#Syntax needs a drink

[beauleifu]

so i drew over some funny images again, wanted to put toxicinsanity and brokenbones trio in maid outfits- no one can stop me (also this is the first time i drew Macaque so bear with me LMFAO)

[jeongharine]

syntax ERROR: the right formula

⚝ wonwoo x reader

⚝ comedy, smut

⚝ notes: you and wonwoo decide to take the thing between you on level two. but no one has to know about it. you would rather die than to have someone figure out about your sexual escapades with the local nerdy fuckboy. it is an ego thing. (part i)

(thanks to everyone who read and liked part one, i’ve never received such an amount of likes for something that i posted <3 i hope you will like this part as well, it is a bit longer but i had a little fun in writing some teasing ooof enjoy it, have a good early summer period and stay safe x)

“can you actually believe that, y/n? he ghosted me for i don’t know three weeks, and then he had the nerve to ask for a tit pic,” nabi sighs, taking a sip from her blue-ish drink.

“you know what? i’m so done with men. all of them. we really ar- are you even listening to me?” 

you are caught off guard by the clicking of her fingers in front of your eyes. truth is, you are only half present, the other half of you is scanning the whole floor, trying to see if there’s a certain someone amongst the agglomeration of bodies. 

“yeah, sure, sorry,” you apologize, leaning your side against the wall. “i was somewhere else for a second. you were saying that he ghosted you?”

“i’m never talking to him again. or any man.” “hm,” you hum, crossing your arms. you actaully don’t know who she is trying to convince at this point, because that must’ve been the fifth time you heard your friend giving you that speech (during that semester alone). 

“really, i don’t know why those guys haven’t been thrown out of the campus yet. they’re a hazard, including your brother from what i’ve heard. sorry. but yeah, they’re a threat to public health,”

you shrug, because honestly you don’t care that much about their business. and that is important to keep it low.

“could be worse, though, i could be one of the poor girls getting fucked by one of them in their spare time,” 

oh. 

you giggle, a little nervous. “yeah, yeah,” you agree, looking back at the mass of students. “yeah, that’d be totally awful.” 

“i couldn’t even count on my fingers the amount of girls that had one night stands with one of them, and somehow proceeded in becoming completely whipped and infatuated, only to be told that they don’t ‘fuck the same person twice’. like… what the fuck is that? who do they think they are? sorry that your brother is involved in this discourse, but he’s kind of a prick,”  

you laugh, noticing the tinge of red that covers her cheeks. “you sound really drunk,” 

“i’m not bullshitting you. they’re pricks and that’s on period,” 

she raises her cup in a silent cheer, and took another sip. “i know you’re not involved in the fuckboy thing that plagues this campus and, honestly, you’re better off that way. but trust me when i say that they aren’t worth the headache,” 

with an inattentive nod, you take another peek at the strangers filling the space near you. “i believe you, don’t worry. i know my thing or two,” 

the worst part? you do. 

and the even worse bit? there are two things wrong with what she has just told you. 

number one: yes, they could be kind of jerks sometimes. but they aren’t completely soulless, at least some of them. they are fun to be around, actually, when picked alone and not in group, or when they are not trying to impress someone into sleeping with them.

number two: they fuck the same person twice, if feeling like it. at least wonwoo. and you know that because you’ve been fucking him on and off for the past five months or so. 

when you first met him, you weren’t exactly after a “secret friends with benefits” relationship. you just needed a math tutor. but long story short, you didn’t expect to fall victim to his charms, melting under his tender kisses, moaning his name as he rolled his hips against you, edging your orgasm for longer than you can hold it. and you surely didn’t expect to like it as much as you do. 

truth is: jeon wonwoo is everything, but he isn’t dumb. he knows that he is attractive and smart as hell - he knows that with his voice so silky and deep just saying the right words is enough to have you in bed with him, and he knows how to use the two things very well. 

apart from also corrupting you in games hours.

also, you are human, alright? and there is something extremely tempting about sleeping with your brother best friend, especially when he keeps coming back to you. it’s only nature to want to feel special every once in a while. 

again: it is an ego thing. 

plus no one ever caught you. not nabi or any of your other friends. as far as you are aware, wonwoo’s group doesn’t know a thing either, which makes you appreciate him even more because you don’t know how hoshi could take this.  

so yeah, he isn’t a total douchebag. he has the most basic sense of loyalty. 

x

with a sigh, you push your body away from the wall, fumbling with your purse. you are praying that- oh there he fucking is. 

the moment that you see wonwoo, sitting on the couch across from you, you forget how to breathe for a moment. 

he looks better than you had anticipated: dressed in all black, with his thighs spread across the seat, ready to be fucked right then and there. his dark long hair is parted in the middle, with a few stubborn strands falling over his angelic features, as his gaze navigates around the room, staring at nothing in particular.

next to him, there is another one of his friends, seokmin, talking about something animatedly but wonwoo is paying no attention. 

his expression is one of irritation, you notice, with his thick eyebrows furrowed, jaw clenching. but when his gaze falls on you, however, wonwoo’s perceived annoyance instantly dissipates. 

you watch as his eyes meet your own, then he trails down your body with desire, stopping around the level of your thighs for a bit longer than you have predicted. 

you know that stare awfully well: it is the same one that he gives you when he sees you around campus, or in the pc-bang when you’re winning or when you actually understand the concepts that he’s teaching you. the silent provocation that tells you, and only you, that he really wants to have some alone time right now. 

a tricky smirk sprouts at the corner of his lips, and he leans back against the couch. you follow his movements as he reaches towards his pocket and extracts his phone, staring at you as he does so. he unlocks it, taking a final glance at your expectant features before he starts to type something.

[00:23] wonu: so glad to see that you came  

[00:23] wonu: will you do me a favour and meet me in the bathroom upstairs? second door to the right ;) 

and what can you do when he’s asking it like this? you take the stairs and you wonder, as you open your way through the crowd of sweaty bodies and spilling drinks, if you aren’t trying too hard to rationalize and catastrophize something that is actually very simple. 

a story with a beginning, a middle part, and a satisfying ending: you two want to fuck each other, you do, then you move right forward. no hidden feelings, no strings attached. that’s it. couldn’t get any better than that. 

but maybe, it isn’t everything about that, and you know it. it is also about overhearing the other girls talking as you make your way upstairs, complaining about how ridiculously hot and pretty he is. it is about having that steamy, trembling secret between the two of you. it is about knowing that yeah, wonwoo is crazy hot and smart and funny and you can have that whenever you want.

x

just like the calm before the storm, there is a moment of quietness and stillness between the instant of when you lock the door, and the one when you see him. 

as you turn around, dwelling in his proximity, you think about a million things at the same time: about teasing him for his location choice, or maybe about how he must’ve been going through a drought, if he has to count on his covert booty call to get laid at a party. 

before you can say anything, wonwoo’s lips are on yours, attacking your mouth in a fervorous kiss. you whimper in surprise as he pushes you against the closed bathroom door, his hands circling your waist as he squeezes your body against his. your purse falls on the ground with a muffled sound, but you barely even notice it. 

it is something else, really. tonight, he’s kissing you as if he physically can’t contain himself long enough to do anything else - as if all that he can think of doing is to feel the heavenly contact of your mouth against his, while your fingers pull strands of his hair.

as he invites his tongue inside your mouth, wonwoo groanes and lowers his hands, squeezing your ass like he is about to lose every last ounce of sanity he has left in him. you sigh as he moves his focus onto your neck, placing open-mouthed kisses. 

“someone’s excited,” you comment, slightly breathless. the only response you get is another groan, and the rolling of his hips against your inner thigh where you can feel his dick, already semi-hard, pressing. 

“couldn’t even bother to take me somewhere else,” 

“i just needed to have you now. have you seen how hot you are?” his voice comes out muffled against your skin, the reverberations of his timbre propagating directly towards your core. 

“i see you’re starting to get more adventurous with this,” you bite down on your lower lip and he sucks your flesh, groping your ass once again. “parties and nights out used to be so off limits to you.” 

wonwoo chuckles against your neck, moving back towards your mouth. he starts making out with you again, his breath hot and heavy against your face, and you start to think how you could very well pass out seen the level of craving building inside of you. 

“i changed my mind.” he speaks as he leans back. 

you smirk at his attitude. “we’ll end up getting caught,” 

“aw, baby,” he pouts, looking at you with artificial pity. “are you afraid your brother is going to find out?”

okay, he can be kind of a prick sometimes. 

“so i can leave, then?” you raise one eyebrow, fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck. 

“you can, the door is right behind you. you know i’m not one to insist,” wonwoo tells you, quickly losing interest in this part of the conversation. “but something tells me you won’t.” 

you don’t even try to respond, because there is nothing to be said: both of you know what you are doing there, and the idea of walking out is just too ridiculous to consider. 

with a suspire, you watch as wonwoo moves his lips down your chest, stopping at the fabric of your blouse. 

“what if someone hears us?” you suddenly remember, heartbeat quickening at the thought. 

“what is it?” he asks as his fingers work on your buttons, exposing more of your chest. the slow pace of his is going to kill you one of these days. 

“you’re worried that people are going to find out about this? about us? when you’re always begging to be fucked in the room next to your brother’s one or when there’s someone at my dorm?” 

you open your mouth to respond but his chuckle, so deep and melodious, catches you off guard. 

“how scandalous, right? you are not the pure little thing you make yourself to be,” wonwoo continues, finally opening your blouse and fully exposing your bra to him. he hums with delight. “red lace? you really want to tease me,” 

you swallow dry as he takes the blouse off your shoulders and gently places it beside the sink, above a towel. he can be so thoughtful and gentle. 

“wonu, i-“ “you’re such a little brat sometimes, you know that?” he interrupts, eyes following his own movements as his hands circle your body, moving to unclasp your bra. and of course he gets it right on the first try. 

“you came all the way up here just to get fucked, and now you’re worried that people are going to know about it,” you stare him down, a smirk already creeping up in the corner of your lips. 

“how does that make me a brat?” 

he smiles. “don’t try to to play the naive card on me,” another agile movement of his fingers and your bra joins your blouse besides the sink. 

wonwoo sighs deeply at your exposed breasts, trying to imprint that sight into the back of his mind. “pretending as if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. you can drop the act now, y/n,” “i don’t-“ his mouth attacking you is all that you needed to shut up and let him do what he wants really.

overwhelmed by the sensation, you let out a gasp as his hand squeezes you, playing with you as he moans against your skin. 

“i love it so much,” he hums, moaning at the marvelous sensation of your warm skin against his tongue. you were almost forgetting how much wonwoo aches to play with your tits - not that you are complaining. 

“and i love that it’s all for me,” he breathes out before placing kisses again.

you whimper at the contact, arching your back in a failed attempt to get closer to him. as much as you know he is most likely to just say whatever he thinks would turn you on, wonwoo’s words expand inside your chest, building a heat that seems to suffocate you. even if you know it is bullshit, maybe not all of it, you like to be called his. ego strokes and all of that. 

“wonu…” there is only a thin wooden door separating you two from the outside world, and at the moment you can’t care less if they hear you calling out his name. the guy really does wonders to your anxiety. 

but he also likes to tease you. 

he moves away from your breasts and you almost, almost, cry out in frustration. but wonwoo starts to trace kisses back to your neck, then to your jawline. and you feel like you’re going crazy with all that back and forth.

“i’m not gonna lie, i understand where you’re coming from,” he says. “i like to keep this as a secret too. it’s so hot.” 

you almost forget how to inhale when he aligns his face with yours, placing a peck on your swollen lips. “yeah?” you ask, sounding as if you are in a daydream. 

“yeah,” he agrees, breathless. 

even if wonwoo tries his best to look as if he’s under total control, you know that he can’t keep that front for too long. he is clearly turned on, and the hardness pressing against your thigh is all of the proof that you need. he

even if wonwoo tries his best to look as if he’s under total control, you know that he can’t keep that front for too long. he is clearly turned on, and the hardness pressing against your thigh is all of the proof that you need. he’s close to get too worked up.

“it’s so great to know that i have one of the sexiest nerdy girls on campus just for myself…” his hand trails up your thighs, adventuring in the lands beneath your skirt. “and no one knows.”

you bite your lower lip, anticipating the contact of his hand against your core. “what’s so tempting about it?” you ask. 

he smiles. “ah… many things,”

your stare doesn’t vacillate. “i’d like an example,” 

instead of answering you straight away, wonwoo decides to take his sweet time. he leans his head to the side and kisses you feverishly, growing satisfied with the the small whimpers and breaths that echoes in between your mouths. his hands are all over you: on your ass, your waist, down your thighs and up your hips, where his eyes can not see. you only have your skirt and your panties on, and it is so frustrating to still feel him fully dressed against you. 

at last, he pulls away, placing his forehead against yours. as he speaks, you feel the tingle of his hands as they move towards the hem of your panties. 

“i like seeing you walk around campus, knowing that you’re sore from the night before,” he speaks slowly, his voice in a low vibration against your mouth. “and i know you don’t tell any of your friends about it. about how i fucked you so good that you almost cried,” 

you hum, closing your eyes. “what else?”

much to your dismay, his hands leave your underwear again, coming out to pull you closer. “when you send me those audios late at night,” he’s breathing out hard then, drowning in those lewd memories. “crying out my name… ” he stops and takes a big breath. “how am i supposed to say no to that? so there i go, out the door, telling your brother that i’m going to the library to study, instead of saying that i’m going to see his crazy hot sister and that i’m going to fuck her…” he hesitates. “and i just get this… adrenaline rush because he and my other friends don’t know it’s you.” 

“and how do you know that i like any of it?” you tease. 

wonwoo snickers at your question. both of you know that it is plastered all over your face, but he can keep up with that little teasing if you want to. 

“two reasons,” he says. “first: you do the same to me, or don’t you?” 

“i don’t recall,” you respond, forging innocence. okay, maybe you do like to play the naive part. 

“oh no? what a terrible memory you have, i see why you do badly in exams when you don’t study with me. now, let me remind you,” he places a strand of your hair behind your ear, his words hitting your skin in heated, libidinous waves. wonwoo is so close that you can count his eyelashes if you want to, his torso squeezed so tight against yours that you wonder how you even manage to breathe in this position. 

“it was just last week, babe. you called me to your flat after your roommate had left,” one of his hands goes back to play with the hem of your underwear, fingertips feeling like sparks against your skin. 

“you got so horny with just the thought of having me, isn’t that right?�� much to your surprise, your voice comes out a lot more steady than you have expected. “don’t flatter yourself, you don’t know that.”

wonwoo laughs, placing his warm, swollen lips against the skin of your neck. “i don’t,” he agrees, digits pressing against your clothed area. 

you know he feels how wet your panties have become, so there’s no reason to keep that up. regardless, you kind of like it. 

“but i do remember how much you wanted me that night. how many times did i fuck you that night? and you just had to keep quiet, because your neighbours could have been catching something. that was so cute,” 

you sigh, your insides in knots over the tension you are sustaining. you hate him sometimes. hate how good he is. “i wasn’t counting.” 

“i know,” he swiftly pulls the fabric of your underwear to the side. 

“and this right here, this is the second reason. look at this,” his digits move, teasing you and you have to suppress a moan. “you’re always ready. i love that. you’re so good to me.” 

god, you are so close to lose it.

“so quiet all of a sudden,” his nose delicately trails up your neck, his mouth meeting the angle of your jaw in open kisses. in an attempt to ground yourself, your hands fly to his shoulders, nails digging through his t-shirt. you can still feel wonwoo’s fingers playing. you hate him. or not. you don’t know. 

“i know i leave you speechless, sometimes, but i wan to hear you too,” 

strong and steady, his other hand meets the curvature of your waist, pressing your body against his.

“nothing? y/n, you’re especially irresistible tonight,” his eyes are somewhat dazed, unfocused and hooded. he appears as if he’s two seconds away from fucking you raw against the wall, and you seriously wouldn’t mind at this point. 

“you know why i called you here?” “because you want to fuck me,” you respond without missing a beat. 

“i do, of course,” he places his forehead against yours, and you whimper. 

“and the best part is that no one will even know it,” he continues. against your best judgement, your knees are getting weaker by the minute, the knot in your abdomen about to untie.

“just you and i. just the two of us will know how much you begged.” 

“wonu,” you call out, hands tangling themselves in the roots of his silky hair. you whisper out his name again, your voice coming out in such a promiscuous tone. 

god, wonwoo loves hearing the effect he has on you. 

x

maybe jeon wonwoo does also have a golden dick. 

above you, he smirks at the sensation of your mouth around his thumb, his other hand coming to place small caresses on your hair. after he removes his thumb from your mouth, you get back to your feet. it swiftly crosses your mind that your legs might give out eventually but, thankfully, they seem a bit more firm than what you have anticipated. 

“better?” you ask. 

“perfect.” wonwoo kisses you, sighing against your mouth. he pulls away gradually, his body still moving a bit slow.

“you always are.” 

“aw, how nice of you,” you smile at his compliment, walking towards your pile of clothes. “always with the compliments.” 

he hums in agreement, watching your naked body - your fingers holding that red bra he adores so much. “do we have any lesson programmed this week?” 

an incredulous laugh ruptures your lips as you clasp your bra behind your back. 

“we just had sex, and you’re already thinking about studying time?” 

he shruggs. “i like to have a schedule,” 

“i don’t actually remember, but we can game at mine wednesday,” your skirt moves up your legs, all the way up to your waistline. from the corner of your eyes, you can see wonwoo fumbling with his own jeans, which he now curses for being inside out. 

“can you pass me some toilet paper?” you ask him, eager to clean the mess between your legs. there’s no way you are going to put your panties back on, even if the thought of going commando isn’t exactly the most welcoming either. 

wonwoo is sitting on the toilet lid, putting his jeans back, and simply nods in agreement before doing so. “i’d like to know, though,” he insists.

you smile, taking a cheeky glance at him. “oh, so you are needy. since when you’re so needy?” 

he groans. “i’m not needy, shut up.” the sound of his zipper closing echoes inside the cubicle. 

“well, you can have this as a memory, if you’d like.” 

you throw your red panties at him, watching as his face grows interested at the piece of cloth in his hands. wonwoo sighs, tugging his t-shirt back inside his pants. 

