a plume of fire at Logan, but Roman countered it with his own fire. With his other hand, Roman summoned some of the rubble towards him, and it swirled around him for a moment before he sent it flying at her. She roared again, and Logan sent another burst of starlight straight into her mouth. The dragon-witch shrieked and writhed, but Virgil’s shadows held firm.

“Gurl, you sound so overtired! Bedtime for you, bitch!” Remy shouted, dreamsand swirling around him before it shot forward into the dragon-witch’s head.

“No!” she shrieked, before her eyelids fluttered and her body slumped to the ground. The dragon form shifted and melted away, and she soon was in human form, fast asleep. Virgil’s shadows retracted, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“We did it!” Roman squealed, rushing over and wrapping his arms around Virgil’s waist, lifting him up and spinning around with him in his arms.

“Put me down! And could you be any louder? We just got her to sleep!” Virgil hissed. Roman gave him a cheeky grin, setting Virgil down but still keeping his arms around his waist. Virgil opened his mouth again- probably to reprimand Roman- but he was cut off by a pair of lips meeting his own. When Roman pulled away, his grin was brighter and his gaze soft and loving.

“I’m sure your Pop can get her to sleep again,” Roman murmured.

“You’re insufferable,” Virgil muttered.

“Yes, but I believe I prefer him that way. It can be rather charming,” Logan said, walking over to them and dropping a kiss on Roman’s head. The magma-witch flushed bright red, causing Virgil to smirk.

“That’s our Roman. So charming it’s insufferable,” Virgil agreed, loving the blush that danced along Roman’s cheeks.

“Alright you three, how about we head home?” Emile’s voice piped up, and the three witches turned towards him. Patton was still in his arms, although he was more alert. Remy was just behind him, the dragon-witch slung over his shoulder and snoring softly.

“Home sounds fantastic,” Virgil said. Logan and Roman nodded, and the witches headed out of the old subway system, the threat over their heads finally gone.

Logan woke up to sunlight streaming through the window, strong arms around his waist, and someone’s head against his chest. He blinked in confusion for a moment, not quite recognizing where he was. But then, soft kisses were trailed up the back of his neck, and Logan remembered in an instant.

“Good morning, Roman,” he murmured, turning his head to look his boyfriend in the eyes.

“Shhh… too much talking, not enough kissing,” Roman pouted. Logan rolled his eyes, but leaned in to press a kiss to Roman’s lips. When Logan began to pull away, Roman followed and kissed him deeper, causing Logan to let out a soft gasp. He could feel Roman’s smirk against his mouth as the two continued exchanging soft, passionate kisses. One of Roman’s hands inched underneath Logan’s shirt, and Logan gasped again.

“Hey, some of us are trying to sleep here,” Virgil grumbled, his voice muffled against Logan’s chest. Logan broke away from Roman with a laugh.

“Sorry Virgil, you know how Roman gets,” Logan teased.

“Hey!”

“Only teasing, love,” Logan said, still not used to the thrill that went through him whenever he said that. Love. It had only been a few weeks since they had defeated the dragon-witch, and Roman, Virgil, and Logan’s relationship had started. But Logan was certain of his feelings, for one of the first times in his life. He loved them.

“Hey, you guys are adorable, but am I gonna get a good morning kiss here or not?” Virgil huffed.

“Of course, my dear. Apologies for forgetting you,” Logan replied, shifting towards him again. Virgil leaned up to press his lips to Logan’s, the astro-witch running his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. He let out a sudden gasp into the kiss, as Roman had begun kissing up his neck again.

“Roman!” Logan gasped out. Roman smirked against his neck, pressing another soft kiss there.

“Sorry Starshine, you’re just so kissable this morning,” Roman murmured.

“I’d have to agree. C’mere?” Virgil asked, a little bashful. Logan smiled, and leaned in once more.

As the three of them exchanged soft kisses for most of the morning, Logan couldn’t believe his luck. Just weeks earlier, his heart had been filled with regret. But now his once lost love was back, and he had Virgil now too. And he would fight a thousand dragon-witches if it meant they were forever by his side.

Tag List (ask me to be added/removed!): @adorably-angsty @alix-the-skeleton @allthemetalsoftherainbow @armageddonhascome @backatthebein @bangthekobrakid @bloodropsblog @cefinitely-rolo @coffeestudylive @cosmic-chu @cyndaquil17 @dani-jeanso @didsomeonesayprince @emphoenixcat @every-day-insomniac @fandomsandanythingelse @freekiphotography @freepaperie081 @hanramz-the-fander @i-need-a-social-life-2710 @i-really-dig-the-purple @ironwoman359 @justanotherpurplebutterfly @kanejandkruge @kitsuneprideleader @kittycake574 @le2712 @littlemiracle05 @loganpatton @lollingtothemax @look-its-meme @loverofpizzaandallthingssweet @lynlinked @mewsicalmiss @midnightcandy @moonstonefox @musicsavedmefromdeath @mystrangedarkson @nightmarejasmine @not-as-smart @of-treble-and-dragons @punsterterry @purplepatton @quoth-the-sparrow @radioactivehelena @royallyanxious @ruuworld @sanders-trash-4ever @save-me-oh-dream-of-mine @shadowsfromthesun @shygirl4991 @sleepyssnail @softbludemon @softnic @sombraplayslazertag @sweetinsomniac @the-fandoms-are-takin-over @theresneverenoughfandoms @thisrandomperson102 @thuriweaver @vigilantvirgil

