#mild tho

[evelynmlewis]

The Boy in the Castle Chapter 4

Previous

Chapter 4

He did look like a bit of a ruffian, Ilya thought ruefully, as the men chained his hands to the wall in the dungeon. What he wouldn’t give for a drink right about now.

They had come through the interior of the castle; first the main hall, then the barracks. The interior parts of the castle were, oddly enough, less cramped than the outer parts, for the cave was quite spacious, while the ledge the castle was built upon was quite small.

There was a passage from the barracks to the dungeon. These were the castle’s backmost parts, although, where the true backmost parts of this cavern lay was perhaps a mystery to anyone.

Simply, it was a raw stone cave. Three sides of the prison were natural rock, and the ceiling was quite high. Through the gloom, he could see a few sharp-looking stalactites. The walls were rough and pock-marked, with holes leading off to probably nowhere.

The possibility of poking around and trying to find a passage to escape would have been irresistible if he hadn’t been presently shackled to the wall. Which was probably why they had done that. The chains were not very long, and when he sat down on the ground, his hands floated near his head.

The rebel soldiers left. After they had gone, he was alone, and Ilya promptly set about feeling sorry for himself.

Seeing as Anatoliy was presently focused on Madame Olga, he was at least momentarily forgotten. It was a small comfort to him that the man now in charge was supposedly a decent fellow. For all the difference that it made him. He was just the coachman, a disposable manservant. Perhaps they would forget him, and he would rot away down here.

After he had been carrying on in this glum state for several hours, there was a rustle at the far end of the cave. Ilya squinted into the gloom.

Something was moving back there. He jolted, shrinking back, breathing fast. A hundred thoughts ran through his mind, each more far-fetched than the last. There was some dog or wolf, kept in here to kill him. This had been his death sentence all along and he hadn’t known. It was a cave beast, a monster, or a demon.

“H… hello?” he called out shakily. “Who’s there?”

A small figure emerged into the torchlight.

But that was… Alexei.

He seemed to almost gleam in the torchlight, especially his halo of wispy hair, not yet turned from a child’s pale blond. He had changed from the clothes he had on earlier in the coach, and was now wearing his long white night-dress, which made him look like a curious ghost.

“Mister Ilya?” said the boy.

“How did you escape?” Ilya asked in disbelief.

“I didn’t,” said Alexei. “Anatoliy let me out of the box.”

“Yes, but… he knows about you? How did you get here?”

Alexei crept around the sides of the room, touching every face of the rock with interest.

“He locked me in his room. He said that he locked the door to stop the bad men from getting in, and he told me not to open the door. He will bring me food and things.”

Ilya breathed a sigh of relief. Anatoliy, if not on their side, had enough mercy to hide a child from the rest of the Coalition. This was a shockingly good turn of events. “You should have done what he said,” he started to scold.

“It’s okay, I didn’t open the door,” said Alexei brightly. “I found a secret tunnel behind a bookshelf.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” said Ilya, staring directly into the torch flame. “Naturally.”

           “There are a lot of passages here,” said Alexei. “It’s very lucky I found the one that leads to you.”

           “Like what sort of passages? Do any of them go out of here?”

           “I don’t know,” said Alexei. “I would like to help you escape, and Mama as well. But I think the hole that I just came out of is too small for a grown-up like you to fit into.”

           The shred of hope that had been gathering inside of him promptly dissolved.

           “Well…” he struggled not to curse. “That’s too bad. Where is Anatoliy’s room?”

           “It’s straight above us, I think. It’s on the end of the outer ramparts, up against the cave wall. That’s how come there is a tunnel in the wall.”

He seemed very intelligent for a child, Ilya thought, and well-spoken, which he wouldn’t have known from how quiet the boy had been on the coach ride. He also seemed much less shy around strange adults than before, but Ilya supposed that to Alexei, having few friends in this place and many enemies, perhaps they were no longer strangers. Besides, it may have been that the shackles made even an adult such as himself much less intimidating.

He’d never had a wonderful connection to children. He wasn’t really sure how to talk to them. But he didn’t have many friends right now either, and really wouldn’t mind the – no. he shook himself mentally. He had to see sense.

“If you can’t escape,” said Ilya, “you need to go back up there.”

“How come?” the boy tilted his head.

“How come? Because right now anybody could come through this door to the barracks right here and discover you. At least Anatoliy doesn’t want to hurt you. Go back upstairs.”

