#like some kind of forbidden romance and he was brutal to everyone that got in our way but super gentle and sweet with me

[luffysprincess]

Someone tell me why I dreamt of diluc of all people. WHY COULDNT IT BE ONE OF MY FAVES INSTEAD??

[offda-rails-art]

Been a while since I’ve enjoyed art. I finally finished my story-no color becuase paint is expensive and I can expand more by doing what I love most-sketching. Slight gore warning, like typical horror movie gore⚠️

Thank you for anyone following me recently, even though I haven’t been very active. I hope this makes up for it. Peace and love. Lochlan’s story part one👇

The countryside of Hennessy had a horrible storm roll in. It poured endlessly all night and into morning. The seemingly endless pounding rain made everything a muddy slippery mess, and with that the tracks were overflowed with water. Travel for any engine was dangerous so it was decided that everyone would take the day off and wait out the storm inside. Old Red, Donner, and Cracker Jack had already been in the roundhouse that night and early in the morning they were told “no work for today. Too dangerous.”

Lochlan had still been on his job pulling a long train all night. Something that had been expected to be finished by early morning was delayed by the rain. Lochlan went along the tracks carefully and managed to deliver his train by late afternoon meanwhile the rest of the engines back at the roundhouse were confined to their berths all day. And with that the group of 3 were very bored.

Lochlan backed his way into his respective berth, he was soaked from being in the down pour all day. He was also visibly tired from his tedious journey of start stop all through the wet slippery tracks. Before the poor big engine could get a word out Cracker Jack piped up. “About time! Reds been going on and on about silly stories. We’ve traded back and forth on interesting ones of our own. Well, Donner and I at least. Reds giving the whole “Wild West romance, forbidden engine/human love” spiel again.” Cracker Jack groaned.

“My recounts of pistol packing cowgirls are not romance stories! I’m simply making it clear that women are just as dangerous as men! That’s all!” Red growled quick to defend himself. His face turning slightly pink.

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that you old fart.” Cracker Jack smirked. Even Donner gave a slight chuckle in agreement.

Lochlan smiled and shook what water dripped down his face off. Cracker Jack grinned up at Lochlan expectantly. “Suppose you have anything of your own to share?” Cracker Jack asked, his grin widened hoping that Lochlan would have a story to tell. At least one that wouldn’t put him to sleep. Or any about his love interests.

“Me? What kind of story? I don’t do much that interesting.” Lochlan sighed and tried to think of anything worth telling.

“Lochlan. You’re huge. You see the world from a different point of view everyday. You do the more than any other engine on the railway. You’ve been everywhere, you must have something?” Cracker Jack retorted. Lochlan frowned and clicked his tongue in thought. A loud crack of thunder boomed in the background and shook the roundhouse. The 4 engines jumped at the sudden loud noise. The natural fearful reaction to the loud noise gave Lochlan an idea.

“What about a scary story?” He smiled and knew exactly what to share. The other three raised their brows in interest. Cracker Jack noticeably grew attentive.

“Yes! I think we can all agree that horror over a whole romance novel is sure to help pass the time!” Cracker Jack grinned. It took Red a second to process the slight dig made at him. He only grumbled and rolled his eyes.

“Good! I have just the one! It happened the very first week I arrived here.” Lochlan grinned and cleared his throat to begin.

When Lochlan first arrived at Hennessy he was immediately tasked with pulling long trains of heavy and important cargo for distances many other engines couldn’t travel. He traveled from late at night till very early morning so naturally his rest time in the afternoon was spent in any noisy bustling yard he could manage to get a break in. Most of the time Lochlan couldn’t sleep with all the noise. He didn’t mind not napping but peace and quiet was something he could definitely enjoy. It seemed that wouldn’t be an option for a while with his break schedule. So, Lochlan decided to eavesdrop on his human counterparts. They did after all have interesting things to share. While in a yard one afternoon the prefect opportunity to eavesdrop came in, a group of engineers decided to take their break not far away from him. They sat down on some old flatbeds and joked around for a while. The oldest man in the group began talking about his past colleague who was a Native American. He recounted all kinds of interesting things his colleague shared. From ancestral meanings to cultural symbols, but then he brought up something strange. Lochlan grew curious and listened in best he could. The engineer asked the others if they ever heard what a “wendigo” was. The two men shook their heads. Lochlan listened in as the man explained to them what it was, and the reason for bringing it up.

The engineer grew serious before beginning, “ a couple years back a rancher went missing out by his home just a good ten miles from the south side of Hennessy. No one knew how he could possibly go missing, he was in touch with the locals and was a very smart man. He knew the wildlife and his homeland well enough to where an animal attack was ruled out. He carried a gun on him all the time to stay safe and no one would want to harm a lonely rancher with not much of anything to give anyway. Robbery and murder was ruled out too, especially after his home was found kept well with nothing out of the ordinary or missing. He just seemed to have vanished along with his horse and dog. The sheriff decided he could’ve left unannounced for private reasons and perhaps he would turn up soon. It wasn’t until a week later a hunter stumbled across what was left of the poor rancher. He was so severely mangled that the only thing that showed proof it was him was his hat, horse and dog. Whatever creature that did that couldn’t possibly be a bear, or even a pack of wolves. Only the rancher looked like something had eaten parts of him. His horse and dog were for the most part untouched, the possibility a rabid bear attacked him was brought up due to the massive claw marks and slashes embedded in his horse and dog. And how badly the man was shredded. But what bear could be that big? A search for whatever rabid bear or sick pack of wolves was put out but nothing was recovered.

No one wanted to admit but they were scared. The scene was so brutal it seemed almost impossible another living thing could do that. It was swept under the rug and everyone tried to forget about it in hopes it would just go away. It seems there’s no answer for what happened right? Well your wrong, that’s were this “wendigo” comes in. Wendigos have an insatiable hunger for human flesh, they crave taunting people and torturing them until giving them a brutal horrible death only to feast on their scared poor souls. They tower above the tallest pine trees, make blood curdling screams, and can strip the flesh from your bones instantly. He wasn’t attacked by a rabid animal, he was murdered and eaten alive by one of those foul beasts. Only something that big and mercilessly brutal could’ve done such a thing. And why eat just the person? An animal would’ve taken all it could get. Dog and horse would’ve been part of the main course as well.”

The two other men who listened in shuddered upon the end of the tale. Lochlan was intrigued but was interrupted by his crew coming to fetch him from his break. He needed to get back to work and couldn’t listen in anymore. He sighed and set off to collect his train, he had plenty of time to ponder what he just heard on his long quiet journey.

Lochlan enjoyed the unexplainable, everything had an explanation. An answer. While the story of the wendigo was interesting to him he couldn’t help but believe it was simply a tall tale. Even with how big and goofy the engine could be, he wasn’t gullible. The only way he’d believe something is if he witnessed it first hand. And as far as he knew he never saw any forest animal that towered over pine trees or had a specific desire for human flesh. But for some reason something inside him wouldn’t let go of it. The story was kept in the back of his mind and not forgotten.

Lochlans first week on Hennessy’s railway was almost over. He already gotten familiar with the area and his routes in the short time he was there. His job went swillingly and it was something he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his days doing. Oh, and no strange gigantic monsters hungry for human flesh appeared. There was one route Lochlan hadn’t traveled yet, and the unkept longer line of tracks was only taken if necessary but no reason was ever really given as to why it wasn’t used. But with only almost a week of experience on the railway he had a lot more to learn and explore.

While Lochlan pulled a long train of cargo with the morning newspaper edition, important mail, and dairy that needed to get to its destination quickly in order to not spoil he came to a stop when he realized his normal route back into Hennessy was blocked. Someone had derailed and a big mess of tar trucks were scattered everywhere. Lochlans engineers grew frustrated and argued with the crewmen in charge of cleaning up the wreck. “Listen pal, it’s going to take all night to clean this mess up. You’ll just have to wait until morning to pass through or go through the south side.” The agitated worker groaned and pointed up ahead to a route Lochlan wasn’t familiar with.

“Well. We most certainly ain’t got time to wait. I’ve got the morning paper to deliver and dairy that will spoil! Come on big feller we’ll just have to go through the south side which will still delay our schedule because some incompetent idiot can’t operate an engine worth Jack shit.” Lochlans engineer growled and made his way back to his cab. Lochlan looked on curiously up ahead at this new route. The grass ahead was severely overgrown, and by the looks of the track no one seemed to have been down it for a decade. His cow plow would come in handy to shove away any overgrowth that littered the track up ahead. Lochlan puffed down the track without incident. He sliced through any overgrowth that littered his path, and was thankful for his bright headlamp because it seemed any lights that lit up the track before had been left not repaired. Lochlan had come upon something odd as he plunged further down the unused route. A herd of deer were stopped close by the tracks, what was odd to him was that the animals didn’t acknowledge his presence at all. It was normal for the forest animals to hurriedly clear the way when any loud engine chuffed close, to the animals an engine was another predator to run away from. But the large herd of deer stood stalk still, their backs turned towards him and their heads cocked up looking into the distance at something. They didn’t dare move and their fear was focused on something Lochlan couldn’t see. Lochlan raised a brow and chuffed by but the deer didn’t move. Even as steam whooshed out and his own massive frame rumbled on the rails shaking the ground. The deer seemed to care less about him. It was one of the most peculiar things he had seen, but he had no idea it was about to get worse.

Tumblr limits posts and I have to many illustrations to do one part. So I’ll have to skeet part two in another separate post. Stick around for the second part if you enjoy so far. Thanks so much for people who’ve stuck around my blog and actually wanted to read my stories. I really really appreciate it.

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep5: Female Friends

So I was up hella late because of Daylight Savings screwing my sleep schedule, and I was on Twitch and one of the people I follow was speedrunning a Yugioh game (I think it was called Forbidden Memories like it was some Romance YA novel) and I was like “that’s a thing?” And I watched about 15 minutes of just complete nonsense. Like this game makes no sense when your scrubbing through 30 minutes of gameplay, but when a whole game takes 45 seconds and they have mechanics using like planets and astrology symbols? What?