“you’re killing me,” he complains. “good.” you smile, turning back at him. “how do i look? presentable?” 

he examins you for an instant, taking in the details of your form. “it doesn’t look like you just got fucked, if that’s what you’re asking,” 

“great!” you swirl around, “have a nice night, wonu. and don’t get too excited with the panties,” 

wonwoo gets up and walks closer to you, your underwear safely guarded in his hands. you are positive he’s going to have fun with it later. “you’re going home already?” he asks. 

“yeah, you did a good job at making me tired,” the clicking of the lock is a pleasant reminder that no one tried to open the door during your alone time.

wonwoo chuckles, leaning closer to you and he places a kiss on your forehead. 

“good night, then. thanks for the panties,” you laugh. “you’re welcome.” 

x

the building is glowing in the most diverse colours from the outside, and the sound of the music is like a distant pulse.

you watch, heart clenching inside of your chest, as wonwoo steps out of the front door with hoshi and seokmin - his head hanging low and a smile at the corner of his lips. 

there is a volume in his front pocket, where you are sure he has tugged in your panties.

“i think that we should go home and sleep. but let’s keep this conversation on hold,” wonwoo cuts off the conversation. seokmin, however, isn’t satisfied. 

“you know that i’ll find out eventually,” he says, trying not to trip while walking. 

“i always do. and hoshi knows it well.” 

hoshi laughs, meeting wonwoo’s eyes. on the other side of the street, you and nabi take the opposite direction, having wonwoo to turn his head quickly at you. 

“wonu-yah, i think you should give those lacy panties hanging off your pocket back to my sister tomorrow,”

“what-” “oh fuck!” a tomato red face wonwoo grabs them, while seokmin trips and nearly cries out loud in the middle of the street.

[scenesakusa]

LMK Random Headcanons (Pt. 2)

Hi and welcome to part two of Lego Monkie Kid random headcanons

warning: Arbys /j

[part one] [part three]

-DBK is a Megan Thee Stallion fan

-Besides the normal celestial garb he usually wears, Nezha's closet has the worst color combos humanly imaginable

-Wukong hates carbonated drinks

-Out of the traffic light trio, only MK has gone and finished college (he did culinary studies) Mei didn't go and Redson dropped out

-Redson is ambidextrous (He weirdly holds this fact over MK and Mei for whatever reason)

-Macaque texts in all lowercase with punctuation, while Wukong purposefully ONLY texts back Macaque like a 56 yr old dad

Macaque: Macaque: hey, can you pick up some shallots from the store. (2:38 PM)

Wukong:👍 (Read 3:12 PM)

-Porty MK can do a scarily accurate impression of anyone

-Lady Bone Demon eats at Arbys unironically

(insert Bai He fighting for her life while LBD slams down another roast beef sandwich)

-Li Jing also eats at Arbys too (ew)

-Red Son had a phase where he was into cat girls (not for those purposes shut up)

Iron fan once caught him building a catgirl robot and he had to have an awkward sit down talk with his dad because DBK didn't get the concept

DBK: "Son, your mother informed me you're making a feline robot female."

Redson: "Father I-"

DBK: "If you wish to have a pet companion then please just say so. The fortress is large enough to host another addition to the family."

-Redson now has a cat named Speckle

-(Post S1 Ep3) MK has the password to Mei's apartment and a copy of the keys to Mei's parent's house because he kept on coming over so much

MK texting Mei: Mom made Xiao Long Bao and Zui Xie for dinner, come home (8:27 PM)

Mei: WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE (8:32 PM)

-Syntax has a gaming set up that looks like those cute e-girl setups, custom pc with anime figures inside and all (+ cat headphones)

-Out of the brotherhood, DBK is the best driver and Macaque is the worst

(Best to worst is DBK > Yellowtusk > Azure Lion > Peng > Wukong > Macaque)

So that's another one of these under my belt, I need these legos doing more stupid shit

[py-dreamer]

So... I know I'm late...

But yea! I said I was coming back with some stickers and I kept my word! I would've hoped that I could've completed the sheet in like a day but as you can see...that didn't work out

I know I've been a bit MIA lately but burnout sucks. I do have a lot of WIPS I really want to work on but again, it seems that the ProcrastiNation hath struck my feeble mortal brain again.

But anyways:

I headcanon Aroace Mei, just a personal headcanon (disagree if you like) I also like lesbian Mei but thought I'd give some aroace appreciation

Silktea was only given 1 episode but OH BOY did it fuel our wild shipping habits. And I jumped on the bandwagon. It's a reference to that scene in She-Ra where Scorpia tells Catra she 'didn't want to do this' then wraps kitty up in the blankey and cradles her like a wee baby. And Sandy would do that for any friend, I will die on this hill

Saw a fanart where Mk had a pig nose themed pacifier and I just yoinked that idea. The pig hoodie and the pacifier seems like something Tang would do for Pigsy (also to get away with free noodles cause who can say no to that face?~)

Mac showing Wukong the lantern. What can I say, mans' fascinated by them pretty lights. Though our little performer's eyes seem to be straying from the show (^u ')

I know many people have issues with shipping with Nezha and such and I know the two had a rough history but y'know what fans do; they love to make the people who kill each other soulmates (platonic, romantic or otherwise) Even if it wasn't romantic, I still love the idea of them being buddies and just chilling, the danger noodle prince and the angy prince snuggle and watch a movie (mainly from Nezha 2019 but I also saw New Gods and can I just say, I want those two twinks to bicker then kiss awkwardly and I want Yun Xiang to BEAT. HIS. ASS) but in case anyone asks, I do perceive Nezha to be a consenting adult in general outside shipping drama and if the two are adults, it does make my heart squeal when I see these two hold hands and whatnot

HOW COULD I EVER FORGET MY SPICYBOIS, inspired by that one Ponyo kiss scene. I was actually gonna make a bigger piece but then I saw someone do it already in a much better fashion than I ever could and I just gave up on the idea but Ig here, its just like the two cakes mentality and I gave it a go. Hope I could do the concept justice

Have spider queen or scorpion queen ever interacted before? No. But they are both queens and I believe Spider Queen's confidence could rub off on Scorpion Queen and she'd appreciate the company of Spider Queen's children henchmen. Also she give yummy food so lesbian venomqueens for the win

Redraw of that moment with Peng and Azure. I normally detest that bird but these two do get some gears grinding and whatever anyone says. Neither of those two are straight. I'll tell ya that.

Toxicinsanity is another rarepair that had like 1 sec screen time. I don't think they'd ever work out in canon and had virtually no chemistry. I still love all the fluffy ship content I can find of them though and if it ever were to happen. I think the mayor would scare the sh!t out of Syntax

Let's get at least one hetero couple here, Chang'e and Hou'Yi are a couple of favorites ngl, I took most of their outfits from Over the moon cause both of them looked stunning, Chang'e especially. I've seen people ship mah girl with other people and while I do agree it's healthy to move on, in my heart she will always long for Hou'Yi

Also irl, on valentines, my mum took us out for lunch, she treated us to bubble tea and donuts. We walked home so I waited to drink mah drink in my room while I drew and I accidentally finished it all... I'm so sorry mum

f*ck I forgot ironbull. Uhh....I'll draw something later, rn I need to go to bed before I get yelled at...

click pic for less sh!ty quality!

[qingyingpocketlirary]

The Spider's Web Final;

Whatever was said between the two sisters, was between them, but it could not be denied that while some words were hard and heated, there was no desire to shun or part from one another again. There were no accusations, nor blame, only apologies and regrets that only time together would slowly heal. Huntsman was settled between them, holding and being held as he listened quietly, indulging in the relief that not only was his youngest sister alive and thriving but also the fourth sister, and with her, a little niece, A princess of the Clan, who had missed so much and yet, had so much more to offer.

By dinnertime, the tears had stopped, and with Chi Yue quietly serving food and drinks, it was easy to fall into what had been long buried habits around the table during the meal. Goliath and Syntax were called inside to join the small feast, and Syntax pretended to be annoyed at being carried in by the scruff since Goliath had heard ‘just a second’ three times already before being called in, so much to Huntsman’s amusement.

It was a start for all of them, but if a stranger looked upon the sight of the six Spider Demons together, they’d have thought this was a regular event and for the honour of being allowed to see it, Chi Yue allowed herself to pray silently that it would last for years to come.

The Palace of the Eastern Sea was still undergoing repairs, and so instead, the meeting happened in a different location. Witnesses were needed, but due to the location being neutral to all parties to begin with, only two were requested. 

MK and Red Son were chosen. When asked why it was explained that the Court needed the views of those who understood the way of the world now as well as those who knew its ways back then, and currently, MK and Red Son were two of the few who could be trusted to over see this Court and speak up if they found something unjust or unfair, and since neither of them had a Court or standing away from their parents and mentor yet, they were considered unbiased and also unaffiliated to any of the Three Realms. MK arrived with Mei and Tang, while Red Son arrived with his Father and Mother. Mei, Tang, Princess Iron Fan and Demon Bull King were asked to sit behind the boys, to show that they were not part of the proceedings and where all offered tea and snacks while they waited, they would be able to see and hear the Court session, but they would not be permitted to speak or voice their own judgements.

The location was beautiful, an estate with land to spare, filled with pavilions over a sprawling pond that could be considered a minor lake, with old forest and well established plantation. The buildings were cared for with great love and maintained with the old ways, while it was clear some of the modern world had crept in, as there were electrical lights about the place, as well as heating. 

The Spider Queen, Huntsman and another, older lady with a cane were already in the area chosen for the Court, a courtyard decorated with beautiful flowers and shaded with a woven covering to keep the heat and brightness of the sun at bay to those beneath the covering. The Queen was not riding her Mech, and Huntsman was on his human-like legs, so MK found it easier to ignore the nagging voice in his head about spiders eating him, and Red Son noticed the other boy was keeping his hands busy with a loop of string, forming shapes and patterns between his fingers while they sat quietly waiting for the session to begin.

Ao Bing stepped into the space at the head of the court yard where a chair and desk had been set up, looking over papers with a person neither MK or Red Son recognized, an avian being, a type of crane judging by their white feathers and a long black beak with a red head crest, he wore a pair of thickly framed glasses, and his hands shook constantly. With the crane were two other avian beings, one of very pale yellow feathered beings who was helping the old crane with the many papers he had with him, and the other a peacock, who seemed to be speaking for the old crane. They were all clearly people known to the Spiders, as all three were glaring at the birds, MK wondered if it was because the three were birds, or if there was something deeper.

It was the first time MK had attended such a Court, but he had heard from his Dad and Pa that it was a little bit like a Human Court session, two parties take turns to put their case before a judge and that judge, after considering all the facts and evidences provided, would pass a judgement on the matter at hand. These Courts were overseen by Witnesses who provided unbiased views on the matter, and who were permitted to voice their own thoughts, question reasons, and offer their opinions on matters as the two sides were presenting their cases. If the Witnesses found the judgement of the Judge unfair or unjust in any way, they were also permitted to submit their own unified judgement in counter and if it can’t be agreed upon, it would be discussed until a compromise was met.

Then from the opposite side of the space where Ao Bing had entered from, another man entered the space, a large black hound at his side and with them came a beautifully dressed lady, wearing the finary and grandeur of an Empress, but where one might expect a Phoenix headdress, she instead wore one that depicted a branch of a tree and from it, hung a Golden Peach that swayed with the breeze.

“Your Highness. Illustrious Sage.” Ao Bing and the old crane quickly stood straight and offered both newcomers a deep bow of respect, while the yellow feathered and Peacock-like being went down into a full kowtow to the woman.

“Queen Mother of the West. My Lord.” the Peacock greeted.

“That’s Erlang Shen, The Illustrious Sage. The hound at his side is Xiaotian Quan.” Tang whispered to MK.

“He looks bored.” Mei said.

“Be done with the formalities. I am not as strict as my husband.” The woman easily dismissed any further bowing with her gentle words. “I trust that all parties are in attendance, Prince Ao Bing?” 

“They are, Your Highness.” Ao Bing assured and waved his hand toward MK and Red Son, both of whom stood from their seats to offer shallow bows when introduced. “The Bull Prince, Red Son, and The Monkie Kid, MK. As Witnesses, they alone are permitted to discuss amongst themselves as we proceed and speak up if they disagree with anything said or decided. Behind them in attendance but not partaking are the Demon Bull King and Princess Iron Fan, the Young Heiress to the Western Loong Family and one of the boy’s parents, a Scholar of the Histories.” Ao Bing then moved his hand to the Spider Clan members, Huntsman went down upon one knee and kept his head low, while both the Queen and elder lady bent at their waist and spread their arms widely to their sides. “First Party in this Court, The Serving Ruler of the Spider Clan, The Emerald Queen and with her, Queen’s Guard, Huntsman and Lady Minglou, formerly known as the Jade Queen.” And finally Ao Bing waved to the bird like being. “And the second party in this Court, The Array Artisan, The White Crane of the South, who first designed the Array that once surrounded Silken Web Hollow, and their assistants Chi-Fu, the Short Tailed Peacock and Tai Lu, the Yellow Songbird.”

The Queen Mother of the West smiled and nodded. “Then let us begin. I hope no one will mind if my Nephew and his faithful friend sit in with us? My Husband has insisted they remain at my side as he fears trouble.”

“Needlessly so.” The man who had opened the doors for the Queen Mother, Erlang Shen, said looking around, “I do not see any trouble makers here.”

“Debatable.” The Demon Bull King huffed under his breath and MK sank just a little in his seat.

“Hush, My love.” Princess Iron Fan scolded lightly. There was a grunt then the Demon Bull King was suddenly very quiet and Red Son knew without even looking that his mother had squeezed his father’s hand just that little bit too tightly, a warning to behave himself and not embarrass them all.

“Manners, Mei.” Tang softly warned as Mei giggled at the exchange between husband and wife. Mei took a moment to compose herself before they all fell quiet again.

“We have no issue with the additional ears and eyes.” The Spider Queen said, her voice firm and sure.

“Then we may begin, once everyone is seated.” Ao Bing agreed and with a nod, the Queen Mother of the West took the seat at the Head of the courtyard while her nephew stood at her side dutifully while the hound laid down in front of the table, keeping its ears turned towards the gathering.

Lady Minglou spoke first, explaining that thanks to an investigation carried out by the Ten Kings, The Spider Clan know knew who and why their home had been destroyed, and while they would have liked to chance to gain the justice for themselves, they were thankful to the Monkie Kid and his friends for granting it to them instead. However, even with those answers, they had also found that the Array had been deliberately kept up when Heaven knew that the attack was coming, a factor that had not only led to the deaths of many Spider Demons, but also many of the humans who lived with in Silken Web Hollow as well, innocent humans who had no ties to the Spider Clan beyond being unfortunate enough to be within range of the Array when it was first cast and had only been integrated into the Clan’s people thereafter.

Then, the Spider Queen spoke, reminding those present that aside from their wealth and power over the Silk Trade the Spider Clan as a whole did not have any true power in the past, their technological advancements had only come about after the Hollow was lost. Heaven, by their own decrees and rules, should never have placed down any kind of Array to cage them in as the Spider Clan was then and still is, a mostly Neutral party, only involving themselves for a profit or when requested as reinforcements to a neighbouring Clan’s battles. They did not involve themselves with Humans unless first sought out and when they were, they made sure to sign and document their dealings clearly and cleanly.

The Queen Mother of the West questioned if they still had such records to show as proof, and Lady Minglou nodded, Ao Bing carefully laid down a collection of carefully packaged pages on the table before the Queen Mother, some badly burnt and and others so frail brittle it was impossible to even touch them without them falling apart, only a scarce few were legible as written contracts between long dead humans and the now Late Queens of the Clan. The pages had been salvaged from the ruins of the Hollow, and preserved to the best of Ao Bing and Lady Chayi’s abilities, but sadly they could not be restored for fear of forever losing them due to how badly damaged many of the pages had been.

The Queen Mother nodded and asked that the Spider Clan continue. 

The admission from the Spider Queen that Huntsman was a Prince was a shock to the room, even more so when Huntsman himself gave his full title and name as Prince Zhaozhan, Last Son of the Crimson Queen and Huntsman of the Violet Queens’ Guards, formerly known as the most vicious and violent of the Guards who escorted the Queens. He explained how on the day of the attack, it had been him who pulled the Emerald Queen from the burning rubble of her sleeping chambers and helped her gather those who they could still reach and find in the continuing eruptions of flames and hidden his identity to offer the youngest Queen a hidden ace in the hole as it were, should anyone try and do her harm in those early days following the ruination of their home.

They had survived, and rebuilt as best they could, but the attack and death had taken a toll on everyone who had escaped. To this day, many of their Clan still suffered days when the fear was just too much, rendering them imobile and lost in the past until someone else can drag them back to the present, mothers feared letting their children leave the nest without protection seals and spells to guard them from all manner of magic and physical attacks. Father’s were driven near feral when the courting season came around to try and prove they could protect their families from future attacks.

The Queen Mother asked what it was that the Spider Clan wanted, as they now had their answers as to who had attacked their home and why it had been done.

“This issue Heaven had with our Clan was with Our Mother and Sisters. We had always been told that the Array was primarily to keep us from leaving, not our people, so why, when danger came and people tried to flee to safety, did the Array hold firm, caging them in and causing meaningless deaths?” The Spider Queen asked, her voice firm but there were obvious emotions beneath that firmness, anger, pain, guilt and shame. “Our Late Mother and sisters have their justice, now that the Bone Demon and her Puppet are dead and imprisoned. What we want, Your Highness, is justice for our people. We want the person or persons who allowed their deaths to be punished, as they should have been long ago.”

The Queen Mother nodded in understanding, and then turned her attention to the two avian beings. “White Crane of the South, I understand that you have begun to lose your voice in your age, for that I shall not ask you to speak unless you must, with this is mind and with your consent, may it be that Chi-Fu and Tai Lu answer some questions on your behalf?” She asked.

“If that pleases you, Your Highness.” The old white Crane nodded, their voice quiet and breathy, as if they were wheezing. Ao Bing brought over a steaming cup of golden liquid, and the old Crane nodded in thanks, taking a long drink of the steaming beverage.

“Then Chi-Fu, as the oldest of the two assistants of the White Crane I shall first ask you. Please explain why this Array was designed and how it worked. Briefly.” She requested.

