They vanish all the time, but they always pop back up, like mildly terrifying daisies.
Zero, Things that go bump in the night

---

Pride and snark often went hand in hand, and some equines just refused to drink, no matter how sweet the water." // Are these pugilistic pumpkins rooted in one spot, or do savage squashes more sort of, oh, roll after you and try to trip you up with extreme prejudice?
Jigano, [OPEN] Sing for your supper

---

He suspected it was the free souls of the Outlanders chafing against this cage the Naturals had all been born into.
Rory, Just for now

---

Again he stumbled his silver tongue no longer dancing over words with ease.
Perhaps its coating of blood weighed it down.
Jigano, Last to Fall

There’s nothing else to do other than to go home. And somewhere, very far away, Aedion is glad to follow.
Aedion, [KQ] The Limit

---

And so he took drastic measures and kicked the door down ran at the door with the intention of kicking it down, only to bounce off it like the Level 0 weakling he now was.
Ronin, one and only

---

By the time he reaches her other cheek her hand is on the back of his neck, tangled loosely in the long dark hair, the other still on his chest. Her eyes have fluttered shut once more; she does not need to see the world.

Her world is right here.
Amalia, [SE] sky full of song

---

He wasn't even entirely sure why; on one hand he felt the indifference and beige happiness for a friend he was meant to, on the other he felt as if he were being mocked with something he could have had if only he had not been himself.
Samuel, The World is Passing By

---

"Tha's what I had to say. Arrest me or whatever if y'want. But I don' respect you, and you ain' my Queen."

"Sure, we can ask you permission, but why have we gotta? If I wanna get some neighbours over t'help me bring in the harvest, why should I have t'ask you first? You ain' my ma."
Emmett, [ME] Greet Your Queen

---

But only if you promise to help me down the steps. The last time I went down there by myself I tripped, fell, got a concussion and married you.
Ronin, wonderland

---

Ronin's heart is black as tar, His hands are full of blood. He'll steal sweet Aoife from her bed, And kill her in the Wood. The stars are gone from Safrin's eyes, Her heart is black as coal., Her nails are sharp as knives of ice To pluck out Aoife's soul.
Re~mi, Re~mi, Playing in the snow. But Ronin's gone a-hunting, And Aoife's All Alone.
Console dear Rory In his grave Another one You could not save. Bury your cock in ash and bone Let Ronin hear you As you moan.
You love them, Remi, As do I. Let's love them to death, And watch them die.
Rosy posy truth or lie? Planted just to watch it die. Bloodless now it stands forlorn. Tattered, fading, dying, torn.
Jigano, touch me and you'll never be alone

---

His handwriting is shaky as he spells out C-L-E-M, but he grins proudly at the little signature, this piece of himself he has left behind. A sign that he was here, that people will look at and remember him by. Something that will last for a long time. He kinda likes the idea. Maybe in time he will return, with better handwriting and an older soul.
Clemente, [PQ] Light Up The Night

"Bones!" croaked the white raven above the misty gorge, undoubtedly a gothic poet's coke dream in that moment.

Jigano [PQ] Dancing Bones

---

We are as good as strangers, Amalia realizes suddenly, watching the nervousness on Sam's face. I do not know this man at all.
Amalia, in the places I wasn't meant to be

---

Perhaps he'd missed the climax, but the ending was still as he'd always wanted it to be.
Abasi, [DROP] won't you come see about me?

---

Just one thing to do, before he could rest easy. 'Hey, Pet.'
Adam knelt down and reached for Pets hand.
'Don't die a Launceleyn. Wanna be Peter Pikely?'
Adam, [PQ+] falling so hard, swimming through stars

---

Self-degradation is not new to her after living most of her life with Samuel after all. Loren can't hope to beat that level of depressing.
Evie, water has memory

---

Finally the moment can wait no longer: it is time for her to let go. Carefully lighting the flame within, Amalia holds the lantern up as it flickers and dances and sputters and glows. It's clenched so tight between her fingers she wonders if she'll ever be able to release it, to let it float into the sky among those already set free-

"I love you, Adam. See you soon."
Amalia, think of me fondly

---

Still, if she had gotten to say goodbye, she would have told him to live. She would have told him she’d be waiting for him, but gods, for him not to rush.
Weaver, what colour is the bear?

---

"You're the fucking Pied Piper of shitty situations, you know that?"
Nate, swimming in the murky water

But he stayed close, taking her hand when it was offered and returning the squeeze, intertwining their fingers and letting himself be directed to home, refusing to let his thoughts linger too long on how he didn't know where home physically was for him.