What?

Y’all, I’m a little concerned your card game ain’t real. Like this is some ploy by knowing adults and this is some sort of Santa Claus situation where everyone else knows that this game ain’t real, but I’m the last person alive who’s like... “it is real though, right?” Hoping that I haven’t been played all of these years, despite having literally no empirical evidence that it is.

Just saying, I’m on to you, Yugioh.

Thanks dub.

I am pretty convinced (could be wrong) but pretty convinced that Grandpa was probably just normal horny in this scene. Like it just kinda matches what I know about horny grandpa tropes (that and Vivian is really talked up to be this hot stuff although she’s just youknow...some girl who exists.)

He immediately falls over. Like immediately, and I don’t know what’s up with Grandpa’s weird slipped disc, but luckily this is the one thing that Mokuba is prepared to deal with as a park manager.

Or what was his job again, Master of Ceremonies? That was the name of Mokuba’s actual chosen job that a 12-13 yo would choose?

Only Mokuba would have the choice to choose “a literal astronaut” and not choose an astronaut. This kid probably hates space though, with his family’s countless war machines now currently flying through the void.

The amount of times that the Kaibas have had to call a doctor for these guys.

(read more under the cut)

Bro was like “So Hawkins paid Grandpa to pretend to fall down so they could ditch Rebecca’s duel, right?” and youknow...probably. It was a pretty boring duel. They got off scott free.

Rex and Weevil do cartoon antics that actually feel like cartoon antics--which feels so weird for this show. Of course, it also has this Vivian plotline that is a little sus for a children’s show?

OK, show. You keep throwing women at Yugi Muto, and I get it’s a joke because he’s the world’s most undateable boy but there is a line of plausibility that even for a kid’s cartoon show it’s like “eh, probably not.”

Anyway, Vivian has Cho Chang energy of “I’m here for a problematic romantic conflict that never needed to happen and hamfisted diversity and uhhhhhh that’s it! I won’t exist after book 5!”

What a step down from dueling on top of the train, right? Like this whole time you could have just dueled next to it? What? In this show?

The rest of the party show up to the train station, where there’s really no other audience watching. Like where are Rebecca’s adoring fans who were asking for her autograph like 3 episodes back?

Card culture is brutal, y’all.

Vivian is not drawn like a 16 yo, being real. I was pretty surprised that she was under 25 according to a cursory Google search. Course, Joey Wheeler is drawn like a built adult, too, so I think the only convincing teenage child on this show is Pharaoh because at least he’s short. Just ignore how sometimes he’s got muscles on his arms that have no right to be there at the age of 16. (17?)

Then we had like a little Season Zero vibes where everyone just picks on Yugi for a hot minute.

And so Tea’s character development comes full circle as she realizes that this whole time, the Female Friend she needed was already here in the form of that small child who has a crush on her kinda boyfriend.

This was such an episode written by a bunch of dudes.

But at least Rebecca and Tea found something in common, although I really wish it wasn’t Yugi, considering how little on screen development he has with either of them. Where’s the reward for me as the viewer? If I cared about either of this love pentagon at all (well, hexagon...Bakura’s still in there.) there will never be a payout. You very well may be waiting forever for a relationship the writers clearly had never any intention to ever write except to act as a foil for our protagonists instead of like...a relationship.

And the show seems a little inconsistent with the relationship between Rebecca and Tea, too. They hang out a lot as the girls on the sideline, and appear to get along a lot of the time--but then they hate eachother a lot of the time as well because of jealousy? It’s just so weird.

I feel like TV shows in general have a really hard time approaching girl friendships, and speaking as a girl, I wish TV and books recognized more that our female friendships don’t have to be so freakin serious. We just act friendly and that’s freakin it.

That and these girls are going to go right back to hating eachother half the time after this is over because the main problem--Yugi not piping up and telling one of them to back the hell off--has never been addressed and never will be because Yugi is a broken, broken wet blanket.

Back at the base, Seto is also making up his own problems to be upset about in the absence of any apocalypses happening on screen.

Unless that hacker is Noah Kaiba, you’re probably fine. I really haven’t had too much of a reason to feel any fear over Zigfried von Schroeder. And maybe it’s because his character design was pretty complicated so no one wanted to draw it.

This was a ‘who’s on first’ joke but still.

...why do cards have to be like this?

Also, I didn’t see anything about this nonsense in the speedrun I watched the other night so, guys, this game ain’t real.

Anyway, Rebecca won.

We find out a little more of what happens to other duelists. Our Cowboy lost to a Sherlock Holmes boy, and I was very happy that I don’t have to come up with jokes about country music because I have none other than like...Taylor Swift jokes? Does she still count as country? I have no idea what’s going on in the country music scene.

On other side of the park, Yugioh decide to pay another tribute to the creative crotch shot with one of these:

Rex and Weevil are off to fight the big bad, and when you think “OK, we’re gonna get a wacky duel battle with these two balancing on top of eachother,” they kinda whiffed it before they made it to the stage.

And then I kind of whiffed it when I realized that Mokuba and Weevil have never spoken in the same place before and they have the same exact font color so fml.

The fact that Mokuba didn’t realize anything was wrong until they fell and revealed they were two small adults in a trench coat says a lot about most of the competitors in this duel.

It is incredible how both the Battle City Tournament and the Kaiba Corp Tourney (s that it’s name?) are both poorly managed, but in a different way. The Battle City Tourney unfortunately had a bunch of murderers in it. This tournament, no one is killing eachother, but they are still kind of sneaking in through the back door and being chronically late to everything.

(and I just want to point out that after the last match Mokuba oversaw that had Joey nearly miss the appointment, Mokuba decided to set this one in front of a Giant Clock just to get his point across)

So Zigfried has some sort of flying horse card that wiped them out right away, which makes you wonder........

.............why use any other cards?

Kaiba makes these cards, right????

Like he should be the last person who’s surprised????

Anyway, Zigfried top-decked a horse, and the guy who spends about 15 minutes getting ready his big ol blue eyes dragons every match he’s ever played was like “Yo I have GOT to get into speedrunning!”

And yes, the speedrun I was watching did not use Blue Eyes White Dragons. They were using a bunch of other stuff that I tried to look up just now and the art is completely different from what I recall so...unfortunately that means that your game is fake. Pretty sure it’s fake and you have no way to prove to me this is real.

Anyway, that’s it for now, not much to say since we’re still at the beginning of the arc. Next week I guess we’ll find out if Seto ever removes his ass from this chair.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Kingdom Collisions VII

masterlist

This is a fic i’m writing to try and incorporate more description into my works. You will be happy to know that it’s working ;) There are no pre-written chapters so updates are sporadic and i am just as in the dark as you about what happens next. Please enjoy!

Percy Jackson traces the insignia under his fingers, feels the gravelly texture of the stone and the way each word engraves itself into his skin.

militat omnis amans

He hears Jason's words in his head, let's the conversation loop in his mind.

"What are we doing here?"

"I needed to take a walk in the gardens. I can't stay in that stone monstrosity for another second."

"And you wanted me to come with you?"

"If you don't want to be here you can leave." His husband snapped.

He just hummed in acknowledgment.

"Sorry," The Prince mumbled, "I'm just a little volatile right now."

"What does this mean?" Percy figured it was time for a subject change.

"Our motto?"

"Yes, I've seen it everywhere and I've never managed to ask anyone about it."

"Every lover is a soldier."

He looked at the blonde, caught those dull blue eyes. "Really?"

"It's a long story."

"Shall we sit on the bench so you can tell me?"

And then someone had called them inside to go over the details of the King's address that would be happening in the coming week.

"Another time." Jason winced.

Now Percy sits in the garden on a wooden bench, basking in the warmth and protection of an Arrowood tree in full bloom. The soft pink flowers catch on the wind and shower him with petals every so often. The sky is unusually blue for the winter but the chill in the air makes up for it. It is a deadly bite, waiting for any piece of skin to be exposed. The grass is green and cushioning under his feet and the soft cashmere pants his wearing are keeping the icy breeze at bay. He takes a deep breath in. This weather is dopamine in his bloodstream; is full of new beginnings and life.

His fingers brush against the engraved insignia again and he cannot help but wonder the tale behind it. The story of his own kingdom's symbol is one he keeps close to his heart, treasures with every blink of his eyes. His emblem flashes across his mind: a silver sword slicing through a cresting wave, the droplets from it turn bronze in the sun and fall to make their maxim: datum amore ad defendendum. The story is gruesome and bloody and full of honour. Percy's father used to tell it to him on the rare occasion he would tuck him in bed.

There was once a man, brave and strong.

Like you dad?

His father laughed and ruffled his curls. Shh my Starfish and listen to the story of Arroyo the Saviour.

So Percy snuggled into his cotton sheets, a panda pillow tucked under his chin and blinked up in anticipation.

Arroyo was a little boy who lived with his mom and his sister and his sibling, near the ocean. Everyday little Arroyo went down to the docks with his sibling and they would stand there selling bracelets their family made. It was the only way they could get money to eat.

Did their king not give them food dad? His green eyes were wide with horror.

Not everyone is kind my son. Some days little Arroyo and his sibling came back with no money and his mom would smile at them and say "It is okay. Today we eat fish and tomorrow we feast." So they sat down at the table and ate their fish just like they did every night and not once did Arroyo or his siblings complain. For they knew that a tomorrow would come where the feast would be greater than the fish and it was no use leaving today's meal in the hope of tomorrow's promises.

Little Percy frowned, confused at what his father was trying to say. But the King was lost in his own world now, matching ocean eyes far away from this bedroom, in this time and place.

One day Arroyo's mother got sick and his siblings stayed with her while he went to sell bracelets. But when he got home, a small pouch of coins rattling in his pocket, his house was rubble and his family were gone.

