#also althea is mute

[azuneekun]

Opinions on Caldarus?

i like him a lot.

[striveattemptfail]

Minor Differences | Logan Howlett & Wade Wilson, 1.9k, PG-13

@poolvertober: Day 20 – Pop Culture

Summary: Five times Logan learns something new about the timeline he's in (and one time it was for the better). Inspired by this post by @nichknack. Rated for language. Takes place some time after the movie's events; just assume Logan and Wade are back-up X-Men. More gen than slash but we all know the truth ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Read on Ao3

A/N: Once again, I'm taking today's prompt fast and loose so forgive me in advance 😅🙏 Un-beta'd but quite frankly it's a miracle I even finished on time lmao. Can you believe this was originally supposed to be ~600 words? (ノ_<、)

❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛

The first time Logan notices that his new timeline isn’t identical to his old one, it’s over a subtle name change.

He’s reading the Saturday paper in the living room, Wade watching some reality show on the seat next to him with Mary Puppins in his lap, when Althea leaves her room and shuffles into the kitchen.

“Alexa,” she calls out, “what time is it?”

A robotic voice replies, “The time is 5:43pm.”

Logan drops the newspaper from obscuring his face. He immediately finds the source of the reply on the coffee table: a grey, cylindrical device that looks like a mini speaker, control buttons on its side. It blinks a turquoise light around the rim until the light turns off with a muted beep at the extended silence.

“What the fuck?” he wonders out loud, surprised to see such a familiar gadget.

“Have you not interacted with an Echo before, peanut?” Wade asks. “Did you not have Bezos’ army of listening devices where you’re from?”

Althea barks out a hollow laugh. “You keep calling the damn thing a spy machine—”

“Because I don’t trust it!”

“—but you keep it right there anyway.” She scoffs, making her way to the fridge. “Fuckin’ hypocrite.”

“Well, it’s also convenient!” Wade argues. “Do you miss when I used to shoot the lights off?”

“What the fuck?” Logan says again, but for a completely different reason this time.

“Listen,” Wade starts, and from his tone Logan can tell some bullshit is about to leave his mouth, “sometimes a guy just wants to pass out after walking in at ass o’clock in the morning without having to get up when he forgets to deal with the lights!”

“So you shot the damn lights out?” Logan guesses. “Is that why all the light switch panels are just exposed? Because you shot the fuckin’ plates off?”

“Alexa, tell peanut to stop bullying me!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know that command,” the device says. “Would you like to—”

“Alexa, shut up.”

The cylinder goes quiet with a beep.

“Anyway, you didn’t answer my question,” Wade says before Logan gets a chance to berate him more. “Did your world not have Echos?”

“We did,” he admits, “but they were called Alexis.”

“Like Texas!” Wade shoots him a wink before chuckling to himself.

(Presumably to himself, because Logan has no clue what the fuck he’s talking about, as usual.)

Before either of them can elaborate, Althea yells from where she’s bent over in front of the open fridge, “Wade, did you put the fucking milk carton back empty again?!”

Their attention quickly shifts from there.

❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛

The next time Logan notices, it’s over something equally innocuous.

He and Wade hate talking to the authorities when they finish a mission, but none of the X-Men who are way better suited to dealing with humans made it in time to stop their target. He and Wade finished the job before those asscracks even left the X-Mansion, which meant the two of them had to deal with the aftermath until someone more qualified arrived.

“I’ll play you for it!” Wade finally suggests after five whole minutes of arguing over who should talk to the police chief.

He sticks his hands out, a fist over a flat palm. Logan rolls his eyes but dutifully mimics the gesture.

“After three, okay?” Wade clarifies. “No cheating!”

“Let’s just get this the fuck over with.”

Wade nods once.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” he counts as Logan simultaneously chimes, “Paper, scissors, rock, bang!”

They don’t even look to see who won. Instead, they mirror each other’s expression: one of total confusion.

“Mr. Deadpool? Mr. Wolverine?” a voice calls behind them—Logan recognizes it as one of the younger detectives Wade was speaking to earlier. “We need one of you now, please.”

He and Wade finally both look at their hands.

Fuck.

“Ha ha, sucker!” Wades hollers, his rock crushing Logan’s scissors. He only grunts in response when Wade quite literally skips away after slapping Logan on the ass. Logan turns around with a flat expression and follows the detective to where the police chief is giving a statement to some reporter.

Whatever. The sooner this is done the sooner he and Wade can go home.

❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛

Another time it happens, Logan’s not even sure if he even remembers the reference correctly.

He and Wade are at the X-Mansion for another mission, catching up with Ellie and Yukio inside the Blackbird jet while Colossus to grabs more a few more people. Logan’s not quite paying attention to the conversation’s details, more enamoured by the strange friendship the two girls have with Wade.

At some point, Ellie says something that makes Yukio giggle and shove her shoulder, causing Wade to cackle out, “Weird flex, but okay!”

Logan furrows his brows but doesn’t comment because Wade’s already pivoted the topic to something else.

He could swear that the saying was odd flex, but very well. If he actively recalls the kids from his old universe, that was what they used to say, right?

(Most days, he usually tries his best to not remember them. The pain may not be fresh anymore but it still hurts all the same. He’ll never be able to hear Kitty, or Jubilee, or Rogue, or Bobby cracking jokes he doesn’t understand but finds amusing nonetheless. Never again.)

Apparently, he’s still deep in thought by the time Laura walks up to him. Her face looks remarkably similar to one he sees on himself all the time—brows pinched, eyes narrowed, lips turned downward. At least on Laura the expression looks like a cute pout compared to Logan’s usual, unimpressed glare.

“What’s wrong?” She looks to the other three still caught up in their conversation, not paying Logan any mind. “Did they say something?”

Logan shakes his head. There’s no point in dwelling over the kids’ memes from his old life. He’s poked at those memories like an old bruise more than enough now.

“Nah,” he says, mostly telling the truth, “just remembered something.”

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He finally catches on by the following incident.

A song has been driving Logan fucking crazy for the past four hours. The goddamn earworm simply refuses to get out of his head, even with Wade’s incessant rambling at his phone in the background. What he’s blabbing about right this moment, Logan has no clue, because lyrics are on loop in his brain and he can’t hear anything above it.

Time for a replay session, he supposes, taking a seat in the living room. Hopefully making his ears bleed from the melody on constant repeat will finally get it out of his head.

“Hey, bub, can you play that ‘Vegas glowing’ song by Handsome Delight on the Alexis?” he interjects in the middle of Wade’s rant.

Wade furrows his hairless brow-line. “Come again? This time in my ear? Also, it’s still just Alexa.”

“You know,” Logan says, followed by a vague hum. “You walk in over time / ‘Cause we both know you’re mine / Fallin’ straight, don’t look down / Las Vegas glowin’ on the town,” he sings, hoping he has the correct lyrics. “That one?”

“One: Excellent singing, honey badger! Do you practice scales when I’m not listening? Because that voice is—” Wade cuts off to do a chef’s kiss with his fingers. “Two: Nope! Still no clue what that song is.”

“Stop fuckin’ with me, Wade.” Logan grunts, remembering how annoyingly often the song was playing on the radio when he was bar hopping earlier this year. Wade listens to pop music almost exclusively—there’s no way he would’ve escaped this song. “It was in the Top 40s for months. You had to have heard of this.”

Wade just blinks at him. “I really, truly have not.”

“Wait,” he pauses in realization, “does Handsome Delight not exist here?”

“Never heard of them!” Wade confirms, shaking his head and starts typing away on his phone. “Aaaaand Google here only pulls up a very adorable cake when I search that name.” He shows his screen to Logan, who grumbles in frustration after squinting at the results.

“You’re fuckin’ kidding me.”

“Why? What’s up, buttercup?”

“Shit. The damn song’s stuck in my head but I only know that stupid part.” He groans at himself, throwing his head back onto the couch, miffed that he can’t scratch the song’s itch like he thought. “I was hoping I could put it on repeat so I’d finally get it out of my system.”

“Sorry, peanut!” Wade pats his shoulder. “If it helps though, I can sing anything you want to rid you of the earworm plaguing you! I’ll be your personal jukebox!”

