#post will be updated with new chapters as progress in typing it up

[unknownmusing]

Adoribull Fanfic: 'When a Thread of Fate Brings Two People Together'

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Plot Summary:

A story of how a Mage and Qunari who are both of different races slowly over time as they spent having adventures together begin to develop something more between them.

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Prologue - 'The Beginning of a Thread of Fate Weaving between Two Different Races to Join Them Together' (Part 1 of ?)

Location - Un-named river some distance from Redcliffe Village - Hinterlands, Ferelden - Late Evening

In an area surrounded by meadow grass and wildflowers, while a river winds it way through mountainous region a few feet away, Dorian Pavus flicks through the tome he picked up on his travels using the light from the crackling camp-fire to illuminate the pages so he can read them - some of the writing is faded over time with other parts missing paragraphs but the diagrams helped understand the spells being mentioned.

So absorbed in his reading of the tome he doesn't hear his second companion travelling with him approaching the camp, until a thud of something heavy lands close-by making him lift his head to see some kind of wild boar lays there - though looking more mutated and hybrid-looking - then flicks his gaze up to his large companion who's reached for a large carving knife to sharpen it with a whetstone.

"Don't worry, I know which cuts to get that won't make us ill." Iron Bull - a Beast of the the Qunari - states to Dorian who's wondering if should decline in eating but his stomach betrays him by choosing to grumble indicating he's hungry.

This makes the large Qunari chuckle at him, standing up to pick up the wild boar's body to take it over to the branch of tree to begin skinning it - removing the fur; other parts which are inedible and finally cutting it so effeciently and effortlessly that Dorian forgets for a moment Iron Bull has murdered various people in similar ways as he watches the sight of the minotaur working away.

The slope of the large muscles shifting, every soft way the hands slide over the dead boar's body testing to see which way to cut and turning it to check the other side of it that gulping slightly, Dorian shuts the tome to place in his travelling pack and getting up heads down to river needing some space.

His mind begins to flood with so many images, he quickly places a clenched fist in his mouth to silence any sounds - this was frankly embarassing, he's acting like a young randy male seeing a female they like but don't want to admit - when he reaches the beach-area nearby the river curve so that Iron Bull can't pick them up, his other resting over his abdomen close to his groin.

"Control yourself, Dorian…..Control yourself…..you hate his Race…..remember….." He mutters under his breath, only for sudden image of him and the beast embraced in such a way his clenched fist moves away from his mouth to grip his shoulder and other cup himself between his thighs arching slightly when unexpected heat floods through him at it.

He moans breathlessly to his shame, horror and embarassment knowing that the Qunari would pick it up with their acute hearing only to sink down onto the sandy ground lying back to begin to rub himself through his breeches, thighs quivering intensely and mind flooding with so many images, whispers and sensation of being embraced he can't help but let out mewling breathless gasps, pants and whimpers.

What is happening to him?

Why was heat flooding throughout his system like his body had realised he was compatible with the Qunari when records stated it wasn't possible for a Beast of the Qunari to be compatible with a Human and other species and only their own.

Was it because of when they met that fateful rainfall night the touch from the Qunari had left an imprint and somehow they both become compatible?

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 PART 1 - 'How the Thread First Formed Between Two'

Location - Tevinter Imperium - Nothern Thedas, Minrathous - Approaching Late Evening 

2 Years Earlier

Rain is falling down heavily on the streets of Tevintar Imperium in Northern Thedas, Minrathous, drowning out the sounds of scuffle going on between four people – the fourth trying to make dash for it, an alleyway between two large buildings briefly becoming illuminated by an eerie light which fades away when they are knocked over before can get out of the alleyway where curses in native Tevene begin to fill it.

“Maybe we should gag him for good measure. This….fucking mage as a mouth on him doesn’t he.”

“Just remember his….the Magister Pavus I mean wants him alive.”

“Heh, yeah good coin being paid for escorting this….”

Dorian Pavus – son of Halward Pavus and Aquinea Thalrassian – finds him struggling in vain to get away from the larger of the Hired Thugs pinning him down onto the alleyway ground mostly grinding to his vain his face into it, discussing with the other two thugs debating on what do with him.

It is a handful of days since he run away from his home and for good intentions and reasons, he never wanted to set foot there again. Surrounded by something which had started to become the equivalent of a gilded cage which he begins to wonder would ever be able to get out of.

“Heh, seems our Mage here is being a little too quiet.” One of the Hired Thugs notes, squatting down in front of him to reach out to grab hold of the back of his head by his hair wrenching it upwards to force him to look at harsh, unforgiving cold eyes. “What you thinking about? Way to escape?”

Glaring back, Dorian refuses to answer resulting a hand immediately slapping him across the face so hard it leaves his ears ringing and splitting his lower lip in the process allowing blood to trickle down the side of his lip and chin closely followed by a hand grabbing hold of his chin to dig their nails harshly into his cheeks when they say their next words.

“You know I always hated Vint’s like this, Pompous, arrogant and vain. Only thinking about themselves.”

Brought up onto his feet, Dorian wonders if can summon a quick spell – one that will get rid of the Hired Thugs - when a gruff, deep voice interrupts it sends prickles up and down him in a such a way it felt like when one meets their Soulmate for the first time and their coloured Soul Threads connect.

“And does that count for yourself as well."

A very large, tall figure stands there at the entrance to the alleyway wearing a faded hooded cloak looking straight at the Hired Thugs surrounding him.

"So......Did you miss me?" Is the first words from the large hooded figure - who after the brief glimpse Dorian had seen of their face when they were fighting is a Qunari who looks oddly familiar and bringing back a memory of night at a Masked Party, an embrace in large arms and so much unexpected overstimulation it was feat he managed to get up to leave in the morning - as he leans against the alley brick-wall with his arms crossed over his chest and staff back in its holder on his back.

Sighing heavily with one hand up coming to pinch the bridge of his nose he wonders how he answer the Qunari - the hulk of a beast who he had a one night stand with, before escaping from the guest bedchamber lest fear of scandal of being discovered bedding a Qunari - whose name he doesn't know, who is busy going through the Hired Thugs until finds one still alive.

"I...Don't have a clue what you mean by 'Did I miss you?' because 1. I don't know who you are and 2. What are you doing?" Dorian replies, watching the Qunari turn their hooded gaze to him before gets up, just after bounding their prisoner in tight ropes so the singled-out Hired Thug cannot escape, walking up to where he stands.

A hand slams beside his head onto the alley brickwall allowing for the hooded cloak to slip off slightly revealing one ash-grey hand covered in snaking ink-black tattoos at the sametime the Qunari presses closer to him it forces him to turn his face to one side to not look at them.

"You have to understand....you felt the sensation didn't you?" The Qunari asks him, referring of course to the feel of a Soul-Thread connecting him to their's making Dorian, blush so heavily it's no doubt showing on his face even in the dim moonlight alongside the promixity of them against his body.

"Vishante kaffas!! I have no idea what your talking about!!!? Now if you'll excuse me....I like to get on....mmfffff!!!?" Dorian begins to say, only for lips to smash into his before he can even protest or cast a spell sending a throbbing wave of something through the forming Soul Thread making him slump against their large body, feeling one hand slide around to embrace him and the other come up to cradle the back of his head.

His fingers twitch heavily, hands spasming before manages to wrench free stumbling down the alleyway to compose himself.

Dorian brings up to his slightly swollen lips a shaking hand - the Qunari had just kissed him!!!? Without even a warning, just did it to him.

Angry at the forcefulness of it he forms a lightening ball in one hand, turning fully around to face the Qunari standing there watching him to send it hurtling towards them choosing not to hang around to check if worked or not. 

His mind beginning to flood with a memory of a masked party, the mysterious large Qunari and everything else that had happened that fateful night as he keeps on running and running through the weaving alleyways and down empty streets passing by houses, shops and market stalls until out of one of the many large city gate's into the wildness of a land unknown to him. 

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Notes:

This chapter deals with introducing the characters called Verikas - an elf who doesn't want to be an Inquisitor - and his friend Ku'rac who is a Qunari who in next chapter will soon meet Dorian and Iron Bull

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Part 2 – The Beginning (1 of ?)

Location - The Fade also known as The Beyond - Location of Realm Unknown 

It is an quiet, eerie stillness of without sound which makes Verikas flutter his eyes open, faintly seeing the blurred large figure of his close friend Ku’rac – a Qunari who had become exiled from his people due to disagreements with them – lying close-by then his vision fully clears to reveal he is in the Fade.

Around wispy emerald mist raises in different areas, structures of crumbled elvish ruins float in the air way above - some facing upside down and others dissembling - then hears a pained groan coming from Ku'rac making him get up, stumbling slightly forwards swaying due to experiencing the Fade for the first time trying to remember what happened but all he is getting is fractured memories of group of people talking; a cloaked hooded figure wearing a mask with liliac vines on it and then a explosion of raw, untimed magical energy originating from somewhere.

"Ku'rac....Ku'rac...." Verikas reaching his friend calls out, trying to rouse the Qunari who gives pained groan with both his hands twitching - unclenching and clenching - until flutters his eyes open, gaze soon focusing on him with Ku'rac allowing him to help him to sit up

"Verikas, what.....the Maker just happened?!! Last thing I remember was watching you from the balcony about to state you don't want to be an Inquisitor then nothing afterwards!!" Ku'rac asks him so many questions he cannot give his friend any of the answers to, because even himself doesn't know them.

"I....have faint memory but will have to discuss it later. We need to get out of here." Verikas replies, his keen hearing picking up that they are not alone with him helping Ku'rac to stand up, followed by noticing a bright light in the distance.

Both agree that they should head towards it to investigate what it could be, quickly making their way across crumbling platforms; clambering up floating islands above them and coping with walking upside down or even sideways until finally reach a flight of stone-carved steps.

"Verika, spiders!!!?" Ku'rac calls out to him, pointing to mass of them skittering across over to where they are located he begins to run up the stairs only to trip over a step when a sudden and unexpected sharp, lightening-like pain radiates from his hand through every nerve ending he finds himself giving out a bloodcurdling scream.

His legs give out on him with Ku'rac sweeping in to grab hold to cradle in his large arms, running up the stone-carved steps where the light of the figure waiting seems to enamate outwards that Verikas doesn't remember what happens next.

Just the words 'You'll will live. The both of you' closely followed by blackness.

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[redrose10]

Here is Chapter 17! There’s going to be one more little chapter that I’ll post in a day or two that is pretty much just pure fluff. But chapter 17 basically closes out this story. Thank you to everyone that has read and stuck with me through this. I know the story got a little all over the place at times, but this is the first multi chapter fic I’ve ever written and I never planned for it to go this far to be honest. I appreciate all of the comments and messages as always!

I posted a teaser for a new story that I’ll start releasing in about a week or so and I might also have this idea for a little Drabble series type thing about a relationship between Yoongi and his co-worker (Y/N) and how their relationship blossoms while he’s fulfilling his military requirements through his civil service assignment.

Yoongi X Female Reader. CEO/Arranged Marriage AU

Summary: You were selected to marry the wayward CEO/Billionaire/Heir, Min Yoongi. You went into it with an open mind and heart determined to try and make it work. Yoongi on the other hand had no intention of ever letting you in let alone allowing himself to fall in love with you. Slowly you start to associate the smell of cinnamon and vanilla with the feelings of hurt and sorrow.

Word count: 2,496

Warnings: (May get updated as chapters progress): Arranged marriage, cheating/infidelity, hints of smut (Probably won’t get very explicit but we’ll see how it goes), Sexual Assault, Brief mentions of death, Reader grew up an orphan, General Angst, Swearing

Tag list: @gimeow @kam9404 @viankiss @baechugff @gaby-93 @kayleefriedchicken @igot7fairlyoddparents @jalexad @drrookie

Your eyes kept switching between Yoongi, Mia, and Suri. Jin already looked like he’d rather be anywhere else besides sitting at this table right now. Yoongi hadn’t taken his eyes off of Mia and you weren’t sure who was enjoying it more, her or Suri. Finally after what seemed like hours Yoongi walked forward taking a seat across from Mia and you followed close behind taking a seat next to him.

Mia reached across to grab his hand and to your surprise he let her. A small blush crept across his cheeks. “Yoongles how have you been? You’re looking really good.”, she spoke making you roll your eyes at the nickname.

Your attention was pulled elsewhere when Suri suddenly called your name, “Y/N, I doubt Yoongi ever told you, but him and Mia were engaged. Unfortunately it didn’t work out. They make such a cute couple though, don’t you think?” You glared at Suri while you tried to figure out her game. She wants Yoongi so bad, but here she is gloating about what a great couple Mia and him were.

“Yoongles we should get together sometime. You know maybe get dinner or something. Then we can go back to your place and I can do that thing for you that I know you like.”, she said with a smirk running her fingers up and down his hand. Yoongi still hadn’t said anything since the two of you walked in the door. You’re not sure what came over you, but you reached over ripping his hand out of her reach and pulling it down onto your lap, “No thank you. He has a WIFE who’s more than willing to do anything and everything that he likes and more so he doesn’t need some cheating, selfish, gold digger like yourself in his life.” Everyone at the table looked at you with wide eyes and jaws dropped surprised by your little outburst. For the first time Yoongi acknowledged you by giving your hand a little squeeze.

