#To clarify while May does think Rue is better than her and does think she should just disappear/should've frozen to death while Rue lived

[mushroom-for-art]

More Rue!Au with May and @blues-sues Rue. I'm putting her in situations and I'm sorry this one is a lot darker than the previous one so if ya wanna skip that's valid.

And it all went wrong

Rue was worried, it'd been a good few months since the voltorb incident and she'd fully recovered but her friend and fellow Two May, she'd only seemed to slowly deteriorate. She looked over at her friend as they walked along beside her, there were bags forming under her eyes. She looked lethargic to say the least even as she carried heavy equipment without complaints. The thing that uneased her most was the large graying patch on her chest pump, it wasn't a bruise and May had told it it might have been some fusion genetics but she didn't have any other traits really and it seemed to grow each day.

"May, do you need any help with those?" Rue asked, floating over to her casually, concern on her face as May simply smiled at her with a "no thank you I'm fine Rue but thank you." It didn't make her feel better. She looked at her in worry remaining by her side as they trekked on.

It was another scouting mission, supposedly the trail cams had caught sight of a potentially rare powerful pokemon and in teams they were sweeping the area hoping to funnel it to where they wanted it for capture. They had one human grunt with them who walked ahead holding some scanning device and having access to the AEI's that May wore if necessary as Rue had still been unable to successfully mega it'd knocked her self esteem significantly. A one man craft flew slightly overhead as an aerial view.

May lightly nudged Rue as they walked, "hey, don't look so down, maybe a proper fight is all you need to get to mega stage and you'll blow the crowd away!" She spoke reassuringly knowing nothing of Rues true concerns just having seen her friends head hanging low slightly and being concerned the failure was coming back to eat away at her assurance.

Rue opened her mouth to correct her and explain she was worried for her but the Team Rocket grunt interrupted "Look lively, sensors are going crazy. It's close. Arceus it cold all of a sudden," May shifted uncomfortably glancing at Rue, "there's probably a blanket in this big old bag." She hadn't been quite right after they were stuck in that freezing cavern together constantly fretting over Rues comfort and temperature.

A blue blast crashed through the treeline colliding into a tree just short of Mays horn, the tree cracked violently snapping backwards at the force of the blast and rapidly froze over. Rue turned to the defensive as the grunt lay on the ground to the side having leapt out the way radioing in that the pokemon was in their sector. From the trees a large floating ice crystal like formation emerged. Regice. It beeped and chimed and whirled before another blast of energy shot from where presumably it's eyes were. Rue dives tackling May down to avoid them both getting frozen.

"Don't get hit," Rue quickly snapped though not meaning to as she glided smoothly around preparing to attack, rocks and pebbles swirled from the ground picked up in psychic energy as Rue used her agility to avoid getting struck by ice attacks from the regi, the rocks smashed together fusing merging becoming imbued with some mysterious energy before being sent hurtling into the Regice who let out a bleeping squeal of pain before beeping loudly in agitation and rage shooting beams of concentrated ice power at Rue trying to freeze her out the sky along with icicles flying out from it's own body attempting to skewer her. It was angry and it was aiming to hurt.

Rue struggled dodging attacks using trees to dive behind for shelter, she couldn't get a solid lock on it for weaving through the treeline and was unable to fly up into the sky as it made her an easy target for ice projectiles. A hard rock like object hit her back causing her to hit the ground and roll before quickly shooting off again as another ice beam froze the ground she'd just fallen to. A thud besides her, the sky had gone black, it had started to hail. Great. Now she had to dodge hailstones and ice attacks and trees and if she went into the open air she'd be battered and assaulted with even worse hail.

May on the ground had grabbed the grunt moving them away from danger and the fight, the Regi solely focused on Rue thankfully ignoring them. She took off the bag she was carrying as it thunked onto the floor quickly rooting around for any kind of ice heal sprays or storm removing items anything that'd help. The grunt harshly swatted her hands away.

"Get out of there you idiot. While Rue keeps that thing busy you're going to Mega evolve and pummel it with fighting type moves and when I say stop you will so I can catch it, you got that!?" They barked at her as she lamely nodded, stepping away, careful to not get hit with hailstones as the grunt pressed the button to activate the AEIs.

Electricity cruelly coursed through her body, sending all her pain receptors alight in panic as messages ran to her brain before the electrical power struck her right in the chest bump going right into her mewtwonite which vibrated and began to glow with power, but it hurt. She felt like her ribcage was being split and cracked on the inside and like she was being pierced under her flesh.

The electricity stopped. "Why aren't you mega evolving?!" The grunt snapped in anger and before May could tell them something was wrong they turned the power all the way up and pressed the button again.

"AHHH!" She couldn't help the scream, it was too much electricity running through her body, she'd never been shocked at this voltage before, it ran through her body like it was splitting her veins and muscles shooting up through her second neck directly into her brain, she couldn't see her vision was black and her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her skull. The worst feeling was in her chest it pulled in the electricity her mewtwonite vibrating glowing even brighter due to the energy it feasted on she couldn't breathe for screaming and the electricity paralyzing her lungs but had she breathed she would feel the stabbing of her lungs as something inside of her chest grew in jagged points inside her cracking through her sternum and splitting her rips horrible points crawling growing inside her just short of stabbing her heart.

