#and juniper can be there too. as a treat

[stellar-collective]

personally i don’t think that ieytd will be a full-fledged spy series until Agent Phoenix is forced to team up with Zoraxis/a former enemy thought to be dead bc the most important person in their life is being threatened. just my opinion

[blujayonthewing]

my idea of self indulgent character design is giving an OC red hair and long/ actually visible at all eyelashes

[moonstruckme]

Ugh, Whimsical!reader x James (not together yet) where anytime she says something he just has the most lovesick look on his face and Sirius is like “we’ve lost him, boys” but then reader quips back with something about looking at those you’re comfortable and friendly with boosts your seratonin and you’re glad to have James look at you if it makes him happy

Thanks for requesting babe!

James Potter x whimsical!reader ♡ 932 words

“You seem like you’re feeling better today, Remus,” you say, passing him a cup of tea. You give one to Sirius, too, then James. It’s got a couple of little flowers floating on the top, James notices. Adorable. 

Remus looks a bit caught offguard. “I am, thanks. How’d you know?” 

“Your aura’s looking less gray than usual.” 

Sirius snickers. “Just like you to have a gray aura, Moons. Boring.” 

You settle on the couch beside James, crossing your legs underneath you. “I don’t think Remus is boring,” you say, voice soft and airy as dandelion fluff. “His color often just looks a tad sapped. It’s bluer today.” 

Remus seems to perk up a bit at your appraisal. He does look well, James thinks, but your noticing improves his color even more. Remus doesn’t like being viewed like a helpless, afflicted lamb, and you never have treated him like one, save whatever you put in his tea (it takes a few minutes longer to make than the rest of yours, though James pretends not to notice). 

James watches you watching Remus, and his heart gives a happy little throb. You’re so kind, considerate in ways which you play off as incidental, but he can see the effort you put into taking care of the people in your life. He doesn’t know how you know half the things you do, but you’re always looking out for them. He’ll be waiting for Sirius to come home late at night and you’ll text to ask if everything is okay, or Remus will be having one of his worse days and you’ll show up unannounced with chocolates and juniper bound with twine to “cleanse” their flat, whatever that means. Or when James was sick with the flu a few weeks ago, and Remus and Sirius both swore they hadn’t said a word to you but he’d woken from a nap to find you sitting beside him with soup and a very strong elderberry tea. He’s fairly sure your presence had healed him just as much as the sustenance. You have that effect on him. 

“Do we all have auras?” Sirius asks, and James comes out of his reverie to find his friend watching him with a poorly concealed smirk. He supposes he’s had that look on his face again. Lovestruck.

“Of course.” You give Sirius a funny smile, like this should be obvious. “Everyone has an aura,” you say, “we just can’t all see it all of the time.” 

“What’s yours look like?” James asks. 

Your lips part in surprise as you turn to look at him, your knee bumping his thigh. “I can’t see my own. I’d have to ask someone else.” 

“What about mine?” Sirius asks. 

You turn back to him. James feels the loss. “Right now, it’s mostly orange.” 

“Right now?” 

“Yours shifts a lot. A couple of minutes ago, it was pinker.” You tilt your head, considering. “You’re very sunset-y today, Sirius.” 

Sirius grins, and James knows that whatever his friend may think about auras, he’s going to carry that compliment with him for the rest of the week. “And what about our Jamesie? What’s his aura like?” 

“Oh, James’ almost never changes.” You look over at him with a small smile on your face. Maybe James is flattering himself, but he feels as though there’s a faintly secretive quality to it, like some part of your smile is just for him. “His is always yellow. Though I have been noticing a bit more red than usual lately.” 

James isn’t sure he can speak with your eyes on him like this. You’re so lovely it’s choking him. Thankfully, Remus comes to his aid. 

“Is that a good thing?” he asks. “It shifting, I mean.” 

You don’t turn away from James like he expects you’re going to. You hold his gaze, that smile broadening just slightly. It has all the soft radiance of moonlight. 

“I don’t think so,” you say. “It’s not making him any less himself, it only means that something has changed.” 

“Good god,” Sirius stage-whispers to Remus. “Look at him, we’ve lost him completely. Bet it gets redder every time he looks at her.” 

“It does, a little.” Your eyes flit upwards, presumably to colors which he can’t see but he imagines his face is starting to match. “It might be the serotonin boost. Looking at people you care about will do that.” You set a hand on top of his, thumb stroking over the knuckle of his pinkie finger. James’ mouth is a desert. “I’m happy to have James look at me if it makes him happy.” 

Sirius lets out a short laugh. “I’m sure it does, sweetheart. He’s—” 

Remus must elbow him, because he goes blessedly silent. 

“I’ve been wondering,” Remus says mildly, “do you give us different kinds of tea? They always look different from each other.” 

“Oh, yes.” You finally break your gaze away from James’, but your hand stays atop his. It’s hardly a whisper of a touch, and yet he’s very concerned you’re somehow absorbing every thought and feeling he’s having through some freaky osmosis. It doesn’t seem wholly out of the realm of possibility for you. “I make them with different ingredients for each of you.” 

Sirius quirks an eyebrow. “In that case, can I try a new one next time? This one tastes a bit like dirt.” 

You shrug, nonplussed. “If you like, but it might not do as much for you.” 

“What do you put in them?” Remus asks curiously. 

You take a sip of your own tea. “Just what you need.” 

[arc-misadventures]

An Arc’s Revenge

Juniper: So… Let me get this straight… There’s a kid at school named, Cardin Winchester?

Jaune: Yes.

Juniper: And, this kid tends to bully you at school.

Jaune: Among others, but it’s mostly him.

Juniper: And, he’s been bullying you by knocking your stuff over, shoving you around, and general blackmail you into doing his school work.

Jaune: He also shoved me into a rocket launcher, and sent me flying.

Juniper: H-He did what?! Okay, no… let’s, let’s just put that on the back burner for now.

Jaune: Okay.

Juniper: So, you decided to come up with a plan to get revenge on, Cardin for all the things he has done to you. Now, instead of coming up with some elaborate prank that would totally humiliate him. You decided to go the opposite route… and, fuck his mother?!

Jaune: Yeah, pretty much.

Juniper: Why the hell would you do that?!

Jaune: Well, at first at went to, Carla…?!

Juniper: Mrs. Winchester! You are not getting on any friendly ground with her bucko!

Jaune: Okay… I went to, Ms. Winchester, and asked her if she could give me any information on, Cardin. What are his biggest fears, secrets he doesn’t want exposed, things like that. She understood I wanted to get revenge for all of his bullying. But, then, Ms. Winchester purposed a plan that would really upset, Cardin.

Jaune: That I fuck her.

Juniper: Wait! This was her plan?!

Jaune: Yep. Apparently she wanted to teach, Cardin a lesson too, and she thought, ‘What better revenge can a guy get, than fucking his bully’s mom.’

Juniper: Are you kidding me?! That seriously can’t be the reason behind why she slept with you?!

Jaune: Well, she also mentioned some things about… a dry spell, sexy blonds. And, something else afterwards about being sexually satisfied? I wasn’t sure what she meant by that.

Juniper: Good gods! Okay, I’m going to have a word with, Ms. Winchester. Acheius, you go talk to your son I… oh gods…

Acheius: Jaune, I can’t believe you would do something so childish!

Acheius: Nice job out there son! That’s a pretty dame you bagged out there!

