#i do need a break tho. pain bad. very bad. need to charge up bc this month is fucking busy. need to stop drawing .

[olessan]

I love the fact that I can work as hard as I can manage with a broken tooth and a dying tooth (one on each side, I've been chewing on the cavity for a year) and I still cannot save even $10 towards getting dental treatment (2 impacted wisdom teeth, + tooth broken off under the gum, + bad cavity) because I barely make enough to cover my food and board and the insane energy bill

[lusalemaart]

[bciwasinlove]

how would you analyize or interpret the song walls?cause i‘ve heard a lot of people say it‘s a break up song as it‘s written in past tense and basically saying he‘s stronger now after a break up (maybe even from a toxic relationship), he‘s risen above it and it doesn‘t really sound like a love song about an ongoing romance, does it?

Hi anon this is going to be a long one bc there is no quick answer to this so just know you asked for this.

First let's get one thing straight the ones who claim Walls [the album in general] is a break up album are the "Rads" short for Radical Louies. Essentially they are toxic louies who once were a larry shipper [not even a real larrie] but now hate Harry bc their mad Louis hasn't gotten the same promo and solo opportunities Harry has and some how in their eyes that's Harry's fault. They don't see it was Syco trying to sabotage Louis and in no way is Louis being sabotaged Harry's fault. Rads try to twist the truth and believe Harry left Louis for fame so since they hate Harry they have twisted the meaning of Walls to in their head a break up from a toxic relationship. They also really want LT2 to be a HUGE SHADE break up album which is 100% not the case so don't believe their crap.

Tho I heard you may have sent this same ask to others [who probably ignored you] so there is a chance you are a rad trying to find out what larries believe. Either way if you are a confused larrie or an undercover rad you probably need this info that no one else will bother giving you the time of day to tell you but I myself thought why not I'll answer you.

Second Louis and Harry have been happily in love for 10 years and have not officially broken up. Yes they have had issues like any couple does but it did not stem from eachother their issues stemed from them being forcibly closeted, the stunt gfs and their labels thus their songs are not break up songs but songs about not being able to be free and forced to fake date others when all they want is to publicly be with the one they love.

Now that that is out of the way here's why Walls is about Louis loving one person and one person only since he was 18. I'm doing the whole album [minus TOU] bc it is impossible to state why Walls the song is not a break up song without mentioning the others like Too Young [which rads also claim as a break up song] bc the album as a whole paints the whole picture.

Bree's analysis on Walls

Kill My Mind:

You kill my mind, raise my body back to life and I don't know what I'd do without you now.

KMM is definitely the sexual song of Walls [not No Control type sexual but just we click right from the start sexual] It has the I just met you and we are figuring one another out vibe [both physically and just as people] and how right from the start Louis craves Harry and his attention. It has a similar vibe to Watermelon Sugar which Harry said is about the euphoria of falling in love and the way the other person makes you feel right from the start. Louis in KMM is saying I've just meet someone and they are now all I think about, crave and I don't know how I would be able to live without them.

Don't Let It Break Your Heart:

And I know you left apart of you in New York under your bed in a box, but your doing better.

Flashback to HS1 "Ever Since New York" seems like they both love to mention something happening in NY with their lover. We may never know what happened but it's always a funny coincidence when they mention the same places in their songs almost like their singing about the same situation.

Life gets hard and it gets messed up when you give so much, but it's not enough when the highs to high and the lows to low when you love somone and they let you go.

As I stated before their issues involved the stunts [fake dating women] so when Louis says love someone and they let you go he means when his lover gave into what they were being told to do for the sake of their careers. As young as they were when this all started it's hard not to think they may have fell for the lies being fed to them. So Harry let "Louis go" by being seeing with a ton of women gaining himself the brand of "lady's man" while also being forced to watch Louis be with someone else [Eleanor] and publicly act like that was the one he loved. Harry wrote the song Just a Little Bit of Your Heart which is a prime exactly of those feelings. Harry loves Louis so much but he only gets to love him privately while Eleanor gets to loves him publicly and as Harry wrote a little bit of your love is better then none.

Were driving down a one way road to something better. What hurts you is going to pass you'll be doing better.

This shows they know the pain all the bad things thrown their way won't stick around forever. They will overcome this and one day they will see the light at the end of the tunnel or the rainbow after the storm.

We Made It:

Cause we made it, Underestimated and always underrated. Now we're saying goodbye waving to the hard time yeah it's gonna be already.

Do I need to explain it I would say the title alone and this chorus makes it very clear. Break up who when where how? They had hard ships but NOT from their own doing. WMI is about how decpite all they were put through they made it. Flashback to Harry HS1 tour with Kacey in a rainbow dress at MSG in front of 36k people singing "[their/where] still together still going strong." They want you to know nothing will break them apart no matter how hard anyone tries. We are keeping the bad in the past and moving forward to a better tomorrow.

Share a single bed and tell each other what we dream about. Things we'd never say to someone else out loud.

This reminds me of their Xfactor days or early 1D tour days bc in 1D interviews it was always made clear they would share rooms and also how on the bus Louis bunk was filled with his junk so where did he sleep then? Also there are many former Xfactor contestants that have come out and said they were forced to be in the closet on the show. Flashback to an article claiming the people in charge of the 2010 Xfactor season tried to hide and keep a same sex couple apart wonder who that was? That line is about when they were young and the late nights they spent together wondering how their future was going to go. They were still just big smiles, wide eyed, oblivious young boys when they imagined only good things to come of the future with them and the band.

We were only kids just trying to work it out. Wonder what they'd say if they could see us now?/ Don't know why they put all of this on us when we're so young. Done a pretty good job dealing with it all.

We were only kids [when Louis fell in love with said person] and we're so young reminds me of Harry's song To Be So Lonely where he says "Don't blame me for falling I was just a little boy." They both mention falling in love at a young age and both mention how after all this time they are still just as in love as back then but just a little less naive/oblivious. They are both hinting at a higher person [their label/management] who didn't approve of their love and telling them it wasn't going to work out. Harry going you can't be mad at me I was only a boy and Louis going wonder what would happen if they saw us now meaning look we didn't let you win. They tried so hard to separate Louis and Harry but it didn't work and Louis wants us and THEM especially to know they are still very much together, they handled it as best at they could and they weren't going to let them keep Louis and Harry apart.

Meet you at your uni, cheap drink, drink em all night

This is what we call a stunt line to push a narrative. Harry does stunt songs [Carolina and Cherry] while Louis does stunt lines. This line is suppose to allude to the album being for Eleanor [bc she went to Manchester Uni] but the rest of the album is so clearly not for her. If this song was about a break up from Harry then why would they bother adding in a stunt line about Eleanor when the public story is El and Louis are happily still together with Louis planning to marry her? Unless Walls isn't a break up album and it's very loudly Louis declaring him and Harry are still happily together and they wanted to try and force the image that Louis is happily in love with Eleanor. Also funny how this album is gender neutral and has no she pronouns in it unlike Zayn's new album having she pronouns.

Too Young:

We were to young to know we had everything. Too Young, I wish I could've seen it all along. I'm sorry that I hurt you, darling, no we were to young

This song is all about how when Harry was only 16 and he was 18 [Louis himself saying the song is about meeting the one at 18] he was to young to realize he had the best lover he was ever going to have, he had it all. As I said before issues in songs = management/stunts and this is Illuding to how Louis let them minupulate them and do what it was they wanted aka stunting and forcing Louis to be with Eleanor and Harry have a "lady's image" since he was only 16 and Louis now looking back and realizing he should have fought harder. Louis at the time didn't realize how much all this would hurt Harry having to share Louis [once again Just a Little Bit of Your Heart is Harry's feelings about that] and its once he's older he realizes what he did to hurt the only one who he ever truly loved and it pains him to know he put his lover through that even if it wasn't Louis fault Harry went through that.

I've been looking back a lot lately me and you is all I've ever known. Oh I can't believe I gave in to the pressure. When they said a love like this would never last. I didn't know no better now I realize yeah I realize.

So similar to before he's saying Harry is all he's ever known and him giving in to the pressure was about agreeing to fake date Eleanor and allow them to be heavily closeted. Reflecting back on those days he regrets so much what he agreed to do. They said a love like this wouldn't last is their management/label not agreeing with them being together and how two boys in a boyband marketed towards young women won't last, they won't sell records as an out gay couple with Louis believing their lies for a bit and he now regrets ever thinking they were right. This is a reflection song of not understanding what he had when he was so young but he sees it clearly now and he will never let THEM win he loves Harry and won't ever let him go ever.

Walls:

These high walls, they came up short now I stand taller then them all. These high walls never broke my soul and I watched them all come fallin down for you.

The high walls he refers to is all the assholes who tried to break him, break Harry and tried to ruin his career out of spite. This is towards the ones who told him they would never succeed being as they are a committed gay couple. Louis for a time believed them when they said their love wouldn't last, no one will want to listen to their music as a gay couple but eventually he realized they were wrong and those walls he had up filling him with doubt and insecurities were broken down. He allowed his "high walls" to come down because Harry was worth the effort it took to bring them down.

So this one is a thank you for what you did to me. Why is it that thank you's are often bittersweet? I just hope I see you one day and you say to me, Oh.

This is what one calls a metaphor he does not mean a physical person he means the walls he had up for a long time making him feel so insecure bc of how some of the people around him that made him feel so worthless crushing his spirt for so long. The metaphorical person he is thanking for helping him become the person he is today is the wall he broke down. The hardships he dealt with when he was younger got him to where he is today.

For every question why you were my because

Why am I still fighting?

Why have I not given up yet?

The because to his question is his lover HERE is where he directly refers to his lover. Harry is someone who is worth fighting for and will always be one of the reasons he hasn't stopped fighting. He loves Harry more then anything and will fight until the day he can publicly hold his hand, publicly post pictures of them together, publicly go on dates and publicly declare his love for him.

Habit:

You're the habit that I can't break, you're the feeling I can't put down, you're the shiver that I can't shake, you're the habit that I can't break, you're the high that I need right now.

Written over and over throughout the song these are some of the most important lines he wrote about Harry. It's Louis way of saying even if he wanted to, even if it would be easier for him and Harry he can never let him go. Harry's version of this is in Adore You when he sings "You don't have to say you love me, you don't have to say nothing and you don't have to say you're mine. I'd walk through fire for you just let me adore you like it's the only thing I'll ever do." Harry is saying even if publicly you can never say you love me I know you do and I will do anything for you because I am madly in love and could never let you go. They both would go through hell along side each other then being partially happy and the other not being by their side. Harry is the only one he ever wants to spend his life with and no matter what hardships they are put through there is no scenario where being without each other is a better alternative.

I took some time 'cause I've ran out of energy of playing someone I heard I'm supposed to be but honestly, I don't have to choose anymore

The line of all lines he took time away bc he was tired of the facade of faking what makes him happy, faking loving some girl, faking being anything but himself. He's back now and knows without a doubt who he is and is proud of it. No more confusion, no more lies he loves a curly haired dimpled boy and no one will tell him he can't love him. Harry's version of this is the chorus of Lights Up "All the lights couldn't put out the dark, runnin' through my heart. Lights up and they know who you are, know who you are. Do you know who you are? Shine step into the light, shine so bright sometimes, shine I'm not ever going back." They both tell you they have figured out whi they are and are very proud of who they have become and no one will tell them they can't be anything but themselves. They WILL scream it out loud and proud letting everyone know who they love one day [as if 16 and 18 year old H&L didn't already do that.]

And it's been ages, different stages come so far from Princess Park. I'll always need ya in front of me, in front of me

Oh the line that shocked every larrie I know. When he first sang this song and we first heard this line at a live concert everyone was shocked because we all knew what their was only one meaning to it. It was such a drastic line that the Elounors tried to claim he sang Starbuck [until the official lyrics came out.] Princess Park is the name of the apartment/flat complex all of the 1D boys lived in after the Xfactor BUT Niall, Liam and Zayn had their own apartment/flat while Louis and Harry shared one and they always made it very clear to everyone they met that they lived together.

So in a love song Louis sings about how him and his lover have come so far since their Princess Park days and his lover will always be the one he needs. Putting Harry's fav love song Sweet Creature plus Louis line about his lover together it would read " And, oh, we started two hearts in one home, come so far [since] princess park. I'll always need you in front of me. Wherever I go you bring me home" you do the math here. Their lyrics sink up just as much as their tattoos do.

Always You:

I went to Amsterdam without you and all I could do was think about you and oh-oh-oh I should've known

The Amsterdam line one of those lines that can be fact checked and proven to not be for Eleanor. So Louis took Eleanor to Amsterdam for her birthday at a gay bar no less back in July/August of 2017. Then a week or two later wrote the song Always You leaking a snippet of it to us where the lines of him singing about how he went to Amsterdam without his lover and his lover was all he could think about were heard. If he went with Eleanor then clearly that isn't his lover but we know this. Fast forward 2020 Walls comes out and we FINALLY hear the full song of Always You.

Louis said he only put the song on the album because the fans wanted it but if it was just because of us and the song wasn't THAT important to him why did he leak those lines back in 2017 that could easily be fact checked that the lover he sings about isn't Eleanor? It's like he wanted us to know it's not for Eleanor this line is important. So the fact that almost 3 years later he still put the song out shows the song means a lot to him and even in 2020 the meaning of the song still resonates with him and how it will Always be THIS one person that means everything to him. Funny though how his loudest, easily fact checkable songs [to not be about Eleanor] are the ones he downplays the most about importance to him.

I went to Tokyo to let it go. Drink after drink, but I still felt alone I should've known

When it comes to this song the Amsterdam line is Louis speaking [because he went to Amsterdam without Harry] while the Tokyo line is Harry speaking [because Harry went to Tokyo without Louis] and after Harry came back from Tokyo, Japan Louis was seen wearing a ton of new clothes from Japanese clothing brands. This is both of them saying I may be in a wonderful new place but it's not the same without you here. They are sad and alone and would rather be with each other then traveling around the world.

I'm wastin' my time when it was always you, always you. Chasin' the high, but it was always you, always you

I think this is self explanatory he sees no reason to even think about being with someone else because he knows without a shadow of doubt [thinks he always knew deep down] it was always Harry. There was never going to be anyone else for him but Harry.

I went from LAX to Heathrow. Walked through my door, but it felt nothing like home cause you're not home. Waiting to wrap your legs around me

LA and London are their two main residences and places they tend to go back and forth a lot. When he "goes home" if Harry is not there Louis feels as though it doesn't really feel like home because home to Louis is wherever Harry is. They can travel all around the world, meet a ton of new people but no place and others will ever make them feel fully satisfied unless their lover is by their side.

Fearless:

Cashin your weekend treasures, for a suit and time a second wife. Now I'm not saying that you could have done better just remember that I, I've seen that fire alight.

The first line is a nod to the industry itself and how to get your "weekend tresures" [be famous and earn a lot of money] you have to put up a fake facade, acting and looking the way they want you to because in their eyes if you are not the conventional person Hollywood wants they believe you will not make them the money they desire because we all know they only care about money nothing else. At a cost of the real them they must put on a fake smile, go out there sing doing nothing unconventional and they will get money and fame.

The second line yes they are happily together and Louis doesn't want or believe Harry will find someone else but he has seen Harry when all of this gets to be to much and when Harry puts up a facade of I've never had an issue with all of this Louis reminds him that I've seen you when your not fine, it's ok to not always be fine and I am here for you when things are not rainbows and sunshine.

Tell me do you still remember feeling young? And strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people? Just for tonight, look inside and spark that memory of you.

Refering back to Xfactor and early 1D days he's asking Harry if he remembers those days together back when they hadn't really gone through hardships yet and all the strength they had during their youth willing to take on the world together. He's asking him to bring that strength back and remember the younger version of himself. He's asking him to not give up because the younger him wouldn't want him to. It's been 10 years and they are still fighting, fighting as hard as they did when they were merely teenagers not knowing what lied ahead but wer happy as long as it meant they had each other in the end.

Now if happiness is always measured by the life we design, the car on the drive then you should feel better then ever but you know as well as I it's all lies.

This line speaks volumes as stated before with Fearless we have references to the industry and even just life in general. From the outside looking in they got money, fame, material things, they have it all and if deciding who is more happy in life was based on those things then they would win but Louis is telling Harry we both know that isn't the case. The industry isn't sunshine and rainbows, they treat people like shit and strip away everything about a person if they don't think their real self will sell. They only want to make a profit off them and don't care about how they feel about any of it. Everything is a lie the truth must be counseled.

Perfect Now:

You say to me your jeans don't fit, you don't feel pretty and it's hard to miss. I wish you could see my point of view as someone staring back at you.

This song is personally underrated to me I love this song. This song is so uplifting when you are feeling insecure and negative about yourself. Louis personally had a certain curly haired boy in mind when he wrote this. He's talking about Harry's insecurities with himself and Louis wishes Harry could see things from his view and how amazing and perfect Harry is to him.

Cause everybody is looking at you now. I guess some queens don't need a crown and I know why. Even when your tears are following now still someone, you're perfect now.

One of those it's definitely not for Eleanor moments. We all know [especially during fine line era] everyone was talking about Harry, knows his name and eyes turn to him when he walks in the room. Louis is so proud of Harry and is happy everyone else sees what he sees but Harry doesn't always see what others see in him and during those times where he is not already Louis is saying I will be right there with you. I am with you through the good and the bad because even when tears are running down his face Harry is still perfect to Louis.

Cause you're the only one when it's said and done. You make me feel like being someone good to you. Even at your worst you steal the scene.

No matter where life takes them, no matter how hard it gets Louis is reassuring Harry he will always be there by his side. At the end of it all when the final act is over and the curtain is closeting he will still be there because there will never be anyone else he wants to be next to at the end of all of this. Louis looks into Harry's eyes he watches all he does and is intrance wanting nothing more then being the one to be there when he is down and always being the who makes the pain go away even if for a moment.

Defenseless:

I hate to say, but I do we're sleeping on our problems like we'll solve them in our dreams. We walk up early morning and they're still under our sheets.

*Sigh* this is reality setting in things aren't perfect. In their line of work, being who they are, being a closeted gay couple things aren't going to be perfect 100% of the time. Most of the time they would rather ignore all the shit they are forced to indure but Louis realizes just ignoring it all won't make it go away he will wake up each morning next to Harry knowing those issues will always be around by neither fault of their own. He hopes one day they will get to be a happily open couple who posts pics online, goes out on public dates and gets to live the domestic life they always wanted but right now that just isn't their reality. Their reality is I can only look at you for more then 5 seconds or touch you when no one is around to notice.

Been up all night, all night running my lines but it's only the truth. Been up all night not sure how to say this right got so much to loose. / You just keep on building up your fences but I've been so defenseless.

Another metaphor here Louis wondering how to bring this up to Harry and not upset him. The last thing Louis ever wants is for him to be the reason Harry has a frown upon is wonderful face. Harry is more the one to bottle up and ignore the negative things while Louis is the more practical one and he knows he has a ton to loose [Harry and his love] if he doesn't go about this situation right.

No you don't have to keep on being strong for you and me acting like you feel no pain I know you do. And I can't get inside your head when you're lost in your pride but you don't have a thing to prove.

Harry is the one who bottles up his pain, puts on the fake smiles, and makes everyone believe he is perfectly fine. He acts like he can handle what he is forced to indure 100% of the time but Louis sees through that and just wants him to open up more. He knows Harry feels just as much pain as he does and wishes he wouldn't hide it and pretend everything is always fine. Louis wants to be able to help Harry through the pain and to let know he will always be there for him no matter what so don't pretend your always fine just to make others around him, make Louis feel better.

I hope I'm not asking to much just wanna be loved by you. And I'm to tired to be tough just wanna be loved by you.

Louis is tired of pretending, wishes everyone understood, wishes what he is asking for wasn't to much. All he wants is to be loved by Harry and live the domestic life he always invisioned with Harry and no one else but his live is not that simple.

Only The Brave:

Pour mercy, mercy on me, set fire to history. I'm breaking my own rules, I'm crying like a fool. It's a church of burnt romances and I'm to far gone to pray. It's a solo song and it's only for the brave.

I'm sure you understand Louis is gay but if you didn't this line right here is all you need to understand that. No straight man is going to write or sing those lines. He's gone down a path of self discovery and figuring himself out he knows he is and he is to far gone to turn back now but he has no desire to even if he could turn back. He is proud of who he is and doesn't care what anyone else thinks of him.

If the truth tell, darling, you fell, like their ain't enough dying stars in your sky. It's a tell tale and it's only hello, hello, no goodbyes.

It's only hello no goodbyes meaning the confusion, the is this for life between Louis and Harry questions are gone. They aren't turning back, they aren't saying goodbye, they are only saying hello to what lies ahead. The truth is clear, their story is clear, they fell for one another and Harry metaphorical speaking fell for Louis in a way where his star shines brighter then ever just by being with him.

Pour mercy, mercy on me, I'll fall upon my knees and they'll say, I told you so come on when you know you know. All the lonely shadows dancing from the cradle to the grave.

When you know you know they knew right from the start it's me and you until the end. Some won't agree but in the end that does not matter to Louis because he only cares about Harry being by his side. He will not apologize for falling in love he loves who he loves and that is it.

We Made It Directors Cut MV:

If the lyrics alone don't tell you the full story then the music video mini movie should. It sums up everything I explained. Louis being forced to do things he doesn't want, it effecting his relationship to the point their drowning [Harry in Falling MV] but manage to survive. Louis lover never speaking but the girl with ties to the evil one in charge does until eventually Louis breaks free from the man in charge controlling him and Louis finally gets to run away with his lover because he made sure they would make it in the end.

Ending:

Walls is about self discovery, learning to overcome your insecurities "breaking down your walls" no matter how hard it may be and Louis understanding he met the one at 18 and how Harry will always be worth fighting for, THEY will always be worth it bc they knew even as young as they were they were going to get married, have kids and grow old together. So you still want to tell me how any song on Walls is about a break up or Louis moving on from Harry because I certainly don't see it. Walls is Louis perspective on their 10 year relationship and his support and love towards Harry if you want Harry's perspective and his support and love toward Louis you would have to dive into HS and FL but that's a whole other analysis.

They have not given up on each other even if at times it would have been easier they didn't so I will never give up on them. They continue to fight I have been in this fandom supporting them for 10 years watching their continous fight and I will be here another 10 years supporting them if that is how long it takes for them to get the life they knew they wanted when they were only 16 and 18.

[prompt-master]

Would you be willing to share how you might rewrite Yukizome, Sakakura, and Munakata to make them likable characters (if not ppl Bc there’s a big difference)???

ahhhhhhh this ask got me so stupidly excited that I was like wavin my hands around. I think about how to rewrite their characters OFTEN. very often. I’m gonna go with likeable character over likeable people because I think they work better where they’re actually not that likeable people. 

