#When I said I decided to romance the disaster wizard because he had a magical library

[mariana-oconnor]

The library... My plan is working!

Gale: So, I can take you to a magical starscape where I can make your dreams come true.

Me: Or... we could stay in the library. Have all these illusory books got text in them? Or is it the Faerunian equivalent of Lorem Ipsum? Omg, you have a bookcase ladder! There are so many books you can't fit them all on the shelves! So, when can we be married? I'm free tomorrow. Or right now. Right now works.

[awlumii]

So basically this au is sort of a forbidden love/ reincarnation au style thing, and Cyno is this mysterious, powerful sorcerer who practices dark arts living in this dark, creepy woods outside your town, who is basically a folktale to the villagers. You’re basically the village healer who dabbles in magic to find cures to diseases and help nurse your people. It’s got a soft worldbuilding/ magic system style about it and focuses on atmosphere rather than structure to the worldbuilding (one reason being because I’m lazy and another being I genuinely love soft worldbuilding.)

Now, get ready for a lore dump:

Basically, a few centuries or millennia ago, you and Cyno were a couple (you still being a healer and him being a wizard but not a sorcerer— in this au, the word ‘sorcerer’ specifically comes with connotations of practicing dark magic), living together pretty happily: your standard fairytale romance.

One day, some disaster struck, and you were killed in this event. Cyno pleaded with the gods to bring you back to life, but they refused, claiming that it was not in their power to decide these things nor give them to him. Unable to accept this, he started turning to forbidden magic: pulling stars from the sky to demand answers, capturing sprites and spirits and harnessing their pure forms of magic to try and find a way to bring you back.

As he practiced such things, he grew increasingly powerful and one may even say corrupt, focused singlemindedly on his goal to bring you back from the grave. However, he was meddling with affairs and reaching levels of power a human never should, and so the gods told him to stop, giving him one chance to go back to his old ways of life and forget about you. He refused, and when one god tried to force him to stop, he managed to overpower them, which shocked the heavens even further: he literally had the power to rival a god, and win. After leaving, Cyno continued to practice these arts, either not noticing or not caring the harm he was causing to his surroundings. He lost himself in his desire to bring you back, even losing his heart itself, until all that remained in his chest was an empty, gaping void. (He’s not evil: he just went too far and crossed too many lines, and now is paying the price for his mistakes.)

Eventually, the gods decided that he was too dangerous, and had to be punished. Working together, they stripped him of most of his powers (though by human standards, he is still insanely powerful) and cast him down to the woods: a dark, mysterious forest with labyrinthine paths and twisting, maze-like trees and palpable, black shadows. They gave him a lantern which could only be filled with the light of a star— something difficult to come by in a land with an empty sky— and shackled him to the woods with a little chime around his ankle, filled with the songs of the spirits he harnessed beforehand. This was to be his prison for all of eternity.

Ever since, he has been wondering the woods alone with his star and his chime, and myths of a malevolent, mysterious, not-to-be-trusted sorcerer have spread around local areas, though these myths are very vague and don’t really tell listeners anything other than ‘don’t go into the woods and if you run into him, or you’re screwed.’

The gods weren’t done yet with him, however: to add salt to the wound, they decided they would bring you back after all, but he wouldn’t know it was the same you from the past: every time he saw you, if he ever did, he would be reminded of the old you, and his empty chest would sting at the memories of those happy days spent by your side long gone by.

Fast forward, and as I said, you’re a healer in your village. A disease breaks out (I’ll get to this in more later) and you go to gather some herbs and flowers to try and combat it, including this one type of flower that grows on the borders of the forest and the woods. Because of your fatigue, you end up stumbling into the woods, and get lost. Cyno shows up and leads you back to the forest (because you remind him of somebody he knew long ago), after which you leave some flowers for him as a thank you.

That’s all I’ve properly written so far, but worry not: there is more to ramble about.

In the next chapter (spoilers ahead for anyone who’s already read the first few parts), I’m thinking that you keep leaving flowers for him now and again, meanwhile the disease is getting worse and more people are being infected. You possibly catch it yourself, and when you next leave a few flowers for Cyno, he leaves a batch of berries back.

But these are no ordinary berries, because I found a way to make them angsty.

Basically, because you were a healer in your old life, the same disease broke out while you were still alive, and together you cultivated a berry to cure it. Cyno found a way to grow these in his garden in the woods as a memento of something he did with you in the past. When you leave that bunch of flowers in the present, he recognises the symptoms and decides (again based on the fact that you simply remind him of the old you) to give you a few berries to help you and your village out. It makes him feel like he’s sharing something with you again (and he is: he’s just cursed so that he’ll never know it.)

And the taste of the berries is quite literally bittersweet: they used to be sweet when you grew them together in the past, but since your death and his banishment, Cyno has found that the soil in the woods is not fertile, and so the berries, though still initially sweet, take on a bitter aftertaste: not too far off the main emotions of the story.

I also have some more ideas for future plot threads but I have a little too many, so I need to organise my thoughts before continuing…

The whole forbidden love thing comes from not the gods disliking you falling back in love, but rather that Cyno himself won’t allow himself to fall in love with you because he’ll feel like he’s betraying the old you, not knowing that you’re basically exactly the same person. (More angst: yay!)

The woods itself is very mysterious, and I’ll keep it that way, I think: nobody, not even the gods, know where it came from, or what lives inside it, or how old it is: the woods is actually out of the gods’ reach to manipulate. They can stick Cyno in there, but once he’s in, whatever happens in there is out of their control.

