#sorry this is sort of heavy

[littlemisstired]

you dont really understand how fragile purely internet friendship is until one of your closest friends, who you've cried with, commiserated with, and had hours-long conversations into the night with, just suddenly stops replying out of the blue. nothing happened to your knowledge, your last conversation was the same as always. they just simply vanished without a word and you're left wondering for the rest of your life what happened.

[ohdearlingwhathappened]

A Pair Made in the Pits

TFP Megatron x Reader

Summary: A soulmate au where near everyone has the first thing their soulmate says to them marked into their wrist. What a shame Y/n's is in some unknown language. Living with this for 7.5 years, she decides to settle down in Jasper, Nevada, not knowing that being the teacher in charge of the exchange student's overall academics and wellbeing in the school would lead her to being involved with giant robots and finding her soulmate in an unconventional method.

A/n: Sorry for the long summary! This is my first published transformers fic, so please be kind. If there are any inaccuracies, feel free to message me. I hope you enjoy my story!

WC: 2099

Chapter 1: Falling Behind Pt. 1

Chap 2, Chap 3

“Miko! Miko Nakadai!” The woman briskly walks down the hall, after the young exchange student who looked back and groaned in annoyance.

“I know. I know.” As the woman comes to a stop, Miko waves her off, “My grades need work. I need to pay attention in class. I can’t keep drawing on the desks. Can I go now?”

“Very funny, young lady-”

“You’re only ten years older than me- stop calling me that.” She crosses her arms and looks away.

“Miko, you know you were supposed to come by the office to pick up some papers for your host parents.” The woman places a hand on her hip, and raises a brow expectantly, “Any reason for you to skip out on me?”

“There’s a bike.”

“A… bike.”

“Outside!” She rolls her eyes again, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “I saw it from my last class, and I wanted to draw it. It’s gonna be gone if I go to the office and get the papers. You know the desk lady talks for, like, a million years.”

“Mrs. Albert does have a penchant for talking… tell you what- why don’t you go sit on the stairs of the school and draw that bike. I’ll grab the papers and bring them out to you. Just promise to stay on the entrance stairs. Ok?” 

The girl whoops and breaks out into a run, excited to be let off the hook of being subject to Mrs. Albert’s stories of her childhood. “Thank you, Y/n!!”

Y/n shakes her head, a soft smile on her lips as she watches after the Japanese girl then makes her way to the office, silently knowing she’ll now be listening to one of the aforementioned talks. The woman was sweet but goodness, she needs to join a bookclub, or something. 

“Ah. Y/n, dear! I thought Miko was supposed to be collecting these?” 

There, sitting behind the desk, is Mrs. Albert, smiling as brightly as the sun. Her curly gray hair frames her rounded, wrinkled face- giving her the vibe of a grandmother who is about to offer you either butterscotch or one of those little red candies wrapped in those strawberry wrappers. The older woman was just as sweet as she appeared, which made Y/n feel the slightest bit guilty when she would dread one of the long-winded stories, Mrs. Albert never fails to tell.

“Hello Mrs. Albert. I let Miko go off to draw something she saw outside. She was too excited to say no, I’m afraid.” Y/n gave an airy but clipped laugh. “I told her I would bring her the papers for her host parents.”

“You’re too easy on that girl.” Mrs. Albert teasingly chastises, “Though, I guess I can’t blame you. That girl is the first exchange student you’re in charge of, it’s no wonder you’re so lenient with her. It reminds me of how I treated my baby, Samuel. Did I ever tell you about Sammy? He was such a delightful boy. He was heartbroken when he never got his quote…” She teeters off, the solemn look now on her face doesn’t suit her. Y/n had heard this story before, but it isn’t often that it comes up, nor is it often for ‘Sammy’ to be brought up at all. Not that it isn’t understandable as to why.

Quotes- a subject Y/n always loathes hearing about. 

