#this method is officially called the Melon method I made it no one else

[vespidclan]

Fastest way to draw out comics (at least my method)

a) Write down all the dialogue. Emphasize what tone or emotion you’re trying to get. Write what characters are present and where the scene takes place in

b) Draw the panel lines for the entire comic you’re making. Adjust or redraw when you think “nah dis don’t look right”

c) Sketch out 1-3 pages to envision what it’ll look like

d) Start the line art for the pages you’ve sketched in so far, including backgrounds. Fix and redraw when it doesn’t look right or not match your vision

e) Repeat c and d for all pages until you got it all in

f) Start coloring and rendering, start with the backgrounds before the characters. Have a reference to color pick from and make the colors blend in with each panel

g) Text bubbles and dialogue! Don’t let them overlap too much (unless that’s exactly what you’re going for ex. a character talking way too much or talking over someone) and play around with their shapes

h) Check the entire comic for any blemishes or things to add last minute. After that you’re pretty much done

[bmsunra]

BMS Red Thirst Chapter 0

Prologue

The examiner stared at his eyes as Kil fixed his eyes a the blood in the bowl. It sat inside a glass box that sat on a table, and Kil was made to sit on the chair five metres from it.

Kil knew the proctor was looking for any abnormal alteration in his eyes, nose, and lips. Any sign that showed he want to consume the human blood, the examiner would fail him the test and mark him leech on the Arinyr Card.

But Kil knew the bald headed, pumpkin belly middle aged man would get nothing from him. He felt no craving nor the thirst. If anything he thought he was repelled by the sight of the human blood.

The examiner waved a hand, and his assistant, a slim young girl, walked over, threw a creamy shroud over the glass box, cutting the sight of the blood.

“Turn right,” the examiner said, who was sitting behind the table, playing with a pen.

Kil’s brown Arinyr Card was on the table in front of him.

Any unwanted suggestion Kil gave him, he would punch a seal and sign the second slot of the card as ‘leech’. The next day, BLC officials from Kuve would come and take him to the Asyl of the leech.

Kil swivelled right.

In the same distance as the glass box was a bulky monitor ontop a similar iron table. Currently its display was black, but Kil knew what was coming for he had taken this test before when he was only twelve.

The display flickered and something gory replaced the blackness; A man dying, his gut was opened by some ragged blade, its entails was spilled out over chest and the asphalt.

Kil flinced.

“Eyes on the screen,” the examiner said.

The next video was more grisly. It looked as if it was caught on hidden camera. A little girl of not more than twelve was sawing her wrist a razor, blood spurting all over as she did. Kil had to endure five more similar videos, which he went throug with peeled eyes. He had to. One of them had nothing do with sharp razor or entails, but just a young boy feeding blood by his mother from a glass bowl. The boy drank it as if were milk. Kil knew he would take some days forgetting it.

He found himself wondering how his twelve years old self manage to forget all these.

By the time the monitor went black again, Kil’s stomach had been twisted to uncountable knots. This was what the examiner wanted. He wanted to see how he react. Kil only reacted like a normal human would.

The BLC should come up with a less grim method to filter out leech. Maybe a blood taste or by studing a tissue of something. People with the thirst must surely have different biochemistry than normal human.

The examiner leaned over his Arinyr Card and scribbled pass in the second slot, stamped the BLC seal and signed over it. The pretty assitant ushered him outside.

Kil was sure she wink at him at the door way.

Jiyu and Jie were waiting outside. Kil sat down next to Jiyu. Jie turned twelve this year, so she was taking the test as well. She shivered visibly. Her big sister, Jiyu was tying to calm her down. “It’s gonna be alright.”

Jiyu was fourteen. She had to wait for her fifteen for her second Arinyr test.

There were around dozen kids in the waiting room. All of them had either their mother or father or both with them to quell theri anxiety. Kil, Jiyu and Jie had only themselves.

“I heard the new examiner is creepy?” Jiyu asked in a low voice. On hearing her sister question, Jie shirvelled and displayed fear in her eyes.

To Kil’s eyes the examiner wasn’t scary. If anything he was funny looking, with the melon belly and the bald and the bushy moustache.

“I don’t know about that but he got a super hot assistan,.” Kil said, which earned him a stern look from Jiyu.

Jie seemed she didn’t heard his respose, staring at the floor and shaking uncontrollable.

“You have a girlfriend remember?” Jiyu said pointing at herself, a slender silver bracelet glinted around her tiny dainty wrist.

“I do,” Kil shrugged.

“Jie Tsuyo,” the pretty assitant annouced.

Jie got to her feet.

“Be strong, sister,” Jiyu said.

Jie made her way inside without a word.

Kil remembered drenched in sweat from nervouseness on his frist test. His father there that day to comfort him though.

The pretty assitant came out again and headed for the washroom, but not without flashing a smile at three boys in the waiting room. Kil included. But Jiyu hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t alone. Like the rest of the boys who received the smile, Kil grinned dreamily. That earned him a elbow from his girlfriend.

“Ouch.” Kil let out little too loud.

Few turned their heads, but linger their gaze not more than two seconds. They had their own worries. If their child failed the test they would them. Kil heard not many return from the Asyl in Rachi, and he never knew or see anyone who came back in his life. He also heard they came back crazy. So naturally, none like the idea of room in the eerie building in the east Island of Akerin.

The kids were truly frightened too. Specially the twelve years. At least they had a parent. Kil’s was pretty carefree about the test, and Kil knew he had nothing to worry, so he told him to rest at home. Jie’s parents had a reason too; they forgot.

“You scare for Jie?” Kil asked Jiyu.

Jiyu’s scowling vanished, replaced by a face of worried.

“I’m scare a little bit,” she said. “They won’t take away a twevel years old girl, will they? They should seperate a child from their parents how irresponsible they are.”

Kil fully knew BLC take leech of any age, as young as seven, to the Asyl for correction, to get rid of the thirst. He also knew he shouldn’t share this information with Jiyu right now. He put an arm around her, and drew her closer.

“I’m sure Jie is strong.”

Ten minutes later Jie came out, which meant she passed lest they woud’ve taken her through the back door and kept her locked in a room.

Jiyu dashed to her little sister and hugged her. But was more scared than ever. She shivered harder as she hugged her sister back. She was teary.

Kil did’t understand how people are easily frighten.

“Let’s get away from this creepy place,” Jiyu said. “You hungry Jie?”

Jie bobbed her head. She still looked nervous.