I really want to write a scene where he captures a star for you and gifts it to you, too… I have plans for it and oh my goskskaoaolana

(I can send you a few links to the stuff I’ve already written for it if you’re interested… :,))

…Apologies for the essay but I cannot express how much I love this au…

-🎻anon

dawg you had me at worldbuilding, i am so fucking intrigued by this, WHAT

the way cyno can overpower a god and the ambiguity of the forest is so fucking amazing — it reminds me a little of greek/roman mythology and the way that the gods of the pantheon seem to be all-powerful, but not even they can toy with things such as fate... this au has me fucking stimming i'm so djhdsidhsvdjsbd AAAAA YOU'RE SO AMAZING YOU'RE LITERALLY THE FUCKING COOLEST EVER

[politicalmamaduck]

Reylo Fic Recs: Fantasy, Fae, Magic, Fairy Tale, and Mythology

Ours Is The Fury by @shmisolo

Rey was tasked with taking Storm's End for her king.  She defeated the Storm King Snoke in the Rainwood, but when she proceeded to the castle itself, preparing for a long siege, things did not go to plan.

A Man Called Winter by @reylotrashcompactor

The girl didn’t dream. Perhaps it was because she needed more to fuel nighttime sojourns than fantasies of a full belly, of escaping the desert. Perhaps she exhausted all these dreams years ago, falling to sleep in the soft embrace of hope and waking in the hard grip of reality. Or perhaps dreams simply could not permeate the armored shell she slept inside, those rusted walls resistant to blaster fire as well as the simple comfort of imagination. Maybe this was why, on a particularly stifling night, when sleeping on her gritty pallet in the too-still air finally proved unbearable, and she had rucked the mess of salvaged pilot seats and threadbare blankets into the sand outside her door, that he came to her first. She laid under the stars, straining her exhausted body for a cool breeze, and found sleep. And he found her.

Between Death and Winter by @shmisolo

“I’ll answer none of your questions, crow,” she snapped.Ben placed the butt of the spear down in the snow and leaned on it as he sheathed his sword. He was breathing more heavily than he wanted to admit as he looked down at her.You should kill her, then, he thought in a voice that sounded very much like the Lord Commander’s. If she’d rather die, then let her die.Except there was something wrong in that. He didn’t know why, but it felt wrong.“Pity for you,” he said and he broke the spear over his knee. “I’ll be taking you with me back to Castle Black.”The moment the words were out of his lips, he regretted them. He was the First Ranger, he was in the middle of a ranging—he didn’t have time to keep a spearwife hostage.

all true lovers are by @abstractragedy

She might seem lonely, but Ben can sense that this forest is her faithful audience, and she is nothing but alone. The birds chirp a symphony to her, and the greenery around her bows, grateful to be blessed by her beauty.  She truly is beautiful, but that’s not the entire reason he is so drawn to her.  It’s her Magic.

Wintertide by @transpogrrl

It was important work, gathering fuel for the Burning of the Ren, though only an outcast like the Scavenger could do it. The ceremony marked the turning of one year into the next, and ensured the light would come again to drive back winter’s darkness.The good Queen had tried to change the ancient rite, to mark the year without the loss of one more soul from their war-torn land. But in the ten years since her decree, the disasters sweeping over them had only multiplied. Famine, flood, unearthly winds and the summer’s fires had torn at people’s goodness, and the refugees that sought the Queen’s peace had only taxed it more. When a Wizard suggested that only human sacrifice would appease the angry spirits, the people listened, and demanded a real Ren for the fire.

The Scavenger Bride by @the-reylo-void

After a fairytale summer romance, Rey of Jakku sees her beloved, Prince Ben Solo of Alderaan, off to his uncle's temple, only to learn of his death at the hands of the Dread Knight Ren, a feared warrior who never takes prisoners. But fairytales are never quite that simple, and Rey soon finds herself swept up in a game of political intrigue that threatens to tear the galaxy apart. With new lifelong friends (thieves, but who's counting), mostly-dead ex-boyfriends with too many names, a grumpy wizard who wants nothing to do with any of this, and POUS (Porgs of Unusual Size), Rey's got her work cut out for her and will need her wits, strength, and the strange force she's felt inside of her for years to find her true love. 

The Hunter and the Swordsman by @dreamsdescent

It was the first part of the night, and the Hunter was rising in the sky. Four stars stretched out in each direction, with a belt of three across the middle.For many generations he had watched over her kind during these long nights in the depths of winter, and now he was her only companion.The star that made the Hunter’s right shoulder shone red, reminding her of warmth, of flowers and flesh and blood, of all the things that sustained life amidst the cold emptiness of the heavens.With the fire of earth at her back and the fire in the sky over her face, Rey calmed herself and listened. Soon she could hear it, the song of the red star, low and lonesome like the call of the mourning dove.She reached out to it as if it were to someone, and sang a quiet, but high and warbling answer, as if to say, you are not alone. Whether she was reassuring herself or the other, she did not know.The red star blinked in the sky, beating along with her heart as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Stolen Hearts by @capaldisrighteyebrow

As the Judge of Souls, Rey weighs humans' hearts to assign their fates. When an imposing man who goes by Kylo Ren shows up without a heart, Rey seizes the chance to solve a mystery that threatens the universe. Returning to the mortal world together, Rey and Kylo rush to find his murderer and restore balance.

