#ines chapter

[exoticalmonde]

Arknights, Chapter XII - All Quiet Under The Thunder

I'll be honest, I kind of missed a part of the previous stories like chapter 9 and 10 becausse I was grinding stages still, but hey now that I caught the end of Chapter XI I can actually start a new, fresh start knowing that this is where my husband Hoederer comes in.

Here. Watch.

Freaking epic Episode opening.

Also, some spoilers. I didn't manage to get far because I ran out of sanity.

[Text: The battlefield always puts people on edge, even more so when you don't know where the when or where- ]

Excuse me, this sentence...

[-the when or where war will break out, or who you can trust.]

Me: "I have a bad feeling about this." Pinkie: "What makes you say that?" Me: "..." Pinkie: "The war can happen any moment now." Me: "???" Pinkie: "With the press of a button." Me: "Stop. My guy is going back to his family." Pinkie: "Any moment now." Me: *Continues with the story, trying to ignore them.* The story:

Me: *Visceral scream of despair.* ---

Me: "STUPID MILDRED!" Pinkie: "Mildred?" Me: "... Manfred." --- Pinkie: "So far, let's take an account on all that has happened. You have eight or seven dukes that are all keeping an eye on the capital of Victoria, while they're also conspiring with the Sarkaz in a seven-sided-civil war. Your enemy, the Sarkaz, isn't really helping out the situation, but as we have seen, they're not really doing it without a reason. We know something is going on with the Sarkaz. So everybody is keeping an eye on the capital of their country to see what's going on, right? Rhodes Island is trying to infiltrate Victoria to figure out what's going on as well in an attempt to help. Suddenly an airship flies out of their capital, blasts one of their tanks out of the skies, and refuses to elaborate as it leaves. Imagine the mass panic that erupts in this power-vacuum that has to be filled. Me: "If I had to live through that kind of historical event, I'd rather blast people out of the sky and disappear too." Pinkie: "So you figure out that your least favourite enemy has a weapon of mass-destruction and you don't. Now what are your options? You cannot take it down because this ship is much larger than anything you have. Do you steal it? Do you infiltrate it and sieze control? Do you try to side with the, now remaining, SIX lords?" Me: *Sigh of complete exhaustion* ---

Pinkie: "So whoever is in possession of the bigger weapon is the winner." Me: "Small nukes?" ---

Me: "What was the name of Chapter 12 again?" Kryo: "All Quiet... Uh-" Pinkie: "All Eepy On a Rainy Day."

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

How You Turn My World; Chapter 1

Your day started with chaos, and my dear, it looks like it will continue to be chaos. But only time will tell. The Underground holds many surprises in store for you.

Characters; Grim, Lilia Vanrouge, Deuce Spade, Ace Trappola

Content; Gender-neutral reader, cat shenanigans, building the plot

Content Warnings; Swearing, illusion to marijuana but there is none

Word Count; 4.6 K

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

Don't put my work into AI; I'll make sure you go to the Underground and don't return. Mwah mwah, kisses~

Ah, the joys of cat parenthood. Days spent cuddling your little bundle of furry joy. That’s what your friends preached. That having a feline roommate was easy and rewarding. That you would benefit by having a cute and fuzzy companion that didn’t demand much of anything. That you would love your little kitty friend like a child. Well, either your friends were liars with questionable senses of humour, or you drew the short stick when it came to choosing a furry companion. And there’s always the possibility of it being both, what with having Ace as a friend and all, but you just hoped it was just your shit luck and not that you had shit friends.

Seriously, though, what higher power did you manage to piss off to deserve the royal hobgoblin of a cat you have? He has shit and pissed in your plants on several occasions. Demolished every single curtain he laid eyes on like he had a personal vendetta against them. Stole your breakfast off your plate right as you were about to take a bite. Puked on your last pair of good white shoes, which still had stains on them because they wouldn’t come out. The cherry on top of it all though was that he insists on yowling and crying in the middle of the damn night for no good reason. Rudely awaking you from the dead of sleep because he demanded attention. With how loud he was, you were surprised that you hadn’t gotten a noise complaint from any of your neighbours… yet. But then again, you could hear the upstairs neighbours’ children screaming bloody murder every so often — what were their names, the Clovers? They were probably so used to it that they threw you a bone, or they didn’t want extra grey hairs from filing a complaint to the landlord. So maybe Grim wasn’t all that bad, but he was still a gremlin child. 

“MROWWWWWW!!!!!” Ah, so tonight was no different then. Grim had decided that you needed to be woken up before even the birds started to sing, needed to be yanked out of the land of dreams. That whatever had caught the attention of his singular brain cell was more important than you recharging so you don’t accidentally say the wrong thing to your boss. Since last time you had slipped up and called him dad, even though no one in their right mind would leave him alone with a rutabaga unattended, and he went on a two-hour long monologue about how much of a kind and generous person he was for you to see him as a father figure. And your salary wasn’t high enough, nor would it ever be, to deal with his eccentric and maddening behaviour.

Maybe, just maybe, if you ignored him and stared at the ceiling long enough he would stop his caterwauling and go to sleep. “MROWWWW!!!!!” Apparently not.

Just one night, ONE NIGHT, of peace and quiet. PLEASE. But you knew that if you didn’t get up soon, he would get up on the bed and put his fluffy butt in your face… like he did last night and the night before that. Sighing, you begrudgingly got out of your cocoon of warm, fluffy, blankets, and hoped you would soon be back in them after dealing with Grim. Hopefully, he was just complaining about his food bowl not being as full as he would like it.