Kil peddled the bike hard and drove away fast from the Senggu’s clinic where they set up Arinyr test centre for the year. Jie clung to her sister from behind on a seperate bike. They raced to the nearest foodstall. They bought currywursts. Kil didn’t have money, so Jiyu paid for three of them. She sometime worked at the town’s market when needed money. She accept whatever work was available.

They parked their bikes beside the road, flopped down on the grasses, ate their food and watched the sunset. A grass field spread in front of them. Five kids were flying kites in the windy sky. It was late summer, and the heat had abated heralding autumn. The sun was bright red and lonely, casting its last light on the green field and the mountain ranges. It’s Kil’s favorite part of the day.

“I hate this,” Jiyu said, holding out the food in front of her.

“Then why did you order it?” Kil asked.

“I only did because you two did. I don’t want to be left out.”

Jie munched her food in silence. Her eyes in the distance, as if her mind was somewhere else.

“Nobody forced you.” Kil said.

Jie finished her food, and ran into the field toward the kid. She asked one of the kid to allow her fly the kite. Once she hold the strong she looked happy for the first time of the day.

“In the city,” Jiyu said after a while, “I heard they have the greatest food. And one can easily find work.”

“I heard the cities are dangerous, specially in the capital,” Kil said. “Plus I thought you want to become a writer. Why are you so interest in working part time?”

“My part-time money bought this,” she shook her food in front of Kil. Kil bit a moutful at his. “It’s also the reason why I need to leave this Senggu,” Jiyu said. “In city I could easily find a mentor, and work to pay for the mentor.”

“Leave then,” Kil said. “My father and me are staying here for a while. Father loves Senggu, so do I.”

“Yes, it’s a good town for farmer and florist and the likes.” she said. “But not for someone like me with dreams. My parents were born in Senggu, so did their parents. I don’t want to end my life here. You won’t understand anyway. You don’t have a dream. You and your father came here to rot and perish.”

“Father said, we never have home before we settled here,” Kil said. “He always said how lucky we were that his friend gave us a place we could call home.”

“You are at your destination. I’m at my beggining. You’ve left your cage, I’m still in mine.”

“Leave Senggu then,” Kil said again.

“I CAN’T,” Jiyu said. “I can’t leave Jie with my parents. Father came drunk yesterday and fought with mother. We hid in the closet again.”

Jiyu sniffed. There was silence for a while.

“And I can’t leave you too,” Jiyu said after composing herself. “You are my boyfriend now, aren’t you. You promised to my maiden promise.”

Jiyu held her silver braclet in front of him. Kil remembered she made him promise to stay with her forever one year ago when she got her maiden bracelet when she turned thirteen.

“Let say I’ve a dream,” Kil said. “What if I left town in persue for it. What will do you do then?”

“I’ll come with you. We promise to stay together. That’s what we will do, right.”

“Right.”

The sun had set, the twilight had settled. Jie was flying kite in the field. A kid, probably the owner of the kid, was tugging at her skirt. But she wouldn’t let go of the thread reel.

“Let’s fly kite,” Kil said to Jiyu.

“No. It’s getting dark. Let’s go home.”

But Kil had already started running down toward the field. Jiyu was calling his name behind him.

“Come,” he yelled back, “let’s see who fly hi…”

Kil stumbled on a hard stone and tumbled forward headfirst. He dove headlong to the field filled with pebbles and gravels, and slid for a whole metre before he stopped. He flipped over, saw the blue sky. He saw two kites in his vision. His forehead hurt. He reached it with his hand. “Ouch!” he jerked it back as the pain double when touch. Little blood came on the tips of his fingers.

“Kil brother,” Kil heard Jie’s voice. And a loud laugher of Jiyu’s voice.

Jie’s head appeared in his vision, looking down at him.

“You okay?”

Kil sat up on the damp and rough surface. Somehow his bad luch had brough him to a grass free, but stony area. Jiyu was few metres away. She doubled over and guffawed. Kil started to snickered to at his own folly. Three kite runners who had seen him diving were cackling too, pointing there hands at him.

The only one who truly worried about him was Jie. But Jiyu also stopped laughing when she saw the blood trickling down his face. The sisters pulled him up, and they came home.

On the way, Jiyu bought a bottle of water, and cleaned the injury, and his face.

“Take a stick as soon as you get home,” Jiyu said. “Don’t worry there won’t be any scar. It’s minor.”

Kil wasn’t worried much. They drove merrily as before back home. It was almost completely dark when they reached their gate.

“See you tomorrow, Killian brother,” Jie said. Jiyu simply smiled a goodbye of the day.

The two sisters went through their wooden fence gate. Next to Tsuyo’s gate was Kil’s iron fence gate. He pushed his bike inside, and parked the bike in the shed near the gate. He saw shadow of his father through the semi-transperant glass of the greenhouse. He must be watering his flowers. He went in the house quickly to look at a mirror.

A thin red line one-and-half inch, started from the corner of his forhead and slanted toward his left eyebrow. He must’ve grazed sharp edge of a stone. The blood had dried up. It was a minor cut, nevertheless it would leave a scar if he didn’t take a healing serum within twent-four hour. From the cupboard, he took out the small metallic box in which they kept their serums. He set it down the round eating table and flopped himself down on a chair.

He picked out the syringe first, and started looking for vial that content pale yellow fluid. But all he found was tiny empty glass vial.

“We’ve ran out of serum a week ago.”

Father came in limply, supporting by a walking stick. His father was in his sixties, but he looked much older, with all his hair gone white, and the walking stick to help his impaired leg.

Father limped over, squinted his eyes at his son’s temple, studying the shallow cut.

“Hmm,” he said, displaying little concern. “I’ll get one or two tomorrow morning. Does it hurt? Sleep on painkiller.”

Kil had a reason not to believe his father’s word. And he would need a healing serum in twelve-hour if he wish to avoid scar.

The healing serum or SOMA serum could heal any wounds and injuries, given one inject it everyday until it completely heal. It also healed faster than normal human healing speed. It could even grow a severed limb if the person could afford a vial everyday for at least ten months. And the best thing about SOMA is that the wound wouldn’t leave any scars.

“You’ll get it tomorrow morning!,” he couldn’t hide the frustration in his voice. “Where woud you get money to buy it?”

Kill pulled his left sleeve to his elbow, revealing seven old scars in his forearm. It marred his rather smooth skin, “Remember when you made the same promise?” Kil said.