He was with her, and as long as that was true, he was home.
Chulane, We have highs and we have lows

---

And then, there, the lava she can feel as it engulfs her — a hot sweet embrace for a girl born wreathed in flame, born in the icy snows of a mountain, a flame snuffed out too soon, but snuffed out all the same.
Kiada, [KQ] brother, where art thou

---

Neron does indeed have a good enough imagination to conjure the Warden’s previous prowess at drinking competitions. He’s enjoying the parade of images in his mind, in fact (and if they turn into the Caido equivalent of a wet t-shirt competition halfway through, well, that’s between him and his imagination).
Neron, take a chance

---

Sonjala -
We sizzle and burn under Frey - Loren plays God when he is huuuuuman.
Ten is two and two and two and two and two. Count them. Ten. Behold Trilium. But Beware!
I'll see you soon.
Wessex, To Morgan, Remi, Wessex

---

The grounds aren't the same. I don't go to the barracks much anymore, doesn't feel right training troops under big motherboard bitch's rule.
Aisha, escapism; i'd rather be free

---

"Having your balls tickled by Safrin doesn't mean much. Even being her favourite toy doesn't mean much." He adds. "What've you done to earn respect? Failed leadership. Fucked a goddess. Destroyed a temple and let a guild house burn. Went mad a few times?" Cian snorts under his breath.

"Only one you're embarrassing here is yourself. Stop acting like such a fucking child. You want the respect of a man? Fucking be one, then."
Cian, don't call it black and white

---

There’s a sound he hears, suddenly, like a shout in his ear — in Korofi, of course — of how much of a failure he was, how ashamed his family was to be associated with him. It makes him jump slightly, lips parting to pant through his raging heartbeat, his hand accidentally knocking over the water glass. He watches it fall, making no move to try and catch it, watches as the water within the glass turns to oily, inky black. “I’m sorry.” He apologizes, to no one and everyone all the same.
Sunjata, may the bridges i have burned light my way back home

---

”What the fuck Adam?”
Nate, [KQ] let the boughs b r e a k

Perhaps they have made her too soft. Maybe she has shown her belly too many times, made them forget that she is iron and scale and bloodied bone, no soft mistress to be kept at home to entertain them. Maybe it was herself that had lulled away, softening sharp words and blunting finely-honed edged. Whatever the cause, as that fleece is pulled back to reveal the wolf's fur beneath, it feels like freedom.
Hotaru, your blood's as good an ink as any

---

A rough bark of laughter wheezes out of him, catching on the shards of emotion sitting in his throat. If he still needed breath, he’d choke on it.
Nate, [Training] Beneath the Moon & Me

---

Sunjata wrote back to inform him that Nate was fighting a chicken, but Peter could come.

Fine, but Sam thought Nate could think of better excuses than that.
Samuel, [KQ] There Must be Something Inside

---

I hope it’s kittens and not murder.
Harper, [DROP] forevermore

---

He followed and he cherished, but not in the way she preferred – and that was all he had to give. This was in his control, in his choices, in the way he had lived and breathed – for his love didn’t come on chains, tethers, and shackles. Didn’t believe it should.
Deimos, how they armor themselves for you

---

He’d fractured and given out far too much, he’d split himself apart again and again and been left with nothing but slivers left to glue together and pretend it made a backbone that was heavier than a feather.
Sunjata, heat waves been faking me out

---

'Yeah. There's no way there's a ghost. It's probably just the wind. Or a trapped animal." Or an ascended trapped in a box. Or Cian's maybe-dead-wife.
Everest, jack of all trades

---

So it was that in that moment, with the steady beat of Finn's heart threatening to lull her to sleep, that October Hart made the choice to love Finn, instead of waiting to fall in love with him. And maybe, just maybe, that was better."
October, we knew it would come to this

---

To lose a part of one’s self. Goddess, she doesn’t know now what she’d do without Loki and the thought itself brings her to stillness. “I’m so sorry,” she offers gently, reaching out to lay a hand on Sunjata’s shoulder in what she hopes is comfort.

But the dragon is wise and she noses against Sunjata too, also knowing distress when she sees it. Haai fly, she offers in her infinite, child-like wisdom. Haai fly high always.
Wessex, i don't mind if I keep on rolling snake eyes

Tigers are very well-adapted creatures. In fact, she could probably partial-shift away her bad leg entirely. But having the hind-end of a tiger and the top-half of a human is a cursed type of centaur she wasn't willing to fuck around as.
Aurelia, isn't she beautiful?

