#Red Mage fun and now a canon job for her

[soothingmind]

same picture

[icantthinkyandere]

yandere crypters!! specifically kadoc and kirsch if u can ^^

I've done Kadoc here, and I'm using this as an excuse to do Ophelia.

{Kirschtaria Wodime}

Out of all the crypters he is the friendliest out of all of them. He won't talk to you immediately other than a simple greeting he's done with everyone. But, they have caught his interest and once he's able to, he will

Once he finally does, oh boy, he will not leave you alone. Doesn't matter out how you react to, being nervous and confused because, well, he's Kirschtaria Wodime, he's an important person with an important job. Or if you don't care about him or know anything about it.

As long as they're not out right rude to him, he will back. There's something that he finds so enchanting. He starts to seek them out when he's done with meetings or has any free time. He has fun, and he likes his new friend. He does start to feel bad since he feels that he is ignoring others he is close with. But Olga is always busy and serious, Kadoc and Ophelia run away from him.

They have a different life from him(and probably a lot of different things, including interests outside of being a mage). He loves listening about anything and everything, no matter how strange or obscure. He's more than happy to talk about his life and interests, just not his family, mainly his dad.

I can not express how sweet Wodime would be would, during Chaldea you wouldn't even notice he's a yandere from how he just sits and listens along side how busy he is preparing to to take on the Singularities.

The red flag really would only start after Chaldea during the Lostbelts. If he is aware that the person he adores is alive, he will be worried sick. He doesn't want to rush the plan or anything, but he does not feel like you're safe without him. He can only hope Chaldea is taking care of them while Caenis dies since he won't stop talking about them.

If he is able to have you around during the Lostbelts, you have zero freedom. Since he's strong enough to take on Chaldea on his own, Caenis has babysitting duties! He goes as far as to write down what he needs to and might even lightly suggest using a command seal for him to listen.

He cares so much, and that does make him a little easy to take advice of. He wants to the people he cares about happy, and now that you've become the person he cares about the most, he has a blind spot for them.

That blind spot doesn't mean they can get away with anything. All it really means is that he doesn't think they could ever do much wrong, even when insulting him. Everything will be fine when his view of the world finally happens.

When dies during the Lostbelts, he feels sad that he can't be around them anyone, protect them, and make the world one they can live in peace in. But, he knows that Chaldea is the next best option and hopes the people there can love you as he did. Maybe Ceanis will keep taking care of them for him

{Ophelia Phamrsolone}

Ophelia is the opposite. Just because her feelings are more intense now doesn't mean she'll change that much. She actually does get worse, though. In canon, she isn't able to interact with characters she does like such as Wodime and Mashu.

There is no change she will ever approach someone she likes now. Unlike Kadoc as well no one will really notice and try to encourage her to at least try either, the only positive being that Beryl won't notice and be awful.

She wants to talk to them so badly that she just ends up staring at them. No, really expects her to catch feelings for anyone, so if her staring at both you and Mashu get noticed, she might end up getting reported, causing Wodime or Olga to ask if she has a problem with them.

She really doesn't mean to look creepy or like she has a death stare. She's just so nervous and trying to get the confidence to say "Hi." At least she ends up spacing out. Getting called out or not, she feels more and more awful as time goes on.

She can't talk to Wodime, who she admires deeply. She can't talk to Mashu, who's friendly and won't be rude to her, and now she's obsessing over someone she barely knows. She wouldn't have considered it at any other time, but maybe all the suggestions Romani made for the masters mental health might help her.

Her thoughts have become so overwhelming that she has to get them out, or else she might just explode. A dairy, art, poetry, anything. But seeing it done on paper makes her worse. She already felt sick from anxiety, and now that she's seeing her thoughts and almost fantasies on paper, she wants to throw up. 

She knows she just wants to get close to them and be loved. A lot of her feelings come from being a mage and the sexism from that world, but even acknowledging that doesn't change much.

Even the Lostbelts start, and she doesn't know you're alive. She sorta feels like this is where she belongs. She already feels like the worst person alive for creeping on an innocent person and placing unfair expectations on them. She places herself into a circle of feeling like she is a villain and then feels bad again because Wodime doesn't see this like an evil plot.

By the end of the Lostblet, she's happy to die. Maybe she can make up for the bad she's done that they aren't even aware of or even affected them. For you, Mashu, and everyone else.

Out of all the yanderes that can pop up in  Fate Grand order, she is probably one of the most self-hating. Her anxious thoughts get the best of her, and so does her morals

[thefinalwitness]

i love "baby's first non-starter job" stories. i was level ~45 summoner when i saw someone in my party casting spells AND using a sword and, being a big baby sprout, i excitedly asked "are you a mage with a sword??!" and they said "yeah i'm a red mage! :D" and i gushed at them about how cool and fun it looked and i was so excited to try it at 50.

this lv 50 shift from smn to rdm is also canon for l'aiha now; she's an arcanist up until she loses the ability to manipulate external aether when midgardsormr nullifies hydaelyn's blessing and it fucks up l'aiha's aether and body more than it's supposed to (due to the fact she's ALIVE because hydaelyn resurrected her—oops!). fortunately, she and alisaie are in the middle of the coils raids, so alisaie introduces l'aiha to her teacher x'rhun tia, because red magic is all about balancing internal aether. :3c

to this day, l'aiha mostly can't summon familiars, an important component of being an arcanist. she Sort Of regains the ability with azem's crystal, but by then she's lost her ability to do magic ENTIRELY as a long-term effect of the light corruption. in fact, i think the very earliest she could've effectively resumed being an arcanist would've been at the end of the aitiascope dungeon in 6.0, but i like to think her (in character) level disparity between arcanist (50) and red mage (89-90) sorta means it'd be ridiculous trying to close that gap, especially because it took her 4 years to go from 50 to 90 as rdm. :'D

i like turning my out of character job transitions into in character transitions for l'aiha. fun fact! when i very first rolled the version of her that stuck (i had a very low level arcanist vers of her, but wanted to remake her to level with a friend), i made her a lancer so she could start in gridania with my friend's conjurer! so l'aiha canonically has about 15 levels in lancer (the minimum level you can be before the msq lets you get to limsa, where i swapped her to arcanist), which is explained as:

upon waking with no memories, she's taken in by an L tribe clan who secretly intends to sell her off to the empire as a conscript. they pretend she's always lived with them and encourage her to uncover her own memories; they can see from her physique she's a combatant, but they don't actually know anything about her, so they pretend they won't just 'tell her' who she is or what her skills were because it could 'affect her ability to naturally remember'. so when it comes to how she used to fight, she's left to figure that out for herself.

she ends up choosing a lance from the rack of weapons they show her, because it DOES ring a vague bell; what she doesn't know is the echo memory she has (her echo manifests like aether vision, meaning she can't fully see these visions) was of herself learning how to wield a rapier from her mother, not a lance. so she's a lancer for a while, until she gets to limsa and picks up arcanist instead. :'3c

[wildstar25]

Which jobs (incl DoH/DoL) are lore-canon for Arsay? Are there any you play a lot that aren't?

Arsay’s canon jobs are the following:

- Ninja (though she calls herself a rogue first and foremost! She is incredibly duty driven as a ninja is described to be within the quest line. Her duty is to her friends and family.)

- Summoner (she loves to baha blast! Her carbuncle is named Couscous)

- Dragoon ( in name only, in my canon she is not given the title of azure dragoon nor did she go through the lv1-60 lancer/dragoon story. She got Estinien to show her pole arm basics and developed her own style from there. Her draconian abilities stem more from her connection to Midgardsormr and her demi-bahamut. She only pulls this job out for hunting or other non wol stuff! Only exception was the steps of faith trail cause it’s more dramatic to be a drg on that fight)

- Astrologian (this was her post ARR patch and heavensward trauma response class. She heard that there were people in ishgard that knew how to predict the future and thought it would be a good skill to pick up for herself. She was really taken by surprised by everything that happened during the bloody banquet! And again with what happened after the vault. She wanted something, anything, in her pocket that could maybe prevent her from putting her friends in bad situations. After going through all the rigmarole of learning the stars and aligning her aether to them she soon found out that the cards aren’t nearly as forthcoming with information as she hoped them to be. She does keep up with the job in her spare time, just in case! Though urianger is much more suited to it than she is. )

- machinist ( Cid showed her this sick looking gun one time and she thought it was really cool so she got a job stone from the skysteel factory and signed herself up for eorzean e-sports (crystalline conflict and front lines) pvp is her main hobby and her primary way of de-stressing. )

- gunbreaker (soft canon atm. Essentially, it would make sense that she could pick this up as it’s quite functionally a combo of knife (ninja) and gun (machinists). It’s also a zippy enough class that it makes sense for need for speed. But I haven’t figured out a lore reason for why she would have picked it up aside from wanting to show thancred up in front of ryne for fun )

- fisher (she’s not patient enough to wait around for fish but she definitely knows how and its a vital survival skill for her to have)

—————-

All the other jobs that I have for her right now are more “jobs that would be canon if xyz were true”

Monk is the only other dps I have at 90, it’s the job she would have instead of ninja if she had decided to head for thanalan in search of her father’s family at the very beginning of her adventures.

I also technically have scholar at 90 but haven’t done a single job quest beyond getting the stone. Scholar would only be canon to arsay if Emrara had decided to pass on their scholar jobstone off to arsay before arsay left for limsa.

Other classes I have are:

Warrior (would be canon if she wanted to be like her mom and also had way more pent up rage about her parent related trauma )

Red mage, black mage ( au where arsay has a larger store of her own aether to pull from and also went to thanalan first)

Bard (au where Arsay could carry a tune and went to gridania in search of her mothers side of the family. Also wasn’t immediately put off by the many micro aggressions and full racism moments she had to deal with in the archers guild)

Samurai( au where she wanted to fight fire with fire against zenos in storm blood. That or during the ralgars reach he broke one of her knives and instead of just buying a new set she was like “I will shrimply adapt” )

[rainofaugustsith]

Mage Age

After learning about the Amaro mount achievement (thanks @cinlat!), and realizing I really want to see All The Stories, I've been having Viri work through some of the other jobs.

My strategy right now is to do them in groups that can share gear, since my Armory Chest is getting pretty packed. So first up have been the mage DPS and healer jobs I've missed, because they could share the generic "Disciple of Magic" gear up to level 50 and then later on just use the gear I already have for Red Mage and Astrologer. Sage and Scholar I'll have to grab later when they can also share the higher level gear.

My two favorite magic classes remain Red Mage and Astrologer. Astrologer really isn't that different on a healing/combat level than White Mage, but it comes with a very wide variety of buffs for yourself and anyone else in your party, all against an interesting backdrop of drawing cards. I also really like that the astrology discipline has changed in every place the WoL has visited. Ishgard uses astrology to track the dragons, but Sharlayan astrology is for knowledge and such. And then you get to Kugane and the astrologer there is responsible for wards that protect the city. It's cool to delve into how each area has related to the stars and developed their own discipline and philosophy about them.

And Red Mage is still IMHO the perfect magic class. It comes with a wide variety of magical skills, there are a number of features like Dual Cast that cut down significantly on casting times; it uses both white and black magic; and it also has a very wide variety of melee DPS sword skills, so you can fight close up without waiting for spells to cast at all, and of course self-heals and a rez ability. I love the Red Mage NPCs and the journeys that they're taking.

As for the new classes:

Summoner: I really like this one. The story is intriguing, and the NPC who guides you is engaging. The new quest giver introduced in level 60 alongside that NPC is a lot of fun, too. As a combat class it does a lot of damage, and you don't have to wait for eons to cast things.

I also feel the Summoner lore can tie into Viri's Reaper job. I always feel that since she is Eorzean and can manipulate aether, she would approach that job differently than a Garlean. Speficially she would not need to make a pact with a voidsent; she could summon others from the beyond to help her. So with that summoning ability confirmed in canon by this job, it works. My headcanon is that as a Reaper she's summoning the egi, not a bound voidsent.

But the book as a weapon! The BOOK. The book annoys the hell out of me. In the middle of battle, you think my WoL is going to stand there saying "yeah hold on, gotta look up/write this spell?!" Or maybe the book is heavy so they can hit someone with it and knock them out. I am looking forward getting to a high enough level that Viri can use one of the many glamour weapons that doesn't look like a book.

White Mage: It's so boring. It's like looking at a plain white wall. There's nothing offensive about this class, it's just boring as hell. It's clearly designed to stand as a support class in group content and doesn't seem to work particularly well as a solo class. It has mostly the same kit as Astrologer - like three attacks and then a host of heals - but without the cards and party buffs. The attacks are "throw rocks, wind, bright flashy light" which is evoking not-so-pleasant memories of Jedi Consular's Sage advanced class. Although my JC Sage had more attacks to throw, which is kind of sad.

I did really appreciate that after reaching level 30 as a Conjurer, the base job, Viri unlocked a very simple quest to help a unicorn and obtain a unicorn mount. Viri now has a white unicorn and a black one, and I think the only horsie she's missing is the Leviathan one.

Black Mage: I previously tried this job and rage quit at level 57 because I couldn't stand it. I'm sorry, this job sucks. You have to plant yourself in one place, every fucking thing takes an hour to cast, Ley Lines really isn't super helpful because the enemies invariably throw an something that requires you to move, and - AND!- you don't even have a self-heal other than Lucid Dreaming, unlike every other mage class. Yeah, yeah, we get that black magic used alone doesn't heal, but FFS come up with some dark healing spell anyway so my damned mage doesn't die.

I truly feel this class was meant for group play and group play only, because unless you have a tank and DPS keeping the enemies off you, you can't just stand there and wait for every spell to cast. And this class still doesn't work great even there. Yeah, the spells do damage but you have to wait so long to cast that the character beside you can still do double the damage because they can hit more frequently. In the Vault for example, the Black Mage could not take out a lot of the Holy Fire because of the long cast times, whereas the other DPS jobs and even my Dark Knight tank make short work of that shit.

The sad thing is that Black Mage has a really intriguing story that ties into the magical DPS Cardinal Virtues mission chain and other stuff. I love the NPCs, and there's something that has come up that I could swear ties into the idea of sundered souls and reflections on other worlds and such. Having said that, without another carrot I would still quit this class on the spot.

The only reason I am continuing this class is for the Amaro, and I expect that the second I get it to 80 I'm dropping it cold unless I need it again for another reward. Which is a shame because the story as I said is good.

[acidxshark]

The Gentlewoman Adventurer, Aigead Siorc

As I'm getting back into an FFXIV groove (in part because I'm revving up to resume my NG+ stream), I'm starting to fall back in love with my WoL again. Aigead Siorc is the culmination of a lot of self-projection and "hey wouldn't it be funny if…"-style character development. Some fun facts about her:

She's a firedrake who ate a fantasia thinking it was a weird egg. Came out the other side a male Au Ra but realized after the events of ARR that she didn't feel comfortable as she was and thus fantasia'd into a female Viera.

She can hear the background music. Her training as a Red Mage knocked something loose in her head and now her brain processes her sense for the ambient aether around her as music. Think of it as a sort of Fantasy Synaesthesia.

Comes off as a bit of an airhead, but is quite adept at puzzle solving and thinking on her feet. Generally can be trusted to figure things out if you point her at a problem and tell her to wing it.

Has a penchant for grand introductions and a sense of dramatic flair. The Hildibrand quests are a big part of her canon so you can probably guess where she gets that from.

Very active, job-wise. Her canon jobs include Monk, Red Mage, Dark Knight, Gunbreaker, and Sage. In specific circumstances, she's also been portrayed as a White Mage or a Reaper.