One more the electricity stopped and May stumbled in agony, her breathing was short as she gasped for air and immediately fell to her knees grasping at her chest as each breath becoming more panicked sent new shocks of pain through her she couldn't breathe and yet she could only pant shortly in agony, her vision was blurry and as she leant over she saw faint red droplets appearing in the grass and dirt beneath her, falling from her mouth with her struggling exhales and dripping from her nose. The grunt did not care or notice, finally switching off the safety that stopped the AEIs burning themselves short and shocking her again.

Her body lurched backwards this time as her chest ripped open violently, a silent scream leaving her mouth as jagged yellow crystal formations grew out of her like an explosion, blood flying out and everything seemed to slow down, at least for May. She felt a presence, a heavy dark weighted feeling in her skull and brain, her vision darkening once more but this time caused by the graying darkness that spread creeping from her chest around her body with every heartbeat it spread and turned her body a deep gray. It crawled up her face and creeped into her eyes, as shots of yellow energy followed, traveling through her nerves and dancing across the whites of her eyes.

She could feel herself slipping, losing sensation in her limbs and fingers losing her sense of self her body she tried to grasp at anything but her body didn't move and in her mind she was lurched from control her mental personification thrown from the control panels by encroaching black, it swirled spreading corrupting and taking over and it molded forming into a shape that looked like her yellow energy glowed from them as May felt herself become bound, strangled in her own mind it smirked at her and said in a voice she'd heard before "It is my turn now I'm afraid." Her pupils shrank rapidly as the energy attacked swarming and swirling around her eyeball making her eyes glow as her body mega evolved before the blinding glow subsided into sharp yellow pupils and her mouth twisted into a grin and time began to move again.

Rue was in a panicked state as she tried to circle back to her group, she'd heard her friend screaming something must be wrong, but the Regice was relentless making it incredibly difficult to safely get back.

"Go away! I've got something more important to check on right now!!!" She threw a ball of concentrated aura that unfortunately missed crashing into a tree, it was hard fighting a moving target in a forest in a hailstorm.

The Regice stopped moving and Rue slowed to look back as it stood its eye light blinking rapidly bleeping before it turned and jumped into the sky to run, away? It leapt away quickly pursued by aerial units as it screamed in nonsensical beeps.

"..-. .-.. . . .-.-.- / ... .... .- -.. --- .-- / . -. - .. - -.-- / -.. . - . -.-. - . -.. .-.-.-"

Rue frowned not understanding, the hailstorm left with the Regice at least as she turned her body flying upwards over the treeline and beelining for her group ignoring some of the aerial units telling her to pursue the target.

She got back as 'May' slowly got to her feet, she was in her mega form, but it was clear something was very very wrong. Her skin had turned gray with her tail sporting an even darker shade and there was some kind of rock lodged in her chest. Rue cautiously floated down.

"May, what happened? We should get you to the medic for this, how badly does it hurt?" Rue reached to touch her friend to check the formation in her chest which now she was closer looked as though it had, burst out of her rather than being stabbed into her.. Her wrist was grabbed in a vice like grip before she could make contact with the strange glowing rock.

"Ah, ah, you shouldn't go touching things when you don't know what they do Ruey," it didn't sound like Mays voice, at least not fully like there was an overlap of someone else talking through her like when two people under a psychic control speak at the same time their voices echoing. Rue could feel panic running through her. Something was very very wrong as those dangerous yellow eyes pierced through her looking more maddened then usual.

An electric shock from the AEI's caused, whatever was controlling May to let Rue go as they slowly dangerously turned their head to look at the team rocket grunt who held the remote threateningly, "what the muk…" they breathed as they radiated fear.

"You're still our asset," they faked confidence, "you will do as you're told and you will obey!" They sent another shock through her body to emphasize their point, not realizing what they were doing was only annoying them more. Rue looked at them quickly doing a "stop it" motion quickly sensing the danger that the human could not.

'Mays' fingers flexed and wiggled before her arm shot out grabbing the grunt and also slamming them harshly into the tree a few feet behind them with an audible crunch and snap of tree bark before her arm rapidly pulled them in towards her. The tree was split and cracked from the hit as she held the grunt.

"Despite how idiotic you are, I should really thank you had it not been for your group's incompetence and reliance on these electrifying gizmos I may not have been able to gain the strength to emerge. I suppose since you let me out I'll…" she paused looking at the grunt who was limp, blood had trickled out their nose onto her wrist as their head lulled forward, she moved her thumb pushing the grunts chin their head flopped uncannily as crunching could be heard. Rue was frozen in place staring in horror as the thing that looked like her friend examined the limp grunt.

"Ah, it hadn't occurred to me how weak and flimsy humans were," she dropped the dead grunt who crumbled to the ground with a sickening thud and the sound of more broken bones crunching. Rues tail swished as she felt her hands shaking somewhere between pure terror and rage, whatever it was controlling her friend it hadn't even intended to completely break and kill the grunt and yet it had so easily and carelessly. The notion was terrifying and deeply upsetting while also anger inducing, they didn't care that they just took a life?