His answer is automatic. “I’d rather chop my ears off.”

Wade, obviously, starts singing anyway.

“You are! My fiiiire—”

Logan promptly sticks a claw into each ear. He might have pushed a little too far and nicked his brain a bit on both sides, which is just fine because the injury causes him to briefly pass out, a good solution as any at this point.

The last thing he sees is Wade’s comically dismayed face.

❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛

Logan accepts that this universe is just weirdly different after one more incident.

He and Wade made it home too goddamn late last night after finishing a job that took way too fucking long, which meant they both pass out for a solid eight hours and wake up well past noon for their first meal of the day. Althea had already left to do her own business (Logan never asks her what she’s up to, and he’s probably better for it) and took along Mary Puppins, so it’s just him and Wade in the kitchen.

Wade’s already sitting at the table, digging into something from a silvery packet when Logan shuffles by.

“Mornin’, peanut.”

“Hrm.”

“Figured I’d get some real food later, but I’m too damn tired right now, so, y’know—” he lifts up what Logan finally sees is a Pop-Tart, “—Pop-Tarts.”

Logan assesses that he is also too damn tired to actually cook himself a meal, but also too hungry to ignore his appetite. He combs through the cupboards with a quiet hum until he can kick his ass to get some real food. He eventually decides to follow Wade’s lead to eat something now and order more food later, going to the cabinet and bypassing Wade’s stock of sugary children’s cereal for the Special K.

“Not digging into the Raisin Bran, old man?” Wade teases.

“I may be old,” he tosses right back, “but I don’t need to act like it too.” He grabs the milk (a new carton because Althea chewed Wade out last time), a bowl, and a spoon, bumping the utensil drawer closed with his hip. Then, he makes his way to the kitchen table to sit across from Wade.

As always, he pours the milk first.

“Logan,” Wade says slowly, his eyes growing wide with what looks like concern, “why the fuck are you pouring the milk before the cereal?”

“Because that’s how you’re supposed to do it.” Logan shoots him a bewildered look because that’s how everyone does it? He’s pretty sure it’s common knowledge to pour the milk first so you get an even distribution of crunch. He’s adding the cereal in when he asks, “What the fuck are you on about?”

Wade’s horrified gaze flickers back and forth between Logan and his bowl. “That’s so fucking cursed.”

At this point, Logan doesn’t bother dignifying that with a response, digging into his bowl with a dismissive grunt and shake of his head. He very purposefully ignores the implication that people on this planet pour the cereal first.

Now that’s fucking cursed.

Logan may have been engineered to be a wild animal, but he’s not a goddamn savage.

❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛

&1

Logan finds out that Dolly Parton is still alive on this planet.

He considers forgiving the cereal before milk bullshit just for that.

——————————————

(More notes on Ao3.)

[honorhearted]

double dare: kiss Althea in public or lock Hailey in a closet for an hour

Send “double dare” along with two dares and my muse has to do one or the other. / @voxvulgi

Ben blanched at such a request. This was such a stupid game -- a stupid, stupid game -- and yet he was also never one to shy away from a challenge. It was both a noble part of him and a curse, and in this moment, he juggled with which option would get him into the least bit of trouble.

Were he to accost Althea in public, it would assuredly lead to social shame -- supposing that they were amongst other acquaintances, of course -- while if he were to lock Hailey inside a closet, he worried about the irreparable damage it might due to her humors. He could never possibly draw her into such pain and trauma; the idea of her weeping made his stomach turn.

That was why, although it was equally unbecoming, Ben found himself loitering outside the iron gates of Althea's manor. She was due to go riding that afternoon, and at this time of day, people were often far too preoccupied with their own travels to much concern themselves with...well...the sort of debauchery he was about to commit.

Jittery and anxious, he started up the pathway just as the front door opened, and Althea bounced down the steps in her riding habit.

"Miss Belcher?" Already, his heart was being squeezed against his lungs, drumming painfully as he made his approach. Palms starting to sweat, he rubbed them against his coat while briskly walking up the pathway. "Madam, may I have a moment of your time?"

Althea's light eyes reflected the sun's afternoon rays, a kaleidoscope of warm, enchanting colors that normally would've made his stomach flip and twist for far different reasons. Now standing directly before her, his height caused a slant of shade to mute the vibrant, spectacular sparkle in her gaze. Swallowing, Ben darted his eyes in between her face and the passing crowd walking through the streets.

They do not know you, he tried to remind himself. She doesn't truly know you, either -- no harm can befall your family.

It was this thought that echoed throughout his subconscious, stark and frantic as he took Althea's chin between thumb and forefinger. This action alone was already breaching propriety.

"Forgive me," Ben whispered, and then his mouth was suddenly on hers, firm and unyielding as he angled into the giving slant of her lips. His cheeks burned and he fumbled at her waist, attempting to remain gentlemanly despite the very brazen overstep.

Angling more strongly into their kiss, he only tipped back into awareness once he remembered one very important thing: this affection was not invited -- and with a panicked breath, he immediately broke the kiss and staggered backwards, lifting his hands in a feeble shield of supplication.

"I needed...um...luck," he stammered. "In my family, it is tradition to kiss a beautiful woman in order to receive the news we are praying for, so I...er...thank you." God, please end my suffering.

Face heating in shame, Ben abruptly about-faced and started briskly cutting back toward the fence, no longer able to bear her eyes on him. He was going to kill whomever forced him into this dare!

[rockislandadultreads]

Black History Month: Fiction

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray

The Butler family has had their share of trials - as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest - but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives.

Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened.

As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister's teenage daughters. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family in a story that is as page-turning as it is important.

The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

On the island of Pate, off the coast of Kenya, lives solitary, stubborn Ayaana and her mother, Munira. When a sailor named Muhidin, also an outsider, enters their lives, Ayaana finds something she has never had before: a father. But as Ayaana grows into adulthood, forces of nature and history begin to reshape her life and the island itself - from a taciturn visitor with a murky past to a sanctuary-seeking religious extremist, from dragonflies to a tsunami, from black-clad kidnappers to cultural emissaries from China. Ayaana ends up embarking on a dramatic ship's journey to the Far East, where she will discover friends and enemies; be seduced by the charming but unreliable scion of a powerful Turkish business family; reclaim her devotion to the sea; and come to find her own tenuous place amid a landscape of beauty and violence and surprising joy.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a "louding voice" - the ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni's father sells her to be the third wife of a local man who is eager for her to bear him a son and heir. When Adunni runs away to the city, hoping to make a better life, she finds that the only other option before her is servitude to a wealthy family. As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless slave, Adunni is told, by words and deeds, that she is nothing.

But while misfortunes might muffle her voice for a time, they cannot mute it. And when she realizes that she must stand up not only for herself, but for other girls, for the ones who came before her and were lost, and for the next girls, who will inevitably follow; she finds the resolve to speak, however she can - in a whisper, in song, in broken English - until she is heard.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance - and the subsequent cover-up - will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth.

As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are full-fledged adults and still living in debt to the choices they made that one seaside summer, caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, and dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they had chosen differently? The possibilities of the road not taken are a relentless haunt.

[godofevrerything]

OC Masterlist

Not including MM OCs or their second generation ( @mysticsitcom ) or Arcana OCs ( @apprentice-flame ) or OM OCs ( @demon-kisser )

Not including Hell Rising OCs (novel undergoing a rewrite, on AO3 and here on Tumblr) Aaaand not including TMC OCs (my webtoon, The Middle Child)

Bakugo Kaida (she/her), human, BNHA, Bakugo’s twin, heat manipulation quirk

Yagami Mizuki (she/they), human, BNHA, villian and previous UA student, water quirk

Yagami ??? (She/her), human, BNHA, Mizuki’s little sister, demon quirk

Yashido Emiko (she/her), human, BNHA, third year student, intern at Endeavor’s agency, destruction and mass manipulation Speed and agility quirk

Ruby Hastings (she/her), vampire

Alex Caldwell (he/him), vampire, Ruby’s ex husband

Caius Caldwell (he/they), also vampire, Alex’s twin brother and Ruby’s best friend

Eli Jacobs (she/they), human, Ruby and Alex’s girlfriend

Zephyr (they/them), human, a street fighter, free lance hacker and maker of robots

Aurora (she/her), robot, made by Zephyr to take care of them, also sort of their girlfriend (?)

