#poems are not mine and the links to all of them are in the ao3 end notes!

[icannothink123]

"The Feast-The consequence of your actions."

The Feast is a (intersex) skittish sheep princess with mild esp (extra sensory perception) and mild ghost abilities, which in chapter one was mauled to death then her corpse was eaten.

Her foil voice is, Voice of the Glutton whos a fancy, hungry, (bigender) french voice. He wants to eat The Princess and try new things but still cares about her and his fellow voices. While he prefers if you listen to him but doesn’t care too much if you don’t. 

[A/N:The reason why Glutton is french is because I found it funny]

You can check out there story on ao3 link below

Here the end of everything/shifty poem for her.

 “A gift of a fragile vessel?”

"This one is prey pushed to adapt, captured by a dance of survival. In this dance she found cunning and wit, but you alone pushed her to act. Even now I feel a will squirming against mine trying to slip in between my fingertips, not realizing we are one. She will make for a flexible heart."

"Do not mourn her she can rest" 

"The End of Everything"

“Your prey watches you. Frozen by anticipation, and bound by terror.”

“Perhaps it was guilt that drove you but your compassion gave me a life.”

“But to do so you had to defy your old ways for a dream of something better. But to be better is to be able to be changed.”

“So will you let all remain still, stuck in their old ways forever? Or will you give them the same chance my vessel gave you?”

-

Welp that's it I hope tumblr likes my sillies as much as I do!

[paradimeshifts7]

All my things, all in one place 🌱 ↴

Twitter | ao3

All my fics, mostly steddie:

Desperado (You better let somebody love you)

Rated E | 164k | Exes to lovers

Twelve years after tire tracks and shattered trust, Wayne's illness brings Eddie back to Hawkins.

Once Bitten (Twice Shy)

Rated E | 22k | Christmas fic

Steve’s relationship with Christmas had always been tenuous, to say the least, but it didn’t help that this was the first Christmas he would be suffering through since his ex-girlfriend had snatched up his self-esteem and taken off running the year before.

He knew it was the intrinsically romantic quality of the holiday season, and nothing more. Just his lonely bones after a year of healing from heartbreak.

But Eddie's arms around him when he needed them most were starting to feel a lot like love.

Silk Chiffon

Rated E | 6k | Library smut

Steve and Eddie visit Robin and Nancy at Emerson, and a casual stroll through the library stacks turns into the best blowjob of Steve's goddamn life.

Tooth and Nail

Rated E | 113k | Punk pop slow burn

Eddie told himself that he was done, because he wouldn’t survive another heartbreak at that boy’s hands. But he really, really needs someone to open for them on tour.

Steve has a fist full of letters by the time he arrives in Los Angeles, but the Eddie Munson he knew is nowhere to be found. Left to make sense of this new version of the friend he once bared his soul to, Steve’s just trying not to fall off the fucking deep end again.

Lover, Come Over

Rated E | 15k | EMT Eddie/Divorcee Steve

Steve Harrington is the last person Eddie expects to see sitting on the curb when he responds to the call, but there he is, looking like absolute hell.

Sometimes, love is right on time.

Apple Pie (Baked Just Right)

Rated M | 4k | Food as a love language

Three times Steve silently says "I love you", and the one time Eddie says it back.

This Little Light of Mine

Rated E | 4k | Dad fic

It begins with a cough.

Just a dry, brittle thing that starts up one Friday morning over rice cereal and apple juice.

One look at Rosie, and Eddie knew she’d pull through just fine. Kids get sick, a simple fact of life. Something Steve, surely, is aware of.

Right?

Star Light, Star Bright

Rated E | 4k | Soulmates, Dreams

Steve swore he never dreamt before the age of sixteen, his nights spent swimming alone through dark, formless slumber until suddenly — he was no longer alone.

At age twenty, he finds himself staring into a pair of familiar eyes.

The Very Thought of You

Rated E | 65k | Jazz AU

The jazz music scene explodes when world-renowned pianist Eddie Munson is spotted getting cozy with a mystery man in New York City. Journalists have managed to link the pretty face to the prestigious Harrington name, an old money family with business all over the globe and a direct link to Diana Harrington, famous jazz starlet. But reports of bad trades and schemes gone wrong are beginning to muddy the waters of this particular love story, and it’s only a matter of time before the real origins of this torrid affair emerge.

The Poem You Make of Me

Rated E | 7k | Touch-starved wlw

“Could I?” She asks, barely a whisper.

“Could you what?”

“Take care of you,” Eddie says, ducking down to press a slow kiss to Stevie’s shoulder, pausing to murmur against her skin. “Make you feel good.”

Soft as Sin (Let Me In)

Rated E | 2k | pwp

Steve Harrington was drunk, although not as drunk as he wanted to be. Definitely not drunk enough to distract him from the fact that Eddie was sleeping no more than six feet away, the curves of his body laid out on the twin bed blurred in the dark. Despite the constant swimming in his head, Steve lay still, having to remind himself to breathe every couple of moments lest he pass out from the sheer apprehension.

Sugar’s Sweet (And So Is He)

Rated E | 42k | Sugar baby Steve/lit professor Eddie

The sugar baby!Steve and lit professor/author!Eddie au, wherein Eddie is a disaster at fine dining, and Steve helps him out.

Among the Wildflowers

Rated E | 28k | Steddie BB ‘23

It was easy, letting go. At least, that’s what Eddie told himself as he watched Hawkins fade to a tiny smudge on the horizon, his whole life packed into the van and Wayne’s old truck as they fled the Indiana tree line for the high mountain valleys of Idaho. Amidst the hot, dry air and sweet sagebrush, Eddie’s mind wandered, crawling back night after night under a blanket of stars to the golden boy he left behind and the chasm in his chest that used to house his heart — whistling and waiting, a near eternal ache.

Home came together slowly, and then all at once when Steve Harrington showed up on his doorstep a year later — haggard and worn, searching for something among the wildflowers.

A tale of death, birth, and the promise of green.

Some Kind of Angel

Rated E | 6k | Accidental subspace

The one where Eddie yells at Steve, and Steve accidentally goes into subspace about it.

Strawberry Fields

Rated E | 19k | Small town romcom

So close to earning his Emmy and the life he's always wanted, Steve sets off with a cameraman to the tiny town of Mt. Harding, hoping to catch a glimpse of a winter solstice phenomenon held secret by locals. It’s not exactly the gig he’s always dreamed of, but he’ll make it work. The only problem is that he has to do it with Eddie Munson.

The Moon Doesn’t Mind

Rated E | 14k | Unconventional omegaverse

Stuck in the Upside Down, Steve and Eddie are forced to reckon with what they’ve become, and what they’ve always been.

Monster. Inhuman. Changed.

In the Garden, Under Your Hand

Rated E | 23k | Community garden au

Thrown into community service after a bad run-in with his dad, Eddie is hardly expecting the next few months to be anything of note. That is, until Steve Harrington emerges from behind a patch of sunflowers at the community garden, claiming to be his supervisor.

The Winner Takes It All

Rated E | 32k | Romcom (My Best Friend’s Wedding AU)

Later, as he was sitting on the toilet, he remembered what Steve had said: February. The wedding was in February. Eddie checked his phone, confirming his suspicion.

“Fuck,” he swore softly, and then again, “Fuck.”

A little over two months until Steve said I do, binding himself to a total stranger. Eddie wasn’t about to let his best friend get snatched up by someone who was likely not good enough for him, let alone someone Eddie had never heard of. Steve was too kind to be taken advantage of like that — too special.

How things had ended up as they had, Eddie couldn’t be sure, but one way or another, he was going to get to the bottom of it.

On the Living Room Floor

Rated T | 1k | Stobin minific

The end of the world happens on a Tuesday.

Kalahari Down

Rated E | 11k | Small town country singer Steve/Rockstar Eddie

When his tour bus breaks down just outside of Hawkins, Indiana, Eddie Munson isn’t expecting the tiny town to offer up anything more than a cheap drink and a few side eyes.

He isn’t expecting Steve.

Tempest Entire

Rated E | 20k | Lighthouse/amnesia

The shape loomed dark and odd in the middle distance, flat on the sand like some dead thing, ominous in its unrecognizability. Through the lash of salt, Eddie squinted, walking toward the shape with morbid curiosity. He felt himself pale as he came closer, a knot of dread drawing tight in his stomach, because it wasn’t a seal or any kind of plant-based lump that lay motionless on the beach.

It was a man.

Impossible Not To

Rated E | 2k | Stommy collab with @tone-mariie

Except for Steve, it had always been more than that.

I’ll Show You Hands Ready to Bleed

Rated E | 5k | Vampire Eddie

It was meant to be a casual offer.

“You could drink some of my blood, I don’t mind.”

But the moment Eddie’s pupils began to narrow at the notion, Steve knew there was going to be nothing casual about what happened next.

Evermore

Rated E | 50k | Magic/fantasy au

The blight spread quickly, ravenous in its hunger as it stretched toward the high seat of the royal city, its evil already well-known to the farmlands where the earth lay dry and cracked — where magic and its ruin had no friend.

Steve knew the labor he put forth on his father’s land would amount to nothing, but still he toiled, knowing not what else to do, the oath he’d sworn a noose around his neck.

That is, until a stranger stumbled into his shed and into his life.

Until Eddie.

Come a Little Closer

Rated E | 10k | ren faire, omegaverse

Waylaid by a surprise rut, Eddie is certain he won’t be able to get through the ren faire without making it tragically weird for everyone involved. Steve is convinced he can get him through it — what are his stupid pheromones for, after all? Everything will be fine. That is, if Steve can keep his own feelings in check.

Dollhouse

Rated E | 9k | lingerie, collab with @glitterfang

Forced to house sit for his parents after being kicked out, Steve is thinking he and Eddie are going to watch a movie. Maybe fool around a bit. What he isn’t expecting is how Eddie in a bit of black lace is going to make him feel.

[altruistic-meme]

welcome :]

woohoo. time for an actual like. intro post. let's go 👍

[ wonderful previous blog summary by @cozy-fish-crow <3 ]

hello, i'm Abram. or Acee, if you wanna use that. he/they, but generally speaking i don't mind any pronouns. i'm queer in basically every direction and i could explain what i mean but i'll just leave it there for now. currently i'm 22. i'm usamerican and from the south.

i am a very big fandom nerd. some of my biggest fandoms include:

- Young Royals - All For the Game - Captive Prince - Bungo Stray Dogs - Haikyuu!! - Good Omens - Dan and Phil - Yuri!!! On Ice (dormant) + many, many more

i'm a fanfic author and you can find me on ao3 @ AmericanCanada

i also crochet and occasionally i post about it. tag: #crochet

i draw occasionally -> @aceedoodles i have a sideblog for helpful/reference posts -> @forthesadadult

all personal posts are tagged #shh ac

i love asks so much please never hesitate to send me an ask, especially about my fandoms and/or my fics. i will think of you fondly for the rest of my life if you do.

my three idiots cats <3 JJ, Anka, and Blue (here is a helpful guide!)

oh, i guess i've got a strawpage now if you wanna look at that too

okay that is all from me for now! have a fantastic day!

[ links to fanfictions + their tags below the cut! ]

FANFICTION ROUND-UP:

All For the Game:

(why is there) joy in this poison (WIP)

tag: #(wit)jitp

for the hopes and the fears and the dreams

tag: #(wit)jitp

go low (WIP)

tag: #wip: go low

the scars are poems (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: the scars are poems

figurative ghosts (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: figurative ghosts

heartbeats carved in flesh

i said i wouldn't call, but i need you now

Young Royals:

I've Got You, Brother (WIP)

tag: #wip: fuck he said a pronoun

Dare(d) To Do It (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: dare(d), #wip: parallels

Not Supposed To Know (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: nstk, #wip: parallels

swaying as the room burned down

LVOE.

we all need a soft place to fall

Captive Prince:

laurent stabs damen [name undecided] (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: laurent stabs damen

Carpe Noctem (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: carpe noctem

Bungo Stray Dogs:

blackhole time fuckery [name undecided] (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: blackhole time fuckery

Will You Be Mine? (No Sir) (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: will you be mine? (no sir)

it's a safehouse, right? (WIP, unpublished)

The Port Mafia Boss's Most Loyal Dog (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: loyal dog

abo au [name undecided] (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: abo au

selfish (WIP, unpublished)

tag: #wip: selfish

what you can learn from a bowl of soup

tag: #wip: torturing kunikida

- fics are linked where possible!

