#You would not believe how long it took to find a pronunciation.))

[perfectlyoongi]

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who writes all the promises you made on a sheet and burns the paper. i promise i will always be by your side. i promise i will always listen to you when you need me. i promise that i will always be true to my feelings. i promise to love you. empty words. all Taehyung saw were words without any meaning. when you made these promises to him, and so many others, you spoke with hope on your lips; your pronunciation was bathed with all the tenderness that existed in your heart; your words flew with the grace of eternal devotion; but your heart… your heart hid all the lies you told; in the darkest corners of your heart, the true meaning of your promises flooded your entire being, drowning you in a turbulent sea of deception and falsehood. all the promises were words given, without any weight in their syllables, completely devoid of any feeling. you lied to Taehyung. all the promises that filled that sheet were just reminders of the times when Taehyung was deceived by you. every promise was a pain. every pain was a ghost. every ghost was on fire. “you didn’t just make me believe. you gave me hope. with your empty words, i believed in a future, yes, but i had hope to live that future with you. and you just never meant what you said.”

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who stops all the clocks on the day you left. time lost all its meaning the day you left Taehyung. trapped in a past he couldn’t let go of, Taehyung saw no reason for so many clocks to remind him of how many minutes had passed since your departure. for Taehyung, time stopped the day you walked out the door. you took Taehyung’s heart with you inside an hourglass that contained all the remaining minutes of Taehyung’s life. and he now didn’t have his heart. now he didn’t have his time. now he had nothing, because he didn’t have you. what was it worth continuing to live every day if the reason for Taehyung’s world to spin was gone? minutes meant nothing when Taehyung remained stuck in a past he would never return to. time didn’t matter at all to Taehyung. only you gave him reasons to count every minute: the minutes until he got home to hug you, the minutes left until you picked him up from work, the minutes left until he lay down another night by your side. you were the definition of time, because you were the reason time moved. and now that you’re gone, taking your heart and time with you, what was it worth continuing to long for? Taehyung could only wait. “you think you always have time, a whole life in front of you. but then someone comes along and takes all the time with them and you’re left alone wondering what you’re going to do now that there’s no future for you.”

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who looks for your love every time he leaves the house. Taehyung missed you, it was visible. Taehyung dragged himself through the days, letting his body take over his mind. Taehyung couldn’t think. when his mind took him along the paths the two of you took on sunny days when love still existed, Taehyung forced himself not to think. but whenever he left the house, commanded by his feet, muffling his heart, Taehyung would look intently. it had already become a habit. maybe you’ll appear behind that pole. maybe your laugh is stuck in that street sign. maybe your love was spread across the sidewalk he walked on. maybe, but just maybe, Taehyung could find you once again amid all the chaos of the city, appearing like a breath of fresh air, a radiant sun, an eternal love. no. he couldn’t. Taehyung couldn't think about it. but there was passion in his destruction and Taehyung was devoted to himself. whenever he was on the street, Taehyung let his body command his steps, but it was his heart that made him yearn, wait, for you. “i just want you back. i want your love back. can’t you see that i love you? can’t you see that i fell in love with myself when you were finding yourself?”

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who wakes up during the night with things he wants to tell you. iI miss you. i got a contract with a new brand. i miss you. Jungkook and i went for a walk after dinner, it was cool. i miss you. i already went shopping and brought the ice cream you like. i miss you. i miss you. I mi—. the nights seemed eternal when Taehyung woke up from his sleep, completely bathed in an ice-cold sweat of pure longing. in his dream, Taehyung was hugging you. in reality, Taehyung was crying. why did you leave when there was still so much to live for? why did you leave when there was still so much to say? Taehyung could think of a dictionary of phrases he wanted to say to you; stories and memories, curiosities and reminders, a whole variety of types of words appeared in Taehyung’s mind every night. he just wanted to text you, call you, take off all the weight that those words carry and prevent him from sleeping. but Taehyung couldn’t speak. you weren’t there anymore. you didn’t want to do it anymore. and it was with the knowledge of your indifference that Taehyung allowed his tears to hold for himself all the words he will never say to you. “how can i keep within myself everything i want to say to you when even the whole world would be unable to hold a fraction of what i want to say?”

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who accuses you of stealing his life. there was nothing. in Taehyung’s life, everything was lost. his heart was trampled by your departure, his soul was drowned by your goodbye, his essence was stolen by your indifference. Taehyung had nothing. no heart capable of loving, no soul capable of feeling, no essence capable of living. you took everything from Taehyung. only interested in you, in your well-being, you stole Taehyung’s life, throwing a bright future to waste, covering a tender present with your goodbye, leaving him only with a past that will never be repeated. it was you. you were the one who destroyed Taehyung and took away all hope for a new day from him. you were the one who ruined Taehyung and ripped away the anxiety of a happiness from him. you were the one who emptied Taehyung and stole from him everything he could have if only you stayed by his side.

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who starts to feel like a monster. Taehyung was completely destroyed. in the wreckage of his love, Taehyung found despair. among the rubble of his devotion, Taehyung discovered heartache. in the remains of himself, Taehyung saw a monster. now that only ruin existed in Taehyung, there was nothing of him in him; his essence was corrupted, his soul was undone, his love was expelled. Taehyung no longer had anything of his own, nothing that made him human. everything about Taehyung was ugly. they were negative feelings that dyed Taehyung with the color of pure despair. Taehyung was suffering. and in his suffering, Taehyung didn’t feel human. you stole everything that was his. you took everything with you like you owned Taehyung. and you never thought about him. you never thought how Taehyung would fe—

EX-BOYFRIEND!TAEHYUNG who just wants to be loved by you.

[ashs-random-writing]

Anthropophobia

Part 2

Ao3

—

Every human knew the tales and legends of the mighty beasts that roamed the oceans, luring sailors closer and then murdering them in a violent rage.

As it turned out, Sirens also knew about humans. The tiny creatures that showed up everywhere with their uncanny little faces, and tiny eyes, and their general unsettling nature. If only anthropophobia was less common.

Anthropophobia- the fear of humans.

—

Remus stared down at Tiny, hand still extended toward Creepy. Did Tiny just… speak? He retracted his hand slightly, eyes wide

“What?” He asked, studying Tiny as though it was entirely new creature

It looked him in the eyes, gesturing to his hand, which was still pretty close to Creepy

“Stop,” it said, strangely accented and slightly off pronunciation, but still a word nonetheless

Remus took a long moment to process the situation, but did retract his hand, brain working so hard that he couldn’t even think. He looked at it, since when could it speak? It didn’t change in posture as it stared him down, but after a few moments, it broke the gaze away and walked towards Creepy. Remus thought about what this meant

Maybe humans were just good at mimicking? That didn’t seem right. He stared down at it, before turning and leaving fast enough that his tail made a big enough splash to knock a rock off of its high shelf. Oops. He swam as fast as possible towards Roman’s cave

Roman didn’t believe him, which was intensely frustrating because his pets were speaking , and he needed someone else to see this as well

“Please, I’ll never prank you again if you follow me,” he said, lying. Roman did concede, eventually, and they swam back towards Remus’s cave

“I don’t get why you have to show me , this sounds really creepy” he said at the opening of the tunnel

Remus just shoved him forward into it, and followed him. The humans were hiding again and Remus drew them out by singing. Roman was evidently trying to stop himself from shrieking, going by the strange squeak he made.

Remus got closer to the enclosure, grinning

“Speak again!” He said excitedly, but Tiny just looked between him and Roman and took a few steps back. Creepy had already gone back into hiding

“No,” it said, and Roman screamed behind him. Remus turned to look at Roman, and found his eyes focused solely on Tiny. The scream was still going on. He turned back to Tiny

“Stop,” it said “No scream,” It’s voice was strained and it was fidgety

It was shaking, more than usual.

It was covering its ears and Remus suddenly thought about how loud everything would sound to something so small. He felt kinda bad for it. He swam towards Roman and covered his brother’s mouth

“The humans don’t like it when you scream, shut up”

Roman glared at him and bit his hand

“Well, they shouldn’t be speaking, it’s unnerving, and it doesn’t make sense! Why would they start speaking now?” Roman’s voice had done the hilarious thing it did when he was scared, where it went strangely high pitched. The questions he was raising did in fact make more sense than humans talking, though.

He looked at the humans’ enclosure, finding both of them watching them. Remus found that odd; Creepy was usually hidden, especially when Roman was in the cave.

Both humans were making noise, not talking per se (unless their strange little noises were talking?) but they seemed pretty reactive to each other. Was this how they acted when they were hiding together? It was rare to see both out at the same time, one usually bringing the food to the other.

Remus was used to seeing the tiny faces wide eyed and shaking. Seeing them look so different was strange. He wondered what sort of things humans would talk about.

Only Tiny had actually spoken so far, and it didn’t seem to be very fluent, given it had only actually said three words. He wondered how much it understood. Maybe it was learning the language from him speaking? Remus found this whole situation very unsettling in the best way

To him, this was the strangest and best thing to ever happen. He carried on talking to Roman, explaining how this wasn’t the end of the world, and was in fact the coolest thing to ever happen to anyone ever. He splashed happily.

Roman smiled half-heartedly at Remus’s expression.

“Okay, well you enjoy, uh, this ,” he said, eying the enclosure with thinly veiled fear and apprehension, before continuing “ I am going home before I die of shock”

Remus pouted slightly, but turned his attention back to his humans. The closer he got, the less noise they made.

He leaned down to be near eye level with them, grinning as he rested his chin on the rock shelf that housed the enclosure. He watched both of them.

No one spoke for a while, but Remus was still very excited. His humans could speak ! He yawned, but didn’t go down to the water to sleep. His humans were much more interesting!

It was about an hour later that he conceded to his tired brain

“Alright little guys, I’m gonna go now” he gestured vaguely to the water

Tiny’s face snapped towards him

“Go?” It parroted questioningly, tilting its head

Remus thought for a moment

“Yeah, go, like leaving, like away” he tried to explain, gesturing to the exit. Tiny bobbed its head up and down, making some kind of noise to Creepy, who seemed to have a big reaction to whatever was said.

Tiny gestured to itself and Creepy, and parroted the word again, pointing towards the cave exit.

What…? Oh! They were asking if they could go?

“You want to go?” He asked, and found that both humans were nodding rapidly. He thought for a second

He didn’t think it would be a good idea to let them go. Where would they even go? He didn’t think releasing them back to the wild would be good after they’d gotten used to Remus doing things for them. Besides, if he released them, it might just mean they’d get found by a different siren who would kill them without warning. After the visual of their blood and guts splattered across a rock entered his brain, he had made up his mind

“Sorry, little guys, but I think it’s better for you if you stay here. No go, sorry,” he shook his head, and yawned again.

He ducked under the waves for sleep and thought about his day. Everything was so strange. He briefly wondered if it was a dream, but looked at the bite-marks on his hand from Roman, and grinned. This was so cool!

He didn’t even bother going to get his daily sunlight in the morning, he just went up to greet his little humans. They were hiding again, but if Remus really really looked, he could make out the shadows behind a bush

He gently tapped on the barrier, and watched as they slowly emerged. He was practically bouncing, his tail swishing so fast in the water that he could barely tell there was movement if not for the splashing

Tiny was looking up at him as he once again rested his chin on the shelf

“Hi there, little guys” he whispered, suddenly remembering their reactions to the loud sounds. How loud was he to them?

The little guys disappointingly did not speak in greeting. Remus watched them for a few moments before getting bored. He needed to get food for them, anyway

“Bye, little guys, I’m gonna go get food!” He turned towards the exit, but his fins perked up in interest as one of them, presumably Tiny, spoke

“No, stop,” it said

Remus turned back around

It was looking at him with some kind of emotion on its small face, Creepy seemingly trying to hide behind it, hilariously failing as it was a whole head and shoulders taller than Tiny.

Tiny once again gestured to itself and to Creepy, asking the same thing as it did the night before. Remus frowned

“I’ve already said no,” why were they so eager to go? He was giving them a lot here

Tiny stomped its tiny foot, making more of the maybe talking noises to Creepy, before turning its attention back to Remus.

“No! No ‘no’. Little guys go,” it was saying, crossing its arms again. It was a stubborn little thing, evidently. Remus once again thought about the possibilities of what might happen to the little guys if he brought them back to land

What if they starved to death because they were so used to Remus bringing them food that they forgot how to hunt for themselves? What if a different siren found them and squished them? What if they were attacked by predators?

He frowned and shook his head.

“Sorry, but I still say no. Why do you even want to go?” He asked as it turned away from him. It stayed silent. Remus realised that it probably didn’t have the right words to say.

—

Logan was annoyed. Of course he was; at least before, they could say that the captivity was the result of ignorance in regards to their wants and needs, but now?

He had very clearly stated his desire to leave, and Green shot down the idea. Logan didn’t understand most of the sentences that were said to him, but he got the message from most.

Virgil was stood behind him as he spoke to Green as best as he could

He gestured to himself and Virgil and looked Green in the eyes

“Go?” He asked, grimacing slightly at the grammatical errors he was making due to the language barrier. Green looked at them both, and answered

Logan frowned angrily, stomping his foot in emphasis, before turning to look at Virgil and relay the answer, before turning back around to argue with the giant siren.

It seemed surprised at the fact he was arguing, but after about a minute of mostly silence, it replied, once again refusing to let them go. Logan clenched his fist, turning around. Maybe he should try biting the siren the next time it brought its hand into the prison. Virgil had claimed it to be strangely therapeutic as a way to display negative emotions to the siren

He muttered mutinously to himself. He hated this. He wanted to correctly say exactly what he thought, but he couldn’t. He could say less than ten words (though repeating words straight away was admittedly a lot easier than trying to remember them and practising with Virgil)

He hated how it made him feel. He hated how much the siren talked down to them, he hated not knowing how to express his thoughts. He sat in the corner and watched Green out of the corner of his eye. Virgil had sat down next to him

They were both silent. Green left the cave, and they turned to each other

“Lo? You doin’ okay?” Virgil asked, voice full of concern. Logan rested his chin on his knees, but nodded nonetheless

Logan knew he wasn’t being too convincing, but his emotions were hard, they were complicated. He couldn’t explain them.

Virgil had been very quiet since the first attempt had failed at getting it to let them go, Logan noted.

“Are you okay?” He asked instead, watching Virgil just stare straight ahead for about a minute

“You know what the worst part of this is to me? For a moment, I had hope that it would listen, and that we’d get to go home. I don’t even know what would happen if it did listen, I have no home to go back to. But I was so happy that we might’ve had a chance to leave, that we might see the sun again, that you might go home, but I guess we’re stuck here forever” Virgil’s voice was full of bitter resentment

Logan made up his mind. He was going to keep trying. Maybe he just needed more words. He looked out of the glass and towards the exit. Green still wasn’t back

Virgil had never mentioned his life before the siren, but Logan had never pressed. He wondered what would qualify as there being no home left. He just sat in silence and watched the water ripple as something swam through it. Green was back. He looked away and grabbed one of Virgil’s fidgeting hands.

“We are going to get out of this. I won’t take no for an answer” he stated, no matter of a question in his voice. He watched the giant hand leave food in the prison and watched its eyes look around searchingly. It always seemed to have a hard time seeing them when they were hiding

He looked away. He needed to collect his thoughts, think about the best way to do this. Just asking to leave clearly yielded no results, so it stood to reason that he needed to explain why . He just didn’t have the words.

He didn’t think he had ever been this frustrated with anything before. He didn’t know what to do, and he hated not knowing things on a good day. This was not a good day. The last good day was months ago. This was a very bad day.

