#im stuck on the next chapter but it's mostly trying to figure out how to foreshadow like a normal person

[wormpit]

some design notes for my dear second hgw women<3 while zhenya's family resemblance is obvious, tsuru has tokiomi's eyebrows, rin's determination, and sakura's temperament

[shiny-jr]

pardon my late message i've been letting letting the current damnation chapters sink in the past couple of days after finally taking the quiz (im am still waiting with baited breath but like in a chill way for the rest) but HOLY. MOLY.

i did indeed notice that the MC's have different morality stances, and they match their crimes (granted im still trying to figure out which one did what. cuz rn i got stuck on iago coming fraud or tax evasion, even though theyre super down with murder, but like raven is WAY more down to murder somebody. im just nit paying enough attention to figure it out, really. im having too much fun vibin)

2 THE WAY THE CHARACTERS MAY NOT START OUT ENTIRELY YANDERE FOR THE MC AND INSTEAD DEVELOP THE OBSESSION FOR THEM LATER ON 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌😭😭😭😭😭 BRILLIANTBRILLIANTBRILLIANT. ok so i got heartslabyul on my first attempt so it wasnt as like "obvious" even though trey and cater are both instantly "shocked" i was like "that could just be bc our character is weird it doesnt necessarily mean they yandere switch has been flipped pshaw! 🤭" BUT THEN eventually i got to pomfiore and epel confirmed it when he was like "ive been imagining things i never did before!" and i was like "oh snap! WAIT is *THIS* part of the punishment? like not JUST being sent to another world that is based on a story, but specifically a YANDERE DEATH TRAP? 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯"

cuz like, sure, the MC is doing what they can to survive but depending on which one theyre fine to just vibe and let the story take its course if theyve got a good chance to survive not doing anything special. but then the story always gets WEIRD, RIGHT?! stuff always goes wrong! was that part of the vision? or am i going conspiracy crazy?

anyway AMAZING WORK. also you really fed the vil simps on that one story. i thought i was over him and content to be like rook and admire from afar but that SCENE with his hands wrapped around the retainer 🥵 i darn near short-circuited. HOW DARE YOU! (please continue 😉)

its hard to choose a favorite story in this series and i dont want to speak too soon before theyre all out. but i do have favorite bits in each of them.

and i just love the endings to them all. i love the bittersweet nature of all the endings. like none, of them are really romantic in a comforting way (duh its a yandere story) but they do vary in romance level. like by far i think riddle's azul's and vil's are the most romantic while leona and jamil are quite cold and calculating or in jamil's case mostly possessive and manipulative on the surface. it's VERY interesting.

and also bc im silly and you brought up the yandere-ness of the other characters, i start to wonder what happens next in these stories (im not asking for sequels. oh heavens no! never! unless you wanted to, but im mostly just brainstorming character relationships and potential conflicts). like in the savannaclaw story, ruggie and jack are also glued to the MC but not in a really romantic way? ruggie has that "i want to be your #2/by your side forever" which could go either way, but to me initially reads as "jack was pushing his way into MY spot and i want to guarantee he cant have it" rather than a "one day i'll deserve to be by your side romantically and for now i want to ensure i'll always have that opportunity by being next to you and a priority of yours" and then comes leona's proposal at the end, and i was thinking "uhhh but mc is by your side as consort, then ruggie gets pushed out of his spot in favor of the husband taking over. even though ruggie could still be an advisor and confidant, its still like 'move over dude theres another taking priority over you" and then that gets me wondering "what would happen if MC turned down leona? what kinda havoc would he wreak if any? does that put the village in jeopardy if he gets pissed off? what if they accept and they're STILL screwed bc he stops paying attention to the village after he gets the throne? and then the chieftain is taken into the palace and away from the village and has no way back and theyre left to basically flounder without them?"

also i really like how you end your stories with pseudo-cliffhangers? i mean they are but also the plot is mostly resolved and whatever major things that needed to happen happened. and its just the character resolutions and epilogues you dont see. its entertaining. like i said, i like to imagine what happens next and you really leave some stuff open for that.

anyway! thank you so much for sharing your stories!

Oh, for the crimes, just look at one of the questions which I believe asks what you (the quiz taker/MC) committed. Those are currently five of the seven crimes I've listed before, and each MC has committed at least ONE of them. But, they could've always committed more too.

On that other topic, of characters going yandere, one thing I hate is when reading a story and for some reason the characters are already obsessed with the MC but for absolutely no apparent reason. And me personally, I enjoy a bit of build up, which is why I try to implement some in my writing. Which can be a bit hard to do within forty pages when all these other things are happening, but I manage for the most part.

[wizisbored]

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

a few years ago i was awful about sticking to chronological order but that was mostly because i wasnt actually posting fic, just fucking around with my Situations, so i kinda didnt have a reason to write anything that wasnt the scenes i was most interested in. once i got into actually posting my stuff i got into the habit of writing in order a lot more because im actually trying to tell the full story chapter by chapter now. i do sometimes still skip ahead to different chapters and write scenes im particularly hyped for or have a really solid mental picture of in advance but more and more often im just doing it in bullet-point outline form. i think thats actually because my idea of characterisation and motivation and all that changing throughout a story has improved. most of my stuff is very much focused on characters and character dynamics, and because my outlining is pretty loose if i try to skip ahead i dont know exactly where that characters attitude towards the situation and other characters is going to be by that point. to take netherborne as an example - its hard to skip ahead in that fic because i dont know exactly what lydia and beetlejuice's dynamic is going to look like at any given time. sure, i have a rough idea of how it evolves, but i cant pin down exactly how theyd talk to each other or what theyd tollerate from one another. i kinda just let these things naturally evolve as i write them, so skipping ahead puts me in a bit of a void. hence, i mostly only outline.

i do do small jumps fairly often though, as in a paragraph or two. if im getting really stuck on writing a particular moment in a chapter ill often just stick a bookmark there and skip to the next part i feel like i can write, and come back with fresh eyes later. i use a table of contents extention in google docs so its pretty easy to just put a header called 'bookmark' wherever im currently writing. the first chapter of runnign iorn actually has three right now - one because i havent properly figured out how to open it, one because i havent fully figured out how to finish beetlejuice's first scene, and one where im up to with lydia

(from this ask game)

[raccoonfallsharder]

i hope you don’t mind me dropping by your ask box so frequently, but im the anon who asked those fic writer questions (4, 13, 15) and also the same person who asked about the whole critique/advice thing. ive genuinely never thought about it that way and what you said stuck to me, especially the last two lines, don’t stop making plums, people need plums, it’s so oddly motivational and im completely in awe at how you were able to come up with that which brings me to my next question uh

how do you write so vividly?

you’re the author i wanted critique from, surprise, hehe.

it’s just that the way you phrase certain things makes what should have been a vague but known feeling not so vague, if that makes sense? i feel like im speaking out of my ass right now but you have a way with words is what im saying, and i see that especially in the ninth visit and blackmail material chapter 2, and i cant stop thinking about how you can come up with such profound ways of writing mundane things.

im gonna sign off because the last two asks ive sent in tells me this may not be the last time im anonymously hitting up your ask box again.

— reddie anon

reddie-sweetheart. butterfly. my little love. firstly you are so kind and i’m honestly so fuckin honored. this legit made my heart hurt ♡ thank you. i’m so glad that my writing has resonated with you in these ways.

i was thinking about this all day since i saw your ask. i’m not completely sure i know which parts of my writing felt really vivid to you personally and i am not completely sure i can tell you how my brain works (‘cause mostly it’s just fucked in there) but there are two things i do when I’m trying to evoke a specific emotion or vibe and I can try to share those??

1. i think about how an emotion feels physically in my body.

most people don’t know what emotions they’re experiencing when they’re experiencing them. emotions are hard and it’s often not till later that we can reflect on them && say “oh i was heartbroken,” “i felt betrayed,” “i was in amazement.” so when a character is having a reaction, I think about where I feel those responses in my own body (hunching shoulders? falling stomach? a sudden release of tension in the neck?), and those are the reactions I try to describe. (especially when you’ve got a character like fuckin rocket who wouldn’t recognize an emotion if someone pointed to to it on a goddamn chart)

2. i think about what other things are that evoke the same feeling for me.

so like when i say that you, reddie-nonnie, are a warm cup of honey-tea on a foggy morning, you probably know what i mean. i mean : your words offered me great comfort and healing. i mean: your kindness soothed my heart/soul/mind. i mean - you are sweet and hydrating and good. i mean that you are a little bit of brightness and i am grateful you exist.

and when i say your stories are plums, you probably also know what i mean. you’ve probably seen plums. there’s a good chance you’ve eaten some. but even if you haven’t, you can probably figure out that they’re juicy. sweet. nourishing. and that there’s nothing else quite like them.

so. IN PRACTICE. sometimes i write all this in a rough draft and have to go back and edit these weird-ass descriptions down because i get too deep in my head/too far out in space and i stop making sense lol. other times i write my drafts very plainly and it isn’t till revision that i say, okay - how can i make people really understand that when i say he was awestruck what i mean is, like, his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and his heart was on the floor?

i REALLY hope this was helpful for you. I don’t know how much of it, if any, made sense, but i will always be flattered by any questions you ask and i will do my best to answer thoughtfully, thoroughly, honestly, and as well as i can. have a lovely night (day??) reddie-nonnie and thank you for trusting me with this question - I hope the answer was what you were looking for ♡♡♡

[kidflashimpulse]

Any yj fanfic recs, it doesn’t have to be just Bart or zetaflash. It can be anything! I’m just trying not to think about the cancellation lmao

im glad im answering this now instead of when I first saw it cause all this time I thought u were asking about fics in general and ive been trying to come up with some since and WHEW I have zero idea on where to start id be at it for hours. 

apologies for only replying now, ik this might've been more helpful in the moment but I was hoping my post on YJ status was somewhat helpful on the matter ! still imma give some reccs in case u need it in the future

though warning... I get the impression its entirely possible (very likely) u might have read them all already? im gonna try my best with variety but I can't promise u haven't read it already

for YJ, I have to confess....... I have tunnel vision for bart, I don't recall reading much outside/beyond him and those that I have, well since I don't archive what I read (one of my worst traits if u ask me), its not coming to me rn, but next time I read smn I wanna recc Im gonna try to remember to add it to this post as an edit lol

but for now...

Sunshine. Falling by @/radioactive-earthshine 

ok...so ik im gonna mostly be giving the stuff that ive bookmarked on ao3 (which isn't at all a comprehensive list, theres sooo much more that ive loved but I don't use my acc to read at all so I usually just free-ball it when trying to remember fics, and yes, its a habit I very much hate lol) and in fact, I wish I could mention them all here but I would be writing a novel if I spoke about each and every one of the so ur best bet is to just check that list out honestly 

and also, yeah its not a YJ fic, but I enjoy how it follows his comic characters run and builds on it. I find his characterisation in this fic rlly interesting and authentic (also Max being Native American there is everything, I actually have this whole theory/HC in YJ that Max is a Native American “God” (like the ancient greek/roman gods) i.e commonly known as Mercury, that just kinda roams about but is mostly in New Genesis (no idea where that thread/post is rn but I read someone connecting Lightray to Hermes/Mercury and since then that idea has been stuck in my head lol)) 

okay I have gone totally off track (im so sorry omg) im gonna try to keep it concise from here lol, anyway supper recc sunshine falling, the writing is gorgeous and the plot is rlly interesting! 

After the fall of Olympus by @/greycappedjester  

okay, im obsessed with this series, the world building is INSANE, the first fic in the series is basically a YJA AU where failsafe actually happened (whole flashfam except jay dies, but YJA bart still makes it to that TL cause he actually ended up dimension hopping rather than time travelling, or smn like that). To keep it short, his characterisation here is AMAZING, I love it sm, the second fic, flash facts is one of my all time favourites (if u ask me its the only canon take of his interaction with the rogues, cause don't get me started on how foul his comics history with them is (and not in a gd way)) so personally, this series, particularly flash facts, is just fantastic. it also very much explores other YJ/DC characters, (Dick is the central figure in AFTO and bart appears relatively later on and when the YJ Invasion plot passes, the plot focuses alot on other characters, especially considering its largely about Dicks evolution).

For zetaflash, I mean it quite literally when I say I think ive read almost all the fics under the tag... we are very much at that stage in the fandom, so yeah lol, quite a few of my faves are in my bookmarks but I haven't updated it in a while

Sooner than later, a Wally and bart oneshot on their YJ bond, its quite sweet, ft spitfire

Waking up to Ash and Dust  its incomplete (just one chapter) and quite an old fic, its also been super long since I last read it so I can't remember it clearly, gotta give it a reread but I remember it being a rlly interesting take on things so it stuck with me, basically an outsider POV of bart with OCs 

ill try to update this list when I can! and my bookmarks at some point too whilst im at it lol, hope u can enjoy these (if u haven't read them already lol) and im so sorry for the totally unwarranted random essay lmfao

[poisonedapples]

Patton’s Home For Traumatized Kids - Chapter Five

Bad Memories Don’t Erase

Chapter Summary: Roman tags along with Logan and Virgil to hang out at their friend’s house.

First Chapter Previous Chapter Story Masterlist

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of past abuse, stealing, and one inappropriate joke

Word Count: 4,008

Taglist: @shade-romeo, @grayson-22, @pixelated-pineapple, @acrobaticcatfeline, @astrozei, @edupunkn00b, @princey-7258, @eternalmoonlight19, @remy-the-lemon-berry, @look-ma-im-on-tv, @mariniacipher, @bigwendymonster, @nonbinary-octopus

Notes: This chapter’s a little short, but the next one is gonna be really long, so hopefully that makes up for it

On Sunday the next day, Patton finally took Roman to buy his gym clothes. Roman was trying to hide a goofy smile while sitting in the back seat, desperate to not get his hopes up while also ecstatic his plan was working so far. He was going to have Patton stay in the car while Roman shopped for clothes! This had never worked on his dad before!

By the time Patton finally parked the car in the parking lot of the store, Roman’s chest felt weighted from his anxiety, waiting to see Patton’s final verdict. So long as he didn’t change his mind now, then Roman was in the clear. He hoped to be in the clear.

“Alright, kiddo,” Roman’s heart stopped as Patton pulled out his wallet and gave him some money. “Forty dollars should be more than enough for some pairs of gym pants and shirts. Give me back all the change when you come back, okay?”

“I will! Promise!” Roman wanted to jump for joy. It was working!

“Text me when you’re checking out so you don’t surprise me, and if you see something else you might want, just text me before you buy it so I know. Tell me if you have any issues, okay?”

“Okay!”

Patton smiled. “Go on then, kiddo.”

Roman practically leaped out the door to skip his way to the front entrance of the clothing store, two twenty dollar bills crumbled in his pocket. He got away with it! No parents staring him down while he changed outfits!

Roman walked into the store and tried to hide the skip in his step. With no parents to watch him, he could buy what he actually wanted to wear, no tight pants and scoop neck shirts. No, Roman wanted to look like his real goal. His goal of being a blob of cloth that vaguely resembled a human.

Granted, he’d mostly gotten there. His aunt replaced all of his wardrobe, so his current clothes were a lot more comfortable to wear even if they weren’t very fashionable. Mostly bright colored t-shirts and pants, maybe some shorts if they were able to reach down far enough. Maybe once he was more comfortable with himself he could actually test out more styles, but for now, oversized clothes were all he could handle.

