#lmao guess how many words this is bc it's not what it should be

[muirmarie]

Me: I joke about writing the same McCoy centric story over and over again in different ways

Me: and like. I love doing it and imma keep doing it because it makes me happy.

Me: but also. I do sometimes wonder if it's like. A little Much.

Me: like maybe I should branch out or something

Me: [reads another fundamental and extremely insulting misread of McCoy's character by someone who is clearly making a Choice to cast McCoy as the villain, because they have to get him out of the way of spirk, because they're too???? idk immature??? to realize that even when you're in a relationship with one person, other ppl can and SHOULD still be important to you]

Me: lmao I hope I AM too much actually!!!! I hope it is 100% obnoxious how much I love that doctor!!!!! Time to write more versions of the same story of McCoy being forced to realize that he is loved and cared for!!!!!!

Me: I KNOW MY NICHE AND IMMA DIE IN THAT NICHE, THANKS

[lieutenantselnia]

thanks for the tag @kyuoki! <3

I feel the need to explain that I'm the kind of person who rarely ever listens to music per album (unless maybe when a new one has just released), usually it's either "complete discography playlist" or "one to three particular songs on constant repeat", there's no in-between😂 That's why I also have a hard time deciding on a favourite album, because I tend to have some songs I really enjoy as well as some songs that don't interest me as much in almost all of them. But I think these are some that I especially like :)

No tags this time (partly bc I just straight up forgot them when clicking on "post"💀 and I'm not sure if the tagged people would be notified if I add them in later), but feel free to continue :)

[yan-lorkai]

Hi!! I loved your hcs of the Octotrio with a yuu that seems to only have a talent in art. I related to it a lot because sometimes I feel like I’m not good at anything else other than drawing.

I was wondering if you could do the same prompt with Riddle, Ace, Deuce, Cater, Leona, Malleus & the Scarabia boys please? If that’s too many you can just do Leona, Malleus, & Scarabia. Thank you 😊

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: I guess everyone has one of those episodes, huh? I've been writing for more than 8 years now and sometimes I get hit by the "aa but I'm only good at writing, I should totally try something" and then I try something new and hate it bcs I really love to write and nothing can compare lmao. Anyway, I hope you like this darling, I did all the characters requested too btw ~

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Ace would be playful and encouraging, but his competitive nature would lead him to manipulate situations to keep you close. He’d play little tricks to make sure you stay dependent on him, offering "helpful" critiques that subtly undermine your confidence in anything but your art. His lighthearted facade would hide a deeper need to be the center of your attention, he is your muse, the one you use to practice, the who inspires you, making sure that you see him as the only one who truly understands and supports you, all while ensuring you don't realize how he’s subtly sabotaging any other talents you might want to try to explore, for he fears you will not want to spend more time with him anymore if that was the case.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Cater would use his social media prowess to make you art the talk of the school, ensuring your work — and by extension, his support — is always in the spotlight. However, his validation would come with a price, as he subtly isolates you from others, creating an environment where you feel your art is only appreciated by him and his curated audience. Cater’s charming persona would hide his darker intentions, as he manipulates your into believing that your worth is tied to the art you create under his influence, all while keeping you emotionally dependent on his constant praise. You're already good at other things, so surely you don't need to have another hobby, right?

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Deuce, unlike Ace, would be fiercely protective of your artistic talent. He’d encourage your art with an almost desperate intensity, pushing you to try different brushes and pens, different scenarios and things, but he'd also pressure you to stay focused on what your good at, ensuring you don’t waste time on things you never tried before. His possessiveness would manifest in his need to be your protector, to the point where he'd become intimidating towards anyone who tries to steer you away from your art, that does not apply to yourself, while he think your drawings / paintings are very beautiful, he would not force you to make it more if you're having an episode where you doubt your skills and think you are good only on the art field. If you want to explore new things, Deuce will be by your side the entire time.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Riddle would be intensely supportive yet controlling, pushing you to perfect your craft while ensuring you don't stray too far from his strict rules, even more if you are already his lover. His obsession with your success would become borderline suffocating, as he constantly monitors your progress and enforces discipline to keep you on the right path, nurturing your already beautiful talent. To Riddle, your art is flawless, it's personal and have a touch of you in every drawing, be it digital or traditional. When you come to tell him about your doubts, about how you're only good at art, Riddle promptly sooth you with gentle words, albeit he is a little awkward while talking. He offer to teach you about whatever you want to learn but be prepared because he is somewhat a strict teacher.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Leona would admire your dedication to your art, and he would ask questions about it too, learning as much as your interest as possible. However, his possessiveness would be almost primal, keeping you close under the guise of protection, ensuring you don’t waste time on anything — or anyone — else. Leona would be dismissive of your attempts to explore other talents, reinforcing that your art is the only thing that matters. His control would be subtle yet overpowering, as he ensures your world revolves around him and your art, leaving you with little room for anything else.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Malleus would shower you with endless admiration, captivated by your artistic talent, even more if you were influenced by an artistic movement. He'll notice all the little details, the subtle way the traces converge, how the color scheme is perfect, the way the shadows and the light reflect. He is your number 1 fan, so supportive of you. However, his intense fascination would drag you into his lonely world, where your art becomes your only outlet and he is your audience - though he has your drawings framed and hung on the walls of the castles, so everyone can look at it and admire. Malleus may not understand your struggles and why would you want to pursue another hobby, but he can arrange anything you may want to try at least once, from singing and dancing to sewing and knitting, even the art of potion making, archery or fencing. He just know you're going to find something you like as much as your art, and if you are happy so is he.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Jamil would secretly nurture your talent, subtly guiding your creativity while undermining any attempts you make to excel elsewhere, he sees your art as something free and with many meanings - it makes him relaxed in some sort of way and Jamil wants to be a little greedy here, he wants you to continue creating more pieces, always keeping you under his watchful eye as you started drawing / painting. There's just something so intimate, so calming about it he can't wrap his head around. He loves watching you creating your art, feeling is guard lowering just a little. If you ever approach him with your doubts, Jamil take you to the kitchen so he can teach you a few things about cooking. It's a different kind of art but when all is said and done, it's just as good as when you're creating and make you feeling accomplished.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Kalim would be so overwhelmingly supportive and enthusiastic about it, showering you with gifts and opportunities to nurture your artistic talent, buying everything you may need to create your art, a new software? Sure, no problem, he brought the most expensive one too. A few new pencils and pens? Right away. You need more frames and paints? It will be here in a couple of hours. However, his naivety mixed with possessiveness would lead to unintentional control over your life, as he tries to keep you happy and close by his side. Kalim’s well-meaning gestures would create a gilded cage, where your art flourishes but your freedom is slowly stripped away. He would be oblivious to the suffocating effect of his love, believing that as long as you're happy creating art with him, nothing else matters, leaving you feeling trapped and not knowing how to communicate with him. He have done so much for you already!

[jensthwa]

mountebank chem pt. two (JYH x reader).

part of the love's an uncharted path universe ★.

SUMMARY:

* 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤: 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐲. The first time you met Yunho, you knew he was going to be part of the biggest tragedy of your life: the loss of your freedom, of your free will. You didn't know why back then but what you did figure out is that you and Jeong Yunho were going to, eventually and very publicly, date each other at some point. Is that reason enough to hate his guts? Well, of course! Now, when the time comes to fulfill the prophecy, how the hell are you going to pull it off? And, most importantly, what do you need to do to not fall in love with him in the process?

PAIRING: rich!yunho x rich!reader.

GENRE: enemies to friends to lovers.

WORD COUNT: 14k (i'm so sorry).

WARNINGS: eventual SMUT ☽ (MINORS DNI) attempt !!! at comedy, crying, mentions of drinking and drunk behavior, mature language, petty behavior, insults, hwang hyunjin and hwang yeji cameos omg, yunho being a misunderstood puppy i fear, yunho and reader really hate each other but not so much anymore, pet names (princess), negative mentions of body image, mention of panic attacks/panic disorder, no smut on this part but so, so, so much tension oh god these two idiots.

NOTES: hi everyone! so, sorry for almost taking a month to finish the next part of this mini series that is PART OF THE LOVE'S AN UNCHARTED PATH / SHOW & TELL UNIVERSE. there's mentions of the last installment plot so, if you're new around here, you can always find the rest of the stories on my masterist! i also forgot to mention before that gunho is older in this universe bc i think he's younger than yunho irl?? i'm not sure bc i don't look into their families like that lmao. this is 100% self indulgent, as all fics should be, and i think i've re-read it so many times that if you find a typo or something that just doesn't make sense, you can blame it on english not being my first language i guess lmao. i hope you enjoy it and if you do feel free to send to my askbox/reblog/type in any feedback or thoughts! <3

POSTED: october 12th 2024.

masterlist - part one - part three.

Yunho has never been more stressed in his entire life. 

It's easy to tell and it's an issue for you. When it's evident someone is not comfortable, that's when the vipers get together and organize their attacks. 

And right now, he's your date for the night, so you can't really let that happen. 

The gala is breathtaking, as expected. The room is lit with fairy lights all around the roof and they mimic stars. It's the theme of the night and the beautiful dresses and suits everyone is wearing it's enough to let you know both your mother and Yunho’s mom kindly threaten everyone to follow their delusions as well. 

It looks like a very expensive prom and it's pretty but you hate it. Maybe because of the overall situation you went through today or your lack of sleep but you hate it. 

Or maybe it's the amount of eyes you have on you tonight. Twice the usual amount, if the warmth on the back of your neck is any indication of how much people are gossiping about you and Yunho right now. 

When you walked in half an hour ago, Yunho on your arm, everyone went silent as you said your hellos and went to your assigned seats. 

And then the murmurs started to fill the room slowly until they became unbearable and, eventually, you started to acclimate to them, like you always do. 

Yunho is a completely different story. It shows that he's not used to this, the fidgeting of his feet and his leg going up and down and bouncing the table cloth on both his and your leg triggers something that only causes further annoyance.

You're seated (just the two of you, because your brother and his are at a completely different table for some reason) at one of the main tables, near the stage where a talented kid who, you're sure, is the son of one of your father's friends, is playing the violin beautifully and you can't even focus on that because Yunho keeps sighing like he doesn't want to be here. 

Now, you know he must definitely would rather be doing anything else but, like you told him before, he agreed to this so he has to start fucking owning it. 

Leaning in, you curl your lips up in feign sweetness and discreetly place your hand over his leg “You need to stop that before someone notices it.” 

Head snapping back at you, he leans in as well and blinks a few times “How would anyone not—”

“They will,” you assure him, smile never leaving your lips and you hear as the people around you start to clap their hands for the end of the performance “Now clap and hold your breath because my mother has been itching to get on that stage.” 

Leaning back, you get to clap for a few seconds before the commotion dies down and then, just as you predicted, your mom gets on the stage. 

You don't even turn to see Yunho’s reaction at all but you do hear him clapping for your mom once everyone starts clapping too. 

“What an spectacular opening act that was,” she points to the various musicians that filled that half hour of snobbery and you try to repress how much you want to cringe at that. Your mother never really cared for the arts at all “I want to thank you all for attending…” 

Her voice fades into the background as you zone out, like you always do. The way of coping with the long, long events you're forced to attend to has always been zoning out and letting your body do the work for you. 

You clap, you smile, you bow and react accordingly like a robot that has been programmed to do so. Like an extra in a movie who gains the attention of the audience because someone always comments on your appearance, your posture or a specific expression you made at a random moment of the evening. 

Magazines, papers and social media users who don't have anything better to do are always that audience you strike to appeal to. That has always been your job, that's why your mom is using you to try and restore the image of Jeong Tech, too. 

The people outside of the tinsel circle love you, the people inside of it pretend to love you and everyone gets their end of the deal at your expense. 

You feel kind of bad that Yunho got to experience life outside of it and now it's being dragged by his mother to the eye of the hurricane, where everything it's mostly silent until it's not. There’s this question on the tip of your tongue, this curiosity nagging at you since earlier today. 

After witnessing the hurt on his face and the indifference to his feelings displayed by his mother, you can only come to the conclusion you got their relationship wrong all these years. 

The safe detachment you felt for him is suddenly teetering the dangerous line of interest you’ve always drawn in between you and it’s enough for you to feel bad when you turn to see him and catch him forcing a soft smile that, to everyone else, might seem genuine. 

But you know him better than that. At least, you know his mannerisms well enough to not be fooled by it. Even if you didn’t know his true feelings about tonight, about what’s about to happen now that you hear your mother utter your dad’s name to introduce him and bring him to the podium, you wouldn’t be fooled by it. 

There’s another round of applause for your father that you barely follow because, you suddenly notice, you’ve been a little too entranced by Yunho for a few seconds too long. Turning to the man who’s partly responsible for your headache tonight, you catch his speech exactly where you’re supposed to. 

“... And thanks to them, we’re positioned in a place where we can help new companies navigate and grow in a market that’s typically eager to chew and spit them out. When I first came up with the idea of Kim Innovation, there was one man who stood beside me as I presented it to the board. My best friend and someone who, barely a few years later, came up with the idea of revolutionizing the tech industry as a whole, please welcome…” 

Sometimes, you wonder if your dad loves Yunho’s dad more than he ever loved you, your brother or your mom. Turning to Sukwon, he sends you a smile and a look that hints to you that he’s probably thinking the same thing. It takes a lot for you to not giggle but the smile that curves the corners of your lips is somewhat genuine for the first time since you sat down. 

Hell, for the first time today. 

There’s cheers on a closeby table and you don’t have to turn to know it’s Yunho’s mom. She might truly love that man, which is a lot considering they did to her what she’s doing to her son. 

Arranged and married off. You never considered actually falling in love before but falling in love with the man who was cherry picked for you sounds like an actual nightmare. 

Thank God that’s not a possibility when it comes to Yunho. 

Again, your selective hearing works wonders because you are able to straighten your spine and prepare for the part of the speech that actually matters to you: “... And now we’re even blessed with the chances of our family remaining bonded forever. I’m sure you all noticed our youngest walking in together, huh?” The room makes an amused noise and you shake your head at your dad, pretending to be playfully ashamed by the call out “It’s impossible not to when they look so good together. We wanted to let everyone know tonight instead of announcing it through a notice or the press. But I'm blessed to call Jeong Yunho, the future of blockchain engineering and cybersecurity at Jeong Tech, my son in law. Yunho, you have always been like a son to me, so I trust you to take care of my dear daughter’s heart long enough to see my dreams of officially bringing our families together come to life.” 

You want to gag at the thought. You want to cry and scream and beg everyone to see right through this lie but everyone erupts in cheers for the fake relationship you’re officially in so the only thing you can do is force yourself to think about something that makes you blush and turn to Yunho to pretend you’re moved by your father’s words. 

Only to find him already staring at you with the same artificial emotion. There’s an understanding in his eyes that you think might show on yours as well and he hesitates a little before grabbing your hand in his hand over the table, visible for everyone. 

Your heart doesn’t skip a beat, your stomach doesn’t flutter with butterflies but instead drops at the oh’s, ah’s and aw’s you hear around you. When his father takes the microphone from your father’s hands and you’re sure the image of you both is no longer on the screen placed above the stage, you lower your hands under the cloth. 

He squeezes yours before harshly letting go and you open and close your palm to get a grip on yourself so you can endure the rest of the speeches with a smile. 

Your brother and Yunho’s brother take the stage for what it feels like another fifteen minutes and after that they announce that dinner is about to be served in five and to enjoy the rest of the gala and the music and the acts for the rest of the night as they step down, so you take the opportunity to get up. 

Looking at you like a child that’s about to be abandoned at the grocery store line, Yunho gets up as well “Where are you going?” 

“To get a drink,” you return immediately with a kind smile that’s far from honest and lean in a little for only him to hear you “Notice how the only thing they’ve been bringing us is water? That’s my mom’s doing,” taking a few steps into the drink table, you turn to him over your shoulder and speak a little louder this time “Want anything, babe?” 

It looks like it takes a lot from him to not grimace at the nickname and you internally laugh but your fun dies as soon as he takes your hand and pulls you to the table himself “I’m coming with you, there’s an old lady that has been staring at me for the past twenty minutes and I’m scared.” 

Feeling overwhelmed by the sudden physical intimacy you both are displaying, it takes a few bits for you to answer. At the table, you grab a champagne flute and try to have some self control but end up downing half in one gulp “Ah, grandma Park. You might know her granddaughter Sooyoung,” looking at him, he stops sipping at the own flute he got ahold of and shakes his head. You sigh in disappointment, now that no one is close enough to hear you “Of course you don’t. She’s pretty and one of the only genuine girls I know. I can get you her number after this whole sham is done.”

“Y/N, I don’t want you to play cupid for me. In fact, I don’t want to hear from you once we break up,” he nudges you softly with his arm and the look you send in his direction makes him groan a little. You both know there’s not a chance in hell of that happening but wishful thinking never hurt anyone “You know, I—”

A voice behind you both interrupts him and you close your eyes tightly when you recognize it right away. 

“Well if it isn’t the it couple of the month,” as you turn, the Hwang siblings smile at you with what you can only recognize as mischievous delight. Yeji is exclusively staring at Yunho and Hyunjin’s eyes move from your date to you before he chuckles like he knows something no one else does “I couldn’t say I saw it coming but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless, wasn’t it, Yeji?” 

His sister ignores him. 

“I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. I know Y/N, of course, who doesn’t,” she giggles and your smile tenses a bit, so you hide it behind your glass and gulp the other half of the flute down “But we’ve been missing each other a lot, mister Jeong.” 

“It seems like you know him well enough,” you half-heartedly joke and her brother smiles at you with a complicity you don’t really want “Yunho, this is Hwang Yeji and this is her brother, Hwang Hyunjin. I am sure you know their father, he owns HW Records.” 

“Yes, of course. Huge fan of his artists,” he says with such kindness you might actually start to believe him and then he bows a little “It’s a pleasure.” 

“The pleasure is all mine!” Yeji returns brightly and batting her fake lashes. She’s so pretty, you think, but that doesn’t really work in your favor when it’s blatantly obvious she’s flirting with who is supposed to be your boyfriend. 

Yunho notices it too, because his hand moves to your back and he takes a step closer to you. 

Hyunjin’s brow arches a bit as he takes his actions in and then there’s that glint in his eyes, the one you see on mean people when they secure a target to bother for the day. Because that’s exactly what he intends to do “I have to say, Y/N, I didn’t think you had a taste for… Humble men.” 

Without outright saying it, you know he’s challenging you. He’s testing whatever you have with Yunho because he’s a smart, privileged and cunning little shit and, as soon as he sees a crack on the foundation of your lie, he’s going to run his mouth. 

You can’t let that happen. Knowing he suspects something else is going on pisses you off because it means you’re not doing something right and you hate losing. 

Pretending you're confused, you furrow your brows a bit before chuckling “Is that not something to look for in a partner?” 

“I was never expecting you to come public with a relationship in the first place,” he says, hands behind his back and not-so-innocent smile on his lips. Then, he looks Yunho up and down with squinted eyes “But I was certainly not expecting you to come forward with someone who chooses public education over private, for example. Should I take this as a hint that you're furthering your education in a private school, Yunho?” 

He's trying to strike a nerve and you pray Yunho is smart enough to catch him in the act. Turning to him, your smile doesn't waver as you wait for his answer.

Taking a deep breath, he lets it out while he answers, forcing himself to smile “It’s not in my plans, no.” 

“But Y/N did… It just doesn't really make any sense, does it, Yeji?” 

Snapping out of whatever spell Yunho's presence got her in, she shrugs “No, it doesn't. Private schools are better and you don't mingle with people whose connections are useless for your future.” 

Immediately, you can tell that's what their parents told her. An easy way to fool the dummy into perpetuating their status. It's pitiful and, quite honestly, infuriating. 

“Useless for your future,” her brother repeats with a nod “That's an interesting way of putting it, isn't it? Kind, even,” they both nod and you swear your eye twitches a little “Really, Y/N, I have to give it to you. You always end up surprising me one way or another.” 

Yeji joins right after “You have a lot of status, girl! It's really inspiring that you can overlook such a big difference in your relationship,” she says, like she's not trying to jump Yunho’s bones “I'm cheering for you guys!” 

That does it. Is not the blatant classism or the fact that they are deliberately trying to get under your skin but it is the fact that neither of them has any actual indication your relationship with Yunho is fake. Meaning, they're trying to mess with your family intentionally. 

Because you might hate Yunho as much as he hates you but he's still, somewhat, family. 

“The last time I checked Yunho is the son of the owner of one—If not! The best cyber security company in the country,” you start, kind tone slipping right through the cracks and you hope they take it as a I had enough of you making fun of my man instead of what it truly is “A company he's going to work for if he wants to because you got, what?” you turn to Yunho, who's staring at you with an unreadable expression on his face “Two, three badges and one trailblazer award already? For that program you helped develop your second year?” he nods and your smile comes back when you turn to the siblings “And he hasn't even graduated yet! But I'm sure you didn't know that, did you?” 

Yeji blinks like you just spoke in a foreign language and Hyunjin’s smugness has disappeared completely. 

“You didn't know it because he's humble enough to not parade around like he owns the place, which… He kind of does,” it's your turn to shrug before turning around and placing the flute down back on the table “Oh! By the way, Hyunjin, I heard you placed second on that competition last month,” pouting you make a show of truly pretending you're sorry for him “That really shows us that it doesn't really matter if you go to a private music school or that your dad is a great producer, we can't always come on top, hm?” 

It's a petty and middle-schooled argument but you simply don't care. If people target Yunho, they're now targeting you as well.

And you can't stand when people like them try to stomp you to the ground. 

Hyunjin is about to retaliate but you turn to Yunho quickly, a different glint in his eyes now “Dinner is late, isn't it? Well, we better take the opportunity and go for that dance you promised me, babe,” seemingly tongue-tied, he only manages to nod “It was lovely to talk to you two, as usual.” 

When you drag Yunho to the dancefloor, where there's only a few old couples you recognize and he probably doesn't, it feels like you can breathe a little bit more. 