The Dragon Queen's Moon by @diadumene

“My handmaidens once told me a story,” Daenerys mused. “During my time in Essos, I would hear many variations of the story. Would you like to hear the one I liked best?”After a moment, Sansa nodded. “I would like that very much, Dany.” Dany gave her a look of approval and straightened her back. “Let me tell you the story of how the dragons were born and the moon and the sun fell in love with one another…”

All In Her Arms by @aionimica

Three things are to be expected when the dragon came back to the stars. The first was that one didn’t leave their home at night.The second was that one didn’t go check the noise they heard at the edge of the woods, no matter the cause.And last and final and arguably most important was that one most definitely did not get married.

in this white wave by @something-pithy

It was King Kylo’s season, and he had been born to rule it. Blood of the Tuatha de Danaan ran in his veins, yes, but in addition to the most glorious of the sidhe,  the darkest of the Unseelie. He had been born to break the wheel and rebuild it anew, to rid the world of the systems and order that stifled it and bring the Unseelie back to power so that they could set the fae free once more. And he would be enjoying his victory -- the death of his twisted, decrepit master, his rightful place in the universe secured, the triumph of the Unseelie over the Seelie -- but for an impudent nocker, a tinkerer, a little no-one who had worked her way into his very soul.In which King Kylo of the Winter Court and Rey of the Summer Court struggle with the past, themselves, and their ferbidden Seelie/Unseelie luuuuuurve.

echoes (again) by @soul8

again and again, she slips from his grasp like moonlight (reincarnation au where ben seeks her through their past lives and maybe, just maybe this time this time will be the last)

there may be something there that wasn't there before. by @aquawolfgirl

She’s a thief, small and lithe. Her days are spent pickpocketing and snatching from market stalls. She has the sun in her skin and the light in her smile. She is beauty. He is a prince, at war with himself. He is a mix of a man, a hybrid of containment and utter chaos. He has the night in his hair and hatred in his eyes. He is beast.cShe just stole from the wrong garden. “You are aware that doesn’t belong to you, are you not?”

Like Blood, Like Honey by @lariren-shadow

“Sweet Rey,” Kylo said as he gently grabbed her chin.  “We’re all monsters in the Unseelie Court.”When Rey moves in with her grandfather the summer before college she expected a part time job at best.  Instead she found herself mixed up in the world of faeries.

Waves Calling Her Home by @shelikespretties

“When will you return to me, Selkie wife?” he taunted. “Have they hidden your skin that well?”She nudged him hard in the ribs with the foot he’d been cradling, pushing him away. “I’m no one’s wife, and my skin is safe exactly where I placed it. I’m not coming back. I’m here for a reason.”

The Sands of Jakku by ASingleWhiteDoe

Rey is a street rat and a scavenger in the deserts of Jakku, but when a haggard man approaches her and Finn about a lamp located in a strange and wonderful cave, all of that changes.

between belief and the sea by @thewayofthetrashcompactor

Rey has a busy schedule: between her part time jobs, trying to get a degree, and breaking into certain people's homes to steal items she can pawn off to Unkar Plutt, she doesn't have time for anything mysterious or unusual. And she's not exactly in the habit of returning lost property. However, something gets her to make an exception. Which somehow mixes her up with Ben Solo, and that turns out to be a hard bond to break.

Song in a Thousand Pieces by @thewayofthetrashcompactor

Snoke holds up a hand. “A nightingale.”The man bows. “Yes, my lord.”“In the Jakku forests.” Snoke’s voice is emotionless.The man pauses before answering, unsure of himself. “Yes, my lord,” he finally says.Snoke settles back into his throne. “Kylo Ren," he orders, and Kylo swiftly steps forward. "Bring it to me.”

Paradise Regained by @lasthopesolo

Where all fates of the universe are decided, there lives a wandering immortal, leaving behind in her wake dried and decayed things. Rey, bringer of death and rot, worries she will never find her place of belonging. Everything changes when she comes across a wailing immortal, the scent of spring clinging vigorously to him as fresh flowers dance in the wind around him.

Wherever There is You, I Will be There Too by @optimus-pam

According to Greek mythology, Tartarus is the deep abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked. Rey journeys there in search of a lost soul.

it shall not be death by TolkienGirl

Rey of the Jedi Knights is sent with her sword and Holy Fire, to destroy a palace of thorns.It doesn't quite go as planned.

Fated by @shmisolo

Emperor Palpatine declared that it was the new horse in his stable that  would reward Kylo of Alderaan’s saving his life, fulfilling the Law of  Surprise.  But the fates had other plans, and would not be denied.

My own fics in these categories:

Aníron

“Do you remember when we first met?” he asked, tracing her cheekbone. “I thought I had strayed into a dream,” she murmured, looking up into his eyes.“Long years have passed; you do not have the cares that you carry now.” He sighed, looking down and burdened for only a moment. He looked back up at her, focusing his powerful gaze once more. “Do you remember what I told you?”She could not meet his gaze. She knew the words; they were etched on her heart. Yet she still could not believe them, could not believe that he had said them in the first place, let alone held himself to them all these years later. “You said you would bind yourself to me, forsaking the immortal life of your people.”

your love is my immortal crown

A young woman makes a choice and ascends her grandfather’s throne, becoming a goddess and a queen to save her lover, the god of spring, who will stop at nothing to return to her.

The Prince and the Dragon

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a prince who met a dragon woman.

if it were only the stars we had wanted to conquer

Amid a backdrop of persecution of magic users and First Order colonization, Kylo Ren discovers a powerful fellow magic user named Rey on a mission for his master. There is more than meets the eye with Rey's magic, however, and she longs to understand her true calling. Yet her fate is inextricably bound with his own.

