#anyways these all have some level of magic because that is my ja

[you-are-my-neverland]

*disclaimer: will this actually decide my fate? who knows, but it's fun to do it anyways.

option one: eight years ago, helena yang died, taking cian byrne with her and ending the horror. the red revolution won, and the doomsday prophecy was fulfilled. in the new commonwealth, all magic users are created equal, and people no longer have to suffer under the previous reign of terror.

but everything is not what it seems. there is a coffin in the woods that should never be opened. the white wraiths, a terrorist organization, haunt the streets, and a mysterious assassin called the magician eludes capture. and in the corners of the city, the rot slowly creeps back in...

in which helena yang was the chosen one, cian byrne was the antichrist, and when they died, they left legacies behind that have yet to be filled. alice yang, helena's younger sister, has made it her mission to hunt down the elusive magician, while kellan st. trinita grapples with being handed a legacy he doesn't know what to do with. and in the woods, someone wakes up...

my baby for the past couple of months. i'm 16k into a draft (and 26k into the planning doc lol), but i ran out of ordered plot so it's at a bit of a standstill despite the numerous ideas bouncing around in my head. definitely want to work on it, but it has a ton going on with character threads and plots, etc etc.

option two: in a world where the earth, sky, and sea were created from the bodies of gods in a sort of sacrifice-creation-by-dismemberment cosmogony, the 'hearts,' the power sources of the gods, are lost. whoever finds them will possess unimaginable power. the search for the sea goddess', nisa's, heart has led to a surge of piracy in the past decades - in a world where you become a pirate or live under them, many turn to the sea for better options and opportunities.

for arete, the quest for nisa's heart is not what she wants, but rather her destiny. daughter of a famous pirate captain, arete's skin bears a map that will lead her to the heart - if she can make it out to sea first. saved as a child by akane and her mother, then separated from akane later when pirates attack their village, the two promise to find one another. they travel different but parallel paths as akane struggles to survive and become the strongest warrior, and arete strives to find the pefect crew to become the strongest on the seas and free herself from her cursed destiny.

currently worldbuilding on this one, and there's sooo many interesting elements that i really like (and that are too hard to explain in a little summary so sorry if it reads confusing). the first little bit would be sort of a precursor to the actual story, taking place in the five-six years akane and arete are living together up until their violent separation. the present timeline would begin six years later, when arete starts to actually build her crew.

option three: set in a futuristic world where sensors - those born with certain enhanced senses - exist. saing knows who killed her brother, but with no body ever found, there is nothing she can do about it. her search for justice brings her to the seedy underground, where a vigilante assassin who goes by the name of foxglove is said to exact revenge for those who can convince them.

however, when one of the suspected culprits behind her brother's death - noe, the head of sca (sensor control agency) - falls into a coma before she or foxglove can get to him, the situation becomes more complicated. pilar, the successor to noe's position and his protegee, becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding the man she considers her savior, and in the hunt for foxglove.

still very much planning this one, but it's been an idea in my head for a while, i just haven't had time to dedicate to it. there's so much i like about it, and a lot of scenes jumbled together, plus the basis for the plot is pretty much there. again, there's a lot more going on than i can succinctly explain in two paragraphs (this was my first time trying to summarize it), but basically there's human experimentation (always a hallmark of my wips i know), children who never escape the cycle of abuse, class differences, characters making bad decisions, and some really complicated relationships (hurt people hurt people and then help them hurt other people or something like that...)

option four: i work on all four at once and the only thing i draft completely are my history papers (the most unproductive option, because if i don't focus on one i won't really make serious headway into any of them. but in all honesty i'll be thinking about all of them during the month anyways so?)

[sockablock]

I’ve had a small idea for a little while now, so I’m testing the waters with a first chapter! It’s a bit long, so excuse me there, but hopefully y’all enjoy reading! :3

—

It began with a letter that arrived one morning as Essek sat alone in the kitchen.

The courier himself had seemed just as surprised to be delivering a message to the reclusive Shadowhand, but a cursory glance at the carefully-folded envelope and a less-cursory casting of Detect Magic had signaled no foul play. So Essek took the letter, settled back beside the dining table, and floated over a glass of chilled juice for the reading.

His eyes flicked over the return address, and though it did seem familiar, it did not immediately spark recognition. His first real impression of the message was simply that of crisp, neatly-printed handwriting and the faintest whiff of…hmm. Lavender.

The letter began with a standard greeting.

To Shadowhand Essek Thelyss—

I hope you have been keeping well since we spoke. It has been some time, and I admit it is strange for me also as I realize this is likely the first letter I have sent you since our meeting.

He sipped the juice.

You are a busy man, and I would not intrude on your time if my request is unwelcome or unfeasible. But you see, in the time since we have ended the war and sealed away the Chained Oblivion—

Essek nearly spat out his drink.

He managed, in the proceeding moments, to weakly swallow, and shakily set his glass back onto the table. He cleared his throat once or twice. He gently coughed.

He picked up the envelope he had discarded earlier and quickly, the pieces fit together.

The Firmaments. Eastern district. The neighborhood where once, Den Thelyss had provided a house for a ragtag group of outsiders…

He snatched the letter back into the air.

—and semi-accidentally, though certainly also purposefully toppled the Cerberus Assembly.

Essek had to pause and re-read that sentence. It still didn’t sink in until nearly a minute later. He rubbed his temples, and resumed.

As such, it has befallen on I, and by extension the rest of the Mighty Nein to rebuild some of the arcane infrastructure of the Empire. To be more specific, in our meeting with King Dwendal’s court, a lord accused us of trying to cripple the nation by eliminating a powerful institution of magic and Beauregard volunteered that I would be the best candidate to replace it. One comment led to another, and perhaps it was our past efforts in politicking, or our recent defeat of the Maw of Eternal Darkness—

Essek wondered if he had any alcohol.

—but the court ultimately, shockingly, decided that I should be put in charge of creating and overseeing a new arcane academy for the Dwendalian Empire. And so, at the time in which I am writing you this letter, I have been appointed the Headmaster of a new Soltryce Academy, though I certainly will not be keeping that name.

It is with this in mind that I am writing to you now, my friend. For you see, despite the apparent confidence of my friends and my “superiors,” I do not believe I am capable of running a school on my own. Certainly not implementing the necessary infrastructure to have a school of any repute by the next century as well. And though I have my friends, and some resources, and an idea of where to start, the destruction of the Assembly and the Cobalt Soul’s anti-corruption efforts have left our nation in a sorry state regarding reputable mages. So, my dear friend, as we have worked together in the past, I have quite a large favor to ask.

And as Essek’s eyes continued scanning further down the page, the sinking sensation gripping his stomach was not helped by the decanter of plum wine that floated over to his table.

—

Meanwhile, beneath a shining sun on what seemed like the opposite side of the world, Caleb Widogast, the appointed head of a yet-to-be-named-academy was being berated by one of his closest friends.

Beau at least had possessed the decency to shut the tent flap so the army of woodworkers outside would not hear this.

“—suspicious! Caleb, there’s no way it’ll work. And not just because he’s the Shadowhand of the Bright Queen, also because…because…well…everything!”

“I think if he carried an umbrella during the day—”

“Not what I’m talking about,” Beau said. “I’m talking about literally every other problem that asking Essek to teach will cause, good gods.”

Caleb leaned back on the small wooden crate that was currently serving as his favorite chair. The slightly-larger crate he was using for a desk said “Honigblumen Brewery” on it.

“Well, nobody will be teaching for quite some time yet,” he said, “so we will have plenty of chances to work out the kinks.”

Beau shook her head at him, then took a seat. “I’m so far down disbelief city that I’m not even going to talk about the fact that you just said kinks.”

“I meant—”

She waved a dismissive hand. “I know what you meant, and here’s what I mean. Caleb, as much as I know you like Essek, there’s no way any of this is gonna work. First of all, he’s already got a job as the Shadowhand, and I doubt he’d wanna give up a cushy position like that to come work for a nothing-at-all school in the middle of the Empire.”

“Ja, I know, I know, I’ve thought about that—”

“And did you think about the part where he’s the fucking Shadowhand and you’ve asked him to come to the middle of the Dwendalian Empire to teach a goddamn gen-ed course?!”

Caleb was quiet for a moment. And then he said:

“Actually, I was thinking of asking him to take the more advanced levels—”

Beau reached across the ale crate to flick Caleb in the head. “And you don’t see a problem with that, at all? Caleb, for the gods’ sake, use your stupidly big head to consider the fuckin’ political ramifications of that. If the Empire catches wind of this, they’re gonna hate it, war over or not over. And I don’t even mean that in a ‘there’s gonna be shitty racism’ way, which is something else you’ll probably have to deal with later, I meant that in a ‘think about his last job description way.” And speaking of that, I mean, on Essek’s side, really, are you really expecting him to really settle down and help teach after he’s spent a lifetime—a human lifetime—being a military spymaster? Not to mention the fact that he’s a power-hungry war criminal who betrayed his own nation to get ‘arcane secrets’ or whatever. Seriously, dude, there’s no scenario where this goes well for you or him.”

At Caleb’s expression, Beau’s tone eased just slightly and she added, as a peace offering, “Really, dude.”

Caleb sighed. He scratched at his head.

“I…look. I…I think you’re right, but…there are also good possibilities of having him around. He is knowledgeable, he is skilled, I know his magic firsthand, and he has always been trustworthy—”

“Ha!”

“—for us, Beauregard. I think he is one of our best potential candidates, especially as he is only one of three so far. Just…trust me on this one, alright?”

She studied his face intently. The sheerness of the tent walls let in quite a bit of light, giving both of their eyes a faint, sunny sparkle.

With these two, though, it was more of a manic glint.

“What’s this really about?”

“Was?”

Beau leaned closer. “I said, what’s this really about? I don’t think that’s your only motivation. And if I’m gonna trust you, you’ve gotta be straight with me. I know you’re not an idiot, so I believe you when you say you’ve thought about the risks. What’s made them all worth it? What do you really think, and don’t give me that crap about him being a good teacher. You’ve got good teachers. Two advanced ones anyway, and you said yourself yesterday that the rest can be trained. So what’s up? What’s your real game here?”

Caleb floundered only slightly under the intensity of her stare.

“How long have we known each other now? No, fuck that, I pulled you out of the mouth of a forsaken god. Tell me, dickwad. Come on, it’s me.”

And after a moment, Caleb pinched his nose.

“It’s…it’s… it’s partially selfish. And…”

This, Beau understood. She nodded. “And…?”

“And…well, I…was thinking last night, after dinner, about who I want on this project. Aside from you all. And I realized…thinking about everything we have been through, that…for the most part, especially after our…revelations at sea, Essek is one of the people I want around. Largely because, well…”

He gave another sigh.

“Because I want to see what has become of our Xhorhastian friend. More importantly, I want to see if he has…or…could, ah, change.”

“Change,” she said flatly.

“Ja. I…I think I need to seem him change.”

“Because?”

“Because...” Caleb exhaled. “After everything we have been through, what we have seen, after fighting against the Assembly and watching so many mages crumble, I find myself searching for…assurance. Assurance that not every wizard is bad. Assurance that we even deserve this second change. And…if at all possible, what I most would like is to know that anyone, even the most driven and ambitious, the most ruthless, cutthroat, power—as you said, power-hungry—wizard can be shown that there is another way. That…ultimately, all of us can be redeemed.”

He looked back up, and raised an eyebrow. “I want to make this school a force for change. And I want to make it a place where we change, too. I said once before, and I still believe it is so, that Essek and I have a lot of things in common. It is time to see how much we can be changed.”

Beau did not answer for a drawn-out moment, but neither did she look away.

“I think you’re pretty changed, Caleb. That should be a point in your corner already.”

“That’s true,” and this time his smile was a little brighter, “but that is largely due to our group. I think Essek has gotten some of the Mighty Nein treatment, but probably not enough.”

“So…so is he your pet project now, or something?”

“Ach, no, nothing so…no. It is more of a…the thing is, Beauregard, I do consider him a friend. And we got so caught up with the Angel in Irons cult and then the Assembly that, well…it is just, before all that happened, I did like spending time with him.”

“Me too,” she waved a hand, “he had good wine, and when we got him in the hot-tub, he wasn’t that bad. Still don’t know if he’s worth all this. He’s a war criminal—yeah, I know what you and Jester think, but that’s what I think, and Veth agrees. Seriously, you never know, he could be too far gone, and I don’t want him near this school and project if it’ll put you in danger or risk anything.”

“We are no strangers to danger,” Caleb murmured. “And I…would like to think that with enough effort, nobody could be so far gone.”

Beau sighed. She leaned across the crate again, but this time it was to put an arm on Caleb’s shoulder.

“You’re really fucking stubborn, you know that?”

“Ja, so I have been told.”

“Essek has betrayed people before. His people, before.”

“Yes, but…” Caleb shrugged. “He also will probably be betraying his own nation to join this school.”

“Oh, good,” Beau grunted. “So at least he’s had some practice.”

—

By the time Essek had managed to re-arrange his thoughts into something even mildly resembling order, the letter in his hands was so thoroughly crumpled that all its corners were bent.

He attempted to smooth them back out. When this failed to be satisfactory, he put it back on the kitchen table.

A…teaching position at Caleb’s school. Well not Caleb’s school, but a new Empire Academy that Caleb would oversee. And they needed instructors, as well as mages to help build it, and he thought Essek would be a good fit…

Idly, he wondered if Caleb wanted a teleportation network, as many of the finest institutions had. He wondered if this was something he would have to organize.

Apparently, the Mighty Nein had defeated the Chained Oblivion in some obscure corner of the world, without most of civilization even noticing. But Essek remembered the readings that morning, remembered the clamor and panic in the Cathedral, remembered the theurgists in the Conservatory practically tearing themselves apart to understand what was happening. If their claims were true, and this wasn’t an elaborate prank on the Mighty Nein’s end, a large part of Essek vowed he would draw chalk circles for them forever, if they asked.

But a small part of Essek had the needling thought: why didn’t they tell me it was happening? I could have helped them.

He glanced back at the note.

Well, they were asking for help now, weren’t they? And if nothing else had changed, it was the simple fact that Essek would still do his best to help his friends.

There were just some minor complications to be dealt with.

Namely, what to tell the Bright Queen. And his—

He made a face.

—and his mother.

—

A few days later, Essek stood in front of his bathroom mirror.

It was a beautiful piece, made from polished volcanic glass and set into an ornately-twisted frame of dark metal. It was the perfect gift for someone who regularly floated around Rosohna being called the Shadowhand, but as far as mirrors actually went it left some details lacking.

Still, it served Essek well enough, and he’d never really gotten around to replacing it.

He stared into his dim reflection and slid a hand over his chin.

—

Elsewhere, another wizard stared too, but not into any reflective surface.

Veth’s eyes hadn’t refracted light like that for nearly two years, now. But Caleb could still feel the weight of her gaze boring into his skull as she searched for answers.

Eventually, she sat back.

“Alright. How?”

“Yes, I know it’s—was?”

“How?” she repeated, and steepled her fingers. “How are we gonna do it? He’ll need a disguise, right?”

There was a long pause as Caleb processed this. He managed, “You are…not mad?”

“Well, it’s not like I’m happy, but I trust you, Caleb. You have a reason?”

“Er…yes. I quite do.”

“So…alright, then.” There was a pause, then she added, “I am kind of annoyed you already sent the letter without asking, though.”

“Sorry.”

“I feel like I should ground you.”

“That, er…you can, if that makes you feel better.”

Veth genuinely seemed to consider this. Behind them, through the thin tent-walls of the office, they could hear a delighted child running circles around adults. They were, respectively, Luc Brenatto, having the time of his life shooting the Mighty Nein with wooden darts.

They were rounded off, of course. Yeza had seen to that with great care.

“No,” Veth sighed eventually. “No, that probably sets a bad example. I don’t think a professor can ground the Headmaster.”

“Head Professor, do not forget. I trust you the most out of everyone on this project. Not just because you are my friend, but you are qualified. And you really understand our mission.”

His tone of voice suggested that this was a conversation they had had many times. The way Veth’s face colored just slightly suggested she was still having trouble with the ‘qualified’ part.

Nevertheless, years of trained suspicion broke through the treacle-sweet flattery.

“But you didn’t trust me enough to tell me you were planning to ask Essek to come earlier,” she pointed out. “What did you think I was going to do?”

Caleb winced. “No, Veth, I…scheisse. That was…I was being impulsive that night. I…the idea occurred to me and I did not even hesitate to contact him. I…in retrospect, I should have.”

At least, to his relief, Veth nodded in response. “I get that,” she shrugged. “And like I said before, I am on board. You’re lucky I like you so much, Caleb. I don’t…care for Essek, but if this is what you want, I’ll…deal with having him around.”

“I am sorry again,” he said. “And, er…if it helps, you will also be his boss.”

Veth hadn’t been a goblin for years, but her eyes gleamed.

“Please be nice to him,” Caleb added.

“Nice?” Veth scoffed. “He’s not exactly nice.”

“He was nice to us—”

“Not Yeza.”