If you're being honest with yourself, you would really like to scream and pierce a hole through a wall with your fist. Your chest isn't heaving but the sensation it normally brings spreads around your body and it takes over as you secure your arms around Yunho’s neck and start swaying to the sound of an… Ed Sheeran cover? You're not really sure, you're not paying that much attention either. 

“I swear I could kill them,” you mutter under your breath and that finally jolts your dance partner back to reality, because he looks at you like he can't believe you defended him and holds your waist softly, at a safe distance, a little unsure on why you brought him to dance “They're so useless, living off their daddy’s money and gloating.” 

Yunho chuckles “I think you might hate them more than me.” 

Squinting your eyes at him, his joke does little to quiet down your anger “Don't be jealous, Yunho, you still hold the first place for most annoying human being in my heart.” 

He doesn't seem to mind the insult “You didn't have to do that.” 

“Do what?” 

“Go off on them because they were trying to bring me down,” he whispers “Or bring me to the dancefloor, either, we could've just walked off, I mean… You're not good at this.” 

“We went to the same ballroom classes, Yunho, we've danced before,” you remind him, rolling your eyes a bit “And I had to defend you because you weren't saying anything back.” 

“Because I don't really care what they think, Y/N,” he explains softly and you gulp as your eyes roam around his face. You prefer when he's screaming at you, insulting you even. This soft, fake mask he puts on whenever he's in public makes you forget who he truly is: the annoying kid who played with worms on your first playdate “And you shouldn't, either. They were clearly trying to pick up a fight.”

“No, they weren't,” you hate that your experience in these types of situations is shining so much but Yunho seems clueless even if he just firsthand experienced what you tend to experience with the circle you move in “They weren't picking a fight, they were trying to catch us in a lie.” 

“How would they know we're lying, Y/N?” he sounds a little exasperated as he steps softly to the beat, moving you with him. 

“Because they know how this world works. Not your world, not your friends' world, but my world.” 

“Your world it's the same exact one as mine,” he counters quickly, getting a little annoyed judging by his tone “There's truly not much of a difference—” 

“I'm glad that at least you got to experience what ninety nine percent of the world's population experiences, Yunho, but you got away from it and forgot everything about what goes on in here,” moving your head carefully, you signal to the gala and the attendees “I need you to remember highschool and everything that you lived there: The falseness, the appearances and the cliques. The importance of money and grades and education, of connections… It all matters here.” 

You shouldn't be instructing him. That's not really part of the deal and, at first, you thought he was faking aloofness out of spite. Now that he seems as confused as a free spirit being trapped in a glass bottle and put out for display, you feel the need to. 

So he doesn't drown you both. 

“Think of it as one big highschool where the wrong decision, the wrong response can get not only you but me and our families into great trouble.”

As the song ends and everyone claps for the performer, he lets out a sigh “I hate this.” 

“It's your life now,” you remind him and that sorry feeling stirs up inside you as well. You're not one to regret decisions but it does sting a little that you didn't fight more for your stance on this fake relationship. It makes you dizzy and so you take a step away from his barely there embrace as you see the food trays start to make an appearance through the doors “I need to go to the bathroom.” 

“I'll go with you.” 

“To the bathroom?” 

“I don't want to—” 

Sighing, you step closer again and bring your hand to his cheek, thumb caressing the skin there roughly and plastic smile on your lips “Go and bother our brothers. I'm not fucking babysitting you, Yunho, you were born first so you're technically older than me.” 

He pouts for a second and you pinch the skin on his cheek condescendingly. When he notices, his jaw clenches and you smile in victory. 

“Witch.” 

“Grown ass baby.” 

You hear him mumble a whatever under his breath when you turn around and head to the bathroom to get yourself together and hopefully get through the rest of the night without any newfound and unnecessary drama. 

Locked in a stall, you make sure to delete all social media apps. With the speech your dad gave tonight, there will be more speculation now than ever. You can already see the headlines and it draws a sigh out of you because, well, you hate the press as much as the next nepotism baby out there but, most importantly, you hate that the media reads your character wrong. 

No, not wrong. The press usually gets the manufactured part of your personality, one that has become a part of you after all these years of perfecting it. People on social media, though? They read you wrong. 

You hate being misinterpreted. Your mom once said that it was a blessing because then the people who actually know who you are will be the ones closest to you. 

And that's yet to be seen. 

If the earlier encounter with the Hwangs gives away anything, is the fact that you don't actually get to be yourself around anyone ever. 

Except your brother. 

And Yunho. 

The thought of Yunho being one of the few people who know you the best brings a shiver down your spine for the second time today. 

Yunho?!

You should consider making actual friends. That's so sad. 

Not sadder than the way you freeze when you stand up and try to reach for the stall lock. Voices echo through the bathroom and it only takes you a quick second to realize who it is. 

“Yeah, I genuinely don't know who the fuck she think she is,” Yeji’s voice is not the sweet, dumb and whiny tone you are unfortunately forced to hear everytime you speak with her and it would startle you more if it weren't for the fact that she's talking shit about you on the phone “And she probably gets to kiss him tonight and every night from here on out. They were dancing together… In matching outfits! Girl, I know,” she complains, groaning a bit “Like I haven't been thirsting over Yunho’s fine ass for years.” 

Wanting to smack some sense into her again, you move your hand on the lock but she goes on with her babbling and that makes you stop again. 

“There’s absolutely no way they'll last. Not privately, at least. Have you seen her lately?” she scoffs and you hear something move, like makeup in a bag and you assume she's reapplying her lip gloss or something because you can barely hear what she says next. 

And you really, really wish you hadn't. 

“She can barely fit in that tight dress, the hair is getting old too. She's bo-ring,” breath getting caught in your throat, you look down on your dress and suddenly you can see on yourself what you normally see on the mirror “I don't know how but I'm totally getting his number tonight and when he gets to know me that's when he'll realize she's nothing but a kind-of-pretty face and money,” she giggles “I have to go back… Yup, love you, bye!” 

Heels clacking against the polished tiles of this pristine bathroom, you listen carefully until the door closes again and let out the shaky breath you've been holding in. 

What's sadder than Hwang fucking Yeji having a friend she can call to gossip in the middle of a function while you don't? 

Hwang fucking Yeji being able to cut through you with her words. 

Getting out of the stall, you make quick work of washing your hands and avoiding the mirror while you do it. You get out, the sound of cutlery softly hitting plates and fine conversation leaking through the main door that leads you back to the gala it's enough to make you gag a little. 

Like actually gag, the smell of food on top of passing by trays makes you gag. There's a waiter to your left with a tray full of champagne flutes, so you stop her with a genuine kind smile and take two from her. Thanking her, you turn to the door again and make sure nobody is looking in your direction. 

You need to get yourself together, so you make your run for it. Passing the main door in a dash, you walk up the stairs that surely would lead you to a room. 

You've been in this venue many times so the halls are familiar and the room you're aiming to is unlocked and with its lights on, like it's been waiting for you to find comfort in the mild emptiness of it. 

There's a big floor to ceiling arched window with white curtains drawn and a sill wide enough to be converted into a reading nook if someone from your circle actually cared to read and not gossip at an event like this. 

There's a table in the middle with a lovely white cloth covering the surface and a vase in the center of it. You never had a favorite flower, but foxtail orchids are beautiful and the pop of color they bring to every space usually brings you some sort of joy before you remember the significance of them. 

Love, beauty and strength. 

Three things you ardently wish you had but seem to lack. 

Luxury is usually attached to the meaning, fertility as well but the main significance of it does nothing but replay Yeji’s words in your head and you can't even enjoy the fucking flowers as you should right now. 

Moving to sit by the window, on its sill and with your back against the white fabric and the glass, you let your eyes close as you try and remind yourself the reason this event took place. Who you are, what you mean to the people downstairs and the duty you have to fulfill tonight all blend together into a big mush of junk inside your head and all you can see it's the flashes of the paparazzis and how awful you're going to look on those goddamn photos. 

Being mugged down by Jeong Yunho of all people. Fucking great. 

Circling back to him, your mind lands on the same thought you had before Yeji barged into the bathroom. Yunho knows you. 

Hell, he might've been your only actual friend. Even for a day, that first playdate in his backyard, but he probably was your first and only friend even if it ended before you two could make proper good memories together. 

That's so sad. 

Again, you should consider making actual friends. But yet again, you have to admit to yourself that there's no one that can understand you better than him and even then… 

He would never get it. He has a solid foundation, a bed he can fall onto at the end of the day, full with love, comprehension and genuine laughter, probably. 

You've been giving him shit all day for forgetting the world he was born into but now, as you take in a wannabe calming breath and then sip the sorrows away, you kind of wish you two would get along. 

Would he introduce you to his friends if you two actually liked each other? Not romantically, of course (because that's never going to happen), but would he, if you two were friends to begin with? Would you be accepted into their group? Would they make you feel an ounce loved and supported? Is that what Yunho feels when he's with them? 

What do they make him feel, exactly? 

“Ugh.” 

The alcohol is making you sappy instead of angrier. You should be angry. That's the only way of facing things here, in the real world, in the one you actually belong to. Instead, you just feel sad. 

You take a second to wonder again how he must be feeling right now. Leaving him all alone, you hope he at least got the sense in him to attach himself to his brother's hip or yours so someone can stop the vipers from getting to him and his pride. 

You know how easy it is to get his ego hurt by something so silly as insulting his choice of lifestyle, his detachment from this (to them) superior whirlwind of falseness and money. 

But, yet again, he didn't even attempt to defend himself earlier. It's conflicting and it confuses you a bit because… Why didn't that side of Yunho come out? The one who's so eager to back his choices up, the one who yelled at his mother back in your living room? 

Does he really don't care at all what people think of him? 

Must be a blessing, to have that side of you quiet and locked away. You don't have the same luck as him because, even now, as you chug the first flute down in an attempt to silence Yeji’s voice and drown out her words in your head, you know you care. 

You care, you care, you care. 

You care so much you try to hide the champagne behind the curtain when you hear footsteps approaching and the doorknob turns, heartbeat picking up because you definitely don't want to see your mother, your father, your brother or anyone right now. 

Only to reveal the current subject of your obsessive mind, with a plate on his hand and his eyebrows furrowed before his eyes focus on your form hiding behind the table. He's tall enough to see you all the way from the door (of course he is) and your shoulders deflate as you pull your drinks from behind their white haven. 

“Ah, it's just you.” 

He closes the door behind him, scoffing and pointing at the second glass next to you “Were you expecting someone?” 

“The grim reaper, maybe.” 

“My mom? Your mom?” He asks and it's funny but you don't laugh “Well, she's looking for you.” 

You straighten your back at that and take a gulp out of your flute “I've been gone ten minutes, what could possibly be so important for her to be looking for me?” 

“Something about a picture with the governor's grandson?” he shrugs “I didn't pay attention to her, I was fixing you a plate.” 

He offers the food and you sigh, shaking your head to reject his seemingly nice action. 

“And why would you do that?” He looks annoyed when your eyes scan his form and then he uses his chin to point towards the cup next to you and then the one that you elegantly raise to your lips before emptying it. 

“Is that your second or third? I don't remember how many you had at the main table earlier.” 

“I can handle my alcohol pretty well, Jeong.” 

Walking towards you, you take the hint and put the empty flute down on the floor, taking the second one and creating some space for him on the sill “Still, you should eat something.” 

“I’m not particularly hungry right now.” 

“Still…” He offers the plate again and you glance at the food in it. It’s some brown rice and chicken with steamed vegetables. It smells delicious but instead of desiring it, your physical reaction is to swallow a gag. 

“I'm good.” 

Scooting a little more to create more space in between you, you close your eyes again and gather some patience because the sigh he lets out tells you you're going to need it. 

Nothing happens. He doesn't say anything but you do hear the clanking on the fork against the plate and peel your eyes open so you can catch him eating the food that was supposed to be for you through the corner of your eye. 

It's always entertaining seeing how much of a foodie he is.

Instead, he's extending the utensil towards you with some food in it. 

“I'm going to ram that piece of asparagus so far up your—” 

“Okay, I give up,” the fork clanks against the plate again and he gets up momentarily to leave the plate on the table “Didn't really want to deal with your drunk ass tonight, but that's alright.” 

“You've never dealt with my drunk ass because I don't get drunk around you,” you turn to him, crossing your arms. Your back is against the window frame, the way it uncomfortably digs into your spine keeps you grounded “In fact, I don't even get drunk. Ever.”

He imitates your movements “You're such a liar.” 

“Am not.” 

“Yes, yes you are. Do I have to remind you of our graduation party?” 

“Do I have to remind you of our graduation party? I think you're projecting again.”

Especially when it was filled with drunken babbling and awkward energy, the one you can only tell is in the room by being kind-of-sober. 

Yunho was definitely gone and faded, texting with someone (a friend, you remember him saying) on his phone for most of the night and then something happened with said friend (again, his words not yours) so he took your drink from your hand and a bottle from the table and made out with three boys and two girls that night. 

Right in front of you. 

It was traumatic, really, because you never wondered how kissing him would feel until that night. 

And never again since then. 

Your special power, you want to tell him, is remembering every single time Jeong Yunho looked and felt like an actual human being around you. 

Like just now, for example. Getting you food and trying to feed it to you is not really something he Yunho you know would do. So… 

“What's gotten into you? Pity?” cutting right to the chase, your eyes move around his face to catch any movement that might give away that you're right “Because of what you saw this afternoon?” 

“Guilt. Because of what I did this afternoon,” he corrects and your eyebrow raises, his lips go into a thin line before a pout sets on it and you fix your stare on it before looking at his eyes again “You were asking me to stop yelling at you and I didn't listen.” 

You hate that. This. The sudden vulnerability and the thread it's starting to knit between the two of you. 

“That was going to happen regardless of you yelling or not,” you assure him, chugging the drink down and resting the flute next to the other one, on the floor “You don't have to worry about that or me.” 

“Of course I worry,” the softness in his tone is sickening. The way it tugs at your icy heart strings and threatens to break your walls down it's disgusting, so you turn to him with a scowl “I worry about you running your mouth about this… relationship.” 

You scoff out a chuckle “Oh, of course you suddenly worry about that,” nodding, your eyes shut closed again while a bitter and sarcastic smile curves your lips “The dirty little secret will always be safe with me, Yunho, don't pretend you don't know that. Even if you don't want to tell me the reason you came here tonight or the thing that made you not curse your mother for involving you in it, it's safe with me.” 

Yunho’s voice is stern and yet it sounds like a whisper away when he speaks again “Why are you doing it?” 

“Because it's my duty and I owe it to them,” you answer without missing a bit, a little matter of factly and all “What kind of question is that?” 

“No, it's not—”

“Yunho, it was clearly a question—” 

“No, dumbass, shut up for a second,” he lets out an exasperated breath and you look at him, very annoyed. “I'm saying that it's not really your duty.” 

“Yes, it is.”

He makes a face “Not really.” 

“Yes, really,” you push him with your hand on his shoulder and he barely moves “I know you're not familiar with gratefulness or anything close to that feeling but they really gave me everything I own and made me everything I am, Yunho.” 

Clicking his tongue, your fake boyfriend looks disappointed at your reply “They didn't give you your brain, that's for sure,” he murmurs, shrugging “Your intelligence is all yours.” 

“Well, they put me through the best schools and paid for my tuitions and tutors and programs and—” 

“Acquired knowledge and connections are meaningless when you're not smart enough to know what to do with them,” he says like he can't believe you would say that out loud “And you know what to do with them, Y/N.” 

Rendering you completely speechless, the only thing you manage to do is stare at him while your chest vaguely heaves and your mind twists and turns at his words. It strangely warms your heart that he thinks you can give yourself credit for your brains and, in normal circumstances, you would agree with him. 

But this is Yunho and you have to say something to antagonize him, right? 

“W-well, I—” 

“Oh, there you are!” 

Great, the grim reaper. 

It's a little pathetic how quick you stand up and try to cover up the flutes on the floor. Yunho gets up as well and your mother looks delighted to find you both in a room together but you're sure it's because it serves some kind of purpose in her agenda of delusions. 

“Good, you're here too. Yunho, dear, you've been splendid tonight. Did you like the suit?” your fake date nods and smiles a little and she looks satisfied with that “Good, good. I'm glad it fits you just right, not like…” her eyes land on you briefly and then go back to him “Well, not everyone has that privilege, hm?” 

“I'm sorry?” he asks and his tone lets you know he's actually a little taken aback by the sudden jab (you are too, not being used to your mother doing it in front of everyone else). 

It's also a little pathetic how quick you recoil when her eyes locate the plate on the table, untouched, but a plate of food is worse than ten bottles of alcohol in her eyes. 

“Oh, that's why the dress looks a little tight!” she says, condescendingly “Y/N, dear, have you been eating?” 

You feel it again. The stillness before the chaos, the way your body locks up in place and your mouth trembles with fury but it's unable to speak up, to tell her everything she needs to hear. 

Monster. Wench of a woman masquerading as a sadistic piece of—

“I-I haven't, mother.” 

“You're already wearing a somewhat tight dress, Y/N!” 

“Auntie—” Yunho’s voice cuts through but she takes a few steps in his direction and ignores you completely, even if you have started to shake a little. 

Feeling small, useless, helpless and humiliated, you turn to the white wall and start counting the imperfections on it. If you distract yourself, you won't have to fix your makeup later. 

If you distract yourself, you won't have to hear her calling you out for “overreacting” to her words. 

If you distract yourself, you save Yunho from feeling any pity towards you again. It doesn't matter if he said that's not the motivation behind his behavior tonight, you know there has to be some part of him that pities you. 

Like there's some part of you that pities him, just a bit. 

“Now that you are going to have to spend some time together, dear, you have to stop her from doing these sorts of things. The editors work overtime trying to hide it and even then…” 

Her words, Yeji’s words, your own words that you whispered to yourself earlier today in front of the mirror, they all feel heavy on your neck, threatening to crush it under the weight. 

Under your own weight. 

Oh, you feel sick. 

“Auntie, you can't speak to her like that.” 

Yunho is not raising his voice by any means, but the tone is stern and firm and leaves no space for mistaking it as other than a warning. 

Whatever that means for your mother. 

“Now that you're going to have to spend some time together,” she repeats, dismissing Yunho’s warning “You're going to learn that this is the only way you can shut her up when she gets going, dear. She's a very grumpy human being, aren't you, Y/N?” you don't answer or turn and she sighs “See?” 

Closing your eyes, a heavy sigh leaves you before another one follows it and soon your chest is heaving and your hyperventilating while trying to blink away the tears that gather on your eyes. 

Back connecting to the wall, you look up to find Yunho staring at your mother like he discovered some part of her that's new, like he's disappointed and somehow never saw this coming but he says nothing. You also find your mother staring at you and after assessing you quickly again, she rolls her eyes and steps away. 

“She’s also, apparently, very sensitive and can't take constructive criticism well,” she says and when she reaches the door, she looks at you both over her shoulder “Compose yourselves and come out. We have some pictures to take in five minutes.” 

When she closes the door behind her, you release another trembling breath and Yunho practically runs towards you. 

“I've never heard her talking like that to anyone, does she… Y/N, is she—” you shake your head, clearly not having the energy to explain or defend your own mother and he takes the hint immediately “I just never heard her saying anything like that.” 

“You're really lucky, then.” 

He quickly scans your face for something you're not sure he's going to find. You're trying to steady your breath and scare the tears away with the breathing techniques you were given in therapy. 

Yunho finds whatever he's looking for anyway. 

“Don’t listen to her,” he starts and, just like in the afternoon, he looks unsure of what to do with his hands, so he just raises them and lowers them before swallowing hard “You can eat everything you want and this dress would still look beautiful on you,” and his words do nothing but to raise your panic levels a little bit more. Why the hell is he complimenting you? You chest raises and falls a little harder now, your heart beats a little quicker and you whimper a little “Oh, fuck, no, I'm sorry I didn't mean… I did mean it, actually.” 

“Huh?!” 

“To tell you that you look beautiful! Because you do and— Fuck, princess, please don't cry, it's not worth it” he whispers the last bit when cover your eyes with your hands softly and you nod, trying to assure him you won't without saying a word “Did you bring the—” 

Did you promise you were going to bring them? You don't even remember. If you did, you wonder what makes him think you would follow through with that silly promise, considering you're trying to cover your issues up in the first place. 

“No, I didn't. I can't just pop them whenever I feel like crying, Yunho, they're only p-preventative,” you mumble but the question is enough to distract you, to ground you. The only thought passing through you being: don’t let them know. Don't let it show. Don't become carnage for them to pick apart and consume even more “I've been drinking, too, it's not safe to take them.” 

The stillness of the room when you both shut up is what allows you to come up to the surface after almost drowning in your panic. Your breathing steadies, your heart only pounds a little faster when you feel hands on top of yours and soft fingertips caressing the skin of them when they bring them down. 

Opening your eyes to find Yunho staring at you it's not unexpected, the cautious way he regards you is. You can't even bring yourself to break eye contact with him because he did, after all, just tried to help you. 

Again. 

And God knows you don't own Jeong Yunho absolutely anything but you can try and not bark at him when he slowly inspects your face, pupils coming and going like he's trying to read you even more. 

He seems to ignore that this, and the way he saw you earlier today, is as vulnerable as you can get. 

“You know what? Fuck this.” 

“What?” 

“Fuck this. We're leaving.”

Next thing you know, your mind catches onto your body's movements when he already dragged you to the hallway and to the top of the stairs “Yunho, we can't.” 

He takes a few steps down and you follow, a little irritated. 

“Fuck this and what they want from us, Y/N.” 

“I can't.” 

He pauses and turns to you, you take the opportunity to release yourself from his grasp and raise your chin a little. From this position, you're taller than him but not for much, especially not when he climbs up a step back. 

“You're seriously going back out there after all the shit your mother just gave you?” 

“Yes,” you answer right away and you can visibly tell that he's pissed at you. Only this time, it comes with zero gratification for your pride. “You're free to leave and do whatever you want but I have a responsibility with my family that I can't just walk out of.” 

