#karson talks about his family

[pendinganchor]

me to my sisters at least once a day: not to talk about billy all the time *proceeds to talk about billy for hours*

[pendinganchor]

my brain literally refuses to let me focus on anything if there isn’t something playing. i got 65k minutes and my sister got 16k. she was like “how do you get anything done?” then i was like “me? how do YOU get anything done?!”

finding out how many minutes of music people listen to in a year is so interesting especially as someone whose stats are comparatively low. how do you 60k minutes per year people focus on anything. that’s a skill you should put on your resume

[vasito-de-leche]

i just realized something from each arcanist's voiceline, im not sure if u are ahead of me in this but anyways...

...their "monologue" segments, each of their monologue segments their most vulnerable they have ever been or the deepest they have ever opened up, at least for the ones that I have read.

for example:

- pavia admitting that every night it feels like he's still in piedmonte (by extension, that boarded up basement)

- blonney thinking why it's impossible for humans and arcanists to get along when they have similar interests like movies

- mesmer jr. screaming to stop being insane and leave her alone (poor girl is traumatized and a big F you to constantine and her family for being persistent in putting her in those situations)

- sotheby in yet another scene about how little she knows about distinguishing human things and arcane things (which is a problem for a young arcanist like her should she be unintentionally blatant about it)

- horropedia being glad that he is still himself despite the foundation's attempt to fit him in a mold

all in all, "monologue" segments are actually sad bits about our faves

A good chunk of the monologues are tragic, yeah - but I think that it's because we have the benefit of the full picture and we each have our own interpretations!

I just don't like to think of monologues as just exclusively sad bits for characters to show how sad they are or used to be in their lives? It takes away the nuance of how the character speaks about these things, if that makes sense!

I'll put the rest of my thoughts and ramblings under the cut so I don't keep clogging the main tag with nonsense <3

For example, Pavia's monologue - a popular interpretation of his character is that he's still traumatized by his past and the time he spent in the basement, therefore his monologue implies that no matter where he goes, he's still alone in that dark basement. From my personal reading on it, Pavia is a character who reclaimed the things that hurt him (the darkness, the isolation) and are now part of him (his wolves and shadow arcanum, his independence).

So to me, that monologue is a threat. I already explained this in detail in my first Pavia posts, so I'll spare y'all from the repetition lolol

Sotheby's monologue - you say that her lack of knowledge when it comes to differentiate human things from arcanist things is a problem. To me, this quote is just a highlight of her curiosity and her sheltered life, because she sounds chipper at the idea of learning new things. And I think it's a monologue meant to focus on her curiosity, because her Insight II is "World on the Other Side" which shows Sotheby inside a glass cage, looking outside to the real world.

The outside world is different from what I imagined. There are more arcane animals than I thought ... Humans are also more interesting!

And one can still continue to look deeper into this monologue and relate it to the full context of her situation to have a different reading!

Maybe someone else thinks this quote is extremely fucking tragic, because we're talking about a rich, privileged and sheltered girl who relied heavily on her caretaker, Mr. Karson, and now that he's gone, she's left to explore the world all on her own! Maybe it's a really lovely and happy quote, because it shows Sotheby's growth, still excited to learn about the outside world! Maybe it's all at once!

And Blonney's monologue, to me that's not a tragic voiceline at all but a rather hopeful moment for Blonney, a moment of thoughtful consideration which contrasts the "Blonde Bimbo" stereotype she's been cast in and shows how observant and attentive to detail she can be.

Is it true that humans and arcanists cannot live in harmony? We have so many things in common to share and enjoy, like the movies. As I learned about humans from the movies, so can humans learn about arcanists ... It's just that no one has made such a movie yet.

From my reading on this monologue, Blonney very clearly believes it's possible for humans and arcanists to live in harmony - it only takes for both sides to consider each other's perspectives. She's lived among humans, she's learned about humans through their movies. But she's ignorant about arcanists because of the way she was raised, because of the lack of exposure she's had to arcanists and their world.

No one has made such a movie, but maybe her, an arcanists that's experienced the duality of everything, a bimbo who is majoring in film, a major that everyone insists is wrong for her because it doesn't fit her image - maybe she can make such movie.

Yes, it's a sad monologue because of the context of subtle oppression towards arcanists, because of what we know about Blonney's life and all. But to me, it doesn't end on a sad note. Especially with how driven and outspoken Blonney is.

It's the same for Horropedia's monologue for me - yes, he's serious when talking about the way the Foundation and the way they continue to cut away all the unwanted parts of the arcanists they take in, but it also ends on a nice note. He's relieved to have survived being true to himself, he's relieved Vertin was able to do the same.

And then there's Mesmer Jr.'s monologue - this one is, without a doubt, an awful moment for her. Given what we know about her background and family, from either the main story or the Three Doors update, we can safely assume this is her having a panic attack of sorts, steming from her trauma and long-term internalized hatred/fear/disgust towards arcanists.

This is the most objectively sad and tragic monologue out of these. But what of the reading?

Is this Mesmer Jr. being comfortable enough around Vertin to let her see such a violent and vulnerable moment? Someone could easily read this as Mesmer Jr. and Vertin's relationship being repaired slowly to allow such display of vulnerability, the same way someone could easily read this as Vertin just stumbling upon Mesmer Jr. having the worst time of her life. Someone might also interpret this as Vertin doing something that caused Mesmer Jr. to react like this!

A few other examples I have at the top of my head that can differ greatly depending on the way you choose to read it...

Bette's monologue, for example!

 I've dreamt forever about my first character, not as a rich young man, a courageous adventurer, a fair or rich lady, but the first character starred by me, Bette with brown hair! I have noted them all in this notebook, which is called "My Script."

Is this voiceline sad? It can be, if you choose to intepret it as Bette's inability to get a starring role, while all of her dreams of being the protagonist are kept in a notebook that no one else will read or notice. It can also be inspiring, if you choose to interpret it as Bette holding on to the belief that she herself - not a character that she plays, but herself as a person - is important, even if no one else notices. Again, it can be this and that or both or none or all at once!

Or Baby Blue's monologue!

People at school once called me... Umm, how do you say that word? Ah... Crazy! Sad? I'm not sad... They told me that the most outstanding people were all crazy...

Yes, this can be sad, because we're talking about a 17 year old girl who was so disillusioned with her real life that she feels more comfortable in a world of illusion, while her real body remains comatose. And yes, this can be happy, because we're talking about a 17 year old girl who found a place that she truly feels alive in, where she finally has peope who understand and care for her.

I think I might've lost the point of the post somewhere through the rambling - but yeah! I don't like to think of these voicelines as just sad bits, especially with how much detail and attention the writing of R1999 has, all the love they put into all characters <3

[violet-stormbringer]

The Princess and The Thorne, Chapter Thirteen: A Thorne in her side.

Around her, dinner continued. The crumpled notepaper crackled underneath her glass. Whatever she’d been expecting from the engagement announcement party, it was definitely not Blaise Marechal contacting her in distress.

She had to figure out what was happening, she didn’t like the thought of Blaise or Karson being in trouble. The idea of sitting idly while they begged for her help…it made her sick. As she considered; the noise of talking rippled around her, mingling into unintelligible chatter, and after what felt like forever, Lady Renaldt rose with a serene smile.

“We will make our formal farewells,” she said, “as is customary. Gallatin students, please line up along the entrance hall.”

With a shuffle of chairs and murmured conversation, everyone rose and filed towards the hall. It was slow and measured, and Ras knew that if she went along with this farce, she’d never reach Karson in time.

She had to get out of there, now. Problem being, even amongst the crowd of students, the teachers were sharp-eyed enough that her absence would be noted. She had to slip away discreetly to ensure she had the best chance at this.

Ras caught Max by the arm, leaning against her and whispering conspiratorially. “Max, I need to get out of here. Can you rally the Starlings? Ask Freddie, too, she can convince the Birchmeier Society…”

Max didn’t really need convincing, noting the wild eye in Ras’ eyes. She nodded, and soon enough a wall of bodies formed to hide Ras as she made her exit, slipping out the door and darting between Gallatin and Archambault students alike, losing herself in the crowd. As she passed Rosario, she assured her with a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Emergency came up, I’ll be back before you know it.”

Rosario nodded, smiling. “Stay safe, my love.”

Ras made her way from the hall, and headed into the warm, flower-scented summer air. Karson was waiting in the quad, ushering Ras into the shadows of the Hope Building gardens. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “This is all my fault.”

She drew a shaky breath.

“Lady Renaldt…she has this scheme. People pay her to have students disappear, then they take their inheritance. She used to send them overseas, but now she’s got them in her goldmines, all for extra income. Gaspard Breiner, he was one of them. His uncle paid for Gaspard to be put away. It also happened to Blaise. A-And she needed extra hands, so she put Miss Dalca down there after she was fired.”

It all came out in a rush. Then, her face crumpled. 

“I’ve been doing this since last year,” she said. “Helping her cover it up. She said if I didn’t, I’d be out a job and she’d…she’d hurt my family. But it can’t go on, I don’t care about the consequences anymore.”

Ras stared at Karson, her face a mixture of pity, confusion, and rage. After getting herself under control, she spoke. “...So what changed?”

Karson hunched her shoulders, avoiding Ras’ eye. “There…there was an accident in the mine two nights ago,” she said, her voice cracking. “Gaspard Breiner didn’t know what he was doing, and he was killed.”

She cleared her throat. When she spoke again, Ras could barely hear her.

“Miss Marechal gave me the note to give you,” she said, “but what can we do? What can anyone do?”

Ras took a deep breath.

“...I have an idea, Karson. But I need you to trust me, okay?”

Karson stared at Ras, and after a moment, she nodded. “O-Of course, Ras.”

“Right then,” Ras began, “I need to get taken to the mines. To do that…tell Lady Renaldt that I suspect something. I’m sure she’ll tell you what to do next.”

Karson nodded. “W-What are you going to do in the mines?”

Ras whipped around, stalking back off towards Clemency Building. “What I do best. Cause trouble.”

With that, Ras got ready for bed. She wasn’t going to sleep well, she knew that much. She’d be surprised if she got any sleep, as uneasy as she was. But she laid down regardless, and soon enough, sleep took her.

Eventually, though, she awoke. She swore she heard a noise. She got up, making her way to her window. Outside, the moonlight spilled onto the ground below, unimpeded by the clouds.

She felt like she was being watched. When Ras turned, she was face to face with a figure who’d made it into her room. They dove for her, wrenching her arm behind her back. A cloth clamped over Ras’ mouth; it smelled foul and chemical, and her vision began to speckle.

As they struggled, the moonlight caught the figures face. She was a heavily-built woman in rugged, practical clothing. It was horrible evident that she was a professional, and Ras—well, Ras was simply a student. Anything she did would only delay the inevitable.

And so she ceased her struggling, and let unconsciousness take her. This was part of her plan, after all…

She vaguely recalled waking up now and again, being dragged through the darkness. Doors, doors, so many doors, then a slam. The overpowering scent of lavender.

Lady Renaldt’s office…?

The office was lit with a single low lamp. Lady Renaldt sat at her desk, still wearing her dark silver evening gown and pearl earrings. Ras was suddenly aware of her own state of dress: she was stuck in her smallclothes—though a blanket had been wrapped around her. Her assailant had decency, then, at least. Speaking of her assailant, she dumped Ras into one of the armchairs, then pushed a glass of water into her hand.

With each sip, Ras’ head cleared. Lady Renaldt watched levelly. “Thank you, Schroeder,” she said.

Ras recognized the name: Lady Renaldt’s employee. But that’s…why did she bundle Ras into her office?

“Karson was right. Not only did she suspect something was up,” Schroeder said flatly. She slapped Blaise’s letter on the desk. “But Blaise Marechal sent a letter out to this one.”

Lady Renaldt’s breath trembled, just a little, but otherwise she kept her composure. “...Then we need a conversation. As you are likely aware, Master Thorne, I have an arrangement. People pay for a student to go missing, and they stay in my goldmine until their inheritance matters are resolved. Blaise Marechal was one of said students. Her Aunt Violette was a friend of mine.”

“And,” Lady Renaldt said, more than happy to spill everything to Ras despite her assumption that Ras knew it all, “since Miss Dalca was bringing the college into disrepute, it was the best place for her to work after she was removed from her post.”

Her tone was cool and calm, as though she were speaking about an upcoming mountain trip.

“If I thought you posed any manner of threat, I’d have had Schroeder take you to the mines already. But I didn’t. You have, after all, proven loyal. Perhaps, if you’re discreet, we could make an arrangement.”

Ras flinched as Lady Renaldt brought up her “loyalty”. More like blackmail…

She had to do this carefully. She needed to make sure everybody made it out of this cleanly, save for Lady Renaldt and her lackey. 

Ras offered a forced smile. “Thank you for your understanding, Lady Renaldt.”

Lady Renaldt gave a cool smile. “This is the perfect way to refine the college,” she said. “Gallatin graduates shape our society: I can ensure that theirs are the greatest minds possible.”

Fervor sparked in her gaze. She clearly believed what she was saying.

“I require assistance that Schroeder cannot provide,” she said. “Can I trust you to act with sense and discretion?”

Her guard was down, slightly, but it was more than enough for Ras. Lady Renaldt fully believed Ras was on her side.

Lady Renaldt fixed Ras with her gaze, dark and cool. She had seen her calculating. “Well?” she said, not giving Ras enough time to think properly.

Not that she needed much more to think about. Ras got to her feet and threw her cup at Lady Renaldt, the glass missing and shattering against the wall behind her as water splashed messily all over the headmistress.

With that, Ras lifted a paperweight and threw it at Renaldt as well, and this one caught her against the cheek, cutting open her flesh and causing a small trickle of blood down her usually flawless features.

“I suppose we have our answer. Schroeder, take her.”

Before Ras could move again, Schroeder struck, clamping a hand over her mouth, the acrid chemical filling her nose once more.

Everything went dark.

Her muscles ached. When she moved, no matter how gingerly, cramps seized her abdomen. Even blinking ached.

She laid on a pallet in a barred cell. Ras had never seen prison, of course, but this had to be something similar. The blanket she’d been covered with earlier was caked in dust; so was her skin. Folded at the end of her bed was a plain brown miner’s uniform.

Ras grit her teeth and clenched her fist as she sat up, ignoring the aching, searing pain in her body. She stared through the bars of the cell, eyes narrowed. Lady Renaldt was going to pay, that much was certain.

“Ras?” A voice hissed, and Ras peered over towards the source.

Through the bars of the cell beside her, Ras noticed a face. Blaise, dirty and bedraggled.

“Good, you’re alive,” she said disagreeably. “I hoped Lady Renaldt would be soft on you, considering how she protected you over that stupid necklace. You were supposed to rescue me, not get thrown in here as well!”

Ras let out a huff, though she couldn’t resist grinning. “Gods, how I’ve missed your shrill tone, Blaise.”

Blaise looked as though she tried to be annoyed, but she managed to crack a smile. “I cannot believe that I’m pleased to see you too,” she said. “That is the worst part of all this.”

She ran her nails along the metal bars, the sound sending a shiver down Ras’ spine.

“Aunt Violette was meant to take me as her ward,” Blaise growled, “but apparently she paid off Lady Renaldt to have me disappear so she could get her hands on my trust fund. Ridiculous. Surely everyone’s been looking into where I am!”

There was a note of uncertainty in her voice. It’d been almost a year since she was expelled, and yet the only person who showed any interest, however slightly, in her disappearance…was Ras. Even Blaise’s own parents had been sitting idly by, imagining that Violette had everything under control.

“Honestly, Blaise? Nobody gave a damn about where you went.” Ras laid it out bluntly for her. “Besides me, that is.”

“You? Why would you care?”

“Gee, I don’t know. How could I not worry about someone I genuinely wanted to be friends with? You tell me, Marechal!”

Blaise’s shoulders slumped. “...You wanted to be friends?”

“Oh, sure, you know, up until you tried to have me expelled! If you had succeeded, I probably would’ve been thrown down here too.”

