#I was gonna do pixies and Urianger

[tallbluelady]

Minthe was certain she was going to win "How Many Flowers Can You Put In Kyth's Beard?" with her precise touch.

[minarcana]

📂📂 two for laurel, two for uri, two for esti, two for rusi'a OWOWOWO one sfw one nsfw >w>

TEE HEE

sfw batch

laurel worked as a dockhand in Limsa before picking up the axe and starting traveling around. She hung out there for a couple years after the Calamity. As such she's well-known around the various shops in Limsa, being the only Viera worker for a while. Combine that with her connections in the Maelstrom and the Warrior frat, she knows more or less every roegadyn in Vylbrand.

Urianger keeps stashes of snacks whenever he holes up somewhere. The cookies that the pixies like pranking him with are lavender shortbread, bought from the Crystarium, because he cannot cook for shit himself.

Estinien has a tendency to vastly understate things when hes trying to pick adjectives. in the sense of like. say if you asked him how your outfit looked, what he means is 'yeah looks great' but what he says out loud with his mouth is 'looks ok'. because he just tends to go 'i dont wanna overstate i dont think' and then picks a quality indicator about three degrees below what he means.

Rusi'a's favourite fruit is apples. they get along pretty well with the gridanian apple farmer because theyll do harvesting work in exchange for keeping some as snacks. despite being a catte, fruit is their favourite and they can be bribed with fruit as well as having a tendency to offer fruit to other people as a peace offering/attempt at consolation.

nsfw batch

laurel learned what a strap was and where to buy them and only got more powerful since. she has a slight kink for making her partner cry from being overwhelmed. the only people on the planet she'll willingly sub for or give oral to are merlwyb and haurche. merlwyb just unlocks something entirely deranged in her where laurels just [dreamily] id let her tie me up to discipline me haha. none of these are connected thoughts but thats okay.

urianger likes kissing very much, but feels that it requires being in an actual romantic relationship(tm), so since a majority of his pre-canon sexual experience was entirely no-strings-attached hookups he didnt get to really develop a sense of what he likes self-indulgently. for ships taking place on the blog generally there tends to be occasional urianger apologizing for being demanding when his 'demands' are like. 'i want to be close to you'/'i want to exclusively occupy your attention for a while'/'i want you to kiss me'. HE thinks hes being demanding since its not a casual hookup where he's solely focused on mutual getting off, but its mostly he is just. letting himself be a sub and affectionate fjhfjdkjdjslf

i shockingly dont have a ton of nsfw headcanons about estinien because no one has fucked him! he hasnt been fucked yet! someone come in here and convince this dragon man to rail you! he has none experience and so in order to figure it out i gotta write it. he has a weird thing with blood where sometimes he gets dragonbrained about it and bites to draw blood and lick it off. sometimes he uses too much force, oops. if his partner pays too much attention to his body, especially the scales hes had since he picked up the Eye, he gets uncomfortable.

rusi'a is very prone to hooking up with people, especially if they need a nice bed to sleep in while theyre traveling about. generally its benign, but if someone annoys them they'll steal their hookup's wallet. this happens a fair bit in uldah. they do this in part because its a good way to sleep somewhere comfy since theyll say theyre gonna stay the night before they go home with anyone, and in part because they are factually a slut

[nights-at-crystarium]

As always a big fat thanks for your time and attention ;o; <3333 My replies under the cut:

Okay, so I do want to start with: Amazing job writing Urianger’s dialogue. I find that he’s the hardest to really write due to his usage of language and you nailed it! 

OUGH THANKS. I’m glad I’m taking this slow, a year ago I didn’t have the braincells even for this level of Urianger speech, now it feels a bit easier, still requires some googling and spell-checking. I’m trying to make everyone sound like themselves if that makes sense, and Urianger’s the ultimate challenge. Mercifully, this comic isn’t about him.

Alisaie isn’t very physically affectionate in game and, while I’m not sure if that’s changed in your story, I feel that it’s very impactful that they do hug here. Or at least she hugs him. Because to me it shows that they’re both comfortable enough with each other to some extent, enough for hugs anyway. 

Does Vivi accept physical touch from any of the Scions? I’m sure we’ll see, but this feels like the first time we ever see him receive a hug? Like an “I’m glad you’re okay” hug. He deserves hugs.

I wonder if Alisaie is one of the few Scions who Does know, even just a small part of him.

*rubs hands together* gonna answer all of these at once >:9

Vivi’s chill and physically affectionate with select people, look how casually they’ve gravitated towards each other with Feo Ul. I can’t come up with a better name than “bro body language” they have with Thancred, like casual smacks on the shoulder, hair ruffles, short hugs. He legit doesn’t know how the other Scions feel to the touch. Only Thancred and the twins. It’s dumb but he avoids them as much as possible, as if they can infect him with their better moral alignments. And one other reason I’m gonna cover in a moment.

Setting foot in the territory of potential future comic material. There’s quite a bit of backstory, and I’m still deciding where to pepper it in.

Vivi and Alisaie started bonding in SB, thanks to Vivi opening up first. He felt like fish out of the water, and latched on to Alisaie as the only familiar person among those strangers. He doesn’t like the easterners. 