“But—” 

“But what, Yunho?” shoulders deflating and arms dropping to your sides, it feels like you're never going to get yourself, your reasons, through his thick skull “What are we going to do if we get out of here now, hm? Get in a car, go for some fast food? End up on a rooftop somewhere or a park or whatever spot you think is cool and calm to reflect on our shitty families, Yunho?” 

He doesn't say anything but the tick of his jaw it's indicative of how your words are hitting him. You're glad and not out if pure pettiness or spite, for once. 

“And then you expect me to magically renounce everything I have, everything I am, because you have a little revolutionary anti chaebol spirit inside of you?” you scoff, leaning in a fraction “This is not a movie, Yunho. I'm not a damsel in distress, I don't need you to tell me how awful my mother is or to save me from her. Now,” you lean back and then take the steps down “I'm going in there, I'm taking the stupid pictures she wants me to take and, if you're planning on staying, I'll leave with you when all of our parent's friends are drunk enough that they don't notice us leaving.” 

You look back up at him and he closes his eyes, indecisiveness written all over his expression. 

And that's, probably, the biggest difference between you both. 

But you feel some sort of safety when he opens them up again: There, pissed and all, is the image of the Yunho you know. 

And that’s exactly who you need tonight. 

“Please don't leave that plate of food up there,” you mumble and he's about to say something else when you interrupt him “I don't want to eat it, I just want you to go back up there so I can go inside first. The last thing I want is for people to think that I'm so in love that I lost all of my decorum in a staff closet or something.” 

It takes him a second, but words come out of his mouth and under his breath “Ew.” 

Your eyes almost meet the back of your head at that. 

“You wish, Jeong.” 

You take the rest of the steps down and then take a huge breath before stepping back into the gala. 

The first thing you do is look for another drink. 

And drink you do. 

You only notice Yunho didn't leave after his brief debauchery of anarchy when you feel his presence next to you, his hand on yours or your arm or your hip the rest of the night (as fake as it feels, it’s a good facade for everyone who’s playing close attention so you welcome the fact that he’s not pissed enough to blown your cover off with a tiny bit of gratefulness), especially when Yeji gets too close or attempts to initiate a conversation. 

You hate that your chest swells with victory when you see her face fall after the last attempt to steal your fake boyfriend. 

But you don't really notice if she puts more effort into doing it. After a particular coctel, you're left dizzy enough that the rest of the night passes in a blur and you're operating in autopilot by the time Yunho leans in and whispers that he's taking you home. 

Why is Yunho taking you home out of all people? 

Well he's not, not really. He’s not driving you anywhere. In fact, he’s making you freeze as he waits for something, hands on his hips and everything. 

“Where's your driver?” 

He looks around the empty street, waiting for the car that brought you two to the gala to appear and you drunkenly giggle, back against the brick wall “Home with his family, I hope.” 

“So who's driving us?” 

“The helicopter, it's parked on the roof.” 

He turns to you “The what?” 

“I'm getting an uber, Yunho. Get yours.” 

“I said, I'm taking you home.” 

“Did you?” you frown as you look through the apps on your phone until you find the one you need. Quickly typing the name of the place hosting the event, it takes a few clicks till it lets you know they're finding a driver for you “I don't remember you saying that. I remember you stuttering in front of grandma Park when she called you handsome,” you lock your phone and look back up at him “Oh and you blushed just like that, too. You look so dumb.” 

Defensively, he stutters out “I'm not blushing.” 

You giggle again and point at his silly, stupid, concerned face “Yes, you are,” a notification makes your phone light up “My car is a minute away.” 

“Our car.” 

“Oh my God,” you groan, “you're a pain in the ass.” 

“And you're drunk!” He points out and you roll your eyes “I despise you princess, truly, now more than ever, but it's against my principles.” 

You scoff, loudly and then laugh at him, at his words, at his mask “You can stop pretending now, Jeong. I don't buy it like everyone else does- Oh, the car.” 

As the uber comes to a stop, you manage to not stumble your way to it and to ignore Yunho’s hands (open and willing to catch you in case you fall) because you certainly don’t need his help. He should know it by now. He shouldn’t even open the door for you, but here he is, ever the gentleman in front of everyone else and a total ass behind closed doors.

Although today…

No. Pushing the thought aside, you ironically bow to “thank him” for his kindness. 

“Buy what exactly?” He asks before you can get in. 

The door is open now, yellow light on both yours and Yunho’s faces, and the driver is trying to conceal (very badly) the fact that he’s paying attention to your conversation, so you put on a smile and shrug to dismiss his question “I’ll tell you later, dear. Thanks for walking me to the car,” his confused expression makes you want to giggle again, but you save it “Text me when you get home, hm?” 

Before he can argue with you some more, you get into the car and welcome the warmth radiating from the leather seat before attempting to close the door. 

Only for it to be pulled open again “Move,” he says a little harshly and then looks at the drive “m-my love.” 

Oh, he’s so bad at this. 

But he doesn’t really leave room to kick him out of your uber when he forces his way in “Good evening.” He says to the driver and smiles at the man behind the steering wheel as well before the door closes and the car is surrounded by darkness again. 

Hands grasping the seat and Yunho’s arm, you think maybe you should've listened to him when he told you to eat something. The world spins a little when the car starts moving and it really takes everything in you, for the first time ever, to pull away from Yunho’s firm arm and make space in between you like you always do. 

There’s silence at last. Until there isn’t. 

Your mind it’s never truly quiet, is it? 

Dizzy and everything, you start planning the rest of your night and the next day. You don’t have to go into the office, so you can take care of everything at home. Okay, cool. There’s this thing you need to talk to HR about and also you need to schedule the lunches you’re bringing to the orphanage. What day is it? Ah, right, you still have a few more days to make everything pretty for the children. Is Yunho on your schedule for the week? You forgot to check, you forgot to ask. The calendar should be updated by now, considering your mom’s main assistant was not at the event tonight and that means she’s working overtime tonight. Probably making sure there’s no wrong headlines on the immediate news outlets and curating the comments on the instagram posts and—

“Whatcha' thinkin' about?”

Silence again. 

Only this time, it’s because you notice Yunho’s fingers on your arm and your head snaps towards him so fast it makes you dizzier. 

Nothing you care about, you want to tell him. Nothing important, nothing that would make an actual impact and close the bridge between you and him enough for him to be handling you with some much care for the umphtenth time today.  

“I’m just really tired,” you say instead and, for once, you’re not lying or deflecting. You’re so fucking tired “I didn’t sleep last night. I was working on something.” Again, not a lie, even though you were working on ways of preventing this entire day from happening. 

“Well, we’re a few minutes away.” 

“I’m a few minutes away.” You correct in a whisper which makes him giggle under his breath and that prompts you to stare bitterly at him.

You don’t ask him what the fuck is so funny but you find out once you reach the gate of your house. Not waiting for him to get down and open the door for you (because you don’t expect him to get down with you at all), you bid your goodbye to the driver -not Yunho- and get out of the car so fast it feels like someone pressed the fast forward button on you. You’re more sober now than what you were at the start of the car ride but it still proves difficult to slide the panel of your front door up and let it read your thumb print to gain access. 

“Stupid fucking thing.” You say in a distracted murmur when it wont read the print and almost let out a scream when someone grabs your opposite thumb and raises it to the panel. 

It reads right away and you turn to Yunho with a scowl on your face “I hate you.” 

“My brother designed this thing before Jeong Tech moved on to cybersecurity exclusively,” he reminds you “Careful with what you say about it.” 

Looking at the street, you find it empty again “Walking home or what?” 

“Stop pretending to not know I’m going to help you in, Y/N.” 

“I don’t need your help!” 

He looks at the thumb he’s still grabbing and the back at you before raising a brow “Sure.” 

Groaning, you take your thumb back to open the gate. You don’t even attempt to close it on his face but you don’t wait for him as you speedrun your front garden and, when you get up the stairs to your front door, it opens on its own. 

Well, not on its own. There’s a staff member smiling kindly at you. She’s one of the new ones, the young ones (younger than you, even) who won’t even tell you their names at your mothers petition, so you usually don’t insist on it because it causes them stress. You shake your head “Did she make you stay up late tonight?”

“Yes, miss Kim. She instructed me to stay the night in case either you, mister Kim or her needed some help.” 

“Help with what?” you say with a tint of annoyance in your tone and you see her bow instinctively at Yunho, who you presume is right behind you now and she offers her hands immediately to take his coat from him but you wave yours so she can stop “Please, go to your room and sleep. If she gets angry because she doesn’t find anyone to help her undress tonight, I’ll deal with it.” 

“But… Miss Kim, your guest—”

“Mister Jeong Yunho,” you don’t turn to him but you guess he bowed to her again because she hurriedly does the same “He’s not staying for long,” you hope. “Please go and get some sleep, dear.”  

She hesitates and your face softens at the slight panic you recognize in her eyes very, very well. 

“I’ll deal with her,” you promise with a genuine smile tugging at your lips “Now, go.” 

Obeying, she bows deeply at both of you before smiling back at you for a split second before disappearing through the staff aisle. There’s not many staff who stay in the property after hours and the ones that do usually stay when your parents need them but you find it quite annoying. 

Not for you but because you’re grown people. There’s not many things the staff do for you besides your breakfast every morning and your clothes -because you couldn’t convince your mom to let you do it yourself- but for her? For your dad? They do almost everything.  

At their grown age. Ugh. 

Getting into the house, you slip your high heels off and you hear the door closing and some shuffling, letting you know Yunho is doing the same. 

“You’re not welcomed here, Jeong, please go away.” 

“Shut up and look at your phone, will you?” 

“Hm?” 

Unlocking it, it’s immediately floated with messages from a new group chat that consists of Yunho, his brother, your brother and you. 

The texts are very clearly written by two drunk idiots (your brothers) and one sober idiot (Yunho) and there’s even a selfie taken in the very same room Yunho found you in earlier today. Frowning, you move to the last texts. 

kim sukwon: mjom and dad 4nd mom and dad are going home to have a little after party in like an horu hbtw  gunho oppa ♡︎: so wer’e going otoo! hehe. stay in your room y/n if u don’t eant to deal with yaunti she’s a lil hdrunkies  kim sukwon: mhm but n o funnhy business  kim sukwon: oh wait  kim sukwon: you’re anot actually ua thing hahahahaha @yn u loser 

Oh you’re going to kill him. Both of them. The three of them, actually, now that Yunho takes the opportunity to send a laughing emoji at what your brother said and when you look up at him, he’s giggling again. 

“What the actual fuck.” 

“He’s funny!” He defends himself right away and you groan before heading for the stairs. The texts and the fact there’s going to be some sort of movement on the house when it’s supposed to be cold, empty and, most importantly, in total silence, it’s enough to sober you up. 

“This is the worst day of my life.” 

Yunho does not follow you. But this house, at this point and with him disregarding your wishes of exiling him out of your life, is as much his as it is yours, so you just let him be downstairs while the darkness of your room engulfs you. You move like that, with the street lights and the moonlight leaking through the big balcony window and toss your purse and phone on the bed. 

Getting your accessories off, they clink and clank on your vanity by door and breathe a little more calmly now that the weight of them is not on you. Slowly, but surely, the stress and sensory overstimulation of the night makes it way off you as well. 

It’s not only until you get to the zipper of your dress that you remember why you needed someone to get you into the dress in the first place. It’s stuck, per se, but you can’t really reach it no matter how much you bend and twist and there’s some noise downstairs that it’s making your eye twitch a little bit. Maybe what’s making it is the ice machine built in on the fridge but you also hear some pans and you find it hilarious that Yunho, out of everyone, is the first non-contractually obligated person to touch the kitchen in years. 

Losing the battle against the zipper and sweating a little bit, the last wave of dizziness from all the drinks you had comes in and so you lower yourself to the floor, near the balcony door and just close your eyes. 

Now that you're home, the lack of sleep really gets to you. It feels like ten minutes or ten hours  simultaneously when someone turns on the light in your room and the sudden intrusion of it burns you a bit when you open your eyes and stare at the ceiling. 

Yunho scoffs from your door and you hear your foodsteps approach until he’s on your line of vision, eyebrows creasing at the sight of him “You’re so fucking weird, I swear.” 

You mumble your jab out “Yeah, laying on the floor in the dark after an exhausting day of dealing with your presence it’s not as weird as it sounds, buddy.” 

He ignores you.

“Made you some food.” 

Suspicious. Slowly, you sit up. There’s a tray on your vanity with bowls and glasses of water and you want to yell at him for putting it there in the first place but the smell of buldak invades your nostrils and your stomach grumbles in response.

You didn't even know you had buldak anywhere in this house. Weird. 

“Is it poisoned?” 

“Maybe,” he shrugs “why don’t you find out?” 

Your stomach grumbles again, begging. Your heart races as you glance at the tray again, anxious. Your rotten mind makes you delay your words, already telling you you’re going to regret it. 

But you’re so hungry. 

“Did you put cheese on it?” 

Yunho is sitting at the edge of your bed now, manspreading and with his elbows on his legs, his hands in between them. This coat is off now, you don’t really know where he left it at but it’s gone and his hair it’s not perfect anymore, like he ran his hand through it a couple of times. He smiles a little at you when he answers, low and teasing, like he can’t believe you asked him that “Obviously.” 

You wish you could convince yourself that the gulp you just did it’s due to your sudden appetite. And it kind of is. But the truth of the matter is that the ramen had nothing to do with it. 

He looks good like this. He doesn’t necessarily looks like the manchild you know and even if it irks you a little that he insists of taking care of you with this little, insignificant detail (after all, he’s going to get out of your life and your complicated relationship with food will endure till the end of times), you can’t really deny the sudden blush it brings to your cheeks. 

Clearing your throat and reaching behind you to open the balcony door, you point to the tray with your chin “Alright, bring it here.” 

It’s truly a shame you can read it in his face that he’s counting this as some sort of victory and, if it were anyone else, you would hate to disappoint them when they inevitably notice further on that this effort of correcting your nasty habits are futile as long as your living with the source of the issue under the same roof. But since it’s Yunho, you don’t really care. 

You don't care, you don’t care, you don’t care. 

The way your heart squeezes and you feel like crying when he intently watches the first bite you take out of the noodles it’s nothing, it’s just your emotions getting mixed in with the spicy taste of them and the cheese and the way your stomach finally gets some sort of relief after being partially empty the entire day. 

You don’t care that he made a little bowl for himself as well. And you definitely don’t care that he’s sitting beside you, eating his food and occasionally glancing at you to check your reaction and you hate him for it. 

It triggers the part of you that doesn’t really know how to behave, the same part who thought of him fondly this afternoon when he wiped your tears away and calmed your nerves. When brought you food upstairs at the gala, when he brushed his fingers against your arm in the car, when he helped you in. 

When you saw his expression after his mom yelled at him. When he got upset after your mom yelled at you. 

It's like you can see it: the knitting needle moving faster than ever, interspersing your lives even more and in the worst way possible, the only way you don't want it to happen is because it's unexpected and you haven’t prepared for it, because it's unnecessary. 

The way your heart is beating for him right now is totally unnecessary. 

“What?” He asks when he notices you staring “I know it’s not that bad, princess, I live in a dorm most days of the week,” he adds, laughing a little and you look down at your noodles again, halfway done “If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s ramen.” 

“We had this or did you bring it with you?” Stupid question but right now you need to distract yourself from your sudden burst of feelings and vulnerability. 

He looks at you like you’re a weirdo, again “And kept it where?” 

“In that birdnest you call hair, for example.”

“Okay, you know what—” he stops when he hears you laugh and drops his argument alongside his chopsticks, only to laugh a little as well “Smartass.” 

“I’m just hilarious, dude,” you say, shrugging it off like you’re humble or something “Where do you think Sukwon got it from?” 

“Definitely not you.” 

“Tsk,” you shake your head “you have no humor. I don’t know how mister Park stands you.” 

That seems to bring the memory back. Assuming he forgot because you both had better things to focus on, he brings his palm to his head rather harshly and you cringe at the sound it makes. 

“Right! How do you fucking know him, Y/N? I thought you only knew Yeo.” 

“Who?” 

“Yeosang,” at your furrowed brow, he turns a little in your direction and sighs “The guy I was with that one time you saw me at the bowling alley, like a year or so ago I think.” 

Oh, that guy you totally didn’t remember existed until now. Barely remembering that day, you recall it was one of those days you went along with the plans your classmates had at the time. A bowling alley? A public bowling alley? It seemed like such a normal endeavor until you spotted Yunho at the entryway talking with, you assumed at the time and confirmed now, his friend. 

When he saw you and barely raised his hand to wave at you, you remember the feeling of embarrassment washing over your and your cheeks turning red and then excusing yourself and leaving the scene immediately, like you were caught red-handed enjoying shit you definitely shouldn’t be enjoying. 

“Ah,” you tilt your head “I forgot about that,” you obviously didn’t, but you pretend you did “I didn’t know his name, though, I didn’t say hi to you or anything.” 

“Didn’t expect you to,” he shrugs it off “He asked me if you liked me that day and I asked him what gave him the impression you did,” that takes you off guard and you the noodles get caught up on your throat a little before you force them pass it and mumble out a tiny what? “Mhm, I didn’t understand either and he told me to forget it but I remember it because he didn’t even see you that well that night.” 

“Maybe he’s fucking crazy,” you offer and he gives you a look “It would suit you if you friends were crazy, I’m just saying.” 

“Suit me? That's crazy.” 

“Did I stutter?” 

“How do you know Hwa, Y/N?” 

You almost ask him who that is when it clicks on his head that he’s talking about Park Seonghwa. Thinking about him, about your tiny hiccup early this morning and the acute possibility there was of him saying yes to your proposal makes you scrunch your nose in momentary resentment. Because, really, you’re glad he said no. 

Yunho might not be used to this world of tinsel and fakeness anymore but he’s cut for it. Seonghwa? He didn’t look like he would last a second actually involved in it. 

Good for him. 

“He’s working for my brother,” you finally answer after a few seconds of staring at your noodles and sipping a bit of water and Yunho open his eyes at the new information “He’s working on his spaces and aligning his chakras or whatever Sukwon is into these days,” sighing, you think about that dumb tree he made you paint on his wall and then stare at the half finished canvas that’s facing the wall next to your vanity for a few seconds “Probably going to renovate his apartment, too. Sukwon said he’s tired of minimalism or something?” 

“That definitely sounds like Hwa,” he nods and you wonder what he means by that but don’t pry “And his girlfriend?” 

“The mechanic?” you ask and Yunho shrugs “He told me she was his mechanic,” you clarify before continuing “He brought his motorcycle to the building because something was wrong with it, I guess. They’re together together now?” 

“I’m not sure.” 

“She’s really cool,” you smile at the memory of the girl “She looks really cool, at least.” 

“Yeah but he just met her.” 

“And?” 

“Isn’t it a little too early to call her his girlfriend?” 

“How the hell would I know that?” you ask and you don’t mean to sound defensive… But you do a little bit so you clear your throat and shrug one more time and decide to joke your way out of it “Should he wait like fifteen years so that his mom forces him to be in a fake relationship with her or something?”

Yunho doesn’t laugh. 

You finish your noodles in silence until he groans and you turn to him.  

He stares at his phone and then closes his eyes, regretfully “God, they’ve been calling me for a few hours now.” 

“They found out?”

“I don’t know.” He whines, resting his forehead on his palm as he looks through some messages. 

You take the opportunity to distract him, tease him a little bit if that’s able to get him off his phone “Do you know anything ever?” 

“I know you’re annoying as fuck even when I make you food and all.”

It works because he locks his phone and stares at you with a pout that feigns innocence and  hurt. 

“Oh, wow,” you gulp the rest of the water down and wipe the corners of your mouth with your fingers before propping yourself up on your knees and then all the way up “And just when I thought we were finally getting along.”

He gets up as well “Is that a thing?” he asks, taking the tray from the floor and leaving it on top of your vanity again, which gains him a look that he ignores “Us being friends?” 

“Well, no,” you turn to him on your way to your walk-in closet “We were born to hate each other and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.” 

“We should at least try, Y/N. I have a schedule with you now.” 

You don’t hear him follow you but when you turn after finding your pajamas for the night, he’s resting his shoulder on the door frame and the same thought as before crosses your mind. 

Why is he attractive like this? Under the soft light of your walk-in closet and with his tie loose and messy? 

You don’t if that is what possesses you to walk towards him, slowly, like a lioness towards her prey and stop just before your chest touches his middle “Is that why you want to get along? Or is it because you’re still pitying me, Jeong?” 

He says nothing, eyes lidded and breath picking up along yours. 

“Is that why you brought me food at the gala? Why you suggested us leaving, defy our parents' wishes only after you saw the way she treated me? Is that it?” 

You want him to tell you yes, that’s exactly what it is. Because that alone can effectively kill the desire that suddenly rushes through you, unbidden and foreign. If you lean a little, if you grab his tie and pull him down towards you… Maybe he’ll reject you, maybe his rejection will kill the feeling down too. 

So you lean in just a fraction. 

And Yunho stays put. 

What the hell is going on? 

“I don’t pity you, Y/N,” he lets you know for the second time tonight “I understand you,” he says, his eyes scanning your face and looking for something. He seems to find it, he seems to be satisfied with it as well “I finally understand you and I think you understand me too. Do you?”

It takes you a bit, but you nod and he tilts his head just a little bit, like saying see? 

“And because of that, you want us to be friends?”

He breathes out and it hits your cheek. Your chest heaves a little at that “Don’t you think we could at least try to get along, princess?” He asks in a whisper. 

You take your time pretending to think about it like the proposal isn’t tempting, like you didn’t already answer yourself inside your head. Truly, you’re a little lost at the closeness and a little dizzy at the way his pupils seem to be committing you to his memory. 

There’s this sudden tension you never let yourself feel before and your mouth hangs open a little when he leans in another tiny, molecular fraction into your space. 

And then common sense takes over. Pushing him away and into your room just to move past him, you shrug “Truce until we break up, it is.” 

“Truce, then.” You don’t need to turn to him to know he’s smiling. 

“They updated it?” you don’t have your phone with you but you can already foresee the amount of activities you have together just to put up with the charade. He looks at you, confused after whatever that was “The calendar?” 