“...I’m sorry.”

Ras shook her head. “It’s too late to apologize. But you know what we can do?”

“What?”

“We can stop feeling sorry for ourselves, get the hell out of here, and shove our boots down Lady Renaldt’s smug face.”

Blaise chuckled at that. “Thanks, Ras…”

A bell clanged. “Lights out!” A voice bellowed from nearby. With no other warning, the lights blinked out and gave way to darkness.

The next day, Ras dressed in her new uniform, and after she tied the left sleeve into a knot to prevent it from flailing about everywhere or getting stuck in something, she was ready. Her placement was far from Blaise’s, and she was overseen by Schroeder.

“For the purposes of this job, your name is Eve. Blaise is Alex. Deviate from this, and I will personally see to it that you do not walk out of here.”

Ras really wished she could bury the pickaxe into her head, but she just grit her teeth and nodded. She was determined to finish this, whatever it took.

Schroeder smirked, and Ras set to work. It was claustrophobic, overheated, and exhausting. Nobody gave Ras much in the ways of instructions, and the rest of her assigned group was reluctant to work with someone so inexperienced, and so she was left chipping away vaguely at parts of the wall and hoping for the best.

It was hard enough to swing a pickaxe with only one hand, but it got even harder as said hand began to blister. This was not going to be comfortable in the slightest. But she grit her teeth, planted her feet, and worked through it.

She kept her head down and worked. It was more physical labor than she’d done before, but she made decent progress—and more than her companions expected.

When breaktime rolled around, one of the miners actually had to take the pick from Ras’ hand, shaking his head as he passed her some strips of bandages to protect her skin. “No need to work yourself to death, Eve,” he said, not unkindly. “You’re one of those prison kids, right? Won’t be more’n a year or two, at most. Might even start enjoying it.”

Ras scowled at “prison kids”, a phrase that suggested they believed Ras was some sort of criminal, working off her sentence. She couldn’t help but wonder what crime they thought her capable of, but the way they only spoke to her when necessary gave the impression that if they chattered with her too much, Schroeder would have their hides.

Just as Ras was applying the bandages to her hand, she spotted a figure hunched at a bench, nursing a cup of water. It was Miss Dalca. She lifted her head and beckoned Ras over, taking over bandaging her hand as she neared.

“Ras, the is awful,” she said, voice low. She had a deep cut across her temple that hadn’t healed yet, and her thick hair had matted along another cut on her scalp. “I…I wish I knew how to help you. But I’ll try.”

As she finished wrapping Ras’ hand, she let go, and Ras shook her head, giving her best grin. “Please! You, me, Blaise? We’re a Dream Team! We’ll get out of here with time to spare for dinner.”

Miss Dalca snorted at that. “When you put it that way, and with such passion…almost sounds believable.”

“Well, better change that almost to ‘totally’, because I mean it.” 

Miss Dalca gave a small smile, a glimmer of her usual energy returning. Faint, but it was there. “You’re a decent kid, Ras,” she said. “Thank you. I only hope Raphael listens to us—and Sinclair, too. After we’d all decided—” She swallowed the rest of her sentence with a pained frowned.

Unfortunately, the bell clang once more, and it was time to shuffle back to work. The days melded together, sliding onwards. Or so Ras figured. Underground, it was hard to keep track of time. Her, Blaise, and Miss Dalca were kept in cells rather than the boarding-houses, so Ras didn’t get many chances to talk to them or the miners. She did, however, begin to recognize the faces of her fellow miners, and they would greet her occasionally. But they mostly stuck to work talk.

The worst part of the work was the exhaustion, it was so hard to think when she was tired. Never before had she been so tired. After one particularly grueling evening shift, Ras had almost fallen asleep in the canteen, only for a nearby scuffle to jolt her awake.

It was Karson, struggling with Blaise. “This is all. Your. Fault!” Blaise yelled, shoving Karson backward and sending her sprawling across the bench.

Ras stood up, despite her tiredness, and she shuffled over to stand in between Karson and Blaise.

“You’re protecting her!?” Blaise scowled. “She put you in here, too!”

Ras simply stared at Blaise with a tired expression. Despite her enthusiasm the previous days, it was all she could do not to keel over at that moment. 

“Listen,” Ras said, slowly, carefully, trying not to slur her words in her exhausted state. “Karson here…is helping us.”

“Yeah, after she threw us down here!”

Ras groaned, and expended energy to roll her eyes, doing so slowly and deliberately, as if to show off to Blaise just how not in the mood she was. “Shut up, will you. Go…bully a toddler or whatever it is you do when you’re bored.”

Blaise huffed, and she met Ras’ gaze. Something in that tired expression must have convinced her, because she just turned away, groaning in anger.

Ras turned to Karson. “Speak, or I’m going to throw you over a table.”

“Schroeder’s going to be out tomorrow, for graduation,” she said, “so if you have a move to make, do it then.”

Ras blinked. Graduation. It felt so far away, even though she could not have been here that long. Not nearly as long as Blaise, who looked furious and mistrustful. Karson did not look at her; she was focused on Ras.

“Miss Marechal is right to strike me,” Karson said. “I…I knew all about this. Lady Renaldt made me take her here…I had no choice. I couldn’t stand up to her. Then, Gapsard—”

“Don’t you dare say his name,” Blaise snarled.

Karson swallowed, nodded, then looked away.

“...I don’t know if you still trust me, Ras,” she said, “but I’ll do what I can to help. If you want me to.”

Ras knew what it was like, being in such an impossible position. It’s what got her involved in Gallatin in the first place, and it was what landed Miss Dalca in here, too. Hells, it’s what got Annick Leuzinger fired…Ras’ sins were just as plentiful.

Ras took a deep breath, and she held a hand out to Karson.

“You were faced with an impossible choice,” she said, “but now you can do something about it. Get up, and I’ll tell y’all my plan.”

Karson took Ras’ hand, and stood up with her help. The three of them stood there, huddled, as Ras spoke her plan to them.

It wasn’t anything concrete, mostly a review of information and possible routes, but it was a start. Soon, though, Karson had to make an exit, darting away as she muttered something about Lady Renaldt getting suspicious of her.

Blaise folded her arms as she watched her go. “Funny how she suddenly develops a conscience. I should’ve punched harder back in spring. Put me in solitary, but it was satisfying.”

Ras shook her head. “Karson regrets it. She’ll have our backs when the time comes, I know it.”

Blaise sighed. “You’re far too trusting, Thorne.”

“It’s what I do.” 

Then, the bells for the next shift clanged out, and the clusters of miners filed towards the exit. The foreman called out: “Alex, Eve, to your posts.”

Seeing no sense in dawdling, Ras joined the rest of the miners with Blaise, and the drudgery began once more. This time, however, a glimmer of hope. If Schroeder would be out of the picture tomorrow, there’d be a chance to escape.

Not everyone worked underground the way Ras, Blaise, and Miss Dalca did. Out of Schroeder’s scrutiny, Ras figured she could get a topside shift tomorrow. Maybe a word from Miss Dalca could help with that. Of course, she could also start a fight, Blaise would be good at doing that, if nothing else. She could also go spelunking, looking for a tunnel that led outside.

The promise of the Gallatin graduation and Schroeder’s absence tomorrow brought focus, and Ras found her earlier exhaustion to have melted away. Despite the isolation, Ras knew the names of some miners; they would be able to help if she asked. While she toiled, her mind was racing.

The idea came to her as she grit her teeth and got to work. It was grueling, but with an edge of satisfaction; the chance of getting out of there made it bearable. She hoisted her pickaxe and swung it against the rock, breaking it off bit by bit. By the time break arrived, and all the others had filed away, Ras kept at it.

The foreman approached; despite his gruff backing, he clapped Ras on the shoulder.

“You can take a break, Eve,” he said. “You don’t need to run yourself into the ground for a measly few things of gold.”

Ras shrugged. “If you really wanted me to look after myself…there’s worse a girl could do than some fresh air.”

He frowned, hesitated, then glanced over his shoulder, as if worried that Schroeder would appear behind him at any moment. “...All right,” he said. “You can go topside tomorrow. With your pals, if it’ll help you feel better.”

Suddenly, Ras was more amenable to the idea of a break, joining the other miners until it was time to work again.

That evening, Ras went to bed filled with nervous excitement. At first, she swore she’d be unable to settle, but her aching muscles and aching limbs made it all too easy to drift off to sleep. The last thing she remembered thinking was just how sweet it was going to be when she tore Lady Renaldt to shreds.

Lady Renaldt would get what was coming to her.

It wasn’t long before Ras was dragged into dreamless sleep.

The atmosphere was heavy with tension; the air reeked of sweat. At least Miss Dalca and Blaise were with her; that was one less thing to worry about.

While the foreman was distracted talking to another miner, Miss Dalca edged to Ras’ side, along with Blaise. As they followed the rest of the group, a light breeze played across their face. They were nearing the surface: they just needed to wait for the right moment. Slowing her pace, Ras allowed the other miners to pass her, then ducked down a side tunnel, Blaise and Miss Dalca right behind her. The trio raced into the darkness. The light from their mining helmets cast jagged shaddows along the walls and roof, shadows that grew sharper as the tunnel narrowed.

Ras skidded to a halt as she they came across a sinkhole, taking up most of the path. 

“What? What is it?” Blaise snapped, grabbing the back of Ras’ shirt, and Ras moved her head to the side to allow Blaise to get a look.

Ras tested the edge of the sinkhole, and part of the floor crumbled beneath her weight. Somewhere nearby, people were drawing closer. It would be difficult for her to traverse alone, much less with Blaise and Miss Dalca in tow.

Miss Dalca stared at the path, swallowing. “You two get out of here,” she whispered. “I’m heavier than either of you. I don’t know if the edge will hold me. Go.”

Beside her, Blaise’s breathing was ragged. Ras wasn’t sure whether it’d hold her, either.

Ras shook her head. “Nope. Nuh-uh. Didn’t get this far just to lose one, or even both of you. If you think I’m leaving either of you, you’re both as ridiculous as each other.”

Miss Dalca huffed a sharp sigh. “Fine, fine, be a hero,” she said. “Let’s do this.” They inched their way along the edge, and Ras kept her gaze fixed on the other side. It was as though she was detached from any fear, with an iron focus on promised safety. Part of the edge crumbled behind her.

Blaise caught Ras’ sleeve, and together, the two shuffled towards stable ground. Miss Dalca followed, painfully slowly, and when she was near, she took Blaise’s free hand. Eventually, the three of them were all across.

With that, they ran. The air was growing fresher, and light began to filter down the tunnel roof. When they took a breather, and had time to listen, they caught the murmur of voices above. They emerged into bright, warm sunshine, the first natural light they’d seen in a long time.

Blaise doubled over coughing, spitting dust onto the ground, and Miss Dalca looked wan and sickly, but Ras had other concerns. A cluster of miners, and a forewoman, were staring at them. They immediately started to talk, demanding to know what was going on. Blaise and Miss Dalca tried to talk over them, explaining themselves. This would’ve been delicate even if it was just Ras, but Blaise and Miss Dalca? It’d be troublesome if they kept running their mouths.

Ras took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Hey!” She called out, getting the attention of everyone around her. “Shut the hells up and think about it a moment. I’ve been working hard as hell to restore glory to my name, making friends in and out of the college. Why would I throw it away, eh? Lady Renaldt is using you. None of this should be happening.”

The forewoman stared at Ras, her jaw clenching. “...Go.” She jerked her head in the direction of town. “Go,” she snapped. “Before I change my mind.”

With that, the trio made their escape toward what passed for home: Gallatin College.

The open air made it easier to walk; finding a stream and splashing water on their faces made each of them feel that much more human. Along with Miss Dalca, Blaise paused to cough and wash. She sighed as she leaned against a birch tree. “I can’t believe we’re out of there,” she rasped. “You’re—actually not so bad, Ras.”

“Not so bad?” Miss Dalca said, incredulously. “Don’t be ridiculous, Blaise. She was magnificent. Like she’d stepped out of the Myth of Erdrick itself.”

Blaise hesitated. She picked at the tree bark, peeling off a strip. “Y-yeah, I guess she was pretty cool out there, huh?” A pause.

“And—I know I said it before, but I’m sorry, Ras. Sorry for trying to get you expelled.”

Ras splashed more water on her face, washing the dirt away, and offered Blaise a grin. “It’s all right, Blaise. We all make mistakes.”

Blaise blinked. “Oh,” she said, sounding as if she wasn’t expecting that. She had no idea how to respond.

“And for what it’s worth?” Ras reached out, hand balled into a fist. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Blaise put her fist against Ras’, giving her a small smile in return; it was lopsided, with a touch of her former self.

A light drizzle began to fall. Miss Dalca held out a hand, and made a face. “Time to get moving, you two,” she said. “Getting caught in this would just add insult to injury.”

They pressed on. Walking in the open air felt so much better than toiling underground; the thought of their goal keeping them going. The sun was growing low, and the light in the sky was fading by the time the familiar lights of Gallatin shone ahead of them.

Carriages lined the drive, private and Archambault-owned alike. The banquet hall doors stood closed, and forbiddingly tall. From inside came applause and muffled cheering.

“Ras!” It was Karson. She raced across the quad, smiling so widely it looked like it ached. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Ras nodded. “Any news?”

“I tried to talk to Inspector Burgin about this, but I’m not sure if it worked. But what are you going to do now?”

For the first time, Blaise looked uncertain, looking between Ras, Karson, and Miss Dalca. “I won’t lie. I never thought this far ahead,” she said. “I just wanted to walk up and punch Lady Renaldt. And, I mean, we could still do that…”

“Tempting,” Miss Dalca said.

Ras shook her head. “Karson, do me a favor? Bring Lady Renaldt out here.”

Karson nodded, and with that, she made her way to the banquet hall. Ras turned to Miss Dalca and Blaise.

“Alright you two, I hope you’re ready for this.”

They nodded, and the banquet doors opened. Lady Renaldt emerged, dressed in a flowing silver gown. Diamonds gleamed at her throat. As soon as she saw the trio, her eyes lit up with surprise. 

Then, she made a move neither of them expected. She lifted the hem of her dress and made a dash forward, rushing past the trio as they were caught off guard. Blaise made to grab at her, as did Miss Dalca, but they only succeeded in tripping over each other.

“Well?” Blaise scowled, staring up at Ras from her position on the slick gravel of the drive. “Go after her!”

Ras nodded, and whipped around. She took a deep breath, and then dashed forward as well, her feet kicking up wet dirt and gravel as she ran after Lady Renaldt, chasing her across the Gallatin campus.

Lady Renaldt was every bit as skilled at running as Ras was, and she lead her the entire way through the campus until they made it to the lake, where Ras had Lady Renaldt cornered on the dock, a paddle canoe tied to it.

As Ras approached her from behind, Lady Renaldt turned around, staring at her with her head inclined.

“Well, Master Thorne. Here we are.” She said, defiance in her voice. Lightning crashed overhead, casting a temporary and ominous glow between the two.

Ras took a step forward, and Lady Renaldt took a step backwards. 

“You can’t honestly expect me to believe this was for the good of the college?” Ras asked, her mint green hair sticking to her face as a result of the rain from above.

“I don’t expect you to believe anything.” Lady Renaldt snapped. “I expect you to put an end to this farce.”

“The only one keeping this farce going is you, Lady Renaldt.” Ras countered. “Schroeder isn’t here to help you now, and I’ve done well for myself here. I’ve got Zaledoan royalty on my side, the word of the Birchmeier Society at my back, plenty of friends who’d be willing to scour an entire continent for me…The list goes on.”

Lady Renaldt’s glare was thunderous. “It’s true, you’ve got…connections.”

“That’s nothing to say of how you feel about me.”

“What would you know of my feelings?”

“You asked me for help twice, and one of those times you could’ve just had me thrown into your mines. Instead, you waited for me to decline. I daresay you think of me more favorably than anybody else here.”

