#but also it'll be good chance for the story to tell his reasons why he couldnt stop killing maleanor even though in our pov rn he could hav

[rayroseu-reblogs]

ON THE LOW just realized what Sebek is describing here is Knight of Dawn's life... OGMG... 😭😭😭😭 not him being disrespected as a king (i feel like at the end the humans followed Henric and not Dawn and thats why they got a disagreement on the land leading to the war inside the Kingdom of Swords), being used as a knight, and also was hated as a child (as per this upbringing described by Sebek)... DAWN.... 😭😭😭😭

imagining that Dawn wasnt taught about anything about faes, only that he must kill them, yet he still dream to understand them even if the Silver Owls forced him to be ignorant and subservient to their selfish greed 😭😭😭✨✨✨

[the-badger-mole]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. I saw some of your How I Met Your Mother posts, and that got me a little intrigued, because I watched that show and was stumped by its ending.

Anyways, I wanted to ask you, also inspired by YouTube videos of the show, do you think having that fixed endpoint was wrong? Because some of the videos make it seem that if the show was to end by season 2, then that made ending made sense, but extending it to nine seasons, it would have been better to change the ending. Also, one other thing I found is that even if Ted did show up outside Robin's house as the end, there is no chance of a happy ending there because they never really got those issues that caused them to break-up to be resolved at all. Just because Ted and Robin's respective goals are achieved does not mean the issues probably won't be there.

I would like your thoughts on this.

Having a fixed endpoint for a story is tricky. I'm not saying it should never be done, but up until the last season or 2 of HIMYM, the writing was so well done, so careful to remember plot threads and foreshadowings and running gags that it set up in earlier episodes. They wrote characters and relationships that felt real, and made the audience care, and yet, they couldn't pull off the ending they'd written almost a decade earlier.

I agree with the take that the ending they wrote could only have worked if the show ended in season 2. And it's their own fault. They did far too good a job showing why Ted and Robin didn't work. Then they did too good a job showing why Robin and Barney DID work. I started wanting to see the two of them end up together from the first season (although, I do maintain that Robin being single would've been a great ending for her, too). The one episode that I think should've clued the writers in that their endgame pair didn't work any more was "Baby Talk". Specifically the talk that Robin has with Ted, where he complains that she didn't make him feel needed during their relationship, and then her conversation with Barney where he tells her she didn't make him feel needed during their relationship, and that was awesome. The reason why Ted and Robin ultimately didn't work isn't just because they had a difference of opinion about having kids, or career plans. They were fundamentally incompatible personality-wise. That's not a failing on either of their parts, but it is irreconcilable. In the end of the show Ted has his kids and they're nearly grown, and Robin has been able to travel for her career, but their personalities haven't changed much. Ted still wants a fairytale ending, and Robin is still fiercely independent and doesn't need him (and btw, she isn't even that old. She'll probably still be traveling, which I doubt Ted will appreciate since it'll still mean either giving up his career and proximity to his kids who seem to still be in high school and will need support through college, or staying home and having a long distance relationship with a woman who is probably meeting a lot of interesting and interested people without him. His jealousy issues could NEVER).

Having a set ending can work. I've written fics where I knew exactly how I wanted them to end, so I know it can work. But i also know that sometimes the plot or the characters can develop in ways that make the ending no longer fit the story, and a writer has to be able to be flexible with that, even if it hurts that you don't get the ending you wanted originally. The creators of HIMYM wrote themselves into a box. When the ending didn't fit the story or the characters, they regressed everyone involved in order to make the story fit the ending, and the result was...bad.

[jpitha]

Signal Rockets

Here's a little side story that takes place a little bit after Just a Little Futher. If you read my previous work it'll be a fun treat, but it's also a stand alone story - you're not missing much by reading it alone.

The far border of human space is a boring place to be stationed. The other 'side' of human space borders the K'laxi and the Xenni, two of the other sapient species we've met so far. In the other direction, for light-years around as near as we can tell, is... nothing.

It's part of the reason that for centuries Humanity thought they were alone in the universe. We're so far away from other species that it took pure luck to even meet them the first time.

Regardless, there are reasons to be over in the hinterlands. Research to be done, and to have a presence just to really say "our space ends here."

Research Station Peering Depths was one of those places. There were twenty five humans, 5 K'laxi and the station AI onboard and that was it. They spent their time gazing into the deep past of the universe, trying to learn as much as they could. Sure, wormhole generators made it so that human space was a lot smaller than it used to be, but there were still many things to be learned by peering into deep time.

The K'laxi onboard were part of a research exchange program. They were all recent graduates and jumped at the opportunity to spend a year on a human research station. They were prepped before about what kind of a job it would be but they signed on anyway. The chance to do some Real Science with their human allies was too good of an opportunity to pass up, even if it meant spending a year away from friends and family and having to eat what few humans foods were compatible. They ate a lot of waffles and pancakes.

Everyone spent their days studying their long range telescopes, writing about what they found, editing and collating their works and once a month, linking a beacon back with their data. There was little drama onboard and a lot of time to pass. Most of the day to day operations of the station itself was handled by the AI. Everyone trained in fire protection of course, but the Depts was small enough that the AI could handle everything.

They were about six months in to the rotation when Peering Depths pinged Commander Terry Temlin. He was the human commander this rotation and officially the lead scientist. The research station was a civilian affair and officially had no weapons. "Commander Temlin, I sense a energy spike that matches the profile of someone linking in."

"Oh?" Terry looked down at his pad. He was in the canteen eating his lunch. "I don't recall anyone being scheduled to visit for the next month."

"I agree Terry, that's why I pinged you. Long range scanners indicate it's a Starjumper, and it seems to be stricken."

Terry's fork stopped halfway to his mouth "What? It's stricken?"

"Yes. It's reactors are wildly out of sync and its power output has increased over fifteen percent since it has first appeared on my radar. Additionally, my scopes show large burn marks and what I surmise is active fire onboard."

Starjumpers were the oldest of the human ships. Most were built before humanity developed their wormhole generators, shrinking the galaxy. They were built to soar between the stars at half the speed of light or greater, 'jumping' between the stars. Once wormhole generators were developed, they installed them, but they retained some of their former fame and popularity. It was an event when a Starjumper linked into your system.

"Sound General Alert, Depths. We need to see if we can help."

"Aye Commander. General Alert"

The hooting siren of General Alert was heard throughout the small research station. Everyone ran to the canteen - the largest gathering place - and milled about while they waited for stragglers. Nobody here was officially military, but everyone knew what the alarms were and what to do when they sounded.

Commander Temlin cleared his throat. "We have potentially a situation. A Starjumper just linked in-" murmurs from the crowd "-and appears to be damaged. Peering Depths says their reactors are going wild and it might be on fire-" the murmurs increased in volume "-quiet please! We're going to reach out and offer assistance. Everyone trained in first aid head down to the infirmary. Someone turn one of our scopes on them and see if we can resolve more information. Depths?"

"Yes Commander?"

"Do we know which Starjumper it is?"

"I initiated an initial handshake with them. They are known currently as Wildfire."

Terry looked up at the ceiling. Lots of people did when they were talking to the AI even though it really wasn't up there. "I don't suppose you know them?"

"I'm sorry Commander, I've never had the honor to meet Wildfire."

"Okay, let them know we can assist if needed."

"Aye Commander."

Commander Terry made his way up to the small Command Deck on the Depths. It was used rarely, but he felt that it was important to be there while the emergency was ongoing. As he sat in the unfamiliar artificial leather of the Commander's chair, Depths pinged again.

"Commander, two more wormholes have been detected. Wildfire seems to be under attack. I do not recognize the ships attacking Wildfire, but they appear to be of Human make."

"What?" Terry looked at the display ahead of him in shock. "You can't track a wormhole link, how did they know where Wildfire would be? Which human group would be attacking a Starjumper?"

"Both of those questions cannot be answered at this time."

Terry's screens where overwhelmed with a flash of white, and for a moment, he thought that Wildfire was destroyed. Instead, Wildfire appeared next to Peering Depths, nearly at docking distance. The massive ship dwarfed the research station. It felt like it could swallow Peering Depths whole. For just a moment, Terry was disappointed that there was no noise in space. He felt like a move like that should have a noise like a thunderclap.

"Peering Depths! Peering Depths! This is Wildfire! I am under attack by the forces of Empress Melody. They are pressing the attack and I am ordering my biological crew to abandon me."

Terry stood. "Wildfire. This is Commander Terry Temlin of the research station Peering Depths. Of course we will take your crew, but isn't that a decision that your captain needs to make?"

Wildfire sounded testy, as if they had to explain this a few times already. "The captain is dead, and as War Emergency Power has been officially unleashed, I am exercising my right to complete my mission, save the crew, and myself in that order. My wounds are mortal, but I should be able to hold off the two Super Dreadnoughts. Prepare to receive escape pods."

Terry called to the staff and told them to be ready to accept the escape pods. True to his word, Wildfire started shedding pods as soon as the audio connection was closed. A dozen pods streaked between the two vessels as the Super Dreadnaughts linked in and began hammering Wildfire with energy weapons.

"Pods away! I'll hold them off and give you a chance to escape."

"Escape? We're a research station, we don't have anything more than station-keeping thrusters."

Wildfire sounded surprised. "How did you get here? Don't you have a wormhole generator?"

Peering Depths chimed in here. "We were towed to this location. We have the plans and surplus mass to print a wormhole generator, but we don't keep one active."

"Shit. All right. I'll hold them off. You signal for help. Do not send the beacon to Sol. Send it to Parvati."

Now that was nearly too much. Terry threw his pad down onto the armrest of his chair. "Wildfire, what is going on. What's happening in Sol? Who is 'Empress Melody'?"

"I really can't explain the whole thing right now. Suffice to say, a person claiming to be the Empress of... everyone linked in a month ago and has a fleet of these Super Dreadnoughts to back up her wild claim. Some of us Colonial AIs have mounted a defense, but as you can see-" The audio cut out as Wildfire linked away in another blinding flash of white.

For the first time, Terry could see the two Super Dreadnaughts. He could barely believe what he was seeing. They were as large, if not larger than a Starjumper, fully 4 kilometers long. Not only that, but they appeared to have control surfaces on the outside. "Are they atmospheric?" Terry's voice was tinged with awe.

"They appear so Commander. One of them is wheeling about to confront us."

Terry frantically opened communications. "Unknown ship! Unknown ship! This is the unarmed research station Peering Depths. We have taken on Wildfire's crew after they abandoned ship and are offering them medical care and refuge. We are unarmed, I repeat unarmed and offer no threat to you."

After a moment, the massive ship replied with video and audio. On his screen Terry saw... a K'laxi, wearing a royal blue uniform, with gold piping on the sides. Next to... her he thought, was a crew made up of other sapient species he had never seen before. He didn't see any humans in range of the camera.

"Peering Depths, this is Builder Um'reli, of the Calamity Class Super Dreadnought Hamilton. You are housing prisoners of war and are accused of aiding the enemy."

Terry muted the audio and looked up again. "Depths, what is going on?"

"I wish I knew, Terry. We should concentrate on survival right now."

Terry nodded and shakily turned his audio back on.

"Builder Um'reli. I am Commander Temlin, the lead scientist here, and I cannot agree to your claims. We're a research station. We've been out of contact for six months now, and have no idea what's going on back home. Wildfire linked to us severely damaged and asked for help to save their crew, and we took them on. We have no quarrel with you, and have no weapons."

While they were talking, the other large dreadnought had already turned and linked away, presumably to give chase to Wildfire. How did they do that? Terry supposed he might learn one day.

"Peering Depths. If you link back to Sol immediately and surrender to the Imperial Systems, you shall be spared. As you have no-doubt surmised, we have the ability to trace wormhole links and will know if you link elsewhere. We will pursue and destroy you."

"Builder Um'reli that is a... generous offer, but I must inform you that we have no wormhole generator. We have the mass and plans to print one, but it will be a week before we can leave."

Anther pause. It appeared that Um'reli had muted her audio and was in animated conversation with someone else on her command deck.

"Peering Depts. We have a spare wormhole generator and will deliver it to you. We will assist with it's installation and follow you back to Sol."

Terry sighed. It wasn't like he had a choice. "Very well, Builder. Please send the wormhole generator and the installation crew at your nearest convenience. We will be ready to meet them."

[k-nayee]

Cookout Hyung Line + Jimin

wc: 3.4k

Dreamer M.List

ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˊ⸊ˎ‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˊ⸊ˎ‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̥͙̽‿̩͙ˊ⸊ˎ

NAMJOON

• 𝐍𝐎𝐓 gonna lie, it was a rocky ass start when y'all first arrived

• having the meeting-the-family for the first time jives and all

• boy way shaking and sweating bullets the moment he stepped through the backdoor

• and to add salt on to the wound, almost the entire yard went silent when they spotted him

• with a strained smile and wave, you walk over to your parents

• Namjoon of course stayed close to your ass like white on rice

• the tension slowly went away as you spoke to the older generations of the family

• sweet baby Joon just sitting there quietly, ain't saying nothing in fear of messing up

• even though it wasn't being spoken, everyone was curious of the new face, hence the side glances every now and then

• it wasn't until your LEAST favorite loud mouth no filter having ass boy cousin came over to start some shit up

• "Aye ____, why you bring this anime non-speaking Nigga up in here? Black men ain't too good enough or something?"

• you purse your lips at his words, ultimately done with the bullshit

• it became even more awkward when you heard murmurs of agreement around

• "First off, I very much can speak and understand English. Secondly..." Joon steps closer, towering over the froggy male with a look of contempt, "What does me being Asian have to do with it?"

• "......."

• "........"

• ".........MYYY NIGGA! WASSUP MANE. Aye you know I was just testing you right? Gotta see who right for my cuz and all."

• people let out forced laughs while [Cousin Name]'s dumbass try to cover up his mistake

• surprisingly after that, Namjoon begins to open up and talk more with the family

• more so the younger ones, but at least he trying and that's all that matters

• the little kids think he's some kind of dog whisperer since all the dogs crowd around him for some reason as he tells them stories

• your parents damn near teared up when they found out he was smart

• "Oooh, ____ got a smart one y'all! Not only is my baby in college, but she also dating an Einstein! Oh [Auntie Name], I almost forgot to ask how your daughter doing with that locked dope dealer boyfriend of hers. Chris was it?"

• "Mama, please. Now is not the time to be starting stuff. This ain't a competition between me and [Cousin Name]."

• "Yeah yeah, whatever. Now baby, now that I know ____ got somebody like you around. Please help her raise them grades up, cause whew chile!"

• "Mama!"

• since he's still afraid to go out of his way to socialize unless being approached, Namjoon decides to spend most of his time with your mother

• bastard even got a chance to see the photo album that held ALL of your baby photos

• "Awwww, look at this photo! You were so cute ____!"

• "I swear Joon, Imma beat your ass if you don't get them photos out my damn face."

• "But why? You're adorable in these~"

• "Adorable? Adorable?! Just cuz you fucking me doesn't mean you gotta lie. We both know those some questionable ass baby pictures."

• he's so soft spoken and polite in conversations but wouldn't mind starting some shit up if needed for your sake

• ...words be so sly that it'll take a few minutes before your brain finally process what he said

• "I'm surprised ____ was able to get into [prestigious university], let alone in a whole 'nother country!"

• "It's really hard to get into [prestigious university] of Seoul while even being an international student. Then again, I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Not like you could meet the entry requirements needed to attend."

• not a roaster, but definitely one to throw light jabs and heavy shade

• being your grandma's favorite (even tho she says she loves all her grandkids equally) you knew it was over when finding out that she likes him more than you

• at least you still got your Uncle Pookie. It always take a few years before he warms up to the outsiders of the famil-

• "Oh yeah, did I mention I did a collab with Nicki Minaj and Juice Wrld before?"

• all hell breaks loose

• everybody asking questions left to right

• even Uncle Pookie don left your side to talk to Namjoon about it

• "...did...did he just...?"

• ....yeah, he stole ya family

════════════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═════════════════

SEOKJIN

• despite having met your parents before, he was still nervous about meeting the whole family

• that doesn't mean he was gonna show it tho

• with a mask of full confidence on, he walked through the back gates and into the backyard

• even when feeling eyes on him, he kept it up. 'just fake it til you make it'

• eventually, the confidence quickly became real once speaks to your parents

• it wasn't until he saw the amount of food at the table did he fully relax

• your mama saw the dazed look on his face and immediately walked him over

• "Nice to see you again Jin! That food caught your attention huh? Don't worry baby, what you want to eat? Just tell me and mama will fix a plate for you. And don't be shy either, especially when ya looking like ____ ain't feeding you right!"

• "Really mama?!"

• "Hush now! You can't blame me, look at him! Now come on sweetie, let's go get you some food~"

• ate every and anything placed in front of him

• finished damn near five plates before he decided to take a break for desserts

• so many of the serving ladies (who were mostly your aunties and older cousins) dropped their panties when they saw the number of empty plates and tried to feed him more.

• "Here sweetheart, you want some more greens?"

• "Edna don't nobody want them dry ass greens! Here, try some of my chicken. Saved the biggest piece just for you~"

• "Please, we already know you bought that shit from the store so it ain't no use trying to act all brand new Zelma. Know damn well you ain't fooling nobody with ya fake chicken having ass!"

• a war would've broken out had you not stepped in and took Jin away as he continued to watch the fight while stuffing his face with some of the chicken

• even after, he went back to try the spicy foods on the other side of the table

• quickly fell in love and got everything he could put his hands-on

• "What's this?"

• "They're homemade jalapeño poppers."

• "I'll take 50 of them."

• "Jin that's damn near all of them!"

• "Well it's homemade right? So they can just make some more then...problem solved!"

• seeing him gobbling down the food, your grandma comes over and the two end up in an intense conversation

• what's it about?