The thing about everyone’s quotes is that they link people to each other- your other half, according to many. Most people receive their quotes sometime at 18 years old, a few will get them younger, and even fewer never get them at all. Many times, if a person does not receive their quote, they don’t live for much longer- whether it be due to the societal pressures that they failed to meet, due to no fault of their own; or they have some kind of accident. Long story short, if you don’t get your mark by your 19th birthday, you spend the rest of that year mourning and wondering what will become of you. Not to say everyone without a quote dies, but they are a particularly rare find, that’s for sure.

On top of that source of dread, each quote comes in the native language of wherever your partner is from, so once people get their quote, they are either thrilled and/or they hit the books to understand their other half’s language. Meaning that with the gibberish printed on Y/n’s arm, she’s cursed with the unknown regarding some so-called soulmate. 

“I’m sorry, dear. I shouldn’t mention quotes. I know you don’t like talking about them.” Mrs. Albert looks at her, a level of pity swimming in those big, brown eyes behind those glasses she adorns. She pats Y/n’s hand comfortingly, looking at the long sleeves she wears, even in the midst of September in the middle of Jasper, Nevada.

“Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Albert. I’ve been living with my quote for about 7 and a half years now. I’m ok.” Y/n smiles, knowing she didn’t mean any harm. “...About those papers?”

“Oh! Oh, yes. Let me grab those for you, dear.” She jumps up and walks over to one of her filing cabinets and quickly snags one of the multiple files out and hands it over. How she keeps track of where all of those papers are is baffling, but Y/n supposes the years of practice have definitely helped. “Here you are.”

“Thank you.” Y/n keeps up her smile and nods at the older woman. “You have a great rest of your afternoon, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night, Y/n. And be careful- I’ve heard that those street racers have been causing more trouble recently.” She calls out as the young woman leaves the office.

“I will!”

As she closes the door to the office, the smile on Y/n’s face slowly fades and she takes a deep breath, trying to brush off the snaring emotions surrounding her quote. After another breath, the woman rights herself and begins making her way down the hall, Y/n sifting through the papers in the manila folder, ensuring all of the papers are there. Her progress report and reviews from her teachers didn’t spell out anything good even so early into the year. All subjects but art, music, and english were less than adequate.

I’m going to have to talk to her about her grades again. 

“Alright, Miko, I have your papers fo- Miko?” Exiting the front doors, Y/n looks around for her student, only to find her running off down the sidewalk. “Miko!” She takes off after her, cursing herself for not working out more. 

This girl is gonna kill me.

Miko finally stops to peek around a corner, and the woman slows to a stop and leans against her own knees, heavy breathing covering up any sounds around her. After a moment of steadying her breath, she looks to the girl on her left, irritated, “Miko, I told you to stay on-”

“Shhh!!”

“You did not just shush me, young lady.” Miko gestures to whatever is so important that she ran over for, revealing a giant robot and a boy. A very familiar boy. “Jack Darby! You get away from that thing this instant!” Y/n yells, making both the teen and robot jump and look to her and Miko’s direction. She runs up to the boy, looking him over for any possible injuries, and pulls him behind her next to Miko.

“What?! He should totally go with!” Miko looks at Y/n, who keeps her eyes on the visibly bothered robot, like she’s crazy, and argues that he should do the opposite.

“Absolutely not! We don’t know what that thing even is!”

“Scrap.” The blue robot looks to Jack and then to the other two, standing up from her previously kneeling position when she had been speaking with the teenage boy, her tone obviously exasperated, “I have to bring all of you with me.”

“Excuse me? I am not going anywhere, and neither are these children. You wanna abduct someone for whatever wacky robot thing you have going on? You leave these children out of it.” Y/n crosses her arms, looking up at the blue and pink being before her, not willing to step down- much to the distaste of said robot.

“I don’t have time for this-” The bot raised her hand to the side of her head with quite possibly one of the most bothered expressions Y/n had ever seen on a human or anything else. “Bee, you need to come back… the kid is fine, but we’ve run into a couple of issues.”