What was the time anyways? Three-thirty in the morning? Ugh, Grim! What did Ace say about it, ah, yes, “Primetime witching hour. Demons and all sorts of creepies” yada yada yada. But you didn’t pay any mind to him, as his annoying smug look would taunt you in your mind even though he was probably sound asleep, blissfully asleep. Something that you wanted to be doing, but woefully you were not.

Stepping out into the main living space, you shot the grey fuzzball the stink eye. “What the hell do you want? You absolute gremlin!” You hissed through gritted teeth, very much annoyed with your brat of a fur child and wanting nothing more than to crawl back to bed, hell, even the loveseat would suffice.  

The offending feline just trilled at you in response, and his tail vibrated, happy that you had come out to see him. How is he so cute but so annoying? He rubbed against your legs before trotting off to one of his hidey holes, which also served as his nest of your stolen socks. He has a weird obsession with socks. But he popped back out, holding something in his mouth. Something small and fuzzy that didn’t look like any of his toys.

“Prowwww,” he dropped it at your feet as if saying that catching whatever it was, was the equivalent to paying his share of rent. Which, it was very much not.

You closed your eyes and pinched your brow. Please be one of his toys. PLEASE be one of his toys. You chanted to yourself in your mind and then opened your eyes. Unfortunately, it was not one of his toys. The small, fuzzy thing in question seemed to be a mouse or some other kind of rodent. It was too late (too early?) for this, and quite frankly you didn’t have the brain power to confirm whatever the hell it was. All you knew was that it looked like a mouse, therefore it was a mouse.

“Is this what you’ve been screaming about this whole time? A mouse,” you sighed. Shaking your head, you went to the bathroom, grabbing some paper towel so you could at least put it outside for something else to eat, or go back to nature in some other way. It was better than just being left to decompose in the communal garbage bin. When you came back out though, it was nowhere to be seen. Now, either Grim decided to eat it like a good kitty cat, or, with your luck, it was still alive and was now running amuck in your apartment.

Grim’s chattering was coming from the kitchen now, and he was up on top of the fridge. It was running amuck in your apartment, how lovely.

“Why, why, are you like this?! Get down from there!” You really didn’t have the energy for this.

Grim just blinked at you before his eyes dilated. He leapt down from his perch on the fridge and was pawing at a corner by the window. Looking down and you couldn’t make out anything on the floor. But you had the oh-so-brilliant idea to look up toward the ceiling. The ‘mouse’ was very much alive, and wasn’t a mouse at all, since it was flying around and banging itself against the corner.

“YOU CAUGHT A FUCKING BAT?!”

He had indeed caught a fucking bat. And bats were normally fine, when they were outside. Not when they’re flying around your apartment at three o’clock in the morning and your cat is losing his goddamn mind trying to catch it. So no, this was very much not fine. 

The bat was about as pleased as you were with this whole situation and kept on flinging itself against the glass of the window, desperately trying to get back outside. How the hell did it get inside in the first place? That could be pondered on upon at a later time, as the first priority was getting it back outside.

“Don’t fly towards my head, bat. I’m just trying to get you back outside. You’re a nice bat, right? Nice bat, nice bat,” you whispered in a non-threatening tone. Could the flying mammal understand what you were saying? Mostly likely not. Hopefully it understood that you, unlike your cat, were trying to help and did not want some fresh bat as your late night snack tonight.

After what felt like forever fuddling with the window to open with a broom in hand, just in case the bat decided to dive bomb your head, you finally got the cursed thing open. 

Grabbing Grim, who was still trying to catch the bat for a second time tonight, you got back to your bedroom and locked the door shut. You hoped that the bat would take the hint that it now had a path to freedom, but only time, and a bit of sleep, would tell. Slumping against the door frame, you sighed and looked over at Grim. He was playing with the door stop, the boing, boingg, boinggg sounds filling in the quiet. Whether it was to amuse himself, or to annoy you was a fifty-fifty bet.

Just as you were about to crawl back under the covers a string of anxiety connected in your head. Shit, did Grim get bit? DAMMIT GRIM! After leaving a somewhat desperate and tired call to your vet’s voicemail, alongside an apology for the late call (early call?), you peeked outside to see if the bat was still flying around. According to Google, the bat should be tested for rabies. You did not trust your no brain cell having fluff ball to know better than to get bit by a possibly rabid bat. But it was gone, so yet again, you were out of luck.

You had enough with today, even though it had just really begun. Pulling up the covers, you sighed in the dark warmth of your blanket cocoon. Grim was busying himself by trying to pounce on your feet, but you ignored him, falling back to sleep and hoping that the rest of your day wouldn’t bring any more shenanigans, migraines, or small flying mammals.

…

…

…

By some miracle, you managed to get Grim to the vet the very same day. Your boss agreed to let you work from home because he is ever so kind and generous… It did help that one of the other higher-ups nearly nagged off his ear upon hearing about the condition of your cat. Even through the phone you could hear it, and could only imagine the spectacle it must have been. Oh well, you had the day off and that is what mattered… but you would be lying if you said that you didn’t cough out a laugh just imagining the scene on the other side of the phone.

You were relieved, Grim on the other hand was not having it. To be fair, you did trick him into his crate with some tuna. He made his disdain known to all though by crying the entire way there. You almost felt bad for him, almost being the key word. 

