#i’ve had revalations and

[jmeslovr]

forever fighting the urge to give jegulus my specific brand of mental illness just split in half

[caitiieeh]

I’ve had a revalation

the boss is edgeworth btw

[mirahuyooo]

Stranded (II) | jhs

— But, darling, if you hadn’t fallen, you wouldn’t have met him—the one who’ll render you mad and drunk with his love so much that you’ll never want to find sanity again.

word count: 11,730 (PART II) contents: FLUFF, domestic things, ✨revalations✨, drinking (duh), getting drunk (duh pt 2), hangovers (duh pt 3), yn and hobi being wholesome uwu, people teasing the shit out of them, someone caught the feels 👀💕💖💞, not necessarily accurate (i mixed up a lot of versions and made up some shit), a bit historical?? idk anymore, Greek Mythology AU pairing: Jung Hoseok x Reader Inspired by Dionysus and Ariadne

[masterlist] | check out [Elysian Tales] & [BTS as Greek Myth Icons]!

A/N: I forgot to release a teaser for this lmao but here's part two! hAVE FLUFF BC THE LAST PART IS GONNA BE A ROLLERCOASTER MWAHAHAHA I won't hold you guys back for long 💖 hope you guys enjoyed this! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Stay tuned for the last part next week!~

𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓿 ◁ || ▷ 𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓽

If you must admit, it’s not so bad to be in the company of the trickster stranger and his spotted beast.

In the weeks that followed, the two of them had helped you make a home for yourself, especially as the quiet decay of nature marks the eventual coming of full autumn and winter. Upon finding a little cave near the beach, you have since made turns fortifying it against nature and wild animals. Neither of you were good carpenters, but it was surely an adventure attempting to build makeshift furniture and decor. It cannot compare to the palace you grew up in, but you find yourself not minding the clutter and mess.

(There exists traces of them both around your little cave—fruits and fishes that Hoseok brings with him in his visits for you to eat, that wolf pelt cloak he let you keep, a makeshift bed on the ground for Agrios to lay on, three sets of wooden plates that you and Hoseok tried your hand at crafting.)

Though he no longer has practical reasons to do so—what with you somewhat now settled well in this corner of the island—Hoseok still visits you in your cave, at times, bringing Agrios with him. Sometimes it's a walk along the beach, other times it’s some random trinket he wanted to give you, but most times it’s endless idle chatting.

“I’m beginning to think I’ve seen that face of yours before,” you muse to him one day as the two of you sit on a blanket by the beach, watching the sun set. Next to you, Agrios naps with his tail swinging leisurely against your arm. The seabreeze blows fresh against your face, as you take in the timeless view.

Today’s a beautiful day, you think. Especially with good company.

Beside you, Hoseok seemed surprised himself. “You have?” he murmurs at your sudden thought, but his eyes soon twinkle. “And where might have you seen my dashing looks, princess?”

(He knows of your true identity by now—of your being a princess on the run for a treason committed—and has sworn to not tell a soul of your whereabouts to anyone, but something tells you he calls you princess simply to tease.) 

You roll your eyes at his smug expression. “I said ‘I think’, did I not?” you huff, gently running your hand through Agrios’ fur and earning purrs of approval from the beast. “It may have been in one of the palace celebrations, I’m not really sure, but I think I’ve already heard of that boisterous laugh of yours.”

Memories of your time in Crete have become so distant the more you spend your time here. Though a part of you doesn't really mind, you are sometimes reminded of certain moments, and recently, a vague sensation rings through your head of a time where you may or may not have caught a glimpse of him.

“Well,” Hoseok muses with a shrug, catching you off guard. “You might be correct on that one.”

You didn’t quite think your assumption was true. “Oh?” you ask, a surprise now putting you in his initial position. “How so?”

Hoseok eases back, looking at the sky as if it would make him remember previous events more. “I have been to Crete before during my travels,” he hums, tapping his chin as he thought, “though I was most likely drunk off my wits, I think I can recall being in Crete around five summers ago.”

Your eyes are rounded in shock as the notion jogs your memory.

You recall sneaking out of your room, only to see chaos in the palace grounds because your older brother perched himself atop the statue of a stallion in the gardens and slurring nonsense. “Were you the one that got Catreus drunk senseless?” you gasped, scandalized but also very much amused remembering the utter mess your usually stoic and uptight brother had turned into.

Had he been there to spread the influence of his god?

It takes him a minute, but Hoseok seems to remember pulling such a stunt on a young man he came across in the garden, what with the proud grin that takes over his lips. “He seemed to need it,” he shrugs, devilish as he then goes to nudge you. “So do you.”

Though the thought of wine yet again tempts you, you go pale for a moment at the thought of the embarrassing chaos he’ll get you into if you get drunk in his presence. “I refuse to drink anything that comes from the likes of you,” you claim, a laugh leaving your lips nonetheless.

Hoseok drapes an arm over your shoulder, leaning some of his weight on you as he does. “Once you set your soul free,” he mischievously tells you, “you’ll know how fun these sorts of adventures can be.”

Pushing him off of you with a playful squint, you cross your arms. “Nonsense,” you playfully retorted, “one of us has to be the serious one around here, don’t we?”

A dramatic gasp comes to you as a response, along with a poke to the side that makes you giggle. The young man soon throws his full weight all over you, sending you both laying back onto the sand with an ‘oof!’ from your end.

Hoseok simply continues his dramatics. “You wound me, (Y/N)!” he cried, “how could you?”

Your laugh merrily fills the air as Hoseok feigns limp against you, playing to be slain by your words. His upper half intersects over your stomach, forcing you to lay on your back. “Get off of me, you oaf,” you half-heartedly whine as you try and wriggle your way out of his grasp.

His black tresses tickle your arm as he shakes his head. “No,” he childishly insists, as you turn your attention to his old companion for some help. The spotted beast simply stares back in disdain, as if the two of you were rowdy children he was tasked to watch over.

“Agrios,” you call out for the leopard in the midst of your struggle, “help me here, won’t you?”

A second or two passes before the beast trudges forth to nudge at Hoseok’s head, signaling him to get off of you. “You’re such a traitor, Agrios,” Hoseok grumbles, nonetheless shifting his weight a little, so that the only weight on you would be his head resting against your stomach. “No fun, at all.”

A breathless chuckle leaves your lips as you relent with where he settled with, the two of you now staring at the clouds overhead. A comfortable silence settles between you both, but your mind ruins it soon enough.

All so suddenly, you come to think of how different you and Hoseok are—of how you pale in comparison to him. The way he grins and laughs about his adventures brews a conscious jealousy in you. His experiences have made him so happy and carefree—something you wish to be, if it were only that easy.

“Having fun isn’t good,” you murmur underneath your breath—a reminder reigning yourself in. You’ll get ahead of yourself again and get yourself hurt for the umpteenth time.

Suddenly, Hoseok straightened from his laidback bearing, and gawked at you. Sitting up along with him, you realized he had heard you, and, to your shock, he almost looked offended by your statement. “What makes you think so?” he questioned, somewhere in between confused and concerned.

Feeling embarrassed at the realization you’ve said such a thing aloud, you turned your eyes towards the sea as the waves rushed to kiss the sand. “Not to disparage you, Hoseok, but,” you bit your lip as you struggled to put your thoughts into words. “I simply am not one for merrymakings.”

You feel Hoseok shift next to you. From the corner of your eyes, you see him lean over to get a good look at you. His face bared no hint of the anger you expected from him. He, instead, was simply just interested in knowing the reason as to why a person such as yourself wouldn’t be fond of parties. “Again,” he manages a chuckle, “May I ask why?”

Your life was a stark contrast to his colorful escapades. A part of you wanted to have the hunger he has for having fun and wreaking havoc, but in your bones was the foreign princess raised to be obedient and compliant. “I’m not fit for it like you are, Hoseok,” you tell him, “I’m quiet and unfun—”

“Well—”

“—I’ve never even been to a lot of parties,” you cut any of his rebuttals out. “It’s why I don’t have fun in the ones I do attend.”

Hoseok blinks—once, twice—his head taking in your words upon closer inspection. Soon, he jolted to his feet and clapped his hands together in some 'eureka!' moment. “Well that simply cannot do!” he then exclaims with a determined look branding his face.

At his words, your eyebrows furrowed together as you cast a glance at the leopard beside you for any telling sign of his companion's reaction. “What are you planning?” you questioned Hoseok, your voice swimming with suspicion. (You liked to think you were rightfully being so. The last time you allowed yourself to do something bold, you had gotten yourself stranded on this very island.)

Hoseok opens his arms with a grand gesture, as if you could see what he was envisioning. “We’ll go around the island for celebrations!” he boldly declares. "A festival for Demeter and Persephone will be coming soon! A lot of gatherings are bound to take place!"

The big grin that seized his face unflinchingly remained, tempting you to agree with his plans so as to make him happy. Alas, your mind demanded to see reason. Your arms crossed as you defiantly questioned him. “Not possible. I'll be seen by the townsfolk if we do such a thing,” you countered, gesturing to yourself. “I'm a fugitive, remember?”

Hoseok grins still, so bright that it rivals the sun itself. “That is not a problem at all, my dear,” he assures you with a wink. “You have me.”

Your heart swells but your mind scoffs. “That’s hardly any consolation,” you lightly grimace as you idly run a hand through Agrios' fur, thinking of the shenaniganry Hoseok pulls and will pull.

Hoseok, ever brazen, doesn't, at all, seem to take offense in your honest doubt. "Hush now," he all but tuts before beckoning you to follow him. "Come with me, dearest (Y/N)!~"

Your friend stands there, a few feet away from you, waiting so excitedly that a traitorous part of you has already started to give in to his ideas. "Hoseok…" you sigh as you stand on your feet, Agrios following suit. "I really don't think it'd be a good idea for me to be anywhere else…"

For a moment, Hoseok turns somber, taking a step towards you to hold you by the shoulders. "It'll be alright," he assures you, voice as comforting as the squeeze he gives you. "I'll be there and we'll have fun. You don't have to drink if you'd like, but there'll be a feast. I'm sure you'd like to eat something else other than fish and fruits for a change."

A smile is nearly coaxed out of you at the thought.

It took a hint of that intrigue and a second for Hoseok's excited grin to resurface. "There'll be music, storytelling, dancing—it'll be grand!" he says, circling you as he excitedly lists off some ideas off his head. "We can all don on masks if you truly want to keep your identity secret, though I truly doubt anyone would care."

That traitorous part of you grows ever curious the more those gorgeous eyes of his sparkle with delight.

Hoseok half-heartedly rests his hand upon his heart as he lays the last of his assurances. "I'll lead you out of it if it ever gets too much for you. You needn't worry."

At this point, your mind is scrambling for an excuse to keep itself atop your reckless urge for such pleasures. Stay hidden!—your paranoia screeches, thrashing about and clinging onto any bit of sense it could grab ahold of.

Yet, you sigh and sink into the abyss. "You're a man of many words," you tell him as you nonetheless let your arms be linked with his.

The hint of your surrender writes satisfaction all over Hoseok's face. "I intend to keep them," he then croons, hips coyly nudging yours as the three of you make your way out of the beachline. "You'll have the time of your life, I promise."

Hoseok was surprisingly diligent when he wanted to, eagerly at your door (cave?) and ushering you awake in the early hours of the morrow. "Time to rise and shine! I have a lot planned for you today!" he gleefully rips away your bedding and, in spite of your half-awake protests, you are carried out of your abode over the shoulder of your dearest menace.

Eyelids heavier still, you could hardly figure out what on earth your friend was up to. By some degree of capability, you resorted to grasping at whatever slumber was left in you as Hoseok carried you to gods know where.

"Still sleeping, princess?"

You only grunt in response.

In hindsight, you should've been more attentive—should've heard the sound of running water and pulled yourself out of a sleepy haze then and there. Maybe then, you wouldn't have suffered the heart attack of having your legs plunged into cold waters out of nowhere. "Hoseok!" you screech as you jump back into his hold, suddenly very much awake.

Miraculously, he doesn't lose his balance, saving the both of you from instant, wet damnation. "Good morning," the menace grins as he sets you down once again—this time gentler as you become more aware of where he had taken you.

It was another cavern—one larger and more open than the one you made your home. The sunlight peaks through a sizable gap between the rocks above, allowing it to grace a little light inside. In the middle of the cave was a pool, one that likely has a tunnel beneath that leads to the sea outside, considering the faint sound of crashing waves in the distance reaching your ears.

"It's beautiful," you say with barely any thought as you gather the ends of your dress while you peer at the crystal clear water that reaches just below your knees. You stand on somewhat smooth stone, painstakingly carved by the sea through millions of years. It's beautiful.

