#Non negotiable: they are good parents. Not perfect

[nevertheless-moving]

Headcanons for Ladrian children!

Maxillium (waxillium. Who let you flip the first letter of your name upside down. Why.): grows up to be something of a 'gentleman miscreant.' Even at the time, Steris and Wax knew that hiring a pickpocketing tutor for their noble firstborn son was a bad idea, but Max had pleaded that Uncle Wayne had promised him lessons when he grew up. And...well...Wayne would have, no matter how much they tried to stop him...anyway. Sentimentality won the day. Mistakes were made.

Despite his deliberate and consistent flouting of propriety, he's still almost universally well liked. Genuinely charismatic. Doesn't put his foot in his mouth. Smart without being considered mean or dull.

His parents have no idea where he gets it from.

People think he must be a soother but his actual allomantic power is generally considered useless. I'm leaning towards gold auger for true self confidence brought about by super powered self reflection. A+ use of C- skill.

Adrenalin junkie. Likes fast cars. Very fast cars. Only one of the kids who remembers Uncle Wayne, though they all get stories.

...

Tindwyl: somehow oldest, middle, and youngest child syndrome. Wax and Steris reign things in a bit after they realize they've inadvertently been raising their firstborn to become a highly effective career criminal. I'm not saying they're bad parents, they really do care, listen, and adjust. But they're imperfect people and the clash of personalities is the hardest on her.

Hmm twinborn, but still insecure about it, so it's gotta be one of the less flashy combos. Bronze or cadmium compounding, making her very good at either not sleeping, or surviving indefinitely at the bottom of the ocean awaiting rescue after her boat sinks, neither of which is immediately useful ... i mean the sleep thing is pretty cool but might cause some internal issues..

Similar to her parents in the more neurotic ways. Her father's eye twitch, her mother's anxiety. But not much inclination towards the more heroic arts, something her parents love, glad they raise one child unlikely to die in a fire, but she feels ashamed of. No fascination with danger, except in the deeply abstract. She tends to fixate on novels, not disaster planning or solving murders.

Gets motion sick :/ When Wax tries to take her for 'rides' she's giggling until she suddenly pukes without warning, and then she's crying. Wax feels guilty forever about this, but she insists on trying again every so often throughout her childhood.

Oh! Heavily involved in the allomancer jak fan community, first as a joke, but eventually she gets into it despite herself. She delights in discussing his stories around the dinner table and watching her father grit his teeth. I mean, comparing them with her father's own tales - which claims are really less likely, once you break things down, piece by piece -

...

Third child: I don't know their gender! I don't even know their name! But I do know that they're going to be the first natural born mistborn in over three hundred years, and it's going to cause soooo much chaos.

Lotsa religious nuts following to school. Lotta kidnapping attempts. They catch dad yelling at death, no wait, false alarm, hes just yelling at death to pass a message to God, because he doesn't want to talk to God directly. Cool, cool. Something about wanting a promise that that 'they wouldn't be made a sword'

They seem to most consistently run into ladrian luck - things explode around them, they say the exact wrong thing to the exact wrong person. If there's a murderer loose, they end up in the same tree house, if there's a lion escaped from the zoo, it steals their lunch. Assigned protagonist by the narrative, despite the adults in her life genuine and consistent efforts to intervene.

Mixed feelings about it.

Generally Max bails them out of the social faux pas, but, much to tindwyls annoyance, when worst comes to worst they can fall back on the 'mistborn aura' growing 'mysteriously grave' and then jump out an airship window. Mildly jealous of Tindwyl because when she gets lost in the city she doesn't accidentally discover a cult, or get adopted by a circus troupe, or , anyway. If they also get a ferrochemical power people are going to lose. their. shit.

Snaps (I believe snapping is gentler in era 2, but still) way too young during their first kidnapping attempt, possibly same time as/ before older siblings. All kidnapped together?

Please Imagine Max age 12, breaking Tindwyl, age 9, and Misty age 6 out of their cells (of course he pickpocketed the keys from the guards). They all down a full spectrum vial, which of course they all carry in a secret aluminum lined pocket for LITERALLY this EXACT traumatic event because their mother is Steris. Max gets nothing (would gold even be in the vial?), tindwyl is a seeker or cadmium burner.

Cue ridiculously OP six year old bendalloying past the guards, pewter punching their way out... Max takes more than a few hits for them when they accidentally iron pull some loose nails at themselves... it's not pretty, but they do escape and the media goes absolutely bananas.

Please, please imagine tiny child carrying two medium sized childs, and jumping out a window. They're very carefully arranged, Tindwyl clinging to Max's shoulder, Max on Misty's, feeling absolutely ridiculous. Misty breaks the window - Max yelling steel push directions as they just need to get to the next building - Tindwyl yelling, ok they're all yelling now as Misty loses balance -

Ooh Wait if Tindwyl can cadmium create slow time then she burns that as they're falling, so it's extra terrifying from all their perspective, but to other people's view they're just hanging there, dropping very, very slowly. Either way-oh thank the Survivor, Dad's here now, catching them.

Some of this is caught on evanotype. Like I said - absolute media storm.

...

Fourth child: An accident and everybody knows it. The other three are mortified to discover that their parents are still having sex. Steris is mostly bemused that the one (1) time she said 'it'll probably be fine' instead of immediately drinking moon tea after the sheepskin broke, she gets pregnant. Wax is concerned for her health, but after a scare or two, it all goes fairly smoothly.

A good 15, 20 years younger than the rest and maybe a little isolated because of it, doesn't feel like she has the same sibling relationship the other three do, though they all adore her and compete relentlessly for 'best big sibling.'

Cool twinborn combo??? Like pewter allo and gold ferro for super healing. Or zinc super speed, because that's honestly excellent by itself.

Or no powers, because angst and also being underestimated and getting really competent at tech or whatnot. Possibly allomantic status is less important as time passes, and she actually doesnt really have as much issue with it as people assume she will. Infiltrates and takes down some shady hemalurgic group due to the misperception.

Only one of the children to go into law, but ends up more secret agent/spy genre then western/action hero.

Regardless, while Max is effortlessly charming, she's effortlessly cool. The middle children, and possibly parents, are amazed and maybe slightly jealous, though dad insists he used to be cool, honest-

[loganwritesprobably]

Planning a Future With You

This didn't do very well on the poll I posted a while back but this is my blog and I do what I want. Also introducing Niji for the first time on this blog

Content/Warnings: Crocodile, Niji and Law headcanons, GN!Reader, talk of marriage and children (both positive and negative), both canon-compliant and "de-programmed" Niji mentioned

Crocodile has always been a future plans kind of guy

He likes to plan ahead, and know what his next steps are, at all times

When you begin to date, he doesn't factor you in initially, assuming your relationship won't last more than six months

And then it does

He begins to factor you into his plans slowly, over time, until eventually you're irreversibly woven into everything

He tells you none of this of course

But in his mind, his future would be wrong without you

He wants to marry you, eventually, with a grand ceremony, all of the bells and whistles included

Nothing but the best for you

Neither of you have actually asked the other about these sorts of things, but it will happen when you're both ready

Already, Crocodile knows what sort of ring he wants to propose with, and how he wants to propose

Crocodile hasn't thought of children

He had a rough childhood, and he's not the most pleasant man and he knows it

It's hard to raise a child, and whether he's cut out for that is pretty up in the air

He'd consider it, if that was something you wanted

Maybe you could adopt an older child, he thinks that would be more his speed if anything

Niji thinks marriage is a given between you

He's a prince, getting married is a non-negotiable, and he likes you more than most. You're not as irritating as a lot of people he'd considered pursuing in the past

And someone has to continue the Germa bloodline, who better than him?

If you were to date a de-programmed Niji though, things would be different

Kids, for him, would be an absolute no

Even with how much his personality has changed, he still finds kids super grating and he couldn't raise a "snot nosed brat"

If you disagreed on this, it'd be a pretty big issue, it isn't a topic up for discussion

Double income no kids lifestyle for Niji

He's not super sold on weddings either, but that's something he's more willing to discuss

Niji wouldn't want something incredibly extravagant, rather he'd prefer a more intimate ceremony

He doesn't actually want to be a perfect Prince of Germa and having a large elaborate wedding would remind him of that

A smaller ceremony, with his siblings, your family if you want them there, and all your friends is more suited to him

Though he'd absolutely brag about being married to you after the fact if you did get married

Because you're the best thing that's ever happened to him

For Law, pretty much everything is up for discussion

He's far more hesitant about kids than marriage

He's still not convinced the two of you are in it for the long haul - how could you want to be with him for that long?

If you were to get married, he'd absolutely leave all the planning and decisions to you. Tell him when you need him to have an opinion, and when to be there

He'd still get a little teary at the sight of you in your getup, no matter how neutral he is on the entire thing

For him, kids is hard

He had good parents as a young boy, and the thought of providing that is nice, warms his little cold heart

But he's also intimately familiar with how cruel the world can be, and he isn't sure he likes the thought of bringing a child into it

But some children are already in that world, and alone

All that to say, he's unsure, and very unfecided

For him, it would heavily depend on what you wanted, and there would be a lot of lengthy discussions to be had on the topic

Requests are open! See below links for my other works, and how to leave requests. I write both canon/canon and canon/reader requests for your enjoyment

AO3 | Fanfic Masterlist | Request Rules | Fic Trades Guide | WIPs

Tags: @claryeverlarkf @uselessboots

[wannaeatramyeon]

The Way of the Househusband: Lookism and HTF hc

You, the working spouse. Them, trying to be the best malewife.

(Making up for my Eli crap).

Throws money at the problem

Look. They did not work their lil bussy off to build up an empire then to spend it all day looking after the household. You will be employing help around the house, that is non-negotiable.

Expect a half burnt, hand made lunch most days though. It's the thought that counts, you tell yourself as you swallow down a lump of charcoal.

+ Eugene

+ Goo Kim

This idiot. Tries his best until he gets bored. And he gets bored very easily.

Half mopped kitchen, half made bed. Everything he does is done well until he just. Nah. Cannot be bothered anymore.

Good job you have a routine cleaning service and whatever other help you need as he takes instead the title of trophy husband.

Greets you coming home like an overexcited puppy. Lord bless him with some other social groups and hobbies so he doesn't rely completely on you for all his interaction needs.

+ Samuel Seo

If our Sammy isn't in therapy already, then get him in. Starve if you have to, just get him on his journey.

There is no way this man would be happy just being a househusband with his inferiority complex, slight delusions of grandeur and ambition.

When he eventually comes to terms with it, will always have little side projects going on to keep his inferiority/superiority at bay.

Likely one of those bastards that power trips from heading up some sort of Househusband/housewife social group, PTA, or on the board of a charity (he's in it for the power, not the cause) in his spare time.

Natural born homemaker

Natural may be a stretch for some of these boys.

Whether by choice or as a victim of circumstance, they have had to pick up very quickly how to be completely self sufficient. So stepping into house husband role? Easy!

+ Jace Park, Warren Chae, Jibeom Kwak, Daniel Park, Hudson Ahn, Baek Seongjun

+ Eli Jang

Oh my god. There is nothing that he loves more than being a househusband.

Never in his wildest dreams thought he would end up in this position.

Creating a loving home for you and Yenna, being the caretaker and provider. By far the best and most favourite role he has undertaken.

Joins in on the gossip at the school gates, with the other parents fawning over him. Melting hearts when Yenna toddles out and gives her dad a smooch.

Makes the absolute bento lunch bar none. Wakes up at the crack of dawn, practically leaping out of bed to make something delicious, healthy and cute for you and Yenna.

+ Johan Seong

Clueless vibes but that is absolutely wrong.

With his mother and leaving home from a young age, he has absolutely had to be self-sufficient.

In addition to taking care of two dogs too, this guy knows how to run a household and how to run it with 100% efficiency.

Knows the best time to visit the market for the freshest meat and veg to cook dinner. Also will visit 10+ stores to make sure he gets the best deal for his money. It's a matter of pride.

+ Ji Yeonwoo

Never had to really lift a finger around the home, instead dedicating all his time to studying. Vibes that his father also thinks housework is woman's work.

But not this guy! Whatever you need, he will make sure he fulfils it to the best of his abilities.

Study scheduling skills carry over to running the household. Runs an extremely tight ship, and meticulously plans everything. You want a doctor appointment? Dentist? Plumber. He is ON it.

In between sessions of Kyokushin Karate training of course.

+ Han Wangguk

Um hello? Does this even need explaining? It just fits.

Forced into being the carer and head of the household from a young age after his home life completely went to shit. Looked after Gyeoul to the best of his ability until he couldn't. Tried to be the best big bro/father figure since his stint in juvie.

Absolutely perfect as a househusband. Nothing to fault.

Will spoil you too. Small gifts he has come across that reminds him of you - a snack you like from the store, booking movie tickets for a lil date night together, a book he thinks you'd be interested in.

Perfection.

Clueless idiot tries their best

It's a 50/50 chance whether you will have a home and a husband to return to at the end of a day. It's also a 50/50 chance whether your home made lunch will give you food poisoning.

Sure, it's gotten better the longer they've been at it, but you're still wary. Especially since they have also gotten better at hiding any messes they cause too.

You can never stay mad though, especially when they get so cute when they're frustrated at having failed you as a househusband. Which is complete nonsense, by the way.

+ Vin Jin, Jihan Kwak, Jay Hong

+ Vasco Tabasco

How can this category exist without our resident cinnamon roll?

Fortunately for him, Jace has added himself onto Vasco's speed dial. Unfortunately for Jace, he gets 20+ calls and frantic messages a day asking how to get things done.

Nonsense includes asking how to revert the clothes after accidentally dying them pink. Can he put out a frying pan oil fire with water. How burnt can something be before someone will likely get food poisoning.

It gets better over time. Lucky for you and lucky for Jace.

COMPLETE househusband Tatsu vibes. Everyone is terrified of Vasco, intimidated by his thuggish looks and tattoos. (Until they find out he is the biggest sweetheart and himbo ever.)

+ Ryuhei Kuroda

Relishes being a househusband! Like a silly little roleplay and doesn't get tired of it. After, all it took him so long to find someone that keeps the interest of Ryuhei and lil Ryuhei.

A shameless flirt with the ajummas and all the other housewives. Getting the best gossip, the best offers and deals, best tips.

Unfortunately, his attention span is short. Listens with good intentions, then starts daydreaming about when you get home and how he will ravish you.

In the end, he falls short in some aspects of being a househusband, but will make it up to you in the bedroom.

Bulldozes their way forward until they are Househusband Extraordinaire

You cannot fault them for their effort.

Initially a struggle at first for them to come to terms with being a househusband. Look at this list for crying out loud. Consisting of killers and fighters and crime bosses.

But if they commit, they're going to give it all. Their tenacity means they will absolutely get things done. Every time they fail, they will keep trying over and over again. Whether that's to make you happy or for their own pride, they will keep going until it is perfected.