In late post-SB patches, both are a broken mess, doing what they really, really shouldn’t do (in Vivi’s book): holding hands, hugging, and even, gasp, sharing vulnerabilities, as the world around them seems to collapse. Vivi regrets those moments in aftermath, especially as he realizes that Alisaie develops a crush, but what’s done is done. He doesn’t try to play a tough guy, he’s simply terrified to like and be liked by the Scions while they’re on the Source, where the imperials, ascians, and other WoL-obsessed entities be. He learned that people around him tend to drop like flies. He keeps an emotional and physical distance from most people he’s seen with, so that no foe’s tempted to use them as a shield against him. Until he fails with Alisaie, that is. And until he gets isekai’d to a world that doesn’t have any of those foes?! (shh don’t tell him about Emet)

So this episode’s hug isn’t the first, or last one. Vivi isn’t a complete idiot, but he’s admittedly too tired to stay as alert as he was on the Source. Alisaie hugs? Yay. A pixie invites themselves into his bed and brushes his hair? Yay.

I wonder if his relationship with Thancred will change at all.

It changes a tiny bit post-ShB, because of Ryne, but Ryne herself barely has to do anything with that @_@ This will make sense in like. 5+ years from now.

I put a lot of energy and comments into thinking about Alisaie and Vivi specifically, but it’s energy and words well spent.

Excuse me while I’m- *puts hands over my face and screams for two minutes* Their chemistry and arcs are fully fleshed out by now, and I can’t put in words how enthralled I’m with them, from the perspective of someone rotating them under a microscope. So glad to know that I’m not alone in this ;w;

Okay, once again, thank you so much for the feedback. I’m also working on a regular “author notes” post covering episodes 23-26, more comic chatter to come soon \o/

✧✦✧ “Fragments” - episode 26 ✧✦✧

Ah, there she is. Vivi's happy to reunite with Alisaie, but he routinely prepares for anything ranging from hugs to punches.

New reader? Start here: @ffxiv-fragments

[elizabethrobertajones]

op tell me about the lv 76 quest. I need to know ahahaha. Its gonna drive me crazy. @you-dropped-your-forgiveness

Oh, sure >:)

Bear in mind that Back In The Day i spent a lot of time tearing Supernatural an absolute new one over its clear, coherent imagery, themes, and metaphors all of which were, well, I WASN'T WRONG, but obviously the writing team and the network of the show were in a PVP battle and the writers lost... The fandom was collateral damage to that but we sure learned a lot of media criticism and theory along the way :') Now I'm just insufferable when I see the same themes elsewhere because I only know vindication and spite and [live slug reaction] to this sort of stuff.

Long post, of course.

SO the first thing is that Shadowbringers is nicely structured with the character introductions, to guide you through each zone and build on the story and draw the characters into it. Each zone is themed and the lightwardens even reflect the themes of each zone as the conclusion to the local story. So obviously it's Exarch upfront for the side of the plot that's an unfolding mystery, and then literal twin questlines for the twins. Then you return to base and we get the start of the Thancred and Minfilia story, which is going to run alongside the Exarch as the heart of the story on the emotional side. Il Mheg is technically Urianger's zone, but he shares it with them and the twins are cut out of it for a good chunk of the main story stuff, choosing or not to stay with the pixies so it can focus on building up specifically the family unit story with Thancred, Minfilia and Urianger.

(Rak'Tika is, with side stuff for Thancred and Minfilia, about the WoL, Emet-Selch, and Y'shtola is finally allowed in as the character who sees through all the crap and starts to solve all the story mysteries for you and as is her wont, and unrelated except for the broader reason the 76 zone drives me crazy, obviously her conflict with Urianger is one of the core emotional parts of it and one of the main things resolved nicely right after the Lightwarden in the post-dungeon cutscene, and the reason WHY Urianger is causing the conflict with her is part of the bigger thread of the Exarch mystery blah blah storytelling good *gnaws on Shadowbrings because tasty meal*)

Then we get to Amn Areng pt 2 and Y'shtola leaves with the twins again - once more leaving you with the family unit to do the Talos plot. This is where I start foaming at the mouth!

So we get to Twine and Magnus is introduced at the major obstacle to getting the Talos working. As SOON as we get to the Talos, Urianger is interested in it and can restore some life to its limbs, but oh no, it's missing its HEART. And he couldn't see that from the outside and even trying to manipulate its missing aether, but there's something else this thing needs to work!

(My Supernatural fandom brain emerges from the swamp to yell "Oh no a thing with a missing heart??? that must be so critically important to a character's entire thesis!")

So then we get to Mangus's story. And it's entirely about his broken heart and the Talos heart being one and the same, while at the same time, directly empathetically relating the Talos to Thancred and his emotional arc and telling us this is what is happening to him. The heart thing is so heavily woven into this, they just keep hammering it in:

Then Thancred talks to Magnus and it's an unspoken agreement really that he should try and reach out to this man who is in catatonic loss over his wife and child. Everyone hangs back and lets him do the talking. Obviously Thancred never actually went into this state and drank heavily in the part of the story where Minfilia was alive and well, he was just having post possession depression as people do. But emotionally, he's very much in this unhelpful, frozen heart space where he's too cold to Ryne and can't let her in.