At the tortured grimace that passed across Caleb’s face, Veth sighed.

“Look, don’t worry, seriously. I was mostly kidding—I’m kidding! I just…you know that I have complicated feelings about Essek. In a…in a sort of way, I understand what he did. And I know where he’s coming from, I do. Lots of us are...well, we were pretty sketchy too. He really reminds me of the things we’ve done. But…he hasn’t shown nearly as much remorse as I’d like. And some of the things he’s done are—” She risked a glance up into Caleb’s impassive expression, “—I don’t like that he still doesn’t seem to care. But…he is a wizard, and I guess he’s our friend. So…if you can keep him from doing anything, I don’t know, very sketchy, then I’m on board. I trust you.”

Caleb’s expression went soft. He nodded.

“Thank you, Veth. I appreciate your cooperation in this matter.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“And I do hope that…well, I hope we can stop him from ‘sketchy’ things. In fact, ah…a small part of me is hoping that eventually, he will want to stop doing sketchy things all by himself.”

“Really?” Veth sounded more than skeptical. “How?”

Caleb shrugged. “The same way you and I did, no?”

—

Now Essek stood before the iron wrought gates that led into the expansive manor grounds of his family home. He could see, high above and a bit back, the five towers that made up the domain of the Umavi of Den Thelyss, long empty after all her children had moved on.

And, Essek recalled with a grimace, after his father had most probably, definitely, died.

It was a lonely castle. A feeling he could commiserate with, even in his smaller manor.

He straightened his collar. He knocked twice.

—

“By getting rich as adventurers.”

“By getting friends.”

—

“It is a surprise to see you here,” said Umavi Deirta Thelyss, Denmother of Den Thelyss and also Essek’s actual mother. “You rarely visit outside formal events and holidays.”

She did not add that Essek had totally missed the last two get-togethers, and thus must have been in a charitable mood. The rare—albeit leftover—tea blend that Essek had brought might have tipped the scale.

“I know, Mother.”

“I worry about you, of course.”

“I know, Mother.”

“And I’m certainly proud of what you’ve accomplished thus far.” At this, she took a sip of the Blooming Grove’s best. “I trust you are finding ways to keep yourself busy even during these times of peace?”

“Of course, Mother. Er…actually, it is partially that subject which I wish to address with you.”

His mother lowered her cup.

“Ah. So this is not purely a social call.”

“Er…no.”

She dabbed at the corner of her mouth, but Essek could have sworn she’d just smiled. Or, he backpedaled, at least tactfully smirked.

“Is this about access to the Beacons again, dear? As I always say, I can try to put in a word, but we have never been the den as involved in religious matters.” She paused, and tilted her head at him. “Is this about Consecution?”

“Er…no.”

“Oh. Well, then? Speak your mind.”

Under the table, Essek twisted at the hem of his sleeve.

“I, ah…well, that is…I’ve received a letter, Mother. An offer of…professorship. From…an Academy.”

This seemed to genuinely surprise the Umavi.

“Professorship? But…why?”

“Someone out there believes in my arcane prowess, apparently.” With the first sentence out of the way, Essek managed to sip his tea. Only a true observer would have noticed it falter slightly in its trajectory.

“Well,” said his Mother, trying to meet his gaze, “what a strange request to make of one already so gainfully employed. As the Bright Queen’s master of…let us call them the more obscure matters of state.”

When Essek did not match her eyes, she continued, “What sort of Academy is this, dear? Surely none in the Marble Tomes would write you in this way, and I find difficulty imagining you taking up permanent residence in Asarius. Which must mean…”

Essek sighed. His mother certainly was a true observer.

“Yes, Mother. It is outside the Dynasty.”

“Worse than that, I am sure.”

“Er…”

There was a sweeping of long robes as his mother leaned. She wasn’t wearing her headdress, but could loom without height, her sheer imposing presence doing the work just fine.

“Essek?”

He sighed again.

“Inside the Empire, Mother.” And because they had gotten this far, and he didn’t have much else to lose, he added, “Run by Widogast. Caleb Widogast, if you remember him, as well as a number of his friends, I gather. It is the…replacement institution currently being built to fill the void—”

“That the Assembly left, yes, I assumed.” She settled back, and a shifting of fabric indicated that she had crossed her arms. “And our dearly departed hero Widogast wants you to teach there?”

“And to assist him in establishing some of its curriculum and facilities, yes.” He tactfully ignored the ‘dearly departed’ bit.

“That would certainly be an odd career move for you, Essek. And surely, foreigner or no, he has spent enough time in our country to be aware of the implications of what he is asking.”

“Surely, Mother.”

“And as we all know, he has had training in Dunamancy these last years. I do hope his teacher had impressed upon him how vitally important it is to keep such training and knowledge a secret.”

For the first time since reading the letter, Essek paused.

In all his…well, excitement was not a word ever ascribed to the Shadowhand, but certainly in his anticipation to consider his offer, it had never actually crossed his mind that he might be asked to teach Dunamancy.

A small but very significant part of him riled.

Across the table, his mother drank some more tea. She was watching her son, who to his credit, had mastered the art of freezing his micro-expressions so swiftly that they could not be read. But without his mantle on, sitting in his mother’s tearoom, his hands were fidgeting up a storm across the table.

He probably hadn’t even noticed. She took another sip.

In a matter of seconds, Essek was back. He shook his head, and reached for a dry cookie.

“I think he is aware of the gravity of the situation. And I trust him to have already, ah…weighed the pros and cons.”

“And have you?” asked Deirta Thelyss, knowing the answer.

Essek bit down.

“I believe I have.”

—

“So…that’s it? We just wait for an answer, now?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he’ll say yes?”

“Well, I certainly hope so.”

“How’s he supposed to tell you?” This one was Jester, leaning across a stack of milk crates. “He doesn’t have Sending, I’m pretty sure.”

There was a pause in the air as the Mighty Nein watched Caleb consider, and realize this.

“Oh,” he said eventually. “I, er…I had assumed he did.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Beau said. “How did you think he was going to answer back? You didn’t think Xhorhas had a postal service to Felderwin, did you?”

“I, ah, admit that—”

“Maybe you should check our mailbox in Rosohna,” said Fjord kindly. “He probably just sent it to the Xhorhouse, or something.”

Caleb faltered, and scratched the back of his head. “…scheisse. You don’t think he has been waiting all this time to answer already, has he? I had not even considered—”

“I would not worry about that.”

All of them turned as a voice outside the door drifted in through the thin walls of the tent.

Then the voice added:

“How do I…oh, there is a latch—”

But he did not manage to finish the assessment before Jester ran over, threw the flap open, and tackled Essek bodily in a hug.

—

“In that case, there is only one last thing to say.” The Umavi of Den Thelyss sat back in her seat. A thin trail of steam curled up from her cup.

“I forbid you from going.”

“Thank—you what?”

She steepled her fingers. “I say ‘no,’ Essek. I will not let you chase this Empire wizard across the continent to teach at his school.”

“I…but…that is not…Mother, why?”

The swiftness of his outburst answered the question for both of them.

She studied his gaze.

“Essek, you have a purpose here. You have a bright future, and a reputation, and glowing prospects and I will not let you squander that to go off spilling our nation’s secrets.”

Essek managed to bite his tongue just in time. His mother would not have liked his instinctual answer.

Instead, he choked out the words, “I’ll quit, then. I’ll defect. I want to do this. More than I have ever wanted anything else in my life.”

Later, he would wonder why he said that. Even later, later, he would wonder if that were true.

The oldest and nearly-youngest souls of Den Thelyss stared at each other across the tea table. Their drinks cooled, and somewhere high above, the sun began to rise over the city of Rosohna.

But down here, beneath the blanket of perpetual stars, the only light was from the low, flickering lamps along the wall.

“I would do anything,” one said.

“…is that so?” said the other.

—

He was released after the impact knocked his parasol aside and his skin very quickly, visibly, began to redden. They immediately ushered him into the tent, shouting and laughing and clapping him on the back all the way, though he noticed that despite the friendly reception from Jester, Caduceus, Fjord, and even Yasha, Veth seemed somewhat frozen in her smile, and Beau even less warm.

That was…probably to be expected, actually. He wondered if this might present an issue and was about to open his mouth, say something, until he noticed a figure striding across the tent floor, side-stepping a stack of crates, and taking him by the hand.

Essek met his eyes. It had been some time, since he saw those eyes. Then he blinked.

“By the light, Caleb, you have grown a beard.”

There was a pause, and then Caleb laughed, and that was new too. Essek always forgot how quickly humans could change.

“I had meant to shave it before you arrived,” Caleb admitted. “It is, ah, a product of sleepless nights overseeing the construction of a new school.”

“It’s terrible,” Jester said. “It makes you look old.”

“I can fix this now if needed,” said a voice, followed by the sound of an unsheathing sword.

“Er…maybe…later, bitte?”

And Essek couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “I nearly forgot how boisterous all of you are, all the time. I have…” He turned, faced the Mighty Nein. “My life has not been nearly as interesting without you in it.”

“Well then, welcome back,” Caduceus gave a smile.

And even Veth, despite their…history, stepped forward.

“I said it once before, didn’t I? Welcome to the Mighty Nein, Essek.”

She even stuck out a hand for him to shake.

—

“I want you to report back everything to me. And when the time comes, when your Headmaster is summoned to the castle, I want you to go with him.”

“But…Mother, why?”

Her voice was nothing but gentle as she addressed her son.

“It is well-known that King Bertrand Dwendal has no heirs. And rules over quite a…combative court, with an iron fist.”

She leaned in even closer.

“What would happen to the Empire, do you think, if he was removed from that picture?”

—

And somewhere else, on what felt like the opposite side of the world, Caleb put an arm around Essek’s shoulder, and grinned.

“It is good to see you again, my friend.”

Essek’s lip twitched into what could approximately be called a smile.

“Good to see you as well,” he said.

[quinn-of-aebradore]

All the secrets I’ve kept

Barely getting this in before the day is up, for Day 4 of @essek-week. Prompt is guilt // family. I’ve only gotten back into writing fics very recently and this is nowehere near perfect, but fuck it. Might put in on AO3 at some point, idk. It’s angsty, it’s soft, the characterization is alright at best, and of course, very self indulgent. Read below the cut!

The Mighty Nein get some much needed respite from the perils of Aeor’s ruin and Essek learns some things about someone he cares for deeply.

The Mighty Nein made their way into the tower’s doorway. Caleb went last, shutting the door behind him. He hoped the spot they had chosen would be hidden enough that if the Tomb Takers came along, even with Lucien’s keen sight, they wouldn’t see it.

He turned away from the entrance, sighing. Everyone but Essek had headed up, but the drow was gazing at the entrance hall in a surprising amount of awe. Caleb stepped up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Would you like a tour, friend?”

Essek didn’t respond immediately, letting Caleb calling him ‘friend’ wash over him. “Yes,” he sounded calmer than he had in months, “I would like that very much.”

Caleb patted his shoulder and stepped forward. “Follow me then,” he stepped under the iris and willed himself upward.

It took Essek a moment to catch on but he was soon floating alongside Caleb. “Clever,” he said, with a slight delighted smirk on his face.

“I, ah, took some inspiration from the Astral Sea,”

Caleb glided out of the center and landed on the second floor. “This is the Great Hall and these,” he gestured at the sliding doors, “well, let me demonstrate.”

Essek moved to where Caleb had been standing as he approached one of the doors.

“Say you needed some alchemical equipment,” he opened the door and pulled out a table covered in vials and such, “Simply think of what you seek, and these rooms can provide it. Within reason, of course.” he grinned. He had wanted to share this with Essek for a long time.

The delighted look hadn’t faded from his face. “I can think of some things,”

Caleb grinned even wider as he put the table away and closed the door. “I have a feeling you will enjoy what is on the next level even more,” he returned to the open iris and willed himself up, Essek following behind.

The drow gasped as they arrived in the salon. Caleb beamed as his companion took in the shelves, the fireplace, the stained glass. “Was my assumption correct?”

“You are a wonder, Caleb Widogast.”

For a moment, Caleb’s pulse quickened and he flushed. “I, ah,” he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, “I still have quite a bit to learn,” he stumbled over the words. That compliment should not have thrown him this much.

Essek glanced at him, the smirk now a smile, a soft one. “Perhaps,” he drifted a bit closer, “But I am quite confident that you will soon surpass even me.”

“It was not so long ago that you held yourself so far above me,”

He had not meant it cruelly, but Essek still flinched the slightest bit. “I suppose I was wrong,” he sighed, “The best of my capabilities are not far from your reach, Caleb. You are so close. And that is incredible to see.” hesitantly, Essek reached out to put a hand on Caleb’s arm, but thought better of it and forced it back to his side.

“Then, perhaps, you can teach me a bit more,” 

Essek smiled, almost to himself, bit his lip. “If you’d have me.”

“We can discuss more after we eat. Now, there is a bit of the tour left. If you wish to continue.”

Essek nodded. “Absolutely.”

They floated higher, into the fourth floor. Caleb landed outside of the iris and mentioned for Essek to follow him. The drow drifted over and stood at his side. Caleb opened the doors leading into the dining hall and stepped inside. “We’ll all gather down here later. To plan, and to eat.”

Essek hovered around the edges of the room, taking it all in. He caught sight of the doors and turned to look at his companion, who was watching him curiously. “What’s through here?”

Caleb smirked, “Have a look.”

Essek gave him a look but opened the door he stood by anyways. The sight of cats and pastries was certainly a surprise. Caleb chuckled at the look on his face. “Is it the same…” his gaze drifted to the other door.

Caleb nodded then laughed again. “They can make anything you’d like,” he glanced back at the door to the central chamber, “How would you like to see where you will be sleeping?”

Essek smiled, nodded, and made his way out of the dining hall with Caleb. The pair floated onto the next floor and Caleb stepped outside the iris again. He approached an unmarked door and smiled at Essek, who had landed outside the central column. With quick glances at the other doors, he could tell they were Yasha’s and Caduceus’, marked with a lilac and a beetle.

He joined Caleb by the door, which he swung open. The pair stepped inside, Caleb staying by the door. Essek almost mindlessly moved deeper in, stunned by the care that had been put into the sitting room. It was all furnished in the same Xhorhasian style as his tower in Rosohna had been, colored in shades of grey, purple, and blue. Above the lit fireplace, the room’s stained glass window sat, depicting the Mighty Nein, all nine of them. Essek’s breath caught in his throat, his heart racing. “Caleb…” he managed, sparing the slightest glance over his shoulder.

He startled as a hand was placed on his shoulder. “It is to your liking?” he could feel Caleb’s breath on the back of his neck, and it took everything he had to not shudder. His touch was so gentle. Essek exhaled and brought his thoughts under control. He turned and smiled at Caleb.

“Yes… it’s... thank you.” there weren’t words for how he felt right now.

Caleb smiled at him, and it was so warm, so kind. Essek could feel his cheeks and the tips of his ears turn a darker shade of purple. He wondered if Caleb could feel how fast his heart was beating from where his hand sat on his shoulder.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he missed what Caleb said next. He only became aware again when he moved his hand onto his cheek. Essek gazed at him, into his eyes, the color of a clear sky. The emotions held inside them, so much sadness but so much care, made his racing heart ache. “Essek, if we survive this, come with us. You are one of us. We can protect you until it comes time we destroy those who would harm you.”

Another bout of breathlessness came to him. He couldn’t fathom how to respond to that. At his lack of response, Caleb pulled back, looking embarrassed. “I apologize, that was… I overstepped.”

Essek caught his arm. “No, Caleb, no you did not. I just… I can’t. I’m putting you into enough danger traveling with you now.”

Caleb shook his head. “Ikithon is chasing us now, chasing me. You are simply a bonus to his prize. We are the ones putting you in danger.”

“Why would… because he knows I taught you?”

Caleb locked up, his open expression slamming shut. Essek pulled his hand away, realizing he had treaded into unwelcome territory. “There’s more for you to see,” Caleb’s voice was jagged, unreadable.

Essek nodded and turned away, heading to the door. Beyond it was half a library, half a replica of his laboratory in Rosohna. It was perfect, and he told Caleb as such, only to get a stiff nod as a response. It was crushing, crossing a line he didn’t know was there. He knew he shouldn’t have expected Caleb to open up to him, not after everything he had done. But that hope, despite his best efforts, refused to die.

He went through the next door, into his bedroom. The same Xhorhasian style was reflected in the four-poster bed and various other furnishings. “Thank you Caleb. All of this… it is more than I could have ever hoped for.”

A slight crack appeared in the armor Caleb had put up. “Of course, my friend.”

Essek smiled at him, but it didn’t reach the delighted look he had held before, even at being called a friend again. It was sullied by guilt and embarrassment. Caleb returned it, his even more pained. “I’ll see you at dinner Essek.” and he turned and left.

As soon as he heard the first door close, Essek collapsed onto his bed. It was as soft as Caleb’s touch had been earlier. He sunk into it, allowing himself to fall into an exhausted, guilty, half-sleep.