+ Xiaolong, Zack Lee, Xiaolong, Sinu Han, Seong Taehoon, Kim Munseong

+ Gun Park

There is nothing Gun Park cannot do if he sets his mind to it. That includes whatever the hell is his life right now.

Which he doesn't mind, per se. It's just... unexpected.

And he never thought there would ever be anything in his life that matches the thrill of fighting to the death.

But getting the pick of fresh fruit and veg when he's first at the farmer's market? Beating some old ajumma (almost literally) to grab the best head of lettuce? Unveiling your dinner like he used to with his masterpiece?

Ok. It's not bad. He'll still sneak off to beat up minors when he has spare time though.

+ DG/James Lee

Drops the K-pop persona pretty damn quick, reverting back to James Lee.

Because can you imagine how little he would be able to get done if people saw DG around trying to run errands?

But honestly. Look at him. This man, like Gun, does not have a domestic bone in his body.

He's not a genius for nothing though.

Dishwasher? Washing machine? Tumble dryer? How to iron in the most efficient way? He will work it out, don't worry.

+ Jake Kim

Anything, anything to make you happy.

As the Big Deal no.1, worrying about the street running smoothly is only his problem in so far as the protecting, the fighting, the money.

Clothes used to just turn up washed and ironed. Would live on a diet of ramen or just eating at one of the restaurants.

Jake is not initially cut out for being a househusband... But he learns quickly.

Eagerly gets to any household chores and errands with gusto. Sometimes even recruiting the Big Deal boys to help out when things get a little too hectic and out of hand.

[weird-obsessed-girl]

Drarry Fic Recs

organised through word count. I’m currently waist-deep into my drarry obsession.

masterlist (including wolfstar, tomarry and jegulus)

more fics to come

.....

1-20k

and Lucius will never know - tryslora

kinky kristmas, desk sex | E | 1k

Spell It On The Tiles - isamijoo

post-howgarts, divination, established relationship, marriage | G | 1.3k          

I don't want that (I actually do) - Maree_MeDLM

fluff and humour, getting together, post-war, oblivious draco, fluff and crack | M | 2k

Slammed - Faith Wood (faithwood)

8th year, kissing, harry makes habit of acosting draco | G | 2k

Harry Potter & The Accidental Confession - ghostboi

ememies to friends, accidental confessions, fluff, mutual pining, supportive ron, meeting the parents, hogwarts | G | 3k

Everything and Nothing - XxTheDarkLordxX

post-hogwarts, time travel, hurt/comfort, angst | T | 4k

Slythering Eigth Years are Shit at Potions (or are they?) - thecouchsofa

Slytherins trying to be match-makers, love potions | M | 4k words

Take You Made - tackytiger

mutual pining, masturbation, voyerism, auror harry, unspeakable draco, light angst | E | 4k

Hold My Hand - bafflinghaze

fluff and angst, established relationship, kinda secret relationship, st mungo’s | M | 4k

Who Said Draco Malfoy Can’t Dance? - Yesbocchan

Drinking Games, Truth or Dare, Lap Dancing | E | 4.5k            

At Second Sight - kcstories

canon divergence, getting together, romance, smut, enemies to lovers, first time | E | 4k

Elaborate, Correct, and Assiduously Observed - peu_a_peu

post-war, marriage | T | 4k

Purebloods Have Elf on a Shelf, Too? - Moon_Peach, Owl_Postmaster

christmas fluff, domestic fluff, bamf narcissa, elf on a shelf, roomates, friends to lovers, mutual pining | 4k

The Perfect Catch - tryslora

mpreg, fluff and angst, misunderstandings | T | 4k

Of Relationships and Daily Prophets - clover71, radcliffe_bass

angst and humour, fluff, the daily prophet | T | 5k

The Foolproof Plan - radcliffe_bass

alternate reality, romance, angst and humour | T | 5k

Games Night - Agentmoppet

Hogwarts 8th Year, House Unity, Muggle Games, Confident Draco, Flustered Harry, First time, Strip Poker | E | 5k

so lie to me tonight - M0stlyvoid (you have to be an Ao3 user)

Hogwarts 8th Year, Drarry through Ginny’s POV, Breakup, Heartbreak, Hopeful Ending | M | 5k

The Way You Say My Name - InnerLilith

auror partners, getting together, banter, ridiculous pet names, flirting | E | 5k

Draco at Nineteen - birdsofshore

Time Travel, Age Difference, Hogwarts 8th Year, First Time | E | 5k

If stars died of old age - DefNotForWork

breaking up and making up, veela draco, angst with happy ending | 5k

Of Foolish First Love - keidaught

pining, yule ball, 4th year, angst, resolved sexual tension | T | 5k

Double L in the Broomshed - GingerTodgers

Established Relationship Reveal, Radio Announcement | M | 5k

Snow Globe - BummedOutWriter

auror harry, professor draco, amnesia, mpreg, memory loss | G | 5k

I’ve Got Soul (But I’m Not A Soldier) - Imsiriuslyreading

BAMF Regulus Black, Fix-it, Ghost Regulus | G | 5k

His Little Something - chibaken

Hogwarts 8th Year, Size Kink, Plot what Plot, Top Harry | E | 6k

Trapped in a Blue Haze - MourningElegence 

Draco finds out about the Dursleys treatment of Harry, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Top Draco | E | 6k

A House Elf Affair - Paradi

fluff and smut, getting together, house elf magic, awkward flirting, mpreg, humour, pining | E | 6k

Doer of Good Deeds - Lomonaaeren

romance, humour, matchmaking, 8th year | T | 6k

Just Strangers without Memories - saratinearchive

post-war, hurt/comfort, auror harry, curse breaker draco, angst with happy ending | E | 6k

Matched Set - astolat

Hogwarts 8th Year, Size kink | E | 6k

Who Shagged Harry Potter? - Faith Wood (faithwood)

smut, humour, hogwarts eigth year | E | 6k

A Ghost of Blissful Feelings - alpha_exodus

consentual non-consent, kink negotiation, 8th year, love confessions | E | 6k

Snug - Moonflower_Rose

coming untouched, touching bits in public, draco peeking | E | 6k

Kiss-Kiss - who_la_hoop

five times fics, boys kissing, silliness | E | 6k

All Tied Up - MyNameIsThunder

Hogwarts 8th Year, Secret Relationship | M | 6k

Amortentia, Harry. Amortentia! - puddinghater26

love confessions, idiots in love, potions class, enemies to lovers, fluff | T | 6k

Like This and Like This (Dreams of Lace) - primaveracerezos

Friends to Lovers, Office Sex | E | 7k

Our Little Life - tackytiger

post-hogwarts, time travel, dream sex, falling in love, past lives, idiots in love | M | 7k

(Un)Calculated Risk - loveglowsinthedark

Hogwarts 8th Year, Established Relationship, Humour, Secret Relationship | E | 7k

Distraction - kcstories

hogwarts era, fluff and smut, enemies to lovers, pwp | E | 7k

Making love (out of nothing at all) - saratinearchive

mutual pining, canon divergence, getting together, friends to lovers, soft draco, post-second war, slow burn, smut | E | 7k

How to Handle an Enemy - who_la_hoop

truth or dare | E | 7k

Intention - The_Sinking_Ship

enemies to lovers, secret relationship, jealousy, happy ending, smut | E | 7k

A Perfect Fit - nothing_left_sacred

Mpreg, Plot what Plot, Veela Draco, Werewolf Harry | E | 8k

What I thought - bafflinghaze

auror harry, unspeakable draco, pining, fluff, happy ending, secret relationship, top draco | E | 8k

Ransoms - dysonrules

auror partners, adventure, flirty draco | M | 8k

If your mean to ... - Maree_MeDLM

married drarry, protective harry, fluff and crack, draco in muggle world, harry keeps on saving draco | T | 8k

It takes one to play the part - saratinearchive

domestic fluff, humour, established relationship, married drarry, auror partners | E | 8k

Defining Dickhead - who_la_hoop

dubious romance, friendship, boys being idiots | T | 8k

What I Thought - bafflinghaze

Miscommunication, Auror!Harry, Unspeakable!Draco, Angst, Secret Relationship, Smitten!Draco | E | 8k

Play Dates - Bixgirl1

Friends to Lovers, Dad!Draco, Praise kink, Bottom!Draco | E | 8k

But first, we fight - ANW815

Fluff and Angst and Smut, Auror Partners, Enemies to Lovers, Fight Sex | E | 8k

seeing for you - Owl_Postmaster

seer draco, werewolves, angst | M | 9k

It’s Our Party and We’ll Fuck if We Want To - firethesound

Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst | E | 9k

Good To Me (And I’d Be So Good to You) - AWickedMemory

Hogwarts 8th Year, Oblivious Harry, Obsessive Harry | G | 9k

Zero for Two (a tease of power) - XxTheDarkLordxX

Dark!Harry, Dark!Draco, they’re both obsessed with eachother | M | 9k

Fuel to the Fire - HolyGnocchi

Auror Partners, Pining Harry, Domestic Fluff, Smut, Luna/Pansy scheming | E | 9k

Misfortune Favors the Bold - vina_writes

courting attempts, bi disaster harry, bad flirting, humour, auror harry, potions master draco, smitten harry and draco, misunderstandings, jealousy | M | 9k

Changing Fate - jamesilver

soulmates, falling in loss, memory loss, happy ending | T | 10k

Quick as a Flash of Lightning, Unhurried as Eternity - babooshk_art, onbeinganangel

Post-War, Time Travel, Auror Harry, Domestic Fluff | E | 10k

The Full Monty - magpie_fngrl

harry poses for nude calendar, humour, top draco, smut | E | 10k

Mine - goldensnitch18

E | 10k

Gryffindors Never Kiss and Tell - FeelsForBreakfast

casual drinking, everyone is friends, banter | E | 10k

Darling Buds of May - vina_writes

preggers draco, telling harry, miscommunication, misunderstandings, angst and fluff, auror harry, established relationship, healer draco, happy ending | M | 10k

To Love a Loathed (Arch) Enemy - Sophie_French

Reconstruction of Hogwarts, Fluff, Humour | E | 11k

Everyone Needs A Weasley - Inheartofwinter

fluff and humour, ron takes homeless draco to grimmauld place, post-hogwarts, pining | T | 11k

Turnbout Is Fair Play - who_la_hoop

truth or dare, slytherin hijinks | E | 11k

Not Through With You by dark0feenix

angst, romance, memory loss, spy draco for order | NC 17 | 11k

Aural Gratification - birdsofshore

aural king, masturbation, coming out, humour and smut | E | 11k

Brevem Conspectum - Lauren3210

Kid fic, Domestic, Fluff and Smut, Short Time Travel | E | 12k

The Care and Management of Volatile Veelas - Dracogotgame

Veela Draco, Crack-ish | E | 12k    

Said the Tortoise to the Hare - Lomonaaeren

slow build, romance, humour, friendship | M | 12k

The Depths - Sniper_Jade

suicidal thoughts, hurt/comfort, suicide attempt, snogging, smut, mutual masturbation | E | 12k

Matchmaker, Matchmaker - firethesound

grimmauld place, hallucinations, visions, marriage proposal, first kiss | E | 12k

I might not be your cup of tea, but I'm your 10th shot of Firewhisky - phrynne

mutual pining, drinking, getting together, falling in love, bottom draco | E | 13k

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (Until Time Becomes Timeless) - saratinearchive

getting back together, older man/younger man, professor harry, student draco then professor draco, first time, virgin draco | E | 13k

Casefile: Operation MoD - Mosrael

established relationship, getting back together, visions, mystery, seer harry, unspeakable draco | M | 13k

all the things I knew I didn't know - eevans

POV harry, 8th year, post-war, mind healers, grimmauld place, slow burn,  non-linear, smut | E | 14k

With You, Always - acupforslytherin

soulmates, 8th year, fluff and angst, hurt/comfort, dreams | M | 14k

Turn Back the Clock - SteampunkSerpent27

de-aged harry, potion mishap, mentions of child abuse, happy ending, established relationship | T | 14k

embrace the deception - swoons

canon divergence, auror harry, seer draco, PI draco, getting together, pining, mutual pining, enemies to friends to lovers, smut | M | 14k

Sex and the Art of Castle Maintenance - birdofshore

Enemies to Lovers, Hogwarts 8th Year, Forced Proximity, Dirty Talk, Hurt/Comfort | E | 15k

Where I see things right - InnerLilith

preggers harry, hurt/comfort, abortion positivity, getting together, angst with happy ending | E | 15k

Hey, Potter - SunseticMonster

Hogwarts 8th Year, Drinking, Fluff and Angst, Humour, Harry tries to trip up Draco with compliments | M | 16k

malfoy-potter universe - aratinearchive

established relationship, married, a series | T | 17k

(Never) Let Me Go - maraudersaffair

angst with happy ending, top draco, pining draco, post-hogwarts, possessive draco, smut, minor hinny, infidelity, falling in love | E | 18k

Cascade - Avonne

Hogwarts 8th Year, Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Emotional hurt/comfort, Bottom Draco, Jealous Harry, Supportive Hermione | E | 19k

Antlers and Ivy - violetclarity

soulmates, masquerade ball, daily prophet, pining, angst with happy ending | E | 19k

so scarlet it was - Anonymous

mutual pining, 8th year, hooking up, falling in love, light angst, POV draco, panic attacks | E | 19k

Five Weddings and a Potions Accident - lauren3210

auror harry, healer draco, post-hogwarts, harry thinks hes a playboy (hes not) | E | 20k

An Issue of Consequence - Faith Wood (faithwood)

Hogwarts 8th year, Humour, getting together (kinda), Angst with happy ending, Romance | E | 20k words

Draco Malfoy and the Mirror of Ecidyrue (THIS IS ALSO)

PTSD, Time Travel, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Character Study | M | 20k

Dear Diary - AWickedMemory (TeddyLaCroix)

Hogwarts 8th Year, Getting Together, Sentient Diaries that aren’t horcruxes | M | 20k

The Courting by the Pureblood Who Only Has Five Milligrams of Romantic Intelligence and Thinks He’s Real Smooth - Cibee (westerncibee)

friends to lovers, auror harry, misunderstandings, getting together, humour, courting rituals | T | 20k

A Hyperactive Fruit, a Nasty Neighbour and a Love Story - synonym4life

magical creatures, bottom harry, domestic fluff, smut | E | 20k

Draco Malfoy and the Quest for the Wanton Wordsmith - HoneydeWinter

getting together, pining, mystery, secret admirer (not really but kinda), the quibbler | M | 20k

21-40k

i demand to dig my own grave - M0stlyVoid

murder mystery, draco pretends to be a seer, auror harry, happy ending | M | 21k

The Matchmaker's Spell - Kbrick

forced marriage, angst with happy ending, love/hate, jealous harry, murder, darkish, smut, draco flaunts affairs | E | 21k

