#mondes writing

[byrdstrolls]

These people are who you know them to be. This story will begin the only way it can. 

Hanagi Cheong is at work, messaging Bee on her computer. She is typing, slowly, methodically. Sometimes pausing to simply stare at the screen. Sometimes pausing to backspace and start over. No matter how she spins it, it will be clear to the violetblood she is in desperate need of someone competent in statistics. Bee’s minor Hanagi has a habit of mocking as useless. She will likely not shut up about it for a thousand sweeps. Yet this silly, caliginous worry is but a mask for a deeper, more pressing one.

[HEY] The message reads. [I’VE BEEN FUCKING, SIFTING THROUGH THE NUMBERS WE GOT FROM WHEN I DID THAT HACKING AT THE ACADEMY. ABOUT ABIDEL, AND THE INTOXICANT, AND I COULD USE A FRESH SET OF EYES TO CONFIRM YOU’RE SEEING WHAT I’M SEEING.]

The doctor's head rests on her arched hands, the husktops glow lighting up her glasses. How much exactly does she trust the violetblood progress here? She does not worry about Bee turning them into the fleet. She worries about her slipping onto this project and gripping it so tightly in manic paranoia and fear and guilt she doesn’t sleep for weeks. But how much longer can she talk to nobody about what she has found, what she has seen? Monark is not the only one susceptible to paranoia. And every time she dares venture into these files, Hanagi only finds more reasons to be afraid. Slowly, she lifts her head, and presses send. 

[are you Sure?] Bee answers, a couple minutes later. 

[WHY ASK ME? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT?]

[i’m not always a Successful Arbitrator of what i can and Cannot handle.]

[WELL NEITHER AM I. YOU KNOW I WOULDN’T BE HERE IF I WASN’T DESPERATE.]

[am I interpreting it here correctly, that you’re coming to me with a Statistics related problem? :)<]

[HA HA HA. LIVE IT UP.]

[It’s Almost As If There Are Compelling Reasons For Someone To Minor In Such A Thing]

[DON’T TAKE THIS JUST OUT OF SPITE AND PRIDE IF YOU CAN’T HANDLE IT.]

[i can handle Math.]

[IT’S NOT JUST MATH. IT’S A LOT OF SHIT. OKAY? IT’S HORRIFYING.]

[hanagi,]

[i’ve got your back. i’ll tap out if i need. Okay?] 

Hanagi pauses, and then links her to the drive where her ongoing snooping has been taking place.

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[Hanagi.] Bee says, several hours later.

[UH OH, WHY ARE WE USING THE MORE SECURE CHANNEL?]

[when you asked me to Confirm what you were seeing in this data, what Exactly did you want me to confirm?]

[WELL, FROM MY BAREBONES CURSORY GLANCE IT REALLY SEEMED LIKE THEY SAID SHE HAD KILLED LIKE, FORTY SEVEN PSSIONICS IN THE LAST SWEEP. WHICH FELT VERY HIGH TO ME. I COULDN’T STOMACH LOOKING DEEPER]

[i don’t have Good News]

[LAY IT ON ME MISS STATISTICS.]

[i don’t know if this is complicated enough to Actually count as statistics, Doctor, more me Looking at something you didn’t want to look at, but sure]

[in ∅ ∈ KFx]

[those forty seven encrypted files are not individual patients. they are groups.]

[WHAT?]

[she killed 47 groups of four pssionics. there would be two controls and two standards in each group. after the two standards died, and she had her data, she’d make the remaining unaffected control trolls the new standard group for two new control pssionics. she repeated this process 47 times, killing a total of 98 pssionics.]

[...]

[FUCK]

[the amount of energy she’s siphoning off into those two suns. is Insane. you were right about her bullshitting her averages. whatever she’s doing to those pssionics, Really Works.]

[YOU’RE SURE?]

[that’s not even the half of it, Hanagi. can you come Home? i feel like i’m losing my mind looking at these files.]

[OF COURSE.]

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“You should really go to bed, Hanagi,” Bee says, several hours later.

“I can’t believe you’re fucking saying that to me.” Hanagi retorts. 

“How the student becomes the teacher.” The violetblood says, continuing to pin stuff on the ongoing corkboard the two of them had put up. 

“I’ll be fine.” 

“You have work in four hours.”

“And you don’t?”

“We’re… in over our heads.”

“You think I’ve never pulled a fucking all nighter before? I went to med school.” 

“I mean we're in over our heads with this, Hanagi.” She huffs, rapping her knuckle on the board. “So The Intoxicant has, for sweeps, been synthesizing Abidel’s blood to create a dangerous addictive and incredibly powerful pssionic enhancer.”

“So?” She retorts.

“So how are we going to get Abby out?” She says. “WIthout alerting her? Without her turning up every rock in the universe to find the troll on top which this entire deranged plan centers?” Bee says, gesturing. 

“A bridge we’ll cross when we get to it.” 

“Why am I the voice of reason here?” She says. 

“It was your plan. You’d give up so easily?”

“We’d need help to do this. A lot of it.” She answers. 

“How can you just look at this shit? I’m a doctor. You’re a scientist.” 

“A stretch of the definition of the word. I had a bachelors. You don’t need a job to feel empathy. I’m a person, Hanagi. Any person with a bloodpusher couldn’t stand to look at this but needs to. If I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t be.” 

“I’ll call in sick,” Hanagi says. 

“Your grave” She answers. And the girls continue to work in silence. 

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“You get it too, don’t you?” Hanagi says, curled up in a ball as the sun sets, marking the early beginning of the next night. “You understand from these charts-” 

“I know how close she is.” Bee answers, morosely. As much of a statistician as she ever was.

“What are you looking at?” Cheong prompts, glancing over her shoulder. 

“Longse’s history with the fleet. So we know what we’re dealing with.” She replies, typing. “You know. Big picture.” 

A lot of the documents of The Intoxicants rise to power are public. A career that kicked off with a long stint in the propaganda ministries, an exponential rise to head of the department. Only for her to resign at the top of her game. A grant for scientific achievement and funding, a long hundred sweeps spent in the field, where Longse would throw out new chemical and physical weapon patents every ten or so sweeps. This constant juggling of her life as a general, and a scientist, and a politician, continues for centuries. Longse seems well inclined to give others the spotlight. She has quietly been perfecting her work for a lifetime, her accomplishments becoming more impressive as the centuries pass by. 