"It is, isn't it?" Hoseok thoughtfully hums beside you.

Alas, you must put a hold on marvelling at the scenery to kick some water his way. "What did you dip me in here for then?" you grumble and glare—a chance to question why he dragged you out so early in the day for his antics.

Hoseok gasps, scandalized by your stunt in exaggeration. You paid his dramatics no heed, arms by your hips as you continued to squint until he gave you his answers. "I simply wanted to show you this haven of mine!"

You agreeably hum, understanding well how this makes a fine little hideout, but still. You try and pry more out of him, your questioning gaze not dropping.

As you suspected, the mischief returns to Hoseok's face. "That, and the fact that this is where my plans for the day will first take shape."

Taken aback, your arms fall to your sides. "What?"

He all but clapped his hands, gesturing grandly. "You can come out now, ladies," he calls out, his voice lightly echoing back at him.

From the gap above the cavern, two figures came flying in. They gracefully circle you both, and all you could do is gawk.

You could hardly believe your eyes. "Nymphs? How—"

"I have my ways," Hoseok gloats, beaming proudly as your wide eyes follow the nymphs who gave you amicable smiles. You turn back towards him, still incredulous.

"What's that supposed to m—"

There was no one there. That sneaky bastard. Where did he—

"My lady?"

You look back and see the nymphs excitedly awaiting your next move. "I'm (Y/N)," you bashfully say with a little courtesy, earning a delighted laugh from the two of them.

"We know," said the one with the dress adorned with pink and purple petals, her kind green eyes disappearing from her smile. "I'm Alenka," she says, she and the other nymph mirroring your courtesy from earlier.

"I'm Aldora," the more timid of the pair then said, dressed in blue as light as the sky sparkling like scales when the sunlight hit them.

Why would they waste their time here?

Unable to withstand your curiosity any longer, you ask the two beauties. "I'm so sorry," you shyly grimace, "but what exactly did my friend put you up to?"

For a moment, the two exchange a look of shock and intrigue at your words. Alenka speaks to answer your question. "We're here to help you get ready for the festival of course!" she tells you as Aldora nods along. "His hi—Hoseok, asked us to make you the prettiest we possibly can."

Her slip of the tongue doesn't escape you, but at the moment, the notion of your bare body being seen makes you fluster. "I can bathe by myself," you were quick to stammer out. "You needn't worry about that part."

Though hesitant, the two of them eventually nod. "We'll wait for you outside, Lady (Y/N)," Aldora says with the ghost of a smile. "Call for us when you're finished."

A nod from you and you're left to your own devices, water lapping at the ends of your dress as you stand idly. With a sigh, you reach to unravel your dress and shiver as you take a step deeper into the pool, deep enough for the water to rest at your collarbones. 

Best to get this over with. Wouldn't want to keep the nymphs waiting…

The silence allows your thoughts to voice themselves to you, and with no one else to keep you company, you find yourself entertaining them. What Hoseok has planned for the day, you have no idea, but it seems more questions than answers reveal themselves before you.

How did he manage to make contact with nymphs and make them serve you, no less?

What lies behind their behavior at the mention of Hoseok?

Why on earth is there so much effort for a damn party?

Hoseok had a bizarre flair to him, one that reeked of chaos and mischief, but your mind itches to know how on Earth he's managed to pull all of his stunts. Followers of Dionysus would be fond of parties—that you anticipated much—but you never thought they'd be able to get the willing participation of nymphs.

From what you've heard, nymphs often prefer the company of their own kin—too many mortals having tried to take their sisters as brides to not meet with other kinds without caution. Outside of that, they'd be in the company of heroes and demigods—even the gods themselves, too.

You freeze out of your own making, almost choking on air.

Does this mean Hoseok is something akin to the likes of those?

Heart racing, you try and put the pieces together.

He doesn't seem to carry himself as a hero—you've seen first hand what one is like.

Would he be a demigod then? Or a lover of a god?

Such were the likeliest of cases, you thought to yourself, but then you harken to the nymphs' behavior—their courteousness, their eagerness to serve, Alenka's slip of the tongue…

What could it have been?

His hi… his highness?

Your fingers pull to free your lips from your teeth, only to have them be chewed at.

Is Hoseok royalty then? What else would 'his highness' impl—no, it can't be…

Becoming a melting pot of emotions nearly turns you crazy, heart racing and unsure of what to do. "Enough," you tell yourself this with a staggering breath, pushing the questions over Hoseok's nature down the recesses of your mind. "Just bathe and meet with the nymphs, (Y/N). Just bathe."

Hoseok can be patient when he wants to, especially for something as near and dear to his heart as this. His unruly dark locks were combed, for once, and swept away from his face. He was dressed in his finest tunic that was a deep wine red with golden thread embroidery around the hem. Not that he needed it, but he also brought along a fur cloak in case the winds decided to blow colder.

Waiting an hour or so was a battlefield of boredom he was willing to march through, slicing through the drawn out hands of time by idly talking with Agrios or going through his plans for the day for the umpteenth time.

In time, he got the just rewards he was waiting for.

“Hoseok?”

There you come in, walking towards the edge of the treeline where he and Agrios waited. Hours of biding his time for this, and all he does is gawk. The sunlight, ever the blessing in his life, has allowed him to take the sight of you in. 

The nymphs had dressed you in a gown of deep red that turned purple in some trick of the eye, flowing gracefully where the wind willed it to. The fabric fittingly wrapped around your frame, the neckline dipping to show just the right amount of your decolletage and give space for the necklace he gave them to put on you. Flowers of the same colors were braided into your hair as the rest of your locks were kept to fall behind you, leaving only gentle curls to frame your face.

There was a stupid grin that seized control over his lips. All good things do come to those who wait.

A shy smile rests on your berry-stained lips, nervously chewed on by your teeth as you await his response. The sheer burgundy shawl that was draped over your shoulders also gave itself to be fiddled with by your fingers.

Agrios nudges his calf to knock him out of his stupor. “Is the first of your plans successful enough?” you try and jest upon seeing him break out of his trance, head tilted to the side in what Hoseok could tell was both teasing yet genuinely asking.

Having recovered enough sobriety, Hoseok opens his arms to welcome you. “Very much so,” he muses, as he offers an arm for you to take. A shiver of delight runs down his spine as you take his invitation and link your arm with his as your other hand gathers the ends of your skirt when the three of you begin to walk through the forest. "You look beautiful, princess," he gladly says, voice soft in spite of him mischievously leaning close to nudge your side.

Hoseok's compliment goes responseless, but the telling reddened ears and cheeks you bore was enough to satiate the pleasures he was fishing for. “Where to then?” you instead ask him, looking around at the trees and trying to familiarize yourself with this side of the forest. “Or will that have to be a secret too?”

A chuckle escaped his lips as you came back to look at him with a quirked brow. “I’m afraid so, princess,” Hoseok teasingly lilts, “but if I must admit, seeing as the first of the plan went well, I have gained high hopes for the next one.”

You reply with a mere hum, but your curiosity doesn’t elude Hoseok and it all the more leaves him giddy to see your reaction to the rest of his plans for the day. 

Sunlight through trees left a pattern of light dancing across your skin, one that constantly tempted him to steal glances your way. Idle conversation flows between you both with Hoseok being in the middle of telling you the time Silenus, the one who raised him, got so knackered from wine that he went missing for a couple of days and Hoseok had to look everywhere for him.

However much of a chatterbox he may be, Hoseok wasn’t one to keep on talking if his company wasn't at all present with him. He looks at you, furrowed brows and all, clearly thinking of something else. “Is something the matter?” he asks with a light tug of the arm linked with yours.

For a moment, you were startled, looking up at him with your cheeks reddening in embarrassment. “It’s nothing,” you tell him, but he insists.

“Nonsense,” he says, circling around you to hold both of your hands in his as he continues to walk backwards. “It matters if it’s clearly occupying your mind.”

Your furrowed brows persist in your worry of him and his reckless abandon. “It’s silly, Hoseok,” you tell him with a shake of your head, trying to stop him from walking like this.

Hoseok obliges your silent request, opting to stand there before you and idly swing your arms together. Agrios, too, stopping to look at you both. “Try me,” the man before you daringly grins.

Berry-stained lips draw into a pout as you think of his challenge. There is much hesitation in your eyes, stirring more grounds within him for actual concern. Hoseok waits patiently for you to find the courage to tell him what plagues you. For a while, nothing but the faint rushing of a creek nearby filled the air.

"You're not human, are you?"

The swinging hands come to a halt and his very being froze all over. "What?" he all but says, truly not expecting such a question out of you. To know that the very answer of it will upset you dreads him even more, but he decides to conceal any more of what could give himself away and wait for you to elaborate further.

"All of this," you say as your fingers slip from his grasp—a warmth which he instantly misses—and you gesture to yourself. "All of what you've been doing for me. They are not what mere mortals can accomplish."

Hoseok wields his casual and careless shrug. "I have my ways—"

Alas, you were ready with your own points all along. "My wounds were healed in an instant because of you," you say, showing him the skin he had asked his half-brother, Yoongi, to heal.

"Yes, but that wasn't exactly me," he reasons with a nervous chuckle. A half-truth.

You go on to gesture at his leopard. "You tamed a beast like Agrios."

"I raised him!" Hoseok exasperatedly claims, looking at Agrios expectantly as if the beast could speak to confirm support of him. Another half-truth.

Still, you were stubborn. "And you've even called upon nymphs to dress me."

A damning choice, he agrees, but one he still carries to his defense. "They owed me a favor," he says, shrugging it off. And another half-truth.

Guilt bubbles within him as he continues his deceit of you. It’s in good intentions, he tells himself. "These things hardly warrant an interrogation like this, princess," he tells you, almost pleading, really. "I'm simply being a man of my word."

Alas, you could see through him—through the way he couldn't meet your eyes for too long, through the way he was overly sweeping the topic under the rug.

"And a liar," you retort, crossing your arms as you point a finger accusingly. "You're keeping something from me. Are we not friends enough for me to deserve the truth of who you are?"

Such a tone of hurt was an unfair spear to use against him and his heart. "No," he sighs, turning away from you to run a hand through his hair. "I simply think it's of no importance, alright?"

You inch just a tad bit closer—mayhaps you were dreading this too. "It's who you are," you say, ever insistent but in a gentler manner. "Of course it would be important to me."

The wine god nearly buckles, tired with the charades anyways, but every time he’s reminded of your fear of the gods, he’s reminded of why he’s hidden this truth to you in the first place. Hoseok would never want you to look at him that way—that rigid formality and careful walking on eggshells. 

"Are you a demigod?" you continue to ask, resorting to listing off prompts of what you suspected. "A god?"

Hoseok curses the way he knocked out of his stupor upon hearing that word—at how it instantly pulled the truth to light, and at how it earned him a shocked gasp from you.

"You are…"

The moment he raised his gaze to yours, he saw the panic flashing in your eyes. With what he had known of you, you were likely frantic of possibly offending or disrespecting a god. Even if you were a bit snarky at times, Hoseok really didn't mind—hardly felt irked at all. He had long understood that there were personal reasons with which your walls were built on.

"(Y/N)—"

Your instincts urge you to take a step back—keep a respectful distance between you both! He's a god!—but you root yourself to your spot. "Who?" you manage to ask, voice trembling and barely above a whisper.

No. No. No.

The confidence he’s been wielding all but escapes his grasp the moment he needed it to cool his nerves. It’s all falling apart. "(Y/N)..." Hoseok says, though his words fall short of anything else. 

"Please," your voice pulls him back to you. "Tell me who you are."

Despair fills him as he realizes this has passed a point of denying, the last of his chances at redemption only being him finally telling you the truth. "Dionysus," he says, a name that’s become so foreign in your light. "I'm Dionysus."

Shock befalls you even more, your mind reeling to take the truth in.

The thought of it had existed in your mind, but you were still not prepared for it to have been the truth. You had figured there must've been something different about Hoseok, but to think the endearing menace you've been bickering with was a god all along.

“Is that really the truth?”

The wine god lightly scoffs. "No one would dare lie about such a thing," he says what you both know aloud. No mortal would dare to, lest they intend to be struck down by the gods for their fraudulence on purpose.

Tentatively reaching forth, certain relief passes through him when you let him take your hands into his, and form them into a cupping motion. He anticipates your reaction as he fills your palms with wine out of thin air, watching the way your breath hitches at the sensation in your hands.

Hoseok finds himself grasping at straws. He’s no mighty god of Olympus—just another child of his father, born with divinity more than some heroic brute strength like the rest of Zeus’ bastards. He was just a relatively unknown god cast away from the pantheon because his divinity wasn’t worthy enough to grant him a place there and cast away by many mortals for representing insanity and lack of control.

