#search through the keefe tag ;)

[myfairkatiecat]

You’re the ONLY substantially followed blog on here that still defends Keefe and honestly he DESERVES IT it’s called COMPLEXITY and you write about it so well!!!!!!!! Seriously thank you for writing about Keefe being not a bad person. Also because he had flaws (which is not a bad thing it’s a thing) but he has a lot of good moments to people seem to be ignoring entirely so besides thank you for existing

Ok I’m not the only Keefe defender here with followers lol. But aside from that point

YES anon keefe is not a bad person and I do worry that our attempts to balance the scale from the “keefe is actually perfect” era have gone a bit too far. I’d be considered pretty Keefe critical by a lot of the Pinterest fandom and a lot of younger fans who just fangirl over him, which is funny because he is fully my favorite character. However, being critical of a character’s actions is different from just… defining that ENTIRE CHARACTER by just a list of their worst moments (ok just realized like that sounded like a callout and it isn’t. This isn’t about THAT list. It’s a general thing. But actually in hindsight yeah this could also be about that list. Love you Stria) because round characters do have good AND bad moments, including keefe. Keefe didn’t get a huge fan base out of nowhere for no reason. He’s a great guy and he makes Sophie really happy. Their relationship has a lot of realistic rough patches (and I believe it needs to go through at least one more big one tbh) and he’s FAR from perfect but. yeah. Since the attitudes on keepblr are very different than other platforms, it ends up being just as unbalanced, because a lot of people who dislike keefe end up aiming most of their arguments at the keefe fans who ARE NOT here instead of the keefe fans who ARE here.

Thank you for existing too anon <3

[epic-kotlc-crossover]

Keep Your Friends Close

This is the third chapter of the Ocean Saga!!!

tags (as to be added or removed): @myfairkatiecat @sombrathedragon @bookwormgirl123 @thesfromhms @ham-cheese-toastie

@justalunaticfangirl

When Fitz reached the highest point on the floating island, he called out, “Great goddess of the Wind, Aeolus, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but a massive storm is blocking our path to home. Can you help us out?”

A bright peal of laughter rang from the clouds. “Ha, ha ha! You found me. Let’s play a game!”

“A game?” Fitz asked. Usually, god games didn’t go over so well….

“That’s what I’m willing to do for you. If you win, you’ll get what you want.” Fitz couldn’t see her, but he swore she winked after she said that.

Fitz sighed. “Deal.”

A bag made of some type of rough fabric materialized next to where he was standing. “That bag has the winds of the storm trapped inside. All you need to do is not open the bag.”

“That sounds too easy. What’s the catch?” Fitz said suspiciously. 

Aeolus laughed again. "Just remember to keep your friends close and your enemies closer! And don’t trust anyone. If your crewmates want to open that bag, you have to say no.”

“Okay,” Fitz said, hoisting the bag over his shoulder. 

When he returned to his fleet, several of his men asked, “Captain, what is that? What's trapped in that bag?”

“Something dangerous friends, please don’t open it,” he answered.

“It’s treasure!” Aeolus whisper-shouted through the wind.

“What?” Fitz was confused.

“Bye-bye, little hero!” Aeolus said breezily.

“Open the bag!” Keefe demanded.

“Let’s see what you got!” 

“No, do not!” Fitz snapped. “Everyone listen closely. This bag has to stay closed. It has the storm trapped inside. We can’t let the treasure rumor fly!”

“We’ll try,” the crew echoed.

ONE WEEK LATER

Fitz was lying in his quarters, searching for Sophie.

SOPHIE!! He transmitted over and over.

After the sixth try, he got a response. Fitz! I’ve been so worried! Are you alright? How’s the crew? And Keefe? And Dex?

Fitz winced. They’re fine…except Dex. He, um…Well, let me fill you in. He shared his memories of the Cyclops’s cave, and the battle, and his strange interaction with Aeolus.

When the last scene ended, there was a somber silence from both of them. Fitz, I’m so, so sorry.

It’s fine. Fitz's tired brain couldn’t handle dredging up those feelings. I’ve been awake for nine days. We’re so close, Sophie. I promise.

Fitz's tired brain couldn’t handle dredging up those feelings. I’ve been awake for nine days, just trying to make it home without storms or tidal waves. We’re so close, Sophie. I promise. 

Fitz's eyelids were starting to droop. His eyes, his soul, his heart..what wasn’t beginning to be a weight?

Try to stay awake, darling. Sophie pleaded.

I keep trying to embrace you both… why won’t you let me?

He could vaguely register that that didn’t make sense, but he was too… tired… to… care…..

He was ripped back to reality by a cold gust of wind. Wake up! It called. Wake up, Fitz, they’re opening the bag, WAKE UP!!!

He jumped up, sprinting to the main deck. He couldn’t see who had done it, but the bag of wind was wide open. “NO!!!!” he yelled. He fell to his knees. 

All of those sleepless days, all of the protection… for NOTHING. Aeolus’s warning came rushing to the front of his mind. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!” 

If only he’d listened. The storm was unraveling, filling the sky with dark clouds flickering with lightning. 

“Where’s the storm taking us?” Keefe yelled through the driving rain. The ship was being tossed around by the towering waves like it weighed nothing. 

“I told you to keep the bag closed, but you didn’t listen!” Aeolus’s voice whispered in Fitz’s ear. 

“Keefe, close the bag!” he shouted. 

“But, sir, it’s too late!” he called back.

“No, no! We can save whatever wind is left to use another day! Come on!” he added when Keefe didn’t move. 

After a moment his first mate darted to follow the instructions. Everyone froze when a deep chuckle erupted from the sea.

A husky voice boomed from the waves as a giant figure formed in the seafoam. “Fitz Vacker, King of Ithaca! Do you know who I am?”

[alaydabug2]

Tag list: @sparklenarniawizard @imobsessed123 @thoughtlescat @ilikebookssomuch

Broken heart/Broken mind

Chapter Fifty-two

(Human AU)

Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay.

As the years pass, they wind up being in the same classroom together due to their physical conditions. This makes their bond deepen.

But are they able to handle when life gets tough, throwing problems and complications their way?

Sophie pulled up into a parking spot. She grabbed her phone and keys before heading into the building.

The friend group had decided to meet up to play lazer tag for spring break. She had gotten stuck in traffic on the way there. She had already called to let them know she was on her way.

She searched the lobby for her friends when she got through the door. She noticed them in the corner.

When she came up to them, Linh said, "There you are! Come on, we've already got the first game set up."

Linh practically dragged Tam off behind her, leaving behind Marella, standing there looking lost. Eventually, she gained back her free will and follwed. The rest of the group followed in suit.

Sophie grabbed one of the vests, strapping it on. The lazer gun dangled by her side. It kept hitting her kneecap when she tried to walk, so she shoved the barrel of the gun into her pocket to keep it in place.

She stationed herself in one of the corners as she waited for the countdown to zero out. When it did, she set off.

Hiding behind a wall, she waited for footsteps. When she finally heard them, she peeked her head out at shot at Fitz. His vest flashed red. He looked confused before she ran out of her hiding place.

The next person she came by was Marella. Her eyes widened, but she managed to duck before Sophie shot her. In retaliation, Sophie ended up with a flashing vest. She huffed and went to hide behind a wall while she waited to be able to shoot again.

When she was able to shoot once more, she waited for a good opportunity to run. Unfortunately, she heard steps coming around the corner. She was trapped. She aimed up her gun.

When Keefe came around the corner, she was about to pull the trigger, but he put his hands up in surrender.

"I want to make an alliance!" He shouted in his defense.

Sophie squinted. She kept her gun aimed but gestured for him to continue his proposition.

"I want to team up with you. We both don't shoot each other so we can go after other people together. Do we have a deal?"

She lowered her gun and held out a hand. "We do."

He took it and shook on it. "Good doing business with you ma'am." He smirked. "Are you ready to take these suckers down?"

"You bet!" She grabbed his shoulder as she scoped out their surroundings. She heard voices in one direction. She tilted her head to the left. "This way," she whispered.

They pattered through the labyrinth of walls before coming to a stop. Sophie counted off on her fingers before they ambushed Dex and Biana. Her and Keefe ran off before they could hear the reactions. Although Sophie was fairly certain she heard a few curses coming from Dex as she scampered away.

At the end of the round, she was sweaty from being in the hot room. But it was all worth it when she saw her and Keefe's name at the top two spots of the leader board.

Keefe smirked at her and held a hand up for a high five. She gave him one. She was concerned, however, when he cringed and rolled his left shoulder.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My arm is just kind of numb, right now."

Her brows furrowed. "How come?"

He shrugged and started massaging the arm. "Think it just fell asleep for some reason. I'm sure it's nothing."

She eyed the way he tried to shake his arm awake. "Okayyyy," she said slowly. "If you're sure."

"Seriously, Foster, I'm fine. The next round is starting in a moment. Let's go hide!"

She waited for a moment, mentally debating in her mind, but he seemed fine, so she ran off to follow him. They hid behind one of the barriers, waiting for the round to start.

[innestahtinen]

So near the end of last year, I listened to the discography of Abandoned Pools, and saw that he had another album in production. At the start of January, I went searching and found that it was to be released on the 16th. And it came, and went with no album, so I went looking again; he'd posted on The Bird saying 'it's being delayed a week', so on the 23rd. And it came, and went with no album.

At this point I gave up, I got a different new album; Blood, Hair and Eyeballs by Alkaline Trio (which is fine, but the songs never show up in shuffle, which I don't get).

A week ago, I went through the list of albums being released this year, to update my personal chart, and saw that the album was scheduled for the 29th of March, which I dismissed as not going to happen again.

And it came, and there it was.

It's fine.

My week in music can't overcome seeing Tom Jones, pic;

I'm so good at photography.

Something something else about nickels and albums named 'The Haunted House'

I was going to spin this into a tangent about the band Mystery Machine, but looking again, the album credited to them was called 'The Cursed Mansion', and was made by someone else.