-

Caleb locked his door behind him and he slid down it, knocking his head against the amber-veined wood.

“You’re a fool,” he muttered to himself in Zemnian, “he didn’t deserve that.”

He knew he should have told Essek about Ikithon, about everything he had endured and everything he had done. He had told him that devastating night that he was damned too, that they were the same. But not why. Something about that felt wrong. He knew Essek’s sins. He deserved to know his too.

-

An hour after dinner, Essek left his room and floated upward, to the seventh floor. He stood before the amber-veined door, taking many deep breaths that did nothing to slow his racing heart. They hadn’t talked after dinner like they’d agreed originally.

That’s your fault, a voice chimed in the back of his head. Essek forced himself to ignore it. He needed to talk to Caleb. With one final breath, he knocked on the door.

“Ja, come in.” he sounded better than he had at dinner whenever Essek spoke.

Essek stepped inside and was surprised by how barebones the sitting room was. His room, and he assumed the rest, were crafted with so much love. This was so simple. “Close the door behind you.” Caleb said from where he sat on the couch.

Essek did as told and approached his friend. Caleb had his spellbook propped up on a knee, his array of components spread on the coffee table. “What are you working on?” he asked, leaning down a bit to peer at the pages.

Caleb turned his head and smiled, the warmth of earlier returned almost in full. “Sit and I’ll show you.” his eyes glittered the way they always did when they spoke about magic, the way Essek couldn’t help but love.

He stepped around the sofa and sat beside Caleb. He leaned over and examined the page, confused at first, then realizing exactly what it was. “How did you…?” he glanced at Caleb, astounded, his own eyes shining.

Caleb almost looked embarrassed. “I liked what I saw when you killed that Scourger,” there was something there, something in those words that made Essek’s heartbeat quicken and his cheeks warm ever so slightly.

You were intimidating. You were strong. That’s all. That’s all he means.

“So you… you what?”

“I reverse-engineered it. It was hard but…” he gave the slightest shrug, “I enjoyed the challenge.”

Essek grew warmer still. He had always been drawn to Caleb, but there was something so magnetic about him now. His hair was loose, his posture relaxed, a wonderful kind of smile on his lips. And there was that damn look in his eyes. He was so painfully beautiful.

Don’t even… the voice trailed off, Essek finally able to quiet it. He wouldn’t do anything, but he didn’t mind the thoughts of his companion for once.

“Have you… gotten the chance to try it?”

Caleb pulled back, not as harshly as before, but the openness lessened, tension seeped into his body, and the look in his eye that made him so bright faded.

“Yes. At the Sanitorium.” there was so much guilt in his voice, there was more. 

Essek hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on Caleb’s arm. “What happened that day? Please.”

Caleb sighed, ran his free hand through his hair. “I lost control. I was reckless. I put the plan we had in danger and broke the promise I made to you when you agreed to teach me.”

The pieces of that portion of the puzzle that was Caleb fell into place. That was how Ikithon knew Essek had taught Caleb. He had used dunamancy and Trent could tell. “Oh Caleb…”

Caleb covered his face with his free hand. “I am so sorry Essek. For all of it. Especially,” he put his hand back at his side and turned to look at Essek, “About earlier.”

“Caleb, I was the one asking uninvited questions. How you reacted was well within reason.”

“You deserve to know.” his voice was rough, pained. His eyes were dark, his loose hair that had seemed so messy and beautiful now made him look haggard. Essek, despite his many apprehensions, slid his hand down Caleb’s arm and wove their fingers together. Caleb exhaled a shuddering breath but didn’t pull away.

“You know the darkest secrets of my soul, Caleb Widogast. Whatever you tell me cannot change how I see you.” Essek was surprised at how gentle his voice was, and how honest he had been.

Caleb smiled at him, a slight thing, a sad thing. “That is exactly why you deserve to know.”

“Then tell me.”

“I will. I will tell you the story of how I murdered my mother and father.”

So he did.

-

Caleb wasn’t quite sure how he came to be held in Essek’s arms. He could tell it had been hard for him to put his hand on his arm, to weave his fingers through his. This… this must have taken so much will. And he didn’t mind it.

He didn’t just not mind it, he loved it. There had been so many times he had wanted to hold Essek but the memory of the first time he touched him kept him at bay. That day outside the Lotusden and how roughly he had pulled away. He hadn’t on the Balleater, but he was broken then. Vulnerable.

A shiver coursed through him as Essek’s fingers brushed the tips of his hair. “Breathe, Caleb,” he whispered, and the kindness in his voice made his heart ache. “I’ve got you.”

Caleb leaned into him heavily, hiding his face in Essek’s shoulder. Something about telling him the truth, all of it, every ugly detail, had cut so deep. When he had told Beau and Veth he had been resigned to it, it had hurt, he had cried but something about telling them felt good, like a weight lifted. When he had told the rest of the Nein, it had been urgent and necessary, which didn’t remove the sting, but it dulled it. This felt like exactly what it was; a secret kept for too long, a wound festering. There was relief in saying it, but it was also like pulling the knife from a wound, freeing the blood to flow and death to come quicker. But this embrace was like the healing hands of a cleric, sealing the wound and making it hurt less. 

Caleb let out another shuddering breath and Essek pulled him tighter. “I’ll stay however long you want,” the words were whispered into his ear, “alright?”

He nodded, found the strength to speak. “Thank you,”

Essek murmured something Caleb didn’t catch, but the way he said it made his heart flutter. “We are as alike as you said,'' Caleb could almost sense the sad smile on Essek’s face, “and you were there for me that night. I can only offer you the same.”

He pulled back, not enough to break the embrace, but enough to untangle Caleb from his shoulder and press a kiss to his forehead. Caleb’s heart soared. He almost purred as Essek drew him back in. “You will always be a wonder, Caleb Widogast. So long as you draw breath, I will be here for you.”

“Mmm,” Caleb was losing himself in the comfort Essek provided, the exhaustion of the day weighing down on him, “you’re incredible.” he rested his head on Essek’s chest.

“Heh,” Essek laid back on the couch they were sprawled on, his fingers gliding through Caleb’s hair, “you have always been so kind.”

Caleb wanted to say more, but the pull of sleep and the warmth of Essek were too great a temptation, leaving his words to echo in his mind. 

Because I love you.

[phoebelovingcare]

“I’d like to introduce you to my religion”

Jambandran religion headcanons. Oh boy. Time to invent a whole religion.

There is, actually, a wiki page on the jambandran religion! It says a lot of things. I might ignore most of them.

So, the wiki says that Hyness “founded” the religion, but Hyness’ wiki page kinda half-contradicts that???? so screw that I’ll do it my way.

Alright, so!

Jambandran is a type of halcandran clan, magic-focused and religious specifically. They worship Astrals (kirby’s species) and Dark Matter!

When wars started breaking out in ancient times, it was in part due to astrals and dark matter being harnessed for the forwarding of Halcandran magic and technology: The Master Crown uses the soul of a never-born astral to power it, and clockwork stars require star power to function, which is what astrals are born of.

This created a serious conflict between the Jambandrans and the other clans, eventually resulting in the exile of Jambandrans from Halcandra, and banning the practice of the religion.

And that’s enough clearing up backstory lets get into some fun headcanons huh? or should i say juh

10 is considered to be a holy number, unlike all other halcandran religions and beliefs where it is 9. Because faelynes have 9 lives, 10 is usually considered unlucky because by that point you’ve run out of chances. In Jamba beliefs, however, 10 is respected as an end goal, use of it generally implies “live your life to the fullest” and “remember the dead”. jambandrans would love unnus annus now that I think about it Anyways, if you didn’t notice the second I said it, J is the tenth letter of the alphabet. Surprise!

Jambandran language features the letter J so often because of this. Adding “ja” to a word increases it’s importance or intensity, “jam” is added to more foreign words to imply it’s been accepted into their vocabulary, and you can find instances of J in many places to indicate respect... but never in names.

You’ll never find a Jambandran with a J in their name, because that’s considered blasphemous. If you think you hear a J, it’s probably a G instead. To name yourself with a J implies that you’re on the same level as the gods, and like wow how narcissistic of you, damn.

Okay so with the fun facts out of the way let’s get into ~religious practices~

Astrals are born of starlight and emotions/morals, the emotion you provide them with before they’re born determines many things about them. Kirby’s born of love, Meta Knight’s born of justice, for example. If you provide them with negative emotions, you’ll form a Dark Matter instead.

So Jambandrans are all about mental health! Kinda!

Jamba beliefs focus on how emotions impact others and yourself, on self-introspection and improvement. A good preacher acts as a group therapist almost, and promotes self care. A bad preacher is purity and cancel culture wrapped up in some jambandran garb.

I’m having trouble explaining the “pathing” part in my head so I’m gonna explain it this way:

Francisca has chosen a path of self-expression, making art as a way to show her thoughts and uplift others. She has trouble talking to people, so it helps to have a subject to talk about - if she has a serious problem, she might make a piece of vent art and go to her sisters with it.

Flamberge has chosen a laid-back path, carefully managing work and play. Being super professional stresses her out, so she balances and works out when she should be serious and when she can chill out, making her more relaxed and outgoing.

Zan Partizanne has chosen a path of self-improvement, and it’s actually not the best choice. Or it least, it was a while ago, but now she needs to slow it down and change focus. Zan works very hard and strives to work harder to improve on the lives of her sisters and Hyness - but this disturbs the balance of care-for-self and care-for-others, because she’s working herself down to the bone to get things done.

So that’s paths of improvement.

Onto the next practice: journaling!

Jambandrans keep diaries!

The objective is to write down your thoughts and experiences, and then as you grow and mature, look back on them to see how you’ve improved, or how you can improve in the future. The side-effect of this is that Jambandrans keep super-cute diaries, tend to do lots of scrapbooking and adding little doodles and stickers and aaaAAAA CUTE-

*ahem* So yeah, those are their ideals. As for sins? Basically just the opposite. Manipulating, baiting, gaslighting, all those nasty things are considered damn-near irredeemable, and this is a culture about improvement and redemption. Of course, since they’re about redemption they still allow people room to improve, but Marx and Magolor get some serious eyebrow raises from the mages.

I have so much more to get into - prayers & hymns, holidays, etc etc, but this is getting REALLY REALLY LONG, so here’s the absolute basics;

-Hymns are generally a team-building exercise, with everyone working together to express themselves in a beautiful way -Prayers are directed at potential Astrals! They tell them things they’ve learned and their hopes and dreams in hopes that the astral will be born of emotional maturity and love! -The only holidays I have fleshed out are New Years, which is basically just the concept of resolutions magnified, and The Day of Lights! -The Day of Lights comes from a story of some not-very-well-off jambandrans stranded in space, when they come across a nebula trying to become an Astral - it’s dark like a storm cloud. They enter the cloud and pray, offering love and hope to the Astral until it becomes a beautiful aurora of color, using it’s energy to heal the sick and injured and repair their ship. Nowadays it is celebrated by wearing bright colors, helping those who need it and spreading love and joy wherever you go.

So there you have it! Jambandran Religion! Sorry it’s so long winded, but I consider this piece of the world well-built now! Hooray!

[hazard-and-friends]

i watched the first episode of canine intervention tonight, here’s some uncensored liveblogging featuring my spicey dog training takes:

“my dog training system is known all over the world" mhmm. lemme google this guy.

by clicking through his in person training site to his online remote training course, i found a whole lot of big red flags: "Establish pack leadership" dogs don't have pack leaders. anyone who wants to make you a leader is not using a good understanding of dog behavior "Time your praise and corrections" the times when i use corrections are when i'm the least on my game. my goal is NEVER to use corrections/positive punishment. why should i? it's concerning that he uses it as a core part of his method. "Exercise and reinforce your leadership as a way of life" more leadership bullshit.

fancy letters are not the end-all-be-all, and there are trainers i seriously respect who have none of them. but they don't talk about leadership and corrections. it's concerning that he talks about his sports team as a kid, where he went to high school, and his celebrity clients, but not his mentors and education in training.

back to the show

why does his facility have enough dogs to keep them in kennels? how does that teach aggressive dogs how to be safe in a home environment?

not all of the dogs in the first shot of a class (~1:38) have two collars on but a lot do. that's not a red flag (i worked sydney in two collars [her flat collar and a martingale, because syd was very gear smart and it was nice to tell her that we were doing heeling now]) but with what i saw on his website? it's quite likely that one of those is the dog's normal flat collar with tags, and the other is a prong, choke chain, or electric collar

also: "I help the dogs that no one else will" is a flat out lie

if you're willing to take on any human aggression cases, generally you’re willing to take on all of them. now, some of these cases may generally lead to a recommendation of euthanasia. but that's in the best interests of the dog and owner

oop class shot where it's clear that they're wearing prongs

here's two points not about this guy specifically: 1) it is hard (impossible?) to do humane, ethical dog training in a 45 minute episode slot. it's not good tv. it's slow as hell. there's no drama. the aggression trainers i know? have never been bitten. many have never been CLOSE to being bitten. no tv value. 2) the positive dog training community is OVERWHELMINGLY white and middle class.

it's also full of racists.

"Nearly a million dogs are euthanized yearly and over 40% of them are pit bulls" i've calculated that first statistic myself, but it's important to put it in context: this is USA specific, and that's down from 3-4 million 20 years ago. the second one, i would love to see his source.

he's right that it's important to understand where aggression comes from

anyway back to those two points, at the same time that it's really, really hard to do compelling TV with ethical dog trainers, it's also really REALLY important that the positive dog training community be working on being anti-racist. and it's really, really important that low income dog owners and people of color are getting good dog training.

alright first case! he's had her 3 months, 3 bites in that time. 10 attempted attacks. she's a young adult bully breed mix who had one front leg amputated after being shot. owner walks her in a muzzle which is a) too small and b) not bite proof.

"I see what we're working with" he says, after approaching a dog in her crate. hazard responds similarly to someone coming in, but he's not a bite risk. that's not a good evaluation.

he is correct about lady macbeth's motivations: this is a dog who's scared as hell and making herself really big and scary so that everyone leaves her alone.

okay he's also right that playing with her around strangers is really, really good for fear aggression

"frenzied just chaotic state" yeah no

reality check for y'all: i am not an aggression specialist and i have seen more freaked out dogs

she was on edge! she was unhappy! but holy shit was she not even remotely close to what dogs are capable of

"she just bit me!" she nipped your cheek, not breaking skin. that's a level 1 or 2 (of 6). that's not NOTHING but it's well within normal for a dog who's being restrained when she wants to be somewhere else.

[note that at no point in the episode was the owner ever given any sort of indication that lady macbeth is not this horribly aggressive Pit Bull TM. nor was there any discussion of a bite scale.]

"The only option we're gonna have is to [board and train] for 3 weeks" "I have no choice but to take her back to my facility back in San Jose and work daily with her" no!!!!!

[15 minute break]

lmao sorry i had to go yell at gf about how much this board and train is not necessary and in the process penny decided to cause Drama again

ANYWAY, the b&t is not necessary because all of those aggressive incidents bar the first could have been avoided if the owner was on the ball. this is not JUST a lady macbeth issue, this is ALSO an owner issue. both of them need to relearn how to handle new people.

as a bonus, lady macbeth needs to learn to trust her owner, which she categorically cannot do in a b&t

"The box is an important training tool to teaching new behaviors. It's also a first step in establishing pack leadership" ok this is new to me

and new is not a good thing here

text: Obedience depends on a dog's trust and respect for their pack leader calculus depends on your trust and respect for your math teacher! if you respect them a lot you will magically be able to do calc!

I WAS HOPING. I WAS TRYING.

i was HOPING that his training for her fear aggression would be based in toy play.

instead he's got a fake arm and he keeps reaching out to poke her, and the owner says "no!" and does a leash pop (leash wrapped around her neck) every time she tries to bite.

"She doesn't know it's not his hand" it smells like plastic what would she THINK it is

also funky that we're 19 minutes into the episode about an aggressive bully breed mix and the trainer's childhood bully breed mix who killed a dog, and like. not a single mention of what these dogs were bred for.

let's go back to "how are you teaching aggressive dogs to live nicely in a home, if they are spending most of the day in a wire kennel"

for shits take, high school doesn't teach you how to handle your emotions! why should obedience class teach your dog the same?

and then like, every time she breaks the down he yells NOPE and leans over her??????

dude you're scaring her into being obedient. while you're talking about how it's important to treat her fear.

text: Fear based aggression can be reduced by desensitizing the dog to strangers you're right! it sure can! THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE

you've got a dog on her side with one hand over her, the other on a skinny check chain on her neck. every time she does anything but lay flat, the leash is popped and you say no. you are flooding this dog and creating learned helplessness.

jo summed it up well with this: he's good at seeing the behavior, he knows what he's looking at, he just can't change it. he only knows one method.

jo and i are now trying to figure out if "dog training but marie kondo not cesar milan" is a viable tv show

jas correctly stops the friend and changes how he approaches the dog, that's a good response

i'm laughing bc after a 3 week board and train which is not going to be less than $4k, he's giving the exact same "how to meet new people" directions that i would give to a similar client--at the start of our time! not at the end!