• you guessed it: food

• Jin became really good at dancing to the Wobble once he studied everyone's movements for a few moments

• but immediately goes in a corner out of embarrassment until your grandma calls him back to talk (about food again lol)

• when he found out she made those jalapeño poppers...extreme fanboy mode on

• your grandma enjoyed his enthusiasm so much she gave him the recipe and a to-go plate before y'all left

• rest assured that he's definitely been invited for the next social event

════════════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═════════════════

YOONGI

• it's kinda a good thing that it's a cookout because he refuses to handle a family gathering in one room

• "I don't got time to be breathing in all that shit, what if somebody got the 'Rona over there?"

• "Yoongi...you really ain't shit. You know that?"

• "Didn't hear you deny it tho."

• "...Whatever let's just go."

• "Now don't forget your facema-"

• "Yoongi!"

• "Okay, okay!...I'm still bringing that can of Lysol spray with me."

• even though he's quiet, he doesn't hesitate to talk some shit if needed

• is only nice with the adults, but not the kids caus-

• "Fuck dem damn kids! They ain't mines, and even if they were...fuck my own kids then. I don't talk to people younger than me like that."

• he snaps at your rude ass aunties and shows off some of his unfinished raps and beats

• the kids and your cousins are amazed

• "Woah...that's so dope!"

• "____! Why didn't you tell me how cool your boyfriend was?!"

• they watch him with their mouths dropped open in awe, eagerly hanging on to every word he spits out in a freestyle rap despite it being in a language they didn't know/understand until the food is ready

• your parents (low-key only your dad cause momma still didn't forgive him from that stunt he pulled at church) smile at how soft he is when he looks at you despite having a glare as his resting bitch face

• eats only one plate that was made by you

• the same older cousins and uncles that silently talked shit about him suddenly does an 180 and tries to kiss his ass once they find out he's a producer and rapper of big company

• "Aye mane, you think you could listen to my demo or sum cuz? 'Preciate it."

• reluctantly agrees to listen, but Yoongi -being the way he is- straight up stops the music by middle chorus and gives his honest opinion

• "Um...what the fuck is this?"

• "Whatchu mean mane? It's fye huh? So you can put me on an album or sum?"

• "You do know that the background music is the goddamn theme song from that Sofia The First show right?"

• "...yeah, I wanted to add a 'lil twist to it. Was there a mistake in it?"

• you immediately remember how brutal the idol can be from time to time and step in before he can get an asswhooping from dudes that's three times his size

• "...mistake? My guy, I don't know if you know this, but yo whole so-called song is a mis-"

• "Yoongs..."You give a strained smile, ignoring the wondering gazes at what you're suddenly saying in Korean, "please shut the fuck up."

• "Wha-why the hell do I have to shut up?! If anything, we know who needs to, and not to mention that wonky-ass Disney Cinderella song they call a beat."

• "You do know they just got out right?"

• "Of what? Kindergarten? 'Cause that's all I can tell from those barely basic ass rhyming words they put up in there. Pssh, you would think they would learn how to actually rap with all that free time they had."

• "Yoongi!"

• he's...an overall good guest...somewhat

• will help clean up because he trying to get back in your mother's good graces (and not because you promised to give him some sloppy toppy if he at least tried)

• dances...very very aggressively

• accidentally don electric slide right into the poker table

• y'all gonna mostly be by yourselves because he doesn't really want to socialize

• keep in mind that he is blunt and aggressive, which is a type of attitude a lot of black family members hate with a passion

• but does Yoongi care about what your family thinks of him?

• "Do I really look like I give a fuck? Well too bad...cause I FUCKING DON-"

• he will snap off if they say something shady, even if there's a little hint of it: hands will be thrown

• "Waste of my goddamn time right here...you made us come all the way to Korea when you could've easily came to the states, and for what?"

• "To watch her become the best fucking [dream profession]. And it's not like yo broke ass paid for the tickets and hotel, probably wouldn't have been able to afford a cardboard box to spend the week in if it was up to you."

• he ain't gonna sugar coat SHIT

• might end up fighting a relative if it comes up to it

• "Now listen here young man-"

• "No you listen here you ungrateful ass excuse of a person, you've been nothing but a pain in my balls since the moment we met. So you better back the fuck up before you get smacked the fuck up. I don't give a rat's ass who or how old you are. Whether you a man, woman, non-binary, or a damn tree, I don't give a FUCK. But I do know one thing: these fists are pansexual and rated E for everyone, so you can catch 'em if you want."

• depending on how prideful they are, they might not like that

• when you guys leave and go back to your apartment you cuddle

• "You didn't have to do all that Yoongi. Some family are just like that, gotta roll with the punches."

• "I don't care who they are to you, you deserve the same respect you give them. Not any of that petty bullshit they love to spew out. And speaking of petty, that's why I took both pans of the peach cobbler and banana pudding too."

════════════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═════════════════

HOSEOK

• he's excited

• not a single drop of nerves running through his body at all

• he's super happy that the two of you finally reached the next level of a relationship which meant meeting your family

• greeted the cousins casually but with a mega watt ass smile

• some even came up to you complaining about it

• "Damn ____, tell your man to calm down with all that smiling shit! Almost went blind."

• "...but ain't you already blind Cousin Brian...?"

• "And? It gotta mean something if I was able to see a bright ass light in all this darkness."

• "I-well okay then. Hobi stop smiling too much, you messing up my blind cousin's eyesight."

• "Oh oka-what?"

• everyone adores him, yes even that one messy cousin that's always trying to ruin a family member's day (and relationship) with their new boyfriend/girlfriend

• you tried to keep Hoseok away from her, but he just had to say something when he saw her standing alone in a sheer dress that was clearly once a t-shirt

• "No Hoseok, let's go this wa-Hoseok!"

• "Hello! Very pretty dress you wearing~"

• "...okay and? The fuck you telling me that? You want your lil dick sucked or something Asian boy?"

• he laughs brightly at her words

• "No no thank you. But you should smile more, very pretty face to waste by frowning."

• with that, he takes your hand goes over to the kids which damn neared baffled the whole yard of the two's interaction

• and thanks to him having to be a nice piece of shit, you now gotta fend him off from ya messy ass cousin who now crushing on him

• plays games with the little kids, all the women swooning as he chases them around and picks them up like a father would with their child

• "Awe ____, you got you a cute white boy."

• "Thank you grandma, but he's Korean."

• "Well I like him!"

• when at the table he proudly brags about your achievements at work while also handling the process of obtaining a degree at the same time

• when you bring up his world-known status they are   s h o o k

• goes with you and your cousins to the liquor store when all your low-key alcoholic aunts and uncles drank them all

• "____, I like your family. They're all really fun to hang out with!"

• "Mmmm, you say that now. But give it time, I'm sure you'll change your mind."

• as stated before, he naturally gets along with everyone

• but just because he's safe doesn't mean that the shit relatives you have won't try to come for you

• and after learning some tips from Yoongi, he's ready to defend your honor

• "Want to talk all that smack about ____, just wait. She's gonna be the greatest [dream profession] there is! Bet you won't be able to say shit then."

• this definitely gets him more respect from your parents and older male cousins

• he won't stand for anyone trash-talking you

• not at all

• so yeah, they overall love him because hello? He's Jung Hoseok

• he fixed the younger kids plates, even sneaking in extra desserts which made him a long time favorite amongst them

• complimented every food he tried, even if the macaroni and cheese Cousin Brian made was dry

• "Hey now, it wasn't my fault! I didn't notice that the dial was turned all the way up when I first turned on the oven."

• "Cousin Brian...you blind my guy, how could you have known?! Now, matter fact...who the hell gave this man the responsibility of cooking in the first goddamn place?!"

• ...ANYWAYS

• ate at least 3 plates and quickly danced all that food off when the music started

• cupid shuffled right into ya grandma's heart while grinding into your aunties'

• courtesy of ya [Uncle's Name] giving him a cup of 'juice'

• poor baby had passed out not too long after drinking too much of it and woke up without his watch and shoes

• luckily, you knew that something like this would happen and was easily able to retrieve them all before leaving

════════════════*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═════════════════

JIMIN

• socially awkward, but is still a good person to be around

• and since babes got that shmoney, he made sure to bring expensive presents along even when you said not to

• if any of your family try to mooch off him you shut that shit down real quick

• "Aye now, if you don't keep your crusty ass hands away from my boyfriend them $90 nails gonna be a waste of money when I get through with them."

• he just loves it when you get defensive over him sometimes, a little blush grazes his face

• they ask all sorts of questions about his life back on back without even giving him a chance to answer

• seeing him visibly flustered from the lack of understanding what they're saying, you blurt out the first thing that comes to mind to sidetrack their focus on him

• "His parents are in Empire."

• "Really? Say sike right now."

• "N-no for real! Y'all don't remember the those few episodes...with...those Asian parents?"

• "..."

• "..."

• "...you know, now that you mention it..."

• "Oh shit! ____, you gotta keep him. And if y'all break up, you know where to hit me up."

• They treat him like a long lost son that's been reunited with his family once more

• "Has ____ been good?"

• "Yes ma'am. She's been working so hard lately that she even got promoted!"

• "Oh that's good to hear. But sweetpea you don't need to so polite!"

• "Sweetpea, you want another plate?"

• "I-if you don't mind ma'am."

• "Oh please with all that ma'am nonsense baby! Call me Grandma~"

• he likes the vanilla wafer cookies in the banana pudding the most

• good with baby cousins

• "Can you get the water hose and play with us ____'s boyfriend? My momma said the kids can't do it by themselves."

• low-key got all the single relatives checking him out.

• Especially when his shirt became translucent from the water which shown a slim waist and built abdomen that was hidden while some old shorts he borrowed from you showed off his thicc thighs and ass that's even plumper than yours

• "Ooh, look at ____'s boyfriend! Bet he taste just the way he look: real good huh~"

• "Yup, and he's mine too [Cousin Name]. Better watch yourself before a few tracks go missing boo~"

• "Damn ____! Where you been hiding him? Mmm mm mm. What's good ____'s boyfriend, you looking for some fun later on tonight?"

• "Um...n-no t-thank you. I-i'm fine."

• "Aight no pressure, just let me know when you need me."

• "[Cousin #2 Name], you ain't in no damn prison penitentiary anymore and Jimin ain't one of those 'lil he-bitches you can fuck just because he got ass. So back the fuck off."

• "Aight damn cuz, you ain't gotta get all territorial and shit....so Jimin...do you got a snap or some-"

• "I swear if I see you, [Cousin Name], and any other of y'all thirsty hoes around my boyfriend one more goddamn time! I'm beating some asses."

• ANYWAYS

• everybody adore him

• like there is not one single family member that dislikes him

• even if y'all were the type to be messy and filled with drama, he'll fit right in once they saw that he didn't take shit from nobody

• and when they do try to for either of you, cut off and put in their place immediately

• "I still can't believe it. How did ____ manage to get someone like him?!"

• "Oh? You mean Just like how you managed to get divorced five times?"

• the whole table done exploded with 'oh shit' and 'he got you [Auntie Name]'

• some even had to walk away from that one

• Jimin definitely earned a place in the family

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hi, Nora....My friend and I made a list of ace and aro characters from BL, and then we get to Love For Sale. We think Sieon is aro, based on he never regret his previous relationships until he is with Namwoo. And how he felt so indifferent about them. But what do you think? Also, do you have any BL characters that you think are ace or aro?

Great question! And thank you for giving me a chance to talk about Sieon. I'm always happy to do so. If you want the tl;dr answer, I don't consider him to be one. However, as is always the case on Wild Wild Web when you express a thought or preference, people take it as me condemning all the other thoughts/preferences. So here's a PSA: if you consider him Aro, good for you! You can interpret him however you like.

Also, lots and LOTS of spoilers for the uninitiated.

As for how I read his character. I think Sieon is hard to understand for a lot of people because they expect him to be either this or that and try to put him into categories he doesn't fully belong in. It's one of the reasons why I'm so enamored with Love for Sale as a whole, and Sieon in particular. Dal Hyeonji, even though this is their first commercial BL work, does an absolutely fantastic job in this character study.

Back to the point. When the story was still being released, I entertained a similar idea myself about him that, maybe he's demiromantic. Not a romance-aversed aromantic, but still a part of the spectrum. Then I kind of abandoned that as well.

We are a melting pot of our environments, cultural codes, family, and our characteristics. That's why most of the time, it's hard to make out whether you've become something due to some external force or you were that something before anything else. A very lame example would be, do I find red lipstick sexy because I find it arousing, or is it because it was marketed in such a way that I am conditioned to think it's sexy? Similarly, it's not always easy to tell apart whether your feelings are genuine, you feel like you have to feel certain ways towards certain people, or something impacted you in such a way that you don't feel a certain way anymore. I know I'm being vague but hopefully, it'll make more sense now.

Sieon, having to shoulder her mother's emotional well-being and their reversed parent-child roles, has found himself in a position where he seeks gratification through the things he can provide to his partners so he can feel 'needed'. The comfort he can provide for his partner becomes his purpose to be in that relationship. I was throwing him bombastic side-eyes very early into the story where he never expressed any type of preference and was very evasive whenever Namwoo tried to probe. Naturally, it was quite frustrating for Namwoo. As for me, it was as if Sieon was trying to erase himself from the relationship and be there for Namwoo as a combination of 'bank account + lips to kiss + a hand to hold' and blend into the ether as a person.

That's also why his relationships ended the way they did. He knew his mom wasn't happy, and even if he tried to alleviate her pain, it ultimately didn't work, thus, the one last good deed he could do for his mom was to let her go. To not be greedy. To not be selfish and say "I need you, don't go." This is the root of his letting go of his exes 'too easily', rather than him not 'loving' his partners.

Here's where things get tricky. Ideally, a romantic relationship requires you to be vulnerable, communicative, diplomatic, etc. Ideally. But none of us are exempt from carrying our baggage with us into the next relationship, no matter how big or small. In that sense, should we say that just because Sieon hasn't been perfectly vulnerable or has been avoiding conflict, he was never in a real relationship before? I don't think we can. 

One of the moments my heart ached for him was during his conversation with his close friend. He reiterates it later on when they're having the talk with Namwoo, but he desperately tries to convey that, no matter what his partners felt, whether they were satisfied on their own account or not, he was always genuine. Has always been. It may not fit the mold of grandiose, shouting-from-the-mountaintops, I'd-swallow-a-sword-for-you kind of love we are constantly sold in the romance genre, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of love either. On the contrary, I think he does look for romantic companionship, but he just doesn't know how not to intellectualize his feelings.

So, in my opinion, "he didn't love anyone else before Namwoo" is not exactly the correct way to read him. Up until Namwoo decided that he was going to hold onto Sieon and 'show him a selfish love' in Sieon's mom's words, their relationship was following the pretty much same direction as the others. At first, Namwoo is content with what Sieon provides, but then he develops feelings for him and expects Sieon to return them in a way he can't. The same old story that is bound to end with a break-up.

Emphasis on 'in a way he couldn't'. The way I read it, his way of loving is different from what others deem as 'romantic love', so he's convinced that he can't reciprocate others' feelings. If that's love, and his feelings don't look like that, then he must not be in love after all. And when Namwoo shows Sieon that it's okay to be needy and selfish at times, and it's okay to be vulnerable and honest, we see that was the wake-up call he needed all along. 

The verdict? If you consider his past partners through the "he wasn't able to genuinely love them" lens and interpret his "not being able to reciprocate romantic feelings" literally, you can think of him as an aromantic who's not really averse to dating. But as I've tried to elaborate, rather than not feeling romantic love, he does feel love and seek companionship but doesn't know how to handle conflict and can't break free from the behavioral patterns ingrained in him in childhood. 

About aro/ase characters in BL. There's only one work that comes to mind which, interestingly, makes asexuality/demisexuality one of the core themes it explores and that's This is Love by Ziki Masaya. I have reviewed it before (click me) and I highly recommend it! I can maybe mention Sangwoo from Semantic Error, but then again, I think he's just autistic and his approach to romantic love for another guy is different from his normie boyfriend Jongchan because of that. I can't really think of any other works with Aro/ace characters as there's always romance/sex involved. Or maybe I just haven't paid enough attention! Let me know about the list you two came up with ~

PSA: I added the intro because the original link needs you to login to Lezhin as it's a Mature title, but you know the drill. Read on the official platfrorms!

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 16: My Allies

Izumi: That should be all the groceries.

Tsumugi: Ah, right… I ran out of fertilizer…

Izumi: Should we go to the florist?

Tsumugi: No, they’re kinda heavy. I’ll ask someone for help and go with them.

Izumi: Oh, speaking of florists, I often pass by a shop where a fan of ours lives—

Towa: …

Izumi: Hm? Towa-kun?

Towa: Ah…

Izumi: Are you okay? Do you feel bad?

[Towa’s stomach growls]

Towa: I wanna eat… rice…

[Towa collapses]

Izumi: Eh?

Tsumugi: … Did he just collapse?

-

Towa: Thank you for the meal!

Tsumugi: Looks like you were starving.

Izumi: But your aunt is that florist nearby, right? How did this happen…?

Towa: To be honest… I ran away from home.

Sakuya: You ran away!?

Sakyo: Reminds me of a certain someone.

Azami: There’s a bunch of guys like that here.

Kumon: Ahaha, that’s true~

Tenma: You’re one of them.

Izumi: Did something happen at home?

Towa: …

Masumi: If nothing happened, then go back home.

Sakuya: Now, now. The situation might be complicated.

Towa: … I’m sorry for all the fuss.

Towa: … I’ve always admired you all. I’ve always wanted to be someone who’s passionate about something.

Towa: I’ve done everything half-heartedly and without pushing myself all my life.

Sakuya: … Why?

Towa: … Because I didn’t want to disappoint myself.

Towa: I think I don’t want to try hard, fail and realize I’m useless.

Towa: I’ll feel embarrassed. It scares me. I think it'll kill me.

Towa: But when I saw the Spring Troupe’s, MANKAI Company’s performance, entirely by chance, I became obsessed with how bright everyone sparkles.

Towa: I thought to myself that I want to try hard like this, I want to sparkle and accomplish something.