- not all WIPs have been blogged about and thus not all of them have tags, but I will try to keep this list updated as i work on/post about them.

- italicized fics are ones i consider to be "critical"; aka the fics that i am putting the most effort and care into writing, or my personal favorites

- this is not a comprehensive list of every fic i have written, just the ones i felt like pointing at specifically! there are more fics on my ao3 account (such as all of my yoi fics) and there are also WIPs that aren't mentioned here.

- i love questions i love questions sooo much please ask me about my fics i would love to talk about them PLEASE ASK-

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

What You've Done, You Cannot Undo (Medieval AU)

Chapter 17

The ghouls settle in some more, and Rain opens up to Dewdrop about his final big secret.

A bit of fluff, a bit of angst, a lot of "just kiss already!" I hope you enjoy <3

Rating: M Content: flashbacks, mild descriptions of violence Words: 7217

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Hi tag pals! @everybodyshusband @revengeghoulette

Read below, or on AO3!

Sunshine had pulled out all the stops with the picnic she brought; Dew had to wonder how she managed to fit as much into the basket as she did. They lounged around in the midday sun, chatting about their mornings and listening to the gentle lap of the lake against the feet of the dock. Rain had eventually put a shirt on, to Dew’s relief and disappointment, but he could still picture how he had looked climbing out of the lake; the type of figure the ancient Greeks carved statues of, the type that poems were written about. He spent the first minutes of their meal pretending to be incredibly interested in the sandwich he was nibbling rather than the press of the water ghoul’s knee against his, but he quickly found something more interesting to watch.

Swiss and Mountain were sat incredibly close to each other, so near they were practically in each other’s laps – Dew chose not to think about how him and Rain were sat in equal or greater proximity – with their elbows knocking together each time they raised their arms to eat. Dew wondered again what had transpired that morning that had led to them acting quite so cosy.

Rain was keen to see some more of the Abbey, seeing as he had been in the infirmary whilst the others had been shown around, and so Sunny offered to take him to the greenhouses on the way back to the Abbey. Mountain and Swiss followed too, seeing as their visit had been cut short by the pandemonium of Rain’s recovery the previous day.

“You coming too, Aeth?” Dew asked, turning to the quintessence ghoul. He shuffled his feet.

“I think I’ll go back to the library for a bit, Copia was showing me around before Sunshine fetched me for lunch.”

Mist raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, either the old guy’s got a lot more fun, or you really like the books.” She remarked.

“I’ll see you later, don’t worry,” Aether smiled at Mountain’s concerned expression, “seriously, I’m good. He’s really interesting to talk to.”

Dew made a mental note to check in with him.

Sunny had led the rest of them up to the greenhouse complex, Mist giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading off with Aether back to the Abbey. Rain was mildly intrigued by the strange sheds made of glass panels, and even more interested when Sunshine explained how she had enchanted some of them to grow summer produce all year round. However, what he was most interested in was Dew’s rapturous expression as he followed her around. In a greenhouse that was almost stifling in its humidity, he had spotted a collection of small plants with long, red fruits hanging from them.

“Chilli peppers,” Dew gasped in delight, “they didn’t grow these before! We only had the dried ones.”

“They’re a new crop,” Sunny smiled, “we traded a few seeds from down south, and now we can grow them in here ourselves!”

Dew nipped one from the plant with his sharp claws, happily biting into it. Rain made to follow his lead, but the fire ghoul shot out a panicked arm.

“They’re really hot, Rain. Hotter than anything we ate before, try a tiny nibble of mine first.”

Rain eyed the bright red pepper in Dew’s hand, unsure how a plant could be hot. Before he could reach out a hand to take it, Dew raised it to his mouth, offering to feed him. He sniffed it, and shot out his forked tongue for a delicate lick, trying not to think about Dew’s own lips touching it moments prior.

He didn’t have a chance to worry about his face blushing red: the tiniest touch of it on his tongue left it burning, and he flinched away from it with a hiss.

“It burns! What is that?”

Dew tried not to laugh, sympathetic to the water ghoul’s pain.

“It’s a chilli pepper. They’re spicy, it makes them taste hot.”

“They’re evil.” Rain countered with a pout, drinking from a stream of water he summoned that cascaded from his hand.

Dew failed to keep a straight face and giggled. The sound was infectious, and despite his still-burning tongue Rain found himself doing the same.

While the two youngest ghouls messed around, Mountain had wandered off to investigate a tall plant with waxy yellow and white flowers he didn’t recognise and swiftly got chatting to an elderly earth ghoulette tending to it. Swiss was left looking around, wondering who he was supposed to tag along with, when Sunshine sidled up to him, following his gaze towards Mountain.

“Looks like you’ve caught yourself a nice one there,” she purred, before looking Swiss up and down, “although he’s not done too badly himself, either.”

Swiss stared down at her, too scandalised to speak.

“Relax, I’m just messing with you!” Sunshine cackled.

“We’re not even together.” He huffed back, bemused by the ghoulette’s behaviour.

“What!” Sunny shrieked, clapping her hands to her mouth to stifle the noise when Mountain glanced their way. “What’s in the water where you lot come from? First those two idiots,” she gestured to Rain and Dew, the latter now trying to see how many chillies he could fit in his mouth at once while the former continued scraping at his tongue, red faced, “and now you? How come none of you talk to each other!”

While Swiss spluttered, at a loss for words, she turned back to bark at the two youngest ghouls.

“Stop wasting all my damn harvest, Dewdrop!”

“I’m gonna talk to him,” Swiss huffed, “I just need to find the right moment.”

“When’s that, next century?”

Swiss gave in, chuckling along with her as he let Sunshine lead him along an aisle of plants, away from the rest of the group and out of their earshot. It was nice, he thought, having someone new to talk to, even if she seemed to be having far too much fun laughing at his expense.

“So, you’re a multi too,” Sunshine said as they strolled, the teasing gone from her voice but the cheerful attitude still there, “I haven’t met another one of us in years.”

Swiss nodded. “I haven’t either. Not since I left my birth clan.”

“How’re you settling in here?” Sunshine asked casually, but Swiss could feel the question was loaded.

“I don’t really know,” he sighed, “everyone else seems to be finding their place really quickly, but I don’t know where I’m supposed to fit in here.”

Sunshine pursed her lips in understanding.

“It’s hard. The other ghouls all seem to have their roles laid out for them, don’t they.”

The pair watched Mountain talking animatedly with the earth ghoulette through a gap in the foliage. Of all the ghouls, Swiss would have thought that the introverted earth ghoul would be the least likely to fit in so soon in a busy community like the Abbey. However, Mountain seemed to be doing better than Swiss so far; a strange experience for the ghoul who had always felt like the ‘face’ of the pack before.

“How did you find your niche?” He asked eventually. “I feel like I’m just tagging along with everyone else for lack of anything else to do.”

“It kind of just happened,” Sunshine mused, linking her arm through his and starting walking again, “I overheard a group of fire ghouls complaining that they were struggling to enchant a warm climate greenhouse because everything was just turning crispy, and I offered to help. Things seem to be doing better now I’ve added more light and humidity, so this has become my main task.”

“I worry I’m just a bit useless here,” Swiss sighed “back home I made predictions and stuff for the people in the town, but there’s air ghouls here who can do that so much better.”

“For the humans?” Sunshine stopped again, and swung round to face him. “That’s something that could be useful! Talk to Copia, he has all kinds of plans for something he calls ‘community outreach’, but no ghouls to help him.”

“He does?”

“Uh huh. I came from living with humans too, and he got really excited about some sort of project to ‘spread His message’? I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned it to you already, knowing your background.”

“Didn’t Dew say there are humans here who could do that? Why does he need ghouls to do that?”

“There’s a few, yes. You probably haven’t seen much of them, they stay in a totally separate wing to us ghouls. They’re the current ambassadors for the Ministry, but they’re not very successful.” Sunshine gave an exaggerated look over her shoulder, as though to check no errant human had snuck up on them in the last few seconds.

“They’re a bit useless if you ask me,” she whispered conspiratorially, “and so boring. They’re scared of their own kind, and they’re so bad at recruiting that they’re outnumbered by ghouls almost five to one.”

Swiss tried to imagine being a human preaching to their own kind about the wonders of the Dark Lord. That sounded like a one-way ticket to the gallows or the stake.

“Copia thinks us ghouls would do a better job,” Sunny continued, “even glamoured, we’re not human enough to fully pass, and he thinks that our slight otherworldly appearance might attract the interest of humans more suited to our cause, while scaring off those who oppose us.”

“I can see where he’s coming from,” agreed Swiss, “before I joined the pack I used to travel around with my guitar, singing in taverns and such. People were wary of me, but I think that added to the allure for some of them.” He flashed a dazzling smile to demonstrate, slightly-too-pointed teeth glistening next to his lone gold fang.

“Oh nice!” Sunny clapped her hands in joy. “I used to do something similar, I’d go round villages singing the humans’ folk songs in exchange for food and shelter.”

“Huh. Maybe Copia should think about spreading His word through music…” Swiss thought out loud.

“If our voices don’t get ‘em, that smile of yours sure will,” Sunny laughed, “it certainly seemed to work on your earth ghoul, look.”

They glanced over to where Mountain, having finished his conversation with the earth ghoulette, had drifted back over to Dew and Rain. He was hovering behind them, his eyes watching Swiss and Sunshine and he looked guilty at having been caught staring. Steering him by the elbow, Sunny led Swiss back over in their direction, beaming angelically.

“So, where next boys?”

The ghouls ended up in the library a while later, where they found Aether and Copia in a pair of armchairs, surrounded by books and deep in conversation. The quintessence ghoul looked up at the commotion caused by their entry and waved them over happily.

“See you nerds later.” Sunny gave them a mock-salute, and vanished back down the corridor.

“How were the greenhouses?” Aether asked as they dragged more chairs over, thoroughly disturbing the peace the two had been sat in.

“We saw Sunny's tropical one,” Mountain enthused, “it was very interesting. I got talking to an earth ghoulette called Delphinia, she's offered to give me a proper induction to working there if we choose to stay!”

“Spicy.” grumbled Rain, so quietly only Dew could hear him. He was still pouting about the betrayal of the pretty red fruit even now, and Dew thought it was simply adorable. His lower lip jutting out, Dew wanted nothing more than to kiss it and wipe the expression from his face. He saw Rain watching him, the slightest twitch in the corner of his eyes giving away that he had noticed Dew's stare, and he forced his eyes away, embarrassed at being caught.

“I've been telling Copia all about our travels before coming here,” Aether continued, “especially our early ones, Mount.”

The earth ghoul chirped in interest.

“They sound fascinating,” Copia gushed, “and not just the environments you saw, but the people too! As you can probably tell, we don't have a large human populous right now, especially not people who have come from any distance away.” He gestured around the library as he spoke, the lone human sat in a corner looking scared for their life as five pairs of ghoulish eyes suddenly landed on them.

“What's so interesting about the people?” Mountain asked, curious.

“For starters, how their attitudes to our cause are changing over time. Are they more accepting? Or are they frightened instead? These are all questions I have wanted to ask!”

“You want to talk to Swiss really,” Mountain said, looking at the multi ghoul who seemed surprised at his involvement, “he's got the most experience interacting with humans out of all of us; Aeth and I tended to steer clear of them when we could.”

“I travelled around with my guitar for many years,” Swiss explained, “playing in taverns and the like. I was just telling Sunshine about it. Most humans acted similarly, but there were always a few who were... more receptive listeners.” He tried diplomatically to describe the humans, men and women alike, who would practically throw themselves at his feet for a few sweet words and a honeyed smile.