“You have no one to blame for this but yourself, ya know.” You huffed at him, feeling your shit sleep all too well. “Crying about it won’t help you any.”

Grim let out a pathetic little mew. His little, bright, blue eyes being the only visible part of him, which peered out miserably from the crate. Caving to the kitty manipulation, you poked your finger in as a peace offering. Grim booped his nose to your finger and then proceeded to nibble on it; such a vicious beast.

The vet visit went as well as you could hope it could, as Grim only tried to maim the vet a few times. Hey, it was an improvement from last time, as he had actually peed on them. So yes, trying to maim was vastly better than seeing your figurative child pee on the doctor. You’re pretty sure your vet didn’t go through years of schooling and thousands of dollars into debt just to get peed on by your unruly cat. But Grim was won over by the offering of that cat gogurt, his nose and stomach betraying him. Note to self, stock up on some of that stuff.

The rest of the visit went on without a hitch; he had some blood drawn, got his booster shot for rabies, and even managed to squeeze in a bonus nail trim. There was no evidence of any bite or puncture marks, so Grim by some miracle, did indeed have enough brain cells not to get bit.

“Grim will have to be watched for about forty-five days,” the vet hummed, checking Grim’s chart. “Since you don’t have any other animals it shouldn’t be too difficult to keep him in quarantine. If you see any symptoms be sure to bring him back, just in case.” They gave you a tired smile, and then turned that smile towards their cantankerous patient. “And thank you for deciding not to pee on me this time, Grim. I’m not so bad, see?”

Grim swatted at them, which was his answer to the vet’s question. In Grim’s book, the vet was that bad.

Ignoring his attitude, as you would whenever you came across a screaming toddler and exhausted parent while doing your grocery run, you turned back to your vet. “Thank you, and sorry for Grim. If it makes you feel any better, he’s just as much as a gremlin child at home as well.” At least today went better than last time.

The vet chuckled goodheartedly, “Don’t worry about it, I have more unruly patients than little Grim here.”

Damn, they have seen some shit, haven’t they? … Maybe I should, I don’t know, bring them a gift basket next time I’m in? Or maybe a gift card for a spa day or something??? You should really get them something for the amount of dry cleaning they probably needed to do.

With the visit over, and Grim having a clear bill of health, you shoved him back into his carrier with zero decorum, closing the door as fast as possible before he could escape and try to hide behind the counter like he did last time. I know your tricks, cat. Speaking of bills, the one that was waiting for you at the front desk was enough for you to point an icy glare at your unruly ward.

“You’re lucky that I love you, asshole.” And much like the vet you too got a swat as your thank you. Wonder if this is what the Clovers feel about their children? At least their kids didn’t wake them up in the middle of the night with a bat they caught… You shook your head, moving past those thoughts, and hauled your wailing cat back home.

…

...

By the time you got back to your place, it was just a little past noon. The rest of your day was wide open, and you didn’t really have anything else to do, since taking Grim to the vet was the most urgent of your tasks. Your place could benefit from some tidying, since your boss had recently been demanding more as of late and has been even less useful than he usually was… which was saying something. Seriously, how does he have his position? It was baffling. You swore you could hear his monologue playing on loop in your head whenever you thought of the man, which you tried to keep to a minimum for your own sanity… whatever little of it still remained that is.

Shaking your head to rid the annoying voice, you put on your favourite playlist and got to work. You took your time, putting away the dishes, vacuumed the main room, and even got rid of the dust on the high shelves. But your place was small, so it didn’t take very long for you to tidy up, and deep cleaning could wait for another day when you had enough energy to mentally and physically deal with that undertaking.

You knew that your email probably had a few messages, but it could wait. You weren’t on the clock and therefore didn’t have to check it. Only do the stuff you’re required to do when you get paid, it makes your downtime way more enjoyable.

But, you were bored. The cleaning helped with it, but with the majority of it done and the more intense stuff waiting for another day, you had nothing else to do. And while doom scrolling through social media may fill in the time, it too, was boring, predictable.

… There were two people though who were the exact opposite of boring and predictable. And yes, they did give you your fair share of migraines and questioning your life decisions more than you usually do, they were your best friends. And you were in need of having a movie night with them.

Opening up the group chat, you typed in a message.

| The Responsible One | You guys down for a movie night at my place tonight?

And almost immediately, Ace replied.

| Ginger, derogatory | depends  | ya got fiid?

Deuce responded shortly after.

| Mama’s Boi | Yeah, I’m down | What time? | . . . | And what’s fiid?

|The Responsible One | How does 6 sound?

| Ginger, derogatory | IT WAS A TYOP | *TYPO | I MEANT FOOD | F O O D

| Mama’s Boi | 6 works for me

| The Responsible One | I took a screenshot of that btw love you Ace | Thanks Deuce for actually giving me an answer. | What FIID do you guys want?

| Ginger, derogatory | FUCK YOU | … but yeah 6 works 4 me | any is cool with me

| The Responsible One | Yes yes, fuck you too Ace | Bring your own snacks it is then | See you guys at 6!

That gave you about ninety minutes to hide your good snacks, since the last time, Ace had made himself too comfortable and ate all your fancy treats that you paid way too much for. But like they say, you deserve to ‘treat yoself’ … Ace still owed you for those snacks though. They were fucking expensive, prick.

