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maleyanderecafe · 6 months ago

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Oh also!! the visual novel M3nticid3 also has a really cute male yandere character, though you only realize he’s a yandere if you get the bad ending too. It was a really surprising twist!

Oh, I did actually see this on tumblr a while back and was planning on playing it (along with my ginormous list of backlog games.) The art style looked fun but boy was I not expecting it to go into that kind of dark territory. It's a pretty fun short game though and I really hope to see more from this creator and world. If you are interested in it please check it out at @gr33n-schema and you can play the game here.

The story starts out with Inari having a flashbacks of sorts. While in New York, the entire world basically went under a bomb attack, with her last memories of her trying to call her dad. The game continues suddenly with an automated screen, telling the patient, Inari to take a morality dilemma test, involving questions relating to various morality questions. After answering them, she wakes up to the two scientists who are observing her. After pretending to swallowing some pills, she is about to go back to her room when suddenly she sees a fight break out between patients. It seems that one of them had some sort of bad reaction with the medication and has started killing other patients and doctors. After the patient is sedated, Inari is sent to a new part of the facility where she is grouped with three other patients: Kzkr, an aloof and a bit rough patient, Oorr, a sedated patient that pretty much lives in a vegetable state and Fefo, a really shy and skiddish patient. After meeting her roommates, she finds a keycard under her gown which she keeps a secret and plans her escape.

We go to the next day at the cafeteria where Inari watches as Fefo gets bullied and drops his food. To prevent Fefo from attempting to eat pizza off the floor, Inari gives Fefo her portion of the food. The two talk about what little they can remember or recall from the outside world, with Inari remembering there is better pizza, though not recalling the specific things relating to it. Oorr gets taken by the scientists to get medication and as the days go on, Inari must take a surpression therapy, essentially repeating phrases from a book. At night, Kzkr talks to Inari about his nightmares that he has, stating it's one of the only things he remembers. The two of them talk about how important memories are despite the ones they remember being bad. The next day, they get jenga and play together. Afterwards, Inri talks to Fefo about his bullying as well as Kzkr's treatments, as he is being drugged, causing him to be much more complacent.

At night, Inari catches Fefo and Kzkr trying to escape, with Kzkr threatening to kill Inari with a makeshift knife if she rats them out. Inari instead tells them off about how their plan won't work without her, and uses her card to get them out and aim for the laundry chute to escape. Thanks to Kzkr's knowledge of the guard schedules, they are able to get down to the basement level no problem. The basement is rather disgusting and Inari even finds mounds of flesh, which are presumed to be discarded patients and a strange being before running back into the group. After checking in the rooms, they come across a strange green triangle that makes them feel painful, before Inari is able to shut it off. While getting lost, Kzkr and Fefo talk to each other and we find out that Fefo has a habit of stealing things, which is why he ends up getting bullied. He ends up even stealing a pair of Inari's panties which she does not appreciate and takes back. In one of the rooms they unlock, they find a map of the facility, but soon after must hide after a giant monster comes into view. They are able to avoid it and head to the kitchen next where they find a shotgun with a single shell. Soon after, the monster comes back and Inari shoots it, only to realize that the monster itself seems to be a patient that has been stitched together with other patients, leading it to be in agonizing pain. They are able to hide in the fridge, but Kzkr ends up getting hurt, and Inari has no choice but to use her panties to help bandage the wound.

After wandering around again, they come across another green sign. After painstakingly unlocking it, they end up in a room with three guards. The guards use a remote to shock collar Oorr. Inari tries to bluff that she'll shoot them with her empty gun, but the guards don't buy it. This leads to Fefo killing and slitting the guards throats, stabbing them multiple times in the process. This is where Inari can either decide to help the others or herself.

If she decides to help herself, she will end up eating the drugs she refused to do so before, leading her into a sedated state. Because of this, Fefo continues to kill and stab the guards long after they're dead. Kzkr tries to stop him, but he turns on him, getting jealous and annoyed at his previous counting to check the guards and how he actually enjoyed life in the facility. He gets incredibly jealous that Inari apparently spent more time with Kzkr than him, even believing that the two slept together when Inari was comforting Kzkr that one night. We learn that the memory that Fefo remembers is killing his bullies, threatening to kill Kzkr the same way, getting angry at Inari touching him and even having her panties wrapped around his wound. All this escalates to Fefo slitting Inari's throat and stabbing him multiple times. Meanwhile, the shocks to Oorr's collar don't stop, eventually leading to his head exploding. Kzkr uses the last of his strength to cuff Fefo to himself so he can't attack Inari, with Fefo having a complete meltdown afterwards. The creature ends up coming due to the noise and killing Fefo, eating his insides. The last one remaining, Inari takes the knife to stab out both of her eyes before dying herself.

If she decides to help the others, she will use the drugs on Fefo, forcing him to swallow them down. Kzkr is able to grab the remote to unlock Oorr's collar and throwing it away before it explodes. Oorr, now finally have shaken off the drugs is able to carry Fefo as the sprinklers go off. The monster starts to go after them and they all flee the facility and outside. They are greeted by the two scientists that aided Inari during the trials, as it seems that they had planned this escape for a long time. They talk about how they are dedicated to stopping the terrorist group, the one that caused the explosions in New York that Inari remembers and they all escape the facility.

I will say that I was not expecting this game to go that dark, especially on the bad ending. The character sprites themselves have a pretty cute look to them, which adds to the charm of the story itself. The whole thing is a cool take on the sort of experimentation and the whole endeavor seems to still be shrouded in mystery. Even based off what we learn in the game, we have no idea why these guys were captured. It's implied that they were taken to use and become terrorists as well, likely bombing other areas too, which is likely what the drugs and the various tests are, but why they chose these specific patients are pretty unknown. We barely know the backstory of most of these characters either or even their real names, much less the strange monster that was found under the facility itself and what's going on with the green light. These kinds of questions are not really related too much the main plot of the story, which is just these four trying to escape the facility, but it does make for pretty cool world expansion, especially since we don't know anything about this terrorist group and it makes me want to learn more. I also wonder if the animal choice will be relevant in the future as well since it does seem to be a specific decision with each type of animal. Like I said, a lot of mysteries that I would love to see more of.

Now let's talk about Fefo. Fefo as a yandere seems to have basically come out of left field, but there are a lot of small hints this was the case even from the beginning. The most obvious one is Fefo stealing things, specifically from Inari, something that he wails and moans about when Inari forces him to give it back to her. In terms of his memories, while we don't really know for certain, it seems that each patient has a core memory that they dream about, as we see with Inari and Kzkr, though they don't tend to be particularly pleasant memories overall. Fefo's memory seems to be of killing his old bullies, making him dangerous indeed. It is ironic that even at current he wasn't even aware he was being bullied until Inari pointed it out. We do see that Fefo does have a crush on Inari in very brief moments, seeing him blush a lot compared to someone like Kzkr, who Inari seems to spend more meaningful time with. Unfortunately for Fefo, Inari seems to be the type of person who finds Fefo annoying, especially since she views him as cowardly most of the time. I think as well Fefo only has a good relationship with Inari out of the three of the other members. I'm not sure if the sudden bloodlust came out of the desire to keep Inari for himself or not, or if it was something he kept inside for a while. It does make me wonder in the good route when he's knocked out by Inari if this yandere behavior will persist in the future, seeing that none of the characters are aware with his obsession with Inari at that point. Kind of fun to think about. The bad ending on the other hand is completely brutal, with Fefo directly or indirectly getting everyone killed thanks to Inari's choice to drug herself. Fefo himself also meets a cruel fate at the hands of the monster who not only guts him but eats his brains as well. How terrible. He is definitely incredibly jealous and capricious, possessive over Inari and the fact that he could try to keep her here in the facility afterwards and completely paranoid. The off the rail yandere action caught me off guard, since besides some brief creepy moments with the panties, he seemed pretty shy and meek, very cute in my opinion. I do like more meek yanderes that turn completely crazy so that kind of stuff is up my alley.

In any case, it's a very good game and something I wish to see more about. It was very interesting doing the various morality tests in the very beginning and seeing how everything unravels, given that the characters themselves are not completely aware of what's going on, only the idea of getting out. I really am excited to see more of this as it comes out!

#M3nticid3 #male yandere #yandere #yandere boy #recommendations #asks

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littleoneamanda · 3 months ago

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GF: Fiddleford Hadron Mcgucket

Alright, I think I'll just continue drawing in the original style. It's actually pretty fun xD The only difference is colored lines and maybe background. Hope you like it!

And here we go again to my thoughts on the book of bill, thisisnotawebsitedotcom and my thoughts on Fiddleford as a character. Or in this one is more like a summary of what information we have about him. Welcome to my second essay on 2D characters xD (SPOILERS)

Oh boy, where do I begin with this one? xD

Fiddleford, probably (imo) one of the most tragic character in this show. Going from once a brilliant inventor to a deranged hillbilly living at the dump. His life ruined by trauma, his fear of bad memories, and by his own invention.

College

Fidds is the first Mcgucket in the family to go to college. His first day starts off pretty rocky. The school's mascot "THE BMU B-", shoved him into a locker, got his mustache caught in a pencil sharperner (???) and getting laughed out by a whole class for trying to prove the universe was a giant hologram. While sitting in his room in tears, his room mate barge in the room. Confidently declared that his theory was plausible and was ready to not sleep until they have proved it accurate. Not only did they cracked it, but Fidds did something else that he thought was impossible: He made a friend, Stanford Pines.

This is pretty much (currently) the information we have about them in college. I really wish there were more. It seems both of them became friends very fast. Both being nerdy and outcasts for different things. Ford with his sixth finger and Fidds coming from a hog farm ( I relate so hard with Fidds on the farm background you have no idea I love it) However, while Ford is more of a socially awkward introvert, Fidds seems to be a little bit more extroverted.

After college

Fiddleford moved to Palo Alto, California. Around this time he met his wife Emma-May and they had their son Tate. He starts up his own computer buisness "Fiddleford Computermajigs". It's unclear how the relationship between Fidds and his wife were, but the fact that he doesn't seem to hesitate to leave them behind to help an old college friend he haven't talked to in 6 years is a little weird. Six years is how long Ford had been in Gravity Falls before he contacted Fidds. (Source: Journal 3). Sure, if the whole project was a positive thing, it could be have been their big break in science and fame. But Fiddleford had a life in California. He had a family, but how good was the marriage? Maybe Fidds didn't get any other friends after college. So when Ford called for help, he didn't seem to hesitate to say yes and join him.

"Success! He has agreed to join me! With his assistance, I am confident we can complete the machine. He has already made several suggestions over the phone that I intend to incorporate into my revised designs."

-Stanford, Journal 3

Gravity Falls, Fiddleford is now Stanfords assistant/partner.

Some things Fiddleford brought with him: A vase/pot when he chews tobacco, a photo of his family, the banjo, floppy disks , two laptops which one of them is special designed for Fords extra finger. The other one is Fidds which has Fords name as password. And a Cubic's Cube that Ford scrambles when Fidds is not looking. Fidds solves it without a problem tho.

When seeing the blueprints for the portal for the first time, he asked Ford if he had any help with these plans because of complex they are. Ford describes Fidds as a suspicious man (pretty ironic knowing how Ford will become later).

During his time in Gravity falls we learn early that Fidds seems to have some trouble handeling his anxiety. Especially after some of the things they encountered. His knee starts bouncing when he's agitated or he starts pulling out his hair. Being Fords assistant turned out to be adventurous and scary at the same time. Reading Journal 3 you kinda wonder why he even stayed for so long with Ford. There was times he really got traumatized. It is now where the we get into the speculations and the hints of Fidds having a bit of stronger feelings for Ford than just a friend.

The gifts. Already in Journal 3, he gives Ford a special designed laptop with extra keys for his extra finger. He buys a pumpkin at the fair because it reminded him of Ford.

"He pulled it out of a barrel of "reject gourds" because he said it reminded him of me! (Suppose I did inherit my dad's nose.)

-Stanford, Journal 3

From the thisisnotawebsitedotcom, if you type in Oroborous, you will get two pages of when Fidds gave Ford an axolotl that Ford named it Frilliam.

"F said it's frills reminded him of my sideburns and he thought it could keep me company the next time he's out."

-Stanford, thisisnotawebsitedotcom, Code: Oroborous

I'm still pretty traumatized after Frilliam...that damn dorito asshole demon. Also...Ford drew a heart over the "i" in friend instead of the dot??

In the TBOB, Fiddleford gives Stanford a snow globe that HE MADE. And not only that! He gives Ford knitted a pair of six-fingered gloves that HE has KNITTED.

Fiddleford flies back home to visit his family for the holidays, but the reunion have not been exactly happy. Fidds and his wife had got in a massive fight when she realized he'd forgotten to buy her a Christmas Present...man. Look. I mean...I honestly do not know what to say to that. My guy gave gifts that he had made to his bestfriend that he might have some certain feelings for and just happen to forget he had a wife...that's normal right? xD

Let's talk a little bit about Ford cause I forgot to mention some other things as well. In journal 3, Ford talks in a certain way. It's more sterile and stiff. Keeping distance from emotions pretty much. Especially before the 30 years on the other side of the portal. In TBOB+ the pages from the website, these pages are more personal. Which is a whole new view of Ford that we didn't see before. This time we get to see what Fidds and Ford did when they weren't focused on the project. When they had a winter break from it. When Fidds tells Ford he's leaving to visit his family, you can kinda read between the lines that Ford seems very sad about that. His fear of being alone again. On that page, there are some blue stains which some believe are tears... :(

"Sixer was a lot better at science than he was at making friends, and he tended to rip out journal pages that had anything to do with his issues with others..."

-Bill, TBOB

After the massive fight between Fidds and his wife, he decides to return to Gravity Falls as soon as possible. When he reurns, he sees Ford being in trouble and saves him from the Krampus by hitting him with his banjo. They embraced. Fidds explains why he's back and Ford asks him if there is anything he could do to cheer him up. But Fidds feel pretty defeated by everything that has happen.

That night, Ford calls Fidds to come down to the lab for a portal update.

"I'll admit that it wasn't the most efficient use of our electricity, but the smile on his face proved I'd made the right choice."

-Stanford, TBOB

Ford later tells that it was time to drink nog until they didn't remember what a Krampus was. And they spent the rest of the night building snowmen and reminiscing about old times.

This is wholesome asf. Also, Ford said himself he's not really a drinker, but after that kareoke drunk thing, I wonder if he kinda wanted have a similar experience? Perhaps a stretch, but interesting in my opinion.

But all good things comes to an end. In Fiddlefords case, in a very tragic way. After some traumatic encounters (especially after the Gremloblin), he invents the memory gun. He uses the gun multiple times on himself during his time with Ford. He have even used it on Ford at one point when Ford tries to talk him out of ever using it.

The night before the testing of the portal, Fiddleford expresses his concerns to Ford about the portal. He tries to talk him into publish his research as a thesis instead of the portal. Ford who has been ver manipulated at this point to believe Fiddleford has ill intentions, refused. And the next day...the portal incident that makes Fidds mental state go so south. Seeing the Nightmare realm and predicting apocalyptic catastrophe that was about to be the consequences of the portal.

Now here is a interesting thing about the portal scene (this could be a stretch once again). Something i did notice while rewatching s2. When Ford tells the story about the portal, it seems pretty cut and clear of what happen. Fidds get dragged into the portal, traumatized, warns Ford, stands up and leaves. And Ford calls Stan. Which makes it look like everything happened in a very short time period. But when Ford talks about the portal incident again with Dipper, Ford has different clothes, sitting down and have Fidds in his lap. Now this could just be a mistake or something they choose for more dramatic effect. But seeing the difference how Ford talks in Journal 3 and TBOB, it is a interesting choice for that scene. Like, when he has the white shirt and black tie, there is a more serious tone and stiffnes. When he has his blue shirt and brown sweater vest he is more personal. In TBOB, it takes like around 2 days before he finally decides to contact Stan. He decides to do that after he found the 5 failed knitted prototypes for the perfect 6-fingered gloves and the ripped photo. When he realized he had lost Fiddleford.

Fiddleford's mental health keept getting worse. After quitting the project, he found himself still very haunted by everything he has seen. He started to use the memory gun even more and created an organization, The Blind Eye Society. Hoping this would help other people in the town to forget bad memories. Ford found this out and suspected Fidds to be behind it. Unfortunaly, Fidds started to use it as soon as he had seen something scary. The more he used it, the more he started to lose his mind and forgetting words. 618 days. It took around 1 year, 8 months, 1 week and 6 days. That is not really a long time. He used it so frequently, and knowing he had some trouble handling his anxiety from the start…this hurts. His body aged so fast during this time as well. And he's suppose to be around the same age as Ford, around or in his 30s.

Fiddleford before the portal: a very smart, brilliant inventor, sensitive and a very kind person.

After the portal: An old deranged hillbilly who lived at the dump with no memory of his past, but still haunted by what he saw in the portal.

He does starts to regain his memories in S2: Society of the Blind Eye. Finding out after 30 years who he really was.

"After all these years I finally know who I am. Maybe I messed up in the past, but now that I've seen what happened, I can begin to put myself together again."

-Fiddleford, S2, "Society of the Blind Eye"

When Ford and Fidds reunite in Weirdmaggedon, he forgives Ford for everything that led up to this. After Weirdmaggedon, Ford visits Fiddleford. Fidds was overjoyed to see Ford and they spent hours talking. Ford is feeling guilty for the things leading to Fidds causing losing his memories, but Fidds dismisses his attempts to apologize.

