#that's what they call cliffhanger...

[betweenblackberrybranches]

Hanahaki comic Part 2

Part 1 Part 3

Sometimes the one thing scarier than than being rejected is being loved back

Stay tuned for part 3

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

A Tempest of Tea

first in a YA fantasy duology

follows a young immigrant woman in a fantasy Victorian city who runs a tearoom that doubles as an illegal bloodhouse for vampires at night

when their business is threatened, she gets a chance to save it by teaming up with her best friend, a rich girl with a talent for forgery, a vampire artist, and a mysterious city guard to do a heist to infiltrate high society and collect a logbook that may reveal the extent of the corruption in the city

fantasy city with a masked ruler, arthurian elements, themes of colonialism

[licorishh]

i love og soap too much. my stomach hurts. i don't feel good.

[hualianschild]

just finished s1 of link click and I went from saying WHAT THE FCK IS THAT ENDING while watching the first episode to saying WHAT THE FCK IS THAT ENDING while watching the last episode OHMYGAWD

[rukia-writes]

Where is season 3 BLOOD OF ZEUS?!????

[always-a-joyful-note]

It's a good day and then you watch a Link Click episode and are reminded of how Cheng Xiaoshi - without fail - always appreciates and has such genuine and sincere love and gratitude and joy for partaking in simple family meals during the dives in photos because even though his parents left ages ago and he has a new family with Qiao Ling and Lu Guang, he knows the value of family and simple moments with them.

[theeconfession]

first of all loved the bobby athena of it all second of all glad mara is okay would have loved her beck with henren but i will accept what the show is giving us third of all buck and eddie are co-parents and chris going to texas storyline was as painful as i thought it was gonna be and fuck gerrard

[avirael]

Vargsången

It had been around a week since they had found refuge at Camp Dragonhead, when Rael woke especially early one morning. They usually got out of bed early enough to watch the sun rise with no problem whatsoever but this particular morning they rose with an uneasy feeling.

Before they left their room Rael glimpsed out of the window, where big white snowflakes were wildly dancing in front of a dark cloudy sky. It would be difficult to get A‘viloh out of bed today, Rael thought as they put on their boots which they had placed next to the door the evening before. It was then that they noticed the carefully folded piece of paper someone had pushed through the small gap between the door and the dark wooden floorboards.

With a confused expression on their face they picked it up and unfolded it to see a small and very familiar handwriting. Instantly that uneasy feeling flared up again. Quickly Rael read the short letter and found their worst fears confirmed.

Dear Rael,

I am sorry to leave you like this but I know that you would have tried to stop me. I am aware that this plan is madness but I simply cannot go on with this uncertainty any longer. I am returning to Ul’dah to find out what happened to our friends. I know it is dangerous but I ran and hid from the consequences of my actions for long enough to know that I will not find peace this way. Don’t come looking for me and please keep Tataru and Alphinaud safe.

Forgive me. If you can.

Your friend,

A’viloh

„This idiot!“, Rael growled as they threw another glimpse out of the window and then hurriedly left their room. Without knocking they tore open the the door across the corridor but found A’viloh’s room empty. As fast as they could they ran down the stairs, ignoring the greetings of the few people who were also up early and threw open the door leading to the yard. The blizzard they had already seen from the window felt a lot stronger and colder up close and to Rael’s frustration not a single footstep was to be seen in front of the house. No traces where he would have gone. The evidence long destroyed by the storm. How long was he already out there? And what had he been thinking at all to go out alone in a weather like this??

Whispering another string of profanities Rael stepped outside and ran across the yard. With one strong push they threw open the heavy double doors that led to the commander’s office. They hadn’t even reached the desk on the opposite side of the room yet when they urgently addressed the Elezen sitting behind it. „Lord Haurchefant!“

Surprised the man looked up from the paperwork’s on his desk and smiled at Rael.