In Akerin, in the era of SOMA serum, the beggars and urchins had visible scars. And those who were so poor that they couldn’t buy a vials of healing serum. A scars on his brow was tantamount to saying, ‘I’m poor. I’m poor.’ Kil could hide the scars on his arm, even if he had to wear long sleeve everytime. But he couldn’t walk into school campus with one on the brow.

“I have some flowers I could see,” father said.

“Your stupid flower couldn’t fetch five-hundred ged let alone hundred ged for a nice meal.”

His father knew he was right.

“I’ll get a vial, I promise,” father said. “Let me put this bandage over it for now.”

He let him.

Kil knew the predicament his father was in. He had jobs before the accident that crippled his left leg. But he couldn’t help but mad at him.

“How’s the test?” father asked cleaning the cut the skin around it.

“Nothing.”

“Jie’s?” father asked again, putting the adhesive bandage over the cut.

Father didn’t asked about Jiyu last year when she gave her test. But he was always fond of little Jie. Kil found himself wishing his father like Jiyu as much as he like Jie. Then he immediately realized how childish the thought was.

“Nothing,” Kil said.

“Let’s eat dinner.” father said. “I’ve prepared your favorite …”

“I’m not hungry,” Kil said, still mad at his father. “I’m off to bed.”

Kil left his poor father alone and came to his room.

👾👽👼👻👺👹💣✌😈💩😷👀💀

On the bed

Kil found himself recalling Jiyu’s desire to live in the city. If he were in the city, he could find a part job. Money of a week work might be enough to buy a vial of serum.

Father dressed his bruises and scar once again, and put on adhesive bandage over it, and medicine to the bruised and cuts.

At dinner there was silence. A simple dinner of rice, and vegetable stew.

After dinner, when he was in his room, father came to give him a the painkiller. He gulped it down with a glass of water. Then he lay on the bed. But he couldn’t rest.

He had enough trouble trying to hide the scars on his hand. They only person who wasn’t disgusted by it was his mother, but she wasn’t with him now. Only the homeless and beggars in the streeth had scars in Akerin.

He almost gone to sleep when the sound of fighting came from the neighbour. Jiyu’s father and mother. It’s late. She must be unable to sleep as well. Her parents fought all the time. If it wasn’t night she would come to Kil’s house, and his father would keep the two sisters company until the fight was over.

Kil distracted the screaming and shouting with his own thought. Father had no money to buy serum, even though he said he would. Father only sold two to three flower pot a day, which wasn’t enough even for food. He didn’t have saving. This could like before.

There was a way though. Kil knew a way to get money instantly. If he go out, he could buy the serum early morning tomorrow.

He could bleed.

Selling blood was illegal in Akerin. It had been for many years.

One could sell to a govt. Medical fecily, but they didn’t pay much. But selling to blood dealer pay thrice the money. Kil knew the dealer of Senggu.

In Akerin, selling blood to a leech was the second most hated sin, the first one was being a leech and drinking blood. Since the bood dealer were selling the blood the collected to the leech, almost exclusively the citizen loathed them, and the police would without delay shove them into prison, if caught.

Near midnight, the fighting from Jiyu’s house had died.

At was near midnight, Kil put on his shoes and jacket and jumped out of the window, careful not to wake up father when he land. Not long after he waking down the street toward the town market. It was just a ten minutes walk. Most of the shops had been closed, and an eeri quietness had settled the area. Sounds of night insects had replaced the clamour and din of the crowd that was normal in the morning and day.

Blood dealing was ban in all over Akerin. The one in Senggu was ran by a nameless man, he can only be summoned from the bar. Kil, underage, so he went to the backdoor. As he heard the rumour, he told the big man there he wanted the blood dealer.

I’m looking for Sinner’s Door,

Not long after he was led through a dark corridor inside the building. The guard left him in a small room. Kil took a chair. The room strangely smelt of strong perfume. The dealer came after five minutes. He asked his name.

“Killian Vidar,” he said.

The man seemed taken aback by his name. But it was brief. Then explain the amount of blood Kil had to bleed, and the price, and how long it would take. Kil was more than happy to learn that for 500 grams of blood he could buy two vials. Which would be enough in his case.

The dealer was about to take him away from the room, when another man showed up. The man was tall and thin, had long red hair under a leather hat. He wore a long coat that matched the color of his hat.

“I’m here.”

The dealer stole a glance at Kil before he answer, “And your promise.”

The stranger reached into his coat and pulled out a thick envelope. It was easy to guess the money inside. The dealer took it, told Kil to wait for a while and led the stranger out of the room. Kil was certain he man was here to buy blood. That meants he was a leech. It’s scary to remind the leech who drink human blood and human look the same. There was no way to distinguish the two by merely obsering or looking. They coould be anyone in the Senggu. Kil wodnered how many leech were there in the town, secretly buying blood from the dealer to drink at dinner, like a premium wine.

The dealer came back alone after a while, asked Kil to follow and he did.

Kil followed him down another the dim corridor. Red bulbs lit from the ceiling, and it smelt the same perfume in the small room. This corridor had doors on the side, Some of them were opened ajar, Kil peeked inside as he passed them. He saw people on strechable couch with tube in the arm pumping blood. Bleeding. There were at least four chair in each room and six such rooms in this corridor. They turned right and headed down another similiar corridor. This one had single bleeder in a single smaller bleeding room. More private. Toward the end he passed a room inwhjich he saw the man from earlier with the hat. His back was on him blocking the view of the bleeder.

The dealer asked Kil to enter the room at the end. Kil almost enter in when heard it ...

“I know what you want of me. I’ll never become one of you.” It came from the room the man in hat was in and Kil didn’t had to see the speaker. He knew instantly.

Father. Kil tracked back and peered inside the room.

There he was, stretching on the chair, tube in his arm, blood ranning from his system into a plastic package under the chair. His walking stick propped up against it.

“I’ll get it from your dead body if I have to,” the man in hat said to his father.

His father cursed.

“Father.” The word escaped from Kil.

The man in hat turned.

Father was obviously shocked to see him here. His eyes went wide, glancing between him and the man in hat. It took a long moment until he spoke. “What are you doing here?”

“Father,” Kil’s voice came in low and with trace of sadness that grew inside him on realising his father was selling his own blood to buy serum for him, for the scar he got trying to fly a stupid kite.

The dealer came up behind him, grabbed his arm, and tried to drag him away. “We are sorry Mr. …”

The man in hat waved his hand, “Hold on,” he said, studied Kil. “Son?”

“I didn’t know.” said the dealer.

“Father why are you here?” Kil asked his father.