“O-oh, yeah, uhm… I don’t see you for the rest of the week except on saturday morning and afternoon, here it says, um…” at the day mentioned, you freeze “It says: Ask her to take you with her to her saturday activities?” 

“You don’t need to, I’ll tell them you were with me.” You dismiss the idea right away, pretending it’s not a big deal and moving to your big mirror to try and unzip the dress one more time. 

“Why? What do you do on saturdays?” 

Giving him a look, he puts his palms up defensively. 

“I thought we were friends now!” 

“Having friends means sharing your personal agenda with them?” You ask, beyond confused.

“It’s technically my agenda too, so…” 

“I don’t know why it’s your agenda too because what I do on saturdays it’s not necessarily public information and… Oh, stupid zipper,” you look around your vanity for something that can help you get it down “And,” you continue, failing at the task in hand “It’s not really something for everyone. So I’m guessing it’s some sort of way your mom or my mom are punishing you for lashing out this afternoon.” 

“Ok, but what is it?” He murmurs and you stop your movements. Yunho is suddenly behind you. Entranced with finding something that could help you out, you didn’t even notice him closing the distance in the background on the reflection on the mirror. But when you look up he’s there and your poor, poor heart picks up again.

“I volunteer at an orphanage that’s not really… Well, it’s not the best at taking care of the kids but I’m working on that,” you answer, cautiously, catching his surprised expression in the mirror “I bring them some food and toys and since it’s nearing halloween we wanted to decorate the space a little bit but the kids they’re not… Sweet and innocent,” you try to explain, gulping when Yunho raises his hands and his fingers start fidgeting with the zipper “They’ve been through some shit so they cause a little bit of trouble when people go and visit them. They’re used to seeing me but not you, so…” 

“They’re going to bully me?” he asks, regarding you through the reflection with a tiny smile “I can help you this saturday if you like… It’s stuck,” the pout returns to his lips and you can only hope he’s not able to hear your heartbeats the way you hear them of your ears, the way you feel them on your throat, especially when the zipper gives in and it slides easily down the length of your body. He leaves it at an appropriate distance, where it doesn’t show too much skin and it doesn’t feel impossible to pull it down yourself, either “There.” 

“T-thanks,” you stutter out fast, wondering why he’s not pulling away and time stops ticking when you catch him taking a look at your exposed skin, his cheeks darkening a bit or so you think “I t-thought you had that thing this weekend?” 

“Honjoong’s gig,” he nods “that’s at eight that day. So I can go with you on— I want to go with you.”

What is this? What’s this sudden change of heart? What’s this tension, this mutual understanding, this sudden feeling of wanting to have him around for that? 

Your walls are falling down and that’s dangerous. 

Your clothes might fall down too, if he keeps staring at you like that. 

“Sure,” you mumble out and, for the first time in forever, you welcome with a hug and a kiss on the forehead the sound of the garage door opening and signaling that your parents and his are finally home “Y-you should—” 

He pulls away, awkwardly and almost tripping with the carpet. 

“Y-yeah, no, definitely—”

“I’m going to t-take a shower, so…”

“Oh, yeah, you stink again, um—”

He almost makes it through the door when he turns around and takes the tray “Thank you, by the way.” 

It catches him off guard, you can tell.

“Thank you for today. For showing up, for making me food and everything else.” 

His smile brings that fluttery softness emotion back and you point to the door before he can say anything back. 

“Tell them I’m asleep, please.” 

“Yeah, okay, hm… See you saturday?” 

“Sure.” 

“Okay,” he smiles again and you walk to the door so you can see him out of your room and lock it like his brother suggested over text “Goodnight, Y/N.” 

“Night, Jeong.” You whisper and, finally, you breathe in the normalcy of your room again. 

Only this time, you look around and see the image of Yunho at the edge of your bed. And again, sitting by your balcony with you. And again, when you move through the walk-in closet to get to your bathroom behind it, you turn and the memory of him leaning on the door frame plagues your mind like a virus. 

You’re in so much trouble. 

If you read all the way down here: THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is part two of three (possibly more if the story extends that far). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

© jensthwa, 2024.

[fairyhaos]

How To Fucking Write: a guide by fairyhaos

[masterlist]

this post details:

STARTING A STORY

PACING A STORY

hi gays and gals and welcome to "how to fucking write", a post (series) where i talk about how i brainstorm for writing, plan for writing, write the writing, and everything in between. nothing too serious here lmao, but i'm definitely planning on making at least a couple posts on this bc a) it's fun and b) i wanna help! so if you find this useful then pls lmk by reblogging + drop an ask if there are any specific things u want me to give my two cents on ^^

okok and now without further ado,,, let's look at the topics i'll talk about in today's post!

#1 - HOW TO START A STORY.

.. bullet point one : have an idea

the first big thing is that you need an idea. doesn't matter if you're a pantser and don't plan out your writing before you start. that's totally fine! but before you begin, you need at least an idea: maybe it's a vibe, a character personality, a specific journey you want the characters to go on. maybe it's a piece of dialogue. maybe it's the ending- the point you want to end up at after however many thousand words.

whatever it is, it's best to have some inspiration, some idea of what you wanna do. no point in writing if you don't know what you're writing, you know?

(of course, that brings up the issue of Having An Idea in the first place, but finding inspiration to write is a whole other can of worms we can open in another post.)

.. bullet point two : practice

okay, so now you have an idea. how do you put that idea to paper? how should you actually start your story?

it’s all to do with practice.

it’s the most annoying piece of advice in the world, but it helps so much. you just have to write lots and lots and lots, to find the way that works for you. whether you wanna start your stories with pretty scene descriptions, with dialogue, with dramatic one-liners. finding your voice, your style, what’s most comfortable for you, is really really important. and takes practice.

an example, though: for me, i prefer either a line of dialogue, or one-liners that a) help immediately establish a character’s personality or can b) introduce an interesting setting.

[chan + swingset] — one-liner example

[hoshi + silly] — dialogue example 

but of course, everyone’s style is different. so i’d recommend playing around! find a list of one-word prompts and just write a few that inspire you, writing the beginnings. it’s important, also, that you’re having fun, because if you’re already struggling with starting to write, it’ll be even harder if you’re doing it while feeling stressed.

.. bullet point three (mostly just for longer fics)

maybe you don’t find a style, in the end. maybe you’re comfortable with all of them, which is totally fine! but then you look at your writing, and you think, “oh… this isn’t as good as i thought.” 

and it makes you want to give up. what do you do, then? how do you carry on with your start?

just put words to paper. it doesn’t matter if the words are terrible, if you’re making up shit and using placeholders for description words or whatever. just carry on, get to a place you’re happy with, like the end of a scene, or maybe a dialogue exchange you really like.

because now, guess what? you’ve successfully created a first draft.

making first drafts is actually so important. seriously. first drafts allow you to fuck up, allow you to write terribly. they help you fumble and trip your way to the finish line (or at least a rest point) so that you can go back and do better.

even if your first draft is terrible, it’s helped you make your way to a point you’re happy with. now you have a vague idea of what you want, even if the description or characterisation or something is way off. because now, you can edit it, or even scrap it and use only a few words from that draft in your next one. or maybe, if you look back at it, maybe it’s even decent enough for you to use. 

whatever it is, when you first start writing that story, think of it as ‘The Worst Draft’. because it probably won’t be as good as you want it, and it’s okay. just write, with no fears of it being bad, because that’s literally fine. it’s not set in stone. the backspace button exists. after your first draft is made, make another. and another, and another, because i promise, after that first draft, it only gets better from there.

#2 - PACING A STORY.

.. bullet point one : adding things

pacing is always really tricky. however, i do think that slowing a story down is easier than speeding it up, so here we go,,,,

finding out the exact way to slow down a story really depends on what type of story you're writing, but there are a few all-round things you can do which can help pretty much any setting.

if it's a scene with loads of dialogue, and things feel like they're jumping to the end topic too quickly, add descriptions. your readers are blind, writers, and they depend on you to be able to see what's going on. are your characters having a conversation on the street? take a break to describe what they see. are they in a coffee shop? maybe someone comes in with a huge noise, or their coffee arrives at their table. are they hanging in midair with nothing around them? well, describe the actions of the character they're talking to, then.

example: (from my seoksoo fic bc it's the only long fic i'm working on rn)

by adding character descriptions, movement, thoughts, instantly everything seems to have slowed down. it thickens time, allowing you to move at a more leisurely pace.

if it's a scene full of action, you can do the exact same thing. maybe there's a high-tension moment and something significant happens. slow down time there, describe something small in great detail. talk about the thoughts they're having.

and even if it's just an ordinary scene, describing is important. the setting, the characters' actions, their thoughts. it's okay to write too much. then you can delete things which make things feel like they're moving too slowly.

.. bullet point two : delete

not gonna lie, finding out how to speed up the pacing of the story can often be really specifically tailored to the setting of the story.

with stories that have loads of action (spy, apocalypse, etc) i'd recommend adjusting sentence length. you'll want short, punchy sentences, without loads of commas and clauses, but you'll also want to experiment with having those short sentences gradually get longer. it helps with tension and suspense.

it has to be short. running fast. something to elevate fear. quick, but also desperate, before they then spill over each other, picking up pace, all of the thoughts blurring together and going faster, and faster, and faster, and then-

then the penny drops.

people use the metaphor of music a lot, and it really does work that way. it needs to ascend to its climax: gently, cautiously, before sprinting upwards and only describing things like the barest emotions (the fear they feel, the panic, anger, anything) before everything reaches its peak and comes crashing down in a flurry of action descriptions.

but of course, the easiest way to speed up something is to delete. delete swathes of setting description. delete unnecessary dialogue. delete an entire scene and rewrite with only the things you remember (which can help make sure you only have the essentials in your scene, btw. very helpful).

it might take a bit of adjusting, rewriting, moving things around, but ultimately, quickening the pace of the story depends on the way in which you write things. be concise, be dramatic, and don't dawdle.

... and that's it ! if anyone has anything else they want advice on (how to structure, how to write dialogue, how to plan etc) then just shoot me an ask, because i'd love to help however i can :)

tagging: @selenicives who asked for this in the first place hehe ^^

[criminallyvenomous]

Anytime, Always - Spencer Reid X Reader (part four)

part three story masterlist

•Plot - When Dr. Reid came to speak at your University, you were thrilled. A big-time F.B.I. agent at your own school, how could you resist? Soon, that wasn’t the only thing you couldn’t resist. Random meet ups and nights together were fun at first, but when he started guest lecturing on a regular? That was a whole new experience.

•Ship - Spencer Reid X Reader

•Fandom - Criminal Minds

•Warnings - Age gap (legal consenting adults), Alcohol, Fluff, Eventual smut, Pining, and of course a warning you might fall for Spence even harder post reading)

•Word Count - 569

•A/N - ik its short im sorry!!! it was hard to find a stopping point. still working on the longer next chapter but second session classes started this week at my uni and im still catching up on midterms so im swamped lmao. its also hard bc im debating smut or not in that chapter. six will be the start of prof! spence tho..

~

This was all new to Spencer. He hadn’t ever done something so ‘casual’. He hadn’t even ever had sex with someone who he didn’t really care for, not that he wasn’t starting to care for you. It’s just that drinking and sleeping together was more of a Derek Morgan thing, not a Spencer Reid thing. He’s beginning to think he’s in over his head. Maybe he should just call up the ‘ladykiller’ while you’re getting the Chinese.

“What’s up, playa?”

“Hey, Morgan. I think I’m a little out of my depth here.” Spencer admitted.

“What do you mean? You’re just visiting a ‘friend’, aren’t you?” He teased.

“I, um, may have-“

“I know, kid. What’s the problem?” Derek interrupted.

“I’ve never done something like this before.” Spencer confessed.

“Oh come on, you’ve had sex before, Spence.”

“I meant doing something so ‘relax’, something so casual.”

“Well, how did it happen the first time?”

“A good amount of alcohol.” Spencer said, making Derek chuckle.

“That’s called liquid courage, my friend. Well, do you like her?”

“Yeah, she’s great. It’s just that she’s young and we’re not like a couple or anything.” All Derek heard was the age comment.

“How young?” Derek pry-ed, Spencer could basically see his face right now.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just gonna go.” Spencer was defeated, unsure of what to do.

“Hey, don’t put so much pressure on it. Just feel it out and do what feels right.”

“I have no idea how to do that.” Spencer chuckled and Derek did too.

“I know, kid. Just try. I mean, the date’s been going well, right?”

“Yeah, it’s been great.”

“Then don’t change anything. You’re great as you are, Reid.”

With the boost of confidence from his much more experienced friend, Spencer tried to swallow his pride. Plus, he was definitely going to seriously consider the ‘liquid courage’ that helped him out last time.

“Garlic tofu with rice for two and as many spring rolls we could get.” You did a little ‘ta-da’ motion as you approached the doctor.

“It smells amazing, it’s interesting though. This restaurant is supposed to be Chinese but has Vietnamese and Japanese options on the menu, like Pho and Ramen.” Spencer analyzed.

“You’re right. I guess most Americans don’t really notice the difference.”

~

“Awh, is this for me?” You asked as you took off your shoes along with Spencer.

The two of you went up to his hotel room on the third floor, upon entering you saw two stemmed glasses and a nice bottle of white wine on the nightstand.

“I asked room service for it. I figured it would be a step-up from the mini-fridge screw top.” He stated, walking up to pour the wine. You put your hand on his back.

“You’re the best, Spence.” You smiled, then realized. “Sorry, I meant Spencer. It just slipped out.”

“Don’t apologize. My friends call me that, too. Have to say, though, it sounds better coming from you.” He turned to hand you your glass.

God, he was sweet, funny, smart, and downright gorgeous. You didn’t care if you’d be stuck with meeting up every few months for a day or night together, it’d be worth it. You took a drink from your glass and looked over to Spencer.

“That’s so much better.” You both laughed and set the glass down on the nightstand closest to you.

part five

[doyouevenshipbr0]

borderline illiterate gruvia think piece.

happy gruvia day i guess!

so like…… im a grown woman. so believe me when i say at this point i rly couldnt care to be genuinely bothered by antis. like i will literally just block them lmao. ok yes i did write a whole fic revolving around a comment by an anti KFHDKSJWJEDK but i rly wasnt mad i was just genuinely inspired by what they said.

ANYWAYS! nonsensical 294820381002 word rant incoming from the “unbothered” grown woman.

seeing people say how gray is out of character in 100 yq/has stockholm syndrome are literally missing the entireeeee point of his and juvia’s relationship and its crazy!!

*side note, i think for the sake of helping gray’s character and development, they sacrificed a lot of cool things about juvia and a lot of her individuality which i do not like. but thats a rant for another time. btw do notttt even come for me bc she is literally still by far my fav character lmao*

im probably gonna go on for too long about this but gray’s whole fucking character throughout the whole story from beginning to end is centered around the fact that hes cold and closed off and grumpy and “too cool” and listen im not saying this is fucking rocket science or any type of transcendent literature by any means but i HAVE to point out that hes a fucking ice wizard. like. duh. im sure his character/personality was meant to go along with abilities i mean look at literally EVERYONE else in fairy tail.

ANYWAYS the reason he is this way is because he’s so used to losing all of the people he loves and even worse, hes used to so many people sacrificing themselves for him.

and it traumatizes him!! so many people hes been close to have died and he ultimately always thinks its his fault! lord knows im rusty with ft knowledge but his parents died (cant remember if it was in any type of sacrificial way teehee), Ur sacrifices herself for gray, ultear sacrifices herself for gray, and his dad dies AGAIN (once again, not sure if this was in a sacrificial manner lmao. i kindaaa think it was? maybe? shrug.). but POINT IS! theres a common theme of loved ones dying and/or sacrificing themselves for him. there might even be more people lmao idfk.

so what happens when he meets a girl who has an overwhelming and unwavering and infinite love for him?! he is freaked the fuck out!!! for a couple reasons! 1. he is so used to losing the people that love him and 2. he doesn’t even think hes deserving of any love to this degree!

then what happens? he PUSHES HER AWAY! KEEPS HER AT A DISTANCE!!!! because THATS ALL HE KNOWS!!!!!!!!! yes he has his friends who love him but no one has ever loved him in the way and abundance that JUVIA DOES! so he has to react appropriately! lots of love = lots of keeping her at an arms length!

so when he thinks he loses juvia in their fight with invel, and she comes back, dont we think it would make sense that he finally realizes he should accept his feelings for her? i mean remember when he said he promised her an answer AFTER the war? once again, like gray, pushing things off. and then he almost LOSES HER without ever telling her how he feels! so gray realizes life is short! theres no use in trying to deny ur feelings! these are common themes in like 85% of my gruvia drabbles lmao.

im not even saying that it was love at first sight for him and that gray liked her from the jump. bc i dont think thats true. i think we can finally see outward romantic feelings for juvia right after the tartaros arc, when juvia visits gray at his parents’ grave. but before that, i think juvia was a friend (wellll i feel like after the tenrou island arc he liked her more than a friend, but he didnt really realize how much more) who he cared about, and truly didnt know what to make of her because like i said, hes never known a person to love him so much and actually not die LMAO.

but my point is, juvia is the perfect person to be gray’s romantic partner. she is a person so full of love and so happy to love and she doesnt care who knows it. she is unequivocally herself and she wears her heart on her sleeve to the upmost extent.

it literally only makes sense for his character to end up with her!

u could argue gray doesnt need to end up with anyone at all bc he has his friendsssss and likeeee. sureee. fine. but what fun is that? i personally want to see the scared-of-love grump to find his person. i think, again, thats kind of the point of gray’s character- learning u are worthy of love, accepting love, and learning to love openly.

im sorry but literally what better happy ending for him than to be with juvia?

so fast forward to 100 yq, where he is just sooooo out of character apparently. dont we think that may actually be…. character development?

the boy who probably couldn’t even fathom a romantic relationship is now finally accepting he’s in love. he’s done pushing it off, he’s done denying, he’s done depriving himself of feeling love. thats a step in the right direction! now what? in true gray fashion, he thinks hes still not good enough! and that’s where we are now. he’s not confident, he thinks he’s weak, and he thinks he cant protect her. why? he knows she loves him. he knows he’s objectively a strong wizard. so why does he feel inadequate? CIRCLE BACK!!! TO WHO GRAY IS AS A PERSON!!!! SINCE DAY ONE!!! constantly in fear of losing his loved ones! thinking he can’t protect them! SCARED TO LOVE!

like im sorry the proof is soooo in the pudding and i totally understand if gruvia isn’t ur cup of tea but to say things arent making sense is silly to me! they actually make perfect sense!

and yknow what. im gonna go from a romantic standpoint to a realist standpoint. years ago, mashima said he likes gray and juvias dynamic and didnt have anything serious in mind for them anytime soon. so he kept that going for literally the entire series. well. he ended fairy tail alluding to the fact that gray and juvia were kinda together at that point. or he at least ended it with the pretty obvious conclusion that gray does in fact have feelings for juvia. so then when ft 100 yq starts what was he supposed to do? act like all of their development in the last arc never happened? that would be kinda hard to do!

whatever i just hope at least like 3 of these sentences were coherent lmao u guys get my point

[patrochilles-or-bust]

Hey I heard that you've been having issues with some friends lately about politics lately and was wondering how you're.... dealing, I guess? I'm not American, but my 3 best friends of seven years are. I've considered these people my platonic soulmates and boxes of gifts are still sitting in my closet addressed to them.

But ever since the US. Elections this year, I've felt really sick thinking about people voting for the Dems after they livestreamed a genocide. And none of my friends particularly *like* the Dems at all and think they're complicit and need to do better, but they also did still vote for them in the hopes of not losing insulin/hormones/welfare money they need to live.

And I don't want my friends to suffer or die, but I also feel really gross thinking about my friends doing that. I've tried explaining to them that the Dems aren't any good for us, but they always retort that they need to try in order to live and I never know what to say.

I'm pretty new to any serious leftist movements and don't think I'd really be ready to meet people in a group like that so like,,,, should I keep trying to get through to them since they agree the Dems aren't good? Is that what you've been doing?

I've tried explaining my feelings to people IRL from my country and they all basically agree that "Americans just want to avoid Trump hurting them" and I feel really isolated and scared. This whole debacle has kind of crushed my belief in love and soulmates (platonic or otherwise) and now I don't see much point in continuing to be alive if I have to just cut off every person I've ever known or loved and be alone until I die.

I really hope you aren't experiencing the same feelings I'm going through and that something that makes you really really happy happens this week. And that your wedding goes well! Don't let anybody say you don't deserve to be happy!

Well I can't really speak on soulmates fr, but you wouldn't have to "be alone until you die" if you found community that thought more like you 😅 and I'm not saying that to be snarky, I am completely genuine. For all the peers whose respect I don't have for my beliefs, I have found people that did, that helped me feel reinforced. You said you're not ready to get serious, but when you are, just know that that's what these movements and groups are for! Maybe you'll find different soulmates there! Maybe it's time to let go of the old ones that served a different time for you.

I'm sorry that your friends are not on the same page as you, though. Me personally, when it comes to these things, I am absolutely a black sheep. But I don't try to convince people in my life anymore. I loudly let it be known where I stand so that they cannot deny there is another reality than what they see, that I will not be moving, and that's it. Convincing people who are more concerned with themselves than they are anything else has not served me. I don't talk to people who aren't trying to listen to me 🤷🏾‍♀️ When they're ready to actually listen, then get ready to talk! But the same way you can't persuade them (as of right now), you don't have to let them pressure you, either. I might just be jaded, though. I've allowed a lot of bridges to slowly burn. If they rebuild it, or stop the fire, then that's how it'll be.

Educating yourself is also a great way to reinforce your perspective; part of the reason I'm so confident is because I take the time to read. The things I can't put into words, a LOT of other people across many cultures have! So I'm not blind! I personally value my integrity above social standing, bc at the end of the day you're gonna die with you, and I'll be damned if I never stood for shit bc "clout" by people who only liked me for conforming lmao. I gotta like ME by the end of my life. And ik that's easier said than done, and it does disappoint very often but... I try to do it.