Mia chuckled, “Oh Y/N, he really brainwashed you didn’t he? Do you think he actually cares about you let alone loves you? I heard all about it from Suri. I’m not surprised really. I mean he’s a successful, handsome, wealthy businessman and you are a poor orphan girl who will never be anything other than that. You were nothing more than a good deal to him and his family. A way to boost his image and in turn make him more money. He told me that himself.” You gasped looking to Yoongi for any sign that she was lying. When his expression didn’t change you shoved his hand out of your lap with force. Mia faked a shocked expression, “You mean you didn’t tell her Yoongi? You didn’t tell her about our little meet up a few weeks ago where you told me all about how much you couldn’t stand her and how you regretted this whole marriage?” The entire time this conversation had been taking place Suri has been off to the side reveling in watching it all. She knew bringing Mia back into the mix would be the final nail in the coffin that she needed to get you out of their life. Yoongi could never resist his first love.

You could feel the tears begin to form. You didn’t want to cry and show weakness in front of these people, but it seemed like your brain wasn’t going to cooperate. Abruptly standing up you tried to walk off towards the exit, but Yoongi grabbed your wrist begging you to stop, “Y/N please let me explain. It’s not what you think.”

The sound of the slap was probably heard through the entire building. Yoongi winced placing a hand on his reddened cheek. “Don’t ever fucking touch me again Yoongi.”, you whispered before trying to run off only to stop and turn to Suri instead realizing you had some unfinished business.

You wanted to get in her face, but decided to keep your distance reminding yourself that she was pregnant.

“Are you happy now Suri? Is this what you wanted? Look how many lives you’ve ruined and for what? You think you’re so smart and powerful, but in reality you’re an idiot who abuses others for your own personal benefit. You’ll get what’s coming to you one day.”

She stood there smiling at you for a few moments before finally speaking, “Y/N, I told you that I always get what I want and I meant it. I don’t care who or what I have to destroy to do it. I’ve had Yoongi wrapped around my finger for years and I wasn’t going to allow you to take that from me.”

“You’ve blackmailed him for years.”, you cut her off with the correction.

“So fucking what? I blackmailed him. I’ve blackmailed a lot of people. I’ve blackmailed Yoongi, Namjoon, my own brother, and countless other people and I don’t give a fuck. They all deserved it. That’s how I get shit done. Unlike you I won’t stop until I achieve my goal. I don’t just back down and let others walk all over me.”

She was somewhat out of breath after her rant was over with. You were about to respond when a very loud knock at the door stopped you.

“Good grief, it’s about time.”, Jin mumbled as he got up to let them in. Within seconds two detectives came walking over followed by two more police officers handcuffs already out.

One of the officers walked forward towards Suri, “Suri Cho, you are under arrest for the extortion of Yoongi Min, Namjoon Kim, and Han Cho. You are also being charged with making threats against Y/N Min and Mia Park. We don’t want to have to put you in handcuffs in your current condition so please come with us peacefully.”

“W-What? No absolutely not! I haven’t done anything wrong.”, she said backing herself against the wall.

“Miss Cho, please come with us.”, the officer said inching closer.

“I have not done anything wrong. You have no proof of any of these charges you are putting against me.”

From the corner of the room Jin cleared his throat. “Actually, here are transcripts of texts, voicemails, and emails between Suri and Namjoon as well as the paternity test confirming the identity of her unborn child. Here is the recording that we ourselves obtained of her confessing to blackmailing Yoongi for years.”, he said handing over everything that he had pulled out of his bag. “You guys also have the live feed that you just obtained with the help of Mia.”, Jin reminded them while zipping up his bag before throwing Suri a smug look.

“What?!”, she shouted looking over at the woman still sitting across from you.

“Did you have something to do with this? I asked you for help! How could you betray me like this?”, Suri shouted.

Mia walked over to one of the detectives and gave his cheek a kiss before turning her attention back to Suri with a smirk. She opened up her blouse slightly to reveal a microphone, “Maybe next time you want help breaking the law don’t contact and threaten someone who happens to be married to one of the top detectives in the country.”

Suri looked stunned.

“Miss Cho, it’s time to come with us.”, one of the officers repeated. Suri looked at all of you with tears of anger in her eyes before following after the officers. You felt a sudden sense of relief watching her walk out of your home.

“Well that was eventful. Thank you everyone for your hard work in orchestrating this. I didn’t realize I was surrounded by so many actors. Yoongi and Y/N I’ll be in contact as you will have to be summoned for questioning. Mia, weird seeing you again. Don’t cheat on your husband, he seems nice. Stay classy as always.”, Jin spoke before grabbing his belongings and also heading out the door.

Yoongi walked over to you wrapping an arm around your waist as you both looked over at Mia hoping she’d get the hint. Awkwardly she shuffled her feet while rubbing her arm.

“So I’m glad everything worked out. I was really worried she’d loose it. I had been ignoring her for a while thinking she’d eventually give up on this whole crazy idea, but when she came to me saying she was pregnant and that she was going to claim it wasn’t consensual I knew I had to reach out to you guys. I think she realized everything was starting to fall apart and she was getting desperate and even more delusional.”

“Uh yeah that’s why we decided to get the police involved. Originally we didn’t want to, but the longer this went on and the crazier she got we knew that simply just threatening her wouldn’t do anything.”, Yoongi responded.

“I just feel bad for the baby. That’s the only reason I didn’t want her to get arrested like this.”, you sighed.

Mia smiled, “Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll work something out for her. Maybe house arrest or something. I’ll have my husband talk to the prosecutor.”

The air was filled with awkward silence until Mia finally started putting on her coat and heading to the door with you and Yoongi following behind to see her out.

“Maybe we could hang out some time. Go on a double date or something now that we’ve grown up and moved past what happened between us.”, she chuckled looking at Yoongi. You had a hard time reading his expression, but it looked like you could still detect a hint of admiration in his eyes as he looked at his past love. Your heart filled with sadness or maybe jealousy, you weren’t really sure.

“Listen Mia, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for us with this Suri situation and I really do thank you. But having you in my life isn’t good for me any more. I’ve spent years hating you and hating myself because of what you did to me. I tried my hardest to make Y/N hate me because I didn’t think I could ever love someone again the way I loved you. I have learned to forgive you though and I’ve finally gotten to a point where I feel that it’s okay to let go of that part of my life and move on while looking forward to the future with Y/N. So we are going to politely decline the invite and while I wish you nothing but happiness for the rest of your life, respectfully please get out of my house and I hope we never have to see each other again.”

You looked on with a shocked expression waiting for her to blow up, but instead she smiled and nodded, “I understand. Glad I could help with this though. Best of luck to you both.”

After the door closed behind her you and Yoongi walked into the kitchen so he could grab a drink. He still seemed a little shaken up. While he was sipping on his water you walked up behind and wrapped your arms around his waist.

“I love you.”, you mumbled into his back.

He chuckled before turning around to face you, “I love you too Y/N.” He leaned in to give you a kiss and you reciprocated the action. He winced a little before lightly rubbing his cheek, “I know I agreed to the slap to make it more believable, but I really didn’t think you were going to hit me as hard as you could like that.”

“I know I’m sorry. I got a little carried away, but I’ve been wanting to do that for a while. Plus Mia got me a little more heated than I thought she would when she was saying all that stuff.”, you giggled.

“Yeah something tells me that she wasn’t completely acting.”

You smiled, “Yeah well something tells me I wasn’t completely acting when I called her a selfish, cheating, gold digger either.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck to bring him closer and get a better look at his cheek, “Come here, I’ll kiss it better.”,

He smirked, “Well if that’s the case I have a few other places that are a little sore too.”

Rolling your eyes you grabbed his hand and pulled him down towards the bedroom.

After he was sat down on the bed you straddled his lap and began placing kisses along his jaw and neck, but you quickly noticed he seemed distracted. Pulling away you followed his line of sight and saw that he was staring at his dresser.

“Everything okay?”, you asked getting off of him and taking a seat on the bed instead.

He shook his head before walking over to the dresser grabbing a familiar red bottle. He popped off the top and the room immediately filled with the very familiar scent of cinnamon and vanilla. Something that you had grown to despise. A scent that at one point would make you feel sick to your stomach. Until one day it didn’t and instead it started to smell like the comfort it was advertised as.

Yoongi stared down at the bottle in his hands before he laughed, “Mia first bought me this cologne as a gift for Christmas many years ago. I was never a huge fan of it, but she would always go on and on about how much she loved it. I continued to buy it just to make her happy. Then even after we broke up I still bought it because I didn’t want to let that part of me go. I guess I thought if I kept using this cologne I could trick myself into thinking it never happened and keep that part of my life with me forever.”

He paused for a moment before scoffing to himself, “Looking back that was pretty stupid. The cologne had nothing to do with it and I was just using it to cover up my true emotions that I didn’t want to face.”

You walked over resting your head on his shoulder and began rubbing his back, “It’s not stupid Yoongi. You did what you had to do to cope. You can keep it or you can throw it away and we’ll get you something different. It’s up to you.”

He stared into your eyes before nodding and walking into the bathroom and not long after you heard a loud clank from the glass hitting the bottom of the trash can. A few seconds later he emerged with a gummy smile looking like he felt lighter and happier than he had in a while.

He walked over and placed his hands on your hips before turning you around and falling back onto the bed pulling you on top of him,

“Now Mrs. Min, where were we?”

[bruhman745]

Do you need a new Hermicraft fic to read? Do you love unseen horrors and unknown pasts?

Well, my friends, look no further than my fic, vertitatem dies aperit! (It's got a Latin title, that's how you know it's good.)

It has all you could ever want and more! Including...

Past lives!

Past loves!

Nature symbolism!

Dreams that can't just be dreams...

Alternate dimensions!

Seeing things that aren't there!

Hearing things that aren't there!

An eldritch horror forest monster!

A charming 1900s aesthetic setting!

References to music and books that actually tie into the plot!

A love triangle that (spoiler!) ends up in a polyamorous relationship! (FINALLY!)

AND SO MUCH MORE!

The only warnings for this fic include the nongraphic death of an animal (a bird), hallucinations and unreality, and violence (no heavy gore, but I can't promise it won't get graphic).

If that isn't enough to convince you, here is a short snippet from Chapter Eleven: Chord. (Oh, by the way, each chapter has a name derived from something important in it. Just another easter egg for you!)

Some sang, some yelled, some cried. They sounded as if They held every emotion all at once, yet nothing at all. They were everywhere, bouncing off nonexistent walls and floating through the fog. They were in his head, yet incomprehensible in his mind. “We are proud of the progress you have made. You are doing well.” The air was warm, then freezing, then burning. It hurt. “You will return to your divinity in no time. Come back to your senses.” Grian tried to draw in air to speak, but he could barely keep his breathing steady. “Go back to the forest.” Voices weaved in and over one another, braiding noises in the thick air. “Leave behind this inferior realm. Find your purpose and be reborn again.”

There's also an official playlist for this fic that I'm still updating and plan to make a web-weaving type of post later! Feel free to check it out and send me song suggestions in my inbox!

You also get an author who is VERY happy to entertain theories in his inbox, and will always at least acknowledge your questions (because xe obviously can't spoil what happens) and give updates under the #TCC update tag below!

And if all of that is exactly what you're looking for in a fic, then you should check out chapter one here!

CHAPTERS POSTED AS OF AUG 23: 11/18

Feel free to reblog if you have any mutuals that might be interested in reading!

[horn-knee-demons-anonymous]

hiiii bestie hope ure well!!!! out of pure curiosity, when will we get an update on 'use me use me'? no pressure just curious. lots of love <333

Hello!!!

First of all, my bad for being radio silent for so long. I’ve been posting progress updates on my Twitter, but now I’m realizing that mayhaps doing that on a private account is not the move 💀 I might need to cross post that here lol

Anyhow, I’m honestly not sure???? I’m really aiming to get it out in the next week or two, ideally before Ramadan ends because I have a couple of friends that are fasting rn and I’d like them to have a new chapter to come back from. Also because I updated last before Ramadan started and it would be pretty embarrassing for an entire monthlong holy period to go by without me being able to update my damn fan fiction once LMAO

Currently, Chapter Three is at about 12k words. I didn’t mean for it to get so long, but then interactions happened and Mika got screen time, and Lewis and Nico appeared and then Nico wanted a turn at being a POV character and it’s still like six thirty in the morning on the day after Chapter Two takes place. I think if I’m going to get it out in any sort of a reasonable timeframe, I’m going to have to up the chapter count, which I didn’t want to do, but the more I look at the document the more I realize this is the only way I can avoid putting out like a 50k word chapter.

Hopefully the back half of this chapter should be faster, though. There were a couple sections I found tough to write, and I decided to deal with the resultant writers block like a total dumbass (starting another WIP that’s now at 11k words, but that I don’t know if I want to post until the first fic in the free use verse is done). Luckily I have great friends who help me through writers block and also some painkillers because I accidentally bodied my thumbnail a little while ago which send my typing speed to the shadow realm.

Anyways, my bad for the long response as well 🤠 thank you for reading and enjoying the fic, and for reaching out!! Hopefully the update should be out in a week or two, but maybe less if I go sicko mode.

[veneritia]

when comes the dawn monthly update { 9.30.23 }

And here's to the revival of WCTD and the first ever WCTD monthly post! But first things first, let's get some basics out of the way

↳ WHAT IS WCTD?

FENICE VI AETIER, a portent of ill omens and the estranged daughter of the Vasilier, ignites a dangerous succession game between her and her half-siblings, where losing means death and winning means an empire. But to compete in this game requires the acknowledgement of the Vasilier himself, one that he isn't willing to give Fenice unless she gives him something in return: the head of the deposed king of Hesperia.