“You shouldn’t be here. Run.”

A knife appeared in the hand of the man in hat, silencing Kil and his father. He gestured to the dealer, and Kil was grabbe from behind, immobolised him.

“Don’t touch my son,” his father’s weak voice said.

The man in hat proceed anyway. “Let see if you’ve have the same thing as you old pop.” Then he reacched out and grabed Kil’s scarred left arm.

Kil tried to wriggel free, but the man too strong for a boy of fifteen.

Then the man slice Kil’s palm. Blood started to creep out of the cut. Pain shot though his hand. Kil cried out in pain. Then man in hat brough his hand to his mouth and suck the blood of his palm.

The man swalllowed. Grimaced, and spat to the side. Disgusted by the taste of it. He shool his head in disappointemnet. “Take his away,” he said to the dealer, and stood and turned toward his fatherm his knife gleamed in front of his father’s face. His father was frightened, Kil could tell.

The dealer grabbed Kil by the shoulders and started pulling him away from the room.

The man in hat was going to kill his father for his blood, Kil thought. His heart start to pung heavily agaisnt his chest, audibly. Line of sweat ran down from his temple to his face, and he could feel his whole body stated to perspire.

“FATHER,” Kil screamed. “DON’T KIL MY FATHER.”

“He won’t,” said the dealer from behind.

The man in hat turned back around. “Shut him up,” tha man in hat commanded the dealer.

“DON’T KIL HIM,” Kil yelled, trying to free from the dealer’s grab.

Father looked Kil in his eyes, “Find your mother,” he said.

The man in hat took a step toward Kil, and backhanded him hard in his face. It was so powerful, instantly knock Kil out.

When Kil opened his eyes, the man in hat wasn’t in the room, nor the blood dealer. His father was still in the chair, but he wasn’t moving. Not moving at all. His throat was sliced open, blood from the opening drenched his entire bodice. His skin was ghastly, almost as white as paper. They had drained his blood.

Kil pushed himself up, his right cheek hurt like hell.

His father’s eyes had been closed. How considerate of the killer. The man in hat. Kil looked at his soulless father, laying there like a baby, unaware of the rage burning inside his son. He cried holding his dead father. He cried, gritted his teeth, clenched his fist and vowed.

Nine months later, Kil slit the throat of his first leech victim.

Three months later from his first victim, he stabbed the 30th leech to death.

Eight months later from his 30th kill, he gored the guts out of the 60th leech.

Soon every leeches in Akerin heard his name. Kill rejoiced hearing his reputation. Yet he wasn’t done. Until he avenged his father.

Jie saw his blood, and drew her in. she looked away. Missing handkerchief, piece whic Jiyu gave it tomm him.

His father wasn’t happy either. He had his own scars, multiple, in his chest, thigh, forarms and back, that he got from working in multiple jobs. He did his best, Kil knew.

He got that when he was five playing with a harvesting machine. His hand stuck in it for half an hour. Father didn’t have the money to buy serum, so he left it to his own natural healing which did a fine job healing completely in three months, but the the scars remained.

[nyr-nra]

Red Thirst : CH00

The examiner studied Kil as he was made to stare at the blood in the glass bowl. The bowl was inside a glass box, and three metres from the chair.

Kil knew the examiner was looking for any abnormal alteration in his eyes, nose, and lips. Any sign that showed he wanted to consume the human blood, the examiner would fail him the test and mark him leech on the Arinyr Card.

But Kil knew the bald headed, pumpkin belly middle aged man would get nothing from him. He felt no craving nor the thirst. If anything, he thought he was repelled by the sight of the human blood.

The examiner waved a hand, and his assistant, a slim young girl, walked over, threw a creamy shroud over the glass box, cutting the sight of the blood.

“Turn right,” the examiner said, who was sitting behind the table, playing with a pen.

Kil’s brown Arinyr Card was on the table in front of him.

Any unwanted suggestion Kil gave him, he would punch a seal and sign the second slot of the card as ‘leech’. The next day, BLC officials from Kuve would come and take him to the asylum of the leeches in Rachi.

Kil swivelled on the chair to his right.

In the same distance as the glass box was a bulky monitor on top of a similar iron table. Currently its display was black, but Kil knew what was coming for he had taken this test before when he was only twelve.

The display flickered and something gory replaced the blackness; A man dying, his gut was opened by some ragged blade, its entails were spilled out over his chest and the asphalt.

Kil flinced.

“Eyes on the screen,” the examiner said.

The next video was more grisly. It looked as if it was caught on hidden camera. A little girl of not more than twelve was sawing her wrist a razor, blood spurting all over as she did. Kil had to endure five more similar videos, which he went through with peeled eyes. He had to. One of them had nothing to do with a sharp razor or entails, but a mother feeding blood to her young boy from a glass bowl. The boy drank it as if it were milk. Kil knew he would take some days forgetting it. 

He found himself wondering how his twelve years old self managed to forget all these.

By the time the monitor went black again, Kil’s stomach had been twisted to uncountable knots. This was what the examiner wanted. He wanted to see how he would react. Kil only reacted like a normal human would. 

The BLC should come up with a less grim method to filter out leeches. Maybe a blood taste or by studying a tissue or something. People with the thirst must surely have different biochemistry than normal humans.

The examiner leaned over Kil’s Arinyr Card and scribbled the word ‘pass’ on the second slot, stamped the BLC seal and signed over it. The pretty assistant ushered him outside.

Kil was sure she winked at him in the doorway.

Jiyu and Jie were waiting outside. Kil sat down next to Jiyu. Jie turned twelve this year, so she was taking the test as well. She shivered visibly. Her big sister, Jiyu, was trying to calm her down. “It’s gonna be alright.”

Jiyu was thirteen. She had to wait for her fourteen for her second Arinyr test.

There were around a dozen kids in the waiting room. All of them had either their mother or father or both with them to quell theri anxiety. Kil, Jiyu and Jie had only themselves.

“I heard the new examiner is creepy?” Jiyu asked in a low voice. On hearing her sister question, Jie shrivelled and displayed fear in her eyes.

To Kil’s eyes the examiner wasn’t scary. If anything he was funny looking, with the melon belly and the bald and the bushy moustache.

“I don’t know about that but he got a super hot assistant,'' Kil said, which earned him a stern look from Jiyu.

Jie seemed like she hadn't heard his response, staring at the floor and shaking uncontrollably.

“You have a girlfriend, remember?” Jiyu said pointing at herself, a slender silver bracelet glinted around her tiny dainty wrist.