Right about 50 sweeps ago, there is a black hole in the data. 

It makes sense, knowing how much about this colony's existence had been carefully kept from the public eye. Maybe they should have quit looking then. Yet, with the morbid curiosity that keeps trolls eyes on car wrecks happening on the street, the two women keep digging. Into deeply classified documents. By about 25 sweeps ago, the war on this planet had been long since over. But that doesn’t mean The Intoxicant stopped bombing it, no. The entire planet was repurposed as a massive weapons testing ground for the inventor, getting her fleet patents at an unprecedented rate, until eventually, she blew it up, six sweeps ago, beyond repair. You see, after Hascha had been discharged from the fleet for his embarrassing surrender and consequent defeat, the fleet's ruling control over Corsica had been given fully to Faeria Longse. 

They are silent as they both stare at Bee’s Husktop screen. They know the name of Mondes' colony as well as any of the Cheongs. The two of them remain here for a long while, or a short while. In the end they can’t recall how long it was. The borders of minutes are blurred the less a mind has sleep. It’s even more difficult to define time when trying to understand something that feels so much bigger than it. It has started to really sink in for both of them now. The genocide of the past. The genocide of the present. 

The looming chilling prophecy of the genocide of the future. 

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There is a knock at the door. 

“Hanagi?” Mondes asks. 

“Yeah? What? What are you doing up this late?” she calls back. 

“I’m up the same time I always am.” The oliveblood says, entering the room the two shared, illuminating it with a sudden burst of hallway light. Hanagi groans, squinting, and Bee hurriedly shuts her husktop. 

“Did you guys stay up all day?” He asks. 

The man stands there for a second, processing what the girls have done to their room. 

“...okay” He says slowly. “Just what exactly am I looking at here?”

“It’s a lot,” Hanagi manages. 

“Yeah, we don’t wanna dump it on you right before class.” Bee pipes up.

“Mondes doesn’t have class.” Hanagi reminds.

“It’s summer” He retorts, folding his arms. “I’ve been out for nearly a perigee. Did you really not notice?” 

“I have a full time job,” Bee says. 

“Fine. I’ll give you that one. But do I really not get an explanation for this? You’re being so suspicious.” 

Hanagi gestures at their asymmetric piles of paper and corkboard.

“This was ME” She defends. “ALL MY shit. And Bee told me to go to bed. I didn’t listen.” 

“You both have work in thirty minutes” Mondes replies. “I’m gonna call you in so you don’t pass out midway through a fitting and put someone's leg on backwards. Or pour boiling coffee on yourself”

“Ha Ha Ha.” Hanagi complains. “Ha. Fine.” 

“Go to bed” Mondes orders. “And as soon as your pans are both working again, tell me what the fuck you’re doing.” He finishes, and exits the room.

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Two six hour naps later, Hanagi sits at the end of the kitchen tables as Bee makes her coffee across the room. 

“I’m trying to think, of how to fucking say this” She exhales. The two of them continue to move through space as if in some kind of shock. Dissociative and careful. 

“Okay” The rust huffs as Bee sets down a mug in front of her. 

“From the beginning,” She says. “When Bee was at the fleet academy she met a limeblood there, Abidel Tevian, a pssionic amplifier who Nandor put through a lot of horrifying cybernetic augmentation to their physical body.” She pauses. 

“...okay” Mondes says, his hands laying immovable at the table. 

“Bee, since she was revived, has wanted to rescue them. I agreed, knowing it would be difficult and maybe risky, but not able to stand such a malpractice, terrifying misuse of prosthetics technology. So lately, I’ve been poking around Fleet files to find more information on this.”

“Okay.” Mondes repeats. 

“And we kind of just found” Hanagi cuts herself off, silent for a moment before continuing.

“-something that really raises both the stakes and the difficulty of this situation.” 

“Ah,” He responds

Hanagi glances at him, and then back at Bee. “Tap out.” She says, requesting Bee take over the explanation. “You know the math better.” She lies, not wanting to dive too deep into what she had seen, that all consuming sinking feeling in her chest.

“Okay.” Bee answers “Do you know the fleet general, The Intoxicant?”

Mondes blinks, momentarily, a rapid surge of emotion consuming him. 

“Yes.” He says quietly. 

The girls share a glance as if not sure how deep Mondes’s knowledge went, not sure how to continue. He doesn’t not elaborate. So, eventually, Bee continues. 

“Okay” She says, poised like a soldier giving a report. Having more practice than Hanagi in weaponizing her detachment against her horror and grief. 

“Since Abby was a grub, The Intoxicant has been synthesizing their blood to make a pssionic enhancer. An incredibly powerful one. That increases output by tenfold. It is addictive to the user, to the point the physical dependance makes their bodies degrade until death. The formula works, Longse is just attempting to make it safe past a certain threshold. She has calculated the budget of the Alternian fleet. She has calculated how much the increased energy output would benefit them financially. And how much the short life spans of pssionics would lose them money. And by way of these variables, and many more, created an …equation” Bee pauses to breathe, for just a moment.

“...An equation that can be solved to discover the ideal number of sweeps the pssionics need to last. If they live to this certain point, that's when the enhancer begins to be well worth its financial detriments, and actually starts saving the fleet a lot of money. After she reaches this point, Longse intends to patent the enhancer, and… roll it out to be used by the fleet. Something that would increase the fleets financial gain from their contest, but also increase the pace the fleet burns through pssionics dramatically. It would make their lives absolutely miserable, and more difficult to escape, due the formula’s addictive qualities, and due to the fleet being the only one that has access to Abidel, and the patent for Culucaminegic Ampheparietakinetic Pssiopote-” She narrates, with all the range of emotion of a text to speech program. 

“You don’t have to say the whole fucking thing, Bee. Longse just calls it CAP in her notes.” Hanagi pitches in, bristling at her formality. 