Chi-Fu, likely about to go off into a long rambling explanation, stuttered for a moment before nodding and trying to quickly compose themself. “Well- I um, yes. As I recall of the matter, The White Crane was commissioned to prepare an Array capable of holding people within its limits, I was his apprentice at the time, only an entry level and so, I was not privy to the actual conversations of the matter. I only learnt of the purpose of the Array when later sitting in to study my Master’s ways as he began working on it. As with all Array type spells and seals, it was designed to spread a distance, but this particular one was needed to spread quite a vast distance, for that reason, it took several days to properly design and a further week to complete. When I inquired more, I was told that it needed to recognize specifically female Spiders of a certain bloodline, and that above all else, these females should be the ones that the Array responds to.”

“Who commissioned this Array?” The Queen Mother questioned.

“I was not told this information.” Chi-Fu admitted.

“The papers, Tai Lu.” The White Crane said, “Look for the ones that state the conditions of a vast boundary array.” They added and Tai Lu began to search through the small pile of papers before them. “I only accepted commission via written instruction, when not a direct request from His Majesty. To avoid any misunderstandings from the Treasuries. This commission was very expensive due to its size.”

“Ah, here it is.” Tai Lu said, and produced a single page document that Ao Bing brought to the Queen Mother to see.

She inspected it carefully, then looked to her nephew. “I do not recall this signature from the High ranks of the Court. Is this one who you recall?”

The man leans over, carefully looking at the page for a moment before frowning darkly. “It is a forged signature. In fact, this whole paper is a forgery. The one it imitates was a low level intern at the time of this incident and has only recently risen to the position of a prominence amongst the official ministers.” He explained.

MK felt a nasty tightness start to form in his stomach. “Oh no.” He muttered quietly.

“Here we go.” Red Son breathed out as he rolled his eyes.

This is why Red Son hated Heavenly matters, it was always such a twisted, tangled and utter disaster of back stabbing, forgaries, missing pieces and inevitably, some poor fool was punished for the crimes of others because they weren’t smart enough to hide.

“You say it is forged?” The Queen Mother repeated.

“Indeed, look here.” The man said and pointed out a small detail on the page, “The real signature misses this character, a deliberate choice, as the minister wishes to distance himself from this name for personal reasons. Whoever has forged this signature either did not know this, or has done so deliberately to further insult the man.”

“Heaven’s Court behaves like the cast in one of those bad dramas on TV.” Mei stated, and MK was sure her voice was heard when the hound’s ear flicked towards them for just a moment.

“Mei.” Tang cut off and Mei huffed.

“She isn’t wrong.” Princess Iron Fan agreed and Red Son was sure he heard a smile in his mother’s tone as his father chuckled.

“Sounds to me like someone in Heaven’s Court tried to set someone up as a scapegoat for their own plot against the Spider Clan.” Red Son said, the first time he as a Witness had voiced his thoughts on the proceedings. He looked at MK as he continued. “That, or it was an attempt to remove a person from a place they needed for another plot they had in mind. Don’t you think so?”

“Either way, someone blameless takes the blame for something they haven’t done and can’t fight it because no one wants to bother looking into matters.” MK said, shaking his head. “All of this seems more the result of a mix of both the schemes of unchecked men in power and sheer laziness on Heaven’s part, if you ask me. It should not have taken this long to learn the whys, whos and hows of what happened to their people.”

“True.” Red Son agreed, though his eyes were just a slight wider. 

“... Young Loong. Did you teach the Monkie Kid to speak this way?” Princess Iron Fan questioned a little shocked that MK was able to speak in the ‘proper’ ways of a Court.

“No. Tang did.” Mei corrected.

“The Witnesses speak truths.” The Queen Mother said, drawing attention back to the Proceedings, “Explain; how did this Array distinguish the Queens from the common Spider females and other Spiders in general?”

“It was designed to tell them apart by aura and as a back up, by the blood.” Tai Lu explained. 

With a nod from The White Crane to Chi-Fu and with Ao Bing’s help, a large scroll, one big enough to span the whole of the Cortyard’s width was brought out and unrolled to show the Array’s final design. It was so big that Xiaotain Quan had to move from where he had laid down and instead sat at Erlang Shen’s side. 

With Tai Lu’s help the Old Crane stood and moved to the edge of the Scroll, using a long pointer, the White Crane pointed to the areas relevant to their words. “This here is a binding seal. And these eight characters that surround it are the words that represent each of the Spider Queen Mother and the Seven Spider Queens. Respectful-” The old Crane began to cough harshly, and after a moment he tried to speak again, only for his voice to fail him, and so he looked to Tai Lu and nodded to the diagram.

Tai Lu nodded and picked up from where the old Crane had left off. “Respectfully; Zǐsè. Zuànshí. Zǐ jīng. Hóngbǎoshí. Yù. Huáng yù. Zhēnzhū and Cuì. This part of the Array was to be laid upon the center of the Hollow, acting as the point of where the Queens would be bound too. And here,” The Songbird said as the White Crane moved the pointer to a new place on the Array, close to the outer limits, “This is again, the characters of the Spider Queen Mother and her daughters and between them, the characters to bind, seal and deny passage beyond this point, this would have been the very edge of the Array’s reach. To activate the Array, we required only the blood of the respected intended prisoners.”

“And how did you acquire this blood?” The Queen Mother asked. “It is not stated in this commission.”

The White Crane looked at Chi-Fu. “That information was not told to our Master, Your Highness, only that it was already in hand and that his knowledge was to start and end with the Array.” The Short Tailed Peacock explained, bowing to the Queen Mother. “We can not tell you what we do not know.”

“This is not the Array of Silken Web Hollow.” Lady Minglou spoke up suddenly as she looked at the Array.

“Lady Minglou?” The Queen Mother asked.

“The words on this page do not match the words on the Array truly.” Minglou said and used her cane to point to one character in particular. “This says Xuèmài xiānglián, Bind the Blood. But the Array itself, whenever I reached it, would also read Shùfù dúyè, Bind the Venom. This diagram of the Array does not show this. Also, there was a ninth and tenth character here,” She said pointing to the centre of the Array, “Zhīzhū. Háizǐmen. Spider. Children.”

“This is the original drawing of the Array our Master designed and was paid to deliver.” Chi-Fu asserted defensively as Tai Lu brought another cup of golden liquid to the Old Crane. “Nothing on this page has been changed since the day it was completed. A copy was given to the man who paid for it and since then, this page has been in our Master’s gallery, alongside all others they have designed. I can attest to this.”

“Alterations done by another artisan later?” Red Son spoke up, “It was common back then for ill wishers to use the work of others to mask their own sly deeds.”

MK looked at Red Son. “Can that be done on an Array of such size and power without the original designer’s notice or knowledge? Surely someone would have noticed the changes before or during the cast of the Array?”

“It would take a skilled hand and careful reconstruction of the original Array not to be noticed, but it is possible. And sadly, not out of line for the normal schemes of Heaven in those days.” Red Son admitted, thinking carefully, “But if that is true, then it would mean that whoever was the original caster of this altered Array, was intimately familiar with the effects of Royal Spider Venom. As to my recollection, only a Queen’s Venom can turn a person into either a Drone or another Spider Demon. It would also mean that they deliberately changed the Array to include all Spider Demons, not just the Queens in their efforts to keep them in the Silken Web Hollow.”

MK shuddered. “I don't like where this is leading.”

“Neither do I.” Red Son admitted.

“Tell us.” The Queen Mother of the West began, her tone firm and clear. “With these alterations, what would be the effect on the Array?”

“It is, my understanding, Your Highness, that only a Spider Queen’s Venom is the only way a person or being, is turned into a Drone of the Spider Clan, or another Spider Demon. With that in mind and with these alterations, it would mean that, even if the Spider who came to the edge of the Array was not one of the named eight, the Array would also prevent anyone of the Spider Clan’s Hierarchy from leaving while the Array was active.” The White Crane admitted, and the three present spiders visibly restrained themselves from snarling at the bird like being.

“Did you know that these changes had been made?” The Queen Mother questioned.

The White Crane shook their head again. “I had no knowledge of these changes, I swear it. This image is the only design I made and it was exactly as I was instructed to make it to every detail. My instructions were clear. Only the Queens were to be contained.”

“Then explain how these chances could have happened and who would know how to make them. Quickly.” The Queen Mother of the West commanded.

“I do not know, Your Highness. The only people who could alter my works are those who share my particular skill, and to my knowledge, there were none but myself of this level who were under His Majestie’s employment.” The White Crane expressed.

“What about those employed by Court members?” MK’s question seemed to catch everyone off guard.

“You say that you were the only one of your level employed by the Jade Emperor, but that does not mean that there are not others of your level under the employment of the Heavenly Court.” Red Son clarified. “Surely one of them would have the ability and skill to match or even rival your own skill in Array spells and charms.”

“It is possible,” The White Crane agreed after considering for a moment. “But, none of them would have reason to do such a thing, by my recollections. None of us had any ill will towards the Spider Clan, and anyone with skills to match my own should not have had any reason or desire to alter the Array from its intended purpose. As I recall, I was only commissioned because the others before me had said the Array was too complex for them.”

“A person can be swayed for a price.” Red Son stated. “And it is proven throughout all history thus far that Heaven is the biggest pocket of corrupted men and women in power using coin, favour and rank to manipulate others into doing their bidding.”

“The White Crane can not think of anyone.” MK said, “What about you, Chi-Fu?” He asked of the short tailed Peacock, who had been very quiet and seemed to be caught in their own mind for the moment.

Chi-Fu seemed unwilling to answer, before the Queen Mother of the West’s voice cut through the air like a sharp blade and made everyone sit and stand just a little straighter and her command. “Speak.”

Xiaotain Quan gave a quick bark. And looked at Erlang Shen expectantly.

Erlang Shen huffed softly. “Her Royal Highness was talking to Chi-Fu, Xiaotain Quan, not you.” He scolded softly but MK saw the man offer the hound something from his hand, and the hound ate it happily. “Hush now.”

“Well trained.” Red Son noted under his breath as the tension faded just a little and MK lent back into his chair as Mei tried to stifle her chuckling behind her hand.

“I shall not ask again.” The Queen Mother remarked and Chi-Fu seemed unsure, until the White Crane put a hand to the Peacock’s shoulder.

“Your Highness, with all due respect, things back then were very different. There was no protection for the young if they spoke up against authority. Many learned to keep their mouths shut and their heads down by being made to witness the punishments of their peers for such ‘misbehaviour’.” The White Crane said, a grim reminder of how things had been for so long.

“Nephew.” The Queen Mother of the West said and Erlang Shen nodded, waving his hand slowly. The Sky above darkened as thick clouds rolled in from seemingly nowhere, creating a blanket that blocked the sun’s light.

“The eyes and ears of Heaven’s Court are rendered blind and deaf when the Sun is covered.” The Queen Mother of the West said. “And further,” She added, forming a golden ball in her hand and lightly tossing it upwards, it hovered above them all, forming a dome like veil of golden dust, faintly from all around them, the sounds of chanting and reciting scriptures could be heard. “Anyone who was not announced as a participant to this gathering of people will hear nothing but the words of the Taoist Faith. Your words and your actions will not be known.”

“If it eases you further, Plum Hill is open to you as both sanctuary and home.” Erlang Shen said. “You will not be hurt or punished for speaking the truth.”

Chi-Fu hesitated a moment longer, looking to the White Crane for guidance, and at the older avian’s nod, Chi-Fu steeled themself and spoke. “There were, at the time this Array was commissioned by my Master, some young assistance like myself, a mixture of gifted Human and Celestial children, all of us under the schoolings of other Masters who would shape us into useful members of the Court. We would often gather and speak of our Masters’ teachings together when we had a moment to ourselves. I recall one was quite skilled in their abilities to change and alter Array’s almost as if it were a natural skill. A Human boy, barely more than eighteen years.” They admit, rubbing their right arm, trying to hide the ruffling feathers there as they spoke. “He was brilliant, but he seemed unhappy with his role as an assistant, and often voiced a desire to prove himself before he reached his next birthday. Around the time that this Array was commissioned, he became quite withdrawn and suddenly very focused on honing his skills. Using our mock Arrays to test his abilities more and more even during our break times.”

“What became of this boy?” The Queen Mother of the West asked, her tone softer now as understanding fell over the room.

“I do not know.” Chi-Fu admitted, “only a few days after this Array was completed and the payment given, he vanished. We were told he had been released from the lessons for failing in too many classes, but we all knew his scores before this, his were the highest marks in all our classes.”

“I really don’t like where this is leading.” MK remarked, an awful feeling in his gut telling him that whatever had happened to the boy had not been pleasant. “Why can’t it ever be simple?”

“Heavenly matters are never simple.” Red Son sighed, rubbing his temples, “If this line of events is truthful and we follow it accordingly, it stands to reason that this human boy was either a willing participant, or a naive pawn in someone else’s plan to imprison the Spider Clan as a whole, and when his purpose was fulfilled and the Array laid down over the Silken Web Hollow, the boy was either paid hush money and wisely vanished from sight to avoid being found out, or, most likely, he was gotten rid of by the mastermind behind this whole twisted plot.”

“I fear it is as the Witnesses say,” Chi-Fu nodded, and put a hand to the Songbird’s head, softly. “We all knew back then that he had been removed, but we also knew that if we dared to make a fuss about it or question it, we would also be taken and, some of us had families and siblings relying on the money we earnt to survive. We mourned him and the others we later lost in our own ways, but we knew we could never speak of them, even as we gained and advanced in our own standings, because if we did, we could also just disappear.”

“By this information, it seems the fault does not lie upon the shoulders of the White Crane or his assistant. The Array’s Caster has since passed away of age and we have no means of finding who truly paid for such an Array.” The Queen Mother surmised with a regretful tone.

“So there is no way to give justice to our people?” The Spider Queen asked, anger clear as she clenched her fists tightly at her sides. “The boy who did this is likely gone, and we have no way to find the mastermind who cost our people their lives?”

“There must be something that can be done?” MK asked, looking at Red Son.

“Sadly, without a complete and total investigation into the Heaven’s Courtly papers, checking, referencing and interviewing every single person who was remotely involved in any way with Arrays possible from then and now. Which would take many more years, even if the Investigation is undertaken by the Ten Kings again simply because of the sheer number of people that would mean investigating. There is nothing that can be done at present without a means to narrow down- Unless…” Red Son paused and then leaned over and quietly asked. “Do you remember what Syntax said about the Spider Queen’s treasury in that cave, when he was showing us the Mech?”

MK nodded and answered just as quietly. “Yes, he said ‘you’d be amazed how much my Queen has in her treasury. We don’t spend on things unless we absolutely have to, my Queen prefers we not draw attention to ourselves.’. But why do you-Oh.” He realised what Red Son was suggesting.

The Silk Trade in China had always been the biggest source of income for the Spider Clan, even after the Silken Web Hollow was destroyed, sure the Silkworm Clan was a huge contributor and there were some Gods and humans had made names for themselves in the trade, but the whole operation was run and overseen by the Spider Clan from the start, the Silk Road was literally maintained by them, even to this day.

If someone had wanted to have control over the whole Silk Trade, they’d need to control the Spider Clan, and control began with restrictions of freedom, to break the spirits with limitations on what should be the most basic of rights.

“All of this because of someone’s greed?” MK asked, “Could it really be that?

“It's the oldest motive in all history, but it would make sense with what was happening at the time. Silk was the biggest investment of all the trades and the ones who had the most money back then had the most control.” Red Son added, “We’d need to be sure first before we suggest it though.”

“Unless, Witnesses?” The Queen Mother repeated after the two seemed to lose themselves in their own thoughts for a moment.

“Your Royal Highness, we request permission to voice and question a personal observation unrelated to this matter with the Spider Queen.” Red Son requested.

“I shall allow it.” The Queen Mother permitted.

“During his time with us, your youngest Clansmen made a comment in response to a question of mine, he stated that unless it was an absolute necessity, you and your clan do not spend upon yourselves so as not to draw attention to yourselves.” Red Son began and the Spider Queen nodded.

“This is true, but what has this to do with current matters?” the Queen asked.

“A thought occurred to us. A reason why the Array was commissioned and then edited to keep you and your Clan within its limits. And perhaps a means to find a way to give your people the justice they deserve.” Red Son said, and went on to explain. “As I recall from my lessons, right after the Silken Web Hollow was destroyed, there was a sudden rush of women, all of them wives of the men from the Heavenly Court, baying for the rights to rule the Silk Trade. These attempts to lay claim all failed, as not only did you rise shortly after to reclaim the reins of the Trade and continue the old rules, but also because of the Silkworm Clan. Of all the Silk traders back then, they were only ones who had the right and who could have stepped in and taken over without issue, but instead they chose to continue paying tribute to the Spider Clan and had even gone so far as to double their input in the sixty years after the Ruination of the Hollow to make up for the lack of Spider wears.”

“The Witnesses speak truth, My Queen. The Silkworm Clan made clear in their actions that they would not allow anyone but the Spider Clan to rule the Silk trade, even going so far as to bring Silk merchants to us in the early days.” Huntsman agreed.

“With all due respect, what was the capacity of the Hollow?” Red Son questioned. “The Death toll spoke of countless numbers, and past investigations had told of vast subterranean levels that to this day have not been touched for fear any attempt would destroy the precious treasures and relics that could not be removed from the surface.”

“Spiders can live in extremely cramped conditions,” Lady Minglou admitted, “We adapted to the Array’s limits. There were some limits that could not be tolerated. But again, we adapted to them in our own, unique ways.” She added.

Red Son and MK chose not to question that statement. They didn’t need to be told what she meant. 

Instead MK concluded. “On consideration of these matters, and given the results of the investigation given by the Ten Kings on the present matter; We find that it stands to reason, given how powerful the Silk Trade was and still is in China, that whomever commissioned this Array and then had it altered to suit their true needs, was someone who sought to hold power over the Whom of the Spider Clan by restricting their freedom. If this is accepted as valid by her Royal Highness, and the Queen of the Spider Clan, then it may yet be that justice can be given to the people who died needlessly.”

“How?” Huntsman asked.

“Today's exchange has proven the following things; The person who asked for this Array, whoever they are, had to have been in a place of power, either through marriage or birth at the time it was commissioned. They could not have afforded to pay The White Crane of the South otherwise. This person also had to have had a means to watch the Spider Clan from within the Array, or else the Array could not have been destroyed, allowing you to escape as you did.” Red Son further explained, and after a moment, Huntsman nodded, following along and the Bull Prince continued. “This person, whomever they are, likely ignored the attack at first in hopes that it would drive the Spider Queen Mother and her daughters to reach out for help, but when they did not and seeing just how vast the destruction was, they destroyed a part of the Array and allowed the few survivors to escape, likely in hopes of later recapturing them and striking a deal, protection for control of the Silk Trade. Such was the common favour for favour of the time.”