Edythe Angelo (she/her), human, the daughter of a mafia boss, aspiring hacker and one of Zephyrs best friends

Ember Angelo (she/they), human, Edythe’s twin sister, also the daughter of the mentioned mafia boss, manager at the street fighting business, Zephyrs other best friend

Serena Angelo (she/her), human, model, voice actress and the mother of the twins

Laurence Angelo (he/him), human, Serena’s husband, the twins father and the mentioned mafia boss

Kiyo (he/they), kitsune, aspiring actor, stripper, hairdresser, the father of twins

Violet Erie (she/her), half siren and half human, singer, actress, model, Kiyo’s girlfriend and the adopted mother of the twins

Nicholas (he/him), half kitsune and half human, small child, chaos maker, Kiyo’s son

Jasmine (she/her), half kitsune and half human, also small child, hair braider, aspiring peacemaker, Nico’s twin

Addison (she/they), previously human and now a ghost, Minnie and Nico’s aunt, spirit that looks over Kiyo and the twins

Sara Barrows (she/they), human, took a hammer to her husbands car after he left her at the alter and was put in an insane asylum

Althea Crowe (she/her), human, may or may not have killed her abusive husband, was sent to the insane asylum and met Sara

Adaeze (she/they), human, grew up on an alien planet and only recently came down to Earth

Leia (she/her), human, kindergarten teacher, eldest sibling of four kids, Adaeze’s girlfriend

Derek Cain (he/him), human, mafia member, father of Mia

Rose Cain (she/her), human, firefighter, Derek’s little sister

Avi Evans (they/them), human, deceased in some AUs, mafia member, Janelle’s spouse and simp

Seth Morehouse (he/him), deceased, previous mafia member, Derek’s once fiancé and father of Mia

Janelle Evans (she/they), human, fantasy author, Seth’s sister, Avi’s wife

Lucas Meyer (he/they), human, restaurant owner, free lance singer, Rose’s boyfriend

Mia Cain (she/they), human, Derek and Seth’s daughter

Ace (he/they), human, illusionist, street performer, son of [REDACTED], Vienna’s twin

Vienna (she/her), human, acrobat, dancer, fire eater, street performer, daughter of [REDACTED], Ace’s twin sister

Zodiacs, (a story made by me and @fairylightsandthings)

Ava (she/they), Ox Zodiac spirit, local mom of the Zodiacs, ex college student and kidnapped by God

Tora (she/her), Tiger Zodiac spirit, a fighter, slight tsundere with supernatural strength and speed whos not so secretly soft, poly lesbian, Jin’s gf

Jin (she/her), Dragon Zodiac spirit, selective mute, can and will kill again if necessary, does her best but is emotionally constipated, Tora’s gf

Allistor (he/him), Sheep Zodiac spirit, soft boy, heavily manipulated, tries to keep his twin in check but often fails, one of God’s favorites

Emily (she/they), Dog Zodiac Spirit, does not know the meaning of sleep, bossy but doesn’t mean to be, also heavily manipulated, God’s spokesperson and Allistor’s twin sister

Raine (she/they), current reincarnation of the Goddess of Death, apathetic and cold, morally grey, occasionally shields the Zodiacs, has a demon

Noir (they/he/she), mentioned demon above, was summoned by Raine and now under a strict contract with her till she dies, doesnt mind at all, simp but also feeds off of human souls and still can and will kill

Feel free to ask about any of em ^^

[mightyecho]

𝕊𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕒 𝕣𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖

jessica parker kennedy . cisfemale . she/her . wasn’t that sephrenia reitar walking the palace grounds ? it’s nice to see the lady in waiting for the ghita family out and about on such a fine day as this. i’ve heard from the court spies that they’re notoriously precocious, whilst also managing to be quite level-headed. the thirty-one year old is eager to find out who exactly is behind the killings from what’s being said at court. i heard that they themselves are vrajiit ( siren song & song of the vrajiit ). it’s funny, whenever i think of them, i think of bare feet balanced on a window sill, the soft and eerie muted humming of a lullaby, the scent of jasmine in the balmy summer air, and the intimacy of cradling someone’s hands in yours. great to see the soiled dove around, isn’t it ?

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕞𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕨, 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕒𝕤𝕜 𝕞𝕖, 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕

———   GENERAL

NAME  : sephrenia “seph” reitar TITLE : lady in waiting for the ghita family AGE :  thirty - one  GENDER : cis - female PRONOUNS : she  /  her SEXUAL ORIENTATION : pansexual  BIRTHPLACE : wenchinka RESIDENCE  : currently trasnavda, following her ladies ALLIANCE(S)  : the ghita family , thaedris rhul 

———   RELATIONSHIPS

FATHER : sharak reitar MOTHER : althea reitar SIBLINGS : tba. ALLIES : thaedris rhul, daphne ghita, tba. ENEMIES : tba.

———   PERSONALITY

LABEL : the soiled dove POSITIVE (+) : level-headed — kind-hearted — grounding — graceful — loyal — honest NEGATIVE (-) : precocious — spit-fire temper — stubborn — jaded — melancholic  Optimist or pessimist? Introvert or extrovert? Daredevil or cautious? Logical or emotional? Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? Prefers working or relaxing? Confident or unsure of herself?

———   HISTORY

TRIGGER WARNING: post partum depression, abandonment, child neglect, child abuse, death, pregnancy/miscarriage. AS A HEADS UP, all of these are going to be implied, no graphic depictions allowed. 

𝔼𝕍𝔼ℝ𝕐𝕆ℕ𝔼 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝕊 𝔽𝕆ℝ 𝕊𝕀𝕃𝕍𝔼ℝ && 𝔾𝕆𝕃𝔻— — maybe once upon a time, the name reitar would have held some weight, would have meant something other than a sneer of her supposed nobility. her father had been selling off the land his fathers had held for generations before she was born and by the time she came around, their claim was merely a title and the home she grew up in, that singular plot of earth held onto by the sheer force of her mother’s will. when she was five her younger sibling was born and with this new life came the waking death of her mother. she moved as if she were a ghost, her eyes blank and unseeing, her ears unresponsive to the newborn’s cries. sephrenia and her older sibling stepped in, taking over the tasks mother was too tired to do, unable to leave her bed for days. 

and then, one day she did. so quietly she slipped away and it was hours before her children realized she was missing. for days her father sent men to find her- those who still remained loyal to the broken circlet worn by a piss-drunk lord- and they searched all over wenchinka unable to find hide nor hair. her father went quiet then but his quiet was a loud quiet, punctuated by slamming doors and heavy boot falls. she’d been young and selfish, not wanting to care for a newborn that stole her mother away from her, forced her to run away with their crying and the way her father’s quiet shook the house had her seeking refuge anywhere but home. 

and that was how she met thaedris. he’d stepped in to play protector when other children would get mean with their taunts and the feeling of being protected for the first time in a long time made her love him almost immediately. she became attached to his hip, distracting those in market squares with childish whimsy and displays of innocence while thaedris slipped nimbly through the crowd, slim fingers dipping into pockets and filling his own with coin, trinkets and loot. when her older sibling forces her to sit at the dirty kitchen table and teaches her the letters and numbers, holding her hand and helping it to shape them, she takes those lessons with her to the streets of wenchinka, crouching down beside thaedris and taking their hand to help him shape the same letters she’d just learned. 

when her father falls too deep in the drink after spending too many long hours in gambling dens, squandering what little remains of his inheritance, and walks in with heavy boot falls and silent, heavy hands, she runs to the only place that’s safe for her and she clings to their shirt, sobbing and begging for them to run away with her. it’s a big scary world and she wants as far from wenchinka as she can get but not without them— not without her safety net, she can’t do it. she’s not brave enough— and they stay because thaedris can’t leave and she won’t go without them.