Jaune: Ehhh… What?

Acheius: And, with a woman twice your age too!

Acheius: Juniper actually wanted me to bang her to get back at the husband for what she said to, Juni. He died before I could.

Jaune: Mom wanted you to do what now…?

Acheius: I can’t believe that my son would stoop to something so low, and depraved! Didn’t I teach you better?!

Acheius: Your mom would have done it herself, but she was pregnant at the time.

Jaune: You didn’t teach me any…?! Wait, Mom would have done it?!

Acheius: I can’t believe my son would do such a thing… I am so disappointed in you…

Acheius: I’m so proud of you! Here’s 200 Lien, treat the lady to a nice dinner!

Jaune: Okay…?

Acheius: You are ground for a week… No! A…?!

Juniper: Jauney~!

Acheius: Uh oh…

Jaune: Y-Yes?

Juniper: After much consideration, and discussion with, Carla. I approve of your relationship with her.

Jaune: You do?

Acheius: Beg pardon?

Juniper: Yes, Carla is a kind, and caring widow who is searching for a lover to share her life with, and we both agree that you are that man!

Jaune: Okay…?

Juniper: So you two go on, and have a wonderful time together, okay dear?

Jaune: What the hell is going on…?

Juniper: Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a world with my new BFF~!

Jaune: ‘BFF?’

Jaune: Dad… What the fuck just happened?

Acheius: I have no idea… One moment she’s screaming at you for bedding a woman twice your age, now she getting all buddy, buddy with her; I haven’t the faintest clue what just happened.

Juniper: Oh, Jaune?

Jaune: Yeah?

Juniper: Remember: If you use a condom your pee-pee will fall off! Okay? Bye~!

JA: …?

JA: Ohhhhhhhh…

Jaune: That certainly explains the 180 she just performed.

Acheius: Yeah. Your mother has always had a thing for babies…

Jaune: I know…

Jaune: She’ll kill me if I don’t knock, Carla up within the month won’t she?

Acheius: Maine you at worst.

Jaune: Shit…

[since-times-long-forgotten]

@aiko-kpwc tumblr ate your ask :( But anyways! You’d suggested I draw Yellowfang, so here she is! Scruffy old lady >:)

(please click for better quality) but wait, that’s not all…

I also drew the Three as Yellowfang/Bluestar hypokits! I’ve kept Jay’s name the same, but I renamed Holly to Juniperkit (for her blue instead of green eyes), and Lion to Stormkit! I tried to stay accurate to genetics, so Lion/Storm has unfortunately lost his golden fur, which is why I renamed him lol

possible spoilers for power of three & yellowfang’s secret & bluestar’s prophecy under the cut, plus lots of writing!

In this hypothetical world, we have a few options. Option one: This litter follows Yellowfang’s litter’s path, and Jaykit and Stormkit take the place of Wishkit & Hopekit, thus dying at birth. Juniperkit takes on the role of Brokenstar, going all evil-murder-cat, but in a different way than Broken. Maybe she takes the warrior code to higher levels, or maybe she discards it. Possibilities are endless! Jayfrost, Juniperfall, Stormfang?

Second option: the litter follows Bluestar’s litter’s path, with Stormkit taking the place of Mosskit, and Jaykit & Juniperkit taking the place of Misty & Stone, being taken to ShadowClan. ooh wait, maybe we can mix stories…

Juniperkit, Jaykit, and Stormkit are born into ThunderClan by their mother Bluefur. All three kits survive their birth, and Blue brings them to ShadowClan to live with their other mom Yellowfang, who has to give the litter to Lizardstripe (just pretend timelines make sense). Lizardstripe is in a super difficult position— she doesn’t want kits, never really did, but got pregnant, and now three more kits are being forced upon her by the Clan leader Raggedstar. She’s not a good mother, and honestly who can blame her? Well. The majority of ShadowClan can, I guess. But then Storm and Jay die from a sickness, Juniper blames Yellowfang and Raggedstar— Yellowfang for not healing her brothers, Ragged refusing to let Yellowfang treat Storm and Jay because they were too far gone. The ghosts of Jay and Storm kind of follow Juniper around, and they stay kits whilst Juniperkit grows to an apprentice, and then a warrior— Juniperfall, perhaps? She discovers she has a power (instead of Jay&Lion having powers and Holly not, now Juniper has powers & Jay&Storm don’t) to… idk, see the dead? Fade into shadows/go invisible? Juniper is super protective over young cats now, but also has a grudge against Ragged and Yellow, due to her brother’s deaths. She becomes deputy, then kills Raggedstar by making him eat deathberries (👀 deathberries… woah… haven’t seen that before I’m sure… (looks at Hollyleaf and Leafpool) ). But after killing him… she can no longer see Jay and Storm. She can see other dead cats, but her brothers have left her. They are afraid of who she has become, and honestly, it scares her too. She becomes Juniperstar, and tries to fix her wrongs, but in a way where she actually is being kind of evil, but has a reason for being evil, protective, etc etc, stuff like that. She steals kits to raise them in ShadowClan to be safer, trains them from a younger age so that they’re stronger sooner and hopefully won’t die young (this backfires at a few different points probably). Alright that’s all I’ve got!

[fieldsofwriting]

With Hayden having Henrietta and Juniper having Dozy, what do you think is every love interest's ideal pet? I feel like a good amount of them would wind up being cat people to be honest lol

You are very right, I think everyone would be very ride or die with thier pets tbh. Like there is friendly debates at the Tavern over who is the best. They'd have a best in show every year. Head cannons below the cut!

Balor:

This man is a Cat lover through and through. There is no convincing me otherwise.

I could see him having the sweetest little black cat- ya know to add to they mystery vibees.

He would love to have the cat run around with him, and when he's out and about I can see it curling up around his shoulders.

THIS MAN SPOILS HIS BABY.

So much, this cat wants for absolutely nothing.

If he gets it after his D&D sessions- it have a silly name like Snickelfritz. For the vibes.

Reina:

She strikes me as a dog girlie honestly.

I think she'd like using her dog as an excuse to get out of the kitchen every now and again and just go on walks with them.

I think she'd have a chocolate lab- yes because of the name but I also can't see her having a little dog.

She would spoil the shit out of the dog too- this dog gets so many homemade treats.

Not to mention Hemlock would feed him table scraps. And Luc would love to take them out too for bug adventures.

I could also see her being the kinda dog owner to give them cute little bandana's and everything to wear.

They'd also probably have a food name tbh.

Celine:

I think she could go either way. I can definitely see her having both cats and dogs growing up.

But once she's moved out? I think she's got a bunny.

She'd LOVE taking them out to her garden and letting them roam.

She'd also love being able to give the bunny farm fresh foods!

I mean look at her and tell me that she doesn't look like she'd hold a bunny in her arms and walk around town.

She'd make it a little flower crown and everything too.

She'd get Ryis to help her make the best most lavish bunny cage there is too.

I think she'd give the bunny a cute name like Petal.

March:

Okay- hear me out. As a kid? I think he had a bearded dragon. He would have thought they were SO COOL. Alright?

But now, as like an adult? I think he wouldn't hate any animal. Mans a big softy under that hard exterior.

I think though- he'd prefer Dogs over cats.

MOSTLY because the dog would remind him of Olric

Also you've seen those arms. I think be a crime to not get him a dog so you can throw a stick to them.