Gone? Percy gasped, Where dad? What happened?

His father snapped his head to the present, looked down at his son. They died my Starfish. Someone killed them.

Tears pooled hot and fast in his little eyes, Why dad?

Because Starfish Arroyo's mother was not who she claimed to be and people do not like what they do not understand. But nobody knew that Arroyo was safe, that he had made it out alive. And when he finally grew up, his mother's blood strong in his veins he came back to the village. And there he demanded to see the people who had layed his home to waste all those years ago. The people trembled before him, his might and vengeance a force they could not tame. Arroyo only asked once. And when nobody could tell him anything he smiled with his teeth and drowned the town. His tail creating waves that engulfed the world.

Arroyo was a mermaid? Percy didn't like it when dad told stories, he always left things out and it was confusing to listen to.

He was a beast my Starfish. His father said softly, eyes glittering with excitement, For you see his mother was the Exiled Queen of the Ocean and she had fallen in love with a mortal man. A forbidden romance.

So what happened to Arroyo? Did he kill everyone?

He drowned the village but saved one person. A little girl by the name of Mare for she had looked at him, with his burning anger and broken soul, and offered him the pearl she kept in a pendant at her neck. For her he bowed down and accepted the gift.

Did she become his queen dad?

No Starfish, she was much too young. Instead Arroyo took her to his home deep deep in the waves and she lived there as his friend, as his family. But sometimes Mare had to go to land for she did not have the blood Arroyo did and she could not survive in those brutal waters for long. Arroyo would take her there every full moon and bring her home every new moon. One night when she was due back on land a terrible, terrible force lurked in the water. But Arroyo didn't feel it and Mare could never have known. They said their goodbyes as they always did, promising to see each other soon.

Percy squeezed his father fingers, little lip trembling slightly.

Arroyo dived back in but something slammed into his side. He smashed into the rocks of the village and the whole town quaked. The creature attacked Arroyo, its huge body and spiked tail hitting him everywhere. Mare screamed but there was nothing she could do. And then Arroyo came up to look at her because he knew in his heart that he was not to survive this fight. He waved to his friend, his family through the years and when she waved back the monster rose from the waves and bit Arroyo. He went down so softly it was almost as if he had chosen to sleep. Mare knew the monster would come for her village next and she would not allow it to destroy the only other thing she loved. So she grabbed a sword, sharp gleaming silver, and ran across the ocean. Her feet light and swift against the rolling waves. The creature burst out in a flurry of rage but it was not prepared for the strength of Mare and when it met her sword it let out a shriek so vile the dead curdled. Blood sprayed everywhere as the sword fell from her hand and into the waves below.

Did Mare live dad? He yawned, fear giving away to sleepiness.

Mare is the spirit of the ocean my son. She lives in here. His father tapped his little chest softly before bending down to place a kiss on his forehead.

I hope I'm brave like Mare dad.

You are braver still my Starfish. He whispered.

Percy blinks out of the memory, rubbing at the ache in his chest that accompanied every thought about his dad. It has been more than a decade since that fateful night but the missing never gets easier.

He hugs his knees to his chest and watches two birds fight over a small peach dangling precariously from the tree. Such simple pleasures and petties. There are at least sixty other peaches, just as perfectly red and ripe, on the tree but these birds continue to chirp indignantly at each other. He wonders if it's purposeful. If maybe they just want the connection. It's not really about the peach. It's about having someone to argue against, talk to, be with. Gods, he scowls at himself, he must really be lonely if it's come to this.

The bench suddenly becomes uncomfortable, like every splint of wood is trying to pierce his skin. With a heavy sigh he pulls himself up and strolls towards the stone castle. In the week that he's been here it still hasn't felt any more friendly. He misses his castle, misses the home he has there. But his husband is here so he must be too. At the very least Grover will arrive this afternoon and they can spend some time together. He needs this meeting, needs to see his friend and some semblance of normal. A little voice in his head argues that he's the one who's been straying from his angered promises. The one that's been sleeping besides Jason under the pretense of nightmares. He pushes the little voice deep down, buries it in the darkness where it can shiver and cower without his knowledge or concern. As if his thoughts summon the man, his husband appears around the corner and offers him a swift smile.

"I was just coming to find you."

"You've changed." Is his reply.

Prince Jason did indeed don a new outfit. Perfectly pressed tunic the colour of the sky and a gold chain attached dangling from the small square pocket on his left breast to the first button of the coat. His pants are a deep blue, the same golden threads glinting in the sunlight. But it's the small white rose tucked into his chest pocket that Percy is focused on.

"What is that?"

"When we mourn in the kingdom we wear white roses to signify gentle death and prosperous living."

He nods stiffly, unsure if it's appropriate to ask if he may participate in the custom. Luckily he is saved when Jason's blue eyes pin on him, "Would you like to wear one?"

"Please. This is my Kingdom now too. I feel it would be a great disrespect to not."

The prince looked at him, blonde hair ruffling softly as the breeze caressed their skin and flittered between his dancing fingers. He stood there unmoving while his husband studied him like a Rubik’s cube that needed just the right pattern to fix it.

"Come with me."

They walk together, through the field of poppies bursting with colour, past the grove of fruit trees equally bright and heavy with sweet delights, over the small bridge that marks the Pond of Storms, or at least according to the plaqued waterfall that fed it.

"Why that name?"

"Just before a storm hits the water goes pitch black like storm clouds."

He stares at the clear, brilliant aquamarine of the pond, his rippling reflection staring back and wonders if it's a lie, or a wives' tale.

"You still owe me a story."

"About?"

They cross the bridge and turn a corner.

"About your insignia."

"Why do you like them so much?" Jason turns to him, curiosity burning in his expression, "Stories I mean."

"They're the easiest way to understand the core of something. A language only the lived know how to speak."

"I've heard about yours, your symbol."

"How?" He's the intrigued one now.

"My father liked us to know about the neighboring kingdoms. I never understood it then, always managed to fall asleep in our history lessons, but I guess it's been helpful."

"My mother didn't know yours." He says softly, "She is the Keeper of Worlds so she was able to tell me all kinds of tales but she said she never knew the origins of Caelum."

The Prince shakes his head, "It's only passed down from king to to descendant. Sharing it with anyone is a crime against the kingdom."

Percy's head snaps back in shock, "For telling a story?"

His husband just shrugs like its the most normal thing in the world.

"Why would you tell me then?"

"Sometimes tradition is bullshit."

"But you'd still be committing a crime?"

"Gives life a little thrill." His smile is wicked as he winks an aquamarine eye and steps through the small wooden door built into the hedge.

"Welcome to the Garden of Hearts."

Spread out before them is a sea of roses so glorious in their beauty it makes Percy's soul stutter. There is every colour under the setting sun. Starting with bleach white the roses lay across the field bleeding into cream then yellow then orange then red then pink. Rows upon rows of soft love and romance.

He doesn't manage to hold in a gasp as he drops to his knees and caresses a maroon petal. The tears in his eyes go unacknowledged even when they spill over and water the earth. He's almost certain the flower blooms in his hand.

"This is..." He breathes. He doesn't have the words. They are dust particles violently swept under a rug. They are grains of sand smashed into the earth under the weight of feet. They are simply gone.

"I'm glad you like it." Jason smiles at him and the halo of sun around his head makes Percy weak at the knees.

"Who did this? Who planted this?"

"My sister, Annabeth." The blonde looks around, caught in a time long ago, "She did it in memory of our mom."

"It reminds me of mine."

What he doesn't tell his husband is that more than that, it reminds him of a friend he left far behind. Of a friend he was willing to marry. A friend he was willing to love.

He reaches forward and plucks a satin white rose from the small bush. But as he's pulling away his finger catches on a thorn and suddenly the rose is disintegrating to the floor and those pure white petals are splattered with rubies.

"Fuck." He mutters sucking on the wounded skin in an attempt to stop the blood.

"Here," Jason winces in sympathy, holding out a bleached pocket square.

"Thank you," He offers a gracious smile through the sting of pain. "And I'm sorry about the roses."

"It's okay, the blood will wash off with the next rains."

He just nods and cradles his throbbing digit.

"Are you okay?"

"I've been stabbed before but somehow the little cuts always hurt the worst."

For the first time in well maybe ever, he hears his husband laugh. And it is godlike, a thing of beauty and splendour. Something deep in his chest unfurls gently.

"We'll go inside and get some disinfectant and a plaster on that." Jason promises before bending down to cut another rose, carefully extracting it from the web of thorns and leaves it buried itself in.

"Here," He offers it.

Percy takes a step closer, still clutching his finger, and silently asks if he can put it on for him. Those blue eyes widen slightly, but that's all the surprise the Prince shows. 

They step together and the blonde softly places the flower in his emerald green tunic. Jason smooths his hand over the area distractedly and stares up at him. Their eyes clash in a look of confusion, and curiosity, and something wholly unnatural.

"We should go." The Prince whispers.

He swallows hard and nods but neither make a move. He can smell his husband’s fresh minty breath and see the micro flecks of grey in those eyes. Gods, how has he never noticed how strong his jaw is. How there's the tiniest beauty-mark on the bridge of his nose. And the small crease in his brow that makes his whole face look so much older, look like the king he will one day be.

A cacophonous shriek from above rips them apart in a jump of fright. The low gliding hawk over head seems to narrow its eyes at the pair before flying back to its master. Report on the Princes: they've almost started tolerating each other.

Jason turns away and starts for the carved door once more. Percy stares at his back, trying to gather himself, swiping the borrowed pocket square across his bruising skin. His kingdom's maxim flashes in his mind again. Datum amore ad defendendum. Given in love for protection. He takes a shaky breath before following his husband back to the castle.

The Pond of Storms flushes charcoal. And behind him, where his blood had spilled, the petals of an ice-white rose turn crimson.

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

If you missed it: militat omnis amans means every lover is a soldier; Datum amore ad defendendum means given in love for protection.