ℍ𝔼 ℍ𝔼𝔸ℝ𝔻 𝔸 𝕐𝕆𝕌ℕ𝔾 𝔾𝕀ℝ𝕃 𝕊𝕀ℕ𝔾𝕀ℕ𝔾— — she’d been twelve, blossoming from girlhood into a young woman and dealing with the changes and turmoil that brought was nothing compared to the gift bestowed by the gods. hanging clothes out on the line was a boring chore and time passed quicker with a song, her voice sweet and clear before unconsciously slipping into something more—  a sound haunting and hypnotic, sending small, invisible puppet strings out to wrap around the hearts and minds that might hear. and thaedris had been coming up the road. 

it scared her so terribly, her eyes wide in confusion and horror, not understanding what had taken over her dearest friend and she’d buried her face in his chest, crying and apologizing while having no idea what she was apologizing for. a year later it was her father, unconsciously lured in by a song she sang while sweeping the kitchen and she’d cried again but with terror as her father’s eyes cleared, blubbering out apologies and clinging to the broom like a shield— only for her father to embrace her. he kissed her forehead, petting her hair and called her good—  good girl, darling girl, you are a gift to your father. 

and when men came for her father—  as they so often did, every few months, demanding payment on debts he’d never pay off— her father holds her in front of him like a shield, hands gripping her forearms tight and hisses to sing. but she’s so afraid and the men are grown and strong, their eyes menacing and her voice quavers. their laughter is callous and when firm hands grip tight enough to bruise, others tear her from his grasp, having enough decency to remove her before running the blade of their sword through her father’s middle. they tear through the home her mother had fought so hard to hold onto for her children, destroying what they don’t take and when it’s over, she runs again to thaedris, begging them to run away with silent tears that run down her cheeks, her voice scarcely above a whisper, knowing the answer before he speaks. 

the subject of the academy is brought up, thinking it a perfect escape— but thaedris isn’t ready. so she waits, going through the motions of trying to hold up a crumbling house her father had brought to ruin. for two years she waits and then when they decide they’re ready, she is right there beside him. between the lessons of pushing her will through her voice, letting her words cover intent and learning to navigate life around so many other gifted, she was frequently found at thaedris’ elbow; it had felt like a brief reprieve. a small safe haven for the two of them, at least in her mind ( at least for those few moments ) until he had to leave for the army and she still needed time to learn. 

𝕋ℍ𝔼ℝ𝔼'𝕊 ℕ𝕆 𝕆ℕ𝔼 𝕋𝕆 ℂ𝔸𝕋ℂℍ 𝕄𝔼 𝕀𝔽 𝕀 𝕋𝔸𝕂𝔼 𝔸 𝔻𝕀𝕍𝔼 — — she leaves the academy and joins the army, truly on her own for the first time in her life. she isn’t a strong fighter and her aim never becomes perfect and she feels almost aimless among the warriors, before she does find her place among a group of fellow soldiers that become more than friends, more than family. though the bonds she has forged are deep, she still holds onto that hope with each returning company to the camp in danruba to see thaedris’ face among them. 

— she thinks it’s love, finding herself in strong arms that make her feel safe, kissing lips that make her feel wanted, wonderfully wanted. sephrenia shares her entire heart with this man and she takes what he gives her in return, protecting and cherishing the relationship between them. when she misses her monthly, it’s a sinking realization; war is no place to be with child, no place to raise a child. when the next month passes and then another, she confides in him their secret— and the next month arrives but it’s with a heaviness in her heart and an emptiness in her womb. war was no place to be with child. ( wanted connection )

time passed and years pass and when she leaves the army, it’s with a heavy heart, bidding farewell to the ones she’d come to love. and she goes home. she hadn’t been back to wenchinka in years and there was a hope in her heart that thaedris, his required service over before hers, had returned home and that she would walk the familiar streets and see their face smiling back at her. when she goes to his family, they tell her they haven’t heard from them in years and her heart sinks— but hope isn’t lost, not yet. he had promised he would come back and she clings to that promise like a talisman, knowing they would keep that promise. 

and seasons pass. and years pass. using the weight of her name and her name alone, she appeals to the ghita house, seeking employment and finding herself among the ladies in waiting. it doesn’t take long before she loves all of the ghitas, her ladies dear to her heart but closest was her sweet daphne. sephrenia still holds onto the promise, reminding herself of it every day and when she sees his face in a crowded marketplace- finally, finally after so long- she runs to him like a child, flinging herself into their arms with a heart cracked wide open. 

𝔸 ℙℝ𝕆𝕄𝕀𝕊𝔼 𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔼𝕊 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝕀ℕ 𝕐𝕆𝕌 ℕ𝕆𝕎 — — initially, she had been excited to accompany her ladies to iarna keep. to see the capital, the grand castle— and thaedris. she’d been so caught up in the wonder of it all while still trying to remain a firm foot on the ground for her lady daphne, who’s head was perpetually in the clouds. when the dragons attacked and it felt as if the world was ending, a song had risen unbidden from her throat, voice raising desperate to be heard over the cacophony. the song had been different, not reaching the ears of anyone who heard with invisible puppet strings, ready to force her will on them but with a glowing light inside of her own chest that reached out in golden strands, reaching the ears of vrajiit around her. the song filled her with hope, spilling out through those golden tendrils to touch the hearts of the vrajiit who could hear the song, strengthening their hearts and fortitude, empowering them and their own abilities with new strength—  until hers gave out and the song cut out as she crumpled to the floor. 

when she woke up and found out what had happened to her darling daphne, she’d been beside herself and she stayed beside her bed nearly every waking moment while she healed. when daphne’s lord brother had been accused, she had held her hand with an iron grip, an arm wrapped around her slim waist to keep her steady—  after how badly she had been hurt at the wedding, sephrenia has become almost a watch dog for the youngest ghita. her eye never strays far from any of her ladies and her devotion is to them, not the nobility they represent. she remains unimpressed with them, particularly over the last few weeks, a snake pit where they’re so deeply tangled they’ll start to eat each other soon. she wants her ladies as far away as she can get them before the feeding frenzy really begins.

the song from the night of the wedding hasn’t risen in her chest again and truly, she couldn’t begin to tell you where it had come from, what the strange tongue that had slipped from her lips meant. she hasn’t breathed a word about it but those golden threads that had touched the hearts of the vrajiit around her still tie to her heart and she feels a unexplainable kinship to them, watching with dark eyes. 

———   POWER: SONG OF THE VRAJIIT

okie i wanted to explain a little the ‘song of the vrajiit’ power bc i literally couldn’t come up with a better name and that’s a very vague power name but the inspiration is mary brighton from the nevers. sephrenia’s power is a song of hope that unites all the vrajiit that hear it, filling them with the same hope and empowering their hearts, spirits and gives a temporary boost to their powers-- like bardic inspiration. the first time this power has shown up was the night of the wedding and i’m def looking for some vrajiit folks who were fighting that would’ve heard it so finger guns hit me up chicken butts.

[spacecadet-sims]

Meet Althea Sheppard

Althea is the founder for my attempt at the Neck of the Woods Challenge. Althea is a trans woman and a lesbian! Althea’s favorite color is pink, but she loves any color in the muted family. She’s cottagecore through and through. She has the Freelance Botanist aspiration, and the following traits: loves the outdoors, neat, and vegetarian. I’m starting the challenge in Spring. I’ve completely demolish and evicted the entirety of Willow Creek. I built Althea’s starter home with almost all of the remaining $18k after the purchase of the land. I definitely plan on remodeling it later. This challenge will be a longer one since it’s so labor-intensive and time-consuming. I’m planning on including some storytelling aspects in my gameplay for this challenge, too, just like my other challenges, but with this you’ll also be getting build updates, townie makeovers and the creation of original families. CAS pics under the cut!

[treeofsalvation-blog]

My Pairings

No fanfic today, but I do want to ramble a bit about my pairings. I have a couple of new ones in potential, but I want to work on them for a little bit longer. These are my established pairings. I’ve talked about them quite a bit in response to prompts, so here I’ll just ramble about how they got together and what kind of relationship they have. Just rambling in general, I guess.

If you have a question, feel free to ask.