“How wonderful,” Copia beamed. The intense focus he was listening with surprised Swiss, “I would be honoured to discuss your experience with us more mortal folk at greater length!”

Swiss shrugged, bashful. After the last few days of seeing his packmates slot into place here, he hadn't expected to feel needed in any way, least of all by their leader.

“I have a goal, you see,” the man explained, his face seeming to regain its youth in his excitement, “to spread His message far beyond these walls, far beyond the distance any missionary could carry it. The problem is, of course, the method.”

Swiss thought back to his conversation with Sunny.

“How about music?” he asked. “At least as a way to lure people in, it always worked for me. Then you'd have a captive audience to preach to.”

Copia nearly leapt to his feet in excitement. Instead, he simply gripped the edges of his chair and pitched himself forward.

“What an idea!” Several others in the library looked round, disturbed by the noise. “You said you played guitar, correct?”

Swiss held his hands out in front of him to defuse his enthusiasm.

“I do, but you must understand we are very wary of humans right now.”

Copia deflated somewhat, but his face was one of understanding.

“Yes, of course. My apologies Rain,” he turned to smile at the water ghoul, half hidden behind Dew, who shrugged at him, “I would never force any one of you do anything against your will.”

As he was looking at Rain, he seemed to remember himself suddenly.

“Why, we haven't been properly introduced! I am Papa Emeritus the Fourth, leader of this Abbey and sanctuary, but you can call me Copia.”

Rain looked uncomfortable as he became the sudden focus of the man's attention, but he held a cautious hand out to shake.

“Rain.” He said, softly. Copia took it and smiled, softer now he had calmed down somewhat.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Rain. I am most thankful our Dewdrop was able to save you, and I hope your recovery is going smoothly.”

“Yes, thank you. Mist has been helping me.”

“Ah, Mist. With her in charge you will have no choice but to get better!” He laughed at his own joke.

Sensing Rain's discomfort, Dew surreptitiously snaked his tail out to twine around Rain's. The water ghoul's tightened back in return, glad of the comfort. Luckily, Copia's attention was soon diverted back to quizzing the more senior ghouls, and Rain could relax again.

Eventually, Copia seemed to run out of questions and the ghouls were able to make their escape. As they left, Dew made a point of walking alongside Aether.

“Hi Dew, have a good day?”

Dew nodded offhandedly; he was here to question Aether, not the other way around.

“Are you alright?” He asked, in his usual blunt fashion. “Swiss and Mount are clearly worried about you too, afraid you felt left out while they went to go flirt in the woods earlier.”

Aether wanted to point out that Dew had also run off for similar purposes, but refrained.

“I thought they were,” he sighed, “they don’t need to be though, I’ve had a really great day. Copia is a fascinating man, and I bumped into Astra from the infirmary earlier who offered me a position there.”

Dew raised an eyebrow: Aether truly did seem happy today.

“I could really see us settling down here.”

That really did shock Dew. He had assumed Aether and Mountain would have the most difficulty figuring out their place here, but they seemed to be finding their feet best of all. He smiled up at the quintessence ghoul.

“I’m glad, Aeth. Really.”

That dinnertime, they decided to brave the main dining hall for the first time. The ghoulettes led them along the maze of corridors, taking them into a large wood-panelled room with a giant fire burning in the grate. Finally they got a glimpse at how large the Abbey’s population actually was. There were about half a dozen humans, all sat together in one corner, with the rest of the long tables occupied by ghouls. A gentle hubbub filled the air, but it was by no means unpleasantly loud. Cumulus led them over to an empty table in the middle of the room, and gestured for them all to take a seat. Dinner would be served buffet style, she informed them, but only once the kitchen staff themselves were ready to eat. Mealtimes were taken seriously here and there would be nobody left hunting for leftovers at the end, especially if they had a hand in preparing it.

Spotting Astra across the room Aether waved hello, happy to see a friendly face amidst the sea of strangers. The meal was as chaotic as ever, maybe even more so with the overall good mood of the pack and ambient noise in the room, but nobody seemed too bothered.

The ghoulettes led them up to the serving hatch to help themselves to food. Dew happily sprinkled more dried chillies all over his, reaching out an urgent hand to stop Rain from automatically copying him.

“It’s chili,” he laughed as they sat back at the table, “the spicy plant, only these have been dried.”

Rain was unimpressed.

“How can you eat that?” He pulled a face, as Dew began shovelling the mountain of red-freckled food into his mouth. “It’s trying to hurt you!”

“I’m a big strong ghoul,” Dew grinned at him, “let it try.”

“Sure you are.” Rain purred, rolling his eyes and bumping Dew gently with his shoulder.

The ghouls made casual conversation the rest of the meal; Cirrus and Cumulus asking about their days, and Sunshine about their conversation with Copia.

“He really liked the music idea,” Swiss told her, “I don't know if it will go anywhere, but it could be fun.”

Sunny seemed vastly more enthusiastic than him, so he let her excitement buoy him along as they chattered with the others about it. While the ghouls were still highly sceptical about interacting with humans, their memories of nights in the tavern or just around their own farm with Swiss and his guitar were full of fondness.

Back in the Den, the ghoulettes diplomatically left the common room to the newcomers for the evening, knowing they had an important discussion to have: whether they wished to stay at the Abbey for any length of time, or move on. As they peeled off, Cirrus pointed out all the empty doors, telling the ghouls that all the remaining rooms were made up ready for them if they wished to separate at last.

The pack spilled into the common room, occupying the colourful collection of chairs. The hubbub of the conversation from the hallway soon died out and they looked at each other, unsure of where to start.

“So,” Mountain began eventually, jumping straight to the point, “are we staying for now?”

Aether broke the silence that followed the earth ghoul's words.

“I'd be in favour, yes.”

Rain nodded exuberantly, clutching onto Dew's arm with hopeful eyes.

“Yeah, same.” He chuckled, making Rain beam.

“Me too.” Mountain cast his own vote.

They all turned to look at Swiss.

“Sure,” he forced a smile and shrugged, before answering truthfully, “it's the best place for us as a pack.” He would find his place eventually, he figured, and he trusted Sunny's optimism. Besides, where else would he go? He didn't dislike it here, and Copia's plans sounded interesting. Really, he just wanted to be wherever his pack were happy, and if that was here, he figured he would be too, in time.

"So, it's settled then: we stay for a while and try to make a go of things here.” Aether looked around at his pack, the mixture that they were, with pride and hope. They had all come a long way; from the antisocial wanderers he and Mountain had been, to the frail and frightened ghouls Rain and Dewdrop had been when they arrived, they had become a real pack, as strong as family.

Like any family though, they still needed time to themselves, and Aether for one was itching to stretch out in a bed, alone. As much as he had loved their piles over the last few nights, the weeks of camping had taken their toll on his back. He stretched his arms above his head, his spine making a flurry of popping noises, and he knew when he stood his hips and knees would do the same.

“Bedtime?” suggested Mountain with a laugh, slapping his knees before staggering to his feet from the impossibly low armchair he had landed in earlier, like a baby deer learning to walk. The antlers really added to the mental image, though Dew with a snicker.

Back in the hallway, the ghouls looked at the doors in front of them, at a slight loss for what to do.

“The one next to mine looks pretty much the same, the ones opposite have bigger windows and a balcony.” Dew summarised, waiting to see which dithering ghoul chose which. Mountain shrugged and opened the door to the room he had showered in previously; the wooden panelling like in Dew's was perfect for protecting an earth ghoul's energy, especially in the winter. Aether did the same opening an opposite door, keen for the view of the sky the tall windows would provide and already imagining evenings sat watching the stars. That only left the rooms next to him for Rain and Swiss. The latter waved goodnight to the pack, and sent an additional smile towards Mountain directly opposite, leaving only the water ghoul who made no move to leave Dew's side.

“You good with the last one?” Dew asked, concerned he'd overlooked some crucial issue. Rain dug his claws into Dew's arm, tugging him towards the fire ghoul's plain door.

“Oh, you don't want your own?” Dew tried to colour his voice with concern, but was secretly delighted to keep the water ghoul close, and all to himself. Rain shook his head vehemently and tightened his grip.

“Ouch! Okay, I get it, roommates it is.” Dew laughed, and let himself be pulled into his own bedroom.

The pair did not stay there for long. Whether due to the nervous energy that buzzed around them at the realisation that they were truly alone for the first time, or just from the lingering excitement of the day, it was barely half an hour before the two ghouls were sneaking back out of the dormitory, giggling like kits. They ran hand in hand towards the lake, pulling each other along as the light of the waning moon gleamed off Dew's champagne hair, making it appear lit from within.

Their footsteps slapped lightly on the dock as they ran along it, heading for the spot where they had sat earlier, right at the end. Rain looked like he was debating leaping straight in, grabbing at the hem of his shirt, but thought better at the last minute and tested the temperature with his tail first.

“Fuck that's freezing!” he hissed. How did it feel so much colder now that it was nighttime? Dew giggled next to him, lying on his front instead to look down into the dark water. Rain joined him, their shoulders bumping together as Dew reached out a hand to swirl the dark liquid around. The moonlight reflected off every little ripple he made, spreading out in hypnotising circles.

Dew's mind drifted. He imagined them swimming alone in the lake, dressed only in darkness with the moon the sole witness to their pile of clothes laying abandoned on the dock. He could probably keep a patch of water around them warm, if they stuck close enough together...

Glancing at Rain, his blue-tinged skin glowing luminescent in the moonlight, he suddenly felt very exposed, and rolled onto his back to stare into the dark abyss of the sky. It wasn't empty though, he realised. The myriad pinpricks of light from stars competed for his attention with the moon that hung there, mocking his inaction with her beautiful kin laid next to him.

“It's almost unbelievable,” Dew mused, distracting himself as Rain rolled over to join him and maintain their closeness, “that the moon caused all of this. It looks so small up there.”

Rain followed his gaze and hummed in acknowledgement.

“I knew it controlled the tides, obviously, but I didn't think about it affecting ghouls too,” he agreed, “it seems almost obvious now Mist's pointed it out.”

“You didn't know at all?” Dew asked, surprised. Rain shook his head.

“I don't know why no one ever told me,” he sighed, “was it really obvious to everyone else, and I'm just stupid? Or was there some super-secret club for powerful water ghouls where they talked about all this, that I was left out of because they thought I was useless?”

“You're not useless,” Dew answered automatically, “I hadn't heard of anything like it either, it seems almost unbelievable.”

Rain hummed again, thinking about Dew being half water but with no knowledge of what that meant at all, not even a connection to the element to hold on to.

“Is it strange, having a part of you that you know nothing about?” he asked finally.

Dew thought for a moment about the half of him laying dormant before answering with a shrug.

“I guess. I don't know how else I'm supposed to feel about it, it's not like I've lost anything, y'know? I'm mostly a normal fire ghoul without it. It's always just been this tainted thing about me.”

It was so sad, thought Rain, that the thing that had drawn him to Dew in the first place – his faint familiarity – was something he saw as a negative, just a stain. He was sure the sorrow was clear on his face, as Dew's began to mirror it when their eyes met again.

“I'm still sorry, for taking my resentment about it out on you,” Dew continued, almost whispering now, “it felt like the universe was taunting me by presenting me with such a perfect water ghoul. Showing me something beautiful, but that only made me feel uglier inside like some sort of cruel joke.”

Rain made sympathetic noises, Dew having already apologised enough for his previous actions, until it suddenly dawned on him that Dew was describing him.

“What do you mean perfect? I'm as far from perfect as you could get, everyone in my clan thought I was a pathetic excuse for a water ghoul, even as a kit!”

Dew snorted; he'd never heard anything so silly.

“Look at you though, look at your pretty fins!” Dew gestured to Rain's arms, the lacy fins on his arms glowing a thousand shades of blue and rolled to point at his tail moving lazily through the water, leaving a bioluminescent trail in its wake.

