#so sayeth; ic

[hxly-fxther]

It wasn’t something Father would have expected, not at all. To think Adam would have gone so far just to end all of this here and now? It was something that had happened once before. His mind was too jarred to remember clearly what had happened.

He felt the wings of his beloved around him, almost instantly. The man would try to lift an arm but found it to be gone, his chest had taken considerable damage was well and poking out from the fleshy, bloodless interior was… A familiar looking crystal blue sphere that was shared among the harbingers and even Angela. It was impressive that boy was able to do so much damage, even with the aid of Angela’s wings.

“Such… A beautiful thing.” The man recoils. “A soul is.” He clarifies and raises up a hand “The most selfish Soul, used in a selfless act.” Residue from that soul that had just exploded from all around them gathered slowly in his hands, forming its shape once more. “I am sorry, dear.” Was he talking to Angela or was he talking to Adam? It was hard to tell.

“This is not the story I had envisioned.” The being looks at Angela now and grins weakly. “I think it is about time, dear Adam gets his own prize. Don’t you think? Such a selfless act deserves a reward. In time. For now…”

A snap of his fingers, that soul lifts and the body it once inhabited reforms around it. A sleeping Adam lays before them and another snap of his fingers, the man was gone, he would find himself in his room once awoken. There was still yet plans for his Gardner, for now, he will get some time to rest in bed. Hopefully now he would value the life he was given.

Father stands before Adam, his human form, a form in which he could attempt to connect with his son in a way that his creator form couldn’t. Maybe, if Adam saw his father in a way he could relate, then maybe they could resolve this issue.

Tentative steps walking over to the boy, a hand falling to his son’s shoulder. “My son. I cannot bring back your Lute, I am sorry. You have had such major loss in this war, I know it is killing you so so much. You feel alone, abandoned, and this is not the first time you have felt this way.”

The man frowns, inching just a bit closer to the Gardner. “Your purpose was never supposed to be someone to just bully. It is unfortunate that fate has treated you in this way, you deserve happiness, you deserve rest, you deserve Eden and all that came with it.”

Slowly, arms began to hug his son. Wasn’t that all he needed at this point? Just a proper hug? “It is so close to being over, my son. All you need to do is hang in there, just a little longer… You have done so well thus far. Soon you may be able to rest.” A tight hold on the man who he did love so much. If only he had a better fate…

@dick-meister

[hxly-fxther]

Why do you dislike Adam so much? I think all of us were a victim of pur own circumstances, but why is Adam singled out?

“I’ve answered this before so I will make this brief. He does it to himself. Those who seek attention may get the attention they deserve.”

[skelkankaos]

rating fantasy worlds based on how easy it would be to get good iced tea:

elder scrolls: i think that the people of tamriel are psychologically capable of making good iced tea but lack the knowledge or materials. I think you could probably drink some kind of liquid in black marsh and be like "yeah close enough" 4/10

forgotten realms: i think that someone can and will cast a spell and accidentally teleport a can of Brisk into faerun. 10/10

ethuveraz: you'd ask for iced tea and they'll put some ice in some tea and then call you an interesting sounding slur about it 1/10

middle earth: I JUST KNOW IN MY HEART HOBBITS WILL INVENT CORN SYRUP AND CITRIC ACID... give them time 8/10

dragon age: sorry i don't remember anything about this game except for how hot zevran is can someone else finish the post ?/10

[townofcadence]

❝ i see the ice cream truck! ❞ (for Artair from Holly... she's totally forgotten she's a ghost and can't eat ice cream 😅)

Summertime Starters

Even he can hear the telltale song playing in the distance. "Oh shit! It's too fucking hot out, we at least HAVE to see if they got choco-tacos! Oh-- or a pushpop sounds SO good." Now he's rushing to get there before it might leave.

[jackoshadows]

I feel like GRRM is stuck on Bran Stark. Bran being hard to write is why, despite being one of the central characters of the books, he only has half the POV chapters of Jon Snow. And why he is unable to finish The Winds of Winter and is doubtful of even finishing by 2025.

As a serial procrastinator, I can sympathize with a tendency to put off the hardest task with excuses, while eagerly completing the easiest first.

It's clear that GRRM loves writing Tyrion and Arya. He has an entire novel's worth of material in Braavos for Arya and I feel like the difficulty will be in editing it and cutting it down to fit into TWoW. Similarly Tyrion is most probably done as well, considering all the mentions of him writing Tyrion chapters in his notablog posts. So he's most likely done with the Tyrion and Arya POV chapters. They are the easiest characters for him to write.