Likes and collects Cool Bottles

Her entire personality spun out of a line I thought up once I unlocked GNB: "I have a SWORD with a GUN on it and SHEER FORCE OF WILL and that's ALL I'LL EVER NEED"

Came up with her name more or less on the spot when she was originally found naked in the middle of Southern Thanalan, just outside the ruins of Qarn. She claims it felt like something she'd been thinking about for a long time.

Feels a special connection to the moon and the night sky ever since she first gained sapience.

If you're interesting in learning more about Aigead Siorc and reading up on some of her adventures, I participated in FFXIVWrite last year and managed to write something for every day of the month! Check out this tweet thread for links to each story and relevant spoiler/content warnings:

[shepherds-of-haven]

Hiii Lena how are you? Okay now I have a FEW bebé-adjacent questions. Fist off: Anything you can tell us about Arainia and Blade’s kiddo?? I’m so soft for the thought of babies born into the Shepherds 🥺🥺(or just soft for beebies in general) Also is there like,,,any precedent set for pregnant Shepherds? Paid family leave 😅? I’m assuming they’d have to be upfront to their superior about it if they choose to carry to term and are probably put on desk duty? What about the other parent, assuming it’s a Shepherd-Are they like,,able to request assignments close by/shorter assignments later in the pregnancy? (for example I’m guessing all ROs would be pretty adamant about sticking nearby) In the original novels, were there separate setups in the compound for married shepherds/ ones with kids ? This is a LOT lololol 🙈

Hi kingdom, I’m doing great, and I hope you are, too! And yes, I’m all for bebé questions!!!

Anything you can tell us about Arainia and Blade’s kiddo??

Yes, their first child was a boy named Tamwyn, Tam for short! He was the spitting image of his father, but with Arainia’s eyes and Elvish ears, and he was a very serious little baby, peering around at the world with silent gravity befitting a Bronwyn. Arainia was kind of like “...is our baby okay” but it turned out that Uncle Chase and Uncle Trouble could always make him laugh! Thus, they were always on babysitting duty whenever both Arainia and Blade had to go out of town for a mission...

(This isn’t necessarily canon because it was written when I was like 15 maybe, which was before I knew Riel was going to blast off and commit treason and I’m pretty sure it’s an AU where Junoth didn’t die or I hadn’t done it yet RIP)

Anyway, as you can tell, it was a slightly chaotic but very loving infanthood for him! The official books stop when Tam’s about six months old, but I always had plans for him to grow up to become a strong Battle-Mage like his mother. He’d be a quiet, sensible, somewhat sensitive boy who had to dig deep to access his latent power in his youth. As a young adult, he would have been more confident and possibly headstrong--I feel like he would have had an intense teen rebellion phase--and eventually would grow into a powerful leader with a measured way of seeing the world, but still with a strong sense of empathy and emotional intelligence! He would have been very close to his uncles; would have had a teen crush on Kana, Halek and Wintry’s kid, that probably would have faded quickly; and I feel like he would have an academic side and would want to help Uncle Red with his magical research as a kind of intern, which would annoy Blade deeply, though of course he’d never say so!

There was also always the plan for them to have a second kid, a daughter four years younger than Tam named either Lyra or Amaya, who would have been more Ket like her dad and would have had an unusual mix of both arma and a little magic! She would have been more spunky and energetic than her brother and probably would look totally different from the rest of her dark-haired family due to the weird Mage genetics!

Also is there like,,,any precedent set for pregnant Shepherds? Paid family leave 😅? I’m assuming they’d have to be upfront to their superior about it if they choose to carry to term and are probably put on desk duty?

In the books, relationships were very strictly forbidden within the Shepherd’s Order, more so than they are in the game; it was a rule that had been carried out for hundreds of years, since the founding of the Order, so there wasn’t really a precedent set for both parents being Shepherds when one got pregnant! In the old days, you’d most likely be fired if you revealed that you got another Shepherd officer pregnant... 😅

Prior to Blade assuming command, there was paid family leave for a Shepherd officer to take time off and raise their children, but it was always expected that their spouse, partner, or what have you was from outside of the Order. Most were put on desk duty until closer to their due date, but some chose to take time off immediately upon discovering their pregnancy. Lunar Corps division officers (those who took on more urgent, specialized, or dangerous missions) were paid both a base salary as well as extra for most missions, which were graded according to risk. (The higher the grade, the more you’d get paid for taking that mission.) If you got pregnant and planned on having the child, you could take time off pretty much indefinitely and just keep the base salary, with bonuses thrown in if your superior liked you and thought you deserved it, of course. However, it was considered unethical to collect this money if you didn’t actually plan on resuming work with the Order after your baby was around three (though of course you could request to extend leave); so long as you actually came back to work afterwards, this was all legitimate.

However, things got messy once Shepherd couples got into the mix. Could both parties take leave, and for how long? Couples weren’t even allowed until Blade assumed command: he immediately changed the policy so that couples were allowed within the Order, but typically placed on different teams or missions, to avoid distractions during fights or work in the field. (This also applied to him and Arainia, though there were sometimes exceptions that had to be made.) He also allowed both parties paid leave with base salaries, but with the stipulation that one party should return to work after ten months to one year, unless they requested to extend that leave. 

Halek and Wintry’s child, Kana, was the first real “Shepherd baby”. Wintry chose to take the paid leave for the first year and a half of Kana’s life; they had also bought a restaurant as a side investment for whenever they retired, so there was income coming from that while Halek continued work as a Shepherd. And they were already on separate teams, so when she returned, it wasn’t that much of an issue!

What about the other parent, assuming it’s a Shepherd-Are they like,,able to request assignments close by/shorter assignments later in the pregnancy? (for example I’m guessing all ROs would be pretty adamant about sticking nearby)

If the Shepherds in question are Lunar Corps agents, it depends on their ranks! Lower-ranked agents were always placed on squads of seven and were assigned 80% of their cases and missions by higher-ups. But there were always missions placed on a roster that were “up for grabs” until a certain date, at which point they would be assigned to whatever team was available at that deadline. 20% of team missions could be one of those free missions, and if you were a higher-ranking agent no longer grouped into a team, you could also take on those missions of your own volition about 50% of the time. In short, you could choose about 50% of your own missions, because there were so many requests and petitions floating around all the time, so a Shepherd parent could just choose the missions that were close to home and pass on the ones that weren’t.

For the missions that they couldn’t choose and were assigned, you could always put in an unofficial request to your superior; they would usually do their best to accommodate you, but there were simply some times where there wasn’t any choice, especially if you had a specialized position that few others could replace. That duty comes with being a Shepherd, and I imagine it would be the same in the game! You can make the request and people will try their hardest to accommodate, but it's not a guarantee and if you can't meet the demands of the job, you'll probably be moved over to Solar Corps, which handles things like local patrols.

In the original novels, were there separate setups in the compound for married shepherds/ ones with kids ?

The Shepherds’ Tower in the books was actually more like a workplace and police precinct, so there were actually no living quarters or dormitories there! It was more like a skyscraper, and Shepherd officers lived in their own personal apartments or occasionally shared houses in Haven. There were some buildings that the Order rented out entirely just for Shepherd officers to live in, but these were few and far between.

In the books, most of the protagonists lived in small apartments in the Market Quarter; Blade and Arainia lived on the same floor of their apartment and the other team members lived close by or even on the same street; there was an ill-fated move where all seven (ten?) of them shared a big house in Whitestone (which in the books wasn’t just for aristocrats, it was just a nicer neighborhood) for like a year for some reason; and then Blade and Arainia lived in a house in the Market Quarter (I even remember their address, 771 Bomba Street) after they got married! 

Thanks for your questions, I had fun answering them! 🤗

[lyranova]

After the Mixer

Hi guys! Here’s the collab I mentioned that I wrote with @thoughtfullyrainynightmare 😁, i had so much fun writing this and its super chaotic but in the best way hehe. It has canon characters as well as Yamichar in it, it also has OC’s such as Alistar, Leon, Hikari, Ulla, and Solara so its got a bit of everything 🥰! This is another side story for COTF and if you’d like to read the first part of this fic you can read it HERE. I also apologize if it looks weird, i ran out of block texts 😅.

Taglist: @eme-eleff @crazyclownthanos @bowandcurtsey @flow3rbudz @elysianluv @ckjwnnbc

Warnings: None

———

It was a bright and sunny day in the Clover Kingdom, birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the citizens were happy and cheering. It was a good and normal day for everyone, well almost everyone.

Alistar groaned as he walked towards the meeting room, his head was pounding, he was nauseous, he was tired, and very dizzy. Alistar was hungover. He accidentally drank something a little too strong for him, so now he was suffering the consequences. He groaned as the memory of confessing his feelings for Hikari to her father surfaced. That was awful.

“ A-Alistar, are you ok?” Ulla asked softly as she followed behind him, her heels clicking against the stone floor. Even that sound was making his head worse. He couldn’t help but give the young red haired girl a stern look over his dark sunglasses.

“ No Ulla, I am not ok.” He grumbled, his usual happy and warm demeanor gone and was replaced by a very grumpy and tired one. He walked up to a wall and leaned against it as the world suddenly turned sideways.

He leaned his head against the cool stone wall as Ulla stared at him nervously, it had been a while since she had seen him like this. She heard someone approach and waved her hand.

“ Oh hello Leon!”

"Hey," Leon simply greeted, giving her a small wave as he made his way to Alistair.

"What are you doing here?" Alistair asked, not wanting any more questions about how well he was, or clearly wasn't, doing.

"I'm attending the meeting to, y'know, get a better grasp of these meetings." Leon shrugged, waving off Alistair's grumpy attitude since he knew perfectly well where it was coming from.

"To get a better grasp?" Alistair quirked an eyebrow. Leon knew perfectly well how these meeting always were, and he'd get a briefing instead of having to sit through one of these tedious necessities that came with being a captain, or a vice-captain.

"Yeah..." Leon replied with a lazy tone. "That's what I told my father, and he quirked an eyebrow at it too, but he wasn't going to exactly stop me from attending."

"So what are you really doing here?" Alistair asked while massaging his temples.

"Moral support?" Leon answered with a questioning tone, since he wasn't quite sure about it himself. But, what he did know was that he felt bad about leaving Alistair to deal with the aftermath on his own. Though it wasn't exactly his job to baby sit Alistair either, and watch his drinking habits.

Alistar rolled his eyes at his friend, “moral support”, yeah right. The last time he was his “moral support” he watched as he confessed to Yami Sukehiro and then passed out in front of him. Yeah some moral support Leon was. Alistar let out a soft sigh before pushing himself off the wall and he started walking with Leon and Ulla towards the meeting room.

“ You just want to see what Captain Sukehiro’s reaction to me being there is going to be.” Alistar half joked, his friend chuckled slightly.

“ Maybe a little.” Leon agreed as he pinched his fingers together slightly, Alistar shook his head.

“ Terrible.” He muttered jokingly, the three stood outside the tall oak doors and Alistar leaned against the frame a bit. “ Give me just a moment.” He asked as he held up a finger.

He was not only sick from the hangover, but just the thought of seeing Captain Sukehiro again made his stomach do all sorts of flips. That’s all he would need is to puke in front of Hikari’s father, or worse puke on her father. He paled at the thought.

“ Captain, are you ok?” Ulla asked again in concern before she turned to look at Leon who only watched Alistar, the white haired mage smiled weakly before patting the girl on the head.

“ You worry too much.” He told her before standing up straight again and he looked at Leon. “ If I say ‘Pun and Sun’ that’s the signal to kill me and end my suffering.”

"Your death shall be quick," Leon assured with a smirk.

"Nothing about this has been 'quick and easy'," Alistair muttered again before supporting himself against the doorframe and taking a deep breath.

Ulla and Leon watched Alistair push the door open, and hastily make his way to his seat without as much as a greeting form the other captains. Yami wasn't there yet, so he sighed to himself out of relief. Though Captain Roselei was, which made him frown for a bit. But then again, she had always been more punctual out of the two.

Leon and Ulla followed, exchanging their greetings. But the pleasantries were cut short by a low voice, coming from the corner of the room, from the same wall on which the door stood.

"Don't have the common courtesy to wish good morning?"

Alistair froze in place. Because... it was Captain Sukehiro's voice. He should have noticed his mana. He should've! But... it seemed that he had been too caught up with trying to compose himself.

Alistar swallowed the sudden lump in his throat as he turned slowly to face Yami, the taller man had a cool yet stern look in his eye as he looked Alistar up and down. Alistar quickly cleared his throat before speaking.

“ G-Good morning Captain Sukehiro.” Alistar said calmly, it took everything he had to keep his voice from shaking. Yami just stared at him before scoffing, pushing himself off the wall and walking past him.

“ You look like hell.” He grumbled, Alistar let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He watched as Captain Sukehiro sat down next to his wife, Alistar looked at Leon who only smiled, gave him a thumbs up and mouthed ‘Moral Support’. Alistar glared over his sunglasses at him and he shook his head before walking over to the meeting table.

“ Good morning.” He greeted everyone politely, he tried to give them his most charming and warm smile, but instead it came out more lopsided. He noticed Hikari wasn’t around and frowned, she must be in the bathroom? Or was she feeling unwell? If she didn’t show up during the meeting he would try and go see her, even if he felt awful he would always check on her and make sure she was ok.

“ Good morning Alistar,” Fuegoleon responded politely as did the other Captains, he frowned a bit at the young man's slightly disheveled appearance. He leaned towards his son and whispered. “ Is Alistar alright? I know you, him, and one of the Black Bulls went out last night.”

Leon leaned closer to his father, pondering for a moment whether or not he should reply in Thean, just to make sure that the events of last night wouldn't be overheard by those around them. But then again, speaking in a foreign language in a setting where most present didn't speak that particular language, would be rather rude.

"He..." Leon began in whispers. "He had one too many last night," he simply remarked, intending to tell a bit more once back home if it was necessary.

Fuegoleon only gave a slow nod as a reply. He couldn't really relate to being badly hungover, but to him it was nothing more than youthful self-discovery. And since Alistair was present at the meeting, he wanted to still complete his responsibilities, and would surely learn from this experience.

"No you had one too many, this one had a bucketful on top of that," Yami remarked as his eyes shifted between Leon and Alistair. His previous irritation seemed to be growing the longer he looked at white haired younger male who hadn't 'bothered to greet good morning'.

Fuegoleon quirked an eyebrow at Yami, as if to ask where his comment was coming from.

Alistair opened his mouth to reply, but then William walked in, and upon seeing the frowns around the table, he stopped in his tracks.

“ Good morning everyone.” William said hesitantly, he frowned as he looked around the room, it was as though he interrupted some conversation. He walked around to his seat and sat down before turning to his right to see his son looking worse for wear. He looked over at Yami, Fuegoleon, and Leon before looking back at Alistar.

“ Alistar,” he suddenly pulled his son’s dark glasses down and looked at his eyes. “ are you hungover?” Before Alistar could respond Yami snorted, causing William to look at him.

“ Yeah he is, your son drank a bucket full of alcohol last night and as you can see it didn’t agree with him.” Yami said as he crossed his arms, Alistar looked at Yami.

“ It wasn’t a ‘bucket full’ it was 2 glasses of really strong alcohol.” He mumbled, holding up two fingers. When he saw the glare Yami was giving him, Alistar paled further. “ s-sir.” He added softly. William sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

“ Do I even want to know why the three of you went out and decided to get drunk?” William asked as he leaned back in his seat, he was clearly disappointed in his son's behavior and coming to the meeting hungover. Sure it showed that he was willing to do his job and attend meetings no matter how he was feeling, but he also knew Alistar was better than this.

