#we started brainstorming for this thing about a year ago and it's still just as funny to me now as it was back then | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ginoeh · 4 months

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Dream’s Coat (TM), pretty please??

@chaosheadspace asked for the same! Here you go, lovelies...

This is probably not what you think it is. Or, idk, maybe it's exactly what you think it is? Because both of you know that I'm actually a little dark angst writer at heart lol.

Okay, so this started a long time ago (read: in March last year) in a wild and hilarious brainstorming session that I saved the transcript of. So far, this is more of an intriguing concept to make Hob suffer and Dream repent - eventually at least. I haven't touched it in a while; I'd have to really dig into Dream's fucking ugly side - the 10000 years in hell side - to get this going.

It all started with a 'what-if' variation of @messmonte 's Saddest Wank (1889 instead of 1989!) because in that drawing, Dream didn't just leave his gloves, he also left his Cloak. Here, this has pretty severe consequences. In SoM, the story gets told of how Dream takes Nada into the Cloak where they have sex unbothered by anyone's gaze. So there we have a ‘magical cloak’ with space-time special features…

~~~

Now here is Hob, in 1889, drunk and sad and wearing Dream's gloves to get himself off in a seedy room above the White Horse. He took the garments his Stranger left behind in a mixture of spite and pathetic hope that he might come back for them. He doesn't, of course.

(Snippets and more details under the cut)

(Hob doesn't know that Jessamy *has* actually come back to get them and gets to witness what is going on. This, as well, has consequences)

After, he rolls over onto the cloak he has been gripping, disgusted with himself but still unable to let go of the pathetic need to be close to the Stranger. But instead of falling asleep, he falls into the star-studded folds of the cloak.

And falls and falls and falls.

He barely manages to keep a grip on the strangely wispy fabric. It's what saves him, at first. Because Hob has just managed to accidentally yeet himself into outer space. The cloak is the only thing that's keeping him whole and sustained as a living being, as it were.

(Jessamy is unfortunate bystander to this. She takes off to the Dreaming immediately and informs Dream of his ‘acquaintance's’ mishap. She's worried - she actually likes Hob and knows that Dream does so, as well. Dream though, is still furious.

“Let him enjoy this new experience then”, he says and Jessamy recognizes the stubborn curl to her Lord's mouth. “May he experience the meaning of true loneliness for a while.”

Jessamy rather thinks that Lord Morpheus is really tipping his hand there about *who* had it right at their meeting but she'd never dare to point that out.

She has a really really bad feeling about what this might mean for Hob Gadling, though. Since her Lord is so intent on forgetting that the immortal is, above all else, human and as such not made to sustain himself outside of his own world.

And besides, he is a Dreamer. Lord Morpheus will surely reconsider soon and bring him back.

But as time passes, he does not.

Hob Gadling is not one of Dream's priorities, after all. In the face of the Universe nearly unravelling, the Corinthian's disobediance and its fallout, Hob Gadling gets forgotten for the better part of a century.)

On the other end of the universe, Hob's life is an unending and undying nightmare. He is neither starving, freezing nor suffocating - not that he knows that he should do the last two - but there is nothing around him but the vastness of space. No sound, no smell, no touch but that of the cloak around his shoulders. He is truly alone for the first time in his existence.

Until, suddenly, he isn't.

“Oh my what do we have here,” a voice resounds inside his head. His perception slides sideways, something breaks somewhere in his mind and then there is the form of a voluptuous, incandescently beautiful woman that takes over everything around him.

“A human - here! Covered in my Dream's regard!”

She stretches a hand towards him and Hob thinks that space has decided to cease existing. Maybe he's going mad.

“If I keep you, do you think my son will visit?”

***

Dream does, of course, remember Hob eventually. The horror that rises in Dream, still caught in Burgess’ basement, over what he has allowed a Dreamer to suffer for his own mistake, is as dark and deep and cold as the black hole he has once been cast into.

After he escapes and has gathered his tools, he searches out his sister.

“Hob Gadling? No, he hasn't asked for me.”

She falls silent for a moment before leveling a longsuffering and suspicious look at him.

“Is there a particular reason you're asking me this?”

Dream closes his eyes and shreds the rest of the mauled baguette between his fingers.

“He may have. Fallen though an actualized piece of my power. Into space. And I may have been. Too angry to care. At the time.”

There is the rustle of clothes and he feels Death kneeling before him. Her voice, when she speaks, is very soft and very serious.

“Dream? When, exactly, has this happened.”

He opens his eyes.

“Hob Gadling has suffered my wrath since 1889, sister. I hurt a Dreamer, unprovoked.”

“Oh, Dream.”

He cannot bear the horrified pity on his sister's face.

“How shall I -” His words fail him.

“Go and get him back, Dream. Now. Hob Gadling hasn't called for me - yet. If that will help you, though, I don't know.”

~~~

Or: A pathetic wank and Dream's canonically bad decision making skills meets the 'meeting the parents trope' but make it eldritch horror. Then add a magical healing journey afterwards an voilá - you get this.

Yeah I can still make this Dreamling despite their horrifically bad start. Watch me lol.

#dream of the endless #hob gadling #dreamling #the sandman fanfiction #death of the endless #ginoeh writes #wip tag game #edit: forgot to @ messmonte who's art started this whole thing lol

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meridiansdominoes · 22 days

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Hi! I've read Dominoes and Espirit D'Corps (probably butchered that, but it's French, so) like. At least a dozen times each. I love both so much. I always cry at the part where Kyber and Hevy meet--its just. It's so good!!!

Can I ask how you came up with the plot? If you want, feel free to rant about your creative process, I'd really like to know how your brain works

Hi! I'm so so glad you've been enjoying them! Thank you so much!

Oh my, about how I came up with the plot, haha... hm. Well, for Dominoes, it was back when I was in high school and clone wars was in full swing, so I was reading a TON of fanfiction. I had noticed that there were tons and tons of fanfiction where Jedi are thrown back in time or given a chance to try and fix the timeline, and many of them were very good! But there were very few that dealt with clones in that situation back then. I noticed this because of my clone obsession, haha, I really wanted one, but I couldn't find anything to satisfy me. As I thought about it more, I realized it could be really interesting to see how non Force-sensitive characters would deal with such a situation, especially ones that don't have nearly as much authority as a Jedi. Figuring out that dynamic was fascinating for me, and so rough drafts of the first chapter began! In the beginning I didn't even have a reason for how or why they time traveled, either. I just wanted it to happen, so I wrote it! It's been fun putting things together to make the plot more coherent now. Of course, this was before we got news that season 7 would be released, so I had no idea we would get more Echo content, thus his involvement with the bad batch and survival past the techno union nonsense isn't included, but it's still been fun!

For Esprit de Corps... I remember it was new year's eve several years ago and I was having some serious writer's block with Dominoes, so I decided to pull up a blank document. I had just watched the Force Awakened again and was mourning the lack of Finn character development, and started to brainstorm how his interactions with the clones would have gone. That led me to remember the term 'esprit de corps', which basically refers to a sense of kinship or loyalty felt between members of a group... and then 'esprit' looks a lot like 'espiritu', which is spirit in Spanish... so then I thought it would be really fun if ghost clones were helping Finn throughout his adventure. It really evolved from there!

Thanks for the ask haha! It was fun to remember how these fics began! Keep an eye out for updates in the near future ;)

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otomiyaa · 1 month

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The Foreigner

JingRen AU ft. Sampo

A/N: Posting this here after all cuz why not. A fic I wrote for a friend a while ago. I got the request for lee Sampo and lers Jing Yuan and Blade, we brainstormed a little and this was the result. Please note I'm currently still catching up on 2.1 so be careful with talking to me about any Honkai lore/spoilers 😅

Summary: Jing Yuan and Blade confront a mysterious foreigner called Sampo Koski who tried to sneak into the Xianzhou Luofu. Things get quite interesting, for all three of them. (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 2.2K

He was late. Jing Yuan glanced at the door. Usually around this time of the day, Blade would make his entrance. A moment he found himself looking forward to more than he would like to admit. Blade visiting his office like a regular visitor was something he couldn’t have dreamed of for many many years.

Ever since Blade had come to accept and realize that Dan Feng was truly gone, his waves of mara-caused madness started to reduce significantly. With time, Jing Yuan was delighted to finally see some traces of his trusted old friend, who despite their differences appeared motivated to exchange his Stellaron Hunter missions for regular visits, reporting to Jing Yuan about occurrences in the world, the good and bad.

As they grew closer through these frequent visits, the feelings of familiarity may have gotten Jing Yuan a little too confident in reconciling with Blade, suggesting him to leave behind the Stellaron Hunters indefinitely and aid him with his duties at the Xianzhou Luofu instead.

Surely he did not expect Blade would agree. Well, Kafka’s support may have played a vital role. Even if Blade would have said ‘no’, she seemed to insist he should stay behind and find a new role to fulfill, fully supporting the ‘happiness of Bladie’.

Jing Yuan smiled. He felt comfortable, spending time with Blade who he shared a past with that connected them like no one else at the Xianzhou Luofu. Jing Yuan was just closing his eyes to reminisce about the past some more, when finally the door opened and Blade arrived.

“Welcome back, Captain. You are quite late,” Jing Yuan said fondly. He nowadays called Blade captain, even though he was never officially assigned to such a position, he often assisted him so much he might as well be one.

“Jing Yuan. There’s an infiltrant,” was Blade’s short answer. Jing Yuan chuckled. Blade was not the small-talk kind of person.

“An infiltrant hm? Fine. Send him in.”

He loved to see how Blade was literally treated as a captain when he merely had to call out “Guards!” and they came in to bring in their… guest.

“We brought the infiltrant,” they reported, shoving the man forward. Blade caught the stranger by the arm.

“Infiltrant? Now now now!” the man responded in a theatrical manner, pulling himself free before spreading his arms and making a full 360 degree twirl. Blade simply caught him again, shaking his head.

“Hello General,” Yanqing said, joining Blade, the foreigner and two guards in Jing Yuan’s office.

“This man was caught making his way into the Xianzhou ships. We do not know how he boarded, nor what his intentions are. When we demanded him to tell us his identity, he said-”

“-that I am Sampo Koski, a businessman, chaperon, and problem-solving conversationalist, visiting all the way from Belobog to help boost your economy.”

“....That,” Yanqing said. Jing Yuan stared at all of them, then at Sampo, and at Blade. He chuckled.

“Interesting,” he hummed. “Yanqing, please get in touch with our friends from the Astral Express. If this foreigner claims to visit from Jarilo-VI, they might be familiar with him. In the meantime, I will question him here. Blade, if you could assist…”

Blade nodded and dragged Sampo towards him while Yanqing and the guards left the room. As soon as the door closed, it was silent.

“So. Sampo Koski,” Jing Yuan said slowly, walking closer to study the man’s remarkable appearance.

“For what reason, may I ask, would you visit the Xianzhou Luofu? Unannounced, uninvited. Startling my men,” Jing Yuan wondered.

“Business! Business of course. I come in peace, General.”

Jing Yuan exchanged glances with Sampo. “Did they search him?” he asked. Blade did not answer but while not letting go of Sampo’s arm, instantly began to feel around his pockets.

“Hehehey! Woohaha, cahahareful!” Sampo laughed, dancing and wiggling under the sudden touch. Jing Yuan noted the funny laugh, and Blade reacted with a low grunt.

“Quit your squirming,” he huffed, continuing to search him.

“Let me help. Hold him still,” Jing Yuan said. To think Blade had ever been his prisoner before. Back then he would not have appreciated Jing Yuan telling him commands like this. How times had changed. Right now they worked together, and he smiled when Blade held both Sampo’s arms tightly so Jing Yuan could search his pockets. It made him laugh a lot.

“Hehehello! Sohoho inahahapropriate!” he cackled. Jing Yuan glanced at him. Was he that sensitive? Honestly.

“Credits, a lot of them. Not the usual amount you expect one should carry. Where did you get them?” Jing Yuan asked, putting his findings aside.

“Theft! Hey! I earned those, fair and square. Like I said, I’m an innocent fella coming over to do business! Hehehey stohohop!” Sampo yelled when Jing Yuan patted higher to find if anything else was hidden under his clothes.

“What is his problem ?” Blade asked. He sounded so frustrated it made Jing Yuan smile. How amusing.

“Never met a ticklish person before, Blade?” he asked. To demonstrate he pinched Sampo’s lower side, eliciting a loud yelp from the man.

“That’s nohohot okay !” he protested. The pinch was effective though, since Jing Yuan felt something right at that spot.

“Blade… Hold him tight.”

He probably didn’t need to tell him that, and Jing Yuan calmly tugged at Sampo’s clothing, fingers digging underneath it to grasp the thing he felt just now. Not without the unnecessary noise though.

“Hehehey! Wahahatch it! Hahaharrassmehehent!” he laughed. It was a crumbled piece of paper. Jing Yuan unfolded it and turned it for Blade and Sampo to see.

“A wanted poster? Yours?” he asked, confused. He looked at it again and frowned to see someone’s signature on it. It was very curly and gracious, but not informative.

“So, you claim to be from… Belobog. Should we rephrase that into: a wanted criminal from Belobog?” he asked, holding up the poster again. Sampo gasped.

“Me, a criminal? Nooo. That signature, you see. It’s from Gepard Landau himself!”

Jing Yuan and Blade exchanged glances.

“Who?”

Sampo nodded triumphantly. “Geppie. Captain of Silvermane Guards, very skilled, very handsome. He signed that for me. It’s just a token of our relationship.”

“...Why would he sign this?” Jing Yuan couldn’t help but think this man was wasting his time, but at the same time, he was wasting both his and Blade’s time, which made this situation only more amusing and entertaining.

“It’s a long story. But you see Gepard likes me. So, I can only suggest you release me. Let’s not jeopardize the diplomatic relationship between Belobog and the Xianzhou Luofu now shall we?”

“I have no idea what diplomatic relationship he is speaking of. Do you want me toー?” Blade already made a motion to get violent with the poor rambling man, but at that moment Yanqing came in.

“I received word from the Astral Express. Sampo Koski is indeed confirmed to be a mercenary from the Underworld of Belobog,” Yanqing reported.

Sampo raised his eyebrows. “You see?” he asked.

“They also say he can’t be trusted.”

Sampo’s jaw dropped. “Wait - t-that’s all they’re saying? Let them demand my release! March 7th and Stelle are my best, best friends!” he rambled. Jing Yuan almost wanted to laugh at the fact that Dan Heng wasn’t mentioned in this context.

“No one is demanding anyone’s release. Thank you, Yanqing. We will deal with him accordingly,” Jing Yuan thanked him, and Yanqing nodded and left them alone again.

“So, business man from Belobog. Whether you are wanted by Jarilo-VI’s Silvermane Guards or not, one question remains unclear. Why are you here , and how did you slip past the guards on our ship?”