Every Line - Inkdrinkershadowsinger

soulmates, getting together, auror partners, attempted rape!! | G | 21k

To Hurt and Heal - cassisluna

slow burn, pining, 8th year, pining, angst with happy ending | T | 22k

The Devil’s White Knight - orphan_account (THIS IS SO GOOD)

Time Travel, Alternate Timeline, Everybody Lives, No Voldermort | E | 24k

Keep It Simple, Stupid - Lomonaaeren

Draco tries to keep flirty!Harry alive, crack | M | 24k

Just a Matter of Time - gracerene

Post-War, Time Travel, Unspeakable Draco, Age Difference, First Time | E | 24k

Dragon Heartstrings - JET_Playin

Red String of Fate, Misunderstanidngs, Hurt/Comfort, they’re both oblivious, Angst with a Happy Ending | E | 24k

Brighton - Sniper_Jade

witnessed orgy, BDSM scene, accidental voyeurism, romance, drama, coming out, enemies to lovers, angst, clubbing | E | 24k

If You Miss It, Try Again - dodgerkedavra

mpreg, preggers draco, potions master draco, auror harry, friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, smut, birthday sex | E | 24k

1,000 Points from Gryffindor - orphan_account

Hogwarts 8th Year, Shennanigans, Humour, Comfort | E | 25k

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - agentmoppet, SlugLord

friends with benefits, loss of virginity, mutual masturbation, mutual pining | E | 25k

in the electricity of your touch - tryslora

8th year, mpreg, infidelity, soulmates, a/b/o, smut  | E | 25k

Kiss Me, Touch Me, Forget Me - jamesilver

angst, fake relationship, loss of virginity, memory loss, coming out, angst with happy ending, heartbreak, love confessions | M | 26k

Asking Malfoy for Help - Greg889

Grimmauld place, post-hogwarts, falling in love, enemies to lovers, happy ending, switch drarry | E | 26k

Eye of the Storm - OTPshipper98

harry relives most painful memories, child abuse, mmind healer draco, post-hogwarts, mutual pining, eventual fluff | 27k

You And Me - bixgirl1

Hogwarts 8th Year, Friends to Lover, Veritaserum, Falling in Love | E | 28k

Higher and Higher (Temptation) - birdsofshore

Collars, Auror Harry, Curse Breaking, Curse Breaker Draco, Pining, Resolved Sexual Tension | E | 28k

Something There - 1bad_joke

Hogwarts 8th Year, Veela Draco, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Angst with a Happy Ending | E | 28k

In The Hand - aideomai

multiverse, draco ron and hermione go to find harry across multiverse | T | 28k

Silk Scarves and Enchanted Handcuffs - TommyLane

Party Games, Loss of Virginity, Scheming Friends, blindfolds, alternate 7th year | E | 29k

Somewhere in My Memory - maraudersaffair

Post-Hogwarts, Memory Loss, Auror Draco, Preggers Harry, Getting Together, Lotta Sex | E | 29k

Sweeter Than Revenge (I guess?) - saratinearchive

8th year, house unity, shairng a room, fluff and crack, sub draco | E | 30k

The Green Vial - eidheann

Mpreg, with Potions, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Pining | E | 31k

This is Never Happening Again - hpleems

eventual romance, fluff and angst, slow build, hate sex, pining, secret relationship | M | 32k

As Time Passes - XxTheDarkLordxX

soulmates, angst with happy ending, hurt/comfort, abusive lucius | M | 32k

Out Of The Shadows - kcstories

Vignettes, Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Secret Relationship, Hogwarts Era | E | 32k

Draco Malfoy and the Letter from the Future - DracoWillHearAboutThis

time travel, POV draco, harry potter series retold, draco and harry friendship, draco questioning parents beliefs | G | 33k

What Happens to the Heart - Mossycoat

seer harry, bi harry, fluff and angst, post-hogwarts | M | 33k

Tell Me Love Is Endless -  alexmeg, RewriteParagraph

Soulmates, Enemies to Lovers, Angst and Tragedy, Ghosts, Hogwarts 8th Year, Tearjerker, Mutual-Pining | M | 34k

Verba Volant - shushu_yaoi_lj

Hogwarts 8th Year, Love Letters, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Veela Draco | E | 35k

Lockdown - Vorabiza (Biza)

humour, romance, voyeurism, graphic sex, forced proximity | E | 35k

Seamus is Seamus and You are Yourself - gonzoclock

Crack-ish, Harry gets hot, everyone loves Harry, Draco is protective, getting together | M | 37k

Draco Malfoy, It's Your Lucky Day - Faith Wood (faithwood)

8th year, romance, mystery, adventure | E | 37k

In Our Blood - secretsalex

preggers draco, magicallly powerful harry, dirty talk, haunted houses, top harry, dark magic | E | 38k

Always Together - IlliterateBastard

6th year, french harry, raised by regulus, no voldy, no dumbledore, slytherin harry, no war, fluff and angst | M | 38k

My End and My Beginning - leo_draconis

hunting horcruxs, veela draco, battle of hogwarts, mpreg | E | 39k

The Romantic Prawn Who Loved Christmas - bixgirl1

eigth year, bed/room sharing, falling in love, pining, flirting, sleep wanking, loss of virginity | E | 39k

Tea Collection - Kamerreon

canon divergence, crack, fluff, recreational drugs, WWW potions, hijinks, loss of virginity, lust potion, de-aging, smut and banter | E | 39k

Now I Know In Part - dodgerkedavra

curse breaker draco, auror harry, blind harry, top draco, happily ever after, grief/mourning, hurt/comfort | E | 40k

41-60k

Lumos - birdsofshore (this is so good)

Hogwarts 8th Year, Room-sharing, Voyuerism, wanking, Enemies to Lovers, Pining, Jealousy, First times | E | 41k

In the Presence of My Enemy - dodgerkedavra

curse breaking, alternating POV, weddings, smut, panic attacks, emotional hurt/comfort, overpowered harry, sectumsempra | E | 41k

love is made of gold and silver - millersplanet

Hogwarts 8th Year, Spells & Charms, Future Selves, Sectumsempra Scars | M | 42k

A Hag, a Hex, a Tale of Redemption - aibidil

fuck or die, enthusiatic consent, curses, muggle life, getting together, falling in love, post-hogwarts | E | 43k

In Evidence of Magical Theory - bixgirl1 

Hogwarts 8th Year, Magical Mishaps, Accidental Bonding, Forced Proximity, Bed Sharing, Magical Theory | E | 44k

Nearly Lost Things, Carefully Tended - SquadOfCats

Angst, Humour, Slow Build, Happy Ending, Redeemed Draco, Grimmauld Place, Harry fails at courting | E | 47k

You cannot save people, you can only love them -  heyitsamorette (AmoretteHD)

Hogwarts 8th Year, First Time, Bottom Draco | E | 52k

In the Shadow of Your Heart -  lq_traintracks (lumosed_quill)

Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends with Benefits, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Pining, POV Draco | E | 52k

The Guest - BummedOutWriter

kid fic, time travel, get together, mrpeg, truth serum, 6th year, seer draco | M | 60k

61-80k

Teddy Bear Troubles and Other Such Oddities - Kandakicksass

age regression, potions, problematic age gap issues | M | 61k

The Scent Of Malice - paradisedraco

enemies to lovers, slow burn, drug addiction, dark comedy, saviour complex harry, heavy angst | E | 63k

The Devil's White Knight - orphan_account

dimension travel, no voldy, time travel??, enemies to lovers, post-war trauma, everyone is gay | E | 65k

The Lesson of You - thecouchsofa

accidental chil acquisition, getting together, family feels, kid fic, fluff, time travel, smut | E | 65k

Everything Black - General_Jellyfish

Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, BAMF Harry Potter | T | 66k

Who We Were, Who We Are - jamesilver

temporary amnesia, fluff and angst, cute, sectumsempra, coming out, spy draco | T | 66k

Right Hand Red - lq_traintracks (lumosed_quill)

8th year, unresolved rexual tension, first time, party games, bottom draco, secret relationship | E | 73k

we should just kiss (like real people do) - whenstheweddingcake

fifth year, wolfstar adopt harry, mild smut, powerful harry, dark magic, unreliable relationship | T | 75k

Beautiful Meanings in Beautiful Things - cloudings

8th year, amortentia, voyeurism, sharing a room, soulmates, humour, fluff and smut | E | 77k

all the western stars - oflights

seer draco, werewolf harry, isolation, hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, sharing a bed, rough sex | E | 78k

Get Some - sara_holmes

Harry is fed up with getting away with everything, Draco has a spine, after 2nd war, getting together | M | 78k

The White Pawn - Soupy_George

time travel, romance, adventure, disenchanted draco, relive sixth year | T | 81k

Dwelling - aideomai

friends to lover, boy-who-lived neville, weird shit going on, curses | T | 83k

81-100k

Into the Dark - PhantomGrimalkin

time travel, first war, slow burn, suicidal thoughts, hocrux hunting, established wolfstar | T | 89k

Diffraction Patterns (I Don't Know How to Forget You) - yourdifferentoctober

Hogwarts 8th Year, Memory Alteration, Slow Burn, First Time, Sexual Tension, PTSD | E | 94k

Prophecies and Potions - Angylsmuse, Rina9294

draco is a spy for the order, smut, canon divergence | E | 96k

where are you (my lion)? - harrysblueshirt1

time travel, canon divergence, jily sent to future, fix-it, emotional hurt/comfort, good draco, professor harry | 99k

>100k

Chaos Theory - Tessa Crowley (tessacrowley)

canon divergence, science, genius draco, mind control, PLEASE READ ALL TAGS | E | 102k

That'll Be The Day - Waterloo

time travel, friendship, hogwarts redo, slow burn, enemies to friends to lovers, pov alternating, wolfstar raise harry | M | 112k WIP

Far From The Tree - aideomai

drarrys kids time travel to hogwarts, pre-relationship, down and out draco, dom draco | E | 112k

Turning Leaves - Kbrick

time travel, pining draco, slytherin harry, angst with happy ending, harry is bad at feelings, drunk sex, auror harry | E | 113k

Written on the Heart - who_la_hoop

8th year, soulmark, slow burn, fluff and angst, falling in love, smut, coming out, happy ending, found family | E | 114k

Paradox - kerfuffling

Canon Divergenced, Draco sent back to first year | M, E | 119k

Threshold - Kbrick

unspeakable draco, portals, auror harry, pining draco, swords & sorcery, magically powerful draco, enemies to firneds to lovers, slow burn | E | 126k

Drop Dead Gorgeous - Maya Reddit (to find search “complete works of Maya Reddit”) 

130k

What We Pretend We Can't See - gyzym

M | 131k

Please Be There If I Remember (And Don't Let Go When I Forget) - Rosie321go

memory loss, fluff and angst, everyones confused, fifth year, cano divergence, hurt/comfort | T | 143k

The Ordeal of Being Known - louisfake

Auror Harry, Healer Draco, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Veritaserum, Eventual Romance | M | 146k

Bewildered - SparrowGrim

dimension travel, canon divergence, a/b/o, magically powerful harry, top draco, happy ending | E | 148k

In my visions I see you - PottersForhead

seer draco, good draco, abusive lucius, dumbledore bashing, master of death harry, slow burn, friends to lovers | T | 150k WIP

Away Childish Things - lettered

age regression, past child abuse, internalized homophobia, grief/mourning, mommy/daddy issues, potions accident, hurt.comfort | T | 154k

When you are ready to go on... but you go back - Sakura521

time travel, fix-it, harry heir of house black, slow burn, good malfoy family | M | 166k WIP, 1 more chapter

The Lost Heir - RiddleMeThis1926

BAMF Harry, Touch Him and Die Harry, Harry Heir to House Black, Marriage Contracts, Sirius Raised Harry | E | 170k

Always Already - aibidil

time travel, post-hogwarts, department of mysteries, drarry go back to marauders era | E | 171k

Temptation on the Warfront - alizarincrims0n

horcrux hunting, romance, angst and humour, deathly hallows au, pov switching, love/hate, slow burn | E | 180k

The Dragon’s Treasure - FanonStar

Romance, Slow Build, Legilimency, Accidental Bonding | M | 187k

Malfoy Flavor - Vorabiza (Biza)

romance, humour, drama, au, graphic sex | E | 200k

 Eclipse - Mijan

6th year, canon divergence, dark magic, slow build, adventure | T | 287k

Turn - Saras_Girl

IDK sorry | E | 300k

Twist of Fate - Oakstone730

memory loss, secret relationships, beating the imperius curse, 4th year | T | 302k

It Was All Just a Game (Rewrite) - write_me227

enemies to lovers, fake relationship, PTSD, slow burn, first time, canon re-write, 4th year, smut, fluff and angst | M | 616k

Lily's Boy - SomewheresSword

powerful harry, manipulative dumbledore, not friendly to molly/ron/hermione, canon divergence, harry gets love he deserves | E | 746k

[ao3feed-zukka]

Arrangements

Read now on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/5PIYvVH by emmaseverin I felt like the world needed yet another pic based on this lovely tumblr prompt: https://ift.tt/7clagui ”Dad’s marrying you off to some water tribe peasant.” Zuko’s head jerks up to see Azula at his doorstep, leaning against the doorframe while inspecting her nails in an obvious attempt to come off as unbothered. Or maybe she genuinely doesn’t care. Zuko can rarely tell. He puts down his book and sits up on his bed, giving his sister his full attention, knowing very well that she won’t leave until she’s done taunting him. ”What do you mean?” he says, not really registering the words that have come out of Azula’s mouth until now. Azula is always taunting him about something. Usually it’s inconsequential, her dangling something over his head because she can, because she’s the favorite, because she’s perfect and Zuko’s not. ”I heard him talk about it with one of his advisors,” she says. ”Apparently emissary Liang is there negotiating the terms as we speak.” ”You’re lying,” he says, narrowing his good eye at her. Words: 3839, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Hakoda (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Kanna (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Original Female Character(s), Original Non-Binary Character, Gilak (Avatar) Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, The war ended early, Bad Parent Ozai (Avatar), Pre-Slash, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, pre-slash zukka, Established Relationship, established bakoda, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, but only a smudge, Good Parent Hakoda (Avatar), Internalized Homophobia Read it on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/5PIYvVH

[indigos-stardust]

Four Keys: Character intro, Vix (Vio link)

<Click for higher quality, thank you!!>

Redesigned: (I adjusted his weapon choice and clothing.. I forgot his hoodie, its supposed to be connected to his tunic <:< )

The next two drawings are some older designs, he doesn't use a spear anymore: Not to mention his color scheme is different.