--

Thorne (blue haired landsknecht ♂) and Jonah (male red-haired landsknecht ♂)

Thorne was the one who first made his interest know. Jonah is suffering from a curse in his eye that allows him to learn stats of monsters. Thorne didn’t know that when he first laid eyes on him. Only thought he was cute because he was smaller than the average landsknecht. And he’s cute in general.

Even after learning that Jonah is cursed, and that the one who cursed him is still out there somewhere, Thorne maintained his interest. Jonah was cute and interesting now. Thorne is protective of him, however. Not exactly possessive, but he’s the only one who can tease Jonah and make him blush ever-so cutely.

Jonah doesn’t know what to make of Thorne first, especially his blatant honesty toward him. He did find Thorne rather handsome, but figured that a guy like him would lose interest in him quickly and move on. Thorne was rather flighty, after all. But Thorne made his interest and pursuit of him known, and stuck to it regardless of Grandpa Vlad’s displeasure.

In Nexus, they’re officially in a relationship. Thorne is openly affectionate while Jonah is still more reserved. He doesn’t push Thorne away however, just blushes deeply.

Nairn (male black-haired alchemist ♂) and Althea (orange haired medic *male portrait* ♀)

Their relationship doesn’t fully form until they reach Lemuria/Nexus, and Althea is aged 18. Althea has had a crush on him for a couple of years, but always held back out of fear.

They met accidentally when Althea was in the library studying and Nairn just happened across her. Because of her being mute, she didn’t verbally respond to anything he said. Instead of feeling annoyed that she’s giving him the supposed cold shoulder, Nairn was intrigued because while she didn’t speak, she looked somewhat interested in what he was saying.

Nairn held a sense of interest in her because of her shyness and muteness. His interested turned into protectiveness after seeing a few ladies of society corner her and place the blame on her for the actions of her murderous mother. After seeing how distressed Althea was and how she couldn’t exactly talk back, he did instead. His family is of high society too, but he doesn’t care what others think.

After he learns what had happened to Althea (her mother brutally murdering her father and tried to kill her before fleeing) he vowed to help her regain her voice. And in order to do that is to make her feel safe and comfortable.

They have a very sweet relationship. Holding hands and cuddling is as far as they go, really. They’re both content just to be with each other.

Emmett (red haired medic ♂) and Crystalena (blonde protector *male portrait* ♀)

Crytalena is a maid who works for Emmett and is the daughter of the maid that has worked with Emmett’s family for years. In her mind, she’s just the maid and the help. Emmett is completely out of her league, and rightly so. Emmett is considered Lagaard’s wealthiest bachelor and has a lot of marriage-minded woman and mothers looking at him. And he hates the attention. He’s only interested in Crystalena.

In order to help Emmett ward off unwanted advantages, Crystalena agreed to be his pretend girlfriend. But she believes it’s only a ruse to help Emmett. But Emmett is determined to prove to her that she’s the only woman he can ever see marrying.

Because of her upbringing, Crystalena finds it extremely difficult to believe she’s worthy for someone like Emmett. Even though they’ve crashed into bed together a few times. Had sex, basically. That causes a bit of tension between them, but Emmett is stubborn.

In Nexus, they’re engaged. Crystalena has accepted that Emmett’s love for her is the real deal and she loves him in return. She still has maid tendencies where she likes to serve others. But she knows that Emmett is dedicated to her.

Kendrix (brown haired highlander ♂) and Sokyu (black haired ronin ♂)

Sokyu was seriously injured protecting his younger brother after a monster attacked his village. He would have died had it not been for Kendrix, who had been tracking the monster that attacked. He led Sokyu and his brother to safety, giving up the pursuit of the monster. Sokyu didn’t remember her when they reunited in Lagaard, but Kendrix recognised him immediately. And from then on Kendrix decided to be the one to protect Sokyu and help him heal from his injuries.

As Kendrix watched over Sokyu, his protectiveness morphed into that of genuine need to keep him safe. Even though Sokyu didn’t remember him, he did develop a crush on him.

After a sighting of the monster that attacked Sokyu’s village, Kendrix goes in search of it, attempting to keep Sokyu away. Sokyu tracks him down nevertheless and demands answers, actually more disappointed that Kendrix would leave him behind him. He’s surprised when he learns of their past connection.

After that, the two worked together to take on the monster and free them both of their regrets. For a short while they thought that since the monster was no longer connecting them, that they would drift apart. But they didn’t. They grew closer in fact and decided to attempt this relationship thing because they were both free now.

In Nexus, they’re in a steady and affectionate relationship. Kendrix is still protective of Sokyu though.

Kaiser (blue haired dark hunter ♂) and Kaede (blonde alchemist *male portrait* ♀)

Kaiser’s sister was murdered by her own guild and Kaede was the only witness. She was targeted by that murderous guild and took refuge in Lagaard. Kaiser happened to track her down, hoping to use her to get to the murderers. But he realised how scared she truly was and realised that the murderers aren’t someone to mess with.

So Kaiser became Kaede’s secret protector. He knew that the murderer would eventually come for her, so he reasoned with himself that he’s just keeping an eye on her until then. But Kaede was a very sweet young woman. His need for revenge for his sister grew to also keeping Kaede safe.

The murderers eventually return and Kaiser chooses to protect Kaede over his need for revenge. Staying in close quarters together soon turned to comfort and the cliched passion took over. The murderers realise that they are outnumbered in Lagaard, and the guild’s popularity outmatches any shit-stirring they could cook up. So they fled.

In Nexus, Kaede still lives in fear of the murderers returning, but she knows that Kaiser will protect her. Kaiser has vowed to stay by her side, no matter what. So they have a very endearing relationship.

Ritvik (dark skinned war magus ♂) and Elah (red banded hexer ♂)

They’ve been together for as long as they both can remember. Ritvik found Elah soon after he was turned into a Hexer and immediately took him in to care for him. Elah is very ill, suffering from a curse that affects his physically health. Ritvik is attempting to search for a way to cure Elah.

They’re in a very close relationship. Ritvik is very protective, benignly possessive of Elah. They’re both devoted to each other. Some may see it as being too dependant on each other, but they really do love and care for each other. Who wouldn’t go to hell and back for the one they love?

Duardo (older gunner ♂) and Fleuretta “Fleur” (blonde haired survivalist – classed as sovereign *male portrait* ♀)

Fleuretta is a princess on the run and in hiding. Her sister wanted her place on the throne so sent assassins to kill her. As you do. So Fleuretta went into hiding, taking her loyal guard, Duardo with her. He went willingly, of course.

Duardo considers himself Fleuretta’s bodyguard, and he can’t be anything more. He doesn’t really have “romance” or “relationships” in his vocabulary. Fleuretta, on the other hand, wants Duardo to see her as more than an obligation. She’s a very unconventional princess, so she’s the one pursuing him. Which baffles the hell out of him.

It takes Duardo some time to realise that Fleuretta is actually serious about disavowing her royal family and becoming an explorer, and having him by his side as a romantic partner.

It takes a few close calls for Duardo to realise that he can’t really see his life without Fleuretta in it. And maybe a life as an explorer for the both of them isn’t so bad.

In Nexus, they’re in a fledging relationship. Fleuretta is still very blunt in her adoration of Duardo though.

Tyvon (white haired dark hunter ♂) and Charity “Charli” (brown haired gunner *male portrait* ♀)

Tyvon is a street rat of Lagaard. Grew up on the streets and did what he could to watch over the other vulnerable street rats. Despite his class, he’s a caretaker. He tries to help other vulnerable people. But the vulnerability he sees in Charity’s eyes really catches his attention. It also helps that she’s kinda cute.

Charity came to Lagaard to hide from her sister after witnessing her brutally murder a couple of street kids, and tried to blame her for it. She was very skittish and tried to keep to herself in order to keep others safe. She couldn’t shake Tyvon, though. Especially when the two of them are found by Vlad in less than ideal conditions, and he took the two into his guild.

Their relationship started with friendship, to developing crushes on each other. After a near encounter with Charity’s sister, which put Charity in hospital, made Tyvon realise that she could be taken from his life forever and he didn’t like that.

Even after the murderous sister had been dealt with, the two continued with the Just Friends charade, even though they’ve admitted that they would like the other to stay in their life a little longer.

