#but unlike my job he won’t have to straight up wear a red tie and white dress shirt as a uniform cause wtf was up with that

[asexualasshat]

I’m also casually working on a Steddie uni au fic and I was thinking that I’d have Eddie working at the campus coffee shop (cause I did that) BUT NOW I think it would be way more fun to have him work at a escape room (cause I also did that and he can be real dramatic with it)

[the-soliloquies-of-sadists]

#246

“Here boy. I know who and what you are. Do you know who I am?… Liar. You’re a faggot liar. Yes you do. You have been drooling over me for weeks now. Follow me. I got us a room at the motel next door….

“The regulars here at the diner don’t care that I prefer fucking faggots like you over broads. I just don’t broadcast it like you do. I’ve seen you talking to some of the boys I have fucked. You know I have a big dick and that I pile drive boy cunt.

“I’ve seen you in the parking lot. You watch the guys like me going into the bookstore across the lot. You want to follow them in, but the bookstore won’t let you. They know you’re underage. Until today. Now you are legal to fuck. Yeah, I know your 18th birthday is today. I know a lot of things about you. I know you cruise the bookstore, and the bathroom the bar shares with the diner. I know you are finishing up at high school.

“Here’s our room. I fuck the owner and he let’s me use a secluded empty room whenever I need. So, you can scream when I tear up your cunt. Having a big dick has many many many advantages. I need to let off some steam from a long day on the farm. Get naked, I’m gonna get the ropes out. My reputation is well known that I am a twisted fucker. Hell my conquests told you the such, and yet you came with me here.

“Always remember this, I am always in control of everything. Right now, that includes you. Naked. And then get on your knees and face me. See, it’s natural for you to follow orders. And where’s your phone?… Hand it to me…. Continue stripping. Well,… You’re kinda scrawny. You’ve never worked a hard day at anything, and it shows. Damn your pecker is tiny. That’s the way I like it. My cock is fucking huge, and you need to realize your place is on your knees in front of real men. You will never be a real man. You do know that, right?…

“You know what I want you to do. I want you to beg me to fuck you. I want you to beg me to brutalize your cunt. And while you are begging me and degrading and humiliating yourself, I will be jacking off to you. Having a big dick requires a little extra tugging to get hard. I know you wouldn’t know anything about that. You are too focused on your cunt. And call it a cunt a number of times, especially when you are fingering it. I want you to tell me that you need for me to rape you. Your goal is to degrade yourself. Tell me how much of a faggot you are. And focus on your tiny clit there. Tell me how you envy any real man with a real sized dick. And the thing I need for you to beg me to rape you—not have sex, not make love—rape. Use that word often.

“Here look up at me, at your phone. Thanks for letting me use your face to unlock it. I will be recording this on your phone. I want you to have a record of how low you are. I want you to watch this every morning as you are about to jack off at home. Speaking of jacking off, I should take my cock out for you. Damn, even totally limp, it’s way bigger than yours hard.

“You have three minutes to fully degrade yourself. Go!…

“…That’s time. Ok. See how big you got me? The full nine and a half inch dick, ready to rape the hell out of you. Crawl over here and blow me, but first put on this blindfold. I don’t want you to see anything. Good, now show me how good you are as a faggot cocksucker. Throat me to the nut. Put as much spit on it as you can. That’s pretty much the lube I will be using to tear your cunt up. Maybe if you are good, I will use some spit on the cunt. Take your time, but throat me. Get into it faggot. I’m gonna chill here… Open that fucking throat… Gag on that monster….

“You really are pathetic. Get your ass on the bed, face down. Need to tie you down. What? Now you want out? Aww hell the fuck no. I said on the fucking bed. Ok. You really want this to be a rape don’t you? Look I know my way around ropes and tying up livestock. I do work in a farm, and I am a part of the local rodeo. Calling out for help ain’t going to help.

“And, I sent myself a copy of that video where you are begging me to rape you and to show you no mercy. Nobody will believe you. Just a few more seconds, and there! You ain’t going nowhere now. You are going to be in that position for some time. Your cunt is on display, ready to be mounted.

“But first, I’m going to fuckin’ welt you up. I got my son’s belt here; mine doesn’t move through the air as nicely as his, and besides I’m still wearing mine. You don’t even deserve me stripping for you. When it comes to whipping, I don’t stop to let you recover.

“Being your birthday, It’s eighteen strokes in a row. Start your fucking screaming now. One, two, three,… louder fucker, you deserve every one of these strokes… Eight, nine, ten,… I can already see the welts forming. Oh yeah, bright red cheeks get me leaking. When I hit number twenty-five, I’m going right to the root whether or not you are ready. And it’s not going to take me very long to nut in you. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and… eighteen.

“Quit your crying faggot. Here, bite down on my son’s belt. You really have me leaking here. And… all the way in. Fuck yes! This cunt hasn’t been fucked much, has it? Stop your screaming, I asked you a fucking question. You get fucked much?… No?… Wait, that was a cherry pop? Oh fuck yeah. I’m close to giving you some cream to go on your cherry pie. Oh yeah. Fuck. Take it bitch. Feel my load fill you up. Faggot.

“That’s what you have to look forward to for the next few days. Oh man, fuck. I’m gonna lay here for a while. Watch your head, my cigar is only an inch or two from your cheek. I don’t want to brand you,… well at least not yet. Let go of the belt. Holy shit. You really did bite down hard. I can’t wait to give this back to him and tell him how the teethmarks came about.

“Oh yeah, he knows I’m gay. He doesn’t care. He’s totally straight, and I mean totally straight. Now just lay there; you ain’t going anywhere. But I want you to hear this. Yeah, I kept my sex life away from him until one day when he walked in on me fisting his math teacher, Mr. Gunter.

“Oh yeah, he goes to the same high school as you. He too is ready to graduate. You know him, oh yes you do. You’ve been texting him all year, ever since he transferred to your school. You were not very nice to him. In fact, you and a few of your friends beat him up. And what reason did you have for giving him a black eye?… Don’t remember? You called him a faggot. You told your friends that he hit on you in gym class. Talk about projecting.

“When he came home suspended for fighting and with a black eye, I wanted details. He gave me your name and showed me your pic in the yearbook. And wouldn’t you know, I recognized you from your attempted bookstore runs. A week later you start hanging around the diner. You couldn’t get into the bar area, but you sat every Friday afternoon in that same spot in my line of vision, pretending to read that book while groping yourself. So subtle.

“I had your background run by a this cop I regularly fuck. He told me a shitload about you. He’s the one that informed the bookstore across the street that you were underage. There’s a boy—a year older than you—that I fuck who is a Facebook friend of yours showed me your wall. I got to go through every word you wrote while he was giving me head. And unlike you, he knows how to deep throat. Again, having a big dick has its advantages.

“And about that time, you and my son were suspended, you posted a viral video of a bullied kid getting revenge on the bully by sleeping with the bully’s mom. And your comment was something like, ‘Best served cold.’

“Funny thing is, I’m out. While I don’t broadcast it in this tiny town, but I don’t hide it. My son and ex-wife know. The ranch I work at knows. Hell, the main reason how I got the job was that I fucked the owner and told him that I was looking for a job. The guys at the bar all know. So how were you going to humiliate my son? He probably would say, ‘He fucked you? You ain’t the first, you won’t be the last.’ or something like that.

“So, what’s happening next for you? Certainly not humiliating my son. No, for you, I have plans. I’m gonna fuck you again. I’ll leave you tied up. The motel is going to get full later on tonight, mostly truckers. I’ve let the motel owner and the guy that works the bookstore that you are here ready for all horny truckers.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to pass you over to this biker club one of my friends is a member of. He already set up something really nasty for you. The gang already knows what a piece of shit you are. They can’t wait to get their hands on you, and I can’t wait to hear all about it. By the end of the weekend, your cunt will be destroyed. I will give you two black eyes to make up for the one you gave my boy. Most likely your hair will be removed. You are going to be beaten. Hell, my cop buddy is a former boxer. He’s going to string you up and use you as a punching bag.

“And in the end,… I will decide if you keep your balls. Wow. That’s the first time you have flinched while lying under me. Aw, shut up. I work with livestock every day. I know how to castrate a bull. I haven’t decided about you. Just keep that in mind throughout the weekend. You complain or resist, your balls will be in jeopardy.

“You probably won’t see much of me. But I will you. I have it arranged to have it all filmed for me. I expect to see a cum hungry faggot whore knowing his place of being used by real men. Your balls will depend on it. For me, I’m going to be with my son doing dad things.

“And I don’t plan on letting him in to the fact that you are a faggot whore lookin to get raped seeing, he already knows. How do I know? I text him, while you were trying to give me head. I wrote, from your phone, ‘I have to get this off my chest. I am a faggot whore. I can’t live in the closet anymore. Please share this video.’

“Then I sent him your video. While you are going to be in a living hell for the next four days, you won’t be able to stop him or anyone from finding out. This is how I want it. As I said before, I am always in control of everything. Oh, and happy birthday.”

[chibimyumi]

Lost and Wins in Adaptation

Dear everyone, as per Anon’s request, I shall analyse a Kuromyu and discuss the Lost and Wins in Adaptation. The results of your democratic votes (comments and asks) are out, and the winner is TANGO ON THE CAMPANIA! In this post I shall only be discussing character/plot influential changes, so no stand-alone comedic sketches will be included.

This is going to be a very long post because there’s just so much to unpack. But feel free to read it in bits, or skip to the part you are most interested in (but do come back later though (ÒvÓ)b). This post will include the following sections:

What makes a good adaptation?

AberHanks - Expert Glue and Filler

“Just like my family!” - One line, many messages

Grell - A Capable Career Woman

An unfortunate Sacrifice

Raw Trash Demon

Active Inclusion Midfords - Manga Fix?

Reunion and Aftermath

Afterword

I promise you the analysis will make you love TotC even more!

1. What makes a good adaptation?

2.5D wouldn’t exist without the 2D, so it is essential for any 2.5D producer to prove to the fans the producing side understood the source material using their form of medium. Changes are inevitable, but the key is that when things are changed, the core of the original needs to remain intact.

Theatre as medium’s biggest disadvantage is its strict time constraints. Whether the producers are capable of adapting a story within the time constraints without it feeling like a quickly duct-taped patchwork is what distinguishes a good adaptation from a bad one. The scriptwriters have no choice but to sacrifice parts to tell a concise story, but the art is in skillfully choosing what to yeet. The musical does need to be able to stand on its own without new audiences going “what?”, after all

2. AberHanks - Expert Glue and Filler

The most obvious difference between the original manga and Tango on the Campania is the addition of Aberline and the musical original, Hanks. In Tango on the Campania they are very cleverly employed to tie the musical together within the time constraints.

Ronald appeared before the Campania Arc, but it wasn’t before this one that he gets his own proper introduction. What the manga readers and musical-only audience have in common then, is that at this point of the story, Ronald is almost equally new. The line: “if we get to meet again, alive, that is” is a very effective way to introduce Ronald’s chipper but cynical personality. In the manga Ronald’s conversation partner was a passenger who fancied Ronald. It would have been a waste of stage time to adapt the third class setting and introduce this girl too, but skipping the line entirely would not do Ronald’s introduction justice. So the script writers cleverly used AberHanks instead, and when Ronald delivered the iconic line, the impact is still the same as in the original.

Additionally, AberHanks are supportive roles in them being police officers who help combat the zombies. The historic Titanic had a really poor survival rate, and that’s without dealing with murderous zombies. In Campania however, that’s a different story. I would argue that Aberline and Hanks evacuation efforts, along with the Formidable Midfords greatly increased the survival rate of Campania passengers.

This addition is a brilliant three-birds-one-stone move. This firstly shows that despite AberHanks being the comic relief, as the police they are not there to fool around. Secondly, by explicitly placing the Midfords along literal fighters of crime, the audience also clearly understands what the Midfords - the Chivalric order - are: fellow fighters of crime.

Thirdly, the gentleman’s code of evacuation is children and women first, and AberHanks would undoubtedly also have heeded that code. And yet Frances was there, and AberHanks never attempted to evacuate her or doubted her skill. The police and Frances fighting side by side shows the audience that even in the 19th century, Frances is recognised firstly as member of the Chivalric Order, before being ““just a woman in a huge dress””. Don’t mess with her.

3. “Just like my family!” - one line, many messages.

A very small but game-changing alternation is when Ciel was trying to convince Lizzie to remove her dress to benefit escape. In the manga when Lizzie refused, O!Ciel immediately rips the dress, saying that once dead she won’t be able to wear any dress, because death is the end of everything.

In the musical with real child actors they couldn’t very well reenact this scene, so instead they gave Ciel the line: “Everything is over if you’re dead, just like my family!”

In the musical, Ciel doesn’t touch Lizzie, which is very clever. When someone refuses to remove her clothes, it is because she feels infringed, exposed and/or unsafe. If somebody doesn’t do something out of fear, what you need to do to convince them is to minimise that fear. By forcefully ripping her clothes, MangaCiel only made Lizzie feel even more infringed.

Instead of touching Lizzie, MusicalCiel appeals to Lizzie’s empathy. By making Ciel say “my family” to Lizzie, both audience and Lizzie are shown/reminded how Ciel had tragically lost his family, and cannot afford to lose more. At that time of the musical, new audiences wouldn't know yet what Ciel had been through. So when later the Cinematic Record of Sebas started, “just like my family” also functions as an effective foreshadowing of what would later be revealed, avoiding Ciel being in a cage looking like it came from nowhere to new audiences.

One could argue that Ciel���s phrase was emotional manipulation, yes... but it was a literal life or death situation for the objective good of everyone. And besides, we all know who our Trash Lord™ is; manipulation is part of him.

Ciel had yelled at Lizzie, and immediately he turned around, clutching his chest. It was such an impressive moment because it showed how that blow Ciel dealt was a doubled edged one. Lizzie was clearly hit too, and very quickly she realised her own fault and apologised. Then the most fun part for the audience is to consider whether this was Ciel’s genuine reaction, or whether that was all part of his acting skills in manipulating Lizzie. I say both are equally likely! (Oh Reo, you brilliant little...)

I personally consider this alteration superiour to the manga original.

4. Grell - A Capable Career Woman

Per Yana’s direct request to Grell’s actor, Uehara, she asked him to portray Grell as a capable career woman because Yana admitted she failed to do so herself.

Most of Yana’s request was fulfilled simply by Uehara’s acting and respect for Grell, but there is also one tiny line added to her script which emphasises her focus on her job. “I’m dropping you!”

Nobody on the Campania had time to fool around because it was literally going down. Grell had her job to do, and yet Rian thought it a good idea to withhold information from Grell about the method of stopping the zombies. By threatening Rian whose life was at Grell’s mercy with “I’m dropping you”, the audience is very effectively shown that Grell is a no-nonsense woman, and that she knows how to get someone to talk. 👌👌👌

5. An Unfortunate Sacrifice

Some things had to be omitted to fit the stage time limit, but the most painful omission in my opinion were details in Sebastian’s cinematic record.

A really unfortunate but understandable omission was Ciel reuniting with Tanaka and Madam Red... but considering the time constraints of the musical, shoe-horning these moments in with different actors would have come at the expense of the rest of the musical. Though very sad, it is what it is.

Another omission is Sebas forgetting to spare one assassin to interrogate. In this post I discussed in detail why this omission by the movie adaptation was such a sin. Tango on the Campania omitted that part too, though as a stage medium it is more forgivable than an animated movie with endless possibilities Ò^Ó. Nevertheless it is a bit sad, because this omission takes away that the audience can see how Sebas was just so used to massacring on auto pilot, and how even Sebas himself recognises he needs to learn control.

THOUGH, I must say the musical actually tries to compensate for this shortcoming, unlike the movie. This omission of what showed that Sebas was far from perfect at the beginning, Furukawa compensated by simply being the most insincere, passive-aggressive, unprofessional, arrogant prick he could be.

The audience won’t catch a hint that Sebas used to be no more than a weapon, but they will see how Sebastyun never served a human on close proximity before!

6. Raw Trash Demon

I have already talked about how Sebastyun is a real game-changer on this blog, so I will not repeat every detail again. So here I will only address the significant changes in spoken lines that add to Sebastian’s character before he was fully trained. In this post I discussed in detail how Furukawa portrayed Sebastian’s gradual growth from raw demon to one hell of a butler. Sebas at the beginning was really butler in appearance only, as he was insolent and never knew when to shut his wondrous trap.

In stage format it would have been quite awkward to do a bath scene, so instead the creators replaced it with a wound-dressing scene. Instead of pouring hot water over the boy, Sebastyun is now scrubbing his master’s skin off. When the boy protests, rather than immediately apologising like his manga counterpart did, Sebastyun just shoves the feedback right back down the boy’s throat. “You’re making too much of a big deal out of it.” Here we see how Sebas is not there to serve his master, he’s just doing his thing because he has to.

Another line that is musical only is when Ciel’s stomach rumbled, and Sebas laughed his arse off, saying: “what an inglorious sound!” In the manga Sebas started a high-horse speech about human weakness, which was quite bold already. But he did not seem to dare straight up humiliate his master for a basic bodily need.

Sebastyun however? Balls of steel.

He humiliates his master, can’t apologise for shit, and when he says things in compliance with his master, it’s in a tone of: “well, screw you too”. Sebastyun was so bad at his job that Ciel too was given another line that wasn’t in the manga: “The preparations of a day’s meals is part of a butler’s job”.

Sebas had just criticised his master for being a useless kid, and now Ciel makes a comeback with the line: “well, you don’t even know what your literal job is, let alone how to do it.” The addition of this line is very powerful in my opinion, because it quite effectively compensates for the omitted scenes of Ciel and Sebas both sucking at their respective roles.

When O!Ciel commented on Sebas’ awful cooking, MangaSebas seemed quite willing to do his job well, and immediately offered to fix his mistake. Sebas does not apologise, but he does show that he made a mistake in not being considerate enough of Ciel’s current condition.

Sebastyun however, couldn’t apologise for shit at the beginning. Instead of showing openness to feedback, he immediately externalises by making humans the problem again, rather than his own lack of cooking skill. No wonder Ciel smashed that table with such aggression!

Another changed line is Sebas bringing his master hot milk after his failed dinner attempt. Originally Sebas did so potentially as an attempt to show his readiness to do better at his job. He explains that he does so out of consideration for the well-being of the boy.

In the musical however, Sebastyun does not say the manga line. Instead he says: “I can’t afford to have you starve to death.” I am not sure whether this was the script or Furukawa’s improvisation, but either way it perfectly shows yet again, how Sebas is not there to serve his master, but to just get his tasks over with.

This is a very short but efficient alternative way to retell how Sebas especially at the beginning was not very enthusiastic about being summoned, as analysed here from the original Japanese manga. Sebas is not like: “(UwU) gimme more orders”, he’s like: “(ಠ_ಠ) what is it this time?”

A small addition that was definitely an improvisation was Sebastyun sitting down on Ciel’s bed, and the boy pushing him away. (At the beginning of the run Furukawa didn’t do that yet. The first time Furukawa sat down Reo just moved aside and gave Sebas a nasty look.) Here it also reemphasises how little Sebastian understood of what was done and NOT done as a servant.

A final, noteworthy addition in the far beginning of their contract was Ciel saying that he acknowledges both he himself are the demon are still fakes. The boy says this line after Sebas had brought him hot milk which Ciel appreciated.

Ciel calls his butler forward in a soft tone, and Sebastyun just looked so self-congratulatory, self-satisfied, he adjusted his suit, standing all ready like: PRAISE ME! (●´ิ∀´ิ●)✨

Yeah no... you wish.

In the manga this line doesn’t exist, so Sebas is simply surprised to hear the compliment, and then his master just splashes the cold water right over him.

7. Active Inclusion Midfords - Manga Fix?

The most dramatic and influential change to the musical is the active inclusion of the Midfords. It is an entire scene that was added to the musical, so it is a bit impossible to unpack everything in this already very long post. So here I will only address the most game-changing alterations.

Yana Beaten to the Punch, strike 2 and 3?

Now many chapters later than the Campania Arc, we know that the Midfords had been the legal guardians of Ciel after the death of his family. But even before the release of the chapter, we’d see in Sebastyun’s Cinematic Record how the Midfords were very involved with their nephew. This shows how much respect for the manga the musical producers had, and how well they understood their source material that they too could beat Yana to the punch. Strike 2!

Both Midfords were present before and during the decoration ceremony. And Sebas bows deeply, thanking them sincerely for their aid all this time. Sebas cannot lie, so when he says “sincere gratitude”, it really was sincere. Alexis responds humbly, saying that it’s simply the right thing to do.

Not only did the Midfords aid Ciel in his reintegration into the world, Frances also showed the audience and Sebas she knows exactly what she is preparing the child for. Frances says she understands how cruel it is for the young Ciel to do what is expected of him, because being Earl means more than wealth and power. It is: “shouldering the burden and name of ‘the Queen’s Watchdog’.” The musical also does a great job at linking Frances’ position as the previous Watchdog’s sister, to being the legal guardian of the future Watchpuppy.

I have seen many manga readers talk about how they found Frances’ involvement insufficient in the manga, and I understand. She has a very small role in the manga, so we don’t know what she has or hasn’t done to help. But in Tango on the Campania, we do get a much clearer sense of the Midfords’ role in Ciel’s life.

Ciel was still mid-preparation before the start of the Ceremony, but Frances and Alexis had already arrived to keep a parental eye on him.Ciel is surprised, but Frances responds with: “it would set a bad example if the star is late”. Though it is but one short phrase, the script writers shows (not ‘tells’) how she is there because she wants to make sure Ciel’s decoration will go smoothly, as well as that her own role is to set an example for Ciel by being on time herself.

This is possibly a reference to what Sebas says to Frances in chapter 14, how he wishes her to be his master’s example. Except that here in the musical, it is Frances who takes this initiative, which in my opinion is the superiour way.

When Frances commends Ciel for his courage of returning to fight, Sebastian adds: “The most opportune chance for counter attack is when the opponent strikes. That is what milady Frances had taught him, the Young Master said.”

To which Frances is quite surprised to hear, and incredulously she says: “Ciel said that?” This makes one suspect whether Frances really said those words to supposedly Real Ciel. It would be very funny if Sebastian (accidentally) gave Frances a hint of his master’s real identity. I am not sure whether this is an implicit hint that Frances might have started suspecting Ciel is not the Real Ciel. Some have theorised Frances has the deepest suspicions among everyone. If that turns out to be true, then TotC might have beaten the original manga to the punch again. Potential strike three!

Another change is the replacement of Madam Red with Alexis. This one is just a very pragmatic change, because the phrase “To Ciel you are already as good as family” is very iconic and important and shouldn’t be left out. But getting a Madam Red in here out of nowhere would require time-consuming exposition. So by giving this phrase to Alexis instead, the musical effectively solves two problems in one go.