“I do,” Kil shrugged.

“Jie Tsuyo,” the girl assistant announced.

Jie got to her feet. And made her way..

“Be strong, sister,” Jiyu said.. 

Jie stopped at the door, turned and looked at them. Kil and Jiyu smiled a smile of assurance. Jie smiled back, nervously, and disappeared into the testing room.

Kil remembered drenched in sweat from nervousness on his first test. His father was there that day to comfort him though.

The pretty assistant came out again and headed for the washroom, but not without flashing a smile at four boys in the waiting room. Kil included. But Jiyu hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t alone. Like the rest of the boys who received the smile, Kil grinned dreamily. That earned him an elbow from his girlfriend.

“Ouch.” Kil let out a little too loud.

Few turned their heads, but their gaze lingered not more than two seconds. They had their own worries. If their child failed the test they would take them away to the asylum in Rachi. Kil heard not many return from the forsaken place. He also heard they go crazy there after being forced to endure the thirst for so long. So naturally, none like the idea of bunk in the eerie building in the east Island of Akerin.

The kids were truly frightened too. Especially the twelve years olds. At least they had a parent. Kil’s father was uncaring about the test, and Kil also knew he had nothing to worry about, so he told his father to rest at home. Jie’s parents had a different reason; they forgot.

“You scared?” Kil asked Jiyu.

Jiyu’s scowling vanished, replaced by a face of worry.

“I’m a little bit scared,” she said. “They won’t take away a twelve years old girl, will they? They shouldn’t separate a child from their parents.”

Kil fully knew BLC took leeches of any age, as young as seven for correction, to get rid of the thirst. He also knew enough not to scare Jiyu more by sharing it right now. He put an arm around her, and drew her closer.

“I’m sure Jie is strong.”

Ten minutes later Jie came out, which meant she passed the test lest they would have taken her through the backdoor and locked her in a secluded room. 

Jiyu dashed to her little sister and hugged her. But Jie still looked terrified. She shivered harder as she hugged her sister back. She was teary as well.

Kil didn't understand how people are easily frightened.

“Let’s get away from this creepy place,” Jiyu said. “You hungry Jie?”

Jie bobbed her head timidly.

Kil peddled the bike hard and drove away fast from the Senggu’s clinic where they set up Arinyr test centre for the year. Jie clung to her sister from behind on a seperate bike. They raced to the nearest food stall. They bought currywurst. Kil didn’t have money, so Jiyu paid for three of them. She always helped her mother in the market, so her mother gave her pocket money from time to time. 

They parked their bikes beside the road, flopped down on the grasses, ate their food and watched the sunset. A grass field spread in front of them. Five kids were flying kites in the windy sky. It was late summer, and the heat had abated heralding autumn. The sun was bright red and lonely, casting its last light on the green field and the mountain ranges. It’s Kil’s favorite part of the day. 

“I hate this,” Jiyu said, holding out the food in front of her.

“Then why did you order it?” Kil asked.

“I only ordered it because you two did. I don’t want to be left out.”

Jie munched her food in silence. Her eyes in the distance, as if her mind was somewhere else.

“Nobody forced you.” Kil said.

Jie finished her food, and ran into the field toward the kid. She asked one of the kids to allow her to fly the kite. Once she held the thread she looked happy for the first time of the day.

“In the city,” Jiyu said after a while, “I heard they have the greatest food. And one can easily find work.” 

“I heard the cities are dangerous, especially in the capital,” Kil said. “ I thought you wanted to become a writer, plus you’re only thirteen. You can’t find work..”

“ I’m not talking about now. Maybe when I’m fifteen. I can’t find work then. My dream to become a writer is also the reason why I need to leave Senggu. In Kuve I could study creative writing and work part time to pay for it.”

“Leave then,” Kil said. “My father and I are staying here for a while. Father loves Senggu, so do I.”

“Yes, it’s a good town for farmers and florists and the like.” she said. “But not for someone like me with dreams. My parents were born in Senggu, so did their parents. I don’t want to end my life here. You won’t understand anyway. You don’t have a dream. You and your father came here to rot and perish.” 

“Father said we never had a home before we settled here,” Kil said. “He always said how lucky we were that his friend gave us a place we could call home.”

“You are at your destination. I’m still at my starting point. You’ve left your cage, I’m still in mine.”

“Leave then,” Kil said again.

“I CAN’T,” Jiyu said. “I can’t leave Jie with my parents. Father came drunk yesterday and fought with mother. We hid in the closet again.” 

Jiyu sniffed. There was silence for a while. 

“And I can’t leave you too,” Jiyu said after composing herself. “You are my boyfriend now, aren’t you. You promised, remember?” Jiyu held her silver bracelet in front of him.

Jiyu’s mother was a n’ra woman. According to their culture girls get a bracelet called a maiden bracelet at the age of twelve. Jiyu said, back in the days it marked the legal age for a girl to be allowed to court boys. Or it indicated the girl was ready to receive a proposal. Jiyu ran to him the day she got it and she asked him to kiss her on the lips.

It was their first.

They also promise to always stay together.

“Let's say I’ve a dream,” Kil said. “What if I left town to pursue it. What will you do then?”

“I’ll come with you. We promise to stay together. That’s what we will do, right.”

“Right.”

The sun had set, the twilight had settled. In the field, Jie was flying the kite. A kid, probably the owner of the kid, was tugging at her skirt. But she wouldn’t let go of the thread reel. Some girls had also come out and were now capering in the field.

“Let’s fly,” Kil said to Jiyu.

“No. It’s getting dark. Let’s go home.”

But Kil had already started running down toward the field. Jiyu was calling his name behind him. 

“Come,” he yelled back, “let’s see who flies hi…”

Kil stumbled on a hard stone and tumbled forward headfirst. He dove headlong to the field filled with pebbles and gravels, and slid for a whole metre before he stopped. He flipped over, saw the blue sky. He saw two kites in his vision. His forehead hurt. He reached it with his hand. “Ouch!” he jerked it back as the pain doubled when touched. Little blood came on the tips of his fingers.

“Kil brother,” Kil heard Jie’s voice. And a loud laugh of Jiyu’s voice.

Jie’s head appeared in his vision, looking down at him.

“You okay?” 

Kil sat up on the damp and rough surface. Somehow his bad luck had brought him to a grass free, but stony area. Jiyu was a few metres away. She doubled over and guffawed. Kil started to snicker at his own folly. Three kite runners who had seen him diving were cackling too, pointing hands at him. 