To be clear, they didn't steal it, it was just a different group called the same thing, who spotify put in the same discography at that point. Checking back now, after they were split off makes it seem weirder if you don't have the context, like 'why do you listen to these people, how did you find them, they have 7 monthly listeners?' Buddy, I listen to someone with 0, because they fucked up. (On the album 'Where's Neil When You Need Him?', the band Razed in Black is credited as RAZED IN BLACK, so the computer thinks they're different)

'This is just a normal day for you, isn't it? Go to school, find out you're covered in a dangerous substance, melt off a few layers of skin, then hail your besty the Councillor, tell him you're ditching study hall to save the world, and he says, "Cool, I'll come with you!"' - Shannon Messenger (as Keefe Sencen), 2nd October 2012

No tags, fuck you

[the-great-gullon-incident]

It’s a middle grade book series following a telepathic girl named Sophie who learns she’s an elf and is thrust into a dystopian world desperately trying to convince itself it’s a utopia as she tries to solve the hidden conspiracies as apart of a rebellion group while fighting off a different rebellion group.

I would normally suggest searching through the tag to absorb some of the plot and character details through osmosis but we as a fandom play pretty fast and loose with cannon and can have some vastly different views on certain subjects. Checking out the kotlc wiki synopsis of the different books will probably give you at least a decent idea of the finer details and whether or not you’d want to invest in actually reading the books.

The first book is pretty simple and covers Sophie’s first yearish in the Elvin world. Books 2-6 are largely mystery focused action/adventure novels really exploring the world and its politics. Books 7-9 are a bit more relationship focused and the plot can start to feel like it’s waning(I haven’t reread these books in a hot second so I might be wrong). There is a book 8.5 which is necessary reading since it’s basically like a prologue to book 9.

There’s a very large cast that I can’t get into in a single post but if you’re determined enough to look for it pretty much everyone has some level of depth to them. But some major supporting characters heavily simplified are:

Keefe Sencen: Slowly became the secondary protagonist as the series has gone up. A large part of the fandoms favorite boy. A snarky trickster personality hiding a traumatized boy.

Fitz Vacker: Sophie’s had a crush on him since day one. Outside of tumblr most of the fandom hates him because of stuff he does much later in the series(you can come to your own conclusions on whether this hate is deserved). A golden middle child with deep seated brother issues past a certain point.

Dex Diznee: The tech guy™️ who’s supposedly Sophie’s best friend despite the waning page time throughout the series. He’s generally loved throughout the fandom. Snarky best friend who can sometimes get mischaracterized as a cinnamon roll.

Biana Vacker: The author’s favorite tool in scene continuation. The fandom generally likes her but they often forget her in favor of the rest of her family or just other members of the friend group. Will suplex the villains while wearing sparkly pink dresses and heels.

It’s a fun book series in my experience that while not perfect has plenty of merit and is a series I would recommend to anyone who seems interested and is willing to put in the effort to read all the books and think about them with some level of media literacy. (These aren’t a turn of your brain kind of books.

hi

uhm u don't seem so busy (ik u're busy irl)

nd i rlly wanna know abt the kotlc stuff

can u explain? i'm afraid i would understand shit if i go on the web

i think it would make u happy? u seem sad :( i think i wanna change that

"the kotlc stuff"

my friend I have been hyperfixating on kotlc since seventh grade, if there's a central ish character there's a 75% chance I've had at least a very brief obsession with them, chances even more if they're a Vacker. Do you know kotlc at all? Because I can tell you lots :D or you can read it too that's cool

also yes it would make me very happy I love kotlc but it would also make me a little anxious but not because of you because what if I accidentally misinterpret something oh no or people (gasp) disagree with me

yep yep yep I'm Normal

[catchinglightning]

My biggest project these last 7 months: an update to the KOTLC fantasy AU that I did over a year ago! I added a lot of lore bc I’m a nerd so don’t be pressured to read through it all lol.

For those who are new to it:

SOPHIE FOSTER is a runaway princess from the Kingdom of the Scarlet Eye. She ran away after being betrothed to Fitz and realizing she didn’t want that for herself.

DEX DIZZNEE is an assassin for the rebels. His whole family was taken by the Evergold government in an incident which heavily injured his left arm, causing him to wear a prosthetic. He was sent to assassinate the crown prince of Evergold (Fitz), but took pity on Sophie instead and helped her escape.

KEEFE SENCEN is the exiled prince of the Candleflame Kingdom whose taken up the easygoing lifestyle of a bard. Shortly after his banishment, a bounty hunter named Ro took pity on him and started following him around to make sure he doesn’t die. She sometimes does want to kill him though when he sings the dreaded “Ballad of Ro and Bo”.

FITZ VACKER is the crown prince of Evergold and a gifted seer. After his betrothed disappears right before their wedding day, he assumes she was kidnapped by Dex on behalf of the rebels. Thus, he enlists the help of his sister and sets off on a quest to get his beloved back.

BIANA VACKER is a princess of Evergold second and a legendary huntress first. She is famous for being able to track any living creature down. When her dumb brother asks for her help in rescuing his fiancé, she knows she has no other choice but to tag along to make sure he doesn’t get killed.

LINH SONG used to be the royal water mage of the Candleflame Kingdom. But after threatening to expose Queen Gisela’s brutal dark magic rituals, she was heavily cursed and forced to flee. Now she is a silent shell of herself living in the slums of Mysterium.

TAM SONG is a pickpocket on the streets of Mysterium using the magic that he once used in his post as a royal guard in the Candleflame Kingdom to swipe wallets and coins. Since Linh has been cursed, he has gotten his hands dirtier and dirtier searching for a cure.

MARELLA REDEK is a fire witch and Linh’s fiancé. She also served under the Candleflame Royal Family until Linh was cursed. She blames herself for the incident and spends her days with Tam searching for a cure.

[kotlc-fanfiction]

Welcome to kotlc-fanfiction, where you can browse through fantastic Keeper of the Lost Cities fanfiction and witness less-than-fantastic Canva covers to go along with them! Feel free to send in your favourite fanfics, from any website that we can reasonably access (Ao3, Wattpad, etc.)

This is a rec blog, so mention what you like about the fic and why you're recommending it! We'll drop our own thoughts and make a horrible Canva cover along with them.

We also create and reblog recommendation lists, so ask away for whatever you're looking for. (You can find these at our rec lists tag.)

Basically: We had free access to Canva and a dream and we made it all of your problems

Navigation (you can also use the search bar):

CHARACTERS:

Sophie  |  Keefe  |  Fitz  |  Biana  |  Tam  |   Linh  |  Marella  |  Stina  |  Dex | Glimmer | Wylie

Tiergan |  Prentice  | Livvy | Della | Alden

Oralie | Kenric | Bronte

SHIPS:

Gen (No ship)

Sophie/Keefe  |  Sophie/Fitz  |  Sophie/Biana  |  Sophie/Linh  | Sophie/Stina  

Keefe/Tam  |  Keefe/Fitz  |  Keefe/Dex  

Fitz/Dex  |  Fitz/Linh 

Biana/Linh  |  Biana/Tam  

Marella/Linh

Tiergan/Prentice  

LENGTH:

By word count: under 1k | 1k to 10k | 10k to 50k | 50k to 100k | 100k or more

By chapters: Oneshots | Multi-chapter

CONTENT:

Angst | Fluff | Canon Universe | Alternate Universe | Hurt/Comfort

AUs:

Human AU | High School AU

WEBSITE:

Archive of Our Own | Wattpad | Tumblr

[gay-otlc]

Keepers Of The Chaos (3)

Summary: Tam, Linh, Dex, Keefe, Biana, and Fitz are part of the tiny fandom for Keeper of the Chaos, and Tam and Linh’s podcast convinces some of their other friends to watch it as well. The group finds themselves strangely invested in this show, where students at Tumblr High School who work together to write about an elf named Sophia, cause incomprehensible chaos, and fight their rival Pinterest High School.

Content warnings: Cursing, religion (Jewish Vackers), and Amsterdam (just in case, I know that was stressful for some people).

Word count: 1621

Notes: Most of the episodes are just events stolen from Lynn's roundup, Dex's memes are here

(Read on AO3)

The life of an amateur meme maker on dumbles dot com was a strange one, that was for sure. After finishing xyr favorite show- Ze-Ra: Monaerchs of Powhir- for the third time, Dex had searched for another show to fill the void in xyr soul. Biana recommended this show called "Keepers of the Chaos" and described it to xem. Xe was doubtful at first, but after watching the first episode, xe was hooked.

Xe used to not have many friends at xyr school, so xe did what every neurodivergent queer teen would do- made an account on dumbles dot com. People seemed to like xem- or at least, they liked dizznee-plus's memes and edits of Ze-Ra characters. Even after Dex befriended xyr squish, Fitz, thons sister, Biana, and aer girlfriend, Sophie, xe continued making content on dumbles. Around that time, the Ze-Ra fandom started dying off, and xyr memes started getting fewer note

In a sudden, two am burst of inspiration, Dex made edits of some of xyr favorite characters, like Ref, Akki, and Rose, with their respective pride flags (all of them bi) over them, and captioned it "we must be gay." The post blew up, or at least, what could be considered blowing up in Keeper of the Chaos's tiny fandom, and that was how Dex found xyr calling as an amateur meme/edit maker for KOTC.

History had been repeating itself, with the KOTC fandom starting to die off, until it was revived by an announcement from creator Saturn Nolastname- a season two would be released soon. Frantically, Dex made a meme about season one episode two, with the car salesman meme. Xe edited "chaos keepers" onto the car salesman, "the rarelynoticed" on the car, and "this bad boy can fit so many stripper outfits into it."

That had been... an interesting episode, to say the least. The chaos keepers had been talking about the antagonists of "Sophie and the Dark Duck"- a rebel group called the Rarelynoticed. In the information packet they'd been given, it was confirmed that the Rarelynoticed wore black cloaks and armbands, but no other clothes had been mentioned. Somehow, the chaos keepers came to the conclusion that the Rarelynoticed really wore neon pink leotards and green stripper heels, then drew this idea.