8. Reunion and Aftermath

Another addition to the original manga is the reunion on the rescue ship, just like the the movie adaptation of the Campania Arc did. After all that has happened it is very nice for the audience to see the emotional reunion and the aftermath. In the manga the Arc ended with Sebas and his master on the rescue boat, and it had a very nice, open feeling to it, I absolutely love it! 💖🚤

Audience Considerate Story Telling

To a musical-only audience (which TotC had a lot of because of the collaboration with TOHO), the opening ending might have felt a bit abrupt. These musical-only spectators don’t have the Arcs after the Campania to know for sure Sebas and Ciel went home safely, and that life would just continue. Nor would they know for sure what kind of impact the enormous revelation of Undertaker being a reaper would have on our protagonists. Had the non-manga audiences been given the same ending as the original, then it might have looked a bit like this to them.

Also considering the musical medium, any (Japanese) audience would want a satisfying finale song to wrap everything up. (Kuromyu21 not having one was a real complaint among JP spectators). And after the dramatic brawl song of Sebas fighting the zombies on that boat, you can’t very well pull another song on that tiny thing again. Okay, the song TotC did settle with for the finale song was......very disappointing in my opinion as it reminded me more of a Disney parade, but it at least had a song.

Emotional Full Circle

Despite the song being quite unfitting, the emotional reunion really, REALLY hit hard. When Lizzie says “welcome back” to Ciel, it was a perfect full circle back to what Lizzie couldn’t do 3 years ago.

In her flashback of 3 years ago when Ciel returned to her, the boy lifelessly said: “I’m back... Elisabeth”. Lizzie however never responded with “welcome back” because she was too preoccupied with something just feeling off.

In the musical reunion however, unlike 3 years ago Lizzie was fully emotionally equipped to genuinely welcome her fiancé back, and Ciel too happily responds: “yeah, I’m back, Lizzie”, using Lizzie’s preferred name.

Sebastian’s Aftermath

The reunion is but a simple addition, but it allows the musical to show the impact of such a traumatic event on the omnipotent demon butler.

The Cinematic Record showed how cocky Sebastyun was, and how he didn’t have a single worry in his life. After Undertaker had fatally wounded even the demon however, Sebas became a different person. In the finale we see Undertaker silently disappearing into the shadows. Sebastyun wasn’t even entirely sure whether Undertaker was there, but at the merest suspicion already you see him flinch and twitch. This shows how from now on Sebas has become a person who is on edge.

I mean, what’s the point of telling an event if the event doesn’t impact the story and characters, right? In this way too, the inserted aftermath scene skillfully wraps up an overwhelmingly eventful story.

9. Afterword

Well, thank you for reading this looong post till the end! As discussed in this post, TotC did a wonderful job at adapting an existing story with consideration of its audience and medium.

The largest obstacle of the theatre medium is time constraint, so the makers have to sacrifice parts. In what was sacrificed however, they more than sufficiently compensated by including parts outside the Campania Arc into the musical, without harming the integrity. This shows just how much respect and knowledge the TotC team have of the source material.

As a musical adaptation, it is an exemplary production.

Related posts:

Hyper Detailed Development - The Art of Kneeling

That Demon, Skin Crawling

That Butler - Punchable

Lost in Translation II - Sebastyun’s Butlernese

[incorrectclonewars]

at odds part.1

another maulsoka fanfic! this one is a modern au where everyone is human. sidious is a big crime lord and maul is his right-hand man to make all the bad things happen and was in a relationship with ahsoka, until she found out the things he was doing and broke up with him and moved away.

maul as a human is pale and heavily inked with tattoos, red spiky hair and dressed in all black and of course a leather jacket. ahsoka is dark skinned with vitiligo, her hair is white with blue dye, and she wears a mix between feminine and tomboy. 

warning: mentions of blood & bruises, getting beaten up and some medical help (not serious, just some normal things like when you get a scratch) . lots of angst, swearing, mentions of sex (not including the word sex) and a make-out. did i mention angst?

The dark night sky was filled with rain and thunder, exactly how she remembered it. The shabby homes and apartments, lined up and creaked with every footstep, people dressed in dark clothing - hoodies their favourite, and walked around as if they were up to no good.

Ah yes, that’s exactly how Ahsoka remembered this place which she used to call home, now coming back she wondered how she could ever imagine seeing this shit hole as somewhere to live.

The brightness on her phone had to be decreased to not strain her eyes, the messages from just an hour ago reminded her why she had such thoughts.

Oh Maul...what have you done now?

Feral had called her an hour ago in a frantic, saying Maul wasn’t himself, especially after she left and was only getting worse. He needed help, and she was the only option despite leaving him two years ago.

She could never forget the sight of those unconscious bodies and Maul standing over them, blood on his hands. But the look on his face when he saw her - it broke her heart, but after knowing that he was doing this for years she just couldn’t stay with him, and left as soon as she could.

But after hearing Feral, she knew that she needed to come back.

Her hands shook as they turned the key in the lock and hearing the click, taking a deep breath, Ahsoka walked through the door and shut it behind her. Unlike the other accommodations, the floors here didn’t creak under her feet, but that didn’t stop her from taking slow and cautious steps. 

He isn’t here, ok, that was good. She had time to prepare then. 

She went through many scenarios in her head for what she would say to Maul but none of them felt good enough, what could she say? That she was sorry for leaving, but she had to because of what he did? It was true, but it felt too blunt, too harsh.

Her feet kept moving, taking in the place she once called home. It looked...bad. Clothes on the ground, dishes in the sink, paper peeling off the walls - 

“Oh…” The chairs were broken, laid on the floor that Ahsoka can only think that they had been thrown against the wall, and knows who did it.

She doesn’t dare go any further, and fate seems to agree as the door is burst open, clanking loudly at the force and as it shuts. Ahsoka freezes only for a second before pulling herself back together, and turns.

It’s Maul, dressed in black as always, but his clothing is ripped, there’s also blood. Her eyes widen at his state, and when he see’s her, he freezes.

“Ahsoka…”

Force, she had missed her name from his lips - she had missed his voice.

“Maul…”

Shit. She can’t speak, she can’t say why she’s here and wants to help him before he stares her down with a glare.

“What are you doing here?” He asks with a harsh voice. Ahsoka expected this, yet it still hurts. “Come to gloat at how better your life is without me? How Coruscant is much better than this piece of trash?” He turns away and sits on the couch, the only furniture that hasn’t been trashed.

She sighs. “Maul -”

“Or, have you found someone else and come to rub it in my face? Tell me how much better he is than me in every single way? Oh, and the sex must be great -”

“Would you shut up and let me talk!”

He whips his head back and he stands. “Why should I? You left me!” 

“I know I did, and I’m sorry -”

“Oh your sorry? Well that makes everything better doesn’t it!” He throws his hands in the air. “Why don’t we have a little tea party and celebrate -!” A wince cuts off his rant, his attention now at his side where his hands hold. 

Ahsoka looks at him worriedly and takes a step forward. “Maul, let me help.” He opens his mouth but she’s quick. “Please. Just...Just let me help you with those wounds, I’ll answer any question you give me. Please.”

She’s begging - pleading for him, she wants to talk, to set everything right no matter how long it’ll take, but not while he’s in pain and bleeding. He stares at her with anger in his eyes, but it’s faded as he sighs and sits back down, a wave of his hand as he says. “Do what you want.”

Ok, this is good - well, the yelling may have ended, but it was far from over. 

It’s a good thing she keeps a kit in her bag, being with Anakin too long made it happen.

But first, a wet cloth.

She finds a clean one and fills up a tub with cold water, and gently sits down next to him with the bowl on the table. He doesn’t look at her, it’s hurtful but expected. She touches his arm and he tenses, and recoils back. 

“Maul,” Ahsoka begs softly. He sneers and basically slams his arm on her lap, turning his head away more and leaning his chin on the palm of his head. Ok, that was kinda childish, but she’ll leave it for now. Unlike Maul, she’s gentle as she positions his arm so that she can gently wipe and rib the blood off, new and old. 

It’s silent for a few minutes, but Ahsoka can’t hold it in any longer.

“What happened?” Her voice as soft and gentle as it could be knowing his reactions, but with a lingering tone suggesting that she wasn’t going to back down.

Maul waits longer then a minute to answer. “Just some assholes who didn’t know when to stop.”

Vague, she remembers how sometimes she would ask him something; What did he want to eat or drink? Where should they go out for the day? What does this mean? Most of the times he could give a straight answer, other times he liked to play and would be so very vague about it that it ended up in a playfully wrestling match. 

She misses those times.

Once the blood is gone she pulls out the kit of her beg and disinfects the wound before wrapping it up, then moves onto the other. There isn’t much on his arm so she finishes quickly, and moves onto his chest.

She mentions to his shirt. “You need to take this off.”

“Already trying to get into my pants?”

Ahsoka ignores the blush and heat of her body, memories of them being playful as they stripped their clothing and had fun. 

Maul threw the shirt on the table and Ahsoka didn’t really care to tell him off, her thoughts on the semi-battered chest before her.

There are small cuts and bruises that won’t do any damage so they get done fast, some others take longer, but they are treated nevertheless. The one that made him wince was big, more bruised then the rest but had no blood - he was kicked there, perhaps. 

She taps it gentle. “Someone got a hit.”

“He paid for it greatly.”

She almost doesn’t want to know. “Please tell me you -”

“I didn’t kill him.” Maul cuts her off. “Rest assured, his body as well as his friends are just having a hard time getting to the hospital. They’ll make it.”

Swallowing the sigh of relief, a part of her cheers that they’re still alive, but she can’t avoid Maul’s actions in the matter. He still did what he did, it was wrong and she can’t push that away. 

She finishes cleaning and disinfecting it, now it’s time to wrap it up. 

Ahsoka pulls him to sit forward, there’s a grumble on his lips that dies as soon as she begins to wrap the first roll around his torso. Her job right now is to help his wounds, but her eyes can’t help but avert to his hardened chest that was almost covered by black ink. 

She remembers laying with him in bed in the afterglow of their first night and tracing the lines of his tattoos, each one having a story that she listened to as he told her. He was warm and held her tightly as he kissed her forehead and smiled at her so lovingly.

If only she didn’t see that night, that would still be happening, but she would have found out eventually and done the same thing. 

Better now that later they always say.

The bandage now done, Ahsoka ties it up tight to keep it from falling. “You need to change these everyday, wash your cuts, wounds and bruises before you put a new one back on. Also change them if they get dirty or wet. I’ll leave this here -”

“Why did you leave?”

The question fills the air with tension and freezes the young woman. Ahsoka knew he would ask that, she’s surprised it wasn’t the first thing that came out of his mouth when he saw her, but he must have been too shocked to see her here. 

Letting the roll of bandage fall to the table, Ahsoka sits back but doesn’t look at him. “When I saw you that night, everything started to make sense. The times you were out, the plans having to be cancelled because you had more work to do and the strange hours you worked. At first I thought that you were seeing someone else, but I knew you weren’t that kind of person.” Hands together, her fingers brush and twiddle against each other. “I saw the name Sidious on your contacts and overheard you say his name a few times, along with some other things that didn’t sound good, but I trusted you. That night you said that you were going to be late again so I thought I would cook a nice dinner, and then I saw you, and everything just clicked together.”

She had done some research on the name after she saw that scene and found tie-ins to violent attacks, gangs and criminal organisations. He had people all around the city doing his bidding, and looking at one hooded figure, she was filled with a feeling of familiarity, and was horrified for it to be Maul.

“You could have stayed here, and wait for me to come back and explain.”

“I could have, but I was scared. I needed to get away from it all and sort everything out.”

“And did you?” His tone was still angry, but curious. 

Ahsoka shook her head. She didn’t really figure anything out when she left, all her thoughts were on Maul. “No, all I could think about….was you.” Finally she turns to him to see the widen of his eyes, clearly not expecting an answer like that. She’s waiting for him to glare, yell and scream like before, even threatening her to get out - 

She gasps when he touches her cheek, his fingers gently brushing over the skin. He’s staring at her and she can’t help but fall to those eyes, she didn’t realise they had moved closer until his nose was just inches away from her own.

“I missed you.” 

“...I missed you too.” He says in a whisper with a look of brokenness, her heart clenches, and when he cups her cheek, she leans into the touch.

Maul shifts closer, a knee between her legs. 

It’s like watching in slow motion, knowing what’s about to come, but she gives no resistance as his lips cover her own

Ahsoka’s hands find their way to his body, one on his arm and the other over his hand on her cheek as she pulls him closer.

Force - it feels so good, so natural, so much like home.

Maul growls and presses further, his hands moving to her coat and pushing it down, she allows him to throw it off her, His hands on her waist and rubbing against her clothing, and she can’t help but moan and melt under it all. 

Before Ahsoka knows it, she’s pushed on her back and Maul’s hands are all over her, drinking her in until they get underneath her shirt. She breaks the kiss to moan and lavishes at his lips on her neck as his hands rise and reach her bra to squeeze her breasts.

No. This is wrong. They shouldn’t be doing this.

“Maul -”

“Shhh.” He purrs at her ear, the hit of his breath causing goosebumps. “Don’t talk, just feel, and moan.” 

He nibbles along her shoulder and for a few seconds she gives in, then gently pushes at his shoulder. 

“No...Maul, stop.”

Thankfully he does, and he leans up to look down at her with a cocked eyebrow. 

Ahsoka lets out a breath. “We can’t do this.”

“Why not?” He frowns at her, and for a moment she thinks of just giving in, to let herself sink into this pleasure and deal with all of this in the morning. But that would only make things worse. 

“Because, we’re not…we’re not together anymore.”

He stares at her a bit long for her liking, then sneers and pulls away, she sits up as fast as she can and looks at the heavily tattooed and bruised man.

A part of her regrets her choice to stop it, but it was the right thing to do.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers. What more could she say to him? 

His fists clench and teeth gritted, but he looks away from her, and says in the most broken and angry voice she has ever heard. “Just go.”

Her heart breaks, she’s so tempted to get closer and touch him again, to stay, but both were bad options right now. 

It would be best if she left.

“Ok.” She says a bit louder then a whisper, and packs her things away before picking up her coat and putting it back on. She grabs her bag and heads to the door, pausing on handle. “My number hasn’t changed,” Her voice now louder, enough for him to hear from the distance. “Please, contact me if you need anything.”

She’s met with silence, and takes that as her que to leave.

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

She holds it all in on the way home, as she puts her shoes at the doorway and walks to her room, putting the bag down at her desk and changing into pyjamas. When she hits the bed does she let all her feelings out, all the crying and whispered sorry’s in her head.

I fucked up.

And she doesn’t know how the hell to fix it.  

[nalgenewhore]

Slipping Through My Fingers - Four

masterlist - ao3 - last chapter - next chapter

warnings: none

The bell finally rang on a glorious Friday afternoon and Elide corralled all her students, herding them into the cubby room. 

Kohana, as always, was one of the first students ready, standing next to the door silently as his proclaimed ‘bestest friend ever’ stood next to him, excitedly chattering about her weekend plans. 

Esther Corsario-Beausoleil was an adorable little girl, with sea green eyes and a cloud of coily, flaming red locks, the child to Elide’s favourite parents - Ilias, Ansel, and Rolfe. Elide had known Ansel forever and knew that they proclaimed it to be a cruel and unjust punishment to stick their kid with three last names. Ilias had gotten the pick of her first name as a consolation. Unlike one of her fathers and Kohana, she hardly ever stopped talking, but it seemed as though Kohana’s presence had a calming effect on her. 

Esther was currently explaining to Kohana that her last name, translated into the common tongue, meant ‘pirate-beautiful sun’. Esther had the cutest accent, her pronunciation of her last names immaculate. 

That had him excited as he hurriedly told her that his last name meant ‘god of the sea-saviour of the earth’. They looked very pleased with themselves and Esther managed to stop hopping around to show him how her shoes lit up. 

“Ok, friends, is everybody ready?” Elide asked, standing at the front of the line. They all nodded and took each other’s hands like she’d taught them before she led them outside. It was beautiful again today and Elide couldn’t wait to go over to Nesryn and Lysandra’s place tonight, her week - while she loved it and it had gone as smoothly as possible - had been hectic and she was ready to relax with her closest friends. 

Elide said hello to the parents and nannies, pulling some of them to the side to discuss minor issues they’d had. Somehow, she’d managed to make it through the week without a single wet pants situation and Elide thanked whatever deity had ensured that small victory for her. 

“Elide! Elide!” Elide turned, to see Esther pointing across the asphalt area to her mother, who was climbing out of a sleek red Cadillac. “C’est Maman!” 

Elide chuckled as Ansel strolled up, wearing a pair of skin tight black jeans, a black top and a burgundy leather jacket, her eyes hidden behind a pair of cat-eye sunglasses. She tossed her glossy locks over her shoulder and opened her arms, letting her daughter race towards her and launch herself into her arms. “Bon après-midi, my petite. On fait bien, oui?” Esther nodded and began to babble as Ansel propped her up on her hip and walked to Elide. “Elide, my saviour!” Oh, how Elide loved that sultry accent.

“Hey, Ansel. Esther was a joy, yet again. We made some art today, but it won’t be dry until Monday.” 

Ansel nodded and turned to Kohana, who was now standing alone, the last kid, as he waited for his dad. There was a crease between his brows as he watched with those light eyes of his. “Hi, Ko-Ko. How we doing?” 

He turned to Ansel and waved, “Hi-hi. ‘m waiting for até.” He fell silent again, wringing his hands until something crossed over his face and he was off before Elide could stop him, running as fast as his little legs would take him. Kohana didn’t get too far before Lorcan was scooping him up. 

Lorcan was smiling widely as he easily put Kohana on his shoulders and walked over to Elide and Ansel. Kohana looked pleased, his little hands holding onto Lorcan’s hair as he sat on his perch. “Hey, Ansel, Esther.” Esther waved at him vigorously and swung her legs out, trying to get her shoes to light up again. “Elide.” 

“Lorcan.” Ansel looked back and forth between them with narrowed eyes after she pushed her sunglasses up into her wine-coloured hair. Elide still couldn’t tell if it was natural or not - even after all these years - but with Esther’s red strands, she couldn’t be sure. “Kohana was a perfect student this week. I’m very impressed with his ability to tie his own shoes. He’s got the best bunny ears in the game.” She winked at Kohana, who giggled and clapped his little hands before leaning over his father’s head. 

“I tied my shoes all the days, até.” 

“Good job, Ko. You ready to go?” 

“Yep! Got say bye-bye to Essie!” Kohana sat up straight and stretched out his arm, waving bye to Esther. “Bye-bye, Essie!” 

Esther beamed and waved goodbye to him as well, “Au revoir, Ko-Ko!” 

The adults chuckled at the cuteness and all said their farewells as Lorcan strolled off. Ansel swivelled to Elide, a brow raised, “What the fuck was that?” 

“Maman! Mauvais mot,” Esther chastised her mother, frowning as she crossed her arms. 

“Just like your Aba, huh? Always tell me what to do,” Ansel teased her daughter in reference to Ilias. Elide had known Ansel when they were both in university, around the time that she met her now husbands, and Elide knew that Rolfe and Ansel were the troublemakers of the relationship. “But seriously, what was that?” 

Elide rolled her eyes, “You’re still coming tonight, right? I’ll tell you then.” 

Ansel pouted and sighed dramatically, “Oh, I suppose I can wait that long.” They laughed and soon enough, were departing as Elide headed back to her classroom. 

She puttered around, tidying up and putting the little chairs up before gathering her things. It didn’t take more than fifteen minutes and she was off, after closing the blinds and turning off the lights, heading home for the weekend. 

It was nice out again today, but Elide had still brought her car, a cute, vintage, baby-blue painted Volkswagen Bug. She rolled down the windows as she drove home, happy with the success of her first week. 

Granted, she could’ve done without the realization that she’d had a one-night stand with one of her student’s fathers, but she’d take what she could get. 

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“Dad, where we going?” 

“We’re going to Ro’s house, kiddo.” 

“Can I bring Tigger?” 

Lorcan looked down at his son, his eyes wide as he pouted. “Sorry, Ko, you know Tigger stays at home.” 

Kohana sulked, crossing his arms tightly. “Wanna bring Tigger.” He frowned deeply, a fierce glare pointed at Lorcan as he picked the child up and locked their front door behind him, walking to the truck. Every first Friday of the month, the guys would all meet up and play poker somewhere. The level of the stakes varied, but never exceeded an ostentatious amount. 

As a bribe, Lorcan stopped at a fast food place and bought his son chicken nuggets on his way to Rowan’s, smiling in the rearview as Kohana happily munched on his dinner and kicked his legs out. Soon enough, they pulled up in front of Rowan’s townhouse and hopped out of the truck. 

Kohana raced to the door and pressed incessantly on Rowan’s doorbell until the silver-haired man yanked the door open, assuming it was Lorcan doing it to annoy him. Upon seeing Kohana, he grinned and picked the little one up, tickling his sides until he was squirming away. “No! No more!” 

“Boyo just devoured ten chicken nuggets, don’t blame me when he barfs on you,” Lorcan said dryly, laughing as Rowan made a nervous face and put Kohana down. He pushed past Rowan’s legs and raced into the house, roaring his arrival. 

“So how’s the teacher?” 

Lorcan groaned, “Fen told you?” 

“Literally the second after you told him.” 

“Fucking Marama,” Lorcan muttered, putting down Kohana’s backpack of toys and books. 

“Someone say my name?” Fenrys yelled as he popped out from behind the corner and Lorcan shouted. 

“Hellas below, man, can you not? I hate it when you do that.” Fenrys cackled and Lorcan wondered how on earth did he convince Nehemia to marry him. They all walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, with Kohana as their dealer. 

They didn’t fuck around after their greetings and got right into the game. At some point, Connall had fished out the old visor with DEALER stamped across it and plopped it on Kohana’s head. 

The five-year old took his job very seriously, his brows furrowed as he carefully passed out the correct amount of cards. “Juice, please.” 

After he’d gotten his juice box, the game was back on. Fenrys looked at Lorcan and wiggled his brows in a way that Lorcan did not like. “So, Man-Man,” Kohana looked up from the chips he was carefully stacking, sitting atop a pile of books so that he could see the entire table. “How’s school going? You like your teacher?” 

“Fenrys-” 

“Teacher is nice. Like her. She read stories and paint and draw and play outside with us. Did you know I gots a bestest friend, Fenny?” 

“What? I thought I was your bestest friend, Ko!” Fenrys exclaimed, holding a hand to his heart like he was wounded. “What’s your bestest friend like?” 