Context: In this world elves aren't their own separate species. They're a result of two biologically different species having their own offspring. The more fantastical elements of both parents are unable of being carried onto the child so it essentially nuetralizes those features entirely. (Such as a winged species and a non winged species having a non winged child. Things like limbs and special abilities can't be carried on.) Although certain traits, such as feathers or other small traits can still be found.

Over time, through generations of elves there have sprouted different elf centered towns, often being trading hubs, on the boarders of different kingdoms. Elves born of several generations of elves are considered Thorough elves, while elves the product of species crossover are called First Generation elves.

Vix is a mysterious monster hunter, making his wealth from valuable monster parts. A materialistic and opportunist loner, he spends his days drifting from different towns and through the wilderness with the soul purpose of making that coin like the king he is. After all, with no home and no family, there's nothing he has to worry about leaving behind.

Then he runs into some idiots in the woods. A selkie folk man that looks like he's about to combust from the heat and... whatever the fluffy four-armed heeto cheeto-lookin' one was. They were just, helplessly struggling to make their way through the muddy mosquito filled swamp. Honestly, it's like they never even learned any basic survival skills. If the swamblins didn't eat them, then the bugs would first. An absolutely miserable, pathetic, and sad sight. They were probably getting so desperate by now. Not to mention the selfie man has such a luxurious looking for shawl... Perfect.

They're grateful for his service<3 And of course, he'll guide these poor sucke- souls to the nearest town! Once arrived, he's already planning on how he was going to negotiate, when they start thanking him for his "act of kindness." Weird, but its payment time.

They are broke. Vix wasted all of that time, while he could've been monster hunting, for nothing. Not a single rupee. So what does his genius mind do? He passive aggressively follows them and begrudingly lets them stay with him at the inn. He adds it to their charge though.

Apparently, these broke b--ches, are on some quest following this magical sorceress lady who's promising them safety? They also mentioned the magical lady disappearing and talked a weird amount about being on a "magical quest" ... Yeah, those guys were definitely on fairy dust. But still, if "Flicker" and "Buwe" were really going to go treasure hunting for some magical artifacts, they'd definitely run into some rarer monsters... And well, once they realize he was listening in instead of sleeping, instead of getting offending.. they ask for his service and help since he knows the monsters here so well.

The coin he makes from these guys better be worth it, because they're only burying themselves deeper into his debt by the minute. Whatever, hopefully they'd be a good investment. He was considering cutting his losses and telling this fire moth to buzz off with the wings he doesn't have but... nevermind. Flicker's pleading eyes didn't change his mind, they just reminded him of the shine of rupees, that's all. Strange cases always were riskier, but had the possibility of an even better reward.

----

Okay, so these guys can absolutely shred into monsters. Very good to know. They could probably shred into him too- Buwe's selfie form was ferocious with an even thicker hide and a fearsome jaw and claws to match. The Nari'shi could create flames by simply moving around the enemy? He didn't even know that they existed before, much less could create flames?!! The loot from the monsters though... It's... It's definitely not enough to pay for their debt from his knowledge and expertise! So, he's simply going to have to stay with them for a little bit longer!!

They rescue, or "assist a great hero in the making" as the avian put it, some chick facing off with a whole lynel. The poor thing's wing is messed up though. Honestly, the guy lost horribly, probably just some wannabe treasure hunter... "Gren" with his baby feathers and holy s--t that's a really expensive set of gear and is that a family insignia?

Oh. Oh this guy is loaded. Alright, alright, maybe he will stay with these weirdo's alot longer. He's an official member now! And as an official member that means Gren would need to share the benefits from that insignia including all the discounts and-

Okay, sure Flicker keeps acting like he has personal beef with this obvlivious air head, but honestly! M o n e y. And sure, flicker may have attempted to strangle Gren with all four of his arms but Buwe handled it! Like Buwe said, family is family! And family shares everything from blood from sibling fights and money!

Nothing could possibly go wrong, and the weird woman who apparently isn't a hallucination keeps yapping about some "ancient curse that will suck the life out of the very earth" but honestly it can't possibly be a real thing. Vix is gonna make some much money from these dolts. And his abandoned orphan sympathy card is really only gonna help.

Gren (or green) is next! Then we can get into the shenanigans and *shudders* plot

[whentherewerebicycles]

Hi! I'm sending this with the full understanding that it's an incredibly intrusive question, so PLEASE don't hesitate to delete / ignore. My wife and I are planning to start trying to conceive....soon. Like in the next few months probably? And I'm trying to grapple with the complexities of using a sperm donor and having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Would genuinely love to benefit from any insight or reflection that you're willing to share~~

congrats to you guys!! wishing you all the best on the ~ttc journey~ (as the forums call it lol). I thought that choosing the donor would feel like a big deal or would be really challenging but I was surprised by how much I didn’t feel stressed or concerned about it when I was actually choosing. my one non-negotiable criteria was I wanted an open ID donor so that my kid has the option of contacting him when he turns 18 — he doesn’t have to, of course, but I thought it would be good for him to be able to make that choice if he wanted to. other than that I really just picked based on vibes. I just liked my donor’s responses and thought he seemed like a smart, interesting person, and i wanted to be able to tell my kid I picked him because I liked XYZ things about him. but it ultimately didn’t matter THAT much to me bc I’m not going to be the one who contacts him later and we probably won’t ever have any kind of relationship to each other, yknow? I’m grateful to my donor for helping me achieve my dream of becoming a parent and I do have moments where i feel a little sad for him, because he helped make this perfect little baby and he doesn’t even know this beautiful kid is out there! maybe he’ll never know if owen doesn’t want to contact him! but that’s ok, that’s what we all signed on for, and I’m glad that people become donors so that this kind of assisted reproduction is possible.

[spacemonkeysalsa]

BG4 brainstorm

I know they've already got a bunch of it written and outlined or whatever, but I can't turn my brain off, so I'm just going to talk exclusively about the way in which I'd like to see BG3 characters and events incorporated into BG4, if they are even going to do that-

First off there's-

The Stuff That Doesn't Need To Come Up In The Narrative Right Away But Let's Establish The Underlying Assumptions Shall We?:

The white dragon born dark urge managing to overcome Bhaal and defeat the elderbrain, in the end, but with a somewhat uneven series of good and bad choices at their back.

Minthara is probably dead, though I’d love it if she was still around and you absolutely can get away with that, narratively, thanks to the patches.

On the other side, Halsin, Dame Aylin and Isobel are probably alive.

Astarion and Gale are both alive and may or may not be the god/godlike versions of themselves.

Karlach and Wyll are alive and still in Avernus together (unless the DLC drops and we have Blade of Avernus/Fixing Karlach's engine adventures between the games) not explicitly as a couple though, I'd leave that ambiguous.

Lae’zel and Shadowheart are in love (this is both the most specific my post-headcanon gets, and entirely non-negotiable) but spend a lot of time apart because of respective responsibilities. Lae’zel can be a diplomat or a freedom fighter, but Shadowheart is a Selunite living with her parents on a farm and overcoming her fear of wolves by also raising some wolves alongside her adopted Githyanki son.

What Larian did with legacy characters from the earlier game was smart, in that they didn’t overuse them or reveal too many details about what they’d been doing in the interim, so like, we’ll keep it basic, leave a lot up to the imagination, but the writing around their appearances and roles in the story would match the above info.

Starting with origin characters, I think there’s potential to include familiar faces.

First Familiar Face - Githyanki egg all grown up. He shouldn’t be called Ptaris, because this is kind of assuming that the path where he ends up with that name doesn’t happen. For now, I’m just going to call him Egg, as I can sort of imagine Lae’zel using it as a slightly mocking but ultimately affectionate nickname, and miss “I picked my own name” maybe sort of leaving it up to him.

Egg - as I would write him, would have spent some time on the astral plane, like one of his moms and so his age is kind of a ??? because time is different there, and Egg would have also spent some time living with one of his moms on the farm. There’s sort of an obvious characterization available here. Where does he belong? Who are his people, really? You could write him confused and conflicted, or you could take the route I like and say that he was raised by the two most perfect people to help him understand that. He has his half-elf mother’s compounding knowledge of temperance between seemingly conflicted forces, and disparate elements, and his githyanki mother made sure he grew up confident and sure of himself and proud of his incredibly unique heritage. Also, these two states of mind aren’t totally mutually exclusive, cognitive dissonance is a major part of life, and an appropriate coming of age theme. I already love Egg. In keeping with the idea of temperance, I’d put him firmly in the true neutral category.

Second Familiar Face - Mol. Like. Just give me more Mol. What a great character, I’m so stoked imagining her grown up. I would write her as our team warlock, even if Raphael has been eaten by Mephistopheles. She can still do eldritch blast and the works ever since her pact with him. She’s pretty concerned that the implications of this are that Meph is her true fount now, and she wonders if he knows, or if there’s some small bit of his power he’s not aware is being lent out to her, and what he’ll do if he ever learns of her existence. She keeps these worries close to the chest though, instead projecting nonchalance that comes off as careless and callous during the earlier parts of the story, before she opens up. Probably neutral evil.

Third Familiar Face - Arabella. I’d make her so, so weird. Her magic is druidic, so she’s probably our druid, but you could easily get away with sorcerer or a secret third thing and I wouldn’t be mad. As a fully grown woman she speaks with the annoying esoteric air of a dryad and personifies inanimate objects, and is constantly carrying on conversations with animals when left to her own devices. She and Mol do not get along anymore, though they still care a lot about each other and there should be some cuteness about their history and childhood as buddies and little lost refugees together. Chaotic good.

I think you could get away with including all three in the main party, even early game, but I wouldn’t do more than that. New original characters are potentially more important and I would have the plot and the bones of the game be more closely tied to these totally new faces rather than relying on sequel energy. Even if all three games exist in the same universe and share themes, elements, and some characters, they don’t really feel like direct sequels and I think that’s a good thing. The only reason I think you can get away with using these three kids from the third game like this is because as adults, they’ll be completely different people, to the point that the story would have to reintroduce them anyway. The fact that they have any connections to the events of the past games doesn’t even really need to be explored beyond the kind of high-level backstory stuff that affected everyone in the world:

Arabella: “Remember when Baldur’s Gate almost got destroyed by an Elder Brain?”

Mol: “Yeah, that was wild.”

Egg: “No, I was there, but I hadn’t hatched yet.”

Mol: “HOW OLD ARE YOU?”

Egg: “Ugh, it’s complicated.”

I would probably continue with the often fun but at times vaguely serious “kill all the gods and masters” themes from previous games, and use this as a way to get everyone into hell for a portion of the game to go toe-to-toe with some archdevils, and also as an excuse to get Karlach and Wyll in the game (it's hard for me to get too much into this idea tbh, because I'm still hopeful that they'll be lvl13-20 dlc that involves Avernus, in which case, all of this is resolved and idk where to go from here with those two as I'm sure it would be affected a lot by how all that theoretical dlc content turns out, and I'm like so invested in going to Avernus with Wyll and Karlach).

And, Legacy character time!

Lae’zel I think could be our Jaheira analog, meaning she’s a previous origin character who I think could join the main team and be a party member for a chunk of the game without breaking anything. I would keep it until later though, but make it about as simple as recruiting Jaheira, in that it feels almost compulsory if you just follow a common path and progress the game.

Shadowheart would work nicely as our Minsc analog, in that she could be introduced as a very late game party character, essentially starting off as a lvl 12 cleric of light, as Selune intended, and I would make her recruitment more complicated and involve a side-quest. A rough idea for that side-quest would be trying to successfully get a message to Selunite allies, asking for aid. If you manage to meet the requirements and your messenger isn’t killed—and I think it would be fun if there was some randomness to it, like maybe a background constitution check that just mysteriously triggers when you cross into a certain area, and if it passes, it means your messenger (wherever they are) safely made it, and if it fails, they didn’t. So, I would let Shadowheart have a big damn hero moment and ride into a battle (on the back of one her wolves, why not) and join in the fight as an unexpected ally. From a play testing point of view, it would be especially fun to set up a certain fight so that waves of enemies arrive, and there’s a point where most people get overwhelmed and that’s when she shows up. But, for extra complication, if you don’t have Lae’zel or Egg with you at the time, she shows up for the one battle, saves your ass, then fights you if you’re responsible for either of their deaths, and if they are in your party, then you have to pass the roll, and play the whole thing for family drama.

Gale and Astarion, if you wanted to go with their bad endings, then Gale becoming and god and Astarion ascending would be the canon and there’s a lot to work with. Or, if you wanted to go with the good ending, then Gale is professor Dekarios and Astarion would either be an adventurer or leading the spawn in the Underdark. Professor Dekarios could easily just be a helpful mentor-type. His participation in shenanigans can be limited to a side quest or two, an Elminster/Volo like series of cameos etc. He’s a good adventurer when he has to be, but it’s not really where his heart is and we always knew that. He’s a wizard in his tower/in the classroom, but sure, he’ll lend a helping hand as he still remembers how valuable a service that can be. As a silly goose, I’m tempted to write a Volo/Elminster/Gale scene that involves all three of them very wine drunk and arguing about something absolutely no one else could hope to understand.

God Gale I can’t resist making him one of the baddies. It’s sad, but it feels appropriate. If he’s now the god of ambition then he failed to learn a pretty fundamental lesson during the course of BG3, and Tav/Durge who didn’t help him out with that failed and should feel bad. Offense absolutely intended. The logical conclusion is that Gale has become exactly the sort of god that once threatened and made his life miserable, especially since his antagonism towards Mystra with this ending seems to just be couched in pure unexamined hurt, and pettiness rather than a real understand that even as one of the “good gods” she wronged him, and she was wrong from the beginning and that there might just be something inherently bad about having and wielding this kind of power, at all.

He doesn’t get that, but it’s a bit due to wilful ignorance, I think, so I’d continue that and I wouldn’t make Gale knowingly the big bad. it just doesn't fit his character. You have a mortal avatar/chosen, some very ambitious enemy who Gale is helping, without a clear understanding of exactly what kind of schemes he’s backing. He’s too removed to really understand that he fucked up, and by the time he figures it out, it’s too late. Necessarily, his presence like this would be minimal, maybe we don’t even know for sure that he’s involved in any capacity until quite late, and even then, I’d make getting an actual appearance from the guy, pretty hard fought.

Astarion would be our other antagonist, and I think you can get away with going in any of the three different routes with him (Ascended, Spawn Adventurer, Spawn Dad) and make him an antagonist regardless. It would more be a matter of setting, do you want a quest in a big gothic castle or at a fancy party? A totally new location where he can turn up unexpectedly? The underdark? Setting might be the deciding factor, but his behavior and his role in the story could more or less follow the same pattern because the degrees of difference in his personality as ascendant/spawn are workable. That’s the thing about being a neutral evil aligned character—it’s maybe the broadest category as far as D&D character rep goes. He can get away with doing basically anything and still remain in that alignment because it takes an extreme act of unhinged evil to shift his alignment towards chaos, and anything good he does can still be dismissed as a cheap “pet the dog” moment by everyone who is unwilling to admit that he might have some capacity for redemption in him.

