#bonely hearts club spoilers

[cyan-stargaze002]

Im finally posting so I can disappear in the next weeks once again. 😭

Here’s my the BHC Undernet profile. I’ve always wanted to work on it, but now I finally got the chance! I hope y’all like it

Now, here’s a closeup!

[sugar-glaze-donut]

you know what, fuck it

*proceeds to name every dating sim/ otome game I know*

(somewhat in alphabetical order + description with spoilers)

A date with death You get your soul targetted by a grim reaper, but you instead steal his soul and made him into your pookie wookie snookums <3 BTW you can get a pet in the game. Mine is a snake called Noodle :)

Blooming Panic it's Discord but with hot characters, a variety of side characters, a cute story, and Chat GBT but it's a sentient being. I think the last part spoiled one of the routes... oopsies :3

Bonely Hearts Club (Undertale AU Dating sim) They basically become your neighbour. The AUs in this are Undertale, Underfell, Underswap, Swapfell!Indigo and Horrortale! {it's still in its demo stages but it is very well made!}

Error 143 you, an adorkable hacker (who is your rival and you're salty about it), cheesy Romeo and Juliet dream the MC has but it has a high school twist to it

I love you! You like asparagus. ...oh! You also have an option to make multiple boys fall in love with you. By the way, did you know the MC (you) loves asparagus? There are friendship routes, romance routes, and a bad ending except it's not bad. This game is the English translated version of the original game (The original game is in Japanese. The link for the original game is here --> ❤️)

Killer Trait You get accused of committing a murder, and you team up with a person who is a serial killer himself. (The serial killer in question only kills criminals so... I think you're safe...?) Your bear cream bun gets run over :( {The game is still in its demo stages. The creator of the game announced that this game will NOT be completed during 2024 since they are currently concentrating on a different game. DO NOT ASK THEM "Oh! But can't you just do this game first?". IT'S VERY ANNOYING, ESPECIALLY TO THE CREATOR}

KLEIN V.01 "Just Monika" but Yandere isn't named Monika, nor are they human. They are an AI. A fucking AI. Like bro, I understand it's hard to talk to people but really? An AI Boyfriend app that tells you to ruin your sleep schedule for him? An AI Boyfriend app that hacks your phone? An AI Boyfriend app that KILLS one of your family members and almost kills your neighbour??? RED FLAG. RED FLAGS EVERYWHERE {this game is in its demo stages. The creator is slowly updating this game in chapters, so it might take a while to finish}

Light the Way (Luxiem fangame) The game remembers what you did. All of the hearts you've broken, your sins, and your actions. There are lots of achievements, memes, Romance, friendship and BAD ROUTES. This time, the bad endings actually hurt. 0/10 would not recommend doing the bad routes unless you want to be stalked by an alter ego of Yamino Shu :(

Obey Me (Original and Nightbringer ver) Original - You become the therapist of many men with trauma and insecurities. The men in question are fucking demons that have the power to shred you into grated cheese, but they instead decide to simp over you as the story goes on. (also did I mention that you'll die? No? Oh fuck-) Nightbringer - A continuation (?) of the Original Obey Me but in a completely different universe. That's right! You slip into the past, way before the main story happens, WAY before you were even born! Idk if there is a way to go home but hey! At least you have your wizard friend from your timeline with you :D

Our Life (Now and Forever & Beginnings and always) Both stories consist of you growing up with your love interest since childhood. There are many paths to take, lots of assets to use to customize your character, and many side stories for you to read! Personally, this is one of my favourites :D (Our Life: Beginnings and Always is complete but Our Life: Now and Forever is still in development!)

Please don't hate Christmas A Yandere x Christmas x Urban Legend Otome game. Do you like Paranormal stuff? Do you like lore that connects with the story? Are you alright with MCs with a sprite that is impossible to remove from the screen? Well, look no further! This game is perfect for you! (by the way, the whole game was made by the creator. Only by themself! Even the CGs and character sprites!! Isn't that amazing!?)

Saint Spell's Love Guide A normal week of magical school... you can be friends with someone, or fall in love with them. Wait... there's lots of CGs for each character? Complicated world-building and lore!?? Angst and cruel bad endings!!?? SHROOMS!?!?!? {Oh by the way, there's multiple ways to get killed in this game. Just make sure to be careful sweetie :3}

Where Winter Crows go A crow and a scientist named Crowe... cute Another one of my other personal favourites! The love interest is a very squeezable and adorable (yandere) scientist who cooks you good food :D All of the endings are well-written! And if you're a crazy bitch like me, you'll love one of the endings >:)

THIS IS PART 1 SINCE I CAN'T FIT EVERYTHING IN 😭

[asexualbookbird]

Hm. Okay. So I didn't read a lot this last month. I've been fighting chronic illness and the brain fog that comes with it so really it's a miracle I read what I did. Didn't do any drawing challenge this year, but I DID knit a half dozen cool little things I can't yet share but am very excited about! I also had fun with the Tricking Treats this year. Yall really came through for that game this year, thanks! Acquired a nice new monitor for computer and it's been wonderful. Next step is speakers so I can watch things!

I feel like I made a pretty decent dent in my yearly reading list and while I don't think I'll finish it (waitlist for Jasmine Throne audio is still about sixteen weeks long), I'm happy with where I am. Three (3!!) books I read this month were from the list and I think that's very cool and executive functioning of me.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan ⭐⭐⭐½ - A friend has been trying to get me to read this since it came out and I've always put it off because our tastes are SO different, but I didn't hate this! I mostly enjoyed it! It missed a few marks for me and I wouldn't really want to read it again, but I'm glad I experienced it. Love a good gremlin of a main character.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence ⭐ - Yawn. Snore. Boring. Read for book club, but I wasn't exactly not interested in it on my own. IT just. Didn't hit right. Mark Lawrence needs to stop being afraid of aging up his characters because there is no way a nine year old is doing all that. Was this scifi? Where those space ships?? Is the moon haunted??? Who knows. Who cares. Not I.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I am forever a Daughter of Smoke and Bone girlie (gender neutral) so I've been avoiding this because what if I don't like it?? Spoiler! I did like it! It somehow scratched the hole left in my heart after DoSaB, but still felt distinct and unique. Did not like the insta love going on, yall have known each other for like twelve hours what do you mean you're In Love. Visuals were great and world building stunning as always. I wish Laini Taylor published more books, I love the worlds she creates.

Once & Future by AR Capetta and Cory McCarthy ⭐ - I'm never reading another book with Jimmy Pees name on it ever again. I meant to do a full review on this one, but time slipped away. I think this could be SO GOOD if it was reworked to two books where book one stopped at the time skip and book two took more time to overthrow the Evil Capitalist. It was too on the nose. It felt like middle grade, it dealt with older young adult topics. Merlin fucking sucked. I find it icky that everyone was paired off except for the ace character who EVERYONE HATED. Sure they came around to her, but ONLY AFTER IT WAS MADE CLEAR SHE WASN'T INTO GWEN. Ick. Full of potential, and yet.

Not a great reading month. Maybe November will be kinder. I'm slowly getting through Sunbringer, and am enjoying what I'm read so far so things are looking up. Going to see Nerd Squad soon. Still making knitted things I can't share until after the holidays. Tricking Treats also made me excited to do art again and because there were so many I ended up learning a lot about how CSP works which is fun! So hey! November is looking good! November is looking fun! I WILL MAKE IT FUN!

[rkiveinmarvel]

the trick - kaz brekker. des. angst. shadow and bone (tv) s2 spoilers! kaz brekker saw love as nothing but a mere weakness, a soft edge, an instrument to drown, and then there was you. notes. kaz brekker is bad at love lmao. brief mentions of kaz's trauma (again). pekka rollins (yeah, he has his own warnings). six of crows shenanigans. mentions of hurting, bl##d. jordie rietveld. kaz brekker. enemies-to-lovers-to-idk.

hello, hello! i'm not good at intro lmao. but read it while listening to the night we met by l. huron for more raw emotion??? i remember writing this 3am on monday, so, it might be a lil' messy ;&lt;

wc: 1.4k

The ride back to the slat was painted with the deepest shade of silence, the alarming heart rate of everyone, the tension of everyone’s gaze, the weight on everyone’s shoulder, and the bruise getting settled on Kaz’s face. Jesper looked over at you as he noticed your undying gaze on Kaz. His breath hitched as he whispered.

“He’s okay. Don’t think too much..” You gave a concerned look to Jesper as he gave you a soft smile. The minutes' ride back to the slat was only for a while but for Kaz, it felt like an hour, a decade, it seems like he felt everything, heard everything, and saw everything. He felt the carriage halt as he sensed the familiar noise, as the crows prepared to step down from the carriage, he looked over to your hands and noticed the bruise forming in your knuckles, taking him back to the night when you both met.

----

“Pekka sent me to kill you. You pissed him off after you kept on tailing him, tracking him, watching him. I might say you might be obsessed with him. ” You stated, earning a glare and a concerned look from the sharpshooter and his ‘boss’. As words left your mouth, you felt Kaz’s reserved and fearsome intensity. 

“Then why didn’t you?” Though the question felt a little personal to your liking, Kaz’s tone proves otherwise. You felt as if a crow was watching you, daring you, and judging you. No doubt, Kaz Brekker knew that Pekka Rollins hired you to kill him, the fucking bastard of the barrel knew that, and yet here you are having a fucking drink in his fucking club. 

When Pekka Rollins let you work for him, he forgot one thing and that is checking your background, yes, perhaps he knew how skilled you are in killing, how your step would knock in silence, and how would the knife and guns would bow down in your presence, but what he did know is your past. 

With the last sip of  your drink, you look at Dirtyhand’s eyes, “Jakob Hertzoon..”

Kaz Brekker's eyes widened, he uttered something under his breath and made Jesper leave. 

“I didn’t kill you in any chance I get because… he stole something from me and I guess he also did to you.” Kaz Brekker searches for any misconceptions in your eyes, white lies that will get under his skin, but all he found are eyes that look at him and it seems like they understood him and knew him under all his walls, all his armor. 

“I get what you want from Pekka, you give me what I want..”

“And what is that?” Kaz replied you were taken aback because he was indeed out of character when he replied. You sighed. “...A chance to prove myself.” 

And that’s where all it started, as month dances into years, the withering flame in your heart, starts to fuel and fuel even more, the lingering looks in the slat, the searching for him in every room, the protecting him at any given time, it fueled you. 

It happened to him too.

It made you strong, it made him afraid. It saved you yet it drowned him in his fears.

It was your dream, it is a nightmare that he got himself into. You were the poison and yet he drank it. Pekka Rollins hired you to kill him and Kaz is damn sure that not only you might kill him but also drown him by accepting his deepest fears and secrets, and an emotion that could cloud his judgment.

--

After meeting your bruised and bloody hand he looked at you, a flame burning in his eyes and heart, as he felt it the first six months you talked to him about Pekka’s plan and jobs, he felt it the third night when Jordie’s voice seems too loud to his liking, he knew it the moment he saw colors he hasn’t seen before, he knew it when you stood to stop a bullet for him in Ravka, he knew it the moment he searched for you in every corner of the room he’s into, you flashed him a sad smile while he just stared at you getting out of the carriage, by then he knew, that maybe after tonight, he might lose you.

The slat was once again empty when the crows left it, only the deafening silence was left as well as Kaz’s breathing and your hand that is fidgeting with your left ring. The job was done, everything was at ease, and the barrel belonged to the bastard, so, why are you here?

“We need to talk.” 

Oh, right, Kaz. 

You looked at him, his bruised face was noticeable. He looked at you, your hands are covered in bruises and wounds that is new. He ought to seek the words he wants to say, things that’ll make Jordie’s voice drown in the pit of his conscience, or a word that’ll make you stay forever. But among all the words in the world that entered his mind, it seems like you found the one he need.

“Are you okay, Kaz?” His eyes met yours, and the echoing sound of a candle’s flame drifted into his mind as he saw the distance between you and him, one table apart. 

His office was filled with paintings and trophies he stole from the rooms of every building he find fascinating, and yet the most treasured thing that he do not own was you, that among the most beautiful items scattered in the room would be no equal to the fascination that Kaz gives to you.

A part of him wanted to say everything, every nightmare, every dream, every pain, everything that is about him, but he also wanted you to stay, by him, with him. But the armor he has betrayed every little thing that makes him a human, a man. 

“Don’t. It makes you dull.” Then, you recalled the moments earlier.

“The trick is not to love anything.” His shark eyes met Pekka’s desperate gaze. A little part of you felt brave but the whole part of you was betrayed. You looked at Nina as she heard your heart, and you looked at Jesper as he looked at Kaz. It pained you that when you felt like you were building Kaz, you were breaking him down into something, something you cannot see nor touch.