The heart also doubles as sort of Minfilia herself, and how she died and yet the heart she passes on to the Talos is Ryne and it just took years and Magnus lost all hope in the same way Thancred has become so bitter and conflicted and openly struggles to accept Ryne early on, because in a way he hasn't "found" the heart yet (which is his post-battle cutscene monologue, his moment of transformation and his heart coming back to life.) Ryne also takes in all of this throughout the story, heavily relates and draws her own painful meaning from it, but she strongly emotionally reacts to the story too, seeing herself and Thancred in it, so we're encouraged to make connections, and there's so many angles to look into it. But these are the really important non-shippy, family building, Thancred repairing things we take away from the story.

Buuut also like, Urianger didn't leave with Y'shtola and the twins, and it's not down to Ryne to fix the Talos herself. Their family unit has been shown to actually be all 3 of them since Il Mheg, especially things like Urianger giving her the book so it was clear without any side dialogue if you were only viewing cutscenes, to make it clear he had become extremely fatherly to her too and treated her extremely kindly and she had a really eager happy reaction to his attention.

So, Thancred takes you off to get the new heart, and Urianger stays behind to learn about how to make a Talos heart work.

(It's also fun that he learns this and helps imbue the big Talos later but it's not like he learns a Key Skill for Later, it is very much more important that Chai-Nuzz does all the work devising and creating the Lorge Boy himself with only aetheric assistance from others. The Amn Areng thing in hindsight wasn't a plot moment to establish Urianger learning about Taloses was anything crucial to our victory.)

Thancred has moments at the end of the hunt for the heart where you can basically pat him on the head and let him know he was essential to finding it, regardless of WoL's uncanny story related luck, and it's FAR more that Thancred enabled this, that he put the work in, that this mechanical plot development proceeds, likewise to his emotional development with Ryne. He lets her go and he's willing to accept her returning, even before he can tell her, or know that that's what will happen. In his monologue he rebuilds his own heart and I love it so much I could scream.

Anyway we bring the heart back to Magnus and we get some closure there, and we can bring the heart to Urianger, and we can start the Talos!

literally: Thancred's heart has been suffused with a sufficient quantity of character development, he shall be restored to life, in terms of building his new family. Funny how Urianger is now leading this whole thing. He's just here to do all the heavy lifting! Hey, wasn't this metaphor about not just a dead child but a wife? Hm. Anyway. We get. This shot.

(sorry, it involved silly talk in free company chat, had to kill it, missed the shot in the Unending Journey and too lazy for a 3rd take :P)

But - Magnus returns to see his Talos brought to life, rekindling his own heart in the process, and in this angle, we only have him, looking at Urianger, looking up at the Talos that Urianger has brought back to life. No one else is visible even though the whole squad is standing around, and maybe it was just for a cleaner shot not to have some backs of heads and the WoL's elbow in shot, but it creates such a striking image. Urianger may not have done any of the legwork of fetching the heart or talking to Magnus even but he's the one who is in focus here as having with his simple touch and steady presence, which is the same thing he provided in Il Mheg (the book thing with Ryne) as his side of the family dynamic, been the force that was necessary to restore the Talos. You could say that maybe Thancred could never have done it because of the aether, Ryne might have been too uncertain of her powers, they love having you click on things and dramatically channel aether so why NOT the WoL, but it was not a hero moment for you - you're literally clipped out of it! All you did was give Thancred emotional support and carry the heart around for them in between cutscenes :'D

Anyway then Ryne takes it personally and runs off, and we get the incredible scene of Urianger comforting her while Thancred couldn't (maybe a set piece of how it has been the whole time as he's still pre-near-death-monologue and therefore his heart hasn't yet been made whole) and Thancred watches with you, still in turmoil, but we're being shown Urianger literally doing the same thing for Ryne (who feels like she may as well be a Talos for all her free will matters for a moment) and comforting her and you see that in all of Urianger's moments of comfort he's very much always restoring hearts.

The other thing is he's tied into all the main plot because he knows the secret of what will happen with the Exarch the whole time, and also is carrying the burden of the whole Warriors of Darkness thing back in HW. He feels such a level of determined resolution to fix the First because he feels so responsible for its current state. He also feels directly responsible for manipulating Minfilia into going there, and it costing her life, and the multiple Minfilias situation that followed. He very much positioned, even just from knowing the HW cutscenes about this, as a father to Ryne in a very literal sense of causing her entire situation and feeling bound to her as a result, just as much as Thancred's lingering goobbue rampage guilt has carried him this far and he needs to monologue his way to seeing the goobbue consequences he bears have moved from Minfilia to Ryne shortly, finishing his transformation.

So in this culmination of the 77 quest before the dungeon, you now have Urianger suddenly centred, Thancred having his epiphany, and then Minfilia moves on, Ryne is reborn, and we get the very excellent scene where Thancred names her something nice Urianger once said that stuck in his mind and we will just nod and smile at how soppy THAT is of him. It of course once more gives Urianger a co-parenting share in Ryne, that none of the others suggest names, but Thancred pulls one out that's from their shared experience.

Then we go fight the Lightwarden named after family love :)

Honestly this still feels like a summary of how I feel about the 76-77 questline, because it unravelled me at the core and rebuilt me as someone who just accepts that Thancred and Urianger are married whether they know it or not, so I think about it daily, but yeah. That's basically where I'm at with it :'D

[sarenhale]

If Arihel proposed to Uri how would he do it????