"I can't imagine imagine a dog having it too much worse than she did, the fact that she took a gunshot, the fact that she had no security for years of her life" alright dude a) think worse, this PALES to abuse cases b) let's not? shittalk? the care that people without reliable housing give to their dogs (and occasional cat!)?? because what they do for their pets is incredible, and it isn't necessarily connected to her opinions on strangers

so yeah still laughing bc like. that "happy ending" would be my first session with a client. that's how you START handling stranger danger. and for this the owner paid thousands.

[wordsablaze]

3. it steals all my reason

your beauty hides the pain  Lost on the mountain, Jaskier accidentally angers a mage who decides to curse Yennefer with his company and for once, it might actually be a blessing in disguise…

A/N: idk who canon is anymore but yen and jas are fun ^.^ @random-nerd-3 x

previous chapter

-

Jaskier wakes to someone pulling him upright. 

He blindly reaches for and pulls his lute case to his chest, letting himself be none too gently guided until the walls of what he hadn’t noticed is a tent are replaced by trees.

“What…?” he starts, only to trail off as said tent bursts into flames.

“You just cost me a room, bard,” Yennefer mutters, irritation dripping from her words. 

Jaskier blinks, staring at her in confusion. “How exactly am I in any way responsible for your tent room thing deciding to set itself on fire?” 

Yennefer shakes her head impatiently as she brushes practically non-existent dust from her dress. “You were covered in unnatural ash when you got here, it was a delayed spell.” 

“Not my fault you didn’t sense it,” he scoffs, slinging his lute over a shoulder. 

She glares at him. “I was a little distracted by your idiot self getting us cursed and bound together.” 

Shifting awkwardly under her pointed gaze, Jaskier shrugs and offers her his best sheepish smile. “I did try telling her you and Geralt were better suited but she pretty much ignored everything I-”

“You did what?” Yennefer interrupts, her glare turning into some of the most deadly glowering Jaskier has ever had the misfortune of experiencing as she steps towards him.

He steps back automatically.

“You saw my memories, didn’t you? She said she could smell you or something and I tried to tell her that it was impossible because I’d been wandering around a mountain all day and the only person who could even possibly smell like you is Geralt because the two of you shared a tent before the whole- woah!”

The ground disappears beneath his feet as he’s thrown back into the air and all he can think to do is twist so that he lands on his side rather than his lute case.

Which he does.

Only to gasp as pain spikes up in his very bones again, every inch of his skin feeling as though it’s been set ablaze much like Yennefer’s tent. 

Cursing internally, he picks himself up and stumbles back to Yennefer, who somehow looks elegant even as she sits slumped on the slightly dead grass with a pained grimace on her face.

“Maybe don’t do that again,” Jaskier suggests breathlessly. 

Yennefer rolls her eyes but nods. “It seems we can’t be very far apart, bard.” 

“How romantic,” he mutters, tightening his grips on the strap across his shoulder as he exhales softly, the pain melting away again. 

They don’t move for a while, not until the tent is nothing but ashes. 

Once the smoke clears as if there’d never been a fire in the first place, Jaskier turns to Yennefer. “So, where are you headed?”

She rises to her feet and frowns down at him. “Aren’t you meant to be trailing your precious white wolf like a lost puppy?” 

Jaskier flinches. “He’s not mine. He never was and he never will be.”

And he’d been stupid to think otherwise because look where it had gotten him: stuck with the mage who’d stolen Geralt’s heart within the blink of an eye. He wants to pretend he’s not bitter about it but…

“I take it you had an argument then?” Yennefer asks, having the audacity to sound bored as he struggles with his recent heartbreak. 

But he couldn’t care less about being mocked. “Not so much an argument as a swift farewell,” he ends up saying, almost wincing at himself for sounding so forlorn. 

Yennefer gives him a strange look that he can’t quite decipher, something like disbelief and pity and anger rolled into one. But she says nothing so he doesn’t think much of it, pushing himself to his feet again and replacing his frown with a grin. 

“So, once again, where does the merciless Yennefer plan to target next?”

He only grins wider when sparks crackle at her fingertips before she sighs loudly. “I should probably go and explain that moron’s death.”

They both know which moron she’s referring to and although Jaskier doesn’t find him particularly worthy of being honoured or anything, he can’t really argue with her. In fact, he doesn’t think to question anything about their plan until they arrive in a town he only dimly recognises as one he was kicked out of for sleeping with both of the blacksmith’s children. 

(Not that he knew they were both his but that probably wouldn't have changed his mind anyway.)

 “Uh, Yennefer? You should probably know that-”

“If you’re about to tell me there’s someone here who wants to kill you, I don’t care,” she interjects, starting to walk faster.

Jaskier just sighs and ducks his head, wishing for one that he wasn’t wearing something so beautifully made. 

But they make it to the Lord’s house with no vengeful interruptions, where the central guard at the door raises a judgemental eye at them. “Lady Yennefer, and…?”

Yennefer sighs. “He’s with me, unfortunately. Won’t you let us in?”

Against every one of his urges, Jaskier stays silent and only smiles brightly at the guards once they’re let inside, starting to follow Yennefer only to be roughly yanked backwards.

“I know who you are and if you weren’t with her, I’d have gutted you on the spot,” one of the guards hisses under his breath, and Jaskier isn’t sure if he should be more concerned about that or the prickling sensation of starting to be too far from Yennefer. 

“I’m terribly sorry if I remind you of anyone but I really haven’t had the pleasure of visiting your lovely town before. And I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding so-”

“Unhand him or lose the hand,” Yennefer says coolly from where she’s now glaring back at them, her voice somehow crystal clear despite the distance.

The guard spits at him before reluctantly letting go, turning back his post. 

Jaskier suppresses his flinch as he wipes it away and exhales softly, speeding up so he can fall into stride with Yennefer again. “I thought you said you didn’t care?” he teases.

She hums. “I don’t. I just don’t care for you getting me into any more trouble, it’s bad enough that you’re here at all.” 

Ouch.

He wants to think she only means to match his teasing but he can’t help that her comments always know how to sting in the worst way and all he can do is try his best not to let it show lest she use it against him in future. 

“It’s not like I chose to accompany an arrogant coward from a terrible town up a mountain,” he snaps back. 

They don’t get to say anything else because a Lord greets them at the door, welcoming Yennefer and sighing at the sight of Jaskier instead of his son. “I take it the quest wasn’t successful?”

“No, it wasn’t. I will, however, be taking payment regardless.”

The Lord nods quickly. “Of course, as promised. It’s just that the payment you requested has yet to be delivered. If you could stay just one night…?”

Jaskier tenses but Yennefer nods slowly. “One night, and then I take your blood instead. Noble blood does so well in potions.”

Never has anyone so quickly offered up their best spare rooms.

Said rooms happen to be across an opulently wide hallway.

“Yenn-”

“Not a word. Endure for two minutes, bard,” Yennefer mutters, letting the servants guide them to the two separate rooms. 

Jaskier digs his nails into his palms as he thanks the girl whose curiosity regarding his lute he’d otherwise have loved to feed, waiting until she’s retreated fully before sliding down the door with a quiet gasp. 

True to her word, Yennefer yanks him through a portal after just under two minutes. 

Gagging at the wave of nausea that hits him, he waits until the room isn’t spinning before offering up a weak smile of gratitude.

“I’ll portal you back when we’re invited for dinner,” she tells him, settling on the bed.

“Sure. What kind of payment did you demand?”

She smiles mysteriously. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Jaskier shrugs off his lute and leans on the wall, stretching his feet out and trying not to laugh at the absurdity of his life. “Not really, darling, but I’m sure your malicious tale will distract from the after-effects of a portal.” 

“I am not here to be a distraction for the likes of you,” Yennefer all but snarls. 

After that, the two of them lapse into silence until the tension in the room builds to a palpable level at which point Jaskier pulls out his lute and starts idly strumming. 

To his mild surprise, Yennefer doesn’t even bat an eye. But then again, she might be magically tuning him out because if she doesn’t care for him, she certainly won’t care for his music, no matter how beautiful it is.

Jaskier sighs at the thought, wondering how he’s meant to play for a receptive audience if he can’t convince Yennefer to enter a tavern. There’s also the small issue of finding an audience that can be receptive without him having to play Toss a Coin and suffer through the memories it brings back.

But those are inevitable concerns for another time, he decides, closing his eyes and absently letting his fingers dance across the strings as they please.

He just hopes they’re both invited to eat.

-

i’d say i promise to increase the pace next time so it’s more interesting but i can’t seem to rush these two...

-

thanks for reading! | masterlist | witcher blog: @itsjaskier | next chapter

[dungeonsanddragonsfifthedition]

Caduceus, Jester, Caleb; G.

a fistfight / beaujes, implied clayleb / prompts

see, the thing is, usually, jester has somebody in her room that can at least help her heal a little bit. in this exact scenario, when she’s all tapped out of healing spells and they’re out of potions.

but yasha had to go and turn evil, didn’t she. 

and beau can’t heal and neither can nott, so she has to wake up caduceus. who will do his weird not-mad-just-disappointed thing that he’s clearly imitating somebody else doing. she is actually curious about how the boys sleep when the three of them share a room, though, because beau thinks that they spoon, and jester agrees, but they have a solid disagreement as to which spoon is which.

so she doesn’t knock, but rather barges in, and is happy to see that she was right and beau was wrong. she stage-whispers “caduceus!” across the room, and he shoots up, lichen on his arms barely-glowing in the dark, his hair pretty much entirely in his face.

“what?” he asks, his eyes still closed. his voice is even grumblier than usual. “you okay, jess?”

“um. okay, i was--”

caleb, startled by the movement, also perks up, “was? are we--is everything--”

“jester woke me up--come here, jester, i got--healing?”

“lavorre, it is,” and he tilts his head, “three twenty-seven in the morning.”

“does this count as morning?” caduceus asks.

“by most time systems.”

“is fjord gonna wake up too?” jester asks, “or--”

“nah, we knocked him out a couple of hours back. with drugs. not magic. neither of us can really do that with magic. he’s havin’ nightmares again. not of the snake variety, which is progress. anyway. what happened? are you--”

“oh. um. okay, so, like, don’t be mad, but beau and i were bored and couldn’t sleep, and she’s fine, so we went to a bar, but, uh, i--this dude called her a really mean name when she was off in the bathroom so i punched him and he punched back and then we had this whole big fight and beau got mad at me when she came back and i was all out of magic so, um.”

“did you kill him?”

“no. he ran away! i was very inti--” caduceus is touching her shoulder, and it feels like flowers are growing on her arm, “that tickles, but, yeah, i was super intimidating, and--”

“where is beauregard, now?”

“trying to clean things up with the bartender?”

and, on cue, beau bursts through the door loudly, says, “what the fuck were you thin--”

“please be quiet--” caleb pulls frumpkin around his ears.

“he’s the middle spoon?”

“beau. beau, please be quiet. i really--like, these were the fancy sedatives that i used on fjord, you and i were gonna do stuff with the rest of this stock, and i don’t wanna lose any more--”

jester ignores him, “yeah, but we were both right about the spooning thing, and you owe me ten gold, beau!”

“oh, you have a--jester, gimme your face. black eye. forgot to heal that, ugh.”

jester leans in, feels pain and then that weird warm flowery feeling again, and then she just feels a giant hand on her face. beau continues, this time in a whisper, “what the fuck were you thinking? that dude was, like--yasha levels of buff. like--”

“i mean, i’m also pretty buff, beau.”

blandly, caleb nods. “ja, she could easily crush the three of us. i am terrified of her.”

“i know. she could kick my ass.”

“go to bed, beau, i’ll be back soon, okay? just need a little bit more healing.”

caduceus blows some of his hair out of his face, but it falls back almost immediately. “wait, where?”

beau exits, with a little bit of hesitance, a stern glance at caleb and caduceus. jester watches her leave. smiles a little.

“what did the guy, uh. say about beau?”

“i don’t really remember. it was mean. i kinda blacked out, because i really love her, and--and nobody should be mean to her ever, you know? because then i will kill them.”

caduceus does one last cure wounds on jester’s shoulder, and this one feels like rose petals, all velvety and romantic. he’s making fun of her. she pouts. “i don’t love her like that.”

“suuuuure you don’t."

“why can’t you be boring and responsible all the time, caduceus, why do you have to make fun of me--”

“because i was never old enough to make fun of my siblings for having crushes before they left, so i have to get that energy out somehow.”

“i do not have a crush, i don’t! caduceus--caleb, tell him that he is wrong--”

“oh, caduceus, jester does not have a crush. no, nein, she is infatuated,” caleb says, using his hand--loosely bandaged, even at night--to brush caduceus’ hair into a normal place. “with beauregard.”

jester wants to cast sacred flame on both of them, but caduceus did just use three whole healing spells on her, so it’s not worth it. so she just says, “and you two aren’t secretly in love with each other?” and that shuts them up, and she storms off. but in her periphery, she sees long arms wrap around a smaller body, and she has to admit, maybe she was right. and if she was right, maybe they were, too.

okay, so maybe she has a little bit of a crush.

[els-writes]

Hey! You’ve got me curious! What exactly is a Tainted??? Love chap 1 by the way x

Omg, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see this until now! Thank you so much for reading it, I’m glad you liked it

But hooo boy, hold onto your hats, because you asked for it ;)

Tainted within the Kin Verse

The Beginning and The Siblings:

A ‘Tainted’ is a person who has been given a ‘Taint’ (typically at birth) by their patron Sibling. However, in order to truly understand what the hell I’m on about, you have to realise that ‘Taint’ and ‘Tainted’ aren’t the official names for these people, but simply labels that have been given to them by humanity, because humanity is a burning crappile. 

In the Siblings’ view, Taints are actually gifts, powers, favours - there’s no single word that is used for them, but the gods see them as completely positive things. So let’s look into the specifics... 

All children are born under one of the Siblings (named after the days of the week). The Sibling they are born under becomes their patron, and at birth, a Sibling might decide that the child is to be favoured. They then bestow a gift upon these children, identifiable at first by the fact these children will bear the symbol of that Sibling upon their skin somewhere (this appears more like an oddly shaped birthmark, it is not unnaturally coloured). With this mark comes the gift, which is simply a tiny piece of the Siblings’ power that they grant the child. This power is in no way comparable to the Siblings’ elements (be it their magically elements or their emotional elements).

Eg. A child of Saturday (who controls the element of fire) might have the gift to control smoke. A child of Friday (who reflects envy) might be able to mimic a feature from someone else, such as turning their nose into a nose they see that they prefer.

These gifts are always within the realms of the Siblings’ element, but are sometimes less literal or apparent. 

For example, a child of Wednesday (who controls the element of earth) might have the gift to change their body’s density to resemble stone. 

The Ins-and-Outs:

All Siblings have three ‘elements’ that their powers reflect: the basic elemental, the emotional sin, and the emotional virtue.

Eg: Sunday’s three elements are: dreams, sloth, and diligence.

Powers usually only reflect one of these elements. Emotional Taints are rare compared to the basic elemental ones. The level of power/range within a power is dependant on how much the Sibling favours that person. The more the Siblings’ like you, the more powerful your Taint is going to be.

The powers take a lot out of the human that has them, but they are like a muscle - the more it is used an exercised, the easier it becomes. Someone who uses their Taint often is not going to tire out as quickly as someone who uses theirs as little as possible. Some Taints are also always slightly ‘on’ in the background, and though this doesn’t tire them out at all, it does mean that when they purposefully use a stronger force of their Taint, they get quickly exhausted.

Eg. Viola’s Taint is her unnaturally high body temperature. This is always ‘on’ but she does not feel tired of lethargic just because her skin is hot. However, when using the next stage of her power - such as purposefully making herself hotter or controlling steam - she can only do it for a short amount of time before she is exhausted and needs to rest for a while before she is recovered. During this exhaustion period, she has no control over her Taint at all.

Taints that are abused somehow (perhaps by someone overworking themselves, or trying to do something outside of the realms of their power, or even trying to squash their powers) have a high chance of causing something called a Taint Attack. This is where the Taint starts to attack the body itself, visible by black veins growing over the skin, starting from the point of the mark. Attacks are different depending on the Taint and the cause of the Attack, and thus experienced differently, but unchecked an Attack can cause death. 

‘Tainted’:

Over the years, however, these gifts have come to be seen negatively by humans. As should be expected, all gifts are different, as are the results of each gift. No two people are entirely alike, and even with similar gifts, they may present very different based on the type of person with said gift. One person who controls water might be able to calm a storm. Another might drown their enemies. Naturally, with humanity comes fault, and after a handful of those with gifts used their powers to their own gain or to harm others, the world began to see any and all people with these gifts are a threat - mainly within the more dominating cultures (being the Descodian countries). 

The Descodians began to claim these gifts were actually curses or that the powers were stolen from the gods, and thus they said the mark of a Sibling upon the skin was actually a taint of the natural order of things. Thus, the names Taint and Tainted arose, and those with them became feared and hated amongst Descodian countries. 