When Comes the Dawn is a new adult fantasy court intrigue novel featuring succession battles, an aro/ace lead, shifting alliances, cut-throat relatives, and a family that's torn themselves apart in the name of ambition for eons. You can find the wip intro here or follow the wip's main tag (#series.wctd)

↳ WHAT IS WCTD MONTHLY?

I've had this wip for a long time but have never made much significant progress before shoving it to the side because of work, school, life, or just being burnt out. WCTD Monthly is my way to try and motivate myself by giving myself a space to talk about all of the different work I've done on this wip. (And to pressure me into actually working on it so I have something to talk about.) You can follow along with my updates with the #wctd-monthy tag

↳ NOW, ONTO THE SHOW

outline → the first 9 chapters have been outlined. outline document is currently at 4k+ words. The main plot beats for Act 1 and Act 2 have been outlined

notion → I rebuild and organized my wip notion, as well as all of the character pages

series → because of the different character arcs and plot beats that I wanted to explore, I decided to officially make WCTD a duology as opposed to a standalone like originally planned. No official title for book two as of yet, though Crowning of the Sun is a tentative one.

worldbuiling → realized that the majority of book 1 takes place in the now subjugated kingdom of Hesperia as opposed to Aetier, where I focused the majority of my worldbuilding. This means that I'm starting to worldbuilding from...almost the ground up. It helps that I'm mostly focused on the province of Isidore.

characters → the vi Aetier family has been expanded! Fenice and Charles now have 3 other half-siblings (Euphemia, Konstantine, and Basil) as well as their siblings' respective mothers. I've added 9 noble houses to form the unofficial oligarchy of influence in Isidore, and I've given Leda a rival-turned-girlfriend-turned-ex to help flesh out her character.

extraneous content → attempted to make the vi Aetier family tree starting from the beginning of the vi Drochona dynasty (I'll probably clean it up and post it separately at a later date). I also added another god to the pantheon (Heleia, goddess of the wild nature, the hunt, liberation, and childhood), and finally re-introduced wctd (linked above)

events → I participated in WTW's character event week! You can find all posts here: protagonist / tropes / representation / antagonists / relationships / traits / wildcard

↳ WHAT'S NEXT?

I'll be using preptober to outline as much as I can for nano! My goal is to finish outlining act 1 and my stretch goal is to reach half-way to act 2

posting 1 or 2 character intros or worldbuilding posts

Find more WCTD content with the series tag #series.wctd and keep an eye out for monthly progress updates with #wctd-monthly

↳ Taglist under the cut (ask to be +/-):

GENERAL → @charlesjosephwrites | @bearunicorn154 I @seasteading| @writting-in-blood | @trapped-inadystopianovel | @inky-duchess | @thats-my-type-writer | @serpentarii | @myhusbandsasemni | @aphaimaniis | @writinglyra | @belialwrites | @amoranza | @pseudepigraphic | @mel-writes-with-her-dragons | @uppoffringar | @fantasydisease | @sourrcandy

WCTD → @zmlorenz | @andiwriteunderthemoon | @ryns-ramblings | @marchdove | @cielnocturnes | @wren-is-writing | @lord-fallen | @tragicbackstoryenjoyer | @bloomingwrites | @kaatiba | @writerjodie | @worldbuildng

[omorimodreverie]

June Development Update

Overview

This month was a mixture of up and down in terms of activity. One notable thing about this period is that most of our team members have now finished with their finals, and have properly begun summer vacation. However, this does not necessarily mean that development speed increases!

There were major and minor bits of work done across most of our sectors this time, with the main being a slight reorganization of writing; some basic tileset work (our tilesets are beginning to be finalized!), and starting on polishing our map files.

What’s been done?

This month didn’t see any significant leaps in progress, but miscellaneous portions of work that are nevertheless vital have been completed across multiple sectors:

Inducted a new writing lead to the leads team

Finished primary dialogue work on around half of the cutscenes planned for chapter 3. Progress has also been made on the other half

Pixel Art is progressing slowly but consistently, with new additions/changes to our spritesheets every few days

Non-CH3 drawn art assets have also been worked on, mostly enemy sprites and concepts (We can’t wait to show them to you in the future, they’re very exciting!)

Discussion and slight reorganization around skill progression for future chapters, as well as on boss design. Rest assured, we are still putting gameplay first and foremost.

Summer Break, Right?

This month is when summer break properly starts for a good amount of people. Some start a bit earlier in May, and some in June; But by mid-June almost everyone is on summer break.

It might be tempting to think that progress will become much faster now that break is here, but to think so is a bit naive: as some people will also be taking their own time for, well, a break. [Like myself, Stahl. I’m typing this very dev log during vacation right now, that’s why it’s a bit late. Oops.]

Progress is projected to be more or less consistent with the speed of development so far, balanced by some being able to work more while some becoming unavailable for break.

Ending Notes

You may have noticed that this month’s dev log wasn’t as long as the last one in May. This is because the last one was our first ever dev log, so we had more stuff to talk about: including all developments made previous to May as well. Please expect posts of a similar length to this one going forwards.

We’d love to showcase some teaser for chapter 3 at this point, but since our progress this month has consisted mostly of writing and tilesets (which is difficult to showcase nicely), we don’t really have much to show off as usual.

Anyways, here’s an old Ice Angel enemy sprite made around April last year. This one’s unused now, and only has 2 (out of 3 and bunch more emotion variants) frames made, so this is not our final product (or appearing anytime soon lol).

[nerdieforpedro]

Weekend Update - 12/24/2023 Christmas Eve

Hey Nerdie! You’ve got some bags there.

I do both under my eyes and Din finally let me look through the ones he’s been using. It’s….Mandalorians are wild.

I feel like they’re not Nerdie, at least not how you’re thinking. Should we even ask?

Has to do with what I’ve written this week:

Weddings 101 with Dieter - chapter 3 came out this week. There was a fight that I still giggle about. There will be more, I’m loving the beef between Dieter and Oscar. There had to be some type of fight in the rom-com. 🤭 There was also cloud smut? I don’t know how else to put it. Ya’ll read it and tell me what it was.

Sard’ika Sessions - In Session Four Din put together something in the reader’s house. They may use it again. Liberties are taken with the Creed and Mandalorian culture though not too crazy. (That might be for an epilogue.) I’d like to thank everyone who’s been reading since Session one (we’ve come so far from thigh-riding) and are now on the latter end where our Session partners are exploring each other but communication as well. It was really sweet to read people’s comments and see that they picked up on how well they communicate with each other while indulging in their sexual appetites. I’d like to think it’s come across how I planned it originally when I scribbled all of this in my notebook at 4am when I couldn’t sleep in November after Thanksgiving of all things. We’ll see how things continue to progress.

I have a poll up for “Weddings 101 with Dieter” to determine what might go into chapter four. I’m enjoying everyone’s comments and options on what should happen with both Dieter/Maya and Dieter vs. Oscar. Click the link above to vote and have your suggestions added. I’ll announce the results and the most voted will be put in. I’ll likely add some of the other suggestions because I like them so much. ☺️

Remember Frankie~ (I read something new and caught up on a few things. Some of which weren’t even related to our favorite pilot. My mind went deep into smut. As a warning, don’t read while multi-tasking! Though I take it as a point of pride to have someone forget their name while on a call. 😉) They knew who they are. 😎 Love ya! ❤️

Nerdie’s Bedtime Stories (Might be a new series for weirdness I think up and might read to someone. This was a Christmas Carol featuring some of the Pedro boys. A Feral Carol as @maggiemayhemnj called it.) @undercoverpena and @morallyinept encouraged me. 🤣

You put a lot of thought into what you write. We really thought it was only the non-smut stuff you thought hard on. You’ve indicated you have trouble with that before.

It’s not so much I have trouble with it. I’m used to doing one-shots and exclusivity writing smut before I joined back up on Tumblr. I’m branching out and trying all sorts of smut and actual storylines (when I can make it coherent to anyone but myself) in my writing now. Even comedy with Dieter though I like to put little jokes in most of my writing.

Ah, so you’re learning as you go on as we all do. Fair. Any current WIPs you’re trying to finish up before 2023 is out?

Well, I have a Pickled Peña to finish. Everyone’s welcome to join in and write about our favorite DEA agent Javier Peña. Everyone who’s participating will post on January 1st and tag their work with the “pickled peña” tag.

I’m also participating in the PMAMC 2024 which is in mid-January. I decided to challenge myself with not only writing about pegging but also writing with a character I’ve only written for once and in his historical setting, because past Nerdie who accepted this was feeling ambitious. 😗 Present Nerdie wonders what was she thinking. 🧐 She also has to review her notes on what may have been used to facilitate pegging during the time period, there’s a long note I have on it. It should be mostly historically accurate, I guess, because that’s what matters. 👀 In pegging - the historical aspect. 😒

I have two Robbie Reyes asks to work on as well as one smut piece I wanted to do for him and one actual story.

There are three Joel pieces that I wanted to write, one will be tabled until next Christmas. I don’t think I’ll finish it by tomorrow. The second was a post outbreak one, I’ve only written post outbreak once so I want to see if it will be a one short or series. The third one might be finished. I need to edit it.

Anything else will likely be tabled until 2024 because I either don’t have ideas for it or I want to wait until I feel good about writing it. 😊

Any last remarks?

I’d like to thank any and all of my beta readers: @avastrasposts @musings-of-a-rose @frenchiereading @theywhowriteandknowthings @megamindsecretlair @pedrodascal @iamasaddie @fhatbhabie and @morallyinept @legendary-pink-dot

Ya’ll saw all the typos, swapped countries and off beat plot points. 😗

Also @linzels-blog don’t worry The Creed is fine. Mostly I believe. Like it will all work out. 😉

I usually add fics I’ve read this week but I’m going to organize them and put them in another fic rec post because I have them saved there already. 😎

The above wallpaper was made by @xxhypersomnia who did two sets of awesome retro Javier Peña edits on her page. 🥰 She even tagged me in the second one which I have to look at later when I’m home.

[celestiall0tus]

Update Moving into February thru March

Hello everyone! It's been a hot minute since I did one of these updates, but I figured I would share what is going on and the content that I'm working on. So, let's crack into this.

Miraculous AU and Separate Worlds remains shelved. Sorry everyone. Absolution does as well until I enter a macabre mood, so hope for a wacky lunar cycle like October 2023.

Paradise is temporarily shelved while I work on other projects as the inspiration is flowing with them.

Into the Fire and Lady and the Scoundrel will be worked on periodically. I have ideas floating around for the progression of them, it's just a matter of finding the motivation to write them. The ideas are there, just lacking in motivation.

Salvation is going to receive some love. So, after reading the existing chapters to a young gremlin that wanted to hear the story, I was absolutely appalled by the quality of writing. I literally looked at my IRL friend and told her how shit the fucking writing was and how ashamed of myself I let it see the light of day. A few grammar errors are one thing, but Salvation was a chore to read. So, expect that to be edited down again and reblogged. That must be done before I consider continuing the story. I personally apologize for letting such sloppy writing be posted. Shame on me.

Amaranthine I want to finish. I had hit a small snag in the writing as I needed to reassign kwamis to the heroes for the final mission. I had ideas floating around, but it wasn't until chatting with a pair in my discord (which shoutout to @authorambermkestner and @adventuremaker21 for helping me gather my thoughts) that I was able to assign the team kwamis for the final mission. Designs are made for the four getting new kwamis that I may get colored soon, or after I write more of Amaranthine, we'll see. Just know I am in the home stretch, I had hit a small snag, but it's resolved and will be finished soon.

Court of Miracles I'm working on periodically (having a cocreator helps with the muse, thank you anon <3). As I work on Court, I will get designs out as I write as there are a lot of designs to make and have found that this is the best for me to get the designs done.

Scions is the current that I'm working on as the newest piece. Designs for this will be done as I move through the story. I have the primary designs done (save for Marc and his is coming). A lot of the cast will either be quest givers or enemies moving forward. I have some fun ideas lined up for the "campaign."

Siren's Song is... having a small change. I know I keep saying I want to do more just casual storytelling, but I end up lying to myself and y'all. So, here I am again to say that I will be writing it out because that's just me. However, I keep to this for Siren's Song. This is meant to be something of a collab of sorts. I have a skeleton of what I'm thinking for a lot of plot and plot points. I will be open throughout the entire story to suggestions for other ideas, plot points, etc. So, to anyone that want to participate in a zany, crazy au where we just let loose and indulge in madness (like my norm). As such, expect a little bit more detail on Siren's Song come tomorrow (it's about midnight for me as typing this, so sleep soon)

Now, I know that sounds really stupid to write this way and why not just "write what you want?" One, I've written a lot of what I want, which is extremely dark, angst riddled, and borderline macabre (ignoring Absolution that is a full on horror). Make no mistake, I've got such plans with Siren's Song that involve angst for you, my dear audience that eats that shit up (and for that I love y'all <3) So, I still am, but also am having a lot of fun doing a collab writing. So, since this whole Siren's Song, Ivangami stuff started by an anon just suggesting it and liking the ship, which grew from there, I wanted to involve my audience as the initial concept came from y'all and grew from y'all. It was honestly fun making something a little more catered to what y'all wanted to see while having my own fun. Again, more details will come in the morning.

That is all for the time being. I thank y'all for the support that y'all have given me and look forward to more devilish writings in the future.