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open):

@nishlicious-01​​

@queen-of-demons-and-hell​​

@leydiangelo​​

@sparkythunderstorm​​

@aalikun​​

@makos-bi-awakening​​

[pariunt]

✿

🔪   PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP .    ╱    ACCEPTING

❛     hey glasses , d’you think you and I would be good in a buddy cop type movie ?     ❜

FRIENDSHIP.     childhood friends  /  work buddies or coworkers  /  family friends  /  friends with benefits  /  smoking buddies  /  adventure buddies  /  fake friends  /  recently friends  /  party buddies  /  friendship of need  /  dying friendship  /  circumstantial friendship  /  partners in crime  /  old friendship  /  [ your muse ] is the good influence  /  [ your muse ] is the bad influence  /  [ my muse ] is the good influence  /  [ my muse ] is the bad influence  /  opposites attract  /  ride or die  /  frenemies  /  roommates or flatmates  /  penpals  /  exes to friends  /  enemies to friends  /  other .

ROMANCE.     childhood sweethearts  /  [ your muse is mines ] childhood crush  /  [ my muse is yours ] childhood crush  /  exes  /  exes to lovers  /  forbidden lovers  /  highschool sweethearts  /  secret relationship  /  opposites attract  /  long distance  /  unrequited [ from your muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from my muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from both sides ]  /  skinny love  /  friends to lovers  /  enemies to lovers  /  spurious relationship  /  power couple  /  newly entered  /  soulmates [ metaphorical ]  /  soulmates  [ literal ]  /  awkward  /  turning toxic  /  toxic love  /  cheating [ on your muse ]  /  cheating [ with your muse ]  /  other .

FAMILIAL.     siblings [ half ]  /  siblings [ step ]  /  [ my muse ] is an older sibling figure to your younger sibling figure  /  [ my muse ] is a younger sibling figure to your older sibling figure muse  /  [ my muse ] is a parental figure to yours  /  [ my muse ] is a child figure to your muse  /  guardian figure  /  legal guardian  /  adoptive child  /  foster child  /  [ your muse ] is taken under mines wing  /  [ my muse ] is taken under yours wing  /  other .

ANTAGONISTIC.     dangerous to each other  /  dangerous to others  /  unpredictable  /  rivals  /  petty  /  developing into sexual or romantic tension  /  based off family matters  /  based of off circumstance  /  based of professional matters  /  based off misunderstanding or lies  /  conflict of ideology  /  betrayal  /  hero - villain dynamic  /  enemies  /  fight club  /  friends turned enemies  /  lovers turned enemies  /  exes turned enemies  /  other .

some liddle plot ideas based off of this are under the cut !

FRIENDSHIP.    

Oni hasn’t really had any healthy parental figures in his life, or any familial relationships really in his main verse. He’s raised himself on TV and slasher movies after being abandoned for his defect of : showing genuine love and compassion for the entity. Because of this, Oni struggles to relate to people, but because he’s so suceptable to literally any sort of human decency if Dwight ever even did the minimum kindness of even  just inviting him over to the camfire or gave him a snack or something, he’d slowly latch to him like a lost dog. Problem with that is that Oni is afraid of being abandoned and has seperation anxiety so he’d be latched onto Dwight and consantly work to try and get praise and get aggresive and emotional when they need to seperate for any reason. Any type of attempt to set boundaries would be taken as punishment for “doing something wrong” which he will try to make up for by skirting around him nervously and giving him things he knows he likes to make him happy again.

Oni is also a terrible influence and will try to drag Dwight into doing just the most idiotic plans in the world, just awful. He also wants to help in any plots / plans or ideas Dwight may offer but he’s kind of just an impulsive dummy and he just does his best to impress. It’s not much but he’s trying. 

He’s also going to eat all of his scrabble peices. All of them. They’re all gone again, sorry Dwight. No board games in this realm only eating cards, tiles, and metal player peices. If you befriend him you now unwillingly have a new dog that eats everything and his name is Oni.

Being of the entity as well means he may very well be able to open a door to outside of the realm he’s in, and help everyone escape. That is if you can convince him to betray his creator. Even though the entity treats him horribly ( and I mean full on toture on top of abandonment and emotional manipulation ) it’s gonna be hard to make him budge on it.

ANTAGONISTIC.

as a killer he could probably be pretty petty and overly attached to him if he was his final survivor because of how got damn smart he is alone. he def would be upset and agitated with him if he outsmarts him and doesn’t play according to Oni’s “script” 

( welcome to witnessing oni throw a tantrum with the skills and strengths of at least a demi-god ) 

At the same time, there’s still that obsession and devotion in him that he has when it comes to anyone he puts within his “final survivor” status. In his mind : no one is allowed to kill him but Oni, he will throw a shit fit. ( i.e: see above. ) 

The Final survivor is the thing that makes the killer to Oni, he values the final one so while he’ll let him escape he won’t let him go unharmed or without witnessing his brutality first. There would be a LOT of playing cat and mouse, and stuff probably bordering on how one would banter with a friend. He really takes the entire thing as a fun game, and doesn’t really notice that he’s the only one having fun >:(

FRIENDS TURNED ENEMIES.

wouldn’t it just be so sad if they had time to develop a friendship only for the the entity to finally throw him into the killer ring and force him to hunt his newfound friend for sport :^) … 8^)

[ainchase]

Elsword

“What do you want?  If you have something to say, then spit it out.”

1st Year

155 cm

Specialty: Kendo, household chores

The only 1st year student at the Velder High kendo club. He started learning kendo since he was a kid, having admired his older sister, a promising kendo champion. He joined Velder High as it was the only school in the area with a kendo club.

He’s never discouraged or intimidated in any situation, which comes off as arrogance at times. However, he trains relentlessly every day, saying that he’s got a long way to go if he wants to catch up to his sister, and he’s never been free of scars for this reason. He spends most of his time at the kendo club when he’s not in class.

He’s gotten several warnings for carrying around his practice wooden sword around everywhere which did little to deter him. He’s become more cautious about it though, and tries to not get caught. Despite his clumsy and reckless tendencies, he’s surprisingly good at household chores. He can be brutally honest at times, but he is just inexperienced at expressing his feelings and means no harm.

Aisha

“I told you not to run in the classroom!  Ugh, these idiots!”

1st Year

157 cm

Specialty: Nagging, magic (?)

A class president who’s never missed 1st place in the school ranking.

She’s managed to maintain her image as a bookworm since entering the Velder High, but according to the rumors, she levitates brooms with magic to clean when no one is watching. Other rumors say that she left some problem students midair 100m off the ground overnight to “correct” their behaviors. It’s been widely speculated that might be the reason why there is not a single student who doesn’t grow quiet in front of Aisha, even the most problematic students.

She appears as a Perfect Model Student who lectures others all the time and doesn’t lack a single thing in her life, but even she has a naive, pure side to her; her after school hobbies include reading shoujo manga or romance novels, believing in fairy tales of destined love.

Rena

“Call me if you need any help. I’ll run to you like the wind!”

3rd Year

170 cm

Specialty: Archery, tending plants

Velder High Student Council President, who’s always kind to everyone. She is trusted by all with her innocent smile and heartfelt sincerity.

She doesn’t hesitate to help anyone in need. As kind she is, she is also known to be merciless to wrongdoers. According to the school legend continued to this day, a student messing around at the flowerbed was soon found kneeling before her and begging for forgiveness.

She’s incredibly athletic, and many sports team have tried to recruit her but to no avail. She shows up every once in a while at the archery club, but otherwise she spends most of her time for the student council. She claims she suits looking after plants instead, but not many students believe that as she is the first one to run over to land a flying kick to those who cause problems at the school.

Raven

“...If that’s what you really want, then I’ll take you on.”

3rd Year

184 cm

Specialty: Leading people

In the past, he was the ace player at the kendo club, but had to leave all that behind due to unknown circumstances. At one point, he was the leader of an infamous student gang which was involved in several incidents.

He had spent a lot of his earlier days in the dark, but he was able to turn his life around somehow. He’s left the gang completely and cleaned off his dark past. He would love nothing better than to just spend his days in peace now, but he often ends up getting involved in unwanted fights with other students. It’s usually because people mistake his scars and his bluntness as hostility, not to mention those who wish to challenge him because of his infamous reputation in the past.

Recently, he’s been visiting the kendo club from time to time to spar with younger students.

For reasons unknown, he has bandages on his left arm at all times. Apparently, he never takes it out of his pocket. As the rumor goes, he only takes it out during a fight, but since no one has lived to tell the tale, its actual appearance remains a mystery.

Eve

“...How rude. Please be respectful at school.”

1st Year

167 cm

Specialty: Designing and inventing robotics

A mysterious transfer student. Cynical and refined, she is nicknamed “Her Majesty the Queen” by her fellow classmates ever since she slapped Elsword on her first day of school when he destroyed her precious inventions.

She has strange devices on her forehead and ears, but it’s absolutely forbidden to ask her about them. She shows extraordinary talent in robotic engineering; she’s even borrowed an entire facility of the science club to develop robotics in her spare time. Perhaps due to her past trauma of Elsword wrecking her creations, the security system is known to be a bit over the top.

She displays affection to her creations, more than she does to humans, but seeing how she can be beyond cold to other creations that does not meet her standards, maybe not all of her creations equally deserve her affection.

Chung

“Hello, everyone! Nice to meet you!”

1st Year

155 cm

Specialty: Cello, academics

Thanks to his excellent grades and polite manners, he was referred to the vice president position of the student council, despite being only a 1st year student. Both the teachers and students alike love this model student because of his positive personality, never hesitating to help anyone in trouble.

He doesn’t quite know what to do with the fact that he’s getting confessed frequently by male students because they mistake his pretty looks. He is especially good at playing the cello, and carries it around despite his small stature.

He attends Velder High as a part of his lesson to be the successor of his family’s business while his father is abroad.

Ara

“KYAAAA! I’m late!”