The only one who truly worried about him was Jie. But Jiyu also stopped laughing when she saw the blood trickling down his face. The sisters pulled him up, and they came home.

On the way, Jiyu bought a bottle of water, and cleaned the injury, and his face.

“Take a stick as soon as you get home,” Jiyu said. “Don’t worry there won’t be any scar. It’s minor.”

Kil wasn’t worried much. They drove merrily as before back home. It was almost completely dark when they reached their gate.

“See you tomorrow, Killian brother,” Jie said. Jiyu simply smiled a goodbye of the day.

 The two sisters went through their wooden fence gate. Next to Tsuyo’s gate was Kil’s iron fence gate. He pushed his bike inside, and parked the bike in the shed near the gate. He saw the shadow of his father through the semi-transparent glass of the greenhouse. He must be watering his flowers. He went into the house quickly to look at a mirror.

A thin red line one-and-half inch, started from the corner of his forehead and slanted toward his left eyebrow. He must’ve grazed the sharp edge of a stone. The blood had dried up. It was a minor cut, nevertheless it would leave a scar if he didn’t take a healing serum within twelve hour. From the cupboard, he took out the small metallic box in which they kept their serums. He set it down the round eating table and flopped himself down on a chair.

He picked out the syringe first, and started looking for serum vials. But there were only empty vials.

“We ran out of serum a week ago,” father said from the door.

Father came in limply, supported by a walking stick. His father was in his sixties, but he looked much older, with all his hair gone white, and the walking stick to help his impaired leg. 

Father limped over, squinted his eyes at his son’s temple, studying the shallow cut.

“Hmm,” he said, displaying little concern. “I’ll get one or two tomorrow morning. Does it hurt? You could use my painkillers.”

Kil had a reason not to believe his father’s word. And he would need a healing serum in twelve-hour if he wishes to avoid a scar on his forehead.

The healing serum or SOMA serum could heal any wounds and injuries, given one inject it everyday until it completely heals. It also healed faster than normal human healing speed. It could even grow a severed limb if the person could afford a vial everyday for at least ten months. And the best thing about SOMA is that the wound wouldn’t leave any scars.

“You’ll get it tomorrow morning!,” he couldn’t hide the frustration in his voice. “Where would you get money to buy it?”

Kill pulled his left sleeve to his elbow, revealing seven old scars in his forearm. It marred his rather smooth skin, “Remember when you made the same promise?” Kil said. 

In Akerin, in the era of SOMA serum, the beggars, the urchins and those who were so poor that they couldn’t afford a vial of healing serum had visible scars. A scar on his brow was tantamount to announcing, ‘I’m poor. I’m poor.’ Kil could hide the scars on his arm, even if he had to wear long sleeves every season. But he couldn’t walk into the school campus with one on the brow however small and short it was.

“I have some flower plants I could sell early tomorrow,” father said.

“Your stupid flowers couldn’t fetch five-hundred ged let alone hundred ged for a nice meal.”

His father knew he was right.

“I’ll get a vial, I promise,” father said. “Let me put this bandage over it for now.”

Kil let him, fuming. The bandage might be useful for now.

“How’s the test?” Father asked, cleaning the scar with spirit and the skin around it.

“Nothing.”

“Jie’s?” father asked again, putting the adhesive bandage over the cut.

Father didn’t ask about Jiyu last year when she gave her test. But he was always fond of little Jie. Kil found himself wishing his father liked Jiyu as much as he liked Jie. Then he immediately realized how childish the thought was.

“Nothing,” Kil said.

“Let’s eat dinner.” father said. “I’ve prepared your favorite …”

“I’m not hungry,” Kil said, still mad at his father. “I’m off to bed.”

Kil left his poor father alone and came to his room.

Lying on the bed, Kil could hear the sound of an argument coming from Jiyu’s house. They must be having dinner. Her parents always fought while eating. Kil wondered how could Jiyu and Jie eat in the yellings and cursings. Or they might be skipping dinner and lying on the bed like him now.

After a while, father knocked on his door and called his name. Kil pretended to sleep and didn’t say anything. “I’ll keep the painkillers in the kitchen, if you want them,” father said. “Good night.”

The scars on his left arm had been a constant object of frequent ridicule from his classmates. He had to wear long sleeves even in summer to avoid them. Kil was mad his father for not being a competent father. He couldn’t wait to be fifteen. Then he would find a job. He would take whatever works that pay.

Kil found himself recalling Jiyu’s desire to live in the city. We could live together in Kuve, Kil thought. Kuve must be expensive to live, plus he had to wait until Jiyu turned fifteen. That’s two years.

What about father? He could do it all by himself. He pretty much was alone all the time.

Jiyu’s parents' fighting became louder. Kil wished it would intensify. Then Jiyu and Jie would come here, and they could spend the night together.

But the argument died after about half an hour.

Kil sat upright. A sudden idea came. His friend Mik who worked at the gas station told him about it.

He could bleed.

No matter what the government did to wring out leeches from the crowd, they still managed to avoid their claws. They would rather live like a rat rather than sharing a cell with two others in the asyl. But they needed to drink blood to quench their thirst, lest the throes would kill them. Mik mentioned a travelling blood dealer who came a few days ago, and now currently put up in the Butchers’ Alley. He said he had to sell his blood to pay for his father’s hospital fee. He even shared the secret passcode to get to the dealer. Kil could sell his blood tonight and easily buy a vial of serum tomorrow morning.

How many units of packed cells could a boy bleed? How much could he get for one unit?

It didn’t matter, the dealer might know.

Kil jumped off the bed with new hope, but little excitement. He paused. 

Selling blood for leeches was one of the cardinal sins. He would be a sinner. It’s a crime under Bureau of Leech Control’s book. But the BLC wouldn’t know. He hadn’t known Mik was a sinner until he revealed it himself.

No one would know. 

It was near midnight when Kil finally made a decision. He put on his jacket and walked down the stairs barefoot, careful not to wake up his father. He closed the door slowly, and put on his shoes.

Minutes later he was pedaling fast toward the market in the eerily dead night. He reached the town’s market in ten minutes. It was eerily quiet in the market, but bulbs from the poles illuminated almost every corner. Kil winded his way through stalls the vendors left. If someone was still awake and looking out the window from a tall building nearby, they might assume Kil was a thief. 

 He parked his bike at the mouth of Butchers’ Alley. A single red bulb flickered above a metal door that stood beside a butcher shop. Kil took a deep breath and knocked.