“I know of ways to make him talk if y-” Blade was cut off by Sampo’s renewed bouts of laughter; Jing Yuan casually tapped his fingers against his lower side, impressed by how much it tickled him.

“I do too, Blade. Trust me,” he said, improvising. If his relation to Belobog was still unclear, he was not going to bring harm to him. However, if this man already proved to be this ticklish from a mere pat-down, then he was more than happy to see how much this certain sensitivity could help them further.

“What are you doing?” Blade hissed, barely hearable through Sampo’s laughter.

“Persuading our guest, Blade. If he’s a friend of this Captain Gepard Landau, it is not my intent to hurt him. However, some persuasion to give us more information will do the trick.”

Jing Yuan clawed very lightly at Sampo’s lower sides, and the man jerked in Blade’s hold.

“Hehehehey nohohot thahahat!” he shrieked. Oh, this was way too easy.

“Persuasion? You are playing around,” Blade responded, but Sampo’s arms were still trapped in his grip and he wasn’t letting go.

Blade’s confusion and frustration only encouraged Jing Yuan more to keep up this silly game with their foreign guest.

“Join me, Blade,” Jing Yuan said, smiling gently at Blade who looked like he was having the worst day ever.

“You have to be kidding me,” he replied angrily. With Sampo Koski’s hysterical laughter in the background, it only sounded funnier.

“I am not,” Jing Yuan said. Blade rolled his eyes.

“You are insufferable,” he said, but still he did let go of Sampo so he could claw viciously all over his ribs, almost looking like he was going to tear the man apart, but the tickling did seem to be working since Sampo flailed his freed arms wildly and screeched.

“WHAHahat ihihis this ahahah! This plahahace is sohoho weheheird!” he laughed. Jing Yuan didn’t care that he was giving the impression that this was the normal way of doing interrogations at the Xianzhou Luofu. He was having fun with Blade here, and he was convincing the mysterious foreigner to speak the truth. Two flies, one stone.

“See? It’s easy,” Jing Yuan said when Blade effortlessly moved his fingers against Sampo’s torso, making him laugh and wheeze as he struggled in between them.

“It’s ridiculous,” Blade argued. And yet, he was cooperating. Jing Yuan smiled. He had switched his tactics to poking Sampo’s tummy relentlessly, and he went back to interrogating him.

“Mr. Koski, if you wish to make the torture stop, I encourage you to confess everything we want to know. Who are you really, why and how are you here. It’s that simple.”

“AHahahah! I cahahan’t tahahalk like thihiihis!”

“You are talking now, so I’m sure you’ll-” mid-tickle, Jing Yuan’s hands accidentally touched Blade’s, and for some reason that made him stop talking. Blade immediately pulled his hands back and moved them up all of a sudden, digging his fingers under Sampo’s arms and tickling his armpits viciously.

“You know what you are doing,” Jing Yuan complimented while Sampo’s voice did quite something else.

“AAAHAHahah hahahang on! Ahahaalright - I’ll speheheheak! Nonono not thehehere!”

“Stop talking,” Blade said. Was he… flustered? Maybe a little. Jing Yuan chuckled.

“I can’t help it. It makes me happy that perhaps you may remember we used to do this, back in the High-Cloud Quintet days.”

“Nonsense,” Blade said, but he wasn’t reacting too harshly.

“Do you remember?” Jing Yuan urged.

“I do not.”

Jing Yuan smiled fondly. If he was the only one remembering that in a distant past they would get silly and tickle each other - well mostly he would tickle Yingxing and piss him off - then maybe one day he should help Blade remember.

“I sahahaid I’ll speheheak! Nohohoo !” Jing Yuan only noticed now he had been drilling his fingers into Sampo’s torso while keeping his eyes locked with Blade’s.

Blade also blinked and dug his fingers under Sampo’s arms some more, making him howl.

“Whhaahaht is happeniihihiing aaahahaha!” Sampo cried helplessly, unable to shake both of them off. Jing Yuan figured they had gotten a little lost in their own world, and he snapped out of it.

“Right. That should do it.” Blade understood him well and also stopped the tickling. Sampo sank on his knees and gasped for air.

“I can handle it from here. Will I see you at dinner, later?” Jing Yuan asked. Blade looked at him, his expression somehow different than before the strange shared tickle interrogation thing, and he nodded.

“Yes. Later.” He walked away and left the room. Only Sampo was still left, on his hands and knees, shivering as he recovered from his laughing fit.

“Mr. Koski, shall we try again? I ask you a question, and you give me your honest answer.”

“Or else… You’ll tickle me huh?” Sampo said breathlessly. Jing Yuan chuckled.

“I might.”

“A-alright then,” Sampo said, and as he started to talk in a less arrogant and theatrical, more serious manner, Jing Yuan listened, but at the same time drifted off as he thought of Blade.

He wasn’t sure if it was the nostalgia, or the shared action of making a random person laugh. Laughter could be a medicine after all, even if it wasn’t their own?

Somehow he felt like this encounter with the strange foreigner changed something between them, in a positive way, and he couldn’t wait to improve and rebuild his relationship with Blade more after this. Heh. Thank you. Sampo Koski.

#honkai star rail #jingren #sampo koski #jing yuan #blade #tickling #tickle fic #otomiya!writes #hsr #au #lee!sampo #ler!jingyuan #ler!blade

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kaihuntrr · 1 month

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one-year anniversary!

HI. oh my goodness can you believe its been a WHOLE YEAR (and a day, im posting this a day later OOPS-) since i started working on this au? i dont think i started working on the chapters until... the -ber months? but the general brainstorming started now and oh my GOD the amount of changes that has happened while working on this au is insane! im absolutely floored with how much people enjoy this au, and while im too busy to be posting art (im doing some personal work!) i have all the time in the world to talk about how much this means to me.

i've written things in the past, but i havent for the LIFE of me worked on such a long project such as this (we're only halfway through act one of FIVE!) and learning and growing with such wonderful betas and partner (ehehe @mewhoismyself hello there) is just so wonderful <3

SO! in order to make this anniversary special, i've decided to post a little cut/practice scene from act two! this couldnt make the cut with what the plot has in mind, but i figured itd be best to have some nice moments with scott and martyn, eh?

OH! and before i go, the next chapter will be posted a day earlier! <3 im going abroad the day after the original chapter posting date, so i need to rest. i think this back half of the fic is gonna be really something <3

anyway, i wont keep you here for longer. i hope you have a fun time reading this, just as much as my partner and i had fun writing this so many months ago <33

Martyn tried to listen as Scott rambled on about what he’d been up to, how nice it had been to see his friends again. He even tried to let the small twist of jealousy at Scott being so happy over seeing someone else wrench his attention back into the moment, but it didn’t work. The face of Pearl kept flashing in the forefront of his mind, her eyes and jagged scar glowing unnaturally under the moonlight.

“Oh, and…,” Scott continued to ramble on, but Martyn still couldn’t focus. It seemed that Scott had noticed as his voice trailed off and he looked at the blonde with a tilted head. “Martyn…?”

Martyn gave a grumbled response. His mind blocked out the world around him as he pictured brief flashes of the island, the hollow and desolate stares of the people, the wicked laugh coming from Pearl….

Scott sighed. “Martyn….”

Martyn could still feel a slight buzz in his head from where he was hit. How much blood did he lose back there? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he was glad to be alive. Glad that he was here, still breathing, like everyone else. Glad that he was–

“Martyn!”

Martyn jerked as Scott’s face was suddenly inches from his own. Scott’s lips were twisted into a pout and his eyebrows were drawn into a scowl. “Huh- sorry, what?”

Scott sighed, letting his head fall forward, “So you weren’t listening to me….”

“No!” Martyn said quickly, throwing his hands up. Panic leapt in his chest, making his heart beat faster. He didn’t want Scott to think he was ignoring him…! “No, I- I’m… I’m sorry…,” he hung his head. “I’m trying to listen- I’m not meaning to ignore you, I just….” Martyn looked down at the sand beneath him. Guilt welled up in his throat. He’d been so eager to see Scott while he was away, and before he’d gotten back, and now that he was actually here… Martyn was ignoring him. He was making Scott feel ignored.

Martyn shook his head, forcing a huge smile onto his face. “So, you said you saw your friends, right? Did you have fun-? Oh, what am I saying, you just said you had fun- haha…,” Martyn scrubbed the back of his head, then straightened up, rolling to his feet. “Hey, do you wanna go see if we can find your bird friend? I bet it’s missed you too!” He pointed towards a path leading up to the forest, “Bet he lives in there somewhere…!”

“Um- Martyn…,” Scott trailed off looking after him.

Martyn took a few steps backwards, away from Scott, and spread his arms, hoping he’d follow. “Or we can go down to the beach! It’s a nice day, it’ll feel great to splash in the water a little.”

“Martyn.”

“Or- oh, we can go see the decorations they’re setting up for the festival down in the center of town. You said you were excited right, so we can-!”

“Martyn!” Scott snapped.

Martyn stopped.

Scott took the few steps to close the distance between them, laying his hand on Martyn’s arm, then sliding it down to take his hand. He tilted his head, giving Martyn big sad eyes. “Martyn, talk to me…. What’s wrong?”

It was hard for Martyn to not crack under Scott’s gaze. “It’s just…,” he trailed off, trying to put his thoughts into words. He was just engrossed in them a second ago, but now, trying to tell Scott, he couldn’t think of what to say. “I… uh….”

“You’re alright, Martyn,” Scott rubbed his thumb over Martyn’s hand in a small, circular motion. “Take your time.”

A small pause fell over him. Martyn could hear the slow ebbs of the waves before he managed to speak. “I can’t get her out of my mind,” his voice spat with venom. Pearl’s sadistic glee, her manic grin, her ever-looming presence burned in his head. Martyn’s grip unknowingly tightened around Scott until he looked the other in the eye. His grip on Scott lessened as he looked away. “What good can I be to protect you, when I can’t defend myself from one person?”

“Who said I needed protecting?” Scott raised an eyebrow, his tone still soft but with a hint of skepticism as he leaned to the side to catch Martyn’s gaze again. He let out a weak chuckle and moved his other hand to rest on Martyn’s cheek. “Besides, you can’t protect me from everything.”

Martyn leaned into the touch, not caring how warm his cheeks felt as Scott’s delicate hand pressed into his skin, lightly grazing over the scar Pearl caused. He closed his eyes as he let out a sigh and drooped his shoulders. “But I want to…,” he muttered. He looked at Scott, his face scrunched with worry. “I don’t want you getting hurt at all, Scott.”

“There’s going to be times where I get hurt, Martyn,” Scott narrowed his eyes and withdrew his hand from Martyn’s cheek. Martyn was wide-eyed, only for Scott to hold the hunter’s other hand. “When that happens, all I’d ask is for you to help me get back on my feet.”

Martyn could feel his nerves freeze up at Scott’s warm hold. His gentle stare and concern on his face nearly caused Martyn’s heart to explode. A million things swirled in his mind as the breeze wafted over. “I can’t help it,” he lowered his head, biting his lip. “You should be protected, with all the chaos going around–”

“What chaos?” Scott cracked a smile and shook his head. He shrugged, letting go of one of Martyn’s hands as he gestured around. “All there is to see is you, me, and the beach. Nothing to worry about, right?”

Nothing to worry about for now, but so many things could happen in the blink of an eye. Martyn could practically hear the sound of the sea princes’ ringing in his ears, the one from his dreams laughing as its mouth opened wide to swallow Scott as he screamed-....

No. Martyn needed to be prepared for anything, so nothing bad could ever happen to the people he cared for. Nothing. Never again.

“I still want to fight for you,” his voice was barely a whisper in the wind, cracking a bit from the emotions that crawled up the back of his throat. But seeing Scott’s attentive look, with the slight tilt of his head, Martyn knew he could hear him. “Can I at least do that?” he pleaded. He needed to-. He needed to.

“You may,” Scott nodded, giving him a small smile. Then his eyes narrowed as a smirk crept onto his lips. “So- I’d like to see how you fight.”

Martyn opened his mouth to respond- just in time for a woosh of breath to leave him as his back hit the ground. Martyn gasped, blinking for several seconds as he tried to figure out he’d gotten laid flat out on his back… with a certain ginger pinning his shoulders to the sand.

“Yikes…,” Scott teased, his eyebrows rising, complimenting the wide grin on his face.

Martyn sputtered, his face immediately flushing beat red. “I wasn’t ready! Sneak- sneak attack…!”

Scott laid one arm across his chest, propping his other elbow on top of it and laying his cheek in his hand. “Most things will take an opportunity for a sneak attack, when presented with one.” He kicked his feet in the air, as if he was lounging on a couch reading a book.

Martyn flushed all the way to his ears. “Redo!”

Scott leaned his head down, smiling at Martyn in a way that was almost sickeningly sweet. “Are you waiting for a written invitation?”

Martyn grabbed Scott by the shoulders and surged upwards, knocking the ginger off of him. Scott laughed as he slipped his grip, ducking under one of Martyn’s arms to wrap his arms around Martyn’s torso.

Before Martyn’s brain could fully process that, Scott had rolled Martyn over top of him and planted him flat on his back again.

Working on instinct more than pre-thought, Martyn wrapped his arms around Scott’s shoulders and kicked off the sand. He knocked his thigh against Scott’s hip, bumping him off balance just enough to send them rolling over again.

But Scott didn’t end up on his back underneath Martyn.

Somehow, mid flip, he’d slithered around Martyn’s torso, ducking his arm again and getting outside of his hold. Martyn ended up with his face in the sand and a knee pressed between his shoulders, shoving him down further.

Martyn was about to push himself up with his arms, using his strength advantage to throw Scott off of him, but Martyn froze when he felt something sharp curl around his throat.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even swallow. He could barely even breathe.

Suddenly the sharp points of crescent bladed scythes were touched against his neck so delicately. Suddenly the sharp claws of a hungry beast wrapped around his throat, pricking the skin above his jugular. One wrong move and she’d slid his throat. One wrong breath and the beast would tear him to ribbons.

A figure above him bent down to whisper in his ear.

“I win!” Scott chirped brightly. He laughed as he withdrew his fingernails from where he’d curled them around Martyn’s throat. “You really do need more practice. Though I’d be happy to oblige…,” his voice turned sing-songy as he plopped back on the sand, his arms holding him up.

Martyn slowly pushed himself upwards, staring down at the sand where his face had been in utter bafflement. Why had that felt-? Why was he-? Why was his heart beating so fast? Why… did he feel like he’d just been hunted…?

“That- that uh…,” Martyn stammered, not really sure what he wanted to say. “You’re a lot better fighter than I thought you’d be.” He turned his head to look at Scott, pushing himself up so he was sitting on his knees.

“I know,” Scott smiled widely, tipping his head back and forth, “Do I impress you, Martyn?” He smiled and hummed teasingly, his eyes narrowed in a joyful satisfaction.