2nd Year

168 cm

Specialty: Calligraphy

She grew up in a strict household, where she learned to be respectful and courteous to others. Unfortunately, all the grace and refinement she’s learned goes out the window, because she makes frequent mistakes thanks to her innate clumsiness.

Being exceptionally talented in all things athletic, she tried join several sports clubs. However, she either got the rules confused or destroyed the facility due to her immense strength. She gave up eventually, but she accepted other’s suggestion to be a cheerleader instead and has been cheering everyone since. Her pure and innocent smile is her trade mark, making her fairly popular at the school, even though she herself is not aware of it.

The stray cat(?) she found one day doesn’t want to leave her side, and tries to get inside her bag every morning she gets ready to go to school. There’s a rumor going around saying that her older brother has made friends with the wrong crowd and became a core member of a gang. She’s worried because she had tried to contact him many times, but cannot reach him.

Elesis

“It’s important for students to continue to train themselves.”

2nd Year

163 cm

Specialty: Kendo

The captain of the kendo club, head of the student disciplinary committee.

When she catches anyone trying to climb over the fence to ditch school, she chases after them in a flash. It’s almost impossible to run away from her.

She didn’t get to spend much time at home, because she was always busy with kendo competitions since she was a child. She’s won numerous awards from world championships, but for some reason she’s left all that behind and currently attends Velder High as a normal student. Judging from how much she cherishes her younger brother, who is in the same kendo club as her, a rumor says that she quit being a champion just for him.

Add

“Hmph, what are you going to do with the fact that my name is ‘Add’?”

2nd Year

168 cm

Specialty: Disassembling and modifying machines

A problem student who has trouble getting along with his classmates because of his personality, but he is a genius; he’s often the top of his class. He is targeting a core blueprint that Eve supposedly has for his own personal agenda. 

According to the rumors,he is a son of a world-renowned family of scientists who have invented many incredible things in the past, but apparently due to unknown circumstances he's left the family and is currently living by himself. 

He's able to pay the tuition with the vice principal’s support, but it seems like he’s always on a tight budget. Sometimes you can catch him at the grocery shop during timed sale. Despite his cold exterior, he seems interested in animals as he can be seen spending his time observing cats near the school.

Ciel

“I’ve baked some cookies. Want to try them?”

3rd Year

188 cm

Specialty: Gunnery, butler activity(?), baking

An ex-core member of an infamous gang. He was forced to transfer to a different school with Lu after an incident.

He secretly looks after Lu so she wouldn't get caught up in trouble. He's known as her personal butler because of this, but he doesn't seem to mind his new nickname.

Although he looks distant and serious, he loves cute things; he carries around little trinkets of plushies on his bag or his phone. You can see him near a toy shop, playing the claw machine with expertise.

He loves to bake and often hands them out to students in the class.

Lu

“I am the Luciela R. Sourcream!”

3rd Year

141 cm

Specialty: Eating desserts

She was one of the leader of an infamous gang from the Demon School.  Betrayed by those she trusted, she was falsely accused of something and was forced to transfer to Velder High. Apparently she’s looking for a chance to get her old position back.

Nowadays she tries to get around quietly without catching any attention, but she ends up catching attention anyways, in a different way, thanks to her cute appearance and bold attitude. She is asked to play a role in the theater club many times because of this, but she rarely gets on the stage because she only wants the good roles.

She hangs out with Ciel who transferred with her, and seems to leave all the annoying tasks to him. She loves sweet desserts, and joined the baking club with Ciel, where she has taken the role of taster, as she is not gifted with baking in any way.

Rose

“I’ve successfully arrived at the school. For the chairman, transferring school is not a problem.”

2nd Year

182 cm

Specialty: Gunnery, repairing and modifying guns

Elite member of a foreign army school. She transferred to Velder High of Elrios to investigate the source of a great disaster that threatens her home country.

Perhaps due to her upbringing in a military family, she is extremely athletic and boasts an outstanding marksmanship. She is especially attached to guns and can be seen secretly taking care of a model gun she carries with her.

Having been trained with a strict military education, she can be harsh with herself when it comes to training and self-disciplining. She carries around bag with the weight of a full gear that soldiers normally carry. She also eats battle-ready rations like jerky or energy bars for meals, and is always ready for battle. Her soldier-like tendencies surprise people but it doesn’t look like she is aware of it.

Ain

“I’m a bit busy right now. Can you come to the student council room if you have a business with me?”

3rd Year

182 cm

Specialty: Can do whatever he puts his mind to

The scribe of the student council, who deals everything with composure and a soft smile.

Separate from his student council duties, he’d volunteered to be the manager of the kendo club. He visits 1st year classes quite often, under the pretext of supporting the young 1st class club member. He appears to be closer with the 1st year students than students of his own class.

He frequently calls in sick due to an accident he was involved in before he started attending the school. He can be seen taking classes at the 1st year class the next day. It’s very unusual, but strangely he doesn’t draw enough attention so he gets called out on it very rarely.

He’s always smiling and no one has seen him making any other expression. He can be brutally honest without any regard for other’s feelings, but it doesn’t seem like he himself thinks it’s particularly big problem.

Perhaps he is religious seeing how he performs certain actions before lunch.

https://imgur.com/a/c6C8H

[wolf-with-a-pen]

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door Part 5

TW: death, unreality, more dirty flirting

Previous, Masterpost, Next

Ok, so if you read the original A/N for this, then you would know I am a liar. I didn't do any of that. Well I'm back for this moment, and I am going to try and give you more content, and what was promised. So, enjoy the edited version of this for now because I despised the end.

Enjoy!

Word Count: 4087

IT HAD BEEN 3 MONTHS since Edward had arrived, and not much progress had been made. Since they had met Riley, they hadn’t seen or heard from them again, despite giving him their number, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in Edward’s eyes, but at the same time, they wished that he had at least used the number once. While they were waiting, they had continued working for Dick, and had managed to meet quite a few new people- some of which were able to help, some of which had no clue what was going on behind the wall. It was to be expected- they couldn’t expect everyone to be an angel or demon, there was still a large amount of humans on earth after all.

But they had found a few. Most were regulars that saw them arrive that day. Some were just passing through. These were the better ones to talk to- they were travellers, always had a good story to tell, and could better spread the word. They never stayed long. Honestly, at this point Edward’s contacts were a mess. They had acquired so many numbers that they couldn’t tell who was who anymore. The only thing that mattered was that they were all able to help, whether they wanted to or not. Somehow, without realising it, Isi had managed to find one of the few places in the city that was a meeting place for the dead. It would come in useful for them.

Meanwhile, Isi and Vanny had been looking for suitable schools and Universities to either apply to join as a student at or become a teacher at, to spread themselves out more and be exposed to more people who could be allies. So far they had visited three different ones, with not much luck, but the second they managed to get Edward back in school, they believe they would have better odds- 3 people are better than 2 and they could cover ground quicker. Unfortunately, they didn’t want to re-join school. Who would? Especially since they had already gone through it all and managed to finish it. Somehow. The only one that hadn’t was no longer there. And plus, they were getting more allies every day.

It was a normal November day for Edward, with business being at its worst for people staying at the bar, mainly due to people only popping in for a hot deink on the cold days, and it being in-between the main rush seasons. It gave them rest at least, with calmer days, but it also meant that less people were recruited. They tried as many as possible, but it was hard for them, especially when they kept saying the wrong things to the customers, and there was nobody really that they hadn’t talked to. However, they didn’t realise that that day would go horribly different to how they were expecting.

The first sign that something was up was when nobody entered. All day it was quiet- almost as if the shop was invisible. By 11am everyone was a bit worried at the sudden change in people’s routines. Especially when the regulars that barely leave the bar never arrived. And to make things worse, Dick hadn’t arrived. He said he would arrive earlier than usual but Edward had to open up for him. And finally, whenever a shift ended, all it meant was they would lose a member of staff from the place, due to none of the others arriving. It was stage and they did not like it one bit.

So, when they saw someone enter, they were almost relieved at the sight. Until they saw his face. That smug looking face. They knew he had done this. They didn’t know how, but they knew. Suddenly, the urge to punch him in his handsome face hit them, and the despised the very sight of his beautiful red shoulder-length hair. “Wait, what?” they thought, “I don’t like him, he is not handsome, why am I thinking like this? Just ignore it and him and they’ll go away.” Unfortunately, that plan didn’t work. Edward stared as he entered the room, shortly followed by Sprite and Salami, both locked in a flirting battle. Again. If they were brutally honest, they didn’t mind seeing the three again, but they would never admit it, and were never brutally honest. So, they didn’t say anything. “What’s up?” they asked.

“Why don’t you come and look?”

They sighed, wishing they’d have predicted that. “What did you need handsome?” they asked, flirting to distract him, and hide their nerves.

“Oh, nothing much darling,” he replied.

“Then why has the shop become invisible so we have had no customers at all, the entire day, because I am sure it has to do with you.”

“Oh, come on, you got a break, didn’t you want one? And so what if I did? I needed the privacy before I could come and talk to you.”

“So, I’m guessing you’re also the reason for the power failure to all of the cameras in here then?”

“Yes I am.”

“Bastard,” they muttered.

“Now, that’s not very kind, is it my dear? Especially since I was going to give you information for the rebellion.”

“Wait, what? Seriously, we’ve been doing fine on our own the last 3 months.”

“Yes, well, we may know a way you can find even more people for the cause. That is, if you agree to give us something in return. We will even help you get it, instead of just telling you where it is, all we need is a favour in return.”

“Before I decide, can Vanny and Isi be here?”

“Sure, but I am not entirely sure Vanny will see us.”

“Nor am I, but she will need to know as well if we agree.”

“Fine, call your friends. I don’t care.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything, Mon Cherie.”

By the time Isi and Vanny got there, things had… progressed. A normal conversation turned to one of constantly trying to better each other, only willing to stop when the other is a mess. Neither was winning currently. “Are you a sea lion? Cause I can see us lion in your bed tonight.”