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shieldfansunite · 5 years ago

Text

Fanfic Questions

Taken from @ao3commentoftheday

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Heroes of Olympus !! Yup I started writing fanfic for the HoO fandom.

2. What is your latest fandom?

The Hunger Games. Right now I'm writing with a Hunger Games OC <kinda oc kinda just merged fandoms>

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

This is hard, I think HoO, just because people interacted a lot with my writing. I love the AOS fandom but not a lot of people comment.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

Kane Chronicles. I only write stuff for it for like 2 months, and now I have no inspiration for it. Yet a lot of people keep asking me to write more.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

Heroes of Olympus, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Agents of SHIELD, and Kane Chronicles. I can't think of anything else.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

I have a "one OTP per fandom" rule so here's the short list.

PJO - Percabeth

HOO - Jasper

KC - Sadie and Anubis

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

As far as NOTPs go I've really only had them for SHIELD. And they are Fitzaida and Skimmons.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Honestly I just went "I want to rewatch Hunger Games and read the books" and next thing I know I'm writing OC fanfics about them.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

Shield is my current fandom and I think the few people who do comment really leave long meaningful comments instead of small things.

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Marvel. I've never written something from Marvel but I want to.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Fitzsimmons obviously.

12. Who is your current OT3?

Not romantic but the Bus Kids. Daisy, Jemma, and Fitz.

13. Any NoTPs?

Fitzaida and *romantic* Skimmons.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Fitzhunter

Fitzenoch

Fitzdaisy

Skimmons

Fitzdeke

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

I love Raina and Gordon, and the Coulson and Audrey *the cellist.*

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Skyward, it used to be a NOTP but at this point I just don't like it.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Fitzsimmons and yes. Forever and always.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

Hehe Fitzsimmons.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Philinda. I mean it has cute moments and everyone loves them but I just, they're meh for me. I really want to be hyped for them but I'm not.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Dekedaisy. Or Lemonsquake. Honestly I don't like how much I like it 😂

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

It was a multi chapter one shot fic collection for HOO. I believe.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Yes. 2 fics. Horus' Heir, and Ocean's Twins. Neither are finished and I hate how I left them but don't have the effort to finish them.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

From the Rubble. It's a AU version of season 5 episode 22 and I love it because it challenges me to have to look up things and is emotional and angsty.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

So I am rewriting one right now. *From the Rubble.* Also I want to rewrite some of my WIPs and finish them.

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

A Heroes of Olympus dabbles collection fic on wattpad with 106k views.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

I have NO clue. I just think if random ideas till something sticks.

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Summaries. Because I want to have something catching to make people read, without spoiling things.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

I would LOVE a sketch of From the Rubble. With Jemma by his beside, where he's asleep or awake and they're looking at his x-ray. Or when he's in a wheelchair and yeet.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

I have one for From the Rubble, Bella. Just so I can make sure it's good and emotional and flows.

30. What inspires you to write?

A lot of things. My fandoms. Prompts. Au ideas I think of etc.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

That I could write an episode of SHIELD. I cried.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

I do. I have different playlists for characters. *Some are my OCs, some are canon* and I'll listen to it when writing about that character.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

I try and challenge myself to write all. But more my One Shots become multi chapter and my multi chapters become huge epics 😂

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

23,764 words and counting for my fic From the Rubble, and I'm only on chapter 3. I probably have longer ones on wattpad but idk. Also

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I usually find dialogue prompts and write a drabble based on it when I'm in a writers block rut. Usually Fitzsimmons though.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

I love writing angst. Whoops.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Usually third person, but when I am doing more emotional based things first. Basically if there's action, third. If its little action and mostly emotion firt.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Both. I usually write canon character but try and expand on OCs on occasion.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?

How fast I can write. I can usually write 5+ pages or more in an hour if I'm really focused.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

I struggle with revising and editing because I get excited to share my work.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

1. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16032374/chapters/37421072 *consequences*

2. https://archiveofourown.org/works/3711769 *actually haven't technically started this one*

3. https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702368 *because little Fitz*

4. https://archiveofourown.org/works/7252501/chapters/16466803 *I started this forever ago*

5. https://archiveofourown.org/works/18466984/chapters/43752301 *promised a friend I'd read this*

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

This is hard because I don't read fanfic as much as I write. But Nindragon on Ao3 and biochemsimmons on Instagram. I can't think of any others I have read. Sorry.