[marstheprinzess]

january language goals (+ december review) 🖤

hi everyone! ♡

i know i mentioned that i was going to post my current and past resources list but i didn’t find the time to do that with my recent travels, however i already started typing it up so it should be posted in the next upcoming days!

as the year and month is coming to an end let’s review how much i got done, and set new goals for january. at the end i will mentioned the languages i want to focus on for each quarter, next year.

my current languages:

french (A2)

dutch (A1)

as always, a lil life update before i start; i’m back in germany! nigeria was fun. i do plan on going again soon… also, my graduation is coming up so i will be in the UK for that, for a few days. still unemployed lol but i started to apply to remote jobs again, so hopefully something will come out of it soon, in the meantime i will do my own thing and help out in the family business.

let’s review my december language goals ♡:

maintain a 30 days duolingo, busuu & falou streak (i maintained a 29 days streak on duolingo, 19 days streak on busuu and gave up on falou 😂 no but seriously, my subscription expired so i can only learn one language on the free version and i don’t feel the need to re-subscribe bc i rather pay for duolingo or busuu atm than falou. i’m sure i will re-subscribe in the future but not right now. so, i will keep using the other two and give falou a rest. i will post a more in depth review in my resources post!)

write and finish the digital journal entry (notion) about my birthday trip in both french & dutch (i did some progress since my last post but did not finish it)

work through ‘Niederländisch Wort für Wort’ to and incl. chapter ‘Dieses & Jenes’ (not completed)

finish ‘UNIT ONE: Verbs and pronouns’ in ‘Dutch Basic’ (completed it!!)

write down all dutch vocabularies up to and incl. the numbers on digital dialects (website) (did not look at it tbh)

write down all french vocabularies up to and incl. the numbers on digital dialects (website) (same as above)

finish ‘The definite article’ in ‘Modern French Grammar’ (completed!)

write my first entry in my workbook about basic information about myself in both french & dutch (same as 2., partially completed)

watch 5 easyfrech & easydutch youtube videos (i watched 2 easyfrench videos & 1 of easydutch, so partially completed)

watch at least 5 episodes of miraculous (netflix) (i’m on s1e24 now, so yes, i completed this goal!)

one of the main reasons why some of them are partially completed or not completed at all was bc of the unstable internet connection in naij and the lack of time. but since i’m back, 5. & 6. and the yt videos should be completed with ease now. 2. & 8. is not completed bc of procrastination tbh. i want to carry it over to january; I WILL ADD IT ONE LAST TIME, if it doesn’t get done this month i will honestly move on! i did plan on getting the remaining stuff done once i got back but, my sleeping schedule has been criminal sooo let’s hope for a better month!

here are my january language learning goals ♡:

maintain a 30 days duolingo & busuu streak

write and finish the digital journal entry (notion) about my birthday trip in both french & dutch

work through ‘Niederländisch Wort für Wort’ to and incl. chapter ‘Dieses & Jenes’

finish ‘UNIT TWO: Modal auxiliary verbs’ in ‘Dutch Basic’

write down all dutch vocabularies up to and incl. the numbers on digital dialects (website)

write down all french vocabularies up to and incl. the numbers on digital dialects (website)

finish ‘Articles’ in ‘CliffsQuickReview French 1’

write my first entry in my workbook about basic information about myself in both french & dutch

watch 5 easyfrech & easydutch youtube videos

watch the remaining episodes of s1 miraculous (netflix)

idk if it’s clear but these goals are not the only tasks/activities i’m doing throughout the month but the main ones. i will definitely watch some movies, listen to a few podcasts episodes & read some articles/pages of a book throughout the month as well!

as mentioned, here are the languages that i will be focusing on during each quarter of 2024 ♡:

Q1: French, Dutch & Edo

Q2: Edo, Low German & French

Q3: Yoruba, Edo & Low German

Q4: Edo, Dutch & Yoruba

maybe i’m being too optimistic but i planned on learning 3 simultaneously (some at different levels); but french & dutch will be studied passively throughout the year even if it's not in the quarter. i have different goals for each language, which also include not reaching ultimate fluency! but just reaching reading or listening comprehension for example. i will probably do a mini post on what I generally do when i start to learn a completely new language.

i was also thinking of creating a side blog, but only for language learning. i will probably only be posting content about african languages tho, nigerianS to be specific. bc i noticed there is not a lot of info on certain languages so it would be nice to gather them and put them in one place for future reference! i will still be posting my monthly language goals on this blog.

that's it for now. i hope everyone is staying safe for NYE and if you’re in a timezone where it’s 2024 already, i wish you a happy new year! ♡

best wishes,

mars the prinzess xx

✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚⋆⭒˚｡⋆

*none of the pictures i used are my own, unless stated otherwise. i got them from pinterest

[unknownmusing]

Torchwood Fanfic: 'The First Tale of the Immortal Storyteller'

------------------------------------

Summary:

Hidden away in a small, undisturbed village located in a valley, a person called Javin Boeshane - a simple, book-keeper and writer, plus Historical Document Collecter - doesn't expect when they went to work that their peaceful, calm life would be shattered by the arrival of.....

....Torchwood and the person called Captain Jack Harkness.

So, begins a series of events all leading to a deep, dark secret which has been buried for some time and waiting to be told.

--------------------------

Notes:

- An idea that came to mind after watching the last episode of Season 4 of Torchwood, where the learn about the thing called 'The Blessing' - Slight episode diverging, but will be including episode moments etc - Title refers to how Javin records information in Tales which can be spread to generation to generation or be for ones he closely considers family or friends. - In this Cristopf is the Ninth Doctor from parallel universe, where will explain more in further chapters as fic progresses.

---------------------------

Prologue - 'The Immortal Storyteller'

Location - Scotland, Scottish Highlands - Hidden Alien Refuge Village, Hidden Valley - The Boeshane Cottage - Early Morning

Javin Boeshane's P.O.V:

The steady chime coming from the large Grandfather clock located downstairs in the hallway, brings me out of trying to finish the manuscript for my next book on the typewriter leaning back in my wooden chair to look out the study window at the white, wispy clouds rolling their way across the skyline.

In the place where I live, built for an important purpose is an alien refuge village for various species of aliens who over millennium have chosen to land or crash-land on planet Earth seeking somewhere to survive - away from what has happened to them in their solar systems. 

Precise location of The Boeshane Cottage  - my home - situated above the hidden valley helps in protecting the place from being discovered by UNIT or any other mysterious, hidden organisations who might came to investigate the strange, anomaly they might detect with their equipment or they learn about it from a Witness - referring to ordinary, human beings who accidentally stumbled upon the area, most of them minority being:

Hikers, who'd gotten lost exploring the Highlands; Tourists or Archealogists curious in rumours about a hidden village and finally, UFO Hunters who assisted aliens existed and had spotted some in the Highlands.

Dragging both of my hands down my face, I decide to put the manuscript I've been typing up on hold for now. There is no point in procrastinating over it, when my mind is distracted by something else - probably to do with said 'guest', if he could be called that, staying in the second bedroom of the cottage. 

Pushing my chair back from the study desk, the half-typed manuscript placed in the typewriter waiting to be finished and the blank paper placed to one side, I head out my study to step out onto the top floor landing. 

"Writer's block with the manuscript?" A voice interrupts me, making me turn slightly to face to the source of the voice asking me the question

Seeing my 'guest, Captain John Hart, stepping out of the other bedroom wearing his fashionable crimson miltary, styled jacket - which is not from the 21st Century and more suited to his style - along with his weapons and other stuff. 

Seeing I'm eying the open bedroom door, he closes it behind him - even though I've caught a brief glimpse of the ruffled bedsheets on the bed, clothes scattered about on the bedroom floor and the scent of strong, sex pheromones lingering in the air. 

"You could say that." I reply to his question.

Internally noting 'From his appearance - the well-coiffed hair, a faint scent of shampoo coating his body covered up by a cologne and a slight limp in his step - this indicates last night he had a good time with the person he brought back' until realise he's right beside me, waiting for me to either move or head down the stairs.

Not wanting to hang around on the landing, I turn myself around to descend the stairs with him following close behind me.

Neither of us say much, though no doubt he's itching to ask questions or wants to tell me some important information. 

Reaching the first-floor hallway leading to the front door on my right and kitchen area towards the back, it's a sudden thunk - Dammit, I thought Cristopf had fixed that dodgy step - forcing me to turn slightly to catch him. 

Though I've underestimated the momentum of his combined weight and mine, along with how I've got a foot placed on the second last step to lean myself up to catch him. 

Causing for both of us to fall straight down onto the hallway wooden polished floor to land with a heavy, muffled combined thud. 

"Javin? Hart? Is everything alright? You're not hurt are you?"

Cristopf, I hear calling out to the both of us lying on the wooden, polished hallway floor from the kitchen area, with a muffled, pained groan of "Fuck, why didn't you say about the step. Goddess, this is embarassing that trip up on it again" coming from John. 

Shifting his body to lift himself up off me so I can either get up myself on my own or he can help me get up off the floor. 

Or would have, it hadn't been for him stiffening in a way he's discovered something, his head lifting up to look down at me - in particular where his face had been buried when he fell into my arms - with unexpected, shocked surprise. 

"Everything's fine, Cristopf. John, just tripped on the dodgy step, again." I reply back to him, realising the other man above me is looking downwards at my heaving chest. 

Realising the special binder, holding my breasts flat against my chest to give the illusion I'm male, must have slightly, loosened to reveal the mounds showing underneath my black shirt 

Exposing a secret about myself - the fact, I was 51st Century human who been born male, but had a female body instead and is hiding the fact from people. 

"Does he know?"  John queries, flicking his eyes up to Cristopf, standing by the kitchen doorway followed by back down to me. 

Cristopf must have sensed both of us need some breathing space, so heads back into the kitchen to finish off cooking the breakfast he'd been making, leaving me and John alone. 

My mind debates on what to say him, opening my mouth to speak only to find I really know what to say to him - What can I say? Tell him the truth? Both of us know I can't trust him - with him giving 'Hmm...' getting up off me, holding out his hand bearing the Vortex Manipulator to me.

Taking hold of his right hand, I allow him to haul myself up the wooden, polished hallway floor onto both of my feet leaving me to compose myself. 

"You realise both of you can't hide for long. Soon this very, sweet peaceful life you've built may become shattered, Javin Boeshane."

John states, the back of his knuckle stroking my right cheekbone lightly to soothe me when visibly flinch at his tone of his voice - it's callous of him.

He's right.....He's right. 

Both of us know it. 

It will happen, this sweet, peaceful life I built with Cristopf will be shattered at some point...

But when? 

Now?

A few weeks time?

In the future?

 When.....will...it happen?

-----------------------------------

Notes:

- Set before Season 1, Episode 2 Day One which will be worked into next chapter. - This chapter deals with more introducing Javin to Captain Jack and the Torchwood Team

-------------------------------------

PART 1 - 'An Ordinary Morning becomes Something Else'

Location - Scotland, Scottish Highlands - Hidden Alien Refuge Village, Hidden Valley - The Boeshane Cottage's Driveway- still Early Morning

"Did John say something to affect you, Javin?"

Cristopf asks, noticing how subdued I'm in not answering his question at first and refusing to look at him because I don't want to admit the truth.

"Just something which irritated me. Nothing to be worried about." I reply to him, unlocking the driver's side to enter the vehicle which use to get to work. Cristopf, wearing his faded jeans, leather jacket and simple, plain green t-shirt underneath steps close to me to place a hand on my waist and other tilt my chin upwards to look at him.

Looking at his gentle, sweet face and those eyes that have seen so many things – Universes forming and dying; life on planets never heard of and so many things that an ordinary human could only imagine – I find myself being pulled into a soothing, reassuring kiss.

Oh, how this reminds me so much of our first kiss we shared.

 I’ve missed this…. Missed his kisses and touch.

For a short time, I become lost in our kissing – lips softly moving against each-other’s and his hands moving to hold me closer to him like he’s afraid to let go of me in case I disappear from him. – until both of us pull back, one hand moving off my waist to stroke my cheekbone lightly with his thumb.

“I better…. umm….head off…” I state to him, breaking the tender moment between us, slipping into the driver’s seat and leaving him to close the driver’s door for me giving a look of ‘Will talk later about this.”

Stepping back to allow me to start the engine, where driving down the gravel driveway look at his reflection in the wingmirror getting smaller and smaller until turn to take the winding road out of the hidden valley to reach the M6.

Due to the trip to get Cardiff taking precisely 9hrs 39 minutes and distance is about 882km, I would have time to mull over stuff that been swirling it’s way around my head during my journey to the city.

-------------------------------

Location – Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay – The Boeshane Bookshop – Mid-Morning

Javin Boeshane’s P.O.V:

Hanging up my leather black great-coat on the wooden coat-hanger, I begin to open my Bookshop called The Boeshane Bookshop by going around checking the light sconces are working – it was old Historic building so the electricity wires still held hints of the past – and the small kitchen behind the counter is well-stocked and finally, stepping out onto the Mermaid Quay overlooking Cardiff Bay to pull the shutters covering the windows up.

Outside people are going about their daily lives: school children heading to school; mothers pushing prams or walking with their child or children; teenagers talking amongst themselves, listening to music or on their phone texting or scrolling through social media.

Un-padlocking the first shutters, I go to push one of them up or would have if it weren’t for someone knocking over me with such impact, I fall onto the pavement seeing a person wearing a blue RAF great over-coat chasing something with another person following close behind them.