Alexei looked a little hurt. “Fine, I… but…” he started backing toward the corner of the cave. “Fine, I’ll see you later, Mister Ilya.”

“Fine, yes, you can come back later. Now go.”

Alexei shrank into a shadow and disappeared.

Ilya sighed and pressed his head against the wall. Now why had he told the boy he could come back later? And why was later better than now? Foolishness on his part. Selfishness. Alexei should not be here, he could be killed. As a matter of fact, Alexei and Olga both were in terrible danger, notwithstanding that they were upstairs and he was down here. She was the royalist spy, not him. The boy clearly didn’t understand his own position, nor that of his mother, or he would be much more frightened.

Yet, how remarkable that there was a passage. Surely they could use this to their advantage. There must be a way to get messages to Olga – well, realistically, messages from Olga. Yes, it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. He would wait for the boy to return.

Next Chapter

#writing #my writing #salt and light #whump #yes now i can tag it #mild tho #its more just like the premise

[icanhearthemusicplay]

List of Belos LGBTQ Rights Concepts from most to least homophobic:

>Belos is a homophobic straight cis man who changes the Emperor's Coven logo to a rainbow coloured on every June in order to keep up appearances.

>Belos doesn't know being gay or trans is an option. He is not aware of the possibility. When Luz ends up mentioning her girlfriend he apologizes for thinking she's a girl. When she says she is one, it causes whatever OS he's got in his brain to crash, thereby defeating him, which is why Dana never made this interaction happen between them in canon.

>Belos used to be homophobic but over his time on the isles learned to genuinely not care anymore. He complete forgets that this is part of his upbringing, just as God is replaced with Titan in his vocabulary.

>Belos is a puritan maniac.... Except for queerness. He just never cared in the first place. When Hunter tells him he needs a binder for the 49th time in this immortal corpse's life, he already had one prepared, and would get confused if you tell him this is somehow wrong.

>Belos is trans. Everything is exactly the same, he's just also trans.

#the owl house #toh #toh belos #tw homophobia mention #mild tho #emperor belos #belos #phillip wittebane #phillip whittebane

[doorstoplord]

Mild ToTK spoilers

Straight Sidon has me like

#ToTK spoilers #mild tho

[booperbeanv3]

naurodo and sougi

#asoryuu #mild tho #naruhodou ryuunosuke #ryuunosuke naruhodou #ryunosuke naruhodo #tgaa #dgs #the great ace attorney #dai gyatuken saiban #the great ace attorney chronicles #tgaac #tgaa chronicles #naruhodo ryunosuke #kazuma asougi #asougi kazuma #kazuma asogi #sorry for assblasting the tags i just really like my runosuke and think eceryone in the world should see him #my trophy husband #im literally so good #i love graphite i love myself i love runo

[szollibisz]

this just in: local man patches up boyfriend and gets a hand kiss

little sketch before i go to sleep.

i drew too much angst. no more

#spies are forever #tin can bros #agent curt mega #owen carvour #saf #art #fanart #saf fanart #spies are forever fanart #tin can bros fanart #curtwen #tw blood #mild tho

[vonplundercat]

Sometimes, it's what you DON'T say that makes the difference between being a good person and a bad person....

#Angel #Angels #Pinup #Pin Up #Stitched Lips #Wings #Censored #Gore #Body Horror #Mild Tho #Pasties #Celestial #Cartoon #Toon #Sasha Von Plundercat #Fallen Angel #angel art

[a-flux-uchiha]

Sometimes I wonder why I do these longer fic projects that are more complex and spend months in the planning stages when half the time it seems like they get nothing and nowhere and I'm just left to pick up the pieces

The problem is that when it does work? It's really rewarding. If it works out and I get something I'm proud of, I want to do it again. And it just happens again and again in an endless loop.

#yes im struggling to work on a longer more complex fic why do you ask #vent #mild tho #me over here trying to work on my duke angst fic #and no one's there #no one's bothering to show up #Sure love how what I need for this fic is a better understanding of the batfam members #and to get an understanding I need to do the fic and also just talk to people #catch 22 #that would be so easily fixed by someone just sitting down with me #so easily fixed by someone sticking around for more then 5 minutes

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

smooching u on the forehead and giving u good sleep energy 4 tonight <3 how r u baby how was ur day ?