Green started tapping on the glass and Logan and Virgil shared an exhausted look

“We might as well get into the open before it starts singing ” Virgil decided bitterly, and Logan had to say he agreed. The feeling of having all free will stripped from you and suddenly waking up somewhere else with only the faintest memory of what happened was not pleasant.

They journeyed out of the shrubbery and into Green’s line of sight, neither happy at the movement, but having decided that they’d rather do it themselves than give up their free will just to yield the same result.

Green was grinning, almost every single tooth on display in a way that made Logan’s brain think predator. He was used to the display of sharpness enough that he no longer flinched. Green said something that Logan took a moment to mentally translate, before he responded

It was saying something about the food, he was pretty sure. Logan made sure by parroting the word he was fairly certain meant food, and waiting for clarification. It did clarify by pointing at the pile of food and repeating the word

Logan nodded to himself, slowly building his vocabulary.

He ate some food and tried to think more about how to get the message across that they would much much rather be anywhere but in the cave. Virgil was sat firmly to the side of him, looking everywhere but Green. Logan gently grasped his hand and grounded him into reality.

Green was silent for a small moment, before looking down at him. It gestured to itself and said a word that Logan hadn’t heard before. A name? Logan repeated it curiously and found the siren excited at that. Definitely a name, then.

Green- no, Remus - looked at him. Logan mimicked the gesture to himself and stated his own name, watching Remus’s reaction intently. It repeated the name gleefully, over and over again, splashing loudly. Logan rolled his eyes, annoyed.

It turned to look at Virgil expectantly. He could hear the shaky breath from his friend, and looked over at him

“You don’t have to say anything, you know” he stated, trying to prevent the oncoming panic attack from happening

“No, no, it’s- it’s fine ,” Virgil waved him off, before gesturing to himself and stating his own name, which Remus once again repeated gleefully, with more splashing. Logan flinched as a large amount of water hit the glass.

Remus swam out of the cave quickly, still grinning.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t lead the Red siren here again” Logan stated dryly, making Virgil laugh

“Let’s hope so,” he agreed, a strained smile on his face. Logan and Virgil went back to the hiding place and looked out at the cave again. Everything was wrong.

Logan should’ve been at home, at his desk, writing something important, not sat here trying to learn a language to talk to something that probably wouldn’t listen to him. He glared out at the stone walls. Virgil set a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay. Like you said, we’re gonna get out of here soon” Virgil didn’t sound like he believed his own words. Logan wasn’t sure if he did either.

When he saw Remus return, it was without the Red siren. Logan was glad. He was in no mood to listen to the horrible screeching that accompanied it. Some days he was able to tolerate it, stay hidden and hope for the best, but on days like today, he would simply be unable to think. He would forget for hours what was happening.

It had happened before.

Now, he heard the beginnings of a song, only slightly muffled by the glass. He covered his ears. He had been trying to avoid responding to the songs recently, but it only ever worked for a second or two before his body became a puppet for the sirens will

He stood up, hands falling from his ears and hanging limply by his sides as he followed the sound. It felt so much stronger this time, he noticed, as he became somewhat more aware. Concerningly, Virgil was not next to him, but still in the bush. He stared up at Remus with his heart beating strangely. The song had stopped.

He still felt like he wanted to get closer. He was still feeling the effects. He wasn’t close enough. His thoughts were spiralling, some repeating the effect of the song, that he needed to get closer, others trying to snap himself out of it.

He covered his ears again, movements feeling restrained, like trying to move someone else’s arms while they were tense. The effects were repeated again. He heard movement behind him, and felt a hand on his back

“Logan? Logan, are you okay? Logan, can you hear me?” Virgil’s voice was frantic, and Logan realised that he had fallen to his knees at some point. He couldn’t respond.

Something was wrong . Something was really wrong. He shuddered. There was a tapping on the glass. Logan had to get closer.

The hand on his back pulled away sharply and he watched as Virgil stood in front of him, shouting something at Remus, that Logan’s occupied mind could not process. He could feel the haze on his mind slipping, but far too slowly.

He needed to find that voice. Even if it killed him. He needed to find the source of the pull. The other part of his brain was reminding him that he already knew, that he didn’t actually want to get closer. But he forgot that every few seconds as the song repeated in his mind, pulsing like a slow heartbeat.

His hands were on his ears. Why were his hands on his ears? He wanted to get closer to the song, didn’t he?

After what might’ve been a few minutes, might’ve been longer, he was back to normal, though he was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Virgil had returned to his side at some point (when had he left?)

“Logan, are you okay?”

Logan nodded soundlessly, staring up at Remus’s giant face. What had just happened? He could only remember bits and pieces.

Virgil was a welcome presence at his side.

“What- what happened?” He asked, drawing his eyes away from Remus to look at Virgil

Virgil pursed his lips and looked away.

“It was singing your name. I think it did something to you, you didn’t move for… a while. You didn’t respond to me when I asked if you were okay, I was so worried ”

Logan still felt strange. “I don’t think you should be too concerned. I think it’s worn off now” he lied

Virgil looked at him like he didn’t know what to believe; Logan ‘s unconvincing lie, or the fact that Logan’s eyes kept looking back towards Remus.

Logan’s hands were by his side. Something about that felt wrong. Remus leant down and rested its (their?) chin on the ground that the prison was on.

They stared at each other for a while, Virgil sat firmly to his side.

Remus spoke after a while

“Are you okay, little guy?”

Logan took a few seconds to process that he could completely understand what was being said. It was like Remus was speaking English, but somehow he knew it was still that garbled language that he could only minimally understand beforehand.

Logan stared.

“How can I understand you now?” He asked, prompting Virgil to give him a startled look

“I could ask you the same thing!”

Remus’s gleeful voice did not match the situation, in Logan’s eyes, but it did mean some good for presenting his case to get Remus to let them leave.

But why did he want to leave? He could be close to Remus here. He looked at Virgil. That’s why. They both wanted so badly to leave, to get out of this dark cave, and see the sun again. He had to get Virgil out. He couldn’t let the effects of the siren song cloud his mind

Was the song the reason he could now understand Remus? Siren song messed with the mind, perhaps one meant specifically for him would have lasting effects on his brain. He found that his mouth wouldn’t cooperate with his brain, and he couldn’t speak. Was he scared?

His throat felt dry.

Something was wrong . He closed his mouth, and looked at Virgil with a pleading look. He didn’t know what he was asking. He didn’t know anything about this entire situation. He looked back at the giant. Virgil grasped his hand gently.

He swallowed and stated his thoughts

“It might be because of the- the singing” he looked away.

Remus was silent for a while before the characteristic grin was back on his face

“So, if I was to sing this little one’s name as well, I’d be able to understand them as well?”

Logan glared. “You will do no such thing. I don’t know if you noticed, but it was not a very pleasant experience for me. My mind is still clouded with the song, you will not hurt him the same way”

Remus tilted his head “It hurt ? Does my singing usually hurt or is this different?” The voice was laced with confusion and possibly concern

Logan looked at Virgil, before looking back up at the siren

“It doesn’t always hurt, but it is in no way pleasant. We can’t control our movements when we hear the singing. This one was just far more intense and far worse than other times” he shuddered. Virgil squeezed his hand soothingly

Virgil had been the one thing he could rely on in this whole situation. He dreaded to think what Virgil had been going through alone.

Remus was staring down at him.

“So… humans really don’t mean to get near sirens most of the time?” The answer was obvious, but Remus seemed like they were having a hard time wrapping their head around it.

It was an idiotic question.

“Of course humans don’t mean to get near sirens. Why would anyone want to get near giants who are notoriously dangerous and often kill humans on sight? That would just be idiotic”

Virgil shifted position next to him, looking at the ground. Logan made a mental note to ask him about that when Remus inevitably left to sleep or explore. He watched as Remus’s face changed from mildly confused to almost horrified.

Logan wished he, himself, were not feeling anything . That way, he could be without the horrible tightness around his mind and chest. But he could feel. Every time Remus spoke, the tightening pulsed, like a warning. Logan did not want to know why.

He shuddered.

—

Remus stared down at the humans. It had been a fairly innocent idea.

He had tried singing their names, or rather what he had named them, before, but yielded no results other than both humans coming closer. He had just wanted to know if this would be any different.

He had sung for ‘Logan’ to come closer, and watched as it- no, they - almost stumbled forward. Virgil did not join them. He grinned; it had worked. He stopped singing, but found that Logan slowly lifted their hands to their ears, like trying to block out a sound that was not there. He leant closer, concerned.

They dropped to their knees, prompting Virgil to run out of hiding and crouch next to them. They were saying something in the strange little language that they used with each other, but Logan didn’t seem to even notice their presence, just sat there, shaking.

Remus tapped on the barrier, trying to snap them out of whatever was happening (had he caused this? Was this his fault? Had he hurt them by singing? This didn’t usually happen)

The only human to move was Virgil, who stood up so quickly that Remus could’ve sworn they teleported to in front of Logan. He felt a little lost as they shouted something in their little language, obviously angry at him, before returning to Logan’s side.

Logan didn’t seem to improve much for maybe half an hour, but their hands had fallen at some point near the twenty minute mark. They suddenly lifted their head to look at Remus. Remus could almost feel their movements.

He watched as Virgil said another something to them. Then as they said something completely understandable.

Remus was startled, so much so that he missed what was said completely

He rested his head on the rock and stared

“ Are you okay, little guy?” He asked, prompting a startled look from the little guy in question.

They were confused, clearly knowing as little as Remus about what exactly was happening.

They looked at Virgil for a while before turning back to look at him

“It might be because of the- the singing ” they sounded like they didn’t even want to say the word ‘singing’, which was strange.

He could feel their heartbeat. He was sure that if he wanted he could stop it right there and then. He thought on their words

The only thing he had doing differently was sing their name, so…

“So, if I was to sing this little one’s name as well, I’d be able to understand them as well?” He asked, excitedly

His little human’s heartbeat raised slightly. Their voice became just that little bit more aggressive.

“You will do no such thing. I don’t know if you noticed, but it was not a very pleasant experience for me. My mind is still clouded with the song, you will not hurt him the same way”

Hurt? It had hurt? He didn’t want to hurt them, did this happen with every time he sang or not?

He voiced his concerns and the answers were not the most welcome. They couldn’t control their actions at all when they heard siren song? He felt bad for humans that were lured closer and killed.

He suddenly remembered the human he had killed. What had been going through their head? The heads of their (friends?) fellow humans who were watching? It had been a simple matter at the time, just a mistake, one that was wiped away on a rock. It was so much worse.

He had never felt worse than he did right then. Were his humans scared of him? His size, his power, his ability? He had unwittingly shown them just how much power he had over them, time and time again, and now he had more than he used to.

He knew instinctively that if he tried at all, that Logan would be at his mercy, moving at his will, and not their own. He knew that if he wanted, Logan would drop dead, that if he wanted, Logan would do anything . He would never demonstrate this power.

He wondered if that was why they wanted to leave, that he kept singing? If he stopped, would they want to stay?

He could still feel Logan’s heartbeat. He could still feel every minuscule movement they made. He could change it if he wanted. He could control them, like some kind of toy. They were toy-sized, and it would probably be fun… that tiny face was staring back at him.

He pushed away all thoughts of control. He wouldn’t let himself do that.

“Okay, just stay here, I’m going to go do something” he said, before swimming out of his cave and toward his brother’s.

He explained everything in a rambling mess that likely didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Roman stared blankly at him.

Remus could still feel Logan’s heartbeat, their everything, he could still control everything, even from a distance. It was unsettling. It was unsettling how much he wanted to control them.

Whatever the song had done, it had done more than let them understand each other. He slowed down his explanation and watched his brother’s reaction carefully

“That… is so fucked up” Roman told him, as Remus shook. Even Roman, who had been so notoriously scared of humans, was sympathetic. Remus could still feel Logan’s heartbeat, and he shuddered.

He didn’t want this. He didn’t want this much power over someone else anymore. He could only imagine how it felt to Logan, to be entirely at someone else’s mercy, to exist only because he hadn’t disposed of them. He could feel the movement of their mouth as they spoke, though he couldn’t hear what was said

He didn’t know what to do. Part of him wanted to control them like a child with a cool new toy, but the rest of him was deeply disturbed, in a way that was not easy to make him be. He swam back to the cave.

Logan and Virgil were talking in hushed voices, so Remus couldn’t actually hear them, but they turned to look at him.

Logan had not moved at all since he had left. They looked up at him.

Virgil was staring at him with narrowed eyes, which probably meant something different for humans than the friendliness it did for sirens. They were pacing the space in the enclosure.

Remus leant down to look at Logan, feeling their heart rate rise

“Have you not moved at all since I left?” He asked, perplexed

They looked down

“You told me to stay here. I couldn’t move,” they mumbled

Remus had a sour taste in his mouth. The control would be hard to avoid if even things like that would force them to obey. He ignored the steadily growing part of his brain that loved the idea of this much power (what had the song done to him?)

“Okay, well, you can move now. I’m sorry” he apologised.

No one spoke for a while, no one quite sure how to go about starting a conversation in this situation

It was an hour later that Logan spoke. They had been watching him warily for a while, while Remus pretended not to notice, even as he felt every nervous movement from their hands.

“Will you please let us go?”

Remus thought for a moment. They were stubborn, and would probably just keep asking. But, now that he could feel their fragility without even touching them, he would hate to think that they were defenceless without him there.

He shook his head.

He could feel the deep breath they took, not in his lungs or gills, but as though they were in the palm of his hand. They looked up at him with intensity

“And why not?” Their voice sounded challenging. Remus briefly thought about how easy it would be to quell that confidence and get them into line. He shook those thoughts away.

“Because it’s dangerous out there for someone so tiny” he said instead of doing the easy thing and doing something that would be, at best, scaring them into submission

They stared at him again.

“We have survived on land our entire lives. We know what is dangerous and what isn’t. We are not children” they sounded bitter, but Remus could sense their heartbeat rising. They were scared of how Remus would respond.

He took a deep breath and responded

“Why do you want to leave so badly? Am I really that bad?” He joked

The humans were looking at him like the question was the stupidest thing to ever be asked.

“We want to leave, because we have lives that we want to get back to. Lives that you took us away from. And because we prefer having control over our own lives, rather than being trapped in a glorified prison”

Remus kind of felt bad. The part of him that wasn’t feeling bad was busy thinking about new ways to play with his new toy human.

Maybe he would be better if he let them go before he gave in to his mind. But he already knew that it worked from a distance, so would they really be safe if he let them go?

He relented and held his hand flat on the floor of the enclosure, and encouraged them both to climb on. Though from the way Logan had immediately responded, it might have been closer to an order. He put his other hand over them both, hopefully keeping water away from them.

He swam as fast as he could, and then to the surface. He unclasped his hands and looked them both over. They seemed fine, if not for the slight dampness. He set them down on the beach on which he had first found Logan and ducked back under the waves. He could feel their running feet.

He could feel each individual grain of sand; he had never been small enough for that before.

The need to control did not get any weaker, even after he had left Logan and Virgil on land. It only got stronger.

He tried to ignore it most of the time, but he had discovered that he could see through Logan’s eyes if he wanted. It was so tempting to just mess with them and have a little fun. Why else would he have sung their name? He couldn’t remember

He looked around at everything on land. It was all so strange, so different. He walked Logan’s body past all the different structures and the strange things around. He could feel their everything as though it were his own.

He knew everything he could do, by now. Logan would not drown if Remus didn’t want them to. Logan would not speak if Remus didn’t want them to. Logan would not sleep if Remus didn’t want them to. Logan would obey his every request, whether spoken, whether heard, or not. Though, sometimes they fought against, and Remus had to apply that little extra force

Though, Remus found that just the extra bit fun. He enjoyed having a toy that would fight back.