“I’m sorry.” Bee pauses, continuing to act so reservedly. “CAP’s patent” She says, “I just wanted to give you a better idea of it’s chemical makeup. Longse accomplishing this would be bad, because-” 

“I don’t need to know it’s chemical makeup… But I think I understand why it’s bad.” Mondes says softly. “What are we gonna do?” 

“You’re-” Hanagi stumbles. “Not gonna tell us not to do this shit?” 

“Why would I tell you not to try and stop a genocide?” He says quietly. 

“Okay but” Hanagi stumbles. “The fucking scale of this thing is- are we really gonna play those odds again? We were SECONDS from dying in the prison break.” She says, seeming to have become more trepidatious since getting some real sleep.

“Well,” Bee begins. Funny, how they seem to have switched places in the argument since waking. “Considering-” She continues. 

“I just! I’m a fucking prosthetics doctor! I’m not a fucking, rebel mastermind. We barely scraped by. Barely.” She rambles.

“Give yourself a little credit Hanagi” Bee replies, stubbornly. “You had five nights. You made it work. Even in her most generous estimates, The Intoxicant thinks it will take few perigees for CAP to go public. You had no resources when you broke into the prison. Right now, we have money. We have access to Longse and Nandor’s files. We have connections with several talented individuals. And most importantly. We have time.”

“Says Bee Monark, the voice of reason” Hanagi retorts, bitingly. 

“You said the same thing” She retorts. “Last night. Bridges we’ll cross when we get to them. But now that Mondes is in the room we’re not friends anymore?”

“Did you want me to tell you not to do it?” Mondes answers, after a pause. “Do you want me to say no, it’s totally fine if everyone in this room just forgets what they know? I won’t.”

There is a long silence. Neither Hanagi nor Bee able to think of how to respond to that. Hanagi stares at the foam of her coffee, it is probably getting cold by now. Losing herself in the intricacies of lines of the heart in bubbles. Watching them pop and fade at a snails pace.

“I don’t even know where to fucking start to try.” Hanagi says, setting down her mug, having drunk none of it. “We’d need so many things. We’d need to know a way to get to her satellite without being tracked by the fleet.”

“I can rig Mondes’s ship to be more stealthy.” Bee offers. 

“Okay, but, we still gotta find the plans for the satellite, figure out how to break into it. We might need a guy on the inside, honestly! We gotta figure out how to survive the security measures. How to have alibis. How to keep this all secret after having been- in the public eye for so long!”

“Maybe we could make some kind of smoke screen.” Bee says, ever the tactician. Mondes has stood up silently, and is pacing. 

“Something to distract the Alternian public and cloak our actions.” She elaborates. 

Mondes has pulled a tiny paper card, long since forgotten, from a pocket in his wallet. Holding it in his hands as he paces. 

“Like, start some drama with one of the other siblings or some shit?” Hanagi extrapolates. 

Mondes halts suddenly. 

“Okay” He says. “I’ve got it” 

The other two trolls stare at him. 

“What?” Bee asks. 

The oliveblood sits back down. He places his old music teacher's card on the table. 

“It’s probably get a lot of media attention,” He says. “If I attempted to be the first lowblood to enter a very prestigious orchestra contest, wouldn’t it?”

[byrdtrollsunoreversearchive]

Errands

“So this is- another vegetable?” She asks, fingernail tracing down the grocery list.

“It's- well, technically it's a fruit. But it’ll be near produce.” Mondes answers. 

“Right- and this too?” She asks. 

“No, it's a dried spice.” He says. “Look. It’s an intergalactic market. It’s not rocket science. Just look for the stuff with these names in front. It’ll be labeled.” The oliveblood’s eyes trail down the list at gray smudges where Bee touched the paper. He stares. 

“Did you… not seal your paint?” He says. 

“Do what?” She pauses. 

Mondes once again sighs, heading to the bathroom, digging through the cabinet.

“You have to seal that shit- or it’ll get everywhere- and people will either think you wear way too much foundation- or they’ll know you’re trying to hide something.”

The violetblood wrings her hands, but takes the bottle of fixer he’s handed her. 

“You really think trolls would notice a thing like that?” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be paranoid?” He answers, crossing his arms. 

“I’m actually supposed to be trying hard not to do that. According to my therapist” She says, applying the fixer to the layer of foundation they had used to cover her many violet freckles. Suddenly, she pauses. 

“This is a bad idea,” She says. 

“You know, I still helped with groceries and chores, when I was a fugitive.” Mondes answers. 

“I don’t know if I can do it as well as you can” She pleads. 

“I don’t know how much more tired I can get of you weaponizing your incompetence. It’s just groceries. You’ve already gone out with Hanagi- and without paint, even.” 

“Yeah, but I wasn’t like, alone for that” She says, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. “I don't know what half of these things are! What if I’ve forgotten some other stupid thing like the paint sealer!” Mondes sighs, glancing at the clock and back at the front door. The man walks off, muttering something she can only assume to be curses under his breath. 

She stands in the kitchen, glancing down at her hands. The more she thinks about it, this can’t be her natural gray skin tone. It’s way too obvious. Or is she imagining it? She turns her hands over. 

Mondes returns, setting two reusable grocery bags on the table. 

“Fine” he says “I will go with you. Once.” He says. “Then you do it alone.”

“You don’t have to do that,” She answers. 

“Apparently, I do,” He retorts. Walking out of the hive towards the spaceship. 

She swallows, standing a moment before following him out into the moonlight. 

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The market is sparse this early. Mondes navigates it with ease. This grocery store was the closest to his hive- he’s been there dozens of times with how often he cooks. 

“I see,” Bee says, picking up one of the list’s items, recognizing the sign. “It’s a fruit.” 

“Yeah” Mondes explains. “There’s like- red melony flesh in the arms” He says, pointing to the alien produce. 

“Is it good?” She asks. 

“Not raw. I’m using it for pies” He retorts, his eyes trailing over to where one of the cashiers is eyeing the two of them. Bee follows his gaze, and sets down the fruit. 

“Should we get out of here?” She mutters in a lower tone. 