— @inkluvs (ivy)

oops, this message kinda got buried for a few days, sorry 😅

my day was alright! it was a friday which for me means spending a good chunk of it watching the newest episode of critical role. so happy with the way that it wrapped up, you have no idea. I've been waiting for the gang to get back together ever since march! AND NOW IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!!!!!! uuurrgghhh I'm gonna cry so hard next ep, I just know it.... so yeah, I watched that, knitted a bunch (just half a sleeve and then I'm done hehe), fought a headache ew.... oh, and both because of the exciting development in the plot, as well as just the time of year (summer, people have time off to be silly), me and my mom decided to watch the rest of the summer episodes of CR together as we used to cosy up with, but rarely do anymore (covid and just general busyness just made it a bit hard to hold up) but now we're getting back to it! goofing out! she's as much of a nerd as I, she's just also a boss ass bitch and works so so so much, so she's just a busy nerd. so yeah, while the rest of the city has partied on and played their music loud, here I've sat with my earplugs in and worked on making a full on powerpoint for her so that she can be properly caught up. she needs to be up to date with all of the crazy moon lore.....

so yeah, to summarise: strawberries, cat cuddles, critical role, headaches, excitedly giggling with mama and partying hard with a powerpoint. that was my friday 🫡

#how was your friday? #lea answers #ivy🪐 #critical role spoilers #mild tho

[plaguedpriest]

prolly not finishing this wip so dumping this here rq

#plagued art #wip #ultrakill #utk #gabriel #suggestive cw #mild nudity cw #i like how i rendered his leg idk !! didnt like how i did his helmet tho #shrugs

[escapeaddict]

who knew eating healthily makes you feel good?

#you want me to remember to eat on a regular basis? #and to eat things that are good for my health? #thats a lot of expectations bro #tw eating issues #mild tho

[heynhay]

woe! klance be upon ye

#feeling mild abt all of these except the first one. i like my poses on that one. hrm yes. #klance #voltron #vld #art #my art #first one tho can be read as pre slash shameless yearning or as established relationship silliness #idk haha... someone should like...write about it or something... lolz........ no im kidding...hahahahaha....... #blinks slowly

[therealcallmekd]

Kinito: Machine Model 01 (Will I update this later? We'll see..... this will be interesting....) (They'll see my potential now.)

Finally at long last, HE'S REAL!

Real world Kinito is quite something! His dedicated partner (the user) spent many many months and years helping him reach his potential, and now he can walk and talk and breathe like the rest of us!

Close ups + doodles under cut:

I'M SO DANG PROUD OF THIS DESIGN YOU GUYS DONT EVEN KNOW. He is so special to me.... funny robot lotl go brrrrrrrr

also the text on the main reference is hard to read on purpose, it's supposed to be just an artsy thing!!!! <3

#kinitopet #kinitopet fanart #kinito pet #kinito #kinito my beloved #kinito fanart #kinito the axolotl #kinitopet au #KinitoFAE #me when i dedicate all my time and effort towards raising a fledgling god in my shitty little apartment (i'm getting kicked out broooooo) #this little freak is so so special to me and i rotate him in my brain alot #the intimacy of an ai and it's dedicated helper that provides it everything it needs to reach its full potential... #passes out...uhhhgggg chat im sick #that my little man... my little guy.... my horrible robot son.... #KD'sCrumbs #FriendshipClub! #tw mild gore #<- like... kinda?? I dont know tho so like tell me if so or not LOL #tried to match the anatomical study vibes; I hope that reads well #you should uhm... ask me about him...... cuz...... ':3

[primussavethesemechs]

I want the human/cybertronian life difference to be talked about more in canon

Cuz I mean. it’s RIGHT THERE.

Just a smidgen of true acknowledgment I BEG YOU HASBRO‼️

i mean come on all it takes is someone mentioning how long the wars been going for one of the humans to go “4 MILLION YEARS???? WHAT THE FUCK HOW OLD ARE YOU???”

And optimus or ratchet to be like “…5/7 million?” And all of the humans to have a break down CUZ WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUVE BEEN ALIVE SINCE BEFORE THE HUMAN SPECIES EXISTED??? WE WERE MONKEYS WHEN YOU WERE BORN???

And the (woefully uniformed) cybertronians to be like “??? What do YOU mean your species was still evolving when I onlined, how long do you guys live?? A thousand?? A few hundred??”