„Please, I told you to drop the formalities. How may I help you.“

„We have a problem!“, Rael continued and the worried tone in their voice was enough to make Haurchefant’s smile turn into a more serious expression. „What happened?“

„A’viloh!“, Rael exclaimed in frustration as if that one word was explanation enough and waved around the piece of paper they still clasped tightly in their hand. „He ran away! To find our friends it seems, but all he’s gonna accomplish is get himself killed. I don’t need to be from around here to know that someone without experience is going to freeze to death all alone in that storm out there! And even if he miraculously makes it to Ul’dah, Ilberd and the other traitors will without doubt be waiting for him and he doesn’t stand a chance against all of them alone.“

„Breathe, my friend.“, the Elezen said and gestured for Rael to calm down. For a moment he looked out of the window in thought and nodded. „Unfortunately you are right. With this weather it is very dangerous out there…“

That information didn’t do much to calm Rael down. „How can we find him in that blizzard? I don’t know when he left or how far he got. I fear he—„

„Say no more.“, Haurchefant interrupted them. Without further hesitation he stood up and walked toward the door, grabbing a thick woollen coat from a coat rack beside the door. „I will find A’viloh and bring him back. You stay here where you are safe. No! No argument, please. I’ll be faster without you.“

Nonetheless Rael followed him out to the yard where he shouted for one of the guards to immediately bring his chocobo.

Rael tried to convince him that they would cover more ground if they both went searching for A‘viloh but Haurchefant pointed out that Rael would most likely get lost too and that he didn’t like to have to search for them both out in this storm. Reluctantly Rael promised to wait for him at Camp Dragonhead and watched him check his gear, get on his chocobo and vanish into the storm with worry written all over their face.

***

The snowflakes and the ice-cold wind felt like sharp little blades on his face. He cursed this storm for not the first time today and he also cursed himself as well.

What had he been thinking?

Not much honestly.

There hadn’t been a storm when he had sneaked out long before anybody else was awake. The whole night he hadn’t slept, once again thinking and wondering. Back then this part of his plan had seemed to him the easy part. He had more wondered about how he would cross Gridanian territory and make it into Ul’dah unrecognised than what else could happen on his way there when at first only a few big snowflakes had begun to slowly fall from the sky. In his determination he had barely taken notice of them, only when the clouds got darker and darker, the snow more and more and finally the wind picked up, howling and biting, he had realised that he hadn’t planned for something like this to happen. He had already walked quite a bit of distance and the Observatorium couldn’t be that far anymore. Maybe he could hide there until the storm died down. So he continued onwards. But with every minute passing he saw less and less of where he was going and soon he realised that he had no clue anymore where he was at all or in which direction he needed to walk. And with every passing moment it only seemed to get colder.

So now there he was, blindly stumbling through the snow, hoping that a settlement, a house, a fire, anything would show up before his eyes. But instead he couldn’t even tell anymore where the white ground beneath his feet ended and where the sky with it’s veil of wind and snow begun. He had no idea what to do.

For a moment he contemplated to scream for help, but who would hear him out here with this howling wind? He tried anyway and found that he barely made a sound, his voice only a distant whispering even to his own ears. Oh, I’m going to die here, he thought, no one will ever find me. That thought made him shiver even more violently than he already did and hot burning tears started to gather in the corners of his eyes. They were long frozen on his cheeks before they could reach his chin.

Nonetheless he took off his gloves, tried to wipe the weird sensation away but his face and hands only felt cold and numb. Instead he lowered his fingers to his lips, tried to warm them with his breath but even breathing felt more and more painful and exhausting by now, let alone putting one feet in front of the other.

Finally he tripped. There hadn’t even been a stone or a branch, just his frozen clumsy feet that felt so heavy. Without much of a sound he fell into the deep cold snow. Absently he tried to blink the snow out of his eyes, not that he would have seen much anyway. At first he weakly tried to push himself back up but his whole body felt so horribly heavy and tired. Oh yes, he was tired, so very tired. Maybe he just needed to rest for a moment. It all didn’t really seem that bad anymore now that he lay here in the soft white snow. It felt strangely warm really. For a moment he even thought he heard a voice calling out his name. Saw a silhouette between the dancing snowflakes. A hand stretched out towards him.

With a peaceful smile on his face his eyelids drooped and his mind faded to darkness.

***

How long was he gone now?, Rael wondered as they paced about the room, around the big table with all the maps, back and forth between the roaring fireplace and the window facing south.

For the third time now they pulled up their collar and stepped out into the empty frozen courtyard. Everyone at Camp Dragonhead who wasn’t on guard duty had been clever enough to seek shelter from the storm indoors and as Rael worriedly looked towards the gate, it‘s silhouette barely visible against the myriad of snowflakes, they wondered if Haurchefant’s decision to leave in search for A’viloh on his own had been a good one. Maybe something had happened to him.