Towa: But I just don’t know what that something is…

Towa: Anyway, I wanted to be close to where everyone is, so I changed schools and applied to Hanagaku last minute and came to Veludo Way.

Izumi: That’s why you’re here…!?

Banri: That’s pretty impressive. The standard deviation there’s pretty high.

Towa: I studied more than I had my entire life before that!

Sakuya: You’re really good at taking the initiative. 

Masumi: You’re reckless.

Towa: Although I really wanted to be close to everyone here, there’s one more reason…

Towa: Everyone in my family spoils me, and they’re always ready to help me with anything and everything.

Towa: They always listen to my selfish requests, and my friends get jealous when I tell them, so I wondered if it was okay for me to stay that way…

Towa: No one argued when I changed schools.

Towa: They just told me to do what I wanted to do, and even found me a private tutor and a cram school.

Towa: They also asked my aunt to let me live with her.

Towa: My family is kind, and I love them, but I hate how spoiled I become when I’m with them. So I decided to leave.

Yuki: You’ve got guts.

Tsumugi: So they support your choices. That’s a good family you have.

Towa: But… It seems they thought I’d immediately go back home.

Towa: “It’s not like he has anything he really wants to do.”, “It’s unlikely he can make it on his own.”

Towa: When I heard my aunt and my mom have a conversation like that over the phone, I got mad and ran out.

Towa: … Everything they said was right, though. All I’ve got is my fixation, and I don’t have anything I actually want to do.

Towa: I can’t do anything by myself…

Sakuya: I don’t think that’s true.

Citron: You have already made it this far.

Chikage: You’ve even gotten into your beloved company’s kitchen.

Towa: Ah…

Itaru: You studied hard, got into Hanagaku, and stepped into your sacred place. Isn’t that proof enough?

Sakuya: I think it’s amazing that you’ve stepped into a whole new world all by yourself.

Itaru: There’s no need to rush. Everyone eventually finds what they want to do.

Tsumugi: I think Banri-kun knows that better than anyone.

Banri: This kinda thing’s got to do with your timing and, well, your connections. No point in rushin’ it.

Juza: Though, you were just tryin’ shit out on a whim.

Banri: Ahh?

Izumi: It’s not like you can’t do anything.

Izumi: If we hadn’t met you, we would’ve never thought of the workshop.

Towa: … Thank you very much. I’m sorry for troubling you.

Izumi: Your aunt is probably worried too, so contact her. Can you do it yourself?

Towa: Yes.

Towa: — Ah, I’m getting notifications from my chat.

shiki: contact us

Kar: don’t die

Iv: wanna come @ my place?

shiki: stay calm and don’t rush things!

Izumi: Chat?

Towa: A group chat I have with friends I met from a game called “Bloom Game”.

Towa: We talk about all sorts of things in BlooCha– the in-game chat.

Towa: We’ve never met, and we don’t know what each other looks like, but because of that we can talk about anything, and I feel like we’re always connected.

Towa: To me, that’s my home away from home.

Izumi: I see. Make sure you contact them too.

Towa: Okay.

-

Sakuya: Should I take you back home?

Towa: It’s okay. It’s pretty close, and my aunt said she’ll pick me up on the way.

Sakuya: I see. Be careful on your way home.

Citron: If you run away from home again, come here again!

Masumi: You don’t have to do that.

Tsuzuru: We have got to be the only place that welcomes runaways like it’s nothing. But I guess a place like that is good too.

Izumi: See you.

Towa: Thank you for everything! Good luck on your next performance! I’m looking forward to it!

[Towa walks away]

Tsuzuru: Our next performance, huh…

Itaru: We gotta face our problems head-on too, eventually.

Chikage: … That we do.

-

[Phone blips]

Sakuya: Ah… I have to cut this out and reply…

Sakuya: *sigh* Something that’s like us, huh…

Tenma: Does the next Romeo say lines like that?

Sakuya: Eh? Ah, no, he doesn’t.

Tenma: Seems like rehearsals aren’t going so smoothly.

Sakuya: … Yuzo-san watched our practice today.

Sakuya: He told us to think again what kind of plays the Spring Troupe does, and what the debut performance means to us.

Sakuya: We’ve gained lots of experience, but there’s something we lack compared to back then…

Sakuya: Even though, even our feelings are stronger than they were back then.

Tenma: So something’s missing, huh? There were a lot of those things in the original RomiJuli

Tenma: The acting was rough at best, and lots of parts would make you cringe, but still… I wonder what it was that made it so sparkling.

Tenma: All of you seemed to be enjoying the new world of theater you had just discovered with all your heart.

Sakuya: The new world…

Tenma: When I saw that, I was also drawn to it– it made me think it was time for me to leap into the world of theater, too.

Sakuya: When you praised RomiJuli after you joined, I was really happy.

Tenma: Come to think of it, you had to overcome lots of hurdles during the rehearsals for your debut, right?

Tenma: I had asked you how you did that during the Summer Troupe’s rehearsals.

Sakuya: I remember…

Sakuya: Back then, Yuzo-san had told us we don’t understand the first thing about theater—...

Sakuya: That’s it! Thank you, Tenma-kun! I’m going to get to know the stage one more time!

Tenma: — Sure.

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

[dailycass-cain]

I really tried to like this run, I really did. The seeds were planted in the Failsafe arc, then there was a tiny bit with the next arc (Red Death), and the way this one began.

Yeah…

This is just my preference, but I enjoy a comic book story if the writer clearly has a passion for all the characters involved.

When it comes to Batman?

I just ask if you're gonna use Cass. Use her wisely.

Don't use her as a "prop".

It's why I left Tom King's Batman run after Batman #81 because that's what Cass was in that run.

I came back to Batman because I truly did enjoy James Tynion IV's style in his Tec run. Yes, he played it safe but it was a FUN kind of safe.

Even if they were cheesy, Tynion's Batman and later Joshua Williamson's runs were fun. So was Mariko Tamaki's Tec run. They treated the characters involved with respect and gave some standout Cass moments. They didn't seem like a "prop" and somehow always figured into the story.

Why I SOOOOO checked out hard when Future State: Gotham did this too (so much so I totally have forgotten who wrote the story). Cass wasn't a character in that (among others). She was just a prop to showcase how "far" Nightwing had gone.

Now, this current Batman run by Chip Zdarsky has done this too. I really did give this run a fair chance. For his "Failsafe" arc the ideas were there but---

There was never any follow-up. No payoff to the ideas introduced in the arc. Cass jobbed but it made sense. Because at the very least "Failsafe" was made to be counter to Bruce and the Family. But…

We got zero payoffs to Cass/Duke doing anything in the arc or anything out of Gotham being lorded over by a machine.

Compare this to what's going on in Detective Comics by Ram V.

Yes, Cass is a minor presence but the writer pays at least some payoff from plots that he introduces the character too. There's consistency.

I see 0 consistency from Zdarsky from point A to B. Take today's #137 issue for example. We spent a setup with Cass getting zero motives as to why she (and Duke) are siding with the rest.

They just are.

0 characterization and 0 payoff from point A to B. What do we get for Cass in the issue? She jobs hard to Bruce. I just don't see any reason why as a fan of Cass I should care about this run?

I mean yeah, Zdarsky dangles the "happy" family in front of us in #136, and also tells us that bad things are coming for Bruce and the Family.

Buuuuuut… where's the characterization? The panel that tells us what Cass sees?

You could've easily had Cass in #136 just a mere two panels glance at Bruce and him back at her. Him knowing she knows something is wrong.

Nope. We don't get that. Just cute fun (we get that via Dick instead).

It would bridge to her being against him in #137. If that was the case I probably wouldn't be angry over the issue. Cass doesn't feel like a character in the story, just a prop. And when a writer goes that route I CHECK OUT.

The other problem I've been having with this Zdarsky run is the "word play" as well. Dick, Tim, Jason, and Damian all get name-dropped as "sons" to Bruce. Note who isn't mentioned.

AND YET...

But that is me just being picky and fandomy. But the other stuff I can't overlook. I will miss this run. I really REALLY love Jorge Jiménez's Cass. Like he understands the assignment ANY time he's asked.

Just that, good art has to accompany a fun or thrilling story. We're getting none of that from my point of view. Maybe this changes in a few issues. Maybe it'll be longer.

I just can't read this comic any longer. It's not a read I enjoy. So until then bye Batman. It was fun.

Anyway. I said my peace. I just want to vent this out of my system. 🙏

[randomingoftherandomness]

You think the gate thing Yuanzhi told that woman is real? I thought it's a sob story they made up specifically for her. Why would he open up about something this painful to her of all people? And it was the middle of plot they were working against her.

Then why did Shangjue never talk about it with Yuanzhi? Or is he oblivious about how much Yuanzhi feels guilty? Sorry to bother you with all my questions but I have no one to talk about these beautiful brothers.

I've always believed that the best lies are the kinds that are tangled with the truth. I mean, I wouldn't know, but I've gotten with quite a fair bit of shit in my youth by virtue of me not telling a total lie, so I'm very much biased in this view :)

Consider this; SGQ needed to be sold "a truth" that Yuanzhi and Shangjue have accepted her assistance in bringing down Gong Ziyu. They have, up to that point, been peppering the seeds and laying the groundwork for her to buy into the belief that that she has been accepted into the fold and they are "trusting" her.

In Malaysia, there's a saying that goes 'sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah' juga which loosely translates to no matter how well a squirrel jumps, it'll fall to the ground too (yang faham ni, please don't come for me saya punya BM dah dipulangkan kepada Cikgu dan kinektowk kmk lebih kerap klakar bahasa sarawak) and it means that no matter how smart you think you are, you'll still make a mistake.

SGQ is that squirrel.

We know she's hella confident in herself (which, sis, gimme some of that confidence), we know she doesn't have a reality where she doesn't come out on top or is unable to achieve her goals. Which is why she is blind to the way Yuanzhi and Shangjue are so obviously reeling her in like a tuna.

At the first sign of "trust" (Shangjue telling Yuanzhi that there are things that only she can do) to the way Yuanzhi doesn't immediately prickle up like an aggravated porcupine when being called didi by her, these should have been things enough to raise suspicions. But it didn't for her. Because she's the squirrel.

And because of that, the story was the "truth" that was wrapped around the lie of "trust". Yuanzhi's young and brash, but he's far from stupid. He's Shangjue's most treasured person for a reason, after all :) Now, whether you believe that that incident truly did happen or not, is up to you to interpret. I'm a whore for the angst and the fact that Yuanzhi carries guilt because of that incident is absolute delicious seasoning on my angst pie, so I accept that as canon and will continue to accept it as canon.

As to whether Shangjue knows Yuanzhi carries that guilt, of course. Here's a man who knows his didi well enough to know what he wants to say without him saying a word. Here is the person, again, who is Shangjue's most treasured person. Do you honestly think he'd not know?

Whether he has absolved Yuanzhi of this guilt, is the heart of the matter. I doubt Yuanzhi could have stand to be by Shangjue's side carrying that level of hurt and guilt eating up in him. Sure, you could argue that his continual self-comparison to Lang didi can be taken as him just manifesting that, but that could also be down to how, even if Shangjue absolves him of that blame, if Yuanzhi himself doesn't forgive himself, what good would that do?

Shangjue's not the type to express a lot. We know this, the man is a jack in a box of emotions that'll spring out when thyoue right gears are turned. In my opinion at least, Shangjue is the kind to just quietly sit by you and hold your hand. He won't try to give you too many words of comfort or soothe you with any grand gestures, but he'll be the guy to just sit with you. And I reckon that it's true with how he is with didi.

Also, please do not ever feel bad about leaving me asks about these two beautiful brothers :) I welcome the chance to talk about them!

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #228

J and I did various things today! But it all started with a breakfast place! They sold mostly bagels and sandwiches and such!

I was very enamored by so many things! I ended up getting a donut, and a latke, and some gluten-free cheesy bread, and a bagel sandwich, and one of those yummy-sounding strawberry matcha latte things!!

There's a lot of interesting stuff in this place that we don't find at home! It's exciting to go to new places and try new combinations of flavors as a result! I think on the guava kefir I got yesterday, and my goodness, Sephiroth, it was so good, and I am a little bit sad that we don't have it at home!!

J and I went to the zoo after that. But before we even got to any exhibits, we saw some wild deer:

Both of the babies were apparently very hungry:

...I was kind of alarmed at how comfortable they seemed around humans, actually. It's not like deer to get so close to people. We're supposed to look scary to them because our forward-facing eyes mark us as predators. I hope everything is okay with them.

When we finally got to the rest of the zoo, we noticed that most of the animals were not especially active. And that is reasonable, because it was very hot out. In fact, it was so hot and humid that I used my inhaler as a precaution so that my lungs wouldn't close up as a result of walking around in those conditions. I discovered yesterday, after doing the DDR, that levalbuterol does not make me twitchy and exhausted and weird like regular albuterol. I was pleased to discover that again, today, this stuff kept my lungs from closing up, without any of the weird after-effects! Yay!

Though most of the animals were smart enough to avoid being out and about, I did manage to get a few pictures of some animals that were willing to brave the heat. I wonder if you have anything that looks like these in your world. Here, this is a tiger:

And this is a lion:

You can tell it's a male lion because of the big, shaggy mane! The females look basically the same, but without the mane.

Here's one who is very attached to his bowl:

He picked it up and carried it around, but I wasn't able to get a very good picture of that. Nonetheless, when a lion decides that some bowl is his bowl, then that is his bowl. End of story. No one is fool enough to argue.

Near the lions, there was also this male cardinal who was eerily comfortable with the nearby humans:

...Suppose if you hang near lions all day, humans might not seem especially scary anymore. It's not as though we have the teeth or the claws or the reflexes to catch them.

...It's nice to see a cardinal up close that is not either dying or dead. Good grief... If that never happens again, it'll still be too soon.

Anyway, this is a chimpanzee. On my planet, these and another monkey called bonobos are the closest living relatives to modern humans:

I dunno how it is on your planet, but on my planet, it's theorized that all life descended from a single common ancestor some 3.5 billion years ago. Over the years, because DNA mutates and stuff, things got wackier and wackier as things replicated themselves, until today, and there are millions of different species that all evolved by chance through countless methods of reproduction. The things that survive determine which combinations of DNA work and which ones don't, I guess. And in the end, what you get is many different species that fill different niches as chance dictates which strategies they must use in order to survive.

The finches of the Galapagos Islands are probably one of the best examples. Some generations of birds have differently-shaped beaks. And some years, birds with bigger beaks survive a little better because big seeds are plentiful, and the birds with littler beaks don't do so well because they can't break the big seeds as easily. But then other years, there are more smaller seeds than big seeds, and the birds with the smaller beaks do better, because the ones with the bigger beaks are kinda clumsy with the smaller seeds. It's a vague and woefully incomplete explanation, but I hope you can understand.

Here's a komodo dragon:

It's really just a big lizard. We don't have dragons in my world. None of the wild creatures in my world are nearly as dangerous as the ones in yours.

Here are some turtles. I don't know what kind they are, but they're very cute:

I also got some pictures of bamboo. There was a lot of it here:

We also caught a brief glimpse of a mother and baby gorilla:

These are Przewalski's horses:

...And this is an elephant:

...And finally, we have a sea lion:

Hey, Sephiroth? Have you seen any of these before? I know you don't have horses, but maybe you have any of the rest of these? Or something similar?

...I know you can't answer me. But... I wanted to ask about your thoughts and experiences anyway. Because they count, too. They matter, too. And maybe you can think about some of the neat things you've seen while you were out and about, and remember how cool they were.

I went back to Otakon after this. And J went to some airport museum called The College Park Airport, because he likes airplanes. And that was pretty neat. I saw the developers and the voice actors who are weaving your story together. They spoke on so many things! Once again, all the people had so many amazing questions, to which there were equally amazing answers! I loved getting to see all the joy and excitement and gratitude both in the crowd and on the stage!

Lots of the folks on the stage got emotional and began to cry, and it was a beautiful thing. I tried putting my hands together to make a little heart symbol at them. I don't know if any of them saw it, because there were so many people, and I am just one of them, and I am not especially noticeable or important. But still, I wanted to try to show my empathy and support in whatever small ways I could. I wanted to try.

I found Teruki Endo's emotions and John Eric Bentley's emotions to be particularly moving; it was hard to keep my own lips from trembling and my own eyes from leaking in response. It evoked a beautiful feeling inside of me. It was beyond wonderful to see these amazing people bring their truest and most vulnerable selves to this place, and to share that with us. I feel so proud of them both for their courage.

Tomorrow is the last day. I thought I might try to go see the lovely developers at their autograph table, and to try to clumsily thank them in Japanese for everything they do. I hope that they can know that they're important to me as people, not just for their connection to you. I don't know what sorts of life experiences they've had or where they've been or what they've done to have become people who can weave a story as beautiful as yours together in the way that they do. But they have become these people, and that will always be awe-inspiring.

I don't have to know them well to understand that they've been through hardship and pain and loss and frustration and fear and so many other things in order to get to where they are today. I don't have to know them well to be proud of them for enduring it all, and for choosing to shine in the way that they do. Together, they touch millions of lives, and make this world a better place for it. I think of the sheer number of lives that have been saved thanks to these people, and I hope they understand what a huge impact they have on this world.

Well anyhoot. I suppose I should wrap this up. It'd be wise for me to go to sleep soon, in preparation for tomorrow.

I love you. And I hope that's clear, in all my words and images and all the other things I try to show and teach you about.

I'll write again soon. Stay safe, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[harmonyckrs]

Act 3, Scene 4 of Twisted Veronaville: An Omen Come True

THE LAST PAGE

Pascal: (Finally, I get the chance to talk. I've been feeling much lighter since I buried the General alive...seems like they're occupied with something, though...)

Sita: Dude, it's okay! We'll get through this.

Aktu: I'm just...confused? How could this have happened? And why did it have to be twins?

Sita: Okay, I know you're distressed, but maybe we can go get boba as a little treat...

Aktu: I JUST SAID I WASN'T DISTRESSED! AND THERE'S NO BOBA SHOPS IN VERONAVILLE AT ALL! THE CLOSEST ONE IS SEVERAL TOWNS AWAY!