Lady Renaldt bit her lip. “...I would, maybe, regret it, if something happened to you. Possibly.”

“So come on,” Ras took another step forward, holding her hand out even as Lady Renaldt took another step back. “Put a stop to this.”

Lady Renaldt stared. Then, she shook her head. “I can’t, Master Thorne. I won’t. I’m not going to risk imprisonment! I’ll imprison a thousand more children before I let anybody take this away from me!”

Ras frowned as Lady Renaldt retreated back yet again, as though she were afraid of Ras. Unfortunately, she ran out of room on the dock, and she slipped on the slick wood, falling backwards with widened eyes.

Ras rushed forward, reaching out to Lady Renaldt. Lady Renaldt reached back toward Ras, only for their fingertips to brush against each other in futility. Ras was too late, and she watched as Lady Renaldt crashed into the water below.

Unlike when Ras had saved Gonzalez from drowning, Lady Renaldt was already beginning to sink underneath the weight of her dress and accessories, the lavish adornments weighing her down significantly. 

Ras, throwing caution to the wind, leapt over the side of the dock, diving into the lake after Lady Renaldt.

As she neared, her eyes locked with Lady Renaldt’s through the crystal clear water of the lake, and as Ras made to reach for her, the other woman struggled, shaking her head in vehement denial.

Defiant to the end, Lady Renaldt grabbed Ras and shoved her away, forcing the other to watch as she sank to the bottom of the lake and awaited her demise.

Unable to stand being underneath the water anymore, Ras swam to the surface, breaking through with a gasp just as the others arrived.

“Ras!”

Rosario’s voice. Ras turned to see a group of people all having converged on the dock of the lake. Blaise, Miss Dalca, Rosario…all of Ras’ friends, as well, led by Inspector Burgin.

Ras swam over to the dock, and with the help of the others, she was pulled upwards. When she stumbled onto the slick wood, gasping, she nearly collapsed, only to be stabilized by Karson and Gonzalez as they kept her upright.

They led her out of the rain and into the Clemency Building, pushing her into a chair and covering her with a blanket.

“Master Thorne, are you okay?” Miss Dalca asked, eyes widened with surprise at the state she’d found the other in.

Ras took a shaky breath, then offered a smile. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Honest.”

Inspector Burgin cleared her throat.

“Master Thorne, the others have told me everything.” A pause.

“...There is still the graduation ceremony, to be completed by Lord Haberlin.  When you have recuperated, I would hear the story from you, as well as what happened on the dock between you and Lady Renaldt. Until then, go.”

Ras nodded. She didn’t attend Gallatin for this long just to throw it away now. With the rest of her friends in tow, she returned to the Banquet Hall.

A commotion, as Ras entered, followed by everybody else, but then Lord Haberlin strolled onto the stage. “Now, now, everyone,” he said. Slowly, the noise began to die down. “We still have the ceremony to conduct. Our traditions must be maintained, even in the face of adversity. Without further ado, Prime Minister Lady Edith Belke will kindly donate the next foal to be born from her most famous thoroughbred, Sapphires Amidst the Ocean Breeze, to the winner. Prime Minister, would you be good enough to present the prize?”

Lady Edith Belke, a middle-aged woman in a flowing lilac gown, rose smoothly from her seat, stepping onto the stage and picking up the cup.

A ripple of anticipation spread throughout the hall. 

“I am pleased to announce,” said Lord Haberlin, “that Gallatin College has won the competition by a tremendous margin. Congratulations, Gallatin!”

Hartmann, shocked but distractedly smiling, walked up the stage and shook Lady Belke’s hand, lifting the cup aloft. A roar of Gallatin cheering rose, and continued for several minutes.

Lord Haberlin read out the list of graduating Archambault students; after a moment of hesitation, he did the same for the Gallatin graduates. Eventually, the students and guests filed out into the gardens beneath Lady Renaldt’s windows, where marquees and food tables had been set up. Everyone was talking about what had happened, why Lady Renaldt had gone missing, and with others joking about something being in the water. Auguste had been mobbed by a group of Archambault students, demanding to know if she knew something. Clusters of people kept talking at Ras, but it was such an overload that all she could do was smile and nod, let alone hold real conversation. Blaise had returned and was standing tentatively to one side, looking as dazed as Ras; students and teachers alike were eager to speak with her as they were with Ras.

Rosario ducked through guests and approached Ras, giving her a warm hug. “I have no idea what actually happened,” she said, “but I’m glad you’re all right! You’ll explain, won’t you?”

Ras took a deep breath and looked at Rosario. “...In time. But for now, could we just…?”

Rosario nodded. She drew Ras towards the quad, away from the lake and away from the bustling, hectic crowd. Her arm was warm, linked with Ras; the breeze played along their skin as the pair found a bench to sit on, with Ras laying down, head nestled neatly atop Rosario’s lap as the other played with her hair.

There was too much to explain right now; Ras hadn’t even decided if there would be explanations at all. The party continued as the shadows lengthened; despite everything, the guests, teachers, and students alike were determined to at least pretend as though nothing were amiss. The chamber musicians struck up with the Archambault college song, and couple began to move toward the lawn for dancing.

Many passed by Ras and Rosario, and they all made remarks about how peaceful the pair looked, and how adorable they were together. Even Max, with her constant teasing, merely offered the pair well wishes as she passed by with Delacroix in tow.

The dramatics were over—at least for now.

[hpowellsmith]

RO reactions to spouse!MC who comes home one day with a new pet and declares, “This is our new baby, and I won’t be taking any objections!”

I'm assuming in this that it's something they've talked about before, because some characters would have less a cute/cheery reaction if their spouse spontaneously came home with a new pet!

Asher: is a bit taken aback but is delighted by how enthusiastic the MC is

Beaumont: is a bit overcome. They'd bend over the new pet and mutter that it's good to have a new member of the family

Dominique: plays along, going "hi baby I'm Dad", etc etc

Hyacinthe: just overcome with the cuteness of the whole thing. probably gets weepy

Javi: demands that the new pet be introduced gently to their other pets, is a bit paranoid when the pet is new that it's settling in properly, barely registers the new baby thing because they're taking it all Very seriously

Trevelyan: has commentary and opinions about treating pets like people, gets a bit distracted from the pet itself initially

Danelak: a little sardonic but enjoys it; says they never thought they'd be a parent to a kitten etc

Pascha: makes a big fuss over the pet and is very affectionate to the MC and pet, talks about not having pets growing up so it's very exciting for them; the baby thing takes them by surprise but they kind of like it

Rys: really quite taken aback, like "baby? Our baby?? Is MC joking or is this meaning something else?" But would laugh it off in the moment and enjoy the new pet

(not an RO, but I liked it so) Gonzalez: if it's a cuddly animal like a puppy or kitten, picks it up and holds it like a baby, making a big thing of fussing it

Hartmann: tries to make a severe face but can't stop smiling at how funny the MC is

Max: "you'd really feed our baby pet food? Wow"

Freddie: no objections from them, they'd be very excited

Delacroix: the new baby is theirs now. They love it

Karson: snorts but it's clear they find it funny

Blaise: rolls their eyes but later admits they find it funny

Auguste: watches in bafflement

Rosario: joins in, calling it the new princess/prince

Florin: "if that's a baby, we need a nanny" (but would snuggle a pet happily)

[popcultr]

💕

send 💕 and I will tell you some muses of ours I think could work as a ship.

karson winters x liv sunar: these two have always been besties, like they made friends with each other when they both started out on social media. everyone has always shipped them together & their fans are always saying they'd make a cute couple but they are like "no, we're just a couple of pals!!" but plot twist, that's a lie. eventually one of them admits feelings for the other & they become the cutest social media couple EVER!!

quinn bowman x lennon zhao: quinn is a regular at lennon's bar and they like him bc he's a bit different compared to some of the other weird, crusty, old patrons she gets. they love to hear about quinn's adventures and they desperately want to join him on one. she also thinks he's very cute, but she's not told him that yet, he promises to teach her some parkour and lennon is very excited. so, one weekend they meet for parkour training & they are having a great time, then lennon falls over at hurts themselves. quinn comes over to make sure they are okay, they end up sharing a little kiss!!

aria webb x luke mizhari: somehow luke ends up in hospital and he gets treated by aria. luke has a rare burst of confidence, which is unheard of & he gives aria his number, they start to text each other and they organise a date. they go out for a few drinks, luke finds out about aria's ex-husband and he makes it his mission to treat her better than that asshole did but he knows it's going to take some time and a lot of work!!

jett ellison x atticus walsh: they are both single parents!! their children start off as besties, jett's son comes round to atticus' house for a playdate, ofc jett drops him off. the pair lay eyes on each other at atticus' front door & it's just like "oh shit, you're cute". atticus invites jett in for a coffee and the pair get talking to each other, it's a little bit awkward at first, they are both very shy bc this is the first time they'd dated anyone in a long time. but after some help from their respective friendship groups and family members, the pair go on a date and their relationship only grows from there!!

[storyofatlas]

Riot - 3

“Uncle Palòy!” Nitro called as the crew stepped into the hangars.

Palòy turned from Kai, scanning over the group before finding Nitro. He raised his hand, waving him over. “Hey! It’s been a minute!”

Kai watched as Palòy tightly hugged Nitro, and then Nero. Palòy was a big man, much bigger than even Kai. Tall and stout and loud.

He was loudly talking with the brothers before he spotted Kyra. Kyra who was barely over five feet, and while stout herself, nothing compared to the large man.

“And who is this? I don’t think I’ve met you before.”

“Kyra-Lynn.” She said quietly.

Palòy furrowed his brows, he looked at Nitro, “Eh?”

“His eardrums are busted Ky.” Nitro explained, “That’s what life in a shop without ear protection does.”

“This is our cousin Kyra-Lynn.” Nero shouted, much over the top. Kyra winced as Kai rolled his eyes.

“Ah!” Palòy looked back at her, “You must be Kenson’s sister—“

“Cousin.” Kai repeated loudly. “She’s our cousin. My Uncle Karson’s daughter.”

Palòy narrowed his eyes at her, then slowly nodded, “Ah, yes, Karson, that makes more sense.”

“I can’t believe you actually came down for the race!” Nitro said to clear the air. It was clear that Kai was a little irked by the entire experience. Palòy was certainly a character, and it had been a stressful race.

“Of course.” Palòy barked, taken aback, “all I’ve heard on the streets is about this crew! I needed to come see with my own two eyes. Just why is my star racer getting beat by his own brother?”

“Nero races like a little bascht!” Nitro said, looking down at his brother, “and he fights like one too!”

“I almost got him this time.” Nero argued, “One more punch and he was going down!”

“Yeah, sure. I’d put more credits on Kyra-Lynn than you!”

Nero glanced at Kyra, “No offense— but what the hell! Dax is twice her size and you’re telling me that I’ve got less of a chance?!”

“You fight like a rat!” Nitro barked, “Right Ky?”

“Don’t drag me into this.” She sighed, resignedly. These two could be in the middle of a race and still be at each other’s throats about something. And then be best buddies the exact next second. Sometimes she couldn’t keep up.

“Ky knows what she’s doing.” Nitro continued. “You throw your hands out like a twelve year-old boy.”

“At least I’m willing to fight, not just stand on the side and let people trash talk about my family! You would rather—"

“Alright.” Kai interrupted, “Thats quite enough. Go to the race center and confirm your calls. I’m sure Palòy didn’t come to hear your bicker.”

“I came to see which one of you should fly professionally for me next year.” Palòy admitted, “it seems you’re both very levelheaded.”

“Well at least I don’t count on other people to win.” Nitro said with one last dig.

“Go. Race calls. Now.” Kai barked.

“Fine, fine.”

The brothers scampered off, having now shifted to talking crap about Kai-Blaar together. All a joke and yet a bonding exercise at the same time.

Palòy and Kai-Blaar went off to discuss logistics of ships. Kyra left to check on the ships. She had no desire to race professionally. Nitro had done it before coming here. He told her stories when he was drunk.

When she worked on ships, he would sit down nearby. Anyone could tell when Nitro was drunk. He either was way too quiet and hazy, or very talkative, in a way he usually wasn’t. Kyra thought the first time he was just being emotional, until he mentioned he had been drinking.

His last professional race had been a bad one.

Kyra was working on the engine of the RN-23 and Nitro had sat down nearby. Hazily staring off into space.

“You ever get that feeling your in danger?”

Kyra glanced up at him. “Yeah?”

He blinked, “You know, Nero is all about winning . . . That’s the only reason he beats me.”

“Okay?” She looked back at her work, confused about what he was talking about.

“This Riser might as well be a new ship.” He said, his voice slurring, “hell, after my crash.”

His crash. Kyra knew about it, but not the gritty details. Just that it was the reason he didn’t race professionally anymore.

“I keep trying to tell him to slow down, but he don’t listen to me. He’ll be lucky if’n he don’t crash and fly out a windshield. I wish I flew out that damn wind shield and cracked my head open.”

Kyra looked back up at him, “Huh?”

He looked back at her, like he hadn’t seen her there. But she saw a different look in his eyes, he was absently talking to someone else. That definetely wasn’t Kyra. She felt like she shouldn’t be hearing this.

“The sand is different ‘an the rocks. Ya roll hard ‘nough and it dents ya airframe. It locks ya in.”

He patted the frame work in the ship. “If I’da flown out the windshield I’da had a better chance. I got stuck.”

Kyra didn’t look back up at him, staring down at her work. She didn’t want to say something and break him from his trance. She almost didn’t want him to tell her the story.

“My visor shattered, it’s why I grow out my hair.” He brushed it from his face, old white scars ran down his forehead, up into his scalp. Kyra thought it looked like lightning strikes.

“I should be dead.” He said absently. “Sometimes I wish I’s dead.”

Kyra looked up at him. He took another drink from the small bottle in his hands. “Couldn’t fly for a month, being grounded is hard. And when I could I was scared to go too fast. Scared to burn out like a damn star.”

His head lolled back, "I try to tell Nero to slow down, but he won't listen to me. Then he gets into fights with Dax like ain’t nobody in the world give one damn about him. Like he’s invincible.”

He met eyes with Kyra, taking another drink. “Do you think you’re invincible?”

A conversation he would never have had with her in broad daylight, or when he was sober. A question he would never have asked. Kyra put her wrench down. “I know I’m not.”

“Yeah, you race smarter, but ya think you’ve gotta prove yourself.”

Nitro looked at the empty bottle a moment, swirling it in his hand before looking back at her, “I’d rather have you alive than win a damn race. You hear me? Kai don’t care about a trophy, he won’t be mad at ya for not winning.”

Nitro dug around in his coat pocket, lifting another bottle from it. He fumbled with the lid for a moment. Kyra looked skeptically at him, “You probably don’t need that.”

He blinked tiredly, then popped the lid off, “The hell I don’t.”

Kyra remained silent a moment. Nitro peered down at her. “Nero might buy it, but I don’t. I don’t believe your stoic act for one second.”

His voice slurred, he took another drink, “I see right through you. And you’re scared.”

Kyra winced, looking up at him, “Huh?”

Nitro leaned his head back, putting his bottle down. “Ya scared of lettin’ Kai down? Don’t be. He’s not that hell-born aunt of yours.”

Kyra froze, looking up at him, “How do you—“

“I mean what goes through a person’s mind they think they ought to hurt a kid?” Nitro drank again, rambling on as if he hadn't heard her interjection, “Ain’t nobody here you got to prove yourself to. Nobody look at you any different.”

Kyra actively had tears steaming down her face, and she was sure Nitro didn’t notice them. He was slowly drifting off as the alcohol was putting him at ease. Kyra didn’t like the idea of it, being so at ease and unaware.

Nitro must’ve thought differently.

"There's a point where ya deal with enough." Nitro said, slowly drowning the rest of the bottle. "As a kid . . . ya ain't supposed to deal with that stuff. You're too damn young, Ky. I feel bad for ya."

He looked up at her after his empty bottle, registering the tears spilling down her cheeks. "What?"