Should they follow him?

No, they would get lost without a doubt…

Should they alarm the whole camp about their commander’s absence?

But what should the soldiers do about this?

Helplessly Rael raised their face to the sky but all there was were dark storm clouds and more questions they couldn’t answer. There was nothing to guide them, to tell them what to do. No gods, no teacher, no whispers, no vision. Nothing at all. Rael, who always knew what to do or at least had an educated guess about what might prove helpful, never felt that useless before.

Almost violently they pressed their eyes shut and tried to summon up the answers they needed by sheer force of will. A lonely figure at which the wind tore mercilessly. Determined but also futile. Forcing any sign to reveal itself to them had never worked before and neither did it now. There simply was nothing they could do.

Why haven’t I seen this coming?

Eyes still closed they started to shiver, fighting against the burning sensation building behind their eyelids. Their mouth twitched no matter how tightly they pressed their lips shut. Instead they breathed through their nose, heavy shaky breaths which turned to white clouds in the air.

Then a horn blared above. Rael flinched and realised that a guard on the fortification wall had given a signal. They didn’t know what it meant and still Rael fixed their eyes on the barely visible gateway, hoping, praying to whatever was willing to listen. Please, let them be safe.

At first Rael feared they were imagining it but then clearly something moved between the sea of snowflakes. A dark form, something - no, someone was coming closer. Rael almost stopped breathing. Once they realised it was truly Haurchefant on his chocobo, they almost fell to their knees in relief.

Only as Haurchefant carefully climbed off of his chocobo, Rael saw that he wasn’t wearing his coat anymore. Instead he had held it in place bundled up on the saddle in front of him, to make sure it didn’t fall down and also keeping it close to himself for warmth. As he lifted that small bundle into his arms and slowly stepped towards them Rael couldn’t stifle a sob any longer and desperately ran towards him.

A’vi!

Wrapped in the way too large piece of clothing was the small Miqo’te, entirely motionless. His skin so pale and cold. Frantically Rael searched for a sign of life - a sound, a movement, a pulse - but there was none. He looked like a dead thing and that fact smashed Rael’s heart to a million little pieces.

It had been too late. They had lost him.

***

Darkness. Endless and suffocating.

A moment ago he thought there had been light.

There had been snow too.

No…

Dark angry water. Hissing like the wind.

A thunderstorm. Or a blizzard.

But there had been sun too, right? Once. Warm pleasant sunlight. Hot bright sand.

Yes, it had been warm. But why was he feeling so cold then?

Why had the sun left him all alone in this cold, cold darkness?

Suddenly he heard a voice calling his name.

It sounded so far away and then suddenly so close. So worried.

He couldn’t quite remember if he knew it but it felt friendly. It felt warm and welcoming.

It felt safe. He could rest now.

***

When Haurchefant had arrived back at Camp Dragonhead cradling poor A‘viloh in his arms, the Miqo’te had no noticeable breathing or pulse at all. He had looked like a corpse and Rael had already feared he was dead. Nonetheless Haurchefant had hurriedly brought him indoors. Loudly he had yelled orders left and right and suddenly the whole camp was in turmoil. In fact it was still early morning and it only had been this sudden unexpected ruckus that had awoken Tataru and Alphinaud as footsteps and loud voices rushed past their bedrooms. They watched puzzled as the servants quickly brought lots of blankets as well as warm dry clothes to replace A’viloh’s frozen ones and also wood for the fireplace and warming pans for his bed.

Immediately Rael had begun to work. For a few terrifying moments they had sat there in silent focus trying to find a sign of life from A‘viloh. Heartbeat, breathing, aether. Nothing… nothing… nothing… then: a shy heartbeat after all. So slow, so weak, easy to miss. But it was still there and Rael refused to let it vanish! They never had to heal a patient with hypothermia before and only could guess what to do exactly. It wasn’t a open wound they could close or a poison they could extract. Instead all they could do was use their magic to steady his heartbeat and help slowly warm his body up.

Both, Tataru and Alphinaud, stood there by the door speechlessly staring in shock, not knowing or understanding what had happened. They saw Rael’s face and didn’t dare to ask either. Not until Haurchefant reappeared. The servants had urged him to change into dry, warmer clothes too and now he returned pressing warm drinks into the helpless spectators hands and shooing them off, back to their rooms, against quiet protest.