OOOSHSBDNDBD HELP... I've thought about this multiple times especially because of Endwalker, like that is the marriage expansion i'm TELLING YOUUUU

I'd like to think about him proposing on THE MOON.... can you imagine how cool and metal that Is... i love how that area looks so much, but to avoid spoilers for people that haven't played EW yet, i won't go too much in detail.

I think that when you go there for the first time in EW, he would bring up the idea to Urianger, like 'what do you feel about this', just to see if they're both on the same page for what they want and feel like doing. When Urianger says it's something he considered as well and would like to do, I think they would promise eachother to do it after all the endwalker stuff is done!!! Which is kinda adorable but also fun as fuck to imagine, let's all survive and postpone the apocalypse to get married 💖 HAVAJABABDDJDJ (It's so Them though)

I would actually love for Arihel to propose in Il Mheg, since it's the place where they bonded and really fell in love, and it's also such a beautiful area oogsvsbshd.... how the pixies would tease them about it oh my god shebakaajsjdndbrve but alas it's not possible for them to travel back there, so maybe in the future if they find a way to go back to the First!! Maybe they could just chill and actually go live there. So peaceful and beautiful, I would love that for them actually

Just imagining the Proposition moment is taking me out this is so cute jesus christ i'm gonna pass out

They're such a domestic couple too? I can really see them Living together and doing all that stuff. It's such a perfect image....... 🥺

[allycryz]

WIP Wednesday

More first draft of Thancred and Haurche on the Source waiting for Nerys. Gonna start seriously editing the Y’shtola Stormblood fic I have in folders so I can post that maybe in July.

tagged by @kunstpause and tagging all who want in!

They appear once when Haurchefant splits logs in front of the building, supervised by three pixies. (He had to get their permission, naturally. As he works, he explains each step of his process for their amusement. It keeps them from asking about his scars.) Two small figures on the path, coming into focus and drawing nearer until Minfilia waves one hand in the air. There is an excitement to it he hasn’t witnessed in her before and his chest tightens, delighted to see her acting her age.

He lodges the hatchet into the chopping block and waits for them. If his hands on his hips and posture show his body to good advantage for Thancred well...he likes being admired. Surely there is no harm in it.

“Haurchefant!” Minfilia smiles. “Is Urianger home too?”

“Urianger is home, child.” The man himself says, emerging from the home with his gathering basket hung on one arm. “About to gather produce for supper. Thou lookest well.”

She looks at the basket with open yearning. The girl likes these foraging trips, working with the flowers Urianger tended to around the house. The three men share one of those fond, smiles adults might about their charges and even Thancred allowed himself to soften.

“If you’re not tired from the trip, go on with him.” He says to his charge. “But be careful and don’t pick anything unless Urianger says you can.”

“I will!”

“She shall be safe in mine care.” Urianger nods, giving Haurchefant a meaningful look it takes him a moment to interpret. Sly, wonderful man. 

Thancred turns to him, eyes flickering to follow the bead of sweat Haurchefant feels rolling down his chest. Just as quickly he looks back up, shoving hands into pockets.

“You must be sweltering,” says Haurchefant. “Care to join me in shirtless labor?”

“You’re too kind. I’ll be fine.” This time Thancred’s gaze lingers longer. The pixies don’t titter because they all followed the other two into the woods. It is just the two of them, alone and admiring each other.

“If you insist! That was nice of you just now, by the way.”

“It doesn’t take much to make her happy.” Now Thancred looks away, eyes turning cool and hard. “She...didn’t see the sky or the grass until I freed her.”

Haurchefant swears under his breath. No matter how familiar he’s grown with Minfilia’s story, it always fills him with fury to think of. A child kept locked in darkness and trained to kill regardless of what she wanted, fated to die…

A hand curls upon his shoulder. He looks down and finds Thancred so close the fabric of his jacket brushes against his chest. 

“It’s alright. We’re protecting her now.”

“Yes, we are.” The urge to tease Thancred is gone with this new subject. Hhe takes the man’s hand and squeezes. Presses it over his beating heart. “I swear it Thancred, I’ll do anything to protect you two.”

“Don’t say that,” Thancred hisses. “I appreciate you Haurche but if you sacrifice yourself for me one day, i’ll be furious.”

[vierandancer]

"You're gonnae...help them torture you?" Torture was an exagerration, but the sentiment was the same. She snorted. "No wonder you were close wi'Alisaie."

Had Urianger always been this...playful? Had she simply not noticed because she was too all caught up in her own her to look? Or was this a result of him being hassled by pixies for three years?

... Three years.

The reminder sobered her, and she turned back to assist in looking through some of the tomes near her. She didn't often browse recipe books, but she had at least the smallest faith in herself that she could recognize the format. In any case, a lack of confidence was not an excuse to give up early. She had done that more than enough.

They searched in silence for a brief moment before she forced herself to just say something.

"M'sorry you were th'one tae see what you did. That -- vision, I mean," she started. "It cannae have been easy, even if it did give...direction."

It had been hard enough watching all of the Scions drop still, yet breathing. A dreamless, soulless slumber. It had been an entirely different thing to watch her brother do the same -- to crumble and not wake, while everyone at the war front looked on in terror as 'Zenos' made his way afield. The weight of every soldier's fears and morale was suffocating in addition to the heartbreak and horror as she tried fruitlessly to shake her brother awake.