I wish I had better advice for you; I'm sure that was not the soft answer you needed 😅 I appreciate you reaching out to me, and I hope you find the strength within you to continue. 🙏🏾

[dyemelikeasunset]

I can't sleep so I'm venting. for the most part i love my d&m readers, but oml sometimes i get qpoc blues so bad 😭😭

It's just liiiike. ppl either don't talk about Mor or completely misinterpret her personality. Like I can always tell if my readers are black or not because nonblack readers no NOT see Mor's significance, or just miss the mark when they talk about her, or they misread her personality. Like I don't understand what's so hard to understand about a cute and thoughtful artist??

AND LIKE LMAO Dom's sexuality gets brought up all the time but no one talks about Mor being a lesbian and how rare that is to find in media 😭 white lesbians are always talking about "we need more open lesbians in media!! ppl shouldn't be afraid to use the word lesbian!! blah blah" and i'm like "here you go!!" and no one claps at all lmao. Like I get it, i know why it happens, i understand racial microaggressions, i know how fandom spaces treat Black women, I UNDERSTAND BUT I CAN STILL BE UPSET. I have the right to be upset about it!!! 💀💀 And I know fem lesbians get ignored all the time, invalidated all the time, but it just sucks to see it happen to my character. I just feel like her being lesbian doesn't clock a lot of people, and I get asked to do more thirst trap art of Mor and I do want to but i'm also trying to be careful about like. Idk reducing a dark skinned fem lesbian to being validated only thru being sexy? LMAO.... Mor should be able to be attractive and lovable without tons and tons of thirst trap art (and it's not like I don't do it at all!! I'm not trying to be overprotective or deny her sexiness but I guess it's considered not enough?? give me a break)

And mannnn I was so mad actually that several comments voiced thoughts that essentially said Mor didn't "help" or "take care" of Dom enough, and that when Dom was finally opening up to her it was "Morgan finally doing something" LIKE HELLO??? HELLO??? It's DOM'S flaw that she can't open up? And Morgan does a lot??? I know immature ppl do not appreciate more soft and domestic/feminine forms of care bc they're used to taking their mothers for granted lmao but wooow I was taken aback. First of all, like, I try to show that Mor is the main cook, works just as much as Dom (let's go double income household), is always checking in on Dom's comfort as she navigates being queer, and is overall a very considerate girlfriend. AND SECOND OF ALL LMAO like even if she didn't do all that she doesn't need to have relationship currency to have a doting girlfriend, like the fucking trope of black women needing to suffer for love is so terrible I'VE HAD ENOUGH AND i"M NOT EVEN BLACK. Like there is NOTHING WRONG with their typical dynamic and I'm sick of people acting like there is. SOMEONE SAID DOM WAS LIKE A COMFORT PILLOW W NO AGENCY AND i"M LIKE WTFDYM???? She has TONS of agency and her sense of agency says she wants to LOVE AND DOTE ON HER PARTNER LIKE LMAO. WHAT?? Why is that hard to understand??? Is it because I made one (1) joke bout Mor being a pillow princess and the anti-princess squad are grinding their teeth in the bushes seething over it? Ppl are so twisted sometimes oh my goddddd. Like as an ace who was very confused navigating the lesbian dating scene as a teen and young adult I WISH i had met a pillow princess. Sometimes ppl don't realize that stone dynamics are very safe for aces!! Dom literally says she prefers it!! It's not Mor being selfish like lord please GOD ALLAH I'M TIRED I'M SO TIRED

and like on the topic of Domi overall she is more "popular" but sometimes I feel like people don't even really take the time to appreciate the significance about her either. She's not just a funny thirst trap 😭 and I feel like ppl dont acknowledge that she's asian half the time. I have so many white aces who only zone in on that aspect of her and it's like YEAH I GET IT, I'm ace and we don't have a lot of nuanced rep but she's also got more layers than that too. Tons of people related to her in the chapters where she talks about her childhood abuse yet very few people really, like, talked about the type of generational trauma that is very deeply embedded in her different cultures, no one saw that and oooof idk idk it felt inivisible. It's sometimes harder to talk about the racist microaggressions that Domi experiences thru my readers bc ppl will argue "well most webtoon leads are asian" but not many of them are asian in a way that like. talk about it. I'm born in the US so my experiences with being othered as an asian is just gonna be different and it's gonna affect my art and writing but it feels so unappreciated. I've had some queer asians relate to her but i can count them on my hand 💀 (I actually think it's two LMAO i"M SO SAD)

And going back to Dom and the comfort pillow w no agency comment lmao. This is another thing that rubs me the wrong way is once again, people are ignorant to the ways asians get pigeon-holed to media roles that have us being depicted as incapable. Maybe I want Dom to be more of a protector archetype bc I'm tired of meek Asian women in media? 🤔 Maybe I want Dom to be a prince-like character because asians get emasculated a lot?? 🤔🤔 Maybe I want Domi to maintain her prince persona instead of being "'physically' androgynous/masculine but really soft and girly on the inside uwuwu please treat me like a 'real' girl" because even in east asian media we won't allow women to exhibit strength and dependability??? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Like why is a tough girl empowering but once we have a gentle and doting personality in a romance it's considered cliche and the flaw of her partner for being "too weak." MAYBE THEIR PRINCE/PRINCESS DYNAMIC COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER??? HAVE YOU CONSIDERED? I WROTE THEM THAT WAY FOR A REASON??

Good lord this turned into an essay but I have so many things on my mind always

if you read this all. Thanks. I mainly needed to scream into a towel and put this down somewhere bc I complain about these issues to my discord and they understand/validate me all the time, but I wanna give them a break 😭 I also lowkey wanna document my various feelings as I work through Dom & Mor so I can remember and also grow from it

[mashamorevvna]

20 writer questions!!

tagged at very different points in time by my most beloveds @say-lene @yesistolethisurl @eregar sorryyyyy for the delay life was kinda crazy for a while 🫶 and thank youuuu for the tag ❣️

How many works do you have on ao3?

five on my main account! six if we count the one orphaned work i know is still kicking on ao3

What’s your total ao3 word count?

14,418 words!

What are your top five fics by kudos?

well, since i have just five, its just those five, but for a breakdown

the world is not enough (but it's a wonderful place to start)

i wish the hand of god would come and relieve me of this way

appel du vide

you've a gift for hating (you should know, you're the expert)

i would not be i any longer (it would be we, it would be us)

What fandoms do you write for?

i wrote a lot for bg3 and, aspirationally, would love to write for dragon age as well; i just feel like my marriage with dragon age is a bit on the rocks, so we have some stuff to work out before then. ideally, i will post something for rogue trader!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i try to!! as much as possible anyway. sometimes i feel like i have nothing more to add other than 'thank you so much for reading!' but i do want to show appreciation even if conversation/responses are a bit of my achilles' heel

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

arguably, nobody in my fics is having a good time at any point; though, i suppose orin in the world is not enough (but it's a wonderful place to start) is having the worst time. sistership is having a fling with a guy you want dead, only its not a fling but a pretty emotionally committed rship on both sides, only you also fuck the guy. and in short, emotionally you are multiplied by one; you still feel the same way, but ack! a process has occurred

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

ymmv but i think it's you've got a gift for hating (you should know, you're the expert). sure, minthara and gortash spent a good bit of it trying to bite each other's cocks off conversationally, but by the end he gets to suck the tit of a hot older woman; and she gets her tit sucked and to inarguably win that encounter. i think they both have something to nice to cherish by the end

Do you get hate on fics?

not really! i've always been really lucky in that sense. i never got anon hate on tumblr either, despite being here for close to a decade

Do you write smut?

sure! im not very good at it in a traditional sense since im more focused on the internal malevolent landscapes of the ppl involved but i do appreciate&enjoy what some good eroticism can bring to the mental torment nexus

Do you write crossovers?

nope. i dont really like them

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nope, but i would love to give it a shot someday!

What’s your all time favourite ship?

very difficult question bc i often am captured, snared by one ship for periods going from six months to a year, and then immediately shift gears and mindspace 100% onto something else. i guess, if having had the most rebounds (where i come back to them after years, time and time again) is a sign of something its. sigh. solavellan.

What’s the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

*throws a sideway glance to minthara de winter ashamedly* well, aside from that, id love to finish my durgetash mithridatism fic ive been working on and imagining for close to a year and half. i wanted to explore their relationship and mental games as selene poisoned gortash for the lols & to induce a poison resistance.

What are your writing strengths?

prose! not necessarily anything specific, but when i finish something and it coalesces into existence im always really fond of the prose and how it flows

What are your writing weaknesses?

what greg said: writing lmao. dialogue as well.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

i think its fine if you're fluent in the language!! on the other hand, i dont like conlangs, i feel like they are too artificial and they lack the cultural context&crunchiness of real languages, so i try not to use those.

First fandom you wrote for?

first i wrote for is i think vampire the masquerade bloodlines (never posted anything). first one i posted something for: fallout new vegas!

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

you've got a gift for hating (you should know, you're the expert)!!! it was a really challenging project simply bc with a rarepair where characters never directly interact the difficulty is to draft a compelling, in character dynamic. and im really satisfied with the turn-out in that sense. i do think it has good characterisation & a dynamic im satisfied with!!

since im so late, i have no idea who has been tagged already, so hopefully there's no double tagging (sorry if there is <3) but maybe @bharv @rowanisawriter @plethomacademia @sybaritick @lamortwrites

[catboyolli]

2024 reflections under the cut yay

For almost 11 months I thought this was going to be the worst year of my life. I cannot keep count of how many times I bitched and cried and thought that everything in my life was going to fall apart and that I was a good for nothing excuse of a woman who should just give up and disappear forever. I failed a uni term back in May and I was terrified of failing yet another one at the end of the year, of disappointing everyone who cares about me, of having to suffer four more months or even one more year of anxiety attacks, endless crying, late nights staying awake studying and not remembering a fucking thing that would bring up the feeling of never being good enough that I felt since I was a little girl.

All I remember from those 11 months are the tears, the fights with my partner, the complaints to pretty much everyone about uni, the negative self talk, and my mother struggling to make me speak at least one word during the worst anxiety attack I had in my life.

I don't know how it happened, but around late November (somehow) I graduated. I still think I don't deserve it and that I need to suffer through another year of bullshit for all the terrible things I did to finally get that degree, but it's done and I'm not going back.

So in just 1 month and from just one thing happening, what I thought was going to be the worst year of my life turned out to be the best year of my life.

In a way, it's like I needed to drag myself out of that pit of misery to see that the people around me really cared and loved me, that they were always supporting me in every fucking step I took and that I was never alone, but I guess I was too busy being a dramatic bitch and hating myself so much to even see it, least of all appreciate it.

December was wild. I felt emotions I haven't felt in a while, in both extremes of the spectrum of emotions. I was in awe of all the places I've seen, the skills that I have (because somehow my Portuguese is still good after years of barely using it, but let's not talk about my non existent Finnish), the people I finally met. I felt loved and cared for, but most importantly, I felt free for the first time in my life. I don't know if it was from the lack of stress or because I was able to do what I fucking wanted, for once. All the stuff in December was going to happen no matter the outcome from November, but I'm glad I could do it all with my heart light instead of heavy with guilt and worries. I'm glad I was able to enjoy the time spent with my partner, with my friends, with my family once I was back home.

I guess my resolution for next year is to give back all the love that I felt and to enjoy every day the way I did this month. I don't know how this will be done since I fear the sadness will come knocking on my door anytime soon (lies, it's already here, yay), but I'll find a way. All I have is time and time and time and more time.

A final, massive thank you to all the people who made 2024 one of the best years of my life. Some of those people are here, so if you're reading this then you know who you are. I love y'all and I can't wait to meet up again sometime in the future or for the 1st time 💖

If you made it this far, here's a picture of (almost all of) BC taken with my stupid useless phone. I don't have many to be honest, my phone's camera is shit so I was just living in the moment (and losing my spot closer to the stage after the Balboa moshpit lmao).

Dreams do come true, after all 💖

[amethystfairy1]

hi I'm back again already lol, bc u really ought to know all the great things about ttsbc that I was too lazy to write out last time lmao.

Also! totally fine that ur not doing skizzpulse, you should write what inspires/motivates you (personally very motivated by them xD I've written ~90k words of skizzpulse myself rip)

Anyways, good things! You! you're the good things! I honestly can't remember when I last sent an ask in for the lil guys, so I'm just gonna say something I loved about each of their recent arcs.

First, Treebark. There's been so many identity reveals but I think this has been my favorite thus far. Ren going all protective boyfriend and fighting over Martyn was SO GOOD, plus soft kisses and they can just hold hands now without Ren being afraid he'll figure it out. Also loved Martyn seducing his entire family while being terrified out of his mind by big dog people with knives, like, I'd be a little out of it too. but the fam doesn't even notice but Ren did and is all supportive and comforts him, offers to take him home. I love how well they can read each other, like they're just in tune. they're soulmates, your honor. and, AND this means we can have double dates where they all know now! so excited :)))))

Zedango. this is what started me reading your stuff (the first fic I ever wrote was actually my own tt zedango ficlet, btw. that feels like an eternity ago now) I love how they've simultaneously progressed and devolved into slightly unhealthy relationship territory. something about not everything being perfect all the time just adds so much depth and realism to their relationship, as well as keeping the plot tense without feeling like you're making up problems just to have something to write about. AND THEN Tango doing the blazeborn courtship rituals was just so aaaaaaaa (THEY"RE SO ADORBSABLEEE) Tango setting aside his disgust with his claws to take care of Zed even tho its uncomfortable for him, and then Zed recognizing that and having all the warm fuzzy fondness for his bf was so sweet. Doc's notes about the rituals were on point, with how he reassures Tango that they're normal, healthy things and saying he's always open to having a conversation about it. (tho, i doubt Tango's ever taken him up on that offer lmao)

The other fic that's been in my head is ur most recent one, Handshakes and Headaches. I highly doubt we'll get a cub reveal in this next chapter, but ig we'll see soon enough. I loved how Cub just knew instantly that Grian was a hybrid and was just going in spirals putting it together that he was cuteguy, then him coming to the wrong conclusion about whether Scar knew, too, was just perfect. Tho, if he did think Scar knew and was cool with it, I wonder what he'd do first? Tell Scar his own secret, guess Grian's secret in front of them? I feel like he would think the safe thing would be to confront Scar about Grian being Cuteguy, and then if/when Scar admits it and says he's cool with it, Cub would feel safe(r) revealing his own identity. Maybe not right away, but sometime. Also, that would mean everyone in Hot Cave knows about hybrids and undercity, so he wouldn't have to glamor while he works (tho, that would also require revealing to Zed... they don't seem super close, but it's kinda obvious that Zed's chill w/ the undercity people, considering he's dating Tango and Cub knows that).

Also! now that Hypno knows G and Scar are safe, I really wanna see him revealing to Scar and Scar being all supportive and stuff :)))) Hypno wasn't someone I knew I needed in this world, but I'd die for him now. (ALSO the casual mention that his scales are dry and flaky rather than smooth and taken care of??? Hello?????? Someone get him some proper self-care ASAP, maybe take him swimming at a private pool or something idk. I feel like the moment Scar knows, he's going to be on it with the cookies and love and support. so excited hehehe)

anyways, I'm probably forgetting something, but whatever. I'll be back with more art soon (maybe I draw Hypno, since I've never done that before and electric eel hybrid sounds cool. Actually, I've decided, I'm gonna do it now. remind me what that looks like pls? or I go reread, whichever happens faster lol)

Ok that's all, have a good day!

I LOVE THE RAMBLESSSSS

Petition to get Hypno a private pool 😆

I'm so glad you love the slightly unhealthy but also very loving Zedango situation we have going on!

I LOVED YOUR TT ZEDANGO FIC! I'M STILL WAITING FOR THE SEQUEL!!!! 😭 /j you don't have to write one if you don't wanna BUT KNOW THAT I LOVED IT!

Ren being a protective boyfriend is all I need sometimes! It's just good fun! Thank you so much for telling all about everything!!!

I would actually LOVE to see how you would design Hypno if you do feel like drawing him! That sounds amazing! Electric Eel hybrid time!!!! 💖

[robinsno1lesbian]

Also also older neighbor Robin thot,

Reader & her talk about *sensitive* topics bc she gives great advice and reader comes to her about never *playing* with herself or ever finishing with anyone so older!neighbor!Robin gives reader a hands on lesson

(Take it as mutual mash orrrrr just Robin having some fun hehe)

𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 - 𝐑.𝐁.

older!neighbor!robin x fem!reader

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2693 (ceebs this was supposed to be a short little drabble, look what you made me do??)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 18+ mature content (MDNI), implied age gap (reader is 18+!), masturbation, finger sucking, vaginal fingering, reader is shy at first but robin can work with that, not beta read (i feel like i should stop mentioning that but english isn't my first language so i feel the urge to explain myself lmao).

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: i am just projecting at this point but i'm here for it tbh- also this fic fits perfectly into the neighbor!robin universe so?

robin always gave great advice, from the first day on.

whether she was helping you with your styling choices or with where to look for your missing diary, she always seemed to get it right.

maybe that is why you chose to ask her, out of all people.

it not like there were many people to aks anyway. you obviously couldn't talk to your parents and none of your friends would get it.

so, here you are, sitting with your very handsome neighbor, the words you have just said still lingering.

you regret it immediately and the way she is raising her brows speaks volumes.

you must have made this weird. or uncomfortable. probably both.

either way, you have definitely ruined it.

"i mean uhm- shit- i" you bite the inner side of your cheek to cut yourself off. there is no point in denying it now. "i'm sorry i didn't mean to-"

"no" she interrupts and takes your hands in hers. your breath hitches in your throat. the way her long, delicate fingers wrap around your wrists does things to you. things you have never felt before.

there is a spark of something new in her eyes now. something curious maybe...? the fact that you have chosen her bedroom as a place to have this conversation is most definitely not helping.

her scent is all around you and the feeling of the soft cotton beneath your bare leg makes you want her to press your damp skin up against it and kiss all doubts off of you.

you put your hands down to your thigh and rub your palm up and down over the skin. a nervous habit that would normally help. it's not helping right now though.

she drags her finger along her own jaw in thought, her gaze still lingering upon you.

"go on" she breathes eventually.

"it's just that- god-" you inhale deeply before the words start spilling out. "i guess i never...got what it was all about, you know? this big, great feeling everyone talked out-"

"you mean like cumming?" she asks. she says it with such ease.

"y-yeah that- i mean- cumming. right. yeah. everyone is just- i don't know- it's like some big inside joke that everyone seems to know about and i am the only one who doesn't get it"

robin nods along your words.

"and it's not like i am that experienced but- maybe i'm broken?" your voice cracks at the last part.

"broken?" the woman repeats softly. "you're most definitely not broken y/n. why would you think that?"

"it just- it has never worked with anyone else you know what i mean?

when i'm alone it's...one thing. but when someone else is touching me it's just- god" you groan in frustration.

"it doesn't seem to work then”

you know you're probably all red in the face right now. but robin is so considerate, so sweet about this. you just can't seem to help yourself.

and maybe you don't want to help yourself. maybe you want her to help. maybe you want-

"i can show you" she finally says.

you nearly choke on your own spit. your eyes widen and your jaw drops.

"w-what?"

"i can show you" robin repeats. "i don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything but like...i can show you- how to touch yourself, i mean. i can-"

"please" you whisper under your breath. it's so quiet you're afraid she won't hear, because you're not sure you'll be able to repeat yourself. but of course she does.

robin puts a hand around you and lays you down slowly, so slowly that you could stop her a thousand times if you wanted to.

she lingers above you for a second, searching your eyes for any doubts but finding none.

you finally move and bring a hand up to her cheek.

her skin is so soft beneath your fingers. so soft.

"can i kiss you?" robin asks.

you nod your head and lean up to meet her halfway. nothing compares to the feeling of her lips on yours. nothing will ever compare again.

the kiss is soft at first, but you quickly grow hungry for more and part your lips. luckily she gets the hint and slides her tongue into your mouth slowly.

you gasp at the new feeling but gladly let it happen, even suck her tongue further into your mouth.

"has anyone ever made you cum?" she whispers. the rasp in her voice seems to be even more prominent when she's saying such words.

you nearly choke on your breath again and choose to shake your head before you can start to second guess your answer.

"okay" she nods. "that's okay. don't worry, we'll get you there baby, alright?"

"please robin" you don't mean to sound so desperate but you also can not decline such an offer.

"have you ever gotten yourself off?"

your eyes meet hers and you bite your lip, your mind wandering to the countless times you've run your hands down your body, imagining they were hers. you nod.

"show me" robin rasps.

"show you?" you repeat.

"yeah...show me how you would normally do it, what you like and dislike..." she stares down at you for a second before she adds. "can you be a good girl and do that for me?"

your lips part but only a strangled moan comes out. you have imagined how these words might sound from her. but actually hearing them?

you nod your head and lean back against the pillows behind you, so that you're sitting up in front of her.

she leans back and gestures for you to continue.

you keep looking at her and try not to get too self conscious while you slowly pull your panties down your legs from below your summer dress.

you can see robin visibly gulp when you throw them down the side of the bed.

you bend you legs at the knees and then spread them slowly, slightly teasing her.

"god fuck" she mumbles, proving that it's working.

you pull up your dress and your face flushes red when you expose your bare cunt to her.

she just puts a hand to your thigh to keep you open for her gaze.

you don't even know how you find the strenght to do it but you run a hand down your body and slowly begin tracing over your outer lips, fingers froming a v-shape as you spread yourself open for her to see.

"fuck-" you breathe out shakily. "fuck robin"

she squeezes your thigh gently. "i'm right here. now show me. show me how you would normally do it"

robin's gaze follows your fingers as you start stroking your clit on either side.

you immediately fight back the urge to close your thighs and choose to focus on robin instead.

robin who is sitting right there, watching you with a mesmerized, hungry expression.

"does that feel good?" she asks with watchful eyes on your dripping entrance. only the fact that she is watching you like this makes you wetter than you would get under any circumstances.

"yeah" you nod your head. "so good robin"

"is that all you do?"