"Not only is this man's mind superior to mine, but he has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen."

"Before I left, Fiddleford insisted that I listen to him play the banjo. I could have sworn that as he joyfully played, i could see the age lift off his face, and see the the Fiddleford who had been my friend so many years ago."

-Stanford. Journal 3

I swear a tear dropped from my eye while writing this quote. And I have an idea for a drawing for just that one.

And that's where I wanna leave this. A happy ending after all :)

I'm very sorry again if there are any grammar errors in this one. I have to go back and forth on the sources a lot here. The show, books, website and the wiki just to try understand the timeline and if there were any details missed. I did not intend for this one to be as long (maybe even longer) about Stanford. But I kinda wanted to put Fiddlefords story together and give some of my thoughts on it as well. Fiddlefords story is so sad in so many ways. He and Ford, Best friends and room mates in college. Both of them having no other friends than each other. He sacrifices a lot when he leaves his family to help Ford in Gravity Falls, Returns to Ford when the family reunion goes south. The fact that he could have done anything else, but he decides to go back to Ford. Maybe because he felt he didn't feel welcome there anymore and only has Ford left. Tate is probably the one I mostly feel sorry for in this situation. His father coming home for the Holidays and then leaves again to not come back. Fidds trying and wanting to help Ford, but get his concerns about a real danger ignored. Then Fidds trauma and fear of remembering bad things takes over so much he invents a memory gun that becomes his addiction. Ruined by his own invention.

Now, I'm someone who has NEVER done shipping art or not really expressing any thoughts about it. I'm pretty careful with that honestly and I have been with Ford and Fidds as well. But this time feel so different from the other times of speculations of what happend between them. It feels like it's right there. Especially with Fiddleford reading TBOB what he did for Stanford. Or maybe I'm just another person hoping a little bit too much xD It's just...the possibility of them having some kind of stronger feelings is there. Again, Especially when it's from Fiddleford. Stanford is kinda bit harder to read when it comes to his feelings. Kinda what I said before, he talks in two different tones. Probably depends on who he trusts to talk to.

Alright, That's all folks! I promise I won't do a essay like this for the other drawings xD But I just needed it to get out of my system. And I haven't really seen a post like this that sums up the information we have atm. So I wanted to contribute xD

Thanks for reading!

Next up is actually going to be a GF video🍃

#gravity falls #fiddleford mcgucket #the book of bill #gf fanart #digitalart #fanart #digitalartist #2dart #artists on tumblr #young fiddleford

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gachawolfiebloom · 3 months ago

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SMG4 Tale

Chapter 1: Falling Down

What was supposed to be a nice day for a hike in the forest had turned into a constant headache thanks to Mario's whining and complaining. Five minutes in and the Italian was throwing out the common excuses of

"Mario's feet hurt!"

"Mario is-a too tired! Someone carry him!"

"Mario's hungry! Can we go back to the castle?"

"Go on...without...Mario...*cough*"

This was all just because Mario hated getting his exercise and would rather watch TV or eat a plate of spaghetti than go outside. Smg4 was absolutely fed up already as he groaned and told his best friend "Mario, we've only been walking for five minutes." Meggy sighed and tried to convince him "Come on Mario. It's not that bad. It's good to get the fresh air in your lungs and look at nature."

"Pffff what is Mario? A caveman?"

To be honest, Smg4 wasn't sure about this either. It was nice to spend time with his friends, but he could be working on his latest video right now. Those memories of being chased around in the woods at night, only to find out the watermelon man was Melony's dad. And all those horror games Mario forced him to play where they would throw the classic situation of walking around in a spooky forest with nothing, but a flashlight.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Meggy suddenly stopped and said "Uh Smg4...has this mountain always been here?" The other two came up to see what she was looking at. There stood a giant mountain that looked oddly familiar, but Four couldn't remember from where. "I don't think so. It seems a little tall to be from around here." Mario approached the mountain and began kicking the base, screaming "Move you stupid rock!" You're blocking the way!" Meggy looked around and said "It's too wide to go around so I guess we'll have to climb it."

"Uggggg Mario doesn't want to!" Smg4 motioned "I second that. This thing could take hours to climb." Meggy didn't listen and started up. "Come on guys. Let's just check it out for a second. If it's too tall we can just head back." The boys watched her, still unsure as Four sighed. It wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek...right? He carefully followed Meggy behind with Mario's brain still stuck on a loading screen.

"Hey! Wait for Mario!" Both had already taken off. Didn't this seem a little weird? Climbing a strange mountain that didn't belong. Maybe they should have just booked it out of there, but these intrusive thoughts of Four were telling him to make his way up there. Mario tried to catch up with his friends, refusing to be left out. He then noticed a sign that was poking out of the ground on one of the cliffs and Mario stopped.

Mario's face began to melt into panic as he studied the message. The walls felt like they were closing in, until everything went back to normal and Mario shrugged. "Sorry Mr sign, but Mario doesn't like to read. Oh well." He continued on his merry way while the sign said "WARNING: Do not go into the cave at the top of Mt Ebott. Those who climb this mountain have never returned. I repeat, DO NOT GO INTO THE CAVE AT ALL COSTS!" Meggy and Four were almost to the top at a steady pace while Mario was racing to beat them.

He used the umping abilities he developed over the course of many games to quickly get to the top. "Hey! Don't leave Mario-" All of them were looking down a giant opening in the ground. "Ooooo look! A strange hole in the ground!" Meggy was curious, wondering "How far down do you think it goes?" It seemed foolish to test it. I mean there was some vines and small cliffs you could use to climb down a little. You'd have to be someone really stupid or gullible to even try to go down there. Then Mario got an idea. An awful idea. Mario got a wonderfully, awful idea.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out." Four then noticed that Mario was looking at him with a conniving grinch face. "Mario dares Smg4 to climb down that hole."

"WHAT!? NO! WHAT HAPPENS IF I FALL!?" Meggy nodded and said "He's right Red. That's not very safe." Mario didn't listen and began teasing Four to get him to go down. "You're being a whiny baby Smg4. Just climb down to that platform...unless you're too scared." Now this was Four's weakness. That and a million other things. But every time someone challenged or pressured him to do something, he never missed an opportunity to prove them wrong. "I'm not scared!"

Mario was not thinking of the dangers at all and continued with the banter. "Oh lookie Meggy! Smg4 is scared! He's too chicken to climb down!" Mario began mocking him by making chicken noises and laughing at him. "You're afraid of the dark! You're afraid of heights! You're afraid to go alone!"

"No..."

"Stop it Mario!"

Neither of them were paying attention to her as Four wasn't sure what to do. It was made pretty clear you would be stuck if you fell, but all Mario was asking him to do was jump down to a platform that was a few meters away. The teasing and laughter got the better of him as he told them "Fine! I'll prove it! Watch me!"

"What are you doing Smg4!?" Meggy questioned as he reasoned "I'm not going to let him call me chicken! Let me just get it over with and then we'll leave." Four grabbed a nearby vine and started climbing down. His friends watched him, Mario in excitement and Meggy in concern. Carefully he swung over to the ledge that was pointed out to him and he leaned his back up against the wall. A few minutes later, he called out "Alright! I did it! I'm coming up now!" Meggy breathed a sigh of relief as Four started heading back up.

All was going well until he felt a tug on his foot. "Huh?" He looked down and saw his foot caught in a vine on the ledge. He struggled, but it was really tangled and the plant had a strong grip. "Uh...timeout guys. I've got a problem here." Meggy bended over and saw the issue. She facepalmed and said "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Wut?" She pointed a finger in the Italian's face and said "Because of your stupid dare, Four is stuck!" Mario looked down, noticing Four tussling to pull the vine off. "Uh oh..." Meggy wanted to slap herself again, but consoled Four's nerves by telling him "Hang on Four! We'll find something to pull you up." They began tying vines together to make a rope. Four kept struggling when he thought he heard a snap. His eyes widened and he looked down to see the vine he was caught in was starting to break. "Hurry guys! I don't know how long this vine will last!"

"And...done!" The two of them thew the rope of vines down and called out "Grab this!" Four reached his hand out to grab the rope, but it was too late. The vine had snapped into pieces and Four lost his balance, sending him falling down the hole. "SMG4! NOOOOOOO!" Mario cried out, extending his arm. Meggy held her hands over her mouth in horror. They were speechless, tears fighting to get out.

Meggy's trembling hands clenched into fists as she swung around and yelled "MARIO YOU IDIOT! THIS IS ALL YOU FAULT! IF YOU HADN'T MADE THAT STUPID BET WITH HIM, THEN FOUR WOULD BE OKAY! BUT HE'S GONE NOW! HE'S GONE AND-" Mario took back the dumb things he said in great regret and said "Mario's so so sorry! He just meant it as a funny joke! He didn't mean to make Smg4 fall! Pinky swear!" Forcing Four to do something so stupid and reckless. How could he have done that to his best friend?

"Smg4 will be okie dokie right?" She sniffed and said "I don't know Mario." She carefully got up and said with a croaking voice "But maybe we can still save him. Let's go home right now and get out friends to form a rescue party." Mario definitely agreed to that plan, ready to fix this mess, but he still found himself just staring down the hole. Who knows what could be happening to Smg4 right now. Whatever it was, Four was going to be incredibly pissed once he got out. Meggy could sense Mario's deep worry and placed a hand on his shoulder. They started to head down the mountain as Meggy called out "Don't worry Smg4! We'll get you help! Just stay right there!"

...

"Ugh...what happened?"

Four opened his eyes as he felt a slim ray of light on his face. It took him a while to gain back his memories, but then it all came flooding back to him. Mario had dared him to jump down and he had stupidly agreed. God, what was he thinking? Why didn't he think this through? Sitting up, he felt something underneath him. A bed of beautiful golden flowers on a patch of grass. Is this why he didn't die? I mean, the fall was pretty far down. Four observed more of his surroundings and saw a hallway past the flowers. The added darkness made it a little creepy.

"Oh absolutely not! I'll take my chances climbing out of here instead!" Four instantly sprung out of the bed that had saved his life. Not even one bit of gratefulness. He was probably too blinded by sheer panic. Desperately, he tried grabbing onto the wall and scrambling his way up in hopes of escaping, but he kept slipping off. It wouldn't work anyway. The opening was way too far away for someone to climb their way to escape. His next option...screaming!

Hey began yelling as loud as he could "MARIO!? MEGGY!? ARE YOU THERE!?" No response. Maybe someone else nearby would hear him. He began calling out the names of his other friends, wishing anyone would answer and help him. "SMG3!? TARI!? SAIKO!? BOOPKINS!? BOB!? SOMEONE!? ANYONE!?" He kept screaming to the point that his voice became quite hoarse. Slowly he rested his head against the cold, cavernous wall and whimpered. He slid down to the ground and buried himself in his knees, whispering "Please...someone...help me..."

Suddenly...he heard...a voice?

Smg4 tilted his head up and glanced down the hallway, hearing someone mumbling. He couldn't quite make out who it was, but at least it could be someone who would help him. He stood up and forced himself to go through the dark hallway. As he got closer, the mumbling got louder.

"Finally...someone has finally fell down..."

"The final pure soul I need...."

At the end of the hall was a huge doorway that held a room with nothing, but a small patch of grass in the middle. Four peeked his head around to see an ominous figure standing on that little spot and worked up the courage to investigate. "Uh...hello?" He reached his hand out shakily to the person while he thought "Is this a bad idea?"

The guy looked behind him as he jumped back in surprise. Four pulled his arm back, but he still couldn't see the stranger clearly because of the lighting. "Who are you?" Finally, the person sighed and stepped out into the light, offering a warm smile. Four was suddenly taken aback as he instantly knew who this was.

"NILES!?"

Niles waved and said "Howdy new friend! I'm Niles! Niles the Meme Guardian! Well, actually an artificial one, but it's fine!" His smile looked a little fake when he said that last part. Smg4 was at a lost for words as he stuttered "B-But w-we defeated you! I thought you died!" Niles looked at him confused and said "You must be new here to the underground. Aren't you?"

"Um...I guess so?"

Niles made a playful shrug and said "You must be so confused." This time Four shot back in a more stern tone "Actually, I have no idea what the heck is going on here!" Niles thought to himself for a moment and told Four "Someone must teach you how things work around down here!" He looked around as if he was checking to see if anyone was there when he knew he was the only one. "I guess you're stuck with me! Ready?"

"NO!"

"Here we go!"

He snapped his fingers and Four suddenly felt a strange feeling inside him. He looked down and saw a heart that was glowing bright red in his body. "What the hell!? What did you do to me!?" Niles ignored his anger and pointed at it. "See that heart? That is your soul. The very culmination of your being!" Four looked at him in displeasure and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. No kidding Sherlock, but why is it glowing?"

Niles ignored him again and continued on. "Your soul starts off weak, but you can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV." Four started to ask him "What does L-" but Niles already knew what he was going to say and told him "What does LV stand for you ask? Why LOVE of course!" Four gave him a deer in headlights look when Niles inched closer to him, making things really awkward. "You want some LOVE don't you?" Four began to tense up. Was Niles seriously hitting on him or was he just having a weird dream because of the fall?

"Don't worry! I'll share some with you!" Niles gave him a playful wink and made a stance like a video game character posing. Okay...things were getting really freaky now. He then created a bunch of glowing balls that was most certainly meme energy. "Down here, LOVE is shared through these little round orbs." Was Niles playing him like a fool? Smg4 was a meme guardian too y'know.

Niles directed the spheres around him and instructed the blue eyed man "Move around! Get as many as you can!" Smg4 was beyond confused on why Niles would try to get him to interact with his meme energy, but he shrugged it off. Eh...why not? Hopefully it would transport him out of this hellhole. He reached out and touched one, but was immediately shocked by a course of pain. "OW!"

Niles started laughing and said "YOU IDIOT! In this world, it's kill or be killed!" Four became incredibly panicked when he saw Niles' eyes turn to red and he flashed an evil smile. Four tried to run back out the door, but multiple orbs blocked his path. "Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this!?" The balls of evil energy closed in on Four, surrounding him until he was trapped with no way out. "DIE."

He laughed manically as the orbs drew closer and closer. Four couldn't bear to watch this and shut his eyes tight, screaming out "SOMEONE HELP!" The spheres were about to attack him when out of nowhere they just...disappeared? Niles tilted his head in confusion while Four opened one eye to see what happened.

Just then, another seeping ball of light came from behind Niles and knocked him into the wall. Four kept staring at the unconscious man before a girl emerged from the shadows. "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent boy..." Smg4 whipped his eyes around when he recognized that voice. "Ah, do not be afraid sir. I am Melony, the caretaker of the Ruins." Four was instantly overjoyed that one of his friends had finally come to save him. He rushed up and threw his arms around her, crying "Melony! I'm so glad to see you!"

She warmly smiled at him and said "Of course. I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down." He slowly let go as she told him "You are the first one to come here in a long time." Four's smile soon faded when he realized something. "How did you get down here?"

"What do you mean? I've lived her for ages! But that's besides the point. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs." Melony turned around and signaled him to follow her with a wavering hand. "This way." She went through another doorway in front of her as Four ran after her. "Wait!"

Little did Four know, this was the beginning of a long journey...

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aurorawest · 1 year ago

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The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi - 5/5 stars

This book managed to rip my heart out at least 3 times. I loved it. Medieval enemies-to-lovers slow burn; very romantic. Kinda read like fanfiction at times but in a good way. 10/10 would read a follow-up love story about Arundel and Captain Wekena. If you like Captive Prince, give this one a try.

Reforged by Seth Haddon - 4/5 stars

Pretty good bodyguard romantasy. Ironically CS Pacat blurbed this one (another am-I-in-the-matrix moment). The world was interesting and I enjoyed the politics, though they're definitely not as complicated as other SFF politics I've gone feral over (see: Captive Prince, Winter's Orbit, A Memory Called Empire). I ordered the sequel after I finished this.

The Doctor's Date by Heidi Cullinan - 4/5 stars

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske - 5/5 stars

Where do I start? I love, love, LOVE A Marvellous Light. It's one of my favorite books ever. None of the rest of the books in the trilogy could live up to it, really, because it's so good. You'll notice I rated this one 5 stars though, because quite honestly I fell prey to a bit of The Academy Paying The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Its Due syndrome. I did love this book and thought it was better than A Restless Truth (which I still loved!) but part of that is, quite frankly, just due to the fact that I prefer m/m romance to f/f romance.

Anyway. This was such a good finale to the trilogy. I loved that the romance was a giant middle finger to purity cultists. I loved that one of the mains was Italian. I loved finally getting the story of what happened to the Alston twins. One thing I thought was really cool was how, viewed from the outside, you totally get why Edwin is such a loner. I really admire from a writing perspective how Marske pulled that off.

I feel like there's a lot to be said about what Marske was trying to SAY with this book, but I definitely need to reread it first before I can articulate any of it. The purity culture stuff is obvious, but the magic system too. I feel like Jack when he's almost able to connect everything in his mind into a bigger idea, but he can't quite get there.

I've got a special edition from Illumicrate coming, so I'll be rereading it when I have that.

Oh also, this book was the embodiment of all that one tumblr post -

The Guncle by Steven Rowley - 5/5 stars

I saw this in bookstores for years before I finally gave in and bought it. The blurb makes it sound insufferable and twee. Ignore the blurb. This was such a good book about grief and learning how to live again after terrible loss.