Roman’s walk sped up slightly when his eyes landed on the men’s athletic section. He had to be quick with this, he didn’t want Patton getting impatient and coming in to check on him. Roman looked through the shorts and shirt sizes, easily finding a size up for a couple shirts while heavily struggling on the shorts. Roman groaned. It was always the shorts that caused the issue, they were always too high up. What if he was sitting down and the pant leg rode up too far? No, Roman refused to get something like that willingly.

Roman took all the athletic shorts that could fit him and held them up in front of his legs. Most of them only made it to his lower thigh, but he managed to find two shorts that made it to right below his knee. Roman smiled and bounced on his toes, grabbed his items and rushed to find a dressing room. Once he did, he rushed into the first empty area he saw and locked the door. The mirrors on the walls and gaps in the door made it hard for him to change comfortably, so instead Roman tried to press himself against the very corner of the room when he was changing.

Between the six shirts and two pants Roman found, he was pretty happy with most of his choices. Thankfully, the long shorts looked fine, so Roman hung them up on a hook with a sign over it saying I’m buying this! and considered it a success. However, when it got time to look at the shirts, only three of them were good enough for purchase. The white one he grabbed was practically see-through, and the other two had a scratchy inside material that Roman couldn’t stand, so they got put on the reject hook while the other three passed the test. 

For a rushed shopping visit, Roman was pretty pleased with his choices. Two shorts might not be enough for five days worth of classes, but maybe Roman could keep one pair in his locker until it started to stink. Which might be a little gross, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Roman exited the dressing room and put his rejected shirts on a rack outside, carrying his other items to the checkout area. Before he got in line, he looked at all the price tags and added them up in his head best he could. The shirts were about six dollars each, and the shorts were a little over five after tax. Which means, adding up the extra cents, he’d have to pay twenty nine dollars for the clothes in total. Considering Patton gave him forty dollars, this was plenty.

Roman hesitated for a second. He stuffed his hand into his pocket to feel the money in the palm of his hand while he thought about his options. If he told Patton the truth, Roman would give him eleven dollars and there would be no issues. Patton might let him do this again next time they go shopping, too. But also…Roman had no backup plan. He was stuck with Patton with nowhere to go if things went wrong.

His aunt told him that Roman could always go back to her house if a guardian was abusing him, and he had every intention to take her up on that offer the second the opportunity arose. But even if Roman walked to her house on foot, he had no money for food during that trip. She lived so far away from him now, there was no way to get to safety without a dollar to his name. But if he stole some from Patton, then Roman could have a serious issue on his hands.

Roman slowly walked up to the check out area and handed the teenage worker the clothes. As she scanned all the items with a satisfying beep, Roman felt himself getting antsy. There’s no guarantee Patton will let me do this again. I’ve already gotten away with so much, and the more time I spend around him, the more danger I’m in. But if Patton notices I stole from him, he could be furious. Is there even a right answer here?

“Twenty nine dollars and thirty two cents.” The cashier said cheerfully. Roman handed her the money and she put it in the register, then handed Roman a bunch of coins, two five dollar bills, and a one dollar. She smiled. “Would you like a receipt?”

“Uh, no thank you.”

When the receipt printed, the cashier tore it out and threw it in the trash behind her. “Have a nice day.”

“You too.” Roman squeaked, rushing away from the register to stare at the money. Apparently they ran out of ten dollar bills, because the money was split perfectly for taking without it being obvious. Roman considered this a sign to take his chance. He put a five dollar bill and a quarter in his left pocket and shoved the rest in his right. It wasn’t much, but he could build it up. This was only the beginning.

Roman walked out of the store and tried to act normal instead of anxious. Worst case scenario, he’d say he forgot to bring out the rest and give Patton the other bills. Giving away the quarter also would be too obvious, but he could get away with stealing that at least. When he made it to Patton's car, Roman opened the back seat and tossed his clothes next to him.

“Hey, kiddo!” Patton greeted, “Got any extra cash to give me?”

“Uh, yeah, here.” Roman dug into his right pocket to grab half the money and handed it to him. Patton put the coins in his pocket and put the two bills in his wallet. He didn’t seem to consider how much Roman gave him, instead he started backing out of the driveway and got distracted while reversing. Roman let out a quiet sigh of relief.

He felt the five dollars still stored in his pocket. He got away with it. For now.

***

“We’re home!” Patton announced as he and Roman stepped inside. Logan and Virgil were both lying on the couch, and Logan perked up from his spot.

“Wonderful. We wanted to ask both of you a question.” Logan said.

Patton seemed intrigued. “What question?”

“Can we go to Janus’ house, Pat?” Virgil asked.

“Oh, of course, kiddos! Do you know when you might be back?”

Virgil thought about it. “Probably at six before dinner.”

“Perfect! Just text me if that changes so I don’t worry, okay?”

“We will.” Logan reassured, “And Roman, would you like to come with us?”

Roman tilted his head to the side. “Me? I don’t even know who Janice is.”

Virgil sunk into the couch more. “Friend of ours. Has a snake, talks a lot about philosophy and books. Acts like a tired underaged wine aunt.”

“Right, well, still. Isn’t it a little strange for me to tag along to a stranger's house?” Roman pointed out.

“Janus wouldn’t mind, I’m sure.” Logan said. “Of course, you don’t have to, we simply figured you would like the invitation so you’re not the only one left out.”

Roman’s eyes widened when Logan said that. Wait, shit, if Logan and Virgil are going to this girl’s house, then Roman will be here. Alone. With Patton. Until six in the afternoon.

Roman’s mood change was almost instant. “Well then, perhaps I should go! Make new friends and establish bonds, or whatever!”

Virgil smirked. “Sweet. It’s a short walk, just a block away. Just let us grab our shoes and we can head out.”

“I’ll tell Janus we’ll be bringing a third party.”

Roman let out a breath of relief. As Virgil and Logan grabbed whatever they needed, Roman set his new bag of clothes in his room next to his backpack. He’d have to remember to put some boxers in there before tomorrow morning, too.

Roman felt the five dollars in his pocket again. He took the money and hid it deep in his backpack in a hidden pocket he hoped wasn’t too easy to find. Satisfied with that for now, Roman stepped back outside of his room and waited for the others.

Once everyone was situated, Virgil called out to let Patton know they were leaving the house and then closed the door. Logan and Virgil did most of the talking as they walked while Roman just listened, following behind them and letting the two lead the way.

“Oh, and Roman,” Logan suddenly said during a point of silence, “Another one of our friends may also show up later at Janus’ house. He said he might be coming, so we’ll see.”

Roman shrugged. “Sounds fine to me.”

“Alright.”

No one said anything else after that on the walk. After a while, Virgil and Logan stopped in front of a house and started walking up the driveway to the front door. As Virgil knocked on the door, Roman stood awkwardly off to the side until someone answered.

It wasn’t long before the door swung open, showing a teenage kid with a large birthmark under his left eye. He rested his elbow on the top of the black and yellow cane next to him and smirked. Was he the brother, perhaps?

“I’ve been expecting you.” He said menacingly.

“‘Sup, fucker.” Virgil greeted.

“Hello, Janus.”

Wait, what? Against his better judgment, Roman forced himself to stand in front of Logan to face Janus. “Wait, your name is Janice?” He asked.

Janus put his hand on his face. “Janus. It’s Janus. J-a-n-u-s, not the old lady name Janice.”

Roman felt his face grow hot. “…Oh. Well, uh…”

Janus rolled his eyes and held the door open wider. “Just come inside.”

Virgil was the first to step in, with Logan following after while Roman hesitated. He made an awful first impression, maybe he should just walk around the block for a while instead-

“Come on, my arm is tired.” Janus coaxed. Roman felt too awkward to walk away, so he instead sucked it up and stepped inside the house with everyone else.

The house was quite nice. The walls were painted dark and the carpet was red, but it looked nice in a Victorian era kind of way. On the living room coffee table were piles of fabric and a sewing machine, seemingly making something that looked like a suit. Janus took the cane he was holding and threw it onto the couch. Well, apparently it was just a part of the outfit.

Virgil motioned to all the fabric on the table. “Fuck are you making now, dude?”

“I’m making the refined villain look of my dreams.”

“Nice. When do you think you’ll finish it?”

“Possibly tomorrow. I’ll start on it again after school.”

“Do you make your own clothes?” Roman asked, hoping to distract himself from his previous embarrassment.

Janus smiled slightly. “Less clothes, more costumes. Mostly for myself, but sometimes I make them for the high school’s theater when I’m feeling generous.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!”

“Wanna see Janus’ costume closet?” Virgil asked.

Roman shrugged. “If he wants me to.”

“Oh yeah, just talk about me like I’m not here.” Janus rolled his eyes and motioned for everyone to follow him. He had a downstairs family room with a closet off to the side. Once everyone was downstairs, Janus opened it and let Roman look inside.

“…Woah.” Roman looked at all the costumes, astonished and full of wonder. A lot of them were very extravagant, like they were specifically designed for a dramatic person, so Roman felt a calling toward them. He took a few of them off their hangers to look at; roaring twenties inspired suits and a black dresses with fancy gold finishes. Roman ran his hand on the fabric like they were fancy relics.

“They are quite high-quality.” Logan said, “Costume design is certainly one of Janus’ greatest skills.”

“I can see that.” Roman whispered.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Don’t make his ego bigger than it already is.”

“Oh no, please do continue, I’m designed to be the center of attention.” Janus smirked.

Roman laughed and put the costumes back on the rack. It seemed like him and Janus were pretty similar in personality, just on opposite ends of the spectrum. Both dramatic artists, except one likes to add that with tons of sarcasm. He could see them getting along quite easily.

“Also, Janus,” Virgil said while looking at his phone, “Rat bastard says he’s coming over. He’ll be here in ten.”

“Ugh, fine. I was getting used to the silence.” Janus sighed.

“…Who’s rat bastard?” Roman asked.

“Friend of ours.” Virgil replied, “You’ll meet him in a bit. He’s a rat bastard. Smells vaguely of cheese.”

“…Attractive.”

“You get used to it.” Janus shrugged. He then smirked at Roman like he got an idea. “Would you like to see my snake?”

Roman’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”

Janus led them all upstairs to his bedroom, Roman following last in the line so he could keep Janus’ door cracked open. As he stepped inside, he noticed a very large cage on the wall to his right. It was very long with lots of wood decorations spread across the container, with a fluorescent lightbulb above it. Roman looked around in the enclosure to try and spot the snake.

Before he could find it, Janus opened the top and stuck his hand in the cage. The snake climbed up his hand onto his arm, and as Janus stuck him out for Roman to see, Roman jumped back.

Janus rolled his eyes. “He’s a corn snake, he’s not known for hurting people.”

Roman still looked at it from a distance. The snake was large enough that Janus had to hold him with both hands, as well as being a mesmerizing yellow color. Roman never had a friend with a pet snake before. “…What’s his name?”

“Lawrence.”

“Nerd.” Virgil called out.

Logan smiled. “I think it is a wonderful name. Lawrence Kohlberg developed the theory on moral development, the very basis for ethical behavior.”

“Nerds.”

“You’re very mature, Virgil.”

Roman ignored them. “I think he’s cool. How old is he?”

“About five. I’ve had him for a while now.”

A buzz came from Virgil’s phone, making him check it and read the message. “Rat bastard says he’s outside your door.” He announced.

Janus didn’t seem rushed. “He can get in on his own.”

Roman laughed, and Janus set Lawrence back in his enclosure so he could bask underneath the heat lamp. Roman still watched his movements from inside the cage. “I wish I had a pet.”

“Patton would get you a dog in seconds if you asked.” Logan suggested.

Roman shook his head. “It’s fine, I won’t ask.” He didn’t really know what kind of pet he even wanted, and besides, it’s not like he’d be able to keep it once he leaves Patton’s house. There was no point.

Suddenly, a loud stomping came from the stairs outside Janus’ bedroom. Roman yelped and ran to hide behind Janus in the corner of the room, but the others didn’t react. 

Roman sputtered. “What the-”

Before Roman could finish, a large bang came as someone kicked open the door and let it smack into the wall.

“I’m back by unpopular demand!”

“Hello, Remus.”

Roman completely froze up at the sound of that name. He turned around to look at the person that just busted down Janus’ bedroom door, a kid with messy hair and peach fuzz for a mustache, ripped jeans in the summer with a cast boot on his right foot.

Roman felt himself choke on air as he processed what was in front of him.

“Slugs are goopy like jello! So jello is made of slugs, duh!”

“Remus, that’s gross! No one would make food out of slugs!”

“What’s up, fuckers!” Remus announced. “I’m back from the pits of hell! Also known as the emergency room.”

Roman didn’t say anything, only stared at him in disbelief. Remus’ voice was a lot different now. He’d hit puberty, so the pitch had dropped a lot from what Roman was used to. A tuft of his hair was white, also. Roman couldn’t tell if it was dye or a condition.

That piece of hair and Remus’ mustache were the only things that made them both look apart now.

“What actually happened?” Logan asked. “You never told us specifics.”

“I broke my foot sucking too much-”

“Remus.” Janus warned.

“Fine, fine. I tripped trying to run up some steps and my fall didn’t look badass at all. Don’t tell people that though. If anyone asks, I broke it running from the cops.”

Janus nodded and smirked. “Noted.”

“We brought a third foster brother, also.” Virgil noted. Roman stopped breathing.

“Oh, really? Shit, I fuckin missed everything!” Roman looked in the corner trying to avoid Remus noticing him, but it was never that easy. “Why hello, welcome to our humble- …Oh, fuck.”

Remus tilted his head to make eye contact with Roman, and the surprise on Remus’ face was something Roman would never forget. He seemed genuinely baffled, like nothing in the world would have prepared him for what he saw. Roman wanted to cry.

I wanted to leave behind these people.

“…Roman?” Remus finally said, “Dude, holy fuck, I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Wait,” Virgil staggered, “You know each other already?”

“He’s my fucking cousin!” Remus exclaimed. “Come on, look at us, we’re only a little related but we look like twins!”

Logan turned to Roman. “Is this true?”

Roman could feel the tears ready to burst. His throat was scratchy, but he tried to talk anyway. “…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Come on, Princey, don’t be shy!” Remus teased. “We used to be best friends, let everyone believe we were twins until our moms called our shit out. Absolute bastard children- …wait. Wait a fucking second.”

“What is it?” Janus asked.

Remus turned to Virgil and Logan with a shocked and confused face. “…You said he’s your foster brother?”

Logan nodded. “That is correct.”

Remus turned to Roman, seemingly at a loss for words. “…Dude, the fuck? What happened?”

Roman looked at the floor, gripping onto his arm so hard it’d be a miracle if there weren’t marks later. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I mean, I know I haven’t seen you since your mom fucked off to Neverland, but what happened to your dad? He’s still alive and shit isn’t he? The hell happened?”

“I said I don’t want to fucking talk about it!” Roman seethed, grinding his teeth together as he practically growled out that sentence.

Virgil flinched violently. “Roman-”

“Whatever!” Roman pushed Remus off to the side and kicked the door fully open, storming his way down the stairs despite the sounds of people yelling for him to come back. Roman stomped out the front door and took a sprint for it down the block, not caring if he had to be alone with Patton, so long as he wasn’t here.

“I bet you would eat a slug!”

“No I wouldn’t! Liar!”

“Boys, boys!” Roman’s mother laughed, crouching down to meet their eye level from their place sitting in the grass. “No eating slugs. Be nice to the bugs or we’ll go back inside.”

“Yeah, Remus!”

Remus huffed. “I’m not doing anything!”

“Not yet!”

Roman’s mother laughed again. “I’m going to help Uncle André with dinner. But I better not hear a fight, okay?”