Needless to say, the Tumblr staff did not let them write that into the book. Nor did Lynn, the unofficially chosen leader of the group. Unfortunately for her, this didn't stop the chaos keepers from drawing more of these- or the fandom from making a ton of memes. In addition to the car salesman meme, a post with Drake saying no to "wearing normal fucking villain outfits" and yes to "leotards and stripper heels" gained popularity within the small fandom.

Though nothing could match the absolute shock of seeing the Rarelynoticed stripper outfit for the first time, Dex decided to rewatch the episode anyway- it was funny to see the chaos keepers freak out, and maybe xe could get some good screen captures. The good Saturn Nolastname indulged xem, and xe captured an excellent scene of most of the chaos keepers either laughing or screaming at the Rarelynoticed stripper outfits, with Kimber- one of xyr favorites- sitting on the side, explaining to Juno and Kaitee why Bianca Cracker was bisexual.

Xe went over to dumbles, posted the picture, added an image description, and captioned it "Live photo of me not caring when my friends talk about sex/romance." Xe chuckled to xemself- this really was how it felt to be aroace. Xe tagged it as aromantic and asexual as well, since dumbles added flag colors. Smiling, xe went to go check xyr notifications.

Xyr jaw dropped when xe saw that @lordofthesnuggles- Fitzroy (Dex didn't know thons middle name) Vacker thonself had liked and reblogged all three of xyr memes, even adding compliments in the tags! Xe'd had a bit of a platonic crush on Fitz for... a really long time, but xe always felt too awkward to talk to thon, so it was nice to see that thon appreciated xyr humor.

Feeling energized- and excited to procrastinate on xyr math homework- Dex went to watch the next episode: Dark Duck Is Jewish Now. Being Jewish xemself, this was a really funny episode to xem.

Lynn had been writing a sort of spinoff- it would be called fanfiction, but it was for her own story- about some of the Dark Duck characters celebrating Christmas, and added a throwaway line about Bianca and Finn Cracker celebrating Hanukkah. Then, her fiance, Shai, had taken that idea and run with it, writing a list of ideas about what would happen if the Cracker family was Jewish. Hir friend Sam had jumped on the idea, and soon they had abandoned writing the actual Dark Duck in favor of writing a story about Jewish Dark Duck characters. Some of the other Jewish chaos keepers, like Ref and Cat, helped out.

To be honest, it kind of surprised Dex that no one had made a joke about the Jewish Crackers just being matzah, so xe supposed xe would have to be the first.

Xe posted that observation, quickly getting a like from Fitz- which made xem smile. After a few minutes, Dex posted another meme: Shai and Sam standing in front of a door with a sign that read "elves don't have religion," and them saying "This sign won't stop me, because I can't read!"

It was accurate.

While that episode was great for Jewish representation, and funny, the Banana Noir episode was just plain weird.

It focused less on the Dark Duck than most of the other episodes, and was more about the crazy interactions of the chaos keepers. The episode was named for Banana Noir, who was really Cat Noir, but in a banana suit. Banana Noir was the son of Mellie, who looked like a shark, and Nora, who had platonically married faer. The mothers tried to arrange a marriage between him and Akki, who loved the side characters of the Dark Duck series. However, Akki wanted to marry Amelia. After a lot of shit that basically no one understood, Banana Noir's attempts were thwarted, and Lynn officiated the wedding between Akki and Amelia.

Yeah, Dex had no idea what the fuck was going on either. Xe'd watched an episode of Twins of the Chaos and a youtube video by arsonpog analyzing the Banana Noir chronicles, as it had been dubbed by the chaos keepers, and both expert opinions seemed to agree that Saturn Nolastname and the rest of the writers had probably been on crack when they made that episode.

The next episode made slightly more sense, though it was a low bar. After taking a break from the "official" Dark Duck story, the chaos keepers began collectively writing a Cinderella story about the characters Sophia and Bianca. People weren't allowed to be queer in the official story, but the chaos keepers still wanted to have fun with their obviously gay characters.

Even to the viewers of the show, who only received secondhand information about the Dark Duck characters, knew there was no way any of them, let alone all of them, were allocishet. The exact identities weren't entirely clear- when Dex had made edits of the characters' official art and xyr headcanons for their pride flags, a few people had disagreed- but both the chaos keepers and the fandom knew that despite what Shannon said, Sophia and Bianca were in love, and their Cinderella story should have made it in to the official Dark Duck story.

While excerpts of the Cinderella story were quoted in the show, most of it was left unclear, so Biana had taken it upon aerself to write aer own version of it. Dex was expecting an update later  that day, actually, or maybe the next. Ae wasn't always 100% reliable with aer update schedule. Still, Dex looked forward to when it eventually did come.

After the brief calmness from the Sophianca Cinderella episode, season one episode six, Amsterdam, exploded back into chaos. A few of the chaos keepers decided to discuss a fake scene in the book in which crazy shit went down, with the scene supposedly being located in Amsterdam. It had never been written and was never going to be, but everyone discussed it like it was real. Some of the highlights involved all the Dark Duck girls having swords (and the chaos keepers being gay for them), and a speedboat chase scene through the canals. Fitz had a popular theory that the chaos keepers would actually travel to Amsterdam in order to commemorate this crazy part of their lives. Almost as popular as that was a meme Dex made, with a man labeled "chaos keepers discussing amsterdam" and gesturing feverishly to a wall covered in papers and red string.

Of course, episode seven (Dark Duck Disney) was chaotic too. Everything was chaotic with this group, it was in the title. Shannon announced that the winning Dark Duck story would be adapted into a Disney movie. After past experience with terrible book to movie adaptations, the chaos keepers panicked. They panicked so much that it became major news within their school, which until then, had been largely ignoring the chaos keepers. Once the discussion about the movie settled down, they talked a lot about how in awe they were that their Dark Duck shenanigans were trending within the school.

But of course, none of that compared to the last episode of the season...

Dex changed xyr profile picture to include an ominous pair of teal eyes and sighed.

[theunmappedstar]

Can we appreciate dorky keefe too? Because we ALL know his parents never made food for him, so he made food for himself. Unfortunately, he sucked at cooking and everything of the sort because our man is an artist and doesn’t care about the details much, just the big picture and that translates into his cooking.

So making food himself never worked. So lil keefe would go to restaurants every night and at first the employees are like... why is a 10 year old by himself. But soon enough, with all of Keefes charm, he becomes like the restaurant regular and befriends everyone there. They would get used to him and have his order ready by the time he got there every night. Whenever he gets time without Ro, he heads on over there for some comfort food 2/2

---

"So, let me get this straight...” Sophie began after another worker called out to Keefe. Keefe waved at them and said his hellos, grinning from ear to ear and trying his hardest not to let any colour rush to his cheeks. Sophie felt so... proud, almost, to hear that all the workers were so excited to see him. She got a rush of comfort and sparkly joy everytime someone called out his name and asked him how he’d been.

“All of these people know you?”

“Most of them,” Keefe admitted, ignoring Ro’s side-eye glances and snickers, “except for any of the new employees.”

“Which is, like, one person,” Ro said from behind Sophie. Sandor and Ro were sitting in the booth opposite from him, keeping their distance while keeping a watchful eye on their charges. Keefe sent a brief glare at Ro, while the princess merely flipped him off.

Sophie tried to muffle her giggle when Keefe stuck his tongue out, drawing his attention. His face softened and he swallowed, readjusting himself in his seat. Holding back a blush was harder than he would have liked - at least around Sophie.

Everything was harder with Sophie. And for some reason. . . Keefe really liked the difficulty of it all. He liked the complexity and the highs and the lows that her gentle storm blew his way. Because even if her storm twisted into a tornado that ravaged his city for a time... She always returned to help clean up and rebuild. 

She was always there; something Keefe hadn’t seen a lot of from the people in his life.

“So, how do they all know you so well?”

“Um,” Keefe said, shrugging. “I used to come here a lot when I was younger.”

Sophie opened her mouth to ask more, but a waitress approached. The woman’s blue eyes lit up as they landed on Keefe and she placed two menus in front of the elves. “Hi, Keefe! I haven’t seen you around here in awhile. How have you been?”

Keefe recognized her instantly and greeted her back, trying to match how chipper she was. It wasn’t that he wasn’t excited to see her - he really was. But Sophie was... Well.... Distracting.

Keefe noticed the way that Sophie smiled during the whole interaction, her chest bubbling with something happy as the woman was clearly interested in Keefe’s well-being. It made Keefe feel a little squirmy, knowing that someone checking in with him made Sophie so elated, but. . . It was also nice. 

She cared. 

Foster had always cared.

“Who’s this?”

“This is my friend,” Keefe introduced. “The great Sophie Foster.” His mouth prickled into a smile as Sophie became flustered by the introduction.

The woman’s eyes seemed to lit up at that. “Oh! Well, then, in that case, I’ve heard a lot about you,” the waitress said, beaming.

Sophie flushed bright red. “Oh.”

“All good things,” she promised, shooting a look over to Keefe. 

Keefe winced briefly, but covered it up with an unconvincing smile. When Sophie looked ready to ask more, Keefe piped up, asking the woman if he could have what he usually did. She obliged more giddily than probably necessary, which made Keefe slightly embarrassed (because there Sophie was again, bursting with energy and amusement at Keefe getting fussed over) and then it was Sophie’s turn. She ordered something quickly and then the woman was gone in a flash, menus and smile and all.

The moment they were alone, Sophie look at him brightly again. “You have a specific order?” Sophie queried.

“It’s no big deal, stop grinning like that,” Keefe said, fanning the dessert menu at her. Sophie laughed as he fluttered a gust of air so harsh that it whipped some hairs into her face. “It kind of is! I didn’t know you came here.”

Keefe set down the menu when she blocked her face with her hands and he smirked when she peeked out from behind her fingers to check to see if she was in the clear. He propped his face on one of his hands, shrugging. “I stopped coming here as often as I did before.”