…

Ninety minutes didn’t take very long, but you managed to hide some of the mess that you hadn’t tackled in your bedroom; it could stand to wait. And the first of your dork friends arrived right on time, count on Deuce trying to be punctual… even if he was panting like he had run a marathon to make it.

“You know,” you sighed, “you didn’t have to sprint here.” You grabbed a glass, filled it with some ice water, and handed it over to your flushed and heaving friend. Please don’t pass out on me. “It’s not a race.”

Deuce took the glass and downed it, still catching his breath. He lifted up the tote bag he was carrying, “Mom made brownies.” A series of coughs escaped him, but he gave you a bashful smile and showed off the multiple Tupperware containers filled to the brim with still warm chocolatey divineness. “Didn’t want them to get cold! Oh! She also made extra for you too!”

He is such a sweetheart… but he’s also pretty dense at times, still a sweetie though. You could have just warmed them back up in the microwave — yes, they weren’t the same as fresh from the oven, but still — you didn’t have the heart to tell Deuce that though. He looked so proud that he made it on time and that the brownies were still warm. What did you do to deserve Deuce as a friend? 

“Also,” he fished around the tote bag, “I brought extra popcorn, since we ate all of yours last time.” And he pulled out an unopened bag of popcorn, the bashful smile turning bright.

Deuce took a step forward, but stopped and backpedalled, taking off his shoes. After he set them neatly by the door, he made his way to the kitchen, and set all of his assorted belongings on the meagre counter space. Once he unloaded the tasty cargo, he made his way over to your loveseat, which had seen better days, and sat down, getting comfortable.

He was looking at you, and there was a little crease in between his eyebrows. Deuce only wore that look when he was worried. “Are you feeling okay? You seem a bit… off.” 

You gave him a tired smile, “Meh. Tired, stressed, not enough money. You know, the usual.” You noticed that his frown was only deepening, so you took a seat next to him and patted his shoulder. “Seriously, Deuce, I’m okay. Plus you got enough on your own plate without worrying about me. I’m going to be fine.”

Deuce pursed his lips, but let out a long sigh, accepting your answer without much fuss. You were capable of dealing with whatever it was, he knew that. You were one of the most capable, and stubborn, people that he knew. You would be fine in the end. “Whose turn is it to pick the movie this time?” He asked, stretching out, trying not to bump into you.

“Hmm, your turn actually,” you hummed. “But–”

Bzz! Bzzz! BZZZ! Someone was buzzing your door, repeatedly pushing at the button. Only one person you know did that. BZZZZZZZZ! And he wouldn’t let up until you answered the door.

Groaning, you got out of your spot and peaked through the peephole. On the other side was none other than Ace, who’s leg was bouncing and he kept on pushing your damn buzzer.

You only opened the door when he decided to lean on it, making him almost fall… almost. Maybe next time would be the day where you would see him eat dirt. “Happy you could join us on this lovely evening,” you drawl, doing a little bow.

Ace rolled his eyes at you, “Seriously? Feeling petty tonight I see.” He too took off his shoes, since the last time he wore them in and tracked in mud from outside, you made him clean it up. He learned his lesson that day, and really didn’t feel like cleaning your floor again.

You smiled at him, “Yeah, yeah I am~” You dropped the smile and went back to your comfy spot beside Deuce. “Also,” you turned around right as Ace was about to plunder your fridge. You glared at him, and he backed off, giving you a sheepish look. “Don’t even think about stealing my food, there’s popcorn and you have food at your home. Unless you want to start paying for my groceries, stick to what’s on the counter.”

Closing the fridge, Ace busied himself by making himself some popcorn, and sneaking a brownie or two in his mouth as he waited for the microwave to finish making his treat. While he was busy in the kitchen, you and Deuce were slowly going through the seemingly endless catalogue of movies. 

“What are we even watching tonight? There’s no special occasion,” Ace mused, sitting on the counter, swinging his legs back and forth. “Action? Horror? Sci-fi? Perhaps,” he paused and made a kissy face, “romance?~”

You stared at him, until he dropped the kissy face. “Never do that again,” you deadpanned, turning back to the screen. “Found something?”

Deuce was hovering over a title, Labyrinth. “Can we watch this? Mom said it was one of her favourites when she was a kid.”

Ace plopped into the armchair, and started chowing down on his fresh popcorn. “Dude, your mom probs just had the hots for, uhhh, Jared? Or whatever his name is.”

You threw a pillow at him, but missed unfortunately, and Ace flipped you off. “First off, Ace, his name is Jareth not Jared. And yeah, we can watch it,” you said, stretching back and getting into prime comfortable blob position. Oh yeah, you weren’t getting back up. 

Once Deuce got up and brought some snacks back in, you started the movie. And damn, these brownies are divine. You really needed to ask Ms. Spade for her recipe. The popcorn was decent, overall meh, but the brownies! THE BROWNIES!!!

You all settled down after being rationed your snacks, and you pressed play. Ace and Deuce both nearly choked on popcorn when Jareth appeared.

“WHY ARE HIS PANTS SO TIGHT?!” They both choked in unison. 

You just rolled your eyes and ignored them, trying to focus on the movie. Other than you nearly having to do the Heimlich manoeuvre on the both of them, the movie continued without incident, until a certain gremlin decided to start crying right as Magic Dance began playing. Seriously Grim, must you choose the most inopportune time to act like Toby does in the movie? But that’s life with a cat.