“Did you not hear me? You can’t just-”

“Oh, I heard you, but I can and I will.” Apparently done with what Y/n can only assume was some kind of phone call- that or this was not only a giant robot but a crazy one at that. “I have orders and you’re now part of those orders because you were nosy.”

“We’ll act like we never saw you, not that anyone in their right mind would believe any of us if we told them we saw a giant robot lady that wanted to- what? Take us to some government facility and lock us away because of seeing whatever kind of prototype you are?” Y/n argues back, left hand on her hip and her right pointing up at the mech accusingly, to which the mechanical woman’s jaw falls agape before screwing up, insulted.

“We weren’t made by humans, and you are wasting my time. I have better things to do rather than argue with some woman who’s putting a hitch in today’s plans.”

“Oh, well I’m so-”

A yellow Urbana 500 with black racing stripes drives up behind Miko and Y/n and revs the engine, making the woman jump and the teen whirl around, excited to see yet another possible robot. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Y/n weighs her options. If she tries to take the children with her, it is possible these robots, while they may not have shown any aggressive or violent responses, it couldn’t be confirmed that they wouldn’t, if there was any opposition. The safest option was, unfortunately, to go with the kids and keep them as safe as possible. No matter how much she didn’t like this. 

“Ok… alright.” Another deep breath in and out. The kids are what’s important right now. “We’ll come with you, but these kids stay as safe as possible.”

“That was the plan.” The dead tone rings through the alleyway, continuing to irk the only other adult present, but before Y/n could say anything, the metal woman transformed into a motorcycle, having Jack move around her, reluctantly getting on and Miko enthusiastically hops on with absolutely no hesitation. “Get in Bee, and we’ll meet you back at base.”

And then they were gone, leaving Y/n frustrated and clenching her fists with the other vehicle behind her, probably another transforming thing- hopefully with less attitude. Grumbling about the behavior of not only the bot, but the reckless behavior of the children as well, she turns around and awkwardly half-smiles at the yellow and black car- all of the frustration draining out of her.

“I don’t suppose there’s a person in there whose, like, codename is Bee, is there?” The bright lights of the car flick on and off a couple of times before the right side backdoor opens, confirming her fear. Letting out a quiet groan, Y/n walks to the awkward door, hoping there is a human ‘at base’ to help explain what the hell is going on. Getting in, she looks at the empty driver’s seat, then notices hair sticking ever so slightly above the passenger seat. “Oh, thank god. Another person. What is going- How many children exactly are you lot abducting?!”

A series of beeping, whirring, and whistling is the only response Y/n receives from the car’s radio as said child shyly smiles up at her. “Hello. Bee says we aren’t being taken, but someone named Optimus needs to see us after what happened yesterday.”

A moment’s pause settles over the car before Y/n leans back in her seat, rubbing her hands across her face, the car finally beginning to move and quickly pick up speed, “What exactly happened yesterday?”

“Um…”

I would much rather be listening to one of Mrs. Albert’s stories right now.

[canisalbus]

Y’know, I’ve seen your characters as just these happy gay dogs in love so often, *that I forget there’s actually like. Traumatic backstory to them.*

Like “oh, look at these two wonderful lads, I m sure nothing bad has ever happened-“ AND THEN I REMEMBER

.

[fluffypotatey]

fingers slipped, wrote something, bone apple teeth :3

-

For the first year, Odysseus did his best to stay away from Calypso. The goddess did not make it easy, always eager to find him like they were playing some game (and maybe they truly were because where else could Odysseus go that her power could not touch). She would giggle and playfully lecture him on his etiquette in avoiding his lover.

“I’m married.”

“You mortals and your silly fixed brains.” She would pat him on the head before hugging him. “It’s only you and me on this island. What does a flimsy marriage from out there mean here?”

He wondered if Zeus had the same mindset.