I would not make him a big bad antagonist though, because why would he ever bother, what’s actually in it for him? And I would want to create a route where he can join your side, but I wouldn’t have him join the camp/party in a permanent sense, at most you could do a Dame Aylin thing and keep him around and available for additional dialogue, a later quest or two.

In any case, even at his most antagonistic, Astarion isn’t truly ambitious. In BG3 he’ll ascend if he gets the chance, he'll try and run the city as long as the network is all in place already and it's not too much work, but he was never going to go out of his way to set all that up and he’ll settle. You could easily tie his story together with God Gale, if you wanted. “Ambition gets you stabbed to death by your spawn—of course none of this shit was my idea! I didn’t have a choice!” He was always quite good at delivering overdramatic ( but more often than people want to admit, totally valid) justifications for his behaviour, so I’d use that again, to utilize him to his maximum anti-hero/anti-villain potential.

He’d make a great red herring villain in the story, like let everything—including his old allies—think that he’s some mastermind (and let bg3 fans freak out a little that they've characterized him wrong), or that he’s more involved and more willing than he actually is. Then story beats slowly reveal that he’s a smaller level antagonist, pressed into the service of the bigger bad by circumstances/fear/whatever. It brings back bad memories. He’s pissed about it actually, doesn’t want to be doing any of this, has maybe been planning his own escape/betrayal for a while now. The player can ignore all that and just kill him here, or they can help him and see where things go if you give him a chance to ally with you against your common enemy. Fans can then continue their very stupid argument about whether he’s a hero or a villain, and we know that arguing is what truly makes them happy, so everyone wins.

A possible later quest could tie with Mol, if Astarion is the vampire ascendant, because in that scenario they are both in a weird ambiguous state where Mephistopheles is maybe their master or maybe not? D&D lore arguments continue?

Doing all of this would obviously be a lot, but I'd be thrilled if some version of any one of these ideas appeared in bg4. Assuming, I ever stop playing bg3 long enough to get trully invested in bg4 eventual existence.

[nought-shall-go-ill]

NOUGHT NOUGHT NOUGHT HI!!!!! <33333 So good to see you again, friend! For the ask game:

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

✍️ What’s your ideal writing setup?

@kay-elle-cee!! So good to see you too! And, oh, aren't they just the most exciting questions.

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

Oohhhh! This is such a spicy question! I have a fair few that I think could be considered quite wild, but the problem with my headcanons is that I'm a bit of a fair-weather friend to them. Sometimes they are non-negotiable headcanons that the characters must adhere to, and other times they're just "eh, wouldn't that be interesting; not gonna marry it or anything though." Anyway, to actually answer your question it would be that James' parents were actually rather ignorant and borderline prejudice to muggleborns. In fact, one of my fav fic ideas, that I will absolutely come back to one day, is this one-shot where Euphemia is a champion for Muggleborn Rights, but then is actually really snooty and prejudice when James starts seeing Lily. Fleamont is less snooty but even more ignorant, in more of an Arthur Weasley sort of way. They aren't Death Eaters or anything nor would they ever say the 'M Word', but their ignorance shows in their everyday prejudice. Why am I so stuck on this head canon? Well, because I think it is unfortunately more adherent to what real life is like. I also think it allows a lot more growth for the Wizarding World. In my fic, the Potters would learn a lot from Lily. They aren't these super hip people who know everything about Muggles and Muggleborns, and they're never perfect, but they overcome their prejudices and become better people. To me, that's a far more interesting story than people who have never thought an ignorant thought once in their lives. On the other end of spicy, a friend of mine brought me around to the idea that Snape and Petunia once had hate sex and I find myself mildly obsessed with the implications of that. ✍️ What’s your ideal writing setup?

Ooh! Ok, so in a totally fictionally scenario it would be a sunny day without a cloud in the sky. I would have views of either the beach or a fun and interesting landmark. There would be unlimited Coca Cola with butter croissants and fresh sushi appearing out of thin air as and when I need them. The drinks would, of course, have lots of tiny ice cubes in them. Occasionally, I may have a FAB lolly. The room is not too hot nor too cold, and I have a fairly large desk and swivel chair that has good back support and occasionally massages me. The fairly large desk has upon it my MacBook Air, a tablet with a pencil and a keyboard, two notepads (one for writing; one for brainstorming) and a ball point pen. To splash out, I may have a second differently coloured ball point pen. The room has people in it and they are just going about doing their own thing, but they aren't too loud and they aren't close enough to see what I'm writing, yet crucially they will judge me if I procrastinate outside of the allocated procrastinating slots. I must attend this fictional place from 10am-2pm every weekday (unless I get the call to adventure in which case that absolutely comes first) and I would somehow get paid for this service. In reality, I would say a busy cafe or office with lots of natural light, a decent amount of room (so I can comfortably write and type) my MacBook, still two notebooks and a single ball point pen, and my earphones playing brown noise so I can drown out anybody who is too loud. I don't really need dual screen or anything like that and have happily written out fics in 100 yen notebooks in the past.

[stainedglassandpigs]

Working on some stuff about the timeline for my Dc Universe and how it maps out, I want to get all my favs in it. This is semi based on my knowledge of the dc universe and shit that makes me happy so pls walk with me here with some of this

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This all takes place in Modern times 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Clark Kent went to metropolis university for journalism on a football scholarship, doesn’t play every game but is a valuable player who brings a southern charm to the city, flashing a corn bread feed smile that has the stadiums cheering load when he does make an appearance on the field. Was more notable in his university’s student paper than on the field, bringing a sense of warmth and community to sports section that many non-sports fans once neglected, not to mention his foodie column were he galavants about the city trying new local ma and pop shops giving beautiful pieces on the history of his meals and small looks into the lives and culture that made the dish. Unfortunately for his every building fans the young bull does not have any public forms of social media, a very not chronological online individual

Lex Luther notorious son of the Luthor Corp Conglomerate who took leave form the socialite scene for a few years seemingly making a return to the city, paparazzi have spotted him at all his old local hang outs,but what’s really caught the eye and attention of the people of Metropolis is his recent knew found vigor for the sciences. The young Luther being seen brushing up with top geneticist and rumors in the streets say leading cloning biologists as well, perhaps Luthor corp is switching from their roots of Tec and into Bio only time will tell. On another more trivial note the seemingly reformed party boy has been seen in the stands of Metropolis University football stadium, perhaps a new love interest has entered the young billionaires life. Very chronically online and constantly trending for arguing with people over subjects he’s stupidly well versed in but no one cares because he’s so annoying about it they just wanna tell piss him off. The #cancellexluthor is a mainstay for the twitter trending page.

Diana prince does not have an alter ego she does not feel the need, and it’s very hard to hide her supernatural origins as a 6’8 woman with glorious gleaming muscles and an accent for a language that has not been spoken in the human world for centuries. Although the international people’s princess does not need a job she does enjoy working at a Smithsonian negotiating the return of stolen artifacts from around the world to their proper homeland, meeting a certain Barbara Minerva who causes the demigod to giggle a little to hard at jokes the other archaeologist and anthropologist don’t seem to find as funny. The world knows her as Wonder Woman powerful heroine and Ambassador to the mysterious Themyscria were her triplet sister rules (people think it’s a cultural thing when Queen Nubia call Diana sister, little do they know she’s being deadass).

(unfortunately I am a Percy Jackson kid so I fear I do like the Zeus Daughter route I beg forgiveness my sisters I know, I have seen Hades as a lovely replacement, and the streets say it’s lazy and over done and takes away for the female centric story that is Diana so perhaps Athena or Aphrodite would make a good replacement to Zeus, but I fear I am not letting go of the daughter of goddess (god) bit

Bruce Wayne has recently returned to Gotham city a decade after the tragic passing of his parents the young heir has reportedly been running His family business since being able to legal inherit it at 16. The young man seems to be making a name for himself in manny different areas of the city, some say he’s a jerk, some says he’s the sweetest thing since apple pie the verdict is still out for the young heir. The paparazzi having great difficulty capturing the young man one minute they have the perfect shot of him walking out of the Synagogue his family once attended together the next he’s vanished and being reported seen going into a high brow event with the next top model on his arm. They say he will be an attendees for this years met gala the public’s has begun buzzing with excitement. In an unrelated note crime in the city of Gotham has had an unusual new bump in the night, no one knows what to think of this new string of beaten up blue mobsters found laying every which way in the streets.

[skywalking-through-life]

WIP TITLE GAME

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I was tagged by both @ashilrak and @60sec400, which is honestly fantastic, because I love this idea! My wip folder is deeply hilarious and probably incomprehensible to anyone other than me, so enjoy! I have titles, but also describe scenarios, and use lines I've written that I like as fic placeholders. There is no order to this, it's just how it appears in the folder! Italics indicate what I'm currently actively working on! Feel free to ask questions, lmao!

Post-HoO Truth or Dare beach party

'Percy Jackson's Six Steps to Seducing Your Girlfriend'

Post-HoO summer Chariot race

Titan War Memorial service + bonfire - explore grief ritual?

'[conduct] not unbecoming men who [strive] with gods'

Percabeth wedding

'still half-perfect' - working title for dark as shit wip, feat. percabeth fuck or die

'The Firefighter of the Month Club'

Poseidon and Ms. Lafayette parent- teacher conference

Percy graduates high school!!!!!!!!!!

'a name adds context, not truth'

Percabeth strip poker, Annabeth cheats

'kindness justifies itself'

Percy&Poseidon&Paul, wedding day shaving/ritual

Annabeth&Rachel&Piper&Hazel&Sally&Clarisse&etc, wedding day bath/getting ready ritual

Percabeth first time, in Percy's dorm

'like two birds on a power line'

'I drown in you' - kinky percabeth hotel sequel to 'to burn and to boil'

Percy teaches Estelle how to swim

Demigods talk to Estelle about death

Percy talks to Estelle about differences between mortals and demigods

Percy/Annabeth/Apollo negotiations? Just sex friends or more - have to decide

Percy/Annabeth/Aphrodite negotiations? Just sex friends or more - have to decide

Fed kidnapping fic - dark, long, big angst, outline currently: 20k

Jackson-Blofis Family winter cabin trip multichap

Whale pregnancy wip lololol

Percy&Calypso missing moment conversation in TOA; follow up, Percy's missing moment conversation with Chiron - 2 shot?

College Percy, Annabeth, Frank, and Piper 'rent' a sailboat for the day and go exploring, there are shenanigans, Hazel has to send the Roman navy after them

"Oh, bite me.  Why should I have to choose between being a lover or a fighter?"

"I'm not sure of much, but I know my body can take a pretty good beating and then just get up and keep on going. There's always been something comforting about knowing that. It keeps me moving."

"If actual hell couldn't separate us, then what makes you think that you can?"

"Face it, dude. You have the eyes of a lovable aquatic mammal."

"I've seen what you like as a corpse, "Annabeth. Did you really think I wouldn't recognize you when you look like a queen?"

"You are alive. Let me celebrate that, won't you?"

"You are only a man, but one who could have been a god. I'm sure that weighs."

"Wisdom's daughter, afraid of new knowledge?"

"And so he acted, out of that place of peace and clarity and resolve within him that one might call a conscience."

"One of the best things about Percy Jackson was that he rarely said something he didn't mean. It was also one of the worst things about him."

"A soul like his is more alive than most."

Lolololololol. I hope you enjoyed this? I'm going to tag as many people as I can, but I don't know if I have enough, given the number of wips I have! Tagging everyone who pops into my brain: @tater-tots-last-of-the-romanovs @timemachinechaos @timelesslords @finalgirlmoment @judoflipped @imaginmatrix @mrthology @celestialepiphany @phykios @darkmagyk @no2ticonderoga @ashilrak @moonlacess @moonfrost41 @templarhalo @soleil-in-retrograde @campercabeth @percabeth4life @sappho-of-space @perseannabeth @ananbeth @annabethy @punkflame @zambomarti @hellomomo @duender-writes @melancholic-pigeon @captain-jackson @posallys @faemischief

[clivemwilliams]

Tobago 2024

Tuesday 23rd – Wednesday 24th May

Well here we are again – enjoying a great holiday and continuing to spend the children’s inheritance – not that they seem to mind ! Do a blog they say – but make it funny but not too long ! No pressure then. Arrived here yesterday after 10 hour flight, including a 1 hour stop over in St. Lucia. Used British Airways who were very good. Flight was preceded by a search of the airport shops for a cheapish pair of sunglasses following the annoying failure to find my fairly new expensive ones which have now been officially declared lost ! After successfully negotiating our way through a succession of passport and security checks we were met by our driver Angelo who drove us the 40 mins to our Nature Retreat/Eco Lodge - he said it would take 15 mins ! Soon realised Tobago time is very similar to Devon time !

The lodge is our base for the next 3 days and is basically in the middle of nowhere – surrounded by a rainforest with a huge variety of bird life most of which seemed to be up having a party last night as the squeaking and screeching at times sounded like someone had actually been murdered !

It turns out we are the only 2 guests staying here which is quite nice but also a bit weird - we have the pool and all the grounds to ourselves and effectively the chef is just cooking for us.

This morning we went on a 3 hour nature trail accompanied by a really good local guide who really knew his stuff – although he was very impressed with Judith’s bird knowledge !

I enjoyed taking photos of the birds – some of which were good – most I deleted, whilst Judith enjoyed what was effectively a private birding tour of the forest.

Outside our bedroom window is a row of bird feeders for humming birds which is very entertaining and provided me with some great photo opportunities – not all of which were taken ! – they dart around so quickly it’s not that easy getting the perfect shot.

Oddly, and this freeked Judith out to start with, the bedrooms are not locked and there is no key !

I’ve included some of the bird photos below – as basically that’s all we’ve done apart from spend the afternoon by the pool in the 31c heat.

Need to mention that the food being served is really good although, unfortunately so far it’s been mainly fish – there is no choice - it’s basically ‘eat it or leave it’ ! Doesn’t bother me as I love fish but unfortunately Judith won’t even eat anything that’s been anywhere near a fish so that just leaves the salad – oh yes but Judith will not eat anything green so that just leaves the tomatoes ! I blame her parents !

Tomorrow we’re off on a morning tour of the wetlands – should be good – no doubt more birds to photograph !

Sorry if you don’t like birds – the next 10 days will be a lot about birds but I’ll try and include non bird related stuff wherever I can.

[wild-houseplant]

Have Warden, Will Travel- Chapter 24

Back on my long-winded bullshit again, folks. And STILL they’re not kissing. Well, no, that’s not entirely true. Rhodri kisses Zevran. You’ll see what I mean when you read further. AO3 here, and the rest is under the cut! CW for ableism, it's painful if you're autistic (and no doubt other NDs) so heads up.

Hope you bunch are having a happy weekend!! Please drink your fluids!!!