In Nexus, they’re beginning a fledging relationship. Taking things slowly because neither had been in a relationship before.

Garek (silver haired fortress ♂) and Skylark (blond haired sniper ♂)

Garek found Skylark alone in the labyrinth as he attempted to train. He didn’t like that because being alone is dangerous, so practically drags Skylark back to town and gets him to join his guild. Nup. If Skylark wants to train on his own, to master the bow he had inherited (and which his sister is willing to kill him for) he to deal with Garek tagging along. No ifs or buts about it.

Starts off as Garek being Skylark’s bodyguard, to helping him train, to simply hanging out. And it kinda develops from there. There’s no “what are we exactly” talk. They just go with the flow.

Jamal (dark skinned imperial red hair ♂) and Oceana (brown haired fortress *male portrait* ♀)

Oceana is boyish in appearance, but the mother-figure of the entire guild. She never knew her mother and was raised by a hard-working single father. She’s a blend of toughness and gentleness. Jamal is a cynical imperial who is looking for information of his “missing” father.

Oceana is drawn to Jamal first by his looks. He’s rather hot, after all. But its his secret pains that gains her full attention. She understands what he’s going through and wants to help.

Their relationship starts out rather platonically. Jamal sees Oceana as a fellow warrior. Someone to have his back in battle. But he slowly begins to see that she’s there for him outside of battle.

Their relationship starts off as physical at first, the two just needing someone to touch and hold. They soon develop a true bond though Jamal isn’t sure what that is because he hadn’t encountered anything like it before. After Oceana nearly dies does he come to the realisation that he wants a future with her.

In Nexus they’re married, and a short while later Oceana finds herself pregnant.

Harlan (blue armoured imperial ♂) and Celeste (blond runemaster *male portrait* ♀)

Celeste is a bit of an airhead. She was raised in a small village out in the Windy Plains to become a Priestess of Nature. In order to do that, she needed to visit the labyrinths. Harlan is a simple low-level soldier for the empire. They don’t really have anything in common.

Even so, Harlan realises how naïve Celeste still is and kinda took it upon himself to ensure she doesn’t wander into danger. So he finds himself tagging along on her little wandering journeys. It’s through these journeys that they bond and develop feelings for one another, though it isn’t until they shared an unexpected kiss do they ask “What are we?”.

They still don’t know. But it’s nice, so they’ll stay together.

Jake (green haired sniper ♂) and Rosetta (brown haired runemaster *male portrait* ♀)

Rosetta is quite the character who doesn’t care for social cues. She makes her intense interest in Jake known from the moment they meet. That confuses Jake in return and since she’s rather deadpanned about it, he can’t take her seriously.

Rosetta may seem like she’s outrageous in her attempts to get with Jake, and Jake is just a hapless victim. But he has the ability to tell her to fuck off, and she knows when she’s pushed too far. She doesn’t see the point in hiding or being reserved. A part of Jake respects that. He still doesn’t know how to handle her, though. He’s not used to anyone being so openly and honesty affectionate toward him.

In Nexus, they’re in a relationship. Rosetta is still openly and outrageously affectionate. And Jake still finds himself overwhelmed at times. But they genuinely care for each other and Rosetta knows when to hold back and when to push forward.

Miguel (blond dancer ♂) and Shanti (alt purple haired dancer *male portrait* ♀)

Shanti had been raised to be ashamed of her body. She’s out of everyone’s league and she’s destined to live life alone because she’s so useless and such. To say that she’s suffering from low self-esteem is an understatement.

Miguel is outspoken in his complete adoration of Shanti. To him, she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. He’s very encouraging, both gently and outrageous. He knows when Shanti needs a pep talk, or need someone to simply sit quietly with her.

Interest at first sight which turned into a gentle friendship, to a gentle relationship. Shanti still believes that Miguel deserves better than her, but she also doesn’t want to push him away.

In Nexus, they’re officially in a relationship and Shanti is slowly allowing herself to show Miguel affection out in public.

Daniel (brown haired EO4 medic ♂) and Ryland (brown haired EO4 landsknecht ♂)

Daniel is Tharsis’ most eligible bachelor and his mother wants nothing more for him to settle down with a nice girl and start popping out grandkids. Daniel has other ideas, however. He’s interested in his medical training and to advance that, he agrees to start a guild with his friends.

Ryland is emotionally stunted and suffering from the radical abuse he had suffered as a child. He sees himself as a warrior, not a person. A punching bag with no emotions.

For Daniel, it’s interest at first sight when he meets Ryland. As a medic, he decides that it’s his duty to help Ryland to understand his emotions. He wasn’t expecting Ryland to be so adorable, though. Or so attached to him. Ryland himself is startled by how attached he is to Daniel. His sister, Rosetta, was the only person he had allowed himself to become attached to.

Their relationship turns physical rather quickly because Ryland isn’t used to using words. Action speak louder than words, and sleeping with Daniel helps him to realise how much he means to him. And how much he means to Daniel.

They have a rather unconventional relationship, but Ryland is very attached to Daniel and only sees himself doing “those types of things” (aka, sex) with no one else but Daniel. And Daniel is protective of Ryland, and will protect him no matter what.

Brody (younger white haired EO4 medic ♂) and Sonya (younger purple haired landsknecht EO4 *male portrait* ♀)

Sonya has an obvious crush on Brody and tries whatever she can to get even a moment alone with him, or do something romantic like going on picnics or dates. Brody, however, is older than he looks and he refuses to have anything to do with Sonya at first. He doesn’t encourage her crush on him. He figured that it’s a phase and she would move onto someone much more suited.

It’s not until Nexus that Brody begins to realise that Sonya is indeed quite the beautiful young woman. And she’s as determined as ever. He’s still reluctant, however. He’s a bit of an asshole. A known one. Sonya deserves better than that.

So, currently, they’re in the “they obviously care for each other” phase of their relationship.

Neroli (red arcanist ♂) and Lotus (purple arcanist *male portrait* ♀)

They were friends since childhood and Neroli had dragged Lotus around on little adventures. Only her. He wants to see the world, and he wants to see it all with Lotus by his side. Lotus only wants to stay with Neroli and she wants to see him happy.

They have a very, very innocent and pure relationship.

Devlin (black haired nightseeker ♂) and Kali (white haired nightseeker *male portrait* ♀)

They were in the same cult as children, though they had different roles. Kali was selected to become the Priestess of the Moon and he was nothing more than a lowly guard who is meant to pledge his entire life to her. But something went wrong during the ritual and Kali’s hair turned white. Using the chaos to his advantage, Devlin grabs Kali and flees to Tharsis where they’ll be safe from the cult.

Kali doesn’t truly remember her attachment to Devlin, just that she trusts him with her life. Devlin has cared for Kali for years and had wanted to get the both of them out of the cult for years. He’s dedicated to Kali and makes his affection toward her known. And Kali is as dedicated to him. She doesn’t remember everything of their past together, but her heart does. And that’s all that matters.

They have a strong relationship, having only eyes for each other. During the nights of the full moon, their relationship is very sensual and physical.

Theron (earthlain portrait) and Alexis (younger dragoon ♂)

They’ve been friends for years. Theron is the son of a noble family and expected to find a wife. Alexis’ family owns a chocolatier, which he is expected to one day own, thus giving up his “silly” dream of exploring.

Alexis is a martyr, putting everyone first. He has had feelings for Theron for years but refuses to tell him in fear of ruining their friendship. And Theron deserves better, in his opinion. Theron doesn’t initially see Alexis’ crush on him. But when he does, he goes on a crusade to show Alexis that his feelings are returned.

Which is surprisingly not that easy. It takes some time for Alexis to accept the fact that handsome, rich Theron does indeed like him. He likes him a lot.

In Nexus, they’re in an official relationship. Theron is very handsy, one could say.

Zachary "Zac" (piercings Harbinger ♂) and Astara (long haired warlock *male portrait* ♀)

Astara lost her family in a terrible fire some years ago, but she’s lost a great deal of her memories from that night. Zachary is a bounty hunter who may know a little more about that night than he’s willing to reveal.

They started off as guildmates before Zac found out about Astara’s trauma, so he becomes her secret protector. First, that is out of duty. But after spending time with her, he realises that he’ll do anything to keep her safe.