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

I mean this is hard. A lot of writers really I aspire me. But I think Bella does the most. Just because we share angst ideas and I get muse from them.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

PLEASE write more Deke and Daisy stuff people. I'm begging.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Consequences *link above*

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

From the Rubble. Because it's an idea I'm committed to so I am putting a lot of effort into it. I'm making myself edit it a lot and writing longer chapters. I think it's the best I've done.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

Ao3. I hardly use tumblr and fanfiction.net confuses me and I forgot it existed.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

I try to! I know how important they are to writers so if I like the fic I try and say something about it. Even if it's small.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I love when people share my work with others. Comments mean so much to me and the more comments I get the more dedicated I am to a fic.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

Um I read HOO and had to wait for the next book. No one I knew liked it so I started looking for things relating to it, like edits. Stumbled on fanfiction and thought "I like writing. I'll try this."

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

I hate when I work really hard on a fic and no one really tells what the think. And if I get a comment its "update." Because I want to know how my reading affected you. I also love being able to change different things I don't like in my favorite show 😂

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keiths-stupid-mullet · 6 years ago

Note

Garrison flashback Keith gave me this idea that the reason he got into a fight with another kid in the first place was because said kid was bullying someone else, and Keith couldn't just stand back and watch so he intervened. My shipper heart likes the idea that the bullied kid was little Lance (I think there's even fanart of that scenario now lol), and that's a major part of why he became so fixated on Keith :D

ok i just. had to write this. i’m having some major Feelings™

If someone asked Lance what he remembered from that day, his answer would be “not much”. And it wasn’t a lie, technically. He didn’t remember much of what counted. Which wasn’t his fault, per se, since there wasn’t much to actually remember.

He remembered some dude being pissed at him. Why was still kind of a mystery to him; Lance thought it might have had to do with how he had winked at Jenny that morning and how she had giggled. He had met her at lunch a few days ago when she had helped him figure out which menu was the vegetarian one - she was nice. And pretty. They were friends. It wasn’t his fault if the guy couldn’t handle some competition.

Anyway, that was his theory. Hunk would say that it probably had to do with how he had accidentally spilled water over the guy’s textbook - he had been excited about the news that he’d get to fly a simulator for the first time next month - but Lance had his doubts. He had immediately apologized and offered to buy a replacement, after all. The dude clearly held a grudge against him that ran deeper than some spilled water.

Next thing Lance knew, the guy had drawn himself up to his full height and had started shouting at him. He had been older than Lance, taller, stronger, not as scrawny as him, and he had had a mean glare. Before Lance could even begin to collect himself, he had started insulting him - his “boring” hairstyle, how he had missed to fasten the topmost button on his uniform, how he had spoken a mix of English and Spanish in his excitement - he was sure there was more he had already forgotten, but bottom line was that it hadn’t been pretty. Hunk had cowered behind him and Lance himself had had his shoulders drawn up, wishing that the people in the hallway directed their attention towards someone else.

And then there had been a blur and a shout and another student had roughly shoved his way in front of Lance, chin drawn up and meeting Asshole Guy’s glare head on.

“Leave him alone,” he had said.

Lance hadn’t known the guy. He remembered his confusion clear as day, who was he? Why would he stand up for Lance if he had never met him? And of that Lance had been sure, he definitely would have remembered the guy’s wild, black mop of hair that might or might not have been against Garrison regulations.

“Who are you? This has got nothing to do with you, move.”

“No. You won’t hurt him.”

Lance’s chest had filled with wonder and begrudging admiration. Wasn’t the boy at all intimidated by how much taller the guy was?

“What? I never wanted to-”

“Go away!”

“No, you go away! This has nothing to do with you, now move.” Asshole Guy had extended his hand as if to shove Lance’s protector out of the way - a mistake.

The shorter guy had thrown himself at the arm, securing it underneath his armpit before punching him square in the jaw.

Lance had just stood there, shocked by what was playing out in front of his eyes and unable to tell either boy to back down. They probably wouldn’t have listened to him anyway.

After that, it hadn’t taken long for a superior officer to arrive. The woman had taken one look at the scene in front of her, had shouted “cadets!” and the entire hallway had straightened up.

“You two. My office. Now.”

Lance hadn’t forgotten the guy. Either guy, actually – but while he did his best to avoid Asshole Guy, he was actively on the lookout for the other one. If only he remembered more about him than his stupid hairstyle, he could have at least asked other cadets if they knew his name or something.