The one I think about the MOST is Munakata. He was SUCH wasted potential and I partially blame the medium for that (a single season anime is too constrained for future, it needed more time and care to be a proper story). But Munakata is actually so close to being a compelling character but they made some MAJOR mistakes with him. This ended up getting really long and more like a 3 page ADHD ramble essay. SO IM VERY SORRY to anyone who cannot read this but TYTYTY if you did because these ideas make me very happy! Oh it’s only about Munakata btw because of how long it got

The thing about Munakata is that he is designed to be a foil to Naegi. In fact a majority of dr3 future FOCUSES on this foil dynamic. It is Naegi’s hope vs Munakata’s hope. The World’s hope vs The FF’s hope. And more importantly it is True Hope vs Corrupted Hope.

This is a fantastic concept...so why didn’t it work in canon? I think that the biggest most glaring issue with Munakata’s hope is his logic. Munakata is meant to be a logical man, although with corrupted morals that lead him astray. Yet in canon his logic is laughably infallible. For example as a major figure in the FF and someone who wants to spread hope....why would he tell Naegi to kill himself? More importantly why does he continue to try and slaughter Naegi? The issue here isn’t from the fact that he wants him dead but from the fact that he is under the IMPRESSION that this entire game is being broadcast to the world.

Think about this for a second. In Munakata’s eyes he is going to kill the Ultimate Hope, an international symbol of a better life, live on TV. He doesn’t just want to kill the Ultimate Hope..he wants to do it BRUTALLY as a MAJOR FIGURE OF THE FF. IMO this should have happened later on as the game furthers the emotional turmoil in Munakata’s head and he eventually snaps and gives in to the desire to kill Naegi despite the fact that this is live. And then there should be CONSEQUENCES for that. I wanted so badly a realization where Munakata realizes that he is hurting the Ultimate Hope in front of what he believes is the entire world. 

Another issue with Munakata’s logic is saying things such as...implying that the HPA KG was...just a game. I mean...people DIED. it's not hard to see how wrong that logic is. you can't say “this is the real world now” when what Naegi experienced WAS the real world. I think that this could be fixed through a bit of world building. DR3 Future is rather isolated from its world. We don’t really know much about the world and its dynamics. I think it would make perfect sense if the general public viewed the HPA KG as a tv show, they got numb to the sight and even those untouched by despair had a hard time connecting that these are REAL people suffering. With this previously established Munakata expressing that the KG was not real would make a lot more sense and play into his corrupted idea of hope. 

There is also Munakata’s connection to his other friends. Now I’ve talked about this before but the game was clearly designed to BREAK Munakata and Naegi. This way the FF would die, both the FF and World’s hope would be broken, and upon seeing this Mitarai would have no choice but to deploy his own forced hope. So it makes perfect sense that Yukizome’s death would break him (in fact if she hadn’t died in that way, her NG code was designed to be Munakata’s fault). But something about it felt...superficial. Again I think this is the mediums fault but it almost feels as though Munakata just forgets about Yukizome until later. I think they should spend more time establishing his pain and what he has lost and why this pushes him to kill. In his eyes if she can die then nothing else matters. It should be THE breaking point, not the first push. I do like the betrayal he feels towards realizing she had despair but it needed more time to fester. 

And his relationship with Sakakura also felt weak. In all honesty it was hard for me to feel as though they were ever friends. Sakakura is written as though he just follows Munakata like a loyal dog and Munakata just orders him around. Establish their relationship more! Why are they such good friends? Why is Sakakura important to him? And more importantly why did Munakata decide to cruelly gut Sakakura knowing he was about to confess? This is because he believed that Sakaura was despair and that his confession was more manipulation, but they didn’t show this well at ALL. Munakata just comes across as a major a-sshole who does not care. I also personally found it distasteful that when changing his heart Munakata only seemed to cry for Yukizome. I understand that was his love interest but Yukizome at the end of the day killed herself. Sakakura however was an unnecessary betrayal he took into his own hands AS HE HIMSELF KILLED HIM. He should have more guilt over that! Not just in that moment where he runs to Sakakura, but ahead of time as well! Maybe even DURING his rampage they could have shown him having moments of guilt but he is so absorbed in the idea that all despairs have to die that he doesn’t even realize he has become despair in the name of hope.

A BIG weakness on Munakata’s part comes with interacting with other characters. He is a man who should know how to take charge, lead, and doesn't know what to do when things are getting too crazy even though he THINKS he does. Munakata is heavily flawed, OBVIOUSLY flawed, but many of the interactions with him are as tho his rampage isnt a big deal. There should be reasons for this! Why do people trust Munakatas guidance so much? I dont know! All ive seen from him is that hes insane! Maybe even pieces where around others hes a lot nicer so you can understand why they follow him, even though hes ready to gut Naegi alive with a flaming katana. His interactions with others feel like the writers just wanted to see the next big evil thing they could think of, but for Munakata’s character this doesn't make sense because he was appointed a high status in the foundation for a reason. Maybe even have people say they disagree with some of his methods but at the end of the day he gets the job done!

There is another major missed opportunity here and it's why Muanakata wants Naegi dead so badly in the first place. The remnants. Hiding terrorists in the apocalypse is a PERFECTLY valid reason to want someone dead and think they're a bad guy! But I think since Naegis initial arrest was already so hostile and violent we get the sense that the FF is simply just...crazy. 

And let’s think about what Munakata WANTS from Naegi. He does not just want Naegi dead he wants something worse. He wants Naegi to suffer first. He thinks that Naegi doesnt understand his own personal pain. He thinks that because Naegi protected the remnants he must also not care about the suffering the remnants caused. He wants Naegi to feel despair and then die. This is important to his corrupted hope. He thinks the suffering must be shared in order to understand who must die, but he is creating a cycle of pain. Tie this back to the broadcasting issue. He wants Naegi to break for everyone to see. I think..and this is just a concept..I think it would have been a great idea for Munkata to force Naegi to watch the despair video so that he has no choice but to understand. 

AND themes are majorly important to Danganronpa. And I don’t think its a stretch to say that there are parallels between Munakata and Naegi. In fact I would say that there are aspects of the og trio in this new trio. I think it would have been really cool if they showed how our favorite trio could have ended up if they had been corrupted as well. But the parrellels dont stick strongly. I think it would have been cool to show a past where Munakata’s idealism lies more strongly than Naegis. As the student council president there was a time where he himself had to use his words to solve problems. Perhaps he learned that sometimes his words made things worse. Munakata does not have Naegi’s talent of emotional intelligence. He is a man of action over words. So he interprets this as WORDS being the problem rather than understanding he does not have these skills. Especially when the apocalypse breaks out, it becomes all action over words. So he sees Naegi who is all talk as a genuine threat who will let everyone die through his “weak ineffective” idea of hope. 

Another parallel could be drawn from the fact that they both have hope based careers. Their job is too keep things hopeful. Maybe Naegi stays safe doing public broadcasted speeches, while Munakata is on the field weeding out despairs. This would cause Munakata to feel as though Naegi is doing no real work yet getting all the credit for being a savior.

Munakata constantly complains that Naegi does not know true pain. But he and we as an audience have followed Naegi through his entire process of trauma. We know he is in the wrong. But what do we as an audience know about Munakata’s suffering? We are shown almost nothing! There are some implications, but for how intense he is implications are not enough. We need to see his suffering. We should see how he has witnessed death. Yukizomes death is not nearly enough for this because he talks as though he has suffered for years. How can we as an audience understand that when we have never seen it? How can we understand Munakata when he is outright denying Naegi’s trauma that we KNOW existed with no proper justification for his reasoning?

I also believe that Munakata should have died. It actually upsets me a bit that he was PLANNED to die but didn't. He should have died protecting Naegi after all that suffering and relentless brutality he offered him. Munakata again is a man of action over word, and protecting Naegi with his last breath is the perfect way to show how in the end he changed. Especially when all he wanted initially was for Naegi to die. I find that much more satisfying than just…...walking off to who knows where.

So lets recap some changes. Munakata needs a proper display of his past traumas and his relationship with Sakakura and Yukizome. Munakata needs a proper display of his work relationships and the respect he has earned. Munakata needs to fall into corruption at a better pace, and have geniune reasons for his illogical attacks on Naegi. Munakata needs to care more for his friends. Munakata needs to deal with the turmoil of wanting to hurt Naegi while he believes the world is watching. Munakata needs to die for Naegi

This has gotten long...and I still have things to say. There is so much to make Munakata a good character. Future had a lot of potential and is amazing for a rewrite concept. As for Sakakura and Yukizome since this has gotten long feel free to ask for another round of this individually when asks are open again! If you read all of this somehow….TYSM

[ravel-puzzlewell]

I would love some advice on how to not suck at Hades, I keep dying lol. And do casts just sort of suck or am I using them wrong?

okay, so if you’re struggling with surviving, Hades has an easy mode, and no, it’s not “God’s mode”. It’s Athena’s dash. Put Athena on the dash and dash a lot, which you should be doing anyway. Like, I cannot overstate how much of a bulletproof vest Athena’a dash is. 

Overall, Hades is a game with a lot of hidden mechanics and a lot of things just straight up suck if you don’t set them up correctly. I’m gonna try to give quick examples of builds that 100% work and are relatively easy to get, so you can try them to see how good the weapon actually can be, and also mention things that do NOT work, so you’re not stuck in a miserable build, trying to make it work and thinking it’s your fault somehow.

General rules of choosing boons:

For attacks that have high base damage (sword main and special, main bow attack, main spear, gun special) you want boons with percentage upgrades, like Artemis, Aphro, Athena (triple A), Demeter. Poseidon is generally not great for melee, bc he knocks enemies away when you want them in range for hits. 

For attacks that have low base damage, but high speed (bow special, fists, AK-47) you do not want percentages, but boons with flat damage, like Zeus, Dionysus, Ares. 

You’re right, casts do kinda suck by themselves, they are normally supplemental damage at best, but you can make a cast build, you have to use specific weapons: Poseidon sword, Hera bow, Achiless spear, Beowulf shield. I’ll explain cast builds later, but generally you want to focus your build on one or two things that do max damage and not try to have everything upgraded at once, bc then everything will be mediocre and miserable. Like, if you’re playing vanilla sword with Artemis attack and Aphrodite special, focus on them, don’t try to upgrade cast or dash or whatever.

There are higher chances for rare boons, duos and legendaries in the rooms with minibosses. You cannot get a Duo boon of two gods in their trial. Use codex to see what exactly you need for legendaries and duos, and what gods are best to choose to compliment the main one you have. Try unlocking Privileged Status in the mirror as soon as possible, it’s +40% damage bonus if you have two curse effects going, which is pretty easy to get. Great Hermes boon combo is Hyper Sprint that gives you 100% bonus move speed after dashing and then Rush Delivery, that gives you damage bonus based on any bonus move speed. Epic Rush delivery is 100% bonus damage, so after dashing with hyper sprint, you’ll do 100% more damage, it’s pretty fucking OP.

Now I’ll go thru the weapon list with easiest best builds:

Shields are generally seen as the best defensive option for first clears. I don’t love them personally, but I agree, they are pretty good for defense. For easy shield build, slap Ares on special, someone from AAA on attack. I don’t think shields need a lot of advice, they are pretty easy. 

Fists: the best build for fists is Merciful End, and it also allows me to show how untransparent game mechanics are. It’s Ares+ Athena duo that allows Doom to trigger every time you deflect and it needs Ares attack\special + Athena attack\special. If you try it just like that, frex, Athena attack + Ares special, it kinda sucks. Ares attack + Athena special also kinda sucks. No, to make it work, you need to put Ares on attack, Athena on special AND Athena on dash. Athena on special is only there to unlock the duo boon, but it only becomes good if you actually activate it with dash instead of special. So the most efficient way to play is quickly applying Doom with attack (take Ares’ Impeding doom and Dire misfortune for bigger doom damage), and quickly dashing so massive Doom damage triggers every time you dash. This shit erases bosses and keeps you pretty safe despite melee range bc of Athena dash. 

Bow: vanilla bow kinda sucks, ngl, but Chiron, Hera and Rama are pretty fun.

Chiron thrives on the power of its special, you just hit someone with attack and spam special without even aiming. Dio is very good on special here, and for attack you can put Ares or Aphro, both of whom have useful duos with Dio and also allow for Privileged Status. if you take Dio’s cast, you can go for his legendary, but it’s not that great to like build for it on purpose.

But also try the Sea Storm build, which is: Poseidon on special, Zeus somewhere (he’s bad at bow attack and his cast and dash are generally garbage, but his call is good) and then get Sea Storm, which is Zeus+Poseidon duo. Good supplimentary boons: Zeus’ Jolted, double strike, Poseidon’s Razor Shoals, wave breaking. Jolted+Razor Shoals allow you to apply Priv Status in one hit. Poseidon’s legendary is garbage, don’t bother, but Zeus’ is decent if you can get it. This build let you do massive damage while staying safely away from the enemies

Sword: vanilla sword is meh, Nemesis is very good, Poseidon is decent for cast builds. Athur is slower than Thanatos, but pretty tanky.

For basic Nemesis build, get like Arty attack, Aphro Special, Athena’s dash to be safe, go for Arty+Aphro and Athena+Arty duos, and Arty’s boons focused on critical damage like Pressure Points, Hunter’s Mark, Clean Kill. Mainly use dash-strikes, you don’t want to stand in one place to finish combos bc you’ll get hit. If you get Athena’s secondary boon with Exposed status effect, you’ll get Priv Status, and also you should be backstabbing a lot with how much you dash. Hermes’ boon with additional dashes is a must have here, but it’s also great in general. 

Gun: Lucy is ok, but Eris rail is the best one, slap Zeus on attack and all of his supplementary boons (Jolted, Storm lighting for legendary, double strike), but most importantly, pray for Cluster bomb and Rocket bomb hammers. If you can get them, this shit becomes insane. With Arty or Aphro on special it’ll do thousands of damage in seconds. Tbh, I don’t really like playing with Eris, bc it’s too easy and also doesn’t even require skill, but I got my highest heat (40) and quickest time (12 min) with it because it’s just that OP. You don’t even need Athena’s dash, Poseidon’s dash is very good here, esp if you get Sea Storm, it makes clearing small rooms in styx very quick and easy. 

Spear unfortunately sucks a lot in Hades, tho it seems fun at first. Achilles is the best aspect and only because it’s for cast builds and you won’t use the spear itself. 

It pains me, because I love Guan Yu, but I gotta admit, it does kinda suck. Healing shit is not really worth it unless you get a Quick Spin hammer, but even then you risk being hit for more than you’ll heal. The only viable option of playing Guan Yu is a no-hit sniper rifle. You have to get Charged Skewer hammer, something heavy hitting like Arty on the special and just spam the special from across the room. I like playing this build, it’s pretty fun and with backstab you can get 1k in one hit, but it is kinda limited and depends on the hammer. They buffed the main attack lately, but it’s still too slow and clunky to be worth it. Poseidon on special is also pretty good here, because you want to knock enemies away, and Sea Storm is good with it too. 

Cast builds: Poseidon is a good cast option with +50% cast damage, but Achilles is the best, because it has +150% damage after special for 4 attacks. Try Achilles with Zeus cast, which normally sucks, but with Achilles becomes very good. Another great option is Athena, with Aphro on something else to get Athena+Aphro duo that allows casts to backstab. 

Casts that need specific builds to work: Ares cast is only good with Arty duo, try it. Also get Ares supplementary boons for his rifts that make them bigger and longer, etc.

Demeter base cast sucks, but if you get a full build, it’s very OP. full build is: Arty+Demeter Duo MUST HAVE, Glacial Glare that makes lasers stay longer also must have, and pom it as high as possible. If you don’t get one of these things, it’s gonna be miserable, if you get them, you don’t have to make a single hit yourself, icy lasers of death will melt everything. Get as many cast stones from Chaos as you can.  

Hera bow is a great cast weapon, try Athena cast, Poseidon that has great AOE and slides nicely into Sea Storm, or Aphro cast. Trippy Shot (Dio cast) with Hera is very fun and both Dio duos with Zeus and Demeter are very good, and you can get them at the same time, tho it’s unlikely. To be safe, focus on Zeus+Dio, if you get Demeter too, it’s a nice OP bonus. 

Beowulf shield works basically like Hera and same shit works for it too.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask while I still have this fucking database in my head lol

[irwinkitten]

feisty | a.i | part two

notes: so this was deff requested after i posted feisty about 8 months ago lmao i got sent an anon who literally astounded me with their idea and so working off that, part two started to get created and honestly i love it so much. however, as i posted the other day, it reached 16k and i was like “this isn’t even halfway done i need to stop and reevaluate this” so i’ve decided it’s gonna be three parts with part three already started.  request: Hi I was thinking ab Feisty (I’m the one who requested a pt 2) but like I was really thinking about it and I absolutely adore the way Cassie was written. She’s strong, she’s powerful, and she knows what she wants. She never turned her back on the idea of a pack and being part of one even tho she’s human. I was wondering if maybe you could incorporate the idea of her having a wolf, but that wolf is locked inside of her, but it slowly makes it way out in different ways. Like the idea she’s a 1/?  Like one day she’s getting extremely riled up and all of a sudden only her eyes shift and everyone around her is like “um the FUCK Luna???” And no one knows how she was able to do that but then maybe she finds some sort of ancient script ab humans among werewolves and they’re actually extremely powerful and something to be feared bc they’re sent to guide the pack and all of a sudden it makes sense bc Roxanne and Trixie are both extremely smart and intelligent and the other humans within 2/? The pack that have come around during her time also have the same intelligence and wisdom that the wolves tend to overlook and it look Cassie for the packs to understand and appreciate their power and it’s like up to her to continue to push forward and make sure that all packs respect the humans as if they were a wolf themselves but inside the humans is a wolf more powerful that they’re in tune with which is why they are able to lead the pack and point out the flaws in plans and makes them so 3/? Valuable to the packs in different forms and she’s out here being bad fucking ass and she won’t take no for an answer and she just has all this power and she knows she might just be a human in many of the wolves eyes forever but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t go down trying to change that bc no one, I repeat no one, should disrespect her or the others like her bc they are not less than the wolves and idk that might not be the way you were thinking of taking it but it’s just what I imagine 4/? Bc I think it would be really cool to see the other wolves reactions to her having some sort of power within her that’s untapped, along w the other humans and the backlash and rebellion that could ensue. Like how are these ~humans~ so powerful they’re just that, filthy, disgusting humans and I think that would be a really cool spin on it but that’s just me lol. Tbh it’s time to go reread feisty again and just revel in how well written Cassie is and how much I am DYING for a part 2 5/5 ALSO sorry I was just thinking that you could make Roxanne’s mate someone powerful as well, showing that even those who are tortured are destined for greatness warnings: mentions of murder, death, word count: 14.2k lmao am i ever gonna write a small one shot that’s an oc? probably not.

part one

donate to my ko-fi here 

-

The low alarm that keened throughout the small town of werewolves, it was one of both comfort and panic. The panic was of those who had been living on the edge, scared to step from the packs boarders without a warrior or two within distance or sight. 

The comfort resided within the Alpha and Luna, both who had planned and expected this to happen. 

There was a traitor.

The pair peeled themselves away from the bed, both fully focused on the fact that what they had seen, what had been pointed out to them had come to fruition.

“Luna?” A soft voice came from one of the rooms below theirs as they reached the next floor below, both dressed in similar attire, yet the Alpha’s attire was less restrictive than the Luna’s.

“You were right Trixie.” The soft tone of reassurance did nothing to stop the teenagers lip from wobbling. 

“So many are going to be hurt.” She whispered dejectedly as the Luna opened her arms out to the young girl. She stepped forwards into the embrace.

“Come, the elders will insist you are awake.” 

Nothing was spoken as the young woman and her charge continued further down, heading into the office that was located on the ground floor.

“Luna Cassidy, it’s about time.” The scathing tone of the Elder of Vinewood Pack reached her, Cassidy Irwin drew herself to her full height, meeting the Elder with a hard glare.

“Trixie Teller is the one who foresaw this. Need I remind you that she is but a child in all of this? They may be rogues but they are waging war, Elder Greydown. The knowledge of such a thing being right is distressing for any wolf, let alone a human teenager.” She snapped in return. The Elder scowled but did not refute her argument.

“Elder Greydown, I do not want to remind you, yet again to respect my Luna.” Cassidy watched as the Elder bowed to her mate.

“My apologies, Alpha Ashton.” Cassidy ignored the slight against her and bundled the trembling teenager into the spot between herself and her mate. Ashton did not hesitate to let his arm wrap around the teenagers shoulders, and she leaned gratefully into her Alpha’s comfort.

“Beta Hemmings has made contact with the warriors on patrol. They know not to engage, and survey the attempted attack.”

“Who knew of the council meeting?” Another Elder spoke up. It took a second before Cassidy realised it was Elder Maybanks.

“None outside this circle were told. Not even young Trixie knew of this.” Eyes fell on the form of the still shaking human teenager whose eyes were heavy and her body exhausted.

The silence of the alarm was deafening and the howl that followed in its wake was pain filled.

“They found the traitor.” Trixie whispered. Cassidy wanted to shield her from the pain, the dull reminder of her loss of Talon still serving her as a constant reminder of the failure that haunted her dreams.

“Should the human even be here?” Elder Greydown spoke, his tone condescending.

“You are coming very close to insulting someone under my protection, Elder Greydown.” Cassidy snapped. She received a scoff in return and Elder Maybanks exploded.

“You teach our pups to be tolerant, yet you cannot be tolerant of the two humans who have served our pack faithfully! It begs the question, what kind of tolerance are you filling the pups heads with in the first place?” 

Ashton held back the growl of frustration. He knew the Elder’s struggling attitude with the changes that Vinewood Pack had undergone. 

“Now is not the time.” Cassidy spoke, her tone stern and unrelenting. Elder Greydown huffed, but did not argue with her. She shared a look with Ashton and Elder Maybanks. They knew that they would be asking Greydown to step down before the week was out.

A sharp hiss escaped from Trixie before it turned into a whimper. 

“He’s hurt. Abel is hurt.” She got out as Cassidy held her face, forcing the teenager to look at her.

“You are here and safe. Alpha Irwin is tracking each of the warriors.” She knew better than to make the promise that he would return safely.

“His brothers are with him. He’ll be healed before he gets home.” Ashton reassured the teenager who gave into the tears. Cassidy understood. She allowed the teenager to cling to her in comfort as Ashton moved to his desk, tapping away at the laptop.

“Rosewood has confirmed that it’s Leo.” Ashton muttered and she sighed as Trixie finally relaxed against her. She carefully lay her down on the couch, tucking the blanket around her.

“How bad?” Cassidy finally asked once the teenagers breathing evened out.

“Sixteen wolves were injured. Two are serious, but the pack doctor with them has reassured me that they’ll be okay eventually.” Ashton murmured and his gaze returned to the two Elders in the room.

“We will require you at the offices by noon.” Both of them bowed to Ashton. Elder Maybanks bowed to Cassidy, Elder Greydown did not.

“If he wasn’t an Elder, I’d have Calum break his neck.” She muttered darkly once Ashton nodded that the two Elders had indeed returned home.