To Astara, Zac was rather intimidating. But she soon learns that he’s quite the nice guy. Very smart, easy to spend time with. Protective, too. She develops a crush on him rather quickly. She doesn’t do anything about it, though as she’s still struggling with the lost of her family and her memories.

In Nexus, they’re not quite in a relationship. They’re both working through personal issues. But it’s obvious that they care for each other deeply. To others, they’re basically off the market. They just haven’t made it official yet.

Xanthe (Warlock ♂) and Chantall (long haired Harbinger *male portrait* ♀)

Chantall comes from a high ranking council family and expected to marry well. She’s interested in exploration however. And in order to get her family off of her back, she makes up an imaginary man and tells her family that they’re dating. Well, fuck me, they want to meet this man!

Desperate, she turns to Xanthe, an unsocial warlock, for her in pretending to be her boyfriend. Amused by her plight and revelling in the possibility of fucking around with a snooty family of high society, he agrees. Much to Chantall’s shock.

A series of cliché moments between them cause them to spend time together. And they realise that the other isn’t so bad. They’re kinda nice. Cute, too.

In Nexus they’ve decided to make their pretend relationship into a real one.

Ramon (squared jaw Necromancer ♂) and Lilybeth (Fencer *male portrait* ♀)

Ramon was meant to marry a daughter of a noble family. But he decided that he would rather throw himself head first into the labyrinth than marry. Lilybeth is the sister of the betrothed and is sent to find him and drag him home. Instead, she finds herself joining him and his guild, becoming a explorer.

Ramon has made his interest in Lilybeth known practically from the beginning. Lilybeth had been her family’s human punching bag, so relationships are foreign to her. She does find herself drawn to unconventional Ramon, who is hell-bent on helping her to lighten up.

In Nexus, Lilybeth has turned her back on her abusive family and is beginning a relationship with Ramon. They’re kinda in the courtship stage, Ramon going out of his way to woo her again.

Valente (eye patch Dragoon *female portrait* ♂) and Mikazuki (cat-eared Masurao *male portrait* ♀)

Valente is the eligible bachelor of Iroys, and he loathes the title. His family is pressuring him to get married. So he gets childhood friend, Mikazuki, to be his pretend fiancée. And in order to teach his haughty family a lesson, she agrees.

Their relationship is outrageously “affectionate” when they first begin their façade. It soon has them both seeing their steady friendship through a more romantic lens. And they soon realise that their “pretend” is becoming more natural.

In Nexus, they’re in an official relationship. Still outrageously affectionate, but sweetly so now. Especially in private.

Kayin (long haired Necromancer ♂) and Selena (celestian *male portrait* ♀)

They started off as partners working on the case of Selena’s murdered mentor. Spending long hours together, usually just the two of them, had them starting a close friendship. That soon turned into a sexual attraction, which they soon began to explore.

They fell into a natural relationship after that. They’re both very spiritual individuals, and quite mature. So they just went with the flow of things to see where it would take them.

Radhi (younger Pugilist ♂) and Jasmina (Rover *male portrait* ♀)

They both have obvious crushes on each other. But they deny them because they’re a couple of idiots who think relationships are silly and not for them. They’re also stubborn.

They do care for each other greatly however. They’re not sure how to express that, though. So often get into verbal fights, especially if they’re worried. They don’t get vicious with each other with their words though. And don’t say outright negative things about the other. When alone they weakly admit how worried they are and how relieved, and such. Like a pair of idiots.

In Nexus they’re still in the denial stage, but are slowly accepting that they have crushes on each other.

Nadiel (young shogun ♂) and Mercy (alt younger medic *male portrait* ♀)

They’ve been through quite a bit; their prince’s assassination, being stranded on Lemuria before Maginia arrived, and Nadiel being hurt. But they managed to survive by working together. Mercy healed Nadiel while Nadiel kept her safe from harm.

They developed feelings for each other while they were on the lam, but they did not fully accept them, and certainly didn’t do anything about it. They were too busy trying not to get killed by assassins. Now that they’re safe with the guild, they had a few conversations about their feelings and though they felt guilty about failing their prince, they knew that their prince wanted them to be happy. And they’re happy when they’re together.

They have a very sweet and supportive relationship. Very gentle and healthy.

Tabris (younger hoplite ♂) and Kaidus “Kai” (younger orange haired gladiator ♂)

Tabris’ family’s name was ruined several years ago after a member claimed to have seen a monster that “should not exist”. Kaidus had his reputation at stake after the party he had been escorting was wiped out by a monster that “should not exist”.

It started off with Tabris wanting Kaidus to help restore his family’s name. But he soon found himself having to protect Kaidus from those who don’t want him to tell anyone what he had witnessed. Kaidus reluctantly turned to him because he felt guilty about not protecting those in his protection and he wants to help Tabris to restore his family’s name, even at the cost of his own.

Tabris’ protectiveness toward Kaidus soon turned into genuine affection. And Kaidus himself had never saw himself in a relationship, but there’s something nice about being protected by Tabris. And being shielded in his arms.

Currently, they’re in the Not Quite a Relationship stage, though it is obvious that they care deeply for each other.

--

Christ, that took longer than I had expected. And there’s likely more of them in the future. Of course I have a lot of purely platonic “couples” but I’ll leave them for a later date.

[professor-abeloved]

SEND ME A CHARACTER & I’LL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING ABOUT THEM!

@hartfeld​ said: James Ashton for the character ask meme 😊

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life - james ashton is great and really underappreciated (looking @ u pb, when is he gonna be focus of a book cover in the freshman series??) hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang - dude he’s gorgeous & his personality is pretty dreamy, i admit! buuut he’s not my type & i prefer shipping james with his fans heehee <3 hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff - his theme colour also appears to be blue and tbh he’d look great in ravenclaw colours!! best quality: i admire how passionate he is about writing (#same!) and how much of a gentleman he is, but one thing that sticks to me is how quick he is to apologize and admit his fault when he does something wrong, a trait i really appreciate both irl and during book 3 when everyone was just being...difficult. worst quality: um, i think he has this fear of disappointing people, causing him to lie/evade instead of communicating honestly. it’s seen when he and mc fake-dated so his parents wouldn’t be disappointed & when he muted the mic on skype during a call with mc, so he could keep writing... like it’s very sympathetic, but also yikes my boy. ship them with: harper @hartfeld’s mc heehee! tbh mc/james in general is fantastic, i love it brotp them with: brot3 with reyna and my mc althea #WritingBuddies needs to stay away from: yasmin his former agent misc. thoughts: he’s a fantastic LI and a great character ?? severely under-appreciated which makes me sad :(

[kaylapoblete]

Artist Conversations

Artist: Althea Fultz

Exhibition: Hungry As an Archway

Media: Ceramics & mixed media

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Werby Gallery

Instagram: @a.f.fultz_ceramics

Althea Fultz is not a current student at California State University, Long Beach, but has dedicated most of her time focusing on her true passion for art. It was not until she was around the age of 21 that she became serious with her art and believed she could make beautiful pieces. She mainly works with ceramics as the foundation of her art pieces and will add various materials, or mixed media, to tie her work together. When Althea first started diving into the ceramic scene, her very first interest was centered around ancient Greek pottery as she drew most of her inspirations from their pottery techniques. Although her work is mostly centered around ceramics, Althea drew a lot of her beginning art inspiration from famous painters such as Bautist and Turner.

When walking into Althea’s art gallery, I quickly noticed the arrangement of different media, shapes, and textures. All of the pieces in her gallery had a very rustic hue to them as she utilized dull and pale colors of brown, black, orange, and blue. Each one of her art pieces seemed to be made out of ceramic minus the glaze finish, which is why the color of her pieces were very muted. Her arrangement of ceramic plates had many different textured materials attached onto it, which gave off a jagged look to the top portion of the plate, but a smooth rounded look to the base of the actual plate. Her arrangement of vases had a tall and curvy silhouette with a textured finish on the surface.