She hiccuped on a cry, gritting her teeth to try and stop the tears spilling out of her eyes. Nitro furrowed his brows, "Sorry Ky."

She quickly cleared the tears from her eyes, sniffling, "I don't care, it doesn't matter."

She shakily picked up the wrench, about to work again. He set the bottle down beside him. He stared for a moment. " 'm sorry for upsetting you."

Kyra shook her head, fumbling with the wrench and a bolt on the wiring panel, "Nitro, please I don't want to talk about this."

His features softened, he nodded in understanding. He looked back down at the bottle. Kyra put her focus on her work, trying not to let her mind spill back to that place.

He fell asleep there. She didn’t want to wake him up, and have to confront him about what he said. Part of her hoped he forgot. He just forgot about what he said and what he saw and it would never be brought up again.

She didn't like the thought of him drinking. The alcohol dulled his senses until a chaotic mind found peace somewhere in its drunkeness and fell asleep.

The day after he had a hangover, and the day after that was race day. Kyra got a feeling of anxiety in her chest as she saw Dax on the race list.

She climbed in a ship anyways. More determined to prove Nitro wrong than to win. Or to best Dax. She didn’t really care for Dax. But she hated the idea Nitro had, that she was just trying to make them happy. Trying to prove she was worth keeping around.

She hated that he was seeing through her carefully made defenses.

The race started well. No wrecks, no close calls, refueling went quickly and the engine was burning well. She kept trying not to think about the conversation, just fly. Just open up the throttle, put her foot down on the pedal, fly and leave it all in a cloud of dust behind her.

Dax Moza had different ideas.

On the tenth to last lap he was appearing in her mirrors. Kyra recognized the dust cloud, but not the ship, not until he was right up beside her heading into the canyon. And instead of keeping his pace, in a ship much faster than her's, he slowed down.

He slowed down to her speed and edged neck and neck with her. Kyra glanced at him, watching warily. He popped his visor open, looking at her smugly.

He popped the visor back down, and stayed level with her. He could've blown her in a cloud of dust. He could've made it to the canyon first, but no. He had to push her buttons.

She grabbed her gear shift, looking up at the canyon as it approached fast. She needed to slow down to pull the curves. She'd have to fall behind him and break fast when they came out of the canyon. As they approached, she readied to take the corners. But as she slowed down, so did Dax. She got ready to fall behind him and let him take the lead.

But at the last second he pulled back and sent Kyra hurtling into the canyon ahead of him. She didn't have time to look back, she ignored him, focusing on the canyon. The first half of it was the hardest. The second half was just narrow, but it was a mostly straight shot.

Dax followed her closely, too close for comfort. When she came into the straight shot she almost expected him to come barreling over her head, his ship was narrower than her's.

He disappeared in her mirrors. A second later she heard a loud bang and then her system warnings went off. The ship jerked as she lost engine power. She tried to keep it steady, pressing buttons and flipping switches to extinguish the engine fire.

As they came out of the canyon the systems cleared.

"This is Tower to pilots. Be advised of smoke in the canyon, enter cautiously."

Kyra looked back, seeing Dax's ship once more. She paused, narrowing her eyes. Guns on a race ship?

Her ship jerked once more, she righted it, adjusted her gears and started putting space in between them.

"Anyone got visual on the canyon?" Nitro asked as their radio crackled.

Kyra checked her mirrors, Dax had reappeared behind her, and he was closing in. Kyra tapped into her radio. "I think Dax has guns on his ship, he lit my engines up in the canyon. I'm clear now, the fire is out."

There was a pause as Kai tapped in, "Kyra you pull back away from him."

"I'm trying." She responded, swerving just in time for Dax to blow past her, "But I think he's tailing me on purpose."

Kai tapped in, "I'm radioing the Tower to call foul play. Standby."

Kyra looked down at her gauges for a moment, then something clipped the wing of her ship. She felt adrenaline rise in her stomach as the ship tilted towards the sand. She pushed the thrusters, jerking the controls into a roll, and up. She recovered, then flew over Dax, pulling back.

They blew past the race line. The crowd was jumping up and down, yelling and screaming. And it was all white noise compared to the thrusters. The ship was already getting pushed to the limit having to run after the thrusters had been burnt. This was getting dangerous.

Every attempt she made at pulling back, only egged Dax on more. They were so far ahead of all the other racers that it almost didn't matter. They came to the canyon again, Dax taunting her. She managed to back up far enough that she got in behind him. The next lap she wasn't so lucky.

It was enough stress to fly in a race. It was more so to have to evade a tail on top of flying. Dax was relentless, getting way too close for comfort.

When they entered the canyon, he went first. He disappeared around the last bend. Kyra lost visual, flying ahead, until her cameras blared an alert. He was behind her again.

She heard pings as bullets tore into the engine door. She couldn't see Dax, she couldn't shake him in the narrow canyon. And then something exploded. All but a few of her guages jumped into the red. Dax eased up on her ship, clipping the back as he came out of the canyon. The ship started into a downward spiral into the desert floor. She tried to extinguish the fire, but it seemed to be everywhere.

She tried to pull out of the spiral, and she couldn't. As the floor got closer she tried to shut the systems down and reset, the fire were raging, she could feel the heat from the engine door.

She reached up for the ejection handles and pulled.

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

Nitro felt his stomach drop as a pillar of black smoke rose from the canyon. He tapped into his radio. "Kai, you got a visual on the canyon?"

"No." Kai responded, "What's wrong?"

"Look North."

It didn't take long. "Holy gra, what is that?"

"This is Tower to West Crew. Requesting confirmation for West 3 checkpoint clearance."

Kai went off the radio for a second. Nitro entered the canyon. He beat Kai there. His ship skidded to a dead stop in the sand. It was Kyra. He threw his airframe open, pulling from the buckles and jumping out of the ship.

Everything was on fire.

He climbed up on the side of Kyra's wing, tugging at the emergency lock for the airframe. It didn't budge. He looked around, then ran back to his ship. He returned with a crowbar, and jabbed it under the frame to release the bolts.

He had two of the four locks broken when Kai arrived, and undrilled the last two. Nitro hopped in first. Kyra was struggling with the belts, with just one hand, her other laid limply in her lap. The engine door was melting. Nitro cut the belts loose with a knife, then cut her oxygen supply loose and heaved Kyra up.

Kai helped pull her from the ship, and then lower her to the sand. Kai took a fire extinguisher to the ship, while Nitro folded up his flight jacket, resting it beneath Kyra's head. He gently pulled her helmet away, setting it in the sand beside her.

She was very unconscious.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit . . ." He cursed under his breath, "C'mon Ky."

He checked her pulse, finding one, it was thread. "I got a pulse!" He yelled back at Kai.

Kai was having little luck with the fire. "Good. Take her back to the bay and send Griff out."

Nitro looked down at her, then up at Kai's ship he had brought out. He gently picked Kyra up, laying her on the makeshift bed in the ship before flying back to the bay.

Griff went back out with that ship as Nitro took Kyra to the med bay. Doctor Quinn checked over her, he needed Nitro's help to get her race smocks off so he could listen to her heartbeat, and lungs. Nitro was internally panicking.

His crash was bloody, it nearly cost him his life, it was a miracle it hadn't cost him his livelihood or a limb.

There was blood oozing from a gash on her arm. Her wrist was swelling. Her breaths were coming in raspy and labored. She looked way too small in the med bed.

Uncle Kenson burst through the door, talking on the radio with Kai. “Bullet holes?? Where would those even come from? They’re new? You’re sure? I’ll call the Race Marshall.”

He stepped over by Nitro, "Did anyone see it?"

"No, her cameras will tell us more." Nitro said.

Kenson paused, looking over at him. Nitro's face was more pale than a sheet of snow. Kenson sighed, "You should go lie down, you don't look too good."

"I'm fine." He said resolutely, "Kyra-Lynn needs me."

"Kyra-Lynn is unconscious, I'll wake you up when she wakes up."

"No, Uncle, you don't understand." Nitro stated, trying to level out his voice, "She woke up in the hospital alone, what's she going to think if she wakes up here alone?"

Kenson paused, "What do you mean?"

"Imagine waking up in a hospital you've never been to, and you wake up alone. You're just a kid." He muttered, looking anxiously over Kyra's wounds, "Where's your family? Where's your mom, your dad? And the nurse staff tells you they're dead. I don't know, maybe you're left to figure it out yourself. Because you're alone . . ."

"Nitro." Kenson said softly.

"Grevs." He cussed, gritting his teeth as tears threatening his eyes, "You know how I would feel? I do. I can't stop having nightmares about it. It scares the hell outta me."

The doc looked up at Kenson, "I think we should at least take her to the clinic, it's where we took Nitro when . . ."

"No, gods no, don't take her to the clinic." Nitro begged, then turned to Kenson, "If you take her you have to let me go with her, I won't let her go alone."

Kenson looked skeptically at him, but sighed. He looked at the doc, "How bad is it?"

The doc shrugged, "It's hard to tell. There's no since gambling with things like this."

Kenson paused a moment, looking at her radio as it started buzzing with messages, "The race can wait, take her." He looked pointedly at Nitro, "And you take care of yourself. I understand you want to be there for her, but you need to watch out for yourself too. Got it?"

"Yes, uncle."

He nodded, "Go. I'll take care of the reports."

Doc nodded, gesturing for Nitro to grab the other side of the bed, they started rolling it off to the clinic. Palòy walked up beside Kenson, "I've never known Nitro to be so anxious."

Kenson was busy typing into his radio, transmitting a message, "When it comes to family, he and his brother have two very different approaches," Kenson responded, "That's for sure."

[pendinganchor]

so an update no one asked for:

i have been talking about billy non-stop since i rejoined tumblr because the antis have me fuming and she still doesn’t like billy that much but she finally understands him and i’m just here like “wow people can learn *wipes tear*” (like i’m not forcing anyone to like him but some people need to learn how harmful the things they say about billy are)

i have not worked on this fic but i have some more ideas jotted down and i’m just rubbing my hands together like “i cannot wait for people to be angry in my mentions when i get around to writing and posting this”

Look, I want them to smooch as any of you people in the mungrove tag, but I also think that Billy needs (really, really needs) a friend. He's such a lonely character. He must have such stupid ideas about his self worth to rationalise the abuse he's stuck in.

I need Eddie throwing a massive fit when Billy casually mentions the date with Karen and Billy's so nonplussed?? What, is he jealous or something?? While Eddie's like. What the fuck. What the actual fuck (I'm not mad at you. It's just that I know you want attention, but that's bad attention).

Someone who shakes Billy's shoulders and tells him that there's nothing he could have done to warrant the abuse Neil puts him through and the things he blames himself for are things that no child should bare the blame of.

And I totally agree that friends are no substitute for proper therapy, but. Eddie being the someone that puts the seed of hope in Billy's mind. The one who makes him stop and think about how This Is Not Normal And I Want It To Change.

[enduracarrotchips]

YouTuber AU

Hello welcome to Dating Scandal but with Twitter Involved (nightmare)

A little exposition here: 

Link, Zelda, Sidon, Revali, and Riju are the most popular group of youtubers on the internet and have a huge fanbase that likes to theorize, draw fanart, and write fanfiction about them. Disclaimer, I don’t actually interact with real-person fandoms myself lol there’s just too much potential for drama and misunderstandings & they’re always bound to end in a dumpster fire but that is sort of what this au is about so.

Impa, Mipha, Daruk, and Urbosa are family friends that appear in a lot of their videos/streams. 

(This is an art blog I swear)

enter vidcon 20XX

Link: 

blows stuff up/sets stuff on fire with a side of cooking vids and gaming

most are filmed outside, he does those challenges where you try to cook stuff with limited ingredients/materials

has the largest fanbase of all of them, but not the most…intimidating.

does a lot of collab videos, mostly with Impa, Daruk, and Riju because they have similar interests/channels, but Zelda appears in his videos and is seen filming and the stans read too far into it

simps. i’m pointing at you.

Most popular videos are “shield surfing on rock!��how I broke my leg” “can Daruk eat Impa’s motorcycle?” and “how to inhale ranch dressing.”

Twitter handle is @ arsonistslullabye because he’s a hozier fan

45m subs

Zelda:

theories, analyses, conspiracies, and the occasional e x p e r i m e n t

she once got link to eat a frog for 50 bucks.

most people argue that she’s better than more popular YouTubers because she actually has quality content to give to the world and she has a lot of defensive supporters

She used to get a lot of hate before Urbosa spoke up about it and scared the bejeezus out of everyone

has an actual posting schedule

“Happy Sunday everyone, it’s Zelda Hyrule and today we will be talking about cryptozoology and why blupees exist, you cowards.”

Twitter handle is @ zeldaofhyrule and she is pan. just so you know. One of those calm extroverts that mystify me to this day.

18m subs

Sidon:

fashion/life hacks. Like gourmet troom troom but if they were real people.

Has the 2nd largest fanbase

most of them are girls

Sidon has a boyfriend though, which he told everyone at VidCon a few years ago

cue the drama and shipping and the entire fandom trying to figure out who the boyfriend is. A well known reddit thread emerged that presented the common guesses being Link, Sidon, and Zelda.

“But it can’t be Zelda, Sidon’s gay.”

“I’m not in the fandom but I thought Zelda was a boy??”

“Did you just say Sidon? Is that a typo? Are you saying that Sidon’s dating himself?”

Sidon x Sidon became a fandom joke.

Don’t look at me I’m just setting up all the worldbuilding. every fandom has their weird dark sides and Sidon x Sidon is the Linkcest of the Sidon YT fandom.

Mystery BF is actually Bazz, a pretty inconspicuous guy who appeared in a few of his videos. This was confirmed a year ago, but everyone still ships him with other YouTubers because they’re convinced he was lying to throw them off his scent. He really can’t catch a break and this is why you should not ship real people.

Twitter handle is @ officialprincesidon

says “beguiling” a lot

21m subs ᕙ( ͡❛ ▿ ͡❛)ᕗ

Mipha:

Sidon’s sister, hasn’t posted a single video but just has the channel for show because she appears in so many of Sidon’s videos as a model for his makeup tutorials and whatnot

has 328k for that. Everyone loves her, she’s great. @ mimipha

Revali:

Link’s sworn rival

Link thinks they’re friends

He kept popping up in link’s Twitter threads and making snarky comments until zelda called him out for not even following link (so why was he stalking his acc) which kept the Twitter drama to a minimum

Revali was the catalyst of a few popular memes and that’s where most of his subs come from.

drags link into a few challenges that always get a ton of views because of how competitive they get

“ITS JUST ASININE” is a running joke that everyone tries to get him to say. His @ is itsjustasinine as well

Urbosa is the only person who can win an argument with him

5m subs and growing rapidly. newer to youtube than everyone else.

Impa:

Doesn’t have a channel she’s just a mutual friend of Mipha, Zelda, and Link

Rides a motorcycle, so she is used in a few of Link’s videos.

@ ihaveamotorcycle because she thinks having a motorcycle is a personality trait. the most unruly on Twitter when it comes to replying to fan’s stuff, leaking upcoming videos and generally causing chaos.

Mipha’s girlfriend. That’s how she met Zelda and Link.

Urbosa:

Is actually a model, but she has a ton of YouTuber friends because she’s known Zelda since birth.

when she entered the youtube community she didn’t realize she would be adopting like 15 children

5m subs. her videos are professional & related to her modelling career. @ urbosasfury

I feel like she would do unboxing vids. I’m not sure what she’s unboxing.

Daruk

Just a friend of Link’s, fun guy. yells a lot. once ate a rock and had no reaction.

people are scared of him for that reason

Riju:

yoga & gymnastics & “ha look at how flexible I am its eAsY” videos

you know the type

she also does reactions and is sponsored by save the sand seals charities which she is very enthusiastic about. She’s also Urbosa’s niece and the only minor in the gang (15). I like to think that the champions YT community is actually not creepy so everyone respects her a ton

doesn’t post frequently, she mostly appears in Link’s videos to jump out of airplanes or whatever. And sometimes Zelda’s if she’s interested in the topic. 500k subs, but she’s always really popular when she appears in Link’s videos.