I am sending back the key

Rey's mysterious new husband, Ben Solo, asks her not to enter his study. But who is he really and what is the truth about his family history?

Hidden in the Desert Sands

The prince ran away from home, and found himself in the desert. A scavenger's kindness reveals more than scrap metal buried under the sands.

My other fic rec lists:

Fic Recs Under 100 Kudos | Smuggler Ben Solo | Historical AU | Modern AU | Dark Side Rey | Canonverse | Smut |

[breaniebree]

Talking about my love for my OC with @xxqueenofdragonsxx​.  This is my Zahira as best as I can make her, though someone awesome may be drawing me some amazing fan art of her so fingers crossed. 

ZAHIRA ZELENA ZACARIAS (ZEE):

Magizoologist, works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for the Ministry of Magic.

Born 9th April, 1964 to parents Michael Ivanovich (Misha) Zacarias and Magnolia Jackson Zacarias.  Misha, a Muggleborn Russian Auror who is following the trail of a dark wizard and finds himself in Paris where he meets the American witch Magnolia Jackson.  They fall in love and get married and Magnolia moves to Moscow to be with him and then when Zee is six, her mother is killed.  

I think that it was a gruesome death, a curse that tortured her for days before she finally succumbed to her death.  They were living in Russia at the time and Zee was with her Baba and Deda, as she was only six, and her mother had gone into town to do some shopping.  The dark wizard was stalking her and cursed her.  She was left alone in an alley to die and wasn’t found for almost six hours, by then, the curse had taken over too much of her and any attempt at saving her life was impossible.  She’d lost her mind and Zee was never able to say goodbye.  Magnolia didn’t even recognize Misha when he found her which was part of why it hurt Misha so much to lose her in the end.

Misha meets Sorcha Brown when Zee is eight, a freelance journalist from Scotland. Zee grew up travelling between Scotland and Moscow and she always loved animals.  She spent her summers visiting her American grandparents on their ranch in Toccoa, Georgia where her grandmother owns a 50s diner called Flo’s and her grandfather is chief of police.  Her stepmother is the mother she grew up with.  Mama, seeing Zee’s love for animals always allowed her to bring home strays.  Her father continued to work in Russia, travelling back and forth via international portkey every day when they spent time in Scotland.  And when it came time for her to go to school, they decided to send her to the wizarding school in Russia — the Koldovstoretz School of Magic because it had such an amazing Care of Magical Creatures program.  She speaks fluent French, Russian, and Mermish because of her upbringing and her career and a little bit of Greek.

She has 4 tattoos:

Gold and green tribal elephant on right side of ribs

Red and gold dragon across spine

Black niffler on back of her neck

Zee tattoo over scar - deep green vines with bright blue orchids scattered from the top of her left hip down the side of her thigh, wrapping around her knee, Lady Godiva hidden in the vines covering her scar lying on a bed of blue orchids ending at her ankle.  I AM WOMAN written on one side, HEAR ME ROAR, written on the other.

Zee found him napping on the sofa and she smiled at the sight of him, bending to kiss his forehead.  Her curls tickled his face, a small smile on his lips.  Not wanting to disturb him, she hurried upstairs to pack the rest of her bag.  She changed into a short halter dress over her new bikini and was admiring her calf in the mirror when he came in.

His eyes met hers in the mirror and the look in them sent desire raking through her.

“When did you get home?”

“Maybe fifteen minutes ago?  You looked so peaceful having your nap.”

“I was resting my eyes,” he said, making her grin.

“Right.”

Sirius moved towards her, his eyes trailing down her body.  “You look fucking gorgeous.”  His gaze stopped on her leg, a brow rising.  “You got a new tat?”

Zee held onto his arm as he picked up her leg to examine the new tattoo.  She had gotten Lady Godiva.  She’d done her panther’s sleek form in a dark black outline but other than her golden eyes, she’d coloured the panther in with flowered camouflage.  Purple perennials and pink tulips, red roses and blue lilacs that brightened her leg and covered every inch of the ugly burn scar to the back of her knee.  Deep green vines and leaves surrounded the outline of the panther, framing the words written down either side of the panther in cursive: I Am Woman and on the other side it continued with: Hear Me Roar.

“Fuck, that’s sexy,” Sirius murmured, his fingertips tracing the words. 

“Yeah?”  Zee said.  “I didn’t want to look at my burn anymore so I wanted to cover it with something beautiful.”

“And the Reddy lyrics?”

She grinned.  “Points to you.”

Sirius let go of her leg and bent his head to kiss her.  “I love it.  But you were sexy with the scar too.”

Zee slipped her arms around his neck.  “And that, Mr Black, is one of the many reasons why I love you.”

Sirius slid his hands up her back into her hair.  “Let’s go shag on the beach.”

She laughed as he let her go and picked up their bags.  “Sounds perfect.”

As he walked out the door, she couldn’t help but think that she had never loved anyone more than the man before her.  She didn’t know what the future held for her, but she did know that her future was nothing without Sirius Black and Harry Potter. (Excerpt from A Second Chance, chapter 213)

Zee’s wand was made by Gregorvich and it is chestnut as the wood meshes with her love of animals, I think it’s short like her, only 15 cm  in length and her core is from a coral reef.  Her wand core gives the owner patience, someone with a coral reef core knows how to bring things to fruition, provide protection for all, as well as generate longevity.  They have a knack for deflecting disaster, whatever form it takes.  They are also loving, nurturing, and healing; are a source of enduring friendship and support and often the glue that holds the ship together.  I thought it sounded very much like Zee.