At year three, Odysseus had scoured the whole island and traversed the beaches plenty. Calypso continued to find his evasiveness endearing, but there will be a time when his need to leave her comfy, perfect paradise will displease her. Or offend her. Odysseus would rather be on the other side of the sea than know what she’d do if her delusion finally broke.

She still believed that Odysseus will warm up to her. And were Odysseus not in this situation, maybe he would find her patience admirable. Or maybe not. Maybe it would still fill him up with dread and exhaustion.

Year five, Calypso no longer allows Odysseus to venture off towards the beaches. Her paranoia finally catching up with her. She then has Odysseus braid her hair to spend the time instead.

“Is this not a beautiful place? Paradise packed in a little island for two?” She hums and stretches her legs in front of her. His hands working slow and carefully for each braid. She drinks this moment in for all it’s worth.

“Paradise is not supposed to be limited.”

Calypso huffs. “Must you always be a downer? Take in the island’s beauty!” Take in mine! “See the perfection in it all that is missing from the rest of the world.”

“Perfection is not a missing flaw out there.” His hands move to another braid. “We all have something different to share and explore. We are imperfect because we are not yet done learning and changing.”

“But does it not exhaust you? Always needing to learn? To change? To catch up with what is new? You get to finally rest from it all here. Your exhaustion can leave and you can seek refuge here.”

“Do you not miss it?”

Calypso looks away from her hands. “Miss what?”

“Do you not miss what it was like to travel? To see new sights? Not be trapped here and alone?”

“I am not alone. You are here with me.”

“Are you not also trapped here. Forever on this island?”

Calypso did not like the direction this conversation was going. Odysseus had no idea what he was talking about! Nobody here was trapped! This is paradise. This will be paradise. It has become a safe haven ever since he—

“I like this island,” she says instead. “And now you are here and I like it more.”

At year seven, Odysseus tries to jump off one of the cliffs of the island. At year seven, Calypso notices the now obvious flinches he makes when she touches him. At year seven, Calypso does not stop Odysseus from leaving her vicinity to venture back to the beaches.

At year seven, Calypso is greeted by Hermes. At year seven, Calypso is told to let him go.

now posted on ao3

[parola-di-winx]

the relationship i have w these two daughters of mine completely changed in the making of this. i hope they fail school & get expelled. anyway here's their enchantix. i never wanna look at them again

[hiemaldesirae]

(claws my way out of my grave) hai... oc dump time. one of these days i will work up the courage to reintegrate myself into the tumblr ecosystem (hi..... guys.....) but for now .......... my homunculi

(to be clear the first 4 are all guys and the last 3 are all girls)

+ extra two characters (acis and ephies siblings)

and ++: sort of inaccurate height chart (ephie and ira shouldnt be That tall because voraci is 5'9 which would make ephie like 7'10) but it helps me visualize them a bit better

[ghostsprobably]

all i want to do is work on my winx stuff

but fuck

i forgot i have depression

[seahdalune]

i saw this format pop up on my dash

(+mouse doodle)

[mothmanwarble]

In the Kaos’ Kastle level in Skylanders: Giants, there’s a hidden area called the Forgotten Sepulchre, and it can only be reached by falling through the floor in the Pushblock Challenge room as a Giant.

In the Forgotten Sepulchre is this hat:

…A princess hat.

A princess hat surrounded by—or rather, buried with—piles of bones in a long forgotten sepulchre beneath the castle that cannot be reached by regular means. It’s suggested that not even Kaos knows it’s there.

I often think about how one of the entries in Book of Kaos mentions Kaos allegedly having brothers. Perhaps he has other siblings.

Perhaps he had other siblings.

I often think about Kaossandra’s diary entires in the same book, in which she writes about the many times she’d cruelly lock up her young son in the castle’s dungeon for days on end, all because she considered him to be irritatingly inept at magic. I think about the Kaos Clan’s unfathomably long legacy of evil and the immense pride they have in their reputation as powerful wielders of dark magic. Anyone they deem weak is swiftly punished. Perhaps much worse.