“Okay!” Roman promised, watching as his mom went back inside his uncle’s house into the kitchen. Roman and Remus continued to play in the grass by looking at bugs and telling stories to each other, making Roman smile more than he has in a long time. He always loved going to Remus’ house. His dad never came with them, so he and his mom were always happier.

“How come we never go to your house?” Remus eventually asked after a few minutes of playing. Roman stuck his tongue out.

“‘Cause our house is tiny and the backyard isn’t as cool.”

“Still! When you come over, you never bring Uncle Theo!”

“Good!” Roman defended, “Dad’s boring so he doesn't getta come!”

“I like him! He’s fun and nice and always brings chocolate!”

“He’s awful!” Roman covered his mouth after he blurted that out. Remus gave him a look.

“He’s not awful!”

Roman looked over to the glass sliding door. His mom was in there, he could see her, but she couldn’t hear him. Maybe he could get away with it. He could tell Remus a secret and his mom would never find out.

Roman hesitantly took his hands away from his mouth. His tone grew to be a lot softer. “…He is, though.”

Remus tilted his head to the side like a dog. “What makes him awful?”

“…Promise not to tell anyone?”

Remus leaned in closer. “Uh huh!”

“No one at all, ever?”

“Triple quadruple promise!”

Roman looked back at his mom. She wasn’t paying attention to him, seemingly talking to his uncle and pouring juice into cups. Roman hesitated for a moment. “…My dad-”

“Boys! Dinner’s ready!” Roman’s mom called out, making Roman jump almost a foot in the air. Both of them got off of the grass to walk inside, but before they did, Remus turned to Roman again.

“Your dad what?”

“…Nevermind.” He missed his chance. Remus would never find out, and Roman never told anyone for another five years.

Roman ran faster down the street at the memory, fighting back the tears in his eyes. It was fine. Roman was fine.

He never wanted to talk to Remus again.

[cicada-bones]

The Warrior and the Wildfire

Chapter 8: A Golden Afternoon

Its the middle of the night - so Im definitely going to post this again in the morning - but here you go! thanks for the nice words I really appreciate it ❤︎

word count: 4120

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Barely five minutes had passed before Lysandra was sauntering down the stairs, arms now empty and her gaze lazily sweeping over Rowan’s bare chest. Her eyes burned with intent, but he knew she was cataloguing him, marking the strength, height, weapons in his hands – the gaze of a spy. And Rowan couldn’t help but wonder if she really was just spying for Aelin. With those wildcat eyes…who else would she be serving but herself? Was there a chance she might betray them?

Rowan could practically feel Aedion’s eyes on him from behind, his scent burning with jealousy. Rowan had to keep his own eyes from rolling.

Lysandra shot Rowan a wry smile as she passed them, and Rowan caught a whiff of her scent on the breeze. It was strange, almost…layered. He couldn’t quite figure it out, and before he could get a full breath, Lysandra had wrenched the rolling door open and left the warehouse, pulling it shut behind her.

Then Aelin appeared on the stairs, a pile of garments in her arms. “These are for you,” she to Rowan. “Looks like I owe Nesryn a favor, she asked Lysandra to bring them this morning.”

Aelin continued as Rowan started up the stairs to take the clothes off her hands. “She also brought news. Arobynn received a report last night that two prison wagons were spotted heading south to Morath – chock full of all those missing people. We need to send for Chaol.”

Aedion nodded, already heading out the door, while Rowan continued into the apartment to see if the new clothes would fit. When he passed Aelin, she smirked at him.

So that’s a no on the fit. Rowan held in a sigh. Knowing Aelin, she’d put him in tight clothing on purpose.

···

To Rowan’s relief, the clothes hadn’t been all that tight. The pants were loose enough that they no longer restricted his movement, even if they were nearly four inches too short at the ankle. But Aelin had still given him an overly-pleased once over when his back was turned. She was spending too much time with Lysandra.

By late morning, Chaol was standing in the middle of the clearing, his eyes fixed on the map between his fingers. His steel, cotton, and birchwood-flavored scent was exactly as Rowan remembered from when he’d first tasted it in Aelin’s blood all those months ago, in that reckless first bite.

The memory alone was enough for ice to crack through Rowan’s veins, freezing his expression in place. This man had been responsible for sending Aelin across the sea, with no warning and no protection, right into the arms of his former queen. Who had been responsible for the broken heart she had arrived with. And then, when she returned here, he had the impudence to tell her that it was her fault he had failed to protect his King. That it was her fault her cousin had ended up in prison and Dorian the walking dead.

Rowan wanted to rip his face off with his teeth.

But instead, Rowan just stood guard by the door. Keeping his eyes locked on the former captain of the guard.

The man was of slightly higher than average stature, with brown eyes and hair, and hardened features. He held his broad shoulders straight back, his spine rigid, but his limbs were unsettled. He couldn’t stop shifting in place, discomforted.

Rowan suppressed another grin.

The man’s eyes also kept shifting to Aelin, and as he moved in place yet again, Rowan caught the slightest hint of jasmine and flame in his scent – Aelin.

Even though he couldn’t detect even a trace of the captain’s scent on Aelin anymore, the captain was still holding on to her. Still carrying her scent. Fury bubbled in Rowan’s gut.

Despite the vile words he’d hurled at her, the captain still wanted Aelin, and now that Rowan was looking for it, he could see the pain from her rejection written all over him.

Rowan almost regretted being polite to the man. But he knew Aelin would be rightfully furious with him if he attacked Chaol when their alliance was already so fragile. So he stuck to the door.

But that didn’t mean Aelin didn’t notice his icy stare, nor the captain’s discomfort. Her eyes glinted. “You know, he won’t bite,” she crooned.

Chaol leveled a stare at her. “Can you just explain what these maps are for?”

“Anything you, Ress, or Brullo can fill in regarding these gaps in the castle defenses would be appreciated,” she said.

His lips pursed as he folded up the map, tucking it into the inner pocket of his tunic. “For you to bring down the clock tower?”

“Maybe,” Aelin said flatly.

Chaol bristled. He was still obviously avoiding Rowan’s gaze. “I haven’t heard from Ress or Brullo for a few days,” he said tersely. “I’ll make contact soon.”

Aelin just nodded, pulling out a second map – this one of the sewer network. She weighed it down on the table with two of the daggers hidden up her sleeves.

Chaol shot her a disapproving look that made Rowan want to snarl.

Aelin ignored them. “Arobynn learned that the missing prisoners were taken to Morath last night. Did you know?”

Chaol tensed. “No.”

“They can’t have gotten far. You could gather a team and ambush the wagons.”

“I know I could.”

“Are you going to?”

He laid a hand on the map, his face darkening. If Rowan didn’t know any better, he might have felt sympathetic. The man was obviously in pain.

His words were low, but hard. “Did you bring me here to prove a point about my uselessness?”

Aelin straightened. Rowan leaned forwards slightly, readying himself. Aelin spoke, choosing her words very carefully, “I asked you to come because I thought it would be helpful for the both of us. We’re both – we’re both under a fair amount of pressure these days.”

“When do you make your move?” the captain asked, his eyes roving over the map.

“Soon.”

Another purse of the lips. Apparently, he didn’t like her non-answers. “Anything else I should know?”

“I’d start avoiding the sewers. It’s your death warrant if you don’t.”

“There are people trapped down there—we’ve found the nests, but no sign of the prisoners. I won’t abandon them.”

“That’s all well and good,” Aelin said calmly, even as Chaol slammed his teeth together, “but there are worse things than Valg grunts patrolling the sewers, and I bet they won’t turn a blind eye to anyone in their territory. I would weigh the risks if I were you.”

The captain was angry, but he kept silent as Aelin combed her fingers through her hair and asked, “So are you going to ambush the prison wagons?”

“Of course I am.”

Rowan couldn’t doubt the sincerity there, and it seemed Aelin couldn’t either. Her eyes softened in concern, her scent flickering. And Rowan knew that there was still some affection left for the old captain of the guard. But how much?

Aelin sighed softly. Then said, “They use warded locks on the wagons. And the doors are reinforced with iron. Bring the right tools.”

It was Rowan’s turn to clench his jaw. Aelin would know, she had spent weeks in one. Chained up and in the dark. On her way to slavery.

It took all of his self control to remain still and standing.

The captain straightened up, making to leave.

“Tell Faliq that Prince Rowan says thank you for the clothes,” Aelin said. And even though confusion passed over Chaol’s face, he nodded his agreement. Rowan stepped aside with a murmur of farewell as the captain stepped into the bright sunlight of the golden afternoon.

···

To his great surprise, Aelin told him that there wasn’t anything pressing they needed to take care of that day, so instead, she spent the time showing him her city.

She took him through the slums, keeping to the shadows whenever possible, and they walked all the way through the capital to the elegant residential districts and the busy markets squares, now crammed with vendors selling goods for the summer solstice in two weeks.

She talked all the while, pointing out paths and walkways, busy intersections and guard postings, along with all those little details that made this place her home, the good and the bad. And so much of it seemed to be connected to Sam.

Places they had walked together, ate together, laughed together – where they had grown up. She even pointed out the place Sam had rescued her from the sewers when she had been kidnapped and nearly drowned.

The cobbles were warm with the afternoon sunlight, and despite the darkness of the Valg guards, the pair of them walked through the city as if belonged to them. As if the streets and buildings were but a carpet unrolled before their feet.

“The man who runs that store always used to give me free tarts.”

“That dressmaker was my favorite, she always knew exactly how to alter a garment to suit you perfectly.”

“I had dance lessons here for years, the instructor is an amazing woman, you would have loved her. She let me play her piano, even if my back was never straight enough for her. She helped me rescue Aedion.”

They even spent almost half an hour in an old music repair shop, wandering among the aisles of old instruments and piles of music sheets. Even if, in Rowan’s opinion, no piece of music could be more beautiful than the sound of her laugh as he nearly tripped over some twisted pieces of metal she told him belonged to a broken brass horn.

Aelin also took him to one of Nesryn’s family bakeries, where she tried force him to eat some of a pear tart, no matter how many times he told her that it smelled sickly sweet to him. 

At the docks however, Rowan actually managed to convince Aelin to try some pan-fried trout. She cringed and swore at first, but once she’d tried it, she finished her fish in record time and soon was trying to sneak bites of his. Rowan snarled at her, but he couldn’t keep his lips from twitching into a smile.

After their late lunch, they sat at the edge of the docks and cooled by the water. They were mostly silent, instead listening to the sounds of the shipyards, seabirds and waves.

Rowan found that his thoughts kept sliding to Sam. He’d been just a boy when he died, barely eighteen. They’d had so little time together. And before Aelin had gotten a chance to deal with his death, she had been sold into slavery.

Rowan tried to find the words to ask her about Sam, about how she felt for him, but before he could, the sound of a whip cracked through their pleasant silence.

Aelin met his eyes, her face grave. Soundlessly, they stood and walked away from the water and back to the shore, where they watched as a cluster of chained slaves hauled cargo onto one of the ships. People who, no doubt, were captured and enslaved because of their opposition to Adarlanian rule. Rebels in chains, allies of Terrasen and its queen.

They watched, and could to nothing.

A cold, endless fury burned in Aelin’s eyes; a fury that made him want to call a storm of ice and wind so strong it would turn the shipyards to rubble, the slavers with them. But he couldn’t, and not only because his magic was locked inside his body. Instead they just stared. And swore to themselves that soon, perhaps very soon, those slaves would be freed.

He and Aelin wandered away, back through the market stalls from which they came, though now the silence between them felt heavy with darkness.

Now the wooden paths were full of the scent of roses and wild lilies, the ocean breeze sweeping petals of every shape and color past their feet as the flower girls shouted about their wares. Husbands leaned over bouquets to bring home to their wives, bachelors picked out arrangements for their intended, while girls giggled over daisies and shot the boys looks from beneath their lashes when they thought no one was watching.

Rowan stopped in his tracks. The smell, the laughter, the color – it was all so familiar that it made his heart wrench in two.

There was a woman across from them in the center of the square, a basket of hothouse peonies on her thin arm. She was young, pretty, and dark-haired, and her eyes sparkled with something hidden – twin to his mate of two centuries earlier.

Memories began flashing behind his eyes – a mountain home in smoke, arms digging a grave, blood running tracks down the backs of his hands. The face of a woman in a market across the sea, flowers in her arms and hair, a smile lighting up her face. Even the queen by his side couldn’t dull the screaming reverberating in his head.

Rowan didn’t hear what Aelin said as she turned to him, but he saw her face. Her eyes widened, and she clenched and unclenched her fingers, any words lodged in her throat.

Rowan just stared at the girl, who was smiling, alight with life and a vibrant energy that sliced through him like a knife. She smiled at a passing woman, holding out her peonies for a sale.

Rowan breathed, Aelin’s anxiety brushing past him with a wash of flickering embers. Truth. The only thing he could offer her. 

“I didn’t deserve her,” he said quietly.

Aelin swallowed hard. A long pause. Then, “I didn’t deserve Sam.”

Rowan turned to look at Aelin, her eyes downturned, her mouth soft. He would do anything to keep that sadness off her face. Anything.

Rowan reached out to brush her fingers with his, maybe to hold her hand, or pull her body into his. But at the last moment, he remembered himself, and dropped his arm back to his side.

He must have invented that glint of disappointment in Aelin’s eyes.

“Come,” she said. “I want to show you something.”

They left the flower girls behind, moving deeper into the city, but Rowan was unable to completely let go of the pain wrapping his heart in ice.

···

Aelin scrounged up some dessert from the street vendors while Rowan waited in a shadowed alley, then she pulled him deeper into the city proper, until they darted into a side alley and ducked into a hidden entrance that led to a rickety wooden staircase. 

Now, Aelin was munching on a lemon cookie while they sat on one of the wooden rafters in the gilded dome of the darkened Royal Theater, Aelin swinging her legs in the open air below.

The space was dark and silent, unnaturally so. As if the very seats and aisles longed for the return of the music that had once blanketed them. Sunlight poured in from the roof door they’d entered through, illuminating the rafters and the golden dome, gleaming faintly off the polished brass banisters and the blood red curtains of the stage below.

“This used to be my favorite place in the entire world,” Aelin said, her words full of a loving nostalgia. “Arobynn owns a private box, so I went any chance I could. The nights I didn’t feel like dressing up or being seen, or maybe the nights I had a job and only an hour free, I’d creep in here through that door and listen.”

Rowan finished the cookie Aelin had foisted on him, still just gazing into the dark space below. He still hadn’t said anything since they’d left the flower vendors, and he could smell the scent of Aelin’s worry wafting around them. Wanting to ease her tension, and to turn away from the icy marble deep in his chest, he turned back to her.

Aelin seemed to practically sigh in relief as he said, “I’ve never seen an orchestra – or a theater like this, crafted around sound and luxury. Even in Doranelle, the theaters and amphitheaters are ancient, with benches or just steps.”

“There’s no place like this anywhere, perhaps. Even in Terrasen.”

“Then you’ll have to build one.”

“With what money? You think people are going to be happy to starve while I build a theater for my own pleasure?”

“Perhaps not right away, but if you believe one would benefit the city, the country, then do it. Artists are essential.”

Aelin sighed, seemingly unable to handle another burden, small as it was. “This place has been shut down for months, and yet I swear I can still hear the music floating in the air.”

Rowan angled his head, studying. “Perhaps the music does live on, in some form.” It was almost as though he could feel its absence, in the taste of the air and the flutter of the curtains. The space wasn’t just empty, it was waiting.