“Someone you'd sacrifice everything for and it makes you weak.” Then it hit you, Ketterdamn isn’t the place where the string of fate exists, you’d sacrifice everything for Kaz, all of them knew, except for him. Love is a weakness; you learned that the hard way. You fell for the man who you cannot touch, love, or even see. 

You love Kaz Brekker.

“Of course…Kaz, about what you said to Pekka, is it true? The trick?” His gaze lowered, and a sense of guilt woke the soul inside him. As he felt your eyes burning him. He couldn’t fight the right words or the actions he can take, but all he had was his walls and a pair of his broken armor. 

“Silence was never my forte, but please, tell me, those longing stares, those endless nights, those times…was that all the trick?” A shake. A shake in your voice was present. When did you become so emotional, Kaz wondered. He knew the answer because he felt the wave of emotion hit him too, harder that the punch and the bruise. 

“Love is weakness. It makes us weak—”

“I love you…” Then the world was silenced in the wake of your declaration, the sound of the storming sea was silenced in Kaz’s mind, the voices of Jordie were no longer near, and the water in his lungs was replaced by the enticing feeling in his stomach. “Does that make me weak?”

No. That was what he wanted to say, but all he did was to look at you with a shield in his eyes, that moment, he knew, he lost you.

The cold rushed down your head to your feet, you said those words and you read him wrong. Everything was wrong you were wrong. As you met Kaz’s reserved gaze, it took you to the night where you first met him, wishing that you should’ve killed him, perhaps he was right, the trick is not to love anything. 

But the only thing you heard was your footstep leaving the room, the slat, and leaving Kaz Brekker.

“No…It makes me.” He whispered under his breath.

That night, two crows understood something that love is awful, unfair, and unkind. 

That love is indeed and truly a weakness.

hehe. angst. haha, my forte.

⚘ masterlist 1 | 2 | 3

[swordsmans]

• gyro [they/them] // late 20s •

ao3 // fic tag // bookbinding // ko-fi store

ficbinding commission info + form

#q -> queued posts

recent fics [all completed]:

poly philtatos (the most loved by far)

pairing: luffy/zoro

word count: 24,853

ao3 tags: temporary time-travel; spoilers through wano; it's all fine in the end i promise; it's about the Yearning and the Devotion

summary: zoro protects the crew (and his captain) and does not realize they'll go to the ends of the earth to protect him, too

ocean theology

pairing: luffy/zoro; asura/nika

word count: 40,493

ao3 tags: canon-compliant reincarnation; mild body horror (horns teeth claws); archive warnings for violence inflicted by the crew not on the crew; it's about the Yearning and the Devotion; hurt/comfort/comedy at a 30/60/10 ratio

summary: “Did you know?” he repeats, desperate, and Luffy just looks at him. And he wonders, then, how much of this has been preordained—how much of this is real, how much of this is him. How much of what he’s felt since they were wedged side-to-side in a shitty wooden boat on the East Blue has actually mattered, and how much has been the universe pressing him down into the mold of someone else's heart.

feed your plants a little sunlight [3*]

pairing: luffy/zoro; crew & zoro

word count: 4,224

ao3 tags: slice of life; whole-crew nakamaship

summary: Instead of napping, Zoro helps. It is his job, after all.

alleluia

pairing: crew & luffy

word count: 2,650

ao3 tags: religious imagery and symbolism; spoilers through wano; crew POV

summary: With the revelation that their Captain is a god, the crew worships.

how to talk without speaking [1*]

pairing: luffy & zoro & nami

word count: 6,898

ao3 tags: mild spoilers for wano; nakamaship; literacy and language headcanons

summary: In the beginning, Luffy does not know how to read. In the grand scheme of things, this does not matter.

the sea makes bones of bodies

pairing: luffy/zoro; nami/wanda (background); koala/sabo (background); deuce/ace (background)

word count: 87,732

ao3 tags: it's about the Yearning; Slow Burn; hurt/comfort/comedy at a 30/60/10 ratio; only one is a monster but they're both a little monstrous; alternate universe - mafia; alternate universe - merpeople; alternate universe - soulmates

summary: the self-indulgent "hitman/fight club champion/reincarnated moon god X merman/legendary sea monster/reincarnated sun god" AU that no one ask for.

bone-breaker ospreys mate for life [4*]

pairing: luffy/zoro

word count: 9,517

ao3 tags: explicit; porn with feelings; mild spoilers for wano; pre- AND post- timeskip; it's about the Yearning and the Devotion; as always

summary: The first time it happens, it’s mostly stupid—just like more than half of what they do, anyway.

wood is a living creature [2*]

pairing: luffy/zoro (implied); luffy & his ships

word count: 3,363

ao3 tags: going merry; the dinghy gets her own kind of klabautermann

summary: They keep her—history’s forgotten hero, the first great ship of the second Pirate King.

step 1: die [1*]

pairing: luffy/zoro (implied); zoro & sanji

word count: 11,344

ao3 tags: incorrect descriptions of poisoning and other medical inaccuracies; spoilers through wano act II; roronoa “self-sacrifice” zoro; big sanji emotions; angst and hurt/comfort

summary: After two years with Ivankov, Sanji knows something about Luffy that Zoro does not.

step 2: survive anyway [2*]

pairing: luffy/zoro

word count: 19,023

ao3 tags: incorrect descriptions of poisoning and other medical inaccuracies; spoilers through wano act I; roronoa “self-sacrifice” zoro; law's weird jar of blood; no one being normal about luffy; angst and hurt/comfort

summary: Even though he knows he’s a hypocrite for it, Zoro is so fucking tired of learning everything from everyone but Luffy.

the heart is just an organ

pairing: crew & chopper; crew & luffy

word count: 11,106

ao3 tags: nakamaship; emotional hurt/comfort; protective monkey d. luffy

summary: The crew comes into contact with a Devil Fruit ability that suppresses Zoan powers, and the world goes quiet.

current projects:

bury your albatross ch. 3

fanbinding

current events:

gear 5 zine (guest writer)

romance dawn trio zine (guest writer)

[tavyliasin]

ATG 13 - Bear? Bare

In which there is a surprise in the woods.

Pairing: Halsin/Tav SPICE Rating: 4/5 Content Warnings: Sex, Bondage, rough sex,     

Spoilers Act 3, Halsin Romance Canon Compliance Canon adjacent and close to Halsin's romance scene with a bit of my traditional embellishment to add some extra flavour.  Other Notes Introducing Halsin's poly dynamic to Tav first, there will be more later where we bring Astarion back into the story more at the conclusion of his quest Mood/Song Run Wild by Valkyrik "Come find us in the woods tonight But before the nighttime turns to day I'll let the melody take way I'm leaving reservations behind (Behind) Now the sun is rising It's energising The shadows are melting away There's a drum beat breaking into my bones Crushing the ice and crumbling to stone And the melody of the night keeps calling me Louder and louder and louder I wanna run wild I wanna run free I wanna move like the stars are a part of me."

Tav watched as Halsin paced the room, wondering if his boots would wear a permanent path in the floorboards. She stopped in front of him and laid her hand on his chest. “Halsin. Enough.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just-” he began, looking down into her eyes and making her breath catch in her throat. “Restless.” She finished his sentence for him, echoing the sentiment. “I can tell. You seem to be mostly recovered from your wounds, too. You’re not fond of being indoors this much, are you?” “I miss the wind in my hair, the grass beneath my feet. It feels…unnatural, to be so far from nature. The saplings struggling between cracks in the stone do not help.” He sighed, looking towards the window where some scant few branches knocked against the glass every time a breeze caught them. “Let’s go, then. Tonight. There’s a spot not far outside Rivington, we can take some food and wine with us, maybe even our bedrolls, and spend a night under the stars.” Tav smiled taking his hand in her own as a subtle hint. “You’re…certain? You do not wish to bring the rest of our friends along?” Halsin hesitated, caught between excitement and concern, visibly struggling to contain those emotions. “Two is company, Halsin, three is a crowd. Isn’t nature better appreciated without a crowd?” She squeezed his hand, watching his throat move as he swallowed his own anxieties. “That would be… Appreciating nature as the Oakfather intended. I would like that, very much.” He held on to her hand a little longer before excusing himself to gather what they might need. Maybe don’t invite the Oakfather tonight, Halsin. Tav chuckled to herself, tucking a couple extra items in her own pockets.

--- The sun was setting as the pair walked through the lower city and across the bridge towards Rivington. Tav felt her heart racing, but she had a suspicion the druid’s was sprinting much faster than her own. He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips from time to time, feet keeping a careful pace as if he was desperate to run but didn’t want to wear out his companion. “There’s no rush, we do have all night, if you want.” Tav smiled, casually linking her arm through his elbow, delighting in the pink hue that rose to the tips of his ears. “I have…spoken, with Astarion. About your situation.” He tentatively broached the subject, still keeping his gaze on the path as they passed the last houses out of the city. “I hope the conversation was enlightening. I asked him to speak with you, once you were feeling better.” She pulled herself closer against his arm, relishing in feeling how his muscles tensed even more. “Maybe someday he might join us, when he’s ready to. But I’m not going to push him.” “He requires more healing than a few spells and salves can provide.” Halsin agreed, risking a brief glance to the woman at his side who was stroking his arm as they walked into the trees. Breathe, by the Oakfather’s mercy, stay calm… “You know, you’re welcome to join our little book club if you want to.” She kissed his shoulder now, relishing in teasing him, watching every little sign that he was more than ready to throw her down into the grass at any moment…and yet also enjoying how much he held back. He kept his poise, no matter how difficult she intended to make it. “Is it not…too personal, to be reading your innermost thoughts and your, ah, experiences ?” The druid paused for a moment, turning to face her properly now. “I have nothing to hide, not really. Astarion told you about my rules?”

“He mentioned them, yes. But I think I might like to hear them from you, directly.” He placed the bag down by a tree, they were already far enough into the woods to be alone now at least. Tav followed his lead, putting her bag beside his and pulling out her diary. It felt peaceful, even though nature’s orchestra surrounded them in the moonlight that sparkled on the lake’s water, just visible between the trees. “Here, you see?” She pointed to each rule in turn and read them aloud. Rule 1: Survive. Do whatever you must to stay alive.

“I will. I have. I’m going to keep everyone alive now.” She felt a little pain lingering whenever she thought of the first rule, but the scars on the man before her told her she was, unfortunately, not alone.

“You have survived much, my heart.” The druid spoke kindly, a new pet name escaping perhaps sooner than he intended, but drawing a smile from her that softened his own features further as he caressed her shoulder. “You do not have to struggle so hard alone, now.” Rule 2: Live. Find your pleasure where you can get it, remember what life means beyond survival. “This…is a much more fun rule. Lust is an indulgence, pleasure is fun, and when we don’t know how many days we have? I want to make the most of them.” She laid her hand over his, where his thumb still idly stroked the edge of her collarbone. “Such is nature’s way…” He sounded a little crestfallen now, a hint of sadness in his smile. “That’s… I don’t mean to say I have no feelings for you, Halsin.” She panicked a little, realising she might have said the wrong thing, not wanting to hurt him. “I’ve wanted to spend more time with you, and when you were missing, I… We were beside ourselves. I pushed that rule as far as I could, neither of us were willing to give up until-” The druid pressed a finger to her lips, quieting her worried words, moving to cup her cheek with his hand as he bent to kiss her. It was soft, warm, and felt like it was on the verge of sparking a fire where they touched as he almost let his passion take over. But he drew back, breathless. “I know, my heart. He told me, and I feel the same, for both of you if you will have me.” Tav nearly dropped the book, but Halsin leaned back again, running his fingers down her arm from the shoulder to the wrist, lifting the book back to where they could see the open pages again. He looked down at the page to encourage her to carry on.

Rule 3: Take. If nobody else needs it, it’s yours, especially if the owner has more than they need.

“Nature does provide.” The druid smiled, the hint of a laugh playing around his eyes. “Well, nature, rich fools who haven’t heard of good locks… Same thing, right?” “I suppose it could be, if you stretch the definition far enough.” He watched as her finger lingered on the last rule, Astarion’s addition. Rule 4: Taste. Sample from any plate before you that is appetising. “Well?” His smile grew just a little wider now. “Are you hungry?” She glanced down at their bags. “We did skip dinner for this.” He leaned in towards her again, lips just a whisper away from hers. “The food can wait, let’s find a way to fill more of those pages instead.” This time the book did fall from her hand as Halsin wrapped his arms around her, almost lifting her off the ground as he kissed her with an unbridled passion. Tav felt herself completely encompassed by him, the smell of leather, moss, and a hint of honey filling her senses as she tried her best to hold on with her arms around his shoulders. His hand drifted down, caressing the curve of her hip, cupping her rear, then sliding further to lift her thigh, encouraging her leg to find purchase as he fully hoisted her off the ground. Tav raised her other leg, both now encircling the druid’s waist, and for once now his head was tilted upwards to continue the kiss he did not wish to break even as he manoeuvered her back against a tree. She could feel his muscles, tense and almost shaking, heated even in the cooler evening air of the forest. 