But to see what Urianger had described -- all of them, dead, not merely asleep -- Meiko knew she wasn't strong enough for any of that. She had only pushed through the sight of the fallen Scions outside of the Waking Sands and Haurchefant for her brother's sake. She couldn't possibly handle anymore corpses of those she cared for.

Urianger hums thoughtfully, kneeling down beside one of the many stacks of books laid out on the floor. There's a certain method to his madness, though one can't be blamed for believing otherwise, what with how disorganized his collection of tomes are. In his pursuit of knowledge, he just can't seem to help himself — his tendency to hoard all that he deems interesting is well displayed here. Needless to say, he's full glad to be in the company of Meiko, and even moreso grateful to employ a second pair of eyes.

"Ah, yes — 'twould be a gift to our mischievous little friends that I seek to find amongst these myriad tomes..." He begins to dig through that which lays before him, picking up one book, examining it over, and setting it aside. This continues as he delves into the details pertaining to the reasons for this search for just one book out of hundreds.

"As thou hast come to learn, the faefolk of Il Mheg possess an affinity for trickery, and I've found myself the subject of their misconduct. Each day upon my desk sits a serving of a rather distasteful concoction comprised of leaves brewed in hot water, most undoubtedly the doing of my winged companions." Sparing her a glance, there's an obvious glint of mischief in his eyes. "Verily, though I remind the Fae how much I dislike their daily offerings of tea, I've no choice but to drink it, lest it go to waste..."

"Why, then, should I not aid in their endeavors to fool me? 'Tis mine idea to lay out for them a most helpful tome containing information on various brews of teas. Mine irritation should prove all the more entertaining for the pixies if they have the option of choice~"

[coldshrugs]

20 First Lines Meme!

No one tagged me but I saw @cassandra-pentughasst and @red-hot-chili-tiefling do this and it looked fun so I’m pretending I was tagged.

The challenge is to list the first lines of your 20 latest fanfics.

Since I mostly write short fic, my first lines work overtime in establishing setting or mood, imo.

I’ll tag @apostatetabris @lavampira @impossible-rat-babies if y’all feel like it 💗

Untitled UB Goes Camping Fic that I just started today

"Did we bring a map?" "Yep." "Compass?" "It's with the map." "Tents? Sleeping bags?" "Yes." "What about swimsuits?"

WIP that I may never finish of Mason doing some roof pining

Mason tried not to smoke this week. He really did.

Prompt fill: Alone, Finally

The walk from the station to Alma's apartment is an unusually talkative one considering her partner in conversation is Mason, and there's a rush to their steps that she's not sure which of them initiated. It doesn't really matter.

Prompt fill: Sea Change

Alma sits alone on the dock of the lake, and for once- for just a moment- she’s well and truly alone.

Prompt fill: Harsh Whisper

“Are you sure you can handle it?” Aeran asks from Ephyra’s side, the words coming out so quietly she almost thinks she imagined them and starts to get annoyed with herself over them. “There’s an exit on the west side of the building if you can’t get back through this way and I’ll be-”

Negative Phototaxis | Alma Greene/Mason | 625 words

He wouldn’t even look at me. Alma sighs under the weight of her conflicted heart and grabs the fresh pot of coffee to refill her cup.

Prompt fill: Something About [Her]

Ephyra’s heard the story so many times she’s bored with it: during her first week of life, her mother attempted to soothe her crying with a hand gently warmed by magic and the spell broke upon her skin.

Prompt fill

Life at sea isn’t so bad, Effie thinks as she leans against the railing of the main deck, relishing the fine, salty mist in her face. As long as she doesn’t have to walk too far, and when she’s not receiving glares from the crew for stumbling into their work formations. ...And now that her wounds are healed enough for the bumps into the walls and rails to only kind of, sort of sting.

Prompt fill: How Dare You?

“Are you gonna finish that?” Aeran eyes Effie’s last roll. They’re tucked into one of the quieter corners of the Spire’s dining hall, having lunch before they split for training.

Prompt fill

The rural farming community of Gralle is a fucking mess. The formerly well-worn dirt paths are ripped up as if some wayward farmer started sleepwalking while tilling the fields; milk jugs are overturned, leaving rancid clots in the door of one of the barns; a brood of hens and their chicks lay dead outside their hutch, bodies a little mangled but uneaten.

WIP of the BG3 crew

“If I never see a goblin again, it’ll be too fucking soon.” Ulysse groaned as they made for the ruin’s exit on weary legs.

Blood, entrails, and pungent homebrew squelched underfoot, already taking on the stench of rot in the hot afternoon sun. The party couldn’t bother with being disgusted - they were already covered in the stuff. 

Prompt fill: A Kiss on the Temple

Julian Devorak is going to die.

Cleo knows this.

Boats and Birds | Cleo Espree/Julian Devorak | 1.7k words

Cleo's eyes blink open to a thick canopy of tropical-looking leaves, shimmering pink-gold light winking through here and there. The air is thick with magic, but there's no real hostility here.

Prompt fill: Drastic/How Dare You?

Cleo came to the market for vegetables, milk, and, if she's lucky, that delicious spice mix from Firent that elevated her stews from "pretty good" to "Cleo, what is this recipe?" She did not come to the market to run into Julian Devorak yet again, but that seems to be a hobby for her lately.

Prompt fill: Crave

Pixies make for decent company, to be sure, but like the rest of the fae folk, they adhere to stiff archetypes. Conversation, though entertaining at times, is predictable but it's all Urianger manages these days since his friends are busy or... reasonably displeased with him.

