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#to hold me like water took me like a year to write partially bc of clem roadblock
rozecrest · 5 months
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the way art talks about playing clem is a bit how i felt writing clem
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I have been off tumblr and writing in general for so long that now I finally have the desire to come back now. I have so many stories in the works now that i don't even know where to start, but i wanted to write a little song-fic about Anakin and Leia. My headcanon is that Anakin was actually a very good singer and had a beautiful voice its just that he was very self conscious about it and never really shared it with anyone.
This is basically an Modern AU where Anakin is a single father who raised Leia with the help of Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. He never met Padme he instead had Leia with another woman who found out she couldn't be a mother and left Anakin all alone with Leia. I wrote this mainly bc i like Anakin and Leia and the interactions with Anakin being a big softie for her. I liked writing Anakin and Leia and having her be Daddy's Little Girl. There is a chance where i might continue this and introduce Padme to the dynamic leading into an Anidala story but that is for another time.
The story utilizes lyrics from the song "Light" by Sleeping at Last.
The sun was starting to beat down on his back, but Anakin couldn't even begin to care at all. All of his attention was focused on the little bundle of sunshine wrapped away in his arms. More specifically, on the wide chocolate brown eyes that were currently drilling into him, like she was currently peering into his soul looking for anything her little heart desired.
The bundle of sunshine then began to open her mouth to utter something, but a loud yawn overtook the words that were supposed to spill from her lips.
Anakin brought a finger to tuck a strand of hair behind her little ear, "Leia, how about you take a nap."
The young girl shook her head in defiance, "No." She lifted that chubby finger of hers and began to stick it up her father's nose, stifling a laugh from him. Then she dragged that same finger down from the entrance of his nostrils to his lips which she forcefully opened with all her mighty strength.
"Leia, what the hell ar--"
"Sing for me."
Anakin froze in shock. He glanced down and saw those same big intoxicating chocolate orbs peering again into his soul, but instead of finding inquisitive eyes, these were pleading with him like a little puppy would do to its owner for some snacks.
Sing
Yes, he could sing. Anakin could really sing, as Obi-Wan told him before, "Anakin, you can be the most annoying and obnoxious hellhound I've met in my life, but you have the most amazing voice I've ever heard."
Anakin remembered laughing at Obi-Wan's statement but begrudgingly found it to be true. No matter how much he wished it wasn't.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, Anakin peered around the area and saw the park was pretty busy today. Some people were running along the trail, some children were laughing in the playground, couples were enjoying their picnics on the freshly cut grass, an elderly couple were holding hands in contempt with each other's presence, and a dog was taking a number two in the bush by the creek.
He and Leia were seated on a bench secluded from everybody else which ended up what Anakin wanted in the first place. If he was supposed to sing now for the little princess. 
Singing in public is something Anakin will no longer do. The public atmosphere envelopes him with anxiety, dread, loneliness, and fear. This was caused by what he experienced in his younger years when he sang in front of his school and got made fun of for it. Another traumatic event to add to his life story. I should really write a book, I could make millions, Anakin thought.
He only sang to those he cared about. To the people who made him feel safe and whole, and now one of those said people was currently seated in his arms patiently waiting for him to begin.
Anakin looked down at her and smiled, "Okay, I'll sing for you, Princess." 
He picked Leia up and repositioned her so that she was more comfortable sitting in his arms. He cleared his throat and began to softly sing in her ear.
May these words be the first
To find your ears
The world is brighter than the sun
Now that you're here
Though your eyes will need some time to adjust
To the overwhelming light surrounding us
Anakin took a deep breath and looked down to find Leia's eyes were partially shut. Just a little more and she will be out like a light. He needed to keep going before she started fussing around and being downright spoiled, which Anakin basically helped nurture.
I'll give you everything I have
I'll teach you everything I know
I promise I'll do better
I will always hold you close
But I will learn to let you go
I promise I'll do better
Soft snores invaded his eardrums and he knew that his little munchkin had finally fallen asleep. Anakin won't stop yet though, once he starts a song he has to finish it.
I will soften every edge
I'll hold the world to its best
And I'll do better
With every heartbeat, I have left
I will defend your every breath
And I'll do better
'Сause you are loved
You are loved more than you know
I hereby pledge all of my days
To prove it so
Though your heart is far too young to realize
The unimaginable light you hold inside
As Anakin finished he was shocked to feel tears streaming down his face like a steady flow of salty water. He forgot how much that song took on him emotionally. 
Then he suddenly remembered why.
Shmi
She used to always sing this to him to help him fall asleep when he was a toddler. It always worked in making him fall asleep fast and peacefully. The lyrics Anakin found were to be an intimate experience between a parent and their child. The song highlights the love that shines through the both of them. The song was one of the only reminders that he still has of his late mother. She died when he was nine and he constantly tried to hold onto her memory as much as he could even though it was slowly killing him.
Shmi was his sunshine as much as Leia is, and Anakin couldn't help but correlate the similarities between Shmi and Leia. He can see his mother in Leia. The eyes, the smile, and the love they both showed him. Shmi lived on through his little girl. 
Shmi and Leia will always be with him. 
The thought brought a choked sob to ravish him and he instinctively clutched the now sleeping body of his daughter tighter to his body.
"I--I'll always l-love...you, Leia." Anakin gently lifted his hand to caress her cheek and then kissed her forehead. "No matter what, I'll always l-love you."
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savagesbonergarage · 4 years
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Nightsister OC pics and backstory ❤️
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So I kinda got my Nightsister oc worked out today!
Meet Eilantha!
No makeup and with makeup since I like both. :) I know her outfit is Rey’s, but it turned out to be the one I liked best after going through all of them. This was so much fun to do! I’m on mobile rn so I don’t have a link, but search ‘rinmaru star wars avatar creator’ and it should be the first result.
The nightbrother is also an oc called Sever. He’s more bulky in my head and his tattoos are different and more brown than black, but whatevs. Also he looks more like a teenager here, which is NOT the vibe, lads. Mans is in his late 20's-early 30's. 👍
I know I’m sorta biased and all since she’s mine, but I’m in love with her? I’m not a huge fan of the Nightsisters and their misandry and general terrible-ness, but this girl is the exception. 💕 Learn more about her under the cut if you’d like. :)
She was born in 46BBY, making her around 27 in the final year of the clone wars. From the time she was a youngling it was clear that she had a natural affinity for magicks and spellcasting, which allowed her to participate in more advanced rituals and rites from an early age. This inevitably caused some contention among the sisters in her age group that felt this privilege was wasted on her, and therefore she had few friends during her time within the coven. She didn’t really mind, as she preferred to spend her days on her own anyway, learning as much as she could about whatever she fancied (usually spells that piqued her interest whose texts she discreetly snuck from within the cavern).
When she wasn’t studying, she loved music - writing, playing, and singing. It wasn’t anything like the typical malicious sounds of tribal chanting and drums you’d hear from within the grotto; not that she didn’t appreciate that also as she practiced it well, but her heart leaned toward a softer, more soothing genre of arias and melodies, bordering on lullabies based on her wanderlust, and, though she’d never admit it, her loneliness.
As she reached adulthood, she underwent the trials for her dark baptism as all Sisters did, which consisted of returning from a challenging hunt to add a token from her kill to the Water Of Life, and receiving her ichor tattoos that signified her coming-of-age before being ritualistically bathed in the ominous liquid which sanctioned her as an active member of the Nightsisters.
After this, I have two different routes (or however many, depending on who I’m shipping her with at the moment 😅 bc I ship her with everyone, no lie) that I like to take with her story. The first is expanded upon in the fic by @fallenrepublick here (still my favorite thing!) where she starts sneaking away into the nightbrother village and befriends Savage and Feral before they go through Asajj’s selection trails. This is the nicer, less-traumatic arc.
This next one gets really, really dark. I'm not going to post it all here bc honestly this post doesn't need all that angst, so I'll save that for later. Essentially, I like to think that Eilantha did at one time have a nightbrother of her own (Sever) that she actually loved, rather than treated as a slave. As you can imagine it doesn't end well, but we're not gonna get into that. We'll talk about how they meet. :)
Instead of sneaking away to the village, Eilantha is pressured into conducting her own selection trails by Mother Talzin. She doesn’t inherently have any reason to object, after all, she was taught that this is was simply the way of things. Part of her even looked forward to obtaining a manservant, whose loyalty would belong to her and her alone.
Perhaps he’d be a useful asset when it came to sneaking spelltomes to and from the vaults, and maybe he’d even be the only one staying by her side while she practiced her songs. What if he’d even appreciate them? Not that he’d have much of a choice, but the thought was comforting nonetheless.
From the moment she stepped foot in the village, all she could focus on was the feeling of the uneasy and fearful gazes of the men who undoubtedly knew more of what was to come than she did. She chose her roster at random, unsure of what she should have really been looking for or what she actually wanted from a servant. Even before the fighting, she knew deep down that she didn’t want to inflict any unnecessary harm on them…but why? From what she’d overheard at home, the violence was half the fun.
It wasn’t.
She evaded and blocked every blow with ease, yet avoided retaliating and taking the offensive in any manner that would prove fatal, causing the battle to go on far longer than anticipated to the point where Brother Viscus insisted that she take the next opening for the kill. With reluctance, the blade of her weapon collided with the ribs of the next brother to reveal himself a target. She watched in horror as the light faded from his hateful, reflective eyes, and she was nearly sick. She didn’t want to do it, but it had been done, and it couldn’t be undone. His body thudded against the ground and she screamed.
“Enough!”
The battlefield went silent, and as she came to her senses she attempted to save face.
“I’ll have none of them!”
Before Brother Viscus could interject with any alternative propositions, she was gone. She ran, fleeing as far away across the rocky terrain as she could. She didn’t cry; at least not until she was certain she was alone. She felt so pathetic - Nightbrothers were meant to be disposable, yet she couldn’t handle killing one. Her shame shifted into heartbreak, and she crouched low and wept for the death of the brother she’d just caused, as well as for all those who came before him. All the needless, thankless, mindless deaths of these men whose lives may not have mattered to the Sisters, but they mattered to someone.
As night fell, she trudged along the jagged landscape and thought of what explaination she’d give to Mother Talzin upon returning home. She had run in the opposite direction of where her speeder was stationed at the base of the village, so she had plenty of time to consider on the long journey back. She casually hummed a tune to herself in some meager attempt to self-soothe, which served to distract the shadow that had been trailing her for some time. The sound of a twig snapping in the rocks behind her alerted her to the presence and she confronted him.
"Are you lost?" she asked in a derogatory tone after he revealed himself.
"I'm not."
Of course not, this was his home, after all. She couldn't say the same for herself, however, she pressed him further.
"Then why are you following me? I never asked for an escort."
The amber-skinned nightbrother looked as though he were choosing his words carefully, though if his aim was self-preservation he'd done a terrible job of it.
"I saw you crying."
Eilantha was hit with a pang of embarrassment, though she feigned otherwise as her eyes met the ground.
"Well, you can forget what you saw. Now leave me alone."
She turned away, but the brother remained there in quiet contemplation before he spoke again.
"I've never seen a Sister cry. I've never seen a Sister feel."
Something about those words struck her directly in her heart. The confirmation that she was inherently considered to be a heartless monster in the view of these villagers hurt a little more than anticipated, though she had no right to refute it. No amount of apologies would ever remedy the divide that separated the Nightsisters from the Nightbrothers, regardless of how she felt. She clenched her fist as she turned to face him again.
“I said, leave me alone. Don’t make me-”
She actually choked on her words, unable to say the rest.
Don’t make me put you in your place.
Despite her partial warning, the nightbrother stepped closer. He grabbed the edge of his already tattered tunic and tore a piece of it off, inspecting it for cleanliness before holding it out to her. Eilantha froze, uncertain of what to make of this interaction.
“You aren’t done,” he explained.
She hadn’t realized that her hot tears continued pouring down her cheeks during her retort. She accepted the cloth with some reluctance, her dainty fingers lightly brushing against his as she took it and dabbed it against her wet face. He promptly turned and started walking away, as instructed. This strange...kindness, or rather, strange act of servitude via obligation perturbed the young witch, whose thoughts were now fixated solely on the zabrak male.
“Wait, Brother,” she implored.
He paused, resuming his attention to her after hearing the endearing use of “brother” from a Sister’s lips for the first time. She continued, an unusual softness in her tone.
“What is your name?”
“It’s Sever,” he revealed, “May I ask yours, Sister?”
She repeated his name in her mind, determined never to lose it.
“Eilantha.”
He did the same, only out loud. Gods, it was an enticing sound.
"Will you be returning?"
This was a question she wasn't prepared to receive, and one that she herself didn't fully know the answer to. Her reply was engineered from a concerned sigh.
"I'm not sure. It might be problematic returning to the coven empty-handed. I may come back, I may not. I don't know what the future holds."
Sever pursed his lips slightly.
"If you do find yourself here again, will you..."
He coughed into his fist and centered himself before continuing.
"Will you consider me?"
Her eyes shot up to meet his hopeful gaze, a golden yellow in the night. She had a hunch as to what he was alluding to, but a little clarification was needed.
"Consider you...?"
He swallowed, his countenance displaying concern that perhaps he was stepping too far out-of-bounds this time, but he wanted to know all the same.
"As your mate."
Eilantha clutched the piece of fabric in her hand. This man was offering himself to her. The images of all the nightbrothers staring her down when she first arrived with fear in their faces raced through her mind, revealing the dread the men felt when they were met with her kind, and yet this one was volunteering. She wasn't sure if she should be flattered or angry, as any other Sister likely would be at a savage that dared to seek special permissions. Of course, she wasn't like that.
Imagining him as her mate, however, was certainly...something. She thought of how she would discover just how much of him was tattooed and he would learn the same of her. She could claim him right then and there if she wanted, and he would be obliged to obey. It would solve her worries about returning home if she decided on a servant after all, although, her soul was unsteady. Though she was entitled to any male she desired, she couldn't allow herself to do it. Even though this man was offering, it would weigh on her conscience knowing that even a part of him would only be with her out of fear and obligation, rather than his own free will. This nightbrother wasn't free. None of them were.
"I'll consider it," she replied genuinely.
This news seemed to please him to some extent, a tiny smirk curling at the corner of his lip.
"I'll look forward to the possibility of serving you, Sister Eilantha."
She watched as he turned a final time and disappeared further into the darkness, leaving her alone with her busied mind.
The course was set for the Nightsister temple once she finally got to her speeder, servant-less. She looked over her shoulder to see multiple pairs of glowing golden eyes quizzically prying at her in the darkness, and she smiled before taking off.
It was a long journey home, and the entire trip her mind was occupied with thoughts of the intriguing zabrak male who saw her for what she truly was. She pulled out the tattered cloth from her pocket and pressed it against her chest as the wind rushed all around her before bringing it to her lips and kissing it.
It became her greatest treasure.
That is, until she finally had the real deal in her arms months later when the separation became too much to bear, and they arranged to meet in secret during their first rendezvous of many.
Sever, my treasure.