Tyrion being done would mean that the Essos plot is largely dealt with as well considering Dany's POV would intersect with Tyrion's at some point and he can't fully finish Tyrion until Dany's is mostly done as well. In May 2012 he mentioned writing Dany's Essosi chapters.

WINDS OF WINTER. Yes, I’m working on that too. At the moment, I am writing about the Dothraki. More than that, I sayeth not, you know I don’t like to talk about this stuff.  - Daenerys POV (Essos)

In June 2020, he mentioned Barristan and more chapters in the North.

In between tapings, I return to Westeros. Of late I have been visiting with Cersei, Asha, Tyrion, Ser Barristan, and Areo Hotah. I will be dropping back into Braavos next week. - Cersei, Asha (North), Tyrion, Barristan (Essos)

He has also mentioned writing Victarion chapters.

We also know that the two battles - battle of fire in Essos and the battle of ice in the North - is already written and was simply moved from ADwD to TWoW.

With all this being intricately tied together into one giant plot - Stannis Vs Boltons at Winterfell, Theon and Asha with Stannis, the pink letter to Jon, Jeyne being send to the Wall, GRRM writing about how we will be getting 'Direwolves Vs Ramsay's hounds' etc. - means most of this is also done. GRRM has also mentioned writing Melisandre - the only POV at the Wall now that Jon Snow is dead - chapters. Which means the North/Wall is also mostly done.

“I think we’re gonna start out with a big smash with the two enormous  battles,” Martin says (Essos and North).  In addition, Martin says, “We have more deaths, and we have  more betrayals. We have more marriages.” Let the speculation begin. As  he’s noted before, Martin says the Dothraki are coming back into the  story (“in a big way”), and he says “a lot of stuff is happening at The  Wall.” - GRRM

August 2020:

My life is at home, on hold, and I am spending the days in Westeros with my pals Mel and Sam and Vic and Ty. And that girl with no name, over there in Braavos. -  The Wall/Mel, Sam, Victarion, Tyrion, Arya

So there's also Sam/Oldtown/Euron chapters - Sam is another character he loves writing. So that section of the story - possibly Euron's attack on Oldtown seen through Sam and Aeron POV chapters - has also got attention.

What about KL and the Riverlands?

November 2020:

Of late I have been spending a lot of time with theLannisters. Cersei and Tyrion in particular. I’ve also paid a visit to Dorne, and dropped in to Oldtown a time or three. In addition to turning out new chapters, I’ve been revising some old ones (some very old)… including, yes, some stuff I read at cons ages ago, or even posted online as samples. I tweak stuff constantly, and sometimes go beyond tweaking, moving things around, combining chapters, breaking chapters in two, reordering stuff. - Cersei (KL), Tyrion, Sam(Oldtown)

June 2022

WINDS, you say?   Yes, still working.   Finally finished a clutch of Cersei chapters that were giving me fits.   Now I am wrestling with Jaime and Brienne.   The work proceeds, though not as fast as many of you would like. - Cersei(KL) Jaime, Brienne (Riverrun, Lady Stoneheart)

So GRRM has recently (recent for us asoiaf fans lol!) finished Cersei, Jaime and Brienne chapters as well. So that's Essos, the North, the Wall, Oldtown, King's Landing and the Riverlands.

What's missing is Bran and Sansa in the Vale in terms of major POV characters. The Vale may just be an instance of being too isolated and unconnected from the rest of the plot until Littlefinger makes his move or GRRM may find writing LF's plotting a bit hard to tackle.

However, it's Bran that stands out for me in not being mentioned, considering this is the penultimate book and the threat from beyond the Wall has to be a big part of this book.

It has been my intention from the start to gradually bring up the amount of magic in each successive volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, and that will continue. - GRRM

“ And it is important that the individual books refer to the civil wars,  but the series title reminds us constantly that the real issue lies in  the North beyond the Wall. Stannis becomes one of the few characters   fully to understand that, which is why in spite of everything he is a   righteous man, and not just a version of Henry VII, Tiberius or Louis   XI.” - GRRM

From all his interviews here and there, I can think of 3 reasons why the Bran chapters are hard.