A silver lining appeared in Aelin’s eyes. “I wish you could have heard it – I wish you had been there to hear Pytor conduct the Stygian Suite. Sometimes, I feel like I’m still sitting down in that box, thirteen years old and weeping from the sheer glory of it.”

“You cried?” he blinked, watching as the memories passed behind her eyes and wishing he could see them as she did.

“The final movement – every damn time,” she sighed, almost laughing at herself. “I would go back to the Keep and have the music in my mind for days, even as I trained or killed or slept. It was a kind of madness, loving that music. It was why I started playing the pianoforte – so I could come home at night and make my poor attempt at replicating it.”

“Is there a pianoforte in here?” he asked, looking back into the darkness without waiting for an answer, the ghost of a smile passing over his face.

···

“I haven’t played in months and months. And this is a horrible idea for about a dozen different reasons,” Aelin complained for the tenth time as she finished rolling back the curtains on the stage.

Rowan kept quiet, focusing on lighting the single candle he had found backstage. He knew that the space had once been grand and beautiful, but now, amid the gloom of the dead theater, it felt like standing in a tomb. The chairs were still perfectly arranged for a massive orchestra, though they were now covered in dust. No one had been in here in weeks.

Rowan turned and walked over to the pianoforte, which was near the front of the stage. He had never learned to play, his court lessons not extending so far as learning an instrument. 

Rowan had been to his fair share of balls and events, but it had been a rare thing for him to have an opportunity to listen to music just for music’s sake. Much of those events had been heavily overshadowed by the annoyance of dealing with court maneuvering. And after Lyria’s death, he had avoided such things at all costs.

He could barely remember the last time he had been able to listen to any kind of music and just listen. To have the pleasure of experiencing the art, the magic of it. He ran a hand over the smooth surface of the instrument as if it were a prize horse, marveling at the potential the lay within.

Aelin was hesitating at his side. “It seems like sacrilege to play that thing,” she said, her words echoing too loudly in the space.

“Since when are you the religious type, anyway?” Rowan gave her an encouraging smile. He just hoped that it wasn’t too crooked. “Where should I stand to best hear it?”

“You might be in for a lot of pain at first.”

“Self-conscious today, too?” Maybe teasing would get it out of her.

“If Lorcan’s snooping about,” she grumbled, “I’d rather he not report back to Maeve that I’m lousy at playing.”

He just grinned as she pointed to a spot on the stage. “There. Stand there, and stop talking, you insufferable bastard.” He chuckled, and moved across to the center of the stage.

She swallowed as she slid onto the smooth bench and folded back the lid, revealing the gleaming keys beneath. She positioned her feet on the pedals, but made no move to touch the keyboard. “I haven’t played since before Nehemia died,” she admitted, the words heavy.

“We can come back another day, if you want,” he said softly.

“There might not be another day. And – and I would consider my life very sad indeed if I never played again.”

He nodded and crossed his arms. So get on with it then.

She sighed, but turned back to face the keys and slowly set her hands on the instrument, a great beast of sound and joy about to be awakened.

“I need to warm up,” she blurted, then plunged in, the notes soft and light.

It was just a random selection of chords and scales, but still, the music filled the hall with its caring whisper. The whole space seemed to breathe again, as if soaking up the music like light, or air.

And then she began for real.

The piece she played wasn’t merely happy or sad, calm or excited – it was far, far more than that. The complexity of the notes, the way they layered together and bounded off each other – it felt like the melody of life itself. Of the love and glory and pain and beauty in simply breathing.

It filled Rowan up with its warmth, and he felt Aelin’s fiery heat overflowing within each note. The music seemed to be made of her fire, and together they burned. All the while the music built, up and up and up and up, until the sound breaking from the instrument was like the heart-song of a long lost goddess.

Rowan stood and waited, letting the sound wrap around his form like a blanket, letting it slowly melt the ice around his heart. Aelin had always been able to do that, melt away his pain and resistance, without even realizing she could. And now she did so not with words, but with this music that flew from her fingers like small winged creatures, into the empty seats behind them.

Rowan drifted over to stand beside the instrument. He was drawn to her, to the fire that made him feel so alive. Then she whispered to him, “Now,” and the crescendo shattered into the world, note after note after note. The music crashed around them, roaring through the emptiness of the theater.

She brought the piece home to its final explosive, triumphant chord, and Rowan could feel tears lining his eyes. When she looked up, panting slightly, he just gazed at her, at the queen who had lit up his darkness, and marveled.

He struggled for words, but then finally breathed, “Show me - show me how you did that.”

···

They spent the better part of an hour seated together on the bench, Aelin teaching him the basics of the pianoforte – explaining the sharps and flats, the pedals, the notes and chords. At last when Rowan heard someone coming to investigate the music, they slipped out.

On their way back to the apartment, they stopped at the Royal Bank. Aelin went inside alone, having ordered Rowan to wait in the shadows across the street, impatient and pissed off. Luckily she only took a few minutes, returning with a bag of gold clasped to her belt.

“So you’re using your own money to support us?” Rowan asked, masking his irritation as best he could.

“For now.”

“And what will you do for money later?”

She glanced sidelong at him. “It’ll be taken care of.”

“By whom?”

“Me.”

He clenched his teeth, anger mounting. “Explain.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” She gave him a small smile that drove him completely insane. Rowan made to grab her by the shoulder, but she ducked away from his touch.

“Ah, ah. Better not move too swiftly, or someone might notice.” 

He snarled viciously but she only chuckled. “Just be patient and don’t get your feathers ruffled.”

Rowan clenched his jaw, stopping another snarl in its tracks. This conversation could wait until they were both home. Maybe then he would be able to convince her that he absolutely needed to be let in on her plans. It was the only way to keep her safe.

But would she listen?

Rowan scowled at that thought, and took off into the shadows behind Aelin, following her back to the warehouse.

···

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[icharchivist]

cries think I made my ask too long so like half of it got deleted bc I typed it right into the askbox. anyways. I come bearing a3 thoughts! at first i was gonna watch the spring/summer and autumn/winter ones and then give my thoughts on both but. turns out i had too many thoughts lol? which i shouldve expected but i actually kind of... got bored by the first two chapters of this event! so i skipped and went to the stranger. and then went back. (1/?)

and then i got to like "tsuzuru and kazunari are having a fight?" and jumped on that like a starving wolf bc helllll yeah! i rly adored kazunari in sardine search, i think he was great! hes just so nice and has good vibes. he and taichi are kind of similar i feel? but i think their respective ages contribute to a lot of difference in their characters. why does it feel like this askbox limit personally wants me dead. (2/?)

anyways! i rly enjoyed the improv scene devolving to a real fight. admittedly i was kinda surprised that the content of that improv wasnt rly too similar to their actual fight? like normally a3 has the story of the play run parallel to like the actual real character drama so i thought the improv might function as the play in this event... it was still good tho. the scene i mean. (3/?)

also i rly liked tenma ragging on them afterwards. like he was mean but. first i adore tenma. second he just felt like. a different meddling type to muku lol? like the vibes he gave me were always like... im going to be a considerate leader and watch out for the ppl under me! therefore im gonna make sure theyre doing fine! aggressively. i think tenmas also just like a friendly person who likes to take care of others in general? like im not saying hes omi or anything but just like. (4/?)

that time he offers his car ride to juza so they can go to school together like hes surprisingly open compared to his initial prickliness. also ive got thoughts abt the tenma juza SSR conversation thing i read. one day ill make a tenma and juza fic and complete a trifecta haha... but thats something for another day! back to the actual story. the way tsuzuru dives right in after kazunari! that was so nice. like its easy to see how much they care abt each other. (5/?)

to the point where like even while theyre fighting theyre like angry but still like fairly quiet bc i think theyre both at least trying to be considerate of each other. ah the moment kazunari didnt respond to tsuzuru trying to talk to him i KNEW he was sick tho. felt proud of myself for calling that one but also the reason i knew is bc i have used the "character being sick during an argument causing them both to make up with each other" trope myself before so uh. like recognizes like haha. (6/?)

anyways the cg there was fuckin beautiful like kazunari looks so sad in the middle bit but then u see his shy smile? like hes sick but hes also like. happy to be there. idk. lovely. i adore kazu i think hes just deeply sweet to other people. tsuzuru telling him "you make everyone around you feel as bright and cheery as the things you design” is so wonderful too (7/?)

now im thinking. ah tsuzuru probably feels quite drained after a script and such (i know i am when i finish any piece--its like the emotions just rush out of me) so i like to think that like yknow. kazunari dropping by his room or whatever helps him set himself back to normal! but also when tsuzurus like oh u left ur magazines here! i suddenly remembered. wait shit kazunari and tsuzuru arent even roommates. wonder how much they bother masumi lmaooo. anyways overall very good story! (8/?)

some more thoughts: itaru and citron were so cute in this event! just like. citron saying itaru winking makes his heart skip a beat and itaru quoting citrons wrong sayings (which. i am also guilty of today i told my brother "we'll jump that bridge when we cross it" so) also i love how yuki is like "thank god i wasnt partnered with that hack" but like. yuki. u could literally just not talk about him. like its so funny to me yuki is like wow i hate tenma but he wont shut up abt him haha (9/?)

i also was a lil taken aback at hearing itaru go "for the lulz" tbh... like it fits him. but im mad it fits him? anywaysss thats all i had for this one! im gonna watch autumn/winter and go say my thoughts on that soon. sorry the ask was so broken up, idk what happened!

OLA FRIEND! Glad to see your thoughts again omg :3c

tho omg the fact tumblr deleted it all + the ask limit was all so evil D: poor friend.

I'm putting my answer under a read more because. Well. *waves hand* it got long.

The non-play events can be perhaps a little harder to get into because unlike the plays events that you start with a clear idea of at least the main plot (re: "they are preparing a play, i know the leads so i know who it will focus on"), non-plays events take a little longer to first set up what event they're participating in, how to prepare for it, and then bring up the conflict and which characters are going to have something to do with said conflict. So i can understand that they're a little harder to get into when we know the plays awaits.

On top of that, the first few events still were a bit tame because since it was early when the app released, i think they didn't go too heavy at once in case some people were still stuck on earlier chapters (esp since especially Winter is hard to unlock)

ANYWAY glad that it sucked you in on the second read :3c

So glad you were invested in that conflict!

Totally agreeing with you about Kazunari, and very good point about Taichi as well! they aren't the Puppy Pair for nothing :'D (Yuki took one look at both of them together and just Knew. His suffering knows no end (lovingly)). But yeah i think they have a lot in common, they both are the really bright and friendly figure, both also started in overcompensating a bit because both wanted to be popular in some ways.

But we do have, on one hand, Kazunari who wanted that rather late in his life while Taichi always thrived for that, the fact Kazunari made friends easily and it's just that he was scared of getting to the next level, while Taichi always struggled with this quest for popularity. In a way too both of them were at least scared to share a part of them, Kazunari worrying to show his thoughts, and Taichi being a spy and all of that... which impacts them really differently considering the guilt it puts on Taichi. And then you add their age into the mix, especially the fact Kazu is the oldest of his troupe and Taichi the youngest of his, it makes them fairly similar all while being fairly different.

both are so interesting to me and i love them bothhh, so it's always nice to see them have focus.

admittedly i was kinda surprised that the content of that improv wasnt rly too similar to their actual fight? like normally a3 has the story of the play run parallel to like the actual real character drama so i thought the improv might function as the play in this event

i love how you are seeing the patterns a3 tends to do it's so neat!

It's true the fight isn't really similar to their actual fight, though i do love that they had "swapped" their personality for the act and ended up insulting each other for theirr swapped personality. Like, Kazunari insulted part of himself in Tsuzuru's character and Tsuzuru did the same?? and then the fight escalated and the way Kazunari broke character hurts bc it's really that Tsuzuru hit where it hurts. But yeah it still wasn't too relevent to their actual fight, though i think the thing is that their fight was as such mostly because they tend to clash often due to their personalities rather than just this singular reason why, so to have the play go more "it's their personalities the problem" kinda hurt lol. But yeah still agreed that it didn't reflect much on the plot itself

I was rereading the improv bit to answer correctly and man since we're going to talk about Tenma next, i just. Love that when Kazunari, breaking character, his eyes sad, tells Tsuzuru "you have no rights talking to me like that..." it then cuts on Tenma being upset. Bc like. Exactly like you say, he wants to look out for the people under him. and like. Kazunari is his friend. A friend he also snapped at once and insulted for being who he was, so he probably could have relived a bit of his fight with Kazunari seeing those two fights; Except that now Kazunari is one of his closest friend and he doesn't like that.

Also like. It was also because he could still hide under the plot of the improv but it's so rare, and it never happened before that point, that Kazunari stands for himself in a "the way you treat me is unfair"? Like again re: his fight with Tenma, when Tenma snapped at him, while Tenma was unfair with him, Kazunari took the blame, called himself annoying and all yaknow?

The fact Kazunari is starting to accept that he can take more place for himself is something the whole Summer Troupe have been trying to help him work on, but especially Tenma. Tenma is always there trying to push Kazunari to say what he means, to express his feelings, to stop hiding.

And for once, Kazunari does that in front of everyone... and it's because he's breaking because of his fight with Tsuzuru.

I think Tenma probably felt it was even more of a reason to get involved like, this is the thing he's been working on with Kazunari about, and now he's being all hurt about it, not on Tenma's watch!

And i totally agree with your take on Tenma! (and would LOVE to read the Tenma and Juza fic once you get to it :3c). I think, Tenma is really caring and is trying to take a place as a caretaker and all, but unlike Omi, he has absolutely no reference for it.

Omi is the eldest of multiple brothers and everything indicates his parents have always been lovely to him. Add to it how he ended up leader of a delinquent crew he was clearly looking after, Omi has a history of taking care of people, of nurturing them, and he knows what he's doing. Meanwhile Tenma grew up on TV sets, mostly surrounded by adults and not by people his age, mostly getting advice from being ordered around by directors i think. And his parents are distant, hyperfocused on their job, not really nursing with him. So Tenma meanwhile really didn't have a family emotional support and was in situation where he couldn't befriend other kids his age. His only reference was probably Igawa (his agent) and i think for a long time he didn't exactly see it, and Igawa remained mostly professional so there was probably the idea of it not being sincere? That Tenma had to grow out of.

So like, they're both extremely nurturing and caring, but my point is that Omi has experiences in it and is at ease with it, while Tenma has been so alone and in places were he had no support system that even if he wants to support others, he still struggles with how to do it because he has no set exemple. And that's his development in the main story arc, to learn from how Izumi shows she cares in order to care back at them all.

Like i mean the way Tenma yelled at them about their mistakes at first feel like he would have picked it up from some directors on TV set yaknow? Probably hearing them say that with no consequences on others actors, seeing it worked, didn't think "that's an abuse of power and the actors probably all think badly of their director for that" but "wow that works", tried it on his troupesmates and realized this is... not how that works. And it's spending time watching how Izumi encourages them that have him fix his way to approach it.

So yeah i got lost too into it but like. I feel you on Tenma i love him so much and i love his development so to see him get pissed and involved there? was really nice. even if he was aggressive about it. He's still learning.

ANYWAY back to Tsuzuru and Kazunari, totally agree with what you say next. They still care a lot about each other and yeah they're at a point where this consideration they have for each other make their anger more quiet than trying to attack one another (Banri could NEVER-). so yeah totally agree with you!

DLKFJDLKF i LOVE the reasoning on "recognizing that Kazunari was sick". Your writer's powers making you see through... *coughs* unlike Tsuzuru....