Pascal: (Now's probably a bad time...)

Sita: No, it's not, Pascal! Aktu, go trim the bushes. I'll take care of this.

Pascal: You're making your pregnant brother trim the bushes?

Sita: Oh, it's fine! He likes trimming the bushes. Anyway, what was it that we were meeting for again? We've postponed this for so long that I just kind of forgot.

Pascal: Yeah, um...sorry. I don't fully remember either.

Sita: (Maybe I'll just peer into his mind and see if there's anything there...) Oh! You told Hamza that we were here, but then also told us that they were here too. You betrayed us both, eh?

Pascal: (Shit! I forgot about her powers!) Haha...um...yeah!

Sita: (I can't believe this! That traitor!) Oh, you! What a silly goose you are! Good on you for murdering the General, though!...now, whose side are you actually on?

Pascal: Neither! Both of you have very valid points, and I'm hoping we can all find a compromise.

Pascal: And the truth is, I only agreed to any of this so I would have an alibi for General Buzz's disappearance. Nobody would suspect the man who disappeared before him, you know...and I found out that my brother is apparently being held captive. I should check up on him and Lazlo before something bad happens to them. So...I'm not sure if I'll even stick around to see how this story ends.

Sita: (Coward.) Hm...well, best of luck to you.

After Sita and Pascal had their conversation, Ripp had decided to pay the Capps a visit.

Juliette: Oh, hi! It's been a while since we've talked huh?...welcome back to our house! Let me know if you want anything!

Ripp: Thanks!

Juliette: So, what brings you here? Tybalt's outside with...ugh, Mercutio...and Hermia's at Puck's place.

Ripp: (It'll be easier to get to Consort through her.) I wanted to talk to you, actually. Wanted to see how you were doing and all that.

Juliette: Oh?...aw, thank you! I'm fine, though! Grandpa's decided to put me into an arranged marriage too even though I specifically said I wasn't interested in any Montys anymore...do you know Gavin Newson?

Ripp: No, sorry.

Juliette: Oh, well. On the bright side, he's postponed my arranged marriage until after college, so I still have some time to mess around before then. Nothing too serious, since it won't last anyway...

Ripp: (The relationship with Romeo must've really messed with her head.) That's understandable. I mean, there's people who go through their entire teen years without any relationship at all.

Juliette: You're not one of those people, are you?

Ripp: Believe it or not, I am. Never even had a first kiss.

Juliette: Wow. I kind of assumed there'd be a lot of people who'd be all over you...would you like one?

Ripp: (HOLY FUCK AM I ACTUALLY GETTING A KISS?) I could think of nobody better.

Juliette: (Holy cow, I actually did it! I offered him a kiss and he actually accepted it!...this must be a dream)

Ripp: (A FIRST KISS! LET'S FUCKING GO!)

Ripp rode this high for the next couple of days, even as Tybalt came by for another visit...to tell him something very important.

Tybalt: ...And I'm going to execute the plan tomorrow. I haven't been able to talk to Mercutio yet, but I'm certain he got my letter.

Ripp: (I'm getting deja vu, for some reason.) The plan to fake your death, right?

Tybalt: Yep. My main concern is timing, since my family only keeps the bodies of our ancestors in the family crypt during funeral preparations, and if they take too long I might end up getting buried alive.

Ripp: That's a couple of days, right?

Tybalt: Yeah, but I think it should be enough time...and I wanted to thank you. Mercutio and I never would've gotten along if it weren't for you...and I appreciate you breaking up Juliette and that Romeo.

Ripp: (He says Romeo's name as if it were a slur.) No problem. Maybe we can see each other again if the plan goes successfully...like in college, or something.

Tybalt: Yep...I hope so too.

And as Tybalt left, Ripp came to an immediately realization.

Ripp: I FORGOT TO TALK TO CONSORT!

Ripp: Fuck!...well, I can still call them...

Ripp: (Will any of the Capps even believe me? I don't know if there's time to stop them...but what if Tybalt does something worse? Might as well give it a-)

*BZZT*

Ripp: Huh...the power line isn't working for some reason...

???: Because I've cut it. We're ending this feud between us, Ripp, once and for all.

Ripp: (Ugh...not him again.)

THE NEXT PAGE

[riotseas]

── starter for @taleswritten ; in which cidolfus fucks up

It's been a few weeks since ex-noble, (now ex-soldier) Clive Rosfield, came barreling into Cid's life with little regard for much else other than to─and he quotes─'kill the son of a bitch' that murdered his younger brother.

Which was fine, that's what Cid's wants. To be a place for others to figure themselves out without masters breathing down their necks and whipping them when they stepped out of line. Clive was free to do as he pleased, and if he got some help out of it while he was around than that was even better.

It's just a shame he's gotten so attached.

If Cid let himself really and truly bond with every stray they brought in he'd get nothing done, mother-henning the ever living hell out of them until his hair goes gray. He's already got a kid that's aged him well beyond his years, and she's not even around. So, he's well off in that department.

But he doesn't want to nor need to coddle Clive; he made that very clear upon introductions, sword licking his neck and all. What he wants to do, rather, is pick him apart, piece by piece.

Cid hasn't figured out why he feels so strongly about excavating this poor man, but he doesn't have time to mull over it either. The amount of research he's put into him just for the tiny chance he'd lend a hand was more than he'd like to admit (and if some of that research was for more personal reasons, well, he's definitely not outing himself now).

Fortunately, under that tough and hardened exterior, Clive is just about the sweetest soul he's ever met. So, after some deeds and exploits, both him and the equally as kind Jill, said they were ready to devote themselves to the cause.

That was greater than Cid could've hoped for, but he's not good with words so he hopes the extra pats on the back is enough to get the message across.

Clive's also different in that way; he's not much one for words either, looking at Cid like he's grown two heads when he cracks a joke just mere minutes after a battle that almost ended very, very badly. It'll take time, getting to know one another, and Cid is more than happy to go through with it. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy, though.

He's never taken the easy route a day in his life.

Which ends him up in the situation they're in now.

It was a fairly good morning. Nothing was in dire need of doing, the weather was cool and calm, everyone lazing about to take in the rare recess. Cid was certainly indulging, ignoring the paperwork on his desk without feeling bad about it─and best of all, Clive was with him.

Originally coming into the solar to ask what he could do, antsy with the lack of productivity, Cid finally convinced (distracted) him to sit and just relax. They got to talking about anything and everything, piling stories upon stories, not really thinking too hard about it.

That was Cid's first mistake.

His second mistake, was blurting out his deepest darkest secret of practically being Clive's stalker. Though he wouldn't call it that, no other title makes it sound any better.

He never intended on telling Clive of what he knows, because frankly, it wasn't his place to have treated him like some specimen. But if he hadn't, neither of them might've ended up where they are now. Cid likes him─he likes him a lot─and he's feeling funny in the chest with those big watery eyes looking at him like he's betrayed him.

Cid opens his mouth to apologize─to say something─but nothing comes out, and he wishes Ramuh would just strike him down.

[somuchbetterthanthat]

I'm wondering what would it even take for Emily to start caring about the fact she is not a good person. Does she know she's not a good person right now? Doubtful. She argues that she's not, and she gives all her reasons, but to me it's denial for the sake of appearances, which is Emily's whole thing (that's why she laughs when Nica tells her she could drop out of the Mayor's race, that people could like her for her - no, that's not what the people WANT) ; she grew up rich, most definitely entitled as heck, she went into business in college. I don't think Emily ever really dropped the appearances. She doesn't do it in the council for evil (and oh man, suddenly want to discuss the difference between Emily "of course we're not evil!" and Oliver's "er, yeah, we are" and how that might come from their different backgrounds--), and she doesn't do it in narration either, so not to herself.

Except. Except when it comes to Ethan. The over-the-top lovesickness is appearances still, but the love is genuine, even if at this point I think it's pretty clear both she and Ethan are in love with what they were in appearance too (or well, what the image is reflecting back on them now. Ethan with memories of when Emily was devoted to his projects, and Emily on the day of their wedding, the genuine joy of that single day, but i think it says so much that Emily fought for the image of that wedding, and then embraced it as a marketing ploy -- admitedly that her opposants were going to kind of use already --. She became the bride of Red Line. The wedding, probably a real moment of happiness, turned also into appareances).

Anyway, my point is, the only time she drops the veil is when Ethan hurts her - the day she shows up in the wedding dress at the beginning of s4, when Ethan COMES AND FUCKING ASK HER ABOUT REPROGRAMMED LIKE A ROBOT WHICH IS STILL THE WILDEST AND MOST HORRORY THING EVER - or when she admits, to Nica, how miserable it makes her that Ethan doesn't seem to care anymore. But all of that is still not enough to shake her off, to admit that she's doing horrible things, and I think it's cause... Well, when it comes to Ethan, she's mostly a victim (from what we've seen in the story so far). You could argue her worry about Wonderland and selling it was her big betrayal to her husband, but since then, Ethan has been nothing but awful to her. The only time he's nicer is to manipulate her or for his own interests.

So how to get her to realize and understand? Can she? Maybe with a push, and I don't think it'd be a kind push. I'm thinking - perhaps if she annoys the Narrator a day too much, and he forces her not to hide from her own deepest thoughts anymore? Or are we going to see her loose her mind and she'll never get the chance to perhaps try and do something - different, even if i don't expect her to become a good person in one season? (although. hey. I didn't guess they'd go there for Oliver, he did terrible things too, and what do you know, those last scenes made me fucking cry so). That would be a sort of tragedy, and not every villain is the sort to be ""reedemeed"" in some way.

... I hope we get to see her with Nica again, because if anyone can get through her, I assume it'll be her. But I think it would also be very good to see Emily with someone else entirely, someone unexpected, that gets to her long enough for her to start questioning, at least, if it's all worth it - maybe not change her morals, but at least shift her selfish interests away from hurting people so violently. I dunno.

[foxgirlontherun]

foxy, your one fanart made me think of this: how do you think it would go if max + billy and the berman sisters 'verse swapped? like how do you think the story would go for max and billy in the fear street 'verse? what about the berman sisters in the strange things 'verse? what do you think these scenarios would look like? do you think any larger story plots would be effected?

Hello, friend! I have to admit that I had to rewatch the Fear Street movies, so I could paint an at least fairly accurate picture of the scenarios. That's why it took me this long to answer.

Max & Billy (with the same household they have in ST) in the Fear Street universe:

I feel like Max would be a lot like Ziggy in Ziggy's situation (being bullied and all). Billy on the other hand would be almost nothing like Cindy, of course. He wouldn't be there at the camp to help out at home with the money (he's saving up to leave), and he wouldn't be as earnest to do a good job either (he would maybe enjoy giving swimming lessons, tossing people in the lake etc.), he would bully someone else to clean the toilets for example. Their relationship would be just as complicated as in ST, and Billy would pressure Max to behave, just like Cindy with Ziggy, but for slightly different reasons (to save both of them from Neil's anger, and also to keep his job so he could leave). He wouldn't be happy about Nick hanging around Max and he would let them know.

When it comes to the plot, in my mind it could go two ways:

Billy wouldn't be that interested in investigating a stupid urban legend about some witch. His lover of course still would turn into a possessed killer, Billy would kill him (just like Cindy killed Tommy) to save Max. But since the investigation never happened, Max never bled on the hand and became the target like Ziggy, I feel like Billy would just grab a hold of Max and drag her as far away from the camp as he could. And that's it. They would be a bit closer after that, but without the melodrama. They could both help the 90's group to stop the "curse" as grown-ups.

If they would investigate, things would go very similarly. I feel like the ending would be the same, too, because it wouldn't really matter how hard Billy would fight those "ghosts", they would eventually overpower him and wouldn't stop until they would kill Max. Max would be just as devastated to lose him there as she was in ST, but I feel like the "no one believes me" aspect would put a spin on it for her, too, just like it did with Ziggy.

Ziggy & Cindy in the Stranger Things universe:

Cindy is a bit like Nancy. I just tossed that in, it'll come up later. I feel like Ziggy would act out less in this more relaxed scenario (where they don't bully her, she's just the new, slightly weird girl). So she's a lot like Max. Cindy would fit in with the popular crowd and wouldn't really have to try hard. She would probably get a love interest (unlike Billy). Ziggy's and Cindy's relationship would be more like Mike's and Nancy's than Max's and Billy's. Ziggy would be just annoyed that Cindy would try to act like her mom, get her to act more girly and acceptable, but they would generally get along. There would be too much responsibility put on Cindy to care for Ziggy because of their mother's drinking problem, but I think things would get better as the things with the supernatural would get worse. If Cindy were the one to go and investigate where Ziggy is (in s02 when the Billy and Steve fight happens) she would probably be filled in on the upside down stuff. That also means that she would most probably tell them that something was wrong with her when she would get possessed. And they would have a better chance at getting the thing out of her. Ziggy would be more eager (adamant might be a better word) to save her than Max was with Billy. Things of course could go just as bad as it went with Billy, so she could die. In that case Ziggy would be a mess, but not exactly like in her universe, because at least she would be believed by some people in the ST universe. I feel like she wouldn't be as depressed as Max was in this universe because Ziggy had a less complicated relationship with her sibling. If we would swap their families/households, too, I think things would go a lot like they did in canon.

I hope this makes sense. Thank you for the ask! I loved going through these ideas.

[frustrated-writer-skyeknight]

My favorite trope: Prodigy x Pariah

When the prodigy is, like, somebody everybody have great expectations for, because duh, prodigy, and the masses believe they will excel and beyond everyone else.

While the other person is just... There. Existing? Like, they could not exist and no one would really care? But they're a good person. Throwing in a dash of 'oh but they're also an outcast because of [reasons].

The cherry on top would be how the prodigy thinks the world of the pariah so even when they start getting famous, they still gravitate back to the pariah. The pariah is not the least bit envious of the attention the prodigy is getting, and they're just happy that they want to continue being friends.

But then the world starts to meddle and tells the prodigy "oh but you can't continue associating with filth" or "you're not worthy to breathe the same air the prodigy" and makes it their business to end the association.

Of course, prodigy isn't having any of that but [insert complex political plot point here] makes it difficult for them.

Sorry, haha, I've just been reading some dusty drafts [metaphorically speaking] of this story I really want to write with this trope but I was never good at social or political plot developing so it'll just remain a thought in my head.

[dusty metaphorical draft at the undercut.

warning: the context is obscure]

Scenario: Trestan had received his star placement, and got categorized as a soul destined for a historical prodigy, should he be able to maintain or even nurture it. Since it was a very rare placement, the institution immediately organized a celebration in honor of his name, and anyone is free to give up offerings in hopes of getting in his good graces, or simply for the basking of his grand placement, hoping it would affect them as well.

Prior to this, Trestan and Damon were on amicable terms, with the Zero-starred soul ensuring that no one was around to persecute him for his attempts of simply befriending Trestan. He didn't want to use Trestan, he was just so happy and enjoying the fact that at least one person didn't look down on him anymore. For him, that was enough. He felt pretty satisfied, he didn't know why he hadn't actualized yet. But he was content, in maintaining whatever benevolent relationship he had with Trestan. And while he knew it was a bad idea, after much inner debate, he finally decided to attend the celebration, even if just to give his friend a gift to honor his accomplishment.

Damon hesitated, looking down at his regular uniform, the only attire he possess that was decent enough never mind fancy, his plain gift, and comparing both to the fancy attire of the rest of the souls, and the mountain of grand presents for Trestan. He didn't want to make a spectacle, if his friend would only chance upon near the door so he could beckon to him for a moment, he'd be satisfied to give his gift and leave.

But with the mob of people clammoring for his attention, there was a small chance of that happening. Finally, he sighed and took small steps into the gathering. As he expected, they all sense his low regarded presence and a deafening silence followed as they stared at him.

Trestan, as oblivious and full of positivity as ever, simply beamed and rushed towards Damon. "Hey Dame! I thought you were never going to show up." he gave him a meaningful hug, and it encourage Damon to forget about the awkwardness for the moment. Trestan pulled back, "what took you so long?"

"Uhm, no reasons, just..." Damon managed out, seeing the eyes of everyone on them, their disdain bleeding out from their gaze, and that's when he decided he couldn't stay for long. "I, uh, actually... Yeah, I actually don't feel all that well. Just, you know, wanna drop this off..." he held up his package a bit, and hope the rest can't see how simple it is. "uh, congratulations, I don't think I've offered them yet and... Well, it's actually just a scarf. I, oops, uh, well the surprise is ruined now. But yeah, ahem, I made it myself, so it's not very good but it's the thought...."

A voice rang out, from someone who couldn't simply take the display anymore.

"A silly piece of clothe? That's what you got for a soul, legendary-starred?" Hubert snorted in disbelief, and Damon instantly stiffened. "are you trying to mock his greatness?"

Damon cowered, and Trestan frowned, confused with the outburst but affronted as well. "Like he was going to say, it's the thought that counts." He looked back towards Hubert, "and besides, I'm the recipient. Your opinion of the its quality matters less."

"Actually," Both Trestan and Damon start as Elder Elio appeared behind them. "it does matter quite a lot. For instance, gifts presented to you that you actively accept can hold weight of matters such as high standards and complacency; if you accept less, you settle for less." He plucks out the package from Damon's hands.

Damon could do nothing but stare as the elder held his gift out of reach. Trestan frowned, waiting for the Elder to continue. He had a feeling he wasn't finished yet.

"Damon," Elder Elio intoned disapprovingly, "you are aware, just as every soul present are, that any offered gift must be that of quality."

Damon felt himself trembling, but he forced himself to answer. "Y, yes, o, of course, Elder Elio. I," he swallowed thickly, "I made sure the scarf was. It was made from material that meant a lot to me, and... Sleepless nights, I... I worked hard on making it, I did my very best...."

"Your best falls short to sir Trestan's great presence," Elder Elio interrupts sharply, and while he didn't strike him, Damon felt as if it was so. "Your mere presence falls short for permission to be within proximity that of sir Trestan. That said, you are not allowed free will to be within it, unless to offer obedient servitude to him. So long as you remain starless, your bond with him cannot be anything beyond silent respect."