“He’s going to be retired from his position. Are your new teachers ready to take over the position?” She sighed.

“I think so. But there’s still some animosity between Roxanne and Gwen.” Ashton sighed.

“Gwen believes that Roxanne is the reason for her Aunt and Uncles’ demise and her cousins restriction, doesn’t she?” Cassidy nodded.

“Gwen is still openly hostile with her, and as much as I have tried to ingrain that Roxanne was the victim, she will see nothing of it. Personally, I’m close to pulling Gwen off the course and moving her to something that isn’t so potentially volatile.” Ashton nodded at his mates words, allowing her to talk freely.

Ever since they had returned so many years ago from his first visit to her old pack, she’d planned with various teachers about teaching the pups to practice tolerance and acceptance of humans within the pack. It became more so when more humans had been born.

Only a handful, but Ashton could see that each of them were gifted. Born years apart, the youngest only being just shy of a year old, and the oldest at the age of six already, Ashton knew that changes needed to be made and fast. 

The human girl they had rescued so long ago, Roxanne Teller, had been a significant trigger for the changes. Cassidy was determined that no child should suffer the fate that she had suffered.

Just shy of her twenty first birthday, Roxanne had been determined to do her adoptive parents proud. And she had excelled with Cassidy as her mentor.

Her younger sister, Trixie, was in a league of her own. Freshly turned fifteen year old was an extrodinaire with technology. Ashton had been the one to encourage that. But when she had turned thirteen, she’d been gifted with prophetic visions.

The Moon Goddess, Selene had appeared to both Trixie, and the Irwins, to explain the prophetic nature of the teenagers dreams.

They were dreams that could not be altered by choices or decisions. They were outcomes that the fates had decided themselves. Cassidy, was rightfully angry with her Goddess for placing such a burden onto the shoulders of someone so young.

“They will be prophecies of the years you will experience and the years you will never see. They are to guide my children into the rightful acceptance that you have started.” 

Cassidy knew she could not remain angry with the fates if they had deemed Trixie their host to record prophecies for years to come. 

Many had complained of Ashton taking both girls under his wing, but at the Alpha’s conference, both Ashton and her previous Alpha, Isaac Lockard told them of the successes that Cassidy had. 

That was the day the first laws began to change. Abuse of a human born or mated into a pack would be met with penalties and jail time. Anything that could be seen as an attempted murder will be met with either exile or execution.

Alpha’s grumbled about that until Cassidy stood up on the podium, her eyes sharp as she snatched a dagger from one of the security wolves belts and sliced her hand open like she did to her own pack.

Alpha’s watched in fascinated horror as her blood trailed down her hand, dripping onto the stage. 

She’d forcefully pointed out that any attack on a human could be considered attempted murder because there was no accelerated healing. 

The High Council has been quick to distinguish parameters of what was considered abuse and what was considered an attack.

It wasn’t a lot, but it had been a start for Cassidy.

===

Both were used to sleepless nights, and this one was no different. Ashton had his werewolf stamina to keep him going, Cassidy relied on caffeine to keep her afloat.

When Trixie stirred, she jolted awake in shock, a short gasp of hair escaping as black curls seemed to fly everywhere, wild eyes searching the room.

“It happened.” It wasn’t a question but Ashton nodded anyway.

“We had some injuries, but they’ll make a recovery. We found the traitor.” 

The tone in Ashton’s voice had dropped from reassuring to deadly in seconds, and Trixie couldn’t help herself as she shuddered. Part of her was grateful to her Luna that she demanded Trixie be kept away from any kind of interrogation. 

She didn’t want to be on the end of Alpha Ashton’s tone.

The shrill ring of the phone made the teenager jump in fright and Cassidy smiled as Ashton answered the phone.

“Morning Isaac.” 

Something was spoken for a second as Ashton placed the phone handle face down before hitting the speakerphone button.

“You’re on speaker now, Isaac. Trixie is with us.” 

The other Alpha did not need to be told the warning in Ashton’s tone. Keep it teenager friendly.

“Leo was injured last night. Hope nailed him good, however he was rescued by a wolf waiting on standby. It looks like there are a few traitors from packs within their cause.” Cassidy sighed.

“We managed to catch ours, or at least the only one we hope we have. What about your side?” Cassidy finally asked.

“Dead.” Came the blunt response and Trixie gasped.

“Isaac.” Cassidy snapped back as she took a hold of Trixie’s hands. “There was nothing you could do for them, sweet girl.”

“My apologies Miss Teller. Unfortunately, there would’ve been no saving this wolf. The rogues had clawed into their very minds and warped their entire views.” Trixie finally nodded before a blush crept up her skin. 

“It’s forgiven, Alpha Isaac.” She finally got out and Ashton smiled at her reassuringly. “If I can be excused? I know that Rox wanted to meet for breakfast and she’ll crucify me if I’m late.” Ashton nodded.

The excuse was weak, but she was still too young in Ashton’s eyes.

Once the door had closed, Cassidy moved herself to Ashton’s lap, his arms winding around her waist.

“Who was it, Isaac?” 

“Gregory Sampson.” Cassidy closed her eyes at that, her heart sinking at the fact the sweet boy she knew had turned traitor. 

“Who discovered him?” She felt Ashton’s hand on her hip, his thumb rubbing slow circles into her skin. 

“Kallie Tyson.” Came the amused response and Cassidy snorted. 

“What tipped her off?” 

“She was there the day Leo was exiled. Apparently he hadn’t bothered to dampen his scent and she smelled him all over Sampson. She’s been wary of a lot of wolves after the whole debacle years ago. When she realised the scent, she went to patrol and alerted them.” Isaac explained and she sighed. 

“Was Sampson executed immediately?” Ashton’s tone was a lot more calmer than the harsh tones he’d spoken earlier. 

“No. We got him for all the information that he was worth. I know that another two packs caught traitors, not including yours. Cassidy I’d say collate with the other strategists. Get the information any way possible and work through it.” A low sigh escaped her lips and Isaac paused. “Cassie?” 

She tried not to groan, she knew that when her old Alpha called her Cassie, it was his way of checking in with her as her surrogate family member and not her old Alpha. 

Before she could speak up, Ashton cut her off, giving her an apologetic glance. 

“Elder Greydown has been testing her patience. He’s been the one who has been teaching other pack Elders for tolerance with humans. However he borderline disrespects Cass in front of other Elders and pack members.”

Cassidy found she couldn’t be angry with Ashton as she laid her head on his shoulder, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek to convey that she wasn’t mad at him. 

Isaac growled audibly. 

“I’m assuming that his position is about to become open to other Elders?” 

“Yes and no.” Cassidy answered calmly. “I’ve been training pack members to take over that role. However there’s been animosity between the two of them so I may ask for an outside Elder to come in and learn but then teach other packs.” 

“I’ll speak with Elder Orion. You know he forever asks after you.” Cassidy grinned. 

“That’s because I’m respectful to my elders, old timer.” She teased and Isaac barked out a laugh. 

“Alright trouble. Get in touch when you want to plan with the strategists. I’ll spread the word to the other packs.” 

“Appreciated Isaac.” Ashton muttered before the line went dead and Cassidy sighed. 

“How long do we have until we need to be at the offices?” This earned a tired groan from Ashton. 

“I don’t want to have to deal with Greydown’s disrespect. I’m hoping that the other Elders being there will reign him in but I’m not going to hold my breath. We need to start moving now if we want to get there on time.” 

Cassidy moves from her mates arms, but not before giving him a gentle kiss. He smiled in return before pushing himself up and the two headed to get changed from the black outfits they’d worn in preparation. 

Part of Cassidy was raging. Angry that rogues would make this attempt. Another part of her was filled with sorrow, knowing full well that there would be packs that would collapse from that kind of onslaught. 

By the time the two had reached the offices, her mind was whirling. She greeted the Elders that were gathered, unsurprised at the lack of respect from Greydown. 

It hit her. 

She kept her body relaxed, refusing to give away her realisation. She knew that the moment he was discovered, it would either cause more problems or give them their solutions. 

Taking Ashton’s hand in hers was always normal. Absentmindedly, she began to trace letters into his palm, making out soft patterns at each space so the game wouldn’t be given away. 

The Elders knew she was very touchy with her mate for good reason. They eventually got used to their Luna’s quirks, barely concealed amusement on their lips at the resigned look on their Alpha’s face when she threw herself into the architectural planning of new homes. 

Ashton understood her message, immediately switching to plan B. They’d concocted this plan when lay together, her mind frazzled with worry of a traitor being someone so close to them they’d never suspect it. 

“Greydown.” 

“Yes Alpha?”

“Tell me Greydown, why do you respect me but not my mate? And if you utter a word about her humanity, I’m sure she will take gleeful pleasure in throwing you from the window.” Ashton’s casual comment was met with a look of fear. 

He pinned the older man down with a dead stare, the mirth gone from his face. 

“She doesn’t know how to run a pack. And as your Luna, she still falls under your command yet flounces it regardless.” Both Irwins could see the hesitation. His words were just another dig at her humanity without outright saying the words. 

“Tell me Elder Greydown, I have ever disrespected your authority?” Cassidy started. Ashton leaned back with a smirk. 

“No, Luna.” 

“Have I ever been found lacking with my leadership, especially when I was appointed the Head of the strategists?” His smirk grew wider. Greydown became slightly flustered, his cheeks dark as he avoided looking at her. 

“No Luna.” 

“Look at me.” Her voice rang with the authority she held as the Alpha’s mate and Greydown’s head snapped up, staring at her in shock and awe. 

“Why do you believe that my humanity is a problem then? Everyone knows a wolf's mate is their ultimate weakness. Why is my humanity a deciding factor in that too? Or do you just hate humans on principle?” Greydown kept his lips pressed shut. “Answer me, Elder Greydown.” Her voice rang with the authority once more and he found himself unable to keep his mouth closed much longer. 

“They’re a disease that needs to be taken under control. We’ve had six runts born since you arrived and clearly it’s knowledge of a disease to spread to packs, to ruin the hierarchy.” 

Ashton’s smirk had fallen from his lips, standing from his chair as he stalked forward, closing the distance between the two. 

Cassidy didn’t even try to stop her mate. She’d learned fast he was a possessive mate at the best of times but anyone disrespecting her? 

She could only hope for Greydown that Ashton was in a kind mood. 

“Watch how you speak about my mate, Greydown.” The growl was low, a warning. 

Greydown scoffed in return. 

“I will speak of the human how I want. She wants to believe she’s Luna so badly.” 

The room froze at the Elders words, Ashton glancing back to his mate who had closed her eyes in rage and frustration. 

She paid no mind to the others as she rose from her seat, her eyes snapping open and glaring at Elder Greydown. She didn’t miss how his eyes widened and his cheeks drained of their colour. 

“You have no right to speak to me like that. Let alone the other humans in this pack who will outsmart you six ways to Sunday. You’re relieved of your duties of teaching tolerance. Tell me, would Leo Lockard treat this failure with the retribution he tried to give to me?” 

The shock turned to horror. He attempted to move but found himself being pinned down. 

“Sit still.” Cassidy snapped, her anger flooding dangerously. Greydown froze and didn’t move. 

“Get him out of here.” Ashton snapped to the two guards that had restrained Greydown. His attention turned to Cassidy. 

“Love, you need to calm down.”

“Why?” Ashton didn’t respond to her, merely pulling her to the mirror that sat in the office. 

She stared at herself in shock, fingers reaching up to touch her skin, her eyes focused on the amber coloured eyes that stared back in shock. 

Her gaze met Ashton’s as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

“We can ask around other Elders. They’ll have something we can work on, with what’s going on.” Cassidy found her voice lost as she looked back to the mirror, watching as the amber coloured eyes faded, leaving her bright green eyes confused and tired.

===

It’d been days since Greydown had been exposed as a traitor to the pack. Ashton had kept the techniques used quiet, but he relayed all the information that Greydown had given them. 

Part of Cassidy was screaming at her, telling her that something was off with the information.

“Ashton, I’m not saying that I don’t believe you-” The gentle smile from her mate as he cut her off relaxed her tense shoulders.

“-but it feels like something is wrong. I know sweetheart. But we’ve tried every tactic.” Ashton climbed into bed with her, her body automatically pressing against his as they fell into their positions easily. 

Sometimes Cassidy marvelled at the bond. Their first year together was almost purely physical, like they were trying to reconnect their souls. And she’d guessed that in a sense they were. But the smallest thing would set Ashton off, and vice versa. 

They learned what buttons could be pressed and what they needed to avoid. And after the first year, it calmed down so fast part of her wondered if it had just been a bizarre yet realistic dream. 

When it had come to nights, they could share the night easily, no hastily ripped off clothes or pushing their delights into the early hours of the morning. Some days Cassidy just enjoyed being held by her mate, and others she enjoyed the way he ravished her until the early break of dawn. 

Tonight was a night where she was content to lay in his arms, fingers trailing up and down her skin.

“Would you be willing to let me try?” Her question made him tense, but she was surprised he didn’t outright reject the idea immediately. This caused her to turn her head towards her mate who was wearing a contemplative look on his face.

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea. He wouldn’t expect you.” 

“And we can see if what happened the other day happens again. It looked like he couldn’t even fight my orders, although he must’ve tried.” Cassidy’s tone was convincing, hardly daring to believe that her mate was even considering this. 

“It’s one way of looking at it. But also, if he’s the only traitor to the pack, he’s the only one that knows about your eyes and the slight change. It means we have an avenue to look into that people may underestimate you for.” She could see that his mind was disappearing down various ideas. So she reached up and kissed him softly.

“We’ll keep considering my handsome mate. But both of us need rest, especially if I get to do this tomorrow.” The tease was delicate but Ashton could only grin. 

“As you wish, my love.” 

The following morning, Trixie was waiting for the couple at the breakfast bar. The majority of wolves that lived in the main pack house had either gone to school or work, or they’d be returning home from their shifts in the next few hours.

“Alpha.” Ashton took in Trixie’s exhausted state, her hands trembling but the determination set on her face intrigued him.

“Yes Miss Teller?” 

She’s following formalities, Cassidy mused as she remained at Ashton’s side.

“Selene came to me last night. She has instructed me to oversee the next three days.” Immediately Ashton tensed and Cassidy wondered if he was going to change his mind about her dealing with the traitor.

Then it dawned on her that the techniques he’d most probably used wouldn’t be good for a fifteen year old human to see.

“What were her exact words, Miss Teller?” Ashton’s response was calm, but Cassidy knew her mate better.

“Tell your Alpha that the next three days are crucial for you. A prophecy will be in play that you do not understand, but must follow through.” Ashton hummed as he took in her exhausted appearance.

“What happened in the dream, Trix?” Her body seemed to sag at the use of her name as tears flooded her face.

“It was Roxanne.” Dread filled Cassidy’s stomach.

“She was h-hurt so badly. But no one cared about her!” Ashton was quicker than Cassidy as he soothed the distressed teenager. “S-she was dying, in the middle of a road. They hurt her so much. Tied her to a kennel and left her in the wilderness.” Cassidy froze. 

“Sweetheart, what else happened?” 

“She was crying for our Luna, but they laughed. They-they-” She was sobbing into Ashton’s chest now, her words cut off from her sobbing but when the two mates shared a look, they knew exactly what she had seen.

Her nightmare had been a mixture of what had actually happened to her older sister with her own nightmare of Cassidy never answering the call she’d made as a child. Cassidy left her mate to comfort Trixie as she called Roxanne.

“Luna?” Her voice was groggy and tired.

After the prophetic dreams began, Rae Teller had requested that Trixie remain in the pack house, knowing that the urgency and frequency of these dreams would be too much for the teenager. It’d distressed both the sisters and parents when the move first happened and Trixie was struggling, feeling like her parents were rejecting her.

However Rae called her every night for a month and visited as often as her new job would allow. She’d rediscovered her talent in peacekeeping, and often went on envoys with her husband to attempt to settle various conflicts. 

Trixie then understood the need of her job and was the first to convince her parents to make the first trip when she was fourteen. Roxanne had already moved out of the pack house by that point but the sisters would meet for lunch before their respective school hours and work hours and almost always shared dinners together.

“You’re needed at the pack house today.” She responded softly.

“Is Trixie-”

“Your sister is fine. I’ll explain when you get here.” Cassidy cut her off calmly, knowing that she needed to be the voice of reason at this point.

Roxanne hated her past, she never opened up about it to anyone apart from the therapist that Ashton had convinced her to see not long before her eighteenth birthday. She’d resisted till she broke down in front of her Alpha. That was her turning point.

She’d never talked about the details to her parents, but they knew she’d been abused. However it had been some kind of unanimous agreement that Trixie would never learn of the horrors Roxanne suffered.

Their Goddess had taken the decision from their hands and shown her in her dreams in the worst way possible.

When Roxanne arrived, her hair dishevelled and clothes seemingly the first things she could pull on-sweatpants and a tank top-Cassidy intercepted her at the door.

“I need to tell you so it doesn’t shock you. Our Goddess came to Trixie last night.” Immediately Roxanne was wary, her dirty blonde hair falling in front of her eyes as she pulled it into a loose bun.

“Luna, what did she show her?” 

“There’s something that’s going to happen today, I’m going to see the traitor we caught,” Roxanne’s eyes widened, “she was told she needed to be with me as it happened. However, the Goddess emphasised her point by showing you.” 

“Me?”

“Specifically, what happened to you before I found you.” Cassidy watched as Roxanne took a step back, her face filled with shock followed by anger. Then resignment.

“It scared her, didn’t it?”

“She’s clinging to my mate sobbing her heart out, distressed because she saw you getting hurt. Apparently you called out for me and I never came.” That in itself was distressing for Cassidy, to turn her back on someone in need.

Roxanne didn’t hesitate to hug her Luna tightly.

“You came for me regardless. And you came for her too.” Cassidy felt slightly guilty, her own distress at the words eating her up. But Roxanne didn’t relent as she pulled away and looked towards the kitchen.

Cassidy needed no further encouragement as she led Roxanne to the kitchen to find that Ashton had sat on the bar stool, Trixie was sat cradled in his lap like a child. His voice was soothing, the sobbing having receded to gentle hiccups of noises as his fingers worked through her dishevelled jet black curls. 

All Cassidy could think at that moment was how good a father he would be when they were ready.

“Trix?” Roxanne’s voice was hesitant and Cassidy watched as the younger sister scrambled off Ashton’s lap, launching at her sister, the tears still streaming down her face.

“Alpha told me that it was real. Please, please tell me he’s lying.” Cassidy could feel the tears prick the corner of her eyes. Roxanne’s were falling down her cheek.

“Alpha wasn’t lying, baby. Before Luna saved me, those nasty people who had me, hurt me in the worst ways. But then Luna rescued me, and brought me to you, where momma was the first wolf to show an ounce of love towards me.” 

“R-rox.” the younger Teller’s voice trembled as she gasped her sisters name, but Roxanne shushed her, soothing her back curls with her hands as she pulled away to look her sister in the eyes.

“Then you came in, sat atop our Alpha’s shoulders and asked me to be your sister, that your warrior would protect us both and we’d have big brothers who are teddy bears.” Cassidy pressed her lips to stop the giggle at the description of Josh and Jacob. 

The twins had lived up to that description, both of them forming solid friendships with the girls as they got older. No other wolf dared to insult the girls, knowing that it would get back to the warriors and they’d be facing a pissed off Alpha.

“I was reborn that day because of you, Trixie. You, momma and pops gave me a new life that I wanted. Whatever our Goddess showed you was probably true, I was treated with cruelty and hatred. But I found love in abundance with you.” 

It wasn’t much longer till Trixie had calmed down enough to let her sister go, only to return to her Alpha and accept the hug that he offered her.

“I’m assuming our Goddess showed you that to show what could most likely happen. She’s done it before so we’ll follow her guidance for now. But any signal that you want out, just show and we’ll get you out of there, okay?” Trixie nodded against his shoulder before he moved and began to make breakfast.

Roxanne sat down, throwing a cheeky smirk to her Alpha.

“It’s not often you get an Alpha making breakfast for you Trix. Maybe I need to come by more often.” 

“You can make your own breakfast, ratbag.”

“Hey, I came over here at your mates request! I was lying in the most comfortable bed at the time.” Roxanne whined in return, earning a laugh from Ashton.

“I doubt your mate would appreciate you calling him a bed.” Roxanne snorted.

“He makes the bed worth the comfort, but he doesn’t match the comfort of that bed and he knows it.” Ashton laughed, Trixie’s own soft giggles joining in and Cassidy smiled as she realised their ploy. 

To make the teenager giggle. 

When they reached the pack offices, Trixie was a lot more relaxed. Roxanne had foregone this trip, not entirely comfortable with the idea of watching an interrogation.

Ashton didn’t begrudge her this, instead asked her to coordinate with the other Elder’s with Elder Maybanks. The Elder never questioned the change, knowing that the disrespect would never have gone unpunished in Ashton’s eyes.

Cassidy felt her nerves, knowing that pack eyes were on her whether they’d announced this or not. People looked to how she dealt with situations and this was another one.

Calum greeted them with ease, pulling Trixie into a bear hug which made her giggle. 

“Everything okay little bird?” His voice was quiet and she nodded her head, glancing at Ashton. He nodded it in return. 

“Selene came to me last night.” Calum raised a curious eyebrow at that. 

“She decided to show her something that involved her sister.” Cassidy’s voice was tight and Calum gave her a confused look before she shook her head subtly. 

He took the indication and moved the subject forward. 

“So that was what drew my mate from me first thing? Sounds fair. Didn’t think I’d see you here though, little bird.” The statement wasn’t laid with curiosity as the group finally moved, Trixie pulling away to move back to Cassidy’s side. 

“I was told to be here.” Was the only reply she could give. Ashton smiled at her before motioning to his Head Warrior to hold fire. 

Calum fell silent as they made their way through the offices, his stern glare making wolves pause in their approach. 

Abel held no such qualms when he realised who was with his Alpha. 

“You’re safe.” Trixie breathes before rushing to meet him, her arms going around his neck as she held him tightly. 

“I’m sorry. Jacob got to me quick enough so it’s only desk duty for a few days rather than weeks.” He murmured in return and she simply held him a little bit tighter. 

Cassidy watched with relief as he comforted her and she shared a small smile with both Ashton and Calum. 

Abel had been invaluable to the Tellers. After his discovery that Trixie was his mate, he made every effort to help them get Roxanne settled into what should’ve been a life that she should’ve experienced growing up. 

Trixie was kept in the dark about her mate until she moved into the pack house and finally understood that loving her best friend the way she did was okay because he was hers. 

When Ashton offered to allow Abel to stay in the pack house she shook her head almost immediately; to Ashton’s confusion and Cassidy’s amusement. 

“I-I don’t want that with him. Not yet.” Her voice was timid and Cassidy understood. 

Ashton wasn’t quite so understanding. 

“But he’s your mate?” Cassidy took pity on her own mate. 