Prompt fill: Sunbathing

Astarion smiles more in the daylight, Ulysse notices, marble-white skin creasing into lines around his mouth.

Starving | Ulysse/Astarion | 800 words

“You didn’t do it,” Ulysse whispered, fingers combing through recently-mussed curls. Astarion lay on her chest, a novel experience but not an unwelcome one.

Saccharine | Ulysse/Astarion | 250 words

“If you promise not to kill me,” she pulled back with a smirk, hips pressing into his, “you may drink from my neck. I know you want to.”

If his heart still beat, it would’ve skipped at the invitation.

Wayfarer WIP that’s not been entirely posted to tumblr

The tavern is crowded for such a small town, as if every person in a ten-mile radius of this backwater decided they craved cheap ale and the sound of the off-key bard in the corner.

WIP in which Julian moves in with Cleo

"Are you sure you want to do this? I can-" Julian pauses to reposition the precarious stack of boxes in his grip, "I can make other arrangements. Mazelinka really doesn't mind having me around, no matter what she says. Or I'm sure Pasha could make space. And I do have my own place back in South End, you know!"

"Mm, is that so? The landlord just let you skip out on rent for three years?"

[sparrowwritings]

Final Fantasy Writing Challenge Day Fifteen: “That lucky charm you gave me hasn’t  been so lucky.”

Day Fourteen -- Masterpost -- Day Sixteen

“Ah! One of my <adorable twin saplings!>” Feo Ul cried as Lara froze in the doorway. She’d been expecting Roger in the apartment. Maybe a brooding Ardbert. That she was seeing the pixie that she had bonded with at the start of her journey wasn’t unpleasant just...awkward. 

Luckily she could recover easily enough. With a bright smile, she called out, “Hey, Feo Ul!” Lara looked around. “Is there, uh, anything bad about to happen? King related business that you need help with? I can go get Roger if that’s the case…”

With a boisterous laugh that sent them into a flying loop-de-loop in the air, the red pixie hovered close enough to squish Lara’s cheeks. “Nay, my precious gold-and-fire hair sapling. I’ve already seen my other <adorable twin sapling> and given my latest charm to him. Now I bestow upon you this token of luck!” Feo Ul let go of her long enough to tangle up something in Lara’s hair. Setting themself back far enough to admire their work, the King of Pixies (in their more diminutive piece that mostly interacted with their saplings) declared, “There! A proper charm now for my dearest sapling!”

Lara really hoped that she was allowed to take it out of her hair. “You’re most kind, Feo Ul,” And, since she was seriously trying to get a grasp of the language that the pixies used, she added, “<Adore beauty my branch>.” She winced at the “translation” that her Echo so helpfully provided. It was the most ironic gift ever. She could understand any language and be understood if she needed to be, but actually attempting to learn a language when someone says a word and her head says another…

No wonder Roger declined language learning with Urianger. 

Feo Ul laughed even harder than before. “‘Tis nearly right! A bit more practice and you will be calling for me every moment that you have the need. Be seeing you!” And with that, they turned into a ball of light and flitted out the window. She waited until all of the sparkles in the air had well and truly faded before dislodging whatever it was that the pixie had tied into her hair. 

What she found was a silver bell. There was nothing tying it anywhere, save for the gold strands that were left over from Feo Ul’s work. There also wasn’t anything inside the bell to make it ring. It was odd...but in a cute way. 

“A charm from the pixie, eh?” Ardbert leaned into view, startling Lara. He ignored her reaction to examine the bell closer. “Back in my day it was said that gifts from the Fae could lead to great fortune…” His brown eyes flicked up to meet hers. “Or great despair. All things considered, I say you leave the bell here before you go out again. And whatever it is that they gave to Roger.”

Lara snorted. “Feo Ul wouldn’t give me something that would harm me.” She headed to the platform that contained both hers and Roger’s beds and made a beeline for where her less important things were being stored. “I’m one of her precious twin saplings, like you heard.” With a bit of searching, she turned up a white ribbon that she quickly used to tie the soundless bell to her wrist. “Plus isn’t it also bad luck to refuse a gift of the Fae?” It was a half remembered lesson from when Urianger had spent a couple of days trying to describe all of the intricate rules that the various races of Il Mheg lived by. When it was clear that the two of them couldn’t memorize everything immediately, he’d sighed and gave a few more concise rules of thumb for dealing with the Fae. Concise for his standards, at least.

“Aye, but that don’t mean their gift’s gonna be any good to you either.”

“It’s a luck charm! What’s the worst that could happen?”

-------

Urianger started when he beheld the severely disheveled sight of the Warriors of Darkness. “Oh my. It seemeth thou both hath run into troubles aplenty.”

“You have no idea.” Roger didn’t even bother to clear a spot of books. He marched to a spot on the wall that was the least occupied and slid down it with a prolonged groan.

Lara moved to join him, but hissed in pain. Without another word, Urianger cast a couple of healing spells on the both of them. In moments, the Warriors of Darkness both breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Didst thou fight a horde of monsters?” 

“I wish it had just been monsters.” Lara rolled her shoulders as the soreness faded. “We’ve just had trouble after trouble since yesterday.”