“When did you come here a lot?”

“Mostly when I was little. You know, like, ten and under.”

“I’d have thought I’d see that in your memories. I have been inside your head a lot.” Sophie smiled, but it faded when Keefe didn’t return it fast enough. “...Are they bad memories? They seem like nice people.”

Keefe rushed to explain the moment he felt her stomach begin to sour. “No, they’re good memories,” he affirmed. “They’re good people. It’s just...” He cringed. “I wasn’t here for the happiest of reasons, that’s all.”

Confusion wafted through the air between them and Keefe sighed. He straightened in his chair, trying to ignore how worried Sophie felt. “Foster, don’t give me your sad eyebrows. That makes me feel bad.”

“I’m not trying to give you sad eyebrows,” Sophie argued, consciously reaching up and pressing the space between her brows. She blushed and set down her hand, leaning closer over the table. “I’m just a little... Worried. You seem shut down now that I brought it up and I didn’t mean to say anything bad-”

“No, it wasn’t you.” Keefe leaned forward on the table, as well, palms fanning out on either side of him. He would have reached for Sophie’s hands, had they not been curled together, wringing nervously like a bed of snakes. 

He forced himself to look her in the eyes. That was the one way he knew to communicate to her that he was being serious. “Look, I came here a lot when I was younger because my parents didn’t... Really...” He winced. “They weren’t the best at making food for me. Not like it was bad food, but like, it... There wasn’t... Really any food...”

His sentence dragged on longer with every pang that he felt from Sophie. All he could do was wince as he felt her heart constrict in her chest. “Keefe,” she said.

“No,” he interrupted, seeing the look in her eyes. “No pity, Foster.”

“It’s not pity,” she promised. Sophie reached forward and tugged his hand into hers, gripping it tight. “It’s not. It’s... I don’t know what it is, but I’m angry.”

“I can feel that much.”

Sophie’s face softened at him for a second, a corner of her mouth lifting. But then it twisted back into that gentle frown and the brown of her eyes went tender again. “They didn’t feed you?”

“I mean, I had food available to me. It wasn’t like they were starving me or anything. But I... didn’t exactly know how to make the food, so it was either I snacked on random things, tried to go over to the Vacker’s for lunch or dinner, or...” He gave a brief glanced around the room before returning to focusing on her. “I came here.”

“Did you tell any of the workers what was happening?”

Sophie seemed to already know the answer, but she clearly wasn’t happy about it. Keefe sighed. “No.”

Sophie bobbed her head. She breathed deeply. “Okay. Okay, well... Why’d you stop coming here? Did things get better?”

Keefe thanked the universe that Sophie couldn’t feel his embarrassment. If she was an Empath, that would make everything a million times more complicated. (Of course, he still counted on her waking up one day with a new ability. She liked to surprise him like that.)

“They got better, sure, but not because my parents put any effort into the food situation.” Keefe squeezed her hand. “I just had Fitz teach me how to cook and stuff.”

“Did Fitz know?”

“No.”

“Does he know now?”

Keefe cringed for what felt like the tenth time that evening. “Not... yet.” Keefe was positive he had turned redder than her tunic. “You’re the first person I’ve brought here, Foster. It’s... I know it sounds weird and kinda dramatic, but this is...”

Keefe barely ever struggled with words. Even when he was around Foster, he managed to bumble his way through conversation and spit something - anything - out. But for some reason this was more difficult.

Keefe shared a look with Ro over Sophie’s shoulder. The prodding of her eyes plus the jerk of her chin in Sophie’s direction was enough to get him talking again. 

He blew out a breath. “It’s a safe place. And I think I want to start coming back here more often, if I can, and I’d like to do that with everybody. I want to bring my friends here and I want to sit and have dinner with you guys and just... Talk. I do. But... I’m not ready for that, yet. I can’t bring everyone here yet.” Keefe scraped up the courage to lock gazes with her as he said, “But I knew that I wanted to bring you here first. I wanted to start with you.”

Sophie’s face softened. Everything softened, really. Her emotions even became feathery and fluffy and Keefe swore if he felt them for too long he’d be tingling all over. 

“Okay,” she started out. She nodded. “Thank you. I’m...” She closed her mouth, searching for words. Slowly, she knotted their hands tighter, cleared her throat, and nodded again. “I’m really glad you brought me here.”

Keefe smiled gently. “Yeah.” He peered down at their intertwined hands. “Thanks for tagging along, Foster,” he murmured.

“Anytime,” she vowed.

Keefe laughed. “Careful what promises you make, there. You might regret that one.”

Once Sophie started chuckling with him, the pressure in his chest released. 

There was absolutely no one better Keefe could think of for bringing with him.

bored? send in an ask for Loving Keefe Sencen hours!

[an-absolute-travesty]

Royal Screw-Ups

~Yay writing strike is over! Sorry this took over a month and I hyped it up so much. Here be the next chapter of RSU~

If you’re looking for the rest of the story, it can be found on my wattpad @ohwowhatethis, under the tags “kotlc fic” and “keefex” on my blog, or under the cut on my pinned post

Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed, just for this story or as a whole): @you-are-the-vacker-legacy @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlykeefitz @percabetn @vibing-in-the-void @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42​ @rainbowtay-11 @littlemisscupcake

Chapter 7:

Word count: 1,023 

Warnings: None, I believe

Keefe stepped back as he pinned the last piece of paper to the wall before covering his work with a large sheet, no one could see this. For the last week he had been frantically planning. He had probably gotten a total of 3 hours of sleep in the last 6 nights combined.

He had a plan. A way to get a last petty stab at his father, maybe even save him from his forced-fate if everything went smooth.

Er- part of it anyway. 

And it was only...kind of treasonous. If you consider plotting a scheme to disrupt the actions of your nation treason, and Keefe knew that fit his Father’s definition of the word very well from personal experience. 

But he would need some help. The invitations had been sent, everything was in place. 

From the library window he saw as a carriage pulled through the gates. He knew exactly who it contained. 

He met the Redeks right at the castle door, he even beat his father there. 

“Hey cous’,” Marella said. “Heard you’re getting stuck with a wife.”

“Yep and that’s exactly what I need to talk to you about. Once you’re done with the pleasantries, meet me in the library.”

“Ok, weirdo.” 

Alright, there was the easy part done. 

Next step: Fitz. He had a favor to ask of his special friend from across the kingdom.

~*~

Keefe stole Fitz from where he was training new guard recruits and pulled him aside. 

“What’s up?” Fitz said, a look of concern on his face. 

“It’s...a long story. I need you to send a letter to head of the guard force in Atlantis and tell them we must have the Song twins over immediately. They’re needed for extra protection for the royal wedding.”

“Huh? We have plenty of guards.”

“Just trust me. Meet me up in the library in an hours time and I’ll explain everything.”

Fitz sighed. “Whatever you say.” 

Keefe flashed a smile and went to talk to maybe the most important person involved in this.

~*~

Keefe only had to knock on Sophie’s door twice before she opened it. It just so happened that Biana was in the room as well. Lucky they were getting along well...very well based on the intense blush Sophie wore on her face and the new makeup that was clearly Biana’s work. 

“Oh, lovely, you’re both here, we have to talk. Meet me up in the library in about an hour. Sophie, Biana can lead you there.”

“I’d be delighted.” the vanisher said with a pointed glance towards Sophie. 

Yes, as long as Biana stayed around, Sophie seemed like she’d be perfectly happy in the castle. 

~*~

And so he went, collecting another cousin and some family friends that were there for the upcoming wedding, until he reached the final piece.

Well...the final piece wasn’t exactly vital to the plan but he would be appreciated. 

A knock on the door revealed nothing, it seemed no one was home. Which...made sense. They were working people and it was the middle of the day. He’d have to find Dex himself.    

Keefe searched through the gardens until he found Dex, tending to a cluster or colorful flowers. 

“Hey, Techmaster.”

He turned around, confused, before his dirt smudged face lit up at the sight of Keefe.

“Keefe! We hadn’t talked for a week, I thought you forgot about me.” His tone was joking but Keefe’s answer was sincere. 

“I could never forget about you.”

Though it was a bit hard to see past the dirt, he still noticed as Dex’s face reddened. 

“So um...what’s up?”

“Mind if I pull you away from your work for a second? I need some help with something.”

“Good luck getting me away from the supervisor. All hands on deck in preparation for...well you know what. She watches like a hawk.” 

Keefe looked over to see a woman that he didn’t recognize watching them from about 10 yards away. A simple wave from Keefe proved that she recognized him as she wordlessly waved the two boys away, excusing Dex from work. 

“Ah, forgot about the prince thing for a second there.”

Keefe chuckled as he led Dex a a bit away where no one could hear them.

“So,” Keefe said, turning to Dex and arching a brow. “You good at pranks?”

“Only the best.” He responded, a mischievous smirk forming on his face. 

~*~

The mismatched group of people huddled before him in the library looked at Keefe as if he had lost his mind. 

And perhaps they did think he had, as for the last 20 minutes he had been gesturing wildly at paper pinned to the wall as he explained his plan. 

“So what you’re saying is,” started Wylie, the only legal adult in the group and a close friend to the throne. “We’re crashing your wedding.”

“In so few words, yes.” Keefe said, finally sitting down right on the floor after his extensive rant. “Any questions?”

“Quite a few, but I’m still trying to decide which one to ask first.” Biana said, still obviously stunned. 

“Look, it’s really simple-”

“What about this plan is simple?” Stina said incredulously. 

Keefe hesitated, clearly this wasn’t going as well as he thought it would. He began to get flustered. 

“Well you see-”

“It’s never going to work.” Maruca, another family friend, spoke up for the first time. “All it will do is anger the King, we’re all dead if we even try.”

Fitz, Biana, Stina, Wylie, and Marella all nodded their agreements. The only ones who seemed maybe even a little on his side were Sophie and Dex, and Sophie looked like she was near to throwing up. 