I Like Me Better by Robby Weber - 4/5 stars

At last I can stop getting the Lauv song stuck in my head whenever I set eyes on this book (it's stuck in my head as I type this). Pretty standard-issue YA, but it was cute and had a good message.

The Stagsblood King by Gideon E Wood - 4/5 stars

Another book about moving on from grief! This is the second book in a trilogy. When I was trying to determine if I wanted to read on beyond book 1, I scoured the internet for information about what happens in books 2 and 3. Eventually I decided, hell, I enjoyed book 1 well enough, even if what I want to happen in the rest of the trilogy doesn't happen, they're worth reading. SO, to that end, I will tell anyone looking for info that Tel gets romantically involved with a new man in this one, which, eh. I still want him to somehow end up with Vared. It was still quite good though.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune - DNF at pg 82

So funnily, we were at the bookstore the day I was about to start reading this, and my wife pointed out Ravensong (also by Klune) to me and said, "Do you have this one?" I made a face and said, "That's an older one of his books and I'm wary of his early work after that horrible Verania series. I don't think I've ever read an author as hit or miss as TJ Klune."

I wrote the above when I was 60 pages in and now I have officially DNFed this. Listen. You know how in Thor: Love and Thunder, Taika Waititi was clearly given free rein to do whatever he wanted, so all of his worst impulses made it to the final cut unchecked? Yeah. That's what this book is like.

Here's my Storygraph review: I see Klune is officially Too Big To Edit now. This book has exactly the same problem that his awful Verania series had—a joke that's funny at first but quickly grows tiresome when it's repeated five times per page. The emphasis on Victor's asexuality was also weird and read like Klune was just super proud of himself for writing an ace character.

Lion's Legacy by LC Rosen - 4.25/5 stars

Queer, YA Indiana Jones, but less #problematic. This book had some eerie similarities to my own archaeology adventure novel(s), which made me wonder half-seriously if I somehow know Lev Rosen? Anyway, I feared this would be very heavy-handed and not nuanced on archaeology's ethical dilemmas, since it's YA and also the current culture is to view said dilemmas as completely black and white with no nuance, but I was pleasantly surprised. It manages to examine that, queerness, and daddy issues, plus has time to be a genuinely fun and exciting adventure story. Highly recommend.

Too White to be Coloured, Too Coloured to be Black by Ismail Lagardien - 4/5 stars

I picked up this memoir in a bookstore at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg as research for Six Places to Fall in Love, since Percy is coloured. A pretty brutal read, but good, and definitely good research. The author was a photographer and journalist through the most violent years of apartheid.

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson - 5/5 stars

Two nonfiction books in a row?? This is the second book by Erik Larson I've read, the first being the excellent The Devil in the White City. I'm not, in general, all that interested in WWII when it comes to military history, but this book is about the day to day lives of Churchill and the people surrounding him (with brief stops to visit FDR and high-ranking Nazis sprinkled throughout). This is a very, very good book, and I recommend reading it if only as a reminder of the resilience and bravery of ordinary people under terrifying circumstances.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

Holy shit. Holy shit is this book good. Imagine the love child of Lost, Person of Interest, and Battlestar Galactica, but queer and with multiverse shenanigans thrown in.

I need everyone to read this book. Now. Yesterday. Get to it.

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calmlyerratic · 9 months ago

Text

Encounters of the Future Sort

Chapter 1: Disappearing Cauldrons is Never a Good Sign

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read it here on Ao3

fic summary: AU & headcanon-oriented time travel. A freak cauldron explosion leads the Marauders hurtling forward into the future where they come into contact with Harry and friends. Alternating POV's. Anything is possible. Lots of shenanigans, but also an emotional rollercoaster. Silly, Jily, and Wolfstar. Full summary here.

chapter wc: 2.4k | rating: T | cw: none

notes: 1976 Timeline—takes place before the willow prank and Snape's worst memory, both of which happened in the spring of 1976. That's all I'll give away for now, happy reading :)

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April 1st, 1976

11am

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun twinkled through lofty clouds, casting rays of warmth on the freshly thawed spring grounds of Hogwarts. The majority of students were outside, lounging along the banks of the Black Lake and enjoying this sudden heat wave.

But if someone just happened to journey up to the school's seventh floor, their nose would detect the foul stench of rotten eggs, their eyes would see through the fog that consumed the corridor, and they would be led to a room that could be found only if you knew where it was. And in this room, they would discover four boys hovering over a giant, brass cauldron.

"Shut up Moony! We're fine."

"I agree with Prongs—shove it."

"No one cares what you think Padfoot!"

"Ouch, Moony. And I didn't realize words could bruise..."

"Oh—sod off. It's not my fault that you two have some absurd death wish."

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew had been bickering for the better part of the past hour. Each had a curious bubble around their heads to protect them from the horrid smell of the simmering potion.

"Stoke the fire a little, will you Wormtail?" Sirius said as he stirred the cauldron. He slowly removed the long wooden spoon and set it on a bed of parchment, serving as a makeshift spoon rest.

Peter drew his wand from the pocket of his robes and murmured, "Incendio."

The flame underneath grew, gently lapping the sides of the cauldron.

"Your hands are so tiny, Wormy." Sirius complained, adjusting his dragonhide gloves. "I dunno how you wear these."

Peter held up his hands, inspecting them. "Are they?"

"No, Padfoot just has long, delicate fingers." Remus huffed.

Remus was watching Sirius anxiously, eyes flickering between the thick, murky greenish contents of the cauldron to the spoon rest...which was turning an odd, startling red as liquid seeped through the ivory parchment.

"Why are we doing this again? This isn't even close to proper procedure..."

"Oh, just relax Moony," Sirius flexed his fingers in Peter's gloves and leaned back on his arms leisurely. "You did say we needed some extra potions practice for our O.W.L.'s."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I meant you should ask Slughorn for some extra lessons, or something. Not attempt to brew a complicated and potentially fatal potion! You do know that I'm a Prefect and this is exactly the kind of thing I'm supposed to prevent?"

"But you're here aren't you?" James pointed out, grinning mischievously.

James was sprawled over a table, leafing through several different ancient, thickly bound books. A reflection of incandescent light through the fog reflected off his head bubble, casting shimmery flames onto his round spectacles.

"I'm only here to make sure you don't blow yourselves up," Remus stood in exasperation and began pacing.

"We'd be simply unhinged without your supervision," Sirius bit his lip to hold back a grin.

Remus glared at Sirius, who raised an eyebrow and winked. Remus flushed slightly, crossed his arms and sat back down, muttering.

"Okay," James checked his watch, "we're getting close now."

"What next?" Peter asked, pinching his nose through the bubble charm. "The smell's getting worse...we've got to be almost finished? We've been working on this for months now—"

"Months?" Remus was alarmed. "Wait, I thought you said—"

"No time, Moony."

James scanned through the colossal books, a frown on his face.

"In this book, Potions for the Potentially Challenged, it says to add one additional scoop of lacewing flies. But in this one, If You Can Brew it, You Can Do It...calls for three scoops total. We already did one yesterday when we added the unicorn hair—"

"Unicorn hair? Where are you getting these books?" Remus peered over at them discerningly, as though to check their authenticity.

"My father's library," Sirius shrugged. "Nicked them when I left."

"You're in way over your heads," Remus massaged his eyes shut.

"If you care so much about our safety, you should really be the one doing this, Moony. You know the rest of us are all dead awful at potions." James pointed out, turning a page and pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his long nose.

"Yeah, but you insist on being the high and mighty Prefect instead." Sirius shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "You know, the more I think about it, your position of ensuring safety is truly more of a hazard."

"Safety equals safety hazard," Remus moved a finger in midair like he was solving a complicated arithmancy equation. "Check."

"Okay, we're in a time crunch here so I say we—what did you say again, Prongs?"

"Add the lacewing flies," James nodded. "Two scoops, Wormy."

"Right," Peter passed the ingredients to Sirius, who threw them in the cauldron.

"Okay good—now stir it three times counterclockwise..." James read carefully. "And I think we've done it!"

The four boys watched the cauldron with bated breath.

The thick, murky liquid began to slowly bubble, like boiling mud. James and Sirius beamed at each other and high-fived while Remus let out a sigh of relief.

Then suddenly, despite the steady flame, the potion went very still.

"Um, is that supposed to happen?" Peter shifted nervously.

"No," James frantically leafed through his books. "It's supposed to...turn red, I think? No, this one says it's supposed to have a greenish tinge—"

"Great, " Sirius chucked the wooden spoon across the room and it clattered along the stone floor. "We muffed it up. So much for that prank—"

"Prank?"

"Oh hush Moony, it's April 1st for Merlin's sake. Like you didn't know we weren't doing this purely for academia—"

"Hold on," Peter was gazing into the cauldron, its contents casting a luminous glow over his bubblehead charm. "I think it's doing something…"

The muddy potion began to vibrate oddly, then fell very still.

"That doesn't seem right..." James flicked through more pages.

Remus clasped his hands together. "Well, you tried. Let's call it a day?"

"No way, Moony." James stated firmly. "We've spent way too much time on this to just give up. There has to be a way to fix it..."

"Too bad you're on the outs with Evans, mate, she's Slughorn's red headed prodigy." Sirius considered, stroking his chin. "Well, she's a stickler, anyway. Hey—where are you going?"

Remus had jumped to his feet.

"I'll be right back! Don't move!"

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

A short while later...

"It needs to be bubbling—"

"Well let's just turn up the heat then?"

"Hold on just let me read a bit more—"

"What is this place?"

Sirius squinted his eyes at this new voice and put a hand to the forehead of his bubble, like a crow's nest lookout on a foggy evening.

"Evans?" Sirius called.

James head shot up from his reading. His hand jumped to run through his untidy raven hair, as if it was a reflex to hearing her name.

Through the thick, vapid air consuming the room, three figures approached the cauldron.

Lily Evans had her nose between two fingers. "Well we found the source of the godawful smell, ugh."

"I told you," Remus shrugged sheepishly.

He glanced towards the other boys with poorly concealed guilt. The origin of this became quite apparent when another person stepped out of the misty shadows.

"Snevillus?" Sirius crossed his arms, mortally betrayed. "Really, Remus?"

Snape glared forcefully, like a giant sulking bat. "Lily, I told you this was a bad idea—"

"She can do what she wants, Snevillus." James glared too, his hand twitching towards his wand.

"Oh shut up, the both of you. You can bicker later," Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm only here because Remus asked me."

"Look, this is beyond us—that cauldron is dangerous." Remus rubbed the back of his neck, clearly ashamed that he was revealing their secret shenanigans to the Marauder's worst enemy. "Lily and Snape are the best in our year at potions—"

"Yeah, real Slug Club royalty." Sirius scoffed.

"We have it under control," James insisted firmly.

"This—" Lily glanced around, her voice nasally from pinching her nose, "does not look under control. Or smell like it, either. You're smoking out the entire seventh floor."

"I think it's steam, actually." Peter offered. "It feels rather moist—"

"It's a figure of speech," Lily said shortly.

The cauldron suddenly began to hum—it was the sound a thin glass of water makes when you run a finger around the rim. All six of them turned to stare at it.

"We could smell it from the Library," Severus sneered as he waved his wand to produce a bubblehead charm.

"I can smell you from the—"

"Padfoot!" Remus warned. "It's gone too far, okay? We need to fix it. Or vanish it, or something." He turned to Lily. "What do you suggest?"

Lily waved her wand and produced a bubblehead charm too, inhaling the fresh air. She approached the cauldron and peered over the edge.

"I for one suggest," Sirius began haughtily, pointing his wand at the base of the cauldron, "that we are incredibly capable of finishing this up ourselves. It just needs a little more heat—incendio."

The flame under the brass cauldron grew and the mucky potion began to bubble.

"There!" Sirius grinned victoriously.

"It looks just like the description..." James ran his finger along a page. "Thick, mud-like, dull green—"

"Er, P-prongs?" Peter stammered, his eyes widening. "It's bright green."

The bubbling potion had suddenly become the shade and consistency of algae and had begun to vibrate oddly again. The base of the cauldron began to shake.

"Er, Potter?" Lily was backing away from the cauldron slowly. "What kind of potion is this, exactly?"

"You imbeciles! Aguamenti!" Severus flicked his wand and a jet of water shot out of it to extinguish the flames.

It didn't seem to make a difference. The cauldron was now vibrating so violently that the stone floor beneath them began to shake.

"Sev, what do we do?" Lily's eyes were wide with apprehension. "I've never vanished something this temperamental before—"

"It might settle down," Severus stood with his wand at the ready. "I removed the heat so there's no further catalyst. Let's give it a moment."

However, the cauldron continued to vibrate even more violently. The very walls of the room began to creak. The fog around them became thicker and dense—with a spectral, syrupy magic that couldn't be seen, but felt.

"I say we get the hell out of here," Sirius suggested. "Moony, you were right okay—"

The bright green algae potion suddenly turned a vibrant shade of red. Severus went rigid.

"RUN! JUST RUN!"

But it was too late. The cauldron exploded mere seconds later with a giant BOOM and the next thing the Marauders, Lily, and Severus knew, they were lying face down on the hard stone floor.

"Bloody hell," Sirius groaned as he sat up, massaging his temples.

"What happened?" Peter blinked around, in a daze.

"Uggggh..." Lily was sprawled out on her back.

"You okay, Evans?" James jumped to his feet and offered her a hand.

"We all appear to be fine," Severus sneered jealously as he scrambled to his feet.

Lily glared at him as she took James' hand. "So glad chivalry isn't dead."

"Speak for yourself," Sirius grunted. "Oh, Snivellus—help a damsel out?" He batted his eyes, extending his hand mockingly.

Severus looked down and flushed. "I meant—"

"Where's the cauldron?"

All heads turned towards Remus, who stood where the cauldron had been just moments ago.

"I-it's gone." Peter stammered, biting his fingernails.

And sure enough, it was. They all stared for a moment in silence, eyes wide with shock. Disappearing cauldrons is never a good sign.

"The fog is gone too..." Remus broke the silence as he removed his bubble head charm, causing the others to do the same. "And so is the smell."

In fact, the room was totally empty. No tables or books or leftover ingredients. The cleared fog revealed the familiar structure they had willed the room to take, starkly resembling a stone dungeon classroom with slightly higher ceilings.

"Huh." James contemplated, tousling his already messy hair. "Weird."

"Yeah," Peter echoed. "Weird."

"It could be the room?" Sirius suggested. "But it usually only changes before you enter, not while you're inside it..."

"What the hell does that mean?" Lily raised an eyebrow. She had never been in the Room of Requirement before. "Never mind—I don't want to know, there's been enough surprises for one day."

Severus opened his mouth and looked like he rather did want to know but had too much dignity to ask, so he shut it again.

"Let's go, Sev." Lily turned towards the door.

"Thanks, Lily!" Remus called after her sheepishly. "I owe you one."

"You never owe me anything, Remus." Lily threw him a kind smile. "You other three better pay up, though."

Severus shot them all one last gaunt glare over his shoulder before he sauntered after Lily and into the corridor.

"Snevillus?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at Remus, still very much hung up on this betrayal. "Our dear sweet Moony...why?"

"He was with Lily when I found her," Remus rubbed the back of his neck again. "I'm sorry..."

"Thank you, but your apology is kindly rejected." Sirius shook his head disapprovingly. "And you're supposed to be the discerning one—"

"In my defense, I thought you were going to blow up half the school."

"You always overreact, Moony."

"Well, something blew up!"

"Yes but we're fine, aren't we? Crises averted."

"So, you admit it was a crisis?"

"I admit you were very concerned there would be a crisis."

"If you two are done bickering like an old married couple," James tapped his foot impatiently, "I'd quite like to move on with my day."

"Too bad we wasted all that time brewing..." Peter sighed.

"You feel it too?" Remus asked, eyeing their surroundings. "I didn't want to say before—but this place reeks like powerful magic. I've never smelled anything like it."

"Unicorn hairs aren't cheap either," James exhaled deeply, then straightened his shoulders with a grin. "Oh well, no use crying over spilt potion."

"This room feels...weird." Peter observed nervously.

"I don't smell anything?" Peter knit his brow and sniffed deeply.

Remus wrinkled his nose. "It's a—y'know...wolf thing."

"Let's go mull it over outside," James stretched his arms. "I need some time to grieve our best laid plans, and all that."

"Anyway," Sirius blew a stray hair out of his face, "what could possibly happen?"

"I dunno," Remus wrapped his hands around his elbows and shuddered. His hair was standing on end. "I can't explain it...I just have a bad feeling about this..."

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notes: I started writing this 11 years ago and just recently rediscovered my love for the Marauders and fanfiction. Initially, I posted it on another site and was shocked to see how much love it's gotten over the years. So here we are! Rewriting this is totally healing my inner child, hope you enjoy :)

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chvnnie · 2 years ago

Note

Thinking about a giant cuddle pile with Chan and Felix and Jisung when I’m sad 😢 just all soft and cuddly with snacks and blankets and snuggles all around 💕

this made my heart really warm 🥺 why not start the day off with something cute and soft

It’s just one of those days where nothing is right.

You woke up late, having to decide between showing up to class on time or brushing your teeth (rip the last stick of gum in your backpack). On the power walk to the science building, you realize there’s a teeny hole in the bottom of your worn out sneakers. Hardly noticeable — until pieces of gravel find it’s way inside.