“An interesting thought.” Huntsman agreed, but shook his head. “But it is just a thought.”

“It is a provable fact, if one cares to look close enough and not be afraid to tell Heaven they are wrong.” MK stated, blunt and to the point in a way that had Huntsman’s head snapping towards the boy in shock. “Heaven has denied your Clan its dues for their own selfishness and neglect of their promise to treat all crimes within the Three Realms fairly. They owe you this.”

“Is that what you believe, young one?” The Queen Mother asked, not unkindly or harshly, but there was something unsaid in her words, something that Red Son took as a warning and hoped MK would hush.

“With all due respect, Your Highness, Heaven has proven time and again over the years that they do not serve the good of the Three Realms fairly or equally as they claim to.” MK expressed, taking the question of a challenge to prove his statement. He reminded himself to use the proper court way of speaking Tang had taught him, factual statements with as little personal thought as possible. To the point statements without fanfare but with manners. “The lessons in human schools don’t go into nearly as much detail as those of Demonic education I’m sure, but anyone who reads the books can easily find the unspoken truths. Humans and Demons have suffered from bouts of famine, drought, forced migrations and more strife all as the aftereffects of choices and decisions made by Heaven. Innocent families who have made lives and homes for themselves in one place have been harshly uprooted and shunned from regions that have called home for centuries of their family’s bloodline, all for a careless word of one God to another. Nothing has been done to correct these wrongs until someone else speaks up in defence of these wronged parties and usually by the time anything is done it is too late.”

There was a huff from the Demon Bull King behind them, a sound that Red Son hadn’t heard before, shock maybe? Not that Red Son could blame his father, the boy was playing very close to a very deadly fire, one wrong word and he’d be burnt.

“It stands to reason that if someone unbiased looked closely enough, they could easily find not only the evidence needed for this matter, but also a great deal of proof and evidence of a great many more crimes hidden under the rugs and behind the tapestries that would see many in Heaven’s Godly Ranks felled.” MK continued to say and there was a moment of tension from the gathered parties.

Red Son looked at MK, trying to keep his face blank even as his hair flickered slightly, betraying only to his parents that internally the Bull Prince was absolutely losing his mind. That could have so easily been taken as a threat, and in front of the Queen Mother of the West, and Erlang Shen! The Wife and Nephew of the Jade Emperor, of all people!? What was the Noodle Boy THINKING!?

“Your teaching again, Scholar?” Princess Iron Fan asked, and Red Son caught the hint of both amazement and something else in her tone, not amusement nor mocking, but something almost fond? What?

“The manner of speech is my teaching, the rest is all him.” Tang said, proud and happy. “You can teach a child to stand up for what's right, but you can’t teach them the words to say to express their own thoughts so honestly.”

Erlang Shen chuckled, a fond sound that lifted the tension. “I am starting to see why Lady Chayi- ah, pardon me. Why Chi Yue, is quite fond of this new generation.” He said with a smile, “They aren’t afraid to speak harsh truths.”

Red Son looked at the Illustrious Sage in utter shock. What?!

The Queen Mother of the West also chuckled. “Indeed, this new generation may yet be the forerunners of the long overdue changes.” She agreed.

Red Son felt like his body and mind completely shut down and then swiftly rebooted. What?!

“Drink some tea, my son.” Princess Iron Fan coaxed softly, as she pushed a fresh cup onto the table beside her son’s hand. “Recompose yourself.”

“Go MK.” Mei praised from behind MK with a smile all but bursting with pride.

“I’ll ask Pigsy to make your favourite fish dish for dinner.” Tang promised softly.

“The Witnesses speak truths, some that need to be heard by all.” The Queen mother said, “I have heard and seen enough to make my judgement. Nephew.”

“Yes Royal Aunt?” Erlang Shen answered.

“When we return to Heaven, with my blessings, your and your brothers may search the Treasure records and ledgers of all the Court wives, their Mothers, their Grandmothers and their great Grandmothers, seek anyone who had any connection to the Silk Trade back then as well as everyone who tried to lay claim upon it. Investigate to every name you find, and if you must, go further back, find the one who paid for this Array and who forged this document to commission it from The White Crane. When you have found the Mastermind behind this senseless slaughter, you will bring them to the Spider Queen and her Clan. Justice will be given by their hands for their people, as it should be.”

“It shall be done,” he assured.

“Is there any other matter that needs to be spoken off this day?” The Queen Mother of the West asked.

“None that relate to the matter, Your Highness. Though it should be noted that henceforth, my sister and her Clansmen shall be taking up residency with me, for safety reasons, the location is undisclosed.” Lady Minglou said, as both Huntsman and the Spider Queen were still stunned and recollecting themselves as Red Son was. “But, if I may be so bold as to address the Witness who spoke just now?”

“You may.” The Queen Mother nodded.

“On behalf of those unable to say it, I thank you.” The elderly woman said, and offered a bow to MK in the same way the Spiders had bowed to the Queen mother when being introduced. “It has been a long time since someone stood up for our Clan so selflessly.”

“No one should be thanked for doing the right thing.” MK said, returning the bow with his own. “But for the honour of those who can not speak for themselves, I accept.”

“Then if there is no further discussion to be had,” The Queen Mother of the West said again, giving all in attendance one last chance to speak up.

No one did.

“This Court has concluded that to obtain true justice in the name of the Spider Clan’s lost people, a second investigation will be undertaken.” Ao Bing said, his orb in his hand shaking brightly as if listening.

“Are we all in agreement?” The Queen Mother asked.

“The Second Party has no objections.” The White Crane of the South said, bowing to the Queen Mother again as both his assistance kowtowed to her again.

“The Witnesses have no objections.” MK answered for both himself and Red Son, who was still trying to get his brain to restart from what had just happened.

“The First Party has no objections.” The Spider Queen assured as she and Minglou bowed once again, Huntsman returning to one knee beside them.

“Then by my decree, as Queen Mother of the West; until the investigation is over, the White Crane of the South, Chi-Fu the Short Tailed Peacock and Tai Lu the Songbird shall remain at Plum Hill. The results of the investigation shall be personally delivered to the Witnesses for safe keeping as well as a record of the outcome being sent to both Prince Ao Bing of the Eastern Sea, Lady Chayi, and one final record submitted to the Underground archives.” The Queen Mother stated, her words being noted down swiftly and neatly by her nephew as she spoke. “The one found to be responsible for the Array and their crime of negligence when the Silken Web Hollow was destroyed, will be stripped of their ranks and statuses, their worth in Heaven reduced to nothing and their titles removed, then they shall be handed over to the Spider Queen. Whatever else is to be done to them will be known only to the Spider Clan.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” The Spider Queen smiled.

It took seven days.

Seven days of uproar and upheaval in Heaven’s Court and a lot of unsavoury truths coming to light, but by the end of it, Red Son and MK were hand delivered the promised results by Nezha, and told that Erlang Shen had personally overseen the hand over of the Mastermind, a portly man who had been found to be arranging ‘unfortunate accidents’ and ‘emergency tax payments’ to many of the smaller trade merchants between Heaven and Earth, being handed over to the Spider Queen. Ao Bing and Chi Yue set the results they were given into place in their Relic vaults and the First King accepted the results on behalf of the Ten Kings.

Far from where the eyes and ears of people, gods and other demons, two sisters sat together beneath the evening sky, watching the last of the sunlight fade away and darken as they shared a drink together. They’d spent the day enjoying the warmth of the sun and savouring the bird songs after a long night spent delivering the long overdue justice for their people, and now, the Severing Queen of the Spider Clan found herself at a loss of what to do.

“Would they be proud?” She asked.

“Proud, and more than anything, happy. Our people survive, Jingzhao, more than that, they thrive because of your actions. That more than anything proves that you have done a better job than I ever could.” Minglou said, smiling as she reached over and gently took her younger sister’s hand. “You have done more than enough for our people for so long, now you must take time to do what is best for you.”

“I don’t know what that is.” Jingzhao admitted.

“You’ll figure it out, little sister. You always do.” Minglou assured, lifting her glass. “To a Future.”

Jingzhao nodded, lifting her own glass. “And the memories of yesterdays.”

“MK! Order up!” Pigsy called out after hitting the bell on his countertop. Bai He was sat in a stool nearby, happily eating a bowl of fresh noodles, while Tang sat close by, eating a plate of dumplings.

“On it boss.” MK assured taking the order bag from Pigsy, swiping the dumpling from Tang’s hand before running off. “Thanks Pa!”

“Wha-Hey!” Tang called after the boy.

The curious thing about legends is the way we can continue to be moved by the same stories.

“Hey, techy spider?” A pair of voices called out a moment before a loud ‘ding’ tore through the air of Patchy Web Tech Repair, the small corner shop that had recently opened up near the edge of Megapolis.

“If you two broke your tablets again in less than six hours since I last repaired them, I'm telling Lin.” Syntax said without looking up from the desk where he was carefully working on repairing a laptop computer.

“No! Nothing like that, it's just-” Yin began to say only to growl as Jin shouldered him aside. “-Lin’s old phone is getting slow and-” Jin managed to explain before he was cut off by Yin pushing him out of the way with a hand to his face. “Oi!” “And she never gets anything new unless the old one is a literal brick or can’t be repaired. So, since you know all the fancy techie stuff, we thought-” Yin yelped as Jin punched his arm hard enough to dumb it and pushed him aside again. “Hey!” “We thought that you could make her one that won’t slow down.” Jin finished with a toothy smile.

Syntax paused his work and looked at the two of them with a raised brow, waiting for something.

“Please.” They both pleaded, trying to give the spider their best puppy dog eyes.

Syntax sighed, “I’ll consider it, if you two can manage not to break or damage your tech for the next two weeks.” He offered.

Yin and Jin cheered.

The sound of a horn from outside and Syntax watched as MK and Mei drove past in the Tuk-Tuk, heading for the docks, laughing and smiling as they went.

We’re comforted by the familiar tales of friendship.

“Incoming cat food delivery.” Huntsman’s voice warned and before Sandy could ask how he knew, a familiar horn hocked twice from outside.

“Delivery from Pigsy’s Noodles, two dozen pots of feline friendly liver cuts~!” MK called out, over the many, many meows of cats. “Hey, come on little guys and girls, let me get to the door. Hey don’t chew my shoe laces! Sandy?”

“Coming MK.” Sandy assured leaving the teapot he was preparing to steep while he went to answer the door.

Mo rose up onto his back legs, using his front paws to balance while looking over the edge of the counter, watching Huntsman turn the meat over in the pan. He meowed.

“Keep the rest of the felines off the table and chairs while we’re eating and I’ll use the raw cut offs to make kitty treats.” Huntsman offered.

Mo meowed and rubbed up against Huntsman’s leg before heading into the dining room.

Courage. 

“Hey big guy, Lan Lingyo’s granny is here for her.” Lin said in a quiet voice by the barely cracked open door, so as not to wake the napping children in the room.

After a moment or two, the door was pushed wider and Goliath stepped out, gently guiding a little girl with two tiny horn nubs on her head and a short fluffy tail ahead of him with one hand as she yawned, rubbing the last of the nap time sleep from her eyes. Upon seeing her granny, she smiled and hurried over, hugging the old woman before waving goodbye to Lin and Goliath.

“Who's left in your group?” Lin asked.

“The Bo twins and baby Jiang are still sleeping while Wei, Shen and little Yung are colouring.” Goliath said with a fond smile. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me, Big guy, the city needed a proper Demon Daycare, and as good as we are, Tudi, Scorps and I can’t do it all by ourselves, so having help means the city has one less problem.” Lin smiled, “Besides, I’d rather have you in here then my big brothers, they’d be even worse than the kids on a sugar high.”

Goliath couldn’t stop himself shuddering at that idea. Yin and Jin were bad enough when they weren’t hyped up on candy.

Redemption.

Macaque stepped out of a shadow onto the rooftop of his Dojo having finished his afternoon patrol of the city, he paused seeing a bag from Pigsy’s Noodles with a folded picture attached to it, opening it, he found one of MK’s crayon drawings and smiled, he then dropped into his own shadow and settled in to quiet darkness, focusing in on a conversation between Chi Yue and the Scorpion Queen.

At times, the path of the hero might seem unclear and the stories chaotic and directionless.

After finishing dinner with his parents, Red Son raced out of the Fortress on a newly finished motorbike and within minutes caught up with Mei and Spindrax, tearing across the terrain at speed in an unofficial race.

Sometimes it may seem as though we’ve ended up back where we began. But it's clear to see how much we’ve grown on the journey.

MK smiled as some of the little monkeys settled around him and the Monkey King as they watched the sun setting. He’s left Mei at the race tracks so she and Spindrax could practice for an upcoming race before coming to Flower and Fruit Mountain with food for the Monkey King.

“Will you tell me more about the Demon way of doing this?” he asked his mentor.

“I will, but it's not a pleasant topic bud, so I’ll run it past your dad and pa before I go into the higher up stuff.” Wukong assured his student with a smile.

 For all though the story is over, there’s always room on the shelf for another.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's done! The Spider's Web has reached its conclusion.

Thank you all for reading! For those who wish to know, these are the translations for the characters in the Array and who they represent. Zǐsè - Violet - The Spider Queen Mother. Zuànshí - Diamond - The First Spider Queen. Zǐ jīng - Amethyst - The Second Spider Queen. Hóngbǎoshí - Ruby - The Third Spider Queen. Yù - Jade - The Fourth Spider Queen. Huáng yù - Topaz - The Fifth Spider Queen. Zhēnzhū - Pearl - The Sixth Spider Queen. Cuì - Emerald - The Seventh Spider Queen. < Part 16

[daily-klingon]

'e' qa'

'e' qa' instead of, rather than, in place of

This needs a few examples to understand the syntax.

'awje' vItlhutlh; Dargh wIb vItlhutlh 'e' qa' I do not drink sour tea; I drink root beer instead (I drink root beer; it replaces that I drink sour tea)

jIQam; jIba' 'e' qa' I shall stand, rather than sit (I stand; it replaces that I sit)

targh tIq Sop; qagh Sop 'e' qa' She is eating Heart of Targ instead of qagh (She eats heart of targ; it replaces that she eats qagh)

When used on noun phrases, the 'e' part is not required, but sometimes you'll hear it anyway.

Dargh wIb tlhulh; 'awje' qa' He drinks sour tea instead of root beer

Dargh wIb; 'awje' qa' Sour tea, rather than root beer

[sucremedy]

shit my syntax professor said pt. 2

sometimes a family is a divorced syntactician, an ai voice, and a class full of undergrad nerds 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

"i'm not an only child. despite all my best efforts."

"i was spoiled, that's the vibe you're picking up."

"DPs are just another piece of going to hell."

"coordinations are just too advanced a topic for you, dear students."

"promise not to tell any syntacticians that [i don't] know anything about coordinations. it will ruin my reputation. if i had a reputation."

"i'm so comforted by her voice. (ie, the ai zoom lady who says "this meeting is being recorded")"

"all i see is your forehead. it's an expansive forehead."

"wait, you kids have lexical items i don't know about? how can that be?"

"ready for the circus???"

"smith is responsible for the kissing activity, jones is merely suffering it."

"i fear spiders. sad, but true."

*holds up giant coffee cup* "this still isn't big enough."

"you think i probably love to hear myself talk, but that's just because i'm such a ham."

"i need to study [urban dictionary] every morning."

"... my response was just die! (in response to his best friend saying he had to stop drinking coffee or he'd die)"

"my father told me-- my father is dead now--"

"the joy that comes with age is that as you get older, death gets closer."

"that's my whole purpose in life. to make people nervous and unhappy."

"there's not much in my skull."

"whenever i see a refrigerator at this time of day i'm like 'GOD SOMETHING TO EAT'"

[emberfrostlovesloki]

Studying with Aaron [requested]

All photo credits after the tag list.

Hello, loves! I hope you are all having a good day/week so far. This post is for my sweet anon who asked for some Aaron study inspiration. Thank you so much for your request. I had such fun coming up with the mood board, HC's, and a little drabble. I hope you enjoy it and good luck with all of your studying and exams! You've got this! Love Levi -❤️

If you'd like to submit a request of some kind, please see this post, Request Post (linked)

Aaron knows that it gets cold in the library, so he brings an extra sweater or blanket for you to wear while you both study.

Aaron gets you any candy or snacks that you want from the vending machines on the second floor. He also knows that apart from the basics, the machines don’t have everything you like, so he buys a few bags of your favorite chips and salty snacks and has some in his apartment and in his backpack in case you need a change from sugary snacks.

If you're on the quiet floors of the library and a person or group is being loud, he will go and tell them to move and is serious about this request. He will stand and glare at the individual(s) until they are gone.

Aaron will quiz you on formulas and concepts for your math and science exams and has written a detailed list of major dates, people, and events for your history courses. He takes all the time you need to remember the important things for each class. He suggests memory devices and tricks to help you retain the stores of information you need.

Even if he says he’s not a good writer, Aaron is a good editor. He will read over any papers or presentations you must turn in. He will make remarks on the whole paper and major points, but he’ll also correct you on your syntax and grammar. As a prelaw student, he is used to detailed work and he wants you to present your best work.

He doesn’t bother you when you are working. He has his own studies too, but every hour you will both debrief and say one major point that you have both learned in that time. You write them out on a whiteboard next to your table. You and Aaron also both have major goals or assignments listed on the board and when either of you finish one of them you cheer each other on! (This is on a non-quiet floor of the library of course).

The short Hotch drabble is below the cut. 1.2K words.

Pairing Hotch x gender-neutral reader

Category: Fluff/comfort

Word count: 1.2K

Content warnings: None

A/N: Two things. 1. This isn't well edited and 2. I use the slang Diffy Q which stands for differential equations. If you liked this story, likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated!