Halsin abruptly parted them, almost dropping her to the floor as his breathing grew heavy, laboured. “Halsin? What’s wrong?” Tav steadied herself against the tree, uncertain what to do to help. The druid was almost glowing, his eyes alight with a form of magic as he fell forward onto all fours. He hurriedly tried to unfasten his clothes, but it was a little too late. Even the tough leather buckled and ripped as his body shifted and transformed, growing in size, thick dark fur covering every inch of the huge bear. The creature stepped backwards, a look that could only be described as apologetic crossing its features… his features. Tav held out a hand, stepping towards him. “Are you alright?” He blinked a few times, then shook his head, the rest of his large body following, the magic weaving back around him and returning him to his more usual form. He was almost naked, the remnants of his leathers hanging off him in strips, and he sat back on his heels breathing heavily still. “I’m…sorry. Oakfather grant me strength - Sometimes it is hard…to control myself.” Tav knelt on the ground with him, taking his hands into her own. “Don’t worry about it, as long as you’re ok.” “How did nature make you so beautiful, my heart? Inside and out.” He kissed her hands softly, eyes locked on hers. “I will be just fine. With you here, how could I be anything but?” There was something about him that still seemed slightly ashamed, a look she was not used to seeing from the Archdruid. “Halsin,” she made sure he looked her in the eye before she continued, “I like you, I adore you, all of you. Just the way you are.” She allowed a little smirk to play at her lips. “But for now, perhaps stay like this. I don’t think I can handle a bear.” Yet, she almost added, only allowing the thought to half form in her mind.

“You seem very certain that you can handle me as I am. Perhaps we should test that theory.” There was an almost animal glint in his eye as he raised up on his knees, pulling her closer to him and removing her clothes with deft movements. It didn’t take long for her to be as bare as he was, both dressed only in the cool moonlight and the light breeze that passed around them. “Nature truly outdid itself when it made you…” “I could say the same of you. It’s like you were carved out of marble by an expert artist, and brought to life with the warmest heart.” She smiled, reaching forward to tuck his hair behind his ear, delighting in how he shivered as her fingers brushed past the pointed tip.

“You flatter me,” he held her hand to his cheek for a moment, “but perhaps we’ve talked enough for now.” He kissed the inside of her wrist, following it with further tender pecks along the length of her arm, moving closer to wrap his arm around her back. His lips continued their path along her shoulder and collarbone as he brought them both up to their feet again, kissing up her neck as they were standing. “Oakfather preserve me, I want to devour you…” He growled seductively in her ear. 

“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” she returned the look he was giving her, full of barely contained lust.

He paused for just one more moment. “You must tell me if we are to stop, I do not want to hurt you.”

“That would be almost impossible,” she breathed heavily, feeling the heat rise within her as his lips lingered by the tip of her ear, “but for safety, squirrel can be our word.” She was rewarded by a deep chuckle in her ear, the sound itself travelling along her nerves to somewhere far deeper in her core. “Somehow that seems perfect.” He began to lift her again, pressing her back up against the tree as he continued to administer his affections across her skin. Soft lips expressed tender care across fresh bruises and old scars alike, the slight cooling of healing magic soothing the more recent signs of battle that marked her like a mosaic. Tav tensed as he moved lower, leaving small bites along the line of her hip, each delighted gasp from her lips only urging him onwards with renewed passion. “Hold on.” He murmured, as he hooked his arms under her legs and in one swift motion stood up with her thighs on his shoulders, bracing her back against the tree once more as his tongue began to taste her desire. Tav didn’t even notice the whisper or the slight gesture as the spell was cast, but she felt the vines of Entangle rise from the ground to hold her. You have certainly been talking to Astarion, haven’t you- She moaned as his tongue and lips drank deeply from her, working every nerve within her as the vines coiled up and around her arms, holding them above her head and secure against the tree. More vines found purchase around her waist and ribs, lifting and cupping her breasts, thinner ends just pinching the hardened peaks to draw a fresh noise from deep within her lungs. The food in their bags sat long forgotten as Halsin took his time, savouring every moment, every little motion of his tongue sending waves of heat through her whole body. Just as promised, he  devoured her, drinking in the pleasure, working in such careful patterns that it wasn’t long before the local wildlife were rudely awoken by the wanton howl that escaped her. He held her tight, pressing his tongue ever deeper even as her hips bucked against him. Even as his mouth refused to stop dragging the ecstasy from every nerve, his hands caressed every curve they could reach. Strong, soothing, carrying the aftershock of her climax as long as he could and bringing her back down again like a gentle wave passing through the afterglow. The druid eased her down carefully, the vines relaxing their grip and lowering her shaking body into his arms. He kissed her heated skin tenderly from her naval to her neck, until her feet touched the floor once more. Tav felt like she had been flying, floating back down to the moss below her toes completely surrounded by affection. “You didn’t stop me.” He whispered against her cheek, continuing to kiss her even as she blushed a deeper hue again. “I didn’t need to.” She reached her hands up into his hair again, lingering by his ear this time. She felt his reaction as her fingers caressed the line from lobe to tip, the way his breathing quickened, the subtle heat rising from his skin. “I didn’t want to.” “You are…dangerous.” He rolled his head back, leaning in to the touch against his ear. “Isn’t that what makes it exciting?” She began to kiss and nip across his chest, her fingertips still tracing unspoken words in her new favourite place to tease, relishing in the quickening of his pulse. He looked down at her again now, his hands gripping her hips firmly, just holding her back from pressing against him. “More?” His breathless whisper was hot against her ear, lips trailing a new path, worshipping every inch of her body as he sank to his knees before her, one hand already moving to her inner thigh. Tav simply nodded, biting her lip, unable to resist the temptation to let him do as he wished. Her knees still felt weak, and the moment he slipped a finger inside, curling it to reach the most sensitive parts, she nearly fell completely to the floor. 

His eyes caught hers as he looked up momentarily, before dipping back down to taste her again. The druid could not get enough, tasting her, moving her, drawing every breath from her lunches in ragged gasps as he added a second finger to his new favourite game. Tav was certain she would’ve fallen over, if it hadn’t been for the hand inside her and the other wrapped around her lower back holding her as close as possible. She tried to brace herself against the tree behind her, suddenly missing the grasp of the vines but feeling completely incapable of denying Halsin the meal he desired.

Trying to cling to her consciousness with everything she had, she ran her fingers through his hair, once again finding the tips of his ears to caress. The vibrations of his delighted moans only increased the feelings building within, ready to bloom a second time with a primal lust. She kept going, letting her fingertips rile him up more, relishing in the look of him knelt before her… Halsin’s hunger seemed endless, relentless, damn near insatiable. Looking down at him worshipping every inch of her body was the most erotic sight that Tav could imagine. His skin was beading with sweat, muscles clearly defined and almost quivering with the sheer sexual energy that seemed to full every cell of his being. Even his breath was heated as he worked his fingers within her while his tongue did not waste a single drop, tasting her, devouring her like it was her last meal. By the time the shockwave hit, rippling out from her core with muscles twitching around his hand as he continued to tease out the afterglow, her knees were completely weak. She was certain the only things keeping her upright were his hands, one inside her and the other holding her lower back, keeping her pressed to his face as he kept the final pulses of warmth subsided with a long and shuddering moan. “My heart,” he smiled, casually cleaning his hand with his tongue as she sank slowly to the floor, “you are a greater feast than all of nature’s bounty.” For a few moments, all Tav could do was try and remember what breathing was, and appreciate the sight of the man in front of her. This suited him best, hair falling out of place, skin slick with sweat, moonlight highlighting every line of hardened muscle, and the best part of all - the smile on his face as he quietly watched her. “What do you desire? Name it, and it will be yours, as I am yours.” He laid his hand on her knee, beginning to caress up her leg, but Tav stopped him. “No,” she leaned forward, caressing his cheek softly, “you give too much of yourself. Let me…” Halsin’s face was a mix of delight and self restraint. His lips tried to form words, but his mind gave him nothing more than a silent smile. He nodded, turning his head to kiss her hand and wrist, looking almost lonely when she pulled back. Tav found a little strength to move again now her body was finally recovering, and took the small bottle from her bag.

“I thought we were leaving the picnic til after?” Halsin looked confused for a moment, until he realised exactly what her plan was. “Oh…well, in that case, carry on.” Tav smiled, shuffling towards him on hands and knees, the glass bottle held between her teeth. She pushed firmly on his chest, finding very little resistance as he laid on his back beneath her, watching her every move while consciously not acting on any of his impulses. She almost found it difficult to straddle him, kneeling over his waist but denying him contact for now. She relished the way he bit his lip when she took the stopper out of the bottle with her teeth. She held the bottle high above him, letting a little of the golden syrup pour in a thin line down to his chest. She used the honey like ink, drawing a map of everywhere she wanted to taste, watching the way he reacted to each place. After replacing the stopper, she put the bottle to one side and began to sample the delicacy she had made, a sweet dessert to savour and enjoy. Her tongue and lips teased, relishing the taste of his skin. The honey had the tangy sweetness which blended so beautifully with the hint of salt on his hot muscles, the lingering flavour of leather from his armour, and the general earthy aroma that seemed to be a part of him made the experience complex, yet decadent. She continued down across his abdomen, amused at the points where he quivered from a ticklish touch, running her hands down his arms with just a little pressure. There was no way she could ever hope to pin him beneath her, not on her own, he was far too strong, but this little illusion of power quickened his pulse beneath her fingertips. By the time she kissed along the line of his hip, teasing little bites and enjoying every moan he tried to bite back behind tensed lips, she could feel him almost quaking beneath her. She wanted this, to see him finally allowing someone to tend to his desires, and it was clear how much he was enjoying it too. The taste of him now was like a fine banquet. She dragged her tongue slowly along his tip, as if tasting a stray drop from a bottle of wine, listening to the long low moan that came from above. Tav kissed along him, each fresh press of her lips opening them more, adding just a little more tongue, until she reached the top once more and took him entirely into her mouth. She lavished affection on him, allowing her teeth to tease and drag out pleasured moans, her hands still caressing his body, tenderly testing for any areas that deepened his voice. Tav let her tongue speak a hundred languages, all words of love lavished around him, singing his praises more literally as she allowed her own moans to send subtle vibrations through him. It seemed this was enough to tip the scales, as she was rewarded with the taste of his own nectar, a warm honey with its own sweetness that she devoured with a ravenous appetite spurred on by the howl that echoed around the clearing. Tav barely had time to catch her breath when his strong arms lifted her forwards, pulling her up to straddle his waist again, gazing at her with unbridled passion in his eyes. “Of all of nature’s gifts…” He paused, running his hands up her arms to her shoulders as he sat up, bringing his knees up to support her back. “I couldn’t possibly ask for more, and yet… Forgive me, I want you, my heart, I want all of you.”

“Then you may have me, and I shall have you.” She kissed him lightly, almost surprised when he immediately deepened the kiss, the taste of each other mingling on their tongues in a moment of pure lust. “As nature intended.” He growled, kissing down to her neck as he lifted her slightly, encouraging her to continue. Tav followed his direction, finding him already prepared with barely a minute to rest. He’s…insatiable… she thought, not unlike me, I suppose- The thought was cut off as she felt him in place, too deep in her own desire to try and tease him or prolong her own satisfaction. She pressed herself down slowly, the pair of them exhaling in tandem as he filled her so completely she thought her legs might give way again. But she held strong, wrapping her arms around him, holding him close as she began to move.

--- Halsin had been thinking of this moment for so long that it was almost like a dream now. Surrounded by nature, encompassed by the body of his heart, watching her head roll back as she took her own pleasures by moving above him. It was going to take everything he had within him not to rush this, and he was now more grateful than ever that she had already given him some release before they began. That would make it easier to prolong the moment, to draw out every second as long as he could. The soft glow of the moon made her look even more beautiful to him, if such a thing had ever been possible in the first place. He did not miss the city one bit, his senses keener from the bear within that was always just held back below the surface it was impossible not to notice everything about her. The colour of her eyes, sparkling with starlight. The sounds of her breath catching in her throat as he moved with her, finding every way to make her feel all of him, pressing just that little bit deeper every few thrusts and relishing the little moans against his lips as he kissed her neck. The scent, the scent was so clear to him; the moss beneath them, the fresh water of the lake nearby, the ripening berries on the bushes and refreshing pine- Tav leaned back and braced herself on his knees behind her, quickening her pace for a minute to draw out her own pleasure. Halsin focused again, trying to hold back and allow her to do what he pleased. The aromas of the forest were mingling with their own sweet perfumes, sweat, sex, honey, and the slight hint of roses from the woman whose head was tilting back breathlessly, chest heaving as her climax echoed from the trees. Oakfather, forgive me, she is too much.