Perhaps, that would be enough to satiate your worries—enough to make you let him stay.

Rivulets of wine drip from the crevices of your fingers, emptying from your grasp just as Hoseok attempts to empty out his heart. “I’m no great god. Just one that fancies wine and shenanigans,” he weakly jests to you, leaving no room for any of your upcoming protests as he gets to his main point. “I’d like it very much if I remained as Hoseok to you.”

It was almost hilarious to see you more upset and frantic about all of this than he was. “I can’t possibly just—”

“It wouldn’t be any different from before,” he told you so carelessly that you would’ve thought him a fibbing mortal had it not been for what you’ve seen him capable of doing.

You look at him, incredulous still. 

“You’re a god,” you remind him, fumbling with your wine-stained hands as you willed yourself to not lean any more into his warmth. He’s the god of wine—naturally bound to be more chaotic than others, but he was a god, nonetheless. Surely, there must be lines that a mortal like you cannot cross.

The wine god shook his head. Here on this island—with you—he was free to be no one else but himself. “I’m Hoseok,” he ardently insists, “I’m your friend.” 

Your silence from a loss for words he took as hesitation that needed more assurance. "No curse or anything of that sort will come upon you," he reassures. "If you had done me any great offense, I would've already done something about it before."

The thought of yet another divine curse plaguing your life sends shivers down your spine, but the better part of you knows he tells the truth. He may be a god, but this was the same man who passionately guided you through making wine, regaled you with his travels, and encouraged you to share your mundane palace life.

This was the same man who you’ve bickered with to and fro, rough-housed with more times than you could count, and bemoaned about tackling you in hugs.

Gods! This was the same man who saved you from the beach, helped you make a home for yourself, and have nymphs dress you for some merry-making he had planned out for you.

He is Hoseok—always will be Hoseok to you, no matter how hard you can try to deny yourself otherwise and paint him in the divinity all the gods have. This notion elates yet dreads you all the same.

What will become of you?

Compared to him, you were a mere mortal—a princess, yes, but a princess on the run.

You are feeble—easily hurt, easily damaged, easily slain. If he or any of the gods so pleases, your life could be over in an instant for mere amusement. Will you be cursed like your mother? Will your life be taken for angering a god?

Perhaps, what truly terrifies you is that you are nothing—no hero, no favored child, nor a wife to one. No one knows where you are. No one would know what becomes of you. No one would mourn.

You have nothing to your name, even at this very moment. The fabric that's draped over your body, the flowers woven into your hair, and the remnants of wine that drips from your fingertips—all of them were courtesy of Hoseok; of the wine god, Dionysus.

In a brighter light, you suppose this might just be your new purpose in life—to be in his company, not simply because he was a god, but because he himself had done you great favors and changed your life for the better. Fear mustn't take hold on the foundation of what you and Hoseok have built, because it shouldn't have any foundation for itself in the first place.

Hoseok has nothing to gain from a runaway princess like you, and yet here he was, afraid of what will change with the truth. A god begging a mortal—what on Earth have you done?

You turn your back to the wine god, walking towards the creek to carefully crouch and wash your hands anew—free of the stains the wine left on you. The fresh start to your bond with the no-great-god friend of yours begins here and now.

A soft nudge to your arm demands your attention—Agrios, as it turns out, softly noses your side, eventually willing you to pet him in assurance. Right. You, too, have gotten used to the spotted beast, one of the many things that made Hoseok so bizarre. 

Behind you awaits the young man—young god—so tensely eyeing your every move, heart racing a mile a minute. His lip might as well bleed with ichor from how hard he bites it. However, the moment you come back to face him with a smile on your lips, Hoseok felt he could breathe again.

“Well," you gingerly begin, feet taking steps towards him and stopping at an arm's length. "What are we going to do now, Hoseok?”

You still worry, he notes, remnants of your hesitation bleed in the way you anticipate his next move. Nonetheless, warmth begins to bloom in his heart once more, hearing his true name from your lips a bliss to bask in.

“Follow me,” he warmly invites, opening a hand for you to take. The plan may have gone through drastic changes, but it's salvageable, he thinks—he hopes. At the very least he wouldn't have to hide the strings he intended to pull.

A moment passes and an outbreath escapes your lips. You take his hand once again, unsure of where he’d take you.

As it turns out, Hoseok planned to take you to the nearest town. There were a lot of people, their distant chattering and regaling was loud to you in spite of the distance. The town is more colorful than you had thought, a celebration clearly happening—a harvest festival in honor of Demeter and Persephone, just as Hoseok had told you.

Still, that doesn't explain everything.

In an instant, you drape the shawl overhead and shrink into the obscurity of the forest, hoping it would mask your identity. "Hoseok, what is the meaning of this?" you squeak in a panic, stepping back into the treeline where Agrios remained. The wine god, on the other hand, excitedly steps out towards the festivities and waits for you to join him. "I told you," the man sweetly beams, walking back to you to place an assuring squeeze on your shoulders. "We're here to have fun."

The fabric atop your head slips away at Hoseok's will, his careful touch tingling against your skin. "Let's not hide such beauty, hm?" He coyly chastises, earning a nudge to the rib and an eye roll from you. His laugh comes out stifled, looking down at you still amused.

"Insufferable," you half-heartedly grumble under your breath as you dare to walk into the paved road that led to the town, tightly gripping Hoseok's arm in some attempt to soothe your nerves.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

The two of you have been having your fair share of escapades all day—spectating games and sports, sneaking around to watch the enactment of Persephone's abduction, going around stalls of food—and a big grin takes its place on your lips, delighting the wine god. Throughout all of that, however, you were constantly moving and fairly hidden amongst the crowd, which is why the next of his plans earned yet another skeptic frown from you.

The night had fallen and as the wind became chillier, Hoseok had draped his fur cloak over you, laughing as it swallowed you whole. The three of you—Agrios having his own fun time strolling about in the forest while you and Hoseok were in town—walked into the forest, and to your surprise, Hoseok had brought you to a clearing in the woods, with many people, a small feast, and a bonfire—another gathering.

And so here you were, standing at the outskirts of the merrymaking and clutching Hoseok's fur cloak around you tighter, unsure and hesitant as always. Jolly music fills the air as you follow Hoseok's figure going around. He holds a goblet in one hand as the other animatedly moves along with his dramatic gestures.

"Have fun!" he had urged you earlier before he greeted the welcoming crowd, introducing you to some of them as his good friend—but, in spite of assuring him you would, "have fun" you did not.

Disappointment of yourself clashes with the paranoia gnawing away at your brain. When you two were in town earlier, you were constantly moving from one place to the next, and so, for you, the chances of getting discovered would've been slim then. You feel bad for wasting part of Hoseok's plan, but at the same time, you fear lingering among the crowd for too long and leaving an impression on them enough to recognize you as the runaway princess of Crete.

"I thought you were a giant bush for a moment."

You jolt at the sound of the wine god's voice, but soon grumble when you process his words. Hoseok stands there with an amicable grin, still nursing a goblet of wine. You, on the other hand, had been cocooning yourself in his cloak like it'd make you disappear from this place. "You take your cloak then," you snippily say, shrugging the mass of fur off only to earn yourself a chuckle from the wine god.

Hoseok shakes his head, hands guiding the cloak back over your shoulders before he goes to assess your expression. "Shall we get you home?" he kindly asks, and it makes you feel worse, because you didn’t quite know what you wanted.

"No! I—"

The wine god's brows raise at your hesitation to leave, brows knitted together in your torn sentiments while a frown rests on your lips. Hoseok resides himself to stand closer next to you and wait for you to compose yourself. "What troubles you, hm?" he asks, the thumb of his free hand easing the crease between your brows.

With a sigh, you look towards the merrymaking, the beginnings of envy blooming from within you. "I'd really hate for this to go awry in the end," you admit to him, "in case someone from here recognizes me."

Hoseok tuts, half-heartedly shaking his head. "Look at them," he tells you, gesturing to the crowd before you both. "They're all lost in their own worlds."

All around you were people lost in the music of the bard, dancing and drinking to their heart's content. "No one here knows who you are right now, princess," Hoseok urged like a demon on your shoulder—all in good intentions, of course. "What else is there to hold you back?"

You can't help but digest his words from where you stand.

You were forcibly shaped into the mold of a perfect, obedient princess for your kingdom. You were a scapegoat. You were a tool. 

Then, you became an accomplice to a murder, an enemy on the runfrom your own kingdom, and a forsaken bride, too.

And now… Now what?

You have nothing but yourself to your name—no more titles, no more labyrinths needing sacrifices, and no more promised marriages. You are no one in this sea of strangers—of people looking to festivities to forget their troubles.

Dare you say it, Hoseok is right.

What need did you have to be who you were before?

A wave of spirit emboldens you to take hold of the goblet Hoseok was about to put to his lips, your fingers grasping his wrist to guide the drink in his hand to your mouth. Gulp after gulp, you down the whole chalice before a wide-eyed wine god, shivering a little at the foreign taste you've subjected your palate to. You've never tasted wine quite like Hoseok's before.

You finally turn your attention to your dear friend, somewhere between coy and sheepish. "Dance with me?" you ask, taking a hold of his other hand.

Such words pull Hoseok back to the waking world. He grins as his finger wipes at the corner of your mouth. "I'd be delighted to," he merrily muses, letting you drag him into the circle gathering around the bonfire.

Around you, people cheer, welcoming the both of you to the joyous dance.

The party's just begun.

Many often get themselves into trouble when drunk, their inhibitions set loose by the wine pumping in their veins. It loosens lips and control—reveals one's nature in some shape or form—which was why Hoseok adored the unpredictable madness of it all.

He's seen the many ways people behave when under the influence of his creation, and many were like you, who have the drink open the heart and unleash rivers of tears.

First, you had just been humming—a folk song from Crete, if he understood your garbled notes correctly—but then you had started nuzzling your head into his neck. The motion tickles him, makes him chuckle, but it was the sound of sniffling that followed that made him stop in his tracks.

See, by now he had been carrying you in his arms back to your little cavern, the stench of wine mixed with your floral scent hitting his nostrils. The wine god, for once, had controlled his drinking to ensure he could get you home safely. With your arms wrapped around his neck and your face buried into the crook of it, however, it was easier to hear your crying—easier to feel the wetness of your tears on his skin.

"Why the tears, princess?" He dares to ask, continuing his trek.

This was followed by a tighter hold, and another sniffle. "'m nothing without you," you all but whimper, voice small and meek but enough to grab his heart by the neck and squeeze it.

Hoseok tuts, chastising you like a child in the hopes you would hear it and scold him about that instead. "Nonsense, princess," he says, "That's not true at al—"

"'Tis true!" you whine and insist, shaking him by the shoulders as if it'd knock sense into him. It almost makes him laugh—had it not been for your next (drunken) choice of words. "I'd be dead by now."

Hoseok's frown was instant, but he waited for the rest of your words to pour in, walking down a path he’s gotten so familiar with in the past few weeks. The wine god doesn’t quite know if he’d want to hear this or not—if he’s worthy enough to hear it.

Nonetheless, he’s subjected to hearing it anyway. "Would'a gotten myself killed," you blubber, tears endless as you whimper, "but now I have wine, and a cave, and a pretty dress!"

Part of Hoseok beams with pride to have been able to bring such things into your life, to know that you found joy in the chaotic moments you’ve trudged through together, but a part of him also boils in a flurry of heartache and rage to have heard of this from you. Something in Hoseok burns. 

The two of you arrive at your cave, the wine god intending to lay you down on your bed before lighting a fire to keep you warm through the night. Alas, your arms around his neck don’t let go, forcing him to hover over you with his hands on either side of you to keep himself up. “(Y/N),” Hoseok quietly whispers, one hand lightly tapping at your arm and the other guiding the back of your head. “We’re home.”

A hum comes to him as a response, you shifting only to press a sloppy, barely there kiss on the corner of his lips, catching the wine god off his guard. “Hobi?” your lips move against his skin as you speak, sending his very being ablaze all the same.

Hobi? The wine god thinks to himself in confusion. Is that meant to be me?

“Yes?” he dares to respond anyway.

Just as Hoseok thought his mind wouldn’t get any worse, your words strike him through the heart yet again. "You 'n Agrios," you sniff, voice falling softer and softer, "mean so much to me… Don' leave me, alright?"

You pull away from him, noses merely inches apart as you were looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes that shone like gemstones with tears. There's a furrow in your brows as you struggle keeping your consciousness just to wait for his answer.

Hoseok could only smile, mustering the courage to plant a kiss onto your forehead, your worried brows unknitting themselves at the sensation of his wordless assurance. With that, you drift off to Morpheus’ realm, head finally falling back onto your pillow and leaving the wine god alone to his loud, frazzled thoughts.