At that note of finality, the Elder conjured up a consuming flame that devoured the package until it was reduced to nothing, as if it never existed.

Damon felt broken down to the core, barely managing to nod his head in respectful acknowledgement before fleeing from the hall. Mouth agape, Trestan could hardly register what just happened. It was the sight of his dear friend's broken expression that snapped him out of his shock.

"Great Elder," Trestan started, his tone almost pleading, "don't I get a say on this? He's a dear friend, and surely, I'd consider anything he offers me as meaningful."

Elder Elio didn't pay heed to the celebrated soul's sentiments, "Enjoy the rest of the evening," he simply said. "if you wish to discuss the matter regarding Damon, you may come into my office."

[jiminrings]

The amount of emotions that you can evoke is amazing! I can't stop thinking about how creative the transmissions idea you have for your stories. Everytime I think about various author's writing styles, the transmissions that you came up with always comes to mind.  It's almost blissful? Like for some reason I feel proud too? Also, I actually learned that emotional betrayal was a thing because of Heartburn. I'll admit that I tend to skip straight to the angst part because I'm in the camp of 'I'd rather go through pain knowing it'll turn out well in the end, then go through bliss knowing it'll be taken away from me' and realizing that it's going to be a lingering pain the whole way really made me want to stop reading because I was not ready to get my heart broken. But I wanted to plow through it because I really wanted to know what emotional cheating was. I mean I always knew that it was a thing, but to have a story centered on it and essentially explain the events leading into it and the lingering after effects definitely helped me better understand the concept and know that something like this is real and should be considered as a serious violation of trust. I definitely don't regret taking a chance with your story. The beautiful way you articulate your words is so amazing! Not to mention that 478 had a similar concept in the themes of trust. I had so much fear going into reading it because I became so immersed into the bittersweet tale of Heartburn, that I felt every pain, confusion, fear, and even more pain, but I was so glad I did. Because while it did emit similar vibes of the violation of trust as Heartburn, I did also learn about love language. When I started reading it, and kept noticing how he was constantly showing how much he didn't like practically the m.c.'s whole personality, I really started questioning almost everything because how in the world do you end up with someone that is almost disgusted with their partner's way of life? How do you decide if that's something you can deal with or draw the line and say that's not the way you want to be loved? I had so much hesitation going into it, but I wanted to brave through it! And I was blown away again! Even though the inital conflict of Jungkook meeting his ex had passed, the residual effects still lingered, and it wasn't so obvious, but rather you allowed me to live in the post moments shared while still remembering the inital conflict. If that makes sense? There were times like during the powerpoint presentation about why he should let Mrs. Jeon win, the talking and caring for her while she's asleep, and the making her food to take to her during her lunch breaks (Why didn't you do that in the first place you MANCHILD?!), actually almost made me forget what happened before. Almost. Because it was like a broken record playing in the background of the main stage of the play. (Get it? Because...the intermissions idea that I love...with the plays? ^.^ I'm sorry.) It wasn't overpowering the present events, but rather added to the...ambiance? It helped you appreciate the love and relationship sure, but it did make me wonder if it had to go this far? Like wow 5 years? (Not to mention that he managed to talk about his life and not once mention his wife? Not even accidently?!) And not once did he think to get help? Dude...get it together. And he did thank goodness! Anyway, before I end up writing my own novel, I wanted to tell you that you are an amazing author. The emotional impact you have given me is still as strong as it was when I first came across your stories. You're an extemely powerful and thought provoking person. I want to thank you for giving me and many others the chance to experience your creativity and love through your words and characters!

i’ve read your entire ask atleast three times now and i can’t even begin to tell you how i’m still floored and unable to gather all my thoughts <3 i truly feel humbled and honored that my writing can come across you in this light. every lovely thing in your ask is everything i’ve ever wanted to achieve in writing ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 u and me both btw i also tend to skip straight into the angst, but thank u for taking the time w me in reading and loving <3 i feel proud (?) and accomplished in a sense that u got to learn and expand on emotional cheating from my fic!! thank u thank yew for taking a chance w me :) and you’re right!! heartburn and 478 definitely do emit similar vibes but the differences between them tread a thin but drastic line and i’m so happy that you got to realize exactly that!!! and yes i get it i love ur brain 🙏🙏 i’ll gladly take a novel from you any time of the day <3 i can’t wrap my head around how there are said instances like these where i get to know in detail that i impacted someone thru my writing and i promise that i’ll protect this memory forever <33 you’re an extremely powerful and thought-provoking human and i wish u knew just how happy u made me :) thank you for being here 💗💗

[mechazushi]

Okay, so, Fun story. My mind took this and ran with it while I was at work and now I have some vague lore bits and some over-developed excerpts of a story that I really shouldn't be focusing on right now because if I do, then its gonna turn into a personal odyssey and I can't be having that right now.

I am well aware that you clearly have your own lore, but I really needed get this written down so my mind can drop it so I can focus on other things, hope you don't mind.

So I'm gonna have a small bit of lore dump, then the excerpts, then the last of the lore so I can have people follow along, have my emotional impact, then explain why my mind went the way that it did.

Got it? Good. (Feel free to tell me to take this down If you hate it. Apologies in advance for the shit-ton of words before you)

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Lore Part 1} So the idea is that dragons come in different flavors. Kafka, of which, is a wish dragon. To a certain extent, Kafka can't just grant wishes willy-nilly. There are some rules. 1)Kafka can't grant personal wishes (i.e. wishes he wants for himself) 2)Only one wish per person. 3) The wishes don't follow Genie / monkey's paw ruling because the magic that grants the wish reads the person's intent behind the wish. (You can wish for something vague like "I want to survive" and the wish will alter circumstances that will help with that.) 4) The dragon can only grant wishes if the dragon trusts you. <- this is where things gets a little quirky. If it was up to Kafka, he would immediately say "I trust you" to everyone and grant their wish, but that's not possible. Nobody knows the exact requirements needed to trigger a wish, but I see it as a mix of exposure and genuine trust. You could know a wish dragon for years, but if you treat them like shit, they won't do anything. If you've only known a dragon for a week, but have already made a / several sacrifices with genuine good natured intent behind them then the chances of you getting a wish granted is higher, but you might still need to be with them a little longer for it to work.

Also, most dragons live from about 100 to 500 years. Kafka's been alive for 15,000. (It'll get explained how that's possible in a min.) And there is a difference between Dragons and Wyverns.

Wyverns are small and fairly non magical/ can't cast magic. Can talk but it comes out like Gollum

Dragons have two sizes (small and Normal, I.e. which is giant) with the sizes being proportional to how powerful the dragon is, can cast magic, and have human level intelligence. Can talk and can have intellectual/philosophical debates with humans.

And only Reno is an elf (so far)

Okay, I think that's about as much as I can reveal for now. Onto the story's excerpts!

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"I think he's being a big baby." Narumi commented as the three of them strolled down the bricked street, flanked on either side by the castle's guards.

"I'm sure Sir has a very good reason not to see him again. Don't you think it would be good not to have more potential reasons as to why Lord Isao would deny our request to pass?" Reno haughtily quipped. His elvish demeanor showed no signs of the same nervousness that seemed to plague the other two members of the party.

"I've only known him for less than a month, and I bet that, whatever their problem is, could just be a simple misunderstanding and Kafka should just eat his words." Narumi grumbled.

"Can we please refrain from name-dropping our ace in the hole. This visit is already politically treacherous enough as is. If there is, or isn't a problem, it's best not to discuss it around the escorts at the very least." Hoshina said as he led the group while in the center of the company they were traveling with. The guards eyes them down suspiciously as Hoshina returned the visual sentiment to the grouping around them.

Hoshina and his platoon of hunters had set themselves on a mission to the Upper Arctic Plains to deal with an emerging problem. For months, the Upper Arctic had been dealing with an invasion of particularly vicious invasions from a foreign nation. This nation had access to ancient wyvern taming techniques and was attempting to lay waste to Lower Arctica. The great city of Ariaka was the only nation standing between the border of the Upper and Lower lands of The Arctic. Many countries knew of the situation and had sent offers of aid, seeing as Ariaka was the last and only stronghold before the rest of the continent, but all offers were sent back. With some being violently refused and sent away as a message for seemingly no reason at all. This had caused the city to restrict access to and through its borders. Any and all hunting parties seeking passage past the city's great wall had to make a personal appearance before the King. Leading to most, if not all parties, being turned away under the wrongly suspected guise of mistrust.

Hoshina had no intention to mess with the battle taking place up further North, but the mission his party was sent on would lead to a small chain of dominos that could possibly alter the outcome of the events further up. But to get there, they had to gain permission to pass through Ariaka. If Hoshina wasn't a virtuous and outstanding member of society, he'd rather take a chance with a band of unscrupulous smugglers. However, due to the size of his party, and (as far as he knew) no one in the group having enough knowledge of how to deal with said smugglers, there really wasn't a choice as to what had to be done. Still, he had hoped to have gained a bit of an edge thanks to the presence of Kafka Hibino, their rare, shape shifting, wish granting dragon friend. Unfortunately, Kafka seemed to have a bit of a history with the King of Ariaka.

They had come up with a plan before this one. One invoking an ancient ritual that would allow Hoshina to bond with Kafka in a contracted fashion. It was supposed to come across as a sign of strength, a power move to show the King of Wyverns they were strong enough to carry out their mission and potentially showcase the group as equals to the King. No one had any idea as to why Lord Isao kept preventing parties from crossing over, but Hoshina had a feeling that as a long as they clearly state that they had no intention of getting close to the conflict going on in Upper Arctic and could prove not to be a potential nuisance, they might have a chance to pass. That plan was soon shoved to the back burner as Kafka quickly protested to the idea. Not to the thought of bonding to a man that had previously tried to kill him, but to entering the King of Wyvern's domain. He didn't go into detail, but had mentioned in passing that they had met before Isao was King and had left a terrible impression on the what-would-have-been prince then. This left the group to resort to a new Plan A- Flattery, intense charisma, and a clear understanding of Non-engagement on what was clearly Kingdom matters.

The party made it to the broad, reinforced metal doors of the castle. The castle itself was built into the far wall that surrounded the city. Sitting on a hill, it looked to be split down the middle with the wall becoming the castle's wings, cascading down its sides. The loud clanks and low hisses of steam coming from impressive machinery echoed out from around the doors, opening them and replacing the work of what would have been a hundred men. Not waiting for them to be fully opened, the guards around them pushed the group forward into the main chamber of the castle. Sent down hallways big enough for Kafka's true form to walk down comfortably, the journey through the castle's interior led them to the throne room at what seemed to be the back of the fortress.

Viewing inside, it became clear why Lord Isao was called The King of Wyverns. The throne room felt impossibly expanse with the clearest paneled windows stretching floor to ceiling as it domed outward to reveal the widest view of the open lands that lay beyond the castle. The walls from the borders of the window to the back wall of the throne room were alive with the wing beats of what could only have been a million wyverns. They were the colors of the rainbow and all about the size of lap dogs, scuttling about as they swished and swam through the air, fighting for seats along the walls. The whole room felt more like an extravagant bird cage than a place to receive visitors. And there in the back of the room, sitting in his golden throne nestled close to the domed window on its own podium, was the Golden King of Ariaka.

Looking... a little less golden than what the namesake brought to mind. Outfit pressed neatly and regal, the colors looked dull however. The blond hair on the king's head and face appears more washed out and gray when compared to the vibrancy of the room. While still broad and imposing, the light streaming in from the windows made the sight before the crew feel like they had walked in on a faded memorial for a great man, rather than a terrifying introduction to a still present iron ruler. As they got closer, they could even see the skin on the cheeks were gaunt and pale. Was the Golden Ruler of Ariaka sick?

"Lord Isao, King of the Wyverns. These leaders of the Tachikawa Hunting party have come forth seeking permission to pass beyond the walls." The guard's voice rang out clear over the buzz of wyverns in the room. It was the highest decorated guard that had been in the front leading the group and as he dropped to his knee and bowed his head while addressing the king, the others, including Hoshina's crew, had taken the same hint.

"How many do I need to send back before it is realized that there will be no trespassers venturing past these walls?" The man on the throne spoke in a deep, slow, and measured tone. No sign of illness dampened his words, but Hoshina had felt uneasy hearing the cadence all the same.

"They claim that their journey takes them directly to the northwest, closer to the territory of Kanazawa. There have been rumors of an outbreak of trolls terrorizing the traveling camps of hunters stationed there." The guard continued to speak for them. They watched as Lord Isao became lost in thought as he searched for a response. Before he spoke however, a shadowy figure slithered its way up and over the back of the throne.

A sickly looking dragon shaped closely to an eel appeared in its smaller, reserved form as it poked its head over the throne's back to tickle its tongue into the king's ear. From what the group could see, it was mostly a dirty tan color, with streaks and spots of a grayer brown patterning its hide. A small stringy beard adorned its chin and two circular, protruding plates flared out from the back of its skull and ringed completely around its head. It had no eyes and its claws had dug noticable grip-holes into the top of the chair, indicating that there was some weight to the beast. Hoshina calculated from the size of the dragon's head that its body was about the size of an extremely large hunting dog, all hiding behind the chair.

After hearing what the dragon itself had to say, the king leaned back and spoke again, seemingly having his mind changed.

"They are hunters, are they not? This group in distress? If they cannot handle the problem themselves, then they are not hunters." Lord Isao spoke, his voice now sounding slower than earlier to Hoshina.

What a cold and cruel response! Especially from a man that led the best pack of hunters not too long ago. Hunters may consider themselves self-sufficient when in groups, but all good hunters know when to take a hint and ask for outside help.

"Guard, may I be granted permission to speak?" Hoshina whispered to the man in front of him. The officer turned to evaluate him for a moment before shifting off to the side so Hoshina could stand and speak for himself.

" Lord Isao, Golden King of Ariaka. We hear of your decrees for non-engagement, a telling sign of how you hold yourself after your years in the hunters." Hoshina began. He could see that after the dragon had stopped whispering, the king's eyes gained an even duller, more lifeless appearance to them. He began to hope that this wasn't a sign of how difficult this conversation was going to become.

"But to ignore a call of aid from a hunter, is to ignore the first rule of what we stand by. You have ardently refused help from other members of the hierarchy and we have no choice but to take that in stride and pride. We beg you, allow us to aid only our brothers and sisters in the west and help bring a swift end to their troubles. We are prepared and equipped well enough to ensure swift ends for all that cause chaos to them and them alone. We can and will provide updates as we venture, you will know our every move from departure from here and from there. If it would please you, we could even negotiate their return to the other side of the wall, preventing them from considering the browning of noses in places where your majesty has clear domain and jurisdiction over." Hoshina had been keeping steady eye contact with the panel of glass over the top of the king's head.

While it was considered rude to look a king in the eyes, and in some places it was a death sentence, Hoshina was hoping it kept up an air of confidence and resilience. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up however. His internal pool of flowery language to draw from was beginning to dry. The king made no move at all. Did not shift in his seat or made any other sign that he had heard his words in the slightest. A wyvern flew out from the shifting mass on the far wall and flew down to the dragon behind the throne. The king made no mention of it as it flittered down and began to converse quietly with the King's... pet? Honestly, no one in the group was sure what that slick and nasty mass of meat was doing, sitting in place of privilege behind the throne. The crew watched on in muffled horror as the dragon finished talking to the wyvern, and as the wyvern bowed its head, the dragon bit into its neck and proceeded to swallow it whole. After it had finished, it began to resume whispering into the king's ear. Hoshina could hear Reno behind him, trying his best not to openly gag at the sight.

"Well prepared to prevent chaos, you say? How well will you admit to?" Lord Isao spoke, breaking the tense silence that was caused from his inaction.

"Less than a hundred men. All trained to completion and taught to carry and maintain their own equipment to beyond acceptable standards." Hoshina replied quickly, hoping to mask any potential cracks in his voice after seeing the grotesque display.

"Any magical creatures under your employ?" The king questioned. Hoshina felt taken aback by how direct the statement was.

"We... are here to hunt them. It... would be counter productive to... employ one to harm others, wouldn't it?" Hoshina immediately began to regret his phrasing, wincing at his most definite blunder.

"And yet... you're scheming to pass one through the borders of my wall." Lord Isao continued to speak in even tones as he raised his hand.

The gesture summoned the opening of the door behind them and with it came the chorus of shouting and the rattling of chains. The wyverns around them burst into a flurry as a burly man was tossed down and slid to a stop in view of the crew.

"Shit." Hoshina cursed under his breath as he saw who was next to them.

Kafka Hibino. The exact same man who swore that it would become a problem should he ever enter the walls of the city, now laid low at the feet of the king. The same man that everyone had noticed was nowhere to be found this morning when the three of them came together to game plan.

"Where the fuck were you this morning?" Narumi hissed.

"Why didn't you run?" Reno called out.

"You think I didn't try? Kinda hard to do when you're drugged." Kafka only responded to Reno as he clumsily shuffled himself to his feet.

His hands were bound together, with a chain connecting them to a collar to his neck. A set of cuffs bound his feet as well, but had enough slack in them to allow him to get back on his feet. It took him a second to reorient, and when he did, he was greeted with a drastically unpleasant sight.

"You!" Hosina had never heard Kafka take that tone of voice before. One so close to how he sounded in his dragon form, a word so small yet dripped with wrath and bile. He had only ever known Kafka to be friendly to everyone, even to those that didn't deserve it.

"Hachi..." The dragon behind the chair hissed out the title with an equal amount of vitriol while climbing down the arm of the king. The king still did not move or react, even as the room exploded into frenzied action.

"Life Waster!"

"Wish Stealer!"

"Tricky Dragon!"