“We all look like this!” Rain laughed, incredulous.

“Yeah, but I don't,” Dew sounded sad again, “all the water in me did was douse the fire some. The worst of both worlds.” He stared at Rain's tail some more, not wanting to meet his eyes. Sensing the beginnings of the familiar slide into self-pity, and not wanting to put a downer on their otherwise pleasant day, he forced himself to pull the topic back into lighter territory.

“Not to mention, that apparently it makes me smell like fish!” He reached out into the dark lake to splash Rain lightly, making the water ghoul squeal in shock at the cold. In retaliation, Rain fixed Dew with a wicked smile, and pulled a column of water up from the ripples below, making it arc menacingly over him.

“Okay, okay, I take it back!” Dew shrieked, not wanting a drenching in the icy water. “I can tell you your fins are pretty again, just please don't soak me!”

Rain carefully guided every drop back into the lake with a pleased trill. The tension utterly shattered once again; the pair sat giggling uncontrollably to themselves. Dew had to wonder if they were becoming slightly delirious; he couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so much.

They finally regained their composure enough to continue talking, the atmosphere of openness that the dark night provided still surrounding them in her comforting arms.

“Do you have anything at all that links you to water?” Rain asked, curious. “Anything that links you to the moon?”

Dew thought hard. He definitely didn't have the true elemental magic, that followed what Mist had explained too, but he thought about any of his behaviours that had been seen as odd for a fire ghoul.

“I never noticed much,” he mused, “but I guess I like fish a lot more than the average fire ghoul? My clan never really ate it unless food was tight, and then we barbequed it beyond recognition anyway. They all preferred red meat. I don't know if that's a water ghoul thing though or not.”

“Swiss likes fish too?” Rain thought out loud. “Maybe that's also his water element.”

“Maybe the three of us just have more refined palates.” Dew laughed.

A comfortable silence fell again.

“Can you swim?” Rain asked after a while. He realised he'd never actually seen Dew swim, only bob around with his feet on the ground.

“Not properly,” Dew shook his head, “I never learned as a kit, and I just got by without knowing until now.” He met Rain's gaze with shy eyes. “Could you teach me?”

The water ghoul positively beamed at him.

Eventually, the two ghouls found themselves in their earlier position, lying back on the pier and watching the celestial bodies above. Out here in the stillness of the night, the gentle noises of nature were reassuringly constant. Everything felt just a little bit easier, Rain thought, when the sounds of the world carried on regardless of his actions. Nothing he could say would stop the humming of the insects of the periodic hooting of the owls, no matter how monumental it sounded to his ears. The moon shone down at him, imploring him to tell Dew his final secret under her protective gaze.

“It wasn’t just the moon, that day.” He said finally, eyes fixed on her glowing shape in the heavens, so as to not have to meet those of the fire ghoul beside him. Rain could feel Dew’s stare boring into the side of his face, unsure of both where the conversation was going, and where it had come from. He kept looking up, lest he lose his nerve.

“I told you about the ghoulette from my home clan, remember?” Rain felt, rather than saw, Dew nodding next to him. “I’ve been having nightmares about her, ever since I left. They’re usually pretty similar, just variations of her calling me useless, pathetic, that sort of thing.”

“Was that what the nightmare the other day was about?” Asked Dew sadly, unable to stop himself.

Rain debated how to answer. ‘No more lies’ he reminded himself.

“Sort of. She was in it, but that dream was different,” he continued quickly, before Dew could ask a follow up question, “the important one is the nightmare I had that morning.” Rain took a deep, shuddering breath, determined to get the words out fully. “The morning I killed three people.” His tongue felt like lead as he spoke.

Dew reached out a comforting hand, and Rain gripped it like a lifeline before continuing, his eyes still fixed forward.

“It was the same as most of my nightmares usually went; she called me useless, the fire ghoul next to her laughed, I woke up. Only that morning, I couldn’t shake it off like normal. She was in the back of my mind from the moment I woke up. Then when I got to the farm, it was like I was seeing a ghost.”

Rain tore his eyes away from the moon to look at Dew, and wished he hadn’t when he saw the deeply earnest expression on his face.

“Wait, do you remember the girl I–” Rain tried not to choke on the word this time, “killed?”

Dew shook his head. “Not really. I remember Farmer Wilkens had a daughter, but I couldn’t recall her face.”

Rain laughed wryly, but there was no humour in his tone as he focussed back on the moon above.

“She was the spitting image of her. It was like I’d been transported back in time to when I was an adolescent, like I was looking at the version of her who’d said she loved me, rather than the version in my dream who said no one ever would.”

He felt the squeezing round his hand grow tighter, grounding him.

“Seeing someone who looked so much like her from back then, combined with the nightmare still in my head, I panicked, and then I couldn’t stop the magic flowing through me.”

Rain could feel hot tears running down into his hairline, unbidden. Recounting the event like this, dwelling on how he had felt, how he had hurt. However it also felt cathartic, like by telling Dew, the moon and the whole night sky, he could begin to ask the universe for forgiveness, or at least understanding.

“I just wanted her to stop,” he cried, sobbing now, “I just wanted her to be quiet, to leave me alone and get out of my head. Then I saw that poor girl, and I couldn’t stop it coming out! The water just wouldn’t stop, and it was going straight for her.” Rain’s whole body shuddered in horror at the recollection of how the unstoppable tidal wave of his power had felt; how he’d seen the girl’s painfully familiar face and lashed out, desperate to make his endless night time suffering end.

“I saw her get dragged away by the flood,” he gasped between stuttered breaths, “I couldn’t stop it and I killed her!”

He’d seen her body crumple to the floor as the water released her, finally seeing her as the true innocent stranger she was. As the life left her fragile body, the light behind the eyes of the ghoulette who lurked in his mind and haunted his dreams faded too. Rain let himself be pulled into Dew and comforted as his cries of guilt and grief wracked his body.

Dew had tried as hard as he could to hold his tongue while Rain spoke, seeing how much pain he was putting himself through. He could tell how important it was to Rain that he got the words out however, so he tried to provide all the unspoken comfort he could. When Rain finished, he wasted no time in clutching the water ghoul close and letting him sob for as long as he needed. What he had gone through that morning was even more traumatic than he could have imagined; Dew couldn’t even begin to picture how much guilt he must have been holding on to. No wonder he had appeared to lose his mind in the aftermath, he thought. Rain’s constant and recurring need to blame himself made sense too, given the harrowing circumstances.

When Rain appeared to have run out of tears to cry, simply shaking in his arms, Dew shuffled even closer, nuzzling his way into getting his head onto Rain’s chest. He didn’t know what to say, but it seemed he didn’t need to; Rain’s reaction to his closeness clearly showed it was enough for him to just be there for him. The peace was much-needed, it seemed, and Dew was happy to provide.

They could have stayed that way for minutes or hours, it was anyone’s guess. Long past the time Rain had stopped quivering, past the time Dew’s leg had begun spasming with disuse, until the water ghoul started shivering from the cold instead. Dew heated himself up and happily let Rain hold him closer for warmth, like a sentient hot water bottle. Eventually, it wasn’t enough however.

“Do you want to go back inside?” Dew asked in a whisper, twisting to raise his chin and look at Rain for a response, but not fully lifting his head from his chest.

Rain nodded, and released Dew to scramble to his feet where he held out a hand to help the water ghoul up too. He kept hold of it the whole walk back to the Abbey, needing to feel the closeness after the raw emotion of baring his soul. He only released him once they had tiptoed back into the Den, with the bedroom door closed behind them as they went to change into pyjamas.

The pair both blushed deeply with their backs to each other as they stripped, and stumbled into their sleep clothes. Dew turned around as soon as he was finished to see Rain stood with clearly no intention of putting a shirt on over his sensitive exposed gills. He thanked whatever deity was listening for the dim light of the fireplace as they climbed into his – or he supposed it was now their – bed, grateful that the deep flush on his cheeks was camouflaged by it. Letting Rain manhandle him back into the position they were at down on the dock with Dew halfway on top of the him, the two ghouls slipped very swiftly into sleep. It had been a busier evening than either had anticipated, with far more vulnerability from the water ghoul than Dew had been expecting given their light-hearted joking just before. He supposed it was all things Rain had needed to say, and he could only hope that it would help keep the nightmares from continuing to torment him. For good measure, he wrapped his arms tighter around Rain’s torso: no bad dreams were getting past him if he could help it.

Next door, two of their packmates were in a very similar position.

Swiss had gotten ready for bed in the cold, empty expanse of the unoccupied room that was now supposedly his, every move he made echoing loudly off the bare walls. His footsteps sounded like a giant thudding around, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the whole hallway could hear him. Laying in the nest he had tried so valiantly to build, he felt a bone-chilling cold despite his limited fire power heating the blankets around him, and the fire burning in the hearth. He stared at the high ceiling, and tried to distract himself from the feeling of the stone walls closing in on him. They reminded him of Rain’s jail cell, and left him half-paralysed in fear.

Eventually he could bear it no longer; the wind racing past the tall windows was beginning to sound like screams in his ears, the yells of the bloodthirsty mob from the village, and he bolted from the room. He paused outside Mountain’s door, unsure if he could just burst in on the earth ghoul. What if he was asleep? Calmer now that he was out of the room, he considered his alternatives: going back wasn’t an option, he could barely stand to be in there for another minute, let alone sleep a whole night there. Aether had a similar room to his, and no amount of company would make him feel comfortable in the veritable stone prison. Besides, the quintessence ghoul desperately needed more sleep and he wasn’t going to take that away from him over a mere sleeping arrangement issue. There was no way in Hell he was going to disturb Rain and Dewdrop, and he couldn’t just stay in the hallway in his sleep pants, leaving him with no other option.

Quietly he pushed open the emerald green door. Maybe Mountain would be asleep and he wouldn’t even have to explain himself – he could make that a problem for Morning-Swiss. That plan was immediately foiled however at the sight of the earth ghoul staring straight at him, two green eyes glinting in the darkness and the dim firelight flickering on his unglamoured antlers.

“Hey Mount.” he whispered softly, apologetic.

“Can’t sleep?” rumbled Mountain, a sleepy smile on his face.

“How’d you know I don’t just want a cuddle?” Swiss tried to joke, but his voice rang hollow to both of them.

Mountain, however, very much liked the sound of a cuddle, especially with how haunted Swiss was looking as he spoke now. He hadn’t been able to sleep either yet; against all of his prior experience, he was missing the company of his pack. Especially one packmate.

“C’mon,” Mountain hummed, beckoning Swiss forward, “bedtime.”

He pulled the multi ghoul tight to his chest, resting his chin on Swiss’ piled up hair.

“Is this okay?” Swiss whispered into the dark. The room here was so much more comforting already with it wooden interior, although he suspected his specific company helped.

“Course it is, Snapdragon.”

A short while later, the room was reverberating quietly with the sound of their harmonising purrs as they fell into a sound sleep.

Across the hall, Aether was also just drifting off to sleep. He had sat up for a while, wrapped in a heavy blanket and watching the stars from his balcony. The constellations above were familiar: the same unwavering cast of characters telling the same stories they had told for millennia. It made the multitude of changes that had occurred recently easier, knowing that some things remained totally static in the world.

The quiet in his room was blissful; he felt bad thinking it, but it was nice to have a moment of peace to himself. He loved his pack mates, more than anything, but his brain needed the alone time to decompress sometimes. The calm stillness of the room welcomed him, absorbing the loudest of the thoughts that rattled around inside his head like marbles in a jar.

Back in bed, he let the gentle rushing of the wind around the corners of the building lull him into a deep sleep.