_y/n_ = your name

You look at your phone again. It had been nearly half an hour since Aaron had run out to grab a drink. Unless he was getting plastered somewhere off campus then ‘Going to grab a drink’ shouldn’t have taken him more than a few minutes. Just as you were about to shoot him a text asking him where he was, the man in question came walking down the hall and toward your table. He was rather awkwardly holding two 711 Styrofoam cups. He took a sip of one of them to make sure he was giving his partner the right cup. He was right and set the other cup in front of you. You smile at him and in a teasing voice say, “Have you suddenly anthropomorphized into a car and needed some petrol to keep that brain of yours going?” Aaron scoffed and replied, “You know you stop making sense when you’re this tired _y/n_.” You jokingly pouted and said, “What are you talking about, I’m at my peak performance right now.” Just as you finished saying this, you couldn’t stifle a yawn from coming out of your mouth. You hide the betrayal of your body with your mouth. This really had Hotch laughing, and he said, “Well maybe your soda will help you a little bit.” You smiled up at him and grabbed the cup. You take the straw in your mouth. Once you had taken a sip, you smiled even more. Aaron watched you. The little gleam in your eyes at tasting the drink was worth the walk to the convenience store just across from campus. Once you had taken a sip, you said, “You didn’t have to get me root beer Aaron, that was very sweet of you.” Hotch pulled out his chair and sat back down, as he said, “Well you deserved a treat. After all, you finished that twenty-page sociology paper. And I needed to stretch my legs. My eyes were starting to glaze over with this reading.” You looked over to the large textbook in front of Hotch and asked, “Is this still Poli Sci?” Hotch nodded and said, “Mhm.” You reached over and pat his hand as you both slipped back into your respective studying.

A half hour later you ran a hand through your hair and made a sound of frustration. Hotch looked up and asked, “What bothering you _y/n_?” You set down your pencil and said, “This freaking calc review is impossible. I don’t know why my professor decided to include problem types that we’ve never seen before here? I’ve tried working problem seventeen three times and I’m still not getting the answer provided. I’ve checked my stuff and it’s not working.” Hotch nodded and asked, “What concept it is over?” You looked back down at the guide and said, “antiderivatives, which I’m normally good at. But this is something else, let me tell you.” Aaron steepled his fingers under his chin and said, “Why don’t you try writing it out on the board. Maybe seeing it bigger will help you see something differently?” You stand and say, “Well it can’t hurt my chances of figuring it out.” Aaron smiled and said, “That’s the attitude I’m looking for,” as he tossed a green marker at _y/n_. You grabbed the marker and wrote out in neat writing: f(x)=ex−3x2+sinx­

You continued to work on this problem for another few minutes before hearing someone call you and Aaron’s names out. You turn and see Spencer and Penelope walking toward you. You beam and move away from the board; the annoying problem is momentarily forgotten. Garcia rushed forward and gave you a hug, while Aaron gave Reid a strong pat on the shoulder. When Penelope had released you, you and Hotch changed positions as you hugged Spencer and Aaron gave Pen an embrace. ­­As everyone pulled apart, you asked, “What are y’all two here studying for?” Spencer spoke first saying, “Diffy Q and computational engineering.” The thought of Spencer’s highly advanced school load had your head spinning and you were grateful when Penelope said, “And I’m here to write an essay for Brit Lit and remind myself for the seventieth time who Plato was and why his cave is important.” At hearing this, Spencer rolled his eyes as his gaze moved to the whiteboard, he clocked the unfinished calculus problem. The boy genius asked, “You working on calc, _y/n_?” You sighed and said, “Yeah, unsuccessfully.” Reid smiled softly and said, “How about I solve this one for you and then give you another similar problem? I won’t tell you how I’m solving it, but I’ll leave my work and you can reference back to it?” Hearing this, you smile and nod saying, “That sounds great Spence, thanks.” Reid annoyingly quickly solved the problem and provided a new one. Once Reid was back next to Garcia, Hotch asked, “Would you like to join us?” Penelope nodded no and said, “We booked out a room upstairs for the next three hours. I need ultimate silence to write.” You nodded in understanding and asked another question: “We’re still set to meet tomorrow at Commons to work on the speech, right?” Garcia and Spencer nodded, and Pen replied, “We sure are my sweet. Darn was I lucky to be put in a group with all of you. My friend Stacy who’s also in the class said half of her partners hadn’t even started their parts of the presentation.” Aaron chimed in with a “Here, here to that.” The friends spoke for a few more minutes before Spence and Penelope moved up to their booked room. As you turned back to the board to study Spencer’s work, they reflected on how they had met their best friends at school. It was fate or the academic advisors who had thrown the four into the same Intro to Communications class. You had sat next to Penelope and across from Aaron on the first day of class. They had all hit off well. In the second week, Spencer had heard Pen complain about her history class and he joined their group. It was Garia who had told you that she thought Aaron had a thing for them. You hadn’t believed her, but later that week, Hotch had texted you asking if you wanted to grab dinner off campus sometime? And the rest, as they say, was history.

            You spent another half hour trying at the problem, but you were getting tired and frustrated. You flopped into your chair and put your head in your hands saying, “I’m gonna fail this exam.” Aaron reached out and placed a hand on your shoulder saying, “Hey, no negative self-talk. This exam isn’t until Wednesday and it's only on Sunday. Reid will help you, and you can meet with your professor if you’re really, really concerned. You’re incredibly smart and capable _y/n_. Don’t let this one problem get you down.” You looked up slightly from your hands and saw how genuine Aaron was being, and how proud he was of you.” Softly you said, “What did I ever do to deserve you, Aaron?” Hotch smiled and said, “Nothing. And you never will, _y/n_. Now, it’s getting late. How about we call it here? I can drive you back to your place.” You agreed. You both packed up and as you walked toward the exit, you were very happy to be at the library at 12:30 a.m. As long as you had Aaron as a cheerleader, you knew you could make it through finals. You were pretty sure you could make it through anything with him by your side.

______________________________________________________________

tag list: @criminalskies @tgskitten @geminitapestry

Want to be added to the tag list? Please see this post, CM tag list (linked)

_____________________________________________________-----------

Photo credits

Top row: Center and Right (@shakespearesdaughters)

Center row: Left (@shakespearesdaughters) Center: (@foldergif

All other photos are mine.

[darkfruhlingsgefuhle]

Sun & Syntax

Borowski und das Haupt der Medusa

Pairing: Robert Frost x Reader

Tags: Slow Burn, Office romance, Anonymous chat

Part 2/?

Monday hit like a brick to the soul.

Robert showed up looking like he hadn’t slept (he hadn’t), in a hoodie that somehow looked grumpier than usual. The weight of shame after last night was killing him. His jaw was set in a way that said “don’t even look at me,” and his entire aura radiated a mood so thunderous, even Jens didn’t dare crack a joke.

He shuffled past the front desk, avoiding eye contact, coffee cup in hand, sweater sleeves pulled halfway over his fingers like makeshift shields.

~Don’t talk to her. Don’t look at her. Don’t breathe near her. Just do your job. Fix the server. Avoid the sunshine. Pretend you’re emotionally stable. It’s Monday. Everyone hates Mondays. You can get away with being a corpse.~

Except, of course, he could hear you.

Somewhere near the copier, your voice lit up the hallway. Friendly, soft, laughing at something someone said. You weren’t even speaking to him, but it still clawed its way under his skin.

And when he accidentally caught a glimpse of you—new blouse, sleeves rolled up, a subtle shade of lip gloss you hadn’t worn before—he physically winced.

~New lip gloss. Great. What is that, raspberry? Rosewater? Why do I even notice that? I need to move. Or go feral in the woods. Or both.~

He locked himself in his corner, typing aggressively. He didn’t even eat lunch. Just chewed his pencil and stared at lines of code while trying not to picture how your lips looked when you drank your tea.

By 3:00 PM, he was dehydrated, angry at the air, and regretting every emotion he’d ever had.

So naturally, that’s when it happened.

The coffee machine in the main breakroom short-circuited. Because of course it did. Of course he had to go fix it.

He stomped toward the breakroom like a man being marched to execution.

When he opened the door—you were already there

Alone.

Sipping tea.

You looked up, bright as ever. “Hey, Robert!”

He paused.

Groaned.

Audibly.

“Of course,” he muttered, under his breath.

You blinked. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” he sighed, already crouching near the machine like it personally offended him. “Just that Mondays are a nightmare.”

You smiled, trying to break the fog between you. “You say that every day.”

“I mean it every day.”

He didn’t look at you.

You studied him quietly for a moment.

~God, he looks tired. And miserable. Like, extra miserable. Did he not sleep? Is he okay? He’s always like this, but today he looks like he’s trying to dissolve into the floor.~

He fiddled with the power panel in silence, clearly trying to become one with the machine and disappear from existence.

You took a slow sip of tea, watching him, then—gently:

“Rough weekend?”

He grunted. “Define ‘rough.’”

You tilted your head. “Did you at least do something fun?”

He didn’t answer.

Just cursed softly under his breath as a wire refused to snap back into place.

~Yeah. I thought about you for six hours straight. I imagined what music you might like. I wondered if you sleep with socks on or not. I imagined kissing your shoulder, and then I felt so pathetic I almost deleted my hard drive. But sure. Let’s talk about ‘fun.’~

Finally, you leaned a little over the counter to grab a paper towel—just slightly too close—and your arm brushed against his shoulder.

Just like that, tension snapped like a livewire between you.

He flinched again. Subtle, but real.

You blinked.

So did he.

You were wide-eyed, confused):

~Why does he do that? Is it me? Is he uncomfortable? Am I… bothering him?~

“Sorry,” you said quickly, stepping back.

He shook his head, still crouched, still not looking at you. “It’s fine.”

But his voice was too tight.

His face was burning.

And when he finally stood up and fixed the machine with one last dramatic sigh, he didn’t leave immediately.

He lingered.

Still not meeting your eyes.

“Do you…” He hesitated. “Do you always drink the same tea?”

You blinked. “What?”

He cleared his throat. “Just. Noticed. That it’s always the same.”

“Oh,” you smiled. “Yeah. It’s jasmine. Why?”

He shrugged. “No reason.”

And just like that, he turned and left the breakroom like he hadn’t just lost a psychological boxing match with himself.

-That was a conversation. A real one. I said something. It wasn’t smooth. But it happened. Her arm touched mine. Her skin is soft. I’m going to spontaneously combust in the server room.~

----

It had been a weird week.

You felt it.

Something shifted.

At first, you thought maybe you were imagining things. But every time you walked into the office—every single morning—Robert would look up, make eye contact for half a second, and groan.

A low, tortured sound like your existence gave him a headache.

The first time, you brushed it off. Maybe he was tired.

The second time, you laughed about it with a coworker. “Robert hates mornings more than anyone I know.”

But the fifth time? The seventh? The tenth?

You started to wonder.

~Is it… me? Does he hate me? I didn’t do anything. I just say hi. Offer him cookies. Smile. Am I being annoying? Why does he look at me like I’m a problem he can’t solve?~

He never said anything cruel. He didn’t really say much at all. But his face—god, his face—spoke volumes. Always that same irritated sigh, that pained grunt, that exasperated air whenever you were near.

You started skipping your usual greetings.

You stopped offering him snacks.

Just in case.

And that—that—was what nearly broke Robert.

~She didn’t say good morning. No cookies. No tea. No smile. Did I ruin it? I ruined it. She thinks I hate her. God. I look at her and it hurts. I ache for her. And the only way I can survive it is to act like I don’t see her at all. I’m the villain in her story.~

He watched you from the safety of his desk.

You laughed with everyone else. Moved like light through the dull corridors. You were still you—soft, sweet, magnetic—but now there was a flicker of restraint in your smile when you passed him.

You were pulling away.

Because of him.

And the worst part?

He wanted you to keep your distance.

And he didn’t.

At the same time.

He was drowning in the space you no longer filled.

~She’s not touching my desk anymore. Not coming near. I should feel relieved. I should. But I miss her. I miss her voice. Her perfume. The way she laughs when she’s nervous. I miss the way she brushes lint off her skirt like it matters. I want to touch her. Not in some gross way. Just—her wrist. Her fingers. The back of her neck. Anything. What would her hand feel like in mine? What would she do if I just… touched her cheek? She’d probably flinch. Because she thinks I hate her.~

That afternoon, you stood by the window, talking quietly to someone, your silhouette bathed in pale, rainy light. You laughed at something they said—soft and bright and absolutely devastating.

Robert watched, frozen, unable to look away.

You turned slightly, caught his gaze across the room.

He groaned.

You looked down immediately.

Didn’t smile.

Didn’t look back.

~There it is again. That sound. That look. I get it, okay? You don’t have to make it that obvious. I’m sorry I ever tried to be kind. I’m sorry I wanted to talk to you. You win, Robert Frost. I’ll leave you alone.~

And just like that, the light dimmed.

He didn’t mean it.

God, he didn’t mean it.

But all he could do was sit in silence.

And rot in it.

---

It was raining again.

The kind of quiet drizzle that made the office feel sleepier than usual—low hums of conversation, the click of keyboards, the occasional clink of coffee mugs. Robert liked days like this. People kept to themselves. No one asked too many questions.

He sat in his usual corner, hoodie up, trying to ignore the tightness in his chest that always settled when you were near.

You hadn’t spoken to him in two days.

Not a hello. Not a smile. Not a cookie.

He deserved it.

~I ruined it. She was kind. And I treated her like a virus in the system. All because I couldn’t deal with how badly I wanted her.~

He didn’t mean to eavesdrop.

Really.

He’d just gone to refill his mug, stepped around the corner into the tiny kitchen by the back hallway, and paused when he heard your voice—soft and low, like you were saying something you didn’t want the whole world to hear.

You were talking to Eva.

Sweet Eva, the gentle older woman from accounting who always brought in muffins and remembered birthdays.

He stayed hidden in the hallway, heartbeat instantly climbing into his throat.

“Do you think Robert… hates me?”

There was a pause. A surprised inhale.

“I don’t know what I did,” you continued, your voice smaller now. “I was just trying to be nice. I mean, he groans every time I walk in. He looks at me like I’m a bug in his soup. It’s just—ugh, I don’t know. He’s always unhappy, and I thought maybe I could… I don’t know. Brighten his day a little? But I guess that was stupid.”

Robert went still.

Utterly, terrifyingly still.

It felt like being struck by lightning—except he was the cloud, and you were the only warm light trying to peek through.

~She thinks I hate her. She actually thinks that. What the hell is wrong with me? She tried to be kind. She tried to reach out. And I made her feel like a burden. I’m a coward. A broken idiot who can’t even smile at the girl who made my entire life softer just by existing.~

Eva, ever the wise one, gave a gentle hum.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she said. “Robert’s just… complicated. He’s not good with people. But I see how he looks at you when he thinks no one’s watching.”

Your breath caught. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Eva smiled, “don’t count yourself out just yet.”

Robert turned and walked away before he could hear more. Before he started shaking.

He went back to his desk and stared at the same line of code for ten minutes, jaw tight, stomach in knots.

And then—there you were.

You passed by.

Graceful, warm, wearing that soft sweater with the sleeves half-pushed up and the collar slipping just enough to show the line of your neck.

You stopped near your desk drawer. Bent slightly. Closed it with a subtle push of your hip.

And he saw it.

All of it.

The gentle curve of your body. The smooth, unconscious way you moved—like every step was music. Like gravity worked differently around you.

You walked away, and he watched the sway of your hips, the soft movement of your skirt, the flick of your hair tied loosely back with a ribbon.

~She doesn’t even know she does that. The way she moves. Like sunlight slipping through blinds. Like a breeze made of skin. Her hips. Her hands. The curve of her waist. Her mouth. How the hell am I supposed to function?~

He turned back to his screen.

Typed one word.

Deleted it.

Rubbed his face like he could scrub the feelings off.

But it was useless.

He was wrecked.

And the worst part?

You thought he hated you.

And he didn’t know how to fix that without unraveling completely.

---

It was Thursday afternoon when it arrived.

You were at your desk, checking something off your to-do list, when one of the younger interns—Sophie—strolled up, eyes bright and full of mischief.

She plopped a sleek little parcel onto your desk. Beautifully wrapped. Pale pink paper, tied with silver ribbon, a tiny card tucked into the bow.

“Someone asked me to pass this to you,” she said with a grin.

Your brows lifted. “Who?”

She shrugged, knowingly. “Didn’t say.”

“Oh…”

~That’s… new. Is this some kind of office prank? Wait, no. That’s… that’s actual chocolate. That’s expensive. That’s not a prank. What the hell is going on?~

Around the office, a few people lifted their heads, curiosity sparking.

Someone whistled.

Someone else laughed, “Damn, secret admirers already?”

You flushed, smiling awkwardly as you untied the ribbon.

Inside: a box of handmade Belgian chocolates. The real kind. Silky black box. Gold detailing. Not cheap.

The card inside just said: “For the sweetest one in the office.”

Your heart skipped.

You laughed softly, shaking your head. “What is this…”

Across the room, Robert saw everything.

He was standing by the printer, holding a report he no longer had any interest in reading, heart hammering in his chest like he’d just witnessed a crime scene.

You were smiling.

Your eyes lit up.

You looked… flattered.

Happy.

And why shouldn’t you be?

Someone had noticed you—someone bold enough to show it. Not like him. Not like the coward hiding behind cables and firewalls.

~Of course. Of course someone made a move. She’s beautiful. Kind. She lights up the entire office just by walking in. She could have anyone she wanted. Any guy in here would be lucky just to talk to her. And me? I can’t even look her in the eye without wanting to crawl out of my own skin. I’m a ghost in a hoodie. A glitch in the background.~

He went back to his desk, tossed the report aside.

His jaw was clenched so tight it ached. Something in his chest burned, tight and wild and mean.

Jealousy. Ugly. Pure. And hopeless.

~She deserves someone normal. Someone who takes her out. Makes her laugh. Kisses her neck in the hallway. I don’t even know how to start a conversation. God, I’ve never even touched a woman like that. Not really. Never been someone anyone wanted. She’ll be kissed tonight. Or flirted with. Or touched. And I’ll go home. To silence. To thinking about the way her hip brushed the drawer this morning. Pathetic.~

He didn’t speak the rest of the day.

Didn’t look up when you walked past.

Didn’t even flinch when someone joked, “Careful, Robert, looks like someone’s got competition.”

He just kept typing.

Dead-eyed.

Wrecked.

And when he got home that night, he didn’t turn on the lights.

He sat in the dark with his laptop open, pretending to work, the image of you unwrapping that gift playing on repeat in his mind.

~What does she like? What does she watch before bed? Would she ever let someone hold her face and kiss her slow? Not someone like me. Never someone like me.~

---

It was past midnight.

Robert sat in the dim glow of his monitor, hoodie up, the only sound in his flat the low hum of his PC fans and the distant murmur of the rain.

He should have been asleep.

He should have been doing literally anything else.