This is where a lot of the hard core high fantasy happens. And we know that there's a backstory with Hodor that involves some complex time travel shenanigans - not going to be easy to write for someone in his seventies. Even more complicated in terms of causal loops and temporal paradoxes if it's Bran's consciousness that's doing the time traveling.

Age. GRRM has admitted before that he finds Bran the hardest to write as a disabled little boy. Bran's grown up a couple of years and yet he's still a little boy - Arya's age in AGoT.

Isolation with few fun side characters. GRRM really loves that world building and writing for those tertiary characters surrounding his main character. Arya meeting fun new characters everywhere she goes, her arc in Braavos, Dany in Essos, Jon's colorful and fun side characters, Tyrion traveling through Essos. One reason for why the series blew up from a trilogy into this unfinished mess is because GRRM enjoying writing for the side characters more than the main characters. Brienne got 8 chapters traversing the Riverlands searching for Sansa while Bran languished with 3 chapters in ADwD. Thus far Bran's world is very isolated and disconnected and has the least side characters - Meera, Jojen, Summer, Bloodraven and Coldhands. Of these, only 3 speak.

I think therefore that having written everything that GRRM can of the characters he does enjoy writing and finishing off the political plot points, he has finally turned his attention to Bran Stark. This is hardest part, involves a lot of sticky notes and attention to detail and needs to cover a lot of ground, bringing the Others back into the story in a big way.

I wish him luck. It's not going to be easy to write plots and details that he thought of some 30 years ago but I hope that he gets to finish a decent chunk of Bran chapters so that TWoW can finally be published.

[chthonicgodling]

🍕 🎹 for Eel! :)

Side note, do gods even need to eat? Or is it just for fun? Are there any gods who hate to eat?

[ask game here!] tyyy! FIRST Lemme answer that side question -

Gods DO need to eat but - not really mortal food haha. They all do cause it’s fun and tasty but. The only required dietary needs of the Greek gods are nectar (special glowing liquid) and ambrosia (special glowing solid), it tastes better than anything you could ever imagine (sayeth Tory and Jesse, former mortals) and keeps gods healthy! if they dont eat this regularly they WILL become sick and weak! Sooo Mortal food is just fun optional bonus food but,,, it’s tastes fine, plus lots of people in the palace like to cook, plus its easier to feed lots of people with like, real food, plus having wide variety is fun…. They just mix ambrosia into everything they eat :) daemons like Epi and Ker also prefer eating 💞human flesh💞 (and anyone who hates to eat - well KER does not eat mortal food unless you mean food that is made out of mortals,,)

The Norse gods - are similar, though instead of nectar/ambrosia, the only crucial part of their god diet are the Apples of Idunn, which prevent illness too but also prevent aging! (The Greek gods don’t age past a certain point - norse gods CAN grow indefinitely old… IF.)

lmfao I think ambrosia is completely flavorless to Loki & any of the Norse gods. Loki imports an infinite supply of these from…. ?:) don’t worry about it:) and also has always taken care to make sure all his kids, Norse/Greek pantheon blended babies as they are, just in case are fed plenty of appy slices and applesauce as babies so—

Anywayyy back to my favorite oc lmfao

🍕 - What is Loki’s favorite food?

with all of the above being said. Loki had never really bothered to investigate ✨Midgardian cuisine✨ prior to moving into the palace although yknow, Norse Viking Prince background, staple diet of like. infinite meat and mead.

…long story short the palace introduced him to ice cream 🥺

He’s very fond of anything frozen, particularly ice pops and frozen fruit. no need to ask why 💙 shhh

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

primarily Loki loves to read, he’s got an extensive library in his bedroom, all sorts of literature from all sorts of realms and all sorts of ancient creepy spellbooks from every dark corner of the universe! Always withdrawn and cagey from everyone else lmao,while the rest of the palace is piled on top of each other on the couch platonically snuggling Loki’s often shut up in his bedroom with books until someone peels him out or the kids come to play with him — note Loki is withdrawn and cagey BUT NEVER EVER EVER WITH HIS CHILDREN and will ALWAYS bend over backwards to goof off and play with them :)

He likes doing little academia things like researching and note taking like upon first coming to Elysium first task at hand was an EXTENSIVE deep dive into the details of Greek mythology and mapping out the entire new pantheon of which he now found himself residing. Heeeee also likes writing and journaling and has kept infinite journals through basically his whole life - except for the few brief periods when he was out of his mind trying to take over a planet - those journals are all heavily encrypted, written in invisible runes, and will also explode if they’re opened for too long by anyone who’s not him. I don’t even think anyone KNOWS he keeps journals they are incredibly well hidden obviously

….finally I would also like to state that Deliberately Pushing Other People’s Buttons is a genuine hobby of Loki’s, as well as mild tricks and pranks and encouraging chaos and shenanigans amongst his gaggle of children 😇😇

thank you for the asks!!!!