“Always,” he breathed, a lot more genuine and heartfelt than he’d meant to. Scott’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Martyn felt his face flush and he looked down at the sand. Well, he was in this far. “I think you’re amazing.”

“Thank you…,” Scott said with a shy little smile. A light hint of red dusted his cheeks. He looked… really nice like that.

Martyn shook his head, roughly clearing his throat. “Well um, as- as fun as this was… I was actually referring to- to my gun combat more than my hand-to-hand.”

“Uh huh,” Scott answered with a small smirk, not sounding like he believed him. “Well, maybe I could help you with that as well.”

“You know how to use a gun?” Martyn asked, more than a little shocked. How… how much did he really know about Scott?

Scott opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked to the side, then looked back at Martyn. “Noooo…?” he admitted, grinning sheepishly. He sighed, rolling his eyes a bit, “To be honest I thought you were still flirting, not that that was a serious question. And now, well… I’m just embarrassed.”

“Oh.” Martyn tried to hide his sigh of relief. It was one thing to just not know that Scott was a capable fighter -he was a tavern keeper who dealt with rowdy drunks all the time, Martyn honestly should have expected it- but it was another thing to not know that Scott was a trained gunman. For some reason they felt different. Martyn felt a grin split his face. “Would-... would you like me to teach you…?”

“Teach me what?” Scott’s eyebrows pinched together for a brief moment, then shot up towards his hairline, “How to use a gun?”

“Yeah,” Martyn grinned, “It’ll be like the time I was taught!”

“When were you taught?” Scott tilted his head.

“I think I was… seven? My parents knew I wanted to be a hunter, so they taught me,” Martyn hummed, looking out at the beach. He could remember the eagerness in his voice when he asked his parents to teach him. He only knew of the dangers through them and the people he lived around, but he knew his heart was calling out to the sea more than anything else. “I needed practice, like everyone else, but I’m a natural. A crack shot, they’d told me!” He laughed. Shooting a target from far away was much easier than fighting with swords or his bare hands.

Scott blinked, processing Martyn’s words. He slowly turned his head to Martyn, eyes widening in shock as all sense of his playfulness dropped. “You were a child when you learned how to use those?”

“Yeah…? I wanted to be a hunter, Scott, so I learned early.” Martyn looked at Scott and shrugged, feeling the ginger’s gaze on his skin felt… different. Martyn learned how to use guns to be a hunter, not to– oh. Was Scott thinking Martyn would…? Martyn shook his head and raised his hands up. “But I can’t shoot a person. A sea monster is easy because they’re big and stupid, but a person…?”

Scott had a judgemental look on his face as it scrunched up. He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, resting his head on it as he sighed. “Ending a person’s life is hard, and I’m happy you haven’t shot anyone, but…,” he trailed off. Martyn leaned closer to Scott as he raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s a little concerning?”

“What’s concerning?”

“You learned how to shoot things, how to kill things, as a kid,” Scott looked away, gripping his arms tighter as he watched the waves flow in and out. “Every life has a purpose; from you, to me, and even the beasts in the ocean.”

Martyn narrowed his eyes. Exactly what purpose could those monsters serve? Being ocean terrors? An effective way to kill humans and destroy ships? To bring fear in the hearts of children? To kill Ren- Jimmy? Why were there monsters in the ocean? Why should there be?

“They’re monsters, Scott.” Martyn hissed, anger rising in his voice.

“They’re animals,” Scott hissed back, his face pinching into an expression that was almost pained. “They’re just animals….”

“They’re heartless, cruel, and always starving.” Martyn huffed, pulling out his gun to examine it under the sunlight. Horrible beasts. Disgusting monsters. Murderers. “They’re such horrible, unnatural beasts that every mechanic in the world works to develop better guns and weapons to kill them all.”

He didn’t fully notice the way Scott shied away from the gun in his hand. “You’re lucky you don’t need to leave the kingdom to see those ugly things,” Martyn spat.

“Ugly…,” Scott grumbled, turning his head away, like he was offended by the notion. “Well, I’m sure most of them would think the same about you.”

Martyn blinked, giving Scott a double take. Ugly…?

Scott let out a sigh as he stretched and uncurled his legs and arms to stretch out in front of him. He picked up a small handful of sand and watched it fall through his fingers. “Every life is precious, every life is running on limited time. I’m not an idiot. I know things die. But there’s no reason to cut it shorter than it needs to be. ” He smiled wistfully, tossing the rest of the sand forward. “The sea is… scary, but maybe if you had an open mind, you’d see there’s more to it than monsters.”

Martyn followed Scott’s gaze and stared. Was there anything more to them? Surely not. The fondness in Scott’s voice was hard to believe- but the man has never even seen any beast to Martyn’s knowledge. The fond tone that Scott spoke about those- those monsters with… it honestly made Martyn angry. Those monsters took away the people he cared about. The people he loved. People he cherished. Jimmy, Ren… and so many other innocent people lost their lives to the sea, Lizzie’s parents…. The ocean took all of them, and there was nothing to blame but the monsters that infested it.

“They’re monsters, nothing more than that,” he spat, emotions in his chest wrenching into a tight knot that made it hard to breathe. He swung his arm out to the side, bringing his gun up in front of his chest as he rose to his knees, almost looming over Scott. “I know what they are, Scott, and I know I’m doing all that I can to protect you and the rest of the kingdom from the beasts that would just as quickly swallow you whole as they would crush you into pieces!”

“There’s no need for you to be so hostile about it,” Scott snapped at Martyn, his eyes narrowing into a cold glare that felt like icy daggers stabbing into Martyn’s face. Scott stood up and brushed all the sand from his clothes with a sigh. “I understand.” He walked closer to the water, just enough for the waves to lap against his shoes and tightened his fist, as if preventing to lash out.

Martyn blinked. “Was I-?” he muttered to himself.

He looked out at Scott standing in the surf. He looked… sad. The guilty feeling in his chest built up once more.

All of a sudden, Martyn remembered just how happy Scott looked with his birds fluttering around him, with the canary nuzzling his palm. Oh-. Scott was an animal lover…. No wonder he-.

Martyn was messing everything up. First he’d ignored him, and he was pushing Scott away by getting angry. Martyn quickly stood up and ran across the beach towards Scott, “Oh, Scott, I’m sorry–”

Scott turned to look at him, a flat expression on his face.

Martyn felt his heart twist, “I- I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean to make you feel….”

“Upset?” Scott supplied.

“Yeah…,” Martyn bowed his head. His hand twitched out, reaching for Scott’s but giving up and retreating before he could take it. Martyn turned his head away and bit his lip. “I-... I made you-....”

Scott stepped closer and held out his hand. “No need for that, silly hunter,” he smiled sweetly. Martyn took it almost immediately, surprising them both. Scott let out a chuckle and bumped his shoulder next to Martyn’s. “I’m not mad,” Scott said softly. Martyn believed him. He looked… sad instead.

“I don’t want you to–”

“You’re just fine.” Scott assured him with a smirk. “It takes a lot more than a simple disagreement to make me actually upset. We’re okay, right?”

Martyn bashfully nodded, resulting in a wide smile from Scott. Was he… really okay? Or was he just hiding how he felt? For Martyn’s sake? Martyn hoped it was the former.

Scott put a hand on his chest, giving Martyn’s hand a small squeeze. “Just… try to keep an open mind, alright? The world can be… stranger than you might think.” He smiled a little bashfully, “I might have- a surprise or two… to share, eventually.”

“Like how you can kick my butt in hand to hand?”

Scott’s face split into a wide grin, his eyes lighting up with laughter. “Just like that.”

Martyn felt himself smiling, a laugh escaping him as he squeezed Scott’s hand. Yeah, they were okay.

#the sea prince au #sea prince chapters #limited life smp #limited life #life series #life smp #trafficblr #majorwood #mean gills #coral kids #scottyn #martyn inthelittlewood #martyn itlw #inthelittlewood #scott smajor #smajor1995 #dangthatsalongname #sea prince extras

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jaylienpotter · 7 months

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My brainstorm and theory for @sebbianas jegulus famous exes AU

This was before the last update, I had tried to analyse the different updates to find out what James did. Publishing now that we have the answer (read update 16 and 16.5). Spoilers below.

Evan: you broke up with him

Reg: well he didn't exactly try to stop me now did he?

Reg seems a bit bitter that James didn't put much of a fight

"James Potter loves him. (...)"

"Was [Regulus] even allowed to do anything with it? Did he even deserve that after breaking James's heart? James's beautiful, delicate, wholesome heart that Regulus stomped 5 years ago"

Regulus feels as if he doesn't deserve the heart he broke even if James hurt him first?

"They're hurting each other again. Just like those last few months before Regulus finally had the courage to end it. It felt like they were 19 again, trying to build a name for themselves, handling rejections and disappointments by turning on each other."

Okay so they were having a hard time balancing the work life and career stress with their romantic relationship, making me believe that whatever James did had something to do with work/career

"[James] has always been so genuine and sweet, how could [Regulus] have ever let this man go."

So it wasn't anything malicious (which was already a given but yeah)

"[Being friends] is all he can allow himself, it's all he can give to James because he's not going to be the reason James loses his career. Not again."

This! This is the thing that stuck to me the first time. Confirms my theory of it being connected to work. So James probably did or was going to do something (without telling Regulus) that would put his own (James's) career at risk (singing or acting idk). Sirius commented it with his brother, not imagining what would come from it. Regulus felt guilty about what his boyfriend was giving up for him, but also betrayed for not being told it was happening?

Remus: have you ever thought about getting back together with him?

"The one option Regulus would never consider. He doesn't trust himself with James Potter and he doesn't trust James Potter with himself"

Reg: I love him but I'm so scared that what happened before will happen again. I don't know if I can trust him not to do it again.

"The fear and anxiety it brought him, the confusion and the anger, and most of all the pain James has caused him. (...) Remus seemed to understand unlike Pandora who called him dramatic but proceeded to hug and comfort him, told him he understood and even went as far as to say he would have done the same thing."

Reg was anxious and afraid that James would/did do the thing. It brought him fear, which isn't a light feeling. He was angry at James for the decision (yet never said anything).

Remus: I can't believe he did that. I mean I can believe it, he's James but at the same time why didn't he tell you? Why did you have to hear it from Sirius?

Reg: he's an idiot, is what he is. I don't know what I will do if he ends up doing the same thing again.

Remus: he was 19 when he did that, Reg. He's all grown up now, you can learn to trust him again and you can start by actually telling him all this.

It's something that most people would have the common sense to not do, but since it was James, it made sense he didn't have that.

It was something immature, that James would have probably outgrown now.

"There's still a part in him that feels guilty and broken over what James has done, has he somehow driven James to that decision? Was it something he said or did that made James think he needed to do that? Or did James never truly trusted him before?"

It was a decision, something James was consciously thinking of doing (or did). Which was something that in Reg's point of view, shows lack of trust.

"He was scared. He has always been scared of finding out what led James to do what he did. If it was a reflection of his shortcomings, was his love not strong enough for James to trust him?"

Ok James DID do said thing. It happened.

Final thoughts:

James made a decision in regards to his own career and hid it from Regulus

He told Sirius (but not the other marauders), who ended up telling his brother (probably mentioned or by accident and didn't think much of it)

James doesn't know that Reg knows about it

Reg broke up from fear of James ruining his own career and from anger and mistrust of not being told beforehand

It's something that Reg must have been able to impact somehow, since he felt guilty for it

#Basically I got it #Proud of myself #jegulus exes famous au

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smolwritingchick · 2 months

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Smol Brainstorm: Amity Reunion

Author's Note: This reunion will happen. Not sure when but it will. Yes, Jen will still be with BTS. It'll be interesting to write how things come together as the years go by for them to have this reunion. I wonder if they'll ever get along again.

-----

After stretching, Jennie discussed what would happen with their new song.

“Okay, Trinity, you will be starting the song," she announced.

“Starting?? As in like the first verse?” she asked, bewildered.

“That’s what starting the song means.” Jen let out a chuckle.

“But I…I never lead.”

“Well, you will today.”

“But we never did that.”

“Well, today we will. This isn’t the Pussycat dolls where one person gets to sing everything all the time.” Jen turned directly to Hailey as she spoke.

“I don’t like this idea.” Hailey crossed her arms. “What do you guys call it over there in Korea? A visual? I’m more suited to be in the middle and start the song because of my vocals.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No. We are not going to do this your way, anymore. Trinity’s voice fits the beginning of the song. It’s fresh.”

“So, are you calling my vocals dull?”

"No, you’re good but the way you’re acting was the main reason why this group fell apart in the first place. What you need to get through your head is that this is not a solo. This is a group. Teamwork makes the dream work, Hailey. You didn’t get this far by yourself. We all got this far together. It’s not all about you. You should’ve never been in the group anyway. You were better off as a soloist. Almost every song your voice overpowers us. Even our fans said so. You sing like you’re competing with us instead of harmonizing and finding a nice rhythm for the music.”

“Preach!” Angelina called out, earning an annoyed glance from Hailey.

“I have to agree,” Layla spoke up.

Trinity turned to Hailey and shrugged. “Sorry girl, you do sing a little too loudly and overpower us. It’s annoying as shit, to be honest. I couldn’t even hear myself sing in a few songs years ago. But if you take your vocals off the song, you can hear me and everyone else as clear as day.”

Hailey let out a sigh. Okay, they did have a point, she couldn’t deny that. Maybe she was too greedy for the spotlight and wanted everything about her. As much as she hated to admit it. After a while, reluctantly, she decided to swallow her pride and go along with what Jennie had proposed.

“Fine…” Hailey murmured.

That surprised Miss Bangtan. “What?”

“I said…fine…"

She stared at her old leader in surprise. No argument, no nothing. Just straight on in agreement with her? Hell froze over.

"You…you do have a point so…what do you want us to do?” Hailey asked her.

Jennie began to smile. "Thank you,"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome, JW. Now tell us what you want us to do," Hailey waved her away but Jennie peeped the small smile trying to come across her face.

After going over the majority of the first part of the song, Jennie finally came across the chorus and announced, “Now, for the chorus, I believe that Angelina should be in the front this time.”

Trinity snorted. “Angelina? You can’t be serious. Angelina can’t dance. She is the most awkward dancer-“

“Trinity, for Pete’s sake, shut up.” Angelina rolled her eyes.

“No, this is bullshit, Jen! You really want Angelina to be in the front? Ruining the entire performance with her two left feet? I don’t even know how she got into Songstress in the first place, her dancing isn’t any better with the music label she’s on now. Jennie, I strongly suggest she stays in the back for the ENTIRE performance.”

That struck a nerve in the rapper as she spat out angrily, “Bitch-“

“Enough.” Jen grabbed a hold of her and backed her away from Trinity. “What we are not going to do is bring each other down like this. We shouldn't attack each other's skills that we aren't the best in. We should be uplifting each other and helping. Trinity, you should help Angelina with her dancing, not belittle her for her skill. You disappoint me. Really. I thought you would be like Hobi and help the rest of us with our dancing to make sure we are doing things correctly,"

Trinity sighed and crossed her arms.