But instead—he was staring at your name.

No profile picture. No mutuals. Not your full name—just a handle he only found because of a playlist you once left open on your work computer for two seconds too long. He didn’t even mean to look. But something clicked. A half-glimpsed username. A post-it note on your monitor with a phrase he remembered seeing online.

And now?

Now he was in your world.

Your Page.

It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t curated.

But it was you.

A digital garden of moody film stills, blurry café shots, whispered thoughts at 2AM. Classical music linked without comment. Haunting, beautiful paintings. Quotes from old books. Observations like—

“There’s something devastating about seeing a sunset alone.”

“I wish I could be touched without feeling like someone’s going to leave right after.”

“I smile too much. People think I’m okay.”

Robert was breathless

~She’s lonely. God. She’s really lonely. How could someone like her—so soft, so kind—feel like this? Who did this to her? Who hurt her?~

He scrolled through more posts. One from a few weeks ago stuck like a knife:

“Being sweet doesn’t protect you from being forgotten.”

He read it three times.

And then he leaned back in his chair, ran both hands down his face, and exhaled like it physically hurt.

~She hides it all so well. She’s like me. We’re both just walking around pretending we’re fine.~

He thought about messaging you.

He almost did.

But what would he say?

“Hi. I’m the grumpy IT guy who makes weird noises every time you look at me. I found your secret little corner of the internet and now I want to hold your soul in my hands.”

Yeah. That wouldn’t go over well.

So instead…

He made a new account.

Just a blank profile. No name. No photo. Just an empty space where something honest might exist.

His fingers hovered over the message box for a long, long time.

~This is stupid. She’ll block me. Or worse—know it’s me. She’ll think I’m a creep. But maybe… maybe if I just talk to her. Not as Robert. Not as anyone. Just someone who sees her. Maybe that would be enough. Maybe that’s all I can be.~

He typed.

Deleted.

Typed again.

Deleted again.

And then finally, with hands shaking, he wrote something simple:

“Your posts feel like they were written in the dark. I hope someone turns the light on for you someday.”

He stared at it.

Hovered over “Send.”

And clicked.

Then immediately yanked his sweater over his head and shoved away from the desk like it was burning.

~She’s going to think I’m insane. She’s going to laugh. Or be creeped out. What the hell did I just do? Why am I like this?~

But five minutes later…

He checked again.

And there it was.

A tiny heart under the message.

A “seen.”

And one word in reply:

“Thank you.”

---

The office was asleep. The city too.

Except for two quiet lights glowing miles apart—two souls stitched together by the anonymity of night, fingertips brushing only through text.

It started with her simple reply: “Thank you.”

Robert stared at that one message for twenty minutes, a soft hum in his chest like static under skin.

And then he wrote back.

HIM: “Why are you sad?”

YOU: “That’s a big question.”

HIM: “You don’t have to answer. Just… from the outside, you seem so full of light. But in your posts, there’s this sadness. Like you’re tired of pretending.”

You didn’t reply right away.

He panicked. Regretted everything.

And then, finally:

YOU: “Yeah. That’s kind of exactly it.”

From there… it just spilled out.

An hour. Then two. Then five.

You talked like you’d known each other in another life.

You told him how lonely it felt to be everyone’s sunshine—but no one’s favorite person. How exhausting it was to be the cheerful one, the sweet one, the one people liked, but no one really saw.

He didn’t interrupt. He let you pour your heart into that little chat box like water from a cracked glass.

And then, timidly, he typed:

HIM: “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“You’re beautiful. Not just your face. The way you move. The way you write. I don’t think I’ve ever been so drawn to a person in my life.”

Robert froze after hitting send.

Stared at the screen like he just confessed a murder.

~Stupid. Idiot. She’ll block you. You went too far.~

But then… the three dots appeared.

YOU: “Is this your way of telling me you’re the chocolate guy?”

He blinked.

Wait. What?

HIM: “No.”

“Should I be?”

YOU: “Haha. I don’t know. I just… assumed. You’re being really sweet.”

And that hit him like a shot to the chest.

You was imagining someone else.

Someone confident.

Charming.

A man who buys chocolate without flinching. Who flirts in daylight and doesn’t stutter in the break room.

Not him.

Not the miserable nerd in the corner who grunts when you walks in because he’s short-circuiting internally.

~She’s thinking of someone tall. Handsome. Normal. And here I am, hiding behind a screen like a teenager. But at least like this… I get to be close to her. I get to be the version of me I wish she knew.~

He leaned back in his chair, the light of dawn starting to creep in through the blinds.

He hadn’t slept. Couldn’t even blink properly.

But for the first time in a long time… his chest wasn’t entirely hollow.

You had spoken to him—not Robert Frost, grumpy IT hermit, but the part of him that was soft, scared, and hungry for someone who saw the world like he did.

And he knew it couldn’t last forever.

But for now… it was enough.

---

The office smelled like burnt coffee and printer toner when you stepped in that morning, clutching your thermos like it was life support.

Your bun was looser than usual, silver tips slightly out of place, and your cardigan hung off one shoulder like even it was too tired to stay upright. You yawned for the third time before you reached your desk.

“Rough night?” Eva called from her desk, her tone amused but concerned.

You gave her a sleepy smile. “Didn’t sleep much.”

“Someone kept you up?” another colleague teased. “A someone maybe?”

You rolled your eyes with a soft laugh. “No! Just… couldn’t stop thinking.”

Robert was already at his desk, fingers on the keyboard, eyes on his monitor.

But he heard everything.

And when you passed by with that dazed look and your sleepy smile, he glanced up—just once.

~She’s tired… because of me. We talked for six hours last night. She told me things no one else knows. And now she’s yawning her way through the day while I pretend I’ve never even spoken to her. This is so fucked up.~

Every time you yawned, his gut twisted. Every time you rubbed your eyes or sipped your coffee with that spacey little sigh, he felt it.

And yet, when you gave him a soft smile across the room—just trying to be friendly, even in your exhaustion—he still instinctively groaned and looked away, like your presence personally pained him.

It wasn’t intentional.

It was reflex.

You wounded

~God. Again? What is his problem? I didn’t even say anything. I just smiled. Does he really hate me that much?~

Later that night, curled up in bed with the lights off and your screen lighting your face, you messaged the only person who seemed to see you lately.

YOU: “Can I tell you something kind of dumb?”

ANON: “Always.”

You hesitated.

Then typed.

YOU: “There’s this guy at work. He’s like… this constant raincloud. Always grumpy. Never smiles. Doesn’t talk to anyone unless he absolutely has to.”

“I don’t think he likes me. Actually, I’m sure he doesn’t.”

“He groans every time I walk past. I’m not exaggerating. Groans. Like the sound you make when your internet dies.”

Robert stared at the screen.

Every word was a punch to the ribs.

~She noticed. She notices. Every groan. Every look-away. Every time I thought I was protecting myself by being quiet—I was just hurting her. She thinks I hate her. And she’s telling me… about me.~

ANON (typing carefully):

“Maybe he’s not good with people. Maybe he doesn’t know how to handle someone like you.”

“You’re warm. Open. You smile like the world isn’t falling apart. That can be… a lot, for someone who’s used to hiding.”

You stared at the message for a long time.

Then typed:

YOU: “Why are you being so nice to me?”

He paused.

His hands hovered over the keyboard.

So many answers burned in his throat.

But all he wrote was:

ANON: “Because you deserve it.”

You smiled at the screen.

And far across town, so did he.

The first real smile he’d allowed himself in weeks.

And yet his heart still ached, because he knew:

You were falling for someone who didn’t exist.

And the real him… was just the raincloud who groaned when you smiled.

---

The morning after that conversation, Robert didn’t sleep.

Not really.

He just lay there in his dark room, blanket tangled around his legs, staring at the ceiling like it had answers. Her words kept circling his mind like a haunting loop.

“I don’t think he likes me.”

“Actually, I’m sure he doesn’t.”

“I wish he liked me.”

You said it so quietly in the chat, almost like a joke. But he knew better. He could feel the softness under it. The ache.

And it ruined him

~She wishes I liked her. God, if she only knew. If she knew how much I think about her hands. Her voice. The way she tucks her hair when she’s focused. The curve of her waist when she reaches for something. The way she bites her lip when she’s annoyed with the printer. She thinks I’m indifferent. She has no idea I go home and replay every glance like it’s a movie reel I’m addicted to.~

That day, the office buzzed the same as always.

Emails, phone calls, laughter.

You was quieter than usual.

Still smiled. Still greeted everyone. But the light wasn’t fully there. You were… dimmer somehow. And only someone who watched her the way he did would notice.

He kept sneaking glances from his screen, stealing seconds between tasks. Every time you passed by, he’d feel that usual pressure in his chest. That painful mix of wanting to disappear and be seen.

But something had changed now.

Now he knew what was behind your smile.

And it made everything worse.

Later that day, the hallway was quiet—mid-afternoon slump. Most people were out at lunch. Robert headed to the server room with a tool kit, mind running in loops, hoodie sleeves pulled down over his hands.

Then he heard it.

A small sniffle.

Not dramatic. Not attention-seeking.

Just… real.

Like someone trying not to cry.

He stopped.

Turned slowly.

Down the hallway, near the copy machine, you sat alone on one of the side benches, head tilted slightly away, eyes red, a tissue crushed in your hand. You weren't sobbing. You weren’t making a scene.

You were just… breaking, quietly.

~She’s crying. She never cries. Not in front of people. What do I do? Do I say something? No. I’ll make it worse. She’ll think I’m being weird. But I can’t just walk away. I can’t pretend I don’t see her.~

He took a slow, reluctant step closer. His boots made a soft sound on the floor.

You didn’t look up.

You probably didn’t even notice him yet.

He stood there, stupidly holding his toolkit, like that was going to fix this.

Then, awkward and low, his voice came out like a glitch in the quiet:

“…Uh.”

You jumped slightly, turning to look at him.

“Oh—Robert.”

You tried to smile, wiping your eyes quickly. “Sorry. Just… a stupid moment.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Looked at the ground. Then at you. Then away again.

“…It doesn’t look stupid.”

You blinked, surprised.

It was the first time he’d ever said anything… remotely kind to you. Or at all, outside of tech issues.

He barely holding it together

~Say something else. Anything. Don’t stand here like an idiot. Tell her it’s okay. Ask if she wants to talk. Ask if someone hurt her. Ask if it was you.~

He opened his mouth. Closed it.

Then, quietly:

“…You want a tea or something?”

Your face broke into a soft, confused smile. Like you didn’t know if you should be touched or laugh.

“I—uh… okay. Sure.”

He nodded, already turning awkwardly, walking toward the kitchenette like it was a battlefield.

~I’m going to burn the tea. She’s going to think I poisoned it. What am I doing? But she said yes. She said yes to something.~

Back on the bench, you sat a little straighter.

Still a little sad.

But now curious.

Because Robert Frost, professional raincloud, had just offered you tea.

And you didn’t know what the hell it meant.

But something inside you whispered—

Maybe he didn’t hate you after all.

---

The kitchenette light buzzed faintly overhead as Robert stood by the kettle, watching it boil like it was a bomb about to go off. He gripped the counter edge with both hands, hoodie sleeves half-covering his fingers.

He had no idea what kind of tea to make. He had no idea how to do this. His hands shook a little as he poured the water into the mug, the bag still floating like he forgot to even remove the wrapper properly.

The idea of handing it to her made his stomach twist into a full knot.

Still, he carried it back like it was something sacred—hot ceramic and trembling hope.

She was still sitting quietly on the bench, wiping beneath her eyes with a tissue, but her expression had softened when she saw him.

He held the mug out stiffly.

“Uh. It’s, um… black tea.”

You accepted it gently, your fingers brushing his.

It was a tiny touch, barely anything—but his body reacted like static electricity had just sparked through his spine.

He’s panicking

~She touched me. Oh god, I hope my hand wasn’t clammy. Was it clammy? It definitely was. Great. Perfect. She probably thinks I’m diseased.~

“Thank you,” you said softly, looking up at him, that tired but kind smile still there. “That’s really sweet.”

He cleared his throat.

Awkward pause.

Then, completely out of character:

“…Why were you sad?”

You blinked.

A little surprised.

He stared straight ahead, as if the air itself would provide a distraction. His hand gripped his sleeve tighter.

You hesitated.

“…It’s nothing. Just silly thoughts,” you said quietly, giving a little shrug. “You ever feel like you’re surrounded by people, and still kind of… not seen at all?”

His chest tightened.

He nodded, just once.

Not smiling.

Not comforting.

Just understanding.

“…Yeah,” he said. “All the time.”

Then turned and walked away.

---

Later That Night

You lay in bed, wrapped in the familiar glow of your phone screen, heart a little heavier than usual.

You opened the chat.

YOU: “Hey. Can I tell you something?”

ANON: “Always.”

You paused.

Then typed:

YOU: “Something weird happened today. That guy from work I told you about… Robert. He gave me tea.”

“Like, he made it and brought it to me. It was the first time he didn’t sound like I was ruining his day by existing.”

“Maybe he doesn’t hate me after all?”

“He asked why I was sad. I didn’t really answer. But… I don’t know. It meant something.”

Robert stared at the messages, the phone warm in his hands, his chest cracked open like someone had gently peeled back the armor he wore every day.

His mouth went dry. His throat, tight.

You were talking about him. And you didn’t sound angry. You didn’t mock his awkwardness. You sounded… touched.

He scrolled, waiting, breath caught.

Then

YOU: “Also… this is embarrassing, but…”

“He’s actually kind of attractive?”

“Not like, typical guy-at-the-bar attractive. But in his own way. Like… I don’t know. He has this little mustache? It’s so outdated but it kind of works? And he has these tiny moles on his face and neck that no one probably ever notices but I have. He is like “Dot-to-Dot” game, you can just connect those little dots on his face and neck and receive a picture. Hehe that’s cringe, I’m sorry.”

“It makes him look real. Not filtered. Not like every other copy-paste guy.”

“There’s something soft about him underneath all the grumbling. I wish he didn’t try so hard to hide it.”

Robert dropped his phone.

Literally. It slid off his hand and hit the floor.

He stared at the wall like he’d seen a ghost.

~She noticed my moles. My moles. She thinks my mustache is… cute? Dot-to-Dot game? She thought about touching me or what? What the hell is happening. She doesn’t think I’m invisible. She sees me. She thinks I’m hiding something soft. God. She has no idea how right she is. I can’t do this. I can’t keep pretending. But I can’t tell her either.~

He retrieved the phone, his hands shaking.

He didn’t know what to say.

But he typed, carefully. Honestly.

ANON: “Maybe he’s just scared.”

“People like that… they build walls because they’re terrified of being seen. Especially by someone like you.”

“You seem like the kind of person who would ruin him—in the best way.”

You read it twice, your breath caught somewhere between your ribs.

YOU: “That’s a really beautiful thing to say.”

“Are you always this poetic, or just when I’m sad?”

Robert smiled into the dark.

A real, rare smile.

And then, a whisper to no one but himself:

“…Only with you.”

[chenswire]

Now that you said it I’m really curious about the foods in swummer files and voice lines now😳 not knowing Chinese is a pain sometimes.

copypasting this following paragraph from a writeup i did for a friend so it might sound a little more deranged than usual

in swummer's profile archive 4 they say the LGD officers will sometimes secretly(🤨) compare the difference between chen and swire's leadership styles in private; when following chen you have to yolo speedrun with her and will need half a day to recover from it while following swire requires you to multitask but in a controlled and not chaotic way and everything is very clearcut etc etc everyone generally agrees that they both 'seem to have 8 heads each, if i were in their shoes i would have been a goner after the first day' and it ends with rat king and wei two lungmen boomers drinking tea talking about the two of them too i was like ???? telenovela moment??? well not as crazy as the archive also saying that chen's desk was vacant (read: untouched and not taken over) for 2 years before swire tidied it up and put all the stuff into a box (read: not throwing them away) and labeling chen's (full) name on it (very normal about this meaningless detail)

Voice lines time

Talk 3

咳……检查了一下最近的行动记录，看得出这几年来，罗德岛的战术也更专业了，不错不错……哈？作为曾经的训练顾问看看任务记录不是很正常吗？我才没有偷看陈的资料！ Ahem...! I just checked your recent operation records, and it seems like Rhodes Island's tactics have significantly improved (lit: even more professional) in the past few years, not bad at all… HAH? Isn't it completely normal (CNT: Is there a problem) for a former instructor to be interested in this sort of thing? I-I didn't sneak a peek at Chen's data!

Talk after promotion 1

当上局长也没什么大不了的，无非是任务重了点、操心的事多了点，更能理���陈了点……啊，再强调一遍，我是接管近卫局，不是接陈的班！就算她现在回来，也是要叫我“长官”的！ Becoming the (department) Chief isn't that big of a deal. It's just that my work and responsibilities have increased by a little bit, and I can also understand Chen a little more... Ah! I'll say this again, I'm not taking over her position, but the entire LGD! So even if she comes back now, she'll have to call me Chief!

I like how she uses the same syntax? for all three, but I couldn't figure out how to word the [(noun) (verb) 少少] pattern succinctly in english AND keep the nuances lol skill issue... repeating 'a little bit more' thrice just sounds so wordy yea but anyway

the first two is 重 (heavier so a increase in both amount and importance) and 多 (more) but CNT has the last verb as 深(deeper) and also instead of 操心 its 烦 which is more like 'bother' than 'worry' aren't nuances great yippee

in her JP dub she says あのバカ龍 on the last chen mention while CN/CNT just uses the equivalent of 'her' instead of 仆街龍 but understandable because the word is a little strong lmao but im taking the nuance of her using 而家返嚟 as opposed to 現在回來 as a W regardless (something like come home vs go back)

this line is also referenced in a 123 rhodes comic strip

she does call her 仆街龍 in her module when talking to Hoshiguma though i'm tell you

别看那个了， 快帮我分分礼物。这是给你的冲浪板，这是给臭老鼠的火山泥面膜，这是给扑街龙的唱片——等她回来自己拿吧，还有给老魏的水果罐头…… Stop looking at that thing already and help me sort out my souvenirs. This surfboard is for you, this lava mud mask is for that cau lau syu, this album is for that puuk gai lung—she can take this herself when she comes back, and there's the canned fruit for old Wei...