“If everything goes perfectly well then just maybe-”

“Keefe!” Fitz said, standing up from his chair. “It’s not going to work. This is a waste of time and possibly incriminating. I love you, Keefe. You’re my best friend. But this...this just isn’t going to work, Fee.”

There was a long silence. 

Just as Keefe was about to give up and walk away, Sophie’s voice came quietly from her corner. 

“I...I can make it work.”

All eyes were on her as she explained her new version of Keefe’s plan. A gleeful smile crossed his face.

“Foster, you evil genius.”

[imaramennoodle]

Hey guys! Here’s part 1 for the kotlc the 100 au.

Tags (lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist): @vibing-in-the-void @everyonehasthoughts @clearlysokeefe @never-ever-too-many-fandoms

Part 1:

Sophie Foster sat bolt upright as the door to her cell clicked and slid open. Her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of her mom standing behind two guards.

Sophie’s mom, Edaline Foster, was the head doctor of the Ark. She was also part of the council. And when the council was involved, things hardly ever ended well.

A gaurd marched in and slapped a pair of handcuffs onto Sophie’s wrist. She gasped.

“No! I’m not eighteen yet! I still have another year!” She struggled to escape. It was no use. Sophie was going to die. They were probably skipping the retrial and getting rid of all the criminals now, to save air. Sophie knew that they were running out. That had been why her dad was killed, because he had tried to tell people what was happening.

On the Ark, anyone who committed a crime, even the smallest one possible, like getting into a fight, was sentenced to death. If they were under the age of 18, they would be in prison until their eighteenth birthday, when there was a retrial to see if the criminal was guilty enough to be sentenced to death.

Sophie was marched outside of her cell. She twisted against the handcuffs and the guards holding her arms back.

She felt a needle go into her neck and started to feel dizzy. The last thing she saw was her mom whispering words that she couldn’t quite make out.

-

Sophie’s eyes snapped open. It was dark.

As her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was strapped into a chair, next to a girl with long, shiny black hair. Around them, there were others, all also sitting in chairs, confused.

A voice spoke over some kind of loudspeaker. It was Chancellor Endal. “I am sure that you are all confused about what is happening. My answer is this: All one hundred of you are being sent to the ground,”

There were surprised gasps and a few people started yelling about how they would die the moment they reached the surface.

“... on Mt. Weather,” the chancellor continued, “You will find enough supplies to last you three months. Good luck, and may we meet again.”

There was a click, and everyone was silent. Then, there was the sound of something powering on, and their tiny ship shot off of the Ark.

A boy with strawberry blonde hair had unbuckled himself from the harness and was now floating around the ship.

“What are you doing!” Sophie yelled, “That’s dangerous!”

The boy grinned.

“Hey, aren’t you the one that wasted a month’s supply of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk?” Sophie said.

He held up a thumbs up. “That’s me! Glad to know that I’m known everywhere.”

Suddenly, the ship went almost completely dark, the only light coming from a few emergency lights scattered around the ship.

Then, they crashed.

Sophie stood up and searched for the boy who had been floating around. If he was hurt, she was the closest thing that they had to a doctor. Sophie had been training to be one before she was arrested for knowing that the Ark was running out of air.

The boy had stood up and was now brushing off his shirt.

“You shouldn’t have done that. You could have died.”

He shrugged. “So what? When they sent us down here they basically sentenced us to death.”

A boy yelled something from near the huge door. Everyone’s heads turned to look at him.

A soft voice broke the silence. “Tam?” The girl who had been sitting next to Sophie elbowed her way towards the boy.

The boy’s face lit up and he pulled her into a hug. Sophie vaguely registered them as looking really similar to each other.

“You’re the Songs!” said someone from somewhere behind Sophie, “I’ve heard about you!”

“Yeah,” said the girl, who didn’t look very happy about it.

“Do you wanna be known for something else?” asked the boy.

“Like what?”

“Being the first girl on the ground in a hundred years.”

With that, the boy pressed the red button to open the door. It lowered down, and the girl uncertainly stepped onto it, and then onto the ground.

She stood in the sunlight for a few seconds before yelling, “We’re back!” at the top of her lungs.

Everyone took this as a sign to run out of the ship at once.

Sophie was the last one to leave. She picked up a map on her way out and made her way towards a ridge, where she held the map up and looked between it and the other mountains.

“Why so serious?” asked a boy with messy blond hair and a wrinkled shirt who had snuck up on Sophie.

“That’s Mt. Weather,” Sophie pointed to a mountain on the map, and then to the actual one, “They dropped us on the wrong mountain.”

-

Sophie was not happy to see Wylie. She hadn’t even expected to see him. He was the chancellor’s son, so he must have done something pretty serious to get sent to the ground.

Sophie was busy helping a girl bandage her broken arm when she first saw Wylie. He tried to apologize to her, but she just ignored him and walked away. After all, Wylie was the reason that her dad was dead and that she had been in prison for the past year.

She finished bandaging the girl’s arm. “You should be fine for a couple of days,” Sophie said. The girl smiled and walked away, leaving Sophie alone.

Fitz, a boy who Sophie had seen a couple of times in her Earth Skills class, wandered over to her. “You know where Mt. Weather is, right?”

Sophie nodded. “Yup. It’s just over there.” She tried to point towards it, but it was blocked by a group of trees.

“Great. Can you come with us to get some supplies from there?”

“Sure?”

Fitz led her to a small group that consisted of Dex, the boy who had floated around the ship, Keefe, who seemed to be Fitz’s best friend, and Linh, the girl with a brother.

Sophie unfolded the map and looked at it. “I think we have to go that way.” She pointed towards the forest, and the group set off for Mt. Weather.

They had been walking for thirty minutes before they got to the river. It looked perfectly normal, except there was no way to cross it.

Keefe pointed to a sign across the river that read ‘Mount Weather’ in large letters. “Look!”

Everyone turned to look at what he was pointing at.

“How are we supposed to get over?” asked Fitz.

“That’s easy,” Linh said, “We swim.”

She took off her shoes and socks and started to get in.

“Linh, no. You can’t even swim, and if you could, we have no idea if the water’s even safe. You could get radiation poisoning,” Sophie said, grabbing her arm and holding her back.

Linh twisted away. “I read somewhere that it’s human instinct to know how to swim, and besides, it doesn’t look too deep and I can see a couple of fish. I’ll be fine.” She jumped into the water.

“See! It’s perfectly fine. I’m not dead yet.”

Something dark slithered just under the surface of the water, behind Linh.

“Behind you!” yelled Keefe.

Linh didn’t pay attention until it was too late. The thing must have grabbed her leg, because she was yanked under the water and started trying to get away. Sophie’s eyes widened.

Keefe jumped in to try and get the thing away from Linh.

It must have worked, because after a few minutes, the splashing stopped and Keefe started pulling Linh towards the shore.

Fitz reached over and helped him pull her back up.

Linh coughed a couple of times and sat up on her elbows. Sophie sighed in relief. They had only been on the ground for a couple of hours, but four people had already died and Sophie would do pretty much anything to keep the rest of them alive.

Dex was standing a couple yards away. He called everyone else over. “We could probably swing across on this vine,” he said, “It looks pretty sturdy.”

“Who wants to go first?” asked Keefe. Nobody answered, so he shrugged and grabbed onto the vine.

Keefe got a running start, then jumped up onto the vine. When he got the the other side he let go and yelled “I made it!”

Sophie smiled at Keefe just before something came out of the woods behind their small group and hit him just under his ribs. Keefe collapsed

It was a spear. There were other people on the ground. 

-

Edaline Foster was in the area of the Ark where they were monitoring the 100 through metal wristbands that tracked things like blood pressure and heart rate.

A few of the many screens had gone dark, showing that someone was dead. Edaline scanned the remaining screens and let out a breath when she found Sophie.

Grady Ruewen, another member of the council, who also happened to not like Edaline very much, appeared behind her. “You’re needed in medical.”

Edaline nodded with a tight smile and walked back towards her job. Elwin, her assistant, went up to her.

“There’s a girl here who wants to know about the quarantine in the prison. Says she wants to see her boyfriend.”

The council hadn’t told people about the mission to the ground and had instead said that there was a virus outbreak in the prison and that nobody could visit anyone.

A girl with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail was standing in the waiting area. She walked up to Edaline.

“What was there an outbreak of?” the girl asked.

“Strep,” Edaline answered, “and no, there is no way for you to visit your boyfriend. It’s very contagious.”

“Really? Then why did I see a guard that was stationed there walking around just a few minutes ago? What did you actually do with my boyfriend?”

Edaline sighed. “You’re in engineering, right?”

The girl nodded. “Youngest zero-g mechanic in the history of the Ark. I’m Biana, by the way.”

“Good. Come with me.”

Biana rolled her eyes and followed Edaline.

Edaline led Biana towards an unused area of the ship, where the escape pods were kept. They hadn’t been used in a hundred years, but Edaline figured that Biana would be able to help her.

“Why did you bring me here? All that’s here is a couple of rusty old pods.”

“Because you’re going to help me get to the ground.”

Biana just looked at her. “Are you crazy? The ground isn’t supposed to be survivable for another 100 years!”

“I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but your boyfriend’s on the ground, along with 99 other criminals. My daughter, Sophie, is with them.”

Biana stared at Edaline for a minute. “You’re serious. Is Dex ok? Is the ground seriously survivable?”

“I don’t know, but right now, this pod is our only chance of getting down there. Can you fix it?”

“Yeah, but I’ll need a lot of new parts. This thing is ancient.”

“I can get the parts. Just worry about getting it to work.”

-

Sophie and Dex were the first to make it back to the clearing where the drop ship had landed. They were followed by Fitz and Linh.

Tam ran up to them. “What happened out there? Where’s Keefe?”

“We were attacked,” Dex said.

A few other people, including Wylie, had wandered over.

“By what?” Fitz asked

“Not by what, by who. Everything we thought we knew about the ground was wrong,” Sophie said.