At some point, Lance thought he might have been expelled. He lost sleep over that, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if the boy had been kicked out in an attempt to stand up for him. Granted, Lance hadn’t encouraged him to get physical, but he hadn’t intervened either.

He felt terrible about it. More than anything, he wished he could talk to him.

Months passed. Lance learned that he was absolute shit at flying the simulator, but he didn’t let that stop him. Flying was fun. It was freeing and exciting and he was in charge. It was everything he had ever hoped it would be.

He would make fighter pilot. He didn’t care how many nights he had to spend going through flight maneuvers in his head, he would make it. Besides, everyone was shitty at flying the simulator for the first time, right?

Wrong.

Lance numbly stared at the wall in front of him. He was a cargo pilot, and not even a good one. He was plain average.

He tried to tell himself it was only his first year. He would have plenty of years to catch up and overtake the others. He would graduate as a fighter pilot, he would make sure of that. And not just any fighter pilot, he would be the best. He would beat number one and make sure that people remembered him. His eyes wandered up, up, up-

Keith. 342 points.

Lance smirked. He had a goal now. He wouldn’t let this get him down.

298. Lance stared at his points with a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Hey, great job! Weren’t you at like 200 last year?” Hunk asked beside him. “You’re in the top 10 now!”

“Yeah, top 10 of the cargo pilots, Hunk,” Lance bit out. 298. Keith had had almost 50 points more last year.

“True, but everyone’s gotta start somewhere, right? Top 10 is awesome, you can definitely make it if you just-”

Lance blocked out Hunk’s voice and searched for the fighter pilots. The lowest one had 319 points, not that Lance cared much. He was looking for the top, the first one-

Keith. 404 points.

Narrowing his eyes, Lance got closer to the board. He refused to let this discourage him. “Watch out,” he hissed, “I’m coming for your crown. Don’t get too comfortable up there.”

His third year at the Garrison held a surprise for Lance. He had just chosen his place in his Theory of Flight class when he sat down in front of him.

He. The boy from his first year. The boy who had been at the back of his mind of a few years now.

It was now or never.

“Hey,” he said. The boy didn’t react. “Hey!” he repeated, a little louder this time. He draped himself across his table in an attempt to tap the boy’s shoulder. “Hey, I’m Lance, do you-”

Lance was barely able get a glimpse of the boy’s face when the instructor raised his voice and began the class. With great reluctance Lance sat back down on his chair. It was just his luck that classes would begin when he had finally found the boy again.

Lance didn’t remember much of the class, other than the black mullet in front of him. He kept his intense stare up until the instructor dismissed them and the guy got up.

“Hey!” Lance exclaimed, but the word got drowned out by the general chatter in the class. Cursing under his breath, he hurried after him. His foot caught against the desk’s leg and he just barely managed to keep his balance, before awkwardly stumbling after him through the door.

“Hey, you, wait up-”

There the boy was.

But he wasn’t alone.

He was with Takashi Shirogane, star pilot of the Garrison and Lance’s hero.

Lance was frozen in the door, doomed to simply watch as Officer Shirogane accepted the papers the boy handed him and looked through them. He was smiling slightly at something the younger guy said before the masses swept them away.

There was no way Lance could run after them now, he would make a fool out of himself in front of Officer Shirogane.

He stood rooted to the spot until one of his classmates asked him if he was okay. He gave her a too bright smile and sprinted off towards his room, hoping with every fiber of his being that Hunk was already back from class.

Alright. This time, Lance was prepared. So the boy who saved him during his first year knew Officer Shirogane, big deal. That didn’t mean he was totally out of his league or anything. They could still be friends, no problem. Maybe he could even introduce him to-

The guy with the mullet entered the classroom and Lance perked up. He had arrived extra early in hopes of catching him before classes started and it had paid off. Grinning, Lance waved at him.

“Hey! You’re here again.”

“Of course I am, I’m in this class,” the boy replied, frowning slightly. Despite looking a little put-off he set his books on the table in front of Lance, so Lance counted it as a win.

“Yeah, I noticed. My name’s Lance, do you remember me?”

The boy’s eyes widened and he gave Lance a quick once-over. “Um…”

“First year?” Lance helped. “You got into a fight…?”

That must have been the wrong thing to say, the boy instantly started scowling again. “I got into a lot of fights. What do you want?”

For the first time in a while, Lance felt uncertain about what to say. He wasn’t a shy person by any means, but he couldn’t get a read on this guy.

“Well, actually, I wanted to thank you. You got into a fight for me, so, yeah. Thanks, man. What’s your name?”

The boy’s frown hadn’t cleared up one bit, but he still said: “Keith.”

Lance swore his heart stopped beating for a moment.

“Keith?” he repeated. “Keith, like… like fighter pilot Keith? Top of the board?”

Keith nodded slowly. Lance was numb.

“You're… you’re Keith. That Keith. And you know Officer Shirogane.”