“Fuck, bloody idiot. A bit of warning…. next time…” I swear out, trying to haul myself up using the flowerboxes on the window for stabilisation only to cry out when one of my leg’s gives out on me drawing the attention of people passing and two other people.

“I apologise. He’s a bit of a handful.” The medical-type person of the two people helping me up from the pavement to back into my bookshop over to red leather high-backed chair to sit down. A heavy wince forms on my features, bones which have shattered beginning to quickly heal due to my immortal healing factor is kicking in.

“Handful? More like menace. You do know there’s law about running about like that.” I grit out, seeing the woman I’ve overheard being called ‘Gwen’ heading into the kitchen-area behind the bookshop counter to get a glass of water.

“Well, uhhh…..he’s in a hurry…” the medical-type man states, his eyes studiously avoiding looking at me and hiding what he nearly about to say in case his colleague overhears him. “Now, can I see your leg. I need to make sure nothing is broken…What!?....I’m a medically trained professional.”

He begins to protest at me, while tries to check my leg, when I place my hand on his to push it off not wanting him to discover it’s already healed – though albeit still sore.

“It’s fine. I have a partner who can look over it.” I state at him, using the armrests of the red leather high-backed chair to haul myself up seeing how he gets up as well – it seems he only comes up to my chin – with a glare on that harsh, yet vulnerable face – Something happened to him. He shows on his face a haunted look of someone who’s experienced loss of a loved one. – and arms crossing over his chest.

Going to the kitchen-area, the bell above the shop-bell indicates someone else coming in a reflection in an ornate mirror embedded into the wall shows they are an older man wearing a RAF blue or grey greatcoat with a younger man wearing a suit beside them.

“Owen, is everything alright? We lost sight of the Wee….ummm, Pickpocket.” He asks the medical-professional, correcting his sentence when gets an elbow in the ribs by the young man in the suit making ‘Owen’ grumble something under his breath.

“Stubborn patient refusing help you mean.” Owen – He reminds me of her so much, right down to the mannerisms and look – replies, not really answering the question asked by his ‘Boss-man’ who comes up him with the ex-policewoman Gwen, appearing at the doorway of the kitchen-area going to interject with something.

Hmm, interesting team ‘Blue/grey greatcoat’ has brought together. One, stubborn and medically trained and hints may have done the danse macabre; the female Gwen an ex-policewoman by her stature and presence and other looking like he’s some kind of archivist.

Blue/grey greatcoat must have noted I’m taking in his team’s appearance, because he steps in front of the young man in the suit to block him from my line of sight. Pursing my lips, I brush past Gwen to go into the kitchen-area taking the glass of water off her to bring up to my lips to take a sip – one taste telling me what’s been placed in it.

“Next time you try and drug me, use a better memory replacement sedative.” I tell her, seeing how she looks at me with her widened, panicked eyes at my words with myself moving to go over to the sink where go to pour what’s in the glass down the kitchen sink to get rid of the contaminated water.

A hand grabbing hold of my wrist holding it tightly, makes me stiffen at it. I decide not to turn my face to look at the ‘Boss-man’ keeping myself looking at the calendar where important events are dated hearing him commanding one of his teammates.

“Gwen, lock the front door.” Blue/grey greatcoat orders, his hand moving to my trouser pocket for the key it makes me slap it away first, using my other hand to slap him across the face or would of if it hadn’t for his name being called out.

“JACK, LOOK OUT!!?”

My whole body goes completely numb, forcing me to wrench free from ‘Jack’ allowing the glass of water I’ve been holding still to fall onto the polished kitchen-area floor with a tinkling smash I only distantly hear.

It’s not possible!!!? He cannot be!!!? He can’t be…..Jaketh-Javic Piotr Thane, my sibling!!!?

Memories flood into my head, overwhelming me so much it’s like a dam which holds back tonnes of water breaking apart to allow torrent of water to cascade down into the valley below, swamping everything in it’s destructive path.

“Hey, we’re not going to kill you. Listen to me, we’re not going kill you.” A voice breaks through the haze of rushing water, forcing me to lift my head up to look straight at the very concerned face of my sibling, Jack/Jaketh-Javic’s face.

His team-mates who have come into the kitchen area are looking at me with various signs of concern written on their face – one protective; another medically trained and one empathic by the way he’s trembling at the doorway – with Owen, checking my pulse.

I try to speak, but the rush of water within my head begins to get louder again it blocks out everything around me.

My body must be seizing uncontrollably because can distantly feel someone's hands wrapping around me to stop my body thrashing about until finally the distinct prick of a needle silences the water, allowing me to go limp in the arms of the person holding me.

Maybe for the better.

--------------------------------

[something-pithy]

(Quick) Notes and an Update: Come and Knock on My Door...

pictured above: Ascended Astarion before this Tav is like "Nah, bruh, i think this might be toxic OK gotta go bye" 5 Years Later...

Happy Tuesday, my sweet summer children!

And y'all salty ones, too :D

So Chapter 12 is up, and it's deadass over 5000 words of Astarion at different levels of unhinged and Tav at different levels of drunk af.

looool I mean, I had a lot of fun with it.

Quick Notes:

ON THE MF EPILOGUE:

OMG y’all, so Patch 5, amirite?!

Given the nature and content of an echo, a stain, OBVIOUSLY I AM EXCITE. 

A couple of things for the record:

Everything through Chapter 12 of this story was written as published before I saw any type of Ascendant epilogue. 

I don’t have an Ascendant Epilogue of my own to review because though I was in EA from jump and have 1700+ hours in this game (lol michaeljordangetsomehelp.gif), I've only completed one playthrough so far and I definitely failed the constitution check to complete the game with Astarion Ascended (listen, I love writing Ascendant Astarion but at the core of my being I'm here for ProcessingTrauma!Astarion and in the game, that's my SpawnStarion, baby)

My beta watched a video of the Ascendant epilogue and took notes, then gave me a bulleted list an echo, a stain was right about both in the parts that have been published, the parts that are still in progress, and the notes/outline for the rest of the story... loool it's a long list. tl;dr an echo, a stain remains pretty canon-compliant even post-epilogue.

I'm going to stop promising things about what I'm going to write in my notes. I really always do this with the best intentions, but once I drop a chapter, very frequently the day gets away from me because dropping the chapter took longer than I thought and/or I have other things to do.

If you have a specific meta question, don't hesitate to ask! I'm a teacher and a librarian and there's nothing I believe harder than "There are no dumb questions."

Normally I try to put out two new chapters each week, but after I dropped Ch 12 I started working on what was supposed to be Ch 13 and this motherfucker turned out to be 24 pages / 10K words.

I'm going to do my damnedest to get it posted today, but the revision process on this thing is already more involved than usual for a number of reasons. My incredible beta whomst I don't even deserve and I are working hard on figuring out how the MANY different things that happen in those 10K words best go together, best fit into the story, and also fix my Britishisms because during that torrent of word vomit I definitely started slipping into my native New Yorker / New Jerseyan f-bomb city patterns here and there. looool

Aight beautiful people, that's what I've got for now. I actually honestly do have about 2K words on alignment, good vs. evil, how they work (in my opinion) in BG3 and this story that are going to be pretty relevant to the HECKIN CHONKER of stuff that's coming up soon, but... we'll get there when we get there. Have a delicious day!

[withoutyouimsaskia]

Remember Me, Special Dreams

Part IV.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25

GIF: Originally posted by @sic-vita​​

Summary: Self-insert. You're having trouble with recurring night terrors and Morpheus pays you a visit. (Title from the lyrics of Placebo’s Special Needs)

Warnings: language, angst, mentions of night terrors.

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: Hey there, apologies for the delays with this one, I was at a wedding over the weekend. Parasomnia update for this week: I hallucinated that my partner was pouring a tube of 'blue snot' on me! @silverhart93 Thank you for your suggestion of trying lavender and chamomile to help with my sleep problems, I've included them in this chapter too as well as my own bedtime routine <3

Sandman Masterlist

---------------

The dream that Morpheus chose for you was close to perfection.

In fact, the only thing that would have pushed the dream from an A grade to an A* would have been if the Dream King himself was there with you. You had a myriad of things you wanted to know more about and only his input could satiate that desire.

You find yourself in a space that is the epitome of cosiness and safety.

The walls are painted in a pale sage green hue. Botanical prints adorn the calming background, the watercolour medium both soft and intricate.

A stack of logs smoulder in the hearth, producing a delightful warmth and a soothing crackle.

The scents of lavender and chamomile float in the air, emitted from a candle that sits on the stone base of the fireplace.

You find an abundance of blankets and cushions and pillows in a trunk positioned behind the sofa. You excitedly run your hands over them, disturbing a clean fragrance as you do so. 

You select a number of items and begin to enhance the already inviting sofa. From the moment you sink into its embrace, you decide that this is the closest you will ever get to sitting on a cloud.

You roll on your side, pulling a grey blanket closer to your body. Fingertips trail across the knitted surface; the tactile sensation makes you sigh contentedly.

There’s a mug of something on the coffee table next to you. You pick up the light blue coloured earthenware receptacle and sip tentatively at the steaming liquid. Your favourite type of tea lights up your taste buds, you hum happily and drink more before lying back on the meticulously arranged cushions.

In your reclined position, you can see the charming exposed beams of the cottage’s ceilings. The wood is warm in colour, a mirror to the warm beverage-induced pink flush you feel in your cheeks.

It starts to rain outside. A fine drizzle at first, progressing into a steady patter. It has always been one of your most-loved sounds and you would often wish for its lullaby when sleep evaded you, even in childhood.

After finishing your drink, you stand up and stretch. You wander over to the window and peer through one of the panes. Raindrops streak down the glass, their impacts sounding even more calming now that you are closer to the source.

Beyond the tiny rivers on the windows, there are rolling hills. They stretch out as far as your eyes can see with a carpet of emerald green.

You return to your sofa nook and discover a newly materialised bowl of dried fruit and nuts, and a stack of books. The volume from the mountain dream tops the pile. Your initial reaction is an amused smirk; your request to have it returned has actually been fulfilled. Your emotions then turn to down a more mushy avenue.

Morpheus had done all this for you.

His attention to detail was truly impressive. There was something to stimulate every sense. Essentials to take care of your basic human needs. New additions to the space to keep your interest piqued. The dream had you completely encapsulated.

You flick through the book to find the right page and read in contentment for hours, grazing on the snacks and enjoying the sound of the storm.

At one point, out the corner of your eye, you see movement through the window. A brief second passes where you are certain that it is Morpheus. But by the time you have turned your head to properly check, there is nothing there.

Your thoughts rest on him for a while. The way he had described your nightmares as a plague, the expression on his face as he admitted that he did not know their cause; he was clearly concerned. 

It sounded as if he believed there to be something wrong with the mechanics of your dreamscapes. You were unconvinced. The voice in the back of your head said your subconscious was punishing you for your actions in the waking world and there was nothing to be done about it.

You guess you would find out soon enough though.

When you wake, you feel less spaced out and fuzzy. Clearly some cerebral repair had been achieved.

You reach for the phone on your bedside table.

10:37am.

You laugh, you haven't slept in this late since your teenage growth spurt days. It is such a relief to you that it is a Saturday; there is no way you could use a call from the King of Dreams as an excuse for being late to work.

The sunlit portion of your day is quiet. You eat, you clean, you go for a walk and you think about Morpheus.

You realise then that he has totally enraptured you.

The closer you get to bedtime, the more restless you become because you long to see him. Yet, you begin to doubt whether he is all in your head again. And if he isn’t real, then the thought of confronting your nightmares alone once more causes dread to blend into your anticipation.

When the shadows start to stretch with the evening sun, you go to your desk and start up your laptop to find some distraction and also to prove his existence. 

The white pixels of the search engine’s background glare painfully, and you quickly turn down the brightness.

You input his name into the box and press enter.

Greek mythology tops the list of hits and Laurence Fishburne comes in second. Aside from a sudden urge to re-watch The Matrix, you gain nothing from your search.

You change your keyword to Sandman and try again.

You scroll for a while but are disappointed once more. It only tells you what he had already alluded to; The Sandman was a Scandinavian fairytale said to sprinkle sand into the eyes of children to bring sleep. It was strange to think they were not too far off with their stories. You believed yourself to be a recipient of the sand, although it was less a sprinkle and more of an assault. 

There is nothing even remotely related to real world encounters with an otherworldly man visiting people in their bedrooms and dreams.

You are crestfallen at your failure; the feeling escapes you in a short, sharp huff.

You look back to the webpage. You spy some video links to songs.

The Chordettes’ ‘Mr Sandman’ and Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ are the most viewed. You had always found the first offering very creepy so you click on the second one, nodding your head along to the supremely catchy intro.

You bring up the lyrics to read.

“I tuck you in, warm within. Keep you free from sin. Till the Sandman he comes.”

“When are you coming, Mr Sandman?” You whisper out loud.

You let the song play out before the shutting down the laptop.

After changing into some pyjamas with a bit more coverage than the previous night, you go downstairs to wait.

He appears in your peripheral vision at 10.54pm.

Your heart leaps. He is real. And he’s looking at you intensely.

"You are not in your bed."

You try to look innocent. “Couldn’t switch off.”

"I see."

You fumble for a change of subject.

"How was the rest of your night?"

You internally curse at your mundane choice of question. You are talking to a literal King after all. However, the inquiry clearly does not bother him, his face remains unchanged.

"It was productive."

"Good." You nod with a small smile.

"I trust that you feel better now, compared to when we last spoke."

“I do. It was a beautiful dream. I really appreciate it.”

