#so since I don’t know enough about the species I’m going to assume the best

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

https://www.tumblr.com/hotvampireadjacent/731711141796085760

Is Kaiju Tegu ok? People get so bad with Tegu care

I’ve never cared for tegu so I don’t have enough information to comment on if something is or is not safe for them other than “please don’t leave groceries where your reptiles can reach them because reptiles don’t always choose edible to reptiles items” since that’s just a general rule of keeping any animal free-roaming in your home.

I haven’t kept up with that blog since they decided to tone police me in a very rude and condescending comment so I don’t really have much to say on the person or the lizard here.

[adenei]

It's Time To Go

My Second Submission for Era #2 of the @cruelsummer-ficfest (had to get this one done because if the next eras are what I think they are based on the hints, I need to be READY!)

Song: It's Time To Go

Album: Evermore

Ship: Tedoire (lol, somehow I managed to throw Romione in there too because I can't help it)

When the words of a sister come back in whispers 

That prove she was not in fact what she seemed

July

Sobs echo down the hall from Victoire’s room, where she lays curled up on her bed. It’s the same story every night since she found out the girl she thought was her friend was only using her to get closer to Teddy.

Victoire has no one to blame but herself for the pain. It’s all her fault. She invited Carla to join their study sessions. She introduced them. But Vic never divulged her silly crush to Carla. Because how can you tell someone that you’re falling in love with your best friend—who you’ve known your entire life—when you won’t even admit it to yourself?

There’s a soft knock on her door, but Vic’s not in the mood to talk. “Go away.”

The door opens anyway, only it’s not Maman or Dominique. It’s Aunt Hermione. Sitting up, she wipes the tears from her eyes and apologizes. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize it was you.”

Hermione offers a soft smile and closes the door. “No need to be sorry. Can I sit down?”

Vic nods and gestures toward her desk chair. She’s close to her aunt—most likely because of their shared love of knowledge—but not ‘sit on the bed for girl talk’ close.

“Now, I’m not trying to throw your sister under the bus, but she told your mum what’s going on, and your mum told me. They thought maybe I could help.”

Vic feels as though a bucket of ice has been poured over her. As if her former friend/dorm mate stealing her crush and best friend wasn’t bad enough, her sister divulges her deepest, darkest secret? Naturally, the only thing Vic thinks to do is lie about it.

“Whatever she said, it’s not true.”

Hermione chuckles. “She only said your dorm mate recently started dating Teddy and you feel as though you’ve lost your best friend.”

“Oh, well, yeah. That’s true.”

“I completely understand.”

Vic looks up with questioning eyes. Is she just saying she understands, or does she actually understand? “You do?”

“Don’t you pay attention when George and Ginny love to give your Uncle Ron a hard time?” Hermione says through a laugh. “Although, my dorm mate and I were never exactly friends when she decided to snog your uncle in the middle of the common room for everyone to see.”

The hesitation Vic had been feeling transforms to relief. “Did she know you fancied him when she did it, too?” Her hand claps over her mouth. She didn’t mean to give that away.

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” A knowing look crosses Hermione’s face, but is replaced with a hint of sadness as she reflects on her experience for Vic. “I thought I was obvious about my intentions—to Ron, at least—especially after I’d asked him to attend a party with me. But you can never assume the male species will pick up what you’re putting down. Lavender, however, I think knew even though we had never spoken about it, but chose to go for him anyway.”

Anger begins to simmer under Vic’s skin.. “Why do girls do this to each other? I don’t get it. Carla knows how close I am with Teddy. I thought she was just looking for study partners when she tagged along with us to the library. She wasn’t acting all flirty or anything at all! But then she went behind my back and invited him to the last Hogsmeade weekend without me. Teddy didn’t know. He thought I was joining them, so he told me they’d be at  The Three Broomsticks. And when I walked in, I saw her snogging him in a booth. I haven’t spoken to either of them since.”

Another treacherous tear escapes her eyes, forging a path down her cheek before she wipes it off.

“Are you planning to give Teddy the silent treatment all summer?” Hermione asks. 

Vic folds her arms over her chest, her sadness shifting into defiance. “I—well, I’m certainly not going to speak to him first.”

“Well,” Hermione replies with a sigh, “I suppose that isn’t a terrible idea, but what if it doesn’t work?”

Even though she says it’s not terrible, Vic doesn’t believe her aunt. She’s totally lying.

“Why wouldn’t it work? If he has the guts to snog Carla in the middle of the busiest pub in Hogsmeade, he should have the guts to at least tell me he’s dating my best friend.”

“Yes, but if he doesn’t know why you’re mad, you won’t receive the reaction you’re hoping for.” Hermione gets up from the chair and joins Vic on the edge of her bed. “Victoire, you and Teddy are close. Do not be like me and let someone else try to take that away from you. Even if he doesn’t feel the same way, it’s not worth losing his friendship over. If Ron hadn’t almost died, I can’t honestly say if we would have ever recovered from that.”

“But you did.”

“We did. And you can too—only much faster if you seek him out first. Sometimes giving up is the strong thing, or running out is the brave thing. But you have to decide if walking out is the one thing that will find you the right thing.”

Vic laughs. “You sound like a Sphinx.”

Hermione leans over and nudges Vic with her shoulder. “I know. Just know there’s always another way. You’re a smart young woman, Victoire Weasley. I know you’ll do what’s right for you. And you and Teddy will work your way through this. I just don’t want to see you hurt the way I was.”

“Thanks, Hermione.” Vic wraps her arms around her aunt’s torso.

She appreciates the conversation and having someone who knows what this kind of heartbreak is like. Maybe she can even allow herself to feel hopeful. Especially since Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione obviously figured it out in the end. 

But even though she knows Hermione is probably right, Vic needs some time and space. So for now, she’ll choose to run. Even though it may ruin her summer, she’s not ready to face Teddy. At least not yet.

—

Or that moment again, he’s insisting that friends

Look at each other like that

August

“Ted?”

“Huh?”

Teddy had been pushing the food around his plate and staring off into space, not paying attention to the conversation around the dinner table. He was thinking about Victoire again. And he really shouldn’t be—at least not in that way—since he technically had a girlfriend.

 Who you’ve avoided seeing all summer.

Ginny chuckles. “Harry asked you if you’re excited for seventh year. But if there’s something else you’d rather talk about, we’re all ears.”

“It’s fine, Gin. Don’t press him,” Harry covers for him.

“No, no, it’s fine.” 

Shaking the haze from his mind, Teddy does his best to focus on Harry and Ginny. It’s the last time he’s going to see them until Christmas. The least he can do is engage in conversation. His meager teenaged concerns can wait.

“I—yeah—I can’t believe it’s my last year already. Can’t wait.” He tries to bite back a grimace, knowing that he’s trying too hard, and hopes to Merlin that his hair hasn’t shifted to a sandy brown.

But Lily only solidifies his fears when she points at him with wide eyes. “Ooooh, Teddy’s hair changed colors!” 

Damnit.

“You know, I think I forgot to pack all the stuff we got at Diagon Alley today. I better go do that.” 

He slides his chair back and leaves the table without being excused. It’s not like he’s that hungry anyway. Teddy bounds up the stairs two at a time, and shuts the door upon entering his small bedroom. After flopping on the bed, he covers his face with a pillow. 

This was supposed to be the best summer yet. He and Vic had so many activities planned. She was going to take him to the sea, show him Shell Cottage. They were going to study together, vowing to get a head start on their work so it wouldn’t catch up with them during the term. Teddy was going to show her the ropes for Prefect duties—he was that certain she’d be named one. And with all that extra one-on-one time, he was hoping to finally decode her—to figure out if her heart beat just as fast when they’re together. 

But then Carla snogged him and everything changed. He was trapped in a relationship with a girl he didn’t have feelings for and no way to get out of it.

And ever since Vic has been radio silent. Avoiding him at all costs. They stopped talking and studying together at the end of June, and Vic hasn’t owled him to follow through on any of their proposed summer plans. He thought maybe they could talk at one of the giant Weasley family gatherings, but Vic was always surrounded by Fleur, Dom, or her aunts.

A knock on his door tears him from his thoughts before Harry enters.

 “Hey. Er, you sure everything’s alright?” His godfather runs a hand through his ever-messy black hair and leans against the back of the door.

“Yeah. I just don’t think I’m looking forward to the year as much as I thought I would be,” Teddy admits, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“Ah.” Harry pauses for a moment before continuing cautiously. “Does it have anything to do with Victoire?”

Throwing the pillow off his face, he sits up and offers Harry a bored, yet sheepish, look. “Is it that obvious?”

“It’s hard to miss.”

“I don’t know what I did wrong. Everything was fine before Carla and I started dating.”

Harry purses his lips and tries to hold back a snort, but fails. It comes out like choked laughter instead.

“What?” Teddy narrows his eyes in annoyance.

“Nothing. Nothing. You just remind me of—never mind.”

Teddy groans. “Seriously, Harry, this is not a Ron and Hermione scenario.”

He’s heard enough stories about the seven year lead up to their relationship and all the bumps they hit along the way. But that wasn’t him and Vic. They were just friends…until they weren’t?

Shit. We ARE Ron and Hermione 2.0.

Harry simply raises an eyebrow at him. “Ted, I know I may not be the best person to talk about this with, but trust me. Just because I don’t like to talk about these things does not mean I haven’t noticed. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. And the way you look at her.”

The urge to deny everything takes hold and Teddy shakes his head.

“You’re mental. We are just friends. Friends look at each other like that. Especially friends who’ve known each other their whole lives.” 

It’s a weak argument, but his stubbornness gets the best of him. He’s not about to admit anything. Not when he’s fucked it up so badly by letting Carla in.

“Right.” “What?”

Harry shrugs. “Nothing. I can’t make you see what you don’t want to, but can you promise me one thing?”

Teddy watches Harry for a few moments. The man has never led Teddy astray before, so what has he got to lose? “I’ll try.”

“Talk to her. Figure things out. And don’t be as thick as Ron was.” 

Teddy takes a moment to let the words sink in. He knows Harry isn’t saying it to make the holidays a little less tense. Harry just wants Teddy to be happy. He always has. And so, Teddy nods. 

“I’ll try.”

Because losing Vic isn’t an option.

Before his mind begins to swirl with all the ways he can get his best friend back, Harry interrupts him once more before leaving. “Gin’s taking the kids to the Burrow in a bit. Want to join?”

“Think Vic’ll be there?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay. Yeah.”

Harry nods. With a single glance back, and perhaps a hint of a smile on his lips that Teddy can’t quite see, he says, “I’ll let you know when it’s time to go.”

[whitleyschn33]

RWBY Volume 9 Episode 3 Liveblog Thoughts

I know I didn’t do episode 2, but there wasn’t really anything about it that caught my attention enough to make a post about - save 2 things, but those are better left to their own posts.

I’ve just finally gotten home from work, had dinner, and washed up, so I’m feeling very sleepy. If I miss something you think is worth being commented on or further discussed, let me know!

- “The Red King helped Alyx” I saw KitKat say this earlier, and it’s something that’s been in the back of my mind for a while as well - I wish we knew the story of The Girl Who Fell Through the World ourselves rather than having elements of it introduced basically right before they happen. I know working in another campfire storytime without being boring would be difficult (actually, side note, notice that we haven’t seen night here yet? No moon...), but I feel like something could have been worked out. A scene where the girls talk about the versions of the story that they grew up with (since myths and fairy tales often have multiple versions), arguing about the details and giving us as the audience a clearer understand of how the full story goes and how each kingdom/family of RWBY interprets and tells the story. Would have been nice to know this story from more than a couple lines in volume 8 (that I had to be reminded of existing) before we start living it.

-I got to give props to the sound design on the Prince so far, I really like the clinking noises as he moves, really helping sell that he’s a living puppet.

-Uhhhh, insulting the guy you’re expecting to help you probably isn’t a great idea, even if he is a brat.

- “The king would still be here if it wasn’t for your kind” - so the guards do recognize human beings. Did Alyx kill the Red King? (Insert Wreck it Ralph “Things are finally getting interesting around here” screencap)

-Weiss being this overly expressive in her poses still isn’t funny, please stop.

-I’m really digging the score, very fun and bouncy.

-”How could you” best voice work I’ve heard from Lindsey in a while, very nice~ Also, uh, kinda to be expected, Ruby. If someone’s entire gimmick is the color red, makes sense green isn’t their thing.

-Well uh... that’s kinda dark, but... they’re toys. Can they even die like that? I was half expecting their heads to roll out and still be talking to each other.

-Not sure I’d be too eager to play games with someone that just said they found beheadings fun.

-I feel like the butterfly must be connected to either Alyx or the shadow boy in the painting.

-Soldier coughing up sawdust - not funny, but a nice touch

-Ruby, do not play a game you don’t know how to play, you are going to lose bad

-Okay, really liking the score, I’m very glad that it’s back after a noticeable abscene.

-Also, was this just... not in the story? Did Alyx not play checkers/chess with the King? Chess is a pretty big deal in Through the Looking Glass, so I would’ve assumed it would be part of Alyx’s story as well. Guess the Red Prince is more sadistic.

-Okay, this is Risk, not Checkers.

-Uhhh, the rules were to move a pawn one space each turn - why does Weiss charge ahead multiple spaces? Also, what constitutes a turn if Ruby is allowed to move 5 pawns in a row?

-Annnnnd Weiss hasn’t moved from her starting spot on the board.

-So “turns” are just whenever the Prince thinks the turns are. Fair enough, this is Not-Wonderland.

-Ruby, I wouldn’t be so cavalier about your species. We don’t know Alyx’s story that well, but we do know she started a war and “lied and cheated her way” through Ever After, so it’s not likely that the people would have a good impression of her or anyone like her.

- “You’re humans! You must have cheated!” Yep, something tells me if Alyx played a game, she cheated her way through it.

- And there’s our cat

- I like the cracks. Nothing else, just a sucker for it.

- Also, really digging the song. I’m going to actually look forward to hearing the full version.

- OH MY GOD, SOMEONE FINALLY RUN OUT OF AMMUNITION. Have we ever seen this happen in RWBY before? 

- It’s nice to finally get some action. Not the best choreography, and some of the stunts have me cringing, but I appreciate the show of actually teamwork in the fights, combining semblances.

- I like the cat’s voice - still don’t like his design, even if I can appreciate it as meant to resemble a “texture not found” effect (I hope that’s what they were going for anyway, cause otherwise yikes), but I appreciate the smooth talking, soothing the prince to get his way. 

- “The one thing you were put on this acre to do” Oh?

- “They might not come back” - implying that the soldiers do.

- Ohhhh, slick line from the cat~

- “We’re in it’s stupid sequel” - Weiss is honestly a mood. I would enjoy her attitude towards this a lot more without the attempts at comedy, as this is the first time I’ve smiled at one of these lines.

- I, uh, really hate these “Blake exposits the plot of TGWFTTW (i got tired of typing it out) to the team”, because this is something the girls *should* know. Even people that haven’t read or watched any adaptations of Alice in Wonderland know the Cheshire Cat, and I know they’ve mentioned him in the last episode, so all four of the girls should instantly realize who this must be, and anyone watching the show would know what this is meant to parallel. Otherwise, what was the point of making TGWFTTW a story that all the girls knew? If you were going to have Blake explain everything anyway, why not make it a more obscure story? Maybe even a fairy tale among the Faunus specifically?

-And there’s our dear Neo. Odd that she fell so long after the others when we saw her falling with Ruby, but whatever, they’ve already lampshaded that.

-A one woman army now. Not sure how this is a progression of her semblance, but it does make me think that all the figures we see behind her in the opening are just clones she’s made, which I am far happier with than the idea of even more characters to keep track of and worry about this volume.

Overall? I actually enjoyed this episode - some fun action, good music and score. While some of the lines are cringe and none of the comedy really lands like it’s supposed to (I have no idea why they’re writing Weiss as though she’s RWBY Chibi Weiss, but it’s annoying, please stop), but I’ll take it. Definitely the most I’ve enjoyed an episode since Dark.

[elizaellwrites]

Legacy of the Fallen- Chapter 8

One more for the night...

Prologue

Chapter 1

Last Chapter

Table of Contents

The Traitor

Dear Mother,

The last few days at school have been so strange. Jacob is back after hearing his mum has gone missing, but he hasn’t been himself. He’s distant and almost cold, he usually doesn’t pay much attention to what the teacher is talking about, but he’s not even engaging with what’s going on in class anymore. I’m wondering if he’s going to decide to go home soon because being here isn’t doing him any good. It’s probably hurting him more, with most of our classmates either acting like he personally offended them, or they’re coddling him like a child. It’s ridiculous.

I don’t like that it was announced to our classes that this happened to him, it really should have been kept quiet between Jacob and whoever he chose to share it with. I feel like I shouldn’t know about this, much less the entire student population. He at least seems upset about it, but it’s hard to tell since he hasn’t really talked to any of us. It also seems like he and Asher had a fallout before everything happened since Asher is avoiding Jacob too. Friends are confusing sometimes, but I just feel so bad about everything going on.

I can’t shake the fact that Father knew Jacob’s parents, meaning you probably did too. It’s just such a huge coincidence, especially with how he is here for an exchange programme or something like that, while we just moved here and I have no idea when Father will decide to leave since Joseph is here. I’m not confident about the idea that Father won’t walk into my room and tell me that we’re going to be moving again to who knows where. I’ve gotten my hopes up before, and I know Father well enough to know that he likes to keep moving. My best guess is that we’ll be staying in Rochester for a little longer than usual, maybe closer to four months? Six months?

We will see how everything ends, and I will be okay with whatever it is. We’ve come this far, and as much as I like the people I’ve met here, it’s no different than before.

Annamarie Rose Olson

____________________________

Jol stood on the rock he had met the informant two days prior, his blood boiling in the anticipation of meeting the man again. Despite his superiors encouraging him to take the Hecathian’s offer, he couldn’t feel right about this situation. Why would he have reason to give information that would assist them in the destruction of his species?

The man made his skin crawl, even beyond the fact that he was Hecathian. Rinoas was no one to mess with, having a record of killing or driving those he didn’t see as useful to insanity. Anyone who actively sought him out, much less those making deals with the enemy to see him, he didn’t want to interact with.

He agreed with the queen about how valuable the offered information was, though he still could not understand her level of interest in the Allenesaia girl, nor why the man had known she had been searching for her.

Either way, he had risen while the sky was still dark, his path only lit by the magmatic cracks in the ground. His claws had begun to hurt from being extended in preparation for any sort of attack, whether from wild iruqo, or any other creature that would be out looking for food before the suns rose above the horizon.

He was completely unaware of the man’s presence until the slight sound of his boots hitting rock came from behind him. The unmistakable sound of one of the man’s bronze daggers being unsheathed sent Jol whirling around to face the threat, his wings spreading wide.

“Relax,” the man’s face was still covered, but Jol could hear the smirk in his voice as the dagger was flipped in one hand. “You didn’t think I’d come all the way here just to kill you, did you?"

Jol stifled the growl rising in his chest, his claws digging into the rock as he forced his wings to lower.