“Shiro,” Keith said quietly.

Shiro. They were on nickname basis.

Lance must have made some ungodly noise because Keith looked suitably freaked out, but before he could say anything else the instructor entered the class.

For the second time in a row, Lance didn’t absorb a thing in his Theory of Flight class.

“HUNK!”

“WHA- Lance, what’s going on, are you okay, what happene-”

“Hunk, it’s him!”

“Who?!”

“It’s him! He’s the same person!”

“Who- who are we talking about?”

“Keith! Keith is the boy!”

“Oh, this is about your rivalry again. Dude, you gotta stop scaring me with that.”

“No! No no no no, Hunk, it’s him! The boy from the first year! It’s Keith! What am I gonna do?!”

There was nothing he could do. Nothing except chase after him.

(“Don’t follow in his footsteps.”)

And chase.

(“That guy is not gonna beat us in there!”)

And chase.

(“You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”)

And chase.

(“We make a good team.”)

And chase.

(“It’s the red lion! You must go to it.”)

And chase.

(“Roger that, team leader.”)

And chase.

(“Who am I gonna make fun of?”)

And chase.

(“Hey everybody, Keith’s back!”)

And chase.

((“Hey, man. We’re home.”

“Guess so.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I came home a while ago.”

“You mean-”

“You guys are my home, Lance.”))

He could stop chasing now.

((“I used to be jealous of you.”

“What? Why?”

“Good looking, talented, ace pilot, best friends with Shiro, the list could go on.”

“…oh.”

“Yeah. I thought you were looking down on me.”

“…oh.”))

He didn’t have to prove himself anymore.

((“Did you ever look down on me, Keith?”

“I thought you were annoying. And that your jokes were terrible. Does that count?”))

He could have stopped a long time ago.

((“Lance! You’re back!”

“What, missed me already?”

“I thought you were gonna stay for longer.”

“Nah, I missed home.”

“But… but you were home.”

Lance chuckled. “Now I am.”))

They were Lance and Keith, side by side.

#a² (answered ask)#anon #klance #i am very very very veeeeery tempted to delete all of this #the tenses are messed up in the first one #and the ending doesn't make any sense #and-#..........................uGH #this is what i get for not writing in a long long time #this is a MESS i apologize #my work

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simmonsized · 6 years ago

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A Writer’s Meme

tagged by @nogoawayok (ps i’m very mad at u for forcing me to be brave)

This little tag meme is an opportunity for writers to reflect on (and promote!) our own writing, but also to hear about the work of our fellow writers and to find something new to read!

Rules: answer the following questions about your own writing, whether fanfic or original. If you can’t/don’t want to answer a question, just put N/A. If you don’t have that many posted works, tell us about your WIPs or individual chapters/drabbles or even your ideas! Then tag as many writers as you like :)

AO3 name and link, if applicable: deserts

What’s your most popular fic, by whatever metric is most relevant to you (hits, kudos, comments, reblogs, some other trait)?

(officially untitled, but lovingly referred to as) nobody likes the smiths - probably the most-liked fic i’ve ever posted on tmblr? predictably trash au related. you could pretty much stick your hand into the basket labelled trash au and pull out anybody’s favorite (it’s not mine, but that’s. u know.) shocking, considering it deals with a pretty ugly side of the beginning signs of alcoholism, and isn’t a particularly romantic or fun fic. york and wash centric. probably pretty over-dramatic. i still like it okay, though the companion/sequel is better, if u ask me

ground cover me, and wind your ashes take - this is a favorite just by default, since it’s the only fic i’ve ever actually put anywhere besides tumblr LOL. 9k and counting! RVB au, post-freelancer au, which you can probably tell is gonna be a theme for me. technically gen fic rn, though that��s subject to change. york is sad. they’re all a lil sad. i actually write this in my free time, but it’s slow going. i promise i never fully abandon anything, it’s impossible for me.

(this got rly long so i’m putting it under a read more!!!)

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

not to copy nogo, but pretty much, anything i’m currently working on. i don’t have a “trail of carnage” per se, but if i screenshot’d my notepad on my phone, you’d cry. i currently have 26 “active” WIPS, and every time i get an idea??? i can’t stop myself i’m a fucking disaster.

currently i guess it’s a homestuck fic abt forgiveness bc that’s just me. i’m love bro strider thanks. also like, a hundred nasty wips that are just alpha dave/bro bc i guess i really just AM That Guy???? wow.

What’s your best fic, and is it different from your favorite fic?

okay this is probably bias (i know it is) but Thunder Blues is probably my favorite thing, aside from the relatively short trash au fics i’ve posted. i like it because i wrote it for me, and me alone, and because i knew what the story i wanted to tell actually was. i like the voice, i like how sad it makes me feel, and although it falls short in a lot of other ways, i’m pretty proud of that Angsty™ dialogue.

the best-best thing i feel i’ve ever written is a hetalia fanfiction from 2011 i will Never Post not ever ever but it’s rly good trust me.