Whatever now puppeted her friend barely noticed her seething rage, "to think so easily they could have been dealt with and this body didn't. Such a fragile minded weakling." Rue rushed at them in pure outrage energy sparking and forming around her to collide into her target as they cracked off the AEIs from their wrists and neck.

Rue lurched. Her body was frozen. Psychic energy wrapped around her entire form holding her in place as the face of her friend turned to look at her, "now Rue dear, don't give me reason to harm you too." Its tone was mocking as she felt the psychic powers squeezing her body as it grinned at her with teeth. The energy of her attack shattered around her and the psychic energy ceased to squeeze her but still kept her firmly in place, she sneered and growled.

"You let me go! Whatever the muk you are! You better let me go and stop controlling my friend! Or you'll be sorry!" Rue tried to thrash tried to wiggle to throw off the psychic powers that held her in place and it just looked back at her, simply moving her to be upright rather than horizontally charging it tilted it's head observing her, eyes flickering in an unstable like way as it watched her attempts to get free which only enraged her further causing her to try to thrash harder.

"You're going to exhaust your mind and body long before you can escape this. My power surpasses yours afterall," they idly observed their fingers flexing and wiggling them glancing an eye over at Rue, "Though normally that still wouldn't stop me from destroying something like you, especially if you really do want to try and stand in my way."

Its hand grabbed Rues chin and muzzle despite her attempts to pull and lean her head away as it leant in closer, whispering almost, "but I'll tell you a secret, you're one of the lucky ones. Had you or I been any other being, well, I would've gladly slaughtered you the moment I sensed your breathing." Rue whimpered as their hand tightened slightly in emphasis, "this vessel I'm in, well, I won't tell you my woes but she cares about you a lot, it was very easy to manipulate her into triggering her own mega evolution purely because she was so stressed and desperate to help you, though you know this I'm sure. It was very useful for me to know this body can manage such a state without those little shock collars, it could have caused me problems. So since you helped me, I'll let you survive this encounter, just this once." they let go of her chin touching their finger to her nose in a mocking gesture.

"Besides, it'll keep your friend in check until I can figure out how to eradicate her. You should hear her screaming pleading begging me not to cause you harm, pathetic and headache inducing. But it stops her struggling against my control even if she'd be incapable of stopping me."

Rue made a motion to bite at the others hand the best she could growling, "Don't you dare talk badly about her like that. She's a lot stronger than you realize, you parasite! She'll muk-ing beat you! She'll muk-ing destroy you! She's my best friend and I know she'd do anything for me, so Arceus dammit May, fight back against this freak!!" It groaned, grabbing at its forehead at Rues inspiration rubbing its temple in frustration.

Before Rue could grin in triumph and offer more encouragement a grapple shot from an aerial unit missing the megas second neck attaching to it's upper back before a bright wavelength of energy shot through the wire straight into the megas body, who grunted slightly as the psychic energy released Rue dropping her to the ground where she landed on her feet ready to fight.

The mega turned its head to look at the aerial unit as they prepared and sent a second energy wave through her mimicking some kind of pokemon type, she barely flinched moving a hand lazily up open palm at the unit, a sinister grin spread on her face as her hand slowly curled into a fist. The sound of metal straining heaving and stretching could be heard audibly from the unit as the exterior started to fail and give way beginning to slowly cave in on itself, the emergency escape falling to safely release the pilot.

"Stop it! You're going to kill them!" Rue could only mentally apologize to May and hope the wound healed as she slashed at the megatwo with psystrikes and psycho cut her hands moving in swipe after swipe glowing with psychic energy as she tried to damage and distract this monster.

"You're really starting to annoy me here, Ruey." Her wrists were grabbed in one hand that lifted her off the ground as the other continued to slowly curl into a fist compressing the metal vehicle, Rue struggled and swinged opting instead to kick out her legs at the mega kicking at their leg their stomach the side of their chest and even swinging her legs up to kick her foot into the side of its face repeatedly, though it barely seemed to notice. She could hear the team rocket member panicking struggling to get out they started to scream and bang on the interior of the vehicle that was becoming their tomb screaming as it compressed and started to crush their body begging for help please anybody until they were silent and the vehicle was crushed ever tighter and smaller like a tin can, blood starting to ooze and seep out of any space it could before the crushed compacted aerial unit was dropped. Rue felt sick.

"You monster!" Rue kicked at their face repeatedly, "You horrible muk-ing creature! I hate you! I hate you!! Give me my friend back!! Give her back!!" her voice cracked as she sobbed, kicking them for emphasis as their eyes slowly rolled to look at her. It was too much for her to see what was her friend being controlled by someone else, it was wrong and sick that her gentle clumsy ever patient soft friend was being used and made to hurt and kill members of their team, it wasn't in her nature at all to be that way so what gave this horrible thing the right to do so?!

It looked at her for a long time before looking back to the sky hearing more units approaching, it let Rue go throwing her back slightly so she fell though Rue quickly pushed herself back up to stand and fight. "Don't you dare! I won't let you hurt more people!"

"Do you really think you can stop me? You can't mega evolve, your attacks do no damage to me and I could just immobilize you again and you'd be helpless to watch me eviscerate them." Rue faltered.