AND YEAH ALL YOU SAY ABOUT THE CG.. YEAH. Kinda crying thinking about it again now LDKJFLKDJF It's just. Everything about it is so soft and tender. The things Tsuzuru tells Kazunari are soo so sweet sobs. They're just adorable i love those kids. and also i feel you for Kazu he's just that great huh?

The whole set up about Kazu dropping by his room is so so cute! I love it! Like probably the very first time Tsuzuru braces himself because "oh no i'm not in the mood to stand mister hyperenergy himself" but Kazunari quickly adjust his energy so that Tsuzuru can just recharge without being overwhelmed. Yes it would drive Masumi completely nuts. Which i think is a plus for Tsuzuru like, hey, if Masumi gets annoyed once in a while it's a win. But yeah also i think that Tsuzuru and Kazunari should really have the Artistic Soldiarity of Students in Art school Probably Working Until Very Late To Complete Their Projects. Would love if at the end Tsuzuru gave it back yaknow?

but yeah their story was really nice i'm so glad you liked it! :D

oh god yeah Itaru and Citron were SO cute in it too, i also love the comments Citron makes about Itaru's winks. Just there flirting in front of everyone like those two embarrassing friends huh. (probably with Muku being all starry eyes considering he greatly admires both Itaru and Citron and, well, Romance.). And yeah i love how Itaru ends up so much into Citron's rhythm (and this idiom you said? is glorious actually, 10 points for you)

DLKFJDLKF what a call out toward Yuki. "yes i hate Tenma,no i won't shut up about him, also if YOU say you hate Tenma i'm going to stab you with my needles, have a nice fucking day.". I love their dynamics so much aha

And yeah Itaru is there cursing us the whole time with the fact he's the greatest nerd ever and it fits him perfectly. It makes me laugh so hard.

Thank you so much for having shared your thoughts there! it's always a blast to read through them and i dearly enjoyed it! (+ it makes me relive the event a little and it makes me soft!)

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! So glad you had so many thoughts about all of this, what a blast.

thank you for sharing, and looking forward the Autumn/Winter reactions :3c

Take care!

[im-actually-ok]

Fangs

Chapter Six

First, Previous, Next

Masterlist

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ships: Platonic DLAMPR, platonic? Logince

Word Count: 1452

Genre: Some fluffy silly supportive bois

Warnings: Fangs, very slight body horror(the fangs), wild animal, wolf, swearing, food, eating (i think that’s it but if i missed anything please let me know so i can add it, thank you!!!)

Roman blinked, looking at the other, blinking again and rubbing his eyes almost comically, as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing.

“You have-” he motioned to his own mouth, not sure of the right words.

“Fangth? Yeth, I’m aware,” he sighed rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Does this have something to do with the um- the uh-” he then motioned to the hair.

“That’th the working theory, yeth,”

“And the lisp?”

“Mhm,”

“The meat??”

“Yeth,”

“The… uh….. The growling?...”

“I… believe so, yeth,”

“Do you know why??”

Logan sighed and shook his head, “currently, I do not,” he said, standing from his seated spot on the floor and walking over to his desk, motioning to the tools on his desk, “nothing I try workth, I can't get them to go away,”

Roman stood as well, walking over, “Have you tried just like, imagining them going away?” he asked and Logan gave him a deadpan look.

“/No/ Roman, I /definitely/ have /not/ tried that,”

“Well at least your sarcasm is getting better,”

“Thank you, Januth hath been helping me,”

“No problem, Microsoft nerd,” he said with a smile, “Ok, so, let's get a look at these chompers,” he said, taking Logan’s hand and and leading him over to the bed, sitting him down and standing in front of him, conjuring a small flashlight, “Alright, Pocket Protector, open wide,”

Logan rolled his eyes a little before opening his mouth, baring his teeth.

“Yikes, you've got quite the bite, huh? Have you been brushing properly since your last dental appointment?” Roman teased with a small smirk.

“Roman, /focuth/,”

“Yeah, yeah, alright, sorry,” he chuckled before shining the flashlight in, looking over the sharp fangs, “alright, from this I can see that you indeed… have fangs,”

“Roman you are absolutely no help at all.”

“What?? What do you expect? I’m not the smart one here!!”

“Well you are the expert on thap- thsa-” He couldn't manage to say ‘shapeshifting’ so he just said, “M-Managing to change your form,”

“Well I’ve never gotten stuck before,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I’ll- uh- I’ll think on this, ok? I’ll help you with this, alright?” he said, sitting down next to him and wrapping an arm around the smaller side’s shoulders.

Logan sighed and leaned into him, resting his head on the other’s shoulder, “You won’t tell the otherth, right?” he asked softly.

“You don’t want them to know?”

“...no…”

“Then no, I won’t tell them.”

“Thankth, Ro,” he said, a small, shy toothy smile on his face.

“Of course,” he said with a grin, “I’m just glad you decided to trust me, and I promise we’re gonna figure this out,”

“Great, because I am so tired of eating just meat,”

“Heh, I bet.”

----

Roman had spent the rest of the night trying to figure it out, well, that is, until he fell asleep at his desk, he had only made it thirty minutes before falling asleep. The next day he excused himself from the discussion early to spend more time thinking on the night before.

The following night he returned to Logan’s room, same as always with a plate of chicken nuggets in his hand and the papers from his ‘research’ (Mostly drawings of Logan with fangs) in his mouth as he knocked on the door. There was no response.

Roman raised an eyebrow and knocked again, but once more there was no response. He took the papers out of his mouth to call, “Loooooooooggggggaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnn open the doooooooooooooooooooor,” before adding, “please, I broughtcha dinner,”

At this point he was… concerned. “Uhhhhhhhhh Lo im gonna come in, ok? Don’t freak out it’s just me,” He called as he moved, tucking the papers under his arm and resting his hand on the handle, turning it and pushing the door open. He walked in, closing the door behind him.

Looking around, the room was uncharacteristically messy for Logan, as it had been for the last couple weeks, but nothing looked really out of the ordinary. Roman’s eyes finally landed on the lump on the bed, under the covers and he laughed, rolling his eyes, “Still in bed, I never would have pegged you as one to sleep in this late, calculator watch,” He said, setting the chicken nuggets on the desk along with his papers before he plopped down on the bed, shaking the lump under the covers, “wakey wakey, sunshine,” he smiled.

A low growl came from the other as it shifted and Roman rolled his eyes, “come on, none of that, you know it's too late to be sleeping,” he said as he pulled the sheets off the other. But when he saw what was underneath, he gasped, startling backwards and falling off the bed before hopping up again, “Shit- Logan!?”

A wolf rose from a sleeping position in Logan’s bed, looking quite grumpy as he looked over at Roman.

“Holy everlasting reign of glob, what happened to you?!” he said as he rushed back over and the wolf simply huffed, stretching before hopping off the bed and walking around.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh god Logan,” He put his hands over his mouth, “gosh Logan I’m so sorry, this is all my fault, gosh I should have come back sooner and now you’re a wolf oh gosh I’m so sorry,”

The wolf went over, scratching at the leg of the desk, whimpering softly.

“Oh, you- uh- you want something? Something on your desk? Some kind of super science thing that’ll turn you back or-” he paused and sighed, “You want the chicken nuggets, don’t you?”

So that’s how Roman ended up sitting in Logan’s bed, feeding a wolf chicken nuggets, having a crisis, for thirty minutes.

“Goooooooooooosh what am I gonna tell Thomas? That his logic is now a wolf? How am I gonna explain that?!” He groaned as he pet the wolf who was now lying in his lap.

“Wait,” he said, sitting up, startling the wolf, nerdy ‘wolf’erine, Roman had dubbed him. “I- hear me out, Logan, I have an idea, ok?”

‘Wolf’erine tilted his head as Roman cupped the wolf’s face, “Ok, I know it’s highly illogical but in all the fairy tales it works,” He said before moving and pressing a kiss to the wolf’s snout.

“Roman? What in the name of Tesla are you doing?”

Roman pulled away and smiled, “Wait, shit did it work???” Then he made a confused face when he saw the wolf still in front of him.

“Roman why are you kithing the wolf?” Logan asked, entering the room and closing the door behind him.

Roman felt his face heat up as he blushed a very very bright red color, “I-I- y-you’re not- but I thought- you- I-” he looked between the wolf and Logan, “I- I thought you were the wolf!!”

“I- what?”

“You’re practically turning into a wolf when I came in and there was a wolf in your bed I thought- I thought-...”

Logan stared at him a moment before he laughed, “You thought I had turned into a wolf, oh wow Roman that ith… oh goodneth,” he laughed.

Roman blushed even brighter, “I- its not- what was I supposed to think?! And why in the world is there a wolf in your room!?”

“I asked Remuth to get one from the imagination for me tho I could do more rethearch, I was thimply out because Remuth had been ranting about all the wayth wolves could kill and I did not want to be rude by leaving,” he explained

Roman nodded a little bit, “ooookkkkkkkkkkaaayyy, but why did you ask /Remus/? I could have gotten it for you,” he said, pouting a little bit.

“You have already done tho much for me, I did not want to bother you further, plus with Remuth I can athk for a wolf and get one no quethtions athked.”

“Oh…. Right…” he nodded a little bit, letting out a sigh, “Alright, uh, I fed your dinner to the wolf, I’ll get you something else,” he chuckled shyly, “Just… know you can ask me for anything, ok?”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind, thank you, Roman,” he smiled and nodded.

He nodded with a grin before going to the door, “Oh, and Roman?” Logan called and Roman looked back at him.

“If you thought the wolf was me… why, exactly, were you kissing it?” He asked with an eyebrow raised and a small smirk.

Roman’s face was once more painted red as he blushed again, “I- I was just- I- I mean it always works in fairy tales!!”

Logan was in a laughing once more as Roman rushed out with a thick blush on his face because gooooshhhhh that was embarrassing.

----

Heh, thought you all deserved some funny silly bois before the heavy stuff drops :3

Tag list:

@did-he-just-hiss-at-me @aegis-the-ace @occasional-fander @thefivecalls @wishthefish916 @osdd1b-partner-system-dynamics @somewhatvacant @a-soul-among-the-stars @superweebside

[highpope]

Silver Keys - Ch. Two

JJ Maybank x oc ? Soulmate AU / Topper x oc

warnings: none, if there ever are let me know? :)

word count: 2k ish

notes: hello hello im back from the dead for one night only. This chapter is from JJ’s point of view. I promise the drama will have been worth all this wait. (hopefully) as always feedback and reposts are encouraged.

There are two other parts! Read them here - Masterlist.

JJ Maybank was never one for soulmates. Coming from a household of two broken people didn’t make him feel like there was hope for him like the universe was created so people could find their other half or their missing piece. Why isn’t a person whole to begin with?

 His parents weren’t soulmates. He didn’t need some magical musical force to tell him that. One questionable decision and nine months later, a blond boy was brought into the world, helpless. JJ tries to give them the benefit of the doubt, they didn’t mean to have a kid. But then his mom left before he could remember what her face looked like. Before he could memorize the sound of her laugh. He resented her for it, leaving him with his dad. JJ’s dad, who selfishly turned the world upside down and told him to walk through walls to make it out the other side. 

JJ never bothered to ask his dad if he had heard the music. He figured if he had ever, it was long gone now. 

Now, he leaned against the wall, a half-empty beer in his hand, surveying the crowd. He had long ago lost his friends and he was starting to wonder why he did this. Go to parties, that is. If he wanted to be drunk he could sit at John B’s and then pass out on the couch. If he wanted to listen to shitty music and watch people lose at beer pong, he could do it with people he liked. Instead, he was in a sea of kooks and faces he vaguely remembered as people he graduated high school with. They were getting too old to pretend like this was still fun like the universe hadn’t already projected the rest of their lives. But again, JJ Maybank was never one for all that universe shit.

The sunlight through the blinds shined into JJ’s eyes, making him groan and throw a pillow over his face. He had slept on the pullout last night, giving Kie the spare room. Pope was either on the floor or sprawled out on one of the recliners, JJ couldn’t remember. He went to check but was matched by a searing headache. Closing his eyes again he noticed the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Not two seconds later, June was opening the door to the Chateau. She let the screen door close behind her, making a noise loud enough to make JJ want to crawl inside his own body. 

“Good morning, Sunshine,” June said when he had finally made his way to the kitchen.

“It’s too early for that shit.” He squinted. 

She had left a bottle of water and some ibuprofen on the counter and he made a mental note to thank her when he wasn’t feeling like death itself. 

“Hungry? I can do french toast, there’s bread.” 

“Please,” Pope groans (from the recliner) as he rubbed his eyes.

“Tough night?” June asks, starting to bring another water bottle and meds over to the spot next to JJ. He watched as she walked back to the refrigerator, grabbing the half-empty carton of eggs and milk jug. She placed everything on the counter before standing on her tiptoes to grab a bowl. He noticed her shirt rose when she lifted her arms, exposing her stomach. JJ blinks, hard, and then instantly groans, reminded of his headache.

“I'll take that as a yes.”

Pope had since joined them at the table. He seemed to be handling his hangover better than JJ. The two of them talked about last night while JJ tried to piece it all together. 

Just then John B stubbles into the kitchen, his hair sticking up in every direction, “Morning” he mumbles before taking his seat at the kitchen island. Like clockwork, June sets down medicine and a bottle of water, and JB thanks her. 

“Hey, J, where’d you go last night?” John B asks.

“I just came back early,” JJ says truthfully. 

June chimes in, “What? No lucky girl?” he narrows his eyes at her and she winks in response.

JJ clears his throat, “Nah, got all summer for that. Tourons aren’t even here yet.”

“Really?” Pope questioned, “You walked back?” 

“Yeah, pretty sure I talked to Kie before I left,”

As if right on cue, Kiara comes shuffling out of the bedroom. Her eye makeup from last night is smeared and her hair is falling out of the bun on the top of her head. 

“Speak of the devil,” JJ says when she joins them in the kitchen. 

June, again, gets a bottle of water out of her bag and shakes out some ibuprofen from the jar, “Morning sleeping beauty,”

She narrows her eyes in response. No one messed with Kie in the mornings, especially when she was hungover. JJ wouldn’t be surprised if she hissed at them. There was one time they had all spent the night at the chateau and the next morning she was woken up by the rest of them doing something stupid in the yard. JJ could have sworn fire came out of her mouth. It physically hurt to be yelled at by Kiara.

Now, Kie takes the medicine from June and downs half the bottle of water, nods her appreciation, and walks over to the pullout where she rolls over, pulling the blankets over her head, falling back asleep. Safe for now, he thought.  

The five of them had spent the rest of the day at the chateau. The girls had dedicated the afternoon to watching movies in the living room, while JJ, John B, and Pope sat around on the hammocks, swapping stories from last night. John B had allegedly won at flip cup three times, but Pope called bullshit. 

The two of them had left to get some firewood to build a fire and pick up some food. JJ wandered down to the dock, took his shoes off, and stuck his feet in the water. The sun was starting to set and the reflection on the water looked like something out of a movie. He would never admit that to anyone though. He was just about to go back inside when June sat down next to him. 

“Hey,” she started.

“Hey, how’s Kie? She chill out?”

She laughed, “Yeah. You know how she is.”  JJ nodded. He knew.

“You doing okay?” June asks, bumping her shoulder against his. He could feel her eyes on his. 

“Yeah, just. Rough night like you said.” 

She must have accepted that response because she turned her gaze back to the water in front of them. 

“What about you? Survive your birthday dinner, Ju Ju?”

She rolls her eyes, “barely. My aunt pestered my mom all evening. We were seconds away from the table being flipped.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was. Happens every time.” 