“Very loud. Essie talks a lot,” Kohana said, moving on to the blue chips. “She gots shoes that light up too.” 

“She seems like a nice friend,” Vaughan said, smiling fondly at his nephew. “Do you have light up shoes, Fenny?” Fenrys, mindful of the child sitting in full view, stuck his tongue out at Vaughan, making Kohana giggle. 

“Essie has two daddies and one mommy.” 

Lorcan elaborated, “She’s Corsario’s kid.” 

“Oh dang really?” Connall asked, his brows lifting. “Ay, didn’t he marry Ilias and Ansel?” 

“Yeah, they were in that prenatal class with us,” Lorcan said, focusing on his cards. 

“That is a brave man.” 

“What’dya mean?” 

“Marrying Rolfe and Ansel? I’m surprised he hasn’t had a heart attack yet.” 

They all chuckled and soon enough, the game recommenced, at the behest of the dealer. 

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“I got to say, El, Esther’s so happy she gets to call you by your first name.” Ansel rolled her eyes, “She had the most ridiculous daycare leader ever who made the kids learn the ‘proper’ way to address adults.” 

“They’re kids! Some of them haven’t even turned five yet, for fuck’s sake. If all we’re doing is learning our numbers and ABCs, then they definitely do not have to ‘address’ me like that. Certainly not if I’m teaching them to treat others how they want to be treated,” Elide said, helping Lysandra in the kitchen by washing a head of lettuce.

Ansel nodded her agreement and a wicked gleam entered her eyes as Elide started tearing up the green leaves. “So… how much more drunk do you have to be to spill that hot drama you’ve been sitting pretty on, with your cute lil ass?”  

Elide groaned and flicked Ansel’s nose, “Dude… can you be chill? For once?” 

“Spill? Spill what?” Aelin asked, popping into the kitchen. 

“Oh, am I finally going to figure out why you were being so weird on Saturday?” That was Nehemia, walking into the kitchen with Nesryn. Lysandra was already there, cutting something up for whatever dinner they were having. 

Elide groaned in defeat and hit her head on the countertop. “I slept with my student’s dad.” 

“What?” 

She lifted her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, “The guy from Friday night is the father of one of my students.” 

They gawked at her, utterly silent until Ansel gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Mon dieu, it’s Lorcan, right? Am I right?” 

“Mm-hmm. Yup.” 

Aelin, Ansel, and Nehemia cackled as Lysandra gave her a sympathetic look and hugged her. “I’m sorry, honey. That doesn’t sound fun.” 

Elide pouted and whined, “It’s so bad! I thought he was stalking me or something when he showed up!” A thought crossed her mind and she swore, “Anneith below, it’s gonna be so awkward at parent-teacher conferences!” 

“How?” 

“Well, I think he’s divorced and they have joint custody? Anyway, we’ve barely said more than two sentences to each other and I can’t even look him in the eye. The mother is going to have to be brain-dead-” 

Ansel sucked in a breath, all the humour in her face disappearing. “El… can I talk to you quickly?” 

They all exchanged weird looks as Elide slipped off her stool and followed Ansel to the backyard. The red-haired woman was pacing, biting her thumbnail. “Ans, what is it?” 

“Kohana’s mom died four years ago. She got sick and they didn’t find anything wrong until it was too late.” 

“Oh my gods. Are you serious?” 

Ansel nodded, her eyes conflicted. “Yeah. I figured you knew already. She and Lorcan had been together for years, highschool sweethearts.” 

Elide felt her heart drop and she couldn’t find the words to process anything. She knew what it was like to lose her parents at a young age and suddenly it all made sense. Kohana’s wariness to make friends outside of Esther, waiting anxiously for his dad to show up at pickup, lingering by Lorcan at dropoff. “Poor Kohana. Poor Lorcan. Shit.” 

Ansel winced and nodded, “I wouldn’t mention it to him until he brings it up. Losing her like that… no one should have to live through that. Especially with a kid.” 

Elide nodded, her mind reeling. Somehow, this mess became even messier. She wasn’t sure how it had done that. 

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Fenrys was having a no-blinking contest with Kohana when his phone buzzed. The five-year old smirked, the little shit had the audacity to smirk at him, his gaze piercing and wide open. “Do you needs a break?” 

Man, fuck him and his stupid grammar, Fenrys said to himself as he nodded and Kohana blinked, taking a bite of his mini Babybel. His hands were barely big enough to hold it in one. The golden-haired man had never wanted to throttle anyone more. 

He stepped away from the table and took out his phone, smiling at the image of his wife that lit up the screen. He accepted the call, “Hey, Mi. What’s up?” 

“Hi, babe, um… did Lorcan tell you that…?”

“Oh, Ko’s teacher? Yeah, he told me.” He paused, checking that everyone was busy doing something. “What about it?” 

Nehemia breathed out slowly, “She’s Aelin’s sister. Elide.” 

“Oh fuck.” 

A little voice gasped from behind him and Fenrys turned, seeing Kohana clap his hands over his ears. Bless that kid and his innocence. “Mi, I gotta go. Let’s talk more at home, ok?” 

“Ok. Love you, Fen.” 

“Love you too.” 

Kohana’s eyes were wide and he whispered, “You said a bad word, Fenny.” 

Fenrys stuffed his phone back into his pocket and quickly lifted Kohana up, carrying him to the kitchen. “I know, Man-Man. But guess what?” 

“What?” 

“If you keep it a secret and don’t tell your daddy, I’ll give you ice cream. Deal?” 

Kohana’s vehement nod was answer enough for Fenrys.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

an: Até means father in Lakota :) and it’s gonna be a lil slow for now, ok? but don’t worry, the drama is coming 👀

@mythicaitt @tinywolfofeyllwe @schmlip-scribble @the-regal-warrior @westofmoon @empire-of-wildfire @rhysands-highlady @city-of-fae @shyvioletcat @alifletcher2012 @tangledraysofsunshine @ttakeitbacknoww @tswaney17 @ourbooksuniverse @flora-and-fae @thesirenwashere @queenofxhearts @maastrash @mynewdreamwasyou @cursebreaker29 @superspiritfestival @empress-ofbloodshed @queen-of-glass @sleeping-and-books @beccasophia95 @exersize-me-i-dare-u @thewayshedreamed @hizqueen4life @ifinallygavein @bat-wing-rhys @awkward-avocado-s @b00kworm​

[a-student-out-of-time]

Akane’s parents

Here’s my family for Akane

Next profile! Owari Kaoru Age: 53 Birthday: February 14th Height: 5’11 Appearance: A handsome tall man with black hair, blue eyes and pale skin. He wears a dark brown suit with a red tie. Personality and background: Kaoru grew up with where his parents cheat on each other a lot and had a large number siblings. He disassociated with his dad after finding how he forced himself on many women. He tries to focus on his future and try to live a stable life. However he has gotten his parents traits on compulsively feel attracted to women and can be very greedy. His favorite kind of women are the dark skinned women, they’re the most desirable. Though the only person he truly loves was Rumiko, who did help him become more stable enough. He had a stable life as good business man. However Rumiko’s death brought out his worse traits. He didn’t know to handle the job and honestly had zero desire to care for his kids. He just grabs any woman who can be good mothers for the kids and leave them with her, then continue to do whatever he wants. He felt bad, he hoped that Narumi would snap and kill all of his family (including himself) so they won’t have to deal with this misery, but she killed herself instead. He just stopped caring at this point. He just sleeps with any woman he sees. He only realized that he of a horrible husband and dad he is when the parade started. Which is sad that he’ll die when he tries to redeem himself. While he maybe a fuck boy, but he’s very strict when it comes to consensual sex and taught his about it after hitting puberty. Family: Unnamed parents, unnamed siblings, Rumiko (1st wife), unnamed sister in law, Akane (1st daughter), Hinata (1st son), Yota (2nd son), Narumi (2nd wife), Itsumi (2nd daughter), Hideki (3rd son), Mei (3rd daughter), Honoka (3rd wife), Teruko (4th daughter), Jubei (4th son) and Haruto (5th son). Likes: Pretty woman and fine wine. Dislikes: Nonconsensual sex and his dad.

Here’s a profile! Owari Rumiko née Fujimoto Age: 25 Birthday: September 4th Height: 5’4 Appearance: She has long straight dark brown hair, brown eyes and tan skin. She usually wears a white shirt and red shorts. Personality and background: Rumiko’s a hardworking, serious and well adjusted, but also can be upbeat and fun. Especially since she’s hoping to become a gymnast in the Olympics one day. Rumiko grew up a normal life from a family of athletes. However she tends to find herself hooking up with the worst kind of men. She hoped that she could complete her happy life with her kids… sadly she never got to enjoy that life as she and her twin sister died in a car crash one tragic night. Family: Unnamed sister, Kaoru (husband), Akane (daughter), Hinata (son) and Yota (son). Likes: Hard work and hot man Dislikes: Cheaters and manipulation. Status: Deceased

Another profile! Owari Narumi (I’m not giving her maiden name, because that’s not relevant, while Rumiko’s is as Hinata changed it her surname to break off ties as a Owari.) Age: 36 Birthday: April 1st Height: 5’8 Appearance: She has long dark blue hair, amber eyes and brown skin. She usually wears a light blue blouse and tan shorts. Personality and background: Narumi’s described to be a woman under a lot of stress and panics a lot when there’s chaos, but somehow manages to get things done. She is loyal devoted mother and wife trying to provide for her family, even loving the kids from her husband’s previous wife. However she’s emotionally unstable with depression and low confidence. Those traits leads her into making impulsive decisions. As the stress of caring for six children affected her emotionally. When Narumi found out that Kaoru cheated on her. She felt like that she wanted to snap, but looked into her kids’ faces and decided to raise them with her co wife. It doesn’t help since her family never cared for her and she was bullied a lot. Family: Unnamed parents, Kaoru (husband), Akane (step daughter), Hinata (step son), Yota (step son), Itsumi (daughter), Hideki (son), Mei (daughter), Honoka (co-wife), Teruko (step daughter), Haruto and Jubei (step sons) Likes: Her kids (including her step kids) and gardening. Dislikes: Being manipulated. Status: Alive

Honoka O’Brain Age: 29 Birthday: May 12th Height: 5’3 Appearance: She has curly dark green hair pulled into low pigtails, red eyes and brown skin. She wears a orange halter top and brown skirt. Personality and background: Honoka’s a laid back and chill woman that that likes to go with the flow. She has a off hand approach in parenting, but does draw the line when things go too far with getting her kids hurt. When she’s mad, she’s terrified forced to not be messed with. She grew up on America with a upbringing similar to Kaoru’s. A lot of siblings around but from more of a polygamous parents who were loving and were off hand on parenting. So she didn’t mind having children from her husband’s previous wives and sharing him with other women. She’s also laidback on her modesty and doesn’t care about people looking at her body. Not really noticing her choices weren’t healthy. She’s a vegetarian who only eats fish as meat, but doesn’t mind serving meats to her kids if they want some. Her mother’s Japanese and her dad’s a mixture other races. Family: Multiple unnamed parents, multiple unnamed siblings, Kaoru (husband), Akane (step daughter), Hinata (step son), Yota (step son), Narumi (co wife), Itsumi (step daughter), Hideki (step son), Mei (step daughter), Teruko (daughter), Jubei (son) and Haruto (son). Likes: Open mindedness and deep conversations. Dislikes: Bigotry and no confidence. Status: Alive

Originally, Narumi killed herself in NWPM, but I thought it would be fun for you to use her in your au. Though there’s no sprites for her. Narumi’s however heterosexual, is only fine with Honoka’s presence as she helps her raise the kids, unlike Toko’s moms. As they do get along. Narumi’s a bit like Mikan and Honoka’s a bit like Angie. Kaoru’s a slimy man slut with charisma.

(Part 1)

[setsailslash]

Hi! Congratulations. For the prompt-A-Thon, how about BruJay with possessive Bruce? Jason totally doesn't push Bruce's buttons or try to make him lose control. Please 🤤🤤

i reaaaally hope i hit the possessive bruce bit in this prompt given i got derailed for a bit 😂 a reverse robin au fill, also for @brujayweek​ day 7 prompt: age difference.

warnings for non-consensual groping (not between bruce and jason), implied child abuse, underage

When Jason comes to Bruce with his design for a new Robin suit, Bruce tells him: "Absolutely not."

"We catch bad guys, don't we?" Jason asks, shoving the sketch back under Bruce's nose, forcing him to look again, and its implications are just as awful on the second pass.

"Not like this, Jay."

"I want to catch the worst ones." Jason is unlike Tim. For one, Jason isn't dead. For two, Jason takes to being Robin with enthusiasm instead of obligation like Damian or a natural aptitude like Tim. "You could either make it fire-repellent or bulletproof or whatever else your Bat-Tech can make it, or I'll wear my own."

"Your own?"

Jason pulls out a skimpy scrap of bright green fabric that shimmers from the pocket of his hoodie, and tells Bruce. "My own."

 -

A long, low whistle. A leer above a lit cigarette.

It is all the makings of terrible things.

"Playing dress up so late at night?" The man calls out to him, echoing off of the walls making up the dead end. He is ten feet away.

Robin doesn't say anything, standing straight from where he was bent over a petty thief knocked out and out cold on the ground, pulling the zip tie around his wrists tight behind his back.

"Kid like you, dressed like that, really shouldn't be out on these streets. Nothin' good ever happens this late at night." The man says to him, steadily closing the distance between them. Seven feet now. "I'm a nice guy, ya see. But you won’t always get so lucky. There're lots of bad men out here." And it seems like he quite likes the sound of his own voice too when he just keeps going. "I mean, unless you're looking for trouble, 'cause if you're then you're in just the right place, lil'bird."

Six feet.

"Trouble has a habit of finding me." Robin tells him, wondering if the man gets it at all. That the thief slumped on the ground didn't get there himself. Four feet.

"Seems like with or without you wanting it, eh, kid?" 

It is every last taste of the unsavoury injected into those words. That some men will take and take and take. And you can scream yourself hoarse when they hold you down but no one comes to save you, not now, not ever. So why even bother?

"Kid like me, right?" Robin echoes, looking up at the man that has put him into a corner. Two feet.

"Yeah." The man drops the butt of his cigarette, grinding it against the wet asphalt before reaching out with a nicotine-stained hand to curl it around Robin's jaw. He tips his chin up, the dim light from the street lamp from the mouth of the alleyway coats everything in a sick oily glow.

The thief at their feet does not stir, not even when the man's other hand reaches down, dragging over the skin on the outside of Robin's thigh before his hand goes up, his fingertips digging in and grabbing Robin’s ass hard.

A chuckle, low and deeply amused when he earns a quiet little gasp from between Robin's mouth.

"Well, baby, aren't you just asking for it?"

 -

When Robin steps on the man's hand and breaks every joint on every last finger, the man screams. Long and loud and almost unbearable.

Robin relishes in the sound even as he spits out, and it is scathing: "It's going to be a long fucking while before you'll even be able to touch yourself."

If asked to describe Robin in one word, Jason's answer is this: Robin is bait. So no one else has to be the blood in the water to be swallowed whole.

When Batman shows up with red and blue flashing a symphony behind him, he doesn't reprimand Robin even as he lays eyes on the state of the man. Instead they stand aside as Gotham's finest lead the men away, one finally coming to while the other now beginning to lose consciousness.

"Told you it works." Robin is rocking back and forth on the heels of his green pixie boots, hands clad in matching green gloves clasping loosely behind his back. He tips his head up to Batman with a grin that is all teeth when he can clearly see all the displeasure in the tense line of the man's clenched jaw. "Even if you don't want to believe me, I'm okay with this, really."

There are no bruises in the shape of anyone's hands across his body. That is his own doing. Robin’s mouth doesn't let up from its grin, not even when he presses himself up against Batman's side.

"B, would it kill you to say good job though?"

 -

There are only so many hours of the night left when they come back from patrol.

Jason doesn't head to the shower, he doesn't go upstairs either. Instead, he hops up on to the desk just as Bruce sits down at the computer. Jason doesn’t break the silence, not this time.

He swings his legs from his perch, working through the plate of cucumber sandwiches Alfred had left for them before he retired for the night. Jason has polished off three-fourth of the plate before Bruce says, finally, drawing his hands back from the keyboard when he no longer has the excuse of the nightly patrol report to fall on.

"You did good.”

“Pulling teeth would’ve hurt you less, isn’t that right, Bruce?” Jason asks around a mouthful of bread, sprays a bit of crumbs on Bruce too when he does if just because he can.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

"It's Saturday tomorrow, B. No school."

Bruce falls silent. Jason doesn’t reprimand him. Instead, Jason looks beyond Bruce to the row of Robin uniforms along the far wall of the cave. To Damian Wayne who has left Gotham for the League.

"The first Robin was your real son."

To Tim Drake who is dead and buried and mourned.

"They were both my sons."

Jason knows exactly every way where he doesn’t measure up, where he doesn’t even come close to either one of them. He is Robin in name only, and he has made his peace with that.

He swings his legs still, tip of a pixie boot bumping against the chair’s armrest. There is no reading between the lines for this. He drags his eyes back from all the Robins to have flown this nest to tell Bruce in probably what is the only way to spur him into action.

"I don't want to be your son, B."

-

It is the yellow cape that falls to Jason’s bruised knees.

It is the red tunic that hikes up when he reaches out to him.

It is the tiny pair of green scaly shorts that show off so much bare skin.

Except, it isn’t just any of those things when Bruce gives up all pretenses and kisses Jason breathless. Bruce is the fox in the hen house, the snake with poison in its fangs, the man in love, and maybe that’s the worst of them yet.

Bruce Wayne is a man that doesn’t lost control, this comes as close it gets.

It starts chaste with Bruce going slow and Jason eager to part his lips wide enough to welcome the slide of Bruce’s tongue. Bruce licks into his open mouth, dragging just the softest hint of teeth over the tip of Jason’s tongue when Jason tries to imitate what he is doing for him.

The first thing Jason lets out when he gets enough air in his lungs again is on a burst of delight: “Finally.”

Jason says it with a smile. It is a small damning thing when he directs it at Bruce, and just him.

[louu-7]

everything i don’t know

on wattpad

CHAPTER 4:

I can finally get out of this house. It’s only for a few hours, but it’s better to be a step ahead, and I’m not gonna miss my chance to enjoy the fresh air of the island…

I finish adjusting my outfit and leave my room to rejoin my parents at the first floor, then my sister arrive too. She’s perfect, as usual, with her beautiful red hair and her elegant style. She just always is the one that my parents want me to be, and I really think that sometimes she likes it when they tell me that I should dress like her, but it’s Alyssa.

“Do you know where are we going, young girl?” Asks my mom while I’m checking my phone, waiting for Isaac to come. “Yes, sure,” I look up and shrug, “to the restaurant. What’s the matter?”.

“You should dress up correctly, we aren’t some of these parents who can’t afford a pretty dress for their daughter. Why don’t you put a dress on?”

“Mom, we only go to the restaurant, it’s not like it was an event or some chic parties. But next time I’ll try, promise.”

“Everything that we do does matter. People have to take us seriously. Go put a dress on now please.” My father come back from one of his million business calls. “Dad, please, I don’t want to-”

“You don’t have to discuss this decision. Just listen, we have to go.”

I slightly sigh and turn toward the stairs to climb it and get to my room to look into my closet and grab my favorite one, a simple blue short dress before putting it on. I don’t particularly have a problem with being well dressed but I feel like I’m mocking the people who can’t afford all this get-up when I put something really formal just to go to the restaurant…

I look at myself in the mirror and fake a smile. You can do it Thara, it’s only for a few hours, and it’s your favorite dress, I think as Dad yell my name from the first ground.

I don’t answer, brush my hair so it’s softer and perfume myself a little more. They should be happy of what they see now. Something’s missing tho… my eyes observe the makeup that I got and my eyeliner attract my regard. I decide to do a fine line on each one of my eyes, and I’m ready.

I lay my phone in my black purse, inhale and come back to my parents. They all inspect me and this kind of reaction’s pretty annoying for me, but I’m used to it.

“Can we go now?” I ask while opening the door to get out and prevent them from staring at me this way. “Sure, let’s go.”

“You look stunning Thara, you really should be more dressing up like this.” Says my mom when she starts walking next to me. “Thank you.”

“Being dressed up don’t prevent you from smiling, you should take a leaf out of your sister’s book.”

“Leave her alone OK.” My sister come to my defense and take my hand in hers. “I just say that she could be more enthusiastic than how she is-”

“Shut the hell up Isaac.”

“Kids, don’t make me a scene now and let’s have a good time, OK. Thara, pay attention to your language please, it’s not the language expected from you.”

I apologize and we arrive in front of the car. I give a faint smile to the man who opens me the car door before sitting into the black backseat. The leather make me shivering, and everything’s so dark on the inside, it’s like the night came in a minute.

The chauffeur starts the car, and we’re finally getting out of this house. This restaurant trip is the first thing that we do together since the beginning of this summer. They all seem to be so occupied that they always forgot our diner, or our walk on the beach, until today.

Once in the restaurant, a waiter guide us through the room and bring us at a table in a corner. We all take place and I quickly tie my hair up in a bun before my Dad look daggers at me. I do my best to ignore this look when my mind make me remember about the gun.

I can’t stop thinking about it. Since when does he need a fucking gun? And mostly, did he already used it? This question don’t wanna leave me, and every time I look at him in the eyes I just freak out. My Dad knows everything and if he notices that I get weird with him, he’s gonna questioning me until I “confess”.

“What do you want darling?” Asks my Mom while I get lost in my mind. I would prefer to be at the beach and eat burgers to be honest… “Hum, I don’t know, a chicken salad’s good I guess. I’m not hungry, I just wanna hang out at the beach so…”

“Sure?” Alyssa looks at me and I smile to agree.

We order, and the courses are quickly in front of us. I eat in less than fifteen minute. My impatience is killing me, and also my parents apparently. They take their time, talk business, and anyone of us is talking about something cool.

“Did you choose your options for next year sweetheart?” Dad brings some vegetables to his mouth while looking at me.

“Hum, I...” I shrug and look around to escape from this question. “I didn’t really think about it yet but like I told you, I’m not sure I wanna go to college…”

“And we already answered that it wasn’t an option.”

“But you can’t send me to college without my permission.”

“We’re doing whatever we want, we are your parents, darling.” My Mom fakes a smile at me and I grit my teeth.

I sigh and stand up before excusing myself and rapidly reach the bathroom. I arrive in the big room full of mirrors and decide to put a little bit of water on my cheeks. I feel so bad to be so controlled by them. I would like to have a talk with them, to discuss like adults about my future, not having to listen to their orders.

Dad certainly would like me to work for the vineyard, with him and Isaac. The kind of work where you’re staying in an office all day and come back at home to live a boring life. I don’t like this kinda work, I wanna be outside, feel the warmth of the sun all day and work for something useful. I wanna be useful for the Outer Banks.