He'd pretend not to care at all about the dog- but then he'd fight so hard to make it have a cool name. (He'd probably try for Copper.)

You know those dads that are like "Don't bring home any damn animals!" And then bonds with the said animal. That's him.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!! Let me know if you want me to do some of the other characters too!! And thank you for your request! :3 Requests are open!!

[mintmatcha]

Mint, I need Lady in Waiting reader to find out that Sir Aizawa isn't married, I NEED this (I need to caress his weary face in my hands and watch his eyes slowly close as he cuddles into them, like a cat)

It’s normal for him to notice who comes and goes at these events. The vigilance is ingrained deep in every muscle, so much so that his eyes flicker to the door whenever there’s even a hint of movement.

That’s how he notices you dip out, the tails of your dress following behind.

He also notices that someone else is watching you.

“And then the dragon breathed fire. Did you know dragons could do that, mister?” the princess babbles, “That might only be in stories, though.”

Aizawa can barely mutter out a sound as he watches the other man -a squire, servicing under one of the other knights- excuses himself and heads to through door. He knows something is wrong by the way he moves. There’s too much purpose in his stride, a goal set into his brow and a smirk of his lips. It’s not the smile of a secret lovers meeting– its the sharpness of a predator hunting its prey.

“Mister Aizawa?”

Princess Eri tugs at the fabric of his shirt. The princess is especially young compared to the age of her father, only six as of this summer. Guarding her as been some of the easier years of his life, but also some of the most rewarding.

“I’m sorry,” he says as he stands, “I have to check on something.”

The young girl looks at him with wide eyes. “Will you be back soon? You promised we would dance.”

He ruffles her hair as he spins on his heel. He fears she has become his soft spot. “Before you know it, princess.”

He can’t hear your voice until his halfway down the hall and clear of the din of the banquet hall. It’s hushed, but with none of the polite lacquer you usually apply.

“I said I am retiring for the night,” you hiss.

“Perfect - then we shall head to your room.”

As Aizawa peers around the corner, he catches the blonde man reaching for you and grasping at the hem of your sleeve. You immediately rip yourself away, only for the squire to grap your other hand much more firmly.

“Sir Monoma,” you say, “If I have told you once, I have told you a hundred times. My heart belongs to another and I have no interest in you.”

The squire steps in closer, a laugh on his breath. He’s drunk enough that Aizawa can almost smell it from here. “Everyone sees how you long for the man. If he hasn’t reciprocated by now, you are waiting for nothing. You’re wasting your good years on a fool.”

Pity pangs in Aizawa’s chest. Have your affections been this obvious the whole time? He’d only just began to notice your lingering glances and hesitant touches– how long had it been obvious to everyone else? How much time had he spent missing you?

“Just one chance.” The squire tugs on your arm, trying to drag you in, but you hold firm, “I’ll treat you real nice, I swear it.”

The man twists slightly and you yelp.

Aizawa moves without thinking. It’s easy to catch a drunk man off guard. He slides in and knocks his weight off center, and in the instant of surprise, his hard snatches the squires away from yours. With a twist and a pop, the man’s arm folds behind his back and he falls to his knees, a strangled sound in his lips. It’s after, when he sees the fear in your eyes, that the anger sets in.

“If I am ever to catch you touching a maiden again I will break this arm so badly that you will never use it again, do you understand?” The words rip from his throat, “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir, or course, sir,” the man spits out.

“Your charge will hear of this.” With a shove, Aizawa sends him stumbling back, “And the king. Now, be off.”

There’s a moment of hesitation.

“I said be off.”

Monoma scrambles down the hall, back towards the party. You watch, rubbing your twisted skin with a dour look and avoiding Aizawa’s gaze. He’s not one to get flustered, but suddenly he is; you smell like juniper and flowers, a summer’s day, and rolled in like a winter’s storm.

“Don’t worry. His wrist is only sprained,” he offers.

“Frankly, I think you should have broken it.”

That surprises him enough that he chuckles.

“Was that too harsh?” you ask.

“Not at all.”

“Thank you, Sir, I don’t know how to repay you-”

Aizawa had discussed moments like these, the little openings that life gives him and he keeps squandering. Hizashi always tells him to be bold and romantic, Toshinori says to be soft and himself. Both seem like bad choices- so Aizawa decides to so something different entirely.

“Give me your hand.” He holds his own out, palm up. “That is all I request.”

You check the hall with a fair amount of apprehension. “Would your wife approve?”

“I am not married.”

“You aren’t?”

“Not even close to it.” He want s to explain the mix up, but the only thing he can focus on are you hands and how they wring your dress, “You can deny me. I’d understand.”

You lift your hand and place it in his, hovering slightly above his touch. Gently, he raises it to his lips and gives it the chastest of kisses. He expects you to pull away, maybe even slap him, but you don’t. Your touch lingers, warm against his skin.

“Are you sure you are unmarried?” you whisper, “You’ll break my heart if you are lying.”

He turns your wrist and presses a firmer kiss into your pulsepoint, then another, and another, trailing up your arm.

“You can ask the king himself.”

Right before he can nestle his face into the crook of your neck, you break away.

“Then, I will,” you say, dipping away and back towards the grand hall, “I will ask right now. I don’t want you to make a dishonest woman of me, sir.”

“Don’t ask in front of the court!” Aizawa is quick to follow, a uncharacteristic blush blossoming across his cheeks.

“Because you’ll be shown to be a liar?”

“Because the king might end up begging you to take me.”

[clangenrising]

Month 16 - Greenleaf

When Aldertail had volunteered to go herb gathering with him, Oddstripe had been delighted but he had definitely expected her to get tired and lose interest by this point. The day was hot but there was a nice breeze and, as they meandered the territory looking for patches that hadn’t already been harvested, Oddstripe couldn’t help but smile. 

“Y’know, I’d really love to find some thyme or juniper,” he said, hopping over a stone in his path. 

“What do those do?” Aldertail asked, carefully picking her way after him. Her legs were the best he’d ever seen them. There was almost no redness and the fur had nearly grown back in. Oddstripe was so proud.

“Thyme is very calming and juniper berries are just all around useful. On top of being calming, they soothe belly aches, help with coughs, and they can even treat aching joints when mixed with the proper herbs. I’d love to get some for Sagetooth.” 

Aldertail’s ears pressed back briefly. “Mm, would that help?”

“Oh, yes,” Oddstripe nodded. “When she isn’t suffering from her aches, she’s really, actually very kind. It can just be hard for her to stay that way when she’s in a lot of pain.” 

“I guess,” Aldertail shrugged. “I feel like you don’t just start being mean to people though, if that makes sense.” 

“I get what you mean,” said Oddstripe, “but something you have to remember is that your body and your mind aren’t two separate entities. They’re both you and they influence each other.” Aldertail winced in an attempt to seem less skeptical. Oddstripe laughed a little and tried to think of a better way to explain. “Oh, for example, when your mind starts to run wild, you feel sick to your stomach right?”

“Yeah,” Aldertail nodded. 

“So that’s your mind influencing your body!” Oddstripe grinned. “But the inverse is also possible. Like, if you’re very scared, we do those deep breaths and the act of calming your body calms your mind.” Aldertail hummed thoughtfully. “So when Sagetooth’s body aches it makes it harder for her to control the way she speaks to people. You’re right that it doesn’t make her something she isn’t but it’s also not entirely her choice. Even I can get snappy when I’m stressed or ill.” 