Oh, did you forget? There’s a quiz today! Open book? What a silly little question, of course you have nothing but your memory to rely on when you’ve only just woken up.

Dropped your coffee literally minutes after buying it. The rice you bought for lunch was cold. Your favorite pen broke, you forgot your water bottle on your rush out. Bad thing after bad thing — it’s a surprise you held in the incoming spiral until you got home.

Their voices fill the hallway. About halfway to your apartment, you pause and take a really deep breath. Normally, Felix inviting his friends over doesn’t bother you. After all, they’re yours too. Jisung you’ve know since elementary school, and Chan you met on your first day of university.

“Shit.” You heard the strange boy mumble beside you, digging through his bag hopelessly. “Shit, shit, shit-“

“Are you okay?” Normally, you’d keep to yourself in class. But he seemed really, really flustered.

“I can’t find my pen. How did this happen? I bought a new pack this weekend and—“

Before he can even finish, you put a blue one on his notebook. Shiny, new. You had gone shopping yourself.

“I’ll give it back.”

He never did, and somehow lost the pen within four classes. So, you gave him another. By midterms, you had bought a pack just for Chan.

From that intro to ethics class blossomed a friendship that you can’t picture your life without. Through you, he met Jisung, and through Chan, you met Felix. The quiet, sweet guy whose roommate broke the lease unexpectedly and really needed someone to fill that vacancy.

Coming home to them is a daily occurrence. One that you typically look forward to. But today. Today you’re exhausted. The tiny apartment is going to be so loud until the early hours of dawn — how much can you take today?

They don’t hear the door open, too busy yelling at each other over Mario Kart. Jisung is losing, and Felix is gloating. The typical.

“Hey, you’re back!” Chan, happily in both the middle of the couch and ranking, flashes you a smile while still focused on the tv screen. “Want in? This race is almost over.”

“‘m okay. Kinda tired.” You force a yawn to make it more believable, dropping your bag on the rarely used dining table. “I think I’m going to take a nap.”

“Are you sure? We—“

“Maybe later?” You’re really trying to keep it together, picking at the skin around your nails. “I just need a bit. Didn’t sleep well last night.”

Chan raises an eyebrow at you, not fully convinced and slightly worried. Deciding it’s better not to press, he just nods, and turns fully back to the game.

You don’t even make it to your bed before the tears start. Body shaking, you change into a comfier set of clothes before lying face down in the center of your big bed. One deep, broken breath and the sobs begin.

Why did today have to happen? Left and right, no matter which direction you took, the outcome was the same. Sucking the life out of you and giving nothing in return.

You feel exhausted. Defeated. Hopeless.

The teeny, tiny knock is barely audible. But the creak, and shutting of the door, breaks through your cries. You don’t move, head too heavy to try and see who it is. They don’t announce themselves either; padding across the room before climbing in the bed with you. Lying right next to you, hiking his leg around your body.

The cologne is a give away. “Come on.” Jisung whispers, coaxing you into his arms. When you grunt, he moves you himself. Head to his chest, pulling you close before covering you both with the duvet.

Remember when you were little, and you fell from the play set? It wasn’t a far drop, but for your tiny body it felt like a lot. Nobody was around, class playing on the other side of the playground. All alone, softly sniffling. Your jeans are ripped, knee poking out and bloodied.

“Ouchie.” You whimper. When you try to stand, you teeter. Unsteady. Painful. How can you get help?

“You went boom.” You hear a tiny voice say, turning around to see a boy your age right behind you. “Did it hurt?”

You nod. “Big ouchie, look.”

He comes over, plops onto the ground next to you. Little brown eyes widen, lips parting in shock.

“Woah!” He leaned closer to get a better look. “You’re brave.”

It’s only of the first things Jisung ever said to you, and if you were to ask him to describe you today, he would say the same thing.

Brave. You’re brave. He’s always thought, and always will.

“Want to talk about it?” Jisung is drawing circles on your back, nails digging in just enough to be soothing.

You shake your head, clinging onto to his hoodie. “Just sad.” That’s what it comes down to — it doesn’t matter that you woke up late, and that the world was crumbling with each step you took. When you woke up, you were already aching.

There doesn’t have to be a reason. There isn’t one. Sadness just stopping in to say hello, and overstaying it’s welcome.

Your friend nods, shuffling in the bed to get more comfortable. Mingled breathing is the only sound, soft and easy. Almost lulling you into a much needed sleep.

Fluttering in and out of consciousness, you don’t notice that the tv has turned off. Jisung is just so warm; he smells good, he makes you feel safe. Why pay attention to anything else when comfort is finally hauling sadness out?

A dip in the bed, and you whine, thinking Jisung is trying to leave you. That is, until a board body presses into your back. Holding you from the other side.

“Are you guys napping without me?” Chan playfully asks, tickling your side lightly. Though you smack his hand away, he sees the teeny smile it brings. “That’s rude.”

“So was you cheating in Mario Kart, but you don’t hear me complaining.”

“You’re just a sore loser-“

“You cheated!”

“What is this?” Felix’s voice breaks up the bickering. You look up to see your roommate in the door, jaw dropped in faux shock. “A cuddle party? Without me?”

When you moved in, the apartment smelled like…burning sugar.

The blonde man was in the kitchen, spilling the most vulgar words you’ve ever heard as he quickly puts on oven mitts. You watched from the front door, not wanting to spook him as he takes the hot pan out of the oven.

He brings it to his face, closely inspecting the dessert. They were supposed to be white chocolate brownies, instead they’re as dark (and hard) as coal. With a frustrated sigh, he drops it on the counter.

“For all it matters.” You make yourself known, resisting a giggle at the way he jumps. “It smells good.”

Huffing a laugh, Felix puts his hands on his hips. “Just because we’re living together now doesn’t mean you have to appease me.”

“It’s the truth.” You say, fully entering the apartment. “What happened? Wrong temperature?”

He presses his lips together. “…I took a nap.”

It’s a shame, really. Tragic. You hate for sweets to go to waste — but oh, how you laugh. Leaning your head on his shoulder and staring down at the burned brownies.

“One day you’ll get it, Lix.”

The tupperware container is filled to the top with the same brownies, the lid almost popping off. Quickly abandoning the treats on your dresser, your roommate rushes to the bed.

And lays right on top of you.

While you giggle, the other two men groan.

“Come on, Felix.”

“This isn’t comfy—“

“It’s not my fault you didn’t leave space for me!”

You can feel the youngest man wiggle, trying to get more comfortable and thus torturing his friends. It isn’t the most practical way to group cuddle, but it is the most heartwarming. Smothered in love that you’ve never really felt worthy of, but are forever grateful for.

What was it that you were so upset about, again?

#skz fluff #stray kids fluff #bang chan fluff #chan fluff #han jisung fluff #jisung fluff #han fluff #felix fluff #lee felix fluff #chvnnie soft thoughts

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live-the-fangirl-life · 1 year ago

Text

Timeless [Immortals]

Aelin Galathynius x Rowan Whitethorn

The world is large and time may be endless, but it's all an exciting adventure with the right person beside you. Inspired in part by Timeless by Taylor Swift, Immortals by Fall Out Boy, and by my own historical research fixations. Also a tiny bit of Istanbul by They Might be Giants

A/N: I will say I wanted to flesh this out a bit more and had a whole plan on how to, but I started a new job recently and I haven't had the energy to keep writing during my free time, so I edited what I had and have it here for you to enjoy. I also wanted to write for a bunch of Rowaelin month days but I think this is all I have in me for now.

Finally, I just have a fair warning: I got really into slang words in this. i had way too much fun with them, so hopefully its understandable lol

Masterlist | Rowaelin Month | Read on Ao3

6494 words

Written for Rowaelin Month 2023 - Day 1: SongFic

*******

Morning light peeked through the curtains fluttering around the open window of their living room. She could faintly hear the sounds of the neighborhood filtering through – cars cruising by, a riding lawnmower cutting clean lines into the grass, a couple of kids out riding their bicycles, and the steadily growing music of an ice cream truck.

“Rowan, have you seen the…” Aelin trailed off as she realized her husband wasn’t in the room with her anymore.

He chose to go by his given name nowadays, reminding her again of their youth and all the best parts about learning how to grow up before the reality of time set in.

She was sitting cross-legged on the plush rug, combing through a box of mementos she’d found tucked away between stacks of old books.

She must’ve been more distracted by them than she had thought because when she looked at the clock, nearly two hours had gone by and Rowan, who had been sitting in the armchair across from her, wasn’t there anymore. She did have a vague memory of a kiss being pressed to her forehead and hearing his muffled voice but she’d been too distracted.

Aelin gathered the things she’d been picking out and put all the photographs, letters, and trinkets back in their box, before getting up and carefully carrying it with her as she went looking for Rowan.

It didn’t take long. The man was out on their back porch, sitting on the wooden swing and using one leg to slowly rock himself back and forth. He wasn’t looking at her but she saw the smile on his face as she approached. He always knew she was there; he could always sense her. Aelin walked towards him and grinned against his mouth when she ducked down to kiss him, before unceremoniously dropping down onto the swing beside him. His rocking didn’t falter a second.

“Is that what’s taken your attention today?” He asked, nodding at the large, well-loved box she placed on the floor in front of them.

“Have you looked through this recently?” She let his question float away and started pulling out some of the forgotten treasures they’d accumulated.

Shrugging, Rowan leaned forward to get a better look and fondly bumped his shoulder against hers.

“Don’t think so,” he rubbed at the stubble shadowing his face as he thought about it. “Probably not since we moved in.”

Aelin hummed in answer and quickly picked through the papers. “I forgot we had all of this stuff.” She paused, thinking, and dove back into the box, this time with purpose. “Do you know where the portraits are?”

A light breeze blew a strand of blonde hair into her face and Rowan reached out to tuck it behind her ear.

“Which portraits?”

“You know,” she waved irreverently, “the ones done by…what’s his name?”

“Oh of course,” he amended seriously. “Those portraits.”

Huffing a laugh, Aelin fell back against the swing and swatted his shoulder as he chuckled. “You know who I’m talking about,” she insisted.

Truth be told, they’d had so many pictures taken and portraits painted that he didn’t know where to start with his guessing. His wife could be referring to anything.

“Leo?”

“No,” she shook her head.

“Johannes?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Vincent?”

“Ugh,” she groaned, rubbing her hand down her face, “this is going to bug me all day.” A second later she popped back up and turned towards him with wide eyes, “Oh! You know what I really wish we still had?” she asked.

He wished they could have saved all their keepsakes, but that would’ve been impossible. “Not a clue.”

“Those busts we had back in Ἀθῆναι,” She said, her eyes growing distant as she fell back into a memory from their younger years.

He hummed, knowingly. “Those were nice. But I doubt they’re in Athens anymore.”

“No, I know that.” She said sitting back and leaning into him, getting closer as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I think the last time I saw them was in Constantinople.”

“Istanbul,” Rowan corrected.

“What?” she turned her face to see him from where she’d tucked herself into his side.

“It’s Istanbul.” He said again.

She blinked and then rolled her eyes as she understood what he was saying. “Well, it was Constantinople.”

“And now,” he poked her, earning himself a startled laugh, “It’s Istanbul.”

“Whatever,” Aelin snorted. “I still miss those statues.”

Rowan kicked one leg out and began rocking them again, careful not to overturn the box. “You know where they are,” he reminded her, “we could always go see them.”

She scrunched her nose up. “Yeah, but I don’t like paying an entry fee to see myself.”

The breeze picked up and the pair enjoyed a few minutes of quiet, broken only by the faint creaking of the swing and the birds and insects outside. She absentmindedly took his other hand in hers and couldn’t help but think back –

Back to when they were young and naïve and had no idea what sort of life they would have ahead of them.

Back to their beginning.

The land of their childhoods was rich, and their life a simple one. Most everyone around them were farmers or fishermen, soldiers or tradesmen. There were scholars, artists, and builders.

Aelin learned stories of gods and heroes and gave tribute to Athena, the patron goddess of her home. She learned how to weave from her mother, and waited for the day she was set to marry the son from a family her father wanted ties with.

Rowan worked and studied and then became a soldier, fighting in bloody battles across the city-states before he returned to wed.

The two had always known they would be married. Their families arranged it long before either Aelin or Rowan were old enough to offer their thoughts. But they were happy. It was well.

For a while, their life was as ordinary as any others in their Polis.

It wasn’t until the two of them had watched their families grow old that they realized their own lives were different. Unchanging. Everlasting.

They learned how to adapt.

The armor Rowan wore became stronger; the language of the orders being shouted changed; Democracy, philosophy, and art flourished. Wars raged. The land they lived on changed names and changed again.

Sometimes years passed when Aelin and Rowan were apart, separated for one reason or another. Other times, decades went by without notice, time losing the meaning it once had. But they always gravitated back to each other.

They met as Aelin Galathynius and Rowan Whitethorn.

They reunited as Aeliana Galanis and Romulus Whitheia.

As Eleyn Galliano and Rowland Whitton.

As Astrid and Warin.

As Alana and Royce.

There were some names they liked better than others.

They saw empires rise and fall. A world they once called home became ancient.

And as the world became more complicated – as royalty and religion shaped the nations, conquering and separating territories, as battles waged and revolutions erupted, as explorers flung themselves to the far reaches of the earth – Aelin and Rowan found their lives drifting apart from one another until they only had their memories and a knowing sense that someday they would find each other again.

"Whiskey. Neat." He drawled, dropping his dusty hat onto the bar top. The wood was scratched up from too many glasses missing their mark. And sticky, too. Not that he'd say so. He was a smart enough man not to complain to the lady behind the bar. Even it meant swallowing back a grimace at the thought of putting that hat back on his head. "Ma'am."

The woman was already halfway finished pouring the bottle. She had known it was him before he’d opened his mouth; but she smiled when his voice hit her, having recognized the sound of him walking ‘cross those old floorboards and taking a seat at his usual stool – the one right in front of her.

She’d had lifetimes to recognize him.

Still turned away, she shelved the dark bottle of booze back where it belonged.

For a moment, it reminded him of the day he found her here.

He’d been up in Oregon near the California border, following a late wave of gold seekers when he caught whispers of a town a few days south of him, where a woman was holding down a claim to the saloon. A real Calamity Jane if there ever was one.

He knew she was somewhere out here, that she’d ventured west at the call of adventure. Hell, he’d braved across the frontier too, slowly working his way from ranch to ranch and crossing lands that didn’t exist on the maps he’d once held.

But knowing there was a chance of finding her again, and actually hitting pay dirt were two very different things. He had ridden into town knowing not to get his hopes up, but when he stepped into that saloon, heavenly shaded and cool from the high-noon sun, he knew it was her.

She’d been standing behind the bar with her hair woven into a loose braid tossed over one shoulder. Her well-worn clothes somehow suited her just as well as laced-up gowns, pirate’s trousers, or peploi of their youth. Her skirts were long but didn’t look heavy and she had pushed the sleeves of her blouse up to combat the heat. Around her waist, she wore a holster which didn’t surprise him one bit and he supposed running a saloon warranted the pistol that she’d slotted in there.

He was walking towards the bar before he knew what he was doing, and when she lifted her arm to count the bottles she’d lined up on the shelves, he caught sight of the small scar on her forearm. If he still had any doubts, seeing that blew them all to the wind. He could recall with deafening detail the day she’d gotten that scar, the spatha blade that gave it to her, and the Roman general he’d killed for it.

Her back was still turned towards him when he slowly sat down on the stool across from her.

“Aelin.”

In an instant, she went completely and utterly still.

She would know his voice anywhere. Know him anywhere. And even if she hadn’t, there was only one person who would ever call her by that name.

Lifetimes worth of memories flashed behind her eyes as her heart began pounding a thunderous beat. She felt like all the wind had been knocked from her, yet also it was the first time she could breathe in years. She wasn’t sure how that was possible. But then, she’d long since given up deciding what was possible and impossible when it came to him.

And her mind was putting in the licks like a six-shooter horse; like she was electrified.

Carefully setting the bottle in her hand back down on the countertop, slowly, so slowly, she turned to face him.

As they locked eyes a million different emotions flew across her face and he was sure as a gun his was looking the same.

She smiled, wide and bright, and her eyes lined themselves with silver.

“Linny,” she breathed, her first word to him in over half a century. “It’s Linn, actually, but everyone ‘round here calls me Linny.”

Her voice was dipped in that sweet, honeyed drawl they’d been surrounded by. And he laughed, feeling like the years just melted away because she did too. The kind of laugh that said more than words ever could.

A few men at a nearby table looked over to see what all the fuss was about, but it was a joke that only the two of them knew the punchline to.

And then, having been reminded that they had eyes on them, she was reaching across the old wood bar holding out her hand. “Linny,” she said again, still beaming at him, “Linny Gale. It’s a pleasure to meet you…” she trailed off with a knowing smirk.

He remembered every instance in which she had looked at him with those same twinkling eyes, and by the growing elation of her face, so could she. He cleared his throat and took her hand in his, smiling even broader when his roughened skin met hers. “Roe Wyatt.” Her smile softened into something special. “At your service, ma’am.”

Roe hadn’t known what came next for him, but what he did know was that she was here – staying. So, he stayed, too.

As she set the glass of whiskey in front of him, that day from almost a decade prior faded away and she brought him back with the small curve of her lips as she greeted him, “Sheriff.”

At least here, in this dusty town on the far side of the world, filled with desert rats still scrounging for that elusive gold, and where he's wearing the badge instead of running from it...at least here he gets to see her face every day.