“I’m sorry,” 

She shrugged before speaking again, “can I tell you something?” 

JJ nodded. 

“I think I heard my soulmate yesterday. Right after you dropped me off. It was the weirdest feeling.”

“Really? How do you know?” JJ’s head was spinning with questions. It’s not like he couldn’t talk to Pope or John B about this, but it was different. They weren’t quite as open as June could be. Or maybe JJ didn’t want to be as open with them. 

“I don’t know. I guess you just do. It’s not even like I knew the song or could even tell you what I thought it sounded like.” She breathed. 

He looked at her now, her face was calm but her eyes were whirling. He could see her formulating her thoughts, trying to wrap her head around what she had heard.

JJ shook his head, “that’s crazy and so fast,”

“Right? I thought so too.” She paused, “J, it was so weird.”

“Good weird?” 

“Yeah, comforting almost.” She was cracking her fingers, something she did when she was nervous. He noticed that she was still wearing the bracelet he had given her in the truck yesterday. He wondered what she thought about the whole soulmate thing. Her parents were still in love, there was no reason for her not to agree. 

“Do you think-” he started, only to be interrupted by Kie yelling at them from the backdoor, “Pizza’s here!” 

“Coming!” June yelled back, pushing herself up and slipping her shoes back on. She reached a hand out to JJ, who was still seated. He took it, even though he didn't need the help and the two of them started back to the rest of their friends.

It had been a week since the pogues had last hung out. JJ had picked up an extra project at the garage and was spending most of his time there. When he wasn’t, he was sleeping in John B’s spare room. But tonight, he was off and everyone was going to the boneyard. 

Almost instantly, JJ pulled out a blunt and his lighter. The sun was in the weird period before it set and was completely dark and the waves were almost louder than the music. Almost. John B and Kiara carried down a few chairs and beach towels to the usual spot just south of where most people congregate. While Pope and June went to get drinks, JJ leaned against a tree, surveying the crowd. It was mostly people they knew from around the island. He recognized a few people from when he used to work at the country club, but the rest were new faces. He caught a girl looking in his direction from across the party. She was short with dark brown hair. He noticed she was alone, too. With one swift nod of his head and a hand through his hair, the girl was already walking over to him.

“Yeah, I really just couldn’t stay in the house any longer, you know?”

JJ nodded his head.

“Anyway, you’re from here?”

“Born and raised,” he replied with a smirk. JJ was trying to pay attention to the conversation, but he wasn’t sure he remembered her name and he definitely couldn’t tell how old she was. Was it Jess? It starts with a J he reassured himself. 

“Are you here with anyone?” Jamie asked.

“Few friends of mine are hanging out over there,” JJ motioned, pointing Jackie in the direction of the pogues. He smiled slightly at all of his friends huddled around a fire. The moment was cut short when JJ noticed Topper and Kelce walking toward them. Almost instantly he got to his feet, muttering an apology to… Jade, and joined the others.

“JJ!” Kie sang when he walked over, clearly the drunkest of the five. She got up from where she was sitting to hug him only to stop short when she noticed the other boys.

“What the hell do you guys want?” She spits. John B stood up slowly.

“Hey, hey,” Topper starts, raising his hands in surrender, “just here to talk,”

“So talk,” Pope said. He was sitting next to June behind the rest of them.

Topper cleared his throat, “June? Can we-” He nodded toward the trees where JJ had just come from. Everyone’s eyes shoot to June who furrows her eyebrows before nodding her head and beginning to get up. Pope stands up with her.

“Look, I just want to have a conversation,” Topper states. 

“It’s fine,” June says, starting to walk off. She 

John B calls out, “You sure?” 

June just nods her head. 

“You better not fucking touch her dude or I swear to-” 

Kie grabs his arm, “JJ,” she urges. June turns her head and gives him a look before walking off with Topper.

tags: @allycat449-blog @ifilwtmfc @sarcasticsagittarius1998

[mxrbutch]

hey do you ever love a fic so much you want to draw fanart for it? but you are not very good at drawing so you decide to try out collage for the first time in your life? well, let’s just say that i quite liked the last published chapter of  @gerrydelano​​‘s fic 

[ID: the image is a collage. the background paper is pastel blue, and towards the top right corner there is a group of birds, drawn in white. they are eating and the lines of the drawing are smudged, so that the white drags out from them in vague shades. on the top left corner, there is a single window frame; the frame is green and the glass is black. there are a series of eyes taken from various paintings glued on top of the glass. from behind the frame, comes a single butterfly’s wing, which is red yellow and white. on the bottom right corner, there is a tiny, white drawing of a person helping another on a small boat. the drawing is framed into the corner by an arch. the colors of the arch are graded from dark green to dark red. a red and yellow leaf is glued on top of the arch, and there is a tiny piece of paper glued onto the leaf. the paper says: “-G”. right in the middle of the drawing, we first can see (looking at it from the bottom to the top) a picture of some kind of body of water, upon which two boats are sailing. upon that first picture, acting as shore for the water, there is a picture of outer space. it is red, green, violet and white, and it is a bit shiny. there is an old stairway glued right in the middle of outer space. at the bottom of a stairway we can see a yellow figure (maybe a kid, with long hair and a backpack) and the top of the stairs connects to a door. the door belongs to a blue room. there is a big clock glued upon the door, and there is a drawing of a man, looking tired and facing the other way, right in the middle of the room. the top and bottom right corners of the room are framed by two colored vortex, which are incidentally two of the stars from Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. from behind the left side of the room, comes out another butterfly wing, which perfectly mirrors the one that comes out of the window. on the right side of the paper, we can see the sentence “I’d say you have at least somewhat of a chance” spelled out in different letters. at the bottom of the paper, a white piece of paper says “two ships passing”. /end ID]

under the cut I have written an explanation of the meaning behind the,, symbols? I am not going to pretend I had super strict idea to begin with, but as I started to find things I liked on random high-school books I (un)consciously  assigned them a meaning. feel free to indulge my pretentiousness and read my ramble I guess + (also under the cut) close-up pictures

okay so let me just run down a list: — the window okay, so. that’s meant to represent the background world, the things Gerry and Jon are going to have to live with whenever they step outside of their refuge. the glass is dark, because they try to protect themselves for as long as possible, but there are still various Eyes peeking in, mostly looking aggressive or extremely focused (fun fact: all of these come from paintings; i perhaps should have written down which belongs to what but i forgot) — the birds this is a reference to the ongoing “birds in jon’s stomach” metaphor. they are eating because that’s what they were drawn doing on the paper i miraculously found dsgfghk but if you want to push it you could say that they are all going “finally, some good fucking food” at Jon’s joy in meeting Gerry?? + they lines are smudged because,,,,,,, (god i am so sappy) because it gives an impression of movement? like, they are at ease but part of them is free to fly — the butterfly’s wings so, take “one dropped stone can change the way the whole ocean moves” but make it boring, and suddenly it’s the butterfly’s effect. the wings connect both to the outside world, to the window and the Eyes /and/ to the room (which I will get to later) because their meeting changes everything. it changes how they interact with the world and (at least partially) it saves them from it + it changes them as people, and gives them a space to be happy, to be with each other — the sea + outer space the sea with the two boats is quite an obvious one so i am not going to say anything about it. outer space is,,,,,,,,,, Miriam? I know she is more ocean vast that she is space vast, but I guess the contrast is nicer this way. she has been the shore to their sea, the vast, contextless freedom through which Jon and Gerry have connected, and Gerry has healed — the yellow figure in my head, that’s Gerry. i don’t know about the yellow, it came with that so i didn’t choose it and i don’t really have a meaning for it (unless you want to be really emo and decide that “Gerard just looks at him like he’s seeing the sun for the first time, and then looks away like he’s surprised by how much it hurts” is suddenly reversed in this last chapter, and Gerry is, in a way, Jon’s sudden source of light). the figure is that of a kid (I think, at least?) with a backpack. it’s Gerry as a kid, meeting Jon in that chance Miriam has made possible and relatively durable — the stairs those are a reference to the stairs in Portia’s house, but they also mark the passage of time (that’s sort of represented by the big clock on top of the door). by the time Gerry gets to the top, Miriam has left and suddenly he is in another room — the blue room + the man the blue room is where Jon is stuck now. he is facing the other way, he is adrift. the man doesn’t look like Jon but we’ll forgive that because in the original full drawing he is sitting onto a rock which is connected with some ropes to a boat. the blue room is framed by those vortexes (which are actually two starts from Van Gogh’s Starry Night) because i had made a mess with glue and i needed to cover up the corners sfgsdfg but if we want to think well and hard about this, perhaps they are the lights Jon still has but cannot, won’t see. he is not looking at either of them. wow now im sad — the door Gerry and Jon don’t meet in the universe, nor in the blue room. they meet beyond the door, in their sacred, private space. they both need to get in in order for this to work — the bottom right corner okay, in my head that’s sort of a page number. something that marks our position in the story. there’s this drawing of a man helping another on a boat (which comes from the same drawing I found the man in the blue room in!) cause, you know. it’s reunion time. the arch was originally part of a circle which was rainbow-coloured. it reminded me of that idea which I think is in the Official™ gtcmu™ lore- that thing about Jon having no specific colour, but colouring everyone else, sort of being the rainbow. it’s not obvious cause the arch isn’t a full rainbow, but I was indeed thinking about it. i guess i also wanted to somehow convey that it’s not just Gerry that is giving something to Jon. they are both sharing something meaningful with each other. Jon is still making him bright. then, there is the leaf, because this happens in Autumn, and the small “-G” which is a reference to the note Gerry leaves to Tim — “I’d say you have at least somewhat of a chance” the quote is obviously very cute and the moments in which both Gerry and Jon say it (though this is Gerry’s phrasing) are CUTE. but i chose this one because it’s superficially warm + as a standalone could mean something more. it’s simple and it’s complex. it’s “yeah im totally bi” “yeah i would indeed like to kiss you” and it’s “sometimes it feels like the entire world is against you and your life has been so so hard, but I’d say you have at least somewhat of a chance”. and this is their chance. so they take it

OKAY i made myself emotional thank you for get quite as far as you are reading this!

pictures next:

[kiegosbby]

hawks x f!reader

chapter 8 I think. I’m sorry guys itll get better I promiseeee

word count: 1.6k

warnings: drinking, and just making poor decisions

✁- - - - - - r- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

when you finished your work you left quickly trying to avoid talking to him any further.

You stopped at a liquor store. This wasn't your best idea. But In the moment, you needed it badly.

you never really drank before, not knowing what to buy so you bought vodka. People drink that straight right?

she bought her bottle and put it in a paper bag, having to keep her hero appearance.

she flew home and sat down on her couch. She popped the cap off and chugged it. It burned as it went down. She thought it would be worse it tasted like medicine. Kind of.

She looked across the room and saw her phone. She was now slightly tipsy, she stood up and walked over to her phone. Picking it up it was slightly cracked but it still worked. You turned it on and while you waited, chugged some more because why the hell not?

as your phone turned on you saw all the messages hawks had left you.

10+ plus new messages from: Birdy ❤️🐔

"Tch.."

Birdy ❤️🐔

Hey baby bird I'm sorry about last night I probably seem like a dick.

Birdy ❤️🐔

I had to help endeavour on a case and I couldn't say no. Please let me make it up to you

Birdy ❤️🐔

I still owe you ice cream even if you don't wanna go out anymore

Birdy ❤️🐔

Don't forget that you have to come to my agency tomorrow and fill out some paperwork and set your office up

Birdy ❤️🐔

Angel where are you? Your 10 minutes late

Birdy ❤️🐔

Angel I'm starting to worry it's been a hour. Please just let me know that your ok

Birdy ❤️🐔

Y/n please text me. Im worried and I swear if anything happened to you I'll kill someone

Birdy ❤️🐔

Don't make me go to your apartment. I will don't test me.

Birdy ❤️🐔

angel please reply

Birdy ❤️🐔

Angel? Please..

Birdy ❤️🐔

I'm about to go to your apartment. I don't know which numbers yours but I'll go through the whole building if I have to.

well now you felt like a bitch.

It was still mean for him to do that to her. But maybe she should forgive him. he apologized and he seemed like he actually cared.

You decided to call him and talk to him. Maybe apologize? Ask him what his favourite drink is. Alcohol is good you should do this more often.

you pressed the call button and took a big swig of your drink getting ready to talk.

"Angel hello?"

"Hey hawks" you slurred your words slightly. "I wanted to call you because it's so difficult to type! The buttons are so little and I keep messing up. Now I know what your thinking, she's drunk right? Well no actually I'm just a little tipsy. Oh! I forgot to say what I was calling about. I wanted to apologize, I was being a total bitch don't you think?" You took a quick swig and went back to talking "but you were kinda mean to me. But I liked you! I even bought a fucking dress for you. And I don't do dresses. Believe that? I got all dressed up for you. And you never showed. But hero duties are more important than anything" you took another swig "damn this shit is strong!"

He sat there trying to take in everything she had just said. To be fair it was a lot to handle. " Y/n your drunk why are you drinking?"

"Because why the hell not?" She said and laughed

"You want to apologize I want to apologize to face to face."

"Come over them Birdy I need some company I can't finish this big bottle all by myself." At this point you really couldn't think straight. This was 100% a bad idea but did you care? Absolutely not.

"Y/n your drunk we should talk tomo-"

"No come over nowwww pleaseeeeeeee" you whined

he sighed "Ok leave the balcony open I'll land there."

"Yay! I'll be waiting for you im so excited!"

You quickly hung up and went to wait for him on the balcony. You sat with your legs crossed and kept drinking. You got up and looked over the ledge. Damn that was a farrr drop. You stumbled a little leaning a little to far, and almost fell until you felt a warm pair of hands wrap around your waist. "Are you fucking crazy kid? Do you have a death wish?"

You started laughing "oh my god I almost fell good thing I have wings. You saved me! Your like my knight in shining armor" you smiled and went to take another swig only to have him take it away from you.

He looked at the bottle. "You drank almost half of this already! Are you crazy? Oh my god come on" he lead you inside trying to figure the layout of your house. He went into your kitchen and got you a water bottle from your fridge.

"Here drink this your gonna need it. Let's go sit down ok?" He lead you to the couch, you almost fell a couple times but with his help you made it.

"Hawksssss"

"Yes angel" he looked over to you, you were both now sitting on the couch, and he was trying to make sure you did nothing stupid.

"Thank you for coming I was sooo lonely. And I'm sorry for this morning I was being a big poopy head" you said and at the end you stuck your bottom lip out and gave him puppy eyes.

"It's no problem angel. I would always help a friend in need more matter what. And you don't have to apologize it was mostly my fault I was being a dumb bird and messed it up." He said looking at you with guilt. You felt bad honestly. But what stuck the most was when he said he would always help a friend..

"I wish we were more then friends I really liek you.." you slurred and went on "your really cute to. And your wings are so pretty I just wanna touch them. Can I touch them?" You asked already reaching out to them

"Of course baby bird just be careful you have wings to so you'll know how it feels." He pulled his wings further out so that you could reach them easily. He was a little scared only a few other people had touched his wings. And they had never been drunk before. His wings were quite sensitive, he was touch starved and that made it feel amazing when someone touched his wings.

You leaned in and touched the middle of his wings first, slowly running your hand over them. You face lit up like a kid opening his presents on Christmas. You raked your hands through his feathers.

"Your feathers are so soft! How do you get them so soft!?" You asked excitedly. Your feathers weren't as soft as his, they'd been through a lot and due to some harsh training were trying to recover still.