§

“… Rhod?” Alistair said her name with the cautiousness of someone waking a bear. “There’s… something wedding-related I’m curious about now.”

Rhodri smiled, her eyes gleaming. “Oh-h-h,” her hands– momentarily, before she caught herself doing it– drummed against her thighs. “Have you and Leliana changed your mind about marrying? I know we only left the topic a few moments ago, but it’s never too soon to–”

“No, no,” he waved his hands like he was trying to flag a ship down, and Leliana got a worried look again. “Not us, not us!”

“Ah.” She deflated, if only slightly. “Ah, well. I suppose there need not be a wedding to have cake, sic?”

“Erm… yeah, definitely.” He blinked. “Anyway, that thing you said about marrying someone you don’t like…”

“Mm? It’s perfectly true,” Rhodri said with a nod. “Affairs can only be so distracting, see? At some point or another, you need to see your spouse.”

“... Right. So Tevinters are, erm… expected to marry someone they don’t love, or even like?”

Rhodri shrugged. “It happens often enough.”

“Will you have to?”

Zevran decided, before the panic could decide for him, that he was listening as intently as he usually did to group conversations. If he was paying closer attention now, it was quite simply because he was paying attention to the fact that he was paying attention, which increased the rate of attention paid exponentially. It was inevitable.

Besides, if she ended up in a marriage to some contemptuous oaf, who was to say she couldn’t have her affair with Zevran? Plenty of rich Tevinters had their way with handsome elves– behind closed doors, of course. And Zevran was a man who dwelled in the shadows. It was the perfect set-up. He would have to bring up the idea with Rhodri later.

Rhodri hummed thoughtfully. “I must marry, and fairly soon. That’s non-negotiable if I want to be the heir, which I do. I'm happy enough to do it. But Tata has always said I can marry anyone I like, so long as it isn’t a woman.” She wobbled her head a little. “I never bothered looking, though, so I’ll probably have him find me someone once I go back to Tevinter.”

Alistair’s eyes (and Leliana’s now, too) were like dinner plates. “You… really don’t mind if he puts you with someone you’re not in love with?”

“It’s not so unthinkable in Tevinter. The point of marriage for us is to merge two households, create new family connections, make children. Dozens of people are affected by it, so whether two people are romantically tied…” she shrugged. “It’s not so relevant. No strong family is built on throbbing hearts. The one with similar values, who will work with you and not against you, that is the spouse who will bring you through life in one piece.”

He blinked. “I… well, I s’pose it’s good to be with someone like-minded, but forever’s a long time to be stuck with someone you don’t feel anything for.” Alistair shook his head. “It just sounds like Tevinter parents don’t give a damn how you feel, so long as the marriage suits everyone else.”

Rhodri raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say that, did I? Most parents look for someone they know we’ll  get along with, and we’re usually listened to if we veto their choice. Some parents choose the most politically advantageous person, certainly, but I think most are very considerate when matchmaking.” She chuckled, “Do Fereldan parents let you marry someone who is patently bad for you and your household, just because you’re in love with them?”

“Well– well it’s their choice, isn’t it?” Alistair blustered. “And what if it turns out they’re wrong, and you’re a perfect match?”

Rhodri shrugged. “What if it turns out your mother and father chose a good partner for you, despite your initial misgivings? No system is perfect, I don’t think. Many Tevinters are in strong but romanceless marriages and pursue affairs to plug the gap. Many Fereldans go to pieces four years into the marriage because the passion has faded and the true incompatibility can no longer be ignored. Which sounds worse to you?”

“Both sound pretty awful to me, to be honest,” Alistair winced a little. “I hope I don’t end up in either one.”

Rhodri gave a good-natured laugh. “Let’s hope you marry someone perfect for you, then. For me, I’ll be extremely pleased if my husband and I are friendly and we raise plenty of happy children together.” She rubbed her hands together and grinned, adding, “Ideally in the not-too-distant future!”

“Maker’s breath…” Alistair shook his head.

She laughed again. “Definitely don’t do it our way, amicus, if that’s how you feel, but most of us are satisfied. Stick with your romance, sic?”

Alistair sighed. “You know what, I think I’d better…”

Zevran couldn’t help but ponder the curious fact that, going by Rhodri's standards, he was a suitable marriage candidate. Her father’s sole criterion was no women, and Zevran was a man– and that seemed unlikely to change. He and Rhodri got along well, the two of them, and there were certainly worse ways to spend life than rearing a cheerful brood of children in good company. After all, life did not begin and end with oneself, and it would be quite the shame not to pass good looks and charm of his level on to the next generation. Who would be able to resist a fat little infant– or a league of them, even, with a winning smile and bright grey eyes? No-one, that’s who.

In all, it was arguable that if Rhodri hadn’t accidentally omitted other requirements issued by herself or her father– no elves, no assassins (even if not actively trying to murder her in particular), no Crows, no people with no notable families… well, it meant they two could– in theory, of course– make a good fist of it together.

And that was really all there was to the thought. There was no need for panic to creep back in and accuse him of feeding some sort of hope that only led to danger for all concerned. His had been a perfectly sensible notion, and really , it was well to have considered it. Indeed, what might have occurred if Rhodri happened upon the idea herself later and brought it up? Had he not mulled it over himself, he would have been caught by surprise, and what then?

No, it was perfectly reasonable. A sensible marriage, unlikely as it was to occur. Were it to happen, though, Zevran would prove himself a capable father, and whatever needs Rhodri might have in the capacity of a spouse would no doubt be easily met. And marriage would bring the benefit of permanently securing a lifetime away from the Crows!

Which she has already guaranteed, without wanting marriage or children from you.

Zevran’s fingertips went cold. Even if that were the case, idly pondering the concept of being legally bound and with offspring wasn’t so dangerous, surely. Not when there wasn’t any emotional attachment required– Rhodri explicitly said there wasn’t. Any fool could see this was purely practical.

But why had he even entertained the thought?

He could have laughed as the answer hit him– he nearly did, in fact. It was so very obvious: why did anyone think of those sorts of things? Sex, of course. Encouraged in marriage, and a necessary step in procreation. A natural, healthy impulse if ever there was one, and after Maker-knew-how-many months without so much as a wet dream, it was no doubt a sign that that part of him was ready to be brought out of dormancy. Emotional attachment indeed! Why would there be any risk of that when Zevran was obviously incapable of it anyway?

He sighed with relief. All that fluster for nothing. This was why it was well not to lose one's head and read too much into flitting fancies, when it all invariably came back to the simple and the obvious.

Zevran smiled to himself and pondered the going rates in Denerim brothels.

§

There was something terribly, deeply filthy about forests. Perhaps it was the fact that the only thing separating the foot from a layer of dirt going all the way down to the core of the planet was grass. Hair scarcely separated skin from whatever was touching it; why would grass be any better?

The answer, of course, was that it wasn’t any better, and that dirt in all its states– dust, silt, mud– would plague Zevran and his gear for the rest of his days. 

And it wasn’t as though Zevran was a snob. No, indeed, he had eked out an existence in some of the most squalid slums imaginable, but he took permanent solace in the fact that once the mould and bodily byproducts and other mysterious filth had been scrubbed away, the walls and floors beneath were perfectly sanitary. And they kept the worst of the elements away. The outdoors didn’t have a leg to stand on in that regard.

“I do not suppose there is any way we could tempt the Dalish to come to us, is there?” he croaked miserably as he took in the endless, uninterrupted stretch of trees ahead. “Surely they would benefit from a brief stay on the outskirts of a town. I am beginning to forget what buildings look like.”

“Zevran,” Rhodri said gently, raising an eyebrow at him, “we passed a hamlet shortly after lunch, and we haven’t gone more than twenty paces from the Imperial Highway– the heavily paved Imperial Highway,” she added with a chuckle, “since leaving Denerim.”

From behind him, Alistair scoffed and Leliana giggled, and Zevran was quite sure he had heard Morrigan and Wynne rolling their eyes. He heaved a sigh and kicked a nearby rock.

“Ah,” Rhodri clucked her tongue sympathetically. “You are not enjoying the fresh air?”

“It smells like fresh dirt,” he sulked. “And my boots, they are dusty."

He glanced up in time to see Rhodri’s expression go suspiciously neutral. Glazed, even. A small vein was rapidly gaining prominence on one side of her head.

“Ah,” she said again after a moment. "The ground is too dry, is it?"

"My boots speak for themselves," he lamented, kicking one shod foot up indicatively as he walked.

"Is Antiva not dusty, Zevran?" Leliana asked through a smile he could hear. 

He sighed and turned around, walking backwards as he faced the party. "Not my Antiva City," he returned, permitting tenderness to creep into his voice. After all, there was no shame in loving one's country. 

"Perhaps out there in the Drylands there is dust," he waved a hand dismissively in the direction he guessed the Drylands to lie. "And the sun burns hot in Antiva City, to be sure, and everything dries out quickly, but it almost always storms in the afternoon. Big, heavy rains that wash away all the dirt, and so the next day starts fresh." He kissed his fingers. "You could eat your breakfast off the ground, it is so clean."

Amid the doubtful looks from the Fereldans, a nostalgic-sounding sigh issued from Rhodri and, to Zevran’s intense surprise, a hint of a smile flickered over Sten's face as well. 

“You paint a very romantic picture, mon râleur, I must say,” Leliana chuckled. “But I do not think all that water would be very welcome to the people who end up flooded with it.”

Zevran beamed. “You flatter me, dear lady. If an Orlesian calls me a complainer, then I must be very good at it.”

“Yes, you are,” Rhodri chimed in cheerfully, and he, Leliana, and Alistair snorted in unison.

“It’s true,” Alistair added, somewhat less blithely than the Warden. “You could complain for Antiva.”

“Oh, now the praise is going to my head,” Zevran cackled. “You’ll find I am nowhere near as talented as my countrymen in that regard, but I am a suitable enough representative in the South. We Northerners complain like we are getting paid to do it!”

“He isn’t joking,” Rhodri said over her shoulder when Alistair raised an eyebrow. “Tevinters, Antivans, and Orlesians are all born whiners. It’s good for the health.”

“Good for the–?”

“Oh, yes,” Leliana linked arms with Alistair and smiled up at him. “If you let your troubles bottle up in you, you’ll fall over dead at some point.”

Alistair’s eyes widened. “Is… is that true? I mean, really true, not some old wives’ tale.” 

There was a clamour as the Orlesian, the Antivan, and the Tevinter all made to vigorously impart how many people they had seen or– and the numbers were far higher here– heard of expiring from an acute lack of complaints and the complications thereof. 

Leliana declared that she had witnessed a handful of stiff-lipped Orlesian nobles die suddenly and violently as all their complaints consumed them at once, a harsh result from years of playing the Grand Game a little too well. And Zevran, well. How many times had he been given a mark who had made a point of not complaining to anyone, and then, in a moment of urgency, blurted the wrong details to the wrong person? Their deaths, after all, weren’t really caused by Zevran; he was nothing more than the last sentence in the book, when it all boiled down to it. The true result in such deaths always lay a few chapters back.

“In fact,” Rhodri announced after relaying her own anecdotal evidence, “some three years ago, my mother told me that there was research from the University of Orlais, warning of the dangers of not complaining enough!”

“Mmm!” Leliana nodded vehemently. “I think I heard about that from a friend. An especially big problem long-term, is it not?”

Rhodri nodded gravely. “It is. The constant discomfort imbalances the four humours, you see Alistair, and then over time places a great strain on the organs. Then one day,” she snapped her fingers, “something gives out, and that’s the end of you.”

Zevran clenched a hand victoriously. “HA! I knew it!” he cried. “I said it to Taliesen often enough! ‘Mark my words,’ I would say to him, ‘scholars will find it is bad for the humours!’ Too much of the biles. He called me a fool, but who is the fool now, I ask you? Who?”

“Not you!” Rhodri said in a near-shout, grinning at him like the victory had been her own. Leliana and Alistair started to laugh, and everyone else rolled their eyes. Zevran’s chest swelled until it was fit to burst.

He swivelled on his heel to face the front again, his long-forgotten dusty boots all the way down on the ground while his head was up and up and up, past the treetops and clipping through the clouds. His laughter rang like bells and his voice came from his chest, “Not me!”  

Oh yes, him. Yes him, coming back to them again and again with his hands out like a dog begging for scraps. It was wrong and he knew it, and there was no escaping knowing it.

Zevran breathed through the stopper in his lungs, forced the air in until there was no chance of them collapsing. His fingertips were tingling. 

Ah, but Leliana had asked him a question! Stale by now, but still unanswered. He seized it anyway.

“Ah, and about the flooding, Leliana,” he waved a hand with all the nonchalance he could muster, “we have gutters. Big ones, deep, on the side of the paths and the paths are all angled just a little, so that the rain runs straight into these gutters. You should see how many people fall in those things and break something. Oh!” He chuckled. “Just dreadful.”

The Chantry Sister took in this information with a hum, and made another when Rhodri vouched for a similar system in her own country.

“But where does it go then?” she asked after a moment. “Who gets flooded at the end of all that?”

“Oh, no-one.” Zevran smirked. “All those gutters drain into an enormous reservoir, where we bottle the water up and sell it to the Orlesians.”

Everything seemed to happen at once: Rhodri laughed so fitfully she sank to her knees; Leliana cursed Zevran; Alistair gave a surprised squeak. What the others did was beyond Zevran’s notice or care, not least when several fat, icy drops of rain plummeted into his hair. Through deep, body-wracking guffaws, and as of a few moments later thick sheets of torrential rain, the Warden directed them into the canopy for the fastest camp set-up in existence.

 §

 “You really ought to get a move on, you know, Zevran.”

Zevran looked up at Leliana over the potato he was peeling. While everyone else went about setting up camp amid the downpour, they were tasked with making the supper together, and it had to be said: Leliana wasn’t making that much more headway with the carrots she’d been dicing.

He gave her a flourished inclination of the head anyway. “Ah, forgive me! I was overcome by your radiant beauty. Shall I move and sit in the rain so I am not distracted while I work?”

She snorted. “You know perfectly well I’m not talking about potatoes.”

“Oh?” He waggled his brows, already dreading wherever this was headed. “You are being a little ambiguous, my dear. I suppose I will simply have to live my life at twice the speed to ensure you are not disappointed. Will that do?”

“Now, now,” she smirked at him. “No need to be flippant. All I’m saying is Rhodri won’t be on the market for much longer, and once she’s taken, I don’t think she’ll have much time for the affairs she speaks of.”

Zevran allowed himself a single, peevish sigh. “Are you still on about this, woman?”

Leliana chuckled. “And why not, hmm? You’re still her shadow, still blushing up to your ears when she so much as smiles in your direction. And still not saying a word to her about it!”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he diced the potato and tossed it into the water.