“I love my bed but I’d rather be in yours.”

“I like your outfit but can I talk you out of it?”

“And that t-shirt looks great on you, and honestly, so would I.”

“You look uncomfortable in that; can I help you out of it?”

Isi cleared its throat, dragging the attention to it, and stopping the flirting fight, believing it would get further. “You said that he had information for us. Can we get on with it? You two can continue later.”

“Sure.” Riley replied, before beginning to explain.

“So, if we agree to do a favour for you, you will give us info on a way to send messages to only those who are dead, and help us get this thing? I think it sounds ok, just depends on what you’d have us doing, and how long the favour would be redeemable.”

“If you don’t like the sound of what we are doing, and are completely unwilling to do the favour, we will not force you, and we can redeem it at another time. As for time scale, you aren’t going anywhere I’m pretty sure, so if we say, I don’t know, 100 years’ time?”

“Alright I agree to it.”

“Thank you. And your girlfriend?”

“I also agree.”

“Wait, you can hear us, and see us?”

“You’re a bit transparent, but yes.”

“Ok, how on earth did you find yourself a veil-seer this early on?”

“We did not know she was a veil-seer until now, I’m surprised we hadn’t known before, but most of the people around here have the jewels we do to keep us solid.”

“Alright.”

It was at this point that the cat from 3 months ago made a surprise appearance. They ran to Sprite, rubbing against them before running and laying down next to a cat basket that Dick had in the corner for the occasional visitor they had in the place.

“Ahh, Spooky, I was wondering where you got to.” Riley said.

“So that’s their name, Spooky.”

“You met her before?”

“Yes, we saw her the first day that we were here, and simply couldn’t resist petting her.”

“Right, so that was you that they saw. Anyway, you’re all willing to swap information for something that could potentially help, for an IOU to us?” Riley confirmed. All of them looked at each other for a second, Edward then confirming. “Alright, though this will be a long story.”

“An old legend goes like this: once in a time, there were 2 lovers- one a veil-seer, one a demon. Both were smitten; however, their romance was illegal, and forbidden by Satan at that time, and the demon girl’s father- mainly because said father was homophobic, but we didn’t know that then. Anyway, despite this, they still talked as much as possible, but it was becoming increasingly hard to visit each other or get someone to smuggle love letters between them, due to not being allowed to be in love. However, they didn’t say they couldn’t be friends, so the demon spent all day and night trying to find a way to create an invisible ink that only the recipient and the writer could read. And so, she found one, pretty easy to make and to use. So, they used that. However, nobody but her knew the way to make it. Since then, she has been lost, alone in hell, since her lover died and ended up in heaven. And so, I am telling you this, because we can go to heaven, find the lover, take her to hell, and convince the demon to tell us the recipe for the ink, and you can use it to just create messages visible to demons and angels, and veil-seers on earth, that aren’t the guardians.”

“Cool plan, but did you forget we’re outcasts and are unlikely to be allowed back into heaven while we stay as angels?” Edward asked.

“No, and that is why we are going to hell first. Satan said he could make you all fallen angels. Then you can’t be turned to guardians, and are still allowed in heaven.”

“Wait, really? This would mean we can recruit people still in heaven, and maybe venture to hell and recruit people willing.” Isi exclaimed.

“Yep, and you’d get the ink to use on posters and leaflets on the ground, and you can say it’s to advertise the bar.”

“Ok, that sounds amazing, when do we start?” Isi asked.

“Whenever you are ready.”

“Ok, should we meet back here at 7pm and go from there?” Edward questioned all of them.

“Sure. It’s a date.” Riley announced, focusing on Edward, bringing their hand up to his mouth before kissing it.

As promised, all of them had returned to the shop by 7pm, some definitely more stressed than others- the two angels knew that they would most likely have to make a good impression in order to be turned to fallens, and to not instantly be killed by Satan. They didn’t know what he was like so they had prepared for every eventuality. Isi was dressed in its “formal wear” and it was much fancier than its casual wear- something Edward wouldn’t have believed possible. It had a black shirt, red tie, and black trousers, with white suspenders on them. Edward was wearing a red shirt and black trousers, but refused the tie. Riley certainly didn’t mind from the look he was giving them. Vanny was wearing a short redress, tights and boots, and had done up her hair. However, Riley, Sprite and Salami were all wearing more casual outfits, almost as if they were all going to the shops or on a walk around the city, not going to see their boss. Neither side remarked on that fact.

So, there they all were, staring at the wall around the back of Dick’s. The angels were all apprehensive, not knowing what was going on. “6 for hell,” Riley announced, and the wall began to slide out in front of them, collapsing at the ends as it moved. Where it was covering, a grey glowing light shone out, with steps in an alternating lighter and darker colours of light, so they were visible but not out of place. “Come on, let’s go before the portal closes. Edward, since you’re the most handsome, why don’t you go first?”

“Hey!” the others protested, but still let them go first, following him through, the portal closing behind them, as they caught their first glimpse of hell.

Edward was in awe at the sheer scale of the place, it looked massive in comparison to heaven, mainly because you could see all of it. It was full of mountains and hills, and quite a few small cities dotted around. The thing that they all instantly noticed was the massive spire reaching up to the top of the world: you could barely see the tip of it, it was that tall. And imposing, made in black and red, and looking like a knife in the middle of the place. “Welcome to hell! We need to head up to the tower, to the very top. We might have to wait a while for Satan to be ready, we didn’t exactly tell him before we came. So, we can go and tell the doorman we are here, and if you want, we can go sight-seeing.”

“Sure, I’d like to see what it is like here.” At that, they all set off along a winding brick path to the right of them, heading towards the massive spire that was towering over them.

Despite the large distance that they had to cover, it didn’t seem like it took too long. All the way through they were talking, getting to know each other. Most of it was spent flirting or arguing, but some was spent comparing worlds- the demons had a chance to find out how bad heaven really is. All they knew was it is corrupt; they didn’t know to what extent. Whereas, the angels found out how much of a safe haven hell is. Anyone can do what they want, be what they want. Both appreciated the fact they were not in heaven. The one thing that was near constant was Riley trying to pick up Edward, clearly refusing to give up on them. It was working, but they made sure not to show that.

The instant that they arrived at the tower, they were greeted with “What are you doing here?” and “Why did you bring a bunch of angels and somehow a human to hell?”. Very tiresome. They were all led into the tower, and taken half way up the building, into some sort of meeting room, before being questioned. “We would like an audience with Satan, it’s about our mission.”

“Fine, I’ll ask him, but first I need to check none of you have trackers, mics or cameras on you, especially the angels.”

“Alright.”

And so, that is how the whole group ended up being inspected by a bunch of demons, even going so far to pat them down like they do at airports, and even use x-ray machines. Definitely overkill. But at least they all knew the guardians wouldn’t be watching them. It took way too long in their opinion, and so, the second they were all done, they were taken the rest of the way up the tower, all the way to Satan’s penthouse. They knocked, and tentatively entered, well all the angels did, the demons strode in like they owned the place. Mainly because they had been there way too often.

“Hello, Sprite, Salami, Riley, Vanessa, Isi, and Edward. Now, what are you doing here, and Riley, Sprite, Sal didn’t I tell you not to make contact yet? Explain, why are they here?”

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

For Merlin it was what could be considered a normal day. At least, as normal as his life had been over the past 12 months. He had been chased out of his hometown, by pretty much everyone except his parents- the one thing he was glad about. His parents saw him as their son. But it had caused problems. For months and months, people had slagged him off, avoided him, tried to break him, all because he was different to the others. “Different.” That wasn’t the only way they described him. Most of them were too offensive to repeat. And because of that they had no help back then. But now things were looking up.

A few months ago, Merlin had managed to convince his parents to move. Not that it took much once they found out how he was treated. They were more than willing to let him start over in a new place- they had spent the last 6 months trying to find a new place, and sell their current one to make him happy. And they had managed it. Today was the day- they were moving city and county. Part of him was sad to leave, but he was excited that he finally had a chance to be himself. The house looked strange- it had been stripped nearly bare in preparation for the new owners. Everything he had was in boxes or bags, and they were just finishing putting everything in the cars before leaving. Well, that and getting his dog ready to go.

She had been a 7th birthday gift, and quickly became his best friend- the only real friend he had ever had. Back then he was popular. Everyone wanted to be his friend. Or date him. Either way, everyone was always sucking up to him. Boy had that changed. But throughout it, Midnight had been a good friend. He had trained her and everything. All he wished was that she would no longer be his only friend. At least he had a chance. A clean slate.

And so, they set off, 3 people and a dog in a car for the 5 hour journey to their new home- scary and exciting. Merlin stared out of the window at the gradually greying outer world, watching the cities and woods and fields zoom by, eventually watching the raindrops fall on the window and rest there. Some streaming down the window, leaving pretty patterns of streaks. Barely slowing down, barely noticing the time pass. That was, until the sky became not just overcast, but dark and full of stars- his parents took the scenic route, knowing it would be quieter and most likely quicker. He was glad. Most of the time he didn’t see anything like this due to the pollution in his town. Eventually they arrived, tired and restless but still needing to do the hard work of moving everything back into the new house, even if it was just to stay in its boxes all night, so they could free up the moving van and send it back where it came from. It took hours. Afterwards, completely and utterly drained, Merlin dropped onto his inflatable mattress, (after getting changed of course) and despite himself, fell asleep almost instantaneously.

It was the next morning, and Merlin was excited to see what the place had to offer, especially since he was told how different it was to his home town. He got dressed, wearing an oversized pastel blue hoodie and ¾ length white trousers, throwing on a pair of shoes and running a comb through his short mop of dirty blonde hair. Grabbing his phone, headphones and a bag to stuff them in, he ran downstairs, grabbing a bowl of cereal and eating it quickly. “Can I go explore?” he asked his parents.