"I'll try to stop you anyway, it's what May would do, try even if she knows she'd fail." Rue glared at them in determination as it sighed at her.

"and fail you will. If you try I will kill them. If you stop and stay, I'll let them live."

Rues eyes narrowed, "why would you need to bargain or are you losing control? Huh? Nice try, you can't fool me."

When it laughed her certainty faltered, "oh no, nothing like that I'm just bored plus your little friend is begging me to leave without hurting anyone else. You don't want me to have to stay and hurt people do you? Stain little Mays hands and reputation with blood? Because they'll only punish her. Do you want them to do that? Punish her? Harm her in retaliation?"

"No-No of course not-!" Rue began.

"I think you do. You want them to send her away to another facility," it moved to close in on Rue, "you want to be the only Mewtwo on site again, you didn't like that she could mega on her own, I heard you, you were jealous. You hate that she succeeds where you fail so you want her to be tarnished and taken away so you can be the favorite. You think you deserve that, don't you? "

"Shut up! Stop screwing with my head!! You're just trying to trick me, mess me up!" Rue yelled as the tall dark mega stood over her leaning down close to box her in.

"Oh but little Rue, it's just what May thinks of you, she knows how down you've been since your failed experiment, she knows you're better than her and deserve more so maybe she should disappear forever. I mean after all when you were trapped together and sent her away, you know what she thought?" Rue shook her head as her body shook and eyes watered, "she thought you'd sensed someone, that help was coming, so you sent her away so you'd be found and so she would stay and freeze to death because you resent her." Tears rolled down Rues cheeks as it spoke.

"Now, save yourselves both more hurt and stay put." It stepped away from Rue floating up into the air, smirking when Rue didn't follow, it turned in the air before disappearing, the clouds in the air being split as it sped off. Rue slowly slumped down where she stood her hands coming up to her face as tears rolled down her cheeks as what just happened sinked in. She choked a sob as more tears fell.

She just lost her best friend and she couldn't stop it from happening.

#My writing #my oc #Mewtwosona May #Shadowtwo #Rue Mewtwo #@blues sues oc #@blues sues rue #Tw blood #Tw minor character death #tw violence #Tw death #Me looking at the fic: wow. That's a lot of damage! #Shadowtwo is a cold cruel evil bitch #To clarify while May does think Rue is better than her and does think she should just disappear/should've frozen to death while Rue lived #This is more so because of Mays own personal crippling low self esteem and low sense of self worth #She would have rather freezed if it meant Rue was never hurt and cold #She would rather have horrible things happen to her because she believes Rue deserves only the best #Girlie doesn't really love herself and would give up all her luck powers ect in an instant if it meant Rue safe happy ect #She feels incredibly guilty over how cold Rue got even tho it wasn't hurt fault #She loves very hard even to her own detriment #Had shadowtwo harmed Rue May would've fought back even harder and since the control was new may could've won #So by not harming Rue lying playing it out so may didn't fight and Rue didn't fight they secured full control #The longer it's in control the weaker may will get mentally to the point she can't resist so if they meet again she could kill Rue #Rue has now unlocked a new trauma probably #Sorry Rue #Told you the mega form came at a cost #Me: wow these guys absolutely consume my thoughts I love them so much!! #Also me: writes shit like this lmao #There is something wrong with me lmao #Dw later they are separated so Rue will get her May back eventually Gaia crystal shadowtwo free

[wardens-stew]

The Mask Falling Hints MASTERPOST

Clearly I have wayyy too much time on my hands! 

I have compiled a list of information Samantha Shannon has divulged on social media about The Mask Falling, mostly paraphrased from her Tumblr and Twitter. Some of it dates back as far as 2016, so it’s not certain that all of it will happen - I’ve included an asterisk for the tidbits in which Samantha explicitly mentioned that it was pre-editing. I didn’t include a link to the original source because that would be too much work, but if anyone has questions I can probably find it pretty easily! The recent ARC reviews also include some hints, but I haven’t included them because that would be a crap-ton of text. Feel free to add anything I missed! Anyway enjoy the fruits of my obsession! 

Hints:

We will find out how badly Warden was affected by Paige’s torture - there’s a lot about the effects of her torture in the book 

The non-binary character is a free-world spy, pretending to be French 

Paige has issues with drinking water and showering 

Paige will make another valiant effort to get Warden to talk about his feelings 

Paige’s demisexuality is clarified -  she reflects on the way she wants in comparison to the way the allosexual Nick and Eliza do

Paige gets slammed into the wall by someone, but not Terebell (also not Warden, because then she would be very dead) 

The grey market storyline continues

Etymological connection of Arcturus meaning bear-guard and Mahoney meaning descendant of the bear is worked into the books 

Paige cries

Paige’s PTSD is a thread throughout the book 

Paige has mental and physical difficulties following her torture 

“The scope of everything gets bigger, there's more focus on the free world and how it interacts with Scion, and you'll find out more about Rephaite history and the origin of clairvoyance.”

You may figure out what happened to Procyon

Warden’s aura type is mentioned*

Paige starts calling Warden Arcturus. They have a discussion about it. But she keeps calling him Warden in front of other people. 