“She’s not ready to explore that side of their relationship. He’s her best friend and she’s comfortable enough to admit that she loves him but this is new territory for her. Not to mention, I doubt she wants anything untoward happening under her Alpha’s roof.” Cassidy’s explanation had sent Trixie red as a tomato, her eyes unable to meet her Alpha or Luna’s gazes.

But she nodded.

Then the light-bulb clicked for Ashton and he pressed his lips to hold back a laugh. He knew that laughing at the young human would distress her. 

“Don’t be ashamed of your choice, Trixie. You know Abel will wait for you.” Ashton finally managed without choking on the words. 

She’d fled soon after and then Ashton had laughed at the fact that she was so mortified. 

But in that moment, the way her hands fluttered around his face-her eyes and hands searching for any visible injuries-it was painfully obvious how much she cared for him. 

“Abel, with us if you will?” Ashton instructed as the group began to move once more. Trixie was torn between her Luna and her mate and Cassidy simply came up to her other side so that she was sandwiched between them. 

Two more wolves followed behind whilst Ashton and Calum took the lead. 

The group remained silent until they reached the elevator, only daring to talk as they passed underground level. 

“Why is Trixie here, Alpha?” Abel finally asked and Cassidy just nodded at Ashton’s brief glance. 

“She’s here because we found the traitor. Elder Greydown. We’ve tried to get all the information, however we’re not sure to trust it so religiously. So my mate is going to take a crack at him. According to Selene, Trixie must be with her.” Abel felt his stomach jolt as they reached the lowest level. 

Cassidy took pity on the warrior wolf, his eyes darting to an oblivious Trixie. 

“She was shown what happened to her sister.” Calum blanched at that, his sharp gaze meeting Cassidy’s. 

“She didn’t.” He barely got out, his eyes flickering to Trixie who had seemed to hunch in on herself once she’d registered the conversation. 

The group reached the first offices available to them which in turn gave Calum a second to pull his own composure as he sat down with Trixie. 

“Have you spoken to Rox since the dream, little bird?” She nodded her head. “Do you understand what happened in the dream?” 

She hesitated. 

“I understand some of it. But not all of it.” She whispered and Calum wiped his hand down his face, a slow breath escaping him. 

“Calum, I do not need her distressed before the interview.” Ashton warned and Cassidy sighed. 

“She needs to understand it. As much as I hate the fact that Selene took the decision from all of us, she needs to understand the actions of those wolves and the consequences that followed.” Ashton frowned at his mate but did not contradict her as Calum leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees as his chin rested on his clasped hands. 

“Tell me what the Goddess showed you, little bird.” 

She described the dream in horrific detail, registering every mark and cut that had covered her sister's body in the dream. 

Abel had fallen into his stoic face, Cassidy belatedly realising he was there that day to see the aftermath. 

Calum was patient and wiped the tears that appeared on Trixie’s face as she described how both girls had been calling out for their Luna, but she never came. 

“I’m so sorry you had to witness that, little bird.” Calum murmured and she took in a shaky breath at his words. 

“Why did she show me that?” She finally whispered, the tears still in her eyes. Glancing to his Alpha, Calum rubbed his face with his hands before pulling away, a sigh escaping his lips. 

“Our goddess is showing you that we’re on the right path. That had Alpha Lockard not cared for our Luna like he did, she would’ve died. That the packs would’ve potentially fallen to rouges if this continues.” Cassidy felt her stomach twist as Ashton’s arm wrapped around her possessively. 

She couldn’t even find it in her to tell him to leave her be, because she knew on some level that hearing your mate might never have survived was difficult to hear. 

“Humans are at the centre of this. There’s something in play that we don’t know about yet, but Greydown knows something.” Ashton finally murmured and Calum nodded his head as they finally stood and made their way to the interrogation rooms. 

“If you need out, hit the door once. Twice if you need help.” Ashton murmured to Cassidy. She took a moment to see that he was genuinely worried, his eyes anxious and she placed her hand on his cheek, pressing a kiss to his lips. 

“We’ll be cautious.” She murmured, knowing it was entirely pointless but she needed him to know that the thought was there. 

Greydown openly smirked when they both entered the room, his arms bound behind his back, legs shackled to the chair he was sitting on. 

“The big bad Alpha decided to send the humans? Ha. That boy was never an alpha. He wanted to so desperately believe but letting humans do a wolf's work? Pathetic.” Cassidy kept silent, her eyebrow lifting up being the only indication that she was listening. 

This unnerved Greydown as Trixie followed her Luna’s example and kept her face impassive. 

‘Don’t say a word. He’ll crumble.’ A voice whispered to the young human. She gave no indication, no acknowledgement. Simply stared at Greydown. 

“Humans have been a bane to all the packs, to the lives we lead. Why should they be the ones who don’t have to hide?” 

Silence was his only answer once more. 

“Infections. The old prophets believed humans to be some kind of saviours of the packs. You’re nothing but thorns in our sides.” Cassidy moved. 

“You believed words of a prophet?” Her tone was empty, and Greydown sneered. 

“They were heralded as truth for centuries. But no humans were born to packs until now. Their words are nought but lies and desperation.” Trixie hid her smirk. 

“Why were they lies and desperation?” Cassidy kept her tone impassive once more and Greydown scoffed before spitting at her. Trixie stiffened, the disrespect sending something akin to fury down her spine. 

“The human born to wolves of lore, will hold the knowledge of Alphas unsure. To train and love and win the days, the wolves must seek their human mates. The one who shows the righteous path, will guide the Alpha to their new start. The prophet, the hurt, the broken and bent, will bring new times of peace and death. The dead reborn shall hold the keys, to start anew with the springtime breeze. The lonely wolf with no chance to escape, shall tear one from life to meet their fate. The humans born to wolves of lore, will lead the packs to glory and more.” The words were intoned, emotionless as another scoff followed. 

Cassidy shared a look with Trixie. 

“You will tell me how much Leo knows of this.” There was a firm edge to her voice and Trixie witnessed her Luna’s eyes flash amber. 

“Leo knows nothing of the prophecy. He refused to believe in something that would, in his eyes, be wrong.” Greydown responded before his eyes widened and his lips clamped shut. 

“Tell me what you know of what is happening to me.” Trixie felt a tingle run down her spine. Something in her was begging to submit to her Luna. Something she’d never felt before. 

Greydown’s lips parted despite his obvious attempts to keep them shut. 

“There were prophecies, that depicted the human born to wolves would possess the wolf. The human would have control of the wolf inside but there would be no change, no transformation. It would mark the start of an era that would either succeed or collapse. The prophet never said.” 

Greydown’s words were forced, reluctant. But Cassidy paid him no mind as she turned her attention to Trixie. 

Cassidy watched as Trixie stiffened, her eyes rolling back into her head as she let out a harsh breath. Her first instinct was to reach out but Greydown twitched and she froze. 

“The traitors are gone, the cause is done but the wolf that roams alone will continue. The wolf that was denied will fight and the wolf that has sprung forth will thrive. The traitors are gone and the cause is done.” 

Greydown stared at Trixie in shock as her head tilted forward, her eyes refocusing before her knees gave out. 

The door burst open, Calum and Ashton storming in. Calum went to Trixie, scooping up the teenager with ease whilst Ashton wasted no time in knocking Greydown out before his attention returned to Cassidy. 

“It’s answered a lot of questions. We’ll need to go to the Elders to learn more about this prophecy.” She nodded, but her focus was on Trixie who had taken in a startled breath. 

“I’ve got you little bird. Abel is waiting for you.” Calum’s voice was gentle as they reached the meeting room they were previously in and Abel wasted no time in getting to his feet, cradling his mate so gently as she trembled. 

“That was scary.” She finally whispered, her eyes finding her Luna who was pressed against her mate, relaxing to his touch as his fingers massaged her temples. 

“It means you’re a strong prophet little bird. And we need to talk to the elders sooner rather than later.” Calum piped up and Cassidy sighed. 

“There’s a lot we need to discuss with them. And maybe we can get this worked out before Leo decides to try his hand at another ambush.” Cassidy muttered as she sent Trixie a reassuring smile, leaning into Ashton’s touch. 

===

When the Elders met, Cassidy brightened upon seeing Elder Orion. And despite her ingrained sense of respect, the second he opened his arms in greeting, she allowed the comfort of her previous elder wash over her. 

“You truly have thrived, Luna. Your father and old Alpha pass on their wishes.” She found herself smiling at him before greeting the other elders. 

“Luna Cassidy, what happened after we dispersed?” Elder Maybanks went straight to it once they were sat down. She sat protectively next to Trixie, her mate on the other side. 

Abel realised there was more to the situation and remained silent as he comforted his mate, knowing she needed that more than anything. 

“A lot of things have happened, Elder Maybanks. Our Alpha has been interrogating the traitor, when Selene came to young Trixie once more. She was shown what happened to her sister upon a decision that was made to use the new skills I’ve acquired,” she hesitated but Elder Maybanks nodded, “he told us about the prophecies.” 

Elder Orion's gaze sharpened at her words and Elder Maybanks sighed. 

“What else happened, Child?” Cassidy found herself hesitating, glancing at Trixie. The young girl took in a deep breath, her shoulders determined, but her hands trembled. 

“I gave a prophecy.” 

The Elders froze. 

“Are you sure?” Elder Maybanks words were sharp, a steely glint in his eyes. 

“I saw it with my own eyes, as did Head Warrior Hood. She’s a true prophet and a strong one.” Ashton cut in before Cassidy could snap. She bristled at the silent accusations of deceit from the Elder but Ashton had stopped her from putting her foot in it. 

The worried looks shared between the Elders caused the Alpha and Luna to exchange worried looks. If this was concerning the Elders, what was happening? 

“This changes a lot of things.” Elder Orion muttered as he leaned back in his chair. “Luna Cassidy, do you remember what I taught you about prophets?” 

Cassidy could feel every set of eyes on her, and she determinedly ignored the look of shock from Elder Maybanks as she tried to remember what Elder Orion was discussing.

“I remember when you taught me about the witch trials, how packs were found by hunters who were seeking out witches and razed towns to the ground, no man, woman or child surviving. You mentioned something about prophets being saved by other packs but I don’t remember much else.” He nodded his head, turning to the other wolves in the room.

“Whilst Cassidy was growing up, Alpha Lockard assumed that she may have been a prophet. Not to say that she wasn’t extremely clever in her own right, but she seemed to predict the wrong moves that were made. We later realised that she had a strategic mind, a mind that calculated every potential move. There’s not been a prophet within the packs since the 1700’s. After the witch trials, they simply vanished.” Elder Orion explained.

This caused an alarm for Trixie, her grip on her mates hand getting tighter.

Elder Orion noticed immediately and smiled kindly to the distressed teenager.

“It is simply believed that prophets moved packs and never spoke about their gifts. We have always watched out for potential prophets in the more recent years, but in my own living history, I’ve never seen or heard of a prophet until you, Miss Teller.” This did little to soothe her, but Cassidy placed her arm around Trixie in comfort.

“Why is any of this important?” Calum finally asked, his eyes flickering between his mates little sister and Elder Orion.

“Because if Selene has truly gifted her as a true prophet, it will change the tide with the rogues. But also she will be sought out by many other packs, determined to bind her to their pack with a mate of their choice.” 

Those very words were the wrong ones to say. 

Abel growled lowly, the noise startling Trixie as his own body seemed to fight the transformation, amber coloured eyes glowing.

Cassidy felt her stomach swoop before Ashton stepped in.

“Abel, if you shift, you will hurt her. I’m ordering you to calm down.” The power of the command was heavy, his eyes falling shut as he went to move his arms around Trixie, but he froze.

Without any prompting, the teenager moved so that she was sitting on his lap, allowing him to pull her closer, his face pressing into her hair as he took in slow, steady breaths.

“I think that answers that.” Ashton muttered and Cassidy just felt the absurdity of the comment hit her, a giggle breaking through her lips before she was laughing, her head resting on Ashton’s shoulder.

“I think Luna has lost the plot.” A soft whisper came from beside her and she found herself struggling for air as she shook her head.

“I haven’t lost the plot. Just my mates comment, and the whole absurd idea that Abel would even let anyone near Trixie if she were in danger.” The teenager understood her Luna's words immediately and the two shared grins.

Ashton merely rolled his eyes at his own mate fondly, a soft smile on his lips before his attention turned back to the elders. 

“Is there anything we can do for now?” 

Elder Orion shook his head.

“The best thing we can do is protect her secret. Greydown will have to die regardless of his knowledge. He heard her prophecy.” This sobered the room up immediately, Trixie’s smile fading as she realised the implications.

“Is that because of me?” The question was timid and Elder Orion paused, his gaze turning to Cassidy and Ashton who turned their attention to the timid teenager.

“He was a traitor to the pack regardless of him hearing your prophecy. Traitors to the pack have two options. Exile or death. Greydown knows too much to be allowed exile.” Ashton explained softly and she sighed, a small nod following seconds later.

“I understand.” Cassidy could see that she did understand, and grimaced slightly, but there was nothing she could do.

“We also need to discuss what happened to Cass. Her eyes turned amber when she interrogated Greydown when she realised he was the traitor. Do you have any ideas?” 

The two Elders shared a look before Maybanks spoke up this time.

“There is something, Greydown wasn’t wrong when he said that Elder’s across the globe believed that prophecy to ring true. We need to get full facts from some contacts. When we know more, we’ll sit down with you, if that’s okay Luna?” 

Cassidy nodded her head.

“That works for me Elder Maybanks. It’ll give us a chance to deal with the consequences of today before we look into my own changes.” The two Elders nodded before the group dispersed and they went back to the main offices.

“Abel, finish up today and then take the next couple of days off. It’ll help your healing so long as you do nothing strenuous, so no weights and no shifting.” Calum finally muttered and Trixie stared at him in shock before turning to her mate.

Abel seemed to break into relief, his lips curving into a gentle smile. He knew a gift was being given to him at this moment and he decided to take it.

“Thank you Warrior Hood. I’ll be sure all paperwork is done and then take my leave.” He pressed a kiss to Trixie’s temple before making his way back to the small cubicle that was his whilst the rest of the group headed out of the pack offices.

“I’ll take Trixie back home.” Casidy hummed and Ashton nodded, his lips meeting hers in a short, sweet kiss.

“I’ll handle the problem. If there are any issues, I’ll call. Drive safe.” And with those words, they disappeared back into the pack offices and her gut knew what was going to happen. But she ignored those thoughts. Greydown was beyond saving, so it would be a mercy. 

The ride back home was silent.

When they returned home, Trixie disappeared into her room, causing Cassidy to sigh before she made her way to her office.

It was one thing she was insistent on when her move to the pack became permanent. 

She knew that Ashton had nothing to hide from her, and he knew that she had nothing to hide from him. However they both realised that being up in each others space wasn’t going to help either of them. 

So she convinced Michael to stay on as strategist, however he then convinced the Elder’s to make her appointment not only official, but put her up there with the other Alpha’s. Within three years of moving to Vinewood, she was appointed the Head Strategist for all of the continents packs. 

She accepted the title with grace in public, but within the confines of Ashton’s office, she voiced her ways of brutally murdering Michael as payback for putting this on her shoulders.

However, she shone as she went from strength to strength and that was when both her and Ashton decided to install an office for her and her alone. It meant that any confidential information would remain as so, but also it gave her the space that was not only hers, but also showed her hard work and the results of that hard work.

Once ensconced within her office, she contacted the other packs that had been attacked, gathering the information about the traitors and anything they had in common. That was what they needed to discover before Leo twisted his claws into more wolves. 

It was easy to work in the silence, tapping away at her computer as she emailed back and forth with a few of the other pack strategists. 

It was only when a gentle knock on her door made her pause, tearing her eyes away from the computer.

“Come in.” 

There was a second of hesitation before the door opened to reveal a red eyed Trixie Teller and she felt her heart going out to the teenager.

“Sit down sweetheart.” Her tone was reassuring and gentle, coaxing the young girl to try to relax.

Once the door was shut and Trixie was seated, Cassidy studied her for a moment before she resumed typing away, knowing that the young girl would speak when she was ready.

She’d been dealt with a lot of knowledge, some of that being the death of a pack member because they heard her prophecy. It was a lot for anyone to take in, let alone a teenager.

The silence seemed to stretch on for longer than Cassidy had expected, but she’d glanced over a few times to make sure she was still there. 

She was, but her eyes were glued to the floor, not even glancing up.

So Cassidy stopped, switching off her monitor and resting her hands on her desk.

“Talk to me sweetheart.” And finally, Trixie looked up, a frown upon her features.

“Today has been a lot.” The statement was simple, but it spoke volumes for Cassidy.

“It has. What do you want to talk about first?” 

“Elder Greydown, well I guess he isn’t an elder anymore, but still. Why would Alpha kill him instead of exiling him? Even if he didn’t know of the prophecy?” The question was a good one, and Cassidy had been expecting it.

“You see, Greydown had continually disrespected me as Luna since day one. This has been six years of abuse that’s been building up. However, he committed treason against the pack. He willingly put young wolves in danger because he believed us to be diseased.” 

She watched as Trixie’s face dropped.

“You wanted to redeem him, didn’t you?” The question wasn’t accusatory, and one look upon Cassidy’s face helped Trixie understand that. So she nodded.

“I didn’t want to think he was that bad that he deserved death over exile.” She finally whispered and Cassidy sighed once she realised that they’d stumbled onto the crux of the matter.

“It’s nice to try and see the best in people, trust me I did that for years. It was how I met my best friend. But sometimes, people just don’t have any good qualities in them. Greydown was one of those wolves who refused to see silver linings. He did not teach tolerance to the pack pups like he was meant to, he could have knowingly sabotaged that ambush that resulted in Abel getting hurt.” 

She hated using Trixie’s mate as a point, but she needed the teenager to know that he’d arranged for it to happen in such a way. Mates were sacred, and had he succeeded in killing Abel, she would’ve been a shell of a person, either choosing to live like her sister had done and pray for a second chance mate, or follow after him.

And Cassidy was certain that she would’ve chosen to follow after him.

“He’s the reason why Abel got hurt?” There was a steely glint in her eyes, her jaw clenching and Cassidy hesitantly nodded her head.

“Ashton uncovered his treachery. It’s another reason why exile was not possible. He actively worked against the pack that nearly resulted in a death. The last time that happened in any pack and they chose exile, it led to the rogue issue that we have currently.” 

“Leo?” Cassidy nodded. “What happened?” 

And so the two sat there as Cassidy told her stories of her best friend, of how he had put faith in her plans but Leo-the jealous son of the Alpha who favored her-sabotaged her plans, therefore worked against the pack that resulted in Talon’s death.

Trixie remained stunned as she heard this tale for the first time, her unease slowly slipping away as she found herself engrossed in the story that her Luna was telling her.

By the time that Ashton had returned home, both girls had migrated down to the kitchen, choosing to cook a small meal together as Cassidy told Trixie tales of her childhood. 

And despite how the day had gone, the heaviness that weighed on his chest, seeing the two of them giggling together over something that his mate had done when she was a child, it lifted Ashton’s soul from the floor back to the heavens where she’d first lifted it when he met her.

Trixie greeted her Alpha with ease, despite knowing what he had done, she realised that this was simply consequences of an action that nearly killed her mate. 

“Alpha. Did you get a chance to eat today?” Cassidy smirked at the jet black haired teenager, Ashton shaking his head at his apparent new keeper.

“Not today little miss. There was plenty of deskwork with the field work that we had today, so not much was consumed food wise. I’ve certainly had my fair share of caffeine though.

This made Cassidy giggle.

“My mate seems to drink coffee like it’s water.” The look of disgust that Trixie gave her Alpha made Ashton smirk.

“When you have to patrol so many nights in a row whilst still remaining upright in the middle of the day, coffee would be your best friend too. I know that Calum is just as addicted and drives your sister up the wall with it.” His arms wrapped around Cassidy as he pressed a kiss to her cheek in greeting. 

Trixie snorted.

“Yeah well, she likes the stuff too. It’s no surprise that they’re mates really.” Ashton laughed at her statement and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t let her catch you saying that otherwise she might skin you alive.” He teased her playfully as she finished up the meal, elbowing his stomach as she moved to get some dishes.

This was what Cassidy loved. It was simplicity at its finest but also it was Ashton teaching Trixie to stand up for herself. If she could stand up for herself against her Alpha, then the world had no chance.

“Yeah well, she’d skin you alive first so I’ll just hide with my Luna under the nice, new, wolf skin rug that we’d end up acquiring thanks to my sister.” This set Cassidy off as they finally sat down to eat and she noticed that the dark cloud that hung over her mate had slowly disappeared.

“Brave words, tiny one. How about you and me do some training this week?” Her eyes lit up as a grin stretched across her face.

“Absolutely. Do you think we could include Abel this time so that he knows that I can protect myself? I know he’s my mate and he’s always going to worry, but I just want him to worry less.” She explained in a rush, Ashton nodding to her request.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult. But we’ll get Cass involved so she can sit on him to stop him from shifting and protecting you from me. Sound fair?” She nodded at his words as they dug into the meal and a feeling of peace settled over the trio.

Cassidy knew better than to think that this would last, but she was going to enjoy it whilst she could.

===

The first training session had been a disaster. 

Abel hadn’t known what to expect, and watching his Alpha phase and launch at his mate was not on his list. Cassidy hasn’t had a chance to stop him before he shifted and crouched in front of Trixie. 

It took Abel more time to come down from that bout of anger, but they left the session at that and Abel had kept his silence. 

The next session was better. He was able to stop his initial reaction, especially after a firm talking to from his Luna, he watched. 

And even though her techniques needed refining, he could see how she handled herself. That was when he began to understand why she wanted him to see her train. 

Cassidy stepped in from time to time as well, showing the teenager some of her own moves. Ashton stepped back when this happened and Abel began to understand why his Alpha only had mild concerns for his mates safety. 

She was a badass.

By the end of the session, Abel was relaxed in the knowledge that should anything happen, she could take care of herself. 

“Why not make something like this mandatory for all of the humans in the pack, Luna?” Abel questioned as the quartet headed inside. They would grab some food before the two males would head back out to the pack office buildings.

“Because they’re children. They rely on adults to protect them.” 

“And Trixie doesn’t?” Cassidy smiled at him.

“No. I don’t think she’s really relied on anyone since that day six years ago. It may seem simple to you Abel, but human children are so fragile compared to a young wolf. We’ve got a couple of the older ones in a self defence class, anymore at this point would be too much. When they hit thirteen, they’ll come to me and I’ll start teaching them then.” 

“Two styles to switch it up, then?” And Trixie grumbled as Cassidy grinned.

“Someone in the pack who uses their brains.” This earned her a confused look and Trixie sighed.

“Luna had to practically spell it out to us why we were in self defence classes as well as training with her.” The way her cheeks turned pink had Abel grinning as he squeezed her hand gently.

“I have a step up since I’m one of the warriors. I can guarantee you other wolves would not think of it that way.” Ashton glanced at his watch and sighed.

“Practice with Cass, T-bird.” The teenager grimaced at the nickname as she ducked from the hair ruffle that her alpha bestowed on her as he walked past to kiss his mate.