“Really?” Aldertail didn’t seem convinced. “I can’t picture you snappy.” 

Oddstripe blushed and laughed as he replied, “Oh, that’s very sweet of you.”

“It’s true,” she said. “You’ve only ever been kind and gentle.” 

“Well, I’ve been lucky that I’ve never felt ill enough to snap at you,” he said, full of pride. 

“Mm,” Aldertail chewed her lip. “So where would we find juniper berries?” 

“Hmm,” Oddstripe scrunched up his face in thought. “I know a place they’ll definitely be but its a bit of a distance. Would you still want to come along?” 

“Of course!” she nodded vigorously. “I like learning about medicine.” 

“Really?” asked Oddstripe. 

“Mhm,” nodded Aldertail. “It’s so… powerful. I can’t imagine being able to do what you do.” 

“Oh, it’s really not that hard to learn,” Oddstripe said, changing course. “I’ll show you.”

As they made their way towards the juniper bushes, Oddstripe went over all of the basics he could think of. Healing was something he was intensely passionate about and Aldertail indulged him in his ramblings for the entirety of their walk. Oddstripe couldn’t remember the last time someone had let him ramble like this. It felt amazing. 

They crossed the eastern border and Oddstripe assured Aldertail that everything would be alright. Eventually, the grass petered out and the earth beneath their paws turned to dry, sunbaked mud patterned with cracks and ridges. Oddstripe smiled at the feeling of it under his paws. It had been too long since he’d stepped foot in the desert and he had missed it. They passed little burrows and scurrying lizards and dry looking shrubs and then finally came across the big juniper bush.

“Tada!” Oddstripe declared, unfurling his tail towards the cloudless sky. 

“This is a juniper bush?” Aldertail asked, glancing around its leaves as if something would jump out. 

“Mhm!” he purred. “The berries near the bottom are usually gone because creatures eat them but we can jump up and snag a few branches to take home. Maybe we could even plant one closer to the territories.”

“That would be a good idea,” Aldertail squirmed. “I don’t like this place.” 

“Really?” asked Oddstripe, tilting his head.

“Yeah, it’s too open,” she shuddered. “Let’s hurry up and go home.” 

“Alright,” he frowned worriedly. He’d never considered that someone might not enjoy being able to see the world stretch out endlessly around them. He bunched his legs underneath him and sprang into the bush, but failed to grab onto any of the branches. “Mousedung. Let me try again.” 

He jumped again, this time snagging a branch in his teeth, and his weight pulled it down to a place where Aldertail could help him snap it off. He handed the branch over to her and tried again. The leaves rattled as he fell through them, this time taking another two tries before he caught another branch in his claws. It nearly slipped and he had to scramble to clamp his jaws down around it, smearing berry juice all over his muzzle. 

“Are you okay?” asked Aldertail. 

“Uh huh,” he said awkwardly. “‘Ah you ‘reah ih?” 

“Oh, right! Sorry!” Aldertail hurried forward to start chewing through the branch.

“S’alrigh’,” he chuckled, feeling silly. She met his eyes and flushed pink, quickly averting her gaze to focus on her work. He laughed again. She was such a sweetheart. 

A voice startled them both. “You shouldn’t be out here.” 

Aldertail squeaked and flattened herself against the ground. Oddstripe tried to turn around but struggled to do so without letting go of the branch which didn’t occur to him at all. The cat who had spoken, thankfully, stepped to the side into his view. She was a plain looking grey tabby with bright, golden eyes, and she was watching them with an expression that read to Oddstripe as professional. 

“Oh, sahhy,” he tried to say around the branch in his teeth. 

A small smile poked at the edges of the stranger’s lips and she glanced carefully at Aldertail before asking, “Would you like a paw?”

“Mm!” Oddstripe grinned and nodded clumsily. “Mhm!”

The stranger chuckled softly, dropping her gaze to her paws for a moment, before she stepped up and swatted the branch where Aldertail had been chewing it. The force of the blow was enough to snap it and Oddstripe stumbled away as the rest of the branch sprang noisily back into place. Aldertail squeaked again, and scrunched herself closer to his side. 

He laid his tail over her back, dropped the branch, and then licked his muzzle before speaking. “Thank you! I really appreciate the help. My name’s Oddstripe, what’s yours.” 

“Oscar,” the she-cat smiled with a polite dip of her head. “I’m glad to be of assistance but I really must urge you to leave this place.” 

“Oh?” asked Oddstripe, ears perking. “What for?” 

“This is coyote territory,” she said, scanning the area with a sharp gaze. “You aren’t safe here.” 

“Oh, I didn’t realize the coyotes had come so far west,” Oddstripe said. 

“You live here?” asked Oscar, brow furrowing. 

“No, no, but I used to live near here,” he said. “Now I’m out in the grasslands.” 

“I see,” Oscar nodded. “Well, I must insist you return home, for your own safety.” 

“We will, thank you,” smiled Oddstripe.

Oscar glanced around again and said, “Should you require an escort, I would be happy to oblige.” 

“I don’t think it would hurt,” Oddstripe said. “Aldertail, honey, is that alright with you?” Aldertail simply shrugged, eyes wide enough to show the whites. 

Oddstripe’s ears drooped in pity. “Oh, you poor thing. Here, let’s head back to camp.” He licked her cheek and helped her stand, then handed her one of the juniper sprigs to carry. Having something in her mouth would keep her occupied, he thought. Picking up his own branch, he glanced at Oscar and said, “It’s just this way.” 

“I follow your lead,” she deferred with a bow of the head. Oddstripe blushed, a silly little flutter dancing in his stomach. Something about her seemed right out of a story. He’d never felt that way before. 

Shrugging it off, he led the way, tail wrapped around Aldertail’s leg reassuringly. She stayed close to his side, ears flat against her skull, and Oscar stayed on the opposite side of him, at least two tail lengths away. Oddstripe wanted to walk closer but the distance was probably best for Aldertail. How considerate of their new companion, he thought. 

“So, Oscar,” he asked, able to speak around the sprig this time, “why are you out here in coyote country?” 

“I’m patrolling,” she said. “I look for creatures like you and give them the warning.” 

“Creatures?” Oddstripe chuckled but Oscar nodded seriously.

“Yes. Anything I can speak to. Cats, deer, snakes, most birds.”

“Wow!” Oddstripe marveled. “That’s amazing! I didn’t realize you could talk to those kinds of things.” 

“It’s simple if you have a teacher,” said Oscar humbly. 

“It seems most things are,” laughed Oddstripe. 

It wasn’t long before they reached the edge of the grass again. Oscar stopped under a scrubby little tree and said. “I should return to my patrol. Will you be able to get home from here?” 

“Oh, yes,” nodded Oddstripe. “Thank you so much, Oscar, it was lovely to meet you.”

She shook her head. “I’m simply doing my duty.”

“Well, thank you anyway,” said Oddstripe. She smiled, dipped her head in a polite bow, and then turned and bounded back into the desert. Oddstripe watched her go like he was trying to catch every last moment of her before she disappeared forever. Eventually, her shape disappeared into the shimmering edge of the horizon. 

“Oddstripe?” asked Aldertail quietly. 

“Oh,” he blinked and looked down at her. “Yes, dear?” 

“I’d like to go home, is that okay?” 

“Oh, of course it is,” he said, “let’s go home.”

“Sorry.”