She stands no taller than 156 cm (roughly 5′1 and 3/4) and often wears 4 inch heels as if she was born in them, preferably her heeled cowboy boots.  She has long dark brown hair with golden caramel highlights mixed through it.  Her grandmother on her mum’s side was African-American so her skin is like a caramel toffee.  She loves bright red lipstick and big earrings.  She wears a white gold and turquoise turtle belly button ring and usually has smaller hoops or studs in her ears above the big hoops.  As shown above and mentioned before, she is very curvy, hourglass and I picture her body type like Jaydah Doll, but her face is the gorgeous model at the top (I saw her and thought Zee).

Her pet is a panther named Lady Godiva.  She rescued her from Muggles who were hunting her and her pack in Kenya.  Her parents were killed and she was the only cub that she could find so she nurtured her and kept her safe.  Why Godiva?

“I always admired her bravery; standing up for what she wanted and doing the only thing that she could do at the time to make her stand.  No one would listen to her and she had no power and no ability to use weapons.  She wasn’t a witch with powers to sway them so she set out on a horse, completely nude, and she got the attention she wanted.  She made her mark.  I found Lady Godiva in Kenya, hiding from the Muggles who had shot and killed her family, when I rescued her and confronted the Muggles, she jumped from my arms and stood in front of me, growling at them, almost daring them to fight her to get to me.  I thought that she was making her stand, a cub with no power of her own, but she was trying.  So I named her Godiva.” (Excerpt from A Second Chance, chapter 65)

Her grandfather on her dad’s side was a Muggle and veteran of the Second World War.  He drove a 1937 BSA M20 and it’s hers now.  She loves motorcycles and getting her hands dirty.  She’s an incredible cook.  She likes to read mystery, horror, and romance novels.  She travels for her job and has been all over the world, but has recently been enjoying her time working in the menagerie within the Ministry of Magic and helping to organize it.

As to the Koldovstoretz School of Magic, I like to think it’s hidden somewhere deep in Russia and that it looks like the ruins Balga Castle to prevent anyone from finding it, but when you get through the warding it opens up and looks the Vologda Kremlin and Saint Sophia Cathedral, just gorgeous Russian architecture -- but not as large as Hogwarts’ castle.  It says that they played a version of Quidditch there where they flew on uprooted trees instead of broomsticks -- which is another reason why I think Zee was never big into playing the sport herself.  Also I imagine her as short and curvy, which means she may not have great balance on a broom, and she loves riding the motorbike and likes the Muggle machine more than a broomstick if she has to choose.

As to her family tree:

The Jacksons:

Colten (Muggle) and Florence Jackson

Daughter Magnolia Jackson Zacarias (deceased) married to Michael (Misha) Zacarias with one daughterZahira Zelena Zacarias

The Zacarias’:

Ivan and Anya Zacarias (Muggles – Ivan was the soldier in WWII with the motorbike that he gave to Zee)

1. Michael (Misha) Ivanovich Zacarias m. Magnolia Jackson Zacarias (d) m. Sorcha Brown Zacarias

(a) Zahira Zelena Zacarias eng. Sirius Orion Black

(i) Harry James Potter

(ii) Twin 1 and Twin 2 Black (due January 1997)

2. Olga Ivanova Zacarias Petrov m. Dimtri Petrov

(a) Mikhail Petrov m. Ana Ivanov

(i) Yuri Petrov (11)

(b) Mila Petrov Sokolov m. Nicholas Sokolov

(i) Nastasia Sokolov (9)

(ii) Dinara Sokolov (6)

3. Sasha Zacarias Blok m. Yerik Blok

(a) Tanya Blok Fedorov m. Alek Fedorov

(i) Eva and Irina (twin girls identical) (2)

(b) Tatiana Blok eng. Iosif Kuznetsov

The Browns:

Callum and Fiona Brown

Brian Brown m. Jocasta Fitzgibbons

(a) Dougal Brown m. Ellen Smith

(i) Jenny Brown (24)

(ii) Ian Brown (22)

Sorcha Brown m. Misha Zacarias

(a) Zahira Zacarias

Names for Family Members:

Ivan & Anya = Baba and Deda

Tetya = auntie

Dyadya = uncle

Misha & Sorcha = Papa and Grandmama

Colt & Flo = Grandpa and Grandma

Callum & Fiona = Gran and Grandda

Basically, I love her and I’m so glad that other people have come to love her as much as me.

Zeerius is my canon.

@velvethopewrites​ thank you for loving her enough to put her in your Muggle AU.

[sieben9]

“dreamcatcher” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

OK, just putting it out there: this was a good episode. Like, really, really good. I loved it, even the bits that I definitely should not have. Looking at you, Emma.

seriously, what the hell, woman?

I mean, there were many good parts to this episode, obviously, but the bit pictured above in particular hit so well. That moment of "oh, yeah, right, she's the Dark One" could not have been set up and executed any better. Because it's not a huge over-the-top thing. It's quiet, almost unnoticable, and utterly horrifying. She's a thirteen-year-old girl, Emma. What the hell?

More shouting under the cut.