You paused the movie and looked at Deuce. You were in prime comfortable blob mode, you weren’t getting up. Deuce patted you on the shoulder and went to go see what on Earth Grim was screaming about. Ace just continued to scarf back brownies, thank goodness you hid some away before he got here, or else you wouldn’t have any come tomorrow.

But Deuce came running back out of your room, since that was where Grim was. And you were about to question why he looked like he’d just seen a ghost when something blurred right past him; something small, fuzzy, and flying.

The damn bat is back?! Yeah, you definitely felt like you were cursed.

Now, you could either get up and deal with the bat, since Deuce was just trying to shoo it outside the window with a mop and Ace was screaming much like Grim was, or you could stay warm and comfy and hide under the blanket, pretending that this wasn’t your waking reality…

Option B was really tempting right now, to be honest. Sighing, you got up, massaged your temples to collect yourself, before arming yourself with a broom yet again. Grim has his rabies vaccine, you don’t, so you weren’t taking any chances.

“WHY IS THERE A BAT IN YOUR APARTMENT?!” Ace hissed, ducking as the bat swooped near him.

You opened the window right open, almost threatening to take it off its bearings, “Because the universe hates me, that’s why!” Was it dramatic? Yes. Did it contain a seed of truth? Yes. So that’s what you went with. Was it really an exaggeration though? In the past twenty-four hours it really felt like the universe was sending you a personal ‘Fuck You ♡ ' letter with a kiss mark on the envelope.

You and Deuce tried to work together as a team to coax the bat outside. Come on, the window is wide open. Come on bat, get your fuzzy ass out of my place. 

All that was happening though, was some scene that belonged in a Three Stooges act. With Ace and Grim screeching — yes they counted as one collective unit — Deuce trying his best, but not getting anywhere, and you feeling like you were about to explode from the stress and noise. Even on an impromptu day off, you didn’t get a break, not really.

Getting whisked away by the Goblin King is looking real appealing right now. The bat swooped down close to you, and your instincts kicked in and you swung at it, making it crash land into your coffee table, right into the popcorn. And alongside the popcorn getting spilled everywhere, there was also a poof of green sparkles.

When the green sparkles subsided, there was a strange person with long black hair and red streaks, wearing something that looked straight out of a Ren Faire, and he was standing on your table. The strange man looked straight at you, and you looked back, blinking fast. Did Ms. Spade give us a different kind of brownie? Or is this actually happening?

He snapped his fingers, and you watched as he slowly disappeared into another poof of green sparkles. You were backing up, since hey there was a stranger in your place out of nowhere, but thanks to your shit luck, you tripped over your own feet, tumbling into them. And as the green poof subsided, both you, and the stranger, were nowhere to be seen. Leaving a very confused Ace, Deuce, and Grim to wonder what the hell happened to you.

And honestly? You were thinking the same. Where the FUCK am I?!

...

...

...

...