The squeaked cries of the disturbed wyverns around them were hard to miss with them crying out insults one after another. The group all turned to look at Kafka, seeing as all these insults only started flying after he entered the room. He saw as Kafka held his head high, defiant to the slander. Hoshina saw something else, however. Was that sadness in the lines around his eyes? Answers and questions all started to fly around in Hoshina's head, his mind felt like it was swimming in a whirlpool of information.

Another dragon gave Kafka a name. The only dragons that have names that can be spoken aloud are those of the Ranked. Was Kafka a member of the draconic hierarchy? And what was with all these declarations of stealing and wasting? Kafka had never killed a person the entire time they knew each other. Albeit, they hadn't known each other long, but Reno could sing praises about Kafka's nonviolent nature well into the night if you let him, and they had known each other for over four decades. And how could Kafka waste a wish? He might be a shit judge of character, but those that didn't deserve a wish never stuck around long enough to earn one from him in the first place.

"Still having fun toying with the human filth?" The brown eel dragon made sounds as if it was spitting out each letter as it spoke. It had continued to crawl until it was braced across each armrest, almost blocking the lap of the king in what was a defensive manner.

"Still devouring everything around you to fill the void in your putrid soul, Kyu?" Kafka spat back.

"Thanks for spoiling my fun. Now I'll have to take you up on that suggestion. Not that I'm complaining... I hear the flesh of the beloved is the sweetest when consumed in front of those closest to them."

This had all gotten so far out of hand. Kafka is supposedly a Ranked dragon with a shady past and is now antagonizing a fellow Ranked. The Ranked one in league with the King appears to really hate humans and might be evil. And to top it off, the King could very well be a flesh puppet for the really evil dragon. Hoshina had no plans, fancy words being useless now, and was now stuck in a room with most likely evil guards, two pissy Great Dragons, and probably a million wyverns in league with the sketchy one. Great, just great.

"Anyone else getting the distinct feeling we should leave?" Narumi spoke up as he shifted to a more defensive pose.

"Couldn't agree more." Reno said as he mirrored Narumi's stance.

"Who says I want you to leave? Not while Dear Hachi is my guest." The dragon named Kyu let his words slither out his mouth with clear ill intent.

"Hey. Hoshina?" Kafka called out with a dash of nervousness.

"Yeah, buddy?" Hoshina responded, lips snapping around the word.

"You remember Plan B, right?" Kafka turned to look him in the eye, his were filled with somber determination. Hoshina took a brief look at his surroundings, trying to calculate any other outcome. He turned to nod back at Kafka, not sure in what he was planning, but if it offered a chance at survival...

"Seize them." Kyu commanded.

"Cover me!" Hoshina commanded as well, voice reaching above the cacophony of wings in the room.

The two behind him immediately made moves to distract and block the guards around them while Hoshina took care of the two next to him. He could hear Kafka grunting with effort as he took care of the two that brought him in, the sound of a dragon's tail slamming against metal and flesh now unmistakable. He took his opening and dashed toward Kafka, seeing him break his feet's binding in the altercation. As he lunged forward, his arm outstretched, he saw Kafka's mouth morph into a more fanged appearance. Kafka grabbed his arm as best he could and shoved it into his mouth, biting down hard enough to draw a serious amount of blood. As Hoshina fell forward and screamed in pain, Kafka caught him in his arms, letting him cradle his injured forearm.

"Stop!" Kyu called out. The guards stopped suddenly in their pursuit and assault all at once while the dragon contemplated the scene before him.

"And what good do you think having a bond will do?" Kyu chuckled as he look on at the touching display before him.

"Bonds don't just symbolize a show of trust and camaraderie. It also speeds up the process for one to earn a wish." Kafka was kneeling as he leaned back, still cradling Hoshina. He saw as the blood caught in his mouth seemed to move on its own, making trails down his chin and jaw to settle under the metal collar.

Hoshina looked up at him and shook his head in bewilderment. Kafka could only wink down at him briefly before he returned back a mutinous look to their captor. Hoshina could only feel his heart sink at the thought that Kafka was the one trying to save them from the situation. He started to pay close attention to what was being said so he could find a way to salvage the situation.

"And you think you have one to spare now, don't you?" Kyu hummed out in amusement

"If you want the truth, he has access to a hundred." Reno chimed in, shifting his gaze from the dragon on the throne to the guards still standing at attention.

"Don't try to fool me, speck. Making a wish in your favor now will only work if the caller is in earshot." Kyu responded with his words having a clicking tap under the cadence.

"Then ain't it just the sweetest that I've got three of the closest companions I've had in years in the same room." Kafka stated.

"Are you claiming to have three wishes?" Kyu asked as he tilted his head at them.

"You let us go and you won't have to find out." Kafka managed to keep his tone serious, but with being up close, Hoshina could see bullets of sweat start to form on his temple.

'This is one hell of a bluff, Kafka.' Hoshina thought to himself, finding himself at an inconvenient loss of words.

Kyu chuckled lowly as he slid his body out of the defensive position and aimed himself more bodily at the panicking crew. A sense of deadly curiosity emanated from the tube of wrinkly skin with dark power.

"Oh? And why not use it now." it hissed, words coated in sense of superiority as it detected a kink in the plan.

"Fuck." Kafka imperceptibly hisses under his breath. He started taking too long to come up with a response to keep the bluff up.

"Yeah, Kafka! I can totally wish for us to not be here right now!" Narumi shouted in a clearly sarcastic tone.

Funny thing about the magic behind wishes. If you want it hard enough, it just might give you exactly what you ask for. A greyish-green colored mist began to swirl around the four of them, encasing them in a charged, protective cloud. They could hear the shouts of the dragon demanding the guards to grab them and the sound of chaos that came with, but it faded quickly into obscurity as it blended with the quiet rush of wind and the swish of tall wild grass. The four of them snapped their heads around, taking in the new environment they found themselves in. Off in the middle distance was a patch of multi-colored huts dotted with the living bodies of soldiers and the wispy smoke of several campfires. They had found themselves transported to the edges of the hunter's encampment they were traveling with.

"That worked?" Reno called out in befuddlement.

"Kafka?" It was the only word Hoshina could find himself to say.

"Narumi?" Kafka called out, care and worry etched the borders of his voice.

They all turned to look at the state of their fellow hunter, watching him as he began to hyperventilate and his eyes widened in shock and anger.

"I... had a wish?" Narumi screamed, "I had a bloody, fucking wish?"

He let out a primal scream as he fell to his knees. Not stopping for breath, he started to punch then claw at the ground. No one knew why he did this, maybe attempting to dig his ill-stolen and unrecognized reward back into his clutches.

"Is he... gonna be okay?" Kafka asked as he propped Hoshina up to his feet.

"He'll be fine. We'll wait till he passes out from exhaustion and drag him back to bed. I'm more concerned as to what you started." Hoshina said as he cradled his arm and stared daggers at Kafka. Kafka did everything he could to not answer back as he focused on breaking apart his restraints with his hands. He let the sound of creaking metal echo in the air as Kafka finished snapping the last band around his neck. He could see now that the trails of blood had settled into a band of its own. Intricate runes wrapped around his neck like a ribbon and had faded to the color of, well, dried blood.

"Not going to say a word?" Hoshina continued to interrogate, sounding miffed at his choice to remain silent.

"Oh, he better be saying something!", Reno exclaimed as he whipped around to their one sided confrontation, "When were you going to tell me you're one of the Ranked?"

"I'm... not. Not anymore." Kafka said. Solemn, but sturdy. He turned and walked toward the encampment as the two others followed him.

"Not being one of the Ranked isn't something you just stop being! It is a title bestowed onto a dragon when it is discovered to be a reincarnation of the previous Ranked! And last I checked, you look alive to me!" Reno continued to yell.

"I'll give you that for now, but that thing definitely isn't ." Kafka responded.

"Don't try to move this conversation off of yourself." Hoshina chimed in.

"Guys, we now have bigger problems than my past. That thing in the throne room is going to come after us, probably right now and we need to move." Kafka said firmly as he began to search for something.

"If it's that important, can you tell us what it is first so we can make that decision as a group." Hoshina commanded as he sped up to stand in front of Kafka. This seemed to shake him out of his panicked mindset as Hoshina saw him jump at the sudden intervention. Kafka slowed down, closed his eyes, and breathed before he told them a rundown of what went down in the throne room.

"That dragon was Kyu. Once the Ninth Dragon, Keeper of the Swarm. Now he's what we call in the Ranked a MoriWyvrm."

"I've never heard that before." Hoshina said. He was a hunter that prided himself on knowledge, but had to admit there were gaps. Still, even he thought this was something he would have heard about before.

"Does it have anything to do with the cannibalizing of his fellow dragonkind?" Reno asked.

"Yes it does and there's a reason you don't." Kafka said as he answered each in turn, "We try our best not to let outsiders know about this because it's really a Ranked specific problem. Unless a dragon is in that much danger and needs to trust a mortal with this, we try to deal with it ourselves. A MoriWyvrm is a dragon that ate another dragon. Whether on accident or on purpose, it fundamentally changes a dragon's internal magic and corrupts it beyond recognition. They become mad with wanting more power and continue to eat other dragons for it. Kyu did it on purpose 6,000 years ago, growing tired of his place in the hierarchy. He's been beaten down, but never defeated completely and has always slinked away in the end to various locations to disappear, only to reappear to gain more power again." Kafka ended the conversation to move around Hoshina and continued his search.

"We know each other and hate each other with a passion. As much as I want to go back in there and wallop him, I can't do that with everyone's lives outside now being on the line. We need to get everyone here gone and to a safer location. But I will tell you this now, Kyu will need to be dealt with soon. Whatever he's doing on that throne is probably related to why the king won't let anyone pass the borders. And in case it wasn't clear by now, the king isn't in his right mind."

"A MoriWyvrn can control a human?" Reno asked.

"No, Kyu can. He's definitely powerful enough for that now. What I do know about his powers is that he can't control more than one type of conscious thought. What I mean is he can't control both human and wyvrn basically. So that legion of wyvrns back there, he's manipulated them. Brainwashed them into believing that dying as his meal is some sort of greater purpose or a form of salvation. We can't fight that right now, so if you'll excuse me..." Kafka finished his search when he found a large brass bell on a wooden handle. It was used to let the hunting party be called to action or to notify them of an emergency. Hoshina caught Kafka's arm mid-raise and leveled him with a stern look.

"We can't just up and go somewhere, we need a plan."

"We don't have time for a plan." Kafka countered.

"Then where do you suggest we go?" Hoshina returned.

"Probably the woods to the west. We needed to go in that direction anyway, right? The trees will add sky cover and help us take down potential wyvrn spies." Reno interjected as he looked from face to face. The two stared back at him in shock and confusion.

"I mean... you said it's a swarm keeper, right? That... sounds like something it could do." Reno shifted slightly as he looked on nervously. The two looked back at each other and shrugged in unison, appearing in agreement to the plan. Hoshina let go of Kafka's arm and watched as he rang the bell loudly and clearly.

"Don't think that just because we're running, that it means that we're not returning to your side of the conversation." Hoshina warned. Kafka looked him up and down, swallowing a lump in his throat at the thought of revealing everything held close to the chest up until this point. He accepted his fate as he continued to ring the bell in a familiar pattern, causing all the hunters to jump into action and start demolishing their tents.

Later in the day, the group made it in the woods to the west. Everyone managed to escape the clutches of the Ariaka guardsmen and had set up their encampment in the dark, opting to avoid lighting campfires as to not make its location to obvious to any potential incoming spies sent their way. A brief meeting was called to order after the tents had been set and Hoshina gave a short rundown as to what had happened in the castle of Ariaka. He promised to return the next day with more information and an idea of a move they would make next. He had also caught Kafka trying to slink off into the dark to the edges of the camp with the guise of helping Reno stalk the perimeter for threats. Hoshina made it clear there was information he wanted to collect before any of them became too tired to talk before he marched Kafka to his rather large tent at the back of the camp.

Large enough for a cot, a calf-high writing table, and a shockingly long and tall wooden chest, Hoshina shoved Kafka inside forcefully before moving around him to sit sidelong at the writing table. He gestured at Kafka to make himself comfortable as he lit an bright lantern and prepped a book for note-keeping.

"For starters, how 'bout you begin with what you know about MoriWyvrns and your history with this Kyu." Hoshina stated as he sat facing Kafka. He took to half-sitting on the tall chest and took a deep breath before he started, seeming relieved at the chance to start with what felt like an easier topic of discussion.

"Well, I already gave you the most pertinent information earlier. Need me to repeat it?" Kafka asked.

"No, I remember it well. I was hoping for some more information on its weaknesses, to be honest." Hoshina said as he scribbled down what he remembered from their previous conversation.

"Well, that's kinda difficult to describe." Kafka started, scratching his neck, "Since it's a MoriWyvrn now, it's pretty weak to most normal attacks. It doesn't help that Keepers of the Swarm don't tend to develop normal dragon skin in the first place. Thin skin forces a deeper bond between a Keeper and their flock, leaning on them for protection."

"So without their flock, one might consider them defenseless?" Hoshina interrupted, directing Kafka to possible avenues of neutralization.

"Well... yes. The problem now is that Kyu being a MoriWyvrn covers that weak point pretty well." Kafka crossed his arms as he became lost in thought, "Not only does consuming wyvrns make a MoriWyvrn stronger in power, they also absorb the life span of their meals and it adds to their own. Should a MoriWyvern suffer injury, the soul from its meal rises up to fix the damage. They need to eat the wyvrns to continue to live, yes, but all those souls don't really go anywhere. They just get stored in the corrupted, bottomless pit that is their soul's new state and just... swirl around in there. Keeping them alive by any means necessary." Kafka looked disheartendly at Hoshina as he saw him rub his forehead in frustration.

"So even if we managed to knock it out and tie it down, we would just be standing there for days on end, stabbing something that would just heal the damage we deal it?" Hoshina questioned, wanting to confirm.

"With as big as it looked back there, it would be more than a century before you made a serious dent in its reserve of souls." Kafka replied solemnly.

"So there's no efficient way to hurt or incapacitate this thing." Hoshina said back. All he heard was a questioning whine out of Kafka.

"If you know something, out with it." Hoshina shot at him.

"I mean... it is a theory?" Kafka shrugged at him. Hoshina gestured pointedly at him to continue. Kafka looked away for a moment before letting his idea slip.

"You have another dragon... eat the MoriWyvrn." he finally said aloud.

"But I thought eating a dragon is what causes a MoriWyvrn to happen in the first place?" Hoshina shook his head quizzically as he stared at the tent wall.

"Technically, there should be a brief window of time as the dragon is being digested where the first dragon is dead, but the two souls haven't corrupted each other yet. If you can kill the dragon that ate the first one, you should have a chance to kill both before the powers that come with a corrupted soul take effect." Kafka explained. Hoshina gave a harsh puff of a scoff as he wrote an abridged retelling in his notes.

"Wonderful. Now we just need to find a dragon willing to trust another human, willingly fight and eat a MoriWyvrn, and lay down its life for the greater good." Hoshina could feel the energy change in the room as he said this out loud. He felt sympathetic daggers being drilled into the side of his head. He turned to see Kafka staring him down with a knowingly pointed expression. It took him far too long to read the signal he was being presented with.

"I'm not even going to entertain that idea."Hoshina refuted.

"Hoshina-"

"No." he commanded simply, "If I have to kill you, Reno will want to kill me too, and then I have to kill him as well. It will be a giant, inconvenient, mess. So, no." Hoshina turned to his desk again and flipped to a fresh page in his notebook.

"Speaking of you, mind telling me if there's any more benefits to being bonded to a wish dragon?" Hoshina turned back and glared directly at Kafka, making it clear he had said the final word on his future living arrangement. Kafka just sighed and let the matter rest for now.

"Outside of what was said in the throne room? We can read each other's minds." Kafka dropped casually.

"Aaand... when does that start?" Hoshina asked, unsure and confused as to why that was a thing, but ultimately took it in stride.

"Happened when I bit you." Kafka projected. His lips only twitched into a playful smirk as he watched Hoshina flinch at his own shadow.

"Haha, very funny." Hoshina responded sarcastically, "How do you make it work?"

"Simply wish for it." Kafka answered with a nonchalant wave of his hand. Hoshina scowled disapprovingly before preparing his mind to try. Kafka wan't one to speak in riddles, so something he said made him think he should take the advice at face value. Hoshina readied his face into a more cautious expression as he gave it a go.

"Is... is it working?" Hoshina sent.

"Loud and clear." Kafka returned the message with a thumbs up."

"Alright, good to know." Hoshina continued to scribble down words as he questioned Kafka again, "Anything else I should know about?"

"Well, this doesn't necessarily come with the pact per say, buuut-" Kafka started as he got up and walked over to where Hoshina sat. He held out his hand as he asked for Hoshina's.

"No, the injured one." Kafka started as Hoshina handed over his unbitten one. He took the bandage off of it before he placed the palm of the hand onto his forehead. Kafka closed his eyes as fluffy green clouds of energy and sparks of light began to swirl around Hoshina's wrist and traveled down his arm, almost looking like it was sweeping away the lesion. He felt no pain, only a ticklish wisp of a breeze as he marveled at the injury fading away, as not even a scar was left behind.

"Wow." Hoshina said breathily, twisting his arm left and right in disbelief.

"Don't expect me to be powerful enough to bring you back from the dead, but it should make things a little easier for you." Kafka smiled warmly before making his way back to the spot he was in earlier on the chest.

"Is that everything?" Hoshina questioned, sounding a little shocked at the discovery. He hadn't expected to get this much of a bonus from something Kafka had made out as something frivolous and superficial.

"Yep." Kafka almost looked a little proud as he looked on at Hoshina, his Captain's reserved sense of wonderment not lost on him.

"Then in that case, that just brings us to the last order of business." Hoshina idly flipped to a fresh page, denoting a change in topic warranting a separate entry.

"Mind telling me a little bit about who exactly I'm bonded to?" Hoshina had managed to spring his clever little trap as perfectly as possible. Kafka really had no choice but to come clean about his past now, whether he wanted to keep it buried or not. He could see Kafka's eyes widen in fear, even in the dim light from across the tent. He looked away, hiding the shame and sadness that began to creep into the laugh lines in his face. Hoshina waited patiently while Kafka spent forever debating on if he should run... or accept that this was needed of him now. He had to tell someone who he was, now with the potential of a fight with a fellow Ranked.