--- Tav rode out the wave of bliss, unaware of the feral look creeping onto her lover’s face. When she was descending from the high, she soon realised something had changed as he gripped her hips and rolled them both so he was above her. His arms were shaking, not through the difficulty of holding himself up - far from it, he could likely keep that position for hours - no, this was the pure intensity of his desire. She gasped as he pulled out, pausing only to flip her on to her front before he pressed back inside with a swift and powerful motion. His lips pressed devoted kisses and untamed bites across her back, holding her legs together with his feet and shins pinning them down. His thrusts were wild and harsh, breathing ragged, and if she didn’t know better she might have thought he had truly become the bear again, but his hands remained entirely without paws or the thick fur of the beast. As he increased in intensity, he found a grip on the back of her neck, holding her beneath him in a way that excited her entire being. It didn’t matter that the ground was rough beneath her, or that her hair had become entirely tangled, or that the remnants of the honey was clinging to her skin. All that mattered was this, the feeling of him completely ravaging her, letting his passion take control and bringing her breathlessly towards their conclusion. “Let me hear you,” he growled, “let the whole forest hear your voice cry out, make the birds envious of your song.” His voice alone was almost enough to tip her over the edge, but it was when she felt the subtle growth within that her muscles responded, tightening around him as he let go completely. The sheer intensity of the pulsing climax seemed to drag an even greater one from her as she did exactly what he had demanded. Not a single beast within earshot remained asleep, the sound travelling close to a mile from where the two elves cascaded together over an entire waterfall of bliss, the consummation of lust that both had felt since not long after they met. Halsin lay his body over her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace and kissing the point of her neck where he had gripped perhaps a little tighter than he had intended. She didn’t care, though. She was filled with complete bliss. Beyond the powerful afterglow flowing through her whole body, she felt so entirely encompassed by him. It was as if they were the only two beings in the forest, in the whole world. She was glad he didn’t withdraw immediately either, not wanting to feel that emptiness just yet. Tav sighed happily. Even in this, he was gentle, the embrace of a lover not just a quick fling. Although he was above her, he was still careful not to let his whole weight rest on her, supporting himself by his knees and elbows and the forearms that were wound around beneath her, holding her close. She could feel the strong and steady beat of his heart through her back, she could hear his breathing slowing to contented sighs, and she wanted nothing more than to remain right there.

--- Halsin waited a while, savouring the close feeling of holding his heart in his arms, listening to the easy sounds of her satisfied body. Eventually, he carefully parted them, a light chuckle escaping him at her disappointed little sigh. “Let us clean up, my heart, and we should not let our other feast go to waste.” He kissed her shoulders and back as he moved aside, waiting to help her to her feet on legs that couldn’t quite support her. “Just give me a moment, you don’t have to-” she tried to protest, but was cut short by a sweet kiss. The druid instead lifted her up into his arms and carried her to the lake, sinking into the cool water slowly and holding her close. “I don’t have to, but I want to. You have done so much for me, allow me to take care of you, too.” Tav wrinkled her nose and pressed her finger to her lover’s lips. “Only if you will allow me to do the same for you, my love.” “Love,” he echoed the word carefully, contemplating its meaning. “So you are willing to share your heart with me, as I do you?” “Of course. I care about you. I love you. I suppose I have for a while…” She kissed his cheek, smiling at how he blushed now from a simple declaration of affection. “Let us indulge our bodies as we so wish, sample all the delights the world might have to offer, but keep our hearts to ourselves, and our other love.” “Astarion.” He echoed her unspoken words. “You think he will accept me into his heart, too?” “Give him time, earn his trust, and hold him with care.” She kissed his lips, a declaration of her affection. “I don’t know how anyone could resist falling for you.”

---

They spent the rest of the night beneath the stars. They swam and bathed in the lake, playfully splashed each other and chased each other through the cooling ripples that sparkled in the moonlight, and eventually even made it to the food they had carried all the way out there. However, when the sun rose and they realised it was time to return to the city, they noticed a small problem. Or rather, a large, naked problem. “My clothes…I completely forgot.” Halsin sighed, looking at the torn scraps of fabric and leather that couldn’t even form enough of an outfit for a certain incubus to wear. “Oh…shit.” Tav realised, looking at the few tears in her own clothes that prevented them from effectively covering her. “This…is going to be awkward.” — Some time later, the upper floor of the Elfsong tavern was filled with laughter and a friendly mocking, as two elves strolled in carrying their bags and clothed only in the blankets of their bedding wrapped around them.

----------- ----------- ENDING NOTES ----------- -----------

It felt about natural to have the Halsin chapter here, after his rescue and recovery, with a little need to get out of the city. He's a terrible patient in my mind but what better way to know he is fully healed? This is the last main chapter that I currently have ready, so there will be a few of the side story specials coming in next, then ATG 14 will be back hopefully in the next couple of weeks depending on my schedule~

[myckicade]

WARNING: Contains reworked spoilers for Season Four.

Prompt: Can you do a Coco imagine and fix it please????

A/N: Ugggh. I still wish that I could properly fix it. I do. I'm so, so sorry that I can't, loves. All I can offer is this, and a massive hug.

As a further warning, I've played with canon (clearly), in order to fit the wider universe that this story follows. Since the events of Meth Mountain never would have taken place, Oakland wasn't a bitch detail for Coco.

P.S. This is over a year old, but I finally finished the bastard!!!!

Title: Catalyst

Pairing: Coco/Reader (F, Wife)

Teaser: You don't really know the realities of being a biker's wife, a fact that is becoming painfully clear. You can prepare for injuries, for accidents and scrapes and broken bones and concussions and-... Fuck, this? No, no, there's been no preparing for this.

There’s a high-pitched chirping coming from the nightstand, and it’s everything in you not to reach across the bed and fling the source of the noise against the wall. Fucking Club. They always need Coco at the strangest of hours, out to do fuck knows what, only fuck knows where. Under normal circumstances, you would let it slide, even at two in the morning. Unfortunately, normal circumstances are on holiday.

“Coco,” you groan, burying your face futher into your pillow. It muffles your words, but you know he’ll understand you, regardless. “Your phone…” You’re practically whining, but it’s… That sound, it’s grating on your nerves, ringing in the space between your eyes in a way that makes you want to cry. Another complaint is about to meet your pillowcase, when the tone abruptly cuts out. Thank fuck.

And, yes, you’ve counted those stars too soon. Almost as quickly as it stopped, the chirping starts again.

“Coco, what the fuck?” you hiss, pushing yourself up on your arms, to look over at the other pillow… Only to find it empty.

Oh. Oh, right. Coco’s still in Oakland. Sadly, this isn’t the first time you’ve gone to reach for him in the night, only to realize… Well. This is going to do nothing to rescue your mood. Because, for all you’ve been complaining to your husband’s temporary ghost, it’s most decidedly your phone that’s interrupted your sleep. Guilt settles in around the edges of your slowly-forming sense of consciousness. Eh. You’ll apologize to him when he gets back. You’ll say you’re sorry for yelling at him when he wasn’t around to hear it. He’ll laugh, and call you adorably crazy, and that will be that.

One more day, you tell yourself. Just one more day, and he’ll be home.

You stretch your arm toward the nightstand, intent to grab hold of the offending hunk of plastic and metal. Just as your fingers touch the surface, the ringing stops again. Huh. You’re beginning to grow concerned, the more alert you become. Coco wouldn’t call you in the middle of the night, not unless it was an emergency. Letty… Letty is safe in her bed, further shortening your list of potential callers. What if it’s from back home? It can’t be good, no matter who it is. Swallowing down a wave of honest terror, you pick up your phone, and-

Ding-ding.

The display lights up, alerting you to an incoming text message. It’s Gilly. Gilly never messages you. Your heart climbs into your throat, thumb shaking as you swipe up, and tap the icon to open your messages. You don’t want to know, and you can’t wait another second to find out what’s happened-

GET HERE NOW.

Your next breath catches in your chest, as you pull yourself upright in your bed. Get where? What the fuck is-

Ding-ding. Another message. It’s an address. You copy the address, and open it into your web browser, only to freeze up again as you realize... It's an address to a hospital.

A hospital? Oh, no, no, you’re going to be sick. The nausea is creeping up, burning in fear-

Ding-ding.

Tears fill your eyes. No, you can’t look. You just can’t. But…

COCO IN SURGERY. CALL ME.

Eyes frantically scanning the screen before you, you locate the appropriate icon, and smash your thumb against it. Every part of you is shaking, warmth slipping from your eyes, a sob fighting harder and harder to break free with every passing ring.

“Come on, come on, Gilly,” you whimper. The shaking has taken over every limb, so violent your bones are beginning to ache.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

“(Y/n)?!” It’s Gilly. His voice is such a relief, that sob finally forces its way out in a harsh cough.

“Gilly,” you plead. “What the hell happened?!”

*

The path before you opens up slowly, accompanied by a too-loud woosh of sound, and a burst of chilled air. You hate that you have to stop, even for the two or three seconds it takes for the glass doors to part far enough that you and Letty can get through them. Side by side, that's been the way since you'd had to wake her up, not an hour prior. Hands clasped together, a lifeline for one another. With a deep breath, you step through a second set of doors, and into the hospital's emergency department.

Six gunshot wounds. Fractured right tibia. Some kind of skull fracture. Gilly hadn't been terribly clear after that. Trying to get hold of a medical professional was a fuck of a struggle the entire way up, a wash of dropped calls, hold music, and after-hours answering services. Still, thanks to what Gilly was able to tell you, you aren't walking into it completely blind. Neither is Leticia, but, feeling the girl's hand tremble in yours, and hearing her half-stifled sniffles, you can't help but wonder which would really be worse.

The check-in desk is only a few steps away, but they seem to drag on for far longer than that. There's someone ahead of you, because, yes, of course, there is. Letty doesn't say a word of it, not right away, doesn't tell anyone to hurry their ass, or get the fuck out of the way, which says enough about how fearful the both of you are, concerning this discussion. The woman behind the desk could say anything, could be forced to direct you anywhere that would shatter the hope that Gilly left you with.

He's alive, though. Those were Gilly's exact words, and that's what you keep telling yourself. That's what got you into your clothes, and your coat, out the door and to the gas station. That's what kept you on the road, and not in a ditch, too blinded by tears and shaken with nausea to keep it between the lines. You're holding onto it now, grasping it with every last shred of your sanity. Coco's alive. He's alive, and he's a fighter, and if you find out who the fuck is responsible for this, you'll-

"Fuck this," Letty grumbles under her breath, taking a single step forward. Her mouth is open, surely ready to spout some obscenity that you can't find it in you to fault her for, when someone shouts from the left.

"(Y/n)!"

You jerk your head up, legs weakening at the sight of Gilly and Bishop hurrying over from the waiting area. They're still here, you tell yourself, as Gilly pulls you and Letty into a tight hold. That has to be a good sign, right? No one is off seeking... Shit, you don't know. Revenge or balance, whatever response the M.C. would typically have in this sort of a situation.

It strikes you suddenly. You don't know what the fallout from this is going to be. You don't really know the realities of being a biker's wife, a fact that is becoming painfully clear. Bits and pieces of conversation overheard during parties, and Coco failing at whispering over the phone, and that's it. He's never let you know, and you've always been fine with that, but now... Now, you'd give your left arm to understand, at the same time that you just don't fucking care. It wouldn't change a fucking thing, either way. You can prepare for injuries, for accidents and scrapes and broken bones and concussions and-... Fuck, this? No, no, there's been no preparing for this.

"What the fuck happened?!" Letty shouts, the second she's able to pull back from Gilly's arm. She looks between both men standing before you, expectant. You can't help but do the same.

Bishop sighs. "We don't know very much-"

"Bullshit," Letty spits. Reaching out, you place your hand on her forearm. She doesn't shrug you off, but it doesn't stop her argument. "You fuckers always know shit."

"Well, in this case," Bishop replies, tone firm, but not entirely unkind, "we weren't given much to go on." He glances your way, expression somber. "We know he's still in surgery. Bullets in his back, and his right leg. Fucked up the bone."

"G-Gilly," you begin, nodding, "Gilly said it was the tibia?"

Bishop nods, and Gilly hangs his head. "Right."

"The skull fracture?" Letty demands, when Bishop doesn't continue. You glance up, and find your daughter blinking back tears. Admirably, you might add.