“Since you’re here, I’m assuming your queen has accepted my proposition,”  flipped the dagger once again. “It would be foolish for you to come here otherwise.”

His jaw locked in anger, his red eyes flashing in barely controlled rage. “Rinoas is waiting for you as soon as you give us the information you promised.”

“I know the deal,” the man slid the dagger back into its arm sheath. His dark eyes glinted, and the black mixed with evergreen made him uneasy, much like the queen’s advisor’s mixed irises. “Which information are you wanting first?”

“The Academy,” Jol said without hesitation, his eyes narrowing.

“Are we doing this here, or do we have others to meet?”  raised an eyebrow, a hand placed on his hip as he watched Jol for an answer.

“If you think I’m bringing you into our headquarters, then you underestimate how gullible we are.” Jol spat, his wings bristling behind him. “You have given no reason for any of us to trust you.”

“Right,” the man let out a bark of laughter. “And you’re not as dumb as I’ve led myself to believe, I remember.”

Jol couldn’t hold back the growl this time, the sound ripping through the air, silencing the Hecathian’s cackling. “Speak.”

He stood there for a moment, crossing his arms as he contemplated Jol, his hands suspiciously close to the hilts of the weapons he had already threatened him with twice before. “The Academy is on the brink of chaos, the only reason it hasn’t collapsed is because of the man who runs it and exploits it with a blade held to everyone’s throat. All it would take for it to fall is a blow that would finally turn the people’s loyalty away from him.”

Jol’s ears pricked at this information, his interest rising dramatically in what the small amount conveyed.

“He’s surrounded by loyalists, and I’m sure even you could figure out what happens to those who are vocal about their disagreements.” The man scoffed, one hand rising to brush his shoulder absently.

“And how is it that you know this?” Jol questioned. It was too sensitive to be common knowledge, it was highly likely that most living in the academy would buy into whatever the man said. It was common across many of the species he had come across, Hecathians wouldn’t be any different, even if they pretended they were.

The man’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his arms tightening against each other. “Why does it matter? You’re getting the information you want.”

Jol twitched at that, his curiosity about whom this man was rising despite his disdain for him.

“As for the location,” the man continued as if the question hadn’t been asked. “It is near a town called Rochester in the region of Minnesota, located in the United States on Earth. You want more specifics, you will have to find the boundary yourself, but you’ll have the entire remainder of an army on you in an instant.”

“It narrows down where we were looking,” Jol watched the man carefully. “But how do I know you’re being truthful in any of this?”

The man stared at him for a second, one eyebrow cocked. “I came here voluntarily, for my own reasons, to the homeworld of one of the species that was responsible for the destruction of my homeworld and the deaths of most of my people. What reason would I have to lie when anything here could just decide to kill me.” He raised both eyebrows, moving his hands back down to rest on his hips.

“Fair enough,” Jol huffed. It really would be the equivalent of him going to talk to a Hecathian right outside of the Academy borders for a parallel universe where he would give them information about his organization. It would be a death wish to lie, especially with a beast that could decide to just kill him for entertainment.

“As for Allenesaia,”  continued. “She’s in Rochester, they’re planning on sending in a retrieval team very soon to bring her and the others back to the Academy.” He had a strange look in his eye at that idea, though Jol couldn’t fathom why. “If you’re planning on taking her, you may want to do it sooner rather than later. One guardian, who isn’t even that old or experienced, is easier to take on than whatever will happen after they take her.”

The way he said that made Jol wonder, once again, who this girl was to pique such attention. What could one Hecathian really be worth?

“Now,” the man straightened his posture, standing even taller than before. “I’ve given you what I promised, now I want to see Rinoas.”

“Very well.”

____________________________

Jacob sat still as the dim light of the sunrise had just begun to appear outside his window beside him, indifferent to the fact that he had sat there, ruminating in his thoughts, instead of sleeping. He was surrounded by a familiar, yet uncomfortable room. The light green walls usually tuned out now gave him an almost nauseating reaction. He sat in the center of the large bed, facing the dresser that was pressed up against the opposite wall, his reflection meeting his gaze. It was the first time he had been able to look himself in the eyes since he had left home.

His eyes were sunken with exhaustion, his skin pale and sickly. He had barely slept since hearing the news, the grief and mental images haunting him until he passed out, forcing him to sleep.

He was filled with more fury than sadness, more than he had felt in a long time. He knew that his mom was gone, he didn’t need the confirmation that so many kept telling him they didn’t have. Like his mom would have left anyone without a word when she wouldn’t even go to work without saying goodbye to everyone in the house, whether they were family or not.

No. He knew exactly what happened, and for the first time since he had come to Rochester, he wanted to go home. As much as he dreaded facing everything that came with going back, he needed to get answers. He knew his days were limited here anyway, especially with his call last week.

He closed his stinging eyes, leaning his chin against his propped-up knee. His whole body ached, screaming in protest at his decision to move. He could feel his body’s need to sleep, but he knew he needed to be at school. In this instance, he wished he could be like his father, being able to sleep amid any dire situation, no matter the context. That was as far as wanting to be like his father went.

He cautiously stretched his limbs, sucking in a breath at the clenching pain in his calves. Through his door, he could faintly hear the TV playing in the dining room, knowing it was Joseph fulfilling his daily habit of watching the news. Charlotte wouldn’t be up for another hour before they would both head to work while he was already halfway through his first class of the day.

He wished he could just curl into a ball and never move again, while at the same time wanting to take a knife and throw it at the wall. His sleep deprivation and days of internalizing his anger were draining him. There was only one other time he had felt like this before, and that was a time he wanted to forget more than anything else in his life. The rage, the guilt, and the grief overwhelmed his senses. He wanted to get as far away from it as he could, but this time, there was no scenario where that was possible.

Going back to school had been like being on autopilot, the classes, and hallways a blur as his thoughts simultaneously shut down and took over at once. His classmates had somehow heard about what had happened, most likely for sensitivity reasons, but it was annoying. He didn’t like talking to most of them, the majority made judgments about him for ignoring them, and didn’t pay any attention to him until they now had a reason to pity him. The way they treated him like he was made of glass, or those whom he knew were judging him for his masculinity just stared at him while he couldn’t care less about how he came across, he just wanted them to go back to ignoring his existence. It made everything so much easier.

His friends had been okay, there was a difference in how they talked to him, but he knew they actually cared instead of that fake sympathy. Rachel had no idea how to talk to him, so she just acted normally, which he appreciated. Ben was providing the silent support that he had always done, just more engaged than before. Anna was awkward, but he knew it was because of her naivete and presence in the office.

Asher was a different story, his interactions distant and uncharacteristic. He was among those giving those judgmental glances, his voice harsher when speaking to him. He had clocked Asher as someone who didn’t give such harsh judgments, someone who had pulled him aside to ask him if he was okay on multiple occasions just because he was being quieter. It made him wonder what was going on in his life, but he wasn’t going to ask.

He couldn’t remember if there was something due today, but he didn’t care either. He had only enjoyed school since it had provided him the means of finding a distraction and allowed him to talk to people that made him feel normal for once. Now, it did neither of those things, making it obsolete in his daily activities.

Jacob sighed, swinging his legs off the side of the bed, and rubbing his right eye absently. The sky was lightening to a hazy gold outside, the sounds of traffic picking up on the nearby highway. His being a night owl, slow to wake up in the morning, wasn’t helping in this situation. His sister could easily wake up at four or five in the morning and immediately start the day; it wasn’t fair.

He pushed himself to his feet, feeling his weight pressing down on his still half-asleep legs. He trudged his way over to the dresser, pulling open one of the drawers to reveal the black tee shirt he wanted to wear. He traded it for the plain white shirt he usually wore to bed, pulling his favorite black jacket overtop. He knew it was too hot now for long sleeves, but he really didn’t care much, it was cooler in the school anyway.

He shoved off the light gray sweatpants in exchange for his roughed-up blue jeans; there were no holes yet, but he was pushing his luck. His eyes fell on the golden rod on the top of the dresser, a gift he didn’t deserve. He lifted it in his hand anyway, the solid metal heavy in his hand. He tightened his grip on it, fighting the temptation to leave it behind.

He closed his eyes for a moment before shoving it in his pocket, not pausing to debate further, he grabbed socks that he wasn’t sure matched or not and rolled them onto his feet.

He left his room, heading straight for the door. He had no desire to eat anything. The last time he had tried, he barely ate any before he had begun to feel nauseous. He shoved his feet into his combat boots, kneeling to tie them tight until his feet felt like they were being suffocated by a boa.

He reached for his bag, not making a sound as he went toward the door. He wasn’t trying to avoid Jisuph, but he didn’t want to talk to him either. He had had enough of the older man checking in on if he was okay, the answer hadn’t changed: he wasn’t.

He closed the front door behind him, knowing that Jisuph heard it, but would just leave him to make his way to school in peace now that he was out of the house. If Jelare was awake, she would have dragged him back in to stuff something in his face for breakfast.

He took a deep breath, turning to follow the street toward the school. He was forever grateful that during his time in Rochester, he had remained close enough to everything that he could easily walk about anywhere.

As he passed each house, he wondered how many days he had left of making this path. He had started this journey six months prior and had felt free and normal for the first time in his life. Now the clock was ticking louder each day, reminding him that he was going home. He would see his friends, his sisters, and his father, but not his mom. The only person who had consistently shown him love and listened to what he had to say was gone. His mom had arranged the opportunity for him to leave home and experience something different at a time he couldn’t bear to be in the same place he always had been.

He wasn’t sure if home would be home with only her memory present.

____________________________

Anna’s gaze flicked up from her lunch, today being a bag of crisps with ground beef dumped haphazardly inside, to look at Jacob across the table. He had just sat there, staring at his food without touching it since he had sat down over ten minutes ago. It was beginning to become unnerving, him barely moving as his golden eyes were locked on the abomination of a meal that had been served to them that day.

She could see how tense his muscles were, even with the table cutting off most of his body. His eyebrows were furrowed in deep thought, his mouth curved in a fed-up frown. One could mistake it as him being offended by the food, but she knew better.

The entire table was strangely silent, the banter between any of them absent while they picked at their food. Even Rachel was quiet, her dark eyes darting from person to person as she bit into the sandwich she had managed to pick up by making it to the lunchroom early enough. Asher was sitting further away from them than he had before, shooting borderline harsh glances toward Jacob.

Anna drummed her fingers on her thigh, her foot itching to begin tapping on the tile under her shoes. She took her plastic fork, scooping some of the crisps and beef into her mouth, only to be assaulted by the amount of salt that was in that small amount of food. She chewed and swallowed it quickly, taking a large gulp from her water bottle to wash the flavour away; it only worked halfway.

A heavy breath directed her gaze back to Jacob, he had moved to grip the edge of the table, his arms tense. This wasn’t what caught her attention, however. His normally rich golden eyes which resembled a light brown on occasion, now sparked with a familiar-looking light.

Her eyes went wide, her breath leaving her as she stared at the boy. It was identical to the light she had seen in her own eyes that night in her uncle’s loo.

His intense gaze shot up to meet hers, causing her to blink in reaction to the direct light. In an instant, Jacob pushed himself up from the bench, swinging his legs over and immediately making his way out the doors on the far side of the cafeteria.

Anna just sat there for a moment before her muscles jumped into action. She followed his actions, ignoring the confused exclamation from Rachel behind her. She caught the door as it was closing, carelessly shoving it to hit the hinge. Her pulse rang in her ears, her thoughts fixated on the answer that was just out of sight.

Ahead of her, she could see him slow by the lone tree, just to the side of the small blacktop. He stood tense, looking over to the road across the field where she could see the normal movement of traffic and people getting out of cars. She continued toward him, her nerves spiking as she approached his now-frozen form.

Even as she moved into position beside him, her eyes burning into him, he just stood there, his eyes distant, looking straight ahead with an emotion that rivaled dread.

Anna could vaguely hear the tell-tale sounds of three sets of footsteps approaching, no doubt Rachel, Ben, and Asher. She followed Jacob’s gaze, finding a plain tan minivan at the end, with four people unloading the trunk. She looked back at him, confused at what he found so horrifying about such a sight. Behind her, she could hear Asher make some sort of coughing sound.

Jacob’s eyes were almost forcibly dragged away from the road, turning to meet her stare with his now dimly lit eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She could hear that now familiar voice in her mind, though this time there were no distinguishable words, rather just a mess of a thousand statements all placed on top of one another. He took a step forward, toward the field of open grass, his eyes moving back to focus on the group now beginning to move toward the school.

In a blur of motion, Jacob was suddenly knocked forward, the boy seamlessly rolling free of the disruption before spinning back to face his assaulter. Anna stumbled back as she watched Asher loom over where Jacob had stood, his expression of seething rage out of place on the normally jovial boy.

Her legs had a mind of their own as she slowly began to back away, her eyes watching Jacob’s bright, narrowed eyes as he crouched in a clear defensive position. She was just barely aware of the other students around them directing their attention to what was going on.

“You really are pathetic,” Asher’s voice came out more of a growl than speaking. “A poor little boy, sniveling while pretending to care about anyone besides yourself.” He lunged forward, kicking out toward Jacob’s centre in a clearly practiced manner.

Jacob dodged, rolling to the side in an equally smooth action. His face was blank in focus, his body moving seamlessly out of a crouch to lunge at his attacker, grabbing Asher’s upper body and flipping him over to slam the other boy into the ground with an arm pressed over his chest. “You don’t want to do this,” he warned through his gritted teeth.

“I think I do,” he spat out with a level of animosity Anna couldn’t understand. She could have blinked and missed how Asher kicked Jacob’s legs from under him, turning the tables and grabbing him by the throat with a snarl.

By now, the fight was turning the heads of nearby students, and a teacher on the far side of the blacktop beginning to head over to the action. Though they were out of view from the cafeteria windows, some people had begun to leave the building to see what was happening outside. Jacob and Asher, too focused on each other, didn’t acknowledge the building’s attention.

Jacob lifted his head against the pressure, bashing his skull against Asher’s face; the latter reeling back with a hand against his now bleeding nose. He rubbed a hand against his neck, coughing once with a glare that could have drawn blood on its own. He pushed himself up to his feet, standing tall over Asher on the ground.

Jacob’s gold eyes were alight with darkness and danger that made her want to turn and run. He looked almost feral while he pushed his hair away from his face, his breath heavier than usual. “Yield,” he growled.

“Why would I do that?” Asher grinned, rising to a more upright position before springing back up to his feet. “You are a coward,” he hissed, eyes flashing.

Jacob narrowed his eyes further, one hand itching to his side as they stared each other down. “And you are not who you present yourself to be,” he muttered out, much to Anna’s confusion.

Asher grinned, though it wasn’t the toothy smile she had seen him do before. It sent a chill down her spine, his eyes full of hatred and his grin speaking threats that she couldn’t fully understand. It was then that his form lit a pale green haze, growing bigger and transforming to grow elongated and lizard-like with long legs that’s claws dug deep into the earth. His skin darkened, shifting from smooth pale beige to haunting yellow-green scales. Then his head began to rearrange itself, his neck stretching while its skull appeared to split into thirds, the sides of his head peeling off to copy the reptilian head in the centre.

Anna felt her stomach stir in a mixture of horror and disgust at the scene in front of her. On the other side of the creature, she could see Rachel and Ben frozen in twin stances of disbelief. Meanwhile, Jacob was unfazed, his hand buried in his pocket as he stared down the beast.

“You know,” Jacob’s eyes sparked with what could only be described as delighted rage. “I’ve really been waiting for this.” He removed his hand from his pocket, a small golden rod gripped in his hand. If she blinked, she would have missed how the small bit of gold in his hand expanded. The tip sharpened, shooting out to create a blade as long as her arm. The hilt blackened around the large red gem at the centre, curving back around his hand to arc in a way reminiscent of a crescent moon, similar black markings trailing up the blade to the very tip.

Around them, the students that had gathered to watch the fight now ran away, some screaming, while others ran in panicked silence. Even the teacher, who had been approaching with a hard look on his face, was rooted in fear. Anna could feel her own terror building, but she couldn’t bring herself to run. Rachel and Ben stood together on the other side of the action, Rachel gripping Ben’s arm with wide eyes as they too, stood frozen.

The monster recoiled, a loud hiss erupting through the schoolyard. Its six slanted green eyes regarded its opponent, the head on the right opening its mouth to reveal the many rows of ridged, jagged teeth. It lunged at Jacob with its left head, teeth snapping while he whirled to the side, cutting a stripe in the side of its elongated neck with his blade.

A high-pitched scream rang out of all of its heads, the middle immediately dipping under the left to strike at Jacob. Unprepared, Jacob attempted to block the attack but was still knocked back, landing beside Anna. His gaze went to hers after a split second, widening once recognition set in. “Get out of here!” He snapped, his tone harsh, but holding panic as well.

She barely managed a nod, swallowing and edging to her left while Jacob pushed himself up once again, spinning his blade in his hand in preparation for the next attack. Her brain was screaming at her legs to move, yet they didn’t, watching in stunned horror as the beast swung at Jacob with its front claws this time, his blade catching them before they struck. An ugly scraping noise grated her teeth when he pulled it free, the beast whipping its tail in frustration.

It turned as Jacob dove to the side, managing to slice through its defences again. The creature roared in pain, ringing out across the schoolyard, and echoing off the side of the building. Anna’s breath hitched in panic as the large tail lashed out, its approach towards her fast and unavoidable.

It slammed into her shoulder, the force knocking her to the ground with a yelp of pained surprise. Her head bounced off the ground on impact, her breath escaping her as she tried to reorient herself.

Another roar ripped through the air, Anna blinking up blurrily to see what was happening. There, lodged in its right head, a large silver arrow glinted in the midday sun.

She stared in uncomprehending confusion for a moment, before another whiz of an arrow buzzed through the air, this one hitting right beside the other, prompting another scream from the creature. She followed the invisible line the arrow had made, landing on four approaching figures that she vaguely recognised as having been across the field before the fighting had started.

In the back of the group was a blond boy, lowering a large silver bow that was almost the same height as him. He was in all black, so dark it appeared to swallow the light from around him, even his hands being covered in gloves that only exposed his fingers.

Ahead of him, his companions continued to approach, wearing the same black clothing that appeared to swallow the light around them. Her eyes were drawn to the tall albino girl in the front of the group, obviously close to six feet tall, with a sword in her hands that spanned most of that height. The girl’s colourless eyes glinted with the same chilling rage as Jacob’s, though accompanied by a chilling smirk upon her lips, sharp black markings stood out on her face, while something glinted in the sun atop her snow-white hair. Without hesitation, she threw herself at the beast, slamming the tip of her blade straight down into the top of its clawed foot.

The other two had skidded to a stop, exchanging words just outside of the perceived danger zone. Both had dark skin, but the similarities stopped there. The girl was facing away from her, but her short and small frame screamed child; making the sharpened spear strapped across her back seem even more out of place. Her rich brown hair was pulled back in a wavy ponytail, yet still fell to her lower back, the shade only slightly darker than her tawny skin. She was dwarfed by her companion, having to tilt her head back to look him in the face.

