#no idea what dion and terence are trying to explain to joshua

[aesadraws]

needed to return to my PFK roots, so why not silly memes & cuddling?

[phoenixfiiire]

@deusmater

The meeting with Dion had gone... not as poor as it could have, but Joshua would have been a liar to say he wasn't disappointed. The King of Dragons - Bahamut - was not one to back down from a threat, even if that threat was one he couldn't fully understand. It had seemed like a boon to discover him so open to the idea of Ultima, but it was little more then a cursed gift, the believe simply making him want to try to handle it on his own.

Joshua was not blind. He was not an idiot. He knew exactly what Dion meant when he said he had to handle something on his own first.

The Emperor...

Such was Dion's decision. Joshua would not have been able to stop him even if he tried; both his own and the Phoenix's strength paled in comparison to Dion and Bahamut's. He could only hope that this decision wouldn't cause further troubles down the line.

Sir Terence had been meant to see Joshua out, but it really hadn't been that hard to slip away from him. He was playing with fire being here, so close to where his mother lived, but he found himself almost... compelled as he walked down one of the marble hallways.

And he paused, feeling something... wrong. Like an icy hand touching the back of his neck - and reaching into his chest, squeezing at his heart and lungs. He had felt this before, whenever Ultima had gotten near.

Joshua glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was following him, but his attempts to survey his surroundings were interrupted by a sudden coughing fit. He leaned heavily against one of the walls as one hand pressed up against his mouth, both to stifle the noise and to hide the blood he knew he would be spitting up.

Ultima - here? It would explain so much, but if that were the case then Joshua knew he was standing in the middle of a trap.

[reflectionsofacreator]

📖 XVI

[Put "📓" or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I'll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven't written but daydream about.]

So I've had this idea for a modern AU knocking around in my head for some time, rather than a fic set in the regular setting, and it's focused on the polycule that is Joshua/Dion/Terence/Jote.

The catch is that it's told through in universe recordings of therapy sessions, with certain names or events redacted or told out of order.

The fic would follow the four of them as they start to open up about their various issues; either with each other, their pasts, whatever. Initially Terence is the most open with the therapist, citing that he's the one who pushed for all of them to finally go to therapy. Dion is pretty quickly revealed to have deep seated religious trauma from his father's homophobia and keeping his relationship with Terence a secret for 10+ years. Jote is the most blunt about how she knows that she's extremely messed up, but she's willing to try. Joshua is presented as charming but constantly redirecting and trying to get out of actually having to talk about his own issues, much to the therapist's chagrin.

Slowly it's revealed that Dion and Terrence have been together since their very religious highschool days, with Dion bearing the brunt of the secret keeping from Sylvestre, who has kept himself involved in his son's life by monetary assistance. They'd been happy together for several years but didn't dare get married for fear of what retaliation Sylvestre or his new wife Anabella would foster on to them. Things had started to change when Terence met and fell for Jote, with that being the catalyst for ending up here, in the therapist's office.

The first time Joshua really opens up is recounting the time that he and Dion met, at his brother Clive's house. It had been silly and fun, with Clive mistaking Dion's panic over intruding on Terence and Jote's date as Dion being cheated on and offered him a place to stay. There's even a few laughs as Joshua recounts the night, only to sober and go quiet. The therapist asks what's wrong, and Joshua murmurs this I fear that Dion hates me now.

Hard cut to Dion again, with the recording noting that he's been silent for seven minutes. Finally he admits that he doesn't know where he stands with Joshua, because Joshua won't talk to him. He's always felt somewhat guilty about their relationship in the deep recesses of his mind, worried that he doesn't love Terence enough, worry that it makes him a bad person to love more than one person at a time. He worries over not being enough for Joshua or Terence, and even Jote, though he and she are not romantically involved.

There's a cut to Jote. Yes, Joshua and I are... pretty unhealthy, I guess. It's what happens when you accidentally make a cult in highschool and it blows up in your face. We would've been fine, I think, but my brother Cyril's sentence was up, and he got released from prison. And he came looking for us. I've never been so terrified when I realized he was in our house, that he'd tricked Terence and Dion into letting him inside, acted like a regular person. Well, there was one other time, when I saved Joshua's life. Funny how those two things are related.

For the first time, there's a new voice on the recordings; a young teenager named Olivier. He's a little haughty, but he stresses that he doesn't really get why he's here, other than Terence insisted. Really that Cyril guy wasn't that big of a deal, just a bit creepy? Oh, we don't have to talk about that? Awesome. Anyways how about the fact that I accidentally outed Dion to our homophobic father on the same night that I got punished for being caught kissing a boy? Yeah, um... how do I not feel guilty about that btw, and the fact that Dion got legal custody of me when I've been nothing but a burden?

There's so many ideas I have for this, but like. The framing device of "in universe therapy sessions" makes me not actually want to write it. I would need to go down a rabbithole of how actual sessions get conducted, have to nail each character's voice, etc. But the idea of slowly revealing the plot of this story that actually spanned over the course of ~6 years, and how each of them affected each other, agh. Won't leave me alone.

For what it's worth -- Joshua and Jote have been together since highschool as well (their whole Undying Cult thing that Cyril also was apart of) (it's a lot) (Cyril's still obsessed with Joshua years later, hence the Everything), and later got secretly married so Cyril wouldn't be listed as her next of kin. They both went into medical school to try and "make up" for what happened, but they're rather private about the events to the point that Terence and Dion didn't know until it showed up on their doorstep.

Yeah, it's a bit over the top and stuff, but like. Putting all the fantastical stuff in a modern lens is interesting and makes for some fascinating exploration of character.

Jote and Dion are not romantically involved, largely because Dion is Hella Gay. Similarly, Joshua and Terence are good friends, but aren't really involved romantically other than "let's doubleteam Dion". Terence and Jote met while Jote and Joshua were still in college, and by the time the story takes place (several years later, in therapy) both Joshua and Jote are certified medical professionals and they also all live in a house together and co-parent The Brat Olivier.

This got away from me. Oops.