---

Ludo appears with a (perhaps inappropriate but still thoroughly enjoyable) neiiighhh! as it descends upon the duo, a raggedy tendril plucking up the unicorn and rider and making them prance through the air for a moment.
Ludo, you can’t turn back the clock

---

Don't be fooled, though - he's not helping. Just making a dramatic point.
Ronin,   a hot mess

---

"I should let you know before we get too far that while you're beautiful and I'm sure you're excellent company, you're not exactly my type."
Amun, and it sounds just like a song

---

In some way, he did feel sorry for the squidling, since it was apparent the thing was confused by the meaning of everything, but actions had consequences and it was beginning to be a waste of time.
Deimos, [PQ+] keep it secret

---

The alchemist points out, unconvinced that logic will have any bearing at all on Mateo's state of mind, but being at a loss at what else he might say.

He'd never had a child make it to puberty, after all.
Remi, [RQ] hi-ho silver

---

But in the little things, the boring things - the press of lips and the warmth of fingers in his hair; waking up in cool twilight and seeking out heat and affection; dinner plans and mundane chores - in those things, Ronin is beginning to find a ridiculous sort of magic.
Ronin, [SE] and it goes like this

---

How did one show forgiveness, or a lack of vengeful notions towards those who’d wronged them? Lena wasn’t certain, and could only hazard a few guesses. She wasn’t even sure if she was extending pardons or exonerations - not for the slaying of her people (her sister) and the destruction of her home. Maybe a sign that she wasn’t like them – purposeful, a clear and precise message; kindness extended even when it rightly shouldn’t be.

Was that bitter, in its own way?
Lena, [SE] Salty and Sweet

Tal surreptitiously shifted his jaw, wincing at the soreness of his tongue as he gave Ludo a cautious nod, glad he'd picked the right thing. "Um. Thpethifically?" He blinked, finding himself in a little deeper than he'd expected. "Uhh... I mean. Thomething that keepth me from getting hit would be nithe? Or at leatht, not getting hit ath hard."
Talyson, Don't Shoot the Messenger

---

But while his attention was held there the second shadow was able to successfully goose his tail and the mermanta whipped the long, slender length of its tapered end instinctively in reaction. "Madame," he rumbled, a slightly pained note in his voice that had nothing to do with physical bruising. "I do not even know your name." Much less received dinner or flowers anemones, first!
Hadama, [Training] Catch a Wave

---

"You cannot start an avalanche and ask me to ensure the safety of the mountain."
@Frey, [KQ] Between a rock and a giant place

---

Preemptive grief has made her unnaturally celibate, or perhaps it is the strings of a half-realized relationship that keeps her tied down in the snow like a hare beset by a patient hunter.
Hotaru, [se] this isn't typical

---

She reaches her arms to cradle them both back to her bosom where they always belonged, "I'm here, I'm here baby," and her voice cracks clean in two; because Hotaru is not Remi. She is not a demigod, she is not all-powerful, she is merely a woman who has clawed power into her greedy hands and loved until it burned her cells to ash in a suicidal mad-dash to the finish line. She is the one Flora chose to come to, to make things right, to fix the worst wrong that could ever happen. But she can't fix this.

She can't fix this.
And she can't look away.
Hotaru, [PQ+] freedom

To anyone watching, it's just a man and his dog journeying somewhere. Which is hilarious, because that likely paints Mateo out to be more competent than he is.
Mateo, for the widows in paradise

---

Melita wouldn’t have known proper decorum even if it slapped her upside the head, so she was all the more eager to hear tales of lacerations and stabbings.
Melita, [RQ] they're not rocks, they're minerals!

---

Evie understands his grief, but she will spend the rest of her life ripping those doubtful thoughts out of his head like persistent weeds just to show him someone's hands cared enough to dirty themselves with the task.
Evie, [SE] incendiary and full of light

"I was an accident to start with, and now I'm just.." In her mind she can see her name and the title that follows it, only instead of doubletake it says afterthought. She sighs. "It is what it is."
Flora, a million dreams

---

"But I am your fault, Remi. You made me yours, and then you threw me away."
Isla, dream a little dream of me

---

While he no longer looks like a man standing in the shadows of the gallows, he hasn’t seemed to be able to stop wearing the noose around his neck as a reminder.
Hotaru, Was it pain or was it circumstance

---

Pip rises on her hind legs as Boreal draws near, Talyson's shirt flapping like a conqueror's banner, her trills and cries muffled by the cotton fabric. She has to flap her wings for balance, her long body being rather ill-fitted for such a grand extension, and for a few moments Koa considers punting her noodle-butt into the lagoon.
Koa, [SE] Under where?