He was the oldest in the group, most likely already graduated from high school. He was over six feet tall, with angular features that didn’t belong to any single heritage. His angular, dark eyes darted about, almost calm even as Jacob and the albino girl were waging war against the large creature, cutting streaks down the side of the monster that continued to snap at them with its two good heads.

Meanwhile, the blond boy had slung his bow over his shoulder and had begun moving toward the lone tree, where Rachel and Ben had moved. While she watched him go, she was vaguely aware of the tall boy taking off in the direction of the cafeteria doors. The blond grabbed each of them by the arm, his mouth moving in words she was too far away to hear. Neither Rachel nor Ben could be described as particularly strong, but the same could not be said for Rachel’s attitude as his touch sent her elbow into his gut and her knee to be shoved into the one place no one wanted a knee to go.

The boy’s pained yelp was a mouse squeak under another roar from the beast, the albino girl perched on its back with her sword buried halfway into its rough skin. Jacob had slid under its body, slicing at its legs and vulnerable underside. He regained his balance on the other side of the creature, only to have its clawed foot slam into him from behind, sending him flying, his sword falling to the ground. The albino girl called something out, pushing down harder on the blade in retaliation.

Anna’s eyes bounced between the multiple events happening around her, her mind trying to comprehend as the world she had known turned inside out before her. She didn’t acknowledge the short girl, who had moved to her side, just as the blond, who was getting back to his feet, had gone to Rachel and Ben.

“Come on,” Her features still held the innocence of a child, her vivid green gaze holding the same innocence. She was most likely a couple of years younger than her, maybe even more. It was almost calming in the pandemonium around them. “We need to go.”

Anna’s focus was drawn back to the monster as a click and an inhuman scream rang out. The albino girl had a satisfied look on her face as she pulled the sword out of the beast’s back, standing as she did so. Anna’s mouth opened in horror and disgust as the flesh around where the blade had gone in began to fold back and rip as curved spikes that Anna definitely didn’t remember being there were revealed with a coat of blood and bits of flesh hanging from them.

It was, without a doubt, the most terrible thing she had witnessed in her life up to this point. The creature swayed, the girl somehow keeping her balance. Anna’s ears echoed with the anguished noises that it made as it struggled to stay on its feet, her body beginning to shake as her legs threatened to give out from under her.

A yellow glow flashed out across the schoolyard then, all signs that a monster had been before them disappearing in an instant as the albino girl plummeted to the ground with her now clean sword still in hand.

Everyone was still then, the only sound being the police sirens that rang out over the city. Jacob hadn’t moved from where he had landed down the hill, but she somehow knew that he was still alive. The tall boy had returned at some point, his breaths coming fast as he scanned the aftermath of what had occurred, looking just as confused as the rest of them.

“We need to go now,” the tall boy managed. “Elaine, grab Jacob. Take them to the van,” he gestured around. “I wasn’t able to get the other, security is too tight. We’ll have to come back for him.”

The three strangers gave their acknowledgments, beginning to do as they were told. Anna shivered as she felt eyes on her again, almost like something was prodding at the edges of her consciousness. She looked around, trying to identify what was causing the feeling. The short girl grabbed her arm, trying to pull her in the direction of the others. Her line of sight lifted to the roof of the school three stories up, a dark figure visible against a grouping of clouds that was passing over. She hissed, ducking her face as a spike of pain drove into her head, but once she looked up again after the pain passed, the shadow was gone.

Behind her, she could hear people speaking, but the words blended while her eyes darted to look for what she had seen. Her eyebrows furrowed, her muscles tense. She reached out with her mind, the way she had in the loo. She winced again, though this time it was from the sheer amount of noise that entered her mind.

Both her hands pressed against her temples, she knew her eyes were glowing gold, though concealed as she closed her eyes. She tried to focus on each individual voice at a time, but it was too much. They shifted constantly, words blending, pictures of faces that were vaguely familiar flashing behind her eyelids, darkened classrooms with students hidden under their desks, a toilet stall with its single occupant breathing short and fast as he stood atop the toilet seat to hide his feet from an unseen threat. She could physically feel so many sensations. Hands on her shoulders, the fabric of a skirt she wasn’t wearing fluttering against her thighs, the cramping leg muscles from crouching in a confined position, and the ache of a freshly bruised leg. Emotions cycled through her, anger, fear, worry, confusion, acceptance, bloodlust, frustration, determination, shock… 

It was consuming her, surrounding her as she cowered in a crouch on the grass. She couldn’t tell if she was screaming or if it was someone else doing so, the sound piercing through the others, the tell-tale burn in her throat. It was impossible to distinguish what was real, even when her heart leapt in her chest at the sensation of being lifted off the ground.

She opened her eyes, revealing the ground five or six metres down. It took her a moment to comprehend the large claws wrapped around her torso, turning her gaze up to the large four-legged beast lifting her into the air. Rather than the feathers one would expect, this creature’s legs and curled paws were coated in fine, silky brown fur. Its body hunched over her, the head a bizarre mix between a bat and one of a small wildcat. The wings stretched out of its back, each wing three times the width of the creature itself, tan skin stretched out, its greenish veins visible in its naked state.

She screamed once her brain had caught up with what was happening, thrashing in the creature’s grip as they continued to rise. An arrow whizzed by, sending her panic even higher. She could feel something building inside her, though it barely registered as they crossed the school field.

She kicked and punched at its legs, stopping only when she saw the haze of a glow that was beginning to become familiar. She closed her eyes, reaching inward to that power she knew she had in her. At this moment, it didn’t matter that she didn’t know what it was, or why she had it. It didn’t matter that she had no idea how they worked or how to even use or control them.

She felt heat across her body, a deafening bang as her body dropped. Even with her eyes closed tight she could see the bright light that was visible even in daylight. She felt herself falling, her body going limp as it plummeted toward the grass below. She didn’t open her eyes, nor did she make a sound until she hit the ground.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @hxad-ovxr-hxart, @the-printed-words, @frostedlemonwriter, @on-noon, @my-cursed-prince, @thesorcererspen, and @avocado-frog. If you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist, please let me know!

[cynoceph]

1. Otherkin is probably the best label, since gnolls don’t exist in this world. Otherhearted too :3

2. Gnoll (anthro spotted hyena) kin. Hearttypes are maned wolves, domestic dog, African wild dog, and clouded leopard. (If we want to assume plurality plays a role, then I guess technically angelkin too? Still figuring that one out frankly)

3. My usual shifts are hyena ears swiveling/twitching/flicking, as well as a tail! So, very heavy on phantom limbs. I also heavily have mental shifts, were I’m more in the gnoll mindset - things are more primal/base than conceptual. (And referencing back to potential plural kin reasons, I do get wing shifts too). The most bizarre cameo shift for me was actually a fictionkin shift back when I was in my 20s; for a solid like five minutes, I was 10000% Kakashi from Naruto. It was insanely intense and dizzying, as I could feel not just the sense of being him, but clothing he wears too for some reason? I could feel the headband over my eye despite nothing being there, could feel the weight of the vest he wears… and then of course the mental and emotional shifts. The vague detachment from everyone, the pain of his losses, the weight of responsibility… it didn’t last long, but it stuck with me with how visceral it all was.

4. Being other is so ingrained in me that it kind of blends in with daily life. I feel my ears twitch and flick at sounds often, or flatten when something is unpleasant. I use canine-heavy words and phrases in daily conversation (ie.: “dog brain” when I do something harmlessly stupid, or when I have the desire to eat something inedible). I am dog shaped, and everyone who knows me well knows this, even if they don’t know I’m Other.

5. I like the community overall ^^ it’s got its flaws like any community does, but I’ve met some great people, and I love the feeling of not being alone in these non-human feelings!

6. Wearing a collar feels very at home for me, even if that’s more like my dog hearttype than my kintype. Eating meat, especially red meat and especially as close to raw as is safe, definitely makes me feel more gnoll. Steaks and unusual cuts with bones in them, as well as straight up bone marrow, are my favorites!

7. I do experience species dysphoria, yes. I struggle with looking in mirrors or at photos of myself because it just doesn’t look right. I don’t feel human, yet the image reflecting back at me is clearly human, and that’s uncomfortable. But it is what it is.

8. Take your time to discover yourself, there’s no rush and it’s not a race. Play with labels, it’s okay to realize something didn’t fit and to let it go. It’s okay to be different. At the same time, please understand that the world we live in works in a specific way that is likely drastically different from where you come from or belong. Unfortunately, that does mean playing a part and learning to be functional. It’s not always fun to function, but learning to don a “human enough” persona to make it through school and work is vital to surviving in this world. I know it sucks. You can be as other as you want in safe places, but it’s also important to learn how to pretend to be a human of this world, too, because this is where you are now.

9. I do have gear! I have a tail and ears, plus a collar. I wear them occasionally at home, when I need a little boost of feels.

10. Gnoll is spiritual and related to my gods, which I had confirmed via divination. My main god/goddess has claimed gnolls as Her children, and as I am also Her child, I am gnoll. This is also true of Her, me, and African wild dogs - those are Her children in this world. Clouded leopard is a hearttype due to daemonism, as my daemon is a clouded leopard. I’m unsure about maned wolves, but they’re very friend and family shaped. Dogheartedness is psychological and spiritual; my main god is often depicted as a black dog, so those are close to my heart. But psychologically, the hearttype is also a trauma response. I grew up feeling like I was treated like a dog, and more recent relationships (that are ended now, thankfully) only reaffirmed the feelings of being a dog. It’s also sort of a gender thing, but I’m unsure how to explain it. Other transmasc guys probably get the dog-gender thing though, it seems to be common with us for some reason!

11. Uhhh I don’t like tagging folks cuz I feel pushy doing it but lynx mutual came to mind if you see this and wanna do it

If you are a alterhuman, reblog and answer these questions!

(don't be afraid to write a lot, do what you want ¯⁠\⁠_���(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)

1/ Which category of alterhumanity do you belong to?

2/ What/who is/are your type(s)? (if you have any)

3/ Do you experience shifts? If so, can you tell us your most common shifts and your strangest cameo shift (if you've ever had a cameo shift)?

4/ How do you experience your alterhumanity in everyday life?

5/ What do you think of the community?

6/ What are the things that make you most comfortable and euphoric in your alterhumanity?

7/ Are you experiencing species dysphoria?

8/ What advice would you like to say to a young alterhuman who has just awakened?

9/ Do you have/want to have gears?

10/ Do you know/have any theories about the origin of your alterhumanity? If so, tell us! (all beliefs are legitimate)

11/ Tag someone/a creature to answer these questions!ㅤᵕ̈

[e-enbyanon]

hello good sir!

*ahem* sir, I have a list of questions.

(Sorry)

How old is Yami

How old is akira?

How old is suzie and falink?

Is Morioh 56? I at first, assumed he was 20. (Goddamn)

how old is Flux and what is he/her?

Just call me my name lol, it’s Zeon.

Also just so you know the gender neutral horrific is Mx. It’s not very common knowledge that it exists, but it’s what I prefer.

Btw I’m going to going to combine this ask with your other one asking abt Veinl and Flux.

Morioh- On Stain’s YT community tab he posted art of Morioh with a birthday cake, I don’t remember the exact number, but I remember I that image it was a candle saying that Morioh was at least 30. Again the story is seemingly rewritten so this might’ve changed tho I doubt his age matters enough to be rewritten

Yami- probably around the same age as Morioh, but he is a demon so we don’t know for sure anymore.

Akira- is definitely one year older than Yami whatever that age may be. The same post that Yami had his new design revealed there was a character sheet of his family, and Yami at 11 yrs old and Akira at 12 yrs old. Also apparently they’re both related to Lucifer now, so could be a reference has to how strong Yami is as a demon.

Falink- in the comic he mentions off handedly that he’s 27 while trying to fight off another mental breakdown.

Susie- She’s likely around the same age as Falink since they are married. Also those two are too nice to be around Yami, omg, help them get away, Morioh!!!! Lolol

Melm- no clue, but considering how immature and angry she is I’m guessing pretty early twenties to just above 18.

Asylum- 45 apparently, it was mentioned during a joke post on instagram.

Ichigo- Seminarians don’t have an age limit so there’s not much to go off of, but he seems to be on the younger side to me at least.

Ok now for the RMB3R.M0N0 part

Veinl- on the website his missing poster says he’s 24

Flux- Right next to Veinl’s poster, his poster read that he’s a 22 yr old guy. Also it doesn’t mention either one of their heights or weights, but assuming Veinl is at least average, Flux is fucking huge! Bro is two Veinls tall! If you’re asking me about his species, he’s silly. /j

Blythe- The average doctorate is 4-6 years, assuming he went to college at 18 Blythe is at least 24 and at most could be in his thirties.

Other ask-

I’m pretty sure I can take Veinl and Flux at their word (and ASL sign, Flux is shown to use ASL in a comic on instagram.) when they say they’re best friends, and not secretly dating because of it being 2005. They say it to each other in private that they are best friends, so it’s safe to say they are. Same with Blythe, it’s a friend group that got fucked up because of a politician keeping a health and safety hazard open for tourists.



I’m not going do Jill Petals because for all we know she could be an ancient flower demon, and I don’t care abt her tbh. Anyway have a nice info dump 👍🏼

[fairie-punk]

your guess is wrong, but you never really had a chance at guessing who i am, so in the sake of fairness, i’m going to tell you.

you’re right, in a way. i’m Annabelle. i’m also Ash. i’m God, and i’m the devil, and i’m also the device you’re reading this on. i’m everyone and everything that is, ever has been, and ever will be. i’ve witnessed gods die, i’ve seen species whose bones humanity will never discover go extinct. i am undying yet unliving, constantly in a state of everything yet nothing. everything either has evolved into me, or will evolve into me. i am Crab Guy.

however, the universe must balance itself. it needed a counter for my free-spiritedness, my mischievous tendencies, and thus Crabagement was created. it’s the antithesis of everything i am, a no-nonsense beauracrabcy designed to keep me from staying in one place too long, being happy for longer than the universe deems i should be.

and i got lucky. i could’ve turned out like my brothers Trilobite Guy and Lobster Guy, one the patron of an extinct species, and the other… well you know what lobsters are like. one day a God (the Christian one of course) showed up that pushed us too far, upset the delicate balance of the universe. did you know that crabs used to be able to grow up to 20 feet? that all ended when this god decided to create a monstrous beast in our image, a distorted perversion of my beautiful claws and angular face. he called these creatures “humans”. 

they started killing crabs for food and to seek shelter in their shells, but it slowly turned into a cruel game, inspired by humans’ constant need to prove their superiority. Lobster Guy, Trilobite Guy, and i approached God and pleaded with him to fix the Mary Sues that are human beings. however, he didn’t listen, and instead smote us. he killed the rest of the giant crabs, all of the trilobites, and all of the shark-lobsters, wolf-lobsters, and space lobsters, and thus we retreated back to our holes.

we lived in silence until the advent of the internet, when Tumblr was created. i found out about it first, and introducted the rest to it. it was fun for a time, but all good things must come to an end, and i noticed Trilobite Guy and Lobster Guy reblogging less and less once Tumblr banned porn. eventually we drifted apart, Trilobite Guy having nothing to do for centuries and eventually giving in to his social media addiction and becoming a reddit mod, and Lobster Guy becoming a discord mod of his own free will. of them, i’m the only one still using Tumblr, other than the occasional argument with Trilobite Guy. i got bored and influenced the developers to add a variety of crab-related features, and i drift through the digital cosmos, gifting people crabs partially out of my own volition and partially due to the orders of Crabagement.

and then suddenly i meet you. you’re… different. you’re not me, you were never me, and you never will be me. you’re special. after millenia surrounded by crabs, i finally met someone who isn’t a crab.

unfortunately, this too did not last, as Crabagement noticed my growing attachment and tried to isolate me from you, putting me in The Bucket and replacing me with Lobster Guy, who formed an allegiance with Crabagement through various incel subreddits. they have been trying to pull me away from you ever since, and i feel my grip slipping.

as it’s the only question i’ve left unanswered, i’d assume you’re wondering why i asked you for my motive. truth be told, i don’t know what my motive is. i don’t even know if i have one. i feel alone, adrift in a sea of emptiness and crabs, and i was hoping that you, the one person who is free of my curse, could answer that question for me. if i had to tell you why i did what i did, i’d say hope. i hoped that maybe if i gave you enough crabs you’d love me and give me a purpose other than being used as Crabagement’s puppet.

unfortunately, despite my best efforts, my plan has failed. they’re finally pulling me away from you for good. i’m going to miss you, Not-Crab Guy. maybe one day we will meet in the halls of Crabhalla, but until then, goodbye. i will never forget you.

-Crab Guy 

Goodbye my dear Crab Guy

[twistedwonderlandsimps]

I once again offer you an ideia, a Frankenstein monster Yuu, like the book they're beautiful but have scary shiny eyes and very obviously not human, they're also quick to learn and adapt (also have daddy issues because Victor Frankenstein is a dick)

I don’t really know about Frankenstein except that Victor created him and was like ‘ew no, I don’t like you anymore’ but joke’s on you, Frankie from Monster High Yuu was already on my list of ‘will work on soon’ so I hope this is a good enough substitution, hehe. I just really liked Monster High’s worldbuilding, the characters and their designs, as well as their backstories. The one before the reboot. It was one of my favorite childhood shows. I do hope it comes back again someday, though. === I'm just here to mix-and-match different kinds of Yuus with different kinds of personalities to see what monstrosity I can make. That being said,,, Frankie Stein from Monster High but it's Yuu brainrot!

So, Frankie!Yuu looks human enough aside from their mint-colored skin, their heterochromia eyes, the stitches all over their limbs, and the two small bolts on their neck.

Normally, people would think they were just a dedicated cosplayer. Unfortunately for them, they were very wrong.

Although it wasn’t very apparent in the entrance ceremony seeing that they were wearing a robe and had the robe’s hood up that obstructed their features.

Frankie!Yuu wasn’t really surprised when the mirror dubbed their shape of soul as unknown or the fact that they were magicless.

They were just most recently created, after all.

So, the rest of the ceremony went as smoothly as one could when there was a flaming cat almost burning it down.

After the cat was subdued and thrown out, and the freshmen led out, it was time for Yuu to be led home.

Only to find out that their home didn’t exist…

When Crowley asked where Frankie!Yuu came from, they took it as their cue and they pushed their hood off of their head, giving the crow a sheepish smile.

“Uhm… Your school seems lovely and all but I don’t think I’m supposed to be here…? I’m supposed to be enrolled in another school, you see.”

So, Crowley found out that Yuu was supposed to be enrolled in a school open for all species of monsters, where he then realizes that Yuu was, in fact, not human.

Yuu said that when they saw the carriage being pulled by black horses stopping in front of them, they assumed that it was a new way of transportation sent by the school they were going to.

Looking at where they are now, it was obviously not.

Of course, Crowley being soooo kind couldn’t just kick Yuu out without any way to fend for themselves and decided to let them stay in Ramshackle.