“Of course you don’t.” Leliana threw him a shit-eating grin and ate a piece of carrot. “I didn’t see you trip over your feet the other day to get over to Rhodri when she realised you weren’t walking beside her. Not at all.”

Zevran’s stomach threatened to escape via his bellybutton; it took two goes before he had tensed it back into place. “There was a rock in the road.”

“Mm-hmm. And I suppose there was another rock right after that when she said that it didn’t feel right without you walking next to her, no?”

“It is possible, my dear lady, to trip for more than one step,” he said brusquely, and snatched another potato from the bowl.

From his periphery, Leliana rolled her eyes. “I don’t see why you don’t just make a move. Even if she’s not interested, she’ll be flattered, and you can move on.” She winked, “Of course, the best case scenario is much more likely, and then we’ll have one each.”

Zevran raised an eyebrow. “One what?”

“Oh, Zevran,” Leliana lamented. “Keep up, darling. One Warden each! Think of it! We could compare notes, no?” She reached an elbow up and dug it into his ribs with another, much more lascivious wink.

He tsked and gave her a withering look. “Does your gentleman caller know you are encouraging ‘The Assassin’ to seduce the Warden? Amid her grief?”

“Pish tosh,” she waved a hand airily. “Obviously you aren’t about to kill her. If you were, you’d have done it already. And as for the grief, it’s been two months now. Didn’t she go to a brothel last month? Besides, if she doesn’t want to, all she need do is decline. She’d take it as a compliment, even if she weren’t interested.”

“Hah. Well, I’m glad someone is being sensible, at least.”

“Unlike you!” Leliana nudged him again. “Come on, I want to see if it’s true what they say about Grey Wardens’ endurance.”

Zevran raised an eyebrow, privately pondering if said endurance reflected the number of prostitutes Rhodri took into that little room with her. “I am surprised you think it would be prudent to talk of such things given how private our dear Warden is.”

“Hah. I know for a fact that Rhodri and Alistair talk to each other about just about anything going on between their legs.” Leliana smirked as the potato in Zevran’s hands slipped free, and he barely caught it before it landed in the mud. “Interested, are we?”

“My dear woman,” he chuckled weakly, dicing the potato as quickly as he dared, “what on earth were you doing to pick up information like that?”

“Oh, nothing sinister. Just accidental overhearings. Why do you think those two insist on going to chop firewood together, hmm?”

Zevran silently cursed Leliana and the curiosity her remarks were imbuing. “... Ah. Not to exercise brute strength for the good of the party, then.”

“That too, of course! But enough of that,” she waved a hand. “My point is that they confide in each other about these things. I don’t doubt Alistair will confide in her once we get around to that, as well. And what problem is it?”

“No problem,” Zevran shook his head quickly. “It is good to have a third party opinion about these things, I think. I am surprised to see a Fereldan doing it, but well and good.”

Leliana snorted. “And don’t I deserve someone to confide in?”

“Naturally.”

“There, see? And if you hurry up and get to business, she’ll have Alistair, and you’ll have me. Is that not a fair deal?”

“... I am astonished we are discussing this, but yes, I suppose it is.”

She clucked her tongue. “Come on. Surely the Antivan seducer isn’t a prude beneath all that salaciousness.”

He gave a wan smile. “Perhaps you have gone where even I dare not follow.”

“And where is it I’ve gone, hmm?” Leliana arched a brow at him. “Gentle encouragement to flirt with someone who’d suit you well? What a wicked, sinful place that is!”

“Hah. Never mind the other remarks, then?”

The good Sister smiled warmly. “Exactly. We need not talk about anything, if you don’t like, but my original point still stands. She’s fond of you, no? I think perhaps not quite aware how fond she is yet, but with the right kind of suggestion, I think she’ll wake up to herself.” 

Leliana winked, apparently blissfully unaware that Zevran’s life essence was haemorrhaging out of him, and added, “Take it from me, though: don’t be subtle about it, otherwise you’ll be in for a long wait– ah, here comes the firewood!”

Beaming now, Leliana rose to her feet and offered all manner of stomach-turning compliments to a sopping-wet Alistair, who grinned and reddened like a sunburnt child as he set his armful of wood on the ground. Rhodri, who was equally drenched (and Zevran was not looking at anything below her neck or even vaguely considering Leliana’s suggestion of what she and Alistair might have been discussing while chopping the firewood), deposited her own load next to his and straightened up. She and Alistair shared a look, the latter suddenly becoming far more nervous than the former. 

“Go,” she nudged him. “I’ll handle the firewood. Go on.”

Alistair’s face was purpling, but he took the instruction with a nod. “Right. Erm… Leli, are you free for a moment?”

The man making the request almost jumped as Leliana touched his forearm, and when she had declared that she was and carefully bent his arm so that her hand hung off it, Alistair took his cue and escorted her away. With his back to them, a single rose with signs of thumbing on some of the petals could be seen sticking out of his back pocket, bobbing a little with each step he took.

By the time Zevran had looked away, Rhodri was already industriously wicking the moisture out of each piece of wood, sending small clouds of moisture into the chilly night air. Not of a mind to interrupt her, or that fetching little frown of concentration she was sporting, he picked up another potato and returned to work. It wasn’t as though there was any hurry for him to do this flirtation Leliana spoke of– indeed, it wasn’t even compulsory. No, there was nothing to do for the moment but enjoy the silence and attend to the task at hand, and so he did.

Right up until Leliana’s astonished yowl tore through the camp: “SO YOU’RE THE ONE WHO PICKED MY PROPHETIC ROSE!”

A deeply-absorbed Rhodri didn’t notice the noise, even when Zevran– quite ungracefully– snorted. If Leliana’s proposal today was anything to go by, no doubt he’d have all the dramatic details before the night’s end, whether he wanted to or not.

And what sin was there in being content enough to know? Only fools wished to be unaware of the goings-on around them. Zevran could cope with the accusations of nosy fishwifery that came with being someone who knew things.

He took another potato.

 §

 In the heart of the forest, after dinner, Zevran sat by the lake with his poisons belt open and vials ready for re-filling. It was a simple enough task, but a damned fiddly one, and best carried out with close access to fresh water lest an errant drop find its way to him and require immediate washing-off.

From somewhere back and to his left, behind the enormous rock he was leaning against, Rhodri’s voice carried. He glanced over his shoulder, but upon seeing no trace of her, he returned to work.

“We need to leave this until I can get a new staff, Wynne. Our progress is minimal in the current conditions.”

“Hm,” Wynne said. “If you are inclined to use your staves as a bludgeon, Warden Amell, I think it may be well for you to adjust to spellcasting without.”

Rhodri scoffed . “There are few people so single-handedly responsible for the murder of my students and peers as the one I hit, and fewer still who would think it clever to insult my house on top of that.”

Wynne gave an unimpressed-sounding little harrumph. “And what if you don’t find another staff? The Wonders of Thedas had nothing free of lyrium. Will you simply give away the training altogether?”

“You seem not to have noticed, Madam,” she said coldly, “but since leaving the Tower, I have only cast imperfectly during our training sessions. Is it so unthinkable that when you have me vividly picture my slaughtered children while unspent mana burns me from palms to fingertips, that I falter? The pain is excruciating! How much must I be expected to suffer in the name of nominal progress?”

Zevran paused, guts roiling. Evidently, this conversation was not for his ears, but the situation put him in a difficult position. Standing up and announcing his presence now would see him accused of eavesdropping, which he certainly was not doing. He had heard things, to be sure, but keen elven hearing was hardly a moral failing.

And he couldn't gather up all his things and run away, either, not when all of his things were carefully spread out on the ground. It would take longer than a round of Wicked Grace to clear up. Perhaps he could emerge from behind the rock, stab Wynne, and thus end all possibility of the conversation continuing. He would do his utmost to look remorseful if Rhodri scolded him for the act.

Oh, now he was being ridiculous. There was nothing to do but keep an ear out for the end of the conversation while he worked, and that was precisely what Zevran resolved to do.

“How much you should suffer is for you to decide,” Wynne replied. "How keen are you to avoid a recurrence of what happened when we were fighting Uldred? That fireball could have killed someone.”

“A recurrence is highly unlikely.”

“You cannot be sure of that.”

“I can, actually. Uldred and Greagoir are gone, and if I may be a little grim here, they saw to it that I have almost no children or peers left now. Any would-be mass killer will be terribly disappointed in Kinloch Hold’s current offering.” 

“Your flippancy does you no credit, Warden. You know that isn't what I mean by a recurrence.”

Rhodri groaned irritably. “What do you mean, then, Wynne? The circumstances are different here. My party consists of proficient adults, and I’m not two weeks away if they need my help.”

“And suppose you were separated from them and they were incapacitated? Some of them killed? What then?” Zevran could practically hear Wynne standing with arms akimbo as she spoke.

Rhodri sighed. “I would give my very best efforts to protect them, as I always do.”

“Well, to be truthful, Warden Amell, I think that as it stands, your best is insufficient, and you owe it to your party members to improve where you may. How you will stop a Blight when you cannot keep your temper enough to safely cast a fireball is beyond me. You cannot even resist the urge to rock and slap your legs like a lunatic, even when it obviously disturbs others. You are far, far too self-indulgent. In fact, if I may be blunt, I find myself wondering what persuaded Irving to apprentice you at all.”

Silence fell. Zevran caught his fists clenching rather than adding the deathroot to vial number five, and relaxed them. And, because he was unable to resist, he threw a quick prayer heavenwards that the lack of noise was due to Rhodri having frozen Wynne to death, only to find his hopes dashed when the latter prompted the former with a 'Hmm?'

“If you consider yourself a better leader, Madam,” Rhodri said stiffly, “you're more than welcome to say it to the rest of the party and take it to a vote. If you're chosen, I will stand down without trouble.”

“I’m not interested in leading,” Wynne replied plainly. “I want you to put this petulance behind you and act like the leader everyone thinks you are. Control your emotions. Cast spells properly. Adapt to your circumstances. Exercise a little discipline once in a while.” The heel of a boot squeaked as it spun on the wet grass. "I think we should train in the mornings as well, ideally starting tomorrow. Good night to you, Warden Amell.”

Only one set of footfalls reached his ears, and they didn’t match Rhodri’s gait. They went around behind him, looping back toward the camp. Zevran glanced behind him and caught sight of Wynne shaking her head as she marched back toward the tents. She reached her own and, as she turned and stepped inside, caught him watching her. Perhaps he had meant her to, perhaps not, but the flash of anger searing his guts upon meeting her eyes had been entirely unplanned. They stayed like that, him staring her down and her watching back haughtily for what felt like hours. When he finally remembered to, Zevran gave her a smile that no amount of self-flagellation could force to touch his eyes. Unease crept into Wynne’s face, and it tasted sweeter than a swig of honey. She disappeared into her tent, and Zevran called it a victory.

From his right, Rhodri heaved a sigh and a thrill surged through his spine and out to his fingertips as her footfalls drew nearer. Zevran looked up as the Warden came into view around the rock and caught him sitting there with his hazardous things spread out in front of him like a Feastday arrangement.

Rhodri stopped dead. Zevran pinned on an ineffectual smile that faltered as soon as he caught the shame creeping into her own face. He rose to his feet, carefully and slowly as he could manage, but she still watched on like he was going to belt her.

Such displays were nothing new to him. There was always the odd mark who cottoned on earlier than expected, watched him for the first time with the appropriate level of fear given the circumstances they’d allowed themselves to be eased into. The difficulty, of course, was that he had always resolved their fear by making it come true– and thus expedited their journey to that next place, where such feelings were either nonexistent or, by that point, unnecessary.

Zevran racked his brains for a solution that didn’t involve murder, only to pause as Rhodri spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

“You heard all that,” she rasped.

With a wince he didn’t quite manage to stifle, he nodded once and half-wished he hadn’t as Rhodri hung her head, her eyes fixed on the ground.

What was there to say to that? An apology? A distraction by means of a filthy poem? Offering a helpful, ‘Do try not to be so ashamed of yourself?’ What, for heaven’s sake?

Nothing came to him, and when the silence grew suffocating, Zevran slipped off his gloves and reached a hand out toward her. A friendly pat to the arm, a more than suitable response, and far less intimate than other things he had ice used to put his marks at ease. Rhodri’s eyes went onto the hand as it edged closer, her body tensing, and when he caught her eye and smiled, comprehension of some sort appeared to strike. She almost stumbled over herself to take the proffered hand, her long, warm fingers (and never the thumb) slipping under his and gently guiding his hand toward her.

Zevran’s mouth nearly fell open, heat creeping into his ears as Rhodri bowed her head all the way down to where she held the back of his hand, and kissed it.

“Parce,” she said, and kissed it again. “Parce, non dignus.”

Have mercy, I am unworthy. Zevran knew of the apology from a book he’d stolen years ago, some dramatic stuff and nonsense shipped straight out of Minrathous. The book hadn’t mentioned how to reply, particularly when an apology of any sort was not called for. And certainly, he wasn’t in a fit state to speak or do much of anything beyond trying to keep himself from keeling over.

He would have to say something, though. It didn’t do to just gape and go weak-kneed at a time like this (or at any time, really.) Before he could so much as croak out an ‘ah...’  Rhodri had released his hand and was walking away, pulling the hood of her robe over her head as she went. 

The urge to follow was strong. To say something, do something– though what, precisely, Zevran couldn’t imagine. That, and the fact that his feet were rooted to the ground, held him in place, rendering him as utterly useless as ever. He conceded defeat with a sigh and sat back down.

Something would have to change. It didn’t do to have his protector consistently injured and ashamed of herself, especially unnecessarily. Kisses were best given for pleasure, not apology, and Maker knew misery had no place in peak performance.   

Perhaps Leliana had a point after all. Flirtation lightened the hearts of all sorts of people, eased their burdens and puffed up their egos a little. And Rhodri was a proud person, there was no doubt about it. Proud like a show horse. The right sort of remark could well lift her spirits like nothing else, restoring that crucial sense of self. Not to mention the ways one could reinflate that pride between the sheets if she accepted! A worthy task, and it was indisputable that Zevran, master seducer and verifiable satisfier of all and sundry, was just the man for that very job. Once a little time had passed and the harshest parts of that distress had eased, the action would really begin. 

With a pleased nod to himself, he turned back to vial number five, and to the other fourteen vials awaiting attention.

[samira-kehmet]

Samira’s Family

While Samira was raised by the Kehmet family, she considers her real family to be the one she had with her second wife.

Second Wife (FC: Amy Acker): Kore Kehmet (née Loriq) (Died at 142)

While Samira was no stranger to finding romance in the workplace (her first wife the prime example of this), Kore was an entirely different experience because she had been Samira’s patient first. Kore needed a heart valve replacement - heart disease was common in her family - and Samira had been assigned to treat her. Even though Samira tried keeping things professional, the tension between them was palpable. Still stinging from her divorce from a couple decades prior, Samira didn’t think to at all pursue it. But Kore had been the one to make the first move, as a week after her discharge she had sent a gift and a thank-you note to Samira with her contact information. Samira decided to take a chance, and doing so led her to spend a good portion of her existence with the love of her life.

