#caiusaries

[bunnakit]

Wip game: The Lyrebird King 👀❕

ask me about my wips 🌸

aaaaa Dav bless you for this!!

so The Lyrebird King is my own original novel i'm working on and you can read the chapters i have finished so far here

it features Caius who was one of my D&D characters for an old campaign that actually helped me realize i'm genderfluid, so he's very near and dear to my heart. last year while working on the novel i had a gorgeous cover commissioned from the amazing artist Cameron McCafferty (who i originally saw during a fan art segment of Critical Role and decided to reach out to)

the novel takes a lot of inspiration from Fire Emblem: Three Houses (particularly Yuri of the Ashen Wolves,) Skyrim (Riften's Thieves Guild,) Dragon Age 2, and obviously Dungeons and Dragons. i've crafted my own little world with it's own Gods and religion (based around the Major Arcana in tarot.)

there's also a playlist for it here that helps me get in the mood to write them and sets a lot of the tone. (we have it all and dear wormwood are the perfect songs for the overall story, battle cry is aries' song, and dancing after death is caius'.)

the story features Caius and Aries, two societal outcases with secrets that run deeper than the Mariana trench. they begin a friends with benefits relationship while transforming a set of ancient ruins into a safe haven for those "othered" by society. Caius works to bring down the corrupt members of the upper echelon, spurred on by unknown motivations but with an obvious grudge bared. Aries is hopelessly loyal to Caius, wishing he could find a way to bridge the gap between friends with benefits into something more.

i don't have anything for chapter 4 just yet buuuutttt (and i've never done this before) i'll put some of my future notes below the read more (CONTAINS SOME HUGE ASS SPOILERS)

Caius' mother killed by the king's advisor

After finding her dead Caius stumbles home to Aries covered in blood ("is that all yours?! Caius why aren't you saying anything, what happened?") and for the first time he falls completely apart, wailing his grief and clinging to Aries for comfort

Aries holds him close "I've got you, I have you" and simply lets him cry and scream and process, but Caius changes after that, is cold and distant and terrifying in his determination. Aries swears he'll do anything to keep Caius from feeling this way ever again

Every time Caius spends a night or has a very intimate moment with Aries he taps over his chest, over his heart, 3 times before he leaves or goes to sleep

When Caius confesses he loves Aries, Aries says he knows and when Caius asks how he could possibly know that Aries says "you tell me every time you tap over my heart. I don't think you realized you were doing it, but you do it each time, carefully and thoughtfully, and that's how I know"

[bunnakit]

Will you tell us abt the Lyrebird King 2?? 👀

ask me about my wips 🌸

you bet your ass i will anna!!

so Lyrebird 2 (won't be the actual name but for now) is going to be a sequel to Lyrebird and pick up exactly where i plan to leave it off, except this will be entirely from Aries' point of view. while Lyrebird is Caius' story (he is the Lyrebird King which makes sense as you read) 2 will be entirely Aries' story.

i don't have too much fleshed out yet but... i'll share some slight spoilers below the read more

so at this point Aries and Caius have confessed their feelings for each other as well as resolved the issues surrounding Astrid's (Caius' mom) murder as well as saved the King

the King develops feelings for Caius and communicates with him in secret (as it wouldn't be great for a King to be found consorting with a group of underground rebels) and provides him with what resources and information he can as the King fights his council tooth and nail to weed out corruption. this obviously begins a big jealousy arc for Aries who feels like he's unworthy of someone so fierce and driven as Caius and perhaps a relationship with the literal fucking King would suit him better (and at this point the Underworld calls Caius The King of the Underworld, which he fucking hates)

amidst this whole jealousy arc Aries' past pops up and much like Caius is not Caius' real name (see Lyrebird chapter 3) Aries is not Aries' name. turns out Aries is a runaway noble, cast out from his family for having the audicity to be gay and outspoken about the privilege of the upper class. through some kind of circumstances he is the next heir to inherit everything his family owns.

with this secret coming to light Caius feels betrayed; not so much that Aries was a noble but that after everything they've been through Aries never told him. Aries is the only person outside of his caravan that knows he's a Shapechanger and his true name and yet Aries still couldn't confide his own secrets in Caius.

Aries has to spend time away from Caius to settle the family affairs and get the estate in order and Caius can't follow as someone has to stay to run what is now the bustling city of The Underground.

there's more but i'll stop there lmao