You mean so much to me, too.

The next morn comes and you awake to an outstanding pounding in your head, a hiss slithering past your lips as you try to recollect yourself. It's a near similar ache to when you woke up at the—no, this is different.

At the very least, this one didn't have the dread and confusion seizing your entire being—just hilarious regret that you, at the same time, don't regret.

As your reason slowly but surely comes back to you, you become aware of a weight in your right hand. With one eye open, you peek around to see the familiar rocky walls of your abode, and looking some more, you see a hand from the bottom of your bed intertwined with yours—a sight that very much wakes you.

Beneath a familiar old fur pelt, you were lying on your side, curled up near the end of the bed much like you would as a child. You muster the strength to lean over, your left arm coming over in front of you to serve as a resting place for your chin as you look at the person attached to the hand in yours.

Hoseok, the wine god and absolute menace, sleeps on the cold, rocky earth next to your bed with nothing but his cloak from last night to give him some sort of cushion. Like you, he slept on his side, curled towards you with a hint of a pout on his lips that almost tempts a giggle out of you.

The sight shocks you, really, and for a few minutes you can't help but stare, unmoving and unknowing of what to do. His touch sends tingles up your arm and all throughout your body. Your headache doesn't do much to help you either.

How does one wake a god that also happens to be their friend?

You settled for a squeeze and a light shake to the hand in your hold, his fingers tightening around your hand little in response. His dark curls, which frame his face and brush over his eyes, tousle as he shifts into consciousness. With a groan, he squints up at you, eyes adjusting as he wakes.

"Morning," you idly greet, the first to speak between you both. "Comfortable?"

It takes a second or two for your lighthearted sarcasm to register in his head, the wine god's hand slipping from yours as he stretches from his place on the floor with a groan, the motion showing you a sliver of his naked chest. "My back hurts," he whines in a mumble as he sits himself up, your eyes following him as he did even as you remain in your position. His voice is deeper, you note, and a bit hoarse.

You can't help the soft laugh that leaves you. "Why'd you sleep on the floor then?"

Still drowsy, Hoseok rubs the sleep from his eyes as he grumbles. "You wouldn't let go of my hand when I tried to leave," he tells you, playfully squinting at you with an accusatory glare as his statement sends a furious blush across your cheeks.

"Oh."

You did what?!

Truth be told, you don't recall much of the night that transpired after you brazenly chose to forgo all your inhibitions and join the fray in the dancing and drinking. What sort of ridiculous things did you get yourself into?!

The wine god watched as a flurry of confusion, mortification, and embarrassment passed through your face in a matter of seconds. A part of him, he must admit, is disappointed you don't remember the words you told him last night on your way home—of the kiss you planted on the corner of his lips that still lingers if he lets his thoughts wander too far.

For his sake and yours, Hoseok directs the conversation forward. "So," he quips, leaning in as if to gossip. "Did you enjoy the merrymaking, princess?"

He watched as a smile instantly made it to your face, one you try and fail to bite back. Your hand reaches to cover your mouth as if it'd fare against the grin that was hurting your cheeks. “That was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” you eventually admit, the words as shy yet elated as the giggle that stifles through your lips. You recall the addicting feeling of thrill—the carefree laughter, the silly dancing, and the sweet, sweet wine.

Hoseok's grin is instant, his heart full and beating quickly at the successful fruits of his labor. He is right after all. Happiness looks gorgeous on you. “Oh, look at you, you poor thing,” he jests as he beams. "I told you we would have fun and you wouldn’t believe me!"

You roll your eyes at his teasing, sitting up from the bed. “Here I was,” you jokingly sigh and shake your head, “about to thank you for what you did.”

The wine god crosses his arms over your knees, leaning forward to comically wiggle his brows at you. “I don’t need a thank you,” he coos in a ridiculously suave manner. “Your smile is enough.”

Biting back a grin, you resort to pinching his cheeks. “You’re such a sap,” you tell him, pushing him off your knees and falling back to the sheets as you feel another wave of headache coming to hit you.

Hoseok only grins, lifting himself up to take a seat on the bed next to you. Without much thought, he reaches forth to brush away the stray hairs that flew over your face when you laid back. 

Whether or not you minded his gesture, you don’t make note of it, simply letting a quiet groan past your lips. "My head hurts though," you whine, eyes falling shut. 

"It happens," Hoseok hums, partly apologetic. Mortals get drunk more easily than gods, and you were drinking enough to be slurring confessions to him in the late hours of the night.  

For your sake, the wine god decidedly stands to help you with your hangover, hands brushing down your arms to seize your hands and encourage you to get up along with him. "Fortunately for you," he sings, pulling you up onto your feet—only to have you crash onto his chest. "I know someone who has a remedy for that."

You squint at him, somewhat suspicious, but nonetheless loop your arm around his, heavily leaning against his side as the two of you leave. Anything to gladly get the headache over with.

As it always is with Hoseok, this was another surprise.

(You suppose it’d be best for you to get used to such things, now that Hoseok has revealed his true nature to you. This, undoubtedly, would only be the beginning.)

Someone begrudgingly opens the door to a dwelling carved into the mountain, quite a bit far from your cave which led to Hoseok carrying you on his back halfway through. Peculiarly, faint yet janky music comes from inside, but even more peculiar is the pale man before you.

His presence definitely sobers you just a little bit more. He has the same ethereal, otherworldly glow as Hoseok tends to pose, and yet also different. His golden locks nearly shine in the sunlight—almost as if the sun focused solely on him.

Next to you, however, Hoseok also seems to be taken aback, but his was more so a bewildered shock. "Yoongi?"

Feline eyes that had been drenched with sleepy exhaustion and glaring at Hoseok turned confused and alarmed at the name used to address him. It was only when the stranger's eyes landed a good look at you as you stepped down from the wine god's hold that a flicker of understanding crossed his face. “Got yourself drunk again, hm?” Yoongi then amusingly says, “and with a friend too.”

Hoseok simply grins, so amicable with the stranger that it eases you enough to give him a timid smile and a small bow in greeting. "You seem a little intoxicated yourself," the wine god muses as you bashfully address his friend. "I suppose that means the remedy is at hand already?"

Yoongi simply sighs in defeat and wordlessly invites the two of you in, leaving the door open for Hoseok to guide you inside. The inside is definitely much better than your measly little cave with the house carved deeper into the mountain than you initially thought. Intricately chiseled furniture and decor fill the spaces in between, and before a fireplace lay… a satyr fiddling with a pan flute?

Suddenly, your headache was the last thing on your mind.

"Silenus!" Hoseok's gleeful laughter booms and startles you out of your stupor, watching as the wine god opens his arms wide to the delirious satyr. Silenus, finally registering the wine god's presence, grins and gets up, nearly stumbling over himself.

"My boy, welcome!"

It was only a matter of time before the satyr's eyes landed on you—they twinkle with mischief and amusement.

"Good morning," you could only greet, standing idly.

You couldn't help the fidgeting brought by your awkward and wary nature, doing your best not to rudely stare at the hooves he had for feet. Like the nymphs, you've never seen such creatures in person before, only heard of them from the stories of servants, or from the scholars in the palace who frowned upon the wild and lustful life these beings lived.

"She's the princess," a voice from behind you knowingly informs him. Yoongi, you realize, stands not far from you, leaning against a wall as he watches the whole scene unfold. 

You can't help the startled confusion. How does he know you?

The words, however, do click in Silenus' head. "Ah! The one you've been blabbering about?" he smugly jests with a nudge to Hoseok's side, earning a flustered look of shock from you as he offers you a nod of acknowledgement. "You are a pretty one, if I must say, my lady."

You nearly choke on your own spit. "Thank you," you stammer, as you steal a glance at the wine god next to him. Hoseok speaks of you in such a way?

Hoseok gladly took over the conversation then, not meeting your eyes as a blush came to his cheeks. "Alright, that's enough," he hurriedly grumbles, pulling out one of the nearby chairs of a table as he addresses the blond. "Yoongi, you know well what we're all in need of, yes?"

Silenus simply chuckles, raising his hands in mock surrender as Hoseok gently ushers you to sit on the chair. "It's quite fortunate Yoongi here is around for us, aye?" he boisterously laughs, ushering Yoongi to follow him. "Come along, boy. Let us make breakfast, too."

You watch as the old satyr and the pale stranger moves about into the makeshift kitchen of his abode. "He's the one that raised me," Hoseok, next to you, leans in and whispers as he takes his seat at the table. "Don't mind him and his silly teasing. He simply wants to embarrass me."

A hum leaves your lips as you nod, faintly recalling the tale he shared with you yesterday. Silenus took the wine god in as a babe and raised him to be the rambunctious man he is today. You certainly see the resemblance between them action-wise.

In spite of the satyr's sleazy mannerisms and faint stench of wine and ale, you see the hints of his fatherly care in the way he brought out barley bread, cheese, fruits, and leftover meat for breakfast onto the table. He places a kind, grateful pat on Hoseok's back as the wine god lays out plates, and thanks Yoongi when he comes to the table with the remedy you've been hearing so much about.

(Envy festers within you. You were used to a different sort of a father.)

Even in the way he gingerly hands you three your respective wooden chalices, did you feel soft yet numb. "Here you go, princess," Silenus grins at you, "Yoongi's specialty."

"Thank you," you say as you gratefully take the cup from him, still timid as you look over to Hoseok for some guidance on what to do next. With everyone now sat at the table, the wine god simply downs the cup he was given, grimacing a little as he does, but ultimately finishes it all.

Silenus notices your reserved nature. "No need to act stiff, princess," he warmly assures you, "Yoongi here is a skilled healer that works wonders."

The words catch your attention, eyes flitting to the blond next to Silenus who simply acknowledges you with a small nod—just as reserved as you, it seems.

Healer? Is he the one Hoseok asked to heal me?

Nonetheless, you simply give them a bashful smile, finally bringing the cup closer to inspect it. The smell of it is an odd mix of spices and things you can't quite put your finger on, and, frankly, you think it better for you to not know. Brazenly, you bring it to your lips and—finally—drink. Like Hoseok, you wince at the strange concoction, but eventually manage to gulp it down.

Oddly, you do feel a bit better already. You take a sip of some more, eyeing the reclusive blond quietly making himself a sandwich. A skilled healer, hm?

"So," Silenus suddenly claps his hands together, knocking you out of your stupor as the satyr addresses both you and his fostered son. "When are you two getting married?"

You sputter out some of the tonic in your shock, and in panic of that, you almost choke trying to salvage any more of the drinks from falling from your lips. Hoseok, too, panics, handing you a nearby towel to wipe your lips with as he rubs circles onto your back.

"Silenus!"

The blond stranger and the old satyr only laugh and smile.

Silenus turned out to be a cheeky man fond of jokes, teasing, and drinking—one with a booming laughter that you've now known very well to hear and always seen with a smile on that bearded face of his. Perhaps, that is where Hoseok got his mischievous nature from, after all.

Yet, the old geezer also has a penchant for wisdom from his long years—a comfort, really, as his words of optimism do away with your worries the same way Hoseok's does. Silenus also tends to regale with stories, especially that of a young wine god under his care—much to the chagrin of Hoseok, himself.

You find yourself fortunate to have met him, even if it had been under hungover circumstances. 

As with Yoongi—or should you say Apollo?

(The gods have many names, but only one remains precious to them—or so you were told.)

You didn't think you would ever live to witness the presence of two gods, and yet you've dined with the sun god, danced with Hoseok to his music, and passed out drunk with him and the others at some parties. When Hoseok confirmed that it was indeedYoongi who healed you that day, you truly began to ponder whether there was something in your bloodline that gave you and your family such an affinity to gods.

Yoongi was quiet—similar to you, in a way—but brilliant as a god of music and arts like him is meant to be. The harmony he produces is unlike any other, and the words he writes for his verses drip with so much soul and heart that it makes you weep.

He would often complain that Hoseok was often a child he had to look out for, but you knew better than to only see those grumbles and not his genuine fondness for his half-brother's bright, carefree nature.

Hoseok is a stark difference from the rest of the pantheon, he once told you—being a relatively minor deity frees him from the heavy burdens and responsibilities a fully-fledged god is bound to, even if it does deprive him of his full potential to power and prestige.

The sun god continues his visits once in a while, sometimes to drink away his heartache or exhaustion with you, Hoseok, and Silenus, but sometimes to simply idle around the fireplace and bask in the small, hush conversations of travels, memories, and tales.   