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hallidaysfm · 4 years
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hllo  all  ,  it  me  ur  second  fav  admin  sage  comin  2  u  live  from  the  gutters  in  the  est  tz  .  i  got  a  sneak  peak  at  all  ur  characters  &  i  am  v  v  excited  to write with all of u  !!  i’m  lit  rally  the  worst  at  intros  so  i’m  just  gonna  dive  right  into  my  chaotic  boy,  kieran  !    a  rich  boi  freshly  kicked  out  of  yale,  doesn’t  rock  the  boat  shoes  or  the  chinos  or  rly  look  the  part  but…  his  daddy,  will  in  fact  sue  you  :/  
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[    matthew  noszka    .    22    .    cismale    .    he/him    ]  just  saw  KIERAN  HALLIDAY  dragging  their  suitcase  up  the  steps  of  QUINBY    .    good  luck  living  with  HIM    ,    word  around  campus  is  that  they’re  VOLATILE    ,    RECKLESS    ,    SOCIAL  &    SELF  DRIVEN    .    makes  sense  they  chose  that  house  now    ,    doesn’t  it    ?    let’s  hope  this  new  living  situation  doesn’t  affect  their  JUNIOR  year  of  ZOOLOGY      [    sage    .    23    .    she/her    .    est    ]
+  walking  a  thin  line  of  barbed  wire,  wicked  smirks  and  smashed  bottles  of  jack,  being  shirtless  under  leather  jackets  &  doing  class  presentations  with  a  black  eye  and  a  hangover.
pinterest  can  be  found  here
background:
his  full  name  is  kieran  jaxon  halliday  his  mom  and  dad  were  two  wildlife  biologists  who  met  while  working  in  south  africa  and  fell  in  love  while  tending  to  a  baby  lion  cub  that  had  gotten  a  nasty  bite  from  a  snake.
they  named  the  cub  jax  and  that’s  where  kieran  had  gotten  his  middle  name
his  parents  made  a  decent  living  with  their  careers  but  his  dad’s  side  of  the  family  -  the  halliday’s,  were  made  of  money  and  gold  baby!!
the  halliday’s  are  a  pretty  prominent  family.  they  own  a  law  firm  that’s  been  running  since  the  1950′s  and  is  dedicated  to  famous  politicians  and  celebrities
his  grandfather  expected  kieran’s  dad  to  take  over  the  firm  after  him  so  you  can  imagine  the  shock  when  his  son  had  chosen  zoology  as  a  major.
kieran  was  born  in  south  africa  -  and  lived  there  until  he  was  13
really  loved  everything  about  it  especially  the  wild  life,  the  nature  and  the  freedom.  when  they  would  visit  the  states  to  see  his  mom  and  dad’s  family  he  thought  it  was  too  congested  and  tamed  and  mundane
his  dad  picked  them  up  and  moved  them  back  to  the  states  when  he  found  out  that  kieran’s  mom  had  been  diagnosed  with  breast  cancer
it  was  like  a  domino  effect    -  first  the  breast  cancer  where  the  doctors  were  hopeful  that  with  enough  treatment  she’d  be  in  partial  remission  in  no  time-  that  was  until  it  started  to  spread  and  within  two  years  the  two  halliday’s  had  lost  the  most  important  woman  in  their  lives
while  it  impacted  both  of  them  -  it  seemed  that  it  really  hit  his  father  in  a  different  way.  he  basically  turned  his  back  on  kieran  and  turned  really  cold  and  decided  to  take  over  the  law  firm  and  threw  himself  into  work
this  changed  kieran  in  the  sense  that  he  had  to  adapt  to  living  in  the  states  seeking  out  different  thrills  to  make  him  feel,  to  make  him  numb,  to  make  his  world  exciting  again,  to  forget  and  to  piss  off  his  dad
he  instantly  became  a  trouble  maker  -  got  kicked  out  of  various  private  schools,  was  caught  drinking  in  school,  took  his  dad’s  cars  out  for  joy  rides,  has  had  various  dui’s  and  has  been  caught  high  as  balls  by  the  police  multiple  times  but  this  never  breaks  out  to  the  public  -  his  dad  sweeps  in  and  the  charges,  the  potential  scandals,  everything  all  vanish  overnight.
yale  was  his  top  choice  for  school  and  while  his  family’s  name  obviously  got  his  foot  in  the  door  and  he  coasted  through  his  classes  -  his  grades  were  above  average  and  honestly  if  he  truly  applied  himself  he  would  be  deadly
he  started  an  underground  fight  club  at  yale  during  his  freshman  year  which  he  made  quite  a  profit  off  of,  and  also  he’s  just  really  into  fighting  in  general  so  it  gave  him  a  place  to  do  it  without  having  to  pick  fights  with  random  frat  boys.
known  around  yale  as  the  american  god  for  the  kind  of  power  he  holds,  his  looks,  and  the  way  he  carries  himself.
his  mom  was  born  and  raised  in  monterey  before  moving  to  south  africa
while  they  spent  a  good  chunk  of  time  in  monterey  when  they  moved  back  to  the  states,  after  his  mom  died,  kieran  and  his  dad  moved  full  time  to  new  york  city  where  his  dad  took  over  the  halliday  law  firm.
their  monterey  home  is  right  by  the  water  with  their  own  private  beach  area.  basically  before  his  dad  moved  them  back,  he  had  his  mom’s  dream  home  built  for  her.  now,  his  dad  hardly  ever  comes  back  but  kieran’s  lowkey  a  sentimental  bastard  and  splits  him  time  during  the  summers  in  monterey  and  the  hamptons
end  of  sophomore  year  he  messed  with  the  wrong  guys  and  got  kicked  out,  they  ended  up  ratting  out  his  underground  fight  club  lmao  and  after  being  threatened  a  bunch  of  other  students  came  forward  and  confirmed  it.  so  that  mixed  with  all  the  other  shit  he’s  pulled  and  a  couple  other  lies  about  him  –  he  got  booted  out
his  dad  is  actually  so  pissed  at  him  and  embarrassed  bc  their  name  and  money  couldn’t  even  stop  that  shit  from  being  made  public  ?
like  halliday  son  kicked  out  of  yale  for  starting  underground  fight  club?  an  iconic  page 5 headline  but  unwanted  by  his  dad  100%
he’s  been  threatened  with  his  trust  fund,  he’s  been  blacklisted  from  all  other  ivy  leagues
the  only  reason  he  got  into  halston  is  because  his  mom  went  here  and  was  ..  v  well  loved.  catch  her  picture  hanging  over  in  the  zoology  building
his  uncle  (  his  mom’s  brother  )  is  also  on  the  board  of  admissions  so  once  again,  his  name  got  him  through  the  door!
personality:
very  into  anything  that’s  going  to  endanger  his  very  existence  -  picks  fights,  drinks  until  he  passes  out,  street  races,  jumps  off  cliffs  u  name  it..  kieran  has  done  it.  it’s  almost  a  miracle  the  boy  is  still  alive.  just  recklessly  lives  on  the  edge  and  will  willingly  take  the  fall
v  straight  forward  and  vulgar
will  fuck  you  over  with  a  polite  smile  on  his  face
his  favorite  animals  are  lions  :’)
usually  has  a  bruise  under  his  eye  but  the  wicked  grin  he  sports  probably  distracts  away  from  it  plus  he’s  a  pretty  boy
sports  a  leather  jacket  like  its  his  second  skin!!
is  down  for  anything  and  is  loyal  af  if  he  considers  you  a  friend
any  excuse  to  fight  -  he  will  fight  lmao
used  to  throw  the  biggest  and  wildest  parties  at  his  place.  will  trash  his  house  solely  to  piss  his  dad  off.  a  gatsby  man  of  sorts  where  people  just  showed  up  at  his  house.
not  humble  in  any  sense,  flirts  a  lot,  manipulates  occasionally  and  is  all  around  just  here  for  a  good  time,  not  a  long  time
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wandering-bitch · 4 years
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Notes for I Have Always Loved The Door (pt 1)
I Have Always Loved The Door is the Wen Qing/Mianmian fic that all the wlw wanted but canon could not in any way make happen 
This is part one of three, i’m sorry, but it is a 30k fic and i’ve never written anything this long. it’s like. six months of my life. annotations are gonna be longer, too.
What is this fic About? Uh. Lots. Mostly your relationship with your past and your future. making choices about what you carry with you into your life.
title is from Charly Bliss’ “Percolator” but like. the rest of the fic is in no way related to the song. Just the lyrics “I have always loved the door/but I will always love you more/I love metaphors” fit well for the wen qing mood
it is a fucking CRIME that wen qing died, and while i’m happy that luo qingyang got a happy ending with a soft man who just wants to make her happy, i think she deserves more. so i gave her a fancy job
i struggled with the outline for this so much until i realized that mianmian’s canon arc is partially about saying goodbye to your home/family because you no longer fit there + it’s not a great place anymore. and that’s so close 2 wen qing’s
so that drove a great part of the plot, and helped shape the youya/tuzai bit
ch 1
the first chapter is so funny and then nothing ever approaches it, i’m so sorry i got ur hopes up with the shennans TTnTT
i hate most of my writing after it’s up but i still like this chapter. wen qing being a doctor, nmj knowing his place, mianmian cursing loudly
“If you’ve been knuckles-deep in me, you can consider yourself a friend” i spend a lot of time in this fic trying to kill wen qing with Lesbianism, but honestly that’s just to make up for mianmian killing herself with lesbianism.
this was b4 i decided to care how i ended chapters haha
ch 2
i’m proud honestly of this fic alternating perspective, bc it forced me to learn to write more distinct voices. 
“are you eating enough red meat?” “in the unclean realm?” 
if i had 2 be in a Great Sect i would 100% want to be in the big sexy sword jock sect but unfortunately i’m a vegetarian
please think of me, an average-sized gay, with noodle arms, pushing away all the giant cooks and self-appointed nie aunties, who are trying to shove meat into my mouth
like you know how cats avoid the bath??? and their people are like “jesus fuck how is this 10 lb animal defeating me, i’m huge and strong and also have thumbs”??? that, except it’s an average sized sword gay fighting ten RIPPED aunties holding out beef
i do love the mianqing dynamic i created here and i’m not sure i kept it up but WHATEVER this is about annotations not about editing
mianmian: god FUCK the jin clan, the jin clan sux. wen qing: hmmmmmmmmmm
i think mianmian’s three older sisters might show up in a future work in the series
yeah, i fell in love with this au, there will be at least one epilogue.
ch 3
oh ho ho!!! it’s the beginning of Sword Content!!!
i watched so many videos of dao work vs jian work and then i ignored all of it!!!
by that i mean “there were only like two decent-quality videos on dao work that i found on youtube and i couldn’t study them hard enough to get what i wanted”
someone trying to correct your practice with boring, irrelevant suggestions??? it’s extremely likely, it’s happened to me multiple times, i straight up stopped practicing outside bc of it
please, men, i’m begging you. if you see me doing martial arts, rather than correcting me, ask “oh cool, what are you doing? ah, i do [this art]” and like. talk with me like i’m a human
not to be A Bitch but there is a 70% chance that i’ve actually studied more marital arts than you, on account of most ppl abandoning within a few years, and me practicing aikido for more than a fucking decade
god swinging a weapon full-speed at someone and stopping inches from their head??? a Fun Time
mianmian’s doing it as a big dick energy move
but in my school we just trusted each other to not fuck up.
im too gay to want any “”””homophobia””” or “””discovering you’re gay”””” or “””coming out”””” plots, i just wanna fast forward to the “”””i wanna kiss a girl””” bit
OH MAN i forgot wwx’s voice in wen qing’s head. 
“even after his death the yiling patriarch managed to annoy her” i love wen qing
ch 4
IT’S THE MEMORIAL DINNER CHAPTER
memorial dinners are an important part of my household’s mourning process sorry
“she waved her hand to indicate the entirety of his use of demonic cultivation, fall from grace, and mass murder” mood wen qing. fucking mood.
oh my god im rereading this and seeing where i misspelled shit ugh. sorry lwj
so sometimes i’m vague about food and that’s because the only food i can think of when i’m writing is pork. i just. can’t remember what other foods u can eat. pork and also buns (but meat buns) soup? never heard of her. chicken? what is that??? piles of vegetables??? no one eats that obviously
please remember that im vegetarian and not only do i not eat pork, what i do eat is piles of vegetables
ah yes!!! time for mianmian to say prisons are for burning!!!!
our girls are both radical leftists sorry not sorry
acab, reproductive rights, prisons are for burning, capitalism is an inherently exploitative system, unionize your workplace
“tip your servers well” -- wen qing
wwx, shouting from beyond the grave: GET SOME, GIRLS!!!
wwx’s ghost: do y’all need anything? snacks? water? a condom? ah, love you kids, you keep me young
oh i forgot “for my local radical,” i should make sure to keep using ‘my radical’ as a cute endearment for the wives
ch 5
awwwww yeahhhhhhh trauma dreamsssss
writing jin guangyao is so fun!! and stressful!!!
fun because he never says anything straight, only through six layers of plausible deniability, and that’s just a fun exercise
fun also because i Love a Bitch. 
stressful because he never says anything straight, only through six layers of plausible deniability. 
the bit where he threatens to expose wen qing and mentions specifically that nmj does not like being lied to??? took me several times to perfect and im still not happy!!! 
but i’m deeply proud of him sending the flame hairpiece, that’s some a+ innocent-looking menace right there, that’s the only thing on this planet i believe in anymore
i loved making up sect politics that weren’t specifically “let’s put up watchtowers” because i don’t think that happened while jgs was still alive
uh @ self why did i capitalize da-ge that’s so uncomfortable.
oh my god i just realized that jin guangyao has to watch his ex boyfriend/nie mingjue treat mianmian the way he used to be treated oh fuck
sorry i was not at all writing 3zun cinderella when i wrote this so i wasn’t in the habit of thinking about jgy being in pain and now???
get fukt jin guangyao
he 100% cries to lxc about this later
what’s that??? you say i keep writing overthinkers who are anxious and terrified of everything??? huh i’m not sure i agree and if even if you were right i’m not sure it means anything
“grumpy frog” mianmian mvp
god the flame hairpiece is one of like two whole good endings i did for this fic haha
next time: ch 6-10!!
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likeshipsonthesea · 6 years
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If you're still doing prompts can I ask for 54 and 98 for either Nurseydex or whiskeynurseydex
i am still doing prompts! however, this is the last one for the mash-ups, and I have a bunch of the “straight to the good part” prompts i need to fill, and i have tons of hw to get done and a midterm to study for, so no more prompts for a bit. but thanks to you, and to everyone else, who sent them in. they made me very happy :)
for the au mash-up prompts, 54. Secret Relationship and 98. Curses. for nurseydex bc while i love that someone wants me to write something other than nurseydex, i suck at poly. so here we go!
let’s set the scene; on a warm spring day in late april, a christening was held.
this christening was not your average christening. there was no priest, no water, no religious symbolism as far as the eye could see. the pews (because it was held in a church, but only for size reasons) were not filled with daintily dressed grandmothers and bored nephews tugging at their too-tight ties. no these pews were filled with an arrangement of gorgeous goblins with glittering fingers full of jewels, djins bearing gifts of gold and sirens come out of the water to get a glimpse of the breathtaking nurse child recently borne unto the lovely trio of parents
(nursey’s mother (bio) descends from a long line of magic-adjacents, fortune tellers and psychics and the like. she particularly has charged dreams, one of which predicted the birth of her son, derek, the day before she met the father. nursey’s father (bio, and aro, so platonically in love with his mother) is just really really charming, like there was probably a veela way back in his family line, so now his powers manifest in closing business deals and making people swoon. nursey’s mama (non-bio, but wife of his mother) is a witch, plain and simple, and all the women in her family tracing back to ancient times were witches, too.)
so on the day of this christening, the reason for this christening, was for all the various magical relatives and friends to come and wish good fortune upon this trifecta of a magic child.
there was only one problem.
“he was born on valentine’s day?” nursey’s mama’s mother yells, in a private room within the church, exactly seven minutes before the event will begin.
nursey’s mama winces. “this is why we didn’t want to tell you.” nursey’s mother and father stand just behind her, supportive, but cowering slightly under the ire of such a great witch.
nursey’s grandmama then begins speaking rapid (angry) spanish, many of which are curses (which, incidentally, are some of the few words nursey’s mother and father recognize) and nursey’s mama tries to placate her to no avail.
the reason for this, you see, is because being born on the day of love is a curse unlike no other. centuries and centuries ago there was an etiquette established that magic would not interfere in the ways of love (that, and death, but that’s a story for another time) because love was too sacred. platonic, romantic, familial love, all of it, was a bond stronger than even the most powerful of dark magicks, and it was forbidden to be tampered with.
then the whole valentine fiasco happened and a curse was placed upon the day that all magickal babies born unto it would be cursed with a strife-torn love life.
“how could you let this happen?” nursey’s grandmama finally yells, ending her tirade.
the three parents exchange a look. mama turns back to her mother and winces. “we forgot?”
though all of nursey’s parents are magic in their own way, and believe to an extent the lore of their peoples, the valentine’s day curse seemed like one of those tales magickal parents tell their kids to entertain them at bedtime. what kind of magic would a day full of gross chocolates and plastic presents really hold? valentine’s day was a joke.
but in the afterwards, with their darling son derek asleep in his (secretly runed) hospital crib, they all remembered the date and winced simultaneously at the thought of telling their families. mom’s family took it okay– they had always lived on the fringes of magic, and therefore only took to it partially– and dad’s family is so far away from the truly magickal aspect of their heritage that they merely shrugged it off. they knew mama’s family would not react the same.
and so the christening was held, still, and the gifts were bestowed, but mama’s family– her strong and sturdy mother, the short but fierce grandmother, and the wrinkled and curled great-grandmother with no teeth and a magickal slap that would still knock you out– gave gifts that were pointed.