Her own mate laughed before doing the same thing and kissing her forehead before he got up and headed out, Ashton following seconds later. Trixie hid her face in her arms, her hair a mess thanks to the two men.

“Stupid Alpha and stupid mate messing up my hair.” The grumble had been loud enough for Cassidy to hear, earning a round of laughter.

“C’mon, I’ve still got some time before I’m expecting a call. How about we take a look at your English papers.” The groan that followed from Trixie made Cass laugh as she all but frog marched the teenager upstairs to her office

Barely fifteen minutes in and her phone goes off, earning a curious look from Trixie as Cassidy picked up the call.

“Luna Irwin of the Vinewood pack. Who am I speaking with?” 

“Cassie, thank god.” The relief in Issac’s tone caught her off guard.

“Two seconds.” She tilted the mouthpiece away as she looked to Trixie. “Would you mind finishing off downstairs? I’ll join you when I’m off.” The teenager didn’t argue as she gathered her things and shut the door behind her as she left.

“Cassie it’s been mayhem.” 

“Issac slow down please, what’s happened?” 

“There’s another traitor in the pack. But they killed a human child.” Her heart stopped at his words.

“Who?” 

“That’s just it. We don’t know. I was sent an email, and god Cassie it’s gruesome. I thought it was a wolf at first because the kids' eyes were amber, but when we checked the registry and the young boy that was murdered was definitely human.”

“Fuck.” The whisper might as well have been a scream. “It’s been happening to me, the amber eyes thing. The Elders believe it’s a prophecy in play. Fuck.”

“I’ll forward it to you, but it’s brutal.” And with that, she opened up her computer, clicking through until the video uploaded to her screen.

And as she watched, she felt sick. Tears burned her eyes as she tried not to cry out, but when the final blow was delivered, she couldn’t stop herself.

Issac had stayed on the line for her, his steady breathing being the only thing that stopped the panic attack overwhelming her.

“I need to contact Ash, fuck, Issac this is big. The Elders are going to get involved.” Her brain was going miles a minute. “Have you found the little boy yet?” 

“There’s a team working on it now. We’ve already been in touch with their parents. It was Demela’s and Mason’s youngest lad. Joseph.” And she felt her body lurch uncomfortably. 

“Issac.” His name came out as a sob.

“I know.” He soothed. 

Joseph had been one of the four children born into her old pack after she left. He came from a family with six older brothers who doted on him regardless of his status as a human. The first time she’d visited and she’d been introduced to the family, she’d clicked instantly. It had also been the first time that she’d really considered having a child. 

“I need Ash. He needs to know.” Part of her felt disengaged and heartbroken, the other part of her was planning out how she’d skin the traitor for this.

“With the state of distress, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on his way.” 

Issac’s words rang true when there was a firm knock at the door before it opened.

“Cass? Baby?” His frantic eyes searched for whatever was causing her this kind of pain. But she couldn’t get her words to work, only pointing at the video that was still open on her computer.

Issac spoke up.

“It’s something you need to watch, Alpha Irwin.” 

Ashton realised immediately that if something could make his mate this distressed, then it was a bad thing.

And so he clicked play.

Cassidy tried to block out the noise, the images. But she couldn’t. Her heart broke all over again. But she could feel her mates anger through the bond. Anger that was mounting into fury and she grasped his bicep.

“We can’t leave this. We need to find the traitor.” Her words were quiet but determined. Ashton nodded once, his jaw set.

“We’re flying out to you, Issac. Expect us by nightfall with the Elders.” The decision was firm and Cassidy immediately moved and headed to their room to pack a few bags. 

“Trixie will need to come with us.” Ashton’s words made her jump in fright, her hands trembling as she continued to fold the clothes up before packing them.

“She cannot see that video. And so help me goddess if Selene decides to take that decision from our hands because I will march up to her fucking door and demand judgement.” Her tone was harsh, but Ashton could hear her fear, her pain under the words. “He was a child.”

And her composure slipped into tears, Ashton pulling his mate closer as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“We’ll explain in basic terms to Trixie. We will warn her that should Selene take the choice out of our hands, it is gruesome. I need to call an emergency meeting. We need to get a warning to the families as well.” Ashton rattled off and Cassidy took in a deep breath.

“Calum, Luke and Michael need to see this. They need to prepare.” Ashton nodded at her words as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

“Finish packing, I’ll go talk to Trixie.” She didn’t argue as he left the room. She knew that there was no way that she’d have been able to even describe what happened.

By the time that the trio had packed and gotten to the offices, Ashton instructed Trixie to stay with Abel until they left. He didn’t miss the frown, but Cassidy simply gave her a reassuring smile.

“Protocols need to be followed, Trix. Twenty minutes tops and then we’re heading for the airport.” Trixie nodded at Cassidy’s words and turned her attention to her mate, the two of them quietly discussing her latest pet project with an old computer.

When the Irwin’s reached the conference room, she fought down the need to be sick as Ashton played the video for the other three as well as the remaining Elders. Their reactions were ones of horror, but it was Elder Orion who had tears down his cheeks.

“Little Joseph, Demela and Mason’s youngest, correct?” He whispered and Cassidy nodded as she tried to wipe her tears away once more.

“Issac is searching for-for the place. He’s contacted the family. This was a brutal attack but it also means that there are potential traitors we don’t know about. Sleeper cells, if you will.” Calum nodded at her terminology.

“We’ll talk to the other families which have human children and see if we can convince them to the pack house. It’ll be easier to defend rather than trying to split our forces seven ways to protect the land.” Ashton nodded at Calum’s immediate response.

“Every wolf we have available has to be on this. Four teams on rotation for the pack house and double the patrol on the borders. No one gets in or out of the pack lands. Trespassers are to be captured and interrogated immediately, any violence is to be met with full force.” Calum nodded at his Alpha’s orders. 

“Michael.” Cassidy’s voice was softer, but caught the blonde’s attention.

“Yes Luna?”

“I’m going to be coordinating with other packs on this. See if there have been any-any other murders.” She stumbled over the words and he nodded his head in understanding. “Also I’m going to place you in as my second in command. If any other strategists get in touch, they’ll be redirected to you. As of right now, I will be uncontactable until further notice.” 

“Has it been approved?” His eyes glanced to Elder Maybanks who nodded in return.

“We cleared it last week. It was intended to be a surprise for you, but as you can see that’s had to change immediately.” Cassidy held back a snort.

“Luke, it’s basic day to day running as possible.If anyone asks, there’s been a credible threat with another pack that needs to be dealt with. Shutdown pack lines until we return home.” Luke nodded at that before Ashton returned his attention to Calum.

“Trixie will be coming with us. She’s already told her sister she has to go but not why. You need to make sure she doesn’t follow us. It’s going to be tough enough with the devastation from my Luna.” Calum nodded once more as he let out a breath of air. 

Ashton and Cassidy were gone once it was confirmed that everything had been set in place.

They collected Trixie from Abel who looked unsure and the trio were up in the air quick enough. It wasn’t unusual for packs to have access to small airports, most preferred to travel by car or by shifting. But this wasn’t an option and it was the fastest way for them to get there without causing widespread panic. 

Matthew was there to greet them and didn’t hesitate to pull his daughter into a warm hug as Ashton helped Trixie off the plane. 

He greeted her with the same amount of ease and Ashton a firm handshake before they were bundled into the car and off again. 

“Who else knows?” Ashton’s question was quiet but Matthew shook his head. 

“The trees have ears.” Was all he replied with, causing Ashton and Cassidy to exchange alarmed looks. Nothing else was spoken about as they made their journey to the pack offices. It spoke volumes of the tragedy that had happened because there was no one else greeting them when they arrived.

They entered the building without being looked at twice. Cassidy stopped herself from going over to Demela and Mason when she spotted them. The couple looked exhausted and their children looked equally tired. 

When they reached Issac’s office, Trixie had shrunk into Cassidy’s side, the intimidating and unfamiliar wolves unnerving her. Cassidy was briefly reminded of Hope as her dad knocked on the door before letting them into the office.

“Cassie.” Her eyes snapped to her younger sister who looked relieved to see her. She wasted no time in moving around the desk and launching at her older sister.

“Alpha Irwin, thank you for coming at such short notice.” Issac’s voice was tired and Ashton waved him off.

“You do the same for us, Issac. This young lady here is Trixie Teller.” Ashton gestured to Trixie who found herself feeling like a deer caught in headlights.

“Miss Teller, I’m so pleased to be finally meeting you, I just wish it was under better circumstances.” She gave him a wry smile in return.

“Likewise, Alpha Lockard.” 

“Looks like humans can be taught manners, brat.” Issac’s voice carried to Cassidy, Trixie shooting a confused look to her Alpha who simply shook his head when Cassidy laughed.

“Oh no. With her own Alpha, she’s worse than what I was. With her sister, they tease him relentlessly.” She fired back before letting the girl go.

“Trix, this is my sister Hope. Long story short, she’s next for the Alpha title.” Trixie nodded as she shook hands with Hope.

“It’s nice to meet you Hope, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Hope gave her a crooked smirk.

“All lies, I assure you.” And Trixie giggled.

The giggle broke some of the tension and Issac’s shoulders slumped as he ran a hand down his face. 

Cassidy truly saw her previous Alpha in that moment, the tired lines around his eyes. 

“How’s Pandora?” Cassidy’s question brought a smile to his face. 

“Good. Little Jessie is driving her mother mad.” This made Cassidy laugh. A few years after she’d left the pack, Issac had announced his mates pregnancy with sheer glee and she loved getting updates from him about the rascal. 

“At least Pandora knows how to handle rambunctious pups with no sense of self-preservation.” Issac chuckled as he rummaged through papers before handing them over to Ashton. 

“I understand the need to keep Miss Teller protected but does she need to be here for this?” Trixie remained silent, only casting a glancing look to her Alpha. 

“She’s a true prophet.” Issac’s jaw fell slack, a gasp of air escaping from Matthew. Hope held a look of polite confusion. 

“ Touched by the goddess herself.” Matthew whispered and Trixie shifted uncomfortably under the stares. 

“Pack it in. She’s frightened enough and doesn’t need you two confusing her.” Cassidy snapped at them both and the two men exchanged looks. 

“Cassie, you remember when we thought you were a prophet but instead you were scarily smart?” Matthew tried to keep his awe from his voice but didn’t quite succeed. 

“I only know what you told me. I don’t remember much else.” At this, Matthew sighed before sitting down. Issac pressed his lips together. 

“Do you want me to tell her?” Matthew shook his head. 

“Tell me what?” The hesitation was in Cassidy’s voice as she looked between her dad and old Alpha with  uncertainty. 

“Parts of your memories don’t remember it because the Elders locked it away. When you were seven, you’d been stolen from under our noses.” 

Her body went still. 

“We believe that it’s linked with this killing. There’s no recognisable scent and it was a child who was not only human but one we’d been watching for prophetic tendencies.” 

“You’re not telling me everything.” She could see the tears in her dad's eyes and then she slowly realised. 

“No.” The word was a whisper but Matthew flinched. 

She could never remember her mother’s death. She was told that it was a sudden death, that there was no notable cause for it. She’d been seven at the time because her eighth birthday had been the first one without her mother. Jamie had been three. 

“They killed her in retaliation to us rescuing you.” She could feel her heart shatter. It was too much and with the situation going on, she couldn’t take off like she wanted to. 

“I need to go.” She was up and out of the room, the tears running down her face as she took off for her old home, using one of the pack cars they’d arrived in. 

Ashton didn’t even have a chance to try and stop her, the sudden heartbreak catching him off guard mixed with the overwhelmed feeling. 

“I take it that the Elders locking the memory away was for her benefit?” Ashton couldn’t be angry. He understood to an extent that to watch a child suffer like so was difficult. 

He watched as tears rolled down his father-in-law’s face. 

“She awoke every night screaming. There were days when she would fight to get out of the house, her trauma so much that she couldn’t tell that I was her own father.” Matthew sounded so broken, Issac’s hand coming to rest on his Beta’s shoulders. 

“Alpha?” Trixie’s voice was nervous and Ashton turned to the teenager and noted the pale pallor her skin took. 

“Trixie? Are you okay?” The second he said that, her body slumped into the chair and Ashton swore. 

“This is too fucking much Selene.” He snarled, scooping the teenager up, cradling her carefully. Hope looked stunned for a second. 

“Selene?” In truth, although Ashton had known she was there, she’d kept herself quiet enough to have become background noise, something he wouldn’t have noticed had she not spoken up. 

“Young Trixie usually has prophetic dreams, only once has she gone into a trance. But with the prophetic dreams, if she is awake at an inconvenient time, she will suffer in such a way until she passes out. Cassidy believes this to be because she is young and therefore is not trained to handle the drastic changes.” 

“Your mate may be onto something there, Ashton.” Issac finally hummed. 

The young human twitched and the colour began to return to her cheeks and Ashton sighed. 

“You love her like your own, don’t you?” Matthew murmured, his face clear of tears but his eyes rimmed red. Ashton nodded. 

“She has kind and loving parents who love her and her sister. It’s not a parental kind of love, more like I see her as a younger sister, someone to protect. It’s the same with her older sister. The only instinct that is stronger is my bond to Cass.” Hope giggled. 

The giggle once more eased the tensions that had been building up and he felt the heartbreak ease in his chest. She was somewhere safe. 

“And what’s so funny little miss?” Matthew teases his youngest child, unable to stop the smile at her cheeky grin. 

“Sounds to me that Alpha Irwin got bitten by the same thing that had Cassie practically adopt me so many years ago. The only thing that was stronger than the bond she has with me was the one that Leo created. It’s why when the bond was broken, my bond with her was what eased it and helped me function.” Hope explained gently and Ashton understood. 

His awe for his sister-in-law increased tenfold and she found herself blushing at his impressed look. 

Matthew finally chuckled. 

“Somehow we thought she was just an anomaly, however the fates certainly matched you two well, Ashton.” And Ashton grinned. 

Trixie finally stirred and her cheeks went dark as she pressed her face into Ashton’s shoulder. 

“It happened again didn’t it?” 

“Unfortunately so, my favourite human.” At the muffled curse, Ashton laughed. 

“Selene really picks her moments.” She finally pulled away and retook her seat, eyes locking onto Hope. 

“When Luna returns tomorrow, you and her will need to head to the next city over, without guards shadowing you. One to drive and one as a backup but they stay in the car. A rogue is unsure and has the information we need. Selene wishes for him to be tried under pack law and for Luna to use her gift on him to get the truth.” Ashton knew better than to voice the outrage but he tampered it down to a raised eyebrow. 

Issac and Matthew however, disagreed entirely, voicing their displeasure. 

“Hope that’s an ambush at best, suicide trip at worst!” Issac snapped and Trixie turned her gaze to the other Alpha. Ashton recognises the look immediately and turned his attention to the other three. 

“You will listen to my avatar on this earth Issac James. The rogue is unsure about the goals of the rebellion and is pulling away. Cassidy Helen will set things right for another pack and give Hope Rose a second chance.” 

Both Issac and Matthew froze. 

“Selene.” They whispered in unison. Hope was speechless. 

Ashton tried not to smirk as Trixie returned her attention to Ashton. 

“I will visit Cassidy Helen tonight. Do not panic if you feel your bond fall dormant. I’m most proud of you Ashton Fletcher.” He simply inclined his head before he watched Trixie give a little shake before meeting her Alpha’s amused gaze. 

“At least it wasn’t in front of a prisoner this time?” She offered timidly and Ashton burst out into baritone laughter. 

“Life will never be dull with you and your sister around, Trixie. Issac, Hope, Matthew, we will see ourselves down to the canteen for some food and let you digest this information. As you realise, this cannot be known by anyone, not even Jamie until Selene deems it safe. Like you said, the trees have ears.” 

Issac could only nod weakly before Ashton escorted Trixie down to the lower floors where the canteen was situated and they got themselves some food. 

Trixie remained by his side, unwilling to stray towards the unfamiliar stares. She felt like she was under such scrutiny but once those eyes turned to the man next to her, their gazes dropped and they never cast a look in her direction. 

Confused, Trixie turned to Ashton to question the strange behaviour but then she saw the murderous look upon her Alpha’s face and understood why they averted their gazes so fast. 

Unsure how the other wolves would take her teasing her Alpha, she kept herself formal. 

“Alpha, will Luna be okay?” Ashton glanced at the teenager and noted her shy hesitance. He smiled kindly at her as they collected food. She didn’t protest when he paid for it. 

“This was just a step too far. She needs to process that before she’ll come back. She’ll always come back to us, but much like when you hide away after it’s been an overwhelming day, it’s been an overwhelming week for her. We just need to give her space.” Understanding dawned as they sat down and ate silently, listening to the steady flow around them. 

It was towards the end of their lunch that Hope appeared, paying no mind to the small bows from her pack. Trixie frowned. 

“May I join you?” Hope’s question was met with a nod from Ashton but the frown on Trixies face didn’t let up. 

As Hope sat down, she finally caught the look on the teenagers face and raised an eyebrow. 

“Everything okay Miss Teller?” The use of her last name startled her and a blush coated her cheeks but she remained silent. Hope wasn’t too sure how to take this and Ashton snorted. 

“She takes offence to ignoring your pack when they acknowledge you. It’s not something I like to practice unless I’m in an emergency.” Ashton explained softly, and Hope had the decency to look ashamed. 

“It’s still something I can never believe. Alpha Issac is still working on that with me.” Trixie nodded but remained silent as she took another bite of food, clearing the plate.

Ashton had pushed his plates to the side long ago but waited for the teenager, knowing her discomfort.

“Would you like to see her training? Your sister has been training her so far and it’d be nice to get an outsiders opinion of her progress who knows where she should ideally be.” Trixie grinned and Hope returned it with a smile of her own. 

“I would be delighted Alpha Irwin. Miss Teller, if you would follow me?” And the trio left without another word between them, the stares of the pack members following them out of the doors. 

-

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[rangoatemybabynsfw]

Guardian Angel Lance sent to protect Keith. Eventually he falls in love which is hella against the rules and loses his halo and wings but Keith is right there and Lance vows to continue to protect him even tho he's mortal now and Keith vows the same

Okay, I loved this so much and spent WAY TO MUCH TIME ON IT.  (Warning, some langst but with a happy ending) Maybe one day I’ll make it into a genuine one-shot.It’s very very long so I put it under a cut.

Also if any of you draw stuff to this please let me know. I think I’m in love with guardian angel Lance.

This guy is so much trouble. Seems to go through guardian angels like tissue paper and Lance quickly finds out why. Any kind of dangerous stunt Keith’s already halfway to doing it. The first day alone Lance has had three minor panic attacks to keep him from a) getting hit by a car, b) keeping him from getting stabbed by someone at a club, and c) not tripping and falling down eight flights of stairs after drinking too much. 

And the next day isn’t better. It’s almost as if Keith likes dancing with danger. The only time Lance doesn’t feel like he’s on edge is when Keith sleeps. Thank god he does that for the recommended 7-8 hours or else Lance would have pulled out his own wings or strangled himself with his own halo within a week. That said, Keith looks…beautiful when he sleeps. Almost like an angel, ironically.

He notices that half the time Keith’s doing dangerous stuff, its for other people. That day he almost got hit by a car, he was grabbing a child out of the street. The almost stabbing was getting a guy to lay off a girl at the club. The almost trip and fall down the stairs was to avoid stepping on the apartment stray cat. He’s…actually a nice guy. 

Keith starts to suspect someone is looking out for him. He’s always had a feeling since he was a kid when there was some kind of divine intervention at work. Like feeling a hand tug him out of the way or push him forward to avoid certain death. And he could feel when there was someone new. This recent one has stuck around the longest, three weeks now. So Keith finds himself talking to what looks like an empty room when it gets quiet at night.

Keith: You’re there, aren’t you? A spirit…or some kind of…angel maybe?

(Lance doesn’t answer him as he’s not allowed to)

Keith: Mom always said…she’d send me a guardian angel if she ever left me too soon. I think…you’re the best one so far since you haven’t run away yet…Thanks…whoever you are.

Keith talks to him all the time after that. Sometimes Lance will sit on the bed right next to him and listen to him talk for hours. Lance starts falling in love with his charge and doesn’t even realize he’s doing it until one unfortunate day he finds a feather. One of his feathers. 

His wings…they’re losing their feathers. And his halo it’s…starting to feel heavy. His body actually…aches. 

With dread and fear, he realizes he’s…falling. He’s becoming a fallen angel because of his love for Keith. This is his punishment and it’s already being carried out. At best he’ll survive and become mortal at worst…he’ll die or become just like…Lucifer himself.

Keith feels that the energy has changed around him lately. It’s a nervous energy growing stronger with each passing day. It’s different from when he feels a change in his watchful guardians. And it’s worrisome. 

Keith: Something doesn’t feel right. Are you there? Answer me!

Lance holds his hands over his mouth in bitter anguish, leaning his failing body against Keith’s wall. He doesn’t want his punishment to get worse. They might erase him entirely if he breaks too many more rules but he so badly wants to talk to Keith. 

Keith: It feels…it feels bad. Are you…sick? Tell me!

Soon the other angels will come and take him away. Replace him with someone else. 

Keith comes closer to where he is, certain Lance is in front of him. Lance can feel the end approaching, the energy of his brothers and sisters getting closer. The last thing he does is reach out and touch Keith’s face, just enough that Keith can feel that weak caress even if he can’t see it. 

Keith: You are sick…you’re dying, aren’t you?

There’s no guarantee he’ll ever see Keith again. It’s likely his errors are too numerous to allow him any mercy. Why not a few parting words? it can’t make it any worse for him. Lance leans forward and whispers into Keith’s ear.

Lance, breathing weakly: Keith…can you…hear me?

Keith, blinking in shock at the beautiful voice in his ear: It’s you…you’re really there.

Lance rasps: Not for…much longer…

Keith, starting to get upset and tearing up: What? No, you can’t go…

Lance: I wasn’t…supposed to…love you…and now…they’re coming…but I’m…not sorry. Falling for you…was the best mistake…I ever made…even if it’s…the last mistake I’ll ever make…I gotta go…they’re almost here…

Keith, now actively crying: No! You can’t! I…I don’t know what you look like! What your name is!

Lance, weakly chuckling: It’s L-Lysandariel…the spear of…l-liberation…but…I l-like…Lance better…it’s…easier to say…

Keith: Lance…

Lance: If I could have…I’d have stayed with you…forever…Bye Keith…be…safe…

The door swings open and in an instant Keith feels alone in his room. He calls out for Lance but no one answers. Keith spends the next several days talking to his empty apartment, hoping someone will answer back. He does research into religious texts for a Lysandariel and only finds a few mentions of someone of a similar name in 5th century bc. Lysandros. A spartan general. No pictures or art. 

Lance goes before a tribunal for his sins. Many think he should be given to the other side for punishment. Hell loves fallen angels. Others think he should be erased in front of other guardian angels as an example of what happens if you break the rules. No one asks Lance anything as he kneels before the others, his wings nearly devoid of every beautiful feather he had. His halo already taken.

