#I’m excited for this!

[olenvasynyt]

WIP Wednesday: I’ve been working on this forever but I’m finally getting back into my Mor backstory fic. Calling it Exchange Your Blood For Wine. It’ll be split into 3(?) chapters where she gets her bleeding, is betrothed to Eris, goes to the Illyrian Camps and fucks Cassian, and is beaten and sent to the Autumn border where she is found by Eris. This is a snippet from when she goes to the Illyrian Camps. Idk if this is her first time there or if she hasn’t met Cassian before this but I’m going with both to make it more interesting.

She breathed in the chilly air, her lungs chilling. It smelled of cedar and snow and the subtle tang of metal.

Her first true taste of freedom—and her last.

She wrapped her fur-lined coat tighter around herself. The collar pressed into her chin and neck a bit too tightly for comfort, making her feel unbearably itchy. She stepped into the camp mother’s house and was relieved to take off her coat. A fireplace crackled merrily at the far end of the living room, but Mor didn’t feel much warmer. A strange sence of numbness chilled her to the bone, as if she was still standing in the snow and the freezing air. She felt herself shaking a little as she wrapped her arms around herself and stepped further into the living room.

“Morrigan. It’s good to see you again.” Lady Haniya’s eyes were a different color to her sons—a dark hazel instead of star-flecked indigo–but they had the same twinkling charm.

“Dinner will be ready in about an hour, but I have some tea on the stove if you’re interested. Nice and hot to warm you up on this cold day, huh?” She turned to her son and gave him a look that resembled reproach. “Cassian is still training, of course. I hoped he would be here to welcome our guest with me, but you know how he is.”

“He knows that we have a visitor, I hope?” Rhys asked, his lips quirking up in amusement.

“He does, I must have reminded him half a dozen times.” Haniya sounded annoyed, but she gave a chuckle, easing Mor a bit.

Rhysand laughed too. “Well, I highly doubt he’ll be late for dinner. He adores your cooking.”

“He can entertain our guest with his excessive burping and his adventure stories,” Haniya mused, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t forget his remarkable talent for drinking,” Azriel muttered.

Rhysand’s mother poured tea for the four of them. Azriel picked up his porcelain cup gingerly and took a small sip. His eyes stared into space as if he was deep in thought.

Mor took a sip of her own tea. It was extremely bitter, and it reminded her of something like pine. She must have made a face, because Rhysand’s mother chuckled. “It’s thistle tea,” she explained. “It’s an acquired taste. I’m afraid the Steppes doesn’t have the best assortment of teas and spices. No sugar either.”

“Doesn’t Father send you some?” Rhysand said, his voice carefully casual.

“He does occasionally,” his mother answered simply.

Lady Haniya was stern but warm, and carefully lead the conversation with casual topics like the weather, what the festival would be like, where Mor would be sleeping. She never mentioned the Hewn City, and she did not ask Mor any questions about her doomed future. It was quite obvious she knew of her betrothal though: it was obvious when someone knew something but avoided saying it.

What was her own marriage with Sinan like? They were mates, but the two of them always seemed…distant when she saw them together. Uncaring. Did she resent her mating with Sinan? Did feel trapped like Mor did? But no…she was free to go where she wished, she lived in the Steppes in this lovely house instead of in the dark Hewn City with her cruel mate. She had freedoms that Mor would never have in Autumn.

The front door opened with a bang. A gust of cold wind blew in along with a massive Illyrian male. With his long hair tangled around his face and his wind swept cloak, he looked like he spawned from the chilling wind itself. He stepped into the room, tucking his wings close. A very large bruise darkened his chiseled jaw, but the male seemed to wear it like a badge of honor, especially as he gave a wicked grin.

“It seems like Devlon(?) (spell name right) gave you a good beating, Cas,” Rhys drawled, nodding to the black and blue bruise with a smirk.

“What, this?” The male grinned, showing bright white teeth. “I let him give me this. He’s looking much worse, trust me.”

He was proud and wild and careless. He filled the room with an energy that seemed to brighten everything, even Azriel’s dark shadows.