“Cus the cashier looked at you? No, "he says. “I still need rice noodles. You’re gonna get a lot of stares going out in public hemoanon. It’s just what happens.” He mutters back, heading down another asle. Bee glances back at the purpleblood whos still watching them like a hawk, before scurrying after Mondes. 

“Could you stop being so suspicious?” He says, annoyed. 

“I was just walking. Do you think they recognized me?” She whispers frantically.

“Just stop looking at him,” Mondes mutters. 

“We should leave,” She pleads. 

Mondes inhales, grabbing the last of his items. 

“Fine- let's go. Be normal” He says, walking towards the self checkout. Bee, to give her credit, is doing her best not to look at the cashier, but in a way that's somehow even more suspicious, twisting her head to strange angles to keep him out of her line of vision. 

Mondes is counting to ten in his head, scanning his items at a practiced pace, praying this wouldn’t all go to shit somehow. The machine coughs up their receipt, and he grabs it, the two of them heading towards the door. 

The cashier blocks their path. 

“Excuse me ma'am” he says, staring down at Bee. “Could you empty your pockets?”

“What?” She says, staring at the floor. “Why?” 

“So I can see you didn’t take anything from the produce section.” He says. “Saw you pick up those fruits” 

“Yeah- Mondes is buying some, it’s right there in his bag” She squeaks. 

“I said pockets,” The cashier insists. Mondes gently nudges Bee with his elbow. Bee seems to take the entirely wrong message from this, and straightens her back. 

“You know,” She says. “We did nothing wrong! We picked up a fruit and bought it from your store.” She insists. “Mondes paid for it! You saw us at the self checkout!” 

“Bee” Mondes says frantically, trying to nip this in the bud. 

“Did I see that?” the cashier retorts. “I don’t know what I saw,” he says. “Let me see those bags.” 

Mondes, ever the rationalist, hands over the grocery bags. 

“We don’t want any trouble,” He says. “I’m sorry about her- but if you look at the receipt, I’m sure you’ll find everythings in order.” He says. 

The cashier pulls the receipt from the bag, scanning it as if searching for something wrong. Then he takes out several fruits. He weighs the fruit in his hand, and then says. 

“I don’t think you weighed all of these. Wrong price for this weight.” He accuses. 

“That is ludicrous” Bee hisses, and Mondes elbows her again. 

“Sorry” he says. “Honest mistake. We can go over and reweigh them right now. I’ll pay twice.” He says. “I’m a regular- I come here all of the time. We don't want any trouble”

“That’s- illegal! We already paid for that fruit! Your machine weighed it! Roll back your security tapes” She says, pointing at the shop camera. 

“Shut up Bee” Mondes retorts through gritted teeth. 

“Get out of my shop” The cashier says. “Before I call the cops.” 

“Fine” Mondes says, turning to leave.

“We paid for that! The receipts are right there!” Bee insists, yanking the bags out of the cashier's hands. “You just lost two valuable customers” She hisses as she storms off. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Mondes snaps once they’re out of the store doors. 

“I got us our food” She says slowly. 

“I wanted to be able to come back to that market” He insists. “Now I’m gonna have to drive across town! Why could you keep your fucking mouth shut!” 

Bee opens her mouth to retort, but instead stares past Mondes’s shoulder. He picks up what's happening just in time, and ducks before the purpleblood, who apparently followed them out of the store, takes a swing at him with a crowbar. Bee dives in between the two of them, pulling a switchblade from her pocket. 

“You’re not gonna rob my fucking store” The cashier insists. “And get away with it.” 

“We PAID!” She snaps, “Don’t make me attack you!” 

“Oh what, a tiny little girl with a knife? I’m soooo scared. You want me to find out exactly what kind of mutant you are? When i smash your brains into the-” 

And there was probably more to his tough guy monologue, but Bee has already sprung into action, grabbing his outstretched arm and yanking it forward, slamming him into the alleyway and disarming him in one move, she bends back his arm and presses the knife to his throat. 

“We didn’t rob your fucking store” She insists, one last time. “And you saw nothing here, capiche? Unless you want me to slit your throat” She says. 

“Fucking bitch” He coughs. “You and your little friend are banned for life, you hear?” 

“Don’t tempt me” She says, pressing the knife forward. 

“Bee,” Mondes says. “Let him go. More trouble than he’s worth.” He says. 

Bee stares at the man like she’s about to argue, but then loosens her hold, and the purpleblood falls to the ground, sputters, and then runs off. 

“What part?” Mondes hisses. “Of low profile, do you not fucking understand?” 

“I- what was I supposed to do! Let him charge you twice!” She snaps. 

“Yes,” he says. “I have the money.” 

“He attacked us for no reason!” She snaps. “He was bending over backwards to justify robbing us of food we bought! We didn’t do anything wrong!” 

Mondes stares for a long moment, and then his head falls into his hands. She thinks for a second he’s crying, but no, the oliveblood is laughing maniacally. 

“What’s so funny?” She says, slowly. 

He exhales. “Do you hear yourself?” He says. “Do you think about words before they come out of your mouth? Oh my fucking g-d, poor Bee, he made an assumption about you based on your blood color and then doubled down for no fucking reason? That must suck so much for you. I’m playing you nievole blanche on the world's tiniest cello. Can’t imagine what that feels like!” He throws up his arms. “Welcome to the glorious life of a lowblood! Not so fun on the other end, is it? Huh? Give me a fucking break.” 

“I didn’t know it was this bad” She mutters quietly. 

“You didn’t know it was this bad?! You didn’t know it was this bad?!!” He snaps. “You have more than one limeblood sibling!! How far was your head up your ass your entire grubhood! Thank Dia and Calsya for the slap I’m about to give you, for fucks sake!” He rants, raising his hand, jokingly. But pauses when Bee stiffens, flinching, a sudden look of horror crossing the violetblood’s face that twists into his heart like a knife. He stares, slowly, for a long moment, and then lowers his hand. 

“I’m- Kidding” He says, but his voice doesn’t do a perfect job of hiding his frustration. You can almost hear him counting to ten in his mind. “Sorry” the oliveblood spits out like a curseword. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just- you tried to have me executed for less. It’s more than a little ironic.” 