VidCon:

In the months leading up to VidCon, some fans on the internet made a few discoveries: first of all, that the inside of Link’s house is painted green. This is a big deal because all of his videos are filmed outside either in his backyard or on trips that he and the brosquad go on to do…whatever bros do. explosions. idk. The point is he had some announcement about VidCon and filmed it inside. Only the wall and a potted plant were shown.

However, the colour was similar to the the shade of Zelda’s living room. Fans dug through years and years of old videos and found a clip of Zelda walking through a hallway, where there was an open door and a glimpse of a houseplant.

There were 2 types of responses to the theory:

“They could just be roommates guys calm down”

“and they were ROOMMATES?”

others pointed out that Link could just not have a house and had to crash in Zelda’s

Some guy on reddit claimed he had a botany degree and declared that the houseplants in the clips were not of the same genus. Normal people pointed out that the plant would have grown 4 years between the clips and would look considerably different.

#Zelink trended on twitter for a while and people posted other old clips from both of their channels and the frog video blew up again

Impa retweeted a post tagged as #zelink with “rofl” and later publicly apologized for causing confusion.

Fans noticed that in the “can a motorcycle drive over my arm” (it was clickbait he’s fine) episode 2 years ago, Link was eating out of a paper lunch bag with his name written on it in handwriting that a few people claimed to look like Zelda’s, leading people to believe that she had packed him a lunch.

However, this theory was shot down with the counterargument that Zelda can’t cook. although. i mean how much skill do you need to make a sandwich.

No one knows what tumblr is doing at this time

Zelda wore a scarf in her “Save the Sand Seals” video that matched identically to the scarf Link wore when he travelled to Hebra to film a shield surfing video, but it’s been debated wether it’s actually the same scarf or not.

Neither Zelda nor Link has spoken up about the theories, and besides Impa’s one slip on twitter, neither has any of their friends. Zelda received a lot of backlash for the assumption that she was dating Link because he has a lot of delusional fans that didn’t want her to “steal their man” or whatever the hell that type of fan would get mad about

Oh yea and bolson & karson run a zelink fanpage on twitter sorry I forgot about that

after that whole mess, everyone was even more anticipant of VidCon in the hopes that some of their questions would be answered.

The whole batch went to VidCon this year: Link, Impa, Daruk, and Riju are a gang while Sidon and Mipha go together and Zelda & Revali each go separately. Urbosa is there for supervision moral support

Zelda has always been much better at dodging questions that she doesn’t want to answer than anyone else, so her Q&A went without a hitch. When asked to confirm the rumours she said “which one?” and then moved on to the next question (without actually confirming any rumours).

Link is generally a more awkward person but eventually said that he had filmed the video in Zelda’s house because it was nicer and didn’t realize it would cause such an uproar. Fans were disappointed, but Bolson claimed he saw Link and Zelda exiting the hotel elevator on the same floor after Link’s Q&A session. No one believed him.

Fans went back to theorizing over who Link, Zelda, and Sidon were all dating, because apparently they can’t just be dating unknown people and have to be with other YouTubers

Sidon and Bazz got engaged about a week after VidCon, making at least 4 preteen girls cry

actually try 4 million

Sidon x Sidon made a brief comeback but Sidon spoke up about his fandom for the first time ever on twitter and told everyone that no, he was not dating himself. eventually, everyone settled down and accepted that none of them were in a relationship save for a few loud fans.

Link and Zelda still got the occasional “when will you tell us who you’re dating?” comment but most of them were joking and the people who still hardcore shipped them were generally frowned upon. Zelda’s popularity went up after VidCon and she regained the 200k subscribers she’d lost after the first theory dropped.

Two months after VidCon, Link posted a video titled “Zelda and I’s House Tour!” and gave around 45 million people a heart attack

as revealed in the video, they had actually been dating since they were 16 and everyone’s just a fool.

the potted plant is named Hestu.

[vassia-sparta]

The Green-eyed monster is released

Dr. Connor Rhodes and Dr. Kate Karson (OC) have been friends since they first met on Connor's first day back in Chicago, but never felt brave enough to reveal their true feelings to one another. When Dr. James Lanik taunts Connor about his relationship with Kate, will our beloved Cardio resident step up and claim what he wants?

(Gifs not mine, I found them on Tumblr and inspiration hit me. I own nothing but my OC Dr. Kate Karson and the plot. )

Kate POV

Another day, another shift. I walked through the familiar doors of Gaffney Medical Center’s Emergency Department, letting my eyes scan the entire room. We were relatively empty today, so things looked to be going slow.

“Hey Maggie, how are we looking today?” I greeted the head nurse and friend of mine as I walked up to her office.

“We’ve only had two incoming so far today, so things look really calm.”

“I hope that lasts,” I nodded, making my way towards the doctor’s lounge to leave my bag and coat and prepare for my shift. On my way there, I spotted Connor talking to Dr. Lanik right by the lounge, and Connor looked ready to punch him. Then again, Dr. Lanik always had that effect on people. I had yet to meet anyone who didn’t feel like beating the hell out of him after spending five minutes in his presence.

“Good morning gentlemen, how are you doing today?” I smiled, keeping my gaze on my friend.

“Hey Kate, just fine,” Connor smiled at me.

“Better now that you are here Dr. Karson,” Dr. Lanik smirked, and I tried really hard not to roll my eyes at him. Everyone knew that Dr. Lanik was a flirt, and a bad flirt too. He used the cheesiest lines any woman had ever heard, and he tried them on any woman he deemed worthy of him, doctors and nurses included.

I ignored him and went to my locker to put my things away. As I closed my locker and pulled on my stethoscope, I heard the ambulance sirens closing in.

“So much for a calm day,” I sighed, running out to tend to whoever had come to our door.

Connor POV

I was trying to explain to Dr. Lanik about the extra supplies we had to order for the hybrid OR when Kate arrived, all smiles and joyful energy. Seeing her there gave me the courage to withstand our idiotic Head of Trauma for a few more minutes.

And just as I was about to get away from him, he just HAD to go and piss me off even more.

“You two a thing?”

I paused, not sure I had heard correctly. Had he actually asked me that?

“What’s it to you?” I responded to his question, feeling prote4ctive of my friend.

“Give me a heads up when she dumps you,” he smiled that smug smile of his before he walked away, leaving me a lifeless statue.

One sentence and all the good vibes I had in me flew away. Did this idiot enjoy sucking the life out of everyone around him, leaving them miserable and grumpy?

I only realized I had left my mind drifting on what was the best way to kill that idiot without getting caught, when Will came up next to me and nudged me, bringing me out of my troubled thoughts.

“Hey, earth to Connor, are you there?”

I shook my head to clear it, a frown slipping on my face.

“Yeah, just great,” I grumbled, trying once more to focus on the charts of my patients. Honestly, it was like I was trying to read in a foreign language, I was so upset.

“What happened man, what did Lanik say that made you so mad? If looks could kill, you’d have murdered him three times over by now,” my friend chuckled.

“He actually asked me to let him know when Kate dumps me,” I scoffed, the urge to punch the insufferable idiot growing as I thought about him getting anywhere near her.

“But I thought you and Kate are just friends, or at least that is what you both keep on insisting.”

“We are Will, it’s the idea of Lanik even thinking he is worthy of Kate that bothers me,” I defended.

“Well, you never know. She might actually like him,” Will shrugged.

I turned to glare at the red-haired doctor, suddenly having the urge to punch him too.

“Seriously Will, Kate with Lanik?”

“Like I said, you never know. He might have hidden talents,” my friend wiggled his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes at him, the very idea so surreal, it might as well be part of a fantasy movie.

“The Kate that I know would get sick to the very idea of Lanik even touching her.”

“Well, you know Kate as your friend, not as a woman. Who knows, she might actually like him. After all, it’s none of your business who she dates. It’s not like you have a romantic interest in her, right?” the former plastic surgeon asked pointedly.

“We’ve been through this a hundred times Will, and the answer is still no,” I pointed out.

“Okay then, let Lanik try his luck, he and Kate might be good together,” Will shrugged as he walked away, leaving me to fume on my own. I guess Nat had hit him on the head last night, there was no other explanation for his ridiculous suggestions.

____________

Around midday, I finally took a break from my patients and tried to track down Kate, hoping she had a few minutes to spare and have lunch with me.

I looked around the ED and the surgery floor, but there was no sign of her.

“Hey Maggie, have you seen Kate?” I asked when I reached the nurses’ desk.

“Yeah, she went to the cafeteria about 10 minutes ago, Dr. Lanik asked her to have lunch together.”

I paused, not sure if our head nurse was playing tricks on me.

“Maggie, Kate and I are just friends,” I reminded her.

“Ah ok, ‘cause I think Kate might actually like Dr. Lanik,” our head nurse shrugged, and I felt as if a bucket of cold water was dropped on me.

“I don’t really have a say in it Maggie; Kate is a grown woman, she is free to do whatever she wants,” I shrugged.

“And whoever she wants,” Maggie added.

I walked away, choosing not to answer to Maggie’s teasing. All of our friends enjoyed teasing both me and Kate that we liked each other more than friends, and every time we laughed it off. I wasn’t about to rise to Maggie’s taunting, not after hiding my true feelings for so long.

_____________

Kate POV

“Nat, what you’re suggesting is completely idiotic, I can’t do that!”

“But it’s the only way to find out if Connor really wants you. We have to make him jealous to see if he reacts, and Lanik is the perfect candidate!”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair in frustration. For the past half hour, Natalie and April had been trying to convince me to accept going out with Dr. Lanik, only to see if Connor would get jealous and do something about it. But they were forgetting one crucial part: Connor was already in a relationship with Ava Bekker, his colleague and rival in the Cardio department.

“Nat, Connor sees me only as a friend, and I’m happy with that. Can’t we leave it at that and focus on something more pleasant?”

“If he sees you only as a friend, then why is he freaking out every time a cute guy speaks to you? Do you remember how he reacted when you and Kelly Severide went out to dinner?” April pointed out.

“That was because he was worried Kelly might break my heart. Everyone knows he’s a womanizer. And in any case, Kelly and I never had anything.”

“And yet, whenever Kelly comes in to talk to you, I see Connor glaring at him, even if he’s trying to be all stealthy about it,” Nat commented. “To me, that sounds like he’s got a crush, and a big one at that.”

“You’re imagining things girls, there’s nothing there.”

“Then why did he freak out today when Lanik asked him to notify him when you were available?” Nat questioned, raising her eyebrow as she stared me down.

“What?” I turned to Nat.

“When you came in today, Lanik was with Connor-”

“Yeah I remember, I greeted them both,” I nodded.

“Right. And when you passed by, Lanik asked Connor if you two are a thing,” April offered.

“That’s right, and when Connor didn’t reply, Lanik merely asked for Connor to let him know when you dumped him,” Nat added.

“Great story girls, you two should be writing scenarios for soap operas,” I rolled my eyes at them.

“They’re right, I heard it too,” Maggie jumped in, making me groan.

“Come on Mags, I thought you were more mature than our two little matchmakers here.”

“I’m just saying I saw him fuming when Lanik leered at you,” our head nurse shrugged.

“Well of course he would, he’s my friend and he cares about me. It doesn’t mean he’s got a crush on me. And you all seem to forget that he’s dating Ava Bekker.”

“They’re not, at least not anymore,” April shook her head. “He’s been avoiding her for the past few weeks.”

“That he has, Doris can confirm it.”

“Ah okay, if the head gossiper of the hospital can confirm it, then it’s okay,” I scoffed.

“Never doubt the observant eyes of the nurses,” Maggie poked her finger at me.

“I don’t, but not on every occasion,” I shook my head.

“Then why not try this, see if we are right?” April challenged.

I sighed in defeat, seeing how I would never get away from them.

“Okay, I will,” I nodded, accepting my fate. “I’m going to flirt with Lanik to see if Connor will react. But when he doesn’t-”

“He will,” Nat hurried to reassure me.

“Alright, IF he doesn’t,” I looked at all three of them, “you guys must never bring up this subject again, understood?”

“Okay,” April nodded, as did Nat. Maggie just shrugged.

“Alright, how do we do this?” I asked my friends.

“I have a plan,” Maggie smiled, gathering us all close to her.

_______________

Around midday, I decided to put the girls’ plan to work. Since it was the time that most people went to get something to eat, chances were Lanik would be there, Connor as well. Although I had to admit this was definitely immoral, it was a great way to clear the air and perhaps help me get some closure over my crush on Connor, maybe even move on with my life (definitely not with Lanik though).

I had fallen for Connor without even realizing it, however cliché that sounded. From the first day he came in, riding on the gurney doing chest compressions on that man, he had managed to leave his mark on everyone, one way or another. It had nothing to do with his good looks or the money he had from his family; it was his drive, the passion he had every time he tried to save a patient. He gave his everything into being a doctor and did whatever he could to save a life, even if it got him into trouble sometimes. He wasn’t perfect, not by a longshot, but to me, he was.

With renewed resolve I walked up to the nurses’ station and left the last of my notes, noticing that Dr. Lanik was within earshot.

“Maggie, I’m going to get something to eat, if anyone needs me I’ll be in the cafeteria.”

“You got it Dr. Karson,” Maggie nodded, winking at me when Dr. Lanik wasn’t watching.

I kept my cool and walked to the double doors that led to the food area. The place was filling quickly so I made my way to the line, greeting friends and colleagues as I did. I picked up my lunch and, just as I was about to pay for it, a voice interrupted me.

“I’ll get that.”

I turned and found Dr. Lanik standing behind me, a supposedly seductive smile on his face.

“Oh, there’s no need for that Dr. Lanik,” I tried to stop him, but he shook his head before I could finish my sentence.

“It’s my pleasure. I do ask that you sit with me though.”

“Of course, lead the way,” I nodded, feeling so disgusted with myself. Focus on the outcome, it’s not like you’re gonna have to kiss this moron I thought, and took some comfort from that.

He paid for both our lunches and led me to one of the tables near the windows that overlooked the small park next to the hospital. I sat with my back towards the door, so I wouldn’t be affected if I saw Connor coming in. I had to remain focused on Lanik, seduce him in the most discreet way. I was sure the nurses that were taking their lunch right now had their eyes and ears focused on any possible gossip source, and I was not going to taint my reputation by acting all flirty towards my boss. The gossip mills had long memories around here, and it took a lot of effort to get rid of the label they’d stick on you.

“You know, it has been so long that I’ve wanted to have lunch with you Dr. Karson,” Dr. Lanik started, that ever-present smirk of his making me wanna punch him right on the nose. I held myself back though, hoping to hit two birds with one stone and maybe put this little turd in his proper place as well as figuring out if Connor had any romantic feelings for me.

“It’s Kate, and why didn’t you just ask me Dr. Lanik?”

“It’s James, and I thought you were involved with Dr. Rhodes,” the idiot shrugged, picking at his pasta. “I didn’t want to invade foreign waters.”

“Connor and I are just friends, he’s with Dr. Bekker,” I shook my head, smiling at my idiotic boss.

“That may be, but he sure is protective of you.”

“Aren’t all friends protective of each other?” I shrugged. “Besides, he’s probably like that because he saw what I was like after my last relationship.”

“What happened?”

“Let’s just say that the guy enjoyed having several ladies to please him at the same time while pretending he wanted to marry me.”

“He was an idiot then, having a lovely lady like you and trying to hook up with others. If I had a girl like you, I would never let her go,” he winked at me, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“Well, he’s history, so let’s not focus on him, he’s not even worth talking about. How about you James, you got anyone in your life right now?” I smiled softly, hoping he took this as flirting.

“Nope, my busy work schedule won’t give me much time. Not to mention it’s difficult to date anyone who cannot understand the kind of pressure we are under.”