My dream job would be to work with sea animals, it would be the goal of my like, working around dolphins, turtles, whales or sharks and fishes, I would love it. There’s a real world in the sea, and we don’t see it until we get interested in it. I just would to protect these fragile world...

The thing is, I don’t know yet if I wanna go to college and study marine biology or find a refuge or an association so volunteer can teach me everything they know. College isn’t gonna make me explore sea depth unlike associations or refuge, if I’m lucky.

I come back with my dear imperfect family and sit to wait until the end of the lunch so we can go to the beach, and feel the sun, and listen to the sea.

~

It’s the next day and tonight’s gonna be a really good moment, because we’re invite, like everyone on the island, pogues and kooks, at Cameron’s house. Why? Because every year we’re celebrating the union between people. I know, it’s completely hypocrite and kind of disgusting to know that everyone is playing a role to show that they’re perfect, kind, smart and everything.

Anyway, the party’s at 8pm, it’s 6pm and I didn’t start to prepare. I’m chilling since at least an hour and a half, checking my phone, walking around impatiently. Tonight, nobody’s gonna tell me what do I have to do, how do I have to act and with who do I have to talk, because it’s union and love.

Love’s big word but, they’re claiming that it’s a love relationship between kooks and pogues. It isn’t, of course, but that’s great, I’m so happy and I can’t wait. Tonight I have the chance to talk to Sarah and get everything clear with her. I hope she’s gonna forgive me…

“Babe! Did you choose what dress are you gonna wear tonight?” Alyssa’s asking from her room. “Yeah, I’m almost ready. What ‘bout you?”

“What did you choose?” She suddenly appears behind my door and enters to let herself fall on my bed. “Look, I didn’t even know this dress was in my closet but I love it.” I bring the dress that I found before the story of the gun and she smiles while observing it before standing up and take it from me. “Are you sure?”.

I frown, confused, and look at the dress. “Yeah. Is it too much with the sparkles and everything?”

“No. It’s not enough, do you have something else?”

“You kiddin’ me? This is enough for me.” Shes raises her eyebrows while looking back at me, surprised, even shook. “What, there’s a lot of sparkles, and it’s a long dress.”

“But nobody’s gonna notice you. You need a more puffy dress so-”

“No no no, that’s perfect for me if I’m invisible, leave me alone so I can put it on.”

“Babe how can you kick me out?” She asks with a fake sad voice and I sigh while smiling. “C’mon Aly, leave me alone girl!” We laugh and she gives up so I’m alone in my room. I put the dress on and lock myself in the bathroom. OK, I won’t leave this room until I’m ready, even if it takes the two hours left before the beginning of the celebration.

I turn on my speaker and put music so loud that I don’t hear anything else. And Dad’s not gonna tell me anything because he’s not here. And my mother doesn’t care that much. Anyway they’re pissed off against me since the pogue thing. The only one who could annoy me is Isaac, but I’m locked and I don’t hear nothing so I’m not gonna hear him and his complaining.

I start by the makeup, while dancing and singing in front of my mirror, and then I hear someone’s knocking when the song ends. I open and Alyssa’s coming in, dressed up. I know what does that means. Let’s sing and dance in wild dresses for two hours straight…

~

We’re all ready, and to be honest we took two hours and I only put mascara, eyeliner, a bit of blush and a translucent gloss. That’s it. And we just arrived at Sarah’s house, I can’t wait to have a talk with her, because I’m sure I can ask Alyssa to go and tell her to meet me at the bathroom or something.

I don’t know why am I so excited about tonight, it’s maybe because my life isn’t that fun, so when there’s a party that’s kinda cool. Anyway we’re warmly welcomed by Sarah’s parents, and they come with us to the garden, the big garden where everyone’s gossiping, drinking champagne and acting perfect.

I take the hand of Alyssa’s in mine and take her away so the parents aren’t hearing us.

“OK, I have a mission for you, and I’m serious. Can you please go talk to Sarah and tell her I’m waiting for her at the bathroom. And also tell that it’s serious like, I really want to, and don’t tell the parents.”

“What, why do you wanna talk to her, she’s-”

“My friend. She’s my friend and I love her so much, and since we can’t talk I never had the chance to explain her what happened.”

“And when?”

“Right now, go.”

She looks at me, exasperate by my person, and I smile so she does the same and search for the blond to go talk to her. I come back to my parents and tell them I have to go to the bathroom. They don’t seem to believe me but I don’t care, Sarah’s my best friend, we’ve been known each other for years. They’re not gonna keep me away from her for the eternity.

So I wait, five, or ten minutes, and the door eventually open before letting her coming in. We look at each other for a moment and I sadly frown before walking towards her so I can take her n my arms. She responds to my hug and I smile, relieved.

“I’m so sorry for everything and I didn’t mean to stop talking to you overnight.”

“You owe me an explanation tho babe.”

“I know.”

We let go each other and I sigh.

“It’s kinda simple, you know as well as me that my parents hate the pogues, and when they found out that you were hanging with them they just forced me to delete your phone number and forget you, but I never did, of course.” I let out a little nervous laugh.

“What, really? They really have a problem with pogues, I mean, they’re human, not monsters.”

“Yeah, I know…”

“Give me your phone, gonna write my number so we can talk again.”

I give her my phone and we continue to talk for sometimes before someone literally comes in and caught us. It’s actually her mom, and of based on how she’s, she’s not gonna tell my parents that we talked. I hope so…

She advises us to come back and we agree. At least we have our phones, and maybe I will have the chance to go with her at some moments of the evening. My parents won’t be able to keep their eyes on me all along the night.

“I’m so happy to talk to you again.” She says before hugging me. “Me too babe, I missed you so much.”

“Oh, also, you owe me an explanation about something else, but we talk ‘bout it by text, love you.” She gets out of the bathroom first. “Hum, yeah, OK, even if I don’t know what you’re talking about, love you too. You look amazing.”

“You too babe.” She turns towards me and send me a kiss.

We laugh and I get out of the bathroom at my turn. I come back with my parents again and smile at Alyssa when she shrugs. A waiter is walking through the people and distribute some glasses of champagne, I take two, for me and my amazing sis.

“Cheers! I laugh happily and she does the same.” My parents seem… cold with me. Or maybe they’re also like that with Aly and Isaac. All they have in mind is business, every time.

I spend my night drinking a lot champagne, talking, dancing and singing with Aly, and it’s a really good evening. Moreover, we’re texting with Sarah, everything’s perfect. The only boring thing is this man who’s doing a speech on love between people and everything, even if everyone of us know that war between pogues and kooks isn’t gonna end up that easily…

Moreover, I think I can put my parents in the list of boring things. They didn’t talk to me since we’re here, and I don’t even know why. Certainly because of what happened with this pogue and Nate… if only he didn’t tell everyone what happened, they would never have known.

I keep looking at them, smiling at everyone and ignoring me, and it makes me feel so bad, and abandoned, and it reminds me of everything they’re doing to keep me away from nobody even when I’m always acting like they want. I listen to their orders, I’m smiling to people that I don’t know because it’s polite, I try to do my best every time and it feels like they never notice.

It’s time for changes.

[dynamicduoau]

Episode 1: The Piolet

Summary: After being sent to the middle of nowhere for their winter break, Virgil Sanders finds a mysterious journal in the woods.  This isn't the only problem as his brother, Patton, might be going a little boy crazy.

Words: 6955

Relationships: Platonic Moxiety, one-sided Logicality

Notes: Find original story here https://archiveofourown.org/works/20170951/chapters/47790076.  

Snow covered the ground as Virgil Sanders looked out the window.  Snowflakes fell from the sky and landed onto the ground in a thick sheet of snow.  It was cold in the old bus.

Honestly, the things should have been scrapped years ago.  His was doing nothing for his anxiety.  The roads were frozen here in Oregon, the bus could slip at any moment and kill them all.  Though he preferred this to flying.  They had been in the air just a couple of hours ago and Virgil had been freaking out.

A bubbly boy that look nearly identical to him kicked his legs back and forth in his seat.  Patton Sanders was Virgil's identical twin brother.  The boy pushed back a brown curl from his forehead as he turned to Virgil.

“What do you think Uncle Emile is like?” Patton asked.

“A serial killer,” Virgil stated, dead serious.

Patton frowned at him and gave him a stern look, “Virgil.”

“We could only be so lucky,” Virgil sighed.  “We met him when we were two, Pop Star.  From what I can remember, which isn’t much, he spent most of his time watching SpongeBob with us.”

The twins might be identical, but you could tell them apart quiet easily.

Virgil had straight hair that covered one eye.  The color was a mix of both brown and purple.  He was paler and looked even more pale with the black eyeshadow that was applied under his eyes.  Virgil tended to wear the same thing every day: a pair of ripped black jeans with dark purple tights underneath, a black T-shirt, his large purple and black flannel patched work jacket, and black and purple combat boots with purple socks peeking out.

Patton had curly brown hair with a single ringlet hanging perfectly on his forehead.  He had light peach colored skin.  A pair of black glasses were perched on his nose.  He wore a light blue shirt with a large white heart in the center.  Long white sleeves went down his arms, but he tended to change the color each day.  His cat hoodie was tied around his shoulders instead of on him.  He wore a pair of light beige skinny jeans with converse that were the same color as his shirt.  His white socks pecked out the tops of his shoes.

They both shared many similarities, though.  They had the same brown eyes.  Both had a splash of freckles covering their cheeks and nose.  Both had the same face shape.  Their hair was the same shade of brown.  They even had the same mole on their left cheek.

“This is our very first trip away from mom and dad,” Patton slapped his hands on both of his cheeks.  “They’re on the other side of the country.  All the way in Florida!”

“And only one call away.  We should just call them now and go home,” Virgil grabbed the phone from his jacket pocket.

It was snagged from his hand and held away from him, “Bro, this is the purrfect opportunity to show them we are cat-able of taking care of ourselves.  Besides, do you really want to get on a plane again?”

Virgil sighed, and placed his hands on his lap.  He did have a point though.  Planes were the worst.

They passed a sign that said now entering Gravity Falls.

“I’m so excited!” the older twin squealed.

Virgil just zipped up his hoodie and grabbed his backpack.  He only had that and a suitcase.  Patton was the one who was carrying about ten different things with him.

The bus soon stopped, and the driver screeched at them, “Gravity Falls!”

The emo twin ran off, he hated that driver.  Patton on the other hand smiled and told the driver goodbye before stepping of the bus.  It did a U-turn and left the twins in the cold snow.

The town had a strange feeling here.  Something that was foreign but comforting.  Virgil shivered in his spot from the cold weather.  He was spending his winter break in the middle of nowhere.

“Where is he?” Virgil looked around for their uncle.

Emile Sanders ran a museum in the middle of the forest that surrounded Gravity Falls.

“Maybe he got held up in traffic,” Patton suggested.

That was unlikely.  There were no cars in sight, and the heavy snow falling down made sure that no one would be driving today.

A car pulled up to them.  He could hardly see the red paint with all the stickers that covered it.

The window was pulled slightly while someone began to sing Da Dadadada Dum song from SpongeBob.  Once they finished they were out of breath, but they could finally see the person.

He had blond curly hair.  His hazel eyes were framed with a pair of brown glasses.  He was wearing a white dress shirt with a pink tie.  On top of that was a brown cardigan, and on top of that was a white coat.

"You're Patton and Virgil, right?” he asked.

Virgil had moved behind his brother, peeking from behind the luggage.  Virgil wasn’t a people person.  It was Patton’s job to do the socializing.

“That’s us!  I love your car!” Patton smiled as he looked at the colorful stickers.

“Thank you,” Emile said as he got out of the car to help the twins place their things in the back.

Now that he was out Virgil could see him better.  He was about 5'10''.  The man wore a pair of regular jeans and brown loafers.

"Hi, well I'm you're Uncle Emile, but you can just call me Emile," he said.

Virgil waved, but kept himself behind his brother.

“My Dark Strange Son is shy,” Patton stated.  “But it’s okay, because I talk enough for the both of us.”

Their uncle smiled at him, “Are you two a pair?  Aren’t you cold?”

“Nope,” Patton replied.  “It’s nice here.  There’s not a snowball chance of it snowing in Florida.”

Emile got into his seat and turned the key.

“I work at the Mystery Museum which is also my home," Emile told them.  "You two will be living there too while you're in Gravity Falls."

“Mystery?” Virgil asked, perking up.

The man nodded, “It belonged to friend of mine.  I’m just running it until they come back.”

Virgil always loved mysteries.  He’d stays up all night to watch conspiracies online.  He' loved it.

Soon they were at large building.  The front read Mystery Museum, though the second M looked like it was about to fall off.  Virgil was quick to grab his stuff from the trunk and make his way inside the museum.  Patton was a few feet behind him.

“Thomas!” Emile called out through the building.  “My nephews are here!”

Soon enough, a teen appeared from the back room.  He had a slightly lighter shade of hair then theirs but had the same brown eyes.  He wore a shirt that looked a lot like Steven Universe’s shirt along with a black and white jacket.  He wore a pair of black skinny jeans with a pair of fuzzy looking snow boots.

“Thomas is my cousin,” Emile replied.

“Hi,” Thomas waved.  “Patton and Virgil?”

Virgil was back to being behind his brother.  He didn’t like the multiple eyes on him.  He really just wanted to get to his room.

“I’m Patton,” Patton stated.  “And he’s Virgil.”

Virgil’s eyes scanned the room around him.  There were statues of creatures like werewolves, vampires, zombies, etc.  He wondered if any of them were real or not.  He wanted to ask questions, to see what his uncle knew, but that feeling inside of him wouldn’t let him talk.

Luckily, his brother asked the question that Virgil really wanted to ask.

“So, is this all real?” Patton asked as he looked at the statues.

Emile shook his head, “No.”

Virgil deflated a bit.  It would be awesome if at least one thing was real.

Thomas must have noticed because he was quick to say, “There are a lot of strange rumors around here that seem pretty paranormal to me.”

“Those are just rumors,” Emile sighed.  “As fake as Robo-Krabs.”

Virgil looked back down at his feet.

Patton gave his hand a small squeeze before turning back to the older two.

“Hey,” Patton started.  “Why did the old man fall in the well?”

Thomas shrugged.

“He couldn’t see that well,” Patton finished, grinning like a maniac.

He laughed at that, and so did Emile.  Virgil even gave an awkward chuckle.  He knew just how to cheer him up.

Patton started up a conversation with Thomas.  Talking was always easy for Patton.  All the friends that Virgil had back home were friends with Patton.  

“So if your Emile’s cousin,” Patton placed a hand on his chin.  “And we're Emile’s nephews.  What does that make us?”

Thomas thought for a second, “I think you’re my first cousin once removed.”

Patton grabbed the hood of his hoodie placed it over his head, “PAWsome!”

Thomas looked at him grinning, “Cat believe you just said that!”

It was then that the great cat pun epidemic of 2019 began.

Virgil started to feel a little bit more uncomfortable.  While his brother continued to make puns, he felt himself being excluded from the conversation.  Virgil wished that he could talk, but something with in him stopped him from saying anything.  What if he said the wrong thing?

After ten minutes of cat puns being thrown around, Emile took them up to their knew room.  The only one that was free was the attic, so they were both sharing a room.  It didn't really mattered since they've always shared a room.

There were two beds already up here and a table in between them.  Behind the table was a bay window with a triangle pattern.  A closet was on one side, and a dresser was on the other.

Virgil took the left and Patton took the right of the attic.  He got the dresser and Patton got the closet.

The emo began place large band shirts, purple tights, purple socks, and ripped jeans in the dresser.  He set a stack of books in one corner and his artist set in the other.  Then he began to place band posters up on the wall.

“I forgot my tape at home,” Patton said.  “Can I borrow yours when you finish?  I won’t tell anyone, my lips are sealed.”

“Yeah,” Virgil snorted as he put up another Evanesce poster.

“Woah!”

There was the sound of slipping, but a crash never came.  Virgil had turned, hands coming out, stopping his brother from falling even though they were five feet apart.  Hair had moved away from his covered eye revealing a purple glowing eye.  His brother was about three inches from falling face first onto the floor.

“Thanks Virgil,” Patton said sheepishly.  “I- “

His face connected with the floor before he could do anything.

“Sorry,” Virgil got off his new bed and went to his brother.  “I thought I could hold it for longer.”

Patton got on his elbows and blinked a few times, “It’s fine.  Would have hurt a lot more if you didn't stop me.”

Virgil didn’t know how he got them.  They’ve always been there.  He’s always possessed these powers.  Telepathy, telekinesis, and time stopping.  Though he barely used them because he didn’t know how to use them.  Every time he used them it was a spur of the moment.  They sort of just happened.

Telepathy was the only power he could use constantly.  That was the problem though, because he couldn’t stop using it.  That’s why he used his bangs to cover his eye.

His purple eye possessed the powers.  His brown eye was normal.

Virgil slipped his hands under his brother pulling him up from the ground.

“I need to try and keep that on the down low,” Virgil mumbled.  “They’ll just tell mom and dad, and that will just make everything worse.”

“Or they will help you.  The museum is filled with supernatural things,” Patton countered.

“It’s all fake,” Virgil replied.

He wasn’t going to risk it.  He was never going to risk it.  The only one that knew about his powers was Patton.

They never really were able to hide anything from each other.

_________

It was the next day.  Virgil was sitting on a counter at the gift shop, reading a hard-cover book.  Patton was staring from behind the counter at a boy that was in there with them.

He looked to be about the twin's age, maybe a little older.  He seemed to be prepared for the winter weather outside with his brown trench coat.  It was opened revealing a blue sweater vest and black polo.  He wore jeans that were pretty faded and a pair of snow boots.  His black hair was slicked back with hair gel.  The boy's blue eyes were framed in a pair of black glasses.

“Thomas,” Patton whispered.  “Who is that?”

The teen looked up from the register, “Oh, that's Logan Crofters.  He lives in the woods with his parents.  He comes in every day for his daily human interaction.”

Virgil didn’t even look up from his book, “Pop Star, you’re in boarder-line stalker mode.”

The boy walked up to them, “Salutations, Thomas,” his head cocked to the side at Virgil.  “I have not seen you before.  I am Logan Crofters.”

When Patton didn’t make a response, Virgil mumbled out, “Virgil.  My brother and me are new here.”

The boy squinted his eyes like that would help him hear Virgil better.

Thomas saved him, “They’re Emile’s nephews.  And technically, mine too, I research it last night.  They're spending their winter break here.”

Logan nodded, “Where is the other one?”

“Being gay behind the counter,” Virgil whispered, so that only Patton could heat him.

There was a gasp and Patton shot up hitting his brother in the back of the head.  He was quick to turn around to the boy.

“Hi, I’m Patton,” the bubbly twin smiled as the emo one rubbed the back of his head.

He looked at Patton with a cocked head.  He then looked away immediately when he saw the book in Virgil’s hands.  Interest shown in Logan's eyes.  In the corner of his eye, Virgil saw his brother deflate.

“What novel are you reading?” he asked.

“A Tale of Two Cities,” he mumbled, hoping to someone that the boy will focus on anything else other than him.

Logan nodded, “A great read.  I read it last summer.”

Patton seemed to like Logan.  Probably, forming a small crush on the boy.  Virgil tried to find a way out of the conversation.

His prayers were answered when Emile walked through the gift shop door, “I need someone to hang up these signs in the forest.”

“I’ll do it!” Virgil replied, jumping up and grabbing the stuff from his uncle.  His book, now forgotten, sat on the counter.

He pulled his gloves out of his pocket pulling them on.  He zipped his jacket up, tightening it around him and pulled his hood up.  After that, he went out into the cold.

It was no longer snowing outside, but there was a pretty deep layer of snow on the ground.  It didn’t go above his boots.  This is why he wore tights and socks.  Though back in Florida he was sweat all day long for his fashion choices.  He trudged through and made it to the first tree, nailing the sign to it.  Each footstep crunched into the snow.  When he had gotten to the next tree, he nailed in another sign.

He had gotten about halfway down with the signs, when he muttered, “Why is it so cold?”

It was never this cold in Florida.

He sighed as he began to tap in another nail, but a hollow metal noise echoed through the woods.  Virgil looked at the tree and tapped it again with the hammer.  It gave another hollow echo.  Virgil dropped the signs and tighten his grip on the hammer in his hands.  If something popped out, he’d just throw it whatever was attacking him.  The fake tree was cold as he dragged a gloved hand along the surface.  Dust rubbed onto his glove.  He found an unnatural line and pulled at it.

It squeaked as it fought to stay closed, but Virgil managed to open the door.  Cobwebs stretched and spiders crawled out.  A good thing Patton wasn’t here right now.  Inside was some sort of machine.  He tightened his grip on the hammer as he flipped the two little switches.  The first on did nothing, but when he hit the second on, he heard another noise from behind him.  He tightened his grip on the hammer and turned.

There was a hole.

He walked over; it was now filled with snow.  He pushed his hand into the snow, searching and hoping there wasn’t a murder ready to pull him in.  His hand brushed against something and it moved.  Virgil was quick to dig it out.

A book was in his hand.  Virgil brushed away the snow revealing to reveal the cover.  It was a maroon color with a golden figure on the front.  If he had to guess, Virgil would say that it was a coffee mug.  In the center that was a 3.  He opened it up to the first page.  It had a note stuck to it and it read Property of, but the name had been ripped off.  Virgil felt a little frustrated at that.  Who would try to hide their book?  Could it hold secret that were too great to know?  Was it written by an alien?  Could it be a bomb?

He moved an eyeglass before reading, “It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls.”

Virgil smiled at this.  As he flipped through the pages, he felt his heartbeat pick up.  Pictures of gnomes, gargoyles, creatures of the night, sightings, and evidence was drawn and written into the pages.  Each was excellently recorded.  Beautiful drawings were on each page.  All of them done in ink.

He flipped to another page before being to read again, “Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed.  I’m being watched!”

Virgil found himself looking around the forest.  His anxiety might be getting the best of him right now.

“I must hide this book before he finds it,” Virgil felt himself begin to sweat even though it was extremely cold.  “Remember: In Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust.”

To his right a twig snapped.  He shut the book and held it to his chest, beginning to back up.  A small growl came from within the woods and he took off back to the museum.

The book was pulled to his chest.  He tightened his grip on it as he ran through the woods.  Once he was in the yard he stopped and began to puff.  White breath filled the air.  He turned around, looking at the woods.  It looked like whatever it was didn’t follow him.

“Hello!” a voice yelled behind him.

Virgil jumped turning, just seeing Patton.

“Oh hi,” he breathed out.