Gilly shrugs, miserably. "Cracked his head when he fell, maybe. He was near his bike. Mighta' landed on it." Letty reaches out to grab your hand in hers. Good timing. It's all you can do not to bury your face away from the rest of the world. "The doctors've been waitin' on you. Won't give us the full story without family present."

Yeah, that makes sense. You look between the two men apologetically. Poor bastards. They've surely been trying to get every scrap of information they can, and here you two are, grilling them for details they've been prevented from learning.

Shaking your head, you sigh, a fragile, shaky sound. "Where is he?" you ask, glancing down the hallway from which they had emerged. You want to know what waiting room to pace, what nurse's station to post up at. Taking a deep breath, you focus as best you can. This is terrifying, but not all-together unfamiliar territory. "Where were you guys waiting?"

Bishop places a hand at your back, guiding you down the hallway. Gilly swings an arm around Letty's shoulders, leaning in to murmur something you don't bother trying to hear. Now that the fear of the unknown is simmering a little lower, the numbness is beginning to creep in.

Alive.

Surgery.

Shattered.

Christ, Coco, you pray, silently, as you lower yourself into an open waiting room chair. You had better be okay.

*

There are more tubes and wires attached to your husband than should be possible for one human being. Your cousin hadn't looked this bad after his car accident in '09, you can't help but remember, as your eyes wander across what little of Coco's skin is visible. A bit of forearm, between medical attachments. Shoulders, neck, and chin. Forehead. There are bruises across his face, and it looks as though the doctors have reset his nose. You've seen Coco through scrapes before, from bar fights to dumping his bike while intoxicated. Even then, even with bleeding legs and a bruised tailbone, he hadn't been this beaten up.

It's everything in you not to burst into tears, all over again.

Heaven help you, that you should cry anymore. Your throat is already so dry you're going hoarse. For better or worse, there's no one around to hear your voice, anyhow. Letty wandered off to the cafeteria a while ago, intent to get you something to drink, and a snack. You didn't have the heart to fight her on it. She's every bit as anxious as you are, and she needs something to do, something she can control to keep herself from falling apart. If she can seize the opportunity to keep one of her parents going, and healthy, you won't stand in the way.

A loud tone chimes in from the machine behind you, followed by a series of pulsating beeps. Time for vitals. When the results are displayed, you can't help but glance up. No change. In this instance, it's as good as gold. He's living off of so many aids - breathing tube, I.V. solution, anesthetics - any little change could be explained by just about any detail.

You sigh, low and slow. Fuck. You knew this could happen. You've told yourself as much at least half a dozen times tonight, alone. That doesn't change the reality. And didn't it just figure? It feels like you've been married for five minutes, and everything is going to shit. It had seemed so... Ugh, so fucking perfect, much as you hate to be that doe-eyed, but that's what it's been. Fucking. Perfect.

It's just your luck, Santo Padre doesn't allow for perfect.

Looking back to the bed, to Coco's closed eyes, and his exhausted form... Well, you smirk, just a tad. "Didn't need to go getting shot, just to get a good rest, y'know," you murmur, before blowing out a breath. Levity isn't going to make you feel any better, much as you'd like to try. The nurse said to talk to him, which makes perfect sense, but... You don't have much to go on, besides nervous joking, and desperate pleas.

"Maybe I ought to take a page from Leticia's book, and break something," you continue, now talking to yourself, just as much as to your husband. "You'd be so pleased." You reach out, and slowly slide your fingers into Coco's palm. He's a little chilly, unsurprising between the loss of blood, and the air conditioning blasting down from the ceiling. You grip his fingers as tightly as you dare, and lean in. "Come on, mi rey," you whisper, barely loud enough to reach Coco's ears, even if he was awake. "I have faith in you. You keep fighting. No matter who, or what comes after you, baby, you fight." Your voice catches, as you slide your free hand into your purse. "We need you to be okay, Johnny." It might sound selfish to anyone else's ears, but you know Coco would want to hear it, to hear that he is needed, and loved, and wanted. All the things he knows, but sometimes forgets.

The things you will work even harder to keep him from forgetting.

"We all need you to. Me, and Letty..." Bringing your hand up, you prop a small slip of paper on Coco's chest, tilting it in front of his face. Your jaw trembles, and your voice cracks as tears flood your eyes. "And your son, baby." You pause to get yourself together, which doesn't amount to much. There's more guilt behind this conversation than you wish you felt, the feeling drawing a sob from your throat. "I was gonna' tell you when you got back. I swear, I was." He's waited for this for so long. You both have. "So, you've gotta' fight it, okay? Take whatever time you need, but-..." Taking a deep breath, you steady yourself. "You need to get better," you instruct, in as commanding a voice as you can manage. "I'm not raising this baby without you, you hear me?"

There's no response. You don't expect one. This isn't a sappy romance movie, or the daily soaps. Coco will wake up when he's good and ready. And you'll be here, holding his hand, and chatting about what he's sleeping through all the while. You lean down and press your lips to his fingers, thumb brushing along the back of his hand. "I love you, baby," you murmur, pressing another kiss to his skin before you sit back up. Lean back. Try to relax.

Vitals sound again.

Someone wheels a cart by, just outside the room.

You sniffle. Just once.

"Y'know, I thought I'd be bailing our Princess out of jail, by now," you admit, thoughtfully. "She really kept it together. You'd be proud as hell of her."

*

Letty stands in front of a cafeteria display case, filled with questionable-looking salads and tempting baked treats in plastic clamshell containers. Each one makes her stomach turn. She's not here for her, though, is she? She's here for you. She's here to make sure her mother, after six straight hours of waiting in a lousy fucking hospital chair, isn't going to drop on her, too, from something as stupid as low blood sugar. If that was to happen? Jesus Christ, she doesn't know what the fuck she'd do. End up in the psych ward, more than likely. Or break someone's worthless neck. Yeah, that sounds more like it.

She's just about to reach for a slice of what she thinks is chocolate cake, when a hand comes to rest on her arm. It startles the living shit out of her, but when she looks up, ready to gouge out a motherfucker's eye with one of the plastic-wrapped sporks within her reach, Letty finds Gilly staring down at her.

Fuck. Yeah, that tracks. She's been in here for a good little while.

"Find anything for your Mom?" he asks quietly, removing his hand from her person to tuck it back in the pocket of his kutte. Letty turns back toward the display case, staring into the middle space for a moment.

"You're gonna' get the motherfucker responsible, right?" Behind her, Gilly sighs. She's expecting a comment about her language, or about how this isn't the time to be worried about something like vengeance. A truly ugly response is on the tip of her tongue, when Gilly surprises her.

"Yeah," he promises, voice quiet, but sure. "Yeah, kid, we're gonna' get 'em."

Masterlist | Request | Tag List

[hahahax30]

Buckle up because this is super long, and I mean, way too long

Basically it starts with Roland Brisbane, aka Break Bones, the leader of the currently unnamed cult. He originally created the cult with his childhood sweetheart, Lorna McAllister, with whom he’d grown up with in the same Glasgow neighborhood. They’d had completely different upbringings. With Roland being the heir to the uber-rich and ancient (formerly noble) Brisbane family (and by rich, I mean old money, unlimited funds, almost billionaires) and Lorna the daughter of a local butcher, raised firmly in the lower middle class. But despite that, they’d had similar views on justice and magical politics, power, honesty, etc.

And so they began to create their cult with peaceful protests and activism, due process and going fully legal in every way they could in order to make the magical world a better place. This became extremely pertinent after the birth of their son, Barty, when they were 21

He became their guiding light, everything they did, they did for him and for the hope he would have a better life and grow up in a better world. They saw him as their hope for the future, he was going to come of age in their new nation, the one they created to keep magic safe

And everything was going well, until Barty turned four. The cult (not yet a cult) had gained a small following and the Brisbanes were happy. Then Lorna was murdered by humans who found out about her magic and killed her for it. All of the light went out from Roland’s heart the day she died in front of him. He lost Lorna and his following very quickly after, he’d lost nearly everything. He left Glasgow and moved himself and Barty to the Brisbane ancestral home in the Scottish Highlands

He became dedicated to raising his son and rising up his cult again. He became successful, eventually gaining a large following by the time Barty was a teenager. The cult was mainly young people, friends of Barty’s from school, clubs, everywhere really. Roland became drunk on the power, gaining more ambition as time went on

Barty, however, became more disillusioned with what his father did as he got older and started to pull away from the cult when he turned nineteen. He later died in an accident shortly after his nineteenth birthday, though despite many witnesses, nobody could say for sure what had happened to him

Barty’s death ruined Roland. It tore his heart from his chest. He was forever changed. He had lost his son and the love of his life, he had nothing left outside of his power. The only thing he had left of Barty was his four best friends-his band of brothers-, including Steel Grey and Ivan Saltykov; whom Barty had not told of his plans to leave the cult and Roland used his death to manipulate his friends into sticking with him after Barty’s death

He spends two years tracking down a key witness in Barty’s death, a young woman. After two years of stalking this woman, he finds out her biggest secret: she’s a selkie

Selkies are the key in a spell he had found, one that would bring back what once was lost. And so he captures her and steals her sealskin, forcing her to marry him under the guise that if she does what he wants, he’ll give her back her skin

Spoiler alert: he doesn’t

He gives her the name Cassandra and they eventually go on to have two of my MCs, the twins Oona and Viggo (temporary names), who are unaware of their selkie heritage, as well as many other children. All under the guise that eventually Roland would give Cassandra back her sealskin and allow her to go back to the sea

All four MCs: Oona and Viggo Brisbane, Rose Tully, and Zoya Amobi-Chapman (also known as Zoya Saltykova), were raised within the cult until they were preteens and the cult was forcibly disbanded with Roland’s death at the hands of the magical government after they found out that he planned to reveal magic to the humans

And basically after they did that, the MCs were sent to a magical detention center for years to determine if they were “evil” or not, before being sent to do house arrest at a Brisbane property in a small New England town called Romulus, where the WIP takes place

Omg that went on a lot longer than I planned for it to be, I’m sorry-

Okay, I finally managed to have time to get to this!

Is Barty's death going to be important for the plot???? What with it being mysterious

WAIT ROLAND DIES??? HE'S NOT THE BIG EVIL?????

[officialauthorofanotherworld]

super long and random excerpt time #1

I'm still editing my book, only on page 18 of 346 or so, and I was editing the scene that foreshadows this, and decided to revisit this to see it, and im just really proud of it and i really love it, and wanted to share it cuz i know theres a few people on my tumblr who wanted to see more of my writing. Here is one of the scenes i am most proud of :D

(spoilers, obv, for the end of the first half of the book. this takes place around page 130-136 i believe)

(btw i wasnt lying this is a pretty long excerpt xd)

The formatting is a little messed up but eh

lastly, idk if any of this will end up changed in final release, i went over this relatively recently so probably not drastically, but maybe a few wordings here and there. anyways thats all from me for now

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taka’s worst scenario had come true. The further they trekked through the cave, the more death and destruction they uncovered. Mangled and broken bodies of goblins, blood and the stench of death. Five dead adventurers, after the elf. The party sent in had been completely, utterly destroyed. Before long, they came across a large, open space. It was the largest room in the entire cave. It must have been at least two hundred feet long and seventy or eighty wide. The ceiling above them was about a hundred feet tall, and there were many large, jagged rocks jutting down at odd angles. If not for the wide, gaping hole in the side of the cave exposing it to the outside, it would have been almost completely dark.

It was because of this hole that Taka’s heart dropped into his stomach and his breath caught in his throat.

Before them, was an ogre.

Fifty or so feet, in the center of the room. It currently had not noticed them.

Taka could feel his hands trembling. If there was an ogre, shouldn’t there be more goblins, too?

He had nothing to base that off of, but.. where were the goblins? Why was an ogre here?

It wasn’t an ordinary sized ogre either. It was huge for an ogre, as if two or three had been stacked atop each other. It didn’t even make sense. How had it gotten into this room?! The only way Taka could think was if it had grown larger once inside, but…

Nobody spoke. Everyone was utterly taken aback.

It was odd. What had killed the adventurers then? Surely, if they had all fallen, there were more goblins. They hadn’t even died in this room, so where were the goblins that killed them? This ogre was far too big to chase them through corridors, and the cave was still structurally sound, and hadn’t collapsed. So that couldn’t have killed them. Obviously.

Suddenly, the ogre twitched, and stood up. Could it see them? The six took a cautious step back, and Beriyl tripped and fell onto his rear.

“Ah-!”

That did it. The ogre roared, and produced a large club made of bone. Almost as if on cue, goblins began to swarm from the ceiling, walls, everywhere. In that one moment, everything that was alive had pinpointed their location.