To continue the bit from above for a little: Obviously I don't think what Emma did was good on a human-being level. Obviously. But man, was it a good story move, and did it ever show off the breakdown of Emma's moral compass. Because outwardly, she seemed to be doing OK so far, only now we know that nope, she absolutely isn't. Someone keep an eye on her or before you know it there will be snails everywhere.

ok, i can see the upside, but he isn't worth it, i guess

Speaking of the whole heart-fiasco, I adored that storyline in Camelot where Emma and Regina got to work together on 1) performing a dark spell to free a centuries old wizard who got turned into a tree with his own tear and 2) help their son with his first foray into romance. ...honestly, they sound equally stressful.

Of course, it turned out that Emma was being The Worst parent, but everything before that reveal was solid, immensely enjoyable family-relationship development, and I loved it. Just... look at all these wonderful people and how far they've come since "stay away from my son or I will destroy you, if it's the last thing I do." ::happy sigh::

nobody in this conversation knows what they're doing and it's adorable

I also thought the reveal was set up rather nicely with the other Emma/Regina plot--specifically the bit where Emma gets to see Daniel's death. When Regina said that Cora "thought she was doing what was best", you could see Emma sit up and take notice. Which, Emma, m'dear, was 100% the wrong takeaway from that scene. Just... damn, woman. (Also tells you something about Cora, who managed to sink to that depth with absolutely no curse to help her along.)

there are SO many things wrong with this scene...

The worst thing is that it worked, too. They did get the tear they needed, Emma did get Merlin out of that tree (and was that just me or did she enjoy using that much magic wayyyy too much?) and they made a huge step towards their original goal and also in whatever they're planning to do with Arthur, now. (I mean, they're hardly going to let him just rule his fake kingdom via roofie-dust, are they?)

And if Robin and Regina hadn't found that dreamcatcher, nobody would ever have known. Least of all Henry...

might have been better for his peace of mind, though. just saying.

That was an interesting turn in Regina's attitude towards Emma, too. Because until then she was absolutely convinced that Emma could still be "brought back". The moment Emma hurt Henry, that optimism all but vanished. The supportive streak definitely did. I wonder if she knew from the start that it had been Emma who let the horse go so that she and Henry could "find" him, but didn't say anything because it seemed like such a harmless "misdeed", compared to what else Emma might do. There's no in-text evidence for this (except for the fact that Regina realised immediately that Emma had released the horse when the conversation turned that way, so she had probably been suspicious for a while), but it seems likely enough.

Barely related, but still worth mentioning: Henry and Violet continue to be adorable together. Even if the first date was something of an evil-mom-induced disaster, and even if Henry thinks that "Harold and Maude" is a good date movie. (I mean, I love that movie to bits, but still.)

Alright, after all that gushing, I have to take a moment to bring up a bit of the episode that I did not like. At all. Careful, here there be ranting.

"All you need is a sword and one good hand"

Well, fuck you, Merida. And fuck you, show, for presenting this as uncritically as you did.

Look, no matter how he got by the injury in the first place, Rumplestiltskin is permanently disabled. The fact that he literally cannot walk has nothing to do with his "attitude" or how "brave" he is. It's something that his body cannot do.

Even if he put aside his very rational misgivings and decided to fight, any fully mobile opponent could beat him easily. And listening to Merida berate him for minutes on end for having a disability was... deeply unpleasant.

Teaching the guy how to swing a sword seems like a shitty way to "make" him brave, even if you can ignore the ableist writing in this part of the plot, is what I'm saying here.

::deep breath::

That said, Merida's actions do make sense from her in-universe perspective. This is the main kind of "bravery" she knows, and she's not exactly in a good spot herself, what with Emma holding her heart, and all that.

Though if you do something to that cup, lady, I will find you and I will personally stick a bunch of hornets under your bedsheets. I know where to get them, they keep flying into my room all the time...

I also really did like the plot around Rumple's disappearance. Both on his end (minus the points mentioned above), and on that of the people looking for him. That part came as a surprise, to be honest, because I really didn't expect anyone besides Belle to care.

there is no caption that could make this picture more hilarious

Seeing them all work together was a nice touch, too. The cast tends to get a little entrenched in established pair-ups, so seeing them pool their resources and talents like this felt like a good change of pace. Bonus points for Regina's satisfied little smirk when she conjured up Henry's scarf to open the door. Just... some good old-fashioned teamwork on display. I liked it.

And, in closing news... they got Merlin back! Yay!

still unreasonably attractive, tbh

Naturally, I am deeply suspicious, because this is far too early in the season to get to any solutions, and also Emma is still the Dark One in Storybrooke, with no sign of Merlin anywhere. So either 1) he's a fake or 2) things are about to get exponentially worse.

I'm guessing 2, by the way.

[procellasdracon]

The Evolution of Erza Scarlet

This is in response to @thegreatrhapsode‘s post on what he would do for Erza Scarlet’s character in a re-write. Being an avid Scarlet fan myself, I couldn’t help but thrown in some of my two cents. My disclaimer: I’m not an impartial reviewer - I’m approaching this like I would a fanfic - what could make an interesting story. So yeah, this will be what interests ME. So, sorry-not sorry to anyone else who thinking what I have down here is trash. XP

Armors and Powers:

I actually love the idea of her having to go without those armors for a while for repairs or even reforged into a more powerful version. While they are broken, she'll find that she needs to increase her base stats more (like Zoro does) so she can train her physical stats even more, or her actual sword fighting technique. So the next couple of fights, she focuses on using just the weapons themselves instead of relying too much on her armor stash. A ‘retraining’ of herself of sorts. Instead of breaking up Natsu and Gray’s fights all the time, she joins in to keep her actual fisticuffs skills up to par. For her reaction and speed training, having Alzack and Bisca use their requip to shoot magic bullets at her might be intense enough for her to try.