“Merlin, you are 19, you know you don’t need to ask.” They had replied.

“But we need to unpack so I thought it would be better to get permission,” he explained.

“You know you can go anytime.”

“Thank you!” he answered, grabbing his bag, and making his way to the front door.

“No problem, just be back for lunch, it’ll be around half one.”

“I will, thank you.”

Looking around the city, he was in awe of the size of the place- in comparison his hometown would have looked like a village or town, not a city. It probably was. Aimlessly, he wandered, not worrying about anything but exploring the are and finding out what the area was like. Mainly residential, but there were quite a few suspicious alleyways, all of which he avoided subconsciously. He turned off the road his house was on and walked down a side road, which widened into a path, leading directly to what looked like a little cottage. Then he noticed the sign, big and bold- “Dick’s Dicks (And Drinks)” it exclaimed at him. Then he glanced at the flower beds, all different pride flags, and nearly cried. Already he had found somewhere he would be accepted for who he was. Walking up to the building, he pushed open the door.

The inside was as pretty as the outside, making the place feel like home to him, and despite the people inside all looking at him, he didn’t mind it for once. Instead of the original stares of disgust, they were fond stares, happy to see someone new in the place. Most of the people in the place looked older than him, at least in their thirties. But there was one, one that he spotted from the corner of his eye. One of the bartenders, and they looked around his age.

Said bartender had eyes you were just drawn to- an amber colour, reminiscent of caramel, and harsh but welcoming. Their hair was a chestnut brown, and pretty long, nearly to their shoulders, even with the slight wave that it had, framing their face perfectly, and contrasting it. Pale as a sheet, and emphasized by their hair and clothing, which was dark enough it was noticeable. Their face was sharp and defined, with a strong jawline and most people would say they were attractive. From what you could see over the bar, they were wearing a navy blue button up, with a badge of the place’s logo attached to their left pocket. Carefully, Merlin approached them, sitting down on the stool closest to them. On the badge was a name, Edward, which he assumed to be theirs and a “they/them” written underneath.

“Hey, what would you like to drink?” “I’ll just have a coke please.” “Coming right up.” Edward replied, turning around to grab a glass, before returning to a pump just next to them. “I haven’t seen you around before, you new to town?” “Yes, we just moved in yesterday down the road.” “Really? Cool. May I ask why you moved here?” “Yes, my parents found a better job here, and in general the area is more accepting so we moved.” “Bully problem?” “Yeah.” “I understand, I had the same,” they replied, placing the glass on the bar. “Really? You look cool to hang with, why wouldn’t people like you?” “Preferred to spend time alone, so people avoided me.” “Right. Can I ask how old you are?” “22, how about you?” “19, but I’ll be 20 in a few weeks.” “Cool. You going to the University down the road when term starts up?” “Yeah, are you also going?” “Hopefully.” “So I’ll see you there then.” “Probably. Do you want to exchange numbers? It’s ok if you don’t but you seem cool to hang with, and I thought it’d be good to help you settle in here.” “Yes, of course. Thank you.” Merlin said, grabbing a piece of paper and pen stashed in his backpack, writing down his number, before handing the sheet to Edward, along with the pen. Quickly they wrote their number on the other end of the paper, tearing it in half and handing the side they had just written on back to Merlin. “Thank you.” “No problem, it’s the least I could do for you. How would you like it if I gave you a tour of the area?” “That would be wonderful. Thank you. I’ll text you later to arrange it. I’d probably better go now before my Mum gets worried.” Merlin replied standing up. “Yeah, sure, talk to you later. Have a nice day.” “Bye.” He replied as he walked back home. Maybe this wasn’t going to go as bad as he expected.

[richincolor]

Title: Rebel Seoul Author: Axie Oh Genres: Science fiction, romance Pages: 400 Publisher: Tu Books Review Copy: ARC received from publisher Availability: September 15, 2017

Summary: After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the ranks of the academy. Abandoned as a kid in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past and prove himself a loyal soldier of the Neo State.

When Jaewon is recruited into the most lucrative weapons development division in Neo Seoul, he is eager to claim his best shot at military glory. But the mission becomes more complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in the government’s supersoldier project. Tera was trained for one purpose: to pilot one of the lethal God Machines, massive robots for a never-ending war.

With secret orders to report on Tera, Jaewon becomes Tera’s partner, earning her reluctant respect. But as respect turns to love, Jaewon begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. As the project prepares to go public amidst rumors of a rebellion, Jaewon must decide where he stands—as a soldier of the Neo State, or a rebel of the people.

Pacific Rim meets Korean action dramas in this mind-blowing, New Visions Award-winning science fiction debut.

Review: I knew I needed Rebel Seoul in my life the moment I heard it compared to mix of Pacific Rim and Korean dramas, and I was not disappointed. There were giant robots, fight scenes, complicated (and angsty) family relationships and (ex-)friendships, questionable loyalties, rebellions, and a lovely romance—basically, author Axie Oh delivered everything I had hoped for.

Jaewon was an excellent narrator whose position in life gave him a unique look at his far-future society. His priorities (getting a decent military placement, using it to leverage himself out of the Old Seoul slums, and just plain surviving) gradually started to shift as he learned more about the Amaterasu Project. It isn’t that he lost his innocence so much as he began to understand that there was a broader world out there with people who were more complex than he originally thought. There were some wonderful moments throughout the book where Jaewon considered someone else’s point-of-view, which radically changed how he saw them.

The world of Rebel Seoul is fascinating. It’s not so far into the future as to be unrecognizable, and the classic divide between the haves and have-nots that’s common in dystopian-ish worlds was there. But one of the things that Oh did well was that this brutal government is frequently just as awful to its elites as to its poor, and being rich or from an important family isn’t as good a shield as its frequently portrayed to be. (Hello, first test! And mandatory military service for everyone, though privilege and excellent scores could get you less dangerous positions.) We got just enough detail to have an idea of how this militaristic superstate formed, and I liked how much it felt like this was a society that had been at war for decades. That kind of society made a good contrast for drama among more intimate relationships, like classmates, friends, neighbors, and romantic partners.

I have a weakness for “forbidden” romance, so Jaewon and Tera’s budding relationship was a delight. My favorite parts about it where how it developed out of time spent together and Jaewon’s empathy. He could have kept his distance—should have kept his distance from a girl raised and experimented on to become a weapon—but his empathy made him view her as a person first, not a tool for the exclusive use of his government. These two have become one of my favorite battle couples in YA.

There were a few plot twists that I felt were too easily predicted and a few characters I wish had been fleshed out, but overall Rebel Seoul was one of my favorite reads this year. It is a book set in a messy, complicated world without easy answers or neat resolutions, and I loved it.

Recommendation: Buy (pre-order!) it now. Axie Oh’s debut novel is a phenomenal mix of science fiction and romance set against a militaristic dystopian society. Rebel Seoul’s compelling characters and fast-paced plot means that this will almost definitely be on my year-end best-of list.

[skeethings-blog]

OUT OF CHARACTER

♔ INTRODUCTION Taylor, 18, cst, female pronouns

♔ ACTIVITY Uh…about the same as it is now. Roughly around a 7/10, if I had to put it onto a scale for how often I post weekly. I try to churn out replies fairly quickly,  and now that I’m done with school until fall I have a lot of free time, so hopefully that won’t change very much.

♔ HOW ARE YOU? I’m doing okay. Kind of have a headache at the moment, but things could be worse.

♔ WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?: I feel like my answer to this changes every day, but right now I’d say Ginny Weasley.

IN CHARACTER

♔ DESIRED CHARACTER Rita Guinevere Skeeter

♔ FACE CLAIM Claire Holt

♔ REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER Rita was always a very fascinating character to me in the canon series, even if - and I say this with love in mind - she is horribly annoying. Gossip mongrels tend to be, and of course she’s no exception. Though unlike many, Rita is very intelligent in the ways she goes about uncovering stories. She was placed into Ravenclaw for a reason. While many who don’t know her - something she vehemently refuses to believe, by the way - tend to see her in the stereotypical fashions. A pretty blonde girl. This is obviously true, but Rita would be damned to hell multiple times over before she would quit proving anyone wrong.

Rita Skeeter is a catty, vindictive woman, who craves power and success. She may feed off other people and their triumphs and failures to achieve such, but while there are people to desire such, why not take advantage of it?

Her alliance in CRT with the Death Eaters and Voldemort offers such a fascinating look on her character, as well. It gives her depth– more than just the name-smearing, word twisting vindictive journalist Harry Potter encounters at fourteen. The Skeeter family is built on purebloods, but are not in the elite Sacred 28. This leaves an open ended question as tohow Rita Skeeter of all people became part of such a brutal force. She wouldn’t possess the mark, of course - too incriminating, and if anyone understands the importance of protecting your identity, it would be the woman who builds her career of tossing others under the bus. And I don’t see her as being that invested in the protection of blood purity – she’s a pureblood, she’s safe as long as she plays the game correctly. Because that’s what the war is to Rita, a game. She stands with the dangerous ones to keep them from turning against her. But she’s conniving and she’s clever. Her true motives in the war are carefully hidden in crafty words meant to protect herself behind her sugary smile – something she perfected.

♔ PREFERRED SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS

Anything with Chemistry and I will be on board. Considering that Rita’s min focus is herself, her career, success, romance is not on the forefront of her mind. I can’t see her going out of her way to seek out a relationship unless it would lead to information, but that would just make it all the more interesting if something took her by surprise.