Patton squinted his eyes, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

Suddenly his twin’s eyes were on the book, “What’s that?”

“Um…” Virgil looked around.  “Let’s take this inside.”

Virgil made sure that no one was in the living room except Patton and him.  He sat down on the coffee table skimming through the book.

“It says that all of these creatures live here in Gravity Falls,” Virgil said, excitement filled his voice as he showed Patton the journal’s pages.  “Whatever Emile said about the rumors being fake, he was wrong.”

Virgil has always loved the unknown since a young age.  He found that he could relate to it.  Having these unnatural abilities that he’s had to keep hidden for his whole life.  Virgil felt that he wasn’t that weird.

“It looks like whoever it was just stopped,” Virgil looked through.  “Like something happened to him.”

Patton grinned, “That’s awesome!  I mean the supernatural thing, not the author going missing.”

He heard the doorbell ring and he tilted his head to the side, “Who’s that?”

Patton smiled, “That’s my date.”

Virgil blinked, “You asked out that Logan dude.”

“No,” Patton frowned for a second, before smiling again, “This other guy came in later after Logan left.  We talked and he asked me out.”

With that Patton left to get the door, leaving Virgil to read the book.

“What’s that?” Emile appeared in the door, drinking a soda.

He didn’t want to show him yet.  What if he took it?

Quickly, he placed the book behind a pillow and grabbed a stack of papers that were stapled together.

“Um…the entire script to Steven Universe,” Virgil mumbled, trying to keep his face from flushing too much.

“Oh, that’s where I put it,” his uncle smiled to himself as he took a sip of his soda.

“Family, this is Norman!” Patton appeared with a teenager.

Virgil didn’t like him one bit from the sight of him.  First, he looked like a plainer version of Virgil, with the brown hair over eye, pale skin, and black hoodie. ��He had a twig stuck in his hood and there were many dirty stains covering him.  Though what really set Virgil off was the mysterious red stain on his cheek.

"Sup," the teen waved at them.

Virgil squinted, his anxiety melted into suspicion, “Hi.”

Emile gave a smile, “Hey.”

“Is that blood, Norman?” Virgil pointed to his cheek.

“It’s…JAM!” his voice was gravelly and forced.

Virgil didn’t trust this guy for a second.  Patton could be too trusting sometimes.  It was Virgil’s job to make sure that he didn’t end up with someone that could hurt him.  He wanted to get a reading on the guy, but he’d have to uncover his hair for that.  Patton would tell and get upset.  He’d have to wait.

“I love jam!” he grabbed the man’s arm, squeezing it.  “Got some muscle there…that’s nice.”

Emile smiled at them, “They’re such a cute fusion.”

Virgil glared at the teen as he left.  There was something off about him, something that Virgil didn’t like at all.  He needed to find out.

So, he went to the attic and read through the pages.

He stared at one page.

“None for their pale skin and bad attitude, these creatures are often mistaken for teenager!” his eyes widened.  “Beware Gravity Falls' nefarious…zombie!”

He turned to see his brother and Norman.  He grabbed one of the headbands on the table and pushed back his bangs.  He opened the window to get a clearer reading.

He focused on the man.

Mine all mine.

Pretty.  Pretty.

Want to hold.

Never let go.

AAAHHH!

He fell to the ground with a large thump.

That voice in your head is always at the same volume.  It was that all those voices were going off at once that scarred him.  Why were there so many?  Did zombie’s have multiple voices in their head?

He ripped the band off his hair and got back up.

“What happened?” Thomas asked as he ran in.  “I heard something fall.”

“It was my shirt,” Virgil replied in a whisper, he doubted he even knew what he was talking about

Thomas only smiled at that, “Sound heavier than a shirt.”

“I was in it,” he replied, a slight grin formed on his face.

Should he ask Thomas for help?  He seemed like a cool guy and he seemed to believe in the paranormal.  It probably wouldn’t hurt to ask.

“Can I get your opinion on something?” he mumbled.

Thomas nodded, moving to the bay window and sat next to him.

“Would it be crazy if I thought Patton's new boyfriend was a zombie?” he mumbled.

Now it was out in the open.  Thomas probably thought he was crazy now.

Thomas shook his head, “Honestly, that would not be the craziest thing I’ve seen in this town.  Like I’m pretty sure that the mailman is a werewolf.  But you need evidence, or else everyone will just think you’re crazy.  And if you really think that guy your brother is dating is a zombie, do what you can to protect him.”

“Thanks Thomas,” Virgil nodded.

The older boy ruffed his hair before leaving the attic.

Virgil looked around before grabbing his phone and the journal.  He placed the book in an inner pocket of his hoodie and his phone in his front pocket.  He looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon, only to come out short-handed.  In the end, Virgil hoped that he could use his powers if needed.

He spent the day following his brother and his new boyfriend.  The man showed many signs of being the undead.  For example, instead of using a doorknob he punched the window out and opened the door from the other side.  He also, got hit by a swing showing no sign of physical pain and had a very late delayed response to the pain.  And he fell into a grave and crawled out of the dirty.

That was all it took to set Virgil over the edge.

So, Virgil sat waiting for Patton in their room.

When the boy finally returned Virgil was hugging the journal to his chest, “Patton."

His brother removed his heart shirt and white undershirt grabbing a dark blue undershirt and putting the heart shirt back on.  He turned towards Virgil and the younger twin screamed when he saw the giant red welt on his cheek.

“Did you see the smooch mark Norman gave me?” he grabbed his cat hoodie and tied it around his shoulders.  “Nay, it was just an accident with the leaf blower.”

“I need to talk about Norman,” Virgil looked up.

“Isn’t he the best?” Patton began brushing his hair.

“I don’t think he’s what he thinks he is,” Virgil replied.  “I saw that he was acting weird and videoed him doing some creepy stuff.”

Patton turned, “You were stalking him?”

“No, I think he’s a zombie," Virgil showed his brother the page.  “The groaning, the pale skin, he never blinks!”

“Son, you match all of those things too, and maybe he's blinking when you're blinking,” Patton replied.  “Now I have a date.”

Virgil shook his head, “Patton, I read his thoughts.  They’re all jumbled and multiple thoughts that no human can have.  I don’t trust him.”

Patton frowned, “I thought you were keeping you’re powers on the down low.  Can you trust me at least?”

“You know I trust you,” Virgil replied.  “I’m trying to protect you.  Norman is bad news.”

“I don’t need your protection, Virgil!  Stop getting in the middle of everything!  Now I’m going on my date with Norman and that the end of the story!” with that Patton left.

Patton never yelled at him.  What did Virgil do wrong?  He must have done something to make his only brother yell at him.  Tears formed in his eyes.

Virgil placed a hand on his face and felt tears pouring down his face, ruining the eyeshadow he was wearing.  With that he walked over to the bed and curled up.  The journal was pushed into his chest.

He curled up in on himself when he felt a breeze fill the room.

“I’m just being stupid,” he mumbled.

He looked as his phone at the videos.

“I have no real proof.”

Suddenly, he blinked rewinding the video.  It was Norman and Patton looking off at a pretty view. His hand was wrapped around Patton’s shoulders.  Suddenly, Norman’s hand fell off and he tried to cover it up.  He looked around before placing his hand back where it belonged.

“Patton!” Virgil screamed, throwing his phone onto the bed and running.

His brother was already gone.  He went running outside.  He didn’t know where Emile was.  More tears fell down his face.  He placed the journal in his jacket pocket.

He used the sleeves to wipe away his tears, though that probably made his eye shadow worse.

Find Patton.

His brother was in danger and he couldn’t just stand he and cry.

He found Thomas at the golf cart.  The teen was stepping out, holding the keys in his hand.

“Thomas, I need the golf cart keys to save my brother from a zombie,” Virgil stated.

The man smiled before throwing him the keys, “Don’t hit any pedestrians.  Wait!”

Before he could leave the man grabbed a shovel and gave it to him, “This is for the zombie.”

“Thanks,” Virgil reverse and went into the woods in search of his brother.

_________

Patton smiled as he and Norman walked through the woods.  He was his first boyfriend.  Norman was kind and sweet.  He didn’t even care that Patton was only twelve years old.

“Patton,” the man sighed.  “I need to tell you something.”

Patton placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, “You can tell me anything.”

He tried to forget about earlier.  His little twin was trying to protect him.  He didn’t need protecting though.  But Virgil’s always been there for him.  Virgil was scared of people, but if he saw his brother getting hurt, he’d get up and stand up for him.

His mind went to earlier, though. The fact that Logan didn’t show any interest in him and rather talked to his brother.  It was stupid because he didn’t even know the guy.  He got a date with another cute guy that walked into the museum.  Then when Virgil had mentioned his suspicions, Patton lost it.  In his mind, he saw his brother keeping him away from two guys that he liked.  Then he went and took his anger out on his little brother.  He needed to apologies.  Patton made a vow to himself that he would next time he saw Virgil he's apologize.

“Just don’t freak out,” slowly Norman unzipped his jacket.

There were five tiny men.  The one on top looked to be the youngest as he pushed his hair back behind him.  Patton stared at the little men.

“Is this weird?” the top one asked.  “Okay, I’m Jeff, this is Carson, Steve, Jason, and … sorry I forgot your name.”

“Shebulock!” the last one yelled.

“Shebulock,” he smiled.  “Anyway, we’ve been looking for a queen for a while…most of the girls here are…well, self-absorbed.  Then you come in, you’re sweet, kind, and big enough to scare off predators.  So?”

The gnomes knelt down on one knee and pulled out a ring, “Patton, will you join us in holy matrignomey…matrimony…can’t talk today.”

Patton shook his head, “I’m sorry, Jeff, but I can’t.  I’m a human and you are gnomes and it’ll be like what.”

Jeff nodded, “We understand.  We’ll never going to forget you.  Because we’re going to kidnap you.”

“What!” suddenly Jeff launched himself at Patton’s face.

They surrounded him trying to get their hands on the boy.  Patton continued to fight them off.  Kicking at the swarm.

He screamed.

Why didn’t he listen to Virgil?

Virgil…his little brother was probably crying in his room.  He needed to get to him.  Find him and make sure he was okay.  Virgil would take something think that to heart.

He was so lost in his thoughts, that he needed notice what the gnomes were planning.

Suddenly, the gnomes managed to knock him down and they began to tie him to the ground.

“What the fuck is going on here?!”

A shovel was pointed at Jeff as a very pissed off Virgil appeared behind him.  His one visible eye glared at them.

“Hey, your brother isn’t in any danger,” Jeff smiled.  “He’s just going to marry all 1000 of us and live with us for all eternity.”

“Nope, not going to happen,” Virgil glared.

Patton knew that look.  It was look that Virgil got whenever kids bullied Patton for not being smart.  It never ended well for the receiving end.

“You think you can stop us boy,” Jeff glared.  “The gnomes are a powerful- “

Virgil wacked the gnome away before cutting his brother free with the shovel.

Patton pushed his way away from them and ran to his brother.  He grabbed his extended hand and went to the golf cart.  After the two were strapped in Virgil booked it.

“Are they following us?” Virgil asked.

“With their little legs?” Patton raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, stomping was heard so Patton turned to see them all joined together into what looked like a giant gnome.  Jeff was at the top of it, controlling the whole creature.

“Um…what do we do if they become Voltron?” Patton asked.

“What?” Virgil turned behind him.  “FUCK!  Patton grab the Journal and see if there is any way to stop them!”

He grabbed the journal from his brothers jacket and flipped through it until he got to the page, “Weakness: Unknown.  Come on!”

Knowing the book wouldn't be any help he put it back in his brother's pocket.

“Come back with our Queen!” Jeff yelled.

Suddenly, he launched a group of gnomes at them.  They grabbed at the golf cart, not letting go.

Patton elbowed one off the cart while Virgil grabbed another and slammed them against the stirring wheel.

Another one grabbed onto Virgil’s hair ripping at it to get him to stop.

“OW!” his purple eye was revealed as he tried to shake it off.

“I got it!” Patton grabbed the gnome and started ripping him off Virgil, though it was putting up a fight.

“OWWW!” he screamed.

The little thing wasn’t letting go.

Virgil’s eye glowed and the gnomes froze in place

Patton was quick to rip off the frozen gnome of off Virgil’s hair and throwing it off the golf cart.

“You froze it,” Patton said.

“Shit,” Virgil mumbled.

“How long do we have?” Patton asked.

A roar was heard behind them.

Patton turned in his seat eyes widened as he saw the gnomes behind him threw a tree at them.  Luckily, it went over them.  Unluckily, it landed in the middle of the road.

The twins screamed.  Virgil slammed on the breaks, but Patton knew that they weren’t going to stop in time.  By some chance, they manage to go under the tree instead of crashing into it.

They spun out of control and the cart landed on it's side.  The two pulled themselves from the ground.  The snow seeped into their clothing.  That was going to leave a bruise or two.  They had landed back at the Mystery Museum.  Neither could feel relieved as the monster walked up to them.

As the two back up, Virgil grabbed the shovel.  Soon they were pressed up against the side of the building.

“Just stay away from us!” Virgil yelled, throwing the shovel at them.  They only punched it into the ground.

Patton looked around.  There had to be something he could do.

His eyes landed on Virgil.

Virgil was too pale.  His hair had been forced away from his face, revealing his purple eye.  His eyes were right on the monster in front of them.  It took Patton a second to realize why.  All of the gnomes’ thoughts were going through his head right now.  Too many thoughts to comprehend.  His forehead was covered in little scratches, some had blood while others were just little red marks.

But what really got Patton, was his eyeshadow.  It streaked his face like he had been crying.  He had been crying.  Most definitely at the argument they had earlier.

How could he do that to his brother over a couple of guys?

Patton forced himself in front of his brother.  Pushing them both into the wall.  Virgil’s arms had circled around his arm.

He needed to act.

“I’ll marry you, Jeff,” Patton stated.  “Just leave my brother alone.”

“Patton, no,” Virgil was hugging his arm tighter.  “Please don’t.”

The older twin faced him, “Please, just trust me, Virgil.”

I know what I’m doing.

Virgil nodded slowly and let go of his brother’s arm.  Patton was quick to place his hair back over the purple eye.

Patton walked up to the monster as Jeff made his way down.  Once he had gotten there, Patton knelt down so that he was closer to the gnome’s height, but he still towered over the little man.  He held out a ring before slipping the ring onto Patton’s presented finger.  While Patton was looking at the ring, Jeff turned around.

“Let’s get you back to the woods, honey,” he said.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Patton stated, as his hand gripped onto the leaf blower behind him.  “You get to kiss me now.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” the gnome said.

As Patton leaned down, he pulled the tool closer to him.

Once Jeff was close enough, Patton pulled the leaf blower in front of him.

“This is for lying to me,” he yelled as he sucked the tiny man up. “This is for breaking my heart,” he tightened the nob as hard as he could.  “And this is for hurting my brother.”

He aimed the leaf blower at the monster.  It gasped and began to back up a bit, but without a person controlling it, it couldn’t do anything.

“What to do the honors?” Patton asked turning to his brother.

“On three,” Virgil smiled.

"One, two, three!”

Virgil hit the release and the gnome went flying into the monster.  Just like that all the gnomes began to fall to the ground like it was raining gnomes.

“I’ll get you for this!” Jeff yelled as he was launched into the woods.

“Orders I need orders.”

“My arms hurt.”

Patton began using the leaf blower to scare them away.

“Does anyone else want some of this?” the two yelled out at the now retreating army.

Once they all disappeared, Patton turned towards his brother.  Before either could say anything, Patton pulled Virgil into a tight hug.  Slowly, Virgil awkwardly placed his arms around him too.

“I’m sorry!” Patton cried into his shoulder.  “I should have believed you.  I can’t believe Norman turned into a bunch of gnomes.”

“Wait that was Norman?” Virgil asked.  “I guess I was wrong about the zombie thing.”

Patton nodded, “I didn’t mean what I said.  You were just trying to look out for me.  And I got anger over the fact that Logan showed more interest in you, then when you started the whole zombie thing, I lost it.”

Virgil tightened his hold, “Hey, you saved us back there.  And I’m sorry too.  I was just being stupid and should have talked to you instead.  And if Logan can’t see the…pawsome person that you are he’s not worth it.”

“YOU MADE A CAT PUN!” his brother squealed.

They pulled away smiling at each other.  Patton knew they both looked like a mess.  He could feel the dampness in his clothing and there were probably twigs stuck in his hair.  He saw them in Virgil’s hair anyway.

They walked inside, seeing Emile counting today’s earnings.  He looked at them as Virgil used his foot to close the door behind them.  Patton felt Virgil’s hand tighten on his arm.

“Did you two get hit by a bus?” he asked as he put the money in the register.

Patton began leading Virgil back to there room where they could change out of their wet clothing.  Virgil brought a sleeve to his face and began to wipe at his messed-up eyeshadow.

“Wait!” Emile looked at his register for a second before looking back at the two.  “I um…overstocked.  Each of you take something on the house.”

“Really?” Virgil asked.

The man nodded, so the kids looked around.

Virgil looked at a purple shirt with a storm cloud in the middle.  He took a large since he liked his clothing being on the big size.

Patton continued to rummage through boxes until he found the greatest thing ever.

“And I will have,” Patton twirled around smiling.  “A grappling hook!”

“Wouldn’t you rather have a toy or something?” Emile tilted his head.

“GRAPPLING HOOK!” he used it raising himself off the ground on one of the ceiling beams.

______________

In their room, Virgil and Patton had gotten ready for bed.  Virgil had pulled on a large black Evanesces shirt and a pair of purple boxers for his pajamas.  He was currently curled up in his blankets writing in the journal.

Patton was next to him jumping in his bed, wearing a cat onesie.  In his hand was his new grappling hook.

“This journal told me there was no one in Gravity Falls that you could trust.  But when you battle a hundred gnomes side-by-side with someone, you realize that they probably always have you’re back.”

Next to him Patton used his hook to grab a stuffed lion.  The boy grinned to at his brother when he succeeds.

“Hey, Pop Star,” Virgil placed the book under his pillow.  “Can you get the light?”

Patton took aim with his grappling hook, grinning, “I’m on it.”

He released the hook and it hit the lamp, breaking it along with the window behind them.

The two of them began laughing at it.

“Our uncle told us there was nothing strange about this town.  But look at me, and what I can do?  Who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked?” 

_______

Emile looked around him.  Thomas had left hours ago, and the kids were asleep.  They were all the way upstairs too, so they wouldn’t be able to hear him.  He walked over to the vending machine and typed in the code to get in.

Before he closed it, he made sure that no one was watching.

He then closed the machine’s door.

[hyphypmic]

Saying Good Morning and Good Night

—

Summary:

Hifumi and Doppo rarely see each other because of their work schedule, but that won’t stop them from saying Good Morning or Good Night to each other.

—

The thing about Hifumi and Doppo is that they may live under the same roof, but they rarely see each other. Hifumi has a night job in a host club while Doppo has a day job as a salary man, hence their days begin at different times. When Hifumi is asleep, Doppo has to leave. When Doppo gets back from a long shift at work, Hifumi already left.

Though despite of all that, they find their own little ways to say good morning and good night, especially when they can’t see each other.

1.) Good Morning

Doppo wakes up in the ungodly hours of the morning. The world is still silent but the traffic is hell on earth. It’s also rush hour in the train station. It’s like everyone took an oath of silence (or forgot to take their daily dose of coffee) in order to start the day early and end it faster. Doppo dreads these moments when he has to leave the warmth of his shared bed with Hifumi and face the cold, hard plastic chair of the train (assuming he even gets a seat at all).

He gets out of bed everyday, always careful not to disturb the man next to him. He gently removes the arm wrapped around his waist and pulls back the sheets, not forgetting though to place them back so Hifumi won’t feel cold. He stretches and cracks his back then proceeds to the shower. He scrubs himself efficiently then dresses up in his button-down shirt, green tie, black blazer and slacks. He runs his hands through his messy red and blue hair to make it somewhat presentable. He didn’t really have the willpower to brush his hair as well as Hifumi does anyway. He puts on his socks then pads softly to the kitchen. He makes sure that the bedroom door is closed before even cracking an egg.

Doppo isn’t as good as Hifumi when it comes to making food, but ever since he discovered rice cooker pancakes, he thinks it’s satisfactory (That’s a lie, even if it’s slightly burned he blames himself). He makes the pancake batter and places it in the rice cooker which he cleaned the previous night. He closes the lid and sets the stainless steel egg timer that Hifumi bought to around seven minutes.

He then brings out his favorite red pan, oil and a couple of eggs. He makes his own first, scrambled egg with a splash of milk. He sets that aside, the smell always making him feel good. He goes to the fridge and gets three slices of bread. Two for himself obviously and one for Hifumi. He toasts them directly on the pan (never again going to use that infernal toaster) until they’re the perfect shade of golden brown.

The timer goes off and Doppo rushes to remove the pancake from the rice cooker. Thankfully, most of these days, it’s perfectly golden brown like the toast. It’s also fluffy, buttery and almost melts in the mouth.

Doppo doesn’t really have the time to enjoy the rice cooker pancake, (well when does he ever have time), so he places it on a plate and places that on top of their dining table. He goes back to the stove and cooks Hifumi’s sunny side up egg. Funny, Hifumi likes sunny side up, over easy. It matches his personality in a way where the yolk stands out in stark difference to the whites. It’s like the yolk is the core of his being. And when the yolk is popped or opened up, the best parts come out.

And Doppo is a scrambled egg... enough said about that.

Doppo slides the egg off the pan and onto a different plate. He turns off the stove and cleans up after himself. He glances at the clock, he’s running two minutes late on his mental schedule, so naturally he panics. But then he sees something and calms down right before he can go on self-deprecating.

He makes his egg sandwich (complete with cheese!) and wraps it up. He always eats it while walking anyway. He goes back to the room and sees that Hifumi is still fast asleep, peaceful. Without the usual chaos that accompanies his presence, he looks like a sleeping angel. A rare smile dances on Doppo’s face. As much as they argue and banter, he can’t deny how much he actually loves him. In rare moments of tenderness, Hifumi and Doppo actually are very, very compatible.

When Hifumi wears his suit, something about it excites Doppo in a way he can’t articulate. His toned body is accentuated by the crisp, straight lines of his tailored suits. When Hifumi is out of it, besides the fact that he’s mortifyingly annoying and afraid of women, he’s more endearing to Doppo. He’s the Hifumi that he actually came to love.

Doppo stands beside Hifumi and brushes a lock of hair from his forehead. Doppo leans down to kiss it and says good morning, right before rushing out and leaving for work.

He doesn’t forget the ID that was hanging on the hook beside the door, hung by no other than Hifumi himself.