It should be noted that not all areas and cultures felt the same way - the Waterway countries saw Tainted humans as people who were destined to do something great - be it bad or good - and the country of Willsend saw them to be gifts still. However, due to the Descodians being the leading power in the world for most of history, and their language and religion often overtaking other countries, their view became the loudest.

More details under cut about the historical opinions on Tainted because I went overboard!

The Abbey of the Seven Orders:

The Abbey was founded initially as a purely religious institution for the truly pious to live at in service to the Siblings of Kin. However, as the years went on, the Abbey became one of the strongest voices in the spread of lies regarding Tainted. It is believed by some that initially the Abbey’s goals were genuinely to try and help the world - by locking up those with truly dangerous powers - but over time their beliefs became corrupt, and they viewed any and all Tainted as potential threats that needed eradicating. 

For centuries now, the Abbey has sent out its Eighth Guard to strip any and all Tainted babies and children from their families to bring them to the Abbey to have their threat level ‘examined’. No matter how small the power, all are deemed dangerous to some extent, and are kept at the Abbey for many years. At the Abbey, those slightly less dangerous undergo experiments to try and rid them of their Taint. The exact methods are not known to the wider public, and survivors seem collectively intent on keeping things a secret, but those who have been released are often missing limbs, paralysed, horrifically scarred or disfigured, and show signs of great mental trauma. Sometimes these methods do work, thus a small number of Tainted are released once their power seems to have vanished, but they are constantly monitored and watched by the Abbey for the rest of their lives. 

Pity: 

By the time The Last Taint takes place (year 700), the Abbey’s power is as strong as ever, but many no longer agree with their methods. After nearly 200 years of not a single wide-spread threat or disaster caused by a Tainted, people grow to doubt just how dangerous they are, and the survivors who have escaped or been released from the Abbey have gained a great deal of support in the form of pity. 

Due to a treaty signed 200 years ago, however, the Abbey’s power is locked securely within the peace between the Descodian countries, and thus no one with any substantial power is able to deny the Abbey’s orders. There are more blockades in place that make it harder for the Abbey and their Guard to just snatch children up or raid cities to search for Tainted, but they have ways to work around such things, and people are powerless to stop them. 

Some of my Favs:

A few Taints within the Kin Verse that I happen to really dig (not including my two spoilery favourites). 

Viola: child of Saturday (fire), her body runs at an impossibly high temperature, meaning any water that touches her turns to steam immediately - which she has some minor control over. 

Anya: a child of Thursday (lust), after she kisses someone, she can briefly influence their whims. How much someone follows her instructions depends on how susceptible they are. 

Lita: child of Sunday (dreams), she can steal dreams and turn them into a physical form and can swap people’s dreams over. 

Jas: child of Friday (time), he can give people visions of what they are doing at a very specific point in time.

Demi: child of Wednesday (earth), she can promote growth in plants (flowers specifically). A very innocent and pretty power.

Anyway! That’s all for now - I’m so sorry this got so long, but I get excited talking about this magic system! 

[conceptstage]

A Marriage of Convenience {Chapter Two}

It was nearly dinner time again when Beau realized that she hadn’t seen hide or tail of her suitor all day. Usually, if she hadn’t run them off on the first night, her suitors would follow her around the mansion the entire second day. But she hadn’t seen Caleb at all and she was gonna need to work fast if she was going to keep her mother from getting her hopes up. Last time one of the guys lasted passed his second dinner she was halfway through the wedding invites when he stomped out of the house, wet and shoeless, an hour later. “Have you seen our guest?” Beau asked one of the butlers, Bradley, as he moped the floors in the Front Hall.

“Mr. Widoghast? He’s been in the library all day.”

Beau frowned, suspiciously. “Thanks,” she mumbled as she started towards the stairs. He’d been going to the library when she passed him in the hall last night as well. If he was trying to woo her he was doing a dreadful job of it. She pushed open the library door and peeked in. It was a very large space, two stories. The entrance was here on the second floor but there were shelves on the ground floor as well with ladders to get down to those. The room was rectangular with a skylight that took up the entire ceiling. She didn’t see Caleb straight away, so she stepped silently inside. The door closed with a click behind her and she crept forward to the railing, peering over into the first level to find her suitor sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and a circle of books around him. She rolled her eyes and huffed as she threw herself over the railing, landing easily on the ground on both feet.

Caleb exclaimed in surprise and threw his book at her. It smacked her in the face and then landed, open, in her palm. She scowled at him. “What the fuck, man?”

“Ja, you just fell from the sky, if anyone should be saying ’what the fuck’ it’s me!”

She glared at him and then looked down at the open book in her hand. “The Calamity?” she asked, flipping to the next page. “What are you looking for? And all these books…”

He snatched the book from her hand. “I was just trying to get some reading done before the day’s events started, it's nothing special.”

“Dude, it’s nearly dinner time. You missed all the day’s events.”

He didn’t seem particularly upset at that. “Ah, well we will just have to try again tomorrow, ja? Auf Wiedersehen.”

Beau looked at all the books around him. They were all related to old, forgotten magic. “Are you marrying me just for my library?” His mouth catfished a bit, opening and closing several times with no sound coming out as he tried to defend himself. She smirked. “You are. You’re looking for something, aren’t you? Tell me.”

“I, nein, I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m honestly very… attracted to you. You’re sehr hübsch, very pretty.”

Beau rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure, that’s very convincing. Look man, I have read every single book in this library. Tell me what you’re looking for and maybe I can help you find it. Then you can leave and do whatever you want with it and I can get back to my favorite pastime, terrorizing suitors.”

Caleb met her eyes, his eyes hard instead of nervous like they had been. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Beau felt a cruel smirk slither across her face like a serpent and crouched down so that they were face to face. She leaned in close until he started to move away from her. “If you don’t tell me, I will not rest until you run from this house crying. I’ve been going easy on all these motherfuckers my mom has brought me, it’ll be nice to really test my skills.”

Caleb looked down at the books around him. None of them were the book he’d come here for but they were all helpful. It would take a week to read them all and another week to track down the book he was looking for on his own. But he looked up at her and glared into her eyes. “Bring it on.”

Beau tossed her head back and laughed. “Oh, this is going to be fun. I hope you enjoy tonight, Mr. Widoghast, because it will be your last peaceful night in this house.” She turned and jumped at one of the shelves, pushing herself up and off of it and catching the railing of the second story. She effortlessly pulled herself up and over and left the library.

Caleb frowned as he looked back down at his book. “That was kind of impressive…” he admitted quietly to himself.

Georgina’s food was getting very cold in front of her as he stared at her daughter, her eyes occasionally flicking over to Mr. Widoghast as they ate their dinners silently. Caleb had given no hints that he meant to leave and her daughter didn’t seem concerned by that at all. Could it be? Truly? Had her daughter fallen in love with this man?

“So,” she started. “How was your day? Did anything… interesting happen?”

Beauregard didn’t look at her and she smirked mischievously. “Oh yes, Mr. Widoghast and I had a lovely conversation in the library. He’s decided to remain for a few more days at least.”

Georgina’s heart started to flutter. “Is-” she paused to clear her throat. “Is that so, Mr. Widoghast?” Caleb quickly shoved two fork fulls of food into his open mouth to avoid talking and just nodded in response. “Well, that’s wonderful news. You’ll be here for the carnival.”

Beau froze with a fork midway up to her mouth and looked at her mother with a raised eyebrow. “Carnival?”

“Oh yes, it will be so romantic, you can both go together.”

“What carnival?”

“It’s the one they have every year in town, of course.”

Helena cleared her throat and stepped up behind Georgina’s chair. “Madam, if I may, you have forbidden Beauregard from leaving the grounds. She’s never been to town or the carnival.”

Georgina frowned and Caleb looked at Beau with wide eyes. “Oh, yes,” her mother mumbled. “That’s right. Well, I suppose I can make an exception since you’ll not be alone.”

“You’ve never left this house?” Caleb asked incredulously.

Beau kicked him hard under the table. “Of course I've left the house, you jackass. The estate is on 48 acres, I’ve explored every inch of it.” She started angrily eating until she’d finished her plate and moved to stand.

“May you be excused,” her mother chastised.

“I may,” Beau answered, stomping out of the room.

When Beau was gone the dining room fell into silence. Caleb cleared his throat. “Madam, if I may ask, why is Beau forbidden to leave the grounds?”

“Well, I have no doubt in mind that if she were able she’d run away and never return. That’s why there’s a spell around the perimeter that prevents her from leaving. She ran away once when she was six and got a far as the edge of the housing district before our guards managed to track her down. We hired a wizard right away to create the spell and it’s been active ever since.”

Caleb just nodded and turned his eyes down to stare at his plate, suddenly no longer hungry. He subtly started putting it in his pocket for Nott and then excused himself. As he walked up the stairs and towards his rooms, he heard a rythmic thumping coming from down the hall. Curious, he followed it until it led to Beauregard’s room. As he got closer, he could hear her muttering curses to herself. Clearing his throat, he rapped his knuckles lightly on the door. “Beauregard? Are you alright?”

“Fuck off!” He sighed and started to leave, when suddenly the door was torn open and she leaned out. “And don’t think that just because you feel sorry for me now I’m not still gonna make you run out of this house with your tail between your legs tomorrow.”

“I don’t feel sorry for-” he was cut off when she slammed the door shut again. He frowned but quickly reminded himself that helping her was not part of his mission. In the long run she didn’t matter, only his goals mattered.

Nott was waiting for him when he got back to the room, frowning at him from the bed. “Was that her yelling at you in the hall? I can go fuck her up if you want.”

Caleb chuckled and shook his head. “Thank you, Nott, but no. I’d rather not deal with her more than necessary while we’re here. Our only concern is finding the book.”

Nott frowned but nodded. “What’s her problem, anyway? She pushed you yesterday, she yelled at you today. She lives in this mansion surrounded by the shiniest things I’ve ever stolen. What’s she gotta be so fucking mad about?”

Caleb thought for a moment as he changed into his leisure clothes for the evening. “A gilded prison is still a prison. Her circumstances are not so different from my own.”

Nott grew quiet. “Does she have a Trent?” she asked as they started towards the bedroom door.

“I suspect she may have two Trents.”

Nott went with Caleb to the library, then waited a few minutes until he got absorbed in his book. She scaled the shelves up to window and pushed it open, leaving it cracked when she made it out onto the roof. She moved across the clay tiles to what she figured was Caleb’s wife’s room, then dropped down onto the balcony. The balcony door was locked but it was easy to pick open. The door opened silently and she crept inside, surveying the room. It was nearly three times as big as the guest room that she and Caleb were in and separated into thirds, connected by archways and blocked by curtains. The section she entered was separated from the center by a sheer, glittery curtain and had a vanity covered in makeup and an inch of dust. There was an untouched bottle of perfume that Nott picked up delicately with her claws and brought to her nose. It was a pleasant, flowery scent that she found enjoyable and so she stuffed it into her pocket along with a golden necklace that was on a metal neck shaped display. There were beheaded dolls all over the floor, sun faded and flat with age, and she realized suddenly that this part of the room hadn’t been touched in more than a decade. She also stole the doll with the least damage and stuffed it into her pocket, pausing for a moment to admire the blue button eyes.

She didn’t want to risk making a noise by pulling on the curtain, so she just lifted it from the bottom and crawled under it into the center of the suite. The first thing she noticed was a large king sized bed on a raised platform against the wall directly across from the door that lead into the hallway. This part of the room was mostly bare, save the clothes throw haphazardly on the floor and single solitary chair. There was a shape in the bed that suddenly let out a loud snort and rolled over onto her stomach, her hand hanging off the side.

Nott froze and waited until the figure started snoring again before creeping around to the third section, partitioned off with a dark blue curtain. She crawled under the curtain into what was apparently a training room. There were makeshift punching dummies and a clothing rack that had been reinforced and used as a pull up bar. There were several built-in drawers on the far wall and Nott realized she was standing in a closet. She turned around and crawled back out of the closet and as she got to her feet she realized several things in quick succession.

Realization 1: No snoring. She looked up at the bed.

Realization 2: The bed was empty. There was a faint whistling sound of something soaring quickly through the air.

Realization 3: A wooden staff hit her in the chest and knocked her back into the closet, tearing the curtain out of the doorway. She was tangled in the curtain and squirmed helplessly trying to escape.

“Don’t move.” The staff smacked down on her twice and she snarled angrily.

“Let me go! Let me go! I’m not going back to jail!”

The curtain was picked up like a sack and thrown onto a soft surface that must have been the bed. Part of it was pulled away to reveal her head and she found herself staring into the eyes of the woman who was given Caleb so much trouble. “Where are the others?” she asked. “I know you fuckers never travel alone.”

Nott opened her mouth to start yelling but she realized that anything like that would just make more trouble for Caleb. “Nobody else!” she said quickly. “I’m here alone, yep just a lonesome little goblin, that’s me.

Beauregard frowned at the goblin but it didn’t seem hostile so she just crossed her arms. “What are you doing here then? Just stealing?”

“I- uh, I was kicked out of my clan.” It was true enough. “I’m just hungry. I was just looking for food.”

Beau frowned and reached into a side table drawer. “Don’t move,” she said again, when Nott leaned over to see what she was doing. She pulled out a plate covered by a rag and then ripped off the rag to reveal a pile of bacon. “It’s a little old now, it’s from yesterday morning, but I like to have food in here in case it’s not safe to leave my room.”

Nott wasn’t actually hungry, she’d finished Caleb’s pocket dinner, but that bacon still smelled so good. She hesitated, but took a few pieces off the top. She kept waiting for the woman to take it back but she didn’t and then Nott took a bite.

Beau started to move and Nott’s first thought was ‘Ha! I knew it, it was a trick,’ but instead of taking the bacon away she sat down on the bed beside her and started eating a piece of bacon herself. It was chewy but it was still bacon.

“What’d you take?” Beau asked. Nott started to lie but Beau stopped her with a glare. “I don't want it back. I’m just curious.”

Nott waited a moment, then reached into her pocket to pull out the perfume, doll, and necklace she’d taken, laying it out on the bed between them. “Uh, sorry.”

Beau snorted, amused, and picked up the doll. “It’s fine. I haven’t even thought about this shit in years.” She put the doll back in the pile and Nott hurriedly put them back in her pockets before Beau could change her mind.

“What did you mean,” Nott asked, a few pieces of bacon later. “About it not being safe to leave your room?”

Beau didn’t answer. “Finish your bacon and get out. Don’t come back.” She pulled the blanket up over her body and turned on the bed so that he back was to the goblin. Nott finished what she had and then took another handful to shove in her pocket, then leaving back out through the balcony.

She walked back across the roof and dropped into the library, retaking her seat beside Caleb. He was still reading and didn’t seem to realize she’d been gone. “Good book?” she asked, leaning against his arm.

He reached over and pat her head. “Ja, very informative. I’ll tell you about it when I finish. Are you getting hungry? Should I go down to the kitchens and find you a snack?”

“No, I’m good.” She pulled a piece of bacon out of her pocket and began munching on it. “You know,” she said a few moments later. “Maybe this Beau person isn’t so bad. Maybe you two could be friends.” Caleb didn’t answer, didn’t give any sign that he even heard her, just continued mouthing the words as he read. “Maybe we could all be friends.”

[poppyknitt]

Rebooting...- A JSE Egos Fanfic: Winter Holidays special pt 2

Congratulations, guys. We’ve done it. World Initiative has officially come to a close... God, what an amazingly fun journey of ups and downs it’s been. Thank you, all of you wonderful people who chose to stick with the story, regardless of where you jumped in and started reading. I’m sorry i didn’t have a better way to subtly thank you than add you in as a character in the very far background, but, hey, at least it helps me with the transitions between major plot points and shit.

Recap: As it turns out, the Anti invading our beloved egos’ world has been here at least since either late September or the first week of October, working behind the scenes to slowly but surely capture each of the egos, making sure to replace them with each fakes every time he succeeded. Once he had only three left- Chase, Jackieboyman, and Seán-, he snuck into our Anti’s world, and freed the weaker glitch from the dark magic spells Marvin had used to keep him from ever getting back up and resuming his torment of the egos again. They went on to capture Chase at some point just before Christmas Day, which was the day when Monitor- the foreign Anti- finally enacted his plan, and sent our Anti after Seán and Marvin, while he went after Merlin, Jackie, and Jackie’s newly formed family. It wasn’t until after the world was erased that we were forced to stop watching the screens for a little, just so we could reboot the one we’d been using to see this world’s story this entire time. Yeah, by the way, you’re a highly obscured but potentially important character now. Deal with it, because this detail is gonna train you to love yourself whether you want to or not. Anyways, at some point between the monitor’s crash and when we finally got it to reboot, our Anti was brutally betrayed by his new partner in crime, and Jackie was captured.

Minor gore warning!

Previous fic

Next chapter

World Initiative Masterlist

[December 25th]

Just as you turned your chair back around and looked at the World Initiative monitor, you saw the dreaded blue screen glitch away, but for some reason, the screen was pitch black. Then, a moment later, one of the two Antis’ face appeared, taking up most of the screen.