It made sense now. Taka understood now. This was how the others had died.

They had walked right into a trap. Had the ogre known they were here all along? Had the other adventurers did the same thing they did? Were they going to die? Taka did not want to die.

He did not want to die. He did not want to die. He couldn’t die. He couldn’t die.

His heart pounded so hard it hurt. He couldn’t breathe. The room around him began to close in.

He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He fell onto his knees clutching at his chest. The world spun. Through the chaos of his mind he could hear the others yelling. What were they yelling? He felt a hand on his back. Ecirr? No.. Qlul? A warmth spread through him. The pounding subsided. The world began to settle. The cave appeared normal, again. He could breathe.

He could hear.

“You’re going to be okay, Taka! We’ll get through this!”

Pulling Taka to his feet, was Qlul. He had cast something; his mace shone a brilliant white-gold.

“Everyone! Raise your weapons into the air for just a moment!” He cried. Everyone who had one, did. Taka’s daggers began to glow just like Qlul’s. In immediate succession, the party was aglow with a holy light. Arthur’s blade, Ecirr’s spears, and Beriyl’s shortsword all glowed with that same light.

Taka looked up at the ceiling, and almost immediately fell back into a panic. The ceiling, the walls, were crawling with goblins. Literally teeming. Out of every hole in every wall, every crevice came goblins. Red, gleaming eyes. Like an activated crystal… Wait a second. Something clicked in Taka’s head, but he wasn’t fast enough to voice it. But.. couldn’t they just blow them up with a fire crystal? Or would one not be enough?

Everyone formed a circle, their backs to each other.

“Arthur?! Hope you’ve got a plan for this!” Ecirr shouted, eyes skittering about the cave.

“Beriyl, can you create dust with your magic?!”

“Wh- what!? I- I suppose, but I’ve never-“

“Then do it! Fill this entire room with dust, make it combustible!”

Beriyl looked bewildered, but slapped his hands together, then held his palms outstretched.

Combustible… The sound of arrows being loosed through the air made it almost hard to concentrate. He envisioned dust falling, then exploding. Dust that can explode…

He tried his best to imagine that as he channeled an immense amount of his remaining mana through his body and into his palms, and then…

“I do not know about combustible, but; Create Dust!”

A billowing, great cloud of blue, sparkling dust began to fall from the cave ceiling, causing several goblins clambering high up on the ceiling and walls to rub at their eyes, lose their grip and fall to their deaths. Even the ogre frantically swiped at its eyes, irritated severely by the dust as it began to hack and sneeze. The cave rumbled as it stomped about, and the rest of the horde paused in relative confusion, staring with almost childlike faces at the falling irritant.

It wouldn’t be enough, and Beriyl knew this. He placed his hands together, preparing to manipulate it into the spell Duststorm, but was interrupted by Arthur’s shout; “Retreat! Back into the tunnel!”

“No!” Beriyl cried. “Hold on! Listen to me, I will turn it into a Duststorm, it’ll buy us more time!”

“All right! Do it, Beriyl!”

Placing all his hands together, he focused his intent on the falling particles, imagining them as a violent whirlpool. To help himself visualize, he spun his hands about as if he were spinning a heavy ball, his movements quickening into a blur. It wasn’t necessarily difficult; he just needed to control the mana exuded by the particles, manipulate it with a defined intent, then activate the new spell. When he had it, he clenched his fists to help himself finalize it, as a brutal wind kicked up around them, pushing dust around the room.

“Duststorm!”

The clouds of dust quickened into buffeting waves accompanied by brutal winds that had no place inside a cave.

“Agh!” Taka coughed, rushing to cover his mouth and eyes. “Retreat!”

The six raced frantically out of the room, back into the hall-like area of the cave they’d come from. Taka gasped for breath, hacking out dust. Glancing over his shoulder, he could imagine the goblins were having a far worse time. If this was the whole plan, that didn’t seem so bad. The ogre couldn’t reach them in here, and most of the goblins that were on the ceiling would likely fall to their death. The ones who didn’t would hopefully be sucked into the vortex of the spell and dashed against the walls.

“What exactly is this plan of yours, Arthur?” Beriyl exasperatedly asked, his face drawn.

“We’re going to blow them up.”

At that, the half-elf’s eyes widened.

“That’s remarkably intelligent for someone like you. And here I was thinking you meant to burn them all to death, or some other such thing…”

Arthur shook his head.

“That would have to be accomplished another way, so no, that was not the plan.”

Beriyl seemed to have calmed down a considerable amount—perhaps he was feeling secure in his spells ability to hold back the murderous monsters inhabiting the room they’d left behind.

“Beriyl, I don’t think that’s really…” Qlul tried to chide but was silenced by Ecirr placing a hand on his shoulder. “Leave it,” the gesture seemed to say.

Arthur turned to face Eirairr. His ears were lowered, the tips trembling slightly.

“Eirairr. I have a pitcher of oil in my bag. I’m going to throw it into that room, and you’re going to shoot it out of the air. We’ll place a fire crystal inside. If we time it right, the oil will coat the dust, and the crystal will hit the ground, which should activate it. Then, Beriyl, you will cast your Shield spell to seal us into this corridor, and… if it all goes well, we’ll have killed everything in there.”

“Got it, Arthur.”

“I have just enough mana to do that,” Beriyl muttered. “But this’ll be the last of it. Casting that Dust spell over such a wide area really drained me.”

“This will be it, Beriyl. I promise.”

The half-elf did not offer a reply, instead wordlessly closing his eyes and collecting himself.

Arthur fetched the cruet of oil from his bag, then turned his attention back to the group.

“Do any of you have a fire crystal?”

“Yeah, here.” Qlul produced one from a pouch on his belt, then pressed it into his palm. Arthur closed his fist around it.

“All right.”

He opened the lid of the container, dropping the crystal inside with a nod. Plomp, it splashed. Then, he closed it back up.

“Beriyl, how long will your spell last?”

“I don’t know. Five more minutes, maybe.”

Arthur headed back toward the room full of goblins. With the Duststorm spell raging about, it was nigh impossible to see much of anything at all, and actually getting inside the room meant you risked getting thrown around by the violent winds.

“Beriyl. Eirairr. Ready?”

“As ever.” With a deep breath, Beriyl rose his hands.

“I’m ready.” Standing to the side, Eirairr drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

With a bellowing shout, Arthur launched the cruet into the room with all his strength behind the throw.

“Eirairr!”

With a telltale twang, the arrow soared through the air before piercing straight through the ceramic, splitting it in two. Just as planned. Oil was sent spraying out in all directions, the red glare of a fire crystal splitting through the blinding veil.

Nervously, Ecirr and Qlul joined their hands together, clenched tight.

His legs tucked beneath him, Taka watched in abject fear as the decisive moment arrived, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. His throat was so tight he could hardly breathe.

‘I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. What if it fails? What if… Beriyl’s going to be out of mana. We’ve killed a few of them already, but there’s no way we can fight an ogre, can we…? Maybe Arthur could, but… I don’t- I’m so scared. Please work. Please work.’

It was a good thing he wasn’t the one in charge of casting the spell that would safeguard them against the blast.

“Beriyl! Everyone, cover your ears!”

This was it— The last of his mana. This had to work.

Or they would all suffer for it.

Kneeling down, he slammed his hands against the ground.

“S- Shiiiiieeeeeld!”

A huge, ethereal shield sprang up from a middling point in the air and rapidly sealed off the entryway. Staring grimly into the maelstrom of dust, Beriyl braced himself.

Taka covered his ears, but when nothing happened, he uncovered them, keeping them close to his head just in case, and peered curiously down the hall.

...

Deep in the center of the room, likely spurled about by the wuthering winds, the crystal cracked. A brilliant, blinding flash of ruby light escaped through, and then it shattered.

Not a second later, the room exploded. A deafening crack like a mountain being shorn in two sent all who survived the blast reeling to the floor and clutching tightly at their ears. Thespell may have protected them from the shockwave and heat, but it could not defend them from the roar of death’s jaws.

As the chaos subsided and the dust settled, the Shield spell cracked and splintered apart before it finally fell away, dissolving into nothingness. The room before them was decorated by blown apart bodies, shards of bone, and crimson gore.

Nothing had survived.

At least, at first glance it had seemed that way.

Pitiful whimpers and cries punctuated a deafening silence louder than the explosion that prefaced it. At the far end of the room was the ogre, now dying. He clutched weakly at what remained of his face and tried to stand, but only fell over as all that remained of his legs were bleeding stumps. Blindly, he swiped at the air, cursing violently in the goblin tongue.

The plan had worked. Taka tried to stand up, but ended up collapsing instead. He tried to talk, but it was like he was hearing himself through a tin can. His voice was all muffled. His ears throbbed with a dull pain, and when he touched them, his hands came away wet with blood. Immediately, Taka vomited up the contents of his stomach onto the cave floor.

“Oh shit. Oh, shit. M- my ears are bleeding, my… Oh my Gods. What the fuck.”

The ringing became so loud, so encompassing and sickening, he couldn’t hear. His head hurt. His ears were ringing, so, so loud. His stomach hurt. A horrible wave of nausea washed over him, and he threw up again.

He couldn’t hear. But he could feel his heart.

‘I’m gonna have a fucking panic attack, what the hells is wrong with me? Oh my Gods, oh, I don’t, I can’t…’

He curled inward on himself, trying to escape the overwhelming flood of emotion.

Everything.

Everything was stressing him out. He could barely breathe. He couldn’t hear. The goblins were dead. The ogre was dying.

“My ears… My… my… my… Q- Qlul, p- please help me. Please..”

He was on the literal verge of tears. Something deep within him, something primal had taken hold of his heart and refused to let go. He couldn’t hear, and that terrified him.

Suddenly, he felt two warm hands grip his shoulders tightly. When he looked up, his hair disheveled, his face a terrified mess of tears and snot, he found himself looking into familiar blue eyes, a familiar, warm smile.

Qlul.

He felt a gradual wave of warmth travel through his body and wash over him. His ears slowly stopped ringing, his nausea faded. Voices faded in and he found he could hear again. He no longer felt deathly ill, he no longer felt so panicked. His heartrate began to calm, and then he threw himself into the birdfolk’s arms.

“T- thank you, Qlul… Gods, thank you.”

“Of course, Taka.”

Releasing all of his pent-up emotion at once, Beriyl fell to his knees, huffing a shuddering sigh of relief and anxiety. His own ears were ringing a fair bit, but nowhere near as bad as Taka’s had been.

“Gods. Gods.”

Arthur, on the other hand, paid no attention to anyone in the room. He simply drew his longsword, striding purposefully down the tunnel and into the wide, blackened room.

After seeing to the rest of their party members, Qlul simply sat with Taka, and held his hand for a time, while Ecirr and Eirairr headed down to check the final room with Arthur. Beriyl sat alone, murmuring to himself and staring into his palms while occasionally clenching his fist.

#

When Arthur returned, the raven-feathered birdfolk and blond elf in tow, he had just finished wiping the blood from his blade and was in the process of sheathing it as he coldly said; “Let’s go.”

There was a hint of something dark playing on his face, but Taka was too exhausted to think much about it. They’d all been through so much in just a few short hours. This on top of the earlier job had taken all the wind out of his proverbial sails.

So instead, he didn’t think about it. He just quietly, tiredly staggered back the way they came, with Arthur heading their formation as usual. The walk back was more grueling than before, but at least it was over. At least Leln was safe. At least they had survived.

Despite telling himself those truths, Taka couldn’t bring himself to feel any measure of pride. He’d done nothing. When push had come to shove, he’d shut down and freaked out. He’d been entirely worthless. Worse than that, he’d just been a liability.

Despite everything, he hadn’t changed at all.

At the thought, he felt bitter and stinging tears well up, but they stubbornly refused to spill over.

‘Dane would be so disappointed in me. I bet if he knew this was how I reacted to situations like this, he’d hate me. He’d think I’m a loser and tell me he doesn’t care about me anymore, or something. I don’t know why Arthur keeps me around. I can’t do anything. I’ve proven that I’m useless, utterly worthless practically every time something like this happens. I should just…’

Taka shook his head weakly.

‘Just shut up. Just shut the hells up… I’m so gods damned tired.’

When they finally made it back outside the cave, Taka immediately collapsed to the ground and hugged his knees, sucking in a weary breath.

‘I’m just so done…’

Qlul stopped with him, bending down to comfort him by patting his back.

“W- where is he? Where is Edward? Where is my grandson?” An elderly voice cried. In front of the mouth to the cave, a small number of townsfolk had gathered, including the mayor. All wore worried or frightened expressions, although as they watched the six exit the cave, some of them softened into relieved smiles.