*****

Life out here was tough, Linny knew that, but she liked it. And she liked it much more now that Roe was back in her life. Point is, she knew folks made their money any way they could, especially the women.

She’d seen enough life to know what it’s like when you don’t have the resources you need. So for every working woman who found herself under Linny’s roof, she’d be offered a spot as a barmaid, pulling in the pieces so they wouldn’t feel like they needed to work upstairs. But if they did, they wanted to - and for that, all the power to ‘em. Everyone who frequented her saloon knew that if they misbehaved themselves with those women, they’d be looking down the barrel of her shotgun.

The first - and last - unlucky man who mistook her for a painted lady didn't make it back out that door.

Linny knew her way around a broken bottle well enough that the Sheriff ordered another round and watched two of the regular old boys clean up the mess. Most of it, anyway. He knew there was still a spot near the end of the bar where the wood’s stained darker than the rest. She thanked him mighty finely for turning a blind eye, too. She was sweet on him like that.

To everyone else in town, it was a mystery why they ain't gotten hitched yet. They all saw the knowing glances and conversations with so many in-jokes it sounded like they were speaking a different language. She never accepted any other man’s courtin’ and folks from around these parts knew not to try anymore, especially when the Sheriff only ever had eyes for her.

They knew not to mess with Linny Gale, too, because if she didn’t get you first, the Sheriff would make sure you never stepped foot in town again; and if some Hay Seed thought he was quicker to the draw than Roe Wyatt, he either ended up food for the buzzards with a lead plumb between his eyes or was found crawling out the back of the saloon while the arsenic-flavored whiskey he got served hit its mark.

To everyone else, his calling on her was moving slower than molasses in January.

They didn’t know the half of it.

*****

“Howdy, Miss Linny. Sheriff.”

She half smiled at the old man taking a seat on a bar stool two over from Roe. She was already grabbing a glass and pouring as she asked, “What can I get’cha for?”

He chuckled when he saw she’d already poured his whiskey. “You know me too well.”

“And whose fault is that y’old honeysop,“ she laughed.

He’d gulped down half the drink and the skin at his eyes crinkled. “My mammy used to say that…honeysop…I ain’t heard no soul say that since ‘fore I could look over the dinner table.”

Her small smile was wistful as she wiped down the countertop and grabbed another glass, using a different rag she’d slung over her shoulder to give it a good wiping down.

“I’m an old soul.”

He chuckled; eyes distant, lost in a memory. “Yeah, m’ mammy was too.” He looked up and smiled the way he did at his little grandbabies, “A sweet thing like you is too young for that.”

Linny kept wiping down glasses sharing an automatic glance with Roe. A small smile graced her face as easily concealed mirth danced across his.

Setting the last glass down, she tossed the towel back over her shoulder and leaned closer to the older man. “Sweet talking me ain’t gonna pay off your tab, Rolph.”

“Always gotta try, ma’am,” he huffed a laugh and stood, finishing the last of the amber liquid.

Linny shook her head fondly and Roe lifted his hand in a wave. “This is the last one, ya hear?” The old coot held his hand over his heart and smiled before walking out into the blaring sun.

“How many last ones ‘ve you given him?” Roe asked, still nursing the drink she’d poured him a while ago.

A huff of air blew a stray blonde lock out of her face. “A few.”

“You’ll run this place out of business ‘f you keep doing that.”

“He’s sweet,” she rested her elbows on the bar and leaned in, “He’s been taking wildflowers up to Madam Briar’s twice a week. Sometimes I see them ambling together down by the general store.

“He don’t mean no harm. He calls me young and sweet; I like it.” She laughed and he smiled. “And don’t you be worrying about this place. She ain’t in trouble yet. I always overcharge those rowdy boys that breeze in from the next town over. Don’t know why they keep coming back, sure as hell not for my welcoming, not after one couldn’t hold his booze and was sick as a horse all over my floor.” She huffed indignantly but then shrugged. “But I’m keeping my shutters painted and bottles full ‘cause of them so they ain’t so bad.”

Most days were right as rain. Linny handled her saloon with little trouble, but if there was any left after she was done, Roe used his badge to finish it.

So, when some fella too big for his breeches moseyed on in, you could cut the tension with a knife.

The saloon fell silent, something Linny might’ve marveled at if it weren’t for the no-good Saddle Stiff who’d sauntered in looking for hell to pay. The man took one long look around the room until his eyes landed on Roe and the star-shaped badge on his chest.

“You the gunslinger ‘round these parts?” His voice was rough and hard when he stepped in front of the Sheriff.

Barely blinking, he eyed the newcomer up and down, then he took a long sip of his drink and looked him square in the eye before gesturing with his half-empty glass to Linny. “You best be taking that up with her.”

Scoffing, the man didn’t even look at her. “You that cowardly a Sheriff you’ll let some hussy take your beatin’?”

Any lingering whispers went completely quiet as Roe slowly stood from his stool. He had a few inches on the man and didn’t bother fighting off a smirk when the newcomer tried squaring his shoulders to look as big as him. The Sheriff held the man’s gaze as he finished the rest of his whiskey before stepping closer and looking down at the lunkhead.

“First off, partner,” Roe drawled in a low voice. “I don’t let her do anything. Second,” he stepped closer, forcing the other man to falter before regaining the ridiculous bravado he walked in with. “You come in here, rilin’ everybody up, hollerin’ for the man in charge, I’ll tell you this – you’re in this town, in this saloon – she’s in charge. And she don’t take well to outsiders walking in here acting like they know their ups from downs.

“Finally,” Roe took another step into the man’s space and shoved his chest with one hand before gripping the material in his fist and hauling him up. “You ever call her that again, you’ll really have to deal with me, and you don’t want to deal with me after spitting on this here lady.” He leaned closer and practically growled, “You won’t be walkin’ ‘way from that.”

Roe let the man drop back down flat-footed and watched as he stumbled but looked between the Sheriff and Linny who’d been watching the scene. He made some sort of decision and went to open his mouth trying to say shit nobody wanted to hear but before he could get two words past his gullet, Linny reached into her skirts, pulled out a loaded pistol, and aimed it straight between his eyes.

“Get your lousy ass outta my establishment.” She cocked the gun, not batting an eye. “Or I’m ‘bout to have another dead body on my premises. That ain’t gonna look so good to the Sheriff.”

Said Sheriff caught the bead of sweat finally dripping down the man’s face and shrugged. “Don’t know nothing ‘bout no body.”

Linny smirked and flashed him a wink before refocusing on the man standing on the other side of the bar. “Now, you gonna get back on that ruddy horse of yours that’s scaring all the fillies outside?” she asked. “Or are you gonna make me get my floors dirty?”

Having no sense of what he’d walked himself into, the man looked her up and down holding that pistol with a steady hand, and scoffed. “That supposed to scare me, Calico Queen?”

Roe slammed his fist on the bar and gripped the man’s shirt again, but Linny’s brows just shot up.

“Oh, you ain’t scared of this old thing?” she asked airily. One second the pistol was pointed at him, the next the flickering gas lamp in the corner of the saloon shattered in a rain of broken glass as a bullet lodged itself in the wood directly behind it. “That was giving me a damn headache anyway. What about this one?” she set the pistol on the bar and reached below it, pulling out a long shotgun.

The front doors came swinging in hard enough to crash against the walls as they pivoted on rusted hinges. Another man, a local who helped tend the horses, ran in breathless unaware of what he’d walked himself into.

“Sheriff!” he panted. “Need your help breaking up a brawl out front.”

Roe looked at Linny who had the situation very much in hand and let go of the scamp who wouldn’t be breathing much longer. Adjusting his hat, Roe nodded to her. “Duty calls, ma’am. For both our sakes, when you pull that here trigger, at least corral him outside will ya?”

“Fine by me, poppet. Less mess in here for me to clean up.” She smiled at him. “That’d be all yours to handle, Sheriff.”

And it was.

And they stayed in that town until they couldn’t.

And then they left. Together.

“Where do you want it, Ace?”

Annie – Ace – pulled out her deck of luckies and lit up a butt, inhaling and blowing the smoke out in a practiced ring. The alley she was standing in was blocked off from the main road and, for extra precaution, always had a protective pair of eyes on the entrance; not that anyone would notice the guards, she was too smart to orchestrate anything so obvious.

Keeping her face neutral, she surveyed the haul of smuggled liquor brought to her by one of the active bootleggers in their employ. The two men behind her stayed quiet; stoic, as she blew another smoke ring. She spotted in a second that the poorly concealed unease radiating off the man wasn’t because of the loaded weapons either of her boys was carrying. She looked the bottles over once, twice –

“You’re just the bees’ knees, Cal. Always bringing me the best.” She indulged him a bit, pulling the cigarette from her mouth, and watched the tension ease out of his shoulders.

“Anything for you,” he grinned shakily and kept fidgeting. The damn sap was sweating bullets. He tried making small talk and she let him think he was getting away with it for another minute before she stopped him from lamming off.

“One thing, you old Mug,” her voice dropped all sweetness, and as she stared him down, all the blood drained from his face.

Jerking her head at one of the trouble boys behind her, he wasted no time in pulling out a gat and pointing it at the idiot who thought he could fool her.

“Do you take me for a Dumb Dora? A patsy?” She asked steadily, smirking when she heard the trigger being cocked. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I know the fucking difference between profitable giggle juice and piss-poor hooch.”

The man was shaking now but she had no patience for disrespect. Not here.

“I—I don’t, I don’t know what you’re spittin’ about, Ace.” He stammered.

“That’s Mrs. Thorne to you.” She corrected him, arching a brow. Turning on her heel she ignored Mr. Weston’s pleading and said to her trigger man, “Don’t make a mess. This damn alley smells bad enough.”

The other man who’d been standing behind her reached for the door holding it open for her without a word. She flashed him a smile and walked back into the speakeasy. Annie was immediately surrounded by raucous laughter and brassy jazz music, it was just enough to drown out the shot fired behind her and the thud of a body hitting the ground.

*****

Owen loved the sound of the big band. It never got old, no matter how many nights he spent sitting in this drum, putting down glasses of champagne. He liked even better, that no one bothered him at his table in the corner – no one he didn’t want bothering him, that is.

He especially liked it because he had a clear sight of both doors, the stage, and the bar. Not to mention he never had a problem picking his Ace out of the crowd. The club may have been bedecked in lights and gold, but his wife always shined brighter.

Tonight, he spotted her standing next to a young doll who looked scared enough just to be standing in a juice joint, let alone able to enjoy herself. But the longer he watched them, the more at ease the girl looked in Ace’s company.

“Don’t be getting the jitters, now,” Annie rubbed a comforting hand down the girl’s arm. She couldn’t have been older than twenty, and it was obvious she’d never been in a place like this before. “You see those fellas in the corner there?” she nodded towards a pair of men halfway through a bottle of gin, each with a fine damp on their laps. “Those boys are coppers.”

When the young girl looked back, startled, the blonde laughed and gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Lose those heebie-jeebies. You’re safe here.”

Annie looked over the girl’s head and saw that her man was already looking at her. Like always. She gave him a subtle nod, which he immediately returned, setting down his glass and gesturing to one of the men standing to the side of his table. Ace didn’t need to hear him to know what her husband was ordering.

“No one in this joint is a danger to you, you have my word.” At the girl’s still skeptical look, Ace smiled conspiratorially at her. “Take another look around, you see that handsome guy sitting there – no don’t stare – people in here listen to him. And he listens to me.” She leaned in closer and the girl finally smiled, making Ace’s smile wider. “He is absolutely dizzy with me. Now, let's get you a delicious glass of bubbly,” She snapped at one of the nearby waiters who came by and handed the girl some champagne. “Relax here at the bar and listen to our sweet canary sing. I heard her practicing her verses earlier and she's lovely.”

Leaving the girl in good hands, Annie snagged her own glass of champagne off a passing waiter and strutted across the dancefloor towards Owen. Her dress shimmered under the lights as she flounced to her husband’s table which was now occupied with a couple familiar faces. He didn’t falter in his conversation as she gracefully draped herself across his lap and wrapped an arm around his neck, carding her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Ace,” he squeezed her hip in greeting, “you remember Lore and Fen.”

“Ain’t you a looker,” Fen winked, and Annie smirked, feeling her husband’s grip on her hip tighten.

“Down boy,” she chuckled, crossing one leg over the other and subtly leaning closer into Owen’s embrace.

“They were just telling me,” he explained to her, “that our buddy at the station got word some Dry folks want to take matters into their own hands.”

“They don’t think the coppers are doing their job,” Fen leaned back, smirking. “Not finding and shuttin’ down all those corrupted, underground joints.”

Annie snorted and turned over her shoulder to look at the two Johns drinking away with badges hidden somewhere in their jackets. “I think they’re doing a swell job.”

Her laughter was echoed by Owen and Fen, but Lore just rolled his eyes at her flippancy.

“Those damn teetotalers think they’re so high and mighty,” The man gritted out, glaring daggers at the policemen in the corner – darkly enough Annie was surprised the boys didn’t drop dead on the spot.

“Cut it out, Salterre,” Annie chastised. He redirected his glare to her and even though she felt Owen stiffen, she merely smirked at the glowering man. “If you keep up looking so sore, people are bound to notice, and then those fellas will get made. It won’t take a genius to figure out why a man sitting comfortably at this here table is looking to pop one of them off.”

“I don’t think Salterre has ever sat comfortably.”

None of them paid Fen’s comment any head, but Annie’s smirk widened just a fraction.

“Yeah?” Lore goaded, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it between his teeth. “And why would that be so bad?”

Before she could answer, Owen beat her to it.

“What, you killing them? Or someone noticing you want to?”

“Both?” The dark-haired man asked, unconcerned. “Either? No one’s gonna be crying over a couple less coppers.”

“Get your head out of your ass, Salterre.” Annie snapped, staring hard at him. “You kill them? That comes back to bite us. I wouldn’t go so far as to say you’re smart, but I know you have eyes.” She ignored his sneer. “Look around and tell me how many people are in the club? Tell me how many people would be able to say that they saw those boys here.”

“So? That’s bad for them, not us.” He shrugged dismissively.

Annie downed the rest of her champagne and wished for strength. “No one in here but a few of us,” she looked pointedly around the small circle, “know they’re coppers. Anyone else would just know that they recognized those two goddamn faces in here before you supposedly cut ‘em down. That leads questions coming back here, to our establishment, to you, to us. That is not what we fucking want. It's the whole fucking reason we pay those boys off in the first place – so that they won’t be bringing questions around here. We help them, they help us. That’s how this works, rattlecap.”

Annie snapped her fingers and a fresh glass of champagne found itself in her hand. She took a long sip before threatening, “If you think you’re above all that, then I’ll be handling you myself.”

Lore didn’t say anything when she raised her brows at him, he just shifted his gaze to her husband as if he would contradict or chastise her. Owen leaned back in his seat, pulling her with him as they settled into the plush cushion.

“You heard the lady,” Owen simply said, instead.

And with that, Fen started snickering and Lore stretched his arms out on the edge of the booth as he silently seethed. The band picked up the first notes of a new song that had Annie twisting on her husband's lap to listen to the music.

When she rested her head against Owen’s he squeezed her hip again and fondly muttered, “Ace.” Some days it was her sweet nickname, on others it was a curse, and sometimes, like right now and said in a way that made her turn to press a red-lipped kiss to his cheek, it was a prayer.

*****

The wind roared around them as their car sped down the road. Owen was driving with one hand on the wheel and the other half-hanging out the window. Annie smiled as the scenery flew by in a blur. Tall buildings and crowded streets gave way to green foliage and open land.

The engine purred and she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. She’d seen a lot of discoveries and creations, and she always wondered how they could ever get better, but they usually did - things always evolved and spurred the invention of new things. She remembered the journeys in horse-drawn carriages and knew that back then she wouldn’t have been able to dream of a day like today, flying down the roads in a beautiful car, the engine powering them to its limits.

Getting close to the house, Owen pulled off the main motorway and took a winding, private road that wound them beneath blooming trees, their canopies painting the pavement in shade.

The house wasn’t extravagant; in fact, it was incredibly modest. It was something her husband had built in his early days on this continent. Long before the Great War, before the Gold Rush, before the Civil War, and revolutionary battles. Back when they both were searching for something new and took those leaps, journeying across the ocean.

Their lives sometimes felt like swinging pendulums, positioned closely enough to intertwine, drawing them together indistinguishably, but angled just so and pulling them apart when they least expected.

As she reached for Owen’s hands and intertwined their fingers, squeezing once, she vowed to never let that happen again.

It wasn’t long before they’d brought their bags in and decided to take a walk along one of the trails beyond the house.

“Do you think we have to worry about Lore going rogue?” She asked quietly, leaning into Owen’s arm.

“No, I don’t think so,” he shook his head, carding one hand through his un-slicked back hair. “He has a temper but he’s smart. Worst he’ll do is give ‘em some words, but he wouldn’t do worse than that. He knows it’ll only go bad.”

“I think you give him too much credit.”

“I think you give yourself too little,” he countered, and at her raised brow he chuckled. “He’ll put up a fight, but he won’t cross you.”

Annie hummed. “As far as he’s concerned, you’re the one he should be holding back for.”

Owen barked a laugh. “If you honestly think that he doesn’t know who is really calling the shots then you are severely underestimating him.”