Several angels are in attendance but the archangels sit quietly listening to the evidence. Some whisper among themselves with a disdainful eye. Not a good sign. Lance is all but sure that they will erase him or send him to Lucifer to be tormented for all eternity. Finally, someone speaks and Lance shakes at the sound of their awesome voice. This one is softer than others and he recognizes it as Chamuel.

Chamuel: Lysandariel…you are aware of why you’re here. Your love should only be directed to our loving father…and for turning it away you’ve lost your divinity. You are all but mortal now.

Lance: Yes my archangel

Chamuel: What would you do with your divinity, were it returned to you? Remember, while under the gaze of Uriel you cannot lie.

Lance: I would return to my post as a guardian.

Chamuel: Simply a guardian? Or a guardian for the human Keith?

Lance: I…(he wants to lie but it pains him to even think of doing so)…I would return to Keith’s side. 

Uriel: Because it is your duty or because it is your desire?

Lance: Because I must…All I want…is to protect Keith. He needs me…

Whispers abound. Lance said he ‘wants’. Perhaps he’s too corrupted by emotion to stay an angel. He must be struck down to hell. No, no, he must be erased so no other young angels follow his lead. The room goes silent when a new voice booms through the room. Jeremiel. He has the final say among the archangels in attendance as the angel of mercy, grace, and most importantly justice.

Jeremiel: Lysandariel. You were fully aware of the rules of your post but allowed temptation to take hold of you just the same. Zadkiel believes you were trying diligently to do your assigned task. And even though it has cost you dearly…you continue to pursue this assignment knowing it will only cost you more.

Lance closes his eyes and prays. He knows not if God hears the prayers of angels but he hopes he does and will intercede to save him. To pardon him. To forgive and absolve him of his sins.

Jeremiel: The damage from your sins is too great. I do not think you could reattain your divinity, even if given new wings. But you must be made an example of, do you understand?

Lance, shivering with fear: Yes, my archangel

Jeremiel: We have decided. Lysandariel, you are to be given two punishments. The first is to be stripped of your wings.

With a snap, Lance feels them rip from his back with blinding pain like white-hot fire scorching his back. But seconds later it is soothed by the warm hand of Ariel. The injury is healed but the scars will forever remain. 

Jeremiel: And the second punishment is…

*****

Keith wakes to the sound of knocking on his door. He isn’t expecting anyone. Probably a drunk neighbor at the wrong house. It knocks again and then a weak thump like dropping a bag in front of it. Keith opens it to find a guy in tattered rags collapsed in front of his door. No shoes, his feet covered in blisters and cuts.

Keith takes him in, tries to wake him up. He washes Lance up and cleans his cuts. Bandages them too. Then gets him into clean clothes. There’s an awful scar on his back that looks like…could it be? Lance groans while he groggily wakes.

Keith: Lance? Is…is that you?

Lance: Keith…I made it…back to you…

Keith, smiling: You did. Don’t your feet hurt? 

Lance: My everything hurts now…guess that’s what being mortal’s about…

Keith: That’s not the only thing being human is about.

Keith leans forward and kisses Lance. It’s passionate and wonderful and for a second Lance almost feels like he’s got his wings back. They break away from the kiss and Keith’s smiling at him.

Lance: That was nice…but my feet still hurt. My stomach too.

Keith, laughing: When’s the last time you ate?

Lance: Uh…well…never?

Keith: Guess we should fix that, huh, my guardian angel? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.

Keith lifts Lance up and carries him to the kitchen and for the second time in three minutes, he feels like he’s got his wings again. If this is what it’s like to be human then he’s glad to have fallen for Keith.

[captain-ezri-dax]

cryptickeyboard

replied to your post

“I wanna uhh Info dump abt my rwby ocs”

Do it I thrive ob this

y EAh im very late BUT i will literally never turn down an opportunity to infodump abt my rwby ocs

Okay uh lets start w/ Lyca bc she’s my main girl. She’s a fox faunus w/ the ears & is Small, like 5′3″. She’s like. demisexual & cis. Her timeline sorta follows the canon rwb/y volumes so she’s 17 at the same time as the canon characters & in the same school year, tho she’s only like 2 months from her 18th birthday at the time of her initiation. She grew up in one of the coastal cities in Sanus w/ her mother & her older brother, learning to fight from him & basing her weapon off his, having had it built before starting combat school a year or two late. She mainly keeps her weapon in staff form which is thick enough that she can barely wrap her hands around it so the top of it has enough room to hold the folded down halberd form, the staff form painted to look like wood as to look similar to a bo staff. A switch near the bottom extends the halberd part on top which is sorta rust coloured. The blade itself is larger than a normal halberd’s to compensate for the weight imbalance from the thicker staff part, letting her use the weight of the blade itself to swing instead of needing to use her full strength. At least part of why she prefers staff form is that if she’s facing an opponent with any form of intelligence, like the white fang at the fall of beacon, she hopes they’ll slightly underestimate her thinking she uses a simple bo staff. The first version of her weapon is lost when she uses it to barricade a door in a hospital to keep everyone safe, knowing she couldn’t fight off everything/everyone that entered the room. When they retreat to the roof where they’re all evacuated, her weapon is left behind & subsequently lost. It’s loss breaks her heart but It’s later replaced with a very similar built in collaboration w/ Kale & Lilen. It’s near identical to the first design but thinner, the bottom half folds into the top for easier carrying, & it looks more metallic w/ a golden brown colouration. She spends a few weeks getting used to the lighter weight. Her semblance is sorta like mental camouflage. I like comparing it to not noticing a bench in the park that you walk though every day until one day you suddenly notice like “ohh i didn’t know there was a bench there” but you know it’s always been there. That’s the type of effect Lyca triggers, mentally blending into the environment. She has to make sure she doesn’t do anything noticeable while using it since standing out dissipates the effect, she can’t use it mid combat since everyone knows she’s there already & it doesn’t work much against grimm. It can be used on other people too but only through physical contact. She herself thinks of her semblance as useless, rarely using it. She didn’t really have many choices of career growing up, her mother pressuring her into the huntress career in an attempt to make her family name mean something, her mom pushing her to the point where she unlocked her semblance by mistake, tho she doesn’t fully realise what it does for a few weeks. Her brother takes over training when she’s abt 12 until she joins a combat school, taking a coat that belonged to her brother w/ her. Choosing Beacon wasn’t a particularly significant choice for her, it was just the closest academy to where she grew up. She tends to get minor injuries a lot during her training since she got into the habit of activating her aura simply during combat instead of a lot of other instances where it might help. She often has a few cuts or bruises, but her subconsciously using her aura wherever it may help improves over her time at beacon. She ends up as team leader sorta by mistake when she finds Idris, Lilen & Kale all together and lost after getting her own relic solo, leading them back to get theirs, ending up in charge sort of by default & becoming Idris’ partner at the same time. I’m 98% sure she ends up dating Kale at some point. She ends up w/ appendicitis during the vytal festival, meaning she’s in hospital in vale when the attack on Beacon happens. She ends up briefly fighting & splitting open her stitches, leading to the situation where she loses her original weapon. She & her team then spend a few months apart but still in contact, staying in vale to provide a little aid where needed until they’re ready to move to another academy, likely vacuo apparently like other beacon students w/o a school. Now for. Other Facts. She’s a real bad potty mouth, swearing constantly no matter the situation. She’s allergic to strawberry, coconut & is lactose intolerant. Back home she has a cat she called Cat & in her apartment before transferring she had a room full of nothing but empty boxes. She keeps the coat her brother got for her & wears it in most environments, even tho it’s pretty badly faded & tattered. She likes to goad racists & bullies into fights where she’ll happily injury them, then claim self defence when questioned later. Has a real low alcohol tolerance. Tends to pretend everything’s alright to the point where her pain killers are too low while in hospital & instead of asking someone to up them, she has Kale climb into bed next to her to squeeze. Not a morning person at all, needs coffee. Hates the cold, loves warmth. Can’t cook to save her life.

Idris time. They’re a very bisexual NB human who’s like 6 foot tall, which is kinda jarring when stood next to partner Lyca, exclusively uses they/them pronouns & the same age as as the rest of their team but is technically the youngest. They grew up in a mining town on a cliffside in mistral, learning survival skills relatively early in their life, as an early child & probably had 2 dads. One dad taught them how to survive in the wilderness, fight & cook and the other taught them how to be Human. Grew up kinda isolated tho since their community is kinda small and rarely entertains visitors & their social skills didn’t develop fully, keeping them relatively isolated from anyone but their team at beacon. They never attended a combat school & was only initially interested in beacon as a way to advance their fighting skills, not caring about the team aspect. They’d planned to use their hunter licence to bring more money into their home & the assorted skills to protect it. They get super attached to their team super quickly tho, especially when showered w/ affection. Often cooks for everyone. But gets homesick relatively often. Very likely has their pilots & drivers licence. Their weapon is an overly large shotgun like weapon w/ three separate barrels in a triangle pattern, each one fires a different type of dust ammo for different effects. The barrel at the top of the triangle is the one to fire, glowing  the used dust colour when active, the separate barrels rotating to slip into place. It doesn’t technically have a melee form but it’s heavy, hardy and can swing real good, so getting smacked with it is gonna be pretty rough. Their semblance is more passive then active. It’s like that check in dnd where you roll to find out if a character is sincere or not - they can passively read even the most subtle of body languages, letting them see who’s sincere or hostile or friendly. They can, for the most part, see through even the best of liars. They’re a walking lie detector.

Lilen is an asexual trans man of average height but is pretty skinny, especially w/ how low an appetite he has. He’s definitely autistic & has a small range of mental illnesses, all of which he gets medicated once he gets to beacon. He grew up in a small settlement in vacuo almost alone after his parents died, quickly adapting to living on the streets. He didn’t do great but learnt how to survive, scavenging old broken tech that others threw out & restoring it to working condition, getting good at engineering & growing an interest in it. He spent 7 years of his life without a home, moving around different sleep spots and taking odd jobs to get pieces of technology working again, developing his weapon out of junk parts in this time. He & Kale also met during this time, tho Kale’s parents didn’t want her talking to him so she’d meet him just briefly after classes at combat school, which is where he learnt to fight just well enough to pass the beacon entrance exams. Beacon became his choice when Kale asked if he wanted to go with her, and that he likely didn’t have many other options. His talent & interest in engineering grew pretty quickly while at beacon, developing his own tools to expedite the process & learning to work on vehicles as well as appliances & weapons. He isn’t particularly verbal & knows a form of sign language that he shares w/ Kale that Lyca & Idris come to understand. His weapon both is and looks as if it’s been built out of junk parts, cobbled together over months of trying to find all the right components. It’s original frame was a simple fireaxe, tho the wooden handle has been replaced w/ metal & the blade was reforged and made collapsible. A barrel was added to the top of the handle, the area of the handle being surrounded by a jury rigged firing mechanism for dust bullets, the trigger near the grip of the handle, preferring electrical dust ammunition. The different types and panels of metal aren’t seamlessly connected or coloured, some of the metal being slightly rusted until later replaced at beacon. His semblance gives him minor control over wind currents. There isn’t really much more to say about it, he’s a windy boy w/ a bit of control over where the wind goes and it’s strength. He’s only discovered it relatively recently and doesn’t have a lot of practice with it, making it not very powerful when he first joins beacon until he gets some practice, but it ends up useful in combat over time.

And last but not least - Kale. She’s a pretty tall lesbian w/ the worst fashion sense of the team, usually showing a bit of skin similar to how Sun has his shirt open after growing up in the heat of Vacuo. Her family wasn’t particularly rich but would act as if they’re already important, trying to restrict their only child into doing what they wanted. She didn’t take a single part of their wishes on board tho, eventually forcing them to allow her to learn to fight or risk losing her, hiring a huntsman to train her. She took to fighting like a duck on water, enjoying throwing some punches and using every type of weapon she could get her hands on. She wouldn’t start fights with anyone but would be eager to fight someone if she saw a need, having little self preservation instinct until she ends up getting her arm broken when she was like 13, at which point the basis of her weapon started to form. She started off by wrapping her arms in thick layers of bandages to blunt the hits she’d give out, officially adapting it at school by adding a harness strapped on her forearm to use arm blades, similar to blades used by The Predator. She ends up choosing beacon over the natural choice of Shade for the simple reason that her parents wanted her to go to Shade Her fully developed weapon & semblance are completely connected, her weapon being utterly useless to anyone except her. Her semblance allows her nervous system to connect to and control machinery via touch, sort of assimilating it into her control. She can’t walk up to a random android or take a stranger’s weapon and know the full extent of it’s controls, assimilating a piece of technology takes time and a large amount of aura - the larger and more complicated the machine, the more aura it takes to assimilate - and every time she gives it a command it takes either another, much smaller, pulse of aura or a sustained use. Firing a gun without pulling the trigger just by holding it takes a pulse of aura so small it’s basically nothing, but something like controlling a car with her semblance takes a heavy sustained use of aura that’d deplete it quickly, tho she has a small surplus of aura compared to a lot of others to help compensate. Her weapon is so heavily connected to said semblance that its physically impossible for anyone to use it to it’s full extent without her semblance. It resembles two heavy pieces of armour covering her forearms with smaller and thinner pieces of armour more resembling purple leather extending from underneath the gauntlets & up the rest of her arms up to her shoulders. Her gauntlets are about an inch thick but have a smooth surface, save for where the different components are built into the structure. They have no control systems, not movement or trigger or any form. When Kale activates a component that she needs, the component that she’s chosen springs or pops out of the structure of the weapon. For example if she wants to use a blade, the weapon she’s best at, a small dagger will spring out facing outwards. When she needs a ranged attack a small cannon like gun will pop out the top near her wrist (think of the car w/ the headlights that sorta... fold into the car? idk ive been writing this for Hours my brain is dying a bit), the need for mobility will activate a grappling hook on the underside, on the same side as the dagger. Only one component can be used at a time, as locking in one component will lock out the others. Kale has a tendency to add new components impulsively or work on it while she’s depressed, seeing it as a literal part of herself since it kind of is w/ her semblance. Despite a potential for abuse from her semblance, she uses it sparingly & only connects to pieces of tech that she owns or belongs to someone who gives her permission. She connects to both of Lyca’s weapons for example, once activating the halberd transformation for her while she’s exhausted. Bonus - Kale’s parents were really unimaginative w/ naming their children.

this is super long enough already so uhh lets leave Beryl, Polo & Cide for another day

[comicteaparty]

September 27th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 27th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Heart of Keol by keiiii.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Heart of Keol by keiiii~! (http://www.heartofkeol.com/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

Respheal

Any scene where Lu has reason to go "Ethan no"

Kabocha

....That's really accurate...

Respheal

Ain't it though xD(edited)

Kabocha

I'm still laughing at "What A douchebag"

SevereWxEddie

Lu sure says "Ethan, no!" a lot

Kabocha

http://www.heartofkeol.com/eng/002-06/ Yes, Ittan Nohm~ :3

Kabocha

@keii4ii -- how does that phrase break down? Is it just... ......................... an entire phrase? Or is one part of it clearly douchebag and the other the "what a"

Respheal

I think there was a bit on the train in particular where it was like "this is just going to be their relationship now huh" xD Ethan being a doofus and straight-faced Lu just "no. why. stop"

Draco Plato

I really liked how the action scenes have been handled, the effects are gorgeous

keii4ii

Ittan is a derogative uhhh.. what do you call it, determiner?

Nohm is a derogative pronoun

Megaparsec

Yeah every scene with a wyrm is just so awesome

Respheal

The wyrms are super pretty

SevereWxEddie

Oh, speaking of the train, have to say...I was very impressed with how you drew the rail infrastructure! The rails and tracks themselves looked very good.

Darkhalo4321

I loved that scene

Kabocha

Yesssss

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

Hi I dropped in, realizing I wasn't in this discord before

keii4ii

Thanks! The railroad provides lots of opportunities to do some fun perspective stuff

Mharz

My favorite scene is the geoduck scene that was really hilarious. I like Ethan and Lushaka's chemistry.

Tenor | Shinavar

Fav scene: Glowing toilet Also really gotta admire Ethan can apparently use the bathroom and hold a conversation with someone - I have kids and I can't do that

RebelVampire

i like any scene with hoodie kid. because i love the background illustrations and color work. theyre always so off putting. like when hoodie kid has all the red magic stuff surrounding and is just like "woo ethan come on lets burn things"

Kabocha

YES GEODUCKS

keii4ii

Though I'm glad most of that arc happened on a bridge, because at the end of it, I learned how much pain it is to draw the pebble variety railroad

SevereWxEddie

Ballast is...tedious

Kabocha

I always have a hard time writing that word because I wanna type "gooeyduck"

Darkhalo4321

Pyromaniac warning I guessss

Mharz

I like how Lushaka nonchalantly draws it.

And Ethan was like oooooohhhh

Draco Plato

all of the glowy effects are super cool, any use of power was just gorgeous

Tenor | Shinavar

Lushaka believes children need to be taught right, clearly /shot

keii4ii

The stick figure art was a collaborative masterpiece with Ethan adding the belly buttons

Respheal

Ahahaha makes sense that Lushaka wouldn't think to add belly buttons....

Mharz

Yeah

Megaparsec

Oh also the scene with the young Rencho and Ethan being like "OOH can you be a kitten?"

keii4ii

Not shown in the comic, but canon: the stick figures were vandalized by Danbi who returned to that spot while the others were away slaying the big jaguar

Darkhalo4321

Makes sense though- size and all?

Mharz

That scene where Ethan was pointing out he has no belly button is so fun

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

Agreed, I love the scenes where magic was being cast. And the one where it was with that Lady and the Master was quite intense. I thought the Master was going to be done for. Reason: the angle of how the fight was commencing(edited)

keii4ii

Danbi didn't want Hana to see them

Mharz

Lol danbi

keii4ii

TBH Master wouldn't have survived if Adela didn't go easy on her, out of her disdain for human suyori

RebelVampire

yes the master and adela's fight was beautiful @Joichi [Lavender Tea] like everything about the effects

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I agreed! I need to catch up on more HnK

Mharz

I think that was the first time I saw Danbi really angry. The part when Ethan pointed out Lu has no bellybutton

Kabocha

...Oh, yeah, that... part...

Respheal

Can't really blame him though....?

Kabocha

XD He was gonna be all sympathetic for Lu and then

nawp

Respheal

I don't think Danbi's in the right, but he was (afaik) lied to there sooo

Darkhalo4321

I kind of laughed? Because he doesn't know anything about the world really and his first reaction was the belly button -

Respheal

The anger is understandable

keii4ii

Yeah, I'm partial to situations where both sides are right and wrong at the same time

Mharz

That makes me question tho, are Renchos suppose to not have that?(edited)

Megaparsec

One of Ethan's most endearing traits is his... not innocence but excitement about everything everyone else takes for granted

keii4ii

No belly buttons for Renchos!

Mharz

I-I'm curious

I mean the other thing

keii4ii

...barbs?

Mharz

rolls

Tenor | Shinavar

Mharz: He's not supposed to - he's wearing the mark of castration when he's not, if I followed the story right

Respheal

Well the tentacle's got barbs for days

Kabocha

Geoducks

Tenor | Shinavar

hence the being 'lied' to

keii4ii

Oh yeah, the dingly-doo

Tenor | Shinavar

Er, Danbi being lied to

Mharz

I should've googled that word's meaning

keii4ii

Cat Station

Mharz

Lol

SevereWxEddie

LOL!

Draco Plato

they took away his cats

Tenor | Shinavar

TBF castration is only removal of the nuts.

So even if he didn't have it I don't imagien Ethan would be any wiser

RebelVampire

they took away his cats to work on the railroad

hence the term cat station

Draco Plato

they are now the train masters

Tenor | Shinavar

wheeze

Respheal

Kinda makes me wonder how Renchos are born.....since that'd be the umbilical cord

Mharz

Oh okay

Respheal

Eggs

Mharz

My english is dumb

keii4ii

XD The eyeballs in the emoji kinda look like eggs

Tenor | Shinavar

Octopii style :D

Darkhalo4321

That's my question

Tenor | Shinavar

Lots of little litters in sacks in the water

/shot

Mharz

Pft

keii4ii

I will say Renchos are indeed born in litters

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

now I am curious about Renchos xD

Respheal

Ethan's pure curiosity is good though hahahaha

Darkhalo4321

It is

Mharz

Yeah

keii4ii

And their home world is mostly ocean dotted with small islands (well, the parts they inhabit anyway. I'm not sure if there's a huge land mass away from where they live)

Darkhalo4321

He's very curious about the world, the people there, it's good.

Mharz

What a douchebag is a pure souI I love him.

Kabocha

Oooh

Tenor | Shinavar

Oh gonna share this bc I can: 100% kept forgetting Danbi was a boy every time Ethan was shirtless bc I'd be mad he was so disrespectful

OTL

keii4ii

Poor Danbi

RebelVampire

i love how giant ethan is compared to pretty much everyone. like you get tricked sometimes cause of the closeups, but then theres those nice long shots where youre like "wow ethan you sure tower over everyone"

Sophie

Ethan's like an infant, excited about everything! It's adorable

Mharz

You know, keiiii my reaction is the same with Ethan's when I found out Danbi's a guy

keii4ii

Bwahahaha

Darkhalo4321

The Bull in a china shop comes to mind

Kabocha

How tall is Ethan, anyway?

Darkhalo4321

but a polite bull

keii4ii

6' 5" and not done growing

Respheal

Oh man I loved Ethan's reaction

SevereWxEddie

Ooof

Kabocha

NOT DONE?!

Respheal

HE BIG

Mharz

I was like dang danbi's so pretty. :y(edited)

Darkhalo4321

He'll be 10 feet when he's DONE

Kabocha

Danbi's charming, I think.

keii4ii

At full size, he'll be 6' 7" and also beefier

Mharz

I still like him tho

Ooh more beef for Ethan yes

keii4ii

There was actually a doodle of maxed out Ethan (like 6-8 years older?) that I did a while ago

Draco Plato

he has to be a big cat for lushaka

keii4ii

Slightly older Ethan

Mharz

Lu will be really pleased

Draco Plato

must be really hard to get shirts

Respheal

XXXXXL

Tenor | Shinavar

YAY NO WASHBOARD ABS.

keii4ii

He's got a little squishy over the abs

Darkhalo4321

He has REAL STRENGTH

Mharz

Yas

Tenor | Shinavar

REAL STRENGTH YES HHHHHHHHHHH <3

Darkhalo4321

he's not no gym floozy(edited)

keii4ii

Lu has enough washboard for the both of them

Respheal

True

Mharz

Perfect strong body

Draco Plato

Lu has beautiful abs

Tenor | Shinavar

Lmao

RebelVampire

ethan will be charged double for tailored clothes because of the sheer amount of fabric required

Tenor | Shinavar

After learning how you get washboard abs no ty, gimmie da meat /shot

Rebel: LOL

keii4ii

Yeah, you either gotta win the genetics lotto, or ... do some insane diet control for a six pack

Tenor | Shinavar

Better take real good care of those clothes

Diet control to serious unhealthy levels. You're supposed to have fat over the abs to protect them - so it may look nice but 9/10 you're actually super weak in real life applications of them so yeaaah

I HOPE KITTY BOI IS OKAY D:

keii4ii

He's okay. If he starts putting on fat, he'll start putting them on his already massive thighs first

(they have different fat distribution patterns, lol)

Tenor | Shinavar

wheeze

Fair!