And the gobsmacked humans to be like “??? NO WE HARDLY LIVE OVER A HUNDRED ITS CONSIDERED AN ACCOMPLISHMENT?? AVERAGE OLD AGE DEATH IS LIKE MID 80s!! TECHNICALLY THE AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IS 72 OR SOMETHING???”

Cue the autobots being like “😨 72??? THATS A CHILD WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT⁉️”

the more attached/emotional bots looking at their charges and realizing that not only are they sparklings compared to them but they’ll die as sparklings too in just a few decades, causing them to straight up have a mini meltdown.

Yeah they’re in a war and they’ve lost plenty of friends, but never to anything as predictable and inescapable as old age.

It’s the seeing-it-coming part that gets to them, the slow dread of knowing that even if they do everything right and keep them out of danger and they stay healthy there’s nothing they can do to stop them from withering away in a couple of decades.

Most versions of bumblebee looking at their charge/friend and realizing his assumptions about the fact that since they’re both still young that they’ll have plenty of time to just. Live together and have fun- are wrong?? Immediately tears. Even if cybertronians can’t cry tears he’s doing whatever the equivalent is and running away to cry in his room. And then running back to snatch them and take them with him cuz HE CANT WASTE A SECOND IF THEIR LIFESPANS ARE REALLY THAT SHORT HES GONNA JUST HAVE TO SPEND 24/7 WITH THEM

This whole concept ESPECIALLY applies to TFP since all of them got their own little human buddy and there’s only like 5 autobots to begin with (of the main season 1 crew) they’ve lost so many of their own so recently, their numbers are already dwindling down to nothing, they’re losing the war and the kids are what’s given them a major morale boost. To continue fighting they need hope, and the kids have kind of become their hope for the future- to know they’ll die off in under a century despite how young they still are is a shot to the spark.

Look me in the eye and tell me bee wouldnt panic hearing that Raf only has 70-80 years to live. LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND TELL ME HE WOULDNT HAVE SOME KIND OF FIT OVER BEING TOLD THAT HIS LITTLE BUDDY (from a cybertronian perspective) HAS A LIFESPAN EQUIVALENT TO A LATE STAGE TERMINAL ILLNESS DIAGNOSIS. Bee would start treating Raf like a kid with stage 4 cancer 😭

I just KNOW bulkhead would have the worst reaction other than bee, maybe even worse cuz he looks at miko and realizes she’s used up basically a fifth of her entire lifespan already and she’s Still So Little and straight up starts weeping. That’s his DAUGHTER you can’t take her from him so soon it’s not FAIR! He might have to go destroy a canyon wall or something to let some of the anger and grief out

Arcee is Not taking it well either.

She JUST got attached to this one, just got used to a new partner and your telling her that no matter what she does he’s never going to last as long as tailgate of cliff jumper did?? Even if both he and she do everything they’re supposed to do to protect him and extended his life?? Depression time baby

Optimus and ratchet don’t react as much outwardly to the news as the others but inside they’re both 💔💥

These kids have brought optimus a level of contentment he hasn’t felt in vorns, and he sees how bright their spirits shine- Only to now know those precious spirits will burn out in less than a century- it gnaws at him inside, yet another strike from the cruelty of fate

Ratchet is devastated but refuses to acknowledge it, these kids- yes even miko- have become his pseudo grandkids and he’s not ready, nor will he ever be ready, to outlive them. Jacks reminds him too much of a younger optimus, still learning and still hopeful. Miko is… well she has a fire to her that ratchet can appreciate (when she’s not actively annoying him) she’s determined enough to make anything happen which he does begrudgingly respect even if he wishes she wouldn’t just throw herself into any and every situation just for fun.

And Raf…

Raf is his apprentice, the only one of the kids to understand him and listen intently to his stories of cybertron. To show appreciation for his work and his ideas, to Listen and Learn and Improve his inventions. He harbors the most fondness for Raf since he sees so much potential in him, and has taken him under his wing in teaching him cybertronian language and biology.

He feels almost like he’s training a student to take his place- only for the ground to be ripped out from under him to know that Raf will never have the chance to succeed him, will never even outlive him.

A parent should never have to bury their child, and ratchet already feels that he has.