Kaos ultimately proved himself to be both powerful and ridiculously resilient. But what about the previous children, of which I am sure there were several? The children that…weren’t as resilient. The children deemed weak and useless.

I often think about this royal family of Dark Portal Masters and their twisted dedication to ensuring that their family remains powerful by any means necessary.

I often think about the Forgotten Sepulchre and all those bones. I often think about the little green princess hat that no doubt belonged to someone.

I often think about this princess that Kaos never got to meet. The sister he never knew he had.

[animangalover-writes]

Time for another dream i had, this time about zutara.

This one is a lot shorter, but essentially I had a dream where kataras whole family(which seemed to have more members then in the show) all live in the fire nation, hiding the fact that they're water tribe(rather, they were water tribe).

Katara is in some sort of relationship with zuko. It's unclear if she's his wife, his girlfriend, or his mistress, but its not hidden. People know about her and her relationship with him.

(Putting the rest under a cut so I don't clog up the feed lol)

If she was his mistress it's kinda held in that way that kings had other women they'd sleep with along with their queen and it was just an accepted, albeit kinda shitty, thing to do.

Anyway, katara is also pregnant, which was kind of an underlying "plot point" and would return home to her family every day to check on them.

It's revealed here that katara is basically the only reason her family is doing pretty well for themselves. Her relationship with zuko means that they have enough to get by. It's also noted that her whole family(katara, sokka, their dad, their grandma, and some made up new family members) all live in one house. So its clear they're still kind of struggling.

It's also revealed, through a conversation with her grandma, that the only otehr reason katara is with zuko, is because it was part of a bigger plan. She and her family are part of a resistance against the fire nation, and when they realized zuko liked katara, wanted her to infiltrate and pretend to be in love with him.

The plan had clearly gone on longer then anticipated, for whatever reason, and katara is conflicted because she actually does have feelings for him now, not fo mention she's pregnant with his child.

There's a "scene" either at the beginning or after this reveal that shows zuko in a meeting with other fire nation officials, including his father and sister, and that either he was against one of their plans but is ignored or his plan gets shut down(I don't remember which). Katara always sits in on these meetings with him, and afterwards, as everyone is getting up to leave, she leans her forehead against his and whispers that everything will be alright. This is why we can tell she truly does care about him, to some degree. But it's also a moment showing potential manipulation, like shes pretending to care. It's supposed to be a little of both, she needs him to trust her but she does still love him.

After all of this, we cut to a scene in a forest/swamp. This part is kind of blurry in my head, but basically, it's a secret meeting. Katara is dressed similarly to the painted lady, her and a few other resistance members, including Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda, are planning an ambush on Zuko and his family, who are supposed to travel down a path nearby. Katara is a key part of this plan, as she's the only waterbender, and she knows this. She nods along to everything regarding the plan and she goes over important points herself as well. But as everyone else continues talking, katara is having doubts. She loves Zuko. She's about to have his child. She cares for him. But she needs to free the world from the fire nations clutches as well. She doesn't want to kill Zuko, but she has to in order to help others. She's hesitating.

They continue with the plan anyway, and through the foliage that katara and the others are hiding in, we see a carriage making its way down the path. Zuko and his family(or at least his father) are in there.

Everyone is getting ready to fight, to jump out and attack. We see a close up shot of Katara, conflicted. She's still not sure if she can go through with this, if she can kill Zuko.

And then I woke up.