“No, no, that’s alright. Sorry I got distracted.” 

“What was her deal?” Aldertail asked, craning her head to see if she could spot Oscar in the distance.

“I don’t know,” Oddstripe breathed softly, doing the same.

[beastlybardou]

The Aesthetics of Identity and Self Imposed Homesickness

As I worked on a playlist for myself and my werewolf identity, I came across something that I had never noticed before: the way that the aesthetics I associate with my identity make me feel more out of place in my current life.

I associate my werewolf identity with, well, probably the same things most people associate wolves and werewolves with. Frigid cold mountain ranges, dark frozen forests of birch and pine, bubbling streams lined with fern and moss, the bugle of elk and growls of bears, the absence of humanity for miles upon miles - the cold, isolated wilderness of the north. Engaging with these aesthetics makes me feel euphoric and at home. You can imagine then how it feels to get offline and live in the burning hot ranch-land plains of Texas. There are no mountains here, no birch and pine, no rushing springs, no lush fern nor moss, no elk, no bears, none of it.

So what to do then when the comfort of my kind's home is locked away behind a screen or a hundred dollar plane ticket?

Well for a good while I contented myself with the answer "suffer". But y'know I really don't think that is the best solution. The feeling of discontent in your surroundings and intense species dysphoria actually feels, well, kind of romanticized in our community, like the suffering makes your identity more real, but I think for me what really makes my identity shine is bringing it away from the online world and into the real one, even if what is around me isn't exactly the environment I prefer. I think a better answer is to do what wolves and humans have always done best: adapt. There is no reason that I shouldn't romanticize the aesthetics of the land that I do have around me through a werewolf perspective. That's where the playlist I was working on comes in. All this kind of "clicked" in a way for me driving down a long ranch road at sundown listening to Prowler by Coyote Kid which I had just added to my playlist on recommendation without listening to it first. Its southern gothic vibes mixed with werewolfery caught my attention immediately, because I noticed what I felt in that moment was a kind of species euphoria usually reserved for visits to the mountains. I was at home in my species *and* my environment. The dark dusky skies darkening over fields of cattle and juniper forests, the scent of sun baked straw and dust warming my snout, the hot evening breeze ruffling my fur - it all suddenly felt like home.

That feeling did quickly fade, but it gave me a glimpse of the fact that I am capable of feeling at home here. That I can be just as much, or even more, of a werewolf when I'm enjoying this land as I am when I'm made miserable by it and my homesickness. So from now on I am going to try to embrace the aesthetics and activities of the place that I am, rather than the place I wish I was. I'll be the beast lurking in the ranch lands and along the country roads, the snarl from in the grass much to deep to be a coyote, the mysterious paw prints littering the dust of your destroyed barn. And I can treat living near humans the same way. I will never fit in with humans. I try not to get too misanthropic about it, but I just won't. That doesn't mean I can't exist on the fringes of their society. Infiltrator. Beast hidden in the crowd. I can wear their mask and be proud of my ability to do so. I don't have to feel crushed by it when I know I am always just biding my time to meet others of my kind and let myself free when I am alone.

I know it might seem strange for a simple shift of aesthetics to be so impactful, but in this community especially, aesthetics and symbolism are such a foundational building block of self image and of how you interact with the community itself. And I suppose even then really this is less about the shift in self image around aesthetics and more about the refusal to continue participating in the misery olympics of "how homesick and species dysphoric can I be".

I am a wolf. We adapt.

[wyvchard]

What Part of "No" Do You Not Understand?

Inspired by this thread.

Agent Phoenix is quite annoyed at the fact a certain actor can't take "no" for an answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Agent Phoenix took a deep breath as they leaned back onto the chair, prayer slipping from their lips like a lifeline.

"Dear Heavenly Father, grant Your child aid in this trying time. My flesh is weak and I need strength to overcome this."

"Oh, Agent. That's quite an adorable prayer. But you're not going to get away with that easily." He took a few steps closer, a smug grin on his face as he anticipates their resolve falling any time soon.

"You and I both know I can and I will get away that easily." They narrowed their eyes at him as they gently rubbed their wrists as soon as they cut the ropes. "Please step away before I give into the temptation."

"And why should I do that, agent? Hmmm?" He watched in amusement as they took down the jammer and lasers. He stepped closer, causing them to back away until they reached the wall.

"Please shut up before I do something stupid. Don't. Do. This. No! I mean it!" Their tone was laced with a plea, only for his ego to grow bigger.

"You won't be doing something stupid. Just let what you feel out." He felt satisfied seeing them squirm. Yet, instead of feeling them melt under the touch of his hand, he felt a sharp sting on his cheek.

"What part of 'No!' do you not understand, Mr. Juniper?"

"I didn't even touch your cheek yet. Or any part of you."

"That still doesn't count."

"Normally, people would melt at these kinds of situations. You didn't... feel anything?"

"Other than my gut instinct to punch you? Nothing." He felt incredulous, seeing someone stare at him with complete disgust. "I get that you're quite a sight and all and you do have a knack for directing heart racing scenes but what else? You're too overrated in my opinion. But then again, standing alone on stage with that much people is a skill. So points for you there, I guess. Some people do that every day on Sunday so it's not really special."

"Why are you immune to my charms? I'm an incubus. How on earth?" He was staring at them like he just heard the trumpets and they were one of its players.

"I don't know? Who knows? Maybe I got baptized as a baby or something. Does it look like I know? Ah. I'll stop here before I give you an hour long lecture about this. I have a lot of words about it."

John felt himself paralyzed under their intense stare, yet it was different from the usual ones. Far from carnal, it was the gaze of someone examining an object of interest.

"I'm sorry for slapping you hard." The remorse in their voice was enough to give him pause. "You should get that treated."

"You... aren't... looking at me like-"

"Why would I?" The disgust returned with full force. "You're a person too. And I really should apologize to that sweet old lady who told me that Hollywood is dangerous. If they let an incubus like you run around, how many more of you are out there?"

"Can I take you out on a date?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why wouldn't you? You're the first to view me as more than a sex object. Literally."

"You need better people to be around. Seriously. You do."

"And where would I find these kinds of people anyway?"

"Probably people who are too busy surviving to care about those things. I don't know. I'm too focused on stopping Zoraxis to actually give you an answer."

A sharp click interrupted the conversation coupled by a clearing of the throat.

"Agent, I see you're doing alright." Reginald gave them a gentle smile, yet clearly worried at the marks on their wrist.

"Wait. If I say I'm switching sides, will the agency consider it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had fun with this. XD Please excuse any out of character moments.

@definitelyunhingedagentphoenix, @sml8180, I hope you enjoy this. I took the idea and practically sprinted with it. XD

@jellyfishgummy

@phoenix-and-found-family

@the-one-and-only-043

@ghostlystarwanderer

[bookofmirth]

On every character sarah writes having the same personality: why does every main girl have to be this big planner who has multiple plans on backup and never tells people, only to surprise everyone when everything goes right at the end with no prior explanation... idk if I'm putting this right, but it just made me very... annoyed

Like yeah, that worked great with Aelin, sure, but for me it just doesn't fit with Bryce? Especially on how she was just thrown at this and suddenly figured out she was The Chosen One(tm). It really bugged me, idk

Fair warning, this post rips Bryce a new asshole - not as a person, but as a character that sjm created. So I'm putting it under the cut.