[eliotqueliot]

Mosaic Haiku, Chapter 15

This chapter of Mosaic Haiku is dedicated to exploring the theme "Warm Up" for the 2024 micro Magicians fanworks challenge hosted by @magiciansfanworksextravaganza "The 'warm up' theme could include vibes that are warm, cozy, related to winter, being hot (in any sense of that word), warming up or preparing for a big event, just starting out in something like magic, or any spin you’d like to put on it!"—Warm Up, Dec. 1-7, 2024

--------Mosaic Haiku Intro--------------

Welcome! I'm writing a series of haiku about the Mosaic! Disclaimer, I don't own any of these images (they're from the TV series adapted from Lev Grossman's series, The Magicians, which aired on SyFy). I'm just writing about them, ekphrastic style (seeing the image is an important reference when reading the poem, so I wanted to group them together). To read more about the project, the form, my author's notes (including a few more haiku), and to eventually see the paintings and drawings I'm making of these scenes (often with greater visibility/lighting or other small changes), please visit the page for this chapter at AO3 (link below). Note: I'm slowly making the art, so please stay tuned for that as each piece is done! Either way, I hope you'll enjoy these reflections on the best episode of TV (The Magicians, Season 3, Episode 5, “A Life in the Day”) and my favorite ship, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh!

Mosaic Haiku (with Art) - Chapter 15 - EliotQueliot - The Magicians (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

(Please also find some cool images for "A Life in the Day" at Getty and SyFy.)

We're best friends. That's why we work, why I waited, why we'll be happy here.

Had to go slowly: stakes too high. It's you, it's me: can't risk losing this.

Went to Fillory, fell in love with my best friend. A life worth living.

Fires smoldered all year: be careful; seize your moment. Torches. It’s go time.

* * *

Will you be mine when— —We go home? —Find the beauty of all life? —Right now?

* * *

“Are you cold, honey?” Wrap me up all night: arms, legs. You’re the best blanket.

* * *

Warm summer evenings: nights under the stars, our quilt soft as I love you

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

Eliot

“What are you doing?” My heart breaks with yours: brave Q, love of my life—twice.

I acted so cold. Inside, heart I buried deep raged against the light.

The pain of waking: everything’s so real it hurts; such beauty brings tears.

Thaw melts my façade. It’s not spring: more like the fires of hell: I ran away

From a heart so dear. Dared not admit what I’d lost: warmth of home. Love. You.

You’re the lighthouse: love shining from your face. I need that door back to you.

You smiled, asking me. Sunny, soft, such warmth. A kiss wakes love burning bright.

Door creaks, leaking light. Can't leave you; but I must, to find you. My heart melts.

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

Sizzling. Smoking hot. Your touch so warm we ignite. Hot as hell, baby.

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

Eliot: The Quest Begins

The Great Cock takes time to say Q and I belong: two parts of one whole.

My life’s warming up; not just king: man with a heart, and it goes with Q’s.

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

This airplane’s purring! Engines warmed up, we lift off, soaring on joy, love.

So much laughter: it's not tedium, just sameness with purpose: this quest,

Our lives together. Tile-game serves as canvas For our love. Big win.

Best part of each day: teasing, playing between tiles, this warmth between us.

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

First step of the quest through the clock, do you feel it? Magic! It's starting!

World feels fresh and new: it's all possible, even fairy-tale romance.

Warmth surging through us: touch the magic, touch me: your embrace warm, tender.

We leap with our hearts: seize your partner, celebrate with this soul-deep hug.

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

To read all the chapters of Mosaic Haiku on Tumblr or check on which AO3 chapters have paintings or sketches posted:

If you'd like to leave comments/kudos, or see the art I'm making in place with the haiku (highly recommended! Much greater resolution/details for the art on AO3; also, please view on a larger screen if possible), please come back and visit:

Mosaic Haiku (with Art) - Chapter 15 - EliotQueliot - The Magicians (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

[eri-pl]

Tagging rules (linking mostly for my own convenience, but I'll try to stick to them)

Dictionary of the weirder things I sometimes say.

If something that I wrote contradicts the canon, and I seem not to be aware of it, I would prefer to be politely informed of this fact and I will not act offended about this. Thank you.

Post Masterlist below cut

Bingo of things that are common in my posts.

Online tool to easily make character sorting polls and KMF-style polls.

Tolkien

The Great Reread

Proper-ish writing (Silm fanfics)

Ao3 in general

Steve the intern Maia / Ao3 - comedy, Mandos, Darkening

Amandil / Ao3 - sad/estel, fall of Numenor

Irrational / Ao3 - fluff + math + music + nature of Men, kidnap fam

Blood, red like fire / Ao3 - ominous, Feanor's mother, pregnancy

Finrod talks philosophy with other characters (Ao3 collection with all of them + maybe more):

The Problem With snakes - with Melkor, pre-Darkening, about Men

Of Death and Figs - with Feanor, in the Halls, somewhat creepy RL natural science, T-rated for insects

As boring as a spring - with Lúthien, in Doriath, the nature of art, premonitions

Athrabeth Finrod ah Ilmare - post-reembodiment. Astronomy.

War of Wrath, they shall name it - Manwë character study, somewhat sad/ Ao3

Silmarillion Advent Calendar 2024 (24 shortfics, somewhat related in vibe) / Ao3

A short where Finrod gets a Christmas sweater

…and a bunch of bredlik poems (now also on Ao3!)

Writing propmts / ideas / sketches

(yes, you can use those, credit me if you quote more or less directly)

Some original Maiar, feel free to use

Crack taken seriously the um… very personal edition? (includes fangirling and Blue Wizards)

Nerdanel could but would she? (I hate Feanor less now, ignore the tag a bit)

Synopsis of “how I would do Third Age Sauron redemption fic (second part of interconectednss. It starts with Saruman not being a jerk. It may end on the world ending. Or not.)

Very AU: Melkor ok, Aule and Yavanna bad but opposing each other.

So, you want to canonize Tauriel? Here’s how.

Maglor in Numenor (it ends better than you’d expect)

I’m not a shipper, but Aredhel

yeet the Ring into space (not a very original idea)

I don’t write real people fics, but

Nobilis/Silm: Feanorians

Consider: A “ghost of Feanor in LotR” fanfic, but instead of, say, Elrond, it is Gimli who can perceive the ghost. (Literally just this. Plus some tags and discussion below post.)

Rework of Beren and Luthien, keeping the early idea of "C&C are helpful", but compatible with the rest of the canon.

Long reblog chain (partially mine) ending with Maedhros with undead Fingon as his hand (lierally).

If Osse went evil

Feanorians should go to a theater

Celegorm humts in his dreams

underexplored topic of Celebrimbor-Annatar discussions: the Feanorian… well, the whole thing about them, Oath and Darkness and all that.

discussions of greek mythology/Silm exchange program (Morgoth for Hermes) (see all the reblogs, there are good ideas there!)

a lot of "what-ifs" about Feanor not doing one of the questionable things he did (for different ones) (below cut)

Morgoth&Sauron as Polish fairytale devils (I wish I could draw this)

Celegorm and his marriage plans

Musing, rambling, essays, headcanons

Masterlist 1 (themed: Ainur, Gift of Men, Feanor, language)

Masterlist 2 (misc)

(yes, you can use those too)

Funny

Badly made Morgoth on a cake

Spiders! Luthien! Also, Miriel! And more spiders! (source of this idea)

SmurFingolfin

cursed poll-haired Thranduil

Sauron goo in a jar

Morgoth as a red canary

Feanor in the Void ;)

gecko!Glaurung

Polls!

Finished polls masterlist 1 (themed polls: worst[x], fandom, dark lords, Feanorians, which Vala is a patron of [x])

2 (other polls)

Pictures Masterlist

Other

Cosmere (old posts)

Post-RoW predictions for Stormlight Archive (plus)

Ten spears go to battle

Nobilis (old posts)

Why I cannot play this game

You know you think too much about Nobilis when…

“wyrd” ws “weird”

numbers

What happens to instances of an Estate after a successful Flower Rite — some thoughts

You don’t FR a Mimic

Excrucian eyes : Deceivers

About Warmains

Warmains (feel free to use)

Deceivers (same)

Misc

grammar rant

another

first one

The words "prodigy" and "prodigal" are not related.

[thewolvesof1998]

AO3 | Redbubble | ko-fi

Art and Sticker Commissions are open!

My Fics:

You can see all my posts about my fics/WIPs by searching the tag 'thewolvesof1998 writes'

I ain't proud of all the punches that I've thrown (826, T, Buddie): Post AO3

You with the dark curls, you with the watercolor eyes (1.6k, M, Buddie): Post AO3

asking all these questions, just to be polite, while dying inside (1.2k, T, Buddie): Post AO3

Tapping Morse Code into your heart (2.8k, E, Buddie): Post AO3

I want you to be selfish with me (4.6k, M, Buddie): Post AO3

You bring me comfort (4.2k, T, Buddie): Post AO3

I Can See You (3.1k, T, Buddie): Post AO3

Alright, Cowboy, Go Get 'Em (2/3 Chapters, 16.9K, E, Buddie): Post AO3 Masterlist

Under the Guise of Violence (3k, E, Buddie): Post AO3

nicknames, supernova similes and the family we make (798w, G, Buddie): Post AO3

let me cradle your body (be a safe place to rest) (1.9K, G, Buddie): Post AO3

even when the heat breaks I'm still yours (6.1k, E, Buddie) Post AO3

We might end up real close (2.2k, E, Buddie) Post AO3

They don’t know (your name is already mine) (7.6k, G, Buddie) Post AO3

A good ally (2k, E, Bucktommy) post AO3

Fic Writing Review 2023 (which includes a list of all my current wips and links to post about them.)

Masterlist of ‘I don’t mind if we fight, If you make me bleed.’ posts

My favourite writing tool

My Original Writing:

Someone to be Gentle- Original Poem

Water Burial -Original Poem (trigger warnings)

My God is a Woman - Original Poem

My Edits:

You can see all my post about my edits by searching the tag 'thewolvesof1998 edit'

Don't Go Where I Can't Follow - LOTR inspired Buddie

Evan Buckley Icons

Eddie Diaz Instagram Post

What Was I Made For x Evan Buckley

Buck's Tweets inspired by Oliver's own Tweets

RWRB Buddie Movie Posters

Ryan Guzman Twilight poster

My Art:

You can see all my post about my art by searching the tag 'thewolvesof1998 art'

Cowboy Buck inspired by my fic Alright, Cowboy, Go Get 'Em

Sad pumpkin Buckley

Buck in short shorts and crop top pt. 1 (wip)

Buck in short shorts and crop top pt. 2 (wip)

Rodeo Star Buck (wip)

Rodeo Star Buck (finished)

My Stickers

'I do not panic' Eddie Diaz sticker

Grog Mayo Sticker

Wolf Pack Dispatch:

1/12/23

1/01/24

HOW TO WATCH SEASON 7 OF 9-1-1

[just-leui]

INTRO POST

hellooooo :D here's the intro post i've been meaning to make for a while

Name Leui (they/them)

Gender agender with a preference for masculine terms

Age 16

Nationality italian

About this blog lately i've been really into Dead Poets Society and Takin' Over The Asylum, so there's lots of that (including an OC of mine for both fandoms). I do enjoy other shows like Doctor Who and Good Omens but right now those are the main ones i'll be posting about. I also post my poems on here sometimes as well as random stuff from my daily life, I'm not looking to become a professional writer or anything but hey it's fun and I like to share it :3

Other stuff i am super open to asks and texts and moots and all that stuff, just keep in mind that im a minor, i'm autistic and may not be the best at social stuff (including understanding when a conversation is supposed to end). also- i've been meaning to start writing fanfiction on ao3, so as soon as i'll start doing that i'll share the link to my account on here

i will be updating and adding more stuff to this intro post as i go on

[writerswhy]

I present a small look into my collection of “this reminds me of aihina”:

A song of the poorly loved by Guillaume Apollinaire

(I reread the poem after stumbling upon two great aihina fics. I won’t link them here because I know some creators aren’t comfortable with that, but you can find them on AO3)

I thought of those happy royalties That night when love betraying and She whom I loved and do love still Beset me with their sleight of ghosts Contriving my unhappiness

Because you love the sunshine Recall well I took you sunning Somber spouse beloved darling You are mine while being nothing O my shadow for me mourning

(A snippet of a lil’ something I wrote while on the train):

He buries his fingers in her hair with a hiss, and shudders with defeat. She has found his.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Jane Brontë

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.