[marnz]

reading the new Tana French novel via audiobook and just sort of like :/ :/ thinking about the tight, propulsive plotting of her earlier novels…I’m 20% in and while the plot did land quite early compared to like, the witch elm, I’m not getting that gorgeous eerie feeling I got from In the Woods or The Likeness. Ugh! I’m in such a reading slump for books rn and I can’t decide if it’s because I’m not vibing with anything I’m reading or if it’s because my brain has suddenly developed a preference for a physical book as obsessed to an ebook or audiobook. I did recently read A Country of Ghosts via my tried and true method of ‘multiple hours of uninterrupted reading time in the bath without my phone and with a print book’ so clearly it is possible but, to give you an example of how powerful my book slump has been, I got to like 85%-90% of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo and was basically like “well. whatever.” and never finished it. That was fully a month ago :(

has anyone recently read anything that rocked their world? please advise.

[softquietsteadylove]

If you have the muse for it, could we maybe get a circus au or life interrupted update? Missing those two lately! Thank you!!! 😘

"Gil?...Gil!"

"Huh?" he turned, ruffling his hair with his free hand. "Uh, s-sorry, what were you saying?"

But his friend just frowned, "you sure you're okay? I know you're a doc to the animals, but are you really qualified to diagnose yourself?"

Gil subconsciously shifted his arm in his sling. He was no expert, but he did know how to reset a shoulder. Granted, it was because of getting into fights in his school days, but still. "Yeah, it'll be fine, really."

He shrugged, picking up some of the coiled ropes, "y'know you can take it easy if you want. We can finish setting things up for tonight."

Gil nodded, looking around them. Technically, all he did was light stuff to help out here and there. He wasn't really a regular crewman. But he had hung around all morning on the excuse of checking on the animals and helping out wherever his one good hand could help. "You, uh, seen Thena yet?"

He heard a few quiet chuckles and blushed; everyone knew why he was hanging around. He was eagerly and desperately trying to get even a glimpse of Thena. He hadn't seen her since the night she had admonished Kro - and her beast of a husband had dragged her away by the arm - and he was going nuts.

Of course, no one else knew that she had kissed him, either.

He was lying awake at night! And part of it was the pain, but another part was thinking about how she had leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't just a mistake of a peck, either, it was a real kiss. He could feel how she meant it, no matter what that really meant for them. She was a married woman, and married to the man who was both their boss, in a way.

"No one's seen her," another crewman shrugged. "Assumed boss had given her some time, I guess."

It was a reasonable guess. She had suffered quite a scare, after all. But her husband was not a reasonable man, and Gil was confident in guessing that Kro would sooner put on her costume himself than give her a day of rehearsal off without injury.

Gil picked himself up and tugged at one of his suspenders. "Thanks guys, I'll grab some lunch I guess."

They sent him off with well wishes. He wasn't in any shape to do any of the usual heavy lifting he could be asked for anyway. But rather than go in search of the group lunch being cooked behind the main tents, he slipped away towards the train.

He hadn't seen Thena in two whole days. She had once said that Kro would never really hurt her, but that was the only time when Gil wasn't really inclined to have confidence in what she said. He didn't trust anything about Kro. And he was really trying not to let the kiss influence that thinking in him, either.

He couldn't let it. She was a married woman. Whether she had kissed him or not, it wasn't his place. And he was concerned about her regardless. This wasn't about him and his feelings, it was about making sure she was okay.

"Thena?" he whispered, sticking his head out and between cars and looking around like a common cat burglar. He crept around, picking his boots up lightly.

Maybe Kro had her chained up like a ruffian. Not that he really thought he would, but he wouldn't be as surprised as he would like to be by something so barbaric.

"Thena!" he whispered again, slowly making his way to their shared sleeper car. If he was found, Kro would probably feed him to the lions. But he had to know.

Once at their sleeper car, he checked around him one more time. He knew Kro was in the main tent, snapping his cane against the ring and shouting up a storm. No one had been able to ask how Thena was without getting a real earful.

Gil knocked on the door with his good hand, pressing his ear close, "Thena, are you in there?"

"Gil?"

She didn't sound hurt, or teary or anything. He gulped, "can...are you hurt? Can I see you?"

"I'm fine Gil, you can come in."