---

She thinks I love you, even though she doesn't.
She thinks Gods you're perfect, even though he isn't.
She thinks a hundred thoughts at once which aren't true, but somehow are in this moment.
Flora, mayday, one, two

---

As boy's they'd laughed about the legend, using mirth to hide their fear because honestly, who among them hadn't stuck his dick in something questionable at one point or another?
Koa, Hotel California

---

Propping up on their elbows at the edge of the water, the mer tilted their head, "And if the threat is edible, we eat it." Monsters were creatures, so that meant meat. Which was obviously food. "You shouldn't waste food."
Kaiden, [ME] {se} Fade to Black

---

He thinks that maybe love is terrible and cruel, and that they're all deluding themselves with memories of summer and infatuation that could never hope to sustain a dream like forever.
Jude, Asymptote or Adjacent?

It was like their fear had been melded into her bones, the chill a bone-deep thing that she just couldn't shake. She'd seen illusions. She controlled illusions.

Those plants hadn't given them an illusion. They'd given them a promise."
Alys, Til the sandman comes

---

"So before you start your future projects in a region you do not live in, may I suggest taking several steps back, removing your foot from your mouth, and restarting the conversation?"
Dantalion, [se] Hell will always come before you grow

---

For the first time, though - in years, perhaps - it's his husband's name that leaves his lips last thing in the dark; a decision, a step back, a handshake.
Ronin, alone together

---

"I saw her recently, while I was in Halo." He paused, reaching for his glass again though not drinking from it just yet. "She had an idea for our next improvement to Torchline." When they finished Rae's quest, hopefully soon.

He paused again, admiring the color of his drink. "And she gave me a pair of pants." Sip.
Hadama, [RA] She ran calling Wildfire

---

And you know what, when it comes to fuck ups and the sliding scale of them, call him biased - because it's Flora and he is - but Ronin firmly believes that all of this could be resolved if he just... shot Koa into the sun.
Ronin, FLORidA is one hell of a drug

---

"There were p-presents, and a giant sn-snowb-ball, and...." Pulling back a little, Koa's frown deepens as he stares down at his feet. "... and I think a pu-pumpkin stole my shoes?"
Koa, Remember the pact of our youth

"There were p-presents, and a giant sn-snowb-ball, and...." Pulling back a little, Koa's frown deepens as he stares down at his feet. "... and I think a pu-pumpkin stole my shoes?"
Koa, Remember the pact of our youth

---

Brushing off the ash that stains his fingers from the fire bowl, Danta turns on heel away from Maea to take his leave. "I thought I knew you, you know," he mutters as he departs. "I didn't expect to be so disappointed."
Dantalion, to anyone who might care

---

"Oh, y'know," he answers blandly, gesturing vaguely toward the world at large. "Vibin'."

And the vibes, they are not good.
Koa, all just conjecture and gloom

---

He loves the butcher, loves everything about him; the violence bound tightly in manners and charm, the dry wit, the beauty in the chaos he weaves between his fingers. He loves his sass, his sweet tooth and the way he doesn't understand certain jokes or customs, the slow burn of his temper, the unfathomable patience he has for Danta's antics. From the press of his hands to the prick of his teeth and the horrors that lurk in his mind at night, he fucking loves it all.
Dantalion, I told you, you were brave

---

He doesn't know how long they sit there crying, two bony skeletons housing dimmed stars in their chests.
Jude, are you still the same soul

---

In a very Flora-esque moment, Koa's first thought to Soh's reaction is oh god, who the fuck is Harper and did she date him, too?
Koa, sky turned black like a perfect storm

---

His heart tears, shattering open old scars, wounds he didn’t know have healed, but at least the blood feels familiar.
Sunjata, I cast on your heartstrings a spell

---

In the end, he was happy. And as the breath left him and the darkness came, there was a soft smile upon his bloody lips.
Zavien, [KQ] cannot be controlled

---

Maybe, Maea thought, she was not cursed with bad luck so much as she was blessed with second chances.
Maea, [SE] Roads we walk in the dark