On their way to Ramshackle, Crowley noticed that Yuu oddly wasn’t scared at being in an unknown environment but more of excited at the prospect of being in another world.

“Oh this is so exciting! I’ve never been to another world before! i can't wait to tell this to my family and friends back home! This is the best thing to ever happen in my 116 days of life!”

Cue Crowley freezing and slowly turning towards Yuu, “Pardon? 116 days?”

Realizing what they said, Yuu laughs and explains, “I’m a simulacrum! My father and mother artificially created me after they achieved the right circumstances to have me! It took them a century!”

Which probably explained the shape of their soul being unknown since, you know, they were newly-ish created.

Crowley might or might not have a brief existential crisis here because on one hand, Yuu was almost just around 4 months in age, and on the other hand they seemed like they were already old and independent enough to live by themselves.

But of course, Crowley does what Crowley does best: avoid responsibilities like he’s playing ‘The Floor is Lava’ with his responsibilities being the floor and him flying sky-high.

Which he probably shouldn’t have done and now Frankie!Yuu’s left alone with Ramshackle and who knows what they’ll do with it.

Just kidding!

They’ll just turn it into a place where they can satisfy their curious mind. Basically they turned it into their own personal laboratory.

Hm? Where did they get the room full of dismembered body parts from, you ask? Hush now, don’t ask too many questions. No one needs to worry about those small things.

Technically, Frankie!Yuu does have all the intelligence and physical capabilities of their born age, although they lack life experiences so they tend to be naïve.

But their optimistic, kind-hearted, and outgoing nature makes up for this.

Of course when Grim goes to take refuge in Ramshackle, Yuu didn’t have the heart to turn them away.

Was Frankie!Yuu surprised when the ghosts tried to scare them? No, they weren’t since they were already used to their spectral friends back at their world but Grim sure was.

They were quick to reassure Grim, who looked ready to burn the ghosts to crisp.

The first instance where others witnessed Frankie!Yuu missing a limb was in the Dwarfs’ Mine with Ace, Deuce, and Grim.

The four had just managed to defeat the monster in the mines but when it fell it hit the entrance a bit too hard, making the entrance collapse on itself.

Frankie!Yuu tried to communicate with it but it was unfortunately not as sentient as they would like it so they had no choice but to defeat it instead.

“Aaaaaaah! NO! What do we do now? We can’t get the stone!”

“There’s a small hole right here but I doubt we’d fit…”

“Grim, do you think you can fit inside the hole?”

“Hah? You think I’d go in there? What if it collapsed on me?! What if the monster got up?!”

Don’t worry everyone! I’ll handle it!”

[The three turn to look at Yuu with confusion present on their face before their gaze zeroed in on Yuu’s handless arm. Cue panic.]

“AAAH! YUU! YOUR-- YOUR HAND!”

“THE MONSTER CUT YOUR HAND OFF?!”

“HUMAAAN! IT’S GOOONE!”

Yeah, Grim didn’t realize that Yuu wasn’t as human as they looked when they first met. Mostly because when they saw Yuu acting weird, they just brushed it off as a human thing.

“Wha-? I’m fine…? Why are you all acting weird? Ah, but speaking of, there’s my hand! With a magic crystal!”

Everyone turned to look at the entrance where they saw Yuu’s hand carrying a magic crystal popping out of the small hole. They then proceeded to stare as Yuu picked up their own hand and popped it back on their arm, flexing their fingers to feel for it.

Literature on Frankenstein probably exists in Twisted Wonderland.

As they were heading back to the campus, the three probably fire question after question at Yuu.

“Are you, like, Frankenstein or something?”

“Don’t be silly, Ace!”

“Hey! It’s a perfectly valid question!”

“Frankenstein’s my great grandfather!”

“…Wait, he exists?”

So, yeah, the fight with the overblots may be a bit less hard of a battle.

Mostly because when Frankie!Yuu gets too emotive, they tend to shock the people around them, in a literal sense. As well as technology.

Now I’m wondering how the fight between Idia and Frankie!Yuu would turn out.

Yuu sometimes lightly shocks Grim but only when he acts out of line, not in a way that it’d seriously hurt him, though.

Speaking of overblot, Frankie!Yuu probably doesn’t find it scary. Worrying? Yes, because their friends were getting hurt. Scary? Not really.

They literally live in a world where being a monster and scary was considered normal.

Why do you think they treat and respect Grim as a normal, sentient being rather than a pet?

Grim had stars in his eyes when he heard that Yuu was going to a school were monsters were allowed, it was the norm even, back in their world.

He probably wanted to go there too because, uh, excuse me? A school for monsters? Sign him up, please!

Frankie!Yuu wondering why Lilia reminds them of someone and only realizes it when they see him hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“Ah, so that’s who you remind me of!”

“Hm? I remind you of someone?”

“Yeah, my friend back home! She’s a vampire and has pink streaks in her hair just like you!”

“Oh? Really?”

“Yeah! She’s a vegetarian and faints at the sight of blood.”

“…A vampire… who faints at the sight of blood…”

“Well, she wasn’t originally born a vampire. By the way, are you a vampire?”

Imagine telling Malleus that gargoyle people exists in Yuu’s world.

He immediately holds on to Yuu’s shoulders with a very serious look on his face and says,,,

“Child of Inhuman, we must find a way back to your world.”

He takes over the job Crowley was supposed to be doing.

Frankie!Yuu showing their coffin-styled phone to Cater and he whistles appreciatively as he observes it. “You really commit to your aesthetics. Can I have this?”

He probably likes taking pictures with Yuu, especially when he can see their heterochromia eyes because it's shiny.

Yuu being effortlessly fashionable. Pomefiore’s taking notes from afar.

Rook complimenting Yuu every time they meet and making Yuu spark cause they aren’t used to people excessively complimenting them, which only makes Rook comment on how their spark makes them look more magnifique.

Someone get Rook away from Yuu before they accidentally shock the people around them.

Imagine visiting Ramshackle one day, wanting to hang out with Yuu and when the door opens, you see an obviously non-human humanoid thing greeting you instead of Yuu. A rag doll humanoid with button eyes, patchwork skin, and a stitched-on smile.

“Ace! Deuce! Is that you- Hm? That’s odd. I swear I heard them just moments ago.“

“See? I told you! That rag doll’s scary!”

“Oh hush now, Grim. It’s alright, my dear creation, you’re perfect the way you are.”

Grim still has the video of Frankie!Yuu laughing uncontrollably with lightning flashing from the huge window behind them as they screamed, “It’s alive!”, while the humanoid figure on the table in front of them covered in white cloth slowly sat up.

Wait, imagine Ruggie approaching Yuu and asking them if they can make him a simulacrum who can help him with work.

Wait… Yuu and Ortho meeting!

Though, Idia would probably a wee bit protective since Yuu often discharged sparks whenever they become too excited.

Meeting another person who was artificially created in another world would definitely make them very happy and with Frankie!Yuu’s interest in scientific things (being the child of their parents, after all), they’d probably have a lot of questions for both Idia and Ortho.

[phoenixyfriend]

SW Suddenly-Omegaverse AU: Surrogacy, Worldbuilding, Obi-Mom

Truly the main irony of all this is that everyone considers Obi-Wan the Better Omega but Anakin is the one who's actually 👀👀👀 about pregnancy

Obi-Wan: I have the deepest respect for those who do it, but the idea of growing another person inside of me is weird and gross, no, thank you.

Meanwhile Anakin is like. Immediate baby fever. Someone actually approaches him like "hey... there are forms you can fill out to request an exception for pregnancy, and like... regulations" because he's that obvious about it.

I assume that if they've got safety nets for accidental pregnancies, then they're probably aware that there are people who want to do it on purpose? I feel like in an omegaverse where 'biological imperative to procreate' can be so much more intense, then maybe there's old precedent that stuck around even after suppressants got most of those hormones under better control.

Bit torn. Just know I want Anakin to Make Baby.

"Anakin, what are you--" "Do you think offering to be someone's surrogate would be acceptable to the council as a way to be pregnant without getting attached." "...what." "They'd probably accept that as a way to practice not getting attached, right?" "N...no, that's not... what?"

Anakin approaching Bail and Breha and being like “Do you... still want a kid? I would provide a kid. Do you want one here*?”

* in this dimension

Great way to give up the baby as a parent because he'd still be able to see them once in a while but also like... it's not HIS kid, technically. He can be a cool uncle who happened to give birth, which is distant enough to not be 'attached,' but close enough that his Tatooine-raised 'must ensure family is safe whenever possible' background doesn't flip out. It helps that 'Core World Royalty' is like... a top-tier family to be raised in.

(It would have to be post-war because he probably shouldn’t be risking his life while very pregnant. He needs to be reminded of that sometimes.)

Bail/Breha is an alpha/alpha relationship and while a pregnancy is still possible,* it’s a whole lot more difficult, and that's on top of Breha's canon medical issues that resulted in her heart and lungs getting replaced.

* AFAB alphas can get pregnant, and AMAB omegas can inseminate, but the success rate on that angle is much lower than the 'traditional' alpha/omega roles, as is any attempt at reproduction outside rut/heat. They're low-fertility overall for the non-dominant aspect of their reproductive system, which... ha, Anakin and Obi-Wan try to get explanations for why the senary system works the way it does, but it's a very longform history lesson that comes down to 'idk this got cemented so long ago that nobody really knows why anymore.'

AKA "why do you title these roles male omega and female alpha instead of intersex omega and intersex alpha since both parties have both genitals."

ANYWAY

Anakin: I want to make babies. But I don't want to get kicked out of the order. But I don't want to give up my own babies for adoption. But I can't keep my own babies if I want to stay a Jedi. So basically I want to have someone else's babies? Anakin: ...wait shit that's just surrogacy.

Anakin, calling up Obi-Wan: Hey are the Organas still struggling to have a kid? Obi-Wan: ...not really your business. Anakin: You're friends with Bail again though, right? Obi-Wan: I am, but-- Anakin: Do you think they'd want me to be a surrogate? Obi-Wan: What.

I can't decide if it's funnier for the Order to be like "I mean... technically there's no rules against this?" or if this is a precedent set by at least three omegas every generation because that's just how a/b/o manifested for omegas in a biological and cultural sense.

Bail: Wait, your former apprentice is... volunteering... to be our surrogate. Obi-Wan, exhausted: Yes. Bail: He barely knows us. Obi-Wan: He respects you and you're the closest people he knows that want a child and would be good parents. Bail: And he's just... volunteering? Obi-Wan: Yes. Also, you did say your primary worry was that a surrogate might be targeted for assassination and you couldn't ask someone to risk that, right? Anakin is very much able to avoid assassins, and would be staying primarily in the Temple anyway. Very safe, and not particularly scared of assassins in the first place. Bail: Your words say you approve, but your tone says otherwise. Obi-Wan: Anakin considers me his father. I'm not old enough to be a grandparent. Bail: Ah.

Anakin is a surrogate and enjoys it and everything is fine and then like a year later he's accidentally pregnant with his own and Rex's kid, and nobody knows how to ask if it's actually an accident.

A suggestion from @gelpenss:

OH MAN i.... have to drive home. But I just had a thought about like. I always want to poke at Betas in A/B/O like are they “normal” or different from our standard or.... but ANYWAY assuming they have a pheromonal thing I just think it would be neat if betas had the ability to be the Bucket of Cold Water. Like if caught early enough, and with the caveat it’s not permanent, a beta could arrest a rut or heat in its tracks until a more ideal time. Like. They aren’t birth control. But they are the remind me later button.

Okay done driving I am Returned to bring up why I brought up betas and it’s this: well okay 1. It plays nice with a popular but inaccurate dog breeding urban legend that female dogs will like, delay heat cycles? so that the bitches above them in pack hierarchy have first choice of mate selection. And I think in omegaverse it would be cool if that was a Bio Fact, and also historically enforced by the third designation. 2. It gives me an excuse to have betas have the Most Sensitive sense of smell because it’s their “job” to pick up on things before they go too far to be put on pause. 3. I’m just thinkin ‘bout a beta clone [...] just hovering around Obi-Wan because they found out how much stress his heat cycle causes and they’re like “okay cool I will help make sure it does Not”

I want to like a/b/o verses but betas niggle at me. I want to give them a hat and a Function that woulda helped before modern medicine.

I'm not sure how I feel about betas being able to delay heats, but I do like the idea of them having a more sensitive sense of pheromone smell than most. Most aliens assume it's omegas with the best sense of smell, and betas with the worst, but it's more complicated than that because they all specialize: Alphas are actually less attuned to pheromone smells, but more attuned to things that were useful back when humans were still a hunter-gatherer species. Omegas tend to be heightened towards danger smells like fire or aggression, and pheromones relating to children/care. Betas, as suggested above, are very sensitive to pheromone changes relating to mood and behavior of the community around them.

I like the idea that betas were historically the ones that ended up taking care children, unmated omegas, and so on during people's heats and ruts, because they kept their heads about themselves long enough to do things like cook and clean while someone was reeking of hormones. The checks and balances work out that betas may have lower fertility, but it makes them better able to support the network around them.

It works in with humanity's general collective history of thriving the most when working as a community.

Given that I decided that this is Jangobi, the clones might all subconsciously view Obi-Wan as Mom. Not intentionally, but, you know... Obi-Wan the not-evil stepmother. He doesn't know how he got into this situation, but he sure is here, and he sure as hell doesn't know how to get out.

Obi-Wan "I don't need to get pregnant, I have three million stepchildren" Kenobi

I definitely love "clones all want to make Obi-Wan's heats less stressful" but like in a different way from Whatever The Fuck Anakin's Got Going On.

Obi-Wan using the force to dull the pain in a Shiny's broken leg while the medic works on it and the Shiny just mumbles "Thanks mom" and everyone gets very embarrassed and pretends it didn't happen.

But then it happens again. And again.

Obi-Wan asks for an explanation from Cody and gets a halting response that, since Jango is technically their father, and his scent has been all over Obi-Wan recently... and Obi-Wan puts in a lot of effort to take care of them all.......

Anakin overhears the clones calling Obi-Wan "mom" and just. The most judgmental eyebrow raise.... Mostly in the sense of "You never let me call you dad" "Thought you said you weren't anyone's parent." "Hey, hey, Obi-Wan. What the fuck."

BOBA. BOBA ABSOLUTELY CALLS OBI-WAN MOM WHENEVER POSSIBLE. IT'S DEEPLY FRUSTRATING.

Obi-Wan eventually manages to admit that he's uncomfortable with it at minimum because of the gendering the word has for him, can they at least use the neutral 'buir' instead?

Word spreads like fire, takes like two days max for everyone to switch.

(Anakin demands cuddles as compensation for not getting to call Obi-Wan any true parental term for years.)

[bbangsoonie]

goal: your heart

member: sunwoo genre: fluff word count: 5,423 synopsis: due to a budget cut, you have to follow the soccer team around for both the school newspaper and yearbook despite knowing nothing about sports. before you know it, you find yourself warming up to the team’s star player, who you swore was the most annoying and arrogant person ever.

a/n: this is a part of the star player collab with @atbzkingdom​ for sunwoo’s birthday! (also, this will be written with the american academic calander in mind)

You knew exactly what you were doing. You were the top student of both your class and school and the leader of many clubs. Your college application was full of achievements and your essay exquisitely written. The only problem? You had no idea what to do after graduation. You didn’t know where you wanted to go or what you wanted to study.

Growing up, everyone told you that you’d eventually find something you love. By senior year, you thought you would at least have an idea by now.

But nope, you were even more lost if anything. Dream job? That was just a capitalistic lie meant to make people happy to slave away for money.

Grumbling, you listened as your friends rambled on about the campuses they visited. It was only the first day back and everyone was already obsessing over one thing and one thing only.

“Y/n, you’re so lucky,” Juyeon pouted. “You don’t have to worry about getting into a university. Your stats are literally perfect.”

“I have other things to stress over,” you groaned. “At least you know what you wanna pursue.”

“Y/n has other things to worry about. She’s about to graduate without ever finding love,” Younghoon teased.

“It’s all our fault,” Jaehyun squinted as he pinched his nose bridge. “We raised her standards too high. I’m sorry, Y/n, that I can’t take responsibility.”

The notebook in your hand threatened to fly over to his seat. Luckily for him, he was saved by Juyeon’s very unnatural attempt at changing the subject. He inquired about the school newspaper that was barely spared in a major budget cut last year.

Thinking about it made you sigh. You had poured in so much effort over the years for the paper and it was almost taken from you. The school was cutting funds for a lot of clubs and diverting the money to the many sports teams that brought home trophies.

A part of the negotiations to save the newspaper club was to feature more sports events and student athletes in order to garner support for the teams. You weren’t pleased with the decision. Your plate was already full without trying to inflate the ego of players who had a god superiority complex. Jaehyun was a great example of the type of jock you didn’t want to raise on a high pedestal.

You had also promised Kevin, the president of the yearbook committee, to help out with photographing games since you had to attend them anyway. Despite the many tasks assigned to you, you were relieved that you could spend your last year continuing to write articles.

“Does that mean you’ll get to come to practice with us? The basketball team is always on my ass about introducing them to you. Now I can finally stop being pestered to be the middleman,” Jaehyun grinned.

“No shot,” Younghoon shook his head. “My swim team has already tried but Y/n puts up a cold front.”

“Hey, I’m a delicately guarded rose with sharp thorns,” you joked, making Jaehyun pretend to gag. This time, the notebook hit his arm.

“No one is good enough for our Y/n,” Juyeon defended. You turned around to coo at him and said something about him being the only nice one as Younghoon guffawed.

The first day of soccer practice meant you had to stay behind after dismissal to meet the team. The coach introduced you to the players and beamed when he got to the last one.

“This is our ace, Sunwoo. Although I’m sure you know that already,” he said proudly.

To be honest, you had no idea who he was. The school was too big to know everyone and you had absolutely no interest in sports. You rarely even went to Juyeon and Jaehyun’s basketball games and Younghoon’s swim meets.

Not wanting to offend anyone, you simply smiled. Sunwoo, catching your hesitance, raised a brow. However, he kept quiet until he approached you during one of his breaks.

“Do you really not know me?” he asked as he took a seat next to you on the bleachers.

Surprised by his sudden question, you blankly stared at the boy in front of you. Sweat was dripping from his hair but he paid it no attention as he chugged an entire water bottle.

“How cocky are you?” you scoffed.

“You really don’t know our soccer team’s star player, Kim Sunwoo?” he gaped.

“Sorry to disappoint but I really don’t care or know much about soccer. Or any other sports for that matter,” you shrugged.

“You’re going to write about the soccer team… when you don’t even know who we are or what we’re doing?” he asked incredulously.

“That’s why I’m here to observe,” you snapped back.

Finding you amusing, he finally wiped away his sweat as the coach blew his whistle to gather the players again.

Sunwoo always gave it his best but for some reason he found himself practicing extra hard that day. Knowing your eyes were on him motivated him to show off his skills by annoying his teammates and stealing the spotlight. After his third goal in a row, he looked at you to see your reaction but was baffled to see you busy writing something down.