He never shared what he was doing with anyone (they wouldn’t understand, they’d make him stop playing) but he knew that didn’t matter.

He knew that Logan and Virgil still kept near each other often. Virgil could always tell that he was not Logan. Virgil got angry at him, though Remus still couldn’t understand the language. No one else ever noticed anything amiss.

Remus sometimes moved Logan around randomly, just for the sped up heart rate he could feel from them. He had found that he could pick them up briefly, like he was holding them, even though he wasn’t there. Sometimes he would put them somewhere up high.

He had tried singing their name again, just to see what would happen. His little human just passed out. He didn’t do that one again; breaking toys wasn’t very fun.

He walked until he found Logan’s little ‘house’, where Virgil was sitting outside. Virgil stared at him for a few moments, before those eyes narrowed. They shouted something at him. Remus left.

—

Virgil watched the waves. He had never thought Remus would relent and actually let them go, but here they were.

He and Logan ran further onto land, in case it changed its mind

Logan explained to him how the whole thing felt, how he knew he was at the mercy of the giant siren. Virgil couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt, to have to obey every command. They were both hoping that it would wear off after a while of being away from Remus

It got stronger, according to Logan. Logan had offered him to stay at his (honestly mansion-sized) house, since he had nowhere to go otherwise, and they were possibly the only people on the planet who knew what the other had gone through.

Even then, there were parts they didn’t talk about. Neither ever went near the beach.

As time went on, weirder things would happen to Logan. It made Virgil angry, how this siren was toying with his friend. Logan had said that, unlike with regular siren-song, he was fully aware as his body was moved, changed and controlled. He was fully aware, as something else was seeing through his eyes.

He had said that he could feel their pure glee as they controlled him. That when Logan was suddenly lifted off of the ground and onto something, he could feel the phantom of a too large hand surrounding him. That he could feel the sensation of something pulling him, when he was silently ordered forward.

After the first couple of times that Logan became fully possessed, Virgil had realised how to tell that Logan was not himself anymore. It made him angry, how something could be so cruel as to do this, even after Logan had explained how much it sucked to be controlled.

He usually ended up shouting when he noticed the odd stance on his friend, like whatever was controlling him wasn’t used to legs, when he noticed the glazed over eyes, with the slightest green tint, when he noticed the odd way ‘Logan’ looked at him, with no emotion or expression. Occasionally it would grin, but that was it.

Virgil had noticed that it seemed to leave quickly nowadays, but only if he noticed it.

The locals avoided them a lot. He had heard whispers that they had gone mad after getting lost at sea. That they were lucky to still be alive, and not be killed by a siren. They didn’t understand that being killed was a mercy from a siren.

The one time Logan had passed out because of Remus, Virgil was ready to attempt to murder a siren.

The few times that Logan had been thrown into the nearest body of water by an invisible force, Virgil had been too scared to be angry. What if this would be the one time that Logan would drown? What if keeping him alive was a sick game that it was going to get bored of?

Logan’s and Virgil’s lives were not going well, nowhere near, but the thing they both agreed upon was that it would be ever so much worse if the other was not there.

Maybe Remus would get bored of these sick games eventually? Hope was the only thing they could have anymore.

—

Taglist: @a-chilly-pepper @data-expunged-0 @i-am-beckyu @monsterrous-arts

[sastielsfandom]

Tired wired brain idea, angelic names are sacred, they hold power over the angel it belongs to. But only in their language, Enochian, it was created by God to say their names with meaning, any angel called upon God in the name of angels was an absolute honor. It also acted as a reminder of the power God has over every angel he created, there's a reason it's so difficult for angels to have free will. Taking power over their name is forbidden, it's one of the reasons why Lucifer was casted away. Every angel knows the tale no matter how young or old they are, God made it a point to create the angels with this knowledge. It's also why God never gave his name to the angels, even the name Chuck falls flat of power, it's not the angelic language, it's not his true name.

This is all well and good, when angels touch down to Earth, the names they share hold a little power over them, it's why you can call upon them and trick them into a trap. But it's nothing compared to a human saying their true name.

When Castiel met Dean, they rattled off the name humans recognize as the angel of Thursdays and other associations. Meeting Sam though, their true name came out quietly, disrupted by thunder from Uriel, the humans didn't hear it. That didn't mean Castiel wasn't reminded of the dire consequences that can occur if they want to be giving out true names to humans, with the road Sam was on, he hardly counted as human, drifted closer to demonic. Uriel spread the rumor, though they called it a message and warning that Lucifer's vessel is capable of pulling out true names. Be careful and deliberate when speaking to the boy, and only do so when necessary.

This was the first domino to fall of Castiel taking the power over their name. When they picked the Winchesters over heaven, Sam was the first to know Castiel's true name. His pronunciation was horrid but better than Dean's attempts, though they weren't true attempts, Bobby was the closest to saying it correctly. Castiel shared multiple names and peeled back the open wounds of the language, teaching them how to use the language as a tool and weapon.

There's a lot more to delve into but ending on this, Castiel wasn't the first angel to reveal their name to Sam. Lucifer was. Countless thoughts and dreams would land on this name, Sam was never able to locate the source until they revealed themselves in the form of Jessica. Telling Sam he could trust them, giving the name, and telling Sam how to use it. Believing Sam would never be able to have ownership of the vessel once they took over it. Believing there was no power to that name anymore but they could pretend there was to gain Sam's trust. And finding out how wrong they were when Sam harnessed that power over Lucifer long enough to put them back in the cage. Where Lucifer took revenge and etched the language into Sam's head, making the language burn on Sam's tongue, making it so repulsive that Sam would never want to utter a single word from the angelic language. Making him regret ever speaking it, while burning out the original language Sam had spoken on Earth. Hoping to leave Sam without a voice, without any power, but like so many others, Lucifer underestimated Sam and the knowledge they gave Sam was far greater than anything Castiel ever revealed. Allowing Sam enough protection to his vessel to remain safe from Lucifer, but not his mind.

[paradoxcase]

Glossary at the end of Harrow the Ninth

So they were named in order of discovery, not in House order or in the order of their distance from the sun, so Number Seven could be anything. But surely that would have made Alecto Number One, right? If John told all his Lyctors the truth about what she actually was, and they didn't find out that resurrection beasts were going to be pursuing them until later, then she would necessarily have been the first one they encountered, right? So why is she not Number One?

Also the implication that BOE probably has other names for them - BOE must know about them, since they specifically sought out Heralds to turn into anti-necromancer bullets

This sort of resolves some confusing and contradictory statements about how the beasts don't move through or exist in physical space but still somehow have a physical body. It would have been much cooler if this had all been clarified in the actual text of the story

Surely this means the end of Harrow the Ninth, right? Gideon didn't die fighting Number Seven until the very end

Is this only because they were more recently created, or is there something special about the OG beasts because of the Resurrection?

How did BOE know that Wake was a revenant? Wait. Wake was still possessing the sword when Harrow used it to kill Cytherea and then passed out, and then subsequently we know that BOE came to Canaan House, captured Camilla, Corona, and Judith, and took Gideon's body. Did they know that Wake was possessing the sword at that time and were planning on having it be taken on board the Mithraeum with Harrow and that's why they didn't mess with the Lyctors? This seems like kind of a stretch, since none of the actual necromancer characters even suspected that the sword was haunted at that point in the story, and the only necromancer that BOE had access to was Judith, who was for sure not going to willingly tell them anything useful about anything. Or did Wake possess Cytherea's body right after she was killed, and then when BOE came she was actually able to speak to them and tell them what happened?

I mean, this is believable, mostly, but if BOE are now speaking languages that have been evolving for 10,000 years since these references were originally made, the names would logically also have undergone a lot of phonetic shifts in order to match up with the phonology of whatever the commonly-spoken language was in the area that the name was being used. They might still have been long, but after 10,000 years of phonological changes, they probably won't sound anything like the original 21st century things they reference. Even if these names were understood to be names in a dead language, they still would have undergone phonological changes, they wouldn't be completely fossilized. Like, consider the name Caesar, which we currently regard as being a name in a dead language. In the original Latin it was /kaɪsar/, but now in modern English it's the very different-sounding /siːzɚ/ because English has a completely different phonology than Latin and that word has changed its pronunciation as English changed, just like every other word in the English language has. If there were somehow some immortal Ancient Romans who were still speaking Classical Latin and didn't know any English, and you asked them about /siːzɚ/, would they know who you were talking about? Definitely not. So even if we buy this idea that John has somehow prevented every single resident of the Nine Houses from producing any kind of linguistic innovation for 10,000 years, Wake's name as rendered in Wake's native language would not sound like anything that John could recognize as 21st century renderings of Shakespeare or Eminem

[karskilledme]

Vets Test - Kars x Fem!Reader

Kars decides to test an interesting human he found to see if she is worthy of joining the pillar men in their new world. 

Female reader - SFW - Mentions of kidnapping, animal injury (non-graphic, no death), kissing, hair pulling, biting. 

3028 words! I love Kars; he needs more content! >:)

Minors and ageless DNI, 18+ only!

Sweat began to bead along my brow, my tongue pinched tightly between my teeth. It was agonizing work but somebody had to do it and why not me? I finished up the sutures on the small pup in front of me. The cruelty of humans never ceased to amaze me; how could we be so cruel to such innocent creatures? It was cases like this that made me reconsider my stance on humanity. I brought the little guy back to his crate and gently laid him upon the sterile bedding. 

“Rest up buddy, you’ve got a long road ahead of you.” I whispered, giving him a soft ruffle as I did. Suddenly a chill ran up my spine causing me to snap my head towards the open window behind me. Seemingly there was nothing there besides the now rising moon and the chirping of crickets. Still put off, I shut the window and drew the blinds. 'Seems it’s past my bedtime, I’m imagining things now!’

-

Unbeknownst to you there had indeed been someone outside. Concealed within the shadows stood a rather imposing figure. A 6’ something man made of little else but muscle had been watching you. Humans made little sense to him; their simple brains bred cruelty into the fiber of their being. Seeing you break that mold and show what appeared to be genuine, unmotivated goodness was something that intrigued him. Compassion was rare amongst humans especially towards animals. 

As he watched you work with great speed and precision an idea formed in his head. A test would be performed. He would test the limits of your care, see if you really were what you portray yourself to be. Humans usually only went so far and usually not any farther than their own comfort. It was decided. He would bring to you any injured animals he found and if he deemed you worthy he would find a place for you in the new world he built. As he came to his conclusion, he’d watched you slam the window shut. Turning to leave he threw one last glance towards your dwelling and spoke, “Prepare (Y/N), for I will see if you’re worthy or nothing more than fodder for my kind.”

-

I awoke to a sharp knocking. It could only be what, 5 in the morning judging by the still set sun. What could someone possibly need that’s so urgent? Begrudgingly I stepped into my slippers and made my way to the front door. 

“Hello, what is it?” I muttered out whilst rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My heart lurched as I saw the injured pup thrust in front of me. I looked up to see an actual giant before me. His head was wrapped tightly with a black cloth but his face was unobscured. 

“I heard you’re in the business of helping animals. A couple of low lifes were kicking this fellow when I found him. Can you be of service to him?” He spoke. His voice was deep and monotone, his pronunciation and cadence led me to believe he wasn’t from here, maybe not even from this time. I swiftly but carefully scooped the puppy from his outstretched hands and cradled him in my grasp. “Of course I can sir! It would be my pleasure!” Without another moment wasted I brought him back to my makeshift exam table. He was conscious but clearly in pain. I hardly noticed as the tall man entered beside me and loomed in the corner as I was quickly to work.

-

I watched with great attention the small hands of the woman in front of me. I could smell the combo of anxiety and adrenaline releasing from her pores. Her brows were tightly knit and her tongue poked slightly from her plump lips. Despite the high levels of stress I could read from her she moved with a level of precision and care that was far above most. (E/C) eyes darted from tool to dog and back again as she used every tool in her arsenal to repair the helpless creature before her. 

It only took an hour for her to finish doctoring the creature. As she wiped her brow, I rose from my seat to stand beside her. 

“Fine work, you’re skilled indeed.” I spoke. Blending in with society was a necessary part of my plans and thus human dialogue was necessary. She jumped slightly at my words, had she not even noticed my presence? Typical human, always so unaware and careless. Her eyes met mine, unaware that she was looking the ultimate being in the eye. 

“Thank you, I’m just glad I was able to help him. He seems like a good pup!” She paused briefly to glance at the now wiggly thing. “You said you found him? He must not have a home then…” 

I hummed in affirmation while studying the clearly conflicted look on her face. She gripped her chin and stared at the floor. “And I don’t suppose you want to take him?” 

At that I couldn’t help but chuckle. Sure, I was fond of living things non-human but the only pets I would tolerate were those of use, usually vampires or pliable humans. “Unfortunately not, I’ve no time for creatures who demand so much care. I did stay to introduce myself however.” I paused briefly, holding my hand to my puffed chest, dipping my chin towards her ever so slightly. “I am Kars, you may address me as Lord Kars.” 

Her face softened ever so slightly; her frown replaced with a small smile. She curtsied, “A great pleasure to make your acquaintance Lord Kars.” Electricity ran through my spine as my name rolled off her tongue. Her (E/C) mooning up at me through her lashes was no help either. There was nothing quite like a beautiful human that knew its place. 

She straightened and turned back towards the dog with a sigh. 

“I guess I’ll just have to find a home for him in town. Until then he can stay with me.” She packed the puppy up in a spare crate and turned towards me once again. 

“Thank you for bringing him to me, you likely saved his life! I’m sure he’s very grateful.” As she said this, she took my hand in hers and placed a chaste kiss upon it. My desire to be served and worship benefited greatly from the unexpected action so her familiarity with me would be excused for now. 

“It was no trouble for me. I’m glad to protect nature and its creatures from vile scum when I can.” I mused. “However I must be going now, the sun will rise soon.”

-

A few weeks had passed since my initial encounter with Kars and nothing had been easy since. A new animal seemed to appear at my doorstep every morning, always before sunrise and never with an owner. Fixing them up was the easy part but homing them proved to be a challenge. Luckily, I had housed all but one, an elderly cat with no eyes and one and half ears. I called her Grammy as I figured she’d likely not be leaving for awhile and to exist without a name was quite a sad thing. When Grammy was delivered to my doorstep she had a familiar black fabric wrapped around her head eye patch style. The fabric led me to suspect the sudden influx of animals was due to Kars. While I was very touched to be trusted with such an important job it was wearing thin on me financially. Thus I decided to wake up extra early to catch the man in the act. 

My alarm began to ring at the ripe hour of 4AM, Grammy meowing right along with it. Turning it off before I hopped into my slippers and ran to my front door, swinging it open upon contact. ‘Nothing yet’ I stepped out onto the dimly illuminated stoop and sat. ‘Surely I’ll catch him’ I thought to myself as my hand idly ran along Grammys spine. 

Only about 20 minutes had passed before I saw the imposing figure approach. As I watched him, I noticed a flight of butterflies in my stomach. His body was chiseled, his skin was a warm brown similar to the color of my morning coffee. ‘And I would drink him up just the same’ My jaw flew open at my own intrusive thought. ‘(Y/N) oh my god where is your brain!?’ I shook my head but couldn’t shake the thought of how suddenly attractive I found him. 

As he reached me, I noticed he was lacking a sick or injured animal, he was empty handed actually. Standing at his arrival I did an obnoxious curtsy recalling his requested title,

“Lord Kars, I thought I would see you.” I chirped. 

Kars smirked at my words, standing tall and regal before me. 