“L͝oơk̵ a҉t͏ ̀y͏o͠u͏...͡ ̷j̕u͠st͘ ̵si̡t͟t͘íng th̀ere͞,̢ a̶l͟l̕ lo҉s̛t͞ and͢ cònf͜us̛ed.̛.̸.͜ Almơst ͠lik͝e̷ ỳo̶ú ̶d̀o͝n’t h̴a҉ve ͢any̢ ̀cluè wh҉a͝t̴ ju͝şt͜ h̨app͡e̶n͝e̛d̨..͏.̴ ̛H̡a̡. It͡’͏s ̀a p̸ity̴,̕ ̧r͢eal͝l̢y...̴ ͠Yo͟u trie҉d so ͘h̵ard͏,̧ b̴u͟t̶ i̴n͟ ́the e̷nḑ? You̢ f͘ái͝l̨ed.̡ I̸’͢v̴e ́al͟r͟eady w͝ón, ͝an͞d ͠s̨oo̵n̶,͢ m͟y̨ ̕so-͜c̴alled ̛“p͠a̶r̴tńe̕r̵” will m̷ee͢t̸ ͜h̶is͢ fa̡te..̨. ͝N͠othi͠ng ̴ca͟ń s͞to̧p̵ m̴e̛ f̸r͞om̢ fi̸n̷is̀h̷i̷ng̕ ́m̨y̛ ͏pl̢a̕ǹs ҉ànymơr̶e, ̡ńot̕ e͢v͠en̕ y͘o͝u.̀” His voice dripped with malice, and he looked as though he was enjoying himself. Then, the screen glitched, and revealed the glitch’s entire figure. To your horror, the other anti was lying in the background, facing away from you, in a puddle of what you assumed was his own blood.

“..͠. ͜Y̷o̷u̢ w͠a͟nn͡a ̶k̷now͠ ̴w͡h͡at’̴s ͢g͞r̴ea̷t abo̕u͜ţ this? ̷H̨e̛’s n͢ot̀ e͡ve͢n ̧thę ̕on̛l͜y͡ oné...͏ ̴I̛n fa͠c͠t͟,́ ͜t͝he ̴e͡ǵo͠s ́y̧o͡u’d ̛m͘et ͜o͡ver̷ the ̢s͞h҉or҉t͟ ̛time y͡oư’̨v͏e̡ ̸be͟eń h͜e̡r͏e?͏ T̵h̢e͜y we̵re̷ ͜all̨ ̡j͟u͠st́ ͠f̴a͜k̕e̸s.̨ R̸e͝p̨lace҉m̵e̢n͞ts Ì p͞ut i͞nt͢o͡ ̸t͡h̷ei͟r wo̶r̵ld̡ s̕o͜ it wou͟ld͡n’t̀ be͞ ͞ob̧vious̸ tha͘t̴ s̴o̡m̧e͜one҉ ͜w͜a̢s҉ ̧picki͠n̕g̛ ̸t͠he̡m off on̷e ͜by̧ ̸o͜n̴e...̢” As he spoke, the screen zoomed out a bit more, as the limp bodies of the egos appeared behind the glitch, in the positions you last saw them in, when you had seen Chase accepting his death that would apparently never come. But, horrifyingly enough, Jackie was with them now, and he looked horrible. His coat was stained in blood, and his face was bruised, too.

“N-No..! Wh- Y-You can’t do this to them..! T-They don’t deserve this! They were happy! They- P-Put them back! Let- Let them go..!” A second voice sobbed out, and your heart stopped, as you realized who Anti was talking to. Merlin. The monitor switched to show him, and you felt your heart shattering. His cheeks were stained with tears, as he sat on the ground, looking broken and lost. He seemed to loose sight of Anti as he focused on the bloodied bodies of his new friends in the background, softly muttering something along the lines of “No, god, please no..” over and over again, in a broken, hoarse, and whispery voice.

Anti took out a knife, and your mind started screaming for Merlin to snap out of it as the glitch approached him, but no, Merlin didn’t, he just shakily grabbed his hair between his fingers, and curled up on the ground, sobbing brokenly at the sight of all the pain his failures had caused. Anti finally got to him, and, placing a foot on his back to pin him down to the ground, raised the knife up, totally ready to stab into the poor man child at full force, and end his life right there, when, suddenly, a blue and black blur rammed into him.

“Get the hell away from him, you fucking monster!” Marvin yelled, hurling the obviously much lighter glitch several meters away with a single body slam. Merlin’s eyes were wide open again, and he watched in pure horrified shock as another version of himself kicked the ass of the strongest being he knew just by the sheer power of surprise.

You silently cheered the magicians on as Marvin ran to Merlin, helped him up, and opened up a portal that presumably lead to WorldView.

“W-Wait..! What about the others?! We-We can’t just leave them..!”

“We have to, kid! I only incapacitated him for a bit; there’s no time for us to go back for any of them! Trust me, I would definitely be going back for them if we could spare the time for it.” And with that, they went through the portal, and the monitor shut off. The other monitor turned on soon after, and showed them arriving at the egos’ house in WorldView.

~~

Marvin stumbled through the portal, his arm tightly wrapped around Merlin as he helped him through, and closed it behind him. As soon as he let go of his alternate self, though, he accidentally stumbled and smacked into the ground.

“O-Oh no! Are you okay?!” Merlin yelped in surprise, immediate kneeling by his side.

“M’fine..! Just... clumsy.” He said, his cheeks lightly dusted with a slight tint of pink as he spoke. Merlin laughed at his response, still being cheerful despite the horrors he’d just seen.

“... Marvin? Who is this?” A familiar voice asked cautiously. Marvin looked up to see a nervous-looking Jackie, who was accompanied by a Peregrine falcon in a blue mask not unlike his own.

“Oh, hi Jackie! This is one of my new friends! He’s... kinda... an alternate version of me..? From... another au..?”

“You went to another universe?! Why?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Because you were gonna say no! I had to go after Anti, Jackie! He was planning to hurt more people, and I just can’t stand by and do nothing but watch as he destroys other people’s lives and happiness just because they aren’t from our universe!”

“Marvin, what the hell?! I told you not to go after him!”

“I don’t care!”

“Fine, then! If you’re going to behave like a child, I’m going to treat you like one! Until I say otherwise, you are hereby not allowed to leave the house or go anywhere without someone to keep an eye on you at all times.”

“Are- Are you grounding me?!” Merlin’s voice was somewhere between astonishment and amusement as he spoke, though, his posture almost made it look like he was challenging his older brother.

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a fuckin’ power move, if i’ve ever seen one.” Marvin grinned.

Merlin glared at him, “Don’t encourage him!”

“I have no sides in this argument, I do what I want.”

Jackie snorted at Marvin’s comment, and extended a hand out to him, offering to help him up, “So, you have a nickname we can call you?”

He took the offer, and Jackie helped him up, “Uh, well, I don’t really do much multiverse traveling, so not exactly? But, uh, since your Marvin goes by ‘Merlin’ outside of this universe, I guess I’ll go by Sauron?” He had no idea what to call himself, honestly.

“Heh, cool. Good to meet ya, pal.”

“You too.” His gaze flicked to the falcon on the hero’s shoulder.

“Oh, that’s right! I forgot to tell you about our furry household friends!” Merlin exclaimed, “The falcon’s name is Ferris, by the way. My familiars are Thorn and Chomp. I’ll, uh, introduce the others later on.”

Jackie sighed, “Well, I guess you’re here for the same reason as the guy my son brought home today, right? Your universe is gone, yeah?”

“... I think so, yep. Who’s the other guy..?”

“Seán.” Jackie stated.

“Oh, thank god that monster didn’t get him, too..” Merlin looked relieved.

“What?”

“... Anti’s got all the other egos from their universe, Jackie... He... He even took their versions of your kids... and..” Merlin paused, voice breaking as he spoke again, “... I think he killed their mother...”

“What?!” Jackie’s demeanor immediately changed at the mention, although somewhat indirect, of Ava’s death.

“He- I-I don’t know, I just know the last thing i heard before the universe disappeared was her screaming in pain..!”

“... Change of plans. We have to save them.”

“Wait, really?!” Merlin’s face lit up with joy.

“Yes.”

“Does this mean I’m ungrounded?!”

“No, not by a long shot, kid.”