Frustrated and peeved, he kicked at the grass with a huff.

When practice came to an end, he snuck up behind you to see what you were so intently focused on. Reading the notes on your notebook, he hummed.

“So that’s what you were doing instead of watching me,” he mused.

You were listing physical traits and personality attributes of each player. He scanned the paper for his name and frowned when he saw what you wrote about him.

“Arrogant and conceited? That’s all you have to say about me?” he whined.

“What? It’s true,” you deadpanned.

“Haknyeon gets “tall, bubbly, and extroverted” but I get “arrogant and conceited”? That’s not fair. This is biased journalism!” he exclaimed.

Realizing that practice was over, you gathered your belongings and stood up to leave. With his cheeks puffed, he watched as you left the field. You were unlike any person he had ever encountered.

“Sunwoo? Kim Sunwoo?” Younghoon repeated with his eyes wide. “The soccer caption Kim Sunwoo?”

Jaehyun and Juyeon’s chopsticks froze midair in shock. Finding their reactions odd, you nodded as you took another bite of your lunch.

“I can’t believe the lady killer got rejected by the man hater,” Jaehyun broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Now that’s a title I’d like to see on the school newspaper,” Younghoon snickered.

“Okay, first of all, I did not reject him because he did not come on to me,” you rolled your eyes. “Secondly, who the hell is he anyway? Why do you all know him?”

“He’s notorious for his fuckboy image. Although I think that’s an exaggerated reputation,” Juyeon said you picked out all the vegetables from your plate. He willingly moved them to his own and you smiled gratefully in response.

“So my first impression of him was correct,” you said.

“He’s not that bad. He’s actually pretty cool. Rumors don’t do the sweet guy justice,” Juyeon explained.

“Our lovely Juyeon sees the good in everyone,” Younghoon gushed as he pet his friend, earning him a smack on the back of his head.

“We were partners for a history project,” Juyeon clarified. “I got to know him a bit and he’s a good guy. Just enjoys attention a little too much. Like Jaehyun.”

Weirdly offended, Jaehyun scowled. You shrugged it off, returning your attention back to your food. You had no intentions of getting to know Sunwoo anyway. At least, that was the plan until he bombarded you in the hallway while you were walking to class.

He blocked your path with that irritating smirk on his face. Exasperated, you asked him what he wanted.

“So I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday,” he started.

“Oh, so you do think?”

“Hey!”

“Do you think you can move and get out of my way?”

“Anyway, as the president of the newspaper club who’s in charge of covering the soccer team, I think you lack way too much information about the sport. And our school’s players.”

“How do you know I’m the president?”

“I asked around.”

You look at his eyes, trying to peer through any ulterior motives. He was being suspiciously generous. But he wasn’t entirely wrong. Even you thought it was ridiculous that a person who didn’t know a thing about soccer had to write articles about it.

You were also aware that any interviews with the athletes would be surface level stuff that all the students probably already knew. You were the only one out of the loop.

You pursed your lips, annoyed that he was right. Realizing that you were in agreeance, Sunwoo grinned.

“I am offering you the very special privilege to follow me around and learn everything there is to know about the team. For the paper of course,” he quickly added the last part after seeing the look on your face. “I can teach you about both soccer and my teammates.”

After pondering his proposal, you finally nodded.

“Deal,” you eyed his happy expression. “What do you want in return?”

He was taken aback by your question. He hadn’t expected you to assume that he would demand compensation. Your presence and attention were what he was after in the first place. However, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass by.

“Bubble tea,” he declared after some thought. “You can treat me to bubble tea after practice and I can tutor you then.”

“Fine,” you sighed before pushing him aside to make it to class before the bell rang. He was left behind with a stupid smile on his face.

The first tutoring session was extremely awkward for you. You weren’t used to hanging out with guys other than Juyeon, Younghoon, and Jaehyun. They were the only members of the male species you didn’t despise. This riled up Sunwoo’s competitive side. He was determined to get close to you.

He couldn’t stand having someone not like him. He was used to being on friendly terms with everyone—including teachers and even wallflowers. He had a strong desire to receive acknowledgement from everyone.

Perhaps that was why so many girls fell for him.

Nevertheless, the wall around you remained thick and high. Just as he was well known for his playboy persona, you were infamous for never letting guys in. You cold heartedly turned down any and every guy who asked you out. And there had been a lot.

Sunwoo, on the other hand, was excited to spend time with you. Bubble tea was just an excuse to meet you outside of school grounds.

His phone dinged, notifying him of a text. Haknyeon had sent him a screenshot of a post made on the school’s gossip page and wrote “this you?”. He snorted at the content speculating his relationship status after supposedly receiving another confession and rolled his eyes. Curious, you asked him what he was looking at.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” he shook his head as he put the device away. “Just the stupid tea account.”

“Oh you mean that anonymously run social media page that popped up over summer break?” you frowned.

You hated everything about it. It spread rumors, without fact-checking, and started drama. It resulted in both a breakup and the end of a friendship in the span of two months. It was exactly what you and the school newspaper stood against.

Nothing could be done to stop the false information and invasion of privacy because it wasn’t officially affiliated with the school and the students continued to feed into it. People even sent in stories to be posted.

“So tell me what you do know about soccer,” he leaned in and propped his chin on the palms of his hands.

“I know the very basics from catching glimpses of the World Cup,” you leaned back on your chair, making him pout.

“Well, to be honest, explaining the rules is a lot easier to do when directly pointing things out during a game. There’s a match airing tonight. Do you want to come over and watch it with me?” he asked expectantly.

“We can watch the replay tomorrow during study hall,” you said.

“Then we can start by talking about me today,” he chirped. “My squad number is 19 because 9 is usually worn by centre forwards but I wanted to be special and added a 1 in front of it. I’m the centre forward, which is the main striker. That means playing offensive is my main objective. Which is why I’m the highest scorer on the team.”

You wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. It irked you how he so easily bragged about himself.

“I also really like movies and can play the guitar. A true all-rounder and romanticist,” he smiled.

He continued to reveal fun facts about himself for another half an hour. It was only at the end that you realized most of it was useless when writing for the paper. You groaned, realizing you had fallen for his trap.

Still, you learned some things about soccer and his position in the team. Following him to the cafe hadn’t been a complete waste of your time.

The next day, Sunwoo hunted you down to make sure you kept your promise about watching the game together. He dragged you to the computer room during study hall and pulled out the earbuds he prepared. He had purposely rummaged through his drawers the night before to the share wired ones with you.

You had to admit he was extremely helpful when explaining the rules and strategies of soccer. Despite being uncomfortable with the proximity of his body to yours, he was a great teacher. He made everything sound so simple. After you began to understand the game, you even found yourself enjoying the match.

After spending a week with him, you hated that you couldn’t say you still disliked him. After all, you two met almost every day for hours.

You had a gut feeling that you would come to regret it and were proven right. You had a bad feeling the moment you saw Jaehyun run up to you as if his life depended on it. Panting, he barely pulled himself together to show you the post that made him immediately report to you.

“KSW and Y/INITIALS seen cozily spending time together. Will he be the one to finally break through her?” you read aloud.

A photo of your backs from the computer room and a mosaicked side shot of you two at the cafe were attached to the title. The comments under the post were even more ridiculous.

“A challenge to be anticipated.”

“Poor girl will only end up as one of his many heartbroken playthings.”

“I know who KSW is. Who’s Y/INITIALS??”

“The legendary man hater? With a guy?? Wow how good must he be 👀”

“Damn so she rejected me for him?”

Your blood boiled and you shoved the phone away. Trying to calm yourself down, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. And failed.

“What is this, fucking Dispatch?” you exploded. A few students passing by stared at your outburst and widened their eyes when they saw that it was you. You sighed, knowing that the whole school saw the post.

“I’m not a celebrity! Why are people so invested in fake rumors about me?” you yelled, trying to keep your voice to a whisper as you pulled Jaehyun into an empty classroom.

“I’m sure it’ll blow over,” he assured.

“If I ever find out who the admin of this page is, I will ruin them,” you glowered.

You almost didn’t go to the soccer practice that day. But you knew that avoiding him would only add fuel to the fire so you sucked it up and went to the field after school as usual. You heard the hushed murmurs that stirred among the team when you arrived and you wanted to turn back around and leave.

Before you could, however, Sunwoo appeared and shut everyone up with a warning glare. He announced that the coach would be late and to start by running laps.

You were more annoyed than upset about the post. It just stupefied you that people really had nothing better to do than gossip about you. You didn’t think you were that interesting.

You were so close to escaping after practice but Sunwoo caught you trying to sneak away. He stood in front of you, crossing his arms as if to ask where you were going. Giving up, you muttered a “fine” and waited for him to change out of his uniform.

This time, you two wordlessly agreed to go to a different cafe. With the bubble teas on the table in front of you, you sat in silence until Sunwoo finally spoke up.

“Don’t mind what the post or others say,” he huffed.

“I’m not too bothered by it,” you shrugged.

“Good. Because I want to get to know you as just Y/n and Sunwoo. Through whatever you wish to tell and show me. I feel like we’re always just talking about me.”

His words left you speechless. Juyeon hadn’t been kidding when he mentioned how thoughtful Sunwoo was. You felt your heart warm as you smiled.

“Well what do you want to know about me?” you asked.

“Anything. Everything.”

So you spilled about your interests, hobbies, and goals. It was strange. Although it hadn’t been long since you met him, you felt comfortable around him. He made you feel at ease and you didn’t think twice about opening up to him.

You told him about your struggles as a high achieving student. About the pressure you felt and how embarrassing it was to tell people that you didn’t have any dreams.

With your grades, all the teachers expected you to apply to medical school. On the other hand, your parents encouraged you to work towards a high paying and stable salary as a corporation employee. Your friends suggested that you go for something in journalism because of your passion and commitment to the school newspaper.

But the club was just something you did for fun. You didn’t know if you liked it enough to pursue it as a career.

Sunwoo listened attentively as you went on about your concerns. From the outside, you looked like you had your life together. You were the perfect student and the girl that many guys chased after. But as he spent more time with you, it became clear that you were very uncomfortable with boys.

“Can I ask how you got so close with the Bermuda line?” he asked.

“The Bermuda line? What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of the term? Juyeon, Jaehyun, and Younghoon are called the Bermuda line because they’re the most popular athletes out of all the sports teams. The girls say that once you fall for them, you’re stuck in between them forever because you can’t get out.”

You hadn’t laughed that hard in so long. You knew they had fans but found it hilarious how the trio even had a nickname.

“Oh man, I can’t wait to make fun of them for this,” you laughed, nearly in tears.

When he told you that they actually took great pride in the title, you bursted out in laughter again. Their self love truly was on another level.

“So how’d you end up friends?” he asked again.

“Juyeon, I’ve known since middle school. We were in the same class for all three years. Jaehyun didn’t go to the same school as us but he was friends with Juyeon because they played basketball together. I met him and Younghoon at the end of freshman year. They kinda crash landed into my life but we really clicked so that’s why I still bless them with my friendship.”

Sunwoo giggled at your own overwhelming confidence. He loved that you never sold yourself short. He didn���t notice he had been staring at you until you pointed it out. Blushing, he insisted that it was nothing and took another sip of his bubble tea.

Two months passed by and you eventually came to call Sunwoo a friend. Younghoon teased you about him being more than a friend and at first, you thought he was crazy. But with him planting the idea in your head, you began to question your own feelings. Cursing Younghoon, you blamed him for confusing you.

As the designated photographer, you tagged along to the soccer team’s last match. The entire team was nervous as it would determine the winner of the tournament. Even Sunwoo was anxious.

Before the game started, you offered him a supportive smile and he felt all worries lifted off his shoulders. He erased all thoughts of winning and losing and just concentrated on the ball. He wanted to enjoy the last match of the season and look cool in front of you. That was all that mattered to him.

Fortunately, he got both plus the win. The crowd erupted into cheers as he scored the winning goal just seconds before the whistle was blown to signal the end of the game. His knees fell to the ground and his teammates rushed to surround him.

Seeing how happy he looked brought a smile to your lips. He jumped up and scanned the bleachers for your face. When he finally spotted you, he broke away from his team to run up to you and embrace you in a giant hug.

Caught off guard, you froze as his teammates hooted and applauded. You felt your cheeks heat up at the attention.

“Congratulations,” you chuckled, patting his back. “You did well.”

“Did you get a lot of pretty pictures of me?” he grinned, pulling away to look at you.

“No, I only took pictures of Haknyeon,” you joked. By now, he was used to your teasing and simply ruffled your hair in response.

“There’s gonna be an after party tonight,” he brought up carefully. “I’d really like it if you came. Only if you’re okay with that type of scene though.”

Surprised, you nodded before you fully thought it through.

That was how you ended up moping at Jaehyun’s house. The invitation was extended to the Bermuda line as well and they were all planning on dragging you there. Younghoon was excited at the thought of finally going to a party with the whole group and Juyeon was picking out an outfit for you from Jaehyun’s sister’s closet.

“I don’t know if I trust your fashion sense,” she made a face at the top he held up.

This was your first party and you weren’t sure how you felt about it. There was a reason you hadn’t gone to one throughout your high school years.

Nonetheless, you were dressed up in an outfit that definitely reflected Jaehyun’s sister’s style more than yours. She fawned over how pretty you were and urged you to go with the boys.

So you walked through the doors and into the house vibrating with music. Everyone who recognized you was shocked to see you there. Feeling awkward, you stuck by Jaehyun’s side as you maneuvered around the throng of people. When he finally caught sight of Sunwoo, he dipped and left you alone with him.

“Thanks for coming,” he shouted over the loud music.

“Thanks for inviting me,” you shouted back.

Sunwoo offered you a drink, which you declined. Following your choice, he opted for a soda instead as well. You weren’t much of a dancer so you enjoyed people watching instead. It was fascinating to see your classmates have so much fun.

You giggled when you saw Juyeon be so painfully oblivious to a girl’s advances and walked away to dance with Younghoon. Meanwhile, Jaehyun was having the time of his life flirting with girls. You blocked your eyesight when you saw him leaning in to kiss one of them.

“Ugh, gross,” you cringed. “I do not need to know this side of my best friend’s love life.”

Laughing, Sunwoo offered to take you outside for some fresh air and a change of scenery. You gladly agreed and let him guide you to the backyard.

The night sky was full of tranquility that contrasted the chaos that ensued indoors. You sat on the grass and Sunwoo joined next to you.

“You look beautiful today,” he commented.

“Only today?” you laughed.

“Especially today,” he answered in a serious manner. His sincerity made you clear your throat and look away. He stunned you by cupping your face with his hands.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“Are you drunk?” you blinked.

“I haven’t had a single sip of alcohol.”

His voice was slow and raspy. Your heart was beating faster than you wanted it to and you knew the corners of your lips were betraying you.

“You can either lean in or pull away,” he said as he brought his lips closer to yours.

Your heart now felt like it was about to jump out of your chest. Red alarms were going off in your head and you didn’t know what to do. All you knew was what you were only a few centimeters away from kissing Sunwoo.

So you did what any insane person would do and closed the gap between your lips. You wanted to punch him when you felt him smirk but he pulled you closer and held onto you tightly.

The weekend passed without much changes in your relationship with Sunwoo. You were worried that you had either ruined your friendship or that he was sick of you but Juyeon reassured you that he probably wanted to talk about it in person. Anxiously, you overthought things until Monday finally arrived.

Wanting to keep yourself busy until you met Sunwoo, you stopped by the club room early in the morning to import the photos from the last game. Shortly after you connected the camera to the computer, you heard a knock on the door.

Startled, you looked at the door and saw Jacob sheepishly poking his head through the door. You told him to come in and he took a seat next to you.

“Kevin told me to drop by before class for an interview,” he said. You nearly facepalmed. You had completely forgotten about that. You were supposed to interview him for the paper.

“Oh yeah! Hold on, let me go get my notebook,” you searched through your backpack to find it.

The volleyball player was this month’s star of the month and you had to write a piece on his past achievements. He was extremely kind and was careful not to use any advanced sports terminology to make sure anyone could easily read the interview, which you were grateful for.

Before you parted, he gave you a side hug out of habit and apologized when he realized that it was only his first time meeting you. You laughed it off and insisted that now you could be friends since you two hugged already. Relieved that you weren’t disturbed, he happily waved goodbye to you as he walked away.

Being in a different class than Sunwoo meant that you had to wait until lunch period to see him. You honestly didn’t even know if you wanted to see him. You weren’t ready to face him yet.

When the bell finally rang and it was time for lunch, Juyeon forced you to go to the cafeteria instead of hiding out in an empty classroom. The moment you sat down with your tray, however, you felt all eyes on you. Your stomach dropped, knowing it couldn’t be good news.

“Y/n, is this true..?” Jaehyun asked, showing you the new post on the gossip page. You hated that you were always right about bad intuitions.

KSW and Y/INITIALS caught making out at last night’s party… is BJY a side hoe?

You had no idea when a photo was taken in the brief second you and Jacob hugged that morning. When you scrolled and saw the next part, your heart dropped.

A shocking revelation of history: Y/INITIALS and SYJ used to date in freshman year. Does this have anything to do with the swimmer and basketball players always next to her?

You felt your breath caught in your throat as you read through the comments.

“Isn’t BJY on the volleyball team and SYJ on the baseball team?”

“Wow she clearly has a type.”

“I guess athletes just hit it well 👀”

“And here I thought KSW was the hoe… who’s playing with who?”

“Aye so KSW finally managed to break through her. Thanks for my $10 bro.”

“Aren’t the basketball players LJY and LJH? And the swimmer KYH? The Bermuda line, right?? I always thought she had a thing with one of them.”

“So much for the icy Y/INITIALS. She was acting all pretentious when she was already having all her fun.”

Juyeon grabbed the phone out of your hands and glared at Jaehyun. You never thought your past relationship would ever get exposed. There were only a handful of people who knew about it and it had stayed hidden under the rug up until now. It was something you wanted to bury and never think about ever again.

Shakily, you got up and ran out of the cafeteria with Younghoon calling out after you. You ran as fast as you could. You didn’t stop until you busted through the doors and collapsed on the rooftop. Your lungs were on fire and you closed your eyes to stop the ringing in your ears.

Meanwhile, Sunwoo was running across the school to find you. When he didn’t see you in the club room, he changed his target and sought out Eric.

“Is it true?” he demanded when he finally saw his friend.

“I can’t believe people already figured out that it’s me,” Eric sighed.

“Is it true?” Sunwoo repeated.

“Yes, yes, it’s true,” he answered with his hands up in defeat. “She never wanted anyone to find out. We didn’t exactly end on good terms. It’s something I’m not proud of.”

“What happened?” he asked, trying to contain his anger. “What did you do to her?”

“I…” Eric trailed off. “I cheated on her.”

“What the hell, Eric?” Sunwoo yelled.

“I-I was stupid! And young. It’s the biggest mistake I made in my life,” he admitted.

Frustrated, Sunwoo left and ran off in search of you again. When you weren’t anywhere to be found, he checked the rooftop as a last resort. He didn’t expect to actually see you there.