“Jennie…stop being the peacemaker.” Hailey shook her head. "It's not going to work,"

Jennie raised a brow and gestured for her to do something. “Okay, well, Miss Leader are you gonna stop them from fighting?”

“Just let them fight.”

“I don’t want us to fight, anymore. It's been years. I want us to get along and work together as a unit. You know, after all this time, I thought you would be a better leader and learn from Namjoon at least. Now, for this dance, I feel like everyone should have their time to shine and be in front to dance.”

“Angelina has no rhythm at all!” Trinity exclaimed.

“I can show you the rhythm of my fists,” Angelina suggested.

“Do it, I dare you!”

Layla watched back and forth, not knowing what to do while Jennie rubbed her temples at their bickering.

This was going to be a long day…

As the group practiced the dance with music, Trinity and Angelina bumped into each other.

“It’s the OTHER way.” Trinity snapped and rolled her eyes, getting sick of Angelina messing up.

“You were too close to me.” Angelina snapped back. As they continued to dance, Trinity decided to bump into her on purpose to get back at her for bumping into her first. “You know what…” she murmured before her hands started swinging.

#smol brainstorm #smol oneshot #smol drabble

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just-late-roman-republic-things · 4 months

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Hi!! I’ve been planning to start a (biographical) comic on Agrippa for some time (to be honest, it’ll probably be a few years before it’s released…there’s still so much research and design to do…and I have not moved my pen an inch yet…but the idea is Somewhat There!)!

As one of the blogs I’ve seen on Tumblr who speaks about him quite a lot (I actually found you while looking for Agrippa content on here several months ago…!), is there anything in particular you think would be interesting to explore (/anything you’d personally like to see) in such a comic?

At this point, my ideas aren’t fully solid yet, so I’m just asking around and brainstorming ideas, and you’re one of the first people who come to mind! (I do intend to place a lot of focus on his building projects, as well as his inventiveness and versatility, since I find that it’s an aspect of him that’s underappreciated in most media portrayals)

Thanks!! And sorry if this was a strange question :”

Not at all, it's very kind of you to think of me! I love the idea!

You've gotten both the writer-side and history-nerd-side of my brain going. I will respond as a writer first. And this post got long, even for me!

Find the things about Agrippa - or any other topic - that grab your attention. What scenes keep appearing in your head? What emotions come up, what thoughts keep you awake at night? Find the core of your inspiration, the thing you need to put into art, because you may need to summon that spark again and again. It will give you the stamina to complete what might be a very long project. It will also give you the strength to stay true to your vision, and tell the difference between helpful and unhelpful advice.

If you aren't sure what that is yet, that's okay. You'll figure a lot of it out as you go along. Make drafts or sketches or outlines early, whatever gets material onto the page, you can always change it later if needed. Take risks. Make mistakes. You get as many chances as you like.

Okay, now for the history nerd brainstorming, haha. The part you actually asked about. These are the thoughts that keep popping into my head when I think about Marcus Agrippa's life. You are welcome to use any, all, or none of them.

I'm a big fan of character-driven stories, which focus on emotions, internal conflict and relationships, whereas plot-driven stories focus on physical conflicts and adventures. Some stories are both character-driven and plot-driven. It may be useful to consider which aspects you want to focus on.

War. Agrippa was probably the most skilled general and admiral of his generation. On the one hand, that skill may be admired; on the other hand, he played a role in the deaths of thousands of people. How much do we fault or forgive him for that, given the circumstances of his time? Depending on the narrator's perspective, and your goals with the comic, Agrippa might appear heroic, villainous, or anywhere in between.

Proscriptions, imperialism and autocracy. Similar to the previous point. Agrippa's one of my favorite historical figures, but he was involved in some very dark stuff. He profited off the second triumvirate's proscriptions, he shut down independence movements from indigenous people in Gaul, Spain and Illyria, he supported King Herod of Judea, and Agrippa's competence helped entrench the Augustan regime and bring an end to the old republic. I don't say this to discourage you, but because I like morally murky characters, and perhaps you would, too.

Public service. On the other hand, there's no doubt that Agrippa did a ton of things to improve ordinary people's quality of life, and rebuild Rome and its provinces. His famous building projects provided jobs, infrastructure, and art to the community at his own expense, and he funded these projects for both Romans and non-Romans. The extent goes way beyond what was necessary to secure the Augustan regime's power, so I believe it's something Agrippa valued for its own sake.

Personality. Agrippa appears to have been very good at keeping his own counsel, getting along with people and avoiding personal drama. (He somehow remained on good terms with Mark Antony enough to let Antony arrange his first marriage!) That's part of what I like about him, but it can also make it hard to gauge what his own opinions were. And it makes him easy to project ourselves onto. This can be a good thing - it's partly why I find the Isekai Agrippa AU so funny - but it can also make it harder for us to identify a story's weaknesses, or accept critical feedback. All of us are biased in some way, so it's good to be aware of your biases so you can compensate for them.

Disability. Agrippa appears to have had some kind of "childhood lameness," according to Pliny the Elder, and it's not clear whether he grew out of it. He suffered issues with his feet later in life, too. I've always wondered how that must have affected him in the very ableist, toxic-masculine culture of ancient Rome, and it's an interesting parallel to Augustus' chronic illnesses, too.

Classism. There's some funky shit going on here, too. Agrippa was a "new man," and although he held Roman citizenship, his family were from the Italian countryside, and probably only gained citizenship recently. Despite being the #2 man in the empire, the old aristocracy looked down on him, and this tension was the primary obstacle to Augustus appointing him as a potential successor.

Family. We know little of Agrippa's family life, but the hints we get are fascinating. Pliny says he had a "miserable youth"; Augustus saved Agrippa's older brother from execution during Caesar's civil war; the brother pops up much later in a court case with Agrippa not taking his side; Agrippa refused to use his family name as an adult; and we hear nothing of his mother at all. (She may even have died in childbirth, since his was a dangerous breech birth and he was the youngest sibling.) He was also very closely associated with Augustus' family, to the point of being buried with them, moving in with Augustus, and appearing among their portraits on the Ara Pacis. Which brings us to...

Augustus. Indisputably the most important person in Agrippa's life. They were definitely close friends, possibly more? I'm working on a whole Google doc about that, and will post it here eventually.

There's a lot of fun anecdotes in Agrippa's life in the ancient sources. If possible, grab some ebooks of Cassius Dio's Roman History, Pliny's Natural History, Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and Jewish War, and Appian's Civil War, then do a search for "Agrippa" and go wild. Lindsay Powell's Marcus Agrippa is also a good, if dry, collection of everything we know about Agrippa in one place, and it has plenty of detail about his building projects. You're also welcome to poke through my #marcus agrippa tag for ideas.

#just roman asks #marcus agrippa #writing #you can do it anon! i believe in you!#jlrrt essays

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saltygilmores · 8 months

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Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls- Season 2, Episode 22 (Last Episode of the Season). "I Can't Get Started" Part 1

This episode may just be the ultimate game of memory roulette, because I remember nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. except these two things:

I am told this episode involves a Lorelai-Crusty hookup and I have no recollection of that whatsoever. The mind has a way of bleaching itself sometimes. Can't wait to be retraumatized! The episode begins with Sookie playing wedding music choices for her coworkers and everyone falls asleep listening to the depressing songs she picked. Leave my girl Sookie and her emo music alone. She lives in Stars Hollow, of course she can relate to songs about pain, depression and misery.

Emily the Strange, seen on Rory's cast.

My conflicting emotions as I think about how Season 3 brings Jess to the forefront (that's good) but he rarely knows a moment's peace (that's bad) and in the blink of an eye we lose him to the California Wormhole (that's bad) but it also temporarily sidelines Dean (that's good) but it brings Crusty back (that's bad) but there's the debut of Dave Rygalski (that's good) but in the blink of an eye we also lose Dave Rygalski to the California Wormhole (that's bad) then we meet Alex who is cool and also hot (that's good) but then he disappears forever (wormhole?) and Max briefly returns from the California Wormhole (meh?) When Michel complains about the drudgery of wedding preparations, Lorelai reminds him she's in Sookie's wedding party so he has to oversee the entire wedding by himself, which is something he's never done before. Excuse me? Why don't you hire some more staff Lorelai, you fucking cheapskate. (We also learn later on that Sookie's catering her own wedding. WHAT? I know Sookie is a perfectionist when it comes to food but that's fucking bonkers). Rory offers to brainstorm with Lane to come up with wedding songs for Sookie and she agrees to let them do it because letting teenagers pick the music for the most important day of your life is a smart idea. This is where I realized I have no idea what kind of music Rory is actually into except that she has expressed she doesn't like the pop music/boybands of the day, which is fine. I just hope Rory wasn't one of those super annoying kids in school who were always coming up to me saying things like "You know, the Backstreet Boys don't play their own instruments." I was well aware. Anyway, Lane was definitely one of those types, as we see it happen on the show frequently, but as for Rory, that one is maybe up for debate.

Sookie asks Lorelai if she wants to invite Emily and Richard to the wedding. Uhh, may I ask why? Just 5 episodes ago, Emily was meddling in the wedding planning and blew up Sookie's budget and Lorelai had to intervene so she wouldn't go bankrupt. That's about the extent of any significant interaction between the Gilmore Grands and Sookie. After that mess, why would Sookie want her there? Sookie's all "Ah, that ol "almost bankrupted me" thing. She was so thoughtful to help me with the planning! Even though it was nothing more than a passive aggressive scheme to stick it to you for never getting married. She made me realize I love the color pink!" And then she giggles away the deep seated pain that anyone so relentlessly cheerful and forgiving has to be holding deep inside. Something historic just happened: I watched the Intro, instead of skipping it, which is something I haven't done in years. Let it be known I have nothing against the intro nor the song, and they're very nice and heartwarming, but I'm just not an intro girl. But I've been pretty down in the dumps and the theme song is like a warm cup of cocoa. It might behoove me to watch the opening credits once in a while so I know when to expect Dean, Crusty and other creatures from the deep.

More fine work from the Gilmore Girls fake food designer. Looks delish. She's still wearing that fucking quarter on a string, god damn. Rory is pestering Butthead to trade his pancakes for her fruit and egg platter.

You know, sometimes I start writing a joke, then realize it was funny, but it didn't make any sense and I have to scrap it, which makes me sad. Sometimes I don't even notice it after I've already posted and have to do a quick deletion (it just happened with LGD, in fact). Today, you're in for a treat because I'm going to give you one of my bloopers. Rory is incessantly asking Dean for his opinion on the pancakes. I decided she had poisoned them and she was monitoring his reactions, like when his breathing would start to become labored, or if he started to foam at the mouth, or if he would say something like that "huh, these pancakes taste kinda metallic." and then he would keel over. But then I remember they are at Luke's and she didn't cook the pancakes. But she could have sprinkled some rat poison on top of it when he had his back turned. I'm 100% convinced Lindsay had tried unsuccessfully to poison his meatloaf.

Oh no, they traded breakfasts. Eat AROUND the poison sprinkles, Rory. Rory and Buttzilla are observing someone who is repeatedly walking back and forth in front of the diner without coming in. *Sniffs the air* I smell unhealthy boundaries. It must be Lorelai.

I actually forgot that Luke and Lorelai were still "fighting". In fact, I just realized there was no Luke whatsoever in the previous episode. Okay, okay! I plum forgot about Luke completely! Anyway, can we please resolve this nonsense before season 3? How is Lorelai hooking up with Crusty going to end this stalemate?

Ya'll, she really blurted out "Dean don't leave me", not "Don't leave me, guys" or "Rory don't leave me." I CAN’T! I'm dying! Poor Rory, shows where she really ranks on the list of her mother's priorities. Anyways, sucks to suck Lorelai, good luck with solving this fucking mess completely of your own making.

lolbye

That's a wild under-exaggeration for how you acted after that car crash. Just wild.

There is no quicker way to get Lorelai’s goat than to act Pleasant Neutral towards her and not entertain her quirkiness! it is aggravating her to no end that Luke isn’t entertaining her stupid doughnut jokes! Hahahahaha! He isn’t groveling at her feet over her half baked fake bullshit apologies either. Sucks to suck Lore! Luke being so indifferent to Lorelai's bullshit is glorious, no one has ever deserved it more.

Meanwhile, Paris is running for student council president. Her campaign promises include mandatory recycling, clearly gendered bathrooms and gluten free options in the cafeteria (hey, as long as Rory can still order her favorite Chilton lunch, The Prison Special, two slices of white bread with nothing in the middle). After Madeline and Louise poll 150 students in the span of about 1 minute, the results are in: While the People think she would make a competent politican, nobody actually likes her. So she strong arms a very reluctant Rory into becoming her running mate. Paris feels Rory's nice girl image will soften her own. She puts the fear of God into Rory that she will end up going to Connecticut State instead of Harvard if she doesn't take this opportunity to pad her college resume with school politics. I mean, she's not wrong. Rory is still pitifully lacking in extra cirricular activities. Until they showed Rory writing in the audience, I had completely forgotten she was already on the school newspaper because it hasn't been mentioned in ages. And now I just remembered that horrid school newspaper storyline in s3 is approaching. The one with the redheaded mean girl, Francie. Ugh! S3 is going to be such a rollercoaster. Wait, isn't Connecticut State where Dean was considering going to school? Heheh.

Out of context Gilmore Girls.

Hmmm.

You know who else AmyShermanPalladino said this about?

AmyShermanPalladino wrote Paris to adore Rory as much she adores Milo, I'm just saying. Rory is getting her cast off.

Emily Strange again...

SECURITY!!!! No, but what kind of medical office is this where anyone can just barge in to a child’s appointment and be like "it's okay I'm the Dad" and the Dr is like “sure I believe you have a seat”. Not like Crusty is ever around that the doctor would recognize him. He drove down all the way from Boston to watch Rory have her cast cut off but can't be present for anything important? Alright. Anything to get into Lore’s pants I guess.

Yeah. Love is in the air at their child’s medical appointment.

Their nauseating attraction clouded their minds enough that they both resisted the urge to get in one last jab about Jess being the cause of Rory's injury. Miraculous.

Hur hur hur! You're so funny! Drink drain cleaner.

Honestly? They deserve each other. R: “If I become vice president, I'll have to spend my summer at some junior leadership program in Washington."

Oh, you would HATE That.

#gilmore girls #gilmore girls season 2 #season 2 finish line #thank fuck #rory gilmore #crusty #buttzilla #paris geller #geller + gilmore #PariMore #luke danes #I Cant Get Started #Denise Rewatches Gilmore Girls

27 notes · View notes

cheiyunn · 10 months

Text

La fin du rêve [Part 1]

~Faniris practice ~

Felix: Lets cut off practice around here! Later on we can just revise at the rehearsals before the main stage.