Part of him still imagined a nightmare in which he would walk in and find her on the floor, sitting crumpled like a bird fallen from the sky. But Thena was no fallen angel. He closed the door behind him as he saw her seated at the little table barely big enough for a single plate.

He had never seen her in a normal dress, but the soft, creamy fabric looked just like her hair.

"I'm sorry I worried you," she professed immediately, still sitting primly at the table. "Kro told me I wasn't to leave for the next two days. People should think I'm in recovery."

Which was very different from actually wanting her to recover from her fall, but it would make people think of the monster more favourably.

"Have you eaten anything?" he asked, still almost whispering as he dared to come a little closer. "Are you resting?"

She smiled at him, like having not seen him for days was completely normal and expected. "I'm resting fine. Kro has been bringing me food twice a day."

So, she was missing a meal, Gil surmised. He frowned, but that was the least of his worries. "Why won't he let you out?"

Thena's expression finally cracked, and he saw her eyes drift to his shoulder. "He asked if there was anything...with you."

The words she didn't say weighed a lot more than the ones she did, and Gil found himself flustered again. He had always known what his feelings for Thena meant. But he had thought it was a harmless crush on his unattainable and lovely boss' wife. The implication that she cared for him too...it was enough to have his stethoscope picking up his own heartbeat from ten paces.

"I assured him there wasn't," she looked down at the little table, tucking some hair behind her ear. "He said then there should be no reason I should want to leave."

There should be no reason for her to ask to see him--that was the threat that had kept her in here. If she asked to see him, or probably even ran into him accidentally, Kro would have grounds to suspicions. And Gil wasn't sure which one of them would face worse consequences for them.

Gil looked around the sleeper car. It was larger than the others, of course, or maybe it was just arranged neater. It had a small but proper bed, rather than just a cot and some hay. The little table, there was a trunk that probably held their collective things. There was even a little radio on top of it, as well as an oil lamp.

"It's not a prison."

He didn't feel comforted by that. She was unharmed, sure, in a physical sense. But sometimes animals could seem fine, then they'd give out the next day of a broken heart or some such. He moved even closer, even kneeling down to face her better (he wouldn't dare move the chair across from hers). "Birds get real down if they're in cages too much."

She laughed a little at the insinuation.

"Really," he whispered. Without him telling it to, his free hand drifted up to hers, feeling the softness of her pretty linen dress. "They're meant to be free. Clipping their wings...it seems harmless, but it really hurts them, even just a little bit, everyday."

Thena tilted her head at him, her hair slipping over her shoulder. She was so beautiful, and far too delicate for a cage like this.

Gil sighed as she brought his hand from resting over hers on her lap to her lips. In another life, he could imagine this would be a beautiful moment.

It was brief, but for just a split second, her lip wobbled. She whispered, "I wish I had met you a lifetime ago."

Gil's heart broke inside his chest. It fractured, just like his stupid shoulder. Oh, to have met her a lifetime ago. To have met her as a student, to have scraped and scrimped for pennies so he could buy her flowers and take her on swan boats on the lake. To have swooned over her everyday until he could kneel just like this and hold up an embarrassingly modest ring and ask for another lifetime.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but he rose from his knee, tilting her head with his palm and kissing her as if she weren't married. As if they had this lifetime to get it right. Which wasn't true, but it wouldn't be something he would regret, either.

Thena sighed against his lips, her hand moving to his hair. She kissed like she hadn't drank in days and he was an ice cold lemonade. "I wish I could love you."

He loved her anyway, wishes be damned. "Thena-"

She pressed her fingers to his lips, breaking the spell around them and forcing him a precious few inches away. "He'll be back soon. If he catches you in here-"

He gripped her shoulder, "I won't let him hurt you, Thena. Never-"

She grasped his hand between hers, "I am not worried about what he will do to me."

So, Kro had threatened him to get her to comply with his sick delusions of ownership. And Gil hated to admit it, but in his current state, he wasn't so sure he would in a fight against the ring leader.