“you shall find solace in the magickal world,” nursey’s grandmother said, rubbing her thumb to his forehead. “we will love you like no one else.”
“you will have an unparalleled empathy,” his great-grandmother whispers, tickling his toes. “you will love like no other.”
and his great-great-grandmother, weathered and wizened and full of an untapped power, smiles her gummy grin at him and tells him, “despite it all, you will be loved. you will have one great love, my boy, and you will have the fight to keep it. i promise you this.”
and so it was true.
*~*~*
flash-forward to twenty years later.
“fuck off, poindexter,” nursey says, grinning, as he lightly hip-checks dex into the boards. dex rolls his eyes beneath him helmet, but nursey can see the smile tugging at his lips.
“stop fooling around, you two!” bitty yells, from across the ice. “we have a frozen four to prepare for!”
the d-pair exchanges a grin and sets off.
it’s nearing the end of their junior year. it’s been–eventful. living together at that stage did not work (nursey reeling from the loss of hockey, dex recovering from the aftermath of The Kiss, neither of them particularly ready to accommodate another person’s trauma with their own) and dex moving out felt like an ending neither of them wanted but neither of them knew how to fix–or could fix, for a while
and they worked for it– worked for this– when they got back from break. hockey was a good starting point–despite the rest of it, they always worked well on the ice. from there, they learned a language they would tolerate, one without sounds and without the capacity for anger. they worked out together, silent, pushing one another without directly doing so. they would perform their chores without a word, working together, clinical and efficient.
they began to find a rhythm, and with that, their words. dex explained in starts and stops how quiet it got back home after they all knew his captains were in love (and how he was okay with it, probably too okay, will couldn’t be– he wasn’t– right?) and nursey gestured nervously as he explained how hockey had been the one thing he could always come back to, even when the words weren’t coming out right, and how strained his parents had become since mama had flown back to chile to deal with the death of her great-grandmother, leaving mom and dad without their third part
and things got–better, slowly. and they can chirp without malice and kill it on the ice and smile at each other over team breakfast and it’s– it’s good. finally.
“fuck that’s good,” nursey groans, throwing his head back against the wall of dex’s basement hideaway so he doesn’t focus too heavily on the orange head bobbing below because he knows he would come too quickly, then.
okay, maybe it’s more than just “good”
maybe after a few roadies sharing a room, after some late-night tipsy conversations in the reading room, maybe after a stumble-step kiss and too little reservations, they fell into bed together and fit and some other things fell into place, too. whatever. it’s good. it’s–chill.
and in the afterward, after they’ve both gotten off and cuddled for as long as they dare and nursey creaks his way back up to his lonely room, if nursey wishes that they didn’t have to hide, it’s whatever. they both agreed to this. it’s still the best way to handle the tentativeness of this thing between them
not that they don’t love or trust their friends or whatever, it’s just it took them so long to get here to get to a place where they can talk, or at least communicate in their way, when things get hard. they’ve carved out a space for themselves and if anyone else touches it or sees it or–god forbid– judges it, well. they don’t know if they can keep it stable when the world outside tries to shake it.
but then it happens– then the final four comes and they make it, they make it to the last game and it’s gone into overtime and they all want it so badly, for themselves for bitty and then nursey sees the opening and sends it to whiskey who shoots down the ice towards the opposing goal and bits is right there, ready, and nursey can see it happening like a premonition
(sidenote: it actually is a premonition. nursey’s powers manifest in clumsy charm and slightly precognitive powers. it’s great in bed bc he experiences orgasms twice, but we’re not talking about that now)
and bitty tucks it in right behind the goalie’s leg and the buzzer screams and they all shoot into one another in this giant hug of energy and bliss and camaraderie
(and even if nursey didn’t have dex, even if they hadn’t worked it out, he would still have this, still have this unending unquestionable love for his teammates, reciprocated and stronger than any curse could hope to be)
and then nursey sees dex, helmet gone and smile wide, and he pulls nursey in to this tight tight hug and nursey can’t help it. he says it. says, “i love you,” right in dex’s ear, loud enough over the roar of the win, and dex pulls back, smile now down turned but wide, disbelieving, his eyes shining with– fuck.
“i love you too,” dex says, but nursey can only read his lips, and he wants to hear the words, he wants to hear the proof, but that comes later, after the locker room and the parties and the euphoria dies down.
quiet in dex’s basement bed, lying together, mussed and elated;
“you sure?” nursey asks into dex’s chest, not even quite sure if dex is awake or he said it loud enough to hear, or if he wanted dex to hear.
“yes,” dex says, sleepy but resolute. “i love you.”
nursey smiles, and falls asleep with the smile on his face.
*~*~*
that’s all well and good and all, but then they have to deal with The Families. dex’s takes it surprisingly– neutral. they accept nursey and are kind to him, but they stumble over things like room arrangements and call nursey dex’s “friend” enough times to prick at dex’s skin, but they try. “that’s all i can really ask for, you know?” dex says, on an abandoned beach later, just the two of them and the waves, and nursey hears the ‘i wish i could ask for more, i wish they could be better’ but instead of responding to that, he just hugs him close. it’s the answer dex needed, anyway.
the harder part is nursey’s family. they’ve always been hesitant about him dating anyone– they were suspicious of shitty for the longest time but finally realized that he was straighter than straight could be and let their suspicions go– and nursey knows about the curse of his birthday (how couldn’t he, with all the family birthday parties full of sad shakes of heads and pitying looks) but, like his parents, tried to believe it wasn’t true
(and maybe, one day, he’ll see the truth of it, but right now he’s too happy to speculate on things that have gone by)
mama, back now from her hometown, squints at dex all through dinner. she is the most magic of them all, and is attempting to use said magic to read dex for his intentions.
dex chews awkwardly and hopes that he isn’t upsetting any rich people customs he doesn’t know about. nursey, along with his mom and dad, attempt to derail the staring to no avail.
after dinner, after dessert and dex offering to help clean and thoroughly charming nursey’s father, and talking about nerdy science things with nursey’s mom and making her laugh, nursey is pleasantly full of food and love and then is instantly ripped from this feeling by his mama, who pulls him into the hall and hisses, “he’s magic.”
“what? dex isn’t magic.”
mama’s eyes are wider than nursey has ever seen them. he’s appropriately scared. “yes he is,” she insists. “i can smell it on him.”
“what? mama, stop smelling my boyfriend.”
but mama doesn’t let it go, not that night or after college, when he and dex move into an apartment in nyc together, or even later, when dex proposes one sleepy morning in bed and nursey cries and they have great sleepy-sex to the sound of their next door neighbor’s complaintive wall-pounding
the wedding is, unfortunately, a large affair. there are more poindexters than any tree could hold and “if we don’t invite ever last magickal acquaintance we’ll upset the whole community, derek” (said by his mom over a table full of potential invitees who all end up receiving save the dates)
and the wedding is, of course, beautiful, despite all of the craziness, the cake is divine (”i can’t believe that boy doesn’t have any magic,” mama says, shaking her head as she has her third piece of cake) and view (on a beach in maine, less travel for the poorer attendees) is gorgeous, even if dex kind of secretly wanted a winter wedding instead of a summer one (”we’ll go somewhere cold for the honeymoon,” nursey assured him, eyes twinkling, “we’ll be staying inside for the most part, anyway”) and all the magickal guests (glimmered to hide their more, um, unique aspects) enjoy it immensely.
but then nursey’s great grandmother and dex’s great grandmother find each other. the commotion draws the attention of everyone in the wedding party and dex and nursey approach, cautious, wondering if it’s the gay thing or something worse, only to find the two old women embracing and laughing.
“wut.” everyone, literally everyone, says, watching the interaction.
turns out, dex comes from a family with a decent amount of selkie blood in it. he can’t personally become a seal or anything (”what the fuck,” he says, staring at his little grandmother’s wrinkled, leathery, seal body) but he’s better in the water than most and can hold his breath for a really long time (”oh” nursey exclaims, after this is revealed, “that’s why you’re so good at eat-” dex manages to clap a hand over his mouth just in time.)
and since dex’s great grandmother is a selkie, she has relatives that are more involved in the magickal community than she is, and when she was a little girl, got dragged all around the world to christenings and birthdays and what have you.
and who was her childhood companion, the one who entertained her at all of these boring events? yup, you guessed it, nursey’s great grandmother.
“well, this has been a weird day,” dex says, later that night, in the hotel room they got nearby. “you’re magic, i’m magic, and our great-grandmothers were besties.”
“did you just say besties?”
“it’s been a weird day let me have this.”
and despite all the weirdness, they really do have a nice life together. nursey’s great grandmother was right–it’s a constant battle, but what love isn’t? it’s not a draining battle, it makes nursey better, constantly pushes him to be the best version of himself he can be, and the result–being with dex in all the little moments and the big– is so worth all the energy expended in the process.
and maybe it’s the curse. maybe the curse made them this way, but maybe it didn’t. maybe it’s just what they both needed, maybe dex would have been it for him no matter what day he was born. nursey likes to think so, anyway. curses and secrets and whatever– how could there ever be a world where he and dex didn’t end up here?
forget magic, that’s what’s really unbelievable.
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rosalynbair · 6 years
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Two Names on the Bridge
AO3 | Masterlist | Buy me a coffee
Pairing: Henry Bowers x Fem!reader
Words: 2702
Summary: In the summer heat, you go to visit your boyfriend Henry Bowers, only to become two names written on the bridge and nothing more.
Warnings: a lot of description, mentions of sex, nudity, cheating, how many times can I write “it was fucking hot as hell”
A/N: This was supposed to be a cute lil drabble. But it ended up being over 2.5k words and it’s kinda sad. But y’know. Oh well. Also tagging @henrybcwer bc I mentioned it (also I rewrote it so Henry cheats and not the reader? Oops?) This is also my first ever Henry fic???
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Late summer in Derry was hot. There were almost no clouds on most days, with the sweltering heat and no release from it until September. The townspeople grew tired easily under the sun, and most shops were closed by three in the afternoon.
The people you had grown up around had sweat shining on their sunburnt skin, hair often frizzy from the heat and the drought that was overtaking Maine. Everyone had resorted to wearing tank tops and shorts, losing all want or need for the professionalism of uniforms and suits as they prepared themselves for their work days. 
Some days, the main drag of shops wasn’t even opened. The heat and knowledge of it only getting worse throughout the day only deterred anyone from leaving their houses that were barely kept cool with the rundown air conditioners that rested in the windows of their living rooms and bedrooms. The only professional repair man for air conditioners lived out of town and didn’t come in often. Or there was Belch Huggins and Henry Bowers – and despite the want for a cool house to stay in, no one wanted a member of the Bower’s Gang in their house. 
Your air conditioner was barely sputtering along, it made loud clanging noises every half an hour and the constant whirr of the ceiling fans in your house were drowned out by the mechanical issues of the air conditioner that was long overdue to be retired and replaced. 
It was the only reason you didn’t really mind taking the one bus transit system to the outer part of town where the farm houses lay. You were the only one on the old, rattling, loud engined bus. The interior made up of rusty metal and old blue pleather seats that had seen better days. Much like the rest of the town. 
Your bare thighs stuck to the seat from the sweat, inner skin chafing from when you walked to the bus stop barely twenty minutes ago. And although the bus stop was just down the street from your house, the heat had caught up to your body quickly. But even then, there was no way you were going to wear shorts longer than what you had on now. The less fabric the better.
The road around you blurred on the drive, grass a faded yellow as it dried out from the constant attention from the sun. The white paneled houses that passed were tinged a light beige from the flurry of dust the low winds blew through the streets. There was a strange sort of melancholy feel to the town in August. Much different from the flood filled spring that had just passed only two months ago, or the brutal and freezing winter that would soon come after the brief relief of autumn.
The bus slowed at a stop sign, stopping completely – lurching forward slightly. You braced your sandal clad feet on the floor, stopping yourself from falling forward. The bus driver opened the doors for a woman with a basket, her arthritis riddled legs carrying her onto the hot bus. Any hope she had of getting away from the heat was lost as she sat down beside an opened window. 
Her eyes caught yours when she looked around, you give her a small but polite smile that she didn’t return. It didn’t matter any more how much of a good teenager you were, or how helpful you had been to everyone as you grew up. The moment you started dating Henry Bowers, everyone’s perception of you changed. You were no longer a singular entity. You had no defining personality or character. You were simply Henry Bowers’ girlfriend. 
You had somewhat expected it. If hadn’t been that bad when it was just Henry taking an interest in you, his gaze had followed you everywhere for weeks at school before he approached you without his gang of misfits. 
A walk to the theatres. Maybe actually paying for a movie. He had proposed to you, his cheeks rosy and his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans aggressively. Shoulders tight as he stared at you. His cheek held a bruise from a fight earlier in the week, the yellowing stain fading finally. 
A walk would be nice. You had said, you often worked in the office on your off periods to get your volunteer hours, and you knew very well the Henry Bowers was not treated nicely at home and didn’t have disposable money for a stupid movie to impress a girl. 
He had stuck by you after your walk around town, although the date had been quiet and wasn’t ideal to most people, he had tried to make conversation and not live up to his reputation when he was alone with you. Even when you wound up at the kissing bridge and sat on the fence over the river silently as you looked over the rushing waters, it had been nice. Romantic, even. 
He had asked you to go steady with him after a few weeks of sneaking into your room or going on late night walks when being in the house with his dad became too much – though he still had yet to explicitly tell you that Butch Bowers often beat him until he could barely move. Common knowledge was that he just got into fights outside of school. But you weren’t stupid. You knew him well enough, almost as well as Vic or Blech knew him. 
The same week of officially dating, he had carved your names into the bridge in his crude handwriting. It was barely legible, but it was there. It was beside one of Patrick’s carvings that held the name of one of his victims. 
In the few months… almost a year of dating Henry, Patrick hadn’t held a girl for more than a few days. Belch and Vic both had someone for a few months, but it never last. The pressure of being a part of the gang had always been too much in the end. They had known everything you had become to know. They had seen how the people of the town looked at them differently, treated them differently as if they had all become strangers.
The bus slowed down once more, stopping close to the Bowers’ farm. You stand, holding your small purse as your skin peeled away from the seat. You rub the backs of your thighs tenderly before walking to the front of the bus, holding onto the pole in front of the doors as you waited for the bus to fully stop and the doors to open. 
“Have a good day.” You say to the driver and the woman, stepping off of the bus and into the wall of heat.
There was no wind today, only the sun and humid air that attacked your skin and hair immediately. You had braided your hair back to combat the unavoidable frizz that would come to it. And you had lathered your limbs in sunscreen, but even so, your skin reddened under the kiss of the sun.
You began to walk the short way to Henry’s home. Your sweaty feet slipped around in your sandals, the straps digging in with each step. Your loose shirt clung to your body, the thin white fabric becoming partially see-through as the liquid clung and penetrated it.
Your sunglasses didn’t do much to combat the sun – they were more fashionable than practical. Your mom had bought them for you from your last vacation to Tampa over winter break. The leopard pattern had been under scrutiny from Henry since you came home, always making jabs at them when he could. 
The frame was large on your face, covering from your eyebrows to your cheekbones. You often wore them in the Trans AM when you didn’t want to deal with the boys bullying antics and just wanted to melt into the back seat, trying to salvage your reputation as a nice person.
Henry’s home came into view, the old white house standing out against the beige of the farmland around it. You walked up the dirt driveway, kicking out rocks when they got stuck in your sandal. His driveway was long, and you turn off to the right towards the metal shed that had bullet holes pressed into it. 
Henry was never in the house, he was always with the pigs, in the barn, or in the fields. You hadn’t seen any sign of machinery in the fields, meaning he was behind the shed in the pig pen, or hiding up in the lofts of the old barn smoking a pack of stolen cigarettes. 