Just to start, in context I said that all the hofas characters ended up having the same personality - though you can make a case for her reusing a lot of the same descriptions and such for all of them. ANYWAY...

To me, the issue is not just that Bryce keeps doing things behind the scenes that we never get any hint of, it's a bigger issue that we never get a hint that she even gives a shit.

With Aelin, at least we already knew what she was working towards and why. We already knew what she cared about and how far she was willing to go to get it. Aelin caring about Terrasen and her court and saving the people she loved was never in question. Her trauma from finding her parents dead, her fear at losing the rest of the people she loved, the weight of responsibility that she felt, we knew all of those things pretty much from the get-go. Her tendency to shut people out could be considered a flaw because she didn't trust other people to help her. We don't know about Terrasen right away, and tbh I don't remember what history we get instead and so I need to reread, but I can point to very specific values, goals, and motivations that make Aelin act the way that she does.

But Bryce - the central problem with her as a character is that Bryce doesn't care about anything, and sjm never figured out what she cares about, either.

Characters need to have central things that they care about, that drive them, motivations, things that they fear and things they would go to great lengths to protect. They need flaws, and clear relationships to the world around them. I could make a list of those things for a lot of her characters. Not all, but most.

With Bryce, I have NO IDEA what those things are. That makes it so that when she randomly find Emile, it just seems like she did it to come across like a nice person. She doesn't care about what humans are experiencing, she shits on Vanir/fae all the time, she treats Hunt pretty poorly, she isn't close to Juniper or Fury (see: their near disappearance from hofas), Danika kept so many secrets from her that I seriously doubt the depth of their relationship. Bryce was working in that library museum thing for Jesiba (I'm already erasing the series from my memory oh my god) and going out and partying and that was all well and good, but... was she going to do those things when she's 200, too? I'm not even saying that she needs to like, go get married or whatever, but she literally has no goals in life!

SJM saying that Bryce is the fun, cute party girl who also has a deep, intellectual side, a pretty woman who can also kick ass, okay, but she needs a reason to kick ass. SJM completely forgot to include the second half of that equation, which is ironic since that was a big point of her character - to prove that women can be feminine and strong, wear high heels and be smart. She failed miserably in my opinion, if that really was the goal of Bryce's character.

When Aelin is snarky to people, I know why. When Bryce is a bitch, it comes out of nowhere and is often turned on people who actually deserve her time and attention and empathy (e.g. Sathia). Aelin is an asshole to that one dude whose name starts with a D because he's a man who is underestimating her and wants to refuse to let her lead because he assumes she will be bad at it. When Bryce is an asshole to Sathia, WHY. I mean really, I wanted to throw my book across the fucking page!!!! Because that's a perfect example of how, if Bryce was guided by a set of values (feminism, I guess?) then she would have responded very differently to Sathia, who has experienced literally the exact same thing Bryce has (being betrothed to someone against her will). Instead, Bryce throws that line back in her face about "well I never let that stop me" as if what Sathia has experienced is her own fault for... not trying enough??? PLEASE. ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW.

The whole "girlboss" thing needs.... something driving it. You can't just bulldoze people and call it being empowered. And I think that sjm has really, really simplified gender and sexuality in CC to the point that that's really the only distinction that matters. That's maybe another issue. I just have a lot of thoughts about these things lol.

Anyway. This is what happens when you write a character built on aesthetic and #girlpower, rather than making them a complete person with fears and values and joys and goals and motivations and flaws.

Okay one more point, this is NOT beyond sjm's capabilities. She obviously is much better at writing characters than this. I just think that sometimes, something suffers when you try new things. In CC, sjm was giving actual world building and magic systems a go. And the characters, really, REALLY fucking suffered for it.

[blujayonthewing]

so obviously I am going insane about Fengling and Juniper finally getting their feelings out into the open but the PROBLEM IS that on the one hand I actually... don't wanna overemphasize the kiss, because of reasons, but on the other hand how many times can I draw them just being next to each other and gazing meaningfully into one another's eyes with rp dialogue transcribed into the post caption

[wooahaes]

on the house

pairing: non-idol!seungmin x gn!reader

genre: fluff.

word count: 0.8k~

warnings: food mentions. reader has a golden retriever. reader and seungmin crushing on each other like idiots btw.

daisy's notes: also hi isa @sseastar thank u for help on this one as well!! <3

Seungmin liked the familiarity of the farmers market. The faces he saw regularly, both in terms of customers and other vendors, and the fact he could always find something interesting when his grandfather gave him a small break to explore. It wasn’t monotonous in the slightest (that’s where the interesting things helped), but… if there was one constant he could count on, it was you.

See, Seungmin barely remembered when you started coming here. All he knew was that you did, because you’d always walk your golden retriever through, and you’d always stop by this stall to see what jams and whatnot his grandfather bought this time. Your pup (Juniper, you once told him, like the berry? You can call her Junie, though) was always so well-behaved, even though she always knew Seungmin was carrying treats in his pockets (mainly for her). He’d chat you up as you looked through the selection, sometimes kneeling down to give Junie her treats and attention. He liked the cute bandanas you had loosely tied around her, just barely hiding her collar, and the way she sat dutifully by your side. You’d always told him that Juniper loved seeing him.

But Seungmin, thankfully, was not an idiot. It was you. You liked seeing him. You had a crush on him. And, no, it did not take someone else pointing it out to him for him to realize.

(He didn’t realize it until his grandfather let it slip that you’d come by twice until he told you Seungmin was too busy with exams to be there. That he would be back on Saturday, though, and sure enough… There you were, casually strolling past.)

For a while, Seungmin had just assumed you really liked jam. Or that you were a fan of fruit, since you sometimes bought some from their stand as well. The jam was the showstopper of it all, though: it was what people always loved the most, and you’d always complimented it when you came by. Yet figuring out that it was him you were coming for made a lot more sense. Sure, he liked the jam, too, but he couldn’t imagine himself stopping by constantly to survey the different kinds. Learning that you were crushing on him made him a little more smug, though: you were cute, and he liked you enough from your talks…

So when you came by later that week, Seungmin had a plan. His grandpa always ended up helping other customers, sending Seungmin over to you to help you make your selection and pay. Conversation always came easy to the two of you: he’d ask you about college, you’d ask him about college, and then you’d start talking about something silly that happened. Sometimes about Felix (he’s just my friend!) or Hyunjin (also just a friend–I’m single, haha) and something that they said…

“You know,” Seungmin was picking up a jar of strawberry jam, carefully wrapping it to keep it secure. “You don’t have to keep buying so much jam. I know you want to see me.”

“What?” Your eyes went wide, and for a moment, Seungmin wondered if he fucked up. Yet he saw the way you averted your gaze, pouting a little as you grew more flustered. Oh. He caught you outright. “Junie wants to see you. Not me.” 

He chuckled. “Right… Just Juniper.”

“I’m here for the jam,” you said, still not meeting his gaze. The moment your eyes flickered back to him (just to his hands), you tore them away immediately, too embarrassed to even look at him now. “Nothing else. It’s not like I like you like that—”

Ah. He’d have to never mention that to anyone. Jeongin would tease him and say something about you ‘stealing his line’ since Seungmin… wasn’t always the most up front with his feelings. This time had been different: one of you needed to make a move, and Seungmin didn’t want your wallet to hurt any further than it already did. 

“Grandpa said you came by when I was busy with exams,” he said, “and that you suddenly didn’t come back until Saturday since he told you that’s when I’d be back.”