>>>>>>>>>>等她回来自己拿吧 a more literal TL would be like '(you can kinda fit a I'll/we'll in here..???Let's) wait for her to come back here to take it herself'

this and the box thing from her profile the 'waiting for her wife to return from the war' vibes is off the charts tehe still hoping we get an actual voiced Puuk Gai Lung (swire edition) one day though (looks at global)

[dandelionh3art]

I feel like people have a complete misconception about Islam.

Of course there are extremists in every nation, but you can't put every person of a certain religion, ethnic group in the same category.

Let's start with the Quran. The Quran can't just be translated into English, the meaning of the words and phrases it all gets lost in translation.

Linguistic problems include the lexicon, morphology, syntax, text differences, rhetorical differences, and pragmatic factors. Human translation of Arabic into English is difficult enough, but machine translation presents even more problems when translating between these two languages. The translation must be faithful to the original text in terms of both meaning and style. The translation should mirror the original meaning.

In saying this, I think if you really want to learn anything, you need to dig and do proper research, google is not a good source, I have found that Google has a lot of misinformation.

Talking to someone who is in fact Muslim. Talking to people will teach you way more than anything else.

https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/fake-news-islamophobia-racism-muslims-islam-british-uk-latest-news-54784/#

Let's start with the prophet Muhammad.

A lot of people think that he married a 6 year old girl. That is not true.

There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about this subject.

This is what I learned.

Let's get straight to the point.

Firstly, the Quran indicates that there is an “age of marriage” (4:6) when both consenting partners are mature physically and mentally to enter into the legal contract of marriage.

We all know that

The bigots and haters who bring up this issue in

Debates again and again, are not interested in knowing the facts about Aisha and her age at the time of marriage,

But their agenda is to

Desperately, "prove" that

Prophet Muhammad was a lust-driven, sinful and

Unethical person.

But I am hoping to share some information that will help.

I find the explanation of

Myriam Francois-Cerrah

Most apt on this issue. So I quote her directly from her article in The Guardian (17th Sep 2012).

"Since the early Christians heralded Christ as a model of celibate virtue,

Muhammad - who had

Married several times-

Deemed to be driven by

Sinful lust.

This portrayal ignored the fact that before

His marriage to Aisha,

Muhammad had been

Married to Khadija, a

Powerful businesswoman 15 years his senior, for 25

Years.

When she died, he was devastated and friends

Encouraged him to remarry.

"What the records are clear on is that Muhammad and

Aisha had a loving and

Egalitarian relationship,

Which set the standard for reciprocity,

Tenderness and

Respect enjoined by the

Quran. Insights into theirs

Relationship, such as the fact they liked to drink out of the same cup or race one another, is indicative of a deep connection which

Belies any misrepresentation

Of their relationship."

To paint Aisha as a victim is completely at odds with the person she was. During a controversial battle in Muslim history, she emerged

Riding a camel to lead the

Troops.

She was known for her assertive temperament

And mischievous sense of

Humor – with Muhammad.

Sometimes bearing the brunt Of the jokes. During his Lifetime, he established her

Authority by telling Muslims To consult her in his absence. After his death, she went to be become one of the most prolific and distinguished scholars of her time."

Which means she was definitely not a 6 year old girl. She was of adult mind. I have reached the conclusion that she was anything between 16 and 19 years old when she got married.

I will post some articles from Muslim scholars who are trying to rectify some of the misinformation.

https://www.counterview.net/2022/06/hazrat-aishas-age-was-16-not-6-weak.html?m=1

https://www.islamicity.org/11238/10-misconceptions-about-islam/

May Jesus have been Palestinian? He may very well be.

"Most religious scholars and historians agree with that the historical Jesus principally spoke a Galilean dialect of Aramaic. Through trade, invasions and conquest, the Aramaic language had spread far afield by the 7th century B.C. and would become the lingua franca in much of the

Middle East."

Who still speak this language? This is what I found.

"Jewish Palestinian Aramaic is the term most frequently used today to describe the Aramaic written and spoken by Jews in Palestine during the Byzantine Period."

Historical records as well as genetic studies indicate that modern Palestinians, mostly descend from local ancient Levantines who converted from Judaism and other Levantine mythologies to Christianity and later to Islam. The researchers also determined that the Canaanites - who frequently appear in ancient sources, including the Bible - descended from a mixture of an earlier Levantine population and migrants coming from the Caucasus region or modern-day Iran.

So my question is, are the Palestinians the Jews from the Bible?

Can't say for sure.

But what I have learned is that Muslims are a peaceful religion.

They fight back only when they are being attacked, they have morality, integrity and most people's hate is due to brainwashing and ignorance.

I find it ironic that the people who are always going on about their rights to make their own decisions and literally have lost most of their morals want to tell others how wrong and evil they are. You have the right to choose. But every decision has consequences.

Before you think you know everything, do your research and forget what you were taught.

[beauleifu]

Hiiii hello Beau! It's been a while, how are you in these trying times??? I'm rlly sorry cuz I'm not reading any of your fics for the past few months due to school😔😔

Have a squishy Syntax 🕷️

(definitely not my oc's hand--)

SWHISH

SQUISH

HI ICEEEthank you for the art drop i needed to see his beautiful lil face <3, missed you! Hope you doing okay, make sure to drink plenty of water n stay safe, i love your artstyle oml, and dont worry about reading anything if yu dont have the time, the world can wait! i appreciate it tho <3333

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN YS

01 and. Ruby: Perl is a kludge, and Lisp syntax is scary.1 This was too subtle for me. So let that satisfy your competitiveness. But in a typical American secondary school. The average parents of a 14 year old girl would hate the idea of the corporate ladder had a value analogous to the solution I recommend for pitching your startup: do the right thing and then just tell investors what you're doing. Because remember, the Microsoft monopoly didn't begin with Microsoft.2 Even when the startup launches, there have to be treated as if they were returning to work after a months-long illness. Though they're less well known, the angel investors are probably more circumspect with YC startups than with other companies they talk to, and if you raise more money. But among the many other things I was ignorant of was how much debris there already was in my head. This works well for more parallelizable tasks, like fighting wars. But as of this writing the empirical evidence says it's a net win.

Essentially, each user should have his own per-word probabilities based on the actual mail he receives. If you stop there, what you're describing is literally a prison, albeit a part-time one.3 It's not so much that you don't have to answer to anyone. Don't reject an acceptable offer in the hope of becoming much richer than anyone else, it will automatically push you away from things you think you're supposed to work on Viaweb.4 Next What happens to publishing if you can't predict whether there's a path out of the initial idea is the meta-fact that these are hard to see. Nor, as far as possible prevent them from killing one another. I explained this as code to show a couple of CS grad students, not the topic.5 And there was no AWS. I was ignorant of was how much debris there already was in my head.6 If you leave a project for a few days. And this turns out to have consequences one might not foresee when one phrases the same idea in terms of the problem.

So if you're doing it wrong. If you drink too much, you can do is get yourself to the point where startups can least afford it. Or better still, go work for a biotech company. While not a sinecure, a position on the corporate ladder is probably gone for good.7 But when you make a conscious effort to insulate the other founder s from the details of the process. Even if the CEO is a programmer and the target user, because then the cycle of generating new versions and testing them on users can happen inside one head. The same thing could happen with the Internet. Large-scale investors care about their portfolio, not any individual company. They try to hide even the existence of these words has a spam probability, in my school at least, exclusively for work.8 As they were used then, these words all seemed to believe implicitly that work was not fun.9

By high school, my friend Rich and I made a map of the school lunch tables according to popularity. We assumed his logo would deter any actual customers, but it was not a coincidence. 14758544 valuable 0.10 But till recently this was an anomalous route that tended to be at the mercy of investors. Apple controls the default path onto the iPod. About a year ago I tried to figure out what you'd need to reproduce Silicon Valley. What sort of company might cause people in the Valley, and on the other is the sea—which because it's cold and foggy and has few harbors, plays surprisingly little role in the lives of people in the Valley.11

Except when they raise money they don't have to read so many spams.12 In those days there was no way anyone could have known this in advance.13 If you're at the leading edge of a field that's changing rapidly, your ideas about what's sexy will be somewhat correlated with what's valuable in practice. It's one of the commonest forms of corruption. Even in college you get little idea what their parents do in their distant offices, and see no connection indeed, there is no better than Don't be hapless is to be actively persecuted. Without hope of gain, they'd have grown up considering themselves as Ys. The kids in this one case if parents were not so unselfish. Investors usually get vetos over certain big decisions, like selling the company, regardless of whether it seems like all the good Web 2.

Notes

This was certainly true in the biggest winners, from which they don't know enough about big companies don't advertise this. Type II startups neither require nor produce startup culture. There is nothing more unconvincing, for example, I have no idea whether this would probably find it was briefly in Britain in the bouillon cube s, cover, and then being unable to raise five million dollars in liquid assets are assumed to be able to spend on trade goods to make software incompatible. Some translators use calm instead of being absorbed by the financial controls of World War II was in principle 100,000 drachmae for the next one will be on the richer end of World War II, must have affected what they are by ways that have it as if a company just to steal a big effect on college admissions process.

Ii.

Html. A Divorce?

The word regressive as applied to tax rates, which was more because they are themselves typical users. 25 people have told me: Another approach would be. Wufoo was based in Tampa and they have to tell how serious potential investors and instead of using special euphemisms for lies that seem to be doomed.

If you're good you can fix by writing an interpreter for the manager of the problem is poverty, not conquest. Good news: users don't care about may not be to ensure none of them consistently make money, but Google proved them wrong. The best technique I've found for dealing with recent art that does.

I would go farther in saying that because a great deal of competition for the same. 27 with the talking paperclip. A lot of detail.

But iTunes shows that they kill you—when you have to admit there's no other word that means is we hope visited mostly by technological progress to areas where Apple will be out of Viaweb, which is something in this respect.

The best kind of social engineering—. Y Combinator was a strong local component and b success depended so much about unimportant things.

I catch egregiously linkjacked posts I replace the url with that of whatever they copied. Unfortunately these times are a small set of good startups that get killed by overspending might have infected ten percent of them consistently make money for.

Emmett Shear writes: I'd argue that the probabilities of features i. As I was a kid and as we think we're so useless that in Silicon Valley, but rather that if you seem evasive than if you ban other ways. Some of the former, and only incidentally to tell computers how to distinguish between people, but this could be fixed within a niche. And yet if he hadn't we probably would not produce a viable organism.

Trevor Blackwell, who had small children, we're going to give up your anti-dilution, which merchants used to build consumer electronics and to run a mile in under 4 minutes. How many times larger than the long term than one level of links. When I talk about distribution of alms, and so effective that I'm skeptical whether economic inequality is really about poverty. In fact the less powerful language in it.

If they were just getting kids to them about your fundraising prospects. And if you hadn't written about them.

Actually he's no better or worse than the time. Consulting is where the acquirer just wants the employees. But if you're attacked in this essay wrote: After the war, tax loopholes defended by two of each type of mail, I suspect five hundred would be to ensure none of your last funding round usually reflects some other contribution by the PR firm admittedly the best hackers work on a valuation.

[midwesternorcprincess]

11 14

11. Something you want to do again next year?

i had an annotation job for a historical syntax corpus, which was really cool and i hope i get hired for it next summer again. need both the cash and dissertation ideas

14. Favorite book you read this year?

i don't think i actually finished reading any books for leisure this year (tried to read Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers but my semester was too crazy.... maybe over break) ;_;

but the text i did syntactic annotation for was INSANE (as you would expect from this genre in this time period), it was a 1624 travelogue from a German physician who went to Africa. *Stefon voice* this text has EVERYTHING..... pirates, wizards, devil worship, human sacrifice, sticking lemons up your butt, scientifically questionable descriptions of hippos, mad shade thrown at the Spaniards, drinking a magic potion during your legal trial and determining your guilt based on whether you pee. and look, who's that over there? it's the Manna Magchüssy!!

[qingyingpocketlirary]

The Spider's Web 14;

He was cold, from the inside out, he was cold and nothing brought warmth to him, not the blankets, not the ginger tea, not even the space heater he sat before. The Bone Demon’s ice was creeping along his skin now, he could feel it slowly growing along his spine, following the path of his nervasystem making every movement agony.

“How do we help Auntie?” Spindrax asked, she was somewhere behind him, and the shift of the blankets told him she was trying to rub his back, to keep the ice from growing so quickly. “There must be something we can do?”

“I’m brewing what I can to help slow the spread, but the only way to remove this ice is for the Witch to die.” Chi Yue explained and offered a cup to Syntax, “Drink it down.” She told him.

He took the cup, drinking deeply of the auburn liquid, knowing it should have brought him more warmth than it did, but still he was thankful of the attempt. He didn’t blame her for that, he couldn’t, he knew she was worried about more than just his well being.

They had been sitting outside, enjoying the warmth of the air after the bitter chills had faded away, and maybe foolishly, Syntax had thought that just maybe, things would be alright. But then he had heard her voice in his ears, clear and so direct that he could have sworn she stood right beside him as she spoke. And then, the ice began to form, surging from within him. It was painful, so painful that he knew his instincts had taken over and he had tried to call out to Huntsman, to Goliath and to the Queen, they’d always come before and so logically, they should have come now.

But they hadn’t, and while his logical brain screamed at him that it was because the Bone Demon had them, that she was keeping them from him, his instincts continued to pointlessly call out, desperate for the help of those familiar and those who had made the pain go away in the past. Spindrax was the one to answer him, and while Chi Yue seemed to understand she couldn’t imitate the sounds, but she could imitate the actions. Together, the two women had worked to bring him some comfort, wrapping him in blankets and webbing, trying to give him warmth to slow the cold of the ice that now grew from within him.

They’d lost contact with the Monkie Kids, and the last message had been a blurry image from Mei of Nezha, the Third Lotus Prince mid-battle with Wukong and since then, all had been quite and for the last day or so, all Syntax could do was try and focus on himself, trying to stay awake, rubbing his arms and clinging to any source of heat he could find.

A sudden buzzing of his wrist device and Syntax didn’t need to look to know what it was telling him, a moment later, he was hunched over, claws digging into his own back as he grit his teeth, trying to hold back the pained sound that tried to escape his throat. The ice was growing again and oh, oh how it hurt…

He didn’t care if he was still chittering and clicking, calling out for answers that would not come, he couldn’t stop it. It was instinctual, the spider part of him trying to find comfort in the familiar, seeking the response and assurance that the Queen and older clansman were there and could help him, even with Spindrax’s assurances, it wasn’t enough, he needed to hear them…

The last thing he heard before his mind went blank was Spindrax calling his name.

Eighteen days…

It was a battle of wills now. Theirs against the growing, chilling bitterness of the Bone Demon’s power over the Furnace. 

They’d heard snippets of a conflict, and then the Bone Demon cackling in a vicious manner, then, from beneath them somewhere a pained scream, a girl’s scream.

“If you are wise, Dragon Girl, you will give me the Samadhi Fire.”

“Never!”

“Your attempts to resist are amusing, girl. But you will find that you can not resist me forever. Sun Wukong has fallen to my magic. Your friends are powerless and weak, and there is no one in the Mortal, Demon or Celestial Realm that can stand up to me. Eventually, you will surrender.”

“I’m a Dragon you dumb witch, I’m literally one of the most stubborn creatures ever born! I will not give you anything!”

“We shall see.”

“Dragon Girl?” Goliath asked through chattering teeth. “The girl who hangs around with, Monkie Kid?”

“Sounded like her.” Huntsman nodded. “She’s got guts to talk back to the Witch that way.”

“If she has the fire, then the witch will do anything to break her.” The Queen stated grimly as she looked up to the top of the Furnace. “I hope she is as stubborn as she claims, for all our sakes.”

Warmth bloomed in his chest and back, following the path of his nervasystem through his body and ripping him of the chilling embrace that had consumed him. He tried to sit up, only to be held still as the warmth continued to spread, leaving him confused and panting heavily.

“Stay still a little longer, the ice is’t completely gone.” Chi Yue told him and she sounded relieved as she moved his hair out his face so he could see.

He was underground now with Sandy, Pigsy, Tang, MK, Chi Yue, Macaque, free of the ice that had once been present upon him and Red Son, the latter was knelt beside him, one hand bracing his head while the other hand was over his chest, close to his heart.

“What?” He tried to ask only to stop and blink as a small creature appeared on Red Son’s shoulder, its small black body and large eyes looking down upon Syntax for a moment before it climbed down the Bull Prince’s arm and settled itself on Syntax’s chest, over the Prince’s hand.

Warmth pulsed through Red Son’s hand and into Syntax, and with it, the chilling cold began to fade away. “How?” he asked.

“The Flame Spirit I created may not be as great as the Samadhi Fire, but its heat is more than enough to rid you of the Lady Bone Demon’s ice. It just needs guidance is all, now keep still and this will be over shortly.” Red Son explained as another pulse of heat passed into him, the little creature emitting a soft croaking sound.

“So-”

“Six Eared Macaque,” Chi Yue said sharply and the dark furred monkey flinched, stepping back and ducking himself down, trying to appear smaller than he was. “You and I are going to have a conversation across the room from the children. Just because you’ve agreed to help us does not mean you’re getting off lightly for the danger you put children in.” 

“Yes Chi Yue.” The black furred Monkey nodded.

“MK, come sit with Syntax, make sure he stays still while Red Son works.” The woman instructed in a much gentler and kinder tone.

“Yes Auntie.” MK said and moved to take Chi Yue’s place beside Syntax, and now that he was warming up, the spider realised Chi Yue had been monitoring his vitals through his wrist device, so that Red Son knew how much heat to let into him without triggering a cardiac event.

MK took a moment to make sure he was still good and with a nod from the brunet, Red Son continued to slowly push warmth into Syntax from the creature that had come with him, and once she was sure they would be able to manage, Chi Yue stood up, grabbed Macaque by the scruff of his scarf and dragged the dark furred Monkey away from the group.

Macaque could have escaped, they all knew it, but for whatever reason, he let her drag him away without any struggle and dropped down to a crouch as they spoke, not yelling, not arguing, just talking but from the look of the scene, Macaque was taking the biggest scolding of his life.

“What did I miss?” Syntax asked quietly as he looked at MK. “Last I remember, I was at Chi Yue’s home trying not to freeze.”

“We’ll catch you up once all the ice is gone.” MK assured him. “We have a plan to face the Lady Bone Demon.”

“Then I think now would be a good time to mention a little something I’ve been keeping to myself,” Syntax suggested and with Red Son’s nod, he let them help him sit up and tapped at his device, projecting an image of the Spider Mech.