[saints-who-never-existed]

I’ve seen a few other fictional stories based the Franklin Expedition besides The Terror (like Kristina Gehrmann’s Icebound and a video game I can’t remember the name of) and those seem to have a common plot point of members of the expedition going on a mutiny. Was there any evidence that a mutiny occurred for the real Franklin Expedition or is that usually added to the stories to make it more dramatic? Also, do you think that the mutiny in The Terror was justified in any way?

Mutiny and discontent were always possibilities under such harsh conditions. That's largely why the Marines were aboard - to quell any negativity should it arise. And it's why they had provisioned so many forms of entertainment too - plays and benjos and books and hand organs blasting out the tunes all do wonders to keep men's minds and bodies occupied.

But no, to the best of my limited knowledge, there's no 100% concrete evidence that a mutiny took place on the Franklin Expedition.

What potential evidence does exist relates mainly to the ships themselves.

A whaleboat was found by would-be rescuers, for example, with a variety of items in it, including two skeletons. Most importantly though, it was found facing northward, back in the direction of Terror and Erebus. So it may be that some of the men mutinied and split off from the main group, determined to go back to the perceived safety of the ships rather than proceed south. But it may also have been more innocent than that - maybe leads had started to open up and that boat represented a party sent back by command to try to re-man the ships, or it may be that they were some of the last survivors who saw no other choice than to try and return.

There's also potential evidence in the fact that Erebus and Terror were both found so far away from their last known locations frozen in to the north of King William Island. Again, this supports the possibility that they were re-manned at some point, and that men may have split off deliberately from the main group in order to do so. But again, it's impossible to say yet whether something like that did happen, let alone that it happened as the result of mutiny or malice. It's entirely possible, if not more likely, that the ships drifted on their own when the ice finally started to break up. Until there's further exploration of the wrecks, we don't know and even then, we might never know.

Interestingly, there is one other piece of evidence that's been interpreted before perhaps not as full-blown mutiny but at least of discontent and that's the rather ominous nature of the inscriptions on the graves at Beechey Island. Death in the ranks could certainly have exacerbated the existing misery and fear among the men in the dark of winter, and some have interpreted the inscriptions as meant to reassert discipline and authority.

Hartnell's read "Thus sayeth the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways"...

-

In answer to your final question, I don't think mutiny either on-screen or real life would be justified necessarily but I do think it understandable. I can perfectly understand why even a normal seaman, not even one already under Hickey's sway, would feel tremendous discontentment not just in all the hardships they were being expected to endure but in the fact that information was purposefully kept from them by command (even if for good reason). And if anything, the idea of it in real life is even more understandable. What we see in the show is bad enough but at the end of the day, it's only a tiny fraction of the horror and carnage that the real men of the Franklin Expedition would have endured. I don't think anyone could blame them, in their abject terror and desperation, for clutching at any straw for survival, even if they had to mutiny and rebel in order to do the clutching.

[hxly-fxther]

“It is just so silly, of all the things to create why something so… mortally comforting? They were never even humans to begin with, save for Cain. Is there an innate comfort of a diner that captivates even the oldest of souls? Curious…”

@hxly-fxther replied to your post “Funniest inside jokes from the UC event!”:

“Of all places to create…”

"Don't look at me, I never had a say in that."

[hxly-fxther]

@flowercrxwned The time has come.

Father appears in Purgatory, he stands and waits for the guardian. Their face off they had done so many times before in other cycles. No matter whose role was to be the Guardian, everything ended up the same. Adam bends a knee, Lilith summons horrors that serve her and only her, like a queen calling upon servants…. And then there’s Eve. A wild card. He was so interested on what she had in store for him this time.

Once she appears, he keeps his grin. “Dear, Eve. This is your last chance to back down. But… I have a feeling you won’t allow yourself to do so. We both know how this will end.”