Nothing.

He knocked again.

Nothing.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

The passcode!

“I’m looking for White ... Tiger,” Kil said, his voice shaking.

Is white tiger real!

A soft clang from the other side, and the door opened a fraction. A gaunt face appeared in the crack.

He stared down at Kil, as if waiting for something else.

“Mik sent me here,” Kil said.

“Come on in.”

The man wore a shabby light blue suit, and was almost twice as tall as Kil. Kil stared up and down at the man, and he seemed to have out of proportion legs. He didn’t look Akerinian. Must be a foreigner.

The long-legs closed the door behind him and led Kil down a dim stairs.

The place stank of meat and blood. Kil wasn’t sure if it was because he was in the butcher house or the blood dealer had collected so much blood that the place smelt of it.

“You’re lucky, the man leaves tonight.” long-legs said, as they walked down the stairs.

They stopped at a thick metal door. Even though Kil stood three steps above the stairs, the man looked down at him.

“After tonight, you never talk about this. Understand.” It was an order.

Kil bobbed his head. It was understandable. To assist another sinner made him a sinner too. And sinners were always scared.

The man knocked three times. Few seconds later the door opened, and the blood dealer appeared. 

The dealer’s hair was white, his eyebrows and goatee were white too. It was dim inside the room, but Kil could see the man’s clean shirt and waistcoat. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He looked smart for a sinner.

“I’m not done with the old man,” the white hair man said.

“I can wait,” Kil said.

“What’s your name kid?” the white hair man said.

“Killian. Killian Vidar.”

The white hair man seemed taken aback by his name. He squinted his eyes and looked at him. Kil regretted telling his family name. The blood dealer tried to close the door behind him, but not before Kil saw the old man he was talking about.

“FATHER!”

Kil pushed the door guard and the dealer aside and rushed into the room. His father’s lips were taped, and he was tied to a chair. Multiple needles with blood tubes jabbed into his arms and neck. The blood tube connected to blood packages which were collected in a small portable fridge at his foot.

They were draining his father. His skin was pale from losing too much blood. And he looked extremely weak. His weary eyes searched for his son.

He mumbled something, but the tape was muffling him.

“Father, what are you doing here,” Kil said, trying untie the rope from behind.

His father looked worried, and he was trying to say something. Kil pulled the tape. 

“You shouldn’t … be … here,” father managed the words with great effort.

The tall man grabbed Kil from behind, and the dealer shut the door loud. Kil tried to shake free. Even though the man looked weak he was freakishly strong.

“Hold him,” the dealer said. “If we are lucky, he might be just like his father.”

Tha lanky man pinned him down now.

“Let me go... Let me gooo.”

The man pressed his knee harder, and with one hand he pushed Kil’s face to the dirty floor. With his other hand he stretched out Kil’s right hand, and held it firm.

“Don’t touch my kid,” Kil’s father yelled.

The blood dealer knelt down beside them. A blade glinted in his hand. Before Kil could say anything, the dealer jabbed the tip of the blade to his palm and dragged it across the palm.

Kil resisted the pain. It was nothing.

The dealer picked up his hand, and sucked blood from his palm.

“You dirty leech,” Kil said.

The dealer spat.

“What a disappointment,” the dealer said and turned away.

“Help help,” Kil began to shout. “Somebody help.”

They didn’t even try to stop him. Then he realised why. They were in the basement. There was no window or ventilators. No one would hear them. It looked like they made the room for the purpose of bleeding.

Fucking sinners.

“Please leave my son alone,” Kil’s father said.

“Powder him and put him in the butcher’s room.” the dealer said to the lanky man.

“Jirin Vidar, I want to make a …”

“Why did you abduct my father?” Kil said.

“We didn’t,” said the lanky man, pulling him up. “He came by himself. Just like you.”

The realisation hit him. His father came here to sell blood, so that he could buy healing serum with the money. His father had resolved to walk the path of sinners just so his son could avoid a tiny scar. So that Kil could go to school without shame. Now the sinners were going to drain him dry.

“LET HIM GO,” Kil screamed.

Long-legs let go of him, and kicked him on his back. Kil flew and hit the wall. It hurt, but his mind was about his father. The white hair blood dealer was now muttering just for him.

He pushed himself up. Long-legs came up to him, and blew a some white power to his face. It stunk his eyes, and within seconds started to see blurs. Then he fell on the floor.

He drifted into sleep, his eyes met his father. The eyes of a poor man who had been working so hard for his son. 

When Kil came to consciousness, he found himself in a pool of blood. The blood dealer was gone, long-legs wasn’t there. Kil couldn’t tell how long he had been out. The door to the room was opened, natural light from the room upstairs came through it.

Kil turned his head, and his heart sank.

His father was still in the chair. He still had the tape over his mouth, but he was free from the rope. The needles and the blood tube and the packed cells were gone along with the mini fridge. The blood Kil had been sleeping came from his father’s throat which had been open from ear to ear. His whole body was drenched in his own blood.

Kil held his dead father in his arms, and he screamed.

“FATHER.”

And the feeling he felt was a mixture of agony and pure hatred toward all the leeches in the world.

[lokilickedme]

Hello My Lady! Just because you asked, here are my faves of yours: #1 King (no surprise here), #2 Jack (too crazy not to love, and the stream crossing of pretty much all your stories is genius) #3 Chem/BD/TTW/TKH/TWK/can't remember them all. They're all special in their own way! Can't believe it'll be 3yrs soon since I started squatting your page!!! God time goes by fast! I'd like to add a special mention for the Muse Meetings, sooo funny, and a Golden Snowflake to Aleks. Cute little bumkin.

Thank you @fudgemuffinanon!  Dear god, has it been that long?  Seems like I joined up last year…*sits here blinking at my posts from 2015, wondering how that happened*

**LONG TEXT POST COMING UP**

You drew the lucky straw today my darling, I’m feeling wordy and in the mood to share.  A lot of people have asked me over the last couple of years how some of my stuff came about, and you mentioned one that gets a lot of asks.