Tags; @busycloudy, @eynnwwyjth, @identity-theft-101, @ithseem, @krenenbaker, @ryker-writes, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

~~~~~~~

Author's Note; And I'm finally showing this to the world, after months of collecting dust in my Google Docs. I have no idea how long this fic will go on for, and the length may be dictated by how much feedback and interaction this gets, so yeah. General rating for this is Teen but might change in the future; I won't tag people if that happens though, cuz, yeah.

If you enjoyed this story, and want to read more of my stuff while I slowly work on more installments to this fic, check out my masterlist! Please ignore any spelling mistakes, I write and die with no beta.

[rozugold]

“What are you, rabid?”

From the most recent chapter of Covered Kindling by @areus-in-a-little-cave :]

Close ups below

oh they scared :(

[doodleswithangie]

@reddieweek day 1: mythical creatures

I started this on actual Day 1, and as usual it spiraled into something much bigger than the simple doodle I started with, but I definitely enjoyed thinking it through and finding my take on the concept!

[Image description: A Werewolf/Vampire AU featuring Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak from the "IT" movies. The AU is detailed with handwritten notes and captioned vignettes. Alt text is provided, and copied and reformatted for easier reading under the cut.]

Copied Alt Text, reformatted for easier reading

Image one:

Young half-shifted werewolf Richie and vampire Eddie pose for the camera. Bulleted notes read:

Derry 1.0

The Losers are all some sort of mythological creature (which isn't that weird in this Derry).

Richie is a werewolf who stays half-shifted around his friends (but hides on the full moon).

Eddie is a vampire who carries blood bags from the pharmacy in his fanny pack (less messy that way).

Richie mimes Eddie's fangs and taunts him with puns as Eddie pulls out a medical blood bag. The dialogue reads:

"Stopping for a quick bite?" "You know I- hey wait-" "Kinda sucks to be you." "You suck! And you already have fangs! Quit that!" "Fangs for noticing!" "HISS!"

Image two:

Portraits of Richie and Eddie as unhappy adults in their human and creature forms. Bulleted notes read:

Derry 2.0

Richie

Intensely guards/hides werewolf side

Very hairy even as a human

High stress situations or the full moon will involuntarily shift him

Eddie

High neck suit collar to hide the bite

Strict diet for basic nutrients

Ironically more vampiric the more he suppresses the urge to feed.

Black ink seeps up the page, with the caption, "Pennywise forces them to reckon with the parts of themselves they've hidden away…"

Image three:

Set against an inky background are scenes of a bloodstained full vampire Eddie, full wolf Richie in the Deadlights, and wolf Richie hunching protectively over Eddie. They are captioned, "Eddie kills and drains the Leper. Richie fully shifts in the deadlights. Eddie saves Richie, and in turn Richie saves Eddie."

Set against a bright background are scenes of after the fight: wolf Richie sleeps as Eddie waits with Richie's folded clothes, and of them recreating their pose from the first image, touching foreheads. They are captioned, "Post-battle nap and swim in the quarry before hightailing it out of Derry."

Image four:

Richie's clawed hand scratches out "R + E." It is captioned, "With one final stop on the way."

End Copied Alt Text.

[alkalische]

hey remember when Hoederer lied to W about ines's death for no reason. because I do

[the-queen-in-yell0w]

[homeless202]

Eunyung reaction pics✨

[kara-knuckles]

While I'm not entirely sold on the "Ines is a relative of the Witch King" theory, I can't deny there is a decent amount of evidence to support it. I have seen multiple analyses of her E2 art and speculations that her Arts might be related to his. However, I rarely see people talk about it from the angle that interests me the most, namely, her first meeting with Hoederer.

Let's begin with the timeline. Ines's profile claims she has 19 years of combat experience, and it is safe to assume that she started to actively participate in battles after meeting Hoederer. So, were there any significant events in Leithanien about 20 years ago? Why, yes, that was when the Witch King was killed and the Empresses initiated the purge of his bloodline (the Witch King fell in 1077, the Londinium arc is happening in 1098).

Next, here is an excerpt from Hoederer's diary from his profile:

I heard that tomorrow a Leithanian caravan will pass through the northern birch forest. They chose the worst route and leaked information, attracting more than one group of raiders. But the Scar Market sent a mission to rob these raiders. Who would give such a commission?

This can be interpreted as a power struggle between the Empresses' forces, who sent mercenaries after the fleeing relatives of the late King, and the King's men, who put bounties on these mercs.

Finally, I find it interesting that when we see Ines's dream about this encounter, it is painted entirely in black and white, the colour motif shared with Ebenholz and Kreide, as well as the Twin Empresses.

Pale trunks and dark shadows. White snow and black Originium crystals. It is always emphasized that it's a birch forest, and birches have white bark with black parts. I wonder if Ines was dressed in white during this scene.

But in the retelling we see in Ines's profile there is a third colour: red. Red blood of the people she killed. Red hair of her saviour. Red signifies abandoning her past as a Caprinae of Leithanien and starting her life as a Sarkaz of Kazdel, as she and Hoederer "decided to carve [their] own path."

[bbygirl-aemond]

vhagar having one green egg and one black egg for the babies that have one parent from team green and one parent from team black,,,,, your mind,,,,

I love how nice y'all are about my writing I was out here thinking the symbolism was soooooo cliché lmao

[tgrailwar-zero]

34.1% choose to purchase the 'Smoking Mirror'-Brand Pulque in exchange for 5 points of health!

RIDER winced a bit, as he felt some of his vitality leave his body and shimmer into a ball of light above JAGUAR MAN. She snatched it out of the air with ease, grasping it between her paws, the light fading from the cracks between her fingers as she opened up her hands and revealed a bottle.

[ RIDER lost 5 points of health! RIDER currently has 6 points remaining! ]

"Ooh, the booze, huh. Trying to wine and dine Kuku-- I mean, the Lair Servant here-- is definitely... a strategy. Shame you missed out on the key- and double-shame you missed out on the thermos. That's a key item. To me. In my heart."

JAGUAR MAN gave an exaggerated sigh as she tossed over a bottle. The bottle itself was made of a dark, cloudy glass that rendered the pulque inside barely visible, the alcohol giving off a pungent, strong scent even with the top firmly closed. It was intoxicating in the most intense fashion. Even RIDER, despite the stronger immunities to things like alcohol, had to firmly hold the bottle away from him.