“So, you’ve figured me out human?” He said, his tone low, almost dangerous. Human? His words caught me off guard, what could he mean by them? Not wanting to cause a stink by what might be a simple misunderstanding I continued on. 

“I believe I have. You’re the one who's been dropping off all the poor animals.” 

He leaned against the awnings pole and chuckled. 

“And if I told you I was and that this was all a test, what would you say?”

I pondered this briefly. A test? What kind of test would require me to patch up and rehome so many animals in such a short amount of time? 

“I’m not sure I would understand what you mean if I’m being frank.”

Kars stopped leaning on the pole, closing the distance between us. His strong calloused fingers grabbed my chin. He turned my now blushing face from side to side before he was seemingly satisfied. 

“Simply put I was testing you.” He pointed at himself before continuing. “You see you and I are entirely different beings. Unfortunately you were born human, a disgusting species of selfish filth. Fortunately however, you seem to be a very rare exception. You’re unlike other humans who are clouded with greed, plagued with ignorance.” He paused again and opened his arms in a grandiose fashion. “You are someone I deem worthy of evolving! Evolving in my image to be greater than your wildest dreams. What would you say to that?” He finished, his arms returning to his side. 

His words sank into me but my brain could only spin with confusion. Was this guy being serious, different species? He looks human to me albeit a very sculpted and god-like one but nonetheless human. My lips parted slightly but the thoughts were yet to transfer to words. I met his piercing gaze. 

“You say you’re not human? I… I don’t know that I believe you.” I spoke, my words softening as they went. Kars smirked before seeming to materialize behind me. His breath was warm against my neck, a stark contrast to the cool blade that now tickled against my throat. His lips brushed my ear before meeting my neck sending a shock of electricity through my being. He whispered “What do you say about this? Do you know any human who moves as I just did?” 

I gulped as the blade retracted into his arm and craned my head to look at him. 

“I suppose I’ve never seen anything at all even close to that. I don’t know what to say at all, really.” I paused and bit my bottom lip. His red eyes narrowed at me piercing through me much sharper than his blade ever could have. His gaze wasn’t angry or malicious in nature but I could sense the danger of his very existence, the power of his being and in a way, it excited me.

My eyes felt heavy looking into his, a feeling of both sensuality and submission taking hold of me. He smirked before moving in towards my ear. 

“I can smell your excitement (Y/n).” he whispered. His hot tongue flicked against my earlobe before I was met with his eyes again. I couldn’t help but to look at his thick lips and imagine what they’d feel like against mine. Slowly I inched in closer, flickering my eyes up in a silent plea for permission before I felt Kars lips smash into mine. My eyes shot open in shock before easing closed. His large hand grasped my waist while the other cupped my head. The kiss was cut short when suddenly he gripped my (H/L) hair and broke me away from him at an angle that exposed my neck. I was sure he could see my pulse by the way my heart leapt. A sharp pain ripped through me as he bit down into the crook. My eyes began to twinkle with static whilst my fingers dug grip into whatever parts of him they could. Soon the pain subsided and was replaced with a rush of cold before my vision left me. 

.

My head pounded and my body ached. Unable to open my eyes, opting instead to groan and place my hands over them. I felt a soft dip beside me before a familiar old meow graced my ears. Turning to peak just as much as I could force myself to, I was met with the familiar sight of Grammy. A welcome relief. I rolled my sore existence over and stroked her. My brain was suddenly alive with the events that unfolded this morning. My hand shot to my neck where he bit me before quickly pulling it away to look for signs of blood. Nothing. I stood from the bed, which was certainly not mine, and ran to the ornate mirror that hung on the wall. There were no signs of what had occurred. My (S/T) skin was actually the nicest it had ever looked, there was virtually no signs of the weeks of stress I’d just endured let alone the injury.

“What is going on?” I softly questioned.

I turned to the room behind me and saw him, Kars. He was seemingly very amused by my awakening as he wore a shit eating grin whilst leisurely lounging in a grand velvet chair. 

“So, you’re finally awake.” He stated, lifting his chin from its resting place on his palm. I stared at him with uncertainty. 

“What exactly just happened?” I croaked. 

At that he sighed softly. “Humans never just roll with the punches do they? I simply made you the best version of yourself is all. Though you’ll never be quite as elite as myself.” He boasted.

I looked down at myself before shooting a glance at Grammy. “Ok… Well, what do you want from me? Why am I here, where is here?”

Kars stood from his spot and sauntered towards me, a slight sass to his movements. I noticed now, as he approached, a different scent to him. Something very alluring. 

“(Y/n), you worry too much. I’m the ultimate being therefore I only make right decisions. All you need to do is relax and tend to your cat as you would have at home. The only difference being that you’re mine now.” His fingers threaded through my hair as he spoke, the world's smallest smile pulling at his lips. I looked at him, a knot growing in my stomach. 

“Yours? Is that what you did to me? Are you some kind of vampire?” I questioned. He was putting this much too lightly. Just because he was some attractive god didn’t mean I could just accept being kidnapped. His fingers withdrew from my hair and found their place on my chin once more. His grip pulled me to meet his face directly. 

“Exactly, you are mine. I transformed you and marked you as my own. And while you are very close, no, I’m not a vampire though I can show you some.” He paused, seemingly reading my reactions before continuing. “I’m what humans call a Pillar Man. Powerful, near immortal, and more intelligent than the smartest of humans.” My face scrunched up as I took in this new information. His grip loosened but our closeness remained. Though still shaken I couldn’t help but study him. From what I knew of him, he wasn’t so bad despite kidnapping me and turning me non-human without asking. I mean anyone who has compassion for animals was a keeper in my book and he had helped me rescue more animals in the last few weeks then I had helped in the past couple years. Not to mention he was very, very attractive. 

I pulled away and sighed. Kars seemed to frown at this and trailed behind me as I absentmindedly walked back to the mirror. I could see him looming over as I looked at myself. “Are you not flattered to be chosen?” He questioned; a hint of irritation evident. I met his gaze in the mirror and shook my head. 

“It’s not my intention to insult you, but you’ve got to know that this is a lot to take in. Besides, I barely know you, not to say you seem like a bad guy or unlikeable but still!” I looked at Grammy who seemed to be trying to get a sense of the room. “And what about Grammy! Will she be safe here?” I pointed. Kars glanced at the ancient cat. 

“Of course. You’ve yet to meet anyone else here but know that I am the leader and what I say is law. Everyone is under order not to lay a finger on you or the cat.” 

A small sense of relief washed over me with that new information and a sense of ease with the man began to grow. Turning to face Kars I pressed my hands to his unclothed chest and looked up at him. The smell I noticed earlier now fully invading my senses. My lids felt heavy again and I found my hands gripping the black wrap he adorned, using it to tug him down. His lips twitched into his signature smirk before finding themselves ravaging mine. I think I could make this work. 

[undead-merman]

Mimic Avery and Eden with GN-Reader SFW

Avery

Appearance 

A brown blob with four gray eyes when not transformed. He tries to will himself to have limbs and he's been getting better. The problem is, it's not fast enough for him. Not in the slightest. It's taken years to have a quadrupedal-like appearance in his true form. 

When taking shape he picks something that's easy to blend into. Normally a fountain, a statue, maybe even a coffin or a piano. He does prefer larger and more artful pieces to replicate since it's easier to get prey that way. No one expects a large crowded area. 

A man who copies to fit in

Avery has never liked who he was. He hates being such a lowly creature and truly believes that he's destined to be something greater, something much more magnificent. So he eats to grow stronger. 

He can talk. Extremely well in fact. Being around well-spoken humans can do wonders for your pronunciation and vocabulary. 

In the dead of night when everyone has nestled away in their home he tries to shift into a human. But his body is all wrong. The joints don't move as they should, and the skin is too rough and too much like wood rather than flesh. He'll try his damnedest to get a humanoid form. Maybe even something greater. But for now, he eats. He eats and observes. 

Relationship with you

It happened to be one of those nights where he was trying to bend this human arm the right way and not have those fingers lay limp. You were coming around the corner and he took the form of an old dragon slayer statue. 

You sat there, and just… stayed there. Night after night, you do such surprisingly artful things. Read, recite poetry or practice speaking. But in the mornings you were treated like a mule. You worked long hours, and the people of this city practically spat where you walked. 

As much as he tried to keep these thoughts away, he felt like you both shared a similar battle. No no! He was destined for much better things, and a simple peasant wouldn’t understand. But then again he sees you every night pouring your soul into these self-taught lessons. Your hard work was… remarkable. 

Maybe, just maybe he would watch over you. Nothing that would ever get him into trouble. But maybe he leaves you some coin he got from the others he’s devoured.  

Eden

Appearance 

Eden’s natural, untransformed self is just like a melted ball, and almost slime-like. He’s a dark brown, nearly black. He uses strands of his goo-like body to move around. He even makes horrid squelching noises as he moves. His eyes are a dull forest green and have a terrifying amount of intelligence behind them. 

He normally has himself disguised as a thorn bush. A thorn bush is perfectly blended into its environment without having leaves that animals want to touch and with briars that will strangle and cut their paws, and their eyes, making them defenseless even if you can't get them in one go. But he’ll take whatever form is more convenient to him at the time.   

A man who copies to survive

Human’s come in from time to time. And sometimes he tries to leave them be, not wanting to attract too much attention, but when they spend too much time there? He’ll grab their throats and snap their necks and drag them away to devour.

The world outside is dangerous and unforgiving. If you don’t eat, don’t steal, and you aren’t cruel, you will die an agonizing death and the world will forget you.

So he lives his life trying to survive, and when his belly is full, to find purpose. Continue his lineage? How do you justify life? By continuing it? He hates these thoughts.        

Relationship with you

You were a simple gatherer. One of the kinder ones that understood the gathering rules. Leaving the first ones you find, only taking what you need. You even thanked the forest and never wasted a thing. He liked that about you. But he still didn’t let you get close, nor did he want anything to do with you. 

Until he was full. Then when he saw you, you were a delectable vessel of flesh. Brains, a nice figure, a healthy body. He started to crave you. Want you. One night when you come back late and smelled of those mushrooms that made animals dizzy and horny. Maybe he’d take from this world just like he always did. 

He couldn’t do much. He could find a hole to keep you in, toss you in some food, and make you bare his offspring.  

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Romantic Snippets Tag

Thanks for tagging me, @mrbexwrites! :D

Rules: share a snippet that describes the main romance in your WIP. This is awkward, because The Unfortunate Moth doesn’t have a romance 😅 I guess the closest is Tremaine and his girlfriend, who are such minor characters they’re barely even suspects. Here’s the scene of Yo-han questioning Tremaine anyway (under the cut because it’s long):

Yo-han continued without waiting for him to recover. "First, where were you at the time of the murder? That was four o'clock yesterday afternoon." He paused, but Tremaine was still incapable of speech. "Either you were in your room or you wished people to think you were. I have the testimony of a maid who said you were playing loud music at a quarter past three when she began to hoover, and you were still playing it a full hour later when she stopped."

Tremaine made a noise at the back of his throat. It sounded like a malfunctioning clock struggling to tick.

"I believe you were here during that time, and if so I am sure you weren't alone. Even with the music you are sure to have heard the gunshot. Did you? Or must I find your paramour and question her?"

Tremaine seemed to have shrunk while Yo-han spoke. Now he was practically cowering.

"Don't talk so damn loud!" he begged. "Everyone will hear!"

Yo-han said nothing and gave him a look. It was the look he had perfected from years of dealing with suspects, and it never failed to make them quail. Tremaine shuddered.

"I didn't hear no shot," he said. "Yeah, we heard the girl hoovering. That was how we knew the coast was clear, 'cause no one stays down here when they're hoovering. We play the music just to be safe."

"But you heard something," Yo-han said.

"We heard a door, that's all." Yo-han raised an eyebrow. Tremaine practically fell over himself to elaborate. "Someone closed a door real loud. We heard it over the music and everything. Thought it was the girl hoovering. Didn't sound like a gun."

That confirmed what Yo-han had suspected: the murderer had used a silencer. The maid hadn't heard it because she mistook it for a drum. "What record were you playing at this point?"

Tremaine stumbled over his own feet in his haste to find the record. "This one. Divverak."

Yo-han didn't bother to correct his atrocious pronunciation, but only because he wasn't entirely sure how to pronounce Dvořák himself. "Play it now, please."

Tremaine set the record on the turntable, moved the needle to a random track, and turned it on. It started off softly. The volume increased, then decreased. So far there was no loud crescendo that would cover a shot.

Yo-han picked up the record cover. He took note of the run-time of each movement. "When did you begin to play this record? Before your paramour arrived?"

"No, 'cause we had to change the record. This would've been 'bout... after half three."

With a little calculation, that meant the piece playing at the time of the murder was the finale. He moved the needle. This music was much louder. He picked out cellos, drums and violins amongst the instruments. He turned the volume up, and it would certainly have disguised a gunshot.

Now the only real mystery was how Tremaine and his paramour could endure all that noise in such a small room. They must have invested in industrial-strength earmuffs.

Out in the hall a door was flung open with force.

"Stop that racket!" Király roared. In Hungarian he added his opinion of Tremaine's ancestry and where he could expect to spend eternity.

Yo-han turned off the music. Király's door was closed again with equal force.

"Thank you, Mr. Tremaine," Yo-han said politely. "You have helped me answer two important questions."

He left the room and almost bumped into a very annoyed Colman, who was still in his pyjamas. They exchanged greetings. As Yo-han continued down the hall he heard Colman begin, "I've tried to be understanding, Mr. Tremaine, but this simply must stop. This isn't the Royal Albert Hall. How can you expect the rest of us to get any sleep?"

Adding Moth’s taglist: @akindofmagictoo, @lightgriffinsect, @original-writing, @zonnemaagd, @essiesreadingcorner, @oh-no-another-idea (Let me know if you want to be added to/removed from the taglist!)

Also tagging @verba-writing, @theglitchywriterboi, @dragon-swords-prophecies, @kaiusvnoir, and anyone else who wants to do this! :D

[hautevaux]

@obscureign asked: 7, 12, & 41 c: MEME: WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

7: What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

I would personally shout something about suede shoes. If there is one thing Vaux detest the most on this planet, it's the existence of suede shoes and the opportunity presenting itself to preach to someone about how awful they are to style would be too much for him to resist. Vaux would appear out of thin air like a fashion fairy.

A friend or romantic partner would likely only have to call his name. Vaux doesn't get distracted much when he's working, but he does if he's out and about - just calling his name, so long as the voice calling is recognised, would be more than enough to regain his attention. He's actually a very simple man when it comes to such things.

12: What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

This was a difficult one - because Vaux will laugh at any lithe attempt at a joke or similar when he's in the company of clients at the boutique. But if we're talking on a genuine basis, and not that persona he wears to please those around him... It makes it much more difficult.

He'll always laugh, in varying levels, at complements - attempting to hide such as embarrassment, perhaps when in reality he simply doesn't believe them. But that's a sad fact, and I wanted something genuinely happy to answer with.

A bittersweet one could be that he always laughs to himself if he sees Bhudda statues because it reminds him of the many times his grandmother would approach them just to judge how well the face had been sculpted. If anyone ever wondered where Vaux got his judgemental eye from, it was certainly her. Her commentary on it afterwards would always have him giggling, and being reminded of those times never fails to brighten him up.

41: What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

Tapping. Vaux taps his index and middle finger against his knee or opposing elbow in quick alternating succession, usually, if he is stressed. It's a habit he picked up from his grandmother, in fact, who used to do much the same and in turn taught the then very young Zheng'vau to do it to just release some pent up nervous energy. It helped him a lot when he was in hospital for so long as a child, and it gives him a focus besides whatever is stressing him or causing him worry. Without it, he would likely melt down.