“I’m not underestimating his intelligence. I’m insulting his lack of tact.” She told him as they kept walking. “You know we work together; I know we work together; they know we work together; but most of the fellas packing heat and doing the work still think you have the final word. And that works because it allows me to do things I need to do without as sharp an eye watching my moves.

“And if Salterre keeps pushing, then it won’t be long before everyone knows exactly how I can handle things – and that will be bad for both of us.” She pulled back and smirked up at his amused expression. “How do you think our supply is the best in town? Because I go out and make friends with all those grimy bootlegger’s dames; and between us ladies, things get done, arrangements get made, deals get sorted. And then, without watchful eyes on our lovely, delicate selves, we get our fellas to follow through with those deals…and the world goes round.”

“Okay, okay,” he laughed, agreeing. “Enough about that. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Good.”

“And, Ace?” he laughed again, “You and I both know that every son of a bitch who works with us knows damn well that you’re packing as much heat as any one of them.”

They fell into companionable silence. There was no one in the world she felt as comfortable around.

“Do you remember when we got married?” She asked him suddenly.

“Of course, I do, Ace. It wasn’t that long ago.”

Her dress brushed against her legs as the breeze picked up.

“No, not this time,” she said. “I mean the time during the revolution.”

They kept walking steadily as he thought. “Which one?”

“The European one,” she elaborated.

He glanced down at her again. “Which one?”

“Oh, stop you sap,” she nudged his rib fondly. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Yes, I know what you’re talking about.” He stopped them and turned her to face him. “I remember every wedding I’ve had with you. I remember every ceremony and every dress. Every officiant. Every wedding night. And the only – only – thing that is good about the years when we’ve been apart is that every time we were, I knew I had one thing to look forward to: finding you again and getting to learn who you’ve become.”

“Ἀγαπῶ σὲ,” Annie whispered, silver-lined eyes staring up into his deep green ones.

“Te amo.”

“Ti amo.”

“Je t’aime.”

“I love you.”

**************

Sitting on their aging porch swing, Aelin found herself sorting through faded pictures. There was one of them in a poodle skirt and leather, of flared bell bottoms and disco lights, of wild hair and rock concerts they still sing along to. There was one of them from New Year’s Eve, bedecked in glitter and tassels that had been shot off the moment that the millennium ended. And another one, taken a few seconds later – thank you Polaroid technology – of Rowan dipping Aelin, his arms wrapped around her as they both smiled too hard to really keep up their kiss, as they welcomed a new day, a new year, a new century and millennium. Giddy about what was to come.

“I think that’s enough reminiscing,” she finally whispered, reorganizing the images and replacing the lid on the box.

“Yeah?” Rowan asked, just as quietly.

Aelin smiled, pressed a kiss to his lips, intertwined their fingers so their wedding bands glinted in the fading light, and answered, “Yeah. For now.”

*******

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serenefreakgeekao3 · 3 months ago

Text

Apricity

[Table of Contents]

[A/N] Thank you for your patience! A bit of a filler chapter, but a necessary glue to any story. Wanted a bit more interaction with the boys, so here is what we have!

CHAPTER FIVE, Contemplation

Weeks 2&3

Perhaps you were a bit too hasty in setting your goal for the future. Some Gladers, you’ve heard, set goals such as being able to finish a run in the maze without being breathless- or, perhaps, finish building a storage shed all by themself. No, you just had to decide you’d be the one to kill the Griever.

Although, you reasoned with yourself, it’s not like you’d rather anyone else risk their life in such a way. At least you knew how to deal with one, for the most part. Sure, the only way they had died in the books had been from being crushed between a few stone traps in the maze, or falling down off of the edge, never to return. But you could work with that. Well, one of those options, anyway.

The next half of the week had been a bit of a blur for you. You had difficulty remembering how to act properly with these people, whom you’ve suddenly grown shy around. There was no outward reasoning for this- aside, maybe, from the talk you had with Thomas on your first day off of work. You could tell the thought was eating him up inside, but you couldn’t exactly remedy the situation. What were you to say? You had tried acting normal, but it came off as stilted and worried your friends.

You were truly at a loss.

All of this, combined with the fact that you were trying for the life of you to remember anything else. It was like the memories had stopped returning to you after that dream. And, sure, you knew the books. You’d read them once or twice and had watched the movies a few times. But out here, where the artificial sun was shining, and the giant walls smelled of salt of all things? It was hard to correlate those stories with your real life. Your new life.

Then there was the fact that there were obvious differences between the books and the now. Five whole years. You honestly couldn’t believe it, how had it taken Thomas this long? He was even a runner! Wait… How was he a runner?

You blinked a few times, returning to yourself in the present. The day was… Sunday, you think? It was lunchtime, and you were surrounded by most of your friends- excluding the runners. Newt sat across from you, holding your hand the entire time you had been zoned out, trying your best to reconsider your plan or remember any other details about the books that might aid you. You couldn’t think of any. But maybe if you knew more about this timeline…?

“Newt,” You whisper out, trying to catch his attention. The reaction was immediate, his head snapping toward you and leaning in slightly as if giving you his undivided attention. There was a hint of worry in his eyes, accompanied by his hand fidgeting lightly with your fingers. The rest of your table talked amongst themselves, laughing boisterously- none taking notice of your quiet call.

“Yes?” Newt bends forward a bit more, practically leaning over the table. “Do you need anything?”

“I was just wondering,” You hesitate here, biting your lip as you reconsider your next course of action. But, what harm could there be? “I was just wondering how Tommy became a Runner?” You felt Newt freeze in response through your connected hand, watching as his whole body turned rigid. He slowly takes a deep breath, and when he finally exhales his fingers resume their movements against your hand.

“Now, [Y/N],” He bites his lip and your eye is immediately drawn to it. Why was that so sexy, was he distracting you on purpose? “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but the Runners are already full up enough as it is-”

“Oh!” You bark out, immediately throwing your head back and laughing. Newt’s fingers stop fidgeting in your hand, but you tighten your grip on him unconsciously, not wanting to lose contact. Your other hand raises from under the table, shaking back and forth in emphasis. “No, no,” You attempt to control your laughter and breathing, though while still chuckling finally you get out, “No, I just want to know the story. If he had to take some kind of test or if he had to wait a certain amount of time?” You shrug, letting an easy smile fall across your lips to try to ease tensions- though Newt seems to have relaxed his shoulders already. “I just can’t imagine him doing anything else, honestly. That boy is constantly moving.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Newt agrees easily, a half smile playing across his lips as he leans back slightly, resuming a relaxed posture. “He definitely wanted to be a Runner immediately. We had a hard time keeping him pinned down back then, always antsy to run into the maze. Half of us were afraid we’d just wake up and he’d be gone one morning.” You smile, picturing Thomas younger, wondering if he was more restless than he was now. Likely so.

“Did he ever run into the maze before being a Runner?” Newt laughed, shaking his head as he answered easily.

“No, surprisingly. I won a lot of bets the day Minho finally relented and let him train to be a Runner.” You laugh again, turning your head to spy a few people looking in your direction before looking away just as quickly. You meet Newt’s eyes again, leaning forward onto the table.

“So how long did it take before he was accepted in, then?” Newt seemed to ponder this for a while, scrunching his eyebrows in a cute way that distracted you long enough that it surprised you when Newt spoke again.

“A couple of weeks, maybe? It was hard keeping track of time back then, it wasn’t exactly our topmost priority.” He shrugs nonchalantly, though keeps his smile directed toward you. He suddenly leans forward once again, surprising you slightly with the spontaneity of it all. “Is there a reason you’re asking all of this? What’s this sudden interest in Tommy’s past?” He hums, though you can see a playful glint in his eye that shows a lack of true understanding about your intentions. You force your smile to stay, tilting your head to the side as you think about an answer. Finally, you lean in closer as well, his face inches from yours.

“I don’t think it’s a sudden interest at all, actually.” You can see his face lax slightly, losing the smile on his mouth but not from the eyes, and even watch as his gaze drops to your lips for a split second. He leans back just as suddenly as before, clearing his throat lightly. Was there a hint of a blush there?

“So,” Newt stutters out, then raises a fist to his mouth and clears his throat, his blush deepening on his face. “So, any other-”

“[Y/N]!” Your name is called across the dining area, Gally standing with another builder off to the side, obviously ready to get back to work. You jump up, grabbing your tray and smiling down at Newt.

“I guess we’ll have to pick this up another time, then.” You could feel disappointment taking hold, having finally witnessed Newt getting flustered and being pulled away from him immediately. You take your time getting your tray together, waiting for a response from Newt that doesn’t seem to be coming. He’s still staring up at you, something in his eyes that you don’t recognize, but silent. You decide to take your teasing a step further.

Stepping out from the bench, you circle the table as if you’re heading to take your tray back before stopping right next to Newt. You lean down close, your face once again inches from Newt’s own, and can spy the light playing on his light brown eyes, sparkling pleasantly. His blush is back, lighting up his cheeks so prettily, and you can’t help but lick your lips before whispering, his eyes tracking the movement before resting there on your lips.

“I’m also interested in your past, as well,” You could feel a barely-there smile light up your face, and hovering over Newt’s form like this, it felt like waves of warmth were cascading off of him into you. “That is, if you’re willing to share, sometime.” You watch as he licks his own lips after, transfixed by the sight. It’s quiet for a few moments too long as you hear your name called out again. Disappointed once again, you begin to pull away before suddenly Newt grabs your arm quickly, holding you still.

“Anytime,” He whispers back, his voice slightly hoarse, and the truth shines in his eyes. Nothing you did could help the smile that lit up your face, and as Newt finally releases you, he grabs his own tray and walks with you back to the kitchen.

“You and Newt seem to be getting pretty close.”

Gally’s words surprised you, having been working in silence the majority of the day. You were sweating, working harder today than most of your other days, but Gally has been working alongside you every step of the way. It seemed as if he didn’t quite trust you yet to be on your own, but you weren’t really complaining. Having a friend nearby while working made the day go by quicker, even if in silence. Well, usually in silence.

You look up at Gally with a squint from where you were kneeling, hammering a nail into a floorboard on the porch of the homestead. He stood there, arms crossed with a stern expression. You blink a few times, then lower your gaze once more to the work you’re doing. You wait until you finish your hammering before finally responding.

“I’ve always been pretty close with Newt.”

“Not that close.” You look up again to see him looking off in a different direction and follow his line of sight toward the farmlands. You wonder for a moment what he means before you remember what happened during lunch, and the fact that Gally had been waiting for you while you spoke so closely with Newt. You stand slowly, placing the hammer in your tool belt and brushing your hands off.

“Is that a problem?” Gally looks back at you with a quirked eyebrow, laughing inwardly as his chest shakes.

“What, you think I’m jealous?”

“I don’t know what to think?” Gally smirks, leaning against the wall of the homestead, nodding.

“Ah, so there is something going on between you two then?” You hesitate, frozen. Shaking your head, you try to laugh to play it off.

“What? No, I never said-”

“You don’t have to say it. It’s plain as day.” You blink a few times, unsure what to say before he finally pushes off of the wall, shrugging. “I don’t mind at all. I don’t think anyone out here would mind besides Thomas.” He begins his descent down the few stairs of the porch, walking off toward the Builder’s shed. You hesitate, then hurry to follow, your mind racing.

“What do you mean, Thomas would mind?”

“Well,” Gally wags his head back and forth, as if in thought. “I mean, everyone knows there has always been something between the both of them. They never made it official or anything, but they slept next to each other every single night since Thomas got here. They spend every second they are able to together, and always consult each other before deciding anything important.” He shrugs again, and you struggle to keep up with his fast walking pace.

“But,” You stutter slightly, shaking your head in thought. “I sleep next to them both?” Gally laughs, nodding along.

“Yeah, I noticed that too.” You both finally arrive at the shed, and you take a step inside as Gally holds the door open for you. As the door finally swings closed, Gally just smirks at you- though you couldn’t help but notice a slight bit of discomfort, or pity in his gaze. “I’m just saying. They act a lot like how Ben and I act together.” He walks forward a few steps to close the distance between the two of you, roughly placing a hand on your shoulder. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, kid.”

“I won’t-” You cut yourself off, biting your lip. You could feel your eyebrows draw down in disappointment, taking in a deep breath. Finally, you instead say, “I’m not a kid.” Gally just laughs in response, taking his hand back and busying himself with what was on the nearby table.

“Sure, you’re not.”

A few days have passed, and it's your day off once more. You couldn’t be any more thankful that Thomas happens to have the same day off as you, being able to spend more time with him. You almost hated the fact that he was a Runner- gone for most of the day, the only real time you have with him being during dinner and the small time after before bed. But that time was spent not just with him, but with your entire friend group. And Minho tended to demand the majority of the attention for himself.

Wednesdays, however, meant that you had an entire day with Thomas- the majority of which all of your friends were working their own jobs. You weren’t even worried about the pressing issue- well, that’s a lie, but you definitely try to put it out of your head for a day. But, is that bad? Putting this off for a day when you know how to get everyone out? Shouldn’t you be trying your best every day to get out? Do they even want out?

“[Y/N]?” You’re startled out of your thoughts by Thomas, who stands in front of you where you sit on the bench at one of the dining tables. He’s bent in half at the waist, leaning to the side with his head tilted as if trying to meet your downturned gaze. You lift up quickly at his acknowledgement, trying to smile toward him in a friendly way and put everything you were thinking about behind you. You could tell Thomas didn’t quite buy it, his face with a sad smile and his posture drooping.

“Hey! I was just waiting for you!” You smile brighter, swinging your feet over the side of the bench to stand up and move toward Thomas. However, he moved over toward you at the same time, and as you finally gained your footing, you tripped trying to stop yourself from taking a step forward. You fall into Thomas, his arms immediately circling around you to keep you stable.

“Woah, hey,” Thomas laughs, and the sound of it alone warms your heart. “I was just seeing if you wanted to hang out again today?” He seems to realize belatedly that his arms still encircle you, then drops his arms quickly before raising a hand to the back of his head in embarrassment. You feel the loss of his arms prominently, wishing they could’ve stayed a little longer. “No pressure, though!”

“Of course I do!” You lean in closer to Thomas, almost falling over once more in your attempt to minimize the distance between the two of you. “I’ve been so distracted lately, I could really use a break from my own brain.” Thomas looks you up and down, a barely-there blush lighting up his features. His skin was more tan than Newt’s own, so his blush wasn’t nearly as apparent as the pale boy’s. This only made you feel more determined to see it light up his cheeks. And chest, it looks like, as the blush begins to travel down into his lightweight shirt. You startle, quickly drawing your eyes back up to meet his, hoping you weren’t caught checking him out. “I’ve also been wanting to spend more time with you, I feel like we never see each other.”

Thomas practically jumps at your last sentence, throwing his hands out theatrically. “Yes! That! I feel like that too!” He suddenly wraps a long arm around your shoulders, turning you to the side and pulling you along with him. The move was a very Minho-style thing to do, though you suppose it’s only right considering he spends the majority of his time with him. “And last week was fun and all, running around playing games, but I didn’t learn nearly as much about you as I wanted to. I wanna know everything about you- like, what do you think about Gally’s drink?”

“Gally’s drink?” You couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up from inside your chest, shaking your head at the random question. “That’s what you ask?”

“What?” Thomas sounds defensive, but you can still hear the smile in his voice. “You work pretty closely with Gally now, right?”

“That doesn’t mean I’m drinking his concoction when I’m at work.” You playfully smack his chest with the back of your hand, and the two of you come to a stop near a large tree on the outskirts of the Deadheads. There’s a bench sitting under the tree that Thomas takes a seat at- you hadn’t really noticed the bench was here before, not really having a need for it, but it’s a rather cinematic position once you take a seat next to Thomas. You could practically see the whole Glade from here- minus the Deadheads behind you.

“Sure, sure. But you work with Gally, and the only things I really know about him are that he likes to wrestle and he makes that drink. So I was just wondering, I guess.” Thomas shrugs, and you try to keep up with the line of thought, but end up giving up in the end. What does it matter how he got to the conclusion, anyhow? Might as well answer.

“Well, it’s…” You trail off, biting your lip in thought. You couldn’t find a polite way to say it, eventually settling with, “It’s strong.” Thomas’ boisterous laugh draws your attention, and you face him with a smile. Your chest burns with pleasant feelings, and you can’t believe you are sitting here, staring at Thomas- having a conversation with Thomas. The book character.

“Strong?” He asks, raising a hand to wipe a nonexistent tear from his eye. “That’s all you have?”

“What?” You shrug, unconcerned about his incredulity. “It is.” Thomas continues to laugh for a moment, and you bask in the sunshine that is this man. This was a good idea, you think to yourself, to take a break from your constant pressing thoughts. Eventually, you realize that Thomas has stopped laughing and is instead staring directly at you, just like you are with him. His smile is soft and lovely, and you can’t look away.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Thomas whispers, and you lean forward ever-so-slightly to hear him better, though the only sounds surrounding the two of you currently were the light ambient mumbles of far-off Gladers. He leans forward in a mimic of you, but you can’t tear your eyes away from his dark brown, swirling eyes. They were almost hypnotic, in a way. “It almost felt like…” He trails off for a moment, and you’re desperately wondering what he was trying to say before he finally continues, “It almost felt like we were waiting for something. For someone. And now that you’re here, I feel like I’m not waiting any more.”