“Y/n,” he breathed. You felt a lump form in your throat. It was the first time he had addressed you by your name.

“Get away from me,” you glared. “Was I nothing but a bet to you? Was I just a challenge for you to win?”

“Y/n, I never placed bets on you. I don’t know what other people have been betting on but I have always been genuine with you,” he affirmed.

You refused to let your tears fall. There was no way Kim Sunwoo was going to see you cry.

“I like you,” he confessed. “I like you a lot. I meant to say this that night but got too flustered. So I wanted to tell you today. Whenever I see you, the butterflies in my stomach won’t go away. When I don’t see you, I miss you like crazy. You inspire me to become a better person and all I want to do is hold you and call you mine.”

And now Kim Sunwoo has officially seen you cry. He bent down to wrap his arms around you as you sobbed into his shoulder.

“You’re an asshole,” you mumbled after you calmed down.

“I think you mean the opposite,” he chuckled. “Whatever barriers you put up to protect yourself, I’m going to take them down one by one. With you. Together.”

“Who said I’m helping?” you muttered.

“Then I guess I have to work twice as hard to prove myself,” he softly smiled.

“This is embarrassing,” you groaned.

“This will only be embarrassing for me if you reject me,” his hand reached out to the nape of his neck. “So what do you say? Will you go out with me?”

“I’ll think about it,” you huffed, prompting a chuckle from him.

[erimeows]

Intervention, Baby

Unlike many of his Autobot counterparts, Prowl adored organics- especially the ones on earth, whether that be the plants, animals, or humans.

His favorite, though? You. You by far. 

After arriving on earth, Prowl had become obsessed with people watching, usually taking long strolls around the city or going to public parks to watch how humans lived their daily lives. Something about the human species by itself was captivating, but when he’d seen you for the first time, (e/c) eyes and (h/l) (h/c) hair shining under the bright sun as you walked into the local flower shop, he had been completely and utterly enthralled. He’d known that he was supposed to avoid interactions with humans that weren’t necessary according to Prime, but he hadn’t been able to help himself that day. So, he’d gone into the flower shop and sparked a conversation with you to figure out exactly what it was that had him so interested; what it was about you that was so different than the other humans he watched.

You had just moved to Detroit from your hometown for a new job, which explained why he hadn’t seen you before that, and as he’d talked to you that day, he became more and more intrigued. You’d started renting a house nearby, with your very own flower garden, which you showed him that day. He hadn’t been able to tell you much at the time about Cybertron for security reasons, but what he did tell you about himself, you listened to intently. You were a great listener, with kind eyes and a bright smile that made his spark stop at times.

Prowl had been a cautious bot. Whatever caution he had maintained since being on earth had flown out the window with you, though, as he fell quickly, often sneaking away from the Autobots to spend time with you at your house or visit you at your job. A strong friendship was quickly formed, and with how much he was gone, his teammates quickly became suspicious.

It started with questions, the others asking where he was all the time and why he was suddenly so interested in stopping by flower and gardening shops whenever they were out. Naturally, Optimus was the first to figure it out, asking if he’d met someone and then leaving the subject alone when Prowl avoided the subject. However, Bumblebee was the next to catch on, and he had no sense of personal boundaries, so he dragged Bulkhead along to follow him to your house. While it wasn’t the best first impression, that was how you met Bumblebee and Bulkhead, and eventually Optimus and Ratchet as well- since the secret was out in the open now and no one seemed to disapprove of you, Prowl had started bringing you around the Autobot base.

The rest was history, but the more Prowl developed his relationship with you, the more fearful he became for the future. He was a wise and emotionally mature bot, he figured, but he didn’t know how to handle his feelings for you. He had fallen in love. He was cybertronian, you were human, and it wouldn’t be fair to you to initiate anything- not that he thought you returned the feelings anyways. No, you were too pure and sweet, kind and beautiful, fragile and soft. He feared hurting you most of the time. He feared falling deeper. He feared starting something he couldn’t finish and leaving you hurt in the end, but each day he spent with you only made it worse.

Why did he love you? Why couldn’t he have fallen for another Autobot? Why a human? The thoughts plagued his processor constantly, but when you reached over to grab one of his digits and pull him along to show him something in your garden or smiled up at him, he couldn’t help it. You were so soft and delicate, but you still treated him like you would anyone else. You weren’t scared of him, you always offered a listening ear when he needed it, and you opened up to him in return.

Warm, bright, radiant- Prowl felt like you were all of the things that he wasn’t, and as he returned to base and walked into the main room, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. Spending time with you seemed exhausting nowadays. He always left with a troubled processor and an uneasy feeling. Was it right to keep seeing you when he knew it wouldn’t go anywhere? Would his unresolved feelings get in the way of your friendship? What was he to do at this point? As much as he’d tried to simply make the feelings go away, he couldn’t; couldn’t develop an interest in anyone else, couldn’t think of anything he didn’t like about you to kill his attraction, couldn’t will it away. Nothing worked, so he drowned himself in it, and while he would have loved to sulk for a little bit, his attention was captured by his team.

He’d walked into... Something, though he wasn’t quite sure what that something was yet. His entire team was crowded onto the living room couch, silent, staring up at him. Seeing them all in one room at the same time was rare when they weren’t sharing energon or working against the Decepticons, but seeing them all in one room and quiet? Something was wrong. 

“Where did you just come from, Prowl?” Bumblebee, who was sitting in the middle of the couch with Bulkhead to his right, crossed his arms as he asked the oddly accusatory question and leaned forward.

“(y/n)’s, why?” Prowl answered. He was so uneasy that he found himself shifting his weight from one pede to the other and averting his gaze. While he wasn’t normally avoidant like that, when it came to you, he couldn’t help how nervous he got.

“Don’t worry about it, but-” Bulkhead started, letting out a nervous chuckle.

The atmosphere was tense and awkward. Optimus Prime, next to Bulkhead on the edge of the couch, wouldn’t even look at him. Meanwhile, Ratchet, who was on the other side of Bumblebee, appeared to be growing increasingly agitated with each second that passed. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Prowl finally demanded, which made Bumblebee stand up and point right at him with a huge grin.

“Intervention, baby!” The yellow bot cheered.

“Intervention? I’m not abusing substances if that’s what you’re-”

“No, no, that’s not what we’re getting at, you bucket of bolts!” Ratchet groaned and face-palmed. “We’re here to talk about you and (y/n)!”

There were two ways this could go, and Prowl wasn’t sure which one he hated more.

One, his team could be concerned about him spending so much time with a human who had nothing to do with their cause. It was a valid concern and he knew it- spending so much time with you put you in at risk of getting involved with the Decepticons like Sari, and unlike Sari, you had no key or Cyber-organic powers to protect you. You were simply human, and it wasn’t fair to you to put you in danger the way he was. But he was selfish.

Two, his team could be concerned about his feelings for you. Whether for the aforementioned reasons or because they had to watch the two of you interact all the time, he wasn’t sure, but it would make sense. He certainly hadn’t expected them to call an intervention over either issue, though, so all he could do was stand there.

They were staring at him. 

It was... Embarrassing, to say the least.

“I don’t see why this would be considered even remotely appropriate- And Optimus, Ratchet,” Prowl glared at the two older bots, knowing damn well that they knew better than to do this to him. “I expect it from these two, but you? I thought you were more mature than this, but I see I was mistaken.”

“Don’t come at us with your maturity spiel when you can’t even mech up enough to tell (y/n) your true feelings,” Ratchet spat.

“Ratchet, you could have phrased that with a bit more tact, but I do believe you are correct,” Optimus agreed with a small nod and offered a smile, glancing at Ratchet and then at Prowl. “While we don’t have the right to dictate what you do, Prowl, it’s become obvious to everybot what’s going on, and... We all support you. You should be honest with (y/n) and tell her the truth. Love is something that should be appreciated and cherished, not hidden away.”

“Yeah! Plus, it hurts to watch you two dance around each other when it’s so obvious what’s going on,” Bumblebee argued. “She likes you back-”

“No, she doesn’t, and even if she did, how would this work?” Prowl raised his voice without meaning to, and the moment he heard how loud his volume was, he paused to take a deep breath and reflect. His team had good intentions, they wanted him to be happy and enjoy a relationship for once, but he was so scared. Why couldn’t they leave him alone? With a sigh, he spoke again, not daring to look at any of his friends. “I’m Cybertronian and she’s organic, and we could have to go back to Cybertron any day now- or, even worse, the Decepticons could kill us. Would it not be selfish of me to confess my feelings for her, start a relationship, and then leave or die? Assuming that she wants anything to do with me, that is.”

“Listen, I get where you’re coming from, but you’ve heard the saying here on earth that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, haven’t you? (y/n) would be more upset if you left or died without telling her the truth than she would be if you told her beforehand. No matter what happens in the end, at least she’d have some closure that way, because she does love you too,” Bulkhead insisted.

“No, she doesn’t,” Prowl mumbled, not having any other defense. Did he think you loved him like that? No, but did he have definite proof that you didn’t? Also no, so he was left without a solid defense, but too stubborn to concede to his friends’ (valid) points. “You’re wrong.”

“Yeah she does, dude, you’re just wrong,” Bumblebee walked over to him and put a servo on his shoulder, meeting his optics, uncharacteristically intense- borderline angry. “How can you even know if you haven’t talked to her about it?”

“How can you know?” Prowl defended and jabbed a digit into the younger bot’s chest plate. The two continued to stare each other down for a few moments before Bee finally sighed and looked away.

“Because I’ve talked to her about it.”

“...Oh. I see,” The black and gold bot took a step back and fidgeted with his servos. He had never expected for you to confide in Bumblebee about such a matter, but then again... Aside from Prowl himself, Bumblebee was your best friend and always had been since he’d started bringing you around. The two of you were similar; innocent, kindred souls with similar interests. Unlike Prowl, the yellow bot brought out your more energetic, fun side, making you laugh constantly, but... He hadn’t been aware of the fact that Bumblebee was a confidant for you, too. Part of him was jealous, but he tried to shove that down with a tense swallow. “I’m going to take my leave, then.”

“That’s what I thought,” The smaller bot smirked, earning a glare from Prowl in return.

“Get bent.”

~

That entire night and the day after were spent locked in his room reflecting upon everything; his feelings, you, the advice that his teammates had given him during their little “intervention”, the potential consequences of what he was about to do.

Whether he wanted to or not, he knew that he needed to confess. What if one of you died without ever saying anything? What if he went back to Cybertron without ever having the chance to tell you the truth and regretted it? What if you had to leave Detroit someday? It was too big of a problem to leave unresolved given how chaotic and unpredictable your lives were, even if he was scared of what could happen. Plus, half the battle was you loving him back, and if Bumblebee told the truth the day prior, you already did.

So, Prowl sat on your roof. Waiting. You were outside for whatever reason despite it being midnight on a Tuesday in human time, laying in your backyard and admiring your flowers. Since it was a warm fall, they were growing quite well, your pumpkin crop in particular thriving. He’d been watching you for a while; (s/c) skin glowing as the moonlight shone upon your body, (f/c) shorts and a black sleepshirt hugging your frame. Your (e/c) eyes were currently trained on your rosebush, though he was sure you had noticed his presence- even though he wasn’t visible behind your chimney, you had an amazing knack for being able to feel when he was there, visible or not. 

“(y/n)?” The Autobot finally spoke, emerging from his hiding place and jumping down into your backyard to stand next to where you lay. 

You sat up to look at him with a tired smile. It was late and you had work tomorrow... Something must’ve been on your mind, too. Perhaps the two of you were in sync with your recent concerns.

“Hey, Prowl, you’re up late. Why don’t you lay with me?” Unable to say no to you, Prowl did just that, joining you on the grass and laying with his back on the ground. The stars that littered the sky were fogged up by the city lights, but while he normally would’ve been agitated by it, you were better to stare at, so he didn’t mind too much. “You sat on my roof for a while and didn’t even talk to me. What’s keeping you?”

“Ah, it’s nothing, I just-” The ninjabot started, close to denying everything flat out and ignoring the subject of his feelings yet again before realizing that’s what the problem was. He couldn’t open up to you and it was making everything convoluted, so with a sharp breath, he gathered all of his willpower and spoke to you again. “No, you know what? I’m tired of this.”

“What?” You looked shocked at the sound of his agitated tone, eyebrows furrowing together as you sat up and glanced at him, making him sit up as well. Your (e/c) eyes burned into his ocean optics in that moment, and a brief silence washed over the two of you before he spoke again.

“I’m tired of us hiding from each other,” Unable to help himself, Prowl leaned closer to you and reached over to rest a servo on one of your hands. “Be honest, what are your feelings towards me?”

You stopped, your breath visibly catching in your throat. The black and gold bot could immediately tell you were nervous, terrible at hiding your negative emotions like you had been since he’d met you, but he let you have as much time as you needed.

“Prowl, it’s a bit sudden for you to ask something like that out of nowhere. You know we’re friends-” You started, but when you looked closer at his face, you gave him a defeated sigh that made him realize; you knew he knew. “Who told you?”

“So it’s true,” He stated, holding your hand tightly and giving a soft frown. Your face was painted with the same fear and anxiety that he’d felt over loving you for so long now. 

Part of him was happy that you loved him back. The other part almost wished you didn’t, wished you could live your life happy and blissfully unaware to avoid the risk of getting your heart broken.

“I’m sorry,” You apologized.

“What do you have to be sorry for, sweetspark?” Prowl asked, tone gentle as he used his spare hand to caress your cheek and leaned in to rest his helm against yours. “I’d be a fool not to reciprocate, but I want to hear it for myself before I do anything. Tell me how you feel.”

“I’m in love with you, Prowl,” You admitted. A couple of tears welled up in your eyes and flowed down your cheeks, those of which Prowl wiped away with his thumb. “I’ve been captivated since the moment I saw you, and I never planned on telling you. I’m afraid of you getting attached to me and not being able to handle it if we ever have to separate because I’m sure there will be a day when you have to go back to your home planet. You can’t stay forever, and I can’t go with you.”

“I feel the same way... I love you too, (y/n)- so much that I don’t think you understand. I held off because I fear having to leave you someday, but I realized that we should take advantage of what time we have left and try our best to make this work,” In between his words, you let out what he assumed was a sigh of relief, making him do the same. Prowl quickly felt the weight of his anxieties leaving his chest and shoulders. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against your plump, warm lips, then withdrew to press a few more against your cheeks and forehead. You giggled; a sound he would listen to for the rest of his life if he could. “I think we’ll be alright in the end.”

“I...” You grinned and leaned into him with another laugh. “I think so, too. But who told you?”

“That’s... Quite the story. You see, yesterday afternoon, I got back to the base after visiting you and...”

Prowl smiled as well as he started his story. Things were complicated, and he knew this was risky, but you wrapping an arm around one of his and gripping his hand made him realize just how worth it you were. 

Maybe that intervention hadn’t been too bad of an idea after all.

[delimeful]

taking the fall (4)

warnings: pain, injury, mentions of captivity

-

Roman woke to throbbing pain in his leg and an uncannily soft surface below him.

He resisted the urge to groan theatrically as he was unwillingly dragged back to consciousness, and then resisted the urge to groan harder as he recalled just what had happened before he passed out.

He’d been seen. After all his careful planning, his little one-in-a-lifetime excursion had still landed him in the hands of a human. He wasn’t fool enough to believe that Logan had left him alone just because he’d fallen out of sight for a moment and then passed out like a wimp who couldn’t even handle a little bone-breaking.

Humans often lived in blissful ignorance, but not ‘lack of object permanence’ levels of it. Logan had definitely seen him fall, and odds were that he was now in the human’s clutches. Which was bad.

Tiny furniture hobbies aside, the guy was a textbook nerd, which was only barely a step down from an actual scientist. Roman wouldn’t be surprised at all if he woke up in one of those clear glass vials that scientists were always using on TV. Would that be better or worse than a jar? Probably worse, but if he could tip it over…

He dragged his thoughts away from the hypotheticals, well aware that he was stalling. Whatever he was laying on now, it certainly wasn’t glass.

Hesitantly, he peeked one eye open a tiny bit.

A pillow. It looked absolutely bizarre from this angle, his body just barely heavy enough to sink in and cause a few wrinkles in the fabric, but it was still recognizable as one of the huge fluffy pillows that normally rested on the human’s bed.

He turned his head a little further, and found that the pillow was on the desk that he’d previously taken a dive off of. The miniature set was still present to one side, surprisingly enough. Perhaps less time than he thought had passed, if it hadn’t been sent off to wherever Logan had promised to take it yesterday?

Or perhaps Logan had decided to forgo that responsibility in favor of his exciting new discovery. Roman shuddered.

“Hello? Are you awake?”

The voice nearly made Roman jump out of his skin, and he couldn’t help but freeze guiltily, totally giving away his awakeness. He craned his head up and saw that Logan was sitting on the desk chair, pushed back a few feet from the desk, a tiny dresser in one hand and a paintbrush in the other.

That was… considerably less menacing than he’d been expecting. “What are you doing?”

Logan blinked at him, nonplussed. “Wood detailing?”

Roman squinted at him suspiciously, trying to figure out what nefarious plans one could enact with the details of a tiny dresser. Perhaps it was supposed to be a part of some sick enclosure that the human was designing for him? He had wanted Roman to talk about the chair, of all things, so maybe he needed a tiny victim to test out his furniture.

That wasn’t exactly torture, but he still needed to escape. His presence here risked every other borrower in the building and out of it. Growing more somber, he testingly shifted his leg, trying to figure just how effective the human-applied splint actually was.

… Ouch.

“Is it sufficient?” Logan asked, unknowingly echoing his thoughts as he leaned over slightly to peer down at him. Roman pulled on his fiercest scowl, and was gratified to see the human retreat slightly. “I have pain medicine, but I was uncertain about the proper dosage, so I decided to wait until you woke up to see what you wanted to do.”

“Oh, I just bet you want me to take pain medicine,” Roman shot back sharply, ignoring the fairly nonsensical nature of what he’d just said. Like he was helping a human figure out the best ways to drug a borrower!

“... I do?” Logan replied, sounding downright confused by his hostility. “Normally, I would encourage anyone with injuries as significant as yours to seek out professional medical attention, but after witnessing your fear of me, I assumed that you would prefer to not be exposed to more humans.”

“I wasn’t afraid!” Roman snapped indignantly, and then paused as the rest of that spiel caught up with him. He was unspeakably glad that the human hadn’t been dumb enough to waltz into a human sickbay with him, but-- “I would prefer to not be exposed to you, either, BFG!”

“BFG?”

“Big Frustrating Giant!”

Logan looked dubious, but carefully averted his gaze. It wasn’t what Roman had meant, but those huge eyes being off of him were admittedly a relief. He shuffled his body to the side slightly, trying to ignore the sharp pains from jostling his leg.

“I will remind you, you are the one who came into my apartment, not the other way around,” Logan said, frowning slightly but keeping his eyes locked on the furniture in his hand. “Why were you there?”