You, yourself, have taken to setting loose along with them—making wine with Hoseok and Silenus, attending more gatherings in the woods and towns, meeting Agrios' sisters and brothers, and befriending nymphs, satyrs, and followers alike. Every night leaves you tired yet blissful, while every morn begins with you waking next to the wine god that brought you along these merriments.

Something, too, seems to have changed with Hoseok.

Though you can pretend not to notice, you are not saved from the restless nights you spend lying awake in bed thinking of the wine god’s lingering touches—of how he constantly treads the line between innocent and intimate. Hands on your waist as you two dance, a guiding hand on the small of your back, a passing brush of fingertips to your arms—such instances occupy your thoughts, making your heart skip a beat and leaving your senses to fixate on everything else he does.

Unwavering attention to your talking, a gaze feeling like they linger on your lips.

Fingertips always unconsciously reaching out for yours whenever you’re close by.

Eyes almost instantly searching for yours once you lose one another in the crowd.

You find yourself liking this game, letting him come closer and anticipating the next of his actions, in spite of knowing how easily you can be cast aside by someone like him, a god who can get everything he wants. You indulge in this delusion every once in a while, but ultimately leave it to Hoseok's unpredictable chaos.

As winter approached and the days got colder, however, most of the adrenaline died down as you and Hoseok forgo the gatherings to prepare for the harshest days. Silenus had welcomed you and Hoseok to his home during the season, which was definitely much better for the harsh cold than the cave you and Hoseok tried to make use of. (Though you don’t exactly know why a god like him would want to bear the brunt of winter when he can easily go to Olympus or elsewhere.)

“There.”

Broken away from your reveries, you come to see Hoseok inspecting the thick wool scarf he had wound around you. There’s a concentrated furrow in his brows as he thinks whether the knot was secure or satisfactory enough.

“She won't die so easily in the cold, boy,” Silenus, who had been occupied with cleaning his pan flute, mused from his seat before the fireplace. A giggle escapes your lips as Hoseok half-heartedly rolls his eyes at his mentor’s words.

The two of you plan to gather firewood on your way back after visiting Aldora and Alenka in their part of the woods, and Hoseok insisted on the thick scarf. “It’s better to be safe,” he murmurs under his breath, as you roll your eyes and grab his arm to head out the door, ushering Agrios to follow suit.   

“We’ll be back soon, Silenus!” you bid goodbye, waving warmly as you’re greeted by a cold gust of wind. Your breath forms a faint smoke of air as the icy sensation tickles your exposed skin. At the shiver that seizes you, Hoseok smiles as you bury your face into the thick scarf. “As I’ve told you,” he says as he lingers closer, “you needn’t accompany me.”

Stubborn, you tighten your hold around his arm, playfully glaring up at his smug grin. “And as I’ve told you, I want to go out and see Alenka and Aldora,” you quip, pushing him slightly as you turn your attention to the forest you’ve become accustomed to. The towering trees that had been a canopy of greens and oranges were now barren, their dark bark and branches a stark contrast against the snow and the blue sky.

There are moments where you’ve quietly reflected on the months you’ve been here, on how much things have changed since Theseus le—

Something cold hits the back of your head, a shocked gasp leaving your lips as you whip around to see where on Earth that came from. The culprit, of course, is Hoseok, who was forming balls of snow in his hands. “I’m hurt, princess,” he dramatically sighs despite his eyes glinting with mischief. “Here I thought you wanted to spend time with me.”

You dodge his next snowball in time, wide eyes now squinting at him. “Insufferable,” you grumble, taking a quick duck behind a tree and gathering your own projectile, landing a hit on his shoulder as he was trying to flee for cover. “Aha!”

An unamused leopard stares at the two of you, waiting for the two of you to quit giggling and running around with eyes of judgment. “Agrios, help!” you squeal, squealing as one of Hoseok’s snowballs struck your leg.

“Don’t you dare, traitor!” the wine god immediately retaliates.

You look over your shoulder and see him fully running after you at this point, and just as you are about to strike back, a root ensnares your foot, sending you crashing forth. Arms wound around your waist, pulling you back in time for Hoseok, who caught you at the last minute, to take most of the fall.

The two of you fall on your knees, a grunt and a hiss leaving you both as you recoil from the impact and the cold ground. You look at your companion, his dark curls much more unruly and his tunic and cloak disheveled from all the running you two did. In spite of that, he was looking over at you and assessing your state, adjusting your scarf yet again. “Are you alright?”

Hoseok watched as you started breathlessly chuckling and failing miserably at hiding it. This, however, was a sign to him that you were alright, beginning to smile, himself. “Truce?” he asks, watching as you grin back at him.

Your hands were cold with what remained of your previous snowball as you grabbed at his cheeks, doing well to squeeze it about as he gasps and shrieks at the icy touch. “Truce,” you finally affirm, laughing at his dramatic pout of defeat.

Funnily, even in the chill of the winter morn, all you could feel throughout was warmth.

𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓿 ◁ || ▷ 𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓽

𝓽𝓪𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽: @dreamamubarak @unknownwalkingobject @park-jimin-isnt-real

[casp1an-sea]

Star Wars But Better Part 5

here’s the link to the master post so you can get part one: Master post

———————-

(Meanwhile on a star of death somewhere in space. The following part is really simplified because I don’t care about it (FOR THE SAKE OF THIS STORY) and neither should you. JK I don’t care if you care about Alderan or not)

Tarkin: Bla bla bla tell us where the base is

Leia: No

Tarkin: Then I’ll blow up your family

Leia: You wouldn’t

(Revales they’re in front of her home world Alderan)

Tarkin: Hm think again

Leia: Fine, Dantoonie

(Tarkin blows up the hole planet)

Tarkin: You were lying. Go lock her up and plan execution.

(Back in the falcon Obi-wan sits down suddenly looking very sad)

Luc: What happened did someone’s Loth Cat Die?

Han: (Laughs) You know you might be annoying as Hell but you got  good humor kid.

Luc: I know I’m just cool like that!

Obi-wan: I just felt a disturbance in the force like millions of helpless people were crying out in pain, and then death.

Luc: Man I’m not sure I want this force thing.

Han: If you ask me It’s just nonsense.

Luc: Well I wasn’t asking you!

(3PO, R2, and Chewie are playing Dagerik (Basically space chess) R2 takes one of Cewies pieces and Chewie angrily growls)

C3PO: He made a fair move, there's no use screaming about it.

Han: Let him have it. It’s unwise to upset a wookie

C3PO: But sir nobody worries about upsetting a droid. (Yes he actually says this)

Luc: Wow 3PO, need to talk about something?

Obi-wan: When will we reach Alderan?

Han: Oh about two-hundred hours.

Obi-wan: Ah good, (Turns to Luc) that should give us sometime to begin your training!

Luc: Training? That sounds like work.

Obi-wan: It takes hard work to become a jedi.

Luc: But what’s in it for me?

Obi-wan: Well you shouldn’t become a jedi for personal gain but there are always perks, such as reading people's minds, and moving things without touching them.

Luc: Hmm… fine I’ll play your game but if it’s boring I quit.

Han: Reading minds? You seriously believe this is possible?!

Luc: I don’t know but if it’s a possibility might as well try right?

Han: Okay whatever kid.

Obi-wan: Do you have a remote

Han: Actually yes

Luc: Why would you need a remote

Han: I don’t know why I have it. (Points to helmet) I mean like why do I need this I don’t own a one man fighter.

Luc: So your a hoarder?

Han: No it’s just writing convenience

Luc: Sounds about right, (Turns to obi-wan) so what do i need to do with this remote?

Obi-wan: (Hand luc their saber) Block the blasts!

(Suddenly the remote starts blasting a Luc hitting them in the face)

Luc: (Ignites saber) Hey a warning would be nice!

Han: (Laughs) This is gonna be fun!

Luc: (glares at him and then gets shot again in the back) Okay I’ve had it with you! (Swings their lightsaber to cut the remote in half but Obi-wan uses the force to pull it away)

Obi-wan: No luc! Don’t give into your frustration!

Luc: Don’t tell me what to do!

Obi-wan: Put on the helmet. (Hands them the helmet Han had mentioned earlier.)

Luc: I said don’t tell me what to do (Does it anyway) Now what?

Obi-wan: Pull down the blast shield

Luc: (does that) Great advice now I can’t see

Obi-wan: Feel the air around you reach out with your mind and see the remote. Feel it.

(The room disappears and now all Luc can see is the remote the block every shot then the reach out their hand controlling the little robot with the force and making it shoot Han in the face)

Han: HEY!  What the hell!

Luc: That’s for laughing at me! (shuts down the lightsaber and throwing the helmet to the floor.)

(Chewie laughs)

Han: (To chewie) Yeah think that's funny? Maybe I should shoot you in the face.

Obi-wan: (To Luc) Jedi don't value revenge. You must learn to forgive and hold no grudges)

Han: I’m done with this Jedi nonsense. (Stands up and turns to leave) Trust me kid, hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match when you have a blaster by your side. (Pats his holstered gun and walks toward the cockpit) Hey chewie get up here looks like we're coming up on Alderan.

(Everyone piles into the cockpit)

Han: I said Chewie not everyone!

—————————————————————————

@xen-blank, @thehollowwriter, @l7k-a, @ferris-the-wheel, @keii-starz

@krenenbaker @elenauaurs @the-banana-0verlord @edith-is-a-cat @dove-da-birb

@theosb0rnway

I excluded anyone who didn’t specify a fandom let me know if you’d like to be added or removed

@sunshinechildskywalker, @xentari94 your not on my tag list but it’s Star Wars so I thought you might like it

[elementally]

it’s so interesting to me how much lack of relationship and partnership i’ve had in my life. looking back at i’ve always struggled to cultivate or maintain a relationship in a healthy way. in some ways even friendships and or family which i don’t like seeing the relationship as not positive. but a lot of the negative things i see in my romantic partners i can see me struggling with with friends or family too .

i don’t know how to not care about what people think about or how i am perceived. i also struggle with letting people be around and see all parts of me. i struggle with accepting all versions of people. i don’t know what it’s like to be wanted and pursued. i really don’t know how i ever will. it’s such a perplexing revelation i’ve had in the last year seeing it even more clear.

i’m hoping i can somehow make some revalations in this area and learn to be vulnerable, accept love, be seeing, accept others, be honest, use my voice , try new things.

there’s a lot i’m looking forward to accomplishing and working on internally this year. i’m proud of me and i love me.

[xmooncanary]

I don't have much yet! But here's a small bit of what I have so far :3c

----------

“What’s going on with Tango?” He heard Skizz ask.

“Don’t worry about it, he’s fine.” Impulse laughed, not even bothering to stop what he was doing.

“I’ve never seen him like this!” Skizz insisted. “He keeps setting things on fire!” Wait, what? Tango looked around and noticed a few singed spots on multiple different things in their makeshift base. “Tango, buddy, I love ya, but you gotta control that tail!”

Across the room, Etho laughed and looked up from his sugarcane. “It’s fine, Skizz. Why do you think we’re in a cave and not building out of wood?” Tango puffed up his cheeks in annoyance, but he knew Etho had a point.

“Sorry, Skizz. I’ll be more careful.” He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his hands through his hair to tame the flames a little.