Do you have a fic whose popularity surprised you?

A World Alone - against all fucking odds, this has actually been recc’d before to other people. I am baffled. the prequel’s better. it’s sort of north/south?? sorry???

technically, camp weewees is not actually a fic but a 5000 tweet private twitter that ivori made several comics for. we both still get ppl asking about it from time to time. it’s been years. i’m blown away.

ALSO??? ALL OF TRASH AU??? HELLO????????? i STILL get anons and comments, and i still have the whole collection of fanart and playlists. they mean /EVERYTHING/ to me. EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you have a fic you wish more people would read?

this would only matter if i wantonly posted my fic for all the world to see. as it stands, i get one (1) comment and i literally burst into tears of joy. i just want to write things i like, and hope other people like. i know i have Very Specific trope desires. i’m rly sorry. i’m really glad ppl like ground cover me, i hope i can post more and that it still turns out good!

Is there a ship or fandom you haven’t written, but really want to?

literally no LOL

i’ve been writing fanfiction since i was eleven, and have notebooks upon notebooks just FULL of fic for pretty much everything (i burned a good chunk of it out of embarrassment when i was like 17, i’m still rly sad about this tbh i would have loved to read it) and anything i have ever loved. anything i want to write, i pretty much throw myself bodily into, if i feel it’s something i can give a voice!!

Tell us a random fact about your writing process:

it goes like this:

here is a thought/idea/line > ???? batter up???? > write 5000 words in one sitting > forget about it for a week, find it and reread it > cry > write 5000 more words in another sitting

and then i never get up the nerve to post it!!!

ps i can’t really tag anyone bc nogo tagged pretty much all of my writer friends, and anyone else i am too shy to mention

IF U SEE THIS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DO IT, AND THEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TAG ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANNA SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#this is long #me (danny devito): i'm the trash man #i come out i throw trash all over the ring. and then. i start eating garbage!!!!#my own self-indulgence will drive away everyone who likes me as a writer of this i am sure

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beardedhandstoadshark · 2 years ago

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What's your opinion on fanfiction + why?

They’re great! Just like fanart, it’s more content of our favorite characters, but in familiar, new, or completely different situations, and thinking about all the what if’s and ways things could happen in between (or instead of) canon is very fun to read (or think about).

And sure, a lot of it is gonna be either badly written or cringe, but I mean…said „cringe“ is almost always written by kids figuring stuff out, and bad writing usually comes from beginners. And you can’t learn how to write well if you don’t start somewhere, y’know? It’s always gonna be bad at the start, so why shame people for trying their best anyways. (It’s the same with drawing; or any skill in general, tbh).

Then there’s also smut fics, which…not my personal cup of tea, but it is, without a doubt, the safest version of E-rated stuff, and as long as everything‘s tagged and marked properly…if it’s your thing, then sure, who am I to judge. (Unless it‘s glorifying problematic stuff (*cough* proships *cough*) but in that case the problem lies with the shipping/the particular fic, not the fics in general)

…though ngl the overwhelming focus on ships, and only ships, can get a bit tiring for my found family loving heart. (But that also goes for fandoms in general so idk if it counts.)

But in general, some fics, at least on ao3, are written so well. It’s insane. There’s stuff out there better written, with a more engaging plot, character dynamics, and everything. Even those that aren’t these big 100k multichaptee fics , just small, light-hearted, (or heck, a crack fic or smth), they’re usually straight up just more fun or engaging to read than some books out there.

And it’s all for free. People pour so much into them and the only thing that fuels them is nothing but pure love for what they’re doing, how insane is that?

So yeah, fics are amazing and I don’t get why they’re so frowned upon, as if being set in an already existing universe had anything to do with their quality. Besides, books with a real life setting are technically just fanfics for our universe. So.

#another anon ask #long post #ngl I have so much respect for fanfic writers #or just. writers in general #they take the pictures we cannot comprehend and paint them in our minds with words #and how amazing is that?#and it’s all PURELY. OUT OF LOVE.#plus again- small fun fics with nothing big going on are also great #they’re just fun to read!#doesn’t always have to be this great masterpiece of writing #half my favorite ones are simple 1k what if‘s

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ourlittlebitofnothinguniverse · 6 years ago

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All for the video game ask. (do I need to mention only if u r comfy w/ it at this point). Love you!!

alright u done done it now bitchhhhhhhh are u READY 4 THIS SHIT (dshfa;lkj thamk i am so pumped ur my biggest enabler) i already answered a couple of these for anon but i’ll go ahead and answer them here as well

1. First game you played obsessively?hmmmm i wanna say the legend of spyro the eternal night? i played it so much i could beat the whole game in four hours. i’ve heard lots of ppl actually hated the legend of spyro trilogy but honestly they can suck my ass i loved them

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.uh besides my answer for anon of skyrim not many games have actually just straight up influenced my art style but i’ve been playing this game called Fe (not fire emblem just Fe) and i really want to draw fanart for it bc it’s super cute if that Counts as influence?