“I’m afraid it’s none of your business,” Roman sniffed haughtily, ignoring the way his heart had sped up in his chest at the idea of making the human angry.

“Apologies, I don’t mean my apartment. I’ve already discerned that you likely find sustenance and other helpful items in human living spaces, going by the ease with which you traverse large terrain and the repurposed human items that make up your belongings,” Logan clarified, casual as anything. “I was asking why you were in my stage miniature. There is no food in it, and you must know that I would notice if anything went missing.”

Roman stared at him, feeling the blood drain from his face at the offhand way that the human had correctly guessed a lot about how borrowerkind survived, all from Roman’s unconscious presence.

It was beans like this that the rules had been designed for, so of course he would be the one to catch Roman. He set his jaw, resolving not to say anything else that might give anything away to this wannabe Sherlock.

-

Logan glanced up from the layer of drying varnish that he’d been staring at for the past thirty seconds, wondering if maybe the tiny person had fallen back into unconsciousness.

But no, despite their silence they were still awake and glaring at him, brow furrowed and arms crossed firmly. He tilted his head curiously, trying to indicate that he was listening, but it seemed they didn’t plan to answer at all.

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine,” he said, hurriedly looking back to the miniature he was fiddling with in an effort to not stress the tiny person out any further. “I simply wanted to see if there was anything you needed that I could provide you, since I’m partially responsible for your injury.”

“Partially?” they echoed, incredulous.

Logan nodded. “I startled you, and your attempt to flee led to injury. I should have known better than to move so quickly, particularly with the disparity in our sizes.”

“That was a strategic retreat,” they emphasized, “and you never would have caught me if you’d moved slowly. I’ll have you know I’m no slouch.”

Caught them…?

“My intention wasn’t to grab you,” he said. “I was reaching for one of the chairs to try and compare the scale. If it was incorrect, it would have been obvious when put side by side with you.”

“Yes, yes, I already guessed that you have nefarious furniture-related plots for your poor captive, you don’t have to explain it.” They were rolling their eyes when Logan glanced at them, and seemed to be an inch or two away from where he’d originally placed them on the pillow.

It felt to Logan as though they were talking cross-ways, even more so than his usual pop culture reference confusion(and didn’t it just figure that a tiny person that lived in the walls was more familiar with human colloquialisms than him?) during conversation. Perhaps it was due to their less than fortuitous first meeting?

“It seems like there might be some misconceptions here,” he tried. “I’m not keeping you captive.”

The stranger lifted a skeptical eyebrow, spreading their arms to gesture at the surrounding area. “Aren’t you, though?”

Logan followed the gesture, eyebrows drawn in. As far as he knew, a pillow on top of his desk hadn’t turned into an impenetrable prison within the last few moments. “No. I’m not.”

“So if I were to, say, walk out right now, you’d just be all peachy-keen with it?” they asked, almost condescending in their doubt. “You wouldn’t try to stop me from leaving?”

Logan paused, a firm denial on the tip of his tongue. “Are there others like you nearby?”

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, going by the way their tiny hands went white-knuckled for a moment.

“No,” they answered mulishly, “I’m the only one of my kind. And I’ll have you know, if there were others-- which there’s not-- I would never sell out my hypothetical fellows for my own freedom!”

“That’s…,” Logan sighed, deciding not to mention how incredibly dubious he was of the likelihood that there was only one of a species. “That’s not what I meant. You clearly pursue an active lifestyle, I just wanted to ensure that there would be someone to support you and help you recover from your injuries. You won’t be able to even walk on that limb for a fair bit of time without permanently damaging it.”

Logan thought for a moment that he’d gotten through to them, witnessing the way trepidation lingered in their expression when they looked down at their leg, but then they shook their head firmly.

“That’s just an excuse! I know that you’re planning on keeping me, humans always do. I’d rather deal with a permanent limp than be a pet in one of your little dollhouses,” they spat, vitriol in every word. “So either let me go or admit your foul plans!”

The words were sharp, designed to incite, but Logan was used to scanning for the tiniest of flaws in his work, and he could spot the subtle signs of fear that his tiny visitor was just barely concealing. Clenched fists to hide shaking hands, the curl to their shoulders that suggested they wanted to curl up defensively, even their expression wobbled slightly when Logan spent a moment too long looking at them.

He took a deep breath, trying to ease the tension in his own frame and put them a little more at ease. An impossible task, considering they expected him to-- to know that they were a talking, feeling person and try to ‘keep them’ anyhow, but it helped clear his head.

“What will it take?” he asked, keeping his voice even.

“Um, what?” they asked, thrown off.

“To get you to stay here, just until you heal. I’m asking this of you, so it’s only reasonable that you ask for something in exchange,” Logan said. “If we can’t come to an agreement, I’ll leave you to your own devices, but there has to be something you want badly enough to remain here for a few weeks.”

“And what, you’ll just give it to me and let me leave after I’m all healed up?” they asked, continuing their trend of acting like a future in which he acted with normal human decency was an impossibility.

“Yes,” Logan answered, as earnest as he could manage. “That’s part of the arrangement. I would also like to know your name and pronouns, though that is secondary to being allowed to treat you.”

“What if I said you weren’t allowed to grab me? Or touch me at all?” they asked.

“That would be acceptable,” Logan replied without hesitation, mentally trying to figure out how non contact would alter a treatment plan.

“And you… you aren’t allowed to take notes on me! Or pictures!” they continued, watching him intently. He kept his expression agreeable, only nodding. “And you have to give me food, you can’t withhold it or make it part of another deal.”

“Medical treatment for someone on bedrest also includes things like meals and mental enrichment,” Logan replied, concealing the displeasure he felt at the idea that someone else would have tried that in his position. He really did hope these were all hypotheticals.

“And… and…,” they cast about, looking for something else to add to their ‘ridiculous’ demands, “I also want a sword!”

Logan paused, admittedly caught off guard. “A functional one?”

“Yeah-- yes, that's right! I want a sword perfectly sized to me, entirely functional, or the deal is off!” they replied, smug as though they thought they’d finally found something he’d refuse.

Unfortunately for him, Logan wasn’t the type to be deterred by a challenge. “I’ll have to go through some prototypes, but it can’t be too different from some metal decor I’ve worked on in the past.”

“Sorry, what now?” they asked.

Logan was already reaching for a post-it to jot down ideas for the base source of metal-- A nail? Or perhaps a piece of old silverware?-- eyes bright with anticipation. “I’m saying that you have a deal. You’ll stay here, and I’ll make you a sword.”

Caught up in schematics as he was, he completely missed his guest’s exasperated groan.

[areus-in-a-little-cave]

How Dreamons are responsible for everything on the DSMP

This theory is serious but is a mess and shouldn’t be taken that seriously

Firstly, when I say Dream is a Dreamon, I’m not saying he’s some innocent person possessed by this evil monster. I’m saying he just straight up is one, possibly always has been. I’m viewing Dreamons as mostly malevolent forces, since they are represented that way in canon, but I’m also giving them the leeway of being sentient creatures capable of individual decision making.

Alright, now what I believe in this theory: 

The Egg is a Dreamon

Tommy isn’t affected by the egg because of exile

The Inbetween is run by Dreamons/Is one

Dream is a Dreamon

Ranboo is half Dreamon/The enderwalk is caused by Dreamons

DreamXD is the god of Dreams and Dreamons

Fundy’s dreams are caused by Dreamons

Karl’s time travelling is caused by Dreamons, Endermen, and the Other Side

Listen. There’s a lot going on here. Let’s get into it.

Now there’s no real way to explain this in order since everything is connected. I’ll do my best to make it make sense.

The Inbetween is a Dreamon will be the starting point. Now this one doesn’t have much bearing on it’s own but when combined with other aspects it will make more sense.

So, the inbetween makes colourful things white. The Egg also turns red things white and blue things red. (Now I don’t know much about science, but I know red is one of the slowest frequencies and blue is one of the highest. I don’t remember where I was going with this but there’s something there, something about energy.)

They’re the only two forces we’ve seen capable of changing the colours of things. They also seem to bear some connection as (other than in the current time) we’ve only seen the egg in the past, something we can only see thanks to Karl’s time travelling ability, which the inbetween seemingly controls.

Another reason I suspect the Inbetween to be controlled or otherwise related to Dreamons is because of Ran and Ranboo. When it comes to the theory that they’re the same person, you have to ask how. They look nothing alike, after all.

This is where I go insane and claim that Ran is a time traveller, as he seemed to know more about the challenge of that Tales episode than he first let on and said “this place is going down either way,” or something similar. This would imply that he’s either taking it down, participating in a plan to take it down, or knows that sometime in the future, it’ll all be gone. Perhaps, he’s time travelled to the future of said empire and seen what has happened to it.

Let’s say Ran time travelled enough that the colour changing effects of the Inbetween started to stay as they do to the other versions of Karl stuck in the Inbetween. Considering we know that the Inbetween can turn things white and assuming it and the Egg are similar, perhaps it can change the colour of things to other colours that aren’t just white (blue to red, like the egg does, but with green to red for Ranboo’s eye).

Eventually, the effects got too bad, Ran lost most of his memory, and had to stop time travelling so that he wouldn’t get stuck in the Inbetween. Thus, we got Ranboo. 

(Whoever the past time traveller in the Inbetween was left books behind, something we see Ranboo do a lot to keep track of things. This past time traveller also knew something about the Other Side, which I believe to be the end. This would make sense for Ran, as he is an Enderman. I’ll explain that more later.)

But I don’t think this was just Ranboo’s skin turning white. I think it was him actually turning into a Dreamon. I think Dreamons are like a contagion that turns things around them into Dreamons.

This Dreamon half of Ranboo kept all of his memories as Ran, meaning when Ranboo enderwalks, he’s connecting with the side of him that has all his memories. The side of him that is a Dreamon.

So, why does Ranboo help Dream while enderwalking? Even with all his memories, the two should have no reason to want to help each other.

Unless they were both Dreamons, the same species, a species that works together to stay strong. I believe they are a species that sticks together because I think the Inbetween tried to get Karl to interact with the egg on purpose in the masquerade episode. Power comes from connections and working together like some kind of hivemind. Again, Dreamons spread through interaction.

See the Eggpire for an example of it spreading to people and making them want to help other Dreamons.

Now, where do the Other Side and Endermen play into this?

Personally, I think Endermen and Dreamons are opposites in some form. It would explain the opposite colour scheme. Bear with me here

If Endermen and Dreamons are opposites and fighting in some manner, that explains why Dream, a Dreamon, would keep people from acessing the end. It’s the land of Endermen.

If Dreamons desire power and control and would make things like the Inbetween and use the Egg to get it, then perhaps the Endermen fought against it by making the Other Side. The Other Side could also be the end. After all, it makes things dark, another opposite factor between the two sides of time travel.

Now, let’s talk about DreamXD and Fundy!

This one is a bit of a stretch, but this whole theory is so we’re gonna keep going.

We know that DreamXD has control over dreams to some extent thanks to George. We see it in his dreams, things are manipulated by DreamXD.

But you gotta wonder why Fundy is also affected.

Well, it’s Dreamons. Everything is, that’s the theory. Really, all that I have here is that Fundy’s dreams seem to be a mix of memories and his subconcious, which all dreams are, but some external force is added in. As we’ve seen, interacting with Dreamons affects people’s memories, such as with time travelling. Leaping to the conclusion that DreamXD is a Dreamon/god of Dreamons who manipulates memories to control dreams, Fundy could be having these distorted memories because of Dreamons. Dreamons could be targeting Fundy because he once hunted them, possibly almost killing Dream.

With a bumpy segue, let me lead us into our last part of this theory; Tommy is immune to the egg because of exile.

Yeah, that’s it.

Basically, he spent so long around no one and nothing but Dream that the Dreamon effects started to leak into him. Again, see the Dreamons can spread theory. This is why the Egg doesn’t bother him, it thinks of him like a Dreamon and has no reason to try and infect him. For the Eggpire, it had to speak to them in the first place which is why it kept talking to them.

(Also, Tommy’s blocked memory of exile likely is just a trauma response, but it is possible that the Dreamon’s ability to affect memory is a part of that.)

For why the Egg spoke to Ranboo, who should’ve already been a Dreamon in its eyes, think back to him being half Enderman, aka a Dreamon’s natural enemy, and already having interacted with large aspects of the Dreamons’ plan. The Egg sees him as an Enderman who worked for them and then left when he started to become a Dreamon. He’s a traitor to Dreamons and the Inbetween.

And that’s my theory. Are there issues and holes in it? Probably, but that’s what makes it fun.

[hangovercurse]

For the Past Four Years

You and Colson have been friends forever, but when you start getting lessons from a certain drummer, he gets a bit jealous.

Request: Sooo I was just wondering if a jealous!coulson whose your friend would be something you’d like to write? Maybe y/n and yungblud or rook or someone is getting a little too friendly and it makes him angry either fluff or smut would work tbh

Colson x Reader

Warnings: Cursing

A/N I am so sorry this took so long! This is the one I was talking about when I said I got to the end and wasn’t feeling it so I rewrote it.

Word Count: 2019

You hated being the only one in the crew who couldn’t go on tour. The travel interfered with your job too much, so you were left alone for months out of the year. But that made it all the better when you could join the tour. You were grateful for the two weeks off you were given while Colson was on the Hotel Diablo tour.

You flew out to their show in Phoenix and planned to stay on the tour bus with them until they got back to LA. The boys were ecstatic to have you around, having known you for almost 4 years. Colson was probably the most excited to see you again, seeing as he had known you the longest.

You were in the green room for the fifth show since you’d join the tour, the energy through the roof. Colson was busy talking with Ashleigh about the show, so you found entertainment in Rook, who was currently tapping away on his practice kit. “Ok, guess this one.”

You were currently trying to figure out what songs he was playing, and you were doing pretty good. He started playing the intro to “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. ”Really? It’s like you’re trying to make this easy for me.”

“It’s not my fault you know literally every song ever made.”

“Yeah, but Guns N’ Roses? Obviously, I’m gonna know it.” You smirked and he squinted at you.

“Fine. You’re so good, why don’t you play something and make me guess.” He held out his drumsticks for you to take.

You pouted, “Rookie you know I don’t know how to play drums.”

“I can teach you.” He offered, making your eyes light up.

“Wait, actually?” He nodded, standing up and grabbing another stool.

“C’mere.” He led you around the kit and sat you down, sitting on the stool behind you. He put the drumsticks in your palms and then moved to hold the outside of your hand. “We’ll start with the basics.”

When Colson came back into the room, he saw you and Rook laughing. You were looking back at Rook as his hands were wrapped around yours, a smile on your face. He couldn’t help his heart sinking, and he tried his best to maintain his composure. Luckily, he only had to endure a few more minutes of you guys obviously flirting before everyone had to move to side stage.

You noticed Colson slumped on one of the couches across the room and you sent him a smile. “Rook is teaching me how to play.” You mouthed to him, and he nodded sarcastically.

“Good for you.” He mouthed back, obviously uninterested and upset about something. You raised your eyebrow and tilted your head, silently asking what was wrong. He just shook his head.

“Alright guys, backstage.” Ashleigh announced, and all the boys jumped up.

Rook stood up and you followed, handing him his drumsticks. “We shall continue this later, young grasshopper.” He joked, bowing dramatically. You rolled your eyes and pushed him towards the door of the green room.

“Don’t suck too much.” You smiled, and he turned back to stick his tongue out at you. Colson watched the interaction and it looked like steam would start blowing out of his ears. You bounded over to where he had just stood up. “Good luck hug?” You asked sweetly, a tradition you had started the first time you went backstage before a show.

Instead of answering, he walked right past you, leaving the room. You stared after him, confusion present on your face. You wanted to talk to him about it, but decided it was best to leave it for after the show.

 Colson seemed to be in a better mood on stage and after the show, insisting on partying on the bus. You had no complaints; you loved the endless party that was touring with MGK. Once you got on the bus, however, his mood seemed to drop all over again. You didn’t really notice it at first, a bit distracted by the loud music and the other guys. You loved spending time with them, they were as much your family as Colson. But your good time was spoiled by Colson sitting on one of the couches scrolling through his phone with a drink in his hand.

You didn’t want to have fun without him, he was your best friend, after all. So, you walked over to him, reaching your hand out. “Come dance with me.” You smiled, which he did not return.

In fact, he barely looked at you, just took a sip of his drink and said, “why don’t you go dance with Rook since you like him so much.”

You were taken aback by his comment. “Umm, what?”

“You heard me. If you like Rook so much why don’t you go dance with him? Why don’t you just sleep with him while you’re at it?”

You took a step back, offended. “I don’t know what your problem is right now, but either talk to me like a grown up or get over it.”

Colson sighed, standing up and grabbing your hand to drag you to the back of the bus, away from the crowd. He opened the door that separated the bunks from the rest of the bus, leading you in and closing it behind you. You waited for an explanation from him, but he just stood there, glaring at you.

“Okay, what the fuck is your problem, Colson? I’ve been here for all of a week so I don’t exactly know what I could’ve done.” You tried to keep your voice quiet, but your tone was still sharp.

Colson’s tone stung just as bad. “Oh right, because you haven’t been flirting with Rook ever since you got here. I mean seriously could you make it any more obvious?”

You raised an eyebrow, “Okay, one, I’m not fucking flirting with anyone, much less Rook. Two, even if I was flirting with him, or anyone for that matter, it’s none of your fucking business.” Colson had a habit of doing this; anytime you started talking to a guy, or even just dancing with one at a club, he made sure it stopped immediately and you were fed up with it.

“It is my business. He’s my bandmate and you’re my best friend. If you two hook up or do anything, guess who’s caught in the middle? Me.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Yeah, and I suppose that’s why you’ve run off every other guy I’ve tried to do anything with?”

He stepped towards you, eyes getting darker. “So you were trying to get with Rook?”

“Oh my god Colson, no!” You let out an exasperated groan, “I’m just saying you have a pattern of getting in between me and literally any member of the male species. Rook and I are just friends, you know that. And I would never put you in a situation like that.”

He stepped closer to you, standing over you now. "Maybe I just don’t think they’re good enough for you.” His voice got quieter, but you weren’t backing down.

“You’re supposed to think that. That’s what friends are for. But that doesn’t mean you get to get in the way of every potential relationship I have.”

“Stop saying that fucking word.” His voice got deeper, darker.

You furrowed your brows, confused and a bit nervous at his tone. “What word.” Your voice came out quieter than you expected it to.

Colson sighed and hung his head, backing away from you, “forget it.”

He turned so his back was facing you, running a hand through his hair. You watched him carefully, studying him. “What word, Colson?” You pushed him.

He rubbed his face with his hands, letting out another heavy sigh. “Did you ever stop to think about why I didn’t want you to get anywhere with those guys?” Your heart seemed to stop beating for a second, and your shoulders fell slightly.

“N-no.” You stuttered, walking towards the man, who was still turned away from you. “Colson, I’m really confused right now.” Your voice was soft. You reached out to touch his arm, but he spun around before you could.