Roger counted the ways on his fingers. “Everything keeps breaking, I’ve been tripping over myself way more than I used to, we pissed off this amaro that used to be real friendly and it dropped us in a lake.”

Urianger froze. “Thou canst mean--”

“Yeah, we almost got dragged back to Dohn Mheg. Thank every single god that we have that water breathing blessing…” She once again moved to sit next to her best friend when her foot collided against a footstool. A crack resounded around the library and Lara’s face contorted with pain again. “Oww…” Her voice came out as a whimper. 

He moved to tend to what sounded like a broken toe (though gods knew how Lara was able to do so when she was still wearing boots). As he used his own aether to heal her again, a card he drew from his star globe brought his attention to the ribbon on her wrist. On it was a silver bell with no clapper. Urianger’s eyes narrowed at it. “When did thou receiveth this bell, young Lara?”

She blinked a couple of times as the magic quickly got to work. “Uh...yesterday, actually. Feo Ul called it a luck charm.”

That was explanation enough. “Didst thou both not listen to mine lecture when I mentioned gifts of the Fae?”

“Er…” Roger scratched at his face and looked away. 

“Uh…” Lara looked upwards before snapping her fingers. “They can cause great fortune!”

“Or quite the opposite.” He indicated the bell. “What were the exact words of thine pixie?”

“Feo Ul...said it was a luck charm,” Lara repeated. 

“Didst they mention good or ill luck whatsoever?”

She stared at him, then her eyes widened with realization as she looked down at the bell. “They didn’t.”

Roger groaned even louder than before. “Why do the Fae do this stuff…”

“‘Tis merely their nature as mischievous creatures, young Roger. Feo Ul, while they hast many duties as King of the Pixies, will still desireth to delight in seeing even their sune yaks contend with the gifts they hast given unto them.” He nodded as the magic faded and Lara was once again healed. “Nevertheless, ‘tis most unfortunate that their gifts hath caused thee such ill luck. ‘Twoud be best to leave thine gifts in thine quarters until such time that Feo Ul forgets they hath given their saplings such charms.”

“And we can’t just...say no to future gifts?” Roger pondered even as he took out the pendant that the pixie had given to him. 

“I’m afraid the consequences of refusing would be far worse than those of accepting their gifts.”

“Well crud.” Lara muttered.

While the two were quietly contemplating their fate, Urianger offered, “Perhaps ‘twould be wise for me to accompany you both back to the Crystarium. Thine healing abilities are quite remarkable, young Lara, however having a second in reserve may be what your ill luck needs to turn back to the good.”

With the voice of someone who hadn’t really heard what was spoken to them, she responded with, “Sounds good.” Then her focus landed on him with startling strength. “Hey can I ask you a question?”

“Whatever it is you wish to know, I will endeavor to answer.” 

“Do you know what cúpla sune yaks means?” Lara’s mouth didn’t move in the correct way to pronounce the words, but Urianger heard the phrase pronounced the way it should be said. He forced the scholar part of his mind to back down from the opportunity to marvel at yet another side effect of one possessing the Echo to go over the phrase she said. 

It couldn’t be...could it?

“Aye,” He answered neutrally. Roger sat up from his spot against the wall, watching the both of them. It didn’t take long for her to start rambling about what she was really asking.

“Okay so…” She tugged at a strand of her hair and twined it around a finger. “Feo Ul always calls us that. And the Echo makes it sound like she’s calling us ‘adorable twin saplings.’ I just want to know if there’s anything significant about it.”

“We’ve been over this, Lara, they just mean that we’re their two saplings!” Roger called out. “The Echo made it sound like that so that we’d understand what they meant better!”

“But we don’t know if that’s true!” She turned her deep blue eyes up to meet his own. “Well?”

Urianger granted her a moment’s pause while he thought of what to say. “...If it beith thine conclusion that the words of Feo Ul meaneth what you say, then that is so. As I do not possesseth the Echo, I can only interpret language by having been taught it. Twin can be used to mean two in many languages.”

“See! I told you!”

Lara continued to stare at him for a moment before looking away again when she failed to find what it was she was looking for. “Okay. Guess I was just thinking too hard.” She sighed and rubbed at a temple. “Let’s get back to the Crystarium and soon.” Roger made another groan as he helped himself stand. 

“We’ll meet you outside when you’re ready.” He said to Urianger as the two left the library.

“I shall be but a moment.”

As soon as the Warriors of Darkness had well and truly exited, he gave a deep frown. 

If Feo Ul had meant to call Roger and Lara their two adorable saplings, they would have called them “a dó sune yaks” in the language of the Pixies. They specifically used the phrase “cúpla sune yaks.” Twin adorable saplings. 

There was only one possible conclusion to be drawn from that. Pixies were the most well known among the Fae folk to use their exact words in order to not lie.

Among other sudden realizations and connections, Urianger couldn’t help but marvel at how this also explained why the pixies in particular all adored the Warriors of Darkness so. The ancient texts described the race as being quite drawn towards twins.

[warriorsoftwiggenstein]

eclipsewaxing

i forget but do they ever like. realize she's a pixie or is it one of those yda/lyse situations where they just pretend to not know

Because we haven’t seen any pixies in the source yet (I say yet because who knows) I imagine that when they meet her they’re like “She’s...strange...but like...she’s the Warrior of Light so...alright”. 