Althea claims that her art exhibit, “Hungry As an Archway,” is a representation of her view on everyday life. She also claims that her work is not meant to tell a story but is an illustration of things she has seen, done, and will never forget. In this specific exhibit, her pieces explore different aspects of human life and body such as architecture, trees, vessels, and tools. Althea explained to me how her art pieces are not on a pedestal or table because she believes is takes away from the space her art transmits. Her platter pieces are meant to illustrate the different types of communities and neighborhoods such as the city and rural life. Althea explains how her ceramic platters were her favorite to create because she enjoyed the idea of destroying the complete and whole appearance of the plates and making them into something new. She explained how this processed made it seem as though she was reinventing the name of whole and complete with these plates,

When I first saw Althea’s exhibition, her art pieces did not remind me of the representation of life, but reminded me of the different relics that can be seen under the sea on the ocean floor. The dull and pale colors reminded me of what divers might find as they explore for lost treasure. I found that the texture of her pieces mimicked the texture of rust and crustaceans that roam the deep sea. This art exhibit brought me back to my 18th birthday party in which the theme was ocean/ beach themed. Many of my decorations and colors that were used for my party resembled Althea’s art. After hearing Althea’s explanation for her exhibit, I definitely admire and resonate with her need to capture the small aspects of everyday life. Overall I enjoyed speaking and getting to know more about Althea’s art and hope to see more pieces from her in the future.

[treeofsalvation-blog]

Idea from EO Prompt #15

Original Found Here

This could be for both romantic couples and platonic friendships. It has the potential to be a very fluffy and cute idea. Or an angst-ridden one where they never regain their sight. You know really painful stuff. But let’s stick with the fluff for now. When I’m in a darker mood I might plot some angst-y stuff.

Guild Mythica:

Althea - would want to do this for anyone of the guild but because she is mute she’s unsure how she could reassure them or communicate with them. She can’t even warn them if they’re about to walk into anything. This makes her upsets and she wishes to help more. But back home her presence of just sitting next to them as they sit in front of the fire is enough. She’s happy to do that. And if she’s the one who is blinded virtually half the guild would immediately volunteer to help her. They fight about it behind her back so they don’t worry her.

Crystalena – is such a caretaker herself that she’s more than willing to volunteer. She would be very comforting. If she’s the one who’s blinded she would immediately want to attach herself to Emmett, but she’s also willing to have Althea watch over her. They would establish a communication method that involves Althea holding her hand and squeezing her hand, once for yes and two for no, and Crystalena asking her only yes or no questions.

Charity – would insist that she doesn’t need any help and a split second later walk straight into something and will continue to do so until she sighs with resignation and quietly ask for someone to help her. Tyvon would volunteer for this because he’s a secret caretaker himself.

Fleuretta – gets Durado to carry her around everywhere to ensure that she’s safe and sound. And despite the look of resignation on his face he would do so readily. He’s actually glad as she’s acting like a spoilt princess for once.

Guild Celtica:

Oceana – is the mother of the guild after all, so she’s willing to nurse every single one of them back to health regardless if she’s putting her own health at risk. And the others would do the same for her should she be the one blinded.

Sonya – gets excited because that means Brody has no choice but to watch and fuss over her. Despite his displeasure Brody would take care of her. He would complain about it but ultimately he is worried about her and wants to make sure she is healthy

Shanti – would have a panic attack, the poor thing. Only Miguel and Sonya would be able to calm her down. After that Miguel would refuse to leave her side for even a second. Shanti would be so so apologetic, crying about how she’s wasting Miguel’s time. But he wipes away her tears and tells her that he’s staying with her no matter what. Very sweet.

Ryland – tries to handle everything on his own, despite being as blind as a bat. Hides his uncertainty behind an expression of passive disinterest. But Daniel knows that he’s uncomfortable and worried. So naturally Daniel is the one to watch over him.

Guild Enchanted:

Chaise – everyone volunteers to help him because he’s so cheerful, even blind. They also want to guard him from those who just might take advantage of him in this vulnerable state. He stays smiling throughout the ordeal. But he will have a weak moment where he fears that he might be blind forever and that’s scary. He gets canoodled after that.

Alexis – would first try to pretend it doesn’t affect him and no one should worry about him. But he fears that he’s now useless to Theron and he’s sorry for letting this happen. Theron will naturally do whatever is necessary to try to prove to Alexis that he’s never a burden to him and he will do whatever it takes to help him. Starts of angst-y but ends up fluffy. With a bit of an embarrassed Alexis at the end when his sight returns.

Taron – doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. He was born blind so it’s nothing new to him. He will try to help others come to accept their temporary blindness and give them hints on how to navigate without the use of sight.

[treeofsalvation-blog]

Guild Mythica | Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 | Original Characters

Part One:

Here are some profiles of some of my characters. Guild Mythica initially started out with five members, as per usual, but gradually gained more members as they travelled through Yggdrasil. They live together in a manor house that has been turned into a guildhouse. These are the original five;

Name: Jonah ♂ 18

Class: Landsknecht (uses swords)

Bio: Is cursed in his left eye, allowing for him to see and analyse a monster’s weaknesses and strengths, but he can only do this with monsters he had encountered before. He doesn’t remember how he came with this curse, or much of his childhood for that matter. He was taken in by a war magus and his three grandkids, which he formed close bonds with quickly. In the presence of powerful monsters, his eye aches and causes him great pain. The more overwhelming the monster, the painful his eye becomes, all but crippling him. Despite his skill as a landsknecht, he’s not all that muscular and is shorter than other male landsknechts his age. This sometimes annoys him but he tries not to let it get to him. Thorne, another landsknecht, is one of only a small handful of people who knows about his eye, prompting the other man to vow to protect and support him. He is developing feelings for Thorne and secretly enjoys his public displays of affection towards him.

Name: Althea ♀ 16

Class: Medic

Bio: Behind her impish smile lies a frightened and skittish young woman. She witnessed her mother brutally kill her father before attacking her, leaving her for dead. She was saved by her grandfather, a war magus, but her mother was never found. And as a result of the trauma, she is selectively mute, only uttering a few words to those she really trusts. She is the youngest of three siblings (four if you count adopted Jonah), two older brothers; a protector and a troubadour. She wears men’s clothing because she finds them practical and because they hide the scars her mother had inflicted upon her. She is classed as a medic, but she does know a few war magus healing skills thanks to her grandfather. She sees Jonah as a brother and naturally knows about his eye, and is the only person who can offer him relief when it starts to hurt.

Name: Vald ♂ 59

Class: War magus

Bio: Althea’s grandfather and a highly regarded member of society; a society which he now loathes. His son was brutally murdered by his daughter-in-law and his granddaughter almost died as well. His daughter-in-law fled before she could be caught and the rumours that swirled after his son’s murder left him bitter and suspicious of the locals of Lagaard. He took in his three grandchildren without a second thought and is understandably protective of them, especially of Althea, the youngest. He found Jonah wandering in the woods near his estate with a terrible injury and curse to his eye, so took him in as well as he doesn’t want to see another child hurt for no reason at all. Though he is wary of letting his grandchildren into the labyrinth, he cynically believes that it’s a better environment than that of high society. 

Name: Leon ♂ 25

Class: Protector

Bio: Althea’s older brother, the eldest of the three. He is over six-feet tall and can be quite intimidating, which he often uses to his advantage. He is a softy at heart though and is more than happy to bend over backwards for his siblings. He is extremely protective of those who are vulnerable or weak, so it makes sense that he chose the class of a protector. Blames himself for what happened to Althea and has vowed not to allow another child to suffer the way his family has. He also has the habit of bringing injured strays home like cats or dogs. His grandfather had to draw the line when he brought home a white tiger cub, though.

Name: Kieran ♂ 19

Class: Troubadour

Bio: The middle sibling and talented with multiple instruments, including lute, harp, and flute. He loves writing music, though is surprisingly shy when it comes to singing. He has a close bond with his younger sister Althea and will speak for her, knowing exactly what she was trying to convey without her uttering a word to him. He carries guilt of what happened to his dad and sister that night all those years ago as he had stayed out too long and his brother had to go looking for him, leaving Althea alone with their mother. Though knowing that he could have probably been killed too, he would like to think that he and his brother Leon may have had stopped that terrible event from happening.