Or hell, even another thought - learning how to capture her opponents blade by placing her own version of 'enchantment' on them. Whichever blades she can successfully enchant, she can wield with her telekinesis-like ability that she displayed when she first manifested her power and also when she brought down the Hall of Thunder. It would be a literal ‘Blade Steal’. This is where I thought ‘Queen of Blades’ could also become a later moniker of hers. It’s possible and if fits with her powers and skills. She enchants whatever item she desire with her magic and that is how she can bring it in and out of her ‘storage’ a la ‘ReQuip’.

Another idea might be one for her getting materials for the reforging of her old armor. The Flame Empress is easy - have Natsu help enchant it with his Fire Dragon Magic during the actual reforging of that set. The Black Wing and the Heaven’s Wheel can also get improvements but not as much as some others. Purgatory Armor should just be left out...that was freaking useless. To replace that one, she can go hunting for new armors and THIS is where she finds the Nakagami armor set or even a few other new ones. If her power is tied to her armor, then she should have been constantly upgrading her armor by reforging different pieces, inlaying lacryima into them - anything. Heaven’s Wheel is her favorite go-to armor? Have that thing double the amount of blades with that set and even make the swords more durable and able to shoot her magic energy through the tips or something - like her Photon Laser armor set. Honestly, Erza is properly OP just with a bit more application of the powers available to her from the start.

I think it would be amusing if she put on one of her old magic armor sets and it broke because she had too much power for it to properly channel. It would be nice if she didn’t have to rely on armor ALL the time.

Story and Goals:

Having a set goal is good - having an obscure goal like ‘to be strong enough to protect my family’ is ... okay. That sort of goal only works for the MC of the story but yeah... I wouldn’t have minded the ‘Wizard Saint’ goal if Natsu didn’t defeat Jellal in ToH like he did. The fight needs a bit more depth to it despite what it already represented. To me, having the Natsu vs Jellal fight represent her Past vs her Present+Future is pretty good symbolism in of itself. Power-wise... I think if she had helped out and it took both Natsu and Erza to beat him, it would lend a bit more weight to the ‘level of a Wizard Saint’ thing. Would also help solidify the fact that Jose rightly took her apart during the Phantom Lord Arc because he was that strong to be a ranked member of the Saints. Little things like that make the story easier for me to believe - maybe that’s just a ‘me’ thing. Maybe Erza didn’t want to become a Saint because she didn’t want to put herself on the same level as Makarov yet - that could also be a thing. She feels indebted to him and she doesn’t want to do anything to usurp his role to her in her mind. It may take Makarov himself to kick her in the ass to get her to try out for it. Pride of a father watching his beautiful daughter taking her rightful place in the world - nice moment right there. Gray may support her since he knows enough that Erza’s path may take her away from Fairy Tail. Natsu, however, doesn’t want her to leave and may even throw a tantrum or quietly ask if she’s just leaving them because she doesn’t like it here anymore which hurts Erza because she thinks the world of Natsu and even as bone-headed as he is, he’s important to her. They decide to have a battle - if Natsu wins, Erza stays, if Erza wins, she leaves and Natsu won’t say anything else. They fight and Natsu brings his ‘S-ranked’ game to this and Erza has to fight harder than ever before, not just because Natsu became stronger (flame of emotion, remember), but because she’s also undecided in her own heart. In the end, she decides to postpone her applying to the Wizard Saint position because she wants to go on more adventures and make more memories with her family. So Titania stays with Fairy Tail even though she’s at Wizard Saint lvl.

She may decide to help train Natsu and Gray to become S-ranks so that they guild will remain strong in her absence (another goal for her and also gives Natsu a path for increasing his battle power).

Not getting into Irene on that one... maybe if someone asks me, I’ll delve into it.

Relationships:

Okay, @thegreatrhapsode, you can tune me out here. XD Her relationships with her guildemates, her friends, Natsu and Gray and Wendy, and of course, Jellal. It should be very well known and well documented that I strongly dislike Jellal in this story - which is a shame because I will sing Seig Hart’s praises til the end of time. I like Seig even more than Shuda and Shuda was BAMF in Rave. Showing her becoming less strict is a good thing. I wouldn’t mind if she became the guild master and said many of the same things that Makarov said. That lil old man was essentially her father figure so it makes sense that she takes a lot of what he says to heart. So she becomes less stern and more accepting of those who don’t ‘live up’ to her old standards - instead, she may even do away with that line of thinking and encourage her fellow guildmates to live in a way that they can find out for themselves the reason for their magic, why they do what they do, and continue to live from day to day. She needs more time with Mira, Cana, and Wendy as well. Cana got shoved to the side and she really didn’t deserve that. Cana is one of the old guard, right along with Erza, Natsu, Gray, Mira, and Laxus - those are the core of the next gen of Fairy Tail. They should have a bond between them that is hard to pin down but probably the most sibling-like of any of the bonds in Fairy Tail. Sure, they may belong to different teams but for those 6 - I think they should be ‘That One Squad’ you don’t want to mess with. Like they should have been able to go up against the Oracion Seis... XD Okay maybe not, but hopefully you can grasp what I mean. As more and more people get added into the story (Lucy, Juvia, Gajeel, Thundergod Tribe, Wendy and Charles, etc), we should see that tight-knit circle growing in size but never losing it’s original strength of these people being the core of the Fairy Tail that the story is following. How they relate to Erza is that these are the ‘actual family’ that she relies on - everyone else is extended family. Hate to break it up into those terms but that’s how I see it. I’ll address Jellal before I get to Gray and then Natsu - personally, they all deserve their own sections - they are that important to Erza.