Kore was patient and kind. Two qualities that made her the perfect school teacher for young Erkuss children. She also made the perfect partner for Samira, who’s work shifts didn’t make her the most present. But Kore had an understanding of how much Samira loved her work. However, there were two non-negotiable things she wanted. One, she wanted to marry Samira and two - she wanted children. The latter made Samira hesitant. As much as she loved Kore, as a Djayyar she always had in the back of her mind when she would die, and it would be long after Kore did. It was already difficult enough imaging a life without Kore, but to also have children she would out-live felt nearly impossible to handle. With some convincing, though, Samira eventually agreed because having children was such a huge dream of Kore’s.

Their marriage were the best years of Samira’s life, but as Kore became elderly, life became more difficult. Samira did everything in her power to make sure Kore was the healthiest she could possibly be, but not even she was brilliant enough to defeat aging. Kore passed away, and Samira had been in so much anguish that the only thing that kept her grounded were their daughters. It’s been three decades since Kore’s passing, and even though Samira has taken up lovers since then, none could fill the void that Kore left behind. Samira does not believe in the concept of soulmates, but if such a thing did exist, then Samira would say Kore was hers.

Oldest Daughter (FC: Oona Chaplin): Ellexa Kehmet-Y’orr (Died at 141)

Ellexa was just over a year old when Samira and Kore adopted her. Her biological parents were teenage Erkuss, incapable of raising a child on their own when they were children themselves. Samira hadn’t warmed up to Ellexa right away, mainly because she was still hesitant on adding yet another person she would eventually lose on top of Kore. Her busy work scheduled helped her maintain her distance, but Kore had caught on to what Samira was doing and they had a huge argument over it. The argument drove Samira to actually try and bond with Ellexa, and when she finally allowed herself to, she fell in love with the young infant. As Ellexa got older, she took an interest in medicine just like Samira. However, instead of a surgeon, Ellexa wanted to be an obstetrician and help bring babies into the world. She was essentially a mini-Samira in that field, making a name for herself and excelling just as her mother did. Ellexa married a Ly’Daesun woman she had met on Kor’Sel’Koo, whom she adopted two children with like her mothers before her. Samira was close to Ellexa because of their shared interests, and Ellexa’s passing was nearly the last straw in Samira taking her own life. But Ellexa, bright like her mother, had an inkling she was the last reason her mother had to live and made her promise that when she passed away, Samira would go and try to live a life outside of Kraysha. It’s only because of this that Samira is trying to keep going. Ellexa only recently passed away, so Samira is currently working on having the nursery wing in the hospital they both worked in to be named after her.

Youngest Daughter (FC: Zazie Beetz): Rae Kehmet (Died at 130)

Not much is known about Rae’s biological parents, as one day the baby was dropped off at the door of the adoption agency with no indication on who did so. Rae was a firecracker before she even learned how to walk. A very talkative baby, even though all she could muster when Samira and Kore first adopted her was “googoo gaga”. She had a flare for the dramatics, which would be perfect for her eventual career as a theater actress. While Samira was not as close to Rae as she was with Ellexa, she still loved her very much and was supportive of her pursuit of theater. While Rae was not world-famous, she became very well-known in the Rungung theater scene and was content with the attention she received from that. Rae had married and divorced a couple of times, but did have two children with her first husband. She unexpectedly died from a stroke, which devastated Samira as she wouldn’t have guessed Rae would pass away so long before her older sister. To honor her, Samira bought one of the theaters Rae used to perform in Rungung and named it after her.

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Adventures in Style: Outfits for Energetic 4-Year-Old Boys

Childhood is a time of boundless energy, where little feet race through the house, toys come to life in imaginary worlds, and every day is a new adventure. Dressing a 4-year-old boy for this dynamic stage of life involves more than just picking out clothes—it’s about finding the perfect blend of comfort, durability, and fun. The clothes he wears should allow him to explore the world freely, while also reflecting his unique personality and growing sense of independence.

When it comes to outfits for active 4-year-olds, there are several important factors to consider. Whether your little guy is into superheroes, animals, or sports, his wardrobe needs to keep up with his ever-changing interests and activities. So, what are the key elements to look for when shopping for clothes for this age group? Let’s explore the essentials of dressing a 4-year-old boy in a way that keeps him comfortable, stylish, and ready for adventure.

Comfort First: The Foundation of Playful Outfits

At this stage of life, comfort is non-negotiable. A 4-year-old boy spends his day running, jumping, climbing, and sometimes tumbling down. His clothes need to offer unrestricted movement and be made from soft, breathable fabrics that keep him comfortable no matter the season.

For everyday wear, cotton is a top choice. It’s breathable, soft against the skin, and durable enough to withstand the wear and tear of active play. Look for t-shirts and shorts made of 100% cotton or cotton blends that provide some stretch. Elastic waistbands on shorts and pants make getting dressed a breeze and ensure a snug fit without feeling too tight.

Layering is another important aspect, especially in unpredictable weather. Lightweight cotton hoodies or zip-up jackets are great for chilly mornings that turn into warm afternoons. These pieces should be easy to take on and off, allowing your little one to regulate his temperature as needed.

Durability Matters: Tough Clothes for Tough Play

Let’s face it: 4-year-old boys can be rough on their clothes. Whether they’re racing around the playground or building castles in the sandbox, their outfits endure a lot. That’s why durability is key. Look for clothes that can withstand frequent washing and remain in good shape after countless adventures.

Reinforced knees on pants are a lifesaver for kids who spend a lot of time on the ground. Jeans and cargo pants with double stitching can handle the wear and tear of daily play. Similarly, t-shirts with sturdy seams and durable fabrics are better suited for active kids who tend to test the limits of their clothing.

Parents often opt for dark colors and patterns to help hide stains and dirt. But it’s also important to have a few lighter-colored outfits for special occasions or family outings. Just make sure the fabrics are easy to clean!

Fun and Playful Designs: Reflecting His Personality

One of the most exciting parts of dressing a 4-year-old boy is finding clothes that match his interests. At this age, children start to develop preferences for certain characters, colors, and themes. Clothing featuring superheroes, animals, dinosaurs, or favorite cartoon characters can spark joy and make getting dressed in the morning a lot more fun.

Bold prints and bright colors often capture a young boy’s imagination, helping to express his growing personality. T-shirts with graphic designs, shorts with fun patterns, and socks with quirky images can make even the simplest outfits more exciting. And for the child who loves to dress up, costumes or themed outfits that resemble superheroes or knights can turn an ordinary day into a magical adventure.

Special Occasion Outfits: Dressing Up for Milestones

While everyday playwear is essential, 4-year-old boys also need outfits for special occasions. Whether it’s a family gathering, birthday party, or holiday celebration, having a few dressier options in the wardrobe is a must.

For formal events, consider button-down shirts in soft fabrics, paired with chinos or dark jeans. Polo shirts are another versatile option, offering a blend of casual and dressy that’s perfect for less formal gatherings. And let’s not forget about shoes—comfortable yet stylish sneakers or loafers complete the look without sacrificing comfort.

While these outfits should still be comfortable and easy to move in, they give a polished appearance suitable for family photos and special moments.

Seasonal Considerations: Weather-Appropriate Clothing

As the seasons change, so should your little boy’s wardrobe. For summer, lightweight fabrics like cotton and linen are ideal, keeping him cool as he enjoys outdoor activities. T-shirts, shorts, and sandals are summer staples, and don’t forget a fun sun hat to protect him from the sun’s rays.

In cooler months, layering becomes crucial. Long-sleeved shirts paired with vests or jackets keep him warm without restricting movement. For winter, fleece-lined pants, wool sweaters, and waterproof boots ensure that he stays cozy and dry, no matter how much time he spends playing in the snow.

Rainy days call for waterproof jackets, rain boots, and pants made of water-resistant fabrics, so puddle-jumping can continue without any interruptions.

Sustainability: Choosing Eco-Friendly Options

More parents are becoming mindful of sustainability when shopping for kids’ clothing. Brands are increasingly offering eco-friendly options made from organic cotton, recycled materials, and ethically sourced fabrics. These clothes are not only better for the environment but are often softer and gentler on a child’s sensitive skin.

Durability and sustainability often go hand-in-hand. By choosing high-quality, long-lasting items, you can reduce the need for frequent replacements, minimizing waste and supporting a more eco-conscious approach to clothing.

Preparing for Growth: The Transition to Bigger Sizes

As your little one continues to grow, his wardrobe will need to evolve. Around age 4, boys start to outgrow their clothes quickly, so it’s wise to buy items that offer a bit of room to grow. Look for adjustable waistbands and tops with longer sleeves or cuffs that can be rolled up.

And just as you’re navigating the world of clothes for 4 year old boy, soon enough, you’ll be exploring the options for older kids. Transitioning to clothes for 11 year olds brings its own set of challenges, as children at that age often become more involved in picking out their outfits and developing their personal style. But for now, enjoy the fun and freedom that comes with dressing a 4-year-old!

Conclusion: Dressing for Adventure and Fun

The joy of dressing a 4-year-old boy is rooted in finding clothes that match his adventurous spirit. With a focus on comfort, durability, and playful designs, his wardrobe will be ready to support him in all of his daily explorations. From colorful t-shirts and sturdy pants to special occasion outfits and weather-appropriate layers, the key is to strike a balance between practicality and fun.

As he continues to grow, his style and needs will change, but the foundation of comfortable, durable, and expressive clothing will always serve him well. Whether he's scaling the jungle gym, racing down the sidewalk, or posing for family photos, he’ll be dressed for every adventure life has to offer!

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Achieve the Perfect Smile with the Top Dentist in Dubai and the Best Dental Clinic for Expert Care

When it comes to maintaining excellent oral health, choosing the right dentist and dental clinic is crucial. Dubai, known for its state-of-the-art medical facilities, is home to numerous dental clinics that provide high-quality care. But how do you select the best dentist in Dubai? What factors should guide your choice of the ideal dental clinic in Dubai? In this comprehensive article, we’ll explore why it’s essential to choose a skilled dentist, what services to expect, and how to find the best dental clinic in Dubai.

Why Choose a Dentist in Dubai?

Dubai is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and it’s known for its top-tier healthcare services. The city’s dental clinics offer advanced treatments with the latest equipment and technology. A dentist in Dubai is typically highly trained, often holding international qualifications and years of experience in their respective fields. This means you are not only receiving local expertise but global standards of care.

Moreover, a dentist in Dubai will likely provide services that cater to Dubai’s cosmopolitan population, including multiple languages spoken and flexible scheduling that aligns with your busy lifestyle. Whether you need routine check-ups, teeth whitening, or complex procedures like dental implants, the dental services in Dubai are second to none.

What Makes a Dental Clinic in Dubai Stand Out?

A dental clinic in Dubai is more than just a place to get your teeth checked. Many clinics offer comprehensive services, including cosmetic dentistry, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and emergency care. The focus in many clinics is not just on treating dental issues but also on creating a comfortable, anxiety-free environment for patients.

When selecting a dental clinic in Dubai, it’s essential to look for certain key features:

Reputation: Check online reviews and patient testimonials. A good dental clinic in Dubai will have a strong reputation for patient care and successful outcomes.

Expertise: Make sure the clinic employs specialists in different areas of dentistry such as orthodontics, periodontics, and cosmetic dentistry.

Technology: The best clinics use cutting-edge technology such as 3D dental imaging, laser treatments, and digital smile design to offer precise and efficient care.

Cleanliness and Safety: Hygienic environments and adherence to safety protocols are non-negotiable in any dental clinic in Dubai.

Types of Dental Services You Can Expect

At a leading dental clinic in Dubai, you can expect a wide range of services that cater to all dental needs. Below are some of the most common treatments available:

1. Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic procedures are becoming increasingly popular among people who want to improve their smiles. From teeth whitening to veneers, a dentist in Dubai can help you achieve a Hollywood-worthy smile. Many people come to Dubai specifically for cosmetic dental work because of the high standards and reasonable costs compared to other global cities.

2. Orthodontics

Whether you need braces, aligners, or more complex orthodontic treatments, you’ll find expert care at a dental clinic in Dubai. Modern clinics often offer Invisalign and other discreet options for teeth straightening, providing patients with more comfortable and less visible treatment alternatives.

3. Pediatric Dentistry

Parents can rest easy knowing that a dental clinic in Dubai typically has pediatric specialists who are trained to work with children. These experts know how to make young patients feel comfortable and can provide advice on preventing tooth decay, which is common among kids.

4. Emergency Dental Care

Many people overlook the importance of having access to emergency dental services until they face a sudden issue like a broken tooth or severe pain. Fortunately, you can find a dentist in Dubai who offers 24/7 emergency care, ensuring you are never without professional assistance when you need it most.

How to Choose the Right Dental Clinic in Dubai

The process of selecting a dental clinic in Dubai may seem overwhelming, given the numerous options available. However, a few key considerations can simplify your decision:

Location and Accessibility: A conveniently located dental clinic in Dubai is essential, especially if you are considering long-term treatments that require multiple visits. Many top clinics are situated in easily accessible areas of the city, offering ample parking and nearby public transport options.

Consultation Process: Before undergoing any major procedure, ensure the dentist in Dubai provides a thorough consultation. This will allow you to discuss your concerns, review treatment options, and understand the costs involved.

Insurance Compatibility: Dental care can be expensive, especially for advanced treatments like implants or full-mouth reconstruction. It’s crucial to ensure that the dental clinic in Dubai accepts your insurance plan or offers payment plans to make treatments more affordable.

Specialized Care: If you need specialized treatment, make sure the dental clinic in Dubai has experts who specialize in your required service. For example, not every clinic offers orthodontics or advanced cosmetic dentistry.

The Importance of Regular Check-ups

Even if you maintain good oral hygiene, it’s essential to have regular check-ups with a dentist in Dubai. During these visits, your dentist can identify any potential issues before they become major problems. Many dental clinics in Dubai also offer dental plans that make routine care more affordable, providing discounts on services like cleanings, fillings, and x-rays.

Final Thoughts

Finding the right dentist in Dubai and a reliable dental clinic in Dubai can significantly impact your oral health. With so many options available, it’s essential to choose a clinic that offers comprehensive services, state-of-the-art technology, and a patient-friendly environment. Whether you’re seeking cosmetic improvements or preventive care, Dubai’s top dental professionals are ready to help you achieve the best smile possible.

📞 Call Us: 0585087321

🌐 Visit Us: Top Smile Dental Clinic

📌 Address: Shop No 2, Ground Floor, Sultan Business Center, Oud Metha, Dubai UAE

⛳Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HBWU9rM4u4Uq7mNTA?g_st=ic

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