“Please, the healer will arrive any moment now. There is nothing you can do in the meantime. I promise I have you informed at once if anything changes.“

Bleakly Rael noticed that his choice of words didn’t specify if this would be a change for better or for worse. A few moments later the healer, torn from his sleep on Haurchefant’s demand, arrived but he also left rather quickly again.

Rael had only let this ishgardian doctor close to A’viloh because they had hoped that maybe he knew better how to help him than they did considering he needed to have more experience with cases like this. But the Elezen hadn’t done much at all and only claimed that the poor Miqo’te’s life now lay in Halone’s hands. Rael had sharply laughed at this statement but it had really sounded more like a menacing bark. Why did this sharlatan bother to come here at all? Once again they had to do everything by themself if they wanted it done properly.

Just to make sure, they tried every kind of healing magic they could think of hoping that maybe some of it would help, even the ancient spells his mother and the oracle had taught them. When no immediate response was visible - had they really expected one? - they kept on monitoring A’viloh’s heartbeat as well as his still very thin aether and supported both as good as they could using their own.

For hours they sat there silently working their magic, carefully trying to ration their own power reserves as long as possible. They were almost exhausted, almost out of aether themself. Their fingers were shaking and their eyelids felt heavy. It wasn’t healthy and they knew they couldn’t do this much longer.

But at least it seemed to work. For a short happy moment they thought everything would be fine again.

Then the fever hit.

***

The darkness scared him.

It was cold and wet and inescapable.

The wind turned to howls of wild animals and these again soon to laughs and mockery.

Their hungry fangs and claws reached for him in the darkness. Trying to pull him down.

He tried to run but he wasn’t moving at all.

He tried to shake off the claws digging into his skin but their grip was too strong.

He tried to scream but couldn’t make a sound.

Then with a sudden jolt he was falling. A long horrible fall through infinite darkness.

When he finally hit the ground he was in the cold, freezing snow again.

Just that it didn’t feel cold at all anymore. But soft and warm.

There was that voice again, calling his name.

An unfamiliar voice.

No, that wasn’t true. He knew this voice.

It was the only voice he ever wanted to remember.

If he ever realised he forgot this sound, the pain would destroy him.

Between the veil of snow there was a hand reaching out for him. A worried face.

Arms holding him tight. Keeping him warm.

So familiar eyes of molten gold.

A loving smile.

His favourite thing in the world.

Oh! Now he remembered!

He understood. At last, no miracle to save him.

Finally…

…

Laqa.

***

„Laqa…“

Shocked Rael looked up from the hand they carefully held between their own.

Haurchefant couldn’t know the meaning of this feverish mumbling but Rael did and it terrified them, the panic plainly visible on their face.

„The healer warned us that the fever might make him hallucinate...“ the elezen offered in an attempt to console them.

„I know that!“, Rael snapped harshly.

It wasn’t fair but they had no nerve to hear things that were plainly visible. After the fever had appeared Haurchefant had called for the ishgardian doctor again. At least this time he had offered a potion that was supposed to lower A’viloh’s fever. So far it hadn’t shown any effect though. But that wasn’t Haurchefant’s fault.

„I am sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you…“

The Elezen shook his head. „I know, my friend. You’re tired. Don’t you think it would be better to rest for a while?“

„No, I’m fine. I will stay.“ It did sound hollow even to them.

„You know, you did everything you could, right?“, Haurchefant asked while putting a hand on Rael’s shoulder and Rael hated how it almost sounded like they had lost this fight already.

„I know… Would you mind leaving me alone for a while?“ Hopefully that hadn’t sounded rude again.

He hesitated, then he nodded slowly. „No more magic though, alright? I don’t want you to collapse too.“

Rael just shrugged. It wasn’t the answer Haurchefant had wanted but he left anyway. With a heavy sigh they returned their gaze to A’viloh’s pale face as he mumbled something unintelligible.

Oh, why hadn’t they noticed he was planning something? Where had they gone wrong?