Jellal: Okay, real plot-talk here. I don’t like the fact that his redemption and his romance with Erza are essentially two-in-one. I don’t care how tortured of a soul he is or how good he was previous to the possession. Romance + Redemption is a disaster - especially if the romance partner ends up dying. If Erza died, there’s no where for Jellal to go but right back into darkness. Sure, he might do it in revenge of Erza’s killer if she died that way, but seriously, take Erza away and Jellal has no foothold to stand on - that is what makes him and the entire thing with Erza weak. I really don’t think Erza should have auto-switched to Jellal like she did - it was too sudden. Kinda makes you wonder why did she wait all those 8 years stewing for... *shrugs* Anyway, whether I like it or not, Jellal is very important to Erza - he gave her hope in what was her darkest time - I will never dispute this. And yet, he dashed that to pieces when he got possessed and went nuts, threatening her that if she ever got help to come back and free the others, that he’d kill them all. That should have had a much deeper psychological impact on her - much deeper than just a short arc for her to get over it and pursue a romance with him. *shakes fist at Mashima*. Damn it, I didn’t want this part to be a rant... Like I said in the above - Jellal is her past. Yes, he is both a bright spot and a dark smear on her past and her memories. And he should remain as that. She would want him to regain the light once more and that’s not a problem. But I think that he’d have a LOT to prove with her other than looking like a sad puppy and crying. As much faith as Erza showed Natsu during the Nirvana arch, why didn’t he ask her just who was Natsu to her - get her flustered a bit. XD I really would like a Jella/Natsu rivalry just because of the raw emotion that was shown in ToH. Sorry but actions speak louder than words and Jellal has 8 years to make up for. You’ll notice that I’m not referencing Ultear here - that’s because I don’t hold her responsible for that brainwashing in my head. I’m fully aware that it’s canon but Ultear has enough on her plate without throwing the huge mountain of crimes and ‘sins’ that Jelly amassed during that time. She should have been kept as a viable route for him to take as well. Either way, I think a fair bit of time needs to be spent on Jellal even being a continuing villain in FT or put him on the long, hard road of recovery. Either way, that’s something that he’ll have to make on his own and not rely on hiding behind Erza’s impenetrable aura of ‘Erzaness’ to defend him.

Gray: Gray is definitely the mature one between himself and Natsu. He is level-headed (for the most part) and can deal with complex things that Natsu either can’t deal with or just doesn’t want to. He and Erza can have long talks about different topics without it delving into fighting or annoyance. If she engaged in this with Gray more, it would do wonders for showing us how she sees him and vice versa. I really think that Erza should have taken both Gray and Natsu out with her on missions by themselves but Eisenwald was the first time she took both at once because she needed all their powers. But anyway, having Erza reveal that she trusts Gray with the hard plans because he can think his way through tough spots (like in Edolas with the key and the Dragon Cannon), would be a great set of moments for the both of them to learn just to what extent they see each other. Erza and Gray come off more like the older sister, middle brother type relationship but again, THEY ARE NOT BROTHER AND SISTER!

Natsu: I’ll... keep this brief... Or try to. First and foremost - THEY ARE NOT BROTHER AND SISTER SO ANYTHING ROMANTIC WITH THEM IS NOT  INCEST - PERIOD!!!! *huffs* .... There, glad we cleared that up. Now, even though I like Natza (perhaps a bit too much for some people) - them suddenly starting a relationship after ToH is a bit much...even for me. Like many have brought up - Erza sees Natsu and Gray as much her actual brothers as one could. It would take some time for the viewpoint to allow for her to see Natsu as something more. ToH provided enough to give that perception a brief rattle in my book but hey.... She thinks of him a lot - I mean A LOT. Likewise, he does things for her that make a good amount of people have to adjust their eyes to make sure of what they’re seeing. They can both strength each other and also hold the other back. They inspire each other - they believe in each other with a faith so strong, it defies all reason. Other writers and Tumblrs have brought up that Natsu probably reminded Erza of Jellal from their actual slave days and she wanted to make sure that he would be a man who would never succumb to darkness (and she succeeded in that). They both need more awareness of each other, but mostly for Natsu in order for any romance to kick over. If I did it, both Natsu and Erza wouldn’t even realize that they were in that sort of relationship. It would probably be towards the 2nd to last arc before Natsu realized that he lllllliiikes herrrrrr like that. Again, growth on his part as well but he needs to become more mature and also more aware of the more complicated aspects of life. And yes, I’m aware that Natsu has a LOT of growing up to do but I don’t want that to come at the expense of who he is and what he is to the story. Ugh... Keep it brief... So yes,  a slow burn for their relationship upgrade would be best. Asking for his opinion on more and more personal things, making him study/read more to bring up his IQ...things like that.

She doesn’t need an active romance to be Erza. She was fine before and she’d be fine after. Yes, I’m aware that she wants to become a bride and she wants to have a family and all of that - there’s no reason that she can’t have that. Like I said before, this is me thinking of it in a story and while I do prefer Natsu as her mate, I can ‘adjust’.

I really could keep on adding more to this but I gotta drop it right here. Agree - Disagree - that’s fine. It’s just my own perspective on how I see it. :p This is how I see Erza from the first 100 chapters evolving in a way that keeps with the original direction and still manages to make an impact with her.