“Indeed, it’s very challenging for anyone who has not been through a typical day in the ED to understand why sometimes we have to stay here late, or why we have to answer a call in the middle of the night. Literal lives are at stake, and it’s up to us to save them.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we cannot enjoy the finer things in life. After all,” he smiled that disgusting smile of his, “we have earned it.”

“We certainly have,” I agreed, smiling back.

I noticed a figure in black scrubs moving towards us, and got ready for the big showdown.

“Dr. Karson, make I speak with you for a moment?” Connor asked, his eyes focused on me, shining with anger.

“Oh, hey Connor,” I smiled at my friend. “Sorry, I’m having a conversation with James, is it an emergency?”

Connor seemed taken aback that I had used Lanik’s first name, and I even caught a glimpse of the idiot’s face. He was smug, smiling such a big smile that it was a wonder it didn’t hurt his face.

Connor kept staring at me, his lips pressed so thin they were barely visible.

“No, it’s fine, no need to interrupt your lunch. I’ll see you later,” my friend growled, then turned and left without even saying goodbye.

Though I wanted to jump up and down, I kept my composure and turned to smile at Lanik once more.

“What got into him?” I shrugged, giggling a bit.

“He’s probably jealous that you preferred to stay here with me,” Lanik smirked, and I forced myself to chuckle.

“Well, it would be rude to just get up and leave, after all we’re having a conversation, aren’t we?”

“Oh yes,” the idiot leaned closer to me, “we certainly do.”

A shrill noise came from his coat pocket, making us both jump.

Saved by the bell, literally, I thought.

He pulled the pager from his pocket and checked it, cursing under his tongue.

“It’s an emergency, they need me upstairs in the OR. I’m sorry I have to leave you like this.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” I nodded. “We can continue another time,” I smiled the sweetest smile I could, feeling sick that I stooped that low. It’s for a greater cause, suck it up, I scolded myself.

“We definitely will,” Dr. Lanik smiled before he rushed off to whoever had been calling him.

As soon as he was out of sight I leaned back on my chair, taking a few deep breaths to calm my erratic heartbeat. A smile formed on my lips. The plan had worked. Connor had shown interest. Now it was time to move even further, see how he would react.

________

The next few days I pushed the plan even more, spending more time with Dr. Lanik any chance I got, either having lunch with him, consulting him on various cases, or even discussing some changes that could be done around the ED. He barely even realized it when I convinced him about getting an additional vending machine for the waiting room. Maggie said it was only a matter of time before I made him my slave.

Connor, on the other hand, was getting angrier every time he saw me with Lanik. He barely spoke to me, and even then it was only for a case. Nat and April were certain that he was about to cave in. I, on the other hand, had a different opinion.

I had seen how Dr. Bekker had noticed our drifting apart, and had wasted no time in slipping in the space that was left. The two of them had been seen leaving together every night, and last night I saw Ava smirking at me when she and Connor left, his arm entwined with hers.

This morning though, when I saw them arrive together, was the final straw. I walked up to Maggie and April, already feeling tired despite sleeping for a full night.

“I’m pulling the plug on the plan,” I announced, and they both looked up at me sharply.

“We are about to hit the jackpot and now you’re getting cold feet?” April sighed, exasperated.

“Well it’s not about my cold feet, it’s about how warm Dr. Bekker’s feet got last night. I saw her and Connor leave together yesterday, and this morning they arrived together, in Connor’s car. I think it’s safe to say the whole jealousy plan pushed him in her waiting arms.”

“You don’t know that,” Maggie argued. “Maybe he’s doing her a favor, maybe her car broke down.”

“Yeah, he’s doing her a favor alright,” I sighed. “The point is, I was right all along. Connor is not interested in me, at least not in a romantic way.”

“Then why is he so upset over you hanging around with Lanik for the past few days?”

“Because he is my friend and is worried over me being around an absolute moron,” I shrugged at them.

“Girl you are either too blind to see how he stares at you or too stubborn to admit it,” Maggie huffed, her eyes shining.

“I am neither blind nor stubborn, in fact I think it’s the first time in a while I’ve been clear-headed about this. The plan is off, I’m putting an end to it as soon as possible.”

“Just one more day, will that hurt you?”

“Probably,” I nodded at April. “Lanik is all hot and bothered, and I can only push him away and try to keep him close at the same time for so long. He’s going to want more, and I’d rather die than give in to him.”

“One day,” Maggie insisted. “If nothing happens today, we’ll find you some way to dump Lanik without getting you in trouble with him.”

“Okay, but just one day, and not a moment more,” I looked pointedly at them.

_______________

Around midday, I was making my way down the corridors towards a patient’s room when I caught sight of Dr. Lanik making his way to me, all smiles and a smugness in his step that made me want to punch him. I braced myself, hoping to end all this quickly and painlessly before things got out of hand.

“Hello Kate, shall we go to lunch, I’m kind of famished.”

“I actually have to go check on two more patients, but I’ll meet you down there,” I smiled at him, then walked away before he could answer.

After I finished with my patients I made my way to the cafeteria, pausing when I saw Connor sitting on a table with Ava, her touching his hand as they ate.

I pretended not to see them and made my way to the line, picked up a salad and walked to where Dr. Lanik was sitting. His face lit up when he saw me, and he pulled his tray to make space for me.

“Thank goodness, I thought you had forgotten about me,” he said teasingly.

“If I start forgetting things like that it means I’m in serious trouble,” I chuckled as I sat across from him.

“So,” he spoke, leaning a bit closer to me, “I was wondering if we could go for drinks tonight after the shift. You get off at 9, right?”

I paused, giving myself some time to swallow my bite before I replied.

“Sure, that sounds great. Shall we meet at Molly’s?”

“No, that place is way too casual for my taste,” he shook his head, his face scrunching. “I was thinking more of that bar on Arlington, it opened up a few weeks ago and it’s said to be great. Upscale, clean, and with a great crowd.”

“I’ve never gone there, but okay, doesn’t hurt to go to new places,” I shrugged.

“Awesome. Want me to pick you up from your place?”

I panicked, but got a hold of myself quickly enough.

“No need to bother, we can meet there. Say, around 10?”

“Great,” he smiled a smug smile, taking a sip of his Coke.

We continued the rest of the meal chatting about various things, mostly the gossip he heard from the nurses, and his obsession about getting the board to agree with his opinions. I got a headache from how self-centered he was. Did he think of anyone else but himself?

I returned to the ED just as we got the call for two car crashes with several victims. That kept us busy for the rest of the afternoon, three of them going into surgery to control the internal bleeding and set broken bones.

By the time I was done with the last surgery, it was 5 in the afternoon. I made my way to the room adjacent to the operating theater to clean up and get out of my sterile clothes. As I pulled off the surgery gown, Connor entered the room, still in his own surgery gown.

“How did it go with the woman?” I asked as he pulled off his gown and set out to wash his hands.

“She made it through. It was kind of tricky controlling the bleed, but we managed to save her spleen.”

“Good,” I nodded. “Her husband had three broken ribs and an internal bleed in the liver, but we managed to fix it just in time. I expect he’ll make a full recovery as well.”

“Wonderful,” Connor replied, not even glancing at me.

“Okay, what is it with you these past few days?” I huffed, feeling tired with all the silence and the way he had been ignoring me.

“What do you mean?” my friend asked, still very intent on his hands.

“You avoid me, you barely even talk to me let alone look at me. Did I do something to offend you?”

“No, I just thought you were too busy hanging out with Lanik. Word around the hospital is that you two are an item now. And here I thought you hated his guts.”

“We just talk Connor, there’s nothing going on between us.”

“Oh, you just talk, is that why he has that leering smile every time he sees you, or why he stares at your ass every time you walk past him?”

“He’s not doing that, and besides, why do you even care? I might as well ask you about Ava,” I threw back at him.

“What about Ava?” he turned to look at me.

“Well, word around the hospital is that you are back together again.”

“Well, we’re not,” he shook his head. “Can you say the same thing about you and Lanik?”

“I just told you that there’s nothing between us, and what’s it to you anyway?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Good, glad we cleared that up,” I huffed, walking out of the room.

My dignity was the only thing that kept me from stomping down the corridor like a spoiled child. I didn’t need to give more gossip for the nurses to talk about.

Before I could reach the corner however, I felt a strong arm pulling me into one of the hospital supplies rooms. I was ready to start yelling, but paused when I saw it was only Connor.

“What is it this time Connor?” I sighed, but barely got the words out before Connor pushed me against the closed door, his lips smashing against mine.

It was a hot and demanding kiss, all passion and fire. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me as he licked my lower lip. I gasped at the sensation, and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue in my mouth, deepening the kiss. I moaned into his mouth, so turned on by the feel of his body pressed so closely against mine. I could feel every muscle, every ridge, all the strength that he had in him. My senses were on overload, trying to take in every touch, every sound, everything of him.

We broke the kiss, both out of breath. He didn’t waste any time though and latched onto my neck, peppering it with soft kisses. I closed my eyes, letting his touch consume me. His lips burned a fiery trail all the way down to my cleavage before returning to my mouth, this time kissing me with even more passion, if that was even possible. I swear, an earthquake could happen right now, and I wouldn’t even notice it. I felt his hands reach down to my legs and I jumped, wrapping them around his waist, feeling him pressing against the door even harder. I had no doubt that if by chance anyone walked by, they would definitely hear us.

Connor broke the kiss and pulled back a bit, staring deep into my eyes with those gorgeous blue orbs of his, his gaze so intense it took my breath away.

“Do you have any idea how long I have wanted to do this?”

“Probably as long as I wanted to do it,” I smirked at him, pulling him for another kiss.

He groaned, his hips pressing into me. I could feel him, hard and ready between my legs, and the fire in me burned even righter. I wanted so much to just peel away our clothes and have him right here, not even caring if anyone heard us, but I knew the danger of getting caught would never let me enjoy it as much as I wanted.

The higher powers must have heard my thoughts, because the room filled with the shrilling sound of our pagers.

“I’m going to murder the inventor of these hellish things,” Connor growled, putting me down reluctantly.

“And I’ll help you, but right now we need to be saving lives, not taking them,” I chuckled, fixing my ruffled clothes a bit before I checked my pager. We had multiple victims coming in, GSWs from some gang war.

“You know this isn’t over, right?” Connor stopped me before I could turn to open the door.

“Oh, it’s far from over, as long as you make sure Ava understands that you are no longer available to her,” I pointed out.

“When are you going to learn not to listen to what the nurses always blab about? Ava’s car broke down a few days, and I offered to drive her home and to work until it’s fixed, nothing more.”

“And what are the odds she planned this?”

“Very high, but I think seeing us leaving together tonight will put it in her head that I belong to someone else. What are you going to do about Lanik? You’re supposed to go out with him tonight, if my sources are correct.”

“I’ll make up some excuse,” I shrugged. “After all, I never promised anything would happen between us. I’m not worried though, he’ll find another victim to drool over.”

“He’s had his eye on you for a while, he even asked me if we were a thing, and to let him know when you dumped me.”

“Ah, so I guess the girls were right about that,” I chuckled. One of the few times the gossip mill was truthful about a rumor. “Well, he’s going to be waiting a long time, about an eternity I think, perhaps more,” I smiled, pulling him for another kiss.

He kissed me deeply, making my head spin for a moment before I returned back to earth.

“Come on, they need us downstairs,” I sighed, trying to cool my body and my mind down. “We can continue this later tonight. My place or yours?”

“I don’t care, as long as we get there as fast as we can. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you for long.”

“Game face on Dr. Rhodes,” I caressed his cheek. “Let’s go save some lives, and then we can spend the night doing oh so many things.”

“Oh, we will, I’ll make sure of that,” he smiled back, giving me one last kiss before we left the storage room.

We barely made it to the elevator when we came across Dr. Lanik coming out of his office, one of the nurses right behind him. Normally that would not be cause for an alarm, but they both looked disheveled, and Dr. Lanik’s shirt was buttoned all wrong.

“Dr. Lanik, I think I’m gonna have to cancel on those drinks,” I smirked at him. “I’ve made plans with Connor, and from what I see, you won’t have trouble finding someone else to entertain you.”

It was a sight for sore eyes to see our head of Trauma just standing there speechless, his mouth open as Connor and I slipped into the elevator. Connor pulled me in for a kiss as the doors closed, and I swear I heard the nurse yelling at poor Dr. Lanik, calling him a cheater and a scumbag. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Connor let go of me, a smile on his face.

“I love you,” he whispered, his eyes so full of love.

“I love you too you big buffoon,” I beamed at him, kissing him once more.

[pendinganchor]

in case anyone wants to know how writing this fic is going

i’m literally going to throw up

[muffintonic]

Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

[violet-stormbringer]

The Princess and The Thorne, Chapter Seven: Pep Assembly; The Birchmeier Society makes it’s move!

Night time. The carriages drew up outside Gallatin College, and the lights twinkled in the darkness. When Ras disembarked, the cold hit her like a ton of bricks. The prospectus had warned her that it’d be colder after Hearthlight, but gods if she didn’t underestimate it. Nothing quite like experiencing the cold through ones eyeballs, she supposed.

Hearthlight had lasted a month. A whole month, and in that time Ras had run away from home and made her way to Zaledo where she spent Hearthlight with Rosario and the Kings Mateo and Alejandro. A month since she’d worn her uniform.

It was still the same charcoal-colored trousers, stiff ivory shirt, and grey sweater, but now she was more familiar with it.

If anything, it was more Ras-like than most of her other clothes, the left sleeve tied permanently in a knot, and two pins added to the lapel, bearing the mark of Erdrick and the Thorne Family sigil both.

In addition, Ras had found Irwin’s Signet Ring, bearing the mark of the Westerlind-Zaledo Military Alliance, and she kept that on a thin gold necklace. Another keepsake of her Father.

Some of the students were grumbling about the cold, while just as many others were chattering about the holidays. There were some whispering about Ras and her disappearance, with many looking back at her with ominous expressions and murmuring about whether or not she was okay.

She seemed healthy enough, was the general consensus, though they still couldn’t help but wonder what happened; answers that would never come so long as they refused to approach her.

Suited her just fine.

Ras and the others were herded into the banquet hall and the warmth within, and Ras passed her wrappings to Karson at the door, offering her a smile. 

The banquet hall was bright and noisy after the dark outside, but when Lady Renaldt waved for silence, quiet descended straightaway. Hartmann and Isabelle Favre, the captain of the Lacross team, were standing at her side.

“I’m sure you had a wonderful Hearthlight,” she said. “Nothing delights me more than seeing you all back here to learn and grow. In particular, we are overjoyed to learn of the safety and health of one Master Thorne.”

Ras ducked her head, avoiding the expectant gazes of everybody as they looked at her. Lady Renaldt had singled her out, and the onslaught of attention was almost too much to bear. Thankfully, Lady Renaldt continued, a smile on her face.

“Head Prefect Hartmann and Team Captain Favre have a small announcement.”

Hartmann cleared her throat. Like Ras, she looked pristine and well-kept, and could’ve just stepped out of the college prospectus. “The lacrosse season is starting this term, and the Gallatin Swans are hoping to win the cup this year.”

“We’re going to win the cup this year,” Isabelle corrected her. “The pep assembly’s this weekend! Be there!”

Scattered applause from the students, mostly from the lacrosse team. Everybody else, however, looked bored and hungry. 

“Thank you, you two,” Lady Renaldt said, and then dinner was served.

Dinner consisted of oysters and lobster with chestnuts and sprouts, as well as hearty helpings of sourdough bread. Traditional springtime fare, though Ras really wishes for something warmer. A stew, of some kind.

With a wistful sigh, Ras soaked in her surroundings as she got familiar once again with Gallatin. She spotted Mr. Blanchard looking wistfully at the teachers’ table, working his way through his dinner without talking to anybody. Miss Dalca’s trilling laugh soared over the other diners, and even Mr. Griffith occasionally cracked a smile at whatever she was saying.

From the fifth-year table, Ras heard boasting.

“...so Blaise’s scarf’s officially mine, now, since she didn’t ask for it back.”