“ Depends, do you really want to know?” Yami asked William with a slightly raised brow.

"We didn't 'decide' to get drunk," Alistair tried, looking at his father, which made William glance at him.

"Yes," Leon butted in to the conversation. "Ezio left to escort a lady home, and we stayed to chat. And it really was only 2 glasses. I didn't think them to be that strong." He explained, trying to salvage what there was to be salvaged. "And besides, you didn't seem that bad off when we left." He added while looking at Alistair.

"So the decisions you made, you made with 'good judgement'?" Yami asked while turning his attention to Leon.

Leon paused for a moment, realizing that he had just given an opening for Captain Sukehiro to question his judgement. "Well... Things emerged during the conversation. And if you look at the decisions made, it's not so much about the decision itself, but more of a timing issue."

Yami quirked an eyebrow again, while Alistair glared at Leon over the table with a hint of pleading, and with a hint of anger.

" Why do you hate me? " He asked without thinking more about it.

"What happened? Exactly," William interrupted the conversation and turned his attention back to Yami.

“ Well idiot one and idiot two here came by the Black Bulls base last night,” Yami started as he leaned forward. “ Your son, idiot one, decided it would be a good idea to confess his feelings for my daughter Hikari *while* he was drunk. But instead of confessing to her he confessed to me.”

“ And idiot two,” Yami continued looking at Leon. “ just stood there supporting idiot one with a goofy smile on his face.” Yami finished.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop in the room. Everyone seemed surprised by this, except for Captain Roselei as she was the only other person who knew about Alistar’s feelings for Hikari.

Alistar was as white as his hair, his glasses having fallen further down the bridge of his nose as he listened to Captain Sukehiro rat him and Leon out, he glanced over to his friend and saw he was staring down at the table.

“ Does the ‘Pun and Sun’ kill command work for me as well if I say it?” Leon asked Alistar softly.

“ I’m sure it can be arranged.” Alistar muttered back softly before William leaned forward, as did Fuegoleon.

“ I’m sorry, you both did what?” William asked before looking towards his son, then Leon, and back again.

"I-" Alistair began, wondering about what he could say, if anything. "It... wasn't a good decision, but I... I needed a bit of encouragement..." Alistair mumbled. Which was true. It wasn't convincing or a good thing to say, but it was true. "It's no excuse but it's..."

William looked at his son, blinking, and then letting out a sigh. "It is not. But at least your judgement was clouded when you made the decision." He stated while glancing over at Leon.

"Just what are you implying?" Fuegoleon asked with a low tone, now looking at William instead.

William's eyes shifted to the vermillion haired captain with a courteous smile. "Well since Leon was still very much aware of his actions, and still enabled this to happen, surely he's accountable as well."

"You intend to pin the blame onto my son?" Fuegoleon asked again, now standing up.

"Both of your idiot sons are to blame," Yami scoffed while Charlotte glanced at Solara.

“ Unless you have something actually constructive to say Yami, I would suggest you stay out of this.” William said holding up a hand towards Yami before turning his attention to Fuegoleon, everyone could feel the amount of intense mana radiating off both men as they tried to defend their son’s.

“ Well Yami,” Fuegoleon suddenly turned to face the dark haired man. “ since your daughter spends so much time with them, then is it right to assume she enjoys the company of idiots?” He asked with a raised brow, Yami stood up and glared at the vermillion haired mage.

“Are you calling my daughter an idiot-lover, Oldgoleon?” He asked in a threatening tone, William then chuckled.

“ I mean, we don’t know what Hikari’s feelings are. But if we were to assume that she liked Alistar and Leon, then by extension that would make her an idiot as well.” William pointed out, Yami turned to look at him. The room exploded with mana, it wasn’t only coming from Fuegoleon and William but now Yami as well.

“ You’ve gone too far, Goldie Guts.” Yami said in a raised tone, causing Alistar to clutch the side of his head in pain. If his head wasn’t pounding before it surely was now, Fuegoleon scoffed.

“ You’re the one that started it by calling our sons idiots Yami.” Fuegoleon pointed out and William nodded in agreement.

"No it was your sons that started this overall," Yami replied while finally standing up as the very walls seemed to bend away from the overwhelming mana inside the room.

Charlotte leaned over the table, whispering to Solara while keeping her eyes firmly on the three men. "You think we should intervene?"

"Hmm..." She hummed while glancing over. "I'm tempted to see just how far this escalates... If it seems like they'll do something irreversible, then we'll intervene." She pondered before lifting her tea cup to her lips. "Unless, of course, you want to stop them now."

Charlotte though about it for a moment, listening onto the bickering for a moment. "They're grown men," she finally concluded, taking a sip of her tea as well, while all the other captains and vice captains looked at the two of them, and the trio, and then Charlotte and Solara again.

Leon's gaze shifted between his father, Alistair, and his mother, unsure of what to do.

And Alistair, Alistair wondered if there was a hole where he could just crawl into and die.

Suddenly, the oak doors opened and in walked Hikari Sukehiro. She looked around as she saw chaos erupting, she could feel the mana on the other side of the door when she approached but hadn’t realized it had been all three Captain’s. She noticed all of their ki was aggressive and yet somewhat...childish? She frowned and slyly made her way over to Alistar, apparently the ‘adults’ were too busy bickering to notice.

“ What the heck happened?” She whispered in Alistar’s ear causing him to jump slightly and turn to look at her, she frowned a bit as she looked him up and down. “ Geez what happened to you?”

Alistar held a finger up to his lips before signaling to Leon to follow him, both men stood up from their seats and, without thinking, Alistar took Hikari’s hand and led them to a corner of the room. Alistar sat down in the chair and leaned back as his head continued to pound.

“ So what happened?” Hikari asked, looking from Leon to Alistar, the white haired man still hadn’t let go of her hand Leon noticed with an amused smile.

“ Well long story short; Alistar got drunk last night so he’s currently hungover, your dad called him and I idiots, our dads jumped to our defense and pointed out that you liking and hanging out with us also made you an idiot and this is the end result.” Leon explained as the yelling got louder and it seemed the walls were continuing to bend because of it.

Hikari blinked, and her eyes shifted between the two. Alistair looked bad off. Really bad off. In the way someone with a hungover would look.

"That's... pretty much it..." Alistair replied, confirming Leon's explanation.

But still. The explanation didn't really explain anything to her. Or perhaps it did. She thought Alistar to be better than to get wasted before an important meeting. That in itself was weird. But why was dad calling him and Leon idiots? Surely it had something to do with getting drunk. And perhaps Leon allowing Alistair to get drunk. But why was dad so... emotional about it? Calling them idiots? It wasn't like him. Usually he'd just shrug it off, or maybe snicker about it. Maybe. But this.. it was-

There was a crash, which woke her from her thoughts. And the next thing she knew was the sight of her mom dragging her father by the ear. "I can't believe you dropped down to this level," she frowned with her brow twitching.

"But honey- ow, ow, ow," Yami tried, while still being dragged by Charlotte towards the hallway.

Fuegoleon and William chuckled as they watched Charlotte dragging Yami away, until Fuegoleon felt a similar pull on his ear and he turned to see Solara glaring at him as well.

“ I think that’s quite enough Fuegoleon, I swear I thought you were better than this.” Solara said in a disapproving tone as she dragged her husband out of the room as well, William continued to chuckle as he watched them.

“ My how the mighty have fallen. Both the Lion and the Bull have been tamed and are now as harmless as a house cat and a calf.” He chuckled before it died in his throat when Solara and Charlotte glared at him.

“ You know William, we both still have one free hand each,” Charlotte pointed out and Solara nodded in agreement.

“ And you have two free ears that no one’s pinching, so unless you’d like us both to grab one of your ears. I suggest you keep quiet.” Solara said and William paled a bit but nodded.

“ Geez, when did the adults start acting like children?” Hikari muttered with a sigh and shake of her head.

"You know that it was his son that-" Yami tried to explain to Charlotte, only to have his ear pinched even stronger.

"Don't you dare try continue this," Charlotte glared at him.

"Yeah dad!" Hikari exclaimed marching towards her father. "So what he got drunk?! As a grown man you should be able to be more mature about it!" She scolded him.

Solara sighed, looking at Fuegoleon again with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yes dear..." he only spoke before being let go, and started heading out towards the hallway.

Leon let out a faint snicker, unable to contain the absurdity of the moment, but instead earned a similar glare from his mother. Which made any signs of amusement fade from him. "Nothing mom..."

Meanwhile Charlotte and Hikari, who had proceeded to grab Yami's other ear between her fingers, were dragging Yami out.

And as it all was taking place, everyone else in the room, those who were simply observing, did just that. They looked at it all, unfolding before them without really wanting to intervene.

“ I’ll talk to you guys later, try to sleep off that hangover Alistar.” Hikari said, turning slightly to face the room before walking out with her mother and father, Alistar gave the dark haired girl and his vermillion haired friend a small wave goodbye as they exited the room. William sighed softly and looked at the other Captains and Vice Captains.

“ I apologize for the chaos and for our behavior, I promise this will never happen again. This meeting will continue at a later date, you may leave.” William said, the other captains and vice captains nodded and left the room, Ulla looked at Alistar and he nodded so she also exited the room.

Once the oak doors clicked shut William sighed and walked over towards Alistar and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“ Come on, let’s get you back home.” William said softly, Alistar nodded and stood up, as the room began to spin and tilt slightly he leaned against his father.

“ I’m sorry, this is all my fault. I...I should have been more responsible.” Alistar mumbled softly, if he hadn’t gone out last night and hadn’t gone to the Black Bulls to confess to Hikari, maybe today and the meeting wouldn’t have been such a disaster.

William looked at his son in silence for a moment. It was only the two of them now, so he could speak freely. But he didn't really know what to tell Alistair.

He might have had his white hair, the hair he was now gently stroking as Alistair leaned against him. But his eyes always reminded him of his wife. And, he found himself thinking how she would probably have had something constructive to say.

William looked up to the ceiling, though his gaze extended far further than that. I didn't think this would be so hard... He thought, hoping that she might hear him. Though if you were here, you would probably have dragged me out just like those two were. He smiled to himself.

"Confessing your feelings is hard," William began, trying to think of something comforting, but ending up thinking about how nervous he was around his wife in the beginning. "And... things could certainly have... gone smoother. But... I wasn't exactly on my best behaviour either...." He admitted while turning his gaze back to Alistair.

“ Heh. None of us were on our best behavior.” Alistar admitted with a humorless laugh, things should have gone differently but sadly they hadn’t, he heard his father sigh softly as he continued stroking his son’s head. Even though Alistar was an adult now, he still wanted to try and comfort him the best way he could. Alistar did seem to take comfort in the small gesture as he leaned slightly more into his fathers touch.

“ Did I ever tell you how your mother confessed to me?” William asked suddenly, it was a bit of an embarrassing story, well not embarrassing but it was very...sudden? His son turned his head a bit to look at his father.

“ I don’t think so, was it as bad as what I did?” Alistar asked, William chuckled and shook his head.

“ No it wasn’t as bad as what you did,” Alistar groaned at his fathers words but let him continue. “ Your mother was a very direct person, sure she seemed sweet in public but she was actually quite different when it was just us. Long story short, I went to see her one day and she just came out and said she was in love with me, that she couldn’t imagine spending the rest of her life with anyone else, and asked if I felt the same way.”

“ Sounds like her. I wish I could be that direct.” Alistar mumbled with a soft laugh and his father laughed as well.

“ Your mother was one of a kind.” He admitted with a fond smile as all the memories of him and his wife floated to the surface of his mind.

Alistair looked away with sorrowful eyes, feeling longing that didn't really make sense to him. How could he miss someone who he had never met? But. No matter how absurd it seemed, he did feel sad about not meeting his mother.

"And I'm sure that she would have something helpful to say," William continued while looking at his son. "Either that or then I would be getting dragged away just like Fuegoleon and Yami," he chuckled.

Alistar scoffed a little, thinking about the sight. If the situation would have been anything else than what it was, he might have laughed out loud while witnessing it, depending on who was there to see.

"But.. um...." William tried to think of what he was trying to say a moment before. "It's not easy to confess your feelings. I didn't have to, or I didn't get to, I suppose, be the one to confess. Your mother did that for me. So... you're trying to do something very brave, and... I should scold you for trying to confess with fool's courage," he spoke with a slightly more stern tone of voice. "I can understand why you did so."

Alistair gazed up to his father again, feeling an array of emotions. He wasn't pleased about everything going the way it did. And he wasn't exactly happy about deciding to confess his feelings while drunk. But... His dad was on his side with this.

“ I shouldn’t have been so stupid, but what’s done is done and I can’t change it.” Alistar admitted softly. “ But I can make my next confession better and they way Hikari deserves to be confessed too.” Alistar added with a bit more strength and determination, William smiled with slight pride before he gently ruffled his son's head.

“ I know you will, and if there’s anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to let me know. I’m sure Leon and the others wouldn’t mind helping either.” William said. “ but think it’s time we got you home,” William added as he walked with his son towards the exit, Alistar nodded in agreement as he stood up a little more straight before regretting his decision and leaning against his father again.

“ I hate being hungover.” Alistar grumbled as his father chuckled, he opened the doors as quietly as he could before shutting them softly behind them.

“ Next time you go out with your friends, how about not going to a tavern?” William suggested as his son rolled his eyes at the suggestion.

"It was Ezio's idea," Alistair scoffed.

"Well in that case, perhaps it would be your turn to pick," William chuckled while supporting his son.

"Yeah, I suppose it would," Alistair agreed with a small smile before taking a deep breath and trying to stand a bit more upright. But this time he straightened his posture little by little, unlike before, which made it much more tolerable.

William smiled. And, despite of everything, he was proud. He'd always be proud of Alistair, no matter what. Though, he had to admit, he was sure that they'd both do a little bit better if... it wasn't just the two of them.

So, William gazed up again, asking if his wife was proud of them too. And of course there was no answer. Or... perhaps there was, in the way wind outside made a few petals dance in front of a window.

——-

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day 🥰!

[inkribbon796]

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Summary: Roman and Remus have always fought, always. But this time they’re teaming up for something they both agree on. Getting their mentors together.

A/N: for @aimasup and @pixeldragon45 I might have taken some liberties with the story but I hope you guys like it. I wrote this after seeing this amazing post by aimasup.

Two brothers, royal born but divided in every single way. The elder twin strove for honor and chivalry, raised in the royal court around the other knights and the tales of rulers and knights from the kingdom’s history in ages past. Some stories were true, others had been exaggerated more than a bit. 

The younger twin had been mostly shoved into his elder brother’s shadow — a brother who was older by little less than an hour — and quickly began to act out as a result.

They quickly began to be divided on the battlefield. The younger prince had been kidnapped one day by a powerful shape changing mage when he was sixteen and just decided not to go back and the royal knights found him playing old maid with her in the tower, and he threw them out the door with a note for his parents and brother.

He had declared himself “the monsters’ problem now” and was not coming back.

It was Prince of Sanders Roman’s sword and “good” magic, versus Duke of the Dark Wood Remus’s pranks and illusions.

But that is not today’s story. The fight between good and evil is for another day.

On the edge of the city, bordering the untamable Dark Woods where monsters called home, there was a tavern. It was on a trade road that went around the woods and towards the neighboring kingdom. The tavern was a way stop before reaching the capital city of Roman’s kingdom.