"There just n-naturally soft I guess are yours not t-this soft?" He asked as he was trying to keep back his groans. Your fingers felt so good rubbing against his feathers.

"They were but after bad training there not as soft anymore. Want to feel?" She asked excitedly, taking her hands away. He tried to hide his disappointment, and shook his head yes.

she pulled her wings out, giving off a soft glow as her quirk made her. He reached out to his hands. He softly touched the tip of her wings. She sat back and relaxed feeling calm at the touches he was giving her. It was way better then the little kids that tugged on her wings when she had them out.

"What kind of training did this? There still soft just seem like they've been through a lot.."

"Well it was a really rainy day. And they were working me so hard. We were in a empty field and I was paired with one of the higher ranks, so I had to try my hardest. They thought I was weak so they pushed me a little to far, until my wings were covered with mud and all the nasty shit on the ground."

He had a apologetic look on his face as he continued to stroke your wings. "Who's they?"

"I-oh I don't really tell many people but when my parents had found out I had wings, they had to report it to the government, who wanted to put me in intense training from when I was just 4. I knew how to kill someone before I knew how to write my own name correctly. I've heard you went through the same if I'm correct?" Y/n was almost surprisingly sober now.

"Yeah it's not something I like to talk about. I'm sorry they put you through that. Me and you are more alike then we seem arnt we?" He asked while taking his hand away from your wings.

you internally sighed in disappointment when he took his hand away. "I guess we might be. C-can we watch a movie or something?" She asked hoping he would stay just a little longer.

"Only if I can still take you to get ice cream soon?" He asked testing the waters to see if she was still mad.

"Of course you bird brain." She grabbed the remote and turned on  {favourite movie}.

"Oh I love this movie!" He said with excitement as he got comfortable next to you.

You smiled looking at him. You were no longer mad but thought if this went on would that happen again? Would he handle it differently? As the thoughts were running through your mind, you felt the heaviness of sleep washing over you. You closed your eyes and let it involve you.

Hawks POV

I turned to check on y/n, and as I turned she was just falling asleep. Her head slowly made its way into my shoulder. I blushed slightly. Y/n was beautiful. Even with her hair a mess she was still pretty to him.

As he was admiring her, she moved in her sleep, grabbing his arm and hugging it as she slept.

'God she's perfect'

[sweetest-honeybee]

To Hell and Back

Chapter 24

Summary: Wels discovers that the very ruler of HelsCraft is living in his head and things take a turn for the worst.

Characters: Wels, The Lord of Darkness, Doc (impulse, tango, beef, xisuma mentions)

TW: Uhh screaming-ish and brief one sentence mention of broken bones

———————

When Wels woke up, he had control over his body, thankfully. There was a lot of light in the room, however, and it made his head hurt. That, or maybe he ended up hitting his head at some point or got whacked in some way by one of the other Hermits. For good reason, he knew. He wasn’t happy either. In fact, he felt awful for hurting Beef and Tango and probably doing something to Xisuma that made the admin so angrily cautious around him.

He lifted his head slowly and looked around, observing his surroundings. Well, if he was gonna be somewhere random after passing out, he might as well see where he was before the evil voice took him over again. Firstly, he was in an iron chair welded to the floor. Wels was honestly, and weirdly, impressed by that much needed support. Whatever the evil voice was doing while he blacked out, it was strong.

Awe, why let me take the credit, Wels? You did those things, no?

The knight grimaced. Great. He was going to be in here, tied up, with the voice wracking at his head again.

“You’re not me,” he spat. “I don’t try to kill my friends.”

Well now that doesn’t make sense. Were you not the one who bashed your friend’s skull into that door?

“That wasn’t me,” Wels replied coldly. That was until he realized he wasn’t talking to anyone, really. He was merely replying to his own thoughts which just so happened to sound like someone speaking right into his ear. He huffed.

This will be a long day, night, whatever time it was. To distract himself, he looked around the room again. It was small, maybe only 6 or 7 blocks wide, quite tall, and made of obsidian. The block directly under his chair however, was iron. Other than that, not much else than a single iron wall in front of him which he assumed was a piston door. The roof above him were just several blocks of sea lanterns which were harsh on his eyes. He sighed, ducking his head. I’m going to go insane in here if they don’t figure out something soon, I can feel it. He meant no offense to them in his mind, but it certainly wasn’t the best circumstances and it was an accident waiting to happen. He lifted his head again, hoping something new magically appeared or something. The knight already felt uneasy at the thought of being in here alone for such a long time.

Guess that makes more time for us to chat, hm?

“No, it’s not.”

Why’s that?

“Don’t you have better things to do.”

Now, now, Wels, you’re the one chained to a chair.

Wels rolled his eyes. “Because you- whatever you are anyways, keep possessing me. Why me? What did I do to you?”

You’ll find out soon enough. Until then, you’ll be my perfect little soldier.

“No, I won’t.”

Yes, you will succumb to my darkness, little knight.

“Argh! Just shut up! I’m not listening.” He decided now that he wasn’t going to sit and listen to this for hours. Then, he perked up. He could probably block out the thoughts if he spoke loud enough. Or if he sang loud enough. So he did, starting just louder than his thoughts, mostly as a small distraction.

“There once was a ship that put to sea, the name of the ship was the Billy of Tea, the winds blew up, the bow dipped down, o blow my bully boys blow~”

You won’t quiet me that easily. I’m your thoughts, Wels. The very anger and hatred for those pathetic Hermits inside of you.

Wels continued his shanty, just a reply ignoring the voice. “Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin’ is done, we'll take our leave and go~!”

Don’t test me, boy. I’ll have you wrapped around my finger.

Wels sang louder, this time focusing as much on the lyrics as he could. “She had not been two weeks from shore, when down on her a right whale bore. The captain called all hands and swore he’d take that whale in tow~!”

But the voice only continued. And so did he, almost practically screaming the lyrics.

“SOON MAY THE WELLERMAN COME, TO BRING US SUGAR AND TEA AND RUM. ONE DAY WHEN THE TONGUIN’ IS DONE, WE’LL TAKE OUR LEAVE AND GO~!”

The knight was startled when the piston door opened. Eyes shooting to the source of the sound.

“Jeez, you’re loud, but nice song though.” The person in question was Doc which Wels gave a breath of relief towards. Though, the creeper looked tired, and if Wels would bet his diamonds on it, he’d guess that Doc was pretty irritable given his annoyed expression to the song anyways. “Why on earth were you singing that loud?”

“There’s an evil voice in my head,” the knight replied bluntly. “I’m trying to get it to shut up.”

Doc hummed, moving to crouch in front of Wels, taking the other’s chin in his robotic hand while the other had a small handheld flashlight. Briefly, he shined the light into his eye which certainly wasn’t comfortable but Doc seemed satisfied with the results. He gingerly took Wels’s hands, examining them. He tapped a finger on Wels’s chin. “Open up.” The knight followed his request and after a second, Doc let him close his mouth. When he stood, the creeper pulled out a clipboard from his inventory.

“How long will I be in here?” Wels decided to ask, hoping his creeper friend was up for some small talk.

“As long as it takes for you to not have to scream sea shanties at four in the morning,” Doc replied without hardly sparing a glance at him. Ah, no wonder he looked so tired and annoyed. He must’ve been woken up when Wels was singing, probably examining him to see if something was out of the ordinary. Well, not unless he was already up.

“Is Beef okay?”

The other nodded. “Yeah, he’s got one hell of a concussion though. Woke up after about fifteen-twenty minutes or so.”

Wels fell silent. At least Beef was fairly okay. Probably very nauseous and has one of the worst possible headaches he’s ever had in his life thanks to Wels, but to some extent, the knight knew that he wouldn’t hold a grudge. A little uncomfortable around him afterwards, but not a grudge. He wasn’t that kind of guy.

Doc doesn’t even care that he’s keeping you trapped here, Wels.

He’s not trapping me, he thought. He’s just protecting his friends.

Protecting them from who, Wels?

The knight must’ve made some kind of noise in reply to the thought. Doc eyed him carefully. “What’s it saying?” the creeper asked. Wels just shook his head.

“Nothing,” he muttered. “At least not anything like earlier.”

“I gotta write down everything. What’s it saying.” He eyed the knight pointedly.

“It’s saying that it’s me, apparently. That you don’t care that you’re trapping me in here. That you’re protecting them from me because I’m a threat to all of you and should just succumb to darkness or whatever.” Wels answered his question almost too casually than he intended but if this was how it was gonna be, he might as well make sure they know everything to ensure the best results.

Doc wrote down everything with another hum, not a very happy hum, it sounded gruff, more like a grunt. The creeper probably wasn’t any happier with that information than Wels was. He stuck the pen to the top of the clipboard. “Well, you are trapped for sure, can’t say much more about that. And you’re a threat, too. I can’t sugarcoat it.” He gave Wels a pat on the shoulder. “But you’re still Welsknight, one of the most strong willed people I’ve ever met. If anyone can beat the very demon inside of them, it’s you.”

Slightly, the corner of Wels’s mouth twitched upwards. “Thanks, Doc. I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Good, good. Impulse is on the next shift. If anything happens, call out his name.”

With that, Doc left, the piston door shutting behind him with a loud bang. Wels already missed being able to get up and move around the moment it shut. Technically, in this room, he was safe to do so but it probably came down to what would happen when the piston door opened that made them chain him to the chair. They didn’t even use ropes, he really noticed. He shuffled his wrists and ankles, the metal grinding against the chair. Really, he could sit and admire their handiwork for hours as a distraction but that would only go so far. He huffed. Yeah, he was gonna go insane.

Just gives me room to take over more often.

“And what’re you gonna do when that happens? Cut off my hands and feet?” Wels absentmindedly replied. Might as well give the voice a sassy chat while he had the time. “I can’t punch through obsidian or iron.”

Who said I felt the pain of your fingers breaking?

Wels gulped. Yeah, the voice could just let go of him at any moment while he was lashing out and he’d feel all of the side effects of what he did while he wasn’t in control. He winced when his side stung at the memory of being shot in the cage.

Tango was the one who shot you, you know. Xisuma was the one who punched you. Beef was going to try to strangle you while you were vulnerable. Doc would’ve gladly stabbed you right there and then.

To a couple of those, Wels actually understood. If he were them, he’d attack himself too. Though, he hardly believed that Beef was going to harm him during that moment earlier and Wels gladly emphasized his doubts with a scoff.

“Do you like….have a name or something? Something we can call you that isn’t ‘The Evil Voice’”? He asked instead.

Fine then, you may call me The Lord of Darkness. And you, my dear knight, are my vessel. Though, I can’t say you’ll be the only one.

Wels stuttered. “You- you’re- wait that thing from HelsCraft?!”

You could say that. I influence your world, but soon enough, with your help, you’ll lose everything.

“No, no, no, no, no-“ He shook his head, yelling for his friend, needing them to know what was happening. “Im- IMPULSE. IMPULSE PLEASE COME IN HERE.”

The Lord of Darkness laughed grimly in his head. The edges of his vision was becoming darker, reminding the knight uncomfortably that The Lord of Darkness could simply use him whenever he liked. And now, if it succeeded in getting Wels out of here, The Lord would make him hurt even more of his friends without him knowing and that’s the last thing they all needed right now. Not to mention how The Lord said he wasn’t the only one.

That in itself only made him panic further.

Goodnight, Wels. Let’s see how poor little Impulse holds up.

“No! IMPULSE PLEASE!” He pulled against his chains.

But the tugging stopped when darkness overcame him and with the sound of the piston doors, a scream rang out in the room.

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 64

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Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Will tag as I go along, Will update tags, Slow Burn, Influenced by Star Trek and other Sci-Fi themes, References to We Happy Few, Tons of References and quotes to George Orwells 1984 see if you can find them all, The First Order is the new Big Brother,  but who is really surprised, Blatant Nazi Symbolism, Interrogation Themes, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Really just drawn out Slow Burn, Don’t repost without permission, Torture themes, Suggestive Themes, Execution themes, Disturbing Themes, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Controlling Kylo Ren, Physical Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Possessive Kylo Ren, A character shamelessly based on Zelda

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 64: Empty

You felt the weight of his presence in your mind leave you, slowly dissipating like smoke in a room. “I shall leave for now, but if the pills don’t work, and she is too weak to guard herself it will leave me no choice but to protect her.” His hand came to your crown, almost as if he was trying to physically caress your mind with his own hand.

Your head felt rather empty without him there. The rational part of your brain, the one that always had its own personality, the fire that kept you going, was now reduced down to not much more than a lamp flame. Your wildfire was almost completely snuffed. Your spark was almost gone.

“How do you feel, m’lady,” asked Dr. Dabrini. Kylo remained silent. He removed his hand from you.

You lifted your head, trying to avoid meeting Kylo’s direct piercing gaze, your sight still blurry from your tears. You tried to focus on the doctor, trying to meet his analyzing but gentle gaze. “I don’t know. Better I guess, but I don’t feel the same as before,” your lips trembled as you spoke, afraid to know the truth of what was happening to your mind. You felt the hollowness of your own mind and the heaviness of your heart.  

The doctor came to kneel next to you; you knew that he would be able to see into your mind as Kylo could. He could ask questions, but that was only so good. He couldn’t feel what you were feeling. “What do you feel, m’lady? Can you describe it?” His voice quieter than before, like he wasn’t wanting to scare you off.

“I feel… empty, like what was there before isn’t now. It isn’t completely gone, but it is mostly gone. My heart is heavy and my head is light, but not in a good way? I don’t know how else to describe it.” Because in truth, you couldn’t—not really. How would you explain that a part of yourself was now gone?

You felt the bed shift as Kylo stood up, his back to the both of you.

The doctor glanced at him before he spoke to you again, “I cannot guarantee that the missing pieces of you will ever return m’lady. I do know that you should spend some time reflecting on what is still there, the memories, emotions, thoughts, and figure out how to move on with them. I know that it might not be ideal and that it may scare you, but there is nothing that I can do to bring them back. What I can do is give you dreamless sleep tonight.” You could hear the sincerity in the doctor’s voice. You could tell that he wasn’t happy, that he couldn’t do more for you. His face was full of grief and sympathy.

You nodded and looked at Kylo, whose back was still turned to you, with clenched fists. You wondered what he was thinking. How he felt about taking so much from you? How did he feel knowing he hurt you again? He broke his promise, but with good intentions. He was trying to protect you after all, wasn’t he?

The doctor glanced between you two before standing, “You know all that I can offer you. Tonight I will have a sleeping pill delivered, and tomorrow we can discuss its effectiveness. But for now, this is all that I can offer, and I shall leave you two alone to discuss our findings.” Dr. Dabrini then stepped out of the room.

Kylo had yet to move a muscle, his hard rigid back creating a wall between you. You didn’t know if it was protecting you or if it was keeping you out.

Your voice was small and broken, “Kylo?”

He turned to you, “He’s right. I must speed up my plans, our plans.” He then glanced down the hall, to where you did not know. “I will do what I must to protect you. They will be eliminated and soon. I do not want to take over you, but I will if it means keeping you by my side. Do you understand?” His voice became hard, his cauldron eyes ablaze with cascading emotions. Currents of dark painful water that you knew you could not swim against.

You did not want to lose yourself, but neither did he. Leia did not want to hurt you, she just wanted him home, Ben home not Kylo. But Rey, Rey would harm you to get Ben to come home, to leave you so he could be with her. Ben not Kylo. Ben the weaker half. “Yes.” You looked up to his face, and attempted to get up to meet him,

He moved to meet you on the bed. He drew you into his arms. “I will be fully yours then. Won’t I?” You searched his face for an answer.