3. Who did you play with as a kid?if this is meant in terms of co-op games nobody bc we didn’t have anyif just in general, my sister for the most part. i’d watch her play things like resident evil and she’d help me with the hard parts in medievil and crash bandicoot warped (read: racing levels)

4. Who do you play with now?myself lmao i don’t rly like co-op and multiplayer games and i prefer to play most games by myself

5. Ever use cheat codes?like i told anon, no bc i don’t know how they work and i’d probably only use them for the sims anyways

6. Ever buy strategy guides?not really? once we bought the collectors edition for diablo II when i was little and it included the strategy guide which i stayed up all night to read (bc i had run out of other reading materials in the house) but like i don’t really use them idk

7. Any games you have multiple copies of?the sims three and i know you know the reason why but in case anybody else wants to know: i didn’t know they had actually completely changed the game since i had played it last probably a decade ago so i bought it @ walmart this year and then i got mad bc it apparently SUCKS ASS now so in search of a copy of the original version i bought a second one from amazon bc the Image being used WAS of the original case but it really was the new version so now i have two SHITTY SHITTY VERSIONS of a game i used to love that i will never play bc it’s shit except maybe i will bc apparently it has real life music in it just replaced with sims language which is amazing and this response is far too long for the question but i asked u if u were ready so u signed up 4 thisi also have an xbox version of it tht i got for like christmas or smth years ago and a,,,,,, ds version??? that i got last year bc somebody was selling “the original version of the game including every expansion pack” for only like $30 and it definitely said disk version but when i got it it was this Pre-owned Dirty Ds Cartridge Covered In What Looked Like Strawberry Jelly and when i tried to contact them they shut their page down so there’s that which equals four shitty shitty copies of the sims three and i will never be more mad about anything than i am about this

8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?uh well back when i had a job i spent A Lot of money (to me it was a lot) to get the collectors edition of the last guardian so that would be my most expensive. other than that i would have to say one of the hardest to find (maybe not rare but not common)games i have currently is medievil for ps1 bc it took me like a week of searching to find a copy in good condition online for sale bc i rly wanted to own it again since we had to sell all my old games when we moved to oregon which sucked bc we had a Bunch of cool games (mostly early ps era)

9. Most regrettable purchase?did you see my rant about the sims three for answer 7? yeah

10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?never lived in an area where that is A Thing

11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?i wanna make a homestuck joke here (srsly probably not like i said i don’t rly do any type of co-op or multiplayer games so)

12. Ever get picked on for liking games?not really?? is that a Thing?

13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has?uh idk literally any COD game, basketball games, Fallout games, overwatch, anything that’s co-op, shooter games or sports related etc idk i’m a simple fellow these types of games don’t appeal to me

14. Favorite game music?idk what this means? like genre-wise??? idk abt stuff like that i just like good game music but i’ll tell you the fuck what, hiveswap music fuckin SLAPPED

15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?fuck shit idk man i don’t rly want a tattoo maybe uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh smth that could be vague

16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?idk rip lmao

17. Ever lose a friend over a game?Nah man i can’t even imagine smth as dumb as that unless they’re screaming racist or sexist slurs bc then friendship is terminated but otherwise like wtf it’s just a game,,,

18. Would you date someone that hates gaming?i mean?????? sure????????????? they don’t have to game with me??????????? unless they tell me I can’t game bc they don’t like it in which case Bye u controlling piece of shit

19. Favorite handheld console?u kno those games that used to come in sonic happy meals? yah (jk uh i don’t have much experience w/ handheld consoles besides nintendo ds-es and they’re cool)

20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?like i said i played spyro the eternal night so often i could beat it in four hours so probably that one.

21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now?the only games i didn’t like as a kid i p much still don’t like now

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?i am Poor

23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into?currently skyrim or stardew valley

24. First Pokemon game?I didn’t get to play any pokemon games until this year actually but i got myself pokemon y and ultra sun so those are my first two! although you Could technically say pokemon go bc i played that for the first time like One month before i got y and ultra sun but like idk if tht counts so *shrug emoji*

25. Were you ever an arcade game player?i never lived where arcades were a thing tbh

26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?Why

27. Game that makes you rage?there’s this absolutely adorable and INFURIATING game called so many me that’s a puzzle platformer but the controls are so ridiculously precise that it’s absolutely the WORST to play bc unless you do it just right at just the right millisecond you will die over and over and over