“... darn it...”

~~~

[January 1st]

Merlin swung gently on his hammock, the sheer level of boredom involved in being on some minor form of house arrest clawing at the edges of his mind. There was nothing fun to do at home! Not even their visitors were worth messing with anymore. The robo-Chase guy was busy testing out a couple new features that his brother apparently installed a few weeks ago, while said brother was mostly being confined to staying in place and not doing anything for pretty much the entire time it would take for his newly reopened wounds to heal. Everyone else that didn’t have a job had figured out how to tell when he was plotting a new prank or something, so they wouldn’t really be any fun to bug, anyways.

His eyes landed on the window, and his face lit up with a mischievous grin, as he suddenly knew what to do. First, he quickly darted to his door, and peeked out, making sure no one was within hearing range.

Nope. Not a soul.

Then, he swiftly snuck his way back to the other side of the room, unlocked his window, and, making sure to be as silent as he could, he lifted it up, and hopped outside, clumsily clinging onto the side of a telephone pole he’d forgotten was there. Oops.

He shrugged it off, and somehow managing to climb to the top, sat once again in the “spiderman” pose, a big, goofy grin on his face as he looked around for somewhere he could jump to, other than the roof of the egos’ house. Thankfully, there was a tree not too far away, so, figuring it’d be worth a shot, he took his chances, and jumped for it.

Barely managing to grab onto a branch and stabilize himself, he hastily clambered up on top of it, after making sure it was strong enough to support his weight. He surveyed the area again, and realized this might’ve been a stupid idea, because he was at least three or four meters up, and there wasn’t any reliable places to land on, at least, from his position. The next closest tree was all the way on the other side of the canopy, and it would probably be fairly difficult to maneuver himself over to a good position for jumping.

Nevertheless, he inched his way over to the trunk of the tree, and looked around for a branch he could grab that brought him closer to the other side. Luckily, there was one neither too far away, nor too high up for him to reach. He did have to jump a bit, and pulled himself onto it, but that wasn’t really a big deal. To be honest, right now he was just worried about making it there safely, and not damaging his cape in the process. Either one of those would compromise his “great escape” immensely.

He soon worked his way over to the other side, and looked for a safe place to land on the other tree.

...

....

Merlin had no idea how long he’d been outside for, but he was in the more dense part of their city now, and his travels had sped up a lot. He now practically flew from rooftop to rooftop, using physics to his advantage for most of it, and magic for the rest, laughing joyously from the thrill of the adventure. He made one last jump, spinning around a bit in the air before he landed, now facing the other direction. This was the closest building to the place they usually set off the best of the fireworks in the city on New Year’s Eve, right? Yeah, looked like it.

He peered over the edge of the building, and, sure enough, there was a crowd gathered down there for the celebration. He looked at the digital banners above the entrances to a few of the shops in the area, trying to see if one of them would display the time, and, sure enough, 11:58 scrolled across one of them. He grinned. He was just in time!

Next thing he knew, the last two minutes were almost up, and everyone down below was counting down the final ten seconds. As soon as the clock hit 12AM, cheering erupted from them, and five rockets shot up at the same time, exploding into a beautiful, but blindingly bright array of colorful light patterns in the night sky.

After a long while of beautiful, but absurdly loud explosions in the sky, Merlin figured it was no more than an hour into the new year, but regardless, the fireworks were still going, the crowd was still watching them, and he was getting pretty tired. Honestly, he didn’t even notice it when he slowly started drifting off, the loud booms no longer keeping his mind from sleep. He was more concerned with the fact that he’d just realized he forgot his mask in his room.

...

....

.....

“...ht kid? Hey, kid! This isn’t really a good place for a nap, y’know!” The sound of his other self’s voice woke him up, and he blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. He regretted it though, because he saw a concerned Sauron and, well, Jackie, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, looking very annoyed with him.

“... Oops..?” He grinned nervously.

——————————————————

Next Chapter

Masterlist

Sauron’s official nickname for Merlin is “kid” and no one can change my mind-

@antis-loyal-puppet @tiny-septic-puppet @rorald-spooks @septic-dr-schneep @insaneangel18-blog @ihaveanunhealthyteaaddiction

[notreallyuseless]

Chase’s day (END)

Previous [x]

When Chase woke up the next day, he felt like a truck had drive over him fifteen times in a row. He just felt like staying in bed and ignore the world around him. Everyone was doing their things, going on about their day, while Chase was stuck in this timeless space where a minute could stretch itself into hours of self-loathing. He didn’t want to stumble upon the others. He felt bad for thinking badly of them. He was the one in the wrong, he should be happy to have friends around him most days. One day without them didn’t have to mean the end, right? But it did. It did because he needed his friends the most on Father’s Day. And they weren’t there, by choice or not. If one of them called out to Chase to spend time with him because he needed someone, he’d drop everything to get to him. But Chase didn’t reach out. So, he really was in the wrong. But once again, they knew how that day was hard for him. He rolled over and expected to fall off the couch but was surprise to discover the couch was magically wider than he expected. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them up again. The sunlight through the window was blinding. Even if he was still hangover, he knew there was no window that close to the couch. He sat up, eyes still closed and patted around him. He was in bed, so someone must have brought him to a room, most likely his. He finally stood up and staggered toward what he thought was a door, but he didn’t even do two steps forward that he fell on the floor, knocking down a few things with him. He had hit his head on something hard and the once painful headache was even worst now. That’s what happen when you try to do something when your life is falling apart. He felt two hands placed themselves on his armpit and straighten him up. He still wasn’t stable on his feet, so he leaned on the person behind him.

“Chase, I’m maybe a superhero, but you’re really heavy if you put all your weight on me. Can’t you help me a little?”

He tried standing up, but his legs were still wobbly. He felt sick. Very sick.

“Batman.”

At this word, Jackie grabbed an empty trashcan in the blink of an eye and placed it in Chase’s hand. Not a second later, Chase’s head was buried in the trashcan, emptying his stomach. They both sat down on the floor, Jackie slowly rubbing Chase’s back. Even if his vision was still blocked off by the plastic of the trashcan, Chase knew that the others had meet up in the room.

“Chase... we’re...we’re sorry for yesterday.”

“Don’t... I don’t care anymore.”

It was silence in the room. He could hardly hear someone shuffling on his feet and someone else messing up his hair. He felt a hand on his shoulder and removed his head from the bin to look at Jamie that sign at him, smiling.

“But we do care.”

“It’s... it’s nothing guys. I’ll get over it. It was one of my bad days and it fell on Father’s day on all days so... don’t bother. It’s one of my depressing moment.”

“Then we’ll treat it as such”, said Henrik a little too loud for Chase’s ears. Chase then felt hands take his ankle and lift him up with the help of Jackie.

“Wait! What are you-”, began to say Chase before another wave of sickness took him. Henrik motioned Jamie with his head to stay near Chase with the bin, in which Chase didn’t wait to use again.

After a small trip throughout the house, with a few stops for Chase to be sick and some others for Marvin to also be sick, they finally arrived into the living room. Chase could remember how messy the place was after his drinking. Bottles were scattered everywhere, all pillows on the floor to let him have all the couch and the already messy floor was intact. But now, the room was cleaned up. Like nothing happened. No bottles, no snacks, no pillows on the floor. Henrik and Jackie gently placed Chase on the couch and wrapped him up in Chase’s bed sheets.

“What are you doing, guys?”

“Taking care of you, silly”, answered Jamie still smiling.

They all left the room, one after the other except for Jamie who sat down on the floor next to the couch. He looked up at Chase, his smile never leaving his face. Chase started crying softly.

“Why did you all leave me alone yesterday? I needed you...”

“Marvin and I forgot about Father’s Day. We are sorry. This day does not mean much to us, since we have no father, but we should have thought of you. It was selfish of us.”

“No, it’s selfish of me to think you should cancel something you’re excited about because of me.”

“I’m sure if you would have called us, we would have left the show in a heartbeat.”

Jamie looked around the room while signing, like it was a secret.

“Marvin’s magic tricks were better than this fraud of a magician.”

Chase’s laugh filled out the quiet room. His cheeks were still stained by his tears, but he knew deep down that he could count on Jamie and Marvin to distract him. Not long after, the other three came back in the room, all bringing something. Henrik had a tray filled with steaming cup followed by Marvin, also bringing a tray but this one filled with dry cereals. They gently put the two trays on the small table in the living room before Marvin plopped down on the floor next to Jamie and Henrik pushed Chase a little bit on the couch to have a spot. Jackie then entered the room and had so many bedsheets on him, the others could only see his blue shoes. Faking anger, he threw the sheets on the other four, making them disappear under the amount of fabric there was. They had wrapped Chase so tightly first, he couldn’t even move. After almost spilling his tea on himself, Jackie unwrapped a little bit Chase, without letting him have access to his feet.

A few movies later, and a few cups of hot drinks, they were all chatting happily together. Chase often tried to tell them they didn’t have to spend time with him but none of them wanted to hear him. They felt bad for leaving him alone at home and making him feel like drinking alcohol was the only solution. Chase didn’t want to dwell on yesterday, but he needed to know something.

“Jackie...where were you yesterday? When I didn’t find you, I thought immediately that you were fighting crimes in the city.”

“Oh..Uh... In fact, I was stuck in the basement.”

All eyes turned to him, a mixture of confusion and amusement in their eyes.

“A shelf fell off next to the door and broke the handle”, some laugh could be heard amongst them, “Stop laughing! I thought I was gonna die! Anyway, I decided to try breaking the window but since it’s at floor level, and it was raining, I didn’t want to flood the basement.”

“A light rain wouldn’t have flood the basement.”

“Shut up! I was panicking, OK? Anyway, after hours of going in circles, and after night fall, I THEN tried pushing the door to see if I could open it and...it did. I just had to push it.”

They all laughed together at how silly Jackie was sometimes. This guy was supposed to save people and he couldn’t even leave a room. Chase’s sides were aching. Maybe his day had been bad and depressing, but at least he hadn’t been stuck in the basement.

“Guys, calm down! Well, after I left the room, I went around the house and found you on the couch, clutching a bottle in your hand. You kept mumbling the same thing over and over, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. I’m the one who brought you to your room and cleaned up.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Ja-“

“Don’t you dare apologize. I had to at least do this for you. I couldn’t even spend time with you yesterday. None of us could. Sometimes, small actions have a big impact on people. I knew you’d wake up feeling like garbage today, but I wanted you to only feel like it, not be surrounded by it.”

“And I could have found a moment between two surgery to call you, see how you were doing. I was so caught up on making sure people around me felt better that I never thought of making sure you were alright. You’re my friend, my dearest friend, and I should have make some time to let you know how good of a friend and father you are.”

“Guys... Stop...”, whispered Chase with new tears falling from his eyes. Jamie shush him up with the wave of his hand

“We will not stop until you understand how good of a person you are, Chase. You are always there for us, even when you do not feel like it. You get joy by trying to help us and we should do the same to you. You are always trying your best, even if you are far from being the best at some things, like cooking. You are my inspiration Chase. I want to be as good as a person as you.”

“It’s my turn I guess... Chase, you’re like a father to me. I hardly ever tell you that. But you’re the most hardworking, kind and determined person I know. You’re always trusting us and encouraging us to try new things, even if it means we blow up the kitchen. No one should feel like they aren’t needed or like they can’t ask for help when in a crisis like yours. I want you to get through your thick skull that never in a million year would we feel annoyed by you asking for help.”

More tears rolled down Chase’s cheeks. He couldn’t understand how lucky he was to have such a good bunch of silly friends to have around. No one was perfect. But everyone of them tried to be the best. For once in a really long time, Chase felt like he deserved some happiness in his life. Not everything had to be grey and depressing, some moments could be lighthearted and colorful. Father’s Day was a bad day, like many other days before. But not all the following days should be like them. They could be better, or worst, but with friends like Chase had, every bad day could become a good one with a single call. He still had some doubts, he knew himself and asking for help would be harder than he thought, but he'd try nonetheless to be and to feel better. He stretched out his arm and they all hugged together, in a big messy pile of bedsheets and tears. Through tears, Marvin spoke softly.

“Without you, we’d fall apart.”

( I wrote it to apologize for the unwanted angst. It was nice to write something else than angst for once)

Tag List: @chase-brody-protection-squad, @enakane

[sixmorningsafter]

A Thesis on Chapter 13

Despite all the almost sexy times last chapter, I think this is my favorite so far. There are less “I don’t know you”, “who do you think you are”, “can you just leave me alone” vibes but that doesn’t mean everything (or everyone) is comfortable.

A/N: LMAO this thesis is the greatest thing that’s ever happened, I’m dying. Is there a more appropriate way to review the rambliest fic in the known universe? Always adore your feedback and this is no exception, and I can’t stress enough how happy/giddy I was reading over this and seeing how much thought you put into it, man. Ugh. Cassie’s such a doll, y’all.

Anyway, onto the chapter: lmaoooo not even remotely comfortable, but yessss, the tone is definitely less belligerent and more so just unsettled (at least for Bamon) in 13. Stefan and Caroline were probably more intimate in 12 but hey, every action has an equal an opposite reaction, ja feel? Reality checks await. 

Putting the rest under a cut because your glorious long-windedness combined with mine is a chapter in and of itself. 

Bonnie: I like her introspection a lot, and I can relate to it (I too try to check myself before wrecking myself). I like that she’s hyper aware of the latent anger and her tendency to hide it away ‘cause then its hidden from her. 

I love how she thinks Damon might possibly feel violated by her advances the previous night. Girl, please. And lol “magical fucking reverse-dementor”? Gold.

Oblivious Bonnie. Oh, the hilarity.

A/N: She’s a mess, but she’s trying. I think much like Caroline, she’s convinced that if she drops her guard and removes the tight lid she keeps on parts of herself, disaster will strike, and I think much like Stefan, Damon’s going to play a part in proving that’s not what’s going to happen. Obviously a major difference is Bonnie keeps the lid on to protect others (friends, etc) from jagged parts of herself and Caroline’s is more self-preserving. And LMAO yeah needless to say, Damon’s not feeling particularly violated but bless Bonnie.

Baroline: Bless you. I like this scene a lot. Bonnie tackling a sleeping Caroline; Caroline being a “ferocious blanket monster”– love it. As a writer, it’s a gold mine ‘cause you can casually throw in some flashbacks, but as a reader, it’s a gold mine 'cause you get casually thrown into a fuller picture of who Caroline is– a force to be reckoned with, especially when it comes to the people she holds close. God, I live for Bonnie telling Caroline she came out of one of the worst situations as a “goddam warrior”–ugh, slay me.

Baroline + Tyler feels, love it.

Lol at the “messes” exchange. This is me and any of my best friends lol. Headcanon: Baroline gets messes forever as their matching bff tattoos. 

A/N: YAY, Baroline feels! I really wanted to balance out their relationship since so much of the last chapter was Caroline’s side of it, and given that Bonnie was in a ‘fuck everyone’ state it was lopsided, so writing out that scene and having Bonnie assume the role of Caroline’s no. 1 fan felt necessary. So glad the little moments and flashbacks painted a more detailed picture! I think we’ll see more of that ferocious friend side of Caroline in the upcoming chapters, when there are dinners to plan and she’s back in work mode and stuff. I have a fun scene planned where Stefan’s getting pushback on a work call and Caroline sort of snatches the phone and works her magic. And YES, #messesforever tattos! All the Tyler cameos. 

Stefan: The trademarked “Fix It” with the “associated apology tour”, that made me laugh.

I liked that Bonnie knows Stefan has callouses for her lashing out, 'cause he’s literally like, welp that wasn’t so bad.

Again, Stefan acknowledging Damon is more than meets the eye is good. I think it’s funny how he has these unrealistic views of people, but he also doesn’t, like when it comes to Damon. I suppose it’s just the women in his life. Unfortunately, his “Caroline is a partially ajar door” epiphany struck me as correct, but only as a reader, I would know that. I kind of like watching Stefan sort himself out. Idk if you made a Stefonnie parallel on purpose, but both are introspective in a very academic way. Unlike Daroline who are equally introspective but built a stone armour around themselves, Stefonnie built, like, a two-way glass armour, you know? God, Stefan would probably hate me for turning him into a metaphor ;p

“People weren’t tropes”, Stefan says as Gabi writes him as a trope. I literally said aloud, “ah the not-trope trope” lol. But I like that he’s self-aware. Unlike canon, where it seems like he embraces the Hero Hair wholeheartedly.

Ooo, such a great point - Stefan and Bonnie definitely take a much more logical approach to analyzing themselves than Caroline or Damon, who are like captains of the National Deflect Team. I think Stefonnie both have lowkey hero complexes and that might factor into it a bit: Bonnie fucks up and her first thought upon waking up is ‘fix it fix all of it’ - she’s more concerned about the people she might’ve affected last night than herself. So she rationally dissects everything she did and figures out the best strategy for making it better (though notice she doesn’t actually come up with a strategy for fixing her coping mechanisms). Stefan wakes up and rationalizes the fuck out of him and Caroline while downplaying the fact that hey, bud, regardless of all this rational mumbo jumbo, you felt something last night. You felt something tighten in you when she put the wall back up. You didn’t like it. So yeah, they’re both a little fake mature in that sense, like they think they’re taking the high road or being logical but they’re also kind of denying reality a bit in the process. And then there’s Daroline, lololol, who’re just like ‘sitting down to critically analyze our problems sounds like a GREAT conversation and all but here’s another suggestion: flinging ourselves off a bridge’. 

Stefonnie: Like that ask you answered, I didn’t know how much I needed Stefonnie until this scene. I really like how Bonnie’s approach to her Steroline apologies are to wrap them in light scenarios (like the stories about Caroline and Shark Week with Stefan).

And their hug, how fucking sweet. 

God, I love how awkward both of them are when it comes to discussing their currently lowkey romantic ships. Lol, like I tweeted in response to Bonnie’s “I just hope it wasn’t too tense”, it was too intense (har har, I’m funny). And Stefan’s “hope it wasn’t too carnal”, I loved this word choice–thank you. And their stumbling over their own words with one another, like in this “you’re my bestie I can’t lie to you” kind of way.

The parallel, seen in the end, with Stefonnie being clueless when it comes to the romantic ships has me screaming. Wake up people! 

A/N: Stefan and Bonnie are totally the clueless problematic cinnamon rolls of this fic, man. Like I know Bonnie has a dark side, but they’re both still such naive koalas, it’s so dumb. So glad you caught the ‘I can’t lie to you’ vibe between them because I was totally going for that - they never explicitly lied but they definitely skirted around the truth, and as you’ll see especially from Stefan in 14, he really doesn’t like it. It’s not their style. Especially given their loaded history with Bonnie cutting him off and trying to leave him out of a whole part of her life - they’re not fans of not telling each other stuff. So yeah, that tension’s definitely there, but sandwiched between some fluff that I’m so glad you liked!

Steroline: YES I KNEW IT WAS A SEX PRE-COITAL CONTRACT AGREEMENT. And I think you should take that as a compliment 'cause its so characteristic of Caroline.

Lol at “how would we go about tracking our decibel levels”? Like how did she even come up with the right decibel levels? Like, as writers, we look up some crazy shit, but as Caroline, I feel like her research history is… more than abundant. 

“Would we be doing zumba on the side”, fucking Stefan lmfao. Idk if you watched the canon Steroline proposal, but he has this roundabout way of proposing, saying something like, I was thinking you’d wear this ring or whatever, and I think its interesting how this SMA line kinda parallels to that canon one, in terms of Stefan’s silly side (which is a rarity in canon). Like I feel like Paul insisted doing the proposal his way.

Stefan is such a dope. Like when Caroline is “demonstrating”, and he’s like “probably should’ve seen that coming”. Ugh, this dummy.

A/N: Caroline’s so extra it’s unreal. Like sometimes when I write her and I want to incorporate her more anal-retentive side, I have to literally stop for five minutes and just think up ridiculous shit. I’m the least detail-oriented/list-making person on earth so I basically have an out-of-body experience whenever I write Caroline, lololol - it’s a ton of fun, though. I really wanted to make that moment a canon nod to Stefan finding her control-freak side amusing/endearing. In SMA, he didn’t really know that side of her before they were snowed-in (it was sort of buried under the general frostiness and party girl persona), so I think it makes her feel more human to him. He likes catching glimpses of the real her. And yessss, hahaha, SMA Stefan is definitely like taking all of canon Stefan’s silly/trolly moments and just condensing them into the whole character. I kind of feel like without all of the vampire and Damon/Katherine nonsense in his life, though, Stefan would’ve been a much lighter, sassier person, so who knows. Totally a dope, though.  

Bamon: Bonnie’s sex fantasies– FINALLY. As canon Damon would say, “Glad to see you’ve boarded this train to crazy town, Bonnie Bennett” (yes I looked this up, no I have no regrets).  

Damon’s reaction to Bonnie’s apology is good lol. I like this. With Stefonnie and Baroline, it was teary-eyes and heartfelt-ness, and then there’s Damon. She connected with a stranger (in more ways than one), and she's just trying her best. Lol.

I didn’t realize this until Bonnie points it out, but I like that she recognized how self-centered their personal conversation had been. How she twisted everything about like it was a competition.

Lol the “can we just forget this happened” conversation is hilarious. It reminds me of when Defan are talking about the space heater, and Damon keeps toying with Stefan LOL. Idk if you intended that parallel, but its golden.

Ugh and I love how she’s like, “last night she’d be tangled up with a street kid”. I like that realization, 'cause it was kind of one for me too. Like, Damon looks like a babe, but Bonnie��s got him pegged.