You chuckle awkwardly, finally looking away from the boy as you feel your cheeks flush. You open your mouth, shaking your head in disbelief as you try to come up with anything to say. Just as you’re beginning to voice your sentence- something that you weren’t even quite sure of before it came out- Thomas ends up interrupting you, taking one of your hands and fidgeting with it.

“I know, I know. I sound ridiculous, everyone always says so-”

“No,” You interrupt quickly, turning your gaze to meet his eyes once again. He had been eyeing your joined hands as he spoke, but as you look at him he also looks up, and you can see the hope sitting there plain as day. “No, not ridiculous. I understand what you mean, I-” You hesitate, unsure how to continue without sounding like a crazy person. You knew he was waiting on you, considering they all should’ve been out of here by now? Or, maybe not waiting for you specifically, just something that you know how to do. It was still a bit confusing, and you shake your head in frustration. “You’re not ridiculous.” You end it there, letting your gaze drop to the grass once again. Thomas is quiet for a few beats, before he finally speaks up, his voice a whisper.

“Are you okay?” Out of all of the questions you’d expected, that wasn’t one of them. You lift your gaze to his once again, studying the concern lying there. His fidgeting of your fingers is slower, but still present as you sit there contemplating what to say. You bite your lip as you think, and watch his eyes track the movement.

“If you knew of a way out of here, would you do it?” Thomas nods immediately, meeting your eyes with an intense and serious expression.

“Of course, I would. Immediately.”

“And bring everyone with you?” He nods again, his brow furrowing.

“Yes, of course. Everyone.” You hesitate, taking in a deep breath as you remember back to the skittering and harsh metallic sounds of the Grievers.

“Even if it was dangerous?” Your voice is barely a whisper- barely there enough that you’re almost surprised Thomas had heard it. He doesn’t answer you right away, but his expression changes just slightly enough to know that he understood what you said. When he finally does speak up, his voice doesn’t hold any bit of blame or suspicion that you thought it might.

“Why are you asking that? Did you remember something from Wicked?” You immediately scan the area around the two of you quickly at the sound of their name, looking for those tiny red blinking bugs that like to listen to them. Seeing none, your shoulders relax slightly and meet Thomas’ eyes once again. He hadn’t moved his gaze, but he seemed understanding and patient as you looked around. You sigh, shaking your head, trying to put off an air of confidence with your lie.

“No, I don’t remember anything else. I just–” You sigh again, pulling his hand lightly where you two are joined, “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” You watch his gaze soften, immediately taking what you’ve said to heart. It feels weird to be believed so easily, especially amidst the pain of having to lie to these people again and again.

“I won’t,” Thomas whispers, pulling you in by your hand as well, then wrapping an arm around you to hold you close. He presses his lips to your head, mumbling against your hair. “I won’t get hurt- I won’t leave you guys behind.”

You were working again, a few days following your day off, and you’d finally slipped up. Now granted, ‘slipping up’ when you’re a builder tends to mean something far worse than accidentally destroying a crop or dropping a bucket of milk in the mud. You were on the ladder, Gally holding it steady below you, as you cleaned out the gutters of the Homestead. You could hear a commotion below you, but you ignored the general yelling and enthusiasm of the builders below you. It was toward the end of your shift, and you were just hoping to get this job done with time to spare. That might’ve been your first mistake.

It was a series of unfortunate mishaps that led to the ultimate conclusion. The builders were making a ruckus below you, one calling your name and distracting you from your job. You glanced down just in time to watch Gally punch the guy’s arm, likely admonishing him for distracting you- a habit of his, making sure no one distracts whoever is working on the ladder. Unfortunately for you, however, when you turned to look, a few globs of the slimy leaves that fill the gutters fell onto your feet and the ladder rungs below you- with you none the wiser. You reach back up, trying your best to reach the last little bit as you feel a slight slip of your boot.

Mistakably sure of your footing, you stretch to your tip-toes, just as you hear your name get called again. This time, by Gally. The shock of hearing his voice causes you to jerk toward him harshly, your foot slipping out from beneath you. You fell- not very far, mind you- down toward the ground. Gally was there to catch you, as was another builder who stood nearby, but the velocity of your fall caused the three of you to tumble into a pile on the ground.

Groaning was heard from all three of you as you all pushed to sit yourselves up, sighing and glancing around. You’re confused as to what happened, looking up to the ladder that still leaned against the Homestead. The builder to your side begins laughing as you finally spot the bit of slippery gunk on the ladder rung, realizing your mistake. You begin to laugh as well, and Gally just huffs out a heavy sigh, as if both relieved and annoyed at your antics. Gally is the first to push himself up, offering a hand to the builder and helping him up first.

Gally’s offered hand to help you up was likely the only reason you didn’t fall straight back down onto your butt. You cry out as pain shoots up your right leg, hissing as you look down. There’s no blood, and nothing obviously bent out of place. That was a good sign at least.

“You good?” Gally grunts out, scanning you with his eyes as he does his own little once-over. You nod, holding in a grunt as you focus on applying the majority of your weight onto your left foot.

“Yeah. Well- I mean, my right ankle is killing me.” Gally’s shoulders relax, meeting your eyes with a nod.

“Alright, probably just a sprain. Let’s get you to the Medjacks.”

Gally was right, of course. He’d likely seen his fair share of injuries, considering his position in the Builders. You were resting on a cot in the Medjack’s hut, your leg raised and resting on a pillow, an ice pack sitting on top of it. You were told to just chill there for a while until the swelling went down, then they’d wrap the foot and send you on your way. If you were honest, you were a bit bored. They’d had Chuck ferry your food to you, so at the very least you didn’t miss dinner, but you did miss the company you usually kept. You wondered if Thomas and Newt knew where you were, if they were worried about you or whether they just moved on with a shrug. You couldn’t picture them not caring about-

Your thoughts were interrupted by the loud, booming echo of laughter- an unmistakable sort. Minho walked through the Medjack’s door, clutching an arm to his chest while still laughing with good humour. He peeked behind him through the door one last time before taking a few more steps inside, his laughter dying down, but grin remaining firmly in place. Clint approached him, sighing with exasperation.

“I thought I’ve said it enough times today, no visitors-”

“Ah, Doc’, don’t deny a bleeding man!” Minho jests playfully- that is until he extends the arm clutched to his chest. You suck in a breath, seeing blood soaked into his shirt and covering his entire forearm.

“Minho- shuck it, what happened?” Clint is quick and methodical, dragging him over to a nearby bed- the bed next to your own- and immediately dragging over an empty bucket along the floor. He begins to pour water on his arm, the bucket catching the water as it falls to the floor, cleaning off the wound as Minho hisses.

“Ah, you know. Shucking around in the Deadheads again.” Clint huffs out an annoyed breath, glaring up at the injured man.

“I told you lot to stay away from those brambles. I said you’d get yourselves hurt, and look at you now.” You relax slowly as Clint continues to wash away the blood, and you realize the injury isn’t anywhere near as bad as it had looked originally. He had a small but deep wound on his arm, and likely just took his time getting back here.

“I wasn’t over by the brambles, Clint.” The Medjack glares up at him, obviously disbelieving. “Swear on it! I was not near those brambles.” The way he says this makes even you narrow your eyes toward him, and somehow Minho catches you. He eyes you for a moment, a smirk lighting up his face as he winks toward you. “We just found another bit of them. Off to the side, a little.”

“Remind me, how are you a Keeper, again?” Clint mumbles under his breath, obviously not expecting an answer as he grabs ahold of some gauze and a bandage wrap. Minho scoffs out a laugh, shrugging a shoulder.

“Seniority?” You laugh at the unexpected gibe against himself, meeting his eyes once again. You watch him theatrically scan your form, his eyes lingering on the cold pack sitting on your ankle. “So, what happened to the Greenie?”

“You should be more worried about yourself,” Clint answers immediately, his voice tired. It seemed like an automatic response, and you wonder how nosy the people in the Glade really are if his automatic response to asking about someone is to keep the details away. You hold back a laugh as Clint’s back is turned, meeting Minho’s eyes with a shrug.

“I slipped off of a ladder, sprained my ankle. Nothing too bad, all things considered.” Minho nods, but you see something in his eyes that causes you to hesitate. There’s nothing there that recognizes this as new information, almost as if he’d already known coming in here. That wouldn’t be too surprising, considering they’re all friends with Gally, but does that mean that Thomas and Newt do know?

Minho is somehow able to stay quiet long enough for Clint to finish his bandage. Minho keeps his eyes on you as Clint mumbles some sort of excuse and moves away from the two of you, giving you both a sense of pseudo-privacy. Minho’s face relaxes just slightly enough that you begin to think he’s not being playful anymore.

“They’re worried about you, you know.” Minho’s voice is quiet when he speaks, proving your theory. You blink a few times, taking in his words before finally tilting your head in confusion. “Newt and Thomas. They’re worried.”

“No- I mean, yeah,” You sigh, nodding, “I knew who you were talking about. Why are they worried?” Minho’s smile spreads, but purses in a way like he’s trying to keep from smiling and failing miserably.

“Because you’re in here. They keep trying to visit you but Clint won’t allow it.” You laugh at this, shaking your head in disbelief.

“But all that’s wrong with me is a sprained ankle?”

“Oh, trust me. They know.” Minho rolls his eyes, then turns his head to glance toward the close exit to the building. You’re quiet for a minute before finally asking the question on your mind.

“Why won’t Clint let them visit?”

“Because,” Clint interrupts, suddenly appearing beside your bed and lifting the ice pack from your foot. “As you said, all you have is a sprained ankle- I don’t need the leaders of the Glade making a circus of my hut. It just needed to be iced for a few hours, and now I’m going to wrap it and you’re going to go out there and calm everyone down.” You laugh as if this is a joke, but the laughter dies down at the look that Clint gives you. You turn your head toward Minho, hoping he at least would assure you that Clint was joking, but Minho’s raised eyebrows say something else entirely.

“Calm them down? Are they really that worried?”

“I had to post two people outside of my door so that I would stop getting interrupted,” Clint answers your question that you had technically asked Minho, and you look back toward him with amazement. A few moments ago you had thought that they’d both forgotten about you- now you’re hearing that they’re practically tearing the door down trying to get to you? Over a sprained ankle?

“Did you like your dinner at least?” Minho’s question seems out of place, and you furrow your brows as you glance at the empty dining tray and back to him.

“Yes?” You draw the word out as a question, tilting your head toward him once again.

“Well, good. Newt spent enough time trying to jam as much of your favourites onto it as possible. I think he might’ve threatened good ole’ Chuckie to make sure he didn’t steal any of your food.” You laugh again, this time in disbelief, and shake your head. You’ll have to speak with Chuck later to figure out exactly what happened there.

Clint finishes wrapping your foot, guiding you to stand and holding out a meticulously carved cane. You use the cane gratefully, nodding at Clint with thanks. He lets you know that you’re free to go, but asks Minho to stay an extra second, saying something about keeping away infection and wandering over to his wall of cabinets. You decide to wait for Minho, intending to walk out together, however your eyes follow Clint along the cabinets as he opens up multiple different ones, obviously searching for something. Clint grumbles under his breath about reorganization, meanwhile, Minho is speaking animatedly about something or other that had happened in the maze. That is to say, you would’ve been paying attention if your eyes hadn’t zeroed in on the cabinet Clint opens next.

Multiples of tiny bottles, practically glowing blue with syringes lying underneath them line this cabinet, and Clint closes it quickly as if he probably shouldn’t have opened it. But you recognized it. You didn’t think you would at first glance, but it’s definitely hard to mistake. Grief Serum. So they had the medicine that would save their lives if they ever had been stung by the Grievers, but do they know that? Did they realize what they had lying in wait in their cabinet? Better yet- could you use that to your own advantage? The scariest part about fighting the Griever is knowing about its sting- the variation of the Flare that could kill if not treated properly.

A plan begins to form in your head finally- something that you’ve been waiting for this whole time. You didn’t know what you would do with all of the information you’d been remembering before, but now it was all lining up. As Minho continues to drone on obliviously, you nod along and prepare to distract yourself long enough to settle Thomas and Newt’s nerves once you leave the building, but your mind races with this newfound knowledge. You finally knew how you would save the Glade.

#apricity #gender neutral reader #newt x thomas x reader #second person pov #mazerunner #cannon typical violence

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quietbluejay · 24 days ago

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False Gods 5

Horus is right back where he started from in the nice beautiful nature Horus: I'm not dead. what is GOING ON

his last memory is telling Petronella all his memoirs he regrets that a little lol also he thought he saw magnus as one of the wolves lol he decides to go to the river again and then he finds an armoured astartes lying facedown in the water

back over to loken who storms away back to his group who is confused torgaddon explains about the erebus thing nero: so, what do we do now loken is going to go talk to the one man he knows he can trust but back to drowning Hastur Horus is so happy to see him we interrupt this review to bring you the breaking news of two black squirrels getting into a fight under the bird feeder also an extremely loud female woodpecker who is not happy

Horus goes on a bit about Hastur's perfect face and then we finish with how it's basically a mirror of his own why is it that we call Fulgrim the conceited primarch again?

so "Sejanus" tells him he saw the truth after he died and he's been sent back to guide Horus alarm bells start going off in Horus' head the moment "Sejanus" mentions spirits Sejanus tries to hurry Horus along they don't have much time before "he" finds him Horus: huh that's odd. Someone else said that to me. A wolf Sejanus: uhhhhh interesting come on come on chop chop and we get the reveal they're in a pocket of the warp

sejanus: great intelligences in the warp sejanus: no malice though sejanus: pinkie promise

im just gonna quit calling him sejanus now we all know it's erebus erebus: yeah the not-calling-them-chaos-gods want you as their emissary

this appeals to Horus' ego but he's still deeply suspicious anyways things are collapsing the wolves are coming through the portal! erebus massages horus' ego some more to get him to come

let's cut to outside the temple people are now coming to do a vigil for horus a lot of people wonder how many of them end up as human sacrifices

ooo it's this part Horus again he's now in the middle of a crowd that seems to be completely ignoring two giant warriors in their midst

the proportions are apparently grotesque Horus doesn't recognize the figure

and now he is able to identify the statues…

leaving the final statue…the Emperor cmon man tell me how did they depict my boy Horus realizes that this is a temple… yes, says Erebus, it's an entire world that worships the Emperor

and yet look at this vision of the future i'm showing you, says Erebus really makes you think, doesn't it

noooo this can't be true says Horus softly he runs off

he snaps the poor guy's neck horrified, he drops him and runs off horus gets confronted with his own vanity immediately ignores this to think what about meee we get more typical 40k descriptions of the place

hey haven't we already had this one

back over to Loken the Vengeful Spirit feels empty but those who are there swarm him asking for news he's not super happy about that he's dropped off the anathame at the apothecary and now he's looking for Sindermann time to ask about the serpent lodge Sindermann: serpents have been worshipped as a god everywhere humanity recognized divinity ok there's a digression into immortality symbols and Satan and now

and Sindermann found a suspiciously relevant passage in a book

oooo it's a prophecy about the death of the universe back to Horus, it's night in the city and Erebus found him let's leave this horrible place we're going…

youtube

they're on Terra, at the dawn of a new age

lol

Erebus: too bad, you don't have a choice time to go through the door to the secret room with all the tanks

yep as you've probably guessed it's baby primarchs

hey let's go see what Karkasy's up to it has been TWO DAYS since Horus went to the serpent lodge Karkasy is sneakily spreading his poem around when people aren't looking which is easier than usual because it's a ghost town

however he runs into Petronella who is looking super bedraggled and also she's drunk the two of them talk for a bit, she goes "oh right you're a bad poet" and he insults her back

considering what we've already seen on karkasy's views on women this leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth anyways she's got something wild to tell him but we cut back to Horus

Horus goes and looks into each of the tanks

mystery box… Erebus: oh yeah btw the scattering wasn't an accident

horus loses his temper and tells erebus to give it to him straight but we cut away again i am gonna say, the pacing in this book is better than Fulgrim and the way chapters end

over to Keeler now, she's taking pictures of the funky lightning and two of our POV characters have met up, she's met Emperor worshipper moderati primus dude Keeler is now leading the prayer meetings

uh oh Soldier calls her a bitch and says she should be worshipping Horus instead uh ok things are starting to get uglier, her camera gets smashed and she manages to grab a pistol and get ready to shoot but thankfully, Torgaddon shows up

it's Sindermann who asked him so Keeler thinks that it's because someone tattled about her Emperor worship to him

#bluejay reads warhammer #warhammer 40k #horus heresy #Youtube

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blackvahana · 7 months ago

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Unknown Void(?) language, 17/6/24

Lev pointed out last night that, while I was seeing it English, the self-writing book I was working with was actually recording in the same language(?) that the book now at the bottom of the gas-giant-cum-abyssal-ocean was written in.

I don’t want to get too much into it because I’d rather stream it out of me before dissecting it so I don’t start trying to force it into beliefs and rules surrounding what I think it should be…. Guess I’ll just get myself to write another couple pages.

The writing is partly linear. Taking this sketch of one page for example:

All of it’s in black, red’s just to illustrate something later.

The major theme(s) of the page are way bigger than the rest of the writing, sort of leaving it a little like a word-cloud-meets-magnet-altering-iron-filings, the words of the entire things bend towards the main concept… Except they don’t? They do? They heavily seem like they do. It’s more like those realistic portraits that are contained in perfecty concentric circles, you just see a face because the width of the lines is changing in relation to the features of the person being depicted, but the intent to depict the face is there like the intent to depict the gravitation is here.