Koharu: Okay, everyone, good work! Tomorrow, we meetup at the place right?

Daimon: Yes, while the performance tomorrow is at night, for tonight let's not stay up too late, take a good rest, and keep in good shape.

Tomoru: Jun, that one was for you, got it?

Jun: Ah.. I get it.. Tonight I won’t game before bed

Daimon: Tomoru, this one also applies to you. I know you’re always very busy but do you think you can take it easier tomorrow afternoon?

Tomoru: Of course..! I handed in a request for half day leave a month ago after all

Koharu: Since we were also cut off from Duck River’s support, the only thing we can do right now is produce a steady flow of lives right now, we need to make progress

Felix: However, since we all have jobs outside of music, its not as if we can frequently hold lives. For everyone who waits for our lives despite that, let us bring a great soiree tomorrow

Everyone: Yeah

Koharu: On that note, lets start heading back. Ah that reminds me Tomoru, where did you put the watering pail? I was looking for it before coming here but couldn’t seem to find it

Tomoru: Ah, I think after I used it for the plants in the cafe I just left it there.. Would you like me to get it later?

Koharu: Nah, I’ll be using it for personal use so I’ll go myself

Felix: Is it the plant you got from the kids last year? Has it bloomed yet?

Koharu: Well it should have, but nothing yet. Even when it was supposed to bloom a while back

Jun: Its a very beautiful flower right? Hm… I wonder what the reason is..

Koharu: I’m being careful with the sunlight and temperature plus the watering timing should be on track so…

Daimon: With all that effort and love that your showing it, it should bloom soon

Koharu: Ahaha, fingers crossed

~Backstage~

Jun: ah… a- I can’t draw my eyeliner straight..

Tomoru: Lend me it for a bit, I’ll do it…. Um… maybe.. Something like this?

Jun: eh..ah.. ah- wait a moment Tomoru..! Isn’t this a bit too fat?

Daimon: It seems we’ll have to ask Koharu to fix it when he arrives

Tomoru: That's right.. For the time being we should just prepare as much as we’re able to!..!

Felix: Speaking of that, Koharu is awfully late.. Daimon, after that, were you able to contact him?

Daimon: No.. during that call he just said that he’ll find a way to make it to the live in time but..

Jun: …ah.! Is it because today I haven’t been haunted by misfortune.. What should I do… thats right! Tomoru! Take that guitar over there and whack me straight in the head!

Tomoru: First, that's not possible, and second, no, I’m not doing that.

[Ping]

Daimon: Ah, a message from Koharu

Felix: Whats the situation on his end like?

Daimon: One of the kids he’s taking care of caught a fever, and their parent isn’t able to come by soon

Jun: …eh?

Daimon: To make matters worse, Koharu is the only caretaker available at the moment, so his hands are tied. Even if he’s somewhat late, he’ll still come to the livehouse, is what he said

Tomoru: What should we do? We can’t just go on like this, but there also isn't much time until the live is scheduled to start either.. should we change the performance now?

Jun: Did we have any songs that didn’t require a bass… or should we just adlib something on the spot? …I’m worried about that though

Felix: hm.. But just brainstorming will take up too much time

Daimon: That's right, if we’re looking for a bassist I have someone in mind. They're acquaintance from my roadie days but they know our songs very well. I think that today they said they’d also be here, so while waiting for Koharu, what about having them play instead?

Jun: but the costume and makeup…

Tomoru: How about having them play from the stage wings? They can look at the score while doing it, and we can explain the situation so when Koharu-san gets here we’ll-

Felix: Hold it.

Daimon: What’s wrong Felix?

Felix: In the chance that Koharu does make it later on, there’s no way we can show our audience and performance without all the official members

Jun: …so that means..

Felix: Let's cancel the live.

Tomoru: But-

Felix: I’ll take all responsibility. To everyone who’s already gathered for the live today, I’ll apologize later on

Daimon: But if we cancel it now, won’t he feel worse about it

Tomoru: That's right.. It’s not as if Koharu-san is at fault either…

Felix: I’ll have a talk with Koharu later on. Tomoru, I’m going to talk to the owner, so could you accompany me?

Tomoru: Okay.

Felix: Daimon and Jun, remove your makeup. If there are any remaining fans, I want you to act as staff to explain the situation and lead them out

Daimon: Ah, okay. Jun, lets go

Jun: Eh..! Ah.. I got it..

~Bar~

Koharu: I need another refill of this

Owner: Roger that, you need a double?

Koharu: Yeah

Koharu: Hah.. at least nothing bad happened to the kid.. I handed them over to their parent safely so for the time being, one weight on my shoulder is gone.. But saying that, the live.. Got canceled huh. While it couldn’t be helped.. It still stings pretty bad.. They’re all nice so they’ll all probably say ‘don’t mind it’ or something like that..

Koharu: But on second thought its still so frustrating… because of me we had to miss one of our live dates. Even though we don’t have as frequent activities, the live for the people who were always waiting for us was…!

Koharu: Hah

Koharu: I can’t apologize enough to both the members and the fans. But, how this kind of situation never happened before was most likely constant good luck after all… if something happens to one of the kids, regardless of what I want, I need to prioritize the children first. But its not like the others don’t prioritize the band either.. Even this time they’re all balancing things individually so its overwhelming..

Koharu: Thats why I ran to alcohol… drinking at this time definitely tastes bitter.. If I keep drinking, stuff that I don’t wanna think about will come wafting into my head..

Koharu: That's right… back then when Daimon’s grandpa was hospitalized I was…

Koharu: Shit

Owner: You seem oddly tired today, something happen?

Koharu: My bad, it ain’t much. .. I’ll ask for another of this then

Koharu The reason we appeared in the LRFes was because we were aiming to become pros. Thinking that was our last chance, we took care of alot of things and tried our hand, and even came all the way to Tokyo.

Koharu: If at that time, we had won the fes and went pro.. Something like “I have work right now so I won’t be able to perform” wouldn’t have worked.. did the me at that time really have the guts to go forward with that…? How do those guys feel about this.. Even the ones younger than me Tomoru and Jun will soon become 30… we aren’t students, we’re all full-fledged adults.

Koharu: Is it really okay to not drop these dreams and continue on like this..?

~Fantome Iris sharehouse~

Tomoru: Ah, it seems Koharu-san is back

Felix: Welcome back, Koharu

Koharu: w-what, you guys. I told you all that I’d be back late so just go to bed earlier right?

Jun: Well, this is around the time I’m always awake so…

Tomoru: Since we’re all taking a rest day tomorrow, don’t worry about it

Daimon: We were all worried about you

Felix: Daimon, could you prepare something nice on the stomach? Something for post-drinking like chazuke?

Koharu: Today’s live being canceled was my fault so you don’t have to worry so much

Daimon: Regardless of that, take a seat. It was a tiring day right? The face you have on right now seems more alcohol induced than normal after all

Koharu: Seen right through huh.

Koharu: I’m really sorry about the incident today. I caused alot of trouble to both you guys and our fans too.

Jun: K-koharu-san..

Felix: Koharu, raise your head. None of us here are going to pin the blame on you after all

Tomoru: That's right, there is no need for you alone to feel responsible for it

Koharu: …

Daimon: I’ll go make the chazuke. Is there anything you want?

Felix: Ah, I’ll have one too

Tomoru: Me too. Jun, you’ll eat some as well right?

Jun: y-yup

-----------

Tomoru: Ah that reminds me, I was scrolling through sns a while ago and there were alot of supporting messages sent. Like “I’m sure there was something that occured” or “I want you all to still do your best!”.

Jun: Um.. there were also very few that were mad about it. Alot of people said that Fantome will always pull off a good live next..

Felix: That proves the strong trust and bond between us and our fans of course~

Daimon: That's true. Koharu, when the next chance comes we’ll bounce back

Koharu: ..yeah.. That's right…

Everyone: …

Felix: Lets discuss a bit about the next live. It was good that the owner of this livehouse was kind enough to say that while it won’t to be soon, as soon as a day opens up they’ll make adjustments to their schedule.

Daimon: The fans are expecting a lot so, we need to show them something good.

Tomoru: On that topic, how about we make some adjustments to our set list? Possibly change the composition a bit to make it better

Jun: I’ll also help think with you… if my presence is needed though…

Felix: Thanks you everyone. I’ll take it that you’ll also start making preparations for the next live as well, Koharu?

Koharu: When the schedule is set, tell me, I’ll do my best to arrange around it

Felix: Are you possibly worried.. That something similar to this may happen again?

Daimon: Lets take this opportunity for not just Koharu but for everyone, to confirm our individual schedules

Tomoru: Indeed so. Just like in the LRFes where due to company troubles I barely made it to perform after all… In the end it was okay since I made it but still…

Koharu: Hey… do you guys really think that… we can continue activities like this…?

Jun: …eh?

Koharu: We’re all adults here. We need to earn our own money and live, and as long as we’re all working we don’t know when this sort of situation might happen again.

Koharu: Just to put it out but I’m not putting anyone over the other, I’m just saying that at least for my job, I’m dealing with someone’s life…! If something happens, there’s no way I can look back and… if something like this between my job and the band happens again, I’ll…

Daimon: All we can do is do our best so it doesn’t happen, even me, I’ll do whatever is within my ability

Tomoru: I express the same sentiment.

Jun: y-yup

Felix: Koharu, we are comrades that settled on the same dream and moved away from our hometowns. Our dreams will definitely come to fruition, for now we can only continue on the path laid out

Koharu: Those dreams, are something we’ll all eventually wake up from right. Or do you seriously believe that those sorts of ever continuing dreams really exist?

Daimon: Hey, Koharu…

Felix: If that is how you feel, I have nothing to input then. Then, until our individual feelings can come back as once, how about we temporarily put a halt to band activities for the time being?-

Koharu: I didn’t ask for that…!

Felix: For now calm down, and lets individually sort out our thoughts, that’s what’s best now

Jun: …for how long…will that be..?

Felix: Who knows…when we’re all ready to restart activities that time will come naturally no?

Tomoru: Something like a cooling period right..? But in this situation where we all can’t really see the outcome is a bit…

Koharu: Are you really okay with that Feli..

Felix: If even one has an issue with the current band’s movement, then I believe that it is best to not make any at all

Koharu: I.. I’m asking what you want..!

Felix: I… I simply want everyone to continue music happily

Koharu: …Why do you always leave it to the will of others..! Why won’t you get mad and face me head on ?!!

Felix: I see it as there is no use in fighting, that is all.

Koharu: I said it before didn’t I.. that as long as you keep putting up that wall of yours it’ll come to bite you in the ass later on…

Koharu: To you, were we always just insignificant little existences that can be thrown away to you?!

Daimon: Koharu..! That's too much. Both of you, end it here.

Koharu: In the end… this’ll just be a repeat of the previous band isn’t it…

Jun: ah..!

[Koharu leaves]

Felix: … I’m returning to my room.

[Felix leaves]

Tomoru: Even Feli-san… ah.. How did it come to this…

Jun: D-daimon-san… it’ll be okay right..? There won’t be a fight and then break up… right?

Daimon: …ha. It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it too much. I’ll talk to Koharu for a bit..

[Daimon leaves]

Jun: There he goes… hey Tomoru.. Isn’t this…

Tomoru: Yeah… this definitely isn’t good…

Jun: I knew it…! I’ve never felt that bad of an atmosphere ever since I came to this sharehouse..!

Tomoru: Yeah… If they suddenly say that they don’t want to do the band anymore, then we have no input, is the feeling I got…

Jun: But both me and you have made sizable contributions to this band right…?...why are you smiling.. Did I get too full of myself..?!

Tomoru: No, thats not it. Its more that the Jun from the past would have been more like “Someone like me is useless..!”, or something like that right?

Jun: Thats true… but I realized that echoing those words wouldn’t be any good so..

Tomoru: …me too, I definitely want to continue this band..! I’m sure that both Feli-san and Koharu-san, and of course Daimon-san have the same feelings

Jun: um so… while maybe I can’t do much, maybe you could possibly find a solution to this problem

Tomoru: Me?

Jun: Because you had shown Feli-san your feelings when you heard their previous band was disbanding, is the reason that the current Fantome was born right..? Plus, when Feli-san asked you to join, you brought me along and now… I’m here too, so…

Tomoru: …

Jun: …ah! Sorry, someone like me butting in was…!

Tomoru: …no. Jun, thank you

Jun: I’ll also think of things I can do too, while waiting for the band to move along again…

Tomoru: Got it, I’ll do that too

~Koharu’s room~

Daimon: It’s me. I’m entering okay?

[Daimon enters]

Daimon: Koharu, I’ll get straight to the point. The reasoning behind you thinking you can’t continue the band isn’t just that one thing right..

Koharu: Yup. What happened now, if the worst happened to a child I was entrusted with, I didn’t know how I would be able to take responsibility.

Daimon: …

Koharu: To imagine that my own child I entrusted to someone could be in grave danger when I’m not there… there’s no way their parents or family could handle it

Daimon: With your line of work. Isn’t that something you understood from a while back? Why now all of a sudden? …Is it because you thought of my grandpa?

Koharu: ..!

Daimon: Despite you and gramps being so close, when he fell critically ill, no matter how many time you were contacted, you never showed. In the end he couldn’t see you before passing, and you didn’t even attend his funeral either. But you’ve always hidden the reason why.

Koharu: Right now isn’t… this isn’t the topic at hand

Daimon: I’m prepared to take any explanation given, yet you give me radio silence so it frustrates me, and makes me sad.

Daimon: …hey Koharu. The way you’re acting right now, you’re no different than Felix you know?

Koharu: …not like I don’t know that.

Koharu: …sorry but could you leave? Right now I don’t think I’m in the mood to talk with anyone

Daimon: …I see.

[Daimon leaves]

Koharu: …hah.. I’m pathetic aren’t I… Little potted plant, last year you were so beautiful but no matter how much water I give you now… it’s useless isn’t it…

Koharu: …if all you have left is to wither out…

~Tomoru’s office~

Tomoru: …even so we’re in a bind… ignoring the thorny atmosphere, we should really sit down and clearly discuss the future activities of the band together soon. As expected, the issue waters down to us being unable to focus on music entirely. Then instead we should switch our band activities to our main jobs and take up part time jobs during our free time… no that won’t work realistically…

Tomoru: Regardless of Jun, everyone enjoys their current jobs right now and none of us wanted to go pro just to quit our jobs either…

Chief: Kurokawa-kun

Tomoru: Going pro huh…

Chief: Kurokawa-kun…! How’s the progress on the project I asked about the other day?

Tomoru: Ah! My apologies! I am currently drafting the report mail at the moment. I will hand it over at once…!

Chief: Apologies okay? Make sure you’re taking sufficient breaks and not too much overtime okay? The labor standards office has been pretty noisy these days. And to add, maybe in around 30 minutes could you clear some time for a meeting?