—

Hifumi gets home before the ungodly hours of the morning. It’s 4AM, and it can be said it’s the satanly hours of the early morning. Worse than ungodly. Nightlife is still going strong, but 3AM is enough for his host club. He’s energized from being a host, but he’s also exhausted. When he takes off his new blazer, he feels the tiredness sink in. He doesn’t know how he does it, but he does. Like Sensei said, he’s good at compartmentalizing his emotions. He tosses his blazer on top of the couch, fully aware that it was going to be rumpled. That was fine, he could always iron it later in the day.

He stretches and cracks his back, much like what Doppo does in the morning, well, later in the morning.

Hifumi checks on Doppo first, who is (thankfully) fast asleep. For the first few weeks of being roommates, Doppo stayed up waiting for Hifumi. He’d blame himself if he fell asleep before his best friend came home.

Well, they progressed beyond the best friendship stage obviously, so there’s that. Doppo got over it after a lot of talk downs by Hifumi.

Doppo looks restless while he asleep, muttering stuff about his work. Hifumi goes in and sits at the edge of the bed. He holds Doppo’s hand and kisses it. Doppo’s hand tightens around his and Hifumi has to fight the temptation to just lie down. If anything, he wants to clean off the smell of alcohol and smoke on him. He doesn’t want Doppo to wake up to the smell of a club on him (and he does have the need to be clean). He stands up and goes to the shower. Unlike Doppo, he stands for a long while in the running hot water, savoring the feeling. He then takes time to take care of his blonde and green hair (it doesn’t look good on its own you know) and scrub his body with his favorite lavender soap (which is also Doppo’s favorite, along with jasmine.)

He changes into a thin white shirt and boxers and walks out of the bathroom. He changes the note he posts next to the clock for Doppo. He knows Doppo gets upset even if he is just a minute late in his mental schedule. Hifumi isn’t sure if he writes the same thing over and over again, but he makes sure he doesn’t write the same thing for a week at least.

This time he writes: It’s okay! Don’t worry about it. There are 86 400 seconds in a day, missing a few won’t affect it as much. I love you!

He sticks it next to the clock. He then moves Doppo’s ID from the kitchen counter to the hook by the door so his husband wouldn’t forget it. He looks at the dorky picture on the ID. Doppo in the picture is a few years younger, and a lot less tired. The dark circles around his eyes aren’t as evident. If Hifumi stops to think about it, Doppo probably has those circles since college started. Or for that matter, middle school.

He looks around for something to clean up, aside from the blazer, nothing was out of place. Though he was sure if he stepped inside Doppo’s office… well the last time he cleaned up didn’t go so well. Doppo works in… organized chaos. He knows where everything is. Even if is monthly report is hidden under the yearly statistics report, his paperweight and all the files from the past two years. How it got under there is a mystery.

He smiles. Doppo really does outdo himself. The plates are still on the dishrack, so Hifumi placed them back in the cabinets where they belong. He was just about to close the lights when he saw a note taped behind the kitchen sink. It was from Doppo. It said that there was still some leftover dessert in the fridge if he wanted some.

Hifumi, there’s dessert in the fridge if you want some. It’s not what you made, but it’s some chocolate pudding. I know it’s not as good as yours but I did my best… I’m sorry if it’s not up to your standards. Must be my fault… I hope you love it anyway as much as I love you. Sorry.

Hifumi chuckled a little bit and took the note down. He was going to keep it with the other notes in the sidedrawer. He has an office, but he has clearbooks filled with notes from each year. He has three or four, for the past years they’ve been together. (Don’t worry, they’re organised).

He ate the pudding cup in the fridge. It was in one of those cute disposable ones Hifumi bought on a whim. He had to admit, the touch of vanilla was interesting. He threw the cup in the trash and washed the spoon.

Doppo always leaves him a little bite to eat or a drink. Some days, it’s his favorite Chai Latte or chocolate pudding, or his favorite Moet Champagne (chilled to perfection). He goes to the bathroom and brushes his teeth with his green toothbrush (Doppo’s is blue).

Hifumi though, as tired as he is, wishes he could do more, so he goes in the room and fixes Doppo’s side of the closet. His shirts have improved, mostly because Hifumi keeps buying him some and lending his own.

He organises the ties and the blazers. He runs his hand down one of the particularly worn down ones and smells the sleeve. Even if it is the ugliest one of the bunch, it’s his favorite because it carries Doppo’s scent. Hifumi closes the closet and takes his place beside Doppo. He tucks himself in and puts an arm around Doppo so he’s spooning him. He plants a kiss at his cheek then his neck. He snuggles closer.

He whispers a good morning before falling fast asleep.

2.) Good Night

Doppo comes back to an empty apartment. It’s 8PM, and Hifumi left the apartment an hour ago. Doppo sighs to himself. He’s used to it, but sometimes its super infuriating. He misses him by a hair. Hifumi, even if he is sort of a mess, is never late to his work. Once he puts on his suit and goes on host mode, his kittens are everything to him. Well, not above Doppo.

Doppo knows that he shouldn’t stay up all night because Hifumi said no and its not the responsible thing to do… his boss would also be disappointed and then it would be his fault that the extra work isn’t finished or that the office is messy and he would have to clean it up…

Okay. Sleep would be good.

But not before he eats the dinner that’s waiting for him on the table. Hifumi never fails to make Doppo dinner, and even if the dishes repeat, its always a gastronomic adventure. Hifumi used to make food good enough for an army (which was the reason why they invite Jakurai almost all the time), but now he knows how to downsize (except on anniversaries and special occasions and when he feels like it). Today it was yakiudon and tempura. It was still a big serving, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He burns all of that anyway with his stress.

Hifumi left a note on the counter.

It’s a new recipe. I hope you like it! Goodnight and sleep tight!

Doppo takes off his ID and places it on the kitchen counter. He takes the note and puts it in the breast pocket of his blazer.

Doppo eats at the dining table while he watches Hifumi’s livestream on his phone. Not that he misses him or anything… that’s a joke he misses Hifumi a lot. He’s the chaotic, but calming presence that makes him stop apologising, self-deprecating and overall makes him feel lihe’s all good and that he’s never at fault.

Hifumi on the livestream is wearing his favorite suit. It was the black one with gold accents. When Hifumi turns around in the light, the gold shimmers and makes golden flower patterns. It brings out the color in his eyes and the lines of his lean, toned body. (On an unimportant note, whenever Doppo gets the chance, it’s the suit he likes taking off of Hifumi the most because the material just slides through his fingers.)

IIIIIIt’s HifumI! I’m here with my kittens (cue screaming girls) and I’m so happy I have over 10K viewers tonight! Oooo and rising!

Hifumi laughs and Doppo eats another bite of the mouthwatering yakiudon.

It’s party central here in my club! Come down here if you want to drink to your heart’s content! Hifumi accepts a glass of champagne from one of the waitresses. Anyway, He takes a big sip of the champagne, almost draining the glass. It’s an important video today becaaaauuuse out of all my adoring kittens, I have selected one to feature in my livestream! She won the instagram contest last week. Hifumi beckons to someone off camera and a girl, wearing a body-hugging sparkly silver dress appears. Hifumi wraps his arm around the girl and Doppo almost laughs at her expression. It looks like she would go into cardiac arrest. Well, she was holding what looked like to be an apple martini in one hand.

“Idiot.” Doppo mutters as he takes a sip of water. “That poor girl is going to faint. “

Hifumi introduces the girl to his now 11.3K viewers. He says a lot about her, giving her the right of amount of attention. He asked her some questions, but of course none of them disrespectful, just borderline flirtatious. And do you have anything to say to my viewers? He asks the girl, a brilliant smile on his face.

The girl stutters. I…I… Hifumi is amazing! I…I… She looks like she’s about to cry.

Hifumi laughs again, his host personality the ever-confident playboy. She’s speechless. Poor kitten. He plants a kiss on her cheek and removes his arm from around her shoulders and leaves to walk around the club some more.

Well, I can’t be on my phone the whole time can I? I have to enjoy this party! Lots of kittens to sweep off their feet. Lots of hearts to break. He laughs. Ah. How hard it is to be me. Surrounded by all of these beautiful, he twirls one girl, wonderful, he winks at someone off camera, and fantastic women yet my heart is taken. Hifumi winks at the camera.

Both Doppo and Hifumi both know that they can’t make their relationship public because Hifumi would be out of a job. Hell, Hifumi had to bribe several people just so that they would shut up. Hifumi loves saying that he’s in a relationship, but he never says with who. People just directly assume that he’s referring to a different woman each time, or for that matter the viewers. Hifumi’s host personality really is a terrible flirt.

Goodnight baby! See you all tomorrow night! Hifumi then turns off the camera.

Doppo puts down the phone and takes the last bite of the tempura.

“Goodnight.” Doppo says and stands up to clean up the dishes.

Doppo decides to make chocolate pudding for Hifumi tonight. He needs some food to absorb some of that alcohol. Doppo makes Hifumi something every night, from lattes to cupcakes to sandwiches.

Doppo googled a recipe online and followed it step-by-step, except adding a little bit more vanilla because Hifumi mentioned something about liking that.

Doppo tries not to feel too bad about the quality, but he still does. He writes a note to Hifumi, apologising profusely for the inferior quality of his pudding.

He put it in the freezer for it to settle and uses the spatula to clean the bowl. He licks the spatula, finding the taste satisfactory enough and then washes up. He places the dishes on the dish rack and heads to their bedroom.

Doppo freshens up and changes into his pajama pants and black shirt. He places his shirt in the hamper and hangs his blazer and pants. He just doesn’t believe in washing something until it actually gets dirty. His jacket and slacks are still fine for at least two or three more working days, assuming he doesn’t spill something or someone spills something on him which is of course completely his fault-

Doppo shakes his head and brushes his teeth. Hifumi said no self-deprecating before sleeping.

He does the laundry. He tosses all of his clothes in the washing machine, but he washes Hifumi’s suits by hand. Even if they can be machine washed, Doppo does it anyway because he feels like they need extra care. Unlike Doppo, Hifumi’s appearance is literally his career. The machine can never really wash away the smell of smoke and alcohol anyway. Doppo, for some reason, enjoys the feeling of the cloth under his fingers.

He places the clothes in the dryer (his clothes at least) and hangs Hifumi’s on the clothesline outside. They do take longer to dry, but it’s better than having them messed up in the dryer.

Doppo takes down the suits he washed yesterday and his dry clothes and proceeds to iron them. The first time he did that though, he burned his fingers and really had to wait for Hifumi to get home. Not that he enjoyed having a slightly drunk, mostly flirty man fix him up and kiss his fingers all better… well, he may have enjoyed that last bit.

When that’s done, he places all the clothes neatly in the closet. Hifumi’s side is to the right while his is to the left.

With that all done, Doppo falls back on bed and tucks himself in, not before sending Hifumi a reminder to take out the trash when he wakes up.

—

Hifumi wakes up to an empty apartment. Its 8AM and Doppo left the apartment an hour prior. Even though he slept at 5AM, he made sure that he would eat the breakfast (or brunch, considering that he was just going back to sleep after that) that Doppo left him. He even set an alarm for it.

Hifumi does not want to waste the breakfast Doppo made for him. The first time he did, he felt so bad, he almost started self-deprecating as hard as Doppo. He gets up and eats the rice cooker pancake and sunny side-up egg. He gets jam from the pantry and spreads it on his pancake and toast.

HIfumi had to admit, Doppo was getting better. His pancake was definitely a lot more fluffy and buttery. It had that great texture that just melts in the mouth.

He finshed the brunch and cleaned up. He went through his phone for a bit, feeling safe that the girls were just behind the screen. But, he couldn’t stop the cringe everytime he got a new DM notification.

He selected a winner for the instagram contest he started last week and made a teaser post for the next contest. He saw the text from Doppo and followed the instructions. He did take out the trash, bringing it downstairs.

He went back, greeting some of the neighbors and scampering up whenever a woman appeared. Once he was back in the apartment, he sent Doppo a text saying that yes, he did take out the trash.

Hifumi yawned and as always, was still sleepy. So he turned on the TV, watched an episode of a series that he barely keeps up with, and fell asleep on the couch.

…

Hifumi woke up again at 2PM. That was just enough time to procrastinate and watch the show he actually does follow. It was one of the animes that Ichiro recommended to him. Though it was quite possible that he messed up the name, Ichiro was just rattling off animes he could watch. Not to mention the list that Jiro sent, along with Saburo. Hifumi literally just asked: What’s a good anime?

Ultimately, he settled on Yuri on Ice. Because. Obvious reasons.

Hifumi watched an epsiode or two… possibly three… okay actually it was six then closed his laptop. He set it down on the coffee table in front of him and got up. He was going to make dinner. He didn’t want to leave the apartment without eating and without making something for Doppo.

He had to fight the temptation to make enough for an army, or else they’d end up inviting Jakurai again. Hifumi settled on making shrimp and vegetable tempura and testing out that new yakisoba recipe. He wanted to add more soy sauce and a bit more sugar, just to see what would happen.

Hifumi brought out his garish apron and tied it around his waist. He brought out the ingredients, his wok, his wooden spoon and chopsticks and set to work.

He first made the batter of the tempura and left it to set. For some reason, like crepe, it binds better when rested. He cut the vegetables (eggplant, carrot and sweet potato) into enough pieces for the both of them. He seasoned them with salt and pepper. He then cleaned the shrimp (careful to not ruin the tail part at the end) and seasoned it lightly with some salt and pepper. He also put a swipe of mustard on it to have that little kick at the end.

He figured that frying takes the least amount of time, so he always does that last. Nothing satisfies him more than hearing the fine sizzling of fried tempura.

He started on the yakisoba. He chopped up some onions, cabbage, carrots and shitake mushrooms. He then prepped the yakisoba sauce, seasoning here and there and adding what he felt like adding. It’s really unfortunate he can’t repeat a recipe because, like his persona, it’s always changing.

When Hifumi was satisfied with the taste, he put some canola oil on the wok and spread it around with his spoon. He tossed in the onions, sauteing them until they were translucent. He then added the other vegetables, continuing to stir until they changed in color and the room was beginning to fill with the aroma.

He then let them simmer for a bit in soy sauce and sugar. He prepped the noodles, taking them out of the pack and then dropping them in the pan. He stirred it and added the yakisoba sauce while doing so.

He got a plate, set it aside and took the noodles out of the wok. He placed them on the plate and then garnished it with pickled radish.

As much as Hifumi wanted to dig in, he had to get started on the tempura. He wished he would be there to see Doppo’s face when he tries it. As hard as Doppo tries, he can’t conceal the expression when he likes Hifumi’s food.

Hifumi poured oil in the wok, deep enough for the tempura to float, but not overly deep that he would waste the oil.

He put his thermometer in and right before it hit the right temperature, Hifumi dropped in the vegetables first in the batter and using his chopsticks, fully coated them and then dropped them into the oil, right as it hit the perfect temperature.

Hifumi then retrieved a plate and placed tissue on it so that the excess oil will be soaked.

He waited for the tempura to be the color in between pale yellow and golden brown before pulling them out and placing them on the tissue. He did the same with the shrimp.

It was 5:30PM when he finished. He had to leave the apartment by 7PM so he could be at the host club by 7:30PM. He still had to clean up and settle into his persona.

Hifumi ate his share quickly, but he took note of the flavor he managed to infuse. The mustard on the shrimp was a nice kick. He liked the seasoning on the vegetables, but it could use a little more work. He also figured he should still work on his yakisoba. It was great, but, it could always be better.

Before leaving the table, Hifumi made sure that the food looked like it was served at a restaurant. He even cleaned the serving plate. He also left a note telling Doppo that it was a new recipe along with a good night and sleep tight.

Hifumi went to the shower and cleaned up, removing the smell of onions from his hair. He blow-dried his hair and brushed it carefully. (Hair that good doesn’t happen on its own you know!) He then applied a bit of make-up, but not enough to make it obvious he’s wearing it. He just wore the right amount of eyeliner and added just a tiny bit of mascara to make his eyes really pop.

He went to the closet and saw that Doppo’s organised traces. The suit he wore three nights ago was hanging and Hifumi stroked it with a smile on his face. His Doppo would He tugged on his favorite suit, the black one with the shimmering gold designs. He made sure to unbutton the first few buttons on his black shirt to expose a hint of his chest and collarbone. He knew the girls loved it (along with Doppo of course).

The blonde felt his persona set in. His back straightened and as he combed his hair again, he felt his confidence growing. He was ready for a night out. Well, a night out working. He checked himself out in the mirror, took a mirror selfie for good measure (posted on IG!) and walked out of the bathroom.

He put on his shoes, grabbed his keys, took one look around the apartment and was off.

Bonus: I Love You

It’s day off, and as much as the couple loves Jakurai, there are some days where they just need time for themselves. But of course, they are going to have dinner with him, after all, they did win the last territory battle. Nothing makes a group of people closer than spitting out verses with aggression.

Doppo and Hifumi went out the entire day. Well, from 2PM until 8PM (that was the time they were going to meet Jakurai at a restaurant that DOES NOT serve drinks). They went shopping. Hifumi had Doppo fitted out for a really really nice suit that he can’t wear to work. Doppo grumbled on about the unimportance of it, but inside his heart was fluttering at it. Hifumi, however, had to resist the temptation to be the one to measure Doppo himself. He hasn’t ran his hands down that torso in forever, but he resisted.

Doppo bought Hifumi a nice necklace with a green gem at the end of it. It had a long chain, so it reaches Hifumi’s sternum. Doppo has been eyeing it for the past few weeks. He even went as far to put a down payment on it, just to make sure nobody would get the gift he wanted for Hifumi. The necklace was a bit on the expensive end, but Hifumi couldn’t care any less. He loved it. He promised Doppo he’d wear it every day.

When they walked down an alleyway, Hifumi brought Doppo in for a swooping kiss. Thanking him for all of the little acts of service he does every day. Doppo kisses him back. Thanking him for just being a part of his life and for being the light that brightens his gloomy world.

The kiss lasted a long while and could’ve gone further, because clearly, both wanted it to, but ultimately, they decided to just continue their day, exploring Shinjuku and its many shops.

Doppo and Hifumi usually don’t see each other even if they live under one roof, but for a love as true and kind as that, they don’t need to see each other to feel the warmth and care one feels for the other.

[cards-onthetable]

A little justified complaining to go with your morning coffee

A summary of my thoughts on last week: WHY DOES ANTHONY EVEN EXIST? LET ERIN BE A LAWYER RATHER THAN USING ANTHONY TO TURN ALL HER POTENTIAL LAWYER STORYLINES INTO DETECTIVE STORYLINES.

A not-summary of my thoughts on last night’s episode:

Erin:

Erin prosecuting a doctor who “killed” his own child trying to cure her of a life-threatening disease? 👀👀👀 I’m listening don’t fuck this up.

This scene with the victim’s mom exists, I don’t care about it.

ERIN IS SO RUDE. In what world is it okay for a ~respected professional~ such as herself to make demands of a fellow professional whose service she relies on, and then get frustrated at a totally reasonable answer and storm out? God no wonder Eddie acts like a damn first-day-on-the-job rookie when she walks into Erin’s office. This poor medical examiner lady, ugh.

This is pretty interesting actually. And I have some Opinions about this euthanasia topic but I’ll keep them to myself. But this is a decently interesting ~what’s in the news~ adaption for this show.

Frank:

Who’s this Lenny dude? I vaguely remember him from somewhere but meh, as usual I don’t care about this.

“He can be charged in the court of public opinion!”

“Sometimes we’re blindest to those who’re closest to us”

Spare me all this Sage Wise Wisdom from these lame ass old white dudes yo.

This is going to turn into YET ANOTHER example of Frank getting caught between a rock and a hard place, and coming up with some brilliant solution that keeps everyone reasonably happy (JUST LIKE LAST WEEK’S EPISODE, THERE’S MY OTHER COMMENTARY ON THAT). Snore.

I’m sad Lenny isn’t wearing a bolo tie with his suede blazer.

Danny:

This dead chick has a hella cool tattoo (and a hella cool apartment how do I afford a place like that?)

Is this the same medical examiner who made me all 👀👀👀 last time she showed up? Ugh what happened to those cool vibes? Apparently she’s had one too many drinks with Frank and the Sage Wise Wisdom crew or something because snoooore.

On a serious note, this shit about drugs laced with fentanyl is legit and scary. Last year an old friend of mine OD’d on what he thought was Xanax, but contained 4 times the lethal dose of fentanyl per pill. Be careful yo.

So someone killed this artist with the cool math tattoo to up the value of her art? I’M ACTUALLY INTRIGUED. 👀

“Do yOu hAvE aLmOnD MiLk?” LOL LOOK AT THIS SILLY MILLENIAL HIPPIE ARTIST! 🙄🙄🙄😂

I enjoyed this interrogation scene actually. It’s refreshing to see Danny use ~brains~ to get the info he needs rather than storming around everywhere roughing people up.

Jamko:

Y’all in this opening scene we just got more information about Maya than we’ve ever gotten about Eddie.

A cop taking money from crime scenes? Maya telling the dude to get the hell in the car while Eddie hangs back, a Thoughtful Look on her face? LOLOLOL don’t tell me this is how the show is about to get rid of Maya rather than revealing Jamko’s engagement.

LOLOL I was happy about this normal, casual, not-gross Jamko scene in Jamie’s office UNTIL Jamie said incredulously “you think there’s a dirty cop in the precinct, and you and I haven’t noticed?” YOU’RE NOT SOME ALL KNOWING MASTER OF COPS, YO. Did it ever occur to you that maybe a dirty cop would be careful, cover their tracks, and have the training to pull off such an operation successfully without drawing any suspicion from other cops? He’s so damn prideful and ridiculous it hurts (and lol gives me some Insight as to how/why they haven’t disclosed their relationship yet).

“So we’re just going to let this go?” “No, we’re going to leave this to IAB, LiKe wE’Re SuPpOsEd tO” ugh Jamie you’re so gross. Y’all we KNOW if Jamie had been the one to come across this information from some random collar, he’d be Personally Investigating regardless of protocol and The Rules, So this is a cool fun double standard.

MAYA HAS MOTIVE YALL. 😂😭

Don’t tell me Eddie’s about to turn around during this crime scene walkthrough and see Maya shoving cash and diamond rings into her pockets. RICH.

Okay, so Jamie saw her on a mysterious surveillance camera? I WAS CLOSE.

This is 100% an excuse to get Maya off the show rather than try to deal realistically with whatever ~fallout~ would happen between her and Eddie whenever Maya finally found out her partner is shacking up with the boss. YOU WON’T CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE. This dumbass show y’all.

Jamie’s being awfully brash, bringing up “Maya’s partner” to an IAB suit who supposedly has no idea the commissioner’s son was dumb enough to propose to said partner at a putt-putt golf course at 10am on a Sunday.