With a quick walk around the shed and a gentle scratch to Bip and Bop’s heads, you trek through the crispy grass to the faded red barn. The front doors were open, showing off the amounts of hay it had. There had been a horse around when you first started dating Henry, but it had passed away a few months ago from it’s old age. Henry had wanted to get a new one, but that was out of the question with how expensive they were, and Butch didn’t think Henry was worth getting another horse for. 
“Hen?” you ask, softly calling out as you stood at the doors of the barn. 
There was no reply, but you saw the gentle wisps of smoke up in the loft. You walk into the dingy, allergy inducing barn. Hay crunched under you while you walked, making your arrival noisy to anyone who could hear.
The steps up to the loft creaked under your weight, the air somehow growing hotter when you got into the loft. There was a small window that was open, shining light into the converted area. 
There was a small coffee table with a pack of cards and cigarettes. A half full bottle of off brand beer, and a few empty ones. 
An old recliner took up space to the left, and then two ugly, thread-bare couches to the right. The chair and one of the couches were empty.
The dirty blonde mullet haired boy was sprawled out on the other couch, shirtless with his arms resting against the back of the couch, a new bottle of cold beer in one hand. His head was tilted back, hair clinging to his sweaty forehead, his mouth opened to release a blissful moan.
It was a scene you had seen many times, but in all other instances, you had been the one sitting naked on him. You had been the one with your face buried into his neck with the tender skin between your teeth. 
You stood at the top of the stairs for a moment, taking in the intimate scene before you. As if it would somehow vanish like a mirage induced by the humidity and lack of water you had ingested today. After blinking a few times, the brunette was still rocking her hips – rising herself to the head of Henry’s cock and pushing herself back down. It didn’t take long for her lips to be on his, holding his cheeks in her small hands. 
“It appears as if I’ll have to come back another time.” You say coolly, the words tumbling out of your mouth.
A shrill shriek comes from the girl, her hands releasing Henry’s face to cover her chest. Her head whipped around to face you, green eyes wide with horror at someone seeing her nude and in a compromising situation. 
Henry was staring at you with a shocked expression taking hold of his usually stoic features. Your name falls from his lips, something else getting choked up in his throat before it could follow. Your eyebrow raised, and you shook your head.
“I should have guessed this would happen eventually.” You mummer, your eyes trailing to the girl again. She was everything Henry had gone after before he started dating you. Pretty, innocent, nice body. 
Something you had been once too. Before you had met him. “Y/n.” Henry says quietly, looking at you as if he had just come into your room for you to help him but cream on the welts he received from his father. 
He had no right to look at you that way. This was his compromising situation, not yours. But even so, you began to wrack your brain as you turned and walked down the stairs, searching for any indication in your memory that could show that this may have happened more than once, or any sign of why it happened.
Had you not been attentive enough? Did he not like the sex he had with you so much that he had to find someone else? Were you not good enough for Henry Bowers?
You heard fast movement around the loft as you exited the barn, sniffing slightly and blaming your water eyes on the allergens in the barn instead of the feeling of your heart plummeting into your stomach from the pain of dread.
“y/n.” Henry begs as he stumbles his way down the steps, buttoning up his ripped jeans.
You keep walking, back into the humid summer afternoon.
“Don’t ignore me.” He tells you, grabbing onto your wrist when he catches up to you. He tugs on your arm, pulling you closer to him. You spin on your heel, hand coming up to collide with his cheek.
“You’re a bastard.” You hiss, fighting against the tears in your eyes until they were nearly blinding you. “I trusted you. I put my faith in you.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He tells you, his cheek growing red from your hand. His skin was already sunburnt, and there was old skin peeling off his nose. Dust from the farm covered most of his skin, making his tan darker than it already was. 
“If you didn’t mean to, you wouldn’t have done it.” You tell him. “Where’d you pick her up? How old is she?”
“She’s seventeen.” Henry sighs, looking down at his cowboy boots. “She’s new around town.”
“And you thought you’d show her the best Derry had to offer.” You scoff. “Nice.”
“It wasn’t like that.” He snaps, fear crossing his face as he realizes that you were genuinely angry with him. 
“It never is.” You grumble, pulling your wrist away from his grip. 
“So, uh.” Henry says nervously, watching you closely. “What… Wha’ happens now?”
“We become just two names on the bridge.” You say quietly.
He knows what that means. It was a phrase said often in town when couples broke up. Couples who put their names on the bridge rarely last, usually breaking up after a few days or a week after they carve their names +4E onto the old wood that the city counsel swore they would replace once day. 
He saw it in your tear-filled eyes that you were serious. That his one mess up in the entire relationship was going to ruin it. His one mistake, that he thought you would never find out about, was the thing that would break you up. Not the arguments, not moving away to go to college. It was just him being Henry. Henry Bowers living up to his rotten reputation. 
You turn away from him, unable to look at his shell-shocked expression. You leave the barn, walking back towards the road while hoping the bus wouldn’t be too late on it’s next round around the route.
Henry stood at the doorway of the barn, watching you walk away from him for the last time.
You stop by the pig pen, leaning over the old fence to pet the pigs once more. “I’m not coming around anymore.” You tell them softly. “But you’re gonna be okay. Hen will take good care o’ you two.”
You had always had a soft spot for the pigs. You sometimes showed up and spent more time with them than Henry. Or you had often asked to come to his house just to see them. They were like fat dogs. 
With one final word and pet of goodbye, you walk back to the bus stop, leaning against a fence until it came to take you home where you would finally let your tears fall.
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priortodaybreak · 6 years
Text
so my friend dared me to put one of my ‘original works’ here so ya’ll are gonna get my DnD characters backstory bc thats the only thing i’m moderately proud of. absolutely no need to reblog or read, it’s going under the cut. thx
Mareep was born 30 years ago, in a deep underground cavern carved out into a hill within a lush green forest. Mareep was born an Urd—leathery yellow wings pressed tight to her back, still thin and unable to hold her weight just yet, with dark brown eyes—practically black in the darkness of the cavern system.
She hatched the same time as her twin sister—Seri, a small yellow Kobold with amber eyes. They were inseparable for the first few years of life, even when Mareep was taken out of the caverns to get flight lessons from a few older Urd. Mareep would shirk her lessons to find her sister, telling her all about the world outside the caverns with sunlight that would hurt her eyes, creatures she could spot tramping through the undergrowth, and the answers to the unrelenting questions she would have for the elders. They would speak for hours in a hidden cavern branch, where sometimes it would take a whole day for an adult to find them.
Seri wanted out of the caverns. Yellow is an unnatural color for Kobolds, and everyone made sure the sisters knew they weren’t like everyone else. Mareep was ‘acceptable’ because of her wings—she could be an asset to the colony, even with her obnoxious coloring. But Seri wasn’t so lucky—she wasn’t magically inclined, as some Kobolds could be from a young age, so she didn’t get special instruction. But Seri was fast—racing through the caverns with Mareep was one of her favorite past-times.
Seri wanted to be an adventurer—she would find a dragon for the clan, one that was powerful and strong, and then she would be accepted—even thanked. Mareep had no such ideals—she found the special treatment because of color or extra limbs to be distasteful—her tail would whip angrily every time a Kobold told them to stop racing through the caverns, especially when they eyed her beloved sister with distain. Seri didn’t understand her sister’s anger and distance the clan—they were Kobolds, and Kobolds stuck together, even when they didn’t really get along. But Mareep was loyal to Seri—going along with whatever her sister wanted, and if she wanted a dragon, then by Tiamat she was gonna get her a dragon.
One day, Mareep found her sister sulking in their carved-out quarters after Mareep angered the elders again with her onslaught of questions. During Common lessons, some of the other young Kobolds cried out and shrank and wailed at the sight of Seri—warbling about sunlight in the caverns hurting their precious eyes. It was a common insult, comparing them to sunlight, but this time Mareep could see it hurt her sister a bit more deeply.
So she suggested a run. Running always made Seri happy, and this time was no different.
Except they went farther than normal—squeezing through cracks and going deeper than the glow-stones traveled.
Mareep fell behind, calling for her sister to slow down, to wait for her, when there was a booming crash and a short cry. Mareep quickly found the place where the floor collapsed, and underneath was old catacombs. Slimy and moldy with a foul stench, Mareep spread her wings and entered without a second thought, gliding down to where her sister was pulling herself out of rubble.
They didn’t see the Ooze until it was almost on top of them.
Seri had hurt her foot in the fall—she couldn’t climb. Mareep grabbed her sister and tried to fly—she wasn’t strong enough to get more than a few feet off the floor. Mareep was scared—all those bedtime stories of Oozes coming after young Kobolds who didn’t follow rules were coming back to haunt them.
Seri was brave.
“We can take it!”
“What?! Seri, it’s huge-”
“So is everything else! Come on, drop stalactites on it! I’ll distract it!”
And it worked! Mareep would fly up and strike at the stalactites above the creature, cracking them and having them fall to strike the monster. Seri was still fast, even with her injury—she would run and dodge and taunt the creature.
Finally after one last large falling rock, the creature was dead. Seri cheered for her sister as Mareep clung, tired, to one of the remaining stalactites. Movement caught Mareep’s eye, and she gasped.
“Seri, look out!”
A second Ooze, clinging to the wall, fell fast and hard onto Mareep’s sister.
“Mareep, run! Run!” Seri shouted, clawing at the ooze, wide amber eyes darting around in fear to see other oozes falling from the walls.
“Seri-!”
“Find my dragon!” She cried out before being consumed by the black pudding.
Mareep still hates herself for running. They were eight springs old.
The elders flew into a panic—Mareep took them quickly down to the caverns again, begging the fighters to save Seri.
They just closed off the cavern with mud and fire—creating a thick wall with no cracks, nothing the Oozes could seep through.
Mareep injured three older Kobold in her fury before they could subdue her.
She was angry with her clan—she understood, logically, why they did what they did, and she hated herself for understanding. But she hated the Oozes more. She would analyze the fight before sleeping, running through her last moments with her beloved sister over and over again. She questioned any and all Kobold fighters about the nature of Oozes—where they were found, what kinds, what they could do, how they could fight.
The archers took to her—they liked her drive, her single-mindedness. They taught her how to shoot, how to hunt in the forest—her wings gave her an advantage in the treetops, surprising enemies and giving terrain details to the lead hunter to set up traps and flank enemies. When Mareep turned ten springs, she was taken on routinely raids and more frequently into the nearest towns to trade jewels for clothing and weapons.
It took 5 springs, but she soon amassed enough knowledge and survival gear to leave her clan and embark on her own.
She was on her own for 4 years, sticking to the familiar terrain of forests before she was captured by an Orc group. They shackled her and caged her, and after a year of wandering to towns and cities and being bartered over in back alleys she was sold to a Human warlock named Alesil De la Hera.
Alesil was old and bitter. He was looking for a slave—concealed by the title ‘assistant’ to protect his ‘name’. He worked as a Public scribe—sitting in dusty stalls for hours on end, writing letters for those less fortunate to be able read, let alone write. Mareep would keep his water skein full, keep his desk clean and his writing implements sharp, and use her wings to fan him when there was no breeze.
The first time she tried to run, he found her within minutes and cast Eldritch Blast—Mareep learned very quickly not to run.
Alesil was partial to ale and would often lament over his lost job—for quite a number of years he was a Court scribe, working under royalty to record official documents and write beautiful letters for nobles. But no matter how much Ale Mareep would fetch for him, or how she would fawn and grovel to him, he would not reveal why he had to leave the lap of luxury for a dusty stall.
Mareep, full of questions but having a healthy fear of her master, would seek answers in the multiple tomes he kept in his modest home, reading in the dark to prevent waking Alesil. At one point she unearthed his book of spells and could not bite her tongue fast enough the next morning.
“You could just get an Unseen Servant to do it.” She grumbled but shrunk in fear when Alesil’s head snapped up from his breakfast to hold her with his eyes.
“How do you know that spell?”
“I mean no disrespect, o’ great Master Hera-!”
“Answer the question, Urd.”
“…I read it, Master. In your book of spells.” Mareep squeaked, tail coiled tight around her leg.
“…You can read common.”
“Y-yes, Master De la Hera. Read and write. As well as Draconic.” Mareep said, no immediate punishment making her raise her snout to look at her master.
“The Orcs told me you were a stupid creature, ousted from your clan for your color, but quite good at groveling to higher powers.” He said, and Mareep visibly bristled, tail unwrapping to swish once.
“Just because I am small does not make me simple.”
Alesil laughed, causing Mareep to pause.
“Right you are. And what thoughts do you have on my letters?”
“That you write for the illiterate?” Mareep clarified, causing Alesil to nod. “You speak only the truth in the letters—even if it is not what the person wants. It is…admirable.”
Alesil laughed again. Mareep was unnerved, but no longer afraid.
“To answer your question, little one, I do not use an Unseen Servant because I like being able to see the people who work for me.”
“So you’re just a bastard.”
“A bastard who can instruct actual people on how to properly maintain my tools. Come, time to go to the stall.”
After that interaction Mareep fielded more questions at Alesil, who would answer depending on his mood. He would throw piles of paper at the Kobold, requiring her to organize them and read the information contained within, then quiz her on the information later. He taught her how to write perhaps a bit more elegantly, instead of what he called ‘dragon scratch’.
He eventually learned her name, but refused to call her by it in public—perhaps to maintain the ‘assistant’ air he so often tried to keep on him like a threadbare cloak.
Alesil eventually told her more about his life as a Warlock and a Court Scribe. His pact required him to give souls to maintain his power—the more ‘innocent’ the soul, the more power he would obtain. He started with wild animals, but soon his daemon was no longer satisfied. So, he worked his way into the good graces of a royal and would falsely accuse visitors of forgery or deception against the ruler. They would be thrown in the dungeons, where he would then harvest their soul to give to his daemon.
But while he was a scribe, he discovered something about the royal lineage that the librarians were ordered to hide. One of the older kings was barren—his queen would not become pregnant. So he ordered a handmaiden and a soldier to enter a nearby settlement and steal a babe to raise as their own.
The royal blood wasn’t so royal after all.
He left quickly and disappeared into the masses, but he missed the lavish lifestyle he had. The librarians had come to the conclusion he knew and threatened to have his wealth and title stripped before the king if he did not leave the court immediately. So he made an excuse to the current royalty—that he was getting on in age and wished to retire to a comfortable life. They were angry with his abrupt departure but allowed him to leave with his head on his shoulders.
Under fear of being discovered, he hasn’t told anyone of his findings—who would believe him? And blood doesn’t matter—wealth and authority do, in his eyes, and he had to give both up to continue living and maintain his name (or at least, the fake name he used in their court).
Alesil refused to tell Mareep who exactly the barren king was, because anything he told her eventually made its way to their stall mates—he still received invites to the local pub because of her loose tongue.
They grew close over the years, more like ‘master and student’ and less like ‘master and servant’. Alesil taught Mareep how to read, write, and speak both Dwarfish and Elfish. Mareep would listen more attentively than any student he ever had—drinking in his every word, her mind running fast and sharp, sometimes ahead of her speech and she would slip into different languages (most usually Draconic).
On occasion, when sitting in a stall was unproductive (such as a rainy day) he would take her to the local library or bookshop and introduce her to colleagues passing through, to the local librarians and other Sages. There and only then would he introduce her as his student—sometimes while she was exploring shelves for literature he requested she would catch a fond tone in his voice, but dismiss it as him talking about his Warlock days.
They spent 10 years together. Mareep never felt the burn of a spell except on that first day, and they grew to care for each other over time and through hardships.
One hot spring night, Mareep was startled out of a doze by her Master’s hoarse shout echoing through the house. Grabbing a water skein, she rushed to his room, helping him breathe and drink slowly—when his hands shook too much, she lifted the water skein.
She was dismissed rather harshly, and he locked the door to his room behind her after practically shoving her out. She fell into a fitful sleep and dreamed of the Oozes again after not thinking of them for the longest time.
She missed her sister. Seri would have known how to approach Alesil.
Mareep missed his exit into the storm that shook their roof, and instead nervously shuffled papers and organized books that were already organized. When he returned with adventuring gear made to fit a creature of her size, she was stunned. Nothing could have hinted at this as the result.
“I have an assignment for you, Mareep.”
“Yes, Master Alesil?”