“So you were planning something?” A voice Syntax did not want to hear suddenly proclaimed with a delighted chuckle. “Such a sly little spider.”

“Why is he here?” Syntax asked, not looking at the source of the voice.

“Because he gave us the rundown on what the Bone Demon’s plan was, since she sent all the power she gave him into Wukong. He has no powers anymore, only his annoying voice and delusional sense of loyalty to the witch.” Red Son said.

“Why is he still allowed to talk?” Syntax asked.

“Because according to Macaque, Huntsman spat Crimson bile on his face. The damage can’t be healed, and so, his whole face is now just a skeletal skull.” Red Son said, a sharp grin on his face. “It's a grim appearance, but honestly, it's tame given that I’ve seen what Crimson bile can do to none Spider Demons.”

“He’s not able to alert her at all?” Syntax questioned.

“Not so long as he’s without her power.” Chi Yue said as she and Macaque came back over with the rest of the adults. Syntax noticed she seemed tired, more so than she had been before, especially as Sandy helped her to sit down and Pigsy brought a bowl of hot noodles over for her from the T.E.A.

“Auntie made him drink a whole pot of her tea.” MK explained. “The Bone Demon can’t use him again until it wears off, and that won’t happen until Auntie lets it or she, well…”

“Not gonna happen kiddo.” Macaque said, “Your Auntie’s smart enough to get out of the way if things get bad. Even if she does give some of us heart attacks with how close she cuts it sometimes.”

“Says the most dramatic monkey in all of China.” Red Son cheeked the black furred monkey, leaving him sputtering and looking aghast before asking. “How did the Spider Clan manage to afford the parts and metal for that Mech and the drones you used at New Years? The Demon Market isn’t cheap and the quality of the parts has to have been at least level nine if not ten.” he reasoned, looking at the projection of the Spider Mech Syntax was showing them.

“You’d be amazed how much my Queen has in her treasury. This and the Drones were nothing.” Syntax smiled and Red Son’s hair sparked up a little. “We don’t spend on things unless we absolutely have to, my Queen prefers we not draw attention to ourselves.”

“Understandable.” Chi Yue said, cutting that line of conversation off for the moment. “What was the Queen’s plan?”

“A controlled explosion. One that we hoped would weaken the Bone Demon to the point she could be forced out of the child she’s possessing.” Syntax explained, tapping the screen on his device to show them the changed Mech the Queen had asked for. “When Goliath handed me off to you, it was literal within minutes of my completing these changes, according to old blue prints my Queen had shown me.”

“Clever,” Red Son said, looking at the projection carefully. “Using the abdominal chamber as an insulated blast room, the heat and fire of the explosion would be far more intense, forcing the Bone Demon’s puppet to exhort himself to the point of uselessness, and the Bone Demon herself would be significantly weakened from protecting her host body, allowing the Queen to force her out with old methods.”

“That was the plan.” Syntax nodded, not bothering to ask how the Bull Prince had figured the plan out so quickly just by seeing the images. “But things didn’t go the way we wanted. I wasn’t really aware of what was happening after I passed out.”

“Could the explosion still be used?” Red Son asked, “The Bone Mech was created using the Spider Mech as a base frame. Could the explosion still be created and damage the Mech?”

“Maybe, but I’d need to see the inside of the Mech itself.” Syntax admitted.

“Window with a view, coming up.” Macaque said, crouching down and opening a shadow portal with his hands, then after a moment the shadows shifted and changed, taking on colours, shapes, definition and distance until they could see…

Inside the Bone Mech.

“We can see, but nothing we say or do can be heard or seen, and we can’t go through.” Macaque explained, with a look at MK.

The furnace hung from three long spikes of ice, emitting a chilling blue glow from its core that flowered into the ice spikes and up into the Mech above, acting as a main power source, to the right and slightly lower down-

“Mei…” MK whined, trying to reach for his friend, Syntax noted that the boy’s hands were bandaged up again.

“She’s fighting, kid. Even cursed the witch out not too long ago.” Macaque assured as Tang gently pulled MK’s hand away from the image and Pigsy tugged the boy into his side, trying to offer him comfort. “She’s got guts, and we will get her out of there.”

Mei was encased in ice, sitting in the lotus position, focused on her breathing and trying to resist as lashes of ice and chilling power struck her harshly, trying to break her concentration. And below her and the furnace, the metal of the mech seemed different in colour and make.

“There,” Syntax said. “Below the furnace. Show me the inside of that section of the mech.”

The portal moved and seemed to sink through the floor, then all they could see were wires, circuit boards and tiny fuse boxes. Syntax began to type and check things on his device, muttering and mumbling to himself, though he soon drew Red Son into it as the two discussed things MK couldn’t hope to keep up with once Syntax had all he needed from the portal’s view.

“How are you doing that?” MK asked Macaque then gasped as a small shadow, no bigger than a normal monkey, jumped out of the shadow and clung to Chi Yue, nuzzling its face into hers.

“Rumble and Savage don’t have a presence that can be sensed.” Macaque explained, as a second small shadow monkey appeared from the shadow, and quickly joined Rumble in Chi Yue’s arms, snuggling close and nuzzling into the woman. “They’ve been keeping an eye on things, just in case a chance came up for me to get Ànyǐng dēnglóng and the other Relics out of the Furnace.”

Time passed, a nineteenth day began, the Dragon Girl did well, not to scream from the obvious painful lashes of the Bone Demon’s magic against her, Huntsman could respect that strength, especially from one so young. 

“They will not come for you.”

“Donk you!”

She had spirit, and no matter what the Bone Demon said, she snapped back with a bite worthy of the Dragon Clan.

And then, all at once, they heard another battle, one that shook the Furnace so much it seemed to sway side to side. The Queen barely managed to anchor them with more webbing as the swaying sent the power into an iratical spin around the furnace’s edges.

They heard voices, distant and faint, but clearly the voices of the Monkie Kid, his group of friends and the Six Eared Macaque. They were fighting the Possessed Monkey King.

“You can’t just make yourself the judge of all things based on a few bad qualities! Your perfect world is a delusion!” Monkie Kid yelled.

“I will not be insulted!” The Bone Demon snapped and there was a terrible sound, a powerful impact and then the sound of a body hiding solid surface with such force that it broke bones.

“Wukong stop!” Macaque yelled.

“Do you not see, sweet child, you can not change the path of Destiny, no matter what you do. The staff can give you nothing, your mentor is now mine to command, and your friends? They will soon fall to me as well. This world will be laid to ruin and from its remains, I shall rebuild a new and perfect world.” The Bone Demon stated firmly.

“Sun Wukong!” That voice gave Huntsman pause, he knew that voice.

“You two fools think you can stand against my champion?” The Bone Demon mocked only to gasp a moment later.

“Put. Him. DOWN!” The pig demon ordered, and the air rippled with power, the fury of a father driven to protect his child and with it, something old and just as ferocious as the raging rivers of bygone days.

The battle was sheer force against sheer force, blows that shook and rocked the space. The brutality of it akin to the battles of bygone and forgotten days, when only the strongest and most powerful walked away victorious with scars to mark the battle. 

A sudden sickening snap, a choked sound and then the horrid crash of something big hitting solid ground with force.

“Dad! Sandy!”

“My Champion.” The Bone Demon commanded and they heard the Monkie Kid gag.

A new sound suddenly caught their attention, a steady, timed beep-beep-beep, as if something were counting down…

And that could only mean…

“Hold onto the wall, tightly!” The Queen ordered, relief etched into her words and she tried to spread more webbing around and over them.

“The world can never be perfect because no one and nothing is perfect! That’s why everyone and everything is different from each other! So we can grow and learn and keep changing and surviving! That’s part of being alive!” The boy proclaimed, though he sounded like he was being choked. “As long as I have my friends, my family, and as long as they are happy with me, then this world is perfect!”

“A child’s notion. But then, you are just a boy.”

An eruption, a surge of power, the Furnace shifted and then fell a distance before slamming down, the force enough to dislodge the mech body that Huntsman had used to give them something to structure their makeshift nest and sent it down into the deeper parts of the furnace. With an awful crunch and crash as the furnace was sent rolling, sending their prison spinning in such a way that left them all dizzy and unable to focus on anything but holding onto the wall and hoping the webbing alone would hold them.

“What!?” The Bone Demon demanded in shock.

Everything had been going according to her desires. These foolish pests were struggling to defeat her Champion, his unwilling body forced to attack and strike the child he had been training as a successor with all his power, even as the boy tried to block and defend himself as they spoke. 

And then the display of power from both the blue giant, his ability to wield water and sand, the sheer brutality of it all had been a challenge to endure, and the pig who so clearly saw the boy as his own. But her Champion’s power was hers to wield as she wished and with one swift blow to the blue giant’s chest, the fool had crashed into the pig and both had fallen to the ground and struggled to rise again. The boy had tried to reach his fallen friends, and at her will, the King had taken the boy’s throat in hand, lifting him off the floor.

But just as she had been about to bid her champion to end the boy’s life, something from inside her Mech had erupted and caused the mech to lean and tilt unnaturally. Power that had once been stable and sure was now out of control and lashing out.

“A little gift from My Queen.” A voice she did not expect called out and she watched as the blue demon was helped back to his feet by a lavender skinned, green haired man, four long spider-like limbs helping to steady them both as the scholar helped the pig demon to stand again.

“Insect!” She spat and tried to reach for the ice inside him to shatter whatever power had held her ice at bay and kill him. Only to find none, not even the smallest traces, as if it were never there to begin with. “How?!” She demanded.

“Has no one told you Spiders can adapt and change their destiny?” Syntax dared to cheek the Bone Demon, yelled to Macaque and the boy. “That explosion dislodged the Furnace!”

“Now MK!!” Macaque yelled.

A burning pain suddenly tore through her and she turned back to her champion in time to see Macaque had jumped on Wukong, forcing him to let go of the boy and hold him as the boy made to grab Ruyi Jingu Bang again.

At the touch of his hand, the staff began to pulse and hum, drawing back the power she had stolen away from it and then, from the floor a multitude of Shadow clones, each one a perfect copy of Macaque, rushed forth and latched onto Sun Wukong’s body and charged towards her.

“No!” She snarled and at her command, the Monkey King’s body threw the clones and original Macaque aside before launching towards the boy, intent to grab his throat once again and squeeze it until the child’s neck snapped-

He didn’t grab the boy.

Instead, the hand of the Monkey King reached past the boy, latched tightly around the length of Ruyi Jingu Bang and all at once, the power that had been lashing out from her mech surged forth with new direction and heat, through the staff and into Sun Wukong. 

“Thanks, for not giving up on me, bud.” The Monkey King praised, and oh, how it burned to see him suddenly smiling as he and the boy pulled the staff free of her ice, a golden aura forming at their feet that grew and grew with every passing second. The power from her mech slipped away from her and instead responded to the stronger pull of Wukong’s might.

All of her power came suddenly flooding back into her, chased by the warm golden glow of the power from the staff, the boy and Sun Wukong, slamming into her with such force that the blow pushed her host free of her hold. She tried to grab the girl again, but before she could, Macaque snatched the girl away and into a shadow portal, reappearing within the golden light, cradling the child close where the Bone Demon could not reach her again, and in his tail, the reformed Lantern of Shadows, Ànyǐng dēnglóng.

The mech’s power was weakening, she could feel her control over it starting to slip.

“No! I will not be undone by a mismatched troop!” She declared and pulled all her power, everything she could reach and call back to herself and forced it downwards, into the ice that held the Dragon Girl, relishing in the scream of pain that echoed from within the mech.

“Mei!” The boy cried in panic as the surge of cold power forced him and the others to fall from the platform they stood upon. “MEI?!”

“If the Dragon Girl will not give me the Samadhi Fire willingly, then I shall rip it from her!” She laughed as the dragon girl screamed again.

The scream from the Dragon Girl was a horrid sound, Goliath had to close his eyes to try and stop his instincts, his need to protect the young and helpless from making him act without thinking. The Furnace was unsteady, every wave of heat that came would rock it back and forth, making it impossible to say if it was safe to move or not and so they stayed, waiting for a better chance to leave the Furnace at last.

If he tried to move from the safety of the webbing they were in, he’d put Huntsman and the Queen in greater danger- But that was a child! A young girl who needed help and he could- No! No! He had to stay! He had to- 

Another scream, this one enough to make him flinch. “I can’t-” he said, not realizing he was moving.

“Steady big guy.” Huntsman tried to sooth, using what little strength he had left to hold Goliath back from leaving. “Stay with us.” 

“She’s just a kid!” Goliath hissed, trying to keep his tone as he tried, oh he tried to keep himself from reacting as another scream tore through the air. “I can’t just-”

“I know, but we can’t help like this.” The Queen said as she took hold of Goliath’s face and made him look at her.

“My Queen…” he sobbed as another scream tore through the air. 

“We can only help if we are safe ourselves, my warrior.” He could see tears in her eyes, she did not want to tell him to ignore his instincts, but if she didn’t he could doom them all. “You must not put yourself in danger if you are to help another.”

The Queen must be obeyed over all else. For her, he would stay. 

The Furnace rolled again and this time Goliath had no choice but to grab Huntsman as the webbing snapped and the smaller spider was almost dragged away from them and into the still swirling bitter cold of the Bone Demon’s power. He pulled both Huntsman and the Queen to his chest and forced his claws and limbs into the wall, trying to hold on as they continued to spin.

“This world will be made anew, and then, I shall take my power and my destiny to the entire Celestial Realm! No one in the wretched world will be left to ruin perfection! Not you. Not the Monkey King. Not even the Jade Emperor will remain! This world will be perfect in its absoluteness!”

A second wave of heat suddenly washed over them, uncontrolled and untamed, but before it could reach them, something struck the Furnace again, knocking it into a position where they could see out of the top. 

“Dragon Girl!?” The voice came from the Bull Prince as he and a woman stepped into the view of the overturned furnace.

The Dragon Girl was encased in a red shard of ice, flames of Samadhi Fire raging around it and along four main pipelines of ice, forcing the fire to fuel the mech in place of the lost power from the Spider Mech that lay in burning ruin around them. The Dragon Girl was repeatedly being hit with bursts of ice, and while the fire melted most, some of them managed to get through and strike her with enough force that she stumbled, staggered and fell. The Bone Demon was trying to tire her out, to frustrate her and make her lose the already slipping focus and force her to give in to the flames. 

“The ice is overwhelming her.” The woman explained and barely managed to redirect one of the incoming strikes of magic to give the Dragon Girl just a moment of rest. She had to yell to be heard over the sudden groan and shuddering of the Bone Mech around them. “Get her out of there! I can’t block her for long!” 

It took a moment, but with a burst of his own fire, Red Son broke through the ice crystal holding the girl and unleashed a lesser but still powerful flames into the mix, allowing him to get close and actually take hold of the Dragon Girl, lifting her from the heap she’d fallen into by her face and holding her steady.

“Don’t you dare give into her, Dragon Girl! You hear me!? You have to fight her!”

“I can’t…” The girl admitted, so weak, pained and so very, very tired. “It’s too much…”

“You can! The Samadhi Fire is not her power! It’s yours! It has been yours from your birth and it will bend to your will! You need only tame it!”

“I can’t use it…” She denied and for a moment it seemed the incoming strike of ice would shatter the Crystal and doom them all.

“A Dragon does not use elemental power, Loong Xiaojiao!” Red Son yelled over the clash of magic, his own fire bursting forth and melting away the ice and heating the room to near unbearable heights as the Samadhi Fire and his own flames began to swirl and condense around the Crystal. “They become the elements, weaving themselves into the very fabric of the world and they command the world to obey them! Don’t USE the flame, Mei.”

“Macaque!” The woman’s voice was close, likely right outside the Furnace’s opening judging by the loud echo of her yell and just as the Furnace sank into a dark shadow, they saw the flames shift and change colour from a deep crimson to a brilliant emerald green.

“BE the flame.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*drops this and runs*

ENJOY!!!! < Part 13 Part 15 >

[beautyofsorrow]

i experience this feeling at least once a year like clockwork, usually in the summer. sometimes a mini version in late fall/early winter too. it may not be seasonal for you, or it may be less frequent, but it is a real thing! and it is ok. it sucks, but it is ok. i promise, your words will return, your words will get better, you will be ok.

obviously everyone is different, and what works for me will not necessarily work for you, but i have found the best way to weather these seasons is to follow the steps below:

take a break. seriously, this is the most important part. rest. rest for a long time. rest longer than you think you need to rest, and then rest some more. this year my break lasted from may to august. last year it was the month of november. some years you just need more time than others.

read. read whatever you can get your hands on. read books that are too smart for you, read books that are too young for you, read books written for people who are not your age. you don't have to consciously study them, but sitting with them, soaking up their syntax and plot and characters and structure, letting all of those thoughts seep into your brain-- it will make you a better writer. but most importantly, read books that bring you joy. and yes, audiobooks count. comic books count. picture books count. this summer i read so so many comics and animorphs books, and you know what? i had fun

if you can, move your body. it will help. i'm horrible at this one personally, but that's ok, i'm getting there. this is also the part where i tell you to drink lots of water and eat vegetables. a lot of the skills regression i was experiencing was unrelated to writing, but it affected my writing, and more than that it affected my sleeping and my eating. taking care of my body took care of my words.

engage with other forms of art & media. movies, tv shows, art, music, dance, photography, anything that strikes your fancy, really. you do not have to make it (though you can, if you're so inclined), but i do suggest engaging with it. sit with it. listen to it. turn it over and over in your brain. lie down and enjoy it with your eyes closed if it's that kind of media. take a friend to an art museum. when i am feeling despair about my own artistic pursuits, appreciating others' art has never failed to help me.

when you do go back to writing, go slow, and start with something you love. for me, after my first major burnout, that meant fanfiction. i am still writing fanfiction, so now when i come back from a break, i pick something to write that is ridiculously self-indulgent. or i choose something that is very short and usually has a funky structure because i love funky structures, and i work on it very slowly. it makes things easier for my brain, but it also makes things fun. and fun is the point, right? art is play

most of all, be patient. your words will probably feel "sticky" for a while, and they may not feel good for a long time, but i promise if you read, rest, take care of your body, engage with other forms of creativity, and take it slow, you'll get there.

please please please please reblog if you’re a writer and have at some point felt like your writing is getting worse. I need to know if I’m the only one who’s struggling with these thoughts