SevereWxEddie

So those abs would not in fact be rock hard and a punch to them would be really bad, then?

Tenor | Shinavar

So- can he crush a melon with dem thighs

asking for a friend >> <<

Mharz

He has tentacles tenor he's fine

Tenor | Shinavar

/Almost made a hentai joke

/Gunna go get a drink lol

Megaparsec

On a totally unrelated note the Lu-catfish was hilarious

keii4ii

X'D derpfish

Mharz

Lol

keii4ii

Not as derp as puffer, but hey

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

@RebelVampire haha I was wondering when the tailors have to charge Ethan for the clothes he has to be handmade for him

keii4ii

It wouldn't be as bad as it would be for Lushaka, if he lived in our world

Mharz

Pft

keii4ii

I'm pretty sure his thigh circumference > his waist circumference

Respheal

Oh geez yeah

Mharz

Heck yeah

His thigh is really big

Never skip leg day folks

Draco Plato

yis

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

i always like that aspect of Heart of Keol, that you designed Ethan that he is drastically different from the rest of the people. Other than Lushaku, i think hes sort of muscular too

keii4ii

Yep, Ethan is beefy

Beef filled cinnamon roll

(sounds like a Middle Eastern food...)

Mharz

Mmmmm

Draco Plato

yeah the different body shapes are really cool to see

Sophie

Very diverse cast, yup!

Mharz

I really like how Keiiii pulled that off :3

keii4ii

I'm glad to hear! I have a lot of fun drawing the different bodies

Tenor | Shinavar

I love it too~

keii4ii

like they're ALL various types of "conventionally attractive" bodies, but still different

Mharz

Yasss

Draco Plato

yeah that is really neat~!

Sophie

Everybody is so easily to read and keep apart from another. It's really great!

keii4ii

I had readers point out Adela's boobs helped them remember who she was, when she reappeared in chapter 16

Mharz

Pft

Draco Plato

omg XD well they do help

her hair and ears is how i recognized her at that point

Mharz

She does have really huge boobs

Draco Plato

and her shoes

Mharz

Same draco

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. Within the comic, Ethan has a plethora of mysteries surrounding him. What do you think happened to Ethan’s dad? Does Ethan’s Dad’s disappearance have some connection to Keol, or is it unrelated? Who is the child-like figure who initially sends to Ethan to Keol? Why send Ethan to Keol in the first place? What is the figure’s interest in Ethan? Is Ethan somehow special, especially in regards to his apparent powers he unlocks? What do you think the child figure’s connection to the Queen might be (if any)? Does it have something to do with the Queen’s missing mate? Lastly, do you think Ethan will get home? If he does, do you think he’ll regret it?

keii4ii

Yeah, I have to draw her body without boobs first, and then add the boobs in order to avoid anatomy disasters

Mharz

By the looks of it, the hooded dude is his Dokkabi?

Respheal

That's the gist I got

The fact that his dad was scared of outlets--what was up with that O.o

Darkhalo4321

Makes me wonder-

Respheal

I mean...PTSD, but....outlets?

Tenor | Shinavar

2: Ethan's dad was a Prisoner of War - and suffering from serious PTSD is my bets - assuming the whole sory isn't some metaphysical message in Ethan's head ofc <_< I feel Hooded kid is the Dokkabi, too, since there's a symbollic pattern. BUT the curiousity is the Queen because she has the symbol, too, but that's explain away her immoretality - so my theory is the kid is the queen calling Ethan to her side.

SevereWxEddie

Electircal based "aggressive interrogation" techniques?

Darkhalo4321

I was thinking Light too? He was in the corner if I recall-

Tenor | Shinavar

Resp: TOrture technique

SevereWxEddie

Electrical

Tenor | Shinavar

The buzzing of lights can be used in torture

Mharz

Also yeah I'm curious what happened to Ethan's dad. He was scared of the electric socket which makes me wondered if he was electrecuted or struck by lightning

Tenor | Shinavar

and outlets can carry that sound

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

wow that is alot of questions to answer, like 8 Qs XD

Respheal

Well, I did guess that, since he seemed to also be scared of lightning

Aaaah true

SevereWxEddie

Is it ever explicitly stated which war Dad went off to?

Respheal

The minute buzzing

keii4ii

@Joichi [Lavender Tea] Combo attack

Respheal

For real xD

keii4ii

@SevereWxEddie Nope!

Draco Plato

wondered if his dad was in the world ethan is in now

SevereWxEddie

.....

Draco Plato

went through the red gate

SevereWxEddie

Oooo. THERE'S a theory

Tenor | Shinavar

I do think Ethan will make it home however I hope i's not too soon because as it is right now I don't think Ethan could handle leaving his new friends behind lol

Megaparsec

How long was he gone? Does it match up with the opening frequency?

Draco Plato

it actually didn't sound like people were really able to get back since they were there awhile

the people who'd gone through the gate

Tenor | Shinavar

But tbf, how would they know they did get back?

And not just went missing?

SevereWxEddie

@keii4ii does it matter which war it was, as in plot-relevant, or is it more of a "this happened in the story past?"

Tenor | Shinavar

Unless they reversed fireballed into the sky /shot.

Mharz

Must have something to do with the Heart?

keii4ii

@SevereWxEddie The latter

Megaparsec

Oh never mind the Red gate opens every year

Tenor | Shinavar

I liiike the idea his dad went into the world though because that would mean there is a way to get back

Kabocha

So, I was thinking hoodie kid was actually like................. ...................related to the empress

Draco Plato

the heart is the titular character

Tenor | Shinavar

somehow

Draco Plato

so i mean

Sophie

I'm wondering what people back are thinking Ethan is doing? I mean he's been gone for a bit by now...

Draco Plato

i wonder if time passes differently

RebelVampire

maybe nobody cares ethan is gone.

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

that's an interesting discussion on whether the travelling MC will go home, probably that's the end solution. But I'm definitely intrigued where the father went, the idea of war and torture sounds likely.. gosh that is so sad. I was debating whether his father had been struck with a deep mental illness, maybe even dementia

SevereWxEddie

It could be like Narnia all over again

keii4ii

@RebelVampire

RebelVampire

are just like "i guess thats one less mouth to feed"

Draco Plato

oh no not narnia XD

Tenor | Shinavar

Rebel: I hope not

Mharz

:c

Tenor | Shinavar

Getting tired of reading that lmao

Draco Plato

well when he was going through reasons to go back it didn't really sound like he needed to go back

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

aw that is so sad Rebel, its like turning Ethan's story to the angst teen comic D:

Mharz

Lol

Draco Plato

like maybe my grandad will remember me once isn't a great reason to go back probably if he builds a life with friends and family in the new world

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: /Delayed: How would you reckon, if kid is related to the empyrss, how hey avoided being seen so far only by Ethan?

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

hmm my theory is, if I know about alt world travelling, probably time is different? OR or what if Ethan's family has 'missing poster' signs when he gets a glimpse of his world?

Mharz

I think it's a Dokkabi thing, tenor

Becos he saw the one with the lady

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeah but that wyrm wasn't as developed as the kid

Though hey carried the same symbol, the lady didn't have that symbol the wyrm did

Sophie

I could imagine red riding hood is some sort of gate keeper for the red gate?

Tenor | Shinavar

versus the wueen

omfg I can't type I'm so sorry lol

Kabocha

“Kabo: /Delayed: How would you reckon, if kid is related to the empyrss, how hey avoided being seen so far only by Ethan?” @Tenor | Shinavar -- magic.

Tenor | Shinavar

I mean- fair -

Kabocha

or a spiritual connection, but you know, teh dokkabi theory is solid

RebelVampire

maybe ethan did eat a wyrm but it was on earth so he didnt know. and the kid is the mental manifestation of said wyrm(edited)

Mharz

I do like his rainbow eyes tbh

Draco Plato

that'd be interesting rebel

Tenor | Shinavar

He though it was a octopus

Draco Plato

maybe it's the kid he didn't know he had

Mharz

Pft

Kabocha

Are we going to imply that this is all a bad food poisoning trip

Respheal

YES

Kabocha

and Lushaka is just his guilt for eating bad octopus

Respheal

no

Mharz

Lol

RebelVampire

that is my second crazy theory. ethan is the destined queen's mate and hoodie kid is their future child who astrally projected themselves there for mystery reasons

Draco Plato

hurt a cat once and ate an octopus

Respheal

kabo no

Tenor | Shinavar

Lushaka is the local stray

Draco Plato

omg rebel mine too

Kabocha

@RebelVampire SEE THAT WAS MY THEORY

Draco Plato

legit thought that

Kabocha

BUT NOT A CRAZY THEORY

Respheal

Y'KNOW

Yeah soon as I heard "destined mate"(edited)

I was like

Tenor | Shinavar

Personally I'm hoping 'destined mate'is like 100% a misunderstanding

Draco Plato

yup, was like oh hey must be ethan, that you ethan

Kabocha

Or Danbi.

Tenor | Shinavar

and the wyrm-queen can only be freed by being tied to someone so she can gtfo

Draco Plato

yeah could be danbi

Respheal

I imagine if that IS the case I imagine it'll get subverted

Megaparsec

Supposed to be a Visitor I think

Respheal

Yeah

Sophie

Eyes overloading....

RebelVampire

the plot twist is the queen has been dead for years. everyone just assumes shes alive because theyve been receiving orders from someone behind a curtain.

ethan must expose the wizard of oz essentially

SevereWxEddie

Ooo

Draco Plato

i wondered that one too rebel

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

lmao the wizard of Oz reveal

Draco Plato

if she was really dead

Kabocha

See, I had also initially assumed the Queen was the kid

Respheal

saaaaame

Darkhalo4321

SAME KABO

Tenor | Shinavar

Saaaam

e

Darkhalo4321

But someone stole the JOB

Kabocha

......................Yes?

Draco Plato

yeah, cause of the tattoo on their face

Megaparsec

Still could be, with shapeshifting or whatever

Darkhalo4321

TRUE-

Mharz

Yeah

Megaparsec

or astral projection

Respheal

The tattoo is different though

Slightly

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I thought the red hooded kid was a mysterious figure and immortal xD I might be simple minded.

Respheal

But they're almost certainly related

Does that make the queen a dokkabi...spirit....thing?

Kabocha

GASP!

How long do dokkabi live for

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

yeah I'm thinking about that once..

Mharz

It's a wyrm god

Draco Plato

they could be world hoppers too, ones that can control it

Tenor | Shinavar

Oh god

Respheal

It's never explained what world the queen comes from, and there's just the three gates

Tenor | Shinavar

-Might have caught on to Kabo's gasp-

You thinkin she needs new bodies to stay immortal/controls hrough them?

mathtans

mk, I'm here... couldn't seem to get off the first page of the comic though, nothing would load. (j/k)

I did only manage to get to the end of 8 though. Busy week. ^^

Kabocha

Is Ethan... the new Queen

keii4ii

And how does the Elyeo eugenics thing figure into all this

@mathtans XDDDD

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

PFFFTT Ethan the queen?(edited)

Mharz

Gasp

Tenor | Shinavar

Well considering everything we've been told has been unraveling, we don't acually know what's fact with the Elyeo

so I don't trust shit lol

Respheal

all hail the new Father King Mother Queen

Darkhalo4321

same tenor

mathtans

The Queen is actually a dude. Calling it now.

Kabocha

well, I mean, like If the queen is a Dokkabi and Dokkabi need a body... ....And hoodie kid is somehow related to the queen...

Draco Plato

maybe their hair is the secret to the red gate

keii4ii

That's a good attitude probably at this point in time not trusting shit

Kabocha

and ethan has a dokkabi...

RebelVampire

well if were going through the life sucking or body sucking then it seems likely the elyeo magic is needed to sustain that. dont elyeo live super long?

Megaparsec

At first I wondered if the Elyeo died in childbirth

But that's been mostly disproven

Respheal

Okay but also Ethan using the magic stuff was pretty awesome

Darkhalo4321

yes ^

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I'm intrigued with the Elyeo lore too, as well as the Renchos

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeeee

Respheal

BUUUUUUURRRRRRN(edited)

keii4ii

ACTUALLY ------- ... ... (minor spoiler but I should still refrain)

Darkhalo4321

REFRAIN

Respheal

BE STRONG KEIIII

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

poor Keii, can't reveal anything yet

Mharz

Rencho lives longer iirc

Than elyeos

Tenor | Shinavar

Also I'm mad at everyone in that party when they had Hana and didn't think of finding a way to hide her ears while travelling. innocent babies asking for trouble ((I'm sure KittyBoi let i stay out for the trouble. He's a cat.))

keii4ii

Yeah, Lushaka is older than any Elyeo could ever be

mathtans

As to fave scene (again, only through the first 8), I kind of liked the dawning revelation of gender on Ethan's part. Just cleverly foreshadowed by the townsperson, then interesting graphics as the lightbulb went on.

The fight scenes were amazing too though.

Kabocha

Re: burning https://youtu.be/LH-QwK4v0ZI?t=88

Respheal

Kabo no

RebelVampire

@mathtans great scene choice math

Mharz

I like the gif on that

keii4ii

@Tenor | Shinavar Her ears were actually hidden when they ran into those bandits! The dude was just feeling for her ears just in case, out of the assumption that a white girl = potentially Elyeo

Darkhalo4321

oooo

Draco Plato

yeah her hair was covering her ears

keii4ii

Schrodinger's Elyeo

RebelVampire

ah thats right. but rencho probably dont make good body double things. cause if i was a body stealing "immortal" queen, id picked the bodies that could do the magic plant shit

Kabocha

^ YES 100%

I'm onboard with this.

Mharz

I mean yahhh

Draco Plato

plus plants are symbolic of new life and renewal

keii4ii

Yeah if you're immortal and you can steal bodies easily, longevity of the target body probably isn't a big factor

Tenor | Shinavar

I couldn't tell sorry :(

keii4ii

Though if it's difficult, that changes things

Megaparsec

Especially if you have a whole bunch of them right there

Tenor | Shinavar

But tyty on the heads up~

Kabocha

So... You know, maybe... Danbi's mom is now the Queen.

Temporarily.

mathtans

I found that whole 'listening to plants but being unable to talk back' aspect of the world building really neat.

Tenor | Shinavar

Makes me wanna punch them more lmao

Mharz

Kabo

Darkhalo4321

OH That's a good plot twist Kabo-

Draco Plato

forgive me danbi i must leave you to rule the world

Mharz

Rip

Superjustinbros

HAI

mathtans

"Am I not part of the world? Rule me."

Mharz

His mom seem to be a special kind of Elyeo

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

ohh I was wondering where her ears were, i didn't even see them in the comic

Tenor | Shinavar

Nah it's Danbi's mom but not her mind. Danbi gonna run up and hug mom and mom's gunna have a twisted smile on her face like 'Lol oh dear this is a problem"

RebelVampire

now tbf, maybe she didnt leave to rule the world. she went to help the queen and the queen keeled over. and danbi's mom is nothing if but an opportunist

keii4ii

@Joichi [Lavender Tea] They actually braid her hair around her ears

Mharz

Pft

Kabocha

Danbi's certainly an oddity though, being a male Elyeo...(edited)

Superjustinbros

Sorry I'm late, got caught up in this one thing I was doing

Mharz

He's half human tho

Draco Plato

looool

Tenor | Shinavar

Hana's braids pop up and twirl with her ears. Lil helicopter blades

Draco Plato

i would love that if the mom was just an opportunist

Mharz

Lol

Megaparsec

Well normally half human elyeo are just elyeo

As far as we know

Tenor | Shinavar

Annnd now stuck with Hana's braids spinning like the leek song, I'm off to feed my children brb

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I'd love to see a twist with Danbi's mom, whichever it'll be!

Respheal

“ Does Ethan’s Dad’s disappearance have some connection to Keol, or is it unrelated?”

I don't remember seeing this answered yet--I'm gonna say no. Ethan's flashbacks and dreams have sorta had Keol elements to them, but I'm attributing that just to him being in Keol and probably some of the Dokkabi influence. I don't think his dad is connected to Keol

Mharz

The thing is Elyeo's are all women

mathtans

Oh, and that braids thing! With the one braid meaning available but more meaning not ready for a relationship, that was fascinating to me. We need a system like that on Earth, maybe.

Kabocha

Ethan's dad is just baggage

Mharz

Which makes Danbi real strange

Draco Plato

is danbi trans

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

oh YES, I really like that culture too about the braids @mathtans I'd wish we had that system too(edited)

Draco Plato

if they're all women

keii4ii

He's cis

There was actually a bathhouse scene that got canceled

that would've answered that question

Draco Plato

so then he's a one of a kind

Megaparsec

As far as we know...

Draco Plato

yis

Respheal

If elyeo have a son with a human, the child is a human though right?

Darkhalo4321

Bathhouse sceeeene

Draco Plato

no they're supposed to be elyeo still i thought

keii4ii

@Respheal We may find out soon-ish!

Mharz

No I think they'll be elyeo

keii4ii

"soon-ish" in webcomic time terms

Kabocha

NOOOOOOOOOOO

Superjustinbros

Can I just jump in and say I like the art style/setting of this comic? It definitely hits the asian/oriental theme perfectly.

Kabocha

Soon TM

Draco Plato

five years from now we will know

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I thought Danbi simply dressed in women's clothes because of the job as a Sayori (?)

Megaparsec

It's been said in story that they would be elyeo, might be inaccurate though

Mharz

Tbf Danbi is wearing pants(edited)

RebelVampire

the specific wording was that daughters are guranteed to be elyeos

it said nothing about sons

keii4ii

It's been said their daughters will be Elyeo! But nothing's been said about sons

Mharz

Gasp

Megaparsec

Ah! Did not notice that!

keii4ii

Actually

The Korean version had Master say something about the sons, haha

Mharz

Me neither

Gasp

Kabocha

Since it was stated in the Korean version, can you... spoil us? :3

Mharz

Must. Learn. Korean

mathtans

SJB: Yeah, blows my mind about there being a Korean version that's translated. I wonder what gets lost in transition.

SevereWxEddie

Ditto

Superjustinbros

inb4 no spoiling

oh snap Korean owo

keii4ii

Elyeo sons all take after the father species (which makes sense if you think about how they reproduce in their home world: they reproduce with plants, not only continuing their own species, but also continuing the plants' as well)

mathtans

Cool plan about the speech balloons too. Lots of little touches like that. Makes me wonder what it looked like before apparently some edits were done on earlier pages.

Superjustinbros

That's cool seeing comics getting translated into asian languages(edited)

Draco Plato

oooooo

Megaparsec

HMMMM

But not entirely, because he has the funny hair color

mathtans

"That guy is a wall flower." has a whole different meaning on other worlds.

Latisha

That's interesting

Mharz

Come to think of it, we dont know who Danbi's dad is either

keii4ii

@Megaparsec Yep, the hair could still be an anomaly even with this new info!

@mathtans

So I don't know if I mentioned this in the authors' notes anywhere, but Elyeos are never heterosexual because they come from a world with no humanoid males.

Respheal

I got the gist that Danbi might have the genetics of an Elyeo, but the phenotype (since he's male) is....mostly human xD

Superjustinbros

Ooooooooh

So we're talking, 100% lesbian?

keii4ii

Some lesbian, some pan

Danbi's mom was pan

Mharz

:y

Superjustinbros

At least you're not forcing les or pan pride down the reader's throats like what I see in a lot of things nowadays

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

awesome, I wanted to ask if there were queer characters in HnK that's a nice explanation too

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. Danbi, who inevitably starts Ethan on his quest to the Heart of Keol, has plenty of his own mysteries. Do you think Danbi’s Elyeo heritage will get the group into trouble somehow? What do you think happened to Danbi’s mother? Is she at the Heart of Keol, or is something else going on? Do you think she’s even still alive? Do you think she was taken away, or did she perhaps leave by her own choice? Do you think Danbi will manage to locate her? And if so, what do you think will happen? What do you think Danbi will do if he reaches the Heart of Keol and finds out she isn’t there? Speaking of which, what in general do you think the Queen’s interest in Elyeo is?

keii4ii

@Joichi [Lavender Tea] The Dokkabi lady is also ace/aro! There's at least one other queer character who's been introduced, but I... may keep that one secret since it's a secret for her

(queer other than Elyeos, that is)

Mharz

He did dye his hair, right?

Superjustinbros

Ooooooo~

keii4ii

(Elyeos AND Renchos)

mathtans

Danbi's mother is new Queen. Calling it now. ^^

Latisha

I think it will bring trouble sometime later

Mharz

Renchos are all men, correct?

Superjustinbros

tfw I just remembered Queer and Queen rhyme

Respheal

I wonder if that's the transgender character you mentioned early on

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

@keii4ii aw thank you, no problem, glad to have that confirmed ^^

keii4ii

@Mharz THERE WAS THAT GIRL!

Mharz

Oh yeah dang

Wooops

keii4ii

Though I guess it could've been a boy wearing a skirt

Superjustinbros

SPOILED

keii4ii

Naw, the Rencho girl is cis

Mharz

Sorry that slipped my mind lol

mathtans

Gotta have a girl somewhere. Only guys are disposable.

keii4ii

It's fine! She hasn't had a lot of screentime

Superjustinbros

lmao

Mharz

I'm curious if Danbi dyeing his hair works

Superjustinbros

Would Danbi get powers of he deyed his hair(edited)

Respheal

Elyeo hair doesn't seem like it....glows or anything

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I want to believe Danbi's Mama is alive now everyone's theories make me have a feeling she may make a return. I mean at first the implications seem like she was taken away.

Mharz

At least he doesn't have ears

Respheal

So I can't imagine it'd show through the dye

Mharz

That made sense tho why he's braiding it

mathtans

Maybe Ethan will have to make a choice between getting back to see his Dad and saving Danbi's Mom.

Superjustinbros

Just maybe(edited)

Mharz

Becos there's their tradition about hair

Tenor | Shinavar

3> Yes, Danbi's already causing problems just due to how careful they have to be. I believe mom originally went to the heart but if she's still there is up to debate. I do like the concept she left of her own choice - mostly because I'm exhausted of constantly reading about bad parents and it's been getting hella isolating so the idea she'd have gone willingly, to protect her children, is really want I hope for.

SevereWxEddie

@mathtans ooo, that's mean

keii4ii

We writers are a mean breed

Darkhalo4321

WE ARE

RebelVampire

im torn on what i believe about the mom. i expect a subversion of them finding her at the heart though. so not being there, was there but died of something unrelated, going somewhere entirely.

Superjustinbros

>giving your characters in your stories hell The truth, keii

RebelVampire

maybe ethan is wrong, a gate opened on his world, and danbi's mom was on earth the whole time.