The prologue begins about an hour after The Song Rising 

Warden asks Paige to teach him Irish

Contains clues as to the big secret at the heart of the series 

Warden does a few very sweet things

We’ll find out a reason why Nashira considers Warden a possession rather than a partner*

Paige is at her most fragile

One of the characters eats an orange

There is a distinct Priory parallel in one section of the story

Paige asks Warden if Rephaim can get drunk 

We will find out if Rephaim can get physically ill

We’ll get a piece of information that may help us understand the Rephaite logic behind Warden feeding on Paige’s aura 

More about the golden cord

Paige’s feelings with her father will be explored 

We will find out why it was common knowledge amongst Rephaim that Terebell and Warden were once mated 

Warden might tell us what would happen if he tried to eat

More about voyant-amaurotic sex will be explained 

We will learn more about the Rephaim’s internal politics and conflicts 

We get to see Paige’s birthday

We we’ll find out how Warden knows how to develop Paige’s gift*

Paige and Warden butt heads over right and wrong 

We’ll find out why Warden said that Sargas are the only Rephs who choose their mates

We’ll find out more about the half-urge

We’ll find out more about the complicated history between Warden and Terebell

Warden is planning to learn Gaelic (pre-editing)

We’ll find out two of the reasons why Warden hates Nashira so much*

We’ll find out about the promise Warden made to Nashira that she alludes to before the Bicentary

Warden says something with an exclamation mark

Warden will tell us more about the memory of Terebell, and how it was a prelude to one of the defining moments of his existence 

Paige visits Warden’s dreamscape a few times, but we only see it once

Paige addresses the author directly 

Nick isn’t in the book at all

The plot takes place only in Paris

Paige dies her hair red

A character Samantha did not originally plan to be in TBS4 now is

There’s a big scene in the Sainte-Chapellle in Paris

The book is shaping up to be the darkest book in the series, but also contains the most jokes 

Paige feels really ill for most of the book 

Samantha starts hinting at the Grand Backstory of the series 

Paige is under strict orders to stay inside for a month, but she breaks the rules to explore Paris 

The main antagonist was born in “the burning summer of 2019”

We’ll find out about two of Warden’s past relationships 

Paige and Warden have to get food deliveries from a guy called Albéric because they’re not allowed to go outside 

There’s espionage 

Warden uses the super unnecessary word “sennight”

A lot of the book takes place underground

We learn if a non-polyglot could ever learn Gloss 

There is a Very Awkward Conversation*

There is a time skip between the fourth and fifth books

Warden smiles a lot… with his eyes

The ending will change everything 

Scion must change its public face due to an event that happens at the end

People who liked The Mime Order will love it

TBS4 picks up when Paige is resting.

It will go into more detail about how Rephaim emerge

It marks the beginning of Beautiful Dresses in The Bone Season 

It introduces a Rephaite character Samantha absolutely loves, with her favorite Rephaite name 

There’s a scene Samantha has wanted to write for years 

The ending is very dark 

There’s a cute priory reference 

There’s a character Samantha loves - “she’s so cool that I don’t know how a nerd like me invented her”

“The relationship between Warden and Paige gets deeper and more complicated in this one, and you get to know Warden a little better.”

“[Paige and Warden] are together a lot in this book, as they’re sharing a safe house in Paris. It’s the first time they’ve spent a significant amount of time with one another since they escaped Sheol I.  You’ll actually glimpse the ways they both react to being stuck inside in The Mask Falling, as they’re meant to stay hidden in a safe house for a month so Paige can start to recover from her ordeal.”

“It’s a love song to Paris in the way The Mime Order was a love song to London.”

“[Paige and Warden do have some happy calm moments.] Although there’s a lot of action in the book, there’s also quite a lot of downtime. Paige is still recovering from her ordeal in the Archon, so she can’t always be out in the world kicking ass. She’s resting as well, trying to get her strength back.”

“I won’t lie, The Mask Falling is a book to fear . . . but there are some nice bits. Including some coffee-drinking.”

“[Paige and Warden] do so much in this book. So much.”

“Most of the characters who didn’t go to Paris are absent from TBS4.”

“Paige and Warden do so much in this book, I just couldn’t cram any other storylines in. However, several old friends do turn up in it, as well as a bunch of new characters I hope you’ll love as much as I do.”

“Paige [experiences the messiest-most-intense emotion in TBS4]. She goes through the emotional wringer in this one.”

“The second ‘arc’ has the same main characters and the same antagonist. The difference has more to do with the setting, the scope of the narrative, and the type of battle being fought against Scion. You’ll have a better idea of what I mean when you read the end of TBS4.”

“This book puts both [Paige and Warden] through the emotional wringer, but there are lighter parts as well.” “Nick meets an old friend while he’s in Sweden and Paige and Warden will be staying in central Paris, on Rue Gît-le-Cœur. You can see some of the locations from Book 4 here: [x]”

“TBS4 is basically just a long Hurt/Comfort piece with occasional and reluctant splashes of Action/Adventure”

“THE MASK FALLING leans a little more Adult than the other BONE SEASON books. The whole series is officially classified as Adult, but the first three aren't far off YA in terms of sexual content, violence etc. THE MASK FALLING is . . . maybe a tiny bit sexier.”