DID YOU GUYS CATCH HOW JAMIE JUST STRAIGHT UP LIED TO EDDIE? THIS IS EXAMPLE A OF WHY I HATE THIS ENTIRE ARRANGEMENT. It is to be expected that a boss would be privy to confidential information that can’t be shared with subordinates. It is to be expected that the boss would dodge/ignore questions about said information when the topic comes up. IT IS NOT EXPECTED THAT A DUDE WOULD LIE STRAIGHT TO HIS FIANCEE’S FACE because of his position knowing information he can’t share with her. I’m sorry, but what’s appropriate between a boss and subordinate, and what’s appropriate between two adults in a loving, trusting relationship are two different things. When those lines get blurred you can’t reasonably expect them to KeEp WoRk aNd hOmE SePaRaTe and objectively refuse to allow ~work conflicts~ to affect their home life and vice versa. UGH UGH UGH.

Um, Sarge, is it Normal to humiliate this poor officer by having her hauled away from roll call? ALSO SHE’S YOUR FIANCEE’S PARTNER and I presume they like each other or at east don’t want to kill each other, so I’m sure Eddie will be super happy with you for this little stunt.

OH HERE WE GO, BACKLASH! 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

AYE YALL WHAT DID I SAYYYY? This whole work/home situation is NOT SUSTAINABLE and I don’t know why I’m still having to remind people of this.

How long have I wanted to hear Jamie say “I’m sorry” and “Eddie, you did the right thing”? A LONG TIME BUT NOT IN THIS SELF-RIGHTEOUS CONTEXT OR TONE OF VOICE, I AM DISSATISFIED, DO IT AGAIN.

Family dinner:

Jamie looks good in this color sweater. BUT ALL IS NOT FORGIVEN.

Eddie punching him in the arm is a little cute BUT ALL IS NOT FORGIVEN. EDDIE, GIRL, YOU’VE GOTTA DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE YOUR WHOLE SITUATION BECAUSE 5 MINUTES AGO YOU WERE FIGHTING OVER WORK RELATED BS, AND that’s not the kind of thing that’ll just go away if you keep up this work arrangement.

Gross @ Eddie all “maybe I could’ve done something, maybe I missed the red flags, ~this is somehow partially my fault~...” Sister you’ve got to take a lesson from your idiot fiancé and give yourself a whole lot more credit, which in your case, unlike his, will be deserved.

IN SUMMARY: This Jamko situation is driving me nuts and something needs to change in a big way. But I don’t have high hopes for that to happen. Also this was a thinly veiled scheme to get Maya off the show rather than let her find out about this Secret Relationship that should not still be a secret at all. YAY BLUE BLOODS! I hate it.

[dreadhaus-literature]

{Character Study} Diederich Frost

I have been reading a lot of research books lately, trying to hone my talent into something useable, and trying to get my head in the right space to write again. One of those books is, “Write Characters Your Readers Won’t Forget” by Stant Litore; another highly rated/recommended writing tool from Amazon, and that book comes with exercises! So we’re going to take a first pass at them with a newly created OC.

I won’t say it’s been a while since I’ve created characters, because it hasn’t been, but any practice is good practice, right? Right.

The book interested me simply because I want to write good characters--which I know is a stupid thing to say, lmao, as an author that’s like half my goddamn job. But that’s why I want to be good at it! And practice makes perfect.

This will be on-going, since there’s an entire booklet full of exercises, so I’ll just reblog and add to the post as I read. P:

The character I’ve decided to use is from my first group of 10 drabbles from my Shots in the Dark collection.

#10, Diederich, who will be henceforth known by his full name--

Diederich Karsten Frost

Exercise One - Write down your character’s critical ingredient, that one defining strength that everyone will know them for. If you don’t know yet, make it up.

Well I don’t know yet, because I only wrote about Diederich once and it was for like half a page--so we’re going to make it up.

Diederich’s defining strength is that he is unrelenting.

Exercise Two - Take another look at your character’s one great strength. How might that same strength set them up for disaster? Brainstorm a little.

Oh ho, this is surprisingly easy. I don’t know Diederich very well yet but what I do know about him is that he’s a ruthless businessman, has the money to show for it, because he’s unrelenting, unyielding, a mountain in the face of a hurricane--but where that strength will fail him? When he has to bend for love, for the one in his life who means the most. He’s a man used to getting what and who he wants, so when he’s told no...

It’s going to be difficult for all parties involved.

Water can eventually wear down rock but it takes centuries, and that’s the kind of patience I imagine Diederich’s lover will have to have if they want to gain any ground with this man. He’s going to be difficult to get to bend and similar to ice he’s likely to shatter into something sharp rather than give to the will of others.

Diederich’s strength makes him severe, which is not always a good thing, especially outside the boardroom.

Exercise Three - “What is the worst thing you could possibly do to your character?” It’s a great question to ask when you’re wanting to learn about what your character is made of, so ask that question now, with a bit of a twist.

“What is the worst thing you could possibly do to your character, that they would be least equipped to handle? Brainstorm that.

And once you’ve crafted their greatest tragedy, ask the next question: How can this character use their one great strength to help them meet the problem head-on?

When I first wrote Diederich he was just supposed to be a flash!OC for an Obsessives drabble set. He existed to fill a void, of a slightly deluded narcissist who was left reeling from rejection/abandonment, so taking that into consideration...I’m going to say the worst thing I could possibly do to Diederich is to take that desired love away.

His drabble opened and closed with him seeking the love he’d only held briefly and how it was sending him spiraling to lose it. Diederich is a controlling person; he isn’t going to know how to deal with the free will of his lover and what that means for him. He can’t 100% control love or the object of his desire and that fear becomes realized as soon as she’s gone. It’s going to cripple him in multiple ways; he feels he’s failed, an emotion he absolutely cannot deal with, and the abandonment, the loss, is a wound to his massive pride. It’s going to consume him like rot, until he can’t stand it marring his otherwise perfect life. He’s ill-equipped to sit with failure.

In short? He won’t be able to stand it. It’ll drive him insane.

But, it happens to work out perfectly: his one great strength, his unrelenting personality won’t allow him to quit, to rest, until he’s found his love and righted his world on it’s axis. Diederich can’t be, won’t be stopped.

No matter what.

Exercise Four - Write a 1-2 paragraph, unique character entrance scene. Try to make it impactful!

The illumination coming off the five star hotel shimmered as it split the night, parting shadows like the red sea to make way for one undeniably important man. The crowd on the sidewalk seemed to follow suit, halting in their steps to make room for broad shoulders near stretching the seams of finely tailored cloth as the occupant of the expensive towncar placed first one, then two polished dress shoes on the sidewalk. As he straightened up, onlookers hesitant to pass by were struck by an impressive stature attributed to fine breeding that could only come from living within the upper echelon of society for centuries.

Eyes so blue they were nearly ice white sliced cleanly straight ahead, no sideways glance because it was apparent this man had no time nor care to know who was around. The driver standing by the open door could possibly double for security but it was hard to imagine a man so tall, so statuesque truly needed it; his presence not only exuded importance but malice, so that small children might actually scurry out of his way. The sharp clack of dress shoes heralded his long strides, drawing one’s attention up from pressed slacks to the length of a wool-lined trench, buttoned against a no doubt trim and toned middle. Large hands were cradled in the softest Italian leather and when he reached up to his breast pocket for a single crisp $100 bill to hand to the doorman, all those onlookers could see were the cut of cheekbones that could no doubt make fast work of a piece of glass. This man had enviable bone structure; Old World in that his cheeks were square and his chin slightly pointed, angled to bring attention to a jawline that went on for days. His nose had only the faintest of a curve to it, right at the tip, so that when he was staring down at some unfortunate soul they’d only be forced to follow that curve right back up to those unforgivingly cold eyes. Complimentary to his pale eyes and skin, his blond hair was a silvery flaxen in shade and in cut the sides were shaved but the top left long and slicked back--akin to a shark’s white fin just barely breaking the surface of moonless ocean waves.

Anyone who didn’t know Diederich Frost was always left wanting to after laying eyes on him for the first time.

Exercise Five - Now, write a new entry scene for the same character, but if in the first attempt you used dialogue, now do the entry with no dialogue. And if in the first attempt you didn’t use dialogue, do it almost entirely through dialogue this time.

...Goddamnit.

I FELT REALLY GOOD ABOUT THE FIRST ONE BECAUSE I CAN WRITE ME SOME DESCRIPTION. But how the fuck am I gonna make this man’s entrance with DIALOGUE.

Goddamnit.

“Mr. Frost is on his way up,” came the understandably frantic voice of the aforementioned Mr. Frost’s assistant. The young man was desperate to make a good impression on the owner of this prestigious company and though fresh-faced and college enrolled, Sacha felt he was up to the task. He hoped, anyway.

“W-What should I do?” Unlike Sacha, who had been Mr. Frost’s assistant for the past six months, this new hire, Norbert, was struggling. Sacha thought it would be a miracle if the shorter brunette made it through the end of the week.

“Fix your tie,” Sacha hissed, his back to the elevator as he prepared Mr. Frost’s cup of coffee. “Stand up straight, don’t stare and don’t you dare call Mr. Frost by his first name again.”

Norbert flushed strawberry, pudgy fingers pushing the wrinkles from his tie. “It w-was an accident!”

“Yes well your firing won’t be if it happens again.” Sacha dropped the statement with the same finality he set the square cup of coffee on it’s saucer, steaming hot and waiting for Mr. Frost like the rest of his obedient staff. Sacha set the saucer on the top of his desk, facing the elevator as the car made it’s way up, announcing their arriving boss with each click of the lighted panel above the doors. Sacha spot out of the corner of his mouth, hands clasped behind his back, still facing the elevator. “Mr. Frost has a full day of meetings ahead, Norbert, so I’ll handle his refreshments and meals while you’ll take care of...?”

“His dry cleaning, getting his car washed, and picking up his tailored suits from Mr. Favero.” Norbert was proud to keep his usual anxious stammer from his voice but Sacha didn’t even seem to notice--and if he did, he didn’t care to remark on it.

The small victory was quickly forgotten when the gleaming elevator doors opened and Mr. Diederich Frost stepped out onto his office floor. The entire building was his company, but this top floor was reserved for the illustrious owner and his assistants, giving him plenty of room to work undisturbed.

“Good morning, Mr. Frost.” Sacha spoke first, almost eagerly, and Norbert had to quietly admire how easy it seemed to be for Sacha to speak to Diederich. Norbert sometimes forgot his own name when those ice blue eyes stared him down.

“G-Good morning,” Norbert had all but lost ground from his earlier feat of not stammering. He cleared his throat, knowing it wouldn’t help.

Their boss, Diederich Frost, was a statuesque man of impeccable breeding and class, born with a silver spoon in his mouth but he did the polishing himself. There was no resting on laurels for Diederich; ambition lined his already swollen pockets until there were rumors he could buy their country and have enough left over to still maintain his $500 a month haircuts. Normally, Norbert would think that was an exorbitant amount of money to spend on a haircut but Diederich’s silvery blond hair turned heads just as often as the rest of him did. Whether it was his flaxen hair, his sharp cheekbones, or his deeply accented voice, Diederich Frost was the man to know. Norbert just didn’t think he could get the sentence, “I know Diederich Frost,” out of his mouth without his blood pressure dropping.

“Messages.” Diederich’s voice was like an anvil, dropping period where others would hang questions marks, but Sacha didn’t miss a beat.

“Your brother called, he’s still insisting you come out for the weekend,” Sacha recited the messages by memory, even as he gave Norbert a pointed look to pick up Mr. Frost’s coffee and follow them into his expensive, lavish office. “Your aunt’s birthday is tomorrow and I confirmed the delivery of her favorite flowers as always, and lastly Mr. Price called for the fifth time, still looking to sell.”

Norbert took a steadying, albeit quick breath as he hurried to place Mr. Frost’s coffee on his desk, just in time for his boss to sit down in his desk chair and nail him to the floor with those icy eyes. Diederich didn’t say a word, merely met Norbert’s gaze evenly, giving the shorter male plenty of time to see Diederich’s expensive three-piece blue suit was a direct compliment to pale porcelain skin. It was also just long enough to see Diederich’s eyes narrow because Norbert had been staring. The male cleared his throat again and backed up to stand beside Sacha, who was giving him a pointed side-ways stare.

Diederich didn’t thank Sacha for his hard work or excellent delivery but that wasn’t unusual either. Earning a thanks from this hard-working perfectionist took far more impressive feats than simple recitation. Norbert had yet to receive a single one.

“My first meeting is in--”

“Thirty minutes, sir.” Sacha supplied before Diederich could outright ask. The older male simply nodded and took a small drink from his coffee.

“Then get my brother on the line.” Diederich directed to Sacha, before sparing Norbert another glance, disapproval darkening harsh features until it was akin to staring into the eye of a hurricane. “...And straighten your tie, son.”

Norbert was far more likely to hang himself with it in the employee bathroom.

BOY IDK IF THAT WAS WHAT THE EXERCISE MEANT BUT I SURE HOPE SO. Literally don’t know how to write only dialogue, that’s just not...idk, a mix of dialogue/description is fine with me? That’s about as dialogue-centric as my writing ever gets, I find it’s so important (at least for me) to add in little snippets of description, like sprinkling salt. just call me Salt Bae.

Exercise Six - Write the same entry a third time, but this time, change the setting and the situation. Try taking your character out of their comfort zone or put them somewhere they’re unlikely to be.

The joyous, loud cries of children at play announced Birthday Party! long before anyone could lay eyes on the balloons and banners that decorated the park’s picnic area. It was a large, usually populated public park but today was entirely off-limits to the general public, bought for a full 24 hours by the Frost family to celebrate little Alexandra Frost’s seventh birthday. Children of all ages ran and skipped, frolicked and played amongst the playground equipment and bounce houses, while adults sipped alcohol, ate finger foods, and escaped the waning Summer sun inside air-conditioned tents.

No expense was spared for the little princess of the Frost family, niece to none other than Diederich Frost, who had made quite a name for himself on the international business scene. The infamously ruthless billionaire was of course present, dressed in what to him was likely casual; pressed slacks and a designer sweater, but he still stood out in the crowd. He didn’t appear to belong at a children’s party; he was all hard, cold lines and nowhere was that more noticeable than standing beside his younger brother, who was a father of two. Diederich had no children and thus had not been softened by fatherhood; he was all business, all the time, and if one were to pay close attention the majority of the children steered clear of the long-legged Uncle to Alexandra. The birthday girl in question adored her Uncle but why wouldn’t she? He showered her with expensive gifts and she had nothing to fear from ice blue eyes and the hard line of his jaw. Diederich had never been cross with her a day in his life, but the list of people he wasn’t cross with could be counted on a person’s left hand. Diederich looked as mean as he was; high-cut cheekbones, a harsh line to his mouth, and silvery blond hair kept slicked back did everything to add to the air of crackling menace that surrounded the man heads and shoulders taller than most. He was a storm cloud, a single bolt of lightning one doesn’t see until it’s too late and you’re left singed from the contact you didn’t expect amongst the chorus of, “Happy birthday dear Alexandra, happy birthday to you!”

I’ll admit, imagining Diederich at a kid’s birthday party tickled me. He’s shaping up to be such a Type-A, no-nonsense asshole it’s hilarious to imagine him surrounded by balloons and shouting kiddos. He reminds me of the quote from Angela in the Office.

“I wouldn’t mind a pair of well-behaved boys.”

That’s about all I have time for tonight, but I will say, I’ve never really thought about character entrances very much before beginning to read this book. They liken to being out on a first date; it’s your reader’s first impression of your character and you want them hooked right away. Why should they give a damn about your character? You have to make them see what’s so special about them, sort of like...selling your character, I guess?

...I went from a date situation to human trafficking but whatever.

THE POINT IS. I am now realizing that the way characters are introduced is actually pretty important. I mean that was the majority of the exercises tonight, writing and then re-writing the entry scene to see how many different ways I could introduce you to Diederich. Even out of his element he still has to be himself, after all, and that right there is why I think this is important--you’re essentially creating a person, and people have to be adaptable. If your characters are so one-sided they can only exist in a very specific box...then they’re not very good characters.

All in all, I’m pretty pleased with the work I did tonight. I took a character that was interesting to me and actually made something of him. He’s around, now. I hear his voice and I can see him, and that’s pretty rad.

Looking forward to picking this back up soon and seeing what else Mr. Frost has to say~

[ephemeralem0tions]

4100 Chapter 5 - It Takes Two

I seriously need to boost this story, I have noticed its having a hard time gaining reads unlike my past fics. Please drop by and read it if you can <3 

P.S. Abby is Hanji

Theme: future AU

Rating: PG

Warning: Curse words, future nsfw, violence

AO3 version overe here x

Send a request here >>> ASK

He adjusted the cuffs of his long sleeve polo with ease, then topped everything with a blazer which completed the formal look. He sure looked like a noble himself, if only he dressed like this every single day. But of course, he would not. The clothes may look good, but they are far less comfortable than people think. The tight slack restrain him from moving too much, collar somewhat chocking him and rubbing around his neck, the double layers making him feel the heat which will make him sweat a lot if there was no proper air conditioning. Still, he felt that the get up was incomplete.

He pulled out one of his white cloths that he usually used as bandanas from his closet. Artfully tying it around his neck till it became a cravat.

“Not bad” he whispered, admittedly admiring himself in front of the mirror. He also had his hair slicked back with hair gel, his freshly groomed undercut showing below the tamed hair above.

“I hate this dress” Abby groaned, entering his room and tugging the neckpiece of her halter type gown. She looked human, and started to act like a human as soon as he got up. This is the first time he’s actually seen her looking genuinely irritated and not smiling. What a good actress, she really did her research last night.

She continued to pull the sparkling fabric away from her neck and he sighed. Erwin may have went over board with their undercover outfits. The goal was to look less noticeable, but her stunning sparkly gown may even draw the attention closer to them. Abby’s back was also exposed to the public. Although her figure lacked some chest, she was tall, thin and well built for a woman’s body. She would surely be a topic for young bastards in the gala. Only they don’t know she actually isn’t human after all. Especially if she keeps a great act.

“Stop pulling at it, you might rip it. For all we know Erwin might have splurged his tight ass budget for this” he hissed, pulling her hands away from herself.

“But its really itching, I hate it” she frowned. Fucking great pretentious girl indeed.

He eyed at her nape which was already turning red fro all the scratching. Wow, she can even make herself physically human now and have rash.

“Its because of your hair, its hitting the area and causes more irritation” he pointed out.

“So what am I supposed to do? Cut it?” she rolled her eyes. Was that a terrible display or sarcasm? Or a bratty attitude.

He grabbed her hair and inched her face closer to his, slightly bending forward so their heights would match. Geez, her hair feels so greasy, is it the product of being a bionic? He made a mental note to tell her to take a bath. Or can she even take a bath?

“You tie it four eyes” this time, he was the one who rolled his eyes at her. “I thought you were supposed to be the smartest in your kind?” he smirked once seeing her rare, irritated look.

“I am! I’m just still having a hard time coping up with this human thing” she sighed.

His mind suddenly drifted off to the time when he’d fix Isabel’s hair into pigtails, or braids in some occasions. He wondered if he can still work the magic and do it on Abby.

“Where are you going?” she asked him, once he passed her and went straight towards a drawer beside his bed.

“Tying your hair” he nonchalantly replied, pulling out a spare black cord he remembered he had.

He gestured for her to sit on the edge of the bed, and he carefully, and artfully tamed her hair the best he could. He twisted it upwards with both hands as he stuck the cord between his teeth. He then layered her hair on top of her head into a neat bun before securing it with a cord. Then, he pulled small wisps of hair back to her face so it looks quite like an unintended but beautiful mess.

“This is actually really nice” she complimented his work, after looking at herself in the mirror. But his brows furrowed upon realizing that she would make the perfect show stopper with her current look. He should have messed up more to the point that she would look like a Poodle and no one would dare look at her. Or would that bring more disapproving looks on her?

“They’re here” she turned around and made her way towards the door with him in a tow. This is it, their second task begins.

“The deal is to look less distracting, you two look like you’re the fucking celebrant” Mike laughed, only to earn a harsh glare from Levi.

Compared to what him and Abby were wearing, Mike and Oriana’s suits were really far from what Erwin sent to him. Mike’s suit was almost similar to him, only that the fabric used was less shiny, cheaper in fact. The tall man also had a bowtie instead of a cravat, and he also made no effort with his looks. Mustache untamed as well as his hair. Heck, Mike’s bangs already covered his eyes. Oriana wore a rather plain satin dress, which had thin straps above her shoulders, and a straight cut right to her soles.

Certainly, Erwin had something up his sleeved, if he maid the pairs look different.

“You look beautiful” Abby greeted Oriana with a subtle smile.

“Thank you” Oriana replied, still stiff and evidently less human-like. Either Abby really did a great job, or it had something to do with their ranks.

“Considered we picked you up right at the HQ, it would only take us half an hour to reach Utgard. Did Erwin give special orders awhile ago?” he went back to his serious demeanor, and so did everyone inside the vehicle. This time, no more jokes, it was time to work.

“No, not at all” Mike responded. “But he did give the both of us these ear pieces so he can instruct things from the outside. He said he’ll be with the brigade to back us up at the perimeters of the palace” he was handed a small metal ball he inserted inside his ear. “Abby and Oriana can use the mind link to talk with everyone else” the two girls nodded.

“How about weapons? Did he give out guns?”

“Nope. He believes that we can pull this off with the help of our bionics. They are our lucky charm for this” Mike gave a glance to his partner, who just ignored him.

Damn yeah he has a clumsy bionic by his side. Whom he expected to be all great again on the mission. If there was a time to release all her talents, it was now.

“Sannes is by the bar, getting a drink” a static echoed right at his left ear after Mike spoke. Sure enough, he can see the target a good distance away from him and Abby.

It had been torture to him for the last two hours, trying not to shoot a death glare to everyone who came in their way. Glances were also directed to them, probably people thinking how wealthy he and his date are, but that is very far from reality. They were here for an undercover mission, possibly to kill someone if it was the worst case scenario.

“Target is on the move out” This time, Oriana was the one to speak. She had been standing on her post, casually chatting with a group of young men on a corner, while him and Abby stayed on the balcony. He figured it was the best spot, so he and Abby could be able to spy without any people watching their movements. She stood a good few meters away from him, a champagne glass in hand. If he didn’t know that she was a robot, he would have thought she was a princess.

“It is quite flattering Levi, but please, I am a bionic not a robot” damn, he forgot about the mind link. “Target moving towards the dance floor” She set her glass down on a tray of a server that passed by. His sight then followed Sannes, who indeed looked like he was about to socialize before he commits his crime.