Tomoru: Understood. Then, I will reserve the conference room.

Tomoru: Um.. so after I send this mail out, I need to reserve a conference room and then start preparing for tomorrow’s meeting, ah before that I need to contact the suppliers and my meal… well the snacks that someone gave out are here so I guess this’ll do.

Tomoru: Come to think of it, I haven’t been listening to music as much anymore.I used to keep up with music news more often, and watch live performances before bed too. Despite saying I like music, I only listen to the bands or artists I like on repeat and don’t try anything new either…

Tomoru: Wake up in the morning, go to work, get beat up by said work, come back home exhausted, practice music for a live, then wake up again and go back to work in a loop. I love music and I don’t want to quit, but if I don’t work, I can’t do the things I love either. For me and the others, are band activities really something we love…? Or is it just something that feels worthless if we quit halfheartedly..? No.. thats not it. But I know damn well that we can’t just continue to do it if we simply love doing it either..

Subordinate: Um, Kurokawa-senpai..!

Tomoru: …ah, sorry! Did you just call for me?

Subordinate: Yes, my apologies. I just needed to ask about something, can I take a bit of your time?

Tomoru: Ah, okay, sure. Apologies but could you wait 5 minutes or so?

Subordinate: Understood! I apologize for disturbing you while you’re so busy. Then, I’ll be waiting at a table in the break room..!

Tomoru: Okay, then I’ll be there in a moment.

Tomoru: I have a mountainload of work to do. I shouldn’t be thinking of my private life during work should I? Today I should maybe find a way to round this all up and take a detour back home.

~Champ de Fleur~

[Cafe door opens]

Daimon: Sorry, we’re not open- …ah, Jun. It's rare to see you come in this early

Jun: …I couldn’t really sleep well it seems. …I’m sorry for coming before opening hours…

Daimon: No, don’t be. Are you hungry? If its a simple dish, I can make you something

Jun: nono…! No need… to be honest, I came to ask you something…

Daimon: What is it?

Jun: I want to do a bit of work so… I think I’ll be coming here more often. I don’t mind just sitting in the corner of the kitchen either so if its okay…

Daimon: I don’t mind but, if its work, don’t you think the sharehouse would be easier to work in

Jun: um…well…

Daimon: …ah. Sorry, because of us it's become uncomfortable hasn't it?

Jun: no thats..! It's not any of your faults it's just… I just have some things to do…and this place is calming

Daimon: Got it, come whenever you please

Jun: Thank you so much, I’m glad that you’re here…

Daimon: Is that so… Jun

Jun: ah..yes?

Daimon: You’re worried that the band might break apart right?

Jun: thats.. well…

Daimon: Did you know the reason why the previous band that Felix and Koharu were in disbanded?

Jun: um.. If I’m correct, the band was slated for a major debut yet all of a sudden during a live, Felix-san said that they were disbanding..?

Daimon: Yeah, without giving any semblance of discussion or reason to the other band members.

Daimon: I’m sure that the reason Felix gave was that the members’ hearts were growing far from the worldbuilding that was created. I… I think that at this moment, we're just unsure of where to go and are temporarily lost.

Daimon: I’m sure that the feeling of wanting to continue this band is still strong within all 5 of us.

Jun: Daimon-san…

Daimon: The feelings that Felix holds for this band is different from the previous, I’m sure. And Koharu as well. We’re not done yet. Thats why, I feel that we just need a something to instigate our feelings… or so I think

~Cafe~

Tomoru: I thought that by coming to a cafe I could organize my thoughts but my head has just been going around in circles for so long… That reminds me, I got a message from my parents asking how I’m doing, I should respond.

Tomoru: But… the atmosphere feels awkward when I mention music, while they don’t say it straight to my face, they’re definitely asking how long I’m going to continue being in a band… what to do…

[Phone vibrates]

Tomoru: Huh? I don’t know this number… where is this from?

Tomoru: Yes?

Mashu: Hello. I want to confirm, this is a phone number of a member of Fantome Iris’, yes?

Tomoru: Yes, that is correct.

Mashu: My name is Mashu, from Dreadnought Music. My apologies for the sudden contact however I have a suggestion of action for your band members, and would like to ask for your time and audience.

Tomoru: …eh. Ah, what sort of business do you have with us?

Mashu: I would like to discuss this in detail, in person. Soon, a band from under our label will be performing a live, hence we would like to extend an invitation to you.

Tomoru: That band would be…

Mashu: Gyroaxia. Similar to you, they had also appeared in the LRFes and I believe you had also interacted with them a bit.

Tomoru: You want us to come see Gyroaxia’s live?

#fromargonavis #fantome iris #old men get it together

44 notes · View notes

fudgecake-charlie · 8 months

Note

ooooo is there anything narrative wise you can tell us abt the cosmic au? I adore cosmic horror stories :,)

At this moment in time I'm intently staring at the notes app on my phone, which contains all my brainstorming, a full plot outline, character descriptions, and several concept drabbles i wrote to try and get something more concrete down... nobody has seen much of it yet but this is a pretty good summary of it. I will actually write and post this AU one day I swear!! Either as a concept oneshot or the whole thing, or both.

I have this post from way earlier that gave a small rundown of the AU, but I have definitely tweaked the plot and vibe since then! It's gone from "pure cosmic horror and tragedy" to "cosmic horror but theyre okay at the end" because i needed it, to "cosmic horror-esque with some more general 'overcoming odds' type beats," mostly because I would be so bad at writing pure cosmic horror and also I'm a sucker for self-betterment character arcs <3

The main driving concept is currently: What would you do in the face of utter destruction, and the power of the hopelessness that comes with it? The destruction in this case is rips in the fabric of space that Pearl and Grian (and False) may have been part of the cause of via cosmic horror shenanigans.

The Universe isn't exactly sentient but it is still dying in this AU, and the disappearance of stars and the broadcasting of the quite literal cosmic horror to Pearl was done by It, and all it gives is the sense of necessary ends and complete annihilation. The cosmic horror itself is the perspective of the entirety of the universe and perfectly understanding its scale and what the whole thing actually looks like. which is fun

The cast as of right now is Pearl, Grian, False, Mumbo and Martyn as more prominent characters, and Cleo and Gem (and BigB and Jimmy in mentions) as smaller roles! I think about Cleo and Pearl all the time in this AU by the way. World's worst besties.

False and Martyn are the main "antagonists" in this AU, separate from each other narratively. They are trying so hard and doing the right thing in their eyes I promise it's just a fucked up situation that absolutely nobody has good answers to! The real enemy was the apocalypse we created on the way /hj.

Grian has a side plot about finding his humanity as an inhuman entity which I pretty much summarised in the linked post, but I made it Grian and Mumbo as well as Grian and Pearl because I think he needs it. This does sound eerily similar to solving counting sheep by our beloved Second but I promise i thought about this independently of that fic even though i love it so so much.

Of course all of this is definitely subject to change!! This AU is very different to what it started as a year ago and I'm trying very hard to write a somewhat solid (if not kind of predictable) big story for basically my first time. I'm not a writer but I'm having fun!! :]

#the words of a fudgecake #hermitcraft AU #cosmic harbingers AU #not tagging any of the characters sorry #ask #anon #[scheduled]

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tea-moon-ster · 1 month

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My Happy Ending Stood Me Up

One year after Kasey's trade to the Lions, him and Natalie meet Alex at the All Stars after party. When Natalie and Alex have a long-waited talk, a call he can't refuse comes in.

inspired by this amazing art and chapter 3 of Vaincre, have Alex and Natalie's first confession. Filled with angst. pre-Sweater Weather.

art and characters belong to @lumosinlove. a huge thank you to @kindofspecificstore for brainstorming with me and beta-ing it! So glad to have you as my O'Darwin partner in crime.

read it on ao3 here.

February 2016

Hockey parties after parties were always an informal, messy thing. Players shouting, chugging too much beer at once–Natalie had seen it all in the past years. But that night was different, and she was glad. For the All Star’s after party, the hosting magnate had imposed a strict Black-Tie dress-code, that sat well with the elegant atmosphere of the rooftop overlooking the concrete jungle. Broad shoulders fit into carefully tailored suits, and shiny dresses glittering at their sides.

Natalie remembered what the old, elegant man welcoming everyone had told her when she’d thanked him for the invitation. He’d smiled a polite, wrinkled smile, giving Kasey a shoulder pat after shaking their hands.

Everyone who is someone in hockey is at this party, my dear.

She’d linked her arm with Kasey’s. He must be doing something right, then.

A few players had approached them, tilting their glasses together and chatting. The shyness was slow to leave Kasey’s smile though, and Natalie held onto his arm as if to steady him. It was his first convocation at All Stars, and it had seen plenty of tensed muscles.

Most of the people eventually headed out to the open part of the roof, where strings of warm lights mixed with the colourful glow of the city and dark bushes assured privacy. They still hadn’t been. Natalie knew Kasey was waiting—well, they were both waiting for him to arrive.

They enjoyed the night. Natalie led them to the dance floor, where they swayed to the slow jazz of the band, smiles close to each other. She loved the way his smile dimpled as he looked down at her.

“You don’t usually dance this much, Mister Winter,” Natalie said as the fourth piece started.

Kasey simply smiled, making her do a spin. “You simply look too good for me not to, Miss Darcy.”

Natalie giggled, without shaking her head at the compliment, as she would have done years ago. Her ivory dress was a soft, elegant embrace around her body, and the earrings were one of the very first gifts Kasey had bought her with his NHL paychecks. She felt great that night.

She let Kasey pull her close, tilting her face up to meet his lips halfway.

“We’re the hot couple here,” she informed him, placing a hand on his chest and flattening a crease there. Night blue suit and hair brushed back, away from his face. Kasey always had something regal about his attire. He blushed every time she said it.

“You do know that Fleury and his wife are just outside on the balcony, don’t you?” he grinned.

She laughed. “You’ll have to update me on the All Star’s ass situation now that you’ve seen them in the locker room.”

She took in Kasey’s blush with pleasure. “Well,” he whispered, looking around, “We weren’t wrong about some.”

Natalie knew the moment Alexander O’Hara walked into the room without having to turn around. Looking at Kasey’s face was enough. The way his smile grew and opened was rare among that many people–Alex was one of the few who could make it happen.

She turned anyway, and found she could do nothing about the warm feeling that invaded her chest.

Alex O’Hara was a sight to behold. She’d always thought so, even before complicated emotions got in the way, and the feeling skyrocketed at the sight. The perfectly tailored black tuxedo, crashing with the mess of red wisps, was enough for her to feel her own smile grow. Freckles wrinkled in a smile as he shook hands left and right, charisma flowing out of him in a natural stream. Natalie guessed that everyone felt special when Alex O’Hara’s attention was on them, but she couldn’t help it. When he spotted them, she felt like they were more special than everyone else on the roof.

Kasey’s hand stilled on her shoulder for a second, a firm and gentle grasp. Then he was stepping forward, and crashing in an embrace with the redhead. The way they hugged was like a well-practice dance, or an action on the ice. Alex always got on his toes to reach Kasey, and always let the blond place his arms around his neck. And no matter how many times Natalie had seen them hug, the way Kasey’s back relaxed at the contact would always melt her.

“Kasey Winter,” Alex announced once they parted, jostling the goalie’s shoulder a few times. Then his eyes fell on her, and his grin grew impossibly more. “And Natalie Darcy.”

She felt her cheeks hurt from the smile.

The next second, she was engulfed in a hug of their own, her feet leaving the ground for a second as Alex’s delighted laugh rumbled against her shoulder. Her arms held on as tight as she could for what was only a hug with her boyfriend’s ex-teammate.

“Fancy seeing you out of your goalie cage.”

“Fancy seeing you out of the penalty box.”

“Walked all the way over here, Alexander?”

“Is that even a question, Natalia?”

“Not really, as you’re late.”

Natalie let herself relax into the comfort of their own little bubble. God, how she’d missed this.

Kasey got them drinks. Alex challenged Natalie to a jazz dance battle. Kasey and Natalie posed for pictures as Alex frowned in focus. Kasey and Alex told Natalie stories of their past roadies and wild nights out until she spilled her drink.

Kasey and Alex.

Nat and Kasey.

Alex and Nat.

KaseyandAlexandNatandKaseyandNatandKaseyandAlex-

“You can’t tell me you’re not cold in just that.”

Natalie turned from where she was looking at the tiny, busy streets at the edge of the balcony. Alexander was there, a hand stuffed in his pocket, another holding a glass of whiskey, head slightly tilted to the side. The lifted corner of his mouth had the same, dim glow of the string lights above their heads.

He stopped at her side, joining her silent watch for a few minutes. Mesmerising neon and a hundred horns and messy lines of cars. The circular motions of the glass in Alexander’s hand. The cold rail against her bare forearms.

It was getting late, and the cold February temperatures had pushed everyone back inside. The band was still playing some slow songs, and the air had shifted from electric to relaxed.

“There aren’t this many skyscrapers in Gryffindor,” Natalie heard herself say after a while. “It’s not bad. Just different.”

Alex nodded.

He’d visited. Gryffindor was familiar now. But it had also meant trade, goodbyes, and things they’d slowly let go of as they built a new life. She’d never forget those first days, before she could join Kasey, in which he wouldn’t talk or answer his phone much. She always felt like she should put a good word on Gryffindor with Alex. There had been a long period of radio silence after Kasey’s trade.

A finger poked her arm slightly, distracting her from her thoughts..

“Yep,” Alex said, “You’re freezing.”

Natalie looked up at him.

There were some things Natalie would one day say she’d change about that moment. At the same time, she never wanted it to end.

When she realised she’d been staring at his lips for a while, she turned to the city again, shrugging.

“Well, it is February, Alexander. But I don’t feel cold.”

“Hmm. Wonder if those four cocktails have anything to do with it.”

“Maybe it’s just my strong constitution.”

“The cold never bothered you anyway.”

They stared at each other unimpressed for a moment before breaking into giggles together. Natalie leaned in a little, and their shoulders touched. Oh, his jacket was warm.

She pressed herself more against him. She liked that warmth. She’d missed it.

An arm circled her shoulders, moving up and down for some friction. The other brought the glass to her hands.

“Have some. It’ll warm you up.”

That, Natalie thought as she relaxed more into Alex, she would never change about that night.

The whiskey burned down her throat, and maybe her heart pounding in her ears had to do with that.

Alex seemed to become very aware of their position as well. She felt him look up, then to the side, then down to the tiny cars again. His hair brushed against her cheek in a light tingle.

She wondered where—

“Kasey’s inside.”

Oh.

“His captain finally made it to the party. Really serious, that Black.”

Natalie groaned. “Oh God, you did not.”

“I’m afraid I just did,” Alex sighed. He looked in the distance. “That boy just needs to grow into his gear. Like Kasey did.”