"I... I will always have my preferred title be Kafka Hibino. That will never change, no matter what I tell you tonight. But yes, I am one among the Ranked and I have a name." Kafka stated, clear and unhurried. Not savoring or taking his time with his reveal. Just... letting this moment hang in the air. Hoshina got the impression that this wasn't something Kafka talked about lightly, if he's ever talked about this at all. Since even Reno had no idea this man was one of the Ranked. Kafka turned back and stared defiantly into the tent's wall on the other side as he braced himself to speak.

"Among the Ranked, I am Hachi. Hachi of The Eighth Line, Servant of Wishes, Supporter of the Mortal Indomitable Will, Last Known..." Hoshina could see a sparkling of a tear forming in his eye, his throat bobbed as he fought himself to continue, "Last Known Protector of the Halls of Tachikawa." he sniffed harshly, almost being swept away by the force of an unseen memory.

"Do... do dragons really use such long and flamboyant titles?" Hoshina asked. Not much was known about the Ranked. Only bits and snippets that that Ranked allowed others to know about. It was Kafka's turn to scoff as he shook his head, almost seemed to be in embarrassment.

"Only in large gatherings. It's supposed to let others get an idea about what to expect coming out of other mouths and why they say what they do. Personally, I think it just gives others an excuse to disregard things of note from those they don't like." Kafka practically sneered as he spoke. It was clear he's been to one before and didn't enjoy the experience.

"It should also be of note..." Kafka began, looking like he was about to be sick as he tried to talk again, "That I am... over... fifteen thousand years old."

Hoshina stopped writing in his notebook as he processed what Kafka had said. As far as Hoshina was aware, for a dragon to live that long was completely impossible. No dragon in recorded history had ever made it past six hundred, let alone a thousand. Having heard that Kyu lived past six thousand was odd, sure, but that was clearly chalked up to being a MoriWyvrn. Last he checked, there wasn't anything different or special about Kafka that separated him from other dragons. Outside of being one of the Ranked, that is. Which only left Hoshina with one last question.

How?

"T-that is... you're... huh?" Hoshina couldn't begin to fathom just how old that made Kafka. And if he was only the Eighth, how long had the dragons been around? It didn't escape Hoshina just how quiet it had gotten after Kafka had spoken. It was obvious that this wasn't something he took comfort in revealing about himself.

"Kafka... How?" Hoshina reorganized the flurry of thoughts in his head just enough to let out a clear question, desperate for an answer. Kafka had become readably depressed as he sat there on the chest. Hoshina began to wonder if he even heard him ask, noticing how still the human shaped dragon had become in that moment. He opened his mouth again, only to get interrupted as Kafka finally spoke up.

"Do you know... how 'I wish you well' got started?" He said, not bothering to look away from the patch on the ground he picked out to stare unblinking onto. Hoshina just silently shook his head in response.

"I do." Kafka said, tapping his temple as he did.

"A dragon never forgets. It gets even worse when you find out you're one of the Ranked, because now you have the memories of all of your predecessors floating around up there." a heavy pause hung in the air after he had finished. Hoshina made no move to fill it.

"It started when a Wish dragon, the third actually, made friends with the first human that could speak the first words of language. The dragon was dying at the same rate as its friend, both curled up together in a cold cave, now gone. The sentiment was spoken in a long dead language now, but the intent was clear as day when it was declared. 'I wish you well onto another lifetime.' is what the greeting started out as. Even back then, humanity believed in reincarnation, because of the influence of the Ranked. Little did that human know, it had spoken its only wish with its last breath, and let the dragon live another five hundred years." Kafka was unmoved, unshaken, as he regaled apathetically. Hoshina wondered if he was even breathing.

" 'I wish you well onto another lifetime' got shortened down to "I wish you well' and in some countries, it started turning into 'Wish Well'." Kafka's hands came unglued from his sides and went up to his face, hiding the emotions welling up in his expressive eyes.

"That greeting has become my curse. A curse that comes with gifts." The words were muted, but Hoshina heard them just fine.

He began to piece together how Kafka lived for as long as he had. Kafka was a man you couldn't help but like. Friendly, mostly helpful, and had an uncanny ability to brighten up a group's attitude. It wasn't too far of a stretch to believe that some people that he's met across his fifteen thousand years would genuinely wish him a good life. Even if he told them he was a wish dragon or not, it didn't matter if neither one could tell if one had the capability to blow a wish. As long as pure intent was behind the words, anything was a wish. Including a goodbye. A hard sniff echoed behind Kafka's clasped hands before he drew them off his face. Tenting them in front of his nose and lips, he began to talk again.

"I have no need to eat or drink. Anytime I sleep, it's deep and dreamless, no matter if I sleep for a minute or centuries. I've been wished good health for so many times that I can apply the effect to others now." Watery eyes peered over the shaking fingers as he looked deep into Hoshina's. Hoshina could feel the muscles in his face slacken as he realized what he meant earlier about the healing not being a part of the pact.

"Even this form was a gift." Kafka added. One of his hands returned to his face, masking his eyes again as the other fell limply to his side.

Hoshina had seen tired men before. Tired from exertion, tired from inaction, tired from monotony. It was his first time seeing a man be tired from existing. Hoshina slowly got up from his spot on the floor, giving his legs a grace period to become accustomed to having blood flow in them again. Kafka made no move to acknowledge his shift in position as he walked over to the chest. Kafka looked up indifferently as he stood next to him. Hoshina tilted his head, indicating Kafka to stand up as well. He opened the lid and rooted around inside for a moment, before pulling out a dried calabash wrapped with purple cord and a cork in the top. He set the lid back down and seated himself fully on the top of it and waved his hand, silently telling Kafka to join him.

"What, no glasses?" Kafka said, playfully mocking as he sat down as well. Hoshina's heart was lightened as he saw that he managed to illicit a small smile at least.

"You're fifteen thousand years old. You're allowed to be tactless in private." Hoshina responded as he popped the cork off the naturally made bottle. Kafka contemplated the bottle as it was handed to him, before throwing it back and taking three deep guzzles from it. It brought some color to his cheeks and at least appeared to settle his nerves for the time being. Hoshina took a little sip for his own and was about to take more before he heard Kafka open his mouth again.

"Can I... tell you a tale?" Kafka asked. He still didn't look at Hoshina as he spoke.

"It's one you've no doubt heard before, being where you're from. A tale told to children with big dreams, intending to act as fuel for them. But one thing I've always noticed throughout the years is how wrong and twisted they've gotten the ending." He laced his fingers together in front of him as he waited for Hoshina to respond. He felt the warmth of his commander's hand resting on his forearm gently and took that as his answer.

"I'm sure you didn't miss the part in my title that said I was the last known defender of the Halls of Tachikawa. That name is ancient history to everyone else, but I can't help but feel like it was yesterday. Gods, I even remember a time before it was even considered a fiefdom." Kafka's words were laid heavily with the weight of memories, making him sound like an old, world-worn traveler. Which, in a sense, he kind of was.

It did actually slip past Hoshina's attention that he had said that earlier, being more distracted by the revelation of dragons having long titles. It did now put it into perspective of just how old Kafka really was. Hoshina fought his reeling mind as he tried to be polite and focus on his tale.

"I was a family friend on the mother's side of the royal family, being with them previously due to wanting to repay a life debt for her family. She married a wonderful man and had a beautiful and lively child. I spent long days basking in the sun on the castle walls when they were built. It got to the point where they had to come up with new wooden walkways around me so the guards paths wouldn't be interrupted." Kafka let out a little chuckle as he felt the memory soften his weary heart. It was difficult for Hoshina to picture Kafka being stuck in his full form, but he had no doubt that sunbathing would be a lovingly kept past time for him.

"I got to watch that child grow up from an excitable handful, to a strapping and capable warrior. It worried her parents to death, her wanting to join the ranks with the soldiers, but she wouldn't hear of it. She trained dutifully with the rest day after day. Her parents put me in charge of her, asking me to make sure she didn't overdue herself or spread herself too thin. I grew up with her as well. From a Godfather like figure, to practically her brother-in-arms. One just couldn't help but be swept up in her light." Kafka began to look very wistful as he continued to speak. Hoshina went back to sipping from his wine jug again, wondering if this story should be familiar to him.

"Nothing prepared our city for that war that came onto us out of nowhere." Kafka's voice dropped with his expression as he continued.

"A slow procession of wrath and blood approached the doorstep. The King and Queen made every attempt to slow or persuade the East's Might from entering the grounds. I remember them considering sacrificing their morals if it meant their people would be spared. Mina convinced them to let her lead one last defiant volly." Any light that was in Kafka's eyes disappeared when he dropped the revelation.

'Oh. Oh Gods.' Was Hoshina's only thought as he heard the woman's name. 'So that means he's... He's the green dragon from the stories?'

"She had the might of over six thousand strong with her. And it was almost meant for nothing. Everyone likes to tell the tale that she gave the winning command with her final breath, directing her second in command to victory from her grave. That's not what happened." Hoshina could see Kafka start to withdraw into himself. He wondered if his travel mate had the strength to finish the story. He wouldn't blame Kafka if he couldn't. Some war stories could be just too difficult to tell. Hoshina saw as his frame shook, Kafka now looking determined to finish, even if it would tear him apart at the seams.

"We were both mortally wounded. They had come prepared to fight a dragon, it seemed. I had spent the whole of the fight by her side, fearing for her life should I leave it for any reason. It only took a second. I looked away for a second." Tears began to fall now, down in thick rivulets. Kafka made no move to wipe them off his face as they dripped and stained his shirt's hem and pant legs.

"We always had this fight. She always told me that I could spend a million years with humans, I would never truly figure them out. I liked to argue otherwise, mainly because I found her to be cute when she was mad." he laughed breathily and smiled spitefully. Hoshina was pretty sure it was to himself.

"The cannon balls, nor the arrows that poisoned my skin kept me from rushing to her side. I wrapped myself around her, protected her from the world, if only for a moment. I felt more lances and arrows pierce me as I held her. This whole time, she hadn't blown a wish. She knew what I was and was very careful with how she said her words. I begged her, pleaded with her to use it, to save herself, to turn the tide of this war. Anything! Anything that could save her!" Kafka collapsed fully into tears now, the hands on his face making no dent in muffling his wails.

"She didn't even have the strength to speak her wish aloud! She made sure she had that last laugh when I heard her voice in my head wish for me to be well... as a human!" Hoshina's heart sank in time with Kafka falling onto his knees. He watched as the dragon-man rocked himself while in the throws of tears, mourning the long past death of a loved one. Hoshina felt immobilized by the display, not sure how he could comfort someone so distraught and attached to someone long dead.

"Hoshina, Soshiro, please. I need you to promise me something." Kafka seemed to regain enough of his senses to claw his way over to where Hoshina stayed sitting and grabbed the seams of his pants in desperation. For the first time tonight, Kafka not only looked deep into his eyes, but looked so deep into his soul, he felt like it was flayed open and exposed from the intensity of his gaze.

"For the love of everything you find holy and pure and good, be selfish with your wish. Waste it on yourself, waste it on others, I don't care. But for the love of all the Gods, don't waste it on me!" Kafka cried, burying his face into Hoshina's lap.

"I can't take it. Not again. Not ever again." His body rattled from the force of his sobs. He was sure he could be heard from across the encampment, but he didn't care. He had to hear Hoshina promise not to wish for anything for him.

Hoshina came to find himself not to be an emotional man. Didn't hug, always happy nonetheless, but not expressing much else. He made it a point not to let himself get too attached to the others in his hunting party. Emotions were messy things in his line of work, and by proxy, just didn't find himself to be physically expressive. That was the case... until Kafka.

As he leaned forward to sandwich the distressed man in comforting warmth and soothed his shaking with a gentle rubbing from his free hand, he made one final note about how Kafka seemed to me more than a wish dragon...

He was a miracle worker. Whether he liked it or not.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"He doesn't have a wish." Kafka stated nervously as he sat in his usual spot on Hoshina's wooden chest.

"Give me a minute to walk inside, thank you. Now what's this about?" Hoshina said as he walked inside his tent.

A week had passed since Hoshina had managed to lead everyone over the walls to aid their Hunting Brothers and Sisters stuck in the North West. They had swiftly fixed the groups dire situation and had waited for both sides to recover from the ordeal before asking them for aid in return. Once the new group had been informed about the state of affairs in the Castle of Ariaka, their leader, who apparently was Hoshina's older brother, had readily agreed. It was agreed that they needed to intervene in this secret national emergency as soon as possible, but that they weren't going in without a plan. One had just been settled upon minutes ago.

Most of both of the Hoshina's teams would be drawing out and away the castle's forces and wyvrns army with Kafka being the one who would have to fight Kyu on his own. The plan was simple, Kafka would endeavor to mortally wound and (hopefully) eat as much of the MoriWyvrn in its entirety. Reno would be close by to help however he can, and when the time was right, blow his wish and ask for Kafka to be well. The idea was that since the MoriWyvrn was dead and digested, Reno could wish for Kafka to be fine and thus let him survive the ordeal and not have to be killed or become transformed in the end.

However, there already seemed to be a wrench in the plan.

"You better not be referring to Reno, now are you?" Hoshina asked once he pieced together what Kafka could be talking about.

"Unfortunately, yes." He answered.

"And why haven't you told him of this before now?" Hoshina felt a migraine coming on and tried to prevent it by pinching the bridge of his nose. For a jolly and forward thinking man, he was starting to think Kafka wasn't as open with others as he should have been. He understood why Kafka was like this, sure, but you would think he would get the memo at this point.

"Because... that wish might have... indirectly killed his whole family." Kafka's foot was tapping into a blur now and continued to stare determindily into the tent's far wall.

Gods, this man can't leave anything simple, could he?"

"Why would he wish for his family dead?" Hoshina found himself asking exasperatedly.

"Ha- He didn't wish his family dead, he-" Kafka sighed again as he collected himself. Hoshina felt the beginnings of another story coming on.

"I had followed rumors of a town in the south needing aid after a natural disaster. There is where I met Reno and his family. We didn't get off on the right foot, so to speak, when we first met. Eventually, I ended up saving his life quite a few times in short succession to which afterwards, he felt the need to repay with a life debt, as Elves are prone to do." Kafka seemed to become calmer as he continued to tell the story. Hoshina wondered if it was because he had already confessed to his darker secrets to him beforehand.

"He began to stick to my side like glue for a while, waiting for a chance to save me back so he could go about his life like usual. I knew he didn't like me, but I changed his mind somehow because soon neither one of us could see us walking down a path without the other by our side." For as lighthearted as the sentiment was, Kafka's face didn't seem to reflect it. His eyes were downcast and the tips of his lips seemed to sour as he continued.

"Less than a month later, Reno's father had begun to make plans to leave and head eastward. There was a choice I wanted to make; I wanted to leave with his family, but their plans took them to a town that I had already spent too much time in too recently."

"Been there for so long, people would have begun to notice you hadn't aged?" Hoshina chimed in, indicating he was still following along. Kafka nodded briefly before continuing.

"It was just supposed to be a drink and a talk. One long goodbye where I hoped he wouldn't wish me for anything. I never could have thought it could go so wrong." His words were muffled as he rubbed his hands up and down his face.

"He said "If circumstances were different, I would wish to stay by your side.". We had known each other for less than a month so I never thought it would mean anything. I blew off the feeling I get when I feel a wish being blown as the wind chilling my skin. All that wish did was give him the confidence to speak his mind to his father. It apparently pissed his father off so much that he left him in the town and marched the family out a week early. They had gotten caught in a fatal rock slide in the mountains. Reno couldn't be notified of their death until six months later. That was two years ago now." Kafka had finished his somber reminiscing looking as tired as he usually did when he talked about his past. It never ceased to amaze Hoshina how much it seemed to take it out of the man when he did.

"I thought it was nearly impossible to earn a wish in under a month?" Hoshina asked as he mirrored Kafka's earlier gesture of rubbing his face as he faced the far tent wall.

"That's the one consistent thing I've noticed when it comes to the magic of wishes. It never hurts to try." Kafka responded cryptically.

"You know what this means, right? I have no choice but to kill you now." Hoshina turned to look back at Kafka, only to see the man smiling.

"You don't have to kill me. Narumi can do it just as well as you. Hells, I think even that colorful, foreign trio of weirdos that you have could do it." Kafka said, almost looking like he was reveling in the idea of finally dying.

"Oooh, no! I had marked you as my quarry for over a year before I met you. If you think that I'm just going to hand over the honor of taking your head to anyone else, you are sorely mistaken." Hoshina said as he stalked over to Kafka to playfully spit the remark into his face. He couldn't stop himself as he felt the corners of his lips turn upwards as he ruefully thought about Kafka's blood spilling onto another man's blade.

"Well, if that doesn't happen, then you can take comfort in knowing that I died with the Huntsman Honor of going out in a useful blaze of glory." Kafka teasingly returned with a similar grin.

"You consider yourself a hunter?" Hoshina jibbed back.

"I call you my commander, don't I?", Kafka said as a hand came up to the faded runes on his neck, a thumb playing with the edges of the patch that crossed over his Adam's apple, "I already consider my life to be yours to use as you wish." His smile never faded, only spread wider as he turned to leave the tent.

Hoshina felt thankful for that as he felt an embarrassing heat flush over his cheeks. He was sure Kafka knew what he was doing when he phrased his words like that.

'It should never be that normal for a man to take that much comfort in his own death.' he thought.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Two hours.

It took two hours for Kafka to finally beat Kyu down far enough to begin the process of devouring it. Hoshina didn't really get a good, long look at the fight, seeing as he was in the middle of fighting for his life at the time. He could certainly hear it though. Loud roars, the ripping of flesh, echoing crashes as they each made serious attempts to destroy the other. It wasn't a stretch to say Hoshina was worried for Kafka at the start. When everyone saw Kyu reveal his full size and found out it was at least three times as large as Kafka's was, he was tempted to give in to the belief that no one was going to win this fight. He was thankful for Kafka asking him to take time out of his day to teach him tips on how to use size to someone's advantage.