“What do you mean, everything we know is wrong?” Tam asked.

“There are others out there. People. They threw a spear at Keefe and we don’t know if he’s alive or dead.”

“But we’re still gonna look for him, right?” asked Fitz.

Sophie nodded. “We’ll go tomorrow. Right now, we need to focus on finding food and setting up tents.”

-

Edaline was standing over Chancellor Endal, trying desperately to save his life.

One of the guards had found him laying in a hallway after being shot in the chest, and her and Elwin had been doing surgery on him for the past thirty minutes.

“He needs more blood,” Edaline said.

“We’ve already used more than we’re supposed to-“

“I don’t care!” Edaline said, cutting off Elwin, “We just need to make sure he lives long enough to see his son again.”

Elwin sighed. “Whatever you say.”

After they had finished, Edaline was sitting in the waiting area.

“How is he?” Grady, who was sitting a few feet away, asked.

“I don’t know. I hope he’ll be fine. I don’t want to deal with you as chancellor for any longer than I need to.”

Grady raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. He was the acting chancellor, in case Chancellor Endal died or wasn’t able to be chancellor before the next election.

“We think we’ve found the person who shot him,” Grady said after a few minutes.

“Who?”

“Tam Song,” Grady said, holding out a tablet with a picture of a boy on it, “His sister, Linh Song, was sent the the ground along with the rest of the hundred, and he’s been reported missing from his job as a janitor.”

“So what, you think he shot the chancellor, snuck onto the drop ship, and went to Earth with them?”

Grady nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what we think.”

“You really think that a seventeen year old kid could have pulled that off?”

“Yes.”

Edaline stood up and left the waiting room. 

Biana was tinkering with the control panel of the pod when Edaline walked in. “Finally! I need a few new parts.”

She stopped talking when she saw Edaline’s face. “What happened?”

“Nothing. We just need to get this to work as fast as possible. What parts do you need?”

[patient87]

Insane Dib AU

The idea came from here. I really enjoyed writing this and I would gladly do so again if asked. Thanks @0livec0w for allowing me to play with this.

https://0livec0w.tumblr.com/post/187939842798/i-just-love-the-idea-of-dib-being-like-17-more

-Story 1 Gushers-

“If I bit into you, would you taste like a gusher?”

Zim nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard the sudden question. He turned his head to meet Dib’s terrifying stare, Zim was pretty sure the human had given up on blinking entirely. He was also out of his seat, Zim noticed. Instead, choosing to stand maybe five inches away from Zim’s desk.

“Uh, w-what was that human?” Zim tried his best not to appear nervous despite the sweat that ran down his neck. “I noticed all you tend to eat without choking is sweet things and if nothing but sugar is all you digest and runs through your bloodstream. Does that mean your blood it sweet too?”

If the bell to leave class would just ring that would be great.

“I don’t um know Dib-pig I uh never tried to taste my own blood.”

“I have.”

There was a pause. “Wait do you mean you tried to taste my blood or did you try to taste your own,” Zim asked trying not to look as disgusted as he felt.

Dib’s only response was to smile, revealing the blood pouring from his bitten lip.

With that Zim decided their conversation was over and left without even waiting for the bell to ring.

-Story 2 Video Games-

Gaz learned a while ago that if she ever heard any strange noises coming from Dib’s room, it was in her best interest to ignore it. Seeing her older brother huddled over the neighbors' cat with a pocket knife was enough trauma to her 10-year-old brain.

So whenever she heard pained howls from any of the unfortunate animals Dib had locked in his room, or the terrified screams of the people Dib watched on his illegal chat rooms, Gaz tried to imagine the sounds like the noises the characters made in her video games. 

All she had to do was turn on her Game Slave and play Vampire Piggies and all the sounds would just seem like the terrified wails of the enemies when she killed them. Of course, she could just wear headphones but nothing could block out the noise of a woman being dragged down a hallway and then being fed to dogs or at least, that’s what it sounded like.

But when Gaz turned off the Game Slave to Charge or go to bed. She was alone in her room with those horrible sounds.

-Story 3 Tools-

When Prof. Membrane first lost his surgical tools he nearly went into a frenzy. He’d never misplaced his tools before. He’d search for hours and hours trying everything to find them. Asking around, retracing his steps, etc. But he couldn’t find them anywhere. However, at the end of the day, when Membrane was packing up he found them, lying neatly on the dissecting tray where he had last placed them. The only thing different then was the excessive amount of blood still on them.

Prof. Membrane’s best guess was that Dib had gotten curious with a piece of roadkill. The strange part of that was the blood seemed eerily fresh.

The Professor ended up brushing that off though. He’d pick apart dead animals all the time when he was a kid. Surely this was just his son’s way of getting into real science. So instead of asking Dib about the missing tools, Prof. Membrane simply bought another set and set them out for Dib’s easy access.

Every other day, they would go missing and be back before said day had ended covered in various liquids from blood to puss, to whatever else.

Membrane did not mind cleaning the tools for his son, he most likely didn’t know how to yet and was just too prideful to ask for help.

But that was ok with him. So as he stood by the sink, washing the fresh bodily animal fluids down the drain he couldn’t help but wonder.

How come he hasn’t caught Dib taking the tool or putting them back yet?

-Story 4 Glasses-

It was an accident. It was an accident, It was just an accident.

Gir sat huddled up by a tree in the park next to the swings, his little paws over his head, trying to make himself as small as possible.

He didn’t mean to upset Mary. He just wanted to play.

They were just having fun outside while Master stayed inside. He seemed to do that more often.

They were playing tag in the street when Gir got too excited and lunged at Mary, knocking him down. When Mary’s face hit the pavement, there was an ear-piercing crack. When Mary lifted his head up Gir could see that his glasses were cracked and his lip was bleeding.

The look on his face was enough to scare Gir and make him run through the park until he found a good hiding spot.

He had been sitting here for hours, hoping his Master would come and stop Mary from hurting him. 

He could hear footsteps in the distance.

Was it Master or Mary?

Against his better judgment, Gir crawled out of his hiding spot and peered around the tree and was face to face with a pair of cracked lenses and a sick smile.

“You’re it.”

-Story 5 Playmate-

“You weren’t supposed to tell.” Was all Dib could utter as he sat cross-legged in the dirt, knife in hand. He was picking the dirt out from under his fingers.

“You promised you wouldn’t tell.” He looked down at the 6-foot deep hole before him.

In the hole was a big glass box exactly 84 inches long by 28 inches wide by 23 inches tall. Inside said box as the young ginger boy, Keef.

Keef was currently shaking like a leaf inside his glass prison. It would have been cheaper to have the coffin be made out of wood. But this way was better because Dib got to watch him scream.

“I didn’t tell him I swear!” Keef cried banging his fist on the roof of his death bed.

“Really? You didn’t tell Zim? Your cute companion? Your best buddy? Your… friend?” Dib tilted his head and cracked his neck in the process of saying, friend.

“No, I didn’t! We’re pals, remember?” Keef gave Dib a look of hope.

“You know what Keef? When you came to me, saying you wanted to know what I was planning for Zim, I thought you were going to try an stop me. But when you convinced me that you actually wanted in! I believed you!” Dib cracked out laughing. Keef suddenly didn’t look so hopeful anymore.

“I showed you my secret room, you remember it right? The one with all the pictures of Zim? Yeah, that one. The way you looked in that room was enough for me. I don’t care if you haven’t told Zim Keef. I just know you WILL and I can’t have that.”

Dib stood up and instantly Keef screamed. “NO! No no no please Dib! Pals don’t bury each other alive!”

“Oh don’t you worry I won’t.”

The glass box had another feature to it, a hose that was welded to the inside and currently Keef’s only air supply.

“I mean, that WAS my first thought until I realized you would either break out or suffocate and that’s not nearly as fun. So I thought what would be better than suffocation and then I remembered.” Dib walked away from Keef’s field of vision with the other end of the hose.

Without a warning, water flooded into the glass tomb.

Keef screamed and doubled his efforts in trying to break the glass. 

Above him stood Dib. He was currently smiling down at him, his glasses crooked and cracked.

It took less than 5 minutes for his box to fill and Keef could only hold his breath for so long. As the bubbles escaped his mouth he could feel the water pour in, it was so painful until he lost consciousness and drowned. Once it was evident Keef wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, Dib turned off the water and unplugged the hose. He tossed it into the ground with Keef and grabbed his shovel.

As he began to lift up the disturbed dirt and drop it into the hole he hummed.

“For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellooow. Which nobody can deny…”

[alaydabug2]

Tag list: @sparklenarniawizard @imobsessed123 @thoughtlescat @ilikebookssomuch

Broken Heart/Broken Mind

Chapter Forty-six

(Human AU)

Sophie and Keefe met in the children's hospital when they were little. Because of how long they were confined to the four walls of the hospital, they became very close during their stay.

As the years pass, they wind up being in the same classroom together due to their physical conditions. This makes their bond deepen.

But are they able to handle when life gets tough, throwing problems and complications their way?

Sophie took a sip of her milkshake and hooked her arm through Keefe's. They were walking around the mall together going window shopping.

Passing by one of the stores, something caught her eye. She paused and tapped Keefe on the shoulder. He turned around to face her.

"What is it?" He asked.

Sophie ponted to a corner between two stores. "Does he look scared?"

It was a small little boy standing in a corner. He couldn't have been any older than four. He was cowarded against a wall.

"He does," he murmured.

They went up and approached the child. He whimpered and tried to shuffle further into the shadows.

"Hey, it's ok," Sophie whispered. "We're just trying to help you. Are you lost?"

The little boy nodded. Keefe crouched in front of him to be eye level. "What's your name?"

He looked keefe up and down for a moment before his barely audible voice said, "Benji."

"Benji," he repeated. "Do you know where you remember seeing your mommy or daddy last?"

Benji sniffled. "We were in a crowd, and I accidentally let go of my mommy's hand. I couldn't find her after that."

"Did you wander far from where you lost her?" Sophie asked.