Various important “words” pop out as larger, though this kind of shows (me) that it’s a… Syllabic set of characters? Characters are a mix between syllables of energy and meaning strung between them, so to a human on this plane’s mind it would pobably be classified as letters/syllables, but the syllables are strung together into temporary characters. This is hard to explain because that may seem like arguing that English words are “temporary characters”, but the difference is that when strung together they energetically become one whole. Think of English letters forming words as bits of pipes screwed together to act as one pipe, characters like kanji as singular tubes of whole pipes, and this more like when you screw the “letters” together they magically merge into one pipe with no screws. Bad metaphor.

It's a very expression-based language. Think of the whole syllabic symbols as words things like how w-o-r-d becomes "werd" when spoken, a single sound, a single unified thing, because we don't speak "w-o-r-d", the act of writing here is much more like the act of speaking than writing. Anyway

Now to the red part. The symbols are written in a way that reminds me of musical notation with sharps and flats. A base character, like a primal sound, is written and then altered by strings of characters above and below it. It’s sort of like writing:

ing driving driving

I go car shops home

am using to to

… to say effectively “I’m going to the shops then coming home”, constructed more like “I am going (driving) to the shops then to (driving) home” with various parts of that conceptualisation implied or spoken in different parts.

Lighter more transient alterations are on top, these are very solar based in my head, then heavier more stagnant, grounding things are on the bottom which are lunar based, though I think it might be more day-night, or light-dark based… I’d have to figure out which person incarnated into me is talking about this though and where it comes from because for me personally sun is grounded, heavy, and stagnant and then the Moon is transient and light.

Actually, I’ve been theorising that this is some version of Void Fae/Shadow Person type talking for. obvious reasons, but if this was more so Light Void + Dark Void = Void that would make more sense. Still, though, I can’t help but notice I smell Grey on it, I guess there’s nothing saying he didn’t learn this from someone and add it to his menagerie of languages.

I am wondering if maybe he took a Void language and then repurposed it slightly in order to call on the Void, which…. Hmm. Possibly. I’ll need to gather selves and investigate.

There is definitely a spoken version of this, I dug it up in muscle memory and oh boy am I not speaking it outside religious and ritual and magical stuff. It’s vibratory, very heavy and intense in, well, vibration. That’s part of why I’m like “Grey, where are you with regards to this..” because. Dragon Gets His Hand On Void’s Open Secrets vibes. Anyway. It's growl-y, it's heavy, it's watery

It’s also very sigil-esque not visually but in terms of magic and manifestation, and sigils are already tied to the Void. It reminds me of a distant great great aunt or something of the “Take an intent, turn it into a sentence, reduce it to letters, then sigilise it" type of sigils, in the way that a younger generation may start trying to reinvent disco while calling it something else without realising its the same kind of thing. In this case though, it's more like the Void expressing itself in parts like this and forming sigil-esque expressions that are only being labelled sigil-esque because people on this plane generally only know how to do what it does through sigils.

#Yeah I'm pretty sure it's Void stuff so #Void magic #Void //#astral diary //#Tool: self-writing books #ramblings //

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miqolena · 2 years ago

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6.4 Tataru's Grand Endeavor Thoughts

I'm not usually the type to share my thoughts on media so soon after consuming it because how I feel is usually just that - feelings, not thoughts - but I feel compelled to share how I felt for anyone who's curious. So I figured I'd think about it some and post what I decided here - posting on twitter before the embargo drops means jumping through annoying spoiler hoops like rot13 etc. Anyway here we go.

I'm not the kind of person who takes screenshots while I go through content for the first time. I find it distracting and cumbersome to look out for Photo Moments and capture them when my character isn't blinking or something. I'd rather focus entirely on what's going on. So I don't have many pictures to go with this, sorry!

I thought the premise of the conflict was neat enough. Like, someone stealing a giant mech? Oh boy, I wonder what's going to be the deal there. But I didn't like the Valens lookalike thing. It felt really... cheap. Like you bought a nice dress at the store but you need to buy one more thing to get a discount so you pick out something ratty and inexpensive but fine, and now you have them both, for better or worse. I was really hoping when Gaius struck him down that he had passed unilateral judgment upon him and killed him outright for the trouble. But New Gaius wouldn't do something like that, of course.

I enjoyed his characterization still. The writers didn't have him depart from his severe and even nature, his frank way of speaking. I was terrified that they would throw a curve ball at me that screamed "You've been doing it wrong for half a million words!!" but that didn't happen. I don't know why I worried. (I do know why. It's because I worry about everything.)

The painting was nice. Like a few other bits, I'll have to make adjustments to fit my canon when I write this in, since in my work Allie carries the memory core in a hip satchel made by Cid at nearly all times, which means it couldn't have been used by surprise to create the projection. I could take this opportunity to let her detach herself from it a little, though. Much to decide.

Gaius' (badly paraphrased) "words are hard sometimes, thanks a bunch" remark near the end really warmed my heart.

Overall it was okay. I didn't come out of it sobbing or overjoyed or anything but I did come out of it relieved that nothing overtly bad happened. Relief colors the whole experience; I anticipated the patch as one anticipates a blow to the body, not knowing where the strike would land. And I left 6.4 Tataru's Grand Endeavor feeling as though nothing had hit me after all.

I'm looking forward to trying to twist the story to maybe be something better than what it was, especially with my canon of tensions between Garlean refugees, Ala Mhigan Resistance soldiers, and Werlyt troops. Maybe the one who steals the mech won't be a Valens lookalike at all... maybe the nature of the theft will be dramatically different. We'll see.

As our supreme director says, please look forward to it.

PS: Gaius has a new idle after the quest is over where he is engrossed in a book, one leg folded over the other. It's adorable. Thank you for this food, devs.

#ffxiv #6.4 spoilers #lena thoughts

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meltedbluecaterpillar · 2 months ago

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Yay..#hydration af 🔥🔥 I'm...having a smootie!

AHH...im so glad..I was shy to bring it up. I really wanna play the game bc usually when smth is a game first its better than the anime? (I think the game was first..) yea..I see all the content subbed bc the eng anime js..kills me. They sound uncannily like teenage white boys that all have mushroom hair and wanna hit ..

Ahh? You write? Smirk???

From what I know it really is just dark fantasy. Like..what dark vampire content HASNT been considered problematic? Even like. Twilight LOL.

Hhhh i don't know his lore..Laito where are you..Laito...Id giggle at a crossover. Laito looks like a Trey Cater with the Ace mindset. And Kanato,,I love him he's a sweety. A little loco but he's so sweettieee..I..only know the brothers..and the mom. That is my last memory of dialovers..was the mom?.. - 🐍

Hello Viper, I’m excited about your smoothie! Yesterday I had a veggie one. I don’t eat vegetables… I usually drink them.

No need to be shy. I am… A lifeless dork. A shut in. So, I know about a lot of animanga related things. Otome especially. The anime was horrible, but I love the music they used. I used to sing along with the opening of the first season. The game is phenomenal. Again, a bit problematic because it’s… Mildly sexist. I actually like The Great Ayato and his bullying… I’m sorry my breasts are tiny… I’ll pray for them to grow so you’ll be happy my lord… Ahem… The English voice acting is horrible. I watched it only in Japanese because I couldn’t stand how lifeless they sounded in English. To my knowledge, and I may be wrong, the game is fully voice acted. You just need a translator.

I do secretly write for DiaLove. I was planning to only post it on Wattpad. I wanted to make a big story called ‘Juice Box’ but I never figured out who I wanted to be the main interest. Since the anime follows Ayato’s storyline heavily, it didn’t feel fair to the other potential routes. But I do sometimes write little oneshots. I just never post them since DiaLove is so niche now. I hope it stays niche. If TikTok discovered it and some of my other favorite games I would rip my heart from my chest and cannibalize myself.

I actually like Twilight a lot. I have a friend who owns the books and I want to finish reading soon. I watched the movies! I say problematic because the boys are pretty sexist and there is a lot of nonconsensual harassment and touching. Also the neck biting scenes are very intimate and have been suggested to be an allegory for sex depending on the scene. Again, usually nonconsensual because Yui/MC has no backbone. There’s also the Mukami brothers + Shin and Carla but usually I focus on the Sakami family… Ahhhhh but no one will stop me from moaning about Yuma. I want to be his stupid sow… I don’t mind… Treat me like livestock and feed me sugar cubes… Ahhhh his abuse feels so good~ Ah- I mean… I don’t condone this stuff outside of fantasy. But USA Nintendo doesn’t want their image ruined by horny vampires.

There are… I think… Three moms? Karl had a few wives, some at the same time cause he’s freaky as hell. One of them actually… The reason Laito acts the way he does… His mom was doing things with him that she shouldn’t. And she does not feel bad about it. But she dies so… We win… Sorta… I love Kanato’s bad ending he’s so odd and sweet at the same time. The game is just one giant rollercoaster of ‘please don’t let me die here I forgot to save again’ and ‘oh the moaning sounds are making me excited…’

I apologize for rambling… I really do love Diabolik Lovers. And because I discovered it at an impressionable age… I’ve turned into a SadoMas. Please tell me… Who your favorite is when you start getting into it… Naturally, The Great Ayato is mine because we act the same and share a birthday… But I want to kiss many of the characters… Ahhhh… Save me…

#absolute answers.#🐍ʚїɞ

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the-firebird69 · 10 months ago

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A man was selling his truck to the car pulling up, this deer had other p...

This year left he left up jumped 15 ft no about 35 ft and right across the whole driveway and hit the pickup truck wrong and was critically injured and died later it's unfortunate for the animal. But we have a job to do and they're saying it's them fighting in the woods then it really is but we're out there getting rid of people who are fighting in the woods so the place doesn't catch on fire and so things don't get destroyed and that's what you're up to and mainly it's the morlock and they're not going to make it. Wish you many warnings about you doing stuff to our son now we're going to follow through on it

Thor Freya

We're threatening you bja I'm trying to hit me again I'm going to run over you with the tractor and it'll be Trump's it was sliding down the hill because of you

Venom

You're right about something that I'm doing is cheesy and wrong no I don't want to get cut in half and you weren't saying that I do get it I might want to shut up sounds like you don't it says I don't have much right now so I'm desperate and he says oh so you get what it's like next time you're the deer and you see that and really we don't have much defenses but what can you do everyone else has to do it who's thanking me he is thanking me I swear to get something people are getting used to it happening I got to get out of here we f***** everything up

Bja

You messed everything up did a nice home and a nice house and everybody was nice to you including my son and you are screwing around with him saying you're going to do him in out loud they said shut up and you wouldn't and you got into fights and you lost and he said don't say that there are other people that mean it now you won't stop saying it to me and him that we need you to shut up.

Camilla

I know something else he's got super powers and he's a baby so he says why don't you go f*** off and you and your idiots but why don't you go write a cartoon up or right into a comic book I'm tired of hearing this s*** you're a negative person and I don't want you in my life he says I want to go do something else go butt f*** a cow I don't care and I mean a real cow you idiot thinking that the cement might travel through making a new bowl and all their other s*** go do something else make a comic book about baby giant I don't care I want you to go somewhere else make a metal boat and take Trump with you this is so f****** bad what you're doing you need to understand you need a hobby that doesn't involve harassing me about some $2 house with some half asinine idiot s*** that got most of your people killed is what you did last time no even if you don't have any memory that's what happened because of your bushwacker or bush bowl whatever you want to call the stupid thing now for one reason or other you lost half your people and you're losing the other half and I'm saying that people are playing you and you don't want to stop what you're doing and it does not help you in any way whatsoever and if your AI boy that I'm Richard Nixon I mean for Christ's sake get a f****** life get a concept do something else try and do something positive nobody hasn't act out here at all I thought you were going to have an act and it turns out you just want to s*** and piss yourself Sandy's going to have an act probably she's going to be wolverine and probably look like him and have a big fight with him cuz she says you're a Grandpa's saber tooth which is really a Sasquatch they're not the same but you know it could be but really you have stuff that's so far off you're out there thinking you're the man because you have nothing I guess it gets worse you become Anakin and become not so right now that empire is taking all your ships not going to have any like zero what to do today nothing it's been doing nothing the whole time that's my argument

Zues Hera

It's my argument too go do something else right here what you doing is just getting rid of yourself and you're hurting us too and it doesn't make any sense and you say you know it and you just keep doing this weird s***

I suppose you're right I should go do something else try and think positive do things that are nice and fun it might work like these guys have a concert you go bull riding and you're doing this dating thing my s*** is rancid I really would go around threatening to set that up and he says that's stupid it doesn't take any effort s here he says it's understandable we're under duress but then he says you have to understand that you have attracted the superpowers and they want me intact and what you're doing is not backing off and they're telling you to and that's the way it is so I guess they are and we're not backing off and we probably should and do something else we're causing our own demise and we want him to put the bill and it says it's been a nightmare it's been an utter nightmare UMass was a complete joke I suddenly see something I didn't want him there and it didn't work and I kept doing it mom and dad told me to go to hell I wouldn't stop I sort of see something this is how it is he has to get through it he has to do these things he's forced to be where he is we're not listening to that or looking at it I think you can go around go where he wants and he doesn't have any money and he says if I had billions of dollars I might still be stuck here and it's for different reasons than you guys you don't care about your people I do see something he's right we extend people all the time we're around doing things when we have to but I do see what he's saying his clans were like this too they're very powerful and real small and they're too small they got discovered and it was over he's really big and secretive and can't move all over the place and we're holding him here and he doesn't really care you're making it miserable so really it's stupid I couldn't help but I was doing and he says there's a few reasons but I was doing it for a bad reason and it's stupid you're blocking people from coming here well there's Trump good job a smile and say yeah that's probably right right there he doesn't know how to switch bike is that's Trump he's an ignorant person so you want to admit to having one who says they're kind of undercover and they really are and yeah I designed them he says now I'm starting to follow something he's very smart and sharp it does not like what we're doing and who would now I've got something to say this place sucks real bad we've got a ship above us we take it out we get to pseudo empire they'll leave and we have the empire and the foreigners have to fight it usually they put the stuff up there and it's too late and it forced to fight I mean this is going to suck for anybody stuck here if we're stuck here it's going to be awful I have to tell people we probably should leave

Bja

There's a lot of people evacuating tonight and it's really down to about 22.5% of the original old fogie population here in Florida. And our son and one of the Stars and he knows who he is says it's really no place for Old Men here. And they are leaving now we think 5% you see 2.5% ready and 2.5% said yeah some more might but really only about 5.5%. there's plenty it'll be the 17% and their population is dropping on the whole it was 27% this morning it might drop to the about 24% by tomorrow morning. So the Giants are messing with me and had me put 14% is really 24% and Trump is trying to have someone say king of wish no thankfully thinking and he is King nothing that's a wrap for tonight pretty soon it's Saturday night.... So he's joking around but really this is stressful he wants you to do something else you're not very good gestures and he's not the one penalizing you and coming down hard on you and you won't leave him alone and your weirdos these masks are after blood and you you just don't seem to get it it's odd so anyways evacuation will continue and out of the Midwest and we're getting similar numbers 5% here 10% there we are going to start grabbing companies we need it and the max are competing and the clones usually they started off and it's chaos and they can't figure out what's going on the clothes needed very badly tonight they're under extreme attack people are saying they started their cycle and we agree that's why it's cold it's going on for a while he says a couple days of this and it's true and it will be a couple more and they might start launching and for god sakes we hope so this is drawn out for a while but really the time is approaching okay it is now the first of February and we are running out of time and runway we going to get this done and it is to save our people and our two leaders and in the long run ourselves so we're going to mention what other battles in a moment

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera it's okay I'm having some difficulties but I'm doing better he said other fleets will be trying to go there and they'll be crushed right now I see that the planet toys are heating up and fleets are fighting over there and they're fighting off Saturn and they don't want anyone there and it's going to be a much bigger fight we think the foreigners and the max are going to sit there bja Trump and other Mac morlock are beaten their fleet is pretty much going to be gone in a few minutes they're telling them to surrender and they refuse to. The pseudo empire has fled. And what's next is the battles here on Earth we feel that the warlock will lose because they don't have air support and they will lose their bases but my husband thinks that the morlock might take over because the last time they had only a few ships they took over bases and gasoline refill and infiltrated and took over spaceships tons of them and I seem to go back and forth pretty badly I've seen it so I have to agree that if there are people left it will and he says it's a ton of them and there's a lot more of them but really it's not huge odds but the pseudo I'm sorry the minority kind of support the morlock in doing it and all together they're large and they're saying 14% now it's 17% roughly or 16% Plus 7%, so yeah they're at 23% or so versus 7% and that's not that great it's 3 three to one but really they are not as good at but that's almost even and that's what it looks like in the future you're going to have a war they are going to have a war and it's not going to be pretty the empire is trying to infiltrate and have exclusive rights here so they're having you threatened my son no my husband yeah that's right and as far as a joke and I just keep doing it so he says we might lose the stuff we have to print but really the empire is going to try and do that and we're fighting them foreigners are too over Florida now so far about 10% of the land no it's about 35% of the land has been given up but really inhabited territory is only about 14% of what they had recently it really given up about 65% of their lands and a whole bunch of people left here half of them are gone and they're going out into the rings about 300,000 and to fight the pseudo empire and they probably won't make it and there have been losses but the neighborhood still has a hundred it has 120 they're saying Mac morlock households that's a lot and it's quite a bit but it's a lot less than they used to have and it's going down tonight there are only a few regions and not a full household going out.

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