There’s a momentary light dancing in his eyes at your positive review.

“What made you choose to send me there?” You ask inquisitively.

“I looked into your previous dreams and selected and compiled elements from those that brought you peace.”

You felt your stomach lurch.

"You can see the dreams that I've had?" You asked anxiously.

"And nightmares."

Your mind is squirming at the thought and it must have shown on your features for Morpheus responds in a reassuring tone.

“There is no need to feel uncomfortable. I have access to the dreaming states of every being that has ever lived on this plane. I can assure you that there is little that could shock me.”

“That might be the case but it's still a little embarrassing...”

He lets you shake your discomfort away before he speaks again.

“Shall we go to your bedroom?”

You laugh loudly. His face is blank, juxtaposing your amusement.

“I'm usually the kind of person who needs to get to know someone a lot better before I agree to that but sure, let's do this.”

Somehow, his face becomes even more impassive.

“Sorry, I tend to use humour when I'm feeling awkward... I don't know if that had come across.”

“I had noticed,” his voice is dripping with deadpan.

“Oh good, I’m pleased that we’re on the same page,” you tease as you stand up and head towards the living room door.

There’s a smidgen of a smirk on his face as you turn back to look at him.

"Just to be clear, I know you weren’t propositioning me back there.”

“I know.”

“Okay. Cool. Umm, shall we?” You trail off, looking through the doorway into the hall.

“After you,” he says, gesturing with a formal movement of his hand.

---------------

"When the worrying starts to hurt and the world feels like graves of dirt. Just close your eyes until you can imagine this place, or secret space at will."

Taglist: @pinkcyclewitch @layla2-49 @shoidy-cat @silverhart93 @boofy1998 @dotieeee

[spookyspecterino]

The Slaughter of a Lamb

Chapter Six: Surrounded by Diesels

Tangerine x F! Reader

Word Count: 5.9K

Series Masterlist

SFW; Fighting, mentions of death, injury, drugging, slow burn, language.

With their available sources of information dwindling, Lemon and Tangerine don't have many people left that they can turn to. So, they schedule a lunch with an unlikely ally.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the gap between updates! I'm moving into a new apartment due to some life stuff and it's turning into a nightmare. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I will try to post the next one soon! Love you all!

----------

It really was a complicated affair trying to tell the head of a criminal family that one of her most important lieutenants was found dead, and in the boss’s own car no less. Lemon did his best to comfort Mother Vati’s assistant while Tangerine went and found someone—anyone that could help them. And while he found someone, that person soon had to go find someone else, because they surely had no clue how to handle the situation.

That continued on for about 30 minutes, all while the priest was leading prayers and giving sermons about the importance of life. By the time other high-ranking members were pulled away to the scene of Piestra’s body, the funeral was almost over. The general consensus was to let it finish before anyone spoke a word to Mother Vati. What wasn’t said aloud, was that no one wanted to be the one to inform her.

Tangerine wished nothing more than to leave, but with 10 or so people standing around him he got the impression that neither he nor Lemon were going anywhere anytime soon.

When Mother Vati was finally informed, she was there within seconds and the throng of people around Tangerine and Lemon parted for her. She marched up to her car to assess the situation, barked a few orders to remove Piestra’s body and to search the grounds for evidence. By the time she called the twins over, she was standing with her hands on her hips, staring at the ground with a barely contained anger. Being near her reminded Tangerine of the electricity in the air right before a nasty storm.

“How is it…,” she spoke slowly, as if she were addressing children, “that not only do you two manage to let Fox get away each time, but also fail to catch her before she kills someone?” Her eyes flicker toward Tangerine’s necklace, and they almost bulge out of their sockets. Seething, she hisses, “You even got your little necklace back, how interesting.”

Lemon moves like he’s about to defend his brother, but Tangerine puts a hand on his chest with a stern face. There really wasn’t an excuse for how poorly they’ve been doing. It’s embarrassing really.

Mother Vati continues on, gesturing wildly. “I am not pleased that I have to be dealing with this in the middle of my Lamb’s funeral. I put you in a position to do your jobs—you fail. I give you space, like you asked—and you still fail!” She throws her arms up. “Did I hire professionals?”

It was hard to meet her eyes, but Tangerine forced himself to hold them as he spoke. “Yes, you did. We’re doing everything we can.”

She points a finger at them, lips pressing together in a thin line. “You’re very lucky that I don’t have many other options. Or I would have you spending the rest of your careers searching for work in chat rooms on the dark web!”

To Tangerine, the woman before them is very different than the woman accepting condolences next to her daughter’s casket, and leagues different than the woman the twins had originally seen in the online meeting. It was like entirely different people. She may have been the best example for the type of person Lemon would label as a Diesel.

Mother Vati straightened to her full height, squaring her shoulders. “You are walking on very thin ice, gentlemen. I do not want to see you or hear from you unless you have made significant progress. Do not let her get away again or there will be consequences.” Without another word, she spun around and marched back toward the procession, a long line of people shuffled behind her.

Lemon mumbled under his breath. “Hm, that could have gone better…”

The ride back to their flat was silent. Each brother caught up in their own thoughts about the day. Mother Vati’s scolding lecture was insulting, but expected. And, quite frankly, they deserved it. Poor marks all around and they knew they could do better—their shoddy performance made them feel like young armatures again.

But that wasn’t what lingered for Tangerine. He felt more affected than he would like to admit from seeing Piestra’s body in the back seat. The idea of Fox being there, right under their noses—perhaps even watching them, made his stomach twist in a sort of giddy excitement. Which made entirely no sense to him.

And his necklace, left precisely where he would find it; in their own car… no big display or fight, nothing. It was almost as if she didn’t want that to be a part of Piestra’s murder. A small thing, just for him to see. It was as intentional as placing Piestra’s body in Mother Vati’s car for her to find. But, for the life of him, Tangerine couldn’t see the act as a taunt. He saw it more as a surrender, an apology. Keeping the necklace would make it a prize; giving it up was an admittance of some kind. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.

He looks up at the sky, deep in thought, to see the faint outline of the moon. And he’s suddenly struck with the idea that Fox is out there, somewhere, looking up and seeing the same thing.

The city falls into a lull as the evening rush dies out and everyone settles down to relax from the day; many decide on what they want to eat, or make plans to go out. All things considered, it’s a beautiful evening. It’s almost a shame when they drive into the private parking garage for their apartment complex. The abrupt change from gentle evening light to stark florescent bulbs puts a bad taste in Tangerine’s mouth as his thoughts are interrupted and he can no longer see the moon.

As they exit and walk inside the building and through the lobby, Lemon notices his brother’s gloomy expression and slumped shoulders, he speaks up in an attempt to get them refocused. “What should we do now?”

Tangerine’s jaw flexes a few times, considering their options carefully. “Now that Piestra is—” He stops, and lowers his voice as they pass by a cleaning lady, she puts bottles of chemicals away on her cart. “Now that Piestra isn’t around anymore… I’m not sure we can trust anyone else from the Family.”

The button for the elevator clicks as Lemon pushes it. Silver doors at the back of the lobby slide open with a ding. Once they close, Lemon resumes the conversation. “Not Tim and Tom?”

“I suppose their trustworthy, but how much do they know?”

“Fair point.”

. . .

“Try calling again.”

“She’s not going to answer just because we keep calling her, mate.”

Tangerine rubs his forehead, lines deepening as he frowns harder. His breakfast sits untouched on the kitchen counter beside him. “Is it because we haven’t paid her yet?”

Lemon shook his head. “We’ve run up worse tabs. If I know Momo, she’d answer just to lecture us about it.”

“You’re right. Bollocks, this isn’t good.”

Lemon pushes his bacon around the plate as he stares down at his phone. “You think somethings happened?”

“I don’t know.” Tangerine pauses, pushing the plate away; appetite lost. “We’ll have to find another source of information.”

Both men are quiet as they considered their options. Lemon made a face and glanced at his brother.

“What? You’ve got a look, what is it?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Spit it out Lemon.”

“I know of a particular source, sort-of on the inside, that could help us out. He’s even saved one of our lives.”

“No. You know how much I hate him.”

Lemon leaned on the counter, leveling himself with Tangerine. “We don’t have to do anything more than invite him to have lunch, ask him a few questions, and that’s it.” He brushes his hands together as if they’ve already completed the task. “Then we can go our merry ways.”

When Tangerine’s expression remains sulking, Lemon straightens. “Unless you’ve got a better idea?”

“…I don’t, no.”

“Well then, I’ll give him a call and we can meet for lunch.”

. . .

The little pub they met in was small and out of the way, much like Lemon’s favorite place to eat, except it served hard liquor any time after 12pm. It was your typical sports pub, TVs above the bar showed different matches and highlights from the past week, all muted, and casting blues and greens into the surrounding dimly lit space.

One TV, in the very corner, showed a press conference with the city’s mayor. The cycling text at the bottom read: “Generous donation pushes city council to completely demolish re-development area”. Reading the scrolling text made both men glower; Tangerine scoffed so hard that the bartender looked up from the glass she was cleaning. He took the opportunity to wave her down and order something.

Whiskey was right on time, arriving to the bar dressed casually in a black leather jacket and jeans. His arm had recovered from the fight with Fox, there wasn’t even a sling or anything indicating that he was once hurt. Striding in, he flashed the bartender a bright white smile as he made his way to the twin’s table.

Tangerine grumbled into his pitcher as he caught sight of the man. He’d made an agreement that Lemon would do most of the talking, since this was his blasted idea. The plan was to ask him about his history with the Family and see how involved he really was in this job. Lemon, in particular, wanted to ask some digging questions and see how the man reacted.

Sitting across from the twins, Whiskey flashed them the same bright smile that he gave the waitress. “Fellas.”

Lemon greeted the man with a polite smile that Tangerine did not share. “Your arm looks to be doing much better.”

Whiskey looked down at it with a roll of his shoulder. “It was only dislocated. A day later and I was up and ‘attem again.”

A few seconds later and the bar tender was coming over to take his drink order. After she had gone, Whiskey gave them a curious look; Tangerine wasn’t sure if it was real or not. “You know I don’t think I caught your names the last time we met.”

Lemon gave him a pleasant smile and pointed to himself. “I’m Lemon, this is my brother…”

“Tangerine.”

Whiskey leaned forward a little, a light smile played on his lips. “Those your real names?”

The eyes of both brothers narrowed on instinct, but Lemon was faster to quip back, “Is Whiskey your real name?”

He didn’t respond for a moment, the look in his eyes changed to something unreadable. Before the air became tense, he leaned back with a laugh. “Fair enough.” He folded his hands on the table. “So, what’s our little date about?”

Scooting forward, Lemon glanced at his brother before starting. “We have some questions for you.”

Whiskey gives a knowing smile—just bordering on a smirk, lips twitching upward. “What kind of questions?”

“General things, for curiosity’s sake. We’d also like to know about Fox, and what Mother Vati is currently up to.”

Whiskey’s eyes draw a slow line over the brothers, looking smug. “She cut you off huh? No more special treatment…Well, you know what they say—curiosity killed the cat.” Tangerine opened his mouth to challenge him, the man’s words may not have seemed it, but they implied a threat. A hand raised to cut him off as Whiskey chuckled. “I’m only jokin’. Ask away, boys.”

Tangerine simmers. Whiskey’s smile could drive him to smash his head through a brick wall. Lemon, on the other hand doesn’t seem to mind a bit. “Have you worked with Mother Vati before?”

“Yes and no. Just a few odd jobs here and there, stuff that the lower ranks didn’t want to do. I wouldn’t necessarily say Mother Vati knew about them.” He gave Lemon and Tangerine a wink. “But that can be our little secret.”

Lemon’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he picked up from his last question without hesitation. “You said you were from the next city over, how often do you make the trip here?”

Whiskey’s eyes wander around the room as he thinks. “Pretty often, I’d say.”

“Why?”

“The big city has more work opportunities; you know what I mean?”

“No work for you in your own city? The Locke Family is there, they must give out opportunities.”

There’s a glint in Whiskey’s eyes. “You obviously don’t know Garrett Lanton at all. The man won’t hire anyone that doesn’t match his particular style.”

“What does that mean—his ‘style’?”

“Flashy, self-assured, and good at fighting and killing.”

Tangerine smiled thinly. “That pretty much fits you to a T, doesn’t it? And you were damn close to getting Fox without a problem, even when she had a gun.”

The mention of Fox’s weapon acts as a reminder of the cool metal that’s currently pressed into his back, tucked in his belt. It threatens to distract him with thoughts and memories of her.

Laughing, Whiskey spoke casually. “Heard that Fox is a terrible shot and I took the gamble. And when it comes to fighting,” he grinned, “I’m just better. Assume whatever you want, but the fact that I’m here and not with Lanton pretty much speaks for itself, don’t ya think?”

Lemon taps the table with a finger—thinking, and is about to ask something when the bar tender comes over with Whiskey’s drink. He takes a few sips and holds the pitcher in his hands.

Taking advantage of the break in conversation, Tangerine leans forward and asks his own question. “You ever see Fox before you took this job?”

The man’s eyes seem to light up as he looks at Tangerine. “Few times, but we never had any official business together.”

The way Whiskey said ‘official’ sounded like there was a hidden meaning in the word—implied history, and it pissed Tangerine off. He decided to keep prying. “Ever have a conversation with her?”

“Once or twice. Nothing too in depth. She was always busy, no time to chat. Which is honestly a shame, she’s real prett—”

Lemon cleared his throat to cut him off, he could see the small vein on the side of Tangerine’s head starting to pulse. “Let’s talk about Lamb. You said you were doing the job for her, what’s your reason?”