“That means literally nothing. You carry treats for Juniper. Why would I subject her to expecting to see you?” You finally gathered your nerves enough to meet Seungmin’s gaze for a minute. “Maybe if your grandparents didn’t make good jam—”

He chuckled, picking up one of the mini jars while his grandfather wasn’t looking. He jotted down his number on a sticky note, placing it into the bag.

“Wait, I didn’t—”

“It’s on the house,” he said. “Just call me later. I’ll be mad if you don’t.” 

You snatched the sticky note off the top of it, shoving it into your pocket for safekeeping. “Then pick up when I do… or I’ll be mad if you don’t.”

He’d make sure to answer on the first ring if it meant seeing your flustered face again soon… outside of the farmers market.

taglist: @twancingyunhao @weird-bookworm

[tillywunderwing]

IEYTD - Hardcore Mode

AKA an AU with no real plot yet but that’s pinging around in my brain anyway

So I’m an avid believer in the ‘literal game overs’ — Phoenix as a character who cannot be permanently killed is really fun to explore in fic, cause you get some interesting characterisation there for their general bravado or recklessness knowing they never stay dead long. I make this true by default for most to all of the IEYTD fics I write, because it’s fun to me!

However. I have considered an alternate version of this.

AU where every time Agent Phoenix dies, they do get a chance to start over — but when they do, they’re sent all the way back to the very first mission of the very first game. They have to live the entire ensuing year/s over and over again, making only the slightest bit of further progress each time before something inevitably cuts them all the way back.

I think it’s an interesting thought experiment to wonder how they’d behave here. On the one hand, they’d have to keep some of that flippancy that comes free with immortality, but they also would have to be a lot more careful because their mistakes do have a cost here. Nothing they can’t ever technically recover, but at a certain point it’s about the repetition, the emotional strain of it all. How many times can a person hard-knuckle through the same two years, dying over and over again at the same end point because too much time passes between rehearsals for the hard earned lessons to really stick? How many times before they start to lose hope?

It would also give a fun narrative spin in the sense that they can go back and change things at the root, now. Like… they would never have been able to save John Juniper in the current timeline, regular resets on or not, it was too late and he was too far out of reach. But if they go back to before he ever joined with Zoraxis, could they have stopped him? Would they have thought to try, even for the sake of doing one thing different this time? Same goes for Prism — maybe they could save her from losing her robots, maybe they could alter the course of events from the stem.

Would they treat it like a blessing or a curse? If one first and the other later, where — when — does that shift start to come through?

Like I said, this is mostly an interesting thought experiment for the moment, might get a fic to itself one day but I need first a plot and time lol. Feel free 2 talk at me if you have any thoughts or ideas abt this! :]

[celestial-citrus]

Citrus if you want to talk more about your story and nobody has asked yet, will you tell me about Farron?

Beloved revenant scoundrel

Literally the best gremlin.

Died at 17, revanant for 200+. 6'3. Can fly and use limited amounts of magic. Has a crush on Blair.

In what would be the 1800s in our history, Farron's mother Juniper lived on the streets, being kicked out when she was found to be pregnant with Farron. As many desperate women did, she turned to prostitution to put food in their bellies. Farron wasn't fully aware of their situation, as his mother tried her best to provide enrichment for her son and keep his little mind off her issues.

When Farron was barely ten, a gentleman approached his mother and offered to help her leave the brothels and get on her feet. Jumping at an opportunity to leave her horrible work behind, she immediately accepted and went to live at the man's residence with her son. She ended up marrying the man, and things seemed well enough. He had a decently sized house with a great deal of other people, mostly women.

Soon after the wedding, the rose colored glasses came off. The man's kind demeanor dropped, and his true nature was exposed. This was a branch of a cult. He was their leader, most of the other women were also his wives, the same destitute souls seeking refuge that he preyed on.

Juniper was horrified once it all came to light, realizing she trapped them in another prison. Most of the other wives had been kept there a while, bitter and backstabbing. Infighting was rampant, especially amonst the children in the house. She was the freshest meat and treated with contempt.

Barely a year into being at the house, Juniper gave birth to a girl who she named Treasa. She was a tiny beacon of hope to Farron and his mother in those dark times, they were both simply terrified of her being abused by the rest of the "family."

Farron noted if people started looking too anxious or angry, one day they'd disappear and not return. He was given no explanations, and his mother would just tighten her lips if he asked.

Eventually, their luck ran out. The other wives could never shake their hatred of Juniper, and spoke ill of her to the husband. She was unfaithful, sowed discord in the house, spoke poorly of their beliefs. All nonsense, of course. He had heard enough.

Late one warm night, Juniper was dragged out to the barn and tied to a stone table, all the older members of the household beat her with whatever objects they could grab hold of, before setting her on fire. Farron heard the commotion outside, and ran to the barn, despite being warned against even approaching it. Throwing open the doors, he beheld what they had done, and rushed towards her body, but not before being caught by the neck with a noose and hanged, just off to the side of his mother's corpse.

They cut Farron down, dragging the remains of Juniper along side and tossing them into a shallow grave in the garden. Treasa had woken up at that point, and saw what had been done. In a sheer panic about being left alone, she grabbed the first deadly substance she could find, (she knew where they kept vials of poison,) and drank it, dying next to her mother and brother, and cursing the household and their entire family.

Barely hours after their deaths, the divine powers that be raised Farron to life. Hair blazing shades of red and violet, sclera inky black, and irises an electric teal. He stumbled out of the grave, still damp with his mother's blood. Seeing his sister's cold body along side them, he snatched the wood axe from its resting place and butchered every single person in the house. After the bloodbath, he buried his mother and sister properly; dragged the other corpses into a pile, burned them, and then their home.

Still clutching his weapon, Farron fled the town, confused and despairing. Blind rage had clouded his senses and he was faced with reality. All his family was dead. He was a murderer. Also, he came back from the dead. Apparently also can fly now. What a combo.

Farron wandered off into the wilderness, unsure what to do, or where to go. He flew north for a long time, until he came across the ruins of an old castle. Something about it shook him out of his stupor, and he decided to explore. Peeking around, he arrived at a set of strangely intact wooden doors. Upon entering, he was greeted by rows upon rows of bookshelves, seemingly an archive or a library. He went deeper in, and at the center was a great lectern with a strange man, scribbling madly upon a scroll. He didn't notice Farron for a while, but once he did, the man was startled, yelling at Farron in an unknown tongue. Farron was bewildered, naturally, and tried to communicate with the man. They managed to cobble up a small amount of understanding, eventually learning the man's name was Bridei, and he was trapped here. Farron assured him he would get him out, but Bridei responded in the negative. Enchantments kept him here, and Farron was not powerful enough to break them.

Slowly but surely, Farron began teaching Bridei the 'common tongue' (English) and they were able to go back and forth. Turns out they both had all the time in the world to learn, neither able to die. Farron became a sort of errand boy for Bridei, as he was able to leave. He learned Bridei was a few centuries behind on everything, grabbing him fountain pens and inks instead of crude feather quills and the like. Farron brought books, soaps, live specimens, anything Bridei needed for his research. Bridei was trying to learn how to reverse the curse placed on him long ago, but to no avail. Things got hairier once his wife trapped him there in the library out of jealousy.