Mharz

Gasp

mathtans

Nadeko agrees.

Maybe Danbi's mom is the mystery woman who sent Ethan?

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

@Tenor | Shinavar I agree with the bad parents, and the neglectful parent trope

Megaparsec

Ooh do we have evidence people get pulled out of this world too?

I don't think anyone's said anything but I guess they wouldn't know

Tenor | Shinavar

Joi: I'm okay with it once in a while but honestly it feels like it's been nothing but everything I've read lately to the point I think I'm getting sensitive to the topic lmao

Mharz

Not yet at least

mathtans

There's no evidence to the contrary. ^.^

Mharz

Tho I think it's a possibility.

keii4ii

There's something I wanna point out, and it's been shown in the comic, but merely pointing it out might count as a spoiler

Tenor | Shinavar

lulll

Megaparsec

I wonder if the linked worlds get portals between them too

Mharz

That ppl can go from keol to earth.

Tenor | Shinavar

^It would support the "Dad went to Keol" theory

Superjustinbros

oh boi spoilers

Tenor | Shinavar

and backs the chance Ethan can get home

bc tbh, I think he needs to go home. He doesn't have closure

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

*half reading the rest of the comic, half responding.

Tenor | Shinavar

and the idea that he'll just up and abandon his dad feels off

Mharz

Yas

No he does intend to go back

Tenor | Shinavar

I understand he doesn't have the best life but considering how absorbed and protective he is of his faher, I can' imagine him leaving that just because he made some friends

keii4ii

Yeah

Darkhalo4321

What if he could go home, but go back?

I'd be okay with that-

Mharz

Remember the first time he heard of he heart is that there's a way he can go back to Earth there

Superjustinbros

The power of friends.

Mharz

Why he agrees to come with Danbi

Tenor | Shinavar

True

SevereWxEddie

Very true

Respheal

I don't think they know there's a way back at the Heart

Mharz

He clings to the hope his dad will remember him

Respheal

Just that, if there IS a way, someone there would probably know

mathtans

waits for keii4ii to point out the thing...

keii4ii

Not sure if a good idea

Mharz

Lol

Tenor | Shinavar

See I'm more curious: Is it dad doesn't remember him, or is dad locked into a level of traumatized dellusion to the point he doesn't see Ethan is there

Superjustinbros

@mathtans

mathtans

Thing about Ethan going home is I feel like that would be at the end of the comic? Since him coming started it all off.

Tenor | Shinavar

Because in war PTSD you can relive that moment over and over and over-

(Assuming it's that ofc)

Mharz

He thinks Ethan is his dad tho(edited)

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

right now its just fan speculation, I don't mind if the author prefers to show it in the work

Tenor | Shinavar

Mharz: That can be a triggering thing happening still

SevereWxEddie

@Tenor | Shinavar

Mharz

Yahh

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

yeah I agree with Mathtans, I typically expect it to be at the end, or near the end

Superjustinbros

PTSD sounds scary though

Mharz

It does

Tenor | Shinavar

A friend's father who had severe PTSD thought he was someone in the army he faced down

Respheal

Since it's mostly guessed at that electricity might have been a torture method resulting in Ethan's dad's current state, it's also possible the electricity literally fried his brain a bit (edited)

Superjustinbros

Christ

Tenor | Shinavar

He's been beaten up by his dad in those moments because he's mentally not there

I's horrifying and TBH If it IS that, I feel SO MUCH for Ethan and his mother especially

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

yikes that is really hard to live with..

Mharz

Sorry I have to step off early. It's gym day today. I'll answer the rest of the questions later. :'3

Tenor | Shinavar

Bai Mharz~

Superjustinbros

Alright, cya

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

see you Mharz

Superjustinbros

What a hard life these guys have lived

Tenor | Shinavar

Resp: Could also be Ethan looks like his dad, too, since Ethan got raits from his dad

so it just who he assumes it is?

Respheal

Oh true

keii4ii

Someone in the comment section noticed in the tentacle market scene, that Ethan acts like someone who had a lot of experience caring for a person with serious triggers (since he was kinda assuming the sight of tentacle food = triggers for Lushaka). I was so happy that they noticed it (•̩̩̩ ᴗ •̩̩̩)

Draco Plato

the electricity could relate to something on keol since their glowy powers could be seen as that

Superjustinbros

lol

Kabocha

I had... assumed that would be the case too XD

he was like "NO LU, THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO EAT YOU"

RebelVampire

tbh though what happens if ethan goes back on that vain hope his dad will recognize him and nothing of the sort happens? i feel that would be horribly traumatizing for ethan, and the situation probably is already traumatizing

Respheal

@keii4ii that was so cute

keii4ii

@Draco Plato And if they can "burn," who says that can't include frying things with electricity?

Draco Plato

yus, exactly

Tenor | Shinavar

Rebel: If he's matured enough to accept what's happened, he could theoretically find peace

theoretically

Superjustinbros

That's actually pretty clever

Tenor | Shinavar

Big emphasis

mathtans

So, about Danbi, will there be a scene where he has to go undercover as a woman? (seeks a more lighthearted thread)

Tenor | Shinavar

Because that'll depend a lot on how he matures, if he matures

SevereWxEddie

Maybe, but that would sound like it could be a very downer "ending"

keii4ii

@mathtans Technically he is unintentionally doing that 24/7

SevereWxEddie

@RebelVampire

RebelVampire

i do not look to ethan as my beacon of potential maturity yet XD

mathtans

@keii4ii This is true... intentionally then?

Draco Plato

I wondered if ethan was something other than human too and that he has a deeper connection to keol

Tenor | Shinavar

Plot Twist: Ethan is the one who has to go undercover as a woman

keii4ii

Actually there was a canceled arc

Draco Plato

that'd be a very Thor mythos moment, lol

Kabocha

All hail Queen Ethan?

Darkhalo4321

OOooh- That's an interesting twist @Draco Plato

keii4ii

where Danbi had to pose as a female suyori

But he didn't want to

SevereWxEddie

If Ethan comes back and nothing has changed that would be a very downer ending. If he comes back and his adventures help him find peace in his situation, I suppose that would be bittersweet?

keii4ii

So Ethan proposed that he (Ethan) and Lushaka also dress as women, for morale

Superjustinbros

Did Draco just pull a twist?

keii4ii

So the three of them show up at the destination wearing feminine clothes

Tenor | Shinavar

Lushaka was the prettiest, I bet /shot

RebelVampire

this sounds like a good arc.

keii4ii

and the local head suyori (the person they were attempting to deceive) instantly picks out Lushaka, not Ethan, as a man in disguise

Draco Plato

wouldn't his hair give him away

cause of how it grows in

Tenor | Shinavar

...would it? Cause we only know how boys grow, not girls

Draco Plato

we saw the little girl's hair tho

Tenor | Shinavar

If it's not the same then yeah

Draco Plato

and it grew all around

keii4ii

because she assumed someone who looks like Ethan would have to be really dumb to try to pass as a woman, so Ethan must be an ultra-masculine woman

Tenor | Shinavar

True - I just assumed she was longer furred and was using that lmao

Superjustinbros

How common are ultra-masculine women in this world anyways?

mathtans

So Ethan has to dress up like a woman and is mistaken for Danbi's mother. Hijinks ensue.

Superjustinbros

Kinda curious now

keii4ii

Naw, the little girl's hair was also short on the sides. But her ear fluff covers her head too much

Draco Plato

oooh okay

keii4ii

Also remember she asks Lushaka if he's "secretly her age" based on his hair

So the hair thing is more related to physical maturity

Tenor | Shinavar

Ahh ok

keii4ii

Like a lion mane

Draco Plato

which made me wonder if girls get hair all around sooner

and that his height difference should have been a tip off to her that he was older

keii4ii

Hence "secretly"

"are you actually a kid who happens to be super tall and uh... not very kid-looking"

Draco Plato

do girls get hair all around sooner than boys do?

Superjustinbros

"Maybe."

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

aw I would have love to see that arc where Ethan and Lushaka dress as women. Since I see Danbi as Danbi being cute, because he fits in any clothes

keii4ii

@Draco Plato Yeah. Girls grow faster

Draco Plato

so then you could identify lukasha as a boy by that at his height and apparent age

Tenor | Shinavar

LOL

Omg Luk on stilts

wheeze

keii4ii

Not really, he's not supposed to have that kinda hair when the rest of his body is clearly adult

RebelVampire

i want the arc mostly for ethan trying to pass as a woman. cause literally danbi, why would you think thatd work at all

Superjustinbros

"Drag time, you say?"

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

yes, I really like that twist!

mathtans

Would Ethan wear one braid? O.o

Tenor | Shinavar

C-Can he wear a braid?

Or would it be an amazing wig?

Superjustinbros

This would be a fun twist~

keii4ii

Maybe they can make a baby braid out of Ethan's floof

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

it would probably be a wig XD

Draco Plato

technically ethan could pass as a woman in the sense they have different species passing through the red gate regularly and he could just be a new species

should just tell them that

Tenor | Shinavar

True

mathtans

"I'm actually a mineral."

Respheal

A very, very big species

Superjustinbros

Interesting

RebelVampire

touche, he is the new giant species

Tenor | Shinavar

Ethan just pulls out all the cultural knowledge he knows from America to try to make up a new species from the Red Gate

keii4ii

He's not a human, he's a Murican

Draco Plato

I am cowboy

Tenor | Shinavar

MURICAN AKSJDHKALSD

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I'd love to see him put fruit in his robes, and try to pretend having big melons

Respheal

OH NO

Superjustinbros

"MERICAN! #*&@ YEAH"(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

Bombs, for best reference

plz bombs

Kabocha

He puts on his robe and wizard hat...

Superjustinbros

YES BOMBS

*explosions everywhare

Tenor | Shinavar

Kabo: sTOP MAKING ME FEEL OLD

Respheal

Kabo no

NO

Superjustinbros

KABO WHAT ARE YOU DOIN

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I don't know what's happening anymore

mathtans

"Your fruits are unbalanced."

keii4ii

I'm sure he would've loved to put on his robe and wizard hat when he first met Adela

Superjustinbros

"fix your fruits please."

Kabocha

He sure was going there with Danbi

mathtans

"Wait, that's not a wizard HAT...."

SevereWxEddie

Why am I now reminded of that scene from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights?"

Superjustinbros

>Men in Tights

RebelVampire

the idea of ethan trying to fight adela in a wizard robe and hat is too funny

Tenor | Shinavar

Though speaking of Adela, I'm curious on her role. I know she serves to bring in others of her kind but it makes me think how bad it is ifor them there if she's willing to do it

Like, is she getting something out of it? Does she feel the outside world is worse?

RebelVampire

well the outside world is filled with hunters

Respheal

MMMMMMMMM just because you're part of a group doesn't mean you won't do nasty things to that group

mathtans

Less of a minority?

Kabocha

It's safer for sure

Maybe she wants to be next in line for empress

RebelVampire

but also what res said

Tenor | Shinavar

Resp: Tis true, I'm just curious if she is or is she doing it as a sense of righteousness

An evil for the greater good or however the statement goes

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. Plenty of other events in the comic still have their own needed answers. Do you think Lushaka has an ulterior motive for traveling with Ethan and Danbi? Do you think Lushaka will be able to get his legs healed, or will he be suck with the poison? What about Adela? Do you think she’ll manage to overcome her head injury to hear the plants again, or is something else going on? What does Adela have to do with the “song” Danbi remembers hearing in the past surrounding his mother? World wise, what do you think is going on with the people of Xi? Will their outrage affect Ethan’s group in some way? Lastly, due to the similar Korean language, do you think there’s a hidden connection between Keol and Earth?

Respheal

Certainly she thinks it's probably the best choice, but maybe based on incomplete information

Superjustinbros

Get them healed

I doubt medical services are that primitive(edited)

Kabocha

Give Adela 2 or 3 years, she'll be fine. I think. I mean.

Respheal

My guess re: language was that one of the first Earth people to get sucked into the red gate was probably Korean?

Kabocha

....Eventually she'll be okay.

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I really like Lushaka and how we're not sure about his motives. Probably just want to get his legs healed(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

4> I think the song Danbi heard is the plants' natural song around a mature of their species. I hope Adela + Luk both don't get fixed so they can fuck with each other like old war vets for that stint lmao.

Long old!married couple levels of bickering

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

I'm not always good at thinking up head canons(edited)

Superjustinbros

Me neither, tbh

mathtans

There's a lot that happens after part 10. ^.^;;

Kabocha

@Joichi [Lavender Tea] the secret to head canons is to extrapolate to the most logical but bizarre outcome

eg: The Queen is a Dokkabi. Maybe.

Superjustinbros

Thanks for the strategy @Kabocha

Kabocha

The trick is it needs to be somewhat plausible.

Respheal

But that's completely plausible

mathtans

Maybe the plants are just talking at a different pitch around Adela. Doesn't hear certain frequencies. Could hear... dandelions? (They're significant and all...)

Tenor | Shinavar

On the people of Xi: Sounds like some seriously oppressed shit - like, for comparison, the levels of xenophobic hatred similar to America and Muslims right now.

(Just with more severe repercussions)

(Or actions, anyway, considering the deahs mentioned)

keii4ii

Yeah, it's really bad to say the least

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

thank you Kabo and Keii!

SevereWxEddie

I wonder about the connection to Earth! Especially the existence of the railroad. It seems like technology levels vary wildly across Keol: where Ethan landed, there were simple farms all around, and he and the party boarded a sailing boat. Now their destination has a railroad (with what looks like a diesel locomotive) and all of the tech that requires. I wonder if the railroad is around because of its proximity to the city with all the Red Gaters? Those who come through the Gate bringing their knowledge with them?

Superjustinbros

oooooh

RebelVampire

adela and danbi's mom are sisters

Tenor | Shinavar

Oh god

RebelVampire

my plausible but crazy theory

Respheal

So the gates do space AND time shenanigans? Are the time flows of Earth and Keol linked?

keii4ii

The tech disparity was largely inspired by the situation in Korea in recent history! Countryside vs cities had huuuuge differences, like different worlds

Respheal

Or will the gate sometimes grab a person from like....the distant past or future

mathtans

Oh, I like when the real world is mirrored in ways one doesn't necessarily realize.

RebelVampire

that is a good question res

SevereWxEddie

@keii4ii ahhhhhhhhhhh

mathtans

Res: Maybe Ethan returns only to become his own dad?

Superjustinbros

Now I want to see that happen

Oh snap

Tenor | Shinavar

Math: GGGGGGGGG

I debaed that once but I couldn't work it out

Superjustinbros

Paradox, much?

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

@Respheal that is a good question, makes me think about portal travelling in a new way

keii4ii

That actually has huge implications with THIS story

Not canon but if it were

Ethan being his own dad, I mean

Draco Plato

that'd be awesome

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

LOL why does it reminds me of.. a film somewhere. can't remember it. Maybe I'm thinking of Back to the Future

Superjustinbros

"My future self is my daddy"

keii4ii

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like my daddy!"

Superjustinbros

XD

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

then oh shit... wished too hard

Superjustinbros

Pretty mcuh that

Draco Plato

you are your daddy

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

NOOOO *epic screams

Draco Plato

then you're like damn i sucked as my own dad

and now i have nobody to blame but myself

Superjustinbros

This talk

Draco Plato

that sounds like something i'd write, lol

Superjustinbros

@mathtans you are so good at this

RebelVampire

haha im gonna be honest, i entertained the idea of ethan being his own grandfather for a bit

as a theory

Draco Plato

i did too for a moment in the beginning, lol

Tenor | Shinavar

Futurama proved it can be set up ?shot

RebelVampire

but i was like "no no its probalby just ptsd. probably"

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

omg.. I love how this convo became a paradox XD

Draco Plato

and then i thought naaaaaaah they won't go there

Respheal

the cats in the cradle with the silver spoon, l-little boy blue...and the--the--

Kabocha

Ethan's real name is Fry.

Superjustinbros

inb4 let's paradox this world even further

SevereWxEddie

YAAAAAASSSSS

keii4ii

My brain is exploding

Superjustinbros

Boil, Grill, or fry?

RebelVampire

i did wonder if keol was just korea of the long forgotten past though. as a theory to explain the connection

Draco Plato

ah that could be

Superjustinbros

Maybe, i'd believe it if that was the case

SevereWxEddie

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey shenanigans ensued? I thought that at first too.

keii4ii

I haven't shown the map yet, but the geography is very different

Superjustinbros

oooh!?

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

Hmm that is plausible, if Keol is an ancient Korea.. although I have to look it up

mathtans

Originally as I started reading I did wonder if it was still like Earth. But enough stuff happened pretty soon to dispell that notion.

Superjustinbros

I googled Keol and I jsut got things related to music

keii4ii

Keol is way bigger than Korea ever was, for one thing

mathtans

That language connection thing is really interesting though. I wonder if humans get sucked in who don't speak Korean and are kind of screwed.

keii4ii

Yeah, Ethan would've had an even harder time if he didn't speak any Korean

Megaparsec

I suspect most of the people here did cross over from Earth at one point, because of the language and physical similarity. Possibly some kind of super-Gate pulling in a whole group of people?

Joichi [Lavender Tea]

YESS, i thought about that too, going; dang I envy you Ethan. I wouldn't be able to speak to ANYONE at all if I were in Keol

Megaparsec

In the far past of both worlds

Kabocha

Did the Rencho also speak Korean?

SevereWxEddie

@mathtans yes, didn't the lady with the M&Ms say she had that problem? (Her actual name escapes me)

keii4ii

Renchos speak their own languages in their home world, and have to pick up Korean when they come to Keol

Superjustinbros

lol

keii4ii

Same with Elyeos

Though Inductors are required to learn at least some basic phrases in the most common Elyeo language

Tenor | Shinavar

Yeah like 'You're under arrest' /shot

Superjustinbros

Do there exist translators in Keol?

RebelVampire

darn you geography. maybe keol is another dimension of earth where history took a different course entirely

keii4ii

I'm sure there are some?

mathtans

SevereW: I think that's later than I got to. ^_^;

keii4ii

like Lushaka still speaks the Rencho home world tongue, and could interpret if needed

SevereWxEddie

Ah, that'd do it.

keii4ii

The blue speech balloons were the Rencho language

when he was talking to Mr. Jaguar

Superjustinbros

oooh~

do I hear exparimenting with speech ballons with different visuals?

RebelVampire

on a side note i was sad for ethan that he found a fellow earthling...only they didnt really speak english

Superjustinbros

I always like when comics do that.

RebelVampire

that would be such a huge letdown for anyone(edited)

keii4ii

Note he had to switch to Korean for "arrows" and "archers" because Renchos don't have those words in their native languages

Darkhalo4321

ooooo

Kabocha

Yeah, I notice Ethan's text color changes if he needs to use an English word too

SevereWxEddie

That's a really neat method, by the way

Kabocha

and then Danbi's got a wispier textbubble to indicate his voice being very.... I dunno, soft? Scratchy? In my head it sounds somewhat raspy.

SevereWxEddie

Of telling readers what language is being used

Draco Plato

danbi's smoker voice XD

Superjustinbros

lol

keii4ii

Danbi is special

mathtans

Agreed. In the Korean version, is just the English words used, I wonder?

Superjustinbros

What would a speech bubble of someone sleepy look like(edited)

keii4ii

@SevereWxEddie Thanks! It's not a perfect solution but it works, and I'm happy enough with that

SevereWxEddie

You're welcome!

keii4ii

@mathtans I used a different font for English words in the Korean version. Wasn't doing the color thing at that time

Superjustinbros

oooh

mathtans

Before we close, I just want to say the colouring and shading and stuff is freaking amazing. High frequency of posts but also such quality.

Superjustinbros

Seconding this.

SevereWxEddie

Thirding

keii4ii

Thank you!

SevereWxEddie

The art is freaking gorgeous!

Superjustinbros

I'd like to say in personal thoughts- good luck with the story, @keii4ii. You got some really awesome plotlines and setpieces backed up with some great characterization and character designs and I hope it only gets bigger form there.

keii4ii

wait

Are CTPs allowed to end without a ship discussion

Superjustinbros

Especially something with lots of themes based on Korea.

Kabocha

OMG!

Darkhalo4321

I HAVE A SHIP

Kabocha

Lu/Ethan

Superjustinbros

I HEAR DSHIPS

Darkhalo4321

YES

Superjustinbros

FOUR MINUTE SHIP DISCUSSION

Tenor | Shinavar

I can't ship Ethan

keii4ii

The naval forces have been summoned

Tenor | Shinavar

It hurts too much

Darkhalo4321

Yeah, Ethan is a bit.... Not shippable RIGHT YET

Kabocha

Well, the naval was what he was focusing on

:'3

Darkhalo4321

But he's growing and I'm excited for the man he'll be later on!

Tenor | Shinavar

EXACTLY

HE'S TOO INNOCENT

SevereWxEddie

Well, the lack of navel forces was apparent in that one comic

Darkhalo4321

for now

keii4ii

Ethan's not quite emotionally ready for a long term, committed relationship yet

Kabocha

ANYWAY, ETHAN/LU IS THE SHIP I AM ON BOARD WITH

yet

Darkhalo4321

yet

Tenor | Shinavar

TBH I enjoy the idea of Danbi/Lu

Respheal

yet

Tenor | Shinavar

Super passive with a fucking troll

Superjustinbros

Shall we set sail? ;3c

Kabocha

Rebel it is super important that you italicise those yets

Tenor | Shinavar

+ Lu would protect Danbi who may be doomed to a life in prison

Tenor | Shinavar

he's already a dick who doesn't listen to orders

mathtans

I wondered if Ethan and Danbi would go somewhere. Maybe ship Ethan and the Queen? Calling it now.

Tenor | Shinavar

Just pocket the boy and go bouncing speedily away once healed /shot

RebelVampire

i sit on the Lu/Ethan ship myself. dont care about ethan's innocence the googly eyes are there

Kabocha

Math, you missed the Ethan is the Queen theory

Respheal

The "Ethan no" moments

Kabocha

or will be the Queen

Tenor | Shinavar

...Lu leaning on Danbi with this knowing ass smile at Ad, too like "Yeah. I know what he is. Does it bother you we're dating?"

Draco Plato

i was more for danbi/ethan but super don't think that's going to happen now XD

Respheal

But also catching Ethan when he was passing out after accidentally dokkabi'ing himself?

mathtans

Kabocha: Oops. Ethan shipped with himself then.

Tenor | Shinavar

-Talking myself more into this ship, fuck-

Darkhalo4321

YES ( to res's comment)(edited)

Tenor | Shinavar

-I can't draw this, the pain is real-

Kabocha

lmao

Superjustinbros

Heehee~

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to keiiii, as well, for making Heart of Keol. If you liked the comic, make sure to support keiiii’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://www.heartofkeol.com/

keiiii’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/keii4ii

keiiii’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/keiiii4

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about Finding Home by Hari. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, October 4th, from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: https://tapas.io/series/FindingHome