#( minae ; inspo )

[billdenbrough]

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF KEEPING A VAMPIRE AS A RESCUE

aftg · kevaaron · 10k, t. vampire au · multiple pov · kevin is doing his Best™ as a vampire for @kittkatattacks, as part of the @aftgexchange · fic graphic art by my beloved @naturecalls111

In a perfect world, someone else would be on Kevin duty today. “You are literally a vampire,” Aaron grouses. “You don’t need sleep. How the fuck are you so bad at getting here on time?” “I am immortal,” Kevin says patiently, as if what he’s about to say is reasonable instead of—undoubtedly—infuriating. “Time is irrelevant.” Yep, Aaron was right. Fucking infuriating. “I will stake you,” he grumbles, then wraps his hand around Kevin’s wrist. “Come on, we’re already late.”

It’s not every day that you go monster-hunting and end up with a pet vampire instead. Aaron really just wanted a dog, but he supposes this isn’t so bad.

(It’s not every day that a monster-hunter finds you, and instead of staking you, brings you home and teaches you how to do laundry. Kevin’s not sure what he wanted, but he’s glad he got this.)

read on ao3

[yeossemble]

↺ ⊹ ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ ꕀ ✦ 

[kyuwebs]

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎　　❛☻　 @kthemes𖨂　　❑ 　　︴　™(❁ ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈)

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎　　❛☻　 🌈𖨂　　❑ 　　︴　™(❁ ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈)

[learningsanctum]

when I finally start learning something I had been postponing and I suddenly rediscover my will to study and apply myself until I’m the best again

[y-vna]

　❘❙ 　✢ 　𝓢weet 𝓑erries ﹒　　⌅ 　◦ 　　◉ 　　　

　❘❙ 　✢ 　@mqrtuss-blog 　　❘❙❘❙ 　 @mxlly143　 ˖　

[beangusu]

took a small break from socials cause of terrible art block but i have returned with domestic married reinako :3

[theholmwoodfoundation]

CHARACTER PLAYLISTS

While we wait on the Kickstarter and Episode One, we thought we'd share our inspiration playlists for our four leads!

Including our JonMina playlist, because who doesn't need more of the Harkers in their lives?

[loveleeseo]

✿ ۪⋆ nayeon lockscreens

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

A Collection of the Most Gorgeous RC MCs

I’ll expand this list as I play more books!

[mochadolls]

mina ashido rentry template

f2u .ᐟ dont remove creds

.co/minatemplate

++ bonus stamps

[haenxn]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ🍜ミ * 。 ⊹

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ🪵ミ * 。 ⊹

[yeossemble]

ꗃ ⸝⸝ જ ‣ dive

⟡ ♪ (˘ᵕ˘) · യ

[francisorcoccinella]

⠀⠀⠀⠀ི༾࿔﹒⎯𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶﹗𖩩﹕🪷͝.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀mina edition.

se pegar, reblog e/ou fav e dê os créditos

[isablooo]

A few 1890s dresses from my Dracula Pinterest board. I’ve been collecting these images for drawing reference! The top 4 are for Lucy and the bottom 6 are for Mina  ���

Click on each dress for approximate dates! 

[lurking-latinist]

.

[redwayfarers]

defense

Fandom: FFXIV Ship: Nika/Artoirel Characters: Nika Perseis (WoL), Artoirel de Fortemps (mentioned), Mina Fiore Rating: Gen Word count: 1516 Spoilers: minor StB spoilers. part 1 - read on ao3 divider by @saradika

The door closes behind her. Admittedly, she never imagined her first introduction to this mysterious Artoirel to be like this; from Nika’s stories, he’s a proud, determined man, reserved but genuine, devoted to a cause. And those things may be true - from the way he stood there, taking Nika’s verbal abuse like a stone figure, betrayed largely by a shaking hand and blinking eyes that try to stave off tears, Mina glimpsed at all those things that her son spoke of that made him look away with a silly little smile on his face. 

But this is different, gravely so. She knows something of pride, but she also knows something of pain, and by the Twelve, if Artoirel’s eyes didn’t shine with hurt! The Nika that spoke of his finer qualities is not the same Nika who yells now, draped in a shirt too large for him, holding onto a bedpost for dear life and crying. So Mina sends Artoirel away, wraps her arms around her son and muffles his anger-filled screams in the collar of her shirt. 

The same way she did when he was a baby, when he was upset. Rogan was there too, playing with Nika’s hair, trying to get him to calm down. But that was years ago; Rogan is now dead, Nika is no longer a baby, yet Mina holds him all the same. 

What else should she do? It’s her child. No mother likes seeing her child in pain. Maybe if Rogan lived, maybe she’d have another, but as fate would have it, she only has Nika now. Really, what else should she do?

It’s later that day, when Nika’s calmed down, that she hears him ask in a quiet, sore, wrecked voice, “Do you think he hates me now?” 

Mina shuffles on her feet. She stops brushing his hair for a moment. “Artoirel?” 

Nika huffs. “No. His brother in Camp Dragonhead. The dead one.”

Mina squints. Nika’s shoulders droop. “Yeah, Artoirel. I told him… I told him a lot of shit earlier.” 

“Quite angrily, too.” 

Nika sighs. “Do you think he hates me?” A pause. “I’d hate myself. I’d try to kill me, if I was him. Kick me out of my house and my life.” A pause. “Certainly not love me anymore.”