Hoshina kept to the edges of the battle as best he could. He had to be able to make a quick getaway by the time Kafka could send the signal to... finish him off. It was a thought he found himself at odds with the whole time before the battle even started. Fighting for survival helped keep his mind off of what he was about to do, but even the fight was beginning to peter out, now that Kyu wasn't in the right head space to keep his control over his human army. It was a difficult thought, wondering what life would be like without Kafka's warm smile by the campfire. He knew Reno wasn't going to take the news well after he commits to the act. That was going to be a mess and a half, he was well aware... but what about the others?

Narumi would act stoic, of course. Hells, he'd probably crack a few jokes over his dead body probably. He would come to miss him eventually when it came time to chop wood for the camp. Kafka always chopped extra so that the others were free to do other things. Iharu would comfort Reno as best he could. Everyone would, now that he thought about it, but Hoshina couldn't shake the feeling that there would be a permanent shift in the mood, an inescapable void in the hearts of everyone, should Kafka be successful and get his wish of shedding his practically immortal coil fulfilled. That didn't matter now. Everyone had made their bed and everyone was going to have to make their peace with it. A shame Reno just happens to be in the crossfire of it all.

Using a spare lance, he stabbed it through a chink in the armor of the man he was fighting and leveraged it to make his opponent fall to the ground. Shoving and twisting it, it sliced through to the other side and anchored the guard to the ground. He took a risk to spare a glance and watch the end of the fight between Kafka and Kyu. Kafka was looking worse for wear but surprisingly intact for as loud and boisterous as it sounded. He appeared to be halfway out of his dragon transformation, scales protruding and tail long and strong as he was currently wrangling the smaller form of Kyu. They rolled and rumbled all around in the grass, with Kyu biting back and Kafka tearing whole chunks of flesh and trying his best to swallow. Kafka already looked a little green because of the transformation, but Hoshina could swear that he looked a little more green than usual in the face. It was a happy, but dreadful sight to see that the more chunks of meat that he tore out, the less it was growing back. Reno was helping as well, firing well places shots into the rancid dragon in attempts to wound and immobilize it long enough for Kafka to tear out more chunks.

Sensing the time to act was nearing, Hoshina called out to Narumi to get ready, for he had a part to play as well. He had to intervene and drag Reno as far away from Kafka as fast as possible before Hoshina could get close. They couldn't tell Reno he didn't have a wish. They all tried, but with the timing of the fight being too close for comfort, they couldn't. Not without letting Reno have time to grieve or not try to find a way to postpone the fight until they could come up with a better plan. It was heartbreaking to say the least, but Hoshina knew Kafka was more than ready to let go. Especially if it meant saving them.

Seconds turned into hours and minutes turned into centuries as Hoshina counted everyone of them until the signal was called. He turned back to look at the fight again just in time to see Reno release one more arrow into the last remains of Kyu. Kafka fell to his knees as he bit the last disgusting morsel off the arrow's head and swallowed roughly. It scared Hoshina just how fast the final act was changing Kafka's appearance. His dragon form became more prominent, but it wasn't the vibrant jade green it was before. The scales became darker and started to fall off of his skin in sheets. A dark mist dripped from his body as he keeled over onto his hands and began to cough violently. He could almost hear screams of agony between the racking of Kafka's lungs throughout the roars of the continuing fight behind him. Hoshina could see Reno mouth the words of his wish to his friend as he writhed in the grass. He became more and more distressed as he witnessed as his pleas were not taking effect like he thought. As Reno fell to his knees as well, shaking the the shoulders and crying in terror over his closest friend and long time companion, is about when Hoshina heard the signal.

"SOSHIROOOOO!" Kafka's roar thundered across the battlefield and rattled in his head. Hoshina had never heard a sound as painful and as pleading, as agonized and as desperate as he heard in that moment. And after today, he hoped to never hear one again.

Both Hoshina and Narumi took off like a shot into a good headwind and booked to where they were. Reno looked confused as he saw them approach, which made it easy for Kafka to rock back onto his knees and grab Reno by the back of his shirt. He somehow had enough willpower in his to launch Reno like a skipping stone toward Narumi's direction. All Hoshina heard as the bodies made contact was Narumi letting out a clipped "Shit!" as both of them whipped behind him. Hoshina turned to focus on his target as he drew out both of his swords and ran faster towards Kafka.

At least... he thought he was moving faster. To him, it felt like he was suddenly wading through a bog and felt just as cold and wet. Time felt like it was slowing even farther with each step he took.

'Now's not the time to be second guessing yourself!' Hoshina screamed in his head.

But he was. He was second guessing everything. He told everyone he could do it. That he was going to kill Kafka. He had to, to save everyone, including Kafka. But he found out in that moment that he couldn't. For all of his bravado and for all of his promises, he couldn't. He couldn't snuff out that brilliant light. That shining, bright beacon of hope and trust that had flown his way into his life. He had no choice, though. There was no other choice.

Wasn't there?

A flicker of a memory flashed briefly in his mind's eye. A small conversation they had weeks prior. A quick mention about wishes.

'When it comes to the magic of wishes', he said, 'It never hurts to try.'

No one could ever be sure when they had a chance to wish, but he'd rather be damned before he didn't give it a shot. Best case scenario, Kafka lives to hate him until he passes, and he found himself to be at peace with that already. Worst case scenario.... Gods should start praying that it doesn't come to that.

Closing the distance quickly, now that his mind was made up, Hoshina leapt into the air and planted his foot onto Kafka's shoulder, the momentum causing him to lay flat on his back. With his hand not occupied with holding himself up, they began to claw and scratch away at his neck and chest. Scraps and slivers of papery skin sloughed off to reveal more of the sickly darker scale. Hoshina's blade tips pierced the ground on either side of Kafka's neck, forming a threatening cross over it. His body shook with the force of him holding back the urge to cough as his hands made their way to the blades. Kafka's hands started bleeding from how hard he was gripping them and Hoshina began to hear the whispers of his final words.

"Soshiro...please..." He cried, teardrops driped from the corners of his eyes. Hoshina could feel his fall off his cheeks and watched as they mixed with Kafka's. The metal blades clinked as Hoshina's hands shook, fear and doubt making him hesitate. With a harsh blink and a tighter grip, Hoshina cried out with the full force of his lungs.

"I WISH YOU WELL ONTO ANOTHER LIFE TIME! I WISH FOR NOTHING TO CHANGE THE WONDERFUL BEING I'VE COME TO KNOW! I WISH FOR ALL THE DAYS THAT I HAVE LEFT WITH YOU TO BE FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT TRUST AND LOVE! KAFKA HIBINO, DRAGON OF THE EIGHTH LINE, SERVANT OF WISHES!" Hoshina's voice cracked as he screamed, the force of his emotions making him feel broken but free.

As he pulled his swords back, resolving not to make the finishing cut, he watched as he saw the runes around Kafka's neck flash and brightened into a brilliant green light. Hoshina fell backwards as he felt Kafka rise up from under him and place a hand on his chest. The whole of his body began to swirl in now familiar grey-green clouds sprinkled in dot-like stars. As he landed on his back, he sensed the air around him get heavier as the light from the sun began to fade away from his closed eyes. When the wind stopped blowing, Hoshina looked above him.

All he saw was the underside of a dragon's foot, scaly and lushly green. It took up the entirety of his vision and it took considerable turning of his head to see any sky beyond it. He stood up on shaking legs as he marveled at the size of his surroundings. He was laying in the portion of the foot that connected the toes to the main part of the foot. It arched upwards so high into the air it would be confused for the roof of a dark cavern. Upon witnessing the size of the foot he was under, Hoshina began to calculate just how big the rest of the dragon was. If he was right, then it could use the biggest mountains as its pillow.

"You okay down there?" A deep voice in his head rang out.

"Y-yeah?" Hoshina thought back, swallowing hard as he panted.

"Good. Because I need you to run." The voice rang in his head again. Hoshina was starting to piece it together that this new voice might be Kafka.

"NOW." the voice boomed. Hoshina didn't think twice as he bolted for the rays of sun closest to him.

Running for several solid minutes, Hoshina made it out the other side and kept going. Off in the distance, he saw Narumi and Reno holding onto each other as they stared in bewilderment at what might have been Kafka's new form. As he kept going, Hoshina turned to look off to the side to see why Kafka ordered him to run from. Blotting over the sun, was the remains of the Wyvrn army, coming for revenge in the name of their fallen master. Hoshina heard the rushing of the wind and felt it pulling around and behind him as he continued to sprint. In the past, he knew that it meant that Kafka was preparing to release his signature sonic screech, but now seeing the size of the dragon behind him he wondered if there was even a safe distance to be from to survive this. He could hear the wing beats of the wyvrns getting closer and closer even as he continued to run, now with Narumi and Reno running as well.

"Everyone, cover your ears!" Hoshina had heard boom in his head.

He did what the voice asked as he watched the two in front do what it asked as well. He turned around at the last second, curiosity getting the better of him. He watched as the screech rippled the air as it traveled to the living cone of teeth and wings. The path of the scream was visible as the flying army exploded into a red mist in a massive wave. Hoshina unfortunately could also feel the force of the wave from where he was standing as well. Even with his hand on his ears, the loud scream felt like it tore through his head and ripped the bones in his ears right out of their canal. The force of the screech made him drop to his knees in pain as he rode out the wave of terrifying sound.

It was over as soon as it started. Hoshina's ears heard nothing but ringing as he gasped for breath. His body shaking, he pulled his hands away from his head to look at them. In his hands were small trails of blood. The ringing didn't stop as he tilted his head to look forward. A long way in front of him was nothing but a massive green cloud of shimmering dust. He watched as a new breeze drifted in as swept away the cloud in wispy trails. Slowly, they began to reveal a naked, kneeling man at the head of the cloud. Desperate and concerned, Hoshina sprinted again, a little more clumsy this time however as he had seemed to have lost his balance. Stumbling and tripping over his feet and hands, he had made it over to Kafka.

Falling onto his calves, he half-slid, half-crawled over to him the rest of the way. He watched as his hands frantically searched over Kafka's body, trying to turn him to face him as he looked to see if the wish worked. He could feel his mouth moving and his lungs straining with the effort to talk, but for the life of him couldn't figure out why he couldn't hear himself speak. Hoshina watched as Kafka turned to face him, eyes ablaze with anger and mouth ready and full of venom, and continue to watch as all those features faded away into sadness and pity and worry and care. Hoshina felt Kafka's hand travel from his hands to the back of his head, gently forcing their foreheads together. They both closed their eyes at the soft touch, and Hoshina began to feel and hear the rush of the mystical wind surrounding his ears. As they pulled away from each other, Hoshina could see worry and sadness were still etched into the shallow lines on his face. He brought his hands up to caress them away, knowing that he'd make them disappear with time soon enough.

"You know I'm going to outlive you now, right?" Kafka said somberly. Hoshina felt himself chuckle lightly.

"Not if I have anything to say about that." He responded.

He leaned forward to catch Kafka's surprised lips. He felt him melt into the touch just before Kafka leveraged his grip on the back of his head to wrestle Hoshina into laying across his lap awkwardly. His hand continued to cradle under his arm and the back of his head as he ravaged Hoshina's lips. It was rough and wild with too much teeth and Hoshina wouldn't have had it any other way. The moment was short lived as they heard an interrupting cough erupt in front of them. Both of them turned to look as they saw the Golden King of Ariaka standing regally before them. He looked better than before, now glowing with new light and appearing healthier than ever. He stood patiently before them and carried his war torn battle cloak on one arm.

"I would like to have a serious conversation with the two of you." lord Isao commanded as he held out the cloak. Realizing that he wanted them to stand, Hoshina grabbed the garment for Kafka and hurriedly shoved it under him to cover Kafka's lap as best as he could. He then got up first and stood in front of his new lover to allow him cover as he tried to put the cloak over his very naked form. Once decent, Kafka walked around to stand front and center next to Hoshina and faced the king. They watched as the king's eyes flickered between the two of them before appearing to make a decision an moved over to kneel honorably in front of Kafka.

"I have learned about the true intentions behind my father's actions since his passing and now know just how morally disgraceful I was acting back then. You are fully in the right not to forgive me, but at least have it be said that I do sincerely apologize." Lord Isao kept his head bowed as he talked, truly acting with genuine regard. Kafka shuffled the edges of the cloak around to stick out a helping hand. Isao's expression remained unchanged as he looked up on the offering.

"Since when does a king bow before a common man?" Kafka asked, a teasing smile splayed over his lips. Hoshina could hear a huffed noise of agreement come out of the lord's nose as he took the hand.

"if that is what you wish to be." Lord Isao responded.

"Only until it is necessary for me to be something else." Kafka answered back. They regarded each other for a moment before the King turned to face Hoshina.

"I have much to thank you for, but much more to discuss. Come." the king commanded simply, indicating for the two of them to follow.

Neither of them cared about what would be coming next. Both of them just took comfort in knowing that they would be facing it together.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lore Part 2}

Yeeeeahhhhh.... I gave him Survivor's Guilt. Sorry, not sorry.

In all seriousness, I don't really know why exactly my mind jumped to Wish Dragon when I saw Dragon Kafka, outside of just

His Vibes,

But once my brain thought of that, it wouldn't let go and then it spiraled into "Him granting wishes would backfire on him so bad, like it would make him immortal or something." The line about the gifts is a little interesting, I wanted to add more but I felt it would be hard to transition from and ruin the pacing. I kinda picture wishes having the ability to morph slightly over time. Like if you gave a wish to an elf, towards the end of their life the wished parameters would shift slightly? Like if the wish gave them Fireball, then by the time they're, idk, two, three hundred or something, the wish would loosen up a little and now it's just pyromancy. So yeah, at one point someone wished for "His stomach to never be empty" and for a hundred years, he never felt the need to eat. It has since changed to where he can choose whether or not he wants to eat or needs to survive by not focusing on eating for a while. And for a while he was genuinely stuck as a human. At the beginning, he wasn't sure if he was a real boy or not, until it was pointed out to him that he should've looked seventy instead of thirty that he realized that he was still a dragon on the inside. It took him two hundred years for the wish to morph enough to let him gain the ability to shape shift. He also couldn't grant wishes during this time and only realized he could do so again after he met Reno! Yep, that's right! His first wish in two hundred years was him granting Reno's wish to speak his mind to his parents, and we both know how that turned out! 👍 (why do I do this?)

I also don't know what possessed me to have Mina be in his life earlier and turned her into the main source of his survivor's guilt, but I really like the impactful moment it made with Hoshina. It also sounds like something she would do.

In the original drafts that I had in my head, they weren't even going to kiss. There was no plans for flirting even. And then my brain came up with the "My life is yours to use as you wish" line and then I was like

"Mmhhh, yeaaahhh... They're f*cking now. They are contractually obligated to f*ck now."

It probably didn't help that, in my initial thoughts for this story (The version that would have liked to have all the time and motivation in the world to let this become my personal oddyessy) There was SOOO much naked Kafka. This was because I refused to chalk up his clothes remaining intact after transformations to "Dragon Magic". It wouldn't have cost me anything not to.... I just wanted a scene of Hoshina getting flustered over Full Frontal Kafka in Winter.

Speaking of things that didn't get put in, I had a lot more lore beats I wanted to put in that I have since forgotten about because I didn't write them down somewhere else and didn't put them in because it felt it would mess up pacing. AND there was going to be a couple lines of SOSHIRO'S BROTHER chiming in at a few points and flirting heavily with Kafka right in front of Soshiro, but the scene surrounding it didn't pan out soooo.....

In case it wasn't obvious, Kyu the dragon is supposed to be Number Nine. I looked up what nine was in Japanese and the internet said it was 'Kyu'. It's also where I got Kafka's dragon name being 'Hachi' since that means eight. (There's apparently two? words for eight in Japanese? I think? Internet wasn't being clear.)

The reason Kafka supposedly grew in size at the end was because he ate Kyu and absorbed all the soul's energy into his. The wish then neutralized the transformation that would have caused Kafka to become a MoriWyvrn but the souls had nowhere to go so now Kafka's just overpowered now.

The colored lettering is supposed to represent times where Kafka's voice doesn't sound human and sounds more like his dragon voice. Like if he started to sound like a Kaiju while as a human.

Isao's father kidnapped Kafka at one point and started demanding that Kafka give him a wish and Kafka basically said "Up Yours 🖕" and (Prince) Isao had said "No, U 🖕" and that's what he's apologizing over.

LAST BONUS THOUGHT: Kikoru is the general of the army that's fighting against the foreign invasion in the North.

Okay, I think that's everything. Again, I know it was clear you had your own lore ideas for this, but I hope you didn't mind hearing mine.

Guess what I've been doing last night (and by last night I mean I couldn't sleep and got up again at 1 am and was awake 'till 5am or smth.... :D told ya my sleep schedule is in shambles by now)

Yeaah..I am actually suprised it took me this long to squeeze them onto my most favorite universe of all...so..yeah.. hit the old fantasy- and witcher playlist and well...the mind was loong gone..at this point... I feel like this is not really 100% Witcher-verse, but also a bit Skyrim-ish?...something in between but def. fantasy like..

So what came from it are some messy sketches I like very much :D even if Hoshina is a little T-posing, lol, but that's OK..

I love how I'm not even putting the names in anymore.. xD you should now my fav bois by now hopefully...

since I totally stole that badass posture from Zhen Qu'S fanart, I feel like I at least should tag the reference - LOOK at it it's amazing <3

I wonder if I will continue the series this time, 'cause I'd love to give Narumi a proper armour and there's a certain forest elve I'd like to add as well, BUT I know my adhd brain, and I'm making no promises here..

(and def. no more allnighters, I need to get my schedule fixed, I'm at a Con this weekend, I need to get up at DECENT times god dammit)