"no" you bite your lip again and watch her as she tilts her head suggestively.

alright, here goes nothing.

your lashes flutter and your lips part when you dip two of your fingers down to your entrance.

you're taking aback at the feeling of your arousal. god, you really are wet.

you moan softly when you push them inside but it delights you to see that robin's expression is a reflection of your own: her lips agape and her eyelids heavy.

"god please let me touch you y/n" she whispers after a couple of thrusts under her watchful eye.

there is nothing you would want more. you lean back on the mattress and scoot further down, so that robin is towering above you.

you remove your hand from your center slowly. it's almost painful to stop now, but you know it'll only get better.

robin runs her hand up your thighs slowly and smiles when you shiver in response.

"so pretty" she whispers in amazement. "so pretty"

she runs it further and further up, over your chest, until her fingers reach your lower lip.

your eyes widen when she pulls it down slowly.

you wrap your lips around her index and middle finger and suck them past your lips eagerly.

it's an easy thing for you to take them in until the second knuckle and she just watches you in a haze as you suck on them, wettening them further.

you let them fall from your mouth once you feel like they have gotten wet enough, mostly because you can't wait much longer though. you need robin. now.

the woman brings her fingers down to your clit but stops for you to give her the final permission. you nod and her fingers find your clit.

"oh fuck" you breathe and your eyes close.

she copies the movements you have shown her, applying exactly the right amount of pressure.

"right there robin, right there" you squirm. the sensation of someone else touching you like this is so new.

and it feels so fucking good.

so good, in fact, that you start canting your hips up to meet her fingers, an attempt to pick up the pace. but robin hushes you.

"let me do the work pretty girl" she says. "just lay back and relax"

"but-" you want to protest but the words die on your tongue at one particular flick of her fingers "fuck".

"oh, you like that yeah?" she asks and raises her brows as she repeats the movement.

"fuck yeah-" you moan softly. robin now has one finger on either side of your clit, rubbing gently and in all the right ways.

you bite down on your index as you watch her and how she is looking at you while she is giving you such an insane amount of pleasure.

probably more than anyone else -including yourself- has ever given you.

"you want more, pretty girl?" she hums and her fingers toy around your entrance. all of your muscles seem to tense up at the exact same time and a breathy moan falls from your lips.

"please"

robin smiles and uses the wetness that is pooling between your thighs to cover her fingers in them. you're sure the extra makeshift lube isn't necessary but you're thankful that she is being considerate nonetheless.

your fingers wrap around her wrist in a tight grip when she pushes to fingers into your throbbing cunt.

her lips part and her eyes blink under heavy lids multiple times, almost as if she was inserting those fingers into herself rather than you.

your mouth is forming a silent 'o' as you apologetically loosen your grip. but robin doesn't mind.

"holy shit" she curses under her breath. "holy shit fuck y/n-"

"robin" you whimper when she pushes her fingers all the way inside, a wet squelching sound echoing through the room. you should feel embarrassed, you should feel ashamed, for letting your neighbor finger fuck you in her bedroom, all spread out for her. but you don't.

"you're so fucking pretty" she rasps as she starts curling her fingers against that spot inside of you. "and you sound so pretty too, you know that? god i wanna hear more..."

she picks up the pace of her thrusts as she speaks and your back arches up against her.

you can't even keep your eyes open anymore and they fall shut as you desperately rut against her hand.

"eyes on me" robin orders. "i need to see you, god-"

you obey immediately, eyes snapping open to stare up at her. your heart flutters when you see the way her hips are grinding down against the comforters below her.

she's biting her lower lip all while fucking her fingers into you without showing any signs of stopping. but you can tell by the look on robin's face that she wants something too.

"c-come here" you breathe and use your free hand to pat the spot next to you. robin raised her brows in surprise and you glare down to where she is rocking against the mattress.

only the fact that you got her to this point has another wave of arousal washing through you.

"i- i want to...help you too" you blush "can i?"

robin is next to you in an instant. she has to remove her fingers from you for a second, which seems painful, but becomes nearly irrelevant the second she starts unbuttoning her pants for you.

excitement rushes through you as she undresses for you and pulls down both her pants and her underwear.

your eyes glue to the wet patch in her panties before she throws them aside and spreads her own legs, your thighs bumping together in the process.

she looks over at you and your eyes meet.

"are you sure?" she asks and puts a strand of hair behind your ear. "we don't-"

you cut robin off my pressing your lips together in a searing kiss. she gasps in surprise but lets it happen. she places her palm on your cheek while you're making out and moans into your mouth openly.

eventually, you run a hand down her body and she follows suit. you copy her motions and you let your hands wander down the other's body synchronized.

you stop when your palm in cupping her mound and exhale shakily when you feel her wetness against your fingers.

her eyes don't leave yours when she nods and you both dip two fingers into the other's cunt.

you do your best to copy what robin is doing inside of you but it seems to be working, judging by the constant curses and moans that robin can't hold back.

after just a couple of minutes, she goes faster again. slowly at first, you barely notice it, but then her thrusts become uncoordinated too.

"fuck" she groans while she is spreading her legs further. you can see them shaking even from where you're sitting "just like that...good girl"

your own orgasm is fast approaching now. you've been turned on from the minute you walked into her house but would've never guessed that the day would take such turns.

"oh robin" you moan. "fuck you're- your fingers- god"

she lets her head drop back against the pillows, eyes closed and mouth hanging open while her arousal is soaking into the fabric beneath her.

your jaw goes completely slack when she starts rubbing her thumb over your clit and the last thing you can really do is circle your own thumb over her clit as well before the pleasure starts reaching its peak.

"i'm- i think- oh god- i-" you don't even know how to say it.

"fuck, me too" robin moans and that is pretty much all it takes.

your back arches and with obscene moans of her name on your lips, you cum all over her fingers and coat her hands and the blanket below with your release.

you don't stop your own hand from moving, despite the fact that your wrists hurt from the angle, and fuck robin over the edge of her own orgasm as well.

your name sounds so pretty when she calls it out as she cums, a sight you could probably get used to.

"just like that, just like that- fuck- so good for me" robin moans.

neither of you stops until the other is shaking from the aftershocks and can't keep up anymore.

you withdraw your fingers from her slowly and turn to face her. she does the same and you find yourself staring at her. at her beautiful facial features, her freckled skin, and soft lips.

once she has caught her breath, she speaks.

"i've been waiting for this" she whispers.

"me too" you admit and bite your lip.

"you're beautiful"

you know this is only the beginning and there really is no stopping you after what you've done just now.

but maybe that's good. maybe you really want it. and maybe she does too.

it sure seems like it, when she leans in and kisses you.

[im-ovulating]

(A/n: this is entirely self indulgent btw (which is ironic bc I /can/ swim but idc I just want an excuse for Luci to hold me okay😭))

(Ironic bc as soon as I started writing this, Milk of the Siren by Melanie Martinez started playing lmao)

(If you don't know, it's basically about getting revenge on men and drowning them)

Word Count: 1,422

Summary: Lucifer finds out MC doesn't know how to swim and decides to change that

Warnings: don't know if this needs to be a warning but: reader can't swim (obvi)

Age Rating: Pg 13

Swimming Lessons: Lucifer x Fem! Reader

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

'I can do this... It's gonna be fine, I'm gonna be fine.'

You're standing at the door to the RAD pool as you try to steel yourself for what's to come.

.

The House of Lamentation had gone for a beach day a week prior; just taking a day to wind down from exams and student council duties. You had managed to keep your inability to swim a secret for most of the day under the guise of keeping Beel from eating all the snacks.

All good things must come to an end, though. Cue Mammon chasing you down to throw you in the ocean.

All you could do was panic as you desperately tried to keep your head above the waves. Your feet slipping as the sand gave under you, unable to support the weight of your hysteric kicking.

But just as fast as you were thrown in, you're pulled out.

You sputter as you wiped the salty water from your eyes, your arm in someone's vice grip as they yank you to land. Looking to your savior, you're met with am angry Lucifer glaring at your assailant.

"I really should stop expecting you to start acting like the second oldest brother. No matter what punishments you recieve, no matter how many lectures, you never seem to grow up. It's one thing when you cause problems for yourself, it's a completely different problem when you almost kill an exchange student. You're a sorry excuse for an avatar, Mammon."

"Hey!- That's not fair! How's I s'posed to know the human can't swi-"

"Enough! Everybody, start packing. We're going home." The groans and protests are silenced with a cold glare leveled towards them.

One by one the brothers file off to gather everything with the occasional (read: frequent) insult or snide comment to the second born.

.

After the ordeal was done and everyone was back at the HoL, Lucifer had cornered you in your room.

You were unpacking your beach bag when he came in, door clicking shut behind him.

"You can't swim." He doesn't ask.

"What of it?" You ask, looking over your shoulder at him as you gather your bathing suit and towel to throw in the laundry hamper.

"Why?"

You shrug, moving back to your bag to put away your sunglasses and spf. "I don't know, I just never learned."

Minutes pass in silence as he watches you unpack, the only noise is the ruffling of your bag accompanied with the occasional clack of something dropping.

Eventually he breaks the silence. "Would you like to?"

"Like to what?"

"Would you like to learn to swim?"

You stop to think about it. "Um, I feel like I would just get embarrassed... Most people learn when they're kids and the ones that don't, rarely learn. I mean, can you really imagine me in a pool surrounded by literal children who swim better than me?"

You chuckle at the mental image of yourself with water wings on. "I think I'll pass."

"I was referring to me teaching you." He still hasn't moved from his sentry position as you shuck your now empty bag into your closet.

"Like, alone? With you? In a pool? With water?" No offense to him but you feel like all it would take is one wrong move and you'll have annoyed him to the point of drowning you. You tell him so, earning a rare Lucifer smile.

"You'll be safe." He muses. "I have an inclination that Lord Diavolo wouldn't take too kindly to me killing one of his exchange students. Much less one of his favorite ones."

"Ha ha," you fake. "Funny, though I'm far from his favorite.'

"But I guess I'll trust you."

.

So here you are, about to potentially enter your very own death chamber.

'Oh, god- It's not going to be fine.' Your heart starts to pick up but before you can fully freak out you hear a voice from inside.

"Are you going to come in or just stare at the door?" Lucifer calls from the other side of the door.

No turning back now. You push the surprisingly heavy door open, revealing an even more surprisingly sized pool. It easily puts an Olympic sized swimming pool to shame. You can scarcely see the bottom even in the so-called shallow end.

Lucifer is already in, arms holding his upper body out of the water as he waits for you to join him. You can't lie, you're having a bit of a struggle to not stare at his toned arms and what you can see of his sculpted chest.

"Come on, the water isn't going to bite."

"Says you," you mutter as you strip to your swimsuit. You pad over to the edge, sitting down to put your legs in first. Taking a deep breath, you push off, keeping a death grip on the siding.

A couple feet separate you from the avatar of pride.

"Okay, now push off and try to pad over to me." He holds out a hand to you.

"I thought you were supposed to be teaching me?" You're trying not to panic or look into the depths beneath you.

"I am. I need to see what you can do before I can help with what you can't." He states, gesturing you towards him.

"If I die, I swear to god, I will haunt you for the rest of your life. If you think Mammon is bad, just you wait until you see what ghost Y/n has in store for you." With one last proclamation of wrath, you shove off, more tossing yourself towards him than paddling over to him, but that's as much as he's getting from you.

As soon as your head submerges, you panic, arms flailing as you try to reach out to Lucifer. You feel his hand grip your forearm as he hauls you back up. It's when you clear your eyes of the awful, chlorinated water that you notice he had moved the both of you further into the pool. There's no way you can reach the siding from here.

"Fucking hell!" You scramble to cling tighter to Lucifer. "I'm gonna die. This is how I die-"

"Calm down," he interrupts. "You are going to die if you don't stop panicking."

He pulls you away from his body, causing your nails to dig further into his skin. "Look at me."

You do. Panting with pupils blown from fear.

"Are you drowning?"

"I-" "Are you?"

You swallow. "No."

"Exactly, and I told you I wouldn't let you; do you think I'm going back on my word not even 5 minutes in?"

"No..."

"Okay then. you said you'd trust me, so do so. Kick your legs lightly. Almost in a pedaling rhythm." He instructs. "We're going to start with keeping you above the surface."

And so, your legs start moving, the force of the water pushing back with each movement is a bit odd, but not too bad.

When you get a good rhythm going Lucifer drops your arms. "Keep kicking and stay calm."

You start to sink a bit but try to stay calm.

"Kick a bit harder."

You start to gain back face-to-water distance and you let yourself get excited.

"I'm doing it!-" In the process of celebrating, you stop kicking.

Just before your head goes under, Lucifer pulls you up yet again.

"What happened to 'keep kicking'?" He asks.

You look up to answer, only to find that his face is way closer than you thought. All too sudden, you're aware of his tight hold around your waist and how your chests press together as your hands rest on his shoulders. Your legs lightly brush against each other as you both kick to stay afloat.

"..."

"..."

Neither of you break the silence as your eyes stay locked together.

Are you going insane, or is his face getting closer?

No, it definitely is. Your noses bump as Lucifer tilts to the side. Your eyes are sliding shut and your lips are a hair's width apart when the pool door slams open.

Both of you jump apart as much as you can without him letting you sink. Luke stands at the entrance, staring at you with a look of shock.

"I- I was looking for Beelzebub- He... He ate the last of a cake I made and ran. I- Sorry." With that the angel scurries away, effectively taking the tension with him.

"..."

"I think we're done for the day." Lucifer says.

"Yep. Completely."

[vacantgodling]

i am back to do another round of (mostly) answering all the questions of an ask game and this time it is @ink-flavored's fantasy ask game! i’m gonna be doing this for my GIANT fantasy wip the chronicles of lathsbury (tcol) bc uh this story is just fucking massive and i never give myself excuses to talk about it so i’m gonna. as per usual, i'm not gonna answer ALL the questions; if i don't have a good answer or it doesn't apply i'm just gonna skip the question :)

if you’re curious of tcol’s actual plot (becuase there is one, surprisingly) have a little blurblet here:

Piper Fairwind (she/her), Deux Undershield (she/her), Sandra “San” Dearborn (they/she), Clear Brightendale (he/him), and Forte Symphonia (he/him) are the newest contingent in The Aegean Guild of Explorers. They all are chosen for various reasons, and begin their hopefully promising career at literally the same time that The Labyrinth is beginning to grow more restless than it ever has been before. Why? The Demon King, Lord Evondra — unbeknownst to anyone yet, is beginning to awaken from her 300 year long slumber and she’s out for blood. Her very presence amplifies the power of monsters and beasts within as her hatred of all Terraneans seeps into The Labyrinth’s very core. The five of them get swept up in the mix, because destiny’s knocking and they have no choice but to answer the call.

but without further ado:

📚What “type” of fantasy is your WIP? High, low, urban, historical etc.?

high fantasy through and through lmao. i really don't usually tend to dabble too hard in other types of fantasy ig? i should at some point but high fantasy just has my whole kokoro tbh.

🌍Does it take place on a fantasy planet, or somewhere on Earth (hidden or not-so-hidden)?

it takes place on a separate planet, technically, though i'm thinking of planet more in the fantastical way and not planet in a sci fi sense. its got a lot of 'western fantasy' / tolkien esque elements yknow. like in lotr, arda is a planet but you don't really think about it in that way, yknow what i mean?

💭If your WIP doesn’t take place on Earth, where did you draw inspiration from to create your new fantasy world?

a lot of it is lotr not even gonna hold you. technically the two largest inspirations for tcol are lotr & the jrpg game etrian odyssey bc that's when i first created the characters, and that's why there's a labyrinth mechanism that holds monsters in this wip at bay.

when it comes to the actual locations... good question. it kind of is very generic 'western fantasy' vibes which again kinda comes a lot from tolkien (i still have a documentary i have to watch regarding what fantasy was like before lotr kinda shaped the entire genre, and maybe whenever i do it'll influence how i go about writing and shaping my fantasy wips.

i guess the other inspiration i can say would be my desire to have a black-centered fantasy story. all the characters in tcol are black (as with many of my wips unless i specify otherwise)--but when it comes to adding blackness to my stories, the jury's still out on the best ways to do that. i'm not gonna fully delve into my racial issues in this post cuz that literally has nothing to do with anything but just know that everyone in tcol is black LMAO (theres another word i wanna say but i never use aave online unless im talking to other black people whoops)

🧝Do other fantasy species exist in your WIP? Describe them! & 🤓Are there any intelligent magical creatures, ones that can communicate with language? How do they interact with wider society? & 👹Are there monsters or other dangerous beasts in your WIP? How are they differentiated from standard wild animals, or other magical creatures?

the main breakdown of "beings "species" or "beings" in this wip are:

terraneans -> they're what i call humans to the left. they are humanoid and mortal, but they have differing features and slightly different biological characteristics than humans generally speaking (ie: terraneans have a lifespan of 150-200 years, they have pointed ears, and their whole sana/cava/ars thing. basically, terraneans are very similar to the half-elf dnd class with more words PFF. also they can't be pale unless they're dead or have died for a certain amount of time. everyone is tan or darker :>). terraneans are what most of the main cast are and most of the varying stories of this wip center around terraneans and their connection to the land and the gods. and speaking of gods

gods -> deities play a huge role in tcol because i think pantheons are interesting. they're more of the greek-mythos variety of deity in the sense that they are imperfect beings; they simply hold a lot of power and the ability to create and destory the cosmos as we know it. there's a lot of messy drama among some of them and the main deity of this world, IISIDIA has unintentionally caused many MANY issues but she pretends to not see it. cough. there have also been instances of terraneans being venerated to being gods (beings such as MARTH, The Lady of the Mists, and EFFE, for instance), and some deities have alters or basically, parts of themselves that are still them but have split off into different beings with different roles (ie: IISIDIA has a known alter, IDMIR; MIRANKA has a known alter to kisks called RANKIMA, etc).

guardians & oracles -> because deities cannot directly interact with terraneans, there are 'in betweeen' beings, or (kinda) essentially "demigods" if i were to put it in laymans terms. guardians can only be venerated once every age (and when the main story starts we're in the fourth age, and then the second book goes into the fifth age, and each age's ending is marked when a guardian is venerated. so far the guardians are lath (who if you know anything about me, i'm insane about him), immordia, and arian :> when it comes to oracles, that's a bit more complex; they're not fully demigod-esque, but they do have divine inspiration basically. there's 3 major kinds of oracles and i won't fully get into all the weeds of them but there are oracles of the deities: MUINENS, MIRANKA and YLENE, called OOMs, OOMIs, and COHs/Champions.

monsters -> monsters are essentially flora and fauna that have been touched by The Hands of Qhozion (aka chaos magic which is a corrupted form of the deep magic, cantillo). most people just call it chaos bc for many plot reasons, no one but MIZDARR knows that QHOZION exists. and this basically corrupts them into corrupted and twisted creatures of rage, fury, and power. all monsters (now) reside within The Labyrinth, which was the feat that got lath venerated to the first guardian. but again this is so many weeds so i'll cut it here. basically they're fucked up with no rhyme or reason lmao.

beasts -> are different than monsters; sort of a Next Stage in evolution to monsters: they are creatures who were touched by chaos, but they have ars which is magic and/or sentience. meaning that they are stronger, more cunning, and are able to speak etc. the strongest of all beasts is called The Demon King and they rule over monsters and beasts alike from within the Labyrinth. the current demon king and main antagonist of the first story is Lord Evondra; who ate her father after he was killed in The War of the Seven Sons to ascend his position.

🤝Are the different fantasy species all living together, or does everybody keep to themselves?

pretty much separately though there are certain junctions where the they can cross paths.

there are 3 major continents on terrae (the world) where terraneans reside: mainland terrae (where the kingdom of lathsbury and all of her constituents reside in city-states loyal to the crown), diisai (a large island that lays to the west of the eastern sea, where the federation of diisai resides; they do not have a major empire/kingdom in the same way mainland terrae does, but they do have a close relationship with the kingdom and are essentially considered a vassel state), and kiskkaddon (which is a northern badland desert peninsula that sticks out from mainland terrae but is wholly cut off from the mainland's culture by the desert and mountains that separate the two regions).

within terrae exists The Labyrinth; there is one large opening in the capital city of Lathsbury, but there are hidden entrances throughout mainland terrae. this is where all the monsters and beasts on the continent reside including The Demon King; as they were corralled by the gods (mainly MUINENS) and the first guardian lath and his sword/companion, ensio. the labyrinth is only able to be traversed back and forth by terraneans; gods are unable to enter (though their power can penetrate through it in certain instances and one exception technically, MIZDARR for... reasons cough), and monsters aren't able to leave the labyrinth's walls. beasts are also an exception to this and can travel back and forth but that's not really known knowledge--it really depends on how much ars/power they have tm.

related to The Labyrinth the three exceptions where beasts and monsters live are Diisai/Kiskkaddon -- because those landmasses were never corraled into the labyrinth proper however only monsters exist in those areas and they are SIGNIFICANTLY weaker than the monsters/beasts of mainland terrae due to being further away from The Hands of Qhozion. the origin of chaos in terrae actually lies in MIZDARR's domain, The Thicket, which is an island in the middle of a saltwater lake. the other origin point is the fallen city of Argos, for reasons in the first age. technically monsters and beasts exist in another place too, Lapsundi, the hidden world, but like again this is already so long so i'm not gonna get too into that.

gods exist outside of the realm of terrae--the sky, in the hidden places, or the bowels of the earth (or characters like MIZDARR who do have specific areas associated with them). they are unable to interact with terraneans or the world directly, except through prayer and divine inspiration and most of their work is carried out through guardians--who actually don't usually interact with terraneans either, though they can. oracles are usually the main go between. and because gods can change shape, sometimes they hide in plain sight to observe terraneans.