Probably when A’viloh’s smile had fooled them into thinking that he was alright. As if a few nice words and some hot chocolate could fix everything that was wrong. Rael had wanted to believe it but should have known better. No matter how much they had told themself that he was stronger now, braver, healthier… mostly he seemed fine and then suddenly tiny things could still throw him off course. It was a tricky thing for Rael to assess how A‘viloh would react sometimes. Like a broken mug that had been kitted. There were bits and pieces that were still alright or had healed fairly good, the damage almost invisible, and then there were the spots were all that kept the ragged shards together was too much glue, unevenly filling the wounds. Ugly and weak, easily broken apart again. On his really bad days Rael still feared that there were some small pieces of him irrevocably lost, never to be found again, sunken to the bottom of the sea and impossible to replace.

Barely audible, like a knife to Rael’s heart, the poor fever-dreaming Miqo’te whispered, „I‘ve missed you so much, Laqa.“

„No!“, Rael yelled almost angrily and threw themself at A’viloh’s chest protectively. „You can’t have him yet!“

It was ridiculous! Who were they even talking to? Instead they turned their pleading gaze to the Miqo’te’s feverish face.

„Please, A‘vi! Tell him that he has to wait a little longer… please… he would want you to live your life first, wouldn’t he?“

Of course A'viloh didn’t answer.

Desperately Rael buried their face in the Miqo’te’s shirt and started to sob. „Please don’t die. I cannot do this without you…“

***

The sea washed around his feet, then retreated again with a slight pull.

He couldn’t care less.

Everything he cared about was right here with him.

Arms as warm and comforting as the late afternoon sunlight wrapped tightly around him.

With his eyes closed, his head rested between Laqa’s shoulder and neck, he felt safe and at peace. He felt at home.

When had he last felt that way?

It didn’t matter anymore.

He would never have to let go of him again.

Vi…

this so familiar voice whispered as he pressed a kiss into his hair.

Slowly Laqa loosened his embrace and instead cupped A’viloh’s face gently with both of his hands.

It is time, Vi…

For a moment they just looked at each other, smiling, before their lips met halfway for a long kiss.

Finally Laqa pulled back a little and immediately A’viloh missed him again.

This hadn’t been enough. It would never be.

With a smile on his face Laqa rested his forehead against A’viloh’s.

You have to go now.

***

For days A‘viloh wandered between sleep and death, two things that sometimes looked horribly similar like only siblings could.

The fever had ebbed away and risen again but never completely left him alone.

Neither had Rael.

Day and night they had remained by A’viloh’s bedside, refusing to leave unless it was really necessary.

Alphinaud had brought food and water for them both and sometimes even Tataru had joined them for breakfast or for dinner. Every now and then Lord Haurchefant had brought tea as well. All of them had tried to cheer Rael up and also tried to convince them to get some rest. Both very unsuccessfully. Although they appreciated the effort.

When they were alone Rael talked to A’viloh. They felt a little crazy for this because they didn’t know if A‘vi was hearing any of this at all but still… they sat down on the bed beside him, held his hand in theirs and told him everything they had ever wanted to tell him.

How much they admired him for the person he was, despite everything. How much they had enjoyed traveling with him and also how much of the world they still hoped to show him. All the places Rael had visited on their journey and thought A‘vi would love. They told him how much they wished they could show him Golmore. They sang him the lullabies their mother used to sing for them and told him everything about their home and also about themself. About all the qualities they lacked and he possessed. About his kindness and how he so easily won over the hearts of everyone he met. About how Rael finally understood what it felt like to be as terrified as him. The fear and the guilt. How sorry they were for not seeing that he hadn’t been okay.

The thought that maybe against all of their efforts A'viloh simply didnt want to wake up again almost made them cry once more. In the end Rael lay there beside him with their head rested on A‘viloh’s chest. His heartbeat the only solace for their sorrow, a lullaby for their troubled mind, their tired eyelids almost closed.

„Wake up, A‘vi… Please. Just say something…“, they whispered a final plea.

Apart from the crackle of the fireplace and the wind rattling at the window the room was silent.

Almost asleep suddenly a quiet raspy sound startled them.

„…Rael?“

In surprise the viera shot up and indeed saw tired green eyes slowly squinting at them.

„What are you doing here?“, A‘viloh‘s voice asked hoarsely.

„A‘vi!“, Rael exclaimed in disbelieve and realised how stupid this must look. Hurriedly they jumped up, pretending to get him some water to hide how embarrassed they were. „How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Here! You should drink something! I‘ll go and ask for some soup too, you really need to -“

A’viloh chuckled and made them stop. Confused Rael turned around and looked at him cheekily grinning.