Ras frowned, trying to recall the woman’s name. Marguerite. She was one of Blaise’s old cronies. Part of the bully squad that tried to get her kicked out during her first week here. She was holding up an emerald-colored cashmere scarf, admiring it in the candlelight.

Ras got up from her table and carefully maneuvered her way to where Marguerite was sitting, sliding in next to her with ease and grace, like she belonged there the entire time.

“Say…” Ras spoke, her voice only audible to the table there, “have y’heard from Blaise since she left? If she didn’t say anything specific, might not be fair ‘ta keep th’scarf…”

Marguerite shifted uncomfortably. “I-I wrote to her asking for an address,” she protested. “And I didn’t hear back. So it’s practically like she gave it to me.”

Ras nodded, and Margeurite’s friends piped up to gossip more about Blaise and whether she’s on holiday. Ras stood up and returned to her table, turning her attention to her friends.

Max was sitting by herself, looking morose. Delacroix looked similar, wearing a stormy expression while Freddie tried to cheer her up. Closer to Ras, Gonzalez was talking at Hartmann about the pep assembly, asking about how it’d work and what the plans were, but Hartmann wasn’t quite in the mood for chatting.

"…so how will the prefects be involved?" Gonzalez asked. "I heard we were getting someone to come in to speak. Should the team write to them? Or—"

Hartmann's fingers clenched her fork, and she looked awfully close to attempting to snap the metal instrument in half. "Can you set up a meeting with the Prefect Committee?" she says through her teeth.

"Oh, yes," Gonzalez chattered away, ignoring Hartmann’s obvious signs of stress, "but I thought we could think about it in advance so it's properly organized."

Hartmann glowered at her plate as though the oysters had personally offended her, and Ras knew it was time to step in.

She slid right up next to Hartmann, wrapping her right arm around the other’s shoulders. “Hello hello hello, Hartmann and friend! I trust y’all had a wonderful Hearthlight?”

“Oh, sure!” Gonzalez nodded. “I was just asking Hartmann here about the pep assembly and–”

Ras shook her head, smiling. “Gonzalez! We just got back! Give her time ‘ta settle in, ask her how she’s feeling! Cop a feel if y’must, but give her a moment ‘ta breath!”

Gonzalez shook her head at that last suggestion, a wry smile on her lips. “I’ll pass. But you’re right, you’re right. I shouldn’t be bugging her about school stuff this soon into the night.”

Hartmann looked relieved, though a blush was on her face, still reeling from Ras’ suggestion. “Um, Ras?”

“Mmm?”

“Could you…” She looked pointedly to Ras’ hand.

“Oh! Sure thing.” She got the hint, pulling her arm away with a grin. “Sorry Hartmann, y’know how I am. Cain’t resist huggin’ a pal.”

Hartmann only offered a smile in return, still blushing from the obscenity of Ras’ suggestion. It wasn’t that she minded. It only caught her off guard.

Gonzalez and Hartmann eventually got on to talking about other things, mostly Hearthlight, and by the end of it, Hartmann seemed less frazzled. A win in Ras’ book.

While dessert was being cleared away, and younger students filing out of the banquet hall, a fifth-year separated from the pack and shyly sidled up to Gonzalez, clutching a piece of paper.

“This is you, isn’t it?” she asked, waving it at her. “Zuri Gonzalez? I wanted to say—second cousin’s at Archambault, and he read about you in the paper. My uncle wants to arrange an introduction!”

Gonzalez looked as though she wanted to bolt. “...Must be a different Zuri Gonzalez. It’s a common enough name.”

“No, no, it’s you! There’s a picture and everything!”

“Leave me alone!” Gonzalez surged to her feet, towering over the fifth-year. She grabbed the newspaper clipping and looked about ready to shove the poor girl.

To which Ras merely stood up and grabbed the fifth-year by her elbow, smiling.

“I think it’s time y’all got back to your fellows, yeah? Don’t wanna miss lights out…”

The fifth-year nodded, eyes widened. She sidled into the crowd of younger students before Gonzalez could say anything else. For her part, Gonzalez slipped out of the banquet hall and away from curious onlookers.

With the excitement, it took usual to finish up, and it was fully dark by the time Ras made her way towards the familiar shadow of Clemency Building.

As she crossed the darkened quad, she spotted Hartmann corralling a group of youngers into the Hope Building; she gave Ras a smile and broke off to meet with her.

“So much to do,” she said in a rushed tone. “Those Hope Building students are all over the place. B-But how was your Hearthlight? Besides the whole thing with your mother, I mean? Mine was wonderful! A pity I didn’t hear from Blaise, but there were so many others to talk to!”

Her eyes were a little wide, and her smile was too bright. Ras had a hard time believing Hartmann’s Hearthlight was as wonderful as she said.

“Hartmann.” Ras threw her arm around the other in a hug. “It would’ve been better with you around. I missed you.”

Hartmann returned the hug, sobbing into Ras’ shoulder. “I missed you too. I wish I had written to you, maybe we could’ve figured something out together.”

Ras shook her head as she pulled away, smiling. “Don’t worry about it. Th’fact that you and the others missed me so much means a lot, Hartmann. You’re a good friend.”

Hartmann smiled in return, and it was genuine this time. The pair shared another hug, and then Hartmann raced ahead of Ras and up the steps into the Clemancy Building.

As Ras entered and pass by the dimly-liy common room, she managed to spot Gonzalez lurking on one of the couches; she beckoned for Ras to join in. “Thanks for earlier,” she whispered. “That fifth-year and that stupid newspaper article…”

She trailed off.

“...I should’ve mentioned it before, really,” she said wretchedly. “But I didn’t know how to bring it up. It felt like bragging.”

She then went on to explain that during her trip to Zaledo, she rescued a child trapped on a sand dune with the approaching tide. Gonzalez’s family was delighted, a reporter got wind of it, and now Gonzalez was prime marriage material.

Many people would’ve loved to have such a problem, but apparently Gonzalez wouldn’t.

Ras waved her hand dismissively. “Please. Next time someone falls in th’lake, or drops their dinner, or hells, trips and lands on Lady Renaldt, everybody’ll forget about’cha.” She grinned. “I know it’s hard when it feels like everybody is lookin’ at’cha, but it’ll get better. Always does.”

Gonzalez gave a sympathetic grimace. “Shit…I suppose you’d know how it feels, hm? Even if this is technically a good thing…”

Silence stretched out between the pair for a few moments while Gonzalez scuffed her shoe on the carpet.

“The thing is,” she said, finally, “I don’t want to get married—not to anyone—or sleep with people. I’ve never been able to make myself interested in it. But this thing over Hearthlight—it just makes everyone put more pressure on me, and I hate it.”

Ras offered a smile. “I see. So that’s why you were so hesitant to, gods, how did I put it? ‘Cop a feel’ on Hartmann?”

Gonzalez let out a snort. “Exactly. Don’t get me wrong, she’s pretty, if you’re into that sort of thing. But I’m not. So…you know.”

Ras nodded. “Well, don’t sweat it! Really!”

Gonzalez raised an eyebrow.

“There are bound ‘ta be other people in your position, yeah? You’ll find ‘em, and you’ll work together on a solution that’ll find y’all happy ‘tagether.”

Gonzalez smiled, squeezing Ras’ shoulder. “That’s really sweet, Ras. Thank you.”

Footsteps, and Ras looked up to see Mr. Griffith knock pointedly at the door. “Lights-out in ten minutes!”

The pair nodded and got to their feet. They dragged themselves upstairs to the familiar crowd and bustle of the dorm. As soon as Ras’ head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

Before the pep assembly arrived, Ras concentrated on catching up with her friends whenever she could. Her grades were fine enough to take the hit, and now she had plenty of people to write to next time she was stuck at home.

As the week of the assembly approached, all attention was on lacrosse, no matter how much Miss Dalca claimed it was a ridiculously aggressive sport and symbolic of cult mentality. The Birchmeier Society was the primary contingent of students entirely uninterested in lacrosse, but even they were excited when Hartmann broke the news that a special guest would attend.

“Beatrix Wahner,” Hartmann explained. “She was the team captain the last time the Swans won.”

Freddie squeaked, leaning against Ras and whispering. “She’s a paleontologist at Gessner University now! We have to talk to her!”

Lucien agreed. After a particularly strenuous study group meeting, he explained that he wanted to lure Beatrix from the assembly to talk to the Soceity about her work. “She’ll want to be known for her real skills, not throwing a ball around a field,” he said. “Ras. We need to set things up so we can have her speak to us. She was in the same year as Mr. Blanchard, so that might give us an in.”

Ras shook her head. She knew exactly what she had to do.

Ras strode into the room the Prefect Committee had just used as a meeting room, to find Hartmann sitting there, looking harassed and unusually ruffled; laden down with papers nearly piled to the ceiling.

“Ras,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to see if I could help!” She said, cheerfully. “I know you’ve got a lot going on right now, but I figured maybe there was something I could do. Maybe the seating plan?”

Hartmann looked like she wanted to argue, to refuse, but after staring at the piles of paperwork before her, she nodded.

The pair of them looked over the plans for the assembly, and with a few gentle pushes and very little coaxing on her part, Ras managed to convince Hartmann to convince herself that Ras should be sat next to Beatrix, centered around the pretext of showing her where she needed to go.

When it was done, and Ras relayed her progress to Lucien, he clasped her shoulder and expressed gratitude for the headway: they’d be in a prime position to talk to her.

And then, it was the night for the assembly.

The banquet hall, the corridors—even the front entrance—were all draped with Gallatin colors and coat of arms, as well as swan statues everywhere. Students had pinned swan-shaped badges to their lapels, and despite the strict dress code, none of the teachers seemed to care.

As for Ras, she was on high alert. Walking into the gymnasium with the rest of the Birchmeier Society, she spotted Beatrix talking to Hartmann as Freddie tugged on her sleeve and pointed. The blaring marching band mingled with the roar of excitement from the students, humming in Ras’ chest.

Beatrix was a broadly-built, round-faced woman with a strong, no-nonsense look that denoted her as a former team captain. As Ras approached, she gave a cheerful wave.

“As I was saying,” Hartmann said, “we need to go to the locker rooms to get ready.”

Ras took this as her chance, pushing the advantage she had now that she was directly in front of Beatrix.

“Ms. Wahner!” Ras exclaimed, grabbing Beatrix’s hand and shaking it vigorously, “I’m so happy you’re here! Can I say how excited the Society is? I think you’re goin’ ‘ta give us such a boost!”

Beatrix beamed. “Oh, I’m so pleased to hear it!”

“We would love to have more of a chat with you, given the chance. Do you think that could be arranged?”

“Of course!” Beatrix readily agreed, and Ras did her best to ignore the thunderous glare Hartmann was shooting at her.

“Excuse me,” she said, rather pointedly, “I think we’re ready for the speech.”

“Certainly.” Beatrix said comfortably, clapping Ras on the back with a grin. “I’ll see you later.”

Mr. Griffith beckoned Ras to her seat, where she took up beside a delighted looking Freddie. She whispered a quick congratulations before the marching badn struck up and the lacross team bounded out of the locker room.

The roar of applause and music was deafening. Freddie hunched in her seat, looking entirely unhappy with the noise. Led by Isabelle and Gonzalez, the team raced around the gymnasium floor while Beatrix gave a stirring speech about the Swans’ pas achievements and how she’s sure they’ll succeed this year.

In the middle of it all, however, Ras caught the scent of smoke. 

“Fire!” A student shouted, and all hell broke loose.

Panic broke out, with students clambering up in their seats and the bandmembers clutching their instruments with wild and wide eyes.

Mr. Griffith shouted to Miss Dalca across the gymnasium, but his voice was lost in the noise of the crowd. The lacrosse team was paralyzed with panic; Isabelle open-mouthed and immobile. Hartmann is talking furiously to the Prefects, but there was no sign of action. Around Ras, the Birchmeier Society standing in shock. Freddy grabbed Ras’ arm, her face pale as snow. “Ras, what should we do?”

Ras took a deep breath. “We need to take control. Nobody is thinking straight.”

Freddie nodded, grabbing Lucien by the elbow and rousing him from his panic. Ras brought her hand around her mouth and shouted, as loud as she could.

“EVERYONE, QUIET DOWN!”

Despite the rising smoke and the visible flames, the noise dipped. Students turned to stare at Ras, eyes widened with terror, yet they were silent.

“The fire hasn’t reached the front entrance yet, calmly make your way to safety!” Ras ordered.

“Those closest to the fire, hold tightly to each other and guide one another towards the exit, those with breathing problems should make themselves known and be priority! If a student collapses, call out, and a teacher will be with you for assistance! DO NOT TRY TO LIFT A PERSON BY YOURSELF.”

Ras’ voice carried well across the quiet gymnasium, and the evacuation went off without a hitch. The mass of students obeyed her instructions, and she, along with Hartmann, Freddie, and the Birchmeier Society, were among the last out of the gymnasium.

Ras, with the help of the Birchmeier Society, the Prefects, and the Swans, managed to corral the students into the quad, where a nurse had arrived. 

They were a jolly red-haired sort, named Vivien, going from student to student, checking their breathing and making sure everyone was healthy. When they were done with that, fear gave way to excitement, and the atmosphere grew more festive.

Mr. Griffith, however, yelled for silence, and quiet descended.

“This unfortunate incident,” he said, “doesn’t remove the fact that we’re extremely proud of our Gallatin Swans. But special thanks are due to the Birchmeier Society for their assistance, and to Master Thorne in particular for her quick thinking and concise orders under pressure.”

The applause was ragged at first, but it quickly grew more enthusiastic. Freddie beamed at the crowd, and Ras ducked behind her, not use to the praise. 

“Tonight’s plan,” Mr. Griffith continued, “was for the final years to have some recreation time at the lake, but obviously that’s not—”

Miss Dalca stepped forward and murmured something to Mr. Griffith, who frowned at the interruption. “But, Cezara, I hardly think—”

More murmuring. He sighed. “Allright,” he said. “Since it’s been such an upheaval. Final years, you may all have an hour at the lake. When said hour is up, however, curfew rules apply as usual. Take care.”

With that, the final-years headed to the lake. Their uniforms were reeking of smoke, especially in the clean air, but there was a jovial air about the place. Gonzalez and the Swans built a bonfire—officially sanctioned, of course—and soon the flames were burning merrily and people were enjoying themselves.

Beside the beer crate, Max was laughing wildly with her Starlings, and, bizarrely, Hartmann. 

Delacroix was picking at dry grass and throwing it into the fire with a morose expression. She wasn’t paying any attention to the scene.

Freddie had managed to rope Karson into hanging out with her and the Birchmeier Society. “It’s not a college event like the assembly was,” she said. “It’s an informal thing. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to relax?”

Karson looked surprise, and a bit stiff, but she perched beside Freddie nonetheless.

Ras took a deep breath and made her way to Gonzalez, who was waving at her from over at the edge of the lake. She was tying on her ice skates, and grinned. “You joinin’ me?”

Ras raised an eyebrow, eyeing the ice. What could possibly go wrong?

Ras didn’t have any skates, but she was balanced enough on her feet to twirl around with showmanship in her casual shoes, treating it like she was running or climbing; it was all about balance. Sure it was difficult, but she did her best.

From a short distance, Gonzalez cheered, shouting for more of the Swans to join as she continued to skate.

Then, she falls through the ice. She screamed, which brought Ras skidding to a halt. The ice had cracked, exposing black water beneath. Gonzalez was struggling in the water, choking for breath. A cluster of Swans and other students gathered around the edge of the lake, doing little to help.

The water was clearly freezing, and Ras knew Gonzalez had only a few minutes before she passed out. 

Heart pounding in her ears, vision narrowed, and time slowed to a near standstill, Ras realized she was the only one close enough to help Gonzalez, even as the others panicked at the edge of the water. Her friend was in danger.

With shaking hand and labored breathing, Ras observed the situation before her. Nothing around to grab, teachers too far away to help if she yelled…Then she spotted Karson, who caught her eye.