“This isn't another region, Flora, or a business negotiation. It's a plague, an' it'll eat everythin' in its path until it's done.”
Jack, be like the love that discovered the sin

---

"[...]Denial is a river and he's trying valiantly to row upstream in class II rapids with a silly straw for a paddle."
Koa, food in the woodsen

---

She wasn’t warm because she genuinely wanted nice things for people. She was warm because it made her easier to swallow. It made it so she could get what she wanted unannounced. 
Calypso, like a staring contest

---

It had been horrendous and heartbreaking all at the same time; the piece of her that had been a Friend of the Family longed to fix it even as she was cured, leaving her biting back bile at the thought that she sympathized with a monster. What did that make her?
Noe i can hear them whisper as they pass by

---

The sea has never been fluent in flowers, and Flora’s grown tired of bleeding petals just to be misunderstood.
Flora, sweet shot of kerosene

---

And then there's the apology, which carries all the weight of a wilted rose bought at a gas station the day after Valentine's.
Koa, [SE] En esta casa no existen fantasmas, son puros recuerdos

---

"Have the life you deserve, Kaisel."

Calypso, Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey

---

It’s a labyrinth of colour and heat: flashes of Colt’s laugh, her mouth against his throat, the heady rush of her body pressed to his; the ferocity of her spirit, untamed and electric. But beneath it all lies the weight of something colder; all her doubts, her mistrust, the way she drags her baggage along with her and adds his name to the tags like they belong to him.

Vesper, [SE] I wore the crown, I sold the lie

“I think I understand, now.” He drawls in a conspirator’s whisper. “Kai is afraid of dicks.”

Astaroth, that drip could turn torrential

"Every movement is exaggerated, focused, full of false purpose, as though the very spirit of tracking has descended into his small, soggy body."

"Remi launches. It isn’t graceful. It isn’t dignified. It’s a full-bodied yeet of damp fur and enthusiasm as he flings himself onto Kaisel’s side, claws scrabbling harmlessly until he catches onto the man’s backpack straps. Once latched, he hauls himself up in a single determined wiggle and becomes an instant, soggy backpack accessory."

"He contributes absolutely nothing of value to the sprint except moral support and additional weight."

"There is a very specific kind of silence raccoons create when they are evaluating the moral weight of a command they fully intend to disobey. Slowly—too slowly, far too slowly—his gaze drifts to the backpack beneath him. The backpack full of possibilities. The backpack full of forbidden possibilities."

"His claws rest lightly on Kaisel’s collarbone, guiding his attention sideways as he stuffs his paw right by Kaisel’s cheek, offering a squished, rain-damp, gummy worm for the soldier to take. Remi chitters sweetly, insistently, as if saying: For you. I stole it myself."


Remi, Scary dog privilege

"Even if Jack had gotten down on one knee in the lighthouse," she murmurs, voice ragged with feeling, "even if he’d apologised for everything, if he’d gotten rid of his telepathy, if he’d undone all the awful—" She swallows, hard, then finishes softly, "I’d still choose you." She squeezes his hands tighter, the motion trembling but fierce. "This is the love I want," she says, stronger now, like the truth has finally grown roots in her. "You’re the one I want, Kaisel."

Flora, En otra vida, en otro mundo podrá ser

Both the Maverick and his limb are tugged forward into the sunlight under Asta's grip, Danta's sunglasses a bit askew as he glares at the other man. "He is attached to that," he reminds him, though the faint flush to his cheeks and the tips of his ears suggests he's not entirely upset at having their engagement shown off to the Doubletake.

Dantalion, til he was livin' lavish

She keeps mentioning it, slipping it out like a love note and bracing for the heartbreak, but everyone just keeps sealing it with a kiss and giving it back, so she’s begun to collect shades of lipstick instead of the expected tears.

Colt, [SE] I'm brave in fixed amounts

Flora guards her best friend like a dog with a bone. Colt’s fault, for believing in all this that Sohalia's another dog, turns out she’s just the bone being gnawed on. Flora can have her, Hak Etme's full of bones.

Colt, [ME] Fuck it up if it's your birthday bitch

"And which line would that be?" he wants to know, pouting down at the butcher. "Not the one about being inspired to new heights, surely? Are you saying there's something wrong with my mucus?"

Would you still love me if I was a worm walked so this conversation could run.

Dantalion, [SE] hold my wood

Trying to follow a conversation between these two's seemingly-shared brain is like trying to follow a game of poker in a bouncy house.

Finch, i'll keep all your secrets by the dozen