SHDHFHHCHXHDHDHD AAAAAAAAA

I AM KICKING MY FEEET HOLDING MY FACE I AM SO EXCITED

Tango in love.... beloved lil guy. I am sooosososoo excited for this omg shdhbfhfhfh THIS IS SO CUTE

IS it based off of a text post?? I think I revall seeing something similar- IM SO EXCITED SOMEONES WRITING IT

Im so bad at words THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING I AM SO

[livvyofthelake]

i have been ruminating and i do have more to say about promising young woman so i’m gonna say it all now and because i’ve decided to be nice i’m gonna put it under a read more. also i’m gonna try to keep it as spoiler free as possible idk how possible that is but i will try because i really do genuinely think it’s a better experience when you don’t know what’s going to happen like i wouldn’t have had nearly as much of a Time with it if i knew some things. ok let’s get into it

first of all the big criticism that people levy against this movie seems to be that the way it ends is really disappointing and unsatisfying but i think that’s just a fundamental misunderstanding of what the narrative was supposed to be. like it wasn’t supposed to be a revenge fantasy count of monte cristo situation it was supposed to be an honest and realistic tragic narrative of what this woman went through and how it affected her so deeply she could never have let herself be happy. there’s a section of the movie where you think she might be able to let it all go and then she finds out that last piece of information about what happened and there was literally no way she was going to come back from that. like this woman had dedicated her entire life to avenging her friend and herself and it’s not a stretch my any means for the story to conclude with her putting herself in that situation that she knew would cause her death. yeah nvm what i said about trying to be spoiler free i can’t not talk about it.

another criticism i saw from the idiots on letterboxd is that it's not a "real" rape revenge story because cassie wasn't the one that was raped, her best friend was. so her motivation was apparently weak. girl her best friend since childhood, who she saw as a sister for her whole life, had something horrible happen to her, and cassie was the only person she had left to turn to and take care of her, and it wasn't enough and she still killed herself. it is not weak motivation to avenge your sister's rape and suicide, like please be serious. i don't even have matching friendship necklaces with my sister but if anything like that happened to her and she became a shell of herself and i was the only one she had to turn to before killing herself, i too would go on to do insane things in the name of justice. an idiot wrote that review fr.

also i love how i so deeply had no clue what was going on in the plot that i said all that stuff about the love interest character being unecessary and antithetical to the plot and then THAT happened. i shan't say becasue that revelation was truly so game changing it kind of made the whole movie for me. that was the moment that i was like ohhhhhh i get it... it all made sense when that happened. i also liked the inclusion of alison brie's character and her being the one that ultimately gave cassie the final piece of the puzzle, but not because she had any epiphanies or revalations she just genuinely wanted cassie to figure out her shit and never speak to her again. like she was soooo Girl You Know Who Doesn't Like Other Girls Because She's Been Taught To Prioritize Men, even after what cassie did she didn't really let up on that vibe because it's really not that simple, all cassie did was freak her out so much she gave her blackmail material just to get rid of her, really hammered in the tragedy of cassie's story, she doesn't really win at all and it's just really fucking upsetting you know.

the only characters in the whole movie you can really get behind as good people are gail, and nina's mom, they're the only people cassie interacts with that want her to move on and heal, and i loved the detail at the end where cassie gave gail her half of her and nina's friendship necklace. like how cassie would wear nina's as her way of carrying on what she felt was nina's legacy and avenging her death, she leaves her legacy to gail, who won't turn bitter like cassie did. i think that was like, the glimmer of hope within the tragedy of it all. that cassie was ruled by anger, but gail was consistently motivated by love, and she won't be destroyed by what happened to cassie the way cassie was by what happened to nina

also i think it was both genius and stupid to cast all those beloved in pop culture men in here. genius becasue these aren't men we see as bad people who would do these things, but stupid because some people earnestly watched this and still wanted to fuck bo burnham. which is so insufferable i can't even get into it, men always have the worst fans. consistently.

the other thing i saw a lot of people criticize was the involvement of the police in the conclusion. i know why we're inclined to not like narratives that depend on cops as like, saviors, but i honestly think it worked for this movie. because they're very obviously NOT saviors, they're just the vehicle by which the bad guys face consequences for their actions. that man is going to prison for rape and murder, he didn't get off easy because no one killed him. prison is not going to go well for him he did not get off easy... cassie only went to the police because she knew she had indisputable evidence, it's insane to suggest that it's dumb for her to "trust the police" when that did nothing for nina. she's not putting faith in the fucking police she's giving them indisputable hard evidence, it's not up for interpretation. idk that's just an insane thing to criticize to me, especially when there are other points to criticize in this movie. like for example how deeply unsatisfying it is that she didn't kill anyone. don't kno about you but when i saw the trailers for this movie i assumed she would kill someone. it's very tonally weird that this movie was like a drama thriller and not a dark comedy horror slasher. the tone is weird. like the whole time something is so off it's like they wanted it to be a movie that didn't pull punches and didn't have a hollywood ending but ended up making a movie that was just kind of lamely realistic. idk how to say that really, there's just something weird about it.

i would like to see how this plays out on a rewatch, however i will not be doing that any time soon like peace and love but no thanks

all in all, it's a movie that was meant to provoke discussion and maybe a little controversy, and it did that, and for that we have to give it props. but it didn't do enough of that to really cement it as a real cultural Moment, you know? we could probably blame this on when it was released, 2020 was not the time to be releasing movies you wanted people to experience in the traditional way, 2020 was truly the year to be releasing brian duffield movies. which is like, the opposite of what this movie was going for.

anyway, it was an experience to watch, many movies are good and many movies are bad, but few movies are what this one has going on. however i do think hustlers is better, nit that they're truly comparable, but in the ways that they are comparable hustlers is better. also i loved this being produced by margot robbie, hashtag barbie approved!

[ocd-kenobi]

So I know you’ve got love for the ROTS novelization but what about the previous two? I’m considering reading them but I’ve heard they’re not very good especially TPM. But i trust your opinion more than most so I hope you don’t mind sharing some insight.

I enjoyed TPM by Terry Brooks! It helped me understand some of the plot better and gave me some good characterization of child Anakin and Padawan Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan's insecurity, Qui-Gon feeding it, and Anakin being distressed about being the cause of tension between them were my favorite bits. I didn't savor every word, but I found the writing enjoyable enough.

But Aot fucking C is the WORST book I have read in YEARS. Adds NOTHING to the story aside from making the female characters worse in an attempt to make them better (a man wrote it.) The author didn't understand Obi-Wan as a character at all, so he just didn't write him with one. He put a little more effort into Anakin's character, but didn't get him right. But what I hated second-most about it (after the female characters) is the writing itself!! It's garbage! I don't think it made it to an editor before hitting the press! (My main complaint for Brotherhood as well.) Here is an actual fucking sentence that were published in this book that the author got paid for:

It was no less troubling to Mace Windu concerning Dooku, as it was, no doubt, to Amidala and Palpatine concerning the separatists, that some of the arguments against the Republic were not without merit.

That was in the first few chapters and I had to go scream with my editor friend before coming back. Then Padmé kept belatedly realizing she had uNwiTtiNGLy worn rEvALIng CLotHiNG and I lost my cool. Then Obi-Wan said the line, "But he still has much to learn. His skills have made him...well, arrogant" TWO TIMES, identically, without reference to the other.

@aries-anakin has the book too and can back me up on this haha.

All in all, neither book is not NECESSARY reading. Neither adds as much as ROTS. But TPM is a fun enough read, while I actively discourage people from attempting to read AOTC. (Though another part of me wants someone else to read it who can get less angry about it so they can tell me if there were good parts because I was too blinded by anger to see them.) Hope that helps!

[monstersandmaw]

Like Moon and Tide (Part I)

Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

Well, here it is folks! Chapter one of the ‘hot goth x flamboyant witch’ story I promised I’d write, based on this prompt:

hot goth in the woods that keeps answering the door and sighing and going "no, I'm not the witch, he lives over there" and points across the street to a dazzling pretty boy wearing a gold waistcoat who's waving excitedly at them. This happens 268 times a month

I’ve got four, maybe five, chapters worth of material for this story, which I’m calling rather cheesily ‘Like Moon and Tide’. The working/alternative title was ‘their animals ship it’. It features one very opinionated husky, a conniving old cat familiar, a slight misunderstanding, a small revalation, a pinch of drama, and a whole lot of fluff (and smut to finish). The character of Niles is almost completely based on a friend of mine from University.

I really really hope you like it! It’s the first new story I’ve posted on here in ages, and I know it’s not my usual monster fare, but it does have a supernatural/fantasy element. Incidentally, the post announcing I was going to write this has now garnered 69 notes ;).

___

In the last hour or so, the sonorous tick of the mantelpiece clock had grown gradually fainter behind the rising howl of the wind outside, and a steady rain now lashed at the thin glass of the Victorian house. Despite that, the creeping warmth of the fire in its cast-iron grate had seeped into his body, drawing his eyelids down and finally quietening his mind. With the weight of the book in his hands to ground him, he let himself slide down into a doze.

A loud rap at the door saw the first edition tumble to the hearthrug as he twitched awake, blinking dazedly. With an inarticulate grumble, he levered himself out of the winged armchair and stalked down the dark hallway to his front door, running his fingers through his black hair to shove it back out of his eyes.

Opening the door without a word, he stared down at the woman in front of him as the red tail lights of a taxi slid away into the murky night. Rain blew across the street in silver sheets, obliterating the other side of the leafy cul-de-sac almost entirely. The woman had only a thin jacket on, and no umbrella, and she stared wide-eyed at him for a moment and fumbled a purple and gold business card over in her half-frozen hands.

Hers was a look he’d seen countless times before, and he sighed.

Before she even opened her mouth, he rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not the witch. He lives over there,” he said, raising his pale hand to indicate the door that had just opened in the house opposite. Warm light spilled out onto the stone path that led to his door, making it look for a moment like burnished gold in the rain. The effect had to be altogether more inviting than the rather gloomy, cracked path between beds of dead plants to his own black-lacquered front door.

Naturally, the woman turned to follow his gesture, and he tried to ignore the stab of hurt at the obvious relief in her face when she saw the handsome young man waving at her. Even at that distance, he could tell the witch was laughing quietly, as though the woman were a long-lost relative, while he stood there on the step in a gold brocade waistcoat that perfectly complemented his tanned skin. He raised his hand and waved again, this time in thanks at Niles.

Niles shut the door practically in the woman’s face and started to return to his book, but the rain drummed a rebuke on the windows and roof, and he sighed. His shoulders slumped and he backtracked to the door again, grabbing the massive black, lace-edged umbrella that lived permanently in a stand in the corner like an enormous, hibernating bat. It even had a carved bat’s head on the end of the handle. “Wait. Take this or you’ll get soaked,” he said, shoving it at her and then shutting the door again.

A moment later, the curious trit-trot of claws on hardwood announced the arrival of Spectre, and sure enough, the white husky marched into the hall with his tail held high and his ears pricked, nose up. As usual, he was talking to himself, yowling softly and panting. His fur was comically ruffled on one side of his head where he’d been curled up on his bed.

“Sorry, Spec,” he sighed. “You just missed her. Look at you with that bed head,” he snickered, ruffling the husky’s fur. “Another one for that fancy witch across the road.”

The dog tilted his head and whined before barging the top of his head affectionately into Niles’ lanky thigh.

“Yeah, I know. You’re here for me,” he grinned. “Well, you’re here for the free food at least, mm?”

The rain didn’t ease up all night, but it created the most wonderful watercolour dawn when it finally stopped.

Not usually one to rise early, Niles was surprised to find himself awake and sentient enough to stumble downstairs to the kitchen around eight, where he sat for a while at the table, hunched over his phone with his fingers wrapped around a steaming mug.

He lost track of time as he scrolled idly, but he refilled his coffee cup at least three times.

The iridescent blackberry varnish on his thumbnail was chipped, and he’d just thought about going upstairs to touch it up when the doorbell sounded. Except… no one ever used the doorbell. Actually, the doorbell didn't even work. It had never worked in all the time he’d lived there.

“The fuck?”

Scowling, he got up just as Spectre charged out of the utility room, where he usually slept in until at least eleven o’clock, barking and singing.

“Spec, come here,” he mumbled, lunging and grabbing for the husky’s scruff in the hallway and hauling him back. At the door, amid a fierce scrabbling of claws on the wood, Niles stepped in front of him and pinned him back against the wall with his leg. “Spec, sit,” he grunted as the dog squirmed and yipped excitedly. “Fucking… behave yourself!”

Dog more or less successfully wrangled, he opened the door a little way and his eyebrows rose. “What do you want?”

Wearing a wine-red waistcoat this time, and a heart-wrenchingly pretty smile, stood the witch from across the street. “To return this,” he said, extending the umbrella between them, neatly rolled and tidy. “And to ask if you like chocolate.”

How could one person’s eyes contain so many separate hues of gold and copper and brown? They had to be contacts. Or maybe it was magic? Niles had never been close enough to him to see them properly, and now he almost found he couldn’t look away. He blinked. “Huh?”

The witch laughed playfully and beamed at him. He had freckles over his cheekbones and across the bridge of his perfectly straight nose, Niles noted blankly. Fuck. Oh fuck, he was really cute. Why did he have to be cute? Why couldn't he have been an ugly old arsehole instead?

“Do you?” the stranger, who was not quite a stranger, prompted. After all, they had lived opposite each other for a year now, and Niles had been sending stray customers his way for about eleven and a half months.

“Do I what?”

Again, the witch laughed, as if Niles was being genuinely funny and not temporarily dumb as a box of rocks. “Do you like chocolate. I know your lovely dog there can’t have it —”

At that, Spectre could no longer contain himself and he yelled deafeningly in ‘outraged husky’. Niles nudged him with his knee where he still had him trapped gently against the wall to stop him wiggling free, and hissed at him to behave.

“ — but…” the witch continued rather theatrically, as if Spec had never spoken up, and he held out his empty hand, palm up.

For a weird, sideways moment, Niles thought he was asking him to dance, or about to teleport him away somewhere, or, worse, was mocking him somehow, but a second later, a huge plate appeared and a massive chocolate cake, covered in decadent, looping icing and gold dust, wobbled precariously in the middle of it.