“Doing my final reread of THE MASK FALLING and naturally I've noticed a recurring phrase that I have used no less than thirty times in the manuscript.”

“It blows the world of The Bone Season right open. It’s where everything changes. It takes place in a brand-new setting and forms the bridge between the two ‘arcs’ of the series. I hope the ending will show readers get why I really do need seven instalments to tell this story.”

“Books 1-4 is what I call the “Scion arc”, but Scion is still a threat in Books 5-7. Book 4 is kind of in the middle, with more of a focus on Rephaim than there currently is in Book 3.”

“He’s in Book 4, he’s French, he’s voyant, and I’m writing his introduction scene now. I think I love him?”

“The draft is about 140 000 words long – a little shorter than The Mime Order – with a veritable tonne of action, espionage, international politics, eerie catacombs, old enemies, new friends, and messy, intense emotions packed into that word count.” 

“This one combines my favourite elements of The Bone Season (Warden and Paige chats), The Mime Order (syndicate weirdness) and The Song Rising (heists and angst)”

“The fourth Bone Season book is well underway, and things are about to take a very dark turn for Paige.”

“It’s mostly focused on Paris, but you’ll find out bits and pieces about what’s happening in both England and Europe.”

“She’s suffering from PTSD and aquaphobia following her water torture in The Song Rising, so she’s pretty much in the ringer for the whole book. There are a few light moments, but she’s under a lot of stress from the start.”

“While I wouldn't call it spy fiction, TBS4 is delving into espionage territory as Warden and Paige, still exhausted from their tremendous efforts against Scion in The Song Rising, attempt to navigate the convoluted political and criminal networks of Scion Paris.”

“Book 4 is a touch more political, laced with subterfuge”

Lists:

Things you’ll see:

The carrières of Paris

A masquerade (ofc)

A mysterious character you haven’t seen in a long while

Arcturus Mesarthim saying ‘hm’ about 18 times

Five words:

Revelations

Politics

Water

Heartache

War

Three adjectives:

Macabre

Emotional

Seismic

There is a lot of:

Warden and Paige

Rain

Classy interior decor

Angst

New characters include:

A spy so fashionable and icy cool I’m unsure of how a nerd like me created her

A tall, irritable Frenchman with a bit of a God complex

A terrifying new Rephaite with an uncomfortably sexy voice

It has:

A Parisian underworld 

A demisexual MC 

A masquerade ball 

Catacombs 

Forbidden, angst-stricken desire 

Verbal consent 

Acknowledgement of periods 

I can promise:

Parisian buildings TOURISTS LOVE. Notre-Dame? It's there, there's a masquerade INSIDE IT. Sainte-Chapelle? Oui. Versailles? Naturally. The Eiffel Tower? Oh, we're climbing it 

Getting DOWN and DIRTY. (By which I mean literally, down, into the catacombs.)

People who arrive in Paris SPEAKING FRENCH because they have been given a job for which they have the correct SKILLSET *bangs table* 

No crêpes (#OhCrepe), but CHAUSSONS AUX POMMES 

ROOFTOP PICNIC 

Not everyone is STRAIGHT 

Chic OUTFITS, all quite filthy by the end

Locations: 

The beautiful Sainte-Chapelle, my favourite place on Earth. 

Rue Gît-le-Cœur, a major location in the book and previously home to the Beat Hotel.

The famous doorway in the Paris Catacombs. The inscription translates to 'Stop! This is the Empire of Death.' 

Rue Montmartre, where we may or may not encounter an old face. 

Preview in gifs:

Originally posted by cinemagraphs

Originally posted by queeniegoldtsein

Originally posted by cumlelerinruhu

Snippets:

Out-of-context chapter title: Chapter 3: Gloomy Coffee

Part names*: 

1. To Pay Thee Free

2. Turn the Anchor

3. Eurydice

Quotes:

“What the fuck is that?” she whispered to me. “Looks like a frozen rainbow.”

“The horizon was as red as if the fire still burned. I watched the sunrise from the roof. Fog breathed into every nook and alcove of Paris, laced over the dark crests of the river, blanched the skin to the pink of salmon. I was sure the air was still spiced with the tang of smoke.”

“So,” he said, “we are choosing larceny.” “Always so surprised when his criminal friend commits crimes.”

“I wouldn’t usually care who you’re riding at any given time”

“I sensed all of this was very important, but I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about”

“I picked up the floundering ribbons of my dignity and started over”

“His home was in decay, and mine lay in the shadow of the anchor. Scion had made wanderers of us.”

Current opening line (circa Dec 18, 2018): “The sun had been climbing over the cliffs when our ship had pared away from Dover.”

“Someone who had heard of me and whose first response had not been to try to kill me. What a treat.”

“A hollow ache stretched out within me. It started in the chambers of my heart, in a place that reached eternally for Ireland.”

“‘I promised you we would stay together,’ he said. ‘In the absence of other options, I will follow your lead on this matter.’”