“What’s for dinner, mum?” Cassian asked.

“I got some rabbit stew, turnip salad, and rye bread.”

“Rye bread? I can’t remember the last time we had such a delicacy. You bring that, Rhys?”

“This is the brute Cassian. Cassian, this is Morrigan.”

“Mor,” she corrected hastily.

The male grinned at her. A dimple formed on his bruised cheek. “A lady of the court,” he mused, bowing his head in mock formality. “The camp isn't used to hosting such esteemed females such as yourself. Besides the Lady of Night, of course.” He nodded to Rhysand’s mother, who gave him a look of reproach.

“You’ll do well to treat her like a lady, boy,” she said sternly. “She’s not just another wild bastard you can beat up.”

Cassian looked Mor up and down as if he disagreed. Mor waved a hand. “Oh it’s alright, Haniya. It’s probably hard for him to remember his manners,” she crooned. “I’ll be happy to teach him.”

Cassian quirked a thick eyebrow and laughed. “I’ll gladly give you a few lessons of my own, but I’m not sure a lady such as yourself would be interested.”

“I assume these lessons would be how to drink myself to death and get punched in the face?”

“She’s here for (insert festival name here), not for sword fighting lessons,” Azriel said quietly.

“There’s always after. Unless the lady has duties back in the Hewn City.”

“She does,” Rhysand said simply, a bit of darkness staining his voice.

An uncomfortable silence fell over them. Rhysand cleared his throat and added, “But in the meantime, we can celebrate. Relax and drink and listen to your tall tales and then enjoy the Steppes. Show Mor a bit of the ropes.”

[noodles-and-tea]

Our hextech dream….

[ottosbigtop]

I think we as a society should bring back brotps. I think we should be weirder about characters being friends the same way people are weird about ships. Make those two characters who interacted once or twice besties. Make it difficult for them to get rid of each other even if they want to. Go nuts

[squid-nerds]

grandfest!!!!

[cdyssey]

genuinely stunned at the fantastic choice for Percy not to pray to his absent and unknown father—like he did in the books—but to his mother.

the show is really taking us to one of riordan’s central theses straight off the bat.

parenthood isn’t about power and legacy and the recognition of shared blood.

It’s about the incredible act of showing up for your child—again and again and a-fucking-gain. That’s how you inspire respect. That’s how you become a child’s patron and beloved god.

[littlemizzlinguistics]

Studying linguistics is actually so wonderful because when you explain youth slang to older professors, instead of complaining about how "your generation can't speak right/ you're butchering the language" they light up and go “really? That’s so wonderful! What an innovative construction! Isn't language wonderful?"

[notherpuppet]

@/coma_0423’s cursed cat alastor will bring you happiness ♥️

Lulu scolds the cat

[lindenhe]

I was practicing with clothes and got a little carried away~

Also a little contribution for the tailor!Astarion au, because my Tav is a bard with a noble background and usually has a need in fancy outfits.

[floweroflaurelin]

Lyctor? I hardly know her!

I painted Jod and his duplicitous sluts in the style of Byzantine art!! I believe we are approaching my annual reread of the series... ✨⚔️💀⚔️✨

Closeups and print link under the cut!

Prints are 10% off for the New Year!

[fishtrouts]

Hopper is actually not always mean, only most of the time :) The scarecrow got the brunt of her attitude here.

The Swordfish and Hopper Heraldic pins are still here for a week! They’ve found almost 400 homes by now, which I am so grateful for. Here’s the link if you’d like to grab the pair too:

Heraldic Duo Pin Pack

[ato-dato]

I wish gay people were real :(

[maxgicalgirl]

Being a “Fun Fact !” kind of autistic is all fun and games until you get halfway through sharing an interesting tidbit and realize that it probably wasn’t appropriate to share in polite company and now you have to deal with the consequences :(

[noodles-and-tea]

Just some more thoughts on that jayvik dbh au

[appaeve]

that’s a wrap!

[cutter-kirby]

obligatory “cool characterization, still murder” like I’m not excusing him but it does make him incredibly interesting

(*girl gender neutral edition)

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

this is so fucking funny of him actually