Whiskey took a long sip, eyes never leaving Tangerine. When he set it down he leaned back and crossed his legs; he looked completely comfortable, even with a testy contract killer less than two feet away from him. “This is starting to feel like an interrogation and not like a fun little lunch date.”

“Nobody said it was going to be fun, mate.” Tangerine grumbled, fingers tracing along the glass of his drink.

“Well, I have to ask—what do I get for all this info?” Before Lemon or Tangerine could answer he held up a finger. “Oh, I know. I get to ask you some questions. That sounds like a fair trade.” His smile was laced with something unreadable, something challenging.

Tangerine was going to say no, but Lemon agreed with the caveat that they don’t know a whole lot. That was good enough for Whiskey whose eyes lit up once again. He ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. “My first question is, why are you two still on this job?”

Lemon answered instinctually, “Money.” But Tangerine kept silent, sipping his drink and letting his brother speak for him.

Whiskey nodded as if he understood while he studied Tangerine closely with a glint in his eye. “Why’s Fox got a crush on you?”

Tangerine sputtered on his drink. Wiping his mustache with a hand he fixed the man with a scorching look. “Beg your fucking pardon?”

That got a laugh out of Whiskey. “Relax, I’m only trying to figure out why she’s been letting you live this long.”

“You came in and stopped her from killing me, mate.”

“Sure, but she could have finished the job at Lamb’s funeral. She didn’t.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Heard about Piestra’s death from a few different folks. Lotta people at that funeral, yet nobody saw Fox at all.” His eyes glanced to Tangerine’s necklace. “She chose to leave you be. Curious isn’t it?”

Tangerine decided to sip on his drink and let Lemon answer for him. “We’re not sure what her motivations are. We thought she’d be too injured to do anything, but she proved us wrong.” He echoed the words of Hagnam with a distant voice. “She’s always five steps ahead.”

“Think she’s following you?”

“Don’t see how she could be, everyone in the city is looking for her.”

Tangerine chimed in gruffly, “And, we’d spot her—we’ve been doing this kind of work for years. We can tell when we’re being followed.”

Whiskey nodded, expression turning contemplative as he fell silent.

Sitting forward, Lemon repeated his question from earlier. “What’s your motivation behind bidding on the contract?”

“That poor little girl. She didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“Who was she to you?”

“No one, but it’s a sad story don’t you think? I often wonder, is there a ‘Mr. Vati’?”

Tangerine huffed dryly. “Didn’t get the impression she needed one.”

“Oh of course, of course. I just think it’s all very interesting.”

Lemon took a deep breath; he was getting the distinct feeling that Whiskey was toying with them now. “What is?”

“How she keeps having all these kids.”

Tangerine opens his mouth to answer that the woman can have children with whoever she wants, but the phrasing makes him pause. “What do you mean?”

“She had another kid, ‘bout 4 ½ years ago. Same name, but it was a little boy. Never did find out what happened to that one. Everybody just…swept it under the rug.”

Lemon’s answer was carefully weighted. “If you know something, say it and spare us the games, mate.”

“Hey, we’re on the same team here. That’s all I know—I’m not in the Vati Family, I don’t get access to all the little gossip circles.” His lips were curling up ever so slightly.

Now he was starting to piss Lemon off, fingers tightening around his drink. “What is it with this city being full of nothing but Diesels…”

Whiskey sat forward as if he didn’t hear him properly. “S’cuse me?”

“Nothing. What is Mother Vati having you do now? Are there any leads on Fox?”

Whiskey shakes his head. “She’s elusive, disappears into thin air. Mother Vati doesn’t want anything from me unless it’s concrete, and I haven’t seen hide nor tail of Fox since that morning on the roof.”

He sits forward like he’s about to ask something, but Lemon is moving to stand. Tangerine is surprised at the abrupt ending, but wastes no time in rising with his brother.

Lemon throws down some money onto the table. “Alright, mate. We appreciate you meeting with us. Don’t worry about your drink, we’ve got it. Enjoy your day.”

The smirk on Whiskey’s face sours only for a fraction of a second before it turns carefully neutral and he leans back to raise his glass to the brothers. “Much appreciated. See ya ‘round.”

The twins don’t offer a response as they leave, pushing open the door and walking into the bright sunlight. Lemon’s foul mood matched Tangerine’s as he sped down the sidewalk, shoving his hands into his pockets. “That was a mistake. Bastard was leading us in circles and smirking the entire time. Fuck me, what a Diesel.”

Tangerine brought out his cigarettes, snapping open the golden case. Lighting one with the clink of his lighter he spoke through pinched lips. “You think he was telling us the truth about anything?”

“No clue. Do me a favor, when we get in the car try giving Momo a ring one more time. If she doesn’t answer we’ll swing by her shop.”

. . .

This time she answered on the very last ring, her voice was raspy and haggard sounding. “Boys! I’ve been meaning to call you! A lot has happened!”

Tangerine was about to ask what was wrong—she sounded quite frantic, but she spoke so fast there was no room to get a word in. “Listen, my shop has been broken into. I wasn’t there when it happened and I’m fine, but the ruffians trashed the place. It was a warning, nothing was taken. Now I—”

Lemon was shouting in an attempt to interrupt her, hands tightening around the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. “Momo! Momo, who did this?! Point us in a direction and we’ll kill ‘em for you!”

Momo’s voice crackled through the phone’s speaker. “No, no! That’s too much fuss over little ol’ me. It was the Vati Family—no doubt about it. It’s just what I get for being careless with an insider source—not that I had any idea she would go and get herself killed.”

Tangerine shot Lemon a look and mouthed ‘Piestra?’. Lemon raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

Momo, unaware, continued on. “What you could do, is forward some money my way. I want to be drinking margaritas on the beach while the city sorts itself out.”

“Of course Momo, I’ll transfer you everything as soon as we hang up. Are you somewhere safe right now?”

“Sure am, but do me a favor and don’t go anywhere near my shop. I don’t want to be worrying over you while I’m on my paid vacation.” She practically cackles the last part then pauses. “Actually, why don’t you boys come with me? We can all wash our hands of this mess.”

Tangerine can see Lemon glance at him in his peripheral vision, but he doesn’t return the look. Speaking for both of them, “Thanks Momo, but I think we’re in a little too deep to be stepping out now.”

Clicking her tongue, she’s obviously disappointed. “How many times do I have to tell you that money isn’t everything.” She gives a huff and Tangerine can imagine her shaking her head at him. “Alright, just watch out for one another. The beehives’ been kicked. And do an old gal a favor—when this is all over, let me know that you’re both ok.”

“Sure thing, Momo. Enjoy the beach.”

“Stay safe you two. Tangerine, watch out for your brother!” There was a beep and she was gone.

Silence filled the car as they neared the parking garage for their apartment. Tangerine wasted no time in sending Momo the money they owed, with a little extra for her shop. Without her around, both brothers felt more vulnerable.

Lemon broke the heavy silence first. “Why didn’t you agree to go with her? We could have left this mess behind.”

Tangerine figured this was coming and he had a response already thought out, he just wasn’t sure if it was the truth. “Like I said, bruv. We’re in too deep. You really think Mother Vati is going to let us walk away from this after everything? If she wanted us gone she would have sent us away ages ago, or worse.”

“Not so sure about that.”

“We could leave, but I don’t fancy watching my back every second while on a beach. Plus, if they came after us, we’d be putting Momo at risk and she’s already been through enough.”

That seemed to hit home for Lemon as he bristled. “Can’t believe those fuckers broke into her shop. All for trading info with Piestra.”

“The Mob takes their personal affairs very seriously. Momo’s not an idiot, she understood the risks of working with someone deep inside the organization. Let’s just be thankful that she wasn’t there when it happened.”

“I swear, they’re going to pay for this.”

As they parked the car and entered their building Tangerine changed the subject. “So, Mother Vati had another kid with the same name. Have any clue as to why?”

“Haven’t figured it out yet. Using the same name over again, that’s got to mean something, right?”

“Definitely. I’m thinking, that when we get to the flat I’m going to do some research into the tourist business here in our city. Maybe I can find a few leads. At the very least we could go and scope out the areas and see if Fox is prowling around.”

As they got into the elevator Lemon groaned. “I hate the tourist district. They take too many pictures and then turn around to complain. ‘The city smells’ or ‘the smog is too thick’, well why’d you choose this fucking city as your vacation spot, you tosser.”

Lemon continues his rambling complaints as they go down the hallway, passing by another cleaning lady who was facing away from them and bent over her cart of supplies. Tangerine eyed her, thinking they must have hired someone new, because this one was taller than the other and, usually, she would have been done cleaning this floor by now.

But the thought was whisked away as they entered into their apartment. Tangerine tossed the keys onto the counter and moved to take off his suit jacket, hanging it neatly in the side closet by the door. Lemon mumbled something about going to the loo and disappeared around the corner.

A few moments later there was a knock on the door. Frowning, Tangerine paused, they don’t usually get visitors. Looking through the peep hole in the door, he saw the cleaning lady outside, facing her cart and shuffling things around.

Tangerine was in the middle of rolling his eyes as he opened the door, sounding quite irritated to be disturbed. “Thank you, but we don’t need cleaning services. And while you’re at it, please take our flat off your list—”

When she turned toward him, she gripped something slim and sharp in her hands. The glint of a needle caught Tangerine’s attention. His head darts up and meets the eyes he’s been seeing in his dreams every night looking back at him.

Fox’s hand whips toward his neck and he’s just fast enough to catch her arm, halting her before a needle makes contact with his neck. She presses forward, pushing him back through the door and into the entryway. He slams into a wall with a grunt. Her eyes flash to meet his as her breathing becomes labored. It must have taken all of her body weight and strength to move him. Tangerine shoves her away, creating some distance, and shouts Lemon’s name as he reaches for the gun in his belt.

Lunging for him again, Fox stops him from pulling out the gun and pins his hand down. She isn’t that strong and Tangerine fights back. He elbows her ribs, hoping it was the same side as her injury, and finds he was right as she sucks in a harsh breath. Fox tries to retreat, but he flips her around and pins her against the wall with his body. Her hand holding the syringe comes up and he grabs it. In a last attempt effort, she tries to knee him in the groin, but he twists and blocks with his thigh. He can tell she’s quickly losing steam, beads of sweat dot her forehead and neck.

Tangerine forgoes trying to pull out his gun as he closes his fist around her throat. She looks back at him with gritted teeth and he can’t help but smirk; he’s not even winded. Taking a moment, he looks over her, she’s not even trying to struggle anymore. There’s a blooming patch of red on her side.

He tuts, edges of his mustache curling. “I’d hate for you to bloody up the walls, but if you think I’m going to go easy on a feisty little thing such as yourself...well, I’m not making that mistake again.”

Fox’s face twists into one of those grins and she makes a few strangled noises that Tangerine can only guess are attempts at laughter.

His eyes find the syringe in her hand, he raises an eyebrow at her. “Hm, and what were you going to do with that, love?”

Something flashes through her eyes and she makes a choking noise as if she wants to say something. This causes Tangerine to move in a little, hot breath fanning across her face as he teases. “Sorry, what was that? You’ll have to speak up.”

There’s a commotion down the hall as Lemon rushes out into the living room to take in the scene. “Holy shit! You alright Tangerine?”

He laughs as he sees Fox blink at him. “Yeah, Lemon. Just fine. Little minx tried to—”

Tangerine was cut off as she successfully kneed him in the groin and he doubled over in pain. Moving as fast as she could, Fox swings the syringe forward and the needle sinks into the base of his neck, right above his collar bone, with a solid thunk.

Lemon shouts as Tangerine stumbles back, hitting the opposite wall, clutching at the syringe and pulling it out. He makes an attempt to grab at something and right himself, but whatever was in his system was dragging him down and making his limbs too heavy to move as he slid to the floor.

Fox whirls around and starts throwing whatever she can reach at Lemon as one hand clutches her side. Vases, pots, pans, anything they left out on the counter from earlier that day. She picks up an iron cast skillet and rushes toward him, but Lemon pulls his gun before she gets close. Glancing at Tangerine he shouts at Fox to stop, and she does, backing away from the gun now pointed at her.

They’re both breathing hard. A few feet away, behind Fox, Tangerine’s eyes are wide as the drugs slowly take effect. He blinks furiously and looks around trying to keep his bearings.

“Stop! Stop right there or I’ll blow your fucking kneecaps out!” Lemon shouts, both hands holding his gun. “What’d you do to my brother?!”

Fox speaks slowly and calmly. “It’s just a sedative.”

After another glance at Tangerine, and judging that she’s telling the truth, Lemon’s mouth works from side to side. “Before I shoot you—don’t worry, it won’t be fatal—I want you to look at something for me.”

He ruffles through his pockets with one hand. Fox shifts her body weight to the other foot. She looks as if she’s going to try and shuffle closer before Lemon brings out the slightly crumpled photo of Lamb. Fox’s expression softens. The hard look in her eyes disappears, turning into something close to adoration—even her stance relaxes.

Lemon watches with a sort of fascination as he asks, “Why’d you kill her?”

Her eyes dart to his and then away, lips thinning into a line as she takes a step back like she’s retreating. Next to her feet, Tangerine sprawls and kicks at her weakly with a numb foot; he’s quickly losing feeling in his limbs. Fox doesn’t even acknowledge it.