It was absolutely pouring down rain when a cloaked young man ran into the tavern. He pulled down his hood after looking around the tavern. Prince Roman had come to this tavern frequently, it was considered neutral ground because the caravans that came through, the residents of the Dark Woods traded between each other and the merchants protected their clients.

Against a wall, Roman spotted his brother sitting at a table, a plate of food and three empty mugs of ale next to him.

Roman walked over and naturally turned up his nose at the magic keeping Remus from getting too tipsy. “You couldn’t wait until I got in could you?”

“Ahh, brother,” Remus smiled. “I got hungry, I got bored. There’s a very cute bartender over there.”

Remus blew a kiss and waggled his fingers at the young man in question.

“Focus,” Roman hissed at him.

Remus smiled, “So I take it you received my letter?”

“You contemptuous oaf,” Roman sneered at Remus. Roman was pulling out of his cloak a dirt speckled note that had a stick figure drawing of Roman’s fairy godmother and Remus’s mentor, the dragon witch, on it holding hands. The words: canon ship xoxoxoxo maybe?!?! Meet me at the Salty Unicorn at 10pm if you agree plz thx; were written, half scrunched into the left corner of the paper as if the second half was an unplanned addition. On the front it was addressed to: my horridly good brother, Roman; from: your bestest coolest brother, Remus.

Roman shook the note violently. “Did you write this in mud? Mother would have you raked over hot coal for a note this foul!”

Remus clapped in excitement, “So you’ll help me?”

“What type of cad do you take me for?” Roman scoffed, throwing the note down onto the table. “Of course I will.”

Shaking his hands, Remus just about squealed in delight, his smile widening. “The journey will be perilous, brother.”

“Oh please, it will be easy,” Roman scoffed. “It’s true love, and they are already smitten. Half of our job is done for us.”

It was, in fact, not easy. It was easy for the two princes to get back to their homes. But when they met back up at the border of the Dark Woods a couple weeks later, Roman challenged Remus to come out and fight him. The royal prince had to fight several goblins before Remus showed up, mace in hand and swinging it around wildly like a maniac. He managed to hit three goblins, who didn’t scramble away fast enough, in the face before he made contact with Roman’s shield.

Buzzing around Roman was a bright blue hummingbird, a little puffball of feathers and magic. She was fluttering around the royal prince, magic coming off her wings like glitter.

During the twin’s duel for honor and a bit of fun, a flash of shadow flew across as a large bat flew towards him and hit the hummingbird out of the air.

“You fiend!” Roman spat as the hummingbird seemed to glow and in an explosion of feathers a woman appeared in a billowing blue and white dress, the little jewel beads of the dress glittering and sparkling in the light. For a second or two she looked like she was covered in soft down before having more human light tan skin.

“That was a cheap shot,” Althea the fairy godmother reminded tersely as the Dragon Witch turned from a bat to a bony witch in a very dark red dress, her skin an ivory ash color.

“Please it’s almost like you wanted to get hit,” the Dragon Witch reminded. “Besides you two were gaining up on my sweet Remus.”

Althea swept her hair back, which frustrated the Dragon Witch because even in a fight it always looked flowing and fluffy.

“Give up,” the Dragon Witch smiled. “These woods are ours.”

“Never!” Althea shouted. “Your reign of terror is over.”

Lights and magic flew across the battlefield. In the end Remus and Roman had tied again as the Dragon Witch was thrown back by a gust of wind.

“Meddling child,” the Dragon Witch spat.

“Surly, caustic witch,” Althea snapped back. “Be gone and go back to your unhallowed woods. We are victorious.”

“I clearly won,” the Dragon Witch smiled smugly.

Althea made a little angry pout, crossing her arms in a huff, “You’ve done no such thing. Even if you two did win, it would only be because you both cheated.”

The Dragon Witch had some big gloating tirade of sarcastic insults, but seeing her little pout where she puffed out her cheeks a bit and looked like she was sticking her tongue to the inside of her cheek and . . . she . . . what was she going to say again? Something about her cute face? No, Althea would just make fun of her for that.

“Yeah? Well you . . .” The Dragon Witch tried not to look absolutely flustered. “. . . you’re just a poor sport.”

Althea looked angrier while the Dragon Witch was just internally screaming. Poor sport? Who says that? What are you five? Did you just get kicked out of the academy?

Remus was standing behind them, a huge toothy grin on his face that made the Dragon Witch want to have his face dragged in the mud or put worms in his stew.

Glancing at her student again she saw that both he and Roman had stopped fighting and the two of them were just watching the two mages arguing. The whole thing smacked of a trick of some kind and right now the Dragon Witch couldn’t figure out what type of trap that meant.

So she appreciated whatever the hustle was, even though she doubted that Remus had turned on her. He would be up front about it, and predictably violent.

He was a good kid so . . .

She looked over at Roman who seemed to be just as excited as Remus was, except he was staring at Althea . . .

“Wait a second,” the Dragon Witch realized.

“I will not be waiting any seconds,” Althea refused, not understanding.

The Dark Woods mage immediately remembered that the good witch had been talking to her and she had been ignoring her. But one look at her face reminded the witch why she had a crush in the first place.

“Yes or no?” Althea ordered, pointing at her?

“Uh,” the Dragon Witch stalled, staring at her, “no?”

Althea’s face got a bit fuzzy with her anger, the feathers around her face was almost a pinking color.

She looks so adora— no, don’t she’ll just turn you down.

“I can’t believe this, you’re so frustrating,” Althea huffed out. She stomped her feet a bit and grabbed Roman, “We’re leaving.”

“But you didn’t . . .  I mean, justice,” Roman sputtered as he was dragged towards a carriage that had been hiding up the road to stay out of the fight.

“Don’t say a word,” the Dragon Witch ordered Remus as they watched them walk away.

“Why Maggie?” Remus smiled, setting his hands and chin on the hilt of his mace.

“If you don’t, I’ll use your tongue for a gibberish concoction,” she threatened.

“Awwww,” Remus’s grin was particularly sharkish. “Someone’s just being a poor sport.”

The Dragon Witch whipped her staff around and lightly cuffed him on the back of the head.

Inside Roman’s carriage, the royal prince was just listening to his fairy godmother rant at him.

Althea was sitting with her face buried in her hands, her face red as a tomato. “That woman is so infuriating! Ugh, what kind of game is she playing?”

“Who knows with them?” Roman shrugged.

“Maybe if she wasn’t so cute, I’d know what to say,” Althea accidentally said out loud.

She blushed even harder with embarrassment and looked up at Roman. “Uh, I mean—”

Roman stared at her for a second before pulling apart the divider behind them and turning to yell, “Cam! Turn this cart around, we got a date to catch!”

“Roman!” Althea yelled, her face getting even redder. “She’s the queen of the Dark Woods!”

“And the Dark Woods is about to get themselves another fabulous queen,” Roman proclaimed.

The cart had stopped, the driver turned around in his seat to verify, “Are you sure you want to go back to the Dark Woods, Sir?”

“Oh yeah,” Roman smiled. “I know we’re only three minutes out. We could walk there. Oh, and you and Quil are about to cough up five pounds a piece.”

“Roman!” Althea shrieked as the carriage began to move back towards the haunted woods.

“It’s true love, my darlingest mentor,” Roman insisted, “and I have it on good authority that she thinks you’re good looking.”

Althea got even redder, “Who told you that?”

“Well Remus was cruder but I understood the intent,” Roman answered.

“He could be lying,” Althea accused.

“Please, my brother is the worst liar in all the kingdoms,” Roman defended, almost offended for the brother he fought on a regular basis’s honor. “He’s crude, rude, and violent, but he is no liar.”

“She really likes me?” Althea asked.

“How could she not?” Roman demanded. “Now, we have true love to prepare for my dear.”

“Let’s just start at a first date, Roman,” Althea insisted. “It’s a little soon for anything like that.”

“You’ll see,” Roman smiled, looking out the window. “She’s over the moon for you.”

Eventually the carriage stopped because Remus was standing in the middle of the road with the Dragon Witch next to him.

Roman opened a top hatch in the carriage, “Ahh, good, we were just about to go and find you two again.”

“I’d like your men to stop accosting my woods,” the Dragon Witch spat.

“When you get your marauding bandits to stop attacking my people,” Roman bargained.

“How about when you pay my woods back for generations of war crimes?” The Dragon Witch’s eyebrow shot up.

“We shouldn’t have to defend ourselves from being set on fire,” Roman reminded. “I’d be happy to start calling off the war if we could trust you won’t pick up arms against us the moment we have our backs turned.”

“Ugh!” Remus complained. “We’re not here to talk about politics! We’re here to talk about two lovely ladies getting freaky!”

“Ah, thank you Remus,” Roman clapped his hands, smiling. “Thank you, for once, for getting us back on topic.”

Roman waved his hands and when his hand came back up Althea in her hummingbird form was perched on two of his fingers. The royal prince exited the carriage with her, clearing her throat. “Queen Dragon Witch of the Dark Woods, I present to you the Good Witch of the Sanders Kingdom. She is as intelligent as she is brave and you shall be permitted to court her on the grounds that you vow to honor and cherish her, to treat her as the lady she is.”

“That’s it?” The Dragon Witch asked, clearly braced for more.

“Yeah, she has to vow the same,” Remus cut in.

“Naturally, my mentor is no brute,” Roman agreed.

“No I meant is he going to demand anything else of me,” the Dragon Witch told Remus.

Roman briefly ran over his speech in his head and ducked back in to grab the paper he had rehearsed with, reading back over it, “honor and cherish . . . no I got everything.”

“No land, no unfavorable terms?” The Dragon Witch seemed surprised and astonished.

The royal prince made an offended gasp, “My great-great grandfather’s petty squabbles have no bearing when love is on the table. Naturally if any deals for land and power are to be carried out, our courts should both be here for that.”

The Dragon Witch just stared at Roman for a bit before smiling, “You know, you’re a spoiled rich human brat, but I think you’ll actually make a good king one day.”

“Thanks?” Roman wasn’t sure if he’d been insulted or not. “I think?”

The Dragon Witch held out her hand and Althea transformed back, looking a little bit nervous. “You really are the most beautiful fairy in the lands,” the Dragon Witch told her.

Althea was just staring at her, “You are too.”

The twin brothers were standing close to the carriage and Roman’s driver, the three of them just watching the two of them talking.

“Janny owes me big for this,” Remus was almost cackling.

“Are you making deals with that snake?” Roman critiqued.

“How about you get off my ass and let me live my life?” Remus glared at him. “Besides his mother is happy, what could be better than that?”

“You do have to admit,” Cam said to Roman from his seat above them, “they do look happy.”

“Yeah,” Roman sighed, acquiescing on that front.

The two witches talked for a bit before they inevitably had to part ways. They would meet again on the battlefield, but next time it would be a not-so-quiet show of magic, designed to impress rather than harm.

[rueitae]

Writing Roundup 2020

This is a writing reflection I’ve been doing for myself every year for the last four years. Its a positive boost to myself see how far I’ve come and look back on my progress for the past year and look forward to the new year. 