Spiritbox - Ultraviolet

Mirror image staring back into a thousand lifetimes Fearing what the light finds I can see it shining through the trees

Cherry blossoms by Toi Derricotte

All around us the blossoms flurry down whispering, Be patient you have an ancient beauty. Be patient, you have an ancient beauty.

Chelsea Wolfe - The Waves Have Come

Creation was the only word That made you feel you never were An endless hope is all it was And holding sacred all were And don't forsake the way we were And don't tell me you never would

[strwbrryfire]

hehe was tagged by the lovely @wisteriagoesvroom thank u dearrr <33

How many works do you have on AO3?

Only 16 total, surprisingly

What's your total AO3 word count?

70k. a lot of what i write is under 4k words lol

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

they're all genshin fics so i am nottt listing those lmao

(& one of them is dead poets society fic i never finished whoops)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i try to! it normally takes me a bit to muster up the courage to respond tho lol but usually yes, as comments are really the only thing that keep me motivated to write

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

again its a genshin fic and i will not be linking it bc it is very cringe . i havent deleted it or anything but im not proud of it so as far as i know its gone . but yeah i killed off childe bc hes my lil punching bag

Do you write crossovers?

no but ive really thought about doing some sort of weird dsmp/f1 thing to connect the ugliest of my brainworms. mostly because c!wilbur & c!tommy's relationship really reminds me of how i perceive lando and max, at least in terms of their friendship.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

yep, back when i wrote stranger things stuff, but all the things i wrote for that fandom have been deleted off my page lolol

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes ..,.and the most basic shit youve ever seen in your life

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes? it was a stranger things one i think

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yep! yet another ST one. think it was byler iirc

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no but i would love to!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

very basic, i know, but destiel and also thanzag from hades.

but from f1 specifically, it will always be landoscar . there is So Much potential in those herbs and i love them dearly

What's a WIP that you want to finish but you don't think you ever will?

the rest of profezia del destino, mostly bc lestappen doesnt move me as much anymore. i might make it into maxiel somehow but we shall see

What are your writing strengths?

fuck if i know lmao. i've been told i'm good at imagery.

What are your writing weakness?

mainly, and annoyingly, dialogue. i try too hard to be waxing poetic but i never know how to translate that into dialogue. and also long plots/anything thats multi chaptered. my train of thought just goes somewhere else completely lol

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i love to do it but i am not good at it, as im One Of Those People who just uses google translate. im definitely trying to improve on that though

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

if i recall correctly, im pretty sure it was 5 seconds of summer. but it could have also been the hunger games. that was a decade ago so i dont super remember lol

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

god. i want to write brocedes so bad. and also norstappen bc the vibes are just so rancid and i love it

and also dsmp

What's your favorite fic you've written?

i suppose through sharpened teeth. but in terms of poem fics, ferrari's satisfaction survey is also a fave of mine .

im too shy to tag anyone so if u see this u have been royally tagged!! thank u again wiz <33

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tags y'all! @mistresslrigtar @zeldadiarist @ladyhoneydee y'all go read their stuff it's so good

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Just 8, but it's about to increase! ;)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

58,767!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Legend of Zelda - All BOTW so far. I have some ideas for other Zelda games but they remain as ideas for now.

I also have a short Marvel story from my Steve/Bucky days circa 2013.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Shadows - An Epistolary Poem from Steve Rogers to Bucky Barnes

Is that a yes? (Zelink oneshot, NSFW)

That child of mine (my beloved longfic - I promise I'm coming back to this story soon! I miss it so much)

Silk and moonlight (with art from the magnificent @bahbahhh)

A chance encounter at the blood clinic (modern Zelink au that is very silly but you gotta be ok with blood donation)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely! I am a sucker for attention and I love talking about stories with people.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh DEFINITELY That child of mine. It's not even finished yet but there is some goooood angst coming, and I already know how it's going to end (I've actually written a good chunk of the finale already) and it's gonna be heartbreaking.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably A chance enounter? They get each other's number and the promise of a cute date.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope! I've only gotten some (requested) constructive criticism. I do have a fic planned that I anticipate being kinda contentious? But I'm already planning on limiting comments on that one lol.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yee! I've never written anything hardcore but I do really like writing and reading sexy scenes. I'm not much of a PWP kind of person (give me all of the emotional context) but I'm a big believer that sex and intimacy are fundamentally human experiences and can serve a story in so many beautiful and interesting ways.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I continue to chip away at my Deep Space 9/TotK crossover idea. It's gonna happen one day... maybe...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but maybe I'll try re-writing one of my stories in French sometime as a project.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No but I would LOVE to. The closest is when B and I collaborated and I wrote a story and she did the art.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Zelink, definitely. People whose souls are inextricably bound to one another and keep finding each other, lifetime after lifetime? That's the good shit right there. Obsessed.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The story that walked into my head that made me start writing. It's a crazy ambitious story - Basic premise is that instead of the Sheikah technology being banned by the ancient king, the Sheikah themselves were banished from the lands of Hyrule. In the interim, Hyrule has been through many wars, dynasties and factions have all risen and fallen, and the bloodline of the Goddess has been forgotten. No one remembers any of the old stories. Zelda is a farm girl training to become a healer like her mother, Link is the son of the king who won the throne after lead a successful campaign against the Zora, and into all of this comes a young Impa, drawn back to Hyrule after thousands of years away, tormented by visions of calamity, a prophecy her people have passed down for millenia, knowing that Hylia would recall them to the land of their ancestors when the time was right. It's anti-monarchy, it's about climate change, it's about falling in love and renouncing power in order to fulfill a greater purpose, it's about knowing yourself, it's about righting ancestral wrongs, and I do not think it will ever be finished but I do like to come back to it every once in a while.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Coming up with interesting concepts!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Executing interesting concepts?

But in all seriousness, I know I still have a lot to learn as a writer. I'm overly descriptive, I have long run-on sentences, dialogue tags are my nemesis, and I struggle to write with real depth of character.

I do think I'm a good storyteller. I am just still honing those skills.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think it's great! I am obsessed with conlangs - I think they're so fucking cool. For writing in existing languages, as long as you're familiar with the language, or getting someone to look it over and not just running things through google translate, I think that's wonderful.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Captain America.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

That child of mine my beloved

This was really fun, thanks y'all!

Tagging @louwhose @newtsnaturethings @wanderingnightingale and @bahbahhh ! I'm sure y'all have already been tagged but add me to the pile of fans who want to hear more about your work :D

[redrosesartcabin]

6.Scenario: Poetry

Megatron x reader fanficition ( can be found here as well https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redrosessoulcabin)

Link to the previous chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/redrosesartcabin/722531581594583040/5scenario-an-unexpected-visit-from-the-past?source=share

Link to the first post: https://www.tumblr.com/redrosesartcabin/722529797578833920/double-posting-my-fanfic-now

Link to the next chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/redrosesartcabin/722531904486850560/7-chapter-a-cool-secret-to-keep

—

Curious of his discovery, Megatron lifts the little booklet off the barn-floor and carefully opens it up, somewhere in the middle.

There was a text written, a little differently structured then he had seen so far in human written books.

It read:

 “The cats sleep on the humming tune

My ear aches for as well

Warmth spreading like burning coal

 You are their shelter

As you are always mine

Huge and kind

Like my house

Here rests my heart

Right beside yours

Glowing like a star

I’ve seen it before

And there in it’s pit

I could see the years just pass

Before my eyes

And I’ve seen glory and pain

Destruction and death

And once pierced through

 What pretense has let you live before?

Letting you live now?

Again, with me?

But I shall be so blessed to believe

That fate has wanted you

Dancing in my chest

Singing ‘I’m in love with you’

A crest of strength

Tattooed on our souls

And no brittle ire

Will take you anymore”

 Megatron traced the words again and again with his index finger, feeling his spark whirring incessantly.

He suddenly remembered that one very sunny day in spring, where he had lain in the freshly, after winter-born grass and tiny flowers dancing in the breeze and automatically, his optics had closed, dozing into stasis. When he had awoken again, Ying and Yang had lain on his chest, purring contentedly. “Well, hello there, little ones” he had greeted them, carefully petting their little heads, and seeing them there, he just couldn’t bring himself to up and leave, even though he wanted to stretch his numbed limbs. Stirring them from their slumber felt like disturbing good-hearted but powerful ancient gods. You must’ve seen them then, he thought, though had felt the same need not to disturb the scene and instead let it unfold and end in its own time, which eventually it did of course.

Megatron turned the page, reading over the next poem:

 “I call it head

You call it helm

I call it chest

You call it chassis

I call it heart

You call it spark

 But when its hard and broken apart

When it thinks, and cannot quieten

When it beats, but cannot speak

It becomes all the same

Differences peacefully disintegrate to dust

 And one quiet sound, envelops us in clouds

Brings us to a heaven

That belongs to only you and me

Sweet and polite like honeybees

Making liquid gold to feed our souls

Right here were we will grow to be

As one

Where you began I will begin

Where I ended you will end

Where I began you will begin

Where you ended I will end

This game, a delight for eternity

Having been

and becoming

all that ever is”

Here Megatron remembered how you had shown him honey.

“I wish you could try it”, you had said, “It’s like liquid gold, but you can actually consume it. It’s sweet, sometimes even too sweet but delightfully so. It’s something I could consider a miracle, made so easily by such small, pretty, little creatures”.

At that Megatron had smiled and said, “Sometimes that’s how I feel about you. Such a small creature, capable of miracles”.

“Well,”, you had answered to that, a little flustered, “I suppose we are all connected. Where you end, I ended, where you begin, I began and so on and so forth.”

“The circle of life”, he had said-

 -and that was also the title of the poem he now saw, written in small, neat letters on top of the page.

He decided to stop reading for now, instead wondering how long you’ve written poetry about you two and your moments. He was so deeply touched by them he felt he had to just do something.

And then suddenly, he had an idea…

*

It was 5:30 a.m. when you awoke. The birds chirped to the silent tune of the rising sun. You awoke, slowly opening your eyes, the world one blur until the contours of your surroundings became sharp edged and visible, reality coming into fruition.

After you got ready, you headed to the kitchen, planning on making yourself a cup of your self-brewed coffee over a real fire, outside on your little fireplace made of a simple stone circle. As you wanted to open the cabinet where the kettle resided, you saw a little post-it-note on the cabinet-door. Curiosity peaked, you removed it swiftly, bringing it closer to be able to read it properly. It said, “With a pink sunrise, an elated wish for dark, bitter essence to touch blooms within. And so, beauty decides to make it, blessing the day with that arrival”.

You cocked an eyebrow, not quite understanding what this meant, though at the same time feeling that you very much did. Not quite awake yet, you didn’t think about where this might lead and who, quite obviously, wrote this, so you just decided to keep going as you had planned.

As you headed for the front door, you saw another post-it-note there.

“The blessed being moves in graceful strides towards the outdoors, longing for the cold morning breeze. The breeze will bring company the being knows but does not expect. Someone residing in the spark, and he hopes you won’t mind this gift as he has tried to give back what has been started.”

“Megatron?”, you asked yourself now. What does he mean? For some reason you were a little nervous now, going out. But there had been no reason to be, there was only wonder. A path of light-pink flowers built a path towards the fireplace that you couldn’t but excitedly run on and towards your desired destination.

And there, as expected yet much better, sat Megatron, already having prepared the coals just like it was necessary for the coffee to brew right. Aside from that though, he had prepared little bowls of fruit and other little breakfast snacks that stood on a small wooden table you kept in your junk-room as back-up for when guests came.

“Am I still dreaming?”, you asked him in disbelief, “Or do we have some anniversary I forgot?”

He laughed, “Can I not just do something nice for you for once?”, he asked, but you just raised your eyebrows.