“I need you to search for an answer to this question—don’t look at it now.” He said, handing her the thick parchment, worn soft at the creases. “It is beyond this town’s knowledge. Perhaps some other locations may lend insight. You said you were a Ranger, correct?”
“Am. I am a ranger.” She answered, and he smiled at her.
“Yes, quite right. Here—everything you could possibly need. Wait, one more thing.” He said, rushing off to his chambers before coming back with his calligraphy set. Wrapping it in wax parchment, he set it deep in the adjusted backpack to be protected from the elements.
“Master…”
“I had them specially make the backpack and clothing to fit someone of your stature and maintain your ability to fly. This belt will hold your short-sword and whip. The quiver sits under your arm with a cover to keep the arrows in, and the longbow attaches to it. This is a sheath to attach to your ankle for the dagger.”
“Master.”
“I had to short a few rations and torches to fit the other supplies, but you have excellent vision in the dark so I didn’t see that as an issue-”
“Alesil!” Mareep shouted, stopping his furious packing. “What is this about?”
He pointed to the parchment in her hand. “Bring me the answer to that question and I’ll proclaim you as my student to anyone who will listen.”
Mareep swished her tail at the challenge and nodded firmly. She changed, and he dispelled the magic on her ankle chains keeping her bound to him.
“Good luck, Dragonling.” He said to her at the door, into the pouring rain, and she grinned a mouth full of teeth at her Master.
“I don’t need luck, I’m a Kobold.”
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butchlilith · 6 years
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daphne/niles, arthur russell's a little lost!! for the songfic meme!!!
this only took me a couple millennia; i hope it’s no disappointment!! even if it is i hope everyone listens to this song bc you’re the reason i listened to it (and also tea milk and honey on a separate occasion fghjkl thanks) for like a day straight.
It starts slow, your realization. It starts in the holding of a door, the offering of a jacket, the paying of a compliment. She’s always done these things, Dr. Crane, and you’ve loved her for it for years, the way she can make the smallest gesture fill you up. The way she never thinks anything of it, or never seems to, but it doesn’t start like that. It starts with you noticing, in the weeks after you first learn the thing you should not have learned, how she does it. Noticing how she moves. Noticing her hands, flitting around in her lap in the quietest way, fingers folding and unfolding. Just barely grazing your shoulders as she takes your coat from them before admiring your dress. Stretched out flat as you apply aloe to the burn, then curling inward just as you flinch away, skimming your palm. Worse, resting at Mel’s sides, delicate, as they kiss and staying there long after.
Mel‘s the first person you’ve ever seen her kiss, and you tell her as much in the quiet of her apartment, just the two of you on her couch, perfectly alone. You mention this because the weight of her invitation still hangs around your shoulders like her jacket at Christmastime—the way she’d guided Mel carefully from Frasier’s apartment, hand at the small of her back, then reached out to you with the very same one, voice soft: “Oh, and Daphne?” You mention this because she’s lit the candles in her living room tonight, casting shadows like water on her ceiling, and she’s only lit them once before, when she was meant to be on a date. You don’t know what to make of that if not the thing you fear.
Anyhow, you say it, and a nervous flash of a smile reaches the corners of her lips. She must have intended to tell you tonight, if she still feels the way she once did, but you’ve stolen the moment with your jealousy. “Is she?” she asks, and you do your best to smile in return. Years ago—even months, even weeks—you’d have been thrilled to see Dr. Crane as comfortable as she is with Mel. Now, entirely without meaning to, you wonder about it. You wonder whether she kisses as gently in private as in public, whether she kisses everyone the way she does Mel, whether she’s dreamt of kissing you like that.
But it’s not right to wonder such things about a woman with a girlfriend, and surely worse to wonder them as one with a fiancé, so you shrug. “Far as I can remember,” you say.
She frowns. “In six years?” she asks, but you’re still thinking of her dreaming of kissing you. It’s a disorienting idea, that. That a woman like Dr. Crane would ever dream of kissing you. You feel more certain still that you’ve made a mistake.
You say, “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“No, of course not, no.” She shakes her head, not quite looking at you, the saddest you’ve seen her in years. “It’s funny, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Not in the conventional sense, but…” She sighs. “No one?”
“No one.”
“Well, I suppose that makes sense, doesn’t it? With the woman I was seeing when you and I first met—“
“Maris,” you insist, because the avoidance hurts more than the ache of knowing your name can never fill that place.
“Oh!” She’s relieved, you think, almost edging up on a genuine smile. “Oh, that’s right,” she says. “I’ve told you all about that, haven’t I?”
“Not quite all.”
“Well, I’m sure you remember…”
And you remember everything. The moment she stole in the kitchen, whispering fragments of a romance longer than any you’ve ever had. She was nearly shaking, by the time she was through, all for some half-hearted embrace of Donny’s joining you at dinner. The thought of it—of a relationship so long, of Donny, of those two things bound up together, written into your future—frightens you into speaking. You say, “You were together ten years, weren’t you?”
“I would hardly call it together—“
“Oh!” you say, and you know it’s terribly rude, but you remember, in this moment of trying desperately to occupy your mind, something a woman who loved you could not forget.
She turns her head back to you, and you take in each detail of her face: the fractional raise of her left eyebrow, the once more barely upturned corners of her mouth, the faint glint in her eye—not the one Mel talked about, that comes before one of her jokes, but the one you’ve only just started noticing. The look she gets when she thinks she knows what you’re about to say. “Yes?”
You say, “We’ve kissed, haven’t we?”
You search her face for anything resembling the love you’re meant to have been missing for years but miss it still. Just a small laugh, the lowering of her eyes, a faint touch of the back of her hand to your arm. “You know, we have.”
“Although,” you say, searching for a reaction before you even get the words out, “I suppose it wasn’t really us, if you think about it.” And you mean it, of course, because you can’t lie on top of everything else. Because Dr. Crane doesn’t kiss the way Niles kissed you, passionate and certain and somehow new. She kisses like a habit, when she kisses at all, she and Mel, always the same.
You watch her smile falter, feel her draw her hands away. Pushing her glasses up her nose, so that you can hardly see her face, she says, “Oh, well, I suppose not.”
“Was in public, though,” you add like you’ve been on the subject all along. Like you haven’t been spending the evening watching each movement of her mouth, even longer the movements of her hands. You reach toward her in the same manner she had you not two minutes ago. “Been a long time since I kissed someone in front of so many people.”
A smile and an exhale, close enough to a laugh for her, or even for you, if not the rest of the world. She says, “Well, it won’t be too long before…”
“Three months.” You sigh. There is more you want to say, that kissing her never felt like something to tolerate, or that you’d count it if she would, or something better than that, but she doesn’t let you.
She says, “You must be thrilled,” and, God, she’s always been terrible at knowing when your feelings don’t line up with your words, but this is…
“More nervous than anything,” you say, and it’s your chance, maybe the only one you’ll get. “You know, it’s funny, but I wasn’t at all nervous when we kissed.”
Dr. Crane looks to you with surprise, and you think she may finally get the courage to say what she wishes. Her hand moves closer to yours, as if to take it, and she says, “That’s perfectly normal.”
“You weren’t either, then?” you ask, and you don’t even know what answer to want.
She shifts, enough for you to feel it, buying herself time and drawing her hand once more away from you. “You know, I was. I just mean— You know what that night was for me. It’s similar, in a way, to your nerves about kissing Donny now. To express such an intimate feeling, in front of your friends, your family— Is there anyone whose presence might be weighing on you, so to speak?”
It’s hers, of course. The thought of her standing just behind you, steps away from where she could be, silent. The visions about it have stopped, now, so that it’s just your imagining. She’s the only one you can stand to see there, even when the voice sounds nothing like hers. You force a laugh and say, “Just left of the altar.”
She smiles at that. “Ah,” she says. “Well, that’s understandable. Often—“
“Could we talk about something else, please?” You sound angrier than you’d meant, with her being so kind to you, and you swear you see her eyes go wide.
“Oh! Is that—? Are you sure you want to? I mean, I’d feel irresponsible not to—“
“Thank you, but I think I might prefer hearing more of your thoughts on the floral arrangements, if that’s all right.”
“Of course,” she says, and she seems to become someone else almost instantly. Dr. Crane smiles in the way she does in crowds—not quite pretend, but not the one you’re used to—and says, “No, I can’t overstate how thrilled I am with your choices. Of course, I’m typically partial to a more narrative approach, but the rhododendrons should be lovely. Unconventional.”
“‘Unconventional,’” you repeat, mock-offended. “Listen to you. Well, you haven’t got to pretend to like them for my sake. Your brother certainly didn’t.”
“Well, I’m not my brother, am I?”
Without an answer that leaves whatever it is you feel hidden, you supply none. “What do they mean, anyway?”
“Rhododendrons?” she asks. “There’s no need to humor me.”
“No, really. I’d like to know, if you don’t mind.”
Apparently, she doesn’t. “I’m sure you know they’re the state flower,” she says, when she should really be less sure of it, “but, you know, traditionally, they’re—“ Settling back into her old self, she stumbles, trying to find the best words.
You smile, lean into her so close that even your hips touch, and she smiles, too, so nervous you can feel it in the air, a silent encouragement. Three months later, it’s the same energy, almost the same touch—your elbow around her neck, then sliding down her back, the skimming of hips—just before you kiss her. (And you do kiss her. You’ll try and fool yourself about this the next minute, but you kiss her before she can so much as finish a sentence.) You have to stop yourself from laughing as you pull away, realizing how careful she’s being, but you never can stop hearing her tell you, “They’re usually something of a warning.”
send me a song and a character/relationship/etc and i’ll try to write a fic!
19 notes · View notes
comicteaparty · 6 years
Text
September 27th, 2018 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on September 27th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Heart of Keol by keiiii.
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RebelVampire
COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!
Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Heart of Keol by keiiii~! (http://www.heartofkeol.com/)
Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!
QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?
Respheal
Any scene where Lu has reason to go "Ethan no"
Kabocha
....That's really accurate...
Respheal
Ain't it though xD(edited)
Kabocha
I'm still laughing at "What A douchebag"
SevereWxEddie
Lu sure says "Ethan, no!" a lot
Kabocha
http://www.heartofkeol.com/eng/002-06/ Yes, Ittan Nohm~ :3
Kabocha
@keii4ii -- how does that phrase break down? Is it just... ......................... an entire phrase? Or is one part of it clearly douchebag and the other the "what a"
Respheal
I think there was a bit on the train in particular where it was like "this is just going to be their relationship now huh" xD Ethan being a doofus and straight-faced Lu just "no. why. stop"
Draco Plato
I really liked how the action scenes have been handled, the effects are gorgeous
keii4ii
Ittan is a derogative uhhh.. what do you call it, determiner?
Nohm is a derogative pronoun
Megaparsec
Yeah every scene with a wyrm is just so awesome
Respheal
The wyrms are super pretty
SevereWxEddie
Oh, speaking of the train, have to say...I was very impressed with how you drew the rail infrastructure! The rails and tracks themselves looked very good.
Darkhalo4321
I loved that scene
Kabocha
Yesssss
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
Hi I dropped in, realizing I wasn't in this discord before
keii4ii
Thanks! The railroad provides lots of opportunities to do some fun perspective stuff
Mharz
My favorite scene is the geoduck scene that was really hilarious. I like Ethan and Lushaka's chemistry.
Tenor | Shinavar
Fav scene: Glowing toilet Also really gotta admire Ethan can apparently use the bathroom and hold a conversation with someone - I have kids and I can't do that
RebelVampire
i like any scene with hoodie kid. because i love the background illustrations and color work. theyre always so off putting. like when hoodie kid has all the red magic stuff surrounding and is just like "woo ethan come on lets burn things"
Kabocha
YES GEODUCKS
keii4ii
Though I'm glad most of that arc happened on a bridge, because at the end of it, I learned how much pain it is to draw the pebble variety railroad
SevereWxEddie
Ballast is...tedious
Kabocha
I always have a hard time writing that word because I wanna type "gooeyduck"
Darkhalo4321
Pyromaniac warning I guessss
Mharz
I like how Lushaka nonchalantly draws it.
And Ethan was like oooooohhhh
Draco Plato
all of the glowy effects are super cool, any use of power was just gorgeous
Tenor | Shinavar
Lushaka believes children need to be taught right, clearly /shot
keii4ii
The stick figure art was a collaborative masterpiece with Ethan adding the belly buttons
Respheal
Ahahaha makes sense that Lushaka wouldn't think to add belly buttons....
Mharz
Yeah
Megaparsec
Oh also the scene with the young Rencho and Ethan being like "OOH can you be a kitten?"
keii4ii
Not shown in the comic, but canon: the stick figures were vandalized by Danbi who returned to that spot while the others were away slaying the big jaguar
Darkhalo4321
Makes sense though- size and all?
Mharz
That scene where Ethan was pointing out he has no belly button is so fun
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
Agreed, I love the scenes where magic was being cast. And the one where it was with that Lady and the Master was quite intense. I thought the Master was going to be done for. Reason: the angle of how the fight was commencing(edited)
keii4ii
Danbi didn't want Hana to see them
Mharz
Lol danbi
keii4ii
TBH Master wouldn't have survived if Adela didn't go easy on her, out of her disdain for human suyori
RebelVampire
yes the master and adela's fight was beautiful @Joichi [Lavender Tea] like everything about the effects
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I agreed! I need to catch up on more HnK
Mharz
I think that was the first time I saw Danbi really angry. The part when Ethan pointed out Lu has no bellybutton
Kabocha
...Oh, yeah, that... part...
Respheal
Can't really blame him though....?
Kabocha
XD He was gonna be all sympathetic for Lu and then
nawp
Respheal
I don't think Danbi's in the right, but he was (afaik) lied to there sooo
Darkhalo4321
I kind of laughed? Because he doesn't know anything about the world really and his first reaction was the belly button -
Respheal
The anger is understandable
keii4ii
Yeah, I'm partial to situations where both sides are right and wrong at the same time
Mharz
That makes me question tho, are Renchos suppose to not have that?(edited)
Megaparsec
One of Ethan's most endearing traits is his... not innocence but excitement about everything everyone else takes for granted
keii4ii
No belly buttons for Renchos!
Mharz
I-I'm curious
I mean the other thing
keii4ii
...barbs?
Mharz
rolls
Tenor | Shinavar
Mharz: He's not supposed to - he's wearing the mark of castration when he's not, if I followed the story right
Respheal
Well the tentacle's got barbs for days
Kabocha
Geoducks
Tenor | Shinavar
hence the being 'lied' to
keii4ii
Oh yeah, the dingly-doo
Tenor | Shinavar
Er, Danbi being lied to
Mharz
I should've googled that word's meaning
keii4ii
Cat Station
Mharz
Lol
SevereWxEddie
LOL!
Draco Plato
they took away his cats
Tenor | Shinavar
TBF castration is only removal of the nuts.
So even if he didn't have it I don't imagien Ethan would be any wiser
RebelVampire
they took away his cats to work on the railroad
hence the term cat station
Draco Plato
they are now the train masters
Tenor | Shinavar
wheeze
Respheal
Kinda makes me wonder how Renchos are born.....since that'd be the umbilical cord
Mharz
Oh okay
Respheal
Eggs
Mharz
My english is dumb
keii4ii
XD The eyeballs in the emoji kinda look like eggs
Tenor | Shinavar
Octopii style :D
Darkhalo4321
That's my question
Tenor | Shinavar
Lots of little litters in sacks in the water
/shot
Mharz
Pft
keii4ii
I will say Renchos are indeed born in litters
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
now I am curious about Renchos xD
Respheal
Ethan's pure curiosity is good though hahahaha
Darkhalo4321
It is
Mharz
Yeah
keii4ii
And their home world is mostly ocean dotted with small islands (well, the parts they inhabit anyway. I'm not sure if there's a huge land mass away from where they live)
Darkhalo4321
He's very curious about the world, the people there, it's good.
Mharz
What a douchebag is a pure souI I love him.