“Heavy,” he grunted, snatching his other hand up to support it before the whole thing toppled to the stone step and became Spectre’s after all.

“A cake?” Niles asked stupidly without moving to take the offering. The heck?

For a fraction of a second, the witch’s happy expression cracked and slipped, but he blinked and the smile found its way back onto his ridiculously handsome face again. “Why not?”

The moment the cake had appeared, Niles’ skin had also begun to tingle all over as if there were lightning in the air. It was the unmistakable tingle of magic. When Niles just narrowed his eyes suspiciously, the witch laughed.

“Can a guy not bake an apology cake for the beautiful man with the cute accent who lives across the road? I mean, you are still redirecting my customers for me.”

“I should put up a sign,” he muttered, trying to ignore the easy way the man had called him ‘beautiful’, and his impenetrable Northern Irish accent ‘cute’. Most folks in these parts couldn’t understand a word he said because of it. Not that he ended up in much conversation with the locals anyway. Though far from the most extreme of his small group of friends, he definitely wore more makeup and nail polish and strange black clothes than anyone in the small, sleepy, rural English town had probably ever seen on a guy in their whole lives.

“Or you could learn to do a tarot reading or two,” the witch grinned lopsidedly and Niles’ insides slipped with it. This time, however, it had nothing to do with his cute smile.

“Yeah, tea-leaves and all that shit isn’t my thing,” Niles said, glowering. “I don’t want anything to do with magic.”

At that, the witch’s face really did fall. He took a soft inhale, and Niles could see he’d offended him.

“It’s nothing personal,” he sighed, letting his gaze drop to the cake in the man’s hands.

The witch clearly saw the uncertainty in his eyes and he proffered the plate again. “Take it anyway?” he said in a much different voice. Gone was the ebullient persona, and in its place stood someone altogether more uncertain.

Rolling his eyes, he took the cake from his neighbour across the way. “I’m… Niles, by the way,” he added awkwardly. “Fuck me, this smells delicious…” he blurted, and when he next looked up, the man’s smile was back to its previous megawatt brilliance. His heart skipped at least two beats. Maybe three.

“Luca,” he said by way of introduction. “Oh, forgive me. I nearly forgot!” he chirped, and then he flicked his fingers in the way that someone drawing a penny out from behind a child’s ear might, and produced a bone-shaped dog-biscuit from thin air. Spectre’s ears immediately pricked right up again and he whined and scrabbled. “May I?”

For answer, Niles just moved silently to one side in the doorway, and the dog shot out like a greyhound from a starting gate, nearly knocking the man over.

“Manners,” Luca purred, raising one eyebrow.

To Niles’ complete surprise, Spectre promptly parked his fluffy backside on the path like he was the best trained dog in all the world. His butt wiggled furiously though as he tried to wag while still remaining seated as instructed.

“Shake a paw?” Luca asked Spectre, and dropped to a crouch on the path. He held out one palm expectantly, keeping the dog treat out of reach near his shoulder. With the angle of his arm like that, Niles could see a hint of defined bicep beneath the crisp white fabric of his shirt, and his already quite snug jeans tightened a half-size around his groin.

To Niles’ continuing astonishment, his dog raised one snowy paw and then the other, and then with a delicacy that wouldn’t have been out of place at tea with the queen, he took the biscuit from Luca’s long, slightly knuckly fingers and cronched it politely to crumbs in three seconds flat. When he was done, he turned his mismatching blue and brown eyes to look pointedly from Niles to Luca, yipped once, and then trotted back inside.

Luca, still crouching on the pathway, looked up at Niles then, golden eyes curious. “I think he likes me.”

“He’s… He’s normally…” Niles huffed a rough, hoarse laugh and said, “Honestly, he’s normally a fucking lunatic. I never taught him to shake a paw either…”

“Well, I feel honoured,” Luca replied as he straightened. He stood a few inches shorter than Niles, and with the addition of the step where Niles still stood, Luca had to look up through his thick lashes to regard him directly. The effect was utterly disarming. “And I shall leave you in peace for the day. Don’t eat the cake all at once, eh?” he added with a playful twitch of his eyebrows.

“I… I actually have friends coming over this evening, so they can help,” he croaked.

“Then that’s perfect,” Luca smiled. “Make sure you save some for yourself though,” he said with an expression that went right through Niles. Either Luca thought he was too skinny and was trying to fatten him up for his witch’s oven, or he had somehow glimpsed Niles’ tendency to put the needs of other people before his own. Neither thought brought him any particular comfort.

And with that, Luca walked off down the path and Niles tried not to stare after him.

The man dressed like he was going to a wedding or something, though without the fancy jacket. Today’s claret waistcoat and white shirt emphasised a breadth to his shoulders that spoke of strength without bulk, and the way the black dress pants hugged his hips and the curve of his arse sent a thrum of white hot lust through Niles with a jolt. He was so taken aback by it that he nearly shut his own foot in the door as he tried to ram it closed.

He marched up the hallway into the kitchen at the back of the house, narrowly avoiding tripping over his blasted dog, and set the cake down on the table where he stared at it as if it was some kind of magical device about to go off. But it was just a cake.

The man had made him a cake.

Luca. He had a name to go with the impossibly pretty face now. He looked like a ‘Luca’, with dark, Mediterranean hair and skin, and that winning smile.

And he had called Niles beautiful.

Tall, skinny despite the rubbish which he consistently ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; pale, with shoulder-length, dyed black hair and permanent panda-smudge of residual eyeliner: Niles was well suited to the goth lifestyle. A septum and twin lip piercings, multiple studs in his ears, with an additional lingering scar from a bridge piercing he’d taken out years ago all augmented his look, and, on super fancy days, he sported a really, really black lipstick. Niles was not what most people thought conventionally beautiful, especially in this dozy little town. Still, he’d found his niche and his aesthetic, and he felt comfortable enough with that for the most part. And Luca definitely hadn’t had to go out of his way to flatter him. He could just have dropped the umbrella off and left.

To stop the cake going stale before his favourite people in all the world got there that evening, he put a big plastic bag over it and then jabbed a warning finger at an overly-innocent-looking Spectre not to touch it. To take his mind off the dazzling witch across the way, he decided to make another cafetiere. His whole body was still tingling and thrumming weirdly, and he wasn’t sure if it was residual static from the witch’s presence, or just plain old nerves.

The step-by-step nature of making coffee this way had always soothed him, like a ritual, and as the dark, warm fragrance of it began to fill the kitchen, he calmed. While he sipped the coffee a little while later and stared out at the back garden, it wasn’t the grey-green of winter foliage that he saw, but the rich, coppery-gold of Luca’s eyes when he’d smiled.  

Shaking his head, he chuckled, and Spectre padded over to stand beside him. The dog cocked his head and whined a question.

“He is cute,” Niles sighed in agreement. “I’m fucked.”

___

Part Two

If you enjoyed it, please let me know by reblogging and maybe sending an ask or leaving a comment!

___

__ | Masterlist | Ko-fi | Writing Commissions |

[honeycombalbedo]

The diamond/star motif|| Theory/Discussion

I’VE HAD THIS IN THE DRAFTS FOR AGES BUT I’VE HAD A REVALATION

Now, I may sound like I’m connecting unconnected dots but... Yeah..

So in my last post I mentioned that the two characters we know are from the Abyss/Khaenri'ah (Kaeya and Dainsleif), have a very heavy star/diamond theme. I’ve outlined most of them():

And while you can’t see it, they both have the same diamond in their eyes. (Kaeya’s is more prevalent in the manga)

I was like, “Okay cool! That’s a neat detail.” But then I remembered Albedo’s neck thing

Alchemy is from AND caused the down fall of Khaenri'ah.

Now, here I am, looking at every character to see a connection(I’m only choosing characters who have a shit ton of them):

Childe got trapped in the abyss for a little bit and got the Foul Legacy from it.

Also from this point onwards I’ve just decided to not outline the diamonds cus im lazyy

One of the siblings is the leader of the abyss, easy.

And this is where it starts to not make sense:

Unfortunately we don't know enough about her, maybe in future we’ll have her back story.

Both him and Venti have these diamonds

Now, you’re probably going, “obviously, she’s an astrologist”. But like, do we know where astrology is from in this universe?(Maybe it’s mentioned somewhere, but I can’t find it anywhere!!) And we also do not meet her master yet. She also knows and talks to Albedo, both wanting to figure out the mysteries of their world.

Her master belongs to a coven named Hexenzirkel, which investigates the Irminsul, which are the roots to petrified trees and ley line outcrops/blossoms. So maybe they have ties to the abyss? The night sky is also heavily associated with the abyss too so...? 

And finally..

Paimon has a diamond in her hair.

At the start of this I had assumed that the star was a symbol relating to the abyss but after the new quest I have come to a new conclusion.

It represents godhood, kinda. You know how the people of Khaenri'ah were able to harness the elements without the god’s blessing and also, due to one cutscene(the one were Dain chokes the abyss herald(god i wish that were me)), may have also made a new one. Alchemy can create new life. Mona’s able to completely read someone and see constellations which feel important. Signora is powerful and probably has a god-complex. Childe has an all powerful form that’s from the abyss. Venti and Zhongli are literal gods. And traveller can be seen as a god as they can control all elements and are also 500 years old so they probably aren’t human.

So maybe that’s it? I’ll update again once we have a new “wave” of characters with these symbols.

Anyone else have different ideas?

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Monsters and Magic Line-Up

This is just my way of outlining the... installments in the series. I don’t summarize what happens, but it’s more so my thoughts on them so far and what I want to do with them. Also title reveals.

...I have no idea what I’m doing.

Dreaming in Daylight: Persona 1/Revalations. I definitely need to put this out some time before I release Persona 5/Strikers, mostly due to the fact that Naoya has a role in both. It’s fairly minor in Persona 5, and he makes a minor guest appearance since… ya know, he is Ren’s father in this universe. He plays a major role in Strikers, though. Need to redownload the emulator I had for PSP, though so I can play through it. It seems so much easier to do that then to look up a walkthough, which I have done for a couple of these to make things easier on my life. I’m also going to be taking elements from the manga for this one.

The Past That Binds Us: Persona 2: Innocent Sin. If we’re being honest, I already have the first scene for it typed out. I forget why, I think I was just trying to get the dialogue and its choices I needed when I had the emulator. Anyway, I really do love P2′s story, so it would be a shame if I skipped it.

From the Other Side: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. The same as the previous one. It’s angsty, and I’ll have fun with that. It also serves as an explanation as to why everything is kind of the way it is going forward without actually explaining it. Maybe. I dunno. We’ll see how things go. It might also be combined with Innocent Sin depending on the length of both.

Make Every Moment Last: Persona 3, and the one that’s currently ongoing. I started out with Persona 3, despite the fact that it’s in the middle of the series but it’s one that I know people are extremely familiar with, so it’s more likely to draw in the reader’s eyes and build a fanbase for the series. It also gave me the chance to work on and write out the P3 cast, which I struggled to do in the beginning. I think I’ve gotten better since then.

Lives on the Line; Winner Takes All: The Answer. Make Every Moment Last is long enough at seventy chapters, but the events that take place during The Answer are important at explaining why what the hell happens at the end of Make Every Moment Last ya know… happens. This is gonna explain why that happens and wrap up some loose ends. It also goes a bit in depth with some backstory events that I bring up in the previous installment.

Free to Just Be Me: Persona 4, with some Golden events and elements. It has to do primarily with how I deal with the TV World and such. TBH, the TV World probably is the only one that underwent a massive change to fit in with the supernatural world because I found a way to do it in a way that makes sense and didn’t fuck up with the plot. If I decide to go with ships for this (outside of the canon ones at least), it’s going to be done in such a slow burn that they won’t even confess or get together in the fic itself, but a later installment instead.

Shadows of Fate: Persona Q. Mostly just a filler fic, TBH. And includes most of my own gameplay since I got to the ninth floor of the clocktower before my computer killed itself. It also has a bit of foreshadowing towards the end considering the next installment/spin-off. It’s just gonna be a fun bit of writing that will help me establish what relationships will be like for Arena, as well as a bit foreshadowing for that installment towards the end. I also plan to incorporate scenes from both routes, so it’s not defined who is the main lead here. Kids deserve to be dumbass kids, and this lets me do that. That, and it’s already been hinted at happening in Make Every Moment Last.

The Hollow Hour Tournament: Area/Ultimax. They were short enough, so I decided to combine the two together. That, and Arena didn’t feel complete on its own. It’ll be a chance for me to lore-dump a little bit more concerning the Anti-Shadow Weapons and some minor stuff that got glossed over in Make Every Moment Last If I decide to do the slow burn ship for P4, then it will finally have it’s payoff here.