“I think you hurt him,” Mina says. “And I think you have to apologize to him. But I don’t think he wants you out of his home.” 

“But does he love me still?” Nika pushes, and turns sharply to look at her. But the movement is probably too sharp, and his face scrunches in pain. 

“You can love someone even if they hurt you,” Mina quietly says. Nika purses his lips and slowly turns away. “Likewise, you can love someone and hurt them at the same time.” She knows all too well the extent of her words. Had life been different, had she maybe been wiser, maybe she wouldn’t have left Ul’dah after Rogan’s death, and wouldn’t have uprooted Nika’s life. Maybe he wouldn’t have run away otherwise - in that same half-baked wisdom that Mina herself had in her times of grief. But the facts remain. Love is not enough. You can have all the love in the world and still it won’t save you the pain if you’re not careful. 

“I would kick me out, if I was him,” Nika repeats. He then laughs, but there’s no joy in it. It’s as wrecked as he himself is. “We’re the wrong people to talk about this sort of thing, right, mom?” 

Mina blinks. She looks at their reflections in the dresser’s mirror - their similar faces, their dark hair, with hers bearing the signs of age, and his the signs of violence. In the dim light of the dying evening, his eyes shine like Rogan’s once did, whenever he’d feel overwhelmed; a spectacle, a show, bloodshot, puffy. But that’s the only thing Nika has of his father - everything else is of Mina, down to the actions, to their bones, and the proud, uldan marrow. Rogan was of Ul’dah himself, and looked the part, but Mina’s face disappeared in the crowd more easily. He didn’t carry the pride of the city’s inhabitants in quite the same way Nika and Mina do. 

“I don’t think so,” she says. “Have I ever talked to you about me and your father, before you were born?” 

Nika’s response is quick. “No.” He sounds tired, too tired to make it an accusation it should be. 

“I remember we had a big fight one day, right before he was meant to go on a mission,” she swallows a lump in her throat, “and I told him a lot of bad things. I had to sit with them for two weeks, praying he’d return soon so I could say sorry, and when he did, it was all solved. We were hale once more.”

“That sounds like a fucking nightmare,” Nika shivers. 

“And Lucretia too - she asked if she could meet you, I told her it was not the time, without consulting either of you, and I hurt her feelings too. But we made up, and she did get to meet you.” 

“Was that right before the dinner you broke the news that you were bisexual to me over flatbread?” 

Mina buries her face in her hands. Not her finest moment. “I had no idea you knew the word at all. Gods, I didn’t know how to label it myself for a long time.”

“Heard some kids on the street use it,” Nika says softly. “I figured out what it is for the most part on my own. I just..” He trails off. 

“Didn’t think I was going to ever be in love with a man?” Mina finishes and Nika nods. 

“Listen, when Minfilia died, I thought–” he looks away and rubs his eyes. “The world can go fuck itself for all I care, but I– he–” He shakes his hands around his head and hisses. “He’s my second chance at— at love, and if I ruin it because I’m a jackass–” 

“You didn’t!” her voice comes stronger than intended and he looks in the mirror, alert. “If you care about him, and you do, you will apologize, and all will be fine again!” 

“How do you know that!” 

“Because it’s happened before! To me, to your father, to Lucretia! And it will happen again to all of us, including you and Artoirel! And while there may be things you can’t overcome, a lot of things you can. So just suck it up, go to him once you’ve slept a bit, and say you’re sorry!” 

Nika curls in on himself. “Suppose sleep will help,” he murmurs. “My head feels twice its fucking size.” 

She ties the braid off and rubs his shoulders. “It will. Go sleep. And remember that this is nothing you two can’t overcome.”

Nika makes a noise she can’t decipher and doesn’t fight it when she helps him up and guides him to the bed that’s far too large for one person. Mina wonders if hers is as big as this for a brief moment, but such thoughts disappear when she feels Nika’s head rest against her shoulder. 

“Try not to fall down,” she says quietly, halfway joking, and he blinks. 

“How fucking embarrassing,” he replies. “One day I’m shooting at fucking insane Garlean princes, and the other I can’t walk in a straight line to the bed.” 

“You almost died,” Mina says. Dread settles in her bones and she looks at him, imagines her son dead and gone, and she holds him a little tighter, to feel the warmth of his skin. “Don’t– Your body needs time to recover from that. You need time to recover from that.”

He’s quiet for a long time. Long enough to get him on the bed, to get him under the woolen covers. Long enough to sit beside him and run a hand down his arm and have him lean into the touch like it’s a gulp of water in the midst of a drought. 

“I’m scared, Mom,” he croaks, and buries his head in the pillows. “Gods save me, I’m so scared.” 

“It’ll all be fine,” she whispers as she slicks back his hair. It needs washing tomorrow. She then runs a finger over his jaw, where the coarse hairs of a growing beard disappear in the shadows of a bedside candle. It’s as if not a day ago she was helping a child fall asleep, and in the long, painful absences between them, he grew up. He has a beard now, yet it hardly matters. 

He’s her son, and that is all that she knows. 

“It’ll be fine,” she repeats until his breathing becomes even, and only then does she press a kiss to his forehead, one he’d rarely ordinarily allow. 

They may have lost one chance at a relationship, but now they both know that love isn’t enough by itself. And that’s good. Whatever comes out of this, it’ll be better than anything they could’ve had before. 

And that is very, very good.