“‘I’m fine.’ ‘Your attempt to mask the darkness under your eyes serves as compelling evidence of that. As does the full bowl of coffee.’ I cocked my head. ‘Did you just master sarcasm?’ ‘Paige.’ ‘It’s a cup of coffee. With… no handle.’”

“‘There’s no fireplace,’ I stated. ‘No.’ ‘But how are you-‘ A wild laugh was bubbling up. ‘How are you going to cope without one?’ ‘Cope,’ Warden repeated.  ‘You need one. To stare into, pensively. Did you know,’ I said to him, ‘that you do that a lot?’ He tilted his head, which only set off a fit of silent laughter. My ribs ached in protest.”

‘I mustered all the breath I had left and screamed, until I folded on myself and my voice burned to nothing.’

‘Who can break you now, Black Moth, now there is nothing left to break?’

#the mask falling #the bone season #masterpost #hints

[edales-drabbles]

Hive is Home Drabble 3 pt 2

Summary: Espers are people with powers. Some are good and some are not so good. Ervin is from a family of adopted Espers who work as heroes but lives in his own city attending university. Then he gets hurt on a mission and the 'villains' are now going to have to deal with his family. Including the guy he actually likes. Joys.

Follows directly after three, so I called it Pt 2

Previous

---

In the middle of the night, Smiles started coughing. Waking up both Ervin who was in the same bed and Nelson who had made himself a chest on the floor next to it. Nelson didn’t want to leave Ervin with a hive member while the others didn’t know he was here. The coughing got worse and the two crows quickly got Smiles to the bathroom before he started to throw up. Nelson rubbing his back gently and Ervin looked on concerned.

“When I said I didn’t want to tell them you caught pneumonia, I was serious, you know,” Ervin half teased.

Smiles glared at him from the toilet bowl, dark sudden bags under his eyes. Like this, it was easy to see how slight Smiles actually was. Without his makeup and signature outfit, it looked human. He even acted like it. “This is not good,” he rasped, his voice not quite ready for him to speak.

“Who’s this?” Kane asked, appearing next to the door. “And why are they throwing up?”

“Smiles. The Hive subconscious sent him to complain about the state of things and he got stuck hanging outside my window into the rain. Now he’s ill,” Ervin explained calmly as Smiles hacked into the toilet again, Nelson making reassuring noises. “I was hoping he could leave today but I’m not sure we can send him off in this state,” he exhaled, running a hand through his hair. Their father was not going to be happy with this.

“Ah,” Kane nodded. “I’ll tell the others. Rue is grabbing the first aid kit at the moment. We’ll avoid Dad knowing for now,” he promised, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe confidently.

“Thank you,” Ervin smiled gratefully at Kane. It happened from time to time that an enemy or a friend needed their assistance and bringing Darkstalker it would only make the matters worse. The crows were used to hiding strays in their rooms. Sometimes it even worked. Most of the time it was more an exercise in keep-away as Darkstalker got more suspicious with them.

“Hear that, Smiles? You’re safe here for now. Until Dad sniffs you out at least,” Nelson said cheerfully as Smiles groaned in pain, clutching his rib. Ervin grimaced in sympathy. Throwing up that hard like that had to sting.

“And I found the supples,” Rue declared, pushing through Ervin and Kane into the room with a large box. He knelt down by the ill man and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. “Who am I treating today?” He asked as he flushed the toilet and took Smiles wrist to check his pulse. Smiles didn’t fight the treatment, looking about to collapse. He was sweating and his skin was quickly starting to look more green than white.

“I thought you two fought?” Ervin frowned.

“It’s Smiles,” Nelson added. “To be fair, they met once and Smiles was all done up, Dimshit” He added giving Ervin the side-eye. “Most people don’t know what their enemies look like without their masks.”

“Ah, I see,” Rue said cheerfully. He checked the thermometer as it beeped and frowned. “Not good. Any higher and I’d be taking you down to the hospital. Ok. Let’s get you back to the bedroom. Nel, grab a bucket. Kane, go start the vine and Ervin, go connect hive before they get worried,” Rue ordered sharply. All three men jumped into action and Ervin quickly scurried away to Rue’s room. It was the one with the most privacy and less likely to be overheard.

The phone barely rung two beats before Torleif was answering. “Blackbird!” He called in his normal gusto. “Please tell me you’re calling to discuss terms for coming back? Grace is lonely with you gone and Kerrim is being mopey too.”

“Not yet,” Ervin said calmly, pushing away his feelings regarding Kerrim. If Kerrim wanted to talk to him, he was only a phone call away. He still had Ervin’s phone number after all. Not to mention his email. There were ways to contact him. He pushed it all away, focusing on the slightly desperate question regarding his return. “Dad’s still upset but said he will consider it. Soon hopefully. Give it a week? Just, if he contacts you don’t mention the condition you originally gave me. He won’t like it.”

“Frustrating but fair,” Torleif sighed. “The Hive accepts waiting a week. We will avoid talking about terms and conditions to him. Why have you called then?” He asked, slipping in and out of the hive network fluidly.

“Smiles,” Ervin said in one word.

“Was an accident,” the Hive winced.