Tied Together by Truth: Dancing All Night. Not entirely sure if I’m going to do this one, TBH. If I do, it’ll be entirely self-indulgent since I love the story that goes along with this. There’s also a little nifty detail I wanna do with those who use magic and how it effects dance moves. It’s mostly visual though. That, and Yu’s parents. I enjoy Shin and Tomiko’s dynamics. I also adore Kanami. She’s gonna be human, though. Maybe. Or not know what she is. It’s still up in the air.

Break Away From Limitations: Persona 5 Royal. Yes, I’m going the Royal Route on this. I love Sumire too much not to. I’m excited for this one for a lot of reasons, one of them being that the Awakening scenes are just the cast snapping and going apeshit. Also getting to write an older and more responsible Minato. He’s still the little shit we all love, but he’s relaxed and fits into a more defined leader/mentor role because of it.

Shattering the Cinema: Persona Q2. Again, just another filler fic. It’s also a chance for me to have some fun with dynamics, as well as fuck with Ren a little since he knows nearly everything that’s going to happen in the future but can’t tell anyone about it for fear of messing up the timeline. There’s also the deal with Minato, Kotone and the Investigation Team – who are used to Ren as a kid as much more happy-go-lucky than the teenager they’re looking at now.

A Guide to Personal Prison Break: Persona 5 Strikers. Due to me using the Royal Route, it will be different compared to the game aside from the obvious adjustments. I do plan to involve Akechi and Sumire in this. And as explained at the beginning of the post, Naoya’s going to be a major character as well. His relationship with Ren is kind of not so hot after his arrest, and yeah, there was some mending that happened in P5R, but there’s still some tension. So he tries to use the road trip to help repair it. I do have a lot of the dialogue typed out for this already because as I was waiting for my replacement computer back in August, I was playing through Strikers again. So I thought I might as well.

[schumaclerc]

in light of mick’s name revalations i want everyone to know that i’ve had the url mickbetsch saved for a while and i’ve been trying my damn hardest not to switch to it

[missile-silo]

I’ve just had a revalation and it’s that all gay people dress like one of the gorillaz

[raplinesmoon]

Update: Hiatus

Hi y’all! It’s me again. I hope you’ve all been doing well and are staying safe. I’ve been struggling with how to do this properly, but decided to just bite the bullet and take a hiatus from now until mid-September. I’m going to get very long and rambly, so I’ll put a TL:DR and a cut for anyone who doesn’t want to hear me go on.

TL;DR: I’m logging out of Tumblr and taking a hiatus until mid-September. My blog will be running on a queue. I’ll probably log out tomorrow night, but I’ll be back once a week to check messages, asks and fill up the queue. Please feel free to send me asks and messages and tag me in stuff, I love talking to everyone here and I’m always here for you all 💕

What prompted this, you may ask? Like I mentioned in my previous hiatus post, I’m in the midst of a busy season with boards and residency applications, which in themselves are time-consuming require lots of time and attention.

Mentally though, I also feel like I’m spread very thin. I’m in my last year of dental school and the workload is picking up with patient cases to do lab stuff for, exams to study for, and applications and interviews galore.

My blog used to be a healthy distraction for me when I had time to devote to reading and reblogging fics, but now, I sort of realize I’m leaning unhealthily on it and scrolling through the dash as a way to ignore my stress and real life responsibilities, and I really don’t want to do that anymore. Sometimes, I take the level of interaction as a reflection on myself as a person (stupid, I know), and I try and convince myself that it translates to real life and how unremarkable I am as a person and a healthcare provider (which is NOT true).

I want to be able to devote genuine effort to things when I can run this blog properly, and I also want to conversely stop ignoring my real life responsibilities and try and get on top of everything because at the moment, I feel a bit like I’m struggling to keep my head above water.

I also recently had a bit of a career revalation in terms of what I want to do with my life, and the residency path I’m now interested in pursuing is one that’s very challenging and requires a lot of preparation. For the longest time, I’d been convincing myself that I wasn’t even capable of doing something so ambitious because I have very little faith in myself, but I’ve finally found something I’m passionate about in life and I realize I can’t let my insecurities stop me from pursuing the things I love.

I have mainly positive things to say about the people I’ve interacted with on Tumblr because you’re all so loving and welcoming, but I need to take a step back to focus on my life outside. I feel like this is very angsty, but I’ll be back soon!! I’m logging out for now, but I’ll see you all on the flip side 💕🥰 thank you for sticking with me, I love you all 🥺

[king-finnigan]

For the prompt meme: 24, geralt/jaskier?

24. “I needed you! I needed you!”

It takes Geralt months to find Jaskier again after the dragon hunt. He knows Jaskier doesn’t want the Witcher to find him - Jaskier forgoing furthering his bardic reputation in favour of anonimity by using the nickname Dandelion in the towns he passes through, Jaskier skirting dangerously close to Blaviken, and staying in that region, and even going so far as to buy a horse to travel more quickly. But Geralt knows all these tricks, knows because he’s the one that taught them to Jaskier during the years they spent together, just in case Jaskier had to evade someone who was following him.

Geralt just never thought that he would be the person Jaskier would be evading.

But despite Jaskier’s best efforts, Geralt manages to track him down. He doesn’t want to hurt the bard more, but he feels like he has to apologize, has to at least try to heal the wounds he caused.

He finds him in the middle of the woods, too far from any town to reach an inn by midnight. The bard is setting up camp, before taking the saddle off his white horse and brushing the mare down. He looks up when Geralt approaches - the Witcher deliberately making his footsteps louder so that Jaskier can hear him coming.

“Oh, it’s you,” the bard mutters, before looking at his own horse again. “Here to hurt me again? Wasn’t last time enough for you?”

“Jaskier, I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

Geralt blinks, then frowns. Surely, it can’t be that easy, right? “So... can we travel together again?”

Jaskier scoffs, starts gathering wood to build a fire. “No. I’d actually very much like it if you left right now.”

Ah. He knew he was getting off the hook way too easily. “But...” His mind comes up blank, as he finds he has no other reason for Jaskier to travel with him, other than that he wants Jaskier back in his life. “I can hunt for you.”

Jaskier scoffs again. “I can hunt perfectly fine myself, thank you very much.”

He frowns. That’s new. “I can earn coin.”

Jaskier grabs his bag from where it’s lying by his feet, shaking it a bit. The rattling coming from inside tells Geralt there’s a very full coin bag in there, already. 

“I- I can...” But nothing comes to mind.

Jaskier laughs without humour, sitting down on a fallen tree. “Geralt, darling, ever since you broke my heart on that mountain, I’ve been making sure to fill in all the gaps you left behind. I can hunt for myself, I can earn coin, I can defend myself, I can do everything myself. I don’t need you anymore.” 

And there’s that glimmer of the Jaskier Geralt knows so well, the one that can’t stop talking, once he’s started. 

“You want to know why? Because when I walked down that mountain, when I saw monster after monster, some of them human, some not, I realized I needed you.” He lets out another mirthless laugh. “I was Jaskier, the great poet and bard, master of the seven liberal arts, and I needed you! I needed you! And when push came to shove you left me on a mountainside. And now you come here with a half-assed apology and when I ask you why we should travel together, you don’t even tell me that you simply want to. Or that you need me.” He cards his fingers through his hair, leaving it standing up unevenly. “So if that’s all you have to say, please leave.”

Geralt stands there for a few seconds, as Jaskier turns his face away, tears shining in those blue eyes. He’s not sure what to do - with the revalation that Jaskier needed him all along, with the knowledge that that’s no longer the case, with the regret and guilt swirling through his chest.

He would lay down his life for Jaskier. That’s all he knows.

And he wants Jaskier to know that, too.

So, he walks forward, kneeling at Jaskier’s feet, as the bard turns to look at him, frowning when Geralt takes the swords off his back, laying them in Jaskier’s lap. 

He clears his throat. “I know you don’t need me anymore, but... but I need you. More than anything. You followed me for twenty years.” He gestures at his swords. “Now let me return the favour. Anything you need- want, I’ll give it to you. I’m sorry. For everything.”

It’s quiet for a few minutes, as Geralt continues staring at Jaskier’s feet, awaiting his reaction. Eventually, he hears a soft sigh above him.

“I knew it,” Jaskier whispers, and Geralt resists the urge to look up. “I always knew you had a flair for the dramatics, Witcher.”

A soft finger under his chin tilts his head up, and he’s greeted with a gentle smile on Jaskier’s face.

“Alright! I can’t say no to a grand gesture like that, can I? Yes, I forgive you, and yes, we can travel together again, but, I better see you hold true to your word and spoil me rotten, do you understand?”

Geralt nods, the spark of hope lighting him up from the inside. “I understand. Anything for you.”

Jaskier lifts one eyebrow, cocky smile on his lips. “Anything?”

“Anything.”

The bard smirks, leaning back, stretching his legs. “Be a dear and massage my feet for me, then. They’re killing me.”

And, well, how can Geralt say no to that?

[spacebeyonce]

For the meta asks, I'm curious about 4,14 (because your titles are always amazing 🌟), and 24!

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

OHHHH MY GOD....HOLD ON GIMME A SECOND.

okay....maybe it's cheating...but for my zelda works I'm gonna pick two because I honestly have A LOT of scenes I'm proud of so it was hard to choose!! of course these scenes come from my babies, my beloveds, the hyrule world tour series. first, from breathing out:

She was quiet, saying nothing as she looked at him, and her eyes were still glowing, glowing, glowing – she looked like she wasn’t entirely here. She looked like half of her was here and half of her was somewhere he couldn’t follow. His hand, still on her arm, slid down until it latched onto hers, curling his fingers around her limp palm.

“Come on,” Link said quietly, tugging her away from the shrine. Away from the castle. “Let’s go back.”

Her face crumpled a little, at his words, and he couldn’t understand why.

and I'm really happy about this scene because of how it stuck out for some. and I've had some question why her face crumples at the end at what link said - and it's because they can't go back! they can't go back in time to what was, to how everything was before it got destroyed! there's no going back in time - there's only living with how the world is now. and zelda at this moment wants to go back so very very much.

THE NEXT ONE is from grow in this new view and I just - really love it:

The Hero, the Princess – hand in hand –

“Link?”

Zelda’s sleep-thick voice brought Link’s focus into sharp clarity, and he realizes he’d been standing in the doorway of the inn for Goddess-knows how long as Zelda pushes herself up onto her elbows to look at him, eyes glazed with sleep.

She must have tried to stay awake to greet him, because her hair wasn’t in the usual braid she put it in for bed. Unbound, it spilled over her shoulders and down her back, pooling onto the mattress, and with the light of the moon streaming in and catching the strands, she looked like she was glowing.

Even half-asleep, she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen in his life.

And it hit him harder than any blow ever could.

Oh.

He loved her.

It was all because he loved her.

because it just kinda set the tone for how I'd handle how their relationship developed lmao. there's no bombastic confessions and revalations - it's just moments happening in like. the quiet bits of life. the mundane things that you don't even notice. like someone staying up waiting for you and they fall asleep. or combing their hair as they get ready for bed. you know?

okay. now - for kingdom hearts, it will forever be this bit in chapter two of you know where to find me:

Riku nodded, and he looked so lost, “I had him right there. Right under my hands.” His voice cracked in the middle, and tears silently slipped down his face, “I was holding onto him, and then I wasn’t, and now I don’t know where he’s gone, anymore.”

He bowed his head, covering his face with his free hand, and his shoulders shook as he cried silently.

“I’m sorry, Kairi.” He sobbed, “I said I wouldn’t leave you, and I did. I thought I would find him, to make up for leaving you, but then I couldn’t even hold onto him long enough to bring him home. I’m sorry.”

because for me it just encompasses all that riku is to me - making choices that hurt for what he thinks is the right thing but it just - it ends up all for nothing. or, I guess not for nothing. but the hurt outweighs any benefits that come from the right thing. now I’ve had alcohol so idk if this makes sense. but I love it. I'm always proud of this scene, and when I get to re-writing it, that will stay.

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

oof, it depends. for some (breathing out, the pink in the night series, you know where to find me) I had the title in mind right away! most of my titles come from songs - like I heard the song while I was doing a mundane thing and it inspired me, or stuck to me because of a certain scene in the fic. other times (hearts all gone to pieces, and I'm holy by my own, sweettooth) I think of the title while I'm editing - and that can be HOURS of searching my music, searching poems, trying to find something, anything that connects to what I'm about to post. those are the worst days lmao.

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

hmm, I THINK so....like if I compare my first fic to my current there would definitely be some changes. better flow, I think, overall....I think that's the main thing I've gotten better at. or I HOPE I've gotten better at lmao.