He shook his head

"Here," Keefe held out his hand. "She shouldn't be too hard to find."

Benji took it, letting him start to lead him out of the shadowy corner.

"Which way was she heading?" Sophie prompted. He pointed to the left. "Ok, great. We'll head that way."

As they entered a congested part of the walkway, Keefe said to Benji, "Squeeze my hand tight so we don't lose you."

Sophie saw the boy's tiny hand grip extremely tight on to Keefe's. She found it adorable with the way he was so gentle with interacting with Benji. So much so, you could've thought he was a big brother.

She went ahead to the other side to grab Benji's other hand. His grip locked onto hers so as not to get separated.

After searching up and down that section of the mall, they went ahead to a different wing. No sign of his mother.

They headed up to an employee and explained the situation. She called over the intercom that the Benji was by one of the kiosks, and his mother could come find him there.

Several minutes later, a woman came sprinting up to them. Benji jumped up and ran over to her.

"Mommy!" He exclaimed.

The woman hugged him. "Ohhh, my baby," she cooed. "I was so worried."

She glanced up to find Sophie and Keefe getting up from their seats.

"Where did you two find him?" She asked, shaking their hands.

"He was over by the Barns and Nobel and the American Eagle," Sophie supplied.

"Thank you so much for helping him find me."

"Of course," Keefe told her. "It was no issue."

With that, the two of them said their goodbyes to Benji. Him and his mom, now reunited, turned towards the mall exit.

Sophie pecked Keefe on the cheek and pointed to one of the stores. They went ahead and continued their shopping.

[shatteredsisters-blog]

Chapters: 5/? Fandom: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger, KOTLC Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Keefe Sencen, Tam Song, Linh Song, Fitz Vacker, Biana Vacker, Sophie Foster, Dex Dizznee Additional Tags: Kidnapped, Missing, kinda mean, i feel bad doing this to keefe oops, Angst Summary:

How broken do you have to be before you’re shattered?

Keefe Sencen has been taken. Snatched from what was meant to be a prank, he struggles to find his way home. The question is, where is home?

Tam Song is cracking. He’s the cause of this, or so he believes. He’s convinced he’s the reason Keefe is suffering, and it’s awakening feelings he’s so desperately shut in the depths of his mind.

Sophie Foster is panicking. One of her best friends is missing and his blood has been splattered. She wonders, what would happen if there is no blood left by the time she finds him?  

Time is ticking. Hour by hour, there’s a chance Keefe will never come back, and the gang is scrambling to crack the clues and ominous hints left by the mysterious thieves.

Chapter 5 beneath the cut.

Chapter 5: 48 Hours

Two days.

Two days since Keefe had gone missing.

48 hours of tugging out eyelashes, 48 hours of pulling at hair, 48 hours of sobbing and not sleeping. 48 hours of Tam repeatedly apologizing. 48 hours of searching for anything that could bring him back.

Sophie absently stared at the clock, watching the minute shift up one.

2881 minutes.

Sophie didn’t have a word to describe how she felt. She couldn’t explain the feeling. But it was like…

Like being numb.

Numb like crying for hours and then stopping and staring at the wall with no thoughts in her brain.

It's the kind of numb that eats at your soul and threatens to devour it whole. The kind that damages a person. A little too much sometimes. The kind that leaves a soul broken, with millions of cracks fracturing it, waiting to shatter. It felt like the weight of the world falling on her shoulders, pushing on her and threatening to bury her in the dirt.

She gathered up the strength she had left and willed herself to stand. An ache in her body became apparent, and all she wanted to do was trudge up the stairs to her giant bedroom and flop onto and not wake up until it was all over. But she’d awaken. And when she did, she’d unleash her power and find her friend.

Keefe probably doesn’t have a cloud bed right now, was the last that echoed in her brain before darkness claimed her.

Heavy.

It was so, so, so heavy, that guilt was.

Pulling him down.

Drowning him.

His fault. His fault. His fault. All. His. Fault.

No matter how many times Dex told Tam it wasn’t his fault, no matter how many times Sophie hugged him, no matter how many times Linh told him to stop feeling guilty, he knew that they all blamed him. Easy enough. He’s the reason Keefe was taken. He might as well handed Keefe over to this messed up person who took him on a platter.

All he had wanted to do was… Tam couldn’t quite figure out what he wanted.

Did he want to impress Keefe?

Keefe? The one and only boy who despised of him? Who hated Tam from the depths of his heart? Who would never love him?

He saw in their eyes that his “friends” blamed him. He saw it in the way Fitz glared at him. In the way Linh avoided him. He saw the way that Biana wouldn’t speak to him.

The cracks were forming in his mind and he fought to stop them. No matter how long it took, no matter what he had to sacrifice, he’d find Keefe.

Tam would make this right again.

Linh was angry. Angry at the peo

ple who took Keefe, angry at the Council for not helping more, angry at whatever messed up person controlling fate allowed this to happen. And deep down, a tiny part of her that she resented, was angry at Tam for putting him in the position to be taken. And she was angry at herself. For being so angry.

She shut herself in her room, searching through maps and pendant feed trying to find anything.

Keefe was out there somewhere.

And she’d find him.

She’d save him.

Anxiety coursed through Dex. This happened to him and Sophie. And now it’d happen to Keefe. But… what if it was worse for him? What was going to happen?

Some nights, he’d wake up in cold sweat, not completely sure if he was safe to move. Not completely sure that he was home, safe and sound. He would lay there, terrified and frozen until finally, finally, the sun slowly, slowly but surely rose. But he still wouldn’t move until someone came.

He wrung his hands together, drumming them on the desk he sat at, covered in technopathy books and half-built gadgets that he’d likely never finish. His hands shook and his stomach rolled, but he’d never tell anyone. Never tell Sophie. Never tell his parents.

Because as far as everybody else knew, or thought, he was okay.

But he wasn’t okay.

Because he was taken too and when Keefe comes back maybe he’d tell him. Maybe he’d be able to help him through the inevitable, weighing trauma that he was still suffering.

So he took some pens and started to draw out a possible map of where they could have gone. No light signature to trace, no DNA to match, nothing.

He scribbled out calculations, drawing circles around the possible area.

Whoever took Keefe was going to be very, very, very sorry.

It echoed in her brain. Over and over again. Gone. He was gone. Missing. Kidnapped. Taken. Stolen. Grabbed. Using different words wouldn’t change anything because Keefe was not here. Biana wiped off the smeared makeup, leaving her skin bare.

She looked at herself in the reflection.

Sure, her eyes were red and puffy, her face was stained from crying, and her nose looked gross. Sure, her brown hair was tangled and going every direction. Sure, there was a purple so deep under her eyes that it could have been bruises. Sure, she’d not spoken a word to anyone, not even her best friends for what felt like so, so, long, but in her eyes, her bright, teal blue eyes, was anger. Determination.

A determination to fight for Keefe. To hunt down the culprit and make them pay. She’d been hurt by what was possibly these very same people who took him, him, away from her. She would make them pay so much that they would be covered in the same scars that still covered her pale skin.

So she scrubbed her skin clean. So she painted red upon her lips. The color of blood. The color of war. She was going to fight for her friend for as long as it took.

And she would not lose.

Fitz punched the wall again, hard. Very hard.

Keefe. Keefe Sencen. Keefe Sencen his best friend. Keefe Sencen, the boy who sacrificed every fiber in his body to help their friends. Keefe Sencen, the boy who broke all the rules, told all the lies, made all of the big, reckless moves for a better future. Keefe Sencen, the idiot.

But this made him mad. Mad that someone would take his best friend. Mad that someone could harm the one person who was better than everyone else in every way. It made his mad that someone could dare to touch even a single lock of his hair and think they could get away with it.

So he punched the wall. He punched it hard. He shattered his bones, only to take a tissue regenerator and punch the wall again. He screamed and screamed and screamed. He screamed until he had no more breath left. Should he just punch himself while he was at it? Should he stop taking the tissue regenerator? Nothing mattered anymore anyway, now that everyone was being taken. Yes, they usually had somehow made it back, but what if Keefe didn’t?

Keefe.

The name brought him back to reality. If he left the world, Keefe wouldn’t even have a chance at getting back.

So he punched the wall again. Took tissue regenerator. Screamed until he had no breath left. Punched the wall. Tissue regenerator. Screamed. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Until he had no energy left. So he practically inhaled the plate of mashed Carnissa root that Edaline had evidently conjured up for him. No one wanted to disturb him. Then, back at it. He couldn’t stop He couldn’t.

He couldn’t punch those who had taken him, but he could harm the one who landed Keefe in this situation in the first place.

He could punch Tam Song.

He could punch him until there was more of his blood on the ground than in his body. He could punch him until the raging storm his body contained escaped and unleashed its freezing storms on Tam.

That traitor.

It swirled in his chest. It was an angry beast under his skin. It was what made his vision red.

And he punched the wall again. Harder.  

[ao3feed-kotlc]

Cafe Confusion

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/32FHkgH

by Elvin_PJO_wizard

Sophie, Dex, Keefe, Ro, and Sandor are walking through Long Island in search of clues from the Neverseen when something unexpected happens...

Words: 1312, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Sophie Foster (Keeper of the Lost Cities), Dex Dizznee, Keefe Sencen, Sandor (Keeper of the Lost Cities), Romhilda (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson

Additional Tags: Oneshot, im procrastinating, i should be studying

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/32FHkgH

[lovelacemagazine]

Breaking Bonds

"The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of It's Parts".

                                 - Aristotle

The "DMV" is a term that has been around seemingly for all of existence, a designation that has withstood the test of time as a terminology linking D.C., Maryland, and Virginia together into one, completely identifiable entity. For the most part, it’s success - or at the very least, it’s efficiency - cannot be argued; as the term has become household in various media, news outlets, and beyond. For better or worse, via choice or unwillingly, residents of these 3 areas have been bound together by those outside our walls, and in turn, WE have become a collective, ensuring that D.C., Maryland, and Virginia all receive our proper due in whatever field we so choose - all except one:

Music.