Karson nodded to Ras, and she knew exactly what she had to do.

Ras gripped her hand shut, willing herself to stop shaking, and she took a deep breath. Then, she plunged forward, leaping into the water and making her way to Gonzalez. The icy water struck her skin like needles piercing into every inch of her flesh and she could feel her blood cooling and congealing within her veins.

Gonzalez had stopped thrashing around long enough for Ras to grab hold of her, and without any words, Ras pushed Gonzalez towards the edge of the lake, swimming even as her muscles were screaming and her body was shouting at her to give up.

When they reached the edge, the Swans had finally gathered themselves and grabbed the pair, pulling them onto the shore with shouts of worry.

Karson cleared her throat. “You lot! We need to get the two of them to Nurse Vivien.”

Without any further prompting, the pair were brought to their feet and were walked carefully to the nurses office where Nurse Vivien was still checking over the worst of the students from the gymnasium.

As soon as they entered the room, Vivien took one look at the pair and gave a ‘tsk’ before ordering the two of them into another room to get out of their soaked and freezing clothes.

Eventually, the two emerged dressed in Gallatin pajamas and wrapped in heavy blankets; Nurse Vivien told them to sit and pushed cups of tea towards the two of them.

“You wouldn’t have seen Blaise Marechal doing this sort of thing at a party,” Vivien scolded.”Miss Gonzalez, you can be a lacrosse star without throwing yourself into the lake! And you, Master Thorne! Surely the Birchmeier Society should’ve taught you some common sense!”

Ras ducked her head, coughing. “S-Sorry, Nurse Vivien. I was just tryin ‘ta save Gonzalez here…”

Vivien shook their head. 

“Do you miss Blaise?” Ras frowned. “She did, y’know, try ‘ta get me kicked out…”

Nurse Vivien sighed. "Oh, all that," they say. "I know. I remember her when she was eleven, though, and it's such a shame."

They broke off, frowning at Gonzalez. “But let’s concentrate on the matter at hand.”

Gonzalez groaned. “I suppose you’ll have to tell my parents about this,” she said. “I just know they’re going to tell me off so badly for not being careful enough.”

“Of course we will,” Nurse Vivien said. “You could have died.”

Ras frowned. “W-Wait, tell parents?”

Nurse Vivien raised an eyebrow at Ras. “Is that a problem, Master Thorne?”

“Please don’t!” Ras’ heart was pounding, and she was about to begin panicking. The thought of Matilda knowing she’d returned to Gallatin, and being in reach of her Mother once more…it filled her with dread.

Nurse Vivien’s eyes narrowed. “Master Thorne, why are you so adamant about this?”

“Just, please! If you have to tell somebody, anybody, make sure word only gets to my Uncle Gerald. I…ran from home during Hearthlight, a-and I’m not ready to go back home. If you tell Mama, she’ll come get me and–”

Nurse Vivien sighed. “...I suppose I can keep this quiet. But you have to look after Gonzalez.”

Gonzalez gave a mournful sigh. Though her color had returned to normal, her dark hair hangs in hanks around her face, and she looked sorry for herself.

Ras nodded, then she looked over to Gonzalez. “It could’ve been worse…” She said, quietly, only for Gonzalez to bristle.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I just wanted to have fun…” She muttered.

“Aw, don’t be like that. C’mon Gonzalez, next time, come to me! We’ll figure out some other fun!”

Nurse Vivien nodded. “Master Thorne is right, you know.”

Gonzalez sighed and sipped her tea. “I hope the next assembly’s this interesting,” she said. “Though I could’ve done without the fire.”

Nurse Vivien clicked their teeth. “Two life-threatening situations before the first game of the season, and you say it’s interesting! Well, I’ve heard it all now! What’ll be next—a tornado?”

“That’d definitely be exciting…” Ras said, causing Gonzalez to snort and Nurse Vivien to glare at her.

With that, it was time to retire for the night, and Ras found her thoughts drifting back to Rosario even as sleep took her.

[hpowellsmith]

how much time would the RO’s spend on their phones if they had them?

Oh gosh here is where I call myself out!

Blood Money:

Aleixi: manages to be really on the ball somehow even though she's rarely on her phone

Ferro: expects his employees to always be accessible by phone but never answers texts calls or emails

Nico and Silvian: constantly checking their phones and getting stressed over important stuff late at night

Pereira: plays a lot of games on their phone and gets distracted from conversations

Crème de la Crème:

Hartmann: strictly uses phone for work/study coordination and reference, but takes phone to the bathroom and gets lost on internet rabbit holes

Max: always on their phone

Freddie: often on their phone, uses it to win fact-based arguments

Delacroix: uses their phone when alone to avoid being talked to

Karson: constantly has their phone in another jacket

Blaise: goes on their phone late at night even though they smugly talk about how it's good to disconnect

Auguste: has read a lot of books about how to disconnect from your phone, repeats talking points from them when people are complaining about going on their own phones too much; answers emails at worryingly late hours

Florin: doesn't use their phone much except for dating apps and texting friends, they don't go down internet rabbit holes much

Rosario: forgets where their phone is, returns to it to see a million messages from people asking where they are, replies apologetically to every single one, rinse and repeat

Royal Affairs:

Asher: doesn't use their phone much but their ringtone for royals and their parents is SUPER loud so anytime they get a work or family call it's like an alarm and everyone jumps out of their skin

Beaumont: spends a lot of time on their phone/online; if they're in a room where they don't care to talk, they'll go on their phone instead of chatting

Dominique: always has the most up to date model, but frequently loses or breaks their phone. When their phone's working they're always online. Every Hearthlight they noisily make a wish to be more in the moment and not be on their phone so much... It never happens

Javi: isn't online all that much. Like Auguste above they're quite smug about being able to "focus on the moment" etc

Thanks for the ask!

[sammydem0n64]

Fuck it; random Lilyheart lore I have that isn’t important to be withheld and get its own posts BUT r still very poggers to me

-Loxy and Fiona’s parents (Artemis and Popper) Met when they were teens; Artemis’ family lived in a different town but would come to Karson for vacations, where she met Popper and they hit it off instantly. They became penpals and when Artemis got to move out she instantly left home to vibe with her cool boyfriend

-Lilith and Lucifer’s dad. Like. Like Violetta just never told anyone who the father was, only that he was from another colony. Like he’s also dead he’s very death from similar causes to Violetta’s death but just imagine being Drac and you talk to your other colonies and, unbeknownst to you, you end up talking to the guy your sister hooked up with a few years ago????? Bro????

-The original Chiroptera Protector... is such a mystery, like no one knows the fool’s gender and what not?? Like historical documents commonly use he/him but other instances such as art and different accounts depict them more feminine or androgynous, or such. All they know is that they GOT ACTION

-Ricky’s mom was essentially a groupie who only got with his dad for fame and fortune, leaving when Ricky was a baby. I have to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if Ricky had a half sibling running around because his mom THRIVED off of any form of attention... and her modeling career isn’t picking back up any time soon- especially after THAT scandal-

-Gem’s grandma from her dad’s side was a famous actress! ... more like a one hit wonder. She got tons of publicity from one film, even going as far as legally changing her lastname to Glitzen (akin to her stage name)... then the hype died down and no one heard from her since. Flint didn’t even have much to say about her before he died, she was just... there

-The day after Sawyer got taken in by the Smith he nearly got... yeah... because he shifted into his mouse form and Mr. Smith tried to smack him with a broom- not knowing that was Sawyer ofc- it was... yeah it was a “fun” day

[pleasefeedthebirds]

A Relatively Deep Dive Into My “Crème de la Crème” MCs - #1. Mavis Linnet

(From the astonishingly crisp interactive fiction by @hpowellsmith! ...It’s not weird to tag, right?)

Mavis “Miss Linnet” Mallee-Linnet

she/her/hers

Light brown complexion and loosely curled brown hair

Favors conventionally masculine fashion 

Accommodating

Manipulative

Traditional

Exceptional Poise

Noteworthy Wit and Intrigue

Commonplace Spirit

Unremarkable Flair

LOADS more info and spoiler content under the cut!

I envision Mavis as having grown up in a wealthy household, where she was still raised reasonably well about the importance of non-profligate spending. Her parents both taught at Olmstead’s Valley School, where she was in attendance for the bulk of her college-age years. Sailing was manageablely smooth. Mavis got along well in her studies, had time for both dressage and lacrosse, and—for her genuine interest in the subject matter—made it on the good side of many educators there (albeit not as often her fellow students, being for all the world their definition of a teacher’s pet!).

Her life took an abrupt shift in its trajectory when Mr. Mallee, her father, had a shameful affair come to light. Their rural community was small enough that such a thing made waves. Her other father, Mr. Linnet, sent Mavis off to Gallatin with the still-favorable Linnet name, and spent a pretty penny to do so. Primarily, he did this to save her from suffering by association, and was very vocal about these intentions. He’s definitely also relying on her to save their social standing, and despite the point being markedly unspoken, Mavis quietly understands.

So, Mavis feels an immense pressure to make the most of her time at Gallatin. She tries to conform unfalteringly to the school’s every long-winded social expectation, which exhausts her utterly. However, by her proficiency in book research, and her sincere knack for studying people, she has grown excellent at “playing the game” in high society. 

More than ever, Mavis is dedicated to her studies at Gallatin, even when the prescribed syllabus is less than stimulating. She keeps her head down so to never risk rocking the boat. This mode of being doesn’t make her happy per say, but the Gallatin atmosphere has her shoehorned into believing there’s no feasible alternative. She’s cognizant of surface level flaws in the system, but plays along because she thinks she has to. After all, it’s her way out of rural smallmindedness and into an academic world. That said, things certainly can change, particularly when one can’t help but notice atrocities being committed against literal children!

5’10”, with broad shoulders but slender hips. Her body makes an upside-down triangle shape.

Prone to acne, her skincare routines are extensive, and she’s usually up at the crack of dawn every day to get her proverbial ducks in a row.

Her hair is thinner than it looks, and she takes especial care when rationing it about her scalp. She feels vulnerable with it all the way down, so favors hair styles with low centers, such as looped pigtails, a nape bun, or double braids. Also labors to hide her considerable widow’s peak.

A heavy tea drinker. For all of her wits, she doesn’t realize that her mug o’ choice (earl grey) is highly caffeinated. She slugs the stuff down each day without ever realizing, because it “makes her feel better” about mornings.

Though it’s hardly polite, she LOVES gossip, and writes down every secret she hears as her guiltiest pleasure.

Miss Dalca and Mr. Griffith both make her uncomfortable—the former for her extreme progressiveness, and the latter for his gruff demeanor. Mr. Blanchard is her favorite teacher, and I bet she’s accidentally cried in his presence before. She’s scared of Lady Renaldt, and makes herself known to the headmaster only out of necessity.

Virtue: 91%

Popularity: 75%

Coursework Grade: A

Exam Mark: A+

Extracurricular(s): Birchmeier Society and the Gallatin Swans (goalkeeper)

*[Though not doable ingame, I like to think that she overloaded her schedule and dropped the Swans halfway through the semester. Mavis is never the type to drop anything, so having to take that step back was a double-edged blow to her confidence, in addition to being a sheer relief on her stress levels. Since the Birchmeier Society was where her heart truly lay, she managed to build herself back up there with Freddie’s support.]

Entanglements: Romantically engaged to Freddie.

Besties and then some with Freddie. They’re both hardworking scholars with each their own zest for learning, and by preparing for classes, exams, and Birchmeier Society biz in the same shared spaces, Mavis spent disproportionately more time with her than with anyone else. Freddie encouraged Mavis to be a bit less hard on herself, and was brave enough to stand up to her whenever Mavis’s fatigue was turning her curmudgeonly. Mavis helped get Freddie out of her own head on multiple occasions, taught her to break the most overwhelming situations down to deal with day-by-day, and bolstered her confidence anytime it faltered in the face of the Gallatin sphere. The engagement was Mavis’s idea, which she accidentally blurted out in a rare impulsive burst of feeling. After processing the implications, she was ashamed to have second thoughts upon remembering Freddie’s financial situation. It seemed for a while that the engagement was off, following a hard conversation that soured their relationship for awhile. I don’t think Freddie would easily bounce back after having her family standing scrutinized. However, the mine plot—when Mavis had to ultimately turn her back on everything she’d built at Gallatin—spurred character development enough that Freddie deemed her worthy of a second chance.

Friends with Gonzalez, who couldn’t help but respect that Mavis was competent in lacrosse, academically accomplished, and generally pretty nice to people. I don’t think she realizes that Mavis keeps a stiff mask. Mavis found Gonzalez refreshing, albeit off-puttingly honest, and couldn’t find a way to fault her spirited nature. I can’t imagine them engaging much off of the field (i.e. post Mavis quitting the team), but the two were mutually supportive in their interactions, even if Mavis was probably repressing some criticisms of Gonzalez’s fast and loose attitude all the while.

Friends with Max after he tutored her in flair, per Lady Renaldt’s instruction, via a sick dance sesh. I like to imagine him groaning about the task, assuming that Mavis would be a hopeless case, and then being pleasantly surprised at the fact that she can absolutely hit it (even just in the name of compliance with authority). He tried to make a move on her and was politely rejected. I think he supports the idea of her at a distance after recognizing that she’s not trying to breathe down anyone’s neck, and really is a kind, tired gal being squeezed dry by the system.

Friends with Hartmann, who was initially confused about which “side” Mavis was on in her prefectural feud with Max (Mavis shushed him at the opening commencement, which she liked, yet supported Max when he dipped out the common room window). They came to understand each other in the later game, bonding over how ill-affected they both are by the pressures of their respective positions. They don’t “hang out” much, but a couple of key deep conversations put each in the other’s good books.

Pleasant acquaintances with Karson. Mavis rarely went out of her way to talk to them, but whenever they crossed paths, she was good to Karson, and sympathized (albeit at a respectable distance) with their situation as a servant. When trouble in the mines was first coming to light, Mavis got sniffing, and sussed out enough clues that Karson eventually passed Blaise’s note on to her directly, trusting her moral compass enough to do so.

Unpleasant acquaintances with Delacroix. His unconventional take on life, passion for the intangible, and apathy towards collegiate procedure all make her uneasy. In his own right, Delacroix probably takes her for a stuffy, self-centered dud, which after all the times she’s reflexively shut his occult talk down, is pretty fair.

Acquaintances with Blaise. Mavis made nice in the early game because she had to, and was secretly relieved when she “resigned.” This was short lived, and turned into a misplaced sense of guilt after what actually happened to Blaise came to light. Mavis didn’t end up in the mines herself, but she did everything she could to help her, Miss Dalca, and eventually Gonzalez escape. When all was said and done, Blaise still made Mavis uncomfortable, and she let her be to get on with her life.

Approached Rosario at the punch table in an attempt to court the princess in the room… absolutely blew it. Ended up tripping over her own tongue when she realized that the heir is not so predictably wooed by traditional measures as originally anticipated. I like to think of that moment as a point of deeper connection for Mavis and Freddie, where both were totally overwhelmed by the noble sphere at Archambault and turned to each other for comfort. Otherwise, Rosario was a Rosari-no for Mavis.

Was weirded out by Auguste. Mavis fears any authority figures who don’t like her right away, and they’re too close to the ever-frigid Lady Renaldt for her comfort. She did totally trash them (benevolently) at dressage on sports day, though.

Gave Florin the widest possible berth. Mavis wanted nothing to do with that kind of scandal, but definitely found her shallowly cute. 

Some Choice Plot Pieces (cue spoilers):

Gathered evidence against Miss Dalca in compliance with Lady Renaldt.

Had an adequate working relationship with Miss Benton.

Gathered information for Annick against Lady Renaldt.

Endgame (cue SUPER spoilers):

Worked in secret against Lady Renaldt.

Sent Gonzalez to the mines, but most everyone got out (I believe Miss Dalca died?!).

Settled things quietly with Kathrili Burgin.

Went on to study at Gessner.

Joined Freddie for the summer.