„What?“, they blurted out awkwardly.

The Miqo'te shook his head. „Nothing… Soup would be great, I think I am starving… and also thank you for worrying about me.“

„You are such an idiot, you know that?“, Rael asked while crossing their arms in front of their chest and staring at him in the best imitation of anger they could pull off.

A’viloh just laughed. This time Rael was wary to trust it.

Oh, they would give him quite a lecture! It was a good thing he couldn’t run off in his condition. But first they would get some food.

[shoezuki]

ok i Could post my next chapter of sampard doctor fic in the next bit but on a WICKED cliffhanger that like. would kill a mortal man. or i could make the chapter way fucking longer n post it. eventually.

[lesbianpegbar]

IT WOULD BE SO WEIRD IF TWO TIMELINES WERE NOT HAPPENING RN...the eyes were completely different when lu guang rescued cheng xiao shi the first time...theres just no way. he better not get on that boat or i swear to god

LITERALLY LIKE. it would be such a disappointment tbh. it would kinda stomp on all the careful planning and small details they put into s1 that made it so compelling and rewatchable. watching s1 over and over i’d be like OHHH so that’s why that tiny detail is that way it’s building up to this bigger thing. so if they forego small details mattering this season and all of this just builds up to like a basic murder mystery plot or something it’ll just leave such a sour taste in my mouth. it’s like it would be punishing you for paying attention. but obviously i’m withholding judgement until the season ends, all i’ll say is cheng xiaoshi better not get on that damn boat

[bookwyrminspiration]

if this turns out to be a love triangle-esque situation between kihrin teraeth and janel that ruins any of their friendships im going to be so upset

[sysig]

Quest Complete! (Patreon)

[calkale]

Slimav MW au stuff is being written 👀

[twicearoundthesun]

“Don’t worry, Nayeon-ssi.” The younger girl mumbled over the rusted pot bubbling in front of her. “I’ve got it, I think I know how to help. For real this time.”

Nayeon only shivered. She didn’t bother opening her eyes, she couldn’t waste the energy. She didn’t bother reminding her young companion that she could read her emotions, even in her weak state, and that the uncertainty rolling off of her in heavy waves was not at all a reassurance in her solution.

“My brother taught it to me, years ago, when Mother was sick.” She continued. Nayeon felt a flash of grief. Again, not reassuring.

“Myungsoo taught me everything he learned in training.”

Something Nayeon had noticed in the past three weeks of being with her every second of the day: when she was nervous, she filled every second of silence with useless words. Nayeon certainly didn’t need her emotion magic to notice that. She was losing patience.

The pot reached a boil over the fire.

“He was really good at this stuff.” She whispered, quieter, as she stirred. Waves of grief now reached Nayeon, thick and heavy. It pulled more energy from her than she could afford to give. Usually, she’d be able to filter it out, block her connection to the emotional world with precision. Not now.

She opened her eyes a little.

The pale girl frowned at the cauldron, brows knit. She gave it another stir, more hesitantly.

At least whatever the girl was about to feed her would be warm, and hopefully if it was going to kill her it’d do the deed quickly.

All at once, Nayeon felt the grief and shame of guilt. Again, not her own. The disappointment of failure and - her least favorite emotion, lately - pity.

“Nayeon-ssi.” Dahyun said softly. Her cheery demeanor had vanished once again. “I don’t… I don’t think this looks like what Myungsoo taught me how to make.”

“That’s okay.” Nayeon could hear the weakness in her own voice, eyes shut again. Talking took too much out of her now. It was getting dangerous.

“I’m so sorry… I-I’ll just start again, I can go find more – it’s so hard to grow a proper bulb with the ground so close to frozen, and-”

“No, no.” Nayeon rasped. “Try in the morning.”

“I–” Her voice was tight. “I need to go find more now.”

Fear. For Nayeon. Did she really look that bad, that Dahyun thought medicine couldn’t wait a few hours until dawn?

The woods were dangerous. They were already being watched, she was sure; the glowing remnants of their pathetic fire were the only source of light for miles. There was strength in numbers. The kid alone wouldn’t make it back alive … And if she did, Nayeon didn’t know what she’d come back to. Without Dahyun here, a predator would find Nayeon an easy meal; weak and wholly unable to fight.