Lemon holds out the photograph, pushing it closer, and asks again. “A little girl—an absolute angel, why’d you do it?”

But it seemed that Fox wasn’t going to talk as her eyes darted around the room, ignoring him and looking for an advantage. She gripped the skillet with white knuckles. Lemon changed tactics. “And what about Piestra? Not hours before her death, she called you her friend!”

This time Fox flinched at the mention of her old captain. Her words came out seething as she worked to control herself. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Taking a step forward, Lemon set his jaw. “Piestra told us all about you, Fox. You took her in under your wing, made her into something formidable, just to turn around and kill her. And Lamb? You were close to her too, right? Watched her for Mother Vati—protected her. Did you kill her previous kid too, from 4 ½ years ago?”

Fox, for the first time, looked as if she was suddenly unsure, startled and shaken. Her voice rose with a sudden anger. “How do you know about that? Who told you about that?!”

 Lemon took another step closer. “So, it’s true then, you’re a ruthless child killer.” He shakes his head at her. “How do you fucking sleep at night?”

After studying him for a moment, Fox’s face suddenly twists into a sneer. Lemon thought it looked odd, not quite right. Her voice came out with a force behind it. “Yeah, I killed them. And you know what else,” she raised her chin, “if I had my way, I would’ve killed your brother on that roof.”

That really set Lemon off and he tossed Lamb’s photo onto the counter to hold his gun properly, taking another couple of steps forward. Fox grinned, confidence returning as she sensed a nerve had been struck. “What would you have done when you found him? Cry—wail for Victoria to help you? I’d love to see your face when all she did was laugh.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Her grin widened. “It would haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“I said shut the fuck up!”

Lemon was within two paces of her now and he made an attempt to grab at the skillet or push it out of the way as Fox held it up between her and the gun. She inched it to the side, just out of his reach and took a half step back. As Lemon followed, and tried to grab at it again, she pressed into the wall.

She had pressed herself back into the light switch and flicked the lights on and off in a rapid fashion. Lemon’s attention went up for a split second and Fox swung the skillet into the gun, knocking it out of his hand. Flicking the lights off and leaving them in the dark, Fox swung again and Lemon felt iron connect to his temple just before everything went black. There was a slump as his body hit the floor.

Fox flipped the lights back on. Tangerine, who was seeing double and struggling to stay conscious, saw Lemon on the floor and he tried to choke out a few words. That was the only thing he could do as his body shut down; he felt cold—like he was slipping into an ice bath.

Walking over and pulling Tangerine forward, Fox grabbed the gun from his belt. When she saw it was hers, she glanced at him and smiled faintly. He watched as she went up to Lemon and pointed the barrel at him.

Cold panic, colder than he currently felt, set in—buzzing through him. Tangerine’s nostrils flared and he really had to fight as he grunted, attempting to howl and thrash. The world tilted and he felt a wave of nausea. The only thing that moved were his legs, and only for a few spasming, jerking motions, but it was enough to grab Fox’s attention. She looked at him curiously, head tilting to the side as she watched him fight against the drugs with everything he had. Keeping her eyes on him, she slowly lowered the gun and placed it on their coffee table.

Slumping over with a huff and breathing hard, the corners of Tangerine’s vision was going black, creeping in, leaving only a shrinking window of sight. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was Fox pick up Lamb’s photo and tuck it into her pocket.

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[springsaladgaming]

a better-late-than-never check-in

Hey all! Long time no speak!

I know it's been a minute. Work was busy, and then it wasn't but I was on vacation, and then the Doom in my brain was pretty bad, and when that was a little better, the covid finally got me after managing to avoid it since the start. It was also the first time I'd been sick in five years, so that kind of sucked. I still have a cough from it, and unfortunately I don't think that's going away any time soon.

(Honestly, the worst part is that I like to sing in my car, but my voice is still shot since the cough has stuck around, so I can't really do that right now.)

I'm still working on the updated Chapter 3. I was fretting over how to stitch in the new additions to the opening of the chapter, thinking that was going to be the hard part. But no, it turns out the hardest part so far has been the variables!

I forgot exactly how many variations I put in the original version of the chapter, and because of the changes to the personality variables in the Twine version of the game, I'm having to completely restructure all those variations right down to how the numbers are measured. In the CScript version, I used the fairmath system and so I was able to code if statements by way of percentages. Additionally, the personality stats were opposing pairs, so timid and assertive, for example, were measured by the same variable with different percentages. But I've been using flat numbers in the Twine version and none of the original variables share numbers with any of the others (though some of the new ones do).

To make matters worse, I had a document to keep track of the total number of points possible in each stat (for the Twine version) so that I had a better idea about how to decide on conditional thresholds, but I can't find that document at the moment, so I have to go back through the Twine document and make note of those again.

All this is to say, if I were a more organized person, I probably would be having fewer problems, but it also doesn't help that I'm traveling around town so frequently that I have to switch between computers a lot, so some vital documents might not be saved on both. I've been slowly trying to fix that problem by backing stuff up to a drive, but sometimes I don't know that I need a thing until it comes up, and then I just don't have it with me. (Also, sometimes I write stuff down on paper with the intention to type it up later and then I forget because my brain cannot be trusted.)

But it's coming along! I'm back to a point where I feel like I can work again without it feeling like an impossible hurdle, so that's nice. I'll keep you posted on the progress as I move along. Because of how big the updated version of the chapter is going to be compared to the original, I don't think I can get all of it done before the end of the year, but I hope to have at least the first half ready by the end of December or sooner if it's ready before then. Keep your eyes peeled!

Hope everyone is doing well!

[kyogre-blue]

SS continues. Seteth is handsome and I think I would be okay with this normally, but I played VW first and Claude was cuter.

Not to be mean, but that's pretty much literally the only difference so far. Off screen Claude even supporting character magics us into getting the same reinforcements in the same place and going to the same next map. (I tell Seteth I want to go to the Kingdom this time. Seteth says no. I feel like at least Claude didn't pretend I had options. Did I just agree with him on everything...? That is also possible.)

It's kind of... even some of Seteth's lines don't seem to be intended for him. I heard from interview that SS was written first, so I figured that playing it would make VW feel like a reskin, but I dunno if it's the order I did them in, but tbh VW so far feels a more "natural" progression, Edelgard stuff aside.

Aside from that, using church units on the church route has some funny effects like that one general going "your army of children," but I'm actually... using almost entirely adults...

Live blogging notes:

Oh, I didn't notice, but the "village" where we wake up is in ruins. There are burnt remnants and half-collapsed brick walls in the background.

Interesting point: I didn't keep track of the months before, but now I see we fell asleep in March 1181 but wake up in December 1185. I kinda thought it would be the same months, but it's not.

Edelgard's tone at the reunion is...... hum. Not very emotive? Don't get me wrong, Claude doesn't exactly get worked up much either, but Edelgard has a lot more personal stakes in all this, and she should really have a deeper investment in regard to Byleth. It was like this when they parted ways in Garreg Mach too.

Edelgard says "friend from our Black Eagle days have chosen to join me in the fight ahead." But that's... hum. First, why is it a fight ahead for her? She's been fighting for 5 years and is winning, according to the info dump. Second, did the students actually join her? I got them all killed, so I won't know either way, but my impression is that this is not actually the case to begin with.

Edelgard is using a wavy sword... Levin Sword?

Kinda meh sword battle scene.

The fact that Edelgard is older than Byleth now... haha. Claude switches to calling you "my friend" but Edelgard is still pushing the teacher angle.

The info dumps about the political situation post timeskip are slightly different all around, but the only real difference seems to be that Lorenz leads the Empire supporter faction in the Alliance, which iirc was not the case in VW. That checks out. Dimitri is still presumed dead and Faerghus is a Dukedom.

Flayn says she forgot something at the Holy Mausoleum, where we meet up with her... Not sure what this is about. (Update: She and Seteth hang around there later too. Really not sure why.)

SS savefile has the banner I presume Claude also makes you use in VW - kinda blue-grey background with a pink Crest of Flames.

Lol, I killed everyone, but the chapter crawl still says students from the Black Eagle house are working with the Church. Instead I recruited all the Church units, so they show up to help in the new month.

War phase SS has the same monastery music and yellow skybox as VW. Kinda disappointed, tbh. I was (vainly) hoping that each route would get something a little different.

I did notice that they have wooden construction equipment type structures in a lot of places, which I didn't realize before. I guess it's supposed to show how the monastery is in a rundown, damaged state, but even seeing it, I don't think it works too well.

Shamir says that Dagda was "destroyed" ten years ago.

Seteth has been refusing Hanneman's requests for 21 years. So even though Flayn came to the monastery very recently, Seteth has been around for long enough that his physical age is going to start looking weird lol (his info on Serenes Forest says he's physically 27). Notably though, he and Jeralt didn't know each other (iirc), so based on the timeline, Seteth came pretty much immediately after Jeralt faked Byleth's death and disappeared. I wonder if it was because Rhea would have been "in a state" about Byleth's supposed death (and the loss of Sothis's crest stone).

There are no records of anyone except Seteth having a Major Crest of Cichol. In fact, it seems like there's probably no one who has a crest of Cichol at all. Seteth says he is a commoner and has no idea how he ended up with a crest. Hanneman when Byleth says the exact same thing, while being just as sus:

There's some cliff rubble on the monastery defense map... looks like there was a rockslide during the Imperial attack.

The fact that I've forgotten half of VW already is making this a little more tolerable, but looking at the chapter list for VW, we did have a monastery defense map before going to get Judith's troops, and in SS we are...... also going to get Judith's troops.

There's some snippets about how Judith and Daphnel have mostly remained out of Imperial attention and how Judith is a devout follower of the Seiros faith, but tbh it feels out of place here compared to VW.

Oh, there's a spy. Man, was this in VW? I remember nothing.

I've seen this mentioned in fic, but the quest for the Almyran merchant in disguise mentions a Nader bear (which is an Armored Bear Stuffy in your inventory). The thing you give him is "Zoltan's Beast Idol" that mentions the famous craftsman Zoltan who was believed to have made only weapons. I wonder if there's some weapon in the game that was made by him?

Seteth repeats the legend about Ailell being caused by the goddess's wrath after a battle there long ago. Which... is a weird thing, given that he should theoretically know the actual cause -- Agarthan missiles getting deflected from the monastery by the protections on the Holy Tomb.

Oh, Judith suggests she's helping because Claude asked her to. My sus man <3

Reiterating that the Oghma mountains are to the south of the monastery and between it and the Empire. You can't enter the monastery from the Empire directly. You have to go through the Kingdom or the Alliance.

Why do they give you the choice between east and west approaches?? I picked west because I already saw the Alliance stuff, but Seteth just directly shoots you down...

Claude continues to be a proper side character by giving us a way to get into the Empire through the Alliance. "I don't know exactly why, but I feel that I can trust you," my dude, it's because you are a side character who exists to fill the needs of the plot. It's the damn bridge again. SIGH

Also, I was worried for a moment when I couldn't talk to Ashe, but apparently you don't need to. Just kill him and he magically survives. There isn't even a little scene about him coming back or anything...?

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

This week’s post has a very loose interpretation of the theme of “Huddle for Warmth”, in actuality this is more of a “It is cold, there is snow, so this counts!” type of collection of stories - both multi-chapters and one-shots. Since it is the last week of January and it is below freezing where I am, this seemed fitting.

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Icebreaker - @linlamont

Minako, being Minako, decides to “help” and sends Usagi and Mamoru to a secluded cabin in the mountains by themselves to try and figure out what they mean to each other, now that they have recovered their memories of the past life. As they work together to cook and keep warm, they try to find a new precarious balance, while dealing with their anxieties and insecurities. 

Chills - Secrets10

Serena can’t seem to warm up after getting hit with a Youma attack. This is compounded by her leaving her keys at home while her family is out. Darien finds her bawling outside the arcade and offers to take her to his place to help warm up.

Quality Time in the Cold - Prince_Endymion (Star_Bun)

In this cute one-shot, Usagi and Mamoru enjoy a walk in the first snow of the season in companionable silence.

Snow Bunny - @shnuggletea

In this non-senshi AU short story, a trip out to a ski resort orchestrated by Minako and Motoki forces Mamoru to confront his feelings for Usagi, with Seyia and Beryl acting as foils.

A Magical Boy in Maine - @caelenath

Disclaimer - this story is not complete (but a new chapter went up last week!) and I am making an exception in including it in the series for two reasons: the "huddle together for warmth" part is already published and the way @caelenath writes psychometry is probably one of my favorite interpretations across the fandom.

Mamoru gets invited to spend American Thanksgiving with his friend's family up in Maine. This leads to a weekend of food, cultural immersion, and letting people see glimpses of his alter-ego by being way too good at snowball fights. Except he keeps getting flashes of something, and he can't figure out if they are premonitions or visions of his past life. 

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This is the last post for January, and when it came time to decide on themes for February, trying to sort it out by committee did not work as well as I had hoped. There are too many cute possible posts that could be done for the "month of love". After narrowing down the 2 weeks I wanted to do for sure, @caelenath suggested I put the rest of the possibilities that were discussed into a top hat and draw them at random (which I thought was super fitting for a Sailor Moon related fic rec list!). The only snag? I did not own a top hat. Cue googling, searching Amazon to see if I can get it delivered in time, going to multiple party / costume stores and making employees check the warehouse and tops of racks because the system said they have 23! (with my husband rolling his eyes at me the entire time but fully supporting my endeavor). Without further ado, here is what we are doing in February:

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffeeshop AU