His heart groaned in his chest, begging not to be separated from her. He made a face, "I can't just leave you like this."

She looked him square in the eyes, and the frosty, fiery acrobat he knew - and loved - was back. "You can, and you will--for both our sake."

She was right, he would because it would be best for her, if not both of them. But he didn't have to like it. He gave her hand another squeeze, even as he picked up his feet again. "When will he let you out of here?"

"I don't know," she whispered back, their hands dragging apart like lines of a frayed rope snapping string by string. "Until he's satisfied he has nothing to fear from you."

Kro had everything to fear from him, and as soon as his shoulder was better, Gil would see to it, too.

"I'll try and find you when he does."

He turned back to her, his hand on the car door. "Don't do anything risky. If he tries anything-"

Their eyes both shot to the side. It wasn't dangerously close yet, but it was definitely Kro's voice drawing nearer. Thena eyed him, begging him to leave before their lives were changed irreparably.

Gil nodded, dragging himself out and closing the door as quietly as possible. He held his arm as he slipped away, the muscles screaming at him like a storm was on the horizon. He stopped on the other side of the car.

"Well?"

"What?" Thena's softer voice came, but Gil was relieved to hear her usual sharpness in the demand.

"Usually you're begging to know how your little boyfriend is doing!" Kro barked at her. Gil heard the rattle of a container being tossed down, perhaps one of Thena's meals for the day.

"You told me to stop bringing him up," she fired right back at him. There was a pause before she added, "dearest."

Gil felt his gut clench. He had seen Kro use that term of endearment for her, and it never failed to make her squeamish.

"Very well then," Kro snarled back at her, "darling."

Gil waited a little more, but that seemed the end of it. And he had no choice but to leave it at that, at least for now. He dragged himself away, feeling just a little bit of a coward for it, too. His shoulder was aching again.

"Hey, Gil, you get some yet?"

It was lunch time. He eyed the pot of stew. Maybe that would be just the thing. "Say, will you do something for me?"

He was heard out as he explained that he was worried about Thena--heard she was on bed rest and all. It didn't come from him, but maybe - just if there were leftovers after everyone had their share - if someone could ask the boss nice and casual if Miss Thena would like it...?

Again, everyone saw right through him. But Thena was not her husband, and the crew agreed readily that they would ask in a very normal and friendly way if Miss Thena wanted any of their extra portions for the day. The lady needed her strength and all.

And Gil needed his too. The quicker his shoulder healed, the faster Thena could stop worrying about him, and the faster he could confront Kro about the treatment of his wife.

[wings-of-angels]

trying to plan out what pokèmon bruce wayne would have... much to think about

[seithr]

Another day i shall be spending the whole day Out and am thus unable to draw anything. if only you guys knew. I have so many thoughts. I can imagine anything 👉😎

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

the MOST terrifying thing is getting a surprise message from someone you genuinely despise

[o0o0thorn0o0o]

read your tags on your latest post (adorable drawing btw) and congrats on graduating!!!!! hope your break year was relaxing!!

Awww, thank you, dear Anon (I’m really pleased with how it came out, so the compliment is much appreciated by me <3 <3)!

This past year has definitely been… an interesting one to say the least, haha, but the amount of white hairs I started my break with has significantly decreased since; I’m definitely not missing any of the deadlines and studying and all that other jazz that comes with uni life, haha 😮‍💨

My break year was definitely much needed, though, I do think I’ll ultimately be prolonging it—at least a little bit. Been ruminating very much on it, and the conclusion I’ve come to is that I currently feel more and more of an inclination to pursue something creative primarily rather than taking on the structure and pain that comes with academics for a more stable career—for the moment, at least. I ultimately want to try and get a first draft of a manuscript finished first at least and see how I feel about it. 

I can still go back to school if I decide this path’s not ultimately right, though I’m not sure if, when/if I do, it will still be veterinary/medicine-focused. We shall see, we shall see…