Though tapping isn't really a mannerism, I guess.

When he greets people, he does always put a hand to his chest and lightly dip his head - a greeting of respect that was also drilled into him by his grandmother, who strongly believed in such gestures. He ignored it a lot when a child, however, and only really took it on when the memory of her reminded him many years later, and it has stuck ever since.

[stonewallsposts]

March Reading

1Q84 Haruki Murakami  (2010) 

"Everybody feels safe belonging not to the excluded minority but to the excluding majority. If you belong to the majority, you can avoid thinking about lots of troubling things. And those troubling things are all you can think about when you're one of the few." 

"What Takashima is doing, if you ask me, is making mindless robots. They take the circuits out of people's brains that make it possible for them to think for themselves. That world is more like the one the George Orwell depicted in his novel. I'm sure you realize that there are plenty of people who are looking for exactly that like of brain death. It makes life a lot easier. You don't have to think about difficult things, just shut up and do what your superiors tell you to do." 

"He no longer believed with his whole heart in the possibility or the romance of the revolution. Neither could he completely disavow it. To do so would mean disavowing his life and confessing his mistakes for all to see." 

These are some of the quotes I found interesting in the book, but they don't really capture the essence of the book itself. 1Q84 is set in Tokyo, 1984. The English pronunciation of the letter Q is apparently the same as the Japanese word for 9, so 1984 and 1Q84 sound the same in Japanese.  

The lead characters are a 30 year-old woman, Aomame, a physical trainer at a sports club, who moonlights as a highly effective assassin; and Tengo Kawana, a 30 year-old man who teaches math at a cram school and writes on the side.  

Tengo's publisher runs across a brilliant, but unpolished, manuscript and asks Tengo to rewrite it so that it will be presentable to the public. The publisher believes the work has the potential to be a game-changing piece of literature. It was originally written by a 17 year-old girl, Eriko Fukada, so they need to get her permission to rewrite the work. 

Eriko is the daughter of the leader of a growing, secretive, influential religious cult. Tengo has no idea that the things she describes in the book are things she believes are real: little people, air chrysalises, a second moon. But as he spends time with Eriko, her enigmatic personality opens up an alternate reality with him. 

Aomame is, at the same time, charged with assassinating the leader of the religious cult, who has apparently had relations with several underaged girls. She too enters the alternate reality, which she calls 1Q84. Once she assassinates the leader, the connections between Aomame ,Tengo, Eriko, and the other characters grows. The story is woven in alternating chapters about Aomame and Tengo, and eventually include another character, Ushikawa, who is investigating their connection for the religious group in order to find Aomame and give her whereabouts to the leaders of the religious group. 

The story was riveting from the beginning. There are times when it takes a bit before I really get engaged with a story, especially when it's this long- 1150 pages. But from the beginning, I was wanting to read more. It starts off as a kind of thriller, but then moves into a bit of fantasy as well. Then it is somewhat of a love story too. It was one of those novels that I would look for free time so I could read. It took me 6 days to finish. 

Given how much I liked this story, I may check out some more of Murakami's works. 

Le città invisibili- Italo Calvino  (1972) 

The title is 'Invisible Cities' in English. This one has been a tough read in Italian. The book is a series of descriptions of cities, which the explorer Marco Polo is supposedly giving to the ruler Kubla Khan. But they are descriptions of mental states that we find ourselves in. So while I'm reading the Italian, I had to admit the whole point of the work was not sinking in. So I opened up a copy of the English text and am reading it in parallel with the Italian.  

One example is his recounting of the city of Zemrude. The mood of the beholder gives the city its form. If you go by whistling, nose up, you'll see window sills, curtains, fountains, but if you hang your head, you'll see gutters, manhole covers, wastepaper. Both are true. But everyone eventually begins to gaze down and that's where the gaze remains. The reverse isn't possible. 

It's not hard to see this is a metaphor of how we approach life, with either a positive or negative attitude. You can look around and find things that confirm your view. Generally, we tend towards the negative as we move through life, but we don't get more positive. 

«La forma delle cose si distingue meglio in lontananza» 

The form of things is better discerned at a distance. 

The Road to Serfdom- Friedrich Hayak  (1944) 

This is a classic book on capitalism and the free market, which gives defenses for the liberal system and free competition, and explains in detail why socialism, whenever it veers into attempts to direct the economy, always goes off the rails. I have posted a much longer breakdown of the points in the book elsewhere.  

The Thirty-Nine Steps- John Buchan  (1915) 

A fun adventure/thriller story, written as a kind of dime-store novel. Short and easy to read, there were apparently a bunch of these series of these featuring the protagonist Richard Hannay. 

The Master and Margarita- Mikhail Bulgakov  (1928-40 written; 1967 published) 

Ok, this one was interesting. It was compelling reading, but I have very little idea what it was about.  

And on top of that, from page 319 to 350, the printer made a mistake and included pages 345-376 of another book: Amanda Coplin's The Orchardist. I've never seen anything like that in my life.  

But I'm reading along and poof, the story just changes. Different characters, etc... no idea what is happening, then when I look it up, I realize it's an actual screw up with the book printing. 

[head-empty-only-sunshine]

Misuse of Google

Sun X Reader

Description: Sun discovers the wonders of google. You reminded him he has access to the internet, but was it a good call to remind him of such a versatile tool...

Tags: fluff, fem!reader, programmer!reader, Chad's here again, one shot, established relationship

Word Count: 1538

It took a while, but you finally managed to convince Sun to go and get his processor upgraded like you had recommended. All it took was you agreeing to be there with him the whole time, which you were more than happy to do. Chad would be the one to do the upgrade, so you expected this little interaction to be an interesting one. With three different kinds of troublemakers in the same room, something funny was bound to happen. You just didn’t expect it to take the kind of turn it did.

While everything started out smooth and the processor was replaced with no problem, it was the smaller fixes that allowed for the odd conversation to start up. While Chad was rewiring some of the connections in the joints on one of Sun’s arms, you worked mindlessly on code by the counter beside him. Sun on the other hand was intrigued by everything, asking questions about many things as the maintenance went on. It wasn’t long before the questions shifted from relevant to abstract and silly, landing on the topic of words that kids would use in the daycare.

“Do either of you know what a ‘yass’ is?” Sun asked out of the blue.

Chad choked and had to pause for a moment, shooting Sun a sideways glance. “What happened to questions about my tools? Where did that come from?” He snorted.

“I just remembered it! A young teen used that word earlier today, and I thought you might know.” Sun explained innocently.

“Sunny, you do remember that you have access to the internet now, right?” You piped up, snickering at his question. “You could google that word and find out without asking us.”

“Oh! Oh you’re right Sunshine! What would I do without you?”

“Lord can you two not do that while I’m working?” Chad groaned.

“Ah shaddap you baby.” You scoffed. “Try doing a search Sunny. I still can’t believe you haven’t tried to do so yet.”

Sun nodded and took a moment to try and figure out how to use the function you spoke of. Eventually his eyes blacked out and displayed the word ‘searching’ across each eye. He mumbled to himself the question he was searching up then went silent again, leading you to assume he was reading a definition of sorts. After a few seconds of silence Sun reached a conclusion and went ‘ooooh!’ quite loudly. Both you and Chad started to giggle like idiots, Chad needing to quit working on Sun because of how hard he was choking back his laughter.

“So it’s like a positive exclamation! Like saying yes, but snazzier.” Sun concluded.

“Yeah. Yeah that’s a pretty good explanation.” You nodded, unable to hide the huge grin on your face.

“This is such a handy function. I’m gonna check all the other words I was curious about!”

Sun’s genuine joy brought a true smile to your face. You got a kick out of him doing this as much as he did, and so did Chad. Witnessing him learn about certain slang words was truly an amusing process, especially when it came to the pronunciations. Chad couldn’t hold himself together much longer and chuckled with his head in his hand. You were able to keep it together for a moment, but lost it when he started listing off words.

He went through lit, swag, slay, and poggers. Poggers was a word that nearly killed you, because you never thought you’d ever hear the sentence ‘that sounds totally poggers dude’ coming from the mouth of your sweet mechanical partner. The way it was so flatly said made it all the more comedic while you slapped your leg and laughed, Chad having taken to banging the counter. Sun was totally immune to your laughing fit, having such a good time with this new tool for knowledge. Eventually he riddled off the word ‘yeet’... and you took that one a little more seriously.

“Oh my GOD. Sunny, please let me give you a live demonstration of yeet.” You cackled.

“Ooo! Please do! All I’m seeing is that it’s a word said when throwing something.” Sun nodded, his eyes returning to normal to watch you.

“Watch this.” You snickered. “Ayo Chad! YEET.”

The poor guy hadn’t anticipated your demonstration to be so sudden and directed at him. Right as soon as you yelled the word yeet, you hurtled a nearby empty can of Fizzy Faz at him and nailed him in the head. With a metallic twang he hollered at you while you and Sun laughed at him.

“Rude! Why’d you have to go and use me as your target?!” Chad complained.

“Cause you deserve it, fool.” You jeered.

You and Chad bickered at each other for a moment while Sun’s laughter died down. While the banter went on, Sun wanted to look up one other thing in particular, and right in the middle of your argument he went into search mode and said the most disastrous thing out loud.

“I wonder what rule 34 is? I’ve been hearing about that a lot.” He said to himself, eyes blacking out to the search mode again.

You and Chad switched up almost immediately. Your smile dropped and was replaced with a look of horror while Chad busted a gut and started laughing uncontrollably without restraint.

“SUN NO. DO NOT FINISH THAT SEARCH.” You hollered, getting up to smack his arm in discouragement.

“...”

“Sun? Sun, don't tell me you searched it…” You pleaded.

“OH.” Was all Sun said in a flat tone of horror.

“NOOOO!” You wailed.

“Ahahaha! You’re too late! Oh my god I can’t believe he did it!” Chad laughed, leaning on the counter.

You wept for the loss of Sun’s innocence as his eyes returned to normal again, an expression of regret resting on the poor animatronic’s face. A bright orangey-pink blush had risen on his features white he thought of what he had just witnessed, you leaning across him on the chair groaning in secondhand embarrassment.

“I think… I’ll take your advice next time.” Sun finally said with a guilty chuckle.

“I am so sorry you had to see that. The internet has ruined us all at some point.” You sighed dramatically, fully draped over him on the chair now.

“Looks like your love bot now has some material to work with for you!” Chad teased, still giggling as he looked over at you.

The way your cheeks went from pale to deep red was almost comical. If you could give off steam, you would, and so would Sun if it weren't for that snazzy new processor upgrade. He held the head he gave off well, but you were beyond embarrassed.

“CHAD. NO. NAUGHTY.”

With your head in your hands you groaned and hid in Sun’s side, trying to snuff out every thought that came to your cursed brain while Chad got one more chance at a laughing fit. Sun was surprisingly doing alright; a little embarrassed but not completely losing it in the same manner you were. There was no hiding how flustered he was though as he too sighed.

“I feel like we’ve all misused the internet at some point in time. Though you two are a little earlier on that one than I am…” Sun chuckled.

“Misuse? Hell no, I do it on purpose.” Moon chuckled darkly in the back of Sun’s mind.

“MOON!” Sun screeched out loud.

“What? What did he say? Does he find this situation funny?” You asked.

“Apparently he’s been using it the whole time… Deliberately searching terms like those. No wonder some of those images seemed familiar.” Sun groaned. “His memory is leaking into mine again.”

“Good lord. I shouldn’t expect anything different from Moon.” You sighed, sitting up to bring a bit of dust off of Sun’s face. “What the hell am I gonna do with you two?”

While you admired your poor robotic partner’s face, you planted a chaste little kiss on his nose that made both of you forget about the misfortunes of a bad google search. Chad on the other hand couldn’t keep himself together and made gagging noises, ensuring he had solid eye contact with you while he jammed his finger down his throat.

“Yeah. LOVE. BOT.” He repeated.

“Shut up and finish your job before I make you choke on that finger.” You muttered. “There are still live wires poking out of his left elbow joint man.”

‘Oop, you’re right. I’ll get right on that, seductress of electronics.” He snickered.

“COME ON.”

Defeated once again with no lines of code to get back to, you let Chad have the final word while Sun comforted you with his free arm that you were currently hidden in. There may have been a couple of unfortunate things to happen, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Sun would just have to be a little more careful with the things he searched. Asking questions first still seemed to be the safest method, but at least he got to see you genuinely flustered for the first time. You were usually so stable, but Chad’s teasing had torn you down.

The misuse of google wasn’t always an unfortunate incident after all.

[carbo-ships]

Translate

Part 51 [Soldagand x Carly Masterlist]

“Ani? Can you translate something for me?” Carly asked Aniketos. The two were perched on a boulder, waiting for Soldagand at their agreed meeting spot.

“Perhaps," Ani said. "What language is it in?”

“I’m not sure," the mage explained with a shrug. "Soldagand won’t tell me what it means, and none of the Sofeans I’ve talked to seem to know either, so I’m thinking it must be some fae thing.”

Ani paused. “Soldagand won’t tell you?”

“Nope.”

“But he knows?” he asked quizzically.

“Mmhm.”

Aniketos was clearly perplexed. “Why is that?”

She shrugged. “Beats me. I’ve asked him a hundred times, but he just won’t.”

“Well, I can certainly give it a try. What is it?”

“The word indis," she said, doing her best to match Soldagand's pronunciation.

Ani raised his eyebrows. “Indis?”

“Mmhm," Carly nodded. "Do you know what it means?”

“Where did you hear this?” Ani asked cautiously.

“Sol calls me that all the time.”

Ani laughed and sighed. “Oh, dear... If Soldagand won’t tell you, perhaps I shouldn’t either.”

Carly's eyes widened. “What? Is... Is it bad?”

He couldn’t stand the look of worry on her face. “No! Of course not, dearest, I—" He took both her hands in his and let out a breath. “You know Soldagand is very fond of you.”

She nodded, squeezing his hands in return.

“And I am sure you know by now that you’re the only person he treats this way.”

Again, she nodded.

“Indis, my dear friend...” Ani paused and sighed to himself again, fully aware he would not be able to take back what he was about to say. “... means wife.”

Carly’s face slowly turned burgundy. “Wife?” she repeated, as if she had somehow misheard him.

He smiled sympathetically. “Or bride.”

She quickly dropped his hands to cover her mouth. “He’s been calling me his wife?” came her muffled squeak.

“Yes, little one. I’m afraid so.” The poor girl’s breathing had become rapid and shallow. She looked ready to faint. He was glad they'd already been sitting down. “Now, now, please, there is no need for all this,” he said quickly in an attempt to calm her. “You’ve known for quite some time that he loves you.”

“But— But— I thought dryads didn’t—“ she stuttered frantically.

“Well, no, dryads do not typically mate for life in the way that humans often do. And as such, there is no system in place for such unions. However, he certainly knows what it means, if that is your question. He has been around humans long enough.”

“I— I don’t understand! Why would he— I—“

Again, he took her hands. “He seems rather determined to keep that to himself, seeing as he’s speaking in a language no human can understand. He hasn’t said it around me, and I am sure Alora would have made a fuss if he’d said it around her. You know she loves to tease him about how fond he is of you.”

”That can’t be right," she insisted. "I— I must have said it wrong.”

“If he calls you this as often as you claim, I doubt that, dear one. I believe it would be safe to assume he intends to keep you at his side for quite some time. Carly, he's put a ring on your finger. Surely this can't come as much of a surprise."

The leaves rustling behind them suddenly caught their attention. They whipped around to find Soldagand approaching. “Sorry to keep ya waitin’!” he called, ducking under a tree limb. “Got caught up in the village.” He looked from Carly’s embarrassed expression to Aniketos’s apologetic grin. “What?” he asked awkwardly. “What’d I miss?”