When Y’shtola first gets pulled out of the lifestream I like to think that she can immediately tell because of her aether vision that Feo Sul is using a glamour, but at this point she’s already done so much that it’s a situation of “doesn’t really matter what she is” 

The others I think don’t find out until they have first hand experience with the pixies. Urianger arrives in Il Mheg just like “...this doth make much sense.”

Meanwhile the others are just like “Why didn’t you ever tell us you were a pixie???” and Feo Sul just answers “You never asked.” Like, if they had even thought to ask her about it, she would have deadass been like “Oh no yeah I’m a pixie, this Warrior of Light thing is fun tho, so I’m gonna keep doing it.”

[hyphen-yaeger]

Prompt #26: When Pigs Fly

Hyphen Yaeger (F)

“Oh darling, that sounds nice but I don't know...“ her mom had told her that day.

“Yeah Hyphen, sounds as probable as seeing a pig fly“ her sister added.

“Well... you never know, there can be flying pigs somewhere out there“ the 4 year old said looking at the window with a lost look.

“Who knows, now you two finish your game and go after help your brother get the things here“

“Your turn“ her older sister lightly kicked, making her snaped and place her card in the board.

----------

“...you really hit your head this time“ Estinien said after his initial chuckle had died

“You think that is crazy as well, huh?“ Both of them at the top of a tower, watching

“Well, weird things had happened before, it would not be that crazy if you are involved“. A soft smile on both appearing “Yet, would it be as crazy as the sight of a flying pig?“

“Who knows....Maybe you ar..“wide eyes on her face had located their target “There it is! let’s go!“

Both jumping down on the target from the tall tower

--------

“I’m so tired, no more please!“ Alisaie said as she hit the ground to recover.

“The Pixies are...“

“AHHHHHHHHHH!“ Urianger sudenly interruped by the scream of the Warrior of Darkness

“What’s wrong?!“ Alphinaud said as he went into battle stance

In a second, Hyphen had run towards a couple of pixies playing with what it looked like a flying pig

“Portly Porxie”

“...It’s a Portly Porxie!!“She said with all the joy in the world

“But why such enthusiasm?“ Alisaie asked her.

“Feo Ul!“she called

“Wait, What are you doing?!“

“It’s a flying pig! a Portly Porxie! I have to make my mom see this! she wont believe it! my sister as well... and if we can find Estinien, even better“

“But how....“

It was useless, she was already doing whatever was in her mind and as open to help as she was, Hyphen could aslo be stuborn.

“Hahahaha this is gonna be great!“

[ishgard]

Thancred!

AHHHH, thank YOU so much. I’m so amused, I was actually really close to sending you Thancred! XD Oh man though… Thancred is… The Original Bae.

First impression

That up there was the first time I laid eyes on this fool of a man and I was DONE. I was blissfully playing GW2 and End of an Era and Thancred sold me completely on ARR, so needless to say, it was a Very Good first impression. Getting to know him starting in Ul’dah and all, and playing through MSQ through everything that happened only further solidifed my love and adoration for him, and he was hugely my main ship for Ahru for the longest of times. The whole ‘possessed by the enemy’ thing only made it hotter tb(obscenely)h.

Impression now

Still love this damn fool. The second I saw his name pop up for this meme I went full stupid cuz gosh I love him so much. (*sits here quietly staring at the above picture, gazing at his hands and wishing longingly to touch them*) Ahem, him and Ahru suffered through a lot of similar pains and losses, and just always end up leaning on each other. He’s… he’s so important to me, ok? Seeing him struggle to take things on by himself, even to the detriment of his own well-being, hit me really hard personally. He pissed me off quite a bit in SHB for a bit there, but I always had faith he’d come around and I just… can’t stress enough how much I’ve loved seeing him come through story.. 

Favorite moment

There are a lot, but right now I’m really thinking about him smashing through the darkness after the Hades fight. Like I’m just sinking into it so deep, I feel inspired ahhhhhhhhh Punching that cyclops in the eye was great too, mmm.

Idea for a story

I look back on a lot of XIV in general and can pull up a bunch of different ideas for stories. Admittedly, most are pretty shippy. I’d love to explore him and Ahru helping one another through their losses - (especially post-HW, with Minfilia and Haurchefant respectively). Him, Ryne, and Urianger getting into pixie hijinks would also be pretty fun though.

Unpopular opinion

:|a I mean… I love him a lot and he’s one of the best Scions and I’d lay down my life for him and want him to get some sleep and take care of himself AND STOP DOING THAT STUPID THING WITH THE AETHER OMFG YOU FOOL. (I recall back during ARR especially seeing a surprising amount of people who did NOT like him at all and liking him at times felt like an unpopular opinion.)

Favorite relationship

How could I not say Ryne? Like of course I have my personal bias here, but that aside, his father-daughter relationship with her is so positively adorable, even if he IS more than a bit of an ass for a good portion of the time. Seeing more of his interactions with Urianger was an absolute blast, too, and wow did I love it.

Favorite headcanon

Ya’ll just gonna have to live with the fact my headcanons revolve around Ahru, and for Thancred it’s that they actually knew each other when they were kids in Limsa - albeit very briefly, shortly before he was taken in and to Sharlayan by Louisoix. Beyond that they’re just… each others best friends. They understand one another very well, platonically or romantically, they’ve always got each others backs. ; - ;

(Send me a character)