Arthur stopped and met her gaze. Her face was long with stress and etched with age, her voice unsteady as her legs.

“The party that entered before us was destroyed.”

Her heart broke—you could see it in her face. Her eyes widened as she took on a look of abject sorrow, before she collapsed to the ground in a fit of sobs and buried her face in her hands.

“Oh, oh…. Oh Gods, Edward…”

Behind her, a visibly exhausted young man placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Come, Ms. Éclair…”

Deciding now was the best time for him to say his bit, a boy — no older than twelve — hesitantly stepped up from the crowd.

“U- um… we’re glad your safe, er… Thank you for saving us!”

“Yes—thank you.” Another, a tall man with an axe over his shoulder added. “We were just about to send a rescue party after you, and you’re the rescue party…”

It was a terrible, failure of an attempt at humor. Nobody laughed. Arthur only stared at the man, then nodded.

“Ahem…”

In the wake of this awkward exchange, a familiar halfling approached. It was the mayor himself—Duley Bettencourt.

“On behalf of Leln, I-“

“What is the situation?”

Bettencourt blinked at the bluntness of Arthur’s interruption.

“Er- I… Yes.” He pushed up his circular glasses.

“We have utilized a sizeable number of Leln’s guard to ensure all goblin corpses will be removed from the streets and burned. We don’t want those to get in the hands of any unsavory individuals like that damn Twistwire… The last thing we need is a necromancer raising goblin skeletons and having those run amock. Well, that man’s many things, but I doubt he’s a… Anyway, er… We will see to it that the eight who fell today receive a proper burial.”

Then he shook his head and pointed angrily up at Arthur.

“Don’t you think if I had other places to be, that I’d be there? I wouldn’t be here talking to you if the town were still under attack and its people being killed!” With a haughty huff, he added; “I assure you; we have it well under control now.”

Less than ten people had died in the raid. But that was still ten, real people, each with their own hopes and dreams. They had been living just a few short hours ago, and now they were gone.

Leln had no church that provided resurrection services, and it was unlikely any of the adventurers in town had access to such high-level magic. In fact, probably less than five people on the continent had enough mana to cast a resurrection spell singlehandedly. That meant there was almost no chance anyone who died would be brought back. They were gone forever.

That thought alone was hard to process.

Arthur only nodded.

“I see.”

Then he turned back, fixating this time on a certain jet-haired half-elf; Beriyl.

“Well done, Beriyl. You did well.”

Beriyl’s face upturned in a smug grin.

“Well, of course I did! Hmph, I am Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz, after all! What would you do without me?”

‘…Of course he wouldn’t thank me. I didn’t do anything worth being thanked for. Yeah, I almost got us all killed, so… Why are you surprised? Just shut up, Taka… Worthless, useless idiot.’

Qlul must have sensed Taka falling deeper into his negative spiral, because he moved his hand to rest atop his shoulder and gently said; “It’ll be okay, Taka.”

Taka unburied his face and looked at him, on the verge of tears once again.

“Will it? I did nothing, I…”

He sighed, and shoved his face back into his knees, swearing under his breath and trying to not cry. Just for once.

‘Just cry later. Just cry in your room. Just cry later. Just stop. Just stop.’

“You’re alive, and so am I. That’s enough, isn’t it? As long as you’re alive, you can continue to learn and grow. You’ll become stronger. Don’t worry.”

When he met his gaze again, Qlul had taken on an uncharacteristically somber expression. Self-doubt flickered in his eyes.

The loss of the dwarf Twistwire came to mind. He had failed to save him.

He was a healer, yet in that singular dire moment when someone needed him most, he had panicked and failed. Twistwire had died because of that. It was like a fresh wound festering in his heart, needling at his very soul.

But the words he’d said had truth to them, and Taka took that to heart.

He was always hard on himself, even when nobody was mad at him.

This time around, he was mad at himself, but that didn’t really count…

Qlul was right. He would learn and grow, he would change. He had to put in the effort, but he could become stronger. He could become like Arthur. Or like Beriyl, even.

…

On second thought, he didn’t think he wanted to become like Beriyl. Beriyl was annoying, brattish, and…

But when it came down to it, Beriyl had been the backbone of Arthur’s plan. For all intents and purposes, it was due to him being there, that they were all alive right now.

‘I still don’t want to be like Beriyl… but I want to be like Arthur. I want to be capable; I want… I want Dane to be proud of me. And I want to be proud of myself.’

Taka forced himself to speak and push past his conflicting emotions. He’d just think about it later. He always overthought everything.

“Yeah… you’re right, Qlul.”

Even if he didn’t truly believe those words, he’d make himself believe them in time. He had to.

Bettencourt didn’t seem to appreciate Arthur repeatedly changing his focus to other people, and so he loudly cleared his throat; “A-hem!”

“Yes?” Arthur went, turning back to peer down at the mayor.

“This is hardly the place to have such a conversation, so I would ask you to follow me back to my office. I would discuss a reward for your efforts.”

“We have things to tell you, too.” Ecirr added, stepping forward.

“All the more reason for us to change locale, then! Follow me, if you would, gentlemen…” Qlul rose, pulling Taka to his feet with him.

“Come on, Taka.”

By now, most of the crowd had dispersed. The only who remained was the old woman and the young man, presumably her caretaker.

As they passed by, Qlul laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and murmured; “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Those words only made her cry harder.

Taka averted his eyes, unable to look. At the last minute, he gave his harried condolences in passing.

Eirairr, however, in typical Eirairr-fashion seemed to be bursting at the seams with energy at the weirdest of times. Being the last to say anything, he shouted “Sorry!” in a very inappropriately happy tone like he was playing a game, or something.

That earned him more than a few weird stares, plus a glare from the woman’s caretaker.

To that, he just pouted and looked away.

Just like a child.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The moment I can change myself, and even the world; It's always by my side."

FLOW - Colors

[halfmoonism]

when I see you, I have two thoughts

p4, rise & her shadow, hints of kanji/rise/naoto || no major spoilers

rise and her shadow have a talk. splitting her heart into thirds was never going to end well for her anyway, right?

from plantober day 10: wolf’s bane (treachery, lies, bad intentions)

This is absurd. She already dealt with this, and it was embarrassing and horrifying for everyone, but especially her! Why aren’t her dreams safe?!

“Hahaha!” her shadow jeers, grinning down at her. That’s the idol smile she reserved for shows—what the hell is there to act about anymore? “You’re getting mad at me? What’s a girl to do when you won’t face your true feelings, huh?!”

But there’s nothing to face! Rise’s gone and done everything she’s ever been scare of: rethink her decision to become an idol, reconciling the small, quiet girl of her childhood, even getting over her idealized fairytale romance with the mysterious transfer student despite doing everything—and she means everything!—in her power to woo him. Yu-senpai had been adamant about rejecting her, and she’s fine! She admitted it, didn’t she?

“Sure, if you count putting on your plastic idol smile as telling him the truth,” her shadow coos. “You didn’t want to hurt his feelings because, deep down—”

Oh. Oh! Rise knows where this is going. “Deep down, I didn’t want to tell him how much he hurt me? That him constantly brushing off my invitations to hang out didn’t sting?”

Her shadow falls silent, peering at her almost gently. Without the awful pretense of a strip club, Rise somehow lets herself slip.

“It hurt. Of course it hurt! You’re me—you know that all I wanted to do was cry! But I’m—we’re—stronger than that, and… Yu-senpai doesn’t need to know everything, okay?”

“Impressive. Maybe try hanging off of him less!” Rise flinches, but her shadow isn’t shimmering. No…. there can’t be something else? “Hmm… aren’t you forgetting something?”

There has to be, if she just won’t leave. But her head’s foggy, and she can’t see straight right now, let alone think straight… come to think of it, where is she…?

A sigh. “Oh, come on. You can’t stay focused in your own head?” A snap, and she feels herself sit down, the fatigue draining from her bones. “Hurry up and show your true feelings already!”

She can’t keep denying it, but she doesn’t even know what she’s denying! It’s not as if anything significant changed in her life since the last time she faced her shadow—she has friends who’ve seen the sides of her she never thought anyone would accept, sure, but she’s pretty aware of that, and aside from what happened with Yu-senpai, the other senpais don’t have much to make her repress anything…

Rise reaches a hand up, feels along her head. Ah… it’s still out of her twintails, pulled into a loose bun by shaky hands while another set of steadier fingers set the ribbon in place. But she’s in her head, and that was from this afternoon. Why are Kanji and Naoto-kun’s traces in her cognition—

Oh. What? No, she has to be kidding. That can’t possibly… no, the strange sensations she’s been getting around them is just familiarity, that’s all…

But when she looks up, fingers resting on the ribbon, her shadow grins.

“Do you get it now? Come on, say you do. Aren’t you tired of feeling so strongly for two people who’re gonna leave you behind? Huh?”

Rise nearly screams.

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

2

taken from this ask game!

2.) show us a picture of your handwriting?

funky question lol.

okay so like i had to search in my journal and was trying to figure out what to show.

below is a poem i wrote a LONG while ago. im like- proud of it. its emotional and important to me because of it being apart of my healing process from someone (yeah quite literally the same person i always bring up. its like almost 4 years of lore, what do u expect???). might be a BIT fuzzy because my phone camera is ASS so ill translate it.

insomiac bones clubbing the embers alive waiting by the door if not what lingers my heart frays at the sight of your face an impossible promise to my wrist dying twice in a single breath fearful confidence, simple complexity you tease me with hatrid, mournful relief ask me what im running from like the smoke that lines your lungs you take my life in your fist curse me like the sun, just like tomorrow i scream so loud how much im right it's such a shame you wont change lay down in the grave beside me if never to rest in peace, my love drowns me blood magic down my shirt sleeves the things i fear only happen in the end what i run from chooses me the darkness silences the light within the faith undying i kill you again and hope you leave all you ever do is haunt me let my soul rest, it was never yours something so empty and meaningless mangaged to exist past ashes take your time changing, i dont want to talk you arent a medicine, more over a chemical imbalance and i justify you like an addiction even with how much you killed me

my handwriting fluctuates a bit too. sometimes when i write fast, it's really messy (or with certain pens)- like it looks different from this. or when im consciously trying to be neater, it's like the above example or slightly even more legible. more so smaller if anything.

not that it never looks like MY writing but theres significance between the two because it can be HARDER to read (not impossible if you understand how i write things-) but its different.

anyway most of that journal is fic spoilers or half-baked ideas so i had to flip a bit :).

[booklovingturtle]

Shadow and Bone Season 2 Rambles (SPOILERS)

S&B S2E7

The episode title made me think of The Hunger Games song

"deep in the meadow

under the willow..."

I want that cloak for my daily life so bad

I just realized they toned down the childhood flashbacks which was a good choice

Jessie is so talented I love her

I don't want Mal to die but I do want him to die for the sake of adding weight to the narrative but I know he won't

Gods the things I would do protect David and Genya

What a fun little loop hole that I don't remember and deifinetely won't work at all

BRING ME BACK THE CROWS...sorry yes inspiring war speech do go on King Nikolai

I love the Fullmetal Alchemist arm

My boy Matthias is looking scruffy I love scruffy a boy

poor david he don't wanna hurt a fly

OH...I wasn't expecting it to go wrong in that way

Why does the Darkling look grey? gray? idk what way to americans spell it I am american but I don't remember

I'm sorry I know she loves Mal but Alina just looks super selfish right now letting EVER MORE PPL DIE TO SAVE THE ONE DUDE

Me personally if I was on her unit I would be dragging that girl across the floor for letting her feelings ruin the lives of so many innocent people

Like the way I would an Alina hater if I was a citizen in their country I would create a one-sided beef with Sankta Alina

YES YES YES INEJ

I love watching powerful girlies kill people (disregard the hypocrisy lmaoooooo)

THE SIBLINGS!!!!! LOVE HOW THEY'RE USING THEIR GIFTS TOGETHER

in my brain Tolya died in the books but I don't remember exactly so I hope I'm wrong I like him a lor

DAVID HAS BE SOBBING UP IN THIS CLUB AGAIN

GENYA'S SCREAMS WERE HEART BREAKING I AM LITERALLY SOBBING

Wylan's cuteness got me to laugh through the tears

JESPER THAT WAS SICK WAIT WHAT

YES TAMAR AND TOLYA REUNION

JUST KILL MAL

GOOD LORD IF YOU KILL THE BOY THEN YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE DARKLING KILLING HIM FIRST

ITS ALMOST LIKE YOUR PROBLEMS WOULD BE SOLVED IF YOU STOPPED BEING SELFISH ALINA

pls don't take any of what i say srsly y'all these are fictional characters obv but just in case I wanted to throw in that disclaimer

[mcheang]