Natalie nodded. She pressed imperceptibly more into Alex’s grip.

“Kasey’s alright,” she said softly.

Alex’s nose was against her hair, and his chest close to her shoulder. So, she didn’t miss the way his breath hitched a little. Then, a gentle inhale. A nod.

“I know. I know he is.”

Silence lasts longer that time, so long that she began to worry she’d said the wrong thing. She parted from him enough to look up. But his expression was peaceful, a small smile glowing with the rest of the city. His eyes, half hidden by the messy hair, dropped on her lips.

“I know he is,” he repeated, almost in a whisper. “He’s with you.”

Natalie felt on fire.

She looked at him, looked for him, for any hint or suggestion of what was going to happen next. It’s like they already knew, though, as they’d always both known, and arrived at the edge of the cliff just then. Natalie felt her eyes widen, her breathing stopping. Alex was a solid, warm force against her. Keeping her close and warm. But at the same time, like he couldn’t help it, letting himself be at her mercy.

They stilled in that moment, studying each other’s face for any sign of false alarm or joke intentions. But Alex wasn’t backing down or downplaying it. He showed his cards. It was Natalie’s turn to find that courage in herself. Her hands were itching and her head felt light. Is this really happening, echoed in her mind.

She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before managing a few words out. Delicate and vulnerable.

“You’re in love with my boyfriend, Alexander.”

“Yes.”

“You need a haircut.”

“Yes.”

Her breath faltered. “You’re in love with me.”

“Yes.”

Oh.

His voice was even, like he didn't have much of a fight left inside him. A criminal finally confessing his crime after a night of interrogations.

Natalie looked at him with half-parted lips, speechless with the confirmation of what had navigated in her mind for far too long. Alexander remained silent and still, probably waiting for a reaction on her part –well, he’d just spilled his heart out to her. His eyes were big and vulnerable, without any grin or funny face to shield himself.

She had no words, and too many at once. She’d prayed for this moment to come with a mix of hope and guilt that had left her feeling like a sinner heading to confession..

She didn’t know what to say, but she knew what she felt—God, what Kasey felt, what they both felt for Alexander. And he feels the same way. What she’d feared the distance would erase had only made it clearer. And he feels the same way. She smiled hard, and started nodding, looking for his eyes.

Alex looked up at her in surprise, eyes big and brows up. He nodded back once, a timid question, a confirmation that exposing his heart hadn’t been in vain.

Natalie kept nodding, her smile grew, and had to grasp his forearm. She opened her mouth, ready to let it all out.

I’m so happy. I’ve wished for this moment for so long. Kasey loves you, too.We talk about you every day. I think I love you, too, or I will, soon, it’s inevitable—

The notes of Bad Romance filling the air were the comedic prelude of the tragedy.

Natalie didn’t have to look down at where Alex’s phone was vibrating in his pocket and turning on with an upcoming call. That song had been his ringtone ever since they’d met, born as a lost bet against his brother and then stuck because he “actually didn’t mind it”.

Lady Gaga screamed in between them, but the silence was still deafening, toning the moment down, bringing them back to earth, to an open roof in New York City. Alex closed his eyes in a flinch, probably half cursing himself, half pretending his phone wasn’t ringing.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking embarrassed and lost at the same time. He let it ring for a while, hoping whoever was calling would give up, but in the end he had to reach for the phone. His eyes as he took it in hand were almost outraged. Natalie could have sworn they were once again thinking the same thing—throwing the damn phone over the balcony. The cold light of the screen made his frown glow.

“Fuck, it’s my agent. He’s been trying to call me all day, it must be something—”

Natalie blinked, still dizzy from what the call had just interrupted. But the mortified expression on the redhead’s face made her reach out to his arm. She tried for a smile.

“Hey, of course, don’t worry. I’ll be here.”

Alex let out a sound of frustration, and he took his jacket off to place it on Natalie’s shoulder. Warm.

“Here, to keep you warm. I’m so sorry. Fuck. I’ll, I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t think that this call is more important than—”

Natalie smiled. “Go, Red.”

Alex sprinted a few steps away, before turning again. “I’m sorry, I feel like I’m fucking this up, I’ll try and—”

Natalie wanted to kiss him. “Alexander, I’m not leaving. Go.”

Alex nodded, and grinned over his shoulder when he turned again.

“I’ll come get you, Natalia!”

Maybe she would.

She smiled, shaking her head. With her gaze on Alex’s back, she tilted her head to inhale the cologne on his jacket.

“Alex?”

“Hey Robert, hi. Sorry I haven’t replied, it was a crazy day…”

“Alex…”

“And now I’m having, ah, a moment, kind of an important talk…”

“Alex.”

“So, if I can call you back later, or tomorrow morning, that would be…”

“Alex.”

Alex stopped his pacing, eyes stilling on the skyline.

Robert stayed silent.

And that’s how he knew.

He looked at the silhouette of his city for a second more. Millions of lights and voices and dreams. Man, he loved his city. He…he would miss it. He silently thanked Rob for conceding him that second.

He inhaled, and it came out a little shaky. He turned to look at where Natalie was waiting for him. She was stunning, in her silk dress, looking like a muse, and wearing his jacket in a way that was just right and natural. She met his eyes and smiled.

It felt egoist, looking at her just to find the courage to force that single word out of his mouth.

“Where?”

Natalie looked at Alex as he paced fastly around the open roof, a hand pressing the phone to his ear . The little jump in his steps made her smile.

Her fingers unconsciously went to brush her lips, where Alex’s intense gaze was still burning.

An involuntary smile crossed her face. They’d almost kissed. And Alex would come back, and they’d kiss for real this time, and they would find Kasey. They would turn this into something. God, the face Kase would make. The realisation hitting him and finally peace, release, the three of them, together—

Alex turned, and Natalie’s smile died the moment their eyes met.

Red eyes stared back at her for a long moment. The next, he was gone.

Natalie was still staring at the wall Alex had disappeared behind when she felt a hand on her back.

“Nat, I was looking for you,” Kasey said, his smile on her. “What happened? Weren’t you with Alex, where…”

Natalie just stared at him, not sure what to say. Or where to start.

Kasey frowned, hand going to her cheek. Warm. “Nat. Baby, you okay?”

Natalie looked back at the wall.

It was Kasey who found him.

It was a dark, hidden part of the terrace, with a few bushes left out of display..

He stopped in front of him, looking down at where Alexander was sitting on the small step before the balcony. Kasey said nothing for a while, waiting for him to lower the hands from his face. His phone was in between his feet. Kasey wanted to throw it away with all his force. But he stayed still.

He heard a harsh sob and had to look up at the sky so not to do the same.

He breathed in, bracing himself for the inevitable hit.

“Where?”

“Florida. Tampa Bay Lightning.”

It knocked Kasey out like a punch to his stomach. The air forced out of his lungs, the nausea. But the adrenaline that softened the hits on the ice, mentally if anything, was nowhere in sight. What had proceeded, and what followed, was the sensation of the floor crumpling under his feet.

He nodded a few times, mostly to himself. He was glad for the dark. He didn’t know what his face was doing, but it was out of his control.

“Fucking bouncy ice, eh?”

It came out too shaky to sound like a joke, but it made Alex look up at him. Kasey watched him pass a hand on his face to dry his cheeks.

He looked exhausted.

His mouth opened and closed a few times. Then he shook his head.

“Nat and I, we…”

“I know,” Kasey interrupted softly, because he knew that repeating it out loud would have killed them both. “She told me.” He almost whispered the words that followed. “I..I love that you two..were talking about it.”

You’re both braver than me, always have been, he couldn’t bring himself to add. Every word burnt too much, and he simply had to hope that Alex was reading his mind as he always did.

The redhead shook his head.

He opened and closed his mouth again, only for no sound to come out.

Kasey saw the monumental effort it took him to try for a smile. But it crumpled before reaching his face.

“I…I thought I finally had you. I…I feel so stupid now.” He sobbed, and Kasey looking down at him with wide eyes, was left with no air. “I feel so, so stupid.”

The party was over.

The terrace slowly emptied, and no chatter could be heard from inside. The three of them had been sitting on the cold steps for what felt like hours, staring at the wall in front of them without a word. That’s how Natalie had found them. Sitting next to each other, with dishevelled expressions and suits. She’d taken Alex’s other side, a hand immediately finding his back. A small kiss on his shoulder, Kasey’s hand finding hers for a second.

And now, elegant clothes on concrete, staring at a grey wall at a party, Natalie couldn’t help thinking how deeply unfair it was. How it should have gone entirely differently. Hell, how young they were.

In the back of her mind, the sparkle of hope that her talk with Alexander had ignited was slow to die. They could have been talking, a mile a minute, of their feelings, and all the times they’d wanted to kiss, and laugh in relief. Alex would have taken them on a walk around the city, smiling smitten and relaxed. Natalie had seen a glimpse of the euphoria that Alexander would have been wearing on his face for days and weeks, just before the phone rang. Nothing close to the thin line his lips were now. They could have spent the night together, unable to sleep, and they would have figured something out. New York and Gryffindor weren’t that far.

Tampa and Gryffindor…that was an entirely different story.

“It’s…” Kasey started after a while, voice too hoarse. Natalie could feel the tears at the back of his throat. “It’s not that…it could be worse—”

“Kase,” Alex sighed, a hand going to the blond’s shoulder. “Not now.”

Kasey closed his eyes shut, nodding hard.

“There’ll be time for that,” Alex said softly. “Just not now.”

Kasey kept nodding vigorously. A harsh inhale took him by surprise, and a sob shook his shoulders. Natalie felt her heart break for the hundredth time that night. She itched to lower his head on her shoulder or take his hand in hers. Instead, she watched him bring them to cover his eyes, and finally let go in a way that Natalie had only seen once before. Not a silent, still tear crossing his face on its own, but a breathless, desperate cry for someone to tell him that it wasn’t really happening.

Alex pulled him close, leading Kasey’s head on his shoulder. His eyes were a vague, glassy stare at the wall in front of them. Puffy and red from crying, without any trace of the sparkle or warmth that Natalie had fallen for.

She laced her arm with his. She wanted to lean against him like she had just an hour ago, and close her eyes, but she couldn’t. Alex was already holding Kasey, and she didn’t know how long he could resist before collapsing on the floor.

She pressed her cheek against his shoulder, a second too late to realise her melted makeup would stain his white shirt—it was cold, Alex was cold. She considered giving back his jacket but found that she couldn’t. Just like she couldn’t think of moving at all, or of the moment they’d have to part, each on their way, with Alex muttering “I have to start packing.”

When would she smell his cologne again? The thought made her grip his arm tighter.

She couldn’t break the spell—no one could, no one wanted to. Life would continue as if three broken hearts weren’t holding each other as long as possible before miles would pour in between them. And all they’d be left with would be a sense of smallness, like dice scattered around a board game. It wasn’t bliss, what they had right there, but Natalie still would not dare to break it.

So, she pressed her check against a cold, stained shoulder, and let her own sobs mix with two different rhythms.

When goodbyes eventually had to be said, words were nowhere to be found. Natalie made Alex promise he’d call once he was all settled in. And no one felt like it was right, but Alex’s jacket returned in a bundle to his hands.

They hugged. First Alex and Natalie, after sharing a long look and a small kiss on the cheek. Then she left them for a few minutes. It took Kasey just a glance to understand they were both thinking about last year. That single kiss at the airport. Long cries before and after. The feeling of the universe taking pleasure in bringing them close and then throwing them in opposite directions again. God, they’d worked hard to share friendly smiles again without the bitterness creeping in. Kasey shook his head to himself, almost surrendering to that destiny.

It took them a while to even look at each other. And, God, they’d cried that night, but Kasey felt the familiar burn build up behind his eyelids again. He tasted blood in his mouth for how long he’d been torturing the inside of his cheek.

“Hey.”

Alex was smiling. Eyes red, cheeks still wet. Hands stuffed in his pockets again. Kasey threw himself at him hard enough to feel the breath forced out of him. But less than a second later, arms were gripping back twice as strong.

Feeling each other’s raspy, destroyed sobs was a comfort and torture at the same time.

“’M getting snot on your shirt,” Kasey mumbled after their breaths calmed down.

Alex’s grip tightened. “’S okay. I have your snot and Nat’s mascara.”

“Please wash that shirt or throw it away.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

When they parted after one last squeeze, Kasey was able to smile back. Trembly, sad, but a start. They stood there, unable to move, until Alex’s hand unconsciously started dangling back and forth. His fingers caught Kasey’s in a soft hold.

But it lasted less than a second.

Kasey took a step back, as if burned, and stuffed his hands in his pockets like Alex always did. He broke his own heart the moment he did it. He watched Alex blush, eyes dropping to his feet, and nodding. Kasey cursed himself, and he didn’t need to go on with his life to know he’d continue to do so for many years.

Alex had to look away to manage a smile, and he tilted his head at him.

“See you on the ice, Blizzard.”

Before Kasey could say anything, he was gone.

Natalie needed to see him leave. Kasey couldn’t.

She turned to watch him leave the terrace. If she’d seen their interaction, she didn’t mention. Kasey squeezed his eyes shut, cursing himself, Alex O’Hara, hockey, and agent calls. He cursed Florida, airports, and himself again for not conceding to themselves the last act of grace Alex had been willing to give him before losing him for the second time.

The party was over.

#lumosinlove #lou's writing #o'darwin #vaincre lumosinlove

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tetrakys · 1 year

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Eldarya: The Dragon's Call

Pinning this post to leave the links for the AUs of Lance and Valkyon.

Chapter 1 is out, it’s mostly an introduction and it’s the same for both routes. After this, the story is slowly going to branch off with some different dialogues and scenes according to the route.

More info below following some questions I’ve received (my asks are open if you have more).

Why are you writing this? Is the company involved?

No, absolutely not, I’m not affiliated to the company in any way. I’m writing this because I’m a fan and Valkyon and Lance are my favourite crushes. I dislike what was done to the characters in ANE and asked Chino to tell me “her version” of what she would’ve done if she still worked on Eldarya (since she wasn’t involved in ANE at all, only the very main idea of the worlds merging is hers, but she didn't work on it). I personally consider her version of the story more “canon” since she is the original creator, she made these characters and she knows how they would behave etc. She came up with the main plot for this AU and we brainstormed together. If one day the company decides to make Eldarya AL games, I will delete this fic because this would be the story Chino would tell.

How do you know Chino?

I sent her a message two years ago to congratulate her for the 10 years anniversary of MCL, we started talking and became good friends. We’ve met many times now and travelled together, and she was also one of my bridesmaids 🥰. (I didn’t know her at all when I was making guides for the first 6 routes of Moonlight Lovers, we started talking in March 2021.) She’s a good person and cares a lot about the fans and the games, otherwise being a fan myself I would’ve never been able to like her and become her friend. You should send her some love on her instagram @chi.no.miko if you have the chance.

So, what is the story about?