Everyone is welcome to use this same format if they’d like to do the same! 

~~~~~~~

Stats:

Words written:

330,000, which is nearly half of all the words I’ve written on Ao3 in the last three years. 

One Shots Posted (all fics plance unless otherwise stated):

In the Arms of the Ever(pink?) Tree (4463 words)

For the Plance Secret Santa exchange. Post s8 date/not date on a snowy moon. Love confession. 

Birthday Treats (2129 words)

For Pidge’s birthday this year! Domestic family fluff, breakfast in bed, plance kids.

Begin Again (Together) (4805 words)

Canon divergence from before episode one! Pidge and Lance are established dating when alien intervention brings them to where they are supposed to be: with the Blue Lion. Just a brief look into what the AU would look like. 

Common Ground (4521 words)

A treat for my friends who introduced me to Magic Knight Rayearth and pointed out some fun character parallels. There is this beautiful art Arya made to go with it because we’re all trash for both series. Plance meet up with Fuu and Ferio post series for both couples. 

Bonded To You (1808 words)

For the Langstron Halloween Exchange! Established plance with a baby Lance is trying to keep safe from a witch who would take advantage of the child’s heritage. 

It Tasted Good (6785 words)

Pikelavar for Pikelavar Month! The premise is crack, but it's mostly treated seriously. Pike ate the Jewel of Jitan by accident and doesn’t realize it until Haggar finds them. Meklavar gets Protective.

The Remainder of Days (3188 words)

Part of my Bad Things Happen Bingo. Fantasy AU where Pidge is a minor forest goddess and Lance is her neighbor mortal farmer. 

I Love You a Lily More Each Day (3232 words)

Another of the Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon compliant where Lance is undercover at a flower shop and knee deep in an illegal smuggling operation. 

Lease on Life (4978 words)

This one was also part of Bad Things Happen Bingo and was an experiment. It’s POV of an oldest plance kid, canon verse. Her parents’ Paladin days come back to haunt them one night. Some cute family stuff too in there. 

Ready to Dance (4135 words)

For the Valentine’s Day exchange! Post series. Lance tries to get back into the party scene and Pidge rescues him from a disastrous night. 

Loopholes (5476 words)

Technically I didn’t write this fic this year, but a very kind reader asked if I would post this to Ao3, so it was my first fic of the year on Ao3. It’s Lotura! Originally a gift for a dear friend I’ve had since elementary school. It’s a fantasy AU where Lotor stumbles into Allura’s kingdom needing help. 

Next to Me (7311 words)

Also for Bad Things Happen Bingo, this is probably one of my favorite fics of the year. This is the canon verse AU that went all wrong in s7, and Sendak succeeds in destroying Earth. Lance and Pidge end up not only his prisoners, but also two of the last humans in the universe. Ends open ended, but it became a series in the end!

Into Me (14248 words)

The sequel to the above fic. There are two versions, this and the one below. The title tells all. Lance and Pidge come to terms with their new life aboard Sendak’s flagship and do their best to keep the other comforted.

Into Me (non-explicit version) (7228 words)

Exactly the same as the fic above, only this one is SFW

Sunshine (3831 words)

A Bad Things Happen Bingo! One of my favorite concepts. Canon verse. Pidge gets sick while she and Lance are on a scientific mission. 

Showoff (635 words)

A really short fic for a friend on their birthday, featuring their plance kids!

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

A fic I have been wanting to write for a very long time. I love the concept of Pidge as a Disney Princess in the sense she has the forest guardian theme and all these animals love her. So there’s some play on that as the Paladins stop for lunch on their journey back to Earth in early s7. Lance comes to a realization and they have a chat surrounded by the animal friends. @anchoredtetherart did a phenomenal piece to accompany it. Please look at it in awe here.

The Hardest Part (3960 words)

For Bad Things Happen Bingo! An AU of the episode The Reunion where Pidge doesn’t return when she’s supposed to. 

A Planned Sacrifice (4988 words)

Another Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon verse. Pidge assumes that being a sacrifice for the ‘forest god’ is strictly ceremonial and at worst a wild animal. It’s actually Sendak, who no one has seen since Shiro shot him out of the Castle. He remembers Pidge and is far too pleased to see her again, tied up on a silver platter. 

Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone (3946 words)

Bad Things Happen Bingo. AU sometime in s1 where Haxus isn’t as dead as Pidge thought. 

Touch (7519 words)

Written for the Lance Goes Boom bang! It was inspired by @fenixseraph ‘s amazing art here! It’s a different take on The Way Forward, where Pidge and Lance are separated from the rest of the team and placed in their own cell. And the Red Lion causes issues. 

Chaptered Fics started/added to:

Wolf In Thieves’ Clothing (4516 words)

An AU of The Castle of Cagliostro from Lupin the Third series. Lee, you have my thanks forever for making me watch this finally. Pidge is a literal princess whose kingdom is in the middle of an internal coup. Lance is a gentleman thief who rides with his best buds Hunk and Matt. Their paths are destined to cross again when Lance goes back to the castle he used to call home. 

Game of Love (4593 words)

The most crack of the bunch. AU of Fall the of the Castle of Lions where Sendak and Haxus get away with it all. Pidge and Lance are prisoners on Haxus’ new ship, and Lance finds an opportunity for eventual escape when he learns that Haxus has a crush on his second in command. Operation matchmaker begins. (happy ending planned for all)

What Tides May Bring (20704 words)

Collab with the fantastic @anchoredtetherart for MerMay! Established plance as mermaids and guardians of their elements with adorable mer child. Then angst because they are all captured by a ‘research’ institute. 

Seasons of Magic (16546 words)

I actually added a chapter this year! Ongoing collection of one-shots with mage Pidge who lives in the country and cultivates her plant magic and makes potions with the assistance of her dragon familiar, Lance. Mostly domestic fluff. 

Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words)

Added another chapter this year to my Keith-centric AU. It’s basically VLD but five years early and they’re all literally child Paladins. Keith gets to meet Krolia earlier and its fun to go into tween friendships as they try and navigate the reality of their situation. 

Seeds (48833 words)

Added a ton earlier this year. A collection of plance fics all or mostly under 500 words. All meant to be adopted by others if interest strikes. Covers many genres.

Chaptered Fics Finished:

Resolve to Fly (75799 words)

Written for the Pidge Angst Bang. My artist @alchemie0 did an outstanding job capturing the feel of the fic. Look at the art here! Canon verse AU where Pidge encounters Haxus, who has crashed on Earth. She helps him repair his ship in excitement and good faith, which he pays back by kidnapping her. For two years she survives as little more than a housepet on Sendak’s ship. Gen.

Who's Protecting Who? (28989 words)

Also technically not written this yeah, but posted. A collab with Hush waaaay back in 2018. It's a plance Altean AU with Pidge as distant royalty and Lance as a bodyguard.

A Dish Served Cold (21533 words)

Finally finished this one! Canon verse in which Pidge accidentally runs into Sendak on an isolated planet. Sendak takes advantage of this encounter and tries to return to the Empire with her in tow. Much Pidge whump. Gen

Reflections: 

Best title 

I still really really love Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words). Because it's too soon for the Paladins to be Paladins, and for Keith it's not nearly soon enough for Krolia to return. It just feels like it has a lot of heart to it. I hope I can keep it going, but my ideas are incredibly scattered for it. 

Worst title 

Touch (7519 words). Yeah it’s a play on ‘Don’t you touch her’ but it feels soooo dry. 

Best/worst last line

Best: This was really, really hard choice this year, but ultimately, making up for the terrible title, its Touch (7519 words) 

“It feels good to escape the ship with all of his teammates, secure in the knowledge that he has a way forward not just as a Paladin, but also with Pidge.” 

- Not only did I manage to fit the title of the episode in there, it's got that hopeful tinge to it and reflects on personal growth both internally and with Pidge. 

Worst: This one isn’t necessarily bad from Begin Again (Together) (4805 words), but it could be better. It didn’t get quite the epic sense I was hoping to pull from it.

“Okay,” he smirks, hand firmly on the throttle. “Operation save Earth starts now.”

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Definitely wrote way more. Even with posting two fic that are essentially the exact same, I still ended up writing nearly half of my total Ao3 word count this year. (330,000/670,000). Doing Bad Things Happen Bingo was a bit part of that - I was very inspired at the beginning of this year - but also there were many events I participated in (8 total!!) on top of my personal projects. 

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

A really hard decision this year, because there are several that make me really happy. I think oddly enough though, it’s Game of Love (4593 words) because of its potential and how much crack it is. It has such whacky rom-com energy to it but also that underlying angst of the situation I can fall back on. My favorite trope to explore is what happens to the characters when they’re captured. I just really enjoy the concept and the challenge to make such a concept believable with minimal suspension of belief. 

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

Using kudos as my gauge (and not counting the chapter fics), the winner is: 

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

Not surprising because Ivy’s art is STUNNING.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

I think that’s It Tasted Good (6785 words), the pikelavar fic. Pikelavar is underappreciated in general

Story that could have been better?

For all I was excited to write Sunshine (3831 words), it didn’t quite fall the way I had imagined in my mind. I don’t know if it was the structure or I was running out of steam or what. All i know is that I wanted more but all I could concentrate on was that scene where he’s caring for her in bed. Maybe I was just too ambitious.

Sexiest story?

No brainer it's Into Me (14248 words). Literally. Which really shocked me that it happened. Didn’t think I’d write any smut at all, let alone this year. This particular fic just kinda called out for it 

Saddest story?

The prequel to the above fic: Next to Me (7311 words). How much more sad can you get than Earth being destroyed, being Sendak’s prisoners all while trying to tell each other ‘i love you’ without seeming weird because you’re the last humans in the universe. 

Most fun?

I think it's Ready to Dance (4135 words). Just Valentine’s fluff and impromptu slow dancing in the park at night. 

Story with single sweetest moment?

I’m picking What Tides May Bring (20704 words). Listen, mer Lance and mer Pidge playing with their mer baby in their domestic paradise is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Dad Lance has my heart. 

Hardest story to write?

The last chapter of A Dish Served Cold (21533 words) was like pulling teeth. I’m pretty happy with it in the end but at the time man it was so hard. 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote smut. It was...weird? But also strangely calming. I wrote more for another fic but it's still a WIP. I definitely need to be in the mood to write it. 

Proudest Achievement:

The Pidge Angst Bang. Resolve to Fly (75799 words). Look at that word count. I only wanted something under 3k at first, so it was just going to be Pidge meeting Haxus. But by the time I finished that part it was already 10k. So even though I was going through a rough part of my life, I just kept going and it ended up being my therapy. I’m really proud of the fic and I love my artists’ pieces. It really lifted my spirits. (You should all really go check out the Ao3 collection of all the bang stories and art they are AMAZING you won’t regret. If you love Pidge angst they are all must reads.)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

I’d like to finish my Bad Things Happen Bingo card and then focus on my current WIP, that includes the Seeds collection. There are days I still feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still trying to find a routine after moving. I’d like to do more events too, but I think I need to be more selective about which ones I do. I don’t want to burn myself out. 

Apart from that, I’d really like to try and give back to the community more. I’d like to start consciously writing fics for others without an event to go by. 

Past Years:

2017

2018

2019

[gayrett-hawke]

Getting to Know Hawke

Basics

Name: Garrett Hawke

Age at the start of their game: 27 (born 30 Firstfall, 9:03 Dragon)

Gender: Male

Sexual orientation: Gay

Race: Human

Class: Mage

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 227 lbs

Eyes: Brown

Hair color/texture: Black; Wavy (not that you can tell with how short it normally is)

Skin tone: Ivory

Do they tan or freckle?: He definitely tans, and he gets some freckles too, but they're so faint, it's hardly noticeable

Any distinctive physical characteristics?: Other than being a big, beefy boy with a fabulous beard? Just some scars here and there, most notably the one across his nose that he usually covers with war paint

Personality

Personality type: ESFP-T

Optimist, pessimist, or realist?: Realist

Best traits:

Charming

Friendly

Outgoing

Compassionate

Loyal

Worst flaws:

Self-Deprecating

Foolhardy

Soft-Hearted

Audacious

Evasive

Tropes that apply to them:

All-Loving Hero

Almighty Janitor

Aloof Big Brother

Badass Unintentional

Because Destiny Says So

Benevolent Boss

Beware the Silly Ones

Big Brother Instinct

Bullying a Dragon

The Caretaker

Casual Danger Dialogue

The Charmer

Cosmic Plaything

Deadpan Snarker

The Dutiful Son

Failure Hero

Fight Magnet

Friend to All Children

Heroic Self-Deprecation

Hurting Hero

It's All My Fault

Let's Get Dangerous!

Living Emotional Crutch

Magic Knight

Magnetic Hero

Modest Royalty

Must Make Amends

Nay-Theist

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!

Non-Idle Rich

Obfuscating Stupidity

One-Man Army

Properly Paranoid

Rage Breaking Point

Reluctant Warrior

Right Man in the Wrong Place

Royals Who Actually Do Something

Sad Clown

Seen It All

The Snark Knight

Warrior Therapist

You Are Better Than You Think You Are

Are there any songs that particularly suit them?:

Forever Young by Youth Group

Don't Stop Me Now by Queen

Warriors by Imagine Dragons

Smile by Nat King Cole

For You I Will by Tata Young

If yes, would they agree with your selections?: Yeah, probably, but he might prefer I leave out the 4th one

Preferences

Favorite color: Red

Favorite animal: DRAGONS!

Taste in clothing: Casual. Anything that's comfortable, sturdy, and at least somewhat decent-looking

How do they feel about mage rights?: Would like some, thank you

How do they feel about the other races of Thedas?: As long as the personality is decent, he gets along with them. Also, Qunari are big and strong, and he admires them from an aesthetic point of view

Are they religious?: Not especially, but he technically was raised Andrastian

If they were to find themselves in a modern AU

Favorite food: Burgers

Drink order: Dark and Stormy, Old-Fashioned, or Whiskey Sour

What would they wear for a night out?: An obnoxiously-tight black t-shirt, a red flannel with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of jeans, and some black Doc Martens

Song(s) that would be sure to get them on the dance floor:

Take on Me by a-ha

Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

All Star by Smash Mouth

Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65

Ma Ya Hi (Dragostea Din Tei) by Dan Balan and Lucas Prata

What Is Love by Haddaway

Careless Whisper by George Michael

Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley

YMCA by Village People

Rasputin by Boney M

U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer

Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye

September by Earth, Wind, and Fire

College major: Kinesiology or Paleontology, maybe

Ideal date: Amusement Park

Favorite movie and/or film genre: Shrek 2; Comedy

Family/Friends/Love Life

Relationship with their parents: Garrett was very close to Malcolm. As the firstborn and a fellow mage, he had plenty of time to bond with his father and follow in his footsteps. His relationship with Leandra wasn't as solid, though. He always wanted to make her proud, but she put a lot on him after his father died, and he mostly just accepted that she needed someone to take her pain out on

Siblings (outside of canon): Surprising or no, Hawke really loves Carver. He's not great at being serious and all that, but he does actually care and would do anything for his younger brother. He also realizes how much Carver has had to deal with and is willing to be an emotional punching bag whenever he needs it. His relationship with Bethany was a lot better, since they spent a lot of time learning magic together, and she was more willing to let loose than Carver. She was his rock, and the rest of the family's too, and her loss affected him deeply

Best friend(s): Varric, Isabella, Anders (initially), and Inquisitor Adaar (if she is able to exist in the RP)

Companion(s) they get along best with: Fenris, Isabella, Varric, Merrill, and Anders (initially)

Companion(s) they get along worst with: Carver (one-sided), Sebastian, and Anders (eventually)

Companion(s) from other games in the series you wish they could meet, and why: Alistair back when he was a Grey Warden, just because of the sheer amount of goofy himbo energy they both have

Age of sexual debut: Probably around 16 or 17 (but please don't be creepy about it; mun is ace and is only basing this age on what they heard about from their peers in high school)

Romanced: Fenris (RPs will not go beyond flirting with anyone he met after this man who stole his heart)

Relationship status as of the end of Inquisition: Partners

Are there any songs that particularly suit their romance?:

All On Me by Devin Dawson (with altered gender terms)

Did I Mention by Jeff Lewis and Mitchell Hope (again, altering gendered vocabulary)

Arms by Christina Perri

Latch by Sam Smith

What are they like as a romantic partner?: Snarky and playful, but ultimately putty in his partner's hands. He's a bit of a hopeless romantic and will turn his whole life upside down to please the one he loves. Also prone to grand romantic gestures and spontaneous displays of affection

Do they enjoy cuddling?: Absolutely!

Do they want children?: Not particularly

Do they (now or eventually) have children?: No

Skills

Can they cook?: A bit

Can they sing/play an instrument?: Sing? Sure. Play an instrument? No

Are they a good dancer? If not, do they do it anyway?: He can be, but it's much more fun to goof off and entertain the people around him

Do they have any creative hobbies?: Not really

Any martial training beyond their main weapon?: Malcolm trained him in swordfighting before his magic kicked in

Languages spoken: The common tongue and a bit of Tevene he picked up from Fenris

Any other unique skills they'd like us to know about?: He's pretty talented at drinking, but anything else he'd like you to know probably wouldn't be appropriate to repeat

Template

[therovingstar]