Item, 'tezcatl_pulque' added to your inventory.

JAGUAR MAN nodded with a serious expression.

"And now, you're ready. This was a short dungeon, frankly. There's just a few more things to handle, but you're basically at the end. It would have wound up a bit longer if you took the waterside path."

With that, she turned and began to head deeper into the brush, and RIDER found himself following on instinct. It seemed to be one of the better options, as the Enemy Programs didn't even dare to draw close to JAGUAR MAN. Perhaps she had a lot more authority in this war than her demeanor would imply, as she reached a break in the forest.

"The first Trigger Key, 'Alpha', is guarded at the top of this temple."

She said, pointing towards the peak of the stone temple. It was grand, serving as a massive landmark parting the dense jungle brush.

"Frankly, for one of the first Servants to wander into a Lair, this was a fair one to pick. Calling it 'easy' wouldn't be right, but she's definitely more straightforward. After all, the Lair Servant here is nice, but still powerful, and as a Divine Spirit, even the big bosses set programming can't fully overwrite her nature. Meaning that depending on how you play things, you might not have to fight her at all! Though if you do, you'll have to be at your absolute best. After all, your Servant is good-aligned, right?"

JAGUAR MAN chuckled to herself, before walking back into the dense brush.

"Don't be a stranger! Thanks for shopping with me!"

She said, with a flippant wave of her hand.

Leaving RIDER, the temple, and the Lair Servant.

At the top of the temple stood a figure. Statuesque and proud, dignified and regal, staring down the long tower steps with an intense gleam in her eyes.

Like the banging of a gavel, she slammed her weapon against the ground. One could feel the very earth itself shaking and shifting with the might of the weapon, only a mere taste of the power that the Lair Servant held.

A beast stomped out from the forest, jaws wide and dripping with saliva, scales glinting underneath the sun that seemed to burn down with twice as much heat, now that they had escaped the heavy jungle brush and the seaside air.

RIDER smiled, drawing his sword.

"Kindness does not denote weakness. If this is the lord of this locale, then perhaps we should put on a good show to deem us worthy of climbing her temple?"

The beast seemed to stalk closer up to a point, before simply snarling and laying in wait. It seemed as if they decided not to get too close, it would simply leave them be- and only attack once they made a clear approach towards the temple.

Meaning, that there was luckily ample time to consider a series of potential strategies. Both in regards to combating the beast, and the Lair Servant.

-

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[exoticalmonde]

Chapter XII All Eepy Under The Rainy Day

12-2 Adverse [For the level I used the AFK stratery with: Siege E1MAX, Bagpipe E2, Elysium E2lvl20, Ptilopsis E2lvl50, Vigil MAX, Puzzle E2lvl20, Heidi E2S2 and Lumen MAX]

! Everything ahead is SPOILERS !

[Text: 'We've confirmed that a high-speed warship belonging to the Duke of Windermere was attacked by an unknown Sarkaz weapon. There were no survivors.] GREAT! WONDERFUL! What the hell would you expect me to do about that? How in the hell do you 'gather intel' all we can do is probably look at it from below as it disappears into a cloud of steam and originium specks and hope that the next thing it fires at will not be ummediately us.

I keep forgetting that the title Duke is absolutely available for men and women, so when she comes up every time I'm like... I kind of want to be her when I get older but Ma'amn I do not appreciate the way you're talking about Allerdale. At least she has a good and honest (?) opinion on what she's fighting for, because she's at least being real about how this is progressing and what Victorians think about the 'homeland'.

And are you telling me the Duke of Windermere is dead or... Am I supposed to give up on this model now? They talk about her like she's still alive, so I suppose she was not on that ship.

Sir... Your model is so good. GOSH I LOVE Victoria's clothes so much. Look at the back of his tailcoat, look at the gorgeous cane he'd holding. What a distinguished man whose real agenda and opinions I do not remember thus I can't say if swooning over the model is tipping my good girl scales.

[Text: How about a Sankta patron firearm? I just happen to have one stached away back home...]

I know the Sarkaz are famous for their battle with the Sankta, having past history and whatnot, but are you sure you can just brink a dead Sankta's weapon into the conversation and think that's going to be enough of a temptation?

[Text: Sarkaz Soldier: Interesting... You got your hands on an angel's guardian gun huh? Timid Citizen: Oh, um, it's not mine though. It's just for safekeeping... Heavens, those angels from the Notarial Hall are going to flay me alive if they find out, but if you're interested-]

Dude, you are NOT asking if he is interested because they collect them....

[Text: I just happened to hear, you- Err, the Sarkaz enjoy collecting them, so...]

Oh, he asked, alright...

[Text: Listen up. I prefer my angelic toys freshly looted from a pile of corpses. Now, piss off.]

O-kay. Alright, you know what? You can... Do that. I- And that angry guy is dead now, alright. Oh, those two are down the drain as well...

To be fair, he's not wrong. Sarkaz have been living in dar for so long just because other countries are 110% sure that they will be back asking for vengeance and they are such a great of a number that it's going to be catastrophic. This is what I'm talking about when we talk about Arknights' whole 'Who is the good guy?' meter because it is BROKEN. Those who live well do it at the cost of someone else but they didn't really... do anything to get that going, it's all politics. In the meantime those who are mad are mad for a reason you can kinda nod to because it's relatable.

Terrible, really.

---

CADOR? HELLO? HE'S BABY???

YO THE GLASGOW GANG?

I can't even begin to imagine the damage Kal'tsit would have taken. They say she was already frail, but I wince every time she raises her hand to call on Mon3tr. Don't worry Amiya we can do this. She's gonna be fine, you are gonna be fine, it was all a bad dream. The weight of the Crown of the Sarkaz is heavy but I will hold it up for you babo, I promise.

12-2 Adverse

Poor Golding being told she's probably the reason why all 3 houses got ambushed is really heartrending. She is literally me, for real, actually, and just like how I refuse to give up so did she...

[Text: You little twat, you think being a knight gives you the right to teach me to look at the big picture? I don't give a shite about wiping out some old Sarkaz monsters. My friends are in danger. My home is in danger!]