“I’m sorry” She says, “I should have known better. I didn’t mean to get you kicked out of that shop. I’m just, not used to this is all. I panicked.” She sighs. The violetblood stands still for a moment, and then leans down on her knees to start picking up the spilled groceries. He is almost content with that end to this conversation, but she keeps going, she ruins it, because of course she does. 

“You would have been right to slap me,” She says. “I wouldn’t stop you.” 

“No.” he says. “Not how this works. I know you’re an idiot. I know that you-” He pauses, the sentence dying on its feet. 

“You know what?” She says, slowly. 

“Nothing,” He says. “Forget it” 

“What do you know?” She repeats, going oddly still as she packs the groceries. 

“You wanna talk candidly about it?” he says. 

She does not answer for a while. “About what?” She says. 

He sighs. “I know you got abused.” He says. Bee’s movements grind nearly to a halt. 

“You know- the whole, your dad showing up at our hive, suddenly that fleet ladies dead- it’s not hard too- Everyone knows, I mean, even without that, you stumble through life like a scared rabbit hanging by a thread and it makes it so hard to be mad at you when I have every right to be. I just.” he exhales. 

“I knew that. So I shouldn’t have raised a hand at you. Knowing that. So I’m sorry for that specifically. I was right about everything else.” 

She places a box in the grocery bag. 

“I wish you’d hit me” She says, blinking. “At least that would make sense to me.” 

“You’ve gotta fucking- quit with that shit.” he says. “It really just makes me uncomfortable. I’m really not that kind of person.” He says. 

“I’m sorry” She repeats. 

“I know,” He answers. 

“It wasn’t- abuse” She says. “What happened to me.” 

“Bee,” Mondes says. “Who are we kidding here? Anymore? Exactly? Fine. My family has a lot of reasons to hate you. The whole Nandor thing? The whole getting beat up or fucked up mentally somehow by that teacher bitch? That’s not one of them. That’s one of the few things, me and Nesseo and everyone, are on your side about. So why mince words. Why keep defending that dead woman.” 

“I…” She says. “She was nice to me. Sometimes. A lot of the time. It wasn’t all… I’m not gonna make that my excuse. For what I became.” 

“Of course she was nice to you,” Mondes says slowly. “That’s how it fucking works- ask your therapist about, the cycle, or whatever- that’s how they get you. They’ll be awful and then nice and that’s why people stay even when they really shouldn’t.” 

She does not answer, staring at the fruit in her hand with dead eyes, unmoving. 

“I thought you loved excuses,” He says. “You’re really not gonna take this one?” 

“No,” She replies. 

He stares at her for a long time. Trying to sort out the complex emotions tumbling through his mind into words. Failing. Eventually, he decides to say nothing at all, walking over to help her pick up the groceries. 

“I have one more errand,” Bee says.

“Okay” he replies.

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.

“You kept my aquarium stickers” Bee says, tracing them on the back of the spaceships pilot seat. 

“My quarrel is with you” Mondes says as he flies. “Not with the beluga whale.”

She almost smiles, staring at the open sky in front of them. 

“Besides” he continues. “Das loves them.” 

The two of them are silent for a moment. 

“Are you sure this is the right address?” Mondes says, floating along the shoreline. 

“Yes- the GPS says it’s right ahead” Bee replies, tapping her hand on the arm rest. 

“In the ocean?” He says. 

“Yes, it’s, half underwater, it’s the whole gimmick” She says. 

“It’s half underwater” Mondes repeats. “And they serve food?” He says. 

“I never claimed the man who runs it was intelligent,” She says. 

“Duly noted” He responds. “Oh- that looks like it” He says, pausing over a bridge that leads out to an illuminated pirate ship, that appears to have some sort of hive beneath it, under the water. He parks, the two of them lock the ship and climb down. And they just walk in. 

They are greeted by a server, who begins the most monotone of customer service monologues like the world's least enthusiastic actor, not even looking up from the register.

“Yo ho ho. Welcome to Buckles and Buckaneers. I regret to inform you that the lower deck is closed due to an octopuses infestation” 

“Octopi” Bee says, instinctively. 

“Octopi” Katash retorts, still not looking up at the two of them as she grabs menus. “In other, better news, calamari is half off! Only three caegers! We’re practically giving it away. Table for how many…” The seadweller trails of, having finally made eye contact with Bee. The woman simply freezes, mouth half open, for what seems like an age. Recognizing her instantly.

“Is the manager in?” Bee says softly. 

“Y-yes” Katash stutters. 

“Table for three,” She says. “If he’ll have me” 

[dipplinduo]

Dipplin wake up, a new Drayton card just dropped!!!!

HAHAHAA I LOVE THIS ONE

[moami]

So. For the first time in years, I'm writing again. For fun. For FUN! Hello?! Fun. Not because I feel pressured by my own insane standards or some external factors.

Man, I missed this. I genuinely forgot how FUN writing is when you just fuck around with words about characters you really like.

Who knows, maybe I'll start posting on here again. Life's good, you guys.

[garadinervi]

Jumana El Husseini (جمانة الحسيني), Untitled, (mixed media on canvas; scan), 1996 [Institut du monde arabe, Paris. © The Estate of Jumana El Husseini]

Bibl.: Artistes palestiniens contemporains, Edited by Eric Delpont and Laila Al Wahidi, Graphic design by Hans-Jürg Hunziker, Ursula Held, and Didier Mutel, Translation by Dennis Collins and Mohamed Maouhoub, Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1997, p. 57. Published on the occasion of a group exhibition organized by the Institut du monde arabe, Paris, March 27 – May 25, 1997

[their80smichelle]

Hiii I got a request! Orginally I had this idea down even wrote it on my masterlist but just wasnt working out after I tried to rewrite it.

Anyways, they chilling at his place and Dave Mustaine teach reader French (it's okay if u dont use french words lol) after hearing his recent song A Toute Le Monde, she wanted to learn as well. Feel free to do whatever lol 🙏

look at him go

a/n: Hiii! I. love. It. As a first request it’s really cool.🔥🩷

Sorry it’s long I was inspired- hope it’s okay and not too bad and that I respected your request (I feel like I rushed it at the end) (I'm always scared to post stuffs I write.)