“This is my fault.” Dahyun whispered.

Nayeon hadn’t known her more than a month. She hated how the tears in Dahyun’s eyes pulled on her heart, urged her to reassure to the miserable kid and deny it. To tell her anyone could have lost control and exposed them both to the village; that the idiot townsfolk were actually at fault – and that was probably true, if Nayeon wasn’t too bitter to think about it; the real people at fault were the ones hunting them. Who’d known Nayeon since she was a child and who had loved her right up until the very moment she’d been exposed as a witch.

Instead, she stayed silent. She was bitter, call her an asshole, but Dahyun deserved a little bit of guilt. It was her fault that Nayeon’s own village had turned on her, looked on her like she was some kind of monster. If the kid had never shown up...

“I’ll be quick. I just need to find another bulb, and then thaw it, and then speed its growth. I can do that. Take my cloak, okay?”

Nayeon knew it wouldn’t work. It’d already been made painfully clear that Dahyun had very little control of her powers. Suspiciously little control for a witch of her age, who claimed to have been raised by her family of earth witches. Besides the outburst of emotion and chaos that had covered the town in vines and gotten them chased out of town in the first place, she had yet to see her do more than grow a wilted little weed. She’d be wandering into the dark forest completely alone and unable to protect herself, and for no good reason.

“Dahyun-“ Nayeon slurred. Another layer, warm and heavy, was placed over her. She forced her eyes open. Dahyun now stood in only a stained, long-sleeved underdress and gray apron. A reassuring smile graced her lips. The tattered green wool of her cape covered Nayeon like a blanket.

“It’ll be okay, Nayeon-Ssi.”

Nayeon tried to force her eyes open – she hadn’t even realized she’d closed them again; she could have sworn she only blinked.

“Don’t.” Was all she could get out. She turned her gaze up towards the younger girl.

She was gone.

How long had Nayeon had her eyes closed? With a start, she realized their pathetic little ‘camp’ wasn’t cast in an orange glow, but an eerie indigo. The sun was coming up. Dahyun had been gone for who-knows-how long.

Would the girl have left her to die? Nayeon was truly dead weight; this sickness would take her soon if nothing changed. Strength in numbers be damned, she’d be smart to ditch her. If the situations were reversed, Nayeon would be gone. Maybe with the girl’s cloak, too, and a sob story that an earth witch had framed her as one of them, taken to her to the forest, and left her to die. Survival is cruel.

But Dahyun hadn’t done any of that. She’d given Nayeon the thick cloak off her back before setting off into the dark forest alone. All to find a hopeless remedy for a stranger’s illness. How naïve she must be, how sheltered she must have grown up.

Nayeon jumped at the unmistakable sound of a snapping twig. She lay still.

Could it be Dahyun? No, the girl couldn’t go anywhere without making a racket. She would have heard her coming a mile away.

She was too weak to conceal herself with magic. But an animal large enough to snap a twig likely wouldn’t be a scavenger. If Nayeon could still her breathing, use a little magic to change her appearance – maybe it’d think she was long dead and leave her be.

She concentrated on finding the being, mind reaching out to the emotions that should be around her – but being this weak it was like a dense fog surrounded her, obscuring her from sensing of anything more than a foot away, blurring everything.

She pulled herself back into her own consciousness and felt the attempt weigh her down. The world was tilting, now, Nayeon’s head felt impossibly light. Suddenly she was warm. Much too warm. It spread through her quickly as black clouded her vision.

Then, everything was dark.

[morathicain]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but there's no episode 11 curse. It's the natural course of storytelling that the second to last episode is maxing the drama out once more before we can move to the final. If the standard length of certain shows is 12 episodes, it will always be episode 11 but cliffhangers or shocking reveals can be expected, sometimes even from rather fluffy shows. And ones who don't do it, are regularly deemed boring, so ...

And if a show has more or less episodes, it will be second to last again. Just ... it's not a curse, it's the science of storytelling. Calling it a curse paints it as something bad which it absolutely and totally isn't (except if the show does the height of its drama badly).

[ofduskanddreams]

Me, casually thinking back on the evolution of comments on What Lies Inside:*

and how absolutely nothing has evolved 😌 (for reference, these comments are sourced across a 16 chapter span teehee)

*I’ve done my best to keep the commenters identities anonymous but if you recognize yourself, hi thank you I love you all for this