The story is set at the beginning of ANE, starting between episode 3 and 4. It tells the quest of Erika trying to bring Valkyon back. If this was made as a game, Erika would go on a quest with with each one of the guys depending on the route (so, single route basically). She of course would connect or reconnect with the chosen crush during the adventure. With Valkyon though it’s slightly different for obvious reasons, and you’ll see how if you decide to read his route.

How long is this story going to be?

I have planned 10 chapters but the number is not set in stone.

What’s the release pace?

I’m not giving myself a schedule as I’m busy with work, but I would like to write one chapter every one or two weeks, we’ll see if I can do it.

Can you even write?

Debatable. I’m not a writer but I like to think that I have a good vision of how the characters behave. You can check my AO3 for my past fics on MCL, Eldarya and Moonlight Lovers (I also have a masterlist here on tumblr, it's mostly the same stuff but some things are just here or just there). I’ve written about most of the crushes. However please keep in mind that English isn’t my first language so there will be for sure lots of typos and such 🙏

#eldarya #eldarya the dragon's call #about my writing #my writing #edc

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docilepillow · 3 months

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2024 February Media Post Thingy : Featuring Movies Also

I've never really liked doing editing " do-overs". i think if this was like a normal year with no leaping ( As of starting this post a couple of minutes ago ( 4:51 PM ) , i only just learned that this year was a leap year? Just goes to show how little i pay attention..! But yea, on topic, on topic, i don't look back to edit these kind of thought pieces after i write them, it'd feel odd to do so, ,and january's post was a mile and a half to write , so, after finishing the Big Thing for this year, i'm starting the writing on this on the 28th so i dont have to finish it all in one sitting this time. I'm not sure when i'll drop or pick up on it, and its not like, done Live with the month, so the actual timeline of things won't be completely perfectly accurate, but anyways : the things covered here are in rough sequencial order, mostly focused around New Media i've tried this month, with an added blurb about anything ive revisited this year at the very end. I'll try to add a blurb about everything, but no guarentees. Also, i said i'd have more screenshots to share, but i forgot again. A significant number of games here were also on 3ds which i have no good way to get screenshots for. planning is hard This month was heavily characterized by the absolutely wonderful time i had for my birthday and the days surrounding it, because wow, am i in love with my boyfriend! after many, many months spent long distance, i'm extremely glad to say that the first few days of this month were absolutely heavenly, and i do absolutely "get" all the lovey dovey emotional stuff that surrounds it. While he was over, we got to watch a whole bunch of different movies and such, and most of the video game focus was directed towards one big game, being God Of War Ragnarok, which is an absolute behemoth of a triple a game and also one aattached to the very sentimental god of war that i've also shared with him in the past ( they're some of his favorite games of all time, and he's especially knowledge on Norse stuff, so it's cute to listen to him ramble about it whenever actual mythology stuff comes up. Its absolutely adorable the way his voice lights up..! ) So, you'd expect the first piece of media i got through this month would be God of War Ragnarok, after all the time i've spent hyping it up already, while it's still fresh in my mind as of typing, And i'm on a massive, sentimental tangent on it, But...! TRUMP VS ILLUMINATI < Least Romantic Movie I've Personally Made Out With Someone Over >

theres not all that much to say on this movie as the title'd show, actually, and, obviously, the movie's a complete joke, through and through ( the titular protagonist isn't even the real deal, he's just a clone of the guy who lives on mars for whatever reason as the last human alive (?) ); and it's so ameturishly put together that i'm almost certain the entire scripting process of it was put together by looking at the title of the movie and quipping in a discord call brainstorming for a couple of hours, but it's absolutely great for virgining couples beccause you'll want to watch the movie for a bit, a bit that's been going on for i want to say little over three quarters of a year, but then, when you actually get to watching, it, you'lll both decide unilaterally to make out sloppy style instead of watching the movie, wow!

by the way, most of the movie is just weird little stock models talking at each other for what i rememeber being 50 or so minutes. i dont tihnk this is a good movie buut i thought itd be funny to bring up because in a shirtless daze after watching it i had the mortifying realization that this shitty movie was gonna be on the top of my media diary if i chose to go through with it . so here it is ! ! ! CATS & DOGS < tulpa movie >

idk what to blurb about this movie i think its entertainment value comes from the varied" WHAT DOES THIS IMPLYYY " moments in the movie and how like

excessively silly it is im not sure if it was this movie in particular but i have a very specific anecdote of this movie as a child before my parents divorce where i was actually Forced to watch it for some reason with my dad and with an anecdote like that the only thing i can think to say about it is that i think i actually enjoyed it more then Wonka theres some puppetry with the cat villain in this movie thats actually pretty endearing actually. its a decently entertaining spy movie. DOCTOR STRANGE

not having a title for this one isnt like reverence or anything i still watched this with my boyfriend in our little place and it was very enjoyable, and, in particualr, this was actually the first movie i watched of this list that i actually wanted to seek out to watch, actually! i've never been an mcu guy ( And, if you expect my movie reviews to professionalize, with like, research on the actors anything, you're dead wrong, i think , also. i think when it comes to assosiating characters with their actors or whatever celebrity or director or whatever, i just. .dont do that. i can see why normal people do but i dont have that built into me. so if i refer to a character it'll be for their character. ) i think this is a good movie i think this is a neat movie i think this a very pretty movie and i like mister stranges arch alot and i think it was really well characterized and enjoyable and id watch this movie again sometime maybe. im not a live action head but i think this movie just looks cool and is well presented in general. i think as an asshole mister strange is very watchable which is unusal for me cus i wince whenever characters do a thing thats like regrettable like noooo dont do that like an autistic weirdo but that wasnt really a problem with me for this movie i think its cool how this prick gets grounded by the fantastical shit in the movie and i think his little mini arch over the movie really stands out as a good character piece. thats all i have to say about it as someone who doesnt super hero movie this movie movies really good and stands on its own. i think its cool. i think this is a very enjoyable movie. i think people should watch it if theyre on the fence on it beingg mcu bc i dont think its like thoose other movies at all. im repeating myself. w/e Alot of early febuaary is characterized by movies bc i want to make it clear that the main game i played in that arch of time was God of War, and there were very much Not Media things that were more pressing for my time. lol VIDEO GAMES!!!! VIDEOVERSE < Most Heartwarming Eboy Game >

the docism i picked for this game sounds demeaning but thhis game is absolutely worth i think everyones time and if theres a game from febuary i'd make as a general reccomendation to my friends, it'd be this one, i think! it's an absolutely heartwarming narrative about an early 2000s era internet community that's being shut down, and its very resonant to at least Me, as a wii u / 3ds era fan

though it kinda melds that kinda stuff with a more early internet aestetic , which i think the combo works Really Well in terms of like vibe alone. the game is very naked with how it presents an early internet community and id describe it as being like hypnospace outlaw but without you the player being in the seat of like an internet moderator. Like you can moderate in the game a little bit but it's much less of a focus compared to the being in a game community with your friend aspect

this games a very well executed narrative about this emmet guy ( in the image above this one, he's on the far left of the screen ) and playing it as the first non GOW game of the week was definitely a choice i made that made me kinda sappy and clingy ( since its very much about the internet anxiety of losing a bunch of friends you care about due to dumb internet social media crap, which feels pretty well timed with this whole tumblr drama going on. also, as someone in a long distance relationship, the romance thing in this game also is pretty relatable in parts )

idk! its a very short game. i played it on deck and it was a very short but sweet pair of game sessions. i think if u like what you see here i reccomend giving it a shot if you're looking for a visual novel . ithink it is cute. if you like cute things this game is for Cute PRINCESS REMEDY IN A WORLD OF HURT < cute em' up where nobody has to die ! >

i actually falsely appraised this as gameboy color style when its supposed to be dos evokative. i knew i was missing something.

this is a free top down shmup game from steam about a cute healer girl! the game has really cute writing and is about an hour long. i think the writing makes it worth giving a try if you have an afternoon! the final boss is litearlly a guy with Every Disease that also has a refrence to ff6, so me being charmed by this game was kind of a given. Oops! I think more people should look at this game! it's worth it !

also, since everyone in the world of hurt has some kind of injury for you to remedy, some of the ones that get picked out are pretty amusing, also. its usually structured around " heres the problem with me " dialogue and " thank goodness im better " dialogue. this game is also for the gays because u can marry whoever you want after the credits. Yay! SUPER MONKEY BALL 3D < worst game icon ive ever seen for a video game award >

the games just kind of mediocre and the only reason i downloaded it is bc it was on 3ds and i just want to point out the games icon is Just a low resolution picture of ai ais face on a white bg. i think thats funny but the games so easy that thats pretty much the only novelty you'll extract of it if youre a monkey ball fan. oops .

something like this ive spent longer trying to find this games home menu icon then thinking about the game after playing it sorry i dodnt think this game is worth that just kind of sad

MEGAMAN XTREME

no reverence for this either pretty much all the games thatre gonna be talked about thatre on 3ds were just me looking through hshop slightly interested in something to do while waiting for my bf to wake up for more gow

all i can really say is that this game is a gameboy demake of the x games thats just slightly worse and going in with that expectation is correct but also its just Really annoying sometimes is very much a game where the levels are short and easy and the boss fights are kind of choppily designed and difficult and i think finishing this game was kind of more of an act of stubbornness then anything. theres this one boss second to last from sigma thats just killing this boss that spams 4 nearly undodgable spammy fast projectiles while you're on two tiny platforms over death spikes and i think that kind of speaks for how much id reccomend this ( not at all ) i think this is the angriest ive been at a game in a bit actually remembering it . i think i said a funny misnomer about it but i dont remember. something about this contributing to why mega man fucking died or something. im realizing i didnt actually consume alot of good media this month took a break writing this on leap day and umm FIRE EMBLEM WARRIORS ( The 3ds version ) < POPCORN VIDEO GAME >

as someone whose never played a dynasty warriors type game this was actually a little less boring then i was expecting it ? you'd assume picking the switch or wii u version would be more ideal, but, as someone whose favorite console is the 3ds , and considering it'd take less time to download to my system, i ended up picking this version. it actually runs pretty well and my only real complaint is that the character i wanted to play as is thuroughly stuck into the post game ( Celica from FE echoes ).

functionally this is kind of just a game that exists to be a stim device while you're in like a voice call or something but at that its pretty good from what ive played. used minerva for most of it and it wasnt too hard but not especially annoying either. its okay. i never got to unlock celica though ( bummed out ) and its not bad at all for somemthing i pretty much only played to pass the time between when my BF was awake to watch me play god of war, which it succeeded at. ive played every FE naturally available on the 3ds. TOM AND JERRY WILL WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

huh what happened howd this happen

guh MARIO MAKER 3DS

game i actually owned legitimately that i forgot i did. technically since the games are going down in a month from now this is my way on reminicing on Maker in general , but i mostly just reflected back on itt as a cute wii u memory and that cute packet that comes boxed with the game. the 100 or so challenge levels in this are neat but not Especially special. kind of existed to pad out the games i've tried and finished this year so far to an even 15. its not bad or anything, it did remind me of a few interactions i didnt know about before. maybe sometime before maker 2 goes down ill finish making that super world i started on when the game was new... putting all my thoughts togetherrrrr GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK

Igod of war ragnarok is pretty cool. for context, im pretty sure the first game of the i wanna say ps4 " duo " of norse GOW games are the two video games that both started me on my ps4 journey recently and got me and my boyfriend together? which i think is very sweet its also very unexpected cus other then being a soft mythology nut i dont see how id get into these kinds of games naturally, considering i'm less genre savvy when it comes to i guess " modern-style " story focused 3d adventures. Considering i'm a nintendo head, these could count as some of the only super duper gamerhead games i've ever played? though i don't know if it means anything when i say that . i think this game definitely needs the groundwork of the first gow to stand up, but, thats not a bad thing, its a very well thought out start to end NARRATIVE, and its a really good one at that. lots of well thought out character interactions and setpieces,a friend of mine described it as a universal ride-style game , and , in terms of linearity, it kind of IS that, but in like the most postive way i can think of in terms of the kinds of games i play , this is probably the drop-dead most prettiest game i've ever looked at from start to finish ( When it comes to detail and realism, i mean. .i think its very pretty to just look at the environments n stuff ) god of war ragnarok is pretty cool. for context, im pretty sure the first game of the i wanna say ps4 " duo " of norse GOW games are the two video games that both started me on my ps4 journey recently and got me and my boyfriend together? which i think is very sweet its also very unexpected cus other then being a soft mythology nut i dont see how id get into these kinds of games naturally, considering i'm less genre savvy when it comes to i guess " modern-style " story focused 3d adventures. Considering i'm a nintendo head, these could count as some of the only super duper gamerhead games i've ever played? though i don't know if it means anything when i say that . i think this game definitely needs the groundwork of the first gow to stand up, but, thats not a bad thing, its a very well thought out start to end NARRATIVE, and its a really good one at that. lots of well thought out character interactions and setpieces,a friend of mine described it as a universal ride-style game , and , in terms of linearity, it kind of IS that, but in like the most postive way i can think of in terms of the kinds of games i play , this is probably the drop-dead most prettiest game i've ever looked at from start to finish ( When it comes to detail and realism, i mean. .i think its very pretty to just look at the environments n stuff ) ( I have screenshots of the game on my ps4, but as i'm a day late to uploading this in the first place, i'm too lazy to both fetch them with my capture card and upload them to an image sharing site, so here's a picture of Jalla, a cute cow critter you get to ride in the game thaat made me very happy . )

I've heard of games that take up entire segments of people's lives for months , and while i've played lots of " longer " games, gow despite being shorter then something like SMT 4 is definitely one of the first games i've played thats been defined like that to me. i dont wanna say too much on the plot because i think these games are worth playing back to back on their own merits, though for me the experience definitely was raised above by , you know, sharing it with the love of my life, haha. its very cute to listen to someone visibly light up when talking about a game and its definitely my boyfriends infectiousness for the game that motivated me to keep coming back to it and dig for all the little details, even if i play 3d games like this like a game's journalist.... but yea god of war is really good i dont want to spoil anything on it but even if you haavent played the past games but have a ps4 and an appreciation for storytelling, i'd definitely reccomend it. Surprisingly cozy, heartfelt story on parenting and war and lingering regret n junk. also i like mimir alot hes silly and brok theres alot of characters in this i like alot

if you know you know TERMINATOR 2

oh yea i watched terminator 2 also very gripping very cool top moms in media for sure i can see why this is a classic movie it abosluely rocks and i was technically present for the voice call where they watched the first movie but i wasnt paying attention to it at all whoops thats technically the last of the new media i did but i also tried out a pokemon X nuzlocke and i replayed king of cards which was really fun and i remembered how much i liked madam meeber

the nuzlocke was a disaster but i actually did do it so winner

im sure there was other stuff too but im tired of typing and i forgot CLICKING SEND!!!!!

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