Of course I used French words cause… I am French🤧

Time to tell you French is absolutely not sexy when YOU ARE French💀(I made myself giggle while writing this request though.)

🥖🇫🇷Also, Dave said the lyrics meant “to the entier world, to all my friends, I love you, I must go.”

But I would have translated it as “to everyone, to all my friends, I love you, I have to go.” Cause “to the entier world” in French it’s “Au monde entier.” There’s not a big difference but it’s still different. And for “je dois partir” it means you HAVE TO. But again, there’s no big difference.

Warnings: grammar obviously, French, fluff, is it cheesy? It definitely is, cliché lol

Anyway, hope you’re going to enjoy it!! 🩷

You and Dave were at his place chilling, eating popcorn and watching TV. You were sat on the couch and Dave was on a chair checking a magazine.

Megadeth just released their new song “A Tout Le Monde” and you already love it. But since the title and some lyrics were not in English you were wondering what it meant and why he wrote it in another language.

“Hey Dave…” he looks at me and smile, “Hey you…”

“Can I ask you a question about your song?” You ask turning your head toward him. “Sure, which one?”

“Hmmmm…” You hum and narrow your eyes unsure on how to pronounce it. You could see his smirk forming on his face. “The last one.” You speak. At least you were sure to not mispronounce it. Dave nods and looks at you, that little smirk still painted on his face. “The last one?”

“Ah no. Don’t make me pronounce it.” I tell him amused “Aw too bad... I can’t answer your question if I don’t know what song you’re talking about love…” Is that ginger mocking you or daring you??

“Aw… too bad for you too… for once someone was caring about your music.” You obviously didn’t mean that. You just returned it against him…

He opened his mouth wide and scoffed. Dave almost laughed but he quickly took a serious face and narrowed his eyes looking directly at you.

“Say it.” You narrow your eyes too “No.”

“Yeah, say it.”

“Nah.”

“C’mon say it!”

“Nuh uuuuh”

Dave looks at you and purse his lips “Hmm.” You mimic him and purse your lips too.

He wasn’t going to answer your question. You raise your eyebrows.

“Well. Okay.” He smirks again as you say it. “You’re evil. What’s the name again?” You feign not remembering it… but he’s not stupid so you roll your eyes.

“Hmmm, aaaa… tu- touuut, le… monde.” You say with an accent. Dave raises his hands in the air “Yeaaah”, but he laughs. You grimace “Hey don’t mock me.”

“Okay okay...” he stops his laugh and looks at you again “So what was that question?”

“Ah! Why the title and some lyrics are in French or whatever is that damn language?” he smiles. At least it’s a good question. “We just wanted to try something, and we tried in a lot of different language. We had Spanish and French, but French is the one that sounded better, and that was probably easier to sing.”

“Ah yeah cause French is easy…”

“That’s not what I said. And I have French ancestors anyway.”

You smile at this information. That’s actually a fire sentence to say.

“Sooo what does the lyrics mean in English?”

French is supposed to be a sexy language. Not that he’s not already sexy but he could be even more…

“Well, the title is in the lyrics… A tout le monde, à tout mes amis, je vous aimes, je dois partir. It simply means to the entier world, to all my friends, I love you, I must go.” He explains to you.

You were listening carefully to understand the meaning “I don’t know how… to explain that but, it’s simple words but deep lyrics.” He smiles again at your kind of compliment.

“Hey, do you know something else in French??” You happily ask curious. Not that You wanted to learn French, but it was still interesting.

He shrugs “Huh… I’m not fluent but I know some basics yeah. Why?” You look up and smile. “What?” he laughs (cutely. help). You shrug and purse your lips to hold your smile “Teach me French.”

He laughs again “Like what? I only know- “

“-Everything you know.”

He gets up and walk toward you. “Well, I know, bonjour…” he looks at you giggling at his accent “I know… Je m’appelle Dave…” You giggle and look at him in the eyes as he sat beside you. He looks at you too “salut…”

“Salut…” You repeat in a whisper. You couldn’t help the smile on your face.

“Tu es magnifique…” He says with a warm voice. You laugh again trying to hide you red cheeks. He laughs too “Why are you blushing? You don’t even understand!”

He takes a flirty face and raise his eyebrows up and down “Am I sexy?” it made you laugh even more. Is French funny or is it him being sexy? No. You’re not answering to that.

“Maybe! But out of all of this, what can I learn ??” He thinks about it for a second. “Hm. I know some curses too.”

“Dave! C’mon!” You slap his arm slightly “What?? You want to learn French to make me blush too??” He complains more amused than offended.

“HE- No?” You stop and say innocently “Sure… Okay repeat after me. Je, m’appelle.”

You repeat words after words, and you actually find it easy. He learned you how to say your name, your age, your gender, where you live.

“Stop laughing! How do you even pronounce that!”

“Aujourd’hui, je visite New York. Today I visit New York. Come on!”

You try to mouth the words as he says it. Yeah, well okay maybe French is hard. You then say the sentence Dave told you.

“No don’t say New York with an accent. French don’t do that…” You laugh a bit surprised “Why are they so complicated with their useless muted letters and their apostrophes?”

That French lesson ended with you not being able to pronounce anything anymore and Dave laughing at you trying to pronounce “Écureuil” because he thought it would be fun to teach you that word.

You both were now laying on the couch watching TV again your head on his shoulder and his head on yours.