“Darling, I love you, but until a few days ago you absolutely refused to make any sort of art and now you write poetry, you didn’t want to make grand romantic gestures because it still irked you to be too kind-“

“You know”, he interrupted you, “I have realized that despite how much I’ve grown, I still can seem a little harsh when it comes to human mating costumes, and I still have this pride in me that sometimes makes it seem like I can never give you what you need and deserve. But yesterday I found something of yours that made me realize, that I want to at least try to give my all to you”

It only took you a few seconds to realize what he meant.

“My poetry”, you murmured.

“Yes”, he said, “It made me want to write for you too”.

“You aren’t so bad at this, mighty lord”, you teased.

“There is still much I don’t know about myself”, he answered, much more serious than you would’ve liked. He now stared contemplatively at the coals, unable to hold back a few tears, running over his face plates and he didn’t dare to speak, he was embarrassed enough you saw him in such a weak state.

Understanding of his position, you carefully sat next to him, laying a hand on his arm.

“It’s alright, my dear. You will learn in time, and you have so much of it. Don’t rush or force yourself to be something that you aren’t or aren’t yet. If you want it enough, you will become it eventually”.

He only nodded in answer, still afraid to speak.

“Thank you”, he was able to say after a while, where you had started brewing the coffee and had eaten a couple of the neatly placed strawberries- Megatron had even remembered to wash them!

“No, thank you”, you simply said.

“I hope”, he continued, “You can trust me now in the future to show your poems, I want to cherish each and every one”.

You only nodded, sitting down next to him, pulling out your cellphone out of your pocket, typing something in for only maybe a minute and then grinning up at him.

“I wrote a Haiku about this moment”, you simply stated with a wide smile adorning your gorgeous features.

“What is that?”, he asked, genuinely wanting to know because by Primus, he wanted to know everything about the things that made you glow like that.

“It’s a Japanese kind of poetry. The rules are, that you can only write three lines. In the first line there must be 5 syllables, line two has 7 and line three has 5 again so that in total, one has 17 syllables. Don’t ask me why it is that way, but it works well… with Haiku’s you can express a lot, even though it’s so short and technically says so little”.

Megatron had hummed at each information with interest and immediately as you finished the explanation, he inquired about it.

“Read it to me”, he demanded, “…please”, he added, and you patted him gently in encouragement.

“One moment”, you said, noticing the coffee had finished brewing.

You made yourself a cup and settled back into place and read:

“Once there was a void

Metal demon, angels call

Hope came in flowers”

You had been right. It said so little, but somehow, he understood, better than ever. He decided to shrink for a moment, taking you in his arms, and you complied, melting into it.

You would read to him each of your poems now.

‘Every fear broken, stones of trust lain down, the complete foundation of love’, you thought to yourself and smiled. The next opportune moment of poetry was already riding towards you, and you were more excited than ever, because you could share it with the one you loved most.

[plzu]

Before I once again convince myself that making a text post about my thoughts and lessons learned from writing & completing my first multi-chapter fic is stupid and a waste of time, let me get this out real quick:

‣ It is satisfying to say I completed something, even though it is imperfect, because I'm aware that ending a story is a weak point of mine. It's why I always preferred writing one-shots, poems and short stories and personal essays and whatnot. ‣ Despite the satisfaction, I am relieved that it's over. I was very anxious the whole time I wasn't pumping out a new chapter every month. Given there's 11 total chapters and it took over 2 years to complete.... I was anxious about it for a very long time lol ‣ When/if I decide to write another multi-chapter fic, I don't think I'll post them to tumblr. I'll probably just stick with posting to AO3, and maybe promoting it here if I'm super excited about it. It's a very tedious and cumbersome process to keep a multi-chapter fic going here, with the constant updating of links and such. (tbh i still need to go back into each chapter of Large Iced Americano and add prev and next links lololol) ‣ The biggest takeaway I got from this is that, despite being super excited to share updates, I should have most (preferably, all) chapters finished before I start posting, and probably stick with an update schedule. It'll probably save me a lot of anxiety. That being said, I'm not sure how I'd stay motivated to continue writing if I'm not posting and getting people's feedback and reactions as I write. ‣ Ultimately, I feel like a better writer for it. I got back into writing fic and felt so damn rusty, I didn't think I'd ever comfortably get back into the flow of writing (in general) and find my voice again. But I did! Fanfiction did that for me! (and reading. i knew i needed to get back into reading more if i wanted to improve my writing. fanfiction did that for me, too ♡) ‣ Also, sticking with writing for one character is so. Much. Fun. I went from being super uncertain about writing Adrian Chase, to having his character come naturally to me. And to receive compliments for it??? People telling me they enjoyed the way I wrote our favorite murder boy??? I don't think I'll ever be able to express how much that means to me. High praise that kept me going on the days I had doubts.

Anyway, I think that's it. I highly doubt I'll do a multi-chapter fic anytime soon. My story ideas are more suited for one-shots here and there. But it's comforting to know that if I did it once, I can probably do it again. :]

[eicenrellarchives]

Welcome to Ky of Sonder's Eicenrell Archives!

Like the description says, this is a side blog for @kyofsonder that's specifically focused on my writing. While I enjoy mixing my writing work with more passive reblogging and not-fiction-related personal posts on my main blog, it can get frustrating not having a central archive of the stories/poems/writeblr things I've posted to Tumblr. To solve this problem and give readers a place to just easily rad what they want from my works, I've created this archive.

There's no requirement to follow my main blog in order to follow this one, and I couldn't enforce it if there was. It's also perfectly fine to address writeblr ask and tag games here, but know that if you ask anything that's not writing related I'll answer it on my main blog (or another side blog if I make others).

Content Notice:

All writing will have content warnings where applicable, if I ever forget or if a reader has a specific thing they would like included in these warnings (ex: I don't think birds need a warning, but someone with a phobia of them might prefer bracing themself before reading descriptions of them) please send an ask or message and I will fo my best to add it to my warnings in the future.

Commission Info:

I'm currently rebuilding my writing habits and haven't had time to do research on standard commission rates, but I'm open to taking a commission or two from those willing to discuss price in messages until proper rates and slots can be decided. Thank you for your patience, and please reach out if you are also willing to be patient about price negotiations.

Tag System:

Spoons providing, I tag my work for organization purposes first and give my thoughts in the tags after. These tags include

sonder stories - all prose, including any asks or tags involving prose, and OC development

sonder songs - all poems and lyrics, including any asks or tags involving poetry, and poetry development

sonder solos - all prose created/assisted by playing solo TTRPGs involving mechanics like flipping over playing cards, rolling dice, drawing straws, etc.

sonder snippets - all excerpts and short content taken from longer works and/or works in progress

story link - all fully finished stories presented in the form of an external link to a site such as google docs or AO3 or somewhere else

eicenrell archive - all archived copies of writing, most posts should have this tag

analogue media - all screenshots of handwritten prose, poetry, etc.

eicenrell info - all worldbuilding related to the eicenrell universe where my stories take place

eicenrell worlds - when specific worlds from the eicenrell universe are mentioned by name

eicenrell magic - when specific magic systems from the eicenrell universe are mentioned by name

night write - all transcriptions or photos of prose and poetry handwritten in a journal on a (mostly, spoons and other factors permitting) nightly basis

sonder speaks - announcements and personal info, while this is largely restricted to the main blog it'll come up here sometimes

tag games - all content responding to or joining in tag games from various corners of the writeblr community

ask games - all content responding to or joining in ask games from various corners of the writeblr community

a place to return novel - all content related to a novel wip of mine titled A Place to Return

apricots novel - all content related to a novel wip of mine titled Apricots

to be honest novel- all content related to a novel wip of mine titled To Be Honest

stray identities novel - all content related to a novel wip of mine titled stray identities

love as indicated wip - all content related to a story collection/novel wip of mine titled love as indicated

Other Tags Pending...

OC Masterpost

Pending...

[rosenongrata]

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land

⋯ 𓆩♡𓆪 Summary. Two sides of the same coin—the divine man and the accursed lady will one day intertwine.

⋯ 𓆩♡𓆪 A/N. short chapter. but it's sweet too! anyway, crossposting do be takin long time.

⋯ 𓆩♡𓆪 AO3 Link.

⋯ 𓆩♡𓆪 Chapter W.C. 653. ⋯ 𓆩♡𓆪 CW. the abyss order are blatant bastards, no shame fr. eventual romance. blood & injury & violence. trauma/mental illness exploration. slow burn. OC-CENTRIC, OC-INSERT. OC X CANON.

Chapter 4 — Invitation to Windblume.

Colorful petals fall from the flowered garlands high above, floating through the soft breezes. And chatter fills the air as adults and children alike populate the town square of Mondstadt, exchanging gifts and words of love to one another. Some eat together at Good Hunter's or share love poems, and even exchange bouquets of flowers…

Every year, Hauteclaire is struck by the beauty and romance of the Windblume festival. Even the cheer brightens her weary smile. And seeing the Müller family so happy makes her even more elated. While Piep and Eduard take a romantic getaway to Cape Oath, she babysits their three little girls—Maria, Elizabeth, and Ramona. They tug her around all of Mondstadt to try everything out.

When they make a stop by the grand statue of Barbatos, the cheerful music of a plucked lyre fills the air. And soon, two of the older sisters dance about the petal-speckled courtyard. Hauteclaire dozes off, her eyes fluttering shut as she relishes in the pleasant breeze and sunny warmth. She sighs, and then she feels a tug at her clothes.

Eyes flickering open, she looks down to see little Ramona. She's smiling and holding a lyre up to the older woman. Hauteclaire smiles and plucks the lyre from her small hands.

"Now, where'd you get this, hm?" She inquires.

"That man over there let me borrow it." Ramona points to a short, young man clad in green clothes and a hat with a Cecilia pinned to it. "Can you play me a tune? Please?" She asks shyly, a nervous fluster on her cheeks.

"Alright, I'll give it my best." Hauteclaire nods, a smile touching her lips as she looks down at the young girl. "Hmm… Let's see…" She muses, plucking the strings randomly before a tune comes to mind.

The song is slow and melancholy—contrasting the high, joyful energy around them. Her fingers waltz across the strings as her voice follows along with the sweet tune. Her cords float away with the breeze brushing past as fluttering petals drift past, littering the pathways of Mondstadt.

"He once was a true love of mine…" She finishes, the melancholy on her tongue dripping. Her eyes a tinge glassy with building sorrow, and she hands the lyre back to the little girl, "Now, go return the lyre, alright?"

"Of course!" Ramona spins on her heel and runs into the young man she pointed out before, "I'm sorry…"

"Ehe, no worries! I was the one who sneaked up on you." He reassures with defensive waving of his hands, "I merely desired to come compliment your friend here."

"Oh! Isn't she the best…?" Ramona whispers while she hands him his lyre.

"Why of course! The best I have ever heard!" He takes his lyre with a sunny smile on his soft cheeks, "You did magnificent, ma'am. Have you ever considered becoming a bard?" He inquires, shifting his gaze to the woman that towers over him.

"I don't like being in the spotlight." She flusters, her tan cheeks tinting a shade darker. "Thank you, though. I appreciate the kind words…" She shifts nervously, glancing away from the swirling power of his Anemo-hued eyes. That knowing gaze makes her stomach churn.

He notices, yet chooses to not speak about it.

"Well, if you ever would like to become one, I can introduce you to the scene!" He nods, "And with that, I bid you adieu. Do have a lovely day."

The two girls watch him leave; he strides up to a group of people to play his own much more cheerful tunes for them. Hauteclaire scoffs, and Ramona notices her discomfort with ease—taking her hand into her own and smiling up at her.

"It's okay… I thought he was a little goofy, too." Ramona remarks before giggling.

"More than just a bit goofy, I think." Hauteclaire snorts, her dampened mood quickly drying up to reveal a layer of warmth below.

[katzuyas]

dazzle me with gold

from the start | ao3 | previous part

"Can I be a little selfish today and ask you for something, my lord?" Yuuri questions once they're done with breakfast.