Lemme tell you something about the Muse Meetings.  Way back in 1998 when I got my first computer, one of the very first things I ran across by way of internet fanfiction was a little something called The Very Secret Diaries penned by a writer named Cassandra Claire (who is now professionally published under the name Cassandra Clare).  The Very Secret Diaries (which are hilarious, btw) woke something up in me - mainly because, as a lifelong writer who had never allowed anyone to read 95% of my work, I finally realized that yeah, there were other people out there whose brains deviated from the standard in the same way mine did.  Her writing style back then (in the Diaries specifically, I’ve never actually read anything else she’s written) was very similar to the way I wrote, and those Diaries were exactly the sort of silly, ridiculous, irreverent thing I’d scribbled in my notebooks for most of my life.  And people liked it, she had a huge following based on just those out-of-context glimpses of her characters’ personal thoughts.  She was writing behind the scenes thoughts of characters, things that would never make it into books, and it was brilliant.  That was the kind of stuff I loved to write but had never given myself permission to show anyone.  She was showing hers to people, and they were loving it.

Which gave me the inspiration to not only put my work out there in the public eye for the first time ever, but to stick with my personal writing style (which I’d always assumed wasn’t what other people wanted to read, based on the books I’d been exposed to most of my life).  Not change anything.  Just do me.  And doing me meant writing silly nonsense if I wanted to.

So - The Very Secret Diaries are more or less the inspiration for the Muse Meetings, or at least the official written version of them.  I’d always imagined dialogues with my characters outside the confines of whatever story I was working on, but never thought anyone else would be interested in seeing me write it out.

The Diaries made me realize different.  Not only were her characters yammering and complaining and snarking at each other (both out of character and in), they were doing it in exactly the way I’d imagined my own characters interacting in the real world.  I loved it.  Seeing someone else do what I’d always done in my head - and do it in an official, out-there-in-the-public-eye capacity, was a revelation.  Finally I was able to give myself permission to write the way I wanted to, without restricting myself to the styles and methods in the books in the family library.  It had always been in my head, but now it didn’t have to stay there.  I could write proper stories, but I could also write what was going on in the other room, where the reader seldom gets to peek.  And other people besides myself might like it because hey, there’s precedent.

That was freeing, and I am grateful to Ms Claire for that.

So, a little history that leads up to how and why I finally started writing out the Muse Meetings:

My first fandoms that I wrote for online were Harry Potter and Star Wars (Kenobi specifically).  And yes, way back then (late 90′s - early 2000′s) there were already muse meetings among my characters.  I’ve been doing these for a long time, and I wish the out-of-character stuff I’d written back then still existed (my HP stuff bit the dust when The Restricted Section shut down, and my SW stuff was on FF.net for a little while but honestly I don’t remember my user ID there or the titles of the fics, though I have searched…so they’re most likely lost as well).  It’s sort of a shame because there were some old Anakin/Obi-Wan muse meetings that you guys would have loved…and the stuff between Remus and Sirius while we were hashing out what was going to be in their next chapter?  It still pains me that it’s all lost, but maybe it’s for the best.  That was nearly two decades ago, we move on to bigger and (hopefully) better things.

After my urge to write HP fic fizzled out I stopped writing for a while, but there were always muse meetings going on in my head for stories I scribbled mentally.  To me they’ve always been more fun than the actual stories, which explains my love for gag reels and behind-the-scenes featurettes for movies (I watch those first, always).

And then I found AO3 - funnily enough, I discovered it while searching the internet for one of my lost HP fics - and I decided to start writing in earnest again.  With all those thousands and thousands of fics and endless fandoms, it seemed like the perfect place to indulge my need to share what went on in my head.  And as I settled into the MCU and my stories started to grow to include multitudes of characters, those impromptu staff meetings with my muses kept being called to order.  Stuff that my characters would never say in the context of their stories got said.  Scenarios that were too ridiculous to waste time writing were played out.  Arguments and fights and bantering between characters who, in the restrictive confines of their own tales, would never in a million years interact…now they were throwing poptarts at each other (and occasionally knives) while the side characters wandered out of the room to watch TV or raid the fridge or sat in horror as someone’s until-now unassuming wife brandished a melon baller as a weapon.

It was messy and fun and was by far my favorite part of the writing process.

That’s what eventually became the Muse Meetings.  You want to know how they escaped my head and became an official thing?

Well I’m gonna tell ya lol

One of my very first friends in here, the fantastic @elvenfair1, was one of my first readers at AO3 and she told me I should post links to my fics at this site called tumblr to bring in a bigger audience.  So I opened an account here, followed her, posted some links as suggested, and she and I began messaging back and forth pretty much every night as we wrote our respective fics, bouncing ideas off each other and discussing plot points and brainstorming for character names.  And as my characters sassed me and refused to cooperate with what I wanted them to do, I would tell elvenfair what was going on in my head with my dumbass OCs and OFCs and we’d laugh and gripe about trying unsuccessfully to reel in our unruly muses.

And then one night back in 2015 she said “You should post this muse stuff, it’s hilarious.”

You know what the first thing I thought was?  Cassandra Claire did it 14 years ago and people loved it.  So yeah, I can sure as hell do it if I want.  If nobody is interested in it, at least it’ll amuse me and elvenfair and that’s cool enough.

And so I did.  I started posting them in here first, then as people started requesting them more I eventually moved them to AO3 in a more structured format.  And now you guys have multiple Lokis hurling curses at a bartender and viciously baiting a hapless movie star while teenage versions of two other attendees flirt with unsuspecting OFCs, with an occasional appearance by Thor dropping hints about future chapters and looking for fruit roll-ups.  It’s messy, but it’s fun and I’ve always enjoyed writing it as a way to let my brain decompress, especially when one of my “real” stories has hit a roadbump.

Since then I’ve seen countless other professional writers doing the exact same thing - J.R. Ward even posts her own version of muse meetings on her official website AND has a published book (her Insiders Guide) that is almost entirely nothing BUT muse meetings.   It’s surprising how many writers actually do this and I sometimes wonder if authors like Poe, Steinbeck, Vonnegut, Tolkien, Gaiman, McMurtry didn’t do it themselves (I’d bet money on McMurtry).  Just goes to show there’s not an original idea anywhere in the universe…no matter how much you might believe you came up with it first, someone out there has been doing it for a long damn time before you - and a million more will do it after you :)

Anyway, I haven’t written any muse meetings in a while but they still go on constantly in my head.  I get asked about once a week to go back to doing them, and one day I will, when I have time for it.  My actual fics are struggling for writing time as it is and I made a conscious decision to weed out the unnecessary stuff in favor of “real work” (yeah right lol)…but yeah, the Meetings are still one of my favorite things and I won’t stop doing them permanently - they’ll be back.

So thank you Cassandra Claire for inspiring me to let them fly…if it weren’t for those whacked-out Diaries, the Muse Meetings would all still be in my head with only one person (me) laughing at them.