“You know you can still try to learn curses… it’s easier…”

[dutybcrne]

Love the idea of Kae painstakingly learning Hilichurian, at first bc he figured it was another skill under his belt then bc talking with them made him curious abt them and their origin

[reigen-small-naturals]

aight let's go

timeline of laz1's diamond and lykn's lego (with a celebrity cameo (it's daou, daou is a celebrity cameo))

jan 30: somebody asks mond how would he feel if lykn's william would come to his live. diamond says he would thank him, and talks about lego being cute.

after that they would occasionally comment under each other's tiktoks and also diamond likes a tiktok about their interactions

march 4th: lego posts a tiktok to a song by boss and diamond. the lyrics of the song are like 'you stole my heart where did you go'. diamond comments "where did you end up going", and lego answers "come and i'll tell you".

that same day diamond streams and lego comments on his live. here is a supercut of everybody in the chat telling him that lego is watching and mond not believing them but scrolling a lot to find The Legomments. the legomments in question are: asking mond about his hairstyle, apologizing for not being verified and laughing at the situation

diamond in turn apologizes for the situation on twt and lego laughs at it again

march 18th: lego posts a tiktok to hit me up and diamond comments

june 10th: fans talk to diamond and they start teasing him about lego. they ask him if they met already ("no not yet") and does he want to meet him ("where is he?")

june 14th: lego QRTs that video and laughs that if diamond wants to meet up he could've just say so

june 16th: there is no other way to phrase this: diamond is Shooting His Shot.

and now. ladies and gentlemen.

the stream

not even describing it, just watch the videos. it's so!

after lego left the stream, we have our celebrity cameo: khun Daou Pittaya himself jumps on diamond's stream to tease him and call him out for the flirting

june 21st:

june 30th: it's the day they meet on the bondbond festival. but first, lego tweets this and they chat a bit.

the first tweet says 'i didn't take any pictures, this is all i have, i love phis, i don't want to be just a nong' and it can be related to mond bcs diamond posted a tiktok with lego to the song 'brother zone' by bus7, and the lyrics of the song are, well, about phinonging lol

here are behind the scenes of that tiktok

they also filmed a trust me challenge

july 3: diamond's mom reposts a ship video of them. ANYWAY

july 26: diamond comments this:

and lego answers with a selfie and a song, here are the song's lyrics

september 11: goodnight to lego from diamond

september 12: cat to diamond from lego

also we have another celebrity cameo: joong archen liked a post about diamond's comment

this timeline is last updated on 2024/09/17, anyway there is that!

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

working on a gifset and can i just say phia saban the ACTRESS THAT YOU ARE:

the sharp fucking turn when he's like wubuwbwu its a lieeee, the withering looks she gave him. it was excellent.

[anggeese]

In my xiao meets nameless bard au where xiao is like:

X: i'm taking you to mondstadt. We'll figure what's happening (discuss with KoF)

Nb: okay

X: (brings him to mond)

Nb: i thought we were going to mond?

X: we are in mond?

Nb: (points at stormterror's lair) but that's mond?

X: ????????

[byrdstrolls]

Ancestor Night

Sometimes, when feeling particularly moody and morose, Mondes would hole up in his studio for what felt like entire days at a time. It is a pity the acoustics are so good. He would play back his orchestral compositions with a cutthroat editorial ear. Spite is as good of a motivator as any when you must make precise and empathetic cuts into your song baby. But tonight, strangely, there is no music at all. Mondes is laying on the floor in complete silence. Nesseo rolls over and knocks twice on his door without waiting for an answer, and then comes in anyways in the particular way only family members are allowed. 

“Happy Ancestor Night,” Says his friend. 

“Why the fuck would you say that to me” He responds. 

“Was thinking about making a bonfire and tossing pictures of Hikaru into it. You want in?” They offer, in their own bizarre spin on the holiday.

“...to burn pictures of Hikaru…?” Mondes asks. 

“No, I figured you’d do fucking, whatshisface.” Ness explains. 

“Alador.” Mondes replies. 

“Wormfood.” Nesseo corrects. “Idk. could be cathartic.” 

“More cathartic than feeding him to a giant worm?” 

“I don’t know how to respond to that” They answer. “But come on. It’ll be fun! Daseos is coming too. She's gonna do Verula.” 

“Is Bee gonna be there?” he replies moodily. 

“Listen,” Ness defends. “Hascha Demork also sucks.” 

“He never hurt her personally.” He argues. 

“Are we gatekeeping the black magic bonfire curse on your ancestor shit? I wanna do Hascha for communism’s sake. I thought you could make snacks or something.” 

Mondes sighs, and then is silent for a long moment. The absence of music in the room is more prominent than ever. 

“Okay.” he says, plainly. Nesseo pauses. 

“I know I’m being silly” They cave. “But I thought it’d be better than sitting around being miserable. If I can’t laugh at the absurdity of my life’s tragedy, what’s left.” 

“I said okay, Ness. You don’t have to keep giving the sales pitch.” 

“I’m trying to say-” They pause, stumbling. “I’m here if you want to talk.” 

He basks in the silence for another moment. 

“Thanks.” Mondes says, exhaling. 

.

.

.

.

.

At the kitchen table, Daseos is bent over a laptop, struggling to format photos in a pdf to print. She turns it around to show Mondes. 

“In which of these does he look more stupid?” She asks. 

“Two” Mondes replies, glancing halfheartedly at the second photo of Alador. 

The young formatter nods, turning her computer back around. 

“Ness!” She calls. “Do you want a Verula pic too??!”

“What?” They reply from the other room. 

“Aren’t you related to her too?” She asks. 

“We’re counting like, additional ancestors?” Mondes asks.

“Why not?” Daseos shrugs. “Enough hatred of Verula to go around. Do you know yours?” 

“No,” He says. “Alador had a lot of boyfriends. Don’t know which it was nor if they deserve the bonfire.” 

“You do realize the potential of the situation you’re in.” Nesseo says, rolling in from the living room. 

“Which is what?” Mondes retorts. 

“You could do a fucking, Mamma Mia dude. Invite them all over to sing songs and the winner gets to be your new ancestor.” 

“I’m not sure that’s the plot of Troll Mamma Mia.” He replies. “In fact it may be Alternia’s Got Talent.” 

“We could do one of those DNA tests” Daseos offers excitedly. And then pauses. “If you want.” She clarifies. 

“I…” He trails off, having not honestly given it a lot of thought before. “I guess…” he says slowly. “I am curious.” 

“Watch it be some famous composer.” Nesseo jests. 

“Yeah, fingers crossed for Cougar Chiksy.” Mondes jokes back. Chiksy, the famous composer, would have been centuries Alador’s senior for the short moment they were alive at the same time. Nesseo laughs, and the fact they’re even aware of this timeline enough to get the joke proves how much orchestra bullshit they knew from Mondes osmosis.

.

.

.

.

.