A/N: Love all of these insights so much! So on point. ‘And then there’s Damon’ should really just be his tagline, I feel like. He’s kind of a constant question mark/occasional pleasant surprise in general to everyone, but to Bonnie, he’s proving a total wildcard. Majorly throwing her off her typical routine, slipping right under that stubbornly even-kiln skin - she really is just trying her best to adjust to it, lololol. But once again, she’s using suppressing techniques to do it, and if 12 should’ve taught her anything, it’s that he’s not afraid to poke through that. You’ll see her hit a much more comedic breaking point in 14 and some long-time-coming stuff comes out of it. And re: the Defan parallel, I didn’t really think about that but it’s totally true - Damon’s just a giant troll. I think his conversations with Stefan and Bonnie will usually have similar tones in that he’s this boundary-less shit-starter dealing with people who are used to having civilized, tactful interactions with people, vs. with Caroline, she’s just as blunt as he is so it’s much more abrasive-with-an-undercurrent-of-affection. 

Damon: So his line “I heard you loud and clear about last night, kid” (and okay, his insisting on calling her kid, as like a way to, idk, distance himself from her, for her sake and probably his own, is so deflating for me, 'cause they’re getting somewhere and then they’re not) is so telling. Just so very telling. “But she’d literally looked like she was going to crawl out of her skin whenever he was near her… He didn’t love it.” Honey, your need for affection is showing. Annoying? Yeah, annoying how you won’t admit you have a crush on her.

The scene with his reflection, even if it was only a snapshot of the past, it was good. So, idk if you do this on purpose, but the way you reveal Damon’s story is wildly different from the other three, and it’s very consist with his character. And it’s well written. Very, very good job. Oh, and reverting back to that line “pointless”. Mmmmm my poor baby.

Awww, haven’t heart this interpretation of kid yet! Could totally see some merit to it - I think it’s definitely telling of an unusual endearment Damon’s starting to feel for her, one that (despite how sexual their relationship got last chapter and the undercurrent of it this chapter) has surprisingly little to do with sex and more to do with this spunky, weird, stubborn, complicated little thing who keeps surprising him. Even if there is any intent to create distance (and maybe subconsciously there is), I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t stop calling her that even if they were together. And lmao re: his ‘annoyance’ with her aversion to him - not obvious at all, right? Everyone in this story is so dumb idk why I write it. 

Re: different writing strategies, I actually got a really cool ask about this from someone about the couples, and I think it’s the same deal where it just naturally happens? Like Damon lives stubbornly in the present, he doesn’t care what happens tomorrow or what happened yesterday, so having him go down long mental meanders through memory lane just doesn’t come out of my fingers, you know? His reveals kind of come in quick flashes - bursts of dialogue or action that only last as long as it takes him to recognize what he’s doing and pivot away from it. I know this fic is technically third person, but I write it a lot like a first person PoV (not really italicizing thoughts, writing the descriptions with run-on sentences and fragments like dialogue), so I feel like because of that, I naturally shift my style a bit for every character’s head. You’ll definitely get more Damon reveals up ahead, though - a lot of the Bamon dynamic has been focused on Bonnie in the past few chapters, but as that gets more under control, Ms. Fix It hasn’t gone anywhere, and she’s going to start putting some of the spotlight back on him. Her finding his wallet in the sneak peek is kind of the start of that. 

Daroline: LMFAO. You already know about my Daroline brotp feelings, so I’ll keep this short. Besides the hilarity that is defensive Caroline and shitstarter Damon, I really like that, because of their history, Damon’s first real sincere moment is with Caroline. Like, he prods and jokes about stuff with Bonnie and Stefan, but he’s not being helpful. With Caroline, though, he’s doing the friend thing.

Again, you probably did this on purpose, but I can’t help to point it out: Daroline knowing there’s something going on within the romantic ships has me geeking out. 

Yay, Daroline! I get way too much satisfaction from writing two characters who started off as explicitly sexual having entirely non-romantic emotional beats and becoming ain’t shit friends. I feel like in a way, it’s almost a little necessary in a fic like this, because otherwise every sexual relationship I’m writing leads to love and I really don’t think that’s true. I think it’s super possible for casual sex to be exactly that, and I think Daroline kind of spits in the face of the idea that two people who have been or are physically attracted to each other can’t be friends. Of course they can be. Sex and love are different. Sex is instant, easy. Love is layered af. And on the converse of that, we have Stefonnie as the ‘guys and girls can absolutely be best friends’ PSA, so yeah, I think the m/f brotps help balance the fic a bit. 

Defan:

God, it’s a great time just watching these idiots. “Steffy bear and I are getting married.“ Defan = Major/Ravi feelings. There’s only this scene at the end, but it’s really fun and there’s no drama between them, so it’s wholeheartedly silly.

Total Major/Ravi vibes! So glad you’re digging them - I haven’t had a chance to do a ton with them so far (outside of little beats here and there and references to offscreen/page bonding) but I’m definitely going more into Defan soon - they open up chapter 14 and it’s super fun/introduces some dynamic shifts for them. I think I get way too much of a kick out of making the most problematic canon ships the least problematic in this AU, lmao.

Bonus Round– the "Kai” scene: It strikes me as seriously mental of Bonnie to think she could face Kai on her own. Like, okay, so he may not be a serial killer, but he’s still fucking creepy! (though I love it tbh). I love Steroline’s protectiveness over Bonnie (“Yeah, I don’t know what kind of hangover brain she’s on, but you’re absolutely going with her”). Damon’s hardcore acting as the disgustingly affection bf (“It’s so cute it makes even us cringe”). Bonnie’s deadfish acting.

LMAO Bonnie’s definitely got some priorities to sort out. And yay, so glad you liked protective Steroline - I think it’s fun to make them so at odds about so many things and then suddenly when Bonnie’s the subject boom, team up. Damon’s affectionate boyfriend act is only going to get worse after some things that go down in 14, and Bonnie’s deadfish isn’t going to fool anyone. More apeshit Kai ahead!

Okay, I copy and pasted this into a Word doc, and it’s a full 5 pages. Yikes. I’m done. You’re amazing, bless you, continue doing the good Lord’s work, amen. <3, Cassandra

LMAOOOOO five pages of GLORY. I seriously can’t tell you how much I appreciate your super detailed, thoughtful, hilarious reviews - in fact, it took me this long to answer because I was like ‘I need to find a time where I can sit down and write a thesis back’. You’re amazing, bless you, continue doing the good Lord’s work, amen. <3 Gabi

[missymarysthings]

Like Father, Like Son?

If they weren’t so close together she would have crossed her arms. “Alvara Eliese Richter...care to explain to me why you have chosen to drag us to a closet?” she asked as she stared directly into his slightly glowing eyes. That was one benefit of the demon prince being closer to his mother’s height. She did not need to look up to see into his eyes, unless he was in his demon form, but that’s a different story.

“You zink I knew zs vas a closet? I zought ze door led to an actual room Crystal,“ he responded. However, he could almost feel what her next question would be if he left his answer at that. He had no doubts that she would ask him why he would then close the door. Alvara had to be honest with himself though, he had not really been thinking straight. He had a one track mind in what he wanted to accomplish, so he had closed the door before he realized where they were. “Besides,“ he began to admit, “I just vanted to get you away from zat rude prince. I may not know vhat you two vere talking about, but I could see your frustration growing. Und...I did not like ze vay he’s been looking at you all night anyway.“

The Vosmus heir sighed softly and glanced to the side. Not that there was much she could focus on since it was dark in the closet and her eyes had not adjusted yet. “So what you’re telling me is your over protective trait was triggered? Not that I’m surprised or anything. How many times have I teased you about that, or been exasperated by it in the past?” 

“You...ja, you could sat zat,“ he said and let out a small sigh of his own. Alva was always protective of her, anyone who knew of their past and friendship could tell you that. How could he not be when she means so much to him? However...something about this time was different. It felt different to him than normal. Was it the other prince that caused it or the situation in general? 

“What’s going on in that head of yours Alva? That was not a full answer you gave me,“ Crystal said while looking into his eyes again. There was a part of her that wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to hear the full answer. She knew how the Richter prince could be when he gets a certain level of concerned or worried. 

“It vas different zis time,“ Alva said as he looked into her eyes. He needed to see them for what he was about to ask her next. “Just who is he Crystal? How do you know each other, und vhy does he look at you like...“

“Like he obsesses over me and wants to take me away and make me his bride?“ she finished for him and sighed once more. “Because he does. It’s...a complicated story that I don’t have every answer to. Answers I could likely get from my mother but have chosen not to,“ she said and maneuvered slightly so she could bring a hand to her cheek. She glanced away once again. “It...also ties into why I have a patron now.“

Alvara suddenly placed his hands on the wall behind her, ‘trapping’ her between his arms, as his eyes flared slightly. “Vhat do you mean?! Did he harm you?! Again, Crystal, I ask you-”

“Stop, Alvara,“ she interrupted as she looked fully at him again. “Don’t cause yourself to transform, I’ll get squished in here and neither of us want that,“ she said and gave a weak laugh. It trailed off quickly into another sigh, however. “Zerius, his name is Zerius. Prince of the Shadowed Kingdom, and son of the more reasonable and kind hosts of this event. And this whole...situation started back when we were little. I...I don’t know if I met him before I met you and Diet, or after. I...“ she trailed off as she though she saw Alva start to shake.

“You...you don’t know? H-how?! I don’t -?!“ he began to question but was stopped by the ice princess placing a finger to his lips. She sighed for the nth time and started to explain everything to him as best she could. By the time she was finished; while also throwing in some of the revelations she had throughout and lately, there were silent tears running down her face. She had one hand balled at her side while the other was keeping Alvara from busting down the door to go do not so nice things to the other prince. “Crystal....“ he said in a low, and slightly warning tone.

“He’s not worth it Alva!“ she countered through gritted teeth, trying to believe she was hiding her tears from him. 

“Vhat he tried to do to you is unforgivable! You should have told me, or Gisela, or someone vhen you brought Rafael und Pepi back to us! Ve vould have figured something out vith you! Und you talk about me being stubborn!“ he said back trying not to raise his voice but slightly failing. 

“I already told you why I didn’t!“ she countered. “I was already feeling like I had done wrong by you guys and was causing you to resent me! I was just trying to be a good friend to your younger siblings, not replace any of you or anything!“ she restated her voice quivering slightly. “That situation with Zerius was my burden to bear, my past to confront, not yours! Especially not at that time. I didn’t feel right even considering it, it would not have been right Alvara!“

“Ve could have lost you Crystal! Your family could have lost you! I could have lost you und not even known!” he said and hit the wall. “Ze zought of you not remembering me or anything about our childhood und friendship is absolutely terrifying to me! Ze zought of him possibly making zat happen makes my blood boil Crystal! You know good und vell zat if someone tried zat vith my dear mother zey vould be dead by my father’s hand or by my siblings’, or uncles’ or cousins’, whoever got to zem first!“

Crystal had flinched slightly when he hit the wall. “This is why I did not tell you. I know how you are, Alva. There is a lot of your mother in you, absolutely, but there is also a lot of your father there too. Just because Zerius is an arrogant, ignorant, moronic excuse of an elemental, doesn’t mean he needs to be seriously harmed now for what he tried to do then. He did not succeed, and his actions are not condoned by his parents. He just refuses to listen. He will not get the chance to try a second time Alvara, I promise you that!”

A silence fell between them for a few minutes. They were both trying to calm themselves down, and Crystal had cool the temperature in the closet slightly. Being in there awhile and getting so worked up was starting to make the enclosed space a bit too warm for her. 

When the demon prince felt the shift in temperature it seemed to cut his anger almost instantly. He used his own magic to made the room colder, his care and concern for her taking a calmer lead of his emotions than before. He had not realized just how close the ice princess had gotten to him so she could stop him before. Now, however, he could feel the steady rise and fall of her chest against his own.

It made him take note of her face and expression. All of her concern and slight fear that he would do something rash on her account was clear on her face. There was a slight pleading in her eyes along with the last of her lingering tears. Unless he was wrong, and he wasn’t, she did not want to lose him just as much as he did not want to lose her. 

He wasn’t sure what came over him but he found himself gently pushing Crystal against the wall and bring his face close to hers.  She seemed a bit startled as their lips almost touched, but Alva stopped short. “Do you mind?” he asked in a low whisper.

“W-what?“ she asked a bit breathless as she had no choice but to stare into his eyes. She was trying to process what was going on, trying to get a grasp at what the Richter prince was thinking. However, her mind wanted to blank out, or just focus on how close they were; how close their lips were to touching. How did they get here?

“Do you mind if I give you my first kiss?“ he asked with more clarification this time. Crystal’s heart felt like it wanted to escape as she processed what he said. It made her think once more about Prima’s words to her, and yet the Vosmus heir never thought she would be in this kind of situation with him. However, she did have to take a moment to admire his restrain and respect. 

But then...

Alvara was miles different, and better, than Zerius in the first place. Her and Alva had been in each other faces for many different reasons. Although many times were for nagging, or scolding reasons. Sometimes it was just sharing a laugh, or her trusting him with her feelings and her tears. This time though there was a different air to this moment, and it wasn’t just their magic working seamlessly together to cool down the closet. 

Instead of saying anything, she titled her head slightly and gently pushed her lips against his. Granted, she wasn’t sure if that was the right way to kiss as this was her first as well. However, after everything she had been through, she would rather have her inexperienced first with him than anyone else right now.

For a moment Alvara’s eyes went wide as he did not expect her to do that. He then closed his eyes as he enjoyed the chill that went down his spine when their lips met. He laughed at himself internally as he thought about Joshka’s words to him a few weeks back, now beginning to understand what he may have meant. ‘You’re in denial, you know. You just don’t fully realize it yet.’ How silly and cryptic his younger brother had been, or so Alvara had thought at the time when it was said.

Now though, as he opened his eyes again, he found himself reaching for her hand and intertwining their fingers. It caused her to gasp lightly and he took the opportunity to deepen their kiss. It sent another chill down his spine, but like the first time it felt right to him, and it felt good. He felt her tremble slightly so he broke the kiss and pulled back a bit. 

Crystal let out a soft moan and panted slightly when their lips parted. When she realized the sound she made, she glanced away from him and started to blush. That was a new experience and feelings she could not describe at the moment. She was also trying to ignore the part of her mind that was telling her to get him to do that again. However, a slightly more rational part of her decided to make her speak instead. “Oh my gods Alva, could we really not go to a more...romantic setting or situation to have our first kiss? A closet...we must not be in our right minds...” she said, still a little breathless.

A short chuckle came from Alvara. “But could ve really beat zis privacy zough?” he asked. 

“Privacy? Ha! I bet there are people out there just waiting for us to come out this closet and give us those ‘ooooh what were you doing in there~’ looks,“ she answered.

A moment passed before they both laughed and shared another kiss without thought or hesitation. It wasn’t as long as the last but it was still enjoyed by both of them. “Let’s go before people do come looking for us,” she said softly.

“Or ve could just leave und try to figure out...us,“ he offered. “I mean, if... you vant zere to be an us right now, or if you need time to zink about what happened und vhat you vant to do. You know I understand either vay.“

“I...can’t process that completely right now. Besides I want to stay a little longer and properly thank Queen Severa for the invitation. While avoiding her son, of course,” she said. Alvara nodded but then grinned a bit as he reached for the doorknob.

“Understood. Maybe zough, I could go tease him about getting your first kiss?“

“Oh my gods Alva, stoooooop!“

[aion-rsa]

NBA 2K21 Review: Not Really an Upgrade

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Every game in the decades-old NBA 2K series has hit consoles between September and November in time for the leadup to the next NBA season. Makes sense, right? But what happens when, come early September, the pros are still trying to complete the previous campaign because of, oh, I don’t know, a global pandemic that has disrupted just about everything in the world in one way or another? You get NBA 2K21, a game that feels too much like last year’s model.

The game actually makes for a great metaphor for the 2019-20 NBA season. The on-court action is as good as ever, both in the league’s bubble at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida and in 2K21. The virtual basketball is just as smooth as the real thing. Quality simulation gameplay has always been the hallmark of the franchise, and that’s no different this year.

But that metaphor works two ways because, just like the real thing, NBA 2K21 is stuck in last season. With no NBA Draft to bring in an influx of new, young talent, there are no rookies. Offseason player movement hasn’t occurred yet, either. Nobody can accuse NBA 2K21 of being just a roster update from the previous game, because it isn’t even that.

The fact that there are no rookies yet created an embarrassing situation when I dipped into MyLeague, the almost completely ignored — from an upgrade standpoint — suite of modes. Playing through MyGM, I guided the Toronto Raptors through a fantastic 2020-21 regular season, having upgraded my lineup with an early-season trade for perennial All-Star Blake Griffin and locking up the best record in the NBA. Upon completion of the 82-game campaign, I looked through some of the awards honorees to find that none of the players on my 68-win team were honored as either All-NBA or All-Defensive selections. Okay, sure, that can happen I guess. Unusual, but not bizarre.

Here’s where it gets strange. I had skipped past the Rookie of the Year winner because I didn’t have any rookies. Turns out that the other teams didn’t have any either. In fact, the options for one of the NBA’s more notable postseason awards were so low that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dylan Windler took home the trophy. Windler, a second-round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft who missed this season due to injury, remained a rookie because he didn’t appear in any games, unlike real-life winner Ja Morant or No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson. What makes Windler such a strange award winner are his season averages: 0.0 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.0 blocks. 

The MyLeague modes offer no alternative to starting in the 2020-21 season without any new rookies. Well, it does present an option to “Start In Offseason,” but it is designated as “NOT AVAILABLE” for some reason. That means you can’t opt to do a 2020 NBA Draft to inject new blood with made-up players. For that matter, there’s no free agency period before the season starts, and all upcoming free agents are treated as if they signed one-year deals. My Raptors had just one player still under contract after winning the championship: Pascal Siakam. Every other roster spot was open.

I know MyLeague and MyGM get short shrift every year, but NBA 2K21 highlights how much of an afterthought these modes were. I know plenty of people who love the series but haven’t bought a new edition in years because so little has changed in these modes. I don’t blame them, and I would encourage anyone looking to play these modes in the new game to think twice about buying.

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All of the non-gameplay development effort went into new ways to interact with the card-collecting, microtransaction-soliciting MyTeam. And, to be fair, those who are all about MyTeam should be pleased with what’s new in NBA 2K21. Dedicated players can chase rewards during new seasons, which seem to last about 40 days or so judging by the initial offering. Those who can earn 150,000 XP before time runs out will be rewarded with a 96-rated Stephen Curry, plus 39 other rewards levels along the way. It’s the kind of tangible loot chase that’s much more tolerable than relying on RNG to deliver something useful from packs purchased with in-game MyTeam currency or Virtual Currency (VC).

VC deserves it’s own paragraph, although it might be more apropos to talk about VC in every paragraph owing to its invasive presence in most modes of play in NBA 2K21. This is not a new complaint about the series, which has never settled for the cash flow that comes from being one of the perennial top sellers in console gaming in terms of units sold. Whether upgrading your MyCareer player or looking to buy a MyTeam pack, VC is in your face. 

I accept microtransactions in the card-collecting modes that take center stage in NBA 2K21 and other sports games. It’s not my thing, but I won’t knock the hustle. By when every time I look to add a few attributes to my MyPlayer feels like a transaction, it sucks me out of what should be a fun experience.

At least the actual basketball is still so sharp that NBA 2K21 isn’t a total bust. Pro Stick modifications have opened up the array of dribbling moves, making for smoother movement around defenders. Sometimes, changes like this don’t register with me as a big deal, but this one is a solid win for us all.

But that change hasn’t received as much attention as the addition of a targeting system for shooting as an option. After holding the Pro Stick down, you’ll enter your shooting motion, but the new mechanic doesn’t require timing. Now, it’s dependent on aligning the stick itself with the center of the bar, or as close to it as possible. For me, the learning curve has been steep, but I do like the idea of it. It’s a great option to include in case it resonates with players, but its success will be determined in how many people care to use it. Timing shots can still be performed with button presses instead of the stick, or by turning the shot meter off altogether in order to use the Pro Stick instead. Personally, I’ve had too many airballs on yellow-meter shots with the targeting system to stick with it. Back to timing shots I go.

That’s the big stuff new to NBA 2K21. There’s also 2K Beach, the new version of Neighborhood that’s about the same as the old one with a different aesthetic. MyCareer’s pre-NBA narrative, called The Long Shadow, was par for the course, although I’m always happy to see Michael K. Williams (The Wire) and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) in supporting roles. And now we have the option of creating “oversized” 6-foot-8 point guards, thanks to a request from cover athlete Damian Lillard. Sorry if you wanted to make a Magic Johnson-like 6-9 floor general, or match Philadelphia 76ers PG Ben Simmons’ 6-10 frame, because 6-8 is tall enough, evidently. Go figure.

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Ultimately, as terrific as the action is on the court, it’s hard for me to give NBA 2K21 a strong recommendation. That’s especially true if you own 2K20. Or at least wait until the 2020-21 NBA season begins, when rookies are in the mix. It’ll be cheaper then, anyway.

The post NBA 2K21 Review: Not Really an Upgrade appeared first on Den of Geek.

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