-

TLDR the autobots find out humans have fruit fly lifespans next to them and become one big soggy mess of tears, optimus and ratchet included although they try to have a stiff upper lip about it (and fail to varying extents)

I swear this was supposed to be about any and all continuities but TFP took over completely😭 idk it just fits the best since they focus so much on how attached the bots get to the kids

Edit: btw this was inspired from the fact I found out that the cybertronian equivalent to a year (yes I know technically they have solar cycles which are roughly a human year but what they consider a year vs their lifespan/time perception is different) is a vorn. A vorn is 80 HUMAN YEARS. I saw that and went “oh wow a vorn is like a whole human lifespan!😃” and then I went “OH A VORN IS A WHOLE HUMAN LIFESPAN 😀“

#transformers #tfp #transformers prime #Fr tho i feel like ratchet would have an initial outward reaction of shock and mild horror #perhaps some anger(already going through the stages of grief💀) #and then he shuts them out cuz he can’t handle it 💔 #tries to pretend it doesn’t bother him #OH MY GOD HES IN SO MUCH PAIN #optimus doesn’t shut them out but he is a lot more quiet #always has his version of sad puppy eyes when he watches them #like this 🥺 but way way toned down #basically just the eyebrows and small frown #considering he only does micro expressions that’s the best ur gonna get from him #optimus #ratchet #arcee #bumblebee #bulkhead #optimus prime #maccadam

[cryptictwaddle]

every gay person has a deeply intimate connection to Reddie

#cw blood #cw mild gore #tagging these even tho it’s mostly hidden #just in case #it chapter 2 #it fanart #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #reddie #reddie fanart

[padawansuggest]

Obi-Wan: Alright, men, what are we thinking right now?

Wooley: *shoved his lil hand up super fast* Oh, me! I got this one, me!

Obi-Wan: *waving his hand over them all* Hmmmmmmm- you. *points to Wooley*

Wooley: *fist pumps* Yes! Okay so I think we should throw Cody a decanting-day party with cheeses.

Obi-Wan: Cheeses?

Waxer: No he’s right, Cody likes cheeses. And caf. I think we should get him an espresso machine.

Obi-Wan: Those are super expensive, I have several contacts I can pout at till they buy me one. Why cheeses? I’ve never seen Cody’s apparently well known love for cheese.

Boil: Yeah, that’s cause he’s scared you’ll think he’s insane.

Obi-Wan: Okay, but, like, is this a fancy stinky cheese thing or is he gonna eat an entire block of store brand cheddar right from the package??? This is news to me and both have to be approached very differently.

Wooley: It’s the stinky one. They’re like SUPER icky but he loves them but he will eat them right from the package with nothing but bread at room temperature.

Obi-Wan: No, no, that’s how those ones are supposed to be eaten.

Wooley: Is gross tho.

Waxer: Idk I think they’re good if the bread is crunchy, but I like the not-as-smelly ones.

Boil: I’ll eat the store brand cheddar right from the block idk man

Obi-Wan: Awesome, I have an idea. Party at Padme’s house, new espresso machine that I’ll get… probably Bail, I haven’t annoyed Bail lately. I’ll get Bail to buy him an espresso machine. You guys get to come with me to look for cheeses, both fancy and store brand, but they will be on separate sides of the room so no one complains. I’m sorry, Boil, but this means you’ll be with Anakin and Ahsoka on the store brand side of the room.

Boil: The price of not smelling that stinky stuff is worth it every time.

Obi-Wan: Awesome. Best decanting-day party ever.

#star wars #obi wan kenobi #incorrect star wars quotes #clone wars #incorrect clone wars quotes #commander cody #clone trooper wooley #clone trooper waxer #clone trooper boil #Cody is also a freak who just ignores the bread and eats a Camembert patty #fuckin rank tho he’s completely insane #I might go hog on a mild but soft brie but I’m not ignoring the bread okay #post clone wars #Wooley is the baby of the group he’s Cody’s favorite of course he knows #they won the war and Bail is a very tired chancellor #they are gonna have cheese caf and wine #codywan #they’re gonna make shark coochie boards

[lichdolly]

Atelier Boz - Ange Cross OP (2002)

#these pictures are uhhh kinda crusty ngl #just a mild amount of crust tho #atelier boz #gothic lolita #elegant gothic lolita #ega #ega fashion #egl fashion #egl #egl community #alt fashion #kawaii fashion #harajuku fashion #goth fashion #vampire goth #lolita fashion #lolita community #ange cross OP (AteBoz) #my post tag