Recently, an article was posted by a "music-promotion publication" as it referred to itself as (I won't name the article, but if you're reading this then you probably know the one) which "ranked the Top 20 Rappers from the DMV/Baltimore area" (why Baltimore is consistently given a pass to differentiate/separate itself from the DMV label yet other prominent cities within range aren't is anyone's guess, but that's a topic for another day) complete with name, photo, and origin of said-MC's. Without getting too deep into specifics on 'who belongs where'; as everyone feels strongly on different artists rankings and always feels someone should be higher/lower - I made my way down the list, cringing as I saw some of the names I'd never heard of placed above ESTABLISHED acts such as Rico Nasty, Fat Trel, and Chaz French, just to name a few. There were several other glaring flaws with the list, such as the absence of Maryland native Logic, who arguably had the hottest 2017 of any artist from the DMV, after his third studio album "Everybody" debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and releasing the double-platinum certified single "1-800-273-8255" which he performed to massive critical acclaim at the MTV Video Awards, and Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge, better known as IDK who has been making TREMENDOUS waves over the last year, working with the likes of Chief Keef, Swizz Beatz, and MF Doom on his debut studio album 'IWasVeryBad' released last month, and even securing a sponsorship with Adult Swim. However, no flaw in the article was as evident as the complete and total absence of ANY Virginia artists, rapper or otherwise, on the list in question. After rechecking, then re-rechecking to ensure my vision wasn't failing me, I struggled to find any reason why VA as a whole would be completely excluded from a publication claiming to be invested in new & up-and-coming artists. A blog with a grudge maybe? A writer with a personal bias, perhaps? These 2 excuses, for lack of a better term, didn't seem far-fetched, if minor - and thus, I finally began to see the bigger picture, and realize what Virginia creatives have been telling me from the start, was, in fact, completely true.

Virginia is the birthplace of musical legends. Not just one-hit smash wonders, or "here today, gone tomorrow" acts - LEGENDS. We often speak of Pharrell, Missy Elliott, Chris Brown, Clipse, etc. (who have all changed the very landscape of their respective genres of music during their era. This simply cannot be argued) but too often it goes understated or completely ignored just how deep the music culture in VA runs. Blues & Jazz? I give you Ella Fitzgerald, Robert Cray, and Ruth Brown; 19 Grammy Awards between them, including a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' Grammy for Fitzgerald in 1967. Rock and Heavy Metal? I present to you The Dave Matthews Band. 6 consecutive #1 albums. Jason Mraz. 'We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things' debuted at #3 on Billboard and the lead single, 'I'm Yours' spent a then-record breaking 76 weeks on the charts. Hell, we could even go country and I'd give you The Carter Family, aptly known as "The First Family of Country Music" due to the fact they were the first of the genre to experience global success and become international stars.

With so much diversity and so many accolades under Virginia's belt, it boggles my mind how one could just omit VA from ANY list, spotlighting music of ANY genre when highlighting the so-called DMV. Our culture has been rooted in music since before anyone reading this was even conceived, yet it's obvious that somehow, absurdly, astonishingly, and all too often, mockingly so, that Virginia has been pegged as the weak link in the chain that is DMV music. Rather than take to Twitter and voice my opinion however - which I offer all of you free reign to do after reading my thoughts in full - I decided to highlight 5 artists EXCLUSIVELY from VA who prove that our area hasn't lost a step musically - if anything, they've pushed our soundscape even further. Whether these 5 break the barrier that Virginia has, in my opinion, been unfairly placed in remains to be seen, but shedding light is the first step to any compromise, not solely critique. Therefore, without further ado, let's begin.

1. D.R.A.M.

Origin: Hampton, Virginia

The first feature on this list should come as the most obvious. Other than Logic, who admittedly had to release several mixtapes before receiving major buzz outside his home state, no other artist in recent memory from the DMV has reached the level of stardom that D.R.A.M. has managed to achieve. An acronym for "Does Real Ass Music", D.R.A.M. went from hometown hero from Hampton, Virginia to global sensation virtually overnight; starting in 2015 with the release of "Cha-Cha'. Drawing inspiration from Latin music as well as the dance of the same name, Cha-Cha fell off the radar after Drake released the viral sensation "Hotline Bling" shortly thereafter, which became the latter's first #1 hit on the Billboard 200 and bore a suspicious similarity to 'Cha-Cha' (a fact which D.R.A.M. and Drake both addressed in separate interviews). Not to be deterred, D.R.A.M. would experience massive exposure and success once again after teaming with Lil' Yachty and delivering the smash-record "Broccoli", which peaked at #5 on the charts, becoming the first Top 5 single of both artists careers and going quintuple-platinum in the process. His debut album, 'Big Baby D.R.A.M.', featured 'Broccoli' as its' lead single, as well as the popular singles 'Cash Machine' and 'Cute'. Pairing soul with infectious hooks, colorful delivery, and unmatched energy, D.R.A.M. is undoubtedly the crown jewel of Virginia at the moment, and if 2017 is any indication, no one will be snatching his crown anytime soon. Securing a global tour alongside Kendrick Lamar and working with legends such as The Gorillaz and Erykah Badu, D.R.A.M. is a leader of Virginia's new wave of up-tempo sound and melody of blues, evidenced by artists like Sunny & Gabe (who linked with Big Baby himself to give the world the ULTRA-late night vibe 'I Luv It') and Opal to name a couple. After announcing his sophomore album, scheduled for release in 2018, the sky is truly the limit for whatever D.R.A.M. aims to achieve throughout his already shining career.

💝 Recommends: "Throw It Around"

2. Kali Uchis

Origin: Alexandria, Virginia

Kali Uchis first broke onto the scene in 2014, collaborating with Snoop Dogg on the song "On Edge" from his mixtape 'That's My Work 3'. The following year, she  released her debut studio project, a 9-track EP titled 'Por Vida' which featured production from Kaytranada, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Diplo, among others. That same year, Uchis embarked on her first tour with Leon Bridges, and less than 2 years later, was on tour again - except this time she was the headliner. A frequent collaborator of Tyler The Creator, Kali's dreamlike aesthetics and atmospheric songwriting set a tone like very few others before her, evidenced on songs/videos like 'Loner' and 'Know What I Want'. Lana Del Ray took notice of this, and enlisted her as an opening act on her upcoming "LA to The Moon" world tour to support the formers impending debut studio album, due for arrival in early 2018.

💝 Recommends: "Rush" 

3. Lil’ Tracy

Origin: Virginia Beach, VA

Few took notice of 'Lil Tracy, born Jazz Butler in Virginia Beach, when he first began distributing music several years prior. Written off as merely another "emo-SoundCloud rapper", it wasn't until friend and close associate Lil’ Peep (along with Horse Head, Cold Hart, and Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, members of the collective GOTHBOICLIQUE which Tracy himself is a part of) began making waves that people started actually paying attention to his music. In the same, yet somehow abhorrently different view that Lil Uzi Vert defines himself as a rockstar, Tracy affirmatively labels himself as a 'popstar' - a claim he stood by adamantly enough to name his most recent effort 'Life of A Popstar', which featured the likes of Duwap Kaine and Smokepurpp. Weaving different instruments through all types of genres, blending it together with a brooding sound all his own, Tracy has yet to scratch the surface of the heights he could potentially reach once he manages to rid himself of the "only on SoundCloud" tag that unfamiliar listeners and critics have wrongly tacked upon him.

💝 Recommends: "Pictures" 

4. Treez Lowkey

Origin: Newport News, VA

Search throughout all of Virginia, or all of the DMV for that matter, and you would be hard-pressed to find an artist on a bigger hot-streak than Treez Lowkey. After the release of the wildly popular singles 'D.O.A.', 'Joyride', and 'Pay Attention' in 2016, Treez followed through with the same lethal energy, focus, and execution that is quickly becoming synonymous with his music in 2017. No-nonsense bars and a take-no-prisoners approach to songwriting opened the door for the young MC to show off his wider-varied skill set, displayed on club jams like 'Not At All' (which you've undoubtedly heard at some DMV function or another). Treez has managed to make quite a name for himself over the past year, yet a prime focus of his is keeping the focus on home, working with on-the-rise VA acts like Bucky Malone and Bobby Blaze on the summer anthem 'Wi$hlist'. Racking up credentials from big-time publications 'Elevator' and 'The Fader' just to name a few, it remains to be seen just how far Treez can carry the ball for VA - but history has shown it would be unwise to bet against him. Lowkey? Anything but.

💝 Recommends: "No Hook" 

5. Babeo Baggins

Origin: Leesburg, VA

Rounding out our top 5 of VA artists is 22 year old Aspen Eray, better known as Babeo Baggins, who along with the members of Barf Troop (a collective of cisgender artists who liken themselves as a "different type" of Odd Future, all identifiable by the 'babe' outline in their monikers) identifies herself as a "gender-fluid, non-binary person". Seriously. You can ask her yourself. Straight out of Leesburg, VA, Baggins rose from working retail at Urban Outfitters to a feature with Drake, and not just a feature - but the icon being photographed wearing a customary Barf Troop shirt. One of the leading, most innovative artists of the 'Tumblr era', Babeo's focus on spreading self-empowerment and pledging equal respect for men AND women through her music has made her a cult phenomenon. Barf Troop, as well as many of her followers and supporters, have commented on their support system as well as impact through the many passageways of social media, no doubt making Baggins - a great already in her own right, completely unrestricted in her way of thinking and unhinged in her musical approach - even more of a staple of a culture this new generation should strive for.

💝 Recommends: "BreakBeast" 

So, there you have it. Five Virginia artists who I believe have made enough of a mark for VA to not be simply written off when it comes to 'DMV' music. Think I was wrong, or overlooked anyone else when creating this list? Contact Lovelace Magazine and send us your thoughts!! We welcome any and all outside opinions. Till then, one love, for the culture.

-

Written by Vin Atlas