Ani let out a nervous laugh. “Our friend here had a question for me. She wanted something translated.”

It took a few seconds for the implications of Ani’s words to sink in. Soldagand's cheeks turned brown with blush. “Oh. D-darlin’, I—“ He sighed and sat next to her. "Oh, lord."

“I’m sorry, Soldagand,” Ani said. “She insisted.”

“Soldagand, tell him that’s not what you mean!” she pleaded.

“Sweetheart, I..." Soldagand looked to Aniketos for help, but received none. He had to be honest. "Yes, Carly. I've... I've been callin' you my wife. But just to myself, only to you, I--"

Before he could finish, she went limp.

“Shit!” Soldagand caught her as she toppled over to keep her from hitting the ground. "Sweetheart, I--" He quickly realized she had fainted.

“Soldagand, what were you thinking?” Aniketos scolded with a sigh.

“You’re the one who told her!” he argued.

“She was bound to find out someday! How long did you intend to keep this up?”

Sol groaned and set the girl in his lap. "I've gone and made a mess, haven't I?"

"Would you like me to give you two some privacy?" Ani asked.

"No, if you're gone when she comes to, she'll think I'm gonna propose or somethin'."

"Are you?" Ani teased.

"Watch it," Sol warned with a huff. "And no, I ain't."

"But you're considering it." Aniketos smiled.

"No, I ain't!" Sol's cheeks had darkened. "Hush, now, she's stirrin'."

[prev] / [next]

taglist: @celestica-ships @scroldie @emberpries @naruhol + dryad buddy @limey-self-inserts

[galadhremmin]

Fëanor's misdirected anger at Indis about the s-change is so telling. Because it is not even her decision; it's Finwë's. But Fëanor never acknowledges that; it reads as Fëanor almost being scared to find fault with his father because what if his father finds fault in him in turn, what if he is no longer his favourite son, discarded-- and so he redirects all the blame at Indis.

Upon looking at the text again the change could read either as something Finwë long wanted to do but refrained from while she might still return to life to dislike it-- or possibly, in a very ungenerous reading-- like something of a petty revenge on Finwë’s part. Míriel insisted on the original pronunciation of her name. He "accepts the change" after the "rejection of his prayers by Míriel.’’ Either way the decision is all Finwë.

“Indis was a Vanya, and it might be thought that she would in this point at least have pleased Fëanor, since the Vanyar adhered to þ. Nonetheless Indis adopted s. Not as Fëanor believed in belittlement of Míriel, but in loyalty to Finwë. For after the rejection of his prayers by Míriel Finwë accepted the change (which had now become almost universal among his people), although in deference to Míriel he had adhered to þ while she lived. Therefore Indis said: ‘I have joined the people of the Noldor, and I will speak as they do. ’

So it came about that to Fëanor the rejection of þ became a symbol of the rejection of Míriel, and of himself, her son, as the chief of the Noldor next to Finwë. This, as his pride grew and his mood darkened, he thought was a ‘plot’ of the Valar, inspired by fear of his powers, to oust him and give the leadership of the Noldor to those more servile. So Fëanor would call himself ‘Son of the Þerindë.’”

There are several strange things going on here;

- why has Finwë never informed Fëanor he was the one who accepted the change, and that Indis merely followed his decision? Why did he allow Fëanor to think his new wife was belittling Míriel? I find it very hard to believe he was unaware of this because Fëanor hardly was the quiet type. This seems very unfair towards Indis on Finwë's part, and explains his comment on Indis no longer wishing for his presence when he is in Mandos. He did not treat her fairly, and that was not Fëanor's fault. He allows the blame to be misdirected.

- the word rejection is used twice-- first about Míriel rejecting Finwë's prayers, then about Fëanor perceiving Finwë changing the pronunciation as a rejection of Míriel and himself. It's just... interesting. Because Finwë's hurry to have a large family is why he pressures Míriel until her no becomes very firm and he eventually remarries. Míriel does eventually long for her body again. The rejection of each other's desires is in a sense mutual. And it's just not Indis' fault at all.

- Fëanor's "son of the Þerindë’ might only be a way to remind everyone he was the only 'legitimate' heir, and not a child of Indis. I'm tempted to read it as eventually blaming Finwë a bit after all, even if he might have found it difficult to acknowledge. Fond of this self-naming because it's repeatedly mentioned how alike in mood and even way of working Fëanor and Míriel are tbh. It is an unusual self-naming in a culture otherwise portrayed as fairly patriarchal.

- Fëanor's understandably mistrustful of the judgement of the Valar, which has deprived him of his mother forever. But you know who was fine with the remarriage and got to speak in the Debate? Míriel. The Valar could have prevented Fëanor's response to Indis and possibly restored his trust in them by assisting him in communicating with his mother in Mandos.

- in the end though... Finwë was alive and it was absolutely his responsibility to communicate with his son, who he had to be aware loved him and clung to him in a way was fueled by by the anxiety of being in an entirely new situation, and of being replaced.

Instead he let Fëanor adore him while Indis took the blame.

[mypoisonedvine]

Love, Theoretically | Sebastian Stan x reader (Chapter 7)

(chapter 1) (chapter 2) (chapter 3) (chapter 4) (chapter 5) (chapter 6)

series summary: having lost your husband, sister, and best friend all to the same extramarital affair, you ran away to a secluded villa in the Hungarian countryside to write and get a little time away from the life you’d left behind.  you were only looking for peace and perhaps some inspiration for your novel, but instead you found an unlikely connection with the immigrant repairman-- even though the two of you don’t speak the same language.

word count: almost 3k?

warnings: slight breeding kink (but only if you speak romanian aksjghakgjhg), angst, violence (in the form of a fistfight, which the reader isn’t involved in)

Just as you always did, you woke up to sunlight streaming in through the lace curtains, and a cool breeze blowing by.  What was peculiar was Sebastian next to you, sleeping peacefully as his chest rose and fell with relaxed breaths.  You let yourself watch him for a moment before you decided to try to sneak out for a cup of coffee.  Problem was, the bed was sort of creaky and it was very difficult to move without making sound.  Your plan was to move as slowly as possible, keeping your weight evenly distributed over the mattress, and it worked rather well— right until the last second, of course, when a loud shift of the boxsprings beneath you made Sebastian stir and blink open his eyes.

You were about to apologize for waking him, but he grinned and slipped his arms around you, bringing you back to where you started and surrounding your body with his warm, muscular form.

“Bună dimineata,” he hummed as he pulled you closer, his voice even deeper and more gravelly than normal.

“Bună dimineata,” you did your best to repeat it back, making him smile even though your pronunciation wasn’t great.  “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” he replied softly, heavily accented and clearly more a recreation of the sounds you’d made than real English, but still intelligible and so painfully adorable as well.  “A fost uimitor aseară.”

“Last night…” you began, but you didn’t even know where to begin.  What could you possibly say about that?  Would it even matter, if he can’t understand it.  “God, you’re fucking amazing,” you blurted out with a soft laugh.

“Sa o facem din nou,” he growled as he pulled you closer and kissed you, slipping his tongue into your mouth instantly.  A more self-conscious you— as in, you yesterday— would’ve worried about morning breath, but you now couldn’t taste anything but him and couldn’t feel anything but his lips on yours and couldn’t do anything but weave your fingers into his hair.

You moaned when his kisses trailed down your neck, and you wanted nothing more than to melt into his body one more time, but you had other things to attend to.

“I need to get up,” you announced as you tried to escape from his grasp, but he held you tighter and brushed his lips over your shoulder.

“Nu, nu, nu te dice,” he cooed, making you laugh and squirm.  “Stai in pat, fă dragoste cu mine toata ziuă.”

“I have to get up, I’ll be right back,” you tried to explain but he stayed ever vigilant as he held you tight and licked over the shell of your ear.  Finally you managed to get him to stop, as much as you didn’t really want him to, allowing you to slip out from under the covers and find your robe where it had been discarded on the floor.  

He watched you as you crossed the room and popped into the bathroom for your bag, pulling your birth control pack out of it and using a handful of tap water to wash down your morning pill.  “Ah,” Sebastian seemed to have a realization from the bed, and you giggled.

“Told you it was important,” you grinned.

“Probabil cel mai bine să nu ai un copil cu un străin,” he nodded, “dar nu sunt sigur că m-ar fi deranjat atât de mult dacă te-aș fi însărcinat.”

Following suit, he stretched briefly before getting out of bed and searching for his discarded jeans and boxers.  You made no effort to hide your ogling as you watched his cock swing between his legs.  Even soft it was thick enough that you couldn’t figure how it ever fit inside you (the delightful soreness between your legs reminded you that it was no easy feat).  He took note of your staring and grinned devilishly, leaning against the wall to give you a better look.  “Îți place ce vezi?” he purred.

“Should’ve known this would all go straight to your ego,” you chuckled.  “I’m gonna go downstairs for some coffee.  Do you want some?  Cafea?”

“Da,” he nodded, as he slipped his clothes back on, “mulțumesc.”  Funny how his idea of getting dressed still left him half-naked.

Foolishly, you expected him to let you pass, since you were both going to benefit from your trip to the kitchen; but of course he had to slip his arms around you from behind and give you just one more embrace, making you sigh and relax your head back against his shoulder.  He kissed the top of your head and you hummed happily, letting your eyes open to look up at him before taking a moment to look out the window you happened to be standing right beside.

You were just hoping to appreciate the countryside scenery, meaning that you were rather shocked and confused to see a car pulling up.  When it stopped and the driver stepped out, your eyes went wide and your back suddenly straightened itself.

“...Michael?” you gasped.  You wrenched yourself out of Sebastian’s grasp and started to run down the stairs.  He called after you but you ignored it.

Barreling down the stairs and out the door, you found your husband walking up the driveway.

“Honey,” he frowned when he saw you, “I’ve been trying to find you since you left— what the hell is going on?  Why are you wearing a robe?”

“It’s hardly nine in the morning,” you defended before you realized there were much bigger topics at hand: “Michael, what are you doing here?” you asked, after a few seconds of confused stuttering.

“I’m taking you home!” he replied, as if it were obvious.

“Oh my god,” you groaned, “don’t play stupid.  Do you think I’ve been here against my will, or by accident or something?”

“No, I saw your letter,” he sighed.

“And you saw the part where I said not to look for me, and that all future communication would come through my lawyer?”

“You’re my wife,” he replied coldly, “I think I’m within my rights to talk to you directly.”

“You shouldn’t have come here.  I was actually happy before you showed up.”

With perfect timing, Sebastian stepped out the door behind you, looking to you and to Michael, and back.  “Ce se întâmplă?” he asked you.

“Who the fuck is this?!” Michael asked accusingly.

“I’m gonna give you a chance to ask me that again, in a way that doesn’t make it seem like you have any place to judge what I might be doing alone with a man,” you hissed.  “He’s just the groundskeeper, Mike.”

“Then why is he shirtless?” he exclaimed.

“I don’t know!  He… does that a lot!” you exasperatedly shouted back.

“Look, I’m not angry,” Michael sighed.  You laughed bitterly.

“Good, cause you have no right to be.”

“But I think it’s fair if I’m worried about you spending months alone with strange men.”

“Oh, strange, is that the problem?  Strangeness?  Would some more familiarity— perhaps a familial relationship— between you and these men make it easier on you, Mike?”

“Honey, please—”

“Don’t call me that,” you grimaced.

Michael stormed towards you, and you felt Sebastian step closer to you as well, wrapping an arm around you.  Having him by your side made this significantly more awkward, but it made you feel safer, too.

“Hey man, get your hands off my wife,” Michael growled, pointing a finger at Seb.

“He doesn’t speak English,” you rolled your eyes.  

“Well, I’m not sure you do either— otherwise you would realize that we’re still married, and you need to come home.”

“Just because you won’t sign the papers doesn’t mean we’re still together,” you reminded him sternly as shook your head.

“I’ll end it with your sister, is that what you want?”

You laughed, because you were afraid if you didn’t that you would cry.  “Jesus, Michael!  Are you hearing yourself?  This sounds like a greek tragedy, or fucking EastEnders!  Next I’ll be discovering I have an evil twin, and you’ll bang her too!”

He was a lot more offended by that than you expected.  “It was never just sex.  I love her.  But I love you more,” he clarified, suddenly getting serious.

You chuckled weakly, hardly believing what you were hearing.  It’s not that he was ever particularly nice, or romantic or anything, but at some point in his life he had been incredibly intelligent… and now he barely made sense at all.  “Wow, you sure do know how to make a girl feel special.”

He frowned, clearly losing what little cool he’d had at first.  He had always had a bit of a temper.  “For better or for worse, we’re still legally married— damn it, we’ve been together for how long now?  And you’re ready to throw that all away?”

“No, but you were,” you spat back.

“But I wasn’t, and I’m still not.  You’ve gotta hear me out—”

“I don’t have to do anything—”

“No, you’re not listening to me—” he talked over you, again.

“I don’t owe you any more of my time—”

“Damn it, why won’t you just listen!” he growled, grabbing you by the arm suddenly.  Instantly, Sebastian stepped forward and pushed him back.

“Sebastian, it’s okay,” you tried to soothe him.  

“Hey, could you maybe tell your boytoy to keep his filthy hands off me?” Michael demanded at the same time.

“Mai bine ai grijă,” Sebastian hissed, also at the same time.

“I literally can’t,” you answered Michael.  “I told you he doesn’t speak English.”

“Yeah, well, I think some things transcend language,” Michael bit back.  “Tell me something, pal,” he addressed Sebastian, “did you fuck my wife?”

“Sper că nu spui ce cred că ești,” Sebastian shook his head, clearly on the end of his rope.

“Mike, leave him alone,” you demanded, but it came out sounding so much weaker than you meant it to.

“Did you,” Michael pointed to Sebastian, going so far as to poke him in the chest condescendingly, “fuck—” he mimed thrusting his hips, and you grimaced— “my wife?”— finally, he pointed to you.

Sebastian certainly understood that; and, in lieu of an answer, he socked Michael right in the jaw and sent him straight to the ground.

“Oh my god!” you yelped, dashing over to where your husband was crumpled into a ball on the gravel and kneeling beside him.

“What the fuck?!” Michael gurgled, holding his face in shock and pain.

“Are you okay?” you asked anxiously, spinning to look at where Sebastian was standing and looking much too proud of himself, shaking out the hand he’d just hit Michael with.  “Sebastian!” you scolded, making him give you a defensive look.

“Ce?” he shrugged flippantly, though he clearly felt a little guilty when it became obvious that you were irritated with him.

And that was how you ended up here, standing in the living room and tapping your foot quickly, staring at the couch where Michael sat with a bag of ice held to his jaw, Sebastian beside him (though as far away as possible) resting with another on his hand.

“You had no business coming here,” you informed your husband coldly.

“You wouldn’t know about this place if it weren’t for me,” he reminded you.  “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”

“I thought you wouldn’t care,” you corrected.

His silence was stern, and he gave you one of those looks that used to scare you but now just made loathing and pity sink down in your chest.  It was ambiguous if he was too angry to reply or if he really had no defense.  After all, what reason did you have to believe that he would care about your leaving?

"If you're here to make me rescind the divorce order, it's not going to happen.  I'm not leaving with you.  I'm not forgiving you.  Please just go," you sighed.

"That's not why I came.  None of that is why I'm here," he mumbled.  "I came here…" he straightened up slightly, raising his voice confidently.  "I came here to tell you that I love you.  I need you.  And I want you back."

Now that he was looking right back at you, suddenly you couldn't take it anymore and turned your gaze away again.  