Kabocha
Oooh
Tenor | Shinavar
Oh gonna share this bc I can: 100% kept forgetting Danbi was a boy every time Ethan was shirtless bc I'd be mad he was so disrespectful
OTL
keii4ii
Poor Danbi
RebelVampire
i love how giant ethan is compared to pretty much everyone. like you get tricked sometimes cause of the closeups, but then theres those nice long shots where youre like "wow ethan you sure tower over everyone"
Sophie
Ethan's like an infant, excited about everything! It's adorable
Mharz
You know, keiiii my reaction is the same with Ethan's when I found out Danbi's a guy
keii4ii
Bwahahaha
Darkhalo4321
The Bull in a china shop comes to mind
Kabocha
How tall is Ethan, anyway?
Darkhalo4321
but a polite bull
keii4ii
6' 5" and not done growing
Respheal
Oh man I loved Ethan's reaction
SevereWxEddie
Ooof
Kabocha
NOT DONE?!
Respheal
HE BIG
Mharz
I was like dang danbi's so pretty. :y(edited)
Darkhalo4321
He'll be 10 feet when he's DONE
Kabocha
Danbi's charming, I think.
keii4ii
At full size, he'll be 6' 7" and also beefier
Mharz
I still like him tho
Ooh more beef for Ethan yes
keii4ii
There was actually a doodle of maxed out Ethan (like 6-8 years older?) that I did a while ago
Draco Plato
he has to be a big cat for lushaka
keii4ii
Slightly older Ethan
Mharz
Lu will be really pleased
Draco Plato
must be really hard to get shirts
Respheal
XXXXXL
Tenor | Shinavar
YAY NO WASHBOARD ABS.
keii4ii
He's got a little squishy over the abs
Darkhalo4321
He has REAL STRENGTH
Mharz
Yas
Tenor | Shinavar
REAL STRENGTH YES HHHHHHHHHHH <3
Darkhalo4321
he's not no gym floozy(edited)
keii4ii
Lu has enough washboard for the both of them
Respheal
True
Mharz
Perfect strong body
Draco Plato
Lu has beautiful abs
Tenor | Shinavar
Lmao
RebelVampire
ethan will be charged double for tailored clothes because of the sheer amount of fabric required
Tenor | Shinavar
After learning how you get washboard abs no ty, gimmie da meat /shot
Rebel: LOL
keii4ii
Yeah, you either gotta win the genetics lotto, or ... do some insane diet control for a six pack
Tenor | Shinavar
Better take real good care of those clothes
Diet control to serious unhealthy levels. You're supposed to have fat over the abs to protect them - so it may look nice but 9/10 you're actually super weak in real life applications of them so yeaaah
I HOPE KITTY BOI IS OKAY D:
keii4ii
He's okay. If he starts putting on fat, he'll start putting them on his already massive thighs first
(they have different fat distribution patterns, lol)
Tenor | Shinavar
wheeze
Fair!
SevereWxEddie
So those abs would not in fact be rock hard and a punch to them would be really bad, then?
Tenor | Shinavar
So- can he crush a melon with dem thighs
asking for a friend >> <<
Mharz
He has tentacles tenor he's fine
Tenor | Shinavar
/Almost made a hentai joke
/Gunna go get a drink lol
Megaparsec
On a totally unrelated note the Lu-catfish was hilarious
keii4ii
X'D derpfish
Mharz
Lol
keii4ii
Not as derp as puffer, but hey
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
@RebelVampire haha I was wondering when the tailors have to charge Ethan for the clothes he has to be handmade for him
keii4ii
It wouldn't be as bad as it would be for Lushaka, if he lived in our world
Mharz
Pft
keii4ii
I'm pretty sure his thigh circumference > his waist circumference
Respheal
Oh geez yeah
Mharz
Heck yeah
His thigh is really big
Never skip leg day folks
Draco Plato
yis
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
i always like that aspect of Heart of Keol, that you designed Ethan that he is drastically different from the rest of the people. Other than Lushaku, i think hes sort of muscular too
keii4ii
Yep, Ethan is beefy
Beef filled cinnamon roll
(sounds like a Middle Eastern food...)
Mharz
Mmmmm
Draco Plato
yeah the different body shapes are really cool to see
Sophie
Very diverse cast, yup!
Mharz
I really like how Keiiii pulled that off :3
keii4ii
I'm glad to hear! I have a lot of fun drawing the different bodies
Tenor | Shinavar
I love it too~
keii4ii
like they're ALL various types of "conventionally attractive" bodies, but still different
Mharz
Yasss
Draco Plato
yeah that is really neat~!
Sophie
Everybody is so easily to read and keep apart from another. It's really great!
keii4ii
I had readers point out Adela's boobs helped them remember who she was, when she reappeared in chapter 16
Mharz
Pft
Draco Plato
omg XD well they do help
her hair and ears is how i recognized her at that point
Mharz
She does have really huge boobs
Draco Plato
and her shoes
Mharz
Same draco
RebelVampire
QUESTION 2. Within the comic, Ethan has a plethora of mysteries surrounding him. What do you think happened to Ethan’s dad? Does Ethan’s Dad’s disappearance have some connection to Keol, or is it unrelated? Who is the child-like figure who initially sends to Ethan to Keol? Why send Ethan to Keol in the first place? What is the figure’s interest in Ethan? Is Ethan somehow special, especially in regards to his apparent powers he unlocks? What do you think the child figure’s connection to the Queen might be (if any)? Does it have something to do with the Queen’s missing mate? Lastly, do you think Ethan will get home? If he does, do you think he’ll regret it?
keii4ii
Yeah, I have to draw her body without boobs first, and then add the boobs in order to avoid anatomy disasters
Mharz
By the looks of it, the hooded dude is his Dokkabi?
Respheal
That's the gist I got
The fact that his dad was scared of outlets--what was up with that O.o
Darkhalo4321
Makes me wonder-
Respheal
I mean...PTSD, but....outlets?
Tenor | Shinavar
2: Ethan's dad was a Prisoner of War - and suffering from serious PTSD is my bets - assuming the whole sory isn't some metaphysical message in Ethan's head ofc <_< I feel Hooded kid is the Dokkabi, too, since there's a symbollic pattern. BUT the curiousity is the Queen because she has the symbol, too, but that's explain away her immoretality - so my theory is the kid is the queen calling Ethan to her side.
SevereWxEddie
Electircal based "aggressive interrogation" techniques?
Darkhalo4321
I was thinking Light too? He was in the corner if I recall-
Tenor | Shinavar
Resp: TOrture technique
SevereWxEddie
Electrical
Tenor | Shinavar
The buzzing of lights can be used in torture
Mharz
Also yeah I'm curious what happened to Ethan's dad. He was scared of the electric socket which makes me wondered if he was electrecuted or struck by lightning
Tenor | Shinavar
and outlets can carry that sound
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
wow that is alot of questions to answer, like 8 Qs XD
Respheal
Well, I did guess that, since he seemed to also be scared of lightning
Aaaah true
SevereWxEddie
Is it ever explicitly stated which war Dad went off to?
Respheal
The minute buzzing
keii4ii
@Joichi [Lavender Tea] Combo attack
Respheal
For real xD
keii4ii
@SevereWxEddie Nope!
Draco Plato
wondered if his dad was in the world ethan is in now
SevereWxEddie
.....
Draco Plato
went through the red gate
SevereWxEddie
Oooo. THERE'S a theory
Tenor | Shinavar
I do think Ethan will make it home however I hope i's not too soon because as it is right now I don't think Ethan could handle leaving his new friends behind lol
Megaparsec
How long was he gone? Does it match up with the opening frequency?
Draco Plato
it actually didn't sound like people were really able to get back since they were there awhile
the people who'd gone through the gate
Tenor | Shinavar
But tbf, how would they know they did get back?
And not just went missing?
SevereWxEddie
@keii4ii does it matter which war it was, as in plot-relevant, or is it more of a "this happened in the story past?"
Tenor | Shinavar
Unless they reversed fireballed into the sky /shot.
Mharz
Must have something to do with the Heart?
keii4ii
@SevereWxEddie The latter
Megaparsec
Oh never mind the Red gate opens every year
Tenor | Shinavar
I liiike the idea his dad went into the world though because that would mean there is a way to get back
Kabocha
So, I was thinking hoodie kid was actually like................. ...................related to the empress
Draco Plato
the heart is the titular character
Tenor | Shinavar
somehow
Draco Plato
so i mean
Sophie
I'm wondering what people back are thinking Ethan is doing? I mean he's been gone for a bit by now...
Draco Plato
i wonder if time passes differently
RebelVampire
maybe nobody cares ethan is gone.
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
that's an interesting discussion on whether the travelling MC will go home, probably that's the end solution. But I'm definitely intrigued where the father went, the idea of war and torture sounds likely.. gosh that is so sad. I was debating whether his father had been struck with a deep mental illness, maybe even dementia
SevereWxEddie
It could be like Narnia all over again
keii4ii
@RebelVampire
RebelVampire
are just like "i guess thats one less mouth to feed"
Draco Plato
oh no not narnia XD
Tenor | Shinavar
Rebel: I hope not
Mharz
:c
Tenor | Shinavar
Getting tired of reading that lmao
Draco Plato
well when he was going through reasons to go back it didn't really sound like he needed to go back
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
aw that is so sad Rebel, its like turning Ethan's story to the angst teen comic D:
Mharz
Lol
Draco Plato
like maybe my grandad will remember me once isn't a great reason to go back probably if he builds a life with friends and family in the new world
Tenor | Shinavar
Kabo: /Delayed: How would you reckon, if kid is related to the empyrss, how hey avoided being seen so far only by Ethan?
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
hmm my theory is, if I know about alt world travelling, probably time is different? OR or what if Ethan's family has 'missing poster' signs when he gets a glimpse of his world?
Mharz
I think it's a Dokkabi thing, tenor
Becos he saw the one with the lady
Tenor | Shinavar
Yeah but that wyrm wasn't as developed as the kid
Though hey carried the same symbol, the lady didn't have that symbol the wyrm did
Sophie
I could imagine red riding hood is some sort of gate keeper for the red gate?
Tenor | Shinavar
versus the wueen
omfg I can't type I'm so sorry lol
Kabocha
“Kabo: /Delayed: How would you reckon, if kid is related to the empyrss, how hey avoided being seen so far only by Ethan?” @Tenor | Shinavar -- magic.
Tenor | Shinavar
I mean- fair -
Kabocha
or a spiritual connection, but you know, teh dokkabi theory is solid
RebelVampire
maybe ethan did eat a wyrm but it was on earth so he didnt know. and the kid is the mental manifestation of said wyrm(edited)
Mharz
I do like his rainbow eyes tbh
Draco Plato
that'd be interesting rebel
Tenor | Shinavar
He though it was a octopus
Draco Plato
maybe it's the kid he didn't know he had
Mharz
Pft
Kabocha
Are we going to imply that this is all a bad food poisoning trip
Respheal
YES
Kabocha
and Lushaka is just his guilt for eating bad octopus
Respheal
no
Mharz
Lol
RebelVampire
that is my second crazy theory. ethan is the destined queen's mate and hoodie kid is their future child who astrally projected themselves there for mystery reasons
Draco Plato
hurt a cat once and ate an octopus
Respheal
kabo no
Tenor | Shinavar
Lushaka is the local stray
Draco Plato
omg rebel mine too
Kabocha
@RebelVampire SEE THAT WAS MY THEORY
Draco Plato
legit thought that
Kabocha
BUT NOT A CRAZY THEORY
Respheal
Y'KNOW
Yeah soon as I heard "destined mate"(edited)
I was like
Tenor | Shinavar
Personally I'm hoping 'destined mate'is like 100% a misunderstanding
Draco Plato
yup, was like oh hey must be ethan, that you ethan
Kabocha
Or Danbi.
Tenor | Shinavar
and the wyrm-queen can only be freed by being tied to someone so she can gtfo
Draco Plato
yeah could be danbi
Respheal
I imagine if that IS the case I imagine it'll get subverted
Megaparsec
Supposed to be a Visitor I think
Respheal
Yeah
Sophie
Eyes overloading....
RebelVampire
the plot twist is the queen has been dead for years. everyone just assumes shes alive because theyve been receiving orders from someone behind a curtain.
ethan must expose the wizard of oz essentially
SevereWxEddie
Ooo
Draco Plato
i wondered that one too rebel
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
lmao the wizard of Oz reveal
Draco Plato
if she was really dead
Kabocha
See, I had also initially assumed the Queen was the kid
Respheal
saaaaame
Darkhalo4321
SAME KABO
Tenor | Shinavar
Saaaam
e
Darkhalo4321
But someone stole the JOB
Kabocha
......................Yes?
Draco Plato
yeah, cause of the tattoo on their face
Megaparsec
Still could be, with shapeshifting or whatever
Darkhalo4321
TRUE-
Mharz
Yeah
Megaparsec
or astral projection
Respheal
The tattoo is different though
Slightly
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I thought the red hooded kid was a mysterious figure and immortal xD I might be simple minded.
Respheal
But they're almost certainly related
Does that make the queen a dokkabi...spirit....thing?
Kabocha
GASP!
How long do dokkabi live for
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
yeah I'm thinking about that once..
Mharz
It's a wyrm god
Draco Plato
they could be world hoppers too, ones that can control it
Tenor | Shinavar
Oh god
Respheal
It's never explained what world the queen comes from, and there's just the three gates
Tenor | Shinavar
-Might have caught on to Kabo's gasp-
You thinkin she needs new bodies to stay immortal/controls hrough them?
mathtans
mk, I'm here... couldn't seem to get off the first page of the comic though, nothing would load. (j/k)
I did only manage to get to the end of 8 though. Busy week. ^^
Kabocha
Is Ethan... the new Queen
keii4ii
And how does the Elyeo eugenics thing figure into all this
@mathtans XDDDD
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
PFFFTT Ethan the queen?(edited)
Mharz
Gasp
Tenor | Shinavar
Well considering everything we've been told has been unraveling, we don't acually know what's fact with the Elyeo
so I don't trust shit lol
Respheal
all hail the new Father King Mother Queen
Darkhalo4321
same tenor
mathtans
The Queen is actually a dude. Calling it now.
Kabocha
well, I mean, like If the queen is a Dokkabi and Dokkabi need a body... ....And hoodie kid is somehow related to the queen...
Draco Plato
maybe their hair is the secret to the red gate
keii4ii
That's a good attitude probably at this point in time not trusting shit
Kabocha
and ethan has a dokkabi...
RebelVampire
well if were going through the life sucking or body sucking then it seems likely the elyeo magic is needed to sustain that. dont elyeo live super long?
Megaparsec
At first I wondered if the Elyeo died in childbirth
But that's been mostly disproven
Respheal
Okay but also Ethan using the magic stuff was pretty awesome
Darkhalo4321
yes ^
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I'm intrigued with the Elyeo lore too, as well as the Renchos
Tenor | Shinavar
Yeeee
Respheal
BUUUUUUURRRRRRN(edited)
keii4ii
ACTUALLY ------- ... ... (minor spoiler but I should still refrain)
Darkhalo4321
REFRAIN
Respheal
BE STRONG KEIIII
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
poor Keii, can't reveal anything yet
Mharz
Rencho lives longer iirc
Than elyeos
Tenor | Shinavar
Also I'm mad at everyone in that party when they had Hana and didn't think of finding a way to hide her ears while travelling. innocent babies asking for trouble ((I'm sure KittyBoi let i stay out for the trouble. He's a cat.))
keii4ii
Yeah, Lushaka is older than any Elyeo could ever be
mathtans
As to fave scene (again, only through the first 8), I kind of liked the dawning revelation of gender on Ethan's part. Just cleverly foreshadowed by the townsperson, then interesting graphics as the lightbulb went on.
The fight scenes were amazing too though.
Kabocha
Re: burning https://youtu.be/LH-QwK4v0ZI?t=88
Respheal
Kabo no
RebelVampire
@mathtans great scene choice math
Mharz
I like the gif on that
keii4ii
@Tenor | Shinavar Her ears were actually hidden when they ran into those bandits! The dude was just feeling for her ears just in case, out of the assumption that a white girl = potentially Elyeo
Darkhalo4321
oooo
Draco Plato
yeah her hair was covering her ears
keii4ii
Schrodinger's Elyeo
RebelVampire
ah thats right. but rencho probably dont make good body double things. cause if i was a body stealing "immortal" queen, id picked the bodies that could do the magic plant shit
Kabocha
^ YES 100%
I'm onboard with this.