Okay, indra coming in Indra-ing all over the place until Siege just says 'Indra, enough.' and we instantly stop Indra-ing.

So who the hell are you, Mr. 'I'm the reason Allerdale died but also all your comrades are safely evacuated as much as we could do' and what the heck is your deal??

Trillby Asher? What do you want?

[Text: My sincerest pleasure to meet all of you, ladies and gentlemen. I hope there yet remains room for our objectives to coexist.]

You, Sir, are a clown-

[Text: 'Doctor', the commander of Rhodes Island... There exists very little information on you. We were under the impression that this was due to a lack of importance. We will reevaluate our internal appraisal.]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

"We thought you are useless, but it seems that was wrong."

[Text: Your subordinates are very strong, even after they heard the word Vampire.]

Which is weird because... what even are you? Your race is undisclosed, W refuses to call you a Sarkaz and bites your backside for having horns, but you also have Baphomet in your E2 art.

What are you????

But also...

INES INES INES INES SHE COMES IN TO SAVE THE DAY BEING A BADASS ONCE AGAIN. And apparently she's been in cahoots with Ascalon because how was she meant to know that Ines is going to come around after annihilating all the communications- no, all the people waiting on the other side of the radios to hear whether or not they get to attack

Better question

HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THAT FALL???

---

Skin intermission, because I caved. Czerny skin is what I'm saving for next, but it's okay because the new CC and the ExeAlter comes first and I can work on that.

12-4 Adverse

And after all of that horror I just get to listen about how Logos is just great at darts and apparently unbeatable at... *checks scribble on hand* chair sliding.

[Text: Cador presses against the door with his body and grabs the axe peeking through the hole back with his two hands. The Man outside makes several attempts to pull the axe back in vain.

Cador: I don't care who the hell you are, but get out of my sight, or I'll have this axe in your brain!]

GET EM CADOR! What a mess, the hecking audacity to be breaking in like that.

This level... Took me like 5 tries and in the end I had to learn the hard way that maybe bringing more robots is a good idea only if I have Chiave and only if I am braced to wait like... what... 200 seconds??? It was insane. I managed though. 12-5 Adverse

[Text: War is cruel. Suffering and death follow in its wake. It exposes out barest, truest forms to one another. It tears off all disguises.]

Oh yeah, I can absolutely see people going insane with all that is happening already, you don't need to remind us... We didn't learn our lesson with the gold tooth that Per left behind after his body got mauled...

Grannynapping happens, Clovisia used her arts and I'm so sad I didn't get to see what they were. Here and then she's not. I don't really get why the workers would try to save Catherine. I mean, yeah, the attempt is fine, since they do care about her, they want to be safe and giving up at this point is a little useless as she said... The Sarkaz will not be showing mercy anymore and I don't think there is any place safe they can go.

In any case, I appreciate the worry. even if Catherine is gonna be like 'You absolute twats.'

Ayo Originium Dust spoiler, dead Infected explode.

---

[Text: Of course, Victoria has never been truly at peace. The things we make are sent to the border region to fight the Sargonians ot the Leithanians and blast holes in their bodies - Not that it has anything to do with us. All we had to do was stay in the factory and turn screws on the iron blocks.] Me: "Why is Victoria fighting Laterano again?" Pinkie: "Because they have all the GUNZ." Me: "I meant Leithania actually." Pinkie: "Because they are right next to each other." Me: "THE SIMPLER EXPLANATION HAHA!" Pinkie: "Well, yeah! You're Balkan, I'd think you'd know that the best." Me: "Oh my god, I would." --- Pinkie: "I'm saying globalization isn't a thing the way I can voice chat with you all. A Leithanian can't voice chat with a Victorian. For me to contact you, Lundi, I have to send a letter to Kazimierz, wait a week, wait another week for a responce and then read your letter." Me: "If he survives." Pinkie: "And that is if the Messenger survives multiple cancer-inducing snowstorms, yes."

---

Pinkie: "Cador is definitely one of the based ones in the Glasgow gang. When Siege shows up he's like 'Oh would you like us to fight for you M'lady' and Siege is just 'Can you... not?' because she doesn't want to deal with the weight of her title like that."

Me: "That is absolutely hilarious. I like him."

...

Hope he doesn't die a terrible, horrible death.

[tiredstressedemotionalmess]

made the mistake of finally starting jennette mccurdy's biography at 11 at night. it is now almost 2 am and i cant fucking put it down

[dastardlydandelion]

insight on harvey's feelings about his dad/abuse from the caos daughter of chaos tie-in novel.

[avitus-ostrander]

[lanasblood]

Babyyyy 😍 I'm about to dig into your masterlist. Which story would you recommend me (or any other fellow newcomer) to start with? 🥰 I know they're all gonna be beautiful, but I just wanted to ask and also say hi and send you a smooch! 💚Hope you're having a great day!

INEEEESSSS 😍😍😍 my day was great, and even became so much better since you're here. but oh no... when your crush asks you a simple question and you blush and stutter and have no idea how to answer... that's how I feel right now!! mmmmhhmm I don't knowwww, I'll probably overthink and still regret the one I recommend. I guess it's better to give you a quick overview so you can make your own choice based on your mood:

HOW DO I MAKE YOU LOVE ME explores the struggles of having a crush on neteyam and is actually the very first fic I've written for this fandom (first posted on ao3) so it has a sentimental significance for me and I'd suggest starting with that one (however it has 10k words so it's veeery long) 

JUST NETEYAM is a readers' favorite and includes olo'eyktan neteyam with the arranged marriage trope based on the bridgerton spin-off queen charlotte (this one has 8k words, a bit shorter but still very long; part two is in the works)

if you'd like a quick read that's both funny and fluffy, and want to know more about the ups and downs of being friends with your crush's younger brother then SLEEPLESS might be something for you

my other works such as BIG EYES, BIG LIES deal with heavy topics, bullying and its aftermath in this case, and thus might not be suitable for all audiences; same with HOTTER THAN SIN which is basically neteyam smut with a minimum of plot lol 

bby, I can't believe you're interested in my writing, it's such an honor, sooo many smooches back to you, and I'm very curious which one you're going to pick 💕ilyyyy <3333

[the-queen-in-yell0w]

hoederer and ines are fighting shit and then W's just in the background ripping her veins out