Bee is carefully explaining to an overly enthusiastic Daseos how to tend to a bonfire when the results come in. Alternia has medical advancements the likes of which we’ve never seen, like a DNA test that works in only five hours. The ever growing monument of fire is casting an orange glow across the backyard when he hears the doorbell ring in the distance, temporarily standing up and leaving the makeshift party. 

“I think that's enough fire, girls,” Nesseo says. 

“Could be more!” Daseos exclaims. 

“Don’t tempt me” Bee jokes. 

“No burning down the hive unless you’re gonna buy us another one.” Ness says. “Where’d Mondes go?” They glance back at the table, a touch of worry on their face, but it’s quickly dissuaded by the man returning through the gate with a letter in hand, walking back over to everyone. 

“Can I GO?” asks Daseos. 

“You have my blessing” Ness replies, ruffling her hat. 

The teenager makes a running start before slamming the photo of Verula into the fire, punctuating the action with a prolonged

“DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” 

Nesseo cracks up. “Bitch” They agree, tossing in their Verula photo after her. 

Bee attempts to toss her photo of Hascha, but it blows away from the fire in the wind and she goes chasing after it. 

Mondes is approaching the fire with his opened envelope, as if he plans to toss both Alador and the DNA test results in. 

“Wait! Come on, we don’t even get to know?” Nesseo complains. 

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Mondes says slowly. “You don’t wanna know.” He responds, tossing the results into the fire. Nesseo, ever nosey, rolls over closer to try and glance at them before they turn to ash. 

“...No fucking way” They breathe. 

“I mean his taste” Mondes argues. “Is historically bad.” 

“Hikaru’s or Alador’s?” They joke, and Mondes snorts.

“Both.” He answers, looking down at his Alador picture. 

“It was a nice thought” He says morosely. “For a moment I guess. To hope I’d be related to someone who doesn’t suck.” He laments, tossing Alador’s photo into the fire with no expression nor flourish. 

“Well you are, dumbass.” Nesseo says slowly, looking down at their Hikaru picture, and carefully and methodically tearing it in half, offering one part of his cleaved face to Mondes. 

“You’re related to ME” They say. 

Mondes stares at the offered picture, firelight flickering yellow across his mask’s eye lenses, guarding his expression. He takes the torn half photo. 

“Yeah…” He says, “...I guess that’s not that bad.” he says, tossing the picture into the fire. 

“Escape this, fuck head.” Nesseo punctuates, tossing theirs in after. They look back to Mondes, still processing everything.

“I’m so glad I never seriously flirted with you.” They joke. 

“Don’t be fucking weird” Mondes replies. And then they are joking, just quipping back and forth with the familiarity of people who had long since been family regardless of if blood confirmed that fact. In fact, this revelation would change virtually nothing about their relationship. They are friends who had already known they both possessed a similar biting sarcasm and playfulness, one that was sometimes a relief, sometimes a burden, and sometimes a tether. A humor equal parts love and spite and sorrow that clicked together into each other like a seatbelt, perfectly and securely. The fire illuminates their silhouettes into the late night early morning sky as dark shadows. They are two people born with five ton legacies placed precariously on their backs that are better balanced and shouldered together than alone. 

[ryansjane]

my dream blunt rotation (but I'm the blunt) ✨️

one bi-coded pale af skinny tall guy who's a fashion icon 💅

one tan buff golden retriever who everyone thinks is gay 🐶

& one tall ass shy halfie with the voice of an angel 👼

[knightinink]

What’s this? Yet another Helluva Boss fanfic idea? Would anyone like to see this written? Lemme know!

“Either you end this with the imp, or we will handle it accordingly. I advise you to make your decision quickly, Asmodeus.”

Or, after going public with his & Fizz’s relationship, Ozzie is called to a meeting with the other Deadly Sins & Lucifer, discussing what will now become of the Sin for loving someone far beneath him. The others “fear” (more annoyed really) that Ozzie being with Fizz could distract him from doing his job as a Sin, but they don’t know that Fizz does no such thing. They just see him as this lowly thing that is a disgusting distraction to Asmodeus. They don’t know him like Ozzie does, but he can’t seem to get that across to them.

They give Asmodeus the choice of ending things with Fizz himself or they will step in and “take care of the problem” themselves. They can’t necessarily “kick him out” from being a Sin (no matter how much Mammon whines that there’s nothing stopping them), who is going to replace the king of Lust? Nobody. Eventually, Asmodeus comes up with a sort of bargain, that he is immortal while Fizz is not. He will outlive the imp, and brings this up with the others.

Lucifer, seeing this as an okay solution, allows it, but warns that the second Ozzie shows signs of slipping up on his duties, he will take care of Fizz “personally”. Ozzie agrees, & continues living out the rest of Fizz’s life with him, but now his life is filled with woe, as he’s practically counting down the days (what are really decades still) of time he has left with his beloved. Fizz is merely mortal, and Oz was always destined to outlive him.

[valkoinenlintu]

Sonne/Mond/Sterne

Hinter den Wellen, hinter dem Meer,

Sinkt die wärmende Sonne jeher,

Lässt den Himmel ganz leer und schwer,

Bis der kühle Mond kommt daher.

So sind die Sterne das Licht,

Und mit dem Mond das Gesicht.

So brechen sie nicht,

Und schreiben ihr Gedicht.

[garadinervi]

Jumana El Husseini (جمانة الحسيني), Untitled, (mixed media on canvas; scan), 1994 [Institut du monde arabe, Paris. © The Estate of Jumana El Husseini]

Bibl.: Artistes palestiniens contemporains, Edited by Eric Delpont and Laila Al Wahidi, Graphic design by Hans-Jürg Hunziker, Ursula Held, and Didier Mutel, Translation by Dennis Collins and Mohamed Maouhoub, Institut du monde arabe, Paris, 1997, p. 57. Published on the occasion of a group exhibition organized by the Institut du monde arabe, Paris, March 27 – May 25, 1997

[raspberrysmoon]

this fic is just turning into an excuse to listen to hoziers music. i cant decide the title because i bave an option from like seven different songs. and four of them are hozier songs

anyway eddie fell first and charles fell harder 🫶