Mharz
I mean yahhh
Draco Plato
plus plants are symbolic of new life and renewal
keii4ii
Yeah if you're immortal and you can steal bodies easily, longevity of the target body probably isn't a big factor
Tenor | Shinavar
I couldn't tell sorry :(
keii4ii
Though if it's difficult, that changes things
Megaparsec
Especially if you have a whole bunch of them right there
Tenor | Shinavar
But tyty on the heads up~
Kabocha
So... You know, maybe... Danbi's mom is now the Queen.
Temporarily.
mathtans
I found that whole 'listening to plants but being unable to talk back' aspect of the world building really neat.
Tenor | Shinavar
Makes me wanna punch them more lmao
Mharz
Kabo
Darkhalo4321
OH That's a good plot twist Kabo-
Draco Plato
forgive me danbi i must leave you to rule the world
Mharz
Rip
Superjustinbros
HAI
mathtans
"Am I not part of the world? Rule me."
Mharz
His mom seem to be a special kind of Elyeo
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
ohh I was wondering where her ears were, i didn't even see them in the comic
Tenor | Shinavar
Nah it's Danbi's mom but not her mind. Danbi gonna run up and hug mom and mom's gunna have a twisted smile on her face like 'Lol oh dear this is a problem"
RebelVampire
now tbf, maybe she didnt leave to rule the world. she went to help the queen and the queen keeled over. and danbi's mom is nothing if but an opportunist
keii4ii
@Joichi [Lavender Tea] They actually braid her hair around her ears
Mharz
Pft
Kabocha
Danbi's certainly an oddity though, being a male Elyeo...(edited)
Superjustinbros
Sorry I'm late, got caught up in this one thing I was doing
Mharz
He's half human tho
Draco Plato
looool
Tenor | Shinavar
Hana's braids pop up and twirl with her ears. Lil helicopter blades
Draco Plato
i would love that if the mom was just an opportunist
Mharz
Lol
Megaparsec
Well normally half human elyeo are just elyeo
As far as we know
Tenor | Shinavar
Annnd now stuck with Hana's braids spinning like the leek song, I'm off to feed my children brb
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I'd love to see a twist with Danbi's mom, whichever it'll be!
Respheal
“ Does Ethan’s Dad’s disappearance have some connection to Keol, or is it unrelated?”
I don't remember seeing this answered yet--I'm gonna say no. Ethan's flashbacks and dreams have sorta had Keol elements to them, but I'm attributing that just to him being in Keol and probably some of the Dokkabi influence. I don't think his dad is connected to Keol
Mharz
The thing is Elyeo's are all women
mathtans
Oh, and that braids thing! With the one braid meaning available but more meaning not ready for a relationship, that was fascinating to me. We need a system like that on Earth, maybe.
Kabocha
Ethan's dad is just baggage
Mharz
Which makes Danbi real strange
Draco Plato
is danbi trans
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
oh YES, I really like that culture too about the braids @mathtans I'd wish we had that system too(edited)
Draco Plato
if they're all women
keii4ii
He's cis
There was actually a bathhouse scene that got canceled
that would've answered that question
Draco Plato
so then he's a one of a kind
Megaparsec
As far as we know...
Draco Plato
yis
Respheal
If elyeo have a son with a human, the child is a human though right?
Darkhalo4321
Bathhouse sceeeene
Draco Plato
no they're supposed to be elyeo still i thought
keii4ii
@Respheal We may find out soon-ish!
Mharz
No I think they'll be elyeo
keii4ii
"soon-ish" in webcomic time terms
Kabocha
NOOOOOOOOOOO
Superjustinbros
Can I just jump in and say I like the art style/setting of this comic? It definitely hits the asian/oriental theme perfectly.
Kabocha
Soon TM
Draco Plato
five years from now we will know
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I thought Danbi simply dressed in women's clothes because of the job as a Sayori (?)
Megaparsec
It's been said in story that they would be elyeo, might be inaccurate though
Mharz
Tbf Danbi is wearing pants(edited)
RebelVampire
the specific wording was that daughters are guranteed to be elyeos
it said nothing about sons
keii4ii
It's been said their daughters will be Elyeo! But nothing's been said about sons
Mharz
Gasp
Megaparsec
Ah! Did not notice that!
keii4ii
Actually
The Korean version had Master say something about the sons, haha
Mharz
Me neither
Gasp
Kabocha
Since it was stated in the Korean version, can you... spoil us? :3
Mharz
Must. Learn. Korean
mathtans
SJB: Yeah, blows my mind about there being a Korean version that's translated. I wonder what gets lost in transition.
SevereWxEddie
Ditto
Superjustinbros
inb4 no spoiling
oh snap Korean owo
keii4ii
Elyeo sons all take after the father species (which makes sense if you think about how they reproduce in their home world: they reproduce with plants, not only continuing their own species, but also continuing the plants' as well)
mathtans
Cool plan about the speech balloons too. Lots of little touches like that. Makes me wonder what it looked like before apparently some edits were done on earlier pages.
Superjustinbros
That's cool seeing comics getting translated into asian languages(edited)
Draco Plato
oooooo
Megaparsec
HMMMM
But not entirely, because he has the funny hair color
mathtans
"That guy is a wall flower." has a whole different meaning on other worlds.
Latisha
That's interesting
Mharz
Come to think of it, we dont know who Danbi's dad is either
keii4ii
@Megaparsec Yep, the hair could still be an anomaly even with this new info!
@mathtans
So I don't know if I mentioned this in the authors' notes anywhere, but Elyeos are never heterosexual because they come from a world with no humanoid males.
Respheal
I got the gist that Danbi might have the genetics of an Elyeo, but the phenotype (since he's male) is....mostly human xD
Superjustinbros
Ooooooooh
So we're talking, 100% lesbian?
keii4ii
Some lesbian, some pan
Danbi's mom was pan
Mharz
:y
Superjustinbros
At least you're not forcing les or pan pride down the reader's throats like what I see in a lot of things nowadays
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
awesome, I wanted to ask if there were queer characters in HnK that's a nice explanation too
RebelVampire
QUESTION 3. Danbi, who inevitably starts Ethan on his quest to the Heart of Keol, has plenty of his own mysteries. Do you think Danbi’s Elyeo heritage will get the group into trouble somehow? What do you think happened to Danbi’s mother? Is she at the Heart of Keol, or is something else going on? Do you think she’s even still alive? Do you think she was taken away, or did she perhaps leave by her own choice? Do you think Danbi will manage to locate her? And if so, what do you think will happen? What do you think Danbi will do if he reaches the Heart of Keol and finds out she isn’t there? Speaking of which, what in general do you think the Queen’s interest in Elyeo is?
keii4ii
@Joichi [Lavender Tea] The Dokkabi lady is also ace/aro! There's at least one other queer character who's been introduced, but I... may keep that one secret since it's a secret for her
(queer other than Elyeos, that is)
Mharz
He did dye his hair, right?
Superjustinbros
Ooooooo~
keii4ii
(Elyeos AND Renchos)
mathtans
Danbi's mother is new Queen. Calling it now. ^^
Latisha
I think it will bring trouble sometime later
Mharz
Renchos are all men, correct?
Superjustinbros
tfw I just remembered Queer and Queen rhyme
Respheal
I wonder if that's the transgender character you mentioned early on
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
@keii4ii aw thank you, no problem, glad to have that confirmed ^^
keii4ii
@Mharz THERE WAS THAT GIRL!
Mharz
Oh yeah dang
Wooops
keii4ii
Though I guess it could've been a boy wearing a skirt
Superjustinbros
SPOILED
keii4ii
Naw, the Rencho girl is cis
Mharz
Sorry that slipped my mind lol
mathtans
Gotta have a girl somewhere. Only guys are disposable.
keii4ii
It's fine! She hasn't had a lot of screentime
Superjustinbros
lmao
Mharz
I'm curious if Danbi dyeing his hair works
Superjustinbros
Would Danbi get powers of he deyed his hair(edited)
Respheal
Elyeo hair doesn't seem like it....glows or anything
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I want to believe Danbi's Mama is alive now everyone's theories make me have a feeling she may make a return. I mean at first the implications seem like she was taken away.
Mharz
At least he doesn't have ears
Respheal
So I can't imagine it'd show through the dye
Mharz
That made sense tho why he's braiding it
mathtans
Maybe Ethan will have to make a choice between getting back to see his Dad and saving Danbi's Mom.
Superjustinbros
Just maybe(edited)
Mharz
Becos there's their tradition about hair
Tenor | Shinavar
3> Yes, Danbi's already causing problems just due to how careful they have to be. I believe mom originally went to the heart but if she's still there is up to debate. I do like the concept she left of her own choice - mostly because I'm exhausted of constantly reading about bad parents and it's been getting hella isolating so the idea she'd have gone willingly, to protect her children, is really want I hope for.
SevereWxEddie
@mathtans ooo, that's mean
keii4ii
We writers are a mean breed
Darkhalo4321
WE ARE
RebelVampire
im torn on what i believe about the mom. i expect a subversion of them finding her at the heart though. so not being there, was there but died of something unrelated, going somewhere entirely.
Superjustinbros
>giving your characters in your stories hell The truth, keii
RebelVampire
maybe ethan is wrong, a gate opened on his world, and danbi's mom was on earth the whole time.
Mharz
Gasp
mathtans
Nadeko agrees.
Maybe Danbi's mom is the mystery woman who sent Ethan?
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
@Tenor | Shinavar I agree with the bad parents, and the neglectful parent trope
Megaparsec
Ooh do we have evidence people get pulled out of this world too?
I don't think anyone's said anything but I guess they wouldn't know
Tenor | Shinavar
Joi: I'm okay with it once in a while but honestly it feels like it's been nothing but everything I've read lately to the point I think I'm getting sensitive to the topic lmao
Mharz
Not yet at least
mathtans
There's no evidence to the contrary. ^.^
Mharz
Tho I think it's a possibility.
keii4ii
There's something I wanna point out, and it's been shown in the comic, but merely pointing it out might count as a spoiler
Tenor | Shinavar
lulll
Megaparsec
I wonder if the linked worlds get portals between them too
Mharz
That ppl can go from keol to earth.
Tenor | Shinavar
^It would support the "Dad went to Keol" theory
Superjustinbros
oh boi spoilers
Tenor | Shinavar
and backs the chance Ethan can get home
bc tbh, I think he needs to go home. He doesn't have closure
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
*half reading the rest of the comic, half responding.
Tenor | Shinavar
and the idea that he'll just up and abandon his dad feels off
Mharz
Yas
No he does intend to go back
Tenor | Shinavar
I understand he doesn't have the best life but considering how absorbed and protective he is of his faher, I can' imagine him leaving that just because he made some friends
keii4ii
Yeah
Darkhalo4321
What if he could go home, but go back?
I'd be okay with that-
Mharz
Remember the first time he heard of he heart is that there's a way he can go back to Earth there
Superjustinbros
The power of friends.
Mharz
Why he agrees to come with Danbi
Tenor | Shinavar
True
SevereWxEddie
Very true
Respheal
I don't think they know there's a way back at the Heart
Mharz
He clings to the hope his dad will remember him
Respheal
Just that, if there IS a way, someone there would probably know
mathtans
waits for keii4ii to point out the thing...
keii4ii
Not sure if a good idea
Mharz
Lol
Tenor | Shinavar
See I'm more curious: Is it dad doesn't remember him, or is dad locked into a level of traumatized dellusion to the point he doesn't see Ethan is there
Superjustinbros
@mathtans
mathtans
Thing about Ethan going home is I feel like that would be at the end of the comic? Since him coming started it all off.
Tenor | Shinavar
Because in war PTSD you can relive that moment over and over and over-
(Assuming it's that ofc)
Mharz
He thinks Ethan is his dad tho(edited)
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
right now its just fan speculation, I don't mind if the author prefers to show it in the work
Tenor | Shinavar
Mharz: That can be a triggering thing happening still
SevereWxEddie
@Tenor | Shinavar
Mharz
Yahh
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
yeah I agree with Mathtans, I typically expect it to be at the end, or near the end
Superjustinbros
PTSD sounds scary though
Mharz
It does
Tenor | Shinavar
A friend's father who had severe PTSD thought he was someone in the army he faced down
Respheal
Since it's mostly guessed at that electricity might have been a torture method resulting in Ethan's dad's current state, it's also possible the electricity literally fried his brain a bit (edited)
Superjustinbros
Christ
Tenor | Shinavar
He's been beaten up by his dad in those moments because he's mentally not there
I's horrifying and TBH If it IS that, I feel SO MUCH for Ethan and his mother especially
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
yikes that is really hard to live with..
Mharz
Sorry I have to step off early. It's gym day today. I'll answer the rest of the questions later. :'3
Tenor | Shinavar
Bai Mharz~
Superjustinbros
Alright, cya
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
see you Mharz
Superjustinbros
What a hard life these guys have lived
Tenor | Shinavar
Resp: Could also be Ethan looks like his dad, too, since Ethan got raits from his dad
so it just who he assumes it is?
Respheal
Oh true
keii4ii
Someone in the comment section noticed in the tentacle market scene, that Ethan acts like someone who had a lot of experience caring for a person with serious triggers (since he was kinda assuming the sight of tentacle food = triggers for Lushaka). I was so happy that they noticed it (•̩̩̩ ᴗ •̩̩̩)
Draco Plato
the electricity could relate to something on keol since their glowy powers could be seen as that
Superjustinbros
lol
Kabocha
I had... assumed that would be the case too XD
he was like "NO LU, THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO EAT YOU"
RebelVampire
tbh though what happens if ethan goes back on that vain hope his dad will recognize him and nothing of the sort happens? i feel that would be horribly traumatizing for ethan, and the situation probably is already traumatizing
Respheal
@keii4ii that was so cute
keii4ii
@Draco Plato And if they can "burn," who says that can't include frying things with electricity?
Draco Plato
yus, exactly
Tenor | Shinavar
Rebel: If he's matured enough to accept what's happened, he could theoretically find peace
theoretically
Superjustinbros
That's actually pretty clever
Tenor | Shinavar
Big emphasis
mathtans
So, about Danbi, will there be a scene where he has to go undercover as a woman? (seeks a more lighthearted thread)
Tenor | Shinavar
Because that'll depend a lot on how he matures, if he matures
SevereWxEddie
Maybe, but that would sound like it could be a very downer "ending"
keii4ii
@mathtans Technically he is unintentionally doing that 24/7
SevereWxEddie
@RebelVampire
RebelVampire
i do not look to ethan as my beacon of potential maturity yet XD
mathtans
@keii4ii This is true... intentionally then?
Draco Plato
I wondered if ethan was something other than human too and that he has a deeper connection to keol
Tenor | Shinavar
Plot Twist: Ethan is the one who has to go undercover as a woman
keii4ii
Actually there was a canceled arc
Draco Plato
that'd be a very Thor mythos moment, lol
Kabocha
All hail Queen Ethan?
Darkhalo4321
OOooh- That's an interesting twist @Draco Plato
keii4ii
where Danbi had to pose as a female suyori
But he didn't want to
SevereWxEddie
If Ethan comes back and nothing has changed that would be a very downer ending. If he comes back and his adventures help him find peace in his situation, I suppose that would be bittersweet?
keii4ii
So Ethan proposed that he (Ethan) and Lushaka also dress as women, for morale
Superjustinbros
Did Draco just pull a twist?
keii4ii
So the three of them show up at the destination wearing feminine clothes
Tenor | Shinavar
Lushaka was the prettiest, I bet /shot
RebelVampire
this sounds like a good arc.
keii4ii
and the local head suyori (the person they were attempting to deceive) instantly picks out Lushaka, not Ethan, as a man in disguise
Draco Plato
wouldn't his hair give him away
cause of how it grows in
Tenor | Shinavar
...would it? Cause we only know how boys grow, not girls
Draco Plato
we saw the little girl's hair tho
Tenor | Shinavar
If it's not the same then yeah
Draco Plato
and it grew all around
keii4ii
because she assumed someone who looks like Ethan would have to be really dumb to try to pass as a woman, so Ethan must be an ultra-masculine woman
Tenor | Shinavar
True - I just assumed she was longer furred and was using that lmao
Superjustinbros
How common are ultra-masculine women in this world anyways?
mathtans
So Ethan has to dress up like a woman and is mistaken for Danbi's mother. Hijinks ensue.