“I know,” Ervin reassured. “I got that from the whining. Thing is, he got stuck outside in a rainstorm and now is ill. We are going to hide him from Dad for now but his temperature is high. We’ll look after him, of course. If it gets too high, we’ll take him to a hospital. Are there any side effects from being Hive we should know about?” He asked as it suddenly occurred to him.

“Damn. Right. Er,” Torleif and the hive merging in panic and then separating in the same voice. “No side effects from hive normally. May feel more with no Queen to focus on to. Please don’t take him to a hospital. Smiles hates hospitals. Keep us informed?”

“Feel more?” Ervin questioned, frowning.

“Emotionally,” Torleif clarified. “The net has a calming effect for the most part. When we are hurt or ill, it keeps us grounded but Smiles won’t have that. Ah, here she is. Have Grace,” he said cheerfully.

“Hello?” Grace’s voice said uncertainly on the phone, not sure who was about to speak to on the phone. Ervin rolled his eyes.

“Hey Gracie, how you doing?” He said gently sitting on Rue’s bed lightly.

“Ervin!” She said surprised and very happy to hear his voice. “Weirdly? I’m struggling with some things and not with others. The other Wasps are nice. It’s easy to see how you made a working relationship with them. How’s Dad reacting?” She added in a low voice like she didn’t want Torleif to hear her asking. He would. Wasps had enchanted hearing.

Ervin made an unhappy noise, not sure what to tell her. “Better than when Kane went off the rails. You’re still considered family,” he reassured.

“Well that’s one good thing,” she mused unhappily. Ervin could practically hear tears welling up in her eyes and he smiled sadly, wishing he could do more for her. Darkstalker had always been very clear that he would do everything he could to protect them but if they got captured by something like hive, they were on their own.

“You know Dad’s temper. I’m working on getting back out there as soon as possible, I promise. Alger is helping too. Nelson is being Nelson but hopefully, I’ll convince him soon. We aren’t going to abandon you. I promise.” Ervin reassured.

“I know,” Grace murmured. “I have to go. I’m being tested at the moment. They want me to go to university while I’m in my adjustment period,” she frowned. Grace had never seen the point of going to higher learning. The job they did was not one that allowed for a stable job and in her eyes was more important than that. “I explained that I’m no academic by nature but they seem to think they can find something for me.”

“There is always something,” Ervin chuckled. She made an uncertain noise and he laughed loudly. “We love you, Gracie. Stay strong,” he murmured warmly to her.

“That was part of the problem,” she said mournfully.

“Hey Blackbird,” a familiar voice came on next. Kerrim. Ervin shifted, pulling Rue’s blanket close and wrapping himself up in the smell of his brothers. He was safe here. He was at home. Kerrim was back with the Hive.

“Hey, since when do you call me blackbird?” Ervin asked, unhappily. Blackbird was not his alias, as much as Torleif and Smiles seemed to think so. Kerrim had never called him by that name. He didn’t like it from Kerrim. It felt wrong. That wasn’t their relationship, that was something being forced.

There was a snort. “Since the hive is investing in us patching up,” Kerrim said unhappily. “They are sure that me calling you by pet names will help.”

“I’d prefer not. I don’t actually like the nickname, ignoring from Tor and Smiles. They are fond with how they say it. Most use it insulting. You never did,” Ervin trailed off. “Don’t.”

“We need to talk,” Kerrim stated.

“When I get back,” Ervin said firmly. “We are not doing this over the phone.” Not with so many people listening in, he added mentally. Kane was nearby, he could sense it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Nelson was also hiding somewhere. The Hive was unavoidable but Torleif didn’t have to be there for the play by play. Jayiana wouldn’t care one way or another.

“The Hive would prefer…”

‘“I’m sure the Hive would but I’d prefer not. Either wait or come here and book a place we can meet up. Not over the phone,” Ervin said firmly. “This is between you and me, Kerrim, not the Crows and the Hive.”

“Everyone listening in?”

“Would it be surprising?”

“I suppose not,” Kerrim said sounding bemused. Ervin smiled as he heard Torleif complaining in the background. The line between a Wasp and the Hive was a bit grey at times but it was there. The Hive couldn’t force a relationship. Kerrim had upset Ervin, Kerrim was the one who had to make it up to him. “In-person then,” he murmured. “I’ll see what I can do. We don’t want Kerrim to be independent for something emotional.”

“He needs to be if you are going to prove his feelings are his own and not Hive,” Ervin pointed out.

“There is no difference.”

“Once the Hive has what you wish from me, you will put me aside. He will not if he has his own feelings,” Ervin challenged. “And no, I don’t think you will abandon me. I think you will treat me like a contractor. He will stop being a friend because he does not need to be. I don’t want that.”

“We disagree but accept the premise,” the Hive declared unhappily before pulling away. Kerrim breathing harder for a moment. “My feelings are my own, I can separate them,” he murmured softly. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Talk to you soon,” Ervin said back before switching off his phone and falling back in the covers. He didn’t have to wait long for Kane and Nelson to surround him. Rue was guarding slash treating Smiles. It was safe to fall apart for a moment and let his brothers look after him. He closed his eyes and buried his face into Kane’s chest as Nelson hugged him from behind. 

#slash #slash fiction #fiction #my writing #story snippet #superhero x villian #frenemies #drabble