☮️What are the different fantasy species’ customs and cultures? How well do they get along with each other, if at all?

this is too long of a conversation to get in depth and the cultural aspect of things is something i'm still working on because each individual city-state has their own culture LOL. i have a city building questionnaire saved to do for all of the cities that i literally just haven't gotten around to bc its SO MUCH. cough.

either way though, to answer the second question monsters and beasts don't get along with terraneans at all and vice versa; monsters are fueled by chaos and kill each other and terraneans virtually indiscriminately, which is why The Labyrinth was created--terraneans were basically on the verge of extinction due to them in the first age, which then lead to the rise of The Demon King. when terraneans learned about beasts and The Demon King and their sentience, they did try to come about creating a peace treaty... but that led to the War of Seven Sons so.... you can see how well that went LMAO.

the gods in general have mixed views about chaos--there are those like IISIDIA and MUINENS who outright detest it and find it to be an abombination (and MUINENS specifically has made it her misson over the past thousands of years to try and figure out where chaos is coming from, why, and how to curb it) meanwhile there are others such as YLENE, YUTARA, and MIZDARR that are more neutral/benevolent about it. chaos is apart of the world so much as chaos is, so we cannot fully stop it from existing but instead learn to live with it. this is a big plot thread within book 2 of this series, so i won't go into much further depth but YEAH.

terraneans amongst themselves is a mixed bag as any human esque society is. there hasn't been a grand scale war among terraneans since the War of Lathsburian Succession in the second age, and this is mainly because IISIDIA, in a rare showing, possessed an OOM and basically said "if y'all mfs ever war with each other again i'm blowing this bitch UP" and no one wants to test the literal most powerful deity in the universe to see if she's joking or not LMAO-- this doesn't mean that there isn't strife and tensions and that war hasn't come close before. ie: before the 7 sons incident, terrae almost went to war due to a coup, if it wasn't stopped by a mentally unwell duchess in a murder-suicide. so uh. yeah. and even in the fourth age now, there's whispers of another coup forming up but this one is very very much unchecked and has been in the works for several decades so hashtag yikes :D

⏳Are there any dramatic lifespan differences between your fantasy species and humans? How does that influence their societies and relationships with each other?

taking out the second half of that question bc humans don't exist on terrae LMAO. but yeah. to be very general:

terraneans -> 150-200 year lifespan. basically double that of a regular human tm. the one exception is guilders tend to have shorter lifespans and usually die around 30s-40s bc traversing the labyrinth is not a fucking game LMAO

monsters -> too varied to put a number to it, but they're essentially immortal, but mortal (as in they can be killed)

beasts -> same hat, immortal as in they can live forever, however are killable. same thing goes with The Demon King, its the only "mortal" deity.

gods -> immortal and unkillable but can be injured

guardians -> immortal and unkillable but can be injured

oracles -> same lifespan as terraneans bc they're the same thing basically

👑What’s the political configuration of your WIP? Kingdoms, nations, something else?

one major kingdom (The Kingdom of Lathsbury) comprised of city-states and two vassel states that are technically independent but like are they really lmao. so each city is ruled by a duke/duchess that are either appointed by the king, or are handed down through bloodline (which is easiest) unless they decide to abdicate. the king (all rulers of lathsbury, regardless of gender, are called kings) is chosen by an OOM and they have to be 30 years old before they can take the throne. there has only been (1) exception to this, and that was king mitica the nomad of the first age, but that was also when terraneans were on the verge of extinction so desperate times call for desperate measures. anyway, he was chosen at 18 instead of 30, and had the longest reign of any terranean king, dying at the ripe old age of 148 LMAO, so 130 years lmao.

diisai and kiskkaddon operate a bit differently; diisai has a council of elders who make decisions jointly and they all have to be unanimous to make decisions though there does tend to be one "speaker" who speaks for the entire nation. kiskkaddon is more similar to how kings of lathsbury are chosen, and is done so by oracle however it is done by oracle of RANKIMA (aka MIRANKA) instead of an oracle of MUINENS like lathsbury. RANKIMA is also all about partnerships, so technically kiskkaddon always has 2 rulers at once and they have to work together to rule.

and very very technically snake's canyon is a bit different because they don't really have specific duke or duchess that rules anything but everyone just kind of. exists. there. cough.

⚠️What’s the political climate of your WIP? Are nations on the brink of conflict, or enjoying many years of peace?

conflict has mostly always been between beasts/monsters and terraneans, and while things since the labyrinth was constructed have been like. relatively okay, realistically only the second and third ages were truly peaceful. at the end of the third age with the veneration of arian to guardian status, that's very much the major catalyst to the war of the 7 sons, so the fourth age started off with a BANG. but after that was over for the most part, its been 300 years of "relative peace".... but all that's about to change LOL.

✊What’s the social climate of your WIP? Are people struggling against inequality or war?

generally speaking terraneans have always kind of been a struggling sort and its only been in the past few hundred years that everyone has FULLY begun to prosper. there's more trade and innovation than ever; more and more people are leaving their homes to continue to build the guild system and cultivate fame and riches from it, and guilds are becoming the backbone of the kingdom in terms of generating wealth, commerce, trade, and general wellbeing--despite the usual short life expectancy of guilders tm.

things are brewing underneath the surface however. just before the beginning of book one, the oracle chosen king luther, was killed in a freak accident, and the OOM did not choose a new king yet--in his stead his youngest brother, aran, is ruling as the duke of lathsbury, and this is the first time something like this has ever happened. because of that, there are murmurs among nobles to try and depose aran from the throne (which makes me mad LEAVE HIM ALONEEEE). theres also concern regarding the growing power of guilds in general--elites don't like them LMAO. so. there's some tension, but it hasn't reached its peak yet. BUT OH IT WILL.

🏰Are there royals and/or nobility in your WIP? How do they treat the common people? What do the common people think of them?

there are! it varies from area to area, however, because of how the kingdom's king is chosen there's actually more of a 'lax' cooperative nature between many people and those of a higher ranking (if they are good rulers but there's always bad eggs). the reasoning is because oracles choose kings, anyone that you speak to could at any point be chosen to be king, so it makes sense to respect everyone. PLUS comraderie in terraneans is one of their biggest tenants; as they came into the world of terrae having to rely on themselves and the gods to survive, so there's a deep generational disposition to help others. most nobles are very respectful of the common folk and use their leadership and positions to help others; a good example is duchess aria lathsbury of wish of palanthia, who is beloved and adored by all of those under her.

however, with the growing wealth and prosperity that the labyrinth is beginning to afford, it is causing larger gaps between the upper and middle class, and so cracks are slowly beginning to form. greed is the source of all evil as you know. so, things haven't fully gotten to that point yet by the time of the first book but things are beginning to slowly shift.

💎What are the hallmarks of a higher-class person in your WIP? What marks someone as lower-class?

ummm honestly its hard to say as each noble is different. some nobles are down to earth and hardly distinguishable from their common class peers (such as lord kiba; most people forget his status because he doesn't carry himself in that way), meanwhile others make it their personality that they're noble (such as lady illiana, his stepsister). as society is generally prosperous, its not necessarily about what they wear or how they dress though those can be indicators; as well as their weaponry, or homes, which can also be indicators. but a lot of people say that those who are nobility (if they are or otherwise) is their leadership abilties. characters such as sir keevan are generally thought to be nobility, though he actually isn't at all--but his gregariousness, leadership and prowess make him appear noble-like to others.

i think the best way to explain it is that people view nobility as people who are leaders, and not people who have money or material wealth. and even though some people can be nobilitiy solely through material wealth, they won't be respected or thought of as someone of noble ranking if they don't have those leadership qualities.

🙇Are the common people expected to serve the higher class in some way, explicitly or implicitly? Are some kinds of service more respectable than others?

societally, they aren't 'expected' to serve the higher class in a sort of reverent or 'because they're better than you' kind of way. there's a lot of "respect is earned" vibes throughout the entire wip and just because you're born into high class, if you want people to listen to you or respect you, you do have to earn their trust. this is why there's a lot of cooperative society vibes around class and class in general in terrae is much more fluid-its much easier to learn a trade or interact with people if you're earnest about it; and things like schooling and housing don't cost money in a traditional sense. most people aren't extremely bad off (nowadays) so honestly, the court of public opinion determined by what you do for your constituents is more important than actually having wealth. that's what the current underbelly coup against duke aran has been taking so long; its not about using money or force to depose him, its about turning the tide of the public against him.

generally speaking though, there aren't really any like, jobs that are "more respectable" than others. while individual opinion will obviously differ, as a whole, terranean society is of the mindset that every sort of occupation is necessary for the betterment of society. a knight, a duke, a guilder, a prostitute, a doctor, and a farmer are all the same level of valuable to society. what matters is if you use your role for betterment or to be a piece of shit lol. i suppose the one exception to this is oracles, as they have divine inspiration and they speak directly to the gods which is extremely important. so they are held in a slightly higher regard than other occupations tm.

🪖How are wars fought in your WIP? Swords and spells, firearms, war machines?

*whispering so IISIDIA can't hear me* swords and spells mostly. firearms are a newer invention of the past like ~50 years or so into the 4th age and theres a LOT of discourse around them. but there hasn't been any wars or whatever (yet cough) for them to be used. so mostly swords and magic tm.

🏢What kind of unique or magical architecture exists in your WIP?

so the most important magical structure is The Labyrinth. bc i've talked about it ad nauseum, i'll try to be brief, but basically it operates pretty much the exact same way you think it might based on the name. its a maze like entity that has a mind of its own (to an extent) and is greatly influenced by magic in both its construction but also internally. things move and shift, mirages and illusions will make you lose your way, and its absolutely teeming with monsters and beasts alike :) the structure itself was created with cantillo and by IISIDIA herself so the thought is that its basically unbreakable... but that is technically not the case. tm. book 2 spoilers cough.

💰How does trade function in your WIP? Merchant caravans, local markets, dragon drop-shipping?

merchant caravans, local markets, and by sea is pretty much the major ways that trade happens. bc mainland terrae is mostly land though so mostly through caravans and beasts of burden does trade happen if its not on a local level.

📦Are there any specialized or magical imports/exports that your fantasy societies rely on? Why are they so important?

getting into this delves more into the weeds of things i don't fully have the brain for yet, HOWEVER, the biggest thing that i do know is there is high demand for monster hair and hide in order to make clothes and especially, most interestingly, weaves, wigs and so on. its very similar how black people use synthetic or human/horse hair to create elaborate hairstyles, same can be said for terrae however their hair parts all come from monster hair :>. there's certain species (that i haven't developed yet bc flora and fauna is genuinely my LEAST FAVORITE part of worldbuilding holy shit) that are better for these material than others, and when i figure it out y'all are gonna be so cooked lol.

💵What kinds of currency exist in your WIP? Do people use gold coins, barter and trade, or something else?

sooo technically currency exists. i don't know much about what it is yet bc economics makes my head hurt. however, i do know that a higher prized form of currency (and what is more common among the common folk) is bartering and trading; not just items and resources but favors, skills, and even introductions to other people. its not uncommon for people to offer their service or time in exchange for something else--and the bartering system is HUGE within guild culture. when you need any type of monster part or something from the labyrinth, you can usually go to any kind of bar and they'll have a notice board where you can put up requests and rewards for services or other goodies.

thinking about it i want to say that they use coins for everything because mining is a pretty big thing esp in towns like Kingsburrow. and i imagine they just have different sizes and styles of coins to denote different things. and i don't think their money is made of silver or gold, i wanna say its made of a completely different fantastical mineral that is in abundance in terrae. i just haven't figured it out yet. LMAO. i'll come back to this eventually.

👚What kinds of clothes do people wear in your WIP? What accommodations are made for any fantasy body parts?

i can't answer this in full bc culture varies across different city states, however i will briefly mention that different guild classes tend to wear different kinds of clothes: ie, hunters of eros tend to wear a lot of furs and hides and are generally more exposed with light armor bc they're about speed. meanwhile, protectors are heavily armored in a style more similar to medieval knights. there's much more to this but again, we'd be here all day and i haven't fully decided yet so like, hit me up like several years from now when i finally stop freaking out over the timeline and start filling in details.

🏙️Are there any especially famous cities or nations in your WIP? What are they known for? & 🚩Are there any especially infamous cities or nations in your WIP? What earned them the sour reputation?

figure i would do these two together lol. all the major city states are pretty much known for something, so let's have a brief overview of the major cities (i'm literally just gonna copy and paste from my large worldbuilding doc lmao)

LATHSBURY (Lathsburian): Lathsbury is the capital of The Kingdom of Lathsbury and is named after the first Guardian of Terrae, Lath. It’s known for its entrance to The Labyrinth, it’s bustling and diverse culture as it’s a huge traveling and trading hub, for its Guilds, and being the base of all government operations. 

KINGSBURROW (Lathsburian): As Kingsburrow was established near the same time, and has close proximity to Lathsbury, most people who live in Kingsburrow consider themselves to be Lathsburian. It’s known for its rich mineral deposits and mining culture. 

EROS / ARGOS (Aegean): The swampy, dense Eros is a converted fortress city that stands in the shadow of the crumbling and foreboding Argos—the first capital and city of Terrae thousands of years ago. Eros is known for its hunters and dark hunters, and their seemingly never ending devotion to culling the vast chaos that lies beneath Argos’s dilapidated streets, in hopes of one day reclaiming the city and restoring it to its former glory. 

MARTHVEIL (Veilian): Marthveil is the birthplace of alchemy and a hub of innovation, and is the most technologically advanced city in all of Terrae, with electric lighting being one of its main highlights. It’s named after the god of alchemy MARTH who was born in the region. 

HYTRÖTH (Püerthian): Hytröth lies at the foot of the sacred Mt. Hytröth, which is also known as MUINENS’s home. It’s no surprise that the Protector’s Academy and the largest OOM Temple are located here. They call themselves Püerthian because they are sheltered under the towering Mt. Hytröth from the worst of the north’s pain. 

SILVERKEEP (Silvian or Lathsburian): The hub of medicinal research in Terrae due to the incredible and sheer vast biodiversity of plants that can be found nowhere else in Terrae. They call themselves Silvian however, implants from Lathsbury are extremely common so it’s more of a blended culture. 

MORDIGA (Diisaian): The capital of Diisai, and the hub of harvest, food and drink. It’s known for its beautiful rolling hills and it’s residents are known to be quite superstitious.

SNAKE’S CANYON (Illumese): On the Eastern edge of the continent lies the dark badlands of Snake’s Canyon. They are known for their canyon built homes and the guild class, Illuminators or Hexers.

WISH OF PALANTHIA (Palanthian): The residents of Wish of Palanthia are known for their kindness, generosity, and agreeable nature. The city is famous for being the site where a peace treaty was signed after the first and last Terranean civil war. Etched in stone in the center of the city is the grim promise the city stands to uphold: Should Terraneans ever war amongst themselves again, IISIDIA will destroy all life on Terrae. 

BASS LANDING (Canterian): Taken from cantatio, the Canterian people of Bass Landing are famous for their music and arts.

EASTHOLLOW (n/a): Easthollow lies close to Eros and the Western bank and is nicknamed “The Guild City” as any willing adventurer must travel to Easthollow to pass the Guilder’s exams and be chosen in the guild bid before they can become a guild hand proper. The city is called “hollow” because there are no permanent residents that reside here; and as such it has no significant cultural heritage. 

KOSS (Koskans) -> A seafaring city, named after the god of the seas himself KOST and located at the major junction between Mainland Terrae and the Eastern Sea. All major trade sea trading routes pass through here and its floating markets are famous throughout Terrae.

UBWYN (THE CITY OF SORROWS) (n/a): Ubwyn is mostly a ruin now, but it was the first place the Nomads that would eventually become The Lathsburians established after they fled from Eros after The Day of Fissures. It’s mostly remembered as a cultural site, and some say they do occasionally see what seems to be a tall, pale, ghostly woman floating among the ruins at night.

🥪What kind of unique and/or popular foods exist in your WIP? Magical foods?

haven't got too in the weeds of food yet, but if you wanna read a funny incident about food in this wip, how about you read The Quest for the Perfect Labyrinth Honey Loaf and lemme know what you think lmao

🚗How do people travel over land in your WIP? Are there any magical machines that help?

no machines :) just horse or beast of burden. perhaps deer and moose or other cloven animals are tameable i just haven't decided yet bc fuck flora and fauna PFF

⛵How do people sail over oceans and seas in your WIP? Are there any magical machines that help?

no machines :) by boat! however, before you travel across the ocean its always good to pray to the sea god KOST, as he invented boats and seafaring and you may as well get his blessing before you start venturing into his domain.

✈️Is air travel possible in your WIP? Through magic, technology, or a mix of both?

nope, though the first place to discover such a thing will be marthveil, they just haven't gotten that far yet lol.

🪄Is there magic in your WIP? Where does it come from? & 🎆How does magic work in your WIP? How can it do all those fantastic things?

OO BOY IS THERE MAGIC. so there's actually a LOT of different kinds of magic in terrae so to make my life simpler i'm just gonna do more copy and pasting from one of my NUMEROUS worldbuilding docs.

but very very basically, all Terraneans’s souls are made of sana (health and vitality), cava (chaos energy), and ars (magic potential). None of these are perfect percentages (they don’t have to equal 100 basically). Your soul needs to have at least 30% ars in order to use any kind of magic whatsoever. so if you're rocking a 50-29-15 set up for instance, y'aint using magic lmao. while most people don't know their exact thresholds, medics specifically tend to know their breakdown due to the growing technology in Silverkeep to measure this, as well as they need to know what their sana limits are so they don't kill themselves tm. and speaking of that, here are the kinds of magic:

Sana Inanem — is the practice of using excess sana in order to heal the wounds of others. This is strictly used by the medic class. Wounds can be surface level or internal and the only limit is the amount of 'excess' sana you have (essentially, how much sana can you give away without killing yourself). Usually a base threshold sana of 55% or more is needed.

Subortus — is an offshoot of sana, but is one of the “extraction” magics. It is the practice of utilizing the sana properties of plants and the ars of beast/monster parts in order to create potions, remedies or salves that have a variety of functions. It is the only magic that you do not personally need the base threshold of ars to use it. 

Diruam — a protective, fire based magic used solely by medics. In order to use diraum, like any sana based magic, you must have an excess of sana. While it is not particularly powerful offensively, it is a quite useful defensive last resort

Vis — is the magic of the force of your own will and is extremely versatile. It is the most common magic used by magic users in Terrae. 

Muram — is a magic only used by alchemists and involves using the scientific and biological understanding of the world around you, in order to break down and transmute the components of things around you into other things, such as plants to steel or dirt to gold. It allows you to change the state, composition, and properties of essentially any matter. 

Lumine — is an offshoot of vis and is one of the “extraction” magics. Lumine is only used by illuminators and allows a user to draw the ars out of other beings or rocks/minerals (which are rich in ars) to channel energy. Illuminators can also be called hexers as they can do darker things with lumine unto others. 

Tenom — is an offshoot of vis and is one of the “extraction” magics. By drawing out the cava of beasts and monsters you can turn yourself into a brute force powerhouse. Tenom however has extreme drawbacks, as its over usage can lead to death or insanity. 

Chaos Touched — Isn't necessarily a magic in the traditional way, but it is a blessing from the god MIZDARR, most usually to rangers, gifting them the ability to see and sense chaos (or corrupted cantillo) in the world around them, appearing like an aura around beings and beasts affected by it. it is also a skill that is developed by dark hunters (though not as proficently as rangers) as they are in close connection with cava thanks to usage of Tenom.

Cantatio — Is the second oldest form of magic and literally brought the universe into being as it is the magic of creation through music. It is very rare that Terraneans are able to grasp this ancient and complex magic, but some very skilled bards have been able to dabble in it on occasion.

Cantillo — is the oldest form of magic and what contains the fabric of the universe, only able to be wielded by IISIDIA. It's also known as "deeper magic" and its too much for any mortal or god outside of her to comprehend.

🚫What CAN’T magic do in your WIP? Where does the mystical power fall short?

the only thing magic can't do, essentially, is create immortality (though you can be risen from the dead) or deify someone unless the gods will it. the great thing about vis especially, is the sky is the limit on what you can do and the only determining factor is your own power and discipline. the other thing is control time--time is always moving forward at its own pace and you can't change that. you also can't dimension hop; time and space are apart of cantillo's jurisdiction and only IISIDIA can control that.

🤕What are the drawbacks to using magic in your WIP? Do they improve or get worse depending on how powerful you are?

Tenom has the most disasterous side affects of its usage so tl;dr the more you use tenom the more your sana will be consumed by cava to the point that you can eventually be overcome and overrun by it and become a monster yourself. :D

🔮Who can wield magic in your WIP? Everyone, a select group, or basically nobody?

people who use magic are called artisans (bc it comes from ars), and as aforementioned, you need 30% ars to be able to do magic in any capacity; if you don't have that then you can't use magic at all. there isn't any way to increase this either, though subortus doesn't require the usage of one's internal magic to do, so basically if you don't have ars you can always try subortus.

💪How do people wield magic in your WIP? Are magic users able to bend it to their will, or merely guide it?

do whatever you want baybeee you got free will LMAO

🔨Is magic considered useful or dangerous in your WIP? Do different cultures or species view magic differently?

generally considered useful! magic is entertaining and awe inspiring, or its useful and practical. bc as i said before most terraneans are community oriented, they tend to use their magic (most of the time) to help others. obvs again theres people who do use it for bad and evil but fuck those people LMAO.

tenom & lumine specifically are definitely more side eyed however, because they are more deadly than other forms of magic and can either cause severe harm to yourself (tenom) or to others (lumine). lumine itself does have its practical uses, as in Snake's Canyon artisans who can use lumine are vital to ensuring that the area is lit and traversable. tenom does have practical uses to aegeans (people who live in eros) because only dark hunters (aka people who use tenom) are able to traverse argos to try and clear it of the monsters within it HOWEVER it is so extremely dangerous that many people are against its usage. eros has no interest in entertaining outsider's opinions on the matter though.

🤷Is there a way someone could lose their ability to use magic? Has it ever happened before?

not really. essentially, its apart of your 'genetic' make up, and there's really no way to 'change' those percentage numbers... unless you use tenom enough and then you become a monster, but then basically you just cease having sentience?? so like ig you can count that but in general magic is just sorta something you're born with the ability to do or not.