Superjustinbros
Kinda curious now
keii4ii
Naw, the little girl's hair was also short on the sides. But her ear fluff covers her head too much
Draco Plato
oooh okay
keii4ii
Also remember she asks Lushaka if he's "secretly her age" based on his hair
So the hair thing is more related to physical maturity
Tenor | Shinavar
Ahh ok
keii4ii
Like a lion mane
Draco Plato
which made me wonder if girls get hair all around sooner
and that his height difference should have been a tip off to her that he was older
keii4ii
Hence "secretly"
"are you actually a kid who happens to be super tall and uh... not very kid-looking"
Draco Plato
do girls get hair all around sooner than boys do?
Superjustinbros
"Maybe."
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
aw I would have love to see that arc where Ethan and Lushaka dress as women. Since I see Danbi as Danbi being cute, because he fits in any clothes
keii4ii
@Draco Plato Yeah. Girls grow faster
Draco Plato
so then you could identify lukasha as a boy by that at his height and apparent age
Tenor | Shinavar
LOL
Omg Luk on stilts
wheeze
keii4ii
Not really, he's not supposed to have that kinda hair when the rest of his body is clearly adult
RebelVampire
i want the arc mostly for ethan trying to pass as a woman. cause literally danbi, why would you think thatd work at all
Superjustinbros
"Drag time, you say?"
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
yes, I really like that twist!
mathtans
Would Ethan wear one braid? O.o
Tenor | Shinavar
C-Can he wear a braid?
Or would it be an amazing wig?
Superjustinbros
This would be a fun twist~
keii4ii
Maybe they can make a baby braid out of Ethan's floof
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
it would probably be a wig XD
Draco Plato
technically ethan could pass as a woman in the sense they have different species passing through the red gate regularly and he could just be a new species
should just tell them that
Tenor | Shinavar
True
mathtans
"I'm actually a mineral."
Respheal
A very, very big species
Superjustinbros
Interesting
RebelVampire
touche, he is the new giant species
Tenor | Shinavar
Ethan just pulls out all the cultural knowledge he knows from America to try to make up a new species from the Red Gate
keii4ii
He's not a human, he's a Murican
Draco Plato
I am cowboy
Tenor | Shinavar
MURICAN AKSJDHKALSD
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I'd love to see him put fruit in his robes, and try to pretend having big melons
Respheal
OH NO
Superjustinbros
"MERICAN! #*&@ YEAH"(edited)
Tenor | Shinavar
Bombs, for best reference
plz bombs
Kabocha
He puts on his robe and wizard hat...
Superjustinbros
YES BOMBS
*explosions everywhare
Tenor | Shinavar
Kabo: sTOP MAKING ME FEEL OLD
Respheal
Kabo no
NO
Superjustinbros
KABO WHAT ARE YOU DOIN
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I don't know what's happening anymore
mathtans
"Your fruits are unbalanced."
keii4ii
I'm sure he would've loved to put on his robe and wizard hat when he first met Adela
Superjustinbros
"fix your fruits please."
Kabocha
He sure was going there with Danbi
mathtans
"Wait, that's not a wizard HAT...."
SevereWxEddie
Why am I now reminded of that scene from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights?"
Superjustinbros
>Men in Tights
RebelVampire
the idea of ethan trying to fight adela in a wizard robe and hat is too funny
Tenor | Shinavar
Though speaking of Adela, I'm curious on her role. I know she serves to bring in others of her kind but it makes me think how bad it is ifor them there if she's willing to do it
Like, is she getting something out of it? Does she feel the outside world is worse?
RebelVampire
well the outside world is filled with hunters
Respheal
MMMMMMMMM just because you're part of a group doesn't mean you won't do nasty things to that group
mathtans
Less of a minority?
Kabocha
It's safer for sure
Maybe she wants to be next in line for empress
RebelVampire
but also what res said
Tenor | Shinavar
Resp: Tis true, I'm just curious if she is or is she doing it as a sense of righteousness
An evil for the greater good or however the statement goes
RebelVampire
QUESTION 4. Plenty of other events in the comic still have their own needed answers. Do you think Lushaka has an ulterior motive for traveling with Ethan and Danbi? Do you think Lushaka will be able to get his legs healed, or will he be suck with the poison? What about Adela? Do you think she’ll manage to overcome her head injury to hear the plants again, or is something else going on? What does Adela have to do with the “song” Danbi remembers hearing in the past surrounding his mother? World wise, what do you think is going on with the people of Xi? Will their outrage affect Ethan’s group in some way? Lastly, due to the similar Korean language, do you think there’s a hidden connection between Keol and Earth?
Respheal
Certainly she thinks it's probably the best choice, but maybe based on incomplete information
Superjustinbros
Get them healed
I doubt medical services are that primitive(edited)
Kabocha
Give Adela 2 or 3 years, she'll be fine. I think. I mean.
Respheal
My guess re: language was that one of the first Earth people to get sucked into the red gate was probably Korean?
Kabocha
....Eventually she'll be okay.
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I really like Lushaka and how we're not sure about his motives. Probably just want to get his legs healed(edited)
Tenor | Shinavar
4> I think the song Danbi heard is the plants' natural song around a mature of their species. I hope Adela + Luk both don't get fixed so they can fuck with each other like old war vets for that stint lmao.
Long old!married couple levels of bickering
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
I'm not always good at thinking up head canons(edited)
Superjustinbros
Me neither, tbh
mathtans
There's a lot that happens after part 10. ^.^;;
Kabocha
@Joichi [Lavender Tea] the secret to head canons is to extrapolate to the most logical but bizarre outcome
eg: The Queen is a Dokkabi. Maybe.
Superjustinbros
Thanks for the strategy @Kabocha
Kabocha
The trick is it needs to be somewhat plausible.
Respheal
But that's completely plausible
mathtans
Maybe the plants are just talking at a different pitch around Adela. Doesn't hear certain frequencies. Could hear... dandelions? (They're significant and all...)
Tenor | Shinavar
On the people of Xi: Sounds like some seriously oppressed shit - like, for comparison, the levels of xenophobic hatred similar to America and Muslims right now.
(Just with more severe repercussions)
(Or actions, anyway, considering the deahs mentioned)
keii4ii
Yeah, it's really bad to say the least
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
thank you Kabo and Keii!
SevereWxEddie
I wonder about the connection to Earth! Especially the existence of the railroad. It seems like technology levels vary wildly across Keol: where Ethan landed, there were simple farms all around, and he and the party boarded a sailing boat. Now their destination has a railroad (with what looks like a diesel locomotive) and all of the tech that requires. I wonder if the railroad is around because of its proximity to the city with all the Red Gaters? Those who come through the Gate bringing their knowledge with them?
Superjustinbros
oooooh
RebelVampire
adela and danbi's mom are sisters
Tenor | Shinavar
Oh god
RebelVampire
my plausible but crazy theory
Respheal
So the gates do space AND time shenanigans? Are the time flows of Earth and Keol linked?
keii4ii
The tech disparity was largely inspired by the situation in Korea in recent history! Countryside vs cities had huuuuge differences, like different worlds
Respheal
Or will the gate sometimes grab a person from like....the distant past or future
mathtans
Oh, I like when the real world is mirrored in ways one doesn't necessarily realize.
RebelVampire
that is a good question res
SevereWxEddie
@keii4ii ahhhhhhhhhhh
mathtans
Res: Maybe Ethan returns only to become his own dad?
Superjustinbros
Now I want to see that happen
Oh snap
Tenor | Shinavar
Math: GGGGGGGGG
I debaed that once but I couldn't work it out
Superjustinbros
Paradox, much?
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
@Respheal that is a good question, makes me think about portal travelling in a new way
keii4ii
That actually has huge implications with THIS story
Not canon but if it were
Ethan being his own dad, I mean
Draco Plato
that'd be awesome
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
LOL why does it reminds me of.. a film somewhere. can't remember it. Maybe I'm thinking of Back to the Future
Superjustinbros
"My future self is my daddy"
keii4ii
"When I grow up, I wanna be just like my daddy!"
Superjustinbros
XD
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
then oh shit... wished too hard
Superjustinbros
Pretty mcuh that
Draco Plato
you are your daddy
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
NOOOO *epic screams
Draco Plato
then you're like damn i sucked as my own dad
and now i have nobody to blame but myself
Superjustinbros
This talk
Draco Plato
that sounds like something i'd write, lol
Superjustinbros
@mathtans you are so good at this
RebelVampire
haha im gonna be honest, i entertained the idea of ethan being his own grandfather for a bit
as a theory
Draco Plato
i did too for a moment in the beginning, lol
Tenor | Shinavar
Futurama proved it can be set up ?shot
RebelVampire
but i was like "no no its probalby just ptsd. probably"
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
omg.. I love how this convo became a paradox XD
Draco Plato
and then i thought naaaaaaah they won't go there
Respheal
the cats in the cradle with the silver spoon, l-little boy blue...and the--the--
Kabocha
Ethan's real name is Fry.
Superjustinbros
inb4 let's paradox this world even further
SevereWxEddie
YAAAAAASSSSS
keii4ii
My brain is exploding
Superjustinbros
Boil, Grill, or fry?
RebelVampire
i did wonder if keol was just korea of the long forgotten past though. as a theory to explain the connection
Draco Plato
ah that could be
Superjustinbros
Maybe, i'd believe it if that was the case
SevereWxEddie
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey shenanigans ensued? I thought that at first too.
keii4ii
I haven't shown the map yet, but the geography is very different
Superjustinbros
oooh!?
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
Hmm that is plausible, if Keol is an ancient Korea.. although I have to look it up
mathtans
Originally as I started reading I did wonder if it was still like Earth. But enough stuff happened pretty soon to dispell that notion.
Superjustinbros
I googled Keol and I jsut got things related to music
keii4ii
Keol is way bigger than Korea ever was, for one thing
mathtans
That language connection thing is really interesting though. I wonder if humans get sucked in who don't speak Korean and are kind of screwed.
keii4ii
Yeah, Ethan would've had an even harder time if he didn't speak any Korean
Megaparsec
I suspect most of the people here did cross over from Earth at one point, because of the language and physical similarity. Possibly some kind of super-Gate pulling in a whole group of people?
Joichi [Lavender Tea]
YESS, i thought about that too, going; dang I envy you Ethan. I wouldn't be able to speak to ANYONE at all if I were in Keol
Megaparsec
In the far past of both worlds
Kabocha
Did the Rencho also speak Korean?
SevereWxEddie
@mathtans yes, didn't the lady with the M&Ms say she had that problem? (Her actual name escapes me)
keii4ii
Renchos speak their own languages in their home world, and have to pick up Korean when they come to Keol
Superjustinbros
lol
keii4ii
Same with Elyeos
Though Inductors are required to learn at least some basic phrases in the most common Elyeo language
Tenor | Shinavar
Yeah like 'You're under arrest' /shot
Superjustinbros
Do there exist translators in Keol?
RebelVampire
darn you geography. maybe keol is another dimension of earth where history took a different course entirely
keii4ii
I'm sure there are some?
mathtans
SevereW: I think that's later than I got to. ^_^;
keii4ii
like Lushaka still speaks the Rencho home world tongue, and could interpret if needed
SevereWxEddie
Ah, that'd do it.
keii4ii
The blue speech balloons were the Rencho language
when he was talking to Mr. Jaguar
Superjustinbros
oooh~
do I hear exparimenting with speech ballons with different visuals?
RebelVampire
on a side note i was sad for ethan that he found a fellow earthling...only they didnt really speak english
Superjustinbros
I always like when comics do that.
RebelVampire
that would be such a huge letdown for anyone(edited)
keii4ii
Note he had to switch to Korean for "arrows" and "archers" because Renchos don't have those words in their native languages
Darkhalo4321
ooooo
Kabocha
Yeah, I notice Ethan's text color changes if he needs to use an English word too
SevereWxEddie
That's a really neat method, by the way
Kabocha
and then Danbi's got a wispier textbubble to indicate his voice being very.... I dunno, soft? Scratchy? In my head it sounds somewhat raspy.
SevereWxEddie
Of telling readers what language is being used
Draco Plato
danbi's smoker voice XD
Superjustinbros
lol
keii4ii
Danbi is special
mathtans
Agreed. In the Korean version, is just the English words used, I wonder?
Superjustinbros
What would a speech bubble of someone sleepy look like(edited)
keii4ii
@SevereWxEddie Thanks! It's not a perfect solution but it works, and I'm happy enough with that
SevereWxEddie
You're welcome!
keii4ii
@mathtans I used a different font for English words in the Korean version. Wasn't doing the color thing at that time
Superjustinbros
oooh
mathtans
Before we close, I just want to say the colouring and shading and stuff is freaking amazing. High frequency of posts but also such quality.
Superjustinbros
Seconding this.
SevereWxEddie
Thirding
keii4ii
Thank you!
SevereWxEddie
The art is freaking gorgeous!
Superjustinbros
I'd like to say in personal thoughts- good luck with the story, @keii4ii. You got some really awesome plotlines and setpieces backed up with some great characterization and character designs and I hope it only gets bigger form there.
keii4ii
wait
Are CTPs allowed to end without a ship discussion
Superjustinbros
Especially something with lots of themes based on Korea.
Kabocha
OMG!
Darkhalo4321
I HAVE A SHIP
Kabocha
Lu/Ethan
Superjustinbros
I HEAR DSHIPS
Darkhalo4321
YES
Superjustinbros
FOUR MINUTE SHIP DISCUSSION
Tenor | Shinavar
I can't ship Ethan
keii4ii
The naval forces have been summoned
Tenor | Shinavar
It hurts too much
Darkhalo4321
Yeah, Ethan is a bit.... Not shippable RIGHT YET
Kabocha
Well, the naval was what he was focusing on
:'3
Darkhalo4321
But he's growing and I'm excited for the man he'll be later on!
Tenor | Shinavar
EXACTLY
HE'S TOO INNOCENT
SevereWxEddie
Well, the lack of navel forces was apparent in that one comic
Darkhalo4321
for now
keii4ii
Ethan's not quite emotionally ready for a long term, committed relationship yet
Kabocha
ANYWAY, ETHAN/LU IS THE SHIP I AM ON BOARD WITH
yet
Darkhalo4321
yet
Tenor | Shinavar
TBH I enjoy the idea of Danbi/Lu
Respheal
yet
Tenor | Shinavar
Super passive with a fucking troll
Superjustinbros
Shall we set sail? ;3c
Kabocha
Rebel it is super important that you italicise those yets
Tenor | Shinavar
+ Lu would protect Danbi who may be doomed to a life in prison
Tenor | Shinavar
he's already a dick who doesn't listen to orders
mathtans
I wondered if Ethan and Danbi would go somewhere. Maybe ship Ethan and the Queen? Calling it now.
Tenor | Shinavar
Just pocket the boy and go bouncing speedily away once healed /shot
RebelVampire
i sit on the Lu/Ethan ship myself. dont care about ethan's innocence the googly eyes are there
Kabocha
Math, you missed the Ethan is the Queen theory
Respheal
The "Ethan no" moments
Kabocha
or will be the Queen
Tenor | Shinavar
...Lu leaning on Danbi with this knowing ass smile at Ad, too like "Yeah. I know what he is. Does it bother you we're dating?"
Draco Plato
i was more for danbi/ethan but super don't think that's going to happen now XD
Respheal
But also catching Ethan when he was passing out after accidentally dokkabi'ing himself?
mathtans
Kabocha: Oops. Ethan shipped with himself then.
Tenor | Shinavar
-Talking myself more into this ship, fuck-
Darkhalo4321
YES ( to res's comment)(edited)
Tenor | Shinavar
-I can't draw this, the pain is real-
Kabocha
lmao
Superjustinbros
Heehee~
RebelVampire
COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!
Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to keiiii, as well, for making Heart of Keol. If you liked the comic, make sure to support keiiii’s efforts however you’re able to~!
Read and Comment: http://www.heartofkeol.com/
keiiii’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/keii4ii
keiiii’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/keiiii4
Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club
Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about Finding Home by Hari. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, October 4th, from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!
Comic’s Main Site: https://tapas.io/series/FindingHome
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