♔ CREATE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

Aesthetic

MockBlog

Also some songs that ooze Rita vibes:

You’re so Vain - Carly Simon You’re so vain, you probably think this song Is about you Well, you said that we made such a pretty pair And that you would never leave But you gave away the things you loved And one of them was me

Problem - Natalia Kills I’m your dream girl This is real love But you know what they say about me… That girl is a problem

Power and Control - Marina & the Diamonds Women and men, we are the same But love will always be game We give and take a little more Eternal game of tug and war

Think you’re funny, think you’re smart Think you’re gonna break my heart Think you’re funny, think you’re smart Yeah, you may be good-looking but you’re not a piece of art

Miss Jackson - Panic at the Disco

Climbing out the back door, didn’t leave a mark No one knows it’s you Miss Jackson Found another victim, but No one knows it’s you Miss Jackson Where will you be waking up Tomorrow morning? Out the back door, goddamn But I love her anyway

Black Sheep - Gin Wigmore I got lots of jealous lovers that all wish they had me back Got a pistol for a mouth, my own mama gave me that Making my own road out of gravel and some wine And if I have to fall then it won’t be in your line

Kill of the Night - Gin Wigmore The danger is, I’m dangerous And I might just tear you apart

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it: A coy smile pulls at her lips, head tilting thoughtfully to the side ever so slightly. She’s thought about it before of course, even experimented once or twice. “Informatum revellio – a charm to tell me when there’s a fresh new story just waiting for me to sink my teeth into. Bystanders are terribly fickle and desperately in need of a lesson into the inner workings of journalism, how to submit tips. It would certainly be far easier on me to simply do it myself.”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you: One arched, fair eyebrow raises in bored curiosity at the question. As if Rita Skeeter would ever step foot into those woods. “I would require nobody’s company but my own, of course, unless they would be offering a less filthy path so I wouldn’t ruin my shoes. If I must, I suppose Travers wouldn’t make the worst company. Leave him to the dirty work.” She quips, flicking her nails out to inspect her manicure, finding more fascination there than in the question. “And some sort of repellant, to keep those horrible creatures from getting to close to me.”

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make? Once again, her head tilts, this time in the opposing direction. She’s quiet for a moment, but not too long. “Whether or not I should be more active in this sad attempt at a war. I’m horrid with decisions that present no obvious outcome.” Well, it certainly could have been worse. “Are you quite finished with these questions yet? Some of us have work to do.”

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you? A multitude of thoughts flash through her mind, insults she’s tossed at herself while standing in the mirror, drunk and sad, alone in her vast apartment. Selfish, stupid, manipulative. Horrible at her job. Best be prepared to die a young, shameful death. “Oh, this one is easy.” Rita said, a hand flicking through the air, waving it off as if in boredom. “I would certainly detest to hear I am unattractive. No girl ever desires to hear she’s fat or ugly, does she?”

WRITING SAMPLE

Her high heels chimed ominously against the dark floors. Rookwood walked swiftly in front of her, a familiar bloke from school – what was his name, Sebastian? – behind her. An amused smirk flitted across her ruby tinted lips as the realization of just what they were doing hit. Voldemort did not trust her, nor did his goonish followers, who were herding her as if she was a sheep. It was a smart move on their part, Rita could give them that; the pretty blonde journalist, a Death Eater. Certainly it was a laughable thought. Oh, how she could not wait to prove them wrong.

The hallway down which the trio walked, silence aside from the echo of Rita’s shoes, seemed to stretch on for quite too long. She had grown up in a manor, of course, but it hadtaste. Lestrange manor was painfully dreary, the draft shooting which filled the space almost causing her flesh to rise in unfortunate bumps. All of it left her wondering just how these people were so well respected– did they know nothing? Living in a home resembling a crypt was sure to kill one’s reputation.

A firm hand wrapped around her arm suddenly, veering her into a turn she hadn’t seen coming. Her nose scrunched together in disgust, feet nearly failing her from the sudden move – skilled in heels as she was, control was necessary. “Get your likely unwashed hands off of me, thank you.” Rita snarled, snatching her arm away quick as she could. The eyeroll Travers offered in response sent her eyebrows shooting up in disbelief, another snide, quickly crafted remark tainting her tongue.

But before she could release anymore venom, a door creaked ominously in front of her. Yet another indication of how poorly their home was kept. Travers and Rookwood were watching her with the same bored, expectant expression now, and her hues flitted between them quickly. Straightening her shoulders, taking over the stride she had mastered years before – the one which exuded confidence, insight – Rita stepped between them. And there her heels went again, clicking away in a sound resonating similarly to her typewriter.

The room she stepped into was warmer than the hallway, to say the least. A bright, orange fire sparked life from a deep-set fireplace, a long table resting beside it. While the room was not crowded perse, Rita recognized nearly everyone, various bored and amused eyes turning to watch her. To her own credit, the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange and Amycus Carrow did not cause her to falter. If anything, it only pulled the stance back to full, her ever-successful falsified smile gracing tainted lips.

And while she had not seen him yet, he was certainly there. Sitting at the head of the table silently, expectantly. No doubt waiting to see if the pretty blonde girl would run and flee, change her mind, or stay and prove them all wrong.

And well – who was Rita to turn down a good challenge?

[bookiemonsterph]

Falling Kingdoms

Synopsis:

Treacherous betrayals, secret alliances, unforeseen murders, and forbidden love— The world of Mytica will hold you captive:

AURANOS - Privileged Princess Cleo is forced to confront violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse.

LIMEROS - The king’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything.

PAELSIA - Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Witches, if found, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

Title: Falling Kingdoms Series: Falling Kingdoms Author: Morgan Rhodes ISBN: 1595145850 (ISBN13: 9781595145857) Pages: 412 pages (Paperback) Published:  March 11th 2014 by Razorbill (first published December 11th 2012) Characters: King Gaius, Prince Magnus, Princess Cleo, Jonas, Princess Lucia Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Magic

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I honestly went into it with not very high hopes after reading a bunch of negative reviews on Goodreads but I actually really enjoyed it! I’ve already ordered the second book, Rebel Spring.

At the start of the book is a ‘cast of characters’ list and it basically lists all the characters in the book, what kingdom they are in and how they relate to the story. For example, Cleo Bellos is the youngest Auranian princess. I found this super helpful because there are a lot of characters and it was good to be able to flick back to the start to remind myself who everyone was.

I went into this book knowing nothing about it apart from it involved kingdoms and magic. I think that’s the best way to go into it because the first book is mainly setting everything up. There is a lot of world building, introducing all the characters and setting up the six book series. I’ll briefly explain the kingdoms and the plot below:

There are three kingdoms: Auranos (Southern kingdom), Paelsia (Middle kingdom) and Limeros (Northern kingdom). Auranos is a very wealthy kingdom full of lush green land with plenty of food and money. Limeros is wealthy too but their land is fading away and they don’t have the lovely green like Auranos. Paelsia is the poorest of them all and is mainly home to peasants with little to no money or food. They receive no help from any of the kingdoms and after one of their own is brutally murdered at the hands of an Auranian royal, Jonas is determined to avenge them and this sets the wheels of revolution in motion. Paelsia and Limeros believe that Auranos is full of greedy people who sit by and do nothing as everyone else suffers. Quoting the synopsis… kingdoms will fall, but who will emerge triumphant?

That’s all I’ll say for now otherwise I might be spoiling what happens because Falling Kingdoms is pretty much about a war brewing between the kingdoms after living in peace for centuries.

The start of the book definitely caught my attention because so much happened in the first few chapters I was just sat there with my mouth hanging open. It was crazy! I love when you are plunged right into the action because it’s so unexpected and it just makes you want to carry on reading. I could not put this book down. At all. I honestly thought it was going to be a really boring story but it was actually pretty exciting. I was expecting the start to be really peaceful and then the war coming towards the end but it actually all happens right at the start and then it builds up throughout the book before exploding at the end.

I read that this book is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones.  I do know that it is very bloody and violent with many, many, many people dying. This book isn’t as violent but it does have a lot of deaths. So many people died in this book it was crazy! They were dropping like flies. It wasn’t really violent but there was a lot of blood and destruction.

What I liked about Falling Kingdoms was that it wasn’t just one person narrating. It kept switching constantly back and forth between four characters: Cleo, Jonas, Lucia and Magnus. If you got tired of one character you got a break from them and moved on to a more fascinating character, Magnus, for instance. Magnus really made the book for me! He was a very fascinating character and my heart broke for him time and time again whilst I was reading his chapters. I am really looking forward to finding out more about his character because he just has so much potential. We literally saw so many different aspects of his character and how he has been forced into the person he is by the end of the book. He is a very evil character at times but I think he is genuinely misunderstood. I think he could turn out to be quite a good character and I’m excited to see if that’s true or not as the series unfolds.

Cleo went through a really good character development. At the start she was kind of annoying because she never tried to save herself. She always expected a man to swoop in and save her, she never fought for herself but she did fight for others. She was brave but she certainly wasn’t strong. She was a weak character but by the end she is forced into a corner and she becomes a much stronger character. I’m excited to see how much she changes in the second book because everything and everyone she loves has been cruelly taken from her. There is no one who can save her now and by the end she was determined to save everyone so I hope we do get to see that on some level!

Jonas, too, was an interesting character. He was so passionate about doing what’s right that he kind of let that blind him and made rash decisions. He was so blinded by his hatred for royals that he was willing to do anything to watch them suffer. He wasn’t my favorite character but it was interesting watching his whole viewpoint change throughout and by the end he becomes a more mature character. He has a stronger head on him and sets out a clear path on what is right and wrong. He changes his whole viewpoint by the end and I am interested in reading more from his point of view.

I like how all of the characters are vastly different from one another but their lives all intertwine in one way or another. They all cross paths in very violent ways and they all suffer but deal with their pain in very different ways. Another thing I like is that none of them are perfect. There are no good or bad characters they are just forced to make certain choices and take certain paths. They all have flaws and inner demons to deal with and believe that their actions are justified, they did what they had to do at the time and they can’t change that. There are so many sides to each character and we get to experience every side through the point of view of the other characters when their paths cross! This was very interesting and really exciting to read!

Falling Kingdoms is full of adventure, magic, heartless rulers, death and destruction! It’s a ruthless book full of ruthless characters and I am very excited to get my hands on the second book! I fully recommend this book and I hope you enjoyed this review!