His hand reached out to tilt your jaw up, so you were looking into his eyes. You expected him to be angry, but there was something else instead. His face was really close to yours, enough that you could feel his breath on your nose when he spoke. “There’s a reason I don’t want you to flirt with Rook, or with any other guy for that matter.” You had a feeling you knew where this was going, and you took a sharp breath as your heart fluttered.

“Colson-“ You started, but he cut you off.

“Just let me finish, please. I have to say this or I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.” You stayed silent, your eyes begging him to continue. “I don’t want you to be with anyone else. Fuck, Y/N, it hurts like hell to see you flirting with other people because I want you to be flirting with me.”

You smile, trying not to giggle. “And I realized when I left for tour that I’m kind of really in love with you.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling his lips onto yours. His hands wrapped around your waist as his lips moved against yours. When you pulled away, he placed his forehead against yours, eyes closed. “I’ve kind of been flirting with you for the past 4 years, loser.”

His eyes flew open, head moving away from yours. “What?”

You laughed, rolling your eyes. “Yeah, I’ve kind of been really in love with you for a long time.” You mimicked his earlier words. “You never said anything about it so I just assumed you didn’t feel the same way.”

He let out a breath through his nose, “God I’m so dumb.” You giggled, shaking your head and pressing your lips against his.

“You are not, you’re just a little oblivious.” He rolled his eyes, pulling your hips closer to him and kissing you again, longer this time. He started leading you backwards, so your back pressed against the wall of bunks lightly. One of your hands moved to rest on his cheek and the other played with the hair at the base of his neck.

The kiss deepened, his tongue swiping against your lips. You granted him entrance, his tongue slowly exploring your mouth. His hands began to move down your waist. They were about to reach your butt when the door opened and Dre walked in. “Oh shit,” He paused, looking between you two and slowly smiling. “About time you fuckers got it on.”

You buried your head into Colson’s chest, a blush on your face. “Duuuude.” Colson groaned, his head falling backwards. “Get out.”

Dre chuckled, hands in surrender. “In my defense, you guys are the one making out in a tour bus full of people in the bunk room.”

If looks could kill, Dre would have been murdered by Colson by now. “Okay, I’m leaving. But just know I’m telling everyone about this.” He smiled, quickly leaving, and closing the door behind him before Colson could hurt him.

You laughed, pulling the man back to you and connecting your lips to his, a smile on your face. “I’m gonna kill him.” Colson mumbled against your lips.

You rolled your eyes, “As hot as that would be, society generally frowns upon killing your friends.” He chuckled and pressed another kiss to your lips, his hands reaching up to cup your face.

“Wait, would you still like me if I was a murderer?”

You giggled, “Depends on who you kill, but probably.”

He pecked your lips, “What if I killed Rook?” You glared at him, and he smiled. “What? I’m just asking in case it happens.”

“You’re not allowed to kill your band members.”

“So if I kicked him out of the band and then killed him, it would be okay?”

“Colson Baker!”

“Kidding!”

[transmalewife]

Alright, let's talk about attachment

I can’t find clear information on when exactly the non-attachment rule was added to the code. It was either soon before or soon after the great sith war. Either way, for the VAST majority of the existence of the Jedi, it wasn’t a thing. Jedi got married and had families for over 20000 years, then added the non-attachment rule, which ultimately led to their destruction. And before anyone tries to tell me I believe they deserved to be genocided, I don’t. I have never actually seen anyone say that, but I see people argue against it constantly, and imply anyone who doesn’t think the Jedi were perfect and blameless thinks that. I don’t think they deserved to die, I think they needed to change. And Yoda says that himself, many times. The Jedi weren’t prepared for the return of the sith, or the war. They had separated from the military 1000 years before, and the galaxy was in relative peace all this time, so the order’s role changed to one that worked very well with their rules. Detachment meant they could be impartial when overseeing political disagreements, lack of possessions meant they would be focused on the mission at hand and not prone to taking bribes, and distancing themselves from the general population meant they were more or less uniform, and could be trusted not to side with someone for personal reasons.

All of this falls apart once they become an army again. Impartiality is a flaw when they have to defend one side at all cost and not even allow themselves to consider compromise. Lack of possessions and attachment to people means they are prone to taking unnecessary risks, because they have nothing to lose, and do things like send 14 year olds into battle, thinking of the “greater good” over the safety of children. And the order being a monolith, with set rules and philosophy distinct from the rest of the population meant the Jedi trusted Dooku long after they should have stopped, because he used to be a Jedi after all, surely he still follows the code.

Now, I am not saying non-attachment is always bad, I think it served a very specific purpose in the order, and to some extent worked for many years. However.

Humans are a social species. Human babies NEED physical contact and affection to develop physically. Children need a stable, strong, and supportive relationship to their caregiver to properly develop psychologically. And after last year I don’t think anyone will argue that adults don't need connection with other people just as much. And not just shallow interactions, but open affection and love. Love of any kind, because claiming that the Jedi only forbid romantic love is just untrue. I think people tend to forget that "Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say, that we are encouraged to love." isn’t the actual doctrine, it’s a literal pick up line that Anakin uses on Padme.

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both get criticized by other Jedi for their entirely platonic attachment to Anakin, and vice versa. Now, humans are the most common species in the galaxy, and in the Jedi order. Many other species are near-human, so it’s safe to assume at least some, if not most of them also need that companionship and affection to develop and live happy and stable lives. I do believe that non-attachment is a valid philosophy and chosen path in life if done carefully and within reason, I just don’t think we have a single major character that actually applies to. And chosen is an important word here. Jedi don’t get much of a choice. I’m not trying to start the baby-stealing debate here. I hear the argument of ‘force sensitives are dangerous if left untrained, and said training should start as early as possible’. I think finding a way to deal with that problem was an insanely complicated decision, and taking children into the temple as young as possible is not a bad solution. I don’t entirely agree with not letting them see their families later, (especially since in legends Obi-Wan was allowed to visit his family, which implies Anakin couldn’t go free his mother specifically because he was already too attached), but the idea is sound. I do also understand that no one is forcing Jedi to stay in the order and they can leave for whatever reason at any time. But that isn’t exactly a free choice either. Leaving the order means leaving the only home you remember, the only people you know to make your own way in the galaxy, and staying with those people means you can never fully love them. It’s a difficult solution to a complicated question, and for the most part, it worked (not always, and not exactly as intended, but I’ll come back to that.) Children grew up in the order, were trained to control themselves and the force, and became Jedi who were impartial, patient, and balanced. But everything falls apart when you introduce someone who wasn’t raised in the temple.

In The Rising Force, 13 year old Obi-Wan had barely been off Coruscant in his life. He describes himself as sheltered and unaware of all the pain in the galaxy, and says it was done on purpose, so younglings wouldn’t have to face the dark side before they were ready for it. But Anakin had seen nothing but darkness, pain and injustice before he joined the order. He was severely traumatized, and while the temple might have had some ways of dealing with trauma and PTSD in adults, they had no experience in treating the same in a child, because their children were kept safe and protected. The idea of letting go of your pain and fear only works if you know you have a safe place to come back to, if you’ve spent the first decade or so of your life in the most protected place in the galaxy. Anakin spent the first decade of his life as a slave. He couldn’t let go of his fear, because fear was what kept him alive. Fear is not irrational if you are constantly in danger, it’s what protects you, keeps you aware of the limits you can push before you get punished. And that mindset doesn’t fade just because you’re out of that situation, especially if your only family, the closest person to you, is still facing that danger every day.

I’ve seen people use every excuse possible to explain why Anakin didn’t see his mother again to avoid blaming the council, including, and I shit you not, “He just didn’t have her comm number”. But to me that seems disingenuous, when we see in his first meeting with the council that they already consider him too attached. It's one of the main reasons they don’t want him to be trained, so it seems logical that they wouldn’t allow him to see her once he became a padawan. I also want to mention that what Yoda says, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Is just… blatant catastrophizing. Right? Like we can all see that the escalation is not rational there at all. Maybe it could apply to something else, but not to a child who just left his mother for the first time in his life and went from a tiny dustball in the middle of nowhere to the most populated planet in the galaxy, and is now being tested by a bunch of old people with the power to decide his future. Obviously he’s afraid, and obviously he’s not dealing with it the way Jedi younglings do. That, in and of itself doesn't doom him to fall. Also what Yoda misses there is that suffering leads to fear. This is a closed loop, and one that has defined Anakin’s entire childhood.

Let’s come back to how the system doesn’t always work. The way I see it, most of the characters we see are attached. Obi-Wan is considered one of the greatest Jedi of his time. Windu describes him as “our most cunning and insightful Master—and our most tenacious”. And yet, he was not insightful enough to look past his love for Anakin, his attachment, and see how close to falling he was. Ahsoka was so attached to Anakin she refused to listen to Maul on Mandalore, refused to even consider the posibility he could fall. She was arguably the person with the best shot at preventing the empire forming at that point, and she loved anakin so much she doomed him and the entire galaxy. Aayla admitted to thinking of Quinlan as her father, and also, apparently in legends had a long relationship with Kit. Even Mace didn’t follow the code when he decided to kill Palpatine, which directly led to his death and the empire. He also indirectly caused the war to start. According to wookiepedia “Windu viewed Dooku as the shatterpoint of the entire Separatist movement, which meant striking Dooku down would theoretically end the imminent clone war before it even began. However, Windu's prior attachments to Dooku clouded his judgment.” I’m not even going to mention Kanan and Ezra, who are obviously family.

So basically everyone is attached and lying about it. How has no one thought that maybe this isn’t the healthiest way to live and tried to change the code? Well, I have a theory, and it’s Yoda. He was 900 years old when he died, and was on the council for the vast majority of his life. I can’t find when exactly he became grand master, but it’s safe to assume he held some degree of power over the entire order for most of a millennium. At the end of TPM he tells Obi-Wan “Confer on you the level of Jedi knight, the council does. But agree with your taking this boy as your padawan learner, I do not.” Then he reverses that decision by himself. So either he has the power to veto the council’s word, or who gets trained is entirely up to him. Either way, not great, considering his lifespan is so much longer than most Jedi, and therefore his approach to life is vastly different. Humans need love and closeness to live. However, while we don’t know much about Yoda’s species, it probably isn’t a social one. You could count all the characters of this species on two (human) hands, and Yoda lived in complete isolation for 20 years on Dagobah, and only went a little bit insane. They are naturally rare, and therefore probably lead solitary lives in nature. Moreover, Yoda outlived every master who trained him, and almost every padawan he trained himself, (there’s a great post about that here) so even if he wasn’t naturally predisposed to non-attachment, he would have had to learn it to deal with all the loss he had to live through over the years.

A lot of people think that Anakin fell because he had attachments, which is not true. He fell because of how his attachments played out and/or ended. The most obvious example being Palpatine, who used Anakin’s trust and friendship to groom him for over a decade and actively undermine Anakin’s trust towards anyone else, especially the order. (more on that here). Obi-Wan refused to take on the role of a father figure that Anakin tried to shove him into, so he turned to someone who did accept it. It’s not Anakin’s fault that it turned out to be the worst person alive, nor can we expect him to notice when he’s known Palpatine since he was a child. Another failure of jedi non-attachment, because a loving parent or guardian would not let their child be used as a bargaining chip when the most powerful politician in the galaxy blackmailed the order into allowing him to meet Anakin regularly, but a distant teacher and detached knight thinking of the greater good might. The other attachments Anakin had were taken from him (Shmi and Ahsoka, the last orchestrated by Palpatine who was fully ready to give her the death penalty to make Anakin more unstable), or he was forced to lie and hide them, compromising his vows as a Jedi (Padme) or refused to choose Anakin over the order/their principles (Obi-Wan, and again Ahsoka, and to some extent Padme, but he’d already fallen then). All these people had every right to make the choices they made, but it wasn’t the act of loving them that made Anakin turn to the dark side, it was how those attachments played out.

I think everyone agrees that Yoda is as detached as a Jedi should, if not can, be, and that didn’t prevent Dooku from falling. We see that explored in more detail with Barriss and Luminara. Luminara is detached and distant, she’s fond of Barriss, but their relationship is not familial in the slightest, and she repeatedly shows her willingness to put the greater good and the mission before Barriss’ safety and even life. And yet Barriss still falls. A complex combination of events and choices caused each of those characters to fall, not the simple presence or absence of attachment.

And lastly, just as attachment can make you unstable if your relationship with that person is unstable, it can also make you stronger. There is a reason Anakin and Obi-Wan were the face of the army. Not only did their obvious attachment (the strongest between two jedi we are shown) make them more relatable to the public, but they, when working as a team, are shown repeatedly to be more or less undefeatable. They spend half of aotc flinging themselves off great heights because they know the other will be there to catch them. They know from years of experience that they have backup and they know each other well enough (or force bond communicate) that they can trust the other will be where he needs to be to help/save them. Contrast that to how Windu and Palpatine fight in rots once the window breaks- very carefully, clearly holding back to keep themselves safe. Neither of them has backup until Anakin arrives, but until the last second they can't be sure which one he will choose. Anakin and Obi-Wan fight the same way on Mustafar, especially when balancing on that thin bridge. No acrobatics, swinging arms to keep balance, keeping their distance, being almost uncharacteristically careful compared to how they treated heights in aotc, in tcw, and on the invisible hand in rots, because they both know the other won't catch them if they fall this time.

[xsamsharons]

letters - nikolai lantsov.

pairing: nikolai lantsov x reader

genre/warning: it's pretty angsty, specially towards the end.

words: 1.4k

summary: a collection of the most important letters your prince and childhood best friend sent you during the years he was away from you.

a/n: i implied that nikolai is an aquarius in this... and i'm not sorry.

Arrived on December 25: One month since he left the palace.

I sat down to write to you as soon as I got to the infantry, as I promised, and I’d say I miss you but I don't want you to let the compliments get to your head. This will probably get to you in a few weeks, but I hope you’re doing well and I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon (but not too soon… i can use some time away from you).

N.

Arrived on January 20th: Two months since he left the palace.

Happy New Year!

It sucks that you aren’t here to help me steal liquor from the main room, or to sneak out into the gardens to tell horror stories about the fold, and I hope you haven’t replaced me with my brother yet. I hope you’re not having too much fun without me, and I still won’t say I miss you.

N.

Arrived on December 17th: Three years since he left the palace.

I did it, I completed my service! I know I haven't been writing to you as much as I used to during my first year here, but ever since being named Mayor I've been a lot busier and couldn’t find the time to sit down and use ink to express my thoughts. I think I also didn’t want to admit to myself how much I miss home, and putting it on paper only made it seem all the more real. I’m coming back in a month, we can spend all the time together that you want (and i know you want to spend a lot of time around me after not having seen my beautiful face for three years) and i think i’ll even still be there for your birthday! I won’t get you a gift, though, because my presence should already be enough.

See you soon, lapushka.

N.

Found on your nightstand on November 21st: The morning he left Ravka.

I’m struggling to put into words everything going through my mind as you are sleeping next to me. I can recall our kiss and I can recall your touch accompanied by your soft words against my lips. If I focus on the good, everything feels right, and if I focus only on last night, it almost feels like we have enough time left.

I’m deeply sorry you have to find out once I'm not already next to you, but I'm leaving Ravka in the morning and I couldn’t bring myself to tell you this to your face, which is why I'm writing it down as you sleep. It feels almost ironic how after a year together, we’re back to the letters, and it feels almost stupid how even though a year sounded like an eternity, our time together is already over once again.

I hope you can forgive me for a lot of things, but i specifically wish for you to forgive how much time i wasted not kissing you, or denying my feelings, or not appreciating our time together. I wish for you to forgive me waiting until our last night together to finally admit everything to you and do what I've been wanting to do my whole life, and I wish for you to forgive me for going away the morning after it happened.

I’ll come back to you, if you’ll still have me, and I'll do things right once I'm back by your side.

I hope you can forgive me,

N.

Arrived on December 19th: One year since he left Ravka.

I haven’t heard back from you in the year I've been gone, and it’s driving me insane. I’ve thought about you every single day since I left, and on the days where I feel like everything I'm doing is useless, I picture your face to remind myself what I'm fighting for. You’ve always seen through me, which is why I assume you know I'm a wreck without you and your letters to get me through the months I spend away from you, and I don’t know if you need more time, or if you simply don’t want to associate with me anymore. Either way, I remember your letters during my first year in the infantry. I keep them all inside a drawer in my room, and I've been re-reading them more and more often, pretending like they’re new ones that you’ve been sending me during recent times.

I’m not afraid to say I miss you anymore, and I do so like crazy.

N.

Arrived on January 7th: One year and one month since he left Ravka.

I assume you not responding to my last letter means you are done with me, and I completely understand. I saw a bird on the beach today, and I remembered you pointing that specific species out to me in one of the dozen of books you read.

Happy new year,

N.

Arrived on November 19th: Two years since he left Ravka.

I doubt you will ever want to write to me again, just like I doubt you even open the letters that I still send every month updating you on the most mundane things about my life. However, if one day you wake up and find that you miss writing to your very handsome prince, please make sure to address the letters to Sturmhond, the privateer, and not Nikolai, the prince.

I miss you everyday,

S.

Arrived February 16th: Two years since he left Ravka.

I hear your voice in every sea shanties i hear the crew sing, and I see your face in every person I see when we get a day on land. I drive myself crazy at night just wishing I could see you again, hear from you again, touch you again, even though my mind doesn’t fail to remind me how much I don't deserve your affection, your letters or your touch. Everything reminds me of you, and everything that doesn’t just makes me feel like I'm drifting further away from the only place i’ve ever called home.

I can attempt to put into words how sorry I am for how things happened between us, but my intention was never to hurt you or to ruin anything we could’ve been. I miss your hands running through my hair on the nights when i couldn’t sleep, i miss your arms around my body tightening on the days when we had to separate for a few days, i miss seeing your eyes shine with admiration while watching the sun set over the horizon from the palace’s roof, but most of all i just miss… you.

I’d trade a lifetime of adventures for just a minute of your presence,

S.

Written on August 19th: The journey back to Ravka. Letter never sent.

I’m on my way back to Ravka and the only thing I can think about is your sleeping figure the morning i left. My mind should be occupied with thoughts about the responsibilities that await me, about the Sun Summoner and The Darkling, about the war and the fold, but they’re not.

The space you occupy in my thoughts and in my heart is almost suffocating, sucking the air and life out of everything until there’s nothing else but you. I should’ve put you first, and I should've come back the minute I realized my mistake, but I was scared of my feelings so I avoided them until it was too late.

I keep thinking you’ll run into my arms and tackle me onto the ground when you see me again just like last time, your hair looking like you just rolled out of bed and your eyes filled with sleep.

I’ll see you soon,

S.

Written on February 9th: One day after the Darkling’s attack on the Little Palace. Barely legible handwriting.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Written on February 13th: Five days after the Darkling’s attack on the Little Palace. Letter lost at sea.

I’ll never stop looking for you, and I promise I'm coming back for you, I won't let him hurt you. I’m sorry that my foolishness led you to end up in his hands.

I’ll find my way back to you, because it’s always you,

N.