He's hesitant, but only at first, because as soon as the words fall off his tongue, Victor presents him with a smile that is both brilliant and adoring, as if he'd love nothing more than indulge Yuuri in his every wish. Yuuri cannot help it when mirroring excitement awakens inside him. It's Victor's charm that does it, makes him irresistible.

And as he shifts closer to Victor, presses their sides together, Yuuri feels incredibly lucky to be able to say what he does next.

"I don't want to share you with anyone," he confides in a soft whisper. "Just for the day. Please?"

Victor's smile mellows around the edges.

"Anything you ask for, my dear," he answers with no delay. "Simply say the word and it's yours."

"You spoil me, my Vitya." Yuuri's cheeks darken at the strange pleasure that settles in his chest when Victor turns his head slightly to rest a kiss high on his cheekbone. "Yet, somehow, I find it difficult to be upset with you over it."

"How fortunate I am to have a sweetheart as benevolent as you," Victor replies, eyes shining brightly. "What should we do today then? Go for a ride?"

"The weather seems nice, but I was thinking..."

"Yes? Go on," Victor encourages him when Yuuri pauses, caught by another uncertainty.

"You were brought up here in the manor, no?" Yuuri continues. And at Victor's nod, asks: "It's a huge place for a child, surely you had some hideouts. Do you remember any of them? Maybe some place where we could both fit and spend the day doing nothing?"

A pensive look overtakes Victor's features as he tries to remember and, once he does, his face lights up much akin to a child's. With such pure, innocent excitement as well, he takes Yuuri's hand and tugs him up to stand.

"Let's go," he says, and go they do.

Victor leads Yuuri around the house, pointing at all the nooks which Yuuri would've missed if he was all by himself.

There's the small space behind the windowsill in the hallway outside of the office, partially hidden by the heavy burgundy curtains. Victor tells Yuuri the story of how he used to hide there in wait for his tutor to pass at which he'd then jump out to scare the man. There's the pedestal atop the marble stairs on which a great golden armour stands. It is hollow inside and Victor explains how he crawled inside with Makkachin every time the both of them invoked his father's ire. There's also the pantry, which can be accessed through the tiny corridor that leads to both: that and the kitchens.

"I sneaked down there whenever mother punished me by refusing to feed Makkachin," Victor says, a smile to his lips that is neither sad nor heartbroken. Only nostalgic as if the memory itself is not entirely a bad one. "I always gave Makkachin my supper and then came here in the middle of the night to steal some food."

"Did your mother punish you often?" Yuuri asks, tentative to begin such a heavy conversation, but an answer to that question would explain Victor's dislike for the woman. "She seemed to tolerate Makkachin well when he's been with us in the room."

"She's never truly liked him," Victor answers. His hand curls around Yuuri's a little too tightly, but Yuuri says nothing to that – he only steps closer to Victor's side, silent in his comfort, so that Victor can speak freely. "She punished him for my mistakes in some scheme to gain more control over me. It was her way of making sure I behaved, since she could tell how much it hurt me to see him miserable."

"She's a heartless woman," Yuuri whispers. "Who does something so cruel to an innocent darling like Makkachin?"

"That she is," Victor nods gravely. "But thankfully, she no longer has any say over me or Makkachin. Or you, for that matter, my Yuuri."

The smile Yuuri offers him is sent back twofold when Victor's lips quirk in an adoring, dazzling grin. Happy to be pulled along, Yuuri allows Victor to lead him the familiar way to the library. The golden doors are opened for him and he steps inside, holding onto Victor's hand even as Victor pauses to close the doors behind them.

"What are we doing here?" Yuuri asks.

"Over here, love."

Victor directs them opposite of where they spent their time yesterday. They walk to the far end of the room where the walls come together. On the far side, hidden by a case of shelves, Yuuri can spot a great wooden chest. It is easily as big as the golden tub they have bathed in the day before and suddenly Yuuri knows what it must have been used for when Victor was but a wee boy.

"Go on." Victor grins, noting Yuuri's excitement. "Open it."

Carefully, Yuuri lifts the lid and, indeed, the chest is lined with fabric and pillows. Unable to hold back a grin, Yuuri turns to Victor and asks: "Shall we?"

It's him who crawls into the tight space first and, unlike the night before, it is Victor who settles between his legs. His back presses to Yuuri's chest while they both slide down lower, so that Yuuri can put the lid back on. In comfortable darkness, drawn away only by a smidge of light that comes from the keyhole in the chest's side, they both sigh in great relief.

"I read here for hours on end," Victor mumbles to the arm he's nuzzled into when Yuuri wraps them around him. "Only when the daylight began to disappear, did I venture out at all. It was my favourite place, you see? So quiet, peaceful. No one could find me, the world couldn't touch me, and I was safe to explore all these amazing places through the books. This was my haven."

Yuuri's eyes adjust to the darkness bit by bit and, once they do, he wastes no time in leaning down to kiss the crown of Victor's head.

"What did you read?"

"Everything," Victor answers. "Whatever picked my fancy, really. If I remember correctly..."

Victor shifts, then shifts again and grunts. His elbow knocks into the wall of the chest, fingers scrape on Yuuri's calves. Before Yuuri can ask what exactly it is that Victor is doing, the man makes a triumphant noise and pulls something from between the haphazardly thrown fabric.

"Here it is," Victor says as he brings the object to light and when he does, Yuuri can see it's a book. "Oh, it's a perfect one, as well. A collection of poems."

"Read to me, then," Yuuri asks, wrapping his arms tighter around Victor.

"With pleasure, my love," Victor replies. He rests a kiss on Yuuri's wrist and holds the open book up to the little light that the keyhole gives. "It might be a bit difficult, but I will do my best."

Encouraging, Yuuri bestows another kiss to the soft silver head of hair that he props his cheek on next. He closes his eyes to the rustle of pages, until Victor's voice sounds through their cramped space: soothing, calm, lovely.

 Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly;

Their beauty shakes me who was once serene;

Straight through my heart the wound is quick and keen. Only your word will heal the injury

To my hurt heart, while yet the wound is clean—

Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly;

Their beauty shakes me who was once serene. Upon my word, I tell you faithfully

Through life and after death you are my queen;

For with my death the whole truth shall be seen.

Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly;

Their beauty shakes me who was once serene;

Straight through my heart the wound is quick and keen.

 A rustle of pages, a deep breath, and:

 How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

 "That sounds complicated," Yuuri whispers while Victor changes pages once more.

Victor huffs a tender laugh before he answers.

"That's love, sweetheart."

"Are all of your poems about love?" Yuuri asks, teasing. "Did young Vitya lust for the romance of the heart like a lady who swoons at a man's first touch?"

"You tease now, my love, but weren't you the one who flushed so sweetly when I began to court you?" Victor teases right back and Yuuri struggles to hide his mirth.

"Court me?" he repeats, laughter on his breath. "If by courting you mean arriving at my parents' cottage and appearing to me fully unclothed, then yes, I believe you are right. Alas, I hardly think that was what you had in mind."

Victor's laugher shakes them both, warm and happy as it is. Yuuri cannot help his own grin from spreading over his face.

"Touché, my dear. I concede," Victor gives. "You've won this bout, but I shall not be defeated."

And he reads more:

 Love is a fire that burns unseen,

a wound that aches yet isn’t felt,

an always discontent contentment,

a pain that rages without hurting,

 a longing for nothing but to long,

a loneliness in the midst of people,

a never feeling pleased when pleased,

a passion that gains when lost in thought.

 It’s being enslaved of your own free will;

it’s counting your defeat a victory;

it’s staying loyal to your killer.

 But if it’s so self-contradictory,

how can Love, when Love chooses,

bring human hearts into sympathy?

 "Oh, how little I understood of love and longing when I first read those," Victor says once he's done reading. "There is only so little the mind can imagine. So little the heart can pretend to understand when the real emotion is not yet known to it."

"Do you know it now?" Yuuri asks, his own heart aflutter in his chest.

He is certain that Victor can feel it, for he takes Yuuri's hand and presses his lips to it. A reverent, tender kiss is all the answer Yuuri needs.

"Let me answer you with this," Victor says, and then reads:

 I loved you first: but afterwards your love

Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song

As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.

Which owes the other most? my love was long,

And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;

I loved and guessed at you, you construed me

And loved me for what might or might not be –

Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.

For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;’

With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,

For one is both and both are one in love:

Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine;’

Both have the strength and both the length thereof,

Both of us, of the love which makes us one.

 "Sounds familiar, darling?" Victor asks. "You said something much alike to me recently, do you remember?"

Yuuri does. Oh, he does remember that conversation they had as they lied sprawled on a bedding of grass when Yuuri told him–

He smiles, burying his love in Victor's soft locks.

"What did I say, exactly?" he asks, even though he knows the words by heart.

"If I remember correctly it was 'I will take you then, heart and soul and body, all that is yours to give, but only if you do the same in return,'" Victor recalls. "And then you asked me if I will. Lord be my witness, I would take you even if you did not measure us with equal make."

"But how could I not?" Yuuri tightens his arms. "Didn't your poem say so: there is no you, no me, no yours or mine – we are us, equal across all and in every way that counts."

"And that is why I love you, my Yuuri," Victor says, voice brimming with adoration. "You do not see me as the noble lord everyone does. You see me, Victor, your Vitya, your equal. Someone you've come to cherish as much as I have come to cherish you, I hope."

"There is no need to hope when it's the truth," Yuuri answers him. "I do, my Vitya. I do cherish you. More than I can put into words."

"Let us find someone who can put it into words for us then."

Victor turns a few pages, a few more still, and then settles on one.

 i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

                                 i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

 here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

 i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

 Victor's voice sounds through and the chest falls quiet once more. But to Yuuri, the words still ring long after Victor is finished speaking, for fear grips him and the loveliness of Victor in his arms is replaced by weight – deadweight; heavy, suffocating, sharp.

The message of the poem is sweet, or it is meant to be such, yet to Yuuri it feels like the manifestation of his nightmares. The heart, the moon, the deepest secret... Such plain words they are, but Yuuri cannot help the tremble that overtakes him. He's reminded of his dream with vivid clarity: he's reminded of Lady Moon, who will come to collect half his heart to, like the poem has said, 'carry it with her'.

And Yuuri will not be able to stop her once she does. Not this time.

"Darling, what's wrong?" Victor asks.

He sounds worried, concerned, and belatedly Yuuri realizes that he must feel the way Yuuri is shaking on his own body. It is hard to disguise this as anything other than what it is, so Yuuri doesn't try. He doesn't think he can, anyway. Instead, he bows his head to hide it in Victor's neck and whispers:

"I had a dream last night. A nightmare. That, that poem... It reminded me of it." He takes a shaky breath and quickly adds: "I apologize for ruining the moment. You were being so sweet and I–"

"Shh, shh, say no more, my love," Victor coos softly. "There is no need to feel sorry. You cannot help what you fear, and you cannot dismiss it either. I'm happy you told me, but why didn't you wake me when it happened? I could've helped."

"I didn't..." Yuuri swallows harshly. "I didn't want to be a bother."

"Oh, sweetheart," Victor's voice is soft, still, but now slightly exasperated. "Have I not told you before that you could never be a bother to me? Have I not shown you how much I care for your wellbeing?"

Yuuri can only clutch the fabric of Victor's robes in trembling fingers, because yes. Yes, he has. Guilt, as it sits in the pit of Yuuri's stomach, is a heavy, uncomfortable rock that weighs Yuuri down.

"My Yuuri, my love," Victor speaks again. "I know this place, this house breeds dishonesty. It teaches lies and half-truths. I know how difficult it must be for you to make heads or tails of whom to trust. But, please, believe me when I say it – you can always trust me. I will do everything that is in my power to prove it, if you so require, but it will never change, my dear. Never."

"Do you truly mean it?" Yuuri whispers.

"I do," Victor vows. "On my life, I do."

"Then allow me to confess something to you," Yuuri says, mind made up.

The time to measure Victor's honesty has come.