Speaking of her, Farron managed to evade Morven for a while, hiding in the books when she made surprise visits—he tried keeping Bridei's new trinkets out of sight as to not arouse suspicion. He had learned Morven does not treat visitors kindly, especially ones that bring items to help Bridei's escape. But, as things go, he got caught at some point.

Morven had seen a red flash near the castle, going on high alert. She followed after and spotted Farron, his arms full of inkpots. After cornering and interrogating him, Morven attacked him so brutally with her magic, he limped off to a cave and hibernated for almost a century, also losing the majority of his memories, aside from his own name. Every so often he would wake, hobbling off to a different location for safety. He accidentally slipped onto a boat, which took him across the sea to Dál Riata, where he hid in an attic for a long time.

About a decade before the present day, he was awoken by a newlywed Fiorella Wellington, who was inspecting the attic of their newly purchased home. Unsure of her intentions, he floated into the air threateningly, also hissing for some reason. Fiorella wasn't fazed by this, simply deciding he was lost and also her new son now, and took the confused boy in as her own. Her husband, Lance, barely spared the boy a second glance, accepting him as their own. Fiorella's three stepsons were wary at first, but warmed up to the lad soon after, the four getting into shenanigans quite frequently.

In the present day, Farron is a bright and mischievous lad, permanently stuck at 17. He fools around with his surrogate brothers, Percy, Ross, and Dustin, up until Dustin goes missing and life takes a dismal turn.

Farron accompanies Ross and Percy on their journey to find out what happened to their brother and what is causing all the shady crap to go down around the globe.

[hibischush]

Ik we’re months away from the month of October and spookiness. but could you please make one where s/o is a huge halloween enjoyer, and takes juniper, celine, march, hayden, and adeline to those really fun but scary haunted house rides? ���

Oh, never fear, my dear, for the spooky month of October is always near! 🦇 (well, 4 months. close enough). Halloween is my favorite time of the year, so I do not mind indulging in it early haha 🌺

Juniper

Juniper's appearance and occupation literally screams Halloween

After getting to know you, she jokes that you only got together because she is a sorceress

Juniper also quite enjoys Halloween since she can literally just go as herself and the townsfolk don't suspect anything

However, being in a relationship with you means she is forced into stepping her Halloween game up

You two are THE couple on Halloween

You both look fabulous in costumes and you both put a lot of time and care in costume design

And while Juniper loves when you compliment her and smother her in love, she absolutely loves showing you off on Halloween

(Because you can show her off any other day, right?)

Joking. She knows this is your day to shine based of how much you adore it

When it comes to the fun Halloween festivities like rides or haunted houses...

She's actually terrified of them

Of course she never tells you this, she has to keep her image up

But its also partly because she doesn't want you to worry about her when this day is so special to you

She'll act all tough going through a haunted house with you, but even you know that with the death grip she has on your arm that she's scared

She jumps, flinches, and will not hesitate to scream

If you are able to, she can and will jump into your arms

If you aren't able, she'll hide her face into your shoulder while holding onto you with great strength

Afterwards she enjoys the adrenaline high with you, and despite hating the actual going-through-the-attraction, she will continue to do it for years to come for you

Celine

Another Halloween Enthusiast

I hc that Celine like to make her own clothes

She 100% is crazy about making costumes

With you, that craziness is turned up to 1000%

You both spends days, even up to a week, preparing your costumes together at her cottage

You both make it a date and will talk and snack on treats she made while sewing

Couples costumes ✅✅✅

Since she enjoys gardening, she helps grow pumpkins and other autumn crops for the town's spooky decorations

Combined with your efforts, the town looks totally enchanted after you both help decorate

While Celine loves the aesthetics of autumn and "cute" spooky things, she does not enjoy being scared

That being said, she does not go out of her way to go on those intense rides

The most she'll do with you is a regular haunted house, but she'll have to hold your hand the entire time and won't look up from the ground

But that disappointment is made up for how much effort she puts in things like corn mazes and bobbing for apples

Literally you ain't never seen someone bob for apples quite like she does but you fall in love with her over and over again whenever you see her lmao

She loves the corn mazes too, even the ones with "spooky" things

"Haunted corn mazes and haunted houses are two very different things!"

It really just gives her an excuse to walk to you closer and maybe sneak off to give you a few smooches because you just look too dang good in that costume you made

March

Ah March. The resident hater

He's not that big of a fan of Halloween before you two met and began dating

But you indoctrinated him into the Halloween Lover's Club

March is still not nearly as passionate about Halloween as you are, but most of his enjoyment of the holiday is just seeing how much you enjoy it

Idk if movies exist in Mistria but March definitely would love watching horror movies with you

He would dress up with you, but he almost dresses, modestly?

Like not a bad costume, just decent

And it's not out of carelessness, he just wants you to be the one who shines

He really enjoys going on those intense haunted house rides with you!

Even though he's scared out of his mind (He tries not to show it) he loves the thrill of it

It makes him feel a lot better being there with you too

He's definitely the type to accidently punch a scare actor too LMAO

He's just trying to protect you he didn't mean it

March enjoys leaving the haunted house with you, the rush of relief is something unmatched, especially when holding hands with you

He just loves to look at you and see the wide, satisfied grin you have

At that point he'll have to pull you in to give you a gentle kiss on your forehead

He likes to eat caramel apples with you afterwards and maybe take a glass of spiced apple cider, too

Hayden

You though you were the biggest Halloween enjoyer? Hah

Hayden is insane with his love for Halloween

Your combined love for Halloween is what confirmed your soulmate status lol

Hayden goes all out with decorations, his costume, the vibes, the treats, and the scares

You two are going in and out of the most frightening attractions one by one like its no big deal

You two eat up getting scared

Side note, Hayden definitely laughs after being scared

He also loves to tease you if you do get scared

⬆️This often bites him in his ass because he will literally scream so loud if you sneakily tap his shoulder while walking through a haunted house

He is holding your hand the entire way through these attractions and would jokingly sweep you off your feet to "protect you" from the "bloodthirsty murder clowns"

He also loves the corn mazes and other things like bobbing for apples

Or sneaking kisses in at said corn maze

Basically just think about what you would do and Hayden is already five steps ahead and lovin' it

Adeline

Adeline is probably the only person who remains neutral about Halloween even after she begins to date you

Don't get me wrong, she will still respond warmly to you and your shenanigans and support you, but most of the festivities are just okay to her

With one large exception:

Adeline loves pumpkin carving

And she's crazy good at it

Like think Faberge egg type of intricate with her designs

She likes to set aside an evening where you two can carve pumpkins together near the fireplace in the manor, sipping on warm beverages and eating sweet treats

She thinks it's pretty fun to dress up with you, too, but her costumes are pretty tame compared to your extravagant costumes

She's hesitant to go into haunted houses but she'll go with you because she feels so safe with you

Adeline is hiding beside you most of the time

But after leaving she enjoys hearing about what parts of the haunted house you liked

She just likes listening to you, particularly if you're talking about your passions

Her favorite part about Halloween is being able to snuggle up to you in bed and hear you talk about everything the two of you saw and experienced that day, all the while thumbing the back of your hand lovingly

Y'know I was thinking while writing that it kinda seems weird to have those crazy haunted house rides in Mistria?? Like it doesn't make sense to have such modern engineering. Then I realized we can literally use magic in the game and all was resolved.

Also sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes! It's later for me than usual while writing this and post-work brain sometimes can't comprehend English