“Levi” a sudden static made him wince and lean sidewards. Erwin’s voice came from the ear piece, booming and loud.

“Will you please be gentle?” he groaned.

“The dance is a waltz. Go to the middle with Abby” his eyes widened at the command.

“I thought we were supposed to go undercover? Not be the circus act?” he hissed. He wasn’t even sure if Abby can dance.

“Downloading basic step sequence” he internally cursed. “You know I can hear you right?”

He gave her a single glance, and in a split second the two were already making a grand re-entrance from the flower clad staircase, to the dance floor. God knows he never learned how to skate, nor dance. It was going to be a disaster, specially when he did not know how to lead.

“I’ll lead then” his eyebrows furrowed at her suggestion. “Just make it look like I’m the follow when I’m actually leading” This is going to be a disaster. “It won’t” her reassuring voice snapped him out of his negativity. “It takes two to tango. As long as you are showing effort, the two of us can pull it through”

He took one of her hands in his, his other arm supporting her back, while she grabbed his shoulder. She felt really warm, from the touch of her bare skin down her back. The heat seemed to envelope him as well, due to the piling circumstances. There was the pressure to dance, the lack of knowledge on why they are doing this, the number of eyes looking at them and only them. He knew he could not mess up and just get away with it. When Erwin has a plan, it always works, and he sure would not like to fail his second task. There will be a grave consequence if he slipped up on this one.

“I bust the windows out your car”

His eyes widened at the sudden change of phase by the music. This was no waltz! Damn Erwin tricked him!

“And no it didn’t mend my broken heart” Abby was quick to adjust, stepping sideways then right into a box step, the foundation of a tango. He silently prayed that his feet and body would let him sway with the flow. If he can shoot, fight, be acrobatically good, then perhaps he can also do an impromptu dance.

“I'll probably always have these ugly scars But right now I don't care about that part I bust the windows out your car”

She suddenly leaned backwards, and he caught her out of reflex, a few claps erupting from the crowd. She then lifted herself up, and stared at him right in the eyes. Her hazel irises were also warm, like her body. On contrast to his cold grey eyes and cold demeanor.

“Trust in me” it was as if she whispered inside his thoughts.

“After I saw you laying next to her I didn't wanna but I took my turn I'm glad I did it cause you had to learn”

Her hips started to sway into the rhythm, his breath hitched. ‘She’s just a robot, not a human’ he reminded himself.

“Again, I’m a bionic” She gave him a sinister smile and swayed even furiously against him. So she also knew the concept of teasing now. As she said, it takes two to tango, and it can also take two to play this game.

“I must admit it helped a little bit To think of how you'd feel when you saw it”

He took a few steps away from her and let himself loose in the music. He watched her every move against the light, remaining focused on his partner as he put on the face everyone loved. A playful looking Levi who smirked and glowed under the spotlight.

“I didn't know that I had that much strength But I'm glad you'll see what happens when You see you can't just play with people's feelings Tell them you love them and don't mean it You'll probably say that it was juvenile But I think that I deserve to smile”

They met again, their faces dangerously close to each other, while he caressed one of her cheeks in a seducing manner at the back of his palm, before pushing her away with a twirl and pulling her back into his arms.

“I bust the windows out your car You know I did it cause I left my mark”

He let her leaned backwards, slowly, and followed her till they were only inches away from the floor.

“Wrote my initials with a crow bar And then I drove off into the dark I bust the windows out your car You should feel lucky that that's all I did”

He pulled her back up, but never letting her free leg go. He brought it up to his waist level as her breath fanned out on his face. Their sweat started glistening like small beads through the light.

“After five whole years of this bullshit Gave you all of me and you played with it”

They stood there, in a daze, lips a few centimeters away from meeting entirely. She was really keeping up a good act. From his view, it looked like she was sincerely attracted to him as well for the moment.

He slowly closed his eyes as the crowd cheered for them. He pulled it off, thanks to his amazing partner, although he still would not admit.

“You don’t need to say it to my face” He saw her laughing as he opened his eyes. His breathing had barely turned to normal after fatigue and she was already laughing at him. Right, she isn’t human, he needed to get a grip.

“Hey short lover boy!” Mike’s voice echoed from his ear.

“What?” he asked with a groan.

“Target is already escaping towards the west wing. Oriana and I are on his trail, but we might need you on the opposite side” his eyes widened as he dragged Abby out of the dance floor.

“Shit” he cursed. “We are on our way”

He was already panting, trying to catch his breath whilst running, While Abby effortlessly jogged beside him with her usual smile. Either she is back to her old self, or adrenaline was rushing into her. But who knows? She is only a top class bionic with good acting skills and exemplary wits.

“Target has already reached the second floor” Abby had alerted him via the mind link. She was already effortlessly jumping from one step to another up the stairs, while he held unto the railings and silently cursed. Sure he was trained for cardio, but the dance had already slightly tired him. The running and jogging had taken its toll on him too. Days of no sleep, and no decent food due to his stress had surely caught up with him.

“Hey short stack, where are you? He’s already went out the terrace” Mike whispered from the other side of the intercom.

“This way Levi!” Abby peeked behind her to get a view of him as she turned towards the left.

“Already on the hallway you hairy beast” he responded, still trying to regain his normal breathing.

“Well hurry up!” he heard, before the line went dead.

They had no guns or knives to fight with, only two robots, or rather, bionics by their sides, and hand to hand combat skills. He aced the subject, and so did Mike, but the exact situation was never presented to them. They never knew how to apprehend Sannes the right way. There was a code, but he hoped the man did not carry a remote or any kind of bribing device with him or else the situation would be damned.

In all honesty, all he wanted for now is some rest and a cup of high grade tea. Everything in his life was already starting to set into place, his home and a stable but dangerous job. All he had to worry about now is Abby, and his budgeting.

“You fucktard! What are you doing?!” he winced as Mike’s booming voice rung in his ears.

“Levi!” Abby soon after followed. He started to wonder why they were talking like he did something wrong.

Then it dawned on him, he spaced out while walking. Abby, Mike and Oriana were no where to be seen, and Sannes was standing in front of him with a confused look. The now dark, and star clad sky behind the target.

“Can I, help you?” Sannes asked, a bit of hesitation evident with his tone.

He was shit with words, since then, he was never good with talking. He knew he would fuck up the first sentence that comes right out of his mouth, and he had no time nor patience to think about it logically. He gave away his most disinterested look and spoke.

“The code” he can already hear Mike’s face palm from his ear piece.

“The what?” his opponent tried to be innocent, and his brows furrowed in annoyance.

“You heard me” he growled. “The code”

“I have no idea what you are talking about” Sannes laughed, but he knew with the man’s tone that he was lying.

“Don’t shit with me. We know your plans for Trost and you are damned” the man smirked with his words. The intel was correct, the culprit had a plan in mind. Even if Sannes did not fire the missiles, he was already framed for stealing the code from the Factory city.

“So I suppose if I have the code, I’d just need to turn it over?” the man shrugged.

“Yes” he replied, although he already expected that there would be a catch. No villain was to succumb without a fight, not even in a fairy tale.

Soon enough, a metal controller was brought out of Sannes’ back pocket, a huge red button laying between the metal pad and the man’s thumb, just a few centimeters away from getting pressed. He knew it, the code would already be transmitted into one accessible object.

“I was going to fire this along with the fire crackers so that all Reeve’s attention would be on his beloved town as it crumbles. But you stealing the show had backfired my plan. At this very moment, the scientists are already probably trying to change the code so I don’t have any time to spare. I’d just have to let him witness a destroyed city the next morning after he comes ‘home’” his teeth gritted at the statement, if he took another step, Sannes would surely press the button without hesitation.

“Levi, distract him for a moment will you, I’m going in” He heard Abby from inside his mind.

“What?!” He reacted in disbelief. “What are you going to do?!” One single mistake, and the fate of the citizens of trost will vanish from their hands. He did not need a clumsy bionic right now, there must be another way.

“Just trust me! It takes two remember?” he sighed, he had to trust her, just like how they did on the dance floor.

“Any last words?” A sinister smile sat on Sannes’ chapped lips, making him cringe. Sure the villain role fitted the man, but his over try to become intimidating when he wasn’t — At least for him — was awful.

Abby emerged from his peripheral vision, sneaking behind Sannes. He silently prayed that she succeed in her plans, as he tried to take his gaze away from her.

“Yes” he replied, just to buy time.

“So what is it?” this, would probably be the dumbest antagonist we would know.

“Damn you little shit” Anger flamed from Sannes’ eyes. Surely, the once noble man could not take any insults.

“Why you-“ he was about to press the button, but Abby slapped it away just on time. She locked her hands on her wrists although she was failing miserably to hold the man due to him harsh movements.

He let his reflexes take over as he grabbed the remote from the ground, immediately putting it inside his pocket for safe keeping. Mike and Oriana had also emerged from one of the pillars behind him, stepping into the action.

“Fuck!” Abby yelped, one that greatly surprised him. She still held unto Sannes for a few good seconds before the taller man thrashed her to the side, whimpering. Although it is essential in work to finish the job first before thinking of yourself and your friends, he found himself rushing to his partner’s side while Mike and Oriana took care of Sannes.

Fury flashed in his eyes as Sannes dropped a steak knife down to the ground after getting pinned down by Mike. A gush of dark fluid rushed out of Abby’s left side, her eyes closed as if she was in pain. Maybe bionics can also feel pain once it reaches a certain intensity.

“Are you okay?” he crouch down beside her, pressing on her side and feeling the warmth.

For one moment, he was sure that he saw red after staring at his ‘blood’ tainted hands, but it suddenly turned blue, as if it was oil or gas. Her cut seemed like it was flesh as well, his confusion, curiosity and shock mixing all together with the mystery.

“Abby-“ he was about to ask her if she can heal, but she had already passed out in his arms, only a rip on her dress leaving the area where she was stabbed. Her skin, already a clean and fixed slate. All the regeneration must have taken its toll on her just as he was tired. They both needed a rest, and good food.

“Levi, lets go” Mike motioned for him to carry Abby, and so he did, despite the girl being ten centimeters taller than him. And for a moment, he wasn’t sure if it was shock, or dismay he saw in Oriana’s eyes, although he did not know why.

[crimson-legend]

VERY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY.

RULES. repost; do not reblog! tag 10! good luck!

TAGGED BY: @summoners-path​

TAGGING: I was going to tag my other muse but it turned out the princeling was easier to finish that Auron (who can be such a recalcitrant bastard at times, I swear) - @oshimai, @fallal, and by this point I think most people have done this? If you have not and you’re seeing this, then I’m tagging you, yes, you, whoever you may be. Do the thing!

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Auron ( アーロン ) - no last name. I’m one of those with the opinion that Spirans don’t generally have ‘last’/family names.

NICKNAME/S: Rikku calls him big meanie, and probably sometimes red. Still others might call him Sir.

AGE: 25 (at time of death) - 35 (at time of Sending)

BIRTHDAY: Some point in the mid-Spring. The date wasn’t recorded.

ETHNIC GROUP: Human (Yevonite), Macalanian.

NATIONALITY: Yevonite

LANGUAGE/S: Spiran Common. He knows a few basic words and phrases of Al Bhed but nothing more.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Grey-ace, sex neutral.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic, perhaps slightly inclined towards men(?). Intensely monogamous.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: unattached (verse-dependent)

CLASS: Practical: Warrior - 2H Sword (ATK, DEF, tank, debuff) ; Social: variable, depending on the point in his life. He’s gone from low-working-class to mid- then high warrior class, then booted back out into near-poverty, then to Dream Zanarkand where he didn’t fit anywhere.

HOMETOWN / AREA: Bevelle - from age 8 (There was once a small village back in the mountains of Macalania that a young boy called ‘home’. It’s not there any more.)

CURRENT HOME: (verse-dependent) Wandering.

PROFESSION: Originally, a warrior monk in the Church of Yevon, dedicated to the protection of the people against Sin and fiends and heretics and upholding the law of the land. After that, a guardian, dedicated solely to the protection of his Summoner. (After and in-between, he had to find something to do in Dream Zanarkand that wasn’t just babysitting Tidus…)

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Black, streaked with grey. Long when he was young, kept short when older save for a long queue at the back.

EYES: Amber, appearing mid-brown in low light but bright in full light. After his death, he only has one and developed a light sensitivity in the remaining one. It’s one of the reasons that he wears the sunglasses, along with the added bonus of obscuring his face - they protect his eye from brightness or sudden changes in light intensity. He also has impaired depth perception that he had to learn to work with, relearning even things as basic as how to navigate, much less fight.

NOSE: A fairly average-sized nose with a straight bridge, the tip pointed out slightly more from his face than you’d see in southern Yevonites or Al Bhed.

FACE: Oval face shape, with a gentle taper from cheekbones to jawline, firm jaw leading down to a strong chin. Slightly v-shaped hairline. When he was young he always kept clean-shaven, but as he got older, he has a sort of permastubble going on, as sometimes he bothers to shave and sometimes he doesn’t, but is apparently incapable of managing to grow an actual beard.

LIPS: Somewhat thin, often chapped (this man needs a chapstick, has Zanarkand invented those yet?). Prone to turning up into a smirk when he’s amused, but he doesn’t fully smile very often, much less grin.

COMPLEXION: Pale with yellow undertones, though he’s usually slightly tanned from being outside often. In places like Bikanel or the southern islands, he will burn (and be extremely irritable about it).

BLEMISHES: A massive scar that crosses his face from above his right eyebrow to his jawline, sealing the eye shut, and continues down from his shoulder to just above his right hip. He also has a fair amount of less drastic scarring incurred in battle, but aside from a few larger or more severe wounds, those are relatively minor due to the availability of healing magic and potions.

TATTOOS: None.

HEIGHT: 6’0”, probably 6’0.5”-6’1” in his boots - some people find this surprising, as his presence (most often!) gives him the impression of being an even larger man

WEIGHT: I’m terrible at judging/guessing this tbh - maybe somewhere around 200 lbs?

BUILD: BRICK WALL. Mesomorph, and very fit. He’s extremely solid, with a core like a steel beam from swinging that sword around like he does. Definitely looks like he could toss Braska to safety without a second thought. Nice legs, broad shoulders and hefty arms, a muscular but rather flat ass.

ALLERGIES: Incompetence. Mold and mildew, as well as mild lactose intolerance.

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Mostly unstyled. Queue bound back with a tie or thin ribbon, the shorter majority he simply runs his fingers through and that’s good enough.

USUAL EXPRESSION: Resting murderface. Ah, stoic. He tends to show his emotions readily on his face but the changes of expression are always very minor, so one has to look close and know him well to see what he’s feeling. The signs are always there to be picked out, though. Everything is thrown out the window when it comes to very strong emotions, though, usually anger, which is obvious for all to see. When he was younger, his expressions were usually more obvious, but that changed over time.

USUAL CLOTHING: Dark, dark grey pants with a lighter grey vertical stripe on the front, back, and sides that tuck into tall black boots, which have a protective plate on top of the foot and a decorative medallion at the top of the boot that helps secure the strapping. A very basic undershirt between skin and a black hardened-leather cuirass with simple yellow-gold detailing. A tall grey cowl with leather strapping attaches to the cuirass itself, and with a pair of oval-lensed sunglasses does a good job of hiding his expression.

Over top, a long, ankle-length heavy red coat evocative of a haori, with a thick collar/front edging of blue edged with white. A pair of buckled straps at the end of each sleeve allows the wide sleeve to be pulled closed not unlike the standard yoroi hitatare worn under armor. His right forearm is bound from the wrist halfway up and covered over the back of his forearm with a bracer made of three plates, his right hand gloved with black leather. On his left shoulder is a pauldron of hardened brown leather, finely tooled and decorated.

The coat is held closed with a wide belt of scaled grey-green under double straps of brown leather, which is covered on the sides and back with a protective layer of steel detailing and blue lamellar plates. At his belt he carries a large jug, held with braided leather straps and a cord of decorative beading.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: failure, letting others down, enclosed spaces, losing himself to becoming a fiend

ASPIRATION/S: When he was younger, he was far more idealistic in some ways - he wanted to help people, to protect, and he did. The main ideal of that aspiration didn’t change as he got older, but the scope did. It became not so much an aspiration as a hope, a desperate goal to frantically grasp at even as it slipped through his fingers.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Determined, protective, intelligent, enduring, loyal, forthright (younger).

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Bossy. Prideful. Stubborn. Acerbic. Secretive. Can and will walk right over you if you stand between him and his goal.

MBTI: ISTJ - The Logistician

ENNEAGRAM: Type 8 - The Challenger

ZODIAC: Aries (sun) - Virgo (moon)

TAROT: Justice (young), Death (in-game)

TEMPERAMENT: Choleric

SOUL TYPE/S: Hunter (with Thinker/Helper/Leader all tied for second place)

ANIMAL: well the test was terribly wrong for him but the closest thing there was Rhino, though that one underestimates his mental capabilities (many thanks to B-chan for helping me scour the choices)

VICE/S: This man can hold grudges. Usually big ones, but sometimes he can get in a snit and be very petty (see: the stop at the Macalania Travel Agency where Tidus calls him ‘old’ and Auron stops talking, turns away with a hrmf and a snide remark and then won’t even look at Tidus for the remainder of the stay). After his death, self-loathing is a serious vice as well, one that wasn’t present before (or at least until the very end of his life).

FAITH: Once, he believed in Yevon. Now, that couldn’t be further from the case. What faith he once had was thoroughly crushed.

GHOSTS?: As an Unsent, he himself is one, after a fashion. Even if he wasn’t, fiends would fit the definition well enough. In Spira, ghosts are not so much a matter of superstition as they are a natural part of the world; it is why summoners are needed to Send souls to the farplane, and the existence of fiends and unsent are abject proof.

AFTERLIFE?: Yes. As with ghosts, this is not so much a matter of faith as it is natural and evident. While one can debate whether the images the living see of their loved ones on the Farplane are a projection or truly their souls, that does not deny the truth that one can visit the Farplane itself.

REINCARNATION?: Yes, though mostly in the less comforting knowledge that one can become a fiend after death. A truly new life… he’s less certain of the possibility, though he’d like to believe.

ALIENS?: He’s been to and lived in a world created from dreams and set foot on the alternate plane of the afterlife. He’s inclined to think that anything is possible. There are so many stars out there, of course some other worlds with people on them are out there too. It just doesn’t have any bearing on his world here and now.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: For much of his life, Lawful Neutral/Good and a supporter as well as part of the reigning religious oligarchy/theocracy. Later and near the end of his life, as well as his unlife, Neutral Good/True Neutral and in (at first) subtle opposition to the established Church and then actively attempting its complete overthrow.

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: He never really had much of a need or want for material goods. He always had a few treasured possessions, but between his personality and his lifestyle he never accumulated many ‘things’. After he dies, he has even less to his name, but he’s content with remaining that way. He travels, feeling out of place, and so keeps his pack light rather than gathering and keeping objects. As he doesn’t spend much, he doesn’t particularly want for money.

SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION: He’s… famous, being the (a) Legendary Guardian, but that doesn’t really afford him anything other than awe, and occasionally a free room. He stays out of politics once Yevon is brought low. It’s up to the people who will live for the future to determine it, after all.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Once he was dedicated to the Church of Yevon at 8 years old, he was granted good schooling along with all the other child-acolytes and training to enter the ranks of the warrior monks. Before that, he didn’t have anything in the way of formal schooling and was illiterate, though he’d been learning practical skills for some time. He was of an age that he was starting to try his hand at trades and would have chosen one to apprentice to had circumstances not changed his fate.

FAMILY.

FATHER: (deceased)

MOTHER: (deceased)

EXTENDED FAMILY: brother (Feron - deceased)

SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): none (verse-dependent)

NAME MEANING/S: high mountain/mountain of strength (Hebrew); gold (aur) - a divine ending/death (on) (Old Celtic/Welsh); gold (aurum - Latin) gilded/gilt/noble (aureus - Latin); dawn (Áron - Quenya)

HISTORICAL CONNECTION: What familial history he may once have had is lost. The Church broke its ties with him, and he with it. What connection he has to history is his part in the story of Braska’s and Yuna’s Pilgrimages, until those stories are told no more.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: He likes histories and tales, whether fiction or not - a good story. The ending of it does not matter so much as what happens during the book.

MOVIE: He’s not much of a movie person, actually, but as with books, he’d prefer one with solid characters and a good story to it over anything else.

DEITY: He’s not fond of gods these days, self-proclaimed or otherwise.

MONTH: October

SEASON: Autumn

PLACE: Somewhere not the South. He prefers cooler climes and does terribly in hot weather, growing irritable the longer he has to deal with it.

WEATHER: Sun out but clouds in the sky, with a crisp breeze blowing.

SOUND: Gentle rainfall, the crunch of leaves and evergreen needles under boots, soft humming.

SCENT/S: Cedar wood, pine, stone in the forest slightly grown over with moss, the brightness of a mountain stream’s spray.

TASTE/S: Seasoned game meats, fish; will steal your berry tarts.

FEEL/S: Wood and tree bark, slightly textured paper, braided fabric, simple glazed pottery.

ANIMAL/S: Auron is most definitely a dog person. He’s also fond of flying creatures, and you’ll often see me associate him with the red-tailed hawk.

NUMBER: Three. It is a good, solid number, is it not?

COLOR: He likes red, favouring it enough to choose the colour for his coat, and in general likes autumn and winter tones.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: planning, combat, snarky commentary

BAD AT: Magic. White, Black, Blue, Time, it doesn’t matter. Absolute shit at it. I have a headcanon that he doesn’t even have the capability for it, backed by the fact that the abilities in his grid is essentially all physical - the debuff-abilities can be explained as ki-type physical energies rather than magic. He’d like to be able to cast even as little as a simple Cure, but it’s beyond him. Also bad at empathising.

TURN-ONS: Entirely dependent on the person, and pretty much null in general unless he’s romantically attracted to or involved with that person.

TURN-OFFS: Arrogance, superiority, degradation, arguments, pain, excessive testing of his patience (a little is fine but don’t push it too far-), et al.

HOBBIES: He doesn’t really have much in the way of hobbies. There’s almost always been something to keep him busy, and so he never had much time to develop fun down-time things. He does whittle, if there’s dead time and he’s feeling inclined. It’s an easy enough thing that keeps his hands busy, and he can just pick up wood wherever he’s settling down to camp and discard whatever he makes if he doesn’t care to keep it, so materials are never really an issue save for keeping his knife sharp.

TROPES: BFS; Dead All Along; Determinator; The Atoner; The Stoic/Not So Stoic; Taking the Bullet; Tall, Dark, and Snarky, I Gave My Word

AESTHETIC TAGS: I actually don’t have a dedicated aesthetic tag for him and I really should. Hmm. I’ll get on that…