So I’ve been lowkey obsessed over the last several weeks with Odzaya just maxing out all the healing jobs and essentially being an “omnihealer” in canon. She already has WHM and AST under her official canon belt, but the reason I couldn’t see her going Scholar basically came down to the fact that she’s not a bookworm lol, she doesn’t do the whole research/theory/scientific speculation stuff that the Arcanists’ Guild is so known for (and I tried to get her to be, I really did; she just didn’t wanna).

But I think I may have found a way for her to go down that path and still have it be in-character. Cue another mini essay:

So back in Heavensward and Stormblood, after Odzaya (re)found her true niche as a healer, Alisaie offered to introduce her to Red Magic, specifically after it was thrown out there that Odzaya was technically proficient in Black Magic from ARR (an attempt at some soul-searching that didn’t work out, which is why she tends not to use it). Odzaya accepted, thinking it a fun idea (and feeling genuinely good about herself and her abilities for the first time in almost a decade). Well, Alphinaud, ever being in secret lowkey competition with Ali for Odzaya’s attention, suggested that she learn Scholar and/or Summoner, as well.

Odzaya had her reservations about that one. Again, the book thing. But for little brother’s sake, she tried it, and enrolled in the Arcanists’ Guild at the same time she sought out X’rhun Tia.

Long story short, one job out of the three stuck. You can probably guess which one. But just in case you can’t, just know that it’s an ongoing joke that Odzaya’s technically a school drop-out.

Needless to say, Alphinaud was sorely disappointed, especially since Odzaya proceeded to be a Red Mage for the entirety of post-SB with (a very smug) Alisaie at her side. Well, fast forward on past Shadowbringers (which Odzaya did as a Dark Knight, cuz Elidizenos made her go a little feral), and things are more or less back in a good place. Odzaya hung up the DRK mantle after its need was served, and she was back in her healer boots. Well, over the course of the research done to get the Scions back to the Source, she actually expresses interest in some of the technicalities of the whole deal, which she usually avoids and leaves to the more scholarly-minded members of the team. She even asks questions insightful enough for Beq Lugg to comment upon, prompting a conversation that just so happens to bring up her drop-out status at the Arcanists’ Guild. While the group get a good-natured chuckle out of it, Alphinaud comments in a way that makes it clear he always held out hope that she would return to the guild and give it another try.

Well, to everyone’s surprise, Odzaya shrugs and says, “I guess I could.”

“Really?” Alphinaud asks, daring to hope. “But it seemed not to resonate with you before. Why now?”

“Why not?” she replies. “It could be interesting, getting a better grasp on all of...this.” She smirks at him. “And it might rid your face of that pout. But only if you help me through the dry parts.”

“That’s practically every part,” Alisaie mutters. Alphinaud’s too busy seeing stars and planning a curriculum to pay her any mind.

And that’s how Odzaya starts on the path to becoming a nerd. I headcanon that between job quests, she’s learning largely on the First from Alphi, Urianger, and Beq Lugg, with some additional help from Y’Shtola and Ali. She tends to hang out in Il Mheg while studying; Urianger graciously offers his little cottage for her to use, which she sometimes does, but she also goes into the wilderness, where the sunshine and flora create a stimulating-enough atmosphere for her to focus. The pixies will sometimes hang with her (and play with Eos and Selene) and she also heads over to Wolekdorf and spends time with the amaro, especially (of course) Seto.

The research and books are still an obstacle, though, so I’ve decided that to help Odzaya get through them, the others leave little anecdotes in her tomes for her. Yes, the books are desecrated with margin-writing, though they are at least neat. Diagrams, SparkNotes-type explanations from her various teachers, and when Odzaya’s attention inevitably wanders, little doodles, short diary-type entries, some cooking and medicinal recipes, as well as some of the blank pages used for pressed herbs and flowers lol.

(If you look deep enough, there are also scribbled formulas in her handwriting, theories, quotes copied from other codexes and grimoires. About vessels and spirits, summoning and reincarnation, about aether manipulation, and about soul transference. And a single name attached to it all: Ardbert.)

Story-wise, post-ShB is a good time for her to learn and master SCH/SMN as they hearken back to Hausos, my personal Azem who, unlike Odzaya, was a bit of an eccentric bookworm and hardcore seeker of everything ~knowledge~. A rather appropriate reference for that part of the story, I think.

[mirage-05]

Operation Lovebirds - Stingyu

Okay people, so here is another little piece me and @eleanor-devil worked on ^^ The main topic is Stingyu, and you will see once again my OC Rin (the youngest mage of Sabertooth currently), her OC Eleanor and a dear friend’s OC, Glacé as well, although they obviously don’t have a big part in it. Metra, who is also mentioned, is a canon Sabertooth character from the manga that we decided to name. Quick notes on Rin; her full name is Trinity, she came to Magnolia after a dark mage who killed her father in front of her eyes when she was just four, she is mostly known by her nickname Rin but because she gets on his nerves a lot Rogue also calls her nitwit XD Please remember that feedback is very important and it fuels us to share more of what we have about this beautiful couple, and write more!

---

"I need to talk to you." Rin's voice startled her at first and it nearly made the girl drop the glass she was drying up at the moment, looking at her teammate with a sweatdrop on her face, Eleanor spoke up.

"W-What is it Rin? You really need to stop sneaking up on me like that..." Needless to say that it wasn't the first time the blonde did that to her, although she knew Gash was gone for good, Eleanor still held some trauma from the time she had been with him.

"Operation Lovebirds!" the young girl said while a big grin made it's way to her face.

The magnetic mage blinked her blue eyes for a moment. "Operation... Lovebirds...?"

The girl took a (supposedly) surreptitious glance around, making sure that no one was eavesdropping on them. Which didn't really seem necessary to Eleanor because the next thing she said was, "Meet me in my room in fifteen minutes? This is emergency."

Another sweatdrop... honestly it was sometimes really hard to keep up with the youngest tiger. "Rin, I can't really leave my work now-"

"Ianna-san," Rin called to the other barmaid with Eleanor, who was cleaning up one of the coffee filters. "I need to take Eleanor for a few, would that be okay with you?" 

"Yep, Rin-chan, not a problem." Ianna said with a smile, the guild hall wasn't really crowded right now anyway. Rin grinned up at the magnet mage. "See you soon then."

Eleanor sighed. As if she gave her another choice...

...

And so that was how she found herself in the girl's room in fifteen minutes. Rin was sitting cross-legged on her bed, so Eleanor sat across from her on a chair. "Okay... what's this about?"

"Sting-nii and Yuki-nee!" the girl said while raising a finger in the air but Eleanor was even more confused, first still over the weird name that Rin had mentioned earlier, Operation Lovebirds was it? And second why had this little kid called her away from her job to talk about one of her friends and their guild Master?

"I don't think I'm following Rin..."

"Isn't it obvious? Yuki-nee has been avoiding Sting-nii ever since Sting-nii pretended to be your boyfriend!" Okay, yes it was true that Sting had pretended to be with her but that was all to corner Gash and make him come out of his hiding spot, they knew better than anyone that jealousy fueled the guy but about the part of Yukino avoiding Sting...

"Um... Rin, I saw them talking normally to each other this morning..."

"Look..." Rin's tone was patient and understanding... like she was trying to explain this to a five year old. Eleanor didn't know what she should feel about it. "She talks normally of course and Sting-nii is oblivious by default but... Yuki-nee is shy, and proud, she will never talk to him directly."

"I think you are reading too many novels." the magnet mage said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Come ooon, don't you want to help me El? They would make such a cute couple together!" 

Oh boy, Eleanor thought. Knowing both of the said friends, she knew they wouldn't like any kind of intervention in their personal business... and knowing Rin, she knew she wouldn't give up easily on what she thought was necessary. "Rin they are adults, they should solve this themselves."

"We will all die, they will become old walking around with wood sticks before they confess to each other!" Eleanor honestly felt like facepalming at the exaggeration of the girl but in a way it was suddenly funny to imagine her two friends, all old, white or grey hair, wrinkles all over their faces and backs bent down, supported by sticks... Okay no she needed to get that image out of her head. "Sooo? What do you say??" pressed the kid while showing her big grin.

The magnet mage sighed, exasperated. "Okay okay I will help you." Someone has to make sure you don't go overboard, was what she didn't add.

"Yaaay you are the best!" the girl was practically jumping up and down, and Eleanor couldn't help but roll her eyes although she was smiling - she would probably never understand Rin's enthusiasm in playing the matchmaker - or well, in pranking Rogue for that matter. She had once asked Sting about it... and the blond had just played it off for the kid being... well, a kid. 

"So... what do you have in mind? How are we going to pull this off?"

"I'm open for more ideas but... since Sting-nii loves eating and Yuki-nee is an amazing cook..." she couldn't deny either of her points. "I was thinking maybe persuading Yuki-nee to prepare something just for him. Maybe you can keep Sting-nii away while I help Yuki-nee make him his fav-" she backtracked. "...a memorable dinner."

"Okay, I can manage to keep Sting away..." maybe there was a mission somewhere that would be enthusiastic enough for him to accept to do with her. "But I think we have a bigger problem in hands than keeping a dragon out of the kitchen..."

"Hm? What is it?" Rin tilted her head to the side.

"We... aren't the only ones at the guild remember? We have lots of members that love to go steal food from the kitchen." She was mainly refering to Orga, whose guildmates had caught him assaulting the fridge... even in the middle of the night.

"Oh! Right! Hm..." the blonde girl put a hand under her chin while thinking really hard of a solution for that problem, then she closed her fist and bumped it into her open palm. "I think I know how to kick them out of the guild earlier!"

Kick... them out? Eleanor didn't know if she liked the sound of those words and she had the feeling that either nobody would listen... or knowing Rin she would end up dragging more people into this... Operation Lovebirds and the magnetic mage knew all too well that when the whole guild tried to get involved in something... it didn't end well. But she would wait and see. Maybe, just maybe things would turn out okay...

...

"How about this one?" Eleanor showed to the white dragon slayer what was the sixth job request but the blond continued staring at the options with an unamused expression.

"Boring..." and that was all it took for the girl to hang her head in despair.

 "Oh come ooon Sting! There has to be a job that you like!" she didn't really want to use this card but this was requesting drastic measures. "I thought we got all the coolest jobs now that..." she bit her lip while eyeing the blond that was now arching an eyebrow. "Now that Fairy Tail is gone?"

Those words apparently touched a nerve. "That's part of it!" Sting was pouting now. "It doesn't make it half as fun when I know there isn't the competition with the Fairy Tail!" Well truth to be told, this had been the reason why they weren't participating in this year's games... Their master could be impossible when it came to Fairy Tail.

"Can't you think of it as honoring Natsu and his skills?" This was really dangerous water, but she had to push it and so far (thankfully) Sting wasn't taking it half as bad as he could. "I need your help on this one, y'know." Which was also true, the job was about some gold robbery... the one metal she had no power over (it could be said that she had purposefully taken that one). 

He could have deflected her, he could have told her to pick someone else for the job... but for whatever reason, Sting decided to humor the magnet mage for this once. "Okay, okay... I will come with you."

...

Watching the backs of the master and her new partner in crime fading into the distance, Rin felt proud of herself. Phase one of the operation complete... now it was her turn.

She looked at the small, red bag in her right hand (times spent with Natsu-san in Fairy Tail were never a waste). "Alright... here it goes."

...and that was how, a few seconds later, a blur in the shape of a little girl was running wild in the guild hall, screaming bloody murder as... what looked like blood squirted everywhere from her hand. Needless to say, everyone present was alarmed.

"Rin? What happened?!" Orga asked. 

"A squirrel... this size..." the girl showed with her hands what she thought was the appropriate size of a monster squirrel. "...bit me! It should be veeery dangerous, it nearly bit my hand off!"

"I don't have any memory of squirrels being able to do that..." Rufus said with a slight frown.

"Is this one of your silly pranks?" Rogue demanded, obviously not in the mood for one - well, he was the most frequent victim after all. 

"No, it's not you-" Rin caught herself before she ruined the act. "Oh! Oh, I can see the light... go and catch that little monster before it hurts anyone else..." and with that, she ended her dramatic action crumpling to the ground.

There was an awkward silence throughout the guild as they all  created a circle around the "fainted" child... nobody even dared to go down and pick her up but Metra was the first one to break the silence.

"Rin... what is going on?" 

The girl didn't answer and it was all it took for Rogue to roll his eyes at how melodramatic this kid was. "She isn't dying just so you know, her heartbeat is fine, she is just pretending."

Damn Dragon Slayer senses, damn Rogue... he was going to ruin everything! Seeing that nobody was falling for her trick, Rin finally opened her green eyes and sat up, bearing a big pout on her lips. "You guys suck, can't you just play along for a bit?? I need you to cooperate...!"

"Cooperate on...?"

Rin glared at Rogue but answered anyway. "In getting you all out of the guild before 7pm!"

"Nope. No. Whatever you're trying to pull off, I want no part in it." That being said, Rogue walked over to one of the chairs in the bar and sat down, with apparently no intentions whatsoever of ever leaving there. 

There was a brief flare of light, and everyone present gasped as Rin's attack hit the shadow dragon slayer in the face - obviously not doing much of an effect but enough to piss the black haired man off. In a moment the two tigers were nose to... err, nose, in a manner of speech, glaring each other down.

"You really want to go down this road, nitwit?" There was a vein popping on Rogue's forehead - it was honestly a wonder for all of the Sabertooth members how Rin could be so brave - or foolish - to keep getting on his nerves like that.

"Leave nicely and we won't have to." Rin countered, not backing down at all. For a moment she glanced at the clock hanging over the bar, announcing 5pm already but then went back to exchange glares with the shadow dragon slayer.

"Okay okay why do you want us to leave in the first place?" said Glacé as he put himself between the two tigers, trying to avoid a murder right in the middle of the guild hall.

"It's for Sting-nii's sake!"

Rogue crossed his arms. "He is out on a job with Eleanor dummy."

Another glare. "You think I don't know that? It's part of the plan dumba-" Glacé had put his hands over the kid's mouth before she even dared to finish the word, they really needed to stop saying swear words in front of her. Rin mumbled something not understandable under Glacé's hands before pulling them down so she could speak. "Yuki-nee is going to cook him dinner okay?"

"You lost me now..." Orga was stretching his head. "Yukino always cook something for us..."

"I can't believe you people!" the girl was becoming so impatient that she was actually stomping her feet - they were losing precious time here! "Don't you ever read any romance novels? I'm trying to do something nice for them if you just let me!"

"I think you're reading too many novels..." Metra said, shaking her head. "They are both-"

"...adults who won't confess to each other in a million years. Yeah, I know." and she was pouting even more now. "That's why they need a little push in the right direction. Or well, a big one if it comes to that."

"And I can't believe we're honestly all just standing here listening to you..."

"No, now that I think of it, it's actually a good idea." That was Orga, again. "But instead of getting us out why don't you let us help?"

"Stop encouraging her!" Rogue yelled.

The girl's green eyes immediately shone bright. "Really?? You would do that??" and the huge green haired man showed her a big grin before setting his fist on his chest.

"Yep! I am actually an expert in getting people together!"

"No, you're really not." mumbled Rufus, attempting to not roll his eyes but received a big glare from the lightning god slayer.

"Oh shut up!" he said. "Can we at least do this for our Master?? He has done a lot for us lately, the latest thing we can is help him back!"

"See! He understands me!" 

Rogue was honestly feeling like facepalming at this point, he really didn't have the patience for this. "And have any of you even pondered on, I don't know, ask both the involved if they want anything of the sort...?!"

"Of course they do!" the girl sounded so sure of herself but Rogue could bet on anything that if Sting was here right now... he would regret ever agreeing to accept this little monster into the guild. "There would come a time they will thank me and all those involved in it and I will make sure to mention you weren't of any help at all!"

And that was about it with his patience. "Yeah, right, works for me. I have a job to take care of anyway." He looked around for his exceed. "Frosch?"

"Fro wants to help Rin too..."

"Oh come on!!"

With a final blown raspberry from their youngest mage, Rogue pretty much stomped off to the door - only to see Yukino just entering the guild. "Hi everyone."

"Hi." it was all Rogue mumbled before he walked past her, to Yukino all he knew was that the shadow dragon slayer was in a bad mood... had he and Sting-sama fought again and "ended" their partnership? The girl could only shake her head with a soft smile on her lips as she walked towards the guild hall... and for some reason all the stares were on her... making her sweat.

"U-Um... is everything okay...?" she felt a sweatdrop roll on her cheek. "Did I miss anything?"

Silence for a while... and then suddenly the guild was back to what it was, noisy, loud and busy which only confused the celestial mage. Rin took this chance to approach the person she viewed as her hero.

"Yuki-nee, come with me!" she took her hands and dragged her towards the kitchen. "I have an idea for the dinner of tonight!"

"O-oh... um is that so?"

"Yeeep! See, I want it to be something special for Sting-nii, something I know he would love, because I never got to thank him properly for accepting me..." Yukino chose not to comment on that... for all her good intentions, Rin did try in the past, but she almost always overdid it. The celestial mage was actually kinda scared about what was going to happen now... 