⚙️How has magic influenced the level and complexity of technology in your WIP? & 🧪How does magic interact with scientific advancements in your WIP? Are they considered the same?

magic has allowed society to progress in interesting ways and the way that people have come to the conclusions that we have in our world. while science has been a major inovator for us, for terraneans magic is at the heart of innovation because magic itself (especially when you get into things like subortus and muram) is a science! while they haven't fully escaped the equivalent of the medieval period, in some ways they have very much advanced in ways that we hadn't in similar circumstances due to the proximity to magic. firearms (not automatic ones), as well as electrict are the two current biggest innovations that are equivalent to our world that have been discovered in the hub of innovation, Marthveil. and silverkeep is constantly improving and advancing their medicinal techniques as more and more about the composition of the soul and the relationship between sana, cava, and ars is discovered. but because magic itself is so prevalent, things that we use in our society aren't really things that i feel like will ever occur to them to use in theirs. i can't really think of any examples rn bc basically i don't really like making modern magic wips too often LOL so that's why tcol is like this but yeah i'm sure when i think more about what tech they do and don't have i'll get more into the weeds of this.

i do know they definitely have plumbing though. i refuse to allow chamber pots and throwing shit in the street to be a thing LMAO.

⚔️Are there any special magical objects in your WIP? What do they do? Who owns them?

telus weapons and objects are rare; they're basically magic imbued weaponry or trinkets, which allows people who don't have ars to bypass the usual requirements of being able to do magic (having ars) but limits the usage because usually the object or weapon only has a few specific abilities and doesn't have a mind of its own so it can't be as versatile. its very hard to create such a weapon; usually they're blessed in some manner by a god. there aren't really any that show up in any of the stories (unless you count guardian weapons as telus weapons but those are Very Very different) that i have for this wip, but perhaps i should and can make a side story about one. i think i would have it take place in diisai.... but i'll ponder that later lol.

🧐Do people research magic in your WIP? What’s the most popular or prestigious topic of study? The least popular?

technically people only research magic when they're trying to become a certain class of some kind. i'll just list out the "specialty" magics real fast ->

MEDICS study sana inanem, diruam and subortus

ALCHEMISTS AND GUNNERS study muram

HEXERS/ILLUMINATORS study lumine

BARDS study cantatio

DARK HUNTERS study tenom

all other classes use some form of vis, if they use magic at all as its not a requirement (ie: MBAs, rangers, protectors, hunters)

because not everyone can do magic, its not really a requirement of standard education and you usually only seek it out if you're trying to do shit in guilds or if you're trying to be in a particular field of sorts. (and as an aside, there isn't really a difference between engineers and alchemists in tcol simply because muram is also very good for construction and those types of things)

the most popular would be sana inanaem and subortus because everyone needs a medic or doctor at some point in their life, and silverkeep university is the most prestigious institution in terrae for study.

the least popular is lumine because it is very niche and mostly only those from snake's canyon use it. and even then its not a structured sort of study, its more field-learned.

⚕️How has magic changed the landscape of medicine and healing in your WIP?

sana inanem allows for a sort of catch all healing. you don't necessarily need the specifics like how we do in scientific healing; the magic itself will smooth out whatever ails you from internal bleeding, to coughs or fevers, to broken bones. i will say that generally speaking sana inanem because it is more intensive on the healer themselves, tends to be saved for physical ailments like injuries and the like; subortus tends to be the go to for other like infections and things because it is less taxing if it needs to be used over a period of time. sana inanem in the case of illness is a sort of 'last resort'

the other thing is that very extremely powerful medics are able to do things that are virtually impossible for us to do which is bring someone or something fully back from the dead. the phoenix maneuver is what it's called and its been studied for generations, however there has only ever been one medic on record ever able to do such a thing and that is Karenza Hawkins. she has been studied extensively to determine why she is able to do this and its because she has the rare condition (that i have to name) where sana is practically spilling out of her, she has an 80-20 sana to ars ratio. though this should disqualify her from being able to do magic bc she doesn't have the magic 30% because she literally has so much sana it literally spills out of her and she is able to heal irregardless. this unfortunately means though that any other magic outside of sana inanem is completely inaccessible to her. but still, its a marvel to behold and seeing her perform the phoenix manuever on a deer is the way she's introduced in book 1 :)

🏬What kind of magical professions can a magic-user pursue in your WIP? Is it considered especially prestigious, normal, or below respect?

like i said somewhere before all careers are basically considered important to upholding society so none of them are looked down upon in anyway really. magic users also aren't really beholden to one specific path unless you want to learn a specific kind of magic--however, if you want to learn vis, then you're essentially able to do anything you want without barriers. be free <3

🎭Has magic brought about social good in your WIP? Social ills?

generally i'd say magic has brought social good; but just like any tool it can be used for negative things. tenom is the only magic with a sordid history because it did not develop naturally and was not blessed by the gods. after vis came into being during The Day of Fissures, the Chieftain of Argos, Whisper of the Fire along with her head researcher Tenoma began to fervently study the limits of vis to try and find a way to combat the horrors that seeped out of Argos. this led to the creation of the Hunters With Magic research facility which basically conducted horrifying experiments of increasing cava on dissenters to Whisper's rule, and eventually led to the first 'true' dark hunter's creation, Twilightsorrow Idanly. it was horrific, and even now the history and methods are closely guarded secrets in eros; a lot of the general research itself even being destroyed from that time period. its a Hot fucking mess lemme tell you.

🙅Are there any kinds of forbidden magic? What kinds, and why?

not necessarily? there are certain magics that you simply cannot learn, essentially cantillo. like. its literally and physically impossible. but pretty much everything else is fair game.

🤔Are there any kinds of “forgotten” or ancient magic that nobody remembers anymore? How was the knowledge lost?

not really. some origins of certain magic (like tenom) have been lost, but not the know how.

🫥Are there any kinds of magic that are intentionally hidden from the general population? Who’s hiding this knowledge, and why?

The Hands of Qhozion and the origins of chaos are intentionally hidden. any of those who have discovered its power have been drawn to ruin. this is because QHOZION does not want anyone or anything to know that he exists; at least not until he's ready to reveal himself and take revenge of his own kinda against his own self. the only character that knows the full extent of what it is is MIZDARR; but he cannot speak on this for various plot reasons, and MUINENS has always been suspicious of him because he knows much more than he's letting on. he may in fact (and kinda does) know more than IISIDIA herself... which is worrying lmao. and its really just because IISIDIA chooses not to acknowledge this and has split herself in various ways. so.

all of this is book 2 plot stuff so i'm not gonna get too into the weeds about it but yahhhh.

⛪What are the popular religions in your WIP? Where is each belief more prominent?

so weird scenario; there isn't really an popular or major organized religion in tcol. the gods exist as a fact, and many different people have many different practices and have different gods that they favor more than others but like there's no like. majorly approved/state sponsored/populist belief. even oracle temples differ from temple to temple in how they practice and the gods themselves are quite benevolent in it. many of the gods feel as though they exist to aid terraneans and the world of terrae itself; and not the other way around (which would be that the world exists for them and their pleasure) so like while it can be appreciated to have terraneans worship or reach out, to a lot of the gods terraneans are simply children that they look after and nurture with or without thanks. its simply part of being a deity, its their duty if you will.

to kind of give a quick run down of places where there is an obvious preference:

MARTHVEIL -> as is in the name, they are very partial to MARTH

EROS/ARGOS -> YLENE, BRULENE and LENEYUBR (the combination of YLENE and BRULENE)

HYTROTH -> MUINENS

KISKKADDON -> RANKIMA, which is an alter of MIRANKA

KOSS -> KOST

SILVERKEEP -> YUTARA

MORDIGA (and Diisai generally) -> KIBARUM

BASS LANDING -> The Musicians of Creation, which include Nitarr, Tuara, Rana, Ranae, Wanao, and Waname

WISH OF PALANTHIA -> as the name suggests, Palanthia

THE LABYRINTH ITSELF -> The Demon King, obviously lol

📢Are there any particularly influential religious institutions in your WIP?

time for more copy paste <3

The Frosted Arches -> The largest Oracle House for MUINENS is located in Hytroth (up north) and it is considered the sacred homeland of the goddess. Oracle Houses for MUINENS don’t have standardized names the same way that MIRANKA’n oracles do, and that is specifically because they’re so old and for a long while, there was only One place (really) that oracles were and the rest were offshoots and only local Things. the large institutions we see for MUINENS don’t crop up until after the War of Lathsburian Succession.

House of Carnations -> where Oomi’s study and become the oracles. break off temples and for MIRANKA are named after different plants and flowers that have lovely scents. The House of Carnations is the largest and is in Wish of Palanthia where MIRANKA was born. Flower Houses (as they’re called generally) can pop up anywhere in Terrae and usually every town has at least one to help with relationship disputes. As of the year _(haven't decided)_ they were made mandatory for every township or city to have one per a certain population size. 

The Arena -> the only place where Oracles of YLENE practice and it is only located in Eros. it is exactly what it sounds like — a giant arena where the Champion lives their day to day life. they hold strategy meetings, sacrifices and prayers, and battle to the death for anyone who wants the honor of becoming the next champion can challenge them. they also tend to host extreme sporting events. Occasionally Champions will have a right hand man (or two) called Tacticians, who serve the symbolic role of Brulene as she is to YLENE. However, only the Champion has direct contact with the goddess.

🙏Is devotion to a particular religion expected of people? What happens to non-believers?

being a non-believer isn't really a thing? this is sort of a universe wherein it is a fact that the gods exist; however they don't demand that you serve them and there are no consequences for being apathetic or neutral to their existence. some people are definitely more religious than others, but honestly for many people the gods are just sort of a thing that exist and they just continue on with their lives about. hell, even though oracles are divinely inspired, a lot of times especially when people go to OOMIs, do so out of the help they can provide and not necessarily because they are religious. so tldr devotion and more zealot practices do exist, but like you also don't have to give a shit if you don't want to lmao.

🫵Can the deities in your WIP grant people special powers? When do they choose to do so?

sort of? deities can bestow favor upon you in certain ways-or certain deities can. the ones that are more likely to provide blessings are YUTARA, as both the deity of medicine and gender expression, their gift is towards genderqueer people who pray to them in desire of their body to match their inner self. this isn't really a 'special power' but people with all sorts of anatomy can exist if they pray to YUTARA fervently enough and they hear your prayer. 2 characters who have been blessed by them are Jagoda Arthea (a trans man who has top surgery and what we would consider working phalloplasty - as in he can have kids) & Charissa Goodwyn (a trans woman who has breast augmentation but still has her dick and is sterile), though many more exist tm.

MIZDARR can grant the Chaos Touch to those he decides but it is very unclear why he decides to do so? there's not much rhyme or reason, but more often than not these people do tend to become or already are rangers. one character who is especially unique is Eryn Arcus, who is Chaos Touched since birth but it has left her completely blind outside of the chaos she can sense. the other character is a spoiler :P

finally, guardians are ALWAYS venerated from especially noteworthy or prophecy fulfilling terraneans. MUINENS has venerated the most guardians (3 to be exact- 2 known and 1 spoiler) however, MIRANKA venerated Arian in the third age :). this is slightly different than granting powers because basically its giving you one step under a god status lol.

🗣️Can anyone commune with the deities in your WIP, or do they only answer to special devotees?

nope, you gotta be an oracle or a guardian to directly communicate with the gods and even then theres only certain gods that do communicating through them. a lot of it has to do with the power that gods have. i'm quite a fan of the whole if you look at a deity you will simply vaporize type shit so unless you're some sort of divine... good luck with that.

📞Is it rare to be contacted by higher beings, or does it happen all the time?

super rare bc its literally impossible for gods to speak with terraneans unless they're oracles lmao. and with oracles they don't necessarily speak with the god themself... its a bit confusing to explain but basically the god's energy/will manifests within them bc they're divinely inspired/a conduit for their word. the reason why they tend to be so vague is that the inherent inability for gods and terraneans to connect means that it is difficult for oracles to decipher and explain the will of the gods in a way that can be understood by the common people. some more powerful oracles are better at it but its still difficult and taxing.

🧩Are there prophecies in your WIP? Do people believe in them? & 🌟Have any prophecies ever come true in your WIP’s history? How important are they to your WIP in the present?

yuh LMAO. many if not most prophecies come true in some way shape or fashion, however prophecies tend to be more individual focused; its really very rare that an oracle gets a prophecy for an entire event or anything like that--though it has happened that multiple oracles have recieved visions and prophecies regarding a string of individuals that are all connected to an eventual large event; however its very rare for those connections to be made until after the fact unless it is alarming enough to get brought before The Frosted Arches.

there's currently a prophecy in progress for one of our main characters though i won't tell you which :D (it'll be obious who if you know anything about tcol tbh)

👂Can anyone hear prophecies in your WIP, or do they only appear to certain people, like oracles? & 🤐Are prophecies kept secret, or told to everyone who wants to hear? Why?

only to oracles (specifically OOMs because MUINENS is a goddess of fate and destiny). they don't tend to have large scale prophecies that are told aloud to the public; if they recieve a vision that great then they usually have to take that information all the way to The Frosted Arches and then among the high council they will decide what next steps should be taken to ensure that MUINENS's will is achieved.

on the flip side, usually whenever babies are born, parents will take them to the nearest OOM to have them receive their oracle's blessing. this is basically a prophecy about how their life is going to go and while sometimes vague, or nondescript, there are times when it is quite... pronounced and alarming. usually in those rare instances, the parents are advised by the best course of action for their little one.

🗡️Is killing monsters or magical creatures a viable profession in your WIP? Is it lauded work or scorned?

yup that's what guilds are for! that's not their only purpose, but what modern (as in start of book 1) guilds do a lot of is killing monsters within the labyrinth lol.

😢Are monsters legitimately dangerous, or are they simply misunderstood?

DANGEROUS ITS NOT A FUCKING JOKE THEY CANNOT BE REASONED WITH DEADASS

beasts are misunderstood but also legitimately dangerous and unpredictable and while they are similar to monsters they are very much not the same thing.

💀Can people commune with spirits of the dead in your WIP? How? & 👻Do spirits wander freely in your WIP? Why? Is there a way to help them pass on?

you can't really, but it isn't uncommon to see them in certain places. tl;dr terraneans cannot pass on unless they are properly buried, and their spirit will wander aimlessly throughout terrae unless their body is buried OR unless The Lady of the Mists finds them and guides them to Cerullius; which is essentially a "heaven" of sorts. its a reuniting with IIARAN. you can't really speak to them if you see them but occasionally travellers have seen spirits wandering and have been able to guide them back to their bodies so they can be buried and pass on.

😱Is it considered normal or taboo to speak with the dead in your WIP? Does it vary from culture to culture?

its seen as a good deed, if you can. again something something terrae is basically socialist/communist or whatever but its seen as something you should do because no one should be forced to wander forever. also, its usually not speaking to them as y'all are on different planes of existence and more like following the ghost to its body and giving it burial rites.

⚰️Is it possible to completely resurrect someone in your WIP? How? If not, has anybody ever tried?

yup! phoenix manuever i talked about before lol. only Karenza has ever been able to do it.

🗺️Is your WIP a globe-trotting adventure, or is all the adventure contained in one place?

technically book 1 and book 2 kind of all take place between the labyrinth and lathsbury but bc tcol is a huge world and i have a lot of side stories in it you can argue its a bit gloe-trotty. but characters do travel often.

🧚Is adventuring common in your WIP, or something only for fairytales?

common!

🪙When people go on adventures in your WIP, what are they looking for? Fame, fortune, power?

all of the above :)

🦸Are there any legendary heroes or adventurers in your WIP’s history? What are they famous for?

YEAHHH so time for some more lists tm

lath of argos (aka Lath, Guardian of Valor) & ensio montero (aka Ensio, Sword of Valor) -> famously helped the goddess MUINENS among 33 other warriors corral monsters and beasts from across the lands of terrae into The Labyrinth, slaughtering many stragglers so they would no longer pose a threat to terraneans and giving their lives in the process. Lath became the first guardian, and also gave the people of Terrae who left Eros after the day of fissures their eventual name Lathsburians

immordia gallant (aka Immordia, Guardian of Exploration) & her son, gawain gallant -> famously helped the first Lathsburian ship make the journey across the treacherous eastern sea, holding the boat afloat long enough to allow the first lathsburians to make it to shore before giving her life in the process. if it weren’t for her contributions, the Diisaians would never have been discovered and the Diisaians would never know their distant Lathsburian cousins existed which both are grateful for.

king mitică the nomad -> tl;dr made sure the lathsburians didn’t go extinct and is regarded as the greatest king who ever lived; humble, modest, wise, and measured.

karlan of the sea -> the first leader of the diisaians who helped them journey across the great eastern sea and was favored by the god, KOST

i haven’t named this guy yet but he’s the leader of the kisks and basically he’s the one who helped them travel from the mountains of ubwyn to where kiskkaddon is today.

king savon the evergolden -> the principle force in the war of the seven sons who held back the depouring of the labyrinth that his brother ziri the windless caused. if it weren’t for his tactile prowess and leadership it’s very likely that the lathsburians would’ve all perished tm <3

a lot of these heroes are very lathsbury focused but it’s bc i haven’t really started branching out into the other city states and what’s going on with the timelines and whatnot! but fear not! there will be So Many More LMAO.

🦹Are there any infamous villains in your WIP? How were they defeated?

listtsssss

whisper of the fire, first chieftain of argos -> she’s a villain to ME so that’s why she’s going on this list idc. anyway after her horrifying and tyrannical also short ass reign, she was killed by the first COH, hyla at the behest of YLENE. her death caused the beginnings of the aegean civil war which eventually ended with the creation of the nightwillow clan.

prince ziri the windless -> fuck this guy specifically. anyway lord evondra personally kills him because Fuck this guy specifically.

lord evondra -> that’s spoilers <3

QHOZION -> that’s also spoilers <3

🌄How much has the landscape and environment of your WIP been shaped by magic? Have entire mountains been wiped off the map, or is everything the same as if magic didn’t exist?

well, the entire world came into being via musical magic—

jkjk (but it did) but to answer the question, the best example is the kiskkaddon desert, which is a sentient entity. i haven’t fully decided if its sentient because it is RANKIMA herself, or if its a completely separate entity, but basically kiskkaddon itself is a word that means “swallowing” and thus its the all swallowing desert. conditions are harsh and its all magically related lol. it could alllllso potentially have something to do with Phyddione which could be a cool tie in so i may explore that a bit 🤔

🌥️Are there any magical places in your WIP that are kept hidden from outsiders? Why?

The Thicket, where MIZDARR resides, is hidden because it is the birthplace of chaos and to go in there is to risk being touched by The Hands of Qhozion. MIZDARR can somewhat control how much chaos seeps through the thicket into Terrae, but as he warned MUINENS thousands of years ago, there’s only so long that he can hold chaos back before it is fully unleashed :>

[back-on-my-autistic-bullshit]

Join me as I go feral about klance + Dear Arkansas Daughter by Lady Lamb at 4/5am

Ok. OKAY.

The first three lines are just:

Take a swim in the water / Take a swim in the water / Dear Arkansas Daughter

I have nothing special to say about this except that Lance and water are interconnected in my brain, unsurprisingly. I mean he pilots the blue lion so it just makes sense yk yk

You with the dark curls, you with the watercolour eyes / You who bares your teeth with every smile

This one is SO obvious but. Dark curls = Keith and watercolour eyes is Lance

Bares your teeth with every smile FEELS like Keith too. He's smiling and supposed to be friendly but is still coming off as idk like ??? Standoffish or argumentative anyway!

He says "I can always hear you sing, I wanna hear you speak to me"

This HITS. Imagining this as Keith begging Lance to just TALK to him to tell him how he FEELS because Lance is used to concealing how he feels with jokes. UGH

Skipping a line or two bc I don't have thoughts about those

I was talking at a cigarette / There's nothing left to say / But he should have been there anyway / For I didn't sing a single song, all day

This is about when Keith goes to the blade of marmora and leaves voltron ok ok. Like. Lance misses him. He misses talking to him and he doesn't know what to say when Keith isn't there, his jokes feel hollow now because he isn't there I. Am foaming at the mouth

As my love for you dies / As my love for you dies / As my love for you is steadily dying

Lance and Keith pushing down their love for each other and suppressing ("killing") it as they're separated and IDK IDK is this anything

As sharp and serious as a pistol in the eye

Something something Lance uses a gun and he is the sharpshooter and has good aim. Yeah thats all

My heart is full of swords / Full of, full of swords

This is kinda silly but it reminds me of the three of swords tarot card which has swords impaling a heart. This card also symbolises like, separation, grief, sorrow and heartbreak so!

Once again about Keith leaving to join the blade of the marmora they're both heartbroken and hurting!!!!!

Tie my hands and I knock my knees / As I kneel down, I kneel down in the sea / To the ocean floor, I will sink / Like a steel chest full of weapons

Once again !!! Water + Lance! Interconnected to me

"I will sink" makes me think he's like... giving up hope of Keith EVER coming back and they're relationship being the same again

"Like a steel chest full of weapons" this just goes back to the swords in the heart line and I think thats cool, yeah thats it

And on the spine of the tide, you will rise / Like a red, ripe, red, ripe apple

This one is embarrassingly simple but red = Keith lmao

The "red apple" (Keith) "floating on" (coming back to) "the tide" (Lance)

It feels like hope

ALSO. It reminds me of how oil floats on water and they don't ever truly combine but instead simply like.... co-exist in the same space. Idk dude I'm so tired and having so many thoughts

Take a swim in the dirty water / Dear Arkansas Daughter / Take a swim in the dirty water

Dirty water!!!! Foams at the mouth. This calls back to the start of the song but it's dirty now which links back to my previous thought of oil + water (the metaphor being keith is oil and lance is water btw)

Because water with oil in it is like dirty I guess

And the whole take a swim thing is Lance embracing Keith back into his life

Darling, child, true love of mine

Idk. True love of mine. Feels self explanatory

True love <3 they admit their feelings to each other and are happy. The End

The demons took over, and I needed to get this out of my system I would apologise but then again this is literally what this tumblr account is for so. Yeah hope you enjoyed that word vomit