28. Ever play in a tournament?nah

29. What is your gaming set up?the livingroom tv and my mom’s xbox one or my bedroom with my ps4 i got for my birthday and my xbox 360 that i got like 7 years ago

30. How many consoles do you own?alright so If ds-es count i own,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, roughly seven? i have my new ps4 i got for my birthday last year, my 7 year old xbox 360, another xbox 360 i bought from a kid @ school, a ps1 i bought last year for the Nostalgia that’s in rly good condition, a rly old ds lite a rly old 3ds and my new pokeball 2dsxl. i would also say that the ps3 my aunt left when she died is mine bc my mom never used it and she had bought most of the games For Me and Her to play together anyways so the idea that she left it to my mom is,,,, Weird but my mom claims it was left to her so Shrug emoji

31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches?“virtual boy” i love it omg. uh not really i don’t use my ds-es that often bc i don’t have a just wild amount of games but when i do use them it doesn’t rly mess w/ my brain or eyes too much

32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?probably not?

33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games?i don’t think so tbh

34. Do either of your parents play video games?my mom does but she really only plays like three games (the newest assassins creed, skyrim, and stardew valley)

35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop?nope

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?man have u ever heard of brotherhood a tale of two sons? mom told me abt it and she didn’t warn me abt how it ended and i had to leave the room and cry bc it broke my heart

37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination?i didn’t know that was a thing

38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?i can’t think of any tbh. oh wait i take that back sonic unleashed it’s terrible but i love it

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?maybe not a sequel but they rly need to come out with another stardew valley type thing or maybe expansions or smth so that you can talk to and befriend more ppl and stuff

40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?never been able to try them but they look super fun and i can’t wait to see how they improve the technology

41. A genre that you just can’t get into?multi-player games period. also first person shooters and sports games. there’s more but i can’t remember the title of the game bc i don’t know what genre it would be lmao

42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?i assume this means game related nerdiness not just my inherent nerdiness in general so probably the very first spyro game

43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else?all the time my dude

44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?none

45. How are you at Mario Kart?probably shit i’m not good @ steering in games

46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?i love them! i have like 100+ hours logged into stardew valley and i only got it in like november of last year

47. Do you like competitive games?not really

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?so long. i either have to make them gorgeous or beautifully hideous

49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character?yah tbh lmao. i have like eight thief stone khajits in skyrim rn

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?i have a Lot of ideas and not all of them are good

51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep?forgetting to sleep, yes. forgetting to eat? no

52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?i was a very sheltered kid i didn’t know about new games coming out when i was little bc we didn’t have any way for me to find out About Them. i’m making up for it by begging as an adult for ni-no-kuni II and the new spyro trilogy remastered

53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days?depends on the game tbh some of it is good and a lot of ppl who make mods are rly talented but sometimes the big companies just make dlc to make more money so it can be rly shitty so it’s kinda a 50/50

54. Do you give in to Steam sales?heck yes rn i’m waiting for house flipper to go on sale bc i’ve been waiting for it to come out since i found out abt it

55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them?no my style of playing the sims was more along the lines of make a hundred houses that are all P Much The Same House and making a hundred familys and never playing literally any of them hadflskja;sdfjdslkhja i just liked building stuff and that’s why i’m pissed abt how much they changed the sims three bc it used to be Way Better

56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?we didn’t have it but i did have zoo tycoon and i’d release the dinosaurs sometimes

57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements?legend of spyro the eternal night

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?uh!!! that’s too much pressure and i would get so bored playing them for the rest of my life even if i loved them so i will not choose

59. Do you play any cell phone games?sort of? i’m big into abyssrium and i like viridi if those Count?

60. Do you know the Konami Code???????????????????????? guess not

61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever?keep them forever!

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?i got the last guardian before getting the ps4 does that answer ur question? (jk that is not the only reason i wanted and got the ps4 but it was One big reason)

63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? nah

64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?not really? i just use whatever i currently have bc i am lame

65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file?nope

66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?not a nokia but we had this one handheld thing that had a bunch of games in it that included snake i just can’t remember what it was it had like letters and numbers and it needed like regular batteries and you could only play the games that came programmed on it

67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share?i cannot think of any right off the top of my head even though i know i played a lot of video games and loved them when i was little. hm it might not count as like a gaming-related childhood memory and more of just a memory of a game but we did have one really interesting little game that i absolutely loved i think we only rented it but u were a scientist who could turn into a mouse and it was absolutely amazing i loved it i have no idea what it was called hm

68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?not really we didn’t have arcades around where i grew up

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? there are a lot of rly good ones i can’t choose a best game

70. Very first game you ever beat? like i told anon i’m p sure it was crash bandicoot warped

WHEW this was rly fun thank u for enabling me it took me like two hours to answer this i’m so happy. ilu 2 man hope ur day has been rad!

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