"And... you know what he loves to eat?" For her it was a bit of a stretch that Rin would know about that, but the girl sounded so sure of herself.

"Oh it's nothing too complicated - although you would ace that too if it was." the girl said with a big grin. "It's actually a steak meal - but the trick is all in the dressing." Opening the refrigerator, she took out a plate of strawberries, which made the celestial mage sweat drop again.

"We... are going to make a dressing with strawberries?" That sounded more like Rin than Sting-sama.

"Nope. These are for me." The girl put the plate on the counter and returned to the fridge to take out more ingredients.

Yukino giggled at the amount of ingredients the girl was bringing just to make the dressing, she wondered if Sting-sama would even eat all that but she suddenly remembered the blond could have a ferocious appetite when he wanted to. She hadn't seen him in the guild hall when she arrived so she could only guess that the Master was either locked in his office doing paperwork or had gone on a mission (without Rogue apparently), either way she knew from experience that the light dragon slayer would be famished at the end of the day.

The girls then began preparing all the food for dinner.

About two hours later, just as Rin had planned, Sting and Eleanor returned from their succeeded mission but before they even made it to the guild, Eleanor had excused herself saying she needed an urgent bath which left the guild master to return on his own. Not that he minded though but he had mumbled sarcastically under his breath 'Women', apparently they couldn't have a little bit of sweat in their body.

His steps came to a halt as he entered the guild. Well, that was unheard of... the guild was actually very quiet, devoid of all the hustle and bustle of the various guild members - which was unsettling to say the least. It would almost remind him of the old Sabertooth, if it wasn't for the pool and the soft glow coming from it - wait what?

Intrigued (or rather, worried) the master immediately made it to the pool side... and what he saw made his jaw drop.

The first thing that registered about the scenery - literally the first thing to see - were... hundreds and hundreds of candles... everywhere. Beside the pool, on the eaves, on a holder in the mouth of one of their tiger statues (now that was just plain rude)... and finally on a table for two right beside the pool, which was, aside from the dinnerware and candles... were also decorated with rose petals. Lots of them.

"What the...?" he was speechless - and not of the good kind. "Hey guys - you know just how many fire hazards all these pose just now?"

As if that wasn't enough (because apparently it wasn't) a slow music begin to play... altho it was so that one could almost go to sleep listening to it. 

"Sting-sama?" he then heard a voice, although it sounded a little... unsure too... accompanied with a mouth-watering smell.

Sting turned around, although he knew who the voice belonged to, there really was only one person in the whole guild that treated him with that honorific - he knew it was out of respect but it honestly made him feel... old...

"Hey Yukino." the man looked around while scratching his head. "What is this all about?" 

"Um... I'm actually not sure... I have been in the kitchen preparing dinner since I got here..." Now that she remembered, Rin was also missing, although she had told her she was just going to get something really quick... "Where is everyone?" 

'I hoped you knew that,' he thought as he took one of the seats and Yukino set the food on the table. "I have no idea nor why there are all these candlesticks around the guild."

"Umm... yeah... it seems to be a very... peculiar setting..." trying her best not to blush, hard, Yukino lowered her gaze to the table. The truth was that... no matter how hard she tried, it remains to be the fact that she still had a big crush on the master... she had been somewhat successful to curb it down a notch while she was away from Sabertooth but returning to the guild, and more than that... seeing just how far (for the good) Sting-sama had changed... it would be a lie if she said that didn't rekindle some of that old flare.

"Ugh... those idiots... as if we can't just eat dinner, the two of us, as friends. Right Yukino?" That was when Sting finally truly noticed her face. "Eh , are you okay? You're all red..."

"N-no, I mean yes, I'm fine."

"Must be these candles, seriously, there's overdoing and there's insanity. Lemme just snuff out a-"

"No, please!" the celestial mage said immediately, trying to control her blush. "W-why don't we continue with the dinner?" Suddenly, she was intrigued to hear his opinion on this one, partly because she was curious about how accurate was Rin's predictions on their master's choice of appetite.

The blond thought about it for a minute, then shrugged. "Sure, I'm ravishing anyway." 

And so they started eating, Yukino carefully watching Sting. After the few couple of bites, the master's expression started to soften and turn into one that of amazement... "Yukino... how did you... this is amazing!"

The silver haired girl blushed a bit more and looked down shyly. "R-Really? You think so?" Sting-sama wasn't one to actually lie about anything really but it's just that Yukino never had much faith in her skills, or rather she wasn't used to receive such big compliments; the only one that really used to do it was Sorano... and well after her it had only been Lucy-sama.

"Hell yes!" the blond exclaimed causing the girl to snap out of her thoughts and raise her head to face him again. "This is one of my favorite dishes and you did it amazing!" And he took another bite into the food. "Really, whoever marries you will be very lucky." 

And there she was again blushing hard. "M-Marry...??" she had never thought much... actually she had never thought about it at all! Who would want someone like her, who brings bad luck, as a wife anyway...? But she didn't dare voice that thought out loud. "U-Um... t-thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying the meal."

"So," he changed the topic so casually. "Where were you most of the day? I don't remember you telling me about a job..."

"O-Oh no um... I went to see if I could buy new celestial keys, since I got enough money from the past jobs."

"Oh?" The master seemed genuinely interested (which he somehow managed to accomplish while he continued chumping on the food). It actually kind of flattered the girl. "Did you have any luck then?"

"Yep." She was actually pretty happy with her new accomplishment. She fished out the newest silver key from her key pouch to show it to Sting. "I can definitely call it pure luck. We didn't make a contract yet but... this is Feres, from the constellation of the Pegasi."

"The Pegasi?" Sting repeated. He wasn't familiar with all of the constellations (although he had gotten pretty familiar with the wolf and the dragon, no thanks).

"It is a winged horse from mythology!" The excitement in the girl's voice was palpable. She really loved the celestial spirits, the master realized It was almost... endearing. "I hope it will give me some advantage... with the wind element."

"Hmm... that means you now have three of the four elements in your hands." he sounded amused but actually happy for her, he eyed the design of the new silver key, silver like the others with a pair of angel-like wings surrounding the entire key until they spread on top of it, he had to admit that it was a beautiful key. Sting began wondering if Yukino would ever use the key whenever she wanted a ride to somewhere else, certainly it would be better than riding a train.

Flying... it reminded him of his days with Weisslogia.

"Sting-sama?" her voice woke the master from his deep thoughts and he quickly blinked to focus on her again. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... yeah I'm fine. Just remembering stuff from the past."

She bit her lip, daring to ask. "About... Weisslogia-sama...?" But she quickly regretted asking the question and looked down, ashamed. "I-I'm sorry...! It's such a personal question, I shouldn't ask something like that... I have no right..."

It took Sting for a moment to reply, his gaze still far away. It was still a touchy subject to talk about, sure... He closed his eyes tight, not sure whether to continue or not. "It's okay... I know you didn't mean any harm by it." He sighed, letting his breath out in a long huff. "It's just... Weisslogia was the only parent I had as far as I know... and then I killed him... or well... I found out that was all fake memories... so all it left me in the end was..." a big loneliness... That was what he couldn't say out loud. Even with Rogue, his twin dragon slayer, the one who could understand him way better than anyone else because of their similar experience... he couldn't explain to anyone just how big of a void his foster father left behind.

He wasn't prepared when Yukino leaned a little forward and placed a hand, albeit hesitantly, on top of his. "You... you must be feeling lonely..." 

And the master was even more perplexed that the celestial mage could almost read his mind... or was it that much readable on his face? But in any case, that made him feel... a little better. It was almost soothing that he didn't need to put his feelings in words for someone to understand. "It's alright, really..." His fingers slightly curled on her hand. "Now I have a whole guild, so I can't really say I'm lonely all the time."

Yukino smiled so softly and kindly that Sting found himself returning the smile, he couldn't explain but it was so easy to talk with her, knowing she wouldn't judge him even if she didn't agree with something that he did or said; sure she would scold him but it was never in a judging way.

That's why that he wasn't uneasy to talk with her about Weisslogia, it would seem that he had already overcome that phase but he really hadn't and probably wouldn't for a while no matter how many years had already gone by... there were still times where Sting would dream of his time with the white dragon, when Weisslogia would tell him to climb on his back and took him on flights so high above the clouds or when he was stern in his training both physically and in dragon slayer magic, although afterwards Sting would fall asleep from exhaustion but the dragon scooted him under his feathery wings so he wouldn't be cold.

"So... I don't think I ever asked you about your family?" it was a casual, simple question but Sting knew that the expression the celestial mage made, albeit just for a split second, was one of pain...

"Um... w-well there isn't much to tell actually... I wasn't raised by a dragon so it can't be as interesting," this last part was clearly an attempt to hide the pain. "I had two parents and an older sister, whom I loved dearly... but then the children hunt came and well, we were separated and our parents killed..."

"...I'm sorry..."

Yukino shook her head. "No, no, it's alright. I've overcome it, it's been a while but..." she looked at her hands, closing them a bit tight. "Sometimes I wonder... if it's bad that... that I don't miss my parents..."

Sting found himself frowning a little, mostly out of confusion. He had known Yukino for a good while, and not once had he heard her talking this way, almost resentful to another person, let alone her parents. Granted, he never had much of a backstory from the girl after all, but still... something in her tone, in the tightening of her muscles intrigued him. Suddenly, he wanted to find out more about her. "Care to tell me why?" Then, realizing that he probably sounded pretty intrusive, he backtracked. "I-I mean... only if you want to of course..."

Yukino gave him a small smile this time, but it was one without humor. "It's okay..." she whispered, again looking down on her hands. "My parents... well, there had been times I wished I was non-existent to them... there were times where I had been just that... but mostly... whenever something bad happened, whenever things didn't go the way they want... I acted like the scapegoat. I don't know how I would've coped with it if it wasn't for... Sorano..." her voice broke at the end of it but thankfully her eyes stayed dry, she didn't think she could handle a breakdown in front of the blond now. She had never talked about her family so much in detail to anyone but Lucy-sama before... and it was almost mind-boggling of how easy it was to speak to Sting-sama right now... out of all the people. "I just wish I could see her once again, just one more time...I don't even know what happened to her..."

For some reason, Sting made it a note in his mind to maybe use the contacts he now had in the Magic Council to find the possible whereabouts of Sorano... of course if he had the same luck that he did when he tried to find out where the bastard that killed Rin's father was then he wouldn't find anything... but he would care about that later.

"She... she was so beautiful and was always there for me..." 

The Master blinked a bit confused as he repeated in his head everything Yukino told him. "Wait... your parents would... blame you for...?"

"...Anything... or everything that happened bad..." she still didn't look at him. "I shouldn't blame them though... they were right to think that way... whenever something bad happened I was around so..."

The celestial mage then jumped when she heard Sting punch the top of the table with a bit more strenght which made her finally lift her brown eyes to look at him... he didn't look happy. "No one..." he started. "No parent should ever make their child feel that way, a good parent would support their child when things go wrong, not put the blame on them!" He closed his eyes for a moment and then leaned back against the chair before re-opening them. "I'm sorry... I know they were still your parents but... quite honestly, no you shouldn't feel bad for not missing them." he didn't remember his birth parents but he knew that if they had been anything like Yukino's parents that he for sure wouldn't miss them.

His words... although they didn't yet erase her opinion completely about her bad luck... enveloped the girl's heart, and made her feel warm, happy... the smile that appeared on the young woman's lips was one of pure sincerity now. "I... thank you Sting-sama..."

...

Somewhere just a story above, two pairs of eyes were staring through the staircase banisters, one blue and one green.

"Really?" the mastermind behind the plan said, with a pout on her lips as she dangled her arms from the banisters and leant forward. "Is that all? Nothing's happening!"

"What did you want to happen? A kiss?" Eleanor asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well duh! That would be so cute of them, just saying."

"I think Metra is right. You are reading way too many novels." Eleanor couldn't help a small giggle as she ruffled Rin's hair light-heartedly, then looked back at the scene below with a soft smile, happy for her two friends. "Things couldn't have gone any better."

[elfyourmother]

I know you have lots of experience with other FF games and gameplay, but were there any classes/jobs that pleasantly surprised you? (Referring more to gameplay in general, but it could also include fun things you noticed for Gisele.)

A lot of it goes back to fitting traditional FF job system into the classic MMO trinity of tank/healer/dps tbh. It doesn’t always work

Scholars for example are always Black Mage/White Mage hybrids in FFs where they appear but in xiv they’re straight healers w a pet class

But as far as Gisele, the XIV iteration of Red Mage is literally what I always envisioned her to be as early as my first DAO run but could never manage without extensive modding because BW never knew how to balance Arcane Warriors. In fairness a lot of RPGs don’t know how to balance spellsword classes though

It’s funny that you send this ask now though because Dark Knight turned out to be a huge surprise for me wrt Gisele. Traditionally in FF they’re damn near the entire opposite of how Gisele fights, aesthetically and otherwise. Heavy spiky armor, big ass swords, etc. Very Death Metal. And that’s not really any different in XIV...there’s certain jobs I’m leveling purely for completionist sake, or I want to experience the quests and lore, or see how they play, etc. not necessarily because I envision Gisele taking that on from a story standpoint. And Dark Knight was definitely one of those, until I got deeper into the job quests. From a lore standpoint, especially in the HW and SB arcs, no other tank job fits her so well. It might well fit her as well as Red Mage and Astrologian. The whole concept behind true mastery of a Dark Knight’s power, “seeking the flame in the Abyss”, is about love. Emotion, passion, is what tempers their power and gives them strength—from love springs that desire to protect those you cherish, and you fight harder for it.

And that’s something that goes to the very heart of Gisele’s character. Her whole MO regardless of universe is rooted in the immense love she feels for so many people and the desire to protect them, to see them safe and whole and happy. In the Warden of Light verse she literally died for it. When she can’t, she feels helpless and blames herself.

Tbh I still feel ambivalent about the “Knight” thing, because it has a very specific associations and feel to me—it’s important for instance that she’s known as a Lady of a House Fortemps rather than a Knight, even though canonically that’s the title the WoL gets from Artoirel. “Crimson Fuller”, as Haurchefant’s consort and compliment. But that very specific image of “Knight” in my head stems from FFVIII and the whole Knight/Sorceress dynamic and Gisele has always firmly been a Sorceress. It’s why I rarely call her a Mage and why colloquially she’s known in homeverse as Sorceress of the Grey. (And by certain ppl in XIV, most notably Zenos, bc he’s seen her past through his Resonance)

And I still feel weird about Gisele as a tank, for a lot of reasons to do with racial optics (esp given how painfully white everyone is), but I’ve at least solved the aesthetic problem with the new glam I just came up with, that’s more 90s shoujo magical girl than spiky death metal.

[flyswhumpcenter]

Bad Things Happen Bingo! The event where you send me requests according to this marvelous card! (Red cross is the completed prompt, character headshots are prompts I’ve already filled. I don’t have any request left, so feel free to send in suggestions for this card!).

I'm getting flack for Empathic Dissonance on Fanfiction.net but I don't give a shit, Peregrineshipping will live beyond this show's grave fuckers

Oh look it's that one other AU I keep brushing dust off without actually doing anything of substance with it except invent new ways to slap characters I don't own into it. And because I got severely annoyed by some twats trolling on my FFN posts (why am I posting on this site anymore anyway smh), I made sure this fic was obviously Peregrineshipping. They're right when they tell you people write because they're either horny or spiteful.

To casually explain how mages ("magical girls") work here: there are three categories (spell caster, weapon user and healer), and there are Hybrids who are a combination between two of those three. Hybrids are chased down by bounty hunters because they're deemed to be special unicorns. Each mage also represents a Symbol or an Arcana (they're the same: the Arcana system is just deeper with more details on it and it's mostly in Latin) Everything else is spoilers. I am not kidding, I may very well write this bullshit out one of these days. I'm also gonna pull out my "it's fine if they're OOC because it's an AU" card I got from a fellow IoTsumu shipper (who's most likely not gonna read this), because I decided I'd be super self-indulgent today.

Also, big thanks to my pal Cherie for providing me with that sweet, sweet prompt. It's always a pleasure to write Peregrineship and dab on the haters lmao.

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Moonbeams in the Lunar Eclipse