The last obstacle, one last push away from his plans being realized. There is a lesson to be learned here and he fully intends to teach.

[warlockeye]

I am allowed to be at least a little angry, right? that I'm the one who always has to be good and patient and listen, that I'm the one who's always on thin ice, without a break, ever, becaaaaause, idk, I'm always in the wrong, even if I objectively know what I am talking about, so sayeth the rulebook of all my relationships and interactions.

Why am I the one who always has to change and consider or reconsider and soften, and why is correcting someone's mis- or uninformed take considered to be hostile and hateful

Why do I always have to keep my grievances to myself, why does everyone think that I fucking hate them or think little of them because I correct them on something

[hxly-fxther]

The white void. After the explosion, there was nothing. Just back to the white it was created to be. The creator appeared. And he would see her soul, floating there, alone, invisible to everyone but the Creator.

His four eyes shut, a silent, solemn moment for the Key, now returned to the soul that had been housed within her. Such a beautiful, understating soul.

His hand reaches out, lightly taking that soul into his hand. It is warm, fuzzy even. A small smile grows on the beings lips, one of a parent taking its child into a hug.

“Welcome home, dear key. Time for you to rest now.” He would open that cloak and escort that soul inside where it would disappear. Now the Creator was alone in this place…. And just for her. Charlie. His hand would wave and an endless rainbow would appear. Permanently inside of this place. She deserved one last wish…

After a moment. Father was gone. As if never there.

As Charlie struggled to hold the beast down, she noticed its dark, leathery skin crackling as its form expanded. No! She had to hold on. Keep it in place. She can't let it do more damage.

She can't let it hurt more people.

Too many innocents have been hurt already.

Charlie just had to hang on long enough for the beast to be out of everyone's way.

There was a flash and for a brief moment, Charlie thought it was too late, but she found herself in a room full of white expanse. Ah. So this must be the white room that her parents told her about that imprisoned Adam. If there wasn't a hulking beast looming above her that seemed to be exploding in slow motion, maybe it could have been peaceful.

Well, good thing she talked to Emily before all of this went down. Passed her message along for Heaven to hear, told her her idea about opening portals. All that Charlie could do now was hope that it all worked. That all of this wasn't for nothing. That her parents would forgive her for being reckless one last time.

Seeing the purple light spill into the void, Charlie thought to herself how pretty this place would be with a real rainbow in it. Sure it would defeat the purpose of it all.

But wouldn't it be nice?

Then there was nothing.

@hxly-fxther

[heliinx]

“ Mouth-breeding stupid. Why-why let someone put their fangs near your genitals? Foolish. Imbecile-moron behavior. At least de-fang them first-first.”

[unintentionaloracle]

Watching Sk8 for me rn is like "damn so this is what it was like for the Yuri On Ice fans who watched it before episode 7 dropped felt."

[weroyals]

                       anonymous           /           hey safalin, how many kids do you want?

                              ❝  ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒  Oh,      goodness    .    .    .      I    think    that    three    would    be    best.    Close  in  age,    so  they  all  know  each  other  well.      &    that  way,    they  each  have  two  siblings  that  can  be  there  for  them.    It’s  the  perfect  number  for  me  to  dote  on  each  of  them    &    still  have  a  nice  big  family  !!  ❞

[hxly-fxther]

There are no words that can describe the pain and tired expression that simply leave the Angel of Justice’s eyes in these moments. The mere fact that he has been able to keep himself together, each and every Cycle, over and over is a testament to who he is. Which is why this is so painful to see his son in such dire position.

Maybe it was due to the Harbingers that he had been able to compose himself. One instance of permanence that he would always be able to look forward to when a Cycle ends. Maybe that was why they all had become a family. Whatever it was…. it clearly kept him going.

This Cycle however, everything was different. There were many repetitive events that have happened in other Cycles and yet there were so many different answers to others, new solutions, new bonds, new chances. Even Father himself could feel it.

The words that leave Michael’s lips causes Fathers very being to drop to his feet in anguish. With the hand of his sons on Fathers own, it is all but impossible to feel the desperation in the Angel’s voice and the welling of tears in those tired eyes.

“My Son. My dear, darling Son.” Father’s hands reach up and takes his son’s cheeks in either hands, insuring to keep his gaze fixed upon his own “A sword must weep to ensure it does not forget the mistakes of the past. You are no tool, you are a man like everyone else around you. If you did not care, then you would have insured victory in your fight this Cycle. If you did not care, then dear Charlie would have perished scared and alone. If you did not care then only a trillion more Cycles would await us.”