"Whatever you need me to do to fix this, I'll do it.  We'll get through this.  Isn't that what marriage is?  Fighting for each other, struggling together?"  He stood up and approached you, reaching out to rest his hands on your shoulders; you almost flinched when you felt his touch, but resisted the urge, glancing up at his face before looking over at Sebastian whose injured hand was twitching as he looked away with a tight jaw.  "Tell me how to make this right, please."

You tried not to look as Sebastian as you processed Michael's request; similarly, it seemed he was trying not to look at you.  But even if you ignored this new, peculiar romance in your life, your marriage was still broken beyond repair and you couldn't imagine anything that could change that.  "I'm sorry," you finally whispered, watching Michael's face fall, "I don't think there's anything you can do." 

He released you from his grip, less angry than you expected; more somber.  "I want to stay and work this out," he explained.  "Better yet, I want you to come back to London— come back home— so we can be together and discuss everything there.  But I'm only going to ask you one more time before I leave: stay with me.  You don't need to forgive me, or even love me again, at least not yet… just give me a chance to try to earn everything I took for granted."

You'd imagined this moment so many times: cursing him out, making him grovel, kicking him to the curb.  To be completely honest, you'd even imagined potentially taking him back.  But now that you were here and it was, somehow, real, your desire for vengeance was fading along with your desire for reconciliation.  

"I have something I need to give you," you whispered, walking upstairs and going back into your room, getting on your hands and knees to search the floor.  Finally, discarded in a dusty corner with slightly uneven floorboards, you found the ring you'd tossed aside the night before.  Fighting back against the tears welling in your eyes, you picked it up and came downstairs, holding it outward for Michael to take.  

"I'm not taking that back," he refused, shaking his head.  "You keep it for a while longer, until you're sure this is really what you want."

"I'm sure.  I'm moving on.  Take it back," you demanded.  He sighed but reached out and plucked it from between your fingers, pocketing it though still wearing his own golden band.  "Besides, my sister might want it."

He scoffed, turning as he began to walk away.  "You're cold."

"Frozen solid," you agreed.  "Goodbye, Michael… drive safe."

He shook his head and made a sharp exhale as he walked away, nearly slamming the door behind him.  You stared off into space as Sebastian silently watched you; you didn’t want him to see you cry, but it was starting to seem unavoidable as your lip quivered and your eyes grew wide with tears.

“Shhh,” he soothed gently, standing up and stepping forward to pull you into his arms.  “Nu plânge, e în regulă.”

"God, I'm so stupid," you whispered between sobs muffled against his chest.  "I'm so fucking stupid…"

He whispered to you and kissed the top of your head, repeating one thing over and over that you couldn't make out well against the sound of your own crying filling your ears.

But even without knowing what he was saying or what it meant, it made you feel better.

As evening approached, you realized a new predicament had arisen: would Sebastian stay in your room again?  Would you go to his?  Or would you sleep separately, maybe even drift back to just being essentially housemates after a unique one-night stand?

Your questions were answered suddenly when Sebastian suddenly came to the couch and scooped you up into his arms, making you squeal a little before you relaxed and let him carry you to his room.  He all but threw you onto the bed, climbing on top of you and kissing you deeply as you reached up to wrap your arms around his neck.

Already you felt more comfortable with him than you sometimes felt with people you'd known most of your life; you didn't feel self-conscious when he ran his hands over your body, you didn't try to suppress your moans when he kissed your neck for fear of sounding ridiculous— and maybe that was just because it was such a fantastical situation, so unlike yourself and so far from home, that it was easy to feel like a different person with him.

Or maybe it was that you'd spent so long trying to be somebody that people liked, and now you were being yourself for the first time in decades.

You couldn't really be sure.  And since your brain short-circuited every time Sebastian whispered something in your ear that just sounded filthy regardless of what it actually meant, you didn't have the time to think about it.

[golden-barnes]

Tongue tied

Spencer Reid x  F!Reader

Summary: Y/N helps out with a case and Doctor Reid becomes a man of few words.

Word count:1.1k

Warning: Some mention of the case, that I created nothing too explicit 

A/N: This is sorta set on season 7 of criminal minds but with a made-up case. Not the best work but I wanted to talk about it.

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

– Ludwig Wittgenstein

It’s been over 5 hours and they had nothing. They had hit a dead end in the case. The profile just didn’t fit. On paper, they were looking for a white male in his late 30s with a severe case of mommy issues yet nothing. There was something missing, something that they weren’t getting. They even had voice recordings but even the genius doctor Reid couldn’t find any clues that would lead to them capturing this sick son of a bitch.

That’s why Rossi decided to call in someone to maybe find another perspective. He brought her to the station they were working in. To see the team shaking their heads and filling up their coffee mugs because it has been a rather long day. They turned to look at Rossi and the mystery woman. Spencer was intrigued by her. She walked with confidence and stepped into the station with certainty.

“Team, this is Doctor Y/L/N. I think we could use a new set of ears to solve this.” The woman gave the team a small smile and a wave. Spencer felt his chest tighten a bit. 

“Call me Y/N please.” She said sitting down next to the young doctor and gave him a warm smile.

JJ replayed the voice recordings and the Y/N was paying very close attention to what the unsub was saying. Spencer already knew what he was saying. He was reading the little prince, at least fragments of the dialogue. That said nothing about the crimes he had committed. Just that he has read the book at least once in his life and that he was a sick man.

“He’s bilingual. Probably speaks more than two but I can only assure you that he speaks English and French, probably learned both languages simultaneously. Forced by a parent or because they have a non- English speaking parent. I suspect it’s the mother by what Rossi told me. ” Y/N declared once the audio stopped. Spencer looked at her with wide eyes. Morgan scoffed at her.

“What type of doctor are you?” Morgan asked. She smiled at him.

“I’m a linguist but I specialize in Romantic languages, such as French, Portuguese, Spanish and etcetera. This is sorta my area of expertise. The unsub has problems with some pronunciations. Like with the word the, there’s a slight eu sound. The sound of the schwa or silent e. He also subconsciously pronounced important in french. Well, at least the first sound. He probably read the little prince in french. Several times. He is probably accustomed to reading the original version, so these mistakes are subconscious. Hell, he must have memorized it.” Y/N rambled 

“Great, it’s like another Reid,” Emily said in a whisper. JJ stifled a laugh and Morgan chuckled. Both doctors lowered their heads. Spencer wanted to tell his friends off for embarrassing him in front of a woman like that. But before he could even open his mouth, a cop from the precinct entered the office.

“There’s been another murder.” The man said before rushing out.

“Okay. Rossi, JJ, and I will go to that new crime scene. Morgan and Prentiss, I want you guys to check the one before that, see if we missed any. Reid, stay here with doctor Y/L/N, check if there’s anything else you can find in the recordings. Something that we can nail this profile with.” Hotch said, grabbing his things from the desk. Everyone hurried out the door and left the two doctors alone.

Spencer’s hands were getting clammy. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. It was just a really beautiful woman who took his breath away the moment he saw her and now he is alone with her to solve a case. Get it together Reid! He noticed she hasn’t said anything. She looked deep in thought. 

“What are you thinking about?” Spencer asked in a low tone. Y/N looked at him and he felt his breath hitch again.

“If he learned both languages simultaneously, it means the household was bilingual. Or that-” 

“In his house, they spoke English but he lived in a french speaking country.” Spencer finished saying. The missing pieces of the case finally revealing themselves. Y/N started to pace around looking at the boards. Spencer just sitting there, petrified with the possibility of making a fool of himself.

“Military families!” She exclaimed and grabbed his forearm from excitement. But let go quickly when she saw Spencer’s shocked expression

“Opps sorry. But yeah, he could be a military brat, whose parents were stationed in France. It would explain his tactfulness and how he is so good with weapons. It makes sense right?” If Spencer wasn’t infatuated with her before, now he definitely was. Y/N kept looking at him with doe eyes. Is this how a heart attack felt like? 

“I’ll- uhm call Garcia and see if there’s any man whose parents were stationed in France. Uhm you can wait here.” Spencer sturred. Y/N gave him another warm smile.

“Okay, I’ll be here waiting.” She said sitting down in one of the chairs.

Y/N was right. It was a man whose family was stationed in France. His mom was the soldier and basically questionned everything he would do. Another white man with severe mommy issues, just that he knew how to do counter measures.  She had figured it out in 0.3 seconds while it had taken the team 5 hours. Reid couldn’t believe what he saw. It was as if the woman was drawn exactly from his dreams. 

“Ah there she is! Bella!” Rossi exclaimed going to hug the woman that had been ruling Spencer’s mind.

“Thank you so much doctor for your help.” Hotch said, you could almost see him smiling. Everyone else started to congratulate and thank Y/N for her help. But Spencer hadn’t say a thing.

Rossi nudged the silent boy genius. Reid almost didn’t even feel it, he was too captivated with the other doctor.

“She’s really smart, right?” Rossi whispered to the young man, who only nodded his head.Rossi slipped a paper in Reid’s hand. It was phone number with Y/N’s name written on it.

“She’s also single and available. Call her.” He said quietly.

“But-”Spencer tried to protest but Rossi shused him.

“Call her!” said the older man in a commanding tone. Spencer gulped and looked at the paper in his hand. He looked up to see Y/N looking at him. She gave him a smile. Maybe he might call her.

[forthechubbies]

What's Wrong With Secretary Park?!

Synopsis• If balancing work and a stubborn ex-husband isn't hard enough, Let's add the boss’s seven sons falling head over heels for her to mix.

Category's• Romcon, Comedy, Office Au.

Duos• BTS X Reader

A spin-off of the original series ‘ What's Wrong With Secretary Kim’ Bangtan Edition! Starring the Handsome, Seo-Joon Park as the Ex husband.

There will be more parts but I didn’t want the title to be to long.

EP. One Two

“ Mrs. Park, Good Morning!”

“Mrs. Park, What does my schedule look like today?”

“Mrs. Park, Your coffee keeps me alive.”

In case you haven’t noticed, Park Yn, I’m the secretary to Jeon Sung-ho, the CEO of Dnd Parmatech, 85 percent of the time, newly build hospitals or centers use our funds as kickstarts. Daily I make schedules, appointments, filing documents, answering calls, and blah blah blah.

Is it boring? Yes, I know. However, quite refreshing coming from my hectic marriage. Once upon a time, I was wedded to the marvelous actor Park Seo-Joon for three years. I sat in the limelight and even had the privilege to play the part of his wife in movies. Sigh. Although the attention and riches were grand, no amount of expensive counseling could save our marriage. We never saw eye to eye on anything, and his short temper wasn’t helping.

Knowing my worth, I packed up and left without a doubt in my head. However, The documentation of our separation wasn’t finalized due to a certain one refusing to sign off on the divorce agreement. So physically, I’m still Mrs. Park but ain’t no piece of paper telling who I belong too.

Whatever! I have too much to focus on already! Game on, Game on! First, I got to get these papers approved and signed by Mr. Jeon then-

Buzz Buzz Buzz!

Who’s calling-

Speak of the devil. I could have sworn I deleted his contact a long time ago! “ What Seo-Joon? I’m busy-“

“ When is this little temper tantrum going to end? Darling, I think you made your point.”

“My point?! Listen here, You slimy son of-” Now, Now Yn calm down calm down don’t let him get a rise out you that just what he wants. A quick exhale should do the trick. “ Seo-Joon, I believe we reached an agreed on no type of communication unless it revolves around the settlement for the divorce.”

How is it possible I can physically see his snarky face?

Seo-Joon stretched out his list of complaints.” It’s been over a year. I miss your kisses, soft skin, that cute birthmark on your-“

“ You will not talk about such embarrassing things over the phone!” Thank goodness, Nobody was around to hear me shot like that.

“Why is this divorce still an issue?!” There goes that temper again-How whinny can one man be? “ If you don’t stop this, I will take matters into my own hands.”

I laughed. “ Ha, Seo-jerk, I’m not scared of you! Do your worst because It doesn’t matter if you drag me back home; it doesn’t subside the problem being over our marriage.” I feel like a broken record at this point. “ If this isn’t about the papers, this conversation is over, Mr. Park; please refrain from calling me again, goodbye.”

He chuckled and mumbled something along the lines of, “ Your cute acting cheeky like this.” The rest he continued louder “ Those delicate hands of yours were made to indulge in the finest silk and satin I can obtain, not working nine to five at whatever job hired a housewife with zero work ethic. I just know I haven’t touched your side of the room since that night- I love you, Mrs.Park, I always will.”

He hung up. You know, after he finished insulting my new lifestyle and calling me a useless housewife, the ‘ I love you’ bit at the end sounds sincere, but he is an actor! Of course.

Hmph! Just because I’m working for myself for one doesn’t mean I’m miserable. I’m actually in love with my job, It pays well with benefits, and I sat on my butt all day. If that pompous little bedazzled turd thinks making me the butt of his jokes will get me back in his arms, he has another thing coming!

“Um, Mrs. Park?”

“ What!” I snapped. “ Oh, Hoseok, I’m sorry!” I bowed my head; the poor thing nearly jumped out of his shoes.

Hoseok beamed his warm heart-shaped smile at me. “ Oppa is having a family meeting today; I guess I’m the first to show.”

I wasn’t informed about a meeting today from Mr.Jeon, maybe because it’s a family affair.

“Tada!” He cutely squeaks. A tasteful package breakfast alongside a tall cup of what I presume is a coffee from..’ Thanks Nature’!

“Oh my- Hobi, this cafe is across town-”

“I overhead Oppa scolding you for skipping meals one day and I’m here to do the same, don’t skip meals or else We will be hurt if something happens to you.” Hoseok pointed at the pack. “ Eat every bit.”

Hoseok displayed a small heart using his index finger and thumb, hopping off to his father’s double doors.

Mr. Jeon has seven sons in all. The man is a true saint; men like him and his sons are why I still believe not all men are dogs. After losing his wife to heart cancer, He just about went bankrupt, donating all he had to have found cures to multiple diseases hoping nobody else had to suffer his same heartbreak.

Love found him again in an orphanage just north of here, ‘Seoul Children Home.’ His first son, Kim Seokjin, at the time Jin was already in his teenage years, making it difficult for him to find a family due to the high demand of couples wanting a single-digit child. His birth family mistreated him, but he was beaten everywhere except his face to keep his handsome appearance. The family decided to put his money-maker to fair use and attempted to sell him. Seokjin saw his opportunity and high-tailed, landing himself in the orphanage where he happily lends a helping hand every chance he got. He learned how to read, write, cook, clean, and even tend to the tots when the nuns were busy.

This is how he met his slightly younger brothers, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, and Kim Namjoon; when being chosen for adoption, Seokjin refused to live without his baby brothers by his side.

“ Hello, Noona!”

Oh, Look just in time, “ Hello, You’re father is in his office.”

Namjoon eyed my edible gift from Hobi and raised his eyebrow as well as a question. “ So this is why Hyung left so early in the morning for-and I hope you’re having a good morning, Noona.”

I’m not older than them. Why do they call me Noona? Do I look old!?

“ Yn, Good morning! How are you!” Jin greeted me with English this morning. He must have been practicing with Namjoon lately.

“ I’m Fine. Seokjin.”

“Chu.” He blew a kiss my way. “ You’re not fine. You’re amazeing.”

“Amazing.” Namjoon corrected for the sidelines.

“Same thing.”

“Pronunciation is everything, Hyung.”

They stopped halfway from their dad’s office. Jin grinned. Wait, I know that smile; oh no, here comes a dad joke.

“ Hey, Namjoon-You know the reason I took the elevator instead of the stairs?”

Namjoon sighed. “ No, why?”