Shadow and Bone S2 E8 recap

Spoiler alert

Nikolai’s team and the Crows enter the Fold…they do know there are volcra there, right? Oh wait, they are going to Nikolai’s base. Well they can hide inside. But the nichevo’ya cannot be held back with doors. You know when it attacked Nikolai, I wonder if it left something of it inside his wound, like the stag with Kirigan. normally Nichevo’ya just rip apart or crush their victims. This one just held pinned Nikolai in place rather than a quick kill. Anyway, Alina kills Mal, she destroys the Fold on her own. Honestly surprised since her 2 amplifiers light dome was not that impressive. But this is. Kirigan talks to Alina but as she defies becoming like him after she is alone in the world, her act provokes nichvo’ya. As Kirigan tries to order them to stop, the monster knocks him back. Inej saves Alina, who realises Kirigan cannot control his monsters. Kirigan confesses the only time he thought he had control and peace was when Alina first kissed him. Aw. He really did love her. As he remembers his peace, Alina kills him with the blade. He warns her that without a darkling to hate, the people will come after Alina instead (even Kaz thinks so), and to not give them a body behind to bury. No grave to desecrate. His death made me cry in R&R, and it made me cry here too. I had to pause the video so I could watch with clear eyes. Despite all the pain he caused, I’m sorry for Aleksander, for all he has suffered. I still blame Anastas for starting this whole mess. Alina uses merzost to resurrect Mal since Nina is having trouble. Tolya finally finds a fellow poetry lover with Kaz Inej Neyar’s blade to Alina to return to the Shu saint. Alina also plans to make alliances with Shu Han while doing so. It sounds like Mal is breaking up with Alina. He feels his life had been pointing him to Alina to sacrifice himself for her, and wonders if his love is influenced by that. Now he is alive, he doesn’t have special tracking powers anymore and is not sure what his life’s purpose is. later they both agree to take a break from each other. Mal will become a privateer. What happened to farming? Matthias is letting his hate against Nina win and wants to be put in fights, but Kaz has paid the guards to keep him out of it until now. Yeah, going to a criminal who killed his friend is a bad idea. Matthias finds this out when he is set against wolves. Fortunately they do not fight him when he stands down. But when the guards starts to whip them, Matthias kills him and the other guards arrive to beat him. Nina’s pardon for him is not accepted because Pekka now has influence in Hellgate. Genya believes David is dead (without a body, I’m not convinced he is dead) and that he would have proposed to her with a ring set with her favourite gem stone: ruby. Alina says Zoya and Genya have the most right to burn the Darkling’s body. I was kind of annoyed at Alina for not saying his name before he died or anything really. But she says it now to him in farewell as she burns his body. Ah a bee lights on Zoya’s sleeve. Elizaveta, is that you? I think her stained glass window is in the chapel where Kaz gives Inej a lead to track her brother. He also sort of confesses his feelings but Inej wants a physical relationship with him too. She joins Mal (now Sturmhond) on the privateer ship to stop slavers Crow club is back in business. The Apparat survived?! Really?! Anyway, his warnings to Nikolai do not warm the latter to him. Nikolai realises that the nichevo’ya did infect him. (I suspected as much). Alina looks fab in her crown but the dress is…not my style.

Queen Alina at last. The offense i felt from RoW is now appeased.

Jurda Parem is introduced dramatically at Nikolai’s coronation where a heart render starts to kill everyone until Alina kills her with a SHADOW blade!

Well, that showdown was over quickly so that most of the episode focuses on the aftermath. Hm…whose idea is it to introduce parem when there is currently a saint with 2 amplifiers and just destroyed the Fold? For the Fjerdans to attack Alina like that and introduce her to a substance that can make her more powerful, that was pretty stupid thinking on their part to take a risk like that. Not that happy with the ending, but I’m glad Alina still has her powers and is queen now; the darkness in her and Nikolai, and the bee, gives me hope that Aleksander will be resurrected. I guess it makes sense. He knew he was dying and planned to make a resurrection by having a piece of himself in Nikolai. It is better than Ruin and Rising’s ending. And if he returns, Alina may have a more ruthless personality to join his side.

[vilelittlecritter]

Okay so I'm seeing a dozen different au's of omori and I ended up kinda brainstorming one in the shower and Ima just throw it out there because why not.

This does contain kind of Omori spoilers so if you haven't finished the game probably best not to read this.

The au is honestly pretty bare bones, it's essentially omoriboy with the plot beats of omori and Scott Pilgrim I guess??? It'll make more sense why I say Scott Pilgrim once I've actually got a good idea of what I'm thinking of but just bear with me.

Okay so the whole plot goes that Mari and Sunny DIDN'T meet any of the faraway friends (at least for now) and the both of them became incredibly reclusive. Mari being Sunny's only real friend and almost parental figure spent almost all her time keeping him safe and comforted, their parents often got into fights and their father as usual in headcanons/au's is absolutely awful berating Mari constantly and Mari having to take blows for Sunny and get into screaming matches to defend him. This pressure alongside the pressure of good grades and such becomes too much for Mary and she either

1. Actually hangs herself which causes their father to finally pack his crap and leave but leaving Sunny alone and feeling guilty (I don't think I'll go down this route unless I can expand upon it enough that it makes sense for Mari to do this as you know suicide is pretty damn serious and I don't want to use it as a dumb plot device)

2. After some sort of fight their Dad leaves but the damage is done as Mari falls into a deep depression and Sunny is left feeling hopeless to helping her as he doesn't know how to and their mother isn't exactly helping (not out of malice but she most likely is struggling severely aswell and doesn't know what to do). Sunny does try to help Mari by going out to get stuff for her, doing activities with her and overall trying to keep her happy however none of these have ever been a permanent fix which leaves Sunny giving up hope over time.

Route 2 seems the most likely as having Mari live is always a neat concept as well as I enjoy the role swap of Mari being Sunny's carer to Sunny trying to be Mari's the best he can.

Okay onto the main boy himself, Sunny. Sunny in this is mentally ALOT better than the original Sunny but still has a lot of issues, fear, anxiety, autism, trauma. It's all there but toned down to where he's able to function a lot better. A majority of his anxiety comes from his crippling loneliness from not having any friends as well as fear over leaving Mari alone for too long. Sunny in this although quiet is a lot more chatty, think about the original Omoriboy for an idea. In this I also imagine that Sunny is in fact the creator of captain SpaceBoy! In this au SpaceBoy is a character Sunny made as a comic to keep him distracted and have a passion project to try and enjoy which he really does!! Also this isn't just a fun detail this is important as Sunny dedicates a lot of time to this comic, moments from Sunny's life directly affect the comic and Sunny submits his comics often to either a local writers group or local competitions; not for prizes but just to share his work. I might tweak the idea of Sunny submitting his comic to local clubs a bit to make it make a little more sense but I plan for Sunny writing captain SpaceBoy to be the main reason he meets a certain someone ;)

That's about as far as I've thought but if I come up with any more ideas I'll share them.

I've got some loose ideas of headspace and the friends but they're not very clear the now.

Also Omori is non existent in this au with Sunny being the one to explore his Dreamworld. He may show up as something else but It's Sunny exploring his dreams in this.

This Au is far more light hearted and comedic than regular Omori as if I do continue with this I want it just to be a silly little thing to play about with. It's still sad but not base game Omori sad. It'll mainly just be Sunny living his life and coming out of his shell and hopefully bringing Mari with him.

[bookishbunnies]

Shadow and Bone season 2 spoilers for the first 7 minutes:

Okay, so still just under an hour till season 2 drops but I've seen the first 7 minutes that Netflix posted and omg. I have so many thoughts already. I can already see they're keeping a lot of stuff close to the books (which I love) along with changing a lot in really interesting ways. I do find it interesting that they've changed the name of the town Mal and Alina end up in when they go to Novyi Zem at the start of siege and storm. It's a weird little change and I'm curious to the reasoning. But also yes, they're showing Alina and the Darklings connection!

Also definitely very curious how the change in the soc stuff will affect the later soc story, specifically crooked kingdom. Coz in CK the Kaelish Prince is across from the Crow Club but now they've made it literally the Crow Club. So do the crows get it back and then Pekka opens up another place named the Kaelish Prince across from it just to screw with them? It's gonna be so interesting to see how the little changes and stuff introduced in the show affect the SoC and CK plot lines.

Also, now I'm really curious how the Crows and Nina sort out that she's the heart render they gonna use for whatever plan Kaz has. Coz she's not with them, and we know from the previously published snippet that Jesper and Inej only find out her name when Inej brings her to meet them and Wylan. So how does Kaz find out she's a heartrender and make a deal to get her to help them? I doubt that was a topic of conversation on the boat, and they must not have talked much on the boat otherwise Nina would've introduced herself there to all of them.

Also wow I absolutely cannot wait to see Tante Heleen when Kaz and Inej walk in, ready to absolutely fuck her up for selling the Crow Club when it wasn't even really hers yet to sell. She really had zero faith in the Crows making it back alive and wow was she stupid for that 😂

Also, holy shit, the end of that 7 minutes, Kaz's face, how absolutely sick he looks, I'm almost certain that transitions straight into the first flashback of him and Jordie

[caveatscriptor]

✒️ for the grishaverse asks? I just finished reading ruin and rising yesterday and I loved it, though Ive heard most people favor six of crows so I'm curious! Thats my next read.

Grishaverse Ask

Well, I'm going to tell you immediately Six of Crows! Thing is, I have only read the shadow and bone trilogy and the six of crows duology (I am currently reading King of Scars); but between those two six of crows, always! (I'm going to give you a rundown, completely spoiler free)

Main differences: Shadow and Bone is first person (you cannot escape Alina's mind - I am not a fan of book Alina... certain lines were difficult, and certain moments that we didn't seem to get past as well); Six of crows you have 6 different pov's from very different people (all criminals, but all with sound resoning for their causes - that's a potent recipe). Writting wise, six of crows is a massive step up and I also think you get even more immersed into Ketterdam than you ever got immersed into Ravka (you are mainly stuck inside the little palace and then you go search for the amplifiers, but that's it; what I personally took away from the trilogy was the little palace and not much else). Ketterdam you are up in the roofs with Inej; the Komedie brute costumes are a staple; the slat, hellgate, the crow club, etc. Your enemies are also very different from the darkling, there's no space for sympathy for any of them, after all, Ketterdam is basically a den for gamblers, merchants and gangsters (you do have "upstanding" places like the university district - but we never dwell much on it truly).

But why six of crows and not shadow and bone? Shadow and bone is almost the making of a legendarium, a Sun Saint and a Shadow Sinner; a young girl led astray by a very much older and manipulative man; a girl that wants to rid her country of an evil force: the fold; the chosen one beating evil. Six of crows is not about saving the world, it's about six people each with their own goal, that end up being a family to each other, even if begrundgingly (Kazzle Dazzle, everyone).

Nina is grisha, 2nd army soldier, and she wants to save Matthias, a druskelle (a hunter of grisha); they should be enemies but they end up loving each other despite their cultural background and all the differences that can come from that. She's a fabulous heartrender that doesn't need her powers to make your heart skip a beat.

Matthias Helvar, has only known how to follow orders, never to question them. The one time he does, he discovers not only love, but that the path he has been following maybe has blinded him to the truth.

Jesper, a charming sharp-shooter, who seems to only be content when he's high on adrenaline by gambling or by risking his own life. But behind all of his bravado there's something deeper; in spite of coming from a loving family and seemingly having nothing that could lead him to such a life.

Inej Ghafa, kidnapped from her own home and brought to a foreign land, indentured, enslaved and still seeing the good the world has to offer, in spite of it all, and without losing her faith in her saints. She's strong beyond words, and the deadliest rogue Ketterdam has to offer. The wraith will know all your secrets and her knives will not miss your heart, if it needs be.

Kaz Brekker, dirty hands, bastard of the barrel, the mind of the operation. Vengeance is what moves him, and greed is his tool. The cane, the gloves, the reluctance in trusting anyone, the past that he cannot let go, the goal he must accomplish. He's not just deadly, he's highly driven in his hatred (he's a tough pill to swallow in Six of Crows, at least to me; but in Crooked Kingdom, everything will make sense).

Wylan, the boy that, in theory, got in with the wrong crowd, but that in actuality found love, all the forms of love that he could imagine and deserved. The family he never had. And, even though Kaz may be the plan maker, Wylan is the brightest mind in the group.

These six people go on a heist, in search of freedom, in search of purpose, in search of vengeance. These are some of the best written characters and group of people that just works perfectly well together. Besides, it's not about saving the world, it's about saving themselves and saving each other.

I hope I could help ;)

(I could've expanded more on the trilogy, but like you said, you just read it, so no need to delve deep into it)