Eyes soften and even though the pain and discomfort of touching another being in this form, Father pulls his son into a hug. “When I breathe life into a soul, I do not program it to act a certain way. You were not created to be as you think you are, you have shaped yourself into such a loving being only hardened and saddened by the Cycles we repeat. All parts must be played before we can assure a victory. A commander leads, a knight follows its sworn duty. We know what happens when a role is left unfilled and I am sorry that I didn’t warn you of the effects to come. You deserved your rest.”

A tight hold before he leans away. “My dear son. Because of you, your family will have the chance to see the end result of all this pain and have their second chance. Is that not justice for them and what they had gone through? In time. All will be well and you can finally be relieved of your duty, brave soldier.”

A hand falls onto Michael’s shoulder, one that would linger for a moment before a half grin comes from the Creator. “My Son.” He speaks with words softened by the cluttering of his mind, words that should have been said long ago that have been forgotten with the passage of time.

“I know you have began to foster certain feelings for myself and I do not blame you. The cycle you had taken a break in had scarred you in more ways than I could have thought. I have relied on you so heavily, treated you as nothing but a tool and have taken your loyalty for granted.” Father removes his hand from Michael’s shoulder.

“Every Cycle you do as is needed, every Cycle you live with them, hoping that this will be the one. The one that will allow your rest. Time and time again I call upon you to turn your sword among family, both at the beginning of time and at the end. You, among everyone else, have seen so much loss.”

The sight of Father frowning is a rare oddity, the man was normally seen with high spirits at all times but this time? That wasn’t the case.

“I implore you, allow yourself to be honest with me. I will not strike you, I will not hurt you, I will not allow you to fall. A trillion Cycles worth of pain and hardship is so much for one soldier to bear alone. If there is something I may be able to do for you… Let it be known. You deserve a reward for your service, anything at all and I shall see to it that it happens.”

He knows. But of course he knows. Father had likely become aware of the resentment beginning to simmer in the back of Michael’s soul long before he became aware of it himself.

He does not startle at the hand placed upon his shoulder, no, he does not seem to react at all. His gaze is fixed upon the ground, dark circles beneath his eyes, and for a being that knows neither fatigue or rest, he seems so very tired.

“They look to me as a hero.”

The words are quiet, barely more than a whisper. But Father does not need to hear him. He knows, likely before Michael thinks to speak, He knows.

“Fallen or not, in every cycle. Hellborn or Angel, Sinner or Saved. They look to me. To defend them, to balm their wounds, to save them in the hour of their deaths. Then they ask ‘why’. Falling tears and pleas for answers I do not have, when I turn my blade upon them. I never know what to say.”

Father removed his hand from his shoulder, and Michael finds himself longing for the touch. For something that he does not know for certain will end in blood. A hand raises, and he places his own there, a child’s mockery of a parents reassurance.

“I cannot stop. I know this. I once tried to rest, and everything was so much worse. But no matter what I do, what I try, who I uplift, or encourage, or kill, it all ends the same. Blood and tears, and them always asking me ‘why.’”

His gaze finally raises, meeting the shadowed place beneath Fathers cap where a humans eyes would be. Silvered eyes, normally so sharp and ready, are now dull iron rings that hang heavy. He is just…so tired.

“Why did you make me this way? Why did you make me care about them? If you were to treat me as a tool, then why am I not simply a tool? Why make a sword that weeps?”

There is no anger in the query, but there would be if he had even the slightest amount of vigor to conjure it with. As it stands, he meets Gods question with averted eyes, a set jaw, telltale signs that he is thinking very deeply about something.

“I simply…want them to be well. I want the scars on Charlottes skin to cease haunting her. I want Cains anger to cease ruling him. I want Alastor to be able to sleep through the night, for Adam to finally find his peace, for Lucifer to stop…flinching every time I look at him.”

Pearlescent droplets begin to gather in the corners of his eyes, and he grits his teeth, swallowing hard, willing them not to fall. To be fierce instead of weak, such is his station, his purpose.

“I want them to stop hurting. I want them to know that all will be well, in the end, and I do not know if that is something you or I could ever do, but…I want them to be happy. Even if that means they must be in a world without my presence.

A fitting fate for a turncoat.”