“Yes, if I complete my task, you will be mine alone. Ben Solo will no longer exist. But you will be stuck with a broken monster.” His hand came up to move your hair behind your ear. You were a mess after this whole ordeal but there were more important things to worry about.

“So if you do this there will be no more you or him?” You didn’t know if that scared you or thrilled you. You thought all the gentle moments you two shared may not have been him, but you couldn’t be sure.

He brought your wrist up to his lips, and kissed his name gently, for the first time in weeks. “Yes, if that is what you want.”

Your heart pounded at the gentleness of it all. You were two equally broken people clinging to each other, to mend yourselves whole. Two souls that were chosen from the galaxy to intertwine. Where one couldn’t survive without the other?

“I don’t want to be hurt by this tug-of-war anymore. I want you Kylo, just you. Ben Solo betrayed me, by not protecting me, by leaving me defenseless to attacks, but you have tried to protect me. You only harm me when you fight him, so the fight needs to end.” It was partially true, he was a monster, but he was fighting against himself and his slashes were hitting you in the process. You needed to figure out who the monster was, so you could fix him. Train him to be your hound. Once you were Empress. A monster only you could understand, a monster that you were created to love.

“Then I will have to leave you, to kill him. To kill them. You are MINE,” the monster growled. “I will not let them have you, I will not let him win.” His lips crashed harshly against yours, biting your lip as they did. Teeth scraping and rough, this was him, this was Kylo. “And when I win, you shall be Empress,” he snarled into the kiss. A rough lover, one with intense passion, that ignited heat within you.

His sharp teeth nipped, and he sucked down your neck, marking you as his and his alone. His nose guided his lips back up to your ear, “As much as I would like to play with you Kitten, we have a meeting to get to, one that will help us accomplish our goal,” he gave you one last harsh nips to your lips as you broke apart. His arms sliding under you as he stood, carrying you to your dressing room where Adlez and Olivia-Rose were waiting to fix you.

“You have ten minutes to make her presentable,” he then set you down in front of your vanity. A harsh bruising possessive kiss to your lips before he left you into their care.

You glanced at your reflection in the mirror. You looked like and felt like hell. Your appearance made it seem as if you just got out of an active war zone, out of a fight for your life. Adlez and Olivia-Rose buzzed around you with such a speed you hadn’t witnessed before. Adlez carefully but quickly put your hair back into place and started assisting Olivia-Rose in covering the dark circles under your eyes, and the fresh love bites along your neck. You were then pulled to the armoire where your dress was practically ripped off you and then promptly replaced. Almost as soon as you were placed for inspection in front of the full-length mirror, there was a loud knock on the door. Time was up.

If you hadn’t started to move you were sure that Adlez would have ripped the door out from its pocket in the wall and screamed at Kylo. But you made it to the door before she did. Your body moving on a sort of autopilot. Once the door opened an arm pulled you out into the hall and started walking you out of your chambers. He was moving with a purpose and taking you with him.

You walked down the halls until you reached the familiar conference room from the day before. Kylo sat you down in your seat as he stalked to the head of the table. You could see that it wasn’t just a few members of the High Command present like Hux had said before, it was everyone. Well, some were holocommuting in, but still all members were present in some form.

Everyone seemed to be on edge. Kylo’s mood resonating to each individual person. Hux was the first to speak, “You called for this meeting Supreme Leader? Have things changed?” You could hear the uneasiness in his usually confident voice. His eyes reflected that same fear as he gazed upon the black monster in front of him.

“Yes, the plans have changed. Things have changed. The need to kill the scavenger and General Organa has become more important, more immediate. It needs my full attention. I shall leave sometime tomorrow to complete the task.” His voice through his mask is more menacing than ever.

“But we do not know where they are,” said Pryde. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say as Kylo shadowed towards him. His dark threatening black form seemed impossibly large.

He brought his face to be level with Pryde’s holo one. “Do you doubt my abilities, General Pryde?” You could hear the taunt, like a hyena’s laugh, only more deadly.

You watched the general swallow, to what you could only assume to be a dry mouth. His lips trembled in fear as his hologram eyes met the chrome of Kylo’s mask. “No, Supreme Leader, I do not.”

Kylo’s mask was less than an inch from the projection before he said, “Good.” He then stood back up to his full ominous form as he tracked back to the head of the table, “we wouldn’t want tradition to doubt authority and the ability of the Force.” You could hear the direct jab at Pryde’s pride. “After all, I am my grandfather’s heir apparent. Am I not,” his head whipped around to meet Pryde’s gaze.

“Yes, Supreme Leader, you are. You shall exceed Lord Vader’s legacy,” you could practically smell the fear through the hologram. You could certainly see the sweat forming on his brow, anyway.

Kylo lifted his head in a mock approval before he haunted around your side of the table before stopping next to you, “Once I return, Lady Ren will assume the position of Empress. And you will all be prepared for this. All preparations will need to be prepared. As neither of us will wait.” His hand rested on your shoulder.

“Preparations will begin immediately,” responded Hux.

“Would you like for the ceremony to take place back on Earth? Or shall it be somewhere else,” asked General Parnadee.

“Where would you like the ceremony to be held,” asked Kylo. He was speaking to you and you alone. The rest of the room waiting on your answer.

“How about somewhere new, somewhere important to you maybe? There is no use going back to my planet, is there?”

“As you wish,” responded Kylo.

“There is your grandfather’s castle on Mustafar m’lord,” said Hux.

“Yes, send preparations there. We are finished here.” With that, he guided you back up, escorting you back down the halls to your chambers. To be alone with him once again. To see the monster behind the mask, to learn about him. To love him, to mend him.

[mousehole5000]

fuck it tgcf lb chapters 1-6 under the cut. mostly quotes with my commentary bc thats just what i felt like doing also notes for my own sake

He had never encountered anything he wasn’t able to accomplish, and he had also never met anyone who didn’t love him. He was always right, and he was the heart of the world.“  intrigued that this guy is (presumably) going to be our main character

If one did not answer correctly, they would be completely swallowed up by the ghost in one bite. However, nobody knew what the correct answers were supposed to be. Thus, after several years, this ghost already swallowed countless pedestrians. - dreadfully unfortunate but due to the wording darkly funny. not sure if its due to the translation but still

The Crown Prince thought to himself, he was going to answer the questions wrong anyway, so why wait for the ghost to finish asking? Thus, he pulled out his weapon and began to fight. - i respect it

ascending to godhood at age 17 wow. intrigued by the fact that the kingdom  fell into chaos shortly afterwards. now im thinking about child prodigies and how it doesnt always go well for them to peak early. obviously this guy is a god so im not saying its the same but im curious if ill find myself thinking about that again

One could say that when Xian Le nation had been struggling on whilst at death’s door, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been the one to directly suffocate them. - unfortunate but interesting and realistic outcome

When people said you were a god, then you were a god. If they said you were sh*t, then you were sh*t. Whatever the people said you were, that was what you became. It had always been like this. - okay im still thinking about child prodigies and celebrities who kind of function as gods and its still interesting

Because the one who personally said the phrase had already proved that when his body was in the abyss, his heart was not in paradise. - okay im very interested!!!!! its easy to say that all that matters is your soul/heart/spirit when youre a spoiled rich boy whos body has never been in the abyss!! im already very attached to this character

okay and our boy is back!! also this spirit communication array stuff is so funny fjdaslksjfdld. xie lian logging on but stuck in the lobby trying to figure out which game his friends are in

also taking a note for myself so i remember xuan zhen = mu qing who xie lian basically helped on the way to godhood. mu qing did not stand up for xie lian

For Xie Lian, any situation was okay as long as he didn’t die. He didn’t have much, but he could definitely still lose a lot of face. He had already done plenty of things that were many times more awkward than this, so he really felt okay in his heart. - this book is funny

another note bc i still struggle keeping track of names nan yang = feng xin went with xie lian to the heavens and stayed with him in banishment for a while

However Xie Lian was the type of person that, should there be a thousand cups of wine with only one poisoned, Xie Lian would always manage to pick the poisoned one. - again this is really funny and also tbh i relate. xie lian and chronic no good very bad luck seems to be a trend.

Who would have thought that when he left without a care and jumped down without a care, his sleeve would get caught on a carefree cloud. Yes, it got caught on a cloud. - it strikes again. i feel like i need to take xie lian aside and idk what. just tell him to go back too bed i think

more notes. nan feng - from nan yang/feng xin palace hall. fu yao (eyeroller) - from xuan zhen/mu qing palace hall. and they all hate each other

However, whenever Xuan Zhen saw someone make an ugly Godly statue of himself, he would stealthily break it to make the artist remodel it. Sometimes, he would even create a vague dream to express his dissatisfaction to the artist. Thus after a while, all the believers now knew they needed to create a nice-looking statue of their master! - this is so gkhjgjhgfhdgjh. im starting to understand the things i see my mutuals say about some of these characters

Thus, the women loved how his Godly statues were pretty, and they also liked how his temples were filled with flowers. That was enough to make them dash over.  - women like a pretty boy confirmed

xie lian: oh shit that girl praying has a giant hole in her skirt thats so embarrassing

fu yao: not my general, not my fuckin problem

nan feng:

xie lian: its fine ill just silently and invisibly put my robe on her, im sure the sudden appearance of an unknown piece of clothing will be welcome and not disconcerting in the slightest

okay i can see why chapter 5 is called Discussion Between Three Fools In The Ju Yang Temple At Night

fjakdlsfjd feng xin’s original name and follower base getting changed due to a clerical error... also xie lian believes in the 5 second rule and is likely to extend it to 5 hours

Xie Lian raised his head. He took a look at the pillar that had crumbled because of Nan Feng, before taking another look at the indifferent Fu Yao who was closing his eyes and meditating. Then, Xie Lian replied, “Each of the two small martial gods have their own merits, and they’re both capable individuals.” ah a true diplomat. i vibe with xie lian on many levels

xie lian as the ghost bridegroom bait i shouldnt be surprised we’ll see how that goes next time

[bittybattybunny]

So he's a hungry noodle but with taste? No wonder Hattie convinced him so fast

*sobs on floor* i had a really nice long response typed out and I’m gonna retype it and hope i get it all---

But yeah!!! He was so sick of rotten fish, hunting and the like (hunting takes a LOT of energy and when you are ALREADY hungry as hell it makes it harder. And he could never hunt enough to feel any sort of full) so when this small child who wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest and mostly sassed him, gave him the option of REAL HUMAN FOOD he took the chance.

He’s also kinda a food snob on certain aspects too

This is a snippet from either 9 or 10 (i say that because Im not sure if i can fit everything that needs to happen before hand into the prior chapters)

he gives Eclipse shit for the raw meat thing a lot; because he never wanted to eat meat raw, while she’s over here doing it on whim

“Makes sense.” He nodded, he was still hungry. He frowned, they didn’t have a lot of eggs. And he really didn’t want to eat all of their food. Well. he could. He didn’t care that much.

“What’s wrong?” Eclipse asked, walking in, placing her plate on the floor on top of hattie’s.

“Is that how you wash dishes?” He asked with a grimace.

“No, just a treat for her if she can have it.” She explained, looking at the carton on the counter and the open bacon. She snagged a piece of the raw meat, eating it without much thought, “looks like we need more eggs.” she grabbed a pen writing it on the fridge list.

“What are you doing?!” Snatcher snapped as he processed what had happened.

“What? Adding to the list?” she asked while chewing on the bacon.

“That’s raw!” He reached to take it from her but she dodged around the counter island. He stumbled, whacking his chin on the counter. Crumpling to the floor he glared up, “Are you trying to die young?!”

“If I was going to die young, I would have done it already!” she laughed, swallowing, “it’s fine, it’s smoked!”

“That doesn’t mean cooked!” Snatcher pulled himself off the floor, “how have you not killed your kid?!”

“Mom doesn’t let me eat it raw. She always heats it in the pan. You’ve had her cooking before.” Hattie pointed out as she grabbed the floor plates to put in the sink.

“You’re mad! Both of you!” He snapped as he leaned on the counter. He rubbed his side from his fall, “Honestly! It shouldn’t take I, the Subcon Snatcher! To tell you to cook your food!”

“You really like announcing that huh?” Eclipse rolled her eyes as she reached for another slice only to get slapped away, “Stingy!” she pouted, rubbing her hand.

“It’s my name!” He frowned, fangs sticking out of his lips, as he curled them back in disgust, “I ate raw, half rotten fish and human corpses for 200 years, I’m not going to watch someone who has the option of actual decent food eat something raw!”

“You know some meat is meant to be raw.” Eclipse laughed loudly. It almost sounded like a bark as she did, “Specifically some fish!” She snickered, “Well then. Let's do that!” She clapped, “We can get sushi for dinner!”

“Ooooo.” Hattie grinned, “I bet he’ll like that!” She clapped with her mother excited, “We should get him extra wasabi!”

Eclipse wrinkled her nose, “Why? It’s so spicy...”

“He liked my hot sauce.” Hattie beamed, “So I think he’ll like wasabi too! Or candied ginger maybe?”

“I just want to taste things again. Strong things.” He couldn’t help a small smile himself, getting caught up in the girls excitement, “So what is sushi? Or wasabi?”

Eclipse grinned, squinting as her mouth pushed her cheeks up as she stuck her tongue out, “If I tell you, you’ll say no. So we’ll wait for dinner.”

Snatcher does most of the cooking for the family as well! He loves having CONTROL over his own food! Because it’s the first time he has been able to really do that. As a Prince he often only got to eat his food once it was cold as it had to be poison tested first. He begged Estelle to teach him to cook so he could have something warm now and then. (that’s why he even knows how to cook) He also finds it super fun to experiment with cooking; and his family’s smiles at his food becomes something he’s proud of! he loves cooking as a fun outlet.

He also loses his mind at Thanksgiving and Xmas because of the sheer volume of food and the fact he’s actually allowed to just. Keep eating as much as he wants. (Snatcher turned human again around mid October) It was one of the first times in a long time he was able to actually feel full. Not to mention the excitement of the whole family being there (DJ and Connie, Connie’s Daughters and spouses, his other grandkids, DJ’s brothers and sisters--) He was exhausted by the end but he was also really happy.

Plus once they figured out his birthday from him (His birthday is October 31st btw) Eclipse went out of her way to get a big ass cake with multiple flavor tiers and various frostings and toppings (nothing with chocolate though as she wanted to eat some cake too) to figure what kind to get him the next year (they found out his birthday around Hattie’s on January 17th. For the record Eclipse’s birthday is July 8th)

He wound up deciding he really enjoyed the ginger carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. So it becomes the tradition for his birthday.

He also cried when she brought him the big cake, because it was about getting what HE wanted for HIS birthday. It was the first time he was involved in his own birthday choices (and he was 26 when he became a leviathan---) and it wasn’t made to be a big party or something. She and Hattie were just trying to celebrate HIM and making it another year!

he also forms a good bond with C.C. because he feeds her often to keep her from biting him when he’s a leviathan.

Hattie at one point also tried to get him to do a MukBang Channel on youtube because of how much he always eats but he vetoed that fast.

He also has a really bad issue with junk food. it’s easy to eat so he tends to eat a lot of it. Eclipse forces him to do a lot of house chores because it eats the food budget a lot. They aren’t struggling persay but. She’s also a big eater (huge ass wolf stomach in a 5′11″ woman) so having two huge eaters really costs in food. Also he’s always hungry because his body is trying to fight the curse always. When he’s human he slowly gets better because his curse isn’t as strong; and he does semi split his curse later so it gets even lesser. he still eats like no one’s business though.