"I don't trust stairs. They're always up to something." Jin burst out laughing and clapped his hands.

I giggled not from the joke, but Jin has a contagious laugh.

“See, Yn has good taste.”

A slow deep groan entered the office belonging to Yoongi, lagging. “ I heard that terrible joke from the elevator.” Yoongi waved and leaned against my desk. “ Good Morning.”

“Good Morning.”

There was an awkward pause before Yoongi tapped my desk and pointed to his dad’s office from walking that way.

“Yoon-Yoongi!?”

He turned back towards me.

“ I have something for you. I packed it up on the way here.” Getting off my butt, I walked up and gave him a bottle of his favorite black ice coffee. Ew. I don’t know how he drinks it with no cream or sugar.

Yoongi smiled his gummy smile. “ Thank you for thinking of me.”

“You’re welcome.” And off he goes into the office as well.

Yoongi isn’t the biggest fan of human interaction, but he put forth an endeavor towards me, whether it’s a light ‘ Hi or Hello” or the simplicity of a wave. I admire his gusto. Sidenote, He’s so adorable-I know I know I shouldn’t be gushing over my boss’s son, but his chubby cheeks and almond eyes melt my heart like butter on toast!

Ahem-I better get back to answering those emails and drink this beautiful cup of expensive mud before it gets lukewarm. Yummy, The delectable taste is a boost of serotonin! I really should get to work buuut Hobi did command me to get every last bit and technically he is my boss through some type of weird relative aspect. He is the boss.

Just in a moment of seconds, The breakfast and drink was trash. Something that good should be sinful. I feel terrible I should have saved some for the babies; they would have some, especially Jungkook.

The babies should be here any minute.

[lacrimosathedark]

Who'd like some good old fashioned name analysis?

Okay, so, I been doing so much research for Resident Evil stuff and learning shit about fairy tales and timelines and genome editing and searching for impossible Romanian poetry I got overwhelmed and went, fuck it. Why not just look at their names? Maybe I'll learn something there.

So, here I have done it. Name meanings for characters of the Mold Saga so far aka 7 and 8 aka Biohazard and Village.

(Sorry I'm on mobile I'll put a cut here when I can)

Ethan: Firm, enduring, strong, impetuous, long-lived. An incredibly consistently common and popular name. E name just like Eveline, so could be a successor of sorts to the mold.

Mia: Derivative of numerous other names of many possibilities. Mia as a word means “mine” in Italian and Spanish. Mamma Mia is a well known Italian phrase, particularly due to the ABBA song and musical of the same name, and it being the catchphrase of the Nintendo character Mario. The phrase means “my mom”.

Winters: First and last season of the year where everything becomes dormant and cold and either dies or sleeps.

Eveline: Contains “Eve”, as in both the biblical first woman. Also means a night before an event, and the game takes place in the span of one night. The name Eve means “ life”, “living one”, “mother of life”, or “giver of life”. Another possible name origin is as a variant of Aveline, which is a diminutive of Ava, which is the same pronunciation as the name Eva as pronounced in Village.

Baker: Occupational surname. In older times consider an upper-middle class job, much like the family. Also adds the emphasis of the “food” and also how they essentially make more molded.

Jack: God is gracious, supplanter. A nickname for John and other related names, but also a name in itself. It is also a word with a couple meanings, including a heavy lifting tool, to steal something, to take control of something, or an everyman.

Margueritte: Pearl. French name for ox-eyed daisy. Derived from Margaret. Sounds like maggot.

Lucas: Light. Derived from Lucius which means “the bright one” or “the one born at dawn”. Luke is also an Apostle of Jesus and was a physician.

Zoe: Life. Came from the name Eve. Fitting as Zoe was practically pushed out of the family after Eveline’s arrival, replaced as the daughter of the family.

Joe: He will add. Was added as DLC. Short for Joseph. Joseph is the name of multiple biblical figures. One is a child of Jacob and Rachel and Jacob’s favorite son in Genesis (note: Jack is a nickname for Jacob) who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, but rose to become vizier, the most powerful position nest to the Pharoah, and forgave his family and brought them to Egypt. One is the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who loved and raised a child he knew was not his against social norms. Another is a disciple known as Joseph of Arimathea who notably took Jesus down from the cross for his burial and testified when he revived and was gone. 

Rosemary: Dew of the sea. Combination of Rose and Mary or the plant rosemary. Roses as a plant vary in meaning depending on color. Mary and its variations have many differing meanings, among them being, “beloved”, “love”, “bitter”, “rebellious”, “wished-for child”, and “drop of the sea”. There are also the allusions to Mary, mother of Jesus as she is sometimes worshipped with roses, and you say Hail Marys on your rosary which is only two letters from her name. In regards to the plant, it is relatively resistant to drought and cold, though some breeds are susceptible to frost and they don’t like too much water. They have fibrous roots, so they spread and fan out like we see with the mold. They thrive in more alkaline soils and seem to have been named by a taxonomist named Carl  Linnaeus. In stories, folklore, and tradition, the plants or flowers are often used for remembrance, specifically for the dead. It’s also been used as a spice and in medicine.

Miranda: Worthy of admiration. Latin in origin. Character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and whether she is a strong female character or not is highly debated, as she frequently defies men like her father, but often when they expect and/or want her to. She is otherwise compassionate and naive. The titular character of a Polish novel in which everyone is a mage and Miranda is a medium connected to another character, Damayanti, who is portrayed as the ideal woman and has a romance with the male protagonist, yet sacrifices her body so her spirit can experience a higher state of consciousness. Miranda can contact her soul, and disappears when she dies. Miranda in the US refers to the required practice by police of reading suspects their rights before interrogation.

Eva: Latin form of “Eve” and meaning “life”, “mother of life”, or “giver of life”.

Duke: A ruler of a duchy. A title bestowed by royalty or passed through family, often given to royalty or nobility, but can be given to anyone. In France,  the peerage system was abolished in 1789 (vive la révolution), brought back in 1814, and finally perma-abolished in 1848. 

(Note: While the wife of a duke becomes a duchess, the husband of a duchess does not become a duke. At least, from what I gather. This shit is confusing.)

Alcina: Strong-willed. Greek origin. There are two operas using the same story about a sorceress named Alcina who lives on an island with her sister Morgana and seduces every knight who comes to the island, but turns them into plants, animals, or stones when she bores of them. When the source of her power is destroyed, she, her sister, and their palace crumble to dust. The Hungarian name for Alțâna, a commune in Sibiu County, Romania in the historical region of Transylvania.

Bela: Bela Lugosi was an actor who famously portrayed Dracula. His name is Hungarian and meant to be spelled Béla meaning “heart”, “insides”, or “intestines”, roughly translating to “having heart” or “having guts” in modern terminology, as in being brave. However it is considered a male name and as Bela is female there is also the possibility of the influence of the name Bella short an l, Bella an Italian name meaning “beautiful”.

Cassandra: The one who shines and excels over men. Name of a Trojan princess and priestess in Greek mythology. She was given her gift of prophecy by the god Apollo but, in most versions of the tale, he asks for sexual favors in return, and she initially agrees but then rejects him once she’s gotten her gift. In anger he cursed her to always tell true prophecies that no one would believe and was thus thought a madwoman. She served a temple of Athena, goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare. When Cassandra was assaulted and possibly raped in Athena’s temple and dragged out while desperately clinging to Athena’s statue, Athena was so enraged by the damage done to her temple and/or her priestess that she enlisted the help of both Zeus and Poseiden to exact revenge on the Greeks for failing to punish the man who attacked Cassandra and caused the resulting damage. Zeus gave her one of his own bolts of lightning and she struck them down at sea. While Cassandra was never believed, she was always right.

Daniela: God is my judge. Feminine form of Daniel. Daniela is also a genus of moth with only one species in the genus, Daniela viridis. It is also another name for the Italian wine grape Prè blanc.

Dimitrescu: Child of Dimitri. -escu suffixes in Romanian are like -son suffixes in English, it derives from parentage (ex. Jackson is Jack’s son, Dimitrescu is Dimitri’s child). Dimitri means “devoted to Demeter”. Demeter is the Greek goddess of the harvest, agriculture, sacred law (i.e. cycle of life and death), fertility, and the earth. Like many Greek myths, she is repeatedly wronged, and rather severely, by multiple male figures. Demeter in particular is a mother who has her daughter Kore, later known as Persephone, stolen away from her and goes on a rampage searching for her and those responsible.

(Note: Considering the founders had these names it’s a bit dumb seeing as this trend of parentage -escu names supposedly came about mid 19th century (1800s for those who find that confusing cuz I do), long after the Village was founded)

Donna: Lady or lady of the home. Italian name and a title of respect. Derives from the Latin term Dominus. The Romanian form of the word (not the name) is Doamnã. The Atropa belladonna aka deadly nightshade have berries and foliage that contain tropane alkaloids including atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine which are extremely toxic and can cause hallucinations and delirium, but are also used in pharmaceutical anticholinergics. Throughout history people cluelessly used the berry juice as eye drops to cosmetically dilate their pupils, giving them a seductive doll-eyed appearance. Symptoms of belladonna poisoning are dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, tachycardia, loss of balance, staggering, headache, rash, flushing, severely dry mouth and throat, slurred speech, urinary retention, constipation, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, and convulsions. The plant's deadly symptoms are in atropine’s ability to disrupt the parasympathetic nervous system’s involuntary regulation like sweating, breathing, and heartbeat.

Angie: Diminutive of many names containing “angel”. Angels are messengers and warriors of Heaven, a realm souls go after death. Angel statues are also common grave markers. Children are also often told they have guardian angels, a being watching over them to protect them.

Claudia: No sure meaning has been found, but some think it comes from claudus, meaning “lame”, “limping”, or “crippled”, or clausus, which means “shut” or “closed”.

Beneviento: Good wind. Neapolitan spelling of Benevento, the name of both a province and its capital city, located in the Campania region of Italy.

Salvatore: Savior. Italian name. In the movie version (I specify as I have not read the book and the movie synopsis has more on the characters) of The Name of the Rose, the character Salvatore is hunch-backed and twisted, and has a history of not-really-acceptable religious beliefs. He was also tortured and falsely accused of witchcraft. He dies when a library is set on fire.

Moreau: Moorish, dark-skinned. French surname. Titular doctor in The Island of Doctor Moreau, in which said doctor performs disturbing and torturous experiments on people and animals, especially through vivisection, to make beastial humanoid creatures.

Karl: Free man, strong man, manly. Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made notably important contributions to hydrodynamics, ferromagnetism, cosmic rays, and subatomic particles. Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, and socialist revolutionary who believed societies develop through class conflict, and in a capitalist society this is the “ruling” class (the bosses) having power over the working class. He believed people should have equal footing and should and would inevitably fight for it. Karl Jaspers was a German existentialist philosopher and psychiatrist. His humanist ideals had him dissatisfied with the medical community’s approach to mental health and worked to improve it, and philosophizing on it after.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Since I’ve seen accusations of the RE character and his influences being so, I feel I must state it here. Karl Heisenberg is NOT a Nazi. Both Heisenberg and Jaspers lived through World War II and neither were Nazis. Jaspers was blackwalled because of his Jewish wife. Heisenberg was forcibly drafted into the Army Weapons Bureau, but pre-war he had been repeatedly slandered as a “white Jew” and his career held back, and post-war became more political, worked against traditional primacy in the education system, and actively protested the government considering equipping the army with American nuclear weapons. Capcom reps have also stated that Karl Heisenberg has nothing to do with Nazis.)

Heisenberg: Calling mountain (could not find a specific definition, “heisen” means “to call” and “berg” means “mountain or hill”). Reference to Werner Karl Heisenberg, (explained above). Likely unrelated, but another well-known (in the US at least) name thief of Heisenberg comes from the popular TV show Breaking Bad as the alias/street name for the main character Walter White who takes the name and starts selling drugs when he is unable to afford medical care for his in-need child, but grows more twisted throughout the series. Also place name.

Berengario: Italian form of Berengar, which is derived from Germanic root words meaning “bear” and “spear”.

Cesare: Italian form of the Latin word Caesar, which is an imperial title like an emperor or empress. The word Caesar itself may come from caesaries meaning “hairy”. 

Guglielmo: Italian form of the Germanic William, meaning “vehement protector” or “desired helmet”

Nichola: Anglicized form of the Greek Nikolaos meaning “victory of the people”. Also a variant of Nicholas (Considered a female variant but fuck gender roles and the description says he.). This character is also referred to as Father like a priest I looked into saints and while I found no notable Saint Nichola (meaning on Wikipedia) there are multiple Saint Nicholases, most notably Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as the Wonderworker and the model of Santa Claus. Stories of him include gifting gold coins through a window of a home for three nights to prevent three girls from being forced into prostitution, calming a storm at sea, saving three soldiers from execution, and chopping down a possessed tree. More connected to where his treasure is found, there is also a tale of him resurrecting three children who had been murdered by a butcher who had had intended to sell their meat as “pork” during the famine.

*BONUS TIME*

By that I mean these are less important so I did slightly less research and/or didn’t  feel like typing all the research so there’s less info, but it’s still relevant, so here you go!

Chris: A rare name in its own right, often a shortened version of names like Christopher, meaning “Christ-bearer”, and Christian, as in the religion.

Redfield: Literally red field. Fitting for the trail of blood in his wake because have mercy on any of his enemies, but regrettably including many of his friends and allies (rip in peace Piers Nivans). 

Elena: Shining light. Greek origin.

Leonardo: Strong as a lion. Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese version of Leonard.

Lupu: Wolf. Romanian surname. Fitting as the surname of the man we saw become a lycan before our eyes. 

Luiza: Renowned warrior. Polish, Portuguese, and Romanian name.

Iulian: Romanian name from the Greek iulius meaning “youthful” or “juvenile”, or ioulos meaning “downy-bearded”.

Vasile: Romanian name from the Greek basileus meaning ”king”. Vasile Voiculescu wrote a poem called Schimnicul, The Recluse in English, about varcolacul.

(Note: For those who don’t recall or didn’t notice his name in Ethan’s diary, this is Luiza’s husband.)

Rolando: Famous throughout the land. Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese variant of Roland.

Elba: Spanish form of Alba, which can mean “dawn”, “white”, or “elf”, depending on origin.

Dion: Shorter form of Greek Dionysios meaning “of Zeus”.

Wilson: Lineage surname, “Will’s son”. Very common surname in English.

Charlie: A name in itself but often a nickname for names like Charles meaning “man” or “warrior”

Graham: Gravelly homestead. Habitational surname, apparently derived from Grantham in Lincolnshire, England.

John: God is gracious. The most common name ever with the most variations.

Perlman: Ashkenazi Jewish surname. Also literal, “perl” possibly meaning “pearl” thus being an occupational name, or Perl being a woman’s name making it mean “husband of Perl”.

Emily: Rival. Latin name. 

Berkoff: Could be Jewish, Dutch, or German surname. Definition not quite certain, but likely related to birch trees.

Josef: German, Czech, and Scandinavian version of Joseph.  

Simon: He has heard. From Hebrew Shim’on.

Roxana: Bright, dawn. Latin form of Greek Rhoxane and Persian Roshanak.

Anton: Priceless, praiseworthy, flower.

Sebastian: From the Latin name Sebastianus which meant “from Sebaste”. Sebaste is a town in Asia Minor and comes from the Greek word sebastos meaning “venerable”.

Eugen: Well-born.Romanian form of Eugene. From the Greek name Eugenios. 

(Note: This is the man who lived in the house with the red chimney.)

Ernest: Serious. Germanic name.

(Note: This man is noted to be missing in a letter to Luiza and his diary is found with the Cannibal’s Plunder in Otto’s Mill.)