Summary: There's one thing sure in Shun's mind as he escapes from his pursuers with his partner's wrist in his hand: he won't leave this place alone.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V (magical people AU, see notes above) Ship: Peregrineshipping (Serena/Shun) (established, mostly implied)

Wordcount: 1.8K words

Event hosted by @badthingshappenbingo

AO3 version available here.

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Saying his day has been absolute shit so far would be an understatement. In fact, he’s sure he’s not had such a shitty day in his life before: getting pursued by a bunch of bounty hunters, with feet bitten off by spells and wounds all over their bodies, tattered colourful outfits shredding little by little on the ground and in the air, really isn’t something he’s ever liked, or ever wanted to experience; but here they are, pursued by a bunch of crazies with their lives in their hands as they try to make it out without losing everything they’ve had.

For Shun, the only things he’s ever gotten were his liberty, his sister, his best friend and Serena; and he’s not intending on losing two of these now.

 The streets of this city they don’t know smother him softly, slowly, giving him this sense of dizziness from the oxygen running out of his lungs the deeper they get. He isn’t familiar with that place, they’ve arrived there in a hurry because Ruri and Yuto went after an important lead in their hunt against those who chase and kill the Hybrids (reckless kids, he can’t help thinking: they’re Hybrids themselves, they’re going to get themselves killed and nothing else), and he has no idea as to where they could go to take shelter until these people forget about them.

They’re running out of everything. He barely has enough breathing and energy left to run in the streets like he’s currently doing, enough mana to keep the hunters away, enough eyes to watch over Serena and make sure she doesn’t get left behind in this urban labyrinth. The inside of his palm misses her warmth too much for him to give up on her. He may be clinging onto his sense of orientation more for her and their mission than for his own sake, at this point.

 Shun spots a corner sunk in darkness next to his feet, yanking his hand back on Serena’s forearm (who is nearer to him than he thought, she’s faster than expected, that’s finally something he can be relieved about, it’s been a while), shrouding them in the shadows of the night and hoping their chasers don’t spot her body illuminated by solitary moonlight beams suddenly disappearing by swiping to the right. He keeps a hand on her mouth just in case, yellow irises focused on the scene before them, ears on alert; until he can’t hear anything but their breathing, hers muffled by his hand, his barely in control, footsteps vanishing into thin air.

He lets her go, watching her put her back against the wall to examine her injuries closer. Selena’s palms start glowing in a feeble blue light, just enough for him to see her swollen left ankle and cuts all over her body and outfit, blood red and fabric red somewhat mixing in the dark of the night as they silently pray for nobody to come back until they’ll be fine enough to get back to their feet and find shelter somewhere Ruri knows (she’s waiting for them at the end of the maze, he knows it).

 They’re breathless, yet the echoing silence makes him uncomfortable. He has problems hearing her over his shallow breath, a hand pressed against the stab wound a billhook got on his abdomen, his second skin having ran out of mana on him way before they could have escaped from these vultures’ claws. The thing is that he can still walk, still get out of here if he ignores the pain enough, if he focuses his mind on the job at hand. The issue relies not on him, but on the fact he cannot guarantee everyone around him is in the same condition. Who cares about a little blood and a few cuts when your legs can still get you somewhere safer, better?

It’s in those moments that Shun regrets being a mere spell caster when he could have been much more; and he gets jealous of Ruri’s healing powers until he remembers the pain it causes her. He misses her more than he envies her anyway: he’s supposed to protect her, not the opposite way around.

 “Are you good to go, Serena…?” He asks her with a dry mouth and a voice smelling like dizziness. Maybe he’s lost more blood than he can remember from the attacks. The dark ground and lack of light makes it hard to judge how much of it he’s spilled onto the ground with no hope to get it back.

“Leave without me,” she tells him like she’s dropping a canon ball right above his head, eyes cold but eyebrows frowned, and he knows that because his eyes have developed some kind of night vision. Not that anyone would have associated him with any form of light power; yet he was, somehow, some way, able to illuminate his path and see in the dark, when he had enough stamina left.

Right now, he feels like what little endurance he had left had come back full force, rage engulfing his nerves in a rush of adrenaline.

 “What the hell are you saying?!” His voice rises in tone and volume, ignoring the walls amplifying the sounds bouncing amongst them, but her face doesn’t change, none of her features bulge even slightly.

“Leave without me, Shun. I’ll only slow you down. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you fucking with me?! How can you possibly tell me that when we’ve come so far together, when we’re supposed to be a team?! We’re even more than that, we’re alone together in some wastelands neither of us knows, you’re—”

“Listen to what I’ve got to say before screaming your head out, Kurosaki!”

 Serena’s sudden bite at his monologue stops him right in his tracks, stealing his speech away, the adrenaline skipping a beat and going straight for his twitching hands and head. He’s furious, but silent now. That’s the only thing it’s done against him that he can account for.

That, and a lingering feeling of betrayal giving his heart frostbite burning, scorching at his insides’ skin. His blood feels poisoned, he wonders if he’s slipping into sceptic shock.

 “Look at me! My ankle’s busted, I’ve run out of mana to shoot things, and we’re both bleeding. There’s no point in risking dying here if it’s just to get me out of this mess when I’m no use to you anymore. Get outta here before you can bleed out to death, that’s all I want you to do! I’ll only slow you down, so please,” she retains a sob inside, the sob of the person who’s seen the frontier between what is life and what isn’t for the first time and couldn’t get prepared for it (nobody could), “please leave without me, Shun!”

“…that’s bullshit.”

 Serena’s eyes grow wide, her mouth moving to say something only to stop midway through the process to do so, her face split between anger and surprise. In the end, she sniffles in her last few tears and stares right at him.

“I’m not leaving you in some dump because you can’t walk properly or something. We’ll get out of this together, even if we have to limp or drag ourselves on the damn fucking floor for it to happen. That place’s not safe, we need to get you to safety?”

“And what about you, Shun? Are you going to go ahead and back on your footsteps to avenge Ruri? Are you going to do that to me… to all of us again?”

She has a point there; he can’t tell himself otherwise.

“Are you kidding? I’m bleeding the fuck out. I’m not sure if I can even escape from this place alone, my vision’s starting to swim if I move too quickly.” He scoffs, at himself more than at her eventually useless remark. “It’s dark as fuck around here and I don’t want you to have some stupid death by hypothermia or something like that. It’s either we die in this hole or we leave together. I won’t abandon anyone else, not after almost losing Ruri once.”

 He takes her hands, wet from their clamminess and cold, in his as if that enforces his point (it doesn’t, really, but her palms are warmer than his and he just wants to touch her, to feel her skin under her gloves while he still can).

“But we’ll leave together, that much I want to promise. I can’t promise it’ll be smooth or fun, but I can promise we’ll try our damn best to escape.”

“You’re strangely forward today,” she ends up replying with a smirk, “but I like it. You should be like that more often.”

“Don’t fucking make fun of me.”

“I’m not.”

 They have a short moment of silence before Serena speaks up again.

“How do you plan to get us how out of there, though? It’s not like I can properly walk anymore.”

Before she can add anything else, he gives her his back, hands right above his pelvis, fingers twitching up. Communication has never been his forte, and Serena sure knows that, so he’s trying to do something about that, even if it just ends up being terribly embarrassing for the both of them.

“Climb here.”

“Shun, that’s stupid, you’re injured! You won’t be able to—”

“Get on here before I force you to get there myself.”

She sighs in exasperation and does as he says, his arms sticking her legs against his torso. He has troubles adapting his balance to the new weight on his back, especially when his knees have scrapped the ground before and when he’s weakened already. Still, he pulls through and forces his legs to stay stable as he starts walking.

 The heartbeat he feels next to his, too fast for a human in their right condition but still slower than his, is worth it. She has her arms wrapped around his shoulder blades, purple and red fabric brushing against his own outfit. He can’t hope to use his wings when he’s like this, with a human body over where they’d grow with a spell and retract when its effects would end, but it’s fine. It’s fine because they’ll make it out of there, as long as they’re together, as long as he can hear her ask him if he’s fine or he’d need a break. In a way, Serena is the beam of clarity piercing through the night ocean laid before all of them, the one whose presence he needs the most right now. She’s his partner and role model at the same time.

Because, if there’s one thing Shun hopes to become someday, it’s a beacon of light in the darkness.

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - September 14th, 2018

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! They are posted in the order I read them.

A Novel Beginning multi-chapter WIP by @vaelisamaza - Olicity AU, Felicity runs her own Tech shop and writes romance novel reviews for her sister's website, Oliver comes in for computer help and it's all getting very exciting!! SQUEE!!!!  https://archiveofourown.org/works/15800145/chapters/36771384

Fragments multi-chapter WIP by @alexiablackbriar13 - A collection of various arrow and olicity ficlets from my drafts folder, partially completed. some AU, some canon related. many related to established verses I've created, although do not need to read those verses to read these fics. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15906561/chapters/37075926

The Reason multi-chapter WIP by flipflops - Oliver is an Alpha and Felicity is an Omega....circumstances lead Oliver to find this out and a very bad time or maybe very good time... https://archiveofourown.org/works/15012431

The Queen's Mage multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Words have power, and mages, those with the aptitude to draw on that power, are few in number. Thus, their services are highly sought after by anyone who has exhausted all mundane means of solving whatever problem is plaguing them. Felicity is reminded of this fact the hard way when she is hired by Moira Queen, the Lady Starling, to find and return to her son Oliver, who fled his family home five years ago following the death of his father. With a threat hanging over her should she return without Robert Queen's heir, Felicity begins her search. When she finds Oliver, and ends up joining his vigilante crusade while she waits for him to decide whether to return home, the last thing she expects to do is fall in love with him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14617068/chapters/33781269

Never You, Baby multi-chapter WIP by @spaztronautwriter - Felicity Smoak has always been a good girl. The kind of girl that gets straight A’s and perfect attendance, and, despite a penchant for hacking, never gets into any real trouble. But being perfect doesn’t make being a teenager any easier and, seeking a distraction, she finds herself hooking up with the sleaziest man whore in school. Oliver Queen is the last guy any self-respecting girl should sleep with. So why can’t she stop? https://archiveofourown.org/works/15929480/chapters/37140443

Love and Little Cupcakes multi-chapter WIP by @christinabeggs - Felicity loved sweets so much that she paid no attention to her lovelife. Until Thea Queen came into her store wanting fabulous cupcakes for her sixteenth birthday. SO ADORABLE! http://archiveofourown.org/works/12400539/chapters/28216053

I Hold the Lock and You Hold the Key by @allimariexf - Felicity meets up with an old friend for drinks at Verdant. Some other people join her. Season 2 UST. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15928439

Home To You multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Oliver Queen has never done what his family expected of him. He took a gap year after high school instead of going to college right away. He quit his fraternity sophomore year to join the student newspaper, switching his major from business to journalism. He became a photojournalist for a wire service instead of taking a place at Queen Consolidated. He went missing after six months instead of coming home for his sister’s twenty-first birthday. He survived five years of captivity in a war zone when everyone thought he was dead. He came home. But home didn’t have a place for him in it anymore. His parents were both dead, casualties of their own mistakes and a city they had turned against them. His sister was all grown up, the CEO of Queen Consolidated with a fiancé and a dog and a life of her own. Oliver didn’t belong in his old life, but there was nowhere else for him to go. He was a man without a home, without any way of finding one, until he stopped by the IT department of his sister’s company to get files off an old, battered memory card, and found a woman with curly blonde hair and bright, intelligent eyes chewing on a bright red pen and swearing at a computer screen. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12613188/chapters/28734552

Finding Felicity multi-chapter WIP by @lynn8828 - After Lian Yu blew, Oliver searches for his friends and loved ones on the island. This is an AU versions of what happened when Oliver found everyone after the explosions. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15538641/chapters/36071301

Presentation is Everything by @allimariexf - “Everything okay?” His tone suggested annoyance, but Felicity didn’t care. He had forced her to take this EA position, and she was going to make him pay for that in every way she could think of. She looked up with a forced-pleasant smile. “Yes, Mr. Queen. Just making sure you’re not still wearing last night’s shirt.” AKA: When Oliver made Felicity his Executive Assistant, he inadvertently and irrevocably changed the nature of their relationship. Season 2 UST! https://archiveofourown.org/works/15935147

Whiskey and Romance multi-chapter WIP by @mindramblingsfics - Felicity Smoak gets the opportunity of a lifetime to compete for the hand of Prince Tommy Merlyn. She is taken from her normal mundane Vegas life and is soon swept up into a lifestyle full of nobles, drama, obligations and chaos. All the while trying to stay afloat, someone else begins to win her heart, Tommy’s best friend, Oliver Queen. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14441952/chapters/33357156

The Paths We Take multi-chapter WIP by griever11 - Rival CEOs AU. Felicity Smoak, CEO and founder of her own company, is trying to prove herself in the cutthroat world of the technology industry among the other bigwigs in the game. Oliver Queen, recently back from the dead is trying to prove to the world that he's no longer the same man-child who went down on the Queen's Gambit and is finally worthy of his family's legacy. Both equally formidable names in the corporate world. And both with a long, complicated history with each other that no one but themselves are privy to. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15314133/chapters/35530296

Elizabeth Grace Smoak multi-chapter WIP by @lynn8828 - What if Felicity and Oliver briefly had met before he got on the Gambit? Despite her best efforts, Felicity was unable to get in contact with the famous Oliver Queen after having a one night stand with him and getting pregnant with his child. After raising their child for five years after finding out that Oliver died on the Gambit, she finds out he is alive and knows that she needs to tell him about their daughter. But will he believe her? AMAZING STORY!! http://archiveofourown.org/works/13639371/chapters/31322715

Pieces of Always multi-chapter WIP by @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 - Life continues after Forever is Composed of Nows. Ongoing non-linear collection of family moments for the Queens. http://archiveofourown.org/works/8220479/chapters/18840356

Undisclosed Desires multi-chapter WIP by @green-arrows-of-karamel - People seldom show their true face to the world. Nobody knows this better than Felicity Smoak. She worked hard to get where she is and nothing, not even a nuisance like having a stalker, can stop her. When the threat proves to be more serious than she thought, Felicity is forced to hire Green Arrow Security. Her reluctance to have a bodyguard, shadowing her all day long, transforms itself into a —irrational, some would say— dislike for the man in charge of her safety. No other client had ever driven Oliver so crazy as Felicity Smoak does. That has nothing to do with her mesmerizing beauty or her astonishing intelligence but everything to do with her exasperating stubbornness. Honestly, he doesn't know what’s her problem is with him. If it wasn't because, Thea, his little sister, made him promise that he’d personally protect the woman, he would have quit months ago. It takes very little to ignite the fire between them. A single innocent comment can turn into an epic battle of vicious words, with the only purpose of irking each other. Everyone around them watches all happening from the front row. They ask themselves what will befall first… Felicity and Oliver killing each other, or realizing that they’re in love. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15808077/chapters/36794202

10 Rules of Rebounding multi-chapter WIP by @smkkbert - Oliver and Felicity start a sex relationship as rebounds for each other. What’s supposed to be just fun, soon gets complicated when it turns out that their work lives collide, Robert Queen fears their sexual relationship could threaten his company and an ex comes back into the play. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15403404/chapters/35749620

Broken Love multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow - Felicity and Oliver try to adjust to their new normal, but with Oliver in jail and Felicity in protective custody, neither are coping well with the distance. Oliver receives an offer from Agent Watson and Felicity takes matters into her own hands. (6.5 fic) https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717075/chapters/34014233

| ONE | (Oliver the Footballer) multi-chapter WIP @someonesaidcake - Felicity Smoak had a plan; to save enough money to kick her monotonous job and start up the company of her dreams. She made good plans, solid plans, attainable plans. He was never part of her plan. His name was Oliver Queen, the reclusive Brazilian football star with a broken smile and a story to tell. He'd never planned on her either. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15005402/chapters/34779542

Angel multi-chapter WIP by @it-was-a-red-heeler - Oliver encounters a stripper by the name of Angel